Notes and rambling about Almeisan, Alterf, and Alnath - three of the Silver/Ice/??? dragons in my clan.
One clone of Asimi was, surely, more than enough. They were just thankful she wasn’t a clone in personality. If the clan had to put up with more than just Asimi’s naivete they’d have snapped and run all of them off. There was only so much ahaha, but isn’t it wonderful~? they could take while under attack. And laughing may have been the best medicine, but sometimes dragons wanted to wallow in misery, damnit.
Almeisan had been the first. Sullen, gloomy, lashing out and glowering in shifts. They’d thought she was Asimi’s because they looked nearly the same. If she weren’t a Mirror, if she were the same size and not distinctively younger, if she had Earth eyes, they could have been twins. Instead they assumed he was her father - that maybe a visit to Light hadn’t just been to deliver a message. Maybe she’d come to track him down.
Everyone denied it. Asimi told them with absolute certainty Rarna, Rarna, my lovely Rarna is the only mate for me~ while Rarna insisted Asimi would never forget something like this and the (unnamed at the time) Mirror had curled her lip and spat Family? Fuck that. She wanted nothing to do with them.
Which was ironic, because in the end Asimi and Rarna adopted her.
She’d refused to tell them her birth name so she’d named herself after a star. Almeisan, the shining one. Also ironic, because her personality was anything but shining. Introduction to the other ‘children’ of the clan had resulted in her trying to drive a wedge between them, destroying their property, and goading them into fights that she inevitably lost. They weren’t a clan of fighters for nothing; she lost and kept losing and limped off to nurse her wounds.
(She couldn’t limp off alone, because even clan territory is dangerous - whenever she was badly hurt she had to go back home, to Asimi and Rarna, and as soon as she was healed she’d be gone yet again.)
Eventually she learned from losing and became as strong like them. She was even more of a handful and Rarna sat her down for a stern talk. (It had to be Rarna, because while Asimi was a wonderful caretaker he could never sit anyone down for a stern conversation.) Rarna told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to behave, and Almeisan spat something about how you’ll all get tired of me eventually, half the time you’re too pushy, too distant, what’s the harm in hurrying it along?!
Rarna and Asimi assured her that they wanted her around, that they loved having her as an adoptive daughter, and that she could voice anything and everything to them and they’d do the same. They promised not to lie to her. Eventually they would understand her, but they needed her to be up front with them if they were ignoring her or smothering her. She didn’t like them caring for her when she was hurt, but she hated being ignored, too. Just talk to them, at least until they could read her.
She warmed up a little after that. Never became a social butterfly or a bright ball of sunshine, but she did enjoy lurking just at the edge of others’ vision, curled into a little ball and glowering. She still hated being ignored but hated too much attention. One or two dragons was best; any more or any less just made her tense. And it was great if they were quiet, because Almeisan was sensitive to loud noises. She would retreat pretty often to Asimi and Rarna for some quiet company and generous amounts of hugs, and then leave without a verbal thank-you.
She would, however, go hunting and gathering for their favourite foods, because she was too embarrassed to actually say thanks.
Asimi and Rarna didn’t mention that, either.
The two new Mirrors could’ve have been mistaken for Almeisan, but on closer inspection were obviously not. Their eyes were different; one the blue of Tidelord’s children and the other had the yellow-green of Windsinger’s. They were both considerably smaller than her (male Mirrors are usually smaller, they notice) although the Wind one’s wings were marginally wider. They weren’t wearing the Skeletal Chimes that all dragons in the clan wore, which meant they were visitors.
They ended up wanting to join, and then joining, regardless. They quickly got attached to Asimi and Rarna (and Almeisan sat in a corner and glowered, because Asimi and Rarna were her parents). They enjoyed Asimi’s bright personality and didn’t find him the least bit annoying. They found Rarna both intimidating and wonderful. After some quick discussion Asimi said he and Rarna wanted to adopt them, but they needed one more dragon’s approval. Everyone thought they meant Aine; she was the Queen after all.
The two Mirrors got super startled and flustered. The Wind one got kind of excited. Both of them said they didn’t have parents, they were kind of nervous. Surely Aine would say yes; it wasn’t like she cared as long as dragons were strong fighters. Hearing Asimi say he wanted to adopt more kids pissed Almeisan off and she turned to leave before he called to her. Almeisan, would you mind having brothers~?
She had to pause and look at him. She didn’t voice anything because she couldn’t.
