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<->6<->

It has been almost four months since I came back and starting learning magic. I have nearly mastered healing magic to a degree far greater than my mother's ability, so she had taught me a few other things. This mainly had to do with breathing fire and hunting. She even went so far as to make me cook my own food. Although that made me really good, I'm not entirely too pleased with her snickering every time I turn food into ash on accident. My father will be home soon, so I'll have to be ready for whatever training he has in store for me. After another few hours of hunting and grilling, the familiar creaking of massive wings made me smile. He's back! I watched him land in the cave with a mixture of joy and regret. I'm not sure what mother meant back then, but it does kinda worry me. He smiled back and tapped my wing with his. I had come to the conclusion that this was their form of a high five. "Something about you seems different...is your mana pool larger than before?" Mana Pool? What's that?

"Mother has been teaching me magic! Look, I can breath fire and use healing magic!" I let my claws glow and puffed out opal flames simultaneously.

"Awesome, but has she taught you to combine them yet? Or light yourself on fire to enhance your power?"

"Uh...no, she didn't even mention those."

"Perhaps another time then. I need to speak with your mother. Where is she?"

I cocked my head. He wants to speak with her? "She might be at the hot springs right now." He nodded to me and left. Must be something important for him to go so quickly. All I know of her location is her mentioning using up the water's heat before it was gone, then disappearing. They'll come back eventually though, so I'm not all that worried. I stared out the cave as he flew away, watching his graceful flight. I had asked my mother about the green dragon Xyon mentioned, and her eyes had filled with intense fear. She had wanted to know if I'd seen that dragon, her tone sharp. I said no, that I'd heard of it mentioned by other animals on my trip. All she told me of the dragon was that it was an enemy of all creatures alive and was to be avoided at all cost. Never said why, just to stay away from that dragon. Maybe she'll explain more when I'm older. I messed around until nightfall, practicing magic and jumping off ledges to get rid of my fear of heights. It's getting dark...shouldn't they be back by now? I paced in the cave fussily, upset by their long absence. Where are they? Are they okay? I'm not going to be an orphan again, right? I passed out from exhaustion sometime in the middle of the night, only to wake up and discover they still weren't back. I continued on, forcing myself to eat and practice magic. At some point near noon, I discovered I was crying nonstop. I wasn't making any sound, just blinking and having tears stream over my face. It was then that I realized the trauma from my previous life hadn't gone away...but gotten worse. I found it getting harder and harder to breathe or stay still, even my hunger had vanished. There was almost a cloud of despair and terror surrounding and following me constantly. That's right...I had been abandoned before. They had gotten attacked by a mugger which resulted in my mom's death. After that, my dad fell apart and forgot about me and her by going to bars without end.

After consuming too much alcohol, he died in his sleep, on a park bench. Of course, I had been staying home the whole time. The first night I'd had a friend staying for a sleepover, so I wasn't bothered by it. But, after they left, it eventually dawned on me that I was still alone, that my parents hadn't come back yet. I waited patiently like they'd taught me, but that got nowhere. In fact, it was close to two months before social security showed up and took me to an orphanage. A lady with cruel eyes told me the whole story without any restraint, even though I was only six years old. To me, I don't feel like I ever had parents in the first place...I don't even remember who they were. All I know is how they left me and died. I gasped when I noticed the sun was setting. No, no, no...please don't leave me again! I curled up in a fetal position and buried my face under my paws. I couldn't sleep from the stress and just remained frozen like that, hoping beyond hope it wasn't happening again. I faintly remember a rush of air, the soothingly cold touch of icy scales, and the rhythmic beating of a giant heart.

<->7<->

When I woke, I had to pause to figure out what was happening. A cloudy blue opal paw was gently pressed against me protectively. It's...my father! My anxiety disappeared and I grabbed a tight hold of him, desperate for comfort. He woke up and hugged me back. "I'm so sorry...when I got back, I never expected to find you in here in that state. You were so limp I thought you were dead at first." I cried, pressing my muzzle against his. "Your mother had to switch roles with me. Apparently, the humans have seen me too many times and filed a hunting report on me, so she had to go. Also, it would be rather hard to teach you anything in just a few days." He spoke gently, trying to soothe me. "She might be gone longer than I was...nah, she'll definitely be gone for a few years. I always had to rush back to find her the proper amount of food and help her heat up before she perished. I'm afraid this arctic cold could be deadly to her." I only rubbed my face on his scales with a strange sense of joy. I wasn't left behind! He came back and she'll be home later! "I understand that must have been harder on you than we thought...you didn't think we abandoned you, right?" I laughed while sobbing again. I'm just glad I was wrong!

