You yawn as sunlight trickles into the stable through the many cracks and gaps in the sloped walls of the large structure. Blinking you can make out the dust swirling in the air, passing through the rays of sunshine. Though bright to look at, the light certainly provides little to no actual illumination of the stables you are in, so you don't immediately notice the many eyes that are focused on you and Dizzy as you shake yourself loose from your beloved's embrace. Still foggy from sleep and last night's exertions, you turn around to rouse your mate from his slumber, when - suddenly - you come face to face with a pair of glowing, topaz irises...
{{Gaaahk!}} you leap back from them making a strange guttering sound with your maw and unintentionally projecting your surprise to Dizzy-tail, who leaps up from his respite to land unsteadily on his feet, tail swishing and head shaking the drowsiness of sleep away.
{{What's going on? what happened?}} Dizzy asks, peering into the darkness, until his eyes settle on the the pair of glowing ones that have retreated further into the darkness. {{It's just one of the Kobolds}} He says, you visibly relax, but you're still tense from your rude awakening {{They were here when crazy, old Blunt-snout snatched me off the top of that ridge}} He grimaces remembering his experiences with the amethyst-purple dragon. {{I thought he was gonna kill me and feed me to the villages young, but he just dropped me off in here and left to find you. I tried to get out, but those doors are incredibly heavy, I couldn't budge'em}} You look at Diz for a moment, thinking about how you had spent your night on that ledge alone and afraid, deciding that your boy blue really didn't fare all that much better.
{{So, they really aren't just keeping you here to fatten you up for dinner?}} You nudge Dizzy's side playfully, finding some levity in the situation {{Could've fooled me}} You chuckle a little.
{{Shut it! Come on, why do you always gotta be like that?}} Your kyanite companion puts on a convincing pout, right before cracking into a smile. The tension lifting, you end up focusing back on the pair of eyes still watching you. Only there's more of them. Quite a few more. So many different shades of colour staring at you almost make it look as though you're seeing a glowing mosaic floating in front of you.
{{Uh, Dizzy?}} An edge of concern creeping into your thought-speech.
{{Oh yeah, there's a whole bunch of'em in here. I didn't really like the idea of sharing a space with these little guys, but they haven't been hostile at all really, just curious? I guess? I don't know how they communicate, definitely not through thought-speech like us... and they stare. A lot.}} He shivers a little, but remains rather nonplussed {{I'm also pretty sure most of these Kobolds are younglings of some sort, they're smaller than the ones we saw at the procession and aren't near as decorated.}} Feeling a little more at ease, you relax your body a little bit, but no sooner than when you do so, the Kobolds start to draw nearer. You still can't make much out within the dark structure, but you can see the glowing eyes start to bounce with motion, glancing at each other and noises start to emanate from the assembled creatures. The sounds vary from a series of rapid clicks to scruffy guttural notes to high pitch squeaks and squawks as the assembled crowd gets more and more agitated... or is it excited?
Now that you listen a little more closely, there seems to be a kind of enthusiasm or excitement or anticipation to their squawks and squabbles. An image flashes in your mind from a place that feels like a lifetime and a world ago, like a half remembered dream; a classroom filled with children on their first day of school, all of them wide-eyed and worried about the kind of teacher they'd be stuck with for the year before having their fears laid to rest by seeing a normal person come in to teach them, allowing the kids to relax and start behaving like kids again. These Kobolds are just kids put on edge by your presence and when you started to relax, so did they. {{They really are just a bunch of kids}} you sigh to your partner.
{{Um, they're Kobolds, not goats... I think they're called whelps if anything.}} Dizzy looks at you funny, but smirks not long afterwards. You sigh again with forced exasperation.
{{You know what I meant!}} You say, smiling back at him, he knows what he's doing. He's just getting back at you for earlier. Then something else comes to mind {{So what are all these young ones doing separated from the rest of the village? Is this some kind of daycare or segregated living space?}} Your mind wanders back to something Blunt-snout said about pet projects and playing a role in his experiments. He couldn't be referring to these children, could he? Isn't there some kind of moral line or boundary he's pushing? Is this why the village is so secluded? So he can get away with it all? Why are you asking yourself these questions? Ask the one who's presumable behind it all!
