The Hatchling
By Lysander Morrigan (Crystal Morgan) cmorgan@mosquitonet.com		

Author's note: this story came about only because I had a notion of writing
what it might be like for a gargoyle cub to hatch, and what it would be
like growing up. The gargoyle Clan in this story is the North Clan of
Scotland, a Clan I have used in another story of mine. There are no
gargoyles used in this story from Disney's Clan.  And there is nothing of
Qustionable Content.

" In each of us there is a new beginning
New hopes of life and love
And with each and every second inning
They, of the past, smile down on us with love."
-Unknown


The sand in dimly-lit room felt hot to the touch as Kess crouched  on all
fours watching the round speckled object.  The egg, laid some time ago, was
to be her only sibling.  All the other eggs of the once large clan had
parished in an attack on the castle, this lone egg hasd been saved, only
because kess had run with it. She looks at the orb in the light, her
greenish eyes glowing in the warmly heated room.  Suddenly, she saw it
again.. a movement, from the small oval-shaped holder of New life. She
gasped in delight, and walked over to a rope on the wall, pulling it. a
bell rang in thecastle above. soon, the room was filled with three other
adult  gargoyles, Lyssa and Dainy,  Kess's younger twin sibs, and two human
midwives.

"I think it'll be soon." she whispered, watchjiong as the egg once again
rocked. 

Inside the egg, the small being quivered at the cool tuoch of the shell
against her hand. She knew this is what they called a hand from listening
to the voices outside. Outside. How she wanted to see what that would be
like. she pushed on the hard again keeping her cramped,. and heard some
sounds outside once more.  "More  loud." she thought to herself. "That must
mean out is good." She knew out. Out was someplace other then here, for she
had heard two voices talking before, and they always seemed to go away when
someone had said "Out". She thought about it. "Perhaps, if I get my  
aaaaaarrrm To move.." she thought as she pressed against the egg shell with
both hand and tail. A cracked and more, louder noise greeted her ears.
"YES!!" she said to herself  " this means out!"  she pushed harder now with
both feet and tail, then hands, used her muscles to spread the stteange
arms on her back. with a mighty yet small roar, she was free of the hard
shell of her encasement.

 Loud voices said "oohhh, " and  in the now slightly cold, she stood up
breifly before falling to the strange bewlow. "here I am! it's me!' She
said, btu it sounded like a squeak to her hears. one of the strange
cratures with no long arrrrm coming from behnd them picked her up and
wrapped her in a nice warm blanket. She laughd softly at the strange
creature, and seeing an intresting thing poking from her face, tried to
take it. The woman laughed. 

" Got quite a grip there haven't we little one?  m,ay I please have my nose
back njow?" She said with a smile as she unhooked the tiny gargoyles claws
from her face.

"What will we call her?" said Kess.

" How Bout dolly? she looks like a dolly. " said Little Lysander, Kess's
younger sister.

"  Naw, Call her Frog. " Said Dain, Lysander's twin sibling. he loooked at
the little cub with his mouth open wide , for his nose was  stuffed up a
bit from a fight the day before with one of the young pages of the castle.
a space gaped wide between his two canines where he had lost a tooth. his
tail twitched,m and then, fuill of Mischeif, he thwapped Lysander in the
leg with it, and smiled innocently. Lysander, angry at him for it, thwapped
him back with her tail. their mother, Lela, picked Lysander up and held her
saying to the children not to fight.

"We'll call her Daystar. But, for the little ones " Richord, the second in
command, and Lysander and Dain's father said softly " She will be Daysa."
Lysander and Dain, the only two young cubs in the rookery at thetime, ran
off to play. The  woman holding the cub walked up the other flight of
stairs to the nursury and vanished.

It had been several years since she had hatched, and already, Daysa was
learning.  she had learned the long Arrrmm was actually a tay-yal. and that
the two arms on her back, where wings.  She had also learned how to anoy
the hoomans to no extent. she was a large cub, and had lots of fun throwing
her toys out of the cur-rib. Now, She sat on the floor of the Cur-rib,
chewing on a wooden ring, which the hoomans had gioven her. she had a
couple of teeth coming in, and they hurt her mouth. Chewing it seemed, made
it feel much better. But, still, she was having problems telling them what
she wanted.  Whgen she said, for example, "PLEASE GIVE ME A COOKIE!!" it
sounded like  "WEEAAAAAAOOOOR". Something much like the Ca-at. And when she
said , 'I'M WET!! MAKE ME DRY!!" it sounded even worse, Like a hawk
screaming. she didn't like this, and so, she practiced saying, every day
and night, no matter where she was, words like the Hoomans and big
gawhgoyals did. She knew she was a gawhgoyal, because that was what some of
the hoomans said angrilly when Tessra, her hooman, brought her down to play
with the little hoomans.

Little hoomans were fun. Daysa knew this well.  They could tug and pull,
and run, and jump and laugh... but daysa could do something they couldn't.
She could flap her wings, and wiggle her tay-yal. AND, she could climb.
Climbing, was without a doubt, Daysa's favorite thing to do.  She smiled
silently to herself, and, working on it and gribbing the side of the
cur-rib, She rose slowly to her feet, and caught her balance.  Then,
pulling her Taddy bear  and surprise box to her, she climbed up and climbed
out of the Cur-rib. She smiled a happy smile at the outside world.  Looking
about, she giggles, and cluching her taddy close, she toddled out of the
Nurse-sury.  

She looked about the hall clutching her Taddybear close to her, and looked
about at al the strangerugs on the wall. Tap-est-trees, they were called. 
Daysa had seen the Huge trees outside, and couldn't see why these rugs were
called Tap-est-trees, they had no leaves or branches, and when she tried to
climb them, she got yelled at.  But She liked Tap-Est-Trees, cause they had
HUUUGE pictures, that told stories.  Stories are fun.  

~To Be Continued~