I'll Call You White Chubby from Now On

Her draconic head remained perfectly still, her focused crimson slit pupils watching White Hatchling silently.

It was Agatha, that big little-girl dragon.

Was she warning White Hatchling not to get any ideas about his food?

He appreciated the gesture, but it wasn't necessary.

He looked away and turned to White Hatchling, who was still backing away.

"Hey~ stop backing away."

Hmm?

White Hatchling stopped retreating. She raised her round white head, stared at Chaos for about two seconds, then tilted it in confusion.

Seeing how goofy White Hatchling looked, he made up his mind. Yes, this white chubby fellow would be his first dragon teammate.

"Yes, you. Come over here."

White Hatchling didn't move.

"Want some meat?" Chaos added.

This time, White Hatchling reacted, but she turned her gaze toward Agatha.

The Giant Dragon Species had excellent hearing. They could hear even faint noises a hundred meters away perfectly clearly, let alone when Agatha was only a dozen or so meters from him.

Naturally, Agatha had heard what he had just said.

Since Chaos had called the white dragon over himself, Agatha decided not to interfere anymore. She lowered her head and resumed gnawing on the crab shell.

[Crunch, crunch~]

Her red Dragon Jaws worked, crushing Xelila's thick shell as though it were crispy potato chips.

It had a satisfying crunch, perfect for an after-meal snack.

Seeing that the red hatchling was no longer watching her, White Hatchling hesitated, then moved her chubby little paws and slowly approached Chaos.

"Thud~!"

A thick crab claw hit the ground and rolled several times. When it reached White Hatchling's feet, she pushed off and jumped straight onto it.

Looking at the food beneath her, White Hatchling raised her head toward the dragon who had tossed it over.

Her sparkling white slit pupils widened. Those crystal-clear eyes looked utterly harmless, as though silently asking, Is this really for me?

"It's yours. Eat."

Having received confirmation, White Hatchling opened her Dragon Jaws without the slightest hesitation.

Chomp~

Her Dragon Jaws, packed with thick, sharp dragon teeth, bit into the crab claw's hard, thick shell.

But that thick shell clearly wasn't hard enough to withstand dragon teeth. A single bite shattered it, exposing the glistening white flesh inside.

Chaos quietly watched White Hatchling chow down.

He understood that he had to give a little to reel in this chubby white fellow.

A fool might be foolish, but she could still tell who treated her well.

Crunch, crunch~

Amid the sounds of chewing, she finished the entire crab claw in less than two minutes.

She ate it clean, even picking up every scrap of shell from the ground with her chubby paws and tossing them into her mouth.

After finishing the food, White Hatchling sat on the ground and looked pleadingly at the green hatchling lying in the crab shell-the one who had given her food.

She still wasn't full...

The wariness had vanished from her sparkling white slit pupils. Seeing this, Chaos raised a paw and beckoned to White Chubby.

"Come here."

White Hatchling obediently pushed herself up from the ground and walked toward Chaos on her four chubby paws, neither quickly nor slowly, just at a normal walking pace.

She stopped in front of the crab shell.

"What's your name?"

"Hm-da~ hm-da~ hm-da~!"

"I don't understand your white hatchling baby talk. Can't you speak Draconic?"

"Hm-da~ hm-da~!"

Looking at the chubby white fellow who could only go "hm-da, hm-da," Chaos felt a little stumped.

We can't have a conversation like this.

But this white hatchling seemed to understand what he said.

Let's try...

"Can you understand me? Nod your head if you can."

"Hm-da~!" She nodded.

Good. White Chubby really does understand.

He silently breathed a sigh of relief. If White Chubby couldn't even understand him, this wouldn't have been recruiting a chubby white dragon-it would have been giving away a free meal.

He would have been freeloaded out of a crab claw.

He needed a foolish teammate, but not a complete idiot. If she couldn't even manage basic communication, how could she help him and follow his orders in the future?

"Good. As long as you understand."

"Want more of that meat?"

"Hm-da, hm-da~" She nodded.

Her round white head bobbed noticeably faster than before.

[Swish, swish~]

What the heck was that noise?

He looked down and saw a white dragon tail shaped like a plump cone, resting on the ground and sweeping back and forth.

Each sweep of the white tail brushed against the little stones on the ground, producing the sound.

He looked away from her tail and back at White Chubby, who was gazing up at him pleadingly.

Her head was very round, her scales pure white, and her crystal-clear white slit pupils sparkled. Only the scales on her forehead marred her looks: some had cracked, with traces of dragon blood dried over them.

Still... she looked pretty cute at first glance.

"I can give you food, but there's one thing we need to settle first," Chaos continued.

"My food isn't free. If you eat my food, you'll have to do everything I say from now on. We'll hunt together, and I must be the one to divide up all the food we catch!"

"Nod if you agree. Shake your head if you don't."

After saying that, Chaos fell silent and watched White Chubby, quietly waiting for her answer.

"Hm-da, hm-da~!" She nodded.

"Very good. Raise your right paw."

White Hatchling obediently raised her paw.

But it was her left paw, not her right.

Chaos didn't mind. Left or right made no difference.

Lying in the crab shell, he reached out and clasped White Chubby's paw.

Perhaps because she was so fleshy, White Chubby's paw felt a little soft, and the scales on it were cool to the touch.

He gripped White Chubby's paw and pulled.

That tug brought White Chubby straight into the crab shell. With two hatchlings squeezed along its edge, the shell suddenly felt a little cramped.

He had already eaten everything inside Xelila's shell. Now it held a pile of crab legs and claws.

The legs and claws from both Xelila were piled in there, making quite a heap of food.

Feeling the chill against his side, Chaos glanced at White Chubby, who was pressed right up against him.

White Chubby's gaze was now fixed entirely on the food ahead, utterly motionless.

A closer look revealed glistening dragon drool beginning to spill from her white Dragon Jaws.

"Go ahead and eat. Don't be shy."

"Hm-da~!"

With a roar, White Chubby rushed straight to the pile of crab legs. She grabbed one in her chubby paws and began gnawing on it, stuffing it straight into her mouth, shell and meat together.

[Crunch~]

Only the sound of White Hatchling eating remained inside the crab shell.

Watching White Hatchling chow down in front of him with her rump sticking up, Chaos settled down where he was.

He felt great now that he had secured his first teammate. She wasn't a clever teammate, but she would be a dependable one.

White Chubby wouldn't have complicated schemes like the other female chromatic hatchlings.

"White Chubby."

The eating white hatchling paused. A moment later, she turned her round head and looked at Chaos, who had called her, with confusion in her crystal-clear white slit pupils.

Her white Dragon Jaws were covered in shell fragments and bits of glistening flesh and blood.

Chaos grinned.

"From now on, I'll call you White Chubby-until you learn to speak Draconic."