A Little Miracle.

It was surprising to Nathan how much Saphira had already learned. He wasn't quite so sure how to feel about her associating the refrigerator with her source of food so soon, but at least this time she waited patiently for him to open it and pick out something without eating the contents of the bottom shelf.

"Good girl." Nathan praised her for showing improvement, even giving her a little extra food for behaving. She wolfed down the food, taking the time to get the scraps that fell out of the bowl in her haste. Now fed, Saphira seemed much more content to go outside. Nathan followed along behind her while trying to think of something a baby dragon would even want to play. They had a red frisbee she might like to catch... but she wasn't exactly like a puppy, so who knew if she would even want to play that game.

Regardless, Nathan opened the door to the back yard, letting Saphira scamper out into the open to feel the grass under her feet and the breeze on her skin for the first time since she hatched.
 
When the door opened she wasn't so sure what she should do at first. Blinking from the bright light she walked timidly out at first, sniffing at the grass, leaves and a stick she found. There was an undefined urge to find a 'private' spot in the dirt and she now put her whole focus into that endeavor, sniffing the ground and looking around. Saphira resembled a hound dog on the hunt for an animal's sent until she finally found a spot suitable to her needs behind some bushes. The little dragon put her claws to good use by digging up a decent sized hole and then settling over it she half closed her eyes while a feeling of relief ran through her body. Within a few minutes she had finished and turned to check if it had gone in the hole like it should have, her aim was impeccable, and she then began filling in the freshly dug hole again. After finishing her 'business' she shook herself and then began looking around at all the new things that 'Outside' had to offer.
Saphira spotted some movement to her left and decided to investigate. A squirrel had stopped in its tracks, smelling the dragons sent on the breeze. For a moment it froze and then turned and scurried back to its home tree and paused at the base of it, chattering out a warning to everyone in the area of the danger. Momentarily mesmerised by the noise the blue dragon blinked and then all of a sudden, ran with her wings extended slightly and her tail raised a bit, towards the terrified squirrel. All of a sudden there was a growl and barking from the bushes behind the squirrel's tree. The squirrel fled up the tree to safety and left the dragon face to face with a rather large and angry dog.
 
While Saphira scampered off to explore for a minute or two, Nathan opened up the shed to hunt for some toys and see if she would like any of them. His search was cut short by the sound of barking followed by a deep growl. Nathan dropped what he had been holding to rush outside, seeing that Saphira had met Filo. He belonged to Nathan's neighbor, who must have just let Filo outside herself.

Filo continued to bark, not quite sure of what he was looking at but he knew he wasn't about to let it in his yard. Saphira looked afraid and confused. The poor dragon probably didn't know what she did to anger such an intimidating animal. Nathan shouted to the dog and Filo knew who he was, even pausing for a moment to look at him with a tilted head. It didn't work for long and Filo went right back to growling, even taking a few steps towards the dragon, sensing her fear.

Nathan hurried over towards the big tree in their yard, snapping off a branch and began to shake it back and forth, hoping to distract the dog. He didn't fall for it, focused on the unknown animal that stood before him.
 
In her confusion The little dragon slipped into her basic primal mode, about the time the dog became distracted by Nathan's yelling. Not the first, but the second time it turned its head away from her, instead of hissing, she struck. Faster than a Black mamba, she leaped out of her crouched position and bit down on the dog's exposed neck. It yelped in pain before Saphira put her full attention into her bite and cut off its airway and the struggling dog became frantic in its attempts to shake the dragon off.
 
The sudden attack left Nathan stunned, not sure how to react for a moment. To him it felt like minutes. He was too busy watching in disbelief to formulate any sort of action to take. He had completely mistaken Saphira's posture for that of fear. Unless it was fear that made her lash out. He couldn't be sure, but he came to grips with the situation after the third rapid yelp from Filo.

