Gust was supposed to be a nobody.
If something had gone differently, Gust wouldn't be a prince. According to most, differently was replaced with correctly.
His mother, the great Queen Coral, was ambushed and knocked out by a blow to the back of her head. She woke up horrified and violated, returning to the kingdom with pure disgust flowing through her. Much to everyone's continued horror (everyone meaning those who gave more than a passing thought to royalty purity), she got an egg from it.
That egg was placed in the hatchery with the hopes of it being destroyed like all of the other female eggs. Not once did anyone pay attention to the fact that the counter also had an extra male. Maybe that saved the egg, maybe the fact that they weren't recognized as true heirs did so, but it didn't change the fact that one day guards walked in to see two odd dragonets instead of the white-speckled blue egg.
Light aquamarine marked the majority of both of them, their underbellies a shocking white, and mint green sprang upon their webbed spines. Odd coloration wasn't even the start of their weirdness, spikes at the backs of their heads and tails apart of it. Serrated claws scrambled across the floor of the hatchery as the two played with gleeful grey-green eyes, oblivious to the shocked looks they were getting.
They started paying attention when Coral walked in, flashing their scales in random pretty patterns and running up to her. The boy was the first one near her, Coral shoving him away in revulsion. His sister caught him, glaring at their mother and flashing her scales more aggressively. Coral didn't care, telling a random guard to take care of them before storming away. That guard only blinked at the dragonets for several moments before walking closer to them.
The girl jumped in front of her brother, snarling at the guard with all of the ferocity of a kitten. He stopped a pace or two away from them, giving them a soft smile as he sat down. The brother peeked out from around his sister, joining her in the curious staring at the adult.
The guard pointed at himself, shifting a little to make sure all of his bioluminescent scales were visible. "Cyclone," he slowly said his name in Aquatic. He pointed to the girl and boy in turn and slowly gave them names. "Storm. Gust."
Doing that several times over, Cyclone got to watch in slight awe as they copied him. It was amusing to see what they would do when they messed up, Storm would stamp her talons in frustration while Gust made a funny face. Cyclone watched them for a little longer before standing up, catching their attention immediately.
"Follow," he said even if they couldn't understand, walking out of the hatchery to have them scramble to follow. The other guards watched from the sidelines, following the trio with their eyes rather than completely. Cyclone didn't care, too busy smiling at Storm and Gust as they looked around the Deep Palace in awe.
They traveled to where all of the other SeaWing princes were staying, somehow not running into any of them as Cyclone found an empty room. Herding the two into the room, Cyclone tried to leave to have them jump on his talons. "Cyclone," Storm flashed his name at him while Gust just gave him puppy-dog eyes. He chuckled and shook his head, shaking them off of his talons to only have them jump on again.
"Follow," Gust said, successfully surprising Cyclone with his new knowledge. Cyclone had said that once, not near enough times for the two to learn it. Storm looked at her brother, clunkily trying to copy him. "Follow, Cyclone," said Gust, instead grabbing Cyclone's claw and trying to drag him into the room.
"Cyclone," Storm said again, also grabbing one of Cyclone's claws to try to drag him in. "Follow," her attempt at the word was much less clean but it was better than Cyclone expected.
"I can't, I must leave. I can't follow," Cyclone said, although his will power against the two adorable and clever dragonets was lessening.
"Must," Gust repeated back, not that he knew what he said. Still, it was a feat.
"Yes, I must leave," said Cyclone, tugging away from the two without much gain.
"Must follow," Gust tried, getting a stunned expression much like when he said follow without much help. That only solidified it in the little dragonet's mind that he was right. "Must follow."
"No, I can't follow," said Cyclone, snapping out of his surprise long enough to back up the minimal distance they had managed to pull him.
"Can't," said Gust, giving a much harsher tug than before with his sister backing him. In the background, Storm was dimly saying Cyclone's name over and over again or trying to copy her brother.
"Yes, I can," Cyclone said, feeling a little ridiculous that he was fighting a dragonet who was barely ten minutes old over whether or not he could leave.
"No, must follow," Gust countered, attempting a glare at Cyclone that had little to no effect. Again, the ferocity of a kitten at most.
