Chapter Text
He woke up in a cage. Of course, he didn’t know that its purpose was sinister. Back then he didn’t even have a name yet. He was only a baby after all. A silver wyrmling; a bright-eyed newborn that saw the world as a wonderful and safe place. If he had known then what he would come to know in the future, he would have been fittingly afraid.
Beyond the cold metal bars was a market of humanoid figures. Cloaks, masks, robes, and hats, all made to obscure the faces of their wearers. None of them smelled like Mother.
What was a mother? What did it look like? He had a feeling it was supposed to be here, but it was absent.
He could smell other dragons though. Other wyrmlings close by. They were very easy to find, because they were right next to him, in their own cages arranged in a neat rectangular stack. Some had bright silver scales like himself, others were gold, or bronze, red, and black, all the colors really. Some were too young to open their eyes. Others were old enough to start trying to use their breath magic. All around him were the sounds of his fellow wyrmlings crying out.
They were all calling for a Mother.
Life in the market was dull, and not very nice. Sometimes the tag in his ear would itch, but it hurt to scratch it too much. His had the number 44. The other dragons had tags too, each with their own number. They were fed by a cloaked woman who would sit near their cages. But the food wasn’t much, and it wasn’t tasty. He learned to eat his share quick, or else the white wyrmling in the cage next to him would reach in and steal it.
Sometimes a person would come up to the cages, pick one, and that cage and its wyrmling would be taken away. They would always give the woman shiny circles in exchange.
44 liked the shiny circles. They glittered and sparkled and looked so very pretty. He wanted to have a shiny circle of his own, maybe lots of them. A whole pile! It would be nice, but he would be happy with one. Just one was all he wanted.
One day his wish came true. He watched as a shiny circle fell out of a robed figure’s pocket as they passed. He was able to reach through the bars of his cage and grab it out of the dirt. It was better than anything he could have imagined. He twirled it around in his claws several times watching how the light caught.
Then he heard a horrible hiss and the white wyrmling’s claws reached into his cage. It scratched at his side, trying to take the shiny circle from him. 44 pressed himself against the opposite wall, holding his treasure close. It was his! He got it fair and square!
The woman who fed them must have heard the commotion because she was kneeling in front of their cages. She sounded annoyed as she pulled the white wyrmling from its cage. The dragon bit the woman’s hand. The woman sounded angry. There was a crackle of energy, a bright light, and the wyrmling went limp.
44 was just a baby. He had no idea of the concept of death yet. But he knew, somehow, that what just happened was horrible. The cage next to him would remain empty for a while. A young brass wyrmling would take up residence there but would keep to itself.
The coin - as the red dragon in the cage above him called it - was his most prized possession. He kept it hidden under his wings whenever the cloaked woman was looking, which wasn’t often. The red wyrmling above him was new to The Cages, and he was bigger and older than all the other wyrmlings already present. He didn’t talk much, but when he did his words were strange.
Red would whisper and hiss in the draconic tongue. Saying how they didn’t belong here. How mortals should be bowing to them, not selling them off. He always seemed apprehensive.
It was around this time 44 started picking up speech. Not only from his rude friend above him but also from the humanoids who wandered the ‘Black Market’ as Red called it. He experimented with words, trying to talk to the other wyrmlings around him.
The brass dragon would remain silent, probably too young to understand speech anyway.
The red dragon, on the other hand, would call him annoying for his constant parroting. Despite that, the two would still get into conversations. Rather, Red would go off on a rant, and 44 would copy what he was saying. During these exchanges, Red would talk about what he could remember of the outside world. Forests, mountains, volcanos, the sky, the sun, and an endless amount of coins. To 44, who had yet to truly experience the outside world, it sounded marvelous. He wanted to see it.
But how? He pondered while turning his prized coin around in his hands. The cages were locked, and if they did try to leave they’d just be caught all over again.
44 decided to ask Red about it.
“Go?” He squeaked in broken draconic, looking up through the bars at the underbelly of his upstairs neighbor.
