Laying eggs was definitely different than childbirth. It probably wasn't as painful, though it wasn't something I wanted to explain in detail.

I wasn't sure who was more surprised to find two tiny eggs in the sand tray the next morning. Of course I was the one who put them there, but that didn't really mean a whole lot to my mental state.

I placed them there the night before and Tuskon woke up a little panicked to find them. Seeing him panicked only made me panicked.

I was a little scared that my dreams with Dan would just be dreams. Thankfully, these eggs proved they weren't.

It was a good thing Tuskon woke up early since he had to find something to safely transfer the eggs in. Though that did take quite a bit of time. I didn't mind him holding them or tucking them safely into a heated box mainly because I wasn't sure I trusted myself with them.

They were tiny and fragile and I thought they were simply adorable.

We were almost late to board the ship because of that minor delay. The spacecraft practically left right as the door shut behind us.

We had a neat little cabin room like before and the colors looked fabulous. The rich dark browns swirled around the room like brownie batter with lighter browns thrown in like caramel highlights. Whatever materials they used for this ship, I loved it.

When we were both settled, Tuskon set the two tiny eggs inside the sand tray under the heat lamp for me. I wasn't sure what was wrong with my instincts, but I just didn't want to leave them alone for a second.

I was given a bit more food before Tuskon decided to sit down and call Marcy. There was quite a bit to catch her up on. But until we were back home, I was content on taking a warm nap under the lamp.

* * *

I had yet another dreamless sleep before I started to wake up to distant alarms. It reminded me of all the annoying wake up calls I had when I was still in school.

I shuffled my scales in an attempt to get comfy only to remember the tiny lumps that lay underneath me. Using my nose, I turned them both over before blowing some fire to heat up the sand around them.

Looking around, I couldn't see Tuskon anywhere. It was my guess that he went to find out what the alarm was for.

I only had to wait for a few more moments before I received any kind of answer. The room around me started to shake as objects started falling off shelves and tables.

I stood up to better ground myself as I tried to think of what this might be. I remembered earthquakes being similar to this, though being in space ruled that out. I also recalled airplane turbulence being like this as well, though I also wasn't sure if that was the case.

The situation only got worse when the gravity started getting weaker. I grabbed both of my eggs and jumped towards Tuskon's stuff, using my wings to assist me to my target.

The safe box was luckily easy to find as it turned out to be in one of the pockets of the shirt he wore earlier. There also seemed to be another small object in the same pocket. Though because of my lack of time, I preferred to check it out later.

However, now that I found the safe box, I had to find some way to get it open. Just like everything else made by the Kymari, I couldn't figure out how it worked.

Things were still falling to the floor, but at a much slower rate now that the gravity was progressively failing. Now that I thought about it, gravity failing was definitely not a good sign. I needed Tuskon to get back pronto.

Unable to use the Kymari safe box, I quickly decided it would be quicker to just make my own. With one egg in the grip of my tail and the other in my maw, it was a little difficult to empty a container of tissues and then fill it halfway with sand. With the warm sand in place -and also all over the floor- I gently set my dear tiny eggs into the container and wrapped them both separately with the discarded tissues.

It was a little terrifying to hope that this random set up would protect them, but it was the best I could do with the given time. I was also scared that if I buried them completely in sand, the sand itself would crush them as soon as the gravity was working properly again.

I thought it might be best to stick the eggs close to the fallen heat lamp so they could at least stay warm. With that problem out of the way, I still had to find out what was going on around the ship.

A quick look outside the cabin window revealed us to be going through some kind of asteroid belt. Though, that didn't seem to be the source of the problem as the giant space rocks all floated right past us.

I flew back to my eggs to do a quick check up on them before trying to figure out how the cabin door worked. The ship must have been built by some other alien species since the door panel wasn't Kymari technology.

With a simple push of a button, it was open, and the scene outside was chaos. Kymari and other alien crew members were running around frantically; some with weapons, some trying to put out fires. Whatever was going on was clearly bad.

I instantly knew what was going on as soon as the scent hit my nose. Two, possibly three, crawlers were somewhere in this ship causing trouble. I could smell them absolutely everywhere.

My heart rate picked up as I thought of the imminent danger of not only my eggs but of Tuskon as well. Taking the two of them with me to go find my caregiver would only bring them into even more danger. But if I stayed here, who knows what could happen to everyone on board!

My choices were split, though I was sure I could still manage. With a quick glance at my eggs, I dashed out the door to find the monstrous creatures nearby.

The clear choice was to follow where all the commotion was centered. However, the commotion was spread all around, as if they weren't sure which direction to actually head in. Now the only choice was to use my senses.

Seeing wasn't a new thing, but it was an odd thing. My first reaction was to use echolocation and follow the scent. Before finding the crawler, I wanted to find Tuskon. That was my starting goal.

I followed his scent of dried leaves and clean sheets and ended up in what looked to be a control room. Panels of screens and other alien technology covered the walls as about twelve different aliens roamed the room with what I guessed to be a scanner in their hands. Tuskon seemed to have given up, sensing to already know that what they were looking for couldn't be found with what they held.

Unlike them, I knew exactly where the crawler was hiding and it only fueled the burning rage inside me. My pent up anger and sadness was ready to explode as I yelled a battle cry and burst past the searching aliens and into an open vent cover. I heard some started noises as I entered, but ignored them as I instantly threw a fireball towards the spider-like creature newly in my sight.

The crawler screeched and tried to run the opposite direction out another open vent only to be burned once more by my fire. It was still moving quickly as it reached its desired exit, but the awaiting armed aliens on the other side quickly finished it off.

My vision was tinted red as I stared at the dead monster on the floor. I hated these things so much. I didn't even have as much hatred for the scientists as I did for these creatures.

Sudden movement on my right caused me to jump back and fall into a fighting position. My scales were shaking with rage as my mind couldn't let go of all the torment I've been through because of those dangerous beasts. My thoughts were clouded as I could only think of the pain I had gone through all my pitiful life.

I was growling and hissing at everything that moved around me, but a voice outside of my screaming thoughts stood out. It sounded so much like Dan, yet there was something off about it. I shook my head hard as I tried to clear my head further and the soothing tone of Dan began to gradually turn into the voice of my Kymari caretaker.

He was crouching low with his hands stretched out, inching very slowly towards me. I shook my head and scales again to reassure myself that there wasn't any danger here. Relaxing my posture, I too step closer to my handler. My breathing and steps were shaky, but Tuskon's hands were warm and firm. I allowed myself to fall into his arms as he reached out and picked me up into an embrace.

He stroked my head between my ear tufts as he examined the situation with the other aliens around him. I blocked all conversation out as I tried to get my breathing under control. Even though everything midaction was perfectly fine, now that things have started to calm down I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body trying to bring on a terrifying panic attack.

My scaled skin felt prickly and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. With the stokes to my head added to my lighter breathing, I could slightly feel the effects of a panic attack dying down.

As Tuskon started walking, I lift my head to look on ahead. Even after seeing the crawler dead in front of me, I still had a feeling of discomfort plaguing my body.

My heart dropped as I remembered the scent of multiple other crawlers. It had only been a few minutes, but that was already too long to keep my eggs waiting.

I nearly stumbled as I launched out of Tuskon's grasp to fly full speed back in the direction I had come. My stomach felt knotted as the scent of a crawler grew stronger.

On my way through the hall, I nearly hit the ceiling multiple times as my wing beats were too strong for the gravity around me. Not only was my flight slowing me down, but I also realized my first mistake all too late.

I couldn't believe how reckless I was. In my rush to find Tuskon, I had left the cabin door wide open...