FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was late summer as a remote and cold intelligence turned its attention towards a well-to-do neighborhood known as Jardins in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. In the basement of a mansion there, three figures had gathered. The mother Marcia, the father Marcos, and their seven year old son Antonio. Like many families across the world touched by the recent string of inexplicable transformations this group too found themselves confronting what they had never dreamed of. Secured by multiple chains to the structural foundations of the house crouched their son.

Or what their son had become. Now the size of a horse, the red eyed demon that had been their only child was cowering in the corner of the basement snarling and yanking at its restraints while whipping its eyes back and forth between the two. As the grief stricken parents looked on, the creature paused as it had often done for the past few days to scratch violently at the bound chain digging severely into its neck. It then produced a series of musical tones that sounded almost bird like but were incongruous when issuing from the maddened beast before them. Whenever Antonio paused to make these sounds it looked to its father with an expression so much, so very much like pleading. These displays never ceased to cause the mother to wail in despair and the father's will to break into smaller and smaller pieces.

But this had to be done, he thought. Our son is gone, replaced by this evil demon. Filled with resolve, but with no more interest in living he and his wife had come to an agreement. The one thing that made life worth living had been stolen from them, and the time had come for them to depart this world to be with their one and only child.

As the mother wept silently on her knees behind him. The broken man tried to gently tell her that she did not have to be here to see this. That he didn't want her to see the broken form of their one time child before their own end. She shook her head and he sighed while turning to face the animal in the room.

Raising the .45 pistol he had purchased years ago to protect his family he bitterly thought about the fact that what was once used to protect will now be used to destroy. To rip apart the family the deadly weapon was meant to keep together.

As the muzzle rose to point at what was once their son, the pain crazed animal raised its eyes to the weapon and then to the figure behind it. The beast made one more series of fluted whistles and broke what was left of the father's soul as it shrieked and tried to back away. Shutting his eyes against the flow of his tears he squeezed the trigger. The creature's head rocked backward violently and then it fell limply to the floor as its actions stilled.

A clatter could be heard as the gun was dropped while a terrible keen arose from the mother. This terrible sound was joined by the father's broken sobs as the finality of their actions set in. With his arms embracing his wife in their terrible, terrible sorrow they went upstairs to finish what they had started. In the kitchen awaited for them two cups of tea. Tea, that had had dissolved into it a toxic and lethal combination of oxycodone and lunesta. Sobbing in their pain the two of them drank their respective solutions in one gulp.

Marcia went upstairs first while Marcos worked to complete the final part of their plan. Everything had been taken from them. The father could not imagine a world where his son would be known to be a hideous monster. No, he would insure that this dismal fate would turn to ash along with his and his wife's bodies. He began to dump the petrol that he purchased throughout the first floor of their great estate. Standing at the bottom of the stairs he opened the lighter that had been given to him by his own father, The same one that he had hoped to one day give his son, and threw it upon the saturated carpet in front of him. He watched the spreading blaze begin to consume the curtains and furniture within the room before turning to ascend the stairs.

Entering the master bedroom he found his wife already laying on the bed and struggling to keep her eyes open. Taking his place next to her they fell asleep in each other's arms. Slipping into their final slumber, the last thing that they ever saw was their love's tear stained and broken eyes.

By the time the smoke had reached them, they were already gone.

In the basement Antonio stirred. The .45 caliber pistol that had been fired upon him had unleashed a bullet with terrific kinetic energy but very little penetrating power. The blunt nosed round had been fired at a relatively shallow angle and had skipped off the thicker, inhuman skull and toughened scale that the child now possessed. This left behind nothing more than a deep angry groove of scaled hide.

For now, the child lived.

But imprisoned beneath the burning home, he would not remain living for long. Already smoke began to coalesce in the basement as glowing embers and heavy burning wood began to fall. One such timber fell across the youth's shoulders, just ahead of the wings, pinning the unconscious Antonio in place while the unwholesome smell of burning flesh filled the subterranean level.

Into this scene Thumper appeared. Sitting on the front lawn of the burning mansion it glanced blankly at the blaze. The conflagration abruptly ceased as it was deprived of the oxygen that it required to continue. Rising from its seated position, Thumper disappeared and reappeared in the basement before the still unconscious child. With nothing more than a look, the pile of smoldering debris lifted from the youth and settled to the side revealing the charred flesh of young Antonio. Sirens began to wail in the distance as the chains and collars binding the unfortunate seven year old crumbled into dust. Breathing deeply for the first time since his growth had caused the restraint to burrow into his neck Antonio awoke blearily to see the much smaller alien before it.

Papa?

"Não, eu não sou seu pai. Criança, volte a dormir. Quando você despertar, será com alguém que cuidará de suas feridas." (No, I am not your father. Child, return to sleep. When you awaken, it will be with one who will see to your wounds.)

Papa! Papa! Papa! The tiny child of the egg chirped shrilly as his eyes whirled in confusion. It was a scream that would have driven a fatal spear into his parent's hearts if they knew what he had said. It was the same scream they had heard over and over again without understanding.

The alien's eyes glowed once more and Antonio returned to unconsciousness. In a blink, Thumper and the child disappeared from sight.

Thousands of kilometers away, the two creatures appeared in a cave set in the foothills of the Andes in the nation of Peru. Reappearing in a cave that was already occupied by one other individual.

In the depths of the dark cave, a formless shadow as large as the grotto itself began to stir. With a tired groan, a weary voice was heard.

"¿Que es esto? ¿Por qué estás aquí para molestar a un anciano?" (What is this? Why are you here to bother an old man?)

The two and a half meter long head of the barely mature beast already in the cave emerged from the shadows at the top of the cavern. Rubbing his eyes, one after the other, on his still hidden legs, he trained a suspicious look on the intruders.

"Yo soy el que verá este mundo salvado."(I am the one who will see this world saved.), was Thumper's response.

"¿Qué tipo de respuesta es esa?" (What kind of answer is that?)

I have something to show you...

Bringing his head in closer he asked.

What are you? You are not like the rest of us. You... you are the one that did this to me... Why have you done this?

A rumble began to be heard, reverberating from the still hidden chest of the large child of the egg.

Why have you done this to me, to us?

Ignoring the angry question, or at least interpreting it as the alien saw fit, it continued. This is your purpose, Victor Fernandez. This child is what I am here to bring to you. I have chosen you to raise him. I have chosen you to be changed in order to nurture this child.

Why? Who is this child? Wait... The senior's nostrils flared as he sniffed. ...He is injured!

Yes. That is one of the reasons you must take care of him. This child's name is Antonio Barbosa, his parents had mistaken him for lost. In their pain and confusion they attempted to perform what they believed was an act of mercy. Believing him beyond reason, the father shot the child once in the head with a handgun. Overcome by their grief, the parents set fire to their house after having drank a lethal mixture of prescribed medication.

