Tale of Panthera Regina (Remake)

Bonus Chapter #14 It Takes a Village to Raised a Child

Author: Raptona wrote this.

POV: Swamp

Year: 200,195

Deep within a bog, a mound of mud and twigs was gathered to form a home for an unusual family. The mound was just outside the Village of the Crocodiles, and a crowd started to gather as they wait for someone.

It was a peaceful day in the Acer Swamp when a brown and teal Swamp Monster peeked over at a green and brown speckled egg. It was hers, and it was healthy. This is all that Cattail could have asked for.

No one understood why it was happening, but over the last three hundred years, the eggs of the Swamps Monster started to become weak. Offspring were starting to become rare as the age gaps grew.

That did not matter to Cattail as she was blessed by the Stars of Snow.

The Swamp Monster would pray day and night for each of her children before and after hatching. Some say it was luck or good genes, but the mother gave her thanks to the Stars.

Cattail and Fern could not be more excited for another baby. Branch was fascinated by her having a new brother or sister. She told every Creature about it.

That is how the crowd form in the first place.

Acer Swamp Creatures tend to consider the kindest out of all the territories as the only way to survive was to help one another. This created a very complex trade system that everyone depend on.

*It would be nice if the desert does this as well.* Cattail thought as she was wondering where her mate went to.

Speaking of which, Fern peeked over her shoulder as he heard the cracks coming from the egg. Her mate squealed with glee as watched the egg rock back and forth.

"MOM!!! DAD!!!" Branch yelled at her parents. "I can't see..." The parents made room for their daughter before she could throw a fit.

Cattail was glad that the Creatures and the village had agreed to keep their distance. It was considered an honor to be invited to hatching or birth on the Island. It meant that the mother and father saw the Creature as part of their family.

The young monster was fighting to get out of the egg, but it was considered a bad omen to help the young out. The parents or guardians could only help the young out of the egg if they believed that the young would die otherwise.

Each Great Beast had their own traditions and ways of raising young.

The ground rumbled as a gray Sphinx landed. "Oh, don't tell me that I missed it?"

"Come and watch, Striker!" Fern called out to his old friend.

The young monster managed to get out of the egg and was greeted into a world by his family around him among the reeds of his home. The little one was tan and teal in color. He was also very tiny for his size.

They called him Twig as he had a brown and teal fluff ball who want nothing more than go back to his shell after seeing the crowd. Cattail scooped him up as she chuckled.

"Can I hold him?" Branch pleaded to her mom.

"Dear, you know that mothers have to show the newly hatched," Fern told his daughter while gently patting her head. "You'll hold him after she shows him off."

Cattail walked the swamp as the crowd paraded behind her. Swamp Monsters were becoming rarer, and thus all Creatures make it known when a new one is born.

It was considered against the law to kill anyone considered rare. So, this act of showing off the newborn was critical to ensure that no harm come to it.