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 Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 9:59 pm
Iris was flopped unglamorously at the base of a tree, gazing folornly at the nest. The first-time mommy laboured a whole night, many suncircles ago, and produced five brilliant, beautiful eggs. To the entire herd's joy, four of them had hatched so far: first came Erikkeni and Keshet simultaneously, then Niji, and finally Ashia, the lone belle of the lot. All four were bounding playfully about somewhere in the sunshine, with the other herd adults keeping an eye on them. Yet this egg, which was the least like her of all Enfys and Iris's children, lay silent and still next to the shell remains of its siblings. The mare let out a sorrow-filled sigh, unable to truly celebrate the birth of her foals when one was left behind. I feel like I've failed you, she thought, touching her nose briefly to the egg. I must have done something wrong.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 7:01 am
Whether he could sense his mother's disquiet from afar or he'd simply been nearby and seen her saddened behavior were not particularly important at the moment Erikkeni, affectionately nicknamed Rikki, cuddled up to his mother as she sadly nosed his still quiet sibling. He nuzzled her shoulder just below the patch of fiery scales she'd passed on to him before uttering one of those things only a child that doesn't know the harsher realities of the world can. "Dun be sad Momma! He's jus' havin' a dweam he dun wanna wake up fwom."
Ah, innocense, what a wonderful shield from grief you are.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 8:02 am
 Thin legs bound close behind Rikki as Ashia wandered over toward her mother and brothers. oming to a halt, she looked at the unhatched egg. SMall head tilting to the side, she softly nosed at her unhatched sibling. She was happy to be the only girl of the family, but sometimes on only having brothers was a little annoying of how they hung around her all the time. turning her yellow eyes upwards toward her mother and turning her head toward Rikki.
"It come soon?" she wondered out loud looking back to the egg. "T'is no fun 'taying in the egg." Shakes her head some before turning to bound back toward her other brothers.
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 7:06 am
With a son and a daughter expressing comfort and hope, Iris couldn't help but smile, reminding of how she should (and could) count her blessings. Curling in a protective half-circle around Rikki, she began to groom him... to take her mind off the last egg, if nothing else.
Who knows, she thought. Maybe the presence of an older brother will coax this last foal to emerge.
The mare flicked her tail, almost her normal cheerful self again, glad that her own flesh and blood could lift her out of melancholy.
"Rikki... Have you been rolling in the mud again? One day the brown won't come off, and we won't know who you are anymore!" She teased, working crusted bits out of his mane and off his baby body.
As she paused and watched Ashia leap away on sturdy legs, Iris wondered if she had really ever been that small, herself... and how the other adults were faring with the kids.
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 7:20 pm
"Was only a lil mud Momma!" In spite of his psuedo-protest and the face he made as Iris continued her grooming, Rikki enjoyed the attention. Perhaps not so much the gentle tugging of his soft baby fluff as the mud was carefully removed, but at the very least the attention.
He stretched a tiny hoof over his mother's leg to prod at the plant matter nestled around his unhatched sibling. Carefully, of course. They'd all been warned about being too rough with the egg. "Ash'a is wight, eggy! S'more fun to pway in the sunwight and the gwass."
He wasn't sure if his little appeal would garner any response, but he thought he'd at least try. This sibling was taking so long to come out it seemed to be causing his parents quite a bit of worry, and he didn't like that. He honestly didn't think there was anything to be worried about, after all. They just hadn't found the right thing to convince the occupant to come out! That's all.
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 7:44 pm
 Abhyagni walked slowly back to the clearing with the foals, favoring his left foreleg slightly. Bolting at the the sound of that snapped twig had been a stupid, stupid idea, but he'd been raw nerves ever since the foals had hatched. Never mind that even his most thorough patrol had yet to reveal anything dangerous (the snapped twig had been nothing more than a squirrel), they were all unfamiliar with the area and the foals were, well, vulnerable. And then there was the unhatched egg... Abhy smiled faintly, deciding that egg was his favorite already. The world was a dangerous place, why hurry to enter it?