"Saphira! Stop!" the stick was dropped, replaced by a new set of priorities. He wasn't sure how safe it was to try and pry the dragon away from the dog. Both of them might gnash at his hands or arms if given the chance in their frightened state. It was a risk he ended up having to take, not wanting Filo to suffocate or Saphira to be torn up if he ever got free and retaliated. Nathan reached under Saphira's belly and tried to pick her up, doing his best not to constrict her wings or hurt her legs. "I said let go, Saphira!" he again shouted at her, moving one hand down to her neck. He prepared to lift her up and away if she obeyed.
 
It took several tugs and much yelling before the little dragon dropped the dog. It struggled to get a breath and then staggered to it's feet and wobbled off towards its house. Saphira blinked her nictitating membrane on her eye lids back in place and chirped while letting her wings droop as she snuggled her head into Nathan's armpit.
If it hadn't been clear to the boy before, it definitely was now. Saphira can kill very easily even at such a young age, her instinct was, and always would be lethal. It was just the dog's dumb luck that Nathan had been close enough to them to stop her, otherwise she would have strangled him. If she had been even a week older she would have been strong enough to shake the dog to death before Nathan had even been able to make the first protest. Yes, it was clear now that he needed professional help with his dragon.
 
"What was that about, Saphira?" he asked, carrying her back to the house. Then it struck him. Of course! She was a dragon... they were the most fearsome predators in the world. He felt foolish for not noticing the aggression in her stance sooner. He brought her inside and closed the door before setting her down on the floor, thoughts racing through his head. He should really go check on Filo and apologize to his owne, but he couldn't just leave Saphira here while he did that and he definitely couldn't bring her along.

"Nathan? Is that you?" the voice of his father echoed from the kitchen. "I thought you were going into town today." he added, not even waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, dad. I'll be going soon. I was just letting Saphira explore the back yard." Nathan answered, not so sure he should tell him about what had happened. He wasn't in the mood to get an ear full just yet. "For now... what are we going to do with you?" he whispered, looking down at the little blue dragon.
 
As he looked at Saphira's face Nathan noticed for the first time the blood on her muzzle. She chirped at him innocently while trying to lick that blood up with relish. The little dragon wanted to go back outside, so she waddled back over to the door and sat down, then looked back over her shoulder at the boy and chirped again.

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In days gone past when dragons were numerous and flew the skies freely. Man had been brave enough to rob nests and train dragonets into fearsome beasts of war. They became a great commodity and the wild ones became so scarce that it was finally presumed that they were extinct in the wild and then even the 'tame' ones became few. Mostly because they were hard to breed and even harder to tend their wounds. If they fell in battle their riders would tend to leave them where they lay instead of braving their fangs and claws to try to tend them. Eventually they had become mostly myths and legends in many countries.
There were a few places or people left that knew the old ways of dealing with the beasts and fortunately for Nathan, one of the most renowned persons lived only a few miles to the north in a small village named Rodwell. He had many titles when the war was on but now that those days of battle were over he just went by his birth name, Garin. Even so, to ask of Garin of Rodwell was enough to make fingers wag in his direction like so many compasses pointing north, he was that well known.
 
"Sorry, Saphira. We're not going back outside right now." Nathan hated denying Saphira, but he didn't want her getting into any more trouble. It became obvious that the little dragon was only going to become a bigger handful the older she got. He had to find some way of helping her control her predatory urges or staying in their neighborhood wasn't going to be possible. Nathan also knew he didn't want to get rid of her.

Nathan's dad knew about old stories, so he was going to be Nathan's first step. "Come on, little one." he ushered Saphira along with him back into the kitchen. "Hey, dad?" he asked before even getting into the room. "Can you help with something?"

His father closed the refrigerator, a glass of milk in his hand and walked back over to the table where his toast and paper were waiting. "What is it?" he asked, setting the glass down and waiting for his son to enter the room.

Nathan entered, reaching up his hand to nervously rub the back of his head. "You know a lot of old legends... do you know anything about dragons?"

"Oh, I see. Already don't know what to do with her." he picked up the paper with one hand, taking a sip of his milk before continuing. "Well I'm afraid everything I know about dragons are just that. Old legends. It isn't really anything you'd find useful." Lowering the paper he looked his son in the eyes. "But there is one man who might still know about dragon young. There's a man named Garin who knows all about the old stories, but I would avoid talking to him if at all possible."

