The webcomic, Destiny Intertwined,was what inspired a lot of my world building and setting for this fic. I highly recommend you take a look at it, if you haven't yet.

It was nightfall by the time Spyro and Cynder made it back to their house. Both felt exhausted and were more then ready for bed. Both entered the house, heading immediately for the bedroom.

In the bag, Claire had been very silent most of the trip. Cynder was pretty sure she had been asleep. Once inside their chambers, Cynder took Claire out of the pouch, laid her on the bed, and then deposited her stuff, haphazardly, to the side of one of their tables. They would deal with it in the morning.

For now, both Spyro and Cynder got on the 'bed', or rather a very large sitting pillow, and Cynder took Claire under her paws.

Wishing each other good night, the pair quickly fell asleep.

It was early in the morning, long before the sun would come up. A time when most dragons were still asleep.

Except for a certain hatchling.
Claire had been crying, loudly, for the past ten minutes. Before this, she had been waking up off and on throughout the night. Spyro and Cynder both sat up, with bags under their eyes. They had been waiting for Claire to stop, but she had shown no signs of letting up, whatsoever.

"Please, sweetie, I don't speak screaming. Just tell me what you want." Cynder urged, as she lowered herself and brought Claire towards her muzzle. She attempted to nuzzle Claire, but the hatchling started squirming and kicking, hitting Cynder in the snout.

"Okay..." Cynder muttered as the hatchling continued to kick at her snout.

"Is she hungry?" Spyro suggested.

"The medic said hatchlings eat three times a day. And it's not time to feed her yet." The black dragoness responded, releasing a sigh as Claire's crying continued.

Spyro raised a brow. "Uncomfortable? Bad dream?" He guessed. Neither had any idea what they were doing.
Cynder shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe?" She parroted.

Claire's crying continued. Both adult dragons looked at one another.

"I think know something I could try." Cynder suggested.

'by all means."

She took Claire in her paws, and slowed started rocking her, humming a lullaby. Rocking the hatchling in her arms, she hummed one of the few melodyes she knew.
Slowly, the hatchling began to calm down a bit. As the dragoness rocked her, she slowly started to close her eyes again, emitting a purring sound.

After a few minutes, she was finally down.

Both adult dragons sighed in relief, as Cynder placed the hatchling under her paws again.
With that, both dragons fell asleep once more.

As the morning sun came and went, both dragons snoozed away, longer than they normally would. After the strife of having a baby repeatedly waking up throughout the night, neither of the two dragons partially had much energy.

However, by what most have been some miracle, Spyro managed to stir awake. Blinking his eyes and yawning, he slowly got up, memories of the task at hand slowly flooding back to him.

"Oh crap.: He muttered, realizing, based off the sun's ray's, the time was later than he had meatn to wake up at.

Slowly, he gathered his strength and got up. Noting the slumbering form of Cynder and Claire, he made an effort to quietly slip out of the room, and head into the washroom.

The purple dragon looked at himself in the mirror. He had bags under his eyes, he noted. He sighed.

"We really are in over our heads." He thought to himself. He did not know the first thing about rearing a child. And now he had a newborn in his care?

"But for how long?" He wondered. They would be handing her off to the dragon temple soon. But after that?

He did not know.

He went back to their bedroom, and found Cydner slowly waking up. He nuzzled her.

"Good morning, honey." He greeted his mate. Cynder looked up at him and smiled.
"Good morning." She said back, before nuzzling Claire. She was sleeping away, peacefully.

Cynder nearly laughed. "Go figure, the moment we need to wake up, she decides to stay asleep." She noted.

"They are probably expecting us at the temple." He stated. "I will make us breakfast but… I frankly have no clue how to make Claire's milk." He stated.

Cynder smiled. "Leave that to me. I will be down in a bit." She relied.

Nodding, Spyro went down stairs to begin breakfast.

After only a few minutes, Spyro had breakfast set out on the table. Their kitchen, was composed of marvel and stone along the walls. A wooden table, large enough for dragons, was situated in the center. Spyro sat there, awaiting his mate.

Sure enough, Cynder appeared from the stairwell a few minutes later, caring the hatchling in her mouth. The hatchling still looked groggy, and yawned. Cynder sat her down on the table.
"Well, I tried, but she really does not want to wake up." Cynder noted, gesturing to Claire, who looked ready to fall asleep again on the table.

"If only she could have been like this last night…" Spyro joked.

Cynder sighed. 'Watch her for me, will you? I will get to work on the milk." She stated, going into the pantry and fetching the supplies the medic had left her.

