Hema

With a start, you wake up, a loud horn ringing in your ears. It’s startling, and it rings out again, this time to the sound of several dragons grumbling in their sleep, others starting to rustle their wings as they climb to their feet, to get ready for the day ahead.

It almost feels wrong, to be witness to them in such a moment of vulnerability, but before you can ponder it too long, your stomach growls, alerting you to the fact that you skipped out on dinner the day before, too nervous to eat. It wouldn’t do to forget to eat now, not when it seems that food is going to be provided for everyone, instead of having everyone scavenge on their own.

With a shake, you stand up to the sound of the third blow of the horn, realizing that in the middle of the night, someone had come along and placed furs over top of you. No wonder you hadn’t woken up from the cold, though you have to question your own abilities for not being disturbed at all by the sudden weight on you.

But you can think about that later. So far, the dragons here seem nice, and you have plenty more of them to meet in the coming hours, and you want to have a full stomach to do so. With a sigh at the lost warmth and safety, you step out from the little alcove you sequestered yourself in, and carefully sneak around the crowd of dragons getting up.

It’s a bit hard to remain unseen, with the glowing moss everywhere, but you make do, and soon enough you make it to the entrance of the cave, squinting in the light.

It really is just dawn, like Kero would say the meal would be held.

Not wanting to be in the way of anyone, or accidentally sit where someone else would normally be, you set to circling the outside of the small clearing, trying to keep track of the dragons slowly trickling out of the cave. There’s a trio of spirals, all circling in and out of each other, making it impossible to tell how many there are except by counting the heads. Past them, there’s an Imperial, trailed by a Skydancer, both with yellow wings almost touching. There’s a pearlcatcher looking rather put out staring at a skydancer coatl pair, the two in matching lace flowers, with a duo of younger pearlcatchers hanging around their feet.

In fact, despite what you’re used to, it’s rather calm here. Sure, they might get rowdy in the future, but many of the dragons here don’t look like the type. Like the guardians just lumbering out of the cave, yawning and with bleary eyes.

Maybe it’s that they just got up, but it seems like everyone is calm here, and that suits you just fine. Calm dragons mean that you’re less likely to be kicked out, even if they don’t like you.

Satisfied with your assessment of the clan, you settle down in a shaded spot, just out of direct line of sight of where the fire was last night. It’s the most likely place for the clan to gather after all, and your suspicious are proven correct as the early risers circle round, and the stragglers start to filter in.

You startle as a trio of shadows fly overhead, two massive dragons, even bigger than Kero was, and one much smaller but still just as intimidating as the others, even as it seems to trail behind.

Each of them carries a large sack, and they circle the clearing a few times to lose height, before dropping into the grass.

It’s only then that you see the bags are full of loot from what must have been fierce battles. One bag holds wriggling fish and crawling insects, another holds chunks of meat piled on top of vines and the third holds all sorts of trinkets toys and rocks, sparkling in the dawn light.

They must have been in the coliseum, grabbing food for the clan.

As you debate whether to step forwards to grab some of the meat that’s invitingly just out in the open, one of the great hulking dragons turns your way. She really in intimidating, spines on her back all stood up, wings a bright blood red, almost four times as tall as you ever will be.

You can only imagine this is what you looked like to the clan full of only feys you once lived in three years ago.

She doesn’t say anything, but she does nod her head in acknowledgement, which still gives away your position to the other members of the clan, some of whom shoot looks your way, even though you still remain hidden behind some branches. They seem a faint comfort now, not nearly enough to hide behind as you now have more than one dragon focused on you.

That is, until the little matriarch of the clan flies up and bellows out as loud as she can, “Time to start our day everybody!” It comes out tinny and small, but you have to appreciate the effort, and the effect it has on the others. All eyes draw to her, ready to listen to what she has to say.

“Now, we must welcome three new members of our clan tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. We aren’t quite certain, but that’s three new mouths to feed, and three new little dragons to find good homes for, and I hope we’re prepared to raise them up well and proper, to help out Celosia and Athos.”

A cheer runs through the assembled dragons, and a low rumble comes from the trio of Ridgebacks.
“And Mortemer, Aja, Impa’s little hatchlings will be with you today, as you requested them. I hope you can wrangle four hatchlings and your job at once.”

The sleepy guardians nod their head solemnly.

“Finally, though she arrived late last night, and seems to be hiding now, I want all of us to give a warm welcome to the newest member of the clan. As with all arrivals here, she has a past, but Glade Burrow doesn’t care for that. She is new to us, and thus, we will give her time to find her feet, and if need be, let her take wing.”

That sets off another cheer, and then, as a group, they tuck into the food set before them, politely ignoring the fact that you have tried and failed to hide yourself from view.

Thankful for the bit of privacy they’re letting you have, you watch as they all sort through the piles of food to find what they like best. The trio of ridgebacks must have been up far before dawn to have amassed enough to feed the clan for the day, and they don’t seem tired at all. In fact, they’re the most alert and awake of the clan.

It doesn’t take long for the things to be picked over, and you spot the two guardians, now trailed by a quartet of hatchlings, digging through the piles of trinkets. They must be sorting them out into useful and non-useful things, though the way they pile things up is hard to decipher from a distance. You’re almost tempted to go over and check, and possibly meet your next two, or rather six, dragons, when a shadow passes in front of you.

The ridgeback who spotted you. She really is more intimidating up close, all spiky and not soft at all like some of the other dragons look like. You would rather not talk to her or her two compatriots at all if you could. Fighting dragons have never worked out all that well for you in the past.

Before you can shrink back further than about a foot though, she speaks, and it’s much softer than you expect.

“Hello there, little one. You seem a bit lost.”

Her voice is almost ethereal, and you unconsciously lean forwards a bit, to better catch what she’s saying.

“It’s ok to partake in the morning meal, there’s no need to be afraid of the dragons of our lair.”

She seems truly sincere about it, but you still have reservations. Sure, they covered you last night when you might have gotten cold, and so far no one has tried to throw you out, but there have been times where it took a few weeks for colors to show.

“I see that you aren’t one to trust quickly. Well, I can’t show you just how trustworthy we are in one day, but I hope that one day you will trust us.”

You hope that you can trust them too, but you aren’t holding your breath for it. Not yet anyways.
“I am Hema. If you require any items that the clan does not have, I am the one you should come to. Whether that be a particular cloth, or an obscure fish, I keep track of the things that come from monsters. I can teach you, if that is something you wish to learn.”

You shake your head. Nothing that good has come from you learning to fight in the past.

“So be it. You are always welcome to come with us to the coliseum if you so wish, even if its just to watch. You would be surprised the things you can learn by just watching and not participating. It might not be as good, but I’m not someone who’s used to training.”

She looks off to the side, presumably at the other two fighters.

“It seems we’ve neglected our familiars while we were away. Would you like to meet them?”

She says it with a smile on her face, and you can only nod, and so you follow her out into the fray, where other dragons can see you. It’s gut wrenching, but you have a purpose, and you have a guide to it, so you can say that you have a thing to do, which is rather helpful to calm your nerves, even if it doesn’t reduce them all the way.

“I call my little snarler Charlie. Nikki has Bill. And Spine has Ali.”

With racing thoughts, you try to remember those names, but they seem to slip out of your head. You already have so many that you have to keep track of and looking up at the trio of familiars in a pile, the only difference between them looks to be their color.

The only good thing about it is that the other two dragons they belong two are out of sight, and thus you won’t have to deal with them quite yet.

That is, until you feel a shadow pass over you, and the other female ridgeback lands right in front of you.

This isn’t going to be fun.