"It's moving!" Ominous squeaked, bouncing up and down and pointing at the mystery egg of Dark's. "It's moving! I think it's hatching!"

As this was the fifth time she'd said that same thing, Proquess didn't even bother looking over. Shishayair just glanced, and since he didn't jump to his feet, Proquess assumed Ominous was over-reacting yet again to some faint vibration or twitch.

"It's mooooving, it's moooooooving!" Alladross mocked from across the room, where he clung to the wall. Ominous glowered at him; Proquess could feel the heat of her glare even without eyes.

::It's still not ready yet, Ominous,:: Shishayair said calmly, getting to his feet slowly rather than with haste. ::Though it is getting close. I believe I'll go catch something, so the hatchling won't starve to death when it hatches. Uecoss, come along with me, it's time you learned a little about hunting.::

Chirruping with glee, Uecoss scrambled after him. Alladross slid down the wall and trotted along behind them both more sedately, as he wasn't about to be separated from his bonded. That just left Proquess alone with Ominous and the egg. That wasn't so bad; compared to being left alone with the three hatchlings and the egg, it was paradise. Ominous, at least, didn't actively dislike her or make a point to disrespect her; she just ignored her, whenever she thought she could get away with it.

After several minutes of quiet, Ominous, much less enthusiastically than before, commented, "I think it might actually be hatching this time."

Since Shishayair wasn't there to look, for her, Proquess looked up from the modifications she'd been making to one of the archways and focused her attention on the egg. It gave an obvious twitch under her gaze, and she flicked her wings warily. ::It moved,:: she said, inching her way over.

"Eggs do that when they're hatching," Ominous said snidely. Proquess didn't answer, tilting her head from side to side as the egg progressed from twitching to shuddering, trying to figure out just what to do. Shishayair wasn't there, they hadn't come back from hunting, or whatever it was they were doing, and the egg was trying to hatch with no one but Proquess and Ominous there to watch it. Finally she decided that eggs probably hatched just as well on their own-- her own kind's eggs did, after all, and Ominous and Alladross, and Uecoss for that matter, hadn't needed any help-- as with any help, so she just hunkered down on the slickly resined floor and waited. Ominous seemed to have the same idea, for she was watching it, too.

The egg progressed rapidly from shuddering to actual shaking to violently rocking back and forth in the little hollow Shishayair had asked Proquess to make for it. Proquess couldn't actually see the shell, but she could sense the little fractures starting to form as little lines of increased heat from whatever was within, hear the quiet cracking sounds of shell separating, and feel the unhurried but industrious little mind inside working at hatching. She didn't know what Ominous saw, but it kept the hatchling quiet.

Finally the egg cracked enough that the creature inside spilled out, landing on its back with wings splayed and two sets of faintly glowing eyes shared between thee heads blinking up at Proquess.

::Hello!:: a tri-fold mind-voice, like a little boy's voice, chirped in her head. And with that, Proquess found herself-- yet again-- with a very pale-colored, multi-headed, bipedal hatchling at her feet. This one just happened to have her genes in him, as well as Shishayair's.

Her bond came back not much later, and he didn't look at all surprised by the fluffy little hatchling perched on his bond's feet. ::Looks like we have a son, Proquess,:: was all he said, and he dropped a bloody offering on the floor right in front of "their son".

::You knew?:: Proquess asked, while the hatchling fell on it like he'd never eaten before. Well, after all, he hadn't.

::I had an idea,:: Shishayair answered calmly. ::She didn't actually tell me, but I guessed. And he likes you?:: At her embarrassed silence, remembering how he'd dropped himself right against her chest and proceeded to snuggle against her as if she was the most comfortable pillow in the world, he nodded. ::Good. That, I think, was Dark's intent.::

They were interrupted by child-pitched snarls and hisses, as the newest hatchling attempted to defend his gift of a meal from the two who had presumably helped bring it down. Shishayair deftly parted the trio with one forepaw, got a bite from Alladross on the foreleg for his trouble, and Alladross got shaken off and slammed into a wall for his trouble. Uecoss, growling warningly, scampered after him to make sure he was all right, while Ominous made sympathetic noises over the tiny wound. The xeno-hydra glared after Alladross, who was picking himself up, shaking himself off, and probably coming back for more, but he still finished stuffing himself as fast as he could manage before more bickering broke out.

::Do you have a name, child?:: Shishayair asked his son-- "their" son-- shaking a disappointed Ominous away.

::I'm Lohress,:: the hatchling said, still chewing and swallowing with his main head-- shaped more like hers, and eyeless-- so quickly that it seemed like he might choke, while his two lesser heads-- they were shaped more like Shishayair's secondary heads, canine and floppy-eared, and with eyes-- tore the meat off the carcass for the main to swallow. Very efficient; it almost made Proquess wish she had a second head to do her chewing for her.

::Lohress,:: Shishayair repeated, a faintly sour note in his mind-voice.

::What's wrong with that?:: Lohress asked, looking up with all three heads and four eyes.

::Nothing at all.:: Shishayair eyed the hatchling. ::I just find it tedious, sometimes, that I am the only one in this hive whose name does not end in a hiss.::

As Lohress finally backed away from the remains of his first meal, letting the other three hatchlings have their way with it next, Shishayair's mind-voice took on a hint of a smirk. ::Not for much longer, though, I believe.::

::Why is that?:: Proquess asked idly, letting Lohress sit himself down between her forepaws again and start grooming himself clean. It reminded her of when Shishayair, as a hatchling, would do the same thing....

::Because tomorrow we go back to the Citadel,:: Shishayair answered, sitting back and starting to put his fur and feathers back into order, just like his son. ::My children will be hatching soon, and I intend to adopt one or two of them, as well.::

Hopefully, Proquess thought to herself, their luck would continue in the trend Lohress seemed to have started, and they wouldn't wind up with more little monsters. But then, given the mother, they probably would....

The Hatching - Chapter Ten

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