AN- sorry about the delay, this has been sitting in a folder on my desktop for over a week and a half, just haven't had the time to post! If there are delays in chapters, I am very busy, and will try to get them up when I have the time.

Chapter 4

Two months later

I looked down into the nest, studying the off-white orbs. One moved slightly and I grinned at my mate who was lying beside them, stretched out with her tail wrapped around the nest. It was then that I realized who and what I was. I was now a father. There were 7 eggs in all, much less than the average twelve, but the number lain was varied from 6 to a dozen. Moonmist looked up and me and I lay down on the other side of the nest and began to groom my mate. Moonmist had given birth a few weeks ago, and the eggs were well due to start hatching. The two of us hoped that at least one of them contained a live raptor chick within its cream colored shell.

"Feeling alright", I asked Moonmist.

"Fine, except for the feeling of anxiety and excitement", she said.

"So do I", I said as I nudged her loving.

Cleo came in smiling. She nudged us both purring she was taking the role of matriarch very seriously. Karenna was teaching her well. Cleo looked at the eggs, and some of them moved, and she gently moved them over to one side. Keeping them incubated, Moonmist watched Cleo as she turned over the eggs to the other side. The alpha female knew that Moonmist was being protective of her eggs and she wouldn't trust any other raptor, even a pack mate who she had a close relationship with. After turning over the eggs, Cleo came over to us and sat down. She nudged Moonmist maternally; she really was taking her new role of matriarch seriously.

"Feeling alright", Cleo asked us.

"Fine", we said together.

"I know", said Cleo smiling. "Killer and I felt the same way when our first litter was born".

Then the rustle of one of the eggs caught our attention. We peered over it. The egg rolled as the little raptor inside tried to break free. Then a crack, and the crack grew, the baby inside started to cry. Moonmist placed a talon over the crack scratching it as gingerly as she could, helping our son our daughter out. The egg was penetrated and we could see a tiny gray snout. Our first born child was a male. Helping our son she removed the egg around his body, eventually he was freed and was lying on the soft bed of moss. Moonmist licked him, cleaning the blood and mucus of him as he opened his eyes for the first time.

"Welcome to the world, Akethron", she said smiling.

Akethron squeaked as his mother continued to clean the mucus off of him.

Cleo looked over to me and nudged me purring.

"Well, congratulations", she told me.

I was about to reply when the rumbling of another egg caught our attention.

In perfect timing Cyrn and his mate Strena came back from their meal. Strena rushed over to Moonmist and aided her in helping our next child out of his or her egg. A white snout, it's a girl.

"There we go Hekethra", Moonmist said as the little raptor broke out of her shell.

Moonmist then cleaned the blood of mucus off of her. Cleo tended to Akethron keeping him warm.

The commotion had brought the attention of the rest of the pack. Usually during this time there would be a union of mated pairs who would share a nest. Being a pack of mostly bachelors, there weren't that many. If we were to share a nest with another mated pair it would be with Cyrn and Strena, this season they weren't ready so we had a nest all to ourselves. We would instinctively know which eggs are ours, in this chaos they would be laid at different intervals.

As another egg began to rattle and the little raptor began to break out of its shell, Strena took hold of newly born Hekethra. Cleo with the aide of several other females tended to the other egg, it was fairly larger then the others. We could hear two different squeaks coming from it.

"Can it be twins"? Someone said.

"Yes they are", Karana said as she took the egg shell off of them.

"A female and a white male", she said.

Moonmist and I took a look at them. A daughter and a white son were born in the same egg. They were of course smaller then the normal hatching size and the missed coloration in our son was different, probably on account of the fact that they were twins.

"I knew it was possible, heard it of two dinosaurs being born from the same egg", Cyrn said amused.

"It's a rare event", Karana said, beaming down at the two. "You are very special, as one of them was white. A chick born with no color is an even more rare event." She continued. There was a ledgend among the raptor-kind, of a white raptor named Sharek who all thought would die before he became mature. He ended up living longer than most, and was a great leader among the clan.

Everybody was silent as they looked at us waiting for us to name the new twins.

"I think the name.....Acanya would suit her well", said Cleo looking up from Akethron who was now partially asleep.

"Then Acanya it is", I said agreeing with her.

Moonmist nodded in response.

"Acanya it is", she said. "I want to call him Lanex", Moonmist said before she started to clean the blood and mucus off of the little white male who shared the egg with Acanya.

"Lanex"? I said curiously.

