Anya let out a drawn-out sigh of contentment as her body fell heavily into the soft field clovers that lined the lake of her beloved. Her claws stretched out, just barely dipping themselves in the water. She was the image of a fat, happy, and, in that moment rather lazy harpy as one could be.
If she could go back in time and tell her younger self how their life would turn out, she would have laughed in her own face.
She was born to be a warrior. A tool for the betterment of the flock and a weapon against their enemies to be used until she fell in battle. Her story had been written in stone from the moment of her birth. Train, sacrifice, watch over her twin, battle, die. Her own happiness, thoughts, and dreams didn’t matter and were time and time again drilled out of her.
Yet, here she was. Countless miles away from her flock, her purpose, the very twin she was bound in service to. Her body bore the scars of many battles, including the prominent one across her neck where her own sister’s claws had carried out her death sentence.
One life ended that day, and another began.
In her years living in Kawani she had experiences Anya couldn’t have even imagined in her youth. She had formed true friendships, found love, and had her belly swell twice with new life.
Admittedly, the second time was a much more arduous adventure as her body was pushed to its absolute limits bringing seven little bundles of joy into this world.
She promised she would never forgive Nikandros for that one. Next time he wanted children, he could birth them himself.
Despite the hardship of bringing them into this world, raising her massive litter of chicks had been some of the happiest times in her life. Each of them had massive personalities and, most unfortunately, had inherited her temper and fighting spirit. Keeping them out of trouble and from accidentally killing each other kept both her and her mate on their toes with each passing day.
Except for one of her chicks, Ilya. He was the kind-hearted and quiet one of his siblings and a mama’s boy to boot! More often than not, you would find him tucked behind her legs rather than out wrestling with the rest of his siblings.
Anya found his shy nature endearing. He reminded her so much of his sister when she was a child. It was ironic to her that though she was often regarded as brash and quick to anger, she always managed to give birth to at least one child who was the total opposite of her fiery nature. Perhaps it was her penance for her crimes in her past from the spirits. A lesson to teach her to calm down and think rationally. Or perhaps it was simply just her mate’s annoyingly zen nature coming through to at least one of their children. Only the spirits knew.
But her timid little chick had eventually grown into a full-grown adult, and despite his very loud protests and promises that he would come visit through crocodile tears, he had left to spread his wings and go find his own place in the world.
That was moons ago, and though she was loath to admit it, she was worried and missing her little shadow. The rest of his siblings had at some point or another already come back and visited to regale their parents on their world travels and adventures; some had even brought mates for Anya and Nik to meet!
But yet, one was still MIA. Anya had more than once confided in her mate her concerns and driven herself into a panic, threatening to gather a search party to track him down. Nikandros, annoyingly aloof and zen as always, barely moved from his meditation in the middle of the lake. He would point out that it was her idea for him to go out and world travel, that he was not a child anymore that needed his mother to watch over him, and to trust that they had raised him with all of the tools he needed to be a proper adult.
She knew he was right - as he always was - but…but…godsdammit she missed her baby!
All she could do was try to take a page out of her mate’s book and try to relax, trusting that her son would make his way back to them when he was ready.
“MAAAMMAA! I’M HOME!” Letting out a sharp gasp Anya’s head shot up, her head on a swivel to try and locate the source of the familiar voice.
She heard correctly, right? Was finally losing her sanity in her old age?
The distinctive blend of blues, greens, and golds caught her eye, trotting on the horizon towards her. Gods be good, there he was!
“Ilya!” She cried out as she quickly sprang to her feet. “You’re home!” She continued, rushing towards him to crash into his frame. Her head wrapped around his neck to tug him into a tight embrace. The gift that he had brought her had been completely overlooked for a far more important gift to her took precedence: himself!
“Where have you been, synok!? Do you know how long it has been?” Anya babbled, her mind racing a mile a minute. Pulling away, she gave him a quick scan over his person to check for any injuries before her claw came down to give him a light smack on the top of his hoof. “No word, no updates, no visits!” She wailed, her face contorting into a pitiful frown as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
“I missed you so much.”
WC: 959
