It had been dark for a while as they hibernated. Even longer than it had been before they hatched, they were pretty sure, though the time before hatching would be hard to measure evening looking into the past. Back then, everything simply was. Now, they were aware there was more.

Still, their understanding of more was somewhat limited to what their child self had acquired before entering the dark once more. Magic existed. There were caves. And dad would teach them. Dad was safety, they had known immediately even before the rest, even if his name was antithesis to the concept.

Yet, perhaps the name was not too unfitting, for they found themself worried as consciousness returned to them more and more. Dreading the idea of being fully awake. They had delayed so long- What if dad did not want to teach them anymore? It had been a long time. What if dad was disappointed? It was unbearable.

But not seeing dad was also unbearable. They were very attached for all that they had been awake very shortly before.

They wanted to tell dad their name, too. In between slumber, they had found one that felt just right. It felt very important for dad to know. They really wanted dad to want to know.

So, at last fully awake, they stretched out their wings. And stretched. And the wings kept on stretching out, even as they broke down the walls of the chrysalis. Their wings, previously tucked close, were huge!

The place that had looked so giant as their child self viewed it looked significantly smaller now. They were big, they realized. Maybe even as large as dad. But...

Dad wasn't here, they realized as they looked around. A surge of panic. ...But the place did still felt like him, smelled like him. So... maybe he was gone only temporarily? They tried to calm down.

Distractions. They needed distractions as they waited.

Because they would wait as long as it took.

Weather! The weather was warmer than the cool weather that had greeted them before. It felt unnatural, and after so long in slumber, they were tired of warmth.

Dad had heated up the air before, when they had hatched. Maybe... Maybe they could do the opposite? And so they forced themself to focus on trying to make the air cooler.

@Dread

Dread had been off hunting, and now he returned, winging his way up toward the summit of the sea stack. As always, he was in a sort of half-feral zen bliss, any real thoughts instead replaced by the pleasant sensation of warm light on his back and the distant crash of sea spray at the base of the island he called his nest.

Moments before he'd been sweeping along the ocean's surface, keen eyes picking at the dark water between brightly reflective flashes; an inhale, then a deep torrent of flame, and a moment later his target had bobbed to the surface. Said target--a big, pale, shining fish--was now firmly clutched in his hind talons, and a billow of wing-leather brought him around to the nest's large crater.

He'd been living with the two big chrysalises, here--one was the massive Flint of Kalama's child but the other was a newish arrival. The child had hatched, then just... slept, but that seemed by now to be fairly normal, to Dread.

Kids were weird.

So when he crested the ridge of the sea stack to find the white-deer-child awake again, it didn't faze him much. He was pleasantly surprised, of course, so he thudded down on one foot, pushed the giant, somehow almost perfectly roasted fish toward the child, and rumbled in gentle greeting. "YOU ARE AWAKE AGAIN," he offered, though it was in slightly quieter bellowing than before.

He couldn't remember exactly which lessons he'd managed to impart before they'd reentered their stone, last time. Heck, he wasn't even sure what had caused it--he'd just dutifully covered the reforming chrysalis with nesting material and cleared away the broken obsidian shards, last time. So he started over.

"WE CAN EAT?" he offered.

...Then he looked around. IT FEELS COLD, he thought (loudly). Not bitter, but--cooler than before. Cooler even than would be caused by the winds sweeping the nest.

Strange.

He shook himself, blinking, neck-spines rattling, then peered at the child. "DO YOU REMEMBER ME?" he added, just in case he really had to start from scratch.

@Cadenza

At the appearance of their dad, the younger dragon perked up, shuffling forward a little in unconscious eagerness. Of course, their version of little shuffles was not quite little at all, considering their size. They weren't quite as large as their dad, they noted now that he was before them. But they were rather close to his size now, which felt strange. Their memory still held that of looking up and seeing their dad. Now, they didn't really need to look up at all.

Slowly, they bobbed their antlered head in agreement when their dad spoke, unsure of what else to do. Was them being awake again a good thing? They hoped so. He sounded a bit less loud than they remembered, and they weren't sure what to make of that either.

But then came the offer to eat. That seemed like a good sign, they were pretty sure. Orange eyes regarded the assumed food with curiosity, though their gaze frequently flicked back towards their dad. They had questions.

And then, suddenly at the last question from their dad, they remembered something that had taken them a little bit to grasp last time they had awoken as well.

