Growf

[Mitheral]

Growf is the unofficial name of the dragon in this RP. You can change it to whatever you want. He is a small, young fledgling dragon about the size of your average Golden Retriever, maybe a bit smaller. He is clearly amphibious and still can’t fly. He has a spiny ridge, a pair of backswept horns, modestly webbed feet, nictating eyelids. His color changes on whim, ranging from chameleon tendencies, to becoming luminescent. And naturally he has a nice array of razor sharp teeth. His claws have been clipped short.


When discovered Growf will have some injuries. His neck has been burned. And it looks as though he got in a fight with some predator that took a chunk out of a hindquarter. Plus his wings have been broken. He is extremely timid, quite afraid of humans and will be very difficult to coax out into the open. He will absolutely avoid larger humans.


Growf is discovered by a kid living in Florida near the Everglades. You, as the kid that finds him will have to find a way to befriend him, then hide him - for the area will soon have visitors - Feds of some sort - MIB’s, white coats (scientists), and even some military. They will bring in the K-9 units. And the rumor is that they are looking for a dangerous escaped animal.


Growf needs YOUR help.


(No, I have not created the actual RP yet. I am going to hold off until someone decides to play the kid. M or F doesn't matter. However, I do intend to run Growf.)


General Rules

• All site rules apply
  
• No God Modding, Bunnying, Metagaming, etc.
  

Writing Rules

• Posts must be of good writing skills, and generally a minimum of three paragraphs. Really I am looking for better than that. I want paragraphs that aren’t two sentences long. Good content. Use third person, past tense.
  
• As a minimum members are expected to post at least every other day - unless most of the RP is on hold for a scene between a couple characters. Then those characters need to wrap their scene up. The idea here is to not keep other members waiting.
  

 

[Mitheral]

Growf was about the size of your average Golden Retriever, maybe a bit smaller. He was clearly amphibious. His skin has a texture somewhere between a dolphin and an alligator. He had a spiny ridge, a pair of backswept horns, modestly webbed feet, nictating eyelids. He had a nice array of razor sharp teeth. His claws, normally razor sharp like a cat’s, had been clipped short. His color could change on whim, ranging from chameleon tendencies, to becoming luminescent. At the moment, his whim was to remain hidden.


His neck has been burned. That had happened when he had summoned all his bioelectricity to melt the collar from around it. Now he doubted he could have summoned the ergs to light a dim bulb. It looked as though he had been in a fight with some predator that took a chunk out of a hindquarter. That was where the tracking chip had been. He had bitten it out himself. His wings have been broken - repeatedly - to prevent his escape. That hadn’t stopped him though.


His escape had brought him into the human world. He and his siblings had expected more humans, but he had never dreamed there could be so many. The first place beyond the lab into with he had been hatched into the world was a place that had been filled with wonderful smells mixed with the most awful ones. While there had been smells of food that he desperately needed, there had been another smell that had made his nose and eyes burn. The human had been ruining perfectly good food with a caustic chemical in some mad attempt to make forever inedible by anyone. Growf had come to one simple conclusion, humans were insane.


The next place he had come across had so many humans he had nearly freaked out. There had been thousands, perhaps millions, all living in small, artificial personal caves built above the ground. They move about in machines that stank horribly - though hardly as bad as the tanning solution the gator poacher had used. He had managed to steal a few fish off the fishing line as some humans were reeling their catches in. In his weakened state he could hardly catch his own prey. Catching the fish struggling against the pull of a line had been easier.


The stolen fish had given him the strength to put more distance between himself and the lab. If he had been strong enough he might have simply remained in the wild. But he had discovered that taking fish already caught by humans would be much easier until he was better. Unfortunately that brought around boats with humans in thick black suits carrying spearguns hunting whatever large predator was biting fish in half or breaking fish lines.


