Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Birds on a Wire ❯ Chapter 1
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Oreana Date 
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.19.2013 | Updated On: 10.19.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 200 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.19.2013 | Updated On: 10.19.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 200 | Status: Completed
Author’s Notes: I guess with FF7 discounted insanely well on Steam, I’ll take that as a sign to kick myself in the butt here and get to work on this story.
This story was plotted to be in another fandom of my choice years ago, but I am relieved that it didn’t take off now that my fandom priority has shifted. The whole chocobo raising was a favorite pastime of mine, so it only felt fair that I make it a fanfic. The crossover will only be via scenery means and chocobos—not with FF7 characters.
Description: When Lola-Na’s best friend and charge, Lily-An, becomes deathly ill, Lola-Na tries her best to win at the chocobo races at the Gold Saucer only to encounter a road blocking rivalry with Remington. (NC-17) (Remington x OC) (Thunderhawk x OC)
Musical Inspiration: Do I need anything beyond Final Fantasy 7 music of awesome? I think not.
Copywrite: Lola-Na/ Bronze/ Matsu-Na / Cocoa / Syrup / Chester/ various other chocobos – Kurodemangaka
Lily-An/ Brownie/ Ruby/ Elli-An/ Quill / various other chocobos – Oreana
Brotherhood of Guardians / Remington – Archie/ Penders
Final Fantasy 7 locations / chocobos – Squaresoft (as it was called once upon a time)
Brushing the snow from his pants, Bronze slowly removed himself from the ground where he had been sitting previously to merely watch over the corralled chocobos as the sun was going down. The echidna was halfway to his feet when he felt his nine-year-old daughter fling herself onto his back. “Daddy!” she whistled through her missing front tooth.
Bronze nearly fell over, but was relieved he caught himself in time. Turning to the small chocolate furred child with shoulder length dark auburn hair, he greeted his daughter with a lighthearted chuckle. “Hey there, Lola-Na!” Fixing her in his arms, he tossed her up in the air before catching her again to sweetly rub noses together. “What brings you out here? It’s the coldest it has ever been at the Icicle Inn.”
“Mommy wanted me to get you for dinner,” Lola-Na said with a giggle as she ran her fingers through his black beard.
Kissing Lola’s cheek, he gently placed her back down in the snow. “I know, kitten, but right now I need to get these birds into the barn.” Bronze placed his hands on his hips as he could see his daughter getting a bit excited at the idea. He smirked at her bottled enthusiasm. “Do you want to help me get them in the—?”
“Yes!” Lola-Na interrupted, grabbing onto his pants leg to tug on it eagerly. “I want to help with the birdies!”
“Well-I-slow down, Lola!” Bronze called after her, chasing her through the snow and to the gate with her.
Matsu-Na was busy setting the table when the two finally returned home. Her sharp eyes couldn’t help but narrow a bit more at how late they were. “What exactly took you two so long?” she asked, moving back to the stove to pull the vegetable soup from where it had remained to keep hot.
“Sorry about that, my love,” Bronze apologized with a sheepish grin whilst rubbing his wild, black hair. “I fear my daydreaming got away with me, and I needed Lola-Na’s help in getting the birds back to the stables for the night.”
Seeing Lola-Na about to reach for one of the fruits on the table in the basket, Matsu-Na was quick to stop her. “No, no, Lola. If you’re been handling the birds, you need to wash your hands first.” The pouty look didn’t deter Matsu from her stance on the idea. She was quick to glance at her husband as well. “You as well, Bronze.”
Bronze smiled at his wife as he made his way to the sink with the stepping stool for Lola-Na.
“What has you in such a daydream anyways?” Matsu-Na asked, grabbing up the basket of bread next with the plate of butter. “Normally you’re pretty good about getting your chores done way before dinner is ready.”
“Mm? Oh, I was just thinking about Syrup, is all,” said Bronze, still showing his mind was apparently elsewhere. “She’s been acting a bit funny and territorial lately. I’ve yet to get close enough to check, but I think she’s pregnant, finally, with Chester’s clutch.” Bronze had been desperately trying to breed Syrup lately, as she was one of his prized racing birds he had set aside for breeding purposes. While Chester and Syrup seemed like a good match, he couldn’t get the two to produce any eggs for awhile now. “This is merely speculation, of course,” continued Bronze as he helped Lola-Na dry her hands off before taking her spot at the faucet. “Like I said, I fear that beak of hers.”
“Rightfully, you should,” Matsu-Na commented as she had everything lined out on the table finally. “Just slip something into her feed, and she’ll be out long enough for you to check her over, I am sure.” Helping her daughter down at the table finally, she waited on her husband as she took her seat. “Speaking of babies, however, I hear that Elli-An and Quill are about to have their baby any day now.”
“That nice lady that always sells the blankets she makes?” Lola-Na asked, wanting to be added into the conversation for a moment. Her parents and the ‘blanket maker’s’ family were pretty close with her own.
Matsu-Na smiled. “Yes, baby. That’s Elli-An.”
Reaching for his empty mug, he poured the hot, herbal tea into it halfway before offering some hot chocolate to his daughter as Lola-Na was never too keen on many of the herbal teas her mother made. “How she manages to make those quilts is beyond me.” As he worked on serving himself and helped his child as well, Bronze could only enjoy a few bites until the phone began to ring. “Wonder who is calling us at dinner time?”
