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?

13. P2A1C08

That last chapter took longer than I wanted it to...sorry about that. Here's hoping that this chapter will be much quicker in terms of completion.

Well, Altamir's got a bit of a situation on his hands. He's gotta keep the dragonets safe, but Morrowseer working with Blister when the latter is whom the Dragonets of Destiny are supposed to meet with will make things very difficult. And complicated.

Also, for some reason, I keep on forgetting to explain what Altamir is wearing and has been since he started off against Scarlet. Somehow, I can get descriptions for every dragon character, yet can't do so with something like this. Oh well...anyways, he's wearing a sort of black-and-dark-bluish-grey-colored 'operator's suit' that he actually made himself. It's lightweight, but covers the whole body save for his hands (which he's wearing black fingerless gloves over), his head, and his black boots, and has a hood that he can use to cover his hair. He can also wear armor over it if he needs to, like he previously did when going against Scarlet. Basically, at this point, it's more or less what he wears when either going for stealth or just generally 'going out in the field' for any sort of mission. Like, for example, protecting a bunch of dragonets from hostile soldiers, guards, and other enemy dragons.

---

CHAPTER 8: STING IN THE DARK

Late Evening, January 25th

Any dragon who made the dragonets very seriously fear for their lives in such a way was a dragon more than worth killing in Altamir's eyes.

Particularly if that dragon had previously tried to order one of those same dragonets murdered. And that, of course, was looking past how it made his blood boil to think that someone could do such a thing so callously.

When he got to the entrance of the cave that he and the dragonets were using during their stay at the palace right after turning himself invisible, Altamir quickly set up the same sort of magical barrier that he'd previously set up to protect the dragonets from anyone trying to barge in during the night, making it so that only himself or one of the nine dragonets he was now looking after could pass through freely - all others would hit a solid invisible wall that would be unbreakable no matter their size or strength.

When that was done, he took flight in his way and began flying over the now-significantly-darkened surroundings of the inner palace. Seeing in the dark wasn't the problem - borrowing abilities from both the NightWings and the SeaWings by way of being a Human Animus meant that seeing in low light would be nowhere near the issue that it was for others among his kind.

Rather, the issue was finding something that, or someone who, clearly did not want to be found. Altamir looked around as he flew over and the multi-floored pavilion structure, but the large, dark, dragon-shaped shadow that would be Morrowseer's form was nowhere to be seen here - he saw plenty of SeaWings (mostly guards now), but no signs of a very large NightWing. Then again, NightWings could blend in with the shadows...though Altamir was able to see through that.

Well then, he wasn't out here, so where was he?

Then, Altamir remembered something. When he'd briefly looked at who killed Kestrel when he 'went back', he'd noticed the large NightWing standing behind the SandWing who was apparently Blister as she'd done the deed. Initially, he'd thought little of it at the time, but now...well, again, large NightWing. That was definitely, or at least most likely, Morrowseer.

Though, Altamir already had a general idea of that bit by now...no, what was more relevant to him was that Morrowseer was with Blister during the killing of Kestrel in a manner that suggested that the two were working together. Whether or not it was on equal ground didn't matter at the moment - what did matter was that it suggested the idea that if Morrowseer was anywhere in here...

...it was likely to be where Blister was. So that left open the possibility that he was in Blister's cave with her.

Thus, not making a sound and making sure that he wasn't being seen, Altamir silently flew towards the cave in question. As to be expected, given her status, guards were posted around the outside of the cave. This would be a problem for a dragon...but for someone as small as him and who could silently slip past undetected, it wasn't so for Altamir. Or, at least, it wouldn't be the hard part.

The hard part would be preventing himself from springing out and killing Morrowseer on the spot if and when he saw the absurdly large NightWing. The temptation was strong, he badly wanted to kill the callous dragon for it...

...but if he was to kill him now...that would likely complicate things severely when it came to dealing with Blister (and likely also with Coral, at least possibly), and there was a good chance that such was an understatement. He'd have to wait until he had a better opportunity.

So, straining to keep a handle on his impulses despite his burning desire to end the tormentor-in-chief of the dragonets, Altamir entered the cave. There were a few more guards on the 'inside' portion of the cave entrance...and then past that...

"-certainly have to say that it's rather annoying. I expected more from them."

"Expected more? From which? The dragonets, or the guardians?"

"The guardians, Morrowseer. The ones you picked out."

...was both Blister and Morrowseer. And apparently, they were discussing something. Something related to the dragonets. Much as the sight of Morrowseer made his blood boil, Altamir kept a lid on it as best as he could as he breathed as quietly as possible and stayed silent and invisible, wanting to know what specifically about the dragonets they were conversing over...and knowing that what they were talking to each other about was potentially very important.

"Ah. Yes, Blister, I know. I expected better from them myself. I thought that they would be able to prevent the dragonets from escaping or attempting to escape. Clearly, I placed far too much faith in them."

"You certainly did." Blister crossed her front limbs. "And because they let such a thing happen, 'Scarlet' happened. And now those dragonets are in the filthy paws of this 'human animus' named 'Altamir', who apparently managed to 'rescue' them from her before either of us could get to them first. That scavenger annoys me greatly...who decided to let him talk, give himself a fancy name, and be an animus?!"

So his presence with the dragonets was getting under the scales of this dragon? Good. She deserved to have things get under her scales, and much more.

"For once, I myself do not know." Morrowseer shook his head. "Though I must say that this 'human' must be formidable despite his size if he managed to kill Scarlet and all of the soldiers and guards present at the arena like he apparently did. None of the guards here have been able to get near the dragonets, either...save for Riptide."

"Riptide." Blister spat. "Of all of the guards and soldiers in the SeaWing army that the scavenger lets get close to the dragonets, or himself for that matter...he chooses Riptide. Though, then again, he does appear to have a knack for getting brats to his side...those five seem to be rather fond of him for whatever reason, and he's even drawn in Princess Anemone. Anemone. That little animus who might just be our key to winning this war, and Coral's just about given her to him because she apparently likes how he can 'protect' her...three moons, she can be such a bleeding heart at times."

"Bleeding heart or not, this poses a problem." Morrowseer noted. "Thankfully, I do have some...back-ups, if we cannot get the dragonets back, but it certainly is an issue that he has them with him like that. We cannot control the dragonets if he's there, clearly."

"Indeed." Blister put her talon to her chin. "Though...there are...ways around that, at least. Nothing a little murder here or a little assassination there can't solve..."

"Damn it...Tsunami was on-point when it came to what she thought of this dragon back at the Almaz River." Altamir internally grumbled. "We'll have to outwardly pretend that we'll give her a chance, but in practice...not a hope. She'll be a tyrant if she becomes the SandWing Queen...but it seems like she's a tyrant already with the way she carries herself."

Though, there was now another problem. Altamir had been very intent on killing Morrowseer, and had been hoping to find an opportunity to kill him this night. But that hope was now dashed, as Morrowseer was clearly a far more important dragon than before, and his death, no matter where, would have instant repercussions. Repercussions that could harm the dragonets, especially right now.

For fuck's sake...those dragonets weren't going to like hearing this when he told them of it.

"Assassination?" Morrowseer, meanwhile, tilted his head and raised his brow. "A fair idea...though we are not dealing with the normal scavenger here. As far as I've heard, he has a dragon's presence, and he's quite formidable if he can kill that many enemy dragons by himself. The other guards and soldiers seem to be a tad bit afraid of him."

"They're afraid of a monkey." Blister snorted. "A powerful one, I'll give him that, but a monkey nonetheless. Have a guard or soldier catch him unawares and away from the dragonets, and then spear him through his puny skull. That will put an end to him in an instant."

"Hmph..." Morrowseer didn't seem entirely convinced, apparently. "...and who will you select for such a task then? And with what means, spear aside?"

"Well, there is one particular guard named Sturgeon who's itching for a promotion. She'll do anything for it, and given that she was previously humiliated by that scavenger, I imagine that she's eager to get some revenge against a monkey. If I give her that impenetrable armor that Whirlpool has, she should have little issue succeeding if he approaches that scavenger correctly."

"...very well, I suppose it's a plan." Morrowseer tilted his head back to a more level position. "I'll be leaving tomorrow. I do hope that you have success."

"Ah, but of course." Blister seemed confident. "No one is invincible, certainly not a..." Then, as she was mid-sentence, a SeaWing guard came into the cave and approached her and Morrowseer. "...hmm? Ah, you're here. You would be 'Sturgeon', correct?"

"Yes, your majesty." Sturgeon, as she apparently was, bowed. In contrast to the blues, greens, and gray-blues that Altamir had seen thus-far among the SeaWings, Sturgeon was grayish-brown instead when it came to scale color. She was fairly large, being only slightly smaller than Queen Coral, and she had a fair few scars on her, including a few nicks in her ears and wings (though clearly nowhere near enough to impact her ability to fly). "You wished to meet with me?"

"Ah, but of course I do." Blister chuckled darkly. "Now...I've heard...reports that you want a...promotion, correct?"

"I have, your majesty." Sturgeon nodded. "I've served Queen Coral long and hard for fifteen years, and through many battles. I should be able to get some sort of reward. Rather than being shown up by some blasted magical talking scavenger." Well, he did recognize her among the guards that he'd stopped from rushing Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny...

Blister chuckled again. "Well, aren't we eager? Luckily for you, I have just the task. You see..."

Altamir decided that he'd heard more than enough. So they intended to have him assassinated? Or at least they intended to try to do so? Well then, this palace was nowhere near the safe haven that the dragonets had apparently been hoping for. Damn it...

...and they would certainly not be happy that Morrowseer wasn't dead yet. He would have to begin with why that wasn't the case. It was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

...

And it wasn't. The dragonets were not pleased at all at what they were hearing.

"Ugh, come on!" Tsunami grumbled, blatantly frustrated. "You're telling me that we can't even kill him without Coral or Blister getting suspicious about us?"

"Not while he's here." Altamir winced and sighed. "I know...even I wish it was not the case. But it is. Morrowseer isn't some random dragon...he seems to be someone of high rank and great importance. At the very least, he has to be, given that he was speaking to Blister on rather even terms. At least he's leaving tomorrow morning, apparently, because killing him now would cause more problems than it would cause."

"Well, good thing he's leaving." Glory hissed. "Now what do we do to prevent him from trying to snatch us during the night?"

"...I've put a magic barrier up that only allows the ten of us through either side freely." Altamir replied. "All others will meet a solid, unbreakable wall."

"Ah, good." Starflight sighed in relief. "But...what about Blister? Is she trustworthy, or was Tsunami right about her?"

"The latter."

Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny all groaned at hearing this (while Turtle, Anemone, and Pike looked confused, and Riptide just shook his head in resignation). Altamir saw this and sighed again.

"I know. We'll have to figure out how we'll approach her. We may just have to have a 'double-face' on when dealing with her. I know full well that I'll need to stand between you and her, though. I know not just what she intends to do with you, and I'd rather not find out the hard way by leaving you unattended around her."

"So, we need to have you at our side when we're meeting with her, if we do?"

"Yes, Clay."

"Well, okay, Aldy...just keep on protecting us." Sunny nodded, definitely not pleased that Morrowseer was still alive, but seeming to grasp what was going on.

Altamir, though...for his part, it ate at him greatly to have gotten the dragonets so frustrated and nervous like this. Gods damn it, could he ever do even one thing right?

Well, when the time came for sleeping, the five dragonets were all piled together like they usually were, with Tsunami on her back. Anemone and Turtle were both 'pulled in' by Tsunami's insistence, and Pike and Riptide as well, the latter having been told it was safe to take off his armor for the night because of the magic barrier.

"Good thing we're not wearing those things ourselves right now," Glory remarked with regards to the armor that she, Clay, Starflight, and Sunny had been wearing, but that Altamir had 'taken off' for the night for them as well, "because if we were, this would be really uncomfortable."

"Yeah, it definitely would be." Tsunami agreed, rather dryly, before looking at Altamir. "Okay, Aldy, come here."

"...let me change out of this first..." Altamir then went behind one of the dragonets to change into what he wore for the night.

"...what's this about?" Pike asked, sounding rather confused.

"Oh, it's something we do." Glory answered. "Gotta keep him from losing his pebbles if he wakes up from some nightmare."

It would be some random miracle if he didn't have one...but he doubted that would happen.

Regardless, he finished changing, and on Tsunami's beckoning, he went and got aboard her torso until he was between her front limbs, and when he was, he felt her wrap them around him.

"Okay...you good, Aldy?"

Altamir sighed. "I...suppose..."

He felt Tsunami shrug a little. "Okay. Riptide?"

"Yeah, Tsunami?"

"Go ahead and put your wing over us...though not over his head."

"Huh? Uh...alright?"

And so Altamir felt Riptide's wing lay itself over him and Tsunami. Sure enough, it was only up to his shoulder.

"Okay, that'll do." Tsunami nodded. "Well, Aldy...we got some stuff to deal with tomorrow...try and sleep for us, okay?"

"...I'll try."

Soon, all nine dragonets, however worried about what was going on around them, were asleep. Altamir was the only one still awake...though he wouldn't be for much longer for the night.

As he was waiting for sleep to kick in, he mentally went over what he was going to do.

"I'll have to confront that Sturgeon at some point." Altamir thought grimly. "If she intends to try and kill me, I shall have to take her down first. But I must do so while making sure something doesn't happen to the dragonets. I must. At least I know where in the palace she is." Before he'd left Blister's cave, he'd silently 'marked' Sturgeon, in a way that the latter didn't and wouldn't notice, in a manner that would effectively track the SeaWing's location, and so that the dragon would not be able to sneak up on him undetected.

Though, of course, that wasn't the only thing to worry about.

"We'll need to wait in the cave until Morrowseer leaves. I'll have to watch the rest of the palace from the entrance until that happens...if that happens. That, and we'll have to find out specifically when Blister wants to meet us. That meeting is likely not going to go well, when it happens. Either way, I'll have to be on high alert. All of us will."

And then, of course, Tsunami would have to find out the fate of her father eventually. Altamir knew how badly the poor girl was going to take it. But he knew that he would eventually have no choice but to tell her. It was not a conversation that he was looking forward to.

Before he drifted off to sleep, Altamir did a certain something with Anemone and Turtle. Something that would at least protect their minds, and prevent the usage of their animus magic from eroding those minds of theirs. Yes, they were both animi...and it was another reason to keep them close...so that someone else wouldn't use them for...selfish purposes.

---

Morning, January 26th

Well, random miracle. Though, that was because last night was dreamless. Though, then again, he was dealing with a pair of living nightmares in the form of Morrowseer and Blister, so he wasn't exactly being 'spared' from such things.

That, and he had work to do.

Very carefully, he climbed out from under Tsunami's forelimbs and Riptide's wing, and got himself changed into what he usually wore. Then he took a look at the sleeping dragonets, remembering his mission and noting with strangled relief that none of them were missing, and then looked towards the cave entrance...

...before summoning something else to his hand. Not the Magnum - he HAD thought that it would be all he needed, but with Morrowseer about, he wasn't taking chances.

The Magnum was, again, merely one of the 'new weapons' that he'd made shortly before he died. This one that he had in his hands was one he'd taken to calling a 'Carbine', and it was a...unique thing. It was identical to the Magnum when it came to the velocity and power of the projectiles from its main barrel, and that main barrel was the same length and width as the Magnum's was, not to mention that, like the Magnum, it was made out of the same sort of metal that his sword was...but that was where the similarities ended. The Carbine was otherwise longer and larger, being 28 inches long (8 of those inches being the hollow 'stock' at the back end of it could fold back), 32 with the suppressor, and it had two barrels. That 'upper' barrel was the main one, and even on just this one, the Carbine was setting itself apart from the Magnum by being 'automatic' and having a much higher rate of fire. Namely, the Magnum, while he could fire it fast with his natural speed and strength, could nonetheless only fire one shot at a time. With this gun, however, he could simply hold down the trigger and it would keep on firing from that main barrel, at a rate of fire of roughly 800 shots a minute, or roughly thirteen and just-under-a-half a second.

The other, 'lower/secondary' barrel, was wider, two inches wide, to be exact, and was its own separate thing that was nonetheless built into the gun, having a separate trigger, launching slower but more powerful explosive projectiles that he'd taken to referring to as 'grenades', after an alternate name for those black powder bombs of old. Of course, 'slower' was relatively speaking, as Altamir doubted that any dragon could outrun something traveling at roughly 150 meters per second (or over 300 miles per hour), but regardless...

...this Carbine, in general, was a 'bigger' gun made for more properly taking on particularly large dragons, or large groups of dragons, with the 'grenade launcher' in particular being able to blow a gaping hole in a heavy, dragon size door, or the chest of a enemy dragon the size of Morrowseer. This was well and truly a weapon of war...and it would probably become his 'main' one of the 'new weapons', although there were a few others.

Altamir was fairly sure that he would need it, perhaps in here at some point. That was why he had it out. Though, he was holding it by the handle on top that was where the iron sights were on to prevent any accidental discharges (especially important with this one). That, and he'd be using the main barrel rather than the 'grenade' barrel.

When he was ready, Altamir went and carefully worked to get the smallest of the dragonets, Anemone, to wake up by gently poking her on the snout a few times. The (comparatively) little SeaWing princess adorned in pearl jewellery stirred and groaned a bit…before opening her eyes.

"… mmh…muh?" Anemone blinked her eyes a few times before focusing them on him. "Uh…morning, Aldy."

"…morning." Altamir likely sounded less enthusiastic than he perhaps should have, but enthusiasm was something he was greatly lacking in. Today was going to be long…

"What's that you're holding?"

"Hm?" It took a moment for Altamir to realize that Anemone was talking about the Carbine he was currently holding. "Oh. Just something that I'll need today. Get the others up. We need to get ready."

"Okay."

So, Anemone, showing a clear desire to be a dependable little dragonet rather than some drag-along daughter, went and got some of the others up by doing the same 'gentle snout poking' thing he'd done with her, and their stirring awake got the rest to wake up in turn.

When they were all up, Altamir first watered them and then fed them fish of varying sizes - such would have to do for breakfast - and he got himself something of his own in that regard. And when they were all done eating…

"Alright…Riptide, get your armor on. Clay, Glory, Starflight, Sunny, I'll get you four's armor on for you. Pike, if you're to be a 'retainer' as well, I'll get you some armor as well."

"Huh? Um…okay." Pike nodded, probably rather curious as to how Altamir did that with the others. Well, he'd soon find out.

And he did, as soon, the young SeaWing was standing with Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny, now wearing armor much like they were, and Riptide standing nearby wearing his armor for reference.

"So, no issues there?"

"No, it's fine." Pike seemed to not mind wearing it, at least. "I like it."

"You do? Very well." Altamir then looked behind him out the entrance of the cave, and then back at the dragonets, looking over all of them. "I know not what the day will bring. I know not whether Morrowseer is still here or if he's already left. And I know not what exactly Blister intends to try and do with some or all of you." And then, he shouldered the Carbine as he looked back towards the entrance, having his right hand on the grip that was around the trigger (though not having any fingers on the trigger itself just yet). "Whatever is the case...we must be careful. This palace is a den of venomous snakes. We must watch where we step, to put it one way...lest we get bitten."

"...I mean, that's how it's always been..." Riptide shrugged, "...but yeah, I getcha."

"Very good." Altamir nodded, before then beginning to slowly approach the cave entrance. "I'm going to go to the entrance and watch the rest of the palace from here. Stay a good body length or two behind. I want to know if Morrowseer is still here. If he is, we're not leaving until he's left. If he's already left and doesn't show up for a few minutes, I'll get on Tsunami and she can lead. Then, we'll go to the top level of that pavilion."

After hearing various sounds of affirmation from the dragonets, Altamir then paced up his approach to the cave entrance a bit...before stopping once he got there. The shield was still up - no dragon had managed to get in during the night - but Altamir stepped to the edge of the entrance and looked up to check and make sure that dragons weren't waiting to try and snatch the dragonets from above...there weren't, at least. He then looked to the sides of the entrance, then below the entrance, and then all four of the diagonal angles in-between, making sure to use his other senses, his magical ones included, to see if reality backed up what his eyes were seeing.

