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His roaming had taken him further north than he planned, though it was not an entirely unwelcome change of scenery. Lush green had faded to a peppering of frost touched mint and various dulled hues of amber and red, the hillsides had bowed to the mountain ranges and Kiuaji's glittered hues of purple had risen to spy their rocky outcrop. Their everlasting vigil a testament to the sturdy power of the earth, they merely stood as intended and commanded those beneath them to look up at them in wonder and awe, and some would sing into the wind of their aspirations to be as unmoving as the pillars of hardened earth. Kiuaji favored the water and the night, admittedly. He did not want to be so brash and so obvious in his crowning achievements, it would make him a poor spy and a poorer poisoner. His name would be sung in fear and terror within the night's sonata, with whispered echoes of admiration serving as the chorus. He would slither and coil upon the moon touched waters which concealed so much more than the mountains ever could, hidden all the more by the Moon's midnight veil. His thoughts wandered farther than he did, the endless dunes of lost memories and idle thoughts would stretch and reveal jungles of thicker questions and sought answers, glittered pools with sunken temples of wanton knowledge and secrets awaiting him should he wander too far into himself. Some things were better left at the bottom of the deep places of his mind, he often concluded, until such time came for him to delve there purposely. The ghosts that lingered there were not so easily roused from their eternal slumber, and they would be even less enticed to give up what the poisoner had silenced them for so very long ago. Eventually, glazed eyes focused in time to see the last hints of unhindered sunlight die upon the blood tinged leaves, and the sleuth paused to glance at what he had stumbled into. Just like the bamboo forest, his instincts hummed to him, this place was natural but not natural to the mountains it breathed into. The ground crippled and scarred with gouges slowly being reclaimed by fresh evergreen shoots, silently working to repair and conceal what had transpired. Unfortunate was it that the great reddened trees would deny nature to hide it completely, they stood with their scars proudly on show as warriors did. They had weathered the storm and won, they would not be denied their trophy wounds. The waterfall finally revealed it's treasure to him, the clearing parted to reveal a rich water source, coloured with the very essence of life itself. Fortunately, it was not filled with the essence, but rather gems. "How odd." He murmured to himself, peering curiously into the never ending trench of water before lowering his crowned head to drink. He may as well, he had traveled so far and his wandering mind brought with it a thirst not so easily sated. Kiuaji had planned to look around and return to the shadows, but something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, and he tilted his head to get a better look at the ivory stone illuminated by the few rays that peered through the trees. He had thought it a stone, but as he took a step forward to better peer at it's precarious perch upon a low hanging branch over the water, he realized it was no stone, but an egg. An Egg. A snort of surprise rumbled from his delicate neck as he studied it, what a careless mother to leave an egg so vulnerable and alone. Teetering on the edge of the abyss, all it would take was a gentle breeze or a careless bump of the tree to send it toppling into the water below. Part of him wished to leave it be and let it serve as a lesson for the wayward mother, but a quiet voice dug it's hooves in firmly and whispered that he should move it and see it safe. "I'm only doing this because I have no choice." He proclaimed out loud, as though he was reassuring himself he was not doing it because he wanted to do it, but rather it was the right choice. "Your mother is an imbecile." He commented further, himself now awkwardly positioned on a patch of jagged rock, back legs positioned on oddly elevated plateaus while his front left perched on an even higher patch. His right was tucked firmly against his barrel as he reached for the egg, he took it between his teeth gently. The horror if anyone could see him now, splayed all over the place all for the sake of the well being of whatever creature was nestled in it's temporary home. The poisoner didn't dare to think of what would happen if he toppled in and someone saw, he may as well swallow his own poison and wish for death. Once he had safely climbed down, much to his relief, he moved the ivory case to a safer nest of grass and flowers. "There." Content that he had done his good deed for the remainder of the year, preferably the rest of his time in Helovia, he turned to leave — until he heard the faint crack and splinter