Jokomato woke up to the sound of faint footsteps approaching Daehyun’s room. Looking at the lump under the blankets that was Youngjae, Jokomato stood up and walked over to the locked door and plopped down right in front of it. The yellow masked matoki noticed Kekemato’s confused stare but simply ignored the other dragon to get comfortable, wedging its body between the door and the nearby dresser. Kekemato’s confusion grew at Jokomato’s strange behavior, the other dragon’s actions became more unclear when someone started knocking on the door.

With no response from inside the room the person, who turned out to be Yongguk, tried to open the door by jiggling the handle. A frustrated sigh could be heard then the sounds of a key being jammed into the lock followed, finally ending with the sound of the door unlocking. The soft cry of victory quickly turned into an angry grunt when the door refused to move an inch. Jokomato was dying of laughter on the inside as Yongguk fought with the door. Kekemato could have said something but the white masked dragon took one look at Daehyun’s sleeping form and understood Jokomato’s actions. Both boys had went to sleep in the early hours of the morning, after yesterday’s mission and the introductions, plus the unnecessary pillowtalk must have taken a toll on the boys. Kekemato decided they both deserved to sleep in and continued to watch Jokomato block the door with amusement.

Apparently it wasn’t just Yongguk outside the door but Shishimato as well. After 10 minutes of Yongguk trying everything from yelling to kicking the door, Shishimato stepped up and started to shove against the door, getting it to budge just a bit. With new determination, Shishimato started to shove the door harder, slowly getting the opening to widen with each shove before the door would slam shut again. Yongguk had grabbed an iron pipe from outside, planning to wedge the pipe in between the door and frame so they could pry the door open once and for all. Sadly, their effort had been a waste. Shishimato shoved the door one more time so Yongguk could wedge the pipe, but the door refused to move again.

Inside the room, Kekemato had finally moved from Daehyun’s bedside to Jokomato’s side when it noticed the door opening wider with each shove. Kekemato plopped down right next to Jokomato and pushed the other dragon into the door more. The position was uncomfortable for both dragons but it succeeded in keeping the door completely shut, no matter how hard Shishimato rammed against the door.

All movement outside stopped for some reason or another. Both matoki stayed tense, ready for the next barrage of attempts but they were saved by Hana’s laughing.

“Do you not know how doors work, Yongguk?” Hana couldn’t help but laugh at the young man and dragon fighting the door.

“The door won’t open, for your information!” Yongguk huffed and crossed his arms, iron pipe still in his hands. Hana honestly thought he looked like a street thug.

“Is it locked?”

“No. The first thing I did was unlock it.”

“That’s strange… Maybe the door is stuck. We could have someone come look at it.” It was rare but there have been times where the door frame would bend or swell up because of moisture soaking up in the wood, resulting in doors being impossible to open. Yongguk looked like he was about to protest but Hana cut him off before he could say anything. “Anyways, I came here looking for Youngjae, he never came to our room last night. I asked around but no one saw him.”

Yongguk wanted to tell her about how they were able to open the door a little before it would slam shut again but the door was quickly forgotten when Hana mentioned the missing matoki member. He can’t loose the newest member of their herd on the first day. What kind of leader would that make him? “I think he might of stayed with Daehyun last night. Did you look for Jokomato?” If Jokomato was still at the dragon barracks it should know where its partner went.

A light bulb flicked on inside Hana’s head. “That explains everything.” Yongguk looked at her with a confused face, hoping she would elaborate. Noticing her friend’s confusion she continued, “Jokomato is probably blocking the door.”

“Why would Jokomato be in there? Shouldn’t it be in the dragon barracks?” Outposts usually had separated sleeping areas for humans and dragons. The rooms humans slept in were small and housed two people but could fit up to 4 if needed. The barracks on the other hand could fit small herds or gangs in each chamber. Originally a single duo would share a room but because the rooms were small and closed off, dragons would sometimes hurt their wings by banging them on objects or getting them caught on something. That’s why chambers were made; they were more spacious and easier for dragons to move around in without being cramped. The only exceptions to this were bigger outposts, which had chambers with a room connected to it for the human partners of the herd/gang and the HQ. The Dragon Guard Headquarters had separate sleeping areas and dragon barracks for trainees but once they graduated and joined a team they could move into a special chamber. These chambers had a main room that split into smaller signal chambers that had rooms attached so each dragon had their own space and their human had their room connected to it.     