The fish he had stolen before drawing attention had given him enough strength to swim further from the hatching grounds. His journey now brought him to a more rural area that seemed to be a chain of islands in the sea. Salt water. Every now and then there was another one of those artificial caves. Unfortunately, fewer humans meant fewer fish to steal. But he had learned that the best chances came with places that had boats of certain shapes. And so he ended up approaching a small home with a boathouse that had a modest sized boat in it.

But it wasn’t the boat that drew him in. It had been the scent of fish. The human that lived at this home had salt water pool covered by a geodesic dome - to keep predators (like him) out. He had arrived late enough to see the human returning with the boat and transporting her live catch to the pool. The very sight had set Growf into another bout of hunger pangs so sharp he nearly started to keen. But wisely he chose to find a place to hide until after dark.

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan was a small boy, about 12 years of age. A father that was cruel beyond measure. He beat him at least twice every day. With belts and other imaginable items that you could think of. He lived with this father for 5 years, his mother killed in a giant shooting at a local bank drove the father insane with drinking and beating his 7 year old son.


Finally after all that one day Jordan decided to run away, to escape his father, but that would take time, and planning. He planned, with what little mind he had for a straight year until it finally came to the day. Keeping it a secret, leaving no notes. He decided to run. He took 5 bottles of water, his school bag, and that's all. He learned he needed water in school, and his father only beat him where it wouldn't show so the cops wouldn't get him for not enrolling his son.


The day that he set out was the day that changed his life. He made a straight run for the edge of town, close by to the docks, close by to the woods. That run took him 3 days, at to which he was hungry, wounds tore open, and even short on water due to him drinking most of it the first 2 days. He had a bottle left and didn't plan on using it until he was dying of thirst. He learned the hard way. He saw a boat, by a pier, by the house. No one was home, he found, but due to a wound tearing open in his foot, he collapsed, right in the back yard, and with a huge yelp of pain.

 

[Mitheral]

The first obstacle to getting to the dome filled with fish at night, Growf quickly learned, were the flood lights. They were security lights were activated by proximity of any critter large enough to set it off. And unfortunately, Growf was just big enough. He could hear the telltale scream of the sonics that activated the lights. Disabling them was easy - if he could get to them. Unfortunately, both the lights and the sound system were high up on the house. And without the use of his wings he could get to them.


The next problem would be the hinges. He had already guessed that the door would be locked. The hinges were on the outside though. Even with his claws clipped Growf had a way to get through those. He knew how to remove the pins. But first he had to do something about the lights - or risk waiting and trying to get into the dome during the day - it the adult human left.


He knew it was wishful thinking, but he decided to sniff around the boat. The scent of fish was very strong and did nothing to curb his appetite. Dejected he crossed back over the gangplank to the dock and onto the shore. He needed time to think. Hunger and fatigue getting the better of him he found a spot among the brush and sand and pulled sand over himself until he was all but invisible.


He’d drifted off to sleep for a short time when his lethe ended abruptly by a cry of pain - a human cry. His eyes popped open, protected by the inner eyelid. In the darkness his eyes easily spotted the human. Growf’s easily were vastly superior to those of a human, with the ability to see into the UV and IR part of the spectrum and having polychromatic color receptors - 16 in all, compared to three in humans. He watched Jordan flail on the ground in agony for several moments.


Ella Allison awoke with a start as well. There was something about the sound of a child in pain that hit her harder than most other sounds. She quickly started grabbing something to wear to investigate…


From outside the house Growf saw Ella’s movements. He could see right through the walls. And it was her movements that made Growf pause and refrain from exposing himself. Soon the lights would come on….

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan just lay there for a while, but, when he heard footsteps from inside he mustered all his strength and stood, letting out another painful yelp, but still managing to stand. He took small step after small step untill he managed to drag himself into the bushes, then fell, scraping his arms on some thorns. His feet still hung out and he didn't give a shit, he was done moving and that was final.

