“Give it back,” the brown fairy dragon growled, directing his voice up at whatever was in the tree. When there was no response, he narrowed his turquoise eyes with frustration and spread his wings, their glow shifting hues in the same deliberate pattern as when Guinevere had used hypnotism.

After a beat, a small shiny object fell to the ground. His wings returned to their default turquoise color and he moved to pick it up with his mouth. The second he gripped it between his teeth, a raccoon leapt from the branch and landed on his shoulder blades, the impact startling him enough to drop it. The feisty little mammal proceeded to jump down from the dragon’s back and swipe it once more, fleeing.

“Not again,” the fairy type snarled and gave chase.

Gadalik noticed that Gretel was laughing at the scene, although her ability kept her voice muted. Her companion did find it funny at first too, but he soon felt pity when the raccoon continuously dodged the fluffy dragon, who was growing more desperate. He flashed his wings hypnotically each time he managed to land in front of the thief, but the latter simply changed direction without looking at them, rendering his visual ability useless.

It darted into the bushes, and the fairy dragon raised his antennae to hone in on its location. Then he pounced with the aid of flight, only for the raccoon to dart under him before he landed. After a few minutes of watching him struggle, Gretel eventually grew to pity him too. She ended her ability and showed herself. “Need help?”

“What?” the young adult fairy type instantly paused and turned to her, freezing with his ears perked like a deer upon seeing she was a wind dragon. “A predator…?”

“Relax, I'm not after you. I just want to help,” she repeated. “I'm fast; I can catch it easily.”

“A predator that wants to help,” he summarized in complete disbelief. “As if I'm dumb enough to believe that.”

“She's telling the truth,” Gadalik stood up for his friend.

“Another one?! Of course a seer hybrid would defend her. Is this some kind of sick game where you lure your victims into a false sense of security? Because if it is, that's worse than simply hunting me.”

“What? We're not going to hunt you… Gretel is capable; if anyone can get your trinket back, it's her.”

“Oh, so you're actually after my trinket?” he accused them.

“Seriously? Why would I care about a puny seashell?” the wyvern laughed. “There's a million just like it on the beach.”

That made the stranger more upset, his wings darkening to reddish purple. "Get out of my territory. Both of you.”

“So you don't want my help?” she asked, genuinely confused.

“Why should I accept help from a disrespectful predator?!”

“Disrespectful…?” Her voice sounded meek, and if Gadalik hadn't heard it himself, he never would have guessed it came his usually-confident friend.

“Hey, she never did anything to you,” Gadalik pointed out, stepping past Gretel protectively. “If you don't want our help, we'll leave. But there's no need for name-calling.”

“I only call things what they are,” the older male muttered.

“But you don't know who we are," he pointed out. "But I know my friend; she's kind and loyal.”

“Heh... You've clearly lived a sheltered life. I'll bet you've never faced a predator like her in your short life yet. Allow me to show you how solitary hunters truly are.”

“What…?” Before Gadalik could react, his wings glowed hypnotically once more.

It only lasted briefly, so the hybrid wasn't sure if it worked; the fairy dragon had ended it abruptly and looked backward, cowering as a dark blue wind type suddenly emerged from behind him… flying straight toward Gadalik. The juvenile turned and ran blindly through the dark forest, the large wyvern’s nearing, chilling shrieks sending him into a panic.

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“Where’s your loyal companion now?” the fairy type’s disembodied voice rang out.

As if in answer, Gretel flew past her friend from behind, and the latter once again was made aware of her injury from the red splotches on her back. He ran after her, worried and afraid, when he felt a sharp pain from the blue wind dragon’s claws raking his back, and cried out as he was knocked forward to the ground from the force. In the distance he saw Gretel continue fleeing without even a glance his way, disappearing into the trees ahead.

Gadalik braced himself for his death, when his attacker suddenly vanished and the scenery returned to the clearing. He came to just in time to witness the fairy dragon’s colorful wings settle on a singular, terrified purple as Gretel tackled him.

“W-What just happened…?" the confused seer-hybrid asked his companion. That was my vision from last evening... he recognized the scene.

“He hypnotized you,” she answered, her pink eyes focused entirely on the brown dragon pinned under her.

