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He could hear 'em! He could definately hear peeps and squeaks from just under the egg shells. The father-to-be was pacing back and forth just in front of the stall in almost a fantic fashion. The dirt was bare of straw and scratched beneath his talons and looking as if he was going to wear out a ditch inside the stable.

"Are-are they all right?" He asked of Kedri, peering into the open stall as he paused his nervous pacing momentarily. "Do we need to help them out? Do the humans need to help?" Before getting an anser, the griffin picked up the pacing once more as he worried about the hatching chicks.

Tink!

A chip of egg shell came loose to reveal a warm red inside. A tiny beak peered out of the small hole in the dimpled shell, making the softest little noise. High pitched, it sounded as if the little chick were making a 'breeee! bree!' noise.

Leolin froze at once when he heard the noise before hurrying to lean in to see the little chick's wet beak just barely able to fit out of the c***k in the armor of the shell.

Standing on the sidelines, Laura-- dressed as Lucas-- leaned against the stall door a box away from Kedri and Leolin. It was the closest she dared to get to the new parents. "Look Kalvin, they're hatching!" The woman was all smiles, though she looked like she would cry for joy at the new little joys in their lives.

Having invited an old friend to come watch, one who didn't know she was a girl, Laura had asked ahead of time that Nyhali and the servants refer to her as Lucas. It was only for a short time, and hopefully she would find a way to break the news to Kalvin.... one way or another.

He heard noises. Strange noises... that sounded familiar though he'd never heard them. He wanted to know where they came from...

Kedri looked down proudly as the egg tucked closest to her beneath her wing began to rock wildly, and somehow managed to rock even more violently when the crack was heard. Kedri herself had jumped up in alarm at the noise, leaning down carefully from the nest to check on her little one. She didn't dare stick a talon into the shell to help pry it open, that might harm the chick...

He pecked at the shell. Peck peck peck peck. Wiggle. Peck in a different spot. It seemed thinner now than it had, somehow... KICK. He lashed out at the weak spot he'd made with his pecking, kicking his hind legs in tandem to give it more force. Not something he'd thought to do, just something he did. Out. He needed to get out. He needed to find out what that crack was.

There was another crack then as he managed to break open enough shell to shove his head through, even if he did have to fight the membrane around the inside just a bit before he managed it. Deep breaths. He had to rest after that. It was harder to get out than it looked.

Kedri scooped up the egg gently between her foreclaws and set it back in the nest, examining it carefully. If the chick was all right the crack in the egg would make it much easier to get out... Blink. There! That one got his head all the way out! Oh... oh... Kedri was happy and flustered and worried about her chicks all at the same time. She wanted to help them but she didn't want to accidentally hurt them, either... oh... they wouldn't understand her telling them to hold still while she tried to pry the eggshells off... Oh dear, what was she supposed to do? The new mother was just as nervous as her mate, if not moreso.

His eyes showed him only moving blurs of light and shadow, so he closed them. Ow... it was much brighter out here than inside, and it smelled funny. Not bad, exactly, but really weird. And the sounds! There were a lot more sounds out here than he'd realized. The input was falling just short of making his newly exposed sensory organs hurt.

Nyhali was up in the loft again, though this time she was wearing a dress. Not a fancy dress, by any means, but that Laura had requested they refer to her as Lucas for the time being indicated that Kalvin might not be as open-minded as some to Nyhali's "manly" choice of recreational clothing.

Secretly she was rather pleased to see that two of the chicks had apparently inherited Kedri's black beak and claws. Though since they'd all managed to break out at least part of the way by now... "Lucas? I'm going to come down now with that little hammer I showed you earlier. I think I'm going to soften up the rest of the shells so the chicks can get out without hurting themselves."

Kedri had been around chicks before but she'd never seen them hatch, so she hadn't learned about tapping on the shells to help break them so the chicks could get out more easily. Nyhali had seen a breeder doing this before when a clutch of eggs he'd had to incubate manually had started hatching. She'd tap on one of them first and then if Kedri wanted to take over again she could. She climbed down the ladder as quickly as safety and the dress would allow and carefully approached with one of the tiny oval hammers in hand.

Kedri looked up as Nyhali approached, not sure what she intended to do exactly but... "I think she's going to help them get out, love... maybe so the others won't fall out..." She gave a worried look to the fallen egg, hoping the chick inside hadn't been damaged by the fall. It was a short fall, so probably not, but still...