He then stepped back a bit further in the cave, and turned his head back to the dragonets, while still having his Carbine forward. "No ambushes waiting around the cave entrance. Not that I've seen, at least."

"Good." Tsunami nodded. "And, uh, Morrowseer?"

"Unclear, haven't seen him yet." Altamir shook his head as he looked back forward. "Granted, I've just started watching, but..."

And then, right as he was in the middle of speaking...he saw it. "Ah, fuck."

It was a large, black shape with dark wings and dark horns on the head. Altamir knew that only a NightWing could look like that, and there was only one other NightWing other than Starflight who was in the palace.

"...back." Altamir then immediately shifted what he was saying accordingly, and then sharpened his voice further. "Back, back, back, back, back, back, back! Get back! Back!"

The dragonets, alarmed, rapidly started scrambling back further into the cave, some of the larger dragonets grabbing Sunny, Anemone, Turtle, and Pike to get them to safety quicker, earning protesting yelps from some of those smaller dragonets.

When he saw that they were backing up, Altamir himself quickly sidestepped behind the left side of the cave entrance, before slowly edging his way out from behind it again, making sure to keep his Carbine pointed at Morrowseer from a distance the entire time. Luckily, the large NightWing didn't seem to have spotted them, which provided a piece of what was otherwise-scant relief.

Eventually, the NightWing left, and Altamir lowered his Carbine and turned to the dragonets again. "He's gone. He left."

The dragonets all sighed in at least some relief. Even those among them who weren't Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, or Sunny realized that the large NightWing was trouble given arms and legs and wings, Altamir could tell.

"Okay...one less thing to worry about, then." Glory nodded. "So...we'll get going now?"

"I think we might as well when I give the all clear...it'll probably be in a few minutes..." Altamir shrugged, "...but remember what I said earlier. Also, we may have little choice but to keep our concerns about Blister and Morrowseer to ourselves when we go out there. If anyone's to truly voice them, it should be me."

"Got it, Aldy." Clay nodded as well. "Well, tell us when it's clear."

So, Altamir kept watching the rest of the palace from the entrance. As he did, behind him, the dragonets decided to start conversing about things.

"He's really serious, isn't he?" Turtle remarked to one of the other dragonets.

"Yeah, he's very serious." Sunny replied. "But he just wants to keep us safe from any enemy dragon who might want to hurt us, or try to capture or kidnap or imprison us, or even kill us."

"Yep, that's Aldy for you right now." Tsunami agreed. "Him being serious about that is...fine, though. I mean, he goes with us rather than dragging us with him, he respects us, he takes us seriously...and he's not stupid overbearing about it either."

"Were you talking about Mother there, Tsunami? Because...ugh, you have no idea!" Anemone grumbled. "She never lets me have any friends, she never lets me play with any of my brothers because they're 'too rough', and she just generally treats me like I'm just some tadpole, even though I'm not a hatchling anymore! She even tried to muzzle me once because I 'dared' complain about something!"

!

That last bit was enough to yank Altamir's attention away from the cave entrance, and he saw that the other dragonets were staring at Anemone as well. Pike in particular looked like he didn't know that Coral could be like that.

"Anemone..." Altamir then asked, "...what 'example' did your mother have for her that made her think like...that?"

"Umm..." Anemone put her talon to her chin, "...she claims that she's doing things 'according to tradition'. But...I think that it might be because of her mother, Queen Lantern. She was the previous queen before Mother was, and...I don't think that my grandmother was a very good mother to her at all."

"She did the same things to Coral as she is to you now? Or was, given that you're with me?"

"Yeah, she did." Anemone nodded as Altamir turned back to the entrance, while listening in still.

"Well, that would certainly explain things." Starflight shrugged. "Though...it sounds like that's not all there is to it."

"And it isn't." Anemone shook her head. "There's also all the stuff about Orca."

"Orca?" Clay asked. "I noticed she looked pretty sad when she talked about Orca. Did something happen to her? Did Orca die or something?"

"Well, yeah..." Now it was Anemone's turn to shrug. "...but, not 'just' that. Orca was Mother's very first dragonet...and she had her when she was just a dragonet herself - I think she was about Riptide's age when Orca hatched. Mother loved her a lot, but when Orca was ten years old, she challenged Mother for the throne. Everyone says that it was horrible and really close - Orca almost won, but Mother did in the end and...yeah."

"...I've always thought it was a better idea for dragons to wait until they were about eleven or so to have dragonets." Altamir had already decided that Coral was presiding over a...rather decadent court, to say the least, as he turned back to Anemone again. "She still loves Orca despite that challenge?"

"Uh-huh." Anemone replied. "I think that that's the other part of why she's like this with me - she doesn't want me to turn out like Orca did. That, and wanting to keep me safe, would be just fine...if she would at least also let me breathe." Then, Anemone tilted her head at Altamir. "It's weird...she's all suffocating most of the time, and then with you, she's suddenly all reasonable and now she lets me stay with you instead."

"Well, we are talking about Aldy-The-Army-Destroyer here." Tsunami remarked. "Maybe she's picked up on Aldy being better at the whole 'keeping us safe' thing because he can take out threats that she can't...and she probably realizes that he's way stronger than her despite being way smaller."

"Yeah, maybe." Anemone rolled her eyes. "I just hope that it stays that way...knowing her..."

"I'll invent a reason for it to stay that way." Altamir responded as he turned back to the entrance. "I'll simply say that it's for 'security purposes' that you stay with me and the others."

A few minutes passed, and luckily, nothing fishy popped up...though he did notice one of the levels of the pavilion being...rather packed, to say the least. Altamir didn't know why, but regardless, he was going to stick with the plan of going for the top level first.

After reminding the dragonets to keep things mum and let him do the talking and whatnot, Altamir then unsummoned his Carbine and went over to Tsunami, climbing up her front left limb until he was aboard her in that spot at the base of her neck. Then, they all went to the cave entrance as one...before, on Altamir's count, taking flight and leaving the cave, heading for that top level.

The flight, short as it was, went without incident, though Altamir kept an eye on their surroundings during that flight, and after they landed. When they landed, Altamir stepped off of Tsunami before resummoning the Carbine to his hands and scanning the area. This top level was more or less empty at the moment...thankfully. Though, there were a few dragons flying around in the 'background'.

Then, he heard a few familiar voices approaching. Pinpointing where they were coming from, Altamir lowered his Carbine a bit as he recognized one of the voices as Coral. Something about 'someone being late', apparently.

And it was then that Coral appeared, seemingly looking around before noticing them, seeming and sounding rather relieved. "Ah, there you are! I was wondering where you were! It had me worried..." It was clear that she was mainly focusing her attention on Tsunami and Anemone, but at least she wasn't regarding the others in the group with hostility or suspicion, as she had yesterday. Upon seeing this, Altamir unsummoned his Carbine.

"We were waiting in the cave." Altamir then replied as Coral landed in front of the ten of them, the small group of three or four other dragons landing behind her. "Waiting for an unwanted visitor to so kindly leave, to be exact."

Coral's relief appeared to take a hit and was replaced with...something else. "Unwanted...visitor?"

"Specifically, Morrowseer." Altamir clarified. "These five in particular, your older daughter included, haven't exactly had a good history with him, to be exact - their last encounter with him was far from pleasant. Has he left the palace?"

"He has..." Coral did seem a bit mortified by what Altamir was subtly implying, he'd give her that. "...oh, dear, was he truly? I'd never have let him in if I'd known he was..."

"Well, he's gone now." Altamir shrugged. "Hardly matters at this point unless he suddenly decides to come back. Now then...going by what you were saying as I heard you approaching, is someone else 'running late'? Or is it us?"

"Well, I was holding a council meeting on the sixth floor, with breakfast served there as well. I was hoping that you would attend..."

"Breakfast?" Tsunami tilted her head. "But...Altamir here just fed all of us, and to the gills, at that."

"Oh! Well then, that's a..."

Right as Coral was about to say anything further, Altamir cut in. "No, it's fine, Coral, I suppose we can attend...even if we're not going to eat anything there. More for everyone else, perhaps."

...

And so, attend the council meeting they did. The floor where the council met, that sixth floor, had a series of shallow pools arranged in a circle that were rather clearly meant to be seating areas, with various labels around that pool to indicate which dragon of which position was seated. Coral, of course, was seated in the one labeled "Queen", but as for the others, Shark was seated in the one labeled "Defense", Moray was in the one labeled "Communication", and Whirlpool was in the one labeled "Magic and Publishing" (interesting that he was able to hold such a position, given that there was nothing that indicated 'magic' to Altamir when he looked at the middle-aged dark-green SeaWing). Lagoon, the somewhat plump, comparative lighter-green SeaWing, was in the one labeled "Aquaculture", and Piranha, the scarred, dark-grayish-blue SeaWing, was in the one labeled "War". There were a few others labeled "Treasury", "Justice", and "Hunting", and so on...but Altamir didn't know who those dragons were.

Tsunami was directed to sit in one about two down from Coral's labeled "Dragonet Care". Apparently, the dragon who was usually there, Tortoise, was busy guarding the royal hatchery. Oh well...Tsunami indeed sat down in the shallow pool, with Anemone, small enough to share it without crowding the pool, sitting down in there with her. As for the other seven dragonets...Altamir situated them so that they were closely packed behind Tsunami and Anemone without being in the pool as well, with Clay laying low, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny covering him as much as they could to keep the other dragons from staring at him, and Riptide, Turtle, and Pike being around those three in turn.

"Do forgive my daughter's lateness." Coral said to the stares that Tsunami and the other dragonets got from those council members. "She and her entourage here were...held up by the departure of a visitor whom we won't be welcoming back. Do go ahead and make with the food, though my daughter has already been fed, so she's not exactly hungry. Same for the others there with her."

So far, so good. But he would have to navigate the meeting for these dragonets...Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny had more than likely NEVER found themselves having to deal with something like this. Yet again, he couldn't fail them.

---

Tsunami sat in the rather cold-ish shallow water in the pool, watching as some new dragons scurried in and out with trays of food for the other dragons in the Council. Food that she would have probably been eager for had Altamir not already fed her, because some of it did look pretty tasty-looking. She really did have to say that she liked the idea of being able to just...have someone bring her food when she wanted it to be brought to her.

Though...even with this, she still wasn't exactly sure if she really wanted to become the Queen of the SeaWings. The idea was pretty nice and all at first, and she had been really excited to find that she was a princess...buuuuut...

...well, being Queen sounded like it was ridiculously hard. For one thing, she'd have WAY more dragons and dragonets to have to look after and help and protect and feed and keep safe and stuff, given that she'd be having to do that for an entire tribe rather than just her friends. For another thing, if she were to become Queen after Coral, it would probably mean having to deal with this council, and with dragons like Shark, Moray, and Whirlpool on it, as well as some of the other dragons on it who came across as ridiculously stuffy already even though she just met them...yeah, that honestly just felt like it would be nothing but a pain in the hindquarters.

Needless to say...for now, at least, she simply didn't want the throne or the crown. Way too much...stuff that would come with it. Stuff she really wouldn't like.

No, right now, she needed to help Altamir look after the others, particularly her friends, her little brother, and her little sister.

Oh, and Altamir himself. Who, currently, was standing on her shoulder as she sat there in the pool, trying to do everything as was now usual.

Three moons...she didn't know if throwing himself into his work was his way of dealing with things, or if she simply hadn't exactly realized this before the whole 'Scorching Reveal', but Altamir was constantly working himself stupid hard. She had never seen ANYONE work themselves to the bone like Altamir was. There was not a single moment where he was really at all relaxing or taking a break or finding any sort of time off (the only thing close to any of that which he'd had was the whole deal of 'cooling off after his opportunity to kill Kestrel was taken by someone else', and even then, that lasted for...a few minutes, maybe?).

Nope, every time she looked at him, he was either fighting some enemy, keeping other dragons at bay, keeping watch for anyone who, or anything which, was a possible threat or danger, negotiating with Queen Coral or someone else, doing whatever to help and protect them and keep them safe, checking whatever weapons he was wielding, figuring out which was what and what was which when it came to how things worked or what things were going on, stuff like that. No play, no small talk, no rest (save for when he was asleep), no relaxing, no taking breaks, no having time off, no laughing, no smiling, no joking, and no lightening up. Just work work work, busy busy busy busy busy busy BUSY BUSY BUSY!

"Ugh, carpbaskets...Aldy, you are seriously going to drive yourself insane." Tsunami inwardly muttered, noticing how tense he was. "I mean, I appreciate the help for us and all, but you're gonna run yourself into the ground at this rate! I'm not even sure if you actually even got enough sleep last night!"

Then, she remembered a certain moment that she hadn't thought much about until now. And now, she saw it in a very different light.

"Wait...when we told him about how Dune and Kestrel and Morrowseer treated us, the first thing out of his mouth was him apologizing to us for being 'careless'. Like it was somehow his fault that those dragons were 'allowed' to abuse us because he wasn't there to stop them earlier, or at all."

But...he was dead while that was going on! How could he have possibly known that those dragons were treating them that way?!

Or...oh, great, was he one of THOSE sorts? The ones who believed that everything bad that happened was somehow their own doing or their own fault, and that they had to be perfect in everything they did, or those close to them would somehow hate them?

Honestly, it felt like both those things were the case. Him working this hard to protect them now came across as him trying to 'compensate' for things like that as well as the Scorching having happened, and...oh, wait, there was also how pained the poor guy looked when he told them that he couldn't kill Morrowseer without complicating things! He probably thought that she and the others were mad at him for it...when really, they were just frustrated by the stupid convoluted stuff preventing him from making that kill, not at him!

Yep, at some point, when things were a little more settled, she and the others would have to band together to at least try and drive it home that, no, they didn't blame him for whatever happened, nor was it his fault, nor did they at all hate him for [insert minor slip-up or complication here]. Quite the opposite, he was still pretty much the only adult that they really at all trusted to help and protect them and that they really had on their side, and...damn it, he was a friend! Friends looked after each other, right?

...

Well, anyways, once Coral and those council dragons were done eating, the stuffy stuff began. The suffocatingly stuffy stuff. The stuffy stuff that made her start to see her currently being next in line for the throne as something that was less of a blessing and more of a curse. Granted, some bits and pieces of it could probably be kind of interesting, but still...yeah.

"Pearl, report."

At the Queen's beckoning, the elegant-looking pale-green-scaled dragon in the Treasury pool went first in speaking. "No change. All your jewels are safe as always. No one has stolen them, let alone tried to."

"Splendid. Shark, report."

"I am concerned about our defenses. In particular, I find it worrying that the SkyWing named Kestrel got as close as she did before Her Majesty Queen Blister intercepted her. I am wary about other such instances happening...I know that those four dragonets of other tribes there with your daughter are an exception, as they are your daughter's retainers and she trusts them, but this is still a concerning development."

Huh...well, it certainly seemed like the lesson that Altamir taught him about not messing with her friends stuck. Good.

Meanwhile, Coral agreed with Shark. "Indeed. I find it worrying as well." Then, she turned to Altamir. "Altamir, I know that, being a human and of power like that which you have, you likely don't exactly serve me or any other dragon...but if I could ask you to lend your power to aid in preventing enemy dragons of opposing tribes from intruding upon this palace...?"

"If it's what I need to do in keeping these dragonets, your daughters included, safe, I will do the needful." Altamir dutifully replied. "I'll go and check for weak points in your defenses when I have the time."

"Ah, thank you." Then, Coral continued with the meeting. "Whirlpool, report."

"Anemone's lessons are going wonderfully...well, they were, although Altamir has somewhat...interrupted them, though I'm sure it wasn't his intention." Ugh, three moons, Whirlpool's voice was still like claws scraping on a stone floor. "Your scrolls have never been more popular - the latest has been bought by practically every dragon in the tribe not out by war."

"Mostly the underwater editions." Moray jutted in. "They tend to sell the best. Of course, I spend all my energy promoting them-"

"But I've organized another reading." Whirlpool smugly interrupted. "Even the highest-ranking dragons are clamoring to attend..."

Whirlpool went on, but Tsunami zoned him out despite his annoying voice out of sheer confusion. "Wait...what? Wasn't this supposed to be a serious meeting? Why in three moons is it now about scroll sales and scroll readings?"

As she glanced behind her, her friends seemed just as confused as she was, while Riptide and Turtle looked a bit resigned, and Pike didn't give any outward reaction. Then, she looked beside her and saw Altamir staring ahead with a face that made it seem like he was wondering what in three moons had become of dragonkind over the last five thousand plus years. And then she looked at Anemone, who was nervously grinning and shrugging, as if she'd seen and heard this before.

"...is this normal?" Altamir's voiced matched what his face was showing.

"Eheheheh...kinda?" Anemone nervously giggled.

Well, at least Coral wasn't the 'killing dragons in an arena for her entertainment' sort of 'weird'...but Tsunami was starting to realize that she was still a very weird queen. And her council had some very weird members.

Eventually though, a minute or so later, it did kinda get back on topic.

Well, kinda. "Now...Tsunami, I was wishing to inquire about your progress on learning Aquatic. How has it gone thus far?"

Oh. Riiiight, there was that. "Huh? Oh...um...right, Riptide's been teaching me. Not just him, though, Anemone and Turtle too. Altamir's been helping as well." During yesterday's 'doing whatever' phase that she and the others had, she started learning Aquatic from the three dragonets in question, with surprising assistance from Altamir, who, again, could understand it just fine despite being a human.

"Really now?" Coral seemed a bit surprised, but also impressed...at least by Anemone, anyways. "How well are you at it now? Can you at least say sentences in it?"

Tsunami was about to say it with words, but then Altamir leaned into her ear and quietly encouraged her to do it differently. "Go ahead, Tsunami. Show her..."

At this, Tsunami then decided to go for it. Remembering which was which, she stood up in the pool and then flashed out the message in Aquatic. "Yes, yes I can."

Coral seemed positively delighted. "Ah, that's wonderful! Perhaps we could hold a conversation in it one day!"

The other council members seemed to look at each other as Tsunami then sat back down, perhaps silently remarking about how Tsunami was having to learn Aquatic from the very beginning despite being nearly six years old. Did they hear of how Dune and Kestrel kept her and the others captive in that old cave? Knowing Coral, they probably did.

Though, after a bit, Coral finally got fully back on topic. "Alright, now then...Piranha, report."

"Still no information about how the dead SkyWing named Kestrel got as close as she did." The dragon in the War pool shook her head. "I hate to say it, your majesty, but what information Altamir provided you and us about who she was, and the way she died, is all we know about her." Looking around the council for a bit, Piranha then continued. "However, a war party has come back with a report. Would you like to hear it?"

"Go ahead..."

At Coral's approval, Piranha called over the edge, and when she did, two soldier-dragons flew into view from a lower level...well, actually, it was just one doing the flying and supporting the other, and both of them looked pretty banged up, especially going by how they had a rough landing in the center of the circle. The one who couldn't fly unsupported had long burns along one side, with the wing on that side seemingly being charred almost black, and there were claw marks on his underbelly that were still bleeding, blood dripping from the wounds down onto the decorated floor, which Coral seemed concerned by (more than that the two soldiers were wounded). The other one, while still having two working wings, also had a nasty gash on his neck, and was breathing heavily as bubbles of pale red blood were foaming from his gills. Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty sight.

At this very sight, Tsunami then felt Altamir no longer standing on her shoulder as he leapt forward and onto the flooring in front of her and began walking forward. This seemed to attract the attention of some of the Council members.

"What is the scavenger doing?" One of the other ones asked, though after a few of the others glared at her, she corrected herself. "Erm...what is the human doing?"

Altamir didn't pay any attention to these comments, and instead asked Coral something as he was walking. "If you don't mind, your majesty, perhaps I could patch these two up as I did with your younger daughter so that they're not bleeding all over this floor of yours? And so that they don't faint or pass out or die mid-report?"

