BACK!

It had been three seasons of So You Want to Ride a Dragon, all of them gaining in popularity and ad-space.

Who could resist, especially after the docu-drama style of filming as Z'mariaaw grew up, tended by his bond Accelerando? A spin-off of the show would soon be in the works, something to be shown on Animal Planet or some other such nature-oriented station, one which featured the growth and care of dragons in the modern world.

The Cops show benefitted from their dragons, the Dragon Riders in Love show certainly had its moments. The game show atmosphere of So You Want appealed to so many people though, it was kept on prime-time. Accelerando had even heard that there was a fire station that had dragons for its emergency crews, and in fact she saw a couple of them flying overhead while they were filming that one time.

But something was gnawing at her, in this off-season between filming. They took several weeks off every three months, giving everyone time to rest, relax and scout out new locales and dragons for the show. Well, and to scout humans too, but it was Accelerando's job to find the dragons.

She and Z'mariaaw took off to their newest destination, Treval City. There, they were greeted with a host of informative signs and directions. Zeem (as he was often called) nosed them toward the hatching area, where they were apparently just in time to get in on a new clutch.

Far from their filming crew, however, Accelerando and Zeem had to go this one alone. Z'mariaaw watched from the sidelines, because frankly his bond was freakishly good with younglings even though she was boundlessly egocentric most of the time. The zappy walked among the hatchlings, joined by several others of many species.

Finally, one particular hatchling caught her eye, and probably her mind.

"What's your name, little dear?" She cooed in her 'quiet' voice. The gold-shaded male turned to her.

"Badan, can I come with you? Are you old? What's it like to be old?"

"I'm -- I'm not old!" Accelerando blurted out, "what would give you that impression?"

"Well all those lines on your face and stuff," the gold-splotched dragonet said.

"Those aren't wrinkles," Accelerando said, "they are markings."

Around the corner, Zeem was having a terrible time stifling his dragony laughter...

Accelerando

Female, red-marked yellow