Aww... It’s a cute baby drake. It’s mostly white but has a blue stripe down its back.

And look! It has grown antlers! It must be close to maturing.

Young drakes 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 marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own.

This little drakeling was born from an egg in Ms Russo's school for water-affine hatchlings. Since the loud and noisy hatchlings scared the mother away from the egg, the class has decided to care for the little thing instead, feeding it, keeping it clean, and maybe later teach it a few tricks.

MetalStripe is convinced that the flamingo hatchling Shelly Ann is her mother and chirps excitedly whenever she sees something pink enter her field of vision.