Sounds. Noises. Squealing. Thunder.

Within the egg, life stirred; the puppy-hatchling within kicked out with hind legs. His forelegs were winglike, curled up against his sides; but the way the stone pressed around him told him things. The midnight embrace of the warm onyx egg had been a comfort for a long time, and he had found a pleasant peace in this void, but now it was insistent and tight, and he knew that it was time to leave it.

The voices rose, and he wondered if they were directed at him, urging him on. In his childlike naivety, his ignorance of all, he wondered who the voices even belonged to. What he'd find, when he kicked free. He wondered if the world would be warm, or cold; if it would hurt, or if it would be dark and pleasant like the interior of his egg.

The rock surface was thinner, now, than it had been--but it was still too thick for the hatching baby to break free from. The stone rocked, but didn't even crack, and from within came a soft, pleading cry.

He'd need help, to get out.

He needed help.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

Zephyr felt the calm fill him, these were the guardians of that egg, he saw now. "I have chosen the name Zephyr as mine own, I am sorry for scaring you, I thought you meant to harm the chrysalis I should have not acted so rashly."

He turned to the boar and a sadness entered his eyes, as he dipped his body in a bow, "I apologize, I did not mean to alarm you. I was mistaken, and because of that you came here wounded."

@Eve @Czernobog @Oliver

The stasis that the egg was in seemed to snap into Tal'at's focus abruptly. The slow, drumming heartbeat of the shell was becoming stronger, faster. Like a prey-creature hearing a predator and breaking into a sprint, adrenaline rushing into its veins. Tal'at did not know much about growing chrysalises, but if he had to make a guess...

"I believe that... The child comes... It is hatching."

He did not respond to Zephyr, nor Big Bog, for he was of the impression that they were having their own conversation separate from him. He sought to interrupt them, to point out a very crucial detail that probably only he could see with his magical sense.

Tal'at did not know how hatching was supposed to go; his own hatching had been a horrible experience. He assumed that others had an easier time, but he would not be surprised if it took the trapped creature quite a long time to get out.

"Big Bog protect... Children of Rot. This new child-- it will be... One of us," the bat thought aloud, pondering to himself what the new creature would be like. It was half a suggestion to the large hog he was riding and half a wondrous statement. Either way, the weird leather-winged orb-face seemed fairly excited about the matter, his attention focused on the heartbeat of the gembound he had yet to meet.

!!! ...

going out a different path lead by a beating heart

________________

While Tal'at was excited, Eve felt nothing but dread.

She didn't mention it. Her violent trembling was enough to show that she was afraid of whatever was going to emerge from the chrysalis. Some part of her, upon realising it needed help, told her to leave it there. The Void's words never left her head - inside there was a dangerous weapon. Too dangerous.

But she couldn't do that to her own child.

The crow took in a deep breath, pressing her beak against Czernobog's ear and then Tal'at's head in turn, before she flew down to the marshy ground near the egg, observing it for a good few moments. Inky-black feathers were still pressed tightly to her frail form, the creature appearing horribly thin - borderline underweight.

She hobbled close to the chrysalis, resting her tiny forehead against it for a moment before she pulled away and began pecking at it, gently, at first - she didn't want to hurt the creature inside. Then, almost frantically, cracking the surface of the smooth onyx, trying to aid it.

She had eventually managed to create a dent in the rock before she turned and flew back to assume hat position on the boar's head, watching the chrysalis with wide eyes. She glanced at Tal'at, briefly, quiet. "I'm scared," she murmured.

________________

@Czernobog
@Oliver

The crowdog within his chrysalis struggled, kicking and scratching at the stone. What had been dark, comforting warmth was fading into fear, a strange sense of being trapped--though it didn't become overpowering, didn't become terrifyingly claustrophobic. The feeling that the darkness was safe still remained, but some primal instinct in him did feel pinned down.

Another darkness, this slightly darker than the black stone and the dim world beyond, was suddenly fluttering just beyond his prison-home. He could see it move, hear the rapid tap-tap-tap and ominous scraping, and the muffled sound of voices. For a moment he went still, both curious and afraid; then it was gone, and he could feel the faint thread of cool air where the stone had cracked.

What should he do? He suddenly didn't feel quite so trapped, and even worse, felt reluctant to move, to betray his position to whatever was outside. The stone, at least, was safe--and there was strangeness out there. Strangers.

But nothing clawed further at his egg, nothing bit or roared or breathed fire, so after a moment his curiosity got the better of him, and he began to more quietly press at the rock.

There was a quiet crack, and another, and a shard eventually fell away. He still couldn't clamber all the way out, but it was enough to stick a black puppy face slowly, tentatively, through the hole he'd made. Enough to peer out, to blink blue-eyed at the world around him.

The first thing he noticed was that it was dark, and he liked that. The second was that it smelled bad, and he liked that too; he wanted to go stick his nose in it all. There were shapes moving, but his eyes hadn't adjusted yet, so he abruptly pulled back into the egg.

He wasn't sure of words, yet, so his question--his way of asking who and what they were, and if they were friends--instead came as a soft, keening whimper from his place hidden away within the broken onyx chrysalis.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Talat

The cub was talking again, in the strange tongue-speech all of the inhabitants of the Caves seemed to use. Zephyr. Sorry. Scaring. Harm. Chrysalis. Rashly. Czernobog snorted, eyes narrowing in confusion, widening again when the stranger turned to him and... bowed? The boar huffed, straightening, ears perking forward to listen. Apologize. Alarm. Mistaken. Wounded. His maw opened to answer slowly, careful of the bat on his snout, but Tal'at broke in before he could, and just as quickly the monster's jaws slipped shut. Child. Hatching.

Black-brown eyes widened in glee, and Czernobog turned on the spot, peering down at the egg once again, tail wagging furiously. Bog. Protect. Rot. Child. The boar nodded softly, chest puffing up with pride - he would protect Tiny, and Hat, and Dragon, and this new Hat too. Speaking of, his Hat touched his ear with her beak, diving to the ground below, and he wiggled, almost vibrating with excitement. She was beating at the surface now, trying to help the babe inside free - and he remembered, vaguely, how Dragon had sung to him.

A hum started up in Czernobog's throat, and soon it became a strange, rumbling sort of melody - loud enough that he missed Eve's whisper to Tal'at when she returned to perch on the boar's head. Said pig began to sway on the spot, watching, riveted, as the baby broke out of its chrysalis, and tumbled into the misty world. It was... a pup. And a hat? A pup-hat. A pup-bird. It was also really cute, and the boar couldn't contain an ecstatic little squeal, stepping forward to duck his head, momentarily forgetting about his passengers to snuffle at the babe. "Baaaaaaaby," he greeted.

@Oliver @Eve @Talat