Carnoc didn't regret his actions the next morning, even though his whole body ached and it hurt to walk--lingering effects of what Simon had done to him the night before.  Vical was not in the cave when he awoke, though there was a platter of beef waiting for him, which he ate mechanically while doing his best to stay away from the cave entrance.  Judging by the cheering coming from outside Vical was currently entertaining the humans, probably by flying around, but after a few minutes there was a gust of wind, she landed on the ledge and walked into the cave.

"You're finally awake," she said with a smile, and nudged him on the shoulder with her snout.

"Finally?  I only woke up to eat; I was up all night, and I'm about to sleep more.  What were you doing out there?"

"There are a lot of humans outside, and they seem to like seeing me fly...  I've never had a real audience for my stunts before, and I kind of like it."

He snorted.  "How?  They aren't out there to appreciate your flying skill, they're just there to gawk at you because they can't believe you're real.  The idiots probably don't even realize you're anything more than scale and wing."

"I thought you'd spent time with humans before!  I only know humans through what Krain told me about them and he says most of them are nice and appreciative of our kind...  That's what the ones outside seem like to me."

"But why do you think we're trapped here?" he growled and lashed his tail.  "It's human greed and disrespect for us that brought us here in the first place, and those are the attitudes that dominate them."

Vical sighed and laid down on her belly next to him.  "Maybe Simon is a little like that, but he's more mean than greedy and even then he's only mean to you, because you killed some female or whatever it was you said.  What happened, exactly?"

"The first time I was here...  Instead of Simon, there was another human who came into the cage to feed me.  Simon was there too, but she was in charge and usually she came alone and without a rifle when she fed me.  Her name was Allison.  She was a lot nicer than Simon was...  Anyway, she acted like I was somehow supposed to enjoy being here, and that I would have fun entertaining them.  Ridiculous, I know."

"What happened to her?"

"I killed her," Carnoc snorted.

She edged away from him.  "Why?"

He growled a little.  "She treated me like I was her pet, but in some ways it was worse than Simon's care because she was so nice about it, as if it shouldn't make me angry to be treated that way.  Then she insisted on touching my face, and I got fed up with it and told her that if she did it again, I would kill her.  So when she did it again...  I couldn't go back on what I had said, so I hit her in the chest with a bolt, and it killed her."

Vical smacked him with her tail, and he jerked his head away, surprised.  "Just like you and Simon!" she said.  "I bet you didn't even stop to explain to her that only your mate is supposed to touch your face, you just threatened her without bothering to give her a reason why.  You should at least--"

"Enough," he snarled.  "If I had wanted a lecture, I would have asked for one."

"Well, clearly whoever you last let lecture you didn't get his point across.  So will you at least listen to me?"

"...I'll think about it," he looked at the ground.

She was quiet for a little while, then said, "and Simon hates you because of that?  Were they mates?"

"They were going to be."

"Then of course he's mean to you!  Honestly, I don't see why you dislike them so much...  I'm sure all the humans outside would be nice to you if you just gave them a chance."

"Or they'd yell at me to do tricks for them like a circus animal."

"No they wouldn't!  Come on, I wanted to talk to some of them anyway to learn more about humans...  You can translate for me, and we'll find out which of us is right about them."  She stood back up and tugged at one of his paws with her tail.  "Let's go."

"No," he wrenched his paw out of her grip and put his head down.

"Why not?  Because you know I'm right?" she flicked her tail back and forth.  "Either way I need you to translate if I want to talk to them, so come on."

Carnoc sat up and snarled at her.  "No!  I am not going to go outside, not as long as there are humans there.  I already know Simon's going to be angry at me for doing this, and I don't need you pestering me about it too.  Besides, I was up all night and I need to sleep."

"But...  Simon said he would tie you up at night if you refused to go outside during the day."

"I know," he sighed.  "Don't remind me."

"Is it really better to face that punishment than to just sleep out in the sun, then?  You know it will frustrate him and encourage him to punish you more if you refuse to obey him every single day; he'll shock you while you're tied up, he'll muzzle and blindfold you, he might even try to starve you.  It's not worth it."

