Wakko had to resist the urge to stay up all night, trying to sketch out a design for a mechanism that would match Saffo's other tail fin.
Ultimately two things made him go to sleep at an appropriate time.
One was that he realized he needed to study the structure of Saffo's remaining fin more. The second was that he still hadn't figured out what to do about feeding him…
It was when he and Dot ate fish for breakfast that he got an idea.
The village food stores had a lot of fish. Big fish, from the ocean.
It would be stealing, but; his planned contraption wasn't done yet. He hadn't even started, and Wakko wasn't even sure if the dragon would let him put the artificial fin on him. This whole process could take a while, and Saffo needed to eat.
He felt guilty, even considering this. But it was steal the fish, or let the dragon starve.
The Night Fury was his responsibility now; Wakko had been the one to cripple Saffo. He couldn't just leave him to die.
After the two teens had gotten dressed - Dot putting her hair back in a long braid - they slowly traveled to the kill ring.
Or rather, Wakko walked slowly. Dot was the embodiment of an excited fifteen year old, prancing along the path, her step lively.
Alternatively, Wakko was once again thinking about the apparent intelligence of the dragons. And why they attacked in the first place, and if there was another way to end this conflict aside from endless war…
What awaited them at the Kill Ring didn't help bring his spirits up.
Wakko found himself and his peers in a wooden maze of barriers, with a hissing Nadder flitting around above their heads. The birdlike dragon hopped from the top of one barrier to another, slinging spines from it's tail.
He spent the entire time trying to keep an eye on Dot, or just hiding behind a shield that quickly racked up many Nadder spikes.
All the while, Slappy nonchalantly narrated from her vantage point outside the ring.
"Today's all about speed, fellas! And one other thing. Every dragon's got a blind spot! Find it, use it!"
The nadder pounced towards Reva and Tevan; the rabbits split, then stumbled into each other right in front of the bipedal dragon's nose. The nadder squawked in obvious confusion, blinking.
Reva and Tevan, however, quickly ruined this achievement.
"This is my blind spot, find your own -"
"No, you find your own!"
The nadder drew back and breathed fire. The two teenagers yelped and bolted into another part of the maze.
"Blind spot, yes, deaf spot, not so much," Slappy called from above.
Dot came charging around a corner, the light of determination in her eyes. She ran at the dragon, which hissed and blew more fire.
Dot avoided that, but tripped over the rabbit's dropped shields. The Nadder reared up, all but preparing to lunge, and Wakko felt his heart stop.
He threw the hammer he'd been carrying, but had been reluctant to use. The Nadder squawked in pain and stumbled when the heavy hammer slammed into the side of its head, and the dragon staggered away, dazed.
There was a creaking sound as a nearby barrier fell, falling onto the dragon in an eruption of shattered wood. A bedraggled Max was standing there, the rabbit twins hiding behind them.
Wakko didn't really notice. He'd run to Dot, who was just getting up.
"Dot, are you -"
He yelped when Dot jabbed him in the stomach with her axe. Wakko doubled over, arm over his stomach.
"I thought we agreed you'd let me have all the glory!" Dot snapped.
Reva and Tevan had started picking splinters from their fur. Max was rubbing the back of his head, possibly feeling the effects of taking a hit to the head earlier. Slappy had swung down into the pit and stunned the dizzy dragon with her green spear. Now she was attending to Max, who was now smiling in a loopy manner that indicated he might have hit his head a little too hard.
As such, the quarreling fifteen year olds went unnoticed at first.
However, that was soon to change.
"I - I know," Wakko stuttered. "I was just trying to protect you -"
"I don't need your protection! Just stay out of my way!" Dot shouted, snout to snout with her brother, eyes alight with furious indignation.
Her shout finally drew everyone's attention. Just in time for them to see Wakko turn and slowly plodded out of the arena, his head down.
With his back turned, none of them saw that he was tearing up, and on the verge of crying.
Wakko didn't want to cry in front of the others. They'd made fun of how sensitive he could be before.
He didn't think they meant it maliciously, exactly, but Wakko couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed whenever it happened.
Meanwhile, Dot was fuming, gripping her axe. Slappy enlisted Reva and Tevan to drag the Nadder back into its cage.
"Whoa…" Max looked at the reflective blade, eyes unfocused. "Is that me? I look funny…"
"Alright," Slappy grunted, guiding the teenager to his feet. "I'm taking ya to Kara. Ya need that head looked at."
Max lazily waved at the others as Slappy tugged him out of the kill ring.
"Girl, I respect your fire, but…" Tevan tilted her head, hands on her hips. "Maybe you were a bit harsh?"
Dot scowled.
"Wakko will get over it," she insisted, even though a guilty knot had formed in her stomach.
Her anger, though, was ultimately stronger.
They'd agreed that dragon training would be her chance to shine.
Dot knew her father loved her, but she had always craved the lofty expectations he seemed to have for Wakko.
She needed to be the best ranked trainee.
Dot needed to prove how strong she was, by killing her first dragon in front of her father.
"Say, guys?" She smiled at her friend. "How would you feel about training some more?"