The captain had mentioned something about you acting a bit uppity, and it annoying the crew...never thought acting a little imperious would get you stranded on some God forsaken island! You stare out over the crags that seem so dangerous, even small boats have trouble getting through. No doubt one of the reasons this place is so...desolate and lifeless...you recoil as you hear some strange noise behind you. Well...maybe not lifeless, but perilous for sure. You shiver as you wonder what dangerous creatures could be roaming about.

After a few more minutes of moping and glaring at the ocean you observe your surroundings. No sense putting off finding shelter any longer. You rise and trek down the beach looking for caves. Those bothersome crags lined the whole perimeter of the island...odd...almost like some sort of barrier. Most unusual.

Then something happens you never imagined would. You stop as you hear a soft humming. You follow the sound pretty far inland and end up going up onto a small cliff. You almost think yourself mad, till you see...a woman. She's a genteel looking sort. She's humming softly and tending to a small cherry blossom tree. That's when you notice the garden...you're standing on what looks like at the border of a very large garden.

You see, veiled by the branches of many large cherry blossoms, a cave opening. Though it's a bit big for a person, it looks like it could keep the weather and elements out. The farther you get from the cave mouth, the more widely the trees are spaced apart...almost like triangle...The trees stop at the edge of the cliff.

The woman turns from tending her tree and sees you. Blinking she approaches you, cocking her head from side to side.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, my lady. I'm afraid I was abandoned here." You say. The woman jumps as if she did not expect you to speak.

"You're real." She observes. You blink.

"Quite real, lady...Might I know your name?"

"Oh, why certainly. I am Casimir."

"How did you come to find yourself on this island? No boats come near here except pirate boats to burry treasure no doubt." She smiles.

"I came here, because I'm sure it'll be the best place for a Glenn Dragon."

"A dragon you say?!" you ask, only a bit startled. Perhaps this woman has lost her mind...

"Yes. There are adoption agencies called the Rose Caverns and the Keltic Isle. I've already adopted a Baiton, as a companion for my dragon. I can only hope I will be approved of by the Mistresses of the agencies."

"...forgive my ignorance, Lady Casimir, but what is a Baiton?" her face lights us.

"Oh! Let me show you. Follow me into the cave." She says as she walks merrily into the cave. You sigh and figure why not. You follow, slowly at first, letting your eyes adjust to the lack of light. "Here it is." She says gesturing towards the large nest. You peek into the nest and see one medium sized red egg...You draw back and blink, then lean over and inspect it again.

"It's an egg." You say dumbly. She giggles musically.

"Of course it's an egg silly. It will hatch in nine days and we will have to take care of if."

"We?"

"Well, do you intend to do anything particularly important while you're here?"

"Perhaps try building a boat to get home."

"You mean you don't want to see the dragon or Baiton?" she asks, sounding a bit hurt. You blink thinking that one over.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous?"

"Of course not! You'd be like an uncle to it."

"...an Uncle huh?" you grin thinking of the how nice it'd be to have a dragon for a nephew. Not only is it something no one else could claim, but if he...or she...grows truly fond of you, you wouldn't have to worry about defending yourself from some excessive force. No man in his right mind would try going against a dragon.

"So what do you say?" she asks with a smile.

"I might as well help. You'll need it I'm sure. And I could use the company." You say with a grin.

"Oh good. I've been ever so bored since I came here."

"I have a feeling once that egg hatches you'll have nothing to be bored about."

You sigh, sitting down. You decided that in the free time you have you might as well try making a boat. You look at your arms and noticed how much stronger you seem. Amazing what nine days of hard work without pampering can do. You wonder exactly when the little Baiton will hatch. It has been nine days, and according to Casimir it only takes nine days...

"It's happening!" you hear Casimir yell-well she barely raises her voice so it's hardly a yell-from the cave.

