Chapter 11
It has been two weeks since Lilian laid her egg. Lilian woke up in the nest to notice Cody wasn't next to her. Must have gone to get breakfast. She got up slightly to look under her to see the egg, unharmed. She looked to the door, which was closed. Come back soon.
However, Cody was not getting breakfast. He was training with Ghoul for their performance in Carnival. "So, what's the plan again, mate." Ghoul looked at his partner, about to answer before Logan found Cody. "Hey man. Why aren't you with Lil?" Cody believed he was caught. "W-well I am, um, showing Ghoul around. Right mate?" Ghoul nodded nervously, watching Logan to see if he will believe them. Surprisingly, he did. "Okay. Just get back to her soon, okay?" Cody made an okay sign with his talon, watching Logan fly away. When he was out of sight, he let out a large sigh. "Now that. Was close. We should hurry it up, don't you think, mate?" Cody agreed with his new friend. "Yeah. So, you remember what to do?" Ghoul showed a grin. "Of course. We disappear, then reappear in different positions, making it look like we are dancing with lights flashing, which gives off a good effect." They flew off to a more secure location to practice, unaware of the cloaked bird watching. He took off in the other direction after spotting some movement in the trees nearby.
Lilian continued to sit, waiting for Cody to return. She stretched her wing, and heard a crack. She looked at her wing, confused. I'm not that old already. She stretched her talons out, and heard another crack. Okay, something's up. Before she could make sense of what was happening, she heard a crack from behind her. She took a wild guess of what it was. And she was right. Right before her eyes, laid the egg. With a crack in the top.
Zeel sat in his chair, and sensed someone in distress. He called Logan with his power, who came rushing in. Zeel did not wait to explain. "Find Cody. There is a disturbance in Lilian's room." Logan didn't hesitate, and disappeared.
Cody and Ghoul were in a small clearing, where no one could find them. Or so they thought. They heard fast flapping, and Logan appeared from nowhere. Cody almost had a heart attack from his sudden appearance. "Mate. Don't do that. I almost had a panic attack. What do you want anyway?" Logan began explaining immediately. "Lilian needs your help. She's in her room-" Cody took off, not letting Logan finish. Ghoul glared at him. "Thanks for interrupting." He watched him disappear in a blur, and realized he was alone. "Great. Alone again." Ghoul sat on the ground, thinking of what to do.
Lilian sat next to the egg, waiting for the little beak to come through. She heard the door open behind her, and turned around to see Cody rushing in to her side. "What's the urgency?" Lilian lightly grasped his lower beak and turned his head to the egg. He didn't know how to respond as he saw the egg with a large crack. Finally, he managed a few words. "I-i-it's time?" Lilian nodded with a joyful smile. They put a wing around each other as they watched. Lilian noticed something poking through. "There's the beak." Cody leaned forward to help it, but was stopped by her. "It can do it. Just be patient." He sat back with a worried look, wondering if it would. And, of course, it did. In a matter of seconds, a small head came out. Then the egg popped open to reveal a small chick. But it couldn't open it's eyes yet, or the light might damage them. Instead it used it's hearing, and heard them talking. They noticed it trying to run, and Lilian lifted it to her. "Don't be afraid. I'm here for you" she said with a soothing voice. Hearing the voice, it calmed and laid on her shoulder. Lilian did a quick check, and saw it was a girl. "What shall we name her?" Remembering what they thought of, if it was a girl, he came up with a quick answer. "Caitlin. Little Caitlin." They cuddled her close, giving her warmth.
Logan saw that the egg hatched, and went to gather everyone. He gathered Boah, Zeel, Jewel and her family and parents-in-law and Cody's parents. They entered the room quietly, seeing it was sleeping. Tiago was first to speak. "What is that?" Jewel slapped the back of his head because of how he said it. "Be quiet. It's sleeping, and it's a newborn chick. You once looked like that." He made a weird face, so got sent out and got disciplined by his mother. "It's so cute. What did you call it?" asked Bia. "Caitlin, named after the one who cared for Cody most of his life." Cody's parents felt guilt, but tried to hold it in. Zeel sensed it however. He asked them to go out of the room with him, and they followed him out. Cody couldn't understand why, but stayed with Lilian and the new chick. The rest continued to ask questions about their child. Lilian was happy to answer them, but Cody was worried about his parents. Lilian noticed his worry. "Go on. I'm fine here." He gave her a quick kiss and left. He found his parents down the hall with Zeel. Zeel saw him and left them to talk. "Why did you leave the room?" Lisa broke into crying as Max hugged her close. "When you mentioned your human carer, we felt guilty for losing you. But Zeel was just explaining that if you were not lost, you would never had found Blu or Lilian, and none of this would have happened. So our guilt is a bit lower, but we are still so sorry for losing you." Cody was pulled into a hug. "It's okay. It's not your fault I was lost. Come on, let me show you your granddaughter." He led them into the room where everyone was gathered. Through the window, the cloaked bird watched with a smile. "Congratulations." He took off to scout around for any targets coming too close. Cody caught a glimpse, but thought it was nothing. Jewel, however, noticed it and sneaked out of the room to make sure no one was curious why she did.
Jewel followed whatever trace of the mysterious bird, who she thought was Kronos, she could find, eventually leading to the same clearing Lilian and Cody were together and stated their feelings. She looked around, seeing that she lost him. She then heard branches breaking, and was tackled to the ground. She looked up to see a shining eagle, eyeing her with red eyes. She felt it's cold, metal talons hold her down, and knew what it was. She braced for the burning death that was to come from it's beak, but felt nothing. Instead, she heard the clang of metal. What was that? She opened her eyes to see the cloaked bird on top of the robot, fighting it with metallic claws. He slashed it's neck as it tried to fire, causing it to malfunction. He leapt at Jewel, covering her from the blast. She closed her eyes, and felt a sudden heat. When she opened them, he found herself alone, with a burnt piece of the cloak.