Stark: Born In Light, Destined for Darkness: What do you see? (A Festival of the Arts fic) [Monthly Challange]

From as far back as Stark could remember; through the vision that was rimmed with the white of foggy memories of his days as a newly hatched dragon, the little hatchling was always alone. When he scraped and twisted out of the confines of the shell with the help of his teeth and tusks, extending just a little out of his maw, the light blinded him with an intensity that left the hatchling dazed. He had recovered quickly, which he had to, so that he could survive. There was only one thing in his mind as he fought to hide in the endlessly swaying grass: Survival.

 

In the time that he had traveled across the scape of swaying grass, he had come to learn more about the world he was in. There were strange creatures that clicked and growled and gurgled to each other, but none that seemed familiar. Over time, Stark would come to know that these creatures were Aqrion, and that he was one of them. Their sounds would slowly become words in his mind, and he would be able to speak to them, but he had no intention of doing so. Everything scared him, and everything hurt. Every bit of intensive movement to hunt, flee, or swim against a current was met with a dull ache and a sharp pain. He watched as Aqrion young chased one another and fought in mock battles, only imagining the pain that they must feel doing such activities. That, or Stark himself was a very weak dragon. The thought only further alienated him from everyone, disappearing into the shadows.

 

Stark was drifting aimlessly by chance, the sun slowly slipping into the sea, when something caught the edge of his vision. Aqrion were gathering toward the shoreline. He had never seen that many Aqrion before, and it intrigued him as much as it scared him. Such bright colors each of the Aqrion had; a complete foil to his pale-lavender pelt and dark fins. 

 

But as he looked closer and closer, he saw something that excited him. Aqrion with long necks and spines and dimly glowing lures swirled and danced past the edge of the plane of grass; the wide expanse with a sheer drop made for a stage for the much larger dragons to perform their dances. But what excited him more was that Stark had seen them before; in every reflective surface of smoothed shells and refracted gemstones mirrored in the eyes of the prey he ate. 

 

The bright lights that gathered at that shining place made the white in his vision intensify, and the young hatchling had to shield his eyes with his tail to block out the splendor. Everything was so bright and loud and scary, but it wasn’t as bad, he thought to himself.

 

He drifted closer, but not too close, still unsure if he was that curious to step outside of the shallow meadow that he called his shelter. He had seen many fish big and small get swept up by a fish larger than they were, the moment they had wandered too far past the edge. 

 

Such fish that were much larger than him drove in the idea that past the drop into the abyss, there was nowhere to hide. But if there was one thing that he knew, it was that larger creatures scared away predators. There were so many large Aqrion gathered near the islands that perhaps it would be safe enough to venture out for a moment.

 

“I would just be taking a peak”, he thought to himself as he waited for a particularly large Aqrion to swim by so that he might slip into the great dragon’s shadow. 

 

Eventually, an extremely large dragon floated by, pale grays and blacks taking up his entire vision. Stark acknowledged that this was an Aqrion called a “fluke singer.” Despite the strange name, there was the fact that such a large dragon meant that there was an extremely large shadow for him to hide in. This was his chance.

 

Stark used his fins to maneuver himself over the ledge and dived to reach the belly of the Aqrion. Blending into the shadows was as simple as breathing for the young dragon hatchling, and the hatchling was confident that he was not spotted. Yet, looking down to see that the bottom of the ocean floor was a smudge of gray in the distance, Stark nearly tried to dart back to the safety of the seagrass lengths away.

 

But he was already so far out, he realized as he looked behind to see that the space between the fluke singer and his shelter tripled in seconds. He hadn’t even been deliberately moving this whole time. He wondered just what was happening.

 

As if his thoughts were heard, A voice rumbled above him. “You enjoying the current, kid?”

 

Stark’s heart thudded in his chest, and for a moment, he thought that something was about to ambush him; tear him apart for a nice meal.

 

“Hey, kid. Calm down. Nothin’s going to hurt you.” The voice above came again, and Stark had a moment to rationalize the situation. He was not going to get attacked. Still, he craned his neck around and under him just to be sure that there wasn’t some giant fish that wouldn’t hesitate to scoop him up. “Jumpy, this one,” The voice came again, though it didn’t seem to be directed at Stark. “Come up here, ya hear? It’s rude if only one of us is in a conversation.”