Coral sighed, apparently nonetheless dissuaded from opposing Altamir doing this by mention of that floor. "...alright, go on. Just don't take too long."

"I won't. Shouldn't take a minute if they cooperate."

She seemed more concerned about the floor than she was about two of her own soldiers being badly wounded. Tsunami didn't know if Coral had just seen an awful lot of wounded soldiers over the years and got desensitized to it, or if she just didn't care about her soldiers that much...but either way, that wasn't a good sign.

Well, upon Coral's approval, Altamir's walk turned into a sprint before he skidded to a halt in front of the two wounded soldiers, who, like plenty of other dragons, seemed astounded to see and hear a human talking.

"You can...talk...?" One of the soldiers was asking...

...but Altamir dismissed it. "Never mind me talking. Show me those wounds..."

And so Altamir got to work on those two soldiers, who, despite not really knowing what was going on, at least didn't seem to give him a hard time as he set about using his magic to quickly-yet-thoroughly clean their wounds before making those wounds disappear. Indeed, it wasn't a minute before the two dragons, though still looking a bit exhausted, were otherwise looking 'good as new' and no longer wounded, with the one soldier now having both wings functional and probably able to fly again just fine, and the other one, while still panting a bit from exhaustion, wasn't breathing as roughly as before, and wasn't blowing bloody bubbles through his gills anymore. In fact, speaking of blood, there wasn't any of it on the floor anymore, Altamir having seemingly put such 'back where it belonged'.

Most of the Council was staring at Altamir in silence with open mouths (even Whirlpool), and when Tsunami glanced behind her, there was also Riptide, Turtle, and Pike who were doing the same.

Altamir, though, didn't pay attention to these reactions either. He instead pointed the two soldiers to Coral, clearly gesturing for them to give the Queen their report, before turning and nodding at Coral, and then turning again and dashing back towards Tsunami, jumping and landing on her shoulder again.

Yep, working his hide off.

But, regardless, the soldiers were already going into giving the report, with the one who previously wasn't able to fly going first. "Something strange is happening in the Sky Kingdom, your majesty."

"It's in chaos." The other soldier agreed. "No one truly knows who's in charge and who's not."

"Three different squadrons attacked us while we were patrolling the outer isles." The first soldier went on. "The first enemy squadron was composed halfway of SandWings and the other half of SkyWings...but the second and third were entirely SkyWing. During the second, the SkyWings were yelling "For Tourmaline!", and in the third, they were yelling "The Queen is not dead! Long live the queen!"."

"'For Tourmaline'?" Queen Coral repeated. "Who's that?"

"One of Queen Scarlet's daughters." Piranha growled...in what was apparently her usual speaking voice. "She disappeared several years ago, but it seems she's returned to take her mother's throne. This may confirm Altamir's statement that he killed Scarlet, which, if true, would be admittedly very impressive." Tsunami noted the begrudging respect in Piranha's voice.

"It may indeed." Moray agreed with Piranha. "We would have known if there was a challenge instead."

"Why was I not informed of this before Altamir told me?!" Coral demanded of the blue-scaled SeaWing in the "Secrets and Spies" pool.

"I've not heard from my spies in four days." The dragon in question, a male by his voice, protested. "I had no idea that such a thing was happening in the Sky Kingdom."

"Hmph..." Coral huffed before looking back at the two soldiers. "...well, anything else to report from you two?"

"Twelve casualties..." One of the soldiers answered. "...the rest badly injured, us two included."

"But no one followed you back to the palace?" Shark then went next in demanding of the two soldiers.

"We made sure of that." The other soldier answered next in turn. "We took the longest routes, despite how it worsened our..."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware." Coral dismissed the two. "If you're done, you may go." She then gestured to the smallest dragon in the Council, the one who sat in the "Dragon Health" pool, and who got up from it and ushered the two soldiers away. The two soldiers were flying a bit unsteadily, though now it was probably because of exhaustion rather than, well, being heavily injured.

As they left, Coral was looking down, seeming to think about something. It was then that, of all dragons to focus on next...Coral focused on Tsunami herself. "Tsunami?"

"Huh? Um...yes, moth-er, your majesty?"

"I will say that I've been meaning to ask him this since yesterday, but...I was wondering if Altamir had happened to...see someone while he was at the SkyWing arena for the purpose of ending Scarlet."

Altamir, upon hearing himself being mentioned, leaned forward a bit from where he was on Tsunami's shoulder, one of his hands over the back of her neck to steady himself. "That would depend on who this someone is. Is this someone important?"

"Important? Of course he is!" Coral replied. "He's my mate, my king! He's Tsunami and Anemone's father! Scarlet captured him several months ago...I was hoping that you found him..."

This startled Tsunami. "Wait...my...my father?! Taken prisoner by Scarlet too?! Altamir was there! He had to have seen..." She turned to Altamir...

...and then, just as she was about to ask him about her father as well, she saw him start to look visibly nervous. It was subtle...but it was enough to be noticeable. That was...yeah, no, that was not a good sign.

"...name and appearance?" Altamir asked Coral in turn, somehow able to keep that nervousness out of his voice. "Can I get a description of him so that I can get a reference point?"

"His name was Gill!" Coral responded. "Green scales, big and powerful, brave eyes...have you seen him?!"

When Coral said the word 'Gill', Altamir flinched, and Tsunami felt him tense up more and more as Coral continued her description of him. Now the nervousness was less subtle than before...particularly when he looked back at first Anemone and then Tsunami, and Tsunami saw that he started sweating.

This made Tsunami start actively fearing a certain possibility. "Oh no...oh no, no, no, no, no...Aldy, please don't tell me...!"

His face somehow simultaneously both darkened and paler than usual, Altamir jumped off of Tsunami's shoulder again...this time far more unsteadily. Also more unsteady was when he walked forward, this time only taking a few steps forward on the floor before he stopped.

"For once, I don't know how to put this..." Altamir muttered somewhat quietly, before speaking up after a few seconds. "...well, Coral, I did see a SeaWing that at least generally matched that description, and who was indeed named 'Gill'."

"Can you tell us where he is?" Coral asked in an almost begging tone. "We've been planning a rescue mission, but he's not being held in the regular prison with the others. And we've got to get him back, Altamir. Surely you know how important he is, given his position!"

"I do..." Altamir then started looking like he would rather be anywhere else, which made Tsunami more and more nervous herself about what she was going to hear, "...but if that was him...then I doubt that you're going to like what I'm about to say."

This made the Council go silent. It was a very, very, very 'loud' silence. The only thing audible from any of them was a quiet "Oh, no." from Coral, whose eyes had widened.

Altamir buried his face in his little hands. He looked as though he wanted to go find the deepest, darkest cave and hide there for all of eternity.

Then, he finally started speaking again. "Coral...Queen Coral...your majesty...I know that I have a great deal of abilities...abilities that allowed me to save your daughter and her friends from Scarlet. But there are...limits as to what I can do. For one thing, I am not omniscient. If I don't know who someone is or that such a someone exists, then I cannot help that someone. And while it may sound absurd, I genuinely did not know anything about him or who he was at the time, and didn't know of his position and relation to you and your daughters until later. The other..." Then, he raised his head back above his hands. "...is that as far as I know, I cannot raise the dead."

Tsunami's stomach felt as though it had suddenly dropped off a mountainside. Her blood froze. Time seemed to almost slow down. Darkness was flooding into her vision.

Coral was already reacting with horror and disbelief. "No...no, no, no, no...Altamir, don't tell me-!"

Altamir then gritted his teeth and spat out whatever he probably had no choice what to say. "I say such because when I say that I found that dragon who is your mate...I should clarify that I found his corpse. By the time I knew that he was there and found him, Scarlet had already killed him. He's dead. The best thing I could do was make sure that he was Scarlet's very last victim."

And then, he turned to Tsunami and Anemone, his voice cracking while the latter was already starting to break down at hearing what he'd just said.

"I...I'm sorry...I...I couldn't save him..."

...

The next few minutes were an unpleasant blur that Tsunami didn't remember much of, only generally having an idea that Coral broke down herself and had to be escorted away to mourn somewhere. By the time she wasn't particularly 'zoned out' anymore, she found herself, her friends, and the other dragonets back in 'their' cave, with Anemone and Turtle sobbing into the respective embraces of Pike and Sunny.

Altamir was there at her side, looking at her like he'd accidentally destroyed her home or something. Great...now he had something else to blame himself for. Nevermind that it already sounded like there wasn't anything he could have really done for Gill.

"Tsunami...I...I..."

"No, I get it." Hurt as she was to learn of her father's death, Tsunami shook her head. "You would have if you could have." Ugh, she felt so bad for him. The guy really was in a position that she didn't envy. "It's not your fault. I'm not gonna be an idiot and hate you for it."

Altamir was silent for another minute or so. Then, he finally spoke again, thankfully changing the subject. "...Whirlpool was...wanting for your lessons to begin, but I...I told him we...needed a few minutes." Though, he looked like he was doing that 'shoving his emotions into the back of his head' thing that worried her.

"Yeah, we do." Tsunami sighed, looking at Anemone and Turtle. "I think we might need a few more minutes, actually. I hope he doesn't get that hoop ring of his in a twist and start whining about how 'important' his lessons are when we do get there. And...make sure to watch him while he's giving those lessons, okay?"

"...understood."

So, they decided that they'd wait for a few more minutes until Anemone and Turtle were doing...better. Granted, 'better' was definitely going to be a generous description, because those two had just found out that they'd lost their father, but...still.

About a minute into the wait, Altamir turned to her and began to ask her about something. "So...Tsunami?"

"Yeah, Aldy?"

"It has undeniably...slipped our mind given what's been...going on...but we need to start finally working on how to communicate underwater."

"Huh? Oh, right...yeah, that. Got any ideas?"

Altamir looked to the side for a bit before looking back to Tsunami. "Well...it's something I've used with SeaWings before. Down here Tsunami...you might feel a little strange for a bit, but this is necessary for it to work."

"...is it some Animus-related thingy?"

Altamir nodded. "It is. Now...down here."

"Okay, okay."

So, Tsunami brought her head down to Altamir. When she did, she felt him place his left hand on her horn, and his right hand on her head itself...

...and then, she felt a buzzing in her head...and her head felt fuzzy for a few seconds before it cleared up, though the buzzing was still there, just at a much lower 'level'.

"Uhum...what was that?" Tsunami asked, confused by what just happened.

"Just...doing something to set this up...I didn't mess with anything in there, I promise."

"Set up what? The way to-?"

"/Can you hear me?/"

"-wha?" Tsunami squawked at suddenly hearing Altamir's voice from...within. But his...his mouth wasn't moving!

"/Can you hear me, Tsunami?/"

His voice sounded...a bit different. Oh, she certainly could tell right away that it was him...but it was like his voice had an object between it and her or something like that.

"Uh...yeah, I can." Tsunami then noticed the faint glow around one of his hands. That was...probably how he was doing it.

"/Try replying with your mind, Tsunami./"

"Huh? Um...uh..." So, Tsunami tried it. "...like this? Can you hear me?"

"/Yes, I can hear you./" Altamir nodded as he made his reply this way. "/Good. It works./" Then, the glow disappeared, and the buzzing with it, and Altamir crossed his arms, shifting to using his words again. "Now we have a way of talking. Either underwater, or for keeping communication secret."

"So that I won't have to use my big mouth all the time?" Tsunami grinned, hoping to lighten things up despite having just made a jibe at herself.

"Indeed." It didn't really work, though, as Altamir was still stone-faced.

Ugh...the guy really was down in it...though to be fair, he'd promised to help her find her parents, her father included...only to then find out that one of the dragons he'd previously found dead was that father in question.

That, of course, on top of all the OTHER stuff that she and the others knew all too well about that was...with him.

Honestly, she was starting to feel like she was between a rock and a hard place when it came to dealing with him. Either keep him busy with stuff and have him possibly start burning himself out, or don't and he would be all 'in despair'. She was badly hoping that he'd eventually respond to a 'third option' of getting him to...open up about stuff and all...but she wasn't even sure if he'd respond to her or the others there, much as he clearly cared about them. Or...at least, not without some prodding.

But how could anyone prod someone who could destroy a whole army by himself without prodding the wrong thing?

...

Well, eventually, Anemone and Turtle's sobbing quieted down, and it was decided that they couldn't keep Whirlpool waiting any longer. So, with Riptide carrying a still-miserable Anemone and Turtle on his back, the group made their way to where Whirlpool would be waiting for them.

Yeck...Whirlpool. Well, at least Altamir would be there to watch the guy and make sure he didn't do anything...weird.

"Whirlpool." Altamir called out...admittedly flatly as they landed in front of the dragon. Yeah, he didn't sound like he was too happy to have to deal with the guy either. "We're back."

"Ah, and so you are." Whirlpool responded in that oily voice of his. "I assume that my wait is over?"

"You could say such." Altamir replied. "Don't ask about how long, though...given certain events and how Prince Turtle and Princess Anemone are, I'm sure you know why."

"Oh, I can assure you that I am aware." Whirlpool spread his talons out, doing his clear best to look solemn. "The late and great King Gill's untimely, grisly death at the talons of that vile creature Scarlet is most definitely a tragedy, and you have my condolences, Altamir, for being both unable to save him by unfortunate circumstance, and the bearer of the bad news of his demise." Then, he put his talons together again. "I must say, though, that I am impressed that you managed to avenge his death by smiting her yourself." Yep, he was definitely trying to suck up to Altamir with flattery.

"Of course he's brown-nosing..." Tsunami heard Altamir quietly mutter to himself ('brown-nosing' probably being a human term for what Whirlpool was doing/trying to do) before he properly replied to the dragon. "I've said this before, but I don't do such things for accolades. I do things because they need to be done. I do the needful. Though, if you believe me as being so deserving of them, I suppose I won't reject them. Or the condolences." His voice sounded in a way that basically said that Whirlpool was 'only' the millionth dragon who'd tried this with him, which, given his (now-) former job, was probably true.

"Ah. Well then...now that such is out of the way...perhaps we can begin the princess' lessons now?"

"Perhaps we can. Though, I'm afraid that these eight will have to be with us, or somewhere nearby, while we proceed with them. Security reasons; easier to watch and protect all of your ducklings if you have them in one place and can keep an eye on them, you know. Doesn't have to be a bad thing, though. Perhaps they may also be...enlightened by whatever you have to teach the princess?"

"Hmm...fair enough, Altamir." Whirlpool did seem a bit less than happy to hear that, but seemed to accept it at that last bit. "Well, then...shall we begin?"

"Yes, lets." After saying that, Altamir then said very quietly to Tsunami, "My eye is on him. Your wish is my command with him, Tsunami."

"Good." Tsunami nodded, also replying quietly.

So, Tsunami and the others followed Whirlpool to an underwater cave entrance and swam after him through the cave (something that made the non-SeaWing dragonets of the group nervous), and surfaced in a portion of the cave that was above water and had some air. Tsunami did have to say that it reminded her of that river cave that she and Clay swam through that one time...though, without the glow-y stuff underneath. Oh well.

Anyways...the lessons generally consisted of Whirlpool showing Tsunami 'recitations of the Queen's writings', having her repeat after him, and then repeating with her (with the justification that "with repetition [came] perfection", and some other stuff. Now, Tsunami did (internally) acknowledge that what Whirlpool was teaching her wasn't exactly completely useless, and Altamir himself remarked that reading passages was a common step in learning languages, so, much as she certainly didn't like the dragon, she would give him that (even though she'd never say it aloud).

That being said...she knew that she wasn't going to last forever in these lessons. For one thing, Whirlpool was, well, Whirlpool. His oily, oozing voice was grating on the ears, as was the smug, self-important, haughty attitude that was interwoven within it, so he inevitably got to the point of getting on her nerves. For another thing, his way of teaching was boring, stuffy, and really obtuse, not really consisting of a lot of stuff that would be practical for, say, holding conversations within the language and whatnot. Not to mention that he wasn't even bothering with that practical, basic stuff at all! She was glad that Riptide, Anemone, and Turtle had started her off with that sort of stuff yesterday, because otherwise, she'd be floundering here.

Altamir must have picked up on her patience running out, because eventually he stepped in. "I hate to say it, Whirlpool, but I'm afraid that this will have to do for today...the princess is getting worn quite thin."

"Is she now?" Whirlpool's voice took a particularly annoying pitch. "I'm not impressed with her work ethic..."

"It's not 'work ethic' that's the issue here, Whirlpool." Altamir replied. "Far from it; yesterday, me and Riptide, as well as Princess Anemone and Prince Turtle, were able to partake in our lesson in Aquatic with her for about...two hours or so, and when we eventually had to cut them short, it was because of a need to do other things, not an unwillingness to work or learn on her part. No, I think the issue is personality clash. That, and she's likely not quite used to your ways and methods of teaching. She still lasted a good half hour, though; perhaps another time, she might last longer."

"...very well then." Whirlpool didn't seem pleased with being shot down like that, but was obviously biting his tongue in Altamir's presence. "I hope, then, that she is indeed more willing next time, whenever we pick up again. Though, if we're not to continue her lessons in Aquatic, perhaps we can continue Princess Anemone's Animus Training in exchange?"

"I would have to see what kind of 'training' such is, given the nature of Animus Magic, but I don't see why not otherwise." Altamir shrugged...though also giving Anemone a knowing look, which she returned, before turning back to Whirlpool and pointing to the submerged entrance to the cave. "Well, go on. Surely your duties as the Queen's scribe are many, aren't they?"

"...they are." Whirlpool nodded. "And in turn, Blister is waiting for you and your friends, Princess Tsunami." Then, he turned and left through where they'd entered the cave.

Tsunami and the others floated there in the cave for a little while in silence, Altamir on her back, before Pike broke the silence.

"Ugh...he is so annoying."

"You have no idea, Pike." Anemone grumbled. "I have to put up with that dragon all the time for animus training whenever I'm not tethered to Mother!"

"Ah, Whirlpool...Queen Coral's favorite instrument of torture." Riptide remarked.

Tsunami couldn't help but agree. She had to admit that, annoying as Whirlpool was, a part of her found it even more annoying that Whirlpool didn't go and do something stupid enough for Altamir to put him in his place. Irritatingly, Whirlpool seemed to know not to mess with Altamir...though she supposed that she'd have to be satisfied with Altamir preventing the dragon from ordering her around when he had no right to.

"Well, at least that latter problem has been dealt with..." Altamir crossed his arms at Anemone's words. "...for now, anyways." Then, though, he started looking the opposite direction from the entrance. "Riptide?"

"Hm? Yeah?"

"I noticed that the cave continues that way from here. Does it lead anywhere?"

"Uh...I don't know." Riptide shrugged. "What, do you want me to go check...?"

"Yes. Though, don't get lost, and come back quickly when you find where it leads."

"Okay, got it."

So, Riptide went down that way, and Tsunami watched his retreating form below the water as he did.

"Is there a reason as to why you're doing that, Aldy?" Tsunami asked.

Altamir nodded. "You'll find out soon."

"Alright..." Tsunami had to admit that she worried just a little bit about whether or not Riptide would return. She was hoping Altamir wouldn't notice, though.

Thankfully, Riptide came back...probably a minute or so later.

"You're back. Where does the cave lead in that direction?"

"Well, Altamir..." Riptide replied to the human, "it actually leads outside of the palace to the ocean."

"Does it?" Altamir asked...

"Yeah." ...and Riptide answered.

"Well, how far below the surface is that outside opening, then? If it's even below the surface at all?"

"Oh, it's below the surface alright, Altamir." Riptide then looked to the side, a bit worried. "It's not that far below, though."

"So, someone could theoretically just poke their head underwater and then have a way into the palace?" Starflight asked.

"Yeah, they probably could." Riptide grimaced a bit. "That's...a problem."

"Well then, best we investigate." Altamir replied sternly. "I may not exactly have much thoughts on Queen Coral, but given that the lot of you are in her palace, it's best we make sure to keep weak points in the walls covered...or at least keep them memorized. Can't let an intruding enemy get the drop on us."