"Gust. I can't stay," Cyclone said, giving Gust a stern gaze that the dragonet shirked away from.
A nudge from Storm brought his attention to her, the dragonet giving her brother an encouraging look that was adorably determined for a tiny dragonet. "Cyclone can stay," Gust said with newfound confidence gained from his sister.
"Cyclone can't stay," Cyclone tried, rapidly losing his will to deny their determined expressions. Not to mention, the awe over Gust's rapid learning didn't help.
"Cyclone can't leave," Gust countered, getting another stunned look that only solidified that that was the right thing to say.
"Stay," Storm said, finally adding in her two cents quite loudly. Loudly meaning flashing brightly.
"I must leave," said Cyclone, protesting much more weakly than he had been.
"Cyclone must stay," Gust said with gusto, clearly sensing Cyclone's lack of will. A shark to blood, you could say.
"Fine," said Cyclone, closing the door behind them with his tail. He moved closer to them, getting grins from both of them.
"Yes!" 'shouted' Gust, barreling into Cyclone with a hug. Storm quickly joined in on the bandwagon, 'shouting' the same thing and joining in on the hug.
"Okay okay, calm down," said Cyclone, chuckling a little as he separated from the hyper dragonets. He herded them over to one of the ledges that acted as a bed, waiting until they sat down before talking again. "Gust, how did you know?"
Gust gave Cyclone a blank look, trying to piece together the rapid flashes. "How did?" he tried, his face screwing up into the look that he got when he messed up their names.
"Yes, how did you know?" Cyclone asked, more curious how this would work out.
Despite Gust's obvious confusion, Storm looked confident in her brother. That was enough to get Gust to forge on with only a little hesitation. "You know?" asked Gust, trying to piece together the question.
"No, I don't know," joked Cyclone, an amused grin making it onto his face as he tried to squash it down. It didn't work.
"I don't know," Gust repeated.
"You don't know? Did you use context clues or something?" asked Cyclone with a small amused huff.
"Use context clues or something?" Gust repeated, using the same method as he did before to piece together what was being said.
"Like assumptions," Cyclone tried, forgetting for a split second that Gust wouldn't understand the comparison.
Gust let Cyclone know that he didn't get it by repeating, albeit in question form, "Like assumptions?"
"Like guessing," Cyclone tried again, saying it before he could remember that Gust didn't exactly get it. You couldn't blame him, Gust had gotten it well enough so far.
"Like guessing?" Gust parroted again.
"Are you guessing?" Cyclone joked, not expecting Gust to repeat it.
He did. "Are you guessing?"
"I'm not guessing," Cyclone responded to the question.
And Gust repeated. "I'm not guessing."
"Are you not guessing?" Cyclone asked.
Gust couldn't do much more than repeat. "Are you not guessing?"
This continued for quite a while, Storm giggling to no end from her place next to Gust as he parroted Cyclone. Gust eventually gave answers that made some amount of sense, Cyclone grinning a little wider each time. Sleep took the dragonets after a while, Cyclone dozing beside them.
The light from the opening door woke Cyclone up, the guard barely able to look half presentable before the door was open completely. The SeaWing prince, Fin, swam in and gave the scene a surprised look. "What's going on here?" Fin flashed his scales dimly, attempting to salvage the disturbance he could've made to the dragonets' sleep.
It didn't work, Gust and Storm opening up their eyes to watch the adults. They didn't move, trying to remain secretive. Gust went as far as to close his eyes as much as possible while still being able to watch, Storm quickly following his example.
"Queen Coral ordered me to take care of them. I was going to just leave them in here until I could get some food but Gust is persuasive," said Cyclone, forgetting for a moment that Fin didn't even know who his siblings were.
"Gust?" asked Fin, looking at his siblings with a little doubt. Unlike Coral, he didn't immediately recoil at the sight of their IceWing heritage. Instead, he looked at it curiously.
"The boy. The girl is Storm. I had to give them names since the Queen walked out before she could," said Cyclone, glancing at the dragonets before paying attention to the prince again. Neither of them noticed that the twins were watching the conversation. "I'm sorry if those aren't suitable names but they seem to like them."
