Happy Dragon Tuesday, everyone! Quick announcement: I got a new job that involves me taking the bus on Tuesdays and weekends, and I won't get back until the evening, so updates of this fic will be a bit later in the day from now on. Thanks for understanding!

Today's dragon of the week is Fafnir from Norse mythology. Son of the dwarf king Hreidmar, Fafnir turned into a poison-breathing dragon when he killed his father and stole a cursed horde of treasure. He is eventually slain by the warrior Sigurd, who kills him by lying in a trench by a stream and ambushing him from below. As he dies, Fafnir warns about the curse on the gold. Sigurd, of course, doesn't listen and takes the horde anyway.

This week, we get to see how the fire dragons do with the switch. Enjoy!

Okay, Scarlet thought as he approached Tank's stall. You're taking care of a CRDL dragon. Nothing to worry about. This is supposed to be the chill one. Just go in and say hello.

Opening the door, he peered in. The bronze fire dragon was dozing in a patch of sunlight near a window. His face, thinner than an earth dragon's but fuller than a wind dragon's, was the epitome of peace. One of his forepaws or the tip of his tail occasionally twitched, but that was it.

Scarlet felt himself relaxing. This isn't so bad. "Hey," he called gently. "Tank?"

Tank groaned, shaking himself. He returned to wakefulness quicker than usual, confused at the presence of an unfamiliar voice. He froze when he saw the stranger at the door. Where was his partner? Where was Dove? His ears twitched and he let out a warning growl.

"Whoa, easy," Scarlet soothed, taking a step forward. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm your temporary partner for the day. Doesn't that sound cool?"

Tank crouched down, barking a sharper warning, his hackles rising like a cat's.

"Okay…" Scarlet rubbed at the back of his neck. How do I do this?! "Uh, easy. Forward?"

Tank snarled, tossing his head and digging his claws into the ground. Why was this person trying to order him? What was going on?

He's not giving any ground… Scarlet slowly walked closer. "Easy, Tank. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm…uh…Dove's friend?"

Tank snorted. "Not hurt." "Friend." His partner's name… Slowly, he edged closer, ready to bite if necessary.

Scarlet gulped loudly as he held out his hand for the dragon to sniff. He watched as the horse-sized beast bent down, inhaled loudly, then let out a breath. "See? I'm a friend."

Tank tilted his head, thinking carefully about this. There wasn't a sense of overwhelming fear going around the stalls, just confusion. He had overheard some of the other dragons talking about switching partners. Perhaps that's what this was. Dove wouldn't abandon him, so this was clearly temporary. Deciding that he'd might as well go along with this, Tank gently nudged Scarlet's hand once before going over to his food and water dish and giving his temporary partner a pointed look.

Scarlet let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. Let's get you your breakfast!"

The two later exited the stall just as an angry roar echoed from the direction of the Team SSSN dragon stalls. They moved closer to see a very agitated Blake standing outside of Huo's stall.

"Now, don't be a baby!" Blake snapped. "Come out here right now!"

Huo was in a defensive position inside his stall, tossing his head and roaring angrily. He wasn't doing this! What reason did he have to listen to this person?

Blake shook her head helplessly. Noticing Scarlet, she waved him over. "Please tell me you can help me with this."

"You might just have to be more forceful," Scarlet said with a shrug. "He doesn't really listen to anyone, unless it's Sun. He's stopped biting, so maybe you could use a halter."

Tank whimpered when he saw the angry fire dragon, backing away a few steps. He knew that other dragons didn't like his siblings and, by extension, him. He didn't need to be on the receiving end of Huo's fangs!

Blake found Huo's halter and approached. The dragon snapped at her, hissing loudly. She put her hands on her hips. "You stop that!"

Huo growled again. He wasn't doing this.

Blake walked over and bopped his nose sharply, quickly putting on the halter while Huo processed the bop with a stunned look.

Once Huo recovered, he strongly considered biting the Faunus. She deserved it for trying to order him. Why wasn't she with the weird, freckled earth dragon? He opened his mouth, then paused. His teeth were getting pretty big. If he bit her, he would likely take off a chunk of her arm or leg.

