Intermission: In Humans We Trust

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for taking the time to read this story and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have written it. Welcome to the first of a few intermission chapters of this story. I will post an intermission every few chapters to show what happens after an episode. Please read, like, and review if you wish. And I also realized that I have been changing Iris's hair color from violet to purple, her hair color is violet, not purple. Enjoy!

A few days had gone by since the jousting tournament and Iris was sweeping up the stables with Artha and Lance helping her as Beau was in his stall, eating and relaxing for the day. The siblings were cleaning up the stables since they had nothing else to do today, as Artha had no races today due to taking the day off after he stopped another robbery the night before. Lance hummed as he swept the dirt and dust into a small pile and Iris grabbed a scoop to put the dirt and dust into and toss it into the bin.

Lance's stomach growled and the ten-year-old looked at his older siblings, who heard the growl. Artha glanced at his wrist comm, which was also a clock, and saw it was nearing lunchtime. "Come on, guys. Let's have a break and have some lunch," he suggested and the three siblings put the brooms away and headed inside the house. Though the fire had destroyed most of the lounge room, the kitchen was thankfully unharmed and intact.

Artha opened the pantry, only to be disappointed by the lack of food there was, the pantry was pretty much empty, so they would need to go food shopping. Iris poked her head over his shoulder and saw the empty pantry. She sighed, hands on her hips. "Looks like we need to do some grocery shopping."

"Yeah." Artha agreed, then his blue eyes lit up and he headed up the stairs towards their father's room. Iris and Lance followed him and stood in the doorway as he looked through their dad's clothes in one of the drawers and withdrew a pouch of emergency dracals for shopping. "Here, this should help. I just hope Dad won't mind if we find him again." Artha said as he walked over to his brother and sister.

Iris smiled gently and took the pouch from him. "I'll go, you stay here with Lance." Artha's eyes widened. "What? Iris, I can't let you go alone!" he refused to let her walk to the market by herself. He wanted to go get the groceries, he had a dragon, but his sister did not, yet! "Artha, I need to start helping out more around here than just sweeping and looking after Beau. Please, let me go?" Iris explained to her brother, who looked worried for her. Since the Eye of the Dragon crew had attacked the stable and their father went missing, Artha grew more protective over his siblings and always tried his best to protect them, even though Iris was the same age as him.

Artha rubbed the back of his neck, thinking it over. Iris, despite not having her dragon yet, wanted to help out as much as she possibly could and she was right about not doing too much apart from cleaning and looking after Beau and Cyrano when he and Parm came over. "Alright, Iris, you can go, but I want you to take Beau with you, at least I know he can protect you." Artha would allow her to go, only if she brought Beau with her. He knew his dragon could protect his sister when she was out in public and he felt assured she would be safe.

"Okay," Iris said, tucking the pouch into one of her pockets and the trio left the master bedroom and headed down the stairs and outside the house to Beau's stable. The red and blue dragon grinned when he saw his rider and human brother and sister approach him.

(Beau grew up with Artha and Lance and met Iris when she was 8 after being brought back to Penn Stables by Conner. He grew to love her as a sister despite being a dragon.)

Artha walked up to his dragon. "Hey, Beau. I got an important job for you, boy." Beau grunted surprised at the news. "I want you to go with Iris to get some food as we are out. I want you to protect her for us. Can you do that?" the black-haired teen asked the red and blue dragon, who looked from his rider to Iris before he looked back at Artha and gave an affirmative nod. He would happily accept the job for the day. Even though Artha was his rider, he would gladly let Iris ride him for today.

While Artha went to get his saddle and food storage from the gear room, Iris gave Beau a quick brush to make sure he was clean for the ride. She was a bit nervous as this would be the first time she would ride a dragon by herself, she just hoped nothing went wrong while they were out!

Her brother returned with his saddle and a few food storage containers and Beau magged them onto his body and the saddle to the back of his head. Lance, who had gone with his brother to help, held up a light purple helmet, a bit like Kitt's helmet, just in purple colors. Iris looked at the helmet and smiled at her brother in thanks before she took it and slipped it over her head. Artha walked up and helped adjust the helmet to fit her head. "There, you look like a real racer," he said with a proud smile. Iris chuckled softly as she looked at herself, she didn't look any different but was grateful. "Thanks guys."

Beau grinned as he too saw how she looked and he glowed a gold colour and magged her into the saddle. Artha had adjusted the saddle a little to fit her for this moment. Iris inhaled a calming breath as she gripped the handles tightly. "You comfortable enough, Iris?" Artha walked up to Beau's left as he gazed up at where he normally would sit. His sister nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Remember, Beau, keep her safe." Artha reminded his dragon, who nodded his head, that he would protect Iris with his life if anything happened while they were out. With that, Beau took off out of the stable with Iris to do their food shopping!

