Happy Dragon Tuesday, my friends! This chapter will see everyone getting settled in and naming their dragons. Coming up with the names was a lot of fun, let me tell you.

My recommendation of the week is a poetry book: "Eric Carle's Dragons, Dragons, and other Creatures that Never Were." It's a collection of poems about mythical creatures from various sources, including a poem by Anne McCaffrey. The artwork is amazing, as one would expect from an Eric Carle book, and the poems are fantastic. Check it out!

Anyway, enjoy!

Blake was sitting on the floor of the room, Pit curled up in her lap, her eyes fixed on the door. This is it, she thought. My teammates are going to be here any minute.

Pit, sensing his partner's tension, squeaked and wriggled in her lap. He stretched his neck out and licked her face.

Blake smiled a little as her dragon's tongue tickled her cheek. "Of course you're calm," she muttered. "You have no reason to be nervous. You'll be the biggest dragon here."

Her ears twitched under her bow as the sound of footsteps approached. The doorknob turned, and she tensed. Then, the door opened and a younger girl's face peeked in.

Ruby looked around for a moment, then noticed a girl sitting near four divots in the wall. An earth dragon that looked to be a few days old sat in her lap. "Oh, hey!" She looked over her shoulder. "This is the room, guys!"

Blake stood up, holding Pit against her chest. Her heart stuttered nervously. "Um, h-hello," she murmured. "I'm Blake, and this is Pit."

Ruby stepped in. Her little white and gray dragon was curled contentedly against her chest. "Hi! I'm Ruby, leader of Team RWBY apparently, and this little girl is Storm." Glynda had informed the three girls of their dragons' sexes after the hatching. Storm was a girl, while Weiss and Yang's dragons were both males. She had also given Ruby her title of team leader, a statement that had stunned Ruby and visibly confused Weiss.

She gasped when she got a good look at Pit. "Ooh, you have little freckles!" She stepped forward, holding out a hand.

Blake watched as Pit sniffed Ruby's hand and gave it a single lick. He tilted his head at the wind dragon, Storm, and snorted.

Storm looked back at Pit, blue eyes impassive.

At that moment, Weiss stepped in, her arms wrapped tightly around her little ice dragon. She noticed Blake and Pit, and nodded curtly. "Hello. I'm Weiss Schnee. Please mind your dragon while it's near mine."

Blake raised an eyebrow. So, this is one of the famous Schnees. She looked at the pale blue dragon. And that's one of their famous ice dragons. "He won't get your dragon dirty, if that's what you're worried about," she muttered.

Weiss bristled, holding her dragonet a little closer to her chest. "I'm asking this for your dragon's sake. Ice dragons can be very aggressive if not handled properly. Introducing them will have to be a gradual process."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I think you're worrying too much. He likes me and Storm just fine. Don't you, you gorgeous snowflake?" she added, bopping the ice dragon's snout.

Weiss recoiled, eyes flashing. "You still need to be careful. Do not hit his nose again!"

Ruby sobered, glancing to the side. "Sorry. I'm used to doing it to the hatchlings at home." She walked back over to the door. "Yang! What's taking you so long?" As if on cue, her sister's voice rang down the hallway.

"LET GO OF MY ARM, YOU DAMN SALAMANDER!"

Ruby winced. "Uh, one second." She quickly stepped out of the room and ran over to where Yang was struggling with her dragon, who had clamped his jaws down on her lower arm and was dangling stubbornly from it as Yang shook him back and forth.

"Uh, Yang? I don't think that's working." Ruby wasn't overly worried about the dragonet being injured. Once they got past the initial hatching stage, a baby dragon could handle a great deal of stress, since it was common for them to get jostled a lot in the wild. She was more worried about her sister popping a vein. Or five.

Yang was glaring at her dragon, eyes bright red. "He's done nothing but maul me since we left the hatchery! Yours hasn't bitten you once!"

Ruby's made a sympathetic noise in her throat. "He's just a bit fiercer than usual. Try putting him in your satchel." She eyed the fireproof satchel that the Violet family had given Yang.

"That's what I was trying to do when he bit me!" Yang snapped.

