Bo worked his way through the desert with a sullen little dragon in tow. She was muttering… or rather, thinking, under her breath. Unfortunately, no matter how quietly she whispered or thought – the words were transmitted directly into Bo's head.

"Cheater…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing… sir," she added the sir rather venomously.

"Good, I don't want you thinking that duel wasn't fair. After all, I let you get the first hit in," he held back a smug grin - or tried to, anyway - just remembering her stunned expression as he grabbed her tail and threw her to the ground was enough to shatter his flimsy composure.

Yvet stopped walking and turned to face him indignantly, "You call that letting me get the first hit in!?"

"What was I supposed to do? Not retaliate?" Yvet started to speak, but he cut her off, "If you didn't want to get caught, you shouldn't have waggled your tail in my face like an idiot!"

"How was I supposed to know you were that fast? I would never have been so careless if I knew the true extent of your powers…."

She looked up at him meekly, "Rematch?"

"Sure," Without pause, he kicked sand at the little dragon and dove on top of her.

"What the-" She spluttered, flapping her wings to clear the cloud of dust as Bo crashed into her like a meteorite. They rolled around for half a minute before Bo returned victorious once again.

"Now, you can't say that wasn't fair," he said, panting - his robes covered in sand and scratch marks.

"YES, I CAN!" She screamed, "I ABSOLUTELY CAN SAY THAT WASN'T FAIR!"

"Sure, you can," Bo agreed, "Doesn't mean I'll listen,"

Yvet snorted furiously, a single streak of fire darting out of one of her nostrils. She stalked off in a huff, rubbing her nose with the tip of her wing.

"Humans…" she muttered, "the worst,"

They hadn't been walking long after that when Bo found a jagged rock poking up through the sand. It was flat and wide, curving out and over in such a way that there was room for him to lie down in its shade.

Without thinking, he wandered over to the rock and slid under it, lying with his back against the cool sand.

"What are you doing?" Yvet asked, crawling up to his head and examining him curiously.

"Sleeping…" Bo grumbled. "I couldn't get any in the last few days because of your incessant screaming – so I've got some catching up to do,"

"Oh, I'm sorry I was trapped in a tiny prison for thousands of years! Should I have been quieter in my attempts to escape?"

"Hm," Bo grunted sleepily, "Yes if you wouldn't mind,"

Yvet scoffed and nudged the side of Bo's head angrily, but it was too late. He was already dead to the world – his breathing having entered a steady, peaceful rhythm.

She sighed and looked around, finding that there was nothing to do. Ultimately, exhausted - from two fights with Bo and breaking out of her shell - she curled up on his chest, feeling the steady drum of his heartbeat. It was warm and reassuring, something she hadn't felt in a long, long time.

----------------------------------------

Bo awoke, struggling to draw breath. He felt like there was some great weight upon his chest, and when he raised his head, he found that there actually was a great weight upon his chest.

"So, it wasn't a dream," He murmured, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Yvet raised her head and snorted, sending a little trail of fire from one of her nostrils. She twitched her nose agitatedly and shook her head, "Are you awake?"

"Are you?"

"Barely,"

"Same,"

Bo lifted the little dragon and moved her aside before rolling out from under the rock. He had no idea how long he had slept, but the sun had long sunk below the horizon – giving way to a brilliant vista of stars.

He took a deep breath, feeling the cool night air wash over him.

With the drowsy fog of exhaustion no longer clouding his brain, he felt lighter and more refreshed than he had in days.

Behind him, Yvet had crawled out from under the rock. She silently climbed its side and perched about a meter above his head. Waiting. Watching. She looked down at him with amber eyes that glowed in the dark, crouching, with muscles tensed and teeth bared.

"Yvet?" Bo turned around just in time to see a little dragon fly from above and latch onto his face.

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"I WILL WIN THIS TIME!" She hollered.

Bo's shout was muffled as she slammed into his face and knocked him off balance. It was all he could do to stay on his feet as she grappled his head, digging her claws lightly into the side of his scalp. After finally managing to grab her by the leg, Bo ripped her from his face and tossed her aside, chasing after Yvet furiously as she scampered off into the darkness.

When he finally managed to catch up, she was sprawled out on the sand - belly up - panting.

"You win," She wheezed, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.

Bo grunted and kicked sand at her.

Ignoring the onslaught, Yvet stared up at the stars. A tiny flicker of fire snaked out of one of her nostrils… but not the other.

After sitting down beside her, Bo stared up at the stars and said, "To be honest, Yvet, I thought dragons would be stronger. More..."

"Intimidating,"

"Yeah,"

"We're supposed to be," Yvet rolled over onto her feet and jumped onto Bo's shoulder.

"What's so different about you, then?"

"I- I don't think I was born right," she admitted quietly, "There's something - something wrong with my head. All my memories are jumbled, and-"

"Memories? Weren't you born a day ago?"