 

[Mitheral]

The boy had picked what had instinctively seemed like the best place to hide in the bushes. Unfortunately the spot had already been occupied. Jordan’s collapse very nearly placed him right on top of Growf. For several long moments Growf froze, unable to decide what to do. Humans were absolutely no good at hiding. Jordan had collapsed with his feet exposed.


Growf knew that the adult human was coming. He also sensed the urgency Jordan had to hide. The latter evoked an empathic chord in the dragon. He finally decided to help the boy. There was nothing to grab onto with his teeth. Florida was the land of shorts. So there was only one thing to do.


The dragon - no larger than perhaps a golden retriever - arose from the sand right next to Jordan and moved out of the brush. While Growf’s camouflage was hardly as good as Predator, it was good. He moved to the far side of Jordan and started trying to nudge the boy’s legs into the bushes by pushing them.


Hardly an instant later the floodlights came on. A young woman, Ella Allison appeared at the door to the house with a 12 million candlewatt flashlight. She was dressed in a robe and dolphin slippers. The flashlight click on and shone directly toward the only noise she heard in the area of the yard. Here eyes glanced at the dome - which was still untouched. Then it dawned on her that the lights hadn’t come on until after she had manually turned them on.


She looked back at where Growf had now frozen and hunkered down to hide.


“Hello? (pause) Who’s there? Are you okay?”

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan didn't move, he couldn't move, his eyes were down at the dirt. Something pushed his feet inside the bush? What? Whatever, it worked for him, if he could hide then he was happy. Everyone in this town knew him, and he didn't want his dad arrested, because he felt the same way when it came to his mother.


He couldn't speak, he was too frozen with pain. But something else was there with him, and that scared him more. What was it? He definately wasn't dreaming, this was real, it hurt too much.


He was in a pool of his own blood, and even worse there was a trail of it leading to his hiding spot. He didn't know, but it was there.

 

[Mitheral]

Simply pushing the boy’s legs into the brush was neither fast enough nor truly effective. The adult human had already seen the movement of brush as well as heard the movements. Now Growf did the next best thing he could think of. He crawled over Jordan to the other side - where he was better concealed anyways. For a brief instant Jordan found himself looking into the face of a creature unlike any he had ever seen - save for movies. Growf paused only briefly, growfing once, then finished crawling over and flipping back around.


Growf now locked his jaws on the beltline at Jordan’s rear and tried to drag the weight of the boy. Had Growf been at full strength he might have had a chance. But these conditions were far from ideal. And … the human adult was approaching too fast…


Before Ella arrived at Jordan’s location Growf let go and backed away into the brush to hide…


Ella looked down at the fallen boy. She wasn’t really a local even though she had been in the area for months. One glance at Jordan told her that he needed medical help and fast. “Don’t try to move. Let me see. My name is Ella. I am going to help.”


Ella wasn’t a human doctor, but she did have something similar to veterinarian training. And she had some paramedic training. But even more important was that she was no stranger to the source of the injuries the boy had sustained. Experience told her not to say anything about it. The best thing she could do for now was to make sure the boy didn’t bleed to death.


She glanced about looking for the animal she thought she had seen. But there was nothing there.


She leaned down and struggled to lift Jordan. She was stronger than she looked. But it still took a lot to get him into the air. Oddly though she took him toward the garage. She set him down, ran in to grab some towels and wrapped the leg. Then she finished getting him into the living room where she had pulled out a hideaway bed and covered it with a tarp and a sheet. There was a large duffel bag labelled with a red cross. She asked a few questions about allergies, then got to work.


It didn’t take long for her to stop the bleeding and get the cut cleaned out and stitched up. She did so with the skill of a real nurse. “Congratulations, you are my third human patient. I do sea rescue on animals. I help nurse them and release them back into the wild. I suppose if you were going to have an accident, you could have picked a worse place. I don’t want you to rip out those stitches, so don’t go anywhere just yet. Let me look around and see what I can find.”


