ORIGIN

When Sharp woke up in her den that day, she was not expecting to find a baby.

The little lizard was no longer a young, lopsided hatchling: she was a fully grown, majestic beast a whopping 8 inches long and ready to help found a town. Okay, not really majestic. Or large. But still, despite the childish gleam in her eyes, she was undeniably an adult.

And this new grown-up lived in the same feal, dugout nest in the cracks of Monoceros since she'd been born. A few days prior the lizard had finally made the decision that it was probably best to move to Eridanus with the rest of the Builders. While it was something she held many memories too, in the end Sharp was more motivated by the prospect of more gems than wistfulness. She slowly moved her gemstones and bedding out over the course of a couple days, making sure it was hidden from both the wind and prying eyes of strangers. One day-- hopefully today-- she'll move for good.

And to start the day, Sharp decided to take a couple laps around just to get a look at her old home. And immediately stumbled upon a hatchling.

She didn't hear the crack-- not over all that wind, of course. But she saw them, sticking out of the sand and mewing frantically. She came rushing over as fast as her legs could; mainly out of curiosity, but also with a sense of worry. Sharp couldn't see them all that well from here, but they looked small, and frail. A lot like herself when she was born.

A few more seconds of huffing, and the hatchling was in front of her. Dark-blue-grey. Scaly, but not pointy like herself. Tiny legs. Wearing a stone as a hat. In a mild state of distress. Caves, she had to calm her down, right? Sharp wasn't very experienced with younger Gembound, and for several moments she just stared blankly at the same-size gemling. What to do, what to do...

"Hi hi... uh... baby?" Her words were stunted and awkward. "Uh, my name's Sharp-and-Spiky--" No, no, that made it sound like a business presentation. Anxiety pricked at her neck for the first time since she was a child. Sharp swished her tail nervously, but only succeeded in blowing the dry sand onto the fledgeling. "Oh! Sorry, sorry..." she muttered, quickly reaching to brush off their large scales with a claw. If she were warm-blooded, her face would have been flush with embarrassment right now. Her first encounter with a newborn, and she manages to mess it up this bad.

Once she got past her embarrassment, she got back to looking over the baby. This gembound looked like her, at least a little bit. Past the whole being-the-same-size-as-her part, there was a vague resemblance to the sungazer. With those big, pointy scales coated in downy fur, and that straight head, they could be mistaken for a fuzzy, larger version of Sharp. She felt a faint heat come off them-- that was certainly different-- and worried if they needed to be kept warm. Most warm-bloods did, right?

It took her by surprise when the gemling stopped crying and suddenly nuzzled up to her. Oh. Sharp backed away reflexively for a moment, but stopped when she realized they were looking for her scent. Did-- did this make her their parent? Mother? She had none of her own, simply carving her way all by herself. But the merchant knew others did... and with a creature blind and helpless like this one, maybe they needed one.

First things first: getting them out of the wind. The way they shivered was concerning.

But how would she get them away? The gembound did not seem very strong, given they were crawling on their stomach. Perhaps she could run to get her cart and put the dragon inside-- but would she get back soon enough? How would she even get in just by belly-wiggling? She didn't have any blankets, or thumbs or magic to weave one. Perhaps it would be easiest to just lure the blind, deaf neonate back to her den. She'd just emptied out it's contents, after all, so it should have room for a dragon cub, right?

Sharp tapped her feet nervously. Looks like it was time to try and scoot a baby all the way back to her den. Maybe then she could figure out what to do next.

"Alright, little fluffy-sharp..." she said, her voice a lot more gentle than usual. "Let's get you moving." Sharp waddled to the other side of the gemling and pushed forward with her head, making sure no pointy scales dug into the baby. Her dull claws dug into the sand as she struggled to tow a young dragon in front of her, pushing the baby gently towards the direction of her den. She stopped, panting. They weren't there completely, and her attempt not to get them in the path of rocks ended with them a little off course, but it was progress. "You're, uh, you're doing good!" She whispered encouragingly to them, despite their lack of hearing. "Just... uh, crawl forward, I guess. Or-- be still so I can get you forward faster. I don't know."

