//------------------------------//
// Precarious Patience 
// Story: Trial by Kinship 
// by Metool Bard 
//------------------------------//

"Hhhhello.  Hhhhhow are you today?  My name Pepito.  Wait, no.  That wrong."

Pepito paced back and forth in front of the dragon cage, a small Spanish-English dictionary in his claw.  While the other dragons were asleep or suffering, Nova simply watched him with interest.  Little Strongheart, however, had other priorities.

"It's okay," she whispered to one of the other dragons. "We'll get out of here, I promise."

"You there!"

Little Strongheart gulped, fearing that Pepito noticed him.  When she turned around, she was curious to see that his eyes were still glued to his dictionary.

"Yes, um, uh..." Pepito hemmed and hawed, flipping through the pages. "Ah, yes!  Ahem.  It is beautiful day today, do you not think?"

Little Strongheart narrowed her eyes. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

Pepito blinked and turned back to his dictionary. "Hmm.  Is that joke?  I no think it was.  Wait, let me check..."

Little Strongheart sighed. "Never mind."

"No, no.  I mind, I mind," Pepito insisted. "I want to learn so everyone no think I stupid."

"If it's any consolation, I don't find you to be unintelligent at all," said Nova warmly. "Anyone who pursues knowledge can easily avoid that distinction."

Pepito spun around and glared at Nova. "You no supposed to talk," he snapped, waving his free claw. "No talking, or I, uh..."  He paused to sift through his dictionary again. "Punish!  Yes, that it."

"She was paying you a compliment, you ingrate," Little Strongheart growled.

Pepito paused for a moment and flipped through his dictionary again. "Uh, what you call me again?  I no know that word."

Little Strongheart groaned. "Look, all I'm saying is that you don't have to be so rude to her."

"But Señora Isabelle say merchandise no talk," said Pepito. "I no make rules.  I, uh..."  Once again, he paused to find the right word in his dictionary. "En-force.  Is that how you say it?"

"Yes," Little Strongheart grumbled.

"Ah, good.  See?  I learn," said Pepito proudly.

Nova gave Pepito a round of applause, to which he gave her another disapproving look.

"I didn't say anything that time," said Nova with a shrug.

Pepito's glare intensified. "Don't try to pull fast one on Pepito.  You spoke just now."

"Huh.  So I did.  I apologize," said Nova with a humble bow.

"Ah, see?!  You do it again!" Pepito barked, reaching for his weighted lasso. "I warn you about this!  Now you be punished!"

"Don't you dare!" Little Strongheart screamed.  She was about to charge through the cage when Nova raised her claw.

"It's alright, young one," she said sagely. "I accept this punishment."

Pepito blinked in confusion. "You do?"

"Well, you did warn me not to talk," said Nova with a shrug.

Pepito tapped his chin. "Hmm.  You not wrong.  But at same time, you very strange.  Other dragons no like being punished."

"Oh, I never said I liked this," Nova explained. "But then again, life is full of things I don't like."

"That true.  That very true," Pepito mused.  His eyes suddenly widened. "Wait!  I no supposed to talk to you!  I supposed to punish!"

"Then go ahead," said Nova simply.

Pepito swallowed and readied his lasso.  Little Strongheart, meanwhile, could only watch in bewilderment.  She stared at Pepito, then at Nova, and then back at Pepito again.  Pepito's claw was trembling, and sweat formed on his brow as he hesitated.  Nova, however, was just as calm and serene as ever.  Before she could ask why, a familiar roar was heard from the bowels of the cavern.

"Ms. Isabelle!"

Pepito snapped to attention, breathing a partial sigh of relief for the interruption.  In walked Jacques Moschet, looking more than a tad concerned.  Before he could venture any farther, Pepito scuttled up to him and raised his claws.

"You no allowed to be here," he said firmly.

"One side, simpleton," Jacques snarled. "I'm trying to find your superior."

Pepito blinked. "¿Qué?"

"Your superior!  Your superior!" Jacques repeated.

"Super, ear?" Pepito inquired, searching his dictionary for the answer. "My, uh, hearing not that great, Señor Moschet."

"Apparently not," Jacques muttered, rolling his eyes. "Listen, you dim-witted crustacean.  I'm looking for Ms. Isabelle."

"Oh!  Why you no say so?" Pepito said, his expression brightening. "She no here.  Also, she say you not allowed to be here."

"Well, who can I talk to about this poaching operation?"

"I second-in-command."

Jacques did a double take. "You're joking."

"No."

"You are second-in-command."

"Sí, Señor."

"You."

