Chapter Text
The journey is tense. Days have passed with Minseok and Yixing walking behind the group. Pinkie is softly petting Minseok’s horn and Yixing is conversing with the little fairy.
The air dragons are clumped together. After the incident on the cliff, they haven’t separated. Luhan and Jongdae aren’t talking to each other like they normally do. Junmyeon was having an interactive conversation with the two earth dragons and the fire dragons.
Yixing’s horned tail whips around. “I don’t like this.”
Minseok tilts his head and waits for the dragon to explain further.
“The entire team is separated. The air dragons are secluding themselves even though we were fine earlier today. The other group is so focused on the mission that they aren’t paying attention to anything else.”
“We can’t do anything about that Yixing. The only thing we can do is hope for everything to get better.”
Pinkie sings a soft tune and smiles at the earth dragon. Yixing smiles softly and a tulip grows on his leg.
“I hope that this situation will get better.”
“Count me in. I don’t like being aggressive.”
~~~
A few hours of traveling and the moon is beginning to rise. Some distance away, a light path is glowing.
Kyungsoo turns around and tells everyone that they arrived in a small town. “We arrived at Terre, it’s a small town made up of earth dragons.”
The dragons follow the path until a blue fairy comes forward. Pinkie flutters off Minseok and chats with the other fairy.
The blue fairy sprinkles blue dust and leads them to a tree. The fairy sprinkles more dust onto the tree and the tree opens up, leading them underground. They all walk down the path until the last dragon enters and the tree closes.
Glowing flowers light up the small tunnel, Minseok looking at the flowers closely.
“Those are called Brillo, which means glow.” Yixing whispers and Minseok keeps looking at the vibrant flowers.
They stop at a concrete wall and the blue fairy writes with their blue dust ancient runes on the wall. The second the last rune was written, the runes glowed and the wall opened in half. The path leads to another tunnel and the Brillo glows brilliantly.
The blue fairy talks with Pinkie, leading them down the narrow path. Minseok keeps looking at the Brillo and declares it his favorite flower; he doesn’t know if there can be any other flower that can be more beautiful.
Minseok hears a gasp coming from the dragons in front of him and when he looks at their direction, he also lets out a gasp.
A waterfall with Brillo behind it makes the water glow. Concrete steps lead down to the direction of huge tree trunks. Dragons with roots, dirt, moss, and leaves are everywhere, from the top of the trees to the small lake at the bottom of the waterfall. Arches cut through the trees to make homes, underground staircases, tree huts, and caves.
He feels a nudge from Yixing and he turns to look at him. “Terre is known for being a sanctuary whenever someone gets injured. A lot of dragons here come for medical purposes but also a free life. Most dragons are old, ill or young.”
Minseok looks at the small hatchlings playing near the lake, with an aged dragon watching them from a boulder. He smiles and thinks that Terre is a calming town where dragons can live their lives peacefully.
He follows the group and he notices a huge dragon, made up entirely of rocks walk towards them. Kyungsoo seems to notice the dragon and talks with him for a moment. Minseok can feel the stares directed at them and he doesn’t feel calm. He looks at all possible exits and most of them are blocked by either a dragon or a natural resource. This place is very protected from the outside.
Kyngsoo’s announcement shook him away from his thoughts. “We’ll be staying here for the night and plan on how to continue the journey.”
Minseok knows that Kyungsoo is talking to everyone but he can feel Kyungsoo’s stares directed at him. He feels targeted and he can feel his eyes burn slightly. He stares at the hatchlings, hoping to calm himself down a little.
“He’ll show us where we’re going to spend the night,” Kyungsoo says and follows the rock dragon. “If you need anything, don’t forget to ask.”
Minseok sighs and watches as Pinkie was still chatting with the blue fairy. He smiles slightly at the view of Pinkie making a friend. They walk along a used path made of cobble and Minseok watches the earth dragons conversing with each other.
A gruff voice spoke in the quiet atmosphere of the group. “We’re heading towards the caretaking department and we have some rock shelters there.” Minseok watches the rock dragon’s tail point at multiple rock dens. He sees hatchlings playing in one of them and an elderly sleeping in another one.
“We also usually keep the injured in there too. We don’t usually get visitors.” The rock dragon shyly says and Kyungsoo shakes his head.
“It’s perfectly fine, thank you for making quick accommodations.”
“Anything for our prince.” He bows as a goodbye and walks away from them.
Kyungsoo turns around to face the group. “We’ll be sleeping in groups so we don’t take many dens. There’s ten of us so we can split into groups of threes and one of us can sleep alone.”
The air dragons stand next to each other, making them a complete group. Chanyeol and Baekhyun stand next to Junmyeon, which left Yixing to share a shelter with the mated earth dragons.
Minseok bitterly smiles inside his head, of course making him sleep alone. Pinkie flies with Yixing and lands on his horns, she waves at Minseok and he smiles. They all walk to their respective dens and when he gets comfortable inside.
He watches the hatchlings play with each other in front of his den, not noticing him. One of the trips and smack their nose against the dirt. The other laughs and helps the other from the ground. He smiles at the action, he wished he had a friendship like theirs when he was young. He simply watches them and lays his head down on his paws.
