Dragon Frost by S. J. Wist

pretended to blend in. Even when a large ball hit him in the head. Even when a bowl of water was flung at him, complete with bits of meat. Even when one of the plumas sunk their teeth into his fluffy, grizzled brown tail...and didn't let up.
    Kenshe clenched his phelan teeth together and slowly turned to look at the winged kitten. A warning flash from his red eyes put out the bright green eyes of his attacker all at once. The small pluma let go of him, before running off with a small cry.
    "Aw, did the kitty bite you?" Ubi said as she walked over to the True pup and lifted him up from under his shoulders. "Silly kitties."
    Kenshe couldn't have asked for more luck. He was literally purring from it which helped with his act to put his best cute forward. He had her right where he wanted. All he had to do now was--

    "Ubi, what are you doing?" Nafury asked from the doorway to the nursery.
    Ubi turned around and lifted the True closer for him to see. "Isn't he adorable? I was going to die from the cute overload in this room alone. I can't believe he can purr!" she said and hugged it. "It's like he's half cat!"
    Nafury lifted an eyebrow as he studied the True pup. He hadn't see one in centuries. He could only gather that they were impossible to see being what they were. Anything stupid enough to trip past a mother True phelan would have been dead. Instantly. "Eh, yeah. Sort of. But he stinks. You should think about giving him a bath."
    Ubi sniffed the pup's head. "He doesn't stink. He doesn't smell like anything."
    "Maybe it's what he ate then," Nafury said and looked around at the chimera nursery. All sorts of combinations of animals were around him. Some had already been possessed by fallen Sentry and had become Awls. They stood out as the more mature, less trouble making of the lot. He thought that it must feel odd to have their mature minds fused into such small bodies, but it wasn't his business. If Xirel didn't alarm to their presence, he wasn't going to start something. "Are you sure they're all accounted for?" he teased.
    "Seriously, uncle? He didn't eat any."
    Nafury smiled and shook his head. "Don't be too long. Xirel is enjoying tormenting me by keeping me out of his conversation with Loki. I'm getting bored from being out of the loop. I need you as an excuse to get back in it." They had returned to the Efereal Mountains after their horror cruise to the Torian Continent. Their fear was that it would get hit next, while it was still recovering from Kenshe's attack. Despite being in a mountain of Awls and chimera, Nafury still felt vulnerable.
    "Alright," Ubi replied and watched him go. She turned her focus back on the True in her arms and smelled him again. "We might as well give you a bath just in case I'm nose-blind or something..." She carried him over to a large bowl and sat him down in the icy water. Finding a brush, she started to scrub him down.

    Kenshe's mission could wait, as the full body scrub he was getting was just too enjoyable to turn down. He struggled to keep his focus and his size for that matter through the whole bath. When she was done, he was left half-tranced from bliss as she wrapped him in a wool blanket.
    "Ow!" Ubi squeaked.
    Kenshe's giant ears perked up, as he hadn't bitten her, yet. They simultaneously looked down to see where a kitten's claws had raked her calf. The pluma had scratched her hard enough to make her bleed.
    "That wasn't very nice!" she said and crouched down to shoo away her attacker with her hand.
    Kenshe jumped out of her arms and quickly played the hero, gently licking her wound. Luck favoured him today, as he wouldn't have to bite her, after all.
    "Ew...okay, that's great," Ubi said and picked him back up. She wrapped him back in the blanket and left the nursery.
    Every breath Kenshe took now was focused on keeping his form small. Her endless memories raced through his head with no sign of slowing down. Sybl's blood had been an intense heat,