Nixie awoke to the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks below. It was low tide, and thus time for her and her adoptive son to leave the cave that they called home. The first thing she did was to check to make sure that Kaelin was still sleeping safely next to her. She smiled protectively at the little fledgeling water dragon. His scales shimmered and gleamed in a way that hers never would -- another reminder that he was not really her son, that he was a noble, the son of the two eldest what had been their den. She sighed at the memory. Amadahy and Dalit had been so kind to her, and now they were gone forever...
She shook her head as if to shake away the unpleasant memories of her den leaders' death. Turning her head to the sleeping Kaelin next to her, she nuzzled at him gently. "Kaelin, little one," she said in her low, smooth voice that resonated of the sea. "The tide has changed. It's time to awaken."
The little fledgeling yawned and looked up to Nixie with his large eyes. "Mroouu?" he cooed, understanding but not yet able to respond. Nixie smiled at him and stood up, nudging him gently towards the entryway to the cave. She stretched her long finned tail out behind her and spread her finned wings. Smiling back at the little Kaelin, Nixie jumped from the edge of the cave and plunged into the ocean water below. Wobbling behind her, Kaelin flopped his flightless wings open and followed after her.
There hadn't been anything going on at the Den, at least not that needed Tigris, and he'd been hungry, so he went out. He'd sated his hunger long since though, and was simply enjoying a swim. A fast swim. He couldn't seem to help himself when he got to a good clear stretch of water in the less populated part of Lauviha's coastal depths. How fast could he go? No matter how many times he tried it out, he left feeling that he simply had not found his limit. It was like an addiction. But for some reason he felt like he was going to find it today. 
Kaelin slid off of the edge of the cliff at the cave's opening and plunged smoothly into the salty waves below. Despite the fact that he was merely a hatchling, the little noble could swim perfectly. It was a skill brought on by necessity and the long escape he and Nixie had taken from the ruins of their den. Kaelin glided under the breaking waves and looked around him. The waters by the rocky coast were too rough for most sea creatures, and he was starving. He flicked his tail expertly and shot like an arrow after Nixie, using his winglike back fins to steer. "Mraak?" he squeaked as he swam up beside her.
Nixie smiled down at the little baby water dragon and continued to swim. "Don't worry, Kaelin, we'll get some food soon. Here, look! We've reached the dropoff. There's bound to be something to eat here," she said, stopping.
Kaelin stopped also and looked down into the darker water below them. A reef lined the edge of the downward slope into the aphotic zone, and among it swum many fish. He let out a small sound of happiness and approval and followed Nixie down.
Tigris continued zooming along, not realizing how much time had actually passed until his stomach rumbled. Time for lunch! There was a really good spot not too far from here if he remembered right, he didn't come out this far very often... He zipped around a corner and saw a very young water dragon not too far in front of him. He did the only thing he could think to do and angled his wing fins so that the shot upward instead of at the youngster, like he would have if he hadn't changed course.
While he was above the surface he saw a big fish not too far from his re-entry point, so he pointed himself in that general direction. He made a loud splash, to be sure, but he was still going too fast for them to all dodge in time. He clamped his jaws on the fat prize and thrashed his tail in the hopes that he might stun a few. The place was rife with fish! He shouldn't have been worried, they didn't swim far. No one hunted here very often, he guessed. But he still saw a couple of good sized snacks float dazedly to the reefbed.
He tossed the fat fish the youngster's way, sort of an apology for the scare he must have just caused. "'Ey... uh... 'Allo."
Nixie felt panic boil up within her as the striped dragon shot towards Kaelin. She flicked her tail and rushed forward, gliding in front of the little dragon and curling her body loosely over him for protection. She braced herself for the impact and then slowly uncurled herself when she heard the splash above. Realizing that her adoptive son was no longer in danger, she moved aside with a flick of her dorsal fin. She heard the happy "kyahhh" of Kaelin as he snapped at the fish that had been tossed to him. Laughing at the boy's attempt to catch such a large fish in his mouth, Nixie reached over the little one with her long neck and *cut the fish into a few small pieces for him to eat.
Kaelin cooed happily and began to eat the fish. Curling her tail loosely around him, she looked to the striped dragon. "Hello," she said, flicking one of her wing-fins in a respectful gesture of recognition. "Thank you for the fish."
Tigris couldn't help but chuckle at the youngster. He remembered a time when his younger brother was that innocent and cute. Of course, the little one enjoying his meal reminded him that he was hungry too. He grabbed up one of the other fish that hadn't had sense enough to flee while he was distracted and tossed it at the femme before snapping up one for himself. The thank you actually caught him a little off-guard after his thunderous entrance, so eating gave him a moment to compose himself.
"'Ey... not a problem. I remember getting very hungry at that age." He paused for a moment and blinked, almost looking surprised at himself. "'Course, I remember getting very hungry at just about any age..."
