Taemin smelt it before he even reached the top of the mountain - the destruction and smoke came with despair on his part. Without the bulk of his sword and shield, and also from having climbed the mountain once before, he managed to reached up the top in slightly less than 2 days. The destruction was evident in the air even before his hand landed at the cliff. There were grey ash fluttering down the edge, and smoky devastation heavily surrounding the tip of the mountain. The warrior pushed himself to go faster despite the fear of what was to be seen at the top of it. It couldn't be good, that was for sure.
 
Taemin heaved heavily as he pulled himself up the final rock, and hastily dropped his bag and ripped off his safety equipment. The trees that once gave a little life to the place was charred black - burnt to the crisp. Even the ground was ashen and burnt, the mouth of the cave painting black like a giant fireplace. Taemin could feel it running through his skin - death. The trees were dead, the sky was grey, even the stubborn weeds were reduced to dust. Taemin ran. He was sure he never ran this quickly before. He ran through the entrance into the surprisingly cool air in the lair and down the familiar walls he had come to know.
 
It was stinging in his eyes, but he told himself it was just the ash. Onew would be alright, Taemin would fix the Dragon like he did before. No need for tears, the Dragon would be fine, it would him in welcome, it would wrap its giant tail around Taemin once more, it would cuddle with Taemin like a child with a teddy bear, it would roar in laughter, and it would-
 
"No," Taemin gasped, interrupting his train of thoughts. There he laid, in all his glory, Onew. Except... It wasn't at all glorious. His large head dropped to the side, angled in a clearly uncomfortable position, his mouth was open with his tongue undignifiedly pasted to the ground. There was a sword driven right down his throat and tear stains marking the scales on his face. His eyes were closed and his body unmoving. Onew was not fine; it would not him in welcome, it would not wrap its tail around the him, it would not give him those joyous roars of laughter. His feet found its way over to the beast, trembling hands raising up to caress the unmoving creature. A choked sob escaped his lips the same second he touched those scales. Like a fairytale, Taemin had the hope that the Dragon would awake with his touch, but it just continued laying there - quiet, still.
 
"Onew..." Taemin called out, tears running down fast now. "Come on, wake up. I'm back, you fool," he pleaded urgently, as if the Dragon was just asleep.
 
"Aren't you excited at all to see me? Come on!" Taemin cried and whined, just begging for a miracle to bring the Dragon back to its lively state - to bring his Dragon back. "Onew, please! This isn't funny!" Taemin clutched on to a claw, gripping tightly as the grief and guilt overwhelmed him. "Please," he whimpered, burying his face into the Dragon's scales.
 
"Be careful, the beast is still alive. Wouldn't want you getting hurt, would we?" a voice echoed down the large cave and it took more than a moment to register the words. "You can claim your scale and-" Taemin turned around to find himself face-to-face with his master. At mid-life, the man was still fit and strong, with pulsing biceps and abs. There he was, his bestfriend, his teacher, his parent...his master, standing with eyes wide in shock and jaw dropped open and Taemin facing him with snot and tears staining his face filled with anger and blame.
 
"T-Taemin?!" his master stuttered, the name rolling off his tongue choppily. He never heard his master stutter before. "Taemin, i-is that you?" his master asked fearfully, taking a few rushed steps forward excitedly.
 
"Don't come any closer!" Taemin shrieked, arms flying wide open as if he could protect the Dragon just like that. "Don't... Please, just leave him alone!" Taemin sobbed. "Don't touch him. Don't hurt him anymore."
 
"Taemin, it's me," his master coaxed. "It's just me, kid." His master took another step forth, slower this time but Taemin still freaked.
 
"Stay where you are! Don't come closer! I won't let you. Not even you, master," Taemin squeezed out his throat. "Just leave us alone. Please. I beg you, master. Let him off; he's innocent."
 
"Taemin," his master started slowly, cautiously. "I need you to step forward real slowly and quietly, okay? No one is going to hurt anyone. I promise." Taemin shook his head defiantly. He never called his master a liar, but at this moment he wanted to scream it out loud. "Taemin, listen to me. It is dangerous there. Just step forward slowly. I don't want you to get hurt."
 
"That's the thing, master," his voice came out through heavy sobs. "It isn't dangerous. Onew isn't danger-" a small push from behind made him stumble forward slightly and at that moment, everything just exploded into a frenzy.
 
"Taemin! Run!" his master yelled urgently, running towards the younger to drag him out of the danger zone. Oh, Taemin did run. He ran but probably in the only direction his master never wanted him to run to. "Taemin, not there! What in the-!"
 
Taemin ran straight to face Onew, eye to eye. The Dragon's eyes were barely open even to a human eye. It was so tired, so exhausted, so hurt, so...on the verge of dying. "Onew, I'm back," Taemin whispered, caressing the beast gently. A slow trail of tears lulled down the beast's face. "It's okay. Everything will be okay, I promise," Taemin swore between sobs. "I'll make it okay. Just stay with me. Hang in there, it's going to be okay." Onew's eyes slipped shut, simply basking in the human's loving touches. Little near inaudible whimpers escaping its injured throat, gargling whines and pleas.
 
