It was a dark cold snowy night. Samael had just arrived back from his nightly scout, settled on the frosty grounds of the mountain. He folded his wings in order to slip through the entrance of his system of caves.

However, just as he was entering his domain a soft shimmer caught his eye. Among the pale white snow was the silver looking thing. A small treasure perhaps, or maybe a small trinket left behind by a human who wandered too far into the mountain.

His hoard of shiny items had been lacking A new addition for quite some time. Samael stalked over to the object, he couldn't help but notice the thing seemed to be rather circular, almost egg-shaped.

Upon further inspection, he was surprised to find the object was in fact an egg. The poor baby could've been abandoned by its mother in the Dead season of winter. It was a common happenstance, of course, Samael could never approve. Although he didn't understand what tragic circumstances could lead up to abandoning an egg. He picked it up and a path of glimmering frost caught his attention.

The egg was not meant to be out in the cold, if it were an ice or water dragon it would have resisted the frost. The baby dragon inside could have already been dead, but Samael held onto it nonetheless. The slight chance that this dragon could be born was enough.

The egg easily filled his entire palm, which for most dragons wasn't saying much but when you were around to see The rise of humanity itself anything that filled your palm was worth keeping.

Samael let his tail drag lazily behind him as he walked, he was already exhausted from flying and now he had this egg to hatch. He didn't care about the noise it made as it clashed against scattered treasure, and scrapped against the floor of the cave.

Entering his caves he dove into his hoard and cuddled up in the warmth that the pile still retained from earlier that day. He wanted to doze off right then and there, but a soft shifting of weight in his palm caught his attention.

The slitted pupils fixated on the small creature in his claw. With a sigh, he pulled himself up and prepared a small nest of pillows he had hoarded over the past few decades. He set the egg in the makeshift nest and kept it protected as he dug through his hoard from the proper equipment to hatch an egg. He knew he had it somewhere, digging through his treasure was always a chore.

Just some dried shrub, just something flammable. The egg looked in its final stage of devolvement so once it was given the proper setting it would hatch. Hopefully... The baby was moving when he held it so he was sure it was still living.

But he still needed to hatch it soon before any damage was done to it. Finally, amongst the hoarded items, he found what he was looking for. A large ring-shaped piece of metal. It would serve as the perfect base nest for the egg.

He placed the ringlet down and set down one of his older hoarded blankets and then he set the egg in the center. Ever so careful with united a spark in his throat and spat a small flame onto the blanket.

A flame embraced the egg, melting the frost and returning safety to the baby inside. The egg was safe, now all he had to do was wait... As he laid, staring at the egg his courtesy kept nudging at him, something was off about this egg.

It looked familiar like he had seen it someone was or at least something like it. This egg was unlike most eggs, it was already bigger but there was another thing he hadn't noticed.

Maybe the shape? No, it wasn't that, or maybe it was but it wasn't what was so odd.

The color perhaps, but all dragon eggs were different and unique so he doubted that as well. Could it possibly be the patterns?

But that would be preposterous, patterns indicate breed and there was no way this egg could be aligned with...

Unless. A few months prior a young adult dragon, going by the name Satan rose into power gaining a significant following as he claimed to be one in kin with the dragon lord. Dragons lords were a breed that had long since disrupted and they were the only survivors, their powers were untold and unbelievable. For quite some time, humans believed the dragonlords to be myths.

Satan had gone around claiming he was equal to lords and should have a place beside them, the lords however did not agree with his statement. He was powerful and much larger than the rest of the dragon population, in fact, he was even bigger than the lords. Where he fell short was in his age, brashness, and tone.

He had no patience or manners and often disrespected the lord's name challenging them and speaking down on them, in certain instances he would claim to be above them and demand that he should be king of all dragons.

Nothing about him sat well with the kings and they were sure to dispose of him, from what they knew he never got the chance to reproduce nor did he have a mate. So this egg couldn't possibly be his...

But if somehow was, then that may be a problem. Satan was indeed one of their breed that had somehow hatched and grew without their knowledge so if this egg was his it was destined to be powerful.

It could tamper with his plans if the other kings found out about this egg, some of his "siblings" may want to kill it before it raises against them.

If this was one of them, Samael couldn't allow it to be killed so easily. It was unfair to the baby especially when they could just raise it as they had done with the younger lords. After all the human population was on track to be at its heights so they may need another lord to keep humanity's population balances.

Samael dragged himself up once again and went searching for the leftover shell pieces he kept from when he first hatched. It had been so long since then and over the years he lost so many pieces, but he knew he had them somewhere around his hoard.

