Part 1: Chapter 5 & 6

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(3rd Pov Glory)

Glory woke up refreshed and relaxed, but as she lay there with her eyes closed, she felt a wave of strange anger at herself.

'All right, sure. I'm not in the Great Magnificent Wonderous Dragonet Prophecy. Maybe no one would ever write a prophecy about a RainWing. Maybe no dragon in Pyrrhia expects any of us to have an important destiny or do anything worthwhile.'

'But this? Sleeping all day in a patch of sun? Is that all I'm good for - all any RainWing is good for?'
'There must be more to us than this.'
'There must be more to me.'

She wanted to kick herself. Falling asleep almost the moment she found her home . . . this was exactly what she didn't want her friends to think about her or her tribe. She'd have to show them that there was a good reason for RainWings to have sun time. It must make them smarter and fiercer, or something.

She shifted her wings and froze.
Something was curled in the gap between her shoulder and her wing. Some part of it was also draped across her neck. It as warm, warmer than the sunbeams, and it was breathing deeply and evenly.
She inched her head around and peered sideways at it.
There was a sloth sleeping on her.

It had crept into the curve of her shoulder and fitted itself there perfectly, slipping one arm over her neck to pillow its head. Long silvery gray fur draped over her green scales. Its eyes were shut, and it had a peaceful smile on its sleeping face.
'What ridiculous creatures. Fearless? Or stupid?'

'Or maybe this is a diabolically clever plan.' After all, she couldn't eat it now. She could possibly eat something that smiled like that. It reminded her a bit of Sunny, who probably would also have no trouble falling asleep on something big enough to eat her.

She twisted her head up, moving as little as possible so she wouldn't disturb the sloth. The other dragons on her platform were still asleep, Toad had rolled onto his back and had his talons sticking up into the air. The sun had drifted down the sky, but she guessed there were several hours yet until nightfall. A soft breeze tossed a homeless leaves across the canopy, and two fat blue frogs on a nearby branch were having a drowsy, ribbety conversation.

"Brrrp?" the sloth chirped. It opened its enormous dark eyes, looked into hers, and yawned a wide, oddly elegant yawn. "Brrrrrrrrrrple."
"I'm awake," Glory said. "So you should probably flee in terror now."
"Rrrrrmble rrrrrmp rrrrrrllp," the sloth said agreeably. It snuggled closer to her scales and yawned again.

"I'm not like these other dragons. I have things to do," Glory told it. "You can't keep sleeping there."
"Mmmmmm-hrrmble," the sloth concurred, closing its eyes.
The platform vibrated underneath her as Jambu chuckled. He rolled over and nodded at the sloth, "You've been chosen," he said. "That happened fast."

"No, thank you," Glory said. "I don't want to be chosen. Especially by a sloth." She pushed herself up to sitting, but the sloth somehow got both arms around her neck and hung on, nestling against her wing.
"She likes you," Jambu said. "Now you have to pick a name for her. The queen calls hers Shaggy."

"First of all, what, and no; it is seriously undignified for a dragon queen to have a sloth. Also, this sloth in much too pretty for a dopey name like Shaggy," Glory said, the  caught herself. "And I'm not naming her because I'm not keeping her. She'll wander away if I ignore her long enough."
Jambu snorted with amusement.

"Or maybe I'll eat her," Glory said. "Why don't you eat them?" she shot a glance at the sloth, who looked serenely unconcerned.
He shrugged. "Because they're cute. And too hairy; they're all fur. You'd have indigestion for days."
Glory reached up and poked the sloth with her claw. It did seem to be mostly fur.

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