After staring down the tunnel for a little longer, the dragonling took another deep breath and started hauling itself across the cavern floor, its progress incredibly slow due to its broken front leg and severe injuries. It was heading towards the faintly glowing pool in the centre with a grim determination.

As it went, the dragonling passed various types of plant life, mainly moss glowing in varying softened colours. There were also a fair few small creatures that scuttled and slithered at the edge of its vision or even a few that silently flew close to the ceiling, but the dragon didn't pay them much attention.

Even at a cursory glance, it could tell they wouldn't be much of a threat, and from their movements, it was clear they were keeping their distance.

Knocking its broken leg on a pebble, which was still large enough to hinder the dragonling's progress, the tiny dragon angrily hissed and, in a moment of clarity brought by the sudden appearance, then retreat of pain, realised that the creature's it had been dismissing seemed to be gathering, keeping their distance but not moving away.

The small dragon then realised that, in full health, the creatures probably wouldn't have bothered it, but it was severely injured and weakened by the use of its ability. Something opportunistic animals would be unable to pass up.

Doubling its vigilance, its muscles taut as it prepared to react to any threat, the dragonling finally reached the pool and collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted yet still managing to keep an eye on its surroundings.

The dragon knew that the leading cause of its exhaustion was the skill Dragon's breath, the one that it had used against the rabbit. The ability was devastatingly powerful, yet it had a significant drawback, that it consumed the dragon's flesh and blood to power. Instinctively the dragonling knew that it needed to drink and eat as soon as possible, not only to counteract the adverse effects but so that it could start recovering from the injuries caused by the white, fluffy creature.

A cold, murderous glint flittered across the small reptile's eyes, lasting only a moment as the dragonling lifted its head and used its front claw, the one that wasn't attached to its broken leg, to pull it the last few inches towards the crystal clear liquid.

The cavern's ceiling danced with faint ripples, the light reflected from the pool giving the surrounding area a peacefully, almost sanctuary-like atmosphere.

Upon gazing into the pool's water, the dragonling saw a reflection of itself for the first time and, while its anger towards that rabbit only grew, it was still impressed by what it saw.

Bright, amber eyes embedded in a sleek and deadly looking, scaled head stared back, a few of its black scales, mainly around its left eye were missing, the raw flesh looking extremely painful. Two small protrusions, the beginning of horns, were placed towards the top of its head, pointing backwards.

"This is me?" hissed the dragonling, its voice causing the water to ripple and its reflection to waver.

"A..." the term that its ancestral memories had given it finally solidified as the dragonling gained a reference point, other information it had becoming more clear and refined in the process. "... a dragon."

The dragonling grimaced, memories that were not it's own flashing before its mind's eye. A black dragon on the verge of death inside a cave that somehow felt familiar. A human with a glowing blue sword standing opposite it. Words it could not understand being spoken. Pride, fear, life and death. The endless flow yet the momentary fleetingness of time.

Loss.

It had lost something important. Something that it shouldn't have, yet it couldn't tell if the emotion was its own or the memories.

After shaking its head slightly, the movement causing a sharp stabbing pain due to its injuries, the memories floated into a haze before fading into the dragonling's subconscious yet a wealth of information that it did not have previously remained.

The water rippled as if caught by an unseen, unfelt breeze. Dancing around the dragon's image as if celebtrating.

"Kaixolotl... My true name is Kaixolotl. My spoken name is Kai." While the dragonling didn't know how it knew this, it did. It also recognised that it had to keep what it was, a dragon, a secret or else it would face hardships it couldn't even imagine.

A dragon's body and mind was a treasure trove which would be exploited at a moments notice, especially without the protection of an adult. Weakness wasn't something it could afford.

Not yet.

The golden hue of Kai's eyes dimmed and turned a faint red as its tongue slithered over one of its broken teeth and, after wrapping around it, pulled on it suddenly, removing the tooth out before swallowing it.

While the dragonling wouldn't get much energy after digesting the tooth, it knew that it would still be in the positive and a start towards its recovery. It also needed to remove the damaged teeth so that the replacements would grow correctly.