 

Stark wondered if he should listen to the voice, which he figured was the voice of the fluke singer that he had been using as cover. He was just doing what he could to survive, so why did he have to do something that might get him killed? 

 

Seconds passed, then a minute, and Stark still had not left the shadows from under the fluke singer. They were getting close to the lights, brighter than ever; closer than ever. Perhaps only a minute more before he could find a new place to hide. 

 

Eventually, the voice spoke again, “Suit yourself, kid,” 

 

Stark wasn’t sure what that meant, but one moment he was safely, albeit nervously under the belly of the fluke singer. The next moment, tendrils of tangible shadows grasped his torso, middle, and tail in several places. The young dragon let out a cry of shock and fear as he was dragged from his spot and into the open water.

 

The shadows halted his movement but weren't constricting, yet he had never felt more fear in his life. Stark squirmed in the grasp of the shadows, but the tendrils held him tightly as he was lifted higher until he was face-to-eye with the large Aqrion. The eye stared at him, the sclera of the eyes was just as big as he was. Stark hadn’t realized just how small he was compared to the other Aqrion before him. It was nearly incomprehensible. 

 

The voice came again, and Stark confirmed that it came from the black-and-white fluke singer. “An Abyssal pup?” said the Aqrion with surprise in his voice. “Young too. Can’t be more than a year old.”

 

Stark shut his eyes, trying to wriggle his way from the shadow’s grasp. He had no idea that shadows could be used in this way, and it scared him. He regretted leaving the safety of the shallows now. Out here, there was nothing stopping anything from catching him. The young dragon’s attempts to escape grew more desperate, and when he tried to roar at the large Aqrion, the pitiful squeaking of a hatchling came out.

 

Eventually, it seemed that Stark regained the attention of the fluke singer, and the shadows had loosened. “Stop moving. You’re going to hurt yourself. I’m not here to hurt you.”

 

Stark did not believe that for a moment. The dragon dragged him out from the safety of the shadows, using the shadows against him; how could the fluke singer claim to not want to bring harm to the hatchling?

 

“Where are your parents?” The dragon’s eyes moved around slowly as if scanning the area. Stark felt a rumble through his spines.

 

“No!” Stark said. He had not stopped his resistance against the shadows, but he was tiring quickly. He was still young, and this pain that he felt at all hours of the day sapped his strength. “No!”

 

“I see,” the Aqrion said as if he already knew what was going on. “I’m sorry for scaring you, kid. What’s your name?” When Stark didn’t answer, the dragon sighed. “Right. Okay. Look kid, the name’s Gruff. I’m going to let go of you now. Don’t you bolt okay?”

 

Without even waiting for Stark to react, the tendrils that held the young dragon faded away, and the shadows retreated to plaster themselves onto the Aqrion’s skin. Despite having been terrified moments prior, the young dragon was amazed at how the shadows melded into the skin seamlessly, as if it had never existed. Stark had seen powers from afar, and they were fascinating to the mind of a young dragon. He wished to have powers like the children he saw playing in the field, but he could not move water, breathe light, or shake the rocks.

 

Stark had completely forgotten that he was held captive and despite the initial fear of this giant dragon, his young curiosity got the better of him. “How do you do that?” He asked the giant dragon before him, 

 

“So you can speak,” Gruff grumbled to himself. “I harbor the element of shadow.”

 

“Like when Aqrion breathe fire and make the rocks move?” Stark’s cheek spines shifted in thought.

 

“Yes. Like that,” Gruff said. The lights grew closer as the sun grew dimmer. Stark was aware that the lights in his spines were illuminating the surrounding area. “It seems that you also have this ability.”

 

“I do?” Stark looked up at the eye, the only part of the body that Stark could distinguish from the white and black skin. 

 

“Yes. I was surprised too. I almost didn’t catch you. Your skills in hiding amongst shadows are very good.” Gruff said. Stark looked away.

 

“Mhm, why are you all swimming there?” Stark decided to change the conversation toward the topic of the bright lights and music, his mind quickly moving from one thought to the other.

 

“That’s the Festival of the Arts,” Gruff said with a slight puff to the chest. “Where Aqrion and Terran gather to celebrate all the unique things about each other.”

 

Stark wasn’t sure what most of those words were. He never spoke to many creatures. Gruff was the first Aqrion whom he had a conversation with lasting longer than three minutes. “What are Ter-ran?”

