The warm embrace of her father's presence in the dream world was like a drop of water to a beautiful flower dying in the summer heat. Leonie tried to hold on to the fleeting threads of her dream, but they kept slipping through her fingers. Holding on to dreams was like trying to catch snowflakes on a cold wintry day, one touch of a hand would melt them away and all one is left with is the remembrance of its beauty. Waking world claimed her as its own before she was ready to say farewell to her father's comforting companionship.

She tried to clutch to her pleasant dreams the way she used to hold on to her father's warm hand when she felt the poison of fear slowly consuming her body, making her a heaving mess. His strength was a river giving life to the ones who were lucky enough to live near it and now it felt like the river had dried up and its empty bed stared at her with vacant eyes empty of life, of joy.

She felt as her father was one certainty in her life, his guiding hand helping her conquer all the traps life put in her way, to overcome all her fears. He was so many things to her. A protector. An advisor. Her darling father. 

Even though she loves her mother with boundless tenderness and fervor, they never shared the special connection that she had with her father. Their souls understood each other on a much deeper level. The same special bond burned brightly between her little brother and her mother.

Upon slowly rousing from her slumber, her drowsy eyes started lazily scouring her surroundings, sleep still heavy on her eyelashes. Barely holding them up, Leonie noticed something odd about the rock that witnessed her night-long slumber.

Suddenly her eyes flew open in shock once her barely awoken brain managed to soak in the wonder her eyes beheld. Wiping away the morning dust from her eyes she took another closer look, thinking it might all be a part of another dream.

The warm entity that proved itself not to be a stone was the most enchanting sight her eyes had ever been graced to encounter. It took her a moment to discern what her eyes were seeing. It was a huge, green-patterned egg that glistened brightly in the gentle light of the morning sun. 

Being a hunter's daughter bears with it a vast knowledge of prey and predators as well as the untouchables, that woods gracious provided a home for. Untouchables should never be harmed in any way or else a great misfortune would befall the one whose hand dared cause any pain to them.

Right there, facing her, was an egg of an untouchable, the one who was the most powerful and gracious of them all, the Green Scaled Dragon. It was the rarest and the most sacred type of dragons that was respected by everyone in her village and beyond. Though that was true, there were stories of hunters slaughtering the majestic creatures, but Leonie refused to believe that anyone's heart could be so cold as to kill the creature which represented light and warmth.

The sad thing about the way of the world was that though they were revered and respected by the other creatures, Green Scaled Dragons were oftentimes rejected by their own mothers. They were left out in the cold in the hopes that they would perish and spare the mother dragon from having to endure a presence that was so different from her own that she could not withstand it. The Green Scales were seen as the runts of the litter although their beauty and power often surpassed that of their mothers.

Sitting there listening to the beating pulse of an unborn heart, Leonie could not help but hope. She could still hope that the legends about the Green Scales were filled with falsities, that they were not shunned and abandoned by their elders. That they were not forced to try to fend for themselves even before their eyes were able to see the light of day for the first time if they even accomplished surviving long enough for that. Lacking one parent was hard enough, as Leonie could attest to, but being without both parents was the worst cruelty Leonie could think of.

It was a rule in the dragon world that the father never set his eyes upon his young as all nurture befell on the mother dragon. If she decided to abandon her egg, without anyone to connect their heart of hearts with the dragon, most of the baby dragons usually died of a broken heart which is an excruciatingly painful way to perish. 

That fate was not about to befall this particular egg! Leonie had decided the moment her fingers reverently touched the egg's shell and felt its warmth, that if the mother did not return Leonie herself would be the one to connect with the dragon, to bond for all eternity.  

A human bonding with a dragon to preserve its precious heart wasn't unheard-of, but it was not recommended. People would especially object to a little girl bonding with the being that held so much power and strength in its gigantic body. They would claim that decisions which changed the course of one's life should not be made at the tender age of ten. The little girl, with a heart that throbbed in pain, would have disagreed if she ever heard them state so. The truth of the matter was that every decision, big or small, could change the course of one's life whether they wish it so or do not.

Fully aware of the danger that would ensue if the mother dragon was to return, Leonie waited with bated breath to see if the return would occur. For it was said, 'shall the female dragon not return on the next morn upon laying the egg, it shall not return at all'. So Leonie, the brave little girl with a heart of gold sat down gently caressing the egg waiting to see if the mighty mother dragon would return.

She cared not for her own safety, the only thing that mattered to her was the well-being of the unborn dragon in front of her. She HAD to protect it and make sure it was okay. Still, it didn't feel like it was her duty to do so, but a need deep down in the core of her being. 

Even as youthful as she was, she knew that every life was precious and the only valid reason to take a life was for nourishment. However, to her, walking away from that egg without knowing if it would be cared for was the same as taking its life for no valid reason. Her father taught her to be better than that.

"We take lives only when we have to, my little doe. We save lives whenever we get the chance. That is how we keep the balance of life. Only taking lives would end in despair. My advice to you is to always take care to save more lives than you take. That way when your time finally comes to join the Great Forest you will know that you led a good life and will join in the eternal hunt for the true values of being." She remembered him saying.

When the morning sun changed into the strong afternoon sun, Leonie realized the harsh truth. The little dragon was abandoned in the damp forest where the realities of life would consume him in mere moments. Unlike adult dragons, newly born dragons were easy prey for the predators which lurked in the forest searching for food. That was another common cause of their premature demise. 

The forest was a beautiful, enchanting place, but it could also be a cruel battlefield where only the strongest were able to survive. It was the constant fight for life, for one's place under the sun and Leonie knew that better than anyone. 

After all, her father's life had been ended by an antler of the stag he was hunting. It was fighting for its right to be while her father was struggling to keep his family well-fed and to keep them alive. In the powers of wills, the luck was on the side of the stag since its blow held true, immediately severing the precious lifeline leading to her father bleeding out, passing on in a matter of seconds.

Was it the good fortune that the stag had? Or was it the cruel hand of Destiny that dealt that blow? Leonie didn't know. All she was left with was the cruel reality of what was. No explanations. No reason. It just was what it was, unalterable.

As those dark thoughts swirled around her head, pain once again claiming her heart as its dominion, Leonie started shedding tears once more. She wept for what she had lost never to find again, but she also cried for the baby dragon that would never get to meet its kin. Abandoned by its own flesh and blood. All alone in the world that can be enormous especially to someone so tiny as they both were. She could feel the baby dragon's pain, empathize with it. Her heart knew how it was to lose one's parent, and she couldn't even fathom how it felt to lose both.

Leonie hugged the warm, pulsating egg with all the love she had, her body shaking from grief. Her warm tears started dripping on the awe-inspiring egg that radiated so much life and energy that it was almost too much to bear. 

Suddenly, Leonie realized that the shaking was no longer coming from her. It was the egg. It started shaking and pulsating at the same time until cracks and fissure appeared on its surface. In the next moment, there was a hole in the eggshell and Leonie was met with a huge pair of eyes that seemed to contain an innumerable number of stars in them. They spoke of the vastness of life and beauty of all that ever was and will be. Leonie was simply mesmerized by them. They were the sole focus of her attention. 

At that moment, as the noon sun blessed the forest with its rays of gold, a baby dragon was finally born.