Dragons/Companions

## In Good Company

(Clockwise L-R) Dragons: Arkady, Maximus, Iskierka, Temeraire, Lily, Volly. Captains: Tharkay, Berkley, Laurence, Granby, Harcourt, James by Daniel Govar

## Dragon-Human Relationships

### Western Europe

In western Europe and Great Britain, dragons associated with humans only in a military context. The first human to feed and harness a newly hatched dragonet (see Development) became its particular companion, often called its "handler" or "captain". If the dragonet accepted the harness and a name, it would form a deep and lifelong bond of affection with its companion. Sometimes a dragon rejected the first candidate offered to it, in favor of finding a different companion among the surrounding group.

Yet other dragonettes, rejected all humans and would either take off for the wilds or the humans would move them to one of the Breeding Grounds where they would still be feed.
A captain's relationship with their dragon generally became the most important one in their life.

### Military dragons

In most circumstances, a dragon's captain is the human who harnesses the dragonet at birth. The dragonet permits the human to do so and to give the dragonet a name.

In the Aerial Corps, dragons have enormously close relationships with their captains, generally ones of mutual affection and respect. However, this is not always the case. Capt. Jeremy Rankin is neglectful of Levitas to the point of abuse, but could not be removed from his post because Levitas continued to obey his orders and to crave Rankin's love and approval. Other dragons are less tolerant. Majestatis purposefully "mislaid" his captain, in a water trough and chose to live in the breeding grounds instead. Minnow and Moncey eluded all of the aviator candidates that surrounded them at hatching. The partnership between dragon and captain could also be ended by the captain, Perscitia's captain gave her up after she made it clear she would not fight.

In most cases, however, the relationship with the dragon generally becomes the most important one in the captain's life, making it very difficult to live a "normal life" during the captain's off-duty time. This leads to aviators' development of a culture largely apart from society, and not well-respected by it, despite the extraordinary sacrifices they make for their service.

Dragons tend to be both protective towards and possessive of their captains and some crew members. A dragon can be removed from battle by the capture of their captain, as the dragon would surrender to prevent the captain being killed. The possessive attitude of dragons towards their captains in some ways is the same as their attitude towards property. For example, when Minnow snatched the captain off the back of a Defendeur-Brave during the Battle of Shoeburyness, Temeraire interpreted this as "stealing" and made a mental note to keep her away from Laurence, even though Temeraire already knows that Minnow has no interest in being put in harness and to have a human companion.

### Inherited dragons

Dragons have a long lifespan, the dangers of battle aside, they are likely to outlive their captain. Dragons find this fact painful and difficult to accept and will more then likely accept a new captain if it is someone that they are familiar with and who shares their grief over the demise of their previous captain.

Aviators often had children with the intent that the child will enter the Corps and provide a new captain for their dragon upon their own death or retirement. It was thought that having a new captain who had some connection with the former one would make the transition easier for the dragon. Emily Roland, for example, is intended to become Excidium's captain upon Jane Roland's retirement, where as Excidium has had two previous captains before Jane, her mother and grandmother.

The inheritance system does not always work out, however. Rankin was an example of the downside of the familial tradition of service. Rankin's grandfather and father had been captains to Celeritas, but he refused to accept Jeremy, who is clearly ill-suited for the Corps. Since Celeritas did not have the heart to ban him from the Corps entirely, Rankin harnessed the unfortunate Levitas.

Catherine Harcourt's situation illustrated another pitfall of breeding oneself for one's dragon's sake. When Harcourt became pregnant by Tom Riley, she hoped the child would be a daughter she could train up for Lily. However, the child proved to be a son and therefore unacceptable to a Longwing as a captain.

### Asia

Unlike the European practice of assigning a dragon's companion before the egg hatched, in China, the dragon hatchling chose its own companion about fifteen months after hatching. In the meantime, both the young dragons and their potential companions attend school together, cared for by elder dragons. This allowes the young dragons to judge the virtues of their potential companions before choosing one, which could prevent a dragon from ending up with a neglectful companion. However, when shown this practice in China, William Laurence remarked that this might comparatively weaken the bond between the dragon and its eventual companion, the reply was that forming an attachment too early resulted in too-close of a relationship.

It is certain that many Chinese dragons appeared to lead more independent lives without constantly associating with a particular human. Temeraire and Laurence met a number of Celestials and Imperials without ever learning who their human companions may have been, nor observing any great loneliness for an absent or lost companion. Perhaps some of the apparently unaccompanied dragons had been bereaved long enough to develop a philosophical acceptance of their loss, but if so, evidently they had not been given a new human companion to fill the gap.

In this context, Lung Tien Lien's devastation at the loss of Prince Yongxing may have been anomalous, intensified by other dragons and people avoiding her for her "unlucky" coloration.

#### China

In China, it is the dragon who chose their companion and not until 15 months after hatching. In the meantime, both the young dragons and the potential companions attends school together.

Since not all dragons in China are employed in warfare, not all companions are necessarily "captains" in the same sense as in the Europe. Indeed, warfare is considered a rather low occupation, which is why all dragons employed for military use had female captains.