"I would rather bear whatever torture he comes up with for me than display myself like that.  Just going outside for them to see would be more humiliating than anything he could do to me in here...  Even if the humans are as nice as you say they are, it doesn't change what they mean for us to be.  They come here to be entertained by watching us get forced to live this mockery of our normal lives, ignoring how unhappy we must be here just so they can have a little fun while they pass their days.  How does that not sicken you?"  He clenched his claws against the rock and bared his teeth.  "It makes me angry just to think about."

"I..."  She lowered her head and looked away.  "I never thought about it that way.  It would be nice if I had been allowed to choose to spend so much time showing off for them; even if I don't know what they're saying when they cheer, I like to know they appreciate my flying, and my fire, and the tricks I can do.  But like you said, being forced to do this for who knows how long is... it's different."

He growled.  "It's wrong."

"I know...  But there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm going to at least try to enjoy it while I still can.  And if you ever change your mind, I would love a chance to talk to some of them."  She turned and started to walk outside again, and the humans cheered when they saw her.  "I'll let you sleep..." she said over the noise.  "See you this evening."

Carnoc put his head down on his forepaws and closed his eyes.  With a belly full of food and a night of exercise his muscles could still remember his body helped urge him to rest, but at the same time it was so loud outside, the humans were so close, and after telling Vical exactly what he thought about their situation he could feel his temper simmering deep inside him, waiting for an excuse to grow and release itself.

The anger at least he knew how to deal with, Vallen's warning about lashing out at humans coming to the front of his mind as he tried to relax.  Not attacking the humans outside his cage would be easy, at least; he had no way of getting to them.  But if Simon hurt him like he had the previous evening...  That would be more difficult.  But I have to control myself, he thought.  For the good of all dragonkind, like Vallen said.  Besides, if I let Simon see that he's getting to me, it will only encourage him to hurt me more.

He went through the techniques he knew for controlling himself and his anger soon faded, and when it did even the noise outside seemed further away; it didn't take him long to fall asleep after that.  Maybe he managed just a few minutes, or a couple of hours, but seemingly a few moments later he felt a light shock run through him and looked up with a snarl to see Simon standing in front of him, along with two rifle-wielding handlers back by the laser barrier.

"Get up," the human said.  "I'm going to introduce you and Vical to the guests; go outside so we can say hello."

"No," he growled, and put his head down again.

Another shock, this one more powerful; he couldn't keep himself from whining at the pain, but didn't move once Simon let go of the button.  "Go outside."

"No."

Simon shocked him yet again, turning up the power until Carnoc squirmed and cried out as the electricity jolted him.  "I mean it!  Get out there, or I'll harness you tonight no matter what you do the rest of the day.  Go outside!"

He just curled up again facing the cave wall.  "No."

"Fine, then.  We'll see how eager you are to disobey me after you've spent a night completely immobilized and unable to do anything about it."  Carnoc heard human footsteps leaving the cave, then a few moments later Simon's voice could be heard projected from a system of loudspeakers set up outside somewhere.  "Hey, everyone!  How are you all feeling today?"  There was a short pause, then, "my name's Simon Washington, and I'm the handler in charge of this exhibit and its wonderful inhabitants..."

Vical landed at the cave entrance and spoke, but didn't walk inside.  "What's going on?"

"He wants to introduce you to all the humans watching you," Carnoc said.  "He wanted me to go out so he could introduce me, too, but I said no."

"Will he punish you for it?"

"He shocked me."

She said nothing more, and he heard a few gusts of wind; she must have flown off.  Again he heard Simon's voice: "Now, since today is such a nice day, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to introduce to you all the two newest inhabitants of Disney World's Animal Kingdom!"  The crowd cheered again, and Simon waited a moment for them to quiet down.  "The first of our dragons is the red male, Carnoc, and while he's a little uncooperative right now he will come out to see you all eventually, I'm sure."

Carnoc snorted at that.

"He spent a short time with us before, and while his time here was... somewhat eventful, he's a better-behaved dragon now.  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...  Please give Carnoc a warm welcome."

The humans clapped briefly.

"Our second dragon," Simon said, "is the blue female, Vical; we purchased her so Carnoc would have another of his own kind to spend time with.  She doesn't speak English, but I'm sure she'd like to know that you all appreciate her being here, so please welcome Vical."

