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Magpie looked out from the hollowed trunk, careful that no one saw her come out. This was her stash! Her treasure. No one else knew of it except for the owlcat that slunk from its hidden entrance behind her.

As always, she was off looking for treasure, any treasure. She had many pieces of crude gold, unpolished gems that gleamed from cracks of mud and tarnish, teeth of a caiman, and she was so proud of her ivory lynx skull. There was much she still wished for: a feather from a mythical feathered serpent, a golden eagle claw, or even a rare horn.

Her hunt began today on a hilltop, where she saw the most beautiful, perfect gem glinting in the bright sun. It was colorful beyond reprieve and the beauty was enough to make Magpie tear up at the beauty.

"Oh, Twig," she whispered reverently. "I must have it!"

And so the doe came upon the egg-looking gem. She quickly rubbed it with mud and slime, so as to protect it from others' eyes. Twig quickly made a makeshift sac out of vines to hold it for carrying. It was days from her treasure trove, though, and she she had to be careful. She traveled at night, and slept during the day - hidden of course. No one must see her new treasure - for surely they would want it for themelves.

Magpie was woken by two things: one, Twig was pulling on her ear -or so she thought, the owlcat was actually biting- and the other was the laughter echoing through the swamp. The first thing on her mind was the polished, and so the doe bounded to the tree she had hidden it by.

There, she saw a very... purple buck. He wasn't too bad looking, she really enjoyed his jeweled-purple look. But right now, he was a threat! He was looking at her polished gem.

Just walk away, nothing to see here, she tried to will him away - but to no avail.

The doe stalked around the thick brush. She should have hidden it better.

Twig jumped to the branches and pounced between them - getting close and closer.

"No-o!" Magpie jumped from her hiding spot. "You cannot eat me precious jewel! You shall not!"

The buck was much bigger than her, but what she lacked in size she made up in.... not much of anything, really. But the doe's eyes burned, disgusted anyone would want to eat something so beautiful.

Never mind what bowel movements would be blocked from eating a solid gem that size....

Magpie was obviously a little intimidated, but she would never let him know that.

"Not so! Who do you think put it there? And hid it? That was so me! I slept away from it so at not to attract big lumps of fur like you to it!" The doe's bottom lip jut out just a little. She was not going to back down.

"And it is not an egg! Have you ever SEEN an egg so big? No, I think not! Therefore, it must be a jewel! See how it sparkles. Plus, no eggs in the swamp are nearly so vibrant!" The doe was obviously proud of herself - really, she just wished he would go away (without the jewel). Being sneaky didn't work, and she didn't think he would disappear without a fight. However, she was not match for him physically... and probably not mentally if she thought about it long enough.

Magpie blinked, "Well, I tried to hide it, and Tooth must have a poor nose." She walked up to it and tapped on it with a hoof. When it didn't break (she had been holding her breath), she smiled again, "See, it didn't crack! Eggs are fragile."

While she was there, the doe wiped off some mud, "It's shiny that is all that counts. And I am always looking for things that are strange or not normal to add to my collection." Not that she would ever mention how to find her hiding spot. "It would be well hidden there, away from you!"

The doe refused to think that it could be an egg. It just didn't make sense. She had carried it, too - it was heavy!

Magpie tossed her head, not responding to the call-out of the insult. She didn't think a snake could have a nose that was better than her own eyesight - and she really had carried it around, it was way heavier (and bigger!) than any egg she had seen around this swamp. It was just the way it was! Even the alligators had small eggs...

The buck raised a hoof, and she flinched. "If you chip that surface, I will -" but she couldn't finish, it started to move. She thought. No, her eyes were playing tricks on her.

No - there it did it again!

"Move out of the way!" Magpie pushed the purple buck with her shoulder. If an outside would have known what was happening, they might have suggested Magpie was being motherly - but no, it was probably just her selfish nature and she instinctively used the distraction to her advantage.

The doe nudged the gem carefully. What was born of gems? Maybe she had heard of that somewhere while lurking in the shadows? Maybe it was one of those dragon-called creatures. They weren't REALLY born from eggs, she heard. So maybe she was still right!

The gem rolled back, tapping her lips. Magpie smiled gently, but then quickly shook it away lest the buck saw.

It was then she saw the crack that ran along it. She twisted her head to glare at the buck, "You did hit it! That crack was not there yesterday! Now it has an imperfection!" Magpie looked back at the gem, oh well, it was still pretty! It wasn't that big just a moment ago, was it?

The doe was either daft or in denial... maybe a little both.

Magpie glared at the buck, insistent that all these changes were his fault. She had been with the gem for days, and nothing happened.

One... two... three... cracks. Even the sounds of it seemed to be not registering in her ears.

It wasn't until a nose poked out that she seemed to understand.

And then... everything else was forgotten. Maybe it was a friend for Twig!

"Oh, look at that!" Her voice went up at least two octaves in her excitement. What a pretty nose!

Well, a pretty creature came from the pretty gem! Her addled mind was still in denial.

The buck seemed to take charge, and the creature seemed to take a liking to him too. Magpie watched on, in regret. She never kept live animals to take back to her treasures. For one, they could lead others too it and that would just not do. And for another, she'd have to care for it and clean up after it.... no, she would not change her own rules now. But now she would lose the beauty.

Something about the creature pulled at her memory. What was it? She looked at it more closely. It looked like a kimeti but not quite. It wasn't a kiokote... maybe it was one of those new ones?

"I think it's a... oh, what are the called... ak-a? Something like that. One of our forgotten kin!" Magpie smiled. "So cuuuuute!"