It's a wonder as to how the rather large egg managed to survive after days of being left alone with no mother to care for it. What was even more of a mystery was how its assumed siblings had either hatched before it or... had unfortunately met death before they could even begin life. Whatever happened, the egg had been the sole being left by itself in the territory's swamp. It had been brought back to the clan's camp where a few individuals had taken it upon themselves to look after it and incubate it.

Now, a few days later, the egg began to wiggle in its makeshift next. It even rolled to the side, and it was obvious that the egg had survived. A small crack suddenly split onto the egg's surface, a clear indicator that the time had come. It was now just a matter of the creature inside of the shell breaking free into the world. Perhaps Tanglewood was not where it was originally meant to be born, but it would turn out to be the first home that it would ever know.

One of the several tanglers that had taken it upon themselves to watch over the egg was Aurum, a member of the swamp-dwelling group that was damn near famous for his ability to Dad over anyone. When the egg had initially been found, Aurum had sort of played hero while Crowley panicked over what the hell he was supposed to do with an egg. Both Aurum and Melantha – along with a slightly awkward Crowley – had brought the egg to the main camp, and Aurum had made it a sort of habit to occasionally visit, granting the egg warmth and company. Occasionally he would talk to it, the egg nestled against his belly as he just sort of babbled to it, telling it about his day and trying to teach it stuff. He was sure that a few people thought he was crazy for doing such a thing, but he didn't really care, and he occasionally even brought Roy along so that the tiger could help out. He had been on the way for one of these visits when he noticed the egg shaking, and suddenly it had rolled onto its side. His eye lit up excitedly, and he trotted over a bit more quickly, gently brushing his nose against the surface of the egg before calling out, "Hey, guys! That egg we found is finally hatching!" He wasn't sure who exactly he was calling out to, but he knew at least Melantha and Crowley knew what he was talking about, along with a few others. He was watching the egg excitedly, wondering what would end up emerging from it.

The first to approach was Melantha, another one of the Tanglers that had first been there when the egg had been found near the border. Aurum offered the female a glance and a nod as she approached, a similar grin appearing on his face as he saw that he was far from the only one who was excited for this. Tail flicking absently from side to side, the guardsman pointed carefully with a paw at the small crack that had marred the egg's surface, rumbling "Yep, right there. That's the first sign of the beginning of the hatching! I wonder what it'll be..." He also wondered what it would be like, but... he supposed that no one could really know that until whatever emerged from the egg was old enough to speak, or do more than just be doted on by everyone as it grew. Regardless of what it ended up like though, the child inside of the egg was a Tangler, at least until any sort of parent showed up. However, he had a feeling that nobody would, considering it had already been several days with no signs of anyone. The lion then looked up when he noticed the approach of Feza, Crowley, and Kiira. It was a bit hard to believe that Feza hadn't found out about the egg at all, but he shrugged it off, figuring she had probably just been too busy with some kind of strange convoluted plan she had been stirring up. Since Feza didn't really actually seem interested in any sort of answer to her former questions, too caught up in the excitement of the hatching, he instead turned his attention towards Crowley, while offering Kiira a nod. Letting his tail touch gently to the demon's back in order to calm any nerves, Aurum shrugged and mumbled to his companion, "Kiira's right. We can't really know how long it'll take yet since we don't know what kind of creature it is. If it's strong and has something like a sharp egg tooth, it could be pretty fast, but if it doesn't? Who knows." It was a bit of an annoying truth, getting so excited for something like an egg hatching and then realizing you'd have to wait until the child could actually emerge, but it wasn't as if they were going to just drag whatever was inside out.

Tap. Taptap. Tap. The sounds became more aggressive as the little one contained within the egg worked to break itself out. The head of the egg split under pressure, revealing icy blue hues and a wriggling, curious nose. The first glimpse.

A drawn-out, high-pitched groooaaaannnn emerged from the creature's maw, and was quickly followed by a quick grunt as the egg rolled onto the other side and hit the floor. The baby grunted and pressed as hard as he could, eventually shoving his stubby leg through the shell itself and proceeding to crack open the rest of it. He was revealed to have ebony scales with white markings splotched all over his body, including the tips of his wings and his tail fins.

A dragon hatchling.

Little was he aware of the mystical, regal, and even feared reptilian he would grow up to be. For now, just like any other newborn, he was exhausted from literally breaking out of his shell. After surveying a glance over the crowd watching him, he stretched a deep yawn and plopping down onto the broken egg shells, making a noticeable crunch. He proceeded to close his big, blue eyes and huff as if nothing else in the world mattered.

Nearly immediately after Aurum had finished reassuring Crowley that the egg would hatch at its own pace, the child inside seemed to have decided that they were ready to see the world right at this moment, if the soft and curious taps and almost shy poking out of a nose were anything to go by. Curiosity immediately piqued by whatever could emerge from the egg, Aurum's one blue eyes focused on the child as he pushed his way free of his eggshell shaped prison, the tiny dragon's body shaking free of the bits of shell still clinging to it. The guardsman found himself stunned for a moment, having encountered a dragon before, but never one freshly hatched. He really was stunningly adorable, with the hatchling's eyes lazily surveying all of them before the child evidently decided that it was time for some more rest. Aurum couldn't say that he blamed the kid, truly unable to imagine what it must've been like to shove your way out of an egg and out into the bright excitement of the open world. When he heard Torren, he couldn't help but just flick an ear in acknowledgement, staring in an almost dumb astonishment at the tiny creature.

After a couple more moments of just taking in the child's monochrome patterned scales, Aurum was broken from his thoughts by a sort of frantic anxiety. He had never met a young dragon before, which meant he had absolutely no reference for what they ate, or what conditions they were raised in. He had been prepared for nearly any possibility... except for this one. None of his old storybooks about dragons had ever mentioned anything about them when they were hatchlings, and even if they had, they certainly hadn't gone into an in depth discussion about how to raise them. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the angel glanced over at Crowley for some sort of reassurance before he nodded at Torren's words, rumbling softly, "...Yes, we should all be glad that this little one has a home here. It means that we can all help out and make sure he gets raised right..." He faintly sank his teeth into the inside of his cheek for a moment before continuing, glancing around at the large group that had gathered for the exciting event, "Torren is right, though. We'll need to prepare... does anyone know what a baby dragon eats? I'm not sure if they would start off with solids right off the bat, or if they're like cubs, and they drink milk for a while..." He glanced over at Feza curiously, since she was the only one present that he knew of to have a dragon form, albeit a small one. That didn't mean she would know what the child ate, of course, but it was as good a place to start as any.