"I like them too. What's your name?" asked Fin, taking in the guard in front of him curiously. Cyclone was mostly cyan, bits of blue-gray scales showing as highlights, and his spines were more of a dark blue. Green eyes looked at Fin, although they occasionally glanced at the dragonets.
"Cyclone. You're Prince Fin, right?" asked Cyclone. Fin was mostly blue-green with dark green spines, his blue eyes widening in surprise at the question.
"I am Fin. How did you know?" asked Fin, becoming more curious about the guard in less than ten seconds.
"Observation is one of my strong suits," Cyclone joked, glancing at the dragonets again. "Do you know if anyone can watch over them? I want to get them food but I don't want to leave them alone."
"I can get a servant to get it. I want to talk to you more," Fin said, leaving the room before Cyclone could talk back.
He sighed, glancing at the twins again only to finally notice their ploy. "Gust, Storm, I know you," said Cyclone, saying it in such a way that they would understand. He turned his head completely, chuckling at the pouts that he got for revealing them.
"No, you don't," Gust argued, Storm backing up her brother with a nod.
Before Cyclone could say more, they quickly settled back into their original positions. Cyclone looked at the door, the sight of Fin giving him a reason why they had started acting again. "Your siblings are awake if you want to talk to them. They're just being sneaky," said Cyclone as the prince swam closer.
"Seriously? They're good at it then," said Fin with a silent chuckle. "Gust? Storm? Can I talk to you?"
They gave up on their act, sitting up and looking at Fin curiously. "Fin," said Gust, Storm repeating him after a few tries. Nevertheless, it surprised him.
"How did they know?" asked Fin, looking at the two in awe despite aiming the question towards Cyclone.
Cyclone didn't have to answer, Gust taking a hint from what was said only a little bit ago. "Observation," said Gust, rather slow but it got the point across.
"I don't know. Gust know," said Storm, nudging Gust with a grin on her face that he sheepishly returned.
"So Gust convinced you by copying and guessing? I must say, that's pretty awesome," said Fin, smiling at the twins.
"In the span of maybe two minutes, he formed a complete sentence. Albeit a simple one but a sentence nonetheless," said Cyclone, copying the grin from Storm much to her glee.
"He's the smart one, huh?" asked Fin, swimming closer to his siblings as they stared at him. "How would you two feel about food?"
"Food?" Gust asked, starting up his usual process to figure something out.
Cyclone quickly jumped on the bandwagon. "You eat it," said Cyclone, focusing in on Gust while Fin curiously watched from the sidelines.
"Eat?" Gust repeated. Cyclone mimed it with a random rock left on the ground, Gust understanding quickly. "I know."
"Are you hungry?" Cyclone asked, not even glancing at Fin who seemed just as confused as intrigued by the process.
"Hungry?" Gust asked, his sister dimly miming him from the corner of his eye.
"How you feel without food," explained Cyclone.
"I'm hungry. Storm too," said Gust, his sister perking up a little at the mention of her name.
"We'll have food soon. Just wait for a bit," said Fin, speaking a little slower than usual to help Gust along despite the clear show of understanding.
"Okay," said Gust, nudging his sister to prompt her to say the same.
"Cyclone, are you going to stay and look after them forever? I wouldn't oppose to it if you are," said Fin, adding the second sentence in a bit of a flustered manner.
"Not forever. I still have to be a guard," said Cyclone, not picking up on Fin's flusteredness as he answered bluntly.
"Ah, I see," said Fin in a slightly sad tone, Cyclone picking up on it enough this time to give the prince a confused look.
"Cyclone can't leave," said Gust, piecing together enough of the conversation to form an argument.
"No leave!" Storm agreed, giving Cyclone a pleading look that tugged at his heartstrings.
"I have to at some point," said Cyclone, getting frowns from the three royals.
"No, you talk to other guard, you stay," said Gust, only getting a confused look from Cyclone.
Fin understood what Gust was trying to say and articulated it better with excitement. "I can talk to Shark and get you transferred closer to here! You have reason to anyway, seeing as you bonded with Gust and Storm," said Fin, the dragonets nodding along despite their minimal understanding.
"If you could manage it, I would be happy to stick around," said Cyclone with a smile towards Fin that was shyly returned. The dragonets pieced it together rather quickly, tackling Cyclone in a hug as he chuckled at their excitement. Fin even worked up enough courage to join in on the hug.
