Dead leaves rustled in the darkness as the thundering waves crashed against the cliffs. The Nott's golden eyes were the only visible trace of its body, intently following the muffled footsteps that approached the edge of Myree. The night was unusually calm, the creature figured, watching the mortal check behind them. It didn't matter why the human was so far from their nest, why the human would rather face the abyss than those horrid lights that burned away at the Nott's eyes. No, none of that mattered, it supposed, not compared to the wriggling bundle the human carried as they walked along the coast.

Shouting from behind caused its ears to perk and swivel behind, that disgustingly musty scent following from those meat bags. The Nott's nose wrinkled in disgust at the stench and urged its body deeper into the shadows as the human with the strange bag quickly dipped into the nearest bush. Its golden eyes stayed trained on the human from the dark, watching as it waited for the noise to pass before emerging again. But the bag did not go with the human as they quickly left the way they came.

Twenty more minutes passed before the Nott's curiosity ate away at its mind, and only when it was sure that all of the humans had left. Rough bark scraped at its long fingernails as it descended toward the bushes, a few leaves becoming trapped in the mangy tufts of fur it had worked so tirelessly to clean earlier that night. Hissing as a stray branch poked at its side, the Nott peered into the bushes at the bundle, perfectly still and hidden among the brush.

A long finger reached out and poked the wad, and with no response, the Nott inched closer to the tightly wrapped fabric. Its golden eyes gleamed, and its mouth watered at what could have been put inside. If there was one thing the humans were good for, it was those large metal cages outside of their nests that they gave offerings into. Provided there was none of those nasty lights around to discourage the Nott.

"Methinks," the Nott hiss gleefully. "Foodsss… Meatbags give foodsss."

As the last piece of fabric unwove from the bundle, the Nott was met with disappointment. Squishy, pink flesh lay underneath, followed by eyes that seemed to peer into the Nott's mind. The Nott wasn't sure what it detested more, the tiny thing's gaze or the fact that it dared to giggle at it.

The Nott glared at the tiny human, if it could even be called that, as it cooed at him. It had seen other humans with one of these, voices low and sweet as they chattered to their pudgy creature, but couldn't imagine why grown humans doted on these ugly things. Thinking better of its actions, the Nott tried to move the cloth back over the tiny human but froze as a tiny hand grasped onto its elongated forefinger.

A tiny hiss came from the Nott, quickly ceasing as the gentle grip settled and the tiny, wrinkly, not cute, weak, sweet little thing stared at him. The Nott looked closer at the tiny human and even closer at the medallion, barely glinting under the remainder of the fabric. With eyes larger than saucers, the Nott curiously reached for the coin, only to recoil as it began to glow.

For the first time in its miserably long life, the Nott's eyes did not burn when it looked into the light. No, rather, its eyes were drawn to it.

Another coo from the fleshy thing broke the Nott's gaze from the medallion. Once again, it had the audacity to gurgle and giggle at the Nott. It was almost offensive, but the Nott inched a little closer to the chubby thing, a roly-poly. That's what this was, not some human offspring. At least, that's what the Nott told itself as it began grooming the slight fluff of hair on the top of the soft head.

"Sssweetie," the Nott flashed its sharp teeth in a crooked grin. "Poly-roly sweetsss."

The moment was over too quickly, the stench of human musk growing closer. Up the tree and into the shadows, but always in sight of the roly-poly. As soon as the Nott had left for cover, the small bundle began to cry out. A pain in its side made the Nott hiss at itself for abandoning its prize, but the darkness did not hide the sound of the footsteps that approached the bush.

Its golden eyes never left as the new human reached down to pick up the squirming bundle, watching as they also scanned around the coast before continuing on. The Nott considered following after the human and the strangely perfect creature they carried.

It couldn't have been a human, the Nott convinced itself as it watched the mortal and her bundle disappear over the horizon. Something that wonderful could not have been a human. Those golden eyes did not leave the point where the figure disappeared for the rest of the night, not even when the blood stars fell into the sky.