Hello everybody! I'm feeling much better today :D
This chapter came so soon after the last one because my mojo came back as rainbows flying from my eyes, and I needed to get it out of me now or I never would.
And I somehow concocted a boring lecture for the first part. HOW?
It's all about reptiles! Oh well, dragon biology it is.
The second part is probably much better, though. So enjoy.
I own nothing!
The dragon had finally stopped eating and was now curled up on the floor dozing. Its tail tip and feet twitched as if it was dreaming. Sprx really didn't know what to do.
"So I'm supposed to take care of you. How do I do that?" Sprx mused out loud, the dragon was a mystery to him, and he really didn't want to look after it. As far as he was concerned, this dragon was a disaster waiting to happen. It may have fooled everyone else, but it wasn't fooling him. He would show everyone that the dragon was dangerous, and then they would finally be rid of it.
Which meant that he had to watch it constantly for signs of trouble. Great.
Gibson walked in. "How are you faring?"
"Just peachy." Sprx replied, "I'm stuck babysitting this thing while everyone else is doing something important."
"This is important." Gibson responded. "A dragon is a dangerous creature, it breathes fire and can cause destruction just by being in a room with flammable substances. Someone must keep an eye on her so that nothing bad happens."
"So you agree with me!" Sprx said excitedly. "It's dangerous and we should be rid of it."
"I did not say that." Gibson corrected. "I merely said that she is dangerous."
"So let me get this straight, you think it's dangerous, but we shouldn't get rid of it?" Sprx asked, aghast.
"A dragon can be useful." Gibson offered, "But only if she will not attack us."
"She?"
"The dragon is female, Sprx." Gibson replied, sounding exhausted.
"So it could lay more eggs?" Sprx asked, this was very troubling to him. If that thing multiplied, then they would destroy the city. The more he learned about the dragon, the more apprehensive he became.
"Possibly in the future, but definitely not now. I just thought I'd give you a hand by telling you what I have learned about her on my cursory examination."
"Sure, why not." Sprx replied, feeling resigned to the inevitable at this point. Why not just let Gibson get all of this out of his system now, it's not like any more time would make it any easier to comprehend.
"Alright. The dragon is a female and clearly only two weeks old. She will eat like a newborn eats, so you must provide her with plenty of food."
"Figured that out myself, brainstrain. Tell me something I haven't found out yet." Sprx sighed.
"I was getting there." Gibson replied indignantly. "You must let her outside frequently. She is a reptile, so her body temperature is reliant on the sun, yet she can maintain her own body heat enough to sustain motion, she is essentially a cross between an ectothermic organism and an endothermic one."
"Meaning?"
"Cold-blooded and warm-blooded." Gibson huffed. "She will lose body heat if she is not moving, so she'll need to be kept in a warm place while she's resting. How about I help you with that now?"
"Fine." Sprx grunted. He picked up the dragon and carried it to his room. Gibson arranged the blankets so that the dragon would be warm. The dragon did not seem happy to be moved, letting out an indignant squeak when Sprx picked it up, but soon settled down in the blanket pile.
"What else?" Sprx mumbled. This was not how he wanted to spend his day.
"She will likely need to shed her skin. And if she is like other reptiles of a similar size, she will need to shed every month. However, that will only be proven by further observation as she grows."
"Fascinating, brainstrain." Sprx replied, "I guess I'll need to clean up the mess then."
"Yes Sprx, it will undoubtedly be messy."
"Wonderful." Sprx groaned.
"As I was saying, she will likely shed. So you must keep her fed and give her enough water, or else her shedding will fail."
"Is that bad?" Sprx replied, losing interest by the second.
"It could lead to permanent skin damage." Gibson responded. "Look for signs such as dull scales and dead patches of her skin. This is a sign that she is failing to shed her skin."
"Whatever." Sprx replied.
"Sprx! This is serious!" Gibson said adamantly, "Pay attention!"
