[Jaykobell]

It was only silence for what felt like a very long time. While Balthazar had made it clear that he wouldn't take time to raise the bird, Izotz hadn't given his final decision on the matter. Ultimately, it was up to him whether the Hive would raise the Soveris baby or not. While Izotz was known for being fair and benevolent, it was also true that he followed Balthazar's advice often — because the Sandshark knew better, and the Frost wasn't afraid to admit it. He was still inexperienced as a leader, so the Sandshark often had a say in things.

"Taniqua," Izotz finally spoke after a long period of silence, turning to the Ambia, but instead of continuing, he gave the female a chance to answer.

"I... Yes?" the Ambia answered, bringing herself to look up at her leader to meet his eyes. Her heart was beating fast, and admittedly, she didn't know what to expect from the Frost.

Even after getting her reply, Izotz didn't continue right away. "Taniqua, would you accept to raise the Soveris?" the Frost finally asked, tilting his head to the side. The farm Paragon seemed like the best possible choice for the task. He honestly didn't want to leave the Soveris to die in the wild, but he didn't know how they were supposed to raise the baby, either. Taniqua, being familiar with animals, was the best Paragon to take care of a foreign creature.

The reactions Izotz got were Slavica turning to look at him quietly, and the Ambia's eyes stretching wide and gasping with surprise. She didn't want the baby to starve or get killed in the wild, either, but for her to take care of the griffon? "M-me? Are you serious?" To be quite frank, she hadn't thought that far ahead: just that she didn't want the baby to get abandoned.

"Yes," Izotz replied without hesitation, which also surprised the Ambia. "You're the best candidate to raise her. You're used to different animals, and you know how to take care of them. If this baby is similar to birds, then you already have a small idea of how to take care of her from raising your chickens," the Frost explained, giving the Ambia a smile. "Don't you think so?"

[Jaykobell]

"But I... What?" That was about all the Ambia could muster to reply, eyes flickering from Slavica — whom seemed surprised at Izotz's decision, but who didn't say anything — to Izotz, to Balthazar; and then it just kept going on in a loop. She'd never raised any hatchlings of her own, nor anyone else's, for that matter. The thought had crossed her mind, once in the olden days of her youth; by now, she was too old to have hatchlings of her own. Nothing prevented her from having any, biologically, but she was settled and happy with her life. She had a routine, and raising a child would break it apart.

"How am I supposed to take care of this baby?" she finally asked, managing to form one concrete sentence to try to explain her fears and doubts. "What am I supposed to feed her? What am I supposed to teach her? What am I... supposed to do?" It all came down to one simple question, namely, how did one raise a child? True, she saw the griffon as being different from a Paragon and more similar to an animal, but the fact remained she would grow up into an intelligent being. According to Balthazar's story, those Soveris birds grew up to be intelligent and self-sufficient like Paragon did. What would happen once the Soveris got old enough?

Upon hearing those questions, Izotz and Slavica looked at each other in silence, admittedly a little surprised. In the end, it wasn't Izotz who turned back to Taniqua to answer her questions; Slavica did so for him instead. The Sailfin took a few steps towards the Ambia and met her gaze. "There are no answers to your questions," the supportive leader said, and she could see the Ambia's face getting even whiter than it already was. "You will draw your own conclusions as you raise the child. Mothers are not born or made ready," she added, taking a short pause and spreading a Razor wing to put it over the shoulder of the farm Paragon, "their children make them so. She," Slavica continued, head motioning to the Soveris, "will teach you. She will tell you when you are doing her harm, and she will tell you when she is unhappy."

Initially, it looked like Taniqua was going to reply back, but the Sailfin's gesture and words were enough to numb some of her inner fears. She simply stared at the dark female Paragon before letting her eyes drop down to the baby Soveris, blinking slowly at the child.

