Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It enjoys sunning itself in the morning light.

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.

The stars fade, surrendering the night to the light of the rising sun. Emerging from the cave comes a little hatchling, frozen forever on the cusp of adulthood. He passes another dragonet like himself, this one fleeing for the safety of the cave as the sun rises. Their noses touch as they catch the other's scent with a sad understanding that theirs is a friendship which can never grow, for one is of the day and the other the night. The hatchling puts such thoughts behind him and spreads his wings, leaping into the warm morning air. This is his time, and he is determined to enjoy it.