Dragon Bond

A dragon with anger issues

Keith found himself standing in the middle of a massive cave, large dens carved into the stone where the dragons stayed. There were dragons of all shapes, sizes and colors, either resting or play fighting or getting ready to go out with their riders. It was amazing. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Pidges voice.

"First we'll show you our dragons so you can get a feel for being around them. Some of the newer Marked are afraid of their dragons, with good reason, and their bonds never grow so they get stuck as caretakers, which I doubt you'd like to do." Pidge explained, leading the group into one of the dens that branched off into smaller ones. "Rover!" They called, smiling as a small dragon came tumbling out to greet them. It had shining green scales with stripes of light grey that cut through them and cobalt blue eyes, plus some small wings that were folded to its side. It almost seemed to move robotically, which explained the three metal legs and metal tail. "This is Rover, they're a Forest Dragon and they're not very big so I can't fly on them. But they usually come down to the lab and help down there." They reached down to run their fingers along the ridged scales, listening to the pleased purr Rover let out.

Hunk disappeared into one of the dens and came back out with a large, roughly scaled dragon. It had dark brown scales and murky yellow eyes. It also had armored plates along its belly, back snout that were a dark tan. Large spikes stuck out from the armored scales, some hidden behind the large wings that resided on its back. At the end of its rocky tail was a spiked ball of sorts, the spikes scraping against the floor. "This is Digger, my Ground Dragon. He might seem all rough and tough but he's really a big softie. Plus, he likes to eat almost as much as I do." Hunk chuckled, hugging the dragon lovingly as Digger let out a low rumble.

"Yeah their dragons are good and all but wait until you see my beautiful girl." Lance huffed, putting his fingers to his lips and letting out a sharp whistle. A shrill screech responded, echoing throughout the cave as a large dragon landed beside Lance, it's tail twirling around him. It had an elegant aura and grace to it, the shining light blue scales that adorned its body mixing with the darker blue swirls that spread out over its scales and wings. It had webbing between its clawed toes, its cheeks, ears and some webbing and small fins along its tail. "This is the beautiful Aqua. She's an Eastern Sea Dragon, not to get confused with a Western Sea Dragon, and the most gorgeous dragon here. Yes she is!" Lance cooed, wrapping his arms around the dragons slim neck.

"They all look...amazing. In books dragons are always described as viscous, fire breathing beasts.." Keith murmured, reaching out his hand to Aqua. He hesitated, looking to Lance for permission, before jolting back as Aqua pushed her slim snout into his hand, cool scales contrasting with his warm skin, almost feeling slimy. "They're all so beautiful. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have my own dragon...to stay." He said with a sheepish smile, pretending to ignore the subtill fist pump into the air Lance did.

"Well lets go see the hatchlings then, maybe one of them will like you." Pidge mused, gesturing for them to follow again. The dragons followed along behind their Bonded, rumbling and growling quietly to each other.

Keith began to follow them but stopped when they passed by the entrance, eyes widening. There was a large dragon being held down with chains and ropes, or, trying to be held down anyway. It was thrashing and snarling, trying to escape the chains holding it down. It's dark scales seemed reddish brown in color, hardly seeming to reflect the light of the sun, almost like it was absorbing it. Black markings adorned its body, traveling under it gleaming orange eyes and up its massive wings. The spikes along its back were raised and twitching with agitation, lashing out at a nearby boy that was trying to tighten one of the chains. "Hey, what are they doing to that dragon?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Ah, they're trying to get him transferred to one of the holding dens." Lance explained, coming up beside Keith. "There was a group of wild dragons that came through the other day and this guy got left behind because of an injured leg. So we've been taking care of him. He's a mean one though, won't let anyone get near him so I'm not sure what they're planning on doing with him." He shrugged.

Keith frowned, staring at the struggling dragon. The dragon seemed to freeze, it's dark eyes meeting his as the world around them stopped. Keith began to walk towards him, unable to stop himself. He could hear the distance voice of Lance calling his name, the confusion clear in his voice. The dragon raised its head to glare down at him. Everything began to happen at once. The dragon jolted up, the chains creaking and snapping as he freed himself. Now free, the dragon advanced towards Keith with a hiss. Next thing Keith knew he was high up in the air, voice hoarse from screaming, in the claws of the dragon. "Let me down!" He yelled, terrified. He glanced down at the deadly drop again. "Wait no, let me up!" He screeched, trying to grab onto the dragons legs. The dragon leaned its head down to look at him, grabbing onto the leather of his vest and lifting him up before setting him down onto the base of his neck. Keith was able to feel the strong muscles tensing underneath him as the wings worked behind him. Keith held on tight to the dragons scaly skin as best he could, opening his eyes slightly without realizing he had even closed them in the first place. He took a deep breath, looking out at the beautiful view ahead of them...

And he flew.