The grumpy affronted attitude of Victor fell from his scales. Looking with sympathy down at the child of the egg, he couldn't help the growing instinct to protect the youngling.

"Usted cosa triste. Usted es demasiado joven para saber tal dolor." (You poor thing. You're too young to know such pain.)

This... This is a result of what you have done. How does this make you feel? To see the misery that you have cast others into.

My feelings are irrelevant. In time, you will realize the importance of this child. In time, he will bring purpose to others. Teach him.

Teach him what?

By the time elderly musician had brought his eyes away from the child's injuries, Thumper was already gone.

Emerging from the shadow the full size of the august tenor was revealed. Towering above the comparatively tiny child he acted on instincts that were previously unknown to him. Gathering the child safely between his fore legs, he began to soothe the burns covering the poor creature with his tongue. Filling the cave with a low thrum he couldn't help wondering; what can an old widower whose only talent is being a sing...

Twelve years later, two children of the egg emerged from the Andean wilderness to rejoin society. One was an immense mature adult, measuring some 43 meters long. The other, a child heavily marked by burn scars. Unremarkable given the chaotic turmoil that the world had undergone. Their unremarkable nature was dispelled the moment Antonio began to sing. Over the ensuing decades and centuries, billions across the globe would find themselves moved by the haunting airs that he gave voice to. Many who had lost everything would find purpose, even in the darkest moments of the lives that they led.

---

On the outskirts of the town of Lovozero just to the south of Murmansk in western Russia there lived the family of Anton Orlov. In addition to the 43 year old father, there was the 44 year old mother Helen, and the 11 year old daughter Katya. There was however, one last family member. The 17 year old elder daughter Sofia, whom could no longer count herself as a member of the human species.

Thirteen months after change had swept the globe the teenager was much altered. Blonde hair shed in place of black scale. Eyes that were once brown, were now a brilliant blue. Instead of a cute nose and full lips, now a half meter of lipless snout with gaping nostrils. Four legs where there were once two. The formerly 1.74 meter tall athletic soccer player was now an 18 meter long child of the egg.

The trials the family had undergone had been immense. These challenges presented themselves the moment her head began to turn black and scaled. From the pain and uncertainty of the change itself. To denial and social shunning. To the practical and logistical problems of having a daughter that could no longer fit in their home. That could no longer be fed in any human manner. All had been overcome. By the time our attention is drawn to them over a year later they were able to make peace with what had befallen to their daughter. She, had been able to make peace with the life she now had.

The snow was thick on the ground, as Sofia peered out from her cabin attached to the family house. Perfect hunting weather, she thought to herself, fresh tracks to see from above.

Taking a look at the young female we can see that she has taken to a different kind of wardrobe since her change. Pierced through her wings leading edges a pair silver rings were clasped to her arms. These decorations standing in brilliant contrast to the black scales and hide beneath them. In addition to these her younger sister had tied, playfully, to her tail a series of colored ribbons. These she could not help but think fondly of, as anything that involved her dear sister typically did.

After a moment's more contemplation of the fresh snow she shifted on her blanket covered bed of hay to poke her head through a Dutch style door into the kitchen. There she saw her parents sitting around a table drinking tea. They raised their hands to rub her nose as she closed her eyes blissfully. Opening them once again she informed them of her weekly hunt.

_ "? ???? ?????????. ?? ?????????? ? ?????"_ (I will be hunting. Do you need meat?)

** "** ??????????" (Please)

_ _ The dutiful daughter nudged at her parents once more. They gently held their hands to her nostrils so that she could smell their appreciation.

"??? ?????" (Where is Katya?)

** ** "????????? ?????." (Next door.)

** ** "? ??????? ? ??????. ? ????? ????." (I will be back by nightfall. I love you.)

They returned her love and she tickled her parents with a kiss. This taking the form of a caress with her long tongue under their chins as they laughed. Retracting her head, she nosed the door gate shut securely. Turning about in her shelter she walked out in front of the humble abode, the small female amused herself for a bit by jumping into some nearby snowdrifts. Beneath the cover of the deep snow she slithered around the yard, leaping and sinking in successive bounds. Giving a lilting heartfelt giggle, she rose from her refreshing play, shook herself out, and then launched aloft to the west with a call of farewell.

Soaring over a stand of trees the nearest neighbor's farm came into view along with the three, brightly attired, children playing outside. Banking into a wide turn over the home Sofia gave a bugling cry of greeting before remembering to call out in Russian to her sister.

One of the figures beneath her raised a hand and began energetically waving. The other two, Sofia was downcast to see, clung to each other and retreated to the shelter of the house.

Circling downward, she flared up to make her landing amongst a blast of frigid air and snow. Swinging her head about in playful searching she called out.

"??, ??? ????? ??? ?????? ?????????" (Oh, where could my sister have gone?)

"? ?????, ??????? ??????!" (I'm right here, big sister!)

Her snow covered head appeared from the wind whipped snow pile right in front of Sofia as she flashed her gap toothed smile at her elder sibling. Shuffling through the snow she reached her big sister and brushed the snow off the scales of her head.

"?? ??????? ?????!" (You big goof!) She said laughing. Turning around she called to her two friends that it was okay, it was just her sister Sofia.

One of the friends began to cautiously walk forward in welcome as Sofia tried to arrange herself to look as peaceful and unthreatening as possible. Behind the brother and sister pair a door opened revealing their father who watched the scene suspiciously. In his hands there was a large hunting rifle that was currently pointed at the ground. The happy and welcoming expression of Sofia wilted along with her wings at the less than hospitable greeting before Katya spoke on her behalf.

"????????! ??? - ??? ??????, ???????" (Look! It's my sister, see?)

She turned and scratched beneath Sofia's jaw and they performed the act that typically served to disarm the suspicious. Pushing her snout underneath her little sister, Sofia raised her head with Katya proudly sitting on top of it. Waving happily at the onlookers, who couldn't help but relax at the sight of the two loving sisters.

Setting the rifle down the father came out to address the siblings.

"? ????? ???????? ? ????? ? ????. ? ????????? ????? ???? ? ?????, ??? ??. ??, ??? ??????? ????? ??????????." (I apologize Sofia and Katya. There have been sightings of others like you recently. Ones that are much less friendly.)

Sofia appeared unsettled, and began to knead the ground before replying.

"? ????, ?????? ? ???????? ????? ??????, ????? ???? ???????? ?????." (I know, I can smell others sometimes when the wind blows from the north.)

The father nodded knowingly. "?????? ????????? ? ????? ?? ?????." (Be careful in your hunts Sofia.) He appeared to want to add something more but glanced at the younger children and stayed silent. Sofia could sense his hesitation however.

Setting her sister down next to her friends who each gave her a much appreciated brush of their gloved hands on her arms she spoke to Katya.

