Rudolph

---

Rudolph's father visited often, to Rudolph and his mother's happiness. And to everyone else's disgust, since most of them weren't happy that one of their Wildclaws fell in love with a Tundra.

Rudolph distinctly remembers one of his father's visits, since something strange happened that day. When his dad arrived, Rudolph greeted him excitedly, showing off a pair of canines that were starting to grow. Then his mother came, smiling, and they started chatting. Like most visits.

Then Rudolph spotted Needle (a clanmate Rudolph and his parents didn't particularly like, for he constantly fought against letting Rudolph stay in the clan) speaking with Sabre (the clan leader, who Rudolph and his parents liked more, for he fought against throwing Rudolph out). Needle was casting glances at the Tundra, as if he had committed some sort of wrong. Sabre said something to Needle that Rudolph didn't hear, then Needle said something to Sabre that Rudolph (and all of the other clanmates) did hear.

"That hatchling is going to do nothing but take up our food stores, He can't possibly hunt or fight with his black fur!"

The clan fell into silence. Everyone stared at the pair. Needle, realizing he had spoken too loud, lowered his head a bit in embarrassment.

"Needle," Sabre said. "We cannot be sure as of right now. Rudolph hasn't grown yet."

There was more silence, before the clan resumed to whatever they were doing.

Rudolph's dad stared at Needle. "Nemesis," he mumbled, before turning to speak with Rudolph's mother again.

Later that day, a Wildclaw named Aspen brought Rudolph a large piece of meat for dinner. Aspen was a nice dragon, and was also one of his mom's best friends, so Rudolph was happy to see him. When Aspen left, Rudolph nearly took a large bite out of his dinner when his father's large, fluffy paw pushed him back.

His father sniffed at the meat and growled quietly. He then turned to Rudolph. "Smell," he commanded. And so Rudolph smelled the meat. It smelled like rabbit and Aspen. It also smelled faintly like his other clanmates and... something strangely sweet.

"Do not eat this," the Tundra said. He then turned to his mother and spoke with her. Her expression became horrified, and she quickly snatched the meat away and left the den. She soon returned with another piece, which she handed to his dad for him to smell. He then gave it to Rudolph. "Smell," he said again.

Rudolph smelled again. It still smelled like rabbit, and like his mother. But that was it.

"It's safe," Rudolph's dad said. "You can eat." And so Rudolph ate.

---

Rudolph had always assumed his clanmates, barring Needle, liked him. After all, none of them openly questioned Rudolph’s place in his own home. They treated him like any other hatchling, lighting up when he scampered over excitedly to say hi and pretending to be amazed whenever he showed off some random object he found that looked cool.

One day, Rudolph found a rock that looked vaguely like a Wildclaw head. He picked it up and spotted a group of three adults, talking to each other while semi-obscured by a den. He started charging towards them, ready to show off his latest findings.

“I know Sabre says the kid could be useful, but I’m not so sure.”

Rudolph stopped.

“Why should we spend resources on a child if we’re not even sure he’ll be helpful to us later?” said a voice Rudolph recognized as Bane.

“Exactly! Unless his fur suddenly turned white, I don’t think he’ll be hiding in the snow in the future,” said Blue, another voice Rudolph recognized.

“Besides,” said another voice, which belonged to a Wildclaw named Maverick. “Who knows what’ll happen with a hybrid like Rudolph?”

“His Tundra half is definitely not going to help him fight,” Blue agreed.

“Or think. You know how infamously bad Tundras are at thinking, right?” Maverick added.

“I think you mean remembering things,” Bane muttered.

“Yeah, of course,” Maverick said.

Rudolph didn’t want to listen anymore. He ran off to his own den and glumly plopped down in the snow, unable to think about anything other than his clanmates’ words.

Soon, the Wildclaw named Bane approached Rudolph. “What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

Rudolph didn’t answer.

