Unscoured - Trials Of The Great Khan

by GamprHabanero

Five dragonets find themselves thrust into the world with only an enigmatic 'scavenger' for aid and protection. A man awakens to find that everything he's worked for is completely and utterly destroyed, with only a group of dragonets for company. Can these dragonets keep him sane and help him gain back what he lost? Who will be the heroes' hero, and who will be the hero's heroes?

9. P2A1C04

Alright, so...I have a little bit of a confession to make. I...may or may not have unintentionally been a bit misleading about Altamir getting to 'properly introduce' himself to the Dragonets of Destiny last chapter. So...thing is, that was the PLAN...but that chapter got way too long, so I decided instead to put a little unannounced cliffhanger with things not going to plan for Altamir either. Especially when he's going to learn some things that he wished he didn't.

Either way, I promise you that it will indeed happen here. And that you'll get something of a proper description of what Altamir looks like.

Also, whoops, I thought it was a dislocated shoulder that Tsunami suffered when it was actually a dislocated wing. Had to go fix that.

---

CHAPTER 4: THE RED-HAIRED HUMAN

Clay felt like the whole entire world was spinning upside down. He had no idea what was what anymore.

The only thing that he was sure about was that he'd never see 'scavengers' the same way again.

Yesterday, if it even was actually yesterday, had been by and far the worst day of his and his friends' lives. No, it wasn't even a contest. Not even close.

First, yet another bad 'training session' with Kestrel trying to 'bring that little monster out of [him]'. Then he found out that Glory was supposed to be killed for being 'unworthy', and Tsunami got chained up to a pillar by their so-called 'guardians' (who, aside with Kestrel, also consisted Dune and Webs, and apparently Morrowseer also, and were more of 'jailers' if anything) to prevent her from interfering. Then, to try and prevent this, Clay and his friends hatched a plan to open their cave's other entrance so that they could escape...only to then run into Scarlet, the Queen of the SkyWings. Clay and Tsunami tried to flee from her back to the cave...only for her and her soldiers to follow them there and...oh three moons, Clay wished that him, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny all getting grabbed, beaten up, and dragged off in chains to Scarlet's arena by those same soldiers, and him and the other dragonets then being thrown into a cage by those soldiers, and being told that the five of them were to die by way of being burned alive by a Firescales SkyWing for Scarlet's amusement by the Queen herself, was all just a bad dream that he'd wake up from. But it wasn't. It was real. It happened, and was happening. Or at least had been.

Clay had thought that was going to be it. He really did. That there was nothing that he or his friends could do but sit crammed together in that cage waiting for their inevitable, painful deaths. And he could tell that they thought that too. Even Tsunami. Even Sunny.

And yet, this morning (if it was indeed a new day, and not more than one), rather than him and the others waking up in that cage to be brought to a brutal death...Clay instead found himself and them waking up in...another cave?

At first, Clay thought that they'd been 'rescued' by more of the Talons of Peace, the organization that their 'guardians' had been a part of. Glory and Tsunami clearly thought this too, and obviously, since the last thing that they were doing before they were captured by Scarlet and her soldiers, neither of them were happy with the idea; Tsunami irritatedly huffed that, after all that effort and everything that had happened, they were 'right back where they started', while Glory exasperatedly remarked that, given their experiences, caves were little better than cages, and that she wouldn't be surprised if 'they never let [them] out ever again'. They were so upset that they didn't even argue with each other!

But then he realized that this wasn't the case as he looked around at himself and his friends. And he realized that something strange was going on.

For one thing...there were no other dragons in the cave. A cave that had a wide-open entrance with light shining into the front of the cave. Clay had believed himself to not be very smart compared to someone like Starflight or even Tsunami for a long time by now, but even he knew that if the Talons of Peace were intending to 'keep them and never let them out again'...then leaving them unguarded in a wide-open cave like this would be the last possible way to do it. Unless they were being guarded by dragons who could somehow turn invisible and WERE there, and just couldn't be seen...but the only dragon he knew who could do something like that was Glory, and because they apparently were too lazy to join, there were no RainWings in the Talons of Peace. Glory did nap a lot...but Clay wasn't sure if calling her 'lazy' was correct. She, too, was way smarter than him, and she showed it a lot. Maybe the Talons just didn't like RainWings.

Er...for another thing, the only other ones in the cave with Clay and his friends weren't dragons...but rather, they were Scavengers. Clay and Tsunami had met one the other day before it had gotten its...head bitten off by Scarlet (ugh...even without everything that followed THAT happening, that alone was still enough to kill his appetite). Here, there were more of them: four or five, if Starflight's remark was right. Most of them were sitting together on the other side of this fire...that, for some reason didn't seem to be burning anything (there wasn't any wood or coal there under it), and had no sparks floating up from it, and didn't give off a smell, and yet it still glowed and gave off warm heat as if it was burning something. How did that work?

Well, that wasn't the strangest thing here, as for yet another thing, Clay realized that all the injuries that he had gotten from that white stuff in the cave and from Scarlet's soldiers...were gone. They were literally all just...gone. They were gone. And the pain that came with them was gone with them also. And when he looked at his friends, he realized that the injuries that they had seemed to be gone too. Even Tsunami's dislocated wing was fully fixed, as if her being chained up to that pillar had never even happened at all! And...wait, Glory's scales were looking so much brighter and shinier than they ever had before!"

Wait, so, if they were in a completely different cave like this, and were suddenly all better...then who rescued them and brought them here, and how did they do it? And just how long had Clay and the others been out? A day? A few days? A week?

But then he noticed that this one scavenger, unlike the others, was standing off to the side, leaning against a rock. Clay couldn't put a claw on it, but this scavenger had something...weird about him.

First, he looked weird. According to what Starflight told Clay one time, scavengers had brown skin and head-fuzz that was dark brown or black, and the one he saw yesterday (as well as the four that he saw on the other side of the fire now) indeed had that. This one, though...didn't have either of that. Instead, and while the fire's light may have been messing with Clay's ability to tell if it was for sure, his skin at least looked pretty light-colored, probably the same color as those on Sunny's underbelly (a pale sand-like color that was almost white), and that head-fuzz looked to be either orange or red...or was it both? Again, Clay couldn't tell for sure. But either way...it wasn't what Clay expected a scavenger to look like at all. Also, the...stuff that he was wearing that scavengers wore over themselves...it was colored black, for some reason.

Second, he felt weird. Scavengers were small animals, weren't they? If that was the case, then surely they should feel as small as they looked, like something that no dragon (except for a small scavenger) could ever really be afraid of, and that a dragon could do whatever with them as they chose to, whether it was eating them (even though Clay didn't feel like doing that) or keeping them as pets (apparently, some dragons did keep them as pets), right? And yet, with this scavenger, things did NOT feel that way. Instead, for some reason, it felt like this scavenger had a huge presence in the room, as if Clay was somehow looking at a...a dragon...and not just that, but a big dragon...as in, Morrowseer big. Rather than the tiny thing that was probably only as tall as Tsunami's head was long that Clay was seeing with his eyes. That, and he didn't feel like just an animal, like the scavenger from yesterday did. No, he felt and looked like he was more than that. Much more. Like he was just as smart as they were.

And third, he was acting weird. While that one from yesterday was terrified of him and Tsunami, its little face contorted with fear (then again, they were discussing whether to eat it or not before Scarlet showed up), this scavenger...wasn't afraid at all. Even though there were five dragons in this cave with him rather than two, and he wasn't standing THAT far from Clay. And his little face, expressive as it clearly could be, wasn't showing any sort of fear whatsoever. If anything, he looked like he knew full well that he was in full view of five dragons while being close to them and didn't seem particularly worried, as if he had no reason to be scared for his own life at all. Clay wished that he himself could be that fearless. He never expected to be jealous of a scavenger, but here he was.

Speaking of fearless...the scavenger then did something Clay didn't expect. He stood up from where he'd been leaning against the rock...and rather than try to scurry away, the scavenger instead started walking towards Clay and the others, still without a hint of fear in his step. If anything, it was as though he was just taking a nice walk through the forest or something. Rather than walking within pouncing range of five dragons who each could kill or eat him if they wanted to.

Now the others had noticed him too, and Starflight was even remarking about how, again, fearless the little scavenger was. This led to Sunny even suggesting that he was somehow the one who had rescued them from Scarlet. Now, obviously, this got Tsunami and Glory rejecting the idea, but while Clay definitely understood why they did - after all, how could a tiny scavenger even do that - part of him, for some reason, weirdly felt as though Sunny's suggestion wasn't that crazy or impossible. No, instead, it felt like there was at least a chance that, crazy as it would sound, and embarrassing as it would be to be rescued by a scavenger, that that was indeed what happened, and that they had this scavenger to thank for getting them out of Scarlet's clutches.

Then though, just as Glory admitted that anything was possible but then said that there was no way that a scavenger 'as tiny as [him]' could somehow face Scarlet and all of her guards and get them out of there while he was at it (right after Tsunami pointed out how tiny he was and asked Sunny what made her think that he could somehow bundle them all under his little limbs and carry them off - again, Tsunami and Glory weren't arguing like they usually were)...

...the scavenger did something that Clay never thought that one ever could, and that made him and his friends all freeze at.

"And what if I did?"

He talked.

He...no way. He...talked? He talked? What in...what?

The scavenger could talk? The scavenger could...

The scavenger could talk. The scavenger could talk.

THE SCAVENGER. COULD. TALK.

WHAT?!

There was no way! There was no way that Clay was hearing or seeing things properly - scavengers weren't supposed to talk, only squeak and yibble! But neither his eyes nor his ears were lying to him. He heard the sound, saw the little guy's mouth moving, everything. His friends did, too, because he saw them looking at the scavenger with wide eyes and also saw their mouths falling open just like his did.

Okay, first of all, and somehow, THE SCAVENGER COULD TALK! Second of all, how did he sound so deep?! Clay had expected something high-pitched and squeaky, something higher than, say, Sunny, even. But...well, not only did he somehow feel as big as Morrowseer, but he sounded as big too; out of that little mouth came a voice so deep that it was almost as much so as that of Morrowseer's! It was so jarring paired with the scavenger's tiny size, almost as jarring as how, well, again, he could talk!

And for yet another thing, he clearly could understand them and what they were saying, and he was smart enough to come up with a better response to Glory than Clay himself ever could.

This couldn't be real. This had to be a dream. And yet it wasn't. This somehow WAS real.

Clay was so stunned by all of this that, along with the others, he stared at the scavenger for what felt like a long time, mouth hanging open and unable to make words with it. Same with the others, which led to a rather loud silence...if a silence could somehow be considered 'loud'.

The scavenger clearly noticed how stunned they all were, and raised his little eyebrows at them, as if expecting an answer. When he didn't get one (because Clay and his friends were too stunned to talk), he asked another one. "So, uh...what was that about 'escaping' or being 'kept in caves' or being 'never let out'?" Then, he pointed at Glory. "Does...that have something to do with why you in particular had those really dull-looking scales when I first found all of you? It's like you weren't getting any sun-time at all! Don't tell me that Scarlet wasn't the first to keep you all somewhere against your will..."

He 'found' them...and he was asking about if Scarlet was the first to keep them somewhere against his will...so he did save them from Scarlet.

Wait...no. No way. No way. Did...

...did he actually...

...he...he did. He actually...

...he actually saved them. From Scarlet. He saved them from Scarlet.

HE SAVED THEM FROM SCARLET!

Clay couldn't believe it...but he'd have to. Given that Scarlet had...intended them to...die for her entertainment, there was no other way that he'd have 'found them' or known that Scarlet was keeping them as her prisoners, and that they'd be here safe and sound here...wherever they were right now, rather than dying there...unless he'd literally gone to her arena and saved them from her. And he apparently knew that Glory was supposed to be getting 'sun-time' but wasn't getting it like she should have been, and much as Clay hated to say it, the scavenger's guess from that about him and the others having been 'held against [their] will' before Scarlet ever even got her claws on them was really spot-on (three moons, this scavenger WAS really smart). That, and given what he said about how Glory's scales were dull, and how now they weren't anymore...this scavenger must have done something about that. And if he could do something about that...he might have done something about their injuries too!

But...what did he do there, then? And what did he do to rescue them from Scarlet? How did he do those things? And why? What were his reasons?

Also, obviously, how could he talk?

Wait...