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 3:08 pm
 The foal in the egg had been so comfortable and warm for so long it was somewhat unnerving that the presence of the eggs he had been born beside had left him. It was not that he was a passive sort, simply that he had been basking in the glow of simply *being*. But now, the light that pierced his shell, while warm, did not stave off his inherent loneliness. He heard strange moans from without his domain, they seemed to address him. They were high pitched, voices he had heard before. But they didn't seem happy. He trembled against his shell, confused by this new change. Something *was* wrong.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:49 pm
 "Ah, but even a little mud can be very difficult to get off," Enfys said as he returned from a patrol of their temporary little territory with Keshet hurrying to keep up. He smiled at Rikki and reached over to nuzzle Iris. "Were Ashia, Rikki, and Niji good while Keshet and I were gone?" He looked around and spotted Abhyagni, to whom he nodded serenely. He knew that Abhyagni had, if possible, become even more paranoid since Iris had gotten pregnant and they'd been forced to stop until the little ones hatched and were sturdy enough on their legs to move on. Rikki and Keshet definitely seemed ready to keep up with the herd, probably Ashia and Niji, too, but...there was a fifth egg that still hadn't hatched yet, and he knew how much it worried everyone, especially the mares and Ashia, but he didn't mention it. Best not to bring up a subject that might upset everyone. Keshet had been glad that his father had let him go on a patrol. His legs were good enough to keep up now, and his father probably felt Keshet responsible enough to start helping him, Uncle Tuyet, and Uncle Abhyagni. His overprotective fraternal eyes latched onto Ashia and his unhatched youngest brother and he sighed. Ashia looked sad, and he hoped for everyone's sake that his baby brother would hatch soon. It must be lonely in that egg, and everyone was worried. He believed it would hatch...but hoped it would hatch sooner rather than later. The patrol had set off the familial wanderlust, and he wanted to get going, to explore with his family this wide open world.  Lakshmi had been dozing in the sunshine by a little stream she'd found while Abhyagni was on patrol. Almost as though she sensed his presence, she woke up and smiled, looking around for him. Spotting him, she walked over to nuzzle him optimistically. "I believe it'll hatch soon," she said, following his gaze to the sole unhatched egg. She wasn't really worried about whether or not it would hatch, but whether it would hatch sooner or later. Abhyagni probably thought it wouldn't hatch, that was the way he thought. While other kirin might not appreciate that pessimism, she rather liked Abhyagni that way. It meant she got to have fun cheering him up.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 8:26 pm
Raising his head back to the happenings of their grown clan, he smiled softly. There was less worry, on his part, about the unhatched egg, same as Lakshmi. Everyone had their own pace, even little unhatched foals. He was certain, as long as the egg had yet to grow cold, that the child was certain to find his way out in due time. Ears flicked back as a familiar voice met them. Turning he greeted the returning patrol with a slight nod as eyes flicked between the elder and the younger. "Welcome. I hope all went well."
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 9:58 pm
Yes, there were more voices now. They were the lower-pitched ones. they also sounded worried. The colt shivered a little, wanting to reach out to these voices, he felt his head move a little, downwards, his horn catching momentarily, then becoming free. With a shock, the foal began to struggle. The egg pitched sideways in its tiny ball of fluff. The tiny foal inside was quite tired of resting, and very tired of being so still! The horn chipped away at the shell - slightly thicker than normal due to the extra drying time. Delicately pointed hooves began to shove and the shell cracked quite along its breadth. Ripping his horn upwards, and shoving his hind quarters downwards, the tiny foal tore himself free. The two halves of the egg, almost still whole rocked open. The foal shivered immediately taking his first breath in fear. He looked up and was surprised to see the many faces surrounding him.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 12:08 am
Abhyagni smiled at Lakshmi's comment. Eggs not hatching... a bad thing, a very bad thing, but he had stayed well enough away that he knew that that was not the case. And he had injured himself, so there was some of the luck rubbed off, although it wasn't a bad injury. The egg was warm, did not stink. There were greater things to worry about than a leisurely egg, although perhaps his confidence in the hatching was misplaced. He flicked an ear back, suddenly worried that the egg would wait too long. A shame, such a promising young kirin dwelt inside...
"Still no sign of danger," Abhyagni told Tuyet discontentedly. It was worrisome, truly worrisome, to not know what fate had in store for the small herd and to remain so totally unaware of what dangers pressed against them. Perhaps Iris was right to worry about the egg... no! This was the final egg, the very last, and it had a bright future ahead of it. He turned to face the egg just as it started to rock and tremble. Could it be -? Yes, the egg had finally hatched. Abhyagni sighed a small sigh of relief, but remained respectfully back. Iris and Enfys should be the first to great the new youngling. Five foals. They would need extra protection.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 3:08 am
 Niji sneezed and toppled over to his side, shaking his head he looked over the world and snorted softly.