"If you're worried about food," Izotz chipped in, coming closer to the two females, "I'm sure you and Francis can come up with something. What do you usually feed your chickens? Something soft that she can easily swallow might work." Taniqua was already used to working together with Francis, the Hive's cook, in order to come up with interesting dishes: he was certain that they could come up with something for the baby.

[Jaykobell]

Despite their words of encouragement to take the leap of faith, Taniqua still didn't seem convinced that she was the Paragon for the job. "You'll do just fine," Izotz insisted, giving the Ambia a confident smile. "You have the experience necessary to give her a good life. Remember that if you need help, the whole Hive is here for you. Slavica and I are here, too." He paused, and then he turned to Balthazar. "I'm sure Balthazar is willing to help as well, despite his earlier words."

Upon being mentioned, the Sandshark lifted his head; he'd since gone to sleep, or he'd tried to do so. "So you're going to keep the bird, aren't you?" he pointed out, grumbling a little under his breath. Izotz was a fool, but despite it all, the Sandshark could only be grateful for the Frost to have such a bottomless heart of gold. "I know nothing of the Soveris birds: I only saw them back in the olden days of my prime." He put his head back down, and initially it looked like he wasn't going to add anything. "I have no advice for you but to try. I can only assume the bird will grow up to be a Paragon at heart if she stays here."

At that, Izotz turned back to Taniqua, with a smile bigger than ever. "You don't have to worry. Even Paragon mothers don't raise their young entirely on their own: the entire Hive is here to help." It wasn't rare for some Paragon to take time off their duties to watch over some hatchlings while their parents minded their own tasks. The Hive also had baby caretakers for when the parents couldn't afford to get another Paragon to help. When they got old enough, the babies got together with the older Paragon to learn the ropes. If she ever felt overwhelmed, Izotz knew that there were many Paragon out there who would be willing to help Taniqua with the baby.

The Ambia had continued to stare at the small Soveris the whole time, but she slowly lifted her head to look back at Izotz after his last few words. She still looked worried about it all, but there seemed to be a certain will to give it all a chance. "I will... I will try," she finally replied, giving a heavy sigh. She had the bad feeling that she was getting herself into a mess, but her heart and conscience wouldn't be able to live with the decision of leaving the poor baby alone. She had already lost her family, and she was all alone in the world — up until her parents decided to come look for her, if ever. If Izotz believed that she was the Paragon for the job, then she would give it a try: she trusted his judgement.

[Jaykobell]

Even if she was still a little insecure, hearing Taniqua confirm that she would at least try made Izotz smile brightly. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. She'll grow up to know and learn a lot of different things with you." While she would still mingle with the Hive once she got older, being raised with Taniqua would be quite an experience for the baby. It was also best to raise her in a quieter, safer environment until the Hive got used to the idea of having another species in their ranks.

"Good for you, but are you done?" Balthazar rasped from the far back, grumbling and twitching his tail impatiently. "I am tired. Leave," he ordered, getting up slowly and turning all the way around where he lay back down, this time with his back facing the others. He'd given his two cents, and they had a plan set in motion. Now they could let him sleep and go mind their business elsewhere, where he wouldn't hear them.

Izotz turned to Balthazar when he heard the words and turned back to the two females afterwards. "I guess we're being kicked out," he said as he gave a light chuckle. "Let's leave him be. Thank you for your help, Balthazar," the Frost said as he got up and made his way outside the den, expecting the Sailfin and the Ambia to follow along. The two did so, with Slavica following right behind Izotz and Taniqua closing off the line.

Izotz guided them a little ways away from Balthazar's den, knowing very well that they wouldn't be able to talk again until they were further away. He lead the small group past Nyala's den, also knowing very well that having a conversation close to this den would also result in having an angry Paragon hot on their tails. He had to walk them in silence up to the edge of those two dens, where the forest barrier started to curve away, and where the clearing started. Once they were finally out of earshot by both grumpy Paragon, Izotz stopped and turned around to face the two females. "Thank you for trying, Taniqua. Remember that you can always come and see me if you have any trouble with the baby."

