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Miranda shivered involuntarily, "That was disgusting... you need to bathe a lot more." She went to wash her hands and arms, it had been pretty bad!

"It is hard to bathe... I've been depending on Owen for that, but he's been busy. He needs to bathe too..." Draco chuckled and stretched a bit. "Hrrrm.... thank you very much. I'm all sparkly..."

"You're welcome, it's much better now! I'm going to take a nap under that tree over there... the breeze is comfortable." Miranda kissed Owen lovingly and then walked off sleepily to a lush spot for an afternoon nap.

Owen smiled and watched as she went. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met, and that night... well, he couldn't wait to have her to himself.

"Hmm... the sun is nice and warm... it feels good to be clean."

"You're more like a cat than anything else, Draco."

"You can't even tel the difference between a cat and a dragon? I never knew you were blind, Owen."

After a little bit, Miranda was sleeping and Owen was working hard at the back of the house. Draco was sunbathing, the warm sun felt good with the breeze and his scales shone.

Suddenly, something fell from the sky and crashed into him, flailing and crying out in fear. Miranda slept through this.

Draco and the... 'something' tumbled around for a bit as they tried to get away from each other, and Owen came running out of the house.

"Draco!! Stop squirming, her wing is caught under you!" He exclaimed, feeling a bit panicked. The second dragon was about to tear her wing off. "Hey! Sop squirming!! Stop!"

Draco was already still and he gently rolled off of the dragon's wing, and then she collapsed to the ground, seemingly in pure exhaustion.

"Draco, you alright?" Owen asked, panting heavily.

The smaller dragon was a soft pink, tinged red and her eyes were violet in color. She was crying out in pain and her eyes were filled with distress.

Miranda finally ran over to calm down the small one while Owen dealt with Draco.

"What happened?!" Miranda cried.

"I don't know!" Even Draco's eyes were wide still with shock. "I was just laying in the sun when she crashed into me! Did I hurt her? She shouldn't be so reckless! Is she alright?!"

Owen put his hands over Draco's mouth and kissed the dragon's snout. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was afraid it was another attack." Then he frowned. "She seems to have scratched you in a few places... Mira, how is the little one?"

"Her wing looks torn... calm down, love... it's alright!" Miranda kissed her and hugged her close, "Shhh... it's alright, I'll bandage you up, Draco didn't mean to hurt you."

"Alright..." Her voice was so pretty, like music. "Forgive me for crashing into you... s-s-s-sire..." She stammered.

"Come, it's alright now... you're wing is hurt."

"Mhm. Wait..." She looked closely at Draco, "I saw you, you're beautiful."

Draco's shocked expression softened a bit, and he nodded a slight. "Th-Thank you. As are you, pink rain..." He craned his neck around to sniff her a few times, then sighed. "You are very young."

"That's obvious by her size, isn't it?" Owen frowned.

"Actually, most females don't get bigger than her. But still... why'd you crash into me?"

"Mm... I saw something beautiful shining... my vision got cloudy and I fell." The small dragon shrunk back shyly, her eyes darted around nervously as if he would be angry with her.

"Do you have a name?"

"No... I was late in finding my rider, I got lost..."

"How about Hika?" Miranda kissed her snout.

"That's pretty... thank you."

"Mm... late to find your rider...? Was your rider not one within the hatching ceremony?" Owen seemed genuinely surprised. "That hasn't happened... in... what? Two-hundred years, Draco?"

"Hm... it has been a long time." Draco nodded. But for now... we must tend to her wounds."

"And yours as well." Owen frowned. "You're scratched up all over."

Miranda suddenly felt a strong pang of guilt, it was so deep that tears began to roll down her cheeks. What was that? What was the pain coursing through her.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out while working on Hika's wing.

"What?"

"I should have been there! I had no idea..."

"HUH?!" Owen and Draco's voices melded together in that instant. Owen nearly dropped the cloth he was holding. "Y-You?! What?!"

"M-Mira's... she is a...?!" Draco couldn't even get the words out, so he was obviously just as stunned as Owen.

Miranda looked at Hika and continued to cry, "I didn't know I was a rider... but I feel this strange attachment to you already, when you landed... I shot awake and had to come see you."

Hika seemed stunned, her eyes were wide with shock.

"Well, I-I know that feeling exactly." Owen commented. "Any rider would know the feeling you just described."

"Well, it seems we have a new addition to the family..." Draco smiled and finally lay down beside the smaller dragon. "You are pink."

"I am... I kind of like it..." Hika said softly.

"I think she suits Mira perfectly well." Owen smiled.

Miranda wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled loudly, "Ehe... I should have known sooner, I suppose." She leaned against Owen and watched the two of their dragons bond. They seemed to like each other already.

"Your name, did you tell me?" Hika asked.

"Draco."

"Pretty." Hika seemed to think most things were pretty.

Owen took a seat and smiled, pulling Mira into his lap as they sat with the two dragons. "She's very beautiful... I've seen a lot of females in my time, but she's the prettiest."

Draco laid his head down and blinked sleepily. "It means dragon... I was named after my father." He smiled softly and began to purr, showing his contentment. "But... I always did like the sound of it. Mira chose well, Hika is a fine name for you."

"Really? What does it mean?" Hika asked curiously. Her wing stung quite a bit, but she was beginning to feel much more calm.

"Lovely Star, I do believe..."

Hika gasped in surprise, her name was very beautiful and she already loved it, thanks to Draco's explanation. "Mira is a good rider already... she seems wonderful, I can't wait to get to know her. How do you suppose she missed the ceremony?"

Draco smiled. "She never knew she was supposed to be a rider, I assume. She is also above age, so I am guessing the fairies didn't think to look at her for a rider. It is fine though... you are together now. How old are you...?"

"Four years... I got a little lost and ended up with an abusive rider." Hika explained, she looked sad, "They would try to paint me and stuck strange gold objects through my ears... It was so painful."

"Paint you?" Draco frowned and nudged her. "What a rude rider... Owen, did you hear that?"

"I did... we can go take them out... tomorrow. I have a date with my Lovely this evening." He smiled then to Hika. "I'm sorry they hurt you, but the earrings are very pretty on you. You are a very beautiful dragon... I'm not certain why they'd want to change your color though..."

Hika smiled warmly, "No rush, I have grown quite used to them now! No, they just painted tribal markings on me... Someone washed me one day, so I feel better now too."

Miranda sighed in relief, "I am glad to hear that."

"Well... you should rest anyway. I'm sure it's been a long day for you." Draco draped a large black wing over the smaller, pink dragon. Their colored scaled seemed to sparkle beautifully together. A pinkish-red dragon, and a black dragon, who seemed to look the most like obsidian. "We should allow the humans to get back to their daily chores while we relax and watch them."

"We can't help?" Hika asked softly.

"No, they'll fuss at us since we are both injured."

"Draco is right... you both should just relax, and not worry about anything!" Owen smiled.

Miranda gave Hika another little kiss, "Thank you though, maybe some other day! Focus on getting better today." She stepped back, giggling over the fact that she had her own dragon!