Chapter Text
A battlefield is no place for children, let alone little defenseless baby, but The Spectre had made it clear how little it thought about youthful life. After all, it did forsaken children and their parents; it had no care for life, no matter the age. So it shouldn't have surprised Shedletsky when he found an egg during a round.
It had been one of the worst rounds in a while. Elliot and Chance were dead, Guest was dying, Two Time was nowhere to be seen, and he had missed all his slashes and been severely wounded too. Not to mention the Killer was 1x1x1x1, so it was more emotional torment that really wasn't needed.
Shedletsky hissed slightly in pain once he realized that 1x1x1x1 had finally lost him. His legs felt like jelly and he was close to collapsing. Poison wasn't doing much for him either. He leaned against the wall and pulled out his medkit. He was going to save it for Guest, but he was close to death and, maybe it was his arrogance talking, but he didn't want to die to his own creation... again. 1x1x1x1 had gotten him a few times. Either way, he didn't want to die from his creation's hand once again.
Shedletsky started wrapping up his wounds with the bandages inside the kit, but it really felt fruitless. Times almost up anyway, unless 1x1x1x1 gets another kill, which he hoped wouldn't happen. But while using a medkit, something caught the corner of his eye. It was round and slightly shiny, but not too much. He didn't know what got to him, but he propped himself up and staggered towards it as if it was simply instinct. It was slightly buried underneath rubble, but it was easy to move it all away, even if Shedletsky was slightly injured.
"An... egg?" Shedletsky mumbled, almost in disbelief. His wings fluttered slightly as he picked up the egg with some difficulty; it was as big as his head so it was kind of heavy. It was a little warm to the touch, grey with lighter grey freckling, and it was pretty dirty with mud and dust. It was dirtying Shedletsky's hands and shirt, but he still held it close like it was his baby.
"What are you doing here?" Shedletsky says, half-jokingly, as if the egg could talk back. But he was confused, why was there an egg here? There is no mother nor father for this egg either, so it was homeless. An orphan egg is a sad sight to see, but when someone sees so much sad stuff all the time, it's hard to feel sad anymore. It's hard to feel sad because there are no other choices except sadness and anger, it's easy to get used to it.
"Where are your parents, Mister egg?" Shedletsky mumbled, shifting the weight of the egg in his hands. He looked around, but there was no one. He couldn't just leave it alone, but telling his teammates that there is an egg to take care of now seems a little irresponsible. He looked down at the egg again, its heat starting to dissipate. He hoped none of the other survivors are spectating him. Shedletsky sat down the ground, holding it closer to his body to try to keep it warm. "Or Miss egg. I don't really know."
Shedletsky might be going slightly crazy. He never had a good track record with parenting and he didn't even know if the egg was fertile, and even if it was, he didn't know if whatever was growing inside of it was alive. That brings up another big question, he didn't know what was growing inside the egg. How was he going to take care of the egg if he doesn't know what it was growing. They didn't even have baby stuff in the survivors cabin. Would the egg be teleported with Shedletsky if he held it close? He hoped so. But, looking back at the rubble where he got the egg, he couldn't just leave it. It would die without a parent and proper nest.
Time's almost up anyway. Shedletsky would just find out one way or another.
Shedletsky woke up in the familiar hard ground of the survivor's cabin. He groaned, as he got up, rubbing his eyes open. Next to him was the egg and a very disgruntled-looking Builderman.
"Shedletsky," Builderman started in that tone that let Shedletsky know that he was a bit disappointed. He helped Shedletsky up, who was still very disoriented for the sudden teleportation, like most survivors who got teleported away. One would think Shedletsky would get used to it, but he was one of the few who really didn't.
"What did you bring here?" Builderman pointed to the dirty, ugly egg that was on the ground. Shedletsky quickly picked it up again, holding it close like he had done before. It was colder to the touch and the shell seemed dirtier than it should be. Regret boiled within Shedletsky; this egg seems pretty dead.
"An egg. I found it so I took it." Shedletsky says, his words less confident that he would like it to be. Builderman shook his head. Of course Builderman disapproved, being one of the few of the survivors who knew of Shedletsky's past. Shedletsky is a good person for sure, there was no doubt about it, he wasn't a good parent. Back when he created 1x1x1x1, he was rather... neglectful. Sure, one couldn't compare 1x1x1x1 to a child or an egg since 1x1x1x1 wasn't a child, just a creation Telamon had made. But when Builderman found out, he couldn't help but think that Telamon's treatment of 1x1x1x1 was rather neglectful.
But Telamon wasn't 'Telamon' anymore. This is Shedletsky. Shedletsky had changed majorly since back then, he learned to be different, for better or for worse. Even then, Builderman couldn't help but think it was a bad idea just in general.
"That's a terrible excuse and a bad idea." Builderman finally concluded, making Shedletsky frown. "You need to put it back where it came from."
"It was gonna die over there, I couldn't let that happen." Shedletsky tried to reason, but it's pretty much hopeless. Builderman just shook his head.
"It's not our responsibility. I know it sounds heartless, but the egg, if it even hatches, wouldn't be living in a good situation." Builderman says, his voice stern. "We can't reasonably take care of it when we can barely take care of ourselves as it is. Not to mention, it's going to hatch in a place where we are murder repeated for sport, it going to grow up knowing nothing but violence. That might just be more cruel than letting it die in peace."
Shedletsky was quiet. He knew Builderman was right, he hadn't even thought about life after the egg hatched all that much. But he still didn't want to simply let it die, surely there's something that could be done to keep it alive and healthy. If it was alive at all. Shedletsky still wasn't too sure.
Builderman, realizing Shedletsky may not be letting it go, sighed, giving up on trying to convince Shedletsky. He knew Shedletsky can be stubborn, maybe as stubborn as himself, he knew all too well. There was very little point in fighting it if his mind was set.
"Fine. Just at least clean it first, it's tracking dirt all over." Builderman muttered giving his slight approval. A hesitant, one, but approval nonetheless. Shedletsky smiled and left, not saying anything more.