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Meer moments ago, Solyxia and Starigosa had sat upon the Seat of the Aspects cuddling while watching Ebyssian, Starigosa's mate and Solyxia's father, talk to his fellow aspects. Once Wrathion saw he felt something ugly bubbling into his chest and wings, waiting for the moment the Frostwym would leave her daughter alone. The second she left to talk to Kalecgos, the drake pounced.
Wrathion sneered at Solyxia, blood red eyes staring into amethyst ones, “I can't believe this is the new black aspect’s daughter, it's pitiful!” Wrathion continued, ignoring the other’s calls for him to stop, “You don't deserve to even be called a black dragon. You're just a miserable little-”
“Enough Wrathion!” Starigosa shouted at Wrathion as she rounded on him, blocking his view from the other drake. The frostwyrm slammed her claws into the flooring, cracking the stone slightly in her rage. Pure real rage radiated off of her, not like the mask of emotions she wore so often that she had to pull from the depths of her dead soul, this was real and came easily to her.
“I will not stand here and allow you to torment my daughter! We have told you to stop yet you ignore us! I love you as one of my own, but that does not give you the excuse to use her as a punching bag! You are not a whelp so stop acting like one!”
Wrathion was not sure why he was acting like this, like a childish and angry whelp, as if he was pulling on another dragon's tail to get their attention. Thing is, that's exactly what he was doing. He didn't know why he was acting like this, all he knew was that ugly clawing feeling when he saw Starigosa with Solyxia. So he tormented the older drake, making fun of her voice, her visage, her name, and what even deemed it wrong to go after her for simply exisiting. He wasn’t proud of what he said, he didn’t even believe it , but he knew it would hurt Solyxia. So he did it without hesitation.
“Well she-” Wrathion stammered, looking around at Sabellian, Ebyssian, and even to Kalecgos for help, to which he received nothing but awkward glances and shaking heads. He wasn’t sure what to say, as Starigosa’s icy glare moved closer to him, only inches away now, the only thing he could see was her snarling teeth and runic blue glow that emanated from her eyes like a flame.
“Wrathion. Outside. Now. ” The wyrm growled into his face, and then waited for him to leave before following. As he lifted himself into the air, and positioned himself to fly down from the Seat of the Aspects, he could hear Starigosa hiss at the others to stay behind, and Ebyssian asked Solyxia if she was okay. Wrathion wasn’t able to hear a response as the flapping of large wings drowned it out.
Very quickly Starigosa flew ahead of him and brought them to one of the lower pillars behind where Nozdormu usually sat. Together they landed with a loud thud, and in a puff of magic she shifted into her visage.
“Visage. Now.” She snapped at him while pinching the bridge of her nose, clearly trying to reign in her anger.
Embarrassed and stubborn, Wrathion hesitated to do as he was told. “Why? We can talk just fine-”
“We will talk in our visages so I'm not tempted to freeze you with my breath.”
Wrathion froze for a moment, he wasn’t sure what he wanted, but it wasn’t this. Starigosa had never been like this towards him, and honestly it was a little scary. Without another word he finally did as she had asked.
"What had gotten into you, Wrathion? You're never this.. this rude!" The frostwyrm began pacing as she ranted at him. "And I know, I know you did not mean what you said about her," Starigosa raised her fingers to make what looked like common's quotation marks, "Not being worthy of being called the new aspect's daughter and not being worthy to even be called a black drake."
Wrathion slinked back as she threw his own words back at him. Wrathion was honestly deeply ashamed of how he acted, and usually he wasn't one to easily admit that he was wrong, but it didn’t look like there was any way out of this.
“Because if you did then you are not the drake I thought you were and I will not have any remorse from here on. So why. Why are you acting like a jealous whelp?”
“I- I don’t know...” Wrathion muttered, embarrassed at his childish reaction.”
Starigosa crossed her arms, glaring down at him with an icy gaze that made him feel young again.
“I- I don’t know. Really! I just saw her and… something came over me.” Wrathion says, jumping when Starigosa gives him a pat on his head.
“Wrathion. If you don’t know then you need to take a minute to self reflect. Even if it was to just get attention.”