Watching her husband excuse himself to answer it, Matsu-Na called over her shoulder to him, “Answer it quickly, darling. I don’t want your meal getting cold.”
Bronze assured her he would as he answered the phone. “Bronze here.”
“Bronze!” a frantic voice called over the line. “It’s Quill! I know you’re probably eating right now, but I need your help immediately!”
“Wh-What is it? Wh-What’s wrong?” Bronze stammered as he wasn’t used to hearing his friend in such a rut before.
“My wife—Elli-An—she’s gone into labor, and the midwife won’t be able to make it until hours from now.” His voice was stressed, and Bronze could just hear the painful cries from Elli in the background. “I know you mostly do bird birthings, but you’re the only person close enough who can help me!”
Well, it’s an egg birthing either way, Bronze thought to himself to try and calm the rising nervousness. Elli’s cry of pain over the phone brought him back from his thoughts.
“Will you come!” Quill exclaimed more than questioned, hoping his friend would help his wife.
“Let me grab my things, and I will be right there. Just get a bowl of cold water and fresh towels in the meantime,” Bronze insisted before hanging up the phone. Cutting through the nearby room, Bronze hurried up the stairs and to his bedroom to find the medicine he would need as well as the kit he usually had with him when it came to his birds’ birthing. As he hurried back down the stairs and to the kitchen, his wife was quick to stop him.
“What is wrong, Bronze? Where are you going?” she asked, her voice hinting that she probably overheard a portion of the conversation he had in the other room.
“Elli-An is in labor,” Bronze explained hastily as he placed his hand on the doorknob of the front door. “Quill is not sure what to do as their midwife won’t make it till much later on, so I am his best bet.” He was hoping his nervousness in the situation wasn’t obvious in how he spoke, so he forced a smile on his muzzle all the same. “I will be back later, my love. Keep my dinner in the fridge—please and thank you.” And with that said, Bronze hurried out the door and through the snow to Quill’s house.
“Just hold on, my love,” pleaded Quill as he held his wife’s hand tightly in regards to support. Upon hearing the knock at the door, the pitch-black echidna male turned his head quickly in the direction of the sound. “It’s open!” he yelled, relieved more than anything that it was his neighbor and friend. “Bronze! Thank the Gods you came!”
Bronze made it quickly to the sofa with where Elli-An remained. She was too fixated on the pain to notice who was there, it seemed, as she didn’t bother to open her eyes to gaze upon him. “Did you get the water and the towels I asked for?”
“Yes—of course!” Quill moved the bowl of cold water closer to Bronze with the towels he had managed to fetch (and had unfolded rather quickly in his eagerness to get back to his wife).
“Elli-An,” Bronze called, moving her hair, which was damp with sweat, from her face to get a better look at the white as snow female echidna. When he saw her pastel violate eyes look at him, he grabbed one of the smaller towels to dip it into the water, wring it out, and then use it to keep her cool. “I’m here to help, okay? I have something that should dull the pain a bit for you.”
It was an herbal concoction he had made in his spare time when it came to his birds. He was aware that anthros and humans could also take it—the douse would just have to be regulated as the birds required a higher intake of it. Quill recognized it all the same, as he was usually over at the farm to help with the chocobos, and he couldn’t help but feel his fur prickle. “Is that…what I think it is?”
“You asked the aid of a bird breeder and racer,” Bronze reminded his friend as he got the syringe out to measure the douse cautiously. “Your wife is going to get the same thing I give my birds.” He thought for a moment that Quill would for sure slap him given the anger that was soon expressed on his face. “Relax,” chuckled the dark brown male. “I made this from scratch thanks to the help of a few other breeders, and it is all natural. Even we can have this as a pain laxative.”
“I don’t…care what it is…just-just give it to me…!” Elli-An begged as she felt another contraction hit.
Bronze did as she demanded, mainly because he was sure Quill didn’t want to see his wife in pain for much longer. Upon finishing the injection, he put the needle off to the side before checking to see how far along she was since Bronze hadn’t asked his friend how long his wife had been in labor. Seeing a portion of the egg, he figured it must have been awhile until Quill gave up and called him as a last resort. “Alright, let’s get this baby out of here before she egg-binds. Elli-An—I need you to push hard for ten seconds on the next contraction you feel, alright?”
At best, all Elli-An could do was nod at his request. Being wrapped up in the agonizing grip of pain she was in, she had lost count of the hours or so she had been in labor and desired to rest. With Quill soon at her side, she held onto his hand tightly while her teeth gritted at the next contraction, which prompted her to push as instructed.
None of them paid attention to the time that had elapsed as they continued to get Elli-An through it. When the soft pink egg was soon resting in Bronze’s hands, which were concealed with rubber gloves and marked with blood and afterbirth, he worked on washing the egg clean and then putting it carefully in the container that would keep it warm and protected until it was to hatch. “How is she?” Bronze asked, as he noticed Elli-An’s heavy breathing had died down to mere, exhausted whimpers.
“Just exhausted, I wager,” said Quill as he continued to gently dab away at the beads of sweat, which had weighed down his lover’s fur. “How is the egg?”