On the other side of the city, a chubby man walked down a row of dragon stalls, coming to a halt at one in particular, he pressed a button and the door opened. Inside the stall was a dragon that looked like a pack-class, but stood on four feet rather than two and had a long tail with a blade shape at the end. this was not a normal dragon, it was in fact a hybrid, the offspring of a pack-class and a psi-class dragon. Never had there been a hybrid from two vastly different dragons. It had the head, face features and body of a pack-class, but the claws and tail of a psi-class. The dragon's colour was a bit unique as the top half of its body was a burgundy colour with the stripe running down its body a light blue and the bottom half was dark purple.

(I don't know if the stripe is called that or something else, so I am calling it a stripe.)

The dragon barely lifted its head as the man walked inside, brandishing a whip. "Get up, you lazy monster!" the man growled, snapping his whip. The dragon hissed at him, refusing to move. It's scales were covered in whip scars and other horrible injuries from this terrible man. "Get up!" the man ordered, whipping the dragon against its side. The dragon screeched in pain, blood running from the gash!

The dragon had been through this torture since it was a young hatchling. It never knew its parents and one of the eggs was taken in by the previous owner of the stable, the rest of the eggs were destroyed, leaving the hatchling alone and without any siblings. The dragon was raised by the horrible man and knew only pain and sadness!

Glowing a purple-black draconium colour, the dragon shakily rose to its feet and magged the man into the air and threw him out of the stall. The dragon bellowed loud enough to shake the whole stable. The chains clanged against each other that were connected to its four feet, rubbed raw and painful. The dragon shot a mag blast at the chains connected to the wall of the stall, it didn't shatter them, but was enough to weaken the links and they snapped. The dragon, while still having the chains wrapped around its ankles, were free and it dashed out of the stall it had been trapped in for many years.

Green trapping gear was shot at the dragon as the man shouted in anger over the hybrid fleeing. He quickly got his own dragon, a red magma class and followed the fleeing tri-coloured reptile. The red dragon caught up to the pack-class/psi-class dragon, being slightly faster than the tri-coloured dragon and slammed its body into it. The hybrid screeched as the blow sent it crashing to the ground, but it quickly got back on its feet despite its body screaming in agony from the many scars and the fresh wound.

The man looked crazy with rage as he shot more trapping gear at the dragon, who dodged the gear and kept running for its life! "Get back here, you stupid, lazy reptile!" the red dragon roared and charged after the creature at its rider's order. The psi/pack dragon fled down some alleys and leapt over a large garbage bin, landing on the open streets. People stopped and gasped at the heavily scarred dragon before it ran left and down another alleyway.

The alley led out onto another street and the tri-coloured dragon took off down the road, looking back to see if the red one was following before it crashed straight into another dragon and fell to the ground, unconscious.

A half hour before

Beau and Iris made it safely to the food market and Iris dismounted the saddle, walking along the stalls with the pouch of drackels and began to shop around for what she and her brothers would need while Beau waited for her outside.

Half an hour later, she returned with a few bags of food that she put in the food storage containers on Beau's back. "Okay, got what we need for now. Let's go home, Beau." the red and blue dragon magged her into the saddle and instead of running back, they chose to walk and he wanted to give Iris some more time in the saddle before she would return to the ground.

As they left the market place, Beau sniffed the air and could smell something different. "What is it, Beau?" Iris asked, noting how his nostrils flared in the air around them. A loud roar pierced the quiet of the area and Iris looked around for the source of the noise. That sounded like a dragon to her.

Thumping footsteps were heard and Iris swung her head around just in time to see what looked like a pack class dragon, but running on four feet, charging at them and it crashed hard into Beau, who was thrown back from the blow and Iris was sent flying from the saddle and landed hard on the ground. She groaned as Beau shook his head and once he saw Iris on the ground, he hurried over to her as she lifted her head and he gently nudged her, asking with his nose and the look of his eyes if she was hurt.

"I'm okay, Beau." Iris wheezed, the collision having knocked the air from her lungs, but she was not hurt, just a little bruised from the fall. Beau gently grabbed hold of her sleeve and tugged her to her feet, using his tail to gently hold her to his side in case she was unstable with her bearings.

Together, the pair slowly approached the dragon who had crashed into them. It was a tri-coloured dragon that looked like a pack-class, but had the tail and claws of a psi dragon, and by the looks of it, was knocked unconscious from the collision. Iris noted all the scars on the creatures body, her heart aching at how this dragon had suffered. "The poor thing. We have to help it somehow." she said, looking at Beau as she carefully knelt down beside the dragons head, lightly stroking its tri-coloured scales.

