The plank floor creaked softly under the sailors' slow, apprehensive steps. Despite the inspection that they levied to their own ship, the duo spoke in whispers. "Do you remember when those rough waters rearranged the cargo?" the first sailor asked in a shaky voice.

"Aye. I've never seen anything like that before, not even after a storm." The second sailor was an older man who spoke from a wealth of experience.

"What do you think it was? Could it have been murky murids?"

"I hope it wasn't murky murids!" the older sailor hissed. "I'd rather be on a burning ship with that fire-breathing lizard than deal with those buggers. The murky murids will eat all our rations and leave us to starve!"

Fia clenched her fangs when they insulted her control over her fire magic yet again. Although she had never heard of murky murids before, their alleged appetite reminded her of Viliant. Focus, Viliant reminded her. They're talking fast. Help me track what they're saying.

The more experienced sailor continued, "Nay. I don't think murky murids would've been capable of moving all these crates around."

"But I swore I heard something down here," the first man insisted. "Something big. Something like the murky murid king!"

"Ugh." The second man leveled his calm, rational voice. "There isn't any king of the murky murids. That's just a myth."

"Can we check?" the more junior sailor asked. "Just to be safe? How do we know the murky murid king isn't real, if he's invisible most of the time?"

"Fine. Let's do an inventory on the food stores. If too much is missing, then we've either got rats in the hold or rats in our crew."

A sharp intake of breath passed silently through Fia's nostrils. They're checking the food! she warned Viliant. Hide!

I am, he reminded her. You're the one in the food crate.

Since Fia and Viliant were not supposed to be on board, the humans considered the dragonets' food to belong to the crew. The men cracked open the closest crates that they had easiest access to first. It was only a matter of time before they had shuffled around the boxes to reach their rations. Fia started to wiggle her body against the slabs, cubes, and slices of meat. The dragonette buried herself like a lizard into sand. In addition to hiding her, this position had the added benefit of making the contents of the crate look more substantial.

A dim light invaded the interior. When the men peeked inside, Fia lay entirely still with her eyes closed. The pink scales of the dragonette camouflaged well underneath the raw meat. Any glimpse of her that the sailors could see, they overlooked her.

"Everything looks good. The rations are holding out as expected, and I don't see any signs of gnaw marks."

Once they closed the lid, Fia let out a soft sigh. The dragonette was grateful that she had restrained herself and Viliant from constantly snacking on their rations. The nibble marks from their bridled fangs would have resembled the signs of murky murids. Since the sailors did not discover the dragonets, nor mistook them for rats, their footsteps retreated from the cargo hold.

All clear, Viliant told Fia.

The dragonette burst out from underneath the meat. "Pah!" she inhaled a deep breath. We have to be extra careful from now on. They're onto us.

Agreed. After using his shadow magic to conceal himself from the humans, Viliant felt even more exhausted post-molt. Keep watch for me. I'm gonna sleep now.

For the next several days, Viliant moved and used his magic as little as possible. He delayed in pitching their fecal matter through the ship's wall, promising that he would do it tomorrow. Whenever meal time came, he could not muster the strength to open the crate.

If you want food, you have to come get it, Fia teased. The pink dragonette assumed that he would keep laying there if he did not actually need food that badly.

Just give it to me, Viliant ordered, annoyed that she tried to withhold food for him. I'm so hungry, and I don't wanna scratch my new scales. Please…! Viliant made a constant fuss until Fia caved and placed his rations in front of his nose. Finally. Thanks, Fia. Too lethargic to move his limbs, Viliant stretched his neck toward the meat to snap it up.

On the third day, Viliant blinked his eyes with a renewed vigor. His fully hardened scales had expanded since the molt had first revealed them. Viliant's body, when curled at his smallest, now looked the same size as he used to be with his wings flung open and back spines bristled. The black dragonet regained the energy to stand, humored by how he now stood twice as tall as Fia.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

You look so much bigger now too! Fia admired. Any other time, his increased size would aid their survival. However, Viliant needed to stay tucked away behind the boxes and barrels. The black dragonet would no longer fit inside their crate even once they had emptied it of rations.

So too, Viliant's stomach adjusted to his new size. The dragonets had already eaten their rations too quickly, but now Viliant supped recklessly over the forthcoming weeks.