"Taemin, step back," his master warned. "Come to me, please," his master was begging. It was something new for his master to beg him. Losing Taemin once was painful enough, and Master Jonghyun was not going to have to go through it again - especially not in front of his own two eyes. The Dragon opened his two large eyes tiredly, focusing on the elder of the two humans this time. There was fear written in the creature's eyes, the giant figure tensing up just at the sight of the mere puny Knight. But the fear wasn't just for himself. Taemin was standing defenseless in front of the powerful enemy, and right now he could hardly do a thing to protect the human. If Taemin was attacked, there was pretty much nothing Onew could do to help.
 
Onew let out as loud of a plea as he could, as if telling Taemin to run.
"Run, Taemin! Please!" his master was begging behind.
 
"Shhh," Taemin hushed instead. "You're scaring him, Master. Come on, Onew. It's okay. No one is going to hurt you." Taemin pat the beast soothingly but Onew just let out another urgent cry. Huge droplets of tears falling even faster in pain and fear.
 
"Are you crazy?!" his master screamed. The Knight took a brave steps forth in attempt to pull his student back to safety but the Dragon grew protective right away. Even with his weakened throat, Onew managed a half growl, half roar. But the fact that he could muster up the strength didn't mean that it didn't hurt. He let out a pained cry soon after and his eyes squeezed shut in agony.
 
"Stop it! Master!" Taemin screamed, trying in any way to sooth away the Dragon's pain. He felt so helpless, rubbing his palms against the Dragon's scales, unable to take away any of its pain. Jonghyun, on the other hand, was taken aback. Taemin was never this rude to him before and all he was doing was trying to protect the kid. How was it that that stupid kid could side with the Dragon trying to attack him instead of he who is trying to save him? If the Dragon wasn't this weakened, Taemin would have been eaten for sure! Why is this damn kid touching the beast as if it were just some docile oversized home pet?
 
"Master, please, give us some space. He's scared. He's not going to hurt me; he's just afraid that you would." Taemin stated as respectfully as he could. He could feel the Dragon shaking beneath his touch. Whether it was because of the agonizing pain, or because of the fear of his master, Taemin wasn't sure.
 
"What do you mean he wouldn't hurt you? Taemin, you went missing for a week! We thought you were dead!" his master exclaimed emotionally. "Please Taemin, get back here. I can't talk to you like this."
 
"But the Dragon is-" Taemin protested. "You were planning to kill him, weren't you, master?"
 
"I thought he had eaten you up, of course I was trying to kill him!" his master shouted in exasperation and the Dragon hissed in response. "But then I realized that it's impossible. I can stab his heart, cut his throat, but he would still breathe. Unless I severed his head, I doubt there could even be a chance that he would be dead. He heals at an amazing rate which is why you need to step away from the beast, Taemin. Please, for me."
 
Instead, Taemin did just about the opposite. He made himself comfortable, sitting next to the softly wheezing Dragon, soothing his silent cries. "I was here for days, master. And in those days, he has never hurt a single person - me in included. He lost about 3 scales, but everyone got away safely. No broken bones, no missing limbs. They all left unscathed while Onew here earns a sword between his eyes or a literal stab in the back. When his attackers comes, he pushes me into some corner, hiding me, protecting me. The only reason I left him here, still hurt and unable to take flight, was because we were running low on food. Think about it, master. I don't see that you are badly hurt. I don't see the damage he has done on you. All I see... Is this Dragon hurting from the injuries you landed on him, I see him struggling to stay awake, trying desperately and failing to move. I can almost feel it - the agony and pain he is going through. Can you feel it too, master? A giant beast like that - surely you didn't think he would be put down this easily if he had fought back. But here he is, barely breathing, barely conscious while you are completely unharmed. Doesn't that seem strange to you even in the slightest?"
 
Jonghyun took the words in objectively. Listening to Taemin's explanation, he couldn't help but admit it was true. He was not hurt. Maybe he had a few bruises here and there but nothing too serious. The giant creature should have very easily crushed him, burnt him to ash, but here he stands while the Dragon is laid down weak and hurt. He found himself at a lack of words to explain himself to Taemin. The determination that drove him up the mountain, the rage that helped him stab the Dragon, the sole reason for revenge on the beast is now stolen from him with his supposedly dead student sitting there in front of him, comforting a beast whom he had nearly killed. The tears that Taemin had shed had been desperate and emotional. Those were two words he had never described Taemin with; but the first sight he had landed on the boy who was hugging on to the Dragon's claw, was exactly that.
 
"You should have seen him when he was active," Taemin continued in a sad tone. "I'd be covered in saliva pretty much the entire day. Right now, I would have been in his tail, while he hugs me in his own little way, and he would press his nose on me and snort, making my hair fly the other way. He would let me sit on his nose and go out the cave for a little breather. Maybe he would be crying, just like how he cried when I left." Taemin smiled sadly before sighing. He stood up, dusting himself off before he turned to finally face his master. He took it as a good sign that his master had not refuted him thus far like the way his parents would, rejecting the mere thought that they might be in the wrong. His master was not like that, Taemin knows that. The honorable Knight knew when he had to admit faults and Taemin respected the man for that. Taemin took steps away from the beast now that his master no longer looked like he was going to pull Taemin as far away as possible from the beast.
 
"Master, the Dragon..." Taemin carefully took up both of his master's hands in his. "Onew, is innocent. As hard as it is to believe it, he has been wronged all this time. Please, master, please tell me you understand what I'm saying. You're all I have now."  
 
"Taemin, I..." fingers gripped tightly into the younger's and Jonghyun's eyes seemed to return from whichever imaginative world he had been in earlier. His soft eyes meets Taemin's pleading ones. "I'm sorry, Taemin..."