Nature

Reed looked at the child and chuckled to himself, the little green mirror squirming in his arms as he sat in his den on a soft bed of moss, trying to rock her to sleep. "Gladekeeper must be laughing to herself about the gift she has bestowed upon you" he said to himself, holding the little girl closer to his chest, the squirming slowing as she listened intently to his heartbeat, the sound seeming to calm her down and relax her attempts to free herself from his hold.

He looked around him, the bare stone walls of the hidden cave illuminated by the light of the small jar of fireflies he had for light, their green glow casting eerie shadows on the walls. He sighed, humming a little tune to himself as he wondered why the world had to be so cruel to such a tiny and defenseless creature. The chirp of a curious hatchling brings him down from his thoughts as the little mirror digs her adorably tiny claws into his cheeks, opening her mouth and making little warble noises, indicating she was hungry.

Reed looked into her eyes and gave her a little pet, the child curling up into the touch and letting out a happy purr, as he opened the bag he had resting against the cave wall and pulled out a few dried minnows. The young mirror, upon smelling the fish, squirmed, and hungrily snapped up the food when it was introduced within grabbing distance.

"So that's why you were being so fussy," Reed said, grinning down at her warmly, now settling down within his hold to sleep, "You were just hungry. Now why didn't you telling me that sooner little leafling?" and the hatchling, as if to answer, lazily trilled, clearly tired and ready to curl up against his warm chest and rest. He smiled to himself, wrapping his wings around himself and his little mirror, feeling his lids getting heavy, whispering to her "What a lovely excuse, shame I didn't understand it whatsoever, but I'm sure it was amazing and completely unopposable".

The little mirror looked up at him, his ruby coloured eyes glinting in the firefly light, and chirped, a little smile painted on her face as she swatted at his nose playfully with her paw, making a noise that sounded similar to his chuckle, but with the voice of a mirror hatchling who's vocal cords were still developing. He snorted, finding this little girl too funny with how she was already starting to mimic him. The curious hatchling immediately erupted into a trilling mess, trying to understand this new sound he was making.

Reed laughed harder, dissolving into a giggling mess as he clutched at his belly, laughing so hard he couldn't move. The mirror swatted at his nose some more, now free from his grasp, and crawled up to him. He eventually stopped and picked her back up, saying "Oh no you don't, you better not be copying me. I don't want you growing up and talking in my voice!", with the mirror chirruping in what he assumed was agreement.

He sighed and said "Alright, that's enough fooling around, we gotta rest up. We got a long day of traveling ahead of us tomorrow and if we wanna get ahead of the hunters after you, we gotta move fast". Who would have guessed such a little creature could cause such a huge ripple in the metaphorical pond.