A Golden Flitt's Pride and Joy!

[Spirithawk]

Christae entered the Hatching Grounds, surprised that Kaith had sent her the message from the little yellow without rancor. Normally the gold disliked anyone other than herself in the cavern. She didn't even like the drudges going in to clean it. The drudges waited to clean the place when Kaith was feeding or away from the weyr. Even when Kaith didn't have a clutch she was snippy with people in and out of her Hatching Grounds.

I would not begrudge the little one the warm sands Kaith's voice was almost petulant. Christae laughed. Then she turned and motioned for the drudges following her to enter. Two of them were carrying a small table.

"Candidate Kestrel, I have brought meat for your prospective Candidates to feed their hatchlings. Congratulations on a beautiful clutch." The WW beamed. After all, it was her little bronze who had caught the little Queen. Birinj was sitting nearby on a ledge, humming his little head off. Many of the dragons and all of the flitts of the weyr joined in, welcoming the new hatchings to the world.

"You will have to send feelings of love and acceptance to the little ones. They are not like dragons who hatch out knowing their chosens. Take some meat and entice them to you. Croon to them and talk sweetly."

[Spirithawk]

Anassa inclined her head when Kestrel mentioned that she hoped Anassa would get one of the flitts. "It would be an honor if one of the little ones came to me." She said politely. Priath entered the stands and crooned before joining the humming of the flitts and dragons. Anassa bowed when the WW entered and accepted a bowl of meat that a drudge thrust towards her. She hoped that she could lure one of the babies to her.

Look Priath, a mutated color! Anassa's mind voice was excited. What color do you hope we get. There is a bronze, a green, and a blue as well as the little one that looks like your clutch-sister Lirlith.

"Look! That little one looks like Lirlith, the moonstreak!"

Indeed the little one does look like my clutch-sister. I care not what color we get my chosen. It is enough that you are happy.

I wouldn't want a green, I already have you. Amusement colored her mental tone.

True. Then perhaps the little mutie or the bronze. The blue is very pretty as well. The dragoness deepened her happy hum as more eggs rocked.

[Wolf]

Leander glanced over at Kallan, his full attention divided whilst it should be on the rocking eggs. There were too many people around him, and he loved to talk enough as it was. He eyed the boy’s current flitt, saying in a shocked-sounding voice: “Funny, I never recalled one flitt being able to determine the fate of all. Now I’m really excited to read more of those dusty old records! Do you recall which one that might be in? It’d help.” He would’ve perhaps stuck talking to the one person but then something that Khris said drew his attentions away as well. “Voices?” he questioned him with a slight raise of his eyebrow. “Boy, are you one of those rare… what are they now…” he sighed, trying to recall the word to mind. “Ah, yes! Schizophrenic sort?” It may have been thought that Leander was getting the point but clearly he hadn’t. “Well either that or a Hears All Dragons,” he finally added, “but I think the first would be far more exciting-don’t you? I mean that way you’d have an excuse for just about anything!”

When the eggs cracked, revealing the four different coloured flitts Leander nearly choked on his air… well, did choke on his air, otherwise he wouldn’t be pounding his chest and coughing. “What on earth?” he said, not taking his eyes away from the mutation hatchling while he went over to the meat bowl that had been brought-in by the Weyrwoman. He took a chunk of meat with a murmur of thanks, far too mesmerized, and accidently sidestepped in to Anassa. Once his shoulder had bumped with the girl he broke out of his trance. “Oh, my apologies…” he said while still looking to only the clutch. When he did look to see whom he’d bumped in to what came out rather quickly was: “Wow, hey.” He hadn’t meant for his bump in to be with yet another pretty girl. “I’m Leander, we’re destined to meet each other, so here we are.” He turned his head back to the flitt clutch, kneeling down. He made a few attempted crooning sounds, all coming out sounding more like a wild feline in distress. The boy now had one arm extended out with a chunk of meat, while his other was reached up for Anassa to shake. “I’m betting I look rather funny right now, so hopefully if I do happen to impress one of these little creatures it’ll diminish that fact,” he explained.

~ ~ ~

Tieler was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. She could see the looks that people were casting her way, all the while ignoring them with little care of what they thought. She could guess as to what was probably going through most of there heads: What’s she doing here? She doesn’t belong here as a Candidate let alone a person to impress a flitt from this clutch. Tieler sat down in the hot sand, the bag she was carrying finally coming from around her side to rest in her lap. She flipped it open and took out a fresh chunk of meat, having decided to be prepared so that she could get a jump start on feeding the little hatchlings once they’d made an appearance.
Who cares what they all think! As far as I’m concerned they know nothing at all! she thought, clearly not having succeeded in keeping free from irritation. She took a much-needed breath and tried to focus her mind on the hatchlings rather then the people. Tieler extended her arm out, waving around the piece of meat like it was still living. She hoped that the hatchlings weren’t lazy creatures and would actually bother to navigate past the others to get to her. She had a feeling that they might not, especially since they wouldn’t be missing out on much, but that didn’t mean she was going to move any closer to the crowd. Her eyes actually started to put focus on the hatchling’s colors. “What is it?” she whispered to herself, the mutation flitt having automatically sucked her in. She tried to think of the four colors she was accustomed to seeing, and how this flitt could even be any sort-of variation of the four… “Weird,” she muttered. Now to her it wasn’t a bad weird, but a fascinating weird. She liked what was different, since she was different herself.

She didn’t ignore the Bronze, blue, or green, an actual smile-though small-going out to them. Then her smile disappeared altogether, putting in to question whether it had even existed at all. Her face was stone cold, as it often was, leading people to believe that she rarely felt emotion or was incapable of conceiving it.

