A loud bell chimed, signaling to the middle school children the day was over. They packed their supplies and rushed out of the classrooms in mobs, ignoring the teachers reminding them to do their homework and to be stay safe going home. Loud laughter could be heard as a group of children ran towards the beach, dropping their backpacks on the sand. One child, Daehyun, ran up to the lifeguard tower to greet his older brother before joining the other kids in a game of hide and seek. Daehyun always hid in the same winning spot: a small lagoon mostly covered by a ledge. It was far from the smooth sandy beach but most kids hid in the rocky area, so he never felt bad about it. Daehyun waited for the seeker to yell “Olly olly oxen free!” before jumping out of his clever hiding place and celebrating his win with the other children.

When everyone was starting to get tuckered out from their various childish games they agreed it was time to head home, slowly parting ways when their street came up. Daehyun waved to his remaining friends as he walked up the pathway to his home. The boy’s mother greeted him as he walked through the door and he happily greeted her back before making his way towards his room. Daehyun contemplated doing his homework and even got it out, but simply looking at it pained him deeply. I’ll get to it after I do a few things, he thought. He walked around his room pushing a few things around - ‘cleaning’, he called it. Daehyun paused from his cleaning to open the window and enjoy the sound of waves crashing, soothing his soul. Finally Daehyun was ready to tackle his homework. He was finished by the time his mother called him down for dinner.

“How was school?” Ms. Jung asked her son.

“It was good, I guess? Steve ate half a glue stick.” Daehyun giggled at the memory of another 13 year old shoving a purple glue stick into his mouth. It was the teacher’s first year teaching and she almost had a heart attack at the sight. She was quick to call the nurse, who shrugged and said it was non-toxic before leaving the classroom.

“Dad is coming home tomorrow, right?” Daehyun and his mother were the only ones at the table. His older brother was staying at a friend’s house and his father left a few days ago on his fishing boat. The town Daehyun lived in, Hidden Seashore, was once a secret outpost for merchants but soon became famous for its seafood and pearl jewelry. Daehyun’s father was a fisherman and often left for a few weeks but always returned with a small fortune of fish and the occasional pearl or two.

“He should be returning tomorrow afternoon. Why?”

“He promised to take us to see the Major League Dracul Cup Finals! Don’t you remember? It’s the only thing anyone is talking about these days!” The Major League Dracul Cup - or MLDC - for short, was an olympic style competition for dragon riders. It had the typical racing and obstacle courses but it also had other sports like archery, tug-of-war, climbing, polo, rescue, and a lot of other various sports that could attract a crowd. Many people of all ages would attend this grand event and at the end of the competition there was an amazing firework show congratulating everyone who participated.

Ms. Jung laughed at her son’s excitement; he had been talking nonstop about the MLDC Finals ever since his father came home with the tickets. The event was taking place at the Kingdom Silmul the upcoming Saturday. At first Ms. Jung was skeptical about Daehyun being able to skip school because it was a one day trip from this town to Silmul. Conversely, she underestimated the Competition. MLDC was treated like a national holiday and most places prepared for mass absences. The school being one of them as most of the teachers were attending and the few children who did show to school were simply put in one room and watched the event on a television.

“Maybe one day you’ll be able to take part in the competition.” The woman got up and ruffled Daehyun’s hair before grabbing his empty plate and took it to the sink. “I’m sure you and your dragon will win.” She smiled to herself as she began to wash the dishes, pausing after a moment to look back a her son. “You’re going to make this family proud when you finally meet your powerful dragon.” Daehyun smiled back and headed upstairs to his room to get ready for bed, relaxing when his head touched the pillow.

Daehyun was the first member of their family to be born with Harmonia's blessed mark. At first his parents weren’t too serious about what dragon he would end up, they were just happy their son was marked, but as they became more aware of the dragons their expectations raised. What started off as joking soon turned into presumption. Daehyun never wanted anything from his dragon other than friendship yet the pressure from his parents made him feel uneasy about meeting his dragon. What if my dragon can’t live up to my parents dreams? Maybe I shouldn’t meet them. What if my dragon doesn’t like my family? What if my family doesn't like my dragon? These thoughts would often circle around in his head but he was quick to bury them under anything, mostly thoughts about food. Food always made things better.

Daehyun opened his eyes, looking up at the dim fairy lights hanging from his ceiling; a girl from his class gave them to him as a birthday present. He wasn’t afraid of the dark,  but the soft blues and pinks always soothed his thoughts and brought him much needed peace. Slowly he drifted off to dreamland where he ran across the beach with a shadowy winged figure close behind him.