"Dragons have ancestral memories. But mine are either missing or out of order. It feels like - It feels like nothing is where it's supposed to be,"

"Oh..." Bo watched the little dragon's sinking demeanour, feeling her almost tangible helplessness, "is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can point me to a fully grown dragon," Yvet sighed, staring at the empty desert, "and I doubt many dragons would live around here. It's too... desolate,"

There aren't many dragons living anywhere, Bo thought. Not that he voiced these concerns. She didn't look ready to hear that.

They stayed quiet as the night dragged on, watching the stars in peaceful company. Bo had things he would rather not worry about, consequences he didn't want to consider. And Yvet used the time to sort through her cluttered mind, trying to make sense of the patchwork quilt that was her memories.

"I'm going to win next time, you know," she said softly.

"Why? Are you fighting someone else?"

Yvet snorted and jumped down from Bo's shoulder, landing without a sound. She immediately began pacing circles around him, occasionally spouting flame from one nostril.

"What are you doing?" Bo asked.

"Thinking." She muttered.

"Does that help?"

"I think so,"

"Right, my priority right now is to find another dragon," she said, her voice calming as she talked through everything, "maybe they can sort out my memories; I don't know. It's a place to start, though,"

Bo listened intently, nodding, "It'll be difficult, but I can help. I'm not sure how... but I'll try."

"Thank you," Yvet said quietly, "In return, I'll do my best - No, I'll make sure you reach the next stage,"

"The next stage of what?" Bo asked, "Is this another one of those things I'm supposed to know already?"

Yvet said, staring at him blankly, "Do you seriously not know what the tattoo on your collar does?"

"Apparently not," Bo grumbled.

She paused and looked up at him, "Well, that tattoo isn't just there for decoration. It's for purifying your blood... I think." She scratched her nose with a claw, squinting into the night sky, "You know, the… oh, I can't remember their names, but there are these fruits the gods sent down – and when a human uses all of them in the right order, they can… ohh," she growled as vital memories evaded her, "I don't remember that either... but I'm sure It'll come back to me at some point,"

"Hold on!" Bo sat bolt upright, "Think harder! This sounds really important,"

"That's not how this works," She grumbled, "I would need a fully grown dragon to help me recover everything I've lost, and even then... I might not get it all back,"

"But just to be clear, you're saying that there are other fruits and levels to this tattoo, yes?" Bo did his best to remain calm in the face of this world-rocking revelation. He had always suspected there was more to the tattoos than met the eye - but thinking and knowing were two different things.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the case,"

"And you're saying that I need you to use those fruits. You're certain of this?"

"Fairly certain," Yvet nodded, "so, tell me what you want to do, and I'll help! With a dragon on your side, anything is possible! Treasure, power... other things," It seemed that the list of what dragons valued was rather short.

"Okay," Bo nodded slowly as he got up and started to pace in circles as well. "What do I want?"

"Hm, yes"

"Well, originally, I wanted to see a dragon – and find out where they all went… which is probably still what I want, actually,"

"Hold on, when you say - 'find out where they all went' - what do you mean by that?" Yvet asked quietly.

Bo looked at her, realising that he might have said too much, "It's just that - the dragons are gone, I think..."

"Gone?!" Yvet's eyes narrowed, "How gone?"

"Nobody has seen one in thousands of years - gone. They disappeared right before the great heat. Before Guarda started looking like-" Bo gestured to the dry landscape, "This,"

"Impossible!" Yvet shook her head furiously, "Dragons are, we're th... We're the strongest!"

"I know," Bo agreed, "That's why it's so weird. I mean, where did all of them... you, go?"

Yvet didn't respond, quietly looking out over the desert. Her gaze was distant and forlorn, perhaps the last gaze of its kind.

"There are still dragons out there somewhere," she said stubbornly, "Qui wouldn't let us die out… h- he wouldn't!"

"I agree," Bo nodded, "That's why I want to find out what happened and where they all went. The fact that such a big mystery has gone unsolved for millennia is baffling,"

"But where should we start?"

Bo gazed out at the desert, seeming able to see further than even the horizon. "Many, many miles from here – the desert becomes completely smooth. The dunes collapse into a flat basin, and all that exists for as far as the eye can see is white salt. Legends say that great cities lie on the other side of this salt flat, that the empire can be found there... but no one knows for sure." He gazed longingly off into the distance, "no one who came back anyway. They either die or never return."

"But what's so great about these cities?" Yvet pressed, "Fully grown dragons are far too big to live in places like that. I doubt we'd find any there,"

"That's true," Bo conceded, "But, I once read that the capital of Guarda - Murak - is home to the greatest library in the world,"

"Library?"

"It's a place where books and scrolls are stored," Bo said, "If anywhere would have records on what happened to the dragons and where they went, it would be there,"

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Yvet burst into motion, jumping up and flapping her wings triumphantly, "let's go!"

"Did you not hear me mention that nobody who sets out for the salt flats returns?" Bo sighed, "We'd need some sort of plan first,"

"How bad could it be?" Yvet scoffed, waggling her tail haughtily, "Dragons don't need plans,"

She blew another weak splutter of flame from her nostril, bathing the dark sand in fiery light.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Bo muttered.