Venus

so many ways to see the sunrise

While Amazon lay curled, sleeping, the ragged shard of cinnabar she'd been harboring for cycles at last began to stir. She'd watched it every day (keeping a safe distance), trying to see the growing neonate through the haze of the gemstone, but it had never looked back. She was worried that it had died...but it had not. It had merely slept through the time, unconcerned with its worrying mother, taking its time to finally wake up

At last, many cycles later, eyes blinked open. Consciousness finally flared in the young one's head and it twitched in its chrysalis. It couldn't see anything but red. It was almost overwhelming and fear began ticking in its mind. Head jerked around, looking for a way out of this cramped, dark space but there was nothing. Nothing but deep red and a strange sense of hyperactivity. It needed out. Now. Now!

It jerked violently and that was enough to break the gemstone, which was already week from cycles of waiting, into shards that flew across the den. They emerged with a squeal and flopped on the ground, eyes bulging, lungs gasping for their first breath, still drenched in fluid the color of blood.

Amazon jerked awake at the sound of shattering, some of the gemstone shards bouncing off her scales. She whipped around, terrified that something had happened, that the gemstone had broken and the child inside it died, but when she saw it standing there, albeit quite terrified, but very much alive, she could barely believe it was real. She'd been waiting for cycles for that thing to hatch...and, at last, it had. Here it was, her and Envy's child, whom she had left behind in case she'd never come home.

She sprung up and scuttled over to the child, avoiding the rough shards of the broken cinnabar on her way. She could rejoice later, right now, this child was scared and needed someone to help. "Hey," she murmured, stopping a little ways away, reaching out one of her claws. "It's okay. You're okay. Can you hear me? Do you understand?" She tried to keep her expression gentle and even, holding back tears of joy that threatened the corners of her eyes. "I'm Amazon. Do you need a name or do you have one?"