Training Tier 1 - Trust

For almost two weeks Vashka protected the egg he had found. He was treating it as if it was own, making sure to keep it warm, protecting it, never leaving it for more then a few moments to get food. He wasn't sure when it would hatch. During the early hours of dawn, though, something caught his attention. The egg was shaking and wobbling, and faint peeps and scratching sounds came from inside. He crouched down beside it, chirring and chirping back, a soft sound his kind made when their own eggs hatched. It was meant to encourage the hatchling to keep fighting, giving it the strength and determination it needed to claw its way out of its egg. Each chirr got a response, peeping and scratching from the egg as cracks appeared. As the hatchling struggled out of the egg, it lay on the enderman's nest, panting and shivering, feathers soaked in egg-goop. The scent, Vashka noted, was distinctly different then the scent of his own kind's eggs. And the hatchling a lot bigger.

As the baby Stryx shivered and peeped, he gently lay beside it, wrapping his arms around it comfortingly with a low, soft constant rumble; purring much like a cat. A very big cat with a staticy growling undertone to the purr. He started to groom the bundle of feathers, tongue cleaning the egg goop away, thick mane and fur warming the owlet. The purring, warmth, and cleaning tongue and tiny nibbles calmed the Stryx down. The shivering stopped as it rested and relaxed, eyes half closed. Downy wings shivered and fluttered, one lifting as it started to clearly enjoy the contact and warm snuggles. It nuzzled its soft fuzzy face into the thick black mane, tucking its wings in. Moments later, the hatchling dropped off to sleep, lulled by that low, comforting purring, warmth, and smooth tongue.

"I wonder what you are..." Vashka murmured softly to himself once the hatchling was asleep. It didn't move, not disturbed by his quiet voice hanging in the cool dawn air. "You're bigger than any bird I've ever seen and you definitely don't smell like a bird." He let out a a light huff of breath. Whatever it was, he'd take care of it. He had some worry that it would get big... and he would have an egg of his own.. what would he do when the egg hatched? He didn't think on it too much. At least, not yet. It almost 8 months before his own egg would hatch; he was only three and a half weeks into being pregnant, and already showing. His belly was taking on that characteristic roundness. It would seem early to many, but his kind were only pregnant for about four months before the egg was laid. And the baby developed extremely fast during those first four months. He stayed with the hatchling until it woke, peeping hungrily.

"Oh... you're hungry, aren't you?" He asked. "I'll get you something to eat, little fluff! And maybe see if our Elder knows what you are!" Standing, he wandered off to the cave his Colony used to store the food they caught. It would need to be warmed back up, since they brought ice back and kept it in the cave covered by a huge bear hide to keep everything cold and fresh. He picked out some smoked venison, warming it up in the cave they used as a smokehouse, before bringing it back. 

He was greeted by loud cheeping and peeping, and a hungry and excited owlet eagerly awaiting his return.

"You want this little buddy?" He asked. "Ya want it?"

'Peep! Peeppeeppeep! PEEP!!!' The little Stryx bobbed its head up and down. He let the bird take the meat from his hand. Tilting its head back, the little Stryx swallowed its meal whole, and after eating everything he'd brought over for it settled down to let the meal digest. After it ate, he gently scooped it up in his arms. The Stryx tilted its head to the side, before simply nuzzling its way into his luxurious mane. It clearly thought Vashka was its mother.

Arriving at the Elder Kaitu's den, he chirped a greeting. He waited for the chirp back, before entering the cave and crouching down to show the Stryx to the dark-furred Elder. "Hey, do you have any idea what this is? There was this hunter or something, carrying a big ol' egg.. I thought it was yours so I scared him off, and then realized it wasn't, well, it hatched."

"Oh?" The elder sat up, carefully placing his own egg, dark in color with purplish grey markings. His voice was deep and smooth, silky with a staticy and growling undertone to it. Vashka couldn't help but find it attractive, though he said nothing about that. "Well isn't that interesting..." He scratched his chin. "I do think I've read about something... kind of like that."

"What is it?" Vashka asked curiously. He let out a chirr of surprise, then laughed as little nibbles tickled at the touch skin beneath his mane. "Aww, I think the little fluff's trying to groom me back."

"Well, first off, it is a he. The scent is clear; you got yourself a little male there. Second off... I think it is a creature known as a Stryx. or Draco Stryx. In short... it's a dragon."

"Sure doesn't look a dragon! It looks like a big owl!" Vashka said. 

"Here, let me get a look at him." Kaitu said. Vashka set the Stryx down. Kaitu looked him over. "I'd say this is definitely a Stryx." He said. "The legs, the build... the tail. It looks very much like the diagrams I saw of the 'Tyto' Stryx."

"So what should I do with him?" Vashka asked.

"Raise him, train him. He would be an amazing help to this entire Colony." Kaitu smiled. "Besides, I think he thinks you are his mother. When he gets bigger, he can protect us, and help us hunt. We thrive already, but I do believe he will thrive even more."

Vashka nodded. "Do you know where I should go to train him?" He questioned.

"Ah... yes. One of the books I have.. over there." He pointed to shelves in the back of his den. "Has a map to one of the Gateways leading to others who are partnered with a Stryx. It also has more information for you, about how they grow, what they eat, how to raise them. There's quite a bit of information about these creatures, really! You are very lucky to have one!”

Vashka grinned. “Hear that, Fluffy?” He asked his new companion. The Stryx peeped back, fluttering his downy little wings.

Kaitu stared for a moment. “You get... and hatch, a great bird-like dragon, and you name him Fluffy?” The dark Elder asked, somewhere between surprise, and complete and utter amusement.

“What? The name fits! Look at 'im!” Vashka said. “All that fluff everywhere! He's like me!”

“I think a dragon should have a more dignified name.” Kaitu said, letting out a deep-voiced laugh. “But hey, its your choice. He is your dragon.”

“If a better name comes up I'll call 'im that, but for now... his name is Fluffy.” He ruffled the feathers atop Fluffy's head. “Cute little fella! C'mon, let's go back to the nest!”

The baby Stryx calmly let him pick him back up. This was the start of a long... and wonderful companionship. Vashka looked forward to the adventure of training and raising his own dragon, even if he'd have to raise and train it alongside his own egg and future child.