Standing in the midst of shards of the shell, is an aquatic looking dragon, squabbling and toying around with a mouse. Shining teal scales cover every inch of the baby's dragons body, reflecting sunlight as she shifts around, chasing after the small rodent. Along her thick strong neck, pairs of dark blue gills lie, membrane peeking out form underneath the pointed scales. Along with two ivory horns sprouting from the top of her head, light blue frills fun from the tip of her nose, all the way to the end of her tail. Webbing stretches between her claws, and her wings are thick and muscled, the membrane glossy. They seem pretty flexible too, and I have a suspicion they're meant to be used both on land and in water.

I swivel my head around, watching as the female dragon trots after the mouse, heading around me and towards the pond. She has a stocky build, with long, well muscled limbs considering she's a newborn. And though I can't quite put my finger-er claw on it, there's something I'm missing. And that something soon becomes clear, as after giving chase to the mouse, the dragon's attention is drawn away from it. As the mouse scurries away, diving into its burrow, the small dragon yips in delight as her big turquoise eyes lock onto the pond. Wings spreading, she dives gracefully headfirst into the crystal clear water, sending up a white spray of droplets behind her. Unfurling a wing to catch the water droplets, when I tuck it back in, I'm met with an amazing sight. Not only is she a natural swimmer, but her hind legs have actually fused into a smooth long tail, with long frilly light blue fins billowing out behind her.

So that's what it is! I realize, connecting the dots. She's not just a regular dragon. She's a hybrid! It looks like the other part of her is from that mythological mermaid horse thing... What're they called again? I try to recall, raking my brain for all the mythical creatures I've read about. I let out a triumphant snort as the answer comes to me. Oh yeah that's right, a hippocampus. So she's a hippocampus and dragon hybrid. Watching as she glides around underwater, scales shimmering, a toothy smile breaks out onto my face. Take that, mom! Not only are dragons real, but apparently so are other mythical creatures!

Content to leave her be, I turn back around, padding towards the remaining two eggs nestled under the apple tree. Tilting my head, I begin to ponder why they aren't hatching. Well I guess that one only hatched when I touched it. So... Maybe I have to touch these ones as well? I guess, eyeing the two oval eggs with a burning curiosity.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." I mumble to myself, noting how my external voice was defiantly deeper than normal and a little rougher, leaning down, and touching my snout lightly to the first of the two eggs that remained.

"P... pa... Papa...?" A feminine voice as smooth as silk though rather weak spoke from behind me, causing my head shot straight up in utter shock and a bit of fright that I have been discovered. To my surprise, everything was relaxed, like something was in control and keeping me calm. Saying how this soundless voice has lead me down the best path I could have taken it was probably for the best to believe everything it told me as of right now. Obeying this really nonexistent command, I turn my head to meet eyes with the young hatchling with the brightest smile.

     "Papa... what this?" The young dragon asked lowering her to Sir Lithi that now sat beside her. I was left speechless, at first I felt a puff anger, believing that this new born had dug through my belongings. But the slowly building rage was cooled upon noticing that my bag was left exactly how I had last saw it, which meant this dragon has a lot more skill she's leading onto or my plushie just fell out while digging through it myself and she just happened to come across it. Which seems more logical? Then after my mini conflict of my stuff, now it's onto the real matter at h-h- I mean paw.

     This little hippocampus dragon that literally hatched five minutes ago is already calling me her father! I was most likely one of those animal things where they imprint on the first animal species they see, and that must of been me. I'm okay with this, yet I'm not okay with this. Maybe if this was taken a little more slowly, though I believe I was the umm, I'm going with person for now, to hatch her so I guess that means I'm qualified. Then again I'm only sixteen and know nothing about parenthood. But for now, play along, and keep her happy while I try to wrap my head around the whole idea of fatherhood.

"That's Sir Lithi and he's my best friend." I told the unnamed dragon as softly as I could crouching down in front of her, and finally in full relaxation.