Picking up on what he wanted to say next, Slavica turned to Taniqua slightly. "In the meantime, we will get the other Paragon accustomed to the idea of having such a creature amongst their ranks. We will warn them to treat the Soveris as an equal." She could imagine Izotz thinking such a thing would be a piece of cake, but the Sailfin knew quite well that it wouldn't be so. They would have to be very careful and patient with the introduction of the bird to the Hive.

[Jaykobell]

The prospect of raising a baby alone was, in fact, very frightening. Perhaps that was why both a male and a female were necessary to bring up a child, since one could cover for the other if something happened. In Taniqua's case, she was all alone. If something happened to her or if she had her hands full, there was really no Paragon nearby that could help her. Still, hearing Izotz himself say that he was open to give her as much help as possible really did help her old nerves. She knew that his words were not empty ones: if she ever went to him, he would keep his promise and help her. "I... I trust your judgement, if you think I can do this. I will do my best." She looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms, and that's when she also realized that maybe the baby herself didn't really mind being with the Ambia. She'd warmed up to her surprisingly quickly, but there was no telling if that wouldn't change with time. For now, if anything, the baby seemed relatively comfortable and safe with Taniqua.

"Izotz," Slavica called out, breaking the Ambia out of her daydream, "perhaps it is time to go back. It wouldn't do for both of us to be away if something happens," the Sailfin pointed out, after which she stepped next to Izotz and turned around to face Taniqua again. "I trust that the matter is settled and that you will look after the child. Do you have any concerns? Speak them now, or it will have to wait." Even though Slavica was only the second-in-command, she was definitely the one who got business back on track. Izotz had the bad habit of getting lost in idle chat, so someone had to keep him on track. She didn't want to leave Taniqua to her own devices, but they had to prioritize.

The Ambia blinked and raised her head to the two leaders. She wasn't sure if she had any questions to ask; Slavica had put her on the spot, and her mind couldn't quite think that fast. "No... No, not that I can think of right now," she finally replied, giving yet another pause before speaking again. "I will go discuss her feeding with Francis. I will start with that," she added, part of her subconscious mind hoping for the two to give their approval. She still wasn't sure what to do, and so getting some positive cues would help tremendously.

Izotz lifted some of her fear when he nodded confidently. "That sounds like a good idea. Just be careful about showing the baby to the others: we don't know exactly how they're going to react to her." He gave the Ambia a nod before turning to his second-in-command. No words were needed there, and Izotz momentarily turned back to Taniqua. "Good luck with the baby; I'm sure you'll do just fine. Come see me if you need any help."

[Jaykobell]

After Izotz's last words, the two leaders nodded some silent encouragement to Taniqua before lifting off and heading back to the leader's den. The Ambia watched the two shapes fly off, one a dark spot, and the other a pristine white one. Her fears started to come back the moment they were gone, feeling like her only means of help were now inaccessible. She looked back down at the baby, part of her hoping that she would do as Slavica had said, and tell the Ambia exactly what she had to do. Right... her mind reminded her that she wanted to go speak to the cook in order to come up with a formula. One step at a time: that's what she needed to do. Logically, she knew that: emotionally, it wasn't quite so simple.

She slowly spread her wings and took off to head towards Francis's den. She made sure to hide the baby as much as possible while flying, but with them having seen her with Izotz and Slavica, many were giving her some curious looks. This time, the second-in-command wasn't with her to glare them away; she just had to deal with them and hope that no Paragon would bother to fly up to her. Fortunately, the cook's den wasn't very far; it was located at the base of the mountain so that both flightless and winged Paragon could easily access it. It wasn't fair to locate it on top of the mountain, where the wingless Paragon would have a hard time reaching it.

She landed gently right in front of the den, sending some dust and stones all around in the process. She didn't bother to look around and see if anyone had followed her; as soon as she'd landed, she tucked her wings to her sides and headed inside the den.

