Sorry about not updating, I was busier than I expected. I will also be very busy in the next two weeks. I have midterms in the next two weeks and several quick to finish tests before then. I apologize if I don't update, but school comes first.

Circinae the SkyWing: If you see this, I just want to thank you for pointing out the mistakes that are clearly seen by the readers of Born To Protect. To be honest, this is what I wanted to hear from people like you: to help me find, fix, and not repeat the same mistakes (still trying to find the one part that was 'must of' instead of 'must have'). I'm glad you told me this, because sometimes I tend to go into the first person view when I'm hooked into typing the story. I go back and fix what I did wrong, but sometimes I miss things just like that, and it confuses the reader. Anyways, thank you for pointing that out and feel free to point any other mistakes I make when I post a new chapter.

-Zmike

(Waterfall's POV)

I didn't really know how to think of Galactic playing such a violent game at a time like this. It was two days after he got back from what I call a traumatizing experience and he still had a ton of medical problems, like wheezing, bruising on his arms and legs, and a fractured rib after taking him to the local hospital to be checked up. I knew it sounded stupid for me not wanting him to play his games, but I was worried.

For one, I was paranoid that he might get flashbacks of the horrible time he spent in the Diamond Caves, and have something even worse that would mentally effect him forever. He told me not to worry about, but I couldn't help myself.

I was also very careful whenever there was a knock on the door. Whenever I heard the sound of talons hitting the wooden object, I would carefully see who it was and why there were here, but it didn't seem to happen that much.

Right now, though, I was watching Galactic play his game, which was amazing me on how skilled he played the game. I didn't quite understand how the game worked (I wasn't really into virtual games when I was younger, but my brother was) so he would explain to me the controls, details, and story about the game. Half the time he spoke to me, I didn't understand what he was saying or what he meant, so I would blindly nod, pretending to know so he wouldn't get down on himself thinking I didn't like his games: it was his life.

It was true, with him being the biggest star on the internet, there was nothing he couldn't do, well, besides wanting the media to stay away from him. At first, I was shocked that he was rich like my family, but I soon began to not care for it. I was happy with him being himself, no matter how annoying he could be.

"So . . . what are you doing exactly?" I asked Galactic as he began tapping buttons on his controlling. I was sitting next to him on the sofa, our tails twined together. I had a wing wrapped around him, and he seemed very relaxed during his virtual fighting game.

"Well, right now I'm literally destroying your brother in this map," Galactic responded, giving out a short laugh. I then turned and gave Freakwave a smirk, giving him a don't be so cocky look next time look. My brother just replied with a scowl before returning his eyes to the screen.

"Well, I hope you beat him bad. It will certainly teach him a lesson," I told him, nudging his cheek for motivational support. He gave me a hearty smile in return, then refocusing on beating Freakwave in a one versus one match. While I watched the two of them duel against each other, I heard the tapping of a drum to my left.

I turned to look at the SandWing Freakwave had befriended months ago. His name was Qibli, and he was focusing on his drumming while he looked at the same screen I was watching.

Qibli was partnered with Freakwave in a band they made. They didn't have a good song out yet, but they were both trying to figure something out that would make them. continent famous. Sometimes, Qibli would be quiet most of the time, but he would then speak something out that would get a laugh out of all of us. There wasn't much I knew about him, but I knew he was a very special dragon.

His head was nodding to the rythem of his drumbeat as his eyes focused on the screen. He was currently multitasking; something that he would like to do whenever he felt calm, from what Freakwave told us. He was watching the screen intently, as if he was examining each movement closely for some reason beyond what I could think.

"You know, there's a much better route that would guarantee your success is beating Galactic, Freakwave," Qibli said out of nowhere, catching me off guard. "There's even more routes beyond that route that would never have you lose again."

"Oh, now you tell me!" Freakwave replied, exasperated, putting the controller down as Galactic made the game winning kill. I gave a cheer to Galactic, and he celebrated with me as Freakwave went to tiny kitchen. We gave each other a hug, before I felt Galactic's body stiffen and seeing a look of slight pain on his face.

"Still hurts, doesn't it?" I suspected, and he nodded. I lightly pushed him back onto the couch trying to make him feel as little pain as possible. I then tried to make him comfortable with several pillows between the coach and his back, but he stopped me.

"You don't have to do all of this for me," Galactic told me, which I thought was a little corny. "You being here makes me feel better already."

Even though what Galactic said was very cheesy, he got me to blush, which I didn't try to deny from being shown. "You got to stop with your corny sentences to tell me I'm a wonderful dragon. You can save those for later times, but right now let's try to hurt yourself anymore than you already have." He was about to respond, but I quickly place a talon on his lips. "You shush."

He chuckled, immediately followed by a laugh that came from me. I continued on putting pillows to cushion his body until I was satisfied that he was comfortable.

"Could you two please go into another room?" Freakwave asked, clearly annoyed with us for some reason. For one, I knew he was stilled irritated for losing the fifth time this afternoon, but it was his own fault. "Like seriously, no one wants to hear this."

