His mother was probably the oldest passerine in the whole entire air of Quartzal.
This had not really occurred to Chimbeeriun ever until he happened to see another passerine, apparently a half-sister from several clutches prior his, seek Skaffwory for counsel.
Lurking from a couple boughs away, he could hear them talking about egg-related stuff.
"Have your mate obtain shells for you to eat," Skaffwory was saying.
"Shells?" the younger passerine said with some disgust.
"Shells -- Pearlusk would be the easiest source. The shells of oysters or madelines, or, if you are disinclined, consume the bones of cuttle. This will help you form strong, stiff shells for your own eggs. It will also improve your laying muscles."
Skaffwory coughed and huffed, the plump of feathers and skin at her throat inflating and then deflating and swinging back and forth. Compared to Chimbeeriun's half-sister, who was a sleek and young passerine with smooth and shiny feathers, Skaffwory was huge and jagged-looking, some of her feathers lacking luster and turning gray and ruffled, so in some places she looked especially fuzzy. She had also grown many knobs with age, which bulged on her brows, a dull yet bright red color. Skaffwory was also quite fat, in passerine terms -- her fuzzy feathers hid it but there was no denying the way the branch she was perching on dipped down beneath her weight. And then she always attracted salamanders to twine around the twigs too. Loftrees were extremely hardy and could withstand the crawl of salamanders but it probably didn't help things.
"Also," Skaffwory advised in her grainy, low voice which sounded like she had cracked leaves in her throat, "consume many natural oils, such as those contained in the seeds of safflower and sunflower. A good secondary would be fish."
"Fish!" The younger passerine was looking increasingly sick. "Skaffwory, you're killing me."
"Not as easily as you will kill your hatchlings if you can't even lay a hard shell," Skaffwory told her, tilting her head and combing out the rough of her neck. "Or worse, if you can't lay the egg out at all, which is what will happen if you lack oils." She caught a feather in the nimble hook at the edge of her beak and rearranged the filaments, waiting for her daughter to get over it.
"Do you have any other advice?" the younger passerine asked grudgingly, and Skaffwory this time did not even bother to look at her.
"Roost here," Skaffwory said. "I understand that you all of the newer clutches fear going high and want to keep your nests close to where the walkers are so that they can keep an eye on them, but up here is the only place where you can feel the sunlight, whose energies will help you absorb the shells and the oil."
"Skaffwory," said the younger passerine with annoyance, "it's not that we like keeping the nests close to grounded Quartzal, and we don't do it so that the walkers can watch us, it's just that those higher-up caves are so dangerous. What's the use of having a strong egg if the next little quake is just going to do it in? And there's no space up there in those teensy holes for a big clutch and someone to sit on it."
"If you so insist on a nest down there," Skaffwory said primly, "then just know that you'll still need the sunlight."
"If it's just sunlight, I can buy a jar of it."
"And the warmth too."
"Then I can get a basket of salamanders." She looked at the salamanders coiling around Skaffwory's feet.
"Purchase them from me when the time comes," Skaffwory told her. "My salamanders have the sweetest temper of any others sold in Quartzal and even the Bazaar, and won't burn the wings off your back."
The daughter nodded and stretched out her wings; just as she began rowing the air, Skaffwory told her, "Urackea, know this: I have had only three daughters die of binding, and their common element is that they did not heed me."
"It's gross, but I will heed you," the younger passerine said, bowing her head. "Goodbye."
She left. Skaffwory withdrew another charcloth from a pouch she kept around her ankle and pointedly carried on with her business until Chimbeeriun ventured, quietly, "Skaffwory?"
And then again, when she didn't look up -- "Skaffwory!"
"What need have you, Chimbeeriun?"
"I'm hungry!"
Lurking from a couple boughs away, he could hear them talking about egg-related stuff.
"Have your mate obtain shells for you to eat," Skaffwory was saying.
"Shells?" the younger passerine said with some disgust.
"Shells -- Pearlusk would be the easiest source. The shells of oysters or madelines, or, if you are disinclined, consume the bones of cuttle. This will help you form strong, stiff shells for your own eggs. It will also improve your laying muscles."
Skaffwory coughed and huffed, the plump of feathers and skin at her throat inflating and then deflating and swinging back and forth. Compared to Chimbeeriun's half-sister, who was a sleek and young passerine with smooth and shiny feathers, Skaffwory was huge and jagged-looking, some of her feathers lacking luster and turning gray and ruffled, so in some places she looked especially fuzzy. She had also grown many knobs with age, which bulged on her brows, a dull yet bright red color. Skaffwory was also quite fat, in passerine terms -- her fuzzy feathers hid it but there was no denying the way the branch she was perching on dipped down beneath her weight. And then she always attracted salamanders to twine around the twigs too. Loftrees were extremely hardy and could withstand the crawl of salamanders but it probably didn't help things.
"Also," Skaffwory advised in her grainy, low voice which sounded like she had cracked leaves in her throat, "consume many natural oils, such as those contained in the seeds of safflower and sunflower. A good secondary would be fish."
"Fish!" The younger passerine was looking increasingly sick. "Skaffwory, you're killing me."
"Not as easily as you will kill your hatchlings if you can't even lay a hard shell," Skaffwory told her, tilting her head and combing out the rough of her neck. "Or worse, if you can't lay the egg out at all, which is what will happen if you lack oils." She caught a feather in the nimble hook at the edge of her beak and rearranged the filaments, waiting for her daughter to get over it.
"Do you have any other advice?" the younger passerine asked grudgingly, and Skaffwory this time did not even bother to look at her.
"Roost here," Skaffwory said. "I understand that you all of the newer clutches fear going high and want to keep your nests close to where the walkers are so that they can keep an eye on them, but up here is the only place where you can feel the sunlight, whose energies will help you absorb the shells and the oil."
"Skaffwory," said the younger passerine with annoyance, "it's not that we like keeping the nests close to grounded Quartzal, and we don't do it so that the walkers can watch us, it's just that those higher-up caves are so dangerous. What's the use of having a strong egg if the next little quake is just going to do it in? And there's no space up there in those teensy holes for a big clutch and someone to sit on it."
"If you so insist on a nest down there," Skaffwory said primly, "then just know that you'll still need the sunlight."
"If it's just sunlight, I can buy a jar of it."
"And the warmth too."
"Then I can get a basket of salamanders." She looked at the salamanders coiling around Skaffwory's feet.
"Purchase them from me when the time comes," Skaffwory told her. "My salamanders have the sweetest temper of any others sold in Quartzal and even the Bazaar, and won't burn the wings off your back."
The daughter nodded and stretched out her wings; just as she began rowing the air, Skaffwory told her, "Urackea, know this: I have had only three daughters die of binding, and their common element is that they did not heed me."
"It's gross, but I will heed you," the younger passerine said, bowing her head. "Goodbye."
She left. Skaffwory withdrew another charcloth from a pouch she kept around her ankle and pointedly carried on with her business until Chimbeeriun ventured, quietly, "Skaffwory?"
And then again, when she didn't look up -- "Skaffwory!"
"What need have you, Chimbeeriun?"
"I'm hungry!"
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