"Here." Ruby hoisted Storm so that she could hold her with one arm, and reached toward Yang's growling dragon. She pinched firmly at the base of the dragonet's jaw. He snarled a few times, but ended up loosening his grip enough for Yang to get her arm back. She wrestled him into the satchel, panting slightly.

"Thanks," she sighed, staring at the ground. "Looks like he might end up liking you better after all."

"Hey!" Ruby touched Yang's shoulder. "That's your dragon. You might be off to a rough start, but you're going to be his partner. Nothing can replace that." She glanced at the wound on her sister's arm. "I think there's some first aid stuff in the room. Come on."

Meanwhile, Weiss was kneeling near the divot that was closest to the window. She emptied some soft sand into it, allowing her dragonet to curl up on it. A few ice crystals appeared in the sand.

Blake watched quietly for a moment. I should say something else, she thought. We're going to be teammates, so we should get along, Schnee or not. "So, how should we introduce Pit to your dragon?"

"I'm not sure," Weiss admitted. She looked at the earth dragon. "Pit?"

Blake shrugged. "Once you see how much he can eat, you'll understand."

A tiny smile came to Weiss's face. "I'm not quite sure what to name mine," she admitted, looking at her dragon's serene face. He was beautiful with his blue scales, but those pure black eyes were so unsettling, like a ghost's eyes. She tilted her head. "Hm. Perhaps Ghost is appropriate."

"Seems a bit common, though," Blake murmured. "What about Wraith?"

"That sounds rather aggressive."

"Specter? Phantom?"

Weiss perked up. "Specter. That sounds nice." She looked at her dark-eyed dragon. "What do you think? Specter?"

The dragonet tilted his head, then chirped once.

Blake smiled. "I think he likes it."

Weiss nodded. "Now, we just need to know what that monster of a fire dragon will be called." A shouted curse came from outside. "I'm saying this right now, he is not sleeping next to Specter!"

"Well, I think Pit can handle him." Another curse came from outside and Blake frowned. "I hope…"

When Yang finally did come in, bearing a sulky fire dragon that was breathing smoke from his nostrils, she flashed a friendly smile at Blake. "Hey, there! I'm Yang, and this little asshole is Fang." She laughed, as if she hadn't just been in a rage a few minutes ago. "It rhymes, so it should be easy to remember."

Fang grabbed a mouthful of the cloth that made up the satchel, and started to tug, filling the room with a ripping sound.

"Hey, cut that out!" Yang snapped, grabbing the cloth and trying to pull it away.

Fang let go immediately. And then proceeded to chomp down on Yang's hand.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Blake groaned while Pit started barking loudly at Fang. She was already starting to miss those peaceful, solitary days of just her and her dragon.

….

"Good girl, Twiggy! Here's another one." Jaune held out an apple slice, his smile widening when his tiny earth dragon snapped it up and scarfed it down eagerly. "That's it!" He added a bit more hay to her bed. "There you go. Does that feel good?" He scratched under her chin when she squeaked. "Good girl!"

Pyrrha smiled to herself as she listened to her team leader fawning over his tiny dragonet. Her own dragon, who she had elected to name Titan, seemed to be settling in rather well. He was curled up contentedly on his bed of fireproof cloth, snorting occasionally as his eyes closed. "There, now," she murmured. "It's been a long morning, hasn't it?"

Nora's wind dragon, named Freya, was snuffling curiously through the downy feathers of her bed, occasionally letting out a gust-like sneeze that sent the feathers everywhere. Nora giggled whenever she did this.

Ren's dragon, who he had named Ao Guang, was spinning rapidly in circles, spraying his partner with sand. Ren sat in front of him patiently, waiting for his dragon to finally get tired.

Jaune kissed Twiggy's snout before looking at the others. "So, I heard Ozpin say something about a socializing session in the afternoon."

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes. It's good for our dragons to get used to other dragons quickly."

Jaune sighed. "I hope the others won't bully her."

"Even if they do, it won't be severe," Ren pointed out. "That's how dragonets learn how to fight in the wild."

"I know. She just had such a rough start." Jaune frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe she should sit this first one out."

"You can't afford to spoil her, Jaune," Pyrrha warned. "Remember what Ozpin said: These aren't pets, and it will be a lot more difficult to get her adjusted. That means it'll be harder for her as well."

