Age up: Kinship
Tempest had never thought of himself as someone that would make a good father. Which is exactly why he had never settled down with any one female to have children and raise them. He’d had plenty of one night stands, hell, even that time with Nightingale. But none of them had resulted in any of the mothers coming after him to demand anything of him.
Until they did.
Cheer had been dropped off with him. The small, lightly colored, Cryo had just stared up at him silently as his mother spoke with Tempest. He had argued a little, but was careful to not get too loud and scare Cheer. Apparently his mother just wasn’t in a spot where it would be safe to have a hatchling following along after her. She had thought against tracking Tempest down, but she had eventually come to the conclusion that would be the best thing to do. She still loved little Cheer, but his safety had come before all else.
Tempest could respect that, though he wasn’t sure how much more safe the hatchling would be with him.
The pair had spent a solid week together before anything else had happened. Just long enough for Tempest to get a better idea of what it meant to have a child off running around his den. But he couldn’t complain. Cheer was a good child. He listened, obeyed, and stuck close to Tempest without fail. He ate whatever Tempest gave him without complain, and went to sleep at a decent time every night and didn’t keep his father up all hours of the night.
And then Nightingale showed up.
Two hatchlings in toe behind her. One dark in color with the start of what Tempest knew to be a dimorphic marking on the little male’s crest and face. It was nothing but a green smudge at that point, but he knew the color well enough to know that at least that hatchling was certainly not his. The other hatchling was covered in a soft down, though she looked…off. Hardened plates jutted through the feathers, covering a majority of her front half and her upper thighs, making him think of a bug and its armored segments.
“You take.”
“I’m not taking hatchlings that aren’t mine.” Tempest said and laughed as he stood at his cave entrance. The female Cryolo instantly bared her teeth and let out a crocodilian like hiss as she pointed behind him, further into the cave where Cheer was hiding behind a log that had been dragged inside years ago.
“Yours.” She snapped then pointed down at the little feathered female with the odd plating. “Also yours. You. Take. Take other. No want. Gets in way. Bad at hunting.” Night snarled at Tempest as she pointed over to the other hatchling.
Tempest stared her down before looking back down at the two hatchlings. They seemed to be about the same age. Looking no more than a month old or so, but old enough to understand that their mother had no love for them. And now they were hearing their father, or in the case of the random hatchling, a random person had no love for them either. Tempest frowned. No hatchling should have to go through something like that. To hear that they were not wanted.
Both looked as if they were starved as well. Cheer had fat on him, looking like a healthy little hatchling with a fat tail. But these two? Their tails were skinny, their little legs had bones sticking out and were visible even under the feathers.
“Fine. But they’re-“ Tempest said but trailed off as he watched Nightingale simply turn and started off without another word. The two hatchlings before him turned to watch her go as well before turning their heads to look back up at Tempest. He clenched his jaw at the sight. Some part of him wanting to go after Night and bite her ass, but that could wait. He had two new hatchlings that he needed to take care of.
“Come on, you two. Let’s get you something to eat. And you can meet your new brother as well. Did your mother name you at all?” Tempest asked, suddenly doubting that Night would’ve named them. Or if she had it would be something demeaning. But he wasn’t going to wait around for them to introduce themselves before he showed them inside and he motioned for them to follow after him back inside.
“She did not give us names. But he’s my brother, so I just call him Brother. And he calls me Sister.” The small exoskeleton Cryo said as she skittered along after Tempest, her brother keeping up as they headed to the back of the cave where the log was and where Cheer had been hiding.
“Sit. We’ll get you some names then, too. This one is Cheer. I’m Tempest.” Tempest said, waiting for the two new hatchlings to look over Cheer. The three children studying each other without a word for a moment before the little female plopped her butt onto the ground. As soon as she had sat, the two males relaxed as well. Cheer had quickly got over the log and went to sit down beside the two and looked up at Tempest.
The older male waited for the group to all be seated before he rooted around in the hollowed out tree trunk, withdrawing a fish that he and Cheer had ‘hunted’ the other day. He at least didn’t have to worry about food spoiling now with three mouths to feed.
Cheer didn’t touch the fish, though. He looked up at Tempest, a sad look in his eyes before he looked back over at the other two hatchlings as they started to rip into the fish. The black and green male ate his fill, but always kept an eye on his sister to make sure she was actually eating before he would take another few bites. And only after the two had finished eating did Cheer scoot over to finish off what was left of the fish.
“Little one, you.” Tempest said, pointing at the black and green male who quickly looked up at him. “You are now named Kujo. And you.” He said before pointing at the female. “You will be named Chii. Do you both agree?” He asked and raised his brows as he looked at the pair.
Chii listened and tilted her head a bit before looking over at Kujo but smiled as she looked back up at Tempest. “We agree. It’s nice to just have a name. And they’re fun names! Like Cheer.” Chii said and looked over at her new brother.
Cheer quickly finished the bite of fish he had as he looked back at the other two. “Thank you. I like your feathers. And your scales are super cool. And Kujo, I like your patterns! Your freckles are cool looking, but that green on your face is awesome.” Cheer replied and smiled back at the pair.
The rest of the day was spent in the cave, Tempest asking the two what they had been up to and what their mother had them doing. While they told their stories, all three hatchlings had snuggled up between Tempest’s arms to keep warm. The warmth of the stones helping relax the two new hatchlings as well, the volcanic rock new to them but was very much welcome.
The heat of the rock, the sound of her brothers voice, and the feeling of actually being safe had quickly lulled Chii to sleep. Her down feathers flaring up slightly to keep warm. Her brother wasn’t log behind her. As they had listened to Cheer talking excitedly about the fish that he and Tempest had hunted, Kujo had gradually passed out as well. Tempest couldn’t help but smile slightly at the sight of the two before he looked over at Cheer.
Cheer had looked back up at him as well before resting his head on Tempest’s arm. “What do you think?” Tempest whispered down to Cheer.
“It’s sad. But I’m happy they’re here. I get a brother and sister now! And they get an actual dad.” Cheer chirped right back up at Tempest, closing his little eyes as well. With a mighty huff, Cheer had settled in as well and had gone to sleep a few moments later. Leaving just Tempest awake to watch the three all sleeping in his arms.
He still doubted he’d be a good ‘father’, but it certainly felt nice to see three happy little hatchings that he had played a part in making happy. He lowered his head, curling up around the three to completely encompass them so that he knew they would be safe before even he fell victim to a midday nap.
