The Egg

Warmth. The quality of the fluid in which his perverse being had been immersed, one could wish they'd be able to locate who it is that decided one's first moments should be such a thing. Warm. Such was the case as all which lied beyond the egg was cruelty.

Plainly, it is deceit. The first of many one is to face, and a rite of passage for the uninitiated newborn.

Crack. The egg, a solid translucent membrane suspended in air, had a split run through its surface. Their body fell onto a rocky surface, uneven and porous. Coldness. The quality of the surface on which they stood.

A pleasant noise. Noise is too crude. An agreeable inundation of sound. This must be music. Their blurry vision resolved the image of a winged creature with a pair of antennae, a butterfly. Alongside the creature, another one with feline characteristics.

"My name, what is it?" A hoarse tone so weightless the still air hushed it. It appears that my vocal cords have not adjusted. "What is my name?" They repeated themself. A voice equally as light as the one which came before it, but with a current of boldness.

This one is curious.

"Imhokepri." The feline sitting on the tattered remnants of a sofa chair ran a claw along her cheek. "Or Kepri for short, I'll call you Kepri." She spoke in an almost lyrical manner, a blend of nonchalance and playfulness. Even when speaking she was more concerned with playing with her tail.

Meanwhile, the winged creature ceaselessly wore away at the strings of the instrument cupped by their chin. A master of their craft. Pieces of their making were not merely listenable art, it was an engraving on one's soul even if one was not aware of it.

"Imhokepri." He pointed the violin's bow towards him. "I am Shaiapouf." Then pointed it towards the feline besides himself. "That one is Neferpitou."

"I take it you do not need to be instructed on what your duty is, or motivated to fulfil it." A smirk dotted his sentence. "After all, it is the greatest duty one can have." Unlike Neferpitou who had a somewhat subdued demeanour, Shaiapouf exhibited a grandiose manner in his speech which was almost operatic, going as far as to escort his words from tongue to recipient's ear with dramatic gesture.

He assumes me to be defective. "It is my duty to serve his majesty." Imhokepri's brows lowered. "Pouf." It is a nagging feeling this one feels. An urge, no. Compulsion to carry out the orders of the one who is called ' his majesty'.

He took a step forward. Ruffle. A pair of feathered wings attached to his back. I was unaware of these.

Hrm? A blur in his peripheral vision.

Boom.

No sooner than when he had taken his first step had he been cast through the walls of the cave in the manner of a bullet. Prior to, Neferpitou had leapt to him at imperceptible speed before drilling a fist into his abdomen.

"There are less… crude ways to initiate one's 'Nen' as you called it." Shaiapouf whittled away the violin's strings with his bow once more, his instrument letting out a shrill cry imbued with his sheer devotion.

"Kepri can fly, don't worry, Pouf." Neferpitou waved her tail at him as a placating gesture. "I hope he figures it out before he falls though." A dense purple aura sheathing her veinous hand faded away along with the pulsating veins.