A few sudden shakes, here and there. Clawing could be heard from the chrysalis. One final claw, out popped a chunk of the rock. A swift shake of her head, bright purple eyes curiously turned to the creator. Stubby alligator paws pressed against the rest of the chrysalis, forcing a piece away for her to stumble out.
Out came a weird... thing. She had the head of a chicken, the body of an alligator, but the wings of a seaslug. The chicken head turned to the side, she let out a pitiful caw. More like screech. After she was done? She went to peck at a shard of her chrysalis. But a blasted heat of fire came from her beak. Startling her slightly.
"Speaking"
( @ none needed to tag)
Dragon offered a friendly dip of his head--a sort of nod--to Sniffles; it was indeed 'soon.' In fact, it seemed 'soon' was already here.
Dragon backed up enough to make room for the hatching children. The first looked distinctly like Sniffles, and he was pleased to see that she was blasting heat as she emerged, bearing the typical powerful fire of their family. The second, too, came out blasting, but... Well. She was cute as heck, to be sure, but Dragon fretted a little that she might have issues with moving. He couldn't quite tell what was going on with her anatomy, there. The third, too, came out swinging with magic, though of the smoky kind rather than the heat-breathing kind.
"Careful, children," Dragon advised. The fire--all the fire they were using--had a tendency to burn, to hurt even if it would heal later on. "There's no need--I'm--we're not here to hurt you. I am Dragon. Welcome to the world." Then he turned to Fahl.
His expression, softened by paternal joy, was placid. "I am good, Fahl; and you? -Yes, these are more Children. They are mine--and theirs," he added, turning and nodding to Sniffles. "Some of them are from stones that I found." There were others, still not yet hatched, but Dragon felt that they'd join their new-hatched siblings soon enough.
Dragon turned back to the children, watching them indulgently. He was curious to see if any of them would speak, beyond the brief attempt at a greeting managed by the first one. "Hmm," he rumbled. "Do any of you have names?"
(idk if we should do a posting order?)
It stirred, ever so slightly at first, but soon writhing within its casing. A prison, one that was chipped away from the inside out by a sharp, sturdy beak. A small stream of fluid escaped the tiny hole, before the creature was able to summon the strength to push itself out of the weakened chrysalis. With a gross, wet noise, they were able to slither free onto the ground beneath, taking a few, quick gasps of the cold air.
The spawn choked, shivering, pulling its wings close to their body, curling its tail as tight as it could. All too suddenly, it became aware of voices, growing ever-louder as the fluid slipped free of its ears. Language was unfamiliar to the creature, but easily grasped the concept as the conversation continued. It wasn't quite ready to speak, however, still coming to its senses.
Blinking its two sets of eyes fully open, they pulled themselves upright on two, almost comically stubby legs, claws digging into the ground for balance. Slowly, it began to process what (or who, really) was around it. A large alligator was speaking to a smaller iguana. A large snake was curled around other chrysalis', most of which were broken already. There were other, wet things here. Bird-like, and dragon-like. The spawn felt a sort of kinship between these creatures and themselves, which was more than a little confusing.
The alligator asked a question. Still largely confused, and trying its hardest to come to terms with what an alligator was, it stayed silent, all four eyes fixed blankly on the large reptilian.
After a few moments, everything starts unravelling around Sniffles. Babies coming out in bursts of flames, some more aggressive than others. It takes some of them longer than others to hatch, but Sniffles is fairly confident that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
"Hello!" They say to the group of newly hatched children.
Hatchlings. Their instinct provides. A bunch of new hatchlings. Small for some time - potentially big in the future. Sniffles can't wait to see what the future looks like if they all stick around. Them and Dragon will keep everyone safe. And the others, too. There's one here already! That Sniffles has not personally spoken to, but they carry the familiar scent of the Children of Rot.
Notably, there is still one left unhatched. Sniffles knows that sometimes things take longer for some - or that some may never hatch at all. It's sad to think about, but they have hope. Things have just begun, after all. Sniffles lets Dragon take the lead on asking for names - perhaps they will just know the names they want.
@Wyrm