A Hatching in the Lower Caverns

[Sparrow]

((ALL are welcome so please do come )

Sh’rel stared at the small eggs that sat in baskets of sand beside the fire of the Lower Caverns. He was in the way of anyone who might want Klah but since it was the middle of the afternoon he doubted anyone would want that hot beverage. He carefully reached out and stoked one of the eggs, unless he was imagining things they were harder than they had been this morning.

Belior quietly made way to the brown rider. The candidate had been with Sh’rel when they had found the 10 eggs on the beach while looking for red fruit for the Weyr. They had not found much of the succulent fruit but he considered these eggs a greater find. The boy gasped when he noticed one of the eggs twitch, could they be hatching?

Sh’rel nodded as if answering the boy’s unspoken question. Several of the eggs quivered, including the largest one in the clutch. The brown rider called out to one of the drudges to bring a bowl of meat for the firelizards and then asked Rolaranth, Tell the Weyr the eggs are hatching. A crack appeared in the once perfect shell of a smaller egg. Quickly.

Rolaranth broadcast so all could hear, The eggs are cracking.


((Btw I might be a little slow so be patient I am busy with ebil school.))

[Spirithawk]

T'ren was still a bit tired from timing it back to his family's hold and hauling fish. That was something he'd have to tell the Weyrwoman. He wondered if the other two who had gone with him were this tired. Danaeth was a paler version of himself but he was regaining his color.

Danaeth was sunning himself. T'ren had just woken up from a long, long nap and was hungry.
He made his way to the lower caverns and was nearly there when Rolaranth broadcasted the news.

Do you want one of the little ones?

Do you mind?

No. They are helpful when bathing.

T'ren laughed aloud. The dragon was vain sometimes.

Not vain, just itchy.

I'll be sure to come oil you today. Danaeth rumbled with pleasure and went back to sleep. He would wake up to see if his rider had one of the little ones but for now he wanted sleep.

T'ren entered the Lower Caverns and nodded a greeting to Sh'rel and Belior. "Eggs are hatching are they?" He strode to the night hearth and the table beside it, taking some cold cuts of wherry and a few cooled rolls. He grabbed a redfruit and then went back to where the rider and Candidate were watching the eggs hatch.

"Danaeth said he wouldn't mind if I tried for one but I'm not going to try hard. I don't want someone else to miss a chance."

[catilena1890]

Catilena rushed to the cavern, she was told of a hatching of a fire-lizard cluth, and she really wanted one! If she never lived to Impress a dragon, she would be content with a fire-lizard. When she made it to the sands, she was relieved to find that the eggs had not even broken yet, so she still had a chance! She wandered around the edge, wondering what to do next.

[Minajerie]

Andilay was rather put out. She had been dragged... almost literally, down two halls and down a flight of stairs.

"Your coming with me whether you like it or not. We aren't together all that much anymore and I want to keep in touch. So that means that we are BOTH trying for one of those cute... adorable, and small little flitters." Rayn spoke quite forcefully, while dragging Andilay by her forearm.

The older swordswoman was not amused, but she was also not going to resist. She found herself kind of... lonely. Of course, she blamed it all on Rayn's influence. She had been just fine alone until after she met the woman... and now that they were in separate classes and chores... well... they didn't see each other that much anymore. And a twittering little bundle of... something, might be a nice change. "Okay, okay, you can stop dragging me now. I will try to get one. I think they are.... interesting, now that I have been around them more."

Rayn stopped and gave the taller woman a giant hug. "You mean it? Your actually going to try and get a pet?"

A smile tugged at the side of her lips. "Why not, it couldn't be any harder than feeding and cleaning up after you." Andilay laughed when Rayn punched her shoulder.

"Ha, ha. Very funny. Ah! We're here, lower cavern number 5." A brown nose poked the back of Rayn's knees, and the woman smiled.

We are getting a little cousin?

Rayn nodded at her dragon, a big smile on her face. She was so excited!

[Sparrow]

Sh’rel turned at the sound of the others entering. He grinned at the four, “You’re just in time it seems.” He’d been watching one egg in particular the shell slowly cracking and now the occupant inside was pressing up against it the shell, stretching. He was certain at any moment the egg would not be able to stand up to the pressure of the little flitter inside.