Bane looked down at Rudolph, looking as if he was thinking. Suddenly, he grabbed the small rock Rudolph had found. “Hey, Rudolph,” he said. “Look at this. It looks like a Wildclaw head, right?”

“Hey, Bane!” Blue’s voice called. “We gotta go hunt now!”

“Coming!” Bane called back. He placed down the rock and started walking away.

Rudolph saw him look back. His expression was indecipherable.

---

The next time Rudolph’s dad visited, he took Rudolph on a trip around the territory. Rudolph always loved walking around the territory and playing in the snow, but his father seemed more focused on finding something.

Soon, they stopped by a bush with pretty red berries growing on them. "Smell," he said. Something felt familiar about this, but Rudolph couldn't exactly tell why as he sniffed the berries. They were strange-smelling. "Poison. Do not eat them at all costs or you will die," his father said, before moving on.

Rudolph glanced back at the berries as he followed his father. How could something so nice-looking kill him?

They stopped by multiple other plants. Each time, Rudolph was told to smell the plants, and then was told whether they were safe or poisonous.

"Poison. Do not eat them, or you'll be sick for days."

"Safe. Very sweet, eat them whenever you want."

"Poison, but only too much. You can eat one or two, but I wouldn't risk it."

"Safe, but bitter. I ate them once as a hatchling. Never again."

"Safe. Not the sweetest, but not horrible. Very healthy."

And then they stopped by a bush with strange, purple berries growing on them. Even before his father told him to, Rudolph smelled them.

Suddenly, memories came back of his father's previous visit, with the strange-smelling meat that his father didn't want him eating. The berries had the same sweet smell.

"Poison," his father growled. "Do not eat them. You. Will. Die."

---

Only when Rudolph got home did it really dawn on him that he nearly got poisoned.

Some of the Wildclaws were confused as to why Rudolph kept sniffing his food before eating it. Most of them brushed it off as a Tundra thing.

---

Sometimes, Rudolph's father took him on more trips, where he showed Rudolph healing herbs (though Rudolph's father always said that, if there's medicine, it'll do a much better job than plants) and other strange plants (like prickly ones that hurt when you touch them, or ones that give you a rash if your skin rubs against it). Sometimes, his father would test him by showing him the plant scents and telling him to identify it by what it does. Soon, Rudolph knew everything he could about plants.

Other times, they would simply play in the snow. Sometimes, they made snow dragons. Other times, Rudolph pranced around as if he was hunting, and his father complimented him. Sometimes, his mother joined them, and they all had fun together. She would also teach Rudolph the proper way to hunt, which he got the hang of quickly.

Sometimes, Aspen would call Rudolph's mom over, and she would have to leave. Sometimes, it was a Wildclaw named Yeti. Sometimes, it was Needle. But no matter, she would have to leave.

---

Yeti was a strange Wildclaw.

“Don't call him strange," Rudolph's mom said when he voiced this thought aloud. "He's just curious."

Rudolph thought he was strange because, ever since he was a hatchling, Yeti would visit and ask questions about him. Things like, "Does your coat feel like it's growing thicker?" and "Can you still glide with all that fur?" Once, he brought in a bundle of plants and asked if he was able to eat it. Rudolph recognized it as plants his father said were safe, so he ate them all. The plants tasted strange, but Yeti seemed pleased.

He was much less pleased when Rudolph threw up the plants later. Shaking his head, Yeti muttered to himself, "Strictly carnivorous, like a Wildclaw, it seems." He then apologized, so Rudolph forgave him, realizing he didn't mean to make him sick.

Another time, Yeti suggested that Rudolph should attempt to fly. Rudolph climbed a large rock and jumped off, realizing too late he never practiced flying. He scraped his arm against the rock as he plummeted to the ground. When Rudolph mustered the energy to stand up again, he saw Yeti, back turned to him, muttering to himself again. “Subject didn’t make it far at all. Was it solely inexperience, or does his fur weigh him down too?” It wasn’t until Rudolph tapped his shoulder when Yeti realized he was bleeding.

