Kitty was rudely awakened by the sound of a loud CRACK. She had fallen asleep next to her eggs for the night, because the chilly breeze was threatening snow. She wanted the eggs to keep warm, after all.
She lifted her head to see what was going on. In the dawn light, she wasn't able to make much out except…
Oh. OH MY GODS, THEY WERE HATCHING.
Kitty clambered out of the nest to get a better look. One egg was pipping and the other wobbling like a broken stool. She had to find Riverfall FAST. So she dashed for the entrance of the nursery, frantically looking to see who was outside.
Strangely enough, it was a Gaoler dragon. Kitty didn't recognize them at all, but they seemed to be walking in a quiet sort of way. Not for long though.
"HEY YOU!" Kitty shouted, which caused the other dragon to jump. They looked at her in surprise. "I need you to do me a favor! It's urgent!"
"Wh- me? What do you need me for?" They nervously glanced around, almost as if there was something scary in the camp.
"I need you find a dragon named Riverfall! He's a shiny white skydancer with blue wings that have eye spots." She was panting and had to take a quick breath. She glanced back at the nests. "He should be in the Traveler's Dens! Tell him his eggs are hatching!"
"Oh, uh. Yes ma'am!" Without another word, the Gaoler ran off. Kitty desperately hoped that they would be able to do the job. But first, her eggs!
She ran back to her nest to see that both eggs were pipping now, the first one rocking violently. It was going to hatch at any moment, and she so wanted Riverfall to see this. Oh please, Icewarden, let that odd black and brown Gaoler be able to find him.
"Kitty! What's going on?!" That familiar musical tone filled the nursery. Riverfall exasperatedly ran into the room, all his feathers in a ruffle. The Gaoler from before was right behind him.
"The eggs are hatching!" She was absolutely delighted, Riverfall was here! She looked back down at the nest. "The first one is almost out."
After what seemed like ages of cracking and wobbling a little baby Tundra tumbled out of the egg. Kitty seemed almost surprised, almost as if she was expecting something else. But that surprise melted away when the wet hatchling looked up with the prettiest purple eyes she's ever seen.
"Ahbrrrp!" The baby dragon chirped, looking around wide-eyed at her new surroundings. Kitty quickly got to work and started licking at her fur, trying to dry the new fuzzy coat. Had to keep the hatchling warm, after all. It was cold out there.
"She's beautiful." Riverfall warmly chuckled, gently nuzzling his child's head. "She looks a lot more like you if anything."
Kitty glanced up from her cleaning, to see that he was right. Her new child had all of her genes, even if it was hard to tell in the fluff mess she had made her to be. But there was in fact two eggs, and she looked up just in time to see another hatchling tumble out.
Another Tundra girl was hatched, this time having a white striped coat and bright blue wings. She also had all of Kitty's genes, but this little one had more of Riverfall's colors. She liked that.
"Welcome to the world, little ones." Kitty purred, then starting to clean the second hatchling. She felt like she could actually fly with all of the love filling her heart. She couldn't believe these were actually her children. She made these! “What should we name them?”
“Oh, uh. Well I’m actually really terrible at names.” Riverfall ducked his head blushing. He had that same nervous expression that he did the same day he asked Kitty to have eggs with him. “What if we name that black and white one uhh…. Cloudy? Star? Cloudystar?”
“Cloudystar? Gods, you really are bad at names." Kitty giggled and shook her head. She looked towards the black hatchling, who was curiously waddling towards the strange Gaoler. She didn't want to name her child something like Cloudystar. But that did give her an idea…
“What about Nightfall?”
“Nightfall... That’s a perfect name!” Riverfall seemed to approve, a big ol’ grin appearing on his face. He didn’t seem to notice that she was named after him. “Oh! Oh! I think I have one for the little white girl. What do you think about Stream?”
“Stream is a lovely name. I think it fits her well.” Kitty looked towards the newly named Stream. The little one didn’t make a noise, but she seemed to acknowledge her new name.
"They're absolutely gorgeous, Kitty." Riverfall gave a small, sad sigh. "I… I don't want to leave them, but I have to."
