Svedok, Dragonkin

Svedok listened to the quiet conversations around him. Iris had gone on her journey to find a dragon at Ring of Fire, in the hopes to help his father Lucas get ... well, get that shattered portion of his soul back from the demon who held it captive.

His father had always been a bit odd, even Svedok knew that much about his very human sire. Any man who could bend the laws of nature as he had, and produce half-dragon offspring must be a bit different from his peers. But Svedok respected his father greatly, and loved him with all his heart. Perhaps those things were missing from dragon society - and Svedok could tell that humans would be his solace.

Yet...

Even when he sent Lenore off on her own dragon-bonding journey, Svedok knew that she hardly looked at him as she might a human man. Even his human parts weren't quite human enough to prevent the local students and even the staff at House Domina from muttering about him. He was like a monster, with a nice smile.

How generous of them to say so. Even in their hushed whispers, he could hear them. That was his father's gift, he was quite able to sense faroff sounds, see better than an eagle... Plus, Svedok could fly. If he weren't four-footed, people might mistake him for a giant bat, against the sky. But he did have those extra legs... And a big long tail.

Svedok paced about in his ample study room, in Lucas' portion of the House. His sister was off on some errand, having disguised herself with a set of charms and potions provided to her by Zora. That woman knew her stuff. Svedok understood why Lucas was enfatuated with her, why wouldn't he be? She acceped him into their school without hesitation, showed him physical pleasures that he was denied otherwise, and made sure that he was considered a friend rather than merely an aquaintance by the other staff.

That gave Svedok a little leeway when it was time to talk to Zora about what classes he ought to be studying. It was just that... Even the scant few students at House Domina were still a bit unnerved by his presence in their classrooms, and the rooms themselves weren't as spacious as these halls in Lucas' quarters. Especially the potions and herbalism rooms, where there was enough room for a pack of humans to slip through the chairs and tables... But far from enough to have a large creature like himself even walk without knocking things down with his wings.

"Zora tells me that you want to take the potions class," Lucas said, startling his son. Svedok nodded, his long horns swishing through the air.

"Yes," he said, "but... I keep knocking things over, in there. All those bottles... I'm a bull in a ... what was it?"

"China shop," Lucas smiled. "We can solve that if you'd only take the transformation class."

"But, there isn't one yet," Svedok said, listlessly. His wings folded over his long body, and he rested down on the stone floor, feet tucked under his 'taur torso like a cat's. "I want to be able to go where they go... But I can't even keep my tail from hitting the door when I'm all the way into a room..."

Lucas stood there, with a faint grin on his face and small lines collecting around the corners of his eyes. "You completely missed the point of what I said, Svedok," he said. There was something odd about his voice, something that Svedok hardly recognized: humor.

Svedok turned and looked at the grin on his father's face, knowing that expression was rare on him - far more common on humans in general than it would have been on his draconic mother's. He stood back up, the rustling of his leathery wings stirring the loose papers on the desk nearby. "You mean that you're going to teach me?"

"I'm going to teach transformation, Svedok, anyone is welcome. Including you, and it will be taught in the hall, not in a room. One must have enough room for such things." Lucas said, still grinning. "After all, there are many shapes that people would like to take, not everyone wants to tackle a mere feline or mouse."

"You know what I want," Svedok said, low.

"I do know," Lucas said. "And I think it is within your range. I know you will have better success at it than that girl Natalia."

"The owl girl," Svedok nodded. "She's always so angry."

"She reminds me of me," Lucas said. "But I fear she'll never be able to truly transform. You," Lucas added with his arm draped over Svedok's shoulder and growing a long set of claws, "you're my son. It runs in the blood."

***

It was not quite two weeks later that Lucas' first classes were opened. Half the students, and a number of the free staff, wanted to attend. Zora sat in because it was her opinion that all her instructors could benefit from watching one another teach. Svedok stood nervously along the wall, and looked over the students. None of them were older than he "felt", he knew he was barely a baby in draconic terms. Twice the humans' age at least, Svedok still felt out of place.

His father put that to rest quickly. "I want to show you that transformation is both a delicate and complex art," he began. "Some people have a natural propensity toward it, and some sadly," here he almost unconsciously glanced at the angry owl-girl Natalia, "do not. There are many ways to alter one's appearance - glamours, charms, makeup, dyes and clothing," he glanced up at Zora who giggled: her hair was a vivid shade of marroon today, and her clothing matched it stitch for stitch. "But the most meaningful change is one which affects every aspect of appearance at once."

