What Makes Me Different

I woke up early on my cushion bed in the dragons cave. The dragons were all asleep, except Valorous, who had woken up early. He made it a point to guard his sleeping siblings. "Okay my little soldier, wake up your siblings, while I get breakfast ready.

I prepared the meat that I had thawed the night before, and began cutting them into small pieces. I dished up breakfast for all my dragons, and put Callalilly into the cricket box, which would be replenished weekly. I put Valorous in my pocket, as I knew he enjoyed being in the shower. After they had finished eating, I got in the elevator to take care of myself. I sat Valorous on the counter, while I made pancakes for myself and Mrs.Horn. "Mrs.Horn, breakfast is ready!" I yelled up the stairs. She came down a complete mess. I thought this woman was odd before, but her morning version was worse. Her short hair somehow scattered in every direction. She wore only a bright red robe, that had what appeared to be a fake dragon tail sewn on the back. She walked to the table with a loose hunched over stagger. She sat down with one eye half shut. Valorous hopped to the floor and growled, he began guarding me from, what he thought was a monster.

"It's okay Valorous it is only Mrs.Horn." I said quietly, so she wouldn't hear me. I picked up Valorous and sat him on my shoulder. I ate, trying not to stare at the disheveled Mrs.Horn. Whom I believed Valorous now feared, but was unwilling to show.

"Why do you have that Creek Creeper on your shoulder?" said Mrs.Horn "They don't like heights you know." she said. Valorous and I looked at eachother then at Mrs.Horn.

"I think he is okay, he is my bravest dragon." I said. She looked annoyed.

"Don't joke. It is too early for that. Every dragon lady knows that Creek Creepers are mild mannered and cowardly." Valorous growled. I stroked Valorous' head to calm him down. "Those words don't apply to this Creek Creeper. Since day one he has done all he can to protect me and his siblings." I said proudly.

Mrs.Horn stuffed pancakes in her mouth, and began to talk with her mouth full. "Siblings? Honey those hatchlings are nowhere close to being siblings. If you haven't noticed they aren't even the same species." She said.

"Well you are right in some aspects, they are all different in species and have very different personalities from one another. They however hatched from the same clutch, are being raised together, have their own special relationships, and as far as I'm concerned they are all my babies." I said. I kissed Valorous on the top of his head. He kept his gaze fixed on Mrs.Horn, but still purred slightly at my touch. "That makes them siblings, just of a very unique family." I finished.

"You are very odd indeed." I heard a voice from the front door. Bill came inside following our voices to the kitchen. "Edna never ever got as close to her dragons as you are to yours." said Bill.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" I said to Bill. "My boys don't bother knocking, so I won't either." Bill said. Mrs.Horn and I both rolled our eyes

"Forever the gentleman Bill." Mrs. Horn said. I dished Bill up some pancakes. He gladly accepted them.

"I just came here to tell you I finished your freezer barn, and I got all of the livestock you asked for. I also built a coop for the chickens and fence for the chickens. Will is working on finishing the training grounds for Switch right now." he said exhausted.

"Wow, you guys are really fast." I had new things I needed done still, but I knew he wouldn't be happy about it. I slid him over a cup of coffee. "Thank you so much for all of that, but I will also need wild flower seeds spread through out the property, and I need to start bee keeping, so I need all of the equipment for bee keeping." I said sheepishly.

"Are you serious?! You want even more work out of us! I am already working to the bone on all of your other things. Even Jasper is exhausted and he doesn't do all that much. He is mostly here to tutor you." Bill understandably complained.

"I know this is more work than you have ever had to do, but these dragons are going to be staying with me their entire lives. I am sure once they are adults they could lend you a hand every once in a while. They could also follow my example and help raise future hatchlings; which will only be given numbers, not names." I finished.

He sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I get it, and the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can relax, and watch you work." he said. I nodded in agreement. I made more pancakes, as I was sure that Will and Jasper would come in complaining soon. Bill explained the situation, and the boys were unhappy to say the least. I served pancakes and whipped cream to help lesson their frustration with me.

