The egg had seemed happy and content in the nest of furs Jigano had made for it in the safety of his den. Not just seemed – he had felt its contentment, especially when he was near and curled around it in fox form. And not ‘it’, either. The little one inside was definitely ‘her.’ It was strange, knowing these things without knowing how he knew them, but he could tell when she was getting cold, or restless, and when he returned after a long day her joy at his presence was a balm on his wounded soul.
But he didn’t know what she was, and had no idea when she would hatch or what to expect when she did.
So it was that he was caught by surprise one evening, as day shaded into darkness and the snow fell softly in the dusk, to feel her restlessness increase. At first he thought it just a change in her mood and he kept at his studying in Loreseeker Hall, but soon enough frustration and a small but fierce determination filtered through his thoughts. Blinking, he had frowned – and then leapt to his feet, book forgotten as he dashed from the Atheneum and into the night with barely a stop for his cloak on the way.
He dashed back even faster, a small bundle cradled in the crook of his arm and held gently to his chest beneath his cloak. For once there was no forethought to his actions, no plan or mental chess as he threw his thoughts ahead to gauge response and reaction. His mind was too focused on the tiny heartbeat next to his, and the persistent hunger he felt permeating the thoughts that twined through his own with gentle insistence.
He didn’t – quite – burst into the infirmary, but his steps were a little unsteady as he slowed his pace and looked anxiously around for a familiar blond head. ”Isla?” he called, hope and desperation coloring his voice. ” Isla, please, are you here? I need… I don’t know… I need your advice, please. It’s urgent.”
Time marched on, as was its way, and Isla had settled into the throes of Deepfrost with a surprising ease. Without feeling the chill enough to bother her, she was as active and capable as ever, working to make the Infirmary as ready as it could be against the coming LongNight. In fact, she even had a chance at some downtime, and while she'd have loved to take her books with her to the Atheneum, the risk of an emergency was too great to leave.
So when Jigano's voice echoed through to her study, an unusual twang of panic in it, she was on her feet in moments. "I'm here," she called, stepping through the ward on quick and silent feet, hurrying to the waiting area to see to him. The Loreseeker's pin sparkled brightly in the light of the lanterns where she wore it upon her tunic, and she was still bundling her hair up into a tail as she spotted him.
"What's happened? Urgent is my forte."
The bard was not his usual put-together self. There were twigs in his hair, the white mane looking a little rough instead of sleekly brushed, and dirt smudged his face and hands. His tunic was a little askew, his own pin hidden in a fold of fabric as he saw Isla emerge and a look of almost pathetic relief washed over him. "She's hungry," he explained, skipping straight from point A to point H without stopping in between to fill in the details. "She hatched and she's hungry, I can feel it but I... I don't know what babies eat."
Baby whats was left a mystery, at least until he gently lifted the corner of his cloak back to reveal the still-damp - and a little chilled - gryphlet snuggled in the bard's hand and cradled against his chest. Her fur and downy feathers were pale, hints of white and blues and greys. At the sudden light and chill air she opened her beak and let out a small but healthy squeaky Reep! of protest.
"I didn't know... I thought... you might know something?" he asked, almost pleading. "And if you could make sure she's... alright?" He almost said 'normal' but how did one define such a thing when he had no idea what would be abnormal in a creature he'd only heard of in tales? And even then, only the adult version!
The sight of Jigano so utterly ruffled was not an image Isla would forget easily. So far she had seen her friend nothing but put together and effortlessly self-assured, and something must have been seriously awry for that to have changed. "Hungry...?" she echoed, not really following and thinking for a moment, as he mentioned babies, that he'd found a newborn abandoned out in the snow or something.
Calling for Phoebe was almost on her lips (the midwife would know what to do, right?) when Jigano moved his jacket and Isla saw... saw... well. It was a baby, just... not a person. Isla only realised her jaw had dropped when she had to quickly compose herself, clearing her throat and beckoning the bard through into the study where she'd been working.
On the way, she grabbed a towel that was warming near a fire, clicking the door shut behind them. Isla cleared her desk and hesitantly held out her hands for the gryphlet, ensuring they were draped in the warm fabric. "Um... may I...?"
Isla looked, the bard realized, not unlike he felt, with her jaw hanging open like that. But unlike him, she regained her composure swiftly and he followed her with eager relief that she seemed to know what she was about. Instinctively he curled his other hand around the little gryphlet, sensing her chill now that his heavy cloak no longer protected her from the elements. The little one appreciated his contact as much as the warmth, settling again as he stepped into the study and then stood, bewildered and unsure of what to do once more as he looked down at the small, fluffy life in his hands, who cheeped piteously up at him again in a hunger he could swear he could feel.
