"Ah ah! In your face, asshole!" Rhaegal laughed as he ripped a piece of the right eye off Kalos' corpse. "You meant to kill me, huh? Who's the dead one now!?"
Haku sighed. Rhaegal had been ravaging the Kalos corpse for quite some time now. Initially he had ignored him, since he thought it was right for his brother to vent; after all, even Darbi had said a few joke words for the dragon's corpse. Apparently, teasing their dead father was an efficient way to dispel the frustration and fear they'd built up because of him. However, after almost an hour Rhaegal still hadn't stopped, and Haku was starting to wonder if he should intervene.
After Neytiri had killed Kalos, the little dragons had celebrated their victory with a good meal. After all, dragons wasted nothing, and Kalos' body was an excellent source of food. Haku didn't like the idea of cannibalism very much, but he wasn't stupid: in that emergency situation, where food was scarce, they couldn't afford to be picky. A dragon's body was massive and could provide a gigantic amount of food, enough to sustain him and all of his siblings for over a year. He certainly wouldn't have refused it.
Haku was a time-based morality supporter. When he and his siblings would have found somewhere safe and with plenty of food in the future, then he would have considered to avoid cannibalism. But until then, he would have had no qualms about eating his own father.
Since the little dragons' fangs and claws were still too weak, Neytiri had cut the corpse into pieces and left it on the beach. Even if some other animals wanted to eat them, there was enough food to feed every single creature in the entire valley for months. And then Neytiri had discovered that she didn't like dragon meat very much after having eaten part of Shruikan long ago; rather, she saw that carcass as an excuse to no longer have to take food to her children, since they could now feed themselves with Kalos.
The little dragons ate greedily on their first day. Kalos was their trophy after all; it was just right to enjoy it. The dragon meat was tough and difficult to chew, but not as hard as the scales: stripping those off, Haku and his siblings were able to tear it apart and swallow it, albeit with some effort. Haku had tried to reach his favorite body part, the brain, but there was so much flesh and bone before it that he had to give up. Before he could extract the brain from his father's skull, he would have had to dig into his head for several hours, since the flesh was tough and the bones even harder. So he gave up and he just ate the more superficial meat. His siblings had also been disappointed not to be able to feed on the tasty, soft internal organs, but unfortunately they had to wait to consume everything else before they could reach them.
When he finished, Haku sat slightly away, waiting for his siblings to finish too. Even though his stomach was full now, he was still exhausted. Being able to hang on to the neck of a dragon at least four hundred times heavier than himself had been a titanic feat. He was tempted to fall asleep, but after what had happened over the last few days he would never dare close his eyes in such an open and exposed place. So he just watched his siblings eat. That was how he had noticed that Rhaegal was continuing to taunt their father's corpse, and after almost an hour, Haku felt that such action wasn't healthy at all. He was about to get up and go to talk to him, when suddenly the seven sisters who hadn't initially joined his plan arrived and apologized to him. "You were right, Haku. We're sorry we didn't listen to you right away"
Haku smiled. Dragons were proud, but they were also smart. While Sisna, Maldor, Finiar, Malchia, Corgorin, Glausar and Jatara hated the idea of apologizing, they wouldn't deny that Haku's plan had been effective. After all, only a fool would have contradicted the facts. Besides, his sisters must have also calculated the benefits of listening to him: it was clear that now all the members of Neytiri's litter wanted to learn from him and so the seven of them were trying to make a good impression. After all, it was thanks to Haku's intelligence that they killed an adult dragon! From the point of view of his brothers and sisters, Haku was an example to follow and it was essential to use the time they spent together to learn as much as possible.
Haku nodded. "Thank you. Don't worry, I understand you had your reasons for doubting. You trusted me in the end, and that's enough for me" he replied, and then he added: "I hope we can continue to trust each other in the future. If we have achieved such a victory by trusting only once, try to think what we could achieve by trusting always!"
Haku was naturally taking advantage of the situation to stress the need to stick together. He couldn't rely on family affection alone to convince everyone: he also had to offer benefits. After all, love was useless if it didn't fill the belly. Now, after their victory, the benefits were clear to all: defeating an adult dragon was something none of them could have done alone. Each one of them had had to play a specific role and only in this way they could be successful. Basically, Haku had the tangible proof that trusting each other was useful, and he didn't hesitate to point it out to make sure his sisters didn't forget. He had to take advantage now that their victory was still fresh in their minds and make sure his 'trust each other' philosophy took root before the 'everyone thinks for himself' one of the other dragons did.
And apparently it was working. "Yeah, we really should" his sisters said as they looked at each other, nodding to each other.
Haku could be satisfied. "I'm glad you think as I do" he said, then he stood up. "Now excuse me, but I have to go talk to Rhaegal. See you later"
"Of course. See you later, brother!" his sisters greeted him, and then they began to whisper among themselves. Haku was sure that they were discussing the pros and cons of accepting Haku's proposal to trust each other.
Haku ignored them: now he had other things to think about. He made his way to Rhaegal, who was still tormenting their father's right eye. As he did this he kept the dragon's eyelid open, as if to make sure that he saw it. "Did you see now? We are the ones who killed you, not you! And now we're the ones who are eating you! You can't..."