~ ~ ~

Wolf burst in to the hatching sands, dragging Rhiyo along with her. “I don’t want to miss this chance!” she yelled out, betting that every one around could probably hear her loud voice. She quickly snatched two pieces of meat from the bowl Christae had brought-in, giving the Weyrwoman a warm smile before slapping a piece of meat in to Rhiyo’s hand. There after she dragged the boy to where every one else was crowded around and pulled him down while she knelt. “Sorry about babying you like this,” she said to him apologetically, holding out the meat to the hatchlings in front of her while still watching Rhiyo. “You just hold it out like this to feed them, see? You’ll know if they’ve chosen you because they’ll take your meat and croon-to you-for more. No worries, I won’t leave you anyhow so I can help if you have any more question’s.” She panted heavily, it having taken her a lot to come here.

R’xis had informed her that he was busy with Ersith, whatever that meant, and hadn’t wanted Rhiyo to miss this opportunity. He’d apologized, like a thousand times, and then asked her to quickly run and drag the boy to the hatching sands. So, here they were, at the hatching sands just like she’d promised. Wolf now took her time to observe the hatchlings more carefully, not really taking too much note of those around her. Serinth was up on the ledge above to observe from there, wanting to see whether or not Her’s would impress.
Oh, Mine! They’re so cute! Serinth sent, hopeful of being able to see one of the flitt’s up close.
You’d think you were the one trying for impression, Wolf replied with a soft chuckle, glad that Serinth took so well to her tinier cousin’s. She began to wonder if Serinth’s response to them was normal or if some other dragons didn’t like flitts.

[kestrel]

Rhiyo had been practically dragged into the hatching sands by R'xis' sister, Wolf. It wasn't like he didn't want to go, because he completely did. R'xis had been busy with Ersith, though, so had asked Wolf to take him. Now, he found himself on the hot hatching sands, having meat practically shoved at him, while he stared in awe at the four fire lizards who'd already hatched, and the eggs that were still rocking. He suddenly felt nervous as could be, a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if one didn't pick him? Wolf had brought him here for the chance at one, what if he disappointed her and R'xis by not actually getting one? He bit his lower lip, and then took a step closer to the hatchings, glancing over at Wolf to see if that was okay, but figured it was, and so did.