Belior hurried over to each of the new arrivals “Here,” he said handing them a bit of meat from a bowl a drudge had set it out, “For you to offer to the firelizards. Good luck!” He smiled before going back to watch the eggs.

The egg that Sh’rel had been keeping his eye on finally shattered, shards flying. A powder blue firelizard emerged. The flitter was nearly a uniform color except for a blotch of darker blue at the base of his neck. Multi-faceted eyes scanned the room as he investigated each person there.

Soon enough another egg burst. Forest green wings appeared from the top of the egg before the flitter’s head followed. She chirped seemingly content in the egg until she spotted the person nearest to her. She wriggled out of the remainder of the shell and sped across to T’ren. Winding her way up to his neck and nuzzling him deciding this was a more comfortable spot than in the shell.

[Minajerie]

S'yer hurried into the room, his hands still wet from his chore of doing the dishes. He did chores a lot... and when he wasn't doing them, he was oiling Perilth, or bathing him... or being nagged by the young bronze.

I heard that.

It was expected that you would. I'm going to try for a flitter. Any objections?

There was silence for a moment and then...

I suppose not. Perhaps it will add to your image as a bronze rider, you have my permission.

I wasn't really asking for your permission... but right on. S'yer could feel Perilth's scorn.

He stiffled a chuckle as he shook off a majority of the wet from his hands and nabbed a piece of meat from the bowl and made his way to the grouping of eggs. A small part of him really hoped he didn't get another bronze, but then that part was scolded by the part of him that would be happy with any color.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, goody!" Rayn hurriedly went to the side of the grouping of eggs, pulling Andilay along with her. She was practically bouncing in her boots as the eggs wiggled and cracked.

[Akki]

Faine had no idea about the firelizard clutch. How could she really when she had no dragon to relay this information to her? And she had been tucked away in the barracks to do some cleaning so nobody told her about it.

So why was she down in the kitchens?

Because while cleaning she had stumbled across a nest of utensils. Knives, spoons, forks all laid there and glinted at her accusingly. She didn’t remember taking them but she did. And now she had to put them back before being caught. The kitchen items were tucked away in her clothes as she slid into the kitchens, her head filled with plans of putting the forks back but instead a crowd of people caught her attention. Putting back these items could wait now.

She poked her head above the crowd with a “What’s happening?”. Her question didn’t need to be answered though because soon newly hatched flitters seemed to be appearing. Her eyes quickly darted, counting the eggs three times. Ten in all, a pretty good number. She lifted her eyes off of the eggs and stared at Sh’rel, “Are they yours?”

[Sparrow]

The powder blue flitter chirped as the green firelizard impressed. For the moment he contented himself with poking at the shards of his shell with his nose. Another shell cracked startling the little blue. The shell that had cracked was one of the bigger of the clutch, which was not saying much as most of the eggs were unusually small.

A dark blue head emerged from the shell that had just hatched, but there was something different about the color. There was a silvery shine to her hide, for this was one of the elusive Moonstreak firelizards. She seemed to carefully pull apart what was left of her shell and gracefully stepped out spreading her wings to dry. Her hide’s base color was the dark blue with a silver shine, streaks of white and black ran down her back. The foils of her wings were relatively streak free.

Slowly the Moonstreak made her way across the floor and she stood before Rayn and Andilay. She nipped at the Weyrling as if she was in the way. She trilled to Andilay butting the woman with her head.

((*Edited* Mina I switched which character the Moonstreak impressed. I intended for Andilay to get her but failed since I was writing post at 1am but it's right now Sorry))

[Minajerie]

(( XD I had this feeling. But it's all good ))

Rayn looked a little surprised, but then took a giant step away from Andilay, leaving the older woman to fend for herself. She did this with a small smile on her face.

Andilay had a small bit of surprise leaking into her expression, then she smiled. "Well, hello there little one. Looking for me? I bet you are hungry." The swordswoman took out her belt knife and sliced the piece of meat into smaller pieces, then she offered the little sparkly a piece. "My, aren't you pretty."

[Spirithawk]

"Woah!" T'ren jumped as a little forest green creature latched herself onto his neck after climbing up his clothes.