Spyro looked down at the hatchling, who was curling up on the table. He gave her a light nudge with his snout, trying to keep her awake. "Don't fall asleep quite yet, little one. You need to eat." He urged her. Claire looked up at him, a groggy expression on her face.

Spyro sighed and looked toward his mate. 'She does not seem to want to eat right now."

Cynder sighed, as she finished the bottle and brought it over in her maw. She sat down at the table. "Well she needs to." Cynder said.

She picked up the hatchling in one of her paws, and attempted to feed her the body. At once, Claire gripped it and began to drink.

Cynder smiled and cooed at the baby hatchling. "Hopefully, this holds her over for a bit."

Almost immediately after Claire finished, her little eyes drooped and she fell asleep, instiancbly purring in Cynder's arms.

Both Spyro and Cynder stared at her, and awed.

"She's really cute, I will admit.' Spyro said.

Cynder blushed. 'Yeah. I wish we, had more time with her." She said.

Spyro frowned a bit. "Yeah…"

Something then crossed his mind. "Maybe we can visit with her in the temple nursery?"

Cynder shrugged , as she put Claire in the hatchling bag on her side. "Perhaps…" She said, a thought beginning to cross her mind. But she quashed it for now; they would have to wait and see…

Only a bit after that ,the two adult dragons had eaten breakfast and left. Spyro had business with the council, involving the hatchling, while Cynder wanted to be the one to drop off Claire at the hatchling.

As Cynder flew through the lively dragon city, she could not help but glance down at the hatchling sleeping in her satchel and wonder about what exactly the city had in mind for her.

"They think her powerful, but how so? Are her powers any more different than my own? Or is it because she is the first shadow dragon hatchling seen in some time?"

She did not know.
Sure enough, the iconic shape of the Warfang dragon temple came into view.

Its towering mass, combined with the light stones, and sculpted dragon statues out front made it recognizable to any dragon within the city.
As she approached the temple, Cynder thought about the role politics might play in the hatchling's life; and how the guardians would play into it all. As the masters of the elements, surely they would be involved.

The guardians served side by side with the council of Warfang. Specifically, while the council handled the interests of the city it's self, the guardians were the highest experts of elements in the dragon race and dealt with various duties, both political and academic. They were appointed to represent their respective element's interests in various matters; free from any outside influence. For instance, the clans of Warfang.

Clans had been rebuilding themselves in the years since the war, and had their own estates in Warfang. Their lands were ravaged during the war, and much of their political power waned. The surviving members of the once great clans of Warfang were currently more concerned with rebuilding themselves than playing into politics at the moment. Seeing as the world nearly got destroyed, most of the surviving clans put aside any difference and were aiding in the rebuilding of one another, as well as building new alliances.

What concerned Cydner right now, though, was the rookery and the nursery part of the temple.

The new dragon temple in Warfang had been reconstructed to have a rookery for eggs. Like in previous times, many eggs were kept in the dragon temple for protection. Parents were not mandated to keep their eggs here, but they mostly did, seeing as it offered much more protection than a single dragon family could offer. Eggs took months to hatch and had to be looked after like crazy.

The guardians, in years past, were once charged with protecting the eggs of new generations. But, after their failure to protect the temple from Gaul's raid, dragon society grew weary of leaving their young solely in their charge. As such, new arrangements were made.

The rookery's security had been beefed up to an almost extreme level. Where in the past, the guardians were the sole protectors of it, their failure to do so during the year of the dragon caused many to loose faith in their abilities to do so. Now, the rookery was under a twenty-four-seven armed guard, by over a dozen of some of the top soldiers from both the clans and the Warfang military, working in shifts. Visitation of eggs was mostly limited to parents or close family. Only the guardians themselves had unadulterated access to the rookery.

Adding to this, a magical force field spell had been constructed by the most potent magic users in the species, and remained in place nearly all times, powered by magic crystals.

Visitation was of course allowed to the parents of the eggs, but had to be monitored. Anyone else had to get an ok from the guardians to visit. There were of course caretakers who worked in the rookery, as well as the adjacent nursery, but they were appointed by the heads of the respective clans or guardians and had a guard with them all times.

Cynder reflected on the attitudes and circumstances of her species that led to these extreme security measures.
Some in the city thought these methods were a tad extreme, though they did appreciate the ensured safety of their young. Those who had lost their eggs during that fateful Year of the Dragon, however, welcomed these precautions with open arms. The loss of a whole generation of their young was a massive shock to the species and a devastating blow to their population. Combine that with the Malefor and the ape's genocide and war, and the dragon species' population rapidly declined, though many thousands had managed to survive. That, however, was a pale shadow of how many dragons there once were.

