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 Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:06 am
Honeysuckle had been watching and feeling her son break free from his shell for several hours now. The first movements had started shortly before her mate had left to take one of the eggs to the Minder's enclave. When all the eggs hatched it would be nearly impossible to support all three hatchlings, so they had decided to send one of their boys to be Minder-raised.
With a crack a big piece of the shell came loose and she could finally see a tiny beak peek out. It was amazing to watch the little one break open the egg with his sharp egg tooth. The proud mother carefully removed a piece of the shell, and settled more comfortably on the other smaller egg that contained her daughter.
"Welcome to Noctua," she whispered gently as she watched the tiny wet fledgling struggle to free himself from his prison. "My strong little boy."
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:07 pm
Though frustrated at leaving one of his future sons in the care of a stranger, he'd only stayed at the enclave long enough to see the egg delegated to a Minder, before thanklessly taking wing back home again. Honeysuckle was right, two beaks would be difficult enough to feed as is.
About mid-way back he'd picked up some rather chubby looking game. It had been an opossum at one point, but he'd struck it so heavily that one could hardly recognize its previous form. No matter... he figured it'd be easier for the little tykes to swallow this way.
He hoots once as he draws up to the nest and lands rather heavily at its edge, disfiguring the hatchlings battered meal even further.
“He's settled in.” he states. “I found this. You hungry?” he offers, holding up the catch before ripping a part of the newborn's first meal into more manageable sizes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:01 pm
“He's settled in. I found this. You hungry?”
Honeysuckle hooted softly in greeting to Sanguine. She wasn't feeling hungry before her mate asked, but at the sight of the fresh kill she felt her stomach grumble.
"Thank you," she said and ripped a bite sized chunk from the opossum, "I better try to regain some strength before these two start to become even more demanding."
Her baby girl moved beneath her and Honeysuckle rose to be able to see how far she had to go. The egg had a large crack but it wouldn't hatch just yet. She settled on the egg again and swallowed another piece of 'possum. It was nice seeing Sanguine tend to their son and she couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two.
"He's handsome like his father," she said with a proud smile, "We should name him after you."
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:14 pm
Sanguine paused for a moment amidst feeding their newborn son. He'd been named alike to his father as well. It had been a fitting name in his case, if somewhat expectantly to his parents.
“Bloodbone.” he says after the moment's thought. The boy seemed to be of healthy weight and size, nothing visibly wrong with him, and had a strong appetite. This little ball of feathers was their first son.
Looking towards Honeysuckle, he glances down at the remaining egg. “What have you in mind for her?”
Leaving the opossum remains next to Honeysuckle, Sanguine approaches the edge of the nest and casually watches for movement around the small stream far bellow. “I was thinking... Cerise“ he says with a hopeful hint to his deep voice.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:37 am
Honeysuckle had thought more in the lines of 'Sanguine Junior', and realised too late that she had basically given him permission to name their son. Bloodbone? Well, it could have been worse.
"I didn't..." she closed her beak, "That's a... strong... name. A little bit brutal for such a darling little thing perhaps?"
“What have you in mind for her?”
"Anjou," she blurted out, at the same time as Sanguine said Cerise. They had a very similar conversation when they named their first daughter, but finally ended up naming her Sorrel. It was a nice traditional name, and one of Sanguine's female relatives had been named Sorrel. At the moment Honeysuckle couldn't remember if it was a grandmother or an old aunt, but it didn't matter now.
"I've always dreamed of a daughter named Anjou," she said shyly. "Besides, I had a dreadful minder named Cerise. Why not Scarlet if we're naming her after a colour? Or Turquoise? I've always been partial to Turquoise."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:59 pm
“A strong name befits a strong boy.” he comments matter-of-factly before turning back to face Honeysuckle. She didn't care much for the name, that was obvious, but Sanguine was a superstitious creature to some degree. The name would carry the boy well.
“Just be happy I didn't choose to name him after my great uncle, 'Bloodshot'.” he says with a chuckle, offering a rare slight smile for his mate.
Settling down next to Bloodbone, he attempts to preen some of the moisture out of the child's still drying feathers. “What is Anjou? What does it mean?” he asks casually.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:09 am
"Blodshot?" she asked smiling back, "You sure have some odd relatives... I guess we should both be thankful that I grew up in the Minder's enclave. I don't have any relatives to name our children after."
