I could hear Reward Seeker behind me barely able keep up with me through the thick jungle, but I was not going to slow down from my purposeful pace. As much as it was not helping my friend for me to keep the pace that I was, I needed to get back to my clan, my hoard, and soon.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that my entire clan was still back on the beach, next to the lagoon. Dragon FireWyrm was actually laying in the lagoon itself, though, given its shallowness and his size, it only reached halfway up his barrel. She of Hourglass was, as usual, on his back, lazily staring at the water, or something in the water; I was not sure, from my angle. Wanderer and Caretaker were leaning into each other, and Scorpion was softly playing his metal scorpion ocarina.

As I entered the clearing, the clan turned to look at me. The clan stared at me in silence. I was about to say something to end it, when Merc breathlessly burst through the jungle behind me. I gazed back to make sure that he was alright. While I knew Merc was no slouch, trying to keep up with me through thick jungle at the pace we went would exhaust all but the most athletic dragons. Merc waved off my silent concerns.

When I turned back, Wanderer’s and Scorpion’s eyes had widened, and Dragon FireWyrm was slowly getting up. She of Hourglass remained on his back, though she did position herself to gaze over his head. Once Dragon FireWyrm was fully on his feet, he made his way to me. I could see that there was a questioning look in his eyes as if he wasn’t sure about me.

Once Dragon FireWyrm reached me he sat down right in front of me, his large head nearly snout to snout with mine. His eyes bored into me, and soon, I could see and feel his inner fire through them. If wyrms could cry, I’m sure he would be; as it was, I was struggling to handle the emotions that were racking my body. Though it was hard, I kept up the the eye lock as wave after wave of emotion crashed into me. He had been in immense pain because of the pain I was in. I would have fallen back into depression except that, for all the pain, there was more joy and relief.

Finally, Dragon FireWyrm broke the gaze and began to lick my snout. With each swipe of his tongue, more and more of the ‘golden’ scales ‘pawprint’ on the top of my snout became visible. For the first time in some time, I felt at peace with having the mark of the DragonWyrm, the highest honor a dragon could have. I would have reverted to my original Hoard Name, but couldn’t. My old name just slides out of my mind, no matter how many times I see it written or spoken by someone who knows it.

I smirked as Dragon FireWyrm slowly pulled away. I flicked out my tongue, teasing one of his nose holes. Dragon FireWyrm growled out in pain and rubbed his snout with a paw. The clan groaned in shared pain, but that quickly changed into snickering when I found my legs being swept out from under me by one of Dragon FireWyrm’s tails.

As Dragon FireWyrm turned away, I could fully see the entire clan again, all of whom looked like they were struggling between joyous laughter and tears of relief. Telling them what I needed to say could wait a few minutes longer.

I walked up to Scorpion and gave him a nod of permission that he never really needed. His head slowly snaked down, his headphone ears opening so that he could listen fully. No words needed to be exchanged. I knew that all that Scorpion would need was to listen to my soul’s song. I reached out and ran my claw through his head spines, trying to calm him down as he shook with emotion. Before I could react further, I found myself nearly crushed by Scorpion nuzzling me much to the amusement of the clan.

As I got to Caretaker and Wanderer, neither leaned down to nuzzle me, like with Dragon FireWyrm and Scorpion. Caretaker remained in place, while Wanderer leaned back, crossing his forearms and smirking. “All I gotta say is, it's about fucking time you got your act together, DragonWyrm Heart.”

“Y-Yeah…” I tittered as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. “I was struggling with worry over my abilities as your Firstclaw, without having a wyrm half...”

“Like I, or any dragon here, except maybe She of Hourglass, maybe, give a fucking lava shit about your damn firstclaw or dragonwyrm abilities!” Wanderer angrily growled out. He became so agitated that he flapped his wings a few times. “I was talking about you as a brother, a hatchmate.”

It was exactly as Merc had told me. ‘All those centuries waiting for you to awaken, it wasn’t their Firstclaw they wanted. They wanted their brother…’

“See.” Merc gestured to Wanderer.

“Exactly! So stop moping about it, already! We don’t need to hear you explain yourself anymore!” Wanderer added, growling in irritation. “This apologetic shit would be alright in a trial, but you are among family, not judge and jury!”

“Yeah I know I just needed to be reminded of it… However, there are some things I need to explain.” I sighed. “As we all know, The Voice has a tendency to hide a lesson, or advice, whenever he speaks…”

“The understatement of the universe…” Wanderer muttered sarcastically.

“Yes, yes...” I rolled my eyes, smirking. “As Dragon FireWyrm already knows, The Voice admonished me for my failure with She of Hourglass… One of the comments The Voice made was that my clan had tried to help me… at first I thought he was referring to just She of Hourglass, but I think, and now know, that it was more than that… you see that is, uh, um...”

