Happy Dragon Tuesday, everyone! Can I hear a RAWR?

Today's dragon of the week is Jake Long from the Disney Channel show American Dragon: Jake Long. This was one of several animated shows I grew up with as a kid. It had everything I loved: mythical creatures, dragons, cool characters, dragons, fun storylines, mythical creatures, and dragons! Jake, the main character, is a teenage kid who can turn into a dragon at will. It's his job to protect all magical creatures in the area from the Huntsclan, which is trying to destroy all mythical beings. It's a fun show from what I see as a golden age for Disney Channel.

Enjoy!

It was Thursday when the freshmen all received an email from Ozpin.

My dear students,

You have been progressing very well in your training. You have bonded with your dragons and learned about your teammates' dragons. Now, it is time for you to take it a step further. Tomorrow, you will not be collecting your dragon from its stall, but someone else's. You will spend the day with that dragon, going to classes for the element of that dragon. Your partner was randomly selected with the purpose of giving you a dragon of a different element as well as a different team.

Good luck.

Dragonmaster Ozpin

At the bottom of the email was a notification of which student was partnered with which dragon. Within minutes, Ruby let out an outraged cry.

"I got Cardin!" Her silver eyes blazed as her grip on her Scroll caused it to creak.

"Easy, sis. You're gonna break it." Yang touched her hand.

"Cardin is not going near Storm!" Ruby snapped. "There's no way!"

"I'm sure she'll be just fine," Blake said, sitting down on Ruby's other side. "There's not much Cardin can do within a day, and Storm isn't nearly as timid as she was before. She won't just lie down and take it if he tries anything."

Ruby stared at the email, shaking her head slowly, unable to keep from feeling a bitter sense of betrayal. She had been helping Ozpin with Penny, and this was the thanks she and Storm got?! "If he hurts her…" Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"If he hurts her, we'll take turns beating him to a pulp," Yang assured her. "But Storm will be fine, even if he does. She's a tough girl. Besides," she continued, trying to find a bright side. "This may be a good chance to teach Mudslide a thing or two."

Ruby paused. That was true. In her anger, she had forgotten that she'd be with Mudslide for the day. Maybe getting some actual affection will help her somehow… She sighed. "Still, I'm going to talk to Ozpin. If nothing else, I want Ragnar to explain this to Storm, so she doesn't think I'm just handing her over to Cardin."

"I think that's very reasonable," Weiss said. "Dragonmaster Ozpin is aware of Cardin's tendencies, after all. You should email him about it now."

Ruby nodded, typing a quick message. "What about you guys? Who did you get?"

"I got Jaune," Weiss said. "I like Twiggy, so this should be easy. I'm not sure how Specter and Jaune will get along, though."

"I got Sage," Yang said with a laugh. "He's the most patient person in the world, so he should be fine with Fang. I'm not sure if I can keep Zircon from hyperventilating, though."

"I got Sun," Blake said. "I'd be more concerned, but Huo seems to have mellowed out a great deal. I know Pit would be fine with basically anyone."

"I wonder who else got someone from Team CRDL," Ruby muttered as she sent the email to Ozpin and turned off her Scroll. "Well, let's get to class. I plan on spoiling Storm as much as possible to make up for what she'll have to put up with tomorrow."

After classes that day, they met up with Teams JNPR and SSSN, where they compared who was going to be paired with who for the following day's exercise.

"I'm paired with Russel," Pyrrha said, her brows creased with worry. "I'm not worried about Titan, but I doubt that Barracuda will be very happy to be near me."

"Better Barracuda than Tornado," Ren said with a grimace. "I ended up with Sky." He still vividly remembered when Tornado had severely bitten Nora's ankle. While the wound had healed, it had left a white scar. He would have to keep a close eye on all his limbs while that wind dragon was with him.

"I got Dove." Scarlet shrugged. "He's pretty chill compared to his teammates, and Tank doesn't seem too troublesome."

"I'm with you, Neptune!" Nora chirped. "This will be easy! Freya and Nymph are both super calm."