This person was a friend of Sun's. He knew that. Sun certainly spoke her name often enough. Maybe he shouldn't hurt her. Slowly, he closed his mouth and let out a disgruntled sigh. If he had no choice, he'd do this, but he wasn't going to like it. And if anyone made him angry… Chomp!

Scarlet looked over his shoulder to see Tank standing several feet away. "Normally, I'd say not to be afraid, but I think you're being pretty smart right now."

He found Sage in Fang's stall, trying to coax the moody dragon outside. Scarlet couldn't help but laugh at what he saw: Fang had flopped onto the ground and was playing dead, refusing to budge. Poor Sage was trying to drag him to the door.

"Having difficulties, Sage?" Scarlet called in.

Sage groaned. "Very funny." He looked over his friend's shoulder. "Seems like you had no trouble with Tank."

Scarlet smiled at the fire dragon. "He's not aggressive like the other CRDL dragons. He seems pretty smart too. There's this look in his eyes, you know?"

"I know," Sage said. "I've seen that look in Nymph's eyes. Maybe Tank will end up being the alpha after all."

"I don't know. Pyrrha mentioned that Tornado and Barracuda bully him." Scarlet looked at Fang, who was still not moving. "Any ideas for Fang?"

"Do you know where we can find a forklift?" Sage asked glumly.

Eventually, with several apples and a great deal of coaxing, Sage managed to get Fang out of the stall.

Fang followed after Sage, grumbling and dragging his feet with every step. Where was Yang? Why was he stuck with the skittish idiot's human? He stopped dead in his tracks to yawn, taking his time before starting to walk again. He noticed Tank out of the corner of his eye, and growled quietly.

Tank ducked his head. He didn't want any trouble. He never wanted any trouble.

Fang snorted. Why couldn't Tank control his siblings, if that was the case?

Tank sighed. He didn't want trouble with his siblings either.

Fang tossed his head. What a coward!

Tank stared at the ground, not attempting to correct the other fire dragon. He wasn't wrong, after all.

At the fire arena, Scarlet noticed Russel standing nearby with a very surly Titan at his side. They were staring determinedly ahead, like two people who didn't like each other, but knew to act civil while in public.

Huo noticed this and made a noise of disgust in his throat. How could Titan be so calm? If he had gotten one of those jerks, he would have gladly bitten their heads off.

Professor Port was standing next to Pepper, surveying the class with an amused quirk to his brows. "I take it there was some trouble getting your temporary dragons to obey you." In response to the resounding groan from the students, he let out a booming laugh. "Ha! Now, you have an idea on what things were like for the Fire Riders from the beginning. Worry not. Now that the dragons are more mellow, the chances of you getting mauled are comparatively low."

There was much nervous muttering in response to this.

"Now, then. We won't be practicing with their fire powers, since that would be incredibly dangerous for the untrained. The first few lessons for Fire Riders consist of understanding their dragon's temperaments and what makes them tick. So, I would like you to walk around the arena. Jog if you wish. Sit down with your dragons and get to know them better." He waved his hands. "Get going."

Scarlet looked at Tank before clicking his tongue and starting to walk around the edge of the arena. Tank followed, trailing behind a few feet, still looking unsure of this whole situation. When Huo growled nearby, however, he hurried to Scarlet's side.

"Easy, boy," Scarlet muttered, patting the dragon's bronze shoulder. "Huo's not as scary as he pretends to be."

Tank's ear flicked. He highly doubted that.

Blake walked with a few feet between her and Huo, mostly because the fire dragon had decided to heat up his scales. This is definitely passive-aggressive behavior, she thought. At least Sun has some control over him now.

Sun had been spending a lot of time with her lately. Her coming clean about being a Faunus almost certainly had something to do with that. Blake honestly wasn't sure how she felt about this new behavior. On one hand, it was nice that she could talk about certain things with a fellow Faunus who would simply understand those subjects better. On the other, she didn't like the idea of anyone treating her differently due to her species, even if that difference was a positive one. She hoped that Sun was just being supportive, and wasn't hoping for anything more.

Besides, she thought, smiling a little to herself. I wouldn't want to break poor Neptune's heart, would I?

