I do not own Godzilla.
The impromptu meeting broke up once the Nigerian representatives were introduced and welcomed into the fold. Now came the dangerous part. Elsie walked up to Ekwensi and told him it was time to introduce them to Godzilla and Siseir's children. The eyes of the man with the twisted leg really lit up at this and he looked into the large room. All three walked in and stopped a short distance from the pile of young lizards.
Eight pairs of eyes focused on the three newcomers. Eight snouts tested the air and suddenly all eyes were focused on just Warren. The children came out of their huddle and encircled the group, each one sniffing deeply at Warren's backpack and whining. Nou was the first to act, reaching out a paw to hook his bag and pulling at it. The strap broke with very little effort and Nou held the bag close to herself much to HEAT's surprise.
"Sir, what was in the bag?" Elsie asked softly.
Warren grinned sheepishly, "She must have wanted the remains of her mother's egg that were in there." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace, clearly showing the tiny egg shard pendant. Ekwensi and Marez pulled matching pendants out from their shirts.
"Why are you carrying those?" Mendel looked closely at one of the shell-pendants.
Marez tapped his cane hard on the ground, "Siseir is a big part of our lives. We were there when she was born and as she grew, and she is special to each of us." He looked around the large room and frowned. "Where is she? Why is Siseir not here to greet us?"
Nick and Elsie cringed and looked anywhere but at Marez for a moment. Nou and her siblings were completely absorbed in passing and sniffing at the bag. Whenever one would whimper or whine it was Nouveau who was strong and comforted her clutch. That is the way it had been since the battle. She was their leader, protector, and comforter. Only Monique knew the toll being a parent to her siblings was taking on Nouveau herself.
The prolonged silence of the group told Ekwensi and Warren all they needed to know. Warren grabbed Marez by the arm and helped him move a few feet away, talking quietly in Spanish the whole way. Ekwensi looked Nick in the eye and quietly asked, "What happened to her?"
It was dawn as Nouveau saw time. Soldiers tended to disagree with her, pleading it was too early. Civilians just told everyone to "shut up it's the middle of the night!" Yet every morning at that time of night that the sky lightened that first shade Nouveau would wake and begin moving around, causing noise enough to wake anyone within half a mile of the large room.
Elsie woke with the first sounds of shifting rock and glanced at the clock. 3am in the morning. Yuck. With a deep sigh of annoyance she crawled out of bed and pulled on a robe on the way to the door. Nick met her out in the hallway and the two of them met up with Monique in the entranceway to the largest room in the base.
"Does she have any idea what time it is?" Mendel came up yawning, followed closely by Randy wheeling along.
"What's up jefe?"
Monique sighed and blew the steam rising out of her thermos before taking a sip. Of the lot of them she was the only one looking awake and ready for the day, though how one looked and how one felt could often be two very different things. The group together moved into the room, watching the strange behavior of Nou.
Nou was digging and carving an overlarge nest into the concrete floor, shoving the rubble aside with great scraping. Ornith was at her side and helping out with his claws more suited to digging.
"Early birds indeed," Randy snickered.
Nick yawned and looked at what they were digging. A vague look of worry crossed his face as he saw the outline formed in the floor.
"Nouveau! What are you making?" Nick yelled.
Nou paused in shaping part of the very large bowl and looked right at them. A nest, this floor is bad for sleeping.
Mendel looked up at all the young lizards and fiddled with his palm top computer nervously, "So no eggs?"
Nou froze right in place, staring at them blankly for a moment before what Mendel said finally sunk in and her expression morphed into reptilian incredulity. For a moment all she projected was sheer and utter confusion. What?
Elsie bent over laughing, "Well done guys! You have just scandalized her for the first time!"
Mendel blushed at being teased and rubbed the back of his neck.
"For one she is too young to be mature Mendel… For two the only members of the opposite gender the children know are each other or humans." Monique explained softly, a half-smirk of silent laughter on her face.
Nou snorted and growled to her three hunters, nodding to the water and leading them out. Saral, Ash, and the two smallest boys took up working on the new nest. The humans cringed.
"Guys please keep it down until a more reasonable hour?" Nick pleaded.
Reasonable?
"Yes please, wait until more humans start moving around."
Ash yawned and snorted. She didn't wait for the others to decide before she returned to her father's side and flopped down against him.
The humans went back to bed and were just drifting off when the roaring started. All of HEAT knew this roar. This was the all-too-familiar battle roar, torn from the throats of the second generation.