"Sí.  Why that so hard to believe?"

"I can think of a few reasons," Jacques murmured.

"¿Qué?"

"I-I said do you know when Ms. Isabelle will be back?"

Pepito shook his head. "I no supposed to say.  Señora Isabelle say Moschet not supposed to be here for a while."

Jacques snorted. "Well, she couldn't have meant me.  I'm her client!"

"We know, we know," said Pepito with a nod. "But that what she say.  Moschet not allowed down here."

Jacques raised an eyebrow. "Wait.  Did she mention which Moschet?"

Pepito tilted his head. "¿Qué?"

"Which Moschet was she talking about when she said Moschet wasn't allowed down here?"

"There another one of you?"

"No, there's not another one of me!"

"Then you are not allowed down here."

"That's preposterous!  She couldn't have meant me!"

"But you just say there only one Moschet."

"No, I was talking about— ow!"

Jacques was cut off when he winced as though he was just slapped.  Pepito blinked in confusion while Jacques's eyes widened in horror.  Three seconds later, Maggie emerged from the shadows and slapped Jacques across the cheek, causing him to recoil in the exact same manner.

"You have some explaining to do, mister!" Maggie scolded.

Jacques deadpanned and turned to Pepito, who was still puzzled.  He then took in a deep breath and pointed to Maggie.

"This, Mrs. Moschet."  He then pointed to himself. "This, Mr. Moschet."  He then raised his knuckle to Pepito's forehead. "This, smack on head."

He swiftly demonstrated his point, causing Pepito to stumble back slightly.

"Jacques, look at me when I'm talking to you," Maggie growled. "One of my handmaidens just woke me up saying that our pets have gone missing."

"D-did she now?" said Jacques, wiping some sweat from his brow. "My, how troublesome.  Wh-what specifically?"

"Our entire pack of Caanus Minors, several owlbears, three wyverns, two deathstalkers, and our rare one-of-a-kind Shielded Thundercrab!"

"That many?  Dear oh dear," muttered Jacques. "I must speak to our servants.  Clearly, they've been slacking on the— ow, ow, ow~!"

Although Maggie did nothing, Jacques whipped around as if his tail was being pulled.  Three seconds later, Maggie lunged forward and snatched Jacques's tail, giving it a good, hardy yank.

"Don't play innocent with me," Maggie admonished. "I know you let our pets free on purpose!  The servants admitted as much!"

"Nngh!  Curse them for being more afraid of you than me," Jacques grunted, prompting another tug from Maggie.

"Why, Jacques?!  Why did you let our valuable animals loose?!" Maggie demanded.

"L-listen, my little desert cobra.  I-I didn't want to make a big deal out of this," Jacques cried. "I-I needed to buy some time for you to pick your dragon so that the buffalo didn't— yeow!"

"Need I remind you that it's your fault the buffalo are after us in the first place!" Maggie spat. "If you just caught your own dragon, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Little Strongheart gasped "Wait, you let foreign animals loose in the desert?!  Do you have any regard for any wildlife at all?!"

"Oh, please," said Jacques. "D-deathstalkers thrive in the desert, and a Caanus Minor can live anywhere as long as it's kept in the dark."

"That doesn't excuse anything!" Little Strongheart roared. "You are threatening the natural balance of the Mild West's ecosystem just to keep my people from finding you!  That's disgrace—"

Little Strongheart's entire body froze mid-sentance, as if she had spontaneously became a statue.  Maggie slithered over to her and slapped her silly, although this prompted no response.  In the blink of an eye, Little Strongheart regained consciousness, only to be smacked around by an invisible force.

"I'll handle my own husband, thankyouverymuch," Maggie stated coldly. "I don't need your treehugger preaching."

"L-look, I've taken the necessary precautions," said Jacques, brushing himself off. "My pets are trained to survive under any conditions."

"Our pets, Jacques.  Our pets," Maggie corrected. "And I don't recall giving you permission to let them loose."

"I-it was all for you, my precious python," said Jacques. "I just want you to be happy."

Maggie stared down at Jacques and folded her arms. "Oh, you want me to be happy, do you?"

"More than anything, my love."

"Well, you can start by going out and getting our pets back.  If they aren't at our estate by the time I finish freshening up, you're in big trouble."

"B-but the buffalo— ack!"  Jacques recoiled and rubbed his cheek. "By the way, it's rather obnoxious of you to use your temporal magic just to— ouch!"

Jacques was interrupted by Maggie swiping his cheek with her tail.

"If you're so worried about those savages, I'll handle them when they get here," she said darkly.