"Is your partner really so oblivious?" she muttered aloud to Huo. "You noticed how Neptune feels about him, right?"

Huo rolled his eyes and groaned. It was bad enough that his sister's partner was a wimp, but he always made dopey moon-eyes when around Sun. Of course Huo had noticed that! Who wouldn't notice besides his moron of a partner? Well, he supposed that his brothers' moron partners didn't know either. His moron brothers might not have noticed… Why was Huo stuck with all these morons, again?

Blake laughed at how purely human Huo's expression was. "I'll take that as a yes."

Sage was walking at an incredibly slow pace, due to Fang's continued insistence on dragging his paws with every step. "You are a very stubborn dragon," he murmured.

Fang snorted proudly. Of course he was! He had a reputation. He couldn't just trot around like a puppy after anyone. People would start to get ideas. Yang had worked for his respect, after all.

They walked past Russel, who was sitting on a bench and looking at Titan, who was lying calmly on the ground. "Pretty dull, aren't you?" the Water Rider was saying as Sage came into earshot. "If it weren't for the scales, I'd think you were a scrawny earth dragon."

Titan huffed, flicking an ear and rolling his eyes. This human was an idiot, but he seemed harmless enough. When would he be able to be with Pyrrha again? More importantly, which of his friends were with the other members of Team CRDL? He hoped that Twiggy wasn't with Mudslide's awful owner.

"Not gonna do anything?" Russel grumbled. "Whatever." After a moment, he reached into his bag, took out an apple, and let it drop to the ground near Titan's mouth.

Sage continued down the path with Fang, feeling a little stunned. In those few seconds, he had detected an overwhelming sense of grumpiness and even aggravation from Russel. However, the Water Rider didn't seem to have any ill will toward Titan, despite the fact that the fire dragon had won in several fights when Team CRDL had decided to mess with the others. His manner was also nothing like Cardin's grinning cruelty.

Maybe…there is some hope for the rest of that team, Sage thought to himself as he paused yet again to wait for the annoyingly-slow Fang to catch up. "You really aren't helping anyone by doing that," he pointed out.

Fang stuck out his tongue, a gesture he had learned from Yang.

Sage, despite his agitation, had to laugh at that.

He stopped by Zircon's stall just before lunch. The skittish earth dragon rushed up to his partner, nuzzling his front while whimpering.

"Good boy, Zircon. You're doing well. Things will be back to normal tomorrow," Sage promised, stroking his dragon's brow.

Zircon whimpered. He was okay with Yang, but he really didn't like all this change. "Normal." "Tomorrow." He just needed to wait a bit longer. He wished he could take Sage in his talons and keep him in the stall forever. His partner wouldn't like that, though. So, reluctantly, he backed away and let Sage go, hoping that the day would end soon. When the door closed, he bit his tongue to keep from letting out an alarmed squawk.

He could tell that Huo and Nymph were starting to get annoyed with how afraid he always was. He couldn't help it, though. He couldn't stop seeing all of the dangerous possibilities of the next few seconds. He had to make sure Sage was safe, didn't he? That was his job. That was why he was alive. Huo and Nymph protected their partners in their own ways, so what was wrong with his method?

One of these days, his paranoia would save everyone's lives. He was sure of it. Until then, he'd put up with Sage's sad sighs, Huo's scathing glares, and Nymph's disappointed glances. He would. At least Nimbus never scolded him. He just ran in circles and played and chirped about flying. He was a simple dragon. Zircon was grateful for that, because he was quite simple himself.

After settling in the fire dragons and visiting their own dragons, Scarlet, Sage, and Blake walked to lunch together. They approached the table shared by Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN, Blake sitting near Sun and Yang while Scarlet sat near the end of the table with Sage.

"Hello, Neptune," Sage said to his teammate, who was sitting on his other side. "How has Freya been?"

"Huh?" Neptune looked away from Sun, who had immediately started chatting with Blake as soon as she sat down. "Oh, fine. She seems pretty sleepy all the time, though." He looked toward Nora. "Is that normal?"

Nora rolled her eyes. "Yep. She's a lazy girl, for sure. I can't even do the 'my dragon ate my homework' lie, because no one would believe she'd take the time to chew up paper!"