The den itself was particular. It was deeper than the others, and of course, much larger. Francis was not only the cook, but also the Paragon in charge of keeping the foods in storage. That meant that the den needed to be deep enough to not expose the food to outside elements, and it also needed three different compartments: one for foods that needed to be frozen, one for foods that had to be cooked, and one to keep the foods together, once he was ready to cook. It was an intricate machine, to be sure, and the male Ambia was the one who operated it all on his own. Over the years, no other Paragon had been able to really control their inner instinct to eat all the fresh game meat and other produce. Really, Taniqua and Francis were too fairly strange Paragon when compared to their comrades.

"Francis?" Taniqua called out as she made her way inside the den, wondering if the Ambia was already awake.

[Jaykobell]

Although she'd called out to him, when Taniqua reached the end of the den — where it split up into the three compartments — she was surprised to see no Paragon inside. Had he gone out? While he wasn't known for leaving the den very often — he already had his hands full with managing all the food and making it — he sometimes bothered to carry specific foods to Paragon if they were injured or sick. Despite his lack of wings, he would go far and beyond to help feed his fellow Paragon. She understood where that came from; as a Paragon who'd nearly died from starvation during the tyrannic reign of their former leader, it wasn't surprising for Francis to put food on top of his list of priorities.

While she was musing, she thought she'd heard just a little bit of noise from one of the food rooms. She blinked, trying to find the one that hosted the sounds. "Francis?" she called out again, but louder this time around so it would hopefully echo through the walls. Each compartment was sealed off by a stone slab, because if they weren't, what was the point? The cold storage would melt off, and the hot oven room would cool down.

When she called out the second time, the soft rattle she could hear from deeper inside suddenly stopped. It was some time before the thick stone wall started to rumble and move, revealing a pale male Ambia Paragon pushing it open, and then pushing it closed once he was out of the storage room.

Before Taniqua could say anything, Francis took it upon himself to greet her. "Taniqua! Delightful to see you here so early!" he said as he clapped his hands together excitedly before tilting his head. Francis was known for being ridiculously visual, gesticulating as he spoke and being easy to read as an open book because of it. Despite getting almost as old as Taniqua, the male Ambia showed no sign of ever slowing down.

"So, what brings you he..." He trailed off, his eyes suddenly darting to the particular package the female was holding in her arms. He'd initially thought she was here with produce, but no, that wasn't exactly it. "Oh. Is... is this a new kind of food?" he asked curiously, putting a claw to his chin. The creature looked strange, and he'd never seen it before, but typically the only reason why Taniqua visited was because she had food to give him.

[Jaykobell]

While Francis was initially just as Taniqua would expect, his last question sent her flying into a panic. Her eyes stretched wide, she gasped in shock, and she instinctively turned around to keep the baby away from the other Ambia. "No! No she's not!" she cried out to him, her nerves already stressed enough that she didn't need him to assume the baby was going to end up as Paragon chow. "She's a Soveris! A baby! I found her and I'm going to raise her!" she hissed, explaining the whole story a little awkwardly, but still managing to somewhat make her point get across.

Seeing her reaction, Francis withdrew a little and raised his arms to his head as if to say he meant no harm. "Whoa, whoa! Hold on!" he replied as he tried to tell the female he genuinely meant no harm. "You're usually here for that, that's why I asked!" he explained, trying to justify his own side of the problem. "I won't eat her if she's not food," he sighed, lowering his head in defeat. He'd been in contact with many pregnant and motherly Paragon; the last thing he wanted was to have an angry protective female hot on his tail.

There was a little timeout, and Taniqua eventually sighed. She didn't know how to take care of the baby, and she didn't know how the others would react to her. Having Francis see her as food was stressing her out; she didn't want to worry about the baby's safety more than she already had to.

