Moon and Stone

Helga frowned and muttered as an earthquake shook her bed, curling up tighter around her husband in hopes it would go away. She came fully awake as she tried to curl around thin air and realized the "earthquake" was just Salazar jumping out of bed. She pushed the hair out of her eyes irritably and blinked sleepily at him. True, he usually rose before her, having a great deal of trouble sleeping most nights, but he'd grown skilled at not waking her. "Wha'smatter?"

Luckily Salazar knew how to translate Sleepy Helga and came back over to kiss her quickly. "Go back to sssleep," he told her, his voice excited. "I jussst have to go to the Chamber. The egg'ss hatching!"

"The -- oh!" Helga sat up, still a bit fuzzy but slightly more alert. "Do you need anything?"

Salazar grinned at her. "Baby formula?" He finished pulling on his robes and kissed her once more, practically dancing in his excitement. "Can you work out ssubsstitutess for me, love? I don't know how long I'll be. I have to get down there. I love you!"

He was out the door before she could do more than laugh. Helga puzzled over this for a moment, then decided that the minced meat and milk they'd given the infant Runespoor would probably do to start. Perhaps she should put an egg in it. No, wait, maybe not for something that hatched from a chicken's egg... well, she'd start with the other.

Salazar rushed into the anteChamber to find the toad croaking anxiously as the egg, now gone soft and leathery for the sake of the reptile inside it, rocked and bulged intermittently. He removed the toad and Banished it, gently, to a safe corner as a tiny opening appeared in the egg, then shut his eyes.

The baby basilisk, feeling altogether too confined and rather hungry, struggled against the eggshell and pushed hard with her nose until there was a little cracking tear, and while still tight, the pressure began to ease as the split opened. She hissed and redoubled her efforts, thrusting frantically against the boundary in hopes of getting out into the open air. She was hatching, she should hunt....

But there was a low, comforting hissing, soothing her as she struggled the rest of the way out of the egg. It must be Mother. The soothing hiss and a remembered odd croaking from Before blended together in her mind, and as she finished squirming out she looked up inquiringly to see what Mother looked like.

...Would she grow up to look like that? Looking between her own long, slender, scaled body and the immense creature before her, she couldn't quite see how, but that comforting hiss was coming from it so it must be Mother. She slithered trustingly up and hissed, "Hungry!"

"You will have food," Salazar hissed back, tilting his head a little as a soft skitter of crockery on stone indicated that one of his friends had sent a dish in. He felt for it -- found it -- dipped his fingers in and rolled up a little ball of the milk and meat. "Here. Take it carefully -- don't touch me with your fangs."

She knew fangs. They were for putting into food, not Mother. The smell drove her wild -- something already killed, so it wouldn't wriggle, she wasn't sure what it was but it smelled so good! She flicked her tongue out carefully nonetheless, and made sure even with it smeared around what was food and what was Mother, and then took it carefully and swallowed it down. That was better. But she was still hungry. "More?" she hissed hopefully.

"Yes. But shut your eyes."

That was confusing. "Why?" She ate with her mouth, not her eyes, and she had to open her mouth.

"Because your eyes can hurt me just like your fangs can, little one. You need to keep them closed when you aren't hunting."

"Hhhh." She flicked her tongue thoughtfully and lowered the opaque little folds of scales over the clear ones that protected her large eyes most of the time. This made it dark, like in the egg, but she could still move freely -- and heat and scent showed her Mother almost as well as her eyes had, though the rest of the big space wasn't as distinct. "Don't want to hurt Mother. Eyes closed now."

"Good," Salazar praised warmly, very carefully opening his eyes and looking at the ground. He pulled out a small bit of polished metal and tilted it so he could see the basilisk's head. At least if there was a problem, he'd only be petrified, not dead. But its eyes were closed as promised, so he put away the mirror and scooped out another little ball of meat and milk to offer.

He looked at his new beauty as she -- no hint of the red crest even a young male would sport -- gulped down the food with an eager little hiss. She was lovely, sleek and sinuous with bright green scales that shimmered faintly in the low lighting. Her eyes were large, giving her head a slightly distorted look if one was more accustomed to traditional serpents, and protectively covered by a thin layer of scales.

