I am so so SO sorry about the lack of updates here ;-;
Hope you enjoy tho

The trip back to Atallon was quiet.

Fawn stared straight ahead, occasionly flipping switches but kept her gaze firmly forwards. Her eyes were glazed, reflecting the blue glow of hyperspace.

Ezra sat in the chair beside her, chin resting on his knees and arms wrapped around himself. His gaze occasionally flicking over to Whiplash who was resting on the chair behind him. Hurricane had disappeared a little while ago, saying something about hot drinks. Fawn had merely hummed in agreement.

Ezra wanted to know why Fawn was acting like this. When they'd gotten to her at the library, she had been searching through a series of thick volumes.

"I'm looking for the records of elder dragons" she had told them, "the history of dragons that had royal lineage."

Ezra had asked why, and Fawn stated she needed it for research. Ezra knew when she was lying. There was something else going on.

Whiplash suddenly sat up making the Bridger siblings look round.

"I'm uh...gonna go find Hurricane" Whiplash said, glancing at Ezra.

The dragon's voice floated through Ezra's mind. "Talk to her if you're curious."

Ezra gave him a small smile of gratitude. "Okay, see where he is with those drinks."

Whiplash nodded and leapt off the seat, walking through the door to the back of the ship. Ezra watched the door close then turned to Fawn.

She had refocused her gaze to the glass, lips pressed together.

"Fawn?"

Fawn's eyebrow flexed to show she was listening.

"Um...the records?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you researching?"

"It's just stuff for Kabera, Ezra" Fawn replied, her gaze never shifting from the window.

"Yeah, but what?"

Fawn's fingers tightened on the yoke. "Raxia...wanted me to look at some old texts...see if there was a cure...or something."

Ezra stared at her. "You really don't want to tell me do you?"

Fawn looked at him, mouth open to retort but the dejected look in her brother's eyes made her crumble. Her head thunked back on the seat, hands dropping from the steering to run through her hair.

"Ezra" she began slowly, "Raxia is... well she's struggling, the damage she suffered has affected her more than we realised."

Fawn dropped her hands into her lap, gripping them together tightly. "She told me that it might be time to search for a new heir to Kabera's throne. And...the texts were to try and find a new heir, to find an elder dragon's offspring that would fit the requirements."

Ezra stared at his sister, mouth slightly agape. Fawn sighed again, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm gonna try to find someone, someone who will do well..."

"What if you took up the mantle-?"

"No." Fawn's grip tightened on her hands. "N-No I'm not...I'm can't..."

Fawn dropped her head into her hands. "I've made too many bad decisions in my life Ez, and I can't afford to make bad decisions at full control of Kabera, the damage it could cause... It really is best if dragons continue to lead dragons. I'm just there as an advisor, and someone the people of the planet can turn to. The dragons should have one of their own to lead them, not a human."

That made sense. It almost made Ezra frustrated how much it made sense. "Okay sure, but you would be a good choice, you learn from your mistakes and-"

"Ezra I really don't want to talk about this anymore, okay? Can you just drop it please?"

Ezra scoffed. "Exactly what Whiplash said" he grumbled, turning away from his sister.

"Wait what?" Fawn raised a brow, "what were you and Whiplash talking about for him to tell you to drop something?"

Ezra glanced at the door. "It's not exactly my place to say... but do you know a dragon called Jasper?"

"Mhm, a model dragon in battle and a master tactician, a little on the rude side though."

"Did you know he hates Whiplash's guts?"

"Yeah."

Ezra uncurled, swiveling round to Fawn. "You know?"

"Well yeah, he and Whiplash are related, Jasper wants validation and his father is barely around. Tellun chose Whiplash to be a part of Diamond Squadron before him and Tellun is confident with Whiplash's abilities. Naturally he got bitter and takes it out on the dragon that he thinks is the cause of his problems."

"But it isn't fair on Whiplash-"

"I know it's not, but Jasper is a dragon that was molded from jealously at a young age, he just craves his father's approval and that's twisted him into the brute you see today."