So, despite a nervous Clay's somewhat understandable protests, they all went down through the underwater cave. Altamir was probably working to make sure that everyone could keep up with Riptide, and that the four non-SeaWings wouldn't drown. As for Altamir himself...yeah, knowing him, he probably did something Animus-related with himself to make sure he wasn't a drowner either. Probably why, unlike those four, he didn't seem worried about going underwater himself at all.

Sure enough, the cave led outside. Oh, and when they surfaced, the sky was grey, and it was raining and blowing wind. And the currents were all stupid and choppy.

"Oh, come on..." Tsunami grumbled as she and the others tried to stay together in the water. "...we get an opportunity to go see what some of the outside of this place is like, and it's storming!"

"Could be worse." Glory shrugged, though clearly not liking the weather either. "Could be right as an enemy army is trying to mount an assault on the place."

"Hm..." Altamir, meanwhile, was scanning the area, as if looking either for foes or a place to get away from the wind and rain. Or both.

Then, his attention seemed to be drawn to an island of rocks not too far from the large 'palace' island. It seemed to be shaped like a dragon's skull.

"That island there..." Altamir inquired, "...does it itself have any caves or whatnot? Places someone could hide in and spring off of when infiltrating the palace?"

"I...well, I don't know for sure," Riptide responded, "but it's possible. We could go check if you want us to."

"Then we will." Altamir nodded. "If there is a cave there, though, no one else go in until I've cleared it. I don't want anyone to go dancing themselves into some ambush."

And so they got into the air again, though having to fight the wind while flying. When they got close enough, they found that, sure enough, it had a cave where the 'eye' of the figurative 'skull' was supposed to be. So, Altamir gave the signal.

"Land. Don't go in yet, though; again, let me clear it first."

So, they all did as Altamir asked, and landed just outside the cave. When they did, Altamir stepped off Tsunami, and she watched him make appear into his little hands that...second 'new weapon' that he'd first had this morning...the one colored all black like the other one, but bigger than that one, and which had those two tubes in it (one thinner than the other, and compared to how that other 'new weapon' only had one); apparently it was a 'shooting' thing, given how he was pointing it at Morrowseer from a distance earlier. And also given how he was pointing it and slowly turning in a half circle with it while he was...scanning the cave for anyone or anything inside.

Tsunami didn't know QUITE how it worked (she hadn't seen Altamir actually take out an enemy dragon with it yet)...but she knew him enough to understand that he wouldn't be using it if it didn't work.

After a few seconds, Altamir stepped back out and turned his head to Tsunami, nodding. "Clear."

Tsunami nodded back. "Okay. Come on, guys, let's get out of this wind and rain."

At this, and at Altamir stepping aside to let them in, in they went. Tsunami watched as Altamir dried off Clay, Glory, Starflight and Sunny, and any of the other dragonets who wanted him to do so.

"Well, at least we're dry again...for the time being." Starflight remarked. "Kind of cramped in here, though."

"There are nine of us running around in this little thing." Glory dryly noted. "Ten if you count Aldy. Of course it would get cramped. Hope we don't stay in here too long. They might start noticing otherwise."

"We're only ducking out of the storm, Glory." Clay responded. "You can take us back to our cave in the palace really quickly, right, Aldy?"

"In a split second, when we get to that point." Altamir affirmed. "Though...good time to get to some things that should be kept away from prying ears."

"Oh, so secret-y stuff?" Sunny asked. "Stuff that no-one else should hear?" Tsunami had to admit that Sunny was way better about not spilling stuff to someone who didn't need to hear than she thought that the small Sand/NightWing would be...or at least, she'd gotten way better because of the situation they were dealing with.

"Yes, Sunny." Altamir nodded to the youngest dragonet there not named Anemone, Turtle, or Pike, while leaning against the cave wall. "So, one of them is the matter of Blister. Namely, how we're going to approach the task of meeting with her."

Grimaces were everywhere among the group at Altamir's mention of the SandWing. None of them wanted to deal with Blister, but they knew it would have to happen.

"Well, for starters, I don't think that anyone here has any stupid intention to support her." Tsunami grumbled. "I haven't even met her and she already seems slipperier and slimier than a dead eel in the water."

"I mean, she is that slippery and slimy." Riptide shrugged. "I've heard that she can play pretty dirty. Like assassinating dragons or manipulating her majesty Queen Coral."

"Or using me as a weapon against Burn."

Anemone saying that made everyone stare at her. Altamir even stood up from where he'd been leaning against the cave wall when he heard her say that.

And he was the first to put two and two together. "Is that what Whirlpool meant when he mentioned 'your animus training'?"

Anemone nodded. "She wants me to do things like making the SkyWing Palace collapse and cave in on all the SkyWings inside, or to curse a spear to search for Burn's heart and not stop until it kills her, and some other things. She either doesn't know what using animus magic can do to a dragon, or doesn't care."

Then Turtle cut in. "Given how she probably knows of the Royal SeaWing Massacre...I think Blister's in the 'doesn't care' category."

"'Royal SeaWing Massacre'?" Altamir asked Turtle. "Sounds nasty...but what happened back then?"

Turtle gulped when he seemed to realize that all eyes were on him now...but he went ahead with explaining. "Um...so, basically, about two thousand years ago, there was this SeaWing Prince named Albatross. He was the older brother of Queen Lagoon - who I should clarify as being a different 'Lagoon' than the one that's the 'Aquaculture' Council Member - and she and a lot of the other members of the royal family didn't treat him very well...she used him to enchant this, enchant that, and so on. For a long time, she made him enchant and make things for her...including even this very palace. But..."

"But...?"

"...one day, when there was a party being held on an island to the east of this one, Albatross...lost it. We think that it had something to do with him having built this palace, because this happened not long after he made it. But anyways...he went completely insane and killed nearly the entire royal family, as well as a few other royals from other tribes who were attending the party. The only two royal dragons who survived were both dragonets, a princess named Pearl who played dead and was only injured, and a prince named Fathom, who was Albatross' own grandson and had to kill his own grandfather to stop him."

A few of the other dragonets had their talons to their mouths as they heard this tale. Even Altamir looked disturbed.

"...and Blister thinks that something like that somehow won't happen to her?" The human asked.

"Yeah...but I don't know why!" Anemone shrugged, looking very frustrated. "I keep telling her about Albatross, but she just tells me to be quiet and keep using my magic! Coral's completely spineless to her; the reason why she almost muzzled me was because I complained about Blister doing this, and she only didn't do it in the end because I told her that if she did, I wouldn't be able to use my magic!"

When Anemone finished saying this, the dragonets were looking at each other, picking up something that they probably should have realized earlier. Tsunami included.

"Tsunami?" She turned to Starflight when the NightWing addressed her. "I'm starting to think that you got your looks from a different place than where you got your intelligence."

"Translation to that?"

"Your mother is an idiot." Tsunami knew stuff was going down when Starflight talked the way Glory usually did.

"Yeah, I've noticed, Starflight." Tsunami sighed frustratedly. "I guess I should have been paying attention more to how she thought dolphins were seriously related to dragons."

"Yep," Glory agreed, "she really doesn't seem too bright when it comes to certain things. Honestly not surprised that only Aldy can make her see any sort of reason, and even then, it's probably because he's more powerful than she is...and an animus himself. A few of those council members don't seem too bright either. Oh, and so much for me considering Blister 'smart'."

Tsunami hissed a breath between her teeth in exasperation. It was honestly just as irritating as it was disappointing. She had so badly wanted to be happy, to be able to have as a mother a Queen who was loving, smart, strong, brave, who would take her friends in without question despite their different tribes, and who was just good at being a mother. But what she had right now was...pretty far from that in at least a few areas. Enough to make her kick herself internally for having given herself false hope from reading that story again and again.

Altamir was running his little hand through his red hair. "Well, we've gotten a bit off-topic here...this was originally supposed to be about meeting with Blister. Namely, she's intending on meeting with Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny. Though, of course, I have no intentions of letting you five meet her without me being there, so that's something she'll simply have to deal with."

"Good..." Clay nodded. "...I really don't wanna try meeting her without you there. Though...can you maybe...do the talking for us, Aldy? We might give away that we don't want to support Blister too quickly..."

Sunny agreed with Clay. "Yeah, Aldy, please?"

Altamir sighed. "Nothing I've not been doing before. Then again...it's for the best...I can put Blister in her place and make her start worrying about her lifespan whereas none of you truly can."

"Maybe you can tell her that we've heard some not-so-good things about her before we came here, but that she still could earn our trust by giving us our space and showing that she can be a good queen. Of course, we know she probably never will, but still..."

"Yes, Starflight, we do." Altamir nodded at Starflight's suggestion. "I suppose I'll have to tell her something along those lines." Then, he looked around for a bit, before speaking again. "Well, we do need to get back to what is 'our' cave, as they might start wondering where we are...though before we go, one more thing."

"And what's that?" Riptide asked.

"It's something we...encountered on the way here. Actually, Riptide, it was the morning of the day we met you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. It was shortly before we crossed the sea to the Thousand Scales. I was hiding Tsunami and the other four dragonets that are her friends away from what we thought was another SkyWing patrol...but as we were listening in as they flew overhead, it turned out that it was either a scouting party or an infiltration party. Mostly SkyWings, but there was one MudWing in their midst - we don't know her name or who she is, but she was female and, going by her voice, an adult. She was discussing with those SkyWings about her plan to tail a SeaWing who'd left the Talons of Peace and was wanting to go back to the Sea Kingdom."

"A SeaWing?" Riptide began arching up, in what Tsunami could tell as him anticipating that it might possibly be someone he was very much not at all fond of these days. "Which one?"

"Webs." Altamir's reply made Riptide grit his teeth and hiss, and Tsunami put a wing over the other SeaWing as Altamir sighed. "I know, Riptide. But regardless...that female MudWing was apparently either a Talon who was a double agent for Burn, or a former Talon who'd left and was in Burn's service. Either way, she'd apparently fed Webs lies about how Queen Coral was supposedly in a 'forgiving mood' to get him to go back to his kingdom and perhaps go back to the palace."

"Uh-huh, wanting to give Webs a painful, drawn-out death is totally forgiving." Glory dryly remarked. "Interesting way for that MudWing to try and find the SeaWing Palace that way. Your tribe's been doing its best to keep the palace hidden, right, Riptide?"

"Yes, we have." Riptide nodded, now looking worried. "Should we...go and tell Her Majesty The Queen about this...?"

"No." Altamir replied quickly. "I know it's tempting, but I'm afraid we shouldn't. Queen Coral can be reasoned with to a degree...but knowing what she's like, I'm concerned that if we were to tell about this prospective MudWing infiltrator, she might start getting certain ideas about the other non-SeaWings here...particularly Clay."

"Oh...yeah, that makes sense." Riptide conceded.

"Well then, what do we do?" Pike asked, the young SeaWing looking like he was itching to do something.

Altamir had an answer, luckily. "Well, with Webs, it depends on whether we encounter him first, or Coral does. If it's Coral, we'll likely just have to let her deal with him as she wishes. But if it's us...we might be able to get a confession out of him regarding his deeds. As for which ones, the answer is 'yes'."

"I guess that means all of them?" Starflight then asked about the MudWing. "And what about that MudWing trying to get in?"

"We will have to eliminate her as fast as we can, preferably before she gets in. And if she gets in, there may be the chance that the palace has been compromised. In that case, I will need to form a plan to get you all out of here and to somewhere safer as quickly as possible, because if the palace is compromised, Burn will surely lead an attack on this palace."

"Got it." Clay nodded. "Hope it doesn't come to that, Aldy."

Riptide nodded as well. "Yep. Oh, and...Tsunami?"

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to show you a little phrase in Aquatic before we go."

"And what's that?" Tsunami asked as she pulled her wing off of him.

Riptide then flashed the patterns on his body, and Tsunami could make out the "I will" and the "you", but not quite what was between.

"You will 'what' me?"

"It means 'I will protect you'." Riptide clarified.

Tsunami looked at Altamir with her eyes before tilting her head at Riptide. "Uh...you do know you got some competition there, right?"

"Well, I..." Riptide and a few of the other dragonets chuckled at Tsunami's remark before he clarified. "...I was...I know that. I was...I was meaning for you to use it for someone else."

"Oh. Okay, that makes more sense." Tsunami shrugged.

She had to say, though...she did wonder why it was that particular underwater cave that Whirlpool chose for his brand of 'Aquatic Lessons'. Was there a reason for that? It honestly felt that there was a reason for that.

But...speaking of 'reason', she also thought back to how Altamir had described Gill's death. For some reason, she was thinking that there was...a bit more to what had happened than what Altamir was saying. It wasn't like it was a reason to distrust Altamir, she didn't think...maybe he described it the way he did because Coral would take whatever really happened even worse than she would otherwise? Coral was kinda temperamental and unpredictable, so if that was why, she wouldn't blame him...

...though if that was the case, she DID want him to be honest with her later when Coral wasn't in earshot.

---

"Keeping secrets yet again...and of course you had to fucking lie to her and them."

Altamir was honestly wondering what the hell he was thinking when he described Gill's death the way he did. Oh, in a sense, he wasn't technically lying about how Scarlet had 'killed' Gill by destroying the dragon that he previously was before then...but regardless of whether he did it to save Leaf's life, he was the one who cut Gill's head off and slashed through his heart.

He'd killed the very father that he'd promised to have Tsunami meet.

She was going to be a mess when she found out what really happened. He just knew it. But he also knew that it would slip out eventually...particularly when they got to meeting Peril, given that the latter watched him do it.

Well, anyways, when he'd warped them back to 'their' cave in the palace, Altamir reminded them of the need to not say a word to anyone else of what they discussed without his say-so. They agreed without question, at least.

So off they all went to the top level of the pavilion. Given the rain outside, water was dripping down from the canopy above, making for a sort of miniature rain shower for all below that canopy. Though, a little rain was hardly an issue for Altamir.

No, on the short flight that they were now doing for the second time today, Altamir noticed a certain dragon standing on that top level. Given that the magical 'tag' was on her, Altamir already knew that the dragon in question was Sturgeon...but even if he didn't, he already would have known that something was off, given the unusual set of armor she was wearing and the spear she was holding, enough that his instincts were already flaring up.

Altamir didn't let his eyes leave Sturgeon even after the dragonets had landed. He knew that the dragon was planning on how to (at least try and) kill him. He couldn't let himself get taken off guard by her. Not now.

"Altamir and the princesses, was it?" Sturgeon's somewhat low rasp of a voice made it clear that she could still talk while wearing the armor. "Her Majesty The Queen has been expecting all of you." Her eyes were also uncovered. Weak points that led to the brain...

"Has she now?" Altamir asked in place of the dragonets, ignoring the water dripping down upon him and them. "And where would she be?"

"She's on the eighth level."

"Writing scrolls, I presume? I suppose I'm not exactly surprised." Altamir then turned to his dragonets and nodded. "Let's go."

With that, Altamir and the dragonets were in the air again. He was now fully expecting for this dragon to try and kill him at some point today...perhaps very soon. Keeping a figurative 'third eye' on the magical tag's signature and where it was, Altamir then looked to where they were all flying until he and the others saw Coral indeed writing away at a scroll on the eighth level. Well, everyone had their hobbies, as the saying went...it was likely the SeaWing Queen's 'comfort hobby', at that.

So they landed with a bit of space between them and Coral, and approached her carefully. Altamir didn't know what mood she would be in...

"Hm? Ah, hello there, dears." ...though, mercifully, Coral seemed to not be in a horrible one. Even if she still sounded rather dampened from finding out about her mate's death. "I heard that your lesson with Whirlpool was cut short, Tsunami."

As Altamir was hearing this, he could sense Sturgeon apparently take off from the platform.

"It was." Altamir answered in Tsunami's place. "I don't know what he said to you about why, but in practice, the issue was 'clash of personality'. Namely, Whirlpool's methods weren't exactly the methods of learning most effective for her, and his demeanor grated on her nerves." As he was saying this, he sensed Sturgeon flying down the levels just to the outside of the edges of the pavilion.

Coral seemed a little surprised at hearing this. "Was that so? I...I'm sorry, I thought that they would work better for her...they worked for me just fine."

"One size doesn't necessarily fit all, unfortunately." Altamir shrugged. "While his methods aren't entirely without merit, they don't really work that well for her. I think she prefers things simple and practical, which was what we were going with in our lessons with her yesterday, and we got fairly far with her."

"Hm." Then, Coral looked up from the scroll she was writing. "I must say...I haven't heard a great deal of words out of Tsunami's friends. They seem rather quiet whenever I'm around."

Sensing that Sturgeon was circling the Pavilion at their level, and catching sight of her armored form, Altamir meanwhile replied. "Well, you were suspicious of them given that they were from other tribes, even though none of them have any support for your enemies. I was the one who advised them to be such and to let me and your daughter do the talking; I didn't want them to give you reason for further suspicion by way of some verbal blunder. No such thing as being too careful when it comes to that."

"I suppose not." Coral conceded with a sigh. "And...yes, I suppose I must confess that I was indeed suspicious of them for being from other tribes, one of which we are at war with. And some of my council and the guards are still suspicious of them. But, I will admit that it seems that my suspicion of them seems to have been unfounded thus far. They have every ability to speak, don't they? Might I...get to know them a little? They are my daughter's friends, after all, and she cares for them dearly, doesn't she?"

Altamir sensed Sturgeon then fly up to the ninth level and land there as he nodded and then shrugged to Coral. "She does...and if you insist, I suppose I don't see why not. Though, conversing with a Queen may be a bit difficult for them, given that the last Queen that they encountered was a certain you-know-who whom I had to strike down."

"Oh...yes, I'm aware of that...Scarlet was a blight on all of Pyrrhia."

Altamir, after hearing Coral's response, then turned to Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny, motioning them over to him. When they were close enough, Altamir spoke quietly but firmly with them. "If any of you four are going to be speaking to or with her, you must be very careful and watch what you say. Remember what I said about addressing her, don't be rude or impolite to her, and don't talk over her. She may not be Scarlet, but we must be delicate when speaking with her."

"Understood, Aldy." Glory nodded.

Altamir was hoping that the Dragonets would listen to him on this...thankfully, none of them had gone against him on anything like this, perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation. They were still, well, dragonets, and there was a chance that things could go awry...which Altamir was weary of, given that Coral was a temperamental dragon with whom he'd really had to negotiate hard with just to get her to back down from trying to have those four thrown out, imprisoned, or killed.

But at the same time, that was not the only thing he had to worry about right now. There was also Sturgeon. The dragon in armor who was trying to kill him.

It was rather obvious to him that she was looking for an opportunity to do such...but she was also clearly not going to do so while he was so close to, and/or conversing with, the Queen. This made things harder...he couldn't wait all day for her to make her attempt, nor could he just go and kill her preemptively without raising eyebrows.

Once again, Altamir was in a situation that was beyond difficult...but then again, when had he not been during his time alive again?

Well...difficult or not, he'd have to do something. He needed to eliminate Sturgeon, but he had to do it in a way that didn't rouse any suspicion.

He thought of what he could do...but he then realized that the only option for doing so would involve basically using himself as bait for her. Namely, baiting her into attacking him, either with that spear or otherwise, by being (somewhat) alone and pretending to not pay attention. He knew that he was fast, faster than any dragon alive...but if he messed it up, he would die for real.

Regardless, though, he had to deal with this assassin. If he didn't, she would likely start looking for an easier target...one of the dragonets, perhaps. Those dragonets wouldn't be able to fend her off as well as he could...even if he was able to stop her before she actually harmed one of them, they would likely be too terrified to leave 'their' cave in the palace after that.

So, he got Tsunami's attention. "Tsunami, I need to go do something over here for a bit...I want you to stay with the others and make sure that things don't go pear-shaped between them and your mother. I'll still have you all in eyeshot and earshot in case things do start going to pieces. Alright?"

"Hm? Uh...alright. Um...go and do whatever you need to do then, Aldy."

