Journeys of Time 31: Return of Bad Blood
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As Tenchi had arrived at Bastilia in Je'Zaki, the reunion of mother and daughter had been heartwarming for both Peridot and Hildegaard as they had sat down and talked about the old days, unaware that their peace would soon be interrupted by something truly spectacular.

"I still remember the day when I gave birth to Chaline. They had been surprised and unable to tell me about Chaline's condition. But once I heard about it, I didn't care. She was still my precious little spark of joy. And then seeing her growing up was a pure joy. Especially when she showed how much of a natural she was for using fire." Liether told everyone present while Chaline sat close and leaned her head against her shoulder.

Hildegaard and Peridot were happy to see both of them being reunited, as Hildegaard knew the feeling with Izae leaning against her side too. However, Peridot was not exactly present in some of the conversation, as she felt a nauseating pain surfacing every now and then in her chest and belly.

Azura noticed that she was a bit uncomfortable and moved over to gently place a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you okay, Dottie?" The conversation stopped as all attention was now on Peridot, who quickly tried to bring the attention away from her, "Yes, I am fine. All fine."

She smiled, but it was clear that something wasn't well, and Azura knew that, "Are you sure, Dottie? You are behaving like you have constipation or something." Peridot was about to fight it, but soon she leaned forward and cried out, as Hildegaard noticed something touching her left leg and her eyes went wide, "I think she is going into labor!"

Peridot growled out in pain as Hildegaard quickly lifted her up and carried her over to one of the wyvern pens, quickly jumping over the fence and walked over to a nest where Senshi, Peridot's loyal Spiritwind wyvern, was laying and looked up with a confused look as Hildegaard told him, "She is in labor. And as you are the only other one who can heal here, I want you to help her out."

Senshi growled softly as he was soon lifting a wing and after Hildegaard laid Peridot into place when he softly laid the wing down, the healing mist already filling Peridot's body as she reached over to rub a hand along the side of Senshi's muzzle, "Good boy."

Hildegaard nodded before looking at the other Frostclaws approaching, quickly unfolding her wings to shield Peridot, "Quick, get me some hot water!" Azura was quickly getting down near Hildegaard and took out a herb before letting Peridot chew it down, "Okay, she has been given a powerful painkiller. Bring the hot water and also a cloth." Hildegaard was amazed by Azura's quick thinking and soon Azura took out her scalpel and pulled off Peridot's lower clothes, making Chaline get shocked, "Wait, she is an actual herm?!"

Azura looked at Chaline and soon casually pulled her pants down to show off her own dick, "We are many herms here. But lets not focus on that now. We got a Prime's second wings needing my help." Chaline nodded before Azura placed a hand on Peridot's belly and felt around before nodding as she laid the scalpel aside, "No need for a caesarean section here. Okay, push now, Dottie."

Peridot began to push hard, not feeling any pain and she felt her hand being grabbed by Hildegaard, "You are doing well, Peridot. Just keep on pushing now." Peridot took a deep breath and soon pushed again, amazing everyone with how strong she was and Senshi was soon nuzzling her cheek, making Peridot look at him, "You are feeling like a proud uncle to be, aren't you?" Senshi had learned that Peridot was still having trouble understanding everything and gave a motion with his head like a nod, making even Azura amazed by how well she had trained him.

It was then that a sound was heard behind Azura and Hildegaard as something was approaching. Hildegaard turned her head to look at who or what it was, only for her to suddenly have a muzzle bumping hers as a Heartscale wyvern stood there and Hildegaard remembered what Izae had told her and gently took the muzzle on her and moved it down near Peridot before speaking, "She is pregnant and giving birth. Like your mother was when she laid your egg once."

The wyvern seemed to understand and sniffed over Peridot's body before laying down so Peridot could use her neck as a pillow, making Juna standing a bit away from this and smile as after she was given the right to be a rider in her own right, the Heartscale wyvern had approached her out of its own will, while still being blind, and chose her as its rider, making Juna decide the only logical name in her mind for the little one, Amore.

Peridot felt the comfort of the Heartscale before pushing harder, her mind flooding with images of the last time she was pregnant and the joy she had felt after it was over, the sudden appearance of her own set of Spiritwind wyvern wings appearing and showing everyone that her title as The Spiritwind was not limited to her ability to heal, but also the fact she could manifest herself as a true wyvern.

Azura smiled at it before nodding, "I can see the head now. Push more, Dottie." Peridot closed her eyes tightly and with an almost bestial capacity of energy coursing through her body, she had soon pushed the newborn out and Azura grabbed the scalpel to cut the umbilical cord, but her hand was stopped as Hildegaard shook her head, making Azura put the scalpel back with the rest of her medical tools before Hildegaard looked at Senshi, "You may bite it off."

Senshi looked at her before Izae got big eyes, "Wait, you are meaning that you all bonded closer with your wyvern by letting them do that?" Hildegaard nodded, "Yes. My dad and your grandfather did the same when I was born. And I had one of mine do it to me when you were born." Senshi was leaning in closely to Peridot and very gently bit onto the umbilical cord and through it just as Peridot pushed out the placenta, which Azura picked up and cleaned off. "You know where this is going."

