ORIGIN

The darkness was gone. It's plague and hold upon the cave that was Canis was finally eradicated... or at least loosened. For now, he didn't mind where else it was. All that mattered was that all in his group and in the cave was safe. Bones had his bone back, and everything was back to normal. Azazel had first met his child, but the noodle-ish feeling creature had quickly scurried away. If it had been one of his spawn, the King hoped that they had run to safety, and not towards danger. Please let them be safe. Azazel returned to the Chambers, retiring to the end where he had placed the three stones, one shimmering like an eye of a tiger... one painted in vibrant fuchsia, and one of shimmering aqua. When he had first returned, the Ave noted that the tiger's eye chrysalis was shattered, pieces still yet scattered about. The membrane and fluid was dried by now. The egg had hatched a long time ago.

Closing his carmine orbs, the King would feel a gentle pull towards the base of his tail feathers, showing that his gem was focused. Leaning forth, the lammergeier would lightly tap the chrysalis with his beak. His mind was filled with a familiar chilling darkness, and the memory came swiftly. As it faded, the hindsight spell left the Bone King with a shiver down his spine. Each feather stood on end. So his child... they had emerged then. It was them. But he had yet to even see hair or hide of them. He wondered what they looked like, what they sounded like. Azazel knew he'd have to search for them. Surely they hadn't run off too far.

Just as he thought this, a sound echoed about the cavern. In a few moments, the amethyst crystal would seem to surge with life. The seemingly fragile rock was chipped away to reveal a small beak. From above, there was a wheezing noise. Turning his head upwards, the noise turned into a FWUMP! as something dropped onto the stone and scurried toward the stone. Azazel ruffled his feathers, about to charge at whatever had nerve to attack his hatching child, but he soon realized. Skidding to a stop on the stone, Azazel gazed upon the creature. Feathers of crimson and fur of cocoa beans, a slender and lithe frame...

This was his child. This was the one who had hatched long before the others.

So he would flap his great wings a few times to hop over to the stone. He sought to help. Cooing softly, he first gazed at the small, 6-inch long noodle at his side, and his eyes softened. They were just so adorable. Azazel could not take it. For a moment, his heart just melted. Then he would smile softly. "Hello... daughter." Carmine eyes smoothed with delight and joy at taking in the sight of his daughter. She was simply beautiful... and adorable.

He could only wonder who was next. Azazel would begin to attempt to peel away stone from around the small gem, but only a few strips would come off, and it was hard work. It was as if he were chiselling at actual stone. Well... he was. That's not what he meant. Trying hard to chip at the stone, he gave a grunt of effort. "Hey, I think your sister needs help. You want to help?" He turned to ask the small noodle with wings upon her butt. What he didn't realize... was that she could not answer with words. No... his first child was mute.

As he chipped at the chrysalis, it seemed to bloom into life. The shell shifted and churned, a bright purple beak fiercely tugging and pulling at the crystal, until a fledgling clumsily rolled out with a small rush of membrane. A shriek escaped the small creature, not far off from the noisy cries of Krakarak. The voice was feminine, if not extremely raucous and loud. Her feathers were downy, like his had been when he was younger, but they were that of a corvid's. This indeed was his daughter. Then, he glanced at the Jadeite chrysalis... but he simply shook his head and smiled. The Bone King smoothed his (subconsciously) ruffled feathers, and slowly sidled over to the creature birthed by the chryalis. The butt-winged noodle had already glomped the small bird, and he quickened his pace just in case the already-obviously rambunctious noodle would prove to be too much for the newborn.

But then he was smitten with his children. They were his. For the first time in his life, Azazel Vita was a father. He'd never felt such a connection to another Gembound, but these were his kin. The Bone King had created life. For a minute, Azazel would feel some stinging sensation at the corners of his eyes, the ones closest to his beak. Screwing his eyes shut, the proud Ave would gently put a wing about the duo, and he felt crystalline tears slide down his face. He was a father. He was so damn proud of his fatherhood.

Azazel would try his hardest to be the best father he could be. Blinking away his tears of joy, he lowered his crown and smiled. "You two look like an Ashtoreth, a star... and a Liora, night sky, to me." Ashtoreth and Liora. They seemed like perfect names...

With his two children under his wing, one a naked dinosaur and the other a wiggly noodle, Azazel's heart surged with joy like a power plant has an electrical surge. It was powerful, and he'd never felt so very happy in his life. His heart was going to explode. Liora was the first to try and crow out her name, and he smiled softly. "Good job, my little night sky." Leaning down, he nuzzled the top of the small ball of down's head with his beak. Waiting for the noodle to speak her own name, he stopped. Ashtoreth had no spoken a word yet, nor had she even made a sound with her own vocal cords.

Could it be... no, impossible. Maybe she just wasn't ready yet. Azazel would become the fsther who refused to acknowledge his child's inability vocalize, and when he did, he'd blame himself for it. No matter, he clutched them close, and watched as they played back and forth. Ash presented her adorable little pink paw pads to her sister, and his heart melted.

God, these children were adorable. His little star and sky.