***

No more food! Fia snapped at him. You'll eat with me again in a couple days. A growl lifted from her throat before he could object. Fia sat atop a thin layer of meat, guarding it like a precious hoard. Between some of the slabs, she could see stripes of grainy wood. The lower that she lay in the crate, the greater that her anxiety elevated.

We're going to run out of food, Fia dreaded. Then we'll have no choice but to eat the humans' food…. That's when they find us!

That's fine by me, Viliant admitted. At this point, we're bound to be found out soon. I think we should eat as much as we can, while we can. The pessimistic dragonet had resolved himself to conflict with the humans, so he advocated for them to feast.

Absolutely not. Fia wanted to last as long as possible, holding out to the last moment. Each day that they remained on the ship, it carried them farther south—closer to Carlinoa Island.

Well, we still need to eat. Even though Fia had already fed Viliant his fair rations yesterday, the dragonet got irascible when she turned stricter in denying him food. In shadow form, Viliant stuck his head through the wall of the crate and stole a steak for himself.

Fia noticed when her left, hind foot clacked against the wood. No! Bad! she snapped at him, swatting at his wispy horns with her paw. His magic made her claws pass through him ineffectually. Her critical eyes narrowed and blazed with a furious, blue fire. Viliant stuffed the meat into his mouth and receded through the crate's side before she could do anything to stop him.

Big tears dripped from Fia's eyes. Her distraught mind filled Viliant's belly with equal parts guilt as it did meat. Why can't we just work together? she cried. I finally got serious, and I'm gonna do everything right to get home, but now you're like this. I'd like to eat more too, but I don't! I even give you some of my food, but that's not enough. You always want more!

Her explosive wave of emotions made Viliant recoil, trying to suppress its intensity without breaking their telepathy altogether. He could not leave his best friend like this without explaining himself. I just… feel so hungry all the time. No matter how much Viliant ate, he always wanted more. At the prospect of restricting himself from food, he remembered every hungry day and night in the coliseum. Though he logically knew that he should follow Fia's lead on the ship, Viliant lost control of himself around food. His throat felt choked as he swallowed the last bite of meat pilfered from their rations. I'm sorry, Fia.

When they reached the end of their rations in a few days, Fia and Viliant split the final hunk of meat. This is it. Our last meal, Fia feared, before we have to steal. Though the sailors' inspections of the cargo hold had dropped in frequency after they had determined that no murky murid inhabited the ship, they would notice quickly as soon as they broached the rest of the food storage.

After a week-long fast, Fia and Viliant could not bear their growling stomachs any longer. The black dragonet stalked around their options, most eager to sample the humans' food. Let's skim a little off the top from every container. It'll be less likely to be noticed then.

We should cut with our claws, Fia opined as well, thinking back to the signs which might make the sailors expect murky murids over a rat in their own ranks. In the event that the humans noticed, Fia hoped that they would fight amongst themselves over who had done it.

The dragonets now had variety in their diet, much to the distaste of their carnivorous appetites. The smooth bites of cheese agreed with their palate well. However, other morsels made even Viliant gag it down.

I don't know what this thing is, the ravenous dragonet said, munching on a crunchy biscuit. It's kind of gross, but food is food. At least it's not grass. The lack of fruit and vegetables in the humans' rations pleased him greatly, for Viliant did not count any plants as food.

Despite the abundance of caution in which Fia and Viliant plundered the humans' rations, they were soon found out. While they hid from the latest men who fetched food for the crew, a wisened sailor was alarmed by the amount that had gone missing. "Argh! We have rats aboard the ship after all!" The man dashed up the ladder to report this infraction to Captain Mawsig.

Fia's heart thudded in her chest. What do we do? she asked, swishing her fretful tail. The captain's response could range from accepting the juvenile dragons on board, throwing the stowaways overboard, or outright killing them. Although Fia hoped for the former, she understood that Viliant expected the latter.

They'll probably eat us to make up for their lost rations, Viliant thought grimly.

Should we run away? The dragonets had nowhere else to hide on the ship, but they could voluntarily see themselves onto the open water.

Viliant remained stalwart behind the crate. I'll defend our position. Let's see if we can hold out a few more days. His talons flexed, ready to put up a fight. Out of morbid curiosity, Viliant wondered if he could take the ship all together.