“What are you going to do now?” the fairy type asked her quietly, his voice trembling almost as if he expected her to finish him off. His wings remained purple but their glow was brightening with the intensity of their reflected emotion.

“Nothing… If you don't want our help, then there's no point in staying. Come on, Gadalik; we're done here.” The injured wyvern stepped off of him and turned around to leave.

The second she did, the scared dragon's purple glow gained a reddish tint and he suddenly got up, furiously slashing at her blood-stained back with his short claws in delayed self-defense.

An agonized roar escaped her; Gadalik didn't know why at first, but when blood was visibly shed, he instantly knew her existing wound was reopened from the otherwise harmless assault. He immediately rushed forward, headbutting her assailant with his earth dragon horns in a rash move to knock him away from her. “Gretel, are you okay?!”

She lay cringing on the ground in a forming red puddle.

“Gretel?!” the hybrid called again more urgently when the young dragoness’s body relaxed. She was still breathing, but he knew from the amount of blood being lost that in a matter of time, she wouldn't be. Desperation overtook him and he rounded on the hostile dragon who was still recovering. “Why did you hurt her?!”

“I'm sorry,” the older male stammered, his turquoise eyes widening with horror at what he'd done while his wings dimmed to a mix of blue and purple. He got up and moved toward them, but flinched when Gadalik gave a warning growl. The former took a breath and stood taller, staring the young male in the eye. “We have to stop the bleeding… Cover her wounds with something and apply pressure to them with it,” he commanded sternly, despite the light of his wings and twitching tail betraying his fear.

He's… helping? The hybrid was confounded by their attacker’s sudden change of heart. He shook his head, snapping himself back into reality. “Cover them with what?”

“Anything! Quickly!”

The green dragon wrapped his small wing over the opened gashes on his unconscious friend’s back, hugging her tightly with it. “Now what?”

“Keep still until I come back; I have webs in my den that will be more effective.” He flew off.

Gadalik held her more securely, his heart racing when he felt hers slowing. “Hang in there… You’ll be alright… Everything will be alright,” he murmured to her between shaky breaths.

His mind reflected on the encounter and felt choked from the realization that it aligned with everything Gretel had told him: she had approached a stranger and was attacked for it. Is this what happened with the dragon that had injured her in the first place? he wondered, a pang of sympathy hitting him so hard it caused nausea. Why? She just wanted to help him… the same way she wanted to help me fly when we first met. Gretel didn't do anything wrong, so why would this keep happening to her?

His sorrow morphed into anger as the brown fairy type’s accusations replayed in his head. Is it because she's a predator? That isn't fair! Nobody can change what type of dragon they are!

The stranger returned and Gadalik once again growled when he got close. The green juvenile then stopped himself when he saw the brown dragon was carrying supplies in his front paws similar to what Guinevere had stored in her hollow, setting them down when he landed.

“Roll her onto her belly,” the fairy type instructed, sounding a bit more confident; his wings had returned to their neutral turquoise. When Gadalik obliged, striped blue eyes watching him warily, the older male pulled the webs off the sticks he'd brought and put them precisely over the gashes on her back, clogging the blood-flow. “Keep an eye on her while I clean the wounds.”

Gadalik gave a slight nod and monitored her breathing, occasionally glancing at the furred dragon as the latter used curly moss as a makeshift sponge to absorb the spilled blood and wipe off the dirt at the same time. Her breathing and pulse slowly regulated. “Will she be okay…?” the juvenile asked.

“Yeah… I think so. We helped right before it'd be too late." His turquoise eyes looked away guiltily, his fur rim-lit by blue.

“Why attack her in the first place if you didn't want something like this to happen?”

His insectoid wings regained that purple tint. “I'm sorry…”

“That doesn't answer my question,” Gadalik pressed him. He quailed, and the hybrid sighed. “Well… I appreciate you helping in the end, regardless.”

The fairy dragon let out a breath. “I'm Sebastion… I’m sorry for hypnotizing you; I was actually trying to show you why–” He stopped himself. “I wasn't trying to fight… but when she tackled me, I really thought I was done for.”

Gadalik was still hung up on his motives, the scene he had been shown through hypnosis providing new insight on the stranger if he replaced himself with Sebastion in it, but this wasn't the time or place to question that. Instead, he focused on his friend, relaxing when she appeared to be merely sleeping now.