Hare

The air was nice and warm, the sun shining down on their scales. Hare's pure white scales reflected light off her like she was made out of diamonds, shining and twinkling as they soared on the warm air streams.

Adobe's didn't shine that well, but did have a slight light glare to them. Hare stayed as close as she could to him, but with his larger wings, it proved to be the tiniest bit difficult to do.

The sunlight was burning her eyes, blinding her for a large amount of the flight. However even with her eyes closed, she knew where she was going - it felt like - perfectly.

She used her nose to smell the different winds and Adobe's scent: musk, musty, and with a sprinkle of alcohol. As they rode the winds, she felt the North wind brush her face, and the small chill it gave as they headed North.

She cracked an eye open, seeing the line where the dessert begin to turn into tundra. Hare was confused, until she spotted the town up ahead. It was large with tall buildings dotted around, but was mostly houses and markets. The scent of death lingered in the air, making Hare crinkle her nose.

Adobe dived down, beginning to glide down to what looked like dias, a large fountain in front of it, dragons walking in the streets at their own different paces. Unlit lanterns hung from ropes that were tied from a large gazebo, all having crescent moons on them. Adobe finally landed, Hare dropping beside him, the smell of decaying tissue and corpses seemingly surrounding them as they landed on the dias.

It was of a SandWing, whose wings seemed to be light on fire, looking up to the three moons, the largest smallest one being the only one full. Hare looked at it before Adobe began to lead her away, down many alleyways, until coming to a dark, large, and seemingly deserted building. There were dried stains on the walls, dark and looked more splashed then dribbled onto. Hare didn't want to know what it was, just that there was many, many splattered stains along the rough walls and cobblestone walkway.

They pasted by many shady dragons, mostly SandWings and NightWings, offering her different things. Knives, animus touched (but Hare was more then certain fake) jewelry, strange smelling herbs, and other things she rather not talk about, nor think of for that matter. Now that they were here, she realized she was going to have to get use to it.

'Bodyguard,' she thought 'tough and menacing looking dragons who protect those more important then themselves.'

The thought made something in her stir. The fact she was able to take down a dragon over one and a half times the size of her; yet she was to guard a dragon her own age or younger. It didn't feel like it was right, that was, until they came inside.

Adobe lead her down the winding hallways and turns, passing by so many different dragons, mostly SandWings for the most part however. She felt like she stood out, with her white scales, and blood colored eyes.

They walked until they came to a relatively regular sized room, along the side of the walls were golden statues of dragons, SandWings once again, with different jewels for eyes. It felt like eyes were on her as she came inside, turning the corner, seeing a SandWing sitting on coyote pelts.

He was large, his chest wide and broad as he held his wings open slightly, the same marking tattooed rather then burned on him. His scales were a pale sandy brown, a few scars dotting here and there, but the most prominent being his missing right back leg.

Scales were missing around it, showing the tinder, fleshy dragon skin laying underneath. His eyes were narrowed and a dark green color, like a shadowy forest.

"I see you've come back, Adobe. What happened?" he asked, his voice deep and rumbly. Hare looked to the other, who gave a wide smirk to the other.

"I found the young masters' bodyguard. Go ahead, kid," he said, flicking his tail at her. Hare wasn't really sure what to do, but something in her told her to bow, which she did. Her head was lowered and her wings were spread out, hovering just above the ground.

"Hello, sir, my name is Hare. I'm the dau-"

"You brought back a hybird?" the leader snapped, giving a small unamused growl, the albino feeling the gaze of hard, narrowed eyes staring at her.

"Oh, don't worry, Spider, she's not. She's just an albino, nothing major," Adobe replied, waving his talon up and down slightly. The dragon looked them and gave a small growl.

"My name is Camel Spider, but you will refer to me as Lord Camel Spider, Boss, or sir. You will be tasked in guarding my two son's: Roadrunner, the older one, and Aureus, the younger one."

Hare looked up, her bright red eye looking at dark forest green, almost to the point they looked black. Staring into them, Hare saw a faint shine of.... something, something she couldn't put her claw tip on.

Spider's ear went up, a rough smile on his face. "Hide her, I hear someone," he murmured, quickly getting rid of the smile that seemed awkward on his long snout.

A warm wing was held above her, shielding her from sight as Adobe stood next to her. Spider sat tall, a harsh and rugged look on his face. The sound of talonsteps graced her ears, but she didn't move from her spot, only moving to sit up properly.

Spider looked up, his voice rumbly. "Aureus, nice to know you could join us for this," he stated, before looking to Adobe, his dark, nearly black eyes holding a strange gaze in them.

"I would like you to meet your new bodyguard," he began, nodding to Adobe. The admin nodded back, and closed his wings, Hare turning to look at the dragonet who came inside. His scales were a pale bold yellow, bronze specks dusted along his snout, arms, shoulders, neck, and the ridges of his wings.

His eyes were a dark hazel color, dark black holes that seemed to suck light in to cast their light. He didn't seem to have a very broad chest, and was rather much more smaller then Hare originally thought. He wore no jewelry, but had a few scars on his forearm that seemed slightly old. Now that the albinic looked at him, he looked, maybe a year younger then her.

His face a rounded and looked somewhat squishy, like a baby face, while his expression held more a mixture between awe and confusion. A small growl was heard next to her; almost as if she doing it by instinct, she bowed to him. Head down along with her front half, wings spread out and swept along the ground.

"Hello, Master Aureus, my name is Hare."

It was quite for a moment, Hare wondering if she had done something wrong. A new voice, a more softer and youthful, was suddenly heard mumbling, "W-what?"