She was eating eagerly anything he gave her, but daintily so he only felt a light flick of her tongue each time before she swallowed the new morsel. She ate all of the meat in the dish and then stuck her head in with interest to lap up the leftover milk and juices -- despite the fact that she would have fit in the dish if she curled up. Salazar eyed the eggshell and wondered if she was already growing: did her skin look tighter on her, or was that just because she was stuffed enough to bulge considerably all along her middle?

At last she came back over to his hand, tasting the mess left on his fingers, and then rubbed her head against his palm. "Warm. What kind of food was that? All squishy."

"My friends made it especially for you. We were all very excited about you being born. They can't wait to come see you." He scratched her head gently.

"Frieeenddssss?" The whole word was oddly drawn out; she nuzzled his wrist and then started trying to climb onto his arm. "...Warm."

He chuckled and picked her up with the hand she wasn't trying to climb, giving her a boost so she could slither up his arm. "I think you need a name, little one."

"Do I?" Mother smelled nice. Didn't smell like her though. Maybe she could ask about that.

"Yes, everyone needs a name. My name is Salazar. And yours is..." He hmmed thoughtfully and looked at her for a moment. "Sharessa."

She considered this for a moment. "So that means me." She reached his shoulder and began investigating his hair "...Do I grow this later?"

Salazar blinked, then chuckled. "No, little one, you don't grow hair at all. Basilisks have lovely scales like you, not skin and hair like me."

She hissed confusion directly into his ear. "Aren't you Mother? What are you then?"

Salazar managed to hold in a bark of laughter only by great force of will. "No, I'm not your mother. I, er, suppose you could call me your father, if you wished. I'm a human -- a wizard, actually -- and a Parselmouth, which is how I can speak to you. I helped hatch you."

"Sss. So that's why you smell so different." She worked her way around the back of his neck and tucked her head under his chin. "Nice though. Father then."

He scratched under her chin. "Well, thank you, Sharessa."

"Warm," she remarked again. "More food?"

"Hungry again already? You're going to be as thick as a tree trunk before long. Wait a little while and I'll get some more." He frowned thoughtfully, then banished the now-empty dish back to Helga. Hopefully she'd send in more. He didn't want to leave Sharessa this early, not even to get her more food.

She draped comfortably on him for a bit, then whispered, "Do we just wait for it to come? Can you make it do that?" She lifted her head, tongue flickering. "I smell a food-creature. I think..." She sounded a bit doubtful. "Smells like home, too. Can I look around now?"

"No," he replied firmly but not sharply. "Sharessa, it's very important for you to remember this. You cannot open your eyes when any other creature is in the room, unless you're hunting. And even then you need to be very careful. You cannot forget, or you could kill someone. Me, or one of my friends."

"Don't want to hurt you," she said meekly. "But not ever?"

"Not while anyone is around, or we won't be able to visit you safely. I'll close up the Chamber when I'm gone so you can look all around here, though."

"Would like to see you," she sighed, "but want you live too, so won't." She nuzzled him. "Can see you being warm, anyway...."

"Well, if you warn me first, I could close my eyes for a few minutes so you could open yours. But you can see far better without eyes than I can. I can't see your warmth, or smell you very well. Humans are different that way."

"You can't smell?" The hiss sounded startled and a bit pitying. "Couldn't you tell me from another snake by smell at all?"

A soft chuckle. "I can smell, just not as well as you can. And no, I can't tell you from another snake just by smell. I can, however, do other things." He whispered a summoning charm and brought back the food dish, followed by a stream of food that arced over them and landed in the dish.

"Sss!" Sharessa was obviously impressed, and nosed curiously at the food for a little while before beginning to eat it on her own. "Strange stuff, this. Very soft."

"It was made special for you. I know you'll be able to hunt on your own soon, but I wanted to have something for you first."

"Yum." Since the edge had been taken off her hunger earlier, it wasn't difficult for her to pause in her eating and give his hand an adoring nuzzle.

