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Laying on the couch, I watched the mountain-lion, Markus, as he went about his day. I found myself getting bored as I lay there, but he had been insistent that I not get up due to my injuries and I found myself compelled to obey. While it surprised me that he accepted me within his den with ease, the whelps behaviour was slightly less baffling.

He attempted to remain as close to me as possible when he wasn't chasing after the puma. As another dragon, he more than likely could smell what I really was, however the fact he was accepting of me was confusing.

"So," Markus finally spoke up after several hours, busy stirring something that bubbled away merrily in the fireplace. "You know our names, what's yours? I cant keep calling you 'ocelot' now can I?"

The question actually had me stumped. I knew I had a name, but dragons in the wild didn't have or use them. We tended to use different tones and pitches when referring to each other, so it had been a long time since I had heard it.

My mother had given me a name when I was born, and my father used it whenever I had been in my ocelot form. The last time I could remember being in my feline form was when I was roughly five years old. A questioning chirp drew me from my thoughts and I turned my head to the source. Pirro was next to me, poised to jump up once again, eyes watching me carefully as he wiggled his bum a little as if calculating his leap.

I reached my hand out to him causing him to pause and sniff at it curiously. I watched him, still trying to recall my name while he nuzzled at my fingers and trilled. The last time I had worn my fur, I had been targeted by the other drakes at the Enclave. They had managed to set me alight and I had retreated to our cave to wallow in self pity.

My father had found me trying to cover up my injuries, however he had already known. His sensitive nose had easily been able to detect the scent of burnt fur and singed flesh. At first he had cooed to me, trying to elicit a response, but when that hadn't worked he had called out to me instead.

"Ze...lig..." I finally said, testing the name trying to see if it sparked something inside my head "My name is Zelig."

Markus was watching me, still crouched close to the bubbling pot, a smile on his face but I could tell he had noticed my hesitation. However if he was having any concerns, he didn't voice them. He watched as Pirro jumped carefully onto the couch next to my hip, the whelp giving a happy trill before climbing to lay over my belly and stomach.

"Zelig... that's an unusual name, then again I did name him Pirro so, I guess I am being a little hypocritical there." he finally said, a smile still on his face. Pirro gave a chirp and curious trill at the mention of his name, looking towards the Puma "I didn't call you, and be gentle would you? He's still injured."

"I...if I may?" I pressed getting a queried hum from Markus in return as his attention was drawn to the pot once more "Pirro... what... how... what are you to him? How did you even get a whelp?"

"That's kind of a long story I will admit, maybe I will tell you over dinner if you tell me how you came to be injured, naked and unconscious in the forest," he replied and I squirmed a little not wanting to reveal myself that easily "As for what I am to him... I would hazard to guess his father, or mother, I'm not really sure which he sees me as. From what I have been told, whelps imprint on the first person they see when they hatch, which happened to be me."

I nodded and looked down my chest at the small dragon in question. That was true for the most part; in the wild, dragons went to great lengths to keep others away from their nests when their eggs were due to hatch. This would prevent accidental imprinting on anyone who was not their mother or father.

I had been told that there were many born into servitude and spent their lives working like beasts of burden. Matriarch had tried to waylay the fear of having been born into such a situation, but the others around the Enclave had always told me that it's where I should have been born. However as I looked down upon the Whelp, he didn't seem unhappy, or undernourished like I had come to believe was the fate of a domesticated dragon.

If anything he was exactly what a whelp should be like: adventurous, cheerful and playful. He was also well fed, judging from the weight that rested on my stomach and chest, almost too well fed. If I wasn't fearful of exposing myself, I would have spoken up about Pirro needing more exercise and slightly smaller meals.

"I still have so much to learn about raising him," the Mountain-lion admitted as he walked into another room, continuing his line of thought once he returned "I often catch myself treating him like a pet dog, then remember he is probably as intelligent as I am. He doesn't seem to mind... but still its just feels... wrong."

I chuckled softly, Dragons were indeed intelligent creatures, but still needed to be taught just like any animal or person. Language and hunting were the only things that came naturally, however understanding was still a learned ability.

Body language and tone of voice conveyed a large percentage of what was intended across, even animals could pick up on those two things. Instinctively little Pirro understood who was in charge here and basic orders that Markus asked of him. It would be some time however before he understood complex instructions, but he would most likely learn quickly.

"If it was easy, it wouldn't be anywhere near as rewarding I guess," I said, gently dragging my hand over the injured whelps back, carefully avoiding his bandaged wing shoulder "You don't seem to be doing too bad."

"Thanks I guess, I just wish he had come with an instruction book." he replied before we both chuckled. Our attention was caught by a noise from outside; Pirro perked up with an excited trill, snagging my necklace on his horns in the process. Before I could stop him however he jumped off of me, snapping the old cord.

I released a loud expletive as my form shifted, my small ocelot form replaced with my much larger draconic one. Markus in turn swore as he gazed upon my form with shock and some fear. I gave a loud whimper, tucking my tail against my belly at the predicament I found myself in. Pirro trilled and shook his head to dislodge the necklace caught on his horns as I rolled off of the couch.

I was surprised that the piece of furniture hadn't broken under my sudden increase in weight. Every movement I made caused my wounds to protest with searing shots of pain. My eyes darted about the room till they settled on the partially opened door, shooting back to look at Markus.

"I...I'm sorry," I said honestly "But you should probably should have left me." I was barely aware of him calling my name as I bolted, charging out the door almost in a blind panic.