When the food finally arrived, a poor servant was surprised by two eager dragonets. Cyclone laughed at the other's misfortune, Fin laughing as well after a moment. Least to say, one of those laughs was more flustered than the other.
(And if the small grins on the dragonets' faces said anything, they knew it too.)
{(:)}
Fin did manage it, much to everyone's glee. The dragonets got to pester Cyclone more, not that he minded, and Fin got to talk to him more. A win in everyone's books.
That also meant that when the twins were introduced to all of the other brothers, Cyclone was there to mediate any possible damage. Fin would go in first, prefacing to be kind to the two, before opening the door to the room they were in to reveal the twins and Cyclone. Cyclone would stay back unless one of the twins or both got upset and would lead them away while Fin scolded the offender.
"Be nice to them. They may not completely look it but they are one of us," Fin said to the small mob of princes. Continuing to the next part of the plan, Fin backed up and opened the door with a small flourish. "Meet Storm and Gust."
The twins walked forward, staring at the group while Cyclone silently backed them up. Gust compressed in on himself a little at the sight of so many dragons but Storm gave him a comforting nudge that straightened him out. With more contact with his sister, Gust seemed just a little more confident.
"Why do they look so weird?" asked one of the group, more blunt than insulting. Although with that statement, there wasn't much of a difference.
"We're not weird, we're awesome," Storm bit back, shocking everyone in the room, even Cyclone and Fin who knew of their quick learning. Although the two had assumed that only Gust knew much of anything. Little did they know that late last night, Storm had been taught everything that Gust knew.
"More like weirdly awesome," said Gust with a shrug, piling onto the surprise of the room.
"They already know Aquatic?" asked one of the others, breaking the small 'silence' that had settled in the room.
"A little. They taught themselves," said Fin, chuckling a little at the expressions of everyone. The two who already knew of the twins' prowess felt their shock pass, the rest of the room not quite the same.
"How?" asked the same dragon.
"Guessing, assumptions, and reading dragons who they were copying and talking to," said Fin, glancing at Cyclone as he copied his explanation. Cyclone gave the prince a small nod and smile that made him flustered for no viable reason.
"Are we even allowed to be close to them? One of them is a princess, not a prince. We're probably going to be called out for being too tough on her," complained a new dragon, getting several disgruntled nods of agreement.
"Mother shoved them away and ordered a guard to take care of them. I don't think she will care," said Fin, gesturing to Cyclone when he mentioned the guard. A few of the princes looked at Cyclone in a new light but he ignored them. "Also this is Cyclone, he'll be around a lot to take care of the twins."
"Why would she shove them away? I know she doesn't particularly care that much about the rest of us but she never pushed us away," asked another one of the brothers.
"We look too weird," said Storm with a shrug that was mirrored by her twin, as if it didn't matter. As if it didn't hurt.
All of the princes, sans Fin and Gust, froze at that. "Why that..." one of them started, getting several of the others to also grumble and insult the queen. Their mother who couldn't even look past their features to see that they were her dragonets, intended or not.
"We're okay, we have Cyclone, Fin, and all of you now," said Gust with a smile, albeit a nervous one. Storm mirrored both his smile and the sentiment behind the nervous aspect of it. What if they were pushed away again? What if they weren't accepted because of something they couldn't control?
"Aww," cooed one of the brothers, one or two others doing something similar.
"Group hug!" shouted one of the eldest of them, swooping down to engulf the two in his wings. Everyone else piled in, making all of them either laugh or grin.
"You too, Cyclone!" said Fin, grabbing Cyclone's arm with a type of burning coming from it. Cyclone laughed a bit, not getting how he was making Fin burn up as he also joined the hug. He joined the hug right next to Fin, much to the prince's flustered nervousness.
Eventually, the brothers untangled themselves. The rest of that day was spent with Gust and Storm being the center of attention from their dozens of brothers. When the princes finally wound down and let Gust and Storm go, Cyclone had to carry them back to their room before they passed out.
(And if when Cyclone left with the twins, Fin was teased for his obvious crush, none of the princes said anything to the three or anyone else. Some things stayed between brothers, crushes being one of those. That is until the interest was near the brother or if things worked out.)