Salazar smiled at her in a very besotted manner as she daintily finished eating. What a beauty she was! And so smart! It would take even less time than he thought to train her to introduce her to the others. She was easily the most intelligent serpent he'd ever spoken with, and only just hatched!

Sharessa was quite as fascinated with him -- so warm, and interesting, and with such a nice hissing voice -- and rather intrigued with the idea that were more like him (even if most wouldn't be able to talk with her) and he'd let her smell and taste and feel them even if she couldn't open her eyes.

Finally Salazar didn't think he could restrain his bursting pride much longer and asked Sharessa, "Do you think you can remember to keep your eyes closed if I bring my friends in to visit you for a little while?"

"I will remember. I haven't forgotten yet, have I? They shed slower than skins."

"I just have to be sure. I can't take any chances with my friends' lives." Salazar scratched the top of her head soothingly, then set her down carefully in the warm nest her egg had been resting in. "Stay here for a little while and I'll go get them."

As an afterthought, just before he left the anteChamber, he summoned the toad to him to release outside.

Even if Godric hadn't already been told by Helga about the hatching, meeting his friend carrying a toad down the hall would have tipped him off. "I hear it worked?"

Salazar's face was lit from within and wreathed by a big smile. "Yessss, it worked! She's beautiful, Godric, just beautiful, and ssso smart!"

"Talking right out of the egg, is she?"

"Talking, understanding, asking questions! You have to come meet her. Where are the ladies?"

"Soothing a tree that got a little overexcited; we just finished replanting it. I wouldn't have guessed Tarantallegra would work on roots, would you?"

"What? No." Salazar shook his head, his thoughts too full of baby basilisk to worry about Godric's oddities. He grabbed his friend's arm and tugged. "Come on, Godric, you have to meet her!"

"All right, all right! Do you want me to call them in first or should we start with one new introduction at a time...?"

"Helga will kill me if she's not the first to meet her, and Rowena will kill us both if sshe's not included," Salazar laughed. "Better call them."

"Excellent points both." Godric knocked thoughtfully on the nearest wall; out on the grounds, a patch of mud next to Rowena's feet humped itself up into an egg and then rolled out into a snake. A more standard message-charm winged up moments later; both witches arrived, laughing, within minutes. "So tell us how the little one is," Helga suggested mischievously. "Did she like her breakfast?"

"She loved it," Salazar pronounced, beaming. He swept Helga up into an enthusiastic kiss. "She said it was ssquishy, but very tasty. She ate every last bite, and then licked the bowl. She's so beautiful, Helga! Wait until you ssee her!" He started tugging her down the hall, still beaming like a proud papa.

"Some of your compliments to me are cast in a new light," she said teasingly. "I'm sure she is, though. She understands about her eyes already?"

"She iss beautiful, just in a different way from you. She's such a lovely shade of green, and her scales sshine. And yess, she understands about keeping her eyes closed. She said she'd like to see me, but would rather me be alive."

"Well, that's an excellent sentiment. I agree completely."

He chuckled. "So do I. Just a moment." They'd reached the door marking the start of the anteChamber, carved with serpents. Salazar hissed softly, "I'm back Sharessa, with my friends. Are your eyes still closed?"

An answering hiss with a faint hint of annoyance, but mostly excitement. "I said I'd keep them closed, Father! I want to meet your friends."

"She's looking forward to meeting you," Salazar told them happily. "And sshe does have her eyes shut."

Sharessa did indeed have her eyes shut -- and her tongue out, tasting the air hopefully for her first scent of the new people.

"My goodness," Helga murmured at her first glimpse. "If you hadn't said she ate it all, I'd think I had fixed too much food."

"I even had to ssend for more," Salazar chuckled, kneeling down to let the infant basilisk curl around his arm and tilt her head up alertly at the others, her tongue flicking out and the thin scales over her eyes shimmering slightly. "This is Sharessa."

