The Lioness {Hatching}

And the piano's this melancholy sound check,
To her smile,
And that white dress she's wearing,
You haven't seen her for a while.

Kalith was a hostile statue against each of the candidates' greetings and displays of respect. Her pride was self evident, there before they paid her any such mind. Their bows only kept her from lashing out, putting them back in the place they skirted with their unnecessary words and foolhardy presence. Truly, the copper was as good a guardian for the wher egg as any wher gold. She held a certain degree of rationality, but as her rider could attest, she was not above resorting to violence. She understood it was not usually the path to take, but sometimes it was. Sometimes there wasn't any other option and those were the times she threw herself into it with reckless abandon. However, that night was not her night. It was the whers' night. It was the night of the life held within the golden egg that sat before her, so, much like her silent rider, she merely sat, hummed, and waited.

However, eggs wait for no one, so there was not much waiting to do. The single crack in its shell had widen from the width of a hair to the width of a pen. As soon as Yalenia had taken her place, the egg began to splinter, a second crack appear a few inches to the right of the original. More cracks appeared to connect the two. The wheret within could not sense that anyone was out there. She did not know that none of her guests had arrived, only the candidates, and she did not care. The maze of cracks grew and grew, each one slowly expanding and then forking. Finally, after half a minute, the egg began to break. Aware of her success, the wheret rammed her body one final time against the shell and it gave way, her prison falling to pieces. Shaking them off and kicking them away, the tiny gold straightened and then stretched, enjoying her liberty from confinement.

While not the largest representative of her color, even at her birth, she would not be outclassed by any normal King and she was far from without the ability to execute intimidation. Even if no bigger than most people's pet canines, she was strongly built, muscular even in youth as was typical of her species. She was leaner than most whers, though still squat of limb and gnarled of hide. If one hadn't been able to see the metallic sheen of her hide in what light there was, one might have thought her an odd brown. As it were, if she hadn't come from her golden egg, one still might have thought her a pale bronze, because she was certainly pale in color. The color deepened along her spine over her thick neck, fat tail, and long back. The same darker shade colored her muzzle, the edges of her wings, and around the corners of her eyes, highlighting the red that they swirled.

The gold stretched her front legs, then her back legs, then her neck, flexing her muscles as she got to know her body. The entire time, she kept her attention on the candidates, eying Kalenna, then Abetzi and Jimmita, and then Yalenia. Finally, once she could no longer feel the shape of her egg in the ache of her legs, she began to jog towards the waiting girls, carrying herself at a lackadaisical pace with fluid motions. There was nothing particularly dangerous about her. How she acted suggested she didn't have too much enthusiasm for what she was doing, but there was no violence written on her features or in the way she carried herself. However, there was a firmness to the watchful manner she held about herself. Even if her eyesight was not the best because of her species, she made it clear that she knew that they were all there. She was watching.

Despite her unnerving intensity of observance, the gold wher exhibited no obvious pride. Compared to the regal, glowering presence of Kalith behind her, she was modest as a field mouse. She was a Queen. She knew that. She would not abide being threatened, but she seemed content where she was. Being alive and free was fine by her. Keeping an eye on what was happening was more important to her. She did not hurry to reach the small cluster of girls. In fact, she slowed as she went, taking each step with purpose. She could hear their slight movements. She could smell their sweat. She could feel the heat of the sand against her hide. The world was all around her. She felt it; she lived it. The world reminded her to keep watch. Her eyes, her ears, and her nose scoured the candidates. Despite her calmness, she absorbed each detail, again and again with each step she took.

And so there's a change,
In your emotions,
And all of these memories come rushing,
Like feral waves to your mind.

And she leaves,
With someone you don't know,
But she makes sure you saw her,
She looks right at you and bolts.

The semi-circle loomed in front of the little gold. The candidates were all far taller than she, but that did not bother the young Queen. If needed, she could still rip them open. Though she did not appear to be in any state of aggression, the possibility for violence lay only inches below her skin, as did a great many other possibilities. Life was full of possibilities and she would accept each possibility as they came. She'd certainly protect her own. She observed each thing, filing it all away in her short memory, a memory that occupied most of the space in her brain. She reacted on instinct to what faced her. Thus far, there was no instinct, no response, except to find the company of another when it was presented to her. It was not a very specific instinct; she did not particularly like it. Nor did she find that she particularly liked all of the candidates. She found them hard to trust.

