"It is pretty, is it not?" The girl murmured to herself as she made another turn. "Surely I wish to keep it, not save it for my nestling. Let my nestling start their own hoard; it's no concern of mine." But that was selfish, and her nestling did need something to start his(or her) future hoard. It just wasn't fair. Why couldn't she keep it herself? After all, she had been the one who found it. "Just one more look." she promised herself. "Before I hide it away." She rummaged in her pockets, and came up with-nothing. Her green-gold stone, gone!
"Stolen!" Se'phora shrieked. Even in this puny human form, she had a powerful voice, and her loud yell astonished quite a few. How dare a thief touch her stone? It had been hers! She had found it, and she had laid claim to it!
Whoever had stolen from her would pay, she thought venomously. She would see to it that the thief would never find a day's rest, and at long last, when her eggs hatched, her nestlings would feast upon him and pick his bone clean. That would teach the one who dared to trifle with Se'phora'charakla'tuulyhi'sril of the Rukkha.
Of course, first she had to find the one who stole from her, and that was no easy task. Though she scoured the streets, she could not find her elusive thief-or if she did, she knew not who he was.
Then she saw it, lying on the street forlornly. Excited, Se'phora rushed towards it, nearly bowling herself over in her clumsiness and eagerness. How had it ended up in a corner? Taking human form again, she took the stone from where it had been. Had someone kicked it aside, as though it was merely worthless. She hugged it to her chest triumphantly. She would be careful. No one would take her stone from her, and she definitely would not lose it.
She had to look a ridiculous sight, a girl dressed in mismatched clothing: a straw hat, a ragged shirt, sturdy pants, and a fancy cloak rimmed with fur, hugging a plain stone which was remarkable only in its coloration.