He went on to describe how one chose a form to emulate. Each person of course had a favorite or target type of animal or creature... Svedok and Natalia were the only ones who chose "human" as their target. When everyone was expecting to get the magic words, the key to their transformation - Lucas said, "now, go out and find one. You really want to be a ferret," he said to one girl, "then get one and see what they look like. How they smell. Their behaviors and their habits."

"Where am I going to get a golden lion?" Said someone. Others laughed - he was about as far from lionlike as one young portly man could get...

While the rest of the class wandered off to go find their animal totems - or at least go to the library where they could find good books about them - Natalia slunk around the edge of the hall, and Svedok didn't really have to look very far for his target. Lucas ignored them both. Finally, he went into his study, which was a clear sign to even his son, that he was to be left alone until he came out.

"Well I feel totally cheated," Natalia grunted. Her beaklike face was not unattractive, but certainly not human-pretty. But her coloration was amazing, so pale and shiny...

"I ... think it'll be a while before any of us get very far," Svedok said, tactfully remembering what his father had told him. She was probably hopelessly stuck in her half-bird form. "Hey, at least you can sit on chairs and not worry about where your hind end is when you're walking around."

Natalia glowered at Svedok with one large eye, then decided that he wasn't all bad at that. Her strange face stretched into a grimacing smile, and Svedok suddenly understood why people were afraid when dragons laughed...

***

"They really mistake you for a goblin?" Svedok asked Natalia as they walked to their Apparitions class. Natalia had warmed up to him immediately, and in his opinion got kind of clingy. But he didn't mind the attention either - she was trying to help him study their 'Magical Creatures: what parts are alchemically active?' project, and she was quite good at identifying those parts. He had experience with the ghosts and such that their next class held and shared his notes with her.

Everyone assumed that they were a couple, by two weeks. Neither of them really knew what to do about it. Natalia grunted at his question, "all the time. With a guy like my dad as my dad... yeah. All the time."

They sat in class and watched as Trudy Shout gave off another loud exposition on how to detect and contain a particular type of poltergeist. All the ghosts in the place were scared of her. With good reason.

But later on, when Svedok had some time alone, he pondered more about himself than Natalia or ghosts or the homework he had. He still greatly wanted to transform himself human. Would that offend Natalia? Probably. She'd given up on the class after a week - it obviously wasn't going to work for her, even though she tried hard.

It came more easily for Svedok, and instead of his Apparition homework, he tried turning his tail shorter. With a bit of effort, he could. He'd work on his wings next. Once he had those under control, he figured, he might even be able to pass for a scaley centaur.

Not that they got much more respect in human society, but still. They were closer.

His sister came into his room with a broad smile on her very human looking face. "I've found another one, this is so fun!" She said, dropping onto the floor and mantling her wings so that Svedok couldn't see what she held. He wasn't actually all that interested, truth be told. He was swimming in his own thoughts.

Lumiere folded her wings back, and her tail tapped delicately on the stone floor. "Something's the matter, Sve?"

"Just thinking on how to use this transformative magic I have. That's all."

"Then get the chance to use it in real life. Go tell Jesi that there is a winter clutch of dragons, and she'd fit in." Lumiere held out a scroll with information on it, which Svedok took listlessly.

It got him thinking again, about how happy the others would be when they found their partners. His sister was trying to find her own way too. What about Svedok?

"Why don't you do it," Svedok said, handing the scroll back to his sister. "I'm just not in the mood. And it's always cold in Jesi's quarters. I don't much like the cold."

"It's all that useless surface area," Lumiere said, swatting at Svedok's folded hind quarters. Then she swooped out of the rooms and into the hallway beyond. Svedok wasn't in the best mood at that statement. How useless was he, really? How useless was his mother, brooding their other siblings? She was a dragon - a real dragon.

But what did that mean? He'd been traveling with his father and sister for most of his life, and his youngest moments he did not really remember - the first couple years were spent with his mother and the eggs. The warmth of the den, the feel of the sandy dirt below his clawed feet, the wind on his untested wings... Those things he remembered. But what of the draconic way of life? What did he really know about that?

Svedok had a minor revelation at the same time as he plummeted into a typical teenager's mood. He knew nothing about anything really. Not enough to make a difference in magic, didn't know how to behave around dragons, couldn't fit in with humans...

Where did he belong, really?