Oasis

Thursday

I was walking through the desert after checking up on Terak and Kyga and their offspring, and found myself growing extremely thirsty, which is a hazard of travelling in the desert. To my amusement, I found an oasis. I was sure it was a mirage, but the bright orange aquatic ferilon that splashed out of the oasis lake to greet me was surely real.

He was the first water-type ferilon I'd ever seen, though I'd heard tell of stranger ones being bred for showing. My mind drifted to Ilia, and I wished her well with her breeding ranch. The orange ferilon was marked with silvery circles like bubbles, and had sharp fins on his neck and back, a deep brown blaze on his muzzle, and a tail like a dolphin. His paws were heavily webbed for swiming, and his long ears were carved in scallops. He looks decidedly water worthy - and aftter watching him swim, I'm amazed at how talented he his. He was simply gorgeous - and a bit out of place. He reminded me of Romeo. I've decided to call him Roeo.

The water is cool, clear, and real

Tuesday

I ventured out to see Roeo again today, but before I got there, I came across the most interesting ferilon I've seen to date. She's silver-grey, but not like the others. She has heavy armored plates instead of fur, and has bright yellow fringe on her ears, under her jaw, and at the base of her neck. Simply marvelous.

However, she is far from healthy. Though the desert seems to be where she belongs, she not comfortable here. Knowing the oasis was not far off, I coaxed her to come with me. She wouldn't allow me near enough to pick her up and carry her; too proud, even in her defeated state. I get the distinct impression that this fabulous female is no wild ferilon - that she is... was? one of those specially bred show ferilons. But if she is, how did she get here, to roughly the middle of nowhere?

At the oasis, she stepped cautiously up to the edge of the lake, and took a tentative sip, followed by a second. After a few moments of placid sipping, who should arrive but Roeo. (He answers to that, strangely enough.) He splashes up out of the lake, and attempts to drag her in.

She succeeds in dragging him out.

I was worried that I had incited a battle, but after some wrestling, this armored gal and Roeo seemed to become friendly towards one another. As missmatched as they seemed, it was only fair to name her to match. I hope Roeo and Jiet will have a happy ending this time.

Saturday

My hopes were not unfounded. Stopped at the oasis today. Jiet seemed happy to see me, and let me get close enough to see that she's with-cub. Roeo looked smug from where he lounged in the shallows, so there's no doubt as to who the father is. Jiet is very happy now that she has a companion, and it's painstakingly obvious that she's healthy now; no unhealthy female would take on childbearing.

I can only wonder what their offspring will look like. Armored, like her? Aquatic, like him? Some beautifully strange combination of both? Only time will tell.

Friday

A visit to Roeo and Jiet's oasis brought a pleasant (if somewhat expected) surprise. Jiet has given birth to four splendid cubs.

I've decided to risk naming the cubs now, rather than waiting to see how they act when they grow up. Since ma and pa's names are variants of Romeo and Juliet, The cubs will be named from Shakespeare's Tragedy Romeo and Juliet as well. It was tough to pick names for the girls; there aren't a lot of female characters in Shakespeare's works because all of the actors he had were men. Yes, the first Juliet was played by a man.

The first cub is orange, like Roeo, yet seems to be scaled like Jiet. His ears are plumed with brown; stunning. His name is Mertio, from Mercutio.

The second cub is silvery-grey, and appears to have a smooth pelt. She's rather nondescript, actually. Her name will be Pechi, from Petruchio.

The third cub is a deep goldish color, which I assume came from Roeo, but I can't be too sure. She seems to be scaled as well, and has large ears and bright eyes. I'm calling her Tyal. (from Tyalt)

The fourth cub is the only one with webbed paws, yet he's as plainly silver as Pechi. He's already sporting in the waves of the oasis lake with Roeo; I think they might wind up being good friends. His name is Bevoli, from Benvolio.

The cubs have grown!

Saturday

After Velocity finished napping in my lap (to her father's horror!), Iliamina and I travelled over to the oasis.

Iliamina promptly informed me that there was no way that these were Roeo's offspring, as there wasn't an orange one in the bunch. I was floored! Not Roeo's? How could that be?! It seems Ilia has actually been studying Ferilon genetics... Could she be right? If so, who's the real father?

Nobody tell Roeo...