As I said before, other onnicks enter in this chapter. I have no more rambling to do, so here's Rascal Flatts with the disclaimer.

Jay: D. L. does not own us.

Joe Don: Or our music.

Gary: She does own this version of us, all the dragon characters, the idea for onnicks, and this fic. Oh, and a fangirl crush on me (smirk).

Jay and Joe Don: (sweatdrop)

- 3. A Little Home -

The next day, I woke up to Khamûl pouncing up and down on my chest and licking my face excitedly.

"Mhm, five more minutes, Joe." I moaned, but he only jumped on me more and started shrieking in my face, stopping only to lick my cheek again. Finally, I gave up on sleeping and sat up laughing.

"Okay, okay, I'm up Khamûl, I'm up." He jumped off and let me sit all the way up. I yawned and stretched my arms and wings. I had slept in my onnick form so I could use my wings for blankets. After I stretched, I stood up and brushed the pine needles off my shirt. Khamûl scampered in circles around me, chirping energetically.

"What is it?" I asked, "You hungry or something?" His head nodded and he ran another circle. My stomach growled and told me I was hungry, too. I realized I would have to hunt for our breakfast, since there was no McDonald's or Speedway here and I couldn't take Khamûl in if there was.

"All right, climb on and we'll go get breakfast." He scrambled up my tail and settled himself on my back. I took off and flew low over the treetops, my now hawk-like vision scanning for any signs of movement below. I saw a large buck under some trees, but decided I didn't want my first hunt to end with me being shish-kebabed by the deer's antlers. I saw a stream running by up ahead and angled toward it, a slight thermal lifting me up a bit. I could see clearly through the water to the darting, wriggling bodies of fish underneath.

That might be an easier catch, I thought. I set my sights on a particularly large one and slowly swooped down toward the water, my talons stretched out below me like I'd watched hawks do when I went on fishing trips with friends. At that time, I never though that was how I would ever catch a fish. Funny how those things never work out the way you expect.

I felt my talons break the surface of the water, felt them wrap around the warm body, felt the fish thrashing against me as I flapped my wings and pulled up and away from the water. I laughed when I remembered that just two days ago, I had been in the same position as the fish when Maagnis snatched me up from my concert. Except now I was the predator. For this fish, I was death from above. I used one toe on a talon to pierce the fish's heart, killing it instantly.

"Now then, we can't eat it like-" I was cut off as the fish disappeared into Khamûl's mouth. He licked his lips innocently, as if it were the most normal thing to do.

"I stand corrected." He gave a series of small chirps that sounded a lot like giggling.

"Well, that takes care of you. Now I have to go find something for me to eat, since that fish I caught seems to have disappeared." I landed on the bank of the stream and let Khamûl off. He still had over half the fish uneaten in his mouth, which he place on the ground in front of him and began to eat vigorously. I flew out and caught another fish and brought it back to the bank. Khamûl may have been able to eat it raw, skin and all, but I hated sushi with a passion. Thankfully, since I went fishing a lot, I knew how to cleand cook the fish as soon as I caught it. I didn't have my hunting knife, but realized I didn't need it as I picked up the end of my tail. The blade on the end was about the same length as my hunting knife, but it was a lot sharper and could make finer cuts. I carefully skinned and gutted the fish, laying the meat on a rock beside me and throwing the rest back into the stream. I yelped loudly when I unconsciously squeezed the handle of my "knife" rather tightly. Well, it wasn't like I'd ever had a hunting knife that was attached to me before.

Now came the fun part, cooking my breakfast. I used my fire breath to heat the rock enough that the meat started to cook. When i smelled that one side was done, I reached over with my hand and flipped each piece over, the side that had been cooking now a rich golden brown on the outside. When they were done, Khamûl sidled up to me with a bit of his fish still hanging out of his mouth. He flopped down beside me as I ate my fish (which, I might add, was VERY tasty).

Just as I finished the last bits of my fish, Khamûl jumped up and started growling at some unseen thing downstream from us. I was immediately on high alert. Whatever was coming would have a surprise waiting when it arrived. Turns out I didn't have to wait long. What Khamûl must have sensed before I did came upstream, toward where we were sitting. Two black dots appeared in the sky and rapidly grew into the forms of two dragons. I stared for a moment, then burst out laughing.