I think she likes you.

"Shards. She scared me." The brownrider gently untangled her from his neck and settled the creature into the crook of his arm. The creature caught the scent of meat and began to trill demandingly. He obliged her by feeding her a bit of the meat.

"Well, I guess that settles that. I was going to see about letting someone else get one. I almost wish it hadn't been a green though. Those things mate too much!" There was amusement in his voice. He really didn't mind the fact that it was a green and it was apparent in his tone. It would be minor annoyance.

I think she's pretty.

T'ren grinned. "Greens are sharding hard to train but as long as she doesn't become a nuisance, I won't mind her not being a messenger flitt. Sure is tiny." He ran a wondering finger along the drying hide of the forest green flitt.

He turned to Sh'rel. "Thanks for allowing us to try for them. You could have sold these beauties for quite a few marks."

[catilena1890]

Catilena looked around at the little creatures and smiled. They were so pretty! She hoped she would get one and shifted around on her feet, itching for excitement.

[Akki]

Faine shifted the forks and knives to the crook of her elbow so she could clap loudly as the fire lizards began to break out of their shells and head towards their new owners. Drudges and some cooks were now joining the little circle to watch the critters – one cook frowned slightly as she noticed the fact that Faine happened to be hoarding quite a few of their eating utensils. The redhead gave a guilty grin and mouthed ’Sorry!’ before turning her attention back to the hatching.

Fire lizards were quite similar to dragons so did that mean if you didn’t Impress a dragon then you weren’t going to Impress a flitt? It made sense in her mind but she was quickly proven wrong as a silvery blue critter slowly made her way to Andilay. She didn’t know the fellow candidate all that well, to be honest, but she was still very happy for the girl. Impressing a fire lizard was a good sign! Right? It might be hinting at Andilay’s future for the next dragon hatching. Faine could only hope at least. It would be nice to see the girl Impress.

She glanced towards T’ren as the rider made a comment about the flirtatious green and hid a grin. And there she thought guys were all for flights! Guess she was proven wrong once again. She glanced towards another girl there, Catilena, and smiled. “They’re cute, aren’t they?”

[catilena1890]

catilena looked to the redhead and smiled.

"Of course, I would love to have one, but watching them is just as fun. " Catilena frowned as thoughts of her sister, and how little happy moments she had, ran through her mind.

'Poor Relina, I wonder where she is..." she muttered. She looked at Faine and grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, just thinking about my sister. So, My name is Catilena, may I ask you your name? Are you a candidate as well?" She wondered, trying to be friendly. The thoughts of her sister had taken the joy out of the hatching of the flits, and she did not like that one bit. Maybe distracting herself by talking to someone who seemed friendly would help her cope with the thought of a possibly deceased sibling.

[Spirithawk]

OOC: Bump

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Orena was new to the Weyr ... very new. But that did not stop her from knowing what a firelizard was ... or from wanting one! Oh, she would be the envy of all her old friends, if she managed to score one!! She hurried in a flurry of messy, curly, flying black hair as she raced around corners and up halls and around and around... for a moment she began to think that maybe she was badly, seriously lost. But no! There it was right there!

With a gush of relief, she scrambled into the lower cavern room, to where there were people everywhere and baby flitters scrambling around. Her face lit up with a gleeful smile at the sight of the little creatures, but she did not say anything ... being breathless tended to rob a person of any words they might be brimming with, after all. When she did manage to get a word out, it was just one: "Babies!" She squealed, happily.

[Spirithawk]

T'ren jumped when a female voice squealed what sounded like 'babies'. He turned and smiled. A new Candidate, from the looks of the girl. His new pet chirped demandingly and he stuffed another piece of meat in her maw. He had sifted through the pieces and picked out the smaller ones. Now he'd have to cut the rest smaller with his belt knife because the creature wasn't stopping to chew.

"Hello there." He told the Candidate. "Welcome to Dark Moon. I'm T'ren of brown Danaeth. I haven't named this little one yet." He showed her the tiny green nestled in the crook of his arm trying to choke down her food as fast as he could give it to her.

She rubbed her head against his hand lovingly before snapping up another piece of meat. "Take a bowl of meat my dear. They like to go to people with food. They aren't like dragons who know their bondmates from the moment of hatching."

