“Midnight…?”

Hello Soo.

Midnight nestled against his owner’s body. Despite only being a few hours old, the size of the dragon comfortably overshadowed both the small frame of Kyungsoo and the slightly taller Prince beside him. Not to mention, the overbearing weight currently immobilizing the duo on the floor of the hallway.

And hello to you too, Sehun. Midnight was apparently as well-mannered as his paired rider, as he turned his head to nudge at Sehun’s. The younger boy’s head was the only thing observable under the entirety of the baby dragon.  

…

“OH MY GODDD!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD… NOT THE HEAD PLEASEEE. DON’T EAT MY HEAD…” Having snapped out of his initial shock at the sight of a huge head looming directly above him, Sehun screeched at the top of his lungs. Swiveling his head to the right, he panicked even more when he failed to spot his best friend- the dragon’s larger body currently obscuring the smaller boy’s body. Of course the Prince would misinterpret the situation… like he always does.

“OH GOD NOOOO… YOU’VE KILLED KYUNGSOO. YOU DRAGON, AM I NEXT HUH… GIVE ME BACK MY BEST FRIEND!” Sehun bawled. He was this close to pissing his pants.  

You have a very interesting friend Soo. He’s very… what’s the word? Midnight rolled his eyes at the sight of the larger boy beneath him, currently attempting (but failing) to wriggle his way out from beneath the beast. Delusional? Kyungsoo offered. Yes, that. He seems a little off up there in his pretty little head. Kyungsoo giggled. Erm Midnight? That’s my best friend and I love him for all his weirdness, nonsense and what not... Could you perhaps get off of us now? I’m starting to lose the feeling in my legs…

Oops. My apologies. It’s just that I was so excited to finally meet you after being trapped inside the egg for years, yearning to reach you but failing cause I hadn’t hatch yet, and then when I finally got out of the shell… this door refused to open for me even though I could hear you outside. Midnight slowly rose from his position on the ground.

Sehun scrambled to his feet once he felt the weight on him disappearing. Kyungsoo made to stand up as well, almost succeeding before the other boy tackled him to the ground again, his larger body shielding the elder.

“There’s a monster on the loose Kyungie… maybe if we lie flat and pretend we’re part of this carpet, he’ll fail to spot us.” Sehun whispered into the ears of the boy below him.

Midnight stood ten feet away, an eerily familiar judging look on his face.

“Oh drat… he’s giving me the same judging look that Raei does. Eeepp, we made eye contact Kyungie… . I’m a carpet, don’t look at me beast.” Sehun turned back to plant his face on the carpet, holding in his breath in his attempt to role-play. Kyungsoo burst out hysterically at the other’s words.

“Get off me Hunnie! He’s not going to eat us… haha.” Kyungsoo laughed as he hauled a reluctant Sehun off him. “That’s Midnight, my dragon you dummy not whatever monster you were blabbering about. He’s not going to eat you unless I order him to.”

…

“Oh. Haha I-I err I knew that of course! I was just errr… practicing my defensive mechanism erm in case we meet an enemy dragon… yes, that’s exactly what I was doing. Haha… I knew that was Midnight duhhh. Yup… ” Sehun trailed off sheepishly.

Both dragon and rider stared at the shameless boy before them. “We are soooo judging you.” (Cue judging face) Kyungsoo deadpanned while Midnight chortled beside him. “Defensive mechanism you say huh. What… you’re gonna piss your pants like just now in hope that your enemy will let you off with your incessant begging?”

“I was NOT pissing my pants!” Sehun rebutted the defamation. He strode forward to pat the dragon’s foreleg, determined to show that he was not petrified moments ago. “Hello Midnight… you’re as beautiful as your unhatched egg indicated.” Sehun murmured shyly. Midnight who now stood at twice Sehun’s height, bended his long neck to nestle his head against the said boy’s chest.

“Is Midnight saying anything to me?”

“Oh I forgot you can’t hear him… here.” Kyungsoo then proceeded to use his telepathic powers to act as a bridge between the other two’s minds.

Hello Sehun. There’s no need to be afraid of me even though I’m a dragon… any best friend of Soo is mine as well. I’ll protect you, as I would do to him.

Sehun gulped at the dragon’s attempted smile- ominous-looking fangs evident in all their glory. Thank you Midnight. Glad to meet you finally! Returning the smile, Sehun turned to address Kyungsoo.

“Shouldn’t we let Mentor and my Dad know about… Midnight?” Gesturing to the said dragon when he asked that.

“Of course we should! But how are we going to? We can’t just bring Midnight to crash the meeting… and I think it’s of utmost importance to keep his existence a secret. We don’t want Zökr to notice there’s another dragon out there aside from his.”

“Oh no worries. That’s where my stupid power comes in… erm you might want to step back a little. Ok here goes nothing.” A sudden gust of wind emerged, swirling with Sehun as the centerpiece. Sehun must be doing his conveying message thingy Kyungsoo thought. “My King, Draken, Master Kyōhei… gone is the day, for Midnight has fallen.” The message might have been coded to hide the real intent and meaning from unwanted ears, but there was no doubt the trio understood the Prince’s words.