Ezra sat back heavily, gripping the armrests tightly. "He insulted Whiplash, called him a varmint and a runt."

"Yep, sounds like him."

Ezra rounded on her, teeth bared. "How can you take this so lightly?! Jasper has tried to kill Whiplash!"

Fawn glanced at Ezra. "Let me guess, he told you how Jasper almost killed him when he was ten?"

"Yes! ...You know about that too?"

"Of course, Hurricane was the one to save him."

Fawn pressed a button to engage auto-pilot and sat back, crossing her arms loosely.

"Jasper was around eighteen at the time, just out of the elite training regeme for young dragons, Tellun put him through as soon as he could to prepare him for the coming battles. He was actually a really nice dragon back then, followed orders, loyal. He was friends with Hurricane during the academy, as well as... you know Leon right?"

"Leo is Japser's friend?"

"Was" Fawn corrected, "they grew up together alongside Hurricane but split apart. Leo and Hurricane stuck together but Jasper drifted away. Because Hurricane was close with Leo, Whiplash quickly made friends with him. Whiplash really loved hanging out with those two idiots" Fawn smiled to herself then sobered.

"Jasper didn't like Whiplash from the beginning, and over time, it developed into hatred. And when he saw him with Leo...he challenged Whiplash to a 'friendly' spar."

Ezra's stomach dropped.

"Whiplash had always adored playfighting with Leo and Hurricane, so he thought it was the same thing. Jasper broke Whiplash's ribs, and a wing, and almost completely crushed his windpipe."

Ezra had to grip the armrest so he wouldn't do something rash.

"Hurricane and Leo managed to intervene in time before Jasper actually acomplished what he was intending to do. Raxia heard about it and got Tellun to pull him from the training regime as punishment. He was on constant watch from the higher ups for a few years, just so he wouldn't step way over line again. As times gone on, he's gotten more settled, just sticks with verbal abuse instead of physical with Whiplash."

Fawn sighed heavily. "Hurricane was furious that we didn't do something more severe...but it isn't uncommon for this kind of thing to happen."

"What?"

"Ezra, you did your research when you were training to become a dragon rider, you must've read somewhere that every dragon has a natural enemy?"

"Well yeah but-"

"So you should know that these kind of battles and rivalries aren't unusual for such a dangerous species of animal. They all have their reasons to fight another dragon, territory, mating or just for the hell of it. Dragons can be unpredictable when it comes to emotions, it can cause them to lash out like Jasper did. He hurts Whiplash verbally now because he can't do it physically anymore without the risk of punishment. Words can still hurt, but you just can't see their scars, so to Raxia everything is okay."

"But its not!"

"I'm well aware, but as long as Jasper doesn't lay a talon on a dragon, we have nothing to hold him for."

Fawn reached over and gently grasped Ezra's wrist. "I know how frustrating this is, believe me, I would love to get that dragon sorted out for everything I know he's done, but we can't. The best thing we can do Ez, is make sure Whiplash is safe, okay?"

Ezra wanted to argue, he wanted to scream that it wasn't okay, it wasn't fair, but he knew it wouldn't get anywhere. He slumped back into the chair, nodding numbly.

"Okay."

Fawn nodded. "Okay" she said quietly, sitting back in her chair.

The silence enveloped them again, this time less tense, but still making it a little uneasy.

The doors suddenly slid open and Hurricane and Whiplash walked through, a thermos balanced on both their noses.

"Found some hot cocoa in the back" Hurricane said, carefully passing the cup to Fawn. "But using the oil burner wasn't easy."

"I told him he should've just used his fire" Whiplash rolled his eyes, tossing his nose up making the drink fly into Ezra's hand. He leapt up onto the back of the boy's chair, lying down on the head rest.

"She tell you what's going on?"

Ezra glanced at his dragon and took a sip of his cocoa. "Yeah, she's looking for a new heir to Kabera."

Whiplash's eyes widened a fraction and his horns shifted, but he kept his expression passive. "Raxia must be in worse condition then we realised if she's ordered Fawn to find a new monarch."