Flowers were blooming everywhere and the whole of the world seemed to glow in colors and life, his ears ticked side to side and he listened as the birds all sun and his family spoke.
His siblings all seemed happy and excited waiting for their last brother or sister to hatch. He instead, was happily looking at things, his eyes looking toward the sun and his scales glowing and shimmering in its rays.
Now though he lay on his side, snuffling at the grass and lazily swishing his tail as the things around bothered his side.
Closing his eyes he sighed and relaxed still further so that he seemed he would not move at all and hardly even his breath moved his sides to show even a bit of life was in him.
Where he lay was away from most of his family, he lay in a small clearing where the pollen floated down like gold dust, thick enough that when it landed on his white fur it dusted it a gleaming gold.
To Niji everything took a long time and he didn’t mind it at all; instead he basked in it and let everything around him rush by while he stopped to look at every petal or leaf.
He enjoyed playing and prancing but then he loved to just watch and listen, smiling and singing out to himself. He heard the last egg hatch but he did not move, only sent out feeling of happiness though no outward appearance would give it away as he remained half asleep and half awake.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:02 am
Iris couldn't help but giggle at her mate's gentle enquiry. "Oh, Enfys. You know they're all better behaved than me."
As the rest of the herd returned from their short wanderings, for as nomads all of them were restless and could not lie still for long even when tied to a set territory, the rainbow mare began to wonder if an unknown force was drawing them all together again. She nodded to acknowledge each one as they stepped closer, and then there was a soft thump.
Iris watched in surprise and then joy as her last, late foal struggled free from his egg, then rose from where she was and tried to help him stand, as instinct dictated. To be sure, he looked startled enough and had just gotten the use of his lungs... but memory of generations of Kirindae, hunted by predators in dangerous lands, was embedded into her subconscious. Something told her a newborn foal had to learn to stand and run, even before it could earn its first drink of milk.
"Welcome to the world, my son," she said proudly, before glancing quickly around to see which kids were missing.
"Niji! Ashia! Come back, your little brother is here!"
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:29 am
Niji ears twitched and flicked before he rolled onto his feet and shook his body free of any clinging debris, with his mother calling he was bound to go to it even if he would have rather lay in the sun longer; likely he would be warm to the touch but to him there was never enough sun though he enjoyed the moon when it shown full. Swishing his tail he walked back to where the family and the herd had gathered, there he saw most gathered beside his new brother. Curiously he looked nothing much like any of them, though he looked very much like the sun Niji felt nothing but a fait liking to him no more than the rest of his family received.
Despite his own thoughts he walked still closer until he stood before his new brother and gently taped his nose to his brothers in a short and simple greeting though he did it only to those he cared for. Blue eyes looked levelly into his brothers yellow; there he stood for a minute before glancing back toward Iris his ears craning forward in a question if he could not yet go. He wanted to go find something fun to do, his tail swished behind him every now and then as he set himself to wait for permission to go again, or told to do something else.
Niji had not spoken yet, unlike the rest of his siblings he was more reserved and simple minded it seemed but even at this age he was always seeking to find out about all things around him and to find just what was something good and what was bad. Often he enjoyed watching the spider spin her web; he would bend grass blades so that she would have an easier time of it, careful not to harm the fine threads. His deep blue eyes would watch the tiniest thing and never tire for it, but then they seemed to swirl and change color like oil that had been mixed in water. He was an odd one, he took no notice of the fact however, for he enjoyed what he did and though he loved his family in his own way,; he accepted the fact he likely would not be understood should he speak.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:32 am
Ashia turned quick she nearly toppled herself over to bound back toward her mother and new little sibling. Coming to a halt outside of everone else she spied the little colt. Four? Four boys? She was the only little girl of all this? Sitting back on her haunches, Ashia's ears flattened back a little, though shaking her head didn't do much good to clear her thoughts. This was going to be complicated, with so many boys about, she was going to really feel like the odd one out.
"Another one?" she voiced softly. "I the only girl in t'is?"
Pulling herself to her hooves again she moved forward to get a closer look at her new brother. Head titing a bit, she didn't know what to make of him. He was younger then she was, but she was still the smallest. Looking at her other, older brothers, she sighed. This was going to get really really strage... Specially when she tried to make friends outside their herd. Glancing around at the older members of their herd, ther certainly would be more males then females, shaking her head again, her bright eyes watching her new little brother, carefully.
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