RAWR, everybody! Dragon Tuesday is here again, and it's currently hotter than a fire dragon's scales where I live. Seriously. I'm currently wearing a wet towel around my neck so that I don't overheat. Air conditioning is a wonderful thing, folks. Appreciate it if you have it.

Anyway, enjoy!

During the Festival, the nights never became truly dark, due to the several parties being thrown throughout Haven. Still, a single moving shadow was even less likely to be noticed than it would be on an ordinary, darker night. Everyone was too preoccupied with buying this or that accessory, eating yet another ice cream cone or funnel cake, or poring over the shiny, new programs that detailed what all would be happening during the week.

Ilia had little trouble making her way past the dozy night guards and "Restricted" signs to where the various news stations were. She went from system to system, passing her Scroll over each computer. A dim picture of a black chess piece was visible on her mostly-darkened screen. She rolled her eyes as she looked at it. Of course, she would use the queen. What an egomaniac.

Still, she was getting results. Adam had contacted Ilia just before the arrival of the other schools at the Festival, informing her that the White Fang had its first hybrid. All they had to do was keep playing nice until they had just a few more and were strong enough to break away from Cinder and pursue the goals they were meant to be taking care of.

Or, maybe they would stick with Cinder until after she overthrew the Council, and then overthrow her right afterward. Either way would work, honestly.

Once she had scanned all the information she needed, she crept back toward the exit. One of the guards stretched and yawned, and she pressed against the wall, her skin and hair melding with the gray wall. Her stealth outfit, which was designed to look like dappled shadows, made her practically invisible.

After a minute of stillness, she continued on her way, sneaking away from the restricted area and back toward the school. She could have brought casual clothes to make the walk back to school easier. No one would question someone her age walking around the stalls. Still, she didn't want to talk to anyone, and this was good practice.

She didn't stop with her camouflaging until she was right outside Justice's stall. The fire dragon shifted on his bedding. He had heard her come in. Clever boy.

Slipping into the stall, Ilia placed a hand on her dragon's leg, and was met with an accusing glare from his red-orange eyes. "I know," she murmured. "I know I haven't taken you down to the Festival like I promised. Things have changed, though."

Justice growled, turning away again. Rudder and Jade got to go. Why couldn't I? I can handle the stupid humans if they try anything.

"Listen," Ilia urged. "Someone is here, someone who defected from the White Fang. If she sees me, our plan will be jeopardized."

Again, with this plan, Justice thought, his ears twitching with irritation. Why can't we just kill the humans and be done with it? No need for Faunus and humans to be equal if there aren't any humans. Then, I could go to the Festival in peace!

He didn't really mean that, of course. He hated humans, because Ilia had told him how bad they were, and he would gladly maul them if necessary, but he had yet to meet one he wanted to kill.

He didn't even want to kill his siblings' Riders, even though doing so would finally allow him to talk to his siblings properly. If they didn't have humans to report to, he wouldn't have to hide from them. But he couldn't kill the Riders. His siblings would never forgive him for that. He knew that much.

Ilia pressed herself against Justice's side. "I had to withdraw us from the contests too."

At this, the fire dragon let out an enraged roar, moving away from his Rider so that she fell on the floor. "Are you kidding me?! Don't I get to do anything?!"

"I'm sorry!" Ilia groaned as she stood up, suppressing the desperation that tried to creep into her voice. She couldn't show too much vulnerability, or Justice would sense it, would take advantage of it, and try to get her to change her mind. "I'm sorry, Justice. We need to make sacrifices now, so that things will be better for both of us later on. It'll be worth it. I promise."

Justice didn't look at her. He just glared at the ground sullenly.

Ilia sighed. "Fine. I'll drop by tomorrow." Without another word, she left.

Justice placed his head on his paws. He wanted to talk to someone, but there was no one to talk to. At Ilia's insistence, he had kept his distance from the other dragons. Why was that required for this "greater good" she was always talking about?

He let out a long, smoking sigh before getting up and trudging outside. He noticed a few new fire dragons milling around the scorched exterior of the fire stable. The foreigners. He watched them thoughtfully. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay to talk to one of them.

When he moved closer to one, however, he realized that he had no idea what to say and stopped short. The larger dragon turned its mighty head in his direction, fixing him with a blazing, orange stare.

"Got something to say, hatchling?" the dragon rumbled in a deep bass voice.

Justice suppressed a shiver, instead standing up straight and trying to show the pride he was supposed to feel as a dragon fighting for a mighty, if secret, cause. "My name is Justice, not hatchling. What's your name?"