"This is your new bodyguard, gold dust. She's your age, quick, agile, smart on her feet," Adobe started to name off different traits he seen while fighting her. Hare briefly looked to the admin, then back to the dragonet.

She saw a flicker of something flash in his eyes when he looked over Camel Spider, was it fear? Annoyance? Anger? She wasn't sure. He went to say something, but a more lower and more rugged voice sound around the corner.

"What do you want, dad?"

Then walked in a dusty brown SandWing, his belly large and swaying as he walked. Hare flinched a bit, practically seeing the fat on his forearms ripple each time he took a step. His eyes were a very dark brown, like cocoa beans, his sail being a lighter brown, which really brought out the pale yellow of his underbelly and wings.

"Hello to you too, Roadrunner."

'I thought roadrunners were supposed to be slim and fast, not... a nasty blob of a dragon.' Oh how deeply disturbed was the albinic. Camel Spider's voice came from behind her, speaking a strong, intimidating voice, "These are my sons, and your responsibilities: Roadrunner and Aureus."

Roadrunner sat next to his brother, lazily blinking his eyes, void of interest and personality.

"Who's the IceWing?" asked Roadrunner, stretching his head closer to who the white dragoness was. "Not that one Aureus lost."

"So you do pay a little attention to things. Whatever. This is Hare, you're new bodyguard. She'll be looking over both of you, and once I pass or one of you two has a dragonet, she'll be in charge of guarding them."

Hare stopped herself from twitching her ear, hearing what he just said. She wasn't really sure if she could stand up to being a bodyguard. The only training she got was from her father, but it was only for self defense, not actual fighting.

'Then what I doing when Adobe told me to fight him? Sure I was able to slip and maneuver my way around him, a few strikes here and there. But that was just one dragon. This is a gang, which means I'll have to fight more then one nearly every time. Unless they are an assassin, I can handle that... actually nevermind, I don't think I could fight a RainWing.'

She was in her head for a moment, thinking of different ways a RainWing could either kill or defeat her. There was venom they could shoot from their fangs, camouflage scales, blow darts, potions.

"Hare, you will be trained by Adobe and Scorch. You will start your job tomorrow-"

"Excuse me," Hare mumbled, earning a sharp glare from Spider.

"Yes?" he hissed.

"Is there any... work I could do?" she asked, looking into his cold eyes. Hare knew most dragons were scared of her blood colored irises, surrounding her phantom black pupils. Spider's eyes stayed strong, but she saw the smallest shimmer of fear spark for a split second.

'You don't trust me, do you?' Hare thought. Adobe looked at her, seeing how firm her arms were, along with how skinny she was. He looked to Camel Spider, his black eyes having a bit of a reluctant look to them.

"The two idiotic owners of the place said she was cleaning and taking care of the whole place. I... think she may be a bit of a workaholic."

Hare looked a bit stunned, but silently agreed. For almost a year she had been working hard, so she was sure her body would begin to crave to be productive. When she was forced to rest after her body broke down, she remembered how her claws itched to work.

'They really messed me up...' her thought drifted to Fuga and Kholohdo, before brushing it to the side. They were gone now, they couldn't break her body anymore.

She looked back up, making eye contact with Aureus. He stared at her, frozen, before blinking, gently shaking his head.

"Dad, I'm going to show Hare around, is that okay?" he asked. Camel Spider went to say something, but Hare felt talons grasp her own as she was lead out by her new boss. They walked down the hallway, until coming to a door, Aureus' talons rested on the nob.

He froze, but Hare noticed how his talons tightening around the nob, as though he was fighting with himself about something. He looked back to her, before turning and padding along a different hallway. Hare was confused... what was he going to do? He was already at the end of the hallway, beckoning her to come with him.

Hare followed him down the dark, barely lit hallway, a few banners with the same marking of that on Adobe or the others. The sandstone walls felt too close for her liking, like it was closing in as she walked a bit faster.

She suddenly realized how much of a maze this place seemed to be once she came to him, hallways branching off again and again. Aureus noticed her uneasy look, and gave a soft laugh.

"Don'ts worry, it's not so bad aft'a a bit." Hare noted how strong his accent was in his higher pitched voice. He flashed her a grin, before walking her down was seemed like more hallways, until stopping at a door.

"This can be your room! If dad says anythin' 'bout it, tell 'im he'll have'ta come talk ta' me." Hare mentally descrambled his words, and gave a small nod. He opened in, showcasing as small, simple room.

It was smaller then her old, orginal bedroom, but slightly bigger then her old... cell. It had a small bed, a tiny chest on a nightstand, and a small desk in the corner of the room with a candle on it.

Hare stepped inside, looking around, seeing a mirror on the wall she didn't notice before. She saw herself after months, and saw the deep bruises under her eyes, how thin she actually was, and how dirty her scales were.

She looked terrible- no, horrific! No wonder Aureus and others looked at her strange. Aureus stepped in, barely enough room for him. He grumbled, looking around at how tight the place was.

"Sorry, I should have given you a bi-"

"No, no, it's perfect. It's better then the orphanage."

Aureus looked at her, his wings nearly touching her shoulder from the compact space. His dark hazel eyes bore into hers, a sudden wave of uneasiness washing over the albinic. Did he notice something else wrong with her? Were her teeth nasty? Was her breath bad?

He blinked, snapping himself out of his trance and backed up, awkwardly turning around.

"I'll let ya settle down, ya look a bit tired and I'm sure ya're itchin' for a bath. I'll see ya at dinner, later, Hare!"

Hare gave a soft smile as the pale mustard yellow dragonet walked away.

"I'll see you later ... Master Aureus."