The Sky is the Limit 3 - (Wings of Fire, Pre-Scorching SI)
'[...]The Silver Trio is the name used to describe the three dragons that were raised by Emperor Silvergaze. The three dragons, two males and a female, would end up shaping a large portion of Dragon History, being the first among dragons to be raised properly by humans, to be educated in the ways of diplomacy, intrigue, and war. Their names are long lost to us, but what we have are titles to their deeds as world-changing entities. (Personal Note: I was tempted to add how 'The Golden-Gazed' was named just like the headmistress at the Academy, but as a friend of hers I felt this input would have been seen as unopportune hence why I kept it vague).'- Excerpt from Dr. Starflight, Researcher and Professor of History at Jade Mountain Academy
When I was told the eggs were about to hatch, I had been nose-deep on some reports. Nothing too urgent, but it was all forgotten at the time as I bolted after the messenger as he took me to the hatchery.
Once Cottonmouth's lair, the laboratory had been reorganized to best suit its newest purpose: a place where dragons could be born and nurtured. It was an expensive endeavor, but it all came out of the funds claimed by Cottonmouth and anyone associated to him that wasn't sent to the military budget. And yes, it was still a lot of money. The heating system for the eggs, the presence of physicians that had some understanding of basic lizards' biology in case this may be crucial, and then resilient toys meant to be used by the baby dragons once they were old enough to want to play and actually sink their budding teeth onto something non-alive.
Stepping inside the hatchery, I was greeted by quite the commotion as all of the workers, as per policy, were kept outside the hatchery during the hatching. I quickly removed any items that could potentially harm the little ones, and stepped inside the large room with a bag with essential things that could assist me for any if not all eventualities.
My eyes were immediately aimed at the source of this monumental situation, the three eggs were all shaking. Not with equal intensity to one another, but today would be the day. The ones that had been shaking up the most were the SkyWings' eggs. And I have to admit that I had been worried about these two in case those were twins. SkyWings have this rare condition that, with twin eggs, one of the babies would obtain all the fire of their sibling and their scales would become so scorching that they couldn't touch anything. At the same time, the twin drained of their fire would be fine if now stripped of the ability of breathing fire.
I had some gloves on, of the kind that were used by blacksmith, as I handled these two first births.
The first one to come out had yellow scales and orange eyes. Its snout had a little bit of a sharp bit at the edge that I could tell would develop into a fine weapon for headpats. Its eyes were soon upon me, happy cooing ensuing as I replied with soft words and noises. The little one reacted positively as I approached it with a towel, helping it clean up from the goo it was once stuck within through the egg. Humming, I picked it up, nuzzling my chin against its head as I made sure it was fed and taken care of until it fell asleep.
Around the time the first one was done, it was time for the next SkyWing and this one was a little more giddy to get out of that egg. I was greeted with orange scales and red eyes. The little one vibed a bit as I got it in my holds, cooing and licking at my hand quite lovingly. I patted his head, gave him some of the mashed up beef jerky I prepared for the little drakes, and then, as it fell asleep too, I focused on the third egg.
...
And it took a little longer for it to get closer to hatch. The IceWing was struggling, a lot. I had noticed just now the size of the egg was smaller. I didn't think it was too important, but part of me was now considering that this one may be too weak to break out of it on its own. I sat close to it, seeing how many cracks had already formed on the egg's surface. So close and yet so far.
I felt a tiny bit of an urge to reach out for it. Maybe I could help it? Would it be fine or actually ruin its formation? I was so unprepared for this eventuality considering it wasn't one of the expected options. Has anyone ever heard of a dragon dying while trying to crack out of their shell? I didn't, and this rattled me a bit.
After some mental back-and-forth, I ultimately reached out with my gloved hand, feeling the cool texture of the egg as I caressed it. Was I expecting for my warmth to do something? Not really, but something did happen as I reached out to it. I felt something ache within my head. It wasn't exactly a migraine or similar, it was... it felt unusual, wrong, and yet familiar.
Fear, confusion, darkness, cold, cold, and then... warmth. Confusion again, and then curiosity, hope, an urge to know. I felt my posture stiff as the egg shook a bit more, and I saw the cracks finally allowing for the little one to break free. It made me happy, and that's when the strange feeling mimicked mine. Happy, it was happy. The little Animus IceWing dragon inside was giddy and happy to show me that I was worth it. I don't recall hugging the egg, feeling just a cold breeze smack onto my chest as the egg soon broke by the will of the little one inside. A sweet and yet proud noise chirpily came from the white-scaled littlegirlthat greeted me.
I felt my chest tightening as I picked her up in her own towel, and I saw her eyes. Yellow and bright as the...
"Hello Sunny," I muttered quietly. I had made a rule to call the dragons name only after I was sure of their gender, but I could tell this one was a girl and that the name was apt as hearing it and the feeling behind me made me cry as she cooed the happiest and nuzzled the tenderest against me. "Welcome to the family."
The news of the dragons' successful hatching was proclaimed far and wide. The other empires still thought we were experimenting on the dragons, thus thinking we made a breakthrough in that regard, unaware that the truth was simpler and sweeter. Took me a while to get the staff prepared to meet the babies, and most were surprised by the sight of the dragons - once thought to be those deadly things that couldn't be tamed... quite the cute lizards as they warbled at the new beings checking on them. The physicians checked the little ones, and I was given confirmation the two SkyWings were both boys.
I called the oldest Sunspear, the one in the middle Pyro. Not original names, but I wasn't planning to exactly play smart about the naming. It had to be names they could understand in due time for most of them. I couldn't exactly explain to Sunny I chose her name for another reason beyond her unique golden eyes. Indeed, she wouldn't understand that I named her after a SandWing that will, allegedly, exist in the future as an important figure.
After making sure the babies were tended to, I left to get a little bit of a rest, get back to paperwork and then check back during dinnertime. Most of the little ones were asleep, with the only one keeping awake (a practice that would go on for many weeks) would be Sunny herself. She really waited for me, happily cooing as I sat beside her reinforced crib and picked her up for some huggies. She nuzzled and warbled some of her 'discoveries'. I could feel her use her power to tell me through emotions, all of which felt so joyous and so innocent that it broke me.
I had thought that these three could have been useful to be defenders of the Kingdom, but I had slightly forgotten these three were just lil' babies. My babies. And while it felt like I was choosing 'family' over duty, I knew that a good replacement for that option was the ongoing endeavor of getting the local Skywings to band together and unite under me with the excuse the other Empires would experiment on their eggs.
What I didn't expect was for this choice to ultimately bring a small group of those to actually seek to speak with me for a deal about a more peaceful coexistence and maybe more.
AN
Babies! And the name for Sunny is bullseye for how she will turn up to be. The sweetiest of the sweets. And yes, Sunny is my favorite, deal with it, foo's!