[Jaykobell]

He forced a sheepish, subtle smile as he tried one more time. "I can help you pick out herbs if you really can't change your schedule."

The disgruntled growling of the female Paragon followed, and the Frost's smile only grew bigger, sheepishly so.



"I don't want to," the female replied quietly, almost forcing the words out of her mouth.

For a long time, the male dragon had been trying to ask her to spend time with him. Not to misunderstand — the two were close hatch-hood friends, and she didn't dislike his company. However, right now was not a good time for her — and not a good time for him, either. It wasn't necessarily that she didn't want to spend time with him, it was more about not being able to. The reasons for that were complicated and illogical, however, and the female could only persist that she just didn't feel like it.

Regardless, that wasn't enough for the male. "Why not, Nyala?" the male asked, approaching just a little towards the other dragon. It was a known fact that Nyala was blind; one false move and she would turn around and bite your head off. Despite that, she was the tribe's healer, and a mighty fine one at that, as well. "Really, I don't mind helping you if you can't—"

"Dunstan!" Nyala screeched at the male as she turned her head over her shoulder. "I said no! Stop asking me!" Dunstan stared at her, and even though she couldn't literally see him, she could still feel him looking in her direction. Just the feeling he let out also proved to her that he'd been surprised by her reaction. She sighed briskly before stretching her wings as much as she could in the cramped medical den. "I have to go." Without another word, the female Sandshark made her way out, brushing against Dunstan without stopping or apologizing.

Still staring her Nyala's general direction with his mouth opened slightly in disbelief, Dunstan's complexion drooped as he stayed in the den, now on his own. "I just... Ah, okay," he replied to no one but himself, as he slowly started to make his way out of the den.

I just wanted to spend time together.

[Jaykobell]

The Dragon Hive: an enormous mountain that was home to countless dragons of countless species. Lead by a powerful leader, it had gone through a period of turmoil and tyranny at the hands of their former leader, corrupt to the bone and cruel to all who stood in her way. Overthrown, she was banned from the mountain and since then, things had changed for the better.

That said, that didn't mean that everything had changed for the better. There were many things that were wrong, but they were things that would always be wrong. They were things that nobody could fix.

Despite that, Dunstan was still dedicating his time to trying to fix the things that couldn't be fixed. Even though it sometimes left him completely drained, he felt like he had nothing better to do than trying to make things better.

He made his way towards the clearing of the mountain, where easy access to all the dens was. He would usually try to get a snack on the way there, but he wasn't hungry. His meeting with Nyala had gone wrong on every level, and he didn't have the heart to eat anything.

And speaking of hearts, it wasn't hard to guess why the healer had been so irritated. As the male Frost stepped into the clearing, he noticed the abundance of hovering and flying dragons up ahead, all performing tricks and stunts to the Paragon watching below. The flying ones were all males, spinning and twisting around to impress the hearts of the females below and, hopefully, get a mate out of their impressive courtship dance. In itself, it was a pretty harmless celebration that the Hive practiced every year to focus on happy, loving feelings instead of bickering or thinking about every day problems. Again, it was harmless on its own.

It became a problem only when certain dragons ended up being literally excluded by the others because they "didn't quite fit the requirements."

[Jaykobell]

There were a few dragons Dunstan was friends with that they were usually mocked by the others, or just plain attacked. This was the thing that Dunstan constantly tried to fix, despite the others never letting go.

First, there was the den-digger, Mason. A fairly big dragon as well, he was an unfortunate dragon who ended up losing his entire family at a young age. He also had a mate, whom eventually passed away as well, before the two got to have a clutch together. After so many losses, Mason had created a shell over himself and refused to interact with the others. The problem, therefore, was really Mason's fault; the problem was that the others didn't try to help him, either. Dunstan didn't believe that Mason's losses were due to him being "cursed"; that was the main reason why the Primal refused to make friends, for fear that they would be met with a terrible fate because of him. Instead of letting him eat himself away in his underground den, maybe the others could try to support him instead of making comments about how weird and abnormal he was.