A hollow crack snapped him out of his search. His scales froze as he slowly turned his head to see what on earth he had just broken.

He caught a glimpse of shiny little claws and fangs through the egg. It was hatching already? Eggs depending on what stage of development took anywhere from months to days to hatch but never minutes. It was plain wrong for an egg to hatch that quickly.

He starred in horror as the baby continued to crack through the egg. Should he stop it? Maybe it was already hatching when it was abandoned and this was supposed to be happing? Samael turned around and focused all his attention on the egg, watching it intently as he tried to look for anyone to help the baby.

Fear struck through him as the baby continued to crack as he began to cry out, was the egg wall too hard to break? Surely it wasn't still frozen. Still, he needed to step in and now. He tried his best to fit his claws through the shell and pull the egg apart. It was rather easy to destroy it and rescue the baby.

The only problem now was the baby. It wouldn't stop crying, it kept fussing and whining but it wouldn't shut up.

It was a baby, of course, it wouldn't shut up. These things were never quiet. They were loud and messy. Samael had no idea why anyone would spare time to raise something so annoying and bothersome. He was rather tempted to throw it out in the snow.

But something seemed to click into place as he held the baby.

Baby is crying.

Baby is hungry.

Baby needs food.

A deep instinctual voice was speaking to him, guiding him on actions...

What do baby dragons eat? Samael would never think he would not know something as trivial as this.

Not even a tap altered Samael of the presence of his elder brother. Lucifer had so quietly snuck into the cave that he did not raise awareness of his presence until he spoke.

"Samael what on earth are you doing at this ungodly hour?" Lucifer grumbled, as his head stuck through the doorway. His golden scales rested softly against the stone as inspected his brother's actions. Samael grew tense and hit the still crying back to his chest.

"Why does it matter to you?" Samael grew defensive in response to Lucifer's inquiry.

"Azazel, Amaimon, Astaroth, and Beelzebub found your actions to be disruptive of their sleep and they woke me from my rest to come to tell you to stop whatever you are doing," Lucifer growled, leaning against the pillar as he was still half asleep.

"Well my actions are none of your or their business, as for the sleeping problems they can suck it up, I have to deal with their rambunctious and irritating behavior as I have tried to sleep," Samael growled in response, continuing to muffle the cries of the baby.

"What are you holding Samael?" Lucifer asked walking closer to the hidden baby.

"Why does it matter to you,"

"It sounds like you have a baby dragon in there, even though you swore to stop eating hatchlings several months ago. If you lied to me then I will rip your tail off,"

"I am not going to eat it, I think it may be the offspring of Satan,"

Lucifer was perplexed at the idea of hatching of their kind, the last hatching he watched grow as Beelzebub, and he didn't get much bigger than the average size of an adult diamond hoarded. Satan, when he was living, was the largest dragon in history, as well as the strongest it made killing him harder but still he provided plenty of dinners for the dragon lords.

"Another of our species? Show me," Lucifer commanded slowly approaching Samael.

"No, he's mine," Samael hissed holding the baby closer.

"Samael,"

"I am not giving the baby to you,"

"Give me the hatchling Samael,"

"No,"

The baby continued to cry, to the point of wailing as it tried to find food.

"Samael do you have food set aside for the baby? If not I have some extra stored in my den that I think is soft enough for the hatchling,"

Samael had to swallow his pride and accept the pity offering, it wasn't really about him or his pride. The baby needed to be fed, and that was what was of the most importance.

Lucifer returned with a fresh corpse, it was a small white little bunny. The poor thing had wandered too far into Lucifer's cave and made the mistake of finding refuge there. Its death was short and mostly painless.

Samael held the small dragon out to Lucifer. The baby was laid uncomfortable on it's back and flailed around trying to flip over onto its stomach but to no avail. It was a pathetic display of weakness.

It was only then that Samael caught a good look at the baby, it had gorgeous white scales that sparkled against the dim lighting of his cave. Parts of the scales had a blue tint, around the eyes, claws and along with the unformed horns, the tint got darker. The darkest splotches of color were a deep royal blue.

The scale color alone was very reminiscent of Satan's. Not to mention patterns were eerily similar to Lucifer's with the darker patches along the face and claws. There was little doubt that this was one of their species, but the size was rather concerning.

Amaimon was surely bigger than this when he hatched, and the same could be said for Beelzebub. It took months for them to hatch and they looked ready to kill from the moment they cracked.

Yet, this hatchling was so frail; so small, so easily hurt, so easily broken, so easily killed. The small thing was wailing still, for such a small thing it sure had healthy lungs.

