It was still confusing, to look at an adult Cassowary and seeing it love and dote on a small platypus as if it was his own chick. Yet Kemai never once lost sight of Kiau, keeping him close and only allowing the puggle to roam within reaching distance.

Adrian observed the little creature with a keen interest but had learned from his past mistakes. After Zuri's warning of how an intent stare could come across as a hunting leer, Adrian averted his eyes regularly or offered Kemai a hesitant smile.

The Cassowary seemed to appreciate it, letting out a low trill when Kiau wandered too far. It made the little puggle scramble back on its awkward little webbed feet, scurrying into Kemai's lap among happy chitters and squeaks.

"How old is he?" Darius questioned, smiling down at the youngster as Kemai thought for a moment. Brushing through its thin fur and smiling as the kid nipped at the man's fingers with his bill.

Kemai licked his lips, tapping his fingers to his thigh before replying "About... three moons- months now. He's been playing with worms he's found but hasn't eaten solids yet." The man cleared his throat, ignoring the surprised looks from everyone around.

It was normal for children born Feral to remain shifted for their younger years and even further. In the wild Adrian hadn't really found a need to shift and had stayed mostly as his raptor self. There had only been a select few moment where he had opted to become human and that was simply to find shelter during a harsh storm.

Trying to squeeze his sixteen feet long body into a small alcove in order to hide from the hail pelting his feathers had been ridiculous enough before he had managed to shift and huddle against the rock wall.

Presumably that was the same reason why Kiau was in his animal shape; it felt comfortable and safe. Especially with a Cassowary protecting him every step he took.

However, Kemai wasn't acting like most ferals. Ferals like Adrian, who spent their entire lives roaming the wilds, who barely knew how to speak, let alone understand the human languages. Yet Kemai was speaking perfectly understandable English, albeit in a raspy voice that lilted with a foreign accent.

"Have you lived in the wilds your entire life?" Adrian questioned curiously, tapping on his own chest as he offered more information, "I had to learn how to speak, as I was born and raised without any human contact."

Kemai hummed deeply, a wry smile slipping on his features whilst looking down at the playful puggle. "No, that was... a recent event." He cleared his throat, eyes flitting around the room in discomfort before he continued, "It was after my mate...ex mate, left me to raise the eggs alone."

Adrian blinked in surprise, his shock evident to Darius who sighed deeply and reached for Adrian's nape to soothe him with a gentle scratch. "Like I've said before love, not all species are known for their parenting skills. If I recall correctly, Cassowary females only lay their eggs and leave the male to hatch and raise them."

His mate gave Kemai a curious look, who nodded slowly. "She wasn't always like that. She was-" Kemai waved a hand through the air, struggling to find the correct word as he muttered in a foreign language. "I can't explain. Loved life. Loved to live. Saw everything with new eyes. We were together for a few years before thinking of a nest." His eyes darkened, lip thinning as he added with a raw voice "And then she left. Just like that."

Adrian kept his mouth shut, knowing that he shouldn't ask the obvious. If Kemai and Kiau were found together and without any cassowary chicks....

Plus the tension in Kemai was making it all too clear that the cassowary was not interested in divulging what happened. While a part of the young raptor was curious, he bit his tongue, knowing that the how didn't matter as the result stayed the same.

One way or another, Kemai had lost his nest. It made sense why a fully mature shifter would go feral and perhaps why such an odd adoption had taken place. Adrian could already imagine how Kemai lost his chicks, how a lone parent would struggle to defend his brood against hungry predators.

"I hate to ask but we need to know how you found Kiau. If their parents are-" Darius murmured softly, tone apologetic before Kemai sighed, cupping his hands over the little platypus' head to muffle his lowering voice.

"Dead. All I saw was a glimpse of a dog running off with a body, what remained of the nest trampled." His fingers combed through Kiau's fur before Kemai raised the puggle to his face, nuzzling the cooing critter. "Found one intact egg and decided to give it a chance."

Adrian sighed, knowing that such a thing could've easily happened to him and his siblings. At the very least his parents had waited until they were somewhat capable of fending for themselves before they bailed.