...did that mean that, all this time, Clay and his friends were joking about, and laughing at jokes about, killing and eating a group of living beings who were just as...

...oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no...

...nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, that did it, he was sticking to cows. No more joking about eating scavengers, and no more THINKING about eating scavengers. If they were this smart, if they were as smart as dragons were...then they were to be respected and cared about, not eaten or kept as mere pets!

He hoped this scavenger wouldn't hate his and the others' guts for having ever found such jokes funny...

Speaking of the scavenger, he tilted his head in...Clay couldn't figure out what specific expression, but he could see that the scavenger was holding his paw to his lower jaw, as if thinking about something.

"Hmm...I guess it was too early to ask that...it probably should have waited for later..."

Though, before the scavenger could say anything else, it was then that the others started finding their voices again.

"...you can...you can talk." Glory was the first. It was quite the sight, seeing the usually sullen, sarcastic Glory so wide-eyed and at a loss for words. "You actually...you...you're a scavenger, and you...you can...you can talk?!"

It was similarly quite the sight to see the usually brash and loud Tsunami also so wide-eyed and at a loss for words as well as she pointed her claw at the scavenger, trying to say something...before she then looked at Clay and... "Clay, your injuries are gone!"

"Huh?" Clay jumped a little, startled by Tsunami saying that, before nodding. "Uh...y-yeah, I noticed! Yours are gone, too!"

"They are...?" Then Tsunami looked all over herself. "Hey, wait, yeah, they are! What in..." And then she looked at the others as well, and... "Whoa, everyone's injuries are gone!"

"They certainly are..." Starflight muttered. "Uh...I mean, that's nice, because I really, really, really don't like pain...but what and how...?"

"Maybe this little guy did something about them?" Sunny suggested again.

Just as Tsunami and Glory seemed ready to (probably) say that there was no way, the scavenger spoke again. "I did. It was rather tricky, given some of the injuries that you had, but yes, I was the one who did that. How I did that is something you can ask later." Then, the scavenger rolled his little head on his little shoulders. "Oh, and for the record, yes, I can talk. You're hearing words and seeing my mouth move at the same time, aren't you? Also, my kind are properly called 'humans', not 'scavengers'. Still have no idea where that nickname came from, but whatever."

"...well, o-okay then." Glory was still looking a little awkward from the scav...no, human, being able to talk. "Can't believe Sunny was right twice in a row. Uh...I...guess you have a name, right, 'human'? Who are you?"

Clay had to admit that 'human' sounded a lot better as a name than 'scavenger'.

"I do." The human, meanwhile, nodded at Glory's question. "My name is 'Altamir'."

"Altamir? That's a...that's a strange name." Starflight remarked. "I've never heard anything like that before."

"Humans do have somewhat different naming traditions than dragons." Altamir, as he was, shrugged. "If you find it too strange, you could simply call me 'Aldy' for short. Though, I'll have you know that my name in particular IS a word that, in a different language, means 'red hot iron'." Clay then spotted what he thought was a smile on the human's face. Couldn't blame him, though...that was a pretty nice name, if that's what it meant.

Tsunami clearly thought so too. "Your name actually means...oh come on, Stick-in-the-mud-flight, that's a cool name!"

"Y-You don't have to call me that..."

"Then don't be one! Be good for the newbie!"

"Did she seriously just call him a 'newbie'? He sounds and acts like he's older than us..."

Altamir, meanwhile (again), chuckled at Tsunami's antics. "Heh...it's been a long time since someone's ever called me a 'newbie' or anything along those lines. Though, if my name is so impressive, what about yours? Perhaps they may be something to behold?"

"Yep, he's definitely older than us...probably an adult...though, if he is, he's probably the first one to actually be good to us...at least for now." Clay then decided to get his and his friends' side of the introductions started. "I'm not sure if they...all are, but...I'm 'Clay'."

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm 'Tsunami'."

"I'm 'Glory'."

"My name's 'Starflight', not-"

"And I'm 'Sunny'!" Clay couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Sunny cutting Starflight's comment off.

"So, 'Clay' the MudWing, 'Tsunami' the SeaWing, 'Glory' the RainWing, 'Starflight' the NightWing, and 'Sunny' the SandWing, right? That's all of you?" For some reason, Altamir saying their names felt so much better than when the 'guardians' said their names. Maybe it was because Altamir was a good adult who actually seemed to care about them, as far as Clay could tell?

"Yep, that's all of us." Glory nodded at Altamir's question. "Gotta say, Aldy, surprised you managed to figure out our tribes that quickly. Especially Sunny's."

"I've always had a good eye for that sort of thing." Altamir then crossed his little limbs. "Your names are just fine, by the way. And yes, I'm the one who rescued all of you from Scarlet. Won't say exactly how for now, but while the process was a pain, I'm glad I did it."

"Huh...so you really DID save us..." Even Starflight was impressed. "Though...are you sure she's not gonna come after us? I'm kinda worried she will..."

"She can chase some while she's headless? Hmm...yes, that's very worrisome."

"HEADLESS?!" Starflight yelped in surprise. "Wait, you actually...?"

"Aldy, what did you do?" Glory asked in a way that, along with her face, showed that she was quite interested in, and amused by, whatever Altamir had apparently done to Scarlet.

"Turned her smug mug into a fine red mist?" Altamir, for his part, seemed rather satisfied with whatever he had done, given his grin. "I maaaaay or may not have done that. On her hatching day. In front of the entire arena. And took down another 40 or so of those guards and soldiers while I was at it. And I may or may not have caused her headless stump to stain a good portion of the arena's stands in red."

Tsunami was laughing at this (and Glory was chuckling), while Sunny seemed a little disgusted (and to be fair, Clay also was...but more by the way that Altamir had done it rather than because he killed Scarlet), and Starflight just seemed glad that Scarlet was gone.

"Aldy...that's gross!" Sunny said with a wince.

"Perhaps so." Altamir acknowledged with a shrug. "But it's fitting, isn't it? She was a disgusting dragon with a disgusting so-called 'hobby'. That she met such an end like that...a nice bit of poetic justice, don't you think?"

"You've got some style, Aldy!" Tsunami laughed again. "I like it! Kinda wish I'd been able to see that...though, just how long were we asleep before you brought us to...wherever we are, anyways?"

"Just for the night," Altamir replied, "and as for where we are right now, I'll get to that later. Though, while I get why you would have wanted to see Scarlet's mind being blown," Tsunami and Glory chuckled again as he said that, "I must unfortunately say that it's for the best that the five of you were still asleep. For one thing, it made getting you all out of there easier, and for another thing, Scarlet going down was a satisfying thing to see, but it was preceded by a different sight...one that was horrid enough that it would have tested even the strongest of stomachs."

"It was?" Clay asked pensively.

"It was." Altamir nodded. "You do not want to know, trust me on that. Now then...as for where we currently are...I will say that we're technically still in SkyWing territory, though I will add that we are in a sparsely-populated portion of it that doesn't have any real strategic value in this...this stupid continent-wide war and whatnot, and we're far away from where Scarlet's palace is also, so we've got less to worry on that end. Though, it would do to stay inside to lessen chances of a theoretical 'encounter' happening. That, and it's still 'freeze-your-tails-off' cold outside, so why would you go out in that when you could be somewhere nice and warm?"

"Well, we wouldn't." Glory shrugged. "I guess that's why you have us in this cave?"

"Indeed." Altamir crossed his little fore-limbs. "And only until, say, tomorrow or so, when it may be warmer out, and I can figure out a way to get us out of SkyWing territory quickly and safely. I just wanted to make it clear that I wasn't the type to imprison dragonets in a cave for the sake of keeping them under-thumb, because that's abominable. I've found that earning their trust the slow-and-steady way and then maintaining it by being, well, trustworthy, works infinitely better."

"Oh, hey, an adult who's actually on our side for once." Tsunami remarked. "Only took us nearly six whole years into our lives for us to find one."

Altamir looked positively disgusted at hearing this. "...you're saying that I'm the very first adult that has actually truly helped you and whatnot? Things that adults should be doing for dragonets? If that's so, then that's a distinction I wish I didn't have."

"We wish you didn't have it either." Clay sighed. "But...well...yeah, you do. And...when you guessed that Scarlet wasn't the first to 'hold us against our will'...you were right about that."

"So I was, wasn't I?" Altamir sighed and shook his head. "Ugh..."

"Yeah, you were pretty on the mark, Aldy." Tsunami nodded. "You have no idea how long we've been itching to be able to tell someone about how they've treated us without getting scolded and being told that they're just 'doing what's best for us'."

"It already sounds like the ways they treated you were anything but." Altamir looked like he didn't want to hear what he was about to hear, but knew he needed to hear it anyway. "Well, go on, then. What specifically happened? And just who was it that did that to all of you? Tell me as much as you can remember and that you're comfortable telling me about. Just make sure that you're all being honest with me."

"We will, Aldy." Clay voiced his understanding of that last bit, and the others nodded to it.

So, Clay and his friends got to telling Altamir all about what their lives were like before Scarlet's raid. About how they'd been stolen from their parents when they were still eggs, about how the so-called 'guardians' treated them and the various ways they did so, and in particular about the plans by those 'guardians' to murder Glory in her sleep for being 'unworthy' of the prophecy (which, specifically, they did explain to him), and the 'guardians' chaining Tsunami to a pillar to try and prevent her from interfering.

It was painful, having to basically go through all of that pain and suffering again while they were talking about this, but at the same time, it was so freeing and - what was the word that Starflight would use? 'Vindicating'? Yeah, vindicating - to be able to talk about the things they'd gone through to an actually good adult who took them seriously and didn't side against them right away just because they were still dragonets and the ones who did these things to them were adults.

It was also freeing and vindicating to see that adult clearly agree with them, going by Altamir's face as they all went on...though, it was also, again, pretty painful to see how he reacted. It hadn't taken long for him to look horrified, angered, and disgusted all at once, and he even started looking like he was going to be sick. This was the same human who had apparently blown off Scarlet's head, for three moons - to see him react like THAT to how they were treated only made it clear that the way they had been treated was really, really, really bad.

When they were finally done, Altamir had his little face buried in his little paws. He didn't speak for a while...

"...Aldy?" Clay asked carefully, "Are you...?"

...and then when he did, "...how old are all of you?", Clay heard a bit of sadness in the human's voice as Altamir asked this.

"Huh? Uh...five years old, about to turn six?" Starflight answered Altamir's sudden question after clearly being a little startled by it. "Clay's the oldest, then Tsunami, then Glory, then me, and then Sunny's the youngest, and we all hatched on the same day. Um...why do you ask that...?"

"Nearly six years old? That's how long you had to live under the thumb of those dragons?" Altamir then finally raised his face up from his paws, and then shook his head, that sadness being something Clay could see in his eyes as well. "I...I'm sorry, that was careless of me. I should have gone and found you all earlier...especially if I had known that this is how they treat dragonets these days!" Altamir's voice sounded like frustration given form. "You all deserve better than that...dragonets deserve to be able to fly free with someone who respects and values their hopes, their dreams, their freedom, their free will! Not chained up in caves and treated abominably by someone who regards such as things to be crushed underfoot for the sake of some 'prophecy'! And yet, after all this time, after thousands of years in existence...some dragons still can't seem to figure that out, and it never ceases to drive me up a mountainside!" Altamir was panting a bit after this, before he then looked up at the dragonets. "Ugh...I suppose the best way to make up for having not gotten you out of there earlier is to make sure that the dragons who did all of this to you can never do such again."

...

...

...

All his life, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny had been made to put up with dragons treating them like cracked eggs in various ways and then claiming that it was somehow 'for their own good' when it very much wasn't, and the first time that they encountered a dragon other than them, that dragon was Scarlet. Given this, Clay had to admit that he and his friends didn't exactly have the best opinions of adults, seeing them as mostly just oppressors, jailers, and abusers.

And then came Altamir, who, so far, had flipped all of that on its head.

He rescued them from Scarlet, he patched up their wounds, he made sure they had somewhere nice and warm to stay for the time, he was willing to hear them on how they had been treated by those other dragons, he reacted with disgust to how they were treated to the point where he called it 'abominable', and now, he'd promised to make sure that such dragons couldn't ever harm them again, having even apologized for having not rescued them before he had.

