Frozen Female Hatchling
Name: unnamed
Species: Tetzcotal Eagle Hippogryph
Birthday: Sunday, May 29, 2022
Owner: WildWindWolf
Mother: Dark Roost
Father: unnamed
Element: Life 
Tetzcotal eagle hippogryphs grow up quickly, in no small part due to the extensive care they receive from their parents. These hippogryphs are solitary and live only with their chosen mate, but every few years, they begin to collect sticks and twigs from the forest floor and build an intricate nest in the highest, strongest tree they can find. The male incubates the eggs while the female guards the nest and hunts for herself and her mate. When their single egg hatches, it receives attentive care from its parents. The eagles nest alone because they need a very large range to raise their chick, but within a few weeks, the hatchling is out of the nest and exploring on its own. Over the following months, they continue to be fed by their parents, but are often left to climb, play, and practice hunting and flying on their own. Within a year after they hatch, the youngsters are on their own and large enough to care for themselves. While most gryphons and hippogryphs display intricate courtship rituals, harpy and Tetzcotal eagle hippogryphs have no such behavior, and no one is sure exactly how they choose a mate. It may take several years for the newly-fledged juveniles to find a suitable partner, and when they do, they will find a nest site and begin their own families.
No one knows when the first eagle hippogryph came to be, as rocs and minicorns almost never mate in the wild, but the charismatic traits of their offspring have given the eagle hippogryphs their fair share of village tales. The most common one tells of a dark wizard who magically crossed one of the gentlest creatures known, a minicorn, with one of the fiercest, a massive roc, and the resulting offspring was so conflicted about how it should act that it escaped its wizard master and hid deep within Silva forest. According to the legend, it met the spirit of a forest dweller that needed to cross a vast river in order to reach the land of the dead. The newly-made eagle hippogryph helped the spirit on its journey, both carrying it across the river and protecting it within the land of the dead. As a reward for its efforts, the spirit endowed the eagle hippogryph with the power to protect others in the future. This story crosses through many different cultures in one form or another, and as a result, many tombstones are decorated with motifs of eagle hippogryphs as a token of good luck in the next life. Most magi dismiss superstitions about harpy eagle hippogryphs being able to ward off death or Tetzcotal eagle hippogryphs carrying people into the spirit world, but they are well-aware of the healing properties of their feathers and the magical strength that both of these eagles possess.
Sprite art: Tekla (hatchling) | Description: PKGriffin