 

“They’re another group of dragons. But they live on land,” Gruff then went on to explain the festival and the importance of sharing what makes someone unique. It is a place to have fun and maybe meet new dragons.

 

“I think that sounds nice,” Stark said. They hovered around the outskirts of the shoreline, watching the spectacle of dragons weaving around kelp and disappearing out of the water, presumably wading to the surface.

 

“You know, you never told me your name, kid,” Gruff said with a hint of amusement. They had talked for several minutes, and Stark was feeling okay talking with the old dragon. “I’d like a do-over. I’m sorry for using my shadow powers to grab you, but it’s not safe to hide under dragons. If they don’t know that you’re there, you might end up being hit by mistake.”

 

“Oh,” Stark now knew why he was grabbed, and he no longer felt wronged by Gruff’s actions. “My name is Stark. I live in the grass area over there,” Stark turned his head to motion to the clearing way behind them, but in the darkness, the shelter was no longer visible. “Oh, it’s too far. You know where it is, right?”

 

“Yes kid, I know where it is,” Gruff said. “Look Stark,” The eye focused directly on Stark as the older dragon spoke. “You have the same element as me. Shadow Elements are not easy to come by. If you’re having trouble controlling your power, or want to learn more, come find me.”

 

“Where would I go?” Stark asked with a tilt of his head.

 

“You will know one day. Many dragons come to visit me. Even if you don’t remember me, we will probably see each other again.”

 

“I won’t forget you,” Stark retorted, taking up the challenge.

 

“I don’t doubt that,” Gruff affirmed, though it was certain that Stark would indeed forget him with time. “Now go enjoy the Festival. Learn something new. Make sure you have fun.”

 

A callous flipper gently nudged Stark toward the lights and the songs, and while excitement bubbled up within him, the young hatchling looked behind him at the only person he knew. Even in that short interaction, he had grown to like the dragon, even if he was big, and he could only see his eye.

 

Eventually, he floated closer to the shimmering sights, and one of the stalls caught his eye. It smelt of food, noticeable even though the water. It was something strong that made his nose twitch and he sneezed, the sudden jolt sending a sharp pain into his ribs. Alright. Maybe later. However, the scent of the food kept luring the young dragon to slowly float over. 

 

He was sure that he would end up reaching his destination, but someone large cut in front of him, and Stark’s only indication that it happened was that his neck was stinging from the sudden collision with a tail. He found himself in a bundle of kelp, and he stayed there for a while. 

 

He was much smaller than any dragon at the festival. Of course, it came from his age and size, but there was no doubt that Stark felt alone. He tried not to think about it, but hearing the songs and seeing glimpses of what every other dragon was doing made him regret leaving the seagrass meadows. He couldn’t be upset to miss out on something if he hadn’t known about it in the first place. If he hadn’t been so curious back then, he would still be back at the meadow. Nothing new ever happened there, but at least it was safe! Gruff was right. He was hit with a tail, and it hurt.

 

He was feeling down about himself, wondering just how he was going to get home, when he happened to look down toward the seafloor and saw something. Peaking out of the kelp to take a better look, the image was not any clearer than before. The haze of the water, with the bonus that it was dark, made it a little difficult to see. But the shape seemed familiar.

 

An Abyssal dragon with a pale, splotchy pelt nosed through the kelp and rocks, turning over shells and searching through the sand. Was he looking for food? Stark’s stomach rumbled, and his mind turned towards food. The stall with the food was behind him, but it was dangerous. The stinging in his neck had lessened, but any major movement brought pain in that area. It might bruise. Either way, it was too dangerous to try and get food that way. 

 

Looking around near the sea floor, there were no other dragons except for the piebald Abyssal. Any dragon is better than no dragon because he could just hide in their shadows. But one dragon is better than more than five. 

 

Slowly, he used his flippers to maneuver down the kelp stem, using his tail as an anchor as he slowly moved closer to the dragon. He thought that he was doing well at not being seen, but halfway toward the seafloor, the dragon looked up and he and Stark made eye contact. Immediately, the piebald Abyssal darted with surprising speed and agility behind some kelp fronds several lengths away. For a moment, Stark wondered if the dragon melted into the shadows, but then he saw a tail poke out from the swaying kelp.