"I'm coming!" You yell back, jumping up and jogging to the cave. You kneel beside the nest opposite from Casimir. The egg is indeed shaking slightly. "If they take as long to actually get out of the egg as they do to start hatching we might be here a while." You joke. Casimir chuckles, but the little Baiton proves your wrong, as a little nose pokes out from the egg. Finally the head pushes out and the rest of the egg begins to crumble away.

"Wow...it's so small." Casimir said in wonder. She gently reached down and picked up all the little pieces of the egg. The Baiton laid on it's side, and seemed to just fall asleep.

"Wow again, they're quiet."

"Well of course, she just had to work hard to get out of that egg." Casimir said.

"So have you decided on a name for her?" you ask.

"E'ci."

"...After the goddess of winter?"

"I know it's the name of the goddess of winter, but I just like the name." Casimir says.

"Hm...Well I suppose it's as good as any name."

"Yes. We should probably gather some more food for her." Casimir says somewhat concerned.

"I'll go do that, you stay with her, just in case." You say knowing that Casimir wouldn't want to leave anyway.

"Thank you." She says with a smile. You smile in return and wander out the cave.

"E'ci." You say to yourself as if sampling it. Then after thinking it over for a moment you nod. Hopefully things wouldn't be as boring as they had been while E'ci was still in the egg.

You look about the cave entrance...things seem a bit too quiet.

"Casimir?"

"Hmmm?" You blink and look a bit deeper into the cave. That's when you see her curled up in the next sleeping next to the now Adolescent E'ci. You grin.

"Taking a nap, hm?" you ask.

"Hm, yeah. E'ci naps more than I thought she would, but then she's a Baiton not a Chesmu...so that might have something to do with it. But she cannot sleep her life away." Casimir said smiling as she began to gently shake the Baiton awake. E'ci blinks awake and stretches.

"Hey, E'ci. The sun came up hours ago." E'ci yawns and looks up at you.

"We were up late last night, gazing at the stars." E'ci says in a meek voice.

"I told you there were consequences to staying up late." Casimir reminds with a chuckle.

"And besides you're growing by leaps and bounds, you should be exercising more." You say. "Perhaps we should explore more of this island, and find out what's safe and what's not." Casimir nods thoughtfully.

"You have a point. No reason staying here in fear when there may be nothing at all to fear."

"That sounds fun! Can I be the head of the explorers?" E'ci asked excitedly. Casimir smiles.

"As long as you are careful you can explore all you want."

"Come on! Let's start exploring now!" E'ci says as she bounds out of the nest. You chuckle.

"So much for being too sleepy to do anything. Let's go." You say helping Casimir up. You and Casimir lag behind a bit while E'ci walks up ahead peering and poking at everything.

"So when do you suppose you'll be getting a dragon egg?" You ask.

"I have to wait till there's a clutch, with available eggs. And last time I checked there wasn't one. I'll just have to raise E'ci up and wait till our home is approved. E'ci, when she's big enough, can guard me and our home, and that will keep her satisfied for a time...I just hope we get an egg soon. Baitons can't stand being alone you know."

"So you say. We'll keep her company till she can focus totally on the dragon you get." You say. "But for now lets keep an eye on her. We can't let her wander off too far."

You smile as you approach the edge of the cliff. Casimir sits peacefully looking out at the see, and the giant rocks that rim the island. E'ci is now occupying herself with gliding from rock to rock and "guarding the perimeter of the island." You sit beside Casimir.

"She's grown quite a bit hasn't she?" you say.

"Yes. And she's obsessed with guarding this place and us." Casimir says with a smile.

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be?" you ask.

"Yes, I just wish I had more to give her."

"Well you've already got the cave, the island, us and the hoard you managed to get..." you mention. Casimir nods.

"The picture just won't be complete till we have a dragon though."

"I agree with you there."

"Patients is a virtue." Casimir murmurs with a sigh.

"And for now, E'ci is content."

"I suppose I'll just have to content myself with that for now as well. The right time will come and when it does, we'll be ready." She says with a smile.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!!" is the first thing you hear as you roll out of bed.

"Too early..." you mumble trying to ward E'ci off.

"We've got an egg!"