Ella knew a runaway when she saw one. And this one had to be half starved if she was any judge. So he search for something to use as crutches was merely a ruse. Instead she went into the kitchen and started putting some soup on and breaking out some sandwich materials. Then she went to look for an old pair of crutches she knew her friend had used once.


+++++++++++++


Ella returned after several minutes with the crutches. She had to adjust them for Jordan. But once done she invited him to the kitchen where the soup was starting to get hot.

 

[Drake Makilian]

As he lay there he was sure to die. As sure as he'd ever been. But he didn't care. He'd be with his mother. Soon he would black out, but not before seeing this wonderfully odd creature crawling over him, that image...


His thoughts returned where he laid in the garage floor. What was that he saw? He couldn't take his mind off it. Not one second.


It looked... Well he didn't know what it looked like, but he saw definitely something. Now to focus on what's happening. He felt needles pierce his skin and closing ocuring to the wounds, the pain was lowering, but not enough. He blacked out yet again. From blood loss too fast. The first was only from the pain.


Next thing he knew he was looking at the face of a beautiful woman, telling him that there was food and to use some crutches, he couldn't think clearly, all he could think about was this odd thing. His mouth was too dry to speak. So he did what he was told and went for food.

 

[Mitheral]

Ella was a little surprised at her ability to appear non curious about the boy’s issues. She had made a precursory scan of his skin to check for track marks and found none. She hadn’t really expected to. It was just a matter of ruling out the worst problems. So … signs of heavy abuse. She had to struggle not to get angry about it. She had suffered enough from abuse herself, though from a very different angle. She had been spared most of the physical abuse. In the end she had been very lucky. She forced herself to be clinical.


Her first priority was to make sure he didn’t die. He was starving - as she suspected. But at least it wasn’t chronic starvation. His family had at least made sure he had the three basic needs of survival - food, clothing and shelter. He hadn’t been away from home long - days, if she were to guess. So ... put food in him. If he wanted to run away again, she really couldn’t stop him. He had lost a lost of blood and needed something in him to replace that. She smiled mostly to herself as she saw the food start to have the soporific effect.


Once she had the sandwiches made she got him another bowl of soup. Then she told him she would prepare a room for him…


++++++++++++++


Outside Growf had been left alone. It was hardly the boy’s fault. Growf found the adult human less scary than he had first expected. She reminded him of one of the humans at the hatching grounds. That human had been the only one that hadn’t tried to him or any of his siblings. But her behavior must not have please the other humans for she was taken away.


He was left with only one thing - a bag full of Things. Despite the hunger an instinct kicked in. Growf simply couldn’t leave the bag lying there. It needed to be put somewhere safe. So the dragon grabbed a strap with his teeth and started dragging it away …


+++++++++++++++


The next morning Jordan was awakened by the smell of breakfast cooking. Ella had called into work to let them know she’d be in late. Fact is, she hadn’t gotten much in the way of sleep. She had been up making a list of things Jordan was going to need. His clothes looked like he had worn them for days. But he needed something else to wear if she was ever going to wash what he had on. Even a swimsuit would work. In fact, that struck her as perfect. She couldn’t avoid work all day. Her “patients” expected her to show up and feed them too.


She finally spoke. “I can’t stay here all day. I am going to guess you don’t have anyone for me to call. So if you are going to come with me, we are going to need to find you a change of clothes. And I am going to need something to call you besides Hey You. I called to have someone check in on my patients this morning. But my patients don’t exactly understand human timetables. I do marine rescue. I have an injured dolphin that is expecting me to show up with some fish. When I’m not doing my research, I spend time netting live fish to feed him. I also do some oystering. Some of the critters I rescue have different appetites.”

 

[Drake Makilian]

When he woke up, he couldn't just jump out of bed. He was too comfortable. He hadn't slept in days, he'd constantly be on the move.