"What about whenever you're around Seashell," I responded, but I noticed that I said something wrong when his head dipped a little. "What?"

"Well, she kind of dumped me. Perhaps I was boring, or annoying, you can never tell with me though," he said, trying to make a little joke, which I thought was kind of innapropiate for something sad. I couldn't worry about that while he looked heart broken at the rejection he got from a dragon he liked.

"I'm sorry-"

"I don't want to get into a frenzy of apologies that I don't want to hear," Freakwave explained, stopping me from continuing my sentence. "Can we just leave it at that? I mean, I already meant another very nice and awesome SeaWing." I shrugged, not sure what to say; it seemed like my brother would not be satisfied with any answer I gave to him.

"Would you mind telling us who this would be?" I asked, but he strongly refused.

"No, because whenever you hear something new, you just have to gossip to your friends," he explained stiffly. This got a concerned reaction from the NightWing and SandWing in the room.

"I do not do that anymore!" I defend myself, knowing that I was flustered. "Even if I still did, though, I would only be saying it to Tsunami."

"Can we not have a sibling arguement?" Galactic asked, getting my brother and I to turn our heads the NightWing's way, giving him annoyed expressions. Galactic looked worried that something traumatizing was about to happen to him; he wasn't wrong. "Um . . . care to help me out Qibli?"

"I wouldn't like to get into this messy discussion," Qibli said, turning down the offer Galactic had proposed. "Besides, I'd like to live to see the sun shine through the sky in it's glory."

It was about thirty minutes of intense argueing before we both got into some sort of agreement. Galactic sighed when the proposal was accepted from both sides, then gave a cough, followed by a scrunched face showing pain. Forcing him to lie down back on the couch, I made sure he stayed by glancing at him every so often when we turned the T.V. to normal channels of shows. By that time, Freakwave and Qibli were gone, most likely doing something with their song they've been creating.

I sighed, starting to feel a little guilty at pandering Freakwave like that. It seemed stupid now thinking about it, but there was nothing I could've done to fix things. The only thing I could do was wait until he was ready to accept the apology I wanted to give him.

Getting up from the chair I was sitting in, I untwined my tail with Galactic's, who let a short whimper acknowledging the absense when I uncoiled it. I rolled my eyes in response, and he let out a low giggle, smiling as he watched the show in front of him, which happened to be one of his favorite movies. I opened the fridge at gazed at the following drinks they had, and not one of them was a bottle of water. Each item was either a drink for exercising or just a soda, making me a little disappointed on how my boyfriend was taking care of his health. I ended up taking a glass from the cupboard and used the faucet to poor me a nice plain glass of water.

"You really have to start drinking something healthier, Galactic," I told him sternly. "Your not going to last long if you keep drinking that garbage." I motioned to the fridge, and he just frowned.

"Well, the sports drinks are for Cel, and Starflight drinks as much as me," Galactic tried to defend himself, but soon realized that he wouldn't win. "Fine, I'll start drinking healthier."

"Oh, no, you're going to eat healthier, too," I told him, poking him in the chest, wincing from the bruise I touched. He seemed to be calculating the chances he had to beating me in a arguement, before summing up the results.

"Does this mean you're going to keep tabs on me?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I'll be here everyday until you're up to speed on things."

"What about school?"

"I can make up the days, or get notes from Graceful."

"So I'm not going to be getting out of this."

"Bingo."

I walked over, before feeling a warm sensation on my tail. It was Galactic's tail retwining with mine when I looked down, and I didn't bother to stop him. After all, we both cared and loved each other. All I wanted was the best for him.

(Celsius' POV)

"Just relax, Cel," Owl told me as I slowly walked out the door of the hospital room I was staying. Apparently, I was going to a private meeting with the Queen herself, which I found a bit mind was in a fury of questions, scenarios, and possible situations I could be in. "Your head is giving mine a headache." I looked over to see Owl wince every so often, and I frowned.

"Is there any way you can stop looking into my head?" I asked her, but she shook her head.

"The only way is to lock onto someone else's thoughts. Besides, I don't think there's training onto controlling my mind-reading," she responded, looking at me with a sorry expression. We went through the narrow hallway with a medical cart being steered by a IceWing doctor every so often. They seemed a little more busy than usual today.

It was until we turned down the next hallway that I realized we were being accomapnied by two guards, who seemed to scan for any threats or attempts on my life. I found it a little unnecessary, but these were weird times.

"Should I be scared?" I ask Owl, who shrugged. We turned down the next corridor before making our way to the elevator. I let in Owl first, then myself, then the two guards escorting us. Tapping the metal button, the doors closed and we began our descent.

As we went down, I thought a question to Owl: Do you have any idea what this is about? She responded in a low whisper, not audible to the two guards.

"I think there's a good chance of you being honored for your bravery."

I nodded, but still didn't feel any relief come off my back; the two guards were intimidating to stand by. Their expressionless faces followed by their steel armor was scary. They seemed relax, probably because they got the easiest job in Pyrrhia: walking a limping dragon to the palace.