They could speak!

"You are dad! My dad," They confirmed their memory with a lyrical voice. "You are safety! But also Dread? You said you would teach me," Their lilting voice became uncertain. "...Will you still teach me? ...I remember that there are caves and magic too!" They exclaim in their musical voice, trying to cover up their nervousness but not doing a particularly good job at it.

"...I have a name now," They added, a little quieter than their exclamations. But this was important too. "I am Cadenza."

@Dread

His mind was taking notes--surprisingly quickly, compared to what one might usually expect from the rather blunt, loud-spoken dragon. And less loudly, in his mind.

Bigger. And--Cadenza?--sounds pretty, except this rather tangled train of thought referred not to their name, but their voice. A pretty voice, musical.

Not at all like his.

"Dread is my name," he informed them, though they probably already realized that... maybe. His head lowered, smoke briefly trailing from his nostrils, ember eyes blinking. He settled in closer, making himself comfortable; though he was pleased at his child's reemergence he did not dance for joy or cheer Cadenza on. Instead he simply accepted it, though happily enough, as his new life now, taking a big bite of the fish he'd offered and gulping it down, himself. (He'd meant to share it, after all. He was hungry.)

After he'd tipped his head back, swallowing it, he looked down and studied the child. Yes, bigger; he thought. And I see the deer. The antlers, the pale color, even the strange arrangement of his gemstones in the stag's formation.

"I CAN STILL TEACH YOU!"--and, ahh, there was his enthusiastic volume again. Far, far less musical than that of his child. And then, perhaps remembering himself, he huffed and lowered his voice a little, blinking at Cadenza. "What would you like to learn?"

@Cadenza

Their dad's voice was quieter as he reintroduced himself, and Cadenza tilted their antlered head with curiosity at this. From what they remembered, their dad was very loud with a booming voice, like thunder. One of the few lessons they had picked up before their long slumber was that loud didn't necessarily mean unsafe or scary. Because their dad was loud, but dad was safety.

Confusion faded as their dad once more became loud, followed by delight. A noise most similarly to a joyful chirp left their mouth. Then came the next quiet question, and Cadenza paused. "Why are you being quieter?" They blurted out.

But that wasn't the answer to the question, though they wouldn't mind learning that as well. Though, they really didn't know how to answer that question at all. "I do not know. I want to learn... But I do not necessarily know what it is I want to learn," Cadenza explained, musical voice holding a note of frustration beneath the lyrical sound.

"I suppose I want to learn about magic and flying... and about the caves! I want to learn... I want to learn everything you are willing to teach me," They nodded firmly along with that realization.

@Dread

Why was he being quiet-?

He paused, before answering, puzzled. "DOES IT NOT BOTHER YOU, WHEN I AM LOUD?" Some seemed... disturbed. He usually forgot to curb his volume, but if Cadenza didn't mind, well...

Oh, but--lesson time? He huffed, resting on his wings, tail slowly sliding along behind him. "I WILL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING, THEN." Bold of Dread to assume he knew even a fraction of everything. What he meant was, everything he knew.

He was about to continue when he hit another block--where to start? There were so many everythings. He rumbled, considering. One might be forgiven for thinking his blinking was due to confusion. "WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT TO LEARN FIRST?"

@Cadenza

"Why would it? You are you, and you are loud. I would not want you to change yourself," Equal puzzlement was in Cadenza's response. They could not imagine asking any being to change an intrinsic part of themselves, let alone their dad.

Confusion fell away to the rise of excitement as their dad agreed to teach them everything. Oh, but, which first? That was a very good question. Cadenza paused to think this over.

"...Flying," They eventually decided, musical voice absolutely certain now that they had pondered their options.

"I think... I think I may have done magic shortly before you returned? I attempted to make the air cooler around me, the opposite of when you had warmed me when I was little, and I managed it. And... I think I would like to explore the caves by myself, see what they have to offer." Cadenza explains their thought process.

"Though I would not mind hearing your thoughts on magic and the caves as well!" They add hurriedly.

"...Even once I can fly and explore, I will always come back to you," Cadenza promised sincerely after a pause. They couldn't imagine doing anything other than returning to their dad.

@Dread

Their question--'why would it'--stopped him dead. He really didn't know the answer. He'd never asked. "I DON'T KNOW," he answered, honest.

...Moving on, then.

