There once was a man born of no renown named Roberts. He had dreamed from a young age to become a knight, and was determined not to let his peasant background hold him back. When the call from the King came requesting dragon knights, Roberts enlisted immediately.
Roberts had a secret weapon, a mythical sword named Emberwing. When he arrived for dragon knight training, the guards snatched the sword from him, laughing that the peasant boy must have stolen it from a noble. But when the guards attempted to snatch the sword, it collapsed to the ground, as if it weighed a thousand pounds. The guards tried in vain to pick the sword up from the ground, with a few other dragon knight candidates snickering at their attempts. Enraged that Roberts had made a fool of them, the two evil guards set out to ruin Roberts chances at becoming a dragon knight.
The guards assigned all the candidates to a dragon for test rides, to test the aptitude of each candidate on the back of a dragon. The guards assigned Roberts to the smallest dragon out of the bunch, a steel dragon. Steel dragons are not known for their size, power or fierce looks. Steel dragons are small, slender, and look almost feline-like. The guards began to howl with laughter at their own actions, believing Roberts had no chance.
To the guards surprise, Roberts and Iroh formed an instant deep bond. Both of the two were vastly underestimated, Roberts for his status as a peasant, and Iroh for his appearance. The two took off from the training grounds with speed and agility never before seen from a dragon knight. The two evil guards were furious, visibly shaking with anger. They stormed off, never to be seen again.
Roberts and Iroh soon became the talk of the training grounds, catching the attention of the king himself. Roberts was offered the job on the spot, and all the other candidates were dismissed. The king recognized Roberts skill, and offered him any dragon he had possession of, even dragons assigned to other dragon knights, but Roberts refused, for he had already found his best friend.
Roberts took to the skies with Iroh and Emberwing, rising through the ranks to become the most revered knight, respected and honored by all. Roberts and Iroh battled many dragons, many that were much larger and stronger than the two, but their bond allowed them to prevail. Roberts never forgot his humble beginnings as a peasant, and he knew that it was his bond with Iroh, the steel dragon that had believed in him from the beginning, that made it all possible.