"Father...please don't do that again..." He made a crooning noise that was much deeper than mother's had been.

"Alright, little one. Do you want to just rest today?" I nodded and he smiled. "Then training can wait til tomorrow." We cuddled closer and stayed there all day.

<->8<->

I yawned and stretched, rubbing against my father's scales. "Awake? Good. Get up, rest time is over." He stood up, using his tail to make me do the same. "We have quite a bit to do. Follow me." Rather than leaving like I thought we were, he turned away from the cave mouth and traveled further into the nest. I've never gone any deeper than this...what is he going to teach me back there? I trailed behind him, a little afraid of what may lay ahead. It began to get very dark and I hesitated. He stopped and I bumped into his leg. "What's wrong, Zavi?" I stayed silent, not sure how to respond. "Let your eyes refocus and stop paying attention to the absence of light." I wavered between doing as he said or refusing. In the end, I decided to go along with what he'd told me. To my surprise, everything lit up as if the sun could reach all the way back here. I'd always had night vision, but it had never been like this! "Better?"

"Very much so..."

"Hmmm...I was wondering whether you could use it or not."

"What do you mean?"

He continued walking and began, "I belong to the water element, the opposite of your mother who belongs with fire. She taught you what her element is capable of and you soaked it all up, so..." Ah, I see, since the two are opposites it's very unlikely for me to be able to use both. "But you have the night vision that the water dragons can use."

"So you use water magic?"

"Hm, yes and no. while I do belong to that specific element, I'm just a mere category of it. The highest section, but still." Ah! That's right!

"Can you tell me more about the sections?" I don't know the hierarchy of the dragon tribes. I do understand they're four tribes separated by their element, but nothing more than that.

"Sure. Water users, while it is the name of the element, are at the bottom. They can at most spit water at opponents. As you go higher, you get some who can control water at their will, all the way to those who can harness the power of ice, like me. Those ones can freeze as well as melt the water at will, so they're a force to be reckoned with." I nipped him and he laughed, his scaly lips curving into a grin. "Any who use ice can survive in even the coldest temperatures. I believe the same goes for your mother's tribe. The stronger you are, the more likely you are to be able to use lava." Lava?! "That would be the fire's only relation with earth. Ah, here we are." He stopped at a smooth deep blue wall that had an extremely thin layer of ice running over it. "You know how to breath fire, right? Explain it to me."

Explain how fire is used? Not sure how that'll help, but I'll do it anyway. "Focus on the heat radiating from your body (if there isn't any in the air or others) and center it into your core by inhaling. From there, let your lungs feel the warmth as something soothing, then breathe it out."

"So that's how she explained it to you? Jeez, you're an awfully smart little dragoness. I want you to do the same, but with the cold. When you breathe in, allow the cold to be a refreshing chill that re-energizes you with its friendly icy blast. Then release it." Wow, they're even complete opposites for using the power. One is soothing while the other is refreshing. Like how I pictured one would bundle up with a blanket in winter for fire, I imagined sitting on a beach in the blasting summer sun with an ice-cold water. I thought through the process many times until I coughed, a tiny cloud of mist trailing up and disappearing. "Very good. Keep going." Hmmm...if using it as breath, wouldn't it be like that character from that disney movie? Frozen, right? I took a deep breath and activated my mana. When I let it out, it came as a solid blast of freezing mist that turned to ice when it touched a surface. My father watched wide-eyed. "You..." I stopped with a gasp, shocked at the huge difference between the two elements. Is he...mad? What did I do wrong? "You're already so advanced!" His voice hit a high note in his excitement and he picked me up, giving me a huge hug. He's so much larger than mother is...it's really strange. "I can't believe you can use powerful skills in both elements! That's really rare!"

While he was spinning and hopping around, I came to a realization. "Father..."

"Yes, my brilliant Zavi?"

"If the dragons live in a tribe together...why are we isolated?" He froze and looked at me with sadness.

"I'm sorry if not having any friends your age is bothersome, but there's not much we can do about it. All I can say is that fire and water aren't supposed to be near each other. I'll tell you more when you're older." He set me down and left with a heavy air about him. I don't think there'll be any more training for a long while...I should've kept my big mouth shut! Seriously, why can't I ever learn?!

<->9<->