Night Fury's Venom

Days Go By [Part 2]

Five moon cycles... Five moon cycles later, and Moon still hasn't laid the egg. It's growth was steady, but horribly slow. Moon had a moderately sized belly now, but it was nowhere close to the right size for laying an egg yet. I could still hear the hatchling's heartbeat, so while I was worried about its health, I wasn't panicking.

Astra, however, wasn't quite panicking yet, but she quickly became obsessive over Moon's egg. She even decided to 'take Moon back' from my care, and though it emotionally crushed me, I had to let her. One, she was my mother, so I didn't want to disobey her when our relationship was doing so well, but it hurt that she didn't trust my judgement. Two, I was her apprentice and I still had a lot to learn, so she had the right to pull me away. Still, it hurt a lot to be blocked from caring for my sibling.

Astra has had Moon under her care for only three nights, and Astra was angry. Since last night, Moon suddenly turned into the worst dragon to care for that I'd ever seen. She was very rebellious, giving Astra a horrible attitude, and just being plain difficult to deal with. I didn't understand why her attitude had changed so suddenly, but she seemed to suddenly disregard what Stormfly told her about treating the one caring for her with respect.

In the meantime, I was digging a new room in the back of the den. I had a few ideas for what it could be used for, things like a room for someone to sleep in permanently, plant storage, or maybe a room dedicated to healers. If it was the third option, it could be dug large enough that it held plant storage and space for an injured dragon to rest with plenty of space to still work with multiple dragons inside. It was the most likely option, but I wasn't sure how often it would be used for that purpose, so it might just end up being a spare room to sleep in when it got too cold.

Astra stormed toward me angrily, interrupting my digging with a growl. "I give up! If she wants to risk her egg's death, then so be it!"

I pulled away from the half-dug room with a small sigh. "Mom, she's probably just getting hit hard by her mood swings. I'm sure they'll pass." I muttered, shaking the dirt off my forepaws.

"No, no! I'm done!" She hissed, baring her teeth. "If you really think they'll pass, then have at it!"

I cocked a brow. "You want her back under my care?" I warbled slowly, seeing her nod sharply. "Fine, but someone has to dig this."

"I'll do it," she grumbled, stepping up to start digging. "Go deal with miss pissy."

"Mom," I murmured, "I'll take care of it, but you need to calm down, alright?" She sighed and stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. "Good." I turned and made my way toward Moon, who was lying against the opposite wall, her eyes closed and head on her paws. Surprisingly, she wasn't talking to her hatchling's core like she usually did. 

It was amusing to watch her these past moon cycles, amazed at how the hatchling seemed to understand her, and how Moon used its core to know how it reacted. Of course, she learned very quickly that if she talked to her belly instead of the core, then the hatchling would react more actively because it could actually hear her clearly. It was fun to watch.

Which was why I was confused about her sudden bad mood. I wasn't sure if she talked to her hatchling anymore because I was too busy digging a new room for the den to check. I mostly used the digging as a distraction from Astra pulling me from Moon. If Moon got snotty and disobedient with me, however, I was going to show her why that was a bad idea. She was carrying my sibling, and now that I was her caretaker again, I would ensure she listened to my rules.

"I'm not eating, Astra," Moon growled when I stopped in front of her. "You can't tell your god what to do." I cocked a brow. So, that was the latest issue? I snorted and brought up some meat from my stomach—no fish due to my diet to get more fat. "I said I'm not eating."