Ruby (TFP)

Chapter 3

Fowler sat in the driver seat as Cliffjumper drove along the road towards Jasper. The man was writing down a list of things needed for the base now that there was a baby dragon to deal with. The shock of seeing a dragon for the first time in so long was still present in his mind. Fowler never understood why dragons were hunted in the first place. But he also didn't understand why elephants were poached and hunted either, so it really was under the same thing. And he wanted to ensure that Ruby would be protected, even though something like this should be reported to his superiors. But Fowler knew it was best to keep her a secret even from his own leaders.

"I don't suppose you could share what you know about dragons instead of the two of us being awkwardly silent?" Fowler flinched, looking up from the notepad he was holding at Cliffjumper's question. "Even though you say you do not know much about them, surely there is something you could tell us about them. I am keenly curious to know about them."

"Well...I suppose I could tell you about them. At least...only what I know from all the books I read about them." Fowler looked back at the list he had in front of him for a moment before he sighed and looked out the window. "For the most part, dragons are by far one of the oldest beings on this planet. We do not know how old, but there are so many fossils of the creatures in museums all over the world. Some fossils date millions of years back, and some look different to fossils found in recent times. They have clearly adapted and evolved with the changes of the world." Fowler did wish he had a book about dragons on him as that would be easier to reference off from. "They lived in many different corners of this planet. Including both the Arctic and Antarctic."

"Those places are below freezing. How would they even survive there?"

"Just as polar bears, penguins and seals live there, Cliff. Those animals are able to survive their due to how their bodies are built. Dragons were the same. I know the Arctic and Antarctic dragons shared similar traits. Some had special scales, while others had thick fur over their bodies. They were expert hunters, and they were also semi aquatic, as most of them were wingless." Fowler smiled as he could picture the creatures in his mind. "And for them to survive, they had to ingest a lot of blubber, and I know they hunted whales as one of their main sources of food. But during the winter months, the Arctic dragons would have gone for hibernating polar bears while the Antartic dragons went for the penguins. But they did dig caves deep within the ice to insulate themselves and have their offspring."

"Fascinating...though if they lived in such places, how could they lay eggs?"

"They didn't. There's proof a lot of those dragons were live bearers rather than egg layers. So they carried their offspring to term inside them. I am not sure how they kept their babies warm after they were born though. But given that there is proof some of those dragons could breathe fire, it is possible they used that to keep their offspring warm. But...I am not sure how effective that would have been. Especially since they could easily melt the ice if not careful." Fowler looked back at the list and wrote something else down. "There are three recorded Arctic and Antarctic dragons that did have wings, and they actually migrated. For the two northern Arctic, winged dragons they travelled to North America, the sourthern areas of Greenland and Northern areas of Russia and Europe, whereas the Antarctic dragons stuck to the southern tip of South America and the various islands scattered in the southern areas of the ocean. They laid their eggs in the warmer areas of the world during the wintertime."

"How would it be possible they went into hiding or go extinct?" Cliffjumper questioned curiously. "If they lived in the coldest places on this planet, why would humans ever go through the trouble of possibly freezing to death just to hunt those dragons?"

Fowler shrugged. "I really don't have an answer for you, Cliffjumper. I am afraid I do not know what went through the minds of the people back then. I know the fur of those dragons were highly valued...but it could still be possible they're around. But it is hard to know for sure. The water dragons that migrate to the Arctic and Antarctic are more likely to be around."