He meant every single word that he'd said after they'd finished telling him about how those dragons had treated them, didn't he? Clay would be lying if he hadn't worried that Altamir was only 'helping' them for a self-serving goal, as he DID look like he was...hiding something, and he could tell that the others seemed to have this worry too...but then the way that Altamir had said all of that, the look in his little eyes and on his little face, and then how the disgust he'd reacted with to how they'd been treating both looked and sounded genuine...

Clay found himself staring at Altamir, speechless. He couldn't believe it. An adult who was not only actually on their side, but one that, though very small, still had more care, regard, and, most importantly, respect for them in his little paw than those 'guardians' had in their whole beings. And he could see with brief glances that his friends, also speechless, couldn't believe it either.

"A-Aldy?" Tsunami asked with a wobbly voice that was usually unlike her. "Did...did you mean all of that? Every word?"

"Every word, Tsunami." Altamir answered. "Every. Single. Word. And if it's what needs to happen, I will throw down my life for it if I must. Young lives have a priceless value. A value that, when one is lost, can never be replaced."

He would...he would really...? For...for them? He actually would...

...he was serious. That...that wasn't a joke. He literally just said that he would die for them if he had to. They were THAT valuable to him?

But...he'd just met them! They were just a bunch of dragonets whom he'd probably just happened to stumble across, however he got into Scarlet's arena! He could have picked any other dragon or dragonet to save! What was so special about them? Why did they matter this much to him? Why...why was he doing this stuff for them? If not for a selfish goal, then...what reason...

...was...was this...was this what...? Did he really...?

---

"Those damn 'guardians'..." Altamir thought with no small level of disgust as he watched the five dragonets sitting in front of him have their lips quiver, and then the streaks trail down from their eyes along their snouts, and then began hearing the sniffling and whimpering that never ceased to rip and tear at his heart. "...by the gods, why do dragons like them have to exist to torment good and innocent dragonets?"

These poor kids had never known any true, genuine, unconditional love and care, hadn't they? They hadn't ever...?

...good grief...some dragons those 'guardians' were...

...and yet again Altamir was left to, as usual, pick up the pieces of those adult dragons who couldn't put their scruples and biases and tendencies and whatnot aside to simply be good to dragonets like they were supposed to. As he had done many, many, many times before.

"Poor kids..." Altamir sighed, "...alright, come here. Come here. I'm right here..." He then outstretched his arms to the dragonets, hoping that they'd come to him, aware that they were probably at least a little averse to touch from anyone not one of their group...

...and, even though they certainly showed signs of that, they still stumbled over to him and sank down all around him, paying little attention to how he in his whole being was only really in contention with their heads when it came to size.

Altamir quietly stayed there with the dragonets as the pain from all the misery and suffering that they'd gone through finally found an outlet, gently holding one or two close at a time, and gently running his hands over the scales on their snouts. While a few of them initially flinched at him doing this (particularly Tsunami and Glory), they settled down and even leaned into it when they realized that he was doing his best to be, again, gentle.

While Altamir certainly wished that they didn't have to be in...this state, he was glad that they trusted his touch. Given the ways that those gods-damned so-called 'guardians' had treated them, and that such was most definitely the source of all of those older wounds and scars, he knew full well that they hadn't a good history with tactile contact from those who were adults, so them being so defensive and aversive when it came to someone touching them was something he knew he'd had to expect. That they were letting him do this with them anyways in spite of that...that showed him that they trusted him, or were at the very least beginning to. Good...

Eventually, the sobbing from them quieted down more and more until it finally stopped...it had probably been a few minutes or so that he'd been with them through that for.

"...are you feeling better now?" Altamir gently asked after a minute or so of quiet, and after wiping the tear stains off their faces. "A little bit better, at least?"

"...yeah...a little bit..." Tsunami nodded, sniffling.

---

"Ugh...this is embarrassing..." Tsunami inwardly grumbled. "...just how did he have me bawling like a hatchling?!"

Now, it wasn't like Tsunami disliked Altamir or anything...far from it, this little sca...er, human, was someone she had to admit that she liked quite a lot by now because, well, he'd saved her and her friends from Scarlet and all, and he'd made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to let the 'guardians' get their claws on them again (and given that he literally blew Scarlet to the afterlife with...whatever the moons he used, he seemed like he could back it up), and just in general, he looked like he was an actually good adult, and was being pretty genuine about helping them and stuff like that.

But still...three moons, just what came over her? All that he had to say that he meant every word of that little speech he did after he heard her and her friends tell him about what happened under those 'guardians', and she was sniffling and whimpering and crying like she was a tenth of the age she was now! How did...

"It had to have been hard..." Altamir's words grabbed her attention away from her thoughts. "...having not had anyone there to have your backs or help you for so long. I suppose it must be like being underwater, having to constantly hold your breath with no way of being able to surface, or being lost underground, with no way of being able to see the day again, or starving, with no way of getting any food to eat. I...suppose that, in that case, I'm that someone who takes your talons and pulls you back up above that surface, so that you can finally breathe, or that someone who knows the way back above ground and leads you there, so that you can see that sun again, or that someone who brings you that much-needed food, so that you can finally eat again. To have that happen...has to be relieving, isn't it? Like a huge weight's been taken off your back?"

Well...that was a way of putting it...yeah, that was how it felt. Even if, being a SeaWing, she could breathe underwater, the other two still worked.

So much for being tough, though...

"That face..." Altamir was looking at her now as he snapped her out of her thoughts again, "...I suppose you're just not used to letting your walls down like this, to put it one way?"

"Huh? I...uh...well...I..." Tsunami wasn't sure what to say to this. How did he know...?

"Can I guess that you're used to acting and being all rough-and-tough to protect yourself and the others of this little group from the likes of Dune, Kestrel, Morrowseer, Scarlet, and other rotten dragons? And that you wear that like armor to hide things like fear and pain, vulnerable spots like that, from anyone who might try to exploit them? That sort of thing?" Then, Altamir patted Tsunami's snout. "I've been there, Tsunami. I have. So many times I've had to do that for the sake of those I love. And I know how awkward it can feel when it comes time to 'take off' the 'armor'...especially if one's been 'wearing' that 'armor' for a long time."

"...so you...understand me?" Tsunami looked at Altamir, badly hoping that, for once in her life, someone would finally do so rather than trying to break her to mold her into...being 'not herself'. "At least...kinda?"

"I'd do well to do my best to, Tsunami. After all, going with the flow is much easier than trying to fight it."

"YES! Finally!" Tsunami then realized that she'd made Altamir jolt back from reeling her head up in excitement, and sheepishly lowered her head back to him. "...uh, I...er...thanks, Aldy. And, uh...thanks for saving us from Scarlet and getting us away from those 'guardians'. Still can't believe you managed to bundle us under your little limbs and get us outta there. I mean...I wish we'd been successful and all in escaping on our own from them, but..."

Altamir simply patted her on the snout again. "Well, that's just the way things are. I could help you learn some ways to be able to do that on your own better so that you don't have to rely on me saving you all the time and whatnot...but regardless, it's no problem, Tsunami. Even though that was one of the more stressful rescues that I've done, seeing you and your friends here out of danger makes it all worth it."

Then, Altamir wrapped his little limbs around the front of her snout...but Tsunami was in for a surprise when she felt a LOT more strength from those limbs than she would have expected from someone as small as him. Initially, she internally panicked a bit at feeling that. Though, she then settled down when he realized he was still being gentle, and that he was...

...he was hugging her. He was...he was actually hugging her. No...no adult had ever done that for her before. Or for her friends, for that matter.

"Heh...eheheh...thanks, Aldy." Tsunami chuckled as she decided to gently nuzzle him back a bit.

Maybe it was probably gonna look a little weird to someone who knew her that she was letting Altamir hug her without so much as complaining, especially since she was usually so big on being tough and standing her ground and all, and she usually hated it when she and her friends had to be rescued by someone, because it reinforced that they were weaker than, and helpless in the face of, those other adults...and she despised being weak and helpless.

But...well, for one thing, yes, Tsunami absolutely could be gentle...it was just that there were plenty of things that got on her nerves, and that those 'guardians' made it very not-safe trying to be 'gentle' around, let alone Scarlet, while Altamir hadn't gotten on her nerves really at all, and he was the furthest from those adults that she and her friends had ever met so far, and he even understood why she was usually so intent on being tough, something that, again, no other adult had ever tried to do. For another thing, while it was definitely true that they'd needed rescuing from Scarlet, and that they weren't able to break out and escape on their own was pretty embarrassing...Tsunami just couldn't at all bring herself to be mad or upset at or with Altamir for that whatsoever. She just couldn't.

It might have had something to do that, while those other adults would have mocked them for it, called them weak for it, scolded them for 'being so much trouble', or used doing so to try and forcibly make them bow and submit to them...Altamir, by contrast, was just glad that she and her friends were safe and away from Scarlet, and he even went as far as to patch them up, something that those adults, again, probably would either never have done or only did so begrudgingly. There was also that he'd offered to help them be able to rescue themselves without having to rely on him...which, yet again, was the exact opposite of what those adults, obsessed with power and control over her and her friends as they were, would have done.

That, and much as she hated to admit it, there wasn't really any clear way that they were going to escape from Scarlet on their own, given that they were both chained up and being kept in a cramped cage, AND were surrounded by SkyWing soldiers from every side before Altamir rescued them, and him being this strong and able to rescue them from THAT, all while probably only being as big as her head? Honestly, she just couldn't help but be impressed, especially since he was so nice and likable on top of it.

And he also gave some pretty nice hugs even though his limbs were so tiny. Come on, what wasn't to love about him?

Honestly, him being this nice to her and her friends, and this gentle, too, while being this strong, she had to say that he was sorta like...like Clay. Yeah, he was kinda like Clay...well, granted, that would be if Clay was older, a lot tinier, and as smart as, say, Starflight...nevermind that Clay himself was still literally right next to her...but still.

Speaking of Clay, Altamir went to him next once he gently let go of Tsunami. Given how he stretched his little limbs out towards Clay, Tsunami could tell he wanted to hug the big MudWing too... and probably the others as well. Fair enough.

For Clay's part, he seemed surprised when Altamir indicated that to him. "Huh? You wanna..."

"Well, why not?" Altamir tilted his head in a way that suggested that that was a question with an obvious answer.

"...yeah, why not." Clay shrugged and lowered his head to Altamir, who then...well, he wasn't exactly able to quite do the 'snout hug' thing all the way around the front of his snout like he did with Tsunami because of his giant head, but he was able to sort of do it part way around a corner of the front of that snout.

"Yeah, this'll have to do." Altamir chuckled in amusement at having to do it this way. "Big blocky head, arms not big enough." Huh, arms...so that was what he called his upper limbs. Now, what did he call those paws that were on them...?

"Yeah, I know." Clay chuckled himself. "And thanks for saving us, Aldy. You doing that while being that small...you're braver than I am."

"Oh, come on, Clay," Altamir replied while patting Clay's snout, "I'm sure you can be brave enough yourself."

"Trust me, Aldy, he is." Tsunami nodded.

"I..." Clay looked surprised that this was said about him. "...uh, if you say so."

Ah, Clay...he needed some confidence. He didn't deserve Kestrel doing what she did to him...okay, none of them deserved what the 'guardians' did to him, but especially poor Clay. He needed that hug that Altamir was giving him. And badly, at that.

After a little bit longer, Altamir released Clay from the hug, and then went past Tsunami...and Glory...and then Starflight before stopping in front of Sunny.

"Me next?" Sunny asked briefly as she tilted her head at Altamir.

"That's not a problem, is it?"

"Nope, not at all!" Sunny then lowered her head down to Altamir, and giggled when, her being small enough, he hugged her around her neck just behind her head. "Eheheheh...aww, thanks Aldy!"

Tsunami couldn't blame Altamir wanting to hug Sunny next. She was the youngest of the group, and even if she could be a little annoying sometimes, she was otherwise a very sweet dragonet and very adorable, and she was definitely the most huggable of the dragonets. And that big smile on her face...of course she was the one who would love this the most. That was definitely Sunny being Sunny.

Then, Altamir let Sunny go and went to Starflight. Like Clay, the NightWing seemed surprised that Altamir wanted to hug him as well.

"Wait...you want to..."

"I don't intend to leave anyone out. I hope that's fine with you."

"...uh, yeah, I guess so." So, Starflight lowered his head to Altamir, who, similarly to what he did with Sunny, hugged the dragonet around the neck behind his head. "And, uh, I know some of the others already said this before, but...thanks for saving us from Scarlet and her soldiers, Aldy. Without you, we would have faced certain death."

