"I know," Belle said, making a face. "We'll have to think about that. Something somewhat dignified, probably." She shook her head.

"But they are really cute together. Just think how much funnier it'll be when he's full-grown and Brownie's still only maybe double that size?"

Andy snorted.

"Just wait till he IS full-grown and actually has that ruff on his head that Temmy and Li Li both do," she pointed out. She gestured to the dragonet. He didn't have the spines and webbing on his head yet. "The little lizard could get lost there."

"And probably will," Belle agreed with a big grin. "Oh well. Long as he doesn't mind Brownie, I'm not even going to try messing with that."

"They seem to get along," Andy commented. She paused for a moment. "And I have the perfect nickname." She grinned. "Don't you just love it when your brain works on a problem without you knowing?"

"Oh yes. Yes I do." Belle grinned broadly, watching Brownie climb up on top of Temaraire's head, cheeping at him, before going back down to his back.

"So, what'd you come up with?"

Andy grinned.

"I'll call him Xiang," she replied. "It's perfect. Bookverse, he has two names: Temeraire, and Lung Tien Xiang. Xiang was his original given name, he was named Temeraire later, once he'd hatched."

Belle grinned and couldn't help chuckling. "You're right, that is perfect." She hadn't gotten that far into the books yet, so she hadn't known.

"Learning new stuff all the time, aren't we?"

"That we are," Andy replied. She grinned. "Crucible of Gold will be out by the end of the year, I think. Book seven out of a proposed nine, I believe." Xiang took that moment to come back to walk between them.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, curious.

"Your nickname," Andy replied promptly. He turned big blue eyes on her. "I'm calling you Xiang from now on."

"Okay," he replied. He paused. "Why?"

"So I don't confuse you and your father when I say 'Temeraire,'" Andy replied. "And I think your mother would appreciate at least one of you using your Chinese name. So I'm calling you Xiang." He blinked. It made sense.

"Okay."

"And that," Belle said, holding out her hand as Brownie immediately fluttered over to perch on the proferred hand, "is Brownie. I don't know if you two can talk or not, but these guys can't speak like you can. They use gestures and things." She shrugged a little, careful not to unsettle Precious.

Brownie leaned forward and cheeped at Xiang, putting two tiny little paws on his nose to get a better look at the dragonet.

Xiang had to cross his eyes to see the fire-lizard on his nose. He couldn't understand the cheeping, but it was clear enough that Brownie was curious. Andy just grinned at the two.

Brownie climbed up on top of his head, down his neck, and then down onto his tail, rather like a lizard climbing a tree. Belle laughed at that.

Andy laughed as well.

"Aww, Xiang's got a friend," she teased.

"They're so cute," Belle teased with a grin. But she was glad they were getting along.

Not to mention it gave her fodder for cooing and making fun of them forever, pretty much.

After a little while Xiang just ignored the little fire-lizard. It wasn't heavy at all, and even though his scales were still 'soft,' the little claws didn't bother him.

Brownie just settled himself there, looking around and occasionally flying off to go investigate something. But he was usually with either Xiang or Belle and Precious.

Andy kept up with Belle as they walked. She kept an eye on Xiang, but otherwise enjoyed the walk. It was good be moving on again.

Belle was tempted to listen to music, but she didn't. Not at the moment, anyway. Instead she just walked, listening to everything around them and keeping track of where they were going. Even if they were going to be flying out on dragonback in a few days, she liked to keep up the practice of keeping track of themselves on the map.

Andy glanced at her map every so often, but it was just to see how close to town they were. There had to be a place relatively nearby for them to go if they needed to restock anything.

When they finally stopped, they ended up only a few miles from town, so they could get there easily the next day to restock and get better food and all that fun stuff. Belle wouldn't mind staying in a hotel for one night, after a good few months of sleeping on the ground.

Andy was looking forward to staying in a hotel for a night or two. The prospect of a hot shower and a real bed was really tempting. When the found a place to stop for the night, she started to let her group out.

Belle let hers out as well before she started working on dinner quietly, only half-focused on her work. There was something niggling in the back of her mind, the feeling of something wrong, but she couldn't figure it out. So she ignored it as best she could, instead cooking for everyone.

It didn't take Andy long to notice that Belle was quieter than normal.

"You're quiet," she commented, going over to her. "Something up?"

"You know that weird something's wrong feeling you get in the back of your mind, or the pit of your stomach?" Belle glanced over at her. "Yeah. Can't quite place why I have it, though."

Eclipse frowned and moved over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and starting to look her over quickly. Just to be sure.

"Well, we can have the guys keep an eye out, if you want," Andy offered. She hadn't noticed anything, but she trusted Belle.

Belle hesitated before she nodded. "I think that would make me feel a bit better, at least," she said with a weak smile.

Daemon didn't even need to be asked. He just looked at Lucivar before he went to go find a good place to perch and watch.