 

Letting go of the kelp stem, Stark paddled down to the kelp that the larger dragon was hiding, craning his neck to see where the piebald was. “Hello? Anyone here?”

 

It was a stupid question, to be sure, but Stark asked anyway, wondering if he could talk to the stranger, and let him know that he was here, and to not accidentally hit him with a tail. 

 

—

 

Jinpachi was having a pretty normal day, all things considered. He had ascended from his home in the Abyssal Plains under the dying light of the sun with one thing in mind: Wisp hunting. Such bliss, being alone, not having to talk with anyone. Especially at this time, most Aqrion in the area had long since retired to their homes, allowing him to search uninterrupted. 

 

Other than the fact that the ocean seemed a little more noisy than normal, Jinpachi figured that it was a normal occurrence. There weren’t many sounds down in the Abyssal Plains, so he did not have a very good frame of reference. Still, Jinpachi ignored the background noise, not very focused on paying attention to his surroundings. That was until his spines sensed a strange movement in the water. Too small to be a dragon, but a little too big to be a typical fish. JInpachi looked up from the rock that he had turned over into the distance. His spines allowed him to hone in on the area where he sensed the movement from.

 

Then there, hanging from the stem of a giant kelp plant was a dragon. It was an Abyssal with pale skin and black fins and frills with purple bioluminescent nodes. 

 

He was not prepared to interact with another dragon today, quickly turning around to hide in some standing kelp, ignoring the dull ache in his chest as it turned into a sharp stab from the sudden movement. Still, he kept quiet, hoping that the dragon had not spotted him, and would be on its way.

 

Unfortunately, the gods were not on his side. Not even several moments of hiding, Jinpachi could sense that the dragon moved closer to his hiding spot.

 

“Hello? Anyone here?” The high-pitched voice of a young dragon called out for him. Jinpachi hoped that by not saying anything, it would give the idea that he did not want to be bothered.

 

He was wrong.

 

“So um,” The young dragon just past the kelp barrier began to speak. “I’m just going to look for food. I’m just letting you know so that you know that I’m here and that you don’t hit me with your tail.”

 

If Jinpachi was able to look at the hatchling without revealing his location, he would have been full-on staring. What was the kid talking about? “Why is he talking to me?” he wondered to himself. Unfortunately, the gods did not answer his question.

 

“Earlier, I was trying to get food, and I was almost there, but then a big dragon came out of nowhere and I was hit by the tail. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but it still hurts. So I am letting you know so that you do not hit me with your tail.” The hatchling finished before turning and beginning to sift in the nearby rocks.

 

Jinpachi was just left to wonder "Wait he got whacked by a tail?" Jinpachi looked at his tail, which he then realized was stuck outside of the kelp this whole time, and he sheepishly pulled it in. For a brief second, he thought, "Did I whack him? No, he just got here, wasn't me” He peeked through the kelp to regard the hatchling from a safe distance, watching the young one move onto hovering over a rock with his main bioluminescent nodes acting as lure for whatever small fish happened to take the light as a tasty snack. He didn’t remember smacking any hatchlings with his tail recently 

 

“No, it couldn't be me,” As Jinpachi sat and pondered on this strange interaction, he suddenly had a thought, “Wait. Why is he away from his nest so young? Who-what?" Jinpachi raises his head above the kelp to look around. 

 

Abyssal hatchlings are not ones to stray far from their parents. In fact, for the first few years of life, they are extremely dependent on their parents to feed them and keep them from harm. Not to mention, the trek up to the shallows is taxing even to an adult Abyssal. No parent in their right mind would make or allow their hatchling anywhere near the surface until they could withstand the low atmospheric pressure.

 

The fact that this hatchling was here, far away from what would be considered home, and with no signs of parents at all was very worrying.

 

Jinpachi was now facing a dilemma: willfully ignore the hatchling and continue with his Wisp hunt, possibly leaving the poor kid to fend for himself.

 

Or: subtly following behind the hatchling, making sure that he isn't in immediate danger until his parents arrive. At least make sure that he eats. He didn't want a hungry hatchling weighing on his conscience.

 

As he weighed his options, he took another moment to look at the young dragon. From the distance, the young dragon’s pelt looked to be completely white, but upon closer inspection, there were black tiger stripes along his neck and back, and the underside of the hatchling’s body was also a shade of black. Jinpachi looked down for a moment, and when he looked back up, the hatchling completely disappeared from his sight.

