Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It enjoys gathering pebbles and other small rocks and putting them in a pile.

And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. They are born with relatively soft scales, which are shed and replaced with harder ones as the hatchling matures. Once a hatchling’s wings grow in, it typically marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own and are usually left alone by their mother.

Castaway has been teased and made fun of for as long as he could remember. He can't stand the heat in the secluded area of Thailand he lives in, so he never would play with the other hatchlings, and they found that odd. One time after a particularly bad day he found himself sitting by the edge of a cool, dark rice paddy, sobbing and feeling particularly sorry for himself. He gazed into the water when he noticed the tiniest thing staring at him: a small Betta fish with a questioning look and open mouth. Castaway found his shimmering colors and tail intriguing and has ever since been laying besides the water, watching his companions.