RAWR, everybody! Today, I'm giving you a nice chapter because I'm a nice writer who types nice things for my readers and does NOT drink their tears for breakfast every morning.

Enjoy!

Jaune was walking through one of the stone hallways that made up one of the many earth barns of Beacon. The floor was dirt, except for the stalls, which had wooden floors covered with sweet-smelling alfalfa. Earth dragons watched lazily as the young Rider passed them. A few sniffed him, noted the smell of a young earth dragon, and closed their eyes, anticipating the arrival of several youngsters in the coming week.

There were several empty stalls, which Jaune looked at carefully. He checked the dragons near these stalls, and was relieved to find that most of them had good temperaments. That's good. No one looks like they'll bully Twiggy.

He didn't think Twiggy would be assigned to a stall close to Mudslide, either. He had specifically asked Ozpin about it, after all.

"Jaune?" a familiar voice called from the entrance. "Are you here?"

"Hey, Pyrrha!" Jaune replied. "Just scoping out Twiggy's future home."

"Well, you're in the wrong building," Pyrrha remarked as she walked over. "Twiggy's stall is in the next barn."

"How do you know?"

"The dragons' names are written next to the stall. See?" She pointed toward a nearby stall, which held a red-brown earth dragon with gentle brown eyes.

Jaune squinted, then saw a wooden name plate that had "Mocha" written on it. "Oh. How'd you catch that? It's really dark in here."

"Wranglers need good eyesight," Pyrrha said, her eyes glinting with amusement. "She's in a stall next to Zircon, and Mudslide is in a completely different building."

Jaune immediately relaxed. "That's all I needed to know. Have you checked out the fire stable yet?"

"I was just on my way there now."

The two walked in comfortable silence down the path to the barren, grass-less area around the stables for the fire dragons. As they drew closer, they saw several pairs of brightly-colored or smoky dragons battling each other. Jaune jumped back as an adult with sulfur-yellow scales spotted with a poisonous orange color was thrown to the ground a few yards away by a towering, gray-colored beast.

"I guess they gotta let out that pent-up aggression somehow," he muttered.

"I hope Titan will be able to handle it." Pyrrha winced when a maroon and black dragon breathed a stream of fire at its opponent. "He still hasn't shown any sign of having fire abilities."

"He'll be fine," Jaune assured her. "He's a fighter, just like his partner."

Pyrrha smiled, her cheeks flushing a little. "True. And I'm sure Huo and Fang will back him up if anyone tries picking on him."

They went through the barns, eventually finding Titan's stall. On its right was an empty stall of an older dragon named Magma. On its left was Tank's future stall.

"A few months ago, I would have been very concerned," Pyrrha admitted. "But I honestly don't think we need to worry about anyone but Cardin and Mudslide giving us trouble anymore."

"You think?" Jaune asked. "I mean, Dove and Tank I get, and Sky seems to have woken up a bit after Tornado's attack. I can see him taking more control of him if the Council…well…" He trailed off. "But do you really think Russel and Barracuda are going to stop being jerks?"

"After Cardin's earlier behavior, definitely," Pyrrha said. "Russel loves his dragon, and that at least gives him a good starting point. Since he's distancing himself from Cardin, I think he'll become a bit more compassionate over time."

"Let's hope." Jaune breathed a sigh. "I still feel bad for Mudslide and Tornado, though."

"So do I, but Ozpin is their best hope right now." Pyrrha placed a gentle hand on Jaune's arm. "Why don't we take Twiggy and Titan for a walk?"

"Sounds good to me! They're probably getting antsy now that they've almost outgrown their stalls."

Sure enough, Twiggy nearly knocked down the door when Jaune opened it a few minutes later. She spun around in the snow, rolling on her back happily. "Ugh, finally! I need to run! It feels like we haven't really gotten to play in weeks!"

Titan was much calmer, though he walked out at a very brisk pace. "I'm glad all the extra humans and dragons went home. Much less noise," he commented. "Though, I still wish I could have kept the one little Jaune girl."

"Maybe Pyrrha can get you a dog," Twiggy suggested. "I think that's what that little furry thing Ruby and Yang's dad brought was called."

"Too small. I wouldn't want to step on it by mistake."

Jaune kissed Twiggy's snout. "Hey, Twiggy. How's my best girl today?"

Twiggy purred, rubbing her head against Jaune's arm. Her purrs grew louder when Jaune started scratching her head just behind where her horns were starting to come in.

Pyrrha gently stroked Titan's muzzle. "Hello, Titan. Happy the holidays are over?"

Titan barked once, licking Pyrrha's cheek before looking hopefully toward the field.