“Jokomato never sleeps in the barracks. Everyone back at HQ gave up after the first five days.” Hana never understood why Jokomato was so against the idea of staying with other dragons until Youngjae informed her that Jokomato was so used to being a loner that being around other dragons made it uneasy. Yongguk was about to question Hana as to why Jokomato never stayed in the dragon barracks, but Himchan dragged them both by the arm as he complained about all the reports he refused to do alone. Shishimato watched as its partner was dragged off and gave the door one last look before leaving to get breakfast. Both Jokomato and Kekemato relaxed when the footsteps faded into the distance. They had won the great door war, now the only thing left to do was catch up on sleep. How neither sleeping boy woke up during the exchange was beyond the two dragons but they were thankful for it. Too tired to move, both dragons fell asleep curled up next to the door.

“Get out of the way! I need to pee!” Jokomato was jolted awake by Youngjae climbing on top of the dragons, smacking Jokomato repeatedly on the back. Jokomato grunted and tried its best to move a sleeping Kekemato away from the door so his partner could get out. Youngjae bolted out the door once he could open it wide enough to slip through. Daehyun, who watched the whole thing go down, was laughing his off before the need to pee hit his bladder with enough force he was running out the room faster than light. Kekemato had finally woke up dazed when its partner left in a hurry.

“Where’s the fire?” Kekemato looked around the room, trying to solve the mystery of the sudden disappearance of their partners.

“Not a fire, more like a dam about to burst.” Jokomato chuckled at the other matoki’s confused look. “Bathroom.” Kekemato just nodded before getting up to do some cat-like stretches. Kekemato gave the yellow masked matoki a pointed look, staring at the matoki as if it was sending telepathic messages. Jokomato simply stared back with a blank face. After a few minutes of their staring contest, Kekemato became flustered and looked away.

“Breakfast?” The shy matoki asked in a soft voice.

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so… But I think lunch time.” Jokomato looked at the clock on the wall as it got up and followed Kekemato out the door. It appeared to have some dents in it. Oh well. It’s not my fault. Jokomato pushed the blame on to Shishimato. Kekemato paused in the hallway watching something, when Jokomato followed the other dragon’s view it revealed Jongup and Junhong dragging Daehyun off to goddess knows where with Youngjae following the trio close behind, laughing at the older boy’s demise.

“They probably have to fill out a report. We’ll meet up with them later.” Jokomato almost missed Kekemato’s quiet answer but nodded at the other dragon, continuing their journey to get some food. Lucky for the two dragons they made it just before the mess hall was closed, picking up whatever was left. If there was one thing Jokomato didn’t miss from being a lone dragon, it was definitely hunting. Sure it was fun sometimes but having food given to you without having to do anything was better.  

After finishing lunch, Kekemato and Jokomato wondered around the Titanium Hills outpost, looking for something to do.

“Well look who decided to finally show up.” Both dragons whipped their heads towards the voice. It was Shishimato and boy, did it look not happy. “So did you two have fun sleeping in?” Shishimato was about to say more but was rudely interrupted by Tatsmato.

“You’re just mad Yongguk woke you up at the crack of dawn and you weren’t strong enough to open a door.” Shishimato looked ready to throw down but Tatsmato ignored the grumpy matoki to focus on the yellow masked matoki. “We didn’t really get to talk last night. I mean we talked, but it wasn’t like getting to know each other and that’s pretty important if we’re going to be a team.”

“I guess, but I’m not sharing my tragic backstory unless you do.” Jokomato didn’t really care about telling the other dragons his past. What it was really interested in was the other dragons’ past. Maybe it would shed some light on what matoki dragons were.

