Shadow: HADJI!! It's your first cameo!!!

Hadji: Wow. Wonder who made THAT decision

Shadow: Oh- oh ,yeah. *rubs head innocently*

Peanut Dunham: It's like she knows!

don't own dragon booster

"Artha!"

The teen bolted off the chair. A familiar redhead came running into the room.

"It's Beau! He's sick!!"

The two ran back to the stables together. As Artha charged into Beau's stall, he could hear Kitt's voice as well as Parm's. They must have sent Lance in to tell him. Artha took one look at Beau and felt his entire body freeze. The great dragon lay on his side, Kitt kneeling near his head. Artha could hear the raspy breathing, even though he was on the other side of the barn. Every few minutes or so Beau let out a painful grunt. Artha collapsed on his knees, overcome by the sight. It was too much.

Another pained eruption came from Beau and Artha found in him the strength to continue over to his dragon.

"Hey, boy." Beau searched for Artha's face with his eye, unwillingly to move any part of his body. "Yeah, I'm here, boy." Artha began stroking Beau's head and neck, trying to help him relax.

"Artha, I have no idea what this is." Kitt whispered, barely masking her panic.

"He needs to be treated by someone. Now. A dragon priest would be best; otherwise someone will discover his gold draconium." Parm explained, far calmer then Kitt. Or maybe just better at hiding it.

Artha nodded numbly.

"Is Beau gonna be okay?" All three turned to look at the small child.

"He's strong, Lance. He can pull through this." Kitt managed to say, using a small smile to assure the boy.

"Hey, Artha! Is everything okay? You were late so I thought I'd stop by and check." Stepping into the barn was Moordryd Paynn, the latest member of the Penn family. Behind him stood Decepshun. Artha looked up from Beau to greet the other teen weakly. Moordryd took in the scene, sensing the mood and instantly went to Artha's side

"Beau's real sick. We don't know what's wrong." He explained quietly.

"I'll call someone- my father has the best possible- even I trust him with Decepshun." Moordryd was already pulling out his phone to call.

Artha stopped him with his hand, "No- I have someone who can come."

Moordryd backed down, "Okay."

Artha wandered out of the room, away from the others to make his call.

Parm and Moordryd waited in the house for the vet. Or whoever it was Artha had called on for help. The silver haired teen paced back and forth. His vet could have been here by now. Why had Artha refused? Would they ever trust him?

A knock on the door broke the silence. Parm opened the door to reveal a man with long black hair tied back with a black and purple scarf. "Can I help you?"

"Artha called for me." He answered, his voice strangely accented.

"He's in the stable. Are you the vet?"

The man chuckled. "Guess so."

Parm and Moordryd led the way to the barn, the man following behind. Artha looked up at the approaching footsteps.

"Hadji!" He ran to the man, who caught him and gave him a friendly hug, "Hey Artha."

Artha was fighting to keep his composure. In answer to the look Artha was giving the long haired man, Hadji kindly told him "I'll try."

Artha nodded and showed him the dragon. Beau was breathing rapid, shallow breaths.

"He's not breathing through his mouth, which is good. He's fighting this." Hadji looked at Artha, "This isn't something that can be cured with a simple treatment."

Hadji looked around at the small group in Beau's stall. "Perhaps we should talk in private?"

Artha shook his head. "They all know. And they all are Beau's family. They won't be left out of this." Hadji nodded and motioned for them to come closer. "This is a test for dragons. The stars can be very cruel sometimes. They are pushing Beau to his limit, to find his breaking point- his will to live. His desire to protect the ones he loves." Artha felt himself shake. In rage against Beau's torment that was merely a 'test'. And also, because in a dark corner of his mind, he feared Beau would not make it. He would fail the test and. . . .

"Tell him Artha." Hadji's eyes burned into Artha's soul.

Artha knew the man could see the fears and anger swirling within him. But to tell Beau?

Artha stared at Hadji with tired eyes. "He doesn't need that burden."