"It's only right that I've prevented something like that." Altamir replied simply. "That's the sort of task that's simply a duty of mine."

"Heh...if you say so, Aldy." A smile sneaked its way across Starflight's face. Yep, he was warming up to Altamir too.

And then, once Altamir let Starflight go, he then finally went to Glory. Glory seemed to not know what to think.

"Uh...you want to do me next?"

"...that depends. I noticed you weren't fond of physical contact." Wow, he actually picked up on that? He really was good at noticing things.

"I mean...yeah, that's true, I usually hate being touched." Glory nodded. "Though...given that you literally saved our lives and patched us up and all, and that you're as nice to us as you are..." Then, with a sigh, and a bit of hesitation, she lowered her head down to Altamir. "...alright, Aldy, I guess you can hug me. Just...be gentle."

"A simple task." Altamir showed it by doing the whole 'hug behind the head' thing that he did with Sunny and Starflight...but, as he promised to her, he was gentle about it.

Glory certainly thought so herself, at least. "Alright, yeah, that's gentle." Then, the RainWing cracked a genuine smile as she looked back with her eyes at the human who was hugging her. "Careful, Aldy...we're starting to like you."

"I know." Altamir chuckled. "In that case, I must be very careful indeed." Yeah...Tsunami could tell that Altamir had a sense of humor similar to Glory's. Though, unlike how Glory often did, Altamir hadn't gotten on her nerves with it...yet, at least.

Eventually, once Altamir was done hugging Glory, he pulled back and then looked around at Tsunami and the other dragonets. "Hmm...right, I almost forgot. You kids can't go on an empty stomach...given what I did with fixing those injuries, you'll definitely have to eat something. And drink something."

"...oh yeah." Of course it was Clay who responded to this first, given his love of food. It definitely seemed like he and the others had recovered from that inconvenient 'fit' that they'd all fallen into when Altamir condemned their treatment at the talons of those 'guardians' and promised to protect Tsunami and her friends from them. "But...how are we going to get it? Aren't we still in SkyWing territory?"

"Aldy said it himself." Glory replied to him before looking at Altamir. "And, uh, just saying, Aldy, but...I do hope you have a plan for that. Going to find food and water is gonna mean going out in the freezing cold and risking being found by SkyWing soldiers, and I am NOT doing that..." Glory was actually looking outwardly worried...she didn't really seem to be trying to hide it like she probably would have otherwise...and while she did sound pretty dry-witted as she usually did, it wasn't a 'sniping barb' like it also usually would have been. So even she was warming up to Altamir.

"I know." Altamir nodded. "And indeed, this is quite the problem that we face...or at least, it would be a problem. Except..."

"...except what?" Tsunami cocked her head at the human.

Then, Altamir chuckled a bit. "...I just have a simple question. So...what do you five know about animus magic?"

And, of course, Starflight answered it first...that smartie-scales. "Hm? Oh, uh...well, it's a sort of magic that dragons can wield that allows them to enchant objects or even other living things, including other dragons, to do whatever they please."

"Yeah," Glory added, "but dragons who can use animus magic tend to...go crazy."

"...that they do." Altamir nodded. "Usage of it puts strain on their minds, and can alter their personalities and mental states...and if it's not properly resolved or dealt with, things can get very, very, very ugly."

"Gotta say, Aldy," Tsunami remarked, "you kinda sound like Starflight right now with those big fancy words."

"I do?" Altamir tilted his head. "Interesting. Though, if he's the 'smart' and 'knowledgeable' one...perhaps he might know that animus magic isn't limited to just dragons?"

...

...

...wait...what did he just say?

"Uh...wha...?" Clay's confused mumbling was the last thing that any of Tsunami or her friends said...

...before Altamir, for the third time in a row, did something that just about knocked her horns off of her head (that he could talk being the first, and that he condemned their treatment at the talons of the 'guardians' and promised to protect them from those dragons being the second).

He raised his little paw up and out a bit...then moved it down and...

*FWOOSH*

...a flame burst into existence around and above it. A-A flame.

A FLAME.

B-But, he...he was a human! Humans couldn't breathe fire! And they especially couldn't just make it appear out of thin air like that!

U-Unless...

...okay, okay, seriously, how many times today was Altamir going to leave her and her friends speechless?! And three moons, just how many secrets was he hiding, anyways?!

"You wish to know the answer as to how I was able to take out Scarlet, save you all from her and those 'guardians', patch up your wounds and injuries, get you this far away from Scarlet's palace? Well...this is your answer." The flame seemed to grow in intensity in Altamir's hand as he went on. "It works differently with us humans. It's far, far, far rarer in us, for one thing, as while at least a few animi will be alive at any given time among dragons...the ones among us humans are each born hundreds of years apart. That, and while usage of it will not drive us insane like it does for dragons, it can and will exhaust us if we use too much of it or use it too often; if we push it too hard and too far in that regard, we could end up shortening our own lifespan or even die." Altamir then raised his limb up again before bringing it down again, this time with the flame around his entire body. "But indeed...we humans absolutely can use animus magic as well...and we're even more versatile in what we can do with it. Not to mention that, for a human animus, size doesn't matter; we can more than close the gap that usually exists between humans and dragons when it comes to abilities and strength...and I happen to have plenty of both in these hands of mine."

---

...did Altamir just casually say...

"...wait...are you...a..." Starflight was in the middle of asking the very thing that Glory was internally wondering right now...

...before Sunny cut in. "Aldy, are you a human animus?"

"Yes, I am." Altamir crossed his arms and nodded...while still being on...

"Wow...so that's how you did all that." Tsunami remarked. "Kinda knew you weren't exactly 'ordinary'..."

"For better or worse." Altamir shrugged...while STILL being on...

...alright, it really needed to be addressed that...

"I never knew you guys could be animi too." Clay spoke before Glory could say anything. "I thought it was a 'dragons-only' thing."

"Well, it's not." Altamir replied. "Given how much rarer it is with us, I guess it would stand to reason that you'd think that." He was saying all of this...while STILL being on...

"Okay, we get it, you can use a lot of fancy powers, and you used them to save us and help us and all." Glory didn't waste the opportunity when she was finally given the chance to speak. "Just...one question, Aldy?"

"And what is that, Glory?" Altamir tilted his head at her...WHILE STILL BEING ON...

"Why do you have to be on fire while you talk?"

"Hm? I...well..." Altamir then looked down at himself, as if finally noticing. "...I just wanted to show that...uh...actually, good point." Then, the flames disappeared from around him.

Somehow, despite having been on fire, he didn't seem like he was actually burnt anywhere on his body...granted, there was something funny about the 'fire' in question, and the same for that 'fire' behind Altamir, but still...

...now that she thought about it, Glory was starting to suspect that, behind that calm, collected exterior, Altamir was at the very least a little bit on the 'weird' side, and she was just slightly starting to mentally wonder if Altamir was really unaffected by the usage of animus magic when it came to sanity. Now, he was clearly very smart, and he had the right idea when it came to how to treat dragonets (in an absolutely massive improvement from the 'guardians'), and he was definitely genuine about helping them and being nice to them and all...but he also saw no problem holding a conversation with her and her friends while being on fire (at least until Glory pointed it out to him, anyways), and he hadn't seemed to have been at all afraid of, or even really worried about the possibility of, her or one of his friends trying to, say, kill and eat him. To be fair once again, he was clearly VERY powerful, if how he killed Scarlet (and quite a few of her soldiers, apparently) was any indication, so he himself probably wasn't needing to worry about that, but...

...did he even KNOW that most dragons regarded his kind as being either pests, pets, or food?

Oh well, better someone who was just a bit of a weirdo than someone who was either an abusive pile of bones or a murderous psycho.

"...okay, so...you're an animus." Starflight finally said after a bit of silence on his end. "But, uh...what does that have to do with us getting food?"

"Well," Altamir walked about in a small circle as he said what he said next, "let's just say that I've...simplified the issue of getting food. Whereas before, we'd indeed have to go out and look for it..." Then, Altamir raised his right...? Er...that was what he called the 'paws' on his arms, right? Uh, yeah, hand - right as Clay moved his head close to him, as if wanting to see if Altamir really was unburnt... "...now, I could just do this."

Then, there was a motion of the digits on that hand of Altamir's, and...

*SMACK!*

Glory's eyes were then drawn, at the sound, to an...object that had come to rest on top of Clay's head after having appeared right above his head. When she saw the hooved feet on the object's legs, Glory realized that it was a cow.

Wait...a cow? What in...what the...how did the cow get there?! There wasn't a cow in here before! WHERE IN THREE MOONS DID THE COW COME FROM?!

The other dragonets looked just as confused as Glory was...though Tsunami and Sunny started chuckling and giggling at the sight of what was on Clay's head, and even Starflight did too after a second or so.

"Huh? Uh..." Clay was looking confused more than any of them, especially when the others started laughing at him. "...what's on my head? And why are you all...?"

Then, there was Altamir. He looked absolutely mortified. "U-Uh...th-that wasn't supposed to go there...I-I u-uh...I intended for that to be food and not a...a hat..." Seeing him make that face...combined with how expressive human faces could be...especially compared to how he had usually been calm-and-collected-looking up to this point...

...Glory surprised herself when she lost it and started laughing with the others at the sight of Clay wearing a cow on his head. It was as if, for some reason, when Altamir was around, Glory didn't feel any strong need or desire to really try and hide her emotions or how she felt like she usually did, and so she found herself being a lot more open about how she felt than she usually would be. Perhaps, given that he'd been completely unlike the other adults in how he was nothing but kind to her and her friends and was clearly much more likely to hug them than he ever was to retaliate against her and her friends for 'feeling the wrong way' (again contrasted with those other adults), Altamir was simply 'safe' enough for her to express herself around that the hold that she usually had on her emotions slackened.

"...'food'? Oh!" Meanwhile, Clay seemed to have had his attention gotten by the mention of a certain word. "Thanks, Aldy!"

And then he said no more as he grabbed the cow off of his head and, upon seeing that it was a cow, began gleefully tearing into it with his teeth. Oh, Clay...always so food-motivated. Especially when it came to cows.

Though, being so big on food and being the resident foodie of the dragonets...that was his way of dealing with things...just like with how Tsunami acted all rough and tough, Starflight acted all smart and superior, Sunny acted all perpetually bright and cheery, and Glory herself made so many clever comments. To be fair however, even without all the stuff that the 'guardians' and Scarlet put them through, Clay probably still would have liked food a great deal anyways, given how big he was.

Either way, after a bit, the laughter subsided, and the other dragonets picked up that Altamir must have gotten the cow somehow.

"O-Okay...heh...uh...wow, how did you know Clay liked cows, Aldy?" Tsunami was still putting herself together, it sounded like.

"I...I didn't." Altamir admitted with a shrug. "I just picked something for bulk. Glad to know he likes it, but...yeah."

"Alright then..." Starflight then looked at Clay before looking at Altamir. "...so...how did you do that?"

"Hm? Oh...right..." Altamir then scratched the back of his head. "Guess I should explain that." Altamir then looked like he was trying to find the right words to use and the right way to put it before he began, well, using them and putting it. "Among other things, I...have the ability to...'duplicate' things. Basically, I can take an object and make more of it without having to gather and put together resources to do it and such." Looking around, he went to a rock that was at least as tall as he is and undoubtedly much heavier than him. "See this? Watch." As Altamir put his hand on it, it soon briefly had this...aura around it that glowed an orange-red color. Then, Altamir moved his other arm behind him, and then...

*THMP!*

...another rock that looked just like the first appeared right behind Altamir.

"Wha..." Glory's jaw fell open so hard that it was a miracle that it didn't tear itself out of her head. "...what in three moons did I just see?!" Tsunami, Starflight, and Sunny had the same expressions as she likely had...except for Clay, who was still eating and wasn't paying attention to things.

There was dead silence in the cave yet again...except for Clay finishing up the cow, him having not paid much attention to what was going on.

Glory knew that she should have expected him to be able to do that, given the whole 'talking while on fire' thing proving that he was indeed a human animus, but...it still blew her that someone could do something like that! She and her friends just couldn't seem to stop being thrown for a loop over and over and over again today...

"...that's how you...got the cow here?" Starflight was the first of the four to pick his jaw up off the ground.

