Chapter 6

The female proved to be an exceptional student. As we walked through the lessons I noticed that she was a hands on learner. And a fast one at that. I never admitted to her but I was impressed.

We continued the lessons until I saw that she walking in her new body as if she were born that way. I could not believe how fast she learned everything I had to teach her. At the rate she was going, we would be off the island in maybe three days.

At the end of the day, she asked something no one has ever asked me before.

"What is your name?" she asked as we were settling down for the night.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just you haven't told me your name yet and I just think that maybe it would put us on better terms of communication if we knew what to call each other." She explained.

"I don't have one. Dragons haven't had names for centuries. The last dragon to have a name was my father and he died three hundred years ago at a young age." I explained settling down on my bed of cinders.

"How old was your father?" she asked her brimming with curiosity.

"He was only five hundred years old. Too young to die and too young to leave me and my mother to fend for ourselves." I replied bitterness creeping into my voice.

"I am so sorry."

"Don't be. I wasn't your fault, you were never there. He died protecting me and mother. We begged him to escape with his but he insisted that he had to stay and fight to keep us safe. By the time we even came close to the opening in the nest, it was too late, we were trapped. So my father's sacrifice was for nothing. If I had the chance again I would have forced him to come with us." He explained. I could feel the bitterness growing stronger.

"Why were trying to escape your nest? What happened?"

"Our home was invaded by a monster who was forcing our kind to hunt for it or we would become the hunted. If none of us brought any food back, we would become the food. After it took over our home, every one lost their significance. No one was ever called by name again."

"What were your parents' names?" she asked with heavy sympathy in her voice.

"Keir and Keena." I replied feeling the bitterness I felt before fading.

"Dark and Bravery. Those are beautiful names." The female said in a calming voice that made my bitterness fade away completely.

It felt strange to me. I had been willing to tear everything away from this female to punish her for what she had done to me and here she was comforting me and showing me sympathy for everything in my past. Just hearing her sent this warm wave through me and made me wonder, what was she up to.

"Why are asking me these questions? What are you up to?" I asked thinking that she was trying pull something and was trying to learn my past to use against me.

"Nothing. I just want to know what I should call you. And I wanted to tell you my name so you know what to call me." She said calm but defensive.

"No, I mean are you trying to trick me? Are you not angry about what I have done to you?" I asked thinking that this was part of her plan.

"No. I understand why you did what you did. And I am a little hurt but there is nothing that I can do about it. All I can do is get through it and learn how to live as I am. That is how it has been for me my entire life. If I can't change it, then all I can do is get over or through it. I am sorry for what I did to you and if I could have the chance again, I would have just stayed in the forge like Gobber told me. I am sorry." She explained with her eyes shining.

"How can you just accept this? I took everything from you and here you are acting as if nothing has changed." I asked stunned to see that she was just letting this happen to her.

"Like I said, I have to deal with things like this my whole life. If I could do anything to change it, I just had to learn to deal with it." She explained.

"Why do pretend? I can see that this hurts you yet you act as if it doesn't affect you. Why?" I pushed.

"I've had to. Ever since I lost my mother, I have had to hide all my pain because if I show it or act on it, I get in trouble or I end up hurting someone. So I have to just keep my feeling to myself and hide my emotions to keep myself from getting in trouble."

"That is no reason to hide how you really feel about things. Emotions are give us drive, reasons to go on to fight for what we want, what we are and what we believe. To hide them is a crime in its self."

"All my life I have been afraid to show my emotions because I was afraid of hurting the people I love. Have you ever had so much emotion built up inside you that you afraid to let it out all at once?" she asked as I saw tears starting to pool in her eyes.

"Yes. But holding it in is not a good thing. It can cause severe health implications. That is why you must let it out. If you are ashamed, don't be, all dragons are there to support other dragons in emotional turmoil. We are a very big family. We are there for each other. Just let it, I can see you are fighting to keep it in right now." I urged.

As if she was expecting me to say that, she burst into tears and leaned her head on my shoulder. I felt the impulse to pull away, but something told me she needed me. So I remained where I was. As she cried, I felt the same wave of warmth I felt earlier as she was asking about my family. Why did feel this way?