“There’s not a single crack on it. She dyed it pink with…whatever it was she had been eating,” Bronze pointed out, knowing that the shell could be dyed a certain color, even when it came to chocobos, regarding food choices. “So I will not let your son live it down if there is a boy in there,” he lightly teased.
Quill scoffed with a shake of his head. “Blame it on the strawberries she consumes like candy. I am sure that was the culprit.”
Making it back over to the sofa, he removed the towel from between Elli-An’s legs to put off to the side in a nearby laundry basket Quill had dragged in from the laundry room before using another of the towels to help clean up the exhausted female. “I also have some calcium tablets I can give to you to hand to Elli when she wakes up. I noticed she had the worst time ever trying to push the egg out. It could be from calcium deficiency.” Digging into his bag he had brought with him, Bronze pulled out the bottle to put on the coffee table near the sofa. “Might want to give her two of those a day to help her get that back up to speed.”
Making a confused face, Quill looked at the bottle to see how many was in it. “I don’t understand it—she was pretty good about eating salmon and drinking plenty of milk. Why would she lack so much calcium?”
Bronze made a funny face (as if to flinch playfully at the lack of knowledge Quill had in understanding these things). “You’re talking about a woman about her size eating enough calcium for herself and to produce the shell of something the size of a watermelon at the same time.”
“All the same, I thank you, my friend.” Quill released a sigh of relief that his wife and his baby were alright. “I should spare the midwife and just call you more often for when my wife gives birth.”
Rolling his eyes, Bronze packed up his belongings bit by bit. “This was a one time only thing unless you absolutely need me, Quill. I do chocobo birthings…not anthros or human birthings.” Feeling Quill’s hand on his shoulder, Bronze reached over and placed his hand on top of his reassuringly. “I’ll help you clean up, and then I better get back home to Matsu-Na and Lola-Na.”
Quill had apologized once more for pulling Bronze from his dinner, but after such an exciting event, his nerves had shot his desire to eat, in all honesty. It was nearing close to eleven o’clock when Bronze made it back home. Opening the front door, he was greeted by the vision of his wife—who was prepared for bed with her long, auburn hair braided over her shoulder and in her nightdress—sitting at the empty kitchen table with nothing but a candle to illuminate the space. When her eyes caught his, he granted her a confused smile. “Why are you up so late?” ‘Late’ to them was usually anytime after ten seeing as the farm required them to be up before the sun rose about four or so in the morning.
“I was worried,” Matsu-Na admitted tenderly as she fidgeted there at the wooden table before finding her legs to wander over to her husband. “How are Elli-An and her baby?”
Putting his bag down upon the kitchen table, he slid his arms about his lover’s waist to hold her supportively. “They are just fine. We won’t know what she’ll have until three days pass, of course. However, the egg looked perfectly healthy to me.” Kissing her sweetly upon her lips, he whispered to her. “Now, go to sleep. I’ll be behind you, my angel.”
Hugging him tightly once more, Matsu-Na’s smile could just be seen upon the flickering candlelight in the room. “You shouldn’t sleep on an empty stomach,” she insisted just as gently in return. “You hardly ate anything at dinner.”
Bronze waved away the idea with a weary stretch. “My stomach is too knotted from the ordeal to bother with food, my dear.”
“At least eat a slice of bread with butter or something.” Matsu-Na took her husband’s hand and kissed the back of it before pulling from his embrace. “Don’t be long. You need your rest.”
With Matsu-Na on her way to their bedroom, she left the candle behind for her husband since they preferred the old fashioned way of lighting at times over electric for their home. It lessened the bill all the same. He knew his wife was right. Going to bed on an empty stomach would make him feel sick when he woke the coming morning. Moving to the fridge, he found the container of raspberries and blackberries and popped four of each into his mouth to suffice for the time being before heading quietly to his daughter’s bedroom, which was on the lower floor.
He opened her bedroom door to peer into her lightless space. Putting the candle down on the table just outside of her room, Bronze snuck across the floorboards, which gave out the occasional sigh upon his weight, to check on Lola-Na. Seeing the stuffed chocobo toy he had won years ago at the Gold Saucer in her arms, he smiled to himself before noticing the chapter book she had there with her as well in the bed. Guess she fell asleep reading, he thought to himself as he took the book and put it on her nightstand before trying to tuck her in a bit better.
“Daddy…?” Lola-Na moaned, lazily wiping the exhaustion from her ivy green eyes.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Bronze whispered apologetically, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Since his arm was the closest thing to her at the moment, she wrapped her arms about it wearily. “Is the blanket maker okay…?”
Bronze stifled a throaty laugh at how tired she sounded. Running his fingers through her hair, he kissed her forehead. “She’s just fine, baby; now, go back to bed.” Bronze helped his daughter get situated under the covers before kissing her goodnight once more. “Sweet dreams, Lola. I love you.”
With an exhausted yawn, Lola-Na managed to get out an ‘I love you’ before falling back asleep.
Hearing Lola-Na pass right back out for bed, Bronze made his way back out into the hallway to grab up his candle and head up the stairs to get himself to bed for the evening.
---------------------
Knowing her husband had quite the evening yesterday, Matsu-Na let her husband rest longer than usual (even if he’d probably get irritated she turned off his alarm and wouldn’t wake him herself). “Who is going to take care of the chocobos then if you won’t wake daddy?” Lola-Na asked at breakfast as she ate her cereal.