"? ????? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ???????, ?? ??????, ????? ? ????? ???? ???-??????, ???? ???? ?? ??????" (I am going hunting little sister, do you want me to find you anything while I am out?)

"?? ??, ??????????! ?????? ????? ??? ??????"(Oh? Yes please! Could you find me some flowers?) She said excitedly.

"?????? ??, ? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ???-?????? ? ?????? ????..." (Flowers? Well, I can promise to bring you back something with color...)

"?, ???????, ??????? ??????!" (Oh, thank you big sister!) She hugged her sister's snout.

"?????? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ???????? ? ?? ?????????, ??? ???????????? ??? ??????" (Why don't you go with your friends and come up with an idea on how to use those flowers hmm?)

"??????!" (Okay!) She began to waddle away in the snow before rushing back. "???? ?????????, ??????? ??????. ???????? ???????!" (Be careful, big sister. I will see you tonight!)

Closing her eyes in pleasure, Sofia couldn't help nuzzling her younger sibling and humming deep in her large chest.

Giggling, Katya stripped her glove from her hand and placed it against the tip of her sister's nose. She inhaled deeply as the youngest family member went running off with her companions. Blinking slowly and taking in the enjoyment of the love she was blessed with, it took her a moment to come back to her senses and bend her head towards the father.

Smiling at the loving expression contained within Sofia's eyes. He thought about how lucky these children were to have each other, and how love truly knew no boundaries.

His smile did sour and twist however when he remembered the warning he wished to convey.

"?????, ? ?????? ??? ???????? ?? ??????, ? ?? ?????? ???-??? ?????. ?????? ??????????? ???? ???????? ? ???? ?? ??????-?????? ? ? ??????. ??? ?????? ???????? ??????????? ? ?????, ??? ??. ???? ????? ???? ????? ? ???? ???????. ??????????, ?????? ?????????." (Sofia, I have just come from town today and there is something you should know. A group of strangers has been seen in the woods to the north-west and in town. They have made violent comments about those like you. You are loved by your family and our village. Please be careful.)

Remembering what he had been told by Sofia's own parents he took his glove off and held his hand before Sofia's nose for her inspection.

Sniffing, she sensed nothing more than his reassurances and butted her muzzle against his hand. "???????, ????, ???????."(Thank you Ivan, I will.)

Turning into the wind she raised her head to sniff expectantly. She must have detected a promising scent as her tail rose and began to flick back and forth eagerly. Crouching, she exploded aloft in a blizzard of snow, and flew southward. Ivan looked on as the exuberant shouts of the children were heard.

Soaring one hundred and fifty meters above the countryside the young female sighed happily. Reveling in the feeling of her wide wings embracing the wind that supported them. While her eyes watered with exposure to the arctic air she was largely oblivious to the bite of the chill. Instead, the elation of feeling the wind dance across her scales made her swell with joy. Bursting with energy she could contain her profound feelings no longer. She let loose a roar of ecstasy to show the world her joyful elation. All the suffering she had gone through, every terrible memory, fell before the sight and sensation of flight. The feeling of freedom that she experienced every time she left the ground, was only comparable to the sweetest of dreams.

But unknown to her, there were several pairs of eyes watching her. Jealous where hers showed love, anger instead of joy. Four pairs of binoculars watched her as two dozen men, bitter and resentful, laid their plans against her. One last pair of eyes was watching not only the gleeful teenager in her twirling flight, but the armed band as well. Eyes that were a solid unbroken gold.

Sofia twisted her head one and the other, always keeping an eye upon the ground. After circling above one clearing after another, she began to spot tracks in the snow. The tracks looked slightly odd to her, but this far into the forest she couldn't imagine it being anything other than something she could eat.

Following the tracks, she smelled her intended target. With nostrils flaring widely she was able to learn all that she needed to know. Male, healthy but injured, she thought, as the metallic tang of blood reached her. Standing in the middle of the next glade she came upon the large bull elk. Injured it was, but also moving oddly for another reason she could not see.

Swooping down on it Sofia focused intently on the elk, but, she was not completely oblivious to her atmosphere. Quickly glancing around, she sought anything out of the ordinary. For now however, the only thing she saw was a narrow vehicle track running off to the northwest. Turning her focus to the prey she tucked her wings in and reached out eagerly with her talons. It wasn't until she was almost upon the beast when she finally noticed the tethering pole and realized that it was a trap.

It was too late.

The sound of an engine starting reached her before the snowmobile that was the source of the sound raced away. The machine had behind it a large fishing net with steel cables woven throughout. This began to wrap around the young female, catching in her wings and rolling her violently several times. Shrieking in pain the coarse net broke three of her phalanges and tore her tough sails. The snowmobile stopped as she lay there, dizzy and whimpering, with thick black blood oozing from her wounds

The driver approached her head as she blindly called for help, still believing that this was just a mistake. Still hoping that this was a mistake. Ignoring her pleas for help in languages both sensible to human ears and not, the unknown assailant took a picture of her head with a small digital camera. Taking a signal transmitter out of its pocket the silent human attached it to the pole of the formerly tethered animal and then drove off.

Never once had the well covered attacker made any attempt to acknowledge Sofia's cries. After being left she began to cry silently. Wishing she was at home and surrounded by the warmth of her family. Instead she passed the night alone and in pain, whimpering to herself piteously. Never once was she able to sleep, as she attempted time and again to escape her bindings. Several times she gave pain filled shrieks as the net caught, and bent, her broken fingers. But it was for naught, and there she lay.

Her blank stare turned to one of hope the next morning. As, with the first rays of the new day, she heard the approach of several powerful engines and the smell of fuel and metal. Calling out hopefully she attempted to draw the attention of what she thought was a search party looking for her.

Hopes of rescue were dashed as three snowmobiles appeared first, including the one from the previous day. Her great heart began to beat wildly as the feeling of panic caused the ground to fall away from her terrified form.

The sound of two more powerful engines grew, as emerging into the clearing were two large green tractors. Each of these stolen John Deere tractors had eight chain wrapped flotation tires and five hundred horsepower engines which made the deep snow no obstacle at all. Towed behind one was a large cargo box mounted on skids in which there were two dozen more people and thousands of kilograms of equipment. The box was detached and the tractors took position at each end of the trapped Sofia.

Sofia's constant tearful pleas for help. Her desperate attempts to explain that this must be a misunderstanding. Her pained whimpers about how much she hurt. Her begging for relief. All seemed to have no audience. None of those present gave any indication at all of their being sympathetic to her miseries. With grimly set mouths, and hard merciless looks they went about their business. Four of them armed with a mix of AK-47s and AK-74s pointed their weapons centimeters away from her eyes. Holding deathly still in fear, she was so transfixed by the sight of the lethal muzzles that she was not even aware of the distant feelings in her long body. Being wrapped around her torso just behind, and in front of, both pairs of legs were several coils of heavy rust covered chain.