Obligingly, the humans led their dragons toward the frost-coated grass, which Twiggy in particular crunched underfoot with relish. She ran ahead, bounding in great leaps, happy to finally have some room and time with just Jaune, Pyrrha, and her brother.

Jaune watched his dragon with a soft smile, feeling his love for the runty creature fill him anew as he looked at her bright silver eyes, which shined even more than the shimmering trees. "I'm glad my family liked her," he muttered to Pyrrha. "For the most part, anyway."

"Silvia will get over her fears," Pyrrha assured him. "She's still young. A lot of things change as you grow up."

"I hope…" Jaune hesitated. "Hey, Titan. Why don't you make sure Twiggy doesn't trip?"

Titan gave Jaune a puzzled look. Twiggy didn't trip over things that much anymore. Then, he noticed Jaune shifting closer to Pyrrha and understood. With a soft yip, he bounded over to Twiggy, playfully nudging her as he ran past.

"I don't want to upset them," Jaune said, lowering his voice even more as he looked fully at Pyrrha. "Dad's worried about Twiggy, Pyrrha. He thinks that her being a good dragon won't be enough for her to pass as a fighting dragon. What if the Council sees her when they come to inspect Tornado? What if they start really looking at all the freshman dragons?"

Pyrrha nodded slowly. "That has been worrying me." Just off the top of her head, she could think of the fireless Titan, Ao Guang with his closed gills, Freya's lethargy, Nimbus's eyes, Zircon's skittishness, and Barracuda's webless feet. Who knew how many other dragons there were with problems? "But, I'm sure they wouldn't have a mass culling. Imagine the bad publicity." She shuddered a little with disgust, hating that publicity was likely going to be the biggest deciding point, not the lives of so many dragons.

"Or, they might decide it's a better investment to just start everyone over." The thought made Jaune sick, but it was definitely a possibility. After learning about the purge of the hybrid elementals, it was hard to think that the Council had anything remotely resembling mercy.

"Ozpin won't let that happen," Pyrrha assured him. "I know how much he loves the dragons here."

"Do you think he'll stop them from killing Tornado, then?"

"I don't know if he can," Pyrrha admitted. "I was reading up on what happens when a dragonry dragon is culled, and there's a whole process involved. The dragon is muzzled and tranquilized, all the stables are locked, particularly the ones holding the professors' dragons, and the dragon is placed in a stall equipped with a lock with a special code."

Jaune gaped. "All that just to kill one dragon?" Why would anyone go to that much effort just to kill something that didn't deserve death in the first place?

"It didn't used to be that way, but there were several instances of dragons and Riders trying to free the dragon to be culled. There was one story I read about a student whose sister's dragon was set to be culled. They actually were able to escape, only to be shot down by police outside the dragonry. The girl, her dragon, and the boy's dragon were all killed."

"That's horrible," Jaune gasped. "What happened to the boy?"

"Escaped. No one knows where he is now. There was another story of a professor's dragon who acted on its own to try and save a student's dragon. Both ended up dead." Pyrrha watched her own dragon, brows furrowed. "I would hope that Ozpin would find a way to help his students if the Council decided on a mass culling, but I know he can't stop them if they decide to just kill one dragon."

"If he can't stop them from killing one dragon," Jaune reasoned. "He probably won't be able to stop a mass culling. They'd put up even more security measures for something like that."

Pyrrha's shoulders slumped. "Then, what can we do?"

"Start planning now," Jaune said. "And, if it looks like the Council is going to start sniffing around, we shouldn't wait for them to find something."

"Go rogue, then?" Pyrrha paled. "Before we've even learned how to ride?"

Jaune shrugged, even as he balked at how hopeless it sounded. "Would you do any less for Titan?"

Pyrrha looked at Titan, who was rolling on his back, acting as if Twiggy had successfully pinned him to the ground. "I'd do anything for him." She turned to Jaune. "But, maybe we're panicking too much, too soon. The Council may inspect Tornado, decide his outburst was a fluke, and that his attitude will actually be beneficial for a fighting dragon. They may let him live, and leave on the same day."

"Yeah." Jaune felt a flicker of hope in response to Pyrrha's certainty. "Maybe you're right. Sorry if I was too dramatic."

"It's understandable," Pyrrha assured him. "We all love our dragons, and want to make sure they're safe."

"True." Jaune let out a laugh when he saw Titan tickling Twiggy with the tip of his tail. Twiggy was rolling on the ground, letting out loud huffs of laughter. "It's funny. Ever since she hatched, everything about my life has revolved around her. It hasn't even been a year, but I already can't imagine things being any different. I can't imagine not having her around."

