The first rays of the sun had barely begun to stretch over the horizon, casting a golden shimr on the ocean beyond Berk’s cliffs. The village was still cloaked in sleepy silence, save for the distant gulls and the slow creaking of wooden roofs cooling from the night.
Inside Lucian’s small house on the edge of the village, everything was still. A soft breeze pushed through the open window, rustling the thin curtain.
Lucian lay asleep, for once unguarded. His breathing was slow, steady. He hadn’t stirred once through the night.
CLANG!
The sudden tallic noise jolted him upright.
"What the—?" he mumbled groggily, eyes squinting in the soft light.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. Sothing was wrong.
The room was in chaos. A chair had toppled over, his table was scratched, and a cooking pot lay on its side, spinning lazily.
Still half-wrapped in his blanket, Lucian reached over to the wall, grabbed the sword hanging there, and rose to his feet. Barefoot and cautious, he crept across the wooden floor, scanning every corner.
The trail of ss led him to the small shelf where he’d carefully placed the egg, gleaming with a faint, oceanic sheen.
His heart stopped.
The shell was broken.
Cracks spiderwebbed in every direction, and the top half had fallen clean off.
But there was nothing inside.
"...Oh, shit."
He swept through the house, pushing aside overturned crates and looking beneath tables and furniture, but found nothing. No signs of blood. No footprints.
"Where are you?!" he whispered, trying not to raise his voice.
He paused, listening.
CLANG!
The sound ca from his room.
Lucian stood up slowly and made his way back, sword still in hand. The morning light now poured faintly through his window, casting soft golden lines across the floor.
He stopped at the doorway.
Sothing was under the bed.
A thin, wiggling tail peeked out—sleek, scaled, and faintly shimring like a fish. But before he could step forward, the tail zipped back beneath the bed.
Lucian blinked. "...What?"
He got down slowly, lifting the blanket edge to peek underneath... but it was empty.
Then—
"Rrrrhh!"
A tiny growl, a squeaky, barely threatening sound ca from above.
Lucian’s head shot up.
On the bed, beneath the pile of tangled blankets, sothing was moving.
The blanket bulged. Wriggled.
And then... a snout erged.
It was small, rounded, with a soft muzzle and two little whisker-like tendrils twitching at the sides. Two baby horns peeked from its head, and its eyes—huge, shimring blue blinked up at him.
"...A lion?" Lucian whispered, stunned.
The creature gave a curious chirrup, followed by a tiny puff of mist from its nostrils. The mist drifted gently into the air and vanished like morning breath in winter.
Lucian stayed frozen, barely daring to move.
The creature wriggled more, pushing the blanket off entirely with an awkward little spin.
That’s when he saw it clearly.
From the front, it resembled a lion cub, tiny fangs, rounded ears, soft golden fur but from the back, it had the sleek, glimring tail of a fish, its scales catching the sunlight like polished turquoise.
"A... rlion," Lucian breathed, eyes wide in awe.
The baby rlion blinked up at him... then let out a high-pitched roar that sounded more like a squeaky hiccup.
Lucian couldn’t help it—he laughed.
Then, without warning, the little thing leaped at him with all the grace of a newborn seal.
"Whoa—!"
He caught it just in ti, stumbling back slightly as the rlion nuzzled into his chest, purring or sothing like it as it pressed its damp nose to his collarbone.
"You’re... definitely not what I expected," Lucian said with a soft smile, lowering his sword and cradling the small creature in both arms.
It pawed gently at his shirt, tail flicking behind like a sleepy otter’s.
"You’re warm. And kind of slippery."
The creature blinked up at him, then sneezed. A tiny puff of frosty mist hit his cheek.
"...Okay, that was cute," he chuckled.
He sat down on the edge of his bed, gently stroking the fur along the creature’s back. "You were the one making all that noise, huh? No wonder the house is a ss."
The rlion curled up in his lap, its eyes half-lidded as if already ready for a nap. Lucian leaned back slightly, exhaling with a strange mix of relief and wonder.
The rlion let out another tiny roar.
Lucian laughed softly again. "Yeah, yeah. You’re fierce. Got it."
Lucian cradled the tiny rlion in his arms, still marveling at the unlikely creature now purring against his chest.
"You need a na," he murmured thoughtfully, brushing his fingers through its soft mane. The little beast blinked up at him, tail swishing like it was already getting impatient.
