Mesec still couldn’t believe it. Another egg! Lucius was guarding it fiercely, nesting in the crook of Mesec’s wings as they were folded on his back. It didn’t look like Lucius’ egg but the zephyr was convinced that it was going to be another one of him. He had adopted Everly and now the proud roc was hoping for a son he could take under his wing too. The makings of their very own flock! A flock of beautiful, star-strewn birds. Whenever Mesec attempted to point out that there were many different companions that could be housed within the egg, he was blatantly ignored and the dreamy thoughts of Lucius continued without a hitch.

They travelled back to the Edge slowly and by foot. Mesec had expected the egg to hatch immediately, as Lucius did, but it did not seem so inclined. Perhaps it was cold, which was why his other companion was playing the role of mother hen and using his body heat to keep it warm as they travelled.

It was a short trip back to the Edge, thankfully, and Mesec began searching for somewhere out of reach of the wind where they could hunker down and wait for the egg to hatch. He had no idea how long it might be or whether the cold was delaying the action, even with Lucius acting as an incubator. Perhaps they should have travelled south... but it was a long trek to the Heart, especially on hoof.

Remembering the silver-barked trees that grew in the Edge, Mesec wandered the woods until he found one of the groves - the low lying branches having kept snow from blowing into this little spot. It was probably as good as they were going to be able to find - the snow was only a couple inches deep here and the wind wasn’t as biting, so Mesec led the way into the little grove before lowering himself to the ground - very, very carefully. His silver eyes looked to Vesper with a smile, gesturing to Lucius and the egg he was protecting. “What do you think it’s going to be?”

No sooner did he ask, though, than Lucius gave a squawk of surprise and stood up, stepping away from the egg where it was nestled among Mesec’s dark feathers. It had begun to shake a little bit and there was a long crack along the surface facing upward. Mesec froze with his head turned, not wanting any actions of his to damage the creature or the egg, watching with held breath as he egg began to hatch. “Looks like you’re going to be a mother.” He gently teased to Lucius, but the zephyr’s eyes were wide and he had his own head tilted so he could better watch the egg as it began to hatch.

What emerged first wasn’t a beak or a talon, but a small little black nose - sniffing at the cold air before retreating as if whoever it was decided that it was simply too cold to hatch today.

MESEC

the nightwind

He’d started out this day as he had the last, waking in some cold little hole stiff and without a view. It made what had been a rather delighted mood, rather sour. There had to be somewhere in this place a comfortable keep, somewhere he could either slip away too or keep an eye on things below. Yet the place must indeed be elusive for this was the second morning where his bed had not passed the test. At least a far morning jog, with a little run and buck with Haldir, seemed to cure all ill effects of the night.

So as he came to a small grove, simply learning this new land of his, he was rather in a quitter mood. Not yet awakened to his full devilry, yet not foul tempered either. Along his current trail he had seen others, many he did not recognize, so he kept his distance for now. Content to watch and observe before moving on soundlessly through the snow. Haldir was not as content. The stag was feeling the high from the run more than his bonded, and surged on through the undergrowth, even lending his antlers as a test of a tree’s strength (which more often than not resulted in a mound of snow on his back).

In doing so, Haldir found the small growing family first. He lean body jerked to an upright halt, instincts tingling with senses of scared moments. The gold for his part only looked up with half interest, his earth eyes not sparking until they saw who law in the stag’s moon eyes. Mesec. One hark twists back and his curled tail hold from his swinging pattern. Once before the two had met, but he was in another skin. His  mind rolls over how to play such a scene. He didn’t know much, only that the boy’s name was Mesec and he was the Moon Goddess’s son. Beyond that, he was quite in the dark. So as the gold stepped up to play he didn’t exactly have all the cards he wished.

But it seemed it wouldn’t matter anyway. The shadow’s son seemed to be quite preoccupied with another at the moment. Gold harks lean forward to see their full attention resting on a cracked egg. ”Companion?” the whispered haunts of the stag slip in, but he gets no signals from the gold, as usual. (Unlike those normally bonded the gold and the stag rarely held full conversations through their bond, much was vested in mutual understanding).

Breaking into this happy moment the gold at first is silent. Where many would bound forth a congratulations, the gold was not. Nor was an apology on his lips for the intrusion. He was never much of the mindset to think his own bonded something to be celebrated. It had been nearly two years now since that day, and it was muddled in his memory by some foreign illness, but he did remember it wasn’t a happy moment. Shortly after he’d taken a stint in the Throat, and tried several times to abandon the thing. Not exactly a happy start.

Of course, not all those moments had been so terrible…the stag wasn’t remembering those. Instead he remembered quite moments shared, or the few times the gold nearly went to war for the dark little one. He knew, even if no one else (including the gold) could tell, that the Laurelin did in fact love him.

All these thoughts drifted silently. Passing by as the two looked silently, and stilly on, each with totally opposite views of the event unfolding.


OOC:: Jolly Thran come to crash your happy moment with his creepy stalker memories XD I think his current mental phrase going through his head "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" hehe
@Mesec "speech"