Orchid

The citadel guard was told to be alert; food stores were being eaten, despite locks being changed and the usual suspects being under observation. Sprout, the guard's tiny field medic, was less than impressed with the assignment. Most likely, Candolle hadn't actually grown out of raiding the larder, and had instead only gotten better at it. Or perhaps one of the gargoyle nocturnes had gone raiding--they had been incubating a nest recently, which she knew to be hungry work, and were certainly clever and well-camouflaged enough to pull it off.

Nonetheless, she had been given an assignment, so kept watch on the entrance to the caves where the larder was kept. From her hiding place in the foliage, she counted off the likeliest culprits, looking forward to biting their noses in retaliation.

Finally, a shuffle, a snapping twig. A shift in the greenery... and then a very fluffy hatchling scuttled out from the jungle. It had a healthy green coat, and a mane the color of the orchids that blossomed in the trees. It sniffed cautiously, then slipped down into the caves.

Sprout followed quietly. Surely this little fluff hadn't been getting past their security. How did a hatchling survive on her own this deep in the Veridian Llabyrinth at all? But as she watched, it followed its nose through the twisting passages right to the food stores. A few times it looked back, perhaps searching for her--but each time Sprout concealed herself, sometimes in a handy crevice, others with a little magic.

At the locked door into the food stores, the hatchling's runes glowed and it issued a small keening noise... and Sprout instantly realized the problem. They'd had Sunglint install the magic locks, and nothing to do with him could resist a child.

The hatchling trundled right in to help herself... and Sprout flew off to inform the patriarch of the new clan member.