Dartwing approached Bluefire while she was hunting. The dragoness was too heavy with eggs to hunt easily, which was the perfect opportunity for him to make a move.
Bluefire lunged for the deer that she had been watching, but moved too slowly to successfully catch it. Dartwing, however, leapt from his hiding place and grabbed the deer as it ran directly into his path. He killed it quickly and cleanly, then brought it over to the dragoness. Bluefire looked at him disdainfully.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Dartwing.” Dartwing nudged the deer closer to her. “I noticed you were having difficulty hunting. A lovely dragoness with eggs needs to be well fed. Please, take this kill.” Bluefire sniffed dismissively.
“I can catch my own prey.”
“But should you strain yourself doing so?” Dartwing asked pointedly. Bluefire looked at her swollen belly. “If you allow me, I will kill more deer for you and bring them back to your cave.”
“Hmph.” Bluefire folded her wings. “Very well. Do so.” Dartwing took off, excited that his first courtship proposal had succeeded. He returned shortly with more deer. The two dragons took off with the prey and returned to Bluefire and Spark’s cave. Bluefire refused to allow Dartwing to enter and dragged the deer in on her own.
The next day, Dartwing returned to the cave with another offer to hunt for Bluefire. Bluefire agreed. She could string along the naïve young dragon until after she laid her eggs. Once that was done, she would return to her male form and send Dartwing away before he made a move on her beloved Spark.