~ It was stormy….

And I was all alone….

I didn’t think that my new bondmate would ever abandon me. I had already been abandoned once. I thought that he understood.

How could this happen?

He just… left me. Left me there and went away. Said he had more important things to do than to take care of a stupid dragon. Said that Fire dragons were the dumbest kind of dragon and that I wasn’t worth his time.

So he left.

And now I’m trying to find my way back to DRAC.

Oh? You don’t know what DRAC is? It’s the place where we all come from. Most of the DragonRose Dragons live in DRAC. The person who finds us is named Shadow Rose. She’s wonderful.

You’re not getting any of this are you?

Maybe I should start with myself. Oh, you don’t know who I am? I must have forgotten to introduce myself….

I am Cinder, a purebred Fire dragon. My parents are Piercing Heart and Flaming Kimono. I have 12 brothers and sisters, all of them lucky enough to not be abandoned. Or at least they haven’t been to my knowledge. I’ve been away from DRAC so long, and I doubt any of them were abandoned twice like me. How many dragons could there be that have been abandoned twice? I mean, we have to have done something really horrible to make two bondmates not want us.

Maybe I shouldn’t go back to DRAC. I mean, if two bondmates have already abandoned me, then why should anyone else want me? A twice abandoned dragon…..

And so, Cinder flew around in the storm, not caring whether he was struck down or not. There was no reason to care, no one wanted him. Who would ever want a twice abandoned dragon?

But in the distance, there was a tiny sparkle. A hint of blue. Maybe it was just the lightning.

Cinder paid no attention to it. In fact, he didn’t even see it. Why would he? He was rather caught up in his own thoughts and loneliness.

But a tiny voice called out to him, even in the storm, “Why is a Fire dragon out in a storm? Won’t something happen to your flame? I thought Fire dragons didn’t like water.” It was whimsical and light. It seemed almost like a butterfly on a soft breeze flying just as the sun arose from behind the clouds of night to break the world into a new dawn.

When Cinder looked up, he saw that he voice belonged to a tiny faerie. She wasn’t very tall, maybe a foot at most. Though maybe more, the storm was distorting things a bit. She was white and blue, with these funny curls at the end of her wings.

“What do you want?” he growled, not eager to let anyone else get near to him. He had been hurt quite enough and didn’t want to deal with anything more. He’d rather be alone in his misery.

“I wanted to know why you aren’t getting out of the storm. You’ve been flying around for a while and I thought that you might be lost. I know where there’s a nice cav…”

“GET AWAY!” Cinder yelled through the storm, sounding almost as if he himself were the source of the thunder. The little faerie jumped, not quite expecting this reaction, and flitted away. A few tongues of flame missed her wings only because of the ceaseless rain which was pouring down.

The rain had stopped. It was daytime, though Cinder didn’t care. He had once again decided to go to DRAC. ‘Not to find a bondmate, but to visit my family,’ he thought. But there was a problem. He didn’t know exactly where DRAC was from here. His old bondmate had taken him far far away when he was quite young and so he had no idea of where to go.

So Cinder started off in a random direction.

And was getting further away from DRAC.

Not far into his journey a shot of blue twinkle could be seen again, behind him. A tiny voice called out, "Um.. excuse me…”

Cinder turned around fiercely and saw the little blue faerie again. “What do you want?” he growled. “I thought that you were going to leave me alone.”

“I… I was just wondering…. Why are you going away from DRAC?”

The Fire dragon wheeled around, eyes blazing with anger. “What do you mean I’m going away from DRAC?!?!?!”

The tiny faerie squeaked and would have dashed away if she knew what was good for her, but she was a kind hearted being and wondered about this dragon. “Well, DRAC is over that way. You’re a DRAC dragon, right? I thought that you were. You look like one. See, I’m from DRAC. My name is Desta and I’m an accidental creation of Jemmy’s while she was trying to make milk into cheese with one of her spells. She called me Desta because she said that it was destiny that I was created. That’s what Desta means, you know. Destiny. I don’t really understand what happened, but she said something about a dragon sticking his tail into a kettle of purple goo or something, but I don’t know if that had anything to do with how I was created. I don’t think it did, I think the purple goo was a soup of some kind and not a cheese at all, but that’s how I was created, when Jemmy tried turning milk into cheese.” The tiny being was going a mile a minute, not letting the Fire dragon get a word in edgewise.

Finally when she stopped for a breath, though it almost seemed as if that was where she meant to stop, Cinder replied gruffly, “Alright, can you take me to DRAC? Since you’re from there. I’ve gotten a bit lost and can’t remember how to get home.”

“Oh, of course,” replied Desta. “It’s over this way and only a couple of days away.” The tiny being flitted off in the opposite direction from where Cinder was heading and he followed close behind.

