Earth Eternal: Brotherhood of Blood
Chapter 3: The Birth of a Hero
It has been 4 years since Lance and Aryll were married. They already have a two-year-old son, a brown furred foxen which Aryll has named Alban. They are expecting another one sometime soon. One morning, Lance was already cooking breakfast, Aryll just woke up, and Alban was still asleep in his crib. Lance was cooking his favorite breakfast, boar bacon with quackatrice eggs. Aryll walks to Lance and embraces him, Lance smiles and hugs Aryll back to the best of his ability with only one arm.
Lance asks "How's my family doing?"
Aryll giggles and responds "Good"
Lance places his paw upon his wife's cheek
"Just think, one day our children will become great heroes, maybe even greater than me."
Aryll giggles again and says "So what do you think our baby will look like?"
"He'll have an awesome gleaming coat of fur, just like his old man, and maybe…"
Lance stares outside his window, remembering his family. "he'll have the family crest… like my father"
Aryll feels a thump inside her body "Oh! Aw, he's kicking."
Lance puts an ear on to Aryll's expanded stomach. He hears another thump "Ha ha, soon he'll be using that kick to smite all who oppose him"
Aryll asks "What are you going to name him?"
"I'm not quite sure yet…" says Lance "Breakfast is almost ready though"
"I'll go get Alban" says Aryll
Lance smiles, he has always dreamt of watching his young carrying on the great Westbrook legacy. He knows for a fact that Alban and his brother will both become great warriors. Lance looks at his stump of an arm and remembers back to his father, Vashton Westbrook, who retired because of his paralyzed legs. Lance then worries about the safety of his sons. He hopes that they do not suffer the same fate of a career ending injury, or worse.
Later that night, while Lance was cleaning his armor, he hears a terrifying scream coming from inside his and Aryll's room.
"Aryll! What's wrong?" asks Lance as he bursts through the door
"The baby…is coming! Lance… the baby is coming!" responds Aryll, she's in terrible pain from going into labor
Lance runs outside in search of a doctor without saying another word. He finds Dr. Panshaw Sr. in his office
"Gaia's Swordsman! What can I do you for today?" asks Dr. Panshaw
"My wife, she's giving birth! You have to help her, now!" shouts Lance
"Well then we don't have a moment to lose, come with me Sir Lance." says Panshaw
Moments later Lance is waiting by Aryll's bedroom door, hoping she will be ok. He hears terrible sounds of screaming, yelling, and shouting. He could only imagine what is going on beyond that door. All of a sudden, it stops and the only sound that can be heard is that of an infant crying. Dr. Panshaw opens the door, covered in blood.
"Sir Lance… it's a boy… a beautiful baby boy" Dr. Panshaw steps out of the way to let Lance through to see his newborn son. Lance steps into the room to find Aryll holding their new son inside a blanket.
Aryll sheds a tear and says "He's…beautiful"
Lance sees his new son for the first time. He notices a patch of skin on his forehead is lighter than that on the rest of his body. The patch looks like the Letter V and the letter W mixed together. Lance instantly recognizes it as the Westbrook family crest. His eyes start to water.
"Aryll… I think I know what to name him" Lance takes his son from Aryll's hands and into his arm. With tears in his eyes, Lance finally says to him "My son, one day you'll be a great warrior just like me, This I'm sure of. Welcome to the family… Vash"