Surfice to say, dragonkind would never again let the tragedy of what happened to their species occur again. Many parents had blamed the guardians for this tragedy, and did not trust them to keep their young safe anymore. Of course no one believed they caused the raid or intended for it to happen. The raid had caught them off guard. But many were beyond angry at the guardian's failure to protect the eggs regardless. They were supposed to be among the most powerful individuals in the dragon's race; and it had been their sworn duty to keep the new generation safe.

In the eyes of the grieving parents and the rest of the population, they had failed. Cynder herself was not even sure whether she had some kind of unconscious resentment towards them or not.
However, as she looked back down at the sleeping hatchling in the pouch on her neck, her thoughts drifted elsewhere. Namely, the circumstances of her situation and how an orphaned hatchling was usually handled.

For those hatchling's whose parents chose to keep their eggs in the temple, they would be taken back by their parents to their homes to be raised. Orphaned hatchlings, however, were raised in the dragon temple nursery, raised by resident caretakers. The orphaned hatchlings, however, were available for adoption, though. If not adopted, orphaned dragons would often be brought up to serve either in the temple or in a variety of roles in Warfang's society, as they went through their educations. They could live in the temple until they reached adulthood, where they either earned their keep in the temple for lodging in the temple's residence halls, or to go out on their own. It was their choice, but they were given a basic education and taught basic skills they would need to give them options in life. Not much was offered in the way of pay, but they least were given a place to stay, as well as food and necessities.

Cynder thought for a bit. What would become of Claire? She would be studied and looked after, she was sure, but what would her life look like here in Warfang? Would they raise her in the temple, and have their masters in the respective elements attempt to guide her? As far as Cynder knew, the elemental experts of Warfang knew little of what Claire's powers could be like, so of course they would have her monitored by their experts for a long time.

"Maybe she would be up for adoption…?" Cynder thought, rather impulsively. The thought came in out of nowhere, and Cynder barely pondered it before she heard Claire yawning again. She looked down at the hatchling, who had shifted a bit in the bag, but remained curled up.

Cynder chuckled to herself. "A bit quick to become so attached ,huh?"
She landed and approached the main gate, being let him by some guards once she explained why she was there.

As she got further into the temple's halls, some more guards she encountered. pointed in the direction of research wing of it. As she approached, she paled a bit.
Who would they leave in charge of this hatchling? Would they just poke and prod her, or would she be cared for?

Cynder glanced and Claire, and then affirmed to herself.

"They better treat her well."
As she got further into the research wing, passing a few other dragons in the hallways, a familiar yellow dragon flagged her over.

When she realized who it was, she gasped. Cynder raised a brow in surprise.

"Volteer! I wasn't expecting you to take an interest in this. Thought you had other tasks to attend to." Cynder pressed.
The electric guardian shook his head. "Indeed, but you forget I've led research on the elements for years. I must admit, I was intrigued to hear about the unique aura of this hatchling." He said, looking down at Claire.

"The council didn't mind me helping the other researchers. The other guardians also took an interest." He explained

Cynder was bit surprised to hear this.
"Must say I am surprised. To involve the guardians themselves in a matter regarding a newborn." He pressed. After a few moments, she decided she might as well press it.

"Are they planning something?" She asked.

Volteer shook his head. "No, no. I assure you, Cynder, we don't have some secret plan to use her as a weapon. Of course, we want to study her element. Much knowledge of the dark elements has been lost or disputed over time. To have a hatchling of this element, is well… quite opportune. But to have a hatchling with an unheard-of mix of elements? That's…" He began, before noticing her worried expression.

"I got ahead myself. We guardians, as well as the council, wish to better understand this unique aura of hers. We intend to help her learn to control it as she grows and guide her. Sure there may be some politics at play, but even the council isn't soulless, Cynder. I assure you, she will be cared for."

Cynder, trusting the guardian, nodded. She did, however, have one more question.

"After you're done examining her, what will become of her then?" Cynder inquired.

Volteer thought for a second. "Well, the council left it up to us guardians to figure it out. To answer more directly, we intend to keep an eye on her as she develops . She will be afforded special treatment I think, though we are still working that out."

" I mean, how will she be raised."

Volteer hummed. "In the temple nursery, like other orphaned hatchlings. Without any family around to give her to, we don't have much other choice."