He was thinking over 'flying,' wondering how best to teach them, when they moved on. Magic--and, "OH. THAT IS WHY IT WAS COLD?" He fell quiet. Not cold, but cool, it'd been-... And as Cadenza went on, half his mind lingered on the idea of their magic even as half struggled to keep up with their words.

They wanted to explore. Cool, okay. They wanted to hear his thoughts, maybe? On magic and caves. He could do that. They'd come back. That was nice. "YOU HAVE SIBLINGS IN OTHER CAVES. BLIGHT LIVES HERE. SOMEWHERE. BONE LIVES IN THE SNOW CAVE NEXT DOOR. SVARTIS--HAS YOUR MAGIC," which was a topic switch, but now he jumped tracks onto this rail and went full-throttle.

In essence, Dread was not entirely sure how magic and gemstones worked reproduction-wise. The whole 'inheriting an element from one parent' was a little misty to him--not entirely, but the problem was, his children with Asimona had been half fire, half energy element. Of course, to Dread, it wasn't 'energy element,' but rather, 'cold weird magic.' It stood to reason that, somehow, this child had also inherited that.

He settled back, nudging the last of the food toward his child before thinking over how best to explain this--in particular given his lack of total understanding. "SVARTIS HAS YOUR MAGIC, I THINK. IT IS COLD AND ICY. BUT THE ONE WHO GAVE YOUR STONE, MAYBE HE HAS IT TOO?" Truth be told, Dread didn't know much of Pride's magic. He'd fought with him--alongside him--in Cetus; but he had been up in the air, breathing flame from high above and hadn't had time to come down and inspect the others' combat styles. "WHEN YOU TRAVEL, IF YOU WANT TO MEET HIM. HE SEEMS OKAY. HIS NAME IS PRIDE. HE IS A WHITE DEER IN THE CAVE CALLED ORION."

"I CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT OTHER CAVES TOO. AND OTHER MAGIC. AND HOW TO FLY," he added. "IF YOU WANT ME TO COME WITH YOU I WILL COME WITH YOU." And, admittedly, there was a bit of parental concern there. All else aside--bluster and noise--Dread was a caring parent. "FOR FLYING YOU PUT OUT YOUR WINGS AND THE AIR CATCHES BENEATH IT. YOU PUSH DOWN TO PUSH YOURSELF UP." He thought about this, for a moment, studying his child.

He had a hoard. Some of that hoard was magical and, it was true, he guarded it greedily. So it was with reluctance--but genuine generosity, too--that he went on. "I HAVE A MAGIC THING THAT WILL LET YOU BREATHE WATER IF YOU FALL INTO WATER. YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR NOW IF YOU WANT TO PRACTICE HERE. SO IF YOU FALL IN, YOU DO NOT DROWN." Sounded good, right? Even if he was hesitant to say 'keep it forever,' he'd undoubtedly forget to ask for it back.

Anyway, it was silver, not gold. Silver just didn't work on Dread.

Moving on-! "YOUR TAIL WILL HELP YOU BALANCE. FINS HELP YOU BALANCE. WHERE AND HOW FAST TO TURN. LANDING IS HARDER THAN FLYING. PRACTICE SOMEWHERE SOFT," he advised. "BEFORE YOU TRAVEL. THE NEXT CAVE--WE CAN GO THERE? IT IS SNOW. IT IS WHERE BONE LIVES. AND IT IS COLD, IF YOU LIKE COLD."

Now, that was a good idea--practicing landing and flight in soft snow--and Dread, who (with a distant sense of frustration) often knew that his ideas were rarely good, puffed up a little proudly.

He nosed about, searching for the silver pendant. This he nudged toward Cadenza, in case she wanted it: a pendant of water-breathing.

As an afterthought--in regards to Ursa--he spoke further, rocking back on his feet as he did so. "OH. IT IS EASIER TO FLY IN WARMER PLACES, THOUGH. WARM AIR MAKES YOU GO UP FASTER."

Flying basics: imparted. Now they just had to practice.

@Cadenza

The idea of siblings was a surprise, but it was far from an unwelcome one. After all, if their siblings were anything like their dad, they were certain to be wonderful, Cadenza was quick to decide. More family sounded absolutely wonderful to them.

It was somewhat confusing that they did not have the same magic as their dad, though. When they had used their magic, they had imagined it being the opposite of the warming up that their dad had done for them as a child. Yet, a part of them felt they could learn to do that as well, even though it was opposite. If their dad didn't have the same magic, what magic did he have, then?