The sooner a parent left their offspring, the more at risk they were of finding their natural ends in the wild. Without any guidance or preparation, Feral children stuck in their shifts were at risk of becoming a part of the food chain.

Even those that managed to shift to their human form were still in danger, as there were plenty of natural predators out there who didn't mind attacking a weak and feeble human child. 

Apparently there were some who stuck around longer or at least one parent remained with the children. Adrian's own parents left after the chicks were capable of fending for themselves and the young raptor had often wondered if they had done so for their own safety.

What if their lives had been at risk by their own parents if they remained longer? After all, Willem had to play the role of a deadbeat dad ignoring any offspring he produced merely because his instincts were so strong. Instincts that would urge him to kill the competition in front of him, not recognizing them as his own cubs.

Normally bears in general wouldn't have any issues with their own cubs but for some the instincts were far too potent to ignore. It was why there were still so many feral offspring even from herbivores, who couldn't suppress their instinct to drive out their young at a certain age.

His own feathers peered out of his hair as Adrian shook his head. It only reaffirmed his idea of becoming an adult who'd actively look for Ferals in the wild. To relocate them much sooner than when the Council got word due to human sightings.

Darius must've caught his idea as the man chuckled and pressed a kiss against Adrian's temple. "Trust me, the Council does have several teams looking for Ferals. But the world is an immensely large space, especially if you're looking for people of unknown origin and location with literally no information besides occasional sightings."

Adrian blinked before glancing at Darius. "Not even their parents?"

That made the older Raptor pause for a moment before humming thoughtfully while Levi leaned forwards, pulling Adrian in his lap." Babe, I know you like to look at things from a very logical view. But no parent is willingly going to admit they abandoned their children, especially not those with feral instincts. Only the good ones would, and those parents usually drop off their children in a Council embassy instead of dumping them in the wilds."

Darius made a fair point, one that kinda stung Adrian. After all, while he didn't think too badly of his parents; the fact remained that they had dumped him and his siblings in the middle of the woods instead of contacting the Council and leave them in capable hands.

Would my sisters still be alive if they had done so?

It was a thought he didn't wish to entertain. He never really cared for the 'what if' situations as those were bound to the land of dreams and fantasy. Adrian was stuck in the here and now. No amount of wistful dreaming and hoping would change the present.

Still, his shift mourned the loss of what could have been. The beast was a group hunter and just the knowledge that it could've lived with its kin instead of being alone saddened it. Plus, he missed the soft trilling and cooing of his sisters, how they nuzzled closer for warmth and comfort.

A kiss was pressed to Adrian's temple, making him lean into Levi with a low trill as he accepted and enjoyed the gesture. Now the one to be comforted, his sorrowful scent softening into something warmer as Levi hugged him closer.

Tuning into the conversation Darius was having with Kemai, Adrian struggled for a moment to focus on the actual words and not just the vibration of the older raptor's voice.

"Can you control yourself if we move you to different rooms? Obviously Kiau will stay with you but we need to make sure your early release in the compound doesn't come at risk of the safety of the other Ferals." Darius's voice left no room of argument, simply needing a straightforward answer.

Kemai pondered over the question only for a moment before letting out a deep trill that sent shivers over everyone's spines. Even Kiau nuzzled closer as if to sooth the cassowary's distress. "I can but... if anyone gets too close to Kiau, especially a dingo-" He paused to snarl in disgust, the word lashing through the air as if Kemai had to chew and spit it out like a venomous creature.

Darius' gaze flitted to Willem, who nodded from behind the glass wall and walked out of view. "There are some dingo ferals on the compound but we'll make sure that you and Kiau will never have to share the same room. However, can you control yourself were you to see them across the courtyard?"

A deep pulsing call left Kemai, whom clearly struggled with the idea of not killing any dingoes where they stood before the man gritted his teeth. Adrian lowered his head in understanding, his mind connecting the pieces that were hidden in Kemai's past.

"My brother was killed by a bear."

Everyone turned at the unprompted confession from Adrian, who kept his gaze on Kemai whilst motioning with his chin towards the spot Willem just left. "Seeing him ruffles my feathers and makes my shift panic even if I could theoretically win a fight if I were to ambush his shift. But just the idea of doing so..."

