Azzon yawned widely, teeth gleaming as he stretched his arms above his head. It was day ten of living in Mount Justice, and the young dragon had gotten to know his new nestmates rather well since that first day.

Black Canary had suggested that Azzon and M'gann start writing their experiences down, mostly to sort out living in a new place. While the Martian girl didn't see the point of it, Azzon dove right in, hoping to send the written journal entries back to his grandmother and his sisters on Themiscyra. The young dragon leaned back on his desk he had carved from a stone molded at his new outdoor accommodations- finishing and furnishing it just three days after he'd made it.

Placing his tablet on the table, he read over his scratchings before he would go to put them away for safekeeping:

Hello, Grandmother, my sisters!

Everything has been so exciting since arriving in the World of Man. I've participated in a break-in and break-out, I've made my new cave, and I've met some new friends, just as I said I would. I have an Atlantean named Kaldur, a clone named Superboy, a speedster named Wally, a regular human who cannot give his name, but goes by Robin, and a green-skinned Martian girl named M'gann whose skin would put the dryads to shame.

While M'gann is a tad strange, she is well meaning, if a bit anxious around me as time had gone on- Kaldur had explained that it is due to her Martian biology that she was susceptible to the heat I naturally harness and put out in either of my compact or natural forms, so I can understood her situation.

Couple that with being away from her home, Mars, I suppose anyone would want to stay away from something that could potentially cause harm to them in an unfamiliar environment.

Kaldur, while a serious individual, is… well, he isn't necessarily soft-spoken, but he does not speak unless he had something to say. The Atlantean thus gives out an air that had me instinctively bowing to him as if he were the dragon equivalent of an Alpha- he has the makings of a good leader, in my eyes. Polite and to the point, always one to deescalate a conflict when Wally or Robin came to the Mountain and poked fun at the more volatile members of the group, such as Superboy.

Wally, aka Kid Flash, likes to think of himself as suave, and it is very funny, if a little innerving as he seems to be looking for a- a mate, I should say…?

The dragon blushed as he read over that part, an eyebrow raising at his own choice of words before shrugging it away.

I do laugh good-naturedly whenever the speedster was around, though blush when the speedster would ask to try his 'pick-up lines' on me. I have nothing to lose, so as a friend I oblige the requests, uncomfortable as they would occasionally make me when Wally takes it a tad too far.

Robin… Grandmother, my sisters, I would confidently say that if we had a brother, Robin would fit that label to a tee. The 'normal' human, and I describes him as 'normal' with those quotations because, let's face it, no one in this world was normal, given where we live, is a fun individual who likes to create new words when he can to contradict those that don't make sense. Some of the team members are a but put-out by it, but I don't mind. It's enjoyable to share the ability of flight with those who don't have the power to fly themselves.

Which brings me to my last introduction… Superboy.

When I first saw him, I felt… angry. Not at him, mind you, but at those who created him. I am sure Mother told you all about the one called Superman- the Man of Steel, Son of Krypton, the God of Earth (not that he holds a candle to our gods, but as the Humans will with their labels)… he is Superboy's father, in a sense, but he rejects my teammate with a fervor that I haven't been able to understand.

Superboy is… angry. He has an air of tenseness around him that pickles the air… but he reminds me of the abused wolves you would tell me about, those that the Goddess Artemis would recruit to her Hunt… he has been hurt, Grandmother. When we met him, Superboy had never touched the sky or the clouds before- chronologically, he is merely sixteen weeks old, so it would be impossible… but he was in an underground pit of fear, metal, and enslavement.

No one should live like that.

I took him flying, and I would like to think that in those sparse moments, things fell away for him the moment he seated himself on my back. He is gruff, but I believe he does mean well. I intend to befriend him, more so than the others! We are both very new to this hero life still… so it could be good for us both… what do you think?

May the gods guide you,

Your grandson and brother.

~Azzon

The dragon hummed before nodding to himself. "It's good enough," he murmured, tucking the flat stone tablets away under a pile of leaves. Standing and dusting his sandpapery palms of dust and sand, the dragon placed his hands on his hips, looking around his cave. "There's so much I want to put on those tablets, but each one only has so much space…" shaking his head, the dragon ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at the black strands thoughtfully. They were black enough that they reflected blue in the sunlight, and the length had begun to dangle into his eyes.