“I can do that, honey,” Matsu-Na reminded her daughter as she wiped her hands on her apron after getting a bit of grease on them. “I’ve been helping your father with the farm since we were dating. I know what to do. Shoveling a bit of the snow about the pasture will be a bit troublesome without him, but I can manage.”
Bronze remained fast asleep until the piercing light of the sun roused him to slowly open his eyes. Seeing the sun so bright made Bronze wonder if he was dreaming at first until he came to the quick realization he wasn’t. Shooting upright in bed, he grabbed the alarm clock to look at the time and notice it was creeping towards nine in the morning. “Dammit…!” Throwing off the covers, he hastily put on his wristwatch and his jeans he had tossed there beside the bed. While he was aware his wife was trying to allow him more rest, Bronze valued the farm and the birds as much as she, and hated it when she saddled herself with all the chores for a few hours. “MATSU-NA!” he yelled disapprovingly, only to get no response from the house, making him assume she was outside in the pasture.
Dashing to the window, he threw open the curtains to see her filling the troughs with feed still while bundled from head to toe. Swearing to himself once more, he quickly brushed his hair before throwing on his shirt and grabbing a scarf and a hat to keep warm in the early hours. “Matsu-Na! Dammit, woman!” he yelled to his wife.
“Don’t give me that, Bronze,” Matsu said with a disapproving tone herself at his words. “You were out late, and you needed your sleep.” As she filled the next trough with feed, two of the birds almost didn’t let her finish and attempted to use their big beaks to push her out of the way eagerly for food. “Gluttons,” she grumbled, pushing back the soft-blue male chocobo that was almost trying to nip away at the bag she had.
“You can’t do all of these chores by yourself,” Bronze pointed out, as he took the other bag of feed for himself to place over his shoulder. “The birds should have been fed by now, but you’re taking so long they’re about to knock you over just to get to it! I don’t need my wife trampled or pecked to death by a bunch of hungry birds!”
Matsu-Na sighed with a roll of her eyes. “I thought people were usually grumpy when they didn’t get enough sleep.”
With the birds fed and the stalls cleaned, Bronze’s focus went back on Syrup to notice her acting hissy to any of the birds getting close to her. His gloved fingers tapping upon the fence’s woodwork, which was covered in snow, he hummed in thought. “How did she react this morning?” Bronze asked Matsu-Na, as she too was watching her closely to see what her husband had been talking about when it came to Syrup’s random change in behavior.
“She acted fine with me,” said Matsu-Na with a shrug. “Guess it’s just with other birds she acts territorial?”
“Probably because of the whole ‘alpha’ of the herd sort of thing,” Bronze theorized as he chipped away at something that was on his lower tooth. “She won’t get mad at us unless she feels she has to. I know if I go checking her over, she will peck at me if it is babies that are inside of her.”
As he was about to go into the enclosure, he was stopped by the sudden arrival of Quill. “Bronze!” he called, sounding about as frantic as he did last night.
“Quill…? What’s wrong this time?” he asked, hoping that Elli-An and the egg were fine as they appeared so last night.
“It’s the egg—it’s hatching already…!” While eager to meet his child, Quill was concerned all the same as it was far too early for the child to hatch.
“I’ll be right back, Matsu-Na,” said Bronze eagerly as he hurried behind Quill to see what could be causing a baby to be born so early. Making it back to his friend’s house, he saw Elli-An there on the sofa still with the egg wobbling slightly with a few cracks in the pink shell there in the same container he had left it within previously.
Elli-An looked at Bronze with a pleading and confused gaze through her wild, white bangs. “I-I don’t understand…why is it hatching so soon…!”
“The baby is just an early starter, I guess.” Bronze, honestly, was trying to hide his real concerns at the idea the baby could crawl out and be premature. Watching the egg continue to wobble and, soon, move to its side, he did his best to try and help the child out of the egg. When he saw the little muzzle poke through the shell, he began to carefully peal away at it until a tiny echidna lie there before them—most of the fur was white, like the mother, but not without its black markings upon the tiny tuff of hair and dreadlocks.
Quill was quick to hand the towel over to Bronze to allow him to help in cleaning up the little puggle. He watched closely as Bronze examined the baby’s underbelly to notice patches of fur still missing and not fully developed. “Congratulations, though; it’s a little girl.” Bronze hadn’t noticed the child crying, but when he leaned in closer, he did hear and see her breathing. He even moved his finger to her tiny hands and feet to see her react, so she appeared fine. He hid his relief in the matter as he looked through his black hair at his friend. “She’s alright. She was just early. Part of her fur is missing,” Bronze continued as he swaddled the newborn. “Looks like she’s just not fully developed yet fur wise, but it should develop in the coming days—eyes included.”
“I thought it was…normal for babies to cry when they are born?” Elli-An commented a bit nervously. She hated the idea of her daughter being sick over something she might have done wrong during her pregnancy.
“Even babies can be different like most grown folks.” Bronze smiled as he handed the child over to her mother. “She responds to me touching her, and you can see and hear that she’s breathing just fine. All the same, I would enlist in the help of a healer to be safe. What do you plan on naming her?”
