The Child of Silver

3

The morning was bright as the sun rose the next day. Anirei woke up first from the first sight of the rising sun, the light slightly blinding her uncovered face. She sat up in her bed with soft yawn, greeting the early morning with a sweet smile as she prepared to take it on.

Anirei grabbed her cloak and secured the bright blue pin around her neck, loosening it so that the cloak wouldn't choke her. She combed her fingers through her hair and secured her mask, covering her face before quietly leaving her room. She left the bounty and walked out into the sandy desert, heading towards the dragons that rested in the nearby ruins.

Anirei laughed as she ran towards the barely waking dragons, who greeted the young girl with kindness.

"Good morning, young one." The fire dragon, Flame, greeted happily.

"Hello Fire Dragon Flame." Anirei greeted, gently stroking his head. However, she noticed that his temperature was different than normal. Even for a fire dragon, his temperature was too hot for him.

Anirei, growing worried for the dragons, walked over to the others and felt them for the same rise in temperature. She had even noticed that some of their scales were lying on the sand. They were shedding their scales, a natural process for all reptiles.

"Is something wrong, great dragons?" Anirei asked, "You seem warmer than normal, and you're shedding your scales. Are you ill?"

The dragons shook their heads.

"Do not worry, young one." The lightning dragon, Wisp, said, "We are simply preparing for our metamorphosis."

"Metamorphosis?" 

"Yes, child." The earth dragon, Rocky, answered, "We are merely adolescent dragons. It is almost time for us to grow and change, meaning we must transform into our true adult forms. Soon, we must migrate to the Spirit Coves to complete this transformation."

Anirei smiled and leaned against the lightning dragon, wrapping her small arms around his head to give the dragon a hug.

"Then I wish all of you a peaceful and powerful transformation. I hope that when you return, you are more powerful than before." Anirei said, then proceeded to walk over to the dragons to give them a reassuring hug.

"You are not like most human children." Shard, the ice dragon, said, "You feel different than others, as if you are holding something deep inside, hidden away...."

Anirei stopped in her tracks and looked back at the dragons before taking off her mask and smiling at them.

"Everyone has something hidden inside of themselves." She said, "I, however, have something inside of me that no one should see."

She placed her mask back on her face and went back to the bounty, preparing breakfast before the ninja's morning training.

~~~~

Later on in the day, when the sun was high and the winds blew gently, the ninjas had finished their early morning training . Jay had thought about what Anirei had said the other day and decided that he would have to visit his folks at least once.

He went over to the ruins where the dragons lay, trying to get his dragon, Wisp, up so that they could fly to the junkyard.

"C'mon, Wisp!" Jay grumbled as he pulled Wisp's reigns, but the dragon refused to move an inch, "It'll be a quick visit, just in and out, nothing more."

Sensei Wu walked around Wisp, a large thermometer in his hands with an insightful look on his face.

"It is as I expected." Sensei Wu said, "The dragons are molting. They're shedding their scales."