of delicate eggshell and he swore his blood ran cold. Kiuaji's horned head turned back to the nestled egg with a ferocious determination, a ferocious hope that he had simply been imagining the sound which had reached his pierced ears. He was met with the bone crushing realization he had heard right. There in front of him, the egg had began to wiggle and crack, whatever creature within determined to get out and see the world. "No, don't do that." It was painfully desperate and he cringed at the sound of his own words, but he had seen what happened from when he witnessed Tembovu's egg hatch, whatever was coming out, was coming out for him. It reacted almost out of spite, it gave a particularly hard push and rolled from it's spot in the grass and clinked against his plum hued hoof. Kiuaji couldn't have taken a step back fast enough, and he rewarded with the egg moving forward once more as if it was determined to catch him and make him watch it hatch. "I'm not your mother, you know." Great, he was pleading his case with a creature that hadn't even taken it's first breath. "I wouldn't make a good father, either. I'm terrible, honestly, you would be better off staying in there." Once more he stepped as the words left his lips, and once more the egg followed. In the end, he decided to retreat to the furthest part of the small patch they were in to watch it with a mixed sense of dread and exasperation riddled upon his delicate features. It stopped for a moment, the clicks and chips dulled into a faint echo and the relief that washed over him nearly crippled him on the spot. It was as though the angels had come out and blessed him just this once. Thank the Gods, he sighed loudly with his inward praise. It was short lived, whatever silver lining he thought he saw, it shattered into a million tiny splinters and scattered to the wind as quickly as it came. The egg moved, the spiteful, determined little creature with all the fury of the gods at it's heels rolled it's tiny home with a great thump of it's weight against the shell towards the sleuth. Dumbfounded and shocked, Kiuaji could only watch with an uttered noise of despair as it hurdled towards him with every intention to see it's quest through. It's home shattered and cracked until there was nothing left, the bundle of mottled feathers was revealed as it came to a tumultuous stop a hairs breath from Kiuaji's marked face, talons inches from his dark muzzle. "Oh you little sh—" the colourful string of choice words died on his tongue as a pair of sharp, round eyes peered up at him and gave him what he could only describe, as the most smug, self-fulfilled noise he had ever heard directed to him in his life. They stared at one another and he felt the first inklings of another mind entwined with his own, emotions that weren't his own filled his head and his heart — the den of snakes hissed and snarled — and he could only utter a defeated sound for it. This little bird had won, this little crowned eagle, with all the cunning, tenacity and personality of a queen, had bested him. Part of him was loathe to admit he had to admire it for that fact, but now he was faced with a whole new world of caring for something much more fragile than he. He had never looked after a thing in his life, and his paternal feelings were as barren as the desert. The eagle chick seemed undeterred by his inner crisis, she fluffed herself and stepped out of her ivory seat with an expectant look and wings spread, testing her sails that promised to grow large and proud. "What?" The unmistakable feeling of hunger was evident, but the eagle looked at him and gave an impatient click which told him that she wanted something else. Casting his mind back to when he had witnessed Tembovu bond with his little matriarch, he realized she wanted a name. "You want a name?" He's never named a living creature in his life, but she looked at him with rounded eyes and he let out a resigned sigh, add emotional blackmail to the list of growing talents she apparently had. "Matanye." The name is almost blurted from his lips and he gives the chick a skeptical look, almost blaming her for the way it had been spoken. She — Matanye — seemed pleased with the name and took wing to examine her new companion, for that was the way he truly felt right now. Eventually, seemingly satisfied, the small bundle of feathers landed on one of his crowns and he let out an exasperated sigh louder than before, and she responded with an equally loud chirp back to him, though the hum in his mind said she had done it to spite him further. "talk talk talk" Some hearts are a desert you can die wandering in
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hatching thread of Kiuaji's crowned eagle, come laugh at his despair!
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"let me shatter your frame of mind, my dear"
force & magic permitted on Kiuaji at all times
with the exception of maiming and death.
