Donghae was on his second day of the Vaaldum trials - a rite of passage for the Aegelous to survive three days on forbidding environments of the Vaaldum - a stretch of region in the Aegelous Aerie that was considered uninhabitable. It was Donghae's luck of the draw to get assigned to the desert and he was frankly at his wits end a day after T'al Hasa dropped him off the middle of nowhere with only basic survival equipment and rations.

It has been weeks since his dragon encounter, T'al Hasa begrudgingly obeying Donghae's wish to keep his guardian Regent Leeteuk uninformed about Donghae's kidnapping.

"We're already at war with them - launching a dragonhunt for this particular one will stretch our resources," Donghae reasoned with the Aegila. "Besides, if it wanted to kill me, you stranding me in the Elimwood was the perfect opportunity for it." He may be kind, but Donghae wasn't above collecting a guilt-debt or two. It was also the only way T'al Hasa would agree.

Donghae thinks T'al Hasa was relishing having a valid reason to leave him to fend for himself. He had thought himself quiet sturdy but after trying to dust off sand from his yellow hanbok for the umpteenth time today, Donghae started to wonder how he'd last two more days. It was still early morning, and he dreaded the burgeoning heat during the day, or the killer chill at night.

He thought fatigue had caught up with him when the dune before him started to stir. There was no strong wind so he thinks the undulating mass can't be a sandstorm. He heaved a sigh of relief to find it was just a sandy yellow dragon grinning at him.

Effin , Donghae didn't waste time scrambling to a run away from the dragon.

"Hey, wait!" he heard the rumble behind him again. "I didn't mean to startle you!"

The dragon came abreast of Donghae, almost insulting with the effortless lumber it adapted to keep pace with Donghae's relatively slower pace, easily following the curved trail Donghae had taken because he was attempting to run away from the dragon. This yellow one is slightly smaller than the red one he first encountered.

"It's just a camouflage, you know," the dragon continued the one-sided conversation, not even huffing. "I've been following you a while now this morning. Are you lost?" the dragon asked solicitously.

What? No! Donghae screamed inside his head, but as he was still pumping jelly limbs to a run, he didn't bother screaming it out loud.

"If you're lost, I could take you back to your capital," the dragon kindly offered.

What? No! Get the hell away from me! The prospect of cutting short his Vaaldum trials scared Donghae more since he'd be forced to do this again next year, which he had been doing already for the last five years as he always failed the exercise. As usual, it took a toll on his body and all this running around in circles attempting to get away from a dragon wasn't helping.

Hyukjae frowned as the Aegelous finally stopped running only to drop on all fours, gasping and dry-heaving. He wondered if this one was weaker than the last one, but he figured spending time in the desert without shelter and little food and water really wasn't healthy. He gingerly hopped on one claw while the other claw snatched at the Aegelous' torso and headed over the border.

Donghae watched despondently as they landed near a lake, the dragon gently releasing him at the edge of it. Donghae promptly flopped face down on the water lapping at the shallow shore, relishing the relief from the heat.

"Hey, you're not trying to drown yourself, are you?" Donghae felt a relatively gentle but giant talon-sized poke on his side.

Donghae lifted his face up out of the water to yell, "No thanks to you, I'm doing the whole trial again next year!" He punched the water for emphasis.

Hyukjae sneezed, suddenly feeling the fur underneath his scales tingling as that voice washed over him, never mind if it was a shout. He was happy an Aegelous was finally talking to him.

"That was a rite of passage?! What are you, ten?" he asked incredulously, recalling he finished his when he was but a decade old.

Donghae twisted around to glare at the dragon, wiping off the water dripping on his face. He paused as he saw the markings on the dragon's left shoulder, suddenly wondering what were the chances of two different dragons having the same playful personality and the same markings on the same location.

"It was for a coming of age rite of passage," Donghae gritted out as he finally sat up, still submerged waist deep in the shallows.

Ah, something like his Psychedelisis then, Hyukjae thought, something he had no control over when would happen. Which tends to make the people around him treat him as someone immature, never mind if he's the High Dracon.

"What's your name?" the dragon asked Donghae after the brief silence.

It's a Wednesday, and since Donghae can't give his true name, he gave his appropriate rank for the day instead. "Lord of the Aegilas."

"Nice to meet you, Lord," the dragon rumbled enthusiastically. "I'm Hyukjae."

#

Friday found Donghae by the lake on the western portion of the Aerie, the pants of his blue hanbok hitched up to his thighs as he engaged on another favorite pastime - fish tickling. It's actually a skill taught for catching fish by lulling prey to complacency as it swam over a fisherman's palms before being suddenly pulled up and out of the water. But with Donghae's affinity for all creatures great and small, he'd taken to using the skill to pet fish.

A vividly bright orange koi was basking in the glow of Donghae's affections when it suddenly darted out of his hands. He stopped wondering why when familiar claws wrapped around his torso and snatched him out of the water.

Donghae had finally passed his Vaaldum trials, albeit with a bit of a cheat, spending most of the day in the cooler forests of the Draco Regnum in Hyukjae's company, before the dragon returned him to the desert. Donghae had to decline Hyukjae's offer to accompany him through the chilly night, seeing as the dragon was debating with itself on whether it can actually stay out at night on this side of the border.

After that, the dragon had taken liberties to occasionally snatch Donghae over the border just to play.

Donghae thinks the dragon is more like a dog with its playfulness but talking to Hyukjae also revealed a smart mind behind the so-called monster, making Donghae wonder what he looked like in his human form. He forgot why they were at war with Hyukjae's kind in the first place, enjoying the things and places Hyukjae showed him during their so-called playtime.

Hyukjae was feeling good today. Just as he figured, it was Marquis' form he espied from above. He really liked the Aegelous playmates he'd befriended after he met Lord - it also seemed like they knew each other, as talking to them felt like they were just one person... or extremely close friends, maybe relatives even, as they all look similar. Even Earl last Thursday, always in green, and Duke a few Saturdays back, always wearing indigo hanboks, shared the same good looks. And then again, his dragon eyes weren't made to distinguish between human features so he made do with other cues - like the prominent colors they wore. He has yet to identify them by smell as humans frustratingly take on other smells depending on the environment or activities of the day - like how Commander, red every Monday, and Master, orange every Tuesday, both smelled interchangeably of horse and Aegila.

He glanced down and grinned at the Aegelous in his claw, the round greeting his view as he'd snatched Marquis such that he ended up facing the other way but Hyukjae would recognize that blue-clad Aegelous anywhere.

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