But alas, he had to get up. He wouldn't overstay his welcome, lest she found out about his father, after all it wasn't his fault. It was more of Jordan's for causing his father more stress. To him, what he did was selfish, but there was no going back. His father would kill him quite literally and then he'd be down a son and a wife, and he couldn't live with that. He'd rather die leaving his father thinking he was alive than die with his father not knowing what would happen.


+++++++++++++++++


Meanwhile his father was contacting everyone he knew, despite what he did, he loved Jordan. He didn't contact the authorities, knowing once found he would get arrested, at least for the first few day. The third, he couldn't care less all he wanted was his son to be safe. He called the police filing a missing child report, and he would come clean if need be. His dad's name was simple, Robert, or Bob. His parents had done the same thing to him that he did to Jordan, but he never ran. He thought about it, but never ran.


He didn't know anything better to do. So he just cried off the phone. He cried and cried, maybe even wept. All he wanted was his son...


+++++++++++++++++


Jordan stood up, grabbed his crutches and hobbled to the food. He ate rather ravenously, almost like a pig. He was too hungry to care. Finally when he was done, the woman spoke. He listened, intently, offering an occasional reply. When offered to go, he was hesitant.


"But I don't wanna go anywhere. I've never been outside my town or even house. I just want my mom so dad won't be angry anymore." He knew it wouldn't happen, his mom was dead, but he wanted to make sure his point got across, whatever that point may be.

 

[Mitheral]

Still no name. Ella sighed inwardly. But she smiled calmly. “This isn’t my home. It belongs to a friend of my mother’s. He sort of sponsored my career. Half the time I wish he and my mother were married. Anyways, he let me make the improvements like the dome out front.” She paused and pointed at the orange juice. “Drink more juice. You need it.” Her tone was like a big sister or mother. There was no hint of anger, merely a no nonsense ‘it’s for your own good’ tone. It came with a smile though. And she wouldn’t speak until Jordan grabbed the OJ. “Your body needs to replace all that blood you lost. Not completely sure why, but I recall they always serve OJ when you donate blood. So I figure that can’t be doing you any harm.”


“Now then, Hopalong, finish that up and we’ll go and see to feeding some friends of mine and get you a change of clothes so I can get yours washed. I don’t want to leave you alone here in a house that doesn’t belong to me. We’ll talk about your mom and how I can help while we walk. For what it’s worth I don’t remember much about my birth mother. She left when I was young. My father didn’t take that well. He and I still have issues. The mother I was referring to - whose friend owns this house - is my foster mother. I owe her every bit as much as you can imagine.”


Ella had Jordan follow along on crutches, refusing to take no for an answer. Her first stop was the geodesic dome that covered the natural pool in which she kept live fish. The first thing she grabbed was a life vest for Jordan. She also grabbed a small notepad. “I’ll need you to write down your sizes - short, pants, shoes. It will be quicker for you to stay on the boat while I run in and grab things than to have you hopping around trying to tear out those stitches.”


She led him over to the pool. “Okay then. Rules of the Pools. These rules apply to me as well. Yes, I broke the rules once and was very lucky I didn’t die. We never stick hands into the pool without special gloves - ever. There are some poisonous critters in there. The only critters YOU are ever to try to pull out are oysters, clams, crabs, or fish. Never touch the plants. To catch fish I have a net. Never use your hands. There are some nasty eels in one pool and a small manta ray in the other. and both tanks have jellyfish. They are sort of my guard dogs. The gloves are an anti shark mesh. I do NOT want you sticking your hands in there until I have taught you more about safety or without me present.”


She smiled. She wondered how long it would be before Jordan asked about using the gloves. She hadn’t asked him to stay. She had purposely made it clear the offer was there. Treating a teenage boy like a kid was a mistake. So she treated him like a student.