"Java," the older fire dragon replied. He bent down to get a closer look at Justice. "Hm. You look fit. Are you gonna be in any if the competitions?"

"Um…" Justice didn't want to say no and lose Java's interest. "Maybe?"

"Maybe?" Java snorted. "That's not much of an answer."

"My Rider is…sick," Justice lied quickly. "She got sick right when everyone started showing up." A slight growl entered his voice. Scared sick, more like it. What can one person she used to know do? "I wish she'd deal with it better. It's not that bad."

Java's expression became very stern then. "It's no good competing if you aren't both at the top of your game. And you shouldn't think badly of your Rider. They come first, after all."

"I know," Justice grumbled. It seemed that all he ever did was put Ilia's commands first.

"Don't worry," Java continued, his voice becoming less harsh. "The first-year competitions don't really mean much, anyway. Mostly beauty contests and basic stuff you already do in class, or so I've heard. The real fun starts in your second year."

"Yeah?" Justice perked up a little.

"Yeah." Java gently cuffed the younger dragon. "So, don't dwell on it too much. I'd better rest up for tomorrow. Hope your Rider gets better."

"Thanks." Justice watched the second-year dragon return to the guest stalls and let out a sigh. He wasn't tired at all, and he wouldn't be competing tomorrow. What could he do?

That ugly, sickly feeling of anger at his Rider hadn't lessened. In fact, it was deepening and focusing until one very clear wish was in his mind: He wanted to rebel, if only a little. He would go see one of his siblings tonight!

After a moment's consideration, he decided on Rudder. The water dragon wasn't very talkative or responsive, so he likely wouldn't reveal anything.

Even though he was allowed to roam, Justice couldn't help feeling a little guilty and nervous as he made his way to the water stables. What if someone saw him? No one else knows of Ilia's orders, idiot. As far as they know, you're a regular dragon visiting his brother.

He found Rudder inside the third barn, and gently nudged him awake. The ugly water dragon's white eyes blinked slowly open, then widened with surprise.

"Hey," Justice muttered. "Can we talk?"

Rudder sat up, looking at his estranged brother with confusion. "We aren't allowed."

"I know, but…" Justice trailed off, his wings drooping as he suddenly realized how stupid this was. "Forget it." He started to turn away, only for a webbed paw to touch his flank.

"We don't have to talk," Rudder muttered, his sleepiness slowly fading away and being replaced with something that resembled hope.

Justice felt his face relax into its first real smile in days.

The two walked outside and sat down in a patch of grass further away from the misters of the water stable. Rudder stared up at the sky, easily picking out the few visible stars that managed to win out against the onslaught of lights from the Festival. Justice wrapped a wing around his brother, heating up his scales. Rudder shifted a little in surprise, then leaned against Justice's side contentedly.

There were many things Justice wanted to say. He wanted to rant about how he was being kept out of the Festival. He wanted to ask about the dragons Rudder and Jade had met that day. He wanted to finally talk about the strangeness of their divided Riders. He didn't, though. Rudder might leave if he did, after all, and he didn't want that.

So, the two brothers sat in silence as the sparse visible stars made their slow journey overhead.

…..

Weiss couldn't stop fussing over Specter in the minutes leading up to the beauty contest. She kept checking the new silver halter she had bought him for any blemishes, examining his scales to make sure no dirt had gotten on them, or looking at his teeth, making doubly sure that there were no bits of meat or fruit in them.

Specter rolled his eyes as Weiss did yet another examination. She's flightier than a wind dragon! When she came back around, he nudged her sharply, snorting in annoyance.

Ruby giggled from nearby. "Looks like he's telling you to stop worrying."

Weiss fixed her hair primly before folding her arms at Specter. "Now, Specter. This is your first real contest. I'm just trying to make sure we make a good impression."

"He looks fine," Blake assured her. "And, so do you." She glanced at the silver-embroidered shirt Weiss wore, along with the new white leather riding pants. Before, she would have scoffed at such obviously-expensive clothes, but she couldn't deny that they looked good. They also complimented Weiss's hair and Specter's scales and halter.

"Thank you," Weiss said, her tense expression softening slightly.

Specter nuzzled her shoulder before looking excitedly toward the large stage where each dragon would be led up to be examined. This contest had to have been made for him. He was clearly the prettiest dragon in all of Remnant. Well, after Steele, perhaps.

