"A lia...whaa?"

"A liability. A potential danger to yourself and our dragons," said Queen Glory.

Jambu blinked and stared at her as if she'd just spoken scavenger. Deathbringer didn't say a word, as he still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, himself.

Glory coming back to the royal pavilion in less than an hour? With her goofy pink brother and a mysterious new assignment? So, the entire opposite of anything he'd been expecting after stupidly, stupidly ruining yet another actually decently promising moment with her. He still wanted to smack himself for his blatant idiocy. But curious confusion kept him distracted, for now.

The prince suddenly snorted out a rather loud burst of laughter.

"A danger? You think I'm — seriously!?" he choked.

"Jambu!" Glory stamped one of her front talons. "Yes, seriously. Did you not just give me a fully detailed list of all the ridiculous stunts you've pulled in the last week alone? Right after nearly squashing me from your attempt at slingshotting yourself across the rainforest? And you wouldn't expect me, as your sister and queen, to be concerned for your safety after all that?"

"uUugghhH, I thought you'd think it was funny! Because it IS!" her brother groaned. His eyes went wide a second before he narrowed them. "Hey wait! You asked me for that list!"

Glory cleared her throat, ignoring him. "Listen. I know hurting yourself or anyone else would never be your intention. But I can't ignore the fact that it's a very real possibility. So for the time being...I'm assigning you a royal attendant."

Silence.

"So like, a fancy babysitter? HA!" Jambu grinned. His tail curled in an impish-looking way as whorls of sunny yellow danced with the shimmering magenta in his scales.

"More like, a personal bodyguard," Glory said. "I can already tell you'll need a really good one, too." She then, much to Deathbringer's surprise, gestured for him to step forward. "So naturally, I give to you... Deathbringer."

"What?" Deathbringer blurted before he even had time to stop himself. Jambu froze, looking just as surprised. He shot a few quick glances in Deathbringer's direction as his sunny scales adopted a more golden hue, and curious sparks of blue snuck along his wings.

Glory blinked. "Is there a problem?"

"I-I —" he continued in an awkwardly frantic stammer. "Your Majesty, I can't just —" He lowered his voice a bit. "Forgive me, for questioning you, but —"

"Deathbringer," Glory purred his name, and that shut him up fast. She suddenly leaned in to take his talons, giving him a soft and encouraging smile. "You're my best guard. Jambu is my brother. I hoped I could count on you for something like this."

Something like what!? was what Deathbringer ached to ask her. He caught the other RainWing looking a bit like he might suffocate from trying not to laugh again, and couldn't help but think that something was very strange about this request. Jambu certainly seemed to find it hilarious, if that was any indication.

"But — How am I going to protect you if I'm on this assignment? Surely there are other guards that can handle a simple attending mission." He tried again.

"None that I trust as much as you," she insisted immediately. "Also — don't underestimate my brother."

Deathbringer looked at Jambu again, who was still grinning like an idiot. Despite his shocked whining only moments ago, he really didn't seem as opposed to their inevitable situation as Deathbringer felt. The NightWing wrinkled his snout suspiciously (even if he really couldn't wrap his mind around this silly pink dragon being a threat of any degree, to anyone).

He then turned to his mate with one last desperate look.

Why does it have to be me?

What aren't you telling me?

...Why do you keep pushing me further and further away?

Oh, Glory.

Deathbringer took a big breath in, and exhaled defeat.

"Alright, then." He managed not to stammer. "If it's that important to you, of course I'll do it."

He saw an unexpected flash in Glory's green eyes.

Guilt? Hesitance?

But the queen quickly stamped down on it. Whatever it was. She tilted her chin up with a smile.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down," she said. She held onto his talons for another few seconds before she dropped back to all-fours. "Now; I just want you to know that there isn't a strict schedule to follow or anything. Take breaks when you need to. If my brother does anything too crazy, I'm sure you'll have no problems finding me." Her tail curled thoughtfully as she paused. "Also, I'm gonna need you to oversee his tree gliding class."

"Noted. But please. Your Majesty — Glory." Deathbringer made sure to meet her eyes for his next words. "Please promise me you'll keep yourself well-guarded. I may lose my mind worrying for you at this rate."