Lucifer diligently placed the rabbit in front of the fussing dragon.

The little nose twitched as the rodent was placed in reach. The small body roasted and flopped onto its stomach with a little squeak. The small claws extended and the baby dragged its body over to the rabbit sniffing it to check if what was in front of him was food.

After a second of indecision, his jaws broke open and snapped around the bunny. In snake-like fashion, the baby moved forward as the bunny slid further and further into his gullet. With a satisfying snap, the bunny was gone and the dragon's mouth was shut once again.

Lucifer watched this display proudly, while Samael found it to be lackluster. There was no spray of blood or scream of agony from the rodent, nothing was entertaining about this.

Then the baby stopped moving except for the occasional fall and rise of its chest.

"So that's it? I save your life and this is all I get? Ungrateful brat," Samael hissed at the sleeping dragon.

"Just when I thought you were mature enough for this," Lucifer groaned, his clawed hand coming to cover his face in despair.

"I am mature enough for this, but this baby is broken or something, it just fell asleep!" Samael put the baby on the pillow pile he created earlier.

"You should have come to me with the egg, you know nothing about baby dragons. You didn't have any food for him. Not to mention he is prematurely hatched which only occurs when the hatchling is threatened. If you dropped the egg Samael I will not hesitate to take your horns," Lucifer stepped towards Samael, a fire built up in his throat as he was on the edge of rage.

"The egg was frosting over, it had been abandoned if not for me the hatchling would be dead. If I hadn't found it when returning from patrol it would still be out in the snow and dead by now," Samael stepped forward as well, showing he was ready to defend himself if need be.

"I see," Lucifer muttered, back away showing his resignation from his original challenge. "Well, we should make arrangements with the scouting schedule. I could take your night shifts if you take my day shift, and I will watch over your hatchling," Lucifer replied, meeting Samael's line of sight.

"Why would I need to change my shifts?" Samael sneered at Lucifer.

"You will need all the energy you have watching over the hatchling and caring for it, and you won't have much energy the day after a night shift. Besides we have been going with the same schedule for far too long,"

A certain forest dragon revealed his location as he slipped and tumbled to the ground. The elder dragons were altered of the collection of Astaroth, Amaimon, and Beelzebub who were watching their conversation with great intent.

Amaimon stood back up gripping his bruised jaw as he tried to rub the pain away.

"How much did you all hear?" Lucifer turned, facing the dragons that were no longer hidden.

"We hear the two of you yelling and decided to investigate, and you two were talking about changing shifts and a hatchling," Beelzebub was the first to confess, spilling the entire story and explanation as to why they were here.

"Astaroth, go fetch Azazel and Iblis, Amaimon go get Egyn; everyone needs to be filled in about the changes that are going to be brought about around here," Lucifer ordered, the smaller dragons quickly complied. "Samael, bring the hatchling,"

There was little fighting over the matter so Mephisto complied scoping the small body up with his claws and cradling it softly. There was no denying it was cute while it slept. The only problem was dealing with it while it was awake.

It was easy to collect the dragons for the meeting, and for the most part, Lucifer took the lead and had no issue in explaining the circumstances in which the baby had come about, but that was the easy part.

The other dragon lords had a plethora of reactions to the newly hatched Samael held onto.

"I can't see why we just don't eat it," Amaimon huffed, starting the argument on a cannibalistic note.

"What if it turns on us?" Iblis questioned, her scarlet scales furling against her neck at the thought of another rogue dragon.

"Samael are you sure raising this dragon is a good idea? Who knows what power it may hold," Azazel spoke finally addressing his concerns.

"It's better than trying to kill it or leave it for dead. There is no doubt in my mind that it will come back to haunt us if we try to dispose of him, so for the time being I will look after him, as for my shifts I have already arranged a change with Lucifer," Samael answered, shutting down all excess chatter in the room.

"Well if this hatchling is sticking around can you at least show us what they look like?" Egyn asked, his sapphire scales flipping up as his interest spiked.

Samael obliged and placed the small body onto the floor, the baby let out a small hiss like whine as it lost contact with Samael, a contact which it intended to reclaim. The small claws searched for Samael's only to miss and bat at open air.

By that action alone even the numbest minded dragon could tell the hatchling had imprinted. But just as secondary confirmation the baby started to squeal as if it were in pain as it searched for Samael. Despite his instinct screaming at him stayed still watching the baby squirm.

Lucifer took a chance and scooped the hatchling open, only worsening the situation and causing the baby to shriek as it was held against its will. This was not Samael, hatchling wanted Samael, not Lucifer. It only took the tip of his nail round the baby's tail for it to latch on to his claw entirely.