It was Maagnis and Alloran. But that wasn't what had me laughing. On Maagnis' back sat a rather relaxed, almost blissful-looking Joe Don, while Alloran carried a kicking and thrashing Jay by his arms. With my keen dragon senses, I could hear Jay screaming at the top of his lungs, while Joe Don was trying very hard not to laugh. It really was a pretty funny sight. I decided now was a good time to add to Jay's shock and possibly get a priceless-yet-still-somhow-cute look on Joe Don's little baby-face. I placed Khamûl on my back and took off flying straight toward them.

Joe Don saw me first. His expression didn't change much until I got close enough for him to recognize me. Then his hand flew to his mouth and his eyebrows shot up as his eyes widened. Jay was still obliviously ranting at Alloran, his rants falling on deaf ears.

"Jay!" Joe called.

"...better tell me right now, or I'll-"

"Jay!" Joe tried again. Still nothing.

"...if there's even a single scratch on Gary when I find him-"

"JAY! GARY'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" Joe Don yelled as loud as he could. This got Jay's attention, and he looked over at Joe Don. Then he spotted me, flying on my back a little in front of them.

"Hi, Jay-la!" I smiled innocently, as if we were just messing around backstage at a concert. I gave him a little wave for emphasis. Khamûl looked up from where he was laying on my chest.

"G-Gary? But...h-how...Wha...Who...You..." Jay's eyes got even wider, if that was even possible. Then he returned to his usual I-think-I'm-your-father-even-though-you're-a-whole-year-older-than-me mood.

"Gary, you had us worried to death! You could have at least ried to cntact us and let us know you were safe!" He was trying to sound stern and scolding, but I could tell he was relieved and glad to see that I was okay.

We flew back and landed in the clearing where I first became an onnick. Alloran told each of them the story of the flame in their families, which was pretty much like mine, except for a few details. The dragons that had started it for them had been females. Joe's had gotten together with an Egyptian pharaoh and started passing his flame down. The dragoness was dead now, thanks to the Morzanites. Jay's flame originated in an ancient Ice Age tribe, where a dragoness joined with a medicine man/shaman. The identity of this dragoness, however, was unknown, since Alloran had still been a child at the time. When that was done, Alloran gave them the choice to ignite their flames.

"I'll do it." Joe Don said almost instantly. Jay was still debating.

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on! Gary did it, and he's fine. He actually looked like he enjoyed it."

"Yeah, but..."

"Come on! Pleeeeeeease, Jay!" Joe Don gave him the puppy eyes, which he had mastered to a science.

""Yeah, Jay. You don't want Joe to fry your butt trying to get you up in the morning." I added.

"Well...All right. What the heck. You only live once. I'll do it." Jay said at last.

Soon there were three onnicks standing in the clearing. Jay and Joe Don admiring their new selves, flicking their tails, flexing their talons, raising and lowering their wings.

"Huh. I don't feel that weird at all." Jay said, curling the end of his tail.

"Come on, you two! Follow me!" I showed them how to take off, and the next thing we knew, all three of us were flying.

"Okay, I'm just gonna say. THIS is cool." Jay banked left to avoid a divebombing Joe Don, who pulled up into a graceful loop-the-loop.

"Cool? This is AWESOME!" Joe Don yelled. I laughed and shot through the center of one of Joe Don's loops. This continued even after the sun started to go down, when we would use our flame breath and light up the sky. Ironically, this was the first stress-free time we'd spent with each other for a while. And while the reason we had it was a bit strange, the time itself was well worth the wait.

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She grinned to herself as she watched them from afar. How vulnerable and naive they were, like children, loosing flames and letting her see them clearly. Good, they were all there. Now she could put her plans into action.

"Just you wait, little ones," she hissed, "You'll be all mine soon."

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Congratulations to butterflyninja935 for correctly figuring out who the other two onnicks were. Now, to see if anyone figures out what's with the chapter names (Don't tell, butterfly!) Also, who was that spying on them? An angry, Gary-Jay-or-Joe-Don-obsessed fangirl, maybe?