Atramenti

Wishlist -- Secondary Gene: Toxin, Tertiary Gene: Thylacine.

Like all dragons hatched into his original clan, he hardly knew his actual parents, instead being raised by a dragon assigned to the task. He wasn't there for very long, either. As soon as he could move about on his own, a tundra dragon came to take him to what he was told would be his new home. He had no name. This was intentional on his clan's part. Unbeknownst to him, the clan took care of and sold its young. He had been purchased. However, the world was still very new to him. There was no "normal" yet. He'd formed no bonds yet, though he was a little bewildered by all the rapid change. There was simply what was, and what was not.

He huddled into the tundra dragon's fur on her back as the wind whipped overhead and the temperature began to drop. It was getting colder...and it didn't seem like it was going to stop getting colder. Eventually, the pair arrived in the Southern Icefield's Snowaquall Tundra. The older dragon happily trotted along, telling the hatchling that they were part of a big herd, and that he would be a great help to them. She also went on about how she was the only one among them who could fly, and so she had been the one sent to find help. None of it really made sense to him, but then again, not much did. He was still quite young.

Finally, they arrived at their herd. And a herd it was. The tundra dragon went directly to one of the centaurs that was milling about, and completely ignoring those who were going about their business. She announced to this prominent centaur that she had found a young dragon, just like she had asked for. This centaur lady wasn't anything like he had seen before...and she scared him. She had a piercing, stern gaze, and didn't have even a bit of kindness about her.

There was a brief exchange between the two females, the centaur asking if the dragon was sure that he would be appealing to other dragons, even after he was grown, and the tundra dragon assuring her that she thought so. The centaur smiled, but there was no warmth in it. She commended the tundra for her work and motioned a couple other centaurs over. She alluded to some reward for doing so well, and the tundra dragon was both overjoyed and humbled. She walked off with the other centaurs, leaving the young dragon with the frigid one. That was the last time he saw that tundra dragon...

He still didn't have a name. He was being trained on how to forage by the centaurs -- his herd, they said -- but he still hadn't been given a name. Not unless you counted "dragon." He was given no room to complain, but he was allowed to ask questions. The centaur overseeing him changed on a whim, but they all answered to that one centaur he'd been brought to when he'd arrived yesterday. It seemed like everything was rushed...

He asked the centaur in charge what happened to the other dragon, and why he was here. She was surprisingly upfront with him, not that he really understood the concept of death yet. Throughout the conversation, he learned that the centaur herd had found an abandoned dragon egg, and that the tundra dragon had come from that egg. She accepted them as her family, but these were not Dunhoof centaurs. These were enemies of dragons...and they were looking to uproot a nearby dragon clan and take over their old territory. They used the naive tundra dragon to try to divert the clan's attention, and to get at them from the inside. This clan had taken in other dragons before, and the tundra dragon was loyal to her "family." The plan had failed...but a younger, less assuming dragon would perhaps yield better results. That was why he was here. He was to gain the clan's sympathies and make them vulnerable.

What else could he do? He was too young not to agree, already being used to the whims of those older than him, and these centaurs were frightening creatures. The centaur leader did mention that they had to work fast... Already, he was growing, and the younger he was, the better for their plan. She acknowledged that dragons were practically adults by the time they were five days old. That was part of the rush to get him prepared for his part.

The plan was set in motion. The unnamed dragon foraged around in the clan's territory. And, sure enough, he was found by one of their border guards. He told the story he was expected to: that he was hungry, cold, and lost, and that was why he was taking from the clan's resources. As he was explaining his faux situation, another of the clan's dragons arrived, asking what was going on. They were both guardians, but one was darker and bigger. He was the one who had happened upon the hatchling.

The bigger dragon, Hiemis, told the smaller dragon, Lapideus, to return to the clan with the young dragon. Something was happening...but the hatchling didn't know what. Suddenly, some of the centaurs charged out of the brush and attacked. Hiemis took up a threatening stance, spreading his wings protectively and lowering his head menacingly. Lapideus joined him, and the two drove off the centaurs, protecting the frightened hatchling the entire time.

When he was taken back to their lair, he was shaken. He told the dragons there his entire story, including the lead centaur's plan to drive them out. His information was appreciated, and he was offered a place with them. It took some time -- he needed to recover from the shock, first -- but eventually, he agreed. And, finally, he gained his name and had a home and a clan.

As for the herd of centaurs, they may have moved on to easier territory. They had lost their "allied" dragons, after all, and could not achieve victory over this clan of dragons by force alone. Not yet, at least. Maybe someday.

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