[Marnark’tranarprol]

Orena's mouth fell open for a moment in total admiration of the adorable tiny green thing perched on the man's arm. It took her a moment to actually hear what he was saying, she was so taken. "Oh! Okay! Thanks!" She answered cheerfully, grateful for the information. She honestly had not known that about flitters. But then ... ever since coming to the Weyr she'd been learning a lot of things about draconics that she hadn't known before. In the Hold, eggs were bought and sold, and the owner impressed ... she'd thought that was all there was to it. This idea of baby flitters choosing their own owners was a whole new concept!!

Orena skipped around a few people, to where she found a bowl of meat. She checked around quickly to see if it already belonged to somebody ... but since no one was minding it, that made it fair game in her mind. Scooping it up and holding it to her chest, she went back to wiggling her way through people and toward those eggs. She wanted one, and she was going to make the best effort to get one!

Once she could see the nest, she plopped down on the ground in a heap of skirt and just stared. "By Faranth!" She blew, under her breath. She was getting to watch them hatch! How much better could the day get?

---

Admin's Note:[/hr]

---

Admin's Note:[/hr] Oh ... yeah ... by impressing one! That would be the best!!! Too excited to sit still, Orena wriggled in her claimed seat on the floor, eyes riveted on the nest.

[Minajerie]

Rayn was intrigued by the new arrivee. A candidate for sure, she was so filled with energy and glee! It was rather refreshing. It also reminded her of herself when small little critters were involved... or even slightly smaller but bound to grow much bigger critters, such as Llanwreth.

Speaking of the brown, he couldn't help the small urge to do something silly... and so tapped Orena's shoulder on the oposite side of where he was with his tail. He then looked as if he had done nothing, and that the flitter eggs holding his little cousins looked just fascinating.

Rayn chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Andilay dutifully fed the little moonstreak piece after piece of meat. If the dainty creature cried for more, Andilay cut more up. Though, she was rather cute to watch. She didn't scarf or swallow whole the meat pieces she was given, she quickly nibbled. As if it was a crime not to chew. Of course, she ate at the same rate as her sister green, perhaps more so, so at least her appetite was not in question. Apparently, the small shiny was a lady.

[Headwoman]

~Calnia and Female Blue Jemnith~

Hurry up, CalniaMine! The tiny eggs are hatching! Jemnith kept on hers.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying, Jemnith, love!" Calnia came to an unsteady halt at the Lower Caverns. She did her best to get her breathing to slow down. She felt as if she might just keel over any second. She could see a few already hatched and impressed, and could see that some eggs were still yet to hatch. She hoped she'd be able to impress one.

~Laerin and green Taysith~

"What is wrong, Taysith, love?" Laerin asked her beloved lifemate.

Babies are hatching now! Taysith replied, excitement coloring her mindvoice.

In a flash, Laerin was up and out the door, and heading for the Lower Caverns. She'd heard that a Candidate and a Rider had found a clutch of 10 eggs. She burst in and skidded to a wobbly stopp behind Calnia. Laerin moved from behind Calnia and walked around to view the basket. She'd already noticed that a few eggs had hatched and impressed.

~Adrian and green Verdeth~

"What is it now Zwei?" Adrian asked her interestingly excited blue firelizard.

She got an image of eggs cracking and hatching. It was time. She remembered hearing about the ten eggs that had been found by a Rider and Candidate. She scooted from her table in her high weyr, and headed for the weyr's ledge. Mind if you give me a ride down, Verdeth, love?

I do not mind, mine.

A few moments later and Greenrider Adrian was walking into the Lower Caverns, with blue firelizard Zwei in tow. She siddled up near Sh'rel, nodding a greeting to the Candidate, Belior. "I see a few healthy impressions already."

[catilena1890]

Catilena looked at the cute little flitters, excited and unsure of what to do. Did fire-lizards Impress the way dragons do? Do they know who they belong to upon birth? These questions and so many more went through the girl's head and she slightly reeled in confusion. She looked around at the people around her, hoping to get an idea or at least look confused enough for someone to offer help.

(OOC: Um, what colors are available now?)