"It is." Altamir replied. "While I can't duplicate living creatures, as far as I can tell...or at least not without problems...the key word is LIVING. If a living being is...no longer living, like, say, a freshly killed cow ready for eating by some hungry MudWing..." Altamir gave Clay a brief eyeing, "...then it's an 'object', and I can safely duplicate it."

"Okay..." Tsunami shrugged. "So, uh...when will we get our fill? Or are you gonna just let Clay have all of it?"

"...I was going to get to that." Altamir responded rather pointedly. "I was wishing to...give the rest of you something else other than just cows. I'll have to go case-by-case here."

"...well then what am I gonna get, for example?"

Altamir laughed a bit at Tsunami's impatience (typical Tsunami), before giving her an answer. "It's a fish. I thought you could do with some seafood."

And so Altamir made a fish appear in front of himself and Tsunami...a fish that was bigger than he was, and was almost as big as the cow that Clay had eaten.

"Oh! Thanks, Aldy!" Right after saying this, Tsunami snatched the big fish up and began tearing into it with her teeth at a rate that could rival Clay. Yep...she was the only one of the group who (though at certain times) could have an appetite comparable to Clay's...though the big MudWing still ate more overall. "Mrm, drs rs gmmd!" And she definitely looked like she was liking that fish...though, being Tsunami, of course she had to talk with her mouth full.

"Glad to know that." Altamir nodded and then went down to Starflight next.

"Passing me again?" Glory asked Altamir with a raised brow.

"I'm still thinking on you, Glory." Altamir answered. "Patience?"

Glory sighed. "Yes, patience."

With that, Altamir then turned to Starflight. "I guess you're not in need of something as big as a cow?"

"...I mean, not really." Starflight shrugged. "I'm not exactly Clay..."

"I guess a pig will do, then?"

"A 'pig'?" Starflight tilted his head in confusion at Altamir...before Altamir made appear something that was four legged and, while smaller than a cow, still bigger than Altamir. "Oh..."

"That." Altamir pointed at the animal, and so Starflight picked it up and bit into it. "Like it?"

"Mhm." Starflight nodded as he then began eating the 'pig'.

"Ah, good." And so, Altamir then went to Sunny. "So..."

"I don't need something big." Sunny said before Altamir could get any further words out.

"Alright then..." Altamir put his hand to his little chin, before making his decision. "I suppose a goat will do." And so he made one appear and tossed it to her, with her then catching it.

"Thanks, Aldy!" As soon as she said this, Sunny began eating the goat.

This left Glory. As Altamir came up to her, Glory quietly worried that Altamir might have liked her a little less than he did the other dragonets, given that he had gone to her last for the second time in a row on something...but then something appeared in Altamir's hands...or rather, on them, that interrupted this thought.

"Hm? What's that?" Glory raised her eyebrow at the object Altamir was now holding, noting that it was just as long as he was tall, and was likely heavier than him...and that, despite that, he was holding it just fine. Yep, he was pretty strong.

"It's a fruit." Altamir answered her. "I thought you could do to get a taste of something just a little bit different from what you've probably always had up to this point."

"...uh...okay, whatever you say." Glory shrugged and took the fruit from Altamir's arms. "As long as it's good..."

"It is." Altamir nodded. "Now then...I've got some things to attend to with some of the other...temporary residents here. I'll be back in a minute or a few..."

After he said that last bit, Altamir then began walking towards the other humans in the cave. Glory looked at his retreating form, and then at the fruit she was given by him.

"Does he know of the way RainWings are viewed by...?" Glory began to wonder, before then shrugging again. "Eh, probably not. He's a human, and it might be the case that, to him, a dragon is a dragon, regardless of tribe. This seems fresh anyways."

After a few more moments of hesitation, Glory then bit into the fruit.

And...oh three moons...

...this was so good! She could do for more...

---

Altamir turned back for a little bit to watch Glory bite into the fruit, and after seeing that she quite liked it, continued towards the other humans in the cave. He noted with some concern that, while he'd asked Leaf, Rowan, Cranberry, and Thyme to keep it down so that he could talk to and with the Dragonets, they had apparently followed it too well and had basically been silent.

"Er...everything alright back here?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

Leaf shrugged. "Uh...I guess it's...okay? Better than fighting to the death for some crazy dragon queen..."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Cranberry agreed. "Though...a little question?"

"Hm?"

"H-How did you...how did you get their trust so fast?"

"The dragonets?"

"Yeah, them!" Thyme joined in. "Hasn't even been that long and it's like they trust you with their lives already! Are you the dragonet whisperer or something? Is that your 'special talent'?"

"It must be." Altamir shrugged himself. "I've always had a thing for that, I suppose. Must have something to do with how I despise when they're treated badly, and that those who would inflict ill treatment on children or dragonets under their care are the sorts whom I regard to be among the lowest of the low. That, and what's not to love about dragonets?"

"Uh...whatever you say." Rowan seemed uneasy about something still. "So...with you having their trust and all like this, does that mean that they won't...?"

"...'they won't' what?"

Just as she was about to ask whatever she was going to ask, Rowan apparently decided not to. "...um...nevermind. It's something that can wait for later."

"Alright then." Altamir rolled his head about on his shoulders. "Now then...as for whether or not you four want to eat something..."

So, Altamir then got to the task of what they were going to eat. Much as he did with the dragonets, he made 'copies' of what they wanted to eat to give to them, which they ate. Once they had what they wanted in that regard, he turned his attention back to the dragonets, some of whom had more or less finished eating, and others who were still getting there. After briefly making sure that no one uninvited would be able to enter the cave, Altamir began waiting for the dragonets to be all finished when it came to their meals, which took another minute or two.

"I suppose you're all done?" Altamir asked when he thought they were indeed done...key word 'thought'.

"Yeah, we're done..." Tsunami nodded...

"I'm not!" ...before Clay cut in.

"Eh? Wuh-oh..." Glory remarked after being a bit startled. "...I think he's asking you for another cow, Aldy."

"A-Another-?!" Altamir was in disbelief when he heard that. "B-But I...but I just gave him one!"

The other dragonets laughed at this, and then Glory replied to Altamir while still laughing. "A little tip when dealing with Clay here; sometimes, one cow isn't enough for him!"

"Yeah!" Tsunami agreed while chuckling herself. "Also, make sure you don't poof it in on top of his head this time, Aldy!"

Altamir rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes, yes, points taken, points taken. Guess I have a lot to learn being the 'new guy' here." Gods, Clay really was much like Togay. Oh well, regardless, he indeed went ahead and gave Clay another cow. And, sure enough, Clay showed that he was indeed still hungry by tearing into it with vigor as well. By the gods, that dragonet ate a lot.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about running out of food or water while we're with you, Aldy." Starflight remarked himself with a bit of a smile.

"I suppose not." Altamir shrugged yet again. "I just hope that, at some point, you'll be able to get yourselves food in other ways so that we don't have to rely on me being your personal food-and-water caddy for all eternity."

"We will, Aldy, don't worry!" Sunny giggled. "Though...water. Uh...?"

"And this is what I'm talking about. Alright, alright, hold on, hold on..."

So, Altamir went about making sure that none of the dragonets would be left thirsty by the end of this. After thinking over how to do it for a bit, Altamir got a very large waterskin, larger than he was, and had the dragonets lay down so that he could give them water, given his own very short height and small size compared to them. One by one, he 'watered' them this way, starting with Tsunami, then Glory, then Starflight, then Sunny, and then finally ending with Clay when the latter finished eating that second cow. Once he did that, he made sure to give Leaf, Rowan, Thyme, and Cranberry whatever water they needed as well (though, of course, in different ways than with the dragonets).

Once everyone was 'watered' (and he un-summoned the bowls), Altamir made sure not to forget himself when it came to food and water. And once that had been addressed and he was done himself, Altamir then walked up to Tsunami until he was at her shoulder, then leaning against it with his own while holding his hand to his chin, looking up at a certain spot between her neck and her back.

"Huh? Um...Aldy?" Tsunami sounded confused after a few seconds. "What are you doing back there?"

"What am I doing?"

"Yeah, what are you doing? You're looking at something on my back...er...did you miss a spot while healing me, or...?"

"Well, I certainly hope I didn't." Altamir replied to Tsunami's questioning. "Though...right now, I'm wanting to see if I can...do something here. If you don't mind..."

"Uh, sure...but what is it?"

"You'll see." With those last two words to Tsunami, Altamir then carefully climbed over her forelimb and her wing joint before getting aboard her back, and settling into the 'spot'. "Hm...neck's a bit wide for her overall size, but SeaWing necks are always wider than those of other dragons save for MudWings. No matter, this'll work fine for me...now I just need to test it..."

"Huh..." Glory tilted her head at Altamir, "...uh oh, I guess someone wants to go for a ride on your back, Tsunami."

"Sort of." Altamir made a 'so-so' motion to the RainWing. "I know that we'll at least probably be leaving this place either tomorrow or at least soon after tomorrow, and if I'm not intent on being left in the dust, me riding one of you will be much quicker and more efficient, so if anything, right now, this is more me wanting to get a feel for it beforehand. Besides, me being here rather than skittering about your feet means that you won't have to worry about tripping all over 'little old me', right?"

"Heh...yeah." Tsunami chuckled a bit. "So, uh...like it back there, Aldy?"

"It works well enough." Altamir patted the base of Tsunami's neck a few times. "I suppose you don't mind me being up here, do you?"

"Nah, it's fine." Tsunami didn't seem to mind at all. "Just hope you're good at holding on when we DO get going, Aldy."

"Hardly an issue. I've ridden dragonback more times than I can count. Ever since I was young, actually." It was then that he remembered something. "Now then...right, I want to see if I indeed 'missed a spot' or not on any of you...that, and I'm pretty sure that just sitting and laying in those spots has got to have you all just a bit stiff. So...how about you all get up and stretch and move around a bit in here?"

"Um...sure, why not?" Clay responded.

"Yeah, I could use a stretch." Glory agreed as the dragonets all stood up. "Nrgh...yep, a little stiff..."

More than once, Altamir had heard and seen people ascribe dragons as being somewhat akin to cats. Well, giant scaly winged fire-breathing/ice-breathing/underwater-breathing/venom-spitting/stinger-barbed cats that had the same capacity for intelligence and speech as humans did, but still. And...well, Altamir couldn't exactly fault such a description. Particularly now, as he watched Glory doing that same sort of 'standing-stretch-and-yawn' that house cats often did...revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth (particularly those front fangs, which her tribe used to spit venom such distances), and then watched her do that cat-like skulking walk as she paced about a bit in the cave. The others had similar movements and gestures and whatnot like this, as he very much could see (like Sunny doing a similar stretch, but rolling on her back to do so), but Glory in particular struck him as the most cat-like of the dragonets...just like Gulay was for his companions of old.

Either way, though...he was glad with what he was seeing (and, from Tsunami beneath him, feeling) from the dragonets when it came to how they were moving and stretching. "Good...they're moving around just fine, and there doesn't seem to be any pain from them. Looks like I didn't miss a spot after all...good, good, good, good."

"Okay, that's better." Glory said to no one in particular after stretching and pacing about a bit. "So, Aldy...you were worried about missing a spot, weren't you?"

"I was. I haven't seen anything that indicates that I did, but...well, anyone's got any issues with pain or something feeling 'not right'?"

"Nope."

"No."

"Nah."

"Not at all!"

"None whatsoever."

"Ah, good. Then that means that I didn't 'miss a spot' after all." After saying that, Altamir waited for a few seconds, looking at his hands that rested on the beautiful blue scales at the base of Tsunami's neck, rather sad that he'd have to ask what he was about to ask, before he then went ahead and went for it. "Now, um...I regret not going to this earlier, but...do you kids mind if I ask you a particularly specific question here?"

"...I don't think we'll know what 'particularly specific' thing you're asking about until you tell us what," Starflight tilted his head at Altamir as he responded, "but...sure, go ahead."

"Well, alright then..." Altamir knew that, given the role it played in their...life up to this point, the reception to this question would be rather tepid, to say the least. "...it's about the prophecy that you told me about while you were talking about those 'guardians' and how they treated you."

---

The moment Altamir asked that question, Starflight felt the general mood in the cave change instantly.

"...about the prophecy?"