After nodding at Tsunami's affirmation, he stepped off of her back and then began slowly walking away from her and the others, whom Tsunami covered for him with when a few of them asked what he was doing. He still kept one eye and one ear on the Dragonets, of course...he was not going to be irresponsible and just ignore them like an idiot.

As he did, Coral lifted her head from the scroll she was writing again. "Erm...Tsunami? Perhaps this is rude of me, but...which is which among your friends, and what are their names, again?"

"Oh...right...so, Clay's the MudWing, Glory's the RainWing, Starflight's the NightWing, and Sunny's the...SandWing. That's them."

"Ah, I see. Well, as long as they say nothing absurd and know how to address me, they're free to speak with me if they wish."

There was a bit of quiet for a bit after that. The four dragonets in question were clearly wondering whether or not to speak to or with her. It was like they were a group of mice deciding who would try and put a bell on a cat.

Eventually, and likely being the 'good big brother' that he was clearly doing his best to be, Clay went first. "Your...Your Majesty?"

"Yes? Er...Clay, was it?"

"Yes, that's me. Um...I...have a question."

"You do? Go ahead..."

"I'm sorry if this is painful, but...what was Gill like? We haven't heard much about him...even though he was your King..."

Well, at least Coral didn't flip out or explode at him...but she still looked pained...understandable, since this was likely merely...an hour, at most, since he'd found out about Gill's death...

...Gill's death, which Altamir knew all too well that he caused.

"...Gill was my everything." Coral solemnly replied after a silence. "We met when we were both dragonets your age, and we loved each other from the moment we saw each other...he was truly wonderful. He was charming and brilliant, he adored my writing, and he loved our daughters just as much as I do. Even if we disagreed with each other from time to time, he was always loyal, and I...I don't think I'll...ever find a dragon like him ever again."

Altamir stopped walking as he heard Coral speak. It killed him inside...knowing what he'd done with that very same Gill at that blasted arena. Of course the first dragon he killed was someone who was beloved. The water now dripping upon the pavilion from above was...fitting, he supposed.

He then watched Glory step around Clay until she was in Coral's field of vision. "How did Scarlet get her talons on him, Your Majesty?"

"How did..." More pain...though at least Coral still didn't flip out or explode. "...well, last year, he was leading my army in my stead when I was mourning a lost egg...and then came a battle that went disastrously for us...it was in that battle that Scarlet managed to capture him. He endured for many months...but Scarlet was a cruel dragon. I suppose I should at least be glad that Altamir managed to slay her and rescue the five of you from her before she could inflict the same fate on any of you."

As Altamir felt the sting of his own actions the very same day he rescued the five dragonets...he noticed that he was standing near what was, for a dragon, at least, a shallow pool. Seemed to be different from what was apparently a 'seating pool' that they had...but apparently these were there so that the SeaWings could stay hydrated while they were on the pavilion and not underwater. Fair design choice, he had to give them that...even if the designer went mad from having designed it...fucking hell, he could have prevented that from happening. Poor Albatross...

Though, it was then Altamir saw Coral's attention be focused on him himself now. "Speaking of Altamir, though...er, what's he doing over there? I thought that he was meant to be protecting all of you."

Now, Sunny answered. "Um...we don't know, Your Majesty. But he said he'd keep an eye on us, and he looks like he is. Whatever he's doing has to be pretty important, because he usually never gets away from us like that."

Important indeed, because Altamir could see, in the top edge of his eyesight, Sturgeon poking her head over the edge of the ninth level right at what was just about right above him. Noticing that she was about to take the bait, Altamir took a few steps forward, pretending not to notice her...

...but then summoning his Magnum in its suppressed form to his right hand.

He didn't necessarily know if this would work. But he had to try. He needed to know if this weapon was truly as good as it was in testing. That, and this was likely his best, erm, shot at exploiting the weak points that were the eye openings in that armor. If he could nail her in the brain with a round, he could take her out instantly and without any further incident.

Meanwhile, Coral was nodding at Sunny's explanation. "Hmm...well, I suppose so." Then, she directed her attention at Starflight. "Erm, pardon me, but did my daughter, by any chance, read those scrolls I gave her with the rest of you?" Altamir supposed it was appropriate that it was Starflight whom she asked this of.

"Huh? Um...yes, Your Majesty, she did."

At Starflight's reply to the SeaWing Queen, Altamir could tell that Sturgeon was now in the air again.

"She did? That's wonderful!" Coral sounded delighted, a welcome improvement from her previous somber demeanor. "Did you enjoy reading them with her?"

As Coral was asking her new question of Starflight, Altamir could sense that Sturgeon was in a spiraling descent towards him, ready to try and pounce on him.

"Uh...well, I guess you could say-"

And then, as Starflight was replying again to Coral...

...it all happened at once.

"DIE YOU LITTLE SCA-!"

*CLUNK!*

*PNT!* *SHLUCKCLANG!*

"-GHKH!"

*CLUNK!*

*THUNK!*

"-GAHCK! HRNGH...RRGH!"

*CLANGSPLASH!* *SZZZZ!*

Right when Starflight was mid-word, Sturgeon, crying out her intent, thrusted the spear at where Altamir was standing. Altamir dodge-jumped to his left, and mid-air, he whirled around, aimed at Sturgeon's exposed left eye...

...and opened fire.

He only fired once, but he only needed to do so once...for once he did, the solid-flame 'bullet', traveling far faster than the eye could see, impacted the eye hard enough to burst it like an overripe melon, sending vitreous gel and blood flying, and the audible clang meant that it had gone far enough to hit the armor from the inside. When hit, Sturgeon's head jerked a bit, and she dropped the spear before she collapsed where she'd previously landed like a puppet with its strings cut, indicating that he'd hit her brain and (hopefully) killed her instantly.

Though, when he landed (having jumped higher and harder than any human could), he landed over on the other side of the pool from where he was standing, and landed at an angle at that, and he skidded and then hit the raised edge of the pavilion floor left-ankle-first, gasping and grunting with pain as he did so - he'd hit it hard. As he tried to recover from that landing (the gun somehow having not gone off again), he heard and saw the corpse of the dragon that had tried to kill him partially fall into the pool with a splash, the water sizzling a bit when such happened.

Given the commotion and what just went on, of course the others were going to notice it.

"What the..." Coral muttered in surprise...

"Wait, what's going on..." ...while Tsunami, after doing the same...

"Nngh...rrgh..."

...then saw Altamir and was alarmed. "Aldy? ALDY!" Then she barked at the other dragonets to follow her. "Guys, with me! On Aldy! Now!"

"Ah, shit..." Altamir murmured, unsummoning his Magnum as the dragonets began running over to where he was. "...fucking stupid landing..."

"Aldy! You okay?!" Clay pleaded of Altamir. After a few looks, he clarified. "Er, physically?"

"I...I've been...rgh..." Altamir grunted as he tried to get to his feet, feeling the water dripping down upon him from above. "...of course I'm not...immune to bad landings...RRGH!" Then, he finally managed to stand himself up with one leg...though he almost fell again when he tried to take a step forward and pain shot through his left leg. "Gngh!"

"Yeah, you definitely landed wrong..." Glory nodded with a grimace. "...or did you hit yourself on..."

"Hit that thing ankle first..." Altamir reluctantly admitted through gritted teeth, motioning at the raised edge behind him.

Sunny grimaced even harder than Glory did. "Ow! Yeah, that's gotta hurt..."

"I'm not exactly sure you should be walking like that, Aldy..." Starflight shook his head. "...Tsunami, can you pick him up?"

"Huh? Yeah, I..." But Altamir instinctively flinched away from Tsunami doing so. "...oh, come on, Aldy! Just this once?"

"I..."

"Look, Aldy, we know you don't like us picking you up, but...please?"

Altamir hated the idea of the dragonets (or, for that matter, any dragon) picking him up like some toy or doll or small rabbit...he could get on and off of their backs just fine on his own, thanks a lot. But at seeing the Dragonets' pleading eyes, and at the pain in his left leg...he relented. "...fine."

Altamir sucked in a breath and gritted his teeth even harder as Tsunami's comparatively large front talons picked him up by the torso - at least she knew to be gentle - before placing him on her back...and when she did, he scrambled with his one good leg to get somewhere akin to his usual 'riding' position on her.

When he was on it, he noticed Queen Coral standing there to his left, looking mortified. "A-Altamir?"

"...yes?"

"Did that...did that dragon just try and-"

"-kill me? Yes, yes she did...I don't know whether or not she's still alive...we need to check that before you call anyone."

"I...yes, I understand." Coral responded...and surprisingly meekly, at that.

So, with Altamir on Tsunami's back, the Dragonets and the Queen slowly began approaching the downed Sturgeon, Tsunami stepping into the pool's shallow waters while Altamir summoned his Magnum to his hand again and had it pointed at Sturgeon the entire time, ignoring the pain in his leg for the time. Blood was seeping into the pool from the fallen SeaWing's head and turning the water red, and the SeaWing was motionless, the bone-like spear (and would-be murder weapon) on the floor near her body.

"I think she might be dead." Riptide voiced his opinion as they approached the SeaWing's body. "No movement, blood pouring out from the head."

"Well, we make sure." Altamir grunted. "Someone lift up that head."

So, of all dragons, it was Coral who did such, doing so by the horn of the other SeaWing's head. When she did...

...well, it was fairly clear that Sturgeon was dead. Her eye was obviously blown out, but the red mush that was there in her brain cavity (some of it even fell out when Coral lifted the head) had indicated that the one single 'bullet' that Altamir had fired into her head had obliterated whatever was in there and so was indeed more than enough to be fatal...

"YECH!"

"EW! EW! EW!"

"GROSS!"

"That's disgusting..."

"Ugh...my eyes hurt now!"

"I'm gonna be sick..."

...and more than enough to be revolting to most of the dragonets to the sight of what was left, to the point where Tsunami quickly stepped back out of the pool of water. The only ones who didn't react with open disgust were Riptide and Anemone, the former covering Pike's eyes.

Even Coral was a bit jolted by what she saw. "Oh...three moons..."

"Alright, yes, she very clearly is dead." Altamir then sighed. "Always am I followed by death..."

"Well, I have to call someone..."

"Call Shark, then..." Altamir grunted at Coral. "...he's the one who leads your guards, isn't he? Surely he could explain why one of those guards just tried to kill me?"

"I certainly hope he can." Then Coral stepped to the edge of the pavilion. "SHARK! COME HERE! RIGHT THIS MOMENT!"

As she was doing so, Altamir unsummoned his Magnum and then got to work fixing his ruined ankle so that it wasn't ruined anymore. Gods...this was the worst he'd been injured in a long time. Granted, this wasn't nearly as bad as Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny were looking when he saved them from Scarlet, but...still, he was usually better than this! Damn it, he'd gotten sloppy. Or rusty, anyways.

"Uh...yeah, this was the same guard who told us where Coral was earlier." Tsunami noted.

"I...I know..." Altamir nodded as he was midway through fixing his ankle. "Something was off about her with that spear and that armor...me backing up like that was my attempt to draw her away from all of you. Better me than any of you...at least I could put her down."

"Oh, great..." Glory grumbled. "...now we got two of a kind. I mean, I get why, but Tsunami was enough as is...you too with the heroics, Aldy?"

Well, Shark did arrive eventually...though when asked about the guard in question and presented with her body, Shark seemed to be genuinely befuddled.

"Your majesty, with all due respect," Shark protested, "I was as thorough as you were in ensuring that the guards left Altamir and his group alone!"

"If that's the case, then this one either wasn't there to hear it or just didn't want to listen to you." Altamir replied, having (at least hopefully) finished fixing his ankle. "Oh, and what's with the unusual armor she's wearing? Never seen any other guard or soldier wearing that around here..."

"The armor..." When Shark looked at Sturgeon again, his eyes widened. "...wait, I recognize this armor! It was enchanted so that it could not be pierced! It's meant to be impenetrable!"

"Was it?" Glory tilted her head before dryly remarking, "Well, she certainly wasn't."

"Armor is only as strong as its weakest point." Altamir agreed, experimentally putting pressure and weight on his left leg to see if he'd indeed fully repaired his ankle. "Now, who owns that armor?"

"The royal family does." Coral also seemed to recognize the armor. "But Whirlpool looks after it...or at least he's supposed to."

"Then can he explain that?" Altamir asked, carefully climbing down Tsunami's front left limb with just his arms and one leg.

"He'll have to..." Coral then went to the side again and called out. "WHIRLPOOL! COME HERE!"

As Coral did so, Altamir finally finished getting off of Tsunami, and when he was standing on the floor of the pavilion's eighth pavilion again, he felt no more pain from his left ankle, but put additional pressure on it in further experimentation to make sure that the ankle was properly fixed up. To his relief, it was indeed.

"Can you walk, Aldy?" Clay asked.

Altamir took a few steps backwards, and then a few more steps forward again. "Yes...I believe I can now. Much as she didn't kill me, she still managed to indirectly wound me...damn it..."

"Sorry about that, Aldy." Starflight just seemed glad that Altamir was walking again. Then...

"Your majesty, forgive my lateness!"

...Whirlpool finally showed up. And while no-one else knew it, Altamir knew that whatever words came out of his mouth were going to be excuses. Perhaps excuses upon excuses.

And they were. "I was preoccupied with searching for a set of armor that had gone missing! It must have been stolen..."

"Oh," Altamir said with a raised eyebrow as he then magically took the armor that was on Sturgeon and warped it off of her body and onto the floor in front of Whirlpool, "you mean this one?"

Whirlpool looked a bit startled at seeing the armor appear in front of him before nodding rapidly. "Y-Yes, that one!"

"Then what was it doing on the dragon who just tried to kill me?"

"What?!"

Upon hearing and seeing Whirlpool's confusion, Altamir pressed his lips in a line and sternly pointed at the now-revealed grayish-brown dragon's corpse. "That one. What was it doing on her body during her murder attempt?"

"I...I..."

Though, before Whirlpool could answer, Shark then said something that revealed that he knew the dragon in question. "Wait...what in...this is...this is Sturgeon!"

"St-Sturgeon?!" Coral sounded positively baffled. "But...there's no way! She's a loyal, faithful dragon and has been for a decade and a half! I was even considering promoting her! Why would she...do something like...?!"

Altamir narrowed his eyes, noting the long black burn and char marks along the slain SeaWing's neck and right side - apparently the armor really WAS unpierceable, and the 'bullet' bounced off of/smashed against it from the inside and burned its way through her scales and flesh there until it finally dissipated (which also explained the sizzling when her body hit the water). "Well, if it helps to establish a motive, she was among the dragons whom I stopped from rushing at Tsunami's friends among these dragonets." A few of the dragonets winced at seeing the full extent of the body's wounds.

"Uh...yeah!" Tsunami nodded in agreement. "I recognize her too! Well...at least from the size and scale color, but I think she was at the front of those dragons that smacked into the barrier Altamir put up between them and my friends."

"Having that happen in front of her Queen could have done something to her ego..." Altamir noted and then asked Coral and Shark, "...if either of you two saw her afterwards, did she look particularly slighted or incensed?"

Shark's eyes widened a bit, before he answered. "Well...right, when I last saw her, she was looking as though she had been humiliated by what had happened..."

"Then we likely have a motive. Ego can do things to otherwise-reasonable dragons..." Altamir then turned to Whirlpool. "...but that still doesn't explain how an armor set like that could go missing and then reappear on a would-be murderer. Answer the question, Whirlpool."

"I..." Whirlpool was clearly covering his own hide. "...she...she must have stolen it from me! I would never voluntarily lend it out for usage in attempting to assassinate the one who saved our tribe's princess from Scarlet!"

"She stole it?" Tsunami asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously starting to doubt Whirlpool's story at least a little. "If that's armor that's supposed to be unbreakable and unpierceable, don't you usually keep it under...tight security or something so that something like that doesn't happen? Because that stuff sounds kinda important..."

"I thought I did..." Whirlpool hastily nodded, now speaking very rapidly, "...but clearly, I've grown lax over the years because of it not happening! I will make sure it never happens again, forgive me Your Majesties!"

And then Whirlpool took the armor in his front limbs and quickly flew off with it, it clanging along in his hold as he did so.

"Good grief..." Tsunami huffed. Then, she looked back at Sturgeon's corpse, and took a few steps towards it. "...wow...can't believe that you managed to do all that with just...uh, how many times did you shoot her with that thing?"

"Once."

"Once?!" Tsunami's eyes widened. "Wait...really? Whoa, I...eheheh, three moons, I really underestimated that thing, didn't I?" A few of the other dragonets behind her looked astonished as well.

Altamir shrugged. "Well, granted, I did as well. I was worried about whether or not it would do the job in practice, as I had only hit stone targets with it in testing...nevermind, my worries in that regard were misplaced."

"Erm, what did you shoot her with?" Coral asked, confused by what her daughter and Altamir were talking about.

"This." Altamir then summoned the Magnum to his hand again...while being careful not to unintentionally fire it as he did so. "Something I made myself...can only be used by me. I was concerned about its...'performance in the field', but clearly, those concerns were unfounded."

"Oh...I see." Coral nodded, and then looked rather sheepish. "And...my apologies for this whole mess...I had no idea that one of my most loyal and most faithful soldiers would go and do this."

"They're accepted." Altamir then crossed his arms after unsummoning his Magnum again. "But know that this really doesn't help your guards' collective case in the eyes of the dragonets I'm looking after, your daughter included."

"I'm...fully aware."

"So then...perhaps I can make a request of Shark here?"

"Hm?" Shark looked concerned when Altamir asked this. "Y-Yes, Altamir?"

"If you could go and take this body and show it to the various other guards and soldiers in here, perhaps that would discourage any prospective 'copycats' when they see what happens who try what this one did?"

Coral seemed to agree with this. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Shark, and I must concur. Do it."

"Yes, your majesty." Shark obediently nodded. He then took Sturgeon's corpse in his front limbs, and while it was clearly a bit of a struggle at first due to the fallen dragon's large size, he was nonetheless able to get it into the air (no doubt thanks to his own large frame), and then he left with it.

Coral sighed at the blood that was in the pool. "Oh dear...that will be a pain to clean out...but I suppose it's a fitting metaphor for this, again...mess."

"Perhaps so." Altamir shrugged. "Well, it's better that she targeted me rather than one of these dragonets...at least I could neutralize the threat. Not sure if the dragonets would be able to do the same..."

"Oh, dear..." Coral then, after a few seconds, suddenly grew alarmed by something. "...oh no...no, no, no, they're...!"

"...hm?"

"...u-um, Altamir?" Coral then looked, rather pleadingly. "I...I understand that I'm in no true position to request anything from you at the moment, given what happened...but speaking of dragonets...this is...something very important."

"It is?" Altamir raised his eyebrow before walking about twenty paces away from the dragonets and motioning her to come down closer to her. "Well then, down here. Just the two of us."

So Coral did that and then began. "I've been...plagued by a certain issue involving my daughters. I..."

"Does it have something to do with why you have so many sons and so few daughters?"

"I...yes! Yes!" Coral hastily nodded after being startled by Altamir cutting in. "I've...for the past eight years, Gill and I have been losing our daughters in their eggs and we don't know why! Before Tsunami, Anemone was the only living daughter I had after Orca's death..."

This...sounded a bit familiar. "Have you tried everything to make sure that such doesn't happen?"

"Yes, we've tried everything!" Coral nodded again, looking desperate. "We've tried rotating the guards, we've tried re-arranging the eggs' positions in the hatchery...NOTHING has worked! Nothing...except for me being there in the hatchery the entire time until the eggs hatch! I did that for Anemone, but..."

"...but you can't afford to do that all the time, especially since eggs can take a year to hatch from when they're laid?" Altamir had to admit, internally, that this sounded just like that which Delphine went through...

"Exactly!" Coral ran her talon along the back of her head. "My tribe still needs me, and the last time I could do that was because Gill was there to take over for me! And..."

"...he's dead." Altamir was pained when he had to say that...gods damn it.