He could see four flitts, and they were all just beautiful, and he couldn't decide which one he would like to have, if he got one. He spotted one that wasn't one of the five colors that R'xis and Wolf had told him about. Was it different, then? Like the new rider Hasima's flitt? There were some dragons, he'd been told, that were born different colors. Mutations of the original five, he'd learned. Was that one of them, then? It must have been, and it was really lovely. He liked them all, though-they were so little and rather cute. He really hoped he'd impress one!

~~~~~~

The blue flitt had finally stopped, right at the feet of Anassa. He chirruped once, before giving a hungry creel and placing his small clawed front legs up against her and trying to scrabble up on her.

Kestrel clapped as the first impression was made. She'd hoped Anassa would impress one of the flitts, and gave a sigh of relief to see that she had. She watched then as another egg gave a particularly violent shake and then cracked in several places, finally hatching out a brown.

An average sized brown, this flit is a lovely light brown, like milk chocolate. However, his four legs darken into darker, chocolate brown, making him look as if he has stepped in mud, almost. The same mud-spattered pattern runs along his back. Everything seems to be in place, nothing too long or short, and he is a lovely little creature indeed! The tips of his wings also mud-spattered, too, and he is quite interesting to look at. He gives a huge yawn, and then turns to look at the people who are gathered, creeling loudly and beginning to go towards them.

Just then, the bronze bugled and began to run towards the people, fluttering and landing on Riler's arm, with a hungry creel. It opened its mouth wide, wanting Riler to feed it with the meat.

Kestrel was overjoyed. That was two great impressions! She saw Tieler still near the back, and though she wasn't quite sure why, she walked over to the girl, skirting around the flitts, and then put a hand gently on her arm, and whispered, "you're going to have to get a bit closer because they're going to go for whoever they want that has meat. You won't be seen if you're in the back." She gave the girl an encouraging smile, and a little shove forwards, before going back to the front with Roksha. She wasn't altogether sure what had made her do that. But somehow, she caught all the looks people were giving the girl, and somehow, she felt that it was almost unfair. Even she hadn't been happy to see Tieler there, and even though the girl was known for making trouble maybe she'd get better if she actually saw someone making an effort to try and be nicer to her. So, she continued watching the hatchlings, and the eggs, as two more eggs began rocking violently. One of them was one of the two big ones left under the queen, and Kestrel hoped that it might be a gold. So far, so good!

[Spirithawk]

Anassa jumped when someone bumped into her. She looked up to see a young man with the knots of a Candidate on his shoulder. "That is quite alright Candidate." She chuckled at his blatant flirting. "I am Anassa, rider of green Priath, Apprentice Harper." She laughed at Leander's attempt at crooning. "I hope you Impress as well. " She started to say something else but her attention was diverted by the little claws latching onto the leg of her breeches.

The little one is hungry. Priath said with a croon. Anassa let out a soft "Oh." as she felt the hunger pangs in her belly as if they were her own. She quickly accepted the bowl of meat thrust at her by a drudge and bent down to stuff a small chunk in the tiny gaping maw.

"Feed them and you have a friend for life." She mused. He was so tiny, her little blue. So much smaller than Priath had been when she hatched but just as precious and beautifully formed. She traced the little star on his back, admiring the white-speckled teal color of his glistening hide. He creeled again, latching his foreclaws around her arm, scratching her. She popped another chunk of meat in his mouth and tried to disentangle him from her arm. His hind claws were still latched onto her breeches and she was glad that it was tough wher-hide and not the lighter cloth that she sometimes wore when she didn't have chores to do or Priath to ride. A bit of blood seeped from the scratches but Anassa was too worried about getting her tiny charge fed to worry about the scratches.

"There you go little one." She sat down so that he could better reach her and untangled his claws from her pants leg. He prowled in front of her as she searched for a smaller scrap of meat. A drudge bent down and cut some of the larger pieces and added more small pieces to her bowl. She absently voiced her thanks and grabbed the meat to stuff it in the still gaping maw of the ravenous flitt.

Priath continued to croon from her position in the higher ledges of the Hatching Cavern, the sound echoing in the enormous cavern. The hum wasn't nearly as defening as it had been when Priath hatched but only a few dragons were actually in the caverns. Most of the dragons in the weyr were humming, a tribute to their smaller cousins, welcoming the little hatchlings into the world.

Finally the little blue slowed down and Anassa was able to pick him up and cradle him in the crook of her arm without him scratching her. The scratches on her lower arm were bleeding sluggishly but she didn't care. She would clean them after she got her little one settled.

"What shall we name him?" She asked aloud, though the question was aimed at Priath.

I do not know mine. He looks like the sea with white froth though he has that pretty star on his back. Perhaps Sea Star?

"I don't know about sea star. That sounds more like a girl's name and he is a little boy. I remember reading in some of the old Harper records that water used to be called aqua. How about we name him a twist of that name and call him Aquas?"

That sounds good my chosen. Priath crooned.

[Wolf]

Wolf was overjoyed to see that Rhiyo was making a decision for himself. In case he was looking to her for confirmation she gave an encouraging nod, staying off more so behind him. She had Serinth; she didn’t so much need a flitt as much as she wanted one. She preferred that Rhiyo get one since he didn’t even have a dragon at this point. Serinth was her life, so maybe having a flitt right now wouldn’t even be a wise idea. She kept her piece of meat closer to her body, watching as Anassa impressed, and then… Riler? Her eyes widened, and a huge grin crossed her face. “Congratulations!” she called out, having directed it at both the Greenrider and her friend. She turned back to see what progress Rhiyo was making. He was such a kind boy, so good-hearted. She wanted to say she was certain that one of the little flitt’s would see this in him too but she couldn’t be sure.
“Keep at it,” she said to him, not wanting him to get discouraged by the fact that the other flitt’s were impressing off to the people not him. Its just how it worked, you had to wait until your flitt came along. “Just make sure you keep your meat out there.” She said this in a more hushed tone, not wanting the hatchlings to get startled.
So does this mean we’re not trying for one? Serinth asked, and Wolf noted a tone of sadness in her dragon’s voice.
Do not worry, we’ll have more then enough of them to play with since there’ll be a bunch of them around us in the Weyr, Wolf explained.
But… They’re so cute… Serinth attempted to reason.
I wish to focus on you, not another, not at this time anyways. Wolf hoped that Serinth would accept what she had to say rather then continuing to pout.
If anything Mine I’m now happier rather then sad, I fully understand. Serinth crooned her congratulations to those that impressed so far.

~ ~ ~

“Did you say Apprentice Harper?” he blinked, his attention now completely off of the flitt’s. “A person can be both Dragonrider and Harper?” he asked Anassa, lowering his hand when the Blue flitt came jumping up to her. “Oh, wow!” he yelled, not having expected the ravenous flitt to come popping right up. “Congratulations, he’s beautiful!” Leander continued to yell, clapping his hands together, even though there was meat in one. He dropped his meat in to her bowl, wanting her to have enough for her blue. Then he noticed that the little flitt’s nails were causing blood to be drawn from her arm until she managed to cradle the flitt, seeming unworried by her wounds. “Ah, ah,” Leander freaked, getting up and moving right up close to her. He pulled out his shirt and put pressure on her cuts to try and stop the bleeding. He was thinking that this probably wasn’t the best medical attention that she could receive but at least it was something. “How’s that, better?” He hoped it was, his tongue pressing on the inside of his cheek. “As for the name Aquas, that’s a lovely name. I don’t know many people that talk to them selves like that, unless you were talking to me of course. If that’s the case then I approve.” He continued to be standing there before her, waiting for a time when he believed that the bleeding would slow.

“Help a woman before all else as I always say. I guess I could always help a man too but then it just doesn’t have the same affect.” As people would most likely figure out he liked to go on and on about one specific topic until he got bored of it and switched to something else. “Have you asked Aquas about his name? I think he should get a say too.” He kept an eye on the flitt; not wanting it to all of a sudden think it was all right to tear him to pieces too. “Now you be good,” he told the blue, “save the bodily wounds for your lovely bonded here.”

~ ~ ~

A soft voice registered in Tieler’s head and she was confused for the most part, not actually believing that the girl was talking to her, until she felt herself being pushed forward by Kestrel. She complied, moving forwards, even though she knew that she’d just slap the person away most times. She didn’t say anything; just bit her lip, looking up at Kestrel with soft eyes. She watched her go back to her old spot, staring after her as if she were an angel. Tieler then looked away, reminded all over again about the past incident… He’d only been trying to help too, and instead she’d been cruel. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again; she wouldn’t dare hurt this kind girl, though that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be bitter either towards her later on. Tieler wasn’t sure what kind-of a person she wanted to be, but somehow she felt that the person she was now wasn’t whom she really was. Maybe, at some future date, the real her would just… break through. “Thank you,” she whispered to Kestrel, even though the girl was long gone. She looked ahead of her at the flitt’s, and then began to picture the judgemental looks she’d gotten before. She shook her thoughts free, allowing her mind to go blank. Her arm was extended to its farthest reach while she waited to see if anything would come of her patience. She’d seen Anassa and Riler impress, and as usual she’d felt jealous. She felt jealous of just about every one, no matter who they were.

“Come on, you have to be hungry,” she scoffed. She was glad that some of the eggs still hadn’t hatched; it meant that she still had a chance if these ones didn’t take to her. Of course whatever one does take to me is crazy, she thought, the thought making her smirk. She was now watching the new brown that had hatched as well. The little green still hadn’t seemed to make a choice, and the odd-looking one was in the same boat.

[kestrel]

Rhiyo heard Wolf's words and nodded slightly, feeling a bit more nervous now than before. Suddenly there was another girl near him, and he turned his head and smiled shyly at her. She had bright red hair and he'd seen her at the Candidate Lessons before. Everyone seemed to avoid her, though, except one girl with dark black hair, whom he assumed was probably one of her only friends. He knew what people said about her. That she was bad news, a troublemaker. Some said they didn't even know why she'd been called to the Weyr as a Candidate in the first place. Rhiyo, however, had kept his thoughts neutral. He could see that the girl was a troublemaker. Sometimes, though, he saw her looking differently at some person or another for whatever reason. He tended to watch people a lot since he was usually so quiet. In truth, the red head made him really nervous. He wouldn't exactly go so far as to say 'scared', but certainly she put him ill at ease. Nevertheless, he swallowed nervously and said quietly, "good luck!" with a small smile. It was then that he noticed the two flitts, heading their way!

