[It's useful for Ali, it's clearing up some misconceptions he had about unicorns. It also explains why the King had thought to ally himself with Concord: it sounds like the protection of a unicorn is vital to the land, so being in contact with the unicorn tied to this particular bit of land would help keep the farms prosperous and the forests relatively safe. Very smart on the King's part, Ali finds himself thinking.
The question that follows prickles at the back of Ali's mind though. He's sure Concord is asking to be polite, and he has no way of knowing how sensitive the topic is. So Ali ends up leaning against the parapet and gazing out over the festival as he gives an answer. It's easy to talk in half-truths when he's not looking directly at Concord's scrutinizing eyes.]
A long time ago, yes. I actually have two other siblings I was hatched out with, and dragons tend to be social creatures. There's always some posturing over hoards- collections, but generally dragons who don't have overlapping collections can get along with each other.
But I'm a bit of a pariah among dragons, since I prefer this form over my dragon form. Dragons are a bit conceited, and most other dragons see my preferences as a sign that something is wrong with me. Dragons are often hunted by humans, after all, and usually for benign crimes like 'eating livestock' or 'having a home too close to a town'. Most dragons see humans as an annoyance at best. So it's just...easier, I suppose, to not constantly have the same conversation about why I like living like this.
[It's technically the truth, a lot of dragons do think Ali is weird for living largely as a human. But it's leaving out the very large detail of "being such a small dragon gets him teased by friendly dragons and outright bullied and stolen from by the more territorial ones".]
no subject
The question that follows prickles at the back of Ali's mind though. He's sure Concord is asking to be polite, and he has no way of knowing how sensitive the topic is. So Ali ends up leaning against the parapet and gazing out over the festival as he gives an answer. It's easy to talk in half-truths when he's not looking directly at Concord's scrutinizing eyes.]
A long time ago, yes. I actually have two other siblings I was hatched out with, and dragons tend to be social creatures. There's always some posturing over hoards- collections, but generally dragons who don't have overlapping collections can get along with each other.
But I'm a bit of a pariah among dragons, since I prefer this form over my dragon form. Dragons are a bit conceited, and most other dragons see my preferences as a sign that something is wrong with me. Dragons are often hunted by humans, after all, and usually for benign crimes like 'eating livestock' or 'having a home too close to a town'. Most dragons see humans as an annoyance at best. So it's just...easier, I suppose, to not constantly have the same conversation about why I like living like this.
[It's technically the truth, a lot of dragons do think Ali is weird for living largely as a human. But it's leaving out the very large detail of "being such a small dragon gets him teased by friendly dragons and outright bullied and stolen from by the more territorial ones".]