As Rudolph grew older, he realized Yeti was like a scientist, trying to figure out how a Wildclaw/Tundra hybrid worked. When he asked if there were other hybrids like him, Yeti said that there most definitely were, but every one of them were different.

Yeti was nice, Rudolph decided.

---

One day, an argument broke out in the clan.

Of course, it started with Needle and Sabre discussing Rudolph. Rudolph had grown much older, and, to his mother's worry, Needle's concern about Rudolph not being able to hunt was correct; prey could spot him coming from a mile away with his dark fur (compared to the other Wildclaws' light scales). There was also worry that his fur would heat him up too much to fight like a Wildclaw.

Some clanmates sided with Needle, arguing that a dragon who can't hunt and may not fight will only be a burden. Some sided with Sabre, saying that they could potentially train him to hunt and fight differently, despite his dark fur or even using it to their advantage. A select few suggested shaving him. Yeti and Aspen were on Sabre's side, to Rudolph's relief.

And then Needle screeched out, "We will duel, Sabre! Whoever wins is right!"

Everyone stopped talking, looking as Sabre to see what he would say. Rudolph's mother, who was standing by Rudolph for comfort, was terrified. "Don't accept, Sabre, please," she begged to herself. "He'll kill you."

But Sabre nodded. "I accept."

With that, the rest of the clan promptly backed away.

The two Wildclaws faced each other. Needle's eyes, the color of ice, blazed with anger. Sabre appeared much calmer.

"We will fight," Sabre said. "In three... two... one..."

---

Sabre laid on the ground, covered in wounds.

To Rudolph and his mother's surprise, Needle didn't kill him. In fact, he seemed like he was restraining himself, trying not to would Sabre too much. But Needle won, which meant he could kick Rudolph out, or, worse, kill him.

Needle turned to Rudolph. Dread overcame him as the Wildclaw approached.

Aspen stepped forward to intercept him. "I won the duel," Needle reminded him as he shoved past him. His golden eyes were filled with fear.

Needle stopped a few feet in front of Rudolph, who was almost Needle's height now. Rudolph's mother braced herself to protect her child.

"When your father comes next time," Needle said. "You'll leave with him. From that point on, you're no longer a part of our clan, but the Tundras'."

"Wait!" Yeti called, charging towards Needle. "He'll starve with the Tundras! He can't eat plants like them and he can't hunt!"

"It's either that or Rudolph eats away at our own stores for doing nothing," Needle said.

"But-!"

Needle's eyes narrowed in disgust. "Besides, you're only defending him because he was your test subject, aren't you?"

Yeti's mouth opened as if he was going to speak, but no words came out.

Rudolph started feeling a bit bitter.

And then Needle turned back towards Rudolph. "I will not harm you. I am not that kind of dragon. But I do not want you here," he growled. He then walked back to Sabre, where a crowd of dragons were helping him up.

---

It was the day after the duel. Rudolph's mother was desperately trying to figure out how Rudolph could hunt so, at the very least, he could survive with the Tundras. As she wondered whether hunting at night would work, Rudolph smelled Yeti approaching. The feeling of bitterness returned.

Rudolph's mother saw Yeti moments later and greeted him happily, as if he didn't admit to not caring about her son. "Hello, Dire. May I speak with Rudolph for a moment, please?" he asked. His mother nodded and stepped aside, letting the two speak.

Before Yeti could speak, Rudolph growled, "You only see me as a test subject, don't you?"

"I..." Yeti began. "Perhaps I did. But that's no way to look at a living being, is it?"

"It isn't," Rudolph mumbled.

"It isnt," Yeti repeated. "And I apologize. I realized how horrible it might've been to hear that from Needle."

Rudolph nodded. He didn't feel as bitter as before.

Yeti nodded back. And then he turned around and walked back to camp.

(WIP)