“That’s fair. Come on, let’s go to the chamber. It’s too crowded here to share personal stories.” The four dragons made their way to the chamber the herd was staying at for the time being. Shishimato was still grumpy but its curiosity was easily taking over. Honestly, all the members of the herd were curious about Jokomato. The matoki clan was on the smaller side, about 97 in total. Dadamato, Kekemato, Shishimato, and Totomato didn’t know all the members on a personal level - hell, the dragons couldn’t even tell you most of their clan member’s names - but they could recognize any of the clan's members by looking at their mask. Between the four of them none of them had seen Jokomato once. Tatsmato on the other hand was one of the Monarch’s offspring so it knew all the members of the clan. When Tatsmato told the other members it had also never seen Jokomato before, their curiosity grew even more.

The four matoki walked into the chamber where they were greeted by Dadamato and Totomato.

“Okay, it’s story time. Gather around.” Tatsmato tells the other two dragons. Everyone settles down near the center of the room. There’s an awkward silence floating around. Tatsmato clears its throat before speaking again. “So who’s going first?” Looking around at the members, everyone seems hesitant to start talking. “Looks like our leader is going first. The floor is yours, Shishimato.” Said dragon looks at Tatsmato with eyes of betrayal.

“Whatever… I don’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning would be nice.” Jokomato simply stated, looking around with fake boredom. Shishimato just grunts in reply before starting again.

“The beginning… I guess started out as a ‘troublesome’ hatchling, always starting fights with other dragons. I don’t see why I was ‘troublesome’. I mean, it’s natural for dragons to fight.” Shishimato pouted and Tatsmato rolled its eyes but didn’t say anything.

“Nothing really happened while I lived in the clan. There was the occasional battle with other clans but other then that nothing abnormal. I left shortly after becoming a juvenile to join the Dragon guard and Totomato tagged along. I had to wait a while for my partner, Yongguk, to show up. I remember the first time we met. He smashed his head against mine.” The room filled with laughter, Jokomato thought it was fitting that the duo fought immediately after meeting.

“By the time Yongguk showed up, I already had a rep at headquarters for being a powerful dragon. I was great at everything.”

“Too bad your rep was destroyed the moment you two tried to fly together.” Tatsmato interrupted.

“Hey, shut up! This is my story.” But it was true. Their first flight was a complete mess. They somehow managed to break two walls and took out a good chunk of forest. They struggled for two months straight and showed no sign of improvement. It wasn’t until Himchan and Tatsmato showed up to their class, showing off to everyone. This had lead to a rivalry between the two pairs. With a shared goal to wipe the smirks off the duo’s faces, Shishimato and Yongguk went into overdrive and started to train more seriously. Soon, they were challenging Himchan and Tatsmato every weekend to some sort of competition. The duo had lost every single time but it didn't stop them from getting back up. With the help of Daehyun and Kekemato, Shishimato and Yongguk had won a race against their rival. After the race, the rivalry between the two somehow turned into a weird sort of friendship. Everyone blamed Daehyun, because he was the mutual friend who basically forced them to become friends with each other if they wanted to stay his friend. Shishimato decided to end the story there since the only thing left to talk about was the others joining and they could do that themselves.

“I guess I should go next?” Totomato looked around to see if anyone objected but was met with silence. “As Shishimato said, I tagged along. My reasoning for this was simple: I didn’t really get along with any of the other clan members, Shishimato was my only friend. I didn't want to be alone so I went with him, even if I was ‘too young’ to go. It was weird being the youngest dragon at the Guard but I didn't mind. Meeting Junhong was great, even though he didn’t know he was marked at first.” Everyone once again started laughing expect Jokomato who looked confused.

“Wait… How did he not know he was marked? Jokomato asked, head tilting to the side in confusion.

