A Little Miracle.

Nathan stood behind his father, eyes fixated on the ground because he couldn't bring himself to look at Filo or his owner, Mrs. Anderson. She was rightfully upset about the blood she had found on her dog's throat. Filo at least seemed no worse for wear, able to bark no problem. The injury would heal well enough.

"I don't know what sort of beast you've got over in that house of yours, but it nearly killed my dog!" she hollered, pointing with an outstretched accusing finger towards their home.

"I've told you, we don't have a pet." his father was trying not to yell back, while also resisting the urge to turn around and lay into his son for not telling him what happened the day before. "You can't possibly know if it was a wild animal or not. A stray dog, perhaps. Dogs fight all the time."

"You're just trying to get out of it! Look'it your boy! He can't even look me or Filo in the eye! He's hiding something..." Nathan's head snapped up, realizing he was being too obvious. Mrs. Anderson was more observational than he thought she would be when she was so worked up.

"He's just nervous because you're yelling at him." his father covered for him again. "Like I told you, it was probably just another dog that fought with Filo. Now please, let's all just go back inside and stop this nonsense."
 
Using her claws in one of there most efficient ways, Saphira dug at the base of the door and its frame. Wood splinters cascaded behind her as she tore at the door furiously, stopping only to listen occasionally to the argument outside. The dragon growled in frustration and scurried back to the window to look out again. She bit at the sill, splintering that wood too, then raked at the window pain with her claws making a horrible screeching sound but no headway to freedom.
 
"--and another thing!" Mrs. Anderson began to shout again, only to be interrupted by a sharp screeching sound. Nathan's heart sank and his eyes shot wide open with fear when he realized it was coming from the direction of their house, from his own window.

"What in the world was that?!" Mrs. Anderson's holler almost went unnoticed by Nathan, who was too preoccupied worrying about Saphira giving herself away like she had. What if Mrs. Anderson had Saphira taken away... or worse, killed for what happened to her dog?

"Nothing, Mrs. Anderson. Just calm down--" His father tried to step in, but it was too late.

"Nothing?! There was scratching coming from your window! How was that nothing?" She screamed back, now stomping her way over to the window Saphira's head was likely peering through. Nathan ran in front of her, trying to stop her.

"No! You can't!" He yelled in his panic, not thinking clearly over the fear of losing Saphira.
 
Mrs. Anderson pushed Nathan aside and continued on her path to the window that had made the sound. All the while continuing on with a torrent of promised threats and warnings of dire consequences for trying to pull the wool over her eyes and...
Just as she reached the window Saphira dove though it with a hissing growl. She fell at the loud woman's feet in a pile of twisted wings, tail and neck covered in shards of glass and splinters of wood. The little blue dragon struggled to write herself while Mrs. Anderson screamed and backed away rapidly as if being confronted by a huge disgusting rat. At that moment her dog Filo, who had not forgotten his previous experience with Saphira, decided to hide behind her legs. The not-so-thin lady fell backwards over the dog with a loud scream of fear and landed on her rear end in some leaves and muddy earth.
Nathan's father attempted to reach for her but Saphira, now untangled, quickly stepped between them with a loud warning hiss and wings spread defensively. The now muddy lady struggled to roll away from the little dragon whilst screaming at the top of her lungs. Neighbors began coming out of there homes to see what on earth was going on.
 
Nathan's heart nearly stopped when Saphira burst through his window, not even the least bit worried about the damage to his house. Mrs. Anderson seemed even more horrified, backing away so quickly that she stumbled over Filo. Now covered in dirt, grass and mud, she began to scream when Saphira jumped in front of her and hissed.

"Saphira, what has gotten into you!" Nathan's father yelled out in surprise when she put herself between him and Mrs. Anderson. He was about to reach down and grab her when he heard the sound of other people gasping loud enough to be heard from their own yards.

"Saphira! No!" Nathan ran over, trying to get his dragon's attention by kneeling beside her. "Don't, or you'll get in even more trouble..." he added, extending his hand to touch the side of her neck.

"What-what is that thing?!" Mrs. Anderson finally yelled out real words other than random sounds of panic. "You even n-named it? Jack! You... you lied to me when you said nothing attacked my dog!" She shouted, now too angry with Nathan's father to worry about the unhappy dragon in front of her. The others who had overheard were now walking across the street and through yards to get a closer look at what was going on.
 
When the heavy set woman yelled at Nathan's father again the little dragon struggled against the boy's restraining arms, hissing and growling she spat a thin stream of liquid at Mrs. Anderson. It landed on some leaves and dirt in front of her feet and promptly began to smoke and hiss on its own while a smell of rotten eggs wafted on the breeze. All three people in the argument stopped and stared at the spectacle. Mrs. Anderson took several cautious steps back and spoke in a quieter but no less angry tone,
"How dare you! How dare you bring such a a dangerous creature into our neighborhood! What is that that that...hideous beast anyways??"
As the discussion went on, the neighbors began to form a loose circle around them with a respectful distance from the beast in question. Mumbling began to rise from them as they discussed between them what was going on. Saphira became more agitated as the crowd grew, her head swivelled left and right trying to keep everyone in view. She hissed constantly while sitting on her haunches and keeping her wings spread while her tail whipped back and forth. It was all Nathan could do to keep a hold on her as she strained against him in the effort to protect her family.
 
"What in the world..."

"Is that what I think it is?!"

"Goodness, Jack! What have you done?" The words of the surrounding neighbors grew closer and louder. It certainly wasn't helping Saphira's protective instincts. She didn't know any of the people around her and they were all acting accusingly and threateningly to her family. Nathan could see that much, but he didn't know what to do or say behind keeping Saphira from biting somebody.

"Everyone just calm down!" The voice of Nathan's father boomed above the ambient noise of the crowd. "She's just a baby! Two days old. Those two days ago, my son found this baby dragon's egg and--"

"So it IS a dragon!" someone shouted, followed by several gasps of shock. Murmurs began again but Jack ignored them to continue explaining.

"Yes. She is a dragon. They were believed to have all died out but obviously that's not true. My boy here found her egg two days ago and we've tried to keep quiet about her. Somehow she got into a fight with Filo. Thankfully, no real damage was done." Nathan's father directed his eyes down at his son, clearly disappointed that he wasn't told about it when it happened. "That doesn't make it okay, though. I know that. My son knows that. That's why he asked if I would let him bring her to see Garin."

More whispers and mumbling began at the mention of that man's name. "It's still not safe!" Mrs. Anderson piped up, now back up to her feet and still looking rather angry. "You brought that dangerous creature into our neighborhood! Without even thinking of the consequences!" She snapped at the young Nathan, who was returning a rather unhappy glance of his own.
 
She was soooo confused! all the talking, mumbling, Mamma not letting her go and the old big dragon now yelling at everyone and they were threatening him too! the instinct to protect was overwhelming and yet she was told not to. To top it off she had spit up and now her tummy hurt desperately badly. She began shaking and mewing from the stress and pain while seeking to bury her head in Mamma's shirt and arm pit.

'PAIN...PAIN...FEAR....PAIN...' over and over she sent out waves of thought to Mamma and even the older dragon. She visibly wilted in Mamma's arms and gave up the fight to do her duty to family and cave and passed out.