 

Jinpachi’s brain stalled before it kicked into overdrive. “Oh gods! Where did he go?” He thought to himself as he barreled out of the kelp to look around. It didn’t take too long to find the hatchling, having moved on to flipping sea shells with his tusks. So Jinpachi watched from afar, making sure that he wasn’t spotted, but also able to intervene if a big fish were to swim by.

 

There weren’t any sharks around to his knowledge, but it was best if he kept an eye out for anything. 

 

The next few minutes for Jinpachi were, well, boring. The hatchling still had not found any food, and there were no fish in the immediate vicinity. Jinpachi had an idea as to why. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed sooner. He remembered his fellow Aqrion mentioning it earlier in the day. 

 

There was a festival today, around this part of the ocean. He had never been there, since he wasn’t fond of places with a large amount of dragons. He heard that there would be food there. 

 

Jinpachi was debating on if he was willing to talk to the hatchling. “Maybe the little one will figure out the food,” Jinpachi hoped. The older dragon could smell the food: probably roasted earth root and broiled fish, with land spices. At least, he assumed so. These food smells traveling through the water were not something that he smelled every day. Down in the Abyssal Plains, food tasted fine on its own, so he wasn’t sure what these spices did for the flavor.

 

Jinpachi watched as the hatchling parted some sand, and a crab shot out of hiding. The young dragon gave chase and tried to bite through its hard shell. But an Abyssal hatchling’s jaw was not strong enough for something like that, and the crab was too big. All the hatchling did was anger the crab, which used its pincers to latch onto the cheek frills. 

 

Jinpachi winced in sympathy as the hatchling started to scream and let go of the crab, shaking his head to get the grab off. At this point, the older dragon decided to step in, swimming up to the hatchling and using his fins to coax the crab to let go. Once the crab let go of the hatchling, Jinpachi batted the crab away. As the crab scuttled away, Jinpachi gave the hatchling a once-over. Other than a slight indent in the skin of the left cheek frill, the young dragon seemed fine.

 

“A-are you okay, kid?” Jinpachi asked the kid. The young dragon stared at him, then looked down at the sand.

 

“Yeah,” The hatchling quietly spoke. Jinpachi could hear the hatchling’s stomach growl, and he felt bad for him.

 

“Look, I heard there’s a festival nearby.” The piebald dragon said, turning his neck to the direction of the festival just around the bend of the shore. “I'm pretty sure they have food. So instead of hunting, maybe you could go get some food.”

 

He hastily pushed the young dragon toward the direction of the festival and quickly retreated to the denser area of kelp. He was going to continue watching the hatchling until he was safe, but as he peaked from the kelp, he didn’t see the hatchling at all.

 

Then he looked at the hatchling right next to him, and did not, did not scream.

 

“Why are you hiding?” The hatchling tilted his head as purple eyes stared at Jinpachi. ”You’re silly.”

 

“I- I am not!” Jinpachi retorted. “W-why did you follow me?”

 

“You helped me, so you’re not so bad.” The hatchling’s spines wiggled, “Why are you not going to the festival?”

 

Why? There’s too many dragons there. It’s loud. He’d rather do his own thing. Instead of giving an answer, Jinpachi turned the question back to the hatchling. “Why aren’t you at the festival. There’s free food, so you don’t need to hunt.”

 

“I tried,” The young dragon mumbled, “But there’s a lot of big dragons. They don't see me and that's how I got hit by a tail.”

 

“So that's how he got hit earlier,” Jinpachi felt bad for the hatchling.

 

“Hey, you're big like the other ones. All grown up,” the hatchling stated the obvious, immediately changing the topic. “You can be like my cover. I will tell you where to go, and you help me get there.”

 

Jinpachi almost declined automatically, but he stopped himself in time. He looked around, hoping that the child’s parents had come running at the sound of their distressed pup. However, they were alone. So he asked, “Where are your parents?”

 

The hatchling’s eyes drifted, as if trying to remember, then tilted his head the other way. “Gruff the flu-singing asked me that too. I thought it was weird because I had never seen them before. Am I supposed to know where they are?”

 

Well, the situation somehow became worse. Was this kid an orphan? Abandoned? Jinpachi wasn’t entirely sure. “How did you get up here?”

