TTotBD Chapter 1-2
Auron crouched in the shadows of the rising sun, waiting for his chance. His body rested against the wooden house beside him, its shadow keeping him from being seen. He knew Caveras often came this way and, after knowing about how well he could blend into the shadows, he was all too eager to get back at her for scaring him so many times. He'd even woken up earlier than normal just so he could have this chance.
As he expected, he soon saw her just down the street, heading the way he knew she'd take. She looked straight at him, and for a second Auron tensed, fearing that she had seen him. But her eyes turned elsewhere and she continued on as if she never noticed him. Auron remained completely still as she approached.
Then, right as she was about to pass by him, he roared and lunged at her. Surprised by the sudden movement--seeing it only as the shadows themselves moving--Caveras quickly covered her face with her wings, crying out in terror as she hunched down to the ground. She whimpered as she expected something to attack her, only to be surprised again when she heard Auron laughing. She opened her wings to see him rolling on his back, laughing hysterically.
"That's payback for scaring me all those times!" Auron laughed.
"Auron, you jerk!"
Auron yelped and jumped away as she lunged at him. He quickly turned tail and ran, with Caveras soon giving chase.
"Hey, get back here!" she roared.
Auron looked back at her, worried that he may have angered her, but was relieved when he saw only playful aggression on her face. He stuck his tongue out at her and continued to dart away from her. Caveras continued to chase him and was soon able to pounce onto his back. Auron yelped as he felt her weight slam down onto him. He thrashed around, trying to get her off, but she had managed to shift all her weight on his back to keep him from escaping. Feeling himself grow tired, Auron slumped and gave a sigh of defeat.
"Looks like I finally win," Caveras said with a smug grin.
"Whatever," Auron growled. "Can you please get off now?"
"Mmm, nah," she said, slumping over his smaller form. "I think I'll keep you trapped and revel in victory for a few more minutes."
"Caveras!" Auron cried out, his voice barely more than a wheeze as the air was forced out of his lungs.
Caveras only responded by going limp on top of him and purring softly. Auron resumed squirming, trying to get out from under her, but the larger female was too heavy for him to lift off of himself. After a few minutes of helpless struggling, he gave up and went limp again, succumbing to her weight. His breath was shallow, yet he still felt himself relax and eventually started purring himself.
"You know, this actually feels kinda nice," he said.
"Oh really?' she said, smiling mischievously before playfully nipping at his jawline.
"Hey, stop that!" he cried, trying to move his head away from her. Her head followed, continuously nipping at him. "Stop it, Caveras!"
Caveras giggled and continued to torture the poor dragonet trapped underneath her. It wasn't long until Ausor stumbled upon them. He chuckled as he watched the two before finally making his presence known.
"I see you two are enjoying yourselves," he said.
"We are," Caveras said, hugging Auron tightly around his neck.
"I can't breathe!" Auron cried, wheezing again as he was once again kept from breathing.
"Alright, stop torturing the poor kid," Ausor said.
"But he looks so cute when he's squirming!" Caveras cried, holding him tighter and making him struggle even more to get out of her grip.
"Come on, just get off him," Ausor said, covering his mouth as he tried to keep from laughing.
Caveras frowned and gave a whine of disappointment. "Oh, alright."
She let go of Auron and pulled herself off of him. Auron slumped on the ground, coughing and breathing heavily as he tried to get his breath back. When he heard Caveras giggling, he looked to her and flicked his tongue out at her. Ausor chuckled at their playfulness and continued on, beckoning the dragonets to follow him.
"You excited, kids?" Ausor asked, looking down at them.
"I am!" Auron squeaked, jumping up and down.
"So am I!" Caveras said, nodding excitedly.
"This'll be my first time with it," Auron said, barely able to contain his excitement.
"You'll love it, Auron," Ausor said, leaning down and nuzzling his son. "The solstice festivals are always fun."
The three of them wandered into the town square where a few of the dragons had already come out to work. They were all going around preparing for the solstice festival set to happen in just a few days. Although it was not yet finished, the three could already get an idea of what the place would look like. Spherical paper lanterns hung from lines stretching between house rooftops, forming a circle around the square as well as moving over it, occasionally criss-crossing with other lines running through the open space. Many tables were set up around the square for the wide assortment of foods to be present. Auron soon caught sight of Iris among those preparing and suddenly grew excited.
