!!!!!!

She squeaks in happy recognition at her mother!!! Hi mom! Gosh you're pretty, how are you so big, you were not so big before, wait now you're shaped like she is??? How'd you do that!!! It's so cool, her mom is so cool and so powerful and she's just going to flap over and land on one of her giant horns and coo lovingly at her because so great!!!!

The rest of the flock similarly finds purchase and Alexestrasza rumbles in happy contentment,soaring through the sky with her brood upon her back.

They circle back around to the base of the tree, where two dragonkin are tending a fire over which is roasting something that smells delicious.

Oooooooo.

That's for them, right? She hopes it's for them, it smells so good. She looks at her mother and chirps inquisitively, edging closer to the delicious smell on her perch.

The fire-tenders lift the roast off its spit and lay it out. Alexstrasza gives a nod.

Well then. Come, siblings! It is time to feast!!

The roast will fall before the unstoppable might of a swarm of hungry whelps.

Yes. Yes it will. Truly, there are no more fearsome forces in the (her limited experience of) the world than a swarm of hungry whelps.

There are probably more fearsome and unstoppable things than a swarm of hungry whelps, but that says more about the potential fearsomeness of things in a world with the likes of dragons and Mom in it than it does about the whelps' fearsomeness.

She eats her fill quickly and efficiently, then gets to monitoring her siblings. Siblings, are you playing nicely with each other? No biting, no fighting over food? You all followed your big sister's example and didn't mess with anyone else?

There's plenty for everyone, and no one seems to feel the need to take from their neighbor.

Good.

This assured, she finds an appropriate nook on Mom to snuggle in, and settles in for snuggling. She's feeling a bit lethargic after eating so much, and snuggling seems restful.

The days pass in a peaceful idyll, one after another. The whelps learn from their various experiences. Some, admittedly, more quickly than others. The big dragons show up and disappear according to some inscrutable whim or schedule, but the cast of dragonkin stay constant, and of course, Alexstrasza is always around to watch over her clutch. She spends more and more time talking to her whelps, waiting for the day when they begin talking back.

One of her whelps (rather predictably) takes to this faster than the others.

She listens with watchful eyes while her mother speaks, at first finding it an interesting thing to observe, and then a neat thing to mimic for the novelty. It's fun to squeak back as if she definitely understands why this is happening and what's going on, when she really has no idea at all. Mom seems to think it's rather important, for some reason. Eventually she figures out how to form distinct syllables instead of indistinct whelpish squeaking, and finds it wonderfully entertaining to repeat the noises her mother makes. Especially when her siblings echo her like little parrots, that's the best part.

Then she slowly starts to realize that sounds have meanings, and that sentences have patterns, and her babbling starts to have more of a purpose.

She's talking! Eeee! That means it's time for names!

Mom is Alexstrasza, and that big dragon is Tyranastrasz, and that one's Lirastrasza, and that's Belnistrasz. The dragonkin are Hylat and Mara and Kellit and Ryze.

She dutifully repeats these names, and even goes so far as to realize these names correspond to people! She even makes a game of flitting from name-bearer to name-bearer, chirping their names at them and watching them react. It's fun! She likes this game.

The whelp needs a name too.

"What about Ranaestrasza?" says Mom, poking her nose. "Are you Ranaestrasza?"

The little whelp blinks. She checks her surroundings for any hidden dragons anywhere (she has figured out by now that the 'strasz' part corresponds to the large and impressive dragons) and notes that there very definitely aren't any. Just... her. Huh.

"Ranaestrasza," she repeats thoughtfully, tasting the word more than electing to be called by it. So... she's a dragon? She'll get to be big and impressive?

She chirps in approval. "Ranaestrasza!"

"Ranaestrasza!" This calls for cuddles.

Cuddles, yay!!!

"'Strasz'?" she chirps thoughtfully, looking at one of her siblings.

"Not 'strasz'. But how about you help me pick different names for everyone else?"

She gives an affirmative (if somewhat sad) chirp. Then she can help with names! She can come up with many syllables that she's heard before, and put them together into different combinations to see if her siblings like them!

Now there's Neol, Amaet, Tarek, Kadhil, Herathe, Ulvern, Rova, Kolob, and many more. Everyone's happy to have a name! They all mill about chirping their name at each other.

Aww! Yay, her siblings have names! She can snuggle them and chirp names at them, too!

Names!

Downside of having names: now when some of the whelps dig through the firepit and get soot everywhere, they're held individually responsible. Upside: the incidence rate of that happening goes down a lot.

Ranaestrasza is okay with this. Actually, if they're being held individually responsible, can she be The Most Helpful Whelp? She would like very much to be The Most Helpful Whelp, that sounds very exciting, she's going to flap around and ask if she can assist with things and then do that!!

She can help with things! The alchemists need more earthroot, if she can gather up some of that.

She will be the best earthroot gatherer!!! ... Just as soon as she knows where it grows and what it looks like. But after she learns that, she will be the best herb gathering whelp the world has ever seen! Do siblings want to help?