 

“I swam?” The hatchling said. “I left the seagrass area and hid in Gruff shadow, but he told me not to do that. Then I tried to get food from the festival, but I got hit with a tail.”

 

“How did you get out of the Abyssal Plains?” Jinpachi asked.

 

The hatchling’s eyes narrowed, as if thinking really hard. Finally, the hatchling sheepishly asked, “Where is that?”

 

Jinpachi was simply left confused and concerned. Not only was the hatchling orphaned, but apparently, he had never been in Abyssal Plains. Was he living in the sunlight zone this whole time?

 

From first-hand account, being up here was uncomfortable at best, and straight up excruciating at worst. The pressure down in the Abyssal Plains was what kept an Abyssal dragon's skeleton intact. Up in the daylight zone, the pressure was very low, so bones had more of a chance to shift around like a bag of sand. He wasn't an expert, but he was pretty sure that the hatchling was not having the best time living up here.

 

“N-nevermind,” Jinpachi ended up shaking his head. However, it seemed that the hatchling was unaware of the magnitude of his existence.

 

“I’m hungry. Come with me! Gruff told me it would be fun!” The child floated toward the festivities but didn’t seem to know of what to do with himself, just kind of drifting with the current. Then, the hatchling looked behind him to look at Jinpachi. “Come on! It’s not like you're doing anything right now.”

 

Jinpachi wanted to leave; to tell the kid that he was in the middle of an important thing. But the words dried up in his throat as he finally conceded. “I’m coming.”

 

The nodes on the hatchling’s head shimmered in happiness. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Stark!”

 

Jinpachi begrudgingly followed behind the hatchling, trying not to think about the emount of times his personal space will be violated at the festival. “Jinpachi”

 

“Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Jinnn-patchy,” The hatchling parroted. 

 

“...Close enough.”

 

—

 

The very fist thing that the two did together was get some food. Most of the food looked strange to Stark, though he wasn’t one to complain. It smelled like food, just different. He looked back toward the older dragon who looked like him. His name was Gym-patchy, and he saved him from the crab, which means that he’s not a bad guy. He knew what bad guys were because he overheard some giants playing in the field a while ago. They made a phin singer a bad guy, and they ran away from her while the phin singer chased them. So a bad guy was a guy to run away from. Bad guys hurt people, so someone who helps him is a good guy. So Gin-pathy was a good guy.

 

“Look Jin-patchie! Food!” Stark left the bigger dragon’s side for a moment when he knew that it was safe to do so. Having someone to help move around was great! When he got bigger, he would be able to swim by himself. He couldn’t wait to be an adult! Stark’s nose led him to the most appealing smelling stall. A dragon with a short snout and whiskers, a toothed singer was in charge of the booth, handing dragons skewers of meat on a stick. He noticed Stark and gleefully handed the small dragon a skewer almost as long as he was. The hatchling fumbled with the skewer, holding it in his jaw. When he made his way back to Kin-katchy, he mumbled through the wood of the skewer. “D-y know what this is, Kip-pa-pi?”

 

The larger dragon gave Stark a bizarre look before taking a look at the meat with a scrutinizing eye. “Looks like salmon.”

 

“Tastes good,” Stark ate a giant piece from the skewer after Chin-patch-e stuck the butt end of the stick into the sand.

 

After Stark had eaten the entire stick, Lin-pa-chi mumbed that he was hungry.

 

—

 

“Oh, I hadn’t realized until now.” Jinpachi thought to himself as he watched Stark eat the raw salmon chunks on the skewer. With the determination to search for wisps, and meeting Stark and everything else, he hadn’t realized that he missed breakfast, lunch, and also dinner. By gods he was starving. Now all of the food around him was making his hunger worse. Especially that grilled squid two stalls down.

 

Oh, but then he would have to talk to people. Nope. Not a chance. He already expended his social battery on the little kid that he was chaperoning for the time being. He might not be able to make it if he had to talk to more Aqrion!

 

“Oh Kick-ka-cha, you’re hungry?” Stark asked Jinpachi with curiosity in his eyes.

 

“Did I say that out loud?” Jinpachi was startled by the little hatchling’s question, but he composed himself enough to say that he was hungry. “Also that's not my name.”