Morning had came too soon, and Mrs.Jung had to forcefully pull Daehyun out of bed and when that failed she threatened to deny him his breakfast. That had Daehyun running out of bed, quickly going through his morning routine so he could eat the wonderfully made breakfast. There was a knock on the door signaling his school friends arrival, and Daehyun shoved the last of his food into his mouth, waved his mother goodbye, and ran out the door to greet his friends. They walked to school slowly as their group grew in numbers as more children joined, chatting about everyday things. Daehyun excitedly talked about his father coming back and how he was going to the MLDC finals; a few other kids were going as well but the ones who had to stay pouted, demanding a play by play of each event when they returned to the town. When the last bell rang ending the school day Daehyun went straight home to greet his father but upon entering the house his mother informed him of his father's absence. It was strange his father wasn’t home yet. Mr. Jung always returned home sometime during the early afternoon.

“Don’t worry Daehyun, he will be home by dinner. I’m sure of it.” Mrs. Jung tried to comfort her son but she too was worried about ther husband’s late arrival. In all the years they were married he had never returned late and it was wearing on her nerves.

“I’ll go see if he’s at the dock. Maybe something is keeping him!” Before his mother could say anything, Daehyun was already out the door racing towards the docks. When he neared the beach many of his friends waved him over, but Daehyun ignored them in favor of finding his father’s ship. The docks were mostly empty with only a few small family boats docked. A girl who followed him rested her hand on his shoulder telling him that his father probably caught more fish than usual so it was taking him longer to get home. It was reassuring enough. Daehyun smiled at her and joined his other friends in a few games of freeze tag, eyes shifting over to the ocean every so often hoping his father’s ship would appear. The sun started to set and most of his friends left the beach, the few who stayed tried to convince him to leave but Daehyun was to stubborn to leave until his mother came and dragged his back home, thanking his friends for staying with him so long.

“Look, I know you’re worried, but I can’t have you staying out all night waiting for him. I’m sure he will be home tomorrow. He did promise to take us to the MLDC and your father always keeps his promises.” Mrs. Jung smiled at her son, sitting on the side of his bed, petting his hair. “You still have school tomorrow so get some rest. Goodnight, Daehyun.” His mother kissed his forehead, turned off his lights and headed to her own room to get some sleep herself. Daehyun honestly tried to sleep, but all the tossing and turning didn’t help one bit. Sleep was evading him that night. Something was keeping him awake, an uncomfortable pit swirled at the bottom of his stomach - it almost felt as if he was drowning. An unnatural force pulled him towards the beach.

He got out of bed, listening carefully for his mother, when he couldn’t hear anything from her room, he quietly walked down the steps and grabbed the flashlight from the kitchen drawer. When Daehyun finally stepped outside he took a deep breath of fresh air before hurrying to the beach once more. The crashing waves did little to calm his nerves and looking around there was nothing there. Why did I come here in the first place..? Daehyun’s thoughts were interrupted when the uncomfortable feeling turned into a crushing fear,causing his adrenaline to spike, and suddenly he was hyper aware of his surroundings. A dragon crashed landed a couple yards away - obviously injured - and Daehyun jumped into action, running to the pink dragon.

“Hey! What? Are you… Um… Need help?” Daehyun wasn’t sure what to do with the hurt dragon but taking it home wasn’t an option when he heard the far off sounds of more dragons approaching. By the spike of fear in his gut, it was safe to assume they were the ones attacking this dragon. “Follow me! We have to hurry.” Daehyun pleaded with the dragon as he tried to help it back onto its feet. The dragon followed the boy on unsteady feet as he lead them over the rocky terrain, to a small, unnoticeable hole hidden between the surrounding rocks. It was a tight squeeze but the dragon managed to follow the boy through the hole to what looked like an underground pool of water. They both rested on a ground near the pool, trying to catch their breath, listening closely for any noise made by the attacking dragons. Daehyun felt like he was waiting for hours until silence fell once more.

“I think they're gone, but maybe we should wait for morning. Just to be safe.” The dragon nodded its head in agreement, shifting its body a bit to find a more comfortable position to rest. Daehyun took this time to examine the pink dragon; it had small cuts around its body but nothing life threatening, his eyes landed on a seashell white heart on the left side on its ribs. The little hamster in Daehyun’s head ran on its wheel until the realization donned upon him: They shared the same mark, and this adorable pink dragon was his. A huge grin formed on his face and he started to do a weird happy dance, the dragon watching with weary eyes. Daehyun looked at it then lifted his shirt to show it his mark. The creature was confused at first thinking this was a weird human ritual but when its eyes landed on his mark everything made sense.

