Before continuing.

It's come to my attention that a TON of people don't know the song Puff the Magic Dragon. I've tacked it to the top and implore you to give it a listen. It's a great (albeit dark) children's song, that I think is well known across Canada. I could be wrong, could've just been my province :/. 

Oh well, Káel's Canadian anyways, and Ray 'gets around'.

          "I see you brought that dragon with you..." Was the first thing Mrs. Vienta said when Káel walked through the door, not even backtracking for a greeting as she cautiously eyed the creature. "He's well behaved to be following you without a fuss, he can't be wild. Perhaps his captors had him since birth... but please... keep an eye on him."

          Káel nodded and the dragon responded with a sassy hmph.

          They were going to the forest again, but Mrs. Vienta assured the class this time she'd be leading them, along with some helpers. Helper number one was a green uniformed girl that looked like a senior student, leaking an experienced presence as she stood straight beside the teacher. Káel wasn't exactly amused when helper number two turned out to be Ray, who looked like he belonged in the class, or at most a year above it.

          The dragon was already distracted with Alestra, who had managed to pick it up and gently cradle it in her arms, receiving a rumbling purr as a response. 

          It was weird, she was the first one to manage such a feat, while Talli had scored on giving him a scratch behind the ears multiple times without injury. The dragon seemed to have a preference towards the ladies - excluding Vera who hadn't exactly made a good first impression on him - and was soaking up their attention and coddling coos.

          As the class was preparing to depart, most of the students had already attempted to touch the dragon while it was distracted with Alestra. Some of them - mostly girls - succeeded with a stroke, but most of the time the dragon would give them a stare down or try to pull their hand in with its hooked talons and prickly fangs.

          Káel felt something by his leg, and looked down to see Ragdoll rubbing against it. His smile fell before the gloved hand came down on his head and violently ruffled his hair, pressed into a disgusted glare at the singing tone of his nemesis. "Hey unicorn boy!"

          He grabbed Ray's hand off his head and dropped it with a glare. "Why are you here?"

          "Hello to you too," he said with a grin. "I was on stables duty, and Mrs. Vienta needed some help, so being the helpful individual that I am, I volunteered."

          "You were just trying to get out of stable duty," Vera said coldly, cutting herself between the two so she could face Káel with a greetingful smile. "Sorry for ditching you outside of class by the way, Truvius didn't want to be late, and since he was the only one that knew how to get here we had to follow him. I'm surprised you got here on your own."

          "That's alright." Káel chuckled at the unexpected apology. He'd gotten used to expecting an overall lack of empathy from his peers, especially Ray, who had yet to apologize for a single thing he'd done. 

          Káel caught movement out of his peripheral vision, and found Phantom staring at Ray inches from his face. Although no one could see him other than Káel, he found it to be extremely distracting, and did a subtle ahem.

          Ray looked in Phantom's general direction with a discomforted face, and blew at him like a lock of loose bangs, twitching his nose from a phantom itch. "Sorry, something about that was bugging me."

          "Rude," Phantom scoffed, while Káel looked at him warily, unable to tell if he could see Phantom or not.

          "Sooo, that's the dragon?" Ray questioned, motioning to the fluffy white ball of fur in Alestra's arms. His composed smile lit up with a childish fire as he squished his voice into a cute little coo. "Oh, he's so fluffy!"

          The dragon didn't share Ray's enthusiasm with the meeting, and cringed away from his hand when he went in to pet it. Ray didn't withdraw, and after a couple sniffs, the dragon grabbed his arm and nearly managed to fit the entirety of his hand in its mouth.

          He didn't even flinch as the dragon tried digging its teeth into his hand at multiple angles, while violently kicking at his arm with his hind legs. After half the class was silent with horrified expressions, and Vera was looking with a suppressed smile, Ray let out a huge beaming grin and rubbed the dragon with his free arm. "You're so cute!"

          Káel reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, he needed proof, so when he got back to Earth he'd have an excuse for disappearing for three months. He punched in the pass code and snapped some pictures, then turned the view and took a picture of himself, catching Phantom in the background.

