~Five years later~

Void lay on a thin blanket in his house, his expression dulled into a frown as it usually was. His brother, Nightwatcher, was the same age as him, and yet he was still better than Void at everything. It wasn't Night's fault, Void knew that, but he was still furious about it and avoided his brother whenever he could. That wasn't easy, considering that they lived together and that their parents were around them almost every minute of the day, making it nearly impossible to steer clear of him. The broad shouldered Nightwing was in the middle of their house now, speaking cheerfully with their mother, Ebony. He turned his head to glance at Void and smiled wryly, as if inviting him over, but Void simply glared at him for a moment and looked away. He could feel that Night was still watching him, disappointed that his brother didn't seem to like him, and slightly curious about why not. Void dug his claws into his blanket, stabbing small holes into the red fabric, Keep wondering brother. His mind hissed. Night turned away again, his brow furrowed and his tail flicking. Void was surprised that their mother hadn't noticed the rift between the two. He tucked his wings closer to his sides and lowered his ears a bit. He faintly wished he and his brother had the bond that all the other siblings in the village seemed to have, but he knew that they couldn't, not when Void felt like this. Ebony finally glanced over at her second son, looking puzzled and concerned. "Void?" She twitched her wing invitingly but Void turned away. He could feel his mother watching him, a small frown now creased on her snout. She moved back to Night and continued talking to him, but Void could tell that the conversation was more tense and awkward then it was before. She asked him something with that frown that always made a dragonet squirm, even one like Night, who shuffled his talons a bit without looking at her and mumbled a reply. Ebony lowered her head for a moment and padded away in search of their father, Wisdom. Night waited until the NightWing had left, then turned his gaze to Void, his expression serious. He opened his mouth for a moment as if he had something to say, but then closed it with a tiny sigh and pushed his way out of the house. Void gazed at the ground, trailing one claw back and forth along the small space in front of his snout. It wasn't fair. Night even got a bit more attention from their parents then Void did. Night's more "impressive." He thought bitterly, flexing the rest of his claws and dragging them a bit harder across the wooden floor, leaving a small splintery trail.l Well, if I want to be better than Night, I guess I can't just sit here and mope about it, I need to do something. He pushed himself to his talons and strode out of the door. He stopped near the edge of their wooden porch and looked around the leafy landscape feeling the feeble sunlight soaking into his scales. He twitched an ear at a sudden playful roar and turned his head to see a pair of Nightwing dragonets wrestling. One of them, of course, Void realized, was Night, a fierce, determined smile on his face and his wings batting at his opponent's head. Three more dragonets sat nearby, watching the mock fight and a few stomping their feet in cheer. Void settled and folded his wings to view the exercise. Night and the other Nightwing, who Void recognized as Clearmoon, a dragonet who got some of the best grades in his class and was more fierce than most of the other females at his school. The pair rolled around for a moment, batting at each other with their claws sheathed. After a minute, Night finally ended up pinning Clearmoon to the forest floor, panting a bit and looking slightly proud with his victory. The other trio of dragonets clapped their wings together for a moment in congrats for the two. Night let Clearmoon get up and she sat up, shaking leaf mulch from her horns. "Nice job." She said, dipping her head to him. Void's claws twitched and he turned his head away from the group as they chose two different dragonets to spar. He could still hear their voices, but they were quieter now as Void zoned out, not even paying attention to his own thoughts. He set his head down on the wooden porch and closed his eyes for a few moments, taking quiet breaths. So distant that he didn't even hear the talons that landed a few paces away from where he was laying. "Hey...hello?" Void's eyes popped open and he jumped to his feet, ears pricked and claws flexed. The other dragon blinked at him, looking slightly surprised and half impressed. "What do you want from me?" He growled at the newcomer. To his surprise, a smile slowly cracked along her face and she laughed a bit, "Well now I feel as if I'm one of those villains from the fantasy scrolls!" She scrunched her snout up a little and bared her teeth slightly, when she spoke again it was in a mocking, slightly deeper tone. "Aha! I have finally found you! My victim! I will destroy your whole world! Mwahaha!" Void narrowed his eyes and frowned again, lowering his defenses a bit. "If that was how a villain sounded, I don't think we would need to be very worried." The other dragonet's expression relaxed into a smile and she flicked her tail with amusement, "Ah, maybe you're right, but I can be pretty fierce when I want to be!" Standing in front of this smiling, friendly dragonet, Void didn't believe it. "Who are you anyhow?" He asked, flipping his tail. "I'm Lucky." She replied, lifting her head and giving him a mockingly proud look. Aren't we all...Void thought dryly, glancing at Night for a second. He settled down again and turned away from her. She returned to her normal posture and blinked at him, "Hey..you alright?" She sat down beside him and lifted an eyebrow, "Whenever I see you around the village your always all 'Grrr, my life is so sad, no one understands my painnnnn.'' She giggled and nearly got knocked off of the porch by a stray gust of wind. She landed again and looked a bit calmer. "Really though, you look like you hate Nightwatcher," She said, tipping her head slightly toward the Nightwing dragonet. "did he do something to you?" Void dug his claws into the ground, saying nothing as if to tell her that he wasn't interested in speaking and he wanted to be alone, but she seemed to notice this as a sign that he wanted to talk about his problems and adjusted her pose a bit more comfortably. "Is...that a yes? Did he step on your tail or something? Steal your lunch? Fill your room with tarantulas?" Void lifted his head and gave her a weird look. She shrugged and her grey scales gleamed slightly in the lazy glow of the day, "Someone did that to me once," She shook her wings in a small shudder, "I still find some lurking around in my stuff to this day."  Void suppressed a sigh and lay his head down once more. To his surprise, Lucky blinked at him then settled down beside him, not seeming to care that their tails were slightly overlapped. Void scrunched his eyes shut, hiding his startle. Most NightWing dragonets knew to ignore him, so whenever they saw him, they always walked around him, always flying away from him as soon as they could. He twitched his wing, conscious of Lucky gazing out at hazy forest and the lazy wind blowing a bit at her. He stretched his claws out a little, he didn't need company. He was used to being alone, he liked it in fact, and he was not going to let a simple, strange dragonet change that. "Why don't you just leave?" He growled at her, snatching his tail away. She turned her head to look at him, and he was surprised once more that her expression wasn't hurt, it was oddly calm, friendly. "Because I can tell you need a friend." She replied. Void bared his teeth at her, "I don't need anyone." He retorted, turning away from her. He could feel her still looking at him, "Yes you do," she murmured, "I can see it in the way you move, in your expression, moons, even the flicking of your tail during class gives it away." Am I really that easy to read? He wondered, immediately pushing the thought away. He did not need anyone. He pushed himself to his talons, squaring his shoulders like he'd seen Night do once, hoping he looked as strong and confident as his brother somehow always managed to look. "You don't know me!" He snarled, "Why don't you just avoid me like everyone else does?" His last few words stung a bit, but he forced the feeling away. Lucky sat up, "Because I'm not like that." She answered, and Void knew, just by looking at her, that she was right. "I don't care what you're like," He roared, "Just go away!" Lucky blinked at him, widening her eyes a bit. Void recognized the hurt look that finally came in her eyes. She dipped her head the slightest bit, gathered herself, and flew away, leaving Void with a pang of something that he stamped down. As he whipped around, he saw that the quartet of battling dragonets had stopped, mid pummel or mid cheer, and had turned to stare at him. He realized that they had heard his roar, and a few wore disapproving or unfriendly looks.