Every step of the way, every push against the wind, and Sharp felt her heart leap up her chest. She was doing something wrong, but she didn’t know what, and this gemling wasn’t exactly old enough to tell her exactly. The baby was crying and crawling the wrong way, the wind was howling, and she could see he den just before her but she was just too damn small, and for roughly the first time in her life she felt genuine panic in herself.

A thought raced through her head. This creature considered her their parent. ”And I am not a good parent.”

Okay, okay, time to take a step back. Whatever she was doing, it wasn’t working. The newfound adopted mother stepped back, took a deep breath, and reanalyzed her surroundings. The den was twelve-or-so paces ahead of her-- not that far, though having a helpless baby did slow it down consideraby. Her gems and materials were still scattered outside. And the baby… the dragonet. She looked over them one more time, a bit more careful in there eye. They were just barely smaller than her-- quite the achievement, given her tiny size-- and wailing pitifully. But, more important in the moment: there was a loose flap of skin right around her neck. A scruff.

Sharp eyed the entrance, the fledgeling, and the massive trail in the sand she left trying to push a baby. Looks like she had to carry her. With a few soft words of ”I’m so sorry, I’m sorry,” the lizard stretched her neck as far as it would go and clamped gently onto the fetal flap. Her teeth were designed for holding bugs, not babies, and she felt her heart pound when her teeth slipped. Luckily enough, she got a grip just in time. Caves, this was going to put a killer cramp in her next the next morning. But it was quicker-- and more confortable-- for them. For the one they were taking care of.

It surprised her a little bit how one oversized, helpless gembound took her from a carefree life to one with anxiety at her throat. But she didn’t despise it, not at all. For some reason, this blue, fluffy reptile was really growing on her. But that was for thinking about later.

The entrance was close. If she ran, she could make it in several seconds and save herself the back pain, but that’ll jostle the baby. And Sharp wasn’t going to do that. Instead, she took slow, steady steps, feeling her feet sink into the dirt with the added weight. She wanted to keep them content, to make up for her slipup earlier. There weren’t any reassuring phrases or songs to sing to calm them down-- not that they could listen anyways-- but she tried to show care through steady movements and shifting her body to take the brunt of the wind.

The howling wind peeled back as layers of red rock curled around her. Sharp carried the gemling through the sloping entrance of her nest and into a dim, cozy den. She set them down, and sighed in relief. Now-- that issue with the wind and her chill, it was over. "There you go, uh..." Wait, did they have a name? "... Fuzzy." Yes, that will do for now.

Her knees were wobbling and her neck was sore, but she tried to put on a brave face for them. She nuzzled the dragonet into a sandy corner, where they would (hopefully) be more comfortable

Sharp smacked her lips together. "Uhh... oh caves... what do you eat?" The question was directed more to herself than the speechless fledgeling. She herself ate the crawling insects of the floor, but did large, fuzzy, crying blue reptiles do the same? Would she have to hunt? The idea of herself digging into the bones of a lesser was... strange, but she'll do it for the baby if needed.

"Just... uh, give me a smile if you're cozy, Fuzzy."

Sharp let out an audible sigh of relief as the baby-- Fuzzy, in her mind-- curled up just fine. Her den was small, but with all her belongings pushed outside it was just big enough for the both of them. She instinctively leaned back a bit when those clawed fingers came towards her, but it was just kneading. This creature was very, very odd, but she liked them regardless.

And those eyes-- she saw them open, ever so slightly. Slivers of gold, still unseeing, that glowed dimly in the low light. Okay, that just broke her heart. They looked so much like her own! So young, so beautiful. If Sharp weren't terrified of waking her up she would've aww-ed.

But now Fluffy was asleep, and Sharp finally took a moment to breathe. Wow. This was the day she was supposed to leave this place, but instead she came back with a baby. A blind and disoriented fledgling. Was she this helpless when she was born?