"Well it's clear that the hatchling has already imprinted, so there is no way around this. Now, none of you will be forced to like to even expect the hatchling but I would suggest you at least come to terms with the fact that they are here to stay," Lucifer announced, drawing his arm back in place.

Samael fiddled with the baby and placed it softly on his back, not letting go until the newly hatched had latched onto his scales.

"Well if it's staying can we give it a name?" Iblis crawled closer to Samael, trying to get a good view of the hatchling.

"Do you know the gender of the hatchling? I don't like calling hatchlings," Egyn huffed leaning against the floor.

"I will decide a name for the hatchling and determine its gender in the morning, I know that the two of us are tired and by the looks of things you are as well," Samael grumbled, shifting his weight onto his legs in a swift gracious motion.

"Can you even keep that thing quiet all night long?" Amaimon slumped down next to Egyn, his lips parted to accommodate a soft yawn revealing the thin fangs he had to attack prey.

Amaimon's emerald green scales blended in nicely with the greenery of plants, and his smaller size made it easy for him to navigate difficult terrains such as forests, but he could only manage to bring down certain prey. By no means was he an apex predator, but he was more powerful than most dragons and that was an accomplishment all on its own.

"The hatchling is fed and if we don't interrupt its sleep then we have till dawn to rest," Lucifer explained with a small huff as he stood, stretching his legs out softly as he prepared to settle in once more.

"Does anyone have any more questions or can I go back to my den?" Samael growled scanning the other lords for further complaints.

The room went silent and Samael took that as his cue; as he left so did Lucifer. Azazel decided to add to the pile of dragons that was forming, soon Iblis and Asatroth joined the pile with Beezlebub crawling his way between the dragons and finding a warm spot to cuddle into.

It has been a while since they had slept like this, all cuddle up. Well, not all of them Lucifer and Samael opted out of it. Still, they hadn't bundled up like this in a while. It was messy sleeping in a pile of scales and fangs but it was warm, and the small dull caves they were used to lacked that warmth.

So it was a trade out, besides this pile would just be for tonight. So they could deal with the uncomfortableness for a few hours. If in the past they put up with sleeping in a pile for months then a single night would be fine.

They didn't have objections when they were hatchlings, pups, and fledglings. Things were simpler and smaller back then, those days were nice. Well nice for the younger siblings, losing the empresses and having to raise the other lords had been quite the challenge at the time.

But as they all grew older the roles reversed, life was a breeze for the elder dragons and a bigger challenge for the younger. Still no matter the challenges the youngsters faced, the life of a dragon lord was far easier than the life of a common dragon. By the power alone the lords were gods compared to an average dragon, no matter its size.

Settling into the pile and drifting off to sleep was easy for the dragon and his hatchling. Amongst the miscellaneous trinkets and other human wealth was a group of blankets and fabric making the junk just comfortable enough to rest in.

The two gladly slept through the rest of the night making it to dawn without a single mishap.

The baby woke with a small chirp and rolled onto its side. Only to learn the fault in its action too late as he slid down the emerald scales of the dragon lord.

With a small shriek, the baby landed on the pile and miserably continued to roll down the hill. The baby continued to cry as he tumbled down the pile, his small skull couldn't take much more abuse.

Claws caught him and prevented further free fall.

"For something so young you have already managed to cause me a great deal of trouble. Disrupting my sleep, changing my plans entirely, waking me up early, and giving me a panic attack all since you hatched. In a span of mere hours, you have broken the order I had in my life," Samael hissed and the hatchling. "I suppose I should thank you for that,"

The hatchling once still let its jaw slip open in a small little yawn.

With a small cracking chirp, the eyes of the dragon hatchling slid open.

Two sapphire eyes gazed up at Samael, they held a look of admiration and childlike trust.

A small thrill came from the hatchling as it's legs folded underneath its small body.

Samael met the gaze and returned the small coo, the baby lit up with joy and grabbed a hold of the elder dragon's claws.

The small paws of the dragon barely even covered one of Samael's scales.

"Well since you had the audacity to wake me up so early I suppose our day can begin with finding a proper name for you," Samael folded his hand and moved the small dragon to his other palm while he stalked around his cave.

He needed to find something small for the baby to consume. Gazing upon his stockpile he was already running low on food for himself so he might as well go hunting.

"I will have to leave you with Lucifer for a while so I can go hunting. Once I have eaten some food I can give you a name. Do you understand?" Samael asked the hatchling, in response, the dragon slumped against his palm and let out a small squeak.

