If Viliant wanted to train in the morning, he could rely on no one to wake him up early enough but himself. Luckily for him, his past made him a light sleeper. Even before the gray, dawn rays breached the loft, Viliant sensed when the sunrise made the nighttime shadows relent. His eyelids flicked open, but the rest of him lay motionless. He watched and waited for movement from the red pile of scales that was Arenis.
A soft snort left Viliant's nose. Maybe his talk about training was nothing but hot air. If Arenis did not wake up, Viliant hoped Evander would still work with him without his little brother's presence.
However, Arenis began to stir before that eventuality. The bright streams of sunlight made the red dragonet kick his legs. Arenis rolled over with his back to the window, and his wings flopped over his head.
Or maybe not, Viliant observed, and here he thought it was time to get up.
Like Fia when she had first arrived in Syene, Arenis behaved in a way that belied his life of comfort. Fia used to always steal a couple more minutes of sleep. Viliant never had that luxury. In his early dragonet days, his human captors would fling him into the coliseum even if he was still half-asleep. On the run, Viliant was the most vigilant one. At present, he scrutinized Arenis with a squint and reflected on the vast difference between their circumstances. At least I'm here now, Viliant thought, but even if Carlinoa seemed safe thus far, the shadow dragonet never wanted to lose his hardened edge.
Before he got up, Arenis finally tottered onto his four feet and flared his wings to the side for balance. While he crept past Viliant, who closed his eyes and remained in bed, Arenis swept his neck to watch him. Once the red dragonet confirmed that his movement left his family's guest undisturbed, Arenis hurried faster to the edge of the loft.
Viliant fling his eyes open. "Did you think you could leave without me?"
Despite the accusatory growl in Viliant's voice, Arenis accepted the connection over telepathy.
Yes, his guilty conscience confirmed. I don't wanna train with you. But also.... Arenis's thoughts aligned with his Kinder words. "I thought you might need the sleep."
"Hm." Viliant rose from his bed and let his mind recede from telepathy. The jumble of competition but also consideration that Arenis felt toward him made all too much sense. Maybe we can get along, Viliant thought, but he did not want to let the slightest hint of a favorable assessment of Arenis slip by too soon.
Arenis led the way out of the loft. A flurry of small wing beats controlled his descent to the first floor.
Viliant looked around for a pole that he could climb, but seeing none, he contemplated the best way down. Can I glide? Even if my wings actually do that now, there's not enough space. I guess I should just jump and ignore Arenis when he laughs. Before Viliant dropped down to the ground level, his mind expanded with the arrival of Evander. Viliant accepted telepathy from the unseen dragon, in spite of how that also bridged him to Arenis.
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Sorry for the delay, Evander thought. I'll help you down. The orange dragon reentered the hut from outside, his good mood affected by the sunrise which he had just watched. Evander offered his paw with outstretched claws up to Viliant.
Thanks. With Evander's assistance, Viliant tapped onto the dirt floor.
The two adult dragons, Fiorden and Zinia, still slumbered along the back wall. Viliant saw why Evander opted for telepathy without carefully enunciating his words like he had been doing around Viliant thus far. Silently, both dragonets followed Evander outside where they became more animated.
"I'm happy you've decided to join us, Viliant," Evander said. "Arenis has been needing a sparring partner his own size."
The mention of that made Arenis perk up after he had climbed onto Evander's back. "Yeah! I can't wait to face Viliant!" Somewhere in his small brain, Arenis wanted to take out all of his issues with Viliant during a fight.
"Ha," Viliant snorted. What makes you think you'd win? Even though he did not know how to say as much in Carlinoan, his attitude leeched over telepathy.
"Go easy on him," Evander warned both Arenis and Viliant, neither one more than the other. With that, the orange dragon swooped into the air.
Viliant squinted against the sunrise as he hung from Evander's claws. A short ways down the mountainside from the Carlinoa village, the group landed in a quaint clearing between the trees. Viliant observed the scorch marks and claw marks in the tough, gray bark as he waited for Arenis to clamber down from Evander's back. The circular formation in which the trees had been cut down created a good training ground. It reminded Viliant of an informal arena.
"I'm ready," he announced to Evander and Arenis. "When do we start?" If not for his effort to be a polite guest, Viliant would have set on Arenis already. Although he did not like to wait to attack, Viliant figured that Arenis needed the first move anyway.
"Argh!" Avenis roared at Viliant's smug attitude which tainted their telepathic link. The red dragonet charged at him with lowered horns, but Evander scooped up his little brother from underneath his ribs with a clawed paw.
"Do your drills against the trees." Evander tossed Arenis in a new direction.
No longer aimed for Viliant, Arenis sprinted and headbutted the first tree in his path. Some woodchips sailed into the air upon impact, worsening the divet which had already been hewn into the side of the tree.
Viliant glanced all around him at the half-dozen jagged tree stumps. He wondered if Arenis had taken them down as a part of his training. Maybe I should be more cautious around him... Viliant thought, if I was a tree.
"Gah!" Arenis grunted and growled as he sliced the bark into ribbons under his flurry of talons. He pushed Viliant out of his telepathic headspace, so the red dragonet could better take out his frustration on his temporary target.
"That's great!" Evander chimed. "Keep at it, Arenis."
When Evander walked over to Viliant, the black dragonet remained seated on his haunches. "If that's what we're gonna do for training, I'm not doing that," Viliant forewarned.
"Don't worry. We're working on your wings today," Evander reassured him.