~~~~~~

The lime-green flitt suddenly gave a happy chirrup, and began to walk forwards, but then she suddenly faltered and tripped, giving a dismayed sort of cry as she fell to her face into the hot sands. Rhiyo's mouth dropped, seeing the little flitt go down like that. He wanted to go and help her up, but in that instant, the mutated flitt was suddenly by her clutch-sister's side, and nudged her up. The tiny green and the mutated flitt began walking side by side, heading towards where Rhiyo and Tieler were holding out their meat. However, the mutated flitt gave her clutch mate the first push forwards, standing in between Rhiyo and Tieler still.

The little green glanced over her shoulder at her clutch mate, as if to see if this was all right, and the mutated flitt gave an encouraging chirrup as if to say it was. So, the lime-green flitt turned to face the two people, and then with a hungry creel, she turned towards Rhiyo and walked forwards slowly, still stumbling a little, and stopping right in front of him.

~~~~~~

Rhiyo looked over at Tieler, blinking slowly, but was startled back to the flitt when it chirruped loudly again. He remembered that Wolf had said to feed it, and offered it the meat slowly, yelping lightly when the little green snapped it quickly out of his hand and gobbled it down hungrily. He offered her another piece, and she took that too, so he continued feeding her, shooting a big happy grin back at Wolf, then looked over at Tieler once more, when he noted that the other flitt was suddenly moving towards her!

~~~~~~

Once the small green had impressed, the mutated flitt turned and looked straight at Tieler, trotting over gracefully and looking up at her with whirling eyes, red with hunger. She creeled loudly and nipped the girl's pant-leg, scrabbling right up into her lap and butting her with its head. The mutated flitt had only waited long enough to see that the weaker, smaller flitt had impressed safely before making her choice clear!

~~~~~~

Rhiyo grinned at Tieler and said quietly, "congratulations," before picking up his own flitt and heading back over to Wolf. The little green was still taking pieces of meat and gobbling them down, but not so quickly now as before. Rhiyo smiled sheepishly at Wolf and then said, "it picked me, but what do I do now?" He wasn't sure what one did with the little dragon-kin, only that he was overjoyed to have impressed one. When it had turned to him, he could feel its hunger, like it was his own, almost. He had felt this warm feeling, too, like rainbows or his favorite food-only better. Was this what impressing a draogn was like, or was it even more so? He couldn't wait to find out!

~~~~~

Kestrel called out congrats to Rhiyo, smiling softly as she watched the interchange between the green and mutated flitt. When the mutie chose Tieler, she was more than a little surprised. She was somehow satisfied, though, with that. Loud enough for Tieler and probably everyone else to hear, she called out, "congratulations, Tieler!" with a wave and a smile. She didn't have much time to do more than that, however. Suddenly, one of the larger two eggs began to split!

The egg rolled down the side of the sand-nest, and stopped in front of the people nearest it. It shook a few times, and then seemed to explode in a shower of eggshells, to reveal a shimmering, shining gold!

Kestrel had a huge smile on her face, while Roksha looked veryl, very proud of herself, and chirruped to Birinj as if to say 'we made that'! and then watched her young hatchling as it turned to look at the people gathered about her.