"It shouldn't be." Jaune picked up Twiggy, who was starting to doze, and held her close. "I mean, look at her! She's great."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Pyrrha gently patted the tiny hatchling's head. "Remember, she would probably be dead if you hadn't cared about her so much. A few extra hardships can be dealt with as long as you continue to do so." She smiled. "I have a feeling that we don't need to worry about that part."

Jaune shook his head fervently. "No way. She's my partner, runt or not."

Twiggy yawned, nuzzling against her partner's chest. She winced as a spray of sand hit her.

"Sorry," Ren muttered, picking up his dragon. "Guang, stop it!"

The water dragonet glared sulkily at him for a moment, blinked his odd-colored eyes, then started wriggling in his arms. Ren sighed.

Nora giggled as she watched the two. "You're so patient, Ren!"

"I've had a lot of practice," Ren muttered, giving his best friend a dry smile.

"Hey!"

Jaune looked around the room. "Let's see. We got the beds and litter boxes set up. The first aid kit is over there. The fridge is stocked with fruit and meat. Is there anything else?"

"I think we're good to start unpacking our own things," Pyrrha said. She glanced at Ao Guang and chuckled. "If some of our dragons will let us."

"I can take care of your stuff, Ren," Nora offered. "Looks like Freya's way more mellow."

"Thank you," Ren murmured, taking a towel from his suitcase and wrapping it around Guang. "Does swaddling work with newborn dragons?"

"Just do whatever would work with me!" Nora suggested.

"I'm not giving him pancakes, Nora!"

Nora shrugged. "I've never heard anyone specifically say they were bad for dragons…"

…

Sun was covered with scratches, bites, and tiny burns. A bright smile was on his face. "You're such a little badass! Who's Daddy's Little Badass?" he cooed.

His fire dragon growled, tail lashing as he looked up at his partner.

"Careful, Sun," Sage murmured. "He'll start to think that's his name."

Sun shrugged. "I mean, it fits."

Scarlet laughed. "I think having a dragon named "Badass" would be a little too on the nose." He smiled at his googly-eyed wind dragon. "I've decided to call mine Nimbus."

"Nimbus the nimrod?" Neptune teased.

"Hey, watch it!" Scarlet huffed. "He's very sensitive. Right, Nimbus?"

Nimbus scratched behind one of his head fins and squeaked, tilting his head curiously.

"I've decided to call mine Zircon," Sage said, looking at his earth dragon, who had curled up in the farthest corner of his divot. "Hopefully, a strong name will give him some encouragement."

Neptune stroked the back of his water dragonet. "Mine's gonna be Nymph. I still think her judgment sucks, though."

Nymph blinked up at Neptune and softly licked his hand, causing him to smile.

"Well, Ozpin said we don't have to name them right away. So, until I think of something, this is Daddy's Little Bada- OW!" he yelped when another hard bite caused him to start frantically trying to shake his dragonet off yet again.

…..

The socializing area for the young dragons turned out to be an indoor arena with several large, fenced off pens that held a large number of toys, litter boxes, and food and water dishes. The newly-partnered groups approached the different pens with some apprehension.

Jaune's heart sank when he saw the group of big-muscled, snickering boys from earlier heading toward the playpen that had been assigned to his team. He swallowed loudly. "Hey. We're Team JNPR. This is Twiggy." He held up the tiny earth dragonet, who blinked her silver eyes curiously at the newcomers.

The leader, a brawny boy with brown hair and a large, dark brown earth dragon with striking green eyes, snorted. "I'm Cardin, leader of Team CRDL. I still can't believe you kept that runt. Looks more like an iguana than a dragon."

Jaune immediately bristled. "Size isn't everything."

Cardin laughed. "People only say that if what they got isn't big enough." He tossed his dragon into the pen. "Let's get this over with."

The dark brown dragon looked around, sniffing the air, then immediately started chewing on a tough rubber toy.

Jaune hesitated before letting Twiggy jump from his arms and into the pen.

The tiny dragonet blinked curiously, looking around, then made a beeline toward a thick rope toy.

Cardin nodded at his team, who dropped their dragons in all at once.

"Hey!" Jaune gasped. "We're supposed to put them in one at a time!" He reached for Twiggy, but she had already wandered to the center of the pen.

