Garden of Shadows [Tenebris, Sting, + family]

It had been some time since Tenebris and Sting's political mateship. Despite all odds and differences, the two had become close, almost as if they were a pair of normal mates. And, as any pair of normal mates would do, they had scaled the mountains of bliss, and the results were now tucked close to Sting's side. This was her very first clutch, and it was a big one: five eggs in total. It was rare to see the new mother away from her precious spawn. Though Sting had known many mothers in her time and knew that eggs did not need incubation every minute of the day, the new experience had the consort feeling anxious. It was no secret that the father of her clutch had many enemies. The fortress of Shadows' Refuge was impenetrable, but that did not stop her from worrying. For once, she hardly found herself outside anymore, and she actually accepted help from the servants. Sting missed the moon dearly. She missed the feeling of marsh underneath her feet and the playful wind tugging at her wings. She would give anything to leave the palace right now, to leap into the sky and spread her wings, to hunt until the dawn came and finally retire to sleep- she would give anything for that. But not her babies.

Each of the eggs were pearly white, almost translucent. They resembled tiny moons tucked underneath the wings of their mother, all bright and lustrous in their own right. There was a tiny one among them, so tiny that its siblings dwarfed it. This particular egg had been cause for concern. Was it infertile? Was there something wrong with it or the baby within? To be safe and to prevent the other eggs from potentially crushing it, Sting had it on her other side. Part of her knew that it was fine, that it was simply a small egg, but most of her remained as anxious as ever. One thing she was grateful for was that here, she was never alone. The Goddess of Death, Mephala, was accompanying her. The small hatchling was crouching some feet away, staring at the eggs with wide, awestruck eyes. Her wings were fluttering excitedly and, in a hushed whisper, the little one asked, "Can I help?"

Sting stiffened. No, she thought immediately, using her tail to sweep the eggs closer against her, but that word never left her maw. She trusted Mephala. She was naive but sweet and would never hurt a moth, despite her title. Still, there was some part of Sting that made her untrustful of others, even the most innocent hatchling. Yet she gazed silently at her, at a loss for words, and saw the excitement, the wonder and captivation dancing in her teal eyes. . .

"This is very, very important, Mephala," Sting murmured. With her snout, she nudged an egg- not the small one -towards the hatchling. "These are your new brothers and sisters. I need you to keep this one warm, okay? It's crucial."

Mephala brightened up. "It's important? You're weally twusting me?" She inched closer to the egg to give it an experimental sniff. It smelled. . . fresh. Like family. Like a moonlit night. After examining Sting's posture, she copied it, curling herself neatly around the egg. Sting nodded. "Yes. That egg holds one of the heirs to the leadership of the NightWings. All of them do." Seeing as these hatchlings are purebreeds and legitimate offspring of Tenebris, they would be replacing both Zylah and Mephala as heirs apparent. "You can do it, right?"

"Yes, mama!" Mephala nodded, but even the movements of her head against the egg were slowed, as if she was afraid to disturb the little dragon within. Sting's anxiety melted as she saw the small hatchling nestle close to her appointed egg, even beginning to groom it with gentle strokes of her forked tongue. She felt foolish now to have doubted her.

The twins landed a bit outside, both panting a tad. While they'd mostly gotten use to their new duties, there were definitely still times they both got exhausted. Even with that, today they were going to check on their mom, and their new little siblings. It had been a crazy time, getting so much new family at once, and Typhoon wasn't exactly sure how much Zylah liked him and Cyclone, but they were pretty excited about it nonetheless. The pair walked in, and Cyclone was surprised to see their mom had let Mephala help. Not that it was that crazy, but she had been on edge lately.

"Hey Mom. Everything ok?"

"You helping her out, Mephala?"

As soon as Sting saw her hatchlings enter, she broke out into a smile. She wanted to stand, to walk over and greet them with some nuzzles, and she almost did. . . but just as she sat up, an egg rolled away. Frantic, she nudged it back underneath her wings with a paw before turning her icy gaze to Cyclone and Typhoon. A purr rumbled in her throat at the sight of them. "I'm managing," Sting replied. "They should be hatching any day now." Upon seeing the twins, Mephala too was tempted to leap to her feet, but she was enamored with her new duty to the egg by her side.