“They’ll be with us shortly.” Sehun said. “Draken said to meet Kruse at the courtyard outside. The Floating Islands’ parameter will ward off unwanted attention, Midnight can roam freely… but only within the boundaries.” Sehun glanced pitifully at the beast before adding a small ‘sorry’ to the message he was told to convey back.

A loud roar could be heard coming from outside the building. “Come on! Kruse will be over the moon to finally meet a fellow dragon again…” Kyungsoo clapped excitedly before the trio exited the hallway.

Indeed. The golden dragon rushed forward to nudge affectionately at the blue dragon the minute he saw Midnight. The former towered over the latter by almost three times his body size, Kyungsoo observed. He can’t believe he finally got his paired dragon… and Midnight was going to grow even larger than he was now, surely matching or eclipsing Kruse’s size soon. Both boys can’t help but feel awed at the two magnificent creatures before them.

A flurry of footsteps could be heard before the King and Kyōhei came to a standstill upon reaching the party of four, Draken’s Faer Gond shining on the palm of the latter. Midnight bowed deeply in respect and as a sign of greeting, long neck pressed low almost glancing the ground.

“Midnight would like me to convey that he is extremely honored to be able to meet the King of Air Nation, the famous Dragonrider Invincible Master Kyōhei as well as Master Draken.” Kyungsoo spoke, breaking the silence between the congregated party.

“The honor is all mine mighty dragon.” Both King Seron and Kyōhei inclined their heads at Midnight. “I’m really sorry Midnight but you can never leave the safety of the Floating Islands… it’s for your own good. We need your help to get to the other 4 eggs before Zökr does.”

There’s no need to apologize my King. I understand your good intentions…

I’ll guide this young one well, do not fret Master. Kruse added to reassure the King and his rider.

“How did the meeting go father? Is this about Fire Nation?” Sehun hesitantly asked.

The two elders exchanged a side-glance before addressing the said question.

“The matter with Zökr and Fire Nation is escalating everyday, I think it’s only fair if the Avatar and his dragon are informed of what’s going on. Seh-”

“Uh-uh. I’m not going anywhere! What you’re telling Kyungsoo… you can tell me too. I’m the Prince! I need to know what’s going on too!” Sehun interrupted.

“Sehun, stop being so stubborn. I need to speak to Kyungsoo and Midnight. There’s no need to drag you into this whole saga.”

“Father, I beg you please. Besides, this does concern me. I know Zökr’s not going to stop at Fire Nation. We’re talking about the fate of the 7 nations here. As the next king of Air Nation, I deserve to help defend the people under my rule. And besides… Kyungsoo’s my best friend. We tell each other everything… he’s going to tell me all about what you’re saying later anyways. Right Kyungie?” Sehun turned to the said boy with his face masked in his most pitiful and pleading look yet. All pairs of eyes turned, waiting for Kyungsoo’s response.

“Uh…” Do not look at Sehun I repeat, do not look at Sehun. Don’t fall for his trap… Oh damn there goes the pout. How can I refuse him with that pout… oh hell now he’s bloody turning on the floodgates. Sure enough, the Prince was now looking at his best friend with tear-glazed eyes. Sehun the Prince was now in full-on ‘I’ll-bloody-get-what-I-want-I-mean-who-can-resist-this-face’ mode. No one could resist him. No one. Really.

“Uh… of course I’ll tell you everything Sehun.” Kyungsoo cursed himself for not having more strength to deny his friend. “I’m sorry my King, but Sehun is partially right. He is the Prince and he already knows a lot about the dragons. He is already part of this saga… I don’t think it’s fair to deny him the truth.”

The sigh emanating from the elder was not the sigh of a King but the one of a frustrated father. His son always had a way with getting what he wants; he takes after his mother in so many ways. The said son dropped his puppy mode façade immediately, turning to gloat at his father with his hands over the shoulder of his best friend.

Thanks Kyungie. Sehun beamed at the older.  

You’ll be the death of me one day Sehun.

“Alright, Midnight if you could follow Kruse. He’ll update you with all that’s been going down. Kyungsoo and Sehun, follow me. Let’s talk in the Council room.” The two boys made to follow the King while Midnight trailed after the larger dragon excitedly. It’s his maiden flight after all, even though it’ll be a fairly short one to the far island. Kyungsoo and the rest can’t help but smile at the beautiful sight of the two beasts in full flight. Dragons were truly the Kings of the Sky. No title is far more befitting.

After settling down in the Council room, the King and Kyōhei took turns to regurgitate every piece of information that had ever been brought up in the King’s meeting room to the eager ears of the two boys.

“First of all, our scouts in Middle Nation discovered around 10 years back, that Zökr and his dragon had personally flown to the Fire Nation capital to obtain