miracle aligner - finding an egg

[zora.]

Since joining Tanglewood, Zora often found herself taking walks. At first, these trips to the outside served as a way to acquaint herself with the residents of the swampy group. And though she realized that she had yet to meet many of its inhabitants, the treks were now more exploratory in nature. The little fox tried her best to explore a new corner of the territory every day, and slowly but surely she was able to navigate much of the area without help or fuss. Not that she’d ever needed help.

The woods were a comfort to her. While the swamp was full of unfavorable muck and dampness, the forest was dry for the most part and carried with it a familiar sort of feeling. She’d spent much of her life before this in woods, after all. And though the centuries of solitude were a painful blight on her existence, it was easy to disregard it in favor of basking in the relative normality of it all.

She started that particular day like she always did: by parting from her small home and taking note of the morning’s weather. The sun was just starting to reappear from its winterly hiding, and Zora welcomed its warmth like one might regard an old friend or a sibling. It was the only thing that had remained the same after all those millennia. Having taken note of the clear skies, she headed out (the fairy didn’t care to be caught out in the rain).

She wandered down a familiar path, then veered off randomly in a direction she’d never been. Though she knew there were dangers, Zora had never felt threatened before. Not much could cause her harm if she didn’t want it to, due to her fiery exterior. And it was not danger that caught her attention on this particular morning.

Being as low to the ground as she was, not much on the floor could escape her alert gaze. Certainly not a smooth, white egg laying at the base of a tree. She trotted over to it, giving the thing a cursory sniff and look over. Turning it over with a paw, she could find no cracks or faults in its exterior. Looking up, she could find no evidence of a nest at first glance. This would not do at all.

Examining the way she came, the fennec fox saw nothing that posed an immediate threat to the unborn creature, and so began rolling it back towards her home.

[alaric g.]

    Children had become all-too prevalent in Tanglewood as of late. With Moth and Selby's children running around, and now Aurum's, the marshy group was beginning to feel like a glorified babysitting service. Alaric had made this observation with some level of mirth, and though he wasn't too keen on being a babysitter himself, he supposed that kids brought joy to someone out there.

    That being said, Alaric was not too keen on siring children of his own. Just because everyone else seemed to be popping them out on the regular absolutely did not mean that he had to. He'd like to become a master of his studies before he even considered doing anything of the sort, and at the moment he still had a long way to go.

    At this particular moment, the tabby had decided to leave his home in order to find himself a bite to eat. His paws began to carry him in the direction of the mire, but he had not been walking very long when he saw a long-eared fox rolling what appeared to be... what was that?

    Even without knowing what exactly the fennec fox was pushing, he knew that he was definitely interested. The tabby decided to redirect his course towards the fox, who he could not recall ever meeting before. The closer he got to the fennec fox, the more he realized that she was rolling an egg. Blinking slowly, his blue hues came to meet Zora's. "What do you have an egg for?" he would inquire with a slight tilt of his head.

♔ don't do love, don't do friends

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

Aurum didn't know very much about Zora, except for the fact that she was in some way involved with Isaac. He wanted to say romantically, given the way that they had greeted and embraced each other back when she had first arrived, but the proxy wasn't fond of making assumptions. She'd seemed fairly nice, at least from first impressions, so he had made an effort to be nice in turn, offering her little smiles and 'hellos' whenever he happened to see her around. Which hadn't been much as of late, considering he had only now begun to emerge from his home again after taking care of his newborn children. He was glad to be out and about once again, however, and couldn't help the smile upon his face as he wove through trees, wings tucked in close against his body in order to prevent brightly colored feathers from being torn off. He had meant for the walk to be a simple outing, perhaps to get some food and check the borders for any children again – be they Pittian or Typbooner – but he was distracted by the scent of Zora and Alaric.

Pausing in his quick trot, the angel turned and headed over to stand beside Alaric, flicking his tail lightly at the other in a wordless greeting. After this, he turned his attention to Zora, his eyes flitting over the other Tangler quickly before landing on the egg she appeared to be rolling along. Fascinated, he tilted his head to one side, a thoughtful hum leaving him before he spoke, "Hello, Zora. It's good to see you again... I'm assuming that egg has a child inside?" She seemed to be taking some amount of care with it, and if she was just craving eggs to eat, it wasn't as if she couldn't just go to the tavern or the barn. So, as it stood, surely the egg had to be some kind of offspring, right? It sort of warmed Aurum's heart, seeing Zora gingerly rolling an egg along, presumably with the intent to raise it – or at the very least find somebody else to raise it. It made it just a touch easier to be nice to her, which had already been pretty damn easy, considering how polite she seemed to be.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #1B1B2F; font-size: 24px;"][color=#44437F]— AURUM

#psychosocial.

[CAUSTIC.]

Caustic's dour habits extended to food as well. He liked his eggs simply- scrambled with salt and pepper. He missed some of the finer foods from his human life, vegetables and fruits especially. He had yet to test if he could eat them here (logic said he could, but the Wolf would likely reject it) and it would not benefit him.