Kedri watched curiously as Nyhali gently pet the head of the one chick that had managed to get more than a beak out and then carefully gripped the egg with her empty hand. Then she started tapping on the egg with the little white round thing on a stick in her other hand and little hairline fractures started spreading across the surface of the shell. The chick made no protest so obviously it wasn't damaging him... after a few moments the chick apparently decided he was tired of sitting still and gave as mighty a heave as an infant can and the cracked shell split open and he tumbled out, flapping tiny featherless wings and giving a baby-scree of triumph before falling over and resting again. ...AWW. He was so cute!

Kedri seemed distracted by the newly hatched chick and the egg that had fallen. That one wasn't going to need any help now from what she could see... Hmm. Nyhali turned to Leolin and nudged the last egg a few inches across the nest at him, the one that had cried "bree!", and motioned tapping at the egg with her hammer to see if he'd pick up on it and tap on himself. Papa has to help take care of the babies too, you know.

Something large and black and shiny was filling his entire field of vision, so of course he tried to bite it and see what it was. He missed though... and then his stomach made a glurpy rumble sound and he got the most awful sensation of pain! It was the first time he'd really been hungry before and he started crying little grifflette cries of distress.

At first, Leolin was vehemently against the intruder on the egg site. Puffing himself up and squawking at Nyhali, it was only by Kedri's words that he didn't take any action against her. When he saw the woman raise a hammer to his chicks however, he looked ready to lash out.

The griffin actually pulled back a taloned claw to take a swipe at Nyhali and it was only by an act of Laura that the noble woman didn't come to harm.

Vaulting over the side of the stall at once, Laura threw out her arms to bar Leolin's way. Before Leolin could retract his foreleg, the griffin had already swung his claws at his partner leaving her best vest in tatters.

Unhurt but steady in her place, Laura glared at Leolin for his transgressions. "We're trying to help!" She said firmly, praying Leolin would understand.

Chirps of surprise and shock came from Leolin at seeing his partner standing before him with torn clothes and a frightful scowl on her face. It was enough to make the griffin back away with squeaks of appology as he bowed his head. Leolin hadn't ment to harm his partner of all people in the world! If she was standing to protect the woman in the stall, Leolin would have to abide by that.

Though Laura tried not to show her fright at standing up to an angry father griffin, the woman's hands told all that needed be said. They were trembling, and Laura stepped out of the way and the stall itself after a moment when she was sure Nyhali wasn't in danger.

"There's a good boy..." She cooed softly, almost seeming to bow her head to Leolin respectfully as she exited the stall to go to his side and stroke his mane. "Go help your chicks..."

With a great reluctance to return to anywhere near Nyhali, the griffin moved to the egg squeaking from inside the egg. He lay down beside the egg and wrapped his talons around it. With his beak, the griffin nudged it in hopes it would reassure the chick. To him though, it felt like comforting a rock. But the soft cooing seemed to help.

Someone was rocking her little home! The noise from the egg got louder, and the small chick flailed about inside the egg. A foot replaced the beak that protruded from the crack, followed by another. The little griffin kicked as her tiny little talons scratched at the warm insides of her snug little nest.

It was all suffocating now! What had been a peaceful place, the little griffin now found to be a cage. Outside there was another world, she had smelt it! Now there was only to escape into it.

The wet little paws kicked away more of the shell, and soon a cream colored head came chirping out with the high pitched 'bree! bree!' again. Eyes closed, the little griffin came upon her first shock in the new world as some large blob nuzzled her. At once she lashed out at the unknown thing, beak nipping beak of her much larger father.

She only stopped when she receeded into the shell once more to catch her breath.

Leolin smiled as only griffins could when the little girl showed a spark of life. Carefully he began to break the egg away with his beak. The chick tried to move away, and he could hear her little 'bree!' well enough to know he wasn't touching her in there.

After a moment, half the egg shell was in pieces on the ground around his talons, and a cute but wet little griffin bum poked out for the world to see.

Nyhali was going to have a loooong way to go to get Leolin to trust her. Though she knew that Kedri didn't really trust Laura, either, but Kedri also didn't consider Laura threatening. Oy... Peace had not been made in spite of her attempt to show Leolin what she was doing, but at least he'd started participating in his own manner. She edged out of the stall, stopping near Kalvin to lean on a rail and catch her breath. Now she allowed her hands to shake from the nerves that had reacted when Leolin attacked her. "Guess I'm not going back in there unless Leolin's not around for a while..." She shook her head and tried to make her hands stop quivering, glancing over at Kalvin. "Quite the adrenaline rush, eh? If I wasn't so used to being around griffons..." She sighed and made her way back up to the loft so she could look down on the happy little family. Well... sort of happy. Kedri looked somewhere between joyfully extatic and livid. And Laura still looked really shaken up. "You ok Lucas? I... thanks. I didn't realize Leolin was still that uneasy around me."

