All day after that, I set to work making as many traps as I can. Most of the rope is used up pretty quickly, so I end up substituting a lot more than I would prefer.

The Dragons watch me curiously the entire time, because I haven't told them what I'm doing.

The red Dragon catches my attention with a soft howl that sounds like it's mixed with a groan around noon. I look over and gestures to me with a claw in a 'come here' movement.

When I go over, it points to itself and makes a soft roar that sounds like a cough. The black one also points to itself and makes a hiss-growl noise.

"Oh, okay, we're doing names now. Well, mine's Keina." I say, sitting down cross-legged.

~...what about us, Keina...?~

I hurriedly amend my statement. "Okay, the me I am now is Keina, there are others besides me. Za is the one you met yesterday. He's the main face. Then there's Heiwa, and Chie, too. There are also four others, but they like to introduce themselves."

The Dragons tense up in shock. They look at each other and start talking to each other in the draconic language disconcertingly quickly. I sit there and look at whichever Dragon is talking, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I'm getting dizzy.

Finally, they stop talking and look at me. The red one claws something in the dirt and gestures towards it with its snout when it's done. I scoot over and look at it, gasping when I realize that it has written in English.

'You are many minds?'

I stare at it for a second, stunned into silence, before I start laughing. "Yeah, I have multiple personalities. Really, Za does, but I'm at the wheel today. Also, if you could write in English, why didn't you do it before now?"

It taps its head and imitates something leaving.

"You forgot?"

It nods.

"That's okay. At least we can communicate now, however primitively." I say, smiling. "Hmm, what are your names?"

The Dragon claws something else, drawing arrows to the black dragon and itself.

'Ember' and 'Starflight'.

'Ember?! I guessed right! I knew its name was Ember!'

I nod to myself. They look at me questioningly. "Sorry, Heiwa was saying that she guessed Ember's name right. When we first saw you, Ember, she wanted to know what your name was and if you were a girl, and she wanted to call you Ember."

Starflight makes a huffing noise. It takes me a moment before I realize he is laughing. Ember smacks his head with her tail, making him hiss.

They speak together for a bit after that, and the whole while I can't help but stare at them.

Such expressive beasts are nothing like the legends that they're depicted in as ruthless monsters. I wonder what else the legends got wrong. They must have noticed me staring at them, because they are now staring at me as well.

"O-oh, well-" Whatever I am about to say is halted by a guttural groan from my stomach. I sigh and shake my head, standing up and grabbing one of the traps. "Looks like it's time for lunch."

I gesture for them to follow me, then I choose a random direction and start walking. I hear branches snapping and heavy footfalls from the large beasts behind me.

We walk for a few minutes before I kneel before a random tree and set up the trap. Once I'm sure it's set up right, I start climbing the tree to wait. The dragons share a look before somehow fitting themselves in the tree with me. Both of their heads end up right beside me.

Ember makes an inquisitive growl, sending a questioning look towards the hidden trap below us.

"It's a live trap. Before I found out about Starflight, I was trying to figure out how to help you get food until you were healed, so on the way here I memorized how to make these traps." I explain. "We won't really need them anymore, but they'll be handy when I get hungry."

I lean back and make myself comfy in a dip in the branches. "Might as well get comfortable, we'll be here for a while."

They both climbed a bit higher in the tree and somehow balanced across three branches, curling together and sighing.

We lay there for hours, dozing. At some point, I climb down again to rig the trap so that it will pull on me if something gets caught.

I end up completely falling asleep, the Dragons' tails curled around me.

When I wake up, the sun is very low in the sky, laying hidden behind the trees. The sky is painted a vibrant river of reds and oranges.

I sit up and yawn, stretching. My mind is sleepy, so it takes me a minute to recognize that the sky is red and orange, not blue.

When I do, I jump in shock. "Oh my gosh, it's in the afternoon! I've been gone all day!"

The Dragons jolt awake at my voice, Ember hitting her head on a branch with a hiss. They start to untangle themselves and I jump out of the tree. I spare a glance at the trap- empty. wonderful. - and start running towards the clearing. Branches snag on my clothes and a few tears appear but I ignore them and run until I reach the clearing.

I slide to a stop and start frantically trowing my things back in my bag. Once that's done, I check my phone and flinch. There are dozens of missed calls from Dad, and SO many angry messages, the latest being 'GET HOME NOW.' That was sent an hour ago.

"Oh, I'm soo dead." I groan, slinging my pack on. Ember and Starflight haven't arrived yet, so I yell into the tree. "I have to go home! I'll try to come back tomorrow!"

I follow the trail I took this morning back out of the forest, only hearing a small roar in reply. I know I'm going to be in a lot of trouble even if I'm a little later, but still, I can't help but sprint for as long as I can, jogging when I can't any longer.

When I finally make it to the house, I'm panting in exhaustion. I lean against the wall to try to catch my breath before I go inside.

I slowly open the door and slip inside, fear blooming in my stomach. Dad seemed really mad in the messages. I drop my stuff on the couch and take several deep breaths, trying to brace myself to face Dad's rage.

"Dad? I'm home." I call out softly, my breath now shallow with fear instead of exertion.

It's not even a second later that footsteps begin to stomp down the stairs, carrying my fuming father with them.

He doesn't even let me try to explain myself before he roars in anger, "WHERE WERE YOU, ZADHIYA!?"

I can't help but flinch. He's angry enough that he's not even trying to get my name right. "I-"

He cuts me off. "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE!?"

"I-"

"WHY!? TELL ME!"

"I'm trying, you-"

"I WANT AN EXPLANATION, YOUNG LADY!'

I freeze. Okay, he's deliberately calling me by Za's name. And he actually just... Wow. "You won't let me speak." I say in a numb voice, not revealing any of the anger or fear I'm feeling.

He glares at me. "Well, I just did, didn't I? Give me an explanation, young lady, or you're confined to your room until school starts."

I clench my fists and grit my teeth, my anger overriding my fear. "One, I'm Keina while you believe I'm Za. Two, Za is not a girl, get it right. Three, I accidentally fell asleep. Try getting your facts straight before you blow up in anger." He seems shocked at my anger, like kids aren't allowed to be angry. "Also, don't try to punish me, cause my day's almost over. You'd only be punishing Za and he wouldn't be very happy about that."

He blinks, his anger apparently subsiding. Sighing, he pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Keina, I-"

"Don't. I don't care about any apology you have for me." I cut him off and snatch my bag, stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to my room. I throw my bag onto the bed and stuff my face in a pillow, stifling a scream. As I lay there, chest heaving in anger, I hear soft footsteps coming from my parents room heading downstairs. Soft voices follow them, too soft for me to hear.

I get up again and slam the pillow onto the bed, then do it again. And again. and again. I keep slamming the pillow onto bed until I just fall forward. My anger spent, I curl up in bed and try to fall asleep, ignoring the soft voice at the door telling me that supper is downstairs.

I fall into blackness sometime after that, my body spent from the long run back.