To his surprise, she actually softened a bit. "Don't do that," she gently scolded him. "You know I always have the top secret invisible guard on my tail. And this isn't some tragic goodbye. You're just doing something extra for me. Okay?"

He swallowed, and nodded. He didn't feel okay.

"Jambu." Glory turned to her brother. The pink dragon perked up to listen to her, eyes wide. "Are you teaching anymore today?"

"Today?" Jambu chuckled through a big yawn. "Today's pretty much over for me. My class is early. Want I should stop by tomorrow morning? I can walk you there."

It took Deathbringer a second to realize he was being spoken to, and that both Glory and Jambu were waiting expectantly for an answer.

He blinked himself back into focus. "Oh — yes. Thank you. That would be helpful, if you don't mind."

Cheerfully, Jambu shrugged. "Sure!"

"So," Glory said to him. "You don't have anything else to do this evening?"

"Uuuhh...nope."

"Hmmm." The queen looked away, wrinkling her forehead as if she were putting imaginary puzzle pieces together.

Jambu glanced between his company. Then he snorted. Ripples of bright yellow pulsed up his playfully curled tail as his face grew into another grin.

"I mean...you could watch me eat," he offered. He waited for Deathbringer to meet his eyes, and then widened them. "Eating can be a very dangerous task. I could swallow a seed!"

Deathbringer wondered if he'd imagined the hint of sarcasm in Jambu's words. If Glory had noticed as well, she didn't seem to mind.

"Perfect. How about the two of you go have dinner together, and then you can meet me back at the treehouse?" she gestured to Deathbringer with a wing. "I'll probably be getting ready for bed by that time. And then tomorrow, you can attend the tree gliding class."

It wasn't a suggestion. But luckily for the queen, Deathbringer had already accepted his fate. If she really wanted him gone, that bad. Bad enough to lie to him. Bad enough to present him with poorly fabricated bogus assignments. Bad enough to use her own brother as a tool to keep widening the space between them. Well then. He would leave her be for a while.

Or die trying, his thoughts whispered.

Deathbringer had hoped to find some distraction in his task for the evening, even if everything about it seemed excruciatingly pointless. He knew Jambu, well enough. He certainly didn't need any quality "warm-up" time with his mate's over-excitable, perpetually jubilant sibling. Neither did he understand what it was meant to accomplish.

Ah. Right. Nothing.

And yet, here he was, actually watching his new companion...eat.

The NightWing couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, though. After all, none of this had been his idea either (minus the eating part). And, it seemed that Jambu was also, not surprisingly, completely and blissfully unaware of his sister's ulterior motives.

Lucky you, Deathbringer thought ruefully.

Jambu grinned at him, displaying the little blue seeds that now coated his teeth.

"Star fruit?" he offered, in a voice that perfectly matched his merry expression. Deathbringer looked down at his extended talon to see it gently clasped around a translucent limey-yellow piece of fruit, star-shaped, with blue seeds. He blinked at it.

"Er, no, thank you." He shook his head.

Jambu blinked at him, and then shrugged, untroubled. "Suit yourself." He ate the extra fruit himself, and said through his mouthful, "More for me!"

Deathbringer forced a small smile. Awkwardly, he shuffled around a bit, repositioning his wings and tail. He wondered, how long did it take a RainWing to eat? Would Glory be annoyed if he left as soon as Jambu finished? He supposed he could go hunt for his own dinner as well, but...he didn't really have much of an appetite.

He knew what he wanted to do.

He wanted to be with his queen. It was all he ever wanted.

But I can't be, he reminded himself. I must give her time.

Jambu, almost as if he'd read his mind, suddenly barked a laugh.

"My sister though, am I right?" he said. Playfully, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "She worries about me waaaay too much." He stuffed a few more fruits in his mouth, and spoke through them. "Like, I'M the older brother, y'know? And I've lived in this rainforest my whole life." As a lighter shade of pink began to swirl in his scales, he spat out a few seeds, swallowed, and sighed. "But it's pretty adorable. So I've learned to just...let it happen."

Deathbringer stared at him, without a response.

If only you knew, little pink dragon.