"Mhm, it's about the prophecy." Altamir replied to Clay, and then looked around at the dragonets, his eyes clearly saying a lot with how he was feeling. "Perhaps I'm simply 'late to the party' with this and all. I likely am, given that I've just gotten to know you today. It's just that something feels...'off' about it."

"'Off'?" Sunny tilted her head to one side as everyone's eyes were on Altamir.

"As in, something's 'wrong' with it, 'not right' with it, or 'not what it should be' with it." Altamir clarified for Sunny. "And I'm saying this as someone who grew up in a culture that...generally takes prophecies at least relatively seriously."

"You don't say, Aldy." Glory remarked rather dryly. "Especially given that it called for a SkyWing, meanwhile I'm here."

"Are you telling us that you think that this prophecy is fake?" Tsunami grunted. "If so, good, because I am NOT going to be ruled by some stupid prophecy for the rest of my life." Beside him, Starflight saw Sunny starting to look worried. It then began to dawn on Starflight himself...

"I was going to get to that, Tsunami." Altamir rolled his little eyes and shook his head in exasperation. "So, erm...aside from the obvious one about how SkyWings cannot change the colors of their scales on a whim, turn invisible, or spit venom out of their front fangs, there were a few other things that I noticed. For one, that prophecy says 'twenty' years, while, from what I've heard, it's only been nineteen. For another, Glory's not the only 'odd one out' with regards to which dragons of which tribes are supposed to be in the prophecy. Ever noticed that Sunny doesn't quite look like most SandWings do?"

"Well, yeah, she's pretty small and doesn't have a stinger-barb-thingy on her tail." Tsunami shrugged. "We're all pretty sure that she might be a hybrid...it's just that we really don't know what the 'other' tribe is, if she is."

"Hey, I can talk for myself!" Sunny seemed a little annoyed, snapping herself out of her worrying in the process.

"I'm sure you can, Sunny." Altamir nodded along with this. "In that case, then let me give you this; you know how, aside from the ones under his wings, Starflight has a line of spots each running down the left and right sides of his body, right?"

"Uh...yeah, he does." Sunny looked at Starflight while she responded. This caused Starflight to look at her in turn...and then he began mentally kicking himself for not realizing it sooner when he then saw a line of white spots running down one of the sides of her body as well.

"Alright then...now look down the sides of your own body." Meanwhile, Altamir directed Sunny on what to do next. "Do you notice something?"

"Huh? Um..." Sunny then did as Altamir asked her to do...and then she realized it just like Starflight did (and like the others clearly were as well, judging by their faces). "...oh. Oh! Uh...whoa! I...I...I'm..."

"Yes, Sunny, you're half NightWing." Altamir nodded again. "That, along with your head-shape being...somewhere in-between a NightWing's and a SandWing's...those two things are rather big giveaways to me. Honestly, it's pretty obvious to me - I figured it out from the moment I saw you."

"...yeah, you're right, it is." Clay looked astonished...partially with himself. "Wait...how did we not figure it out earlier?"

Now it was Altamir's turn to shrug. "Eh, sometimes things are like that. I myself have, more than once, taken longer than I should have to figure out something that, in hindsight, should have been pretty obvious. But regardless...it's another strike against the prophecy. That thing implies that the SandWing would be a full-blooded one. Sunny is many things, her being a sweet dragonet who lives up to her name and could brighten anyone's day with ease, and who is just as lovable as you all are, certainly being most prominent...but, as we can tell, 'full-blooded SandWing' is not one of them."

"Thanks for not saying 'weak', 'useless', or 'weak and useless' like Kestrel and Morrowseer liked to do, Aldy." Sunny was grateful for Altamir's compliments being interspersed with his observations. So was Starflight. And Clay. And even Tsunami and Glory, he could tell.

"Ugh..." Altamir buried his little face in his little hands. "And that in particular is the last strike against this 'prophecy'. Obviously, the way you've all been treated by them is unacceptable either way, but...if all of you were these 'sacred heroes destined to end the war', shouldn't they have been treating you all with some reverence or dignity or respect or whatnot, rather than...how they ended up doing so? Shouldn't they have been at least a little bit worried about what would happen to them if they were found to have been treating those 'destined heroes' like complete trash?"

"That's implying that they thought that there would even be a chance of that happening." Tsunami grumbled. "Yeah, they didn't seem to be worried about that at all. They really thought that they could just do whatever they wanted to with us and then expect us to 'thank' them for it later on."

"The only thing they deserve to be 'thanked' for," Altamir ground out, "is that they've shown you all who not to be like, and how not to treat your own dragonets if and when any of you have them when you're older. That's the only sort of 'thanks' that sorts like them will ever deserve and should ever get. What good things they've done for you are massively outweighed by the many things that they've done to you that should never be done to dragonets."

"Would have loved to see you deal with them like you did with Scarlet." Glory smiled a bit before getting back on topic. "So...final verdict on the 'prophecy', Aldy? You think it's fake or wrong? Or...what?"

"I'll be blunt here; it's looking and sounding like it's a load of cow dung. Honestly, it sounds like someone just...made the thing up for some as-of-yet-unknown purpose that involves you being pawns for that 'someone'. I mean, I could be wrong, here, but what else can I really say? I'm just not feeling this 'prophecy' at all whatsoever."

Sunny looked distraught. "...so the...the prophecy isn't real?" Poor Sunny...she believed in the prophecy the most of anyone in the group. Starflight could see how it was hitting her hard to find that it was made up - she looked as though someone had stabbed her in the back. "B-But...but...it...it gives dragons all across Pyrrhia hope! Hope that the war will end..."

Altamir's little eyes widened a bit and then shook his head, before saying gravely, "...well then, that just makes it a thousand times worse if it was made up. That means that whoever was making it is either knowingly stringing them along with false hope...or using it to his or her advantage to gain support for a self-serving goal. Again, with the five of you as the pawns."

Sunny just looked at the floor, more downcast than Starflight usually ever saw her, and he put his wing over her. There was a period of silence in the cave as the dragonets were left to take in the fact that their supposed purpose was a lie.

After a bit, Altamir sighed. "I'm sorry about that, Sunny. You and the others deserved better than to be 'raised' as pawns like that. You all deserved to be with someone who would raise you all with love and respect, not...this. You all deserved better. Much, much better." Altamir stared ahead for a little while before he spoke again. "I have to say, but...this whole situation that you were all in with the 'guardians', and this is part of the reason why I'm so inclined to take your side rather than theirs...let's just say that it hits far too close to home for comfort."

"What do you mean?" Clay asked.

"Well, there was my late...mate, who was a fellow human named Tamuriyah." Wait, so Altamir had a mate? Or, at least...used to have a mate, given the 'late' part? "Her situation growing up is one that yours that you've had here reminds me quite a bit of; her parents were at the very least as bad to her as the 'guardians' were to all of you, with her 'father' in particular even threatening at one point that he'd murder her if she 'dared' disobey him. In fact, it was by freeing her from those parents, namely by killing that 'father' and exiling that 'mother' and making sure she didn't have to go back with the latter, that I was able to win Tamuriyah over in the first place. Ever since that and something else before it, it's never ceased to make my blood boil when 'parents' or 'parental figures' or 'guardians' or whatnot treat their children and charges and such badly."

"...oh, so...that's part of why you were so quick to condemn those 'guardians'." Starflight noted. "Though...what was that 'something else'?"

"That?" Altamir breathed in and out, his little chest rising and falling as the attention of Starflight and the others was now fully on him, before he finally responded. "Well...it was my situation with my father when he was still alive. I was quite young at the time, and it technically wasn't direct, abject cruelty, like was the case with Dune and Kestrel and Morrowseer for the five of you, and her parents for Tamuriyah...rather, and more along the lines of how Webs was for all of you, it was in that the individual in question, specifically my father, neglected to protect me from someone when he should have."

"And who was that?"

"That, Starflight, was my older brother Ariq...and I say that because he tried to murder me and my little brother Arjan. Repeatedly."

!

---

At the mention of his older brother's attempted deeds, Altamir saw the dragonets just about have their blood freeze in their veins.

Yet again, his words had brought them to silence...but this time, he could see just how horrified they were. Their eyes had gone very wide (the pupils within having shrank seemingly to the size of pinheads), their jaws had fallen open, and the blood was seemingly draining from their faces...and Glory in particular had her scales shifting to much paler shades of colors, as if the very color of those scales was draining from her as well. He understood why - the fate of having to kill one's own sibling certainly wasn't something that he wished on any of them.

"Y-Your...own big brother?!" Sunny squeaked, as if barely able to get any words out her mouth.

"O-Okay...that...that's messed up." Glory didn't seem much better in that regard, not a single bit of her usual wit present. "U-Uh...why...?"

"I...admit that I don't fully have an idea as to why. I think that at least part of it was jealousy, that he wasn't getting all the attention for himself or something like that...he liked to 'justify' trying to do that because Arjan and I were somehow 'stealing' from him. Though, these days, I'm pretty sure that mere jealousy can't explain all of it, as there was also that he...had a few nails missing in general, so his 'logic' wasn't exactly going to be stable or make sense to begin with. My father didn't support Ariq's attempts, mercifully, but he also was rather feeble in trying to stop his oldest son, and liked to insist that it was something that he'd 'grow out of', and that he 'didn't truly hate' us, and...well, it eventually got to the point where my mother, who was much more proactive, sent me and Arjan to live with my uncle to keep us away from Ariq. Either way, it's not a nice story...it ended, one day, with me being forced to kill Ariq back to protect both myself and Arjan. I remember doing that very well...it was at noon on an early spring day, I was nine years old, and he was my first kill. And nine is much younger for humans than it is for dragons - a fair bit younger than even you all are right now, in effect."

---

This wasn't the first time that Altamir had made them go silent with his words or his actions today. Rather, it was the fourth.

But this was by and far the worst.

Altamir had to...he had to kill his own brother? His own big brother? Just to protect himself and his little brother Arjan? He really had to?

Sunny had her talon on the tip of her muzzle, both in horror, and also as she then began to put together just why Altamir seemed to understand them so well. Then, after a minute or so, and working up the nerve, she walked over to where he sat on Tsunami's back and asked him. "Is...that why you understand what we went through with the 'guardians'? Because you...know how it feels?"

The others seemed surprised that Sunny was asking this, but as for Altamir himself? He just sighed. "I've...been in your place, yes. In a different manner, granted, but...still, I nonetheless know all too well what it's like. To be deprived of something that one should have had growing up." Sunny saw the sadness on Altamir's little face and in his little eyes, and felt and heard that sadness in his voice, as he went on. "For all of you, it was loving and caring parental figures. For me, it was a loving and caring older sibling. May my older cousins be blessed for their efforts, but as much as they tried, they...they just couldn't ever truly fill in that particular 'gap'. Even to this day, it's a void that just won't go away." Then, he gave Sunny a somewhat resigned smile. "I know that the others may irritate you by treating you as the 'baby of the bunch', Sunny...but at least you were able to have older siblings, in effect, that cared for you. That's something that anyone with older siblings should be able to have, and I'm just glad that you have that in effect with Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight."

Sunny was already seeing this human with new eyes (and humans in general with new eyes...ugh, why did she have to make that tasteless joke about burning down their homes in the first place?). He'd clearly seen so much darkness in his life, given how he'd had to kill his mate's father to save her from him, and had been forced to kill his own older brother when he was basically younger than Sunny and the others were. But rather than be bitter and mean like Kestrel, or get jealous of them for having something that he didn't...he was instead just glad that they had it, and he in general had been so kind and caring to them despite that darkness.

Now that she realized it...he was a lot more like her than she thought, and she saw something from at least one of them in him. Clay's kindness and protectiveness, Tsunami's toughness, Glory's sense of humor, Starflight's smarts...and Sunny's own desire to push through to find and see the light at the end.

Either way...he was someone very valuable, someone that they couldn't afford to lose or waste.

Sunny leaned her face and snout forward, wanting to give Altamir something that she felt that he needed. And badly at that. Altamir, sure enough, picked up on what she was doing, and he gently embraced her around her snout. And the other four dragonets came around and brought their heads close around Altamir, Glory's colors going back to normal.

Sunny had to say it, but...three moons, Altamir's hugs were so nice...she just couldn't get enough of them. So what if he was so small that even she towered over him? He more than made up for it everywhere else.

When Altamir released Sunny from the embrace, he then chuckled. "Heh...have to say...this brings me back."