Coral winced at the reminder of her mate's death. "...yes. Yes, he is. And...those two daughters who are still in their eggs yet to hatch...they'll be the very last ones I'll ever have with him! If they...if they survive..."

Altamir drew in a sharp breath. "So you wish for my aid on that. Alright, so...the hatchery? Knowing your tribe, is it somewhere underwater?"

"It's...erm, yes, it's in the Deep Palace. Is that going to be an...obstacle for...?"

"Me? No, I have ways to deal with being underwater." Altamir shook his head. "Though, if we're going there, I'll need the non-SeaWings of our group to be in 'our' cave. That's where they'll need to be if they can't be with me or your daughter Tsunami, because the whole 'being underwater' thing WILL be more than an obstacle for them. Give me a few seconds..."

So, Altamir gathered Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny and briefly explained the situation to them, and when they nodded and understood why he was doing what he was doing, he warped the four dragonets back to 'their' cave.

"Alright," Altamir turned to Coral again once he'd done so, "where's the Deep Palace?"

"It's...in the center of the spiral of islands that are the Thousand Scales."

Altamir's eyes widened. "Center of the...that's a few hours away."

"A f-few hours?!" Tsunami gasped. "But...I...I can't swim THAT far yet! Fly maybe...but if it's swimming, I'd wear myself out!"

"If you're intending for her to swim there, then we do have a problem on our hands...and our talons." Altamir replied to the dismayed Queen.

"But...we need to get there!"

"I know, I know." Altamir then remembered what he was about to say before Tsunami's exclamation. "No, I think I'll instead just warp all of us to the nearest island to that palace, and then we can go from there. That way, it'll only take a few minutes, at most."

"Truly?"

"Yes, truly. Now...I need the specific location of the place...hold still..."

...

And, when Altamir had such information, and after Coral informed Moray of where they were going, then just like that, he warped himself and all six SeaWings (Moray aside) to the island closest to the palace, and on a portion near the water. And when they got there...

"Oh!" Coral was startled by the sudden change of scenery and sunny blue skies above. "Um...oh."

"Alright, we're here. Now before you go anywhere, Queen Coral, let me set a few things up here...it won't take too long."

"Then please be quick..."

"I will." Then, Altamir turned to the dragonets. "Pike, get on Riptide. Anemone, get on Turtle. Tsunami, I'll get on you once I've gotten myself ready to go underwater."

"Okay, Aldy."

So, as Pike and Anemone did as he asked them to, Altamir went and 'turned on' the...construct that went around his head and was magical and non-physical in nature, but allowed him to breathe underwater (and even speak underwater) in ways that wouldn't get the seawater into his mouth, his nose, etc. It was a necessity when dealing with SeaWings, and he'd developed it for this purpose.

When he finished doing so and saw that Pike and Anemone were respectively on Riptide and Turtle, he quickly got aboard Tsunami, then looked to Coral and nodded. "Alright, I think we're ready. Lead the way, Your Majesty!"

"This way! Quickly!" Then, Coral leapt into the water, and on Altamir's beckoning, the five SeaWing dragonets followed, Altamir on Tsunami's back.

Altamir couldn't deny that there was a certain beauty that only the sea and the ocean could ever truly provide. Particularly as he laid his eyes on the vast coral reefs below and around as the dragonets dove after Coral. So many shapes, so many colors, and the wildlife was like nothing which could be found on land...

...and then they ducked into a canyon around the bend of one reef, and when they did, there in front of them, surrounded by certain sorts of white-green reefs...was what had to be the Deep Palace. It was a truly wondrous structure, enormous in size and great in splendor. The Aetolians of old, being humans who could never truly survive underwater, always wondered what it would be like to see, with their own eyes, what grand underwater structures their SeaWing companions could build and make. Well, what he saw in front of him now was certainly grand indeed.

Though, while grand, it was also a quite busy structure, with dragons going to and fro, in and out of doors and windows, moving either to the surface or to the bottom of the canyon, doing various things, like doing maintenance, cleaning coral, tending to underwater gardens, hauling in fish and whales from hunting, reading to circles of dragonets from stone tablets...things like that.

There were also groups of soldiers drilling in formation (by the gods, they'd finally figured out what those were), as well as another group of them who were all very clearly wounded...with wounds that made Altamir cringe. Two of them were missing their feet, one was missing his eye, several had blackened scars along their bodies, and there were some of them who clearly couldn't even swim on their own anymore and had to be assisted by other dragons. Gods, war was a scourge.

Well, they went through the wide entrance into a cavern of coral aglitter with various gems, and which had a statue of...possibly a prior SeaWing Queen, with front talons so benevolently outstretched. Altamir would have to ask which one later...

...but not now, as Coral had places to be, and thus so did they.

As they went along, there were various servants moving about and a few guards, well, standing guard, some flashing greetings at their Queen, others giving Altamir himself a few stares (for understandable reasons, of course - not every day that one saw a human both underwater this far down and unbothered by such). Coral didn't pay them much heed, instead racing onward, with the dragonets doing their best to keep up - though Altamir could notice that Turtle was starting to flag a bit. The tunnel ahead went down and around in a spiral, the water getting gradually warmer as they went lower and lower.

Eventually, Coral slowed down and then stopped, looking behind her in an apparent check on whether the others kept up. Tsunami and Riptide did, while Turtle...took a second to appear around the bend, but he did appear.

"Good, you're all here." Coral flashed as she nodded.

"Yes, we are." Altamir replied, and at Coral's sudden surprise, he tilted his head at her. "Yes, I can talk underwater with this thing. And yes, I can understand Aquatic - I'm merely saying, but how else could I have helped Tsunami start learning it?"

Coral's eyes looked to the side before she nodded. "Yes, right. I'm simply not used to seeing one of your kind being able to understand it so well."

"Well, I can." Altamir then looked at the rest of the dragonets and then back at Coral. "Are we almost there? Some of the dragonets here are starting to flag...particularly poor Turtle there."

"Yes, we're almost there." Coral flashed in response. "Tortoise is waiting for us in the hatchery. If you see a somewhat skinny-looking seaweed-green dragon in there, then that's her."

"At least someone's there waiting." Altamir nodded in turn as the group then set off and went what was apparently the remaining distance to the hatchery. "Right there where we need to..." And then, Altamir's voiced trailed off. "...be."

There in front of them were a set of stone, clam-shaped, side-opening doors. Doors that were closed. And in front of which was a somewhat skinny-looking seaweed-green dragon. And she was crouched and eating something from her front talons. Which would probably be fine if she was in the hatchery and still watching the eggs while she did so...but she was outside of the hatchery. And the doors were, again, closed. And she was not keeping watch on the eggs. That...didn't sound like what she was supposed to be doing. At all.

Altamir knew the Queen, who was frozen in shock at the sight, wasn't taking this well. "Your Majesty, she's eating on the job. And not watching the eggs. I don't think that that's what you told her-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence before Tortoise, if that was her, spotted them, and, recognizing the Queen, dropped whatever she was eating (an octopus, apparently) with a panicked shriek loud enough for Altamir and the others to hear it from where they were, and then she started frantically waving her front limbs, flashing her patterns so rapidly that she might as well have given a thunderstorm an epileptic seizure...

...before Coral exploded forward with a roar and, in a clear indication of the strength that her large size gave her, hurled open the door so hard that it swatted the smaller Tortoise into the wall like she was some oversized fly before she blasted into the hatchery.

"In! In! In!" Altamir called out to the other dragonets, not wanting to leave the Queen wondering where they were.

So in they went...and they were greeted by quite the sight.

The interior of the hatchery was shaped much like that of, well, an egg, with jets of warm water bubbling up along every part of the wall, keeping the room heated, and there was a green statue of a dragon in the center. There were various nests in the room, fittingly, each one made of seaweed and sitting in round grooves in the floor, with wide pathways in-between. Ideally, there should have been many eggs in various stages of development...but nearly all of the nests were empty - he saw one near a wall with three eggs in it, and that was it. It was depressingly clear as to why. Because he-

Altamir's thoughts were cut off by a horrific shrieking scream that jolted him and drew his eyes to where it came from...

...and he then saw Coral's form slumping down beside one nest that had two eggs...

...or, at least, it'd previously had two eggs.

For when Altamir and the others went to her side...they saw what had gotten Coral in such a state.

There, in the nest, only one of the eggs was still intact. The other had been forcibly broken, and the little blue would-be hatchling inside was laying there lifelessly, her neck broken and twisted in a sickening way. And as Altamir carefully picked up the slain little winged infant's body, her head listlessly flopped in a way that made Altamir's stomach churn.

And Coral...she just...she just broke. No fury against whoever dared to do this to a daughter of hers, no rage against Tortoise for failing her...none of that. No, she just broke down weeping like a dragonet a fraction of her age or size, as if the fight in her had been destroyed.

For all of Coral's...questionable attributes and decisions, like trusting Blister, trusting Whirlpool, trying to offer Whirlpool to her dragonet daughter (while clearly unaware of what the problem with that was), and how she'd previously regarded Riptide...it was still so depressing to see such a large, regal dragon in a state like this.

He...

...he had to. He had to...he had to do something.

He couldn't let the other egg be subject to the same fate as her murdered sister. He couldn't let that happen. None of them could let that happen.

So, Altamir very gently set the deceased hatchling down, and then tapped Coral on the snout. The SeaWing flinched before he caught her eyes.

"Coral?" Altamir asked gingerly. "Your Majesty? How do you wish for Tortoise to be dealt with? Can you spell it out for me in Aquatic?" He stepped back a few paces to Coral's right side so that he could see what she was saying.

Coral gritted her teeth, and though her weeping continued, she still managed to flash out a clear message in Aquatic. "She failed to prevent my daughter from being killed with her reckless carelessness. Bring me her head."

Altamir sighed, fully expecting her to have said that, and yet becoming exasperated upon hearing it. "Very well." Then, he quickly looked to the other dragonets. "Stay here, I'll be back in a bit..."

Altamir then stepped forward a bit before 'jumping' into the 'air' and then rocketing towards the hatchery door, passing the statue along the way, before throwing the door open...likely about as hard as Coral had despite being far smaller than her - gods, he forgot how strong he was sometimes - and then, to his right...

...he found an absolutely terrified Tortoise having flattened herself against the wall, her blood having seemingly drained from her entire body already, she was so pale with fright. She then seemed a bit confused upon seeing Altamir pop out rather than her Queen...but then Altamir summoned his Qanda in its long form to his right hand.

"Queen's orders, Tortoise." Altamir did his best to not let any sympathy he might have had for her otherwise get in the way. "Your snacking got one of her daughters killed. You need to die." And then he began closing the short distance between him and the SeaWing.

The fear was now back in full force for Tortoise, and she was frantically flashing out patterns begging and pleading for mercy, for forgiveness, to not kill her, to spare her, and so on...but Altamir just readied his sword.

"If I were to give you what you wanted right now, she'd be wondering why." Altamir shut down the pleading and begging attempts as he readied his blade. "I'll at least make this quick..."

Tortoise then froze with eyes wide and pupils tiny as pinpricks...

"DORYA!" *SHLUCK!*

...before Altamir, at least making sure not to drag it out, swung his sword hard and fast, splitting Tortoise's head from her body. Sucking in a breath, he unsummoned his blade and then plucked the head by the horn, and then went over to the hatchery and then opened the door again, though not before repairing it first.

"If you're squeamish, look away!" Altamir warned the dragonets inside before he entered again with Tortoise's head, leaving a reddish trail behind him as he brought the head to where Coral was.

Well, Turtle definitely was, for he looked away and stayed looking away. Pike looked like he was turning a little green before he looked away too. Even Tsunami and Riptide were a bit put off by the sight of Altamir bringing the head to Coral. The only one who didn't was Anemone, who'd clearly seen this sort of thing before and wasn't surprised, merely shaking her head.

Altamir understood the dragonets' reactions...he hadn't really wanted to kill Tortoise, but Coral would start getting ideas if he didn't do so, and Tortoise REALLY didn't help her case, admittedly, given that she had been, well, snacking on the job and not really watching the eggs when she really should have.

Regardless, he then placed the head down in front of Coral, whose eyes were quickly drawn to it from where she was still sprawled out near that nest.

"As you requested, Your Majesty." Altamir nodded. "Now...I must say that I think you've had enough of death and misery for one day."

"I know." Coral flashed miserably.

"I think it is best that you go and return to the other palace. You need some time to mourn. I'll send you back there quickly with both that head, and this little one's body. The former so that you can quickly explain why a place on the council is now empty, and the latter so that you can give her the funeral rights she badly needs. Alright? We'll worry about protecting this one remaining egg."

"Yes. I understand. Please let those servants know where I am."

"Very well then..."

So, Altamir went out of the hatchery, and, doing his best to ignore Tortoise's bleeding, headless corpse, went up and informed the servants and guards of how the Queen and those who went with her would be returning to the Summer Palace in a different manner from how she came, and then he returned, and when she was ready, or, ready enough, at least, he warped her, along with Tortoise's head and the body of the deceased hatchling, all the way back to the Summer Palace. This left just him, Tsunami, Riptide, Anemone, Turtle, and Pike in the hatchery, and a sole remaining egg in the nest. And a red patch where he'd set down Tortoise's head in front of Coral.

When such was the case, he then turned to Tsunami, who seemed to be questioning his reason for having killed Tortoise. "I know, Tsunami, I know...but for one thing, your mother would be asking me some serious questions if I didn't do that, and for another thing, even IF I didn't kill Tortoise then and there, Coral likely would have done so herself later."

Anemone concurred in Aquatic. "Yes. And Mother would be a lot less merciful about it."

Altamir then relayed that to Tsunami as well. "Oh, and Anemone here said that not only is the latter true, but also that Coral would have been much less merciful about it than I was. I was quick and split Tortoise's neck at the throat in one swing, for the record, so...make of that what you will." But then, he activated the 'mental communication' that he'd set up earlier in the day and said what he needed to say to Tsunami. "/I'm sorry...I wish I didn't have to kill Tortoise either./"

"/I..." Tsunami then shook her head after a few moments, "...no, I get it. I understand, Aldy./"

Altamir sighed...before then looking at the now-sole-remaining egg in that one nest...and sighing again.

Then, he started carefully approaching the nest once more. He moved very gingerly towards that nest, and then knelt down, before delicately placing a hand on the egg. It was shades of green, the sort of green that the hatchling surely would be of...if she survived. And it was then that Altamir, out of a sense of duty that sprang from his having rendered the egg without a living father - something which he loathed - worked up the nerve and put his arms around the egg, before standing up, now holding it in those same arms.

This egg, which housed a fragile little life inside. This round vessel, within which was a frail, innocent little soul that he would be remiss to let be sent to the afterlife already. Just as had previously been the case with Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny at Scarlet's Arena, this little one's life was now in his hands.

He could not fail. He could not fail. He could not fail.

He could not fail...

...he could not fail.

No...he would make damn sure that this little one could hatch, could see the light of the world, could get a name, could know the love she so richly deserved. He was not going to let her share her sisters' fates.

So, as he held that egg, which was roughly half his own weight and size, he looked around at all five of the other dragonets in the hatchery with him. Then he looked at the egg again.

"Tsunami, Riptide, Anemone, Turtle, Pike...shall we set about making sure that we put an end to whatever is killing her daughters, so that this little one will survive?"

The answer, in Aquatic, of course, was a resounding "Yes." from all five.

"Well then...let's get to it." So, he went and carefully set the egg down in another nest. "We should start by searching for any hidden entrances within the hatchery."

Riptide nodded. "Understood. Where should we look?"

"Anywhere in here you can think of. In the walls and ceilings, under the nests, under that statue over there...anywhere, basically. Just make sure not to jostle the eggs too much on the 'nests' part. I'll go look outside to make sure there aren't any in the spiral leading to the hatchery."

"Got it." Anemone flashed.

So, as they got to searching the inside of the hatchery, Altamir went towards the door...noticing something odd about that statue along the way...before opening that door once again, far less roughly than when he'd first done so to deal with Tortoise. Speaking of Tortoise...he sighed at the sight of her corpse still leaking blood, before getting to the floor outside the hatchery...and then casting a spell that he'd developed in what was now his previous life for the purpose of either mapping out underground caves, finding still-living victims under the rubble of collapsed buildings...

...or finding those who were in places that they weren't supposed to be, like right now.

Basically, what the spell did was that it illuminated the layout of wherever it was cast, and also the 'signatures' of any human or dragon inside such an area. Like here - if there were any 'hidden passages', he would see them, and if there were any dragons hiding away after having 'successfully' murdered another one of the Queen's daughters in the egg, then their signatures would show up to him.

But alas...in the area that he casted this spell in (namely, all of the 'spiral' portion of the tunnel that led to the hatchery, as well as the hatchery itself)...nothing. No 'hidden entrances' or 'hidden passages', and no dragons hiding behind the walls. Nothing.

Altamir shook his head before deciding to wait for about a minute or so. Then, he called Tsunami. "/Find anything in there when it comes to hidden passages?/"

"/Nope./" Tsunami replied. "/Haven't found anything like that, Aldy. I mean, there's those little holes where the warm water comes through, but they are WAY too small for a dragon to fit through. Hate to say it, but our mysterious murder dragon is either reaaaally good at hiding, or has already gotten away./"

"/Definitely sounds like it./" Altamir responded. "/Though, there is another possibility. Namely, that the murderer is an Animus, and could be using an enchanted object to indirectly do these...deeds. Could also explain the consistency and why only the female hatchlings are getting targeted./"

"/Animus.../" Then, Tsunami sounded like she was catching on to what Altamir was saying. "/...oh wait, like with the one SeaWing Queen that you adopted one of your old companions from because she kept losing her eggs?/"

"/Yes, Tsunami, that./"

"/Yeah yeah yeah, that makes so much sense! But...hold on, wait, how do we check for animus-enchanted thingies, then?/"

"/Well, let me get in there, and I'll explain...after I've filled in the others about what we've gone over./"

So, Altamir opened the door again and re-entered the hatchery. The dragonets were in, nothing having happened to them while he was outside, at least.

"No hidden passages anywhere?"

"No. Absolutely none." Riptide shook his head.

Altamir rolled his head on his shoulders. "Well, to be honest, I was partially expecting that...didn't find any out there either. Though...Tsunami and I have formed a...bit of a theory. Namely, that due to the consistency of the attacks, and how the females and only the females are being attacked...the culprit is an animus dragon using an enchanted object to remotely and indirectly...do this."

All of the other dragonets looked at him and then each other with open mouths that were basically a collective "oh".

Riptide then nodded. "Yes. That could explain things."

"But how do we find an animus-enchanted object?" Pike asked.

Altamir sighed. "...you're asking me the same thing as Tsunami did." He then ran a hand through his hair. "Well, in case you're wondering, a Human Animus can do things that Dragon Animi cannot. Among them, we can detect whether or not a dragon is an animus - yes, Turtle, I already know that you're one just as Anemone is - and we can also detect whether or not an object has been enchanted."

"Wait, you already knew that I was an animus?" Turtle looked stunned at Altamir saying this as he got stares from the others. "From the very beginning?"

"Didn't I just say that? Part of the reason why I'm keeping you with me - and this is also so with Anemone - is so that others can't use you for their own benefit." Then, Altamir crossed his arms. "Now then...what I'm going to do here is 'scan' the room for any objects that could be enchanted. I'll start with the periphery, then move more towards the center."

So, at the dragonets' nodding, Altamir began such. First, he checked the walls and the ceiling. Nothing there. Then the nests around the statue. Still nothing there. Then the floor. Still nothing there.

And then he got to the statue.

He had gotten the feeling earlier that there was something about the statue that just wasn't right. Oh, it was a beautiful statue alright, the green marble having been so skillfully sculpted, being a rather lifelike illustration of a SeaWing in the royal family. But at the same time...

...it was nonetheless where he was picking up that animus signature from when it came to. As he looked up and down the statue, the nameplate that was at the base of it reading 'Orca', he began to think of possible reasons as to why a statue of the late Princess would be enchanted...and wondered about a distinct possibility.