"You're a true Dragon Rider," Pyrrha said, feeling deeply proud of her teammate's devotion. "The professors' dragons knew that when you first took the sight test."

Jaune thought back to that fateful day, when he had stood in the arena under the gaze of four mighty dragons. It had been like being exposed fully under the harshest of lights, lights that could somehow see through a person's skin, muscles, and bones. Nothing could have possibly come close to being as terrifying as those four dragons. Now, of course, those dragons were just as known and loved by Jaune as the professors who rode them.

"I just hope they were right," he sighed. "I hope I can be good enough."

Pyrrha reached out, gently taking Jaune's gloved hand in hers. "If it helps, you're the finest Rider I've ever met."

Jaune's cheeks warmed and he glanced to the side, though he didn't move his hand away. "Okay, now you're definitely lying to make me feel better."

Pyrrha squeezed his hand a little tighter, her eyes now hard and serious. "I never lie, Jaune."

"I know. I just…"

"Is the idea of you being a great Rider so hard to believe?"

Jaune shrugged as he looked back at her. He weaved his fingers through hers, taking some comfort in her firm grip. "I just have a lot to live up to, and there are so many things that could go wrong."

"Don't think about it," Pyrrha urged. "Just face each problem as it comes. If you dwell on every bad thing that could possibly happen, you'll drive yourself insane."

"You're right." Jaune allowed his smile to return. "You know, I'm really glad we're teammates. I'd probably be a wreck without you."

"Give yourself a little more credit," Pyrrha said, even as her cheeks flushed. "I'm glad too." She noticed that the dragons had stopped playing and were curled up on the ground. "Looks like they finally wore themselves out."

The two walked over, and Titan stretched out, inviting them to sit with their backs against his side. Once they were settled in, Twiggy padded over and placed her head on their laps. She was big enough now for a third of her head to be not on either of their laps.

Jaune stroked her brow, grunting a little at how heavy she was. "You are definitely not a lap dragon anymore!"

Twiggy chirped, not moving her head at all.

"Well, we're going to lose all feeling in our legs," Jaune sighed. "Sorry, Pyrrha. We'll have to call the others to carry us inside."

"I don't mind." Pyrrha gave Twiggy's snout a gentle pat as she listened to Titan's breathing. She shifted to get a bit more comfortable, pressing her side against Jaune's in the process. It was so easy to just rest her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt his head come to a rest on top of hers.

They lay there for a while, the combined warmth of their dragons lulling them into a half-sleep despite the surrounding cold. Jaune nodded off at one point, drowsily nuzzling his cheek against the top of Pyrrha's head.

Eventually, Titan and Twiggy found themselves wanting their warm stalls, and stirred a bit to wake their Riders. Both humans groaned, stretching a little before trying to get feeling back in their legs.

Jaune glanced down at Pyrrha, and felt his heart thud at the sight of her flushed face and lazy smile. Later, he would blame his sleep-addled brain for what he said then. "Hey, Pyrrha? Can I kiss you?"

Pyrrha blinked, her own sleepy mind needing a bit more time to process what Jaune had just said. Then, her smile widened, and she nodded, closing her eyes.

Jaune leaned in, softly pressing his lips to hers, bringing one arm up to pull her just a little closer. There were no fireworks going off in his brain, no huge shock to his system. Honestly, with how close they'd come since their dragons hatched, with how easily they had snuggled together throughout the holidays, with how they could talk to each other about basically anything and never get bored, this felt like the natural next step. He felt her lips moving against his and smiled.

Pyrrha pressed eagerly against Jaune's chest, gladly returning his kiss with a gentle but firm response. In that moment, with the sound of their rumbling dragons surrounding them, nothing could go wrong.

When they pulled away, they looked at each other's flushed faces for a moment. Then, their attentions were drawn away by their dragons, who were staring openly at them. Twiggy's eyes were shining with excitement and Titan bobbed his head once, letting out a warble. Their tails thumped on the ground.

Jaune gaped, then burst out laughing. "Oh, Dust! Pyrrha, I think our dragons have been shipping us!"

Pyrrha stared at the excited dragons before letting out a laugh when Twiggy jumped up and started bouncing in a circle. "It would seem so."

Both teammates were in high spirits as they led their excited dragons back to their stalls. For the time being, it felt as if nothing could go wrong, as if the fear and anger of the past few days were just a bad dream that would rapidly fade away with the passage of time.

See that? Arkos! Aren't I such a nice person? Heh… *hides under a rock* I'll just be here next Tuesday. Just chilling, you know. Under this safe rock.

If you like what you see and want to join an awesome fan community while also earning sweet rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!