Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon... except for the tangle of dangerous-looking vines surrounding it...

Now there are even more vines. Perhaps something is happening?

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.

A zesty, ferocious little example of a hatchling, this fellow has two driving passions in his life; growing beautiful, brilliant red peppers, and beating the snot out of any poor fool who dares approach them. Despite his small size, he's a skilled fighter, whipping at his opponents with thorny vines while he lunges and gnaws at their ankles; he's never actually KILLED anyone, but he's inflicting nasty damage on enough people to make the locals worried about what they'll do when he reaches adulthood...