Elli-An smiled with relief that washed over her like a cool, summer breeze, at the feel of her daughter moving slightly in her arms. “Lily-An,” she answered without hesitation as she kissed her daughter’s forehead. “If we had a girl, we were going to name her Lily-An.”
This story was plotted to be in another fandom of my choice years ago, but I am relieved that it didn’t take off now that my fandom priority has shifted. The whole chocobo raising was a favorite pastime of mine, so it only felt fair that I make it a fanfic. The crossover will only be via scenery means and chocobos—not with FF7 characters.
Description: When Lola-Na’s best friend and charge, Lily-An, becomes deathly ill, Lola-Na tries her best to win at the chocobo races at the Gold Saucer only to encounter a road blocking rivalry with Remington. (NC-17) (Remington x OC) (Thunderhawk x OC)
Musical Inspiration: Do I need anything beyond Final Fantasy 7 music of awesome? I think not.
Copywrite: Lola-Na/ Bronze/ Matsu-Na / Cocoa / Syrup / Chester/ various other chocobos – Kurodemangaka
Lily-An/ Brownie/ Ruby/ Elli-An/ Quill / various other chocobos – Oreana
Brotherhood of Guardians / Remington – Archie/ Penders
Final Fantasy 7 locations / chocobos – Squaresoft (as it was called once upon a time)
Brushing the snow from his pants, Bronze slowly removed himself from the ground where he had been sitting previously to merely watch over the corralled chocobos as the sun was going down. The echidna was halfway to his feet when he felt his nine-year-old daughter fling herself onto his back. “Daddy!” she whistled through her missing front tooth.
Bronze nearly fell over, but was relieved he caught himself in time. Turning to the small chocolate furred child with shoulder length dark auburn hair, he greeted his daughter with a lighthearted chuckle. “Hey there, Lola-Na!” Fixing her in his arms, he tossed her up in the air before catching her again to sweetly rub noses together. “What brings you out here? It’s the coldest it has ever been at the Icicle Inn.”
“Mommy wanted me to get you for dinner,” Lola-Na said with a giggle as she ran her fingers through his black beard.
Kissing Lola’s cheek, he gently placed her back down in the snow. “I know, kitten, but right now I need to get these birds into the barn.” Bronze placed his hands on his hips as he could see his daughter getting a bit excited at the idea. He smirked at her bottled enthusiasm. “Do you want to help me get them in the—?”
“Yes!” Lola-Na interrupted, grabbing onto his pants leg to tug on it eagerly. “I want to help with the birdies!”
“Well-I-slow down, Lola!” Bronze called after her, chasing her through the snow and to the gate with her.
Matsu-Na was busy setting the table when the two finally returned home. Her sharp eyes couldn’t help but narrow a bit more at how late they were. “What exactly took you two so long?” she asked, moving back to the stove to pull the vegetable soup from where it had remained to keep hot.
“Sorry about that, my love,” Bronze apologized with a sheepish grin whilst rubbing his wild, black hair. “I fear my daydreaming got away with me, and I needed Lola-Na’s help in getting the birds back to the stables for the night.”
Seeing Lola-Na about to reach for one of the fruits on the table in the basket, Matsu-Na was quick to stop her. “No, no, Lola. If you’re been handling the birds, you need to wash your hands first.” The pouty look didn’t deter Matsu from her stance on the idea. She was quick to glance at her husband as well. “You as well, Bronze.”
Bronze smiled at his wife as he made his way to the sink with the stepping stool for Lola-Na.
“What has you in such a daydream anyways?” Matsu-Na asked, grabbing up the basket of bread next with the plate of butter. “Normally you’re pretty good about getting your chores done way before dinner is ready.”
“Mm? Oh, I was just thinking about Syrup, is all,” said Bronze, still showing his mind was apparently elsewhere. “She’s been acting a bit funny and territorial lately. I’ve yet to get close enough to check, but I think she’s pregnant, finally, with Chester’s clutch.” Bronze had been desperately trying to breed Syrup lately, as she was one of his prized racing birds he had set aside for breeding purposes. While Chester and Syrup seemed like a good match, he couldn’t get the two to produce any eggs for awhile now. “This is merely speculation, of course,” continued Bronze as he helped Lola-Na dry her hands off before taking her spot at the faucet. “Like I said, I fear that beak of hers.”
“Rightfully, you should,” Matsu-Na commented as she had everything lined out on the table finally. “Just slip something into her feed, and she’ll be out long enough for you to check her over, I am sure.” Helping her daughter down at the table finally, she waited on her husband as she took her seat. “Speaking of babies, however, I hear that Elli-An and Quill are about to have their baby any day now.”
“That nice lady that always sells the blankets she makes?” Lola-Na asked, wanting to be added into the conversation for a moment. Her parents and the ‘blanket maker’s’ family were pretty close with her own.
Matsu-Na smiled. “Yes, baby. That’s Elli-An.”
Reaching for his empty mug, he poured the hot, herbal tea into it halfway before offering some hot chocolate to his daughter as Lola-Na was never too keen on many of the herbal teas her mother made. “How she manages to make those quilts is beyond me.” As he worked on serving himself and helped his child as well, Bronze could only enjoy a few bites until the phone began to ring. “Wonder who is calling us at dinner time?”
Watching her husband excuse himself to answer it, Matsu-Na called over her shoulder to him, “Answer it quickly, darling. I don’t want your meal getting cold.”
