Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Tue Jan 8, 2019 9:26 AM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Ruby smiled and nodded along with the women. Her red curls bouncing with the motion. She stays in the grass laying still as she gazes at the birds flying past and the clouds drifting in the breeze. She loved the feel of the sun and soon drifted to sleep.

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Tue Jan 1, 2019 3:45 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

A smile appeared on her face when she heard Ruby's voice. So the child could speak! Or at least had the ability to mentally speak. Talking out loud could be taught later. Maybe. Kneeling down in the grass, Tristana watched as the child hopped from rock to rock. The bright grass felt soft beneath Tristana's hands as she combed through it with her fingers.  She could smell the plants surrounding them. This must have been the first time that the child had been out in the real world. Standing up, the healer walked over to Ruby. Tristana patted the ground and looked Ruby in the eyes.

"Earth." She said, "The ground beneath you is called earth. The blue stuff high above you is called the sky. And you are called ruby. Since you have such lovely scales."

Tristana hoped that her explanation would not be too complicated. However, the child seemed very clever and a fast learner.

Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:11 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Ruby focused and mentally said "Hi tristana" through her thoughts as she was carried from the cave. She squinted in the bright light of day. She wiggled out of Tristanas arms and rested her claws in the grass. Her red scales glowed in the bright light and scattered red hues across the ground.  Soon Ruby jumped from rock to rock shifting from human to dragon between each one. In a for of giggles she lay beside the last rock in the grass and stated at the clouds. 

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:36 AM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Glad that the baby dragon seemed to like her, she decided to leave this cave. The girl hadn’t ever seen the sky or the sun and with the rocky ceiling, that would be next to impossible. Tristana searched the cavern for any forgotten items she might have accidently dropped earlier. There was nothing new to find so the healer decided to leave this old place.

Adjusting the dragon into a more comfortable spot, she took her steps down the path that would lead all of them out. Chai, the golden dragon, followed after Tristana looking behind them. As if the creature was keeping its sharp eyes on a look out for an unseen threat. Chai heard Ruby’s voice inside its mind. The golden dragon paused for a moment but decided to respond.

“The space above you is up. Outside is the area that is not inside. It is the area that is not here. You can walk to get there, or allow Tristana, the young lady holding you, to carry you there.” The golden dragon mentally explained to the baby dragon.

Following close behind, Chai made certain that Tristana did not take a wrong turn or end up going down a bad path. The ginger-haired healer eventually led them out of the cavern and into the sun. Above them was a bright blue sky with a ball of fire burning far away. Fluffy white clouds crossed the sky.

“That is the sky. Try talking to the girl carrying you. She has a special power that lets her speak to dragons, as long as they choose to let her talk to them.” Chai mentally explained to Ruby. 

Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:53 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Ruby stared at the women holding her. Understanding in her gaze as she listened to her speak. Her blue eyes glittered as she grabbed the women's neck in a hug and nuzzled her with what ended up being a dragons muzzle.
The tiny dragon looked at the other and through dragon telepathy she asked chai "What is up? What is outside? How do i get there?" 
The tiny ruby dragon was very curious as it hugged the human with its front legs. Her tail flicking back and forth. She whipped her head back and forth as she gazed about the crystal cavern and then up to the sky above. Her inner thoughts full of awe as she stared at the brilliant blue above her "ooooohhhh pretty"

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:40 AM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Relief flooded through her mind when she realized that the baby dragon trusted her. It would have been difficult to try to get the child to live with them if she didn't want to. Suddenly, the dragon fell onto the ground. Tristana reached over and plucked up the child from the ground. She hadn't realized how heavy children were. Then again, she didn't hold children much. Except for Chai. But Chai had been so small back then. Ruby was larger than what the healer had been expecting. Still, she held the child.

"Hi!" Tristana said with an excited smile, "Welcome to this wonderful world! I am Tristana and this is Chai! You are Ruby Scales."