Back in present time, in Bastilia, Tenchi was getting a guided tour by Honeycomb through the busy streets, showing off the many wonders like their big castle in the form of a massive bee-hive, their honey storage which surprised Tenchi by being not a single building, but rather five massive storage buildings that Tenchi realized was as big as a large sports arena.

Hidden away from them the whole time was the male jackal, who kept leaping from building to building, waiting for his opportunity as he watched when Tenchi and Honeycomb stopped in front of a clock tower built on what looked like a massive ant hill, "What is this?" Tenchi asked before Honeycomb smiled, "This is the largest clock in my queendom. It stands so tall that even at the borders of the capital city, you can still see what time it is."

Tenchi was amazed by this and looked at Honeycomb, "Is it possible to go inside?" Honeycomb nodded before leading the way for her as they approached the entrance, giving the jackal the chance he needed as he quickly jumped on the buildings close enough to the tower and soon leaped onto the outside of the building, scaling it like a natural climber, all while Tenchi and Honeycomb were scaling the many stairs inside, while Honeycomb was telling how the tower had been built by ten generations of ant queens since the planet was created, leaving Tenchi amazed by the tenacity of the ants for building the tower without losing sight of the goal.

At the very top, Tenchi and Honeycomb got to see from right under the face of the clock how Bastilia stretched far and wide in front of their eyes and Tenchi nodded, "This is truly an amazing sight, Honeycomb. I could stare at it for days." Honeycomb smiled, "I know what you mean. It is so beautiful that you almost wish you could live here." It was then that a voice spoke up from the outside, "Poor shame that you are not going to last for that long, Tenchi Arizonia!"

Tenchi looked around and turned her back to the window, "Who is there?" Suddenly Tenchi felt a dagger piercing the scales on her back and how she was slowly feeling powerless, but as the jackal showed his face and threw a casette player towards Tenchi's head, he found himself impaled through his abdomen by Tenchi's tail and slowly fell backwards down towards the ground and his demise.

Honeycomb was shocked by what had just happened and quickly leaned out of the window, "Bijou!!! Come here quickly!" Bijou could hear her queen calling for her and soon followed the trail of pheromons leading to the clock tower, landing on the window and saw the condition Tenchi was in, "What happened here?!" Honeycomb was quickly grabbing onto Bijou, "Listen, I want you to deliver the news to her wives about what happened, and tell them I will contact the Vampire Queen for help with this. NOW!"

Bijou was about to leave, but Honeycomb quickly grabbed the casette player and handed it to her, "The assassin threw this at her, so it might contain a message. Take it with you." Bijou nodded before she quickly began to flap her wings to head north towards Ri'Co'Va, before Honeycomb reached into a pocket on the inside of her cape and pulled out a medallion that she quickly squeezed before a window opened up, being a communication pad for emergencies that Azula had developed, but as she had already sent Bijou to deliver the news, calling them would be pointless.

Soon the screen flickered to life and Violetta's face appeared, "Ah, Queen Honeycomb. An honor, but what makes you contact me?" Honeycomb took the screen and lowered it down, making Violetta gasp, "No, this can't be. Maria, you don't wanna see this." Soft footsteps could be heard before Maria appeared, "What do you m... TENCHI?! What happened to her?!"

Violetta tried to push Maria away, but earned herself a powerful shove that soon made her land on the floor as Maria was holding the screen, "Queen Honeycomb, your honeyed majesty. What happened?!" Honeycomb knew that Maria was close to Tenchi, but seeing how she even went to the level of shoving even her queen and sister aside, she still understood the concern, "There was an assassination attempt on her. I can't believe that I didn't have the guards join us for this."

Maria began to tear up before Violetta had gotten up and taken the screen from her, "Did you contact Gac'Ea'Ax?" Honeycomb shook her head, "No, I thought I was only allowed to do that during situations of death having already occured." Violetta ran a hand through her hair, "Okay, we will come right away. I hear the sound of moving gears. The Phillistina Clock Tower?" Honeycomb nodded before hearing Maria calling out, "I'll arrange the Blood Court to protect us, my queen." Violetta nodded before the energy ran out of the communication pad and the call ended, leaving Honeycomb to hope Bijou had luck with her assignment.

Back at Tepehi in Ri'Co'Va, Peridot had finally calmed down and was now holding her newborn daughter in her arms, feeling the eager cub feeding while everyone was looking at the proud mother. Senshi was sniffing on the newborn and laid his head down in submission to Peridot, who pet him before Hildegaard asked, "You have any name planned for her?" Peridot shook her head, "No, I will wait until Tenchi comes home and sees her before we decide on the name."

Hildegaard nodded, understanding her decision and leaned in to hug her, just as the sound of flapping odonata approached and how someone landed when Bijou stood there. Peridot smiled to her and was about to call out for Kari, when Bijou lifted a hand to stop her, "No, I bear grim news."

Everyone looked at Bijou as she stood there, her eyes slowly closing as she really disliked this part and wasn't truly ready for anything that could happen, but she had been appointed to deliver the news, "There has been an assassination attempt on Miss Tenchi." Everyone looked in shock before Bijou took out the casette player, not sure how to operate it when Azura took it from her and pressed play.

The End.