The Blood Dragon had looked rather tense, going by the glimpse Rosalie had gotten of him as she hurried around the corner. As she did, she narrowly avoided running straight into Spike in her desperation to get inside the house. The young dragon had a smirk set firm on his features, a subtle -yet cruel- tug of the lips that was accompanied by a hint of amusement in his eyes and, fortunately for him, it was one of which the girl was oblivious to as she stepped around him quickly. Neither bothered to say a word, and perhaps that was for the best. She had to wonder, though, if Spike had picked up on the fact that she didn’t like being given sweet names by Danial as they weren’t as close as he had portrayed them to be.
Rosalie had a fair idea of what was going on in the house -and this was all thanks to her wild imagination- but hoped dearly that the images of the event unfolding in her head weren’t true and that Gore had not been spotted.	

A booming gunshot coming from inside the house, however, reinforced the girl’s fears and caused her to flinch for a few seconds, mind trying to keep itself together and push past the building wall of reluctance to head inside after the concerning noise. Time was a luxury that she yet again did not have as the voices coming from inside were frantic and loud. They belonged mostly to the brothers as they tried to explain themselves in a rush of words that looped and tripped over one another in their panic. Listening carefully, Rosalie believed that she caught Eric stuttering a bit before his father’s voice cut through the explanation, tone almost as sharp as a knife. It wasn’t the type of atmosphere that she wanted to walk into, but what choice did she have?

The girl allowed herself a few quick seconds to breathe, and, gathering herself, Rosalie peered through the doorway, gaze first landing on the two brothers who had ducked out of the way, then to Gore and then to the parents she had just noticed standing near the top of the stairs to her left. Her eyes widened in shock and the dawning realisation that someone could have been hurt. Someone [i]might[/I] have been hurt. She hadn’t expected Mr. Clearwater to bring a gun with him next the time he had planned for breakfast. Had he somehow been warned of the crimson legend beforehand to come as prepared as he was?

 Rosalie inched further into the room with the tentativeness of a mouse through a room with a waiting cat and though her eyes were locked on the parents as she moved, she caught a spot of red dripping to the kitchen floor out of the corner of her eye. Her heart skipped a beat, worrying that it had belonged to one of the brothers, but upon closer inspection, it was coming from the person she was standing closest to. Gore. ‘[i]What is he doing?![/I]’ thought Rosalie with great disdain. Why hadn’t he moved? It had all made sense now given the rush Spike was in, too. Whereas Spike had left, Gore had stayed and for what? To be caught by the Clearwater parents and to be made a target for shooting practice? ‘[i]Well... there’s one other use for him,[/i]’ she thought sarcastically to herself, suppressing the urge to huff and fold her arms. Why couldn’t he have at least considered staying out of sight until she and the brothers had worked out a time to speak to John and Lauren? If Rosalie had imagined that task difficult already, perhaps she and the brothers should consider what way was best to weave in the extra tale of the little girl that had supposedly seen the dragon last night. Just the thought tempted a tired groan from her.
“You idiot..,” she hissed under her breath, planning to continue when a voice laced with anger and terror interrupted her.

__

“Sigmund, Eric, Rosalie! Get away from that dragon right now! Do you know how dangerous it is?” Mrs. Clearwater’s voice was trembling just as much as her form as she clung to her husband like a lifeline keeping her a head above insanity. Considering the battle and the number of deaths that had occurred in the town recently, she and her husband as well as many of those who still lived here had a right to be cautious and afraid. In fact, Kalandor had been a lot quieter since then, and had only just been slowly getting back to its feet. Aside from that, another reason of why it was a smart move to keep a distance was that her husband was shaking so much that he risked hitting their own sons with how unsteady he was with the dragon in front of him. The first shot, she almost smacked his arm for as a result of firing inside the house, but was afraid of causing a misfire that could lead to something much worse. Instead, she willed herself to focus on the young ones that had much explaining to do.
“Why was my name called, first?” 
“N-not now, brother..” Eric grumbled, elbowing Sigmund in the side as they did as they were told by their mother, moving a bit so that they were standing with Rosalie who was trying to get their father to lower his weapon. Her pleas didn’t seem to reach him, however.

“Uhh.. Dad, we can put the weapon away..” Sigmund stood behind Rosalie as support, carefully positioning himself so that he somewhat stood in front of Gore as well. “She’s not lying when she said she got him at auction. There’s no need to call the order..” As if he would have done so either way.
“I have the papers from Druthers&Druthers’..” Rosalie almost squeaked, staring straight down the barrel of the gun John was carrying, as almost all of them were. She sent a quick glance over her shoulder at Gore before continuing, “We.. brought him in last night and we-“
“LAST NIGHT?!” Lauren yelled, causing all three of the young ones to step back, “you’re saying that.. we had been housing a..” she paused, stopping herself from saying ‘monster,’ while  taking in a deep breath as her fearful gaze swept once over the living, breathing legend standing in their house, “dragon.. since the night before.. and not this morning?”
“Yes..” Eric replied when all was silent and none dared to speak. All three young adults watched as Lauren panicked for a fair bit before her eyes rolled and she started to fall back.
 “Oh.. Wow..” Sigmund murmured. “That’s the thing I usually do... but I think you actually broke her.” He did not dare to move, no matter how concerned he was over his parents and even Gore. He hoped the bullet hadn’t hit anyone and had hit a wall in the house instead. That was much better than tending to an injury any day.
“It was nothing but the truth.” Eric snapped back quietly, concern more noticeable than annoyance as he made a move to rush to his mother’s side.

___

“Master..” Spike said lightly as he bowed his head, giving news of what had happened inside while his owner was away. “That gunshot.. I believe Gore was still inside while it sounded.. Perhaps the parents have been alerted to his presence..” The young dragon was somewhat reluctant to speak, not knowing if he was allowed to so freely and if he wasn’t, he would just give out the details and make it as short as he was able. “The Blood Dragon still boasts confidence over his strength, master. I was unable to provoke him..” He then trailed off, standing, waiting patiently for his master’s instructions as he listened to the going’s on inside. By the sound of things, it wasn’t exactly going too well, and he actually hoped that Gore had received a fatal wound that would at least affect his strength. It was wishful thinking, Spike was aware, but should they battle, it would provide him with a huge advantage along with his young age, he believed.