Chapter 10: Tagging, Training, and Meeting

Falling asleep quickly, I didn't wake up until the door opened up and the voice of my mentor spoke," Wake up."

Weakly opening my eyes, I looked up towards the trainer as he grabbed something by a door and it was glowing red with heat—the smell of hot metal. My eyes widened as I noticed the cruel smile on his face.

He spoke an order, smiling cruelly," Stay still, little one. The branding will hurt a lot, and this is only the first part of the tagging process."

Shivering, I shut my eyes as I heard the hissing from the metal that was probably scalding hot.

Hearing my trainer's footsteps circling onto my left side, I heard him speak," This will all be over in a minute."

That was the only advanced warning I received before the hot metal was pressed onto my left leg while I howled in pain, which was being muffled horribly due to me not being able to open my mouth. The pain was intense enough to paralyze me. The smell of burned scales assaulted me while I cried softly. Muffled sobs racked my body, causing more pain from my other injuries.

My trainer took note of this and sighed," According to one of our collarless, you have injuries from a fight just before coming here."

Struggling to get myself to calm down, he commanded," Get up. The sooner you move, the less pain you will be in; we have to chip you in the next part. First, your I.D. until you become collarless is A.W. Zero-Zero-One. Do you know what I.D. means?"

Now in considerably less pain, I shook my head as he replied monotonously," It means identification. A.W. represents Angelic Wyvern, and Zero-Zero-One signifies you are the only one. I will repeat this only once your name is now Zero-Zero-One for the time being until you reach the rank of collarless or the upper three levels. Do you understand this Zero-Zero-One?"

I nodded my head as he continued," Now for your muzzle. The muzzle stays on for lectures, training, and when you are in your cell. This rule stays until you are in the upper three ranks—the only exceptions to the muzzle rule are eating or in the dome. Do you understand all of this Zero-Zero-One?"

Quietly I nodded again as he gave me a pointed glare as he spoke," Good, you understand. Now let us go to your first training session. Your trainer is already there waiting for you. But before we go, I must tag you. As your mentor, I will bring you to different places again until you are high enough rank."

He walked to the door and ordered," Stay as still as possible."

With the object in hand, I felt a minor prick of something going into the base of my neck. After a few moments, my mentor tugs on the leather attachment to what I had just learned was called a muzzle.

I heard him click something while exited my cell as he murmured," Excellent, A.W.'s signal is picking up."

With that over, we began to make our way through the facility as I slowly limped with him. He took a small flat object out of his pocket when we stopped in front of a door. A short beep sounded as we entered a large room as a young woman stood waiting in the middle of the room, walking towards us," Is this him, sir?"

My mentor nodded and replied," Yes, it is. Keep in mind his injuries. We don't want him to die from those injuries. Well, his broken bones healed fast, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the giant wound on his right side was caused by something that it will take time to recover."

In a rare bitter train of thought,' If you had any idea of what caused this injury to me, you would most likely try to capture it, and it would kill you.'

My trainer responded," Yes, sir, If I understand what you are trying to say correctly, you want me to the basics."

Our mentor looked down at him while I watched them," Yes, when he is more or less able to move without limping, you can move onto the more difficult parts. I will be back in an hour."

He handed the lead to her as she rose her hand and lifted it towards her head. Most likely in a salute.

Glancing down at me, she examined me," Stand up and spread your wings as much as possible without it hurting."

Shivering, I did what she commanded, opening them to about three fourths their standard size.

She crouched onto her knees, looking into my electric blue eyes as she murmured," You have been in a considerable amount of pain these past few days, haven't you Zero-Zero-One. The collar, ankles, branding, your bones, and that nasty wound in your side."

My eyes widened as she lifted her hand towards my muzzled jaw. Realizing she wanted me to sniff her hand, I gently smelled the back of her hand, and while she was here, I learned as a trainer, she would take relatively good care of me. She continued to examine me. Her hand stroked the top of my head softly while I felt her hand gently run over my bandaged wound. She breathed in deeply, exhaling while pushing her hair out of her face.

Pointed ears showed as I mused,' She isn't an ordinary human. What is she? I wonder if I can read her mind, I am not going to risk it, though.'

She smiled, but that didn't reach her eyes as she spoke," Let's begin."

Her first command was," Sit."

Promptly sitting down, she lifted her hand, which was most likely a signal to stand up.

Standing up, she nodded," Oddly obedient, and I assume you don't like fighting. Just nod your head yes if you don't like fighting."

Nodding my head to signal I do not like fighting, she walked away as she put her hand up, signaling me to stop. Without a word, she beckoned me over as I slowly made my way over to her, not moving too fast. Stopping in front of her, I sat down.

