//------------------------------// // Life in the Nest, Part 2 // Story: Big Brother Garble // by ColtKit Productions //------------------------------// Hiccup hung his head in shame at the expression from the lead trader of the caravan. He was accompanied by near a dozen other dragon traders from alpha Lava Frost's nest. They were all wearing humungous saddle bags filled with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of gems, jerky, and rice. "You have got to be kidding me!!!" The adult dragon gaped seeing the whelp Hiccup and his older brother, the rookie Toothless. The trader sneered at the elder female, bearing his fangs in outrage, "This isn't what we agreed to!!!" The Red Death rolled her eyes, "You wanted Nightfuries. Well, here they are." "You charlatan!" The trader snarled. He looked at the dozens of others in his caravan. "Pack everything up! We're leaving!" The Red Death smirked. "Am I too understand you are not going to hold up your end of the deal?" The younger dragon froze, his eyes widening at the implication. "You misrepresented what you promised!" "I promised nightfuries. I never said they would be healthy and whole. Who in their right mind would trade such dragons?" She gave an evil smirk. "You can still use them to hatch healthy Nightfury whelps for your nest. You would just have to deal with having these two as dependents on the state. My nest is too large and too crowded to feed the mouths of those that can't pull their own weight." ### ● Lava Frost's Island After Spike ate all his fish, and dried his eyes, Garble took him up to the market district of the volcano, to meet the kobolds. They were tiny bipedal lizards, scrawny to the point they looked like they were made of only bones and scales. "Dragons have a symbiotic relationship with Kobolds," Garble explained. "They are not slaves. Both our creatures benefit from helping each other. We care for each other and feed each other. As Pilot fish will tend over sharks, kobolds assist dragons. They are our assistants and we are their protectors, as demanded by Io, god of all things draconic." "Each kobold clan handles a specific task. There is even a clan behind the mountain range that farms rice," Garble explained as Spike stared at the tiny creatures as they walked through the 'street.' "They have rice fields that stretch as far as the eye can see. In exchange for our patrols keeping the predators and pest out of their territory, they share their rice with us. There is another clan that will tend our hatchery and another that clean our caves, both in exchange for gems. "Alchemy is a very hard skill to master but dragons are particularly skilled at it. Due to the sheer size of our magical reserves. It makes turning rocks and leaves into gems much easier for us so they rely on us for gems like we rely on them for rice. We share the fish of the Volcano equally and assist each other in breeding them around the various hot springs of the island. Food is the ultimate resource to all dragon species. We don't really have a use for useless golden coins. We trade in food like gems, dairy, grain, fish, and meat. We dragons are sure to set aside some of our own food to spread around to the kobold clans. "The various kobold merchant clans, located here in the market district, trades their crafts with the whelps and rookie dragons. Adult dragons are too big for kobolds to realistically build them anything. Is a real shame but adults get used to having few personal items. I heard that adult dragons used to use their alchemy skills to make beds, their size, out of the red woods that grow on our island. Unfortunately after our population grew Lava Frost put a stop to that as those are resources that could be turned into gems to feed everyone. There are still a few adult beds floating around from the old days but those things are worth their weight in Gems and most dragons don't think it is worth it." "So resources are scarce for dragons?" Spike blinked. "A dragon needs to eat their body weight in food a day," Garble explained. "For whelps like you that's nothing, but an adult dragon weighs 10s of thousands of tons. Most of our resources need to be focused on feeding them. Thank Io the fish breed and mature quickly." Garble shook his head. "Most other nest our size can't cope... the leading cause of death for dragons is starvation... most dragons don't even live long enough to be elders because they can't sustain a regular diet. Even our nest can't support them and elders have to leave to start their own nest... but most just die trying to fend for themselves." Spike paled, Garble eyed the whelp. "You see now why I was so pissed the ponies weren't feeding you right? Or why you got a proper spanking for wasting food." Spike gave a hesitant nod. Garble sounded like he was still mad about both those things. Children were supposed to be forgiven after they were punished... not even Blue Blood stayed mad at him after a tanning. Thankfully, after a moment in silence, Garble moved on. "After you get settled, I will start giving you an allowance of gems specifically for trading with the kobolds. You best not eat them, as they are for the kobolds, not you, and you better not take extra gems from our horde to buy something stupid either." Garble looked down at Spike with a warning glare. "Most importantly, treat the kobolds with respect. Everything you have in your room I got from them. That includes your bed, your books, and your toys. If you see any kobolds from those clans be sure to thank them and tell them how much you enjoy their crafts. They love hearing from appreciative whelps. Lava Frost will teach you the difference clan symbols kobold tattoo onto themselves." "Tattoos?" Spike blinked. "You don't think their scales have those weird patterns on them naturally? When a Kobold reaches adulthood they join one of their clans, and are tattooed to show it. Then they receive additional tattoos to show off their accomplishments in their trade." "Do dragons do that?" Spike gulped as he imagined being poked with needles for a lifetime of tattoos. "Of course not." Garble rolled his eyes. "Although dragon nobles will embed gems into their scales to show off their rank but that is only nobles. You don't need to worry about that... but be sure to show respect to any dragon with gems in their scales." "Alright." Spike nodded as they continued through the Market district. Spike eagerly absorbed all the info about dragons and kobolds. He punched his chest and coughed out a green flame. A note pad and quill materialized in the flames, which he quickly grabbed hold of. He couldn't figure why he didn't do this yesterday. He quickly scribbled down everything Garble told him, not noticing the odd look his big bro was giving him. Garble definitely had to tell Lava Frost about this particular power.