It was a bright spring day. The chills of winter had finally melted away with the snow, making the tiny streams overflow with fish and fresh water from the mountains. The trees were just starting to blossom with their wonderful green leaves and flowers which would be fruit before long. These trees surrounded the tiny village on the coast of the sea. It was a small town; the valley it rested in had large fields that were currently being plowed for the new season. A few young children ran around, while their parents worked. High above the valley, a mountain peak loomed over them, its grey rocks standing out against the green valley.

Robin sat in a tree just outside the village, a few of his namesakes enjoying his company in the branches of the old oak. Today was the day most of the young men and women in the village would receive their dragons, the sacred rite which proceeded their entering the village as those who would grow up to protect and care for the citizens. Robin was only 16, still as small as a kid to his great annoyance when it was pointed out. He was one of the younglings who would choose their mount, the creature that would live beside them for the rest of their lives, sometimes just a bit longer.

Robin sighed dreamingly, his hands reaching up and petting a few of the robins surrounding them, feeling their soft feathers on the pads of his fingers. He closed his eyes, feeling excitement and dread fill his chest.

Though it was exciting to earn the right to ride a dragon, it was also dangerous; each youth had to climb to the dragon's peak at the top of the mountain that loomed over his town and the valley. Dragons had been nesting up there for centuries. It was the climb that was one of the challenges of obtaining a dragon. The second was to retrieve an egg, without the mother dragon seeing the theft and then carry it safely back down so that the village elders. The Wise men of their village could hatch it in the coals of the great fire pit. It would hatch between a few hours and a week. Once hatched, the person would begin to train their dragon, under the tutelage of the strongest dragons and riders in the village.

If the dragon didn't reject the rider, it would become a companion to the youngling and become their mount for life. Growing rapidly from a hatchling no bigger than the small dogs the village women used for hunting rats (*1), to the size of the large horses the village used for plowing. (*2) It may even grow to the size of the animals the sailors told stories of. The ones that they hunted for oil to light the lamps (*3)

But, if the dragon rejected the rider, there were consequences. It was a sin to drop the egg of the dragon, wasting the precious life on the base rocks of the mountain. And if the mother dragon caught you, it was certain death, if not by fire, than by the fall from the ledge. If the dragon hatched and rejected its rider, there could be serious injuries. They were lethal as soon as they hatched, able to defend and fight at birth.

Robin had seen the men who had been rejected, scarred and bitter old men. He had never witnessed one happen until 2 years ago when a young man named Victor brought his egg down from the mountain. He remembered if vividly…

He stood with the other members of the crowd as the young men stood at the base of the mountain. In their arms were eggs the size of the exotic melons the ships sometimes brought. He cheered as he saw his friend Victor, one of the few dark-skinned men in their village but now that he had a dragon, he would be no different than any of the others. He raised his arms, jumping up and down to get his friend's attention. He saw small splotches of red on his friend's leg but paid no mind as the village elder, a burly man named Bruce walked in front of the boy's, inspecting the eggs for fertility and for any damaging cracks that may have killed the baby dragon inside. Robin watched eagerly, wanting his larger friend to succeed. He smiled and called out Victor's name when it was deemed the dragons were safe and the boy's followed after Bruce. Walking into the Grand hall where only the elders went. Where the Great fire pit was kept. It was built right into the mountain, where the hot stone from the rocks created the fire and heat that was needed to hatch the eggs.

Robin followed with the others and stood outside waiting for what would happen next. He did recognize the other boy's going in. There was Roy, a young man everyone called Speedy because of his swiftness with the bow and arrow. Robin never really spoke to him as he was a bit of a jerk sometimes and had a strange sense of humor. Not to mention he picked on Robin for his height, making Robin compete against him at most things. Another boy was there, Red. He had shown up in the village a few years ago and never really settled in. Since he had shown up there had been thefts all around the village and everyone knew it was Red who pulled them off. He was skilled but somewhat good natured in his theft, always leaving something behind… Not always something good but still. He was also scrawny like Robin so the dark haired boy felt some kinship with the thief. If only for his similar predicament in body strength. Other than those two, he knew no others in the group.

He had never seen what had happened in the Great Hall, but he saw his friend being carried out by a few of the guards, his body bloody and broken, about an hour later. He rushed forward and cried as he followed after his friend, reaching out to hold his hand only to be slapped away by the guards. He was terrified that Victor was dead!

It wasn't until much later that Robin had learned what had happened from Red and Speedy. Victor had slipped coming down from the mountain and cut his leg badly. It wasn't all that much of a wound but it was bleeding. Then when he entered the Hall, his egg was the first to hatch, half an hour earlier than normal and smelling the blood, it went after Victor, who was too weak to fight it off. The dragon had escaped, too wild to be trained, they let it escape up to the mountain, off to find its own life.

