New Life- Kyrazha

[Rhonya]

The air was getting warmer every hour we continued our sail across the sea, the sky slowly getting lighter again as sunrise announced itself, the stars slowly dissapearing from sight as I looked up at them, lying on my side. The deck moved under me in a steady rhythm on the waves, up and down, up and down… By now my stomach had gotten used to it, though in the beginning it had taken some time to get me used to the movements. I’d stayed down below, but the air was pressured there, it smelled and the feeling of unease was only worse down there. So I’d come up here, enjoying the fresh air.

Lian was asleep somewhere further on, he’d found a nice cuddle partner in Duba who’d spend some time playing with him on the deck before he’d just fallen asleep against the female. I didn’t mind much, he’d be fine on his own there. And I had something else to keep with me, to keep safe. My egg… It was wrapped safely in some furs, my arms around it.

The Troll had said to me it was a Direhorn egg. I didn’t have any clue what kind of animal that was, but the moment he gave it to me to hold, I had to have it. Direhorn or not, the egg was warm, had a comfortable weight to it and it just… felt right. Just when I’d first taken Lian in my arms, back when he was still a little tiger cub and looked at me with his big eyes, pawing at my face with a paw that looked way too big for his scrawny body. Sadok had made me a drawing of what a Direhorn sort of looked like, but I couldn’t really imagine it. It didn’t matter. Whatever would come out of it, I would take care of it and keep it with me, with Lian and Sadok and Igurg.

Most of the tribe was still sleeping, there wasn’t much movement on deck, so I just enjoyed the peace and calm and the warmth of the egg against my chest and stomach. My eyes slowly started to close, tiredness taking over. As soon as I was about to fall asleep though, something moved. Startled, I opened my eyes, looking down, blinking. Had I dreamt it? I waited anxiously, suddenly wide awake again. Would it happen again? What had it been? My stomach, which was swollen with twins, or had it been the egg?

I hadn’t felt anything move in my stomach before, the cubs probably too small yet to make any big inpact, but I’d felt my gravity shifting at least when my stomach started to show, I had trouble walking down slopes and stairs without losing my balance. I kept looking down, but nothing happened. Disappointed, I lowered my head on the deck again with a grunt. I couldn’t sleep anymore now… Should I tell Sadok, in the morning? Or would he just make a joke about it and laugh?  Softly I placed one hand on my stomach, the other arm still around the egg. Three things growing, three things yet to be born, to see first light, to sniff in the scent of the world around them, to feel touch and air and sunlight…

I didn’t know if I’d make a good mother. The thought had often crossed my mind, but it had no use worrying about it much, these two were coming and I’d just have to adapt. As I’ve always done, adapting to new surroundings, new customs, new family. With a deep sigh I closed my eyes again to try and get at least some sleep for a few hours, what was left of the night. I curled up around my egg, and didn’t even notice the near invisible crack that was now visible on the outside, but hidden by the fur.