“He never saw his mark before.” Everyone was surprised by Junhong’s lack of knowledge on dragons. Jongup, while he also didn’t know much, he knew the basics, where as Junhong knew absolutely nothing. Where Jongup started with normal classes that taught more advanced dragon information, Junhong had private tutoring sessions with Himchan about everything he missed growing up. Junhong and Totomato’s first flight was delayed because Himchan refused to let them fly until Junhong caught up, hoping it would encourage Junhong to take his studying more serious. It worked and soon Junhong was taking the same classes as Jongup. Their first flight was hesitant and careful but they did much better then Yongguk and Shishimato when they started flying. Once Junhong conquered his fear of flying, Himchan starting give the duo private flying lessons as well. Soon, they were flying like champs, even winning a race against the older matoki flyers. Daehyun had given the two of them poorly made 1st place blue ribbons, which are proudly hanging on their wall back at HQ. Junhong, Jongup, Dadamato and Totomato had started a dance crew between the four of them, only Junhong and Jongup could actually dance but that didn’t stop the two dragons from trying. Totomato emitted to collecting little nicknacks he receives from the villagers of Junhong’s old home village. Everyone but Jokomato already knew this but it was still adorable to watch a flustered Totomato tell them about his little handmade plush doll collection.

“My turn?” Dadamato didn't wait for a response before starting his story. “By the time I left the clan, I was already the fastest matoki in the skies. I was even asked to stay with the clan instead of finding my partner, but I wanted to experience things the clan couldn’t offer so I left when I was of age. When I got to the Dragon Guard HQ, they told me my partner hadn’t arrived yet, so instead of waiting around I took action and started to search for my partner. I saw some pretty cool places and got into a few fights but it was worth it when I crashed into him at a little run down village in the middle of nowhere. The little prick had the nerve to play dead on me. I was seriously worried that I killed my partner!” Dadamato pouted at the memory, but grinned when talking about Jongup’s family.

They were very nice when Jongup introduced them to his dragon for the first time. The duo makes sure to visit them at least once a year with Junhong and Totomato. Everyone at the village was surprised when they returned and oddly relieved that they came back. Dadamato was treated like a king by the children, often given handcrafted gifts and snacks. Dadamato in returned played with the children while their parents worked. There was this one time when Dadamato sneezed and scared all the animals. It took half the afternoon to find all the missing pets. From that day on, Dadamato wasn’t allowed to be near the animals unless they were in the barn.

Jokomato asked about Dadamato’s first flight with Jongup, which was met with a flustered Dadamato. The duo didn’t even make it off the ground before Dadamato tripped and rolled down a hill with Jongup still on its back. They were covered head to toe in dirt and grass, but once they were in the sky it was smooth sailing. Until Dadamato flew too fast, scaring Jongup and landing them both in a tree.

“I suppose it’s my turn?” Tatsmato took Dadamato’s silent blush as a go ahead to save the dragon from sharing any more embarrassing stories. “Since I was an offspring of the Monarch, I had high expectations to be perfect. It was honestly a complete drag and I never understood why I was forced to go through the monarch training since I was marked. But if I had to guess, I think the Monarch hoped I would stay with the clan instead of finding my human, and for a while I thought about it. It wasn't until I left the clan’s territory on my first official scouting mission that I knew staying with the clan wasn’t what I wanted.” Funny enough, the day Tatsmato stepped foot outside the safety of the clan’s borders was also the day it would be saying goodbye to its clan. Well, that wasn’t completely true,

Tatsmato took a week to say goodbye, but that doesn't change the fact that Tatsmato’s life changed that day. It had been a  normal scouting mission to snoop around the surrounding territories to make sure they weren’t up to anything. Tatsmato had been flying back with his small scouting group when it felt a sharp tug pulling it to a crash site, where a boy laid pinned down by a rogue dragon. Instinct took over and Tatsmato had broken a clan rule ‘Never interfere with non clan related problems’, but the pink masked dragon didn't care, for the human in danger ended up being its partner. Tatsmato had never expected the bond between a marked duo to be this strong. Even though they had just met, were complete strangers, Tatsmato felt as if it knew Himchan since birth and the need to protect the boy grew the longer they talked. Himchan’s dream to become the greatest dragon riders became Tatsmato’s dream and the rest was history.

“I assume your first flight went off without a hitch.” Tatsmato smiled at Jokomato before telling the dragon their first flight was successful, but really simple. Himchan mounted Tatsmato, they flew a few feet off the ground and gradually went higher. Sure, it was boring, but that’s much better then crashing into trees or causing five hundred dollars worth of damage. Tatsmato nudged Kekemato with its snout startling the white masked dragon.