"I will take that as a yes,"

Samael placed the hatchling onto his back and watched for the small claws to latch on. Once recognizing the place the baby took hold and happily rode on the elder dragon's back. The baby let out a small chirp of content as it nuzzled into the scales.

Tiny vibrations came from the baby dragon, it felt like a purr but barely any noise was being made.

This tiny creature was weird.

When entering Lucifer's cave the first thing that set him off was the scent, then next was how everything was arranged. Lucifer had rearranged everything and cleaned up as well. Lucifer before had the cleanest and tightest dens out of all the brothers so this level of cleanliness was concerning.

The golden dragon with questionable sanity was still sleeping, half-buried in the pile of gold.

"Lucifer, get up," Samael growled biting softly at Lucifer's outstretched claws.

With a snarl Lucifer awoke, his eyes fixed on Samael's neck. "What has given you such bravery to waltz in here and wake me?"

"Lucifer I am going to go hunting, can you look over the hatchling while I am out?" Samael asked, stepping fully into the cave, waking the drowsy dragon.

Lucifer's pupils grew wide as he saw the baby, the small shiny demons looked around the cave in awe. The gold lighting sparkled against the white scales of the baby in a beautiful array of colors. "Their eyes opened, Samael are sure about leaving now? I could hunt for you,"

"No, Lucifer this isn't just for the baby but me as well, and you never hunt what I like to eat. Can't you just watch it for a while?" Samael scoffed looking back at the baby. "See he liked it here,"

"I am just concerned for their development, if they saw you leave then they may be scared," Lucifer stood, golden coins and trinkets fell to the stone floor with a perfect ring.

"You are good with little things, I trust you," Samael replied, removing the dragon from his back and placing it in front of Lucifer.

"Samael, this is extraordinarily bad for the baby's welfare you can't just leave them here without letting them adopt to me, they may think you are abandoning them,"

"It will be fine, and while you're at it, figure out it is so I can name it," Samael lazily explained, pushing the reluctant dragon forward with the tip of his snout.

"Samael," Lucifer snarled at the dragon but to no avail.

"I will be back soon Lucifer," Samael replied with a smirk slithering out of the den.

"I am sorry for his behavior, if it was up to me I would have been the one to hatch you, and I can promise you wouldn't be treated like this," Lucifer sighed, settling back into the gold.

The small dragon shrunk down as it looked around, a frown appeared on the baby's lips as he looked around. Slowly he began backing away from Lucifer and hit a corner. The baby cried out in a mix of shock and fear.

Lucifer could only feel sorrow and pity for the small creature, it was so small and it had just been left by the only being it trusts. Lucifer laid his head down on the ground and began to purr.

At first, it startled the poor thing, but slowly the dragon came to realize Lucifer was not growling but instead purring. The small dragon matched the tone and crawled forward. It's small claws tapped against the stone. Baby dragons were truly a joy to be around.

Lucifer moved slowly, making sure to watch the hatchling for any signs of fear. If the baby was put off by the movement Lucifer would move slower than before as he continued to approach the dragon.

It wasn't the most ideal way to get closer, but it was better than nothing. Finally, he got close enough to grab the back of the hatchling with his jaw. The hatchling froze as Lucifer carried it over to his hoard of gold.

He placed the small dragon on it's back then let it shift over to its stomach once it felt comfortable enough to do so. In the meantime, he inspected then numerous indicators that came with a dragon's sex.

The skin under the wings pointed downwards, and the tail fin of the baby curved upward when placed on it's back. The small noticing like this was what brought Lucifer to his conclusion, the hatchling was male similar to the majority of the dragon lords.

Lucifer dove into the pile next to the hatchling and laid his wing over the baby. He had a feeling the two would in time grow to have a good bond.

Samael soon reentered the cave with a small frost coating his scales; slowly being warmed by the soft glow of the fire lamps Lucifer had set up in the room.

"There, I have food, now do you know what it is?" Samael lifted his tail and stepped further into the cave as he glanced around for the hatchling he was coming to retrieve.

"Well, I can say you have a sleepily little boy to take care of," Lucifer murmured, lifting his wing.

The hatchling was cuddled against the golden armor, buried right in the line between the gold and scales. The small boy had his head resting on the scales with the rest of his thin body parallel to Lucifer's.

"So have you come up with a name for him yet?" Lucifer let his wing fall over the baby once more as he faced Samael.

"While I was out a name did come across my mind. His father's name was Rinka at birth so a variant of his name only seemed fitting. I was thinking Rinka as a given name but we could call him Rin if we wanted to," Samael pondered, laying down against the stone floor.

"We could keep it simple and just call him Rin,"

"Yeah, that works too,"