The first warning bell for the contestants rang, and Weiss quickly waved to her team before leading Specter to the backstage area. The contest was held on a large, sturdy stage with a huge screen showing the results. Every seat in the audience had a place to hook up one's Scroll and download the poll. The dragon who got the most votes won. Since beauty was a hard thing to judge, especially when judging various species, the beauty contests were some of the only ones that didn't have official judges and relied solely on audience participation.

Weiss and Specter took their place in the line and chanced a look at the other dragons. Among them were a pure red fire dragon with gold eyes, a sleek silver water dragon with just the lightest dusting of turquoise freckles on its nose, and a sharp-eyed wind dragon the color of new butter. Many of them had ornaments and jewelry, and Weiss wondered if she should have bought something extra for Specter.

She looked up at her dragon and was struck by how regal he looked in that moment with his head held high, his tail curled just so, and his black eyes fixed on the curtain. No, she thought. Specter doesn't need any accessories. He's already perfect.

The duo watched as pair after pair was led out. As the dragons showed off for the crowd, an announcer gave commentary on the contestants' best qualities. Finally, the stocky, handsome earth dragon next to Specter was called. The ice dragon took a deep breath, readying himself.

"Next up: Weiss Schnee and Specter, the ice dragon!" This announcement was met by especially loud cheers.

The two stepped out, and the cheers hit a fever pitch. In an instant, Specter was in his element. Stepping forward, he bowed gracefully, bringing one of his wings around with a flourish, similar to a human male's bow.

"Look at the grace of this creature! The poise! The elegance!" the announcer gushed.

Weiss and Specter started walking along the stage, Specter clearly strutting everything he had. When they paused, he tossed his head.

"And can we just stop and look at those scales? I have never seen a prettier shade of pale blue anywhere. It perfectly contrasts with the deep, unrelenting black of his eyes. Such an ethereal, mysterious-looking beast."

At the end of their stage time, Specter spread his wings and let out a long, eerie whistle before retiring with Weiss. The crowd went wild.

After all the contestants had their chance, they were brought back out to the front to watch the results get tallied on the board. Specter's numbers were rising fast, but so were several others. Weiss waited, biting her lip in agitation.

Slowly, slowly, the numbers stopped. Specter had won second place. An emerald-green wind dragon with sapphire-colored stripes won first prize.

She tossed her head, a smirk of confidence on her muzzle. "Don't feel too bad," she muttered to Specter. "Those scary eyes are a huge disadvantage. It's a shame they aren't as pretty as your Rider's, or you would've been a shoo-in, I'm sure."

"Uh…" Specter didn't know how to respond. He felt as if he had just been simultaneously complimented and insulted. Was that even possible? Scary…? He had never thought about his pure black eyes before. He knew that Weiss had named him for his eyes, which resembled a ghost, whatever that was. Were ghosts scary? Was he scary instead of handsome? His frills drooped.

Weiss patted his nose. "You did very well, Specter. Second place is something to be proud of." She knew that her father, and probably Winter, would disagree, but that didn't matter. Specter had done his best and had been judged by a crowd. Nothing more could be expected. She was concerned when his mood didn't improve during the walk back to the stalls.

….

As soon as the other members of Team IMEN left, Ilia hurriedly took out her Scroll, putting it on a special setting that would keep Cinder from tracking anything. She honestly didn't put it past Cinder to put things like trackers on the Scrolls of her scout team.

There was only one ring before a familiar, deep voice answered. "What's the news?"

"Adam, Blake is here," Ilia hissed. "And she has the hybrid earth dragon."

The pause that followed was thick and seemed to be filled with poison. "What school is she representing?"

"Beacon."

"I see."

Ilia fidgeted a little. "Should I…approach her?"

"No." Adam's response was immediate. "Just keep an eye on her. Has she seen you?"

"No, I've kept hidden and withdrew from the contests."

"Good. Keep to the plan. Do the grunt work Cinder wants. We won't be under her thumb for long."

"What about Blake?" Ilia asked. If anyone can talk to her, it's Adam. Maybe he can convince her to come back. Despite her anger at her friend for leaving, the love she felt was far stronger. Even if it meant Blake fawning over Adam again, Ilia wanted her back with the White Fang. Anything was worth that.

"Let her enjoy the Festival," Adam replied, his voice disconcertingly cold. "I think I'll wait for the right time…and then pay her a personal visit once she's back in Beacon."

Oooh. Can you smell the drama? I'm sure you can! Next week will be more Festival fun. After that…there will be even more fun. Yes. Fun. That is what will be had by you, the readers.

If you like what you see and want to show extra support while earning sweet rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!