Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Its belly is bright red and it is most active in the evening.

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.

This Sunset hatchling thinks he was frozen to help bind his parents, a Sunrise and a Sunset Dragon, closer together despite their different habits. The truth is, they were very close even before they had him, but he is so happy with this self-imposed role and perceived importance that they didn't have the heart to correct him. Getting a younger sibling, frozen like him, to watch out for made him even happier—and this time his beneficial influence is real.