"Iris!" he called, darting over to her.
Iris turned to the source of the voice and smiled when she saw Auron running up to her. She quickly turned around and hugged him tightly as he ran straight into her.
"Hey, Auron," she said, looking down at him while she petted his head. "How's my little dragonet doing?"
"I'm doing great!" he said, separating himself from her.
"Hey Iris," Ausor said, approaching her with Caveras at his side. "How's the preparations going?"
"Oh, hey Ausor," she said, smiling up at him. "Things are going well. By tomorrow, all of the preparations should be finished."
"And then the festival's the day after, right?" Caveras asked.
Iris nodded. "That's right.".
"Will your brother be coming for it?" Auron asked.
Iris' eyes suddenly went somber at the mention of her brother. She dipped her head down and turned away from them, trying to hide her sad expression.
"I don't think he will be," she said. "He live somewhere in the woods, a good ways away from our town. I don't know what's going on with him anymore, or even if he's still alive."
"Oh," Auron said, turning his head down as well. "Well, couldn't you just visit him?"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," she said. "When we separated, it wasn't exactly on good terms. I'm not sure if he would even want to talk to me."
"You're not going to know if you just stay here, will you?" Caveras asked. Iris looked back at her, cocking her head at her--from the look in her eyes, it seemed obvious that she had been trying to resist crying. "He probably feels the same way you're feeling," Caveras continued, "so just go see him and see if the two of you can't work things out." She finished with an assuring smile.
"Yeah!" Auron agreed. "I mean, whatever happened is in the past, right? So just go out there and talk to him. You know where he lives, right? So just go do it."
"They do have a point," Ausor said, smiling down at both them."
"That they do," Iris agreed, her warm smile soon coming back. She wiped her face as a few tears fell. "Alright. Once the festival is over with, I'll go talk to him and see if we can't work things out."
Auron and Caveras smiled to each other, both happy to have accomplished something that would help Iris out.
"Oi, Ausor!" someone called, darting over to them with a look of worry on his face. "What are you doing with a Darkwing?"
Auron and Caveras looked at each other with confusion; however, Ausor and Iris seemed to already know what was going on as Auron could see bitterness in their eyes.
"Nothing at all," Iris said. "We're all just talking. You want to join in?"
"Absolutely not!" the dragon said, eyeing Auron nervously. "Especially if it's with that thing."
"HEY!" Ausor roared, suddenly up in the dragon's face. The dragon moved back to get away from him, but otherwise seemed unfazed. "That's my son you're talking about!"
"Is it really?" he asked, looking at Auron again. Auron began to grow fearful as his gaze lingered on him, almost like he was prey to the dragon. He felt himself instinctively cower back behind his father, who lowered a wing to shield him.
"So that's what you've been hiding all this time," the dragon said, shaking his head. "A Darkwing son. How unfortunate."
Suddenly Caveras came out in front of them, her wings coiled back as though about to strike.
"You want a piece of this, you jerk?!" she roared.
"Caveras, get back," Ausor demanded, pushing her back with his claw. "Let me handle this."
"But-" Iris cut her off as she grabbed hold of her and pulled her back, keeping her from doing anything rash.
Ausor turned back to the dragon and clenched his teeth, trying to suppress his rage. "You'd better watch your words carefully," he growled. "You are talking about my son right now, and Darkwing or not, neither I nor his mother will think of him as some unfortunate mistake."
Auron looked around to see if anyone would join in to help them. As he looked around, though, he could see all of them staring at Auron with suspicion, not a single one appearing to side with him or Ausor. He'd noticed said gazes before, but he hadn't paid much attention to them until now. But with this dragon now gazing at Auron, talking about how much of a mistake it was, he suddenly felt uneasy under everyone's glares.
"You may think that way," the dragon continued, "but everyone else here shares the same views as me."
"Does it look like either of us care?" Iris asked. "I've been watching over this dragonet for quite a while now and he's one of the sweetest things I've seen yet. You want to be paranoid about him because of some old myth, go ahead, but don't drag us into it."
"You'll be dragging the rest of us down if you keep it around," he said. "That thing brings bad luck, in case you've forgotten. I'd advise you leave it behind before anything bad happens to any of us."