“You- you're my human. Who are you?” The pink dragon spoke with a soft voice, watching Daehyun pull his shirt down.

“I’m Daehyun. What’s your name? Why were you being chased? Why are you pink?  What type of dragon are you? Do you want to come home with me? Where do you live?” Daehyun forced himself to stop asking questions when he noticed the overwhelmed look on his dragon. Maybe rapid fire questions would be better off being saved for a later time.

“My name is Kekemato. I am Matoki Dragon. I don’t have a home, so I’m fine with staying with you.” Kekemato paused, struggling internally for a bit, trying to decide if it wanted to tell his newly acquired human Daehyun the truth. “I’m pink because when I was still an egg I was exposed to some kind of unknown magic, turning me pink and giving me the ability to shift colors. It’s also why I was being chased. Freak dragons like me aren’t allowed to live in the wild.” Kekemato’s wavering voice was barely above a whisper but Daehyun heard everything perfectly clear, he didn’t know what to say - there was nothing he could say to make things better for his dragon.

“Why would something like that matter?” Daehyun was never an angry person but the thought of a dragon being killed because it was different from the rest really pissed him off.

“Because dragons fear the unknown, especially if that unknown can bring them harm or threaten their loved ones. It’s better to eliminate the threat before it can become one.” Kekemato could sense the frustration rolling off Daehyun’s body and for some reason it made the matoki happy. Never once in Kekemato’s whole life had someone cared for its wellbeing.

“That’s so dumb” Daehyun tried to stay mad but the adrenalin wore off a while ago and left him exhausted. Instead of looking angry he looked more like a grumpy kitten, which was rather amusing to Kekemato.

“That’s Life.” It was such a simple statement. Kekemato had grown accustomed to a life of hiding behind its unnatural power of blending in with its surroundings. Most of the time Kekemato disguised itself as a normal black matoki with a gray wavy line pattern. Kekemato was even able to live within the Matoki Clan for safety, also gaining a mask of its own but it only took one mistake to expose its true pink form to the clan. Luckily Kekemato wasn’t killed on the spot but instead banished from the clan after it promised to never return.

Daehyun crawled towards Kekemato and rested his body against its uninjured shoulder.

“I don’t know how to make things better, but we’re a team now. I know we can get through anything if we stick together.” Daehyun was always optimistic when it came to tough situations and even if he wasn’t so sure about this one, he wasn’t going to let anyone harm his new friend. Kekemato smiled under its mask then wrapped a wing around Daehyun and rested its head in the boy’s lap. All the fleeing had made both of them tired, and soon enough both of them fell asleep to crashing waves with the occasional ship horn going off in the background.

Daehyun woke up the next morning confused. He wasn’t in his bed and it wasn’t his mother waking him up but a pink dragon. The events of last night came flooding back to him, making him more aware of his surroundings. Daehyun looked at Kekemato with a questioning look.

“People are calling your name.” The yelling had startled Kekemato out of slumber but the dragon calmed down when the yelling turned out to be Daehyun’s name. Daehyun took a few moments to listen for himself, and when he heard the yelling he recognized the voices instantly.

“It’s Mom and Dad!” Daehyun wasted no time in getting up on sleepy limbs as he scrambled out of the hidden lagoon and quickly running towards his parents voices.

“Daehyun!” Mrs. Jung scooped her youngest son into her arms, holding him in a suffocating death hug of love only a mother could manage. Hearing his wife’s cry, Mr. Jung bolted to her location and joined the hug.

“Daehyun you scared us half to death! What were you thinking coming out here all alone at night?!” Daehyun was unable to answer his parents due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs so he pointed towards the rocks he came from. Still holding onto their son both parents shifted their bodies to get a better look at what he was pointing at. To their surprise a black dragon with a white zipper mask appeared to be peaking slightly behind one, shyly hiding again when it was spotted by the duo.

“Is… Is that..?” Mr.Jung was too shocked to speak. As they stopped embracing Daehyun he took in a deep breath, finally able to get ocean air into his lungs.

“Yup! That’s my dragon, Kekemato!” Daehyun waved his dragon over to them. Slowly the now black, gray and white Kekemato walked towards the family, getting nervous with each step. If Daehyun liked Kekemato, surely his family would like the dragon as well. Daehyun was confused as to how Kekemato changed colors but then remembered last night’s conversation; he couldn’t help the sour feeling it gave him. Now’s not the time for that. Family introductions first, then food. Yes definitely food next. I’m starving. The thought of food made Daehyun’s mouth water, but he shook his head to vanquish the delicious thoughts and focused on the real task at hand.

