...Passed, but not too quickly. While the hatchling truly couldn't understand much from the get-go, that did not mean that it was a slow learning, particularly. The Mother was admittedly a little upset, that as of so far it'd struggled with learning the language... Almost as if it was inherently trying to make sounds of a different kind. Obviously, not the sounds that it should be making. She was however, moderately satisfied with its level of common sense. For a hatchling, it didn't bumble around nearly as much as she was used to. And for that, she was thankful.
Personally, the hatchling as also thankful that he'd learned how to stance himself well enough... It seems that even if he wasn't inherently of a dragon, he was fitting in well with his already... 'Mature' mindset. Mature in the sense that he'd previously had a fully developed brain, and it seemed that whatever his soul was, it had managed to keep the original mentality intact... Mostly. A lot of gaps had been filled in with the energy of the soul essence he'd... Come to know as hijacked. The pieces of him that'd been nearly absorbed into it, had enough of a presence and strength that they'd been placed into the 'binding' slots of his newfound soul, per-say. Therefore taking control of what would've been an entirely fresh mind, with his already developed one. This was all, of course, his speculations. He'd managed something of an internal inspection, as ever since he'd initially become so fragmented, he'd become near-painfully aware of his soul. Even now, he held the same awareness... It was through this that he had managed to inspect his inner self, and just how he hadn't ended up absorbed. Not that his fragments hadn't changed... They had conjoined fully with the rest of what was now him, after all. They'd become what they had needed to, and could definitely not easily be separated once more.
For now, he pulled his attention from within and placed it once more on what he'd come to understand as his Mother. She was once more showing him something... His pushed his snout forwards, and brought his eyes upon what she'd been furtively gesturing towards with her own snout for the past moment, that he'd been stuck in self-ruminations. Instinctively, his snout inhaled in quick, fast droughts of air... Sniffing. The scent immediately washed through his mind, and it gave off a... Thick, near-alluring scent. From above him, the telltale rumbles of his Mother's speech pressed down.
"Little one, these are good. Signs of food ahead, plump and meaty." She revealed, as she traced the hoofed outline of a track with the tip of one of her claws. These, would lead to an animal that the hatchling would've described as goat-like, from his previous world.
And his suppositions were correct, as after they'd followed those tracks they had came upon the sight of a gathering of perhaps a dozen, goat-like animals. Shaggy coats, with forward facings horns... They looked rather sharp, and the idea of one or more of those horns gutting into a body... Sent a chill down his spine. The Mother, whose eye had been trained upon her hatchling, chuckled. A heavy, rumbling sound that she had stifled... A chuff barely audible for the hatchling, but all the more embarrassing for him.
"Now... I'll show you which to take." She rumbled, but kept it low... It wouldn't do to spook her hunt, now would it? She lowered her head, to be near-level to the side of his own, to better direct his vision. "Now, do you see that one?" She inquired, directing him towards an outlier of the group... One of its two horns were missing, broken by the base. It was perhaps somewhat thinner than the rest, but still well enough sized. "That one is doomed, it failed to push to the top. So, we will take it away from the bottom." She revealed, giving the reasoning for it. "With this, even the bottom may be taken to the top... Above the others, within us. We are the highest of heights, and with us it shall soar." She continued... A near awe in her tone.
"For one day, we may also be in its position, at the bottom... May we be brought to the top, just as we will for this one." She stated, and it was from there that the hatchling a visible demonstration on the best method to be large, dangerous, and yet silent. That goat did not live long.
The hatchling ate well enough for growth that night, and his Mother received enough to stave off hunger.
He was told one last thing, before they slept once more.
"Once you can speak, you will get your name, little one."