The Stars Come out (Private, Nebula's Family)

Only a few weeks after the recent hatchlings where born into the world, Nebula decided to take them out of the cave to explore a little of the forest but keeping a close eye on them. As he got them all together he laid down in the grass watching the little ones. Wondering if Athena was going to be back anytime soon, knowing that she had gone out for a hunt, worrying about many things. Still he focused on them and spoke out softly "Go on guys.. explore a little" smiling as he carefully watched.

Starla whimpered when she was put onto the soft green grass. Her legs shakily pushed her up, still weak and underdeveloped from her weak form. She tried to take a step, but luck was against her and the grass was uneven, she tripped easily on a small rock which hid there. Starla kept trying to walk forward again, back to her dad for safety. She almost had to pull her entire body there, shaking from the effort as she fell to the ground again, snarling at herself. A small sigh escaped from her tired maw, the little StarWing whimpered, before pushing herself onto her haunches as she decided to watch her siblings. She wasn't even halfway to Nebula, nor near her siblings. Her deep black eyes glistened by tears as she watched them.

Why am I so different? What did I do to not be able to play like them... Star thought to herself, sniffing a little as she tried her best not to cry and seem like she was a strong dragon in front of her siblings.

Solaris, who was wrestling with his siblings,"St..arh... Star.. lah. Starlah!" with much difficulty he called out her name and trotted over to her. "play?" he said happily. He reminded himself to be gentle, she was was more fragile than the others. He waggled his tail hopefully and smiled

The little blue hatchling whimpered towards her sibling, her memories on the other times they had wrestled. It always ended up hurting her, it was more painful than enjoyable. She look away from Horizon, knowing how weak and pitiful which she was compared to the others. Not only didn't she have the strength to keep going like the others did, but she was so easily pushed around by them both. Starla whimpered, but, trying to be at least somewhat of a nice sister, she shakily stood up on her feet, wobbling unsteadily towards Hoziron-and fell down at his feet when she got there. "I.. clu.. cwumsy, sowwy.." She spoke, rather disheartened that she had fallen over yet again.

Comet was a very... Nervous hatchling. Whilst the other hatchlings where allready walking and exploreing he was planted firmly under Nebula watching Starla gets upset leaving him with a look of worry. He had begun walking toward her but the sqwuack of a bird made him nearly jump scuttleing back to his spot. After a bit his confidence grows and he begins makeing his way to Starla and Solaris and nuzzles Starla trying to comfort her. He was a little smaller then the other hatchlings his egg hatching late.

Frowning slightly with a look of worry he moved a little over towards Starla, picking her up with his paw turning her muzzle towards his own. Smiling he spoke softly "Don't worry Star.. You will grow up to be big and strong someday" nuzzling her gently he continued to hold her, keeping her comfortable. Noticing that Comet had stayed close he used his wing wrap around him, speaking towards him "Its alright comet go ahead and explore nothing will harm you, I'm right here"

Horizon looked as everyone left but wanted to find a diffrent route.He looked into the air shyly and thought of a grand idea.He ran up the trees jumping and climbing onto each branch.He soon reached the top and scanned the area looking at the lush area around him.He then oriented himself and jumped into a soft patch of leaves below,before moving on.

Starla silently cried into her fathers arms. She didn't know why she couldn't walk or do the fantastic things which she could do. In time, the braze young StarWing would eventually accept her rather weak from. But in return, she was given a combination which would leave most dragons dead after using it. But not her. However, time would tell when this little StarWing would be able to finally rise up to where her siblings were.

She felt her dad's gentle nuzzle, and she returned it, chirping a little in happiness. For now, Starla was content to stay perched in her father's arms until she regained her strength again. She watched her siblings from afar, chirping in alarm and worry as Horizon suddenly vanished away as they explored.

''heh oh this should be intresting but i cant hurt her," he thought.He then vanished up a tree and crouched on the top branch sighting his sister starla in his vicinity.''Target sighted," he thought as he jumped into another leaf pile silently right behind her. He then walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder quickly jumping back into the leaves so that he would not get noticed.''I hope she had not seen me," he thought as he hid silently.

(I'm baaaack! XD Is it okay if I join in?)

Of course its alright // XD

Comet cuddled into Nebulas wing relaxing a bit and purring softly nuzzleing it. When hes let go he begins walking around the clearing sniffing some of the strange plants. He had seen moss grow in the cave and it interested him but there where so big up close! His eyes grow big and he starts trying to find something edible amongst them tail begining to sway happily.