Kekemato looked around the room, realizing it was the last one to go. “Well… umm…” Everyone leaned in to hear the nervous dragon better. “I was born kind of sickly? I guess.” Kekemato seemed to question its own story but the other dragons just passed it off as shyness.

In reality, Kekemato was born perfectly healthy. But no one except Daehyun knew that Kekemato was a Sui Generis, a dragon born with unnatural magic abilities. Kekemato’s true color was pink, with white accents. The magic exposed to Kekemato’s egg gave the matoki two abilities: one that allowed the dragon to shift colors to near invisibility, and a weak form of telekinesis. When Kekemato hatched from the egg, its life giver was about to kill the offspring at that very moment. As if the newborn pink matoki knew of its impending doom, changed colors to match the other hatchling. Kekemato never questioned why its life giver didn't kill it on that day. Instead Kekemato was thankful it was given the chance to live a relatively normal life. Before it went to and Kekemato was banished from the clan, but on the bright side meeting Daehyun was definitely the highlight of Kekemato’s life.

“Uhhh… Kekemato?” Jokomato gently poked the spaced out dragon.

Kekemato blinked back into focus, then with a slightly embarrassed voice continued with its fake origin story.  “Because I was a sickly hatching I never left the cave much. It wasn’t until I was stronger.” Could control its color shifting ability. “That I started going out and doing the normal chores like hunting and stuff.” Kekemato remembers almost getting trampled by a deer, that was embarrassing.

“I was a late bloomer, so I got my mask about two years after all the dragons my age got theirs.” The pink matoki was surprised when its life giver had set up a mask ritual for it.

“My time with the clan was mostly lonely, I kept to myself for the most part. Then I was kicked out for breaking some rules…” Kekemato softly trailed off. It was kind of true, in a way. At least Kekemato thought so, Daehyun thought it was bull but he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I still can’t believe they would kick you out for burning the food storage down. It was an accident.” Tatsmato grunted. That had been the lie Kekemato told everyone when it said it couldn’t go back to the clan.

Kekemato giggled at the older matoki’s defensiveness “Well it was before winter. Anyways I traveled around for a bit. Then one day a few rogue dragons attacked me.” They weren’t really rogues, they were normal dragons defending their territory from the Sui Generis.“That was when I met Daehyun. He saved me from the rogues by hiding me in some sort of lagoon. After that fiasco we went to that one competition.”

“Major League Dragon Cup.” Tatsmato replied.

“Yeah that. During one of the events Daehyun fell out of the stands, I was able to catch him but we were trapped in the obstacle course so we flew through it. We ended up ‘winning’ 1st place. I think Daehyun has the medal in his room.” Kekemato was pretty sure Daehyun was using it as a paper weight. The rest of the story was rather generic. The duo joined the Dragon Guard, spent their trainee years watching Yongguk’s and Himchan’s rivalry turn into a weird friendship, became friends with Dadamato, Jongup, Junhong, and Totomato, graduated and now Kekemato was here meeting a new matoki.

Everyone turned their attention towards Jokomato, excitement and curiosity crossing all their faces. Jokomato in turn began weaving its own story. “Well unlike the rest of you, I never lived within the matoki clan. Hell, I didn't even know I was a matoki until I crossed paths with another lone dragon, who told me what I was. My parent didn’t tell me much about anything, just made me do random tasks with no explanation. Then one day it gave me a mask and left. I was on my own from then on, until I met Youngjae.” This explained why none of the others knew of Jokomato’s existence but it was still strange. Jokomato’s life giver or ‘parent’ as Jokomato called it cared enough to give Jokomato its yellow mask but didn’t teach it anything matoki related.

“How I met Youngjae was interesting tho. I was minding my own business, exploring these old ruins, when i hear a fight going on. I was bored so I thought watching a good fight would be a great way to pass time but then I spot a little human trying to protect another human from a rogue. I notice the bond between us right when the rogue charged at them. Of course I took the rogue out pretty easily.” Jokomato looked quite pleased with itself.

