Chapter 28

Flocke cringed as Lolly broke her eggshell. He knew that had to be tough. He couldn't imagine ruining his mother's feather. It would tear at his heart. Silently, he pressed the feather closer to his side. He had learned the difference between his own fluff, and the slightly rougher texture of his mother's feather, so he could now tell if it was there or not without actually looking. Feeling it rub against his side, he quietly sighed in relief.

He knew Lolly was right about her eggshell, but he still felt bad for her. He wondered if he would ever have to get rid of his feather. He hoped not. He loved the feather, because it reminded him of his heritage. His mother had been beautiful. She had sounded loving and caring. She was everything he wished he had. He wanted to be like her.

Seeing that Skah had begun off, he quickly trotted to catch up. Every now and then he'd turn his head back to check up on the girls and the new chick. He stayed a pace behind Skah out of respect, but was still following closely. When he saw the hollow in the fallen tree, he became excited. Seeing Ghost put bedding inside reminded him of the hidey hole him and the girls slept in the first night of his life. Quickly, he gathered some moss strands and hung them over the entrance. Now, only the griffin chicks would know that there was a hollow here.

He turned to Larimar and the new chick. Fir some reason, he felt like they should go in first.

Lolly followed the rest quietly after disposing of the last of the shells. She felt a little bit hollow now but she also felt a huge weight lift off her chest. She would appreciate it later on when she'd had more rest and more time to truly sort things out, but for now she moved like she was as hollow as her empty eggshell.

Flocke had done good work on disguising the lair, she was impressed. She wasn't sure how long they could stay here, but she knew they'd be safe for a little while. She needed a distraction, so she patiently waited for her turn to speak with the new chick and introduce herself properly.

"Mommy?" The chick looked over to the green female Flocke had been talking about. He started walking over to her, but his steps were all uncoordinated and clumsy.

"Yes...?" Larimar gave Flocke a curious glance before answering. She smiled a little as the black chick came toward her. Did I walk like that when I was a day old? she wondered. She remembered how difficult it had been to learn to move correctly. For a barely a week, she felt like she'd grown up a lot since then. "I'm Larimar," she told him. "That's Flocke, Lolly, Ghost, and Matoskah." She pointed to each chick with her tail as she said their name. They all slurred together, confusing the poor chick. "Come on, Ghost found a safe place."

Before the chick could ask any questions, she started nudging him along, forcing him to move his feet. He got the hang of it after a few falls. Larimar did her best to look calm and patient, but inside she was near panic. Mommy? I'm not a mommy! Oh, what am I going to do? I'm going to have to tell him. Not now, but he'll figure out we're not parents soon. Her heart became as heavy as lead.

She settled down after Lolly, making a little dip in the bedding to rest in. She felt deeply sorry for her friend, if a little distracted by the chick. Lolly had been carrying that shard around since Larimar had first met her. It was just a piece of practically useless shell, but she knew to Lolly, it was the only thing her mother had given her.

Lolly forced a smile as Larimar and the new chick settled in. "Nice to meet you, little guy. I'm Lolly. Have you got a name?" She was careful in what she said and constantly glanced at Larimar to make sure she wasn't letting anything unpleasant slip out. Flocke had said Larimar was mommy, so she worked with that story.

"I'm a good friend of your mommy's. We met on the day we both hatched. I met Flocke that day too, but you mommy found Ghost and Skah later on."

Ghost finished her work with the bedding and proceeded to move outside their temporary home. For some reason she felt as if she should leave Larimar and the new chick alone, and plus she felt caged being inside the log with everyone else in their at the same time. So she sat herself down just outside the mouth of their hollow. Inevitably her mind drifted across the days events until it latched onto the encounter with the human remains. Her feelings were still as strong as before, hatred and pain were linked to the humans. While she didn't exactly feel pleasure about seeing the human dead, she did feel that they deserved it for their atrocities against the griffins. Reaching this conclusion, the young chicks resolve hardened even more than it had before. They will pay.