“Kekemato, these are my parents, mom and dad. Mom, dad, this is my dragon partner, Kekemato.” Daehyun introduced everyone to each other with unnecessary hand motions, gesturing between them.

“It’s nice to meet you Kekemato.”

“I hope my son wasn’t too much trouble for you.”

“Daehyun what are they saying?”

“What? Oh! They said they were happy to meet you!” It was easy to forget that normal people couldn’t understand dragons and vice versa.

“Tell them… Hello?” Kekemato didn’t know most human formalities but nothing could go wrong with a simple ‘hello’. The dragon hoped so anyways.

“Kekemato said hello.” Both of Daehyun’s parents chuckled at the dragon’s obvious shyness but the real questions still remained.

“What type of dragon is Kekemato? I’ve never seen a dragon like it before?”

“Is Kekemato a strong breed of dragon?” Daehyun felt uneasy with the questions. He never thought about any of those and honestly didn’t care. All he ever wanted was to meet his dragon - no, his other half. Not think about the stats of his dragon because those weren’t important to him and they shouldn’t matter. They don’t benefit or devalue his dragon and Daehyun was still going to love his dragon no matter what.

“Kekemato is just a Matoki dragon, which is just an average dragon. It’s not common in this area I guess. It shouldn’t matter if Keke is powerful or not. At the end of the day it is still my dragon, my partner, my friend and nothing is going to change that.” Daehyun was fed up with his parents. Kekemato gently nudged his hand with its head to comfort the upset child. Daehyun’s parents were shocked by their son’s outburst but understood his feelings, quickly apologizing over the guilty feeling about the demands they made over the years. They all made their way back to the Jung household and Daehyun excitly showed Kekemato his room, sharing stories about every little decoration or souvenir that caught the dragon’s eye.

“Hey do you want to come with us to the MLDC finals?” Daehyun had asked his parents during dinner if they could bring Kekemato along, they happily agreed, saying that it could be a great learning experience watching pro dragon riders.

“MLDC?”

“The Major League Dracul Cup is this huge competition for dragon riders. Lots of people go to watch. I’ve only seen it on tv but this year we’re going to watch it at the actual stadium!”

“It might be fun… I guess I could go.” The thought of all the dragons attending the event spooked Kekemato but the way Daehyun’s eyes twinkled in excitement made the matoki want to go.

“Really!? This is going to so awesome!” If anything could make the MLDC any better for Daehyun it would definitely be his dragon coming with him.

“When are we leaving?”

“We’re leaving tomorrow, sightseeing on Friday, then the MLDC is on Saturday.” Daehyun had never traveled far from his town so going to Silmul was also a new experience for him. He had heard many things about the kingdom but what really caught his interest was all the different foods, he had been saving most of his allowance just to spend it all on food.

“Then we should get some rest. It’s going to be a long ride tomorrow.” Daehyun pouted not really wanting to sleep, but Kekemato brought up a good point. The sooner they sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come. Daehyun turned off the lights and laid down on his bed, snuggling his face into the pillow. Kekemato joined him on the bed, curling its body around his. Neither of them could wait for Saturday.

The family was already on the road by the time Daehyun was fully awake. Kekemato rode on top of the family carriage, enjoying the breeze. Daehyun would occasionally pop his head out the window to talk to his partner until he decided that was too much of a hassle and climbed out the window to the roof, much to his mother’s horror. Daehyun being the ever adventurous child he was and out of sight of his parents, mounted the Matoki’s back just to see how it feels. Kekemato was tempted to take off but changed its mind, not wanting to hurt Daehyun before the event.

The carriage stopped for a break, letting the horses rest and the family stretch their legs. Kekemato jumped off the roof forgetting Daehyun was even on its back. Surprisingly Daehyun was able to stay on. Taking this as a good sign Kekemato started to flap its wings and when no protest was made by Daehyun, lifted a few feet off the ground, nothing to serious but to Daehyun it was best absolutely perfect thing in the world. The longer they stayed in the air the more they grew in confidence, slowly ascending higher and flying faster. Daehyun’s father wore a proud smile, while his wife yelled at the duo to come down to start traveling. Daehyun begged his mother to let them fly next to the carriage, with a reluctant sigh his mother agreed, watching threw the window to make sure nothing neither of them got hurt.  