It wasn't until she saw some of those chains being attached to the tractor in front of her that she broke from the hypnotic spell of staring down a rifle barrel.

Realization dawned on her and what little control of her emotions she had left crumbled.

"??????????, ??????????, ?? ??????? ?????! ??? ?????, ??? ?????! ? ???? ???? ??????, ??????? ??????. I (Please, please don't do this! My family, my family! I have a sister, a little sister. I just want to go home. I just want to be with my sister! Please don't do this! Don't kill me! She screamed her last attempts at mercy. But having switched to her new tongue in her panic she only served to harden the resolve of her assailants as they heard her whistles and chirps.

One of the balaclava clad mercenaries moved to stand in front of her and stripped his head of cover. He crouched down to be level with her pinned head to speak the first and last words she would hear from any of these humans.

"?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ?????, ?????????" (Family? Home? Sister? What are these words to you, alien?) He said with such biting acrimony that Sofia began to realize she had no chance of living through this. This group had not done this as some fleeting attempt to alieve boredom. They had planned this, she was going to die.

Her heart broke as thoughts of her parents flashed through her mind, followed by the sweet image of her brightly smiling little sister. She began to sob hysterically, the hiccupping cries of a youth facing her premature end wracked her long undulating body. In a last attempt to free herself she began twisting and bucking, a panicked attempt that only served to tighten her bonds.

The sight of the flailing teenager filled the apparent leader with rage and his black military style boot flashed outward to strike the sensitive tip of her nose. Blood ran from one of her nostrils as the hateful, snarling militiaman spoke one last time to the dazed teenager.

"????? ?????, ?? ?? ???????? ???? ???????? ???. ?? ?? ???????? ??? ??????? ??????. ?????? ?????, ??? ? ??, ?????." (Alien trash, we will not let you deceive us. We will not let you rule humans. Each and every worm, like you, will die.)

Turning, he gave a signal. Black smoke began to belch from the exhaust of both tractors as they took up the slack in the chains.

Gasping as her body began to stretch until agony dimmed her sight into an increasingly narrow tunnel. She began to scream wildly as the forces on her body multiplied far beyond what it could handle.

"???????! ????! ????! ???????!"(Mommy! Daddy! Dadddy! Mommmmmmy!)

The smoke pouring from both tractors increased as their front ends raised from the immense torque.

"???..." (Mommm...)

Her last scream ended in a wet gurgle as the front ends of the tractors lowered and they lurched away from each other with their violent deed finished. The rising sun cast its light onto a sight not meant for this world, and certainly not meant to be described to others.

Emboldened and elated by their violence, the assembled band faced inwards to revel at the broken remnants of Sofia. They began to fire celebratory bursts into the air and did not notice the small creature hopping in the snow towards them from the tree line.

Finally, three did notice the small hopping figure approaching them, and began to turn their weapons toward it before their eyes glowed with golden light. Unseen by their comrades each of them reloaded, and then began to fire on all their companions. Taken by surprise the rest were quickly dispatched by the sudden and inexplicable friendly fire. The yellow glow faded from their eyes and they fell immobilized upon their knees.

Thumper's form blurred momentarily and one of it continued hopping towards Sofia's head while the other stayed with the remaining vigilantes. Tilting its head Thumper looked upon them with every bit of the same cool indifference that they had looked at Sofia with. Three nearby rifles stirred and floated upwards until one was pointed at the nose of each of the survivors. For the first time fear entered their eyes, it would not be there long.

The observing Thumper's eyes began to glow once more as it took all of the panic, despair, pain, and loss that had filled Sofia's last moments and projected it into their minds.

Their mouths opened to scream but such was the force of the mental assault they could no longer even draw breath. Their eyes filled with blood as their minds shattered and cerebrospinal fluid began to leak from their ears. By the time the levitating rifles began to fire, they were already dead.

Behind the second Thumper the soft impact of the rifles in the snow could be heard as the first clone vanished. It brought itself in close to be seen by Sofia's clouded, unfocused, left eye. Unfortunately for the teenage female, a large creature like a child of the egg does not die all at once. Even now the last of the spasms of her body's muscles forced the meager dregs of oxygenated blood to her failing brain. Overloaded and misfiring synapses across the forward half of her body continued to send signals warning of danger and injury in the form of pain. Blood pooled beneath her open jaws as her tongue lay unfurled on the ground. With minute twitches her eye tried to move to focus upon the alien computer

But with its plan accomplished, there was no point in continuing her suffering. Thumper was there to ease her passing from the world.

Its eyes glowed, as did Sofia's, the computer was blocking the erratic dying signals from her body. As her pupils began to dilate and fix, the creature gave her one last comfort in this life. The image of her smiling younger sister Katya appeared before her, followed by the warmth and reassuring smell of her hand upon her nose.

"?????, ??????? ??????, ???? ???????????? ?????." (Come on big sister, it is time to come home.)

A smile began to form on Sofia's snout before she closed her eyes for the last time.

Thumper stayed to watch over her as the last twitches of her body stilled. A single tear rolled down its cheek as it watched Sofia succumb to the death that it allowed to happen. But her death would not be in vain. What she didn't know was that her life would save tens of thousands of other children of the egg.

Looking back along her body, Thumper's attention narrowed to a region just ahead of her hind legs. With a look, an unidentifiable organ detached from her body cavity and floated before the sentient computer. A humming noise was heard as the mass was enveloped within a hazy blue shell before disappearing.

With the rushing sound of air moving to fill sudden voids. Thumper along with all traces of the militia disappeared from sight. Leaving behind only the disturbed snow of the clearing, and Sofia's bound and mutilated body.

Five hours later

The sound of gunfire had been reported within the town earlier. Giving the desperate Anton, Helen, and Ivan a new source of anxiety during the search. Alarmed when Sofia had not returned last night the father had gone to speak with their neighbor Ivan about which direction she had gone. Relaying what he knew, and what he had told Sofia, the neighboring father convinced Anton to wait until morning to search. But for now to begin to call others to organize.

The first person they reached out to was the well-respected, and resourceful, elder in town Peter. He agreed that it would be best to wait until morning and promised that he would have fifty people ready to volunteer for the search.

The next morning, just a few hours after the gruesome events described earlier. The search party set out on snowmobiles, skis, snowshoes, and dog sleds. Fanning out from the last known location of the neighbor's house they began to search south, her last sighted direction.

On two of the lead snow mobiles were Sofia's mother and father, the younger sister was not to be denied in coming along. She however, was consigned to relay positions on the radio from a sled in the rear. For hours they moved through the forest. Pausing every couple of hundred meters to stop, call out, and listen for a response with engines silent. It was nearly noon when they came upon the fateful clearing.