The two hatchlings start chasing each other and he remembers how his childhood consisted of training and lessons. He never really communicated with other dragons quite as well as Junmyeon. Junmyeon was the only thing that was close to a friend or brother. The hatchlings try to catch the other’s tail while snarling and growling at each other.
He chuckles at the small noises they make and when the smallest one manages to win, he smiles proudly. He shouldn’t be stuck inside his current den, he should be outside having fun and exploring. He walks out and he goes to the lake connected to the waterfall. He dips his webbed paws down and his ear fins begin to flutter at the cold feeling. He submerges himself in the lake and swims around for a while, a little bit away from the other dragons. His scales glow a little at the feeling of cold water rubbing against them.
His tail fin slaps against the water and propels him forward, he swims downward, upward, sideways, everywhere. He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to swim in the journey and the feeling of the water against his scales makes him immensely happy.
He relaxes and floats on the surface of the water, his tail fin moving him slowly. He feels eyes looking at him and he turns to the direction. The two hatchlings are staring at him in awe, the smaller one’s tail wagging while the taller one’s mouth is gaping open.
He turns around and swims towards them slowly, reaching to the dusty surface meeting the water. The smaller one walks forward and he notices that when the smaller dragons smile widely, they have a few teeth growing in.
“Wow, that was so cool. I wish I could swim like that.” The smaller praises and Minseok can’t help the pink blush spreading on his cheek.
“Thank you for the compliment. I’m a water dragon so we’re good at swimming. We can do so many tricks.”
The taller of the two tilts his head. “How long can you hold your breath for?”
“I can breathe underwater.” The two hatchlings gasp loudly and their eyes widen. “You see these lines against my neck?” He points at his neck with his claws. They nod. “These are called gills, they make it so that I can breathe underwater. I also have nostrils, so I can also breathe when I’m not underwater, like right now.”
“That’s awesome.” The taller one says. Minseok hums and walks out of the water, his scales reflecting the light from the Brillo flowers. He crouches down at their level and smiles.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what's your name?”
“My name is Ten.” The smaller one says.
“And my name is Mark.”The taller hatchling says.
Minseok walks back to his den with the two hatchlings following beside him. “Well, my name is Minseok.” He lays inside his den and the two hatchlings join along and snuggle next to him.
Most grown dragons don’t like it when hatchlings or other dragons get inside of their dens or comfort zone but Minseok didn’t mind.
Ten climbs on his back and spreads out. “Do you have any cool powers?”
Mark grabs onto Minseok’s tail and cuddles it. “My power is Golem Creation. I can make golems out of the woods, dirt, leaves, and rocks around me.”
“And my power is Granulation. I can turn anything into sand if I touch it.” Ten plays with his tail while still being on top of Minseok.
“My power is called Ice. Anything to do with ice, I can do it.” He hears two loud ‘wows’ from the hatchlings. Minseok lets them use him as their playground and after a while, he sees the dragons outside heading into their homes to go to sleep.
“Don’t you two have somewhere to go right now. It’s getting dark and you need to sleep so you guys can grow big and strong.”
Mark and Ten looks at each other and their smile slowly fades. “We don’t have a home really, our parents left us here and the town feeds us but we don’t have a home,” Mark says.
Minseok tugs the two hatchlings closer to him and covers them with his wings. “You two can sleep with me tonight, I would like some company.” He watches the two brothers snuggle closer and he couldn’t stop himself from scenting them. They seem unbothered by the action and they repeat the same action to him.
Scenting them would grant them protection from other dragons and he is willing to take on that role. Is it impulsive, yes but he doesn’t want them growing up without anyone to care for.
Ten looks up at him and asks him why he’s in town.
“I’m traveling with these other dragons to save the world.”
Mark’s eyes widened. “So you're like a hero.”
“You can say that. Back at the Water Kingdom, I’m head royal guard, so my job is to protect the kingdom from evil dragons like Rogues.”
“Tell us a story.”
“Yes, please tell us one.” They both looked at Minseok and he couldn’t resist them.
“I started training to be a hero when I was six years old.”
“That’s how old I am!”
“Me too!”
“My parents saved our Kingdom from Rogues but unfortunately, they didn’t make it out alive. I was inspired by their determination to protect our kingdom that it motivated me to fight and protect my kingdom from Rogues.”
“What are Rogues?”
Minseok stays silent for a while before laying his head down. “Rogues are dragons that use their powers for no good. They kidnap hatchlings and dragons for their pleasure. They try to destroy our Kingdoms, even when they grew up in it. Earth, Fire, Water and Air dragons can be Rogues.”
“So you and your friends are going to defeat them and bring back the captured dragons,” Mark exclaims and Minseok nods.
“When will you leave?” Mark asks.
“Tomorrow morning probably.”
“Will you visit us when you finish?” Ten asks and Misneok, without hesitation, nods his head.
“I would like to take care of you two but I don’t think I can stay here.”
“We’ll go with you! It’s boring here.” Mark pouts and thumps his tail on the ground.