When he looked up again, blinking back to awareness of his surroundings, Isla was standing in front of him. He had brought the newborn - newhatched? - gryphon to her for just this reason and yet he found himself hesitating to let her out of his hands. Exhaling slowly, he forced himself to move his arms away from his body, cradling the little one carefully as she protested again. But drying off her feathers and getting her clean and warm was more important, just then, and with Isla's calm presence to steady him it was easier to remember that. As gently as possible he placed her into his friend's steady, healing hands and the warm towel draped over them.
The gryphlet started to cheep again, but as the towel's warmth soaked through to her skin she blinked and went silent, snuggling into Isla's hands with a relief Jigano knew he wasn't imagining.
"The egg," he said, almost hesitant as he hovered close. "From the winter nymph, in that dream-cave near the Labyrinth. She hatched from that. And I can feel her in my head-- no, not quite my head. My... heart?" he almost asked, tentative and vulnerable in this sudden connection to such a small and helpless little creature.
Isla was a people doctor, not an animal one, and she most certainly wasn't a mythical creature doctor either. But if the hatchling was as new as Jigano's words led her to believe, then being out in the cold was no good at all. Her hunch was proven correct as the little gryphlet snuggled into the towel, Isla very gently holding her in one hand while the other used the towel to carefully rub at damp feathers to dry them off and fluff them up.
"She came from the egg?" Isla arched an eyebrow before grinning to him. "Congratulations, I think. I've read about creatures that can bond to a person like the way you describe. In one of the books in the Atheneum - I've put it on a shelf in the Hall, so I'll show you it when we get a chance - but... it sounds like you've got a friend for life in this little one."
Tentatively, Isla held out the hatchling bundled in the towel so Jigano could take over. "If you sit with her, I'll go and see if we have any food, maybe?"
"Bond?" he repeated weakly. "For life?" Oh, he very much wanted to sit down right then, but Isla was holding out the little fluffball and Jigano reached for her automatically, cradling her close as soon as the gryphon was safely transferred back to his hands. He felt her happy approval of being back against him almost as an afterthought of his own relief at having her close again.
Nodding dazedly he let Isla go on her search while he found a chair near the fire and settled into it, utterly bewildered at the turn of events. Making sure the gryphlet was wrapped in a clean part of the towel, he gently stroked her head with one finger, petting the downy feathers and marveling at their softness. She continued to cheep her hunger occasionally, but the warmth was doing wonders to keep her calm and relaxed as their combined body heat finally chased away the chill her egg-damp feathers had left.
When Isla returned she would find the bard holding his new companion in his lap, utterly captivated with the tiny life and singing a quiet lullaby in the Sylvan tongue to her as she gently nibbled a corner of the towel with a surprisingly sharp little beak.
Isla was gone for longer than expected - she'd had to go to the Rathskeller to search for something that the tiny creature might want to eat, and she had stopped on the way back to make some tea for Jigano. She carried both on a tray as she reentered the study, pausing to listen to his lullaby with a soft smile on her face.
"For life," she confirmed gently in response to his question just as she had left, moving to set the tray down onto the desk and collect the bowl filled with small scraps of fresh meat.
"We are lucky. Vervain had this leftover from making a stew earlier today. Though I didn't think - what if your little featherball is a vegetarian? I didn't think so because of the beak, but... who knows?"
Jigano's song trailed off gently after Isla spoke, a soft sigh escaping as he smiled down at the gryphlet. "But how long will she live?" he asked wistfully. "Gryphons existed on my world, but they were so distant as to be nigh mythic--hey!" The smell of meat had wafted over to the gryphon in question, who started wriggling and Reep!ing with more vigor as Isla approached.
"Oh, I think meat will do just fine," Jigano reassured Isla, a bit bemused at the sudden sharp eagerness he felt from his new companion. "I think... you're right about the beak, and see how small it is, against her face? She looks more like an owl than any other bird that comes to mind." She was, in fact, struggling to sit up, so the bard helped her so she could tilt her head back, beak wide open and ready for whatever meaty tidbits might find their way into it. "I wonder how much she'll eat?" he mused, steadying her with both hands. "I... suspect I'll be doing a lot more hunting in the near future..." That he might protest the connection never crossed his mind, not with how simple and bright her love for him was, or how hard he had already fallen head over heels for her uncomplicated support and sweetness.
