He froze when he saw a reptilian creature in the room. He was afraid to breathe or even move. Somehow it looked familiar… Wasn't that the one he had seen earlier today by the road? A closer look proved that it indeed was. And now that he saw it more clearly, it was clear that it wasn't the average monitor lizard. To his dismay it was quite possibly a young dragon. It wanted the food. 

His heart was in pain, first because its cries were pitiful and he knew it was lost and hungry. Second, because he himself had to eat too. Covering his face with his hands he tried not to look at it. "Ohhh…why? Why did it have to turn out like this? I can't, I shouldn't but–" Cymbel didn't finish that sentence and shook his head. "Alright, alright. I'll let you have some…This is all I have for now though." He uncovered the food and used one of the overturned lids as a makeshift dish. Scooping some rice and boiled vegetables into it, the rest he kept for himself. There was cooked tender bamboo shoots along with the garlic buds. Taking out the remaining loquats left in his basket, he gave the fruit to the dragon whelp as well. It was still a wild animal…even if it was desperate enough to search for food inside a house. His next worry would be what to do if the mother was searching for it. 

The young hatchling put her seed down and smelled her food. She did not know what it was but she knew it was not meat. She took a bite than backed up as she chewed the new food. She liked the strange taste and then started eating more of it. Soon it was empty and she was full. 

She picked up the seed and glided off the table and to the floor. she then climbed to a higher shelf and curled into a ball. one wing was laying over the side open as she dropped the seed and focused on it until sleep set in. the seed sprouted and grew up untell it had two small leaves. She changed positions twice. in the end, her head rested over her leg in the derection away from the wall.

He watched as the little whelp ate and went to rest atop one of the shelves. He marveled at it and shook his head in disbelief. It seemed that amazing things were happening all around him, so it appeared. Cymbel nearly missed the seed, almost stepping on it. Gingerly picking it up, he looked back at the now sleeping dragon whelp in surprise. From what he could infer, this particular one had the powers of growth and earth. He carefully took the little peach seedling outside in his hands. "There you are little one, I'm afraid there's not much room for you to grow in here. I'll take you where you can spread your leaves and grow tall and strong."

Walking far from the house he came to a small clearing where he made a hole and planted it. Covering it up leaving the stem and leaves exposed, he retrieved some water and dripped around the mound of soil, allowing it to soak in. Returning home he worked at a breakneck speed to catch up on time lost to the prior diversions. When the day was over he was exhausted, and the evening meal was a welcome respite from his daily chores. He left a dish out for his little scaled guest near where it lay, and prepared soaking the salt-preserved fish for tomorrow morning. Leaving the kitchen he went to lie down and sleep.

Morning came sooner than he had thought, and groggily pulled himself off the floor. Setting the rice to cook, he sleepily went to harvest the flowers he had grown using his enchanted boots the day before to bring them to the market. It was still dark, but his good eyesight and years of living in the dusky twilight of Feeorin made it seem like early in the day. He began tying them in bundles to carry them more easily. Hopefully he'd make it to the city in time before the wholesale purchasers were gone.

Aqua woke up in the middle of the night. Her scales glowing a bluish color. Hopping down to a lower place she was quick to notice the food set out for her and eat. Once the food was gone she started looking for her seed. It took her a while to check the house and start looking out side. Even then she could not find it. But instead found the twolegged gathering flowers. 

She had not watched long before coming to a flower and attempted to pull it up. She had a good grip with her teeth and pulled. It only managed to shake the flower. She readjusted and again pulled this time using her wings to help.

After plucking the plant she carried it to the pile but did not put it on the pile but close than looked up at cymbal as she sat down.

He had several bundles sorted by flower type lying together, and it was then he caught the glint of something glowing. "Oh it's you. Did you sleep well? It's good to see you out and about again." Stopping to rest he watched as the little dragon whelp went over with a flower in its mouth and placed it near the flowers he had just cut. Soon he was finished and daybreak was approaching. Scooping the bundles up he went to lock the door to his home, then opened his parasol. Turning to the whelp he said: "I'll be heading out to the city. I should be back once the sky is bright, so take care of yourself and stay safe." 

He began to walk the path to Nisshoki, a light breeze blowing the fragrance of fresh flowers behind him. At the city, he walked through the markets until he found a local florist shop. He remembered passing by here when he first arrived in the kingdom, having only looked in from the outside. Opening the door he entered, hoping he wasn't intruding. "Hello! Welcome to the Amakusa Flower Shop! Oh that's quite the bundle you have there!" The woman in a pink kimono rushed over to help Cymbel carry the overloaded basket. "Thank you. I don't mean to be a bother, but would it be alright to sell these to you? I'm not sure of what shops typically sell, aside from floral arrangements." With the basket's contents unloaded, the woman looked at the blooms he had brought. "These are quite beautiful! Ah and they're fresh too. These daffodils and irises have a wonderful intensity of color. Did you grow these yourself?" Cymbel nodded, taking out the last flowers from the basket. "Yes, I also harvested them this morning. The stems aren't too short to use, are they?"

