Nen sat in her small cottage, tightening the laces upon her boots. Inoru, the gray hatchling, was laying on the floor, pawing at the small pack that held their days food. They had decided to take a walk further into the forest, and explore the area around their home. Nen smiled as she brought her foot down to the floor, and gently took the small worn pack from Inoru's grasp.

"You have to save that for later," she said as she scratched the small dragon behind the small ridges on her head. The small hatchling with bright eyes, stood and began her way towards the cottage door. Once reaching the open door, Inoru looked over her shoulder and beckoned for Nen to follow. Nen smiled once more and followed the hatchling out into the warm sun.

Nen had discovered an old trail leading away from her home, opposite of the trail that lead to the Forest's clearing. They were going to take this trail, and find where it lead to, if anywhere. It had only been a few days ago when the egg had hatched, revealing the gray Inoru, and the little dragon was already desiring to see what the world outside held for her eyes to witness. So, Nen had decided to take a walk along this unknown trail, and allow the newborn to see what she had been born into and would grow up in.

Inoru chirped happily as she took the lead, forcing Nen to follow quickly behind. Nen smiled as she watched the skipping dragon, and remembered how odd her old life seemed to her right now. Problems and worries of that world no longer mattered here, as if a strong wind had blown away all of her problems as if they were just smoke curling into life. And here, she was given every reason to be happy, to enjoy fully for the first time all that life had to give and had given to her.

The sun was warm upon both skin and scales, providing a nice balance to the cool breeze blowing down the trail. The trees made whispering sounds as their branches with hundreds of tiny reaching fingers grasped the sky above. Nen was watching the foliage pass as a small thought of no importance passed through her mind. The trees were thinning, becoming thinner and younger as their feet took them further down the trail. They must be nearing the end of the trail.

And she was right. Inoru and Nen soon stopped, the trail ending at their feet. The sun was brighter here, no longer being blocked by the trees above. The trees had ended here, along with the trail, allowing a clear view of the place before them. A sea stretched out before them, partially hiding a light blue sky filled with clouds. The clouds carried a silver quality about them, matching the sea with its silver waves and silver foam. Nen looked on, but before she realized it, Inoru had begun to walk into a well lit cave at the edge of the sea.

"Hey Inoru! Wait for me," she said as she quickly scampered after the gray dragon. The dragon was halfway through the cave's entrance by the time she caught up with Inoru, who had stopped in her steps. She looked further ahead into the cave, wondering why the young dragon had stopped so suddenly.

The cave glittered, from the floor to the open ceiling. The cave seemed to be made out of silver, the walls of the cave covered in the precious material. Upon the floor were chunks of more silver, apparently fallen off from the wall. Sunlight glittered through the hole in the ceiling, the silver catching the warm sunlight. Nen glanced down once more at Inoru, and saw the eyes wide in excitement and awe. Soon the dragon became unfrozen and hurried to one of the many piles of silver. Once the dragon became baried in the silver, she let out a excited chirp to call Nen over.

"Well, seems that we have found something worthwhile here," Nen said as she joined her dragon, still happily playing with the silver.

***

The small breeze wafted into the small cave, illuminating the silver that lined the walls. The waves that lapped against the cave wall had come inside the cave during high tide, creating a small pool for an hour during midday. Inoru had found it found to swim in the ocean's water, diving for peices of silver that shone through the clear water. Nen would join the small hatchling, but could not always keep up with the exuberent little one. The hatchling had grown in size over the last week, now being about as big as Nen was.

Nen plopped down onto a small rock, letting the incoming sunlight to warm her skin. The hatchling surfaced and swam over to where Nen sat, and joined her upon the rock. The hatchling began to scratch at its side, and Nen's attention was brought to the small one.

"Inoru!" Nen gasped as she watched the old, gray scales fall one by one off of the hatchlings hide. Below the gray scales were soft silver ones, that hardened as the air touched them. The blue eyes became brighter, catching the light like the silver did. The dragon now matched the silver that lined the caves walls, but shone brighter than the true silver could.

***

"INORU!!" Inoru laughed as she pulled the protesting Nen into the water of the ocean. Though, once in the water, Nen gave up the meager fight and joined the dragon in her laughter. Nen looked onto the silver dragon, remember how small the dragon had once been. Inoru had grown the other day, now a full grown dragon. Her eyes had taken on a deeper shade, reminding Nen of a sapphire gem. Though, her eyes were not the most important change to Inoru when she grew into an adult.

Inoru had come into her element, something which came only with adulthood. Her element was now water, taking on the element of the sea that she loved to swim in. Inoru was now a faster swimmer, Nen now unable to keep up with the quick dragon. Inoru still loved to spend nights in the crystal cave, letting the waves wash into the center of it. And as always, Nen still found hordes of silver in the oddest of places, safely tucked away by the fascinated dragon.

Name: Inoru (wish) Stage: Adult Color: Silver Type: Water Gender: Female Clutch Number: #6 Mate: Mugen