"Huh? Good...I'm hungry."

"No! Not a chicken egg, a dragon egg!" You blink and look over at the excited E'ci.

"Where's Casimir?" you ask, rubbing your eyes.

"Oh, she's tending the nest of course. You know, making sure it's perfect for the egg." E'ci said with a grin. You get up and stretch.

"Ok. Let's go see." You say. E'ci jumps and bounds about you, her enthusiasm making you seem slow...then again the sun has just barley peeked over the horizon, so you have a right to be sluggish. "Casimir." You call as you enter the cave.

"Here! Come see." Casimir says with a large smile. She's hovering over the nest just as she did with E'ci. You blink and your eyes widen.

"Would you look at the size of that thing." Casimir giggles.

"I told you it'd be big. It's a dragon's egg after all."

"I guess...Are there...any specific methods of taking care of it or...I mean...well do you have to sit on the sucker?" E'ci began laughing so hard she practically fell off the edge of the nest.

"No. We just have to make sure we keep it warm and care for it...maybe we should turn it every so often. I'm not sure."

"Oh...ok...what are you going to name him...her...it?"

"I would prefer a 'her'. And I think I'll call her...Erollisi Marr."

"...After the goddess of Love?" E'ci asked.

"Yes. Yes I think that would fit her nicely." You say as you watch the purple tones of the sunset affect the sky and sea.

"Well, either way, welcome to the family, Erollisi." E'ci said folding her wings around the egg as if to embrace it. Casimir smiled at the show of affection. Things were looking better now. What a wonderful way to start the day.

You sigh as you bring another pile of fire wood into the cave. Little Erollisi Marr had hatched only a half hour ago, and things were already getting back into the natural swing of things. Erollisi had eaten a bit and now she lay in her nest looking out over the ocean, with E'ci right by her side. You chuckle a bit as you see Casimir sitting on the ground near the nest looking at the ocean.

"What?" she asks.

"The three of you look as if you're meditating."

"Well the sound of the waves are very peaceful." Casimir defends.

"Sit and try it, it's very relaxing." E'ci chimes in. You sigh as you sit down. After a minute of listening you must agree, the ocean waves are very lulling.

"So how's little Erollisi...well...No one can really call her little, can they?" Casimir chuckles at your jest.

"No, they can't. The best way to describe her now is sleepy. I don't know if the waves calm her, or if that's just in her personality."

"Wait till she gets more energy." You say shaking your head.

"You think?" E'ci asks.

"Don't think just because E'ci couldn't sit still for two minutes at the adolescent stage doesn't mean that Erollisi will be hyper in her Dragonet stage." E'ci gives a somewhat nervous chuckle.

"Her what stage?" you ask.

"Unlike the Baitons who have four live stages, Dragons have five stages. After the hatchling stage is the Dragonet stage."

"What's the stage after that?" you ask.

"The stages go Egg, Hatchling, Dragonet, Adolescent and then Adult." Casimir stops as she sees the somewhat confused look on your face. "Look at it this way...When she was an egg...she was in the fetus stage. Now she's in the infant stage, soon she'll grow into the child stage and then the teenager stage and finally the adult stage..."

"Oh. I get it." Casimir looks back to see Erollisi sound asleep.

"She'll be doing a lot of that in this stage."

"Well at least she doesn't snore." E'ci says looking at you. You blink a few times.

"I don't snore...do I?" you ask Casimir.

"Well, it's not annoying." Casimir says with a smile. She then leans over and whispers in your ear. "Don't worry, you're not the only one."

You chuckle as you look over at Erollisi Marr. She sure has grown. And she sure sleeps a lot.

"Is this some strange disease or is she just normally a sleepy dragon?" you ask as Casimir sits down.

"Well, it is sun set...and it's not like there's anything to do around here. She's up all day from when the sun rises. And she's a naturally peaceful dragon. We should be grateful she isn't aggressive." You nod.

"True."

"Did you see how well she took to the shallows when E'ci and I were teaching her to swim?" Casimir asks excitedly. You chuckle.