She was going to apologize when she felt the Soveris wiggle in her arms, little chirps echoing along with her movements. The sudden movements and the yelling had probably woken up the baby... again. How many times had she managed to wake up the child, now? At this rate, the baby wouldn't ever get to sleep. And she did know for a fact that babies needed a lot of sleep.

Seeing the baby in action, Francis craned his neck to look past the other Ambia and at the little bird she was holding. "So... wanna start from the beginning?" he asked, pulling back as he crossed his arms and tilted his head. "You say she's a... what? Soris?" She'd spoken to quickly and so angrily that he hadn't had a chance to really catch on to the details. What he could understand was that Taniqua had found the baby somewhere, and that she had decided to raise her. Otherwise, she would have to explain to him what she was, and why the Ambia had come to see him.

[Jaykobell]

While Francis tried to pry the story out of her, Taniqua busied herself trying to cradle the baby back to sleep. She sighed as she did so, turning back to face the male Ambia. "No: a Soveris," she corrected him, putting the emphasis on the species. "According to Balthazar, anyway. No one else has seen a creature like her before."

Now that the baby was closer to him, Francis craned his neck down to take a closer look at the Soveris. It was a strange creature for sure: having both fur and feathers, along with naked feet, the baby looked like both a bird and mammal mixed together. She was also tiny compared to them, so for sure she wouldn't grow up to be very big. Her eyes weren't even open, so it was beyond him how that baby had even gotten to the Hive at all. "Yeah, can't say that I have," he replied as he straightened up again, putting a claw thoughtfully to his chin. "How did she end up here?"

"I'm not sure," Taniqua admitted, sighing again. It felt like the only way to slow exhale all of her insecurities and worries, even if only in tiny amounts at a time. "I think she fell in the river and got washed up all the way here. It's not very deep, so I think even for a baby like her, it'd be impossible to drown." If the Soveris had stuck her head under the water and stayed there, then obviously she could've drowned regardless, but at her size — even if little — the river was shallow enough to allow the baby to touch the bottom. Any animal incapable of swimming could be safe in that river, unless they were ridiculously small, like a mouse or a squirrel. "She was wet when I found her in my chicken coop this morning. I think she might've heard sounds and tried to find shelter." She shook her head afterwards. "But that's only my best guess. She would be the only one to tell me, and I doubt she'll ever remember what truly happened."

"Wow. I say, it's a miracle she survived that far. I've never seen these birds, so her home can't be that close," Francis mused, scratching his mane, an ear twitching in thought. "So you decided to keep her?" He'd known Taniqua for a very long time, having worked with her for so many years in their little food business. While she was an amazing caretaker, she'd never struck him as the motherly type. It wasn't that she was mean or irresponsible or anything like that: just that no male had really managed to ever convince her. He had no doubt that she would do just fine, just like any other female in the clan; it was just a surprise to suddenly see this one Ambia raising a baby.

[Jaykobell]

There came another sigh; one in a line of many. "Balthazar said they got in a fight with these birds dozens of years ago; apparently they're aggressive and dangerous, so he told Izotz not to go look for her family," Taniqua explained, trying to keep the explanation as short as possible. "Unless they come looking for her, he said it's best not to endanger the Hive for just one baby they lost." While she could agree that it wasn't right to endanger the Hive, she didn't think that it justified leaving that baby in the wild to die. Although she was nervous about raising a child all on her own — or almost — she never would've had the heart to abandon the baby in the forest. A wild predator would've gotten to her in a flash, considering how helpless she was. "So I'll raise her. Izotz said I was the best one for the job, since I'm used to different kinds of animals."

Francis kept quiet the whole time Taniqua was telling the short story, tilting his head curiously to the side as he continued to scratch his head. "Sounds dangerous if they're that aggressive, yeah." He straightened up and crossed his arms, quietly waiting for Taniqua to continue on. After a few seconds of complete silence, the cook blinked. "So... where do I stand in all this?" he ended up asking, still wondering why Taniqua was here if it wasn't to drop the baby off as game.