Skah hung around inside the tree for a short time. He wasn't really paying that much attention to the new chick, or to anyone else. He watched as Ghost drifted outside, he could see that something was troubling her. He waited a few moments, allowing Ghost some time alone before announcing to the rest of the group, or could he call it his flock now? "We need food, stay here while Ghost and I get some", he didn't realise it but his short and brusque manner was becoming more and more common. Again he didn't wait for any reply from the other chicks, instead striding out of the tree purposefully.

Outside Skah almost tripped over Ghost where she laid. Stifling his surprise he reeled off some more orders, "Come, we hunt". His short words had the desired effect on Ghost, who immediately followed Skah. The pair disappeared off into the forest, silently, unseen and unheard.

"Name?" The little chick closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. He went through every single one of his memories, searching for anything to call himself. "I'm...Shiny."

"What do you mean?" Larimar asked. He was a very plain chick, which was odd, considering the egg he had hatched from. He looked a lot like Skah, except shorter, less muscular, and a little darker. The sticky remains of egg white had dried in clumps in his fur. Larimar tried to preen some of it out, trying to make him look presentable.

"Mommy always called me 'Shiny One' or 'Last Shiny Egg'. I'm not an egg anymore, so I guess I'm just Shiny now?" He snuggled up next to Larimar. "Right?"

"Um, sure. Yeah." Larimar wiggled around, feeling very awkward with the orphaned chick pressed up against her, and it wasn't just because of the gunk he was getting on her. Shiny didn't seem like a very good name, but she couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

After Skah and Ghost left, Larimar found herself wishing she'd gone with them. She wanted to be out learning about hunting, not watching a chick she hadn't even expected to meet. She sighed and continued cleaning Shiny off. You were the one who brought that egg with you, Larry.

"Well, I don't know about you, Shiny, but I need some sleep." Lolly laughed kindly. The talk about his mother made something inside her twist up and she was simply too tired to go on much longer. "There's still some daylight out, so hopefully I'll be fully awake to guard tonight. I protect my friends, and I'll protect you too."

She yawned. "If anyone needs me, wake me up, please." What would the next days hold? Hopefully less excitement and more learning, Lolly thought. Better to take things one day at a time before you go worrying about the future. The hazel chick didn't even notice when she'd fallen into a deep sleep.

"Shiny, huh? I like that name!" Flocke said happily. Who was he to say the chick's name was weird. If that's what his real mother called him, then let it be so. Flocke looked up to see Larimar's face. She looked uncomfortable with the chick. He could understand that. He'd probably be just as uncomfortable if he had stayed "mommy". Honestly, that was the first thing he was going to teach Shiny- the difference between boys and girls... 'Wait, that sounded weird...' he thought in his head.

"In case you didn't catch it, my name is Flocke! We're gonna be best friends, because we're both boys!" Flocke told Shiny. He took the moment to notice that Shiny was indeed smaller than him (just by a bit) and it made him smile. He made a decision right then and there that he'd protect Shiny, like an older brother. 'I'll finally be a big brother instead of a little brother!' When Lolly fell asleep, Flocke decided something. He turned to Larimar.

"Let's let her sleep all night. I'll take first watch. She, Skah and Ghost are probably tired from chasing after us. And you need to sleep with your baby, so I'll keep watch first." he chuckled a bit when he called Shiny Larimar's baby. He actually didn't intend on waking anyone up tonight. Everyone was tired because of him, so it was only right he took full shift. He was confident that he could stay up all night, and the job was to keep a look out for danger, not fight it. If danger came, he'd wake the others up. Simple.

With determination, Flocke walked to the entrance of the hollow and waited for Skah and Ghost to return.

A paw inched forward in front of her, then another, then the back half of Ghost's body flattened to the ground caught up with the front half. She paused for moment, holding her breath, feeling the moment. The tension and anger from before had long since been released in the patience of stalking. Skah and Ghost had moved a small distance away from the tree and found a few small lizards. Looking at each other they had unspokenly agreed that such small prey would be useless to such a large group of chicks now. So instead they would target something bigger, something more worthwhile. They were aiming high now.