Jambu burped, then continued, "Anyway! You can...go...if you want. I'm done eating. But I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Oh." Deathbringer blinked, relief and surprise settling over him; that was faster than he'd anticipated. "Yes. Tomorrow." He paused, and tried to give the prince one last smile for the evening. "I look forward to it." He lied.

"Same!" Jambu giggled, clearly delighted to hear that lie. "It's gonna be loads of fun! Even if 'fun' is totally not my sister's plan at all. But whatever! No worries. We can do it our own way." He laughed again. "G'night, Deathbringer!"

"Goodnight," Deathbringer called, as he watched the slender RainWing take to the trees. In no time, the darkening forest had swallowed him up.

The sounds of chirping crickets and warbling frogs followed Deathbringer on his way home, growing louder as night fell upon him. He tried to take the journey slow, but found himself at a faster pace whenever his focus wandered.

Fearlessly he prowled through the dark, just as he'd been taught long ago: he kept his wings outstretched to feel his way along, and followed his nose instead of his eyes. Tonight offered only two softly waning crescent moons. Deathbringer paused to look up at their slivered shapes through the canopy, and wished his mother well.

He reached Glory's treehouse unscathed.

But the queen was already sound asleep with Silver nestled in her arms. Her slowly pulsing blue scales reflected the warm glow of firefly light. Deathbringer sighed silently, and watched her breathe for a moment. He couldn't decide if he was imagining it or not that she looked a bit more peaceful than usual.

When he was satisfied, he crept across the room and reached up to free the fireflies from their jar. In a flash of confusion, they began to drift away.

"Thanks again," he whispered, feeling silly for talking to insects.

He made sure they escaped safely into the rainforest before settling down next to Glory and Silver for the night.

As he fell asleep, Deathbringer hoped his dreams would take him somewhere warmer.

The next morning, Glory woke him for the royal pavilion shortly after dawn.

And apparently, Prince Jambu had already beaten them there.

"HEY DEATHBRINGER! QUICK, SAVE ME I'M GONNA DIE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Before either dragon had a chance to look out for him, Jambu landed the end of a big graceful flip through the air right between them on the large platform. Glory jumped back, flaring her wings as bright streaks of orange flashed along them. Her ever-pink brother immediately doubled over in a fit of giggles.

"What is your problem!?" Glory growled at him. She settled her startled scales, along with the few quick pulses of green that came and went.

Jambu choked through his laughter, "I-I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I couldn't resist!"

Is he...mocking her?

From what Deathbringer knew about Queen Glory's brother (which, albeit wasn't much), he...didn't not seem like the type of dragon to tease royalty. Of course, this royalty was his little sister. Who was technically putting him on probation, for seemingly no good reason.

Or perhaps, Jambu was just a playful idiot.

Either way, Glory clearly didn't appreciate it.

"And what if I'd had Silver with me?" she said. "You would've frightened her to death."

Jambu snorted as if he was pretty sure that wasn't a likely outcome. Still, the queen's words seemed to serve their purpose, and the raspberry dragon quickly composed himself.

"I wouldn't have done it, then." He shrugged.

Glory rolled her eyes.

"Alright," she said. "Whatever, it's fine." She slipped back a bit and looked between brother and bodyguard. Deathbringer followed her gaze, glancing quickly at Jambu, then back to the leaves below him. He stayed quiet. Then Glory said, "Well, I'll be here if you need me."

Her tone was final and polite as she excused them for the morning.

Deathbringer bowed to his queen, and rose to find Jambu grinning at him from ear to ear.

The next few moments brought them leaping and gliding through the forest as the exuberant RainWing led the way to his class area. Deathbringer made a conscious attempt to put his woes away for now. He instead watched the passing trees that were slowly coming to life with rainbow dragons rising from slumber.

Jambu, of course, talked the whole way.

"You're gonna love my students!" he said in a chipper voice as he pranced and swung himself along. "They're wild."

"Wild?" Deathbringer repeated from behind him.

The pink dragon hooted a laugh. "You know!" he said. "Hilarious! As in, wow I love teaching kids so much!?"

"Ah. I see," said the NightWing. He wasn't entirely sure how accurate that definition was, but he wasn't about to try his luck correcting a RainWing's speech habits either.

