Revealed
“I don’t know if they’re prepared for this.” The large gray Guardian ducks his head a little lower against the chilly wind currents, glancing at his brother with a rare look of doubt. It was so sudden, so unwarranted, and most likely not needed considering the most recent events. I am fully prepared for rejection, he thought, I can raise him just fine. We can raise him fine. But what will they think of us then? The white male flying beside him peeked over his brothers back at the small bundle of purplish-gray fluff tucked between his wings and spines. So young and frail and unprepared for this journey. He too, was worried. “Well, at least we know it won’t be their first.”
Deep in the back of the central den, in their private cave, lay a Tundra and a Ridgeback. Worn and tired leaders, taking a break from the hustle and bustle. Amadeus hummed gently to his larger mate who had been resting her head against his chest. It was not one of her good days.
The soothing touch and sounds always seemed to calm her nerves, and he would sit this way for hours with her when he could. Ever since he returned she had been this way: traumatized, fearful, and incredibly unlike herself.
It was times like this he was most thankful for his children. They had grown fine, one ever began her own family, and they were prepared to handle the clan in their parents absence. Unfortunately, this was becoming more and more common.
Footsteps began approaching the cave swiftly. Large padded feet and sharp clicking talons, a sound Amadeus had still not fully grown used to. His head shot up and he adjusted his glasses. Tallah only moved her eyes to focus on the cave entrance.
Bounding around the corner came their son, Frostbite. His breath was heaving slightly despite not having run a very long distance. He tried to study his son’s expression to see if he needed to leap into action but struggled to understand the emotions on his face. “Frostbite, is something wrong?” He asked with furrowed brows.
The large gray guardian bounced from one front leg to the other, unsure how to approach the situation himself. “Um, we have guests! Yes... Talvikki and Sohvi and uhhhh... well I don’t know yet but it’s not their parents that’s for sure.”
“Are they.. by themselves?” Amadeus was confused. Talvikki and Sohvi were the children of Freya and Aleksander, dragons from their closest allies, The Starfell Seekers. The families knew each other well but the brothers, the heirs, almost never came to the Icecaps alone.
Frostbite gave a hurried nod of confirmation. “We need to have a family meeting, right now. I know I sound panicked - I am panicked! - but no one is injured. I’m just - ummm...” He trailed off and paused to study his father’s face. “I’ll go get Noel and we’ll all meet in here. Just wait here I’ll be right back.” He held up his talons to signal for his parents to stay put and dashed off again to find his sister, Noel.
Tallah finally lifted her head and looked at her mate with the same confused yet worried expression. Whatever could this be about?
The entire family and their guests huddled into Amadeus and Tallah’s cave. The anxiety in the room was so thick you could slice it with your wings. Amadeus, Tallah, Frostbite, and Noel all huddled together. They were so frazzled they couldn’t sit still. The guardian brothers, Sohvi and Talvikki, sat opposite from them. The small ball of fluff, revealed to be a baby Tundra, sat between Talvikki’s feet. He stared up and the others with wide, curious eyes but did not make a sound.
Sohvi, the white Guardian, rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m.. I’m not quite sure where to begin.” He admitted. “This is quite a bit for all of us to take in, really.”
The gray bother nodded. “I’m not sure if we should explain ourselves first or explain him.” He pointed down at the little Tundra for emphasis and looked at his brother. Sohvi’s jaw opened and closed a few times, obviously wanting to help, but just as bewildered. Instead he pushed his glasses further up his snout and looked down at the hard ground, deep in thought.
“Well,” Amadeus offered, “How about you explain why the two of you are here without your parents. Are the Seekers in trouble?”
“No!” Talvikki thrust out his wings, startling everyone. “Our clan is fine! I’m sorry - our clan is fine. We’re here alone because we, my brother and our parents, agreed that we were the ones who needed to do this.”
“Spit it out, please.” Tallah snipped at the two, “You’re only making it harder, whatever it is.”
The brothers looked at each other.
“Well-” Talvikki started.
“You see-” Sohvi continued.
Tallah’s look grew even more stern and the brothers looked at each other again. They spoke with their eyes, and came to some kind of agreement.
“We’re your children.” They said, in unison.
The entire cave was silent. Each dragon turned and looked at the other, as if trying to process what they just heard.