Ezra gave a nod, running his thumb over the warm cup. "Yeah..."

He glanced over at Whiplash who was staring at his claws, a serious look in his eyes that Ezra still wasn't used to seeing. His vison of Whiplash was still the dragon before Kabera's mass attack, but it was changing.
And with what he just learnt about Whiplash's past, it had altered further.

Anger seeped into the bond, and Ezra's voice came through, frustrated and biting.

"She also told me some stuff about Jasper, why didn't you tell me?"

Whiplash's head snapped up, wide eyes flicking to Ezra. "She did what?"

"What's that Whiplash?" Fawn looked over.

Whiplash startled at Fawn then quickly realised he'd spoken out loud.
"N-Nothing sorry Fawn-"

Whiplash shook his head and tapped Ezra's shoulder, motioning to the door.

Ezra gave a nod. He stood from the chair, Whiplash jumping onto his shoulder as he passed.

Fawn watched them go, trying to figure out if she was going to be yelled at by Whiplash later.

She had an inkling of what they were about to talk about.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"It didn't matter earlier-"

"He almost killed you Whiplash!"

"Almost."

"The fact that he tried is enough reason to stay away from him!"

Whiplash sighed heavily, pressing his wing talons to his forehead. "Ezra, I'm not about to hide every time Jasper make a move towards me, letting him see how much he scares me will just get him to approach me more. Besides I was ten when he almost killed me, I know better to not trust him now."

"Whiplash don't you realise how serious this is!?"

"I do, but I'm assuming Fawn told you about dragons having natural enemies and all that jazz?"

"Yes but-"

"Then you must understand this is all natural for my species."

"But what about-"

"Ezra, dragons are complicated creatures, we have an instinct on how to deal with each other. You need to accept that while we're evolved creatures, our nature still contains the essence of wild beasts."

Ezra opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat. Whiplash watched him, tail flicking and eyes locked to his. He softened a little.

"It's nice that you care, but every dragon goes through something like this in their life time, mine just came around a little early."

Ezra sighed, sitting down heavily on the bench. Whiplash hopped up next to him, gently pressing his paw to Ezra's hand.

"I know it sounds harsh, but it's just who we are. You can take the dragon out of the wild but you can't take the wild nature out of the dragon."

Ezra nodded, dropping a hand between Whiplash's horns. "Yeah I know...I just hate the idea of a dragon constantly tormenting you..."

Whiplash smiled. "It's not always constant, that's actually the first time Jasper has talked to me in weeks, it's almost refreashing."

Ezra let out a laugh, "you're so weird."

"Thank you."

"You told him about Jasper didn't you?"

Fawn glanced at Hurricane who was curled up on Ezra's chair. "Yes."

Hurricane nodded. "Ezra needs to be aware of how dangerous that dragon is. Jasper wouldn't hesitate to hurt Ezra if it meant it would hurt Whiplash."

Fawn tried not to think about that. The damage Jasper had done to Whiplash as a child...the human body was so much weaker than a dragons, Ezra would actually die if Jasper tried anything.

"Hey."

A paw landed on her shoulder making her flinch. Hurricane had climbed up to the back of her chair and was now perched there.

"We won't let him touch Ezra, I'll make him pay the price for hurting my family again."

"I'd never seen you flip out like that" Fawn told him, "when Jasper attacked Whiplash."

Hurricane shrugged. "I may be more controlled than my siblings, but I won't hesitate to hurt a sleemo if they attack my family."

Fawn took her dragon's face in one hand and shoved his head back. "Rude, but nice sentiment."

Hurricane shook himself, nipping the air close to Fawn's fingers. She chuckled, scratching under the dragon's chin then faced forwards again. "Dork" she said.

"Jerk" Hurricane shot back through his purrs.

The Phantom Two rocked and jumped out of hyperspace, Atallon coming into view amongst the black void of space.

"Welcome home" Fawn murmured, turning off auto-pilot and turning the ship towards the planet.