Lucian smirked, a mischievous glint sparking in his eyes. "How about... Simba?"
At the sound of the na, the rlion straightened with surprising excitent and let out a sharp, squeaky roar.
Lucian chuckled. "Well, I’ll take that as a yes."
Without warning, Simba squird out of his arms and landed with a soft thud on the floor. He trotted across the room with clumsy curiosity, his paws slipping a little on the wooden boards. Lucian watched him in mild amusent... until Simba approached a crate nestled low by the wall, its lid partially cracked open.
Inside, faint green-blue light pulsed from rows of vials each one filled with swirling, semi-luminous gas.
Lucian’s eyes widened. "Wait—no, not that—"
Simba had already stuck a paw into the crate and clamped his tiny teeth around one of the vials.
Lucian dashed forward, snatching Simba up with one hand while the vial wobbled dangerously in the other. He cradled both close like they were eggshells ready to shatter.
"That was a close one!" he muttered.
He carefully set the vial back in place, double-checking the seals before turning to the little troublemaker in his arms.
Simba looked up at him innocently.
Lucian gave him a deadpan look. "Don’t you ’adorable’ ."
He walked back into the bedroom and gently set Simba down on the bed, giving him a firm look. "Stay there, okay? No wrecking things while I clean."
With that, he closed the door and locked it.
Outside the bedroom, the house was still a ss.
Lucian sighed and stretched, then rolled up his sleeves. He moved toward the cloth stand near the entrance where his new gear rested. Draped across it was the Howlbound Mantle, its fur-lined edges and fabric catching the morning light.
Beside it was sothing far more peculiar: a mask, smooth and grey as marble. The Mask of Devil Mischief.
It looked eerie and dangerous.
He had gotten this mask and the Zippleback gas from the rare boxes given by the twins.
[Bottled Zippleback Gas: A set of reinforced glass vials filled with a swirling, greenish-blue vapor extracted from a Zippleback dragon. The gas is highly flammable but inert unless ignited. Can be used as bombs when properly handled.]
[Mischief Mask: A trickster’s mask once worn by a legendary dragon rider. When equipped, grants the user camouflage abilities, blending into surroundings seamlessly, including weapons and held items.]
Lucian glanced toward the crate again.
"Yeah, maybe I should really find a better place for those..."
He returned to his work, stacking books, righting chairs, and collecting scattered trinkets. Just as he was brushing dust off the windowsill, a sudden tap-tap-tap ca from the window.
Lucian turned to see Scuttle peering in upside-down, wings fluttering as he hovered awkwardly.
"Hey, hey! Lucian!" the seagull squawked cheerfully, beak practically pressed to the glass. "Ariel says she’s gonna be seein’ ya this afternoon!"
Lucian blinked, then smacked his forehead with a groan. "Ah—right. I completely forgot."
"She told to tell ya ’cause, ya know, I’m real good at deliverin’ ssages. Fastest beak in the sea, they say. Well—so birds say it. I say it. But it still counts."
Lucian just gave him a tired smile. "Thanks, Scuttle."
As the seagull bead proudly, his eyes wandered—and widened when he spotted sothing behind Lucian.
The bedroom door had been pushed open.
Padding into the main room was Simba, his eyes locked curiously on the feathery creature flapping just outside the window.
"Oh wow!" Scuttle exclaid. "Is that a lion? With a fish tail?! That’s gotta be... what, a seahorse-lion? A finned panther? A... a purrmaid?"
Simba’s ears perked up.
Then he pounced.
"ACK!"
Scuttle squawked as Simba lunged toward him with a playful roar, tiny teeth snapping at the air near his feet. The seagull scrambled backward mid-air, flapping wildly.
"Hey! Hey! I got webbed feet! Not snacks!"
Lucian watched the chaos unfold, arms crossed. "Scuttle, I think he likes you."
"Y-yeah, well, I like not bein’ chewed on!" Scuttle yelped, still hovering just out of reach as Simba stood on his hind legs, trying to jump again.
Lucian walked over and scooped up the excited rlion. "Easy, Simba. He’s not food."
Simba let out a protesting mrrr!, wriggling in his arms.
Scuttle fixed his feathers and puffed up. "Phew. Kid’s got bite. Anyway, tell Ariel I delivered the ssage successfully."
"You got it," Lucian said, already trying to wrangle Simba back toward the bedroom.
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