Two of Ibis. Oc lore and art.
Ibis soared over the foothills and into the craggy mountains at the edge of the village. The air was crisp this autumn morning, which sent a chill down his spine. It had been three days since it was expected... surely by now it would hatch, right? He spotted the domed structure and dove to the entrance, landing with a thud, alerting the caretaker. The inside was warm, kept so by torches along the walls and a small fire pit in the center, it needed to be warm for the eggs.
about six eggs later in the nests hung on the walls, ranging from deep crimson to gold, Ibis could see the small figure of a dragonet in the one next to him. A sense of envy crawled through. "Hello again." Said the care taker, Stork, in a bit of a tired voice. "Any signs? Please-" Ibis said, looking over to a small red egg in the corner. The care taker looked guilty and winced "well, it's certainly alive... But... Well" she gestured over "I don't think it can break through it's shell..." Ibis stared, today had to be different, it couldn't survive in the egg much longer.
She continued "...it's a shame really, I think the little guy could survive with just a little help... But the rules, especially with the both of you being soldiers... Hmm. Oh Deer I need to check on Tempest's egg- poor thing has been battling a case of nest parasites so had to be taken to a separate room" she said, walking past "where I can't SEE you" she paused, giving the most obvious side eye to the egg.
Now Ibis wasn't dense by any means of the word, accept for maybe musculature, and immediately got the hint. Waiting for her to leave he carefully walked over to the red egg, his and Egret's. The egg shined like a ruby in the sunlight trickling from the window, little wisps of dust and pollen dancing, the shell was so dark it was hard to see anything in there, he wondered how she was sure it was alive. "Hey... Little one?" He heard that you were supposed to talk to them, felt odd since it was like talking to a rock- maybe more of a plant. "Everyone's been waiting and uhm, think you slept in enough?" The egg sat their peacefully. He sighed, feeling like there was a joke being played on him, after all this time they finally had an egg and the dragons inside refused to leave-
"Oh come on. You can't disappoint us already... At least wait till you are learning to fly and think your better than everyone before smacking into a tree" The egg shook. Ibis made the gesture of his talon smacking into his other for emp- it shook? He stopped and stared at it, ears pricked. Gently, he tapped the shell with his talon, again, it shook. "Yes!... Yes that's it, come on" he checked around for any unwanted listeners. The egg shook a few more times before giving up and going still again. He grunted and decided to tap again, and again. "Come on..." Was the shell thicker than normal? Maybe that was why- it wasn't the dragonet's fault but the eggs.
A crack formed from his claw and he quickly stepped back, A small trail of clear and red liquid trickled from the crack. Oh god he'd killed hadn't he- he messed up- these cursed talons were no good for tenderness and kindness he thought. But the egg shook again, something scarlet pushing against the side and causing the crack to be bigger, the egg was on its side now- Gathering his composure he very, VERY carefully helped with the rest, just tapping and peeling away some of the shell- after about a minute of this, the dragons inside suddenly gained a second wing and tore through the shell squeezing it's little head out, eyes closed and covered in... Egg goo... Ibis really didn't know much about these things.
He looked around and found a cloth on a near by table, using it to clean some of it off, Bright yellow eyes now squinted up at him, chirping offendedly at the cleaning. He used the rag to safely get rid of the rest of the shell, his excitement causing his tail to twitch anxiously. It stopped when a mixture of confusing and dread washed over him... White scales, not in little freckles or a single talon like Egret. Patches, on the neck and claws, his little tail... An entire wing, white as an Icewing. The little dragons didn't look much like Ibis, sharing more of his mothers colors and markings. But Ibis knew it was his, so the weird scales couldn't have been from some- mysterious home wrecking icewing, not in this war.
Egret had a single white talon, she usually hid it on the job with gauntlets. It always caught peoples eyes when they first met her, though she never seemed to care... Except for that time she was on Guard duty when Burn arrived. The Sand wing kept telling the Queen to give her any dead soldiers with oddities, and stared at the white scales visible through the metal.
He picked up the scrawny dragonet, so small it could be held in one talon. There would be know concealing those scales, especially the wing. If the Queen ever saw him she'd just consider him a potential new gift for her ally. Ibis tried to delude himself that she wouldn't hurt a dragnet but he knew it wasn't true... The little hatching continued squinting up at him and the room, wiggling and trying to get its talons from hanging in the air. Ibis cupped it with two and held it close, after some starring it laid down and curled up, it was probably hungry and exhausted from the process. Ibis made a choice quickly and didn't have many options to execute it- he had a plan he just needed... An alibi.
Stork came back to find Ibis looming in the doorway, The tall skywing looking down at her with tired-determind eyes. "The egg died" he said "parasites got to it. Had to completely destroy and burn the nest to save the others" Stork was confused until she looked down and saw the tiny, scarlet and white shape being held by one arm, close to his chest. She wasn't dense by any means either, and slowly nodded. "Burn the nest" "yes ma'am- sir, which uh-" " doesn't matter right now- just follow orders and everyone... Will be safe." he stalked off with a serious face and used his wings to launch off the ledge and dive into the air. His parents home maybe? Or a small secluded cave on the west side- somewhere he and Egret could sneak to without the queen getting suspicious, somewhere where no greedy dragons could rat them out... Oh joy how he was looking forward to explaining this to his partner.