The female blinked, and she suddenly gasped. "Oh! Yes. I came here because I have no idea what I'm supposed to feed her," the Ambia explained, trying to get back on to business. "I don't... I don't know what the mothers feed the hatchlings, but I figured you might know. If not, I thought we could come up with something together." She wasn't typically in charge of making the actual food, so she didn't really know what they could. However, she did know what ingredients they had available since she actually raised and harvested them. All she needed was for Francis to tell her what he wanted to make, and she could get him the ingredients.

"Oh! So it was about food, at the end of it all," Francis exclaimed as he clapped his hands together excitedly, a bright smile on his face. If someone needed him to feed anybody, he was definitely the Paragon for the job, and he would happily pull through. "All right! Let's see, what could we feed to..." He paused, and then he blinked. "To... who?" he continued, looking down at the baby and then back up to the female Ambia. "Did you name her yet?"

[Jaykobell]

When Francis popped the question, Taniqua opened her mouth and raised a claw to speak, but nothing came out. She simply stared, her mouth slightly open, until it all dawned on her: she hadn't named the baby yet. The one thing every single parent looked forward to, and the one thing they did before everything else... and she'd completely forgotten. The hand she held raised fell right onto her face at the realization. "No! No... I forgot!" she cried out to the other Ambia, letting her hand drop. "Oh... this is going to be horrible. Who forgets to name their baby?"

Francis watched the other Ambia have her outburst, and while his initial reaction was bafflement, he eventually couldn't help but to crack a small smile. "In your defense, you didn't exactly give birth to her," the Ambia pointed out, finding Taniqua's stress more entertaining than intimidating. "It happens more often than you'd think, actually," he said as an attempt to comfort her; he could see her nerves overheating from miles away. "Sometimes you just don't know what name is going to fit the babies. Well, how about we name her now? Do you have any idea?" He could certainly help Taniqua name the Soveris, but if the baby was going to be hers, then it seemed only right that she be the one to come up with a name.

Taniqua sighed before looking down at the baby curled up in her arms. She was certainly particular, with her clean white and black fur, yet her striking olive green wings. She wasn't sure what to name the baby: how did one go about that? "What... do parents usually name their young?" she asked the cook, looking up to meet his gaze. Were there any standards she had to follow? Anything she had to keep in mind while naming her?

Francis didn't reply right away, and instead let out a small chuckle. "Really? Taniqua, you can name her whatever you want. Parents don't go asking Izotz what they should name their kid. It's okay if they want to name them John or if they want to name them Roseclaw," he pointed out, crossing his arms and raising an amused eyebrow at the female. "Name her something simple, or you could name her something that has a meaning to it. Parents love the latter, if you want some input on that." It was always nice to name your child after something rather than just calling them John and Mary. It was up to Taniqua, though; he was just helping because she desperately wanted the input.

[Jaykobell]

Putting the guilt of her mistake aside, Taniqua sat down to try to think of a good name. How was she going to do this? Should she name the baby after her particular markings or wings, or should she name her something simpler? Something that could have a meaning? There were so many different names out there, the Ambia didn't want to just pick one. The Soveris would be stuck with the name forever, and naming her something ridiculous was just out of the question. What could she possibly name the baby? Again, she stared down at the child as she hoped for her to just tell her what she wanted to be named. Of course, the idea was ludicrous, considering the baby couldn't even speak or see yet. "I... I don't know. What if I name her wrong?"

Francis tilted his head, finding Taniqua's stress to be a little too overwhelming at that point. But that was it: it was the stress making her talk. He knew the Ambia had a head that was much more logical than this. "Taniqua, you honestly can't name a baby 'wrong,'" he assured her, sitting down next to her. "You're thinking too hard. How about naming her about her wings? It'd describe what she is. Or you could call her something related to where you found her. A bird species, or maybe something based on water, if she came here by the river." He wasn't sure what he could name the baby, either, but the farm Paragon was stressing out over the issue way too much. He couldn't remember seeing Taniqua be this stressed and disorganized before; proof that she could really be out of herself when she wasn't sure what to do about something.