          "How is that magic box capturing moments of time within itself? I've never seen Lumer tools like that," Phantom said curiously.

          "Relax, it's a picture, I'm not harnessing time or anything," Káel replied flatly, shoving his phone back in his pocket before any classmates got suspicious of his mutters. "It captures lightwaves and turns them into colours or something."

          "Funny, you don't know how your own stuff works."

          "Shut up," he hissed, his voice a little louder than he'd liked.

          Talli looked up at Káel like she'd done something wrong, and pointed to herself.

          "No, not you, you didn't even say anything." Káel slid his hands into his pockets. "I was talking to myself."

          After an eternity of violent struggles and snarls the dragon gave up, and hopped out of Alestra's arms. He quickly scrambled to escape Ray and retreated behind Phantom for a hiding spot. Phantom looked at the dragon, and decided to be the bringer of bad news. "Hey Mudbrain, I'm invisible, remember?"

          The dragon looked at Phantom with realisation, then at Ray, who was already closing in, and bolted straight for Káel. He didn't stop until he'd clawed his way up Káel's back and onto his shoulder, where he perched ferally, hissing and spitting small jets of fire at Ray.

          "Geez, how'd you get it to like you?" Ray clapped the clumps of white fur off his hands, smiling at the hissing dragon.

          He caught the dragon giving him a narrow eyed glare. "I don't think like would be the word to describe it, it's more a cat and owner relationship." Káel stepped back as Ray approached him, keeping a solid meter between them. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your arm?"

          Ray lifted his arm to look at it, spare a couple rips in his sleeve, his hand didn't have a single gouge mark in it, and his forearm lacked any slash marks Káel expected to see. "Nah, looks fine to me."

          "The heck's he made of?" Phantom said, which is exactly what Káel was thinking.

          The dragon snorted at Ray, his wrinkled snout softening as he sniffed the air with growing curiosity. He found the source of the mysterious scent on Vera, pressing his nose against the small bump under the shoulder fabric of her jacket. Vera quickly shifted away, but the dragon simply stretched his neck out in response and let out a low purr-like warble at the bump on her shoulder.

          The bump responded with a small chirp, and a bright yellow beak popped out from the collar of her jacket, followed by the feathery head of a cute bird with big fiery eyes. It chirped again at the dragon, and pulled the rest of its tiny body out of Vera's jacket to show off its glowing red feathers with blue and green highlights.

          The Phoenix hopped along Vera's arm and jumped onto the dragon's head without any protest, allowing its long feathery tail to droop over the dragon's nose as it sang a small song.

          "I swear dragon, if you try to eat Cinder she'll roast you like Summer Snapperfish." Vera warned, as her Guardian turned around and perched on the fluffy scruff of the dragon's neck.

          Alestra let out a halfhearted laugh at Vera's warning. "That's a pretty dumb assumption, dragons love phoenixes, they even live together sometimes." She ignored Vera's growing frown, yawning as she finished her statement. "Not to mention, I've never heard of a creature stupid enough to try and ingest the living version of a fireball."

          Cinder chirped and rubbed her head against the scruff of the dragon's neck, causing the dragon to close its eyes with satisfaction and purr. Meanwhile, Káel and Vera watched the two cautiously, Káel was more worried about the dragon losing its balance and turning into a flurry of talons and teeth, more so than the two breaking out into a fight.

          As soon as Mrs. Vienta announced for the class to follow her, Vera grabbed Cinder and the phoenix shyly crawled back into her jacket. The dragon on the other hand, who was enjoying the neck massage turned its purr into a soft growl. Until Káel, who was fearing for his life, massaged the dragon's neck himself.

          Vera and Talli stayed at the back of the group, which gave Káel and Truvius little reason to go elsewhere. Besides the fact that one of the helpers was holding up the caboose of students, Ray.

          Nonetheless, Káel forced himself to ignore the blond's grinding voice and constant need to poke at the resting dragon, getting lost in the nostalgically earthy forest trail, spare the welcoming entourage of forest creatures swarming the chattering students. The walk was mostly so Mrs. Vienta could educate the students on the forest firsthand, so they wouldn't get accidentally eaten, or violently killed by black grass and other overly hostile plants and animals. It wasn't until about halfway into the walk, when Káel's arm was killing him from scratching the dragon for so long, that Talli noticed how limp the dragon had gone.