Daehyun only came back inside the carriage when they neared the kingdom to give Kekemato a break, promising once they got back home they would fly again. When the family arrived at the Inn, Daehyun was surprised that his parents trusted him to room alone, but his parents corrected him saying Kekemato was rooming with him and would hopefully keep their son out of trouble. During breakfast the next morning Mr.Jung asked his son if he would be fine on his own so he could chat with some business partners about the fish trade. Daehyun rapidly nodded his head, saying he already planned out a tour around the kingdom with Kekemato, plus they wanted to check out the Dragon Guard HQ.

It was easy to spot the Dragon Guard HQ from the Inn’s rooftop, It was a large building in the middle of what looks like a huge field boxed in by a hexagon shaped wall. Getting there was another story, there wasn’t a street that lead straight to the building after making so many turns the duo ended up lost. They were about to give up and ask for directions when a raven haired boy walked up to them. “Hey, aren’t you a matoki?”

“No, I’m a human.” Daehyun knew for a fact he was a human, this guy must have been blind. Wait… Oh! He’s talking about Kekemato. Well it’s too late now. Daehyun couldn’t fix his mistake unless he wanted to look stupid.

“Not you.” The raven haired boy huffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“No, he’s a human.” Kekemato decided to go along with Daehyun’s mistake, turning it into a joke but honestly this kid was creeping him out. Barely anyone knew matoki existed so this kid knew too much. They could probably ditch the body in the forest.

“Why is it so hard for you to answer a simple question?” The boy seemed genuinely irritated.

“Sorry, you’re going to have to take us for lunch if you want answers.” Daehyun is always down for free food.

“I want cheesecake.”

“Ohhhh, dessert sounds good.” Daehyun couldn’t stop from his lips at the thought of delicious cheesecake, ignoring the boy in front of him to imagine all the cheesecakes he could be eating.

“What? No, I will not take you to lunch! I can see with my own eyes that your dragon is a matoki.” There goes the free lunch dream.

“Then why ask?” Honestly, why do people ask questions they already know the answer to? Daehyun just wanted to eat, and judging by Kekemato’s look, it wanted to eat just as much.

“To start a conversation?” The boy looked confused, as if he didn’t know why he even talked to the duo in the first place.

“Hey, do you know where the Dragon Guard HQ is?” Daehyun remembered why they were lost in the first place. It never hurts to ask for help. If they had learned that earlier they probably wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

“You’re going to have to take me out to lunch first.” It looks like Daehyun’s joke came full circle. He blamed karma. What an .

“Fine, but you’re paying for yourself.” Daehyun only agreed because he was hungry and lost.

“Fine. I know a place, follow me.” The duo followed the boy to a cozy looking restaurant, staring at the cute little decorations outside. A little bell rang when they entered, a lady greeted them and the trio made their way to a booth in the back corner. Already sitting there was a girl and two dragons. One of the dragons looked strikingly similar to Kekemato, looks like they don’t need to ditch the boy’s body in the forest.

“Is that a matoki?” Daehyun assumed the Kekemato clone, as Daehyun was calling it, was the boy’s dragon because they both ask questions they already know the answer to.

“No, I’m a human.” Thank god for the original Kekemato, never letting a joke die.

“God damn it, stop with the human thing. I sware to the goddess Gaos.”

“Himchan, who are they?” The girl sitting at the booth looked highly amused as her friend’s misery.

“...” The boy just introduced as Himchan seemed to be dying on the inside, maybe he should have remembered his manners better.

“I’m Daehyun, this is Kekemato. Nice to meet you m’lady.” Daehyun smiled and tipped his invisible fedora. The girl giggled at him and bowed her head slightly.

“My name is Sunhwa and this is Cress, she’s an albino solkalra.” Sunhwa gestured for the two boys to take a seat in the booth so they could order their food.

“Soooo, who are you?” Kekemato asked on Daehyun’s behalf, it already knew the other matoki. Tatsmato was well known in the clan for being one of the best flyers and also one of the monarch’s hatchlings.

“I’m shocked you don’t know. I’m Tatsmato.” Wow, this dragon was full of itself, but it’s understandable, everyone in the clan did know him.

“Wait… Um… You tattooed your name onto your chest?” Daehyun tried his best to hold in his laugh but failed horribly, tears already pricking the corners of his eyes. Everyone joined in the laughter, much to Tatsmato’s demise.  

“No! I was named after my markings, My mother was not very creative.”

