Tytula cringed as she felt the tiny pack beside her move. She didn't like bugs. Not at all.
The large, light-resistant cage she carried beside her rattled a bit as well. A small, green Drakkin was leaping around in there, not caring that it was now traveling through the Forest Realm in Dracogrex. It was pretty much preoccupied with chasing its little spiked tail. It was physically impossible for the creature to catch its stubby tail, but who cared about those technical specifications?
Tytula trudged a few more yards to the hidden entrance to her lair. She stepped down into a softly lit chamber, and put on the night-vision goggles hanging around her neck. She passed through a large arc into a darker room. She stepped through another mammoth doorway into an even darker room, then a darker one, etc. Soon, she was in the last chamber, which was nearly picth black. She un-hooked the latch on the cage, and stepped through the last doorway.
The little green creature bounded out into the darkness, trilling and cooing happily. It darted out several feet into the darkness, then rushed back to Tytula's side, panting.
"You are funny," Tytula giggled. "Do you like it here?"
Tytula received a reply of ecstatic yelps that she took to mean yes.
The young girl knelt down beside the Drakkin, and scratched it behind the horns. It closed its eyes contentedly, and yawned.
"I'm Tytula," she said gently, "but I guess you could call my Ty if that makes things any easier. I'm going to take care of you now, okay? You're going to live here!"
The Drakkin cocked its head and blinked its amber eyes curiously. It stamped its paws on the ground, and nodded questioningly.
"Yes, you'll live here! With me!"
The youngling jumped into the air, and came down on all four feet, wagging its tail. Tytula grinned, and flinched when the spikes swung close to her stomach.
Something nudged her hip, and Tytula remembered the 'subterranean insects' Dwahro had given her. Heck, why not just let them go now? She untied the package, and gasped as a myriad of bugs fell onto the floor. About half of them took off into the air, and the rest crawled quickly away.
"Lovely," she muttered. "So, little buddy, you're going to hunt those?"
The Drakkin was concentrating on a small centipede beneath its paw at the time, and it ignored her question. It gobbled up the bug, and looked up at her as if to say, "Now, what was that all about?"
"I think I got the answer to my question," Tytula said, trying not to gag.
Suddenly, some instructions of Dwahro's popped into her head. She was to name her Drakkin, because Dwahro 'didn't have enough time to be creative.' Figured.
"Hmm," she said, studying her new charge. "You don't look like a Fikos, and Hurlio won't do either. You need something more...beautiful. In a masculine way," she added quickly as the baby's tail began to wave.
"Now let me see here," Tytula muttered, whipping out a Latin Dictionary she owned for just this purpose. "Ah, Perturmiles. It's derived from the words meaning 'Chaos Warrior.' It may not describe you right now, but it will when you get older, I suppose. What do you think?"
The baby, Perturmiles, just sat there, trying to figure out the concept of 'name.' Finally, he nodded cheerfully, acting like it understood everything that was going on perfectly.
"Good, then," Tytula said. "Perturmiles," she said slowly, running the word over in her head. "Perturmiles."
* * *
"What?" Tytula asked sleepily. "Amy? Is that you? Oh, Per!"
The little Drakkin jumped off of Tytula's bed, and ran out of the room.
"Oh, yeah, Per-Per," Tytula called. "The best way to wake up someone is to drool on them. Yeah, I'll remember that one." Wiping off her soaking face, she walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth and shower.
The entire time she was in there, Perturmiles stood outside her door. He waited patiently for his friend to come out and play with him. For the last two weeks, this had been their steady routine. Soon after Tytula came out, they would both eat. Then, they would get to training.
Tytula came trudging out of the bathroom, her long black hair swept back in a ponytail.
"Ty-ty-ty-tytyty!" Perturmiles trilled loudly. Tytula had managed to teach Per how to say something close to her name.
"Per-per-per-perperper!" Tytula replied just as loudly, laughing as the youngster ran off to their kitchen.