"You think it's a burden to him?"

Artha looked away. Hadji turned to leave. When he was almost gone, Artha called out to him. He ran over to speak with the man, separate from the group.

"When we first met, you said you were searching for your light. Someone to live for. Did you?"

Hadji's eyes seemed to both smile and grow tired as he thought of his answer, "I did."

"And when-"

"And when they knew they were holding my life in their hands, they intertwined it with their own and we are destined together- forever. We are bound to one another, Artha, and we are stronger. Believe me when I say it was a battlefield caused by the things we left unspoken."

With that, the man left.

"Artha, stay with Beau. The rest of us are going together everything we need to get through this- blankets, food, and water. So stay here, okay?" Kitt's voice was unusually soft, showing how concerned she truly was. Artha nodded. As if he could ever leave Beau's side. The others left, leaving a silver haired teen behind without a purpose. Artha had been the first to accept him into 'the Penn family'. The others, except Lance, were still suspicious of him. Right now, Artha didn't care. "Do you need anything?" Moordryd wasn't sure what he meant when he said that, but Artha merely shook his head. "I'm going to settle Decepshun in and then I'll come back." Artha never even looked at him, but Moordryd still felt the need to not leave Artha alone for long. "Come on, girl." The black dragon had been waiting outside Beau's stall, watching over.

"Beau," Artha sobbed, "please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone. I love you. Don't go, okay boy?" Moordryd listened to him as he talked to his dragon. When Artha's voice was finally choked out by tears and he couldn't speak anymore, he just held onto Beau. Unable to bear anymore, Moordryd left. He paused at the barn door. His face felt strange. Reaching up, Moordryd felt that his cheeks were wet. He traced the source up to his eyes. He realized he was crying. It had been so long since he had cried he had almost forgotten what it felt like. He touched his face again. How was it Artha could make him feel so strongly? About life, pain, and the ones they love?

Moordryd returned to the stable that night. Of course Artha hadn't come in to eat and Parm had brought him out some food. Kitt tried to convince him to rest in the house, to get some of his strength back but he refused. Now it was Moordryd's turn. It was quiet in the barn. When he stepped into Beau's stall, the first thing he saw was the untouched food. That was not a good sign. Artha had not had anything since the afternoon before. And only a little water.

"I'm not leaving him." Artha stated without looking at Moordryd.

"I know."

Artha turned to him but said nothing.

"It will be cold tonight though." Moordryd started.

Here it comes, Artha thought. Another reason he should leave Beau tonight. He had just opened his mouth to argue when something was dropped on his head, darkening the world around him.

"So I brought you a blanket."

Artha pulled the blanket off his head and glared at Moordryd. Until he realized the silver haired teen was wrapping himself in a similar blanket.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna keep watch." He said simply.

Artha stared at him and Moordryd couldn't quite figure out what he was thinking. Artha turned back to Beau, petting him and playing with his scales. Moordryd observed the scene, a strange emotion filling him as he took it in. Beau lay on his right side, with his back towards Artha and Moordryd. But Artha had placed blankets under his head to keep the sawdust out of his eyes and nose. Artha was seated close to the dragon's head, where he could whisper into his ears. And Moordryd could swear the dragon was listening to his every word and hanging on to them.

Moordryd woke up, cursing himself for having fallen asleep. Looking before he saw a sight that was both touching- yet frustrating. The night had gotten cold and Artha had covered Beau with his blanket and now he was shivering. Moordryd leaned forward, pulling his blanket off to warm Artha up. Just before he dropped the blanket down however, he saw that Artha had finally fallen asleep. He had been awake for close to 50 hours. How he had done it had been a miracle. He murmured and stirred in his sleep. Wanting him to be as comfortable as possible, Moordryd moved up behind him. He carefully pulled Artha against him. He needed the blanket too if he was going to stay out here- which he was- so they needed to share it. Honestly, he had never been this close to anyone. He had many reasons for avoiding such contact. And he often teased the other guys about having girlfriends. He'd always told himself it was because he didn't need a squealing, problematic girl following him around. So it was a great surprise to him at how perfectly Artha seemed to fit against him. It was cold as he had feared. Beau stirred in his sleep. The dragon grunted and tried to move his head. Moordryd carefully moved closer to the dragon bringing Artha with him.

