This is going to come in chunks as I write it.
<center>_____________________</center>
It was a cold morning; colder than usual for this area of the mountains. Frost lined the edges of pine needles and traced the outlines of the roots on the ground. A young dragon peeked her head out of her den to see the sun begin to rise in the sky. She was still no more than a baby, really; only six years old. She still had that cute baby face and big feet; her wings were still small and incapable of flight. She stepped out of the den, a ray of sunshine falling on her to illuminate her emerald scales. Her big, fiery green eyes blinked in the morning light. She shook herself to rid herself of dew drops that had formed on her during the night, as was her morning ritual, only to find that what was on her was frost, not dew. She made a puzzled noise in her throat, scratching at the frost on her scales with a talon. “Mama!†she crooned. “Lookit all the white stuff on the ground!â€
There was no response from within the den.
“Mama?†The dragonette climbed back into the den to look for her mother. Her mother, a forest dragon of unusual coloring (brownish with green eyes and wing membranes and ivory horns), was lying on the floor of the den with her wings spread out over her like a blanket, eyes closed. “Mama?†she asked, a little louder. She walked up to her and nudged her neck. “Mama...wake up...â€
One large green eye opened slowly and a small, weak smile graced her mother’s face. “Mama isn’t feeling so well, darling. Go find Papa and see if he’ll take you on a walk, yes?â€
“Okay...†She was concerned. It wasn’t like Avani, her mother, to just lie there, even when she was sick. She trotted off back to the further recesses of the den to try to find her father.