After a little while, Desta spoke up again. “I didn’t get your name, but then that doesn’t surprise me. I haven’t met any other dragons yet besides Jemmy’s dragons. Oh, and I met Fritillary. Fritillary was a very nice dragon indeed. He’s a Wild Flower, you know. Bonded to Katy.”

Cinder grumbled, he really didn’t want to hear about the bondmates of other dragons. “My name is Cinder,” he growled out. He didn’t want to talk much, but that didn’t seem to deter the tiny faerie. Content with knowing his name, she began to tell him all sorts of things. So fast that he couldn’t keep it all straight.

Over those few days of traveling, he’d become used to the little Desta. Sure, she talked a lot, but her voice was as soothing as a lava pit in the middle of winter, and for a Fire dragon that’s a very good thing.

“I’m going to take you to Jemmy. She’ll be able to tell you where to go wherever it is you are going. You didn’t say exactly, where are you going to?”

Cinder sighed, he guessed that he hadn’t told her why he was going back to DRAC. “I want to visit my family, but I don’t know where they live exactly.”

Desta twirled with glee in the air. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I wish I had family, but I guess I won’t unless Jemmy makes a mistake while trying to turn milk into cheese again, which I doubt that she’ll do. She’s getting quite a bit more powerful, you know. At least to me, she is, but then, I’m just a little faerie. She’ll be able to tell you where your family is, for sure. Or at least know where to find them or who to ask.”

Finding this little faerie just seemed to be a stroke of good luck for the red dragon.

After reaching DRAC, it took no time at all to get to SR’s castle, where Jemmy resides in a suite. Cinder was a bit relunctant to follow when he discovered where the elf lived, but he continued on. There was no better way to find out where to go and visit his family.

Entering the suite amazed the Fire dragon. The room seemed large enough to fit at least 2 more adult sized dragons comfortably. There was a table in one corner filled with all sorts of interesting devices and bubbling liquids. A fireplace was roaring with a kettle full of an odd plasma green color liquid. The place was absent-mindedly clean, a few things tossed this way and that, but for the most part it was tidy. But the most surprising sight was that of 7 dragon eggs of various colors lined up in fluffy cushions along a wall.

‘How could anyone take care of that many hatchlings at once?’ Cinder thought to himself. ‘It’s an amazing task to care for one or even two hatchlings, but 7….’ The Fire dragon forgot exactly what he was doing when a voice spoke.

“Ah, Cinder, is it?” an elf inquired. She was rather odd. The Fire dragon remembered Desta saying she was a princess, but she dressed in a basic purple tunic and black pants. Her skin was whiter than alabaster, and her hair matched. The color of her liquid purple eyes would be almost eerie with a mysterious light if she wasn’t so cheerful. “Desta tells me that you wish to visit your family. You’re one of Piercing Heart and Flaming Kimono’s, aren’t you?”

This was quite unexpected. Cinder stammered, “Y…y…yes. How did you know?” How would anyone know his lineage?

Jemmy smiled, her elven features becoming more pronounced. “I help keep track of all of the dragons in DRAC, not just my own. Besides, it really is quite fun. Do you have a cave yet? Desta mentioned that she found you a few days from here. I know of a few good ones that a Fire dragon would like. Nice lava pits and all.”

Cinder balked for a moment. Why was this elf being so nice to him? He wasn’t one of her dragons, and from the looks of it, she had her hands quite full of little ones about to hatch. There were seven others awaiting her attention, why would she even bother with him?

He answered, “Um… no. I don’t have a cave around here. I’m not quite certain how long I’ll be staying….” Before he could continue, Jemmy chimed in again.

“Well, if you have to get back to your bondmate soon, you’re welcome to stay here.”

The Fire dragon shook his head. “No… no… I couldn’t….”

“Then we’ll go and find you one of those nice caves I was telling you about,” Jemmy stated matter-of-factly. “ They aren’t far from here. One of my dragons, Sander, and his lifemate, Buttercup, live in those mountains. Very nice lava pits in those caves.” The elf looks around a bit. “Do you mind if I ride you? If so, I can ask Firestorm to take me. She won’t mind.”

Cinder shook his head. “No, I don’t mind…. You can….” This elf was so nice…. He wished that he could have a bondmate whom was that nice.

The elf looked over at the eggs. “Desta, would you mind watching over them? They shouldn’t hatch for a while yet and their bedding keeps them at the right temperature… OH! I almost forgot!!!”

The elf dashed into one of the rooms connected to this one and came out with two large sacks. “This should do it. If you need me, Desta, send Firestorm. I don’t want them left alone.”

Cinder waited for the elf to climb on his back and then leapt out of the room.

They were well on their way when Cinder asked, “Were all of those eggs yours?”