Two of the CRDL dragons, a gray-blue water dragon and a bronze fire dragon, lunged toward the runty dragonet, fangs bared. Twiggy squeaked fearfully, turning and stumbling back toward Jaune.

At that moment, Pyrrha let Titan jump in. The gold-orange fire dragon locked his gaze on the two approaching hatchlings and leaped forward, swiping at the air in front of him. The bronze fire dragon stopped and started circling, bobbing its head threateningly. The water dragon dodged around Titan and continued toward Twiggy.

Just before it could reach her, Jaune managed to grab Twiggy and pull her out, letting out a sigh of relief as he drew her close. The little dragonet was trembling, and her tiny claws dug into Jaune's Pumpkin Pete hoodie. "It's okay, Twiggy," he whispered. "Good girl."

By this point, Ren and Nora had released their dragons. Ao Guang was pouncing on the abandoned rope toy, rolling on his back and barking with glee. Team CRDL's wind dragon, a green and yellow creature, grabbed the other end and started to pull. Freya eyed Cardin's dragon, decided against approaching, and instead chose to help Titan in his scuffle. Within moments, the bronze fire dragon was scurrying over to its earth sibling.

Pyrrha noticed Jaune moving away from the pen. "Jaune, you can let her back in now. She won't be outnumbered."

Jaune shook his head, even as Twiggy clung tighter to him. "No, I think she's had enough for now."

Pyrrha frowned, flashing a glare at Cardin when he started snickering.

"What did I say? A freaking lizard!" Cardin laughed. "Take that runt out of here. This pen is only for actual dragons."

"Don't listen to him, Twiggy," Jaune murmured, stroking his shaking dragonet. "There's nothing wrong with you."

Twiggy just squeaked softly and hid her face in her partner's shoulder, her shivers starting to subside. She was safe if she was with Jaune. Jaune would keep her safe. She shut her silver eyes and yawned.

…

Meanwhile, Team RWBY was taking their dragons to another pen. The other team was led by a grinning monkey Faunus who was covered with obviously-dragon-inflicted wounds.

"Hey! I'm Sun, leader of Team SSSN, and this is my little badass, still yet to be named." He held up the black fire dragon, who kept wriggling and trying to snap at him.

Yang felt a slight grin coming to her face. "Man, I thought I was the only one being used as a scratching post. I'm Yang, and this little jerk is Fang." She patted Fang's head, barely drawing her hand back in time to avoid yet another bite.

Ruby's eyes lit up as she looked at Team SSSN's dragonets. "Oh, they're so pretty!" She held up Storm. "This is Storm. I'm Ruby, leader of Team RWBY."

Once everyone had introduced themselves and their dragons, Sun suggested letting the fire dragons into the pen first. "Get the worst out of the way, right?"

Yang agreed and put a hissing Fang into the pen. He looked around, green eyes narrowed, then started trying to scratch at the ground.

When Sun's dragon entered, however, Fang immediately stiffened. His ears twitched and he let out a low growl. The other fire dragon's tail lashed. The two circled for a moment, then leaped at each other, fangs and claws flashing.

Yang winced as she watched them, but made no move to intervene. "This is normal," she said noticing Sun's worried frown. "Dragonet scuffles can get pretty intense. As long as they don't break anything, we're fine."

The fire dragons scratched and bit at each other for a minute, before backing away. A few mildly-bleeding wounds were on their bodies, and their sides were heaving. Then, simultaneously, they turned away from each other and walked to different parts of the pen.

Yang waited for Fang to get close, then pulled him out. Thankfully, she had thought to bring one of the first aid kits from the room, and set about cleaning and dressing the scratches. Fang snarled at her, but made no move to bite her, apparently tired from his first fight.

While the fire dragons were tended to, Ruby and Scarlet let their wind dragons in. Storm trotted over to Nimbus, sniffing him curiously. Nimbus blinked his lavender eyes, then barked happily, crouching in a playful position and snapping harmlessly at Storm's shoulder.

Pit and Zircon were the next to enter the pen. The former took an interest in a nearby bowl of meat, while the latter immediately found a spot by the wall to curl up and attempt to hide. Sage heaved a visible sigh.

Nymph entered the pen, looked around once, then went over to her cringing brother, trying to coax him out of hiding.