They had come across a small game trail etched into the landscape. It did not take long for them to find something on the path, deer. The pair had eyed the quite large females with hunger and desire, but both knew that they were still out of their reach. But if they were quick and careful using all of their skills they thought they would be able to take down one of the fawns. Ghost had inspected the options, searching for one small enough that they could handle, but large enough to feed them all. She had finally settled on a few days old female fawn. She was adventurous, often scooting away from her mothers side, leaving her protection.

So the pair of chicks had circled around the grazing deer and were now deep into stalking closer and closer, waiting for the perfect moment. Skah was on the right side, Ghost the left. Skah would be tripping it up and pinning it down, while Ghost went for the killer blow. It was remarkable how close the pair had gotten, the low forest light and their plain coats had aided them greatly. Ghost took one more shuffle forward before settling back down, her legs gathered beneath herself. She waited for Skah to make the first move.

Skah had a clear line of sight towards both the target fawn and its mother. He knew that their first instinct would be to run, the fawn would follow its mother. He also knew that they would easily outrun his comparatively stubby legs. So he knew that the first strike had to be the last strike. There was one shot at this. He wasn't as close as Ghost was, but then he wanted more momentum behind him to knock the fawn off of its feet. That was the key, once they had it on the ground, they should be safe. The fawn took another step away from its mother, another step closer to their dinner. Now! Every fibre in his body screamed at him that the moment was right.

Skah erupted from the bushy undergrowth like streak of black lightning. Adjacent to him Ghost was also moving quickly in their pincer move. Six bounds later Skah contacted the fawns rear legs, knocking them out from underneath it. The fawn stumbled and almost regained its footing before Ghost was launching herself at its neck. She latched on with her claws, her grip solid. The extra weight on the fawns neck forced it down.

Skah made to grab at the fawns rump but was met instead by a flailing hoof. It caught him in the leg, causing pain to flash down the side of his body. He was lucky for their was no telltale crack of breaking bones, bruising was inevitable. The temporary forgotten Skah attempted again to secure the rear of the fawn.

Ghosts beak flashed out then, grabbing a mouthful of the fawns neck before flashing away again. The first strike had not done much but to tear fur out. Furiously Ghost took a second dig at the fawns neck. This time she succeeded in her task, opening the wind pipe.

The fawns death certain now, the pair of chicks positioned themselves so that the fawns struggles wouldn't allow it to break free. Ghost weighed down its head, while Skah stayed on the rump eyeing the hooves with wariness now.

A minute later the fawns struggles were down as it let out one last rattling breath. Ghost dropped back from the kill tired but satisfied. Skah on the other hand was beginning to feel the pain of his injury now. He gingerly tried to stand on his leg, but winced in pain. For a split second he thought, how is Ghost going to be able to get the kill back to the others?Before another thought or rather memory whispered in his mind, you are the future Matoskah. His mothers words strengthened him for now.

"Hurry, lets get this back to the tree", he gruffly spoke to Ghost. Ghost could see the pain in Skah's face, but she knew he wouldn't want her to waste time mentioning it. Instead the pair began the laborious task of dragging the kill back the way they had come.

"Yay!" Shiny said, his little wings flapping with jubilation. He had a friend! "Flocke," he repeated. He grinned at the azure chick.

"Okay." Larimar could feel her eyelids growing heavy from the long day. She'd lost count of how many opportunities she'd had to die today. But I'm still alive. That's all that matters. She rolled onto her back, her wings spread out beneath her.

A new aching had entered her heart, her mind, and her wings. She knew no amount of stretching or rest would get rid of it. She'd seen the world in a new way, an endless sky that was calling for her. I will fly. It was her destiny. Her little, stubby wings - one day they would carry her over everything she had ever known. Now that she had seen what flight could do, there was no way she was ever giving up on this dream.

She slumped over, letting all herself relax into sleep. "Larrmar? Mommy?" She felt tiny claws scratching at her back. Shiny started to become distressed as she refused to reply.

"Lar-i-mar," she corrected. Grumbling, she rolled back over and nestled him up against her belly. Shiny smiled, quickly falling asleep beside her warmth.