Second, there was one of the hunters, Teofila. Born to their former tyrannic leader, the female Voidbringer had literally no friends — and not for a lack of trying. Dunstan knew her relatively well, and despite her hard shell, the Voidbringer was actually very intelligent and had a lot of potential. It was all ruined, though, by the others, who just refused to interact with her in any way, shape, or form. Many still believed her to be in cahoots with her corrupt mother, and for fear of being backstabbed or otherwise, no dragon wanted to befriend her. Similarly to Mason, Teofila had taken the habit of not getting out of her den unless she really had to, to cut down on social interactions.

And finally, but certainly not least, there was Nyala. Born blind, the Sandshark was always teased, bullied, and even attacked because of it. Bigger dragons would take her food, push her around, take her spot in lines, and a lot of other things just to make the tired point of, yes, she was born without eyes. Nyala was gentle and motherly; Dunstan knew she wanted to settle down, have a clutch, have a mate. She wanted to do everything the other dragons did, but because none of them wanted to get over her blindness, even to this day Nyala hadn't managed to find a good male for her. And with time, the healer had become bitter; she would snap and get upset at things so much faster, so much easier.

So the more he thought about it, the more this courtship celebration was becoming a problem for him, too.

[Jaykobell]

Something bothered him when he noticed all those Paragon parading, showing off, making a spectacle. The males being major show-offs, while the females enjoyed all the attention given to them. It wasn't rare for clutches to be born solely from this courtship event; usually youngsters who would jump the gun and be so deeply touched by the male's dance that they couldn't see past their muzzle no more.

You always kept quiet about it. You want your own hatchlings, but you don't want to settle with one of those.

Others fell in love at first sight. A rare occurrence, yet something that happened more often than you'd expect, strangely. Dragons who knew each other a little, and the moment they got to know each other better, it was the click they needed. It was the spark they needed to realize they were meant to be together.

Yet you never even got the chance. You're quiet, sharp, beautiful. Yet, there isn't a single male that wanted to give you a chance.

Still, it wasn't to say the event always ended with happy pairs. Many females simply didn't like the males that were attracted to them, or they refused them just to get even more attention. Certain males fought each other over the same females, and certain ones just adored the attention it brought to them, to be so beautiful that every male out there would fight for them.

I would fight for you. I wouldn't let any of those dragons touch you.

The thoughts kept spinning round and round in his head, eventually making it throb painfully. Dunstan shook his head some, trying to ignore the noise coming from all the dragons a little ways away, the bulky Frost reaching a small path that would lead him to the tunnels of the Hive's dens. He wasn't feeling well, and now he had a headache; maybe he would just sleep the day away.

He made his way down the tunnels while wondering, in passing, if he would come across the den-digger. Sadly, it seemed like the Primal was digging somewhere else, or that he was just hiding in his own underground den. No sight of Teofila either, whom was probably hiding her den as well. Why come out during an event when nobody wanted you there to celebrate?

He plopped on his bedding, head seemingly hurting more now that he was trying to rest and doze off. The more he continued to think, the more it throbbed, and the more pain he felt from it. Whenever he would start dozing off, he would wake up with a jolt, as if he were afraid to miss out on something. After some time, the Frost eventually slipped off, but despite his body shutting off, his mind was still going strong.

I'm a coward.

[Jaykobell]

I remember the first time I met you.

I was just a hatchling myself, just a few months older than you, for all it mattered. I was a lot bigger than the others even at that age, so while the others didn't make fun of me, they were usually scared of me. They were afraid I might hurt them because of my bigger size, or they just assumed that I was a brute because of my bulk. I wasn't really disliked, but I was generally left alone. I had always been friendly by nature, though, so I got along just fine with pretty much everyone — we just weren't close enough to call each other friends.

Not to mention, I was always too cowardly to fight the ones that bothered me. I was mild and gentle by nature, as well, a hatchling that wasn't disruptive despite his baby age. Sometimes I did stupid things, too, but that's what babies do — stupid things.

One of the stupid things they did was to make fun of you.

Even though Corinna told them you were Balthazar's daughter, they still made fun of you. They still called you names because you couldn't see — they still called you names because you didn't have eyes to begin with. They said you were ugly and weird because of your blindness. They kept taking advantage of you because you couldn't see them coming. They would make you trip or steal your food because you were blind and by their standards, you were "useless". That's what hatchlings do, too — they do mean, terrible things.