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

"Wha-?"

"...ah, right." Then Altamir chuckled again, this time seemingly at himself. "I forgot to mention this, but..."

"...but what?" Clay asked.

"...you all remind me of a group of someones I held very dear."

"We do?" Sunny cocked her head at Altamir.

"You do." Altamir nodded. "So...I've been rescuing dragonets from bad situations for...a long time now, and the five of you are merely the latest, but while I've more than come to love all of the dragonets under my care...there was one group that held a...special place, to put it this way."

"Really?" Now Tsunami was the one to ask.

"Yes, really. Specifically, it was the very first group of dragonets that I ever raised." Then, the little human adjusted himself on Tsunami's back as he began. "There were seven of them; a MudWing named Togay, a SeaWing named Sorkhagtani, a RainWing named Gulay, a NightWing named Chagatai, a SandWing/NightWing Hybrid named Gunesha, a SkyWing named Peksen, and an IceWing/NightWing hybrid named Shiban. I actually got them back when they were still eggs...though, to clarify, no, I did not steal them from their respective parents; far from it, and absurd as it may initially sound, their respective parents actually gave them to me. Though I won't say as to why all of them did so - there were varying reasons - I will say in particular that Sorkhagtani's parents in particular gave me her egg because something, or rather someone, kept killing their daughters in their eggs at their home, so she needed at least one to grow up in safer hands somewhere else."

Sunny and the other dragonets were horrified, with an "Oh..." slipping out of Starflight's jaws, but they listened on as Altamir continued.

"Indeed, that was a nasty situation. I was disturbed as well when I heard of it. Now, I will admit that 'how much safer' was admittedly a good question, as I had gotten those eggs while Ariq was still alive; in fact, part of the reason why I struck Ariq down, aside from self defense, was defending those eggs from him. Regardless, though, it was worth it...for once Ariq died, the eggs hatched a few days later. It was hard not to love those hatchlings...even if and though they quickly grew to be bigger than I was...though, I suppose that's to be expected, as even by the standards of my kind, I'm rather small, even fully-grown. They and I were basically inseparable...they helped me through some very hard times in my life, and even once they were fully-grown adult dragons with mates of their own, we were still inseparable."

"So you really cared for each other. Though..." Starflight paused for a bit before asking next, "...you said you were inseparable...did something happen?"

Altamir sighed. "Well, much as I hate to say it...I ended up outliving them. They all lived a long time, even by dragon standards, but alas, they didn't live forever...one by one, age eventually caught up with them, and after a time, only I was left of what was once a group of eight. What I would have given for more time with them, but...well, it is what it is."

"It's always the good ones who have to go..." Glory remarked grimly...though, something then caught her attention. "...hey, wait a second. You said you outlived them and that they died of old age...uh, just how old are you?"

Altamir scratched the back of his head. "It would be rather hard for me to put it in a way that you could comprehend...let's just say for now that I'm a fair bit older than I look. Erm...anyways...these first seven dragonets that I raised as effectively being younger siblings...I have to say that the five of you more than remind me of five of them."

"Wait, we do?" Sunny could tell that her question was echoed by the other dragonets' faces.

"Oh, you certainly do." Altamir looked around at them as he said what he said next. "Specifically, of Togay, Sorkhagtani, Gulay, Chagatai, and Gunesha. Actually, on second thought, 'remind' is quite an understatement...the five of you respectively look nearly identical to how their appearances and sizes were at your age...and your personalities are so much like theirs were at your age as well...a few differences aside, looking at all of you, it's almost like I'm seeing them alive again and back as dragonets."

"Whoa...uh, really?" The tone in Clay's questioning said everything for all of them.

"Yes...really. Even I find it a little hard to believe...but, regardless, it was yet another reason why I couldn't let you all die to that insane tyrant; I wasn't intent on losing them all over again. And...well, regardless, let's just say that you all have far too much value to me at this point for me to let someone try and take your heads or shorten your lifespans. Your heads look so much better on you than off you."

Tsunami laughed. "If you say so, Aldy! Guess, then, that we might as well be 'inseparable' to you too, if you're gonna protect us! Gonna be honest, that sounds a LOT better than going along with some crummy 'prophecy'!"

Altamir himself let out a snorting chuckle. "If that's what you want, then very well!" Though, he then looked over at the cave's...other temporary residents. "Oh...right...those four over there. Almost forgot...er, their names are 'Leaf', 'Rowan', 'Cranberry' and 'Thyme'...and just as I had to rescue you all from Scarlet, I had to rescue them from her as well."

"Oh...them too?"

"Yes, Starflight, them too. Given that I had to rescue them from a tyrant queen...they might be a tad bit...'skittish' to say the least."

Glory huffed. "Anyone who had to deal with that maniac would have been 'skittish' after a mere minute around her. So...I guess you want us to go and get to know them or something?"

"More or less. Might want to be careful and show them that your intentions are nothing malicious, else they may try to bolt from you. They DID, again, have to deal with Scarlet, after all."

"Okay, we'll be careful." Clay nodded.

So, with Altamir guiding, Sunny and the other dragonets turned towards the four other humans who were in the cave and slowly started approaching them. Sunny could see that the humans were definitely more than a little scared of them (who could blame them, given what dragons had been doing to them since the Scorching), but they at least didn't try to flee from them, especially with Altamir on Tsunami's back. Then, once they got close enough and were right in front of the 'fire', Altamir directed the dragonets to sit down, so they did.

There was silence in the cave for a little while, the dragonets staring at the humans and the humans staring back, all in wordless quiet. For a time, no one said a thing; the Sunny was too busy wondering what she was supposed to do or say (and the other dragonets were wondering the same, as she could tell), and the humans, going by their faces, were too nervous and/or scared to say anything.

Sunny sat there with the other dragonets, thinking and pondering about what she and the other dragonets needed to do...until an idea sprung from the unlikeliest of places.

For as long as she remembered, Sunny had had a love-hate relationship with her appearance. She was quite small, she had a tail with no stinger at the end, she had a 'sweet face', and just in general, she wasn't exactly very scary or intimidating or menacing. On the one talon, because of this, her high-pitched squeaky voice, and her efforts to be cheerful in spite of what came their way, all of the other dragonets were nice to her and were quick to protect her...but on the other talon, it often led to them treating her like she was a hatchling, dismissing anything she said, and not taking her seriously when she wanted them to (yes, she was indeed the youngest of them, she'd acknowledge, but she still hatched on the same day as they did, so she was still pretty much the same age as they were, order of hatching aside), and so, much as she cared about them too, she wasn't exactly a fan of how they often came across as condescending and patronizing as a result (even if they didn't mean it). More often than not, she found herself wanting to be able to be tough and fierce and fearsome and ferocious like Tsunami could, so that she could finally be taken seriously and not be dismissed like some mere 'cute little sister in need of protecting'.

But here was a situation where being like Tsunami usually would do no good. She wasn't dealing with older/bigger/adult dragons who dismissed her as 'weak and useless'. She was dealing with humans, little beings who were smaller than even Sunny herself was, and who were (Altamir aside) terrified of dragons because the latter so often ate them, burned down their homes, or kidnapped them to keep in cages as pets. Poor things...they probably thought that Sunny and the others were gonna eat them, didn't they?

That's where the idea came in. Sunny was more than annoyed that she so often was dismissed because she was 'cute and small and sweet', and she wished so often that she was bigger and stronger and more fearsome looking...

...but what if she was in a situation where she needed to be as non-threatening as possible, like this one? Besides, Altamir made it clear that they needed to be careful...

...well then, in that case, being 'cute, sweet 'little' Sunny' wasn't so bad here.

With that, Sunny slowly, carefully scooted herself forward just a little bit more before bringing down her head towards one of the humans. Altamir had said their names, but hadn't made clear who was who. Either way, though, this one was the smallest and youngest-looking one, and when Sunny came close, he seemed to be trying to press himself as hard as he could against the back of the cave.

"Uh...hey there." Sunny did her best to be as sweet and un-threatening as possible. "I...I know we got off on the wrong foot here, but...I won't bite, okay? None of us will. Especially not with Aldy here." Then, she tilted her head a bit, bringing her head closer to the human. "What's your name, little guy?"

The little human gulped before finally saying, "...Leaf."

"'Leaf'? Is that your name?"

The human shakily nodded. "Y-Yeah...it's 'Leaf'."

"And I'm Sunny. Nice to meet you, Leaf!"

"...n-nice to meet you too, Sunny..."

Then, the human, hesitating a bit initially, put his hand on the tip of Sunny's snout. Sunny was delighted to see the human open up to her, and especially when she briefly looked back and saw Altamir nodding with a slight smile.

"See, it's not so bad." Sunny remarked mentally as the human in front of her seemed to realize that Sunny wasn't a threat. "I won't bite, Leaf."

She didn't know if there were others before her and her friends who managed to do this with a group of humans. But if there wasn't and she and her friends were the first, then it was a good first step to try and make up for the Scorching...

...hey, wait...

...speaking of the Scorching...did Altamir know about it? Sunny didn't know why, but for some reason, she was getting the weird feeling that no, he didn't.

---

Altamir was more than pleased at seeing the dragonets being gentle towards the other humans, and those other humans seeming to get the idea that the dragonets wouldn't harm them. That sort of friendship (and perhaps even, in some cases, familiar love) that humans and dragons could have with each other...that was something that could be safely said to be one of a kind, and of which there was nothing else in the world like it.

Though, Altamir was at least a little bit dismayed when, rather than a friendship or something like it forming between the two groups...there was just an awkward silence after the initial exchange. The humans didn't seem interested in any real sort of conversation with the dragonets past the most basic of greetings, eventually leading to the dragonets awkwardly backing away from the humans to just be with each other.

Well, oh well, that meant that Altamir had the dragonets to himself...though he did believe that the other humans were missing out, and, much as he didn't like to admit it, it set the stage for the rest of the day.

For that rest of the day, the group of dragonets and group of humans only really talked to those within their respective own 'group'. Oh, they all would talk to Altamir, but that was kind of it.

That, and the humans and dragons both seemed to...awkwardly dance around a rather vague issue. Altamir did not know what specifically it was, as they only vaguely referred to it, but by his guess, it seemed to have something to do with the hesitance for the two groups to interact between each other, and the dragonets in particular seemed...ashamed of it? Given that he wasn't feeling like intruding by asking them specifically what it was, he didn't engage any of them on it...though, he got at least one "does he know?" from one of the humans.

Well, of course he didn't and wouldn't 'know'; they wouldn't tell him about it or talk to him about it. Granted, yes, he could read their minds, but that was something he didn't want to disclose to the dragonets just yet, as they would probably feel violated by someone probing their thoughts without them knowing if they found out about it. So, with some reluctance, he held his tongue.

Thankfully, the rest of the day was uneventful. No SkyWings 'came knocking' (not that they would have gotten very far if they did), and Altamir was more than able to keep everyone's needs in check (eating food, drinking water, etc.). The dragonets had more than warmed up to him, them being more than fine with him holding and hugging them or being on their backs (yes, even Glory), and being willing to talk to him about various things (albeit still dancing around the aforementioned vague issue), while the other humans in the cave, for their part, at least seemed to understand that the dragonets wouldn't harm them, though they still talked to him a lot less than the dragonets did.

Late in the evening, the dragonets even began letting him in on some of the things they planned to do now that they were free from both Scarlet and the 'guardians'. Namely, given the whole deal with the 'prophecy' being false, they wanted to focus instead on looking for their parents and families. Fair enough...they DID say that they'd been kidnapped at birth by those 'guardians', so it was understandable to want to go find them. However, Altamir did make it clear to the dragonets that, while he definitely understood this wish, this desire, and why they wanted to go do it, he cautioned them by reminding them that basically the entire continent was at war, and, as such, he'd be lying if he were to say that there wasn't going to be a level of danger involved.

This got him some very dry looks from the dragonets, with Glory dryly asking him if they somehow wouldn't know that after the encounter with Scarlet and everything that she planned to do to them before he saved them from her. Indeed, they made it clear that they had more than gotten that particular message from that whole mess; in fact, they were thinking of just that, and that they had been about to ask him if he could do something about that. Namely, if he was available and wasn't busy with anything, then perhaps he could go with them and protect them from any soldier or other dragon who tried to harm, kill, kidnap, or otherwise endanger them.

