You hand your selection of the stone and blazegrass to Jake, and he leads you over to the nest. Seeing a small egg, less than half the size of the others, you pick it up, deciding you want to hatch that one. Moxie rubs against your legs as you hand Jake the egg, but she looks worried. Looking up towards Jake's face, you see his worried ex
pression. Before you can ask him what is wrong, he says, choosing his words carefully, "I want to warn you that though this is one of our older eggs in the nursery, it hasn't grown. The pup may not..." he trailed off, but you nodded your head, "I want this one."

Nodding at you, he brings the egg to a large rounded fireplace, where he sets to work laying the egg in the center and burying it halfway in cinders and ash. Taking the blazegrass, he proceeds to cover the rest of the egg completely in blazegrass, except a small, inch wide circle at the top where the stone is set. Inviting another small gryphon over, he introduces you to Blaze, his own little grey and orange gryphon, and you watch as the little beast breathes a steady stream of flame onto the covered egg. Pulling you away, you and Jake both watch in awe as the grass bursts into bright orange, then blue flame, before subsiding and leaving charred leaves in their place. The two of you watch the mound, but there is no movement. Even after a few more seconds, there is no reaction from the egg.

 Looking worried, Jake springs into action , unburying the egg to and bringing the smoking sphere to a large wooden table with a slim silver dagger on it. He takes it, and you breathe in sharply, thinking he will stab it, but instead the blade slips carefully under the shell, cutting a wide, clean hole in the now leathery shell. Bending down, you peer into the hole, right into the eyes of a tiny gryphon. Both breathing a sigh of relief, Jake turns to you. "I was afraid that she wasn't strong enough to break the shell, and that she needed some help."  The gryphon shrinks away as you outstretch you hand, and chirps, frightened. With soothing words she slowly emerges, only about the size of a guinea pig, and you notice that one ear is lit on fire. Smiling, you decide to name her Curiosity, and you leave with her, waving goodbye to Jake.