The elf chuckled softly, “Yes, I have adopted them all, though I’m not quite sure what I was thinking at the time. There’s Dawning Breeze, she’s a Marigold. Then Nyx, Glacier, and Lucian, who are all Frost dragons. They’re Sander’s first children. Iridess is from the second clutch of Fire Flies. And Echo and Narcissus are the first of the Storm Clouds. Their parents are two of the vainest dragons in DRAC, but I love them all the same. Maesilea, their mother, was from the first of the Fire Flies….” Jemmy trails off for a moment. “Oh, I bet I’m boring you quite a bit with all of this talk.”

Cinder shakes his head. “Oh no. You aren’t boring me. Not at all….” His voice trails off in sadness. Jemmy sounded so happy when she spoke of her dragons. All of them. Even the two she called vain. He wished that either of his former bondmates could have been like that.

“Try that one,” the elf said finally when they reached the mountain. “It’s a nice sized one. Maybe a little on the large size for one dragon, but it should do nicely. If not, there are others.”

The two zoom down to the cave, entering into it. Cinder glances about. She was right, it was large enough for three dragons, but there was indeed a lava pit, just like she had promised. “No, I don’t think we need to look for another one. This will be fine. I’m only planning on staying a few days anyway. Just long enough to visit my family. Then I’m going back.”

Jemmy slides off of the dragon’s back. “Your bondmate must be quite a busy one. What are they like?”

Cinder goes to lie to the elf, but finds that he can’t. It wouldn’t be right to do so to one who’d been so kind to him. And anyone who created a being as delightful as Desta couldn’t possibly be a mean and horrible person… right?

“I… I was abandoned…. By both of my bondmates,” he finally makes out in a slow and laborious tone.

“Both bondmates?” Jemmy gasped. “You mean, you’ve been abandoned twice?”

Cinder roared, knowing that this elf wouldn’t want him and that she would laugh at him. After all, only horrible unwanted dragons are abandoned twice. “Yes, no one wants me. Go ahead and laugh now. I’m a horrible horrible dragon.”

Jemmy paused for a moment, not saying a word. A serene look overtakes her features. “Let me tell you a story.” Cinder opens his mouth to stop her, but she had already begun.

“Once there was a young Night dragon. He thought that no one loved him. He wasn’t even a teen yet and already he’d been left twice by bondmates who said that they would take care of him. Being young and alone, he hardened his skin to the world, so that when a third bondmate found him and vowed to care for him, he didn’t believe her, though he desperately wanted to. For she already had another dragon. A full grown Rainbow Butterfly dragon. Why would a Night hatchling make any difference?

“It was only after the Rainbow Butterfly went away that he discovered that his new bondmate loved him just as much as the other. It took a great deal of time, but he soon was able to deal with his past, even finding a lifemate and having children of his own, whom he will never allow to feel as he did.”

Cinder waited in silence as Jemmy finished and speaks, “You just said that to make me feel better. It probably never even happened.”

Then the elf smiled. “Ah, but you see, it did. The Night dragon was one named Mandarb. After a long time, he bonded to another Night dragon named Tiaik. They’re expecting their second clutch, and you see, I will end up with one of those eggs. Mandarb is one of my dragons.”

So it was true. Jemmy was everything that Cinder wished in a bondmate. But she had so many others to care for. There was no way that she would want another one. “Oh,” he said sheepishly. “Well, I should get you back to your suite.”

“Oh, wait. Before we do that,” she replies, sliding down from his back. “I have a few things for you. Taking the first pack, she sets it beside the blanket and pillow. “This is a never ending supply of meat for you. Fresh is always better, or so my dragon tell me, but since you won’t be here for long, you might not get the chance to learn where all of the herds are….”

Then Jemmy took the other pack, she begins to take a couple things out of it, a large blanket and a pillow. “These will adjust to just the right temperature for you. They’re the same as I’m using for the eggs, since I don’t have a cave to be able to keep them all in the right environment, these work quite well. You don’t really need that aspect in here, since you have the lava pit, but they’re soft and do make a good place to sleep.”

“I also have a few little friends for you. So that you don’t get lonely while you’re here.”

Here are Cinder's friends. (Click to visit where they came from).

Tears of golden red welled up inside of Cinder’s eyes, quickly pouring forth from them. “Oh Jemmy, I wish I had a bondmate like you.” Unable to control himself from all of the kindness he’d received, he reached down to nuzzle her, getting her quite wet with his giant tears.

The elf patted him, flashing a smile.

	Dragon Stats Name: Cinder Gender: Male Parents: Piercing Heart and Flaming Kimono Clutch: #1 Breed: Fire
	Habitat: Volcanoes and Underground Caves Colors: Red and Red Food: Meat Temperament: Rash and Uncontrolled Status: Adult Adopted on: January 11, 2003

~ I met a red Fire Opal named Morgaine. She's pretty cool. She was abandoned like me, but only once, not twice. I heard that there was a hatchling that was abandoned three times and died. But I know that won't happen to me because Jemmy won't abandon me.

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