So they wanted him to, in effect, be their bodyguard? Alright, fair enough, he supposed...there was worse that could be asked of him. Given that he wasn't living long-term anywhere for the moment, and he lived a steppe nomad's life before settling down, he didn't see why not.

So he said 'yes'...though he was sure to remind them of two more things. One, that, given that they would be leaving, they couldn't leave the humans in here, and so they'd have to take them along, at least until they could drop them off somewhere safe. And two, that they'd need to temper their expectations and be mindful of all possibilities with regards to their parents and families. Sure, there was the chance that they would be both alive and good and loving...but there was also the chance that they'd be either rotten to the core, or just not in a position to take them back in...and that was if they could be found and/or weren't dead.

To his relief, the dragonets heeded his words on both accounts, and on the latter in particular, the whole ordeal he'd gone through with his older brother had clearly stuck with them, so while they were clearly still holding out hope that such wouldn't be the case, they at least seemed to realize that anything was possible. Tsunami and Glory even both suggested, perhaps semi-jokingly, that in case their parents DID turn out dead or rotten, then Altamir could just adopt them all...a statement that Altamir himself couldn't help but chuckle at. Well, either way, good. At least this knowledge of possibilities would help soften the blow at least a bit if their parents turned out...not as they wanted them to. And in case Tsunami and Glory's dry-witted suggestion did indeed itself become a serious possibility, then he'd absolutely be more than willing to take them in, especially given that they were not the first dragonets that he'd taken in.

However...Altamir got the strange feeling that the dragonets weren't going to have good luck with their, quote-unquote, 'real' parents, and that the 'possibility' of him being the one to take the dragonets in would become either a certainty or an almost-certainty.

That would not be pleasant, if such were the case. Much as he cared greatly for these dragonets already, he wanted them to have parents that cared about them, and he was even willing to let them go if that was what they wanted. He didn't want to have to become THE parent that cared for them. He badly wanted for their wishes about those parents being not only alive, but good, loving, and caring, to be true.

But...things would turn out how they turned out. And if duty called, then duty called, and he would NOT be forsaking that duty. No matter what.

Either way...now, nightfall came. The air outside was surely even colder and chillier than it was before - not exactly a concern for someone like Altamir (and perhaps not Sunny either), but most definitely a concern for everyone else. So, obviously, he kept that magical 'fire' going...the 'heat' part, at least. Not the 'light' part. That would keep things warm enough for them to not freeze, but would also prevent enemies from seeing them quite as easily...and even if they did, Altamir set a magical barrier at the front to keep any such enemies out while they slept.

As for sleeping positions? Well, the dragonets had huddled around each other into...basically a big pile of scales and wings. There was this awkward charm to it for sure...yet again, those dragonets looked adorable as they slept, particularly Sunny. With the other humans, on the other hand...they were sleeping against the cave wall on the other side of the fire from the dragonets. They still didn't exactly trust dragons; again, it was probably because of Scarlet's...antics with...whatever the hell she tried to do with them. Oh well, at least they, again, wouldn't freeze to death or whatnot.

That meant that Altamir, once again, had the dragonets to himself, and he shrugged at that. He was the last one awake, currently being the only one who was still not either asleep or trying to sleep...though that was obviously going to change, too, as while he could go an all-nighter better than most of his kind could, he still understood the value of shuteye, and he was going to get it.

It was just...he wanted to check something first. It involved one of the dragonets. Specifically, Tsunami.

He didn't know why, but...for some reason, he was getting this...odd feeling that she was connected to Gill, the SeaWing that he killed in that twisted 'arena' of Scarlet's. It was rather odd...Gill didn't look a thing like her!

Well, hold on...that probably had to do something with the...state that he was in. Gill was in the midst of dehydration-induced madness, and it had a noticeable effect on his body, while Tsunami was not afflicted by such a condition, and was a happy(ish), healthy young SeaWing dragonet. The ability to 'go back in time' to look at the past events one was in...right, just as he'd done so for Hailstorm, he'd have to do it again for Gill.

So, he went into it...and first 'landed' on a time where, while still Scarlet's prisoner at this point, Gill was clearly much earlier on in it, as he still was in much better shape, and he wasn't in the midst of a madness. Far from it, he was apparently...talking down his opponent, to Scarlet's consternation. It was then that Altamir started to notice the (subtle but still present) similarities between him and Tsunami in terms of appearance. "Oh no..."

Then, he went further back, and was confronted with the sight of Gill, adorned in some quite ornate armor replete with regalia, leading an army of SeaWings into battle. Was this the battle that he apparently got captured in? Altamir didn't know...he wasn't looking into that...but he did note a soldier addressing Gill with the title of "[his majesty]". Was this dragon a king?! "...oh no..."

And then he went further back one more time...and what he saw struck him like a crackling bolt of lightning. "...oh no. No...no...no no no no NO NO NO NO NO!"

He was faced with the sight of Gill in that same regal armor and regalia while lovingly embracing another, female SeaWing larger than him. This SeaWing, apparently named "Coral", was wearing ornate regalia of her own, wearing strings of pearls over her horns and around her neck and body, and a pearl bracelet around the wrist of one of her front limbs, as well as a spearhead on her tail. She was no ordinary SeaWing already, and her addressing Gill as "[her] brilliant king", and Gill addressing her in turn as "[his] beloved queen", all but confirmed that Altamir was looking at the king and queen of the SeaWings. That wasn't the thing that struck him most of all.

No, the thing that struck him most of all was how, regalia aside, Coral (if that was her name) looked nearly identical to Tsunami...she quite literally looked like an older, adult version of the SeaWing dragonet, from nearly the same body shape (with only minute differences), to nearly the same scale coloring (again, with only slight differences), to having basically the exact same markings on the underside of her wings.

Just like Sorkhagtani and Delphine had looked so much alike.

That could only mean one thing. And then he checked the blood relations between Gill and Tsunami, and it was decidedly confirmed. And the realization dawned on him and filled him with equal parts shock and horror. "Oh, shit."

He had killed Tsunami's father.

He killed her father and left her mother a widow.

That, and at the same time, he'd killed a King of an entire tribe. And not a tyrannical one, but an actually good one from the looks of it.

He'd stepped himself into some deep shit, and he hadn't even known.

"Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Given what she was wishing for, Altamir knew all too well that Tsunami was going to be beyond crushed when she found out that the man who had saved her and her friends from Scarlet had also, on the same day, robbed her of any chance of ever getting to know her father in person.

Even from the depths of Tamag, Scarlet STILL found ways to make life miserable for everyone around her, particularly these dragonets.

"Shit, shit, shit, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Altamir's mind felt like the inside of a tornado as horror whirled about within. How the hell was he supposed to break this to Tsunami?! "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?!" This was bad. This was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was bad, this was bad-!

"...Aldy?"

"-ngh-?!" Altamir whirled around at the voice...

...to find that same Tsunami looking at him from within the pile. "Why are you not asleep...?" When he did that, she clearly noticed his face, too. "...hey...wait...you're looking more scaredy than even Starflight usually is...uh...something wrong? Are we in...danger...?"

"D-Danger?!" Altamir fought every impulse he had just to keep his voice quiet. "I...we...n-no! No, we're not in danger...s-sorry, I'm just keeping you up, am I? I'm just having a...moment...uh...I'll just...go to sleep now."

Tsunami looked at him with clear disbelief, before rolling her eyes. "...okay, Aldy, whatever you say. You look like you've seen a ghost, but...whatever. Just go to sleep, please. I need my shuteye."

"Yes, ma'am." Altamir hastily nodded and then also-hastily speed-walked behind one of the other dragonets to change himself into something that, while still decent, could be slept in. He then carefully hovered above the other dragonets, finding a spot amongst them, and then carefully lowering himself down upon that spot. Specifically, on Sunny's torso. Smallest of the dragonets as she was, she was still big enough compared to him that her torso alone was probably still more than twice as long as he was tall, and she likely barely felt a thing given how minute his weight was compared even to hers, as she only very slightly twitched in her sleep as Altamir carefully got into a more settled position...

...well, as settled as could be right now, knowing now what exactly he'd done this morning.

Carefully pulling Starflight's wing over himself in a way so as to not wake the NightWing up, Altamir tried to sleep. And tried. And tried. But the usually calming influence that being in non-confrontational physical contact with a dragon would bring was absent, his mind a flurry of worry and fear. And regret. And loathing.

"Tsunami and the others are going to take this badly." Altamir just knew it. "I...I fucked up. I robbed her of her father...she'll never get to see him alive...she'll never get to meet him...she...she...I...I...forgive me, Tsunami! If I'm even worth forgiving..."

Altamir didn't know when the tears started pouring down his face...but they did...and they poured until the darkness of sleep took him, him dreading what images his mind would torment him with during the night all the while.

---

Uh oh...yep, things have already taken a pretty dark turn for Altamir. And this isn't even the worst of it...it's only going to get worse for him before things get better. Needless to say, just because he's powerful does NOT mean he's going to have an 'easy ride'.

A few things here...so, I will admit that this chapter took way longer than I wanted to complete, as it in general was longer than I thought it would be...definitely glad that I made it its own chapter, but still...yeah. I wanted to give Altamir something good before things go bad, giving him some nice time to basically bond with the dragonets, bring out their friendlier, sweeter sides, and basically become the 'newbie' of the group despite being a) older than them, and b) not being a dragon. I also rather freely admit to basing his holding and hugging them and whatnot off of how someone might do so with their dogs or cats...even though the dragonets obviously aren't pets and are much, much, MUCH bigger.

As for those dragonets themselves...I hope that I got their personalities mostly right. I do intend to take them in slightly different directions than in canon...but I'm hoping that they'll be recognizable here and have their own 'flavor' to their personalities first, and that perhaps any differences from how they usually act in canon will make sense. I know, for example, that they're being pretty trusting of (and Tsunami and Glory are being a fair bit nicer to) him compared to how they might do so in canon, but to be fair, he's pretty unlike the 'guardians' in that he's kind to them, he values their lives, safety, and happiness, he respects their wishes, autonomy, and freedom, and he listens to them and takes them and their needs and desires seriously...and there's no ulterior motive(s) in play. Given that, up to this point, every other adult has either treated them like trash or pawns or failed to stop the ones who have, I'm hoping it'd make sense that they'd warm up to him pretty quickly partially as a result of him NOT doing that. Good thing, too, because pretty soon, they are going to have a LOT on their talons when it comes to the guy. At least there's some signs that the character arcs are starting early. Especially since, with Altamir's help, they've figured out much earlier than they did in canon that the prophecy is either false or likely false.

I also wanted to say that guardians' treatment of the dragonets tends to be...overlooked in the grand scheme of things in the canon series after the first few books or so. Including by the dragonets themselves. I'm trying not to let that happen here; rather, it will play a key role as to why the dragonets are quite slow to trust adults (something that will be emphasized here; as right now, Altamir is the only adult they trust), as well as in some of their personality traits in this story. That, and in general, this story is going to be taking a hard look at such treatment in general, and not just in this chapter.

Aaaaaand, of course, Altamir also finds out a rather ugly truth; that the SeaWing he killed in the arena was Tsunami's father...and right now, only he knows. I really wanted to really show off in the last part of the chapter a couple of traits that, while we've already seen in earlier chapters, will play a key role next chapter and also in his character as a whole; his fear and nervousness. Much as he (usually) hides it well externally, Altamir is, below the surface, a jittery bundle of nerves who is quite prone to teeth-clattering, nail-biting worrying over whatever horrible thing might happen if he doesn't plan for or do (x), (y), (z), etc. He also tends to worry over whether or not he's worthy of any sort of respect or adoration, believing that whoever may be giving such is giving themselves false hope, and can get rather desperate when it comes to proving that he IS worthy of it. It's part of the reason why, sometimes, he can be shockingly impulsive and make hot-headed decisions that even Tsunami would call reckless, and it's coming to the forefront right now with this nasty discovery of his. Also, I know he was (mentally) swearing a lot, but...well, he WAS kinda losing his marbles there when it came to confidence and whatnot.

And there's another issue dancing about...hmm...I wonder what could be the source of tension between the humans and the dragons? Altamir may not know right now, obviously...but he's going to know all too well very soon.

(oh, and I'm going to have to edit the first five chapters again...ugh...I'm going to have to set aside some time for that at some point)

Anyways, uh...see you next chapter. Get ready for the shitstorm that is Altamir learning about the Scorching.