++++++++++++


Growf had been awoken by the sound of activity in the house. He felt weak and groggy mostly from hunger. It hurt to move. But he was curious about the child he had helped. She he crawled to the edge of the brush and watched as the adult pushed the buttons on the cypher lock. He forced his eyes to focus on the keypad as she pushed the buttons and memorized the code. That had been easier than he expected. Again he almost keened as he watched the door to what had to be the most delicious smells opened.


Hunger finally overcame wisdom, and after Ella and Jordan had been inside for a little bit, Growf made his way across the yard, careful to remain camouflaged. He made his way to the door, shaky from hunger and peered in cautiously, ready to bolt if they surprised him at the door. He discovered the adult taking a lot and Jordan with a pad of paper and a pen. When he thought neither was looking he snuck in and made a beeling for cover.


Under better circumstances, Growf might have gone unnoticed. But hunger had made him clumsy and a bit noisier than usual. His claws clattered as he skittered across the stone floor.

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan wasn't really paying attention, his mind was off doing other things. Now that he was resting, his mind was on that creature he saw. He could see it perfectly now. Shape of horns, almost like a... Nah, that couldn't be true. Anyways the woman which he still paid no attention to was talking, and Jordan figured he'd listen now that he was given something. She wanted his sizes and stuff, so he wrote them down in a rather sloppy manner, almost unreadable. He never could write well with his hands in the shape they were always in from the beatings, and now was definitely not a time for improvement.


Out of the corner of his eye Jordan saw a strange figure, skittering across the dome floor. Immediately it reminded him of the figure he saw that night. He took his crutches, stood up and hobbled towards it slowly, curious as to what it was.


It looked pale, "Are you hungry?" He asked, as he hobbled closer, recognizing that it too had been through abuse.

 

[Mitheral]

“Hungry?” Ella’s mind locked onto the word only slightly faster than her eyes tracked what had caught Jordan’s attention. She froze at the sight of Growf. The first thing she noticed were the claws. They simply screamed predator / hunter. The second thing she noticed was the shape of his head, settings of the eyes, and the fact that it was hexapedal. Omnivore, primarily carnivorous. That was impossible. In fact as the outline of Growf’s shape became fully apparent she realized just how impossible what she saw was.


She was looking at a species with no precedent on the planet. Arms, hindquarters … and wings. Hexaped.


“Stop,” she ordered as calmly as she can manage. “Don’t move yet. He’s a carnivore, almost certainly hungry. Don’t try to prevent him from escaping. There is nothing more dangerous than a hungry predator, than a trapped hungry predator.”


Growf had frozen the moment Ella locked eyes with him. She had averted her eyes as best she could. But he could tell she had seen enough. His instinct to flee fought with his hunger. But he had understood the question. He looked pointedly at Jordan and then the net in which Ella had started to collect fish to transfer into a bucket for the dolphin.


She reached over and grabbed the gloves slowly, and handed them to Jordan. “I want you to take a fish and shuffle it to him. Throw it like you would roll a bowling ball at a bowling alley. Don’t just throw it at him. Less threatening that way. A predator that has eaten is a lot less dangerous. And he looks injured. I won’t be able to look at that until he has eaten.


So this was the creature that had either been trying to save Jordan - or eat him - last night. There had been no bite marks or claw marks. So she was going to guess that even hungry the creature was not naturally aggressive.

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan took the gloves as they were handed to him, and threw a fish Growf's way, "But he tried to hide me last night, he isn't dangerous." Jordan said.


Jordan hobbled back towards the chair thinking about last night, "In fact, I'm sure he's not dangerous. Look at the shape he's in." Jordan noticed the broken bones and wings. He knew only one thing, he was abused too.

 

[Mitheral]

As soon as the fish flopped on the ground, Growf’s camouflage dropped. He started to scoot forward, stopped and cowered back under the bench staring at Ella. Then he made a noise that sounded like “growf” - sort of a half canine, half feline growl.


