Ralkner spun around, and before Karin could protest, his tail vanished past the den's mouth. The young Voidbringer gritted her teeth. Never in her life had she expected to be thrown into a situation like this. A large part of her was terrified that she would hurt the infant, or even worse, accidentally kill it. She realized, however, that there was also a chance of her new sibling dying if she failed to act. Taking a deep breath, she crouched down to the egg's level and started slowly working a single claw around the cracks in the shell, using her other claws to steady the fragile orb.
She jumped a bit when she wriggled her first piece of shell off, revealing silvery scales much like her own underneath. Her curiosity as to what the hatchling would look like drove her to chip away at the egg with heightened resolve. Once Ralkner came back to moisturize the egg, her task was made even easier. It eventually seemed like she was doing a better job of breaking the shell than the baby was.
Finally, after what felt like forever, there came a great shudder from the hatchling, and the remainder of the egg split in half. The dragon inside revealed itself to be a tiny Pipe Paragon, a girl, with leathery wings, a spiky tail, and purple and gray markings running all over her body. The mane of tendrils on her head were a bright red, a trait inherited from Sefi.
Ralkner melted at the sight of his newborn daughter. "Oh, what a pretty girl!" he cooed, leaning over the baby. The Pipe let out a shrill chirp and blinked her eight emerald eyes at her father, weakly raising her snout to touch his. He chuckled and turned to Karin, who held her head high, quite pleased that she had successfully brought her sister into the world. "Would you like to name her, Karin? I already got the chance to name you."
"Are you sure?" Karin asked. Her question was answered with a nod. Sighing, the younger Voidbringer started to mull over names in her head. She was sure that she'd grow to adore her sister. Perhaps she ought to name the baby after another thing she loved.
"...Rafale," she ultimately decided. "A gust of wind. I don't know what kind of language it's from, but one day while I was flying, I overheard a group of human explorers in the plains saying that word. What do you think?"
"A lovely name for a lovely girl. May our dearest Rafale grow to be big and strong."