Several minutes passed simply watching the gemling. The only sounds were the soft snoring of Fluffy and Sharp's tail worriedly tapping. Would they need to eat? Drink? Well, it was pretty obvious they would have to get food sometime, but she wasn't sure what. Fruit? Insects? Meat? Those rows of sharp teeth suggested the latter, and they seemed to be hungry from that crying... would she have to hunt for something herself?

Sharp swallowed. She had to try. They're too frail to find food themselves for at least the next week.

The sungazer quietly slipped out of the den and into the wind. She was only large enough to possibly take down smaller lessers-- and there was no way she was killing a lizard-- so she settled herself on finding a mouse. For someone who was largely a prey animal, hunting down a vertebrate felt very... strange, but hopefuly she could get a merciful thwack with her tail and spare the bloodshed.

Sharp slunk across the dirt as quick as she could and kept her eyes peeled. It took several minutes, but she soon heard the signature squeaking of a molemouse breaching the surface. Those things were always so noisy. Holding her breath, the sungazer slunk forward, imitating the massive predators she saw before. She raised her large, pointed tail to the side, and aimed the dangerously sharp stone tip...

Sharp came back to the den a few minutes later, dragging the dead lesser with her. It wasn't as clean as she hoped for-- well, when you're a insectivore not built for ambush hunting, that's what happens-- but it was food for Fuzzy, and that was all that mattered. She dropped the 5-inch mole in front of the dragonet's nose and prayed it was enough. "Hi, again..." Could they hear what she said? "... Fuzzy! I got food for you! I hope it's something you can eat, I mean..."

They were fine. What a relief.

It was true: the little baby had (thankfully) not gotten their nose up anywhere by the time she returned. Sharp watched, at first in curiosity and then some sort of morbid horror as Fuzzy shoved an entire bloody molemouse down their throat. Oh caves. They looked so cute and lovely but... they were also covered in blood. And little momma over here was a prey animal.

Sharp suddenly remembered the blood dripping from her stone and hurried to brush it off. She felt some instinctive compulsion to turn tail and book it, but they were just a baby. They weren't going to hurt her, not with those big baby eyes! Plus, now they were crawling towards her, and before she could even let out an "Oh!", Fuzzy-baby was snuggled up beside her. The lizard cautiously dropped down to her belly and curled her spiky tail around them. They were just so, so small and vulnerable, she would do anything to protect them. Even if they did eat lessers head-first.

After a few relaxing minutes of lull, the fledgeling was suddenly back up and exploring. Sharp didn't move right away, but watched cautiously as they sniffed, half-blind, at the sand. And they came back with a rock!

Well, they were certainly gonna grow to be like her. Sharp giggled a little as the dragonet nuzzled her, reaching out with a claw to inspect the stone. "That's a good stone!" she praised. "Very shiny! One day you could find gems with me!" A mischievous idea popped into her mind: Sharp riding atop a 50-foot tall Fuzzy, a massive pile of gemstones carried on their back as they stomped through the caves. Okay, maybe they wouldn't grow that large, but their size already was an indicator of what was to come. Imagine all the marketing opportunities with a dragon!

And now yet another worry on her mind: if they do grow large, how will she take care of them? Would they be this blind and helpless forever? There was that horse she remembered, yes, back when she was younger. Or maybe one of the dragons, or the residents of the bone cave?

But right now there was a baby. Sharp pushed the stone a little out of the way and shushed the baby down with a flick of her tail. "Alright, you should settle down. Safe your energy, I guess. Tomorrow," she smiled a little at the dragonet, "I can take you in my cart to Eridanus! It's big, and pretty, and my friends are there..." Ah, friends. The first actual ones she had in her life. She knew Aerie couldn't understand her, but she didn't mind. "Just rest, little lizard. Maybe I can bring you something special when you wake up!"

To seal it all off, she pressed a paw down gently down against the gemling's head, a soft suggestion to get themselves curled up once more.