After several days of traveling and playing games to varying degrees of fun, a growl rose from Viliant's belly. The time had come in which he anticipated the need to hunt for food again.

"I'm hungry too!" Fia chimed in. Her adorable eyes blinked at him, hoping to share the catch with him. Her eyes also held in them a tinge of concern. The pink dragonette understood the toll that it took on his body to cast magic without adequate rest. Now that they no longer had a healer like Diwa around to straighten his ley lines, he could not expend mana recklessly like he had in the badlands.

However, Viliant was also not so concerned with his own survival that he considered it necessary to starve Fia out to achieve that end, like their time together in the coliseum. He assuaged his best friend's concern with a single thought. I'll get enough food for you too. Even though he broadcast that message to Fia alone, Mahi attempted to include himself in it.

"My motto is never say 'no' to free food!" Mahi tossed an expecting glance at Viliant. "You're hunting, right?" the shameless adult dragon asked the dragonet.

For me and Fia, Viliant replied bluntly.

"What about me?" Mahi whined. "I don't eat that much. Just one or two or three or four or five…." As Mahi kept listing off numbers, he bobbed his head up and down with more and more excitement. "...big fish!" he finished at last.

Since Viliant had stopped listening to Mahi's unreasonable demand a while ago, he was unsure how many fish the slush dragon actually wanted. "No," Viliant told him regardless. That's out of the question.

"You guys want me to starve!" Mahi wailed. "If you want me to go away, you could just say so, you know."

With a gasp, Fia did damage control for Viliant's short tolerance when it came to Mahi's antics. "No. No!" she urged him. "It's so much fun to play with you, Mahi Mahi. Don't go!"

Viliant grumbled in a reluctant agreement. Mahi had proven his worth already, however Viliant did not want to lower himself and beg him to stay. We can all get our own food, the dragonet suggested, trying to suspend any harsh judgment in his mind. Viliant asked Mahi, Didn't you brag about how you're perfectly capable of catching your own fish?

"Yeah," Mahi admitted with a shrug of his wings. "They just taste better when someone else catches them for you."

"Hm," Viliant hummed without further reply. In some sense, he could relate to Mahi's opinion. Viliant also liked it when Fia cooked for him. Now he just needed to make Mahi understand the undue effort that involved him fishing for an adult. "Mahi," he breathed with a sigh. Can I let you in on a little secret?

"Oh boy! A secret?" Mahi repeated, shouting it out loud in a comical way. If anyone else besides Fia was around to hear them, Viliant would tuck his wings out of embarrassment. Mahi continued to lean into Viliant's choice of words, which was intended to occupy the adult dragon's short attention span. "What secrets does the shadow dragonet hold? Let's keep this light, though. I don't wanna hear anything that's as dark as your scales."

This warning made Viliant gave pause. I wasn't going to share anything grim, he thought—not compared to all the other trials which the dragonet had survived. Nevertheless, Viliant worried that explaining the fragile condition of his ley lines was too serious of a topic for the adult dragon who did not bear any old scars on his scales. A glint in the corner of Viliant's eyes flitted to Fia. Help? How do we talk to Mahi?

Fia threw an even bigger fuss than the slush dragon. "I don't wanna take a break from games to eat!" the dragonette wailed. "Let's turn it into a competition!"

"Like a race?" Mahi asked, sufficiently enthused by the idea that he already seemed to forget about Viliant's so-called secret.

"Yes, but instead of who's fastest," Fia clarified, "we have to see who can catch and cook the yummiest fish dish." Before Mahi could object to the overall idea, Fia jumped right into the rules. "Everyone has to catch their own fish—and no stealing. Also, you've gotta cook your own fish—no getting any help on it either."

A devious thought flitted through Mahi's mind. His attempt to keep it to himself was ineffectual, letting Fia and Viliant know that he had already swallowed the game completely. The cute, little dragonets won't stand a chance, Mahi chortled to himself. Viliant can hunt, but he can't cook. And I bet Fia can cook, but I haven't seen her hunt. I'm the only one who can do both!

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Although Mahi did not need any further convincing to play the game, Fia sweetened the deal with her final rule. "Lastly, we need a judge who samples all three fish…."

