“FAFFFFFFff!” the little orange dragon whimpered, doing mini hops and desperately trying to reach the new deer carcass her father held in his jaw. Shimmer and Trident’s tails thumped excitedly on the floor. Their eyes darting between the new meal happily, and slightly suspiciously at their bouncing sibling.

The little orange dragon had been fast asleep, but when her father returned with food, she had instantly awoken and blitzed in his direction.

“No. This is for your brother and sister. You’ve already eaten,” her father said sternly.

“FAFFFFFFff…” she protested piteously. She obviously did not recall the entire deer she had just devoured. Her appetite was amazing. What was more amazing was that it was as if she hadn’t eaten at all, the deer she ate seemed to have been fully digested. There were no signs of it ever being in her earlier bulging belly.

Her mother carried her by the neck, gently pulling her away. The little one of course, continued to express her unhappiness and slight confusion, “Faafff?”

Her father placed the dead deer on the floor, and her siblings began to devour it ravenously. Shimmer had a smaller appetite, and was soon done eating. She settled down next to her mother and groomed the blood from her fangs and claws. Trident, on the other hand, continued chewing happily on his meal.

The orange hatchling began to wiggle furiously midair - noticing that there was less than half of the deer left. A bright light flashed, and the orange hatchling seemed to disappear and reappear right next to the deer, but this time her father was ready.

“NO,” he said, craning his neck to place his head between her and the meal.

“You mustn’t be greedy. These are your clutch mates. You must share with them, and love them.”

The little hatchling tilted her head slightly, her eyes widened in puzzlement.

“They will love you too. You wouldn’t want your brother and sister to be hungry would you?” her mother added on.

She looked up at her mother, then lay on her tummy, and turned to continue eyeing the deer. Her head rested between her fore paws as she looked longingly at her eating sibling.

Trident, continued chewing, occasionally turning to look at his sister. Every time he did, she would lift her head ever so slightly, her eyes lighting up with hope. A few peeks later, he paused mid-chew and stared at his sibling thoughtfully. There wasn’t much left of the meal, prompting a mini-whimper from her.

He half-hobbled towards her, and nudged the remaining meat in her direction with his snout, signalling her to eat. The orange hatchling stood excitedly, then as if remembering, she paused to look at her parents.

“Faff?” she asked.

Her mother nodded at her, while reaching out to pat Trident on his head approvingly.

To everyone’s surprise, the orange hatchling pounced, not at the deer, but at Trident. She cooed happily, rubbing her neck on Trident’s shoulder a few times.

“Fafffff ❤!” she murmured, then, rushed to finish what was left of the meat. Just in case Trident changed his mind.

“We have a good son. He will provide for, and protect his siblings,” the father praised.

“And a daughter with an appetite good enough for a few daughters,” his mate replied dryly.

“Faff-- urppp,” the orange hatchling couldn’t have timed it better if she tried.

A rumble in his throat resembled what dragons passed off as laughter.

“But she is something though. Did you see her move? I sure didn’t! She is not even supposed to be moving properly, let alone so fast. Trident’s pretty steady on his feet - but her… she’s…” the father was slightly speechless.

“We can’t keep calling her, her. It is time for her naming ceremony,” his mate said.

“Faafffff….” the orange hatchling slurred, curled in a ball of scales next to Trident.

Lifting Faff away, the two dragons began the ritual for the final time for this clutch of hatchlings.

“Keeper of Treasures. Devourer of foes. Nourisher of allies. Your true name will be… ” the father sprinkled a drop of blood on her.

“Faffnir!” the parents announced in unison.

A slight orange glow radiated from the orange hatchling’s scales.

[YOU HAVE GAINED A (REALLY LONG) TITLE]

[FAFFNIR - KEEPER OF TREASURES. DEVOURER OF FOES AND NOURISHER OF ALLIES]

_____________

Faffnir’s eyes were wide open in terror, her pupils had shrunk to tiny little dots. A massive shadow loomed above her as she bunched her weight on her hind paws in a flee-or-flee-faster stance. Her tail would have been lodged firmly between her paws, if not for the fact they were holding on to a tree trunk to anchor herself.