Cynder frowned slightly. "Might she be… up for adoption?" She inquired.

Volteer look briefly surprised, before he picked up on the hint. He thought for a minutes. 'Um, well, we will, uh, have to contemplate that." He said, not wanting to crush her hopes.

"Oh…" Cynder said, a bit solemnly. She should not have been too surprised, though. She said nothing more and took Claire out of the bag, passing her off to the electric guardian.

Volteer took her gently by the scruff. Claire looked up at him but did not give much of a reaction.

"Rest assured, she will be fine in our care. Perhaps you should check back with us later though?" He mouthed, while still holding the hatchling.
Cynder nodded. 'Take care of her." She said, as Volteer turned to leave. Cydner left the room soon after, many thoughts running through her head. One thing she was sure of, though, was that she would at least be in good paws. She trusted the guardians, after all.

"I promise you, we will." Volteer replied.

Content with this, she bowed, and walked away, knowing the guardians had much to be done.

Volteer brought the young hatchling into the room the others were wainting in. The room itself was unremarkable, and composed of stone walls and floor. The room was wide, and contained a large stone table in the center, with sitting pillows for any dragons working at said table.

Two of the other guardians, Cyril and Terrador, were present in the room, the new fire dragon, Searis, being away from the temple at the time. To the side of them care taker, a white and red electric dragon name Stryga, sat down. In her mouth, she had a basket full of various hatchling supplies.

Volteer appraoahce the table and sat the hatchling down. Claire took one look at Cyril and Terrador, and cowered in fear, curling in on herself.

Volteer and the others paled. "Maybe I could have approached this a bit better." He said, attempting to comfort the hatchling.

Terrador and Cyril looked at one another.

"Something I said?" Terrador questioned, half joking.

"I mean, you both are quite large. Hardly a welcoming sight for a new born hatchling." Volteer pointed out. Cyril and Terrador both shrugged.

"Guardian Volteer, allow me." Styga said. She sat down the supply basket and nuzzled the hatchling, who instinctively seemed to feel comfort around her. Stryga had a much less intimidating appearance than the larger guardians, so she guessed she would have an easier time with Claire. She brough the basket closer towards, as she situated herself on one of the sitting pillows. She nuzzled Claire calmly, allowing the hatchling to grow more comfortable around her. As Claire nuzzled her back and started purring, Stryga smiled.

"Give me just one minute.' She said, as she took the hatchling off the table, and into her paws. She pulled the basket down and started searching through it.

As she did, the guardians looked to one another. Cyril was the first to speak.

'Remind me why we are playing baby sitter here, Volteer? We have many matters to attend to." He stated.

Volteer hummed as he went to another end of the room, which had a stone counter with various items on it. "We are not 'playing babysitter' as you so put it. We are studying her element. Sure, we could have left this to some of the other masters and researchers, but I felt this was best in our hands. This little one has an aura unlike anything we've seen, at least in a very long time." He explained, as he started gathering some devices from the table.

After a few minutes, the hatchling had calmed down, enough to let the other guardians near her. Claire seemed a bit off put by them, but felt comfort with the caretaker and Volteer present. They had her set on the table, on a soft mat the care taker brought with her.

Bring the relvent tools over in his mouth, Volteer set them on the table. These devices had been adjusted for use by dragons, and could be wielded with their paws, assuming a dragon had the dexterity to do so. He sat at a few modified crystals and an 'aura scanner' as dragons called it. Really just a reactionary magic orb attached to a stick. Volteer started with this, placing it over the hatchling. Sure looked up with an inquisitive look in her eyes, as the device functioned.

After only a moment, the it was done. The orb in the center turned to a mixture of dark blue and black. Each guardian present looked on with a somewhat surprised look.

"So the rumors were true. She really does have a mixed element…" Cyril muttered, staring at the hatchling again, who was busy playing with a toy set out for her on the table. He looked back at his fellow guardians, who each had the same look on their faces.
"Nothing we didn't suspect, though." Terrador added.

Volteer nodded, as he took out a few crystals from his pouch and sat them on the table.

The caretaker look at them and then to Volteer. "What are these?"

"Synthetic crystals made to 'sample' a dragon's element. Our researchers can take these and siphon information about the potency of one's element with these.

They placed her on the floor, allowing her more room to play. Though she was provided with a few a toys, the guardians set out the crystal next to her, hoping she would take an interest.

Claire, however, seemed to have other things in mind. She looked at the crystals for one second, before her attention turned to this ball that was provided for her. She immediately started knocking it around and chasing it, giggling as she did.