Athena came swooping in like an eagle, a furious expression on her face. She landed with a loud 'thud,' crushing the grass beneath her, as well as an unfortunate ladybird that had happened to be climbing a small blade of grass that day. She dropped the huge elk to the ground and turned, shouting at the sky. "YOU COME BACK AND I'LL BE SURE TO REMOVE YOUR ABILITY TO SPEAK!" She shrieked, the fury on her face eminent. She paused, panting softly, and turned, sweeping her tail from side to side. There was a small scratch on her cheek. What could she say? Okay, okay, she HAD started the fight, but if HE hadn't tried to 'accidentally' steal her kill, he wouldn't have been beaten up!

Athena realised she had been shouting in front of her children. Children. Athena's gaze softened at the sight of them and she sighed softly, burying her head into her shoulder for a moment. Kids. Children. Little ones who looked up to you as a role model. How could they be like HER? A female who met every annoyance she faced with a blast of ice or a painful bite on the face? Athena looked at her children and tried a smile, but failed. She dragged the bull elk over to her family and left it in front of them, before sitting down a few steps away, muttering about, "putrid drakes with no brain cells." But it was best left unsaid the unclean language she used in between the words. She made sure to do it quietly, and rubbed her face to rid it of the furious expression on her face and replaced it with a small smile in an attempt to look a little less scary in front of her hatchlings. Athena was a very formidable female, and the multiple battle scars didn't help at all. However, she COULD be kind.. sometimes. God forbid she become a mother again.

Starla was looking around for her sibling, but squawked when something patted her. She tried to look to see what it was, but to no avail as it ran away again. Her body was slowly shaking from fight and she further hid in her father's arms, trying to hide from what was poking her. Then she heard a great shout, normally she would be used to her mother and her calls, but Starla was already on edge.

She couldn't help the tears which streamed down her cheeks as she buried her face into her dads chest. Even with the smell of fresh food, Starla was slightly frightened and didn't want to leave the protection of her dad. And her mother of course, but she was seemingly angry at something so she didn't want to come out just yet...

THUD

Making Nebula jump he quickly turned towards the noise preparing himself to defend his children yet only to sigh realizing who it was. Giving off a soft growl trying to comfort the distressed Starla, stroking his paw over her he spoke out towards Athena "Athena!... poor Starla is frightened, are you alright?" Looking towards the other hatchlings making sure hes not missing one.

Comet was busy looking around a tree stump for something to play with when he heard the thud. He lets out a loud startled eep before quickly finding his way into the hollowed stump cowering. One small eye pokes over the top of the stump to see it was mommy.

Solaris heard the thud and meeped in surprise. he looked up and saw it was only his Mom. "Ma!" he squeaked happily. He rushed over and tried to hug his mom. His stomach rumbled and he looked at Athena with a rather serious face, witch was actually really cute. "HUNGRY." he demanded.

Athena blinked and she bit her lip as little Starla began to cry. "Sorry, Nebula, I just got into a fight, thats all." She rubbed her face again with a wing, sighing softly. She smiled at Starla. "I'm sorry I scared you Starla. Mummy just got a bit angry at something silly, its not your fault," she said, attempting a motherly voice.

She heard an excited, "ma!" And she turned her head to see her son, Solaris. She smiled at him and hugged him with a giant wing, nuzzling him gently. She knew these hatchlings were her sons and daughters, but it felt so.. Strange. How was NEBULA not feeling this way? He seemed so experienced with hatchlings!

Athena smiled genuinely as he attempted a serious face. "Well, mummy just brought in a big fat elk if you want it," she raised her blue eyes to Nebula's red. "Or do I need to regurgitate it for him?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound stupid with asking about the simplest hatchling facts.

Raising his brow humorously he replied "Nah, just slicing it into smaller pieces will be fine" Continuing to stroke Stella, calling out to the others "Come and get something to eat guys" Placing Stella down carefully on his head close to his neck, as he moved towards the elk he spoke out to Athena "Let me heat it up a little" Cutting into the creature he created around 20 small chunks then gave them a blast of starfire for a few seconds cooking them on the outside but not fully.

Starla heard her mums strong and commanding voice once more, and at this, she allowed a small sigh to escape from her. At least she wasn't the one to cause mummy to be rather angry. "I wuv.. Ou mummy!" Starla declared rather happily, chirping in delight to them. At the mention of food though, she seemed downcast. She had always had trouble eating it-even when the foods themselves were tiny little pieces which would be easier for any dragon to eat. But not her. She couldn't eat it easily at all.

Starla put her face against Nebulas chest, a sad sigh escaping from her. His strong paws gently patted her, but... It didn't do much to reassure the little dragon. She was weak, that's all she was, weak. Just. Plain. Weak. Starla watched the others, seeing how they would eat, but never able to replicate it.