The front echelon of snowmobiles slowed upon sighting the multitude of heavy vehicle tracks in the snow. Slowly emerging from the trees the forward searchers came upon a scene of turned over snow and soil. In the midst of that general upheaval a black mound lay to the south-end of the field.

Caution took hold, as they slowed their approach. As soon as they reached the dense compacted snow made by earlier vehicles, everyone dismounted and shut off the machines. Radio calls stating position and action were made. Anton and Helen called her name loudly, again there was no response.

Peter pulled a spotting scope from a pouch to put eyes on the black lump.

"??? ??????." (It's a dragon.)

But no sooner that he said this than Sofia's parents began to run through the snow, desperately calling her name.

Observing the reaction through the scope he noticed what he had not before, the large black stain on the ground surrounding the dragon's form. He also noticed that it made no movement at the shouted cries of Sofia's name.

His heart plummeted as realization set in.

He yelled at the nearest rider to go get the running parents, to stop them from seeing what he feared. It took several tries before the recalcitrant machine would restart. By the time the snowmobile screamed to life and took off with Peter and the driver aboard, the parents were already reaching the dragon. Anton raised his hand to point at something and then, even over the howling wind of their short ride, the sound of screaming could be heard. As this sound reached them, the figures of the two parents crumbled to the ground holding each other.

"?, ???, ???." (Oh no)

The snowmobile stopped at the parents and the driver sprinted to shield them from the sight of the dead. Peter ran towards the dragon hoping against hope it wasn't her. But then he saw what the parents had as well. An array of colorful ribbons tied to the tail of Sofia.

Crossing himself, he said a prayer for the family and their daughter.

The other searchers arrived and Peter began yelling at all of them to stay off their radios. Pointing at a husband and wife team he told them to ride to Katya and tell her in person that her sister was gone. Those two rode off as the continued screaming of the father and mother broke into wailing sobs. Rocking violently on their knees, they cried their daughter's name over and over again.

"??????? ??.... ??????? ?? ??????!" (Get them... get them away from here!)

The father broke free of the others and screamed his daughter's name again as he attempted to sprint the remainder of the way to hold her head.

Peter intercepted him and embraced him in a hug trying to keep her body shielded from sight.

"?? ????, ??????. ?? ??????." (Don't, look. Don't look.) He kept saying to the heartbroken man in his arms. His own tears rolling down his cheek as he tried to comfort the father. Anton screamed mindlessly into his shoulder as he was led away. The mother continued to reach for her daughter as well, and was restrained only by the might of three others as they strove to block the gruesome sight from her. Already, some of the others had begun to unroll tarps from the sleds to cover Sofia's body.

Hidden in the tree line, sat Thumper, watching the pain that its machinations had caused. As the aftermath of the tragedy continued to unfold it disappeared without a trace. The next step was for Anton and Helen to take.

For two weeks afterwards the family dwelled listlessly in mourning. Ivan had visited them, just after Sofia's funeral service. He presented the three of them with a token of remembrance. After the local church had refused to provide services for what they had deemed a creature, the locals had taken actions into their own hands. Enraged at the slight given a beloved member of the community, hundreds of citizens had poured into the church and forced the clergy from the building to hold their own remembrance. It was simply impossible to bring Sofia's body into the church, instead a memorial was constructed. Showcasing her life, both before and after, the world had been wracked by disorder. Thousands turned out to pay their respects, but the ones that mattered most could not find it within themselves to attend. Instead, Ivan had visited them that night to present each of them with a scale. A scale from the daughter, a scale from the sister that they had known. Silently they wept, and without a word, he left them to heal.

Time passed as anguish turned to hatred, hatred turned to resolve, and resolve became action. For the next two years this family and town, stung by their loss, would be the driving force behind legal and social change to honor the life of Sofia. Her death marked the beginning of a new landscape. One that shifted those that had been forced from the civilized world back to where they belonged. Sofia's death marked the end of persecution of the children of the egg. This shift became a universal acceptance of those with scale instead of skin. That they were human kind's equals. Sofia's death saved the lives of tens of thousands of children of the egg, and millions of humans.

Nearly three years later, as death and chaos rolled across the world, on a clear, starlit night. A heavy pounding was heard upon the door of the Orlov residence. Opening it, Katya looked around and could find no sign of a visitor except for a mysterious track of small paw prints that disappeared just steps from the door. Instead what she found was a wooden square. This singular piece of wood had the remarkable quality of being made out of a single piece, one meter cubed, and was far heavier than it looked.

After discovering that there was a seam, so fine that it was nearly invisible, the box was split open to reveal a 0.75 meter tall egg. This was nestled so tightly within, that the fine discs that interlocked to form the outer layer of shell had left marks in the wood grain. Upon opening, a note fluttered to the ground.

? ????? ? ???? ?????, ????? ?????? ????? ????.

I stole from you a life, so that others may live.

??????? ? ????????? ??? ?????, ????? ?? ????? ????.

Today, I return that life, so that you may live.

???????? ?? ? ????? ? ???????, ??????? ??????? ?? ????????? ?????.

Look into her eyes with the love that has never left yours.

Astonished, the Orlov family looked at each other, not even daring to hope what the message may mean for them. Three weeks later, on the third anniversary of loss, and just as the family were to attend Sofia's memorial, a soft tearing, followed by a cracking was heard. The egg had hatched before their fireplace in a cloth swaddled pen. Carefully removed egg scraps revealed a metre long baby dragon that was obviously female as she lay on her back. Just as the note had said.

All three family members reached in to hold this beautiful newborn. Feeling the warmth of the hands upon her scales and their familiar comforting smell in her nose, the hatchling chirped happily. Raising her head, the baby opened her eyes for the first time to look at those that smelled so familiar. As she gazed up into theirs, memories of family and love trickled into her mind like sand through an hourglass. The hatchling's eyes brightened as the sight and smell of her parents, and of her beloved sister grew more and more familiar. Her tail blurring into happy motion, she nuzzled the hands holding her as tears rained upon her scales.

Overcome by their emotions they fell together onto the carpet with the dragon, their lost family, clutched in their arms. With muffled cries of happiness and tear stained faces, the Orlovs looked into eyes that they never dreamt they'd see again in this world. Eyes that mirrored those contained within picture frames behind them on the mantle.

Sofia had come home.

---

200 kilometers from Darwin, Australia. A married couple. Shawn and Veronica Stanford were 9 months pregnant and due to give birth at any time. Ecstatic at the approach of parenthood, the importance of the first changes didn't register.

For Veronica, it was a constant sensation of roiling in her belly. Which she just put out of her mind as her babies fussing. The next unnoticed sign was that she was taller than her husband, when before she was a centimeter or two shorter. Shawn displayed early signs as well. Rubbing his head produced minor amounts of shedding. Next was a discomfort whenever he sat down, this giving him the vague sensation that he was sitting on a part of his body that did not appreciate being sat on. But nothing could be seen, no matter how he examined the area. Lastly were minor changes in behavior that they had chalked up to hormonal changes in the two of them due to the impending birth. While lying in bed they had taken to rubbing their noses against each other's heads. At times they had even caught themselves licking each other along the neck and chin.