 

Jinpachi barely even spoke more than a few words before Stark turned away and made his way toward the stall. Jinpachi couldn’t really hear what they were saying, but the toothed singer handed him another skewer, and soon that skewer was in his tail. Stark looked so proud as he stared up at Jinpachi with wide glowing eyes. Before Jinpachi could even thank Stark, or say anything, the hatchling was gone again, going to the next stall.

 

Jinpachi looked down at the whole salmon on a stick with awe, then at Stark, who came back with a bleeding leg of lamb from a swamp skimmer. Somehow, he was beginning to think that this wasn't so bad.

 

—

 

After more than five skewers from several different stalls, Jinpachi finally had the courage to tell the hatchling that he didn't need any more food. Well, at least he didn't have to talk to anyone. He was still holding a stick of boiled octopus in his tail, and he supposed that it would be a snack for later. The older Aqrion looked at the enthusiastic Stark, and couldn’t help but be endeared to the hatchling that he had just met. He wanted to figure out just how he had been living in the sunlight zone all of this time.

 

“Hey Kenpachi, when I was over there,” Stark pointed his head toward stalls that showcased some weaving crafts, “I saw something over there. Let’s go!”

 

“H-hold on-” Jinpachi wanted to ask Stark about what the hatchling’s living situation. However, the hatchling had since moved on to the next greatest thing.

 

“Tin-cha-che, What are they doing over there?” Stark asked as he looked over woven baskets and bags with child-like curiosity.

 

Jinpachi wondered if the hatchling even remembered his name. Still, he didn’t have the heart to correct the little one. “It looks like basket weaving. The Giant Aqrion are known for them.”

 

Stark looked into Jinpachi’s eyes, and the older dragon slowly avoided the hatchling’s piercing gaze on instinct. “What are we known for?” 

 

Jinpachi was taken aback by this question. Then again, he supposed that Stark wouldn’t know of Abyssal Traditions and arts, since he haven’t been to the Abyssal Plains before. “The Abyssal Aqrion are known for their dances.”

 

“Abyssaul?” The hatchling tilted his head. “Is that what we are?”

 

“Y-yes,” Jinpachi thought that he was at the point where nothing shocked him anymore, but somehow the older dragon was floored by this. “Did you not know what we were called?”

 

“Gruff said something about Abyssul, but I didn’t know what it meant.” Stark had moved on to look at glass bead necklaces and coral accessories from the pygmy singer booth. Jinpachi watched from a short distance as the elderly singers at the booth doted on the hatchling that was as big as they were, gifting him a necklace. That little one was winning people over!

 

He almost felt proud as well as amazed at the small one’s social skills. He almost wished that he could be a little more like him. Just a little. A giant toothed singer brushed a little close to Jinpachi, and it brought him out of his thoughts. Oh. He almost forgot where he was. His mood dampened and he was starting to feel uncomfortable in this space. The festival area was pretty large, but it wasn’t ideal. Fin traffic was especially high here, where all of the entertainment were. It didn’t help that it was night, and even with the lights illuminating the area, it was still hard for other Aqrion to see him, as his bioluninescent nodes were turned off at the moment.

 

Jinpachi was about to turn and leave; to get out of this now suffocating environment now too loud for him, but when he turned around, Stark was in front of him. This time, he did not scream, but he was feeling too uncomfortable to entertain the idea of staying here, even to chaperone the kid. “I’m tired, so I think I’ll leave,”

 

Jinpachi didn’t wait for Stark to say anything and began to swim away. He didn’t want to move too fast since it would be painful to do so, but he truly didn’t want to stay any longer. Thankfully, the two hadn’t traveled very far into the festival area, so Jinpachi was soon past the outskirts and back in the kelp forest, bordering the edge of the abyss. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to be finally alone, wait. 

 

He almost forgot about Stark. Oh gods, what if he got lost? Jinpachi turned back toward the festival and was relieved to see the small shape following after him. He was hauling three different skewers his size, including the boiled octopus that JInpachi had dropped when he was swimming. Oops.

 

The small one struggled the last few lengths, so Jinpachi stepped in, grabbing the skewers from him with his tail. With his mouth now free from holding the skewers, Stark said, “Are you going home?”