She smiled," Excellent for a young wyvern; most try to attack. You seem like the quiet type, not very aggressive, friendly unless provoked, and you have been through a lot of hardships."

The door opened up as our mentor came in and spoke," How did A.W. Zero-Zero-One do?"

The unique woman replied smoothly," Excellent, I did notice a couple things, though when I was examining him, his wings seem to be growing in blue veins within them. If you look at his eyes, you can tell he has been through quite a bit. After I just did a few quick commands, sit and hand signals like stopping and coming here. A strange part was when he got to me, he sat down. I have a feeling, though, that the ankle chains are hurting him right now."

She put the palm of her hand facing the air and rising it, Standing up as the mentor sighed," I can't believe he has only been here for barely a day, and he is this obedient. The collarless requested a meeting with him."

My trainer nodded," Alright, sir."

Our mentor picked up the lead and spoke," Let's go."

Falling behind him, I winced as the iron spikes in my ankles moved, causing some pain. Moving through the halls of the large facility, I began to memorize the passages we took. Soon we arrived in a large meeting area.

As he spoke, taking off my muzzle," Your off to a good start but remember your place."

Replying softly, I answered," Yes, sir."

He looked down at me and asked," Your not very loud, are you?"

I confirmed his question," No, not really unless I am incredibly irritated or angry. Though that is not common as I am relatively patient."

He was silent as we stopped in front of a massive set of doors. He opened the door with the flat object from earlier. The door clicked as he opened it. He nodded to me while I walked into the room.

The collarless wyverns and dragons were already waiting for me as Deniard's loud voice came from above me," Welcome, Xyverinos."

The collarless were all above me as I responded," Hello Deniard, why did you request this meeting with me?"

He chuckled as Yrvae lamented," He goes straight to the point, doesn't he."

Aldrentoa grunted," That he does."

Watching them warily as Deniard queried," How are you settling in?"

Holding back a hiss, I counted to five before answering," Alright, I suppose. In a bit of pain from a couple of hours ago."

The lightning wyverness snorted," I must ask why is your healing factor not kicking in for that deadly wound on your side."

Muttering to myself, I replied," I do have a theory for the cause."

The water dragoness impatiently growled," Well, let's hear it."

Aldrentoa growled," He is a nervous hatchling; calm down. Alright, Xyv, go ahead and talk."

Nodding, I explained my theory," I can guess it's due to my weakness. As I fought the dragon hunter, no idea how long I was unconscious before I came to yesterday sometime. I did receive some information."

Deniard looked down at me with a sharp glare and hissed," We'll continue, then tell us the rest of your theory."

He excluded some of his overwhelming power as Yrvae sighed," He has been through enough. Just stop for a moment."

Silently thanking her, I continued," I learned from him how they are made. They are created from a demonic wyvern's blood and shadows. He has his own species called an Ersaicean, while his name is Unla. I feel a demonic wyvern's darkness are my weakness, and my light is their weakness. Yin and Yang basically, what I am trying to say is that their power negates my own and stopping my healing factor."

Aldrentoa barked a laugh," You have always been good at explaining stuff!"

Deniard finally spoke after processing the information," I must say I am impressed, and I am curious why do you not mind having humans be in charge of you?"

Again I thought of how to answer. Before I decided to respond with the truth," After the attack and all the hurricane, lightning, and stuff. Well, I was extraordinarily injured, and two humans helped me recover. So I guess I just prefer to give others a chance. Initially, I was afraid of humans, but they showed me that humans could be kind as well."

Deniard chuckled," I am impressed without a doubt now. You are by far the most fluent hatchling I have ever meet. Well, anyway, time for a lecture."

The door opened as I glanced back, seeing my mentor as he held my muzzle. He crouched down and put on the muzzle as he spoke," Zero-Zero-One will not be going to the lecture. He seems to understand where his place is in the world already, I will talk to command about his rank, but he will be in his cell for now."

He tugged my leash as I followed him without a second thought. He again led me through the long hallways before we ended up in front of my cell. In front of the door, it showed a picture of me with my I.D on it. He grabbed a strange device hanging next to the door and circled to my left side. Aiming the device towards my I.D. A small beep as he grabbed the small flat objects he has been opening doors with.

The lock to the door clicked while he pushed the handle open. Actually, seeing it for the first time, I noticed small bedding of blankets and pillows in the back left corner. In the right corner, there was a bowl of water.

My mentor's voice came from behind me," I was surprised you didn't look around yesterday or this morning. Your muzzle is loose enough to drink water, just for your information."

I heard his footsteps leave the room and the door shut behind him. Walking over to the pillows and blankets, I moved over to them. Laying down on them slowly, I slowly closed my eyes falling to sleep. I was completely unaware of what was happening around me.