“It wasn’t to get you-” Wrathion screeched, trying in vain to save what little remained of his pride, from being shattered.
Starigosa interrupted him with a swift blow to the head, “I don’t care. You don’t need to come up with something that isn’t true. You need to figure this out, and apologize to Solyxia first.” Starigosa leveled him with one last glare before taking to her Wyrm form, “Again, take some time before apologizing, you’ll want at least one person calm when you do.”
Wrathion bowed his head in embarrassment. Usually he’d take offense to being talked down to like a child, however he guessed he deserved it. He had acted like a child. He didn’t look up until he felt heavy wings lift into the air and the sound of them taking off.
***
Wrathion did what Starigosa had suggested and flew around for a little while before returning to apologize. The longer he flew the more embarrassed he became at his actions, however he was still no closer to an answer.
Eventually he found himself at the Little Scales Daycare watching the young red and older blue dragonspawn, whose names he didn’t care to remember, run around chasing the excitable whelps.
“Well, little Star couldn’t be bothered to come help anymore so she sends another in her stead?” the aforementioned blue dragonspawn says as he takes a break from chasing the whelps.
“No!” Wrathion says a little too loudly, “I am not an errand boy! Especially for someone with a strange name like Little Star! ”
“Mmhm, I meant Starigosa.” Wrathion deflates at the sound of her name. “That’s her nickname from when she was a whelp. What did she do? Or from the look on your face, I should be asking what you did.”
Wrathion made an annoyed face as he followed the dragonspawn as he talked, “Who even are you? Why should I tell some strange dragonspawn?”
“I am Agapanthus," He says matter-of-factly, "I helped raise her. The little star burns bright, but sometimes she gets a little too passionate. Now, tell me.”
Wrathion let his head roll back for a moment before he launched into the story.
***
“Mm, makes sense that the little star is protective over her children.” Agapanthus shrugs as he gathers the ingredients to make more whelp treats, “Her father was like that too. She was in the last clutch of Senegos and his mate before she died, and Starigosa was the only one to hatch. Cause of that Senegos always was more attentive than many of other dragons with their whelps, and Starigosa loved him. To add to that, she was only able to have one clutch, and she was barely able to be there for them before she was taken by the Lich King.” Agapanthus handed Wrathion half of the ingredients and motioned for him to start helping him, “So, it's nothing personal, she just can’t stand to see one of her children hurt.”
Wrathion hummed, making a disgusted face at the feeling of the treats, but continued nonetheless. “How do you know all of this about her?”
“I was there when she hatched. I helped take care of her with Senegos. In fact, she was my first whelp.” Agapanthus laughed, “She hatched upside down. And couldn’t figure out her wings for the longest time, so Senegos just carried her on his head- her choice of course. He spoiled that girl rotten…” Agapanthus trailed off and let a sad smile slip onto his face. “They were extremely close. With his recent passing…”
“She's more on edge now?” Wrathion finished, and was awarded with a hum of confirmation.
“Imagine how you’ll feel when your mother passes-” Wrathion cut him off with a sorrowful laugh.
“Impossible! She was dead before I hatched!”
“Well then,” Agapanthus silently offers to take the remaining amount of the ingredients off of Wrathion’s hands, to which he refuses, “How about someone else? Who took care of you the most? Or who devastates you at the thought of their death?”
A few people came to his mind, First Fahrad and Ebyssian, begrudgingly Sabellion, and even Anduin, but also, most presently than any other, was Starigosa. She was like a mother to him… He remembered the time she had stolen his egg from the red dragonflight. Not to use him, to make up for what she had done to create him. To make sure he wouldn’t become a weapon.
That was all before Fahrad stole him from her, of course.
And then it all came crashing onto him at once.
Oh god Starigosa was his mom.
That’s why he was so jealous of Starigosa and Solyxia.
He wanted her to actually be his mother.
“Oh fuck.” Wrathion lets the curse slip as he drops the treat he had just made. “I- I need to go. Thank you- whatever your name is again.” Wrathion quickly waves at the chuckling dragonspawn as he takes flight to the seat of the aspects.