The elevator then stopped, and the doors opened. They revealed a crowd of news reporters being held back six guards, but they seemed to have more armor than the IceWings who were escorting me.

"Celsius!" One of the news reporters, a SkyWing/SandWing hybrid shouted in my direction. She seemed anxious at the moment, the only thing holding her back was the massive guard in front of her. "Can we ask you some questions?"

"Celsius," a masculine voice told me, this time being from a MudWing who stood patiently in front of one of the IceWing guards. "Can we ask you one question that you kindly answer?" I felt kind of sorry for him, so I started towards his direction. Before I could take a step, though, Owl grabbed me by my shoulder and steered me towards the main door of the hospital.

"The media always likes to change up the stories," Owl hissed into my ear. "They tend to ruin lives and reputation for ratings."

"How would you know this?" I asked, curious of what she meant.

"Let's just say they tried to do what I told you to Snowdrop."

Oh, I thought, before walking after her as she made her to the main doors. The guards were beginning to move forward as well, lightly pushing reporters out of the way as they made a route for the exit. Outside the exit was a blinding white limousine waiting at the drop off area.

"How scary was the situation you were in?" One reported called out, but I ignored her.

"What did you think during your survival?" Another asked.

"Do you know who did this to you?"

I kept on walking before I was at the vehicle. The breezy wind flowing over my scales, feeling the cool sensation of freedom I missed for the past week. It felt amazing to be outside, but worse due to being surrounded by information hungry reporters hoping to get the best story out tonight.

Quickly getting into the long car, I sat closely beside Owl. She gave me a nice smile to relax me, but I was already a little freaked out. It wasn't because of what I was waiting for, it was because the Queen of the IceWings herself was in the same vehicle I was, and so was Snowdrop. She was giving me a supporting smile, but I felt my legs shake and felt myself go pale, but I was thankful for white scales. A guard on the outside closed the door, and the driver of the limousine started his motion out of the drop off lot, where we were now I the open road.

"Celsius the IceWing," Glacier began, looking out the window as she said this. "I want to thank you for your bravery and putting your life on the line for my adopted daughter, Owl. Unlike others, I wasn't shocked at IceStorm's actions. He was becoming a . . . radical thinker." I listened as the queen went on. "I want to inform on a few things, though."

"One, I do apologize for your injuries causing you to sit out for the rest of your hockey season. Therefore, I will cover your medical expenses."

"Thank you, your majesty," I responded, bowing slightly to respect her authority.

"Though, while you were recovering from that event. Winter was charged with intentional manslaughter, and I did my best to not let these charges be put on, but failed."

This caught me offguard. Why would Winter not give the video recorder to the authorities to check.

"The IceWing guard was not able to translate what went on, so the evidence that would've dropped the charges on Winter failed," the IceWing queen told me, as if reading my mind. I glanced at Owl, who gave me a slight shrug.

"Therefore, instead of being imprisoned for thirty years, I changed the punishment to . . . banishment from the IceWing tribe," Queen Glacier paused when it came to the punishment, and I knew she didn't want this to be put on the successful IceWing prince. I just listened, to shocked to even respond on what I was hearing. He didn't deserve banishment; he deserved to be rewarded, I thought to myself. I felt Owl's tail twine with mine as she looked at me apologetically.

"I've decided to give him housing to contradict the punishment of banishment near Jade Mountain Academy, and so are you," my eyes widened at the statement, and it was a few seconds before I could regain my voice.

"Wait? Why?" I blurted, realizing I said something disrepectful. The queen waved it off, answering the question.

"It is for protection purposes so the other IceWings of IceStorm's group don't find you. They never forget one of their own, especially the leader."

The car then stopped, and I looked out the window of the destination. It was the Queen's palace, and Glacier started to get out, followed by Snowdrop.

"Wait, your Majesty, I have one more question," I told her, and she paused, gazing at me. "Would it be okay if my roommates stay at the residence I'm going to? I'm afraid that they might be punished if the IceStorm's group found my address."

The queen thought about it for a few second, before nodding in approval. "The driver will escort you back to your dorm room at Jade Mountain. Owl will be here to give you company. I would like to know more about you, Celsius, but I have more pressing matters to attend to." With that, the queen got out, and so did Snowdrop, who winked at the both of us for some reason. The doors closed and the limousine started forward again, this time it's destination was my dorm.

As we pulled out of the palace driveway, Owl tapped my shoulder. "I got a surprise for you." I turned her direction, and I was instantly met with her snout pressing onto mine, enveloping me in a kiss.

This is definitely not a bad start to my day, I thought, and Owl laughed in the kiss, already knowing what I thought.

Hello reader, I just want to say have give a early Merry Christmas, just in case I don't update on Christmas Day. I plan on typing a 5k word chapter for you guys as a Christmas present, but I don't know if I'll have time. Anyways, see you guys in the next chapter.

- Zmike