"The statue has your attention?" Pike asked.

"Yes." Altamir nodded. "It's where I'm picking up the signature of an animus-enchanted object. I knew something was off about it." Then, he asked Anemone a certain question. "Anemone...did Orca carve this statue? Coral said she was a skilled sculptor."

"Yes, she did."

"Then did your mother or anyone else ever say about whether or not Orca was an animus?"

Anemone's eyes widened, and then she shook her head. "No. She didn't."

"Well, I'm just asking, because she was the one who made this statue, and also two events that sound like they happened around the same time: Orca's death, and Coral beginning to lose her daughters."

Altamir saying that got the other dragonets horrified, as if they were now realizing who the culprit (likely) was. At seeing them so mortified, he sighed.

"I know, I know, it would mean that she's indirectly murdering her own sisters, if it's her. But...much as I hate to say it, I've seen this in many individuals both human and dragon...where the lust for power and desire to attain and maintain such at all costs is so overwhelming that it overpowers things like love and reason. If it's indeed her, then this would be yet another example, a twisted effort to ensure that there would be no 'competition' for the throne she so coveted...though in this case, it's combined with how Animus usage weakens and erodes sanity in dragons." After looking around at the silent dragonets one more time, Altamir sighed again. "I'll go check to see if it's her or someone else who enchanted this. Don't know what exactly I'll find, though."

So, Altamir stepped up onto the base of the statue, moving forward until he was able to lay his hands upon the green marble of the statue. And he began looking into the enchantment, what it did, and who put it there, and for what purpose.

It only took him a minute to figure out the details. The details were disgusting. The details were gruesome. But it was exactly as Altamir had been (at least partially) expecting.

Orca really was so much like Stonefish, wasn't she?

He stepped back and looked at the dragonets, before shaking his head and sharing the details. "The statue has been enchanted to kill any and all potential heirs when no-one was looking. The dragon who did this was indeed Orca."

The dragonets looked sickened...though Tsunami didn't look that surprised, given what they'd discussed about Delphine's case - clearly, she was drawing the parallels between Orca and Stonefish.

Riptide, for his part, looked around a bit in thought before asking, "And how does the statue do this killing?"

"Apparently, it comes to life and does the deed." Altamir answered. "Though, now that we know what it does and how it works...we can put together a plan to properly defeat and destroy it as it deserves to be."

Perhaps it would sound incredibly strange to say that a pair of sisters were vengeful towards a statue for murdering their siblings...but damn it if Tsunami and Anemone weren't as they worked with him on that plan.

The plan would involve getting the statue to come to life and then trapping and neutralizing it. Basically, Tsunami would take the egg and then position herself right up against the wall with her body facing it, while holding the egg and further covering it with her wings, and having her head turned so that she had eyes on the statue. Then, Altamir would set up a magic field halfway between Tsunami and the statue, and then he and everyone else would leave the hatchery and close the door. When they did, the statue would inevitably come to life and start moving...but upon touching the magic field, the statue would freeze midair, allowing Altamir to rush back in and destroy the offending marble-sided murderer, and also allowing them to convincingly state that the statue was both moving and killing the hatchlings in their eggs.

Now, with Altamir having formed the plan with the others, it was time to put it into action. Riptide, Anemone, Turtle, and Pike were already outside the hatchery, so it was just Altamir, Tsunami, and the egg that the latter was now holding.

"/Remember; do not take your eyes off of that statue for one second./" Altamir reminded Tsunami as he was about to go outside the hatchery as well. "/I'll keep it so that you can still talk to me even though I'll be through that door. If it starts moving, let me know. If it hits the field, let me know. If the field doesn't work, let me know. Alright?/"

"/Alright./" Tsunami nodded, being in the position that Altamir asked of her. "/You can count on me, Aldy./" Then, with her eyes, she looked at the egg and flashed, with her stripes, "I will protect you."

Altamir shook his head. "/No, WE will protect her. Now, eyes on the statue./"

Tsunami grinned and nodded, in a gesture that reminded her so much like Sorkhagtani the Younger. And like that, her eyes were on the statue.

So, Altamir went towards the door. He knew that this was horribly risky...and part of him was screaming at him for putting Tsunami in danger like this. But he wasn't being stupid here...at least he didn't think - he would be on alert and ready to spring back in at the slightest reported movement of the statue, and that magic field would be there to stop the statue midair. And despite having every reason to do otherwise, and despite him feeling like he hadn't earned it...Tsunami trusted him. If a dragon like her was trusting him here...then regardless of whether or not he deserved it, the plan was one that could work.

Or so he told himself, at least.

Well, Altamir was at the door now. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he stepped into the doorway.

"/I'm at the door, and I'm not looking at the statue. Any movement from it?/"

"/Nope, no movement. Keep going./"

So, Altamir kept going. He stepped outside of the hatchery and went behind one of the walls, although still having the door open.

"/Alright, I'm outside, though the door is still open. Any movement from it now?/"

"/Nah, still no movement. Keep going. Close the door./"

Altamir hesitated at doing so for a few seconds, before replying. "/Alright then...but the moment it starts moving-/"

"/Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I'll let you know./"

Altamir sucked in a breath and then summoned his blade in its long form to his right hand. Then, with his elbow, he closed the door...

...and then it happened.

"/Okay, it's moving, it's moving, it's-/" And then Tsunami's tone changed immediately. "/-it's caught! It's freeze-ened midair! Now! Do it now!/"

*BANG!*

Altamir threw the door back open with such force that it probably cracked the door and the walls of the hatchery, and then he rushed inside...

...and saw the statue having indeed come to life, but now stuck midair. Just as he planned.

Not intent on wasting the opportunity that Tsunami put herself in danger to give him, Altamir surged forward over the nests in the near-right quadrant of the hatchery...

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

...and struck the stone dragon three times, the last one being the long way, much like how he'd dealt with that mad SkyWing Mynah, his first dragon kill, so many years ago.

A second later, the marbled marauder was destroyed and falling to pieces. Altamir watched them hit the floor of the pathway between the nests with what might have been satisfaction had his beloved Pyrrhia been as it once was, and then made his way over to Tsunami, who nodded when Altamir was at her side.

"The egg." Altamir asked. "Is it unhurt?"

Tsunami, upon being asked this, folded her wings back and gave the egg to Altamir. When he had the egg, he checked it over, making sure that there were no cracks, and making sure that the little one still inside was unhurt.

"Alright...egg's safe." Altamir sighed as he then looked all behind him. "Wish I could say the same for who-knows-how-many of those other eggs that this thing murdered."

Tsunami looked very solemn when he said that. With good reason, he knew. They both wished that they could have saved those other ones as well.

Soon, the other dragonets were in the hatchery again, looking at the destroyed statue.

"I can't believe that the thing that was killing Her Majesty's daughters was a piece of rock." Pike flashed as he shook his head.

"I saw an animus dragon use a writing instrument to assassinate three dragons at once." Altamir shrugged. "I've seen stranger methods of death than a sororicidal statue."

"Now my sisters won't be killed in their eggs." Anemone flashed rather somberly. "But there won't be anymore of them."

At seeing Anemone say this, Altamir held the egg just a tad bit closer than he had before. He knew exactly what Anemone was saying when she said that.

"He wasn't wrong about power doing things to dragons." Turtle flashed a bit bitterly. "I still can't believe that it was our own sister who did this, though."

"Should we tell Her Majesty about this?" Riptide asked Altamir through his patterns. "Or should we not because it might break her?"

"The latter." Altamir replied. "Right now, the best hint we'll be able to give is that we've dealt with the threat, but have decided that the hatchery may be too dangerous for this little one, and that the best way to protect her will be keeping her closer. Yes, we'll be taking her with us. I hope that the lot of you and the others don't mind staring at an egg until it hatches."

This got underwater chuckles out of the dragonets. Altamir, however, was already thinking of what they needed to do. Go find Moray or Shark or Piranha, let them know about the assailant being eliminated, about the hatchery possibly being unsafe, and about their decision to keep the egg with them for the safety of the little one inside. Yes, that was what they needed to do.

Oh, and they would eventually need to meet with Coral herself on the matter, once she was in a better state. He would have to expect anything from her at this point. Hopefully, things didn't get more taxing than merely discussing hatchling names, because Altamir was wary of telling Coral who the culprit was or what method at this point.

...

When they finally got back to the Summer Palace after a few more minutes of discussing what to do, as well as some of the other details about the situation, Altamir made sure, first things first, to inform Moray and Shark, who were meeting with each other for different reasons (apparently, they were daughter and father respectively), of the loose details of what happened, and also of his decision to take the egg back to this palace rather than leaving it in the hatchery so that they (and the rest of the Council who weren't Tortoise) wouldn't be left in the dark. While they initially objected, Altamir replied that he was doing so with concern to a possibility that the hatchery, due to these events, was likely compromised and would be unsafe for the little hatchling inside, and so he'd instead be keeping the egg somewhere where he could make absolute sure that no hostile dragon or would-be-assassin could even get to the egg. Upon seeing their continued skepticism in their faces, he then added that he would be willing to hear any questions and/or objections that Coral had when she was in a better state of mind.

With those two (and the rest of the Council) off their backs for now, Altamir and the group of SeaWing dragonets that he'd been accumulating made their way back to 'their' cave in the walls...though he stopped them shortly before they actually went in, as he needed to 'edit' the magic barrier so that the little egg wouldn't 'catch' on that barrier. But when that was done, THEN they went in. Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny were all waiting for them, and they were clearly glad to see everyone else returning.

"Huh? Oh, you guys are back!" Sunny was particularly eager to see their return.

"You went off and did stuff underwater, didn't you?" Glory, though, was much more dry-witted. "Careful, you almost got me worried."

Clay, meanwhile, was a bit more intent on what they were doing. "So, did Coral need help with something? Is that why...?"

"Yes, Clay, it was." Altamir answered as he was getting off of Tsunami with one arm and his legs, holding the egg in his right arm. "Had to go on an admittedly rather grim errand to solve an...issue that she had."

"I do have to say that 'grim errand' definitely describes a lot of..." Starflight was in the middle of probably remarking about how Altamir was constantly doing things involving killing and death when the NightWing then spotted what Altamir was holding. "...wait, is that an...an egg you're holding, Aldy?"

Altamir saw this, and then turned so that the four non-SeaWings could see what he was holding. "Yes. Dragon egg. SeaWing egg, specifically."

"Oh?" Glory quirked her eyebrow towards Tsunami and Riptide. "So that's an egg? Wow, they work fast in the Sea Kingdom, don't they? So then, isn't Riptide your lucky SeaWing?"

Altamir made an admittedly awkward sound and nearly dropped the egg at the sheer audacity of Glory having basically made a joke about...

...oh gods, he supposed that this was what he got for forgetting that the five dragonets were effectively the equivalent of human teenagers. "E-Erm...I...suppose that I can thank you, Glory, for informing me that there's one part of the talk about the birds and the bees that would be redundant with you five...and thanks for reminding me that you're not exactly hatchlings." He then realized that he'd cut off Tsunami as she was about to respond to the ornery RainWing.

"Eh? The talk about the what and the what?" Pike asked, confused.

"Um...y-you'll find out when you're older." Altamir responded to the youngest dragonet not named Anemone while making sure that the egg was alright, and then tried to recompose himself and refocus on the matter at hand...

...though Clay beat him to it first. "Okay, so, joking aside, whose egg is that?"

"It's Coral's egg."

Altamir's answer got all four dragonets' attention immediately, and their eyes widened when they seemed to process what Altamir was holding.

"Oh." Clay mumbled out.

"Uh...okay, yeah, that sounds like it's kind of important..." Glory slowly nodded, "...is that why you were going and helping Coral with...?"

"Yes, Glory, it was and is." Altamir answered. "It also has something to do with the issue of why she was constantly losing her daughters in their eggs."

"It does?" Starflight asked. "And what specifically was going on? Because I'm starting to wonder if I should be worried that you're bringing the Queen's egg to us."

Altamir sighed as he carefully set the egg down against his legs. "Well, if you want the specifics, she was having a rather severe problem of having her daughters constantly being murdered in their eggs by an unknown assailant for the past eight years, with Tsunami and Anemone being the only exceptions to that."

The four dragonets were instantly horrified and disgusted at hearing this...but, regardless, Altamir, Tsunami, and the other SeaWing dragonets explained the situation in detail to them.

When the explaining was done, the four of them were still horrified and disgusted...but Altamir noticed that something else was seeping into their faces.

Disbelief. Oh, and exasperation.

"Wait...it...wha...this...this has happened...twelve times?!" Clay had this sort of tone in his voice that Altamir recognized as the 'you have got to be fucking kidding me' tone that he often heard Togay talk with when someone was doing something absurdly idiotic. "Seriously?!"

"Well, we encountered the aftermath of 'time number twelve', but yes." Altamir nodded, picking up the aforementioned tone in Clay's voice. "And yes, we're serious, and no, we're not kidding."

Sunny opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally managing to squeeze some words out. "I...I could...I could understand the first, the second, or the third, but...TWELVE?!"

"Wouldn't you have just...made a new hatchery long before then? Or at least moved the eggs somewhere...safer?"

"Good question, Clay." Starflight agreed with the MudWing. "Have they...have they ever considered doing something like that? Or...something?"

Anemone shook her head, sounding very frustrated. "No, and they just don't seem to ever WANT to, because apparently, this is 'how it's supposed to be done'! I've even said about how they could do some of what you're suggesting here, but Mother just doesn't wanna listen! She just insists that I'm just being a 'silly little dragonet', and that I'll 'know better' when I'm older...ugh!"

"Like she actually even knows better at all." Glory rolled her eyes so hard that she just about rolled them in the back of her head. "My estimate of the size of the brain in that regal head of her majesty's keeps shrinking and shrinking. I thought she couldn't get any dumber, and yet here I am, disproven again - it was on the floor already with her trusting Whirlpool, but she just had to dig under even that."

Altamir looked around all the dragonets, and then at Tsunami, before burying his forehead in one of his hands. "I think we may have no choice but to admit that Webs very likely unknowingly saved your life by stealing your egg, Tsunami. Granted, that's not saying much, given the whole matter with you and the others being under that mountain for all your life, as well as Scarlet, but still..."

"Yeah, I know, Aldy." Tsunami sighed. "Speaking of...I guess it's up to you as to whether or not you wanna use that as a reason for sparing him..."

"Hmm..." Altamir then breathed between his teeth before carefully picking up the SeaWing Egg again. "...well, I know that I was strongly considering killing him last night, and I will admit that I still am, but I've also done a bit of thinking, and...honestly, at this point, I think my reason for not killing him, if I indeed chose not to, would be because of the question of whether or not there would be any point to it. He's blown his own life the hell up already - he's abandoned his family, he's stolen the queen's egg, he's abandoned his tribe, he abandoned the five of you to constantly have to face Dune and Kestrel's treatment under that mountain, and now he's abandoned the Talons of Peace, rendering all of his previous efforts as being for nothing, and wants to come back to his Queen, expecting her to just forgive him...when we know full well she won't. A not-insignificant part of me thinks that killing him would be needless - he's done, and is doing, a fine job of punishing himself all on his own. I suppose I could...simply go with merely extracting a confession out of him as to why he did what he did...if he can answer me. He can't or doesn't want to, I'll throw him to whoever wants to deal with him for stealing from the Royal Hatchery, whether Coral is an idiot about such a hatchery or not."

This got a resounding shrug out of Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny.

Riptide shrugged as well. "Alright, whatever you wish...just, again, please keep him away from us."

"But of course, Riptide." Then, Altamir looked at the egg again. "Right, we've gotten off topic...since no one else can do the job, apparently, I suppose it's up to us to watch this egg and make sure that the Queen's youngest daughter hatches somewhere safe and sound."

"Great, we're on egg-watching duty." Glory sighed. "Oh well...can I hope that you know what to do here, Aldy? Or, at least, you have an idea of what we're supposed to do."

Altamir began slowly walking forward with the egg to somewhere behind the four non-SeaWing dragonets. "Well, I do remember quite well aiding in raising the dragonets of my old companions when I was in my 'early twenties' in terms of age...if you can make absolute sure that no one can do any harm to the egg, the egg-watching is actually the easiest part, albeit a tad bit boring...it's what comes after the hatching that is harder."

"Little baby dragonets running around everywhere?" Tsunami grinned. "Guess you're just gonna do something 'magic'-related for the egg-protecting stuff?"

"I suppose you know me on that by this point." Altamir shrugged lightly as he kept walking. "I'll just find a nice groove here or make one...then I'll make something to keep the egg warm, something to keep the egg safe from any harm, and something to inform of when the egg hatches and out crawls the little hatchling inside."

So, they found such a spot somewhat a bit deeper in the cave, and then Altamir set everything up. It didn't take him very long to finish setting such up.

"There." Altamir crossed his arms once he was done and the egg was in what he'd made. "Now the egg's all set for hatching...whenever it hatches. Coral did say that the egg would hatch 'any day now', and that other hatchling did look basically fully formed...despite...well..."

He saw Tsunami and the other SeaWings there wince a bit at him saying the last bit, given all that was implied.

Then, Altamir remembered something. "Right...there's the whole matter with Blister."

The wince was harder, only this time, it was specifically Tsunami as well as Clay, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny doing the wincing.

"I know." Altamir scratched his head. "But it needs to be done. I think we've kept her waiting long enough." Then, he looked around at the dragonets again. "Alright...Riptide? Anemone? Turtle? Pike? I want you four to stay around this egg until we get back."

"Got it, Aldy." Anemone nodded, clearly taking to the nickname that her older sister used.

"Good. Now...you five...let's get ready to go. Let's go get this knocked out. Though, a few things first..."

So, after further checking on his left ankle to make sure that nothing was still broken or ruined or whatnot in there or the rest of that leg, and after a brief but necessary further conversation...off they went.

...

Altamir knew that he should have been expecting anything from Blister, expecting her to try and throw him and the Dragonets for a loop, be it intentionally or unintentionally, and so he'd warned the Dragonets about some possibilities in that specific conversation. He expected Blister to try and sweet-talk the dragonets and entice them with flattery, which he warned them about. He expected her to try and get them to relax around her and/or lower their guard, which he warned them about. He expected her to try and separate him from them somehow, which he warned them about. He expected her to try and use the guards to try and either kill/wound him again or seize/kidnap the dragonets from him, which he warned them about. He warned them about these and other things so that they knew not to underestimate Blister or give her trust she didn't deserve, in case she turned out to be the sort of dragon who would do these things, as her antics with Anemone suggested.

Yet, Blister still managed to do something that threw him for a loop. Something very simple and not an indicator of danger in and of itself, but infuriating nonetheless.

Namely, that Blister managed to land on the top level of the Pavilion before he and the dragonets could, and, smelling a rat, he had his dragonets land near the edge on the other side and then only approach her slowly, having his Carbine one motion away.

Blister seemed to pick up on their caution towards him. "Oh...dear me, is this how you normally greet dragons, oh great Altamir?"

"I would perhaps be a little less worried to some extent normally..." Altamir replied sternly, "...however, we have never met you for ourselves, so we do not know exactly what to expect from you. That, and there was also a certain...event earlier this morning."

"And that event?"

"Well, namely, someone tried to assassinate me. And that someone was Sturgeon, a soldier whom Coral had thought loyal and faithful until, against her Queen's orders to give us a wide berth and to not harass any of us, she tried to drive a spear through my back. While I did thankfully manage to be the one to eliminate her instead, the point still stands that we're...on high alert as a result, so it would be well if you could at least try and understand our caution."

"Oh, come now..." Blister had her talons up in a somewhat similar way to how Whirlpool had yesterday. "...I most certainly understand. It's a ghastly thing, trying to assassinate the very human who so bravely rescued the Dragonets of Destiny from Queen Scarlet. And I must say that they are very adorable and clever-looking."

Hm...oh, right, she must have known of them being the designated 'Dragonets of Destiny' from either Morrowseer or perhaps also Coral. And...well, of course she was bringing on the flattery.

