The hatchlings will be named. Back to the story.

Skaa:

Shaking my head again after, yet another, impact from a tree. I swear I'm going to be brainless by the end of the day. At least I see some of the world around me, but not as clear as I would like it to be. It is a mix of differing colors all scrambled together. I still can't believe Nara stranded me to look at mine and Blue's hatchlings. Must be nice to see hatchlings. Hell, must be nice to see.

"Skaa, what are you doing?" my brother asks, startling my blind self.

"Trying to get to the nests to let my offspring know that I'm their father." I answer sniffing and letting my head become a battering ram, "I've also been trying to get rid of my brain."

"Stop working to get rid of something nonexistent." Notosun chuckles from my side, "You never had a brain."

"True enough, but it doesn't hurt to try." It fucking hurts, I'm going to have a concussion, "What did you want?"

Notosun is silent, and his scent is gone. Shit. Let's play Guess the Tree Species With Your Head! Damn it.

I step forward and get tackled by a heavy body.

"Damn it, Notosun!" I screech at my brother, "I'm trying to get to the nests!"

He nudges me with his snout and helps me walk. This is different, even for him, he's always believed in every raptor for themselves. Something must be on his mind, he only sticks close to others when he is bothered.

"What's it like to court a female?" Notosun asks with curiosity, "I've taken a liking to a female, but she ignores me. How do I attract her?"

"Are you sure it's not your reflection in the water?" I tease my sibling before answering him, "Females want a male that is strong, but not violent. If another male tries to flirt with her, chase him away."

I feel him nod, but he stops moving forward to ask another question, "How did you get mated to Blue?"

"That's a long story." I search for his scent, "I'll tell you later, maybe today, but are we almost there?"

My question is answered by Nara chirping softly with Blue purring. Found both important females in my life. Neither acknowledge me, but continue doing their soft sounds. I wonder how many males I have. Hopefully all of them. A bloodline isn't complete without a strong male to continue reproducing.

I lower my body to the ground and carefully crawl forward to the edge of the nest. The chirps of the hatchlings fill the air, but their scent fills my nostrils with slight disappointment. They're all female, not that that's bad, but it changes the genes.

"What do they look like?" I ask and get told their looks, "What do you wish to name them?"

Blue curiously chirps her question, "Can I name them after my fallen sisters?"

Terrible idea to name a child after a sibling. It contaminates the memories of both and disrespects the deceased. We have forbidden it, and we will keep it that way, but Blue does not know.

"No. We do not name hatchlings after the deceased siblings, for it taints the memories you share." I sigh and listen to her slightly whine, "But it also honors the dead, and hatchlings with new memories. Perhaps we could come up with a new set of names."

I slightly make out the distortion of her nodding her head, "Aiyana for the green one, Malakai for the yellow one, and Astral for the purple one."

All the names listed are ancient, well, since we first laid eggs naturally. Astral, a warrior of the night given strength from the moon. Malakai, a noble hunter that was killed by the humans when they brought their vehicles to the island. Aiyana, the first mother on the island who lead a valiant attack on rivals. All have become legends, but they were exiled to become rogues. Hopefully that doesn't happen to my daughters, any of them.

"They sound beautiful." Blue coos then jumps at the eruption of the sky.

The storm is upon us. We have little time to rally all to the raptors to protect the eggs from the torrential down pour of the weather. Nara is the only hope for the eggs to survive. If they heard the thunder, then they should be here soon. It wouldn't hurt to send a message to the pack.

"Find Grandmother, and issue the hurricane alert!" Nara runs as fast as possible by the sound of it, hopefully she makes it to them before it gets bad.