Comet wiggled in the tree stump until he managed to escape his eyes wide. Slowly he manages to get to mommy resting under her for comfort shyly watching for anything that would hurt him. He watched starla sadely... She seemed to forget he was also smaller then normal and the last to hatch... He felt sad that she was upset but didnt know how to help. He simply just curls up and cuddles against mommies leg.

Athena smirked at Nebula's humorous brow raise. She nodded and watched him cut and burn the meat. She had to laugh. Their children would get the best of both worlds. Ice and a form of fire. Then, Starla spoke words that caused her to look down at her daughter, her blue eyes widening. "I.." she said softly. She couldn't finish it. She looked away, blinking hard.

She then felt something curling up against her leg. Instinctively, she jumped, but when she whipped her head around and saw it was only her son, she relaxed. She rested a large wing over her hatchlings, shielding them from the heat of the day.

Athena turned her attention to the cut on her neck. Slowly bleeding, it wasn't serious, just her skin was a little charred and inflamed due to the dragon being a firewing. Athena opened her mouth and blew on it, an icy mist covering and freezing the wound, dulling the pain and cooling the fried skin. A small cut. Nothing much to be worried about. She'd suffered with a broken rib, a broken tooth and other injuries. This was a minor inconvenience. The icewing battle female was perfectly capable of looking after herself.

Smiling slightly he noticed that Starla was still weak, deciding that she needed help. Lifting her up slightly so that she rested on the his paw, cutting the meat even smaller he tried to feed her slowly. "Go on little one.. we all need to eat especially you" looking up towards Athena with a slight frown clearly showing his concern for the hatchling.

Starla whimpered quietly at the food which her dad had offered her. She was slightly worried that her small little teeth wouldn't be able to cut through the tiny chunks of meat. But she was determined to at least try. With a slight look of determination, the little hatchling took a hold of one of the pieces, fumbling slightly to pick it up as she was still on her Dads paw. Her little teeth carefully bit into the flesh. The rich flavour assaulted her mouth, but she didn't mind as she carefully, and exhaustingly, bit through the meat. Eventually, when she was confident it was small enough, she swallowed it.

But she already looked tired from doing that, her jaw aching from the chewing. But the little hatchling wasn't going to let that stop her. She took a small breather, then took another small piece into her paw, popping it into her mouth. She chewed it vigorously, well, as much as she could. Starla was running out of energy to do this, and rather quickly. But she managed to get the second and third tiny pieces of meat into her.

She began on the fourth-which equaled one of the other cubes with their total volume, and chewed. Starla's chewing had slowed, less energy in it and she was careless. Deciding the meat was good enough, she decided to swallow it. But it was too soon. The meat hooked in her throat, causing the little dragon to suddenly gag. As the first reaction didn't get the meat unhooked, the tiny hatchling worriedly opened her mouth wide as her lungs tried to force the meat from her throat as she choked violently.

The world which she called the playground was brought before her once more. Of all the clutch, she was the oldest, if only by a few seconds, and by far a bit more energetic. She danced around her father, growling, which sounded a bit like squeals, and rearing onto her hinds.

Fight? She asked but did not get any sort of response. Andromeda was a little more on the rebellious side of things and, if given the chance, she wanted to do whatever she pleases. She knew her mother was a fighter and wanted to be like her. In fact, Andromeda would want to challenge her.

The grass beneath her claws were a little soft and cold for her. Once on it, she slowed and investicated her soles. They were wet with mud. Out of curiosity, Andromeda started to claw at the dirt beneath her, tossing it carelessly at the side and uncaring which sibling she hit. It was a good warm up. But she still craved for more.

When her mother came, from the white glowing cloak that was the sky to her, Andromeda was excited. She was not even startled by her recent kill and quickly rushed at her. Andromeda was a strong hatchling, but she could do little more than to tackle at Athena's leg. She then dropped her forelegs but hinds held high, ready for how her mother would react.

It did not seem to do anything as well.

When Nebula gathered the hatchlings together to eat, Andromeda stayed close to her mother. She squealed and chirped at her, trying to get her attention. If she did, she would then make playful growls and snaps. But her determination was shortlived when her ears perked to Starla, the youngest of the clutch, choking right on her father's claw.

Andromeda hurried to them instead. What can she do? She was well out of reach for Starla because of how tall her father is. Andromeda then took her attention to the elk, which was in pieces. So it was this animal! This animal was hurting her!

Growling, she turned and pounced on the remains of the elk and viciously started tearing it up. She was covered a bit in blood that was not cooked in the fire but she didnt care. She continued to assault it for hurting her sister...