Magic was confusing.

But all that was forgotten as Cadenza regarded Dread, completely startled. "I have another parent," They stated the words, by there was a questioning note to the lilt of their voice. It made sense, but it also very much didn't. "...Would he want to meet me?" There was worry there, because for all that Cadenza very much loved the idea of family, parents were supposed to be present.

If Pride hadn't been, did that mean he didn't want them?

Still, as distracting as this thought was, they did their best to focus on the explanation of flight. The idea of falling was scary, but less scary than being unwanted.

But the idea of meeting a sibling was sufficiently appealing to distract them for their fears. Still, if it was harder to fly in the cold, then they wanted to practice here first. It would be a shame to embarrass themselves in front of a sibling by flying poorly. So they eagerly accepted the silver pendant of water breathing. "I will try here first, then we can go to the snow cave together, perhaps? ...If we do that, can we see Bone?" Hopeful eyes regarded their dad.

They stretched out their wings as much as they could, trying to feel the air catch beneath it from where they were before they went leaping off anything. While their wings felt more like a part of them than the foreign objects that they had felt like as a child, it was still odd to think these limbs could help them fly. But fly they would, they decided.

So, in the end, when the air felt insufficient where they were, they did try leaping above the water, trying to push their wings to push air. It turned out to be good that they had the pendant they did, though, for they fell into water. Perhaps they had not been listening well enough. Instead of flying, they quickly were forced to learn to swim.

@Dread

"YES," Dread answered (loudly) to the question of a second parent. "I BROUGHT A PIECE OF STONE AND TOLD HIM TO PUT LIFE INTO IT BECAUSE I DID THAT FOR HIM SO HE OWED ME A CHILD. FAMILY IS GOOD," he added, by way of explanation. (It should be noted that Dread's idea of family was, in fact, warm and close together but he didn't quite understand that some might consider both parents should be present. He did not even notice any distress in his child on the topic.) "BUT HE IS," and Dread tilted his head, thinking for a moment, "NICE?" He hesitated, a pause, and tried to remember back over what he knew of the stag.

He'd seen him plenty of times--in the fight in Cetus, at the meeting in Orion. Both times he'd spoken out in defense of others, or actually fought. "HE IS A WARRIOR, BUT WITH MAGIC, AND IT'S SOMETHING TO DO WITH PROTECTING." (Dread's understanding of the Seven's role of 'guardians' was also limited. So too were his concepts of 'warrior' and Pride in general.)

"TRY, YES. I WILL HELP," he added. "AND WE CAN SEE BONE IF BONE IS THERE. SHE IS NICE," which seemed to indicate that Dread's ability to described the qualities of others was quite limited. They were nice, or not nice (possibly--he'd yet to name anyone who wasn't, in fact, nice).

Still, he eyed Cadenza for a moment longer, and with a sudden blurted softness (but still LOUD), added, "YOU HAVE MANY FAMILY. WHEREVER YOU GO YOU WILL FIND THEM AND THEY WILL HELP YOU." Pride's family was fucking huge, and Dread had many children and adopted children, too. Just about anywhere Cadenza went, their family names would likely garner them aid--not that either family wouldn't help strangers, either.

Lots of Gembounds were 'nice,' come to think of it.

Dread spread his own wings, springing up and out, the billow of wingleather offering a rippling thud like a tent in high winds. Then he was soaring, banking with a flap or two to keep his altitude, craning his neck around to watch Cadenza make their first attempt.

Somewhere--distant--he felt his familiar (he didn't know it was a familiar) shifting on his gold pile. That distracted him only briefly; he blinked and Cadenza was falling.

"TRY TO-"

-too late.

The black dragon grimaced as the child plummeted; he dropped down, trying to focus on his magic for a moment, sweeping in circles around the child in the water.

He reached for his magic, intending to heat the air around him--to create a gentle updraft, if a weak one, for Cadenza to try and use. Instead, there was a flash of confusion and brief pain through his mind, and a moment later he was in the water, too, beside his child.

The black dragon shot to the surface, gasping briefly and then flailing before falling still, there, his body easily carried by his wings lying on the water, rocking up and down with the waves. He looked to Cadenza. "WE CAN SWIM BACK TO THE SHORE AND TRY AGAIN," he said, oblivious to the fact that he should probably explain just why he was in the water.

@Cadenza