Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals.

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.

One day, the keeper of a horde of dragons went hiking through the desert in search of a rumored cave. After days, she finally came upon the place, and what a glory it was! However, before the girl could even enter the cave, she was distracted by a faintly glowing black egg on the top of a pile just outside the cave. She had a good feeling about this one and was sure it was going to be different than the other hatchlings she had back near her cave—but in a good way. So, before even looking inside the cave full of gorgeous golds, she put the black egg in her pack and headed towards home.

Once there, she tended to the egg's every need, making sure it was kept warm and clean. Her hunch that the dragon would be perfectly unique only grew as she cared for the egg, and she decided to name the hatchling "Hopeful". However, about a week later when the egg hatched the baby was just the same as all the other black hatchlings she owned. In disappointment, she shouted, "More like UNhopeful!"