Victor survived but the dragon scarred his body so badly he lost an eye and the full use of his right hand. His legs as well were badly scarred with burns and he had trouble walking sometimes. Still he tried to prove himself to the village and helped with the labors and chores. He was considered a monster but Robin considered him a friend still.

Robin shuddered in remembrance and opened his eyes, he feared meeting such a fate, he was already an orphan and, though he lived with the village Elder Bruce and another Elder named Alfred. He had lost his parents when he was just a child, 9 years ago. He had been sleeping and awoke to screaming. He ran to his parent's room and saw them murdered. He never saw the man's face but the man was found and taken care of. Afterwards it had been a debate on who would provide for the child. Since most of the households were full and none wanted a child who was so traumatized and heartbroken. Bruce had stood up for him and taken him in, along with Alfred. Both of them knowing the pain of loss when Alfred lost his son and Bruce had lost his father (*4).

Despite that, he was a sweet boy, exceptionally smart and like his parents, he was a wonder of an acrobat, having the balance and speed of a dragon himself. Hence how he had gotten himself so high up in his oak tree. He sat in the topmost branches, able to see the blue sky perfectly from where he sat. He saw several dragons in the air. Most of them were just messengers or trainees, but Robin watched them like they were the kings of the sky, heroes among the clouds.

How Robin longed to fly! He wanted to feel the wind in his dark hair and feel that rush when the ground dropped out from under him as he soared upward into the clouds. He had had dreams of having his own beautiful dragon. The perfect companion for him!

He sighed; he was also terrified of the consequences of failure. Not only could he be possibly scarred or killed, when it hatched. But if he failed, and dropped the egg, he would have to wait a whole year for the other young men to come of age and during that time he would be shunned from the village. His sin tainting him, and with winter as harsh as death, then he would surely freeze …or starve. That wasn't the worse of it; he could be killed when he reached the peak, hell he could be killed just climbing up! And what if his egg had no baby dragon? That had happened before...

He shook his head; there were so many possibilities of what could happen!

Robin looked up at the sky again, distracted from his thoughts by the trumpet of a large black and orange dragon appearing out of the clouds. Dwarfing the other dragons in the sky, they darted out of the mighty beast's way. Robin stood up, balancing on the shaking branch and peering up at the dragon. He knew that one! It belonged to the General! The leader of his village! He climbed even higher to see more of it. Feeling the tree's branches shake from the wind of Deathstroke's wings. The dragon was covered in orange and black scales, his great wings spanning the skies, covering the valley the village resided in, within a great shadow. Robin's expression changed to a bright smile as he felt the wind all around him as Deathstroke landed.

He stared at the dragon from his perch, seeing General Slade climb off Deathstroke's shoulders. He was clad in black leather riding gear, his white hair and goatee standing out against the tan of his skin. He patted the animal's neck. Robin leaned on the branches, watching as the dragon gave a trill and walked off to Slade's personal stable where he slept. Oh how Robin loved Deathstroke, the largest dragon in their village. Elder Bruce's dragon was just shy of his height and had a different coloring all together, but even though he argued about it, Slade's dragon was still bigger.

Even though General Slade was the leader of their village, he had to obey the council of Elders, or at least the rules said he had to, he never really did, making him a very bad subject to bring up around Robin's guardians.

Slipping down the tree, Robin stayed up in the lowest branches, wanting a closer look as Deathstroke passed right under the tree. He was high enough to brush the branches with his wings. Robin held on as he felt the snake like scales pass over his branches, shaking them. He grinned impishly and reached out a hand, petting the dragon.

He did this sometimes, without General Slade ever knowing. He sometimes couldn't sleep and snuck out when Elder Bruce was out with his dragon Bat. Robin would run to the stable where Deathstroke was kept and sneak in, staying in the corner and watching the dragon, sometimes coming close enough to touch. He loved to feel the animal's scales and his warmth. Once the dragon even purred at him and let him touch his head before Robin was frightened by a noise and ran home. It was the best night of his life, seeing those eyes up close!

He laughed as the dragon left and he slipped down from the branches, running off towards his home. Unaware of the stormy eyes watching him.

(*)

1- I'm referring to rat terriers

2-Ever seen a Clydesdale? They are HUGE!

3-Supposed to be sperm whales :D they were hunted for oil lamps

4-I'm twisting it a bit so Bruce is Alfred's Grandson, which would make Robin his Great-Grandson :D

Update(11-16-12):I"m editing these chapters, not much will change but letting you know!