Stoneguard
The little hatchling grew swiftly, absorbing words and ideas with the uncanny speed of the very young. She quickly began to show a helpful and adventurous personality. She delighted in bringing Viviane little things she found around the burrow. Viviane would teach her the name of each discovery, wondering sometimes who needed the lessons more. How long had it been since she had spoken to others? She made an effort to speak smoothly to little DarkRain, not haltingly or stammering, lest the hatchling learn a speech impediment.
Thus for a while, Now was a stream of words: "Mama mama!" "Oh Look, that is a pauper larva." "Oh look mama!" "I see. That is a shiny pebble." "Mama look, look this!" "I am looking at that; it is a manaweeed flower." "Pretty pretty." "Yes, but not very tasty."
Viviane began taking DarkRain on walks, both to broaden the stream of words and to thin the stream of little gatherings. The first goal was readily achieved; for only one example, DarkRain quickly learned every word for light and dark that Viviane knew to teach her. "Bright!" quickly became a favorite exclamation, said in every tone from delight (for bright spots dappling the shady ground beneath the new leaves of the trees) to horror (for open spaces at noontime, a reminder that her dark eyes were painfully sensitive) to confusion (for a manna thief sparkling at them from the Statue's back). The busy little gatherer could not be dissuaded from collecting bits of this and that, however. Each find must be gleefully transported back to the burrow and carefully placed in the neat piles DarkRain made; then it might be forgotten, for all Viviane could tell.
It reminded her amusingly of...someone. That berry-colored person that seemed to live at the trading post. Viviane resolved to take the lot, the next time she went that way, in hopes that perhaps the collector would buy something. There was the old alchemist too - his pot would take anything, even dried out tasteless jungle grass or squashed bugs. Viviane had not much cared to converse with traders in recent seasons. She rarely kept anything in her lonely nest under the Statue. Now there was a new urgency to trade, to gather, to do anything that might help sustain her and her little-growing-bigger one.
Viviane even ventured out to the Training Fields.
It was certainly not for her own pleasure that she left her adopted daughter napping in the small pool of noontime shade under the Statue and flew to the edge of moth territory. Viviane had learned very firmly that however leafy they might look, moths were just as powerful as herself, and entirely unwilling to be eaten. They were not often alone, they had no hesitation in attacking, and the faint whiff of ozone from their own spells did not overwhelm them with tangles of powerful emotion. The great bees were no better, nor the sharp-beaked birds. Indeed, though she seemed to recall someone telling her once that the fields were the safest place to practice her magic, Viviane had long since learned to avoid this place.
It couldn't be helped in the Now. Now she needed meat for her daughter. Now she needed to grow stronger, to keep her hatchling safe. So when the bright sun would keep the little one in place, Viviane would edge onto the margin of the fields...only to be defeated by moths. Again, again, again. She couldn't seem to make any headway. How did other dragons do this?
The obvious answer, clear to be seen across the fields most days, was that they did it in pairs or trios. Could Viviane find a partner? Could she wait for DarkRain to grow big, and bring her strong claws along? Not at noontime, certainly, but in the gentler evenings perhaps. Still, could they wait so long? A growing hatchling needed food, good solid food, not the small and stingy gleanings to be found about the lair. The Arcanist's gift had been, well, a god-send...but would it last long enough for DarkRain to become a hunter? Viviane was so tired of running away from moths.
A week after the pink messenger came to declare Viviane and DarkRain a clan, Viviane returned (bruised and hungrier than before, as usual) from the fields to find another fae with scroll and package sitting before the Statue. This one was dark colored, brown and black, but she had bright, pale green eyes, and there was fanciful green lacework painted on her wings and crest. Viviane padded quietly up behind her, as she sat contemplating the Statue in a sort of sad bemusement. A deep breath, to catch the scent...
"You smell like friendship."
The fae startled and turned around. "Do I?" she asked, bemusement overtaking sadness in the set of her crests. "I suppose it has been several years since you last visited us. We were so pleased when we saw you on the clan registry; we thought you and Stoneguard would have founded your clan last spring, or even the spring before that. But now I see the winds have blown rough around your lives - and this child looks to be neither of yours, at least as her egg was laid. Does she belong here?"
"That is my daughter," Viviane told the visitor, unconsciously slipping into the same pattern she used when teaching new words. "That is DarkRain. Her eyes are dark."
The visitor blinked, and flicked her crests. "A shadow hatchling then? How did she come to be yours?"
"I found her egg in the rain. It had already stolen away any scents that might have been with her."
"Well...I suppose she is lucky to have you then. And you to have her, if you've been living alone but for this statue of Stoneguard all this time! Just think, a clan founded by a mother and child instead of by two mates. I suppose Stoneguard still watches over you in spirit, though! Well. Please accept the congratulations of the clan - Digitel sent along a little den-warming gift for you, nothing fancy of course. Feel free to call upon your friends if you ever find yourself in need. The scroll has our names and address if you want to write!"
This time Viviane did not stammer as she offered thanks and farewell. She woke up DarkRain and taught her to say "Thank you," and politely waved goodbye to the fae who smelled of friendship, and opened the package.
"Look mama! What that?" "Ask, What IS that." "Hehe. What iiiiiiiis that." "That is a greenpod bloom." "Pretty?" "I think so." "Tasty?" "Yes, I think greenpod blooms are tasty." "Yay!" "Heh, yes indeed. Yay."
As far as Viviane was concerned, the greenpods tasted like friendship. The package had ten of them. She slowly ate one for her dinner, savoring the taste, the warm feeling of knowing others cared, and the strength returning to tired limbs. She fed DarkRain another strip of meat, and cuddled down with her in the outside nest, to teach her the names of the birds and bugs as they sang their evening songs.
"What iiiiis that?" "That is a Firebearer." "Hehe. What iiiiiis that?" "That is a bat. A nightwing bat." "Bat. Bat-bat-bat, hehehe." "Silly little one - what is that?" "Bird!" "Very good! What kind of bird?" "...bird?" "That kind of bird is a Sparrow. It is a Java Sparrow." "Jafa bird?" "Ja-Va, with a Vee, like Viviane." "Ja-va-birdy!" "Heh, close enough for now." "What is that?" "That is a hopper." "Hehehe, What is that?"
Viviane paused. DarkRain was pointing at the Statue, grinning at her little joke. They'd already learned the word statue, but now her little face went serious as Viviane hesitated, and hesitated some more. Hadn't the visitor said - ?
"That is Stoneguard."
Guardian
