having a pet dragon would be the coolest, with the big ones that could fly you places and be all scary and stuff, and then the little ones that sit on your shoulders and hiss at people who get too close to you and its adorable and just, ugh, dragons xD

well this little dragon is finally getting her name in this chapter! yay! haha,

enjoy~ c:

Chapter Six:

Where did you find a dragon?

A distant scuffling sound drew the little golden dragon out of her slumber, and she cracked open her eyes, blinking several times to clear her vision until she was able to see around her clearly.

She was in some kind of building, and despite the lack of windows and doors, it still had its roof and walls intact. Well, three walls were still intact. One side of the structure was open to the elements. The room was mostly empty, save for herself and a large funny-looking mound underneath a window near her.

She stretched out her body, then winced, gasping as pain bloomed in her side. She lifted her head, staring at the bandages that wrapped around her side. That must have been from when the mongoose-lizard had thrown her into the wall.

Shivering slightly at the memory, she carefully got to her talons and stepped off of the empty bag she had been sleeping on. She padded around the few items that were scattered about the pack and headed towards the opening in the wall, where she had heard another bout of muffled shuffling and what sounded like her person's voice.

Though just as she passed the mound, a quiet grumble sounded from under the blanket that was draped over it, and she turned towards it with wide eyes.

Wasn't her person outside? What was under the blanket then?

With light steps she padded up to the mound, and with a few quick flaps of her wings she jumped on top of it. The movement sent a jolt of pain through her side, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it.

The mound rose and fell beneath her talons as she walked across its surface before reaching the other side, stretching her neck to peer over the edge of the blanket to see what the sound was coming out of.

It was a person. But not her person. It was a different person. A stranger.

She jerked her head back at the sight of the old, bearded man who slept soundly under the blanket. Who was this person? Why was he here? Where was her person?

"That's my uncle." The gruff familiar voice spoke from the opening in the wall as he came towards them and sat on the floor, placing kindling beside him.

She relaxed visibly, loosening her tensed muscles as she found her person.

So this is an Uncle, she thought, letting herself creep closer to the sleeping face of the old man to study his features, nearly touching his nose with her own, I guess this means I'm not an Uncle either…

"You should probably get off him before-"

The Uncle's eyes slid open, landing on the dragon and blinking in surprise.

With a startled squawk, she leaped backwards, her talons getting tangled up in the blanket; she tipped over the old man's side, floundering for a moment before she fell towards the floor, squeezing her eyes shut, and bracing for the impact.

But it never came.

Instead of landing on the hard ground, warm hands caught her at the last second, followed by the thud and grunt of her person as he landed on the floor face-down from where he had leaped over to catch her.

She shifted in his hands, peering over at him in concern, then as he raised his head to meet her eyes she glanced away sheepishly. "What did I tell you?"

"Zuko?"

"Uncle!" Her person's eyes widened as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, with her still in his hands. She looked up at his relieved expression and tilted her head to the side. Zuko? Is that what her person was called?

"Zuko..."

"Yes, Uncle?"

"Where did you find a dragon?"

She turned her head to look at the old man, who had pulled himself up against the wall and was staring at her steadily. A light shiver ran up her spine at his words.

A dragon...is that what I am?

A ghostly sensation drifted across her mind, conjuring up a faded memory of blue scales and bright golden eyes.

Her eyes clouded as she tried to recall where she had seen the magnificent creature, but the oldest memory she had was that of the light and her person-Zuko's, eyes.

"I found its egg a few days ago, at first I thought it was some kind of ancient treasure until it moved in my hands." Zuko said, drawing her from her thoughts as he placed her on the ground and began to gather together the little sticks, placing a metal contraption and a teapot over it.

With a flick of his wrist, a small jet of fire shot out of his fingers and set the kindling alight.

She watched with fascinated eyes as the small flames licked at the bottom of the teakettle, hungry and alive; brought to life by her person, who seemed more and more like the sun the longer she stayed by his side.

As she stared at the fire, a warm tingling sensation spread through her, starting at her stomach and filling up her body with the warmth. It was like the time she first woke up in the egg, when the warmth had come from the light and her person's hands.

But this time it built up inside of her, growing hotter and hotter until she couldn't hold it in any longer, and she opened her jaws.

A tiny plume of flames puffed out of her maw, setting Zuko's pant leg on fire.

"What the-AGH!" He started, before crying out in surprise, swatting furiously at his pants until the small fire went out.

.

"She's a lovely little dragon, isn't she?" Iroh commented, watching intently as the flames caused the baby dragon's scales to shimmer and gleam, casting golden fragments of light throughout the abandoned building.

"She?" Zuko asked, his brows furrowing as he glanced down at the creature, who was curled up in his lap. When it had caught his pants on fire, it had crawled right into his lap and started whining apologetically with teary eyes.

"Yes, she." The old man chuckled, resting his hands on his large stomach. "What's her name?"

"Ah..." The prince started, staring blankly down at the dragon as if the thought of naming her had never occurred to him. Which it hadn't.

"It's...uh..." He trailed off, his face growing redder by the second as he tried to think up a name on the spot. His eyes were drawn to her sun coated scales and he was fixated for a brief moment, fascinated by the golden light. "...Kinri."

"Ah, a surprisingly poetic name coming from you, nephew, but fitting all the same." His uncle stated, eyes twinkling at the flustered look on the prince's face.

"Right, well, anyway," Zuko coughed into his fist, smoothly changing the subject, "Azula was the one who did this to you, it was a surprise attack."

Iroh looked down at his bandaged shoulder, wincing slightly. "Somehow, that's not so surprising."

Zuko reached over to the kettle and poured some tea into a small cup, handing it over to Iroh, who smiled and took the steaming cup in his hands.

"I hope I made it the way you like it." He said as his uncle took a sip of the tea, his face twisting at the tase.

"Mmm...good." His uncle grimaced, downing the rest of the tea in one gulp before handing the cup back to Zuko with a slight shudder. "That was very...uh...bracing."

The prince smiled as he took the cup and filled it again, once more proffering the tea to his uncle.

When he wasn't looking, Iroh quickly tossed the tea in his cup over his shoulder and out of the window behind him.

Noticing the little golden dragon staring curiously at him, he placed a finger over his lips with a smile and she blinked, then rested her head on Zuko's knee, closing her eyes. He dropped his hand back to the cup as Zuko turned back around.

"So, Uncle, I've been thinking." Zuko started as he poured himself a cup of tea. "It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her."

He glanced down at the dragon napping peacefully on his lap and at the bandages that hid the ugly bruises on her scales. He frowned, then looking back up he continued. "I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

"No," Iroh shook his head as he placed the empty teacup on the floor beside him, setting his hands on his knees as he gazed steadily at Zuko, "She's crazy and she needs to go down."

Zuko widened his eyes in shock, and Kinri shifted in his lap, looking up at Iroh as he stood.

"It's time to begin your training."

Kinri's name is a little mix of Japanese and Chinese with Kin (欽) meaning "gold" in Japanese, and Ri (日) meaning "sun" in Chinese.

so her name basically means 'Golden Sun'

how long did it take for me to come up with this name?

...too long ;-;

haha, well thanks for reading~! ^-^