He finished his fish and shrugged off his lack of eloquence with a quick dart forward and around the side of a rather large piece of coral. He'd rarely seen this many fat fish in one place, he'd have to come back here more often. He herded some of the fish around the coral and back toward the femme and the youngster, figuring the femme at least might still be hungry. Took more to fuel a big dragon than a little one.
Self appointed task accomplished, he snatched another fish out of the water and paused between bites long enough to ask, "So, you two live around here?" He could tell by the little one's coloring that he wasn't related to the femme. He was a right little stunner. She was pretty enough in her own right, though... It kind of made him wonder why there wasn't a male or two around trying to impress her and help look after the youngster.
He suddenly realized his rather large breach of etiquette and swallowed his fish quickly to ammend the situation. "I'm Tigris, by the way..." Oh yeah, he was a real ladies man, alright, horrible at conversation, no table manners, and a hard time remembering any of his other manners. About the only thing he could do right was swim fast. It was no wonder all the other males he'd grown up with seemed to be finding sweethearts while he was out almost running into hatchlings.
Kaelin finished eating his fish and let out a small "Kyyahhhh" as Tigris returned, herding more fish with him. The little hatchling darted after the fish in jest, having fun chasing them as they swam away.
Nixie laughed pleasantly and snatched up a few more fish for herself, swallowing them whole. She finished eating and swam towards the other dragon. "Hello Tigris," she said, dipping her head a little -- she was used to showing her subservience to other dragons from working with Kaelin's parents. "I'm Nixie," she smiled at him and flicked a fin towards the little one who was futilely giving chase to the school of fish behind them. "And this is Kaelin, son of the nobles Amadahy and Dalit." She cast a sidelong glance at Tigris and couldn't help but notice the well-toned muscles beneath his striped scales. Nixie had never thought about finding a mate before -- it had never been something that she had needed, in the den with Amadahy and Dalit -- but suddenly this creature struck her. He seemed like he would be an amusing companion, and he would definitely be helpful in protecting them against humans or hostile dragons...
It was perhaps fortunate that Tigris didn't notice the subtle scrunity Nixie was giving him. He probably would have ended up putting his fin in his mouth, given his track record. He was too busy watching Kaelin play around chasing fish to chuckling to himself, doing a few lazy slow motion barrel rolls with tilted wing-fins and nonchalant tail flicks. Amadahy and Dalit? The names sounded familiar, but he couldn't place them for some reason. He tried to keep up with all the different Nests' elders, not for any particular reason but just because you never knew when you might need to know something like that. Something was niggling in the back of his mind...
No... wait...
They were the ones from that Nest that got wiped out, weren't they?...
He stopped his lazy spinning and turned to look at Nixie with a gaze that was more intense than he'd ever realized he had. There wasn't occasion to use it that often, but he'd used it then. There was compassion in it this time though; there had been nothing but steel in it when he'd heard what happened. "You two are out here alone, aren't you?"
His first guess hadn't been wrong, but he hadn't realized how close on the mark he'd had it. He rather wished he'd been wrong and that she did belong to a Nest out here somewhere. But it was good to know that they had survived. Everyone had given the entire Nest up for lost.
If she wanted him to let the others know they were here, he would... if she didn't... well he assumed she must have had her reasons for hiding out here with Kaelin. He disappeared from the Nest often enough that no one would ask questions when he came back every day or so. It wasn't right to leave them alone.
He turned his gaze away, looking at Kaelin again. "No one thought any of you survived." How he managed not to stumble over his next words were an amazement to him, if not to her. He usually stuttered when he offered to let a female go home with him... though this was actually a little different. "I'm from Coral Wreath... if you ever need somewhere to go, you can go there and ask for me. I don't have a whole lot of space but... you're welcome to it."
A sad smile crossed Nixie's face as Tigris realized who she and Kaelin were. He didn't say it straight out, but she knew from the intense look he was giving her that he was aware of her situation. His eyes were so kind, though. And his offer was so generous. Many male dragons who found a lone female in her situation would take advantage of her. But Tigris seemed...different. He posessed something unique to him. Nixie was almost tempted to call it innocence. "Thank you so much for your kind offer, Tigris, but..." Nixie trailed off and watched Kaelin out of the corner of her eye, a look of sadness on her face. "I'm not sure if it would be a good thing to move Kaelin to another Nest so soon. He's just adjusting to life here..." She looked up at Tigris and smiled. "And I'm not sure I'm quite ready for another family yet either. The memories are too...close." She closed her eyes for a moment and an almost imperceptible shiver ran the length of her body. "But..." she opened her eyes and caught Tigris's in her own. Something about this dragon made her feel so...comfortable. She smiled, but this time it was much happier than before. "...I'm glad we met you," she said softly, almost in a whisper, and flicked her tailfin, causing her to move up towards Tigris. Feeling particularly brave, she nuzzled her forehead up against his neck in a quick, thankful motion, and then pulled away with a flick of her wing fins.