"Fine." Sprx replied, resigning himself to a very boring day.
"Digestion of food is slower for a reptile than for a mammal, but her constant growth will likely mean that she will eat more during her hatchling days." Gibson lectured. "Do not make her eat if she is not hungry though. If you suspect that she is not eating because she is hurt or sick, come get me, I will confirm."
"Sure thing." Sprx responded, disinterested. He forced himself to listen though.
"Her brain is unusually large compared to other reptiles. This may indicate an intelligence level closer to that of birds or mammals than to other reptiles. I may observe her for more data later." Gibson said, seeming to become excited.
"Then how about you raise her, then?" Sprx offered, hoping that Gibson would accept.
"As interesting as that may be, I cannot. I am far too busy for that. And besides, Antauri said that you are responsible for raising her." Gibson responded, almost disappointed.
Figured it wouldn't be that easy. Sprx thought. "What next?"
"Her bones are lightweight like a bird's bones are to facilitate flight. Make sure that she avoids damaging those fragile bones." Gibson warned. "And do not go about trying to injure her, everything that happens to her is your responsibility."
Sprx said nothing, he was too busy trying not to fall asleep, his stubbornness was the only thing keeping him awake and attentive, to the best of his ability.
"Her chest muscles are very large, much like a bird's chest muscles are. So it would be wise to teach her how to fly sooner rather than later, and once she flies, she will need to fly regularly. It would be bad if her muscles were to atrophy, or wither and die." Gibson advised.
"So what you're saying is, I'll need to fly with it regularly?" This got Sprx's attention. If he had an excuse to fly more often, then this would definitely be a silver lining to some very dark storm clouds.
"Yes, Sprx." Gibson confirmed, smirking slightly.
Maybe this won't be so bad. Sprx thought.
Mandarin trekked down the slope that led to the bottom of the Pit of Doom, followed by a small army of formless and some of those massive slug things that the formless sometimes rode. The way was very long, and the evil presence at the bottom of the Pit made him feel physically ill. He counted himself fortunate that the Dark One egg had been sealed up and the Dark One Worm was dead.
At the bottom of the Pit, the ground was covered with debris. Pieces of wood structure from when the Pit was first dug, rubble from the destroyed bridge when the Dark One egg hatched, chunks of stone from when the Skeleton King was revived, small pieces of metal, and some small animal bones.
Mandarin began to gather up the debris and the formless followed his lead, placing the rubble that they had gathered into large bins the slug things were carrying. Mandarin picked up some of the shards of bone, he could recognize what they came from; birds, squirrels, and...
Mandarin looked closer at the shard of bone he was holding, this was definitely not a rodent's bone, nor was it a bird's bone. It was a skull fragment from something larger.
Mandarin felt a sick feeling in his stomach as he looked at the scattered bones on the ground. He began to mentally label each bone as he found them; a piece of a rib, the broken half of a shoulder blade, some of the bones of the spine and tail, and a shard of the pelvis, just to name a few.
Mandarin felt a sinking feeling as he saw shards of metal and pieces of circuitry scattered amidst the bones. He knew where these bones came from, and the conspicuous absence of any visible arm bones confirmed his hunch.
Suppressing his emotions, he gathered up the pieces and put them in a bin separate from the other salvaged debris, he had a feeling that this is what the Skeleton King wanted him to gather, and he couldn't just return without those pieces of bones and circuits, no matter how much he wanted to. And if he was wrong, then he could properly bury them.
The way Antauri deserved.
I felt like writing more, but that ending just flowed so well I couldn't. 1500 words it is, then. I hope everybody liked it, and since I've got some time off of school, maybe I can write more chapters. Make up for the massive amount of filler here.
To be honest, I really don't know all that much about raising reptiles and birds, I just looked at the wiki pages for both reptiles and birds to make an accurate representation of the dragon's biology. In my mind, the dragon is a cross between a reptile and a bird, but no feathers.
So, until next time guys.
:)