"Where I found her? The river?" Taniqua echoed, lowering her head in thought as she looked back to the baby. The river had brought her here, or at least, that's what she thought had happened. Something related to water might fit; if it hadn't been for the river, the Soveris would've probably never been dropped by her farm. Something watery, perhaps blue. Something in the water? Fish, stones, seaweed, seashells, coral... Coral. "How about..." she started, but her head derailed. No, that was too generic; that didn't work. But something similar, maybe? "How about... maybe... Kora... Koralia?" the Ambia blurted out, her voice oozing with insecurity, as she turned to Francis for his approval.

"Koralia?" he repeated, and to which he got the nod of his fellow Ambia. He tilted his head. "Like a coral in the ocean?" he asked, and once again, he got a confirmation with a nod. He gave it some thought, and then he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds cute. It's pretty symbolic from where she comes from. Or, well, from what brought her here, specifically." He nodded again and then put a hand on Taniqua's shoulder. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Taniqua sighed, this time a little longer than usual, but there was a certain feeling of relief. "Speak for yourself," she grumbled at the male, who hadn't had to sit there and break his brain in order to find a suitable name. How was she supposed to really do this? At her age, when she'd never had hatchlings and she'd never had to name any. "I'm too old for this."

[Jaykobell]

Taniqua's rebuttal just earned her a hearty laugh from the cook, who honestly found her words to be a riot. "Old? Are you serious?" he asked, getting up on all fours to walk towards the storage rooms. "Old is Balthazar's age, Taniqua. I'm not old!" he retorted, looking over his shoulder with a smile and a raised eyebrow, just to say that he wasn't insulted or angry over the comment. After all, considering that they were about the same age, if Taniqua called herself old, she was calling him old, too! That just wouldn't do. "And neither are you. We're both beautiful spring chickens compared to our elder," he pointed out, stretching out into a graceful pose to prove his point. "I have many, many dozens of years ahead of me!"

While he found the discussion to be amusing, Taniqua didn't seem to think the same way. He rolled his eyes before turning back to her with a smile. "Well, speaking of spring chickens, how about we figure out what to feed little Koralia, then?" he pointed out, referring to the baby by name this time around. "Typically, the moms feed their hatchlings soft foods so they can swallow them without any problem. Maybe something based on eggs and water? I'm not sure what kind of foods these birds eat, but they're probably omnivores like we are," he said as he pulled the large stone slab away from the food storage, the one with all the ingredients stored inside. "What do you think?"

"Eggs... Right," Taniqua replied, and suddenly her eyes narrowed. "If she doesn't mind eating my stuffy chicken coop eggs," she mumbled to herself as she turned around to look over her shoulder.

"What?" Francis asked, turning his head over his shoulder as well to look back at the other Ambia. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Taniqua replied flatly, grimacing just ever so slightly, which left the other Ambia confused. "Nothing. Something soft based on eggs sounds good enough."

The male could only blink and wonder what that was about, but he didn't press the issue. He had a small recipe to make for a very special baby. "All right, that sounds good. I have enough eggs to spare, so that's a start. We can see if she likes other things down the line, given time." After all, preparing baby food was but the first time in a long line of trials and tribulations that were going to get thrown their way as they baby grew and got older.

But he was certain that they would be beautiful years, nonetheless.

[Jaykobell]

While the first few years had been absolutely terrible, Taniqua had managed to pull through it all.

