The first thing that she took in was light.

Well, truthfully, there wasn't very much of it. The room that she was in was only dimly lit, with the only source of light being a small candle on a smooth wooden table against the wall. There wasn't much to the room, but she can tell that it was very messy. There were scrolls scattered on the floor. Some were unrolled, and some were not.

There was a bed in the corner of the room. The sheets were untidy and it looks as though the dragon who slept in it had been shuffling around restlessly for quite a while. There was also a mirror propped up against the wall, and that was perhaps the only thing that wasn't messy or damaged in this room.

This entire room looked as if the dragon who used it didn't even think much to look after it. It was hard to believe that the room was clean once, if it ever had been.

Finally, she laid her eyes on the dragon in the room with her. His scales were as black as the midnight sky and his eyes looked to be dark gray. He was hunched over as he stood and his face was narrow with sharp features. He also towered over her, and his sharp gray eyes looked down at her. Almost immediately, she could tell who this dragon was.

"Diligence. You...you are my...fa-fa-father," she spoke. She realized that her voice was high-pitched and it had a slight echo to it, but she paid no mind to it. That was her voice. The sound produced in her larynx. Something that she can use to express the words she wanted to say. That was my voice.

"Silverside."

She looked up at Diligence. Silverside. That was her name. It's pretty—pretty—pretty.

"Yes?" Silverside asked. "Was...was...was there anything that you wanted from me?"

The words came to her at a slow pace. It wasn't the most fantastic feeling, having to wait for a moment to figure out what she wanted to say. But it wasn't the worst feeling in the world either. She was still able to get the words out of her mouth, wasn't she?

"Come here," he answered simply. He turned his back to her and began to move, and Silverside started to follow after him.

It kind of hurt for her to walk. All of her movements felt so stiff and rigid, and she would be lying if she said that it was completely comfortable for her to walk. Maybe I should tell—tell him.

"Father," Silverside spoke after her father had walked no less than five steps. He stopped and looked back at her. "Moving i-i-is...uncomfortable for me." She looked up at him, waiting patiently for his response.

"So?" her father answered. He looked away from her and continued on his way. "I'm sure that you'll get used to it sometime soon."

Well, that certainly ended up well. But Silverside was still sure that he cared about her in some way. He was her father, after all. He loved her with all of his heart, and that was something that she would always be certain about.

Love. That was a word that just simply appealed to Silverside. It wasn't really something that Silverside could easily define, but she definitely knew that it meant something...positive. She knew that it was something that she wanted to feel for the rest of her life. And she certainly felt a lot of it for her father.

So she decided not to argue with him. Even when she wanted to complain, Silverside kept quiet about it. It wouldn't do either of them much good if she chose to cause him any kind of stress. She certainly didn't want her father to be frustrated or angry or any of that. What she did want was for him to be happy with her, and that can't happen if she expressed her doubts to him.

In no time at all, Silverside found herself standing in front of the mirror. She blinked at the dragon that she saw in the mirror. That's—that's—that's me. Her scales were a dark shade of blue with a purple hint to it, and her eyes were the same steely gray as her father's. Little black freckles dotted the space beneath her eyes and right next to them were vivid blue stripes. There were even blue markings against the stark white of the undersides of her stomach and tail. She lit them up, but they only emitted a dim light.

There were purple fins sprouting out of the center of her head and going down, connected to the sharp black spikes that rose up from the top of her body. The fin stopped halfway down her neck, and from there it was just black spikes trailing down and down her body, stopping at the tip of her tail. Right between the gap of one of these spikes was a pink bow at the base of her tail.

She lifted up one of her wings and found that the undersides were pale blue, dotted by silver scales. She let out a breath at how pretty it looked before lowering her wing and looking at the silver necklace around her neck. It was wide and thick to the point where it was more like a metal band around her neck than a necklace. Right in the center of it was a circular amethyst stone.

Silverside lifted one of her talons, going to touch the necklace.

"Don't touch that," said Diligence abruptly, and then Silverside put her talon down. She turned her head to glance at him.

"Why not?" Silverside asked curiously. "What's wrong—wrong—wrong with it? Is it...is it...is it...b-bad? W-Why a-am I wearing it?"

Diligence grimaced while she spoke. Silverside tilted her head at him, but didn't say anything more.

"Silverside, do you have any understanding of what you are?" he asked her.

She thought for a moment, but no answer came to her. Only small thoughts came to her in little chunks, mainly about the fact that she couldn't quite remember hatching out of an egg or ever growing up or anything like that. All that she remembered was that she woke up in this room, and that was about it.

The NightWing sighed. "Okay," he said. "Silverside, you are a statue. A statue that I enchanted to come to life. Do you understand what I'm saying so far?"

Silverside blinked at him, slowly connecting his words together. Then she nodded.

"Good," he said. Joy began to bubble up in Silverside's chest. He said good. He thought that it was good that she nodded! Should I do—do—do it more often? she wondered. Silverside was only almost sure, but being able to get a sign of approval from her father made it feel as if her chest was about to explode with happiness.

"The necklace that you are wearing is the one thing that gives you life," Diligence continued. He tapped his claw against the amethyst stone on the necklace before taking his claw away. "Don't take it off, or else you'll lose your life," he warned. "You'll turn back into a statue."

"Okay—kay—kay," Silverside responded, nodding. "And w-what about the bow around my tail?" she asked. She looked back to the pink bow wrapped around the base of her tail. "W-Why is it pink? Does it have any importance?"

Diligence shook his head. "That is simply there for decoration," he answered.

"Oh," said Silverside. She shifted her front talons awkwardly, trying to ignore the discomfort that she was feeling just by moving. "Okay, then."

Silverside slowly took in his words. So she didn't hatch out of an egg after all. But does that matter? Maybe it doesn't. Hopefully it doesn't. Already she could feel worms wriggling around in her stomach. What would it mean for her if it did matter whether or not she hatched out of an egg?

She shook off those anxieties and focused on the face of her father. "W-Where do I sleep?" she inquired. "When do—do I eat?"

Diligence rolled his eyes. "You don't need to eat or sleep," he snorted. "Those are for real beings only."

For some reason, that made Silverside deflate a little bit. Did she not count as a 'real' dragon to him? She existed, didn't she? But if her father considered her to not be one, then she might as well follow his train of thought.

"Under...understood," she said. "But...do I still have a—a—a room to stay in?" she questioned.

"Sure, sure," Diligence answered. He turned Silverside away from the mirror, and once again she tried not to feel too bothered by how weird her movements felt for her. His claws scraped harmlessly against her wooden scales, which felt little like his own, real scales.

Then Diligence walked past her and went out of the room.

Without trying to think too much of it, Silverside followed after him.