Ruby (TFP)

Chapter 2

"So what exactly do you plan to do, Agent Fowler?" Ratchet questioned the man bluntly. "I know you said you will help us, but as you seem completely uncertain like we are, it is making me think that letting you help us is a bad idea. You said you owned bearded dragons..."

"Bearded dragons are not actual dragons," The man interrupted the medic abruptly. "They are much smaller. In fact, the ones I owned weren't much bigger than my hand, so they are just lizards." Ratchet was still unimpressed with the man. "I'll help you with supplies to clean and modify this silo as you see fit, Ratchet. I will also help with getting food and bedding for the dragon. Though..." Fowler looked at the dragon as she was still letting out growling cries while crawling to Optimus. "Finding out her diet might be difficult."

"Why do you say that?" Arcee asked in surprise. "Don't they all eat the same things?"

Fowler shook his head. "No, you might be surprised that each dragon species has different diets. Some were herbivores, which means they only eat plants, some were frugivorous, which means they only ate fruit..." Fowler watched as Optimus gently picked the dragon up as she was getting too close to the edge, and held her with his fingers. The dragon purred loudly and nuzzled her cheek against his fingers happily before letting out another cry. "There are many different diets she could possibly have. The only clue I can give is the skull of her mother seems like she could be either an omnivore or a piscivore."

"I see..." Ratchet had not expected that the dragon could have a variety. He glanced at the skeleton for a moment and looked back at Fowler. "And how can you tell?"

"Well..." Fowler glanced down at the skeleton and looked back at Ratchet. "I am not really an expert on this stuff, but I can see that the shape of the teeth suggest that her mother could have been an omnivore. But that shape of the head makes it seem like that this little dragon could be a piscivore...but than again, she could be both."

"I don't like that it could be risky to feed her food that might not be right for her diet," Cliff said with a frown. "That's like playing with fire..."

"Oh, yeah, speaking of fire..." Fowler looked at the dragon, watching as she tried to wiggle in Optimus's grasp. The bot was holding her with his right hand, and was holding her under her front legs with her wings resting on his fingers. The dragon was moving her back feet and her paws were trying to grasp at Optimus's fingers, likely to try and pull herself up. "Most dragons can breathe a former of element. Fire, ice, water, electricity, and poison are the ones I can think of at the top of my head. She's too young to do that now, but..."

"At least we know now, Agent Fowler." Optimus was glad to know a little more about the dragon, even if there was limited knowledge. Optimus just was unsure of how to handle the dragon. He could feel how soft her scales were, and it would only take one wrong move to hurt her. But he could see the way the dragon was looking at him, and he knew she already wanted attention. She let out more cries before she seemed to be getting frustrated. "Any idea why she might be making these sounds?"

"She's hungry," Fowler responded with a smile. The bots were surprised, and Ratchet was about to speak. "I know! We do not have anything for this young dragon. Looks like we have to cut the tour short. Are you happy with this base?"

Optimus nodded. "I am. This base will be suitable to our needs."

"Good." Fowler turned to Cliffjumper who was watching the dragon with a smile. "Cliffjumper, you wouldn't mind coming with me into town, will you?" The bot looked at him in surprise. "I am going to get some things to help with the dragon. It might not be much at first, but I want to make sure that we get things sorted. Especially since that she will be letting everyone know how hungry she is until she's had food."