"This is going to take awhile." Cyril huffed.

"Patience, Cyril. She's only an infant." Volteer remind him.

Volteer lowed himself, and watched over the hatchling. He looked to the caretaker.

"You can leave if you want to. We will take it from here." He said to her.

The dragoness nodded. "Very well then." She said, bowing respectfully as she left the room.
"Thank you again for the assistance with the girl. "Terrador added, catching a nod from the caretaker on the way out.

They each then turned their attention back towards the hatchling. She kept chasing the ball for a bit longer, ignoring the crystal, before she instead went for Terrador's tail, which was moving around. Terrador kept trying to move it away, but she kept chasing it.
Terrador sigh, but smiled at her.

"Yes, yes, that's fun I am sure, but why not play with these, little one?" He said, bringing her to his front with his tail, and placing her near the crystals, which were close to where he was staying.

She looked at them for a second, before her eyes flocked to another toy nearby, a small wooden cube with symbols on it. She bolted over and started playing with it.
Cyril sighed again.

For the next fifteen minutes, the guardians kept trying to get the hatchling to use the crystals, but she kept getting distracted by other things.

"Come on, little one, I assure you, these things are fun." Cyril urged, as he had the hatchling playing with the ball again he and the crystal in one of his paws.

Claire ignored the crystal again, as going after the ball instead.

Volteer sighed, and Terrador put a paw to his face, in disbelief.

"What are we doing wrong?" He asked, expaebated.

"How hard is it to get a hatchling to touch a crystal?" Cyril asked bemused.

Volteer sighed. "Well, make it more alluring maybe?" He suggested.

With that, Cyril brought out another crystal, breathing electricity on in slightly. It changed colors and began to glow yellow, reflecting his element.

He placed it in front of Claire, who dropped what she was doing and stared at it. She immediately gripped it in he tiny paws ,and started playing with it.

The three guardians looked on. This particular crystal was made to react to the element of what ever dragon touched or breathed their element on it.

Sure enough, the crystal eventually started reacting.

Finally, they got the result they wanted. The crystal, reacting to the hatchling's touch, finally began to light up. It shifted colors for a bit, shifting to ever darker forms of black or light blue, similar to that of the wind element. Volteer studied the particular reaction, and raised a brow.

After a minuet, it finally landed on a weird result: the center of the crystal was a swirl of black and blue.

The guardians each gasped.

"Well good then, that's another sample I needed." Volteer finished.

Cyril huffed. "All that for a sample?"

Terrador laughed. "She needs to make a concentrated effort to interact with the crystal to get it to work. We can't just shove her towards it." He noted.

Cyril huffed. "Alright, anything else?"

Volteer shook his head. "No, that's all for now, actually. I needed her to interact with that conduit gem so we can run some tests on that . Further examines will have to happen later." He noted.
Cyril sighed. "Very well." He then turned to Claire. "If there is nothing else you need, little one, than-"

Claire's stomach growled. Claire looked up, almost expectantly.

Volteer smiled. "Someone's hungry." He joked. He looked towards the basket of hatchling supplies the temple caretakers had given them.

"She needs her milk." He stated.

Cyril looked down at the hatchling sitting on the table, and back to his fellow guardians. "Well, that could be a problem. I don't think any of us are exactly lactating right now." He joked.

Volteer, however, took it literally. "Dragons don't lactate, Cyril." He said, bemused.

"Just a joke, Volteer." He responded. He then looked at the basket.

"Remind me why we are feeding her this? Hatchlings can eat smaller foods, you know."

Volteer by this point had taken the basket, and began preparing the bottle. "In times long past, when our kind lived in more primitive societies, newborn hatchlings would eat anything from bugs to small animals. Anything soft worked for them. We are omnivores, after all." He explained. "But, as it is, finding smaller things fit for a newborn to eat became difficult in cities and the like. Until their teeth grow in as they approach a year, they need to eat soft foods. Parents found it easier to appropriate some of the formulas others species used to feed their infants, but adjust the recipe for our kind. This way, they could ensure their newborns were fed, especially when it became difficult to find other sources of nutrients for their young. It was more convenient too, less hunting and gathering away from the city." He explained.

Cyril sighed. Claire's belly growled again. She looked as if she were about to cry.

"Volteer, enough of the science lesson, she seems hungry." He noted.

Luckily the electric guardian had finished producing the bottle. Walking over with it in his maw, he sat down near where Claire was. Gently picking her up in his paw, he fed her the bottle with the other hand.