Bronze assured her he would as he answered the phone. “Bronze here.”
“Bronze!” a frantic voice called over the line. “It’s Quill! I know you’re probably eating right now, but I need your help immediately!”
“Wh-What is it? Wh-What’s wrong?” Bronze stammered as he wasn’t used to hearing his friend in such a rut before.
“My wife—Elli-An—she’s gone into labor, and the midwife won’t be able to make it until hours from now.” His voice was stressed, and Bronze could just hear the painful cries from Elli in the background. “I know you mostly do bird birthings, but you’re the only person close enough who can help me!”
Well, it’s an egg birthing either way, Bronze thought to himself to try and calm the rising nervousness. Elli’s cry of pain over the phone brought him back from his thoughts.
“Will you come!” Quill exclaimed more than questioned, hoping his friend would help his wife.
“Let me grab my things, and I will be right there. Just get a bowl of cold water and fresh towels in the meantime,” Bronze insisted before hanging up the phone. Cutting through the nearby room, Bronze hurried up the stairs and to his bedroom to find the medicine he would need as well as the kit he usually had with him when it came to his birds’ birthing. As he hurried back down the stairs and to the kitchen, his wife was quick to stop him.
“What is wrong, Bronze? Where are you going?” she asked, her voice hinting that she probably overheard a portion of the conversation he had in the other room.
“Elli-An is in labor,” Bronze explained hastily as he placed his hand on the doorknob of the front door. “Quill is not sure what to do as their midwife won’t make it till much later on, so I am his best bet.” He was hoping his nervousness in the situation wasn’t obvious in how he spoke, so he forced a smile on his muzzle all the same. “I will be back later, my love. Keep my dinner in the fridge—please and thank you.” And with that said, Bronze hurried out the door and through the snow to Quill’s house.
“Just hold on, my love,” pleaded Quill as he held his wife’s hand tightly in regards to support. Upon hearing the knock at the door, the pitch-black echidna male turned his head quickly in the direction of the sound. “It’s open!” he yelled, relieved more than anything that it was his neighbor and friend. “Bronze! Thank the Gods you came!”
Bronze made it quickly to the sofa with where Elli-An remained. She was too fixated on the pain to notice who was there, it seemed, as she didn’t bother to open her eyes to gaze upon him. “Did you get the water and the towels I asked for?”
“Yes—of course!” Quill moved the bowl of cold water closer to Bronze with the towels he had managed to fetch (and had unfolded rather quickly in his eagerness to get back to his wife).
“Elli-An,” Bronze called, moving her hair, which was damp with sweat, from her face to get a better look at the white as snow female echidna. When he saw her pastel violate eyes look at him, he grabbed one of the smaller towels to dip it into the water, wring it out, and then use it to keep her cool. “I’m here to help, okay? I have something that should dull the pain a bit for you.”
It was an herbal concoction he had made in his spare time when it came to his birds. He was aware that anthros and humans could also take it—the douse would just have to be regulated as the birds required a higher intake of it. Quill recognized it all the same, as he was usually over at the farm to help with the chocobos, and he couldn’t help but feel his fur prickle. “Is that…what I think it is?”
“You asked the aid of a bird breeder and racer,” Bronze reminded his friend as he got the syringe out to measure the douse cautiously. “Your wife is going to get the same thing I give my birds.” He thought for a moment that Quill would for sure slap him given the anger that was soon expressed on his face. “Relax,” chuckled the dark brown male. “I made this from scratch thanks to the help of a few other breeders, and it is all natural. Even we can have this as a pain laxative.”
“I don’t…care what it is…just-just give it to me…!” Elli-An begged as she felt another contraction hit.
Bronze did as she demanded, mainly because he was sure Quill didn’t want to see his wife in pain for much longer. Upon finishing the injection, he put the needle off to the side before checking to see how far along she was since Bronze hadn’t asked his friend how long his wife had been in labor. Seeing a portion of the egg, he figured it must have been awhile until Quill gave up and called him as a last resort. “Alright, let’s get this baby out of here before she egg-binds. Elli-An—I need you to push hard for ten seconds on the next contraction you feel, alright?”
At best, all Elli-An could do was nod at his request. Being wrapped up in the agonizing grip of pain she was in, she had lost count of the hours or so she had been in labor and desired to rest. With Quill soon at her side, she held onto his hand tightly while her teeth gritted at the next contraction, which prompted her to push as instructed.
None of them paid attention to the time that had elapsed as they continued to get Elli-An through it. When the soft pink egg was soon resting in Bronze’s hands, which were concealed with rubber gloves and marked with blood and afterbirth, he worked on washing the egg clean and then putting it carefully in the container that would keep it warm and protected until it was to hatch. “How is she?” Bronze asked, as he noticed Elli-An’s heavy breathing had died down to mere, exhausted whimpers.
“Just exhausted, I wager,” said Quill as he continued to gently dab away at the beads of sweat, which had weighed down his lover’s fur. “How is the egg?”
“There’s not a single crack on it. She dyed it pink with…whatever it was she had been eating,” Bronze pointed out, knowing that the shell could be dyed a certain color, even when it came to chocobos, regarding food choices. “So I will not let your son live it down if there is a boy in there,” he lightly teased.