"So, we just go to our partner's dragon's stall right at the beginning of the day?" Jaune asked. "We don't even visit our own dragons?"

"I mean, we'll obviously see them, but we should keep our distance during the day," Weiss pointed out. "I'm sure Specter will be on his best behavior."

Specter looked up at the mention of his name and whistled curiously.

"I hope." Jaune looked at the black-eyed dragon. "I'm not worried about Twiggy. She already likes you. Honestly, if you sing to her a few times, she should be totally calm all day."

"I guess we'll just have to see what happens." Neptune shrugged, then turned sharply in Sun's direction. "Sun! Coat!"

Sun, who had just unzipped his jacket, pouted. "But-"

"No buts! You'll catch a cold!"

"You are such a nag!"

"The world can go without seeing your abs until spring. Zip up!" Neptune snapped, folding his arms.

Scarlet covered his mouth to muffle a giggle. Sun rolled his eyes and zipped his coat, grumbling loudly all the while.

Ruby was leaning against Storm, who was lying down in a patch of grass that wasn't as covered in frost. Her Scroll beeped and she opened it to see a message from Ozpin. It was asking her to bring Storm for an extra lesson with Penny. She frowned, but typed an "okay" back. Hopefully, Ozpin would have Ragnar explain things during the lesson.

"Do you think this is something they do every year?" Blake wondered.

"I feel like it has to be," Weiss said. "I'll have to ask Velvet."

"Who's Velvet?" Sun asked.

"A sophomore. Team CRDL was giving her a hard time a few days ago, and I stepped in. We've talked a few time since then."

"Oh, I think we met her," Yang remembered. "Rabbit Faunus, right?"

"Yeah!" Ruby said. "She has a cream-colored wind dragon named Meringue."

Yang chuckled. "I swear, you remember dragon names better than you do people."

"I mean, you grew up with me. You should know that by now."

"Wait, you fought off Team CRDL by yourself?" Blake asked, her brows going up. "Not bad."

Weiss's face flushed. "Well, I had my pepper spray. Also, Velvet called Meringue with a whistle as soon as her hands were free, which is what scared them away."

"Still." Blake shook her head. "I really should get brushed up on my hand-to-hand combat skills. There just hasn't been time since I came to Beacon, but I know I should stay sharp in case I run into any…trouble." She glanced around, aware of other people walking down the paths nearby.

"Ooh, why don't we practice self-defense on weekends!" Yang suggested. "I know a bunch of moves."

Ruby grimaced. "I'm not really good with fighting. Dad always told me I should focus on running away."

"Well, it's still good to know how to twist out of a hold if someone does manage to catch you," Weiss pointed out. "I certainly would welcome some extra help. We won't start official combat training for a while, but it would be nice to get a head start."

Sun glanced at his teammates, who nodded. "We'll help out," he said. "You ladies will need some strong, buff men for your demonstrations, after all."

"Do you know any?" Blake asked, cocking an eyebrow and keeping her expression neutral.

Sun gaped, then burst out laughing. "Okay, I walked right into that one!"

"Anyway," Neptune cut in. "Where would we do this? I'm already getting special access to the pool at night. How many favors can we ask for?"

"I'm pretty sure the gymnasium is open twenty four seven," Yang said. "We can't be the only people who want to do stuff like this during our off hours."

"I say we get through tomorrow, then figure out what we'll be doing with the weekends." Sage gave Zircon an extra pat on the shoulder. "One thing at a time."

Ruby got up, urging Storm to get up with her. "Well, I need to go see Dragonmaster Ozpin. See you guys at dinner."

She led Storm away from the others, keeping a gloved hand on her shoulder. Along with her other worries, she couldn't help but wonder if her partner was getting cold. Dragons were endothermic, but could they handle being out without coats, especially at a young age?

They're fine, she reminded herself. Dragons have a higher tolerance for weather. When it gets really cold, we'll get blankets for them. Focus on the immediate problems, like Cardin spending all day with Storm tomorrow!