“What are you going on about now, Coin?” Red shifted from his relaxed position and cracked an eye open lazily. He had taken to calling 44 that nickname, it was the closest thing he had to a real name back then.
“Outside. Go outside. Wanna see.”
The older dragon looked at him curiously. “You want to escape?”
“Go outside!” 44 repeated with a happy smile.
“Shh, not so loud. That witch over there understands draconic. If she hears us we’re as good as dead.”
“Dead?” He tilted his head to the side, testing out the new word on his tongue “Dead. Dead. Dead.”
“Shut up!” Red growled, getting up on his feet and looking out through the bars to make sure nobody was listening. Once he was sure there were no eavesdroppers he kneeled down and pressed his snout to the bars, motioning for 44 to come closer so he could whisper. “I’ve been planning an escape since I arrived, but it needs lots of us to work together. I didn’t want to stoop to asking any of you Metallics--” He spat the last word “--for help. But we’re going to need all the help we can get if we hope to pull this off. So, are you in?”
“In? In!” The younger chirped.
“Are you actually agreeing or are you just copying me again, Coin?”
“In!”
“Gods, you’re stupid. Alright, I guess I’ll take that as your answer.”
44 didn’t entirely understand what he had agreed to. All he knew was that Red was going Outside, and he wanted to go too. In the coming days, when the lady would leave and close her stall, Red and a few dragons in the cages adjacent to him would mutter and murmur. Then those dragons would whisper to the dragons next to them, and the dragons that were whispered to would pass along the message down the line. It was almost like a game, 44 thought with a flick of his tail.
Red wouldn’t give him many details since he was too young to understand any complicated instructions.
“When we get out, just start running, and don’t get caught.” The older would whisper to him whenever he was proded for more information.
Easier said than done.
The escape went very bad, very quickly for 44.
44 was awoken one night by the sound of several cages falling to the ground. He looked up as Red broke free of his own cage and started hissing out orders in draconic. There was the sound of claws clicking against metal, doors being swung open, young dragons yipping at one another in urgency.
It wasn’t long before a gold dragon was picking the lock to 44's cage.
“Hurry. Quick.” She had whispered as 44's cage door came open before rushing off to free more dragons.
He took small nervous steps out of his cage. Excitement bubbled in his stomach in that way children get when they know they’re doing something bad. He took a moment to make sure his coin was secure under his wing before taking off with the other wyrmlings.
The Black Market was located in a series of underground tunnels. The walls and floor were made from moldy brick and ancient stone. Rusty pipes ran along and through the arching ceiling, occasionally they would make loud noises and water would drip from hastily patched cracks.
44 scurried along as fast as he could along with the pack. The market was mostly empty save for a few stalls and guards, which they avoided with some difficulty. Eventually, they had come to what looked like the main exit. A large tunnel with a stairway and two guards standing on either side. Upon seeing this new obstacle, Red - who the other dragons had silently elected as their leader in this endeavor - brought the group together to form a plan to get past.
44 tried to get in close to hear Red’s whispering, but there was a pair of larger wyrmlings in the way. He tried to hop on top of one so he could get close, only to get shaken off and hissed at.
The sound of something metal hitting the ground drew his attention. His coin had slipped out from its safe place under his wing and was rolling away. 44 scrambled to his feet and rushed after it with an upset little squeak of a roar.
“Coin! What are you--?!” Red snapped but was interrupted by an authoritative man’s voice and the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Who’s there?”
Upon realizing they’d been discovered, all the wyrmlings scattered with scared cries. Some of the more bolder dragons attacked the guard who had walked over and looked around the crate they were hiding behind. They jumped on top of him, trying to scratch and bite at the soft spots between the plates of armor. Others simply fled trying to find a safe place to hide. 44, however, was chasing after his prize possession which continued to bounce and roll away.
It slipped through the bars of a small opening to a dark side tunnel. He could hear the sound of rushing water echoing through the darkness. Regardless, he wiggled his way between the bars to chase after his coin.
And then he fell.
