Acknowledgements

Around midnight, Kikyo slowly wakes up to the sound of something cracking.

“Wha?” Kikyo mumbles, only to jump out of bed at the sound of something cracking open. “Whoa!” Kikyo shouts as she watches the stone. “You’re not a stone, you’re an egg.” Kikyo says with a dumbfounded look on her face for a moment before a small smile appears on her face. Suddenly, the egg explodes, producing a black baby dragon. The baby sneezes. “Wow. You’re beautiful!” Kikyo says. The baby climbs up onto Kikyo’s lap. The two of them slowly fall asleep.

The next morning, Kikyo’s startled awake by the sound of someone knocking on her door.

“Who is it?” Kikyo asks, looking at the door with dread. She shushes the baby dragon when it starts to growl.

“It’s me. I have to tell you something!” Murtagh says with a slight strain to his voice. Kikyo instantly relaxes.

“Come in.” Kikyo says. Murtagh comes into the room, and is followed by another baby dragon this one red instead of Kikyo’s black one. “Well, hello there, little one. You’re a cute one.” The baby dragon purrs.

“Do you mind explaining why I woke up with this little thing lying next to me?” Murtagh demands, watching Kikyo with a questioning look.

“I haven't figured that one out for myself.” Kikyo admits, shrugging. The black baby walks out, and over to her, where he crawls onto her lap.

“Okay, this is too much of a coincidence. It has to be those stones that Eldest gave us.” Murtagh says, looking at the babies with a strange look on his face.

“I don’t think they were stones, Murtagh. I think they were eggs.” Kikyo says, looking at Murtagh with a smile.

“Eggs! Eggs of what?” Murtagh demands, looking at Kikyo with narrowed eyes.

“Eggs of a dragon of course!” Kikyo says, rolling her eyes ‘Wow. How stupid can you be?’ she mentally wonders.

“Whatever. So what are we supposed to do about this stupid predicament we’re in?” Murtagh questions, looking at Kikyo with irritation on his face.

“Give me a minute! Let me think!” Kikyo growls out, glaring ominously at Murtagh, who takes a step back.

“Well, hurry up befo-“ Murtagh begins but stops when all the sudden, they hear a knock on the door. “Damn! Damn! Damn!” Murtagh mutters under his breath, looking at the door with horror filled eyes.

“Who is it?” Kikyo asks, sounding completely normal.

“Can I come in?” Arya asks from the other side of the door in a stressed voice.

“ARYA?!” both Murtagh and Kikyo gasp as they run to the door and open it.

“Yeah, can I come in?” Arya asks, looking at the two and the way they’re both blocking her view of inside the room. Kikyo leans over to Murtagh.

“Put the dragons in the closet, Murtagh. I’ll hold her here.” Kikyo whispers, being extra careful to make sure Arya has absolutely no view of her mouth. Murtagh nods and runs back into the room while Kikyo takes a step outside the door and closes it to stop Arya from seeing what's going on inside. Meanwhile, Murtagh stuffs the dragons into the closet.

“Stay.” He tells them. The red one stays but the black one walks out. Murtagh groans before once again picking it up and shoving it into the closet. He shuts the door and makes sure it’s completely closed before walking back over to the door and opens it. He nods, motioning into the room. As soon as Arya’s into the room, she turns to the two with narrowed and suspicious eyes.

“What the hell happened? I felt a strong energy surge over here.” Arya demands, glaring at the two of them. They both fidget for a moment before Kikyo looks at Arya.

“Can I talk to Murtagh for a moment?” Kikyo asks, looking sheepish. Arya nods.

“Sure.” Arya says, motioning the two to walk to a different corner of the room. Kikyo drags Murtagh over there.

“I think we should tell Arya.” Kikyo says, looking at Murtagh with fiery eyes.

“WHAT!!” Murtagh shouts, looking at Kikyo like she’s lost her brain. Kikyo shrugs.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like she’s working for our fathers or anything.” Kikyo says, not seeing what's so wrong with her idea. Murtagh scoffs.

“Yeah, but what if we put our babies in danger! Then what would we do?” Murtagh demands, looking at Kikyo with expectant eyes.

“Protect them!” Kikyo says, sound like it’s the stupidest question to ever have been asked of her.

“Fine, but watch what you tell her.” Murtagh says, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Thanks.” Kikyo says with a smile. They walk back to Arya. She is now looking at them with a funny look.