"Jasper, do you want to come see the hatchlings?" I asked already knowing the answer. He got out of his chair at the table with a whipped cream mustache.

"Yes!" he replied happily.

"Hey don't forget me I still have to win over Reticent." Will chimed in. The boys and I went down the elevator, while Mrs.Horn and Bill stayed still eating breakfast.

Upon arriving Jasper immediately went to the nest where the dragons were just beginning to wake up from their morning nap. Will and I stayed back a bit,

"So what kind of food does Reticent eat?" Will asked.

"Well Gull Wings eat fish." I replied. He then walked over and sat down next to Jasper. Will pulled a plastic bag from his pocket. It contained one chicken nugget and one fish stick. I laughed to myself, well at least he is trying. Dragons won't eat cooked meat, but he doesn't seem to know that. I sat back and exchanged a look with Jasper. We both wanted to see how this would play out.

"Okay as I recall, you follow your sister everywhere." Will said. Will picked up Blithesome whom had been bouncing on top of Jasper's knee, while Reticent was hiding under Jasper's crossed knees. Will put Blithesome on his shoulder, and waited for Reticent to follow. As soon as Reticent came out of hiding, Will picked him up. Reticent squirmed wiggled and even bit Will's hand trying to get out of his grasp, but he soon realized it was to no avail. Will put Reticent on his palm. Reticent was obviously about to jump down; then Will took out the fish stick, and put a piece of it in front of Reticent. The little dragon hissed at it, but stopped when he noticed his sister was indifferent towards it. He sniffed it for a moment. Then took a bite. Jasper and I were holding in laughs, in expectation of the impending rejection, when something odd happened. Reticent took another bite, and another, and another until the whole fish stick was gone. He twirled in happy circles on Will's palm flapping his four wings all the time. Jasper and I were shocked. Reticent was never like this. He then jumped to Will's other hand, which had been holding the fish stick previously. Reticent sniffed it, when he realized that the fish stick was gone, he went back into hiding.

"Will that was amazing Reticent is never like that." I said shocked.

"Dragons are supposed to hate cooked food, but it appears Reticent doesn't seem to mind it." Jasper said. Will put Blithesome back next to Reticent, and began talking.

"Okay people fish sticks are my thing. No one else is to use them as food except me. It is my goal to make that dragon like me, and one way or another those fish sticks will help." Will demanded.

"Don't worry." I began. "Fish sticks aren't really known for their nutritional value, so I will keep it out of his regular diet, but keep it to one fish stick a day, he is still very small and likely has a sensitive stomach." Jasper nodded in agreement. After about half an hour of playing, and writing down the dragons behavior around different people, the hatchlings were ready for a nap. The boys left me to settle the hatchlings down. I settled all but one of the dragons into the warm nest where they had hatched as eggs, and I pulled several poorly hand-made ice packs from the freezer, and put them in a cooler which I had been using for Coruscant's nest. "Here you go Coruscant, it isn't the prettiest, but it will be cozier for you." I said. I placed her in the nest, and waited until each of them was asleep. Then I joined the others upstairs.

Will was still going on about giving Reticent a fish stick. "and then he spun in circles." I heard him say.

"Honey that story was fine the first time you told it, but after five times it is old news." Mrs.Horn said. She saw me coming out of the elavator. "What took you so long?" she asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I had to settle the dragons down for their nap. I also had to finish writing down today's behavior. "You really are an odd one." Bill said.

"What do you mean odd? I am just caring for them, and I am taking notes on what is normal for future use. It will be a good reference if I have any of these dragon types in my next clutch." I explained.

"Dearie, if a normal person was: uprooted from their home, moved into a tacky old house in the middle of nowhere, became a caretaker of a species she thought mythical, and required the daily help of four strangers," I heard her and thought to myself that I really hadn't gotten any help from her. She continued "they would be going crazy. Not to mention I heard you were jobless and mooching off of your brother. You went from jobless to having a very difficult, and strange job." she finished. Bill spoke up again, "Like I said, very odd." I rolled my eyes at his statement.