"Yeah!" she chirped. "Did you know there's a baby inside here? There's a baby inside here! Did you bwing stwabewwies? Did you, did you, did you? Watching eggs is so haaaaaaaaaaawd!" Sting chuckled, shaking her head with an affectionate roll of her eyes. "Thank you for coming to visit me," she murmured to Cyclone and Typhoon. "It's kind of lonely with everyone so busy, you know." Not that she blamed them. If Sting didn't have these eggs, she would be busy too. But it certainly was lonesome.

Tenebris stalked down the dark halls of the Fortress of Shadow's Refugee, true to its name it was blanketed in contrasts of blacks and greys, made from obsidian and ebony. To many such an environment was an oppressive harsh one lacking comfort, yet in its own way the Archon always thought it had a beauty to it, what was lost on most, Tenebris thought the dark colours of his home like that of Nightwing's as a whole were full of vibrant hues in their own way if one was only willing to appreciate the subtle intricacies such. It was with these thoughts in mind Tenebris was making his way through the Royal Apartment wing of Shadow's Refuge, beside him he was accompanied by his ever-faithful and loyal Chamberlain and Steward, Syrus.

Syrus was both young for his role and predominantly small, he was not much larger in size than Tenebris’s daughters. The Chamberlain was relatively new to his role as a whole only taking the position after his late father Vier was counted among the dead after the Monster Scourge destroyed the Mainland capital. The fact despite his competence he was a shadow of the administrator and curator his father was, and along with his whimpering nasal voice ensured he was always a source of frustration for the Archon. "Your Grace, there are reports of a Slaves revolting within the Mines of Agnus Island" said the Steward, and in reply, Tenebris released a faint sigh as he continued his strides towards the Hatchery, "The lesser races have always been revolting Syrus, now they're just rebelling", the Archon gave a sardonic smirk at his own joke as he briefly looked down upon the Steward but such seemed to go over the Stewards head. "Then what is to be done, your Grace?". Again the Archon gave out a sigh, Syrus was a constant reminder of duty but his relentless drive also seemed to reduce the Steward's ability to actually think for himself.

"Really Syrus, surely you can find some grasping ambition fool amongst my Ebonwings who'd b happy to raise a small force and put an end to such a rabble? Merely claim I personally asked for them to satisfy the honour and dignity of our Tribe and they'd be in my favour" The Archon spoke far more dismissively than intended, but it was true, it served a purpose, while since the original Ebonwings of Tenebris's carefully cultivated inner circle has been over the years especially due to the monster scourge replaced many of them with incompetent sycophants who Tenebris could barely rely on for the simplest of tasks. Yet there was a benefit, should whoever Syrus st to the task, the Archon could utilise such in the future, and if they failed, Tenebris would be rid of another fool. "Erm... Yes, yes of course your Grace, at once!" Stuttered the Steward before then turning around and breaking off into a fast stride back out the way he and the Archon walked moments before.

The Archon merely watched his Steward leave, the mental gymnastics that simply could of been avoided taxed Tenebris, especially given that he had desired nothing more than merely to visit his family while time permitted such. Releasing another sigh of relief having a moment to himself, he'd then turn towards the Hatchery, he'd slowly open the doors before his eerie sapphire gaze would examine the scene before him. He'd bow his head towards Sting "My dearest". He'd speak softly and with a content smile across his maw, before then maneuvering himself behind Sting, and lowing himself to lay beside her. Like how Sting would be wrapped coiled around their Eggs providing them the warmth of their body, so too would Tenebris coil himself around Sting, attempting to intertwine his tail with hers in an almost loving gesture, while his neck would crane forward over her shoulder before he'd smirk up at her as his gaze would fixate upon Sting's own, he'd then attempt to lick at the base of her maw in an animalistic grooming fashion. The Archon, seemingly caught up in his greeting with Sting would then turn his attention to the Eggs, lowering his head over Sting so that he'd be able to nudge one of the Eggs with the crest of his forehead gently, before his attention looks up at Mephala, Cyclone and Typhoon "Children... I pray you are not giving your mother any undo stress?"

Typhoon looked at the eggs, taking enough of a step to not force his sister to move, but enough to see the eggs more closely.

"I think you're doing good, for what me saying and not Cyclone is worth. Never really had younger siblings that were hatchlings before." Cyclone meanwhile chuckled a bit, pulling out a small pouch and checking.