All these signs ended up being more significant than they ever thought possible.

One morning Shawn was awoken by the screams of his wife. Overnight a large bump had grown downward from his spine, and where this growth had extended, his buttocks had begun to fuse. Veronica herself seemed to be almost half a meter taller than him as she lay next to him. But that is not what had awoken her. The sweat soaked sheets clinging to her form showed what no longer resembled the belly of a woman who was due at any time.

"I can't feel them, I can't feel them anymore!" She screamed hysterically.

Rubbing her stomach, her husband attempted to soothe her, telling her that he was sure they were fine.

"No!" She wailed, "I feel nothing!"

Concerned, the father probed his wife's stomach gently. His concern grew exponentially when he felt six ovoid objects. Pressing down on her stomach the outlines of the objects were revealed.

Screaming at the sight of the foreign objects, the wife leaned over the side of the bed and vomited before, collapsing onto her back and groaning.

"What? What's happening?"

"My... my privates. My vagina is... it feels... ugh", she moaned.

Pulling the sheets back he stripped her underwear off to see what the hell was going on. Pulling the cloth covering of her nether lips away the pubic hair crowning them came off with the fabric. Her labia minora and labia majora were disappearing as her reproductive outlet sealed. The vestibule beginning to close tightly as the skin surrounding the opening blackened before his eyes. Scales erupted around the sealing orifice before all semblance of what was once there disappeared. As one opening sealed another opened, just in front of her hips. In a radical redesign of one of her body's systems everything changed shape and position. Emitting another panicked scream, she squirmed as the last visible thing that identified her as a human woman ceased to exist. Grunting with effort she reached down to rub the featureless scales surrounding a slit that was her new femininity in an attempt to soothe the pain. At the instigation of the still raw nerves, her slit opened wide, scales lifting away to reveal new inner lips hiding her reproductive passage. Gasping, she fell back onto the pillows as the vaginal cleft resealed.

Veronica moaned once more. "My womb, my babies, what is happening to my babies? Uuunhhhh." Her hand, placed just above her waist, rose and fell as something within her pulsed in waves. This motion drove her hand downward until it stopped just above what used to be her pubic mound.

Her body made a creaking noise as her torso lengthened. Stretching her arms and legs further and further apart, room became available for her stomach to shrink once more. Instead of carrying her maternal weight bulging precariously, her entire body swelled. Cracking and snapping was heard as her legs pushed away from each other. Veronica screamed as her lower body twisted. Visible to the frozen husband, organs shifted, and... moved within her abdominal cavity.

Her spine began to extend outwards past her twisting hips as a tail formed and stretched outwards. Flesh colored for now, a new vertical slit opened beneath it just past her hind legs.

The rapidity of the changes seemed to unlock something deep within the watching Shawn. Flashes of light danced in his vision as he heard a voice in his mind.

Welcome, child of the egg.

Knowledge bloomed in his mind, and without thinking he voiced several comments in a new language. These would have sounded garbled to any other children of the egg if they had heard them, he still had human vocal chords. But what he didn't know yet was that his ears had begun to expand into a series of spines that supported thick curtains of darkening skin. Also unknown to him, his pupils had slowly reshaped into vertical ovals. His irises, which his wife had always told him were like the purest jade, now became a green so vibrant that they glowed against the background of the white sclera.

Stressed beyond endurance by their alteration, they both collapsed onto the bed. Reaching outward with one arm they held each other's hands tightly. Both of them cried for what must have happened to the two lives that never had a chance. Confusion lay heavy within their thoughts. All across the world people had been changing just like they were. But the question that they most wanted answered was: Why them? In just a few short days they had lost everything, they had lost their future.

Tortured by her twisting body as well as her thoughts, Veronica lay awake even as her husband succumbed to a catatonic sleep. Jerking fitfully, the former woman became less and less human as the hours passed. The furious sweating that soaked the bedding abated as her skin thickened and hardened into plates. Her frail human sheathe ceasing to exist as hair, sweat, and pink flesh disappeared.

With wracking shivers all she could do was continue to hold her ever changing stomach until she was no longer able to bend her arms. Crying as she was denied even this comfort, she rose to stumble from the room. Hunched over, she tottered into the nursery. Bitterly reminding herself, that it would now stay as empty and lifeless as her blasted womb. Standing amongst the sickeningly cheerful and happy environs her breaths grew deeper and louder as her torso swelled with mass. Panting harshly as she looked at her own handiwork, her fingertips hardened into new talons as her hands contorted violently. With an alien shriek erupting from her thickening chest, she launched herself at a painting of smiling daises on the wall.

Hours later, Shawn stirred. Feeling the cold taint of the drying sweat upon his still human skin he wakened feeling like he had had a roll with a crocodile. Trying to push himself to his feet he found he could not, instead having to pace off the bed on four limbs. Upon reaching the floor his hips snapped audibly into their new configuration. He screamed as his hindquarters collapsed, twisted, and grew wider. His pajamas tore as his body outgrew his clothes revealing his still dangling sexual organs. Shawn whimpered as the agony receded before pushing himself up onto human hands and inhuman feet. With tail raised and lashing unthinkingly he began to search for his missing wife. Not being able to smell her in the room, he followed her trail to the nursery. Blinking slowly in surprise, he raised his arm to wipe at his eyes.

The room had been destroyed. Everything they had accumulated ever since the sex of the twins had been learned, ripped apart. Torn to shreds by an animal. Through the cheerful scenes painted upon the walls were gouges arrayed in sets of four. Both cribs had been shattered so violently that solid pieces of wood had been driven into the walls. Stuffed animals that had been arrayed to welcome home the new family members had been pulled apart. Mobiles that had hung suspended over each crib were now in pieces. Broken furniture lay strewn about, some pieces even having pierced the ceiling, and all over every piece were numerous bite marks.

Where there had been hope, there was now despair. Where there had been joy, there was now bitter anger.

Sitting back on his tail, the dentist looked closely at the bite patterns on the wooden furniture scraps. Some of the marks looked human. But the closer to the front of the patterns he looked, the larger and the neater the marks became. Too large, too sharp, to be human.

Raising his head to the ceiling, he bellowed his sorrow for the world to hear. Reaching out with his arms he gathered as many of the toys and stuffed animals as he could, and buried his face into them to sob. Falling onto his distended side he cried into the shattered remains of lives that could have been.

His tearful reverie was broken as his arms wrenched apart, to reform as forelegs. Losing the ability to hold the broken promises in his arms, he watched despondently as the destroyed artifacts fell to the floor. That was when he heard the shrill heartbroken screams responding to his cry from the roof of their house.