{{I don't know what these whelps are doing here away from their parents}} Your blue compatriot starts to say, bringing you back from your own internal monologue. You hope he didn't hear any of it this time. {{But I could guess who would have our answ-}} Dizzy is cut off by a loud groaning sound and sudden splash of light as the massive stable doors are pushed open by the very creature who is at the centre of your enigma.
Blunt-snout stands proud at the far side of the structure, the near blinding light behind him making it almost impossible to discern any of his features, save for his very distinct silhouette and the slightly purple aura of refracted light, glinting off his scales. The mini-Kobolds all begin to jump in excitement and start to make little trills and trumpeting sounds as they run over to the, comparatively massive, drake with no apparent fear. As you and Dizzy approach your imposing captor - or 'host' as he would probably have you refer to him as - you can hear a faint rumbling sound pour out of the creature as he leans down to nuzzle each of the little lizard-kin by his feet. Once you get close enough to see the expression on his face, it almost breaks your heart.
His face is set in a melancholy smile - a soft expression that is sweet but belies a bitter sadness - and his eyes glimmer just a little bit when looking at each of the young Kobolds - a look filled with hope, but tempered by the forge of an unforgiving world. Who is this dragon? He's not the one you were scared of three nights ago when he caught you in his territory nor is this the dragon that threatened to disembowel you yesterday and he's not even the crazy, voyeuristic, old hermit who lives among animals in the wild, feeding young hatchlings to his fostered Kobold tribe. No, right now he looks like just a lone soul carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders so that the little ones by his feet remain sheltered and unharmed. For the first time since meeting this drake, he looks vulnerable... fragile, even. But as soon as you draw near, he looks up, noticing you, and the moment is gone.
As soon as you're in front of him, you do a little curtsy-bow remembering he appreciated the gesture the first time you met him and Dizzy does the same. Blunt-snout returns your bow with his now hardened, steely gaze; a veritable fortress of emotional detachment, much different from what you witnessed mere moments ago. But that's all it is - you realize - a fortress, a defense, a mask.... a great poker face, nothing more. At least now you know something about this elder dragon, no matter how small and intangible, this dragon has something he fights for. It kinda warms your heart.
{{I see you've met the other whelps, young ones}} The greater drake addresses you and Dizzy. {{We've much work to accomplish and I would appreciate your full and undivided participation}} He's about to go on but Dizzy interrupts.
{{What is it we'll be doing exactly? You've kept us in the dark, literally, since we've been brought here.}} He huffs a little indignantly, but a crack in his facade displays his worry. You know what he's worried about, you know he doesn't care about what projects the old dragon has lined up for him or what could end up happening to the two of you here. You know he's thinking about his training with the elders back home and about his over-protective mother, who must be tearing down a forest looking for him right now. As far as his family is concerned, he has been missing for two days and may quite possibly be dead. He was probably last seen flying into 'that mad, old drake's' territory.
What if they come for him and find you both here in this village? Kobold's are viewed as no better than clever animals in dragon society, just scaly beavers building on instinct with no purpose beyond creating the shelters they were programmed by nature to make. No social ladder, no culture, no language or art. Just beasts that will need to be culled if Dizzy's family finds him here and you know at least one drake who will do everything to try and stop the massacre, but he wont be enough. So where does that leave you when the reaper comes knocking....?
{{Listen up, whelp! Pay attention when I speak to you!}} A familiar, angry voice breaks you out of your reverie. You make a small yelp as you snap your focus to the tower of scales in front of you {{If I have your attention now, may I continue?}} The dragon speaks in a tone reserved for teachers dealing with particularly disruptive students. You nod your head, ready to find out what it is he actually needs from you. {{Very well}} he continues {{Here is what you will be doing....}}