(She was nervous; she’d had Asimi and Rarna’s attention for so long and if she got brothers she’d be jealous but she also never said that she even enjoyed the attention in the first place; she was afraid Asimi and Rarna would like them more and ignore her from then on-)
Instead she scowled, giving the two Mirrors such a venomous glare that the two looked terrified.
(She told herself her opinion didn’t matter, that Asimi and Rarna would adopt these two interlopers whether she minded or not. If she said yes they’d abandon her; if she said no they’d adopt these two and replace her. And they’d take her place with her friends, take her place in the clan-)
Almeisan? We won’t do anything to upset you, you know~! And that of all things made Almeisan waver. The fact that her parents said they wouldn’t upset her meant the world to her, because they promised not to lie to her. But. She was tough and fearless so she gave the two another distrustful look before venturing, I’ll decide once they’ve met the others.
(And if her friends replaced her, she’d know to leave. She didn’t know where she’d go, just that she’d go, because if, no, when she wasn’t wanted, when nobody wanted her to-)
Take your time, and come back when you’ve decided~!
The others welcomed the two cautiously, then warmed up to them. The Wind one was very physical; he asked first, but once he got the go-ahead he enthusiastically butted his head against dragons in greeting, brushed against them, and got all up in their personal space. If they told him to lay off he did, but they got the feeling he’s the type to tackle enemies. The Water one was significantly more watchful; he carefully chastised his friend (brother?) when dragons looked even marginally uncomfortable. He sat straight, sat tall, and he looked intimidating just watching them. Hard to imagine Water being the younger of the two.
They were included, sure, but her friends voiced a few things - that Wind was much louder than Almeisan, that Water wasn’t as strong. That both of them sucked at cards. They played a few team games, and Almeisan was so sure she’d be picked last (discarded, thrown away) but that was never the case. She had her special traits, after all.
It took a couple days but Almeisan eventually got mildly comfortable with the two being around. (She was assured that she was irreplaceable, to her friends, at least.) She asked what they thought, and her friends murmured a bit before deciding these two were alright. They didn’t seem type to backstab or lie; they seemed like they’d make good additions to the clan. Hell, they even suggested the two could drop in on Almeisan’s friend group any time they wanted, if it’s alright with you, Almeisan. The whispered addition was, I mean, you seem uncomfortable with them. Just a bit.
Then Water asked if they could have new names in the clan, and Almeisan said she didn’t see why not; she named herself, after all. Wind asked her if she had ideas (she has such a pretty name! don’t you want a pretty name?!) and she eventually gave them Alnath for Wind and Alterf for Water. One essentially meant the bull’s horns and the other meant the lion’s gaze. They noticed that the names sounded suspiciously like hers and everyone got what it meant.
Almeisan didn’t hate them. Actually, she rather liked them; she was just grappling with herself and trying to ‘convince herself’ that she didn’t so she wouldn’t get hurt. She didn’t say it and her friends were good enough not to bring it up; after a quick word from Alterf even Alnath kept his mouth shut (although, Alnath practically vibrated because he was so excited). What she did was lead them back to Asimi and Rarna, tell them the new Mirrors would be going by Alnath and Alterf, and that she wouldn’t be opposed to them being adopted.
Asimi showered Almeisan in warm cuddles and didn’t mention that you love your brothers~! Then he cuddled Alnath and Alterf too. Rarna kept out of the cuddles because she didn’t want to get squashed and told the children to keep each other safe and make sure they eat healthy and always come to her and Asimi if they had problems. They had a moment of confusion ‘cos Mirrors eat nothing that Tundras or Faes do, but their adoptive parents assured them they wouldn’t judge (really, nearly half the clan was mirrors, judging was long dead) and that they were welcome to avoid family dinners if they felt uncomfortable.
(Asimi and Rarna are the kind of parents to take care of their kids when the kids want them to, and let them do their own thing otherwise. Pretty chill parents. Of course, they’re also the type to straight up murder other dragons who hurt their babies, so... there’s that. Asimi would be murder with a smile; Rarna would be murder with a poker face.)
Eventually they stopped hugging to shake fur off of them, and Almeisan sounded bored when she said she’d show Alnath and Alterf around the territory. At that point even Alnath and Alterf had learned Almeisan was uncomfortable with verbalizing her excitement and happiness, and showing them around was probably the most sign they’d get of her liking having them around. They also learned not to push her into showing affection.
And that was the start of a beautiful adoptive sibling relationship.
