Some days it rained. Other days it would get cold enough for frost. There would be days when the leaves changed colors; the trees would blush. The trees grew with David, but the paths didn't change. The routine was the same.

The daisies in front of the house would grow around David's birthday. That too did not change. 

It had rained yesterday, but today the weather was clear. Without Aiden to spend time with, David had found that he could explore on his own.

David reached up and pulled a leaf off the lowest branch of a tree. He studied the symmetry and giggled when an ant crawled desperately around the leaf.

"Hey."

David looked over his shoulder, forgetting the leaf in his hand. He grinned at the stranger. "Hello."

Like Aiden, he was taller than David. Though his scales were tight like David's, they didn't shine in the light quite right. The shadows on them made them look flat and rough instead of smooth and slightly curved.

This must be one of the Ziron. 

"What's your name?" The stranger asked. 

David ignored the ant as it started to crawl across his skin. "David Delmer."

"Delmer?" The stranger glanced at the leaf in the boy's hand. "I've heard that name before."

David shrugged, "A lot of people know my father."

The stranger smiled, showing teeth that weren't quite straight. "That must be it. What are you doing?"

David's eyes lit up. He spoke fast as if trying to win a race. "I'm memorizing the trees in the area, and how to recognize them. If I'm ever in the woods on my own, I'm going to need to know how to find food and paths." 

To David's delight, the stranger seemed interested. 

"Really? That's a plan." The stranger glanced up at the tree. "It's an oak."

David's eyes widened, "Thanks, I'd been having trouble with this one." The young dragon stored the information somewhere in his memory. "What's your name?"

The stranger's eyes widened at the question. Confusion danced in his eyes, but the expression passed quickly. He smiled again. "Tucker." He said. 

David grinned, "I like it. Will you help me?"

"Absolutely."

Tucker pronounced every syllable like if he forgot one the word would fall apart. He sounded like a human. At least he sounded like the way David's father mimicked the humans. Except the humans spoke with extras ths and many thous. 

David put it out of his mind. The strangers were from across the sea, it was a wonder they even spoke Blolandish.

David skipped along to the next tree, making a mental map all the way.

***

David pointed out landmarks he'd already memorized. Tucker listened intently, offering the names of certain plants to help. 

"That's the path to the nearest human town. Dad says the city's gotten bigger recently." David stretched his arm to point to a slightly overgrown path that intersected the one they were on. "The humans don't use it that much. We should be fine." David grinned. 

"Interesting." Tucker stared down the path.  "We've been walking for a while. Aren't your parents going to worry about you?" 

David shrugged, jumping over the cleared path. "They don't start to worry until I've been gone for a few days. They say it's because they want me to sleep every three days. I think I might want to be one of the hibernating dragons. Sleep for a year or two... or just a month then wake up."

Tucker's smile faltered at the numbers David said. He quickly started smiling again. "Of course. That sounds much more relaxing."

David picked a leaf off the ground and studied it. "I think my parents worry too much anyway." His eyes widened, and he jumped up, dropping the leaf. "We're only a few hours away from my house, so for a day or two, we could try and live with the animals. I heard that some dragons do that. We could live with the ants. We should find an anthill."

Tucker followed David. "How old are you?"

"615." David swung his hands as he walked. "Mother says I'm growing up fast." David grinned. "Oak?" He pointed at one of the trees.

Tucker frowned, "Pine?"

"Right," David frowned. "I don't know why I can't remember that one."

"Neither can I, to be honest. David, watch out—" Tucker pulled a branch up before David ran right into it. David didn't look back.

"Father says my memory is near perfect. He says I would be good with numbers. I don't know what he means by that. He always gets a faraway look when he says that. Is he talking about something from the future?"

Tucker laughed a little. "Definitely, I suppose."

"My father is the Keeper of Time." David put his hands on his hips, "Darii of the dragons. Oooo, an anthill." David jumped onto the ground and stuck his nose right up to the hill.

Tucker stopped just behind him. "Uhhhhh...."

David wrinkled his nose when an ant crawled onto it. "It's so small." David pushed himself up, so he was kneeling on the ground. After rubbing the ant off his face, he looked up at Tucker's concerned face. "I don't think I want to be an ant. It would be boring."

"So, tell me about the Shape Shifters then." Tucker sat down next to David, eyeing the anthill.

David's eyes widened. "Mother says there are three Shape Shifters." He held up three fingers. "I like to think that Life is super motherly, but sometimes acts weird. Hope seems like she would be the well-meaning one, and I think Time acts like a god and treats us all like cute pets. Have you heard of pets? Dad says it's a thing in southern Blolanda. The humans have been doing it for a while, but the dragons decided to give it a try."

Tucker nodded, glancing to the side, "Yeah, I've heard of pets."

David tilted his head to the side. "What do you want to do?"

"Maybe we should be getting back." Tucker shrugged.

"It's not that late." David glanced at the trees around him. The shadows had only gotten a shade darker, but that was no reason to head home yet. "I like it here. I think I'll build my house here. I mean, if I ever learn how to build a house. Dad says it's difficult. I want to talk to a human one day. Don't you? I think they'd be really interesting." 

"Well, yeah, sure." Tucker stretched his legs out in front of him. "David, you're hard to keep up with."

"That's okay. Mother says I'll grow out of it. She says all six hundred-year-olds are like me."

"Yeah?" Tucker smiled. But, for a moment, to David, it looked as if a shadow was being held over his new friend. David studied the sudden glaze of darkness in Tucker's smile. It must have been because the sun was beginning to set. 

"You okay?" Tucker asked.

"Father says I need to learn how to sit still. When we're praying to Shape Shifters I have trouble being quiet too." David shrugged and then felt a prick on his ankle. He jumped away from the anthill and rubbed the bite. "It bit me." David stuck out his lower lip. "That's not very nice."

"How often do you pray?" Tucker turned his head to the side, showing little concern over the bite.

"Once every two weeks. And before meals when Father's home, but we only eat twice a week so that's not so bad. I think if I were a Shape Shifter I would get annoyed with how much people talk to me. Doesn't that sound annoying?"

"Yeah, it definitely does, but imagine not being able to answer every prayer and having to choose." Tucker's smile was gone. 

"I would find a way to help everyone. I would be the helpfulest." David grinned and then frowned. "It itches."

"Maybe the Darii of the dragons knows how to deal with an ant bite."

David glared at the anthill. "They've never bitten me before. They betrayed me. I will remember this."

Tucker whistled two notes. His smile reappeared on his face. "Yeah, betrayal on this level. I'm sure you will." Tucker's eyes shifted to the horizon, and David followed his gaze. David didn't see anything odd.

"Tucker?" David asked. 

Tucker jerked his focus back to the young dragon. "Sorry, I got distracted. You know, David, I think you're in for an adventure soon." Tucker's expression clouded. "Soon, very soon." His grin came back, but the lengthening shadows twisted it. 

David's heart barely skipped a beat. "Cooool. Can we start now?"