“Wait!” Everyone jumped at the sudden shout. “I never got my tiny hat!” Confused silence filled the room. Jokomato will have to bring this up to Youngjae, maybe even Jaebum if the other male doesn’t give it the tiny hat.

“Anyways… I guess technically my first flight with Youngjae was when I took him and Jaebum back home. It was a nice relaxing trip back to the village but once we got to Mrs.Im’s house they got grounded… I was also grounded for some reason. She can be really scary when she’s mad.” Jokomato shuddered remembering the deathly aura that would surround the woman when she was furious. Gaining its composure back, Jokomato continued. “It took a few years after Jaebum left for the dragon guard until we joined as well.”

“I thought you were Hana’s underling?” Tatsmato interpreted.

“Yeah, instead of joining the Guard with Jaebum we tagged along with Hana.” Nice recover. Jokomato thought to itself. Everyone seemed to believe the excuse without any convincing so Jokomato marked it as a win. “When Hana thought we were ready to take the Exam, she gave us 3 weeks to prepare. Of course we passed with flying colors, it was a really simple test.” Jokomato goated a bit, the duo had pass every single test with a perfect score.

“Now that all of that is out of the way, Could I ask a few questions?” This was the part Jokomato was looking forward to ever since he heard there was a matoki herd at the Dragon Guard.

“Sure thing! It must have been weird growing up knowing nothing about your kind.” Tatsmato felt bad for the yellow masked matoki. Tatsmato couldn’t even imagine a world where it didn't know the clan.

“First things first… What is up with the masks?” There had been plenty of times where Jokomato thought about throwing the mask away but it was the only thing its parent left, plus Jokomato didn't know if it was important or not.”

“The mask is mostly a sacred tradition passed down throughout the generations, it can be traced back all the way back to our first ancestors. The mask itself is customly made to match the dragon not only in color but style as well. Why we wear the masks is simple, in old times it acted like a unique war paint, to put fear into the humans whenever they saw a dragon wearing a mask. It was also used to complement the wearer’s individuality.” Tatsmato simply replied.

“Wait! That’s why we wear masks!?” yelled Shishimato in shock.

“What do you mean, ‘That’s why we wear masks?’ how could you now know this already? What are you, stupid?” Jokomato yelled back, flabbergasted at the supposed dragon leader of B.A.P.

“To my defence I never listened to the elders when they started their tangents.” Shishimato couldn’t stay awake whenever one the elders would start talking about the ‘good ol’ days.’

“Well, at least I know who not to got to if I have questions.” Jokomato muttered.

“Hey! I can answer any question you have. Go on ask me a question, right now.” Shishimato prayed it was something it knew because its pride was on the line.

“Why do you all have gray markings?” It was something Jokomato noticed as they were sharing their personal info. All of them had gray markings but Jokomato had white markings. If Jokomato recalls correctly, Parentmato also had a white markings.

Oh thank goddess. Shishimato praised the goddesses for the simple question. “Matoki dragons are naturally black. Well technically we’re really dark grey, but you know -  tomato, tomahto. And we have lighter gray markings. It’s just genetics.”

“Then why are my markings white?” Jokomato knocked its head to the side again.

“Uhh…” Shishimato was quickly cut off by Tatsmato. “You’re a Mutatio or a dragon who has a mutation in color. A mutatio can also have a physical mutation, like an extra arm or something. Shishimato is one as well, since it has two different colored markings. It’s nothing serious; most dragons don’t even notice it.” Tatsmato gave Shishimato a smug look before returning its attention to the yellow masked matoki.

“So what it the matoki clan like?” Jokomato asked Tatsmato, ignoring Shishimato’s disgruntled muttering.

Tatsmato was ready for this question. Jokomato better buckle up because this was going to be one long ride. The Matoki Clan had one ruler who was given the title of Monarch. Once the Monarch reached a certain age, it would choose another member of the clan, usually one of its own offspring, to become the new Monarch. Only members of the clan knew the current Monarch’s true name: Monamato.

