While some others of their little crowd step forward to bellow their own calls of warning, the ocean mare stays close to the babe. Her eyes are wide as she watches them, the whiskers of her muzzle flickering over the calf’s downy forehead with slow, baited breaths—the milliseconds dragging by as she waits, waiting for the hostility to either unfold or diminish. As the seconds tick, there is a battle in her heart. While Tiamat feels so honored and proud to be among those willing to protect a lost child, there is a part of her (foolishness, naivety, perhaps?) that screams a halt at any such violence.

(Surely there must be another way!)

In her own little world, aggression and hate are never, ever the answer—they are only sad, amendable barriers in a snare of misunderstanding. So in this moment, her mind is torn between reaching out to the angered bull, and remaining huddled within their group, curled around the young boy. Fortunately, by some act of good grace, the tension dissolves just before it reaches its breaking point—disappearing almost as quickly as it had clutched at them.

The blue mare sighs audibly when the large bull leaves them without physical dispute, muscles relaxing as she presses into the boy’s shoulder, her mind having been too wrapped up in the strain of hostility to notice the other moose call. His squeal of delight is what alerts her to the female that approaches them—igniting a smile to spread wide across her lips in honest, beautiful triumph. Round, glittering eyes are cast to those that stand around her, wishing to share in the joy of this moment (because, undoubtedly, they could not have accomplished such a feat without one another).

Arcing her long tail happily behind her, Tiamat watches the reunion of mother and son, warmth blooming from her chest and spreading throughout each part of her body. She doesn’t expect to receive anything in return—being a part of this wonderful moment has been an honor enough—so when the mother moose offers her a gift, she momentarily hesitates. Her first reaction is to politely decline (she doesn’t want to take anything from them), but knowing that giving a gift can be just as rewarding as receiving one (if not more so), the ocean mare accepts the offer graciously.

Following the newborn babe and his mother, they tread towards the peculiar goose-shaped rock, where the mother moose begins to dig carefully at the base. Curious, Tiamat peers at the little roost of leaves and grasses, speculating what the moose has in mind for her. When the glittering egg is revealed, Tiamat gasps. “Is that…?” She whispers, her voice saturated with wonder and reverence, barely sighing through the tightness of her throat.

“Care for this creature as you did for him.”

Tiamat manages to tear her gaze away from the egg, looking to the moose with tears glistening in her eyes. “Thank you,” the words are quiet and trembling from the emotion that wells in her heart, a tender smile softening her lips before she brushes the egg’s polished surface, “I will.” A companion egg. Her companion. The ocean mare can hardly believe her good fortune, offering gratitude to all the graces that have looked upon her today. Stroking the egg with all the affection and warmth of a mother, she closes her eyes, a tear of elation trickling out onto her cheek.

“I will.”


notes; AH OMG :'D thank you!!! <3333
“Speech.”

like the ocean kissed the sky