Kang had been meaning to check on Eva that day, and of course, that meant that Karen had to go with him. He knew she'd probably like being around another human, especially one that was a mother herself, and that Eva would like to see the girl as well. He thought he remembered seeing a VCR and a few Disney movies in the living room, too, so that'd keep her occupied for a bit. There really wasn't much for a child to do on the ship beyond going to one of the parks in the City or the Sensoriums, and he'd done both already. Yesterday, she'd wanted to go to the circus, so he'd obliged and imagined it up for her.
He walked beside Karen, keeping a little bit of distance since she still hadn't quite stopped being nervous around him, and smiled when he saw Eva in her garden. "There she is, Karen."
"I don't know," Kang said after a moment, glancing at Karen and moving into the kitchen. "It's strange, how Sanction is the only city outside of Teyr that allows draconians, no questions asked, as long as we follow the laws everyone else is required to follow. Other races, too. It's one of only two that has a metallic dragon helping guard it, and the Solamnics in the other wouldn't even dream of it even if Iyesta didn't have a problem."
He snorted, "And if Crucible did decide to make trouble for me, I might not know it until it's too late. Bronzes can polymorph."
She follows him, making sure that she can still see Karen with a quick glance out the doorway. "You have the City here too, of course. Don't let yourself forget that."
She grimaces. "Don't we all know how that goes. Do they have limitations? Could he turn into someone you know on the ship?"
Kang shook his head, "I know. I still hate this. I'd hoped that nothing like this would happen." Why did it have to be something he hated instead of someone he actually wanted to see?
"I've never heard of anyone using polymorph to take the form of a particular person or animal."
"On the upside, it probably increases the odds of other people from your world arriving. Or downside. Can't be feeling too optimistic about this. Coffee?"
"It increases the chances of people they know waking up. Doesn't really affect the ones I care about all that much," Kang said somewhat bitterly. "Sure."
"How do you take it? I've been using ice cream to balance out the lack of creamer." She sighs, always sad to see Kang's bitterness come up. He seems mostly happy on the ship, bar missing his family, but the tribulations he and his race suffered on Krynn are still evident. "We don't know how Stacy chooses people yet. I've just noticed that if she's chosen two or three people from a world, more will come - even if they're on opposite sides."
Kang sat down at the table, and responded automatically, "With cream and sugar." Pausing, he muttered a curse, "Wait. Black. Damn memories."
As social as he was on the ship, despite the people that he considered to be friends or family, it wasn't the same as having someone from home. He still felt very lonely, but he tried not to let it show much. He wasn't the only one, after all, and he had to keep up hope. Having a bronze dragon around just felt like added insult to injury, though, and even before finding out about that, the length of time he'd been the only one of his kind awake had begun to get to him.
"Doesn't make me feel much better. What next, a Solamnic? Maranta, before Thes killed him?"
"I'll get you juice," Eva says, figuring it's best to try and avoid that whole ordeal and hoping Kang doesn't take offense.
"And what, are you going to let that fear dictate your mood? Iniss showed up here, what next? Visser Three? Elfangor again? It's a tough situation, Kang, but it's not something in your power to change right now. It's not something stressing about will change."
"Coffee's fine. I don't much like juice," Kang shook his head.
He smiled wryly, "I know it's pointless; I'm just being a depressing bastard right now. Happens sometimes."
He glanced at Karen still watching the movie and sat in silence for a few seconds, debating, and then he said rather abruptly, "I've never told anyone why we hate metallics so much willingly. It's more than being on opposite sides of the war."
She brings him coffee, sitting across the table from him and sipping her own. "Well, if you don't remember, I'm always peaches and sunshine. How dare you feel anything but ecstatic around me."
She drums against the edge of her coffee mug. "You know anything you say to me will be kept in absolute confidence. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm listening."
Kang couldn't help a laugh at that, pausing to take a drink of his coffee before speaking. "When Takhisis had her dragons steal the eggs, she told the metallics that if they wanted the eggs returned safely, that they had to swear an oath, to not interfere in her war. They called it the Oath of Neutrality. The metallics swore it, to a one. They didn't even try to fight for their children. And when they found out about our creation, that she'd lied about keeping the eggs safe, they were outraged. They should have known that she'd lie; they knew her nature far better than most of the other races of Krynn."
"They abandoned us, and that's just the first thing they did to us."
"It's...it was an entire devaluation of who you were. Are," she says, the full effect soaking in. "And they believed it. That's...there aren't words for how atrocious that is."
Kang sipped at his coffee, elbows on the table. "There were some draconians created from chromatic eggs. They weren't like us. They didn't want to serve Takhisis, or any of the evil gods. Most of them were killed off by the Dragonarmies; our kind were ordered to do it. The ones that survived... several of them were approached by metallic dragons, who became mentors to them. Our parents couldn't have the children they wanted, so they replaced us."
He let out a short growl, "And that's why we hate them so much. It's completely unforgivable."
He walked beside Karen, keeping a little bit of distance since she still hadn't quite stopped being nervous around him, and smiled when he saw Eva in her garden. "There she is, Karen."
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He snorted, "And if Crucible did decide to make trouble for me, I might not know it until it's too late. Bronzes can polymorph."
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She grimaces. "Don't we all know how that goes. Do they have limitations? Could he turn into someone you know on the ship?"
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"I've never heard of anyone using polymorph to take the form of a particular person or animal."
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She snorts. Kang hasn't said it can't happen.
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As social as he was on the ship, despite the people that he considered to be friends or family, it wasn't the same as having someone from home. He still felt very lonely, but he tried not to let it show much. He wasn't the only one, after all, and he had to keep up hope. Having a bronze dragon around just felt like added insult to injury, though, and even before finding out about that, the length of time he'd been the only one of his kind awake had begun to get to him.
"Doesn't make me feel much better. What next, a Solamnic? Maranta, before Thes killed him?"
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"And what, are you going to let that fear dictate your mood? Iniss showed up here, what next? Visser Three? Elfangor again? It's a tough situation, Kang, but it's not something in your power to change right now. It's not something stressing about will change."
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He smiled wryly, "I know it's pointless; I'm just being a depressing bastard right now. Happens sometimes."
He glanced at Karen still watching the movie and sat in silence for a few seconds, debating, and then he said rather abruptly, "I've never told anyone why we hate metallics so much willingly. It's more than being on opposite sides of the war."
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She drums against the edge of her coffee mug. "You know anything you say to me will be kept in absolute confidence. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm listening."
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"They abandoned us, and that's just the first thing they did to us."
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He let out a short growl, "And that's why we hate them so much. It's completely unforgivable."
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