Viliant nodded his chin along. Yes, we definitely need a judge. Someone who loves all types of food, and he has to be willing to try anything. While he knew that Fia's roast fish would taste delicious, he doubted that he had the skill to prepare anything that would come close. Viliant distrusted Mahi's ability to cook something edible at all. Even so, no food could deter Viliant's appetite. His love of food in all its forms made him perfect for this role. "If you insist," Viliant offered, "I suppose I could be the judge…."

Fia ignored him as she was already in the process of extending that honor to another. "Mahi: that's you!" she said.

"Woohoo!" Mahi whistled. The slush dragon's victory for this game was assured. Even if Fia or Viliant managed to put together a meal that tasted better than his signature dish, Mahi could still declare himself the winner.

"What?" Viliant roared at Fia. His anger flared at her betrayal. How could you? he interrogated his best friend over their private, telepathic connection. You know I want to judge the food! How could you pick Mahi over me?

Fia shrunk away from Viliant's crinkled snout, his maw dripping venom from jealousy. "Sorry," she peeped out. Her heart fluttered with anxiety as she searched for an excuse. I wanted to make sure Mahi would stick around, without you having to catch fish for him again. She hoped to convey to Viliant that she always had the best intentions for him.

Mahi already wanted to play the game, Viliant retorted. He's going to say his food's the best no matter what.

That's fine, Fia figured. We need to let Mahi win so he wants to keep playing with us.

Viliant narrowed his eyes. His friend's refusal to acknowledge her misstep only served to stoke his anger further. Am I even your best friend? Or do you like Mahi Mahi Mahi better just because he's played a couple stupid games with you? he asked, thinking of Mahi's obnoxious nickname with derision.

No! Fia gasped. Despite their silent argument, she sniffled back the tears in her eyes. Mahi's just a new friend who we need right now. I thought you'd agree with that…. I didn't know you'd want to be the judge that badly.

You know me! Viliant seethed. While he normally conducted himself under a strict paradigm of survival, he had one weakness which made him disregard all reason. I love food. His lower eyelids pinched up with shame that his love of food made him lose sight over all else. His nostrils flared with a quick intake of breath as Viliant realized how close his outburst made Fia to breaking down into tears. To cover himself, Viliant added, And your cooking is my favorite. I don't want Mahi to snub you a win that you deserve.

Fia shook her head, unconvinced by Viliant's attempt to cheer her up.

By this point, Mahi had noticed the distress in the terse flicks of Fia's tails. The slush dragon paddled into a defensive stance behind the pink dragonette and draped one of his large wings over her. "Hey. Is your buddy giving you a hard time?" he asked, shooting a glare at Viliant. "You can always block him out anytime you want. It's not like we've taught him Carlinoa well enough to talk without telepathy yet…."

The tears wavered and spilled over Fia's eyes. She did not want to cut Viliant off from her mind, not even when he descended into a tantrum. "You're my best friend forever, Viliant!" she cried. "I'm sorry I didn't make you the judge." With a big sniff, she flitted her puffy eyes to Mahi for help. "Viliant really wants to judge the food too. Can you and him try all the food together?"

Mahi huffed out a sigh. His eyes of deep blue ice melted at the dragonette's pitiful request, her big eyes wavering with her tears. "Sure, Fia. You've already made me a judge though, so I'll share my spot only on one condition."

A hard gulp caught in Fia's throat. "What is it?" she asked with a tremor in her voice, still needing to steady it after crying.

"You have to be a judge too," Mahi intoned gently. "That way, we'll have a panel, so you can break the tie when me and this guy inevitably disagree." The slush dragon jerked his snout at Viliant who still sulked from his discord with Fia.

A small smile curled back into her tail. The pink dragonette nodded her chin gratefully. "That's a good idea, Mahi Mahi. Thanks!"

"Now then," Mahi said, zipping around the water to ready himself over a good fishing spot. "On the count of three, let's race to get our fish! Meet back up when the sun's at high noon." Without further ado, Mahi began to count down. "Three. Two. One. Go!" A cold splash of water was left in Mahi's wake as he dove deeper than either Fia or Viliant could manage.

The two dragonets turned to blink at each other.

"Sorry," Viliant murmured. Even though this was not the optimal position to float, the black dragonet tucked his tail between his legs.

"It's all right." Fia accepted his apology with a brush of her neck against his shoulder. "We're all judges now. It's time to make some tasty fish!" The pink dragonette lunged through the water in search of her prey.