DRONE

Separated from the Hive days after hatching, his connection to it has been severed, leaving him even more of a mindless husk than before.

When CyrianLiliat discovered FUNGAL in a shady harbor they had stopped at, she retrieved her sisters to see her and buy her. The conversation caught the attention of the ship's navigator, Eryngium Silver.

Silver followed them and was disgusted and disturbed at the sight of the young Hive dragons being sold, with their soulless eyes and silence, their distorted, sinewy bodies. One of the cages holding them contained a hatchling, however.

Having two children of his own that he had raised before they left to serve the Shadowbinder made him especially concerned for this silent, still hatchling. Its open, blank eyes were unresponsive, giving the look of death when paired with its tiny sinewy body. The only thing that showed life was his breathing.

Too distracted with observing the frail hatchling, Silver did not notice CyrianLiliat purchasing FUNGAL until her and her sisters started herding FUNGAL out of the cage and towards their ship. He stepped in front of them with a low growl that froze the young dragons in their tracks, even as FUNGAL showed no response to having heard the sound.

CyrianLiliat was adamant about bringing FUNGAL with them, both heads declaring with certainty that aberrations traveled in pairs, and CyrianLiliat needed a new sister, as VolatNikyra and LyreRolan already had each other, and herself and FUNGAL didn't. The purchase had already been made, after all, and the merchant of the shady stall would refuse all returns.

Wary and uneasy, Silver didn't press the issue and ordered the sisters and their newest acquisition back to the ship, his attention returning to the hatchling. His clan was very hatchling oriented, refusing to abandon or sell hatchlings like some clans did, especially in the shadow territories where it was so common to do so.

He made his decision quickly as the sisters left his eyesight, purchasing the hatchling and picking him up carefully in his claws. He nearly dropped him in shock with just how light and lifeless he felt, hanging like dead weight.

It would be a full week before they reached their home, having to travel by ship before making a long day length trip by flight to their territory. Silver had to wonder if the hatchling would even live that long. Something was clearly wrong with him, and his eyes were milky white, soulless.

Giving strict orders back at the ship that FUNGAL and the sisters were to be monitored and watched at all times, Silver took personal care of the hatchling. After a long struggle he found that the hatchling responded to direct orders, although he was uncoordinated and moved like a puppet with half his strings cut. Silver got him to eat, and ordered him to rest and sleep after observing the hatchling stare blankly at nothing for nearly an entire day.

Things were slightly easier once LyreRolan informed Silver that FUNGAL responded to her 'name' easier than anything else, and that Rolan had noticed that the tag on the hatchling's cage hadn't had the designation of FUNGAL, but instead DRONE. DRONE responded easier to orders when his 'name' was included, although it still looked like his strings were cut as he moved, as morbid as it sounded.

Once back at the clan, the decision was made to imprison FUNGAL, as all but a few of the clan were unnerved, wary, even defensive or fearful with the mere sight of her. DRONE was also sentenced to confinement, although the clan mother Calibrachoa took over care of him as Silver left to prepare for another trading voyage. Calibrachoa took care of all of the clan hatchlings, and even acted motherly to adults, no matter how old they were. If you existed, you were mothered by Cali, it was as simple as that.

DRONE wouldn't respond to any of her care, however. No matter what she tried, she couldn't heal him, couldn't get his eyes to focus, couldn't get a single emotional response, no matter how small. Two weeks went by where she could hardly make herself order DRONE to eat and sleep, as the action sickened her beyond belief. No amount of cajoling or coaxing, not even begging would make DRONE respond. Only orders. DRONE would not respond to any other name, either, no matter what Cali tried. This was her breaking point.

When Silver returned from his short trip, it was to find Cali neglecting all the other hatchlings, leaving them to the care of others as she put every ounce of energy she could muster into attempting to make DRONE act like a normal hatchling. It was stressing her too thin, about to break her completely with just how hopeless DRONE was. It was incomprehensible to her that it wasn't possible to fix him.

He was a breathing corpse, and nothing else. She couldn't handle this fact, refused to accept it. When Silver realized just how bad it was, he physically forced Cali from the caves that held DRONE. He overpowered her with a concerning amount of ease, considering how vicious and protective Cali usually was over all hatchlings.

Silver stated that he would take over DRONE's care, and that Cali was no longer allowed to attend to him. She was to go back to acting as the caretaker for the others, and leave DRONE to him. With the weeks that had passed since he had gone, the clan had collectively realized that DRONE was not a threat, even if FUNGAL was still treated like something that should be burned and forgotten about.

Silver was adamant that he was to be DRONE's new caretaker, and refused to take no as an answer when the clan and his ship's crew attempted to reason with him. He would be raising DRONE, and DRONE would accompany him everywhere. If he was to be mindless until his chitin scales cracked and greyed with age, Silver would take care of him anyways.

Despite the fact of DRONE not accepting any alternate name, it didn't bother Silver like it did the rest of the crew. DRONE was taught how to help man the ship, and followed orders easier and easier the older he got as the months passed and DRONE approached a regular mirror's age of maturity. Even once the ship gained a proper captain and Silver solely became the navigator, DRONE would listen to any crew member for his regular orders. He would only listen to Silver for unfamiliar orders that had to be shown and taught, however, as Silver's command had eventually replaced the part of DRONE's mind that held the hive.

TBC