This Monarch had been more strict and harsh than previous Monarchs but it was understandable. More flocks were trying to take some of the matoki land, plus the battle for food had grown over the years. The Monarch had to make sure its clan members were safe and well fed. This meant everything had to be ran perfectly to ensure the survival of the clan. The Monarch had gotten a reputation of being the most feared dragon by the surrounding flocks and clans, for its harsh punishment towards trespassers. The clan itself was not to messed with either, matoki dragons were one of the stronger breeds of dragon.

Compared to other clans of dragons, the Matoki Clan was nothing out of the ordinary. They hunted for food, defended the territory, had offspring, and close bonds between the members. Other than the mask ritual, the matoki dragons were just like any other dragon clan or flock.

“Huh, that’s pretty neat, I guess.” Jokomato was expecting something… Well, it didn’t know what it was expecting but for some reason Jokomato was underwhelmed by the answer.

“What do you mean you guess!” Tatsmato tutted at the other matoki, while the others laughed.

“Okay, one more question.” Jokomato ignored an angry Tatsmato, much to the amusement of the others. “Why do all our names end in ‘mato’?” Everyone looked at Tatsmato waiting for an answer but even Tatsmato didn't know the answer. Nobody had ever questioned the naming system.

Well you see, our names end with ‘mato’ because we’re bad at naming things. Someone probably went the easy route when naming its offspring and just took a random word then slapped the ‘mato’ from ‘matoki’ to the end. I mean look at Tatsmato, its name is based off the marking on its chest. That should be proof enough.” Dadamato had a deathwish based on the glare Tatsmato threw at it. No one objected the explanation, it was better than whatever someone else was going to come up with.

“That works.” Jokomato nodded. “Does anyone ever drop the ‘mato’ and just calls you by the first part of your name.” There were simple ‘no’s and head shakes thrown towards the question. Everyone called a matoki by its full name, there wasn’t a point to shorten a name. At least that was what everyone seemed to believe.

“Well I guess that makes Youngjae a weirdo.” Jokomato wasn’t surprised in the least. It was used to Youngjae being different from the average person.

“Does he shorten your name?” Totomato asks.

“Yeah, he calls me Joko in private, because ‘saying Jokomato is too much of a mouthful.’ What a lazy kid. But its better then some of the other nicknames he's given me.” Jokomato refused to be called ‘Pirate Clown’ or ‘Hoarder McGee’. The dragon had nearly attacked its partner after being called ‘Greedy Gold Digger’ for a week.

Before anyone could ask about the other nicknames, they were interrupted by Yongguk walking into the chamber. “Hey, it’s dinner time. You lot coming?” With that, all the dragons got up and followed Yongguk to the mess hall for dinner. When they arrived at table, Himchan had Daehyun in a headlock, Junhong was once again playing medigater, and Youngjae was helping Jongup cut his steak while Jongup greeted Yongguk and the dragons. Yup, these people are weird just like their dragons. Jokomato concluded in its head, watching Yongguk try to pry Himchan off of Daehyun. But that’s okay; weird is always better than boring. There was a loud crash. Somehow the table was flipped over, sending food everywhere. It was just another normal day with B.A.P.

(A/N)

I thought about giving each matoki their own chapter like I did with the human members but then I was like “ehhh I kind of don’t want to write anymore backstories.” But I knew I needed to give the dragons some sort of origin story. So I made each dragon summarize their life, acting as a deeper introduction/bonding time between the dragons. I felt like I could have talked more about each matoki’s individual stay within the clan but I realized there wasn’t much to talk about. Like their wild dragons, their like wolf packs so they don’t do much. They mostly hunt, defend their territory, maybe fight some dragons. Plus all of them left when they were still juveniles so they didn't do much to begin with. I might write a chapter that talks about each mask ritual but other then that, I think I’m done with all the dragons’ backstories. But who knows what the future holds.

Kekemato’s magic abilities are still developing so they are pretty weak. The color shifting is like Randall’s from Monster Inc. The telekinesis ability was discovered after Kekemato met Daehyun, which is why it wasn’t mentioned in ch.5.

I’m not sure what the next chapter is going to be about but I’ll continue to try my best!

Thanks to Michelle for editing the chapter as always. <3 Thanks for reading!!!!