The woman shook her head, clearly delighted by what he had brought. "No no, they're perfect! You said you wished to sell them, correct? Hm…how about a silver for the daffodils, hydrangeas, violets, and irises. I'll take the rest for five coppers a bundle." He looked back at her in surprise. "I-I…yes, that would be fine." On his way out the woman thanked him, and he gave a polite bow in response. He had managed to earn six silver coins and thirty coppers in a single trip. This was incredible! He could finally buy eggs again! He cried tears of joy behind the sleeve of his kimono, and dabbed his eyes on it. What should he purchase? He had enough rice for a month, but maybe he could get some salt and oil for cooking. Pepper and other spices were too expensive for now. Passing by the farmers' market stalls he resisted the urge to purchase scallions and garlic. Just the basics for now, nothing more.

He returned home happier than the songbirds singing in spring. The spoils from his trip had been some sea salt, dried fish, and a bottle of cooking oil, with three silvers and fifteen coppers left over. 

She did not understand most of what Cymbel had said but she squawked at it then returned to doing what she had begun. She looked at the cut plants each seeming sad. She had tilted her head and started to examine it when a bug appeared. She decided to follow it and perhaps catch it.  The bug ended up landing on the peach tree where she cult and ate it. She quickly left the tree not wanting to b attacked by birds again.

She stopped as she seen the former leaves which caught her attention.  She knew it was her plant but how it got out of the house and into the ground she could only guess. She laid down thinking about how nice it would be to lay in a tree that was not going to get her attacked. she jumped and hid after the plant grew to a foot high. she then moved to where she plucked a plant earlier and wondered if it would ever bloom again. it was much slower to grow but it had a bud on it when a bug again got her attention. This one flew off into a nest high off the ground. she had followed it to the wall and climbed before she stuck her face into the hole. 

She immediately jumped from her perch and ran as fast as she could as bees coated her face and chased her. she screamed at the pain of the stings as she ran and sometimes bucking and scraping them off her face. she climbed into a bucket to hide but she had no clue it was half full of water. The good news was that the bees would not attack in water the bad news being that she was not aquatic and water cooled her down too much. She also had no way of getting out. She scratched as she tried to escape.

It was the early hours of daylight as he approached his house again. His parasol was open and had shielded him from the rays on the way back. Cymbel noticed the dragonling wasn't outside where he had last saw it. It likely wandered off to somewhere else. Opening the door and creaking the old hinges, he was able to get it closed and locked it. Entering the kitchen he put the salt, oil and fish into the pantry when he heard a splashing sound. That was strange…where was it coming from? He followed the noise until he found the source–a bucket of water he had left out for cleaning the floors. There was water around the base and something was inside.

When he saw what was in the bucket, he quickly grabbed the handle and poured the water out. Unsure of what to do, he started to panic. How long had it been in there? If he had stayed a little longer in the city, it likely would have drowned before he would have found out. The dragon whelp was still a wild animal all things considered, so he was hesitant to try to check if it was alright. Scared animals would bite, and he wasn't sure if it had venom. Cleaning up the water he paced back and forth, worried. He had to find its owner or parent before something worse happened.

Aqua tried to stand but fell. she coughed as she again attempted to stand but gave up at after the pain filled her limbs. Red bumps were forming on her back and face as her scales had not developed enough to protect her. Her fur was soaked and she was shaking. She did not have the strength to call for mom.  

He wasn't sure how the whelp had gotten itself so injured, but he knew what he had to do. Taking a staff hidden away out of sight as to avoid potential theft whilst he was not in the house, he channeled power into it. A soothing energy began to envelop the little drake, and its welts from the stings began to heal. He didn't have any fire magic to warm it up, but he took a towel and placed it on the still-warm covered pot of boiling water and let it heat up. Five minutes later the took it off and placed it nearby the dragonling. It would be better for it to go towards it itself, lest he risk being bitten. Cymbel sighed, as he surveyed the damage. If possible he should quickly find a way to keep it contained when he wasn't close by. There was also the issue of allowing it to grow habituated to the place, as time passed he wouldn't be able to support feeding a growing animal.

"I should've known better than to leave you by yourself…Normally I'd ask if your mother taught you anything, but it appears you've not been with her for a long time. What am I to do with you?" He asked, sitting down a little ways from the recuperating whelp.

She was glad to fill the stings pain going away. she stayed there untell the towel was laid near her. she got up and laid on it as she pulled it around her. "mom" she repeated. she was not good at speaking yet but she did know some words that her mom taught her. She was getting good at copying words thanks to mom taking her to town around random people. 

After the towel lost its warmth, Aqua got up and went to the next warmest place. She climbed into Cymbels lap.