          It had its head resting on one paw, with the other hanging loosely over Káel's chest. Its hind legs were all the way onto his other shoulder, with its long furry tail curling around his neck, and it's purple tongue drooping out of the left side of its mouth. The dragon was out cold, sitting like an extraordinarily heavy scarf on Káel, but even though his back was aching from the weight, he didn't dare to move it. However, he did relinquish his duty of petting the dragon, giving his arm a well deserved break.

          A plus side to the heavy furry serpent sleeping on Káel was that Truvius's bird didn't dare to nip at his ear, like it seemed to be so infatuated with doing. It had distracted itself with mocking the song Cinder had lulled the dragon with, sometimes stopping to let the phoenix complete a note with its muffled chirp.

          "Y-you know... he's far cuter when, when he's sleeping like that." Talli said, rubbing one of the dragon's long fluffy ears between her fingers. "S-Something about knowing you're n-not going to lose your hand touching him."

          "Oooh, we should give him a name," Alestra added, catching Talli's enthusiastic nod of approval.

          "Bad idea." Truvius cut in, killing the excitement with his stern frown.

          "Come on, it's just a little nickname. Better than referring to it as it, or dragon... or fire-breathing demon spawn." Káel chimed.

          Truvius shook his head. "No, because first it's the, oh I'll only take care of him, then it's the hmmm, how about I give him a temporary name? Then you end up keeping the thing, which is not a particularly good idea when it's a nomad dragon."

          Káel sighed. "It's about as dangerous as a fluffy fire breathing cat."

          "Actually, that sounds pretty dangerous." Ray cut in. "But I'm all for naming it."

          Talli beamed with delight at the opportunity to name the dragon. "Wh-what should we call him?"

          "Something cute, but ferocious at the same time." Alestra replied.

          "Mudbrain." Phantom cooed.

          "How about Pyro, or Fang?" Ray said.

          Alestra grimaced at the stereotypical names. "Tacky."

          "What do you think Vera?" Talli asked innocently.

          Vera's mouth twisted in displeasure. "I don't know, he's pretty fluffy for a dragon, you could use that as something to go off."

          "Cloud?" Truvius said, glancing at the dragons pelt of shiny white fur. "Clouds are fluffy, and white."

          Káel grinned at Truvius. "I thought you didn't want to name him."

          "No, I said it was a bad idea, but you guys are pretty intent on it, so I was giving suggestions."

          Cloud was a pretty accurate description of the dragon, Káel thought, minus the claws and teeth. 

          But it just didn't fit.

          He twisted his head awkwardly to look at the dragon's peaceful face, instinctively poking it's soft nose so it twitched and wiggled it's fluffy cheeks with a tired grunt. His head was popping out names while his friends argued over cute or vicious, the perfect name suddenly striking him like a heaven sent thunder bolt. 

          He had the perfect name for a fluffy white magical dragon, and all the irony it entailed. 

          "Puff. Let's call him Puff."

          Ray snickered at the name. "You know what that song is about, right?"

          "A lonely magical dragon living by the sea, don't ruin my childhood." Káel quickly snapped, catching confused looks from his friends by the sudden change in their conversation. "Wait, how do you know about that song?"

          "I get around."

          "I like Puff." Alestra said, completely glossing over the confusing topic change.

          "M-me too." Talli added.

          "You'd better hope the dragon likes it." Vera muttered. "You did just dictate its name while it was sleeping."

 —————    

          Her room was cast into a fading light by the blue star making its slow retreat beneath the horizon, a small orb of blue fire, like the many lining the halls, hovered over her desk to provide her with a sufficient amount of light to work. It was almost evening and Lady Samanthra had an uncommon guest.

          Mr. Mudelin was sitting on one of the padded chairs in the corner of the room, looking distastefully at the amount of dust coating a neighbouring bookshelf. Although the two had been friends for countless years, and even worked in the same place, he never even dropped by for a split second unless it was something important, and this time was no exception.

