The Eggs
Words: 1199
Sanele came back to find a mess in one corner and Ganya at her feeding bin eating. She stared at the eggs for a moment, her brain not quite clicking to what she was seeing.
She walked over, keeping an eye on Ganya as she did so, to look at the eggs. Three of them, all nice sized and all of them still warm and covered in fluids from being laid. She looked up at Ganya. Why hadn’t she laid them in the nest? Why was she over there eating instead of protecting her eggs? Some Xaraan were so protective they wouldn’t let any of their handlers near a nest much less pick up the eggs as Sanele was doing!
Frowning, Sanele carried them over, one by one, to the prepared nest in one corner of the barn, making sure to cover them correctly with straw. Then, because Ganya still paid her no heed, she set up the small stove nest to the eggs. She was in the pen, handling the eggs… and yet no response from Ganya. I wonder if since this is her first time she just hasn’t clicked yet and her instincts aren’t working just yet? Sanele did know that some new mothers just took time to start figuring things out; but just in case, she set the stove to keep the eggs warm and hope Ganya would figure things out soon.
Then she ran to go inform Khewzi about the eggs. She knew exactly where he was since she had just come from the dining hall and seen him there.
“Khewzi! Ganya just laid 3 eggs.” She said as she trotted up to him. He looked at her in surprise.
“And?”
“And is… ignoring them. She just... laid them in a random spot and went back to eating. I put them in the nest and turned on the stove but… figured you’d like to know.” She shrugged. Sure it was supposed to be her responsibility; but these were eggs! Precious baby Xaraan were in them and she didn’t want to lose any of them! Plus she’d never actually had to deal with a Xaraan who didn’t care about her eggs. Over protective ones yes… but even then she’d only been an aid and not actually dealing with the eggs like she was now.
“Go back and keep an eye on them. See if she does anything… and especially keep Ejaj away! He’s still sneaking out, but we’ve caught him so far before he can leave his barn. Try what you can and I’ll check up and give you some tips over the next few weeks.” Khewzi grinned. “Gotta see what you do without my help! Cause there’ll be more of that considering how many young females we just bought.”
She chuckled and trotted back to her barn. She saw a Xaraan head peek out of the barn and knew Ejaj was making another break for it.
“Oh no you don’t!” She whispered as she sprinted towards him. He saw her and ducked back into the barn. Sanele shut the door, barred it and gave a loud whistle. She knew there was supposed to be someone on duty!
Jaya, leaned over the roof and yawned. “What Sanele?”
“You’ve got an Ejaj on the loose in there!” She looked up at him critically. May be better if you are inside the barn Jaya! That way you can stop him before he gets out of his pen!”
He growled and rolled off, landing lightly on his feet. “Alright alright.” He grouched. She patted him sympathetically on the back. He’d gotten the short end of the stick and had to deal with Ejaj plus his normal duties... Sanele just had cleaning and Ganya to deal with!
She entered and grabbed a rake and bucket. Time to clean up the birthing mess! She hopped over the pen fence and got to work; but kept an eye on Ganya just in case. She was disappointed to see Ganya do nothing more than sniff the eggs then leave. Still no urge to nest ehh? Sanele thought.
She looked at the mess she’d just cleaned up. Maybe she should put some of it with the eggs? Remind the mother that she’d given birth to them? She placed some of the wet hay about the eggs and then went to increase the temperature in the barn by setting up more ovens. Maybe increased heat would trigger something.. or the scent. Either way, the heat would be good for the eggs.
But Ganya still ignored them. Infact she almost tried to kick the eggs out of the nest to make room for herself! Sanele had screech and thrown herself over the pen fence and on to the nest to save them. After that she increased the size, added some of Ejaj’s feathers to the nest, hoping that Ganya would get the idea they were Ejaj’s. But no luck.
Khewzi was also at a bit of a loss. They’d had nights where no one was in the barn, lights dimmed and Ganya wouldn’t sit on her eggs. They let her meet Ejaj in hopes that meeting him would get her to realize they were his eggs. No luck. They put in another nesting Xaraan in hopes that she’d learn by example. Ganya ignored the eggs, instead crating a second nest for her to use. And when Sanele placed her eggs there, Ganya moved to the other nest.
Frustrated by the contrariness of the xaraan, and worried about the eggs, Sanele added them to the other nests of the Xaraan who were also nesting at that time. It was only then that Ganya started acting up. Sanele caught her digging at the spot she’d laid her eggs in, or digging at her nest.
“You looking for something girl?” She asked, running a hand over that beak. Ganya gave a soft chirp, quizzically looking at her and then back at the nest. “Finally realized you laid eggs?” Sanele chuckled.
She managed to get two eggs back into the nest.. the third however was being sat on by the most overprotective old biddy ever. Sanele wasn’t going to risk going back in there! She’d already bitten when shed slipped the egg in! She did so while Ganya was eating, sneaking over and sliding them under the straw. At the rustling, Ganya looked up and chirped… then she walked over and gave a small shrill cry as she found the eggs. The very eggs she’d ignored and almost broke! She hopped up on to the nest, making Sanele tense for a bit, before she nestled down on top... just like she was supposed to.
“Sheesh! Took you long enough!” Sanele said with a shake of her head. “Next time I’m just going to put them in the other nests and take you back to the training barn…. That way you can stick to your routines and not be cooped up here irritating me with your lack of instincts!”
Then she went back to cleaning the pens, replacing food, and making sure the other xaraan were comfortable. Now I can only hope the silly Xaraan knows what to do with new hatchlings!
OOC 