"I don't really feel like there's much of a choice." Nathan admitted, looking down at Saphira who was standing beside him. "At least there's someone who can help." he directed at her, speaking quietly.
 
Sensing that Nathan was talking to her but not understanding ether the words or the thoughts behind them she sat down with a plop and tilted her head to the side in confusion and trilled out a query. Then after a moment of puzzlement she shook herself and wandered off towards the large dragon. Standing up on her hind legs unsteadily, she attempted to check out his glass of milk, it smelled very good.
 
Nathan's father looked down at Saphira with an amused expression on his face, while also shifting his drink towards the center of the table and out of the dragon's reach. "Quite an inquisitive little thing, isn't she?" his comment was more an observation than a question, but Nathan agreed with him regardless. The man reached out a hand to pat the dragon's side. "Sorry, but no table scraps. We can't have you learning that habit then growing tall enough to reach anything and everything in the house." he mused.
 
Saphira tilted her head to the side as she sat back on her haunches then went back to all fours. She accepted the rebuff for what it was and shifted her wings, a dragon's equivalent of a shirk of human shoulders, then a flying insect caught her attention and she was off to catch it. After doing so, she brought it back and dropped the messy mangled body, covered in her saliva, at old dragon's feet. It was obvious she was trying to trade, as she then tried reaching for the glass with an extended arm and first-claw toward the milk, and a purring chirp that went up an octave at the end.
 
Nathan watched Saphira curiously while she scampered around them room, unsure of what she was doing until she finally caught the small flying insect. "Wow, I didn't even see that bug. Good catch." he complimented, impressed with how nimble she had been to snatch the insect out of the air. It only further demonstrated how strong of a hunting animal she would grow up to be, however.

His father was a little less amused after she tried to go for his milk a second time. He was far from upset, babies don't learn things straight away after all, but he still picked up his glass and held it out of Saphira's reach. "No, Saphira." he tried using her name, to see how well she would respond. "I'd much rather keep this if it's all the same to you. This is mine. When you get yours I won't try to take it from you." he said, hinting for his son to get the baby her own little bowl for now. Nathan caught it a little slow, needing his dad to motion toward the cupboards before going about it. Nathan pulled out a little plastic blue bowl before crossing the room to the refrigerator to grab the milk. He filled it about half way before putting the milk away and closing the fridge to keep Saphira out of the rest of their food.

"Here you go." he said, placing the bowl down beside the baby dragon and reaching out to pet the side of her neck after. He smiled, but his mind was full of worrying thoughts.
 
Now a little miffed at being denied a second time, but still respectful of the elder, she sat back on her haunches and moaned. It was mostly curiosity that was driving her mad at the moment. Saphira had not in her short two day life, seen or even tasted milk before and she really liked the smell. After a frustrating few minutes of watching the old dragon wave his hands at Mamma and then Mamma bringing the blue bowl over with some of the nice smelling drink in it, she fairly wiggled with excitement and her tail whacked the kitchen wall with enough force to make the window rattle a bit and the old dragon winced for fear of the wall being broken or dented. She took her time sniffing at the bowl before getting brave enough to sip some up.

Dragons in general, not having overly large tongues or well shaped ones like a dogs or cats, used their lips to sip liquids.

Saphira took her time deciding f she liked it, then sucked up the whole bowl in one gulp. Afterwards, she licked her lips and turned back to the old dragon and then to mamma, wiggling again and, yes, purring loudly, she head butted Mamma in the knees then turned and ran off to find her boot, it was time to play!
 
Nathan's father cringed at the sound that was made when Saphira ran her head into his son's knee. "That sounded unpleasant." he added unnecessarily. Nathan was rubbing his knee with one eye closed. It mainly caught him off guard.

