SOLIVAGANT ─ HP & GoT [ON HOLD]

☽ Chapter XII ☾

The thing staring at her was ugly, to say the least, all strange looking, fragile and young.

It had broken through the thin pieces of blue and green shell. A tiny little beak first, then a bald head and a thin, almost plucked neck were quick to follow. Little eyes that had been closed until then opened, shining like tiny black pearls sparkling in the light of bright colorful flames. A small singing peep chirped through the golden beak, and startled Amalthea. She dropped the egg back into the chest jumping away as if it were burning. She narrowly resisted the urge to retreat backwards, her heart thundering in her chest.

Another peep was heard, this one sounding almost indignant and confused... The creature didn't seem to have liked being abandoned. But she couldn't help it. It had been instinctive. She had seen something like that once before. Not once, but often! She had seen this shape before, smelt that hot, ashy smell, heard this heartbreaking melody, sometimes so intense and painful it could make people cry. These calls were different, loud and high, almost to the point of making her ears bleed with the strength of all the indignation stored in that tiny little body.

Sweat ran down her forehead, cooled the vein of her neck of her neck, ran down her back, chilling her flesh and sticking the fabric of her dress to her skin. Her fingers shacked, uncontrollably. They didn't stop even as she tried so hard to compel them to do so.

She breathed deeply. In. Out. So deeply her chest ached. She swallowed gulps of air as if it were the first time she had ever breathed, as if she was trying to get all the air in the world into her lungs at once. There was no sound but that of the air, going through her mouth, the crackling of the flames and the small chirps the thing continued to make.

Inside her head though, her thoughts were loud and glaring. How? How was it possible? How long had that egg been there? Did Harlan know about this? Was it him who put it there?Why would he do that? Why hide it behind a wall in a tower for anyone to find?

Crack... The eggshell continued to crack and break, and the indignant peeps carried on. Crack... The little neck lengthened when the plucked head was stretched to its maximum height, trying to catch Amalthea's gaze. The egg sways, left, right and so on, threatening to fall and playing with her nerves.To the point when she can not control herself anymore. Before she knew it, the young girl took an instinctive step forward to grab it. The hoots screeched louder, frightened, then panicked, as the creature felt the dangerous swing its protective ball was undergoing. As anyone would have predicted, the egg rolled to the left and fell apart, cracking into pieces of blue shell spotted with green all around the small body.

Seeing the rest of its figure made Amalthea marvel at the confirmation that, yes, it could get even uglier. The head looks oddly large compared to the body who seems small, too thin, and far, far too nacked. The tiny thing trembles from the cold, covered only by a weak and undecided fluff, apparently unsure of its own color. A mixture of pale red, orange and yellow, so weak and pale that the pink of the skin is what stands out the most. It rolls over itself, straightening up, shows its little golden feet and claws and flaps its tiny wings, hooting loudly calling out her perpetual gaze.

It seems happy when the onyx of its eyes reflected in her own emeralds. It peeped and whistled, and peeps even more, singing flashily it's happiness in a tone that gradually grew louder when Thea stayed frozen where she was. She was paralized, rooted to the floor. As if her flesh and bones were frozen, hands outstretched and trembling, to catch something that already fell. Her mouth dry as a desert.

The small black eyes blinked, the wings flapped and the tiny body rose tremulously on its trembling little legs. Weak and thin as toothpicks. It took a step up and perched on the edge of the dark wooden chest. Another startled sound sounded before the wings beat furiously in panic when the little being lost its balance and fell forward.