Thankfully, the dragonets weren't falling for it, as indicated by Tsunami's response. "Oh...uh, thanks for the compliment, I guess. Now...where are we supposed to be 'properly' meeting?"

"I'm asking the same thing, oh Blister." Altamir agreed with the SeaWing Princess. "Because wherever we're going to be meeting, the guards or soldiers or whatnot need to not be there or anywhere near there. We are wary after this morning's events, and we do not know if there is another potential would-be-assassin running about within their ranks. Though, if you're worried about 'protection', I should be enough. It would be rude of me to let die the dragon we're meeting with, after all."

Altamir saw the expression on Blister's face twinge just a tad bit at him laying this out. For all the flattery and false kindness that he was showing right now, he could see through that veil to notice that she clearly realized that he also would have her in a situation where he could kill her quickly if he wanted her gone. Of course, he wasn't intending to kill her...yet, as he was a man of his word...but he WAS prepared to do so if she tried to pull anything...outlandish with him or the dragonets.

But, she conceded. "Very well, Altamir. It shall be as you wish."

So, Blister went away for a few minutes, and then she came back, and when she did, they then went to the meeting place in question. Indeed, it didn't have any guards in, around, or near, and Altamir had checked.

"Alright...seems that you've kept your word." Altamir nodded when he was finished checking. "So...do know that I am going to be more or less speaking for these five at their request, as they are...a bit wary of the idea of speaking to you by themselves. Now, sit down, Blister. What is it that you wish to discuss?"

"Well, a few things." Blister began as she sat down. "First of all...might I know which is which? I know about Tsunami, the SeaWing Princess, but the others...?"

"The MudWing's named 'Clay', the RainWing's named 'Glory', the NightWing's named 'Starflight', and the SandWing's named 'Sunny'."

"Ah, I see. Now, about the prophecy. Surely, these dragonets have been, say, putting a plan together to fulfill it, haven't they?"

Altamir looked at the dragonets, who suddenly froze. Oh...right. The prophecy. The one that he was fairly sure was made up...and yet here Blister was wondering if the dragonets 'had a plan'.

So, of course, he answered for them. "The prophecy? Oh, yes, we know...though do understand that they've had precious little time to devote to such planning. They've previously been preoccupied by simply getting away from the so-called 'guardians' who 'raised' them, as well as Scarlet, and also getting here and getting at the very least just a bit settled in, so they haven't had the time to just sit down and start planning such a thing previously. Though, I'm going to start working out a plan with them fairly soon, so let's just say, for now, that they're 'working on it'. But regardless, I do hope you understand why we haven't gotten to that until now."

"Hm...well, I suppose that I do. Knowing your brilliance and these dragonets' cleverness, perhaps it shall be relatively soon that you may present such a plan?"

"That's the hope." Then, Altamir decided to address a certain subject. "Now, Blister...I wish to ask about something that I have been waiting to ask about ever since yesterday. So, yesterday, we volunteered to go investigate a dead SkyWing that had been found a few islands away from this palace. When we did, that SkyWing turned out to have wounds consistent with having been killed by a SandWing." Then, he saw Blister opening her mouth to speak, so he stopped her with a pointed finger. "Now, now, I know what you're thinking: how exactly is this germane to anything? Well, if that SkyWing had been...just any other SkyWing, we wouldn't be having this bit of the conversation - we're fairly used to seeing dead SkyWings at this point given that I've had to kill a fair few of them, Scarlet included, to protect these five and get them here. No, the issue is who this SkyWing is in particular."

Blister tilted her head. "And this is...who?"

Altamir looked at the dragonets, who basically motioned 'go ahead', and so he went ahead with it. "Specifically, the SkyWing in question was Kestrel. She was one of the 'guardians' who 'raised', for a matter of 'raise', these five under that cave." Altamir saw Blister's eyes and face shift a bit at him saying this, so it was fairly clear at this point that Blister was the one who did it. "Now, we're not exactly torn up about the fact that she's dead. Far from it, she was a horrendous dragon who certainly was good at making enemies, given her abhorrent personality and how she abused these dragonets in various ways while they were forced to live under her and those other 'guardians' in that cave."

"Well then, what is the problem, Altamir?"

"The problem," Altamir crossed his arms, "is that I had been planning to take Kestrel down. I had been intending to show to these dragonets that I meant and still do mean business when it came to protecting them and getting them to wherever they needed to go, and that those dragons who inflicted or tried to inflict such harm as Kestrel did would not get away with it. Alas, we finally come across her again, and she's already dead. I'm not exactly 'angry' with whoever did it right now...but I am just a tad bit disappointed."

Blister had an eyebrow quirked at being told this bit. "Oh...well then...if I had known that you were out there intending to eliminate her yourself, and if I could have afforded to, then I gladly would have let you end her yourself. But unfortunately, I have my obligations to Queen Coral, and that SkyWing was getting far too close for comfort. Regardless, however, you do have my apologies, Altamir."

Altamir internally noted how quickly Blister admitted to such a thing given that his raised issue was who got the kill rather than that Kestrel was killed. But he still nonetheless noticed that there was...something more to how she said that. He had a suspicion that Kestrel didn't just suddenly stumble there by accident...but rather was instead first led there and then killed there. Not that he felt sorry for Kestrel or anything, of course...

...though, regardless, he put it aside for now. "Very well then, Blister, they're accepted." He then shifted topics. "Oh, and...there was something about 'Animus Training' that came up this morning, before I had to reveal about the fate of King Gill. Is that...something that I unknowingly interrupted?"

Blister, to her credit, didn't raise her hackles at him for it. "Indeed...though I'm sure it was not by intention, of course. I know Coral and her daughters - she loves them to bits and wants the world for them...she'll do anything that she believes can keep them safe. It's rather clear that she saw you, mighty little being who could eliminate Scarlet and large portions of her and Queen Moorhen's armies on your lonesome, and believed that she could finally trust someone to keep her beloved daughters safe at last. Particularly since she has precious few of them, and just lost another one today."

"So, you want for the training to resume?" Altamir then saw the dragonets about to voice objections at him saying this, so he raised a hand to quiet them before looking back at Blister. "I suppose that's something you were about to ask of me?"

"Well, it would certainly be..." Blister then seemed to notice the dragonets reacting the way he did. "...hm? It seems that the dragonets object."

Altamir hated having to do that, talking over the dragonets like he just did, but it was for a good reason. "Mm...I think that they're just a tad bit wary of the idea, given what it involves. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Animus Magic is a very hazardous thing...not exactly what one would call a toy. Particularly given the effects that it can have on those who use it. They've been hearing from Anemone herself about the 'training', and they're very displeased that you and Queen Coral seem...a tad bit unconcerned by the possibility that you might unintentionally cause a repeat of the Royal SeaWing Massacre."

Blister seemed to be trying to form a protest to this. "But...oh, come now, there's no way that such a thing can..."

"Blister, I hate to say this, but their fear isn't exactly unfounded." Altamir replied. "Animus Magic is extremely powerful, and because of that and the effects that it has on its users, it's extremely dangerous to deal with, whether you're the one using it or not. If an Animus Dragon wants someone dead, for instance, then that someone is most likely to indeed die bar an instance of very good luck - I, for example, have seen an Animus Dragon kill other dragons with a paintbrush. A paintbrush. One of the most seemingly absurd things to kill someone with, and he still killed three dragons at once with it." Altamir then looked at the dragonets again before continuing. "Put it simply, they are very worried that poor Anemone might turn into 'Albatross the Second' if you push her too hard and far with this Animus usage - they do not want for everyone in this palace to end up just like the late Queen Lagoon did. A little bit of self-preservation in their objections, I believe."

Blister was silent for a few seconds after Altamir finished. Then, she spoke again. "...is there anything that I can do to allay their concerns so that we can resume this training? It is nonetheless necessary."

"Well, I think one way for that is for me and them to all be present at this 'training', and that I supervise such a thing. I happen to have a lot of experience in dealing with Animus Magic, so this way, I can step in in-case anything goes pear-shaped. That, and perhaps the training could be structured in a way that Anemone would find...tolerable, and not a chore."

Blister didn't seem enthused by this, but she didn't fight it. "...very well then, we'll resume it in the manner that you've advised. Not today, though - the Queen is indisposed due to today's tragedies. Tomorrow."

"Good." Altamir nodded. "Oh, and there's...one more thing."

"Hm?"

"Well, it relates to whether or not the dragonets will support you. Now, I'm sure that you're obviously wanting them to indeed support you...but there's a bit of a...complication. Namely, when they were being 'raised' under that mountain, they were only given rather...limited information about the outside world through the scrolls and whatever those 'guardians' decided to 'teach' them. And what little they were given about you...didn't exactly paint you in the best light to them."

Altamir watched as Blister finally seemed to have something well and truly get under her scales in front of him and the other dragonets in plain view. "WHAT?! But that's...what gave those guardians the idea to do that?! Were they actively trying to poison these dragonets against me?!"

"We don't know." Altamir shrugged. "Though, to be fair, those 'guardians' seemed more preoccupied with mistreating and abusing the dragonets than actually being competent in teaching them anything useful - not only have I had to pick up the slack when it came to the 'actually useful things', but they're also questioning everything that those 'guardians' taught them. As such, you are currently a...bit of an unknown quantity to them. They're not opposed to the idea of supporting you...but they're also not sure if they should do so."

Another bit of silence from Blister. "And...what should I do to gain their support, then? Surely, they know that I abhor the idea of doing as, say, Burn has, don't they?"

"Well, now they do because you just told them." Altamir crossed his arms. "But...if you truly want them to support you, then you must understand that they are very wary and suspicious of most any adult that they've encountered, given what they've gone through at the talons of those 'guardians' and particularly Scarlet. They would not take kindly to some dragon that they've just met trying to push them around, order them about, force them to do things, demand that they do things, lord over them...things like that. They want for dragons to respect their lives, their safety, their freedom. They want to not have to fear capture, kidnapping, or imprisonment."

"And so they would want me to...what exactly?"

"Basically, that you go with the flow, and not against it. Make a point of respecting their wishes, give them space, don't act like you're 'entitled' to their support just because of this or that, and make a point of earning that support instead...and so on. Perhaps it may not be the most exciting news...but it is the most surefire way that you can earn their support."

"...very well, they shall have their wishes." Blister didn't look enthused by this either. "But I do hope, in turn, that they will at least one day support me, and not my brute and idiot sisters."

...

Eventually, the meeting with Blister was done, and Altamir and the dragonets were heading back to 'their' cave. They didn't seem particularly happy, though.

"Well, at least that's over..." Tsunami sighed, "...but why did you even agree to the whole 'Animus training' thing anyways? Even if you are going to 'supervise' it..."

"I know..." Altamir sighed in turn, "...but if I didn't, she'd get suspicious. That, and I do have a mind to show her, albeit without killing her or anyone else, that Animus Magic is not a toy...and that her idea of having Anemone as a weapon is not a wise idea."

"Well, good...because Anemone isn't going to be happy about you having her go back to that stuff again." Glory replied.

Altamir buried his face in her hands. Oh, he knew that she wasn't going to like it...and an Animus Dragon who didn't want to do something would make absolute sure of it. He would have to spin it in a way that would involve her having the opportunity to raise merry hell for her alleged 'trainers' if he was to even hope to be able to do it...though, to be fair, that WAS what he was planning anyways.

But that wasn't going to be the hardest thing that he would have to do here...not even by a longshot. He knew exactly what would be, though.

---

Well, much like yesterday, Tsunami and the others spent the rest of the day doing...basically whatever. She was definitely glad for the time to be able to mentally sort through the stuff that they'd...had to deal with today.

First, the news that her father, King Gill...was dead. Yeah, that...that...that was still a pretty painful sting...knowing that her dad was dead before she ever got to meet him, (and especially at seeing how Anemone and Turtle reacted). Just like with Clay's dad. Though...how did he even last that long under Scarlet? She had a feeling that Scarlet probably let him 'live' so long because she was toying with him or something and then got bored and decided to kill him, knowing how that mad SkyWing Queen was.

Then, she and the others somehow endured half an hour of Whirlpool in his not-exactly-completely-helpful Aquatic Lessons. Riptide was pretty spot on in describing the oily old SeaWing as her Mother's 'favorite method of torture'...Whirlpool was beyond painful to deal with. At least Altamir was able to cover for them and end it so that the torment could end with it.

But then came the whole deal with Sturgeon.

Tsunami should have known that some assassin was going to try and come after one of them eventually...but still, the sound of Altamir in pain, and the sight of him injured and unable to walk after having landed wrong, were both still stuck in her head, and she would be lying if the realization that Altamir, someone who usually was more than able to deal with any threat that came their way, was injured and needed their help, was something that wasn't terrifying - she remembered how panicked she was when such a realization hit her, and it made things sink in that Altamir, strong as he was, wasn't invincible, and that there was still the very real possibility of dying if they all weren't careful enough. At least he was able to fix up his leg and get it working again, but still...yikes.

Also a 'yikes' thing was what that little shooting thing of his had done to Sturgeon. Oh, now she certainly didn't feel bad for Sturgeon at all, given that the dragon had tried to murder the human who had saved her and her friends from so many enemy dragons, and at least she knew now that the thing worked in taking out enemy dragons, but still...ew. Just...ew. She had not expected to, nor had she been wanting to, see a dragon with an eye blown out and everything inside falling out, thanks a bunch. At least it was satisfying to see Whirlpool freaking the moons out upon being presented with that armor that had somehow mysteriously gone missing under his watch...

...or was that really what happened? She had a feeling that Whirlpool was trying to cover his own tail.

Oh, and there was also the whole deal with the hatchery. That sucked. That really sucked. It sucked because an innocent little hatchling was murdered in her egg, and it also sucked because Coral and her Council didn't seem to be able to gather their brains up enough to realize that they maaaaaayyyybe should have started moving their eggs somewhere else after the second or third time, leaving her Altamir, and the other SeaWings in their group to have to clean the mess. Oh, and now they were on egg-watching duty because of it. Granted, she obviously did feel bad for Coral losing yet another one of her daughters, especially with how she just...broke like that, but...yeah. Oh, and it also sucked because Orca was a crazy Animus Magic user who was willing to kill her own sisters just to be able to get her stupid hide on that throne. There was that too. Oh, and there was that they couldn't tell Coral that Orca did it because it would probably shatter Coral for good.

And then was when they had to finally meet Blister...uuuuuuuuuuugh. That SandWing was doing the same stupid flattery/fake-nice nonsense as Whirlpool was, and her whole demeanor was just...off. Yeah, Tsunami was starting to suspect that Blister may or may not have had something to do with the whole 'assassination attempt' against Altamir...especially since she seemed all up and indignant that he daaaaaared get in the way of the Animus Training stuff, even if he'd never 'meant' it.

Though, she wasn't exactly thrilled that Altamir had even agreed to restart that stuff at all. Granted, she and the others DID understand why - even Anemone herself once he reluctantly told her - and it sounded like he was going to make it less irritating for Anemone, and so that she could have an opportunity to mess with those 'trainers' just a 'little' bit...but still, they were seriously playing with some dangerous stuff. Tsunami REALLY did not want to end up like those dragons who died in the Royal SeaWing Massacre...she hoped Altamir knew what he was doing.

But either way...again, they all had the rest of the day to themselves because Coral was apparently going to be 'out' until tomorrow because of mourning her lost mate and another lost daughter. The reason why definitely sucked, but again, Tsunami was glad for it. They spent that rest of the day doing things like eating, swimming, learning more Aquatic (the useful kind, not Whirlpool's fancy nonsense), watching the egg that they were now looking after, discussing strategies for what to do with certain dragons and with certain situations, getting to know what Gill was like from what Turtle and Anemone knew of him...things like that.

Eventually, things started getting dark outside, which made it very clear that it was nighttime.

The others were starting to get settled in for the night, and Tsunami would have, too...

...but there was one who wasn't quite doing that.

Altamir.

The human was standing in front of the little glowing cube-shaped magic thingy that he'd put the egg in, staring at the egg inside. He definitely seemed unhappy about something...granted, that was basically all the time because of the whole 'Scorching' thing (damn it, Bloodfang), but now, maybe it was also because of the whole deal with Anemone? Or because someone had tried to assassinate him? Or because he'd had to see a hatchling having been murdered? Or all of those put together? Stuff like that?

He was also looking...a bit exhausted, though. Probably from having to deal with everything that happened today.

Tsunami slowly walked over to where he was standing and looking at the egg. He didn't outwardly show that he knew that she was there, but Tsunami could tell that he did.

And so she decided to talk to him. "Aldy."

"Tsunami."

"Kinda noticed that something's on your mind. You're standing there looking at the egg instead of going to sleep like the rest of us are."

Altamir kept staring at the egg. If it weren't for anything else, she would have thought that he was somehow trying to make the egg hatch just by staring at it long and hard enough.

"What is it, Aldy? What's keeping you here? What's keeping you from going to sleep? Something that happened today?"

Altamir then sighed. "Part of it. But..."

"...but?"

"...there's...also...what happened in...the Arena. What I saw that day, what happened that day."

Tsunami's eyes widened a bit. "Oh. Uh...is that what's keeping you up? I mean, I get it if it is..."

"...it is."

"...you need to talk about it or something?"

Altamir sighed. "I...I...yes. With you. You alone."

"...okay. Uh..." Tsunami looked around in the cave briefly. "...maybe we can find somewhere in this thing where we can talk without waking the others up. Come on, on my back."

So, with a bit of hesitation from him aside, Altamir was on Tsunami's back as she went to find a place in the palace-wall cave where they could talk. At least it didn't take them long, thankfully...soon, they found a spot, and Tsunami sat down on her belly.

Altamir was also-soon standing in front of her again, looking at the ground. He was quiet for a bit, before Tsunami got his attention again.

"Right...so...the arena?"

Altamir was silent for a bit longer, before he finally answered. "It's...about Gill. What became of him. How he died."

---

Wow...this chapter was long...at least length-wise. Not writing-time wise, though - even though it's longer than last chapter in terms of length, it's taken less time than last chapter in terms of how long I've been writing it.

Anyways...Altamir encounters Blister and Morrowseer for the first time, and gets a taste of their scheming ways. He's already decided that he likes neither dragon.

Then, he has to break it to Coral and the Council that Gill is dead. That sucks. He's not telling exactly what happened, though...

Hmm...it's very interesting that Whirlpool chose that specific cave for the Aquatic Lessons...he might be scheming something with regards to that vulnerability in the Summer Palace's defenses.

Okay, so I will admit that I might have gotten just a tad bit on-level with 'Arctic's death' when it came to the 'gory' factor with the whole scene of Sturgeon trying to assassinate Altamir. Though, I also put in the bit where Altamir injures himself to show that he's not entirely invincible, and that the dragonets will have to still take SOME care in their adventures and whatnot. Oh, and I had the dragon with the armor be this original character instead of Whirlpool because if I didn't, then Whirlpool would already be dead.

And...the hatchery. Yeah, I don't think I'm alone in my belief that Coral is kinda-sorta not-so-bright, especially when it comes to the whole matter of how her hatchlings are continuously dying in the Royal Hatchery, and yet she still insists on putting her eggs in there without considering moving them somewhere else or building a new hatchery instead. I do intend on trying to explore as to just WHY Coral is the way she is later on in the fic so as to try and flesh her out and all, but...oh well, at least Altamir and Tsunami are there to save her very last daughter-egg...and keep the little girl somewhere actually safe.

And then Altamir and our Dragonets of Destiny have to actually meet Blister. Oh, what fun. I did try and write Blister as being someone who, despite her ego, at least somewhat knows when to hold and when to fold, given that she's dealing with someone who could end her in an instant despite his small size, so as to not render her 'brilliance' as being entirely without merit. Though, Altamir already knows what's up...

Oh...and Altamir finally has to reveal about what REALLY happened with Gill. It's not going to be a pretty or pleasant conversation.

Well...anyways...I'll...see you next chapter.

(wow, this one was long)