"You know now, you'll never be able to get her out of it right?"

"Maybe, but she had to learn how to swim. We're on an island for mercy sake."

"Wait till she gets bigger. She'll be venturing out into the deeper parts and then you'll start fretting and I'll have to sit here and remind you that she's fine." Casimir frowned now having thought about that. "Still it's good she loves the water." You remind. Casimir nods.

"Better her love it than have her hate it and there be nothing she could do about it till she grew fully." Casimir says logically.

"Yeah. So the next stage is Adolescent?" you ask conversationally.

"Yes, that's when we'll find out what type of dragon she'll be."

"What do you mean? The whole element thing?"

"Yes. There are three different types of dragons; Fire, Air and Water. In the Adolescent stage-depending on the environment the dragon lives in-the dragon will become one of the three. Since there are mountains here she could be an air...but considering her love for water, I think she'll be a water dragon."

"That'll help her if she ever wanted to get away from the island."

"Yeah. But whatever she is I'm sure she'll be just fine." Casimir said with a smile. You chuckle slightly.

"Yeah...not like her type will stop us from loving her."

You smile as you approach Casimir on the beach. She's sitting on the sand, with no shoes on, watching Erollisi Marr and E'ci play in the water. You walk up and sit next to Casimir.

"She's grown quite quickly hasn't she?" You say conversationally.

"Indeed she has. It seems like only yesterday when she hatched." Casimir answers.

"And already she's an adolescent. That is the stage she's in right?" you ask. You never could keep up with all the different stages.

"Yes. She's an adolescent. She'll be an adult soon, and then comes the big challenges."

"Challenges?"

"Like, choosing and mastering a Breath Weapon. Finding a mate, maybe having a clutch of her own." You blink.

"I'd never thought about that." You admit.

"We humans aren't the only ones concerned with such things." Casimir says with a smile.

"She doesn't have to worry about them yet." You remind.

"True. In fact if she chooses to do so she can go without a mate for however long she wishes. It's totally up to her."

"She's more of a thinker than a doer isn't she?" you ask.

"Yes. She thinks a lot. Watches the sun sets, and the way the water moves."

"Hey there." Erollisi says as she comes out of the water.

"Hello there, Erollisi, glad to see you doing something besides sleeping." You say teasingly. She chuckles.

"I can't help it if I love my beautiful dreams." She replies. You laugh a little.

"I suppose you have a point."

"What were you talking about? We weren't interrupting anything important were we?" E'ci asked.

"Just talking about the future." Casimir says softly. Erollisi nods.

"I think about that a lot." She says.

"Really?" you ask.

"Yeah. I'm growing rather quickly...and my body's changing very fast. One has to think about these things when they get to certain points."

"Have you thought about anything in particular?" Casimir asks. Erollisi shakes her head.

"I suppose I will learn when I am ready to know." She says with a patient smile. Casimir smiles back.

"That's a good idea. One shouldn't rush ahead. Live life in the moment and don't fret about things you have no control over." Casimir said.

"That's right. We'll cross the bridges at they come." you say, catching the enthusiasm.

"As long as we cross them together." E'ci says with a smile.

"My little Erollisi Marr isn't so very little any more is she?" Casimir asks as you approach. She's near the cave looking over the ocean. Erollisi and E'ci are out among the waves; Erollisi, diving and swimming and E'ci jumping and gliding between the rocks.

"Well we knew she wouldn't stay small forever." You remark watching the two. "So, what next?"

"She's told me that she wants to apply for a Breath Weapon as soon as possible. After that she'll think about seeking out a mate."

"Sounds like a plan." You remark. "She's a deep thinker though, so it's not surprising that she plans ahead." Casimir nods.

"My only worry is that I've kept her too secluded..." she remarks.

"What do you mean?"

"On a deserted island like this...she's become such a loner...what if that hinders her from taking a mate?"

"She's flexible." You remind. "She'll adapt if she decides she needs a mate."

"I suppose it's still all a long way off." Casimir says thinking out loud.