"They used to exist in your world? I confess I barely even know what one is." Unfortunately all of Isla's youth had been spent studying reality rather than fiction - though she was rather stumped now that she was face to face with such a creature of apparent myth. Drawing up a chair next to Jigano, she couldn't help but laugh at the insistent cheeping from the hungry little thing.
"Well, however long she is going to live, she's certainly got an appetite for life," she remarked, examining the gryphlet as if for the first time now. "An owl, yes," she agreed, plucking up some of the scraps of meat and dutifully feeding them to the hatchling.
"If she's anything like any other baby, as much as you'll give her. You'll have to be wary not to overfeed her. But she seems otherwise healthy, my friend. Congratulations, I think?"
"They continue to exist, as far as I know," the bard said with a wry smile. "But not in the part of the world where I lived. I've only read about them before... well, before now!" He shook his head looking down at the little one in his lap in amusement as she gobbled down the scraps Isla was feeding her. "I knew generally what they were, that they ate meat and, at least on my world, were moderately intelligent. They were also supposed to be big, though. Big enough to ride, if you earned one's loyalty. But... she's so small..." Though at least she looked a bit bulkier now that her feathers and fur were dry and fluffed out.
He didn't try to pet her while she was eating, settling for keeping her steady and watching to see how much Isla felt comfortable giving her in this first feeding. "I've... never had anything to do with other babies," he admitted helplessly. "Human or animal. I don't know what to... what to expect, really." But she did, indeed, look healthy on a brief inspection. Little foreclaws like owl talons ending in tiny claws that would undoubtedly grow with her, big catlike back paws, a fluffy curl of tail, and two small, down-feathered wings all seemed in place. And her appetite was certainly healthy, as she greedily inhaled down the little tidbits that could fit in her beak! "She needs a name and..." he shook his head, looking overwhelmed as he looked up at Isla with worried blue eyes. "And I don't hardly know where to begin!"
"In fairness, I would have been very surprised if she'd been huge, coming out of the egg she was in." Isla grinned to Jigano as she continued to feed the little gryphlet scraps of meat. She listened to his description of the creatures back in his world with open interest and curiosity; obviously they existed as well in Caido, or one wouldn't be snuggled into the bard's lap right now! As for how big she might get, Isla chuckled.
"Don't speak too soon, now. If she grows quickly and ends up large enough to ride, you might have a real handful to deal with!" And then some. Finally, Isla decided that the hatchling's little belly would probably be unhappy if it received any more tasty tidbits, so she put the rest of the scraps out of reach and busied herself in washing her hands.
Her smile growing softer, she sat down beside her friend once more. "Begin at the beginning," she said unhelpfully. "She just needs basics. Food, water, warmth and shelter. A name would be good too, though. What will you call her?
"That's why I wasn't really expecting... this..." the bard said faintly, easily distracted by the baby on his lap. Not that he'd known what to expect! But a tiny - a miniature? - gryphon certainly wasn't it!
He gave a little shake of his head at her comment about riding, though it was hesitant. I don't think she'll get that big?" Though he sounded uncertain. "Her little paws are so small..." And, frankly, adorable. As Isla took the bowl of meat away, the gryphlet burped once and then tipped over into Jigano's hands. He hurriedly settled her back down onto the towel, which she snuggled into, utterly content.
"A name?" he murmured, looking down at the little creature in his lap and completely unaware of how open and vulnerable he'd let his expression become. "I hadn't thought... but..." he exhaled slowly, thought and memory crystallizing as he gazed on her pale feathers, her two forelegs and two wings, and the support and affection he'd already felt from her. "Isuma. After... an old friend..." He glanced up at Isla, uncharacteristically shy as he smiled at his friend. "Do you like it? Do you think she will?"
Isla couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she gazed at her friend with the baby gryphon on his lap. She didn't think she'd ever seen Jigano coo over something before. Since she had known him he had been charming, charismatic and yes, quite frank and honest with her. But he'd not seemed the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. That seemed to have changed with the arrival of Isuma, though. Isla's blue eyes lit up as she heard the name, especially after hearing it was after an old friend of his.
"Isuma," she repeated slowly, nodding her head and reaching out to absently stroke at the downy feathers on the gryphlet's head. "I think it's perfect. She will love it - you'll have to make sure to say it a lot around her, so she learns it quickly."
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