One cycle ago, Giggle had set stones down around her den. At the head--behind the pool of half-stagnant water, shrouded as it was by foliage--she'd placed the chunk of her own magnolet-streaked Fire Agate. Nearby, the staff she'd been granted by The Visitor. Both of those held a hidden spot beneath her fungal shelves there.

To the left of the pool of water, up on a slope a few feet away, she'd placed the Brookite. And to the right, the Bayldonite. All of them had been carefully hidden, covered in sand and bones. But then they'd begun to grow.

None of them were giants, but it was hard to keep them hidden, so for the last week she'd ensured that either she or Omen was watching over them, and that she herself was never far off. Just in case. She'd told the Bonebound she was expecting children, too; while Canis was finally free of the mold that Order had webbed about, Giggle wasn't foolish enough to imagine that the Hive was the only potential threat. So she'd kept close watch, tapping into the senses of her own fungus that laced the den, and...

...well, now she was here. It was time for them to hatch, and Giggle--having done her hourly pacing from stone to stone, checking on them--was resting by the pool. Omen was overhead, the black Hallowed Caller observing Canis with her single red eye. But for now, at least--all was quiet.

The press of warm dark held meaning for the child inside the Agate, though she wasn't aware of it enough to make much sense of it. She could feel it, though, as she awoke: safety, silence. An end, and a beginning. There was some sense of ancient power: of magic imbued, of eons that had come before, of the twisting bittersweet cycle of life and death.

But as Grishia slowly woke, she forgot all of that, and only knew that her foot pinched. Ow, was her first thought, rather than anything profound. And she tried to kick it free.

One tiny foot, claws on a dark, wet paw, thunked through the thin shell of the pink-and-gold-streaked agate: and that was all. Just a foot, sticking out and dripping profusely as the chrysalis fluids drained out around it. The rest of her was still inside the stone, stuck there for the moment.

And then, a quiet whimper, as the relative chill of the air set in, and the blinding light struck new eyes for the very first time.

Thud. Crack.

Giggle was up like a shot, hastening around the pool to the Agate chrysalis. Her heart raced, excitement and the inevitable worry thrilling through her as she nosed at the jagged hole the first child had made.

"Hello, little one. Let me help you out," she said, and she could feel Omen in the background: first watching intently, then shifting her attention to keep careful watch on the other stones in Giggle's stead.

She began to pick at the stone with her teeth--but it was slick, and flat enough she couldn't get a grip. And the tiny paw kicked, then--a punching jab straight to her nose. She let go, sneezed, and blinked.

i'm gonna break my child out one way or the other. then stop posting so the other kids can hatch

...Whoops. She'd felt something soft and warm, right after the equally soft and warm voice, which was actually pretty reassuring to hear. It sang to instincts in her; it said 'mother.' And she'd kicked it in the snout.

Grishia, still unaware of most of... existence, tried to squirm to a better position, and--instinctively, too--apply snout and forepaws to the hole that she'd kicked in her chrysalis.

She had much the same issue as Giggle had: there wasn't much space to get teeth to smooth stone, nor were her tiny limbs strong enough to pry it free by hand. Rather than feel claustrophobic, though (and still squinting against the light), Grishia instead paused to truly apply her fresh-hatched (well, almost) mind to the situation.

There was a hole. She had to make it bigger and escape. So how could she do that?

Oh--and she'd kicked her mother. Belatedly, she looked up, and spoke at the snout that had reappeared there, coughing out some fluid to speak. "Sorry," she said, and thought about that.

Speech. Words. "Sorry." Yes--that sounded right.

The tiny word--not ashamed, but matter-of-fact--came from the hole with a little echo. Giggle snorted in amusement and surprise. "It's fine. You okay in there? Don't worry, it just takes times, some... times." That had sounded awkward, but never mind.

The old hyena paused to have a quick glance at the other stones, but none were yet cracking. They might not, she knew, maybe for hours or even days; there was no guarantee they'd hatch together, even if she'd given them life (or stone) one after the other.

But either way it meant that she either had time, or she didn't, so she got back to work. She couldn't get her muzzle to it, though, so she cast around briefly for some sort of tool to use. The obvious answer was bones--she could try and leverage the staff, but she didn't want to hurt it or the child and she didn't know how its magic worked, yet. So she sniffed around and picked up a fairly chunky femur, then carried it to the agate. "Back up from the hole. I'm going to try and break the stone," she told the child within, trying to sound reassuring. Then she picked the bone back up in her jaws, and stuck one end just inside the chrysalis's gap, and twisted.