Honeysuckle had never regretted her upbringing. She felt no need to know her parents, and giving their other son to the Minders had felt like the most natural thing to do. Still, Sanguine's closely knit family intrigued her and she found it fascinating to have such a great number of aunts, cousins and uncles, all sharing a single bond since they were all related. She was proud to be included in their extended family, but the whole concept was still foreign to her. Her family had always been the clan, but this family within the family was not bad.
"What is Anjou? What does it mean?"
"Does it have to mean anything," she said defensively, "It's just a unique name. I don't want her to be named after a berry or flower like every other little girl. Ah, here she comes."
Their daughter finally managed to break through her shell, and Honeysuckle stepped aside to watch the little miracle.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:14 am
Sanguine would have objected to his mate's referring to his ancestors as “odd”, he probably would have argued more against giving their daughter “such an absurd name” too...
... Except that he was completely absorbed in the event displayed in front of him. Before him, another daughter was entering the world. Slowly struggling against the confines of her broken shell... how much the damp little infant reminded him of...
No, this child was nothing like the other. She would never be like that child. Never.
Half sighing, half grumbling, he resumes cleaning their son. “Anjou... Mm?” he mutters, casting Honeysuckle a resigned glance. “You're certain?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:09 pm
"Welcome to Noctua Anjou," Honeysuckle said softly and carefully removed the pieces of eggshell from the nest. She was tempted to save one as a memento but didn't know if her mate would think that she was crazy. Perhaps she would squirrel one away later, when cleaning the nest.
"My beautiful girl, of course I'm certain," she preened the top of her daughters head. "Look, she's got your eyes."
Honeysuckle was not aware of her mate's inner turmoil. She was caught up in the present and didn't stop to think about their other daughter.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:09 pm
It was only fair, he surmised. Honeysuckle had graciously accepted the name he'd chosen for their son in spite of any misgivings she may have had. He would have to attempt to do like-wise, enough said.
“Mm... does she?” he replies, though more as a statement then as an actual question. Not being one to give a great deal of attention to his own reflection in water, Sanguine was more inclined to think that she resembled his mother... regardless, the child seemed healthy, though a little on the small side when compared with her brother.
“They're both excellent children, my love.” he remarks, leaning over to gently preen Honeysuckle. He'd never been particularly gifted in expressing his growing affection for her, but granted, he was trying.
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:57 pm
Honeysuckle closed her eyes and sighed happily as her mate preened her. She turned her head to be able to preen him back, and leaned up against Sanguine.
"Is it bad that I'm exhausted already," she asked with her eyes still closed, "I know the hard part is just beginning but I feel like I could sleep for a day and a night."
A demanding "PEEP!" from their daughter interrupted the moment. Honeysuckle opened her eyes and reached for the remains of the opossum. They had not one, but two, bottomless pits to feed before they could have any more time to cuddle.
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:29 pm
Once Anjou begins begging for attention, Bloodbone instinctively pipes up too. Exhaling a short sigh, Sanguine slowly steps away from Honeysuckle. The accumulated weariness after the past few days seemed to show plainly in her eyes, which made Sanguine all the more aware of how he'd be feeling a few nights from now too. Parenthood was a fully-grown task in and of itself.
“I'd best find something to quiet them down...” he says as he steps up towards the nest's edge. “Once I return, you go and rest. I'll watch over them for a while.” He makes sure to emphasize his last comments as he looks back toward Honeysuckle. She may not agree, but he'd insist that she have some time to herself.
“I'll be back soon.” he states, returning his gaze forward... and with that, he drops from the nest, flapping against the air until he's aligned with his destination.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:08 pm
Honeysuckle watched her mate fly away with a pang of regret. She knew he needed to go if they should get any sleep at all today, but she would have loved to cuddle or just... have him there.
There was enough meat left on the carcass to silence Anjou and Bloodbone, if only temporarily, and Honeysuckle preened the pair carefully, hoping that the attention would lull them to sleep. The two little ones instinctively huddled up close together for warmth. Smiling proudly at her children, Honeysuckle busied herself with cleaning the nest. She called for Feather and chuckled as the Mus emerged with a few nuts firmly clutched to her chest.
"I'm not going to eat you," she said gently, "Just stay out of the nest and you'll be fine Feather, silly girl. Now take these and hide them away."
Honeysuckle accepted the offered nuts and floated two pieces of shell towards her companion. One from Bloodbone and one from Anjou.
"Don't break them Feather," she said sternly, "Hide them carefully."
The Mus scurried away with one of the pieces, and returned for the other a few moments later but made herself scarce when her task was done. Feather had met hatchlings before and decided she was better off far away from them.
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