Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. As soon as it hatched it headed to the sea.

And look! It lost its fins and grew wings instead. 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 young hatchling belongs to a wealthy noble, which wouldn't be a problem, if only they lived near the sea instead of inland! As it was, no sooner did this young creature hatch then he cheerfully threw himself into the nearest lake--only to wriggle out, squealing, when he found the plain water didn't agree with him. As it is, the noble's resorted to having a man-made lake filled with salt, a solution that his young pet finds quite agreeable.