But to me, you were always the most beautiful. Despite that, I never had the courage to walk up to you. You were quiet then, very submissive and you didn't challenge anyone or called anyone out for making fun of you. Even though you didn't have any eyes, you could still cry in your own way — even if you couldn't shed any physical tears. Sometimes I would sit close to you, without making it obvious; I could hear you cry to yourself, I could hear the whimpers and the squeals when you were left all alone in that one corner, because the others never wanted to play with you.

But even though I knew you were so lonely and pained inside, I didn't know how to make it better.

[Jaykobell]

Even though I had always been passive and friendly, there came a time when the others managed to push me beyond my limits.

We'd been eating meat for a long time — caught from the hunters and ready to eat. Being babies, they left us the tinier animals like the squirrels. There were some mice and rats, too, although they counted more as little bites than a full meal. Point was, we each got a share every meal time and everyone was entitled to it, whether they were blind, wingless, or flying.

But the others would sometimes go and take your food from you if Corinna was distracted for just a moment, or if she had to walk away. The other hatchlings would use her absence as an opportunity to take your food from you because they judged you didn't deserve it since you would never be able to catch it yourself. It was a genuine problem that you could've brought up with Corinna, but you were always too scared to bring it up with her. You were always afraid that if you spoke up, their insults would get even worse. You never even brought it up with your dad, whom would've probably smacked those hatchlings good.

Many times, I watched as they pushed you around and took your food from you. I never had the guts to tell them to stop — I thought they would stop on their own, maybe they would just finally leave you alone. What did it matter if you could hunt for it yourself or not once you got older? If they didn't become hunters, they wouldn't be catching their own food either!

Even if I knew how I could've scared them away, or how I could've pushed them away from your food, I never had the guts to. I was too scared myself, too scared they would start coming after me. I'm not strong; I'm probably the biggest Paragon in the entire Hive, but despite my bulk, I'm far from being a good fighter. I hate fighting, and I hate doing it, no matter the circumstances.

But that time, they really pushed me. After so many times of taking your food from you, you actually started losing weight. Corinna had noticed, and so had your dad, but you always told them you just didn't like the food very much, or that you just ate very little, that you just gave away whatever you had left. That was obviously a lie — I knew it was a lie.

When they took advantage of that lie, that was the first time that I got enough courage to stand up for you for the first time.

[Jaykobell]

It was usually the same hatchlings that bothered you. They had nothing to complain about — they had wings, they had tails, they had eyes, especially. It wasn't all of them that ganged up on you, but it certainly none of them that stepped up to help you, either. Even I was part of the ones that never did anything to help you; even now, I'm so ashamed to have never helped you when I should've.

I was eating close to you that particular day. I could see you barely touching your food, almost feeling guilty about eating it. After all, they'd been taking your food so many times, you were almost expecting them to just walk up to you and take your food away.

That's exactly what they did.

"Hey there, Nyala," the boss of that little group greeted you, with that same mean smile on his face. "What's up, your food isn't tasty enough?" he went on to say, starting with the assumptions right away. "Well, I heard you don't really like your food. But that's okay, we'll get rid of it for you!" But despite how "righteous" that was supposed to be, of course, they weren't being righteous at all.

I was keeping an eye on them, as I usually did. Maybe I wasn't feeling well that day, maybe I hadn't slept enough — maybe I was just plain irritated for no reason. I could see you lifting your head to face their general direction, because even though you never had eyes to see with, you could still feel them, you could still imagine where they were. I heard you quietly whimpering, and basically telling yourself that this was how things were supposed to go.

"Hey, you heard me? Or are you deaf, too?" he said after you personally didn't hand out your meal to him, and then things took a bad turn. And if only I'd stopped them earlier — if only I hadn't waited until that particular boiling point.

Still a little afraid, you didn't react fast enough for them. Even though I was watching, I didn't see it coming in time; it was already too late. By the time I'd finally realized what he was going to do, one of the hatchlings in that group strayed and went straight up to your side to tackle you and push you away harshly from the food that was rightfully yours. Again you whimpered from the pain to yourself, and you did screech as well from the surprise effect. They thought it was funny, how you hadn't been able to see it coming, how you hadn't been able to anticipate it.

They thought it was funny to hurt you.

Their boss didn't find it all that funny when I crashed right into him and sent us both rolling a little ways away.

"Leave Nyala alone!"