"She is pretty." Helga knelt beside him; she'd actually had somewhat more trouble getting used to the idea of being comfortable around serpents -- real rather than symbolic ones, anyway -- than werewolves, but with a Parselmouth husband, well... she had gotten used to it, and was perfectly sincere when she asked, "Is it all right if I touch her?"

"Yess, just be gentle."

The admonition was unnecessary, as Helga's touch was characteristically light when she stroked the smooth head. "Ooooh," Sharessa sighed, leaning her head into the strokes. "That feels nice. Who is she? I like her. Oh, don't stop."

"She likes you," Salazar murmured, "and likes your touch." He switched to Parseltongue and told the basilisk, "This is Helga, and she is my wife."

Sharessa flicked her tongue over Helga's hand curiously. "Does that make her Mother?"

He smiled. "I suppose it does. --Helga, do you mind if she calls you Mother?"

Helga looked somewhat nonplussed, especially when Sharessa slithered off Salazar's arm and onto hers, but she replied, "Er, no, I suppose not. I must admit I never thought I'd be mother to an infant basilisk..."

"Well," Salazar explained, "sshe callss me Father, and I'm hardly going to try introduccing her to the toad or the chickenss!"

"Wise decision," she returned gravely, then looked faintly anxious. "What did happen to the toad? Or should I not ask."

"I sset it loose when Godric and I were waiting for you." Salazar turned to face the other two with an expectant look, ready to hear more praise of his basilisk. "Well? What do you think?"

"Lovely, as you said," Godric replied dutifully, stepping forward to scratch Sharessa's head at the tiny ridges where her eyelids met her head. She nearly fell off Helga's arm in sheer ecstacy. Godric looked rather startled. "Is she all right?"

"Sshe's enjoying it," Salazar laughed. "Keep on."

"She is a lovely little thing. Is she growing already?" Rowena asked with interest. "The skin looks a bit tight, somehow, and I don't just mean in her middle!"

"I thought that when she was jusst out of the egg. I don't know if she does grow that fasst, or if her sskin is just sstill catching up to her." Still beaming, Salazar added in a hiss to Sharessa, "They all think you're lovely and are very pleased to meet you."

"Of course I'm lovely. I looked at me before you said to close my eyes." She stretched over and flicked her tongue affectionately at him. "Looked at you too. Strange, but very good."

Well, one thing basilisks certainly didn't lack was self-esteem! Salazar chuckled softly. "Thank you, my beauty."

"Like you lots," she told him warmly. Then, after a moment, an irritated non sequitur. "My skin itches."

"That's because you're growing," Salazar said wisely, scratching her again. "You'll get too big for your skin soon and shed it, and have a brand new skin underneath."

"Ohhh..." She flicked her tongue at him again. "Father knows everything."

"Not quite," Salazar admitted with a grin. "But I have known quite a few serpents."

"Oh." Sharessa ducked her head and looked slightly disappointed. "Others like me?"

"No..." Salazar caressed the looping spine and kindly refrained from laughing. "I would have to say, none quite like you."

"Gooooooood." She drew the hiss for that out considerably and rubbed against Salazar's hand.

"Friendly, isn't she?" Helga murmured, then looked mischievous. "Or is she just trying to start her skin off?"

"Ssome of both, I think," Salazar admitted sheepishly. "She said it itches." He sighed happily as he pull her back into his own hands and draped her around his shoulder. "Isn't she wonderful?"

"Delightful," Rowena agreed with only a hint of laughter.

Sharessa nudged Salazar's ear. "Tired."

He petted her warmly. "Then you should rest. I'll put you back in your nest, if you're comfortable there."

"Yes." She sighed. "More comfortable on you...."

"You need your own nest now that you're hatched." He uncoiled her gently and set her back down with a scritch on her eye ridges. "Sleep well, little darling."

"I will." She nuzzled him. "Goodbye."

"I'll see you soon, and send down something for you to hunt." He patted her once more, then straightened and stretched. "We sshould probably go now," he said to his friends. "She's going to take a nap." He beamed once more at her. "Isn't sshe beautiful?"

They agreed, still amused but sincere enough, and left the serpent to whatever a baby basilisk might dream about.

*****