The reminder that Riverfall was going to become an Exalted hit Kitty like a bag of rocks. She desperately looked up at him with a pleading expression. How could she have forgotten that?
"Please don't go." The words slipped out of her mouth by accident. She just wasn’t ready for this yet.
"I'm sorry but… yesterday I got a summoning letter from The Shadowbinder. I don't have a choice anymore." He sadly gave Kitty a small comforting lick. She could tell how much this hurt. It was hurting both of them.
“But what about the children? Nightfall and Stream will grow up without knowing you.” Kitty shook her head. Why was she trying to argue this? She knew since she laid these eggs that Riverfall would leave her.
"Maybe I could help." The Gaoler, who had remained silent until this point, spoke up. "I mean, help take care of the hatchlings when Riverfall leaves. Unless you don’t me want to! Uhm."
“What’s your name? I didn’t catch it when you shoved me towards the nursery.” Riverfall tilted his head at the stranger. Kitty looked up at them as well, just now noticing something odd about this Gaoler. Their eyes were wrong. One was green and the other was red, which shouldn’t be exactly possible. Especially considering how elements affected eye color.
“My name’s Reuben. I’m. I’m just me.” They looked away, as if they were hiding something in their words. That was odd. But then again, it felt odd meeting a Gaoler all the way out here. Kitty would have to talk to them later.
“Kitty, what do you think?” Both dragons were staring at her now. She didn’t entirely know what to say. She glanced down at her hatchlings, one of which was trying to climb Reuben. The large Gaoler carefully lowered their head towards her, having a sort of carefulness to their behavior. Hmm….
“I won’t make you help me. Just like how I can’t force Riverfall stay.” She said that last part with a mild bite of sorrow and her voice was starting to crack. She continued on anyways. “But if you want to help, that is your choice.”
The goodbye to Riverfall was bittersweet. Kitty wasn’t able to escort him to The Forum Of The Obscured Crescent, since this journey was usually for one to take alone. Standing at the edge of the camp leading into the woods, she gazed into his gentle eyes one last time. This would probably be goodbye forever. Even if Kitty were to become an Exalted herself, the chances of her going to the Shadowbinder wasn’t entirely guaranteed. The dominance game was tricky like that.
“Take care of yourself out there. May the Shadowbinder treat you well.” Kitty quietly whispered into Riverfall’s ear. She was trying really hard not to cry. None of this was fair, but such was the way of life.
“I will. You take care of yourself too, Alright?” Riverfall’s usual singsong voice was unusually very quiet and sad. Seemed like this was rough on him too. “And make sure to tell the girls how much I love them. They are the greatest thing I could have asked for before serving Lady Shadowbinder. I love you.”
And then he was gone. Kitty blinked through a few tears, turning around to see both of her hatchlings clambering around on Reuben’s back. It seemed like the little ones took a liking towards the gentle giant. She let out a small chuckle.
"I don't know if I have a choice anymore." Careful to not hit either hatchling with their horns, Reuben looked towards their back. "I think they like climbing me too much. That's not an issue, is it?"
"Not at all." A small smile crept onto Kitty's face. The ridiculous sight of Reuben covered in hatchlings made her feel a little better. "I'm glad I'm not doing this alone at least. Just don't hurt my children."
"I won't. But I will have to leave camp before sundown every day." They made a few circles in the dirt with a claw. Those odd eyes were staring off in the distance. "I'm not exactly supposed to be here."
"Why is that?" Kitty tilted her head. Reuben wasn't dangerous, were they?
"I'm a Lawless dragon."
<-- Back
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SakuraDryad @
WolfprintsSC @
CorvvusCorax
There's the first nest! Kinda disappointed I didn't get a bab with peacock, but oh well! Also Nightfall and Stream will be available for grabs when they grow up! They just have to stop using Reuben as a jungle gym first lol
(Also note: Reuben is a trans dragon and uses he/him pronouns. Kitty doesn't know that yet, so I'm using the narration to reflect that)
