Metroid: The Last Aurealian *REWRITE*

Faded Memory

Bird People are scary. Mother didn't show us that at all in our dreams before-life. We saw them through her eyes, small feathered creatures dressed in silken robes with bird beaks and talons with a shimmering sentience in their eyes. They were so tiny beneath her gaze a that a mere flick of her claws would knock them out. Though she would never do that, they were our friends, and our kin's star-bonded brethren. In visions Mother shown, the Bird People were as much as family to us as her, Father, and the rest of our colony. Our kind and theirs lived, fought, and breathed together since the emergence of days. They were part of our history and we were part of theirs. They would never hurt us.

Mother landed with a soft thud, laying down on her side as she greeted what appeared to be a big surrounding audience. She contracted the walls of her belly pouch to coax us into the open. There was a mad scramble, and I was rudely pushed back and shoved away by my bigger brothers and sisters, leaving me the last one to leave. I growled disgruntled, gingerly creeping out of Mother's pouch, claws clicking on hard ground and sniffing the air, perplexed at the new environment.

We weren't in Home Cave anymore, not even the main colony. We were in a new place, with colossal stone walls carved with strange drawings beneath an open red sky. Small flat pathways branched from the area leading to other areas encaged in stone etched with claw like scratches above their archways. I was surrounded by new sounds and smells, almost overwhelming to my still new senses, yet I wasn't afraid. I knew where I was, this is where the Bird People lived. Mother prepared us before we were even born, presenting the visions in our dreams while we rested in her womb so when the time came, and we would meet our brethren for the first time, we would know what to expect. We didn't expect the Bird People to be so scary. They were downright terrifying! Tall looming creatures hovering over our tiny bodies like the cave spires of our home, long spindly arms with razor sharp talons capable of picking us up and ripping our limbs off, feathered faces with long curving beaks and enormous opaque eyes that glimpsed deep within our scales to the depths of our bones! Seeing these beings through the memories of a full-grown kinfolk was one thing, but to a newborn who had yet to experience the world was too frightening for creatures so little and so fresh at life. I would've retreated into Mother's pouch if she hadn't reassured us they weren't dangerous. My brothers and sisters tried. They cowered against her side in a tight bundle, pawing her belly and mewing for her protection, but she refused to let them in.

It is all right my children; you are in no danger. The Chozo are your Celestial Brethren and they are your friends. My siblings squeaked, nuzzling their heads into her scales, though she would not give in. Go on, go on. She nudged the cowering heap with an encouraging thrum. They are all here to meet you, come say hello. 

A low grunt came from Father, who had been laying patiently across from her. Have patience, my dear. They have never seen Chozo with their own eyes before. Give them time, they will grow curious once they sense are aren't in any danger. He arrived here on foot a while before Mother did, leading a troop of three females and a scarred male who were sprawled across the wide expanse, blinking their curious gaze on us. They were our older siblings and the first of our kin we knew. We were not afraid of them. My eggmates recognized my Father's familiar voice and came sprinting over to him, squawking on their hind legs, pawing at his foreleg in piteous cries. My father gently pushed them away.

You know who I am, my precious brood, now it is time to learn of your allies. The Chozo may look big and frightening but they will not harm you. My brothers nuzzled against his scales; my sisters hid behind his tail. Not even the presence of our older brother and sisters couldn't rouse their bravery.