Once outside I barrelled into another dragon, and I recoiled in fear when I saw her and her size. Sat astride her was a white stallion and both seemed shocked by my appearance and didn't react fast enough to stop me from scrabbling to my feet and raging off into the forest as fast as I could go.

I ducked and weaved around trees as I ran, completely unaware of where I was or where I was going believing them to be hot on my heals. My wounds screamed and my muscles burned as I continued to run. My strength drained quickly, be it from a combination of my wounds or my short breaths, I didn't spot a large root until I had tripped on it at the top of a hill.

I tumbled down the slope giving grunts and groans till my back impacted with the base of a large tree near the bottom, which brought my momentum to a sudden, painful, stop. I panted heavily, thankful I hadn't broken anything upon my decent and weakly covered myself with a wing, trying to hide away from the world.

As I lay there I was berating myself in my head. How could I have been so stupid? To think I could have passed off as normal, I was a freak, there was no way I could ever get away with normal. I started to hope that I had reopened my wounds and I would bleed out. Silently I begged death to claim me and take me from my cruel existence.

I was pulled from my self flagellation and downward mental spiral by a deep snarling. I jolted a little as the scent of another dragon floated to my nostrils. I gave a whine thinking I had charged blindly into dragon territory, if that was the case, I wouldn't get the chance to bleed out.

"SOFIA! HEEL!" a male voice called loudly. I blinked and lifted my wing a little to try to see and was greeted by the face of the large, amber female from before. Her snarling face was inches from my own, teeth bared in an angry snarl, small tickles of smoke trailing from her nostrils. Despite her growl getting louder when my eyes met hers, she made no move.

I should have known they would track me down, but I never dreamed that someone close by Markus owned a Matriarch rank dragoness. While any dragoness could lead and Enclave, a true Matriarch was rare. They were always larger than any other dragon, their rarity such that only one egg in every ten clutches had a chance of being one.

My eyes darted around trying to think of every possible escape route but came up short. Given her proximity, size and the fact she was in good health compared to myself, she would tear me apart before I could get to my feet.

My eyes were drawn to approaching hoof-steps and I spotted the white stallion who had been sat astride her earlier. He looked confused and concerned as he approached, moving to stand beside his dragon as he looked down upon me before giving the dragoness a shove.

"Back! Back you great lummox before you scare him to death!" he commanded irritably "He isn't going anywhere in that state, BACK!" she gave a grumpy huff but did as requested, moving to step away from me a few steps yet didn't lose her aggressive posture.

"Did you find him?" Markus's voice called out and I flinched instinctively. I started to try to curl up but stopped when Sofia's growl picked up again, freezing me in place with a whimper. The puma appeared from behind the large dragoness with Pirro perched upon his shoulders.

The whelp jumped down before Markus could stop him, running over to me and ducking under my wing to nuzzle at my cheek, trilling and cooing as if he were trying to apologise. I huffed a soft whine but didn't move, knowing that with the whelp so close, Sofia wouldn't hesitate to lash out with any move I made.

"We found him, he gave Sofia quite a challenge, he left trails going all over the place," the stallion said watching me carefully but his actions were trying to keep his dragoness under control "What is going on Markus?"

"I... he... I don't quite know how to explain Lord," the puma answered, possibly quite confused himself and unsure quite how to answer "He isn't a threat he just... got scared I guess."

"Where did he come from?" the horse asked next.

"He's a Feral." Sofia snarled out causing me to flinch despite my attempts not to. Pirro trilled and nuzzled against my chin trying to comfort me.

"Markus?"

"I will explain what I can, when I can Lord," the puma replied as he stepped closer rummaging in his pocket "For now, please, call her to back off a bit, or he will bleed out before we can even give you answers."

Placated for the time being, the stallion's head dipped in a nod before he started pushing Sofia away once more. Markus sighed watching them before he crept closer. Lifting my wing gently, he knelt down beside me and gently rubbed from my head down my neck.

I gave a loud fearful whine and tried to shy away from him, but he wouldn't accept the abject submission I was trying to show. Pirro chirped and trilled more, nuzzling at my chin and licked gently, giving a whine of his own as, despite their actions, it didn't help settle my fears or trembling.

Markus rummaged through his pocket a bit more before pulling his hand out my broken necklace. I whined louder seeing it and the mountain-lion hushed me gently before he started changing the cord over.

"I don't know what's going on Zelig... but if I am correct... you will be easier to move with this on won't you?" he asked softly as he continued to repair it. I watched him carefully as he looked at the gem in awe for a few moments, fearful he may take it and I would never see it again.

After a few minutes of careful tying, he held the loop of the necklace open and gave a nod in my direction trying to indicate his intent. I gave another soft whine, eyeing the two who stood close by.

"Shhh, focus on me Zelig," Markus instructed as he shifted forward and slipped the new cord around my head. As soon as he let it go to hang from my neck, my body shifted, transforming once more into my ocelot form. Blood matted my fur where my injuries had reopened, but Pirro pressed forward and nuzzled at my neck chirping and trilling happily.

"Markus... You have a lot more to explain now." Sofia announced angrily and I gave another soft whimper looking up to their faces. The stallion looked stunned, while Sofia looked angry.

"I know Sofia," he replied with a sigh as he stroked gently between my ears "If I could explain this I would, I think it's up to Zelig here to explain that however."

"I...I'm sorry" I said softly and gave a whine, tears starting to make tracks down my face "At first I didn't tell you everything to protect you, but I guess I was really just protecting myself."

"Shh, it's ok," Markus cooed softly "You can explain it while I fix your stitched... till then, Sofia? Can you carry him back to my place please?"