"Leolin... Nyhali would never hurt a chick. Never." Upset and more flustered than ever after his actions - not really angry because he thought he was protecting the chicks, but still, what would he think if she'd done that to Laura?! Not trusting herself to do or say anything else where Leolin was concerned without it coming out in a spiteful way she turned to feed the squalling chick next to her foreleg. Watching a griffon regurgitate food for a chick wasn't the most pleasant sight for human beings to see.

Suddenly there was something that smelled like food within reach and he tore into it, eating until his little belly bulged. Then... well he was tired and wanted a nap but first he wanted to check out this new environment he'd tumbled into. The little male started crawling around, cheeping and wondering where exactly the other things making noise were located. Soon enough he bumped into a fluffy little head and toppled over backward in surprise.

"That's alright..." Kavlin was looking at the nest. His eyes widened and he exchanged blances between Lucas and the nest. He had just remembered the fallen egg and noticed that neither of the parents had gone to retrive it. The chick looked as though it was having trouble getting out.

He sqeaked and pawed at the fluffy object without fear. Feeling frusterated with his current position--upside down--and unsure of what to do, the little gryphon rolled about inside his egg in an attempt to right himself again, unaware that Kalvin was watching with concern. Finally he rolled the egg onto its side and was able to crawl out through the hole he had made.

Kalvin sighed softly. "I wish I could help them. Is it always done this way?"

The gryphon crawled toward the thing that had bumped him, chirping loudly. He tried to push himself up on his legs while going forward and stumbled and twisted and crashed into the other chick. He sat on his haunches and began to cry.

"What?!" Laura looked at Nyhali in shock at the idea. The very thought of drugging her companion and racing partner was an outrage! "You didn't get hurt Nyhali! You shouldn't have scared him in the first place!" Of course the outburst was a bit unfounded, but Laura wasn't going to stand for such a thing.

Looking up quickly at the pair's crying before turning to see their little spark had ignited a bon fire. The third chick followed suit after her brothers, and Leolin squeaked in dismay. This was a lot harder than he thought it'd be!

"Shhh, shhh.... there now." He murmured to no avail. Whining quietly, he picked up the little girl in his beak to set near her brothers. It might be easier to comfort them if they were together-- or so he thought.

With the screeching continuing, Leolin lay flat on the ground with his beak on the straw to try and see if he could understand what made them cry. He didn't understand anything that was happening!

"Kedriiiii! What's the matter with them?"

"Breeeeeeeeeeee!!" The chick screamed as she was picked up, and she slumped against her mother when she was set on her unsteady legs. What on earth was going on?! With her bleary vision no where near accustom to the world around her, she couldn't see what on earth was going on.

Well... the being scooped up and put down was unsettling and he cried louder for a moment, though... he got rather tired. His full belly was wearing on him by this point, and he started dozing where he sat, jerking his head back up a few times before he finally slumped down to curl into a little puffball at Kedri's side.

"Well... this one is hungry." She nudged at the other little male before offering him some food. Perhaps if the little female realized what was going on, hunger would distract her from her distress and then they'd all nap like the first one. This was going to be trying... she'd helped a bit with chicks slightly older than this, but she'd heard that newborn hatchlings could be very difficult because... really, nothing made sense to them yet. One thing at a time though... feed the hungry one, then see if she can comfort the other.

Nyhali raised her eyebrows at Laura. "Luke, seriously, do you think I'd do anything like that unless it was absolutely necessary? It might be akward for them at first but I know they'll be good parents. It's nothing against Leolin, I know I scared him. I'm just saying, if for some reason the chicks come down ill or something, if they won't let us get close to take care of them, we have options. But as long as we keep everything clean and make sure they get good meat and it stays quiet until the little ones are ready to start exploring I don't see why that would happen." She frowned. "Honestly, do you think I'd do something like that to Kedri lightly? She's like a little sister to me." Nyhali had more than a temper to match Laura's, and she'd probably had more training with combat since she'd actually been allowed to learn with her brothers. If Kalvin only knew what the two of them were really made of... it probably wouldn't be good. Hrm. But really... it bothered her that Laura would think that of her. Did she really come across as that sort of person?

“I didn’t mean to,” Kalvin said quickly, straightening and puffing out his chest. He knew it was in vain. “I just didn’t want to get caught in the middle for wanting to help. I don’t think Nyhali would do anything that would hurt Leolin,” he added gently, glancing at the gryphons. “It seems like she really cares about them.”

Stomach sated, the little gryphon began to calm down. Suddenly he forgot why he had been so frustrated before. After all, he was warm and comfortable now. He nuzzled Kendri’s chest and lay down over her fore-leg, going to sleep at last.