After the meeting, Storm decided to spend the remainder of the day with his family.
Trying to make up for lost time stolen from them when his mission in Northburg went wrong.
He and Aurora took Orian out to one of the small parks located in the city. The parents had a small picnic and enjoyed each other's company while 'Little Orian' was left alone to explore and play with himself.
Storm smiled as he watch Orian desperately running in circles trying to catch his tail.
He wondered for how much longer he would be able to enjoy the carefree moments of his childhood, before the full weight of Mimereus's adult worries crushed his innocence.
Orian eventually noticed his father's intense stare and came over to quiz him about it.
"Promise me you'll never set foot on a battlefield , Son!?" Said Storm.
"What's a 'butterfield'?" Asked Orian.
Despite his mood, Storm chuckled.
"Don't mind me, Orian. Just go ahead and enjoy yourself!" Said Storm.
Orian wasted no more time quizzing his father and immediately rushed off to do so.
Aurora wasn't so easy to reassure however.
"The news from the Grans still upsetting you?" Asked Aurora.
"It feels like we're taking something precious from him." Said Storm.
"It can't be helped Storm, this was the best out of two bad options." Said Aurora.
"I know, still painful to watch however. " replied Storm.
Aurora took one of the small treats they had brought for their picnic and slowly fed it to Storm to take his mind of his concerns.
"You know we might have to put him through the Regimen soon?" Said Storm.
Aurora stiffened up against him.
"So soon? You know he's not even a year old yet?!" Exclaimed Aurora.
"But his mind is rapidly maturing beyond his physical body! You know how important it is that he learns these things the Regimen teaches young dragons at the proper age.
Otherwise he might be uninterested by the time his body catches up and he'll be poorly equipped to deal with adult life!" Explained Storm.
Storm had noticed early that the constant training drills and duties of the Resistance had an effect on the family life of many of the dragons under his command that were raising hatchlings of their own.
With so much time spent away from their families, critical development of these hatchlings were being neglected.
Others were unable to attend to their duties and responsibilities due to having to deal with these family matters.
Taxing his already stretched thin forces and depriving him of some much needed manpower.
Therefore, he had decided to steal an idea from humankind and integrate it in his own settlement.
'Community rearing' or as the humans called it 'School'. Something that had long since been accepted by other non humans like elves or dwarves.
But something that had up until this point been rejected by dragon kind.
Dragons were naturally mistrusting of others and were reluctant to place something as important as teaching their offspring in the hands of another.
He set up a Regimen of skills and lessons that he considered crucial for the children in this dangerous time and appointed a group of dragons that he considered would be best for the task.
Some of the lessons covered topics that dragons had neglected such as those covering other cultures or magic.
Storm also had some non dragons stepping into the mentor role on occasion when the topic was something dragons were unfamiliar with.
The city hosted a wide variety of different races that were expected to coexist peacefully with one another, and so these topics had become vital.
He received some backlash and grumbles from the more 'traditionalist' members of dragon society that feared that by placing the care in the hands of another, instead of themselves.
It would erode the parental bond that they shared with their offspring. Storm spent several days trying to win these concerned parents over to his way of thinking.
They were considerably more forgiving when he unveiled the list of dragons he had chosen to teach the hatchlings.
They were all aged dragons that had raised several clutches of dragons already, and had aided their grandchildren in doing the same.
The fire in their veins had long since cooled, and they were reluctant to enter the battlefield themselves.
And so Storm put them to work teaching the next generation while their more 'hot blooded' kin took up the fighting.
This, and Storm's continued insistence eventually convinced these dragons to give their begrudging consent.
With the added condition that if they ever felt their child's growth was being threatened, then they could withdraw their child from the Regimen.
Now that Storm was in the same position as those parents, he understood their reluctance.
The standard age he had set for the children to begin attending was about the time they began learning to speak.
Orian was technically still far below the age for admission but as his mind matured far faster than the other hatchlings, this was something he needed to consider.
If he and Aurora backed out of their very own program, it could start a chain reaction with all the parents currently sending their children for nurturing. Causing the program to be ended long before bearing fruit.
"I just don't want him to think he's unwanted, and that we are trying to get rid of him!" Said Aurora.
"You make it sound like we won't be seeing him at all?! You know the program only occupies the mornings and early afternoon, right?" Asked Storm in amusement.
"I know. I suppose I've just gotten use to having the little guy underfoot during the day.
Not sure how I'll occupy my time with him in lessons for most of the day!" Said Aurora.
"I can think of a few things we can do together!" Said Storm with a naughty grin.
Causing Aurora to smack him in the back of his head.
"What if he gets bullied? He'll be going for lessons with other kids twice his age!" Said Aurora.
Storm briefly imagined ripping a dragon parent limb from limb if their child harmed a single hair in Orian's mane before he quickly pushed aside the idea.
"We'll deal with it then if the trouble came, but right now I think meeting other kids will do him good." Said Storm.
"Uncle!!!" Called Orian.
They stopped their discussion as Pyros came over to the couple.