They were at the edge of a tiny hill with the parent dragons attempting to teach Faffnir and her siblings how to fly. Again.

If you’ve never seen a dragon facepalm - this would have been the first. Her sire was beyond exasperation as he growled, “There is nothing to be afraid of! You’re a dragon and dragons fly!”

“Don’t raise your voice. It is not helping. Little one, you have wings, it’s natural. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Faffnir’s mother coaxed.

Faffnir’s eyes darted between her mother’s gentle voice and the very, very, very steep cliff. The little orange hatchling was very obviously not convinced. She eyed her disgruntled father suspiciously.

“Faffffff!” she cried in alarm when her father reached to nudge her towards the cliff. She quickly darted behind her brother, Trident.

Trident looked at his little sister, poking her forehead with his snout encouragingly. A series of mini hops were followed by a rapid flapping of wings. Trident hovered just above ground, his golden neck bobbing to indicate his little sister should do the same.

Above them, Shimmer was having the time of her life, performing airborne acrobatics. She had taken to flying like a… dragon to air. Little Faffnir, on the other hand, was very much firmly rooted to the floor. Her face on her paws as she watched her sister and brother in quiet admiration with a little coos of appreciation.

Suddenly, Faffnir felt a shove on her butt and was propelled forward. Her father had taken full advantage of the temporary distraction to push her off the edge. She half-squawked as she dropped all the way down.

She fell backward, eyes full of hurt at the betrayal and her tiny little limbs flailing desperately mid air. It was like she was trying to walk back up to the edge, which, of course, did not work.

Her little squeals of fear became softer as she fell further and further down. Her family members watched incredulously as she finally hit the bottom with a loud splash. Shimmer crooked her neck in puzzlement. Meanwhile Trident and their parents had flown down to check on little Faffnir.

Faffnir surfaced at the lake, sputtering out water as she struggled to paddle her way to land. Soon, Trident arrived and half lifted his sister towards safety. When she finally reached the shore, her orange scales tinkled as she tried to shake the water off her body.

When her father moved to check on her, she darted away. Then, from what she deemed a safe distance from further butt shoves, Faffnir frowned and puffed little wisp of smoke from her nostrils, obviously displeased with her sire.

Her father sighed. Today was the third attempt in a week without any success to get Faffnir flying. On top of her tiny size, his youngest hatchling was struggling to master even the most basic aspects of being a dragon. Trident and Shimmer on the other hand, had developed and learned the core skills exceedingly well. Like hunting.

He cringed and groaned inwardly as he recollected what happened earlier in the same day. He had brought a tiny live rabbit to Faffnir, intended as her very first kill.

“Get it!” he had instructed and was pleasantly surprised when Faffnir thumped her tail, adopting a pounce stance, seeming to oblige.

“Perhaps she is more of a hunter than a flyer!” he had thought to himself. “Yes. She will be the greatest hunter ever! She will -” his thought ended abruptly as Faffnir finally pounced.

She jumped at the rabbit and attacked it mercilessly... with playful licks. That was the very moment he wished the earth would swallow him whole.

“This will be the fearless and fearsome daughter to exact my revenge on the clan?” he mourned inwardly. “Maybe she will drown them in slobber,” he grumbled.

As if reading his mind, his mate whispered, “It will be fine. She has a gentle soul. All she needs is a little something to spark her courage.”

Drama with the fall already forgotten, Faffnir was excitedly chasing her flying siblings in circles. A safe distance from her father, water and cliff edges, of course.

“Like the times she sniffs the air and starts dashing off in random directions? She doesn’t realise the danger she puts herself in trying to run off by herself,” he sighed.

“Indeed, if she were to bump into the clan members - she would be killed on sight. Her hunger makes her oblivious to everything,” the mother said concernedly.

“Her hunger makes her oblivious to everything… That’s it!! Wife! You are a genius! I know how we can train Faffnir.”

Faffnir turned around suspiciously when she heard her name mentioned. What was her father up to this time?

“We use her stomach,” her father gloated.