When she arrived at the field behind the earth barn, she found Ozpin waiting at Ragnar's feet. The Dragonmaster looked a little sheepish as she approached. "I can assure you, Miss Rose, that the matching of partners for tomorrow's exercise was entirely random. The only restrictions were that a person couldn't be partnered with a teammate's dragon, or a dragon of the same species as their partner."

"You know how Cardin is, sir!" Ruby protested. "Shouldn't people like him be left out of exercises like this?"

Ozpin let out a sigh. "It isn't that simple, Miss Rose. Believe me, I've been monitoring Mister Winchester closely. If it was only up to me, Cardin and Mudslide would be undergoing severe counseling instead of their regular classes." He folded his hands. "However, I do not think Storm will be in any danger. She will only be in his care for a day, and I do not think he will do anything physical to her. I have not noticed any instances of him physically abusing Mudslide."

"So? Yelling and neglect can be just as bad, or worse!"

"I agree," Ozpin said frankly. "Unfortunately, there is almost no help available for a dragon who is being emotionally abused. If there isn't overwhelming physical evidence, the Council will do nothing."

"Why, though?"

Ozpin shook his head. "The law of Remnant is flawed, Miss Rose. That's all I can say. I have already asked Ragnar to explain things to Storm. Let's allow them to talk, then we can begin our lesson."

"Okay," Ruby muttered, though she was feeling wholly unsatisfied with how this talk had gone.

Ragnar cleared his throat and snorted pointedly at Storm, who chirped curiously and walked over. With a few huffs and growls, he explained that she would be with another Rider the following day, the one called Cardin.

Storm's fins flared out and she let out a howl of dismay. She hated that human! He was big and loud and mean and horrible! He was mean to Twiggy! Why would she be stuck with him? What did she do to deserve this.

Ragnar growled to silence her. He tossed his head once. It was an exercise to test the dragons and Riders, to see if they could work with others if necessary. He had no doubt that Storm could handle Cardin for a day. She would be back with Ruby afterward.

Storm warbled nervously. What if Cardin hit her?

Ragnar's eyes blazed. If Cardin hit her, Ragnar would personally seek him out and punish him. Secretly, he was glad that his partner couldn't understand dragon language.

Storm perked up at that. Seeing Ragnar scare Cardin would certainly be entertaining.

Ragnar bobbed his head, letting out a huff of laughter. Then, he gave her an extra bit of advice: Don't hate Mudslide too much, or any of the other CRDL dragons. Most of their bad behavior was because of their partners. Mudslide especially was suffering. It would be good for her to be with someone like Ruby, if only for a little while.

Storm snorted. Just as long as Ruby didn't like Mudslide better, she supposed that was okay.

Ragnar turned to Ozpin. "Sorm gud," he murmured.

"Thank you, Ragnar," Ozpin said, nodding his head before turning to Ruby. "Storm understands what's going to happen."

Ruby felt a slight loosening of the tense coil in her stomach. "Okay." She looked at Storm, who warbled softly at her. "Well, let's start our lesson with Penny."

Storm heard Penny's name and bobbed her head, looking around for the plate that held the nice metal voice. When Ozpin took it out of his pocket, she gladly padded over and lowered her head for him to place it on her brow. Was it just her, or were these humans getting smaller?

Penny booted up quickly. "Salutations. I am the Physical, Emotional, and Neurological Implant. Designated name: Penny. Rider recognized. Hello, Ruby."

"Hi, Penny!" Ruby greeted. "How are you?"

"I am well. My programming is functioning at full capacity, and there are no detected malfunctions." The light blinked yellow a few times, then turned back to green. "Scan complete. No abnormalities."

Ruby couldn't help but giggle. She knew that Penny didn't feel emotions, but it was cute to hear her answer in her own robotic way. "That's good to know." She looked at Ozpin. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Storm's understanding of language seems to be progressing well," Ozpin said. "Let's try for a more extended conversation."