"Fr... Friend?" She questioned, and I couldn't help chuckle lightly as she used her webbed ears to move the little stuffed dragon to the top of her head.

"A friend is someone who will always look out for you and feels like family." I explained to her with a calm smile.

"Like Papa!" The female hybrid chirped cheerfully, before running back to the pond and diving back it with Lithi sitting on the shore.

  "Yeah, you could put it that way." I nod peacefully with a chuckle, slowly enjoying this new role with every passing second.

I'm so enveloped in the sudden fact that I now have the responsibility of looking after this dragon, that I completely neglect the hatchlings of the other two eggs. Mixed emotions of excitement and anxiety dominate my brain, and they're soon boosted to impossible heights as a soft cracking sound rings out from behind me, and there are two tiny squeals. Swishing around, my eyes land on the two newborn dragons lying in a blanket of shell peaches, staring up at me with huge curious eyes.

One of them I can tell is a boy, by some weird new sixth dragon sense. Unlike my snow-white scales, this baby dragon has scales blacker than night, absorbing any light directed at him and making him seem like a walking shadow. In fact they're so black, it takes a great amount of concentration to actually make out the scales. In contrast, the larger black scales running down his neck and belly, seem to shine like beacons. This is because though they're still black, they have a soft sheen to them, which does actually reflect a small amount of light. There's that same sheen on his sharp little black claws, and the small horns curving back from the top of his head. Noticing me studying him, the baby looks up at me with brilliant ruby colored eyes, seeming to grin at me. And strangely enough, I can't help but smile back.

"I guess I should give you a name, huh?" I ask the dragon, who tilts his head, staring up at me with big curious eyes.

After a moment of thought, the perfect name comes to me.

"I'm gonna name you Void." I tell him, deciding to name him that after the extreme darkness of his scales.

The second one-a girl-is a hybrid like the hippocampus hybrid, who is still splashing and swimming in the pond. Her mouth is somewhere between a beak and a snout, curving down and being relatively skinny. Soft white feathers cover the entire front half of her body, including her head. The feathers are tipped with a pale blue, giving her a kind of wintery appearance. Her front legs, unlike the other two dragons, are like the legs of a large bird. Yellow and slim, three pointed toes jut from each foot with sharp black talons at the ends. Her backside look almost exactly Void's, except for two features. The first is that her scales aren't as dark as Void's, even though they're still black. The second is that her tail isn't like a classic dragon tail, but instead, looks exactly like a horse tail. The long glossy hairs of her tail are white, drooping down nearly to the ground. I instantly recognize what she's a hybrid of. A dragon and a hippogryph.

  "And you're gonna be called... Heather." I decide, nodding to myself.

Heather squeals in delight, seeming to understand, and wobbles right up to me. Being so young, her head only reaches my chest, but yet she doesn't seem intimidated at all. Probably cuz she thinks I'm her dad, too. I realize, letting a smile touch my lips as she nuzzles affectionately into me, rubbing her head against the large protective scales on my chest.

Void clearly got the memo the others were giving off, as he curled up against my left side. Glancing up at the sky, I saw it taking on a soft orange giving the message it was getting rather late since it was midwinter. I could feel myself growing tired along with my new young ones, so it was best for us to go to bed.

"Lulu come join us please." I kindly request to the aquatic dragon, calling the name off the top of my head. She must have liked the name because she galloped over with impressive speed and yipping in joy somehow with Sir Lithi in her mouth.

     Once Lulu was curled up on my right side close to Heather, I spread my wings and wrapped them around my hatchlings. As the three new borns drifted off into the realm of dreams I could feel their warm comforting heart beats.

"This has officially been the best day of my life." I sighed contently as I joined my new family in slumber.

Hey guys! So I'm thinking about having someone close to Lachlan to go out and attempt to find him (can be friend or family, preferably friend, but either is fine). And I'd like to know who you think should be up to the task. Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Till next time;

Stay strong my cookie lovers!

~Dolphin

(Once again Thanks to DarkDisco7 to helping to write the chapter)