Lurching to his feet, he galloped up the stairs to the second floor of the house. All along the way, further scenes of destruction awaited his sight. Claw marks in the walls, railings and banisters shattered by bite marks. Door and lastly, window frames torn apart by the passage of a creature too large to allow easy admittance.

Lunging through the destroyed window he found himself on the first floor roof. Looking about, he lifted his head and sniffed. She was close. He then spied where she had gone, there were a series of holes punched into the side of their house leading to the second story roof.

With a running jump, he sank his weak human fingers into the roof of his home and dragged the rest of his bulk atop it. There he found his broken wife, standing two meters taller than he last saw her, she still remained hunched over. Facing away from him, he could see the expanse of her growing back, and the whipping of her tail as scale after scale appeared upon it. As he watched, two tiny hands and armlets erupting from her back made a jerky wave and grew visibly longer. Towering above him on twisted legs that looked better suited to his own four legged stance than his own, she continued to scream. Lost to sight behind her heaving shoulders he could not see her head until he called out to her cautiously.

Honey?

Not saying anything, her neck curled around to bring her head to face Shawn before the rest of her body turned to follow. Astonished at what had happened to her, he made a reflexive leap backwards. Seeing this, she gave a harsh and abbreviated laugh that froze the blood in his veins.

"Whaaats thematter? Don'tttrecognize yuuurwife? Itssssokay, III don't recognizemyselfff either."

Standing almost four meters tall, the hunched figure of his wife shrilled her pain at her quadrupedal husband. Her neck was many times as long as it used to be. On the end of that swelling length was a head and face that had lost all its humanity. Baleful yellow eyes that blazed with irises of orange looked back at him with razor thin pupils of despair and self-loathing. Her brunette hair only remained in patches, and even as he watched, more of it was shed as the hardening skin advanced. Her nose and mouth no longer existed as independent features. Merged and lengthened, they now extended from what was once her face. Tears continued to rain from her eyes, tracing down along her scaled continence even as she opened her mouth in a feral grin.

"Looook atmeee. Iiiiicouldn't savemyyyy children... Now Iiii'm the monsterthatIII deserve tooobeee. Aaaananimal likeyuuuu." She stopped, and cocked her head to listen to something. Shawn raised his ears, but could hear nothing.

"Doooyuuuhear that? Myyybabiiiessss rrrrcallingformeee!

She brought one of her twisted hands forward to show the broken, spear shaped, post that she held.

"Demonsssslike ussswilll notdieeefrom ssssevenmetersss. JoooinmeeeeShawn, weeeewillmeet ourrrrchildren together."

Tearfully, Shawn reared up to embrace his wife the best he could. He nodded, before placing his lips against the tips of her jaws. Retracting her head, she quickly gnawed on the other end of the post to make a double edged weapon. Placing this spear between them, they arranged the twin points so that they were ready to pierce into where they thought their hearts were. Extending their heads out to kiss one last time, they shuffled awkwardly to the edge.

"Your children still live."

The ill-fated pair paused in their shuffle to eternity and turned to look at the source of the spoken words. What they found, was something like what they had seen on the telly. Something like what they were becoming.

An infantile creature, no bigger than a large hound, sat on its haunches and looked at the two of them with golden eyes.

"What?"

"Your children still live. The pointed objects you felt earlier are eggs. Instead of two human girls, you will both soon be parents of four females and two males."

Veronica shrieked in agony. "Soooo instead of losssingmygirls, theeeyhaveooonlybeen turned intooomonsters? Whatarrryuuu? Whhyyy would yuuuthink thisssmakesssitbetter?"

"No, I don't expect you to so easily forget what you lost today, but you should know all the facts of your situation before you follow through on what you are attempting. You are turning into children of the egg. Given how close you are to delivering, your rebirth started with the lives you carry followed by your reproductive organs. Your mate has joined you in a similar manner.

Shawn gasped as his hindquarters jumped, an electric shock was racing through his groin making his twitching legs collapse. After the burning faded and he regained control, he sat back on his tail to look to his crotch. His penis was gone, replaced by a protective sleeve held tightly to his body. His testicles had disappeared altogether, buried deeply and protected by a muscular wall of flesh. Another slit had opened under his tail in the same position as Veronica's. Their reproductive and excretory systems had become completely divorced from each other. Unlike the clumsy mechanisms they had had as humans.

The unknown creature continued:" You and your children will have a profound impact upon the world to come. I tell you this to attempt to convince you not to commit the suicide you have planned. There is a one in three chance that I fail. I will then be forced to interfere with your mental processes. Whether you want to or not, you will survive to bring your eggs into the world."

"Thatissswhat Iiifelt? Whattthasshappenedinmyyywomb? Iiii feltmy daughterssssbreakapart to formegggs?"

"Yes."

The last of Veronica's sanity fled her mind as her eyes dilated and gazed emptily at the ground before her, until she fell onto her hands as her body heaved convulsively. Attempting to stand once, her body undulated, and what was once two legs then became four. Her mind briefly snapped back to reality to feel revulsion for her animalistic body, she made a choking noise and then covered the roof of the structure with bile. A feral eye turned to look at her monstrous hand and her grip on the wooden stake tightened before she drove it into the roof.

"I'm coming myyychildren!" She screamed, before she heaved herself above the spear to impale her chest upon it.

The eyes of the creature watching this glowed. The spear disappeared as Veronica fell flat on her stomach with eyes glowing the same golden hue. Next to her, with the same trace of color in his distraught eyes, Shawn fell to his underside as well.

For the rest of the evening Veronica and Shawn saw what the creature did. They were shown the future lives of the six within Veronica, and the profound impact they would have. Along with their parents, they would become a team of travelling mediators. Conflicts across the globe would be settled due to their intervention. They would be crucial in advancing Sofia's cause across international boundaries. Untold numbers of lives would be saved.

In those hours, they saw the next thirty seven years of their three hundred and seventy years of life.

Huddled about each other catatonically on the roof of their home, their change spread across their bodies like wildfire. Skin blackened, limbs twisted, and wings erupted. As immense amounts of energy poured invisibly into their bodies their masses soared upwards. While they grew, the roof and frame of their house audibly settled under their ballooning bodies. By the time they stirred the next morning, they were both twenty six meters long. Similar in nearly all aspects but one. While Shawn's body tightened inwards approaching his hind legs. Veronica's body remained thick from chest to tail. No ponderous belly announced her impending eggs, merely a much thicker torso instead of the lean canid body structure of her mate.

At first light, the glow faded from the eyes of the married couple.

The last change occurred as they awoke from their fugue. A single bony spike erupted from the side of each of their tail tips and grew to be thirty forty centimeters long. Emerging from the left on Shawn and from the right on Veronica. On the napes of their necks, just below the base of their skulls. Another white spike developed from their vertebrae, growing through muscle, hide, and scale, to stick twenty centimeters out of their necks. Their defensive armament to protect their children had grown in.