Azzon huffed, making a mental note to cut it later, before taking a deep breath. "Alright," he said determinedly. "Time to face today with fires burning and scales shining!" With that said, Azzon jumped into the air and shifted, taking off for Mount Justice. "After all," he added to himself. "We could be getting a mission today."

Azzon circled over the beach, his massive form casting a shadow over the sands, before corkscrewing and tucking his wings in tight to his sides. Diving into the opening at the top of the Mountain, Azzon compacted his form just before he fully emerged inside, making sure that no one was under him when he landed. Setting down with a gentle thump, the dragon prince folded his wings and glanced around; Kaldur was there with M'gann and Superboy, and Azzon arrived just as the Zeta tube went off.

"Did you ask him yet?" the dragon asked as Robin and Wally ran inside. Kaldur turned with a smile that held an edge of excitement, making Azzon's tail flick, mirroring the Atlantean's eagerness. "He's arriving now," Kaldur said. Azzon's tapered ears twitched, hearing the telltale wind from Red Tornado's approach, and he chuffed a laugh. Jumping up and spreading his wings, Azzon flew through the entry hole of the mountain, much to his friend's dismay.\

"Azzon! Not fair, man, not all of us can fly!" Wally called out. M'gann floated off the ground with a giggle. "Some of us can, though!" she said cheerily, flying for the ground entrance to the Mountain, leaving the rest to follow on foot. Azzon circled around the mountainside and landed outside the ground entrance just as the way opened for the others and Red Tornado set down on the ground. The android took a couple of steps before pausing.

"Is there a reason you intercepted me outside the cave?" Red Tornado asked, looking at the teenagers that mobbed him before Kaldur stepped forwards and spoke for them. "We were hoping you had a mission for us," the Atlantean said.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility," the android said.

"But we've been here for over a week!" Robin said indignantly. "Why can't we jus-?"

Red held up a hand, stopping the incoming rant. "You will be tested soon enough," the robot said. "For now, use this time to familiarize yourself with the cave." Azzon crossed his arms, frowning- even the most patient dragon in the world has a limit after all. "But this is a hero team, not a social club," the prince stated flatly, green eyes flashing irritably. Undeterred, Red Tornado simply strode past the group of teenagers to enter the Mountain. "Be that as it may, I am told that getting to know each other is excellent bonding experience for all newly made teams. Perhaps you can keep busy by touring the cave."

Azzon growled as the android walked away, the deep rumble that made Robin blink in surprise. "Didn't think you'd be able to go that low," the Boy Wonder said idly. Azzon flashed the shorter boy a tense smirk, all teeth. "Only when I'm really annoyed. Sometimes my draconic traits come out without meaning for them to."

"'Keep busy' he says," Wally said. "Does he really think we're gonna fall for that?"

"Oh! I'll find out!" M'gann said eagerly. Azzon huffed in amusement as the Martian girl tried to read the Red's mind- even Azzon, though limited still in his interactions in the World of Man, knew that Red Tornado was an android. Even so, the Dragon Prince had to give the girl a nod for her enthusiasm. "M'gann, Red Tornado is made of metal- he's inorganic." The girl blushed and fidgeted with her hands. "I forgot," she said sheepishly.

"I give you a nod for your efforts, though," Azzon said good-naturedly. "Anyways, since nothing is likely going to happen for a while yet, I'm gonna head back to my area for a bit." Wally grabbed a wing, making the dragon squawk in surprise. "Wally I told you not to touch my wing areas!" he said irritably.

"What do you mean by your area?" the speedster asked curiously. Azzon smacked the red head away with a huff. "I mean," he said. "That I was uncomfortable in the Mountain, so Red Tornado gave me permission to make different accommodations." Robin scoffed. "Why would you need different accommodations when you could live in a high-tech cave like the Mountain?!"

Azzon rolled his eyes. "You all know this isn't my actual body, right?" that got a couple of head tilts, but the rest nodded in understanding. "Good, well, nowhere in the Mountain save for the debrief area and the hangar can accommodate my true size." Azzon explained. "If I stay in my more compact form for too long, I could… get sick. Plus, unless I'm making a semi-conscious effort to keep this form out, I'll just explode back into my original dragon self upon losing consciousness or having my attention split one to many places. Not only that, but my emotions, as you all saw at Cadmus, can get the best of me, and it's really just more comfortable to not be in my compact form, so I'm allowed to make a living space where I can be myself and not have my size constrict me." Azzon gave a smile and flicked his wings, satisfied with the explanation.

"Well, then, Superboy and I live here," M'gann said. "We can play tour guides!"