Little Strongheart's fur bristled, and she snorted angrily. "We won't fall to the likes of— ow!"

She flinched as she felt a sharp tug on her ear, even though nothing was holding her.  Three seconds later, Maggie slithered forward and yanked her ear.

"Listen well, girl," she hissed directly into Little Strongheart's ear. "I am a master of temporal magic.  Time is always on my side, and as long as that's the case, nothing can hurt me.  Your primitive little tribe will just have to learn that the hard way."

"I prefer to the term indigenous, but that's because I view knowledge in a very different way than you do," Nova chimed in.

Maggie scowled at Nova. "Did you just insult me?"

"Sh-she no supposed to talk," Pepito pipped up. "I-I punish.  No worry."

He tossed the lariat around Nova's neck and forced her to the ground.  Nova let out a sharp cough, but didn't offer any other resistance.  Little Strongheart was once again baffled by this.  Maggie simply scoffed and slithered out of the cavern.  Once she was gone, Jacques turned angrily towards Pepito.

"Let your boss know that I'm willing to pay extra if your crew helps me get my pets back," he said.

Pepito rubbed his head. "I thought you say you no want to pay extra."

"That was before Maggie chewed me out for taking initiative," Jacques grumbled.

Pepito shook his head. "I very confused.  I go find Señora Isabelle.  She know what to do."

With that, he scuttled off into the darkness.  Jacques simply rolled his eyes and flew off after his wife.  Once Little Strongheart couldn't hear them anymore, she turned to Nova.

"How are you tolerating any of this?" she inquired. "They have no right to treat us in this abhorrent manner."

Nova sighed, letting out a bright fuchsia cloud as she exhaled. "You're right.  They don't.  But I have to control my temper.  Otherwise, Akire will be unleashed, and that wouldn't be good for anyone."

Little Strongheart tilted her head. "Akire?  Who's that?"

Nova looked over at Little Strongheart, and then turned her attention off into space. "Tell me, young buffalo.  Do you know where the Dragon Magi derive their power from?"

"I'm, afraid not," Little Strongheart admitted. "The legends never went into detail about that."

"Well, it all started when chaos was the law of the land," explained Nova. "Back then, east and west were such arbitrary concepts that there was no distinction between us western dragons and our gentler, wiser cousins from the east.  This confusion led to the eastern dragon Zheng Long marrying a western female by the name of Plume.  When order returned to the land, Zheng Long decided to stay in the west and enlighten his brethren to his way of thinking.  Most ignored him, but others, such as my grandmother, followed his teachings.  We learned to utilize what he called chi to perform miraculous feats of wonder, and in his honor, we vowed to use our gifts for good.

"However, the nature of western dragons could not be erased by Zheng Long's eastern teachings.  The early Dragon Magi were still prone to destructive tantrums and acts of greed.  As a remedy, they learned how to summon spirits made entirely of fire using their breath.  The intention was for these fire elementals to act as a guiding light to curb our darker desires.  In spirit of this, it's customary for a Dragon Mage to conjure up a fire elemental within the body of their newly-hatched young, so that they would always have someone to watch over them no matter what happened.

"The fire elementals did fulfill their role for the most part, but not without a consequence.  As it just so happens, our emotional states directly dictate how fiercely the fire elementals within us burn.  If a Dragon Mage ever loses control of his or her emotions, their fire elemental will burst free and go on a blind rampage.  Once, a quarrel between two siblings ended with an entire nest being immolated by their fire elementals.  Since that time, the Dragon Magi have made a priority to keep our guides in check.  We only awaken them from their hibernation when it's absolutely necessary, and we teach our young to do the same."

Little Strongheart gave Nova a blank stare as she tried to process all this information. "Wow.  So that's why you're so calm about all this."

"Indeed," said Nova with a nod. "It is not time for Akire to awaken.  In this situation, it would do more harm than good."

"I understand," said Little Strongheart.  Just then, a thought struck her. "Wait, you said that you conjure up a fire elemental into each of your young, right?"

"Correct."

"Meaning Needles has one, too.  But, I never saw her use it."

Nova arched an eyebrow. "You know of my daughter?"

"It's a long story," said Little Strongheart sheepishly. "For now, all you need to know is that she's probably coming to rescue us."

Nova furrowed her brow. "If that is so, then I fear more for her than for myself."

"Why's that?"

Nova's face darkened. "I'm actually surprised Needles managed to keep her fire elemental in check for this long; especially since she doesn't know of its existence.  But considering the circumstances, it's only a matter of time before she loses control.  And once that happens, there's no telling how or if she'll get it back before it's too late..."