Weiss hesitated before letting Specter in, saying a silent prayer that he wouldn't attack anyone, especially the skittish earth dragon. The ice dragon looked around, then joined Pit at the meat bowl.

Pit growled warningly as Specter approached, causing Blake to tense.

Specter gave Pit a disparaging look and continued to walk over. When Pit swiped at his snout, his head shot forward. His tiny, icicle-like teeth sank into the larger dragonet's shoulder, eliciting an angry roar.

Weiss bit her lip, resisting the urge to jump in and take Specter out. To her relief, the ice dragon released Pit, who growled once before walking sulkily away. Specter sat down by the meat bowl and started cheerfully eating.

Blake was sighing with relief. "Well, looks like being the oldest doesn't mean he'll get to bully everyone," she muttered.

Weiss nodded. "Perhaps, they will keep each other in check."

"Hopefully." Blake called Pit over and took him out. "Let's treat that bite, just in case."

The rest of the afternoon passed relatively smoothly for the new students. There were no serious injuries, the dragonets were exhausted by the end of the day, and almost everyone was feeling confident about their partners' futures.

All except Jaune, who had trouble getting Twiggy to let go of him, even when it was time to put her to bed. After some struggling, he ended up waiting for the others to go to sleep, then brought his runty dragon into his bed with him, falling asleep almost immediately.

For your convenience, here's a list of the named dragons so far.

Team RWBY: Storm (female white wind dragon with pale gray swirls and blue eyes, owned by Ruby), Specter (male pale blue ice dragon with black eyes, owned by Weiss), Pit (male pine-green hybrid earth dragon with silver freckles and pale yellow eyes, owned by Blake), Fang (male red fire dragon with gold streaks and green eyes, owned by Yang).

Team JNPR: Twiggy (female light brown and pale green earth dragon with silver eyes, owned by Jaune), Freya (female wind dragon with pastel yellow, blue, and pink patches and light green eyes, owned by Nora), Titan (male gold-orange fire dragon with blue-white eyes, owned by Pyrrha), Ao Guang (male dark blue water dragon with sea-green freckles and streaks on the wings, gray right eye, teal left eye, owned by Ren).

Team SSSN: "Badass" (male black fire dragon with a pattern of orange and red that looks like lava-filled cracks, gray eyes, owned by Sun), Nimbus (male sky-blue wind dragon with patches of white that look like clouds and lavender eyes, cross-eyed, owned by Scarlet), Zircon (male dark green earth dragon with yellow-green tiger stripes and dark amber eyes, owned by Sage), Nymph (female pale blue water dragon with silvery patches and dark blue eyes, owned by Neptune).

Team CFVY: Java (male deep bronze fire dragon with bright orange eyes, owned by Coco), Trifle (male dark blue, almost black, water dragon with deep green eyes, owned by Fox), Meringue (female cream colored wind dragon with soft green eyes, owned by Velvet), Mocha (female red-brown earth dragon with dark brown eyes, owned by Yatsuhashi).

Professors: Ragnar (male ancient earth dragon with gray-brown scales that look like tree bark and gray eyes, owned by Ozpin), Nautilus (male pale blue water dragon with white eyes, owned by Glynda Goodwitch), Pepper (female orange fire dragon with black freckles and yellow eyes, owned by Peter Port), Gust (female yellow-green wind dragon with pale orange eyes, owned by Bartholomew Oobleck).

Team STRQ: Tempest (female pale green wind dragon with sky blue eyes, formerly owned by Summer), Quake (male brown earth dragon with dark green eyes, owned by Taiyang), Phoenix (female gold fire dragon with red eyes, owned by Raven), Salty (male cerulean water dragon with black spots on the back and white freckles on the belly, sea-green eyes, owned by Qrow).

Misc: Glacier (male stark white ice dragon with blue eyes, owned by Jacques Schnee), Brand (male orange fire dragon with patches of dark red and gold eyes, owned by Adam), Church (pale gray brood sire, owned by Taiyang), Tex (dark gray brood dam, owned by Taiyang), York (male bronze fire dragon with one blinded eye, owned by Taiyang), Caboose (male blue-gray sterile brood sire with stunted wings, owned by Taiyang).

Whew, that's a lot of dragons. And there are gonna be more!

If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!