Enthusiasm spread through her eyes to the rest of her. This was the first time that this child would be here. It was exciting. There was so much to teach the child and so much to do to help her learn. What would Ruby turn out to be like? Would she like hunting or would she prefer magic? What would she do and say once she was older? Questions like these ran through her mind as she wondered about Ruby. There were hundreds of possibilities for her.

"You know what? We should celebrate. It's not everyday you are born, after all." Tristana decided, "But first we should probably get out of this cavern."

The child hadn't seen anything but the cavern. Would she like the world above? There was really only one way to tell.  The healer wondered how long it would take for the child to talk. She knew about raising dragons but it was clear that this child was not fully dragon. She knew somewhat how to raise one dragon. But raising children was a bit foreign to her. 

Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:27 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

The small red dragon smiled and got sneakily to her taloned feet and took a wobbly step forward before falling on a human face with a piercing cry of pained surprise

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 4:26 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

Surprised appeared in her eyes as she watched the egg crack open. Putting down on the ground, to give the dragon more room, she watched closely as the egg opened. A young girl was sitting in the beautiful remains of the egg. Suddenly the girl was a young dragon.

"Well, that was much faster than I expected." Tristana said, "I guess we got here just in time."

The little dragon sneezed, sending it backwards and smoke into Tristana's face. Waving the smoke out of her face, she looked at the little dragon.

"Lets see…your name will be Ruby Scales." She declared, "Since you have the beautiful red scales."

Chai looked at her.

"I know, it's a bit on the nose, but its cute!" The healer declared, "Besides, its not like I have a last name to give her."

Tristana reached her hand out to the little red dragon. She didn't try to approach her too fast. Fearing that she might scare the baby, her movements were slow and steady. Perhaps the little dragon wouldn't mind staying with her. It would be unwise for a creature as young as this one to be on its own. The healer wondered why she had seen the young girl instead of a dragon. Maybe she was too tired? 

Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:50 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

In the womens hands the egg finally split open and a young girl looked up at her from the remains. Then sat a dragon with rubies in its scales. It looked at the other dragon and cocked it's head before sneezing and flying to the ground with the force of it. As it sneezed it released a puff of smoke into the women's face

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:07 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

A stone moved behind her, causing the healer to stand up and look behind her. Chai raised its head to see if there was any danger. The dragon's interest raised when it saw the egg. Tristana knelt down to inspect the strange stone. It was a bright shade of red.

"Look Chai. Isn't the stone beautiful? I can use it for a paperweight!" She exclaimed happily.

Her language appeared to be in the same one as the dragon. Chai stood up and walked over to the healer, shaking its head.

"Don't you remember the last time that you got a paperweight?" The golden dragon said in its original language.

Surprise alight in her eyes. That didn't mean that this rock was also a dragon egg? She reached over to the egg and took it off of the ground. What had happened to the mother? Were dragons dying? When Tristana had met Chai, the golden dragon had been but an egg at the time. And yet the egg was abandoned at a tall tower. Perhaps people were killing these dragons before they could get back to their children. She saw how the ruby egg had groaned and cracked. Light pulsed from within it.

"Chai. Would you mind having a sibling?" Tristana asked. Chai sat down and looked at the healer.

"I would like another dragon to hunt with." The golden dragon said simply.

Tristana nodded with a smile. She had made her decision. Raising a dragon wasn't easy, but it was worth making sure that somebody's child would be able to survive in this world. She cradled the egg in her arms. The both of them would need to hunt more and take up more jobs. Tristana would need to have some of her costumers pay instead of giving out free medicine like she normally did. But that wasn't really an issue. She would just have her wealthy patients pay.

Food would be hunted, as always but with more money they would be able to have security in case a hunt went bad or something else happened. They were travelers who went around from area to area, picking up on whatever interesting things they found. Never really staying in one place. But Tristana didn't find any issues with that. Traveling meant one can see the world. 