"I am making the best of things, and these are things I have to do." I said.

"No honey you should be rehabbing animals, not raising your own dragon children, and you grew used to this in a couple of days. This is way beyond normal. This is more like you were born and bred to be a parent, but all of your kids ended up being dragons." Mrs.Horn said. Maybe she was right. This week had been the craziest week of my life, and the most life changing. Forget any dreams I ever had, because now my only purpose was raising dragons. However, this place and these dragons and these people, had made me happier and feel more at home than I ever had at my real home. I guess I was odd, but in this case it was a good thing. Sure I would probably never see my brother or his family again, but they weren't exactly my biggest fans anyways. I never really had friends, which is probably why I didn't mind these four strangers. They were people I could talk to and they would actually talk back to me. They were right though, those dragons were my babies: and despite naming them was a mistake, I was glad they would be staying with me.

*Meanwhile: Mrs.Horn, Bill, and Will were all staring at me while I was deep in thought. They all whispered to eachother.

"You ever realize she makes the faces to go along with her thoughts?" Will asked, as I was shrugging my shoulders and smiling.

"You know I call her odd to her face, but I really mean bat shit crazy." Bill said. They all nodded in agreement at that statement. They looked back at me to see me pouting.

"Well I haven't been asked a single question about raising dragons, seems my trip wasn't really worth it. I gave her an inspirational speech once though." Mrs.Horn said.

"Well she makes good pancakes." Will said. They all nodded and smiled.

*Back to Ivy

I looked over to the three sitting at the table. "What are you three so happy about.

"Oh nothing dear." Mrs. Horn said.

I raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Oookaaayy." I said suspiciously. I pounded my fist into my palm. "I am odd, but it is a good kind of odd. If these dragons will live here for life, it is crucial that they enjoy human presence. Me sleeping with them, and caring for them like my own is beneficial to all of us. For instance with my training Switch won't attack every male that comes near me. If they understand compassion towards their siblings, they may be able to help me with future clutches. If those future clutches see what compassion is like with my grown dragons, they may be able to raise their own future dragons. "You," I gestured to Mrs.Horn and Bill, "you always make it seem like Edna, and the other women who raise dragons treat them like livestock. The only livestock I will be tending too are chickens, though I plan to let Vainglorious hunt them. Livestock is treated like tools, and not living breathing creatures. These dragons that everyone has been raising aren't going to care for their own babies, because they themselves never experienced compassion. I am happy to leave my boring old life for this lifelong adventure." I finally finished my speech. The three looked dumbfounded.

"I suppose that makes sense." Bill said rubbing his chin.

"We don't treat the hatchlings like livestock!" Mrs.Horn said loudly "They are just treated like pets, because they are animals. They are not our children, they are animals." she said sounding highly offended.

"Animals that can understand everything you say?" I started to try and reason.

"They are smart, but they are still animals." she said.

I started again "Animals that carry obvious feelings, far above that of basic survival?"

She rolled her eyes "Even dogs can do that." she stated.

"Oh yeah does every dog hear that they are powerless so they decide to bring out their inner strength, everyday shows self-pride and dances to show himself off, does every dog help with chores." At that last statement she whipped her head over facing me.

"You have a dragon that does chores?" she asked in an amazed voice.

"Yes" I said, "Coruscant is always eager to help, and listens very well. That is why I haven't asked you for any help, even though she is a Prism Scale." I explained.

Her eyes turned wide when I said Prism Scale, and she rushed to the elavator.

