They'd arrived and set up camp in a clearing beside the river in the late evening last night and it was the sound of splashing and thrashing that woke Grey that morning. He stretched and exited the considerably large tent to find his mother, looking as proud and dignified as possible, casually walking onto the bank, water falling from her back, with her mouth closed in a sharp toothy smirk.

"Fetched us breakfast, have you, mother?" 

Looking far too pleased with herself, she opened her mouth, buckets of water spilling out, soaking the ground and their firepit, accompanied by a small deer and half a dozen live, flopping fish.

"Get breakfast started while I dry off, won't you, dear?" she said sweetly, striding over to a flat rock over the river the size of a foundation and flopping over onto it with an impressive thud. It was why she'd chosen the spot to camp.

He sighed at the soaked fire pit, the ashes from last night steadily washing away and the fish gasping and flopping, trying to find their way back to the river.

He took some sticks from the firewood pile and sharpened them with his dagger to skewer the fish on. "Mother?" He called. "Would you like me to take the deer to the butcher?"

"Oh, what a lovely idea, dear. Yes, that would be wonderful." She rolled over onto her side slightly. Her eyes were closed and she looked far too comfortable under the rising sun.

She could, and usually did eat her catches whole. She enjoyed sitting down for a meal, however, and she enjoyed eating things without fur… or bones. Butchering, however, was a time consuming process. Besides, she did enjoy contributing to a local economy- not that she'd ever rely on a town to feed her. No, no village this size could handle that kind of demand.

The new location made no difference to the rest of Grey's morning routine. While he waited for the firepit to at least not have standing water, he began to tend to his usual chores. They included tasks such as brushing his mother's eighty impressive teeth with her favorite lavender scented paste and checking over her scales for anything unsightly. He filed away any slight flaws in her claws and touched up the silver polish on them. 

Finally, he could fix his nearly shoulder length hair and get dressed for the day. His horns were getting difficult to maneuver around at times, but he was used to it by now. He had to wonder how long they were planning on growing. For now, they were still manageably short.

"Have you considered cutting your hair, dear?" His mother inquired from her basking spot.

"Hmm…" he approached the bank and peered into the water at his reflection. "No. I think I like it like this. Much longer, and I'll think about it."

"Very well. Come here, dear. I've got your funds for errands." She opened her mouth. A velvet pouch, no doubt full of coins, rested on her tongue. 

He reached in, no caution whatsoever, and accepted the pouch. At least it smelled like lavender.

~~~~~~~

After dropping off the deer with the village's butcher, Grey was relieved to find himself with some free time to wander. 

Unfortunately, the fish his mother caught him would have to wait until lunch, when the firewood was hopefully dry enough to work with. Which meant he had to find his own breakfast. The tavern looked like a good place to try.