The humans cheered more loudly, clearly much more appreciative of the dragon who was actually coming out for them to see.  Not that I care about that, he thought with a soft growl.  She can have all their attention and appreciation if she wants.  A moment later she roared, and he heard the distinctive whoosh of her loosing a jet of fire; he nearly went to the cave entrance to see what had happened, but judging by the humans' continuing applause she had just been showing off.

"Thank you, everyone, and thank you, Vical!  Have a nice day!"  The crowd quieted some, and a few moments later Simon walked back into the cave.  "You've earned your blindfold along with the harness tonight.  Was it worth it?"  The man gave him one more brief shock, but when Carnoc didn't respond he went back into the hallways behind the cave without another word.

Carnoc sighed and tugged once against his collar with a claw before curling up again on his other side.  At least now he could finally get some sleep.
 

Vical woke him up that evening by nudging his neck; he groaned and raised his head to see the twilight outside the cave.  "Is the park closed?"

"I think..."  She looked back outside for a moment.  "All the humans left a few minutes ago, and the only ones left are the ones cleaning up the trash where the humans were walking."

Carnoc stood and began to stretch.  "How long were you out there with them?"

"Most of the day.  I flew for a long time, but I got tired after a while and just slept on the grass for most of the afternoon.  The sun felt so wonderful...  But after a while I came back in here because it's quieter and rested next to you."

"At least Simon will be happy with one of us...  I'll be back in a few minutes."  He walked to the cave entrance and paused, making sure there weren't any guests still lurking to get a glimpse of him, but all he could see were the humans with official uniforms and equipment that marked them as zoo employees, so he walked slowly down the sloping lawn to the stream.  There he drank his fill of the cool, swift-flowing water, and after burying his waste in the cage's back corner he returned to the cave.

Simon and three handlers with rifles were waiting for him, along with another tray of cold, dry beef.  "Hurry up and eat so I can harness you and get out of here," the man said.  "I've had a long day."

"I'll take my time," he growled, and settled down with the tray between his forepaws to eat.  While he worked his way through the side of beef Simon prepared his harness, drawing the straps up through the cushion and laying out the blindfold--and his muzzle.

"You never said anything about that," Carnoc glared at the network of straps and the thick bit.
"I didn't have to.  You've shown us that you can escape from your harness if you aren't muzzled, so whenever you're harnessed, you will be muzzled as well.  Are you done eating yet?"

He snapped up the last couple bites, then wiped off his claws and teeth and stepped onto the cushion.  "Let's get this over with."

Vical touched her nose to his shoulder.  "He's going to harness you now?"

He growled softly.  "Yes."

"Are you sure I shouldn't stop him?"

"He'd just shock you, and maybe harness you too.  Besides, I knew he would do this when I chose not to obey him; Simon is only doing what he said he'd do last night."

She lowered her head.  "All right...  If you're sure.  But if he shocks you after he ties you up I might have to stop him."

"I'm sure Simon will start doing that when he figures out the harness alone won't be enough punishment to get me to go outside.  Just let him do what he wants."

Vical looked away.

He growled again, then curled up on his cushion in the position the straps required.  "Muzzle first," Simon said, and he lowered his head to accept the bit, making sure to keep still as the man threaded the two straps under his snout and the one behind his horns.  Simon strapped the muzzle tight, then secured each band of the harness; he twitched and strained a couple of times at the human's touch, but let his handler tie him down without so much as a growl of protest.  Finally the black cloth was fastened over his eyes, cutting off his view of the cave, and the human backed away.

"I'll let you up in the morning," chuckled Simon, and Carnoc could hear the footsteps of him and the other humans leaving the cave.  He squirmed in his harness for a moment, trying to get comfortable, then whined and went limp against the cushion.   This wasn't going to be easy.

"You know I'll watch over you," Vical said, curling up so she leaned against his flank.  "You don't have to worry about not being safe."

He growled and tugged uselessly at the straps pinning his paws to the cushion.  Fear wasn't the problem; it was that he'd just spent all day sleeping, and now he had no choice but to keep lying there all night.  He was too awake to rest more, and his body was used to flying as soon as it got dark...  Already his wings had begun to twitch restlessly against his back, and he wanted to fly, to spread his wings and soar over everything, roar and let the world know that he was the dominant creature in this territory...