The clone rolled his eyes, looking away when the others glanced his way. "Don't look at me," he grunted. Kaldur sighed "We all must go since it's a 'team-building' exercise. M'gann, lead the way."

An hour into the tour and Azzon stopped short, sniffing the air. Superboy blinked rapidly before speaking. "I smell smoke."

M'gann gasped, floating up in mortification. "Oh, my cookies!" she exclaimed, taking off for the kitchen. Azzon sighed in relief. "For a moment I thought we actually had a fire here." The boys took off after the frantic Martian, but Robin was curious. "Wait, you could tell if it was fire or just smoke? How?"

The dragon smirked. "Part of who I am- fire is as an innate part of me as my wings and tail are. It has it's own unique smell… and taste." Wally pulled up at that.

"Wait, you don't actually expect us to believe you can eat fire, do you?" the speedster was staring at the dragon prince wide-eyed, and Azzon shrugged. "Well, yes? Like I said, it's an innate part of me. I have it as an internal source of power as well as gain it externally. Same with my lightning… but fire is better. It's spicier, more filling."

With the rest of the group running into the kitchen just as M'gann placed the tray on the counter, Azzon took a step back, nose twitching at the intense smell of chocolate and charcoal. M'gann gazed forlornly at the chunks of coal. "I was just testing Grammy Jone's recipe from episode 17 in-…" she paused when she realized no one else followed. "Well, nevermind…"

"Well, from a dragon's standpoint, I think they're looking good," Azzon said. "A bit too much chocolate, though…"

"It's not like he minds," Robin said, pointing at Wally who was already shoving two cookies into his mouth. The speedster paused, swallowing his mouthful. "I have a serious metabolism…?" he said. M'gann gave an uncertain smile. "I'll… make more?"

Kaldur gave the girl a nod, smiling reassuringly. "It was sweet of you to make any at all, M'gann."

"Thank you, Aqualad." The Atlantean chuckled. "Please, we're off-duty. My name is Kaldur'Ahm, but my friends call me Kaldur, as you know."

As they had already exchanged names with the green-skinned girl their first day here, they didn't need to do so again… well, they all exchanged names, save for Superboy. As he turned to leave the room, Azzon glanced over and moved to leave as well- he had to finish some carvings on his cave walls anyways- when a sudden spear of pain lanced through his skull.

«Don't worry, Superboy! We'll find an Earth name for you soon.» Azzon hissed, his pupils slitting into thin lines as he stilled, frozen as if he were hit by Mr. Freeze's ice gun. At the same time, Superboy snarled. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" The Martian girl stepped back, confused. «What's wrong?» She asked, oblivious to the danger she was in; Azzon's tail twitched, his fins twitching, and his lips pulled back, baring his draconic teeth. «Everyone communicates this way on Mars?» there was a strange chatter- almost unheard unless you were one with enhanced senses or raised by the world's greatest detective.

It was one like a cat hunting a prey item.

Slowly, the eyes of the room turned to Azzon.

His attention was hyper focused on the girl, green eyes glowing, and fire coated the back of his throat when he opened his mouth to breathe… Kaldur tensed, standing from his hunched position after M'gann's mental speech. "M'gann, stop! Disconnect from us now!" The frightened Martian withdrew her mental connection from the boys and they all relaxed, save for Superboy. Azzon stayed tense, scales rippling as if it were fur standing on end, but his eyes had regained some awareness in them.

The dragon's wings twitched, and he spoke lowly, smoke trickling from his mouth. "Never, do that without permission again, unless you want to be set on fire," he rumbled, tail flicking, before he turned and stormed away, talons leaving deep gouges in the flooring of their home. "M'gann, you are not on Mars anymore," Kaldur said. "Doing that here on Earth is seen as an extreme invasion of privacy."

"Yep," Wally said, pointing at Superboy. "Besides, Cadmus' Genomes left a bad taste in his brain." The girl looked anxiously at the clone. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't know-." Superboy just growled, fisting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Just stay out." Turning the clone stomped out of the kitchen and out of sight, passing through the sitting room before continuing his way.

Kaldur looked after the two evacuated members of their team before he sighed. "I'll go check on Azzon. M'gann, please don't do something like that again without explicit permission."

With that, the Atlantean left the group, intent on tracking down the Ancient- the wild look the younger boy had was almost akin to a frenzy sharks would get into- but instead of bloodlust, Kaldur saw pure, unadulterated fear.

