Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. At least, you think so... the small shape of it within the cloud continuously shifts as if it weren’t completely solid.

And look! It has gotten bigger! 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.