Prompt V: Sky
Yami sat in the clearing in front of the den with his head tipped back, staring up at the huge expanse of the sky. Atem stood feet away, studying him with a tilted head. Yugi was a yard aside, sitting and watching Yami with keen interest. Atem wondered for a moment what he was looking for. Did he expect something in particular from their son? Was there something he thought Yami would do now that they'd brought him outside for the first time?
The hatchling sat there, studying the clouds overhead, and finally walked forward and tilted his head. He looked so amazed and Atem smiled faintly at the realization. He didn't remember how he'd reacted or what he'd done when he first left the den, but Yami looked at it, rose to his back paws, stretched out as much as he could, and purred.
Atem tilted his head, curious, and Yugi grinned as if the world were immediately brightened just by Yami's wonder. The hatchling finally dropped to all fours a moment later, looking up at the sky with a shiver of excitement, and purred even louder.
He turned to Atem immediately after. "Is that ours?"
Atem blinked. "The sky?"
Yami nodded and looked up again, eyes huge again with wonder. He paced about in a circle several times, purred louder than ever, and glanced at his parents with the most delighted expression Atem had ever seen. He looked as if he wanted to tremble with excitement, and then he wondered for a moment if he might race around as Yugi had in the den when he'd hatched.
"No, the sky belongs to everyone—dragons, humans, prey, wolves; everyone and everything. Just as the sun and moon do." Atem glanced at Yugi briefly and the Gandora grinned at him before looking at Yami again. He looked so amazed again, and Atem wondered for a moment if he was just so excited because of Yami or if he'd been scared before that they'd get far enough to even let Yami see the sky. "No one dragon rules the sky."
Yami purred again and looked over, blinking huge eyes and tilting his head in puzzlement. "So, then why are you called a Sky Dragon? If you don't rule the sky, why are you called that?"
Atem snorted and wondered how much he should tell him. Would he have a grasp on genetics as he seemed to everything else? Or would a simpler explanation be the best?
"Because we're a mix of three other species, and we're the only ones who can fly so high and far among the clouds without tiring or getting overwhelmed by the pressure."
Yami glanced at Yugi. "You can't fly like that?"
Yugi shook his head, grinning despite Yami's bewilderment. He lowered himself to his belly after a moment, so that he and Yami were eye-level. He licked his beak, eyes glittering and warm. "I'm a low-altitude flyer. Fire Dragons and most Wind Dragons aren't keen on flying too high."
"Fire Dragons hate flying," Atem muttered, and Yami turned to him with a horrified look. He grinned, remembering the first time Timaeus had said something similar. He'd been horrified for them as well, because he couldn't imagine not loving being in the air, or adoring the sky. He still sometimes wondered how they survived with such limited flight or the brilliant caress of the sky. "They're built more for land travel than anything. It makes them grumpy to have to fly."
Yami looked at Yugi again, eyes huge. "What?"
Yugi burst out laughing. "I like flying! I'm just heavier than Atem so I can't go as high. He can go among the clouds and I can't. It takes a lot more effort for me to go that high. I have…but it's uncomfortable."
The hatchling whipped around again. "So, then… If no one owns it…"
Atem nodded. "The sky is considered neutral. As long as the dragon in question does not land and simply hovers, they have a blessing to remain. Only upon making contact with land can boundaries be enforced." He smiled and flicked his tail. Yami blinked and nodded as if he were committing the words to memory. Atem wondered if he'd done similarly, but he couldn't remember this conversation with his parents. Had he had that conversation with them or had it been with Timaeus? Or had he just…figured it out on his own? "Yugi knocked someone out the sky once when he was practicing flying."
Yami blinked and looked over, eyes huge. "Really?"
Yugi snorted. "He deserved it. He…insulted Atem, so he deserved it—even if I did it before he actually said it."
Their son snickered and turned to Atem with a huge grin. "What happened?" he demanded, leaping forward.
"Yugi decided to do an aerial ambush on Jaden's mate, Jesse, who came to visit to see if I would attend the gathering under way when Keith died." Atem licked his forehead and studied his face. Yami seemed to understand most of what he was telling him, though some of it he knew the hatchling had limited recollection of. They'd more or less kept it all under paw to avoid him seeing or heading details of it, but he did wonder if it was beneficial or harmful at this point. "I got upset with him and he called me bitter. Yugi lost his temper and attacked him."
Yami looked over and snickered, grinning wider than ever. "Oh!" he murmured, then turned to Atem again. He looked up at the clouds again, studying the huge expanse of brilliant blue. "Well, then he deserved it."
Atem shook his head, smirking, as Yami paced about a few steps without ever lowering his head. The Gandora leaped forward to lick his forehead, eyes warm with laughter and adoration as he crowed, "See? Our son knows!"
