Circle in the sand ✧ Open, EGG

~ ☼ The sun sat low in the sky, nearly beginning to dip below the horizon as the ocean waves swept across the nearly undisturbed sands. Undisturbed, save for a large, gray shape, left half embedded in the sand. Ovular, with a hard, smooth surface, it may have looked like a stone from a distance, but with a closer look, there was no denying what this was, an egg. A faint, curving line in the sand led to, and from the egg, almost as if something big had dragged its tail back and forth in its journey there, leading back out towards the ocean, with no footprints left visible in its wake. The egg itself was sizeable as well, sitting at half a foot tall, and whatever lay inside was undoubtedly going to be big itself.

It was...cold. She didn't think in words, she didn't know any, but she knew it was cold, the warmth she had felt earlier all but sapped away. Trapped in this darkness, she couldn't have seen anything, even if she had opened her eyes, the hard, outer shell of her home keeping her safe within. If she could have cried out, she would have, she didn't like the cold, sapping away what little strength she had in the first place, seeping in from above, slowly driving away the little warmth that still came from below. Yet, the time wasn't right for her to leave, this was still her home, and her prison at the same time, locked within this confinement, slowly chilled by the outside world, left behind, and forgotten

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

Of all the things that Rhinestone had encountered out on the beach, an egg was probably the most surprising. Well, maybe on its own it wasn't too impressive, considering several species of turtle buried their eggs in the sand, but this one was... different. Incredibly so. He was pretty sure there was no species of turtle that laid eggs larger than himself. Either way, Rhine didn't feel too much hesitation in approaching the strange egg, paws sinking into the faintly wet and cold sand as he walked along. Perhaps some might have been unnerved by the presence of a huge egg on their territory – and he was undoubtedly confused – but he didn't feel much fear. After all, an egg meant a child, and he had vowed to protect all children that ended up within Palmclan, no matter the circumstances. It was because of this that he grew closer, until he was near enough to reach out a paw and press it lightly to the surface of the egg's shell. It was slightly cold to the touch, but the warmth remaining told him that there was still something inside.

Despite not knowing too much about eggs, the tom did know they were supposed to be kept warm, which meant that this thing was hardly in an ideal spot. Unfortunately, he was too small to be able to easily move it, at least not without risking it cracking or breaking. It was because of this that he wrapped his tail around the egg, turning and calling out, "Hey! Somebody who's bigger than me, could you come over here to help me move something?" If they could get the egg back to camp, then hopefully they could stash it away in the nursery. It wouldn't be the warmest possible environment, but it would certainly be better than sitting out in the slurry of sand and snow.

NEVER OPENED MYSELF THIS WAY
LIFE IS OURS, WE LIVE IT OUR WAY

— Reggan

An egg. Number Nine thought that, perhaps, he could faintly remember a time where an egg had been found in his old home. After all, eggs as a whole weren't all that hard to come by, since a lot of different animals gave birth through eggs. However, instances of an egg being so large and so unique were few and far between, so Nine found himself struggling to recall the last time he had seen one. Either way, the winged jaguar found himself drawn over by Rhine's frantic call, arriving in time to see the leader awkwardly trying to warm the egg with his tail. A faint snort left Nine as he came to a landing nearby, shaking his head from side to side, "I think any egg that'll end up hatching is gonna need a little more warmth than that, no offense." Unfortunately, he couldn't really say anything for certain about this egg in particular. After all, eggs usually thrived in warmth, but eggs also usually weren't half a foot tall, so who said this thing wasn't right at home in the cold?

Either way, Number Nine had actually arrived to help Rhine out, so he found himself hopping up, wings spreading as he flew over to the egg. He reached two large paws out, heaving the egg up with a grunt of displeasure, "This thing is... heavier than I expected..." He then glanced off in the direction of the camp, wondering if there was anyone else who would arrive to help. He certainly wouldn't mind a bit of support from beneath the egg.

HELLBENT ON MAKING YOU LOVE ME TOO