"You want to stop yet?!" Ausor roared, baring his teeth at him. Auron wasn't sure which he was more scared of: the dragon, or his now enraged father. "I will not abandon my son because you or anyone else is paranoid because of what he is and I will NOT accept you bothering him over it." He crouched down on all fours and advanced towards the dragon, baring his claws in a show of aggression. It was only then that the dragon seemed to remember who he was talking to and he began to back away from him. Even with his father being smaller than the dragon, he still seemed leagues more intimidating. "Now I advise you to stop with this right now, because I'd be more than happy to send you to the medics if you don't!"
The dragon growled in frustration, not willing to risk his neck in a fight with him. "Suit yourself," he spat before leaving them.
The four of them remained tense even after the dragon vanished from sight. All of the others in the square continued to stare at them for a while longer before slowly getting back to their work. Even so, Auron felt as though they were all secretly eyeing him when they could. He remained cowering behind his father, who finally seemed to be calming down.
"Dad?" Auron meeped.
Ausor looked down at his son and his expression softened instantly. He pulled him in and hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry about that, Auron," he said. "Let's go home, alright?"
Auron nodded. "Okay."
"I need to start getting back to work, anyway," Iris said. "I'll see you tomorrow, perhaps?"
"That'd be great," Ausor said. He looked down at Caveras, who was still standing next to Iris. "You should get home too."
"Will everything be okay?" Caveras asked, looking up at him with a worried expression.
"Yeah, it'll be okay," Ausor said.
"Alright," she said. She looked down at Auron as Ausor released him. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah," Auron said, nodding. "See you then."
Caveras gave him one last smile before running off. Ausor placed his claw on Auron's back and guided him out of the square towards their home. On their way back, Auron continuously thought of all that had just happen, most of his thoughts circling around what the dragon had called him and what he said about him.
"Hey dad?" he asked.
"Yes, Auron?"
Auron paused for a moment, debating whether he should ask or not. "Am I really bad luck?"
Ausor flinched when he asked. "Are you asking because of what that dragon said?"
Auron could only nod his head.
"No, you're not," he said, nuzzling Auron reassuringly.
"But that guy said you're unfortunate to have me," Auron said, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes. "Is that true?"
"No, absolutely not," Ausor said, stepping in front of him. He knelt down until he was eye-level with him and held him by the shoulders. "Don't think about what that guy said. Your mother and I are very proud to have you for a son."
Auron sniffled and looked up into Ausor's eyes, wiping a few tears off his face. "Are you really?"
"Yes," Ausor said, pulling him into another hug. "You're the greatest gift the two of us could've ever asked for."
As he heard those words, Auron smiled and hugged his father back, letting his tears stream down his face. "Thanks, dad."
The two of them continued to hug until Auron's tears eventually dyed out. Ausor pulled Auron away from him and gave another reassuring smile. Auron looked up into his eyes and felt relief wash over him. He didn't have the same glare as everyone else, the one that they all hid behind to remain polite but secretly loathed his presence there.
His eyes held the look of a father who loved his son no matter what he was hatched as.
"Come on, Auron," he said, "let's head home now."
Auron smiled back and nodded. "Okay."
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"This is bad," Ausor said to Ister later that day while Auron was in the other room. "People are beginning to notice what Auron is."
"That he's a Darkwing?" Ister asked. She held the tip of her snout in her claw as she began thinking. "It is rather worrisome, thinking of how other dragonets may treat him for it."
"I'm concerned about the whole damn town," Ausor said. "Earlier today, a dragon came up to me and told me that he was a mistake and that I should get rid of him while Auron was standing right next to me!"
"Really?" Ister asked. "Who?"
"Don't know; never seen him before," he said. "Honestly, it worries me what others might say to him when we're not around and what sort of things could get into his head."
"So what can we do about it?" Ister asked. "I'm worried about it, too, but I don't see any real action we can take. Almost everyone's told this since the day they hatch; Caveras is the only dragonet I've seen so far who hasn't been. Even Iris was hesitant to take him in when we asked her to help take care of him. With that said, what is it we can do about it?"
"I don't know," Ausor said, shaking his head. He buried his face in his claws as he felt himself begin to despair. "I came here with you because I wanted to give our child a normal life, and now it seems Auron can't have that even in a peaceful town such as this."
Ister dipped her head down; hearing him say that and seeing the expression he wore made her heart ache. She wrapped a wing around him and held him close, giving him a reassuring hug.
"We'll do whatever we can," she whispered in his ear. "We decided to give him a normal life, and that's what we'll do."