Four Days later…
Robin sighed as he sat inside the Great Hall, staring at his for what seemed like weeks now. His had yet to hatch; in fact, his was the only one so far not to hatch. It frustrated him to no end, why wasn't it ready yet?!
Robin sighed again and looked around the Great Hall, where before he had never been allowed in. It really wasn't all that amazing, at least to Robin's eyes. He lived with Bruce after all. It was a large room, almost as big as the cavern up in the mountain, with a large coal pit in the back of the room where the building connected to the mountain. It was filled with hot coals that were never left to die. On top of the coals sat a piece of stone on which all the eggs sat. The rest of the hall was filled with a large round table for the Elders to sit and row of divided space near the coals where the baby dragons were kept.
Robin could see Joseph already with his dragon. A brilliant white dragon with bright blue eyes and Robin swore it could sing. When it was first hatched it made this crooning noise that sounded almost like it was humming a tune. Joseph loved the little creature, and it would be so beautiful when it grew bigger. He had even named it, Kole. Robin liked that name and he had to admit she was a beautiful dragon, already showing signs of getting bigger, having doubled in just 2 days since she was hatched.
Robin sighed again, much more frustrated this time. After their triumph days ago, they had waited until Joseph woke up, being just a bit dizzy before gaining his bearings. Once their eggs had been inspected and then taken inside, Robin had been so excited that he was practically bouncing on his feet, wanting his egg to hatch first! They had set their eggs down on the patch of stone and proceeded to wait.
Kori's was the first to hatch within two hours. A bright pink and white dragon had burst forth and it looks slightly fuzzy to Robin. She named it Silky because of the feel of its scales. It had crawled up her arm to balance on her shoulder. Bruce had looked it over and told her that it wouldn't get much bigger than a dog. Kori didn't seem to care but Robin hoped his wasn't small like that. He wanted a large one, something he could ride and fly on!
It wasn't until the next day that Raven's egg hatched. A larger black and blue dragon emerged, its neck was very long for how young it was and he had horns that were as sharp as knives. He growled at all of them and tried to fly off but Raven seemed to speak in a strange language, the dragon coming over to her and nuzzling against her cheek. She named the strange beast Malchior… A strange name it seemed to Robin. But she had walked away with her dragon, hardly speaking to anyone. But that was Raven's way and Robin didn't have a chance to congratulate her, Joseph's Kole had been born next.
And just yesterday Gar's egg had hatched. It was a sweet little thing. Bright green like him, making Robin laugh and shake his head in memory. Gar had picked the little beast up it had let out a shriek so loud he had to cover his ears. Robin had no idea that dragons could be that noisy! But the little monster was, and he was annoying too! Flying around in his first hour and not leaving any of them alone. Robin had grumbled to Alfred that the dragon should have been called Terror instead of Tofu.
And now Robin sat on a chair, leaning on the warm stone that held the coals and watching his egg carefully, watching for any shaking, anything that could show it was finally his time to meet his mount. He sighed and tilted his head, resting his cheek on his arms. He wanted to see it so much! So much so he hadn't slept well in the whole 5 days. The night before the trial he had been so excited he didn't sleep, instead, he had snuck out and went to visit Deathstroke. Petting the dragon's large head for what seemed like hours. Returning in the early hours of the morning.
He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, shielding his eyes from the heat of the coals. It was so warm in here…
He jumped as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He sat up and looked around before looking up at the body attached to the hand. General Slade was looking at him!
"You shouldn't sleep so close to the fire, you'll burn your face." He said in a deep masculine voice. It reminded Robin of Bruce. He opened his mouth to respond but Slade cut him off.
"So you're the one who's been breaking into Deathstroke's stable."
Robin's heart froze, his eyes widening, he didn't know Slade knew of his nighttime activities!
"Uh…Yea I guess I am… I just wanted to see him! He's such a beautiful dragon, I couldn't resist!" He tried to explain to the larger man. He hoped he wouldn't punish him; after all he was the leader of the village! He was a General, a known killer! Robin didn't know what would happen to him…
Slade looked him over and chuckled, "He has been happier as of recently. I was wondering why until I saw you sneaking out. Do you often disobey Bruce?"
Robin laughed nervously, not sure if he should answer or not. He was sure Slade wouldn't tell Bruce… But he never really knew!
"I…Uh…" Robin tried to respond, to explain but Slade cut him off again, chuckling lightly.
"Well done on the mountain. You possibly saved Joseph's life. You are quite the little hero." Slade's voice seemed steady to Robin but the boy could see something in the man's face that said he was truly impressed. "I have never seen anyone scale the rocks so well, even as they were being idiotic enough to help another." Robin had been about to smile with pride until the last part.
"It's not idiotic to save someone!" He frowned and glared at the general. "He's your son! I wasn't about to let him fall and die!"
Slade raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so you did it to gain some sort of favor from me? Wouldn't Bruce be disappointed?"
Robin's face colored and he sputtered. "Of course not! I did it because it was the right thing to do!" How could he think like that? Not everything anyone did was a political move.
Slade smirked, "You are an odd child, most would have let him fall…" Robin's face turned to stone; Bruce had taught him to value life and to always help those in need. And his parents had been the same way. He wanted to protect life, not be selfish. How could General Slade be so cruel? And to his own son?
Robin glanced over to Joseph, and saw him glancing back. The boy had a scar now on his brow from the fall but he was smiling and shrugging when Robin gave him a questioning look.
None of this was lost on Slade and he flashed a look at his son, Joseph immediately looked away.
Robin's frown increased, was this how Slade was to his children? He knew that the man had two more, Grant and Rose, both lived far away and Robin couldn't help but wonder if this was the reason why.
"You have a very expressive face." Slade's voice jolted Robin out of his thoughts and he crossed his arms, standing up in defiance, not realizing that he was proving the man's statement true. He tried to size himself up to Slade, to show he was an adult so he couldn't be treated like a kid but it didn't work quite like he planned when he realized he didn't even come up to the man's shoulder.
Robin decided to go back to the point; he sometimes had a one track mind. "How could you think it was okay to let your own son fall and possibly die?"
Slade looked like he wanted to roll his eyes but instead he leveled his gaze with the teen's. "It would be his own fault. He would have had to succeed or fail…" His eyes narrowed at the word 'fail', "…On his own. You may be the first set of candidates that didn't try to kill each other or to help one another."
Robin felt a bit of pride there.
"That may not help you when you train, this year. Should be interesting."
The teen deflated a bit, would it hinder them that they had helped each other? Would it matter? He heard Slade chuckling and realized his face had been showing what he was thinking. He frowned angrily and looked the man right in the eye. Why had he been afraid of this man again?
"We'll do fine in your stupid training! We'll be the best you've ever seen!" He shouted, his voice echoing in the large cavern. He suddenly realized what he had done. He had yelled…yelled at General Slade. The General Slade! This man had the biggest dragon in the village and was going to teach them how to fly! Not only that but this man had earned his title! He had won hundreds of battles and was the toughest man in the village next to Bruce!
And Robin had yelled at him and called him stupid!
While Robin was subtly freaking out, Slade laughed at him. "We'll see." He said as he turned to go. "Oh and next time you visit my dragon, try being a bit more quiet, and less obvious."
He walked away and Robin couldn't stop himself. "I wasn't being obvious!" He shouted back at him, before covering his mouth and glaring at the man's back. He just told his secret. What a jerk!
Robin plopped back down on his chair and stared at his egg again. "Hatch damn you, so we can show him." He whispered angrily.
The egg didn't answer and Robin continued to stare.