"So, how's my little brat been?" Yang asked.

Sage rolled his eyes. "Brat is right. He walks as slow as he can everywhere."

"Just give him a good tug on the rope," Yang advised. "He'll speed up. Any tips on getting Zircon to stop freaking out?"

"Have you been talking in his ear? He likes that."

"Yeah, that has helped a bit."

Scarlet was looking at the other tables, frowning when he saw Ruby walking straight toward Cardin. "This could be trouble," he muttered.

The others followed his gaze. Yang almost got up, only to be stopped by Blake. "Wait," she urged. "Let's see how Ruby deals with it."

They watched intently, growing tense as the exchange seemed to grow more and more heated. Finally, they heard Ruby loudly saying: "Is that a threat, Cardin? Because that sounds a lot like a threat!"

Of course, a team of four earth dragons couldn't have stopped Yang at that point. She stood up and strode over, her eyes turning that unsettling red color.

"Is it normal for eyes to do that?" Scarlet wondered. "Is it because the anger makes the blood vessels pop?"

"Yang would probably have some eye troubles if that was the case," Sage replied, keeping his eye on Team CRDL, ready to go over if he needed to. "Hazel eyes can change color depending on what's being worn. Maybe some eyes react to emotional stimuli."

Everyone relaxed when Cardin, Russel, and Sky retreated. When Dove remained and Pyrrha ended up inviting him over, no one was sure quite what to make of that. Dove approached the table, hesitating. Discomfort and nervousness were written plainly all over his face.

Jeez, this is painful. "Hey, Dove," Scarlet said. "You can sit here. How's Nimbus been treating you?"

Dove's shoulders slumped with relief as he sat down at the end of the table next to Scarlet. He couldn't help but clench his hands together in a nervous gesture. "Um, fine. Are his eyes always like that, though?"

"I'm afraid so," Scarlet sighed. "It gives him some issues, which sucks since he could be the best flier out of all the wind dragons."

"His wings do look pretty strong," Dove muttered. "He was a bit confused when I got him from the stall, but calmed down when we got to the arena."

"He's pretty easygoing. Tank was okay, once I calmed him down. He seems pretty smart."

Dove looked up at this. "You noticed? He always seems to be analyzing everything. Sometimes, I think he's smarter than me. Er…most of the time, actually."

"How was Titan?" Pyrrha asked. "I checked on him before lunch, and he seemed fine. Was Russel being nice to him?"

"Actually," Sage said. "I saw him giving Titan an apple during class. I guess he doesn't like bullying other dragons directly."

"Yeah," Scarlet snorted. "He just likes setting his dragon on others."

"He doesn't know how to stop," Dove muttered, then froze as the others seated near him turned to look at him. "I mean…"

"Does he want to stop?" Neptune asked. "Because, that would be really great. It'd make things a lot easier for many of us, actually."

"I…" Dove looked around, as if he was half wondering if one of his teammates would pop out of the wall to beat him down for his traitorous behavior. "I grew up with them. They've always been like that. I think they're so used to being that way, they don't know how to change."

"What about you?" Scarlet asked.

Dove shook his head. "I'm just a toady. I latched onto them so I wouldn't get beat up, and we've been…friends ever since."

"That doesn't sound like a very friendly arrangement," Sage noted.

Dove shrugged. "I guess I don't know how to stop either."

After evening classes, Scarlet followed Sage back to their dorms. He was still thinking about Dove. "It's pretty sad, when you think about it," he said. "Dove could be a nice guy if he got away from Team CRDL."

"Well, training solo is an option," Sage said. "Maybe that'll be his chance." He looked at his friend with a smile. "You look tired."

Scarlet let out an exaggerated yawn. "I am. Carry me?"

Sage rolled his eyes. "Are you ever going to give up on that?"

"Nope!" Scarlet chirped, grinning brightly. "Never!"

Honestly, the more I get into the dragons' personalities, the more fun I have! Question for my readers: As the dragons get older, their thoughts are going to become more complex. Would you prefer it if I keep framing the dragon conversations as I've been doing, or should I start having actual dialogue between them? Thanks!

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!