A few more sweeps between branches and trite conversations later, Jambu suddenly dipped down and circled an invisible air path to a clearing on the forest floor. Deathbringer followed him, hoping his own motions looked just as adept. As he studied the svelte dragon's soundless landing, he almost couldn't believe this was the same Jambu that apparently also practiced risking his life for a laugh on the regular.

"Hmmmm," Jambu said softly, scanning the area. His tail arched into a curious swirl of bright blue. "Y'all here yet? We've got company!"

That was when something small thudded down with a quiet thump behind them. Deathbringer turned around to see a tiny RainWing dragonet staring up at him with large, inquisitive eyes. He was nearly startled when a second one materialized right next to the first.

One of them immediately took to copying Deathbringer's midnight palette.

"Whoa, cool! I've never been this close to a real NightWing before!" he awed.

"Um, you're close to Sundown all the time, Olingo." A voice from above pointed out, and Deathbringer looked up to see a third dragonet settled on a low tree branch. She yawned placidly as filtered sunbeams danced on her pastel-pink scales.

And before he knew it, there were four dragonets of shifting colors around him; two males and two females, each no older than a year or so, by the looks of it.

Olingo snorted, letting a deep azure roll over the darker hues. "Sundown is hardly a real NightWing. He eats fruit, for moon's sake."

"Hey!" the dragonet next to him piped up defensively. "Leave him alone." She lashed her purple tail as she glanced at a shadowy edge of their clearing.

"Yeah, Olingo," the fourth dragonet agreed from Deathbringer's other side. Casually, he sauntered over to sit next to them, displaying a warm coppery brown. "Stop being mean."

The blue dragonet's jaw dropped open for a second and he eyed them both with a wounded look. "I'm not being — I'm just saying —" He huffed an exasperated sigh. "He knows I'm just — UGH! Fine!" Sheepishly, Olingo turned to the same shaded patch of vegetation that his friend had glanced at earlier. "Sorry, Sundown. I didn't mean it."

Deathbringer followed Olingo's gaze. He blinked curiously as a very tiny NightWing dragonet, clearly a few months younger than the others, stepped out of the shadows. Sundown couldn't help but stare right back at Deathbringer. After a moment, he shyly tucked his chin down, and looked to his friends with a small smile.

"It's okay," he murmured.

The purple dragonet that had first scolded Olingo smiled back, and gestured with her wing for Sundown to come in closer. Sundown hesitated, only briefly, before darting across the short space that separated them and nestling in beside her.

Jambu then cleared his throat.

The pastel dragonet yawned from her tree branch. "Awh, poor Jambu feels ignored."

She giggled when her teacher snorted and shot her a funny look.

"I'm just teasing you," she said, finally stretching her way to her feet. Nimbly, she hopped off her perch, and opened her wings to glide gracefully down.

Thus brought all five dragonets together on the ground, staring expectantly up at their elders. At Jambu, Deathbringer realized. They respected him. Naturally, they were interested in meeting a new dragon as well; but they didn't let that excitement get the better of them, at least not in their teacher's presence. Well. Deathbringer stole a quick glance at Olingo.

Jambu took the opportunity to clear his throat again, even louder.

Then he grinned.

"So this is Deathbringer." The pink prince gestured breezily with one claw.

Olingo nearly took to the air. "WHOA, WHAT!? Your name is DEATHBRINGER!?"

Beside him, the pastel dragonet shook her head, and the coppery one had to duck away from a quick bout of enthusiastic wing flapping.

"Deathbringer," Jambu repeated. "Great, huh?" He stifled a snort. "NightWings." And winked at his new attendant before explaining further. "He's gonna be supervising our class for...a time. Queen's orders. So be nice to him. No jumping on him or sniffing him in weird places or asking nosy questions."

"Aw man!" Olingo whined loudly.

"AhEM," said Jambu again.

The blue dragonet slumped back and shut his mouth.

"Thank you." Jambu turned so that he was facing everyone as best he could, and held out one of his talons toward the five dragonets. "Anyway. Deathbringer — I'd like you to meet —" One by one, he pointed out each of his students, starting with the coppery brown one. "Kiwi —" He gestured next to the purple dragonet that still had Sundown under her wing. "Dartfrog —" Then the pastel dragonet, who sat with her long tail curled regally over her talons. "Delight —" Then Olingo, who was clearly trying not to fidget. "Olingo." He paused. "And the little NightWing is Sundown. He's technically not a student, buuuut..."