he gold flitt was a little larger than average, and would probably be large for a gold considering the size of her mother. She has a very delicate looking body, more lithe than the normally muscular golds. Instead, she has a frame more like a green, lithe and delicate, likely to be more agile in flight and perhaps faster, too. Her hide looks like the literal gold she takes her coloration for, so bright and smooth that it seems to reflect the sunlight no matter how she moves. She is pure gold all over, no other colorations mar her perfect hide, her eyes bright and inquisitive.

~~~~~~

Xyrion had gotten the message about the flitt hatching, and turned immediately towards the direction of the hatching sands. Of course, he was already close by or he wouldn't have bothered going-or so he told himself. It was such a hassle to have to go cross the hot sands, after all, especially when he'd been debating going for a walk out in the nice weather. Well, no matter. He may as well go and see what came out of the flitt eggs, since he was so close by anyhow.

The real truth was that when Xyrion heard there was a clutch of fire lizards hatching, he'd turned around immediately and began heading at a more than fast walk towards the hatching sands, not stopping until he reached them, and then, hands in pockets, casually walking onto the sands, looking slowly about. When he got there, he was just in time to see an unusual flitt impress to a girl he recognized from Candidate lessons, and just before her a green to a boy he recognized from there also. He also came in just in time to see the glorious hatching of a gold, and his eyes widened slightly at the sight.

He saw the Weyrwoman with a bowl of meat, and with a careless shrug he took some meat, going closer but off to the side so that he was near enough but still not bunched with the others. He didn't like large groups of people, really. They made him feel somewhat uneasy, though he wasn't sure why. Not like they were going to bite him or anything stupid and troublesome like that. So, ignoring the others, he stayed where he was and held out the meat, giving it a slight wag here and there as if trying to attract the attention of the flitts. There was a brown and a Gold left on the sands. But just then another egg cracked, revealing another blue! Well, that upped his chances to three flitts, right?

The blue flitt was very dark, like a sapphire gem with his underside being so dark it might have been black. The undersides of his wings were the same dark black-blue, and so was the end of his tail. His claws were also black, jet black, and his little teeth were a pearly white. He was a very large blue, strong and healthy looking.

[Sparrow]

Marletta gasped as several of the flits impressed. One, she was surprised to find, to Tieler. “Congratulations, Tieler. She’s very pretty.” She said to the red haired girl. She was not really expecting a response since it was Tieler after all and she had impressed no doubt she would be busy with the little flit. Sounds of cracking shells brought Marletta’s attention back to the other eggs and flits. Kneeling down to get closer to the flits, she held out the bit of meat roll she had in her hand. A queen had just hatched! She really was a beauty she thought as she tried to get the flits’ attention by creeling.

--
“Thanks Weyrwoman,” Sh’rel said as he took a bit of meat out of the bowl that Christae held. He sat down on the sands folding his legs beneath him in what people on Earth would describe as Indian style. Sh’rel held out the bit of meat towards the hatched flits hoping it would catch their attention. The gold firelizard caught his eye. A perfect miniature version of a great gold dragon, a magnificent looking creature if he had to say so himself. Then a blue hatched, at least he thought it was a blue. It was very dark but also very sturdy looking. And there was, of course, the brown. Sh’rel did particularly love the browns flits, perhaps it had something to do with dear Rolaranth.

((Wow, those were short, sorry ^#^))

[Akki]

Hasima watched as endless streams of people came into view, tons of people wanted to watch the hatching and it was quite understandable really. You didn’t have too many opportunities to see something like this up close and personal. She hid a small smile as she watched everyone’s reactions to the flitts and was quite thankful that she was able to watch. She was slightly surprised that the Weyrwoman appeared but then realized it really made perfect sense. Wasn’t it her flitt who caught Roksha? She smiled at Anassa and at Riler as two flitts came up to them, almost begging for food and silently sent them her congratulations.

She had to admit that she wasn’t expecting Kestrel to go over to Tieler. Maybe because Kestrel and Hasima tended to be quite alike, neither of them really started up something if it didn’t need to be. That’s probably why they were rather close too because they knew what the other felt most of the time and Hasima was glad to have her as a friend. She hadn’t really talked to Tieler, last time she saw her was at the Gather but never the less she sent Tieler a quick smile. Just because Hasima was shy, there was no reason for her to be rude, right? Of course as soon as she took her eyes off of the clutch, it seemed that quite a few people Impressed almost immediately.

---

Akki turned her head and grinned at Sh’rel as the man appeared beside her, curious as to what he missed. “Not much Sh’rel. A few flitts coming out of their shells.” Akki said with a nod and smiled as he mentioned the mutant. “Oh yeah, you missed that as well.”. It felt like it was suddenly a fountain of flitts as more and more began to crack their shells and emerge from its confines. She looked up and nodded towards Christae with a grin. She had meant to congratulate her on the flitt flight since it was her bronze that caught the gold. She hid a snicker as Wolf came running in, dragging poor Rhiyo with her and sent the two a crooked grin as Wolf’s voice was heard by probably everyone.

“Oh man, too many things happening all at once. I can’t keep up.” She said with a fake whine as she watched flitts impress here and there. She grinned at Tieler as the girl impressed to the mutant flitt and she vaguely wondered how that one would work out. She flicked Rhiyo in the back of the head as the boy headed over towards Wolf and smiled at him, “Hey, congratulations.” She hooked her hands behind her head, “Man, a mutant and a gold? This is getting even better now.” She took a few pieces of meat and threw them at Zuhayr. “I’m going to get you over this fear of flitts if it kills me.”

---

Zuhayr eyed Khris for a moment, to see if he could any signs that would show that the boy was lying. Of course, he saw none but he still didn’t relax fully. He grinned at Khris, “I hope you’re right. I rather not meet with any flitt that wasn’t a friendly one. I like my face being intact.” He was over-reacting of course about what had happened in the past, but that was part of his personality. Being dramatic. He raised an eyebrow slightly when Khris mentioned to no one in particular something about voices but shrugged it off. Who was he to judge anyone? If Khris wasn’t going to make fun of him for his delusional fears, he wasn’t going to think anything bad about the boy in turn.