“Alright but you have to wait okay. I don’t know how long it will take for the villains to be taken down.” Minseok looks at them as their eyes are slowly shutting close. He smiles softly and he nuzzles their heads and cover’s their body entirely with his wing.
^^^
Minseok wakes up with two hatchlings nipping his claws and horns. He groans and when he rolls over, he hears a yelp from the hatchling on top of him.
“I’m up, I’m up.” He blinks his eyes open and is greeted with two hatchlings.
“Can you play with us before you go?” Mark asks and the older dragon couldn’t say no to him.
He nods to the opening of the den and the two hatchlings run outside. He huffs and crawls out of the den. A few older dragons were calmly walking around the lake and others were eating their breakfast. He watches a group of hatchlings playing beside the lake with their family members.
He feels a small tug on his tail and he moves his tail around. Giggles erupt behind him and a little while after he feels a pair of jaws biting his tail. The other pair of jaws joins in and Minseok hardens his scales on his tail.
“Let’s go and get you two something to eat. When you’re done, we can play all we want.” Two heads nod and lead him to the Village Center.
“The Village Center is where we get our food, most dragons are nice enough to give us their leftovers or something,” Ten says. “I don’t know what your teammates are going to eat.”
They reach the Village Center and a dragon lady laying in the center with food.
Mark’s eyes sparkle. “It’s Lady Lune’s turn today!” He runs to the older dragons and Ten quickly following behind him. Minseok slowly walks after them, not in a rush like the two.
“Hello, you two. How did you wake up this morning?”
“Great, we slept in a den today with Minseok!”
“He’s gonna also take care of us.”
This seemed to surprise the old dragon. Before she could say anymore, she sees Minseok walking towards them. “You must be Misneok.” She raises an eyebrow and scans him from tail to horn.
He nods and stays a couple of feet away from her. He doesn’t know Earth traditions but he does know Water traditions and whenever he’s in the presence of an elderly dragon, stay a couple of feet away from them as a sign of respect.
“Lady Lune, he looks so cool swimming in water. He’s a Water Dragon!” Ten exclaims.
“And a Hero!” Mark adds.
“You two should keep eating, I didn’t make all this food for you to waste.” She lightly scolds and that quietly shuts them up.
She turns her head towards the Water dragon ad stares at him directly in the eyes. “You came with the group of other dragons?”
“Yes, we all came here for a night’s rest.”
“What is a group of dragons from all four kingdoms doing walking in the forest?”
“We have to get to the Jungle of Emeralds.”
“Rogues I see.” She nonchalantly says and starts picking at her claws.
“We’re trying to see if that’s where they have their hideout or where they keep the dragons held hostage.”
She furrows her eyebrows and tilts her head sideways. “Who told you that they’re in the Jungle of Emeralds?”
“The Kings and Queens of the four kingdoms.” Minseok knows she knows something with the look on her face.
She stands up and turns to the two hatchlings. “You two stay here. I’ll go talk with Minseok for a while, grown dragons only.”
She walks to a small patch of land and looks around the area for any sign of dragons. Once there were no dragons, she looks at Minseok. “Wherever they got that information, they’re wrong, somewhat.”
Minseok stiffens and he feels a cold shiver run through his body, which only happens when he senses danger in any form.
“What do you mean? The queen told us that an air dragon escaped and went to us.”
“If you want to find the hideout of the masterminds behind the whole Rogue clan, then go ahead. If you want to rescue the ones held hostage then I recommend you go to Dark Cliff.”
“How do you know all this?” Minseok wonders and the old dragon smiles slowly.
“I was a hostage once and was let out when I fell in love with a Rogue. I live here for the secrecy and as I’m getting older, well the medics here are good at what they do.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Ten said that you’re going to take care of them.”
Minseok laughs quietly and nods his head. “I got attached pretty quickly.”
“I see. Well, their parents were Rogues.”
Minseok’s eyes widen and then he furrows his eyebrows. “How do you know? They told me their parents left them here.”
She sighs and stares at the Ten and Mark. “Most Rogues are forced to do what they’re told to or else they’ll get killed. The Rogue I fell in love with was a caring man but he had to cover himself multiple times. He didn’t want me to suffer anymore so he helped me escape.” She turns to look at Minseok. “When I saw them carrying two hatchlings and leaving them near a pond outside, I knew they were different. Most Rogues would raise their kids in those horrible conditions but they didn’t want that for them.”
Minseok stares at the two hatchlings eating and chatting. “I trust you but my teammates won’t.”
“I can’t help you there. I only gave you the information that I know. I want you to release those hostages and come back for those two, you told them something that can’t be taken away.”
Minseok swallows a lump in his throat and nods. “I’ll try my best.”
“Also, before you go, if you do go to Dark Cliff and meet a dragon named Crecl, tell him that Lune says hi.”
“I’ll do that.”
They both walk back to the two hatchlings and it seems that they finished their breakfast. Ten looks at Minseok and smiles widely. “Can we go play now?” His tail was swinging sideways in excitement.
“Let’s go then but say thank you to Granny Lune.” He watches as the two brothers say ‘Thank you’ to Lady Lune. As they walk back, he feels flower petals brushing against him and he turns back to see Lady Lune smiling at him.