"He's with us!" Dartfrog finished the thought with a proud grin. Kiwi nodded earnestly, and Delight giggled her agreement. Sundown hid his own tiny smile.

"Do you talk or what?" Olingo suddenly blurted. For a brief second, Deathbringer thought he was speaking to Sundown; it wasn't until he looked that he saw the blue dragonet staring straight at him with enormous amber eyes.

Deathbringer blinked, only slightly taken aback.

"Indeed I do," he said. "Pleasure to meet you all."

"OhmygoshheeventalkslikeaNightWing!" Olingo leaned into Kiwi, smushing against him as he whispered loudly. The coppery dragonet made a face and pushed him back. Jambu stifled a laugh.

Dartfrog ignored them. She beamed at Deathbringer with a twinkle in her eye that reminded him of the childhood he'd never had. "It's nice to meet you too, Deathbringer!" Beside her, Delight gave an elegantly-sleepy nod, and Sundown peeked out from between them.

Deathbringer smiled and tipped his wings. So far, they did seem like pretty good kids, even if he barely knew them.

"Alright nerds, it's time for class," Jambu suddenly announced. He started to move, but stopped nearly immediately to slap a talon to his head. "OH! Sundown! I almost forgot!" Brightly, he grinned. "Remember how you asked me about slingshotting dragons across the rainforest?"

Delight dipped her head to nudge the tiny NightWing forward. Sundown fluttered his wings nervously, blushing. "Uhm," he squeaked. "Yeah?"

His green eyes grew wide as full moons as Jambu spread his left wing. Deathbringer looked as well. There was a visible bruise and faint scar on his raspberry wing tip. But by the goofy satisfaction that was plastered all over Jambu's face, Deathbringer supposed it couldn't hurt too bad.

Sundown clasped his talons over his snout with a gasp.

"You did it?" he asked, his voice soft and smitten.

"I sure did!" Jambu beamed. He glanced at the injury, and then said, "Not sure if I'd do it again, though."

The black dragonet looked up at his teacher worriedly. "Does it hurt?"

"Ehhhh. It hurt more yesterday, when I first got it. I put some aloe on it last night before I went to bed, and now I barely feel anything! Good stuff."

"Oh." Relief flooded Sundown's face, and he smiled. "That's good." He paused, cast a quick glance at Deathbringer, and then shuffled shyly on his talons. "So um. What was it like?"

The prince folded his wing back in, still grinning as he answered the question. "It was awesome! Buuuuut I almost died, and killed my sister, in the same day. Definitely would NOT recommend." Sundown looked horrified. Jambu blinked. Then quickly, gesturing to Deathbringer, he added, "But y'know! That's why I have my very own royally appointed bodyguard now! So no more almost-deaths for me."

"Bodyguard?" Dartfrog mused.

"QUEEN'S ORDERS," Jambu said again. "Now let's glide!"

In seconds, all five RainWings had spiraled up into the trees, leaving only Sundown and Deathbringer on the forest floor below. Sundown radiated a peculiar admiration as he gazed up at them with wide, twinkling eyes.

Jambu called down, "You can join us if you want! But it might be kinda hard to keep up."

Deathbringer saw him glance back at his bright pink tail and immediately realized what he meant. Ah, yes. Of course. A shorter, sinewy NightWing tail wouldn't be of any use to him today; the RainWings had tails specifically evolved for travelling through the high canopy. So even if Deathbringer could master the mechanics of tree gliding — of which he had no doubts about — he'd still inevitably fall behind due to a simple lack of that biological advantage.

"I'll just watch," he said with a nod.

"Mmkay!" Jambu breezily replied.

And then they were off, swinging and diving around like graceful overgrown monkeys.

Sundown suddenly gasped and bounded after them from the ground, which gave Deathbringer only a slight start. The little dragonet giggled and fluttered his blue-black wings, but never took his chase to the air, only dancing around underneath his friends. Either he can't fly yet, or he knows he'd never be able to catch them anyway, Deathbringer guessed.