Beau, too was stunned by the dragons condition, who would treat a dragon so horribly? And the fact it looked like a hybrid between a pack class and psi class, how odd that two different dragons could produce an offspring like this one, it was rather cool, and the tri-colour of the scales was incredible! But seeing the poor thing's injuries made him think of Iris. It was just like how she was treated by her bio mother before she was taken by security and put into foster care. He knew about her abuse from Conner mentioning it to Artha one day.

He gently nosed the hybrid's nose. Its chest rose and fell with laboured breaths that had Iris very worried. She pressed her wrist comm and an image of Artha and Lance popped up. "Artha, Lance, can you guys prep the medi stall? We have a very injured dragon here." she informed.

"What happened, Iris? Are you and Beau okay?" Artha asked, concern in his voice. "Yeah, we're okay, a little bruised, but nothing serious. We have an injured hybrid dragon here that looks like it was abused by humans."

"What?" Artha was horrified by that, not just the fact that the dragon was abused, but also that Iris had said hybrid. He'd never seen a hybrid dragon before. "Yes, it looks like a fresh wound on its side from a whip, it looks very skinny from lack of food and…" she trailed off, spotting the chains around the dragons feet, her eyes widened in shock and horror at the abuse this dragon went through. "Magma draconis, Artha, it has chains around its feet!"

"We'll get the medical stall ready, can Beau carry the dragon back?" Artha said as Iris looked at Beau. "Can you carry the dragon, boy?" Beau growled and gently slid his head beneath the tri-coloured cross-breeds body, lifting it up and draping over his back. It wasn't the best, but it would do till they got back to the stables. "Okay, we are coming back now." Iris informed her brothers as Beau magged her onto the saddle and they left the market, Beau kept a steady pace as to not move the poor thing so much and aggravate its wounds.

They made it back within twenty minutes and Beau gently disposed of the dragon in the medical stall as Iris dismounted the saddle and removed her helmet. A dragon doctor, Miss Gwen Avalon, who was also a close friend of Conner's and his dragon doctor, was already there with her sonic class dragon Soundwyve, waiting for them. Once the dragon was laid down, and she'd taken just a moment to stare at the pretty colour and the face the dragon was a cross-breed, Gwen got to work attaching an IV to the poor creature to help hydrate it and give fluids while she assessed the injuries.

"And you say she crashed into you, Iris?" Gwen asked, looking over at Iris, who stood with Artha and the two dragons, Beau and Fracshun, Lance was not present. "She?" Artha asked. Gwen nodded. "Yes, female and, very malnourished from lack of food and water. Poor thing. I'm very shocked that someone would even do this, given the fact this is the first pack/psi hybrid I have ever seen before." Gwen said as she opened up a medical bag and fished out some bandages and other things she would need to help this poor dragon.

It took Gwen a good hour and a half to fully patch up the pack/psi dragon's injuries and she gave the female a strong sedative to calm her and give the reptile a good few hours of rest. "I have done all I can, the rest is up to her."

Artha thanked the doctor as Iris came into the stall and sat down beside the dragon, lightly resting her hand on the burgundy scales. The chains had been removed by Gwen with a welding tool and the raw scales were coated in a special cream to help them heal and wrapped in bandages. Most of the creature's body was wrapped in bandages and Iris could feel her heart shatter. She was reminded of her childhood where her mother would hit her if she so much as opened her mouth to speak, it made the teen shudder at the thought and she shut her eyes to block the memories, and push them away for now.

"Iris?" she looked up to see Artha standing in the doorway. "Lunch is ready." after she had returned to the stables, she quickly sent Lance to put the groceries away while she and Artha dealt with their new dragon guest and gave Gwen a hand if she needed it. Rising to her feet, she let the creature rest as she walked out of the stall and Beau settled down near the tri-coloured dragon to keep an eye on her in case she grew distressed.

Beau's POV

Beau lay near the door of the stall after Iris and Artha left to go eat. Fracshun was curious about the new dragon that lay in the stall. "Wow, have you ever seen a hybrid before, Beau?" Fracshun asked in wonder. Beau shook his head.

"It's sad how she was treated." the little energy-class spoke as he settled down beside the larger dragon. Beau nodded his head. "Very sad, but Iris was treated pretty much the same way by her mother, maybe these two can bond." he mused as the dragon breathed deeply and steadily. The human doctor had explained that the hybrid did not have any broken ribs as Iris had feared, she was just exhausted from running, and with a lack of food and water, it was very easy for her to grow tired.

"How did the ride go?" Fracshun asked, wanting to know how it went with Beau and Iris.

"Very well, apart from the dragon crashing into me and throwing Iris from the saddle..."

"Iris was thrown from the saddle?!" Fracshun growled lowly with worry, though he was Lance's dragon, the little energy-class cared for Iris just as much as Beau did.