"It sure didn't feel much better than it sounded." he answered, wincing at his fingers rolled over the sore spot. "I wonder why she ran off back down the hall..." with that he forced himself to stand up straight and follow the sounds of Saphira scampering around the house. It was easy to tell she had gotten back into his room. "Just what are y-- oh. Playing with that boot again I see. You really like that thing, huh?" he asked her while walking over to his bed, taking a seat on the edge. "I just hope it holds up better than everything else you've played with so far. I only have one other boot if you tear this one to shreds." He teased, reaching out his hand to try and grab one end. He was curious if she would like playing tug of war with it, or if she just liked to toss it around on her own and listen to it make thudding sounds.
 
Saphira handed over the boot as soon as Nathan reached for it. It was dripping with saliva and well mangled from the tossing and chewing that it had endured so far. Again she wiggled with excitement and then out-of-the-blue she flapped her wings rapidly. The boy's homework took flight around the room and so did any small objects close by that weren't nailed down. It shocked her for a moment and she stopped and stared at the things. Then she repeated the exercise, on purpose this time, and her little body lifted off the ground ever so slightly. A look that was obviously surprise, crossed her face as she did so and quickly turned to happiness complete with a chirping purr.
 
"Whoa! Whoa!" Nathan shouted in surprise, dropping the thoroughly destroyed boot in order to shield his eyes from the gust of air Saphira created. As soon as it came to a halt Nathan lowered his hands, looking at Saphira curiously, even as she began to do it a second time. Now Nathan didn't bother to shield his face from flying debris as he was too busy watching the small dragon testing out her wings for the first time.

"Wow..." he spoke in a hushed whisper, still shocked over what he was seeing. "You... Saphira, you were flying? That's... amazing!" his expression shifted and he threw his arms up into the air in excitement. "You can fly already!" hopping up from the bed, he was suddenly overwhelmed with different emotions and for the time being, he forgot all about what had happened earlier in the morning. "Well... sort of, you didn't get too high yet - but still! You were off the ground, that's what counts."
 
Saphira stopped the rapid flapping and she settled back on to the floor, of which she only left for a moment and only about an inch of elevation too. But you would think, to look at her, that she had flown to the moon and back by how excited she was about it. She ran in circles and grabbed the boot up and tossed it while purring and chirping at the same time. Finally she slowed down, breathing hard, and flopped at Nathans feet, totally exhausted. The little dragon lifted her head up ever so slightly for a pat then plopped it back down, eyes closed, asleep before Nathon could even say goodnight to her! After all, it had been a very exciting, and somewhat scary at times, second day for the blue dragon.
 
Nathan couldn't stop from laughing with excitement over Saphira's reaction to her first attempt flying. She was so riled up, throwing around the boot and scampering around the room. Finally she managed to tire herself out, laying down in front of Nathan with only enough energy left to lift her head for his hand to pat her. Before he knew it, she was out like a light.

Quietly, Nathan left his room, closing the door behind him and walked back and forth in the hallway. "What am I going to do...?" The realization finally hitting him enough to visibly worry about it. Saphira was not going to stay so small she'd fit in his arms for long. Dragons were highly efficient predators that feared nothing. He had been overly excited before, finding it hard to believe that the 'rock' he had stumbled over turned out to be an egg, a dragon egg! Now, he had to think responsibly for Saphira... and he didn't see many alternatives to paying that man Garin his father had mentioned a visit. After grabbing something quick to eat from the refrigerator he went back into his room, made his way back into his bed and laid there until sleep finally came for him.
 
"yap, yap, yap...ARF! Yap, yap,ARF, ARF!!"

The little dragon blinked as the world returned to her.

"ARF, ARF, GRRRRowf, ARF, yap!"

Saphira tilted her head to the sound, it was familiar, but not in a good way. A growl from deep in her chest rumbled forth as she hurried over to the window. The sound of barking was coming their way on the small path behind the house near where the dog had attacked her the day before. Then voices could be heard as well, one was very angry and sharp. The other was from the older dragon that Mamma looked up to. Some one was threatening the Den Leader! The little dragon's color seemed to get brighter as she hissed out a warning while pacing back and forth in front of the window. It was about that moment that she noticed she was alone in the room and the door was closed. Panic began to settle in as she realized that Mamma was out there too, he had to be!
 
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