"Hey boy," Moordryd whispered. The dragon stopped moving but didn't relax. Moordryd wasn't sure what to say. And then all of Artha's words came back to him. All of his pleas to him, his fears. "You need to pull through for him, Beau. He's counting on you. We aren't want he wants. It's you, you lucky dragon. He's amazing. He loves you so much." Moordryd felt his voice brim with pride at all the strength Artha had shown. Beau held a bond with that boy's heart. Moordryd held onto Artha with one arm and with the other he stroked Beau's head and neck. Slowly the dragon relaxed and his breathing slowed. Before long the dragon was back asleep.

Beau was sleeping now, and Artha's blanket still covered him. Moordryd was sure to check their blanket once more. Naturally he wrapped his arms around Artha and soon the three of them were asleep.

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Artha felt warm and safe. He knew he was dreaming but still, he snuggled closer to the comfort around him. A quiet voice stirred Artha. He heard the voice though it was distant. It sounded like- Artha fought to open his eyes. Through blurry vision he saw Moordryd Paynn. He was awfully close to Artha, wasn't he? Artha didn't register anything about just how close they were. Instead, Artha felt himself drawn in by Moordryd's soothing talk. He was talking to Beau. Beau! Artha wanted to stay awake, to be with his dragon but sleep was defeating him. And besides, he had Moordryd there, talking to Beau, calming him. Artha felt everything grow still again and within seconds he was back asleep before Moordryd even knew he had woken up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Artha rubbed his blurry eyes. 'Oh no,' he thought. He panicked, having fallen asleep and jerked forward to check on Beau. Unfortunately for Moordryd, he did not know yet of his kind actions and as a result, ended up jarring Moordryd in the stomach causing him to wake in the worst possible way. It was that moment Artha realized the position they were in. He was in Moordryd's lap and one pale arm was still around him- the other brushing the silver hair out of his eyes.

"Oye, was that really necessary?"

"You really-. . . . It was you."

Moordryd was confused. "Um, are you awake?"

Artha continued to stare at him. Then, much to Moordryd's shock, he hugged him. "Thank you, Moordryd. Thank you so much." Moordryd hugged him back and gently placed a kiss on the top of Artha's head. "You're welcome."

Hadji returned to check on Beau. Moordryd waited outside by himself while everyone else was told the news.

When he saw the 'vet' leave, Moordryd headed into Beau's stall. He was glad to see the others had already left, leaving just him and Artha.

"What'd he say?" Artha jumped and turned to the voice. He smiled at the silver haired teen and Moordryd felt his defenses waver. He motioned his head towards the still sleeping Beau, not wanting to repeat his question.

Artha wiped his eyes and laughed. "He's going to be fine." But for some reason, the tears wouldn't stop falling. "I know that someday it really will be goodbye." His lips quivered and yet he continued, "But I don't want to be scared of that day. I just want today and maybe tomorrow. That's all." Artha tried to turn away, to hide from Moordryd. It was embarrassing really for him to be crying. So it was a great surprise that instead of hearing a cold comeback, he found pale arms wrapping themselves around his waist. Moordryd pressed his face against Artha's warm back. "I know."

In the stable, Beau took turns being nuzzled by each of his dragon friends. Fracshun, Cyrano, and Wyldfyr. After turning from the red dragon, Beau looked towards his barn doorway, where a dark image stirred. Beau called out softly and slowly, the dragon made its way over to the recovering Beau. He nuzzled Decepshun, and she returned the gesture. Beau nodded his head and Decepshun lay next to him, resting her head on his back. Both dragons drifted off to sleep, worn from the fight and washed weak from relief at the outcome.