“I see what you mean. We need to get him to trust us. I’d like to X ray his wings. They definitely look broke. But I need to know just how bad. I am hoping they won’t need to be re-broken to be reset to heal properly. It looks like severe abuse. What is amazing is that he is coming as close as he is to us. He’s been around humans.”


“Stay where you are. But if he attacks, back off and defend yourself with the gloves. If he didn’t attack you last night, I don’t think he will now - unless you try to take the fish.” She back up to the far side of the room. It wasn’t very far, but it was enough.


Cautiously at first Growf came back out. He inched forward, eyes rolled up to watch for an attack. Then he attacked the fish with gusto and withdrew back into the darkness, half the fish protruding from his mouth. His jaws started to work furiously as he tenderized the meat with his frontal canines. Finally he bit off a quarter of the fish and took the chunk into the back of his mouth for his molars to work. His claws closed protectively over the remainder of the fish.


Ella was practically giddy. “Look at how he chews. He may be omnivorous. He’s chewing in the back of his mouth. He has teeth back there to crush food for better digestion. I still don’t know your name. And HE is going to need a name as well. You discovered him, you name him. But you need to understand that whoever broke his wings - and I do think a human did that - is going to come looking for him. We need to learn more about him before that happens.


“But before we get to that we need to get him out of here. I don’t want him to eat some of my stock supply or patients. And before we can do that, we need to fill up that belly of his. I would say another two small to medium fish or one large one will be enough. It looks like he’s had a collar before. So we won’t be doing that. I suspect his wings were broken to prevent flight. That gouge in his flank … I’m not sure about that. It looks almost like the wound was cauterized. Nor can I figure out how he got those burns. His claws were clipped.”


Ella would have loved to get a good genetic sampling. She had suspicions about Growf’s origins. And if she was right, whoever had kept growf contained might have had very good reason. Cute or not, a species like Growf could severely upset the ecological balance.

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan would just stand there and watch. Unsure what to do, or any of these scientific things that she was saying, "But will we keep him safe and help him too?" Was all he could say.


+++++++++++++++++


Meanwhile Robert was driving around the area anywhere where his son might be. Jordan could be anywhere! It's been three days since then and the shape he left in was as worse as it could be, he could very well be dead. Jordan could be dead! Oh what did he do! What has he done!


+++++++++++++++++


As for a name, Jordan thought for a minute. He sounded like a mix between a cat and a dog. Yet his call was almost like a, "Growf" sort of thing. But he couldn't think of a name for him. It was too complicated, "Why don't you name him?"

 

[Mitheral]

“Of course we’ll keep him safe. Ordinarily I’d say a species like that wouldn’t be a good pet. But he is practically tame. I’m not even sure he could be returned to the wild. I am going to have to study him a lot further before I even have an idea of his maturation cycle - how long it takes for him to grow up. Avian creatures are a lot harder to guess about age than mammals.”


By the time Growf had finished off his first fish and looking hungrily for another, Ella had decided to try a small experiment. She tried to slide the second fish across the floor to the dragon - a medium sized one. But he simply shied away and wouldn’t touch it. She gave a wry smile. “Okay, you try.” As it turned out, Growf was picky about the source of food. Ella took it well enough.


She tried a second experiment of taking a half step forward. Growf froze for a second, then growled and hissed, dragging the fish even further back out of sight before hissing and giving an aggressive display of teeth. She stepped back and the dragon relaxed. “Never bother an animal while it is eating. Dogs and cats can be the same way.”


“Well, I think he is imprinted on you. Once he’s well fed I’d like to see if you can approach him and perhaps even introduce me. Now if you aren’t going to come up with a name for him, I suppose - let’s see - Suzie? How’s that?” She fought back a smile.

 

[Drake Makilian]

Jordan waited until the creature was done eating, then he inched closer to him, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." He thought a moment, then inched closer again. He had no reason to hurt it. If he close enough he would begin to reach out his hands and attempt to pet the creature, after letting it sniffed his cut up hands, from the thorns.