The assassin brought his attention back up to Jambu's class. He could hear Jambu shouting instructions and praise in his cheerfully piping voice, but the teacher almost never interfered with anything his students were doing. They were free to practice in whatever ways they chose, it seemed. Within reason, presumably.

Fascinating. Very RainWing.

But one thing Deathbringer had certainly learned since living alongside them was that sometimes, the RainWing way of doing things could be surprisingly clever and efficient.

Olingo was clearly the most limber of the dragonets; his long, lanky body made it easier for his wings to propel him along, so fast that he nearly melted into a bright blue blur at times. Delight dipped herself around the emerald treetops like a dainty flying fish as her scales drifted between creamy shades of rose and ivory.

Occasionally, Dartfrog or Kiwi would sweep low to the ground, giggling along with Sundown. The little NightWing ducked and pranced with glee as their colorful wings brushed past him.

The spontaneous routine went on for a while. Deathbringer had lost track of how long the RainWings played in the air by the time Jambu brought them all back down.

Sundown came barreling into Dartfrog in no time; she laughed and hugged him in her purple wings. Prince Jambu beamed proudly at his students, curling his tail as whorls of indigo joined the bright fuchsia on his scales.

"Totally AWESOME, guys, as always!" he said.

"Thanks!" said Dartfrog, grinning back at him. Kiwi nodded, also looking pleased.

Olingo puffed his chest. Delight glanced at him with a funny smile, then poked him in the side. He jumped, and for a second he lost his balance, but quickly caught himself. When he wrinkled his snout at her, Delight blinked away innocently.

"Always, always!" Sundown agreed. He lowered his voice, and bashfully added, "I hope I can glide with you guys someday."

"You will," Kiwi promised him, smiling.

Jambu yawned loudly as he rolled his pink shoulders and flexed his wings a couple times. Then he shook himself from horns to tail. "Alright, well I'll see y'all tomorrow. Class dismissed!"

"WOOOOO!" Olingo leapt into the air and used his wings to flip through a full circle. Deathbringer couldn't tell if he was showing off or just being himself...or both. The dragonet landed with a grin. "Bye, Deathbringer!" He pranced away, loudly muttering to himself, "I can't believe that's his name! So cool."

Delight tilted her head up to the sky. "Hmmmmm," she hummed slowly. "You know, I think, I might start my sun time early today."

"Don't you do that every day?" asked Dartfrog.

"Well." The pastel dragonet blinked thoughtfully, and then smiled. "Yeah."

With a soft giggle, she slipped off after Olingo, leaving only Dartfrog, Kiwi, and Sundown behind with their teacher and his attendant.

Kiwi glanced at the sky too, then said, "And we'd better get Sundown back home soon."

"Oh, right!" Dartfrog hopped to her feet as fruity speckles of orange started marching up her scales. Beside her, Sundown tried — and failed — to hide his crestfallen expression. She turned to him with a gentle nudge. "C'mon, silly. You know your mother's rules."

The black dragonet sighed his surrender. "Yeah."

"Bye, Jambu! Bye, Deathbringer — see you tomorrow!" Dartfrog flicked her tail at them cheerfully. Kiwi and Sundown scampered along with her back into the rainforest.

"Bye, kids!" Jambu called after them. "Be safe, have fun!"

Deathbringer nodded, thankful that they'd given him a bit of a break from all his brooding. He couldn't help but feel a little curious as to what the rest of his time with them would reveal. He also couldn't ignore how much their teacher clearly did not need an assistant.

And then he was alone with Jambu again.

After a second of silence, the RainWing let out a happy sigh.

"Well, that was fun." He turned around to flash a big, toothy grin. "C'mon!" And before his attendant could blink, Jambu was twirling back up into the shimmering treetops.

Deathbringer spread his wings and hurried after him.

"Where are we going?" he asked as they leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree, toward a destination only one of them knew.

The prince laughed, and spun through the breadth of his next jump.

"To find Liana, of course!" he told him.

notes:

i take full credit for the junior dream team. ;) hopefully y'all enjoyed meeting them as much as i enjoyed introducing them.

p.s. — if anyone wants to follow my tumblr — quasimagical . tumblr . com