I swallowed hard as I tried to come up with the right way to explain. I started out so well, but then, I just lost it. Stupid judge and jury comment... Thanks alot, Wanderer… The clan just stared blankly at me as the awkward silence continued to build, which only increased the pressure on me to come up with something, anything to say. Gah, this was so much easier when I was still psychically whole; either that, or I’m emotionally drained… I haven’t been sleeping well, after all... Focus, DragonWyrm Heart, focus...

“DragonWyrm Heart, what are you trying to say?” Caretaker questioned, trying to get me to speak.

“I… uh...” Oh screw explaining, just ask it already! “Will you, my clanmates, act as my wyrm half?”

“Jā” The clan, minus Dragon FireWyrm and She Hourglass, who merely growled ‘yes’, quickly spoke as one, much to my surprise. I expected them to blink in confusion, or look at each other, or something, anything, but not an instant yes. What shocked me most was that She of Hourglass was in agreement, and did so without a moment's hesitation. Of the entire clan, I would have expected the most for her to be the one to hesitate.

As soon the clan had uttered the draconic word for ‘yes’, I could feel a crushing, but paradoxically soothing, surge of mana falling over the clearing. My eyes widened in shock and realization. I knew what was happening. My clan was manifesting friendship magic, and, just like with Twilight and her friends prior to when they fought against Tirek and myself, my clan was transforming under the immense power that is friendship magic.

Thier scales and eyes began to glow in the colors of their scales and eyes. Several white horns grew on Scorpion’s head, peeking out of his spiky head spines. Dragon FireWyrm’s sparks, which usually only numbered half a dozen, at most, multiplied to hundreds. I couldn’t see what was happening, if anything, with She of Hourglass, as she was hidden by the bulk of Dragon FireWyrm… It’s moments like this that I don’t like my small size in comparison to the rest of my clan… As with She of Hourglass, for whatever reason, I could not see what, if any, changes were happening to Caretaker and Wanderer.

“Not again!” Merc facepalmed, though I could see that a hint of a smile was beginning to form.

Unfortunately, there was no more time to question why it was happening, or respond further, as a swirling beam of rainbow light rushed towards me from each of my clanmates. Even though I knew it was going to be alright, I instinctively took a sharp breath. That was the last thing I saw and did as the light overwhelmed me. After that, I knew nothing.

“I would gladly take the Dishonored Mark, just to be with you.”

“Quartermaster, Scorpion, or even I would have gladly laid down our lives, if that was what it took to get you back…even by your own claw or flame...”

“I... buh... I.. Really?”

“Jā.”

…r… m… rt...

Firstclaw…

DragonWyrm Heart… Are you alright?

I blinked hard, finally getting rid of the pounding in my head, along with the vertigo in my vision and the ringing in my ears. I looked around to see my family and Merc gathered around, looking at me worriedly. Caretaker, in particular, was bent down, looking me over. The friendship magic must have run its course, as everydragon was back to normal.

“Are you alright, DragonWyrm Heart?” Caretaker questioned me again.

“Yeah…” I groaned as I slowly rose to my feet. I have got to say, being hit by friendship magic for real, instead of just having a memory of it, is something else. I mean, I knew how Dragon FireWyrm felt, but wow…

“Wow!” Wanderer exclaimed in amazement. “Remind me to never make friendship magic angry…”

I wondered why he was so shocked about the power of friendship magic, as the same thing happened with Dragon FireWyrm long ago. I was about to question him when I remembered that, while he was a part of the clan at the time, he wasn't there the last time dragons used friendship magic.

So… do you have a wyrm half now?

“No idea…” I shrugged. I didn’t feel anything different. I might have been able to find out more if I meditated. “But I don’t see you chatting up your wyrm half while enjoying a spot of tea and some crumpets.”

Gah! Just because I… Gah! Scorpion growled out in irritation much to the clan's amusement. His frustrated singing voice was always funny. I am not some posh rocker!

“Sure you're not...” I smirked, rolling my eyes.

Scorpion likes all forms of music, with few exceptions, and really doesn’t have a favorite type of music. However, he has used different ‘personas’ over the years to insert himself into whatever the music culture was at the time. That being said, his favorite ‘persona’, which really wasn't a persona, but what he was normally like, was a punk rocker. He did have the look, spiky and wild neon blue head spines, scorpion ocarina choker, scorpion guitar, and headphone cups that were literally his ears. Plus, he even had the wild personality typical of punk rockers. That doesn’t even take into consideration his jacket, which he wore a lot more sparingly than he used to, and the near-constant smirk he usually sported. Still...

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout...” I was about to get to the ‘When I get all steamed up’ part of the jingle when I got attacked by a very pissed off Scorpion.