“You’re WHAT?” Frostbite finally blurted out. “How? How can that be possible?”
Amadeus put his wing around Tallah who had began to buckle. She looked as if she could faint any moment. Instead of the warmth the brothers expected the Tundra had turned to them with a cold gaze. “Boys, if this is a joke, it’s not a very good one. Explain yourselves.”
Sohvi took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses once more. He had rehearsed this, mentally, on the flight over, but he was still nervous. “We’re the lost eggs. Frostbite’s brothers. You found him in the sea, yes? We all were swept to sea. My brother’s egg and mine were, as far as we understand, caught in a current and drifted Northwest, towards the Starfell Isle’s.” He paused to let this sink in, and watched Tallah closely. “We didn’t know for a long time that we were adopted. And even after that we didn’t quite know where we came from. Obviously, we were born in the Icefields, our eyes always told us this, but we had just assumed our parents had us while in the Icewarden’s territory.”
Talvikki put a hand on his brothers shoulder, and Sohvi stopped and nodded. This time Talvikki spoke up. “We learned about the eggs from Frostbite during one of our gala’s. How he was one of three, and the real reason why he was covered in ice was because of being lost in the cold sea, just like us. We always felt very at home in your clan, something always seemed to tug at us when we were here. My brother and I took a long look at ourselves, both appearance and personality wise, and we agreed that there were just too many coincidences.”
“We don’t have any exact proof, but we know what’s in our hearts.” Sohvi continued. “Aleksanter and Freya will always be our parents. The Seeker’s will always be our clan. But you all... you all are our family too. If you’ll have us.”
The brothers bowed their heads deeply, eyes closed for a few moments. When they opened them they observed the family. Amadeus’ features had softened. Noel was in tears. Frostbite’s jaw hung open. And Tallah, she was on her knees.
The Ridgeback reached out her claws towards the brothers and each took a hand. Tears welled in her eyes. She had not cried in a very, very long time. “My children are home.” She sobbed, “I knew. I always knew. There had to be a reason for all this and it’s both of you.”
The rest of the family stepped aside so the brothers could approach Tallah. Pink and red and white wings collided as the three held each other close. Slowly the rest approached, engulfing each other in wings and scales and fluff. Tears, hiccups, and blessings were uttered.
They could be whole again.
Noel finally poked her head out of the mass of clinging dragons, laughing softly as tears rolled down her snout. She noticed the little Tundra sitting alone, quite bewildered, and reached out to him. He crawled into her arms and settled against her warm spotted fur.
“So,” She sniffled, “Who is this then?”
The group of dragons finally detached from one another and focused their attention on the hatchling.
“His name is Asher.” Talvikki said softly. “He is my son. Your grandson. Your nephew.”
Amadeus' eye’s lit up, “I have two grandbabies?”
“Well, three.” Talvikki chuckles, reaching out a single talon to his son to scratch his cheek fluff. “He has a sister, Aria, back home.” He noticed Amadeus mouth “three” with a giant grin on his face. “My mate and I, we wanted to know if you would like to raise him here. With your clan. Give him the life we missed out on.”
Noel and Frostbite began cooing over the hatchling with excitement. “Cheer is going to have cousins!” Noel chirped with excitement to her brother. “She’s going to love this!”
Sohvi chuckled but his brother looked solemnly at the child. “We know it’s a lot to put on you so suddenly. We understand if you don’t feel like taking in another dragon right now - or ever, really. But, we are family. It only felt right to ask.”
Things quieted down again, the weight of this new responsibility hanging above them all.
This time, it was Tallah who spoke up.
“Yes. Of course we’ll take him.”
She hugged Amadeus close with one wing and reached out her arms to Noel to take Asher in her arms. “He’s beautiful.”
Noel felt a twinge of jealousy but stuffed it down quickly. Frostbite leaned closer to his sister, noticing the change in her energy. “This is so exciting.” He whispered. She nodded back.
Amadeus gently moved away from his mate and spread his wings wide. “Let us compose ourselves! We have a grand announcement to make to the clan, don’t you agree?”
Everyone nodded.
The dragons shared smiles with each other. With their mouths, their eyes, and their movements they smiled.
Things were going to get better.