Tytula opened one ebony cupboard and pulled out a box of meat pellets. Dwahro had suggested several brands of food to her, and this was one of the healthy ones that helped the growth of the hatchlings.
"Ty-ty!" Per chirped as Tytula filled his bowl with pellets. She sighed as he began to devour the breakfast. She herself despised eating meat.
"That's right," Tytula crooned as she got some cereal for herself. "It's time to eat breakfast now. After this, you need to take your vitamins, and then we can go out and play."
Perturmiles whimpered a little bit. He hated his vitamins with a passion, but he knew that he had to take them before he and 'Ty' could go out and play. He resumed gobbling up his meat as Tytula munched on some cereal.
"That's a good boy," she said between mouthfulls. "Eat up, now."
When they were both finished, Tytula got out two large, chewable vitamins-for-Drakkin-hatchilngs that Dwahro had provided for her. She held Per's jaw open while he struggled, and placed both of the vitamins between his sharp teeth. She let go, and he glared at her while he chewed. She gave him his water after that, and, just to be nice, she sprinkled some grape-flavored powder into it. Per loved grapes.
Per gulped down the water, and decided that Ty wasn't so bad after all. He chirped, and bounded out into the dark caverns of his home.
* * *
A flash of green, and 30 pounds of pure Drakkin went rushing at the big stone. Watching him run, Tytula still got the same thrill she had felt when they first tried to train together.
Emitting a low growl, Perturmiles lunged at the stone, slashing three huge gashes in the side of the rock. He dashed several yards past his target before stopping, carrying himself on momentum. Per turned around, and high-stepped back to Tytula's side.
"Ty-ty!" the Drakkin chirped, proudly waving his tail.
"Good job, Per-per," Tytula said enthusiastically. "Good boy!"
Tytula whistled three times, and Perturmiles took his position at her side. Tytula whistled twice, and off charged Per, headed for the rock again.
Tytula waited a few seconds for Per to work up momentum. The most important skill in the heat of battle is knowing when to retreat, she thought to herself.
Per was nearing the rock now. Tytula narrowed her eyes, and whistled once. The shrill noise reached Per's ears, and he half-leapt and half-fell back onto his hind feet. For one magnificent second he was pawing the air with his taloned paws, and then he was charging back to Tytula's side. He stopped when he reached her, and turned to face the rock again. Tytula was proud beyone measure.
"Per-per, that was perfect!" she exclaimed. "Good job, yeah! Here you go." Tytula revealed a small chocolate pellet in her hand.
Perturmiles snatched the treat out of her palm, and gobbled it down. He wagged his tail, and blinked his brilliant amber eyes up at Tytula, asking for another one.
"Try that maneuver again, and I just might have something else for you," Tytula crooned. Perturmiles stood up, and prepared to run.
Tytula whistled once, and breathed in sharply. Per twitched, and looked up at her, annoyed. Tytula whistled once again, and breathed again. Per crouched down, tail waving. Tytula took a deep breath, and whistled twice.
Per was off in a flash of talons and tail spikes, heading for the rock. "Bite it, Per!" Tytula called, watching closely as her friend moved closer to his target.
The vibrant green Drakkin closed his jaws around the stone. His teeth scratched the surface, and he bounded back. He waved his tail, and crouched down. He jumped, flying over the stone. He landed on the other side, snarling. He rose to his hind legs, and batted at the air with his front paws.
He suddenly became distracted with a small bug flitting past. In a flash of teeth, the bug was nowhere to be seen, and Per had a contented look on his face. He trotted back to Tytula, and cocked his head.
"Ty-ty-ty-tytyty?" He trilled questioningly. His mind was back on that chocolate.
"Jump for me, and I'll give it to you." Tytula nodded, and Perturmiles sprung several feet into the air. His legs kicked around, and he landed flat on his stomach.
Tytula giggled, and handed Per the delicious chocolate. "C'mon, that's enough," Tytula said cheerfully. "It's lunchtime for this gal." With that, girl and Drakkin marched off to the kitchen for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