Considering how Koralia was the only Soveris in the entire Hive, no one truly knew how to raise her properly. Izotz had finally decided to simply raise her the best they could the same way they would raise any Paragon. Taniqua had had a hard time taking care of her duties with the baby on top of everything, but Izotz had made it his own duty to visit her often by the little farm to make sure the baby was all right. Given time, Koralia had opened her eyes, grown her adult feathers, and last but not least, she'd also learned speech. While it had started with her imitating words much like a parrot would, she'd eventually developed her own voice and speech as she grew older.

Despite everything she would constantly say, Taniqua had turned out to be a fine mother for the baby. Izotz often gave her plenty of credit for raising a species entirely unknown to them, and for being so diligent with the baby's needs. While he had done his best to help, the credit really belonged to the Ambia, whom would sometimes give up on her duties to take care of the sick child, or who would work overtime to have enough time to play with the Soveris while also delivering her produce to the Hive. Everything fell into place as the Ambia needed to react and answer to the needs of the Soveris, exactly the way Slavica had told her at the very beginning of it all.

Koralia's younger years were mostly without any problems. She had her tantrums, as any child did, but she never gave Taniqua that much trouble. As for the rest of the Hive, everyone had been told about a young Soveris baby that had been found on their territory, and who was going to be one of their equals. The reaction wasn't nearly as bad as Izotz and Slavica had first anticipated, with the majority being neutral on the decision. Some had been more insecure over a foreign species joining them, but it was all set in stone when Koralia was introduced. She'd grown up to be a little timid with strangers, but she was gentle and quiet; that character had set the worries of the Hive at ease. If the bird wasn't going to bring them any problem, then everything would be fine. While Izotz believed in their goodwill, Slavica always told him and Taniqua to be careful, for they probably didn't see the bird as a threat because of her smaller size; words that would send the Soveris's "mother" into hysterics if said enough times.

Needless to say, whoever had lost the baby never looked for her. If they had tried to do so, they hadn't looked far enough. No other Soveris was seen besides Koralia, and at first, Taniqua figured it didn't really bother the bird to be living with an entire clan of Paragon.

As Koralia hit her teenage years, however, that was when the Soveris started to question a lot of things.

[Jaykobell]

As the Soveris grew older, Taniqua started to find her sleep once again. As a baby, the Soveris had been unbearable during the night with her hungry cries and her frightened shrieks. Many a night had the Ambia needed to wake up smack dab in the middle of it all in order to calm the baby down, or to feed her whatever she could muster in the heart of the night. It was always a relief when the baby would stop crying and go back to sleep, but the Ambia couldn't quite enjoy her mornings and long days of work with so little sleep.

As Koralia grew older, however, the Soveris started to pick up on the farm Paragon's tasks. She could pick the eggs from the chicken coop, feed the animals, and she could also carry the produce to Francis. The latter was a good way for the other Paragon to get used to the Soveris in their clan, and up until that point in time, no one had tried to give her trouble. Not only that, but having the teenager do some of her chores meant that Taniqua had more time to herself so she could sleep in, nap, or even just relax. She hadn't even forced the Soveris into labor: the girl had asked all on her own. Whether she'd picked up on Taniqua's stress and tiredness, or whether she was doing it just to help the Ambia, she didn't know. Still, the help was definitely appreciated, and it made the Ambia's duties much more manageable.

On a warm day like this, the Ambia was curled up in her small wooden den. The first few rays of the sun were dappled over her, and the grass under her was soft and comfortable. She could tell that the rooster was about to sing good morning, and sure enough, the traditional call of her rooster resonated through the whole little farm. She sighed, enjoying this warm morning for just a few more minutes.

At least, she would've done just that, had she not been startled by another cry that came right after the rooster's: an ear-splitting screech that sounded like that of an eagle. Taniqua sighed at being startled like that, but she paid it no mind. She curled back down again, and as she did so, the rooster sang again to remind everyone that morning was here.

And then she was woken up with a jolt when she heard the high-pitched screech again, right after the rooster. She gritted her teeth and frowned as she got up and walked out of her den to see what was going on. "What's all this ruckus about?!"