I was knocked to the side, hard, by a claw swipe. Scorpion roared, then stalked closer, growling the whole time. I growled back as I used my small size to my advantage, avoiding the second claw swipe and scrambling up Scorpion’s back. Luckily for me, his guitar was not on his back, like normal, as he had been tuning it up when I arrived in the clearing earlier. Scorpion roared in anger and mild pain as I attacked his wing joints. I was quickly thrown off and onto the ground, belly up. Scorpion gave me no opportunity to get back onto my feet as he spun to face me, faster than I could blink. I could see fury blazing in his eyes as he then attempted and failed to bite me in half, as I kept rolling out of reach several times.

Suddenly, things got really chaotic when Dragon FireWyrm suddenly joined, against both of us. Apparently, he wanted to join in on the fighting. It was no surprise, considering I was having fun, and Scorpion, even in the midst of his fury, was radiating joy.

“Do do do do!” Wanderer trumpeted before crouching down in preparation to jump. “Dragon Pile!”

Fuck! I inwardly cursed. With me being one third the size of even the smallest dragon here, I was in deeeep lava shit, because I could easily become a dragon pancake under the hissing, growling, biting, and scratching pile of now three large dragons….

“Hey! You leave my mate alone.” I could hear Caretaker yell out, though I could also hear a slight giggle struggle to not come out as she yelled.

Ah double fuck… I groaned as Caretaker joined in. I guess I should be glad that Merc and She of Hourglass stayed out, so far.

“Glittery Soul Fire, what are you doing up here?” I questioned her as I walked out onto the bluff that I had been using the past week. I was coming up here to not to sulk, like before, but to check up on Phoenix Wave and Hourglass in peace. Though, with her here, that was going to be put back a bit longer, as this gave me an opportunity to get to know my newest clanmate better.

Last night’s fight reinvigorated the bonds of friendship that my clan had with each other, and thus, my own hoard. Glittery Soul Fire, not so much, as when I examined the golden magic cords that represented the bonds of friendship I have, my hoard as it were, I noticed that my bond between her and myself was a bit weak. I expected as much, as she is bound to me via her mate, not a Choosing… and we were not on good terms at the time of mating… One step at a time...

Watching…

I looked up in the direction of her gaze to make out a pair of dots dancing in the sky, one white, one black. I smiled as I watched. It’s moments like this that made everything worth it.

“Ah I see Dragon FireWyrm is flying with Soaring Skies… That would explain why you are here, alone, and not lazily lounging on his back like normal… Mind if I ask you a question?”

Glittery Soul Fire titled her head at me. Ask.

“Why did you agree to be... I mean, I know we are clanmates... and all… but we aren’t exactly on the best of terms… I think...” Glittery Soul Fire head stayed tilted as she gazed down at me, clearly confused as to why I was asking the question I was asking. Of course, I flubbed it worse then Fluttershy on open mic night…for the second time in two days. I was on a roll, it seemed... “I guess I wanted to know why, without hesitation, you’d agree to help me… well, more than help… To be my wyrm half is not exactly a light thing to do, and, going back to my earlier point… yeah...”

Unlike Dragon FireWyrm, who was an open book, with his inner fire usually visible, so far, Glittery Soul Fire was the opposite. I could not figure out what she was really thinking about, all that well, and thus, my question. I wasn’t too surprised, given that, for the longest time, Glittery Soul Fire’s wyrm half imprisoned itself much more than what is normal. Even though the wyrm is now free and ‘alone’, as her dragon half faded away, she still shows signs of being guarded. Hopefully, she will open up, just like Dragon FireWyrm’s wyrm half did over time when he still had both halves of his psyche.

“Ow…” I grumbled after I got hit by the tip of Glittery Soul Fire’s tail. “Geez, Glittery Soul Fire, I’m not becoming mopey about it, I just want to understand you better… I… made an inexcusable error with you once, and I will not make it again… Not again…”

“Fffffff…” I hissed in pain as I got slapped on the back of my head again. Her tail could pack a wallop when she wanted to. “Must you do that!?”

Yes. Glittery Soul Fire growled angrily. You shit eating. Shit nasty. Eating shit hurts mate, hurts clan.

I narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized Glittery Soul Fire. She was acting the same way that she did when she first arrived. Soaring Skies had a tendency to use ‘colorful’ language and Quartermaster was a bit of a violent hothead… and here she was, cursing, and although not as violent as Quartermaster would be, her hitting me for being ‘stupid’ was exactly what Quartermaster would have done... “You are so Quartermaster’s daughter, and Soaring Skies’ sister…”

Glittery Soul Fire stared me for a moment before suddenly, her tongue darted out twice, sliding into both of my nose holes.

“...and you are Dragon FireWyrm’s mate…” I winced as I scrunched up my snout, trying to alleviate the stinging.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the loooong delay editor was taking an unplanned holiday and 'forgot' to tell me... It shouldn't be too long for the next chapter after this as the plan is Tuesday after work (with anyluck I might have 2 chapters for editing by then)

Also expect time jumps as we continue....

Finally a dragon OC from a reader is inbound so if you have one and are interested in it becoming a character in this story let me know.