Upon The Winds Of Dubiety

Time passed through the golden plains. For the orange-eyed hatchling, there was much work to do. There was a form to understand, behaviors to mimic, landscape to grow familiar. Slowly, the world was not so strange and new.
He began to speak. He began to play. And he did a lot of it, beginning to form meaning from it. But most of all, he began to understand the black and the white.

On a night where the stars were hidden by a layer of clouds, the younglings gathered under the sky. A fire lights their vision, provided by one of the adults' magic. An elderly knochen lady sits at the center of it all, the attention of the younglings all focused on her.

Elder: *She has an enthusiastic grin on her face as she meets the eyes of the younglings.* All right, younglings, who's ready for tonight's tale?
*A round of excited cheers arise from the younglings in response. A few adults listen and watch on the outskirts of the circle. The orange-eyed youngling, now with skin having turned red and a name given to him, is no exception to the excitement, eager to hear another one of the elder's tales.*
Elder: Listen up, younglings. Tonight's tale is a special one, one I usually tell when you've all reached this age.
Elder: *She moves the position of her head to peer down on them all, her face illuminated by firelight* The world we live in is very large, much bigger than our small plains. You have only seen a tiny fraction of it in your time here.
Elder: Beyond our home is a world full of experiences, beauty, and wonder. But also great danger.
*Some of the younglings look a little uneasy at that last part. He simply frowns a bit.*
Elder: Keep in mind, younglings, our quiet home is a very safe place. We're fortunate to not have to worry about many things.
Elder: But if you ever chose to leave this place, you'll find the rest of the world isn't so friendly.

*Murmurs come from the younglings. Some ask why they would ever leave, others question what's out there and why it wouldn't be friendly. He wonders the latter, but the elder quickly hushes them all once more.*

Elder: There are many reasons the world isn't friendly, younglings. For one thing, land isn't all the same. You can encounter cold mountains or blazing deserts, unforgiving weather like harsh storms or tornadoes, and perhaps most commonly of all, creatures that want to hurt you.
Youngling: What would hurt us...?
Elder: Knochen don't have any natural predators or enemies. But history has lead us to develop one: humans.
Elder: Tell me younglings, what do you know about humans?
Youngling: They walk on two legs!
Youngling: They're mean and scary!
Youngling: Their skin is weird! It has no fur or scales, it's all soft! And their hair only grows in weird places!
*He thinks of what to add as he listens to everyone else's responses.*
Esredes: They're small...?
Elder: All of you are correct. Humans are small and strange and scary, and if they see a knochen, they will try to kill it.
*There's a round of quiet, fearful gasps from the younglings*
Youngling: Why do they wanna kill us?!
Elder: You see, humans are jealous of our magical abilities. They want it for themselves because they weren't chosen by the gods. Long ago, they thought we were descendants of the gods, and worshipped us like them.
Elder: But no longer. Once they learned the source of our magic was in our very bones, they turned on us. And now they will not hesitate to kill us if they get the chance in order to get to it.
Elder: You will never see a human in our plains. They do not live here. But outside of here, you will definitely run into them. Never be fooled by their size, younglings. They are very dangerous.
Elder: So, younglings, the lesson of tonight's tale is that our world is dangerous. Do not go out into it unprepared to face its dangers. For every wonder out there in the world, there's also a disaster.
*The younglings are quiet, in absence of their usual cheers. Low murmuring starts amongst them. He's left with a sense of unease, as if that felt like it shouldn't be all.*
Elder: Well, younglings, that's the end of tonight's tale. Now it's about time you all went to sleep.
Esredes: Wait! *He springs to his feet, looking at the elder directly*
Elder: What is it, Esredes?
Esredes: Isn't there something knochen can do to stop humans?! Do we have to live in fear of them?!
Elder: Not in fear, in caution. But yes, there are things that can be done. If you watch yourself out in the world, you'll run into as few of them as possible.
Elder: But there is a group of knochen who work to make the world safer for our kind all over the world by challenging human advancement. They fight humans straight on so other knochen don't have to.
Esredes: I want to do that! I wanna stop the bad guys! I wanna help knochen!
Youngling: Yeah, me too!
Youngling: Those humans won't stand a chance against us!
Elder: *She gives an amused chuckle at their enthusiasm.* Not so fast, little soldiers. That's something you only do when you're much older. It's not easy, either.
Elder: Anyhow, enough about humans. All of you get to sleep now.

As he followed the other younglings to their designated place of rest, the youngling's idea stayed with him. He wanted to know more. What would it take to be one of those knochen. What would it take to be able to save others from this bad creature. Would it be like being a hero? He had a lot of fantasies about being a hero. It all persisted in his mind for the time to come.

The dream in his eyes began to change form.