Zuhayr watched Anassa Impress with a vague look of horror as the blue flitt seemed to claw up her arm. “Look at that, it’s trying to rip off her arm. She’s spurting blood all over the place.” Zuhayr pointed out, exaggerating enough that Akki hit him lightly in the back of the head. He had to admit that the girl was definitely reacting better to the scratches then he ever would, she actually looked like she didn’t even mind. He barely caught the meet that the blue rider tossed to him, fumbling for a minute and held it away from his body, not quite sure what to do with it. He didn’t like the sound of her promise. “I really don’t want to die from a flitt attack.”

[Kino]

Khris looked over to Leander when he spoke up; he blinked once, hadn't realized that anyone had heard what he'd said to himself. "Oh," he said. "Eh...yeah...that last one." The boy wasn't used to getting attention, and he wasn't so sure he wanted to get into a conversation about the subject in such a large group of people. Hoping to avert the conversation he turned away and stepped towards the Weyrwoman for some firelizard bait.

Khris gathered three good sized chunks of meat before starting back over to where he'd been standing previously, closer towards the front where Hasima was. The maneuver hadn't taken more than a minute, and he'd arrived back to his original spot in time for Zuhayr's scrutiny. "Then don't get too close to the clutch," he playfully warned the boy. "Leander almost got a face full of Roksha before anyone got here."

Now that he was armed with the chunks of meat and the hatching was in full swing, Khris brought himself into a crouch. He held one chunk of meat in one hand and rested that arm on his knee, simply holding the chunk of meat in the direction of the clutch; the other two pieces he kept in his other hand, letting that rest closer to himself.

"Wow," he said, figuring he could keep up the conversation with the nervous Zuhayr by voicing his thoughts. "Just think. This is a mini version of what a dragon hatching'll be like." His eyes lit up as the next eggs hatched, and he took in a breath at the sight of the gold. She really was quite a beauty! And the other hatchlings looked just as healthy, each one built with their own unique traits and differentiating color patterns. It hadn't really hit him until now, when the hatchlings were going each way and impressing upon the first meat-holder they got to, that Khris had really gotten sucked into the event. It really was quite amazing, and it gave him his first glimpse into the sort of world he'd been taken into when he was searched. This was life at a Weyr. A life that he hoped he could continue for years to come.

"Come on then," he said, clicking his tongue a little bit to the various flits that had just hatched. "Hungry, aren'tchya?"

[Torva Anian]

The Moonstreak's wedge shaped head turned at the mention of her name and she studied the fire lizard in question before snorting. I think not, I am far more graceful and beautiful.

I don't know Lirlith, she might have you bested. See those arrows and melding of colors? Quite pretty.

Sorcha would have continued her teasing, but for the anger she sensed from her Bonded. She rolled her eyes, you would have thought she had Impressed a Gold. Perhaps that was why Lirlith liked the idea of flying in the Queen's Wing. Or maybe that's what made her so haughty in the first place. Whatever it was, it was annoying. She might have done better to have Impressed a green. They were said to be flighty sometimes, but never annoying.

I'll remember you said that. The moonstreak snorted and pretended to ignore everything going on around her.

Sorcha's lips formed a tight line but she managed not to say anything more to the dragon. She didn't want to have any ruckus made right now. She was uncomfortable enough as it was. She watched as the others chattered about the eggs and who might Impress what. She stared at the girl who got the flitt Anassa had gotten for a few moments before watching the eggs rock again. She did agree with the green rider, it looked vaguely like Lirlith. Although none could match her dragon's beauty.

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

Despite herself she moved slightly to the right to get a better angle as more people poured in. Soon enough the bowl of meat disappeared as some took a bit to try to entice the fire lizards. She supposed she could leave, but with everyone here she wouldn't get much done. Might as well watch and get it over with. After all it was research right? Make sure she knew who had any dragonkin so she could stay away from them. Because she definitely wasn't befriending any one who had a fire lizard or dragon. Wherry-headed, the whole lot. Her eyes never stopped moving as she listened to different conversations and watched Impressions.

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

He opened his mouth to reply but Kallan couldn't remember which record had told him that. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure he was positive about it. He blinked and realized he'd just lost the attention of the boy he'd been talking to. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the newly hatched eggs. Wasn't that just interesting? A little .... ummm different colored fire lizard! Dark Moon seemed to be the place for them. He briefly wondered if there was a reason for it or if after so many generations the dragons did that. Wouldn't it be cool if ancients had them and then they had started dying out and there were only five? And then they had come to assume that to be the only five and now they were appearing again? Yeppers, he could be a good historian with deductive skills like this. Oh poo, the cutie had just gone to a girl. Well, that's what he got for not paying attention. With that thought in mind (however briefly) he decided to try to pay attention to the hatching.

A mutant, blue, green, brown, and gold. Well, they'd had almost all the colors so far. Well, unless you could other mutants. Like the yellow...oh and a copper, he'd heard of those. Oh! They could totally use Quiote so they'd have a bronze. It'd be the perfect clutch. Except Quiote was his so he'd just have to hope the Gold had laid one....

---

Admin's Note:[/hr] He could forgive her for not making a bronze if she had another mutant. They were interesting. A firey one would be cool. Maybe if it had golden wing tips!

[Spirithawk]

Anassa realized that Leander had made a comment about Harpers. "I was just an Apprentice when I was Searched. I plan to finish my training later, and it will take longer, but yes, you can be a Harper and a Dragonrider, although we are called Weyrsingers when we are dragonriders."

