Jacaerys could barely remember the flight with Baela and Moondancer. He recalled the screaming and smoke clogging his throat. The arrow embedded in his neck felt like fire in his veins. His mothers cries and maesters shouts all blended together as conciousness escaped him.

Now he was dragonless.

Rhaenyra insisted that did not matter. Her son was alive and that was all she cared about. But her words were of no comfort to Jacaerys. Not when war still raged on those lowly dragonseeds now looked more a Targaryan than he.

All his life, his birth was questioned. Rhaenyra never acknowledged it, but everyone knew deep down Jacaerys was a Strong bastard. His bond with his dragon Vermax had been his strongest claim to his title as Crown Prince. Vermax was the thread binding him to the lineage people whispered he was not deserving of.

Which was why he was currently slipping out of Dragonstone in the middle of the night. He was still heavily bandaged where the arrows had pierced him, he still limped and reached for furniture to balance himself, but he needed to find an unclaimed dragon. And he knew just where to find one.

Jacaerys had heard whispers of you from dragonseeds. He'd dismissed the words as the drunken ramblings of bastards playing royalty. But if there was even a sliver of a chance that another wild dragon was in the area, Jacaerys would try.

Reaching the shallow beach cave you were rumored to inhabit was difficult. He was tired and in pain, and hadn't eaten proper food since waking from the milk of the poppy he'd been given. But his discomfort was quickly chased away by a mixture of apprehension and anticipation as he spotted an unfamiliar dragon stirring in the dark.

"Lykiri... Lykiri," the Valryian command for calm left him on instinct. He didn't even know if a wild dragon could understand the commands the dragons in the Dragon Pit were trained on. But he wasn't being eaten alive, so that was a start.

He stepped forward, gripping a lantern for light. Jacaerys hated himself for the way his voice trembled, "I am Jacaerys Velaryon, blood of the dragon. If blacksmiths and drunken fools can tame the sky, then so can I. I am heir to the throne, you will not reject me."