The gold's easy trot became a prowl as she faced the four women in front of her, pacing back and forth. It took her only a few steps to complete a circuit between them and then turn back to look them over once more, failing to observe their faces each time. She was not in any rush, but her temper had noticeably soured. Threats always looked worse up close. At a distance, it was impersonal. She didn't care about things that weren't personal to her. Up close? It definitely was and she definitely cared. It wasn't that they were bad people. She didn't think that in the slightest, given that she didn't preoccupy herself much with complex thoughts. She knew they had good traits. She could sense them. However, whether they were good people or not didn't really matter to her. She could see their bad traits and smell their stink. Just beneath the surface, they were threats, same as her.

On the fourth pass, Kalenna earned a growl as the gold met her eyes. Abetzi's gaze, the gold craning her neck, was also met with an added dose of distrust, eyes an even deeper red than before. They still swirled at the same steady pace, but she was obviously not pleased. She ignored Jimmita entirely, pretending as if the girl didn't exist. It was definitely pretend, for she knew exactly where the girl stood and that was still clear, but she ignored Jimmita's gaze and paid her no mind. Yalenia was the last of the cluster, having been the last to arrive, and the gold's eyes snapped to her. She barred her teeth at the woman and very purposefully, she dug her claws into the sands a centimeter from her foot. She wanted to shove Yalenia, push her away, but touching the woman also wasn't something she wanted to do. She'd rather curl up in a ball in the dark.

Kalith was preoccupied with glaring daggers at Argotath, her golden charge rather forgotten. She certainly wasn't going to stop the young wher from doing whatever damage she might. She'd let K'var pass when Fajra had deemed him under her protection in the stands, but she watched Argotath like a hawk, failing to respond to his words. She'd only respond if he put a toe out of line. Despite the fact that he was one of the invited parties, it did not mean that she had to allow him on her hands. It was by her grace and esteemable virtue as Dalibor's Queen that she allowed him within her sight. His cheer was obnoxious, though she supposed it was befitting of the situation. Fajra's attention was split. She kept one eye on her temperamental Queen, a habit she had long ago developed, and one eye on the golden wher, watching her without expression or emotion.

Pivoting on that planted foot, the wheret whirled around with a flick of her tail and faced the remaining three candidates. She even acknowledged Jimmita's presence on that occasion. Her temper was still sour. It wasn't even that they were threats. It was the fact that they were all so flawed and unsuitable. They were all the same, neatly shoved together into a little circle. They were too close together. Didn't they want to have space? Didn't they want to be free? To hunt? Hunger gnawed at her belly. That didn't help her mood, but neither did it hinder it. She could control that desire for the time being. What shook her the most was her disappointment, her desire to protect, and her confusion. The instinct to pick one was there; it was strong, telling her to pick a partner, pick someone who could hunt with her, pick someone to protect. Yet her pride was getting in the way.

Or merely her confusion. Whichever one was hers, she wanted to protect. Whichever ones weren't, they needed to get away from her handler. It wasn't that she hated them; they were all merely too close together! She wanted space. One could only protect in such confined spaces and to protect was to kill if necessary. That would not help her calm. One couldn't hunt or run all lumped together. She stalked away from Yalenia, passing over Jimmita once again. She paused in front of Abetzi, flicking her tail back and forth. Then she snarled, mostly to herself from the way she curled her neck. Looking sharply away from Abetzi, the gold's gaze fell upon Kalenna. There was only Kalenna left. After that, there was only Kalenna. The gold focused. There could only be one objective and only choice. She twined her long body around the woman's legs, cutting them off from the others.

Kalesk's Kalenna. The gold leaned her head against her handler's knees. She had returned to her previous state of calm, her waking ire put to sleep once more. She watched the others, of course, red eyes on them, but she wouldn't hurt them. Not unless they messed with Kalenna or pushed her too far. Or messed with anything she deemed as needing her care or protection. If any of the other girls bothered them, she would bite them, though she didn't think they were food. Humans weren't food. She understood that. Though not necessarily intelligent, she was observant and astute. Biting was for threats. Anything could be a threat, except for Kalesk's children. They got hit if they misbehaved. Fajra was clapping and the gold unwound herself, stretched, and glanced at the stands. Eating was for food. Humans weren't food. She needed food. Feed. She wasn't one to waste words.



Under the streetlights,
And you're too drunk to notice,
That everyone is staring at you,
And you so care what you look like.