Author: Ruby Scale, Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:37 AM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

The red stone the wanderer had chosen to lean against shifter and began to pulse. For even a shapeshifting dragon would only hatch for its rider or for its mother and only when they touched it. But a knight had slain it's mother before she could release her child into the world.
The stone groaned and cracked and a light began to pulse inside to the rhythm of the heart beat and now visible from the outside was an infant baby.
This child already had long flowing curly crimson red hair. But in the next instant it changed to a crimson dragon with rubies impeded amongst its scales. A part of who it was. A part of its design. 
This was a crystal dragon. The last of its kind after its mother was slayed. And when it grew older it's body would produce an egg without the help of a male for all crystal dragons where born female.
The child inside opened it's eyes. A glittering sapphire blue with a slit in the center like a dragons. They remained that way as it continued to shift back and forth. 
The egg shook and cracked more as the hatching began to emerge. Soon the shell cracked enough to push upon but it got stuck as some of these eggs do and if it was not released soon and with great haste the transforming crystal dragon would perish along with its entire kind.

Author: TristanaDeformem, Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 9:51 PM, Post Subject: Dragon Baby [P]

A woman with bright orange hair and a brown robe climbed downwards into the cavern. Bright crystals reflected light that crept through the stone from the world above. On her back was a gray backpack full of supplies and other random items. After hearing stories about the crystal covered animals, brand new beasts, unique herbal remedies, and interesting people to meet, she got on the first ship she could find to get to Onnen. Canelux and Parvpora had only been able to reach this continent after the war with the insectoids. With this introduction to the new location, many adventurers were exploring and meeting new people. Merchants came here to start up trade. Knights came to find beasts to slay and bring back to their homes. Nobles came to establish relations with powerful Onnen citizens. Researchers came to study.

Healers like Tristana came to learn more about medicine. She also wanted to learn more about the animals and creatures of this new land. A dragon with golden scales the shade of the bright sun followed the woman as she went further into the cavern. The dragon was the size of a large dog and was relatively young. Darkness crept at the edges of stone. Light would be needed in order to continue. Reaching into her backpack, she plucked out an unlit torch. She couldn’t find the matches fast enough so she opted to use magic instead. Placing her hand over the torch, sparks of fire erupted from her palm and lit the torch into a small blaze. It would be enough to light her way. Instead of wearing boots, like most adventurers, she had worn purple slippers. A brown hood cast a shadow upon her face. She used her hood to hide the large ugly scar that traveled from her forehead to her chin. It protected her and helped others feel relaxed.

“I don’t suppose we’ll find anything useful in the caverns.” The woman said to her golden dragon.

The dragon said nothing but Tristana was able to get the hint without needing words.

“Well, let’s at least see if we can meet any new creatures. Or we might find a fancy crystal that we can smash and put into a potion?” Tristana suggested.

Chai, the golden dragon, simply yawned and continued following her. They went deeper into the cave for a bit and came across cluster of bright blue and green gems hidden amongst the crystals. After inspections, she was able to identify the three blue stones as star sapphires and the other two as emeralds. Holding up her right hand in the air, bright bits of magic began to swirl around her. Magic covered her hand until she pulled out a pickaxe. The magic vanished as if it was never there in the first place. Tristana used both her hands and swung at the rock above the crystals. Since the healer had never done this before, the heaviness of the pickaxe and the clash of her metal tool against the stone surprised her.

Eventually she was able to get the five jewels from the stone and place it in her backpack. She sent back her tool then continued onwards into the cavern, only with tired arms. The healer began to get tired and sat down in the cave, setting the torch on the ground a safe distance away. Chai curled up to take a nap. Tristana brought out her wayfinder’s widget. It was a dark blue and gold tool that displayed a map of where she had traveled but only on one floor. After seeing how far she traveled, Tristana put her widget away and took out a wrapped up piece of bread. It was time for lunch.