The creature had not once taken its eyes off them, nor had it moved a single scale. It just sat there, watching, waiting patiently, for the mated pair to either accept, or, deny their new existence.

Looking into each other's eyes they made their choice. Shawn stretched to his full length and slunk downwards off the roof with his wings fluttering. Circling once around the house he apparently made his decision. Pushing with his nose he knocked the back door down along with the wall around it. Entering into their home he used his mouth to remove each piece of furniture within.

Veronica turned to address the creature.

What do we call you?

"Whatever you please. I will be with you for the rest of you and your family's lives. So I suggest that you pick something better than creature."

Veronica closed her slate gray eyes to think carefully of what to say next.

You... You stole from us all that was human. All that we were. You have ripped our bodies apart. You have mutilated, and mutated my unborn girls into alien life within my very womb. The most sacred part of my body, that which gives life, has been stained by your transgression.

She choked down a sob, and then pulled herself together to continue.

I want to tear you apart for what you have done. I want to tear you apart and then throw myself off the tallest mountain with my wings closed...

Laughing bitterly, she continued:

Look at what you have changed in me and my husband. My self-image now includes wings, you have altered how we think of ourselves. You made us watch decades of our lives stream past. But not decades spent as humans, instead as something else. Decades spent laying eggs, warming them, hatching them. Decades spent flying, soaring in the skies above. Decades spent hunting, tasting the life giving heat of other animals disappearing down our gullets. Decades spent learning to look at humans as a group, a group in which we no longer belonged.

Already, I know myself more as I am now, than I ever had before. But a chasm has opened between myself and what I was just yesterday. Already the names, the names of my unborn girls, seem like the faintest of whispers. I hate myself for that. I hate myself for what I have become. A mother that almost forgot the children that she was never able to give life to. A mother that did forget, what those two girls felt like, growing within her own body. I hated myself...

She sighed and looked away for a moment.

But you... You gave us a chance to make a difference in something larger than ourselves. A chance to make our world better than it is. You took two human lives from us, but gave us six children of the egg in return. Creature, no... I will call you... Pan. I will not thank you for what you have done to us, what you have taken from us, and forced us to become for your own ends. I mourn the children I have lost, even as I eagerly await the ones to come. After what you have shown us. I will simply say, that I understand.

Pan bowed with its wings spread and nose touching the ground.

Finished with his redecorating, Shawn exited the home and called to his mate.

Jumping to the ground, her forty five hundred kilograms made the earth shudder briefly (she was pregnant after all). Passing their collection of her carefully chosen furniture she entered their home. The bottom floor had been effectively gutted. Following the exterior wall of their home, she callously pushed through several walls in her path. However, she stopped at a picture of her and her husband at their wedding with all their family gathered about. After staring wistfully at it for a moment she sighed heavily, the gale force wind from her nostrils rattling the frame against the wall.

Continuing on, she finished sniffing along these walls as she completed an orbit around the structure. Curling about herself in the middle of the carpet she sniffed her immediate surrounding for a bit more before rendering her judgement.

It will do for now, but It will need to be much bigger to work for us both. For now we need padding to make a nest, and quickly! I can feel our children moving and my duct expanding, the time is near.

With the panicky energy of any other expectant father, Shawn galloped from the house, trying to concoct a plan for what to do.

Two years later.

Returning from his turn making supply drops to provide income, Shawn swooped downwards to take his meal from the local kangaroo population. After rending his prey and gorging, he launched aloft to snatch another fleeing roo for his mate before winging home. He landed in their back yard and approached the all-weather flap covering the entrance to their radically redesigned home.

After selling their vehicles, and most of the furniture in the lower floor, they had used that money and their savings to redesign the first floor. Knocking down all non-loadbearing structures, they raised the second floor and expanded the ground floor to accommodate both of their large forms comfortably and still have room left over for their children. Pan had had more than a little share in making these changes possible. Through a process they didn't understand, and it wouldn't explain, it had stretched the height of their home by four meters. The remodeled and much higher second floor now served as an auxiliary apartment to house a human caretaker. Andrew saw to the maintenance and cleaning of their nest/home where they could not due to the large size of their claws. Another task he frequently performed was that of cook, raw animal flesh does tend to become rather monotonous after all.

Entering the lair crouched and with his head lowered, he approached his mate with his scales lifted as the mixed scent of cinnamon and lemon filled the air. Laying before her the roo that he had snatched from the resident herd, she hummed in approval. Taking the kill into her jaws, they traded positions so that she could feast in the yard. Covering the eggs with the heat of his groin, he waited patiently for her return. Reentering, she flopped to the ground with a grunt, and completed the protective circle girding the eggs. Craning their necks forward they bathed each other, before sighing with the contentment of full bellies and a full nest.

Pan spoke, as enigmatically as ever, from the small pile of pillows that was its normal position in the corner.

"Congratulations."

Shawn felt the eggs jumping beneath him with unexpected movement. Their children had begun to hatch.

With a startled yelp and a leap, he watched in awe with his mate as their children tore their way into the world. A set of talons emerged from one shell, and then another, and another. Soon, the leathery scraps and hardened scales of the eggs littered the nest as the emerging hatchlings shredded their cocoons.

Within three hours, six hatchlings lay scattered about the nest within the home. Talking in their native tongue, the only thing that could be heard was a mixed cacophony of six newborns asking questions and making demands.

Food? Food! Can you tell me my name? Oh! Kin!

What is this? It shines! I keep!

Name? I learn! Oh! What is this? It moves!

What is my name? Food! Name first, then food!

On top! I win! Is this food? It is noisy!

Outside? I go! I go!

The sounds of chirping, whistling, tweeting, chirls, trills, hisses, rumbles, growls, and the beating of wings filled their reassuringly cozy home. In every corner of the structure these youths spread in their investigation of anything and everything (Including a female whose tail disappeared out the door). Andrew had come down stairs, and was taking pictures of the long awaited event while two of the hatchlings nosed and batted at him curiously. The female newborn looking him over latched onto the back of his clothing with her head placed on his shoulder. She flapped her wings to bring him to the ground for further investigation. At the same time, a male with silver eyes looked up at him, and quizzically reached out to poke the caretaker's leg with a claw, causing him to yelp and curse, fighting to keep his footing. The newborn child of the egg, in reaction, flared his wings and mimicked Andrew's voice with startling accuracy. Responding, the female flapping on Andrew's back echoed the sounds with the same accuracy startling him into finally losing his balance.

Shawn and Veronica raised their scales and crooned, joyfully rubbing their cheeks against each other's. Even as Andrew crashed to the ground and disappeared under a blanket of their inquisitive, and still slimy, children. They finally had what they desired above all else. What they had been shown they would have. A family.