But with the harness and the muzzle strapped tightly around him he couldn't spread his wings or even speak, much less fly and roar for everyone to hear.  He could fight the harness just to use energy, but that would make his joints hurt, and he could try to speak, but with the bit gagging him...  Besides, he didn't want to be reminded of just how helpless he was tied down like this, but as he grew more and more restless he couldn't help but struggle, wriggling and squirming within the narrow limits of the straps with his eyes darting back and forth beneath the blindfold, fighting almost unconsciously to find some way to escape.

"Are you sure you don't want me to cut you out of there?" Vical said after a while.  "You don't look like you're doing too well."

"No," he grunted, then paused, surprised the word had actually come through properly; while the muzzle gagged his English, the guttural syllables of dragontongue seemed easier.  "I'll get used to it eventually, and he'd only punish you for it.  Don't worry about me."

"If you're sure," she sighed, and settled down again.

She didn't talk to him again that night, even though Carnoc was never really able to keep himself still for very long.  He never managed to sleep, either, and the short summer night felt like it lasted days, long days of blind, useless struggling against straps he couldn't hope to budge.  By the time morning finally came he was exhausted from constantly fighting against the harness, and he never thought he'd be more relieved to hear Simon and the other handlers walk into the cave.

"Have a nice night?" the man laughed, and after a moment his blindfold was removed.  "I hope you've learned your lesson, because if you refuse to go outside again I'm adding some shocks to your punishment."

Carnoc snarled as soon as his muzzle was off.  "I don't care."

Simon shocked him.  "I'm tempted to just leave you there a while longer, for still being so disobedient, but if I don't untie you then you won't be able to go outside once you give up."  He pressed another button and released his harness, and Carnoc groaned with relief as he was finally able to stretch out his limbs again.  He didn't bother coming up with a retort; he knew it would just bring another shock, and in his current state he didn't want to have to resist him directly.

Vical motioned with her tail for him to eat and he joined her after a moment; he was thirsty too after having that bit in his mouth all night, but could already hear humans outside and knew he'd have to wait until the park closed to wet his mouth.

"I don't want to have to watch you suffer like that again," Vical said once they'd both finished eating and the handlers had left the cave.  "I don't care how much you hate it... but you should do what he says.  He's not going to give up, and it's only going to get worse if you refuse."

"Why do you care?" he growled.  "You aren't my mate, you aren't my friend... you barely know me."

"But you're our warrior.  You're the strongest of us, and if I have to watch him break your spirit, imagine what that will do to mine!  At least if you do what he says now it will be on your terms, while he still respects your strength enough to let you choose how long to be outside, and what you do while you're out there...  Don't push him any farther.  Please," she lowered her head and put one of her forepaws on his own.

Carnoc snorted and raised his head.  "A warrior dragon's spirit cannot be broken, least of all by some puny human!  If you don't like it, then don't pay attention to it, because I'm not going to give in to him."

"He will torture you.  You said yourself he'll start shocking you after he ties you down if you don't obey him; are you ready to face that?  You seemed unhappy enough facing just the harness yesterday."

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Fine," she sighed, and started stretching in preparation to go outside.  "But if you're going to keep resisting... I may as well try to help you.  Here's a suggestion: try not to sleep today.  That way when night comes and he harnesses you again, you'll be tired enough to fall asleep even though you're uncomfortable, and the night will pass more easily."

Carnoc tilted his head; it was a good idea.  "I'll try to stay awake... but I'm exhausted after fighting the harness so much last night.  You'll have to keep coming in here to make sure I don't fall asleep."

"I will."

He thought for a moment, then said, "you know, if you really wanted to help me, then you could resist him too.  If he saw I was inspiring you to disobey him as well by not giving in to his threats, it might make him think twice before trying to punish me again."

"No," she pawed at the ground.  "I know what you said about why the humans have us here, but even though I don't like it either it doesn't mean that I hate them all because of it.  I still enjoy flying around for them, so why should I stop?  Besides, I'm thirsty, and the only water's out there.  I'll come back to make sure you're still awake in a couple hours."  Vical raised her head and stepped out of the cave, letting the humans cheer for a moment before rearing back onto her hind legs and roaring for them all.

Carnoc sighed and watched her for a moment before returning to his side of the cave and sprawling out on his belly.  It was going to be a long day.