"Oh, I didn't even notice that he scratched me. I'll drop by the Healers when I leave here and get them cleaned up real well. Thank you for your help though." She blushed slightly. "Actually, I was speaking to my dragon. I sometimes forget to use mental speech. She can hear me whether or not I am talking out loud. Normally we try to speak mentally with our dragons so that people don't think we are crazy but most people accept that we are different with our links to our dragons. Hopefully one day you will understand what I am talking about with a dragon of your own."

Anassa glanced down at the now sated blue in her arms. "I think he likes the name Aquas. He didn't protest when I said it." She lifted him. "How about it little one, how does Aquas sound." The flitt gave a satisfied chirp though Anassa didn't know if the chirp was from being full or from liking the name. She chuckled. "See no protests." She smiled and settled him down into the crook of her arm. Before long he was asleep, his soft hide rising and falling in an even rhythm.

[Wolf]

Leander took in the information that Anassa was providing him with. "Weyrsinger?" He thought over the title. "Interesting... I'm not too sure if my voice is all that great though, and to have to sing to the entire Weyr might get tiring after a while. Plus then my dragon might get jealous and be irritated because he can't sing and then I'd be worried about people getting eaten." Leander shrugged his shoulders, unsure if the idea appealed to him or not now. "Yes, well, make sure you do get those scratches fixed up, we don't want the flitts thinking you’re some kind of meat..." He took his shirt off of her arm, drops of blood all over, but Leander hardly seemed to care. "Do you mind if I call you crazy anyhow? There's something about having a crazy friend that I like, maybe it’s the idea that we can then get away with more. What do you think?" Leander and his outrageous idea’s never ceased.

“I like the name, so that sound must mean he likes it. I find that people tend to agree with me a lot. It concerns me sometimes but the thought that they’re trying to impress me is nice.” He muttered something and then dismissed whatever it was he was muttering about with a shake of his head. He looked back at the newly hatched flitt’s, remembering that he had been trying for one. “Oh, well look at that, they’re impressing like crazy. Too bad, I’m not sure I feel like getting scratched right now anyhow. I think my arms have a bit of a tan and the blood would just make them look uneven, though battle wounds with a great story behind them are always manly.” He really liked the look of the Gold flitt, it was all sparkly and shiny. He wouldn’t mind having that thing on his arm that was for sure. “Now if I so happened to impress a Gold like that I’d call it Leander, because it’s got a nice glow to it, and if it weren’t a female it would be handsome.”

~ ~ ~

Tieler’s face paled and in her efforts to move back she landed on her butt, looking to the flitt that was still butting her with its tiny head. When the shouts of congrats came to her ears, followed by other words of congratulations, she blushed; for what felt like the first time in her entire life. Had she really impressed this thing or was it just some kind-of dream? “I… I don’t…” she was stammering, keeping her eyes on the flitt in case any one around her noticed that she was blushing. Her face felt hot and she didn’t particularly like the feeling. She began to study the designs on the creeling flitt’s body, amazed at how it could look so… beautiful. Was beautiful the word? I don’t know, she thought, Its not like I’ve ever called something beautiful before. She held back an almost sigh, knowing that it’d appear to others as if she was unhappy or even ungrateful. Impressing was an honour, especially since it was a… beautiful flitt. She could feel some-sort of connection between her and it and the rush of images that she received in her mind, all pertaining to it being hungry, overwhelmed her. She made a small squeaking sound, which only made her hunch over all the more to be unseen and then finally fed the Moonstreak her chunk of meat. It swallowed it down rather quickly, so she pulled another out of her bag and watched as it gobbled that piece down too. Her eyes widened, wondering how quick and how much a dragon hatchling would eat. Tieler slowly reached for another piece, noticing that the flitt didn’t look as hungry as it had. She fed it the last piece to it and then watched while it curled up in her lap to rest.

A few croons came from the creature, its wings extending to shake off some of the egg’s goo that had decided to stick to its body. Tieler helped to take the goo off, gagging. She shook it off her hand, reaching down to stroke the flitt’s back. It liked it. Do I name it or something? She was completely confused on what differences there were between flitt’s and dragon’s. I guess… well… She couldn’t believe that she was actually putting some thought in to this. I like the name Alias. Alias… That works.

[kestrel]

The Brown seemed to finally make up his mind, though in truth he'd been staring at one hand to the next for the biggest chunk of meat! He raced towards Marletta and gave a noise that was almost a demanding 'wark' sound, and Kestel chuckled before congratulating her fellow Candidate warmly.

Suddenly, two more eggs began to rock and roll out of the pile of sand. There went the last of the three eggs that the Queen had been so protectively guarding, and then yet another egg, down it went from the sands, much smaller in comparison. The smaller one, however, was knocked by the bigger one, cracking it first, and revealing another blue that scrambled out of his egg as if he couldn't bear another minute in it.

The blue was so dark that it was almost black, and for a moment Kestrel thought they had another mutation on their hands. However, when it moved she could see the hide merely changed from blue to black depending on angles, but it was certainly a blue, like sapphire that when turned had black that could be seen within it. The lovely little flitt had, however, the whitest claws and little teeth that she'd ever seen in contrast to his dark, dark hide, and she then noticed that his belly was speckled with the same contrasting white in little dots that looked kind of starry, but then again not. Then he lifted his wings, and she had to blink a couple of times when she noted they were the same startling white all underneath, and the contrast was absolutely stunning!

The larger egg burst in a display quite proper for its contents, as the flitt emerged, regally looking about him with a sort of royal grandeur. The bronze’s egg was large from the get-go, making it almost uncertain if he was the egg that might contain the gold, or the other one. When he emerges from the shell, he shakes off his large body, already muscular even as a hatchling. However, for a moment it is unsure what color he is. There is no greenish tinge to his coloration, but instead a dark green-black stripe runs from the back of his head to the tip of his tail on his topside. Aside from that, however, the rest of his hide save the underside of his wings, which are also the same dark green-black, is a perfect clear bronze, so light, however, that it is a little uncertain when a claw comes out whether he is a bronze or perhaps a very dark gold. His tail and wings are a bit long looking, though he may grow into them, but he seems to be proportioned fine everywhere else.

