...Woke the hatchling, who discovered in the few seconds of waking, that their heated cushion was gone. The once-man stretched upon his side, all four limbs pushing into their respective directions... His maw gaped in a toothy, wide yawn. A little puff of mist came from his breath, as the air was chilled. It helped bring his mind back to the present, and those eyes slid open with great curiosity... Peering around at his surroundings, both familiar and not. The craggy, earthen tones of the hole in the... Mountain? That was his guess, since he'd yet to come out of it. They reminded him of a previous childhood, of playing in the dirt... Not a care in the world, even if you'd gotten injured with your friends, it was always something to laugh off. Well, it was safe to say that he'd at least left that horrible reality... But these colors did not represent the sweet, near other-worldly ruminations of a childhood now lost.
The hatchling located its previous protector, as they'd not gone far... Apparently drinking from a running water source that ran along the edge of the hole-in-the-mountain. Cave, maybe. His slitted eyes focused upon the features of his savior... The visibly tough hide was colored similarly to the earthy walls, and consisted of a meshing of scale-like formations. Like miniature armor plates, all layered perfectly. Each the size of... Well, he didn't have a very good reference for size at the moment, but he'd guess roughly the size of a coaster for cups. Both of which, he'd never use again. It almost saddened him. He continued his examination, watching that maw split open briefly for each heavy lapping of a thick, fleshy tongue to scoop water. The head seemed... Almost thin, in a way. Not excessively wide, and definitely not rounded. So, a typical... Western dragon, of a sorts. To go off of the terminology of his previous world's lore. Stony ridges ran along its spine, and crested over its head in a near... Display.
Now, arguably the best part of a Dragon, that truly made it a Dragon would be the wings... But, this protector didn't have any. His eyes narrowed into a squint, as he tried to see if there was any sort of... Remnants. And, indeed there was. Along the back, roughly just where one would expect a Dragon's wings to be attached, were two long, hideous gash scars that shone with a pink, fleshy tone. His own wings shuffled ever so slightly, in discomfort. He'd only had them so long, and he already dreaded the mere notion of going through something that terrible.
All this inspection, brought him to remember that he still needed to similarly inspect himself! He'd been too busy getting some rest, previously after all. And so, his head turned upon his somewhat flexible neck, and his yellow, slitted eyes focused upon a stony, gray hide. Similarly, it was if he was covered in a mesh of perfectly layered plates... The scales much smaller than his protector, and supposedly adult counterpart. Unlike them, his coloration was of a gray, dark in tone and similar to a mountain's tone, rather than the craggy, earthen tones of his protector. His tail especially caught his attention... As it swayed from side to side, small croppings of stone-like material riding its spine... And similarly, his back also sported them. They were jagged, and angular. Truly as if his hide had a coating of stones grown upon him. No doubt, this would make for excellent camouflage in more sparse terrain.
Whilst he was enraptured with observing his own body, he had clearly missed the rumbling approach of the earthen dragon... And he nearly jumped as the rumbling greeting of that dragon practically shook his core. Yet, he didn't really understand a word it'd said.
"Like rock you are, little one. Yet there are no gems for you to stare at, don't be so fascinated with yourself." The Mother chided, though she too knew that this one couldn't nearly understand her... Yet, the slight toning of the words did break through for the hatchling, and he dipped his head, a small bit ashamed of his narcissism. Not that there was truly anything wrong with it, but he supposed if there was something to be cautious of, it would be anything of this dragon.
The dragon began to turn, and beckoned towards the hatchling with a slight gesture of its head... To follow. The dragon rumbled something, once more.
"Come, to learn is to live." The Mother stated, fully expecting the hatchling to follow, whether through understanding, self preservation, or perhaps instinct. Which was true, is hard to say... But the hatchling did follow. It couldn't hurt to stick with someone bigger than you, and maybe learn a thing or two.