The first time that a raven landed on the rocks of the Dragon Isle, Sehun mistook it as a new playmate and promptly chased it away. The only problem was that the poor Raven kept on flying back to try and deliver its message which naturally only increased the antics of the rainbow coloured dragon. Eventually the others clicked to what was going on and Baekhyun had to sit on the youngster to allow Yifan to read the message from the Raven and give the poor thing a rest.

Thankfully the elders did not scold Sehun too much, because really he was a bit too young to understand but they started trying to teach him a little more so that he could start to apricate that not everything in life was just a toy for him to play with.

It was Kyungsoo who approached Yifan a little while later, his human form surprisingly dwarfed by the rapidly growing young man and politely he asked what the message was about.

Yifan lowered the paper with a sigh, “My mother has taken ill and Father is away in some pointless war and won’t come back.”

Kyungsoo blinked, “Oh. Do you want a ride back home?”

Turning to look at Kyungsoo, Yifan jumped a little in surprise at seeing the small, wide owl eyed boy as he had genuinely not expected the other to have such a cute human form but he was quick to reign in his emotions and he shook his head. “No, thank you for the offer though,” Yifan said quickly and sighed as he turned his attention back to the ocean view which was surprisingly almost magical in the hews of winter.

“Why not?” Kyungsoo asked, coming to sit naturally down next to the other and casting his eyes out over the water, “I’m sure she would like to see you.”

Lightly Yifan shook his head, wondering if he could even begin to explain to Kyungsoo about everything that had happened in his childhood but then figured that the dragon would understand him regardless. It was still an odd feeling, having so much love, affection and understanding surrounding him all of the time with these nine dragons, even after nearly six months. “My mother...she may have given birth to me but she never cared. All of her love and affection went onto Jiaheng, just like everyone else’s and if they could they would have banished me to some far-flung corner of the realm and left me there.”

Kyungsoo hummed a little, “You still love her though, right?”

“I bare her no ill will,” Yifan replied, gulping a little, “She couldn’t help doing what she did because of what I am. I fear for more my elder brother Luhan, if she dies he has to take up residency and my father is not a man who likes to share power.”

Lightly Kyungsoo rested his hand on top of Yifan’s and smiled when he turned to look at him, “That’s why you’ll become great Yifan. You already know the difference between obligations, duty and matters of the heart and that is a great skill to have at such a young age.”

A shy smile crossed Yifan’s face as he squeezed Kyungsoo’s hand, “Thank you. I hope that what you say is true.”

Yifan had sent a reply via the same Raven who was clearly happy to escape from the Isle and be no longer tormented by the rainbow coloured dragon. Over the next few months it became a familiar sight of a rainbow coloured dragon chasing after a messenger raven even after Yifan had expressively told Sehun not to do so.

Until finally, after four months of constant harassment the bird snapped and turned to peck at the rainbow dragon’s snout and chase him all around the island in retaliation. Sehun stopped trying to chase raven’s after that and would actively rush to hide off in some cave somewhere whenever he heard the caw. Something which Tao found highly amusing when he learnt how to copy the call and spent a week tormenting Sehun with it.

Though the next time the Raven came to the Isle, he was accompanied by a harrier hawk and Yifan felt something inside him break. The message was as he expected it to be, that the Queen had passed due to her illness but he was more than surprised to discover that the King had been poisoned on the night of his new marriage a mere two months later. Luhan apologised in the letter he sent, stating that he meant to inform Yifan of everything as it happened but it all just went so fast that he had not been able to keep up.

Strangely Yifan was not bothered overly much by this fact and felt a smile cross his face when he saw that there was an official invitation for himself and the rest of his dragons to Luhan’s official coronation because despite only being fourteen, Luhan wanted the world to know that there was a Dragon Prince who would surely become involved with those matters that most concerned him and he also wanted to officially announce that they were brothers so that no one would ever dare to dismiss Yifan from them again. The sentiment and conviction of the words brought a smile to Yifan’s face as he read the finely scripted note before he passed it up to Yixing so the healer could read it.

“I think we’re in for an interesting year,” Yifan smiled softly, glancing down at the expanse of the beach where most of the dragons were playing in the sea foam as it was as good an excuse as any to give the youngest a good scrub.

Yixing nodded in his head, a dimple smile appearing naturally on his cheek as he passed the letter back to Yifan. Out of all the human forms he had seen so far, Yifan thought that Yixing’s was the most human looking. Unlike the others he bore no frills on his ears, had very few visible scales and other than a few white tinges to his hair it was almost possible to believe that he was indeed just an ordinary human. Expect for his eyes, which were a soft silver colour with a golden iris that was beautiful to behold but also slightly unnerving. Or at least so Yifan had heard, he personally found them to be wonderful and was a little jealous about their overall appearance. There was still a lingering childish quality to the rapidly growing boy and it was fun to see.

“I believe we are,” Yixing smiled, “Looks like we’ll have to start giving you flying lessons so that you don’t fall off when we visit the human kingdom.” Softly he shook his head at seeing Sehun pounce onto Tao who was lounging on the sand to dry off and immediately had him covered back in sand. “We’re also going to have to get those two into their human forms.”

Yifan blinked, “Into their human forms? But Sehun’s far too young to be attempting that.”

“I know that but we have to at least try,” Yixing said, choosing his words carefully, “Dragons are prized possessions at the best of times but a rainbow dragon is even more prized because of their rarity. Whilst I know that Sehun would stick to you like glue, he is still young and if he got distracted and led away...”

Yifan shuddered at that thought and then frowned, “But if he’s human he could still do that.”

“Yes,” Yixing agreed, extending out the syllables, “but I figure that he’ll be able to cling to you constantly and won’t go wandering off.”

About to argue the fact against that, Yifan remembered what he had been like with Luhan when he had attended some official function and had basically latched onto the other like a koala for the whole night. It was a good idea; in fact, it was almost surprising that the slightly spacey white dragon had thought of it but it was something to go on which was a very good start.

“I see,” Yifan said as he stood up, “Though how are we going to get them into their human forms?”

Yixing blinked and lightly bit at his lip, “Honestly I don’t know. Tao is technically just a few months short of when he should be able to naturally take the form but Sehun...”

“Is a way too playful hatchling?” Yifan filled in the rest of that sentence with a fond smile, “I know what you mean. Maybe there’s something up at the Manor House that could help us? The previous Prince’s resided there, didn’t they?”

The white dragon nodded his human head, “Yes. Though I think Suho’s got the key for it and he’s away.”

Staring at the other, Yifan had to bite back a sigh, “Yixing, we’re on an Isle that is populated by dragons and me. Who would even think to lock the door?”

For a few seconds Yixing was quiet and then he smiled in that little way of his which meant that he had been caught out and blushed a little. “Sorry, it’s just a thing I think of sometimes.”

“Sometimes I think you just say the first thing that comes out of your mouth, gege,” Yifan replied with a smile and then set off towards the beach to try and gather the rest of the dragons and try to explain what they were going to attempt to do. Of course, that was as soon as he could detach a certain rainbow dragon from him long enough so that he could actually speak. A feat which proved to be nearly impossible.

Yixing smiled as he watched the pair, he was sure once Sehun had assumed his human form that he would do everything in his power to remain permanently attached to Yifan at all times. The results were going to be interesting to see. 

authors babbling:

Yeah so anyone got a suggestion of how you're supposed to make a dragon change into human form? Cause the next chapter is going to be a series of attempts to get that I can tell you. 

Though question for the (much later) Krishun would people prefer Yifan to be top or Sehun? I haven't decided yet myself and it would be interesting to see what the general consensus is 

Looking forward to catching you all up again soon!