It broke, then; a crack, then another, the lines shooting up across the chrysalis. She pulled the bone free, stuck her head inside, grabbed the child gently in her jaws and withdrew her.

A moment later she had what looked very much like a sooty colored hyena cub--like any hyena cub--wet and shivering at her paws.

And like any good hyena mom, Giggle immediately set to licking her clean.

It was bright, it was (relatively) cold. It was wet. She was shivering, and there was a tongue cleaning the chrysalis goop off of her. Grishia cowered there for a moment--not afraid, but cold and blind against the light--before she was able to squint around and see the world for the first time.

It was a world of dust and bones, of a little bit of water. Of plants. Of a big, black bird with one red eye that was suddenly staring her right in the face from inches away, peering at her.

Grishia blinked and tried to sniff the bird, then grabbed at it with clumsy gentleness, like a toddler would; the Caller leapt back with a caw. And the hyena child flinched and went back to sitting. After a moment she reached up, instead, stubby paw-fingers twisting into Giggle's neck fur and holding there. Clinging.

She didn't speak, just yet; she felt safe. And she was still getting used to this whole "being alive" thing.

@Serela and @ hopper? not made yet I think :D

Serela

Serela could hear the noises going on outside. But she remained soft and cuddly inside the chrysalis. The brown creature wasn't ready to leave. While the other one itched to get out, she didn't. Maybe it was to save up her strength. Maybe it was because she was still tired.

After a bit of a rest, her lizard-like paws pressed onto the side of the chrysalis. Green claws dug into its interior. Long fuzzy tail slashed among the liquid. With what strength she gathered, she pressed it free. A loud crack was heard. Out a disfigured face came. The chunkiness of her face came from a lizard, while her muzzle framed to be like a hyena.

She giggled softly, a wet FLOP, she landed on the ground before her. Immediately she ran on her hind legs towards Giggles and Grisha. Nearly slipping and sliding.

"Speech looks like this." @Giggle

Code by CJ, edits to color by Silverrye!

And here came another.

Giggle turned at the solid crack, ears perking up--and found the newest child tumbling straight for her! She intercepted, head low and brush tail flicking excitedly. "Welcome to the world, kiddo," she offered, leaning down to try and lick this one clean, too. Her gestures were all motherly affection: nudges, nuzzles and licks, but she was wondering if she shouldn't have had some food ready in advance. Ahh, well; she didn't even know what they ate, yet! She'd address that soon enough. For now...

"I'm your Mom. My name's Giggle. Do you have a name, yet?" she asked, directing her gaze to both of her children.

Grishia blinked as her other, newer sibling knocked her way free of her own chrysalis without any problems. She felt a little weak by comparison, and scrambled to awkwardly stand as Serela bolted over. She was a little unsure, but in an instinctive gesture, she lifted one paw-hand to wave 'hello.'

"Hi," she tried, her voice quiet and shy. Then she blinked up at Giggle. Giggle. Mom. She committed that to memory. And...

Name?

Grishia's muzzle wrinkled up as she thought about it. "Grish... ia. Grishia," she told her.

Then she looked expectantly to Serela. She was looking her over, too: admiring the strange, fin-like structures, and the reddish fur that matched Giggle's. Grishia looked down at herself: she was sooty gray; was that normal? Huh. (Back to Serela, then.) What would her name be?

@Serela

Serela

Serela watched as her sibling made some sort of hand gestures. And she tried to do it back, her chunky lizard-like claws flexing to try and say hi back. Although it looked very off balance.

The one addressed as mom. GIGGLE. MoM.

Mom, giggle. Grrrrissshhhaaaa

Serela thought about it, uncertain. What would her name be? Seeeee

Seeerrr

Sir

Llllaaa!

"Seeeereeellaaaa" Serela bounced the name off her tongue. It was odd, weird sounding. But.. she could get used to it. Lizard toes stretched out towards the ground, leveling onto her four legs. Lengthy body pressed against the ground.

"Mama! Grissshhhaaaaa." She giggled, it was funny. From the noises she heard, it was fun to repeat things: what could mom and grisha teach her?

"Speech looks like this."

Code by CJ, edited color by Silverrye! ( @Grishia )