| Empress dragons are strange creatures. If they do something, it is completely a thing of spontaneity. -Carved in Knight�s House in Treno Part 86 � Zidane!� He bent down slightly to catch her, picking her up and twirling her in a circle. � Hey, Eiko. How�ve you been?� � Great!� She went on to describe some key things that had happened over the months, then said, � Wait a minute. What are you doing here?� � Do you want me to leave?� � No. You just don�t usually travel.� � Well, we�re looking for Kiti. Everybody saw her leave and come this way.� � She was here,� Eiko reported. She turned in his arms, but saw no sign of the empress. � That�s weird. I could�ve sworn she was right behind me when I got down here. What�s wrong?� � We don�t know yet. Kiti doesn�t just leave without saying something. We think she might be sick.� � She seemed okay when I was talking to her. Can I go with you?� � Sure. We�re kind of gathering everyone up as we go anyway.� Lixani, whose head now reached Kuja�s shoulder, hissed at a doorway. An ironite was waiting there quietly and Kuja was quick to silence Lixani. The ironite was obviously a messenger, considering the pouch it carried. At Eiko�s gesture, the dragon entered and handed her a letter, its eyes focused totally on the half-grown silver dragon who dared it to hurt any of the beings there. Eiko opened the letter, read the greeting, and then looked up. � I need to take this to Father and Mother and then I�ll be right back.� � Okay. We�ll wait.� While she was gone, Zidane questioned the ironite. [Did you see a swiftwing empress on your way here?] [Yes.] [Which way was she going?] [North.] [Thank you.] He turned to the others. � We�re going north.� So they gathered Eiko and set off for the Outer Continent. *~~* I was nestled safely in the branches of the Iifa Tree, where all was quiet and the only sound was the far off noises of monsters fighting each other. It was barely audible and I loved it. Then came the annoying thwack of an approaching airship. Hadn�t they learned that the Iifa Tree wasn�t something to harrass like they did? But I stayed in my little bed, content knowing that the Tree would eventually shoo them away and leave me in peace. But then, not fifteen minutes later, I heard a voice calling for me. � Mother?� [What?] I snapped irritably. It didn�t take them long to find me then. � Here you are! What are you---Whoa! Hold on! I hope I�m not seeing what I think I�m seeing! Hey, Kuja! Get up here!� They came in very close and so I got up and backed away, but I was cornered and they were still getting closer. I snarled warningly, making them pause in confusion. Tiovex arrived, assessed the situation, and had them back away. Then he lowered himself to his stomach and crawled toward me, head down submissively. I let him only so close, then snarled. He backed away and sat near them. [It�s exactly that.] Zidane�s eyes were saucers. He laid on his back, his throat and stomach open to any predator. � Come here, Mother.� I hesitated instinctively, but finally came forward and laid perpendicular to him. He lifted his hand and pet my face. � See? It�s not so bad.� Tiovex sat quietly to the side while Kuja laid on his stomach and pet my neck gently. Zidane was smiling stupidly. � Mother, you�re going to have babies.� Well thank you. I certainly had no idea. � She�s going to lay eggs, moron,� Kuja corrected with a smack to Zidane�s head. � Yeah, but what�s gonna hatch out of them? Abadons? No.� � Duh.� [Stop arguing,] I ordered automatically. � Come back to the castle!� Zidane whined, tugging on my hand. [She should go to Swiftwing,] Tiovex put in. [It�s the safest place to put her right now.] � Sure thing, Dad,� Zidane snickered, causing Tiovex�s cheeks to turn slightly purple. � Caught blue-handed!� Kuja exclaimed, causing both Zidane and himself to laugh uncontrollably. I got up and leapt from the Tree; Tiovex followed and Zidane and Kuja, weaving back and forth because they were still laughing, brought up the rear. I went straight to Swiftwing and right to the castle in a desperate search for the hatchery. Unable to find it, I became inexplicably panicked. Tiovex appeared and let me nudge and rub on him for a moment. Then, with our bodies touching, guided me directly to the hatchery, where I tested the sand and then made a hole for my bed until the time came. Everyone bustled in and looked around, giving me a wide berth. Apparently, they had been warned previously. Kuja and Zidane decided to stay, so the others eventually left without them. They and Tiovex made their own beds near mine, but only as near as I�d let them. For three days they slept without waking. I know this because I slept two days and paced restlessly while they slept. The fourth day, I moved to a far corner of the room and began to dig a very deep hole. I seemed to be operating on automatic; it felt as though I were watching myself from deep inside myself. Once I�d dug a deep enough hole, I climbed down inside and began to dig a hole in one wall big enough for me to squeeze in. I kept going for a few feet, then dug out a hollow and fit myself inside. Once comfortable, I began to lay. It was a painless experience; the eggs were not too big, but they weren�t so small that I couldn�t feel them. I counted them, coming up with sixty, and half of those were probably decoys. Ten more probably had stillborns in them and five or so more would die from birth defects, though those were very rare, and still more would hatch with only one wing or two heads or something and would end up dying within a few hours. So I would probably end up with five, ten at the most. <--Part 85 Part 87--> |