Cyril was bit surprised to see Volteer so confident in being able to handle young children like this.

"Then again. He is quite personable." Cyril thought. "Guess that's why he helps in the nursery from time to time." He mused.

(Claire)

Claire was not sure exactly what the three large dragons around her wanted, but they seemed nice. After she finished the bottle, she was sat down again, back up on the soft material on the table.

The three adults in the room looked down at her, and seemed to be talking about something, but she wasn't sure what. Come to think of it, she was not sure about a lot of fo things in the past few days.

She recalled running from something, but barely recalled anything before blacking out and waking up near a bunch of other dragons. After a few days in the care of some white one, Mommy had finally come back, along with some large purple dragon, but now she was left with the these three other large dragons? Why would she leave her so soon again? And these weird rocks, why did they glow? And why did these adults seem so interested in getting her to play with it?

She did not know. All she did know was she felt comfortable enough around these three, thought they seemed nice. Especially the yellow one. He seemed to always have a friendly expression.

Slowly, the milk began taking effect, and she started to feel groggy. The feeling was helped by the soft mat she was on. Giving in, she yawned, and curled in on herself, as the larger dragons looked over her.

Volteer looked over the hatchling as she began falling asleep, cooing at her. Terrador did the same. Why, he was certain he had caught even Cyril making an adored expression, however briefly.

It warmed his heart to be around hatchlings like this; to know that his species would live on and thrive. That was part of the reason he helped in the nursery when he had time on his hands.

He wished not to discuss it, but his feeling of guilt at failing to protect Spyro's generation all those years back still gnawed at him. Countless parents had lost their babies before they were even born.
But now, some many years later, the species thrived again. Little ones were being born in increasing numbers; a true miracle for dragon kind after some many years of war and the ape's genocide efforts.
He simply gave a oft smile, as he looked at Terrador.

"I think that's enough for now. Were not going to get any more results from her while she sleeps." He stated. "I will bring her to the nursery." He said simply.

His fellow guardians agreed, and nodded.

Taking her gently in his paw, he put placed her on his back, trying not to deserve her. With that, the electric dragon walked out of the room, as Terrador and Cyril cleaned up the rest of the supplies.

Within a few minutes, he had made it over to the nursery wing of the temple. Though the construction of this part was made of the same kind of stones that compose the rest of the temple, the walls and sealing were handed painted lighter colors, like blue and yellow. The lighter colors comforted the young dragons who resided here.
He got to the room he was looking for, he greeted a blue guard dragon in silver armor, being let in past the magic barrier by said guard. He walked into the nursery, which was composed of a large domed room, with light blues painted on the sealing, replicating a sky. It was just one of the rooms in this wing of the temple. This room was the main play and nap room.

The ground in the room was padded with soft, blue fabric across the floor. In the periphery of the room, various shelves with hatchling supplies and toys were present. Volteer glanced around.

Two dragonesses, one a blue water dragon, another a fire dragoness, were attending to about a dozen hatchlings. Each one was under a year old, and came in different colors and elements.

Some were being tucked in, on various mats set out across the floor. The blue dragoness was attending to the sleeping hatchlings, while the red dragoness sat down, her body curled around several other hatchlings, watching over them as they played.

Volteer smiled and walked over to the blue dragoness, and who smiled at him. He sat Claire down on an unoccupied mat.

"Ah, Volteer, I see you have a new arrival." She noted, looking down at the black hatchling.

Volteer nodded. "Indeed.I will not lie, she's the shadow dragon hatchling the council has been going on about." He looked at her, a nervous look in her eyes. "Will she be alright here with you and Searis?"

The blue dragon, Bryne, smiled. "Of course. A hatchling is a hatchling, regardless of their element. She will be looked after just fine." She said, not showing a hint of prejudtion at the shadow hatchling.

Volteer smiled. "Thank you. I will be back later; I have some things I need to do." He noted.

He bid Bryne farewell and made to leave the nursery, nodding to Searis on the way out, who was still preoccupied with her hatchlings.

As he left, he stole a glance back at Claire, who was being tucked in by Bryne. His thoughts drifted back to Cynder, and her questions regarding Claire.

"Perhaps I could have a word with the others…"

Sorry about the long as expositions dumps. I try to trim them down, but there is so much world building I have in my head I want to use.

Also, sorry about the lack of story progression, but I am still working on things. I want to develop everyone's attitude towards Claire a bit more in depth. Plus a more cute and fluffy chapter would not go amiss, I think.