The Naming

Posted on Fri Oct 27th, 2023 @ 2:40am by Brohs & Wendy

906 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Rescue
Location: USS Samurai, Between Decks
Timeline: MD 6, 1200

Wendy heard them coming long before they arrived. It sounded like two adults ... Sandra and Kent, perhaps? And a fluttery sound behind them, perhaps a new little one was coming!

Laughter preceded the swoop of wings as two adult Brohs entered Wendy's sitting room. "Beat that, Dude!" said the female, who was indeed recognizable as Sandra ... ensuring the other was Kent. She swooped to a somewhat graceful landing that was spoiled by running a few steps after initial touchdown.

"Ha! Watch and weep, Wahine!" Kent set down his own feet, narrowly avoiding tripping, but taking no extra steps. "I just pitted that one!"

Wendy peered beyond the two who were still clowning around on the floor below her shelf. Yes, there was a little one, and not long out of the egg, by its appearance and ungainly movements. It managed to fly behind the parents, though a little wobble-winged, and to set down, without landing on its nose ... just barely. It plopped back on its bottom, white wings outstretched for balance, and wide dark eyes blinking. Its head turned from side to side as it observed the new surroundings.

"Hello, little one," Wendy said softly from her bell jar. "Welcome to my home."

"Oh, heya, Wendy! Dude, you see our hatch? Gnarly, yeah?" Kent said, as proudly as if he'd accomplished some Herculean task. "Just came out ... soonest. Hey, did you see that? Dude, I got the best barrels ever! Just like I pull in and I just get spit right out of 'em. I just drop in and I say, bwaah!"

"Quit it, Dude!" Sandra frowned. "You're all barrel this and barrel that, but you don't even know what you're doing! You just drop in and ride the barrel and get pitted, so pitted!"

Wendy intervened at this point, knowing the discussion could go on for a very long time if she didn't pull them back to the point. "So, yes, I saw both of your amazing landings. And I see the new hatch, too. Did you bring him for naming?" She'd determined by the scale pattern that the newborn was a male. She searched what was left of her memory banks for the next male name on the list. Did I use Matt? Yes, I think I did. That means next is ... Max.

"Yo, Dude, sure thing. Gnarly name for the hatch," Sandra replied.

Nodding, Wendy said, "I think we'll call him Max, if that suits you."

The two adults performed an elaborate hand shaking ritual with each other, then turned to Wendy, but dropped their hands. Sometimes they forgot how small she was, but they were always careful not to hurt her.

"Max, gnarly!" Kent said, nodding and back-beating his scaled wings. "Good one, Wendy." Of course, he would have said that no matter what name she picked, but it still made her feel happy that he approved.

"We leave him here with you?" Sandra asked. It was what they always did. Brohs were nothing if not consistently poor parents. They did alright when the hatches were older, after they changed from white, dropping all hair and becoming dark scale patterns. As new parents, they were hopeless. Over time, Wendy had become nanny, which was her original purpose anyway, caretaker, trainer, namer of hatches ... and just about anything else the newborns needed, including love and security, and prayers.

Wendy nodded at the two. "Leave him with me. Come back when you want, take him when he's ready." It was the traditional contract she held with all Broh parents. Eventually, every hatch matured and was collected for the Cauldron, as their colony was known, even now in their latest transfer.

It had been hectic getting the entire group transferred from a starbase onto a ship ... but Wendy had felt it was time to leave the only place any of the Brohs had ever called home. She didn't know what was in store for the Cauldron, but she felt fear for them once she passed on. Even now, she could only work when she was connected to power ... and that was getting weaker.

The humans she knew had an unfortunate tendency to refer to the Brohs as bats, but they were not even distantly related. They flew, they had long narrow bodies, with double spines, they were covered with dark scales as adults. They were covered with fine white hair when they hatched, but that fell out within a short time.

Other humans identified them as dragons, which was also not accurate. They flew, their bodies were much narrower than dragons, they had scales and double spines. They were too small to be ridden by anything bigger than a robin, and robins weren't common in the spaces between bulkheads where the Cauldron had dwelled.

The two Brohs tapped wings and took to the air, flying fancy back and forth waves in front and behind each other. Though a little awkward on the ground, not many flying creatures could match the Brohs for grace and beauty on the wing. Wendy watched as they flew and shrieked out of sight, sounding like ... humans playing on a beach? Where that memory came from, she wasn't sure, but it felt right.

Turning to Max, Wendy said, "Let's get you recorded and put you together with some friends, shall we?"

"Dude?" Max asked.

"Dude," Wendy affirmed.

"Gnarly," he said satisfied. Exactly what the conversation meant, not even Wendy was sure.

 

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