While Kai continued removing and consuming the remainder of his broken teeth, already feeling the dull ache of replacements developing, he continued to sort through the new information.

Suddenly the dragonling stopped and, even though it hurt, lifted its back leg and analysed what lay between its legs.

A frown appeared on the dragonling's face as it lowered its leg. "So, It appears that I am a male."

While he didn't understand the reason for the difference in genders, except that female dragons, were bigger, stronger and had more resilience where male dragons were known for their speed, aggressiveness and vast spirit reserves, Kai could recognise the physical differences between male and females. Something that is relatively hard to visually tell between dragons as their sexual organs were hidden when not needed.

After consuming the last tooth and drinking his fill from the pool, something that seemed to comfort him greatly, Kai yawned, the tips of new teeth peeking through the gaps left by the old.

Fatigue continued to wash over him, yet Kai knew he couldn't rest yet. He needed to eat or, if he were to fall asleep, he might never wake up.

A dragon's ability to heal was, but like everything, something Kai was quickly beginning to understand, it had its cost.

The ability was unintelligent, using energy from its spirit reserves, located in its developing core, blood, flesh and muscle to repair the areas it deemed most important. If he slept, and portions of his brain switched off while his heart and lungs relaxed, without enough resources available, it was possible his body would get stuck in a cycle of destruction and regeneration and as the process wasn't a hundred per cent efficient, die.

Lifting his scaled head upward, contemplating what he needed to do to survive, Kai watched the flying creatures above and moment of sadness washed over the tiny dragon as it tentatively twitched the stub of its wing.

While teeth, scales, limbs and even organs would regrow if he had the resources, something deep inside told him that his injury might mean that he would never be able to fly.

He partially understood this was because his growth would depend on how he lived his life, the experience he gained, in the beginning, and, by compensating for the loss of the wing at such an early stage, his body would change and adapt in a way that didn't need the appendage.

The only way around this was to use what remained of his right, and his left as much as possible, but that wouldn't necessarily lead to its regrowth. In fact, it could lead to the development of an entirely different appendage, one that could be more of a hindrance than boon as he had artificially aided its creation.

Boiling rage once again surged up from the depths of Kai's soul, the image of the white-furred creature that attacked him unprovoked, vivid in his mind.

To the tiny dragon, who knew nothing of the world as a whole, bar the few disjointed memories and facts that had been passed along with its bloodline, as well as the creatures it could see inside the cavern, that rabbit was an apex creature that had targeted him for no good reason.

There was numerous weaker prey inside the cavern, some not much smaller than Kai yet most certainly contained more energy, both in the form of nutrients and in world essence, than him.

Logically, he should have been fine. The young dragon wasn't a threat, being smaller and weaker than the rabbit. The rabbit seemed to be an omnivore, which meant that they weren't directly competing for the overabundant food source.

It was also unlikely that it knew it was a dragon as it would have been more careful and maybe waited for a better opportunity before attacking.

Thoughts, ideas and questions span in the tiny dragon's mind as it tried to work out what had happened, mainly to avoid having to go through the same experience.

Sighing, which was a bizarre sound to be coming from one of his kind, the dragonling looked towards the creatures massing in the distance, seemingly hoping he would succumb to his wounds and be an easy target.

Tensing against the pain that was sure to follow, Kia moved to a large boulder nearby, the lack of moss on one side giving it a shadow and seemingly merged into the darkness, his silhouette becoming hard to define without exceptional vision.

His movement towards the pool wasn't to satisfy his thirst but to provoke his healing ability to focus on his limbs and, while the break could be considered a fracture now, small cracking sounds occasionally echoing out as the bone pulled into its proper place. While it was still incredibly painful, and he couldn't move very well, it was enough as the dragonling started stalking through the rocks.

As if sensing the change in their potential prey, the insect-like creatures scattered in all directions, breaking the encirclement that had naturally developed.

While they laminated, at least as close as they could in their primitive minds, they did not pay it much mind as they estimated the strange, black lizard at the same level as themselves. Just another creature in the cave's eternal battle for survival.