Dragon 1: "Why do you have a pest on your back?"
Dragon 2: "That's not a pest or vermin, that's my sibling."
Dragon 1: "Another adopted?"
Dragon 2: "Think what you like, I'll never abandon kids who want a family, no matter their species!." -- Anon Guest
[AN: This prompt has been edited for Markdown compatibility and trimmed for brevity. Prompters, remember to check the pinned notice at the top of the prompt forum. Thank you.]
It took Glisterill ten years to realise that hir sibling Beauty was not a very small breed of Dragon. Beauty did have wings, but they were only good for gliding. Ze had a tail and horns just like Glisterill. Sharp teeth and sharp claws just like Glisterill.
But Beauty also had soft, delicate skin that the rest of the brood had to be careful with. Ze could not ingest fresh raw meat and in fact, had no breath to prepare it for better digestion. In time, Glisterill learned what Beauty really was.
A Hellkin. A legacy of Humanity's use of demonic magics. A scar to join all the others that non-draconic life had left on the world. None of which was Beauty's fault.
Some atrocious person had left Beauty wandering the caverns in which Rennie had build hir nest. Rennie found Beauty huddled with hir nestlings for the warmth and took the joy of another child.
Now that Glisterill was old enough to build hir own lair, ze took hir sibling Beauty with hir. Riding on hir shoulders and clinging tight to hir spines.
Glisterill had been warned - other Dragons would not understand. And, when ze stopped to sip from a lake and allow Beauty to forage and rest, that warning came to pass.
His name was Strikefang, and he tried to impress Glisterill by presenting hir with a Dire Ox as a pre-mating offering. As they sized each other up, Strikefang boggled at Beauty.
"Don't look now, darling," said Strikefang. "You appear to have a parasite."
"That's. My. Sibling," said Glisterill. Ze could not breathe ice, but hir voice was chilly indeed. "I care for hir as much as I care for myself."
"And yes, I know I'm adopted," challenged Beauty. "Hard to miss."
Strikefang fled the scene of his failure, mortified. A loss he would have to decide to recover from.
They'd find out in a month or two.
[Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash]
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