Dread was not the brightest creature in the caves. He meant well--usually--but he often drastically misinterpreted things, or at the very least, ran on instinct. This was one of those situations. Chrysalises--those of children--put his instincts in full "nesting father" mode, becoming, to his mind, something like eggs. Therefore, he'd always sort of assumed that he needed to keep these "eggs" warm. He had kept them hidden--dragged branches down from the treeline, swept sand across the stones--but whenever he wasn't hunting, he was resting, curled up around the rocks.

He hated it. Hated that Cadenza had chosen open beach, of all places, to lay their "eggs." It meant he couldn't sleep soundly--he had to keep one eye figuratively (or sometimes literally) open for danger at all times. Why hadn't they just put them on a sea stack, like any normal dragon?! (OH, he'd remember, at these times: IN CASE THEY NEED WATER WHEN THEY HATCHED. But it still sucked.)

The voice, then, of his returning child, was both a source of irritation as he remembered all the horrors of "sleeping on an idyllic tropical beach," and a deep relief because now, at last, he could stop. "HERE," he bellowed, lifting his head. Sand cascaded down from where he'd used wings to haphazardly cover himself with it; and he shook himself, almost dog-like, and sprayed more in every direction.

Then he was pushing up from where he'd been laying over all three chrysalises, rising on wings and hind legs and gaping his jaws in an enormous yawn. "WELCOME BACK,"" he called.

Before Dread could give a more proper greeting, Cadenza was--apologizing? And he, having been dwelling on much other (like kids, and chrysalises, and sand) in the interim of their absence, was left puzzled. He hadn't realized Cadenza felt so awful (how could he have), and he did not really understand why.

Admittedly, there was a lot Dread did not understand, but still...

He debated, for a moment, how to respond to this, past his utter confusion.

"...OKAY," he said, at last, hesitating. Then he squinted, twin threads of smoke rising from his nostrils. "I THINK... MAYBE YOU THINK TOO MUCH. IT MIGHT BE BAD FOR YOU," he reasoned. All this... worry and upset about all of this--had it been eating away at them this entire time? "IT IS OKAY, YOU DID NOT NEED TO COME BACK BEFORE YOU WERE DONE. DID YOU LEARN THINGS?" he went on, in a tone of mostly casual conversation.

As he spoke, he shook himself off fully, moving aside with a peer down at the half-covered chrysalises. He made room for Cadenza to come over and inspect them, if they so wished. "IT WAS A BAD PLACE TO LEAVE THEM, BUT I REMEMBER YOU SAID ABOUT WATER. BUT IT IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO REST. THERE ARE THINGS THAT WANT TO KILL DRAGONS AND TAKE OUR STONES." He paused, glancing to Cadenza, suddenly more... serious, than usual. "THEY TRIED TO KILL SVARTIS. I FOUGHT THEM. BUT THEY WANT DRAGON CHILDREN." He'd not thought to warn Cadenza of such things, because he'd had no idea in advance that they'd planned to reproduce, but... perhaps some of his paranoia about protecting these 'eggs' was warranted, after all--at least in his own mind.

"YOU'RE WELCOME BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO THANK ME! THEY ARE--THEY WILL BE--FAMILY." He settled in, a little, a body's width from the stones, basking on the sand, for now--eyes on Cadenza.

Order? Dread blinked. He'd been listening to everything Cadenza was saying, but that little tidbit drove all other thoughts, for the moment, from his mind. "I FOUGHT ORDER ONCE. I BURNED IT. IT BURNS VERY WELL," he added, and then cocked his head in thought. "THEY PAID ME GOLD THINGS TO BURN IT. MAYBE THEY WILL PAY ME AGAIN. TO DO IT AGAIN," and this idea seemed to please him.

Maybe, once the children were hatched, he'd go and seek all this out--see if anyone was willing to trade him some shinies for the use of his flame.

"I WILL PROTECT THEM TOO," he assured Cadenza, speaking now in response to their growled words. "THEY ARE THE THINGS WITH TOO MANY LEGS, AND GREEN EYES AND SPIKES. THE ONE IS CALLED VARGAS," he went on. "ASTRAEA SPOKE TO US AND TOLD US TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN. WE ALL WENT. ALL OF THE DRAGON FAMILY. WE TOLD HIM THAT THEY CANNOT HAVE OUR CHILDREN!" He'd never had time nor chance to explain all the histories of the caves, as he'd experienced them, to Cadenza. To speak of the various battles he'd been in, or the opening of the new caves, or the news of Hydra or--in this case--the vast meeting of dozens of Gembounds bringing their concerns to Astraea, backed by Vargas, in Orion. It hadn't ended conclusively, in Dread's mind; there was always the chance the idiots from Draco would come and try again.

Anyway. He settled in a little, thinking, glancing at the chrysalises as a little more smoke threaded thoughtfully from his nostrils. "...WHAT DID YOU LEARN?" he asked, at last.