|:|CotHS [Story: (Prologue) A Long Way To Fall]|:|

Instructions

Prologue: The winds and snow outside blew strong. Cobalt was sure this was the worst blizzard the Empire has received in years. Just in time for Alpha Ether’s soon death too. It was almost like Stardust herself was mourning the great Falline that would soon have to leave them. Last night the winds were too strong for any Falline to fly, so Skyracer had left early in the morning when the winds had calmed enough to let her wife fly out and make her rounds in the Empire. Skyracer had just been promoted to Head Knight, and she took her job very seriously. Cobalt sighed as she sat by the brick fireplace of her and Skyracer’s home. The two had recently moved to a larger cave home closer to the capital, mostly thanks to Skyracer’s promotion. The house was lavishly decorated, had a few bedrooms and bathrooms, a nice kitchen that made Cobalt especially happy, and a nice big living room with a brick fireplace. Cobalt was sitting on one of the couches, a blanket wrapped around her comfortably as she knit. It was a nice pastime, knitting quietly and listening to the fire crackle warmly. It was only when the sun had begun to set and the blizzard started to pick up again did she put down her work and become nervous. Where was Skyracer? Had she been caught in the storm? The blue furred Falline stood up, wondering if she should go out into the night to search for her beloved when the particular white and dark grey Airborne she was stressed about walked through the door. She was covered in ice and snow, and a few icicles hung from her fur. “Skyracer!” Cobalt rushed over to embrace her lover, but then stopped and grimaced at frozen snow and ice that covered her. “Where were you?!” She demanded instead as Skyracer shook out her fur. “Do you know how worried I was? You’ve been gone all day and you’re frozen solid!” Cobalt pushed Skyracer to the fire, ignoring the biting cold in her paws as she did so. Skyracer shook out her wings, and untied the red scarf around her neck. It looked like it had a lump of something in it, though Cobalt just assumed it was snow. “I’m sorry for worrying you, but it was for a good reason.” To Cobalt’s surprise, as Sky undid the scarf, instead of the wet white sheen of snow tumbling out of the scarf, a Falline egg is what fell into the Head Knight’s paws. It was a charcoal black colored, with 2 rings of blue and purple near the top. Skyracer immediately wrapped it in a blanket and pushed it close to the fire while Cobalt stood there mouth agape. “You’re catching flies, my love.” Skyracer mused, her magenta eyes shining in amusement but also worry. Cobalt snapped out of her trance. “Where.. How… When… Wha…” Cobalt’s eyes did not leave the egg. “Where in the 3 gods did you find an egg? And one so close to hatching?!” Cobalt finally half yelled, though not in anger. By the looks of the egg, it looked like it was incredibly close to hatching. So close, that Cobalt was sure that it must be overdue. Skyracer didn’t speak for a few minutes, and when she did it was not the answer to Cobalt’s question. “Umber’s dead.” Cobalt blinked in surprise. “This is his egg.” “...What..?” It was common knowledge that Umber would become the Alpha after Ether. He was the most respected knight in the entire Empire, and she remembered how surprised SKyracer was when SHE was promoted to Head Knight rather than Umber. She ended up just assuming that it was because Umber was the next Alpha. She knew that he had a wife, Lavender, who he would have to divorce once he rose to the throne, but she never once in a million years imagined that they had an egg. What was even worse now, Umber was dead while Ether was nearly on High Spirit’s trail. Skyracer’s sigh brought Cobalt out of her thoughts. “I’m not sure if it’ll even hatch. When I found it, it was buried in the snow. It was probably in there overnight.” Cobalt shivered, knowing that overnight in the freezing cold was a death sentence for the poor unborn Hatchling. It also raised the question of why exactly it was out there in the first place, why not in the hatchery? “What should we do? Should we go bury the egg with the parents? Should we give it to it’s closest kin?” Cobalt asked. She couldn’t stop a look of sadness cross her face for the little Falline in the egg. So close to hatching, and the world was torn away from it just before it could reach it. Of course Ether would then HAVE to choose someone other than Umber to become the Alpha, but maybe this egg would have become the Alpha after. Maybe it would have become a skilled and noble knight like it’s father. Maybe an excellent healer like it’s mother. “I suppose it would be the best thing to do. Tomorrow I’ll take the egg to where some of the other Knights and I buried them.” Skyracer said, and draped the blanket around it over the dark covered egg. Cobalt nodded, and followed her wife to their room.