I Became Part of the Dragon's Hoard

Bery stared at her father. The only feature of his that she bore was some of the whiteness of his hair. Overall, she looked nothing like him. The man breathed a bit more smoothly after a bit, and his eyes opened.

"Bery? Is that you?"

The kitten wanted to deny it. He'd been mumbling her mother's name in his sleep the whole time, yet he'd mustered her name.

Bery nodded. "You remembered…"

Yehrmin looked over to her, lacking the strength to lift his head. His aged face was wrinkled all over. Despite everything, he smiled. "You really do look exactly like her."

Bery shook, her chest tightening.

The man continued, his face growing solemn. "I'm sorry. In the end, I am a terrible person."

Bery's eyes widened. Of all things he could say. She expected him to yell at her. Perhaps he would wish she was dead, and then her heart could find comfort in hating him.

Yehrmin swallowed. "I know you probably hate me. You should hate me. I honestly don't deserve to live."

The kitten's eyes watered. Each word was more painful than the last. She'd never heard his voice like this. She never heard this softness. This soft language was like a sharp blade stabbing into her stomach, and the knife was being twisted.

Yehrmin breathed deeply, looking towards the stars. "But your mother, she loved you. She loved you more than anything." The man chuckled to himself. "She probably loved you more than she loved me. No, she definitely loved you more than she loved me."

"Why?" Bery asked. "Why did you throw me away?"

Warm tears flowed out of the old man's eyes, dripping down his face and onto the rock beneath him. He swallowed again. "I hated that she died for you. I hated that despite everything that happened, you had to look like her. I didn't want to see you ever again."

Yehrmin sniffled and reached up with his arm, but it fell back into the rock's surface. "I am really the worst of the worst. Even though her last wish was for you to live a good life. She told me to take care of you. In her last moments, she would not let you go."

Bery felt the flood pour from her eyes. For the first time, she felt vindicated by her mother's smile. She knew that her mother loved her. Hearing it from the man she was supposed to hate was only bitter sweet. It only made the words more true.

"How has your life been since I deserted you?" He asked.

Bery swallowed back her tears, answering him. "It was hard at first. Someone saved me near the river, but then it became better. I learned how to paint, and there was this sweet elf girl who would buy them from me. I was able to make it in a human village with her help, and they all took care of me. Then I met the most wonderful woman I've ever met."

Yehrmin grinned, his eyes moving towards Valerie. "I see, so I can thank you then?"

Valerie simply stared at him with narrowed eyes.

The old man nodded slightly. "That is the reaction I would expect when looking at a horrible person." Yehrmin looked back towards his crying daughter. "You are too kind, just like Shau'na. I never deserved either of you."

Valerie shrugged. "Regardless of what I think about you. Bery doesn't hate you. I wished she did, but then...she wouldn't be Bery."

Yehrmin looked back at Bery. "Do you still like painting?"

The kitten smiled. "I do."

"I have a selfish request to ask of you. I don't deserve it, but can you paint something for me?"

Bery hesitated, but ultimately she relented. "I would like to."

With the help of Valerie, Bery set up her painting canvas at the edge of the water. The dragoness provided a light of flame in her hand, so the kitten could see the painting canvas clearly.

Bery looked towards the water of the river. A pink fish?

There in the water, a pink fish with purple spots struggled against the current. The kitten questioned how such a weak creature could be alive. It wasn't even good at the one thing all fish were good at.

Either way, she took a deep breath, and drew on the inspiration of the fish in front of her. She picked up her paint brush, dipping it in her blue paint, and mixing it with a hint of black.

She painted the river in front of her, using white lines to depict the current. Inside of the water, she painted the pretty pink fish.

Behind her, Yehrmin watched in silence for the most part, but a low gasp left his lips when Bery completed the pink creature. "I see...she's still watching over you."

Bery tried to pay his words no mind, continuing despite the tears flowing from her eyes occasionally. The river banks came to life. Not far away from them, Bery painted green grass and trees. She painted beautiful white dots, showing the spirits dancing among the wilderness.

And finally, Bery painted three people. A Kanai'n man and a Kanai'n woman held the hands of their daughter, the three of them smiling.

It was Bery's most ideal childhood. A reality that she'd always wanted when she was little but something that she never had.

Shau'na's gorgeous smile looked exactly how Bery remembered it. I love you, Mother.

Bery looked away from the painting to the face of her grinning father. His face smiled towards her painting, but his eyes remained closed. His chest no longer moved up and down.

The kitten put down her paint brush and moved over to him, kneeling beside his lifeless body.

"I love you too, Father." Her chest tightened, and she watched little blue leaves rain down on his body.

They fell from a tree nearby, until the tree was completely emptied. White spirits descended and covered the man in a bright white glow. The flash of blue-white light ended as quickly as it began.

Yehrmin's body disappeared from this world.

Bery's tears rained down onto the rock below.

Valerie wrapped her arms around Bery from behind and hugged her deeply. "He heard you."

A smile graced the kitten's lips. Perhaps it was true that none of this was deserved. Maybe her tears shouldn't be shed for him at all, and maybe she shouldn't love him. However, Bery could not deny her heart.

No matter how he treated her when she was younger, Bery never found the ability to hate him. And in his last moments, he vindicated her. He let her paint flow on the canvas, and he didn't call her weak.

"Thank you, Valerie. Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Father. And thank you, Kanai. You've all allowed me to hurt and to heal."

The dragon placed her chin on Bery's head. "I would have preferred that you never hurt at all. I had half a mind to lock you in the castle forever, unable to hurt anymore."

Bery chuckled. "I know, but you didn't. You didn't because you are an amazing person. You knew this was important to me. Do you think he will be okay?"

Valerie sighed. "I think he will need to spend an eternity apologizing to your mother to make up for what he did. But...if she's anything like you, she will come to forgive him eventually."

"I kept wondering how she was able to love him. I guess that he had a gentle side after all."

"Most people cannot be categorized as fully evil or completely good. Emotions are complex. People change over time. The people that they used to love turn against them, or the people that they were against they come to love. This is how life has always been since I've been alive."

Bery turned to face her dragon, looking into Valerie's watery eyes. It was the first time she'd seen such a display of emotion.

Valerie tried to turn away, but the kitten grabbed her cheeks.

"Don't hide this from me. I am well aware of how people can change. No matter how I may change, no matter how you may change, and no matter what, I will never stop loving you."

Bery proved her words by kissing Valerie. And no matter what, I will learn everything there is to learn about you.

Valerie's tears burned away with her magic, much to the chagrin of her kitten. "I know this is selfish and unfair."

The dragon stood up and held out her hand for Bery to take, pulling the kitten up and into her arms. "I will be strong for you to lean on me in your hour of need. When your tender heart feels better, I will be here to tell you all about myself."

Valerie flapped her wings, taking the kitten into the sky, and leaving the painting below.

Inside of the water, the lone pink fish faded to dust, and the happy laughs of a mother echoed.