In his haste, he had failed to notice the steep drop on the other side. He was too young to fly, but in the two seconds he was airborne he flapped his wings regardless. The water he had heard rushed up to meet him and he was quickly submerged. He had never seen so much water in one place before. In the cages, they were given water in small bowls. Who would ever need to drink this much?
He was tossed and turned with the fast current, doing his best to hold his breath and try to find his way to the surface. With some effort 44 opened his eyes to see where he was going but was met with a sight that made his heart flutter.
Just ahead of him getting tossed around in the current was his coin; shining, golden, and just out of reach. He wiggled and flailed in the water and he reached out to try to catch it. His efforts were rewarded as he felt it slip into his claws. He let out a howl of victory but had forgotten that he was underwater, and took in a mouthful of water.
44 came to the conclusion that drowning was not fun.
The current seemed to surge for a moment, and suddenly he was falling again. He had just gone over a waterfall and now found himself falling six feet off to the side of the tunnel, where a stone walkway caught him.
He lay on his side, his coin hugged to his chest tightly. He coughed and sputtered, emptying out the water in his lungs, a few snowflakes and small chunks of ice flew out and melted swiftly. He wasn’t sure how long he rested, but he knew it was a while. He had no idea where he was, or how to get back to the other dragons. The only thing he could do, he reasoned, was to keep moving forward and find the Outside.
He was lost in the tunnels for a very, very long time. 44 wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it was long enough for his stomach to hurt with hunger. He wandered aimlessly, following the water as it flowed, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always keeping his distance from fear of falling in and almost drowning again.
Occasionally, he would stop to rest. He would pull out his coin from under his wing and clutch it close. It brought him comfort during his lonely time in the dark tunnels.
More time passed. The pains in his stomach were getting worse, and he found himself needing to take more breaks. He was starting to get desperate for something to eat.
Something scurrying out of the corner of his vision caught his attention. He blinked at the sight of a small furry creature with a long skinny tail. It was hunched over something, it’s rounded ears twitching up and down.
“Hello? Hi?” He took a few steps forward “Hi? Hi?”
The creature didn’t respond, only look up from what it was holding. Food. It was holding a chunk of bread in its hands. 44's stomach growled loudly at the sight of the bread. He took a few more steps forward, his tongue flicking out hungrily.
The rat - as he would later learn it was called - hissed as he approached. Its hairs stood on end and it dropped its food in order to prepare an attack.
44 flinched and took a step back, his gaze switching from the large rat to the piece of bread. He started weighing his options. He could fight and risk injury, or he could run and continue to starve… 44 didn’t like how either of those options sounded, so he decided to go with option three.
He charged forward, going as fast as he could. He quickly maneuvered to the left of the rat, and as he passed he grabbed the bread in his jaws. The rodent let out an angry squeal and gave chase as 44 escaped with its meal. It seemed as if he would get away scot free.
However, he didn’t know much about rats. If he did, he would have known that they tend to have large families.
At first, it was only one or two rats joining the chase. Then that multiplied to five. Then ten. Then twenty. It wasn’t long until 44 found himself getting chased by a small army of rats through the tunnels.
Adrenaline was pumping through him as he ran for his life. A chorus of feral screeching sang behind him and it didn’t sound like they were going to let up anytime soon. He felt sharp claws swatting at his tail and he tried to pick up speed. Left, Right, Left, Right, Straight -- Was there any end to this place?!
He could see a small offshoot tunnel up ahead. It was a bit high up, but he would be able to jump it. He mustered all his energy into one last sprint to pull away from the pack and then jumped with all his might. He was just able to catch himself on the edge and pulled himself up quickly when he felt teeth trying to gnaw at his tail. He didn’t stop to see if the rats were trying to follow, he just kept running. It wasn’t until the sound of the rats was gone that he allowed his pace to slow. The tunnel climbed in an upwards slant, and the fact that it was slippery with wet and grime made it difficult not to fall. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he knew it was safer than where he had come.
That’s when 44 saw a light.
At first, he thought it was the light of lanterns, the Black Market had been lit by hundreds of them. But this light was brighter and didn’t flicker like the light of a candle.
He approached the opening and saw the sky for the first time.