"She is alright, a little winded, but fine." the red and blue dragon grumbled softly, his tail swaying lightly behind him.

"We had fun and I decided to give her more time by walking back here," Beau answered as he laid down to sleep, the female would be out for a good few hours from the sedative Gwen had given her, so there was no use staying awake.

"Get some sleep, Fracshun, she'll be out for a while," Beau advised the younger dragon to sleep for a bit and both dragons fell asleep.

A few hours later, it was dark in Mid-city, and Penn Stables was quiet, everyone had gone to bed. The multicoloured dragon shifted slightly, waking Beau up, who slowly rose to his feet and cautiously approached the pack-class. Eyelids twitched before they lifted to reveal vibrant orange eyes that shifted around before landing on Beau, who lowered his head down to their level. "How are you feeling?" he asked the female.

She slowly lifted her head, blinking as her vision was fuzzy from the medication. "Where am I?"

"You're at Penn Stables, you crashed into me and my sister at the marketplace and we brought you back here," Beau explained as Fracshun woke up and came over to see the new dragon.

"Hello, I'm Fracshun. What's your name?" the young dragon asked curiously. The cross-breed tried to rise to her feet, but just moving sent pain racing through her veins and she hissed.

"Don't move too much, you will reopen your wounds." Beau cautioned gently. The female looked around and saw she was in a stall. Her orange eyes widened in shock, she was back in a stall again!

Roaring in fear, she struggled to her feet, growling. "NO! I will not be a prisoner again!" flashbacks of her time locked away in chains, alone and scared, raced through her mind. The commotion caused a few of the lights in the house to switch on, and the residents within were woken up by the noise.

"Stop! You're safe here." Beau tried to calm the dragon down, but she kept screeching and bellowing loud enough to wake even the street below.

"What in the magma draconis is going on out here?" Artha, bleary-eyed, questioned as he, Iris, and Lance came outside to the stables, all dressed in their pajamas. The pack/psi roared and charged up a mag-burst that was black-purple. Beau and Fracshun quickly got their riders and Iris out of the way as she charged past them.

Artha quickly called Gwen and told her about the situation before he jumped onto Beau and the pair took off after the fleeing female. Iris, Lance, and Fracshun remained behind.

Beau galloped down the road, keeping up with the psi/pack-class as she ran through the streets. "Stop. You'll hurt yourself even more if you keep going!" Beau growled as he was now neck and neck with the tri-coloured dragon.

"I won't be a prisoner! Not again!" she snarled.

"You're not a prisoner. You are our guest," he explained and she began to slow down as her body was running on adrenaline.

Beau got in front of her, forcing her to halt, her sides heaving from the run. "I understand your hurt."

She snarled, bearing her teeth. "What would you know? You've never been beaten or starved! Left chained to a wall, alone and afraid!" she screeched the last words, Artha covered his ears from the sheer volume of the sound.

Beau snorted. "I have not, no, but I know someone who has been through the same pain as you."

"Who?" the female growled, shifting her weight as her body began to tremble.

"My sister, Iris."

Artha dismounted the saddle and stood beside Beau. "Easy, girl. It's alright, we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to help." he slowly approached the hybrid, who snarled at him.

"Trust Artha, he won't hurt you, neither will Iris and Lance. They are good humans." Beau crooned softly as Artha moved a few more steps closer.

"I'll be hurt again." she whimpered, backing away and lowering her head in pain. "No, they would never hurt any dragons, I promise you."

The female eyed the black-haired teen, her orange eyes darting to Beau, who was watching her closely. Artha stopped a few feet away from the dragon, making sure he wasn't crowding her. "Hey, girl. we're gonna take good care of you, we won't hurt you. I promise." he spoke gently to the wounded dragon, who seemed to stare at him for a whole minute before she took an unsteady step forward, deciding to give these humans a small chance.

They made the slow trek back to the stables where Iris, Lance, and Fracshun were waiting for them. Artha dismounted and Beau led the pack/psi class back to the stall where he remained with the female. Gwen arrived at that moment with Soundwyve and once she was on the ground, she approached the stall, waiting for the dragon to let her approach.

Once Beau gave her a low growl that meant it was safe, Gwen went over, taking small steps to not frighten the wounded creature before she got to work re-wrapping the now soiled bandage and making sure any other injuries were still doing well. She left the stables after half an hour, bidding the siblings farewell and to call if anything changed.

Iris stood in the doorway of the stall, watching Beau as he was laying beside the tri-coloured female. The dragon gazed back at the violet-haired teen and snorted. Would she be safe here?

Here you go, the introduction of Iris' future hybrid dragon! I hope you all like her. Her name will be revealed in the next chapter, read, like and review.