 

“Y-yeah,” Jinpachi says, not sure if it was the truth. He might go wisp hunting before going home, so it wasn’t a complete lie. Wait. Jinpachi finally asked the question that he had been thinking of asking Stark. “Wait, where do you live? I live down there,” Jinpachi motioned towards the drop into the abyss. Stark looked completely mortified.

 

“You live down there? But there are big fish, and you can’t see the bottom! Do you sleep floating? What if you float away?” Stark’s nodes pulsed with alarm. Jinpachi had to calm him down. Or at least get rid of any misconceptions about the Abyssal Plains.

 

“There is a bottom,” Jinpachi reassured the hatchling. “And we don’t float away. And where I live, there are no big fish.” This seemed to calm Stark down a little, so Jinpachi asked again, “Where do you live then?”

 

“I live in the sea grass area. On the other side of the abyss.” Stark turned his head toward the abyss, but his eyes looked far into the distance rather than into the void. Jinpachi looked past the abyss as well. However, the darkness of night and the ocean haze meant that he didn’t see anything. It must have been there though.

 

“Doesn't it hurt to live up here?” Jinpachi asked. From the confused look Stark gave him, Jinpachi elaborated. “Like if you swim too hard, you feel like your body doesn't like it. Your body constantly hurts, and you feel tired all of the time.”

 

An understanding dawned on the hatchling, “Yeah, but I thought it was normal.”

 

“It's not normal at all!” Jinpachi was horrified. The pain of being in the sunlight zone was often bad enough to have most Abyssal never venture out of the darkness. And this hatchling was just here, thinking that this pain was normal. “You should come with me down to the Abyssal Plains. It’s safer there.”

 

“B-but the darkness,” Stark gave a cautious glance down to the abyss.

 

“I know it can be scary at times, but I promise you that it will be better than living where you’re in pain all of the time.”

 

“There’s no pain down there?” Stark seemed hopeful, yet suspicious.

 

“There will be no pain from moving around. You’ll like it.”

 

“Mmmm,” Stark thought about it for a a minute, looking off into the distance, then back at Jinpachi, which made the older dragon start to worry that he may have pushed a little too hard, and that he was a terrible person, and he was going to- “Okay” Stark’s response brought Jinpachi out of his spiral.

 

“Oh, that’s goo-” Jinpachi was about to say when Stark’s eyes lit up. 

 

“Oh yeah!” The hatchling interjected, unaware that Jinpachi was in the middle of speaking. “The pygmy singers gave me a necklace! They told me that this one's for you.” Stark revealed two necklaces wrapped around his tail. One was the most fluorescent yellow-green pendant that Jinpachi had ever laid eyes on. The other was a matte coral red pendant. JInpachi sincerely hoped that the latter was his.

 

The younger dragon unwrapped the necklaces and picked out the yellow-green pendent. JInpachi noted in dismay that the string of the pendant was much thicker and longer than the red one.

 

“This one is yours,” The ecstatic hatchling brought the necklace up and slipped it over the older Aqrion. As it rested on his chest, Jinpachi felt a strange emotion rise from himself. It seemed that Stark had won him over as well. Yes, the pendent was gaudy and the fluorescent nature would make him stick out in the abyss, but there was a certain charm to it.

 

“T-thank you,” Jinpachi said to Stark, whose nodes flickered in happiness.

 

“They told me to give it to my dad and they pointed to you,” Stark said, “Does that mean that you’re my dad?”

 

Jinpachi did a doubletake, coughing as he choked on a random air bubble. “I-I am not your dad though.”

 

Jinpachi could see the gears turning in the little Aqrion’s mind. “So are we brothers? I heard that if we look alike, we’re family, and if you’re not my dad, then we are brothers right?”

 

The older dragon wondered just what this kid learned to come to that thought process. Jinpachi didn’t have clutchmates. He didn’t know who his parents were, and the moment that he could fend for himself, that’s exactly what he did. No one helped him, and he had to help himself through every milestone and trial. He had wished that someone would have reached out once upon a time, but he didn’t need anyone anymore.

 

But Stark, the child that he just met, has changed things that he thought he knew. He didn’t want to admit it, but he saw himself in the hatchling. The innocence that was mixed in with the fact that this child had to grow up too fast for his body to keep up.  He didn’t want this child to grow up like he did; alone and constantly foraging and hunting to survive. So, he made a tiny little lie.

 

“Yes, we are brothers.”