Orion

---

Resdayn shook his soaking fur in vain, trying to get at least some of the water out. Unfortunately, the mire was even wetter than usual today, a steady downpour of rain adding to the already waterlogged ground.

"Elk, are you certain they fled this way?" He finally growled. There had been no sign of the fugitives they were chasing for hours now, and Resdayn was ready to call the hunt off. Icewarden knows the others would appreciate it.

"i'm certain, boss, there's noises from this way!" the blue gaoler seemed oblivious to the water, and bounded off with a great splash. Resdayn considered making him the lead of any bad-weather expedition, before deciding Elk was too easily distracted to lead a squad.

And just like that, he heard Elk give a high-pitched squeal.

Resdayn barreled through the Mire's thick foliage, hoping that the hunt was finally back on for these fugitives. He stopped dead when he reached Elk's position, the blue Gaoler looking back at Resdayn with his eyes open wide in embarrassment.

"i didn't mean for it to be that loud" Elk said softly

Resdayn couldn't blame him, however. The two banescale hatchlings huddling together in a hollow tree stump were absolutely adorable and he found himself fighting back the urge to coo over them both.

"Well, at least it wasn't a total loss today," Resdayn rumbled as he inspected the hatchlings closer, "we may have lost our fugitives, but we found some hatchlings. I'm certain their parents will be very happy to have them back."

---

Their parents, as it turned out, didn't seem to actually exist.

The Rotriver Gaolers had brought the duo back to their base of operations and begun the search for their parents, but every lead turned up empty. No dragon, Banescale or otherwise, seemed to know the two.

The duo, meanwhile, had made themselves quite at home with their mischief.

The darker one, whom Vaille had taken to calling Orion, was a master at sneaking about unseen. The hatchling somehow knew just what to take to cause a mass search throughout the entire manor, eventually ending in several dragons chasing a speedy hatchling down a hall as it carried some comically large item or another in a fantastic game of keep-away.

The lighter-colored sibling, whom Elk had named Cygnus, had seemed to be much better behaved, always following someone around and beeping gently for attention. That is, until they found him sitting atop a pile of missing valuables that they had attributed to his brother.

Removing Cygnus from this pile had ended up proving that 'Cygnus' was, in fact, a very accurate name.

The pale hatchling had apparently made a game out of finding any hidden valuables, even those in safes or lockboxes, and hiding them away with no intent on letting their owners find them again.

To say that watching the duo was turning out to be an exhausting endeavor was an understatement. The Gaolers could only be thankful that the other young Banescales of the Houndstooth clan were much better behaved, and seemed to discourage the thieving tendencies over all.

Cygnus and Orion had found an excellent playmate in Reign, at least. The three would chase the furniture down the hallways in mad delight, cackling and screeching all while a sofa or bookcase or what-have-you caused chaos in the halls as it tried to escape the trio of terrors. Vaille took small comfort in the fact that these shenanigans tired the two budding thieves out enough that they'd nap the rest of the day.

The other Banechildren played with the two just fine, though Reign was most certainly their best friend. Sunder liked to play-fight with Orion, with her winning frequently, while Basilisk enjoyed stealing whatever toy the twins were playing with and initiate a game of keep-away, chirping little tunes all the while. Klaus and Krampus seemed to enjoy climbing and flying contests, which Orion and Cygnus excelled at, though, frequently these contests required a hatchling or two or four requiring rescue.

Ultimately, despite their thievery, the two Banescales fit right in with the rest of Vaille's adopted children and it felt wrong to not give them a home when they had none.

---

Titan sat at the middle of the garden, watching several dragons chase Orion around for some important scroll or parchment (including Cygnus, though it was more likely he was chasing the tails of his brother's pursuers). He tilted his head to one side, then the other. The multi-eyed mass of fur and horn that Titan had declared his best friend after discovering it in the Labyrinth watched him with mild interest, for Titan wasn't particularly known for being the brightest bulb in the box.

"Hey Glacier," the golden Gaoler finally rasped after several more head tilts, "y'know how th' twins 're black, white, 'n purple? Whell wasn't that th' colors of those two guys Res was chasing?"

Glacier's ears immediately perked with interest, though he kept the rest of himself looking as disinterested as possible "What two guys?" Glacier rumbled, looking intently at Titan with all of the eyes he could manage.

"y'know, those two that escaped last month. Th' brothers that stole all that stuff from th' temple" Titan wheezed

Glacier came to a very uncomfortable realization that Titan was right, as he watched Bermuda hoist Orion into the air, only to nearly drop him as Cygnus chomped down onto the guardian's tail. The banescale twins bore a very uncanny resemblance to the two Ridgeback thieves that had so expertly eluded Resdayn's tracking party.

Though, perhaps they hadn't eluded so successfully after all.

---

- very easily excited. likes to screech when excited
- it's debatable as to whether he's chasing the furniture to release excess energy, or because he wants to eat it like Reign. Either way, the adults occasionally need to rescue terrified furniture from a squad of banescales
- loves to play keep-away with important objects, much to the chagrin of everyone else
- goes absolutely apesh*t for garlic bread
- very loud in general. like Basilisk, everyone always knows where he is. unlike Basilisk, it's because Orion is screeching
- Does Not like naptime. will make some very impressive escapes in order to avoid naps. generally ends up taking one anyways bc he gets tired while trying to escape
- has Way Too Much energy for such a tiny body. the smaller dragons of the Houndstooth Clan are already planning to try some sort of ski-sport where Orion tugs them along when he's older