'That was strange,' Azzon thought as he laid out on the sands, letting the sun heat his body. His eyes were closed, and he worked to settle his agitated inner flame and lightning. 'I suddenly wasn't in the kitchen with the others… I was falling, I was burning… it hurt… and that voice in my head was so evil and cold.' The generational memories from his race were fickle at best… they came and went in times of leisure or times of crisis, but one thing was for sure- they always had a meaning, they always told him of something that had happened, so that it would help him learn in the future.

"It'd help if these memories came with instructions…"Azzon grumped, turning his snout to lay on his forelegs. The smell of deep sea and lightning met the dragon's nose, and Azzon opened his eyes to see Kaldur standing a way away from him, his expression wary. "Are you alright, Azzon?" the Atlantean asked. The dragon stared at Kaldur for a moment before huffing, turning his head away to stare out at the ocean.

"I'm guessing you want to know why I reacted so badly, yes?" Azzon asked instead of answering the question, digging his claws into the sand. Kaldur was silent for several beats before answering. "Yes," he said. "But you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Azzon snorted, smoke jetting from his nostrils. "Even if Superboy's reaction was just as extreme as mine?" the Atlantean frowned. "Yes, well Superboy didn't threaten to burn someone especially susceptible to fire," he said, making Azzon growl lowly. "Careful, Waterbearer- ever hear the term 'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons'?" the two had a stare off before Azzon sighed, raising his great head to peer down at Kaldur tiredly.

"You know that I'm the last of my kind- something had wiped the dragons out, killing them all even though they had gone into hiding…" large green eyes vanished behind a curtain of black armor as Azzon blinked, lowering his head to be at eye-level with the darker-skinned older teen. "Apparently, my race had a back-up plan. If even just one dragon survives whatever great calamity that would have wiped us out, we have a part of us that will take on all the memories of those that came before us… at random moments, or moments of dire need, memories will resurface and integrate themselves with the last living member or members of the Dragons and ensure that our race will live on as long as it can…" Azzon sighed wearily, and Kaldur's eyes widened in understanding.

"M'gann triggered a memory to emerge, didn't she?" The Atlantean asked gently. Azzon nodded. "Yes. And… I think they were in the time when my people were being slaughtered."

Kaldur's eyes widened, and he took an unconscious step towards the dragon, hand raised to press against the smooth, mirror-like scales. "What happened?" he asked. Azzon shut his eyes, wings drawn in tight as if to shield him from something. "Fire… blood… pain- Don't ask me to talk about it when I don't think you would understand… please?"

Kaldur nodded, understanding the need for no words on the subject. The two sat and stood there for several moments, taking in the beach air, when Azzon huffed in amusement. "Is it strange to say that, even if I haven't known you for very long, you have the air of an older brother I would have liked to have?"

Kaldur blinked, raising an eyebrow. "How so?" he asked curiously. Azzon rumbled, nudging the Atlantean gently with his snout. "You're a… silent strength for us," the dragon began, remembering what he wrote on the tablet to his grandmother. "Your eyes are watchful of us, and you're soft-spoken to the point where when you do speak, it's enough to have us listen, but not in an overpowering way. Your presence is like cool water over a scrape, and if what you did just now is anything to go by, you will seek any one of us out if we are having trouble to listen or just sit with us… you have the air of an alpha about you, a good one, at least, one I wouldn't mind following."

Kaldur had to fight an embarrassed flush at the list Azzon gave- Kaldur was only doing what he felt would help the group, especially as… the oldest… Ah, he supposed the dragon did have a point here, then. The Atlantean cleared his throat in embarrassment, crossing his arms under Azzon's amused shifting green gaze.

"Well, I'm honored that you think highly of me," he said, managing to smile at the dragon prince after a bit of hemm-ing and haa-ing. "And I'll try to keep doing whatever it is I'm doing right, then… for now, how about we go back inside and see where everyone else is now?" Azzon huffed, standing up on all fours and compacting himself again.

"Yeah, sure. I do feel… better after talking about it." Azzon glanced up at the taller teen before grinning, though it wasn't as big as his usual smiles. "Thanks, Kaldur."

The Atlantean nodded. "It is no trouble at all."

Unbeknownst to them, Superboy had been just around the corner, having followed the dragon as well, and he had heard everything about the memories of the Dragons. The clone tightened his fist, and an unfamiliar feeling trickled into Superboy's chest. Later, the clone would identify the feeling as worry.

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