Necrosis

The sickly pale egg flexed and oozed with the force of tiny talons scraping at the inside, a living boil eager to pop and leak viscous, to screech its' way into existence and drench its' tiny body in the pus that bathed the putrid membrane in warmth. And pop it did, a strong, healthy Mirror female plopping into the soup of contagion. She arched her neck back to blink her eyes at the muted sky, to drink in the miasma in the air and spread her tiny wings, scrabbling her way out of the whelping pit and onto the rotten soil.

The dirt, the air, the light, all of it was foul, and the little Mirror delighted in the gloom of it all. She scrabbled to find a place to burrow, to find a heat signature smaller than her own to consume, to perhaps even find a heat signature with a friendly voice attached, not that she knew what "friendly" was at this point. She discovered, after a great deal of snuffling and nosing the earth, of smacking into veiny growths and living limbs, that her parents were nowhere to be found. A sleek black Mirror stood before the little hatchling, her pale yellow eyes narrowing as she sniffed at the new life. The hatchling hissed, snapping her jaws at the elder-

And finding herself promptly smacked across the dirt in dismissal.

"Your parents were weak." She croaked, her voice full of contempt for the hatchling. "You were supposed to boil alive in that pit.. Like your treacherous siblings.." The hatchling bristled, flaring her crests in an attempt to seem bigger, as if that would do anything to help her.

"You have green blood blooming in you, child.. It must be left to run.." The elder Mirror continued, and the hatchling squeaked in something like fear as her little back pressed flush against something alive.

"Two.." A male voice countered, and the hatchling watched as the Mirror hesitated, hissing under her breath.

"It is not her fault that her parents left to the Pox.." The voice continued, the little body against his front feet slumping into a relaxed position. The Mirror hissed louder at the mention of the hatchling's parents, of their whereabouts, and something like curiosity bubbled in her chest.

They left you. You weren't worth it.

"No. It is mine." Two grumbled, her tone almost rueful. Almost. "Take it away. Throw it into the Wyrmwound, for all I care.. Shar made her choice. And I have made mine. She is no longer my daughter. And that thing is not mine to tend to." The Skydancer blinked once at his mate, taking the little Mirror by the scruff and turning away from the Rotrock Rim as he spread his dark wings, a vulture swallowed whole by the pale sky.


The Skydancer landed after what felt like forever, although, being so tiny and new, forever was subjective to the hatchling. He heaved a sigh as he paced along the shoreline, tucked away behind the maw of the Hellwell Undercroft, scanning for any signs of life, any newly established clans who perhaps wouldn't notice an additional life emerging from their hatchery. He instead settled on a slip of calico movement wading into the arcane waters.

"You! Stop!" He called, causing the Mirror to freeze in his spot, spreading his wings and hissing low in his throat.

"What do you want, Breeze-breath?" The koi Mirror spat, blood-red eyes wary of the strange Skydancer and his young cargo.

"Help, if I may be so bold to ask it." The Skydancer murmured, and the Mirror's crests angled down in obvious confusion.

"Help with what..?" He asked, tail swishing impatiently in the water. "I'm not a babysitter, if that's what you're going to ask for.." He added bluntly. The Skydancer bit back the urge to roll his eyes.

"You are obviously searching for somewhere to live, yes?" The Mirror shifted on his feet awkwardly, shifting his focus onto the water in front of him. The Skydancer puffed his chest just a bit, a small surge of pride filling him. "This little one needs that as well. Take her. I do not care where you leave her. But she cannot stay here." The Mirror padded forward slowly, leaving little puffs of rosy pink sand as he walked.

".. Fine. But if she happens to slip and fall back into the water once I'm on land, that's not my fault." He growled, snatching the hatchling and beginning to swim towards one of the Crystalspine formations.

The Skydancer turned away from the Mirrors, and took to the sky once more.

The Mirror who had taken her, Knee, she had decided his name was Knee, did not drown her as he'd warned. He had tried, but she had been stubborn, and nearly clawed one set of eyes out when he had released his grip on her, so she had instead been replaced back into his jaws and carried like a small Foo cub as he galloped through the Starwood Strand, corrosive claws digging into the soft earth.