Avalanche's PoV
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I was watching my little brother (who was now twenty-three sun-downs), because Polar had left to go hunting, and, as she put it, "You're the only one stupid enough to like him, and you're the only one who'd do the dirty work." I realized that she was calling me stupid, but I wasn't quite sure why; I knew she was calling me stupid, but for what? Caring about my little brother?

I was mulling it over while playing with him when Penguin, another dragon in my circle, came by.

She stopped and stared at me, her piercing gray eyes widening in shock for a moment before narrowing in....anger? Disgust? Dissapointment? I couldn't tell, couldn't place the expression on her snout. All I knew is that she was upset. "You're with him." Was all she said. I paused to look at her. With who? My little brother?

"Him?" I asked, pointing a talon at him.

"Yeah," she spat. "Why are you with him?" What was Penguin going on about? Didn't she know what siblings were? Didn't she have a younger brother herself?

"I-is som-some-something wrong?" I managed to stutter out, shocked by Penguin's sudden hostility. She glared at me angrily.

"Nothing," she snapped, before she whisper-hissed at herself, "I shouldn't be here." She seemed highly upset. I hope that wasn't because of me. What was with her? Did she get attacked by a NightWing or something?

I tried again, "Can I h-help you?" This time, managing to stutter less. I stared at her, eyes wide. All Penguin did was simply trying to burn holes into the back of my little brother's head.

Without ceasing her glaring, she replied, "Yes. You should start by getting rid of that thing," she flicked her tail at my brother, before continuing, "And you could also help yourself."

Wait.

What?

Help myself? To what? Seal? Walrus? I've already eaten today....

Catching my questioning look, she grinned. It was the full-toothed grin of a crazed dragon. One that knew something you didn't, and reveled in that fact. One that would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

"You mean you don't know?" she asked, although her face told me that she knew I didn't know.

I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off. "You don't feel the hate? The disgust?" I closed my mouth, staring at her. I mean, the atmosphere had felt different around here, but I thought little of it.

She threw back her diamond-shaped head and laughed, a horrible cackle of a bitter laugh.  "You really are a seal-brained walrus with the thought capacity of a narwhal." I continued to stare. What?!

Penguin smirked. "Yeah, I did just say that. What're you going to do about it?" she sneered. I dug my talons into the ice. Polar bears and penguins, this dragon ticked me off!

"What are you saying?" I asked slowly, carefully. I knew I was treading on thin ice. Staring into her icy gray eyes, I saw a flicker of something I didn't recognize, then it was gone. Like the seal that is swimming, before it's no longer there, snatched into the jaws of the polar bear.

Taking her eyes off my brother, all she said was, "You're doomed." Then she spun around and was gone. But not before kicking my little brother, making him tumble backwards into the snow with a yelp, causing me to stare icicles at the back of her retreating head.

What. What? What was she getting at back there?

My little brother's shout snapped me out of my thoughts. He was stuck upside down, small legs flailing. Gently I picked him out and put back down. He grinned a grin only those cute little chubby dragonets can manage.

"Tank-oo!" He smiled. Huh? He repeated it, "Tank-oo!" Oh. Thank you.

I smiled at him. "You're welcome, lil' buddy."

He suddenly frowned, brows pulled into a small ridge, thinking hard--I could just see his tiny brain working overdrive. Turning in the direction that Penguin had left, he yelled in his adorable voice, "Dat waz MEAN!" He even added in a raspberry for good measure. I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. But in the back of my mind, something nagged at me, something I couldn't quite place and the fact that I couldn't annoyed me even more.

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"Polar," I said my used-to-be mother's name, without a hint of warmth in it. She ruined me, I don't care if she's the one who gave birth to me, twenty-three sun-downs ago I swore I'd never call her 'mother' again. And I haven't.

She doesn't turn to look at me, doesn't give me much of any acknowledgement, really. All she did was give me a grunt, something that sounded suspiciously like, "Shuddup."

Ignoring her comment, I told her, "My brother doesn't have a name." Polar stared at me, incredulous.

"He doesn't have a name," she mimicked in a high voice. "I'm surprised you noticed," she addded under her breath. I just stared at her indignantly. I wanted to know why my little brother didn't have a name, and I was going to find out, whether she liked it or not. Which she didn't, of course.

"Why doesn't he have a name?" I demanded in a growl, spines on my back rising. The reply that I got wasn't the one that I had been expecting, although I really should have expected it.

"He doesn't deserve one."

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I leaped into the night, frustrated and angry. It was bad enough I was so low down in the Circles, and Polar wasn't making it any better. Was it really her fault, though? I turned the day's events over in my head. First, you have Penguin, who is normally a very calm dragon, and typically pretty chill with me, getting all out of wack, I mean, she even insulted me! And if that wasn't weird enough, she kicked my brother. But why? Just because he looks different?

And then there was the 'chat', if you could call it that, with Polar. She said that he "didn't deserve a name." What could he have done that was possibly so horrible that he didn't deserve a name? I mean, after all, he was born only twenty-three sun-downs ago. He could walk by the time he was seven sun-downs, he could talk by the thirteenth. And Polar hardly--no, scratch that--she always left him alone, no matter how terrible the excuse. Not really, though, because I was usually there. But I was the only one.....

How could I have been so dumb? Polar bears and penguins, Penguin was right. I really am a seal-brained walrus with the thought capacity of a narwhal. I'm such an idiotic, moronic, polar bear eyed, seal-flippered, walrus butt. It's not me, well not really, although some of it was my fault.

It's him.