"Sounds good." Ruby turned back to Storm. "Hi, Storm."

The light turned yellow as Penny read Storm's brainwaves. "Hi, Ruby. Ragnar told me he'd stomp on Cardin if I get hurt tomorrow."

Ozpin turned toward his dragon and folded his arms. "Is that true?"

Ragnar suddenly seemed very fascinated with the stars overhead.

Ruby smiled. "That was nice of him, though he's technically not allowed to do that."

Storm snorted. "Why not? Cardin's a bad human. You scold me when I'm bad."

"Yeah, but I don't stomp on you," Ruby pointed out. "Sadly, some people are immune to scolding."

Storm tilted her head, blinked a few times, then turned to Ozpin. "Ragnar's partner, can you help?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I'm already doing what I can, Storm. I hope to turn all of my students into worthy Dragon Riders, Team CRDL included. I will continue working toward that end."

Storm let out a long sigh, clearly unsatisfied. "Stomping on them sounds a lot easier." She turned to Ruby. "Who else will be switching dragons?"

"Everyone," Ruby replied.

"Who's getting the other mean ones?"

Ruby tried to remember. "I think Titan and Barracuda will be switching, along with Tornado and Ao Guang. Tank will be switching with Nimbus, but I'm not too worried about that. Dove isn't as bad as the others."

Storm growled softly. "Titan can handle anything, so he will be fine. If Ao Guang is hurt, I will be mad!"

"I don't think anyone will be hurt, Storm," Ruby assured her. "It'll only be for a day." A thought occurred to her. "Can you remember everything that happens tomorrow? If you can tell us how Cardin is, maybe we can figure out how to help him get better."

Ozpin nodded. "A good idea, Miss Rose," he murmured. "I hadn't even considered that when the matches came out."

Ragnar coughed loudly, giving his partner an incredulous look.

"Hush, Ragnar," Ozpin muttered before turning back to Ruby. "Do you wish to continue talking with Storm?"

"Yes!" Ruby looked up at her dragon. "Penny, are you doing okay?"

"Yes," Penny replied. Her voice had more of a monotone than when she was voicing Storm's thoughts. "There are no issues or abnormalities. Feel free to continue."

"Okay." Ruby sat down on the ground while Ragnar and Ozpin walked off toward the pasture. "So, are you getting along well with the others? I was a little worried about how well you, Fang, Specter, and Pit would get along back when you first hatched."

"Really?" Storm tilted her head. "I like them all. Fang can be mean, but he's mostly just grumpy. Pit can be bossy, but he says he'll keep us all safe. Specter overreacts a lot."

Ruby laughed. "That sounds pretty accurate. How about the other wind dragons?"

Storm let out a chirp. "Nimbus is the best! He has trouble seeing, though. I have to tell him where things are sometimes. Freya likes to sleep a lot, but she's nice."

It was slowly occurring to Ruby that she could easily find things out about the dragons that she and the others could only assume otherwise. She thought about the most prominent concerns in their group of friends concerning the dragons. "What about Zircon? Why is he so scared all the time?"

The light turned yellow and Storm took on a ponderous expression. "I think…" she eventually said. "I think he just is. He sees everything as being dangerous, and wants to be safe. Sage makes him feel safe, since he's big and strong. Zircon is bigger and stronger, so he isn't as scared now."

"Well, that's good to know. What about Huo?"

Storm rolled her eyes. "He's crazy. He wants to train Sun to be stronger, but never gives him a break. He's getting better, but he's still a complete grouch. Nymph doesn't know what to do with him."

"So, that's it!" Ruby smiled. That definitely made more sense than Huo just naturally hating everything. "He's like an angry drill sergeant. That's kinda funny."

Ozpin approached again. "We should probably end this. You may ask her one more question."

"Okay." Ruby thought for a moment. "What about Titan? What goes through his head?"

Storm tapped her foot and shook her head. "Don't know. Titan doesn't really like to talk much."