"Lanex was my older brother", Moonmist elaborated. "When our pack was nearly gone, he and I were the last ones. He looked out for me, until..." she looked sad, so I didn't want to question, not now at least. I would ask my mate about it later. So, smiling, I nodded my head.

"Alright then, Lanex is a good name for him then", I said.

It was a few minutes until the final egg hatched. Most of the clan had left because of the hatching of other pair's eggs. Moonmist now had four of her children snuggled up to her asleep, making little cries, it would take several hours before they could eat solid food. It took ten minutes before their lungs had adapted to the air. Moonmist surveyed her children, a perfect litter two males and two females. In case anymore of the eggs started to hatch, Strena and Cyrn were with us.

I had the feeling of great joy in me and so did moonmist. We were now finally parents. As I lay down beside her, opposite to where the chicks were, and next to them were Strena and Cyrn. Strena and Moonmist had developed a close relationship with each other as they would have been the ones sharing a nest together.

Later, another egg started to move, and we all snapped to attention. Moonmist got up, and helped the little raptor out; sure enough it was a female. She would be called Cyria. I decided to name her that; Cyrn knew it was the female version of his name. He was quite honored. Now, we had two sons, and three daughters, this was the final number. Usually not all the eggs would hatch; some were just duds containing no zygote. We were the third couple of five to have a total of sixteen Cyteri chicks born this year. Killer and Cleo spread the news through barks to other clans on the island. As they received word from other clans on their new census. One clan reported ten, another twelve; a clan said it had twenty two, even the Aka-Eream reported eighteen.

It was a bit of a shocker to hear from our rivals, but it was a sacred time to us and we forget about our rubbish competition. Tomorrow would bring a new day, now I had the feeling of completeness inside as a looked at our newborn children. I knew Moonmist had it in her too. Everything was fine for now, we would not need to hunt for a few days because of the recent hunt we had earlier this morning. With the aide of Cyrn and Strena, and the devotion that was coming from the rest of the pack, all seemed well. I went to sleep that night, snuggled up with my mate, five little raptors laying between us.

(Later that Night)

I awoke later on, and looked around. The sun had yet to come up, and the night was still black. Suddenly, I felt something poke me, and looked around, alert. A small squeak broke the silence that was around me. I calmed down instantly, remembering the days events. It would be a long while before I knew what was really going on. It all seemed like a dream. Suddenly, I looked back at my mate and saw her bluish-green eyes glowing in the dark, watching me. "What is it Trapper?" she asked.

"Nothing." I replied. "I was just thinking."

"Oh? About what?"

"You were telling me about Lanex earlier today." I told her. The cloud that had been covering the moon shifted, and I saw confusion written on her face. Suddenly, she seemed to understand. "My older brother Lanex. Right?" she asked. I nodded in reply. "What happened to him?" I asked her softly as I lay down beside her.

"It is a long story." She said simply.

"We have much time, love." I told her, smiling softly.

"Alright. He and I were the last of our pack. When our parents died, he took their place, caring for us, my siblings and myself. Soon, they all left the world, and we were left alone. When ever I needed someone, he was there for me." She said, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. I could see them glistening even in the dim moonlight. "Then, one day, we were hunting together. A larger carnivore appeared, and we both ran. I watched him, but soon the forest became so dense I could no longer see him running a few yards away from me. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he lived or not, and if he did, where he is and if he is still alive. I hope that I will find him one day, and you can meet him Trapper. He would be happy for us, both of us." She said with a sad smile. I nuzzled her. "He is alive, Moonmist, he is." I said, comforting her.

"How do you know that? How can you be so sure?" she asked in reply.

"I just do. I can feel it." I said. As I spoke to her, I looked down and saw one of the chicks looking up at me. Lanex. He must have heard the whole thing. I then turned my head, and saw another pair of eyes, bluish-green like my mates. Acanya. The twins lay there together, snuggled up for warmth. I could see the bond that they had was inseperable, already, even though they had only lived a few hours. I smiled at them, and wrapped my tail about them, pulling them close. "You two have much in store." I said. "I know it." Soon they fell asleep, as did my mate. I watched my family for a long while, until my eyes began to droop as well, and I fell into a deep sleep.

AN- OK, there it is. Longer than most, which I hope makes up for the delay! And, remember to click that little review button at the bottom of the page! Praises loved, advice most defiantly welcomed, and flames used to explore the island in the dark...(the other line was getting old). And, remember to join the official Raptorsong Webpage! Find the link in my profile, under 'my homepage'.