Adrian didn't need to continue as their eyes were drawn to his shivering arm. Even voicing the thought had caused several small feathers to peek through his flesh while his shift internally panicked over such a suicidal notion.

It didn't matter that he had grown and his shift was now roughly the same size as the polar bear on all fours. Nor did his shift realize that it could lethally injure the beast if pressed. Instead, whenever Adrian so much as smelled a bear and heard their characteristic huffs and snorts, he was pulled back to that brief moment in time.

To the sounds of a territorial male huffing and charging through the woods, snapping branches and twigs effortlessly as it moved with surprising speed and agility. Of his brother's screams of agony as he failed to stay out of the massive grizzly's claws and was turned into a quick meal with eerie precision.

And above all else, Adrian's instincts would always remember the fear as he ran away as fast as he could, knowing that he had been injured just moments before by his brother. With the blood still matting his feathers, leaving an appetizing trail to the monstrous beast that had towered over his little chick form.

Thinking about it now made Adrian shiver yet wonder if he should've helped his brother when he had the chance. But no matter how much he thought of the memory, he vividly remembered how the boy's gurgling screams had silenced in a sudden hush whilst Adrian was still dazed from the attack.

"There was nothing you could have done, sweetheart." Adrian flinched at Levi's voice over their mindlink before relaxing as even Darius agreed with a soft touch of his own. "And if I'm not mistaken, Grizzly's are just as fast as adult raptors. Even if your brother hadn't attacked it, if the bear was hungry it would have definitely chased down either one of you."

That made Adrian shiver violently and release a stressed trill, surprised when even Kemai placed a gentle hand on the raptor's shoulder. The man's eyes were filled with pain, voice near inaudible as he whispered his own confession.

And Adrian's heart broke, recognizing Kemai as kin, someone who has experienced something eerily similar. As the pain in his voice was identical to the pain in Adrian's heart when he couldn't find his sisters.

"Dingoes... stole... my nest."

Kiau squeaked softly, nuzzling against Kemai as the man hugged him tightly to his chest. Tears rolling over the waterproof fur of the platypus pup as it nuzzled into its foster parent, trying to alleviate the pain and sorrow that rolled off of Kemai in dense waves.

Even Levi and Darius grimaced, unsure how to comfort the mourning man before them. While they didn't have any personal experience of losing offspring, the very notion made the hairs in their nape stand up.

Cause it was clear to anyone with eyes that Kemai hadn't even started mourning his chicks. Perhaps he had stumbled upon Kiau moments after losing everything and had pushed his pain and sorrow into caring for this one egg that fell into his lap.

A chance of getting a family.

After a few minutes Kemai managed to collect himself, eyes puffy and red but determined as he held Kiau close to his chest. Adrian offered the man a soft smile, a smile that grew as the platypus in his hands wiggled and turned towards Adrian, eying the raptor curiously.

"I'm assuming-" Kemai cleared his throat as his voice cracked, sniveling for a moment before he continued, "someone will have to watch me if I want to move out of this place?"

Darius nodded as he explained, "It's for everyone's safety. While many don't intend to cause harm, their instincts might take over and make them react before they think things through." He sighed, observing Adrian and Levi for a moment before smiling, "However we can assure you that we'll do our best to keep you and Kiau safe. If you want, we can have you moved into the family housing close to us."

Kemai nodded after a moment of thought. "I don't trust them." He said with a low thrum aimed at the observers behind the window before he eyed the three individuals before them. Eyes flitting over their expressions before looking down at the squirmy puggle in his hands.

"I'd like that. We would like that." He looked up with a soft smile and a nod to the three in front of him. "I'd rather have you three observe us than the others."

Darius grinned but had to point Adrian and Levi out. "Technically these two are still considered Ferals despite their self-control. However I'll volunteer as your observer and that way you can spend time with us all."

Slowly Kemai got up on his feet with Adrian and his mates following the man's example, wiping off any dust from their clothes. A pair of shorts was provided for Kemai before the door was opened, allowing the small group to head out towards Kemai and Kiau's new home.

Only time would tell how the Cassowary would deal with the loss of his brood and the presence of other Ferals near his adopted child.