Quill scoffed with a shake of his head. “Blame it on the strawberries she consumes like candy. I am sure that was the culprit.”
Making it back over to the sofa, he removed the towel from between Elli-An’s legs to put off to the side in a nearby laundry basket Quill had dragged in from the laundry room before using another of the towels to help clean up the exhausted female. “I also have some calcium tablets I can give to you to hand to Elli when she wakes up. I noticed she had the worst time ever trying to push the egg out. It could be from calcium deficiency.” Digging into his bag he had brought with him, Bronze pulled out the bottle to put on the coffee table near the sofa. “Might want to give her two of those a day to help her get that back up to speed.”
Making a confused face, Quill looked at the bottle to see how many was in it. “I don’t understand it—she was pretty good about eating salmon and drinking plenty of milk. Why would she lack so much calcium?”
Bronze made a funny face (as if to flinch playfully at the lack of knowledge Quill had in understanding these things). “You’re talking about a woman about her size eating enough calcium for herself and to produce the shell of something the size of a watermelon at the same time.”
“All the same, I thank you, my friend.” Quill released a sigh of relief that his wife and his baby were alright. “I should spare the midwife and just call you more often for when my wife gives birth.”
Rolling his eyes, Bronze packed up his belongings bit by bit. “This was a one time only thing unless you absolutely need me, Quill. I do chocobo birthings…not anthros or human birthings.” Feeling Quill’s hand on his shoulder, Bronze reached over and placed his hand on top of his reassuringly. “I’ll help you clean up, and then I better get back home to Matsu-Na and Lola-Na.”
Quill had apologized once more for pulling Bronze from his dinner, but after such an exciting event, his nerves had shot his desire to eat, in all honesty. It was nearing close to eleven o’clock when Bronze made it back home. Opening the front door, he was greeted by the vision of his wife—who was prepared for bed with her long, auburn hair braided over her shoulder and in her nightdress—sitting at the empty kitchen table with nothing but a candle to illuminate the space. When her eyes caught his, he granted her a confused smile. “Why are you up so late?” ‘Late’ to them was usually anytime after ten seeing as the farm required them to be up before the sun rose about four or so in the morning.
“I was worried,” Matsu-Na admitted tenderly as she fidgeted there at the wooden table before finding her legs to wander over to her husband. “How are Elli-An and her baby?”
Putting his bag down upon the kitchen table, he slid his arms about his lover’s waist to hold her supportively. “They are just fine. We won’t know what she’ll have until three days pass, of course. However, the egg looked perfectly healthy to me.” Kissing her sweetly upon her lips, he whispered to her. “Now, go to sleep. I’ll be behind you, my angel.”
Hugging him tightly once more, Matsu-Na’s smile could just be seen upon the flickering candlelight in the room. “You shouldn’t sleep on an empty stomach,” she insisted just as gently in return. “You hardly ate anything at dinner.”
Bronze waved away the idea with a weary stretch. “My stomach is too knotted from the ordeal to bother with food, my dear.”
“At least eat a slice of bread with butter or something.” Matsu-Na took her husband’s hand and kissed the back of it before pulling from his embrace. “Don’t be long. You need your rest.”
With Matsu-Na on her way to their bedroom, she left the candle behind for her husband since they preferred the old fashioned way of lighting at times over electric for their home. It lessened the bill all the same. He knew his wife was right. Going to bed on an empty stomach would make him feel sick when he woke the coming morning. Moving to the fridge, he found the container of raspberries and blackberries and popped four of each into his mouth to suffice for the time being before heading quietly to his daughter’s bedroom, which was on the lower floor.
He opened her bedroom door to peer into her lightless space. Putting the candle down on the table just outside of her room, Bronze snuck across the floorboards, which gave out the occasional sigh upon his weight, to check on Lola-Na. Seeing the stuffed chocobo toy he had won years ago at the Gold Saucer in her arms, he smiled to himself before noticing the chapter book she had there with her as well in the bed. Guess she fell asleep reading, he thought to himself as he took the book and put it on her nightstand before trying to tuck her in a bit better.
“Daddy…?” Lola-Na moaned, lazily wiping the exhaustion from her ivy green eyes.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Bronze whispered apologetically, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Since his arm was the closest thing to her at the moment, she wrapped her arms about it wearily. “Is the blanket maker okay…?”
Bronze stifled a throaty laugh at how tired she sounded. Running his fingers through her hair, he kissed her forehead. “She’s just fine, baby; now, go back to bed.” Bronze helped his daughter get situated under the covers before kissing her goodnight once more. “Sweet dreams, Lola. I love you.”
With an exhausted yawn, Lola-Na managed to get out an ‘I love you’ before falling back asleep.
Hearing Lola-Na pass right back out for bed, Bronze made his way back out into the hallway to grab up his candle and head up the stairs to get himself to bed for the evening.
---------------------
Knowing her husband had quite the evening yesterday, Matsu-Na let her husband rest longer than usual (even if he’d probably get irritated she turned off his alarm and wouldn’t wake him herself). “Who is going to take care of the chocobos then if you won’t wake daddy?” Lola-Na asked at breakfast as she ate her cereal.