So, the fox rolling the egg along was... amusing at most. Caustic held a rabbit in his mouth himself, by the scruff. It might as well be dead, but it had no visible signs of bites or other trauma. Fur hid bruises well. His gaze scans over the others, and he's honestly... unsure what to say. He didn't feel any quips from him were need. He stares for the moment, stopping as he was passing by to return to his home.

TAGS • PLAYLIST • PENNED BY OWLIE

THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY OUT

© LEXASPERATED

[isaac.]

[align=center]

    Perhaps once he thought of family. Perhaps even thought of children to call his own one day. Yet such ridiculous thoughts were dismissed as an instinctual curiosity, that of a child questioning their origin. After years of receiving answers to doubting the logic of holy words in the form of a handprint marking his cheek or scars upon scars on his knees as penance, Isaac knew better than to fantasize of family. He couldn't even stand the concept of one anyway. Plenty others could provide the next generation, which would then go on to spawn another and another, exponentially populating the limited earth until extinction ambled along, be it through plague, hunger, violence, or disaster.

    Besides even if he did want a family in his life, nobody was willing to speak with him, much less sleep. Unless stupefying liquor and tonics were employed, reducing evolved inhibition and consciousness to that same basic instinct.

    But he absolutely refused to acknowledge that night and its dire consequences.

    What he could acknowledge, however, was nudging along a pale egg through the forest debris, glowing nose tender to the inanimate thing. The sight of the vixen's radiance turned his head, igniting a desire that brought silent wings to glide in her path. Others approached before him, to which a dark scowl contrasted Zora's light, yet he still offered a stiff smile. Smiling would bring people to relax, to trust. "Good afternoon, Zora," the owl gentilly hummed, broad wings folding. With a pointed glare backward to the three other males, he took a moment to lightly run a wing over her back, basking in its warmth before pausing to drape across her shoulders.

    Looking at the egg itself, it was nothing of interest. A small oval stone, really. Just another mouth to feed one day when some pathetic whelp hatched then the next, another body to bury, forgotten as time decomposed and recycled. Dull eyes narrowed as he studied it, dark feathers idly stroking the fox's fur. His attention cast itself back on Zora, casualty lining his toneless words as he suggested, "That should really go back to whatever nest it came from."

[zora.]

Almost as soon as Zora began the tedious task of egg rolling, she was interrupted. The glowing vixen looked up as she was spoken to, dark eyes glittering with excitement upon the discovery that she had never met the feline before. The introduction to new people was always exciting. Her little head dipped to the side as she tried to remember what she had been asked, having been too caught up in delight to really soak in the words. “Oh... this? I found it. I looked around for a nest, but I couldn’t find one. Who might you be?”

Another was quick to approach the scene, this one familiar. He’d been there when she joined. She paused to recall his name, quickly racking her memories and coming up with it. “Hello, Aurum. I think it does, or else this will have been a waste of ti- oh, hello! Who are you?” Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted as she noticed a wolf standing there. Silently. Watching. That seemed a bit strange, but all company was good company, so she quickly disregarded this thought as she greeted him politely.

Pondering what she might say next, the vixen glanced up at the sky just in time to see Isaac alight on the ground next to her. She leans into his pleasant touch, enjoying the gentle tug of feathers on fur before it settled over her. Zora looked up at him, affectionately touching her muzzle to the underside of his wing and indulging in his delightful floral scent. “Good afternoon, Isaac. There isn’t a nest to put it back to. I checked. It was all alone, isn’t that sad?” she asked rhetorically, letting her words linger for a moment before tacking on nonchalantly: “I’ve decided to take it in for us.”

[CERES.]

ceres - female - barn owl - tags - tanglewood

OOC//

An egg does not have thoughts.

An egg does not have feelings.

An egg's job is to contain, to protect, to nurture. An egg's job is not to share opinions or knowledge.

It had been lost by its parents, sure. But did it cry? Did it say wait, you forgot me? Of course not. An egg's job is to put complete faith in the parents that cultivated it. An egg's job is not to worry, only to focus on the child inside.

The child, too, does not have thoughts or feelings. Does it? Likely not. The child's job is to obey the law of its genes, its DNA. The child's job is to create itself. The child's job is to grow. The child's job is to exist long enough to escape the confines of its prison, the egg.

Only then, is the egg's job complete. Only then is the child's first job complete.

This particular child was nearing the end. The final push was within its grasp. It was gathering its strength together to finally make first contact with the shell, to puncture it, to destroy it. The forgeign creature that had decided to roll and move the egg threw it off.

Within its tiny mind, there was confusion. This wasn't supposed to happen. Was this supposed to happen? Was this stage supposed to be this difficult, this disorienting?

The egg stopped. Time passed. The egg stayed still.

Now was its chance.

The first crack webbed across the soft white shell.

[CAUSTIC.]

[align=center]

[table][tr][td]

DR. CAUSTIC

[/td]

[/tr][/table]
[table][tr][td]

[/td]

[td]

[REDACTED]
TOXIC TRAPPER
MACKENZIE VALLEY WOLF
TANGLEWOOD
"Humanity. It's just a word."