          "Are you serious?" Samanthra sat in her desk, resisting the urge to hit herself for being so stupid. Of all the stupid names he could've gone by the ones he chose astounded her. 

          Nobody goes by Staz, at least he could've chosen a common name, rather than mashing random sounds together and trying to make it work.

          "Yes milady, I'm quite serious," Mr. Mudelin replied. "He's gone by that name a number of times. Must've thought he was being clever with it."

          "And I'm assuming you've contacted him."

          "Oh no, as a friend it would've been expected, but I thought you'd like to talk to the weasel more than I. As the head administrator of this institution it's more proper," he replied with a grin.

          Samanthra narrowed her eyes at his quick brush off. "You owe him something don't you?"

          "Not currently. It's more so ending up owing him something, he has a way with twisting words that even I'm not on even grounds with. Not to mention, he's less irritable when talking with you."

          "But if he's really that boy's uncle, does that mean...?"

          His face went grim. "Yes, if it is by blood and this isn't some desperate charade, it would appear so. We can't take this information lightly, especially when that boy is more defenseless than a bundle of waterweed."

          "Oh, what was Ray thinking?" Samanthra sighed, rubbing her forehead to alleviate her growing headache. "It's been over three years and I still don't know where his ludicrous plans come from."

          "It's likely he already knows about Káel's disappearance, he's not one to let his possessions slip away without a fight. I fear your little blonde troublemaker may be in for a ride if he's been rubbed the wrong way by the kidnapping of his nephew."

          "I find it funny that you know that."

          "He verbally bullied it out of Káel," Tia cut in.

          "Now, now, bullied isn't the word. I simply took advantage of his vast ignorance, then Tia blurted the rest to me while I was on my way here."

          Tia's tone turned to frustration at his response. "Why didn't you tell me you knew about Staz?"

          "Because I wasn't sure at the time, I had to confirm it before you went running over to lady Samanthra gloating about your achievements."

          "That's a load of Swatchnea poop, you're just being a grumpy old fart!" Tia spat.

          "I'm hardly that old you worthless soul enchantment," Mr. Mudelin retorted, the sensitivity of his age leaking into the malicious sneer of his voice as he shot the ceiling a deathly glare. "Maybe if you had the brains to do some research, rather than stalking the boy who practically knew nothing, you'd have figured it out before me."

          "Oy, watch it, I control the water temperature you know."

          "Alright kids, that's enough fighting, you're still required to act professional during business hours," Samanthra growled.

          "Do I really have to act professional when you don't even pay me?" Tia chimed.

          Samanthra relaxed with a teacherly smile, lacing her fingers together as she rested at her cluttered desk. "Oh my, you're right, you're free to leave if you wish, although I'd prefer not to go searching for a lost soul that qualifies for this job, and going through the hassle of enchanting it into the building."

          Tia sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry."

          "So, what shall we do about the boy?" Mr. Mudelin said.

          "Act normal, the less attention he receives, the less likely people are to search into him. So please refrain from the public shaming Dedrick," Samanthra replied, peering at him over the rim of her glasses with a black look.

          "My apologies, I thought he was purposely being incompetent, like most of the other students. I will be sure to focus on assisting him in attaining the strength to defend himself... discreetly."

          "Good enough," Samanthra sighed, leaning back in her chair to stare at the ceiling. "Tia, it is of the utmost importance that you consult me before telling anyone Káel is from Earth, I don't care who they claim to be. Do you understand?"

          "Yes milady, bu-"

          "Yes, you can tell Lightwood before he squeezes it out of you," Samanthra replied, her guess dead on the head as Tia chuckled and Mr. Mudelin sighed scornfully at the name. 

           "Tell him that's not an invitation to torment Káel as well." Mr. Mudelin added, receiving a disappointed nod of agreement from Samanthra.

           The head administrator sighed, allowing their plan to sink in from the few seconds of silence and give her pawns sufficient time to bring up any protests. When the setting held it's tranquility she rose from her desk with an attention sealing clap. "Good, you two are free to go. I have an undesirable call to make."

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5/16/2018