"Yeah. I did know. I'm pretty sure we were all in an egg at one point. As for strawberries.... I still have a couple in our pack. Here ya go." She would carefully hand some to Mephala, Typhoon taking a side step as needed. They'd both then focus on Sting as she thanked them for visiting, and noted being lonely with everyone busy. Admittedly it was something they could only somewhat understand themselves, but the Twins figured it was similar to how they felt before Sting took them in. Both nodded a bit.

"Yeah. Wish we could visit a bit more. Though this royal guard training I think is close to being finished." Typhoon would give a nod before they heard walking, and turned to see Tenebris walking in. He... actually seemed happier than usual. It was a bit weird. It was just not something they'd seen too often out of him. It was kind of nice. He then asked if they were stressing their mom out. Cyclone smirked a bit.

"Me and Typhoon? Stress Mom out? Never."

Tenebris had certainly come a long way. He and Sting both have, really. What was once a union made for benefit and business was now one of reciprocated adoration. Once, she was in the same boat as Cyclone and Typhoon and had been surprised to see this side of Tenebris. But that was some time ago. Now, a happy trill escaped Sting's maw at the sight of her mate. She leaned into his larger form, her tail twisting alongside his own into a close, tight helix. Just as he gave her a lick along the maw, she returned her affection with a similar nuzzle and gentle, playful nipping of his ear. "Love," she murmured her greetings, a smile playing upon her dark face. Mephala had grabbed the strawberries as soon as she saw them. For all her enthusiasm, she was still being mindful of the egg she was protecting. The little hatchling loved strawberries so much that she usually pounced on them like prey. This time, however, she brought them close to her mouth with a paw before nibbling.

"I'm never stress!" Mephala insisted through a mouthful of fruit. "I'm a good girl. I behave!" she boasted with a smug smile. She was just about to go to town on the strawberries when suddenly, she felt movement against her side. She rose her head, glancing around. Had Cyclone poked her? It didn't feel like a poke. It was more like trembling, and nobody was pressed against her in the way her parents were nestled against each other. For once, the Goddess of Death was frowning, deep in thought. Even more movement, but this time, she saw where it was coming from. "Oh!" Panicked, she stood to her feet. Her teal gaze was fixed on the egg. There was a split right down the middle, and it was shaking as if whatever was in it was trying to come out. "It broke!" Did that mean she was in trouble? She didn't mean to break it. . .

Tenebris remained leisurely beside Sting with his neck craned over her as he gave a sardonic amused smirk towards the Twins and Mephala as they answered. He'd maintain the stare with them for a moment before slowly looking up at Sting raising one of the ridges of his eyebrow as though to inquire about the truth. Yet just as he opened his maw to speak he heard Mephala's excited shock of dismay, and almost instinctively his head snapped back to face Mephala. There was a grimace on his expression, but not of anger, there was the faintest moment of pure existential fear across the Archon as his body tensed.

Only as his gaze went from Mephala to the egg, which was but for mere seconds did an entirely new expression change over Tenebris's visage. Usually stoic and apathetic, if not smug at best and vicious and cold at worst, this expression was one of both shock, excitement and mirth. His eerie sapphire eyes opened wide and his mouth opened. Briefly his tail uncoiled from Sting as it began thumping across upon the cold stone almost uncontrollably. "Its hatching, they're hatching!", barked Tenebris in a voice which was not as though it was his own, instead clearly instead of the low calmed deep regal tones, this one was of a high tenor. He turned to Sting and a wide toothy grin spread across his features before extended his serpintine tongue and licked at her cheek "My dearest, they're hatching!", the Archon stated as though she wasn't already aware. He turned back to the Twin's and Mepthala, his visage one of glee and excitement, which would of seemed rather off putting as it was clear the Archon had spent many years in controlling everything from his emotions to even the most delicate of smiles which he only permitted when he wanted others to see such. So lost in the moment though Tenebris was unashamedly common "Glorious, this day will be a day of exaltation!"

The pair sat there looked, still a bit surprised at how affectionate their mom and Tenebris could be with each other considering how it had started. Plus there was still some exhaustion they were trying to get past until Mephala spoke up. Wait? Did something hap…. They looked at the egg, and while Typhoon looked concerned, Cyclone seemed to tilt her head curiously, noticing something was different about this. Then Tenebris called out.

They were hatching! The twins both got excited as they quickly moved to look at things egg more, but were way more surprised by the Archon acting… emotional. Usually he didn’t really come off as such, but right now…. Did that mean he felt comfortable around everyone? Like…. He went back to being more composed, but neither could quite shake off the idea as they watched the eggs hatching.