[/td][/tr][/table]

[table][tr][td]

[table][tr][td]

Caustic’s eyes glance to Isaac as the owl arrives. Truly, was more of a ghost than most here, and Caustic desired to have that kind of lack of social interaction. Imagine all the work he could accomplish if no one bothered him!

The wolf’s nose turns to Zora next, as he places the rabbit on the ground with a gentle touch. “Dr. Caustic, please,” He answers. Green eyes gaze out between symmetrical gas trails leaking from his throat, curving around his face. He sees it, ears peeking as he hears the cracks of life. ”Ah, the first signs of a newborn,” he muses, drawing closer. ”Truly, a magnificent sight as it struggles out of its first obstacle,” Caustic stops far enough away to observe the event from a respectful distance, about a yard ”Truly something special, don’t you agree?” He muses, turning his gaze to the egg to observe.
It’s unclear if his reaction is clinical or empathic.

[/td][/tr][/table]

[/td][/tr][/table]

Original code by lexasperated / artwork by @R_HillPrime

[Ivan]

[table][tr][td]

pixel by tricky

[/td][td]

[div style="width: 300px; max-height: 100px; height: overflow; overflow: scroll; padding-bottom: 5px; margin-top: -5px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 8pt; color: #152232; letter-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;"]He kept fancying that Ivan was absorbed in something — something inward and important — that he was striving toward some goal, perhaps very hard to attain.

— Бра́тья Карама́зовы

[/td][/tr][/table]

Sometimes the eagle Ivan inadvertently adopted would leave gifts in his bed. It wasn't always nice to settle down to the night, only to be pricked by a nail or sharp rock. He'd glare at the creature and he used to deliberately throw the objects away, but the double-headed eagle usually came right back with them, so now he only disposed of them secretly. He only felt a little bad that she hadn't had a name. He felt bad that she might never be an actual eagle, since her imprint had been on Ivan. As she grew — she was five weeks old now — and began to look more like an actual bird, he perhaps was starting to warm up to her.

But then she'd drop twenty pebbles over his head while he was sleeping that both heads purposefully and masterfully hid in their beaks so he wouldn't make her go outside and spit them out before nighttime. A joy. But Ivan kept up with her mainly because he knew Selby would have done the same. There wasn't anyone else Ivan would rather be, but he found himself slipping all too often, trying to climb to a height that he had no faith in reaching. His grip just wasn't strong enough.

She was hurrying now to the little congregation that was happening. She enjoyed company, and Ivan himself would beg to differ on his part. He had to catch her before she caused something. He was embarrassed as he drew closer, that he did not recognize many of these faces. Catching the double-headed eaglet with a paw, he calmed her down and then realized what was happening: the fennec fox had an egg that was beginning to break. Memories of the eaglet's hatching stormed in his brain and he immediately took a step back, his jet black fur puffed up like he was being electrocuted. He could hardly stand the irony of Caustic narrating the thing.

"Be careful!" Was all he said, to nobody in particular. Ivan purposefully turned his gaze away from the hatching, backed out of sight of the crack, and tossed a leaf toward the side to distract the eaglet following him. He wasn't going to ruin another bird's life.

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

It seemed as though Zora had taken in the unhatched child in order to raise it. It was hardly the most wild idea in the world, and honestly it was an action that Aurum probably would've taken himself, had he been the one to find it. It only served to warm Zora more in the proxy's eyes, a soft smile coming to his muzzle even as she grew distracted while speaking to him. It was a bit odd, hearing her so confidently say that she had taken the egg for she and Isaac. Did that confirm his theory that they were together, or were they just really close friends? It seemed a bit odd for a lover to simply ignore her partner's plea for her to not keep a child, even if that partner was Isaac. Sure, the egg had no nest to be returned to, but surely it could be given to someone else if necessary? Either way, Aurum resolved not to get in the middle of that conversation, not keen on seeing Isaac getting his feathers ruffled over such a thing.

He was about to ask the vixen more about how she had found it, when Caustic's voice interrupted the silence. Gaze flicking back to the egg, Aurum felt his heart leap in his chest when he saw what would surely be the first of many cracks. He felt excitement bubbling up, while the arrival of Ivan brought with it a wave of anxiety. The proxy knew that Ivan had personally had a bit of a bad experience with hatchlings, but the fear in his warning was a bit unfounded – at least in Aurum's opinion. Despite this, the lion did as he was told, stepping back from the egg a little as he mused softly, "It looks as though the little one is ready to come out. Or almost ready, anyways. Ready for motherhood, Zora?" He said his last quip with a tone of teasing in Zora's direction, not actually wanting to cause the fox any stress. After all, no matter what, if the hatchling from the egg was healthy, it would be taken care of by someone within Tanglewood. They seemed to have a habit of acquiring children and integrating them into the family at this point, it seemed.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #1B1B2F; font-size: 24px;"][color=#44437F]— AURUM

#psychosocial.