"No don't wake them, I just put them down." I said, but that didn't stop her. I followed her in suit. I got out of the elevator and saw Mrs.Horn picking up Coruscant incorrectly. Her wings were sticking out awkwardly, and one of her feet was stuck inbetween Mrs.Horn's fingers. Coruscant loudly squeaked in fear, which caused the others to wake, and Valorous and Switch to attack. I ran over to her and took Coruscant away from her. I didn't scold Valorous or Switch, for they were in the right this time.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled angrily holding Coruscant close to my chest, and backing up towards the other nest trying to protect them. I looked at Valorous and Switch, then looked towards the nest. Switch left quickly, but Valorous turned to give a final growl at the woman, then joined his siblings. I petted the whimpering Coruscant as I held her. "What do you think you are doing. Like I have said before, I am a dragon mother, and I am not afraid to hurt you for one of my babies." I said. I gave her a cold stare that could kill. She raised her hands in surrender. Coruscant saw the hand movement, and tucked her face further into my chest.

"Every Prism Scale I have ever raised has been angry, defensive, and would do their best to hurt the one who was hurting or bothering them. Though I scared this one by waking her up suddenly and holding her incorrectly, and all she did was call for you. This is something I have never encountered." she said with a smile.

I snapped back. "That doesn't give you the right to harm or scare MY hatchlings!" I yelled, my death glare still fixed at Mrs.Horn. I had fire rushing through my veins. Coruscant seemed to be physically unharmed, but the thought that she could have been hurt if she was squeezed harder angered me more. "You are no longer allowed in this den. You may stay in the house, for the time being, but you are not allowed to come into contact with my hatchlings, until they are old enough to properly defend themselves." I said my gaze unwavering. "Now leave!" I yelled. She rushed to the elevator not looking back.

I collapsed to the floor once she was out of sight, I had never been both that brave and terrified in my whole life. I examined Coruscant for any physical damage. Other than being scared she was healthy. I laid down on my cushion, where all of the hatchlings, Somnolent included, came and snuggled against me. This was the first and hopefully only time I felt that I had needed to completely protect my dragons, who felt more like children to me. I curled up spooning the entire brood. "I will protect you guys from everything. No harm will ever come to you." I said to the hatchlings. A tear escaped my eye, and Reticent licked it off. "Thank you Reticent, you have really grown, and you all make me so happy. Even if I have only known you for a few days. Someday you will change the world." We all fell asleep curled up like that on a cushion. I woke up an hour later to Blithesome, Vainglorious, and Somnolent all

licking my face. "Okay guys I get it, it is time to eat." I said. I got up and began to prepare each dragon's lunch. I put down each of their little cupcake wrappers filled with meat, and put Callalilly in the box of crickets. I let them eat, I cleaned up their after dinner mess, I cataloged everything, then went upstairs.

I was dreading seeing Mrs.Horn, but I had allowed her to stay, so running into her was inevitable. When I got upstairs Bill was sitting on the couch watching an episode of some show older than I was on VHS.

"What did you do to that woman?" he asked me as soon as I got out of the elevator.

"She was harming one of the hatchlings, so I set her straight." I said calmly. Bill sat up straight "Did you hit her? Damn I missed it, that old biddy has had that coming for years." he said happily. "No I didn't hit her, I remained civil. I was not about to show the hatchlings that violence is always the answer. Something as powerful as a dragon learning that violence is good is a bad thing when they will be with you even when they are larger than you." I stated very maturely. "I did however yell at her, banned her from the den, and told her not to touch my dragons until they could defend themselves." I said this in a calm cold voice, that when heard sounded terrifying. Bill shuddered. "So you actually managed to terrify that woman?" Bill asked. I nodded with a smile.

"Where is she now?" I asked, hoping I could avoid her.

"After she came out of the elevator she bolted out the door grabbing my keys on the way out, and drove off with my truck." he said. "and what about the boys, where are they?" I asked. "Jasper and Will are in the forrest clearing an area where they can plant flowers for the Flower Frill." he explained. I gave him a hug "What was that for?" he asked.

"You and your family do so much for me, I thought I should give you a hug. What is something I can do for you?" He smiled and rubbed his chin. I immediately regretted my offer.