“I can do that, honey,” Matsu-Na reminded her daughter as she wiped her hands on her apron after getting a bit of grease on them. “I’ve been helping your father with the farm since we were dating. I know what to do. Shoveling a bit of the snow about the pasture will be a bit troublesome without him, but I can manage.”
Bronze remained fast asleep until the piercing light of the sun roused him to slowly open his eyes. Seeing the sun so bright made Bronze wonder if he was dreaming at first until he came to the quick realization he wasn’t. Shooting upright in bed, he grabbed the alarm clock to look at the time and notice it was creeping towards nine in the morning. “Dammit…!” Throwing off the covers, he hastily put on his wristwatch and his jeans he had tossed there beside the bed. While he was aware his wife was trying to allow him more rest, Bronze valued the farm and the birds as much as she, and hated it when she saddled herself with all the chores for a few hours. “MATSU-NA!” he yelled disapprovingly, only to get no response from the house, making him assume she was outside in the pasture.
Dashing to the window, he threw open the curtains to see her filling the troughs with feed still while bundled from head to toe. Swearing to himself once more, he quickly brushed his hair before throwing on his shirt and grabbing a scarf and a hat to keep warm in the early hours. “Matsu-Na! Dammit, woman!” he yelled to his wife.
“Don’t give me that, Bronze,” Matsu said with a disapproving tone herself at his words. “You were out late, and you needed your sleep.” As she filled the next trough with feed, two of the birds almost didn’t let her finish and attempted to use their big beaks to push her out of the way eagerly for food. “Gluttons,” she grumbled, pushing back the soft-blue male chocobo that was almost trying to nip away at the bag she had.
“You can’t do all of these chores by yourself,” Bronze pointed out, as he took the other bag of feed for himself to place over his shoulder. “The birds should have been fed by now, but you’re taking so long they’re about to knock you over just to get to it! I don’t need my wife trampled or pecked to death by a bunch of hungry birds!”
Matsu-Na sighed with a roll of her eyes. “I thought people were usually grumpy when they didn’t get enough sleep.”
With the birds fed and the stalls cleaned, Bronze’s focus went back on Syrup to notice her acting hissy to any of the birds getting close to her. His gloved fingers tapping upon the fence’s woodwork, which was covered in snow, he hummed in thought. “How did she react this morning?” Bronze asked Matsu-Na, as she too was watching her closely to see what her husband had been talking about when it came to Syrup’s random change in behavior.
“She acted fine with me,” said Matsu-Na with a shrug. “Guess it’s just with other birds she acts territorial?”
“Probably because of the whole ‘alpha’ of the herd sort of thing,” Bronze theorized as he chipped away at something that was on his lower tooth. “She won’t get mad at us unless she feels she has to. I know if I go checking her over, she will peck at me if it is babies that are inside of her.”
As he was about to go into the enclosure, he was stopped by the sudden arrival of Quill. “Bronze!” he called, sounding about as frantic as he did last night.
“Quill…? What’s wrong this time?” he asked, hoping that Elli-An and the egg were fine as they appeared so last night.
“It’s the egg—it’s hatching already…!” While eager to meet his child, Quill was concerned all the same as it was far too early for the child to hatch.
“I’ll be right back, Matsu-Na,” said Bronze eagerly as he hurried behind Quill to see what could be causing a baby to be born so early. Making it back to his friend’s house, he saw Elli-An there on the sofa still with the egg wobbling slightly with a few cracks in the pink shell there in the same container he had left it within previously.
Elli-An looked at Bronze with a pleading and confused gaze through her wild, white bangs. “I-I don’t understand…why is it hatching so soon…!”
“The baby is just an early starter, I guess.” Bronze, honestly, was trying to hide his real concerns at the idea the baby could crawl out and be premature. Watching the egg continue to wobble and, soon, move to its side, he did his best to try and help the child out of the egg. When he saw the little muzzle poke through the shell, he began to carefully peal away at it until a tiny echidna lie there before them—most of the fur was white, like the mother, but not without its black markings upon the tiny tuff of hair and dreadlocks.
Quill was quick to hand the towel over to Bronze to allow him to help in cleaning up the little puggle. He watched closely as Bronze examined the baby’s underbelly to notice patches of fur still missing and not fully developed. “Congratulations, though; it’s a little girl.” Bronze hadn’t noticed the child crying, but when he leaned in closer, he did hear and see her breathing. He even moved his finger to her tiny hands and feet to see her react, so she appeared fine. He hid his relief in the matter as he looked through his black hair at his friend. “She’s alright. She was just early. Part of her fur is missing,” Bronze continued as he swaddled the newborn. “Looks like she’s just not fully developed yet fur wise, but it should develop in the coming days—eyes included.”
“I thought it was…normal for babies to cry when they are born?” Elli-An commented a bit nervously. She hated the idea of her daughter being sick over something she might have done wrong during her pregnancy.
“Even babies can be different like most grown folks.” Bronze smiled as he handed the child over to her mother. “She responds to me touching her, and you can see and hear that she’s breathing just fine. All the same, I would enlist in the help of a healer to be safe. What do you plan on naming her?”
Elli-An smiled with relief that washed over her like a cool, summer breeze, at the feel of her daughter moving slightly in her arms. “Lily-An,” she answered without hesitation as she kissed her daughter’s forehead. “If we had a girl, we were going to name her Lily-An.”