“I’m so sorry.” Daehyun has never felt so bad for another living creature before. After the laughter died down, they finally ordered their food and continued to banter about. Even tho they all just met, Daehyun felt as if they were already friends. Himchan took it as his personal goal to show the them around Silmul, making sure to stop at a lot of food stalls. Their last stop was the Dragon Guard HQ were Daehyun signed up for dragon rider training, he wouldn’t be able to start until he was at least 15 if he was lucky but it never hurts to sign up early. Himchan and Sunhwa dropped the duo at the Inn. Daehyun sat down with his parents for dinner, telling them about his amazing day, they smiled and asked to be introduced tomorrow at MLDC. Daehyun went to bed early that night, exhausted from the day’s activity.

The next day was a tornado of excitement, meeting up with Himchan and Sunhwa, then learning that Sunhwa was a princess and she let them sit in the best seats. During one of the races Daehyun got too excited, leaning over the railing so far he fell into the obstacle course, he thought his life was over but Kekemato was able to catch him time, but in their panic they flew through the obstacle course instead of simply flying up and out. The crowd cheered when they crossed the finish line in first place, as if they were one of the racers. The real first place winner let Daehyun keep the gold medal for getting through the difficult course. When Daehyun joined back with everyone else, he was lectured for a good 30 minutes and forbidden him from going near the railing. Himchan and Tatsmato nonstop for the rest of the event. When it was all done and over, Daehyun was sad to leave but knew he’ll be back in a few years. Daehyun and Kekemato bid their new friends one final goodbye and left with Mr and Mrs Jung back home.

Two years passed before Daehyun and Kekemato returned to Silmul, after proving themselves as skilled flyers, the Dragon Guard council allowed Daehyun and Kekemato to start a year early. He was the youngest in his class, only being 15 years old but surprisingly he wasn’t not the only person with a matoki. The dude’s name was Bang Yongguk and his partner was Shishimato, who Himchan had written about a lot. Apparently the red masked matoki dragon caused quite the ruckus, always challenging the duo to pointless contests. After the first few weeks of training, Daehyun had befriended Yongguk, Shishimato and a blue masked matoki named Totomato. Shishimato had dragged Yongguk into its rively with Tatsmato, after their twelfth loss Yongguk asked Daehyun and Kekemato to help them train so they could finally knock Himchan off his high horse. Kekemato agreed the moment they asked, always down to mess with Tatsmato. The training was harsh, they were trying to turn years of training into weeks so they could make the deadline and it was totally worth the face Himchan made after the race.

It was during their final year of training when two new faces joined them - childhood friends from a long forgotten village, Jongup and Junhong. Totomato was ecstatic when his partner showed up. The day after they joined, Totomato dragged the new trio to their table in the cafeteria, introducing its new friends to everyone. No one at the table had seen the dragon this happy before and it was quite the sight to see. Neither boy had any experience with dragons so the first few weeks of training were unforgettable.

Daehyun had never thought about about his life before, he was a live in the moment kinda guy, but when he looked back, he realized that he had not only the best partner he could ask for but friends he’d never be able to replace. Nothing brought a brighter smile to his face then the new home he created with some strange dragons and some  stranger people.

(A/N)

Hello Everyone! This was the first chapter I wrote over the course of a few days instead of one sitting. The ending may seem a little rushed. This is because of a last minute change I made to how I was going to release the chapters. At first it was going to be Daehyun’s chapter, A chapter dedicated to Yongguk, Himchan, Daehyun, Jongup, and Junhong finally teaming together. Then introduce Youngjae and ending his chapter with him joining them. This was because of the time line. Due to Youngjae’s origin I had him join the others much later so by the time he did join the rest, they would have already been friends for a while. BUT! I do promise to write more in depth chapters about their bonds forming! I honestly just want to get all the characters introduced so I can start writing about their friendships and possible romantic feeling (I don’t know if I’m skilled enough to write romance.) 
 
Here are their ages incase you’re wondering.

Yongguk- parents death/moved to sleepy peak 14. Dragon guard/met Himchan/Daehyun/ShiShi 16. Met Junhong/Jongup 19. 
Himchan- Met Tats 9. Met Daehyun 14. Met Yongguk 16. Met Junhong/Jongup 19. 
Daehyun- Met Keke/Himchan 13. Met yongguk 15. Met Jongup/Junhong 18. 
Jongup- Met Junhong 12. Met Dada/dragon guard 16. 
Junhong- became Zelo 7. Met Granny/Jongup 12. Granny’s death/Dragon Guard/meets Toto 16.