"Interesting." Even the dragons can't figure him out. I guess that should make Pyrrha feel better. She blinked. Wait. The others aren't allowed to know about Penny. Just my team…

"Anyway, that's all the talking we can do now," Ruby continued. "Be brave tomorrow, okay Storm?"

Storm nodded her head. "I will. If Cardin hits me, I'll bite him."

Ruby's eyes blazed. "If Cardin hits you, I'll bite him." Noticing Ozpin's look, she addressed Penny. "Thanks, Penny. Command: detach."

The light turned yellow. "Acknowledged." The metal withdrew and the plate dropped to the ground.

Ozpin picked it up, looking at it thoughtfully. "Storm seems to be progressing well. That she was willing to address me without prompting is encouraging." He turned to Ruby. "Miss Rose, I think it would be good to bring your teammates and their dragons when I call you for your next lesson."

"Really?"

"Yes. We may be able to start facilitating better communication throughout your team. The more willing Storm is to talk to multiple people, the better her impression will be when we have the unveiling at the Festival."

Ruby swallowed loudly. She kept forgetting that a public unveiling of Penny was part of this deal. "Will, uh, I need to do anything?"

"Just some basic exercises involving the implant," Ozpin assured her. "And we'll practice in advance, of course."

"That's good," Ruby sighed, though she still wasn't thrilled with the idea of being in front of so many people. Storm nudged her shoulder, and she gave her dragon a scratch under the chin. "I guess it's time to go to bed, huh Storm?"

Storm let out a long sigh, but didn't protest.

After the two were gone, Ozpin turned to Ragnar. "You're getting a little too feisty for your own good, you know that?"

Ragnar tossed his large head and stomped a foot.

"We need to show some dignity! Remember the position we're in."

Ragnar gave Ozpin a dry look and turned around so that his back was facing him.

Ozpin rolled his eyes. "Very mature." He couldn't help but chuckle. "Look at us. A couple of bickering old men."

Ragnar looked over his shoulder, his gray eyes glittering. "Ozzz. Calm."

Ozpin sighed. "Right as usual, my friend." He patted the dragon's leg as he looked at the sky. "Let's hope tomorrow goes smoothly."

Ragnar snorted loudly. He highly doubted that it would.

On the way back to Beacon, Ozpin got a message on his Scroll. He opened it to see an email from Lionheart that read: "One of our fire dragons can't stop breathing out smoke now that his powers are showing. That's nine total deformities in this year's clutch so far. This is getting worrying."

Ozpin frowned as he typed a reply. "The cross-eyed wind dragon crashed due to his eyesight. One of the fire dragons shows no sign of fire powers. I'm not sure whether to count him as a deformed one yet."

"Has Ironwood said anything?" Lionheart asked.

"If any of his students' dragons are deformed, he's keeping quiet about it," Ozpin admitted. Other than discussing the P.E.N.I. unit, Ironwood hadn't reached out to Ozpin at all during the school year.

There was a pause before he got a response: "How many did he end up killing before the bonding?"

Ozpin sighed. "Too many, I'm sure. Far too many." There wasn't any word from Shade. Then again, if there was a definite increase in fighting dragons in the pits in the next few months, that would be all the proof Ozpin needed.

He placed his Scroll in his pocket, mentally counting out the eight freshman dragons in Beacon that he knew were somehow deformed. That didn't even count the ones that hadn't revealed themselves as having issues yet, or the ones with significant behavioral problems, which could very well count.

This was why he knew that a sense of togetherness was needed between the dragons and Riders, why he kept trying to help Cardin, why he was so determined to successfully use "Penny" to prove a dragon's worthiness to live and create a way to overcome shortcomings: Something was very wrong with all of the dragonries, and he could already feel the Council's knife on the throats of far too many innocent, imperfect dragons.

And the plot thickens. The next four chapters will focus on the switching of the dragons, so stay tuned for many shenanigans.

If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

For writing tips, prompts, top 10 lists, and fandom rants from yours truly, check out my blog at soloragoldsun dot wordpress dot com.

Peace out!