"Rhaegal" Haku stopped him. "That's enough"
Rhaegal turned to his brother, giving him a sideways glance. He wanted to yell at him to go away, but he didn't want to scream against the one who had actually allowed them to eliminate the threat. "Why? He wanted to kill us. Why can't I taunt him now that he's dead?"
"You've already taunted him. Now you're going too far" Haku replied. "This isn't good for you, brother. Why don't you stop for a moment and come to rest? I'm sure you're tired too"
Rhaegal let out a snort. Indeed he was tired, but he didn't want to stop. "I'm not that tired yet. And I still can't stop"
"Brother, I know what you're feeling" Haku said. "I too had fear and anger towards our father. I still have them now. But this isn't the right way to make them disappear. If you'll continue, you will only hurt yourself"
Rhaegal looked down. His body was shaking slightly. "You can not understand"
"Really? I was there with you when he attacked us the first time. I saw death in the face just like you. And Darbi saw it too; even though he knew about the plan, he still had to risk his life" Haku said him back. "I completely understand how you feel. You are turning your fear into anger. You want to torment our father now that he can no longer fight back, in the hope that by doing so you will no longer be afraid of him. But that's not how it's going to work. Taunting our father won't make you stop to fear him, even if he is dead"
Haku knew what he was talking about. Whenever he had met a more powerful opponent against whom he had risked his life he had teased him again and again in his mind, laughing at the fact that he was alive while they weren't. He had done this with many predators, with the newcomers, and even with his own mother after she had admitted the truth about their family connection. But he soon realized that this method was useless. Taunting the enemy made him forget the fear for a while, but it didn't make it go away. That enemy would have returned hours later, haunting the dreams or tormenting the mind.
Rhaegal stopped, staring into the now empty eye socket of their dead father. He was silent for a few seconds, then he whispered: "I envy you, brother"
Haku narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"You have a strong heart. You are fearless" Rhaegal sighed. "Look at me. I'm so scared that if I stop taunting our father's corpse I immediately start shaking, even now that he's dead. But you… you're not scared. You ventured out of the cave when all of us were too scared to do it. You started hunting when we were too scared to even try to catch a lizard. And Darbi told us what you did when you met those newcomers… you stood in front of him to protect him and faced them while maintaining clear mind. Yesterday you saved me, risking being killed by our father too. And despite what you had just experienced, you immediately thought of a plan to eliminate the threat once and for all... You are extraordinary. You are not afraid of nothing or nobody. And I envy you for that, brother"
Haku opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, then he let out a little laugh. "Fearless, huh?" he murmured. "If that were the case I'd be dead already. Fear kept me alive. I'm just more afraid of certain things than others, and I focus on those"
Rhaegal looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
Haku snorted. "I am afraid. I am afraid every single day. When I came out of the cave, I did it because I was afraid that one day I would remain without food. When I continued to hunt, I did it because I was afraid that our sisters starve to death. When I protected Darbi, I was afraid of the newcomers, but I was even more afraid for my brother's life. And when I saved you from our father, I was afraid for my life, but I was more afraid of losing you. And when I created the plan to kill our father, I did that because I was afraid of losing you, or Darbi, or of dying myself". Haku looked at their father's dead body. "Fear forges us, and it is what keeps us alive. If we aren't afraid, we end up like him. Our father wasn't afraid of us and this was his downfall. So I am not fearless at all, on the contrary I am constantly enveloped in fear. But I am able to decide what I am most afraid of and act accordingly"
Rhaegal listened carefully to his words. "So the way you fight fear is… with more fear" he whispered. "So how am I supposed to stop being afraid of our father?"
Haku looked him straight in the eyes. "You should fight fear with fear too. You must be afraid that if you keep thinking about him, taunting his corpse, then he will remain in your memory. The more time you focus on him, the more difficult it will be for you to forget him. And as a result he will torment you. His memory will always be with you, and you will begin to fear to venture into open spaces or even to leave your cave. Therefore, if you want to fight him, kill him again with your fear"
"Kill him again?"
"Forget him. Erase him from your mind. Be afraid that his memory will haunt you, and so immediately cancel it. Doom him to oblivion. This is the only way"
Rhaegal was silent for a moment, then he said in a thin voice: "I… will consider your advice". Then, with an effort that seemed beyond his abilities, he looked away from the body of the dead dragon. "Now... I think I'm going to get some rest. I'm tired"
Haku nodded. "You are right. Go now"
Rhaegal took a few steps away, then he stopped. "Brother… thank you. For everything. For saving me, for letting us eliminate the threat, and for helping me now". He turned slightly to look at Haku, being very careful not to see their father's body. "I know you have taken many of our sisters hunting with you. I would like to join you if possible. After what has happened... I think we all need a leader, and I would be happy if it were you"
Haku felt a strong pride invade him, but he kept his composure. "Thank you for these words. If you want to come with us tomorrow, you will be welcome"
Rhaegal let out a satisfied snort, then walked away again. He went and lay down under a nearby tree and fell asleep there. Haku was satisfied. He knew his speech wouldn't be enough to eliminate his brother's trauma, but he hoped it had served him in some way.
"Great speech"
Haku turned his gaze towards the voice. His sister Kotaru appeared next to him.