Kestrel was delighted-two bronzes, a gold and a mutant! This was a first clutch to be proud of indeed! She grinned as she watched the gold and bronze, now on the sands together with the much smaller but no less lovely blue. She glanced over at the eggs, wondering what else planned on coming out today, and then back at the new hatchlings, and the Candidates for this clutch, wondering who would impress next.

[Kino]

Khris had looked over to each of the candidates as they impressed the little flitts in turn. Most of them were too far away for him to offer congratulations to, but Tieler had been ushered close enough by Kat that he could do so. He noticed how uncomfortable she almost seemed to look, crouching and bending over the little flit in an almost frightened way. "Congratulations," he said singly, offering a quick lopsided smile along with it. He'd seen the way she usually acted; he couldn't guess as to why she was acting so differently here exactly, but he hoped that the congratulations from himself and the others nearby would be enough to try and ease her up on the uncomfortable feeling.

Directly after that a few more flitts had hatched, and Khris was watching them intently. His eyes lit up at the sight of the blue. The coloration on the flitt was amazing! He'd even go so far as to call it breathtaking. Khris could only wonder if dragons had the same differentiating patterns on their hides. He'd never been close enough to a dragon before coming to the Weyr to really notice, and had always sort of assumed that they'd all be more or less the same shades within their colors - though now that he was watching the flitts hatching, he couldn't imagine what would have even given him that idea.

The bronze hatched next and that was the last of the eggs. Glancing over to Kestrel and her flitt, he noticed how proud they both looked. Well, it certainly seemed like a good clutch! Especially for her Roksha's first. Khris let himself down from the crouch to sit indian style on the warm sands. His pants were enough to keep the sand from burning him, and his legs had started to hurt from standing crouched like that for so long. Khris held the meat out once more to the flitts wandering about, clicking with his tongue once again and trying to entice them a bit closer.

[Sparrow]

Sh’rel heard Akki respond to his query and nodded. “I see that, glad I didn’t miss all of them.” He turned back to the newly hatched firelizards waving the bit of meat hoping one of the little flits would find their way to him. “I wish I knew what to do… I feel like a dimglow waving this around.”

As the others around him impressed their own little firelizards Sh’rel smiled and offered his congratulations. He tried to watch what the successful people were doing different than him but there was so much to watch he could not keep track. At least two candidates impressed, he noted, they would be in for quite a challenge with a young firelizard and a young dragon when they impressed. No doubt they would be very busy.

Sighing he turned back to the flits appearing from the eggs and waved the meat a bit more, creeling. The Brownrider had not realized till now how much he wanted one of the little buggers.

---
Marletta had been watching the gold firelizard at the time the brown had made up his mind. She had not expected to be rushed by one of the little darlings and tumbled backwards, being startled by the brown’s “wark” sound. For a moment she feared she might’ve scared it between but the brown was still there and she obligingly fed him pieces of the meat roll.

With a bit of coaxing and even more bits of meat she managed to get the brown flit into the crook of her arm. The little guy was soon asleep in her arm and she stroked the now dry hide of her firelizard examining the peculiar markings on him. The markings looked like… mud, could she come up with a name for the flit based on his coloring? Unfortunately, the only name that came to mind was Mud, and that did not seem too appealing. The girl bit her lip contemplating before finally deciding upon a name to her liking. Kaz.

“What do you think? Do you like the name Kaz?” she asked the brown as she scratched the small eyeridges. Kaz crooned in response, a response that Marletta took to be a sort of ‘yes’ even though the firelizard was more than likely responding to his eyeridges being scratched.

[kestrel]

Ooc: sorry I've been gone so long guys. Life's thrown some curve balls at me and it has been a bumpy ride. I'm back now, though. Wrapping up the hatching in this post...

The Golden flitt pranced across the sands, swinging her head from left to right as she held her tail high. She seemed to know what she was doing, and passed by a few people on her way to a boy who was standing a little off to the side. Zuhayr. Standing at the boy's feet she gave a loud creel, looking up at him with an almost quizzical yet demanding expression. She wanted him to feed her, that much was obvious-and she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer!

The blue and bronze seemed to make up their minds right after the Gold had made up hers. The pair walked off in different directions, the blue at a sort of 'run' and the bronze with a rather regal looking half-run. The blue tried to clamber right up Khris' leg, falling back onto the sand with a 'thud' and then creeling more loudly to have the boy feed him meat.

The bronze, meanwhile, made his way for Xyrion, looking up at him as if he ought to be honored that the Bronze had chosen to be fed by him. Xyrion was startled by the loud cry it gave, and immediately began to feed it, looking around as if wondering if the bronze had been meant to go elsewhere. He shrugged nonchalantly as he realized that it was now impressed to him, sighing a little though in truth he was really pleased. He decided to name it 'Zero'.

[Akki]

Akki grinned at Sh'rel and lowered her voice and whispered to him, "I'm not gonna lie to you Sh'rel. Flitts aren't as good as you think they are. My green is really annoying." She more or less spoke the truth, about her flitt that is. Sargon was rather annoying, but most of the other flitts she knew were quite nice. She shouldn't say that all flitts were disasters waiting to happen, when it was really just hers that was. She watched with a lopsided smile as flitts continued to pour out of the eggs, and began demanding food from the people around them. It was rather interesting to see these small little critters boss around the people, she admitted with amusement.

---

Zuhayr couldn't help but take a step back as the small golden flitt came near him. He stared at the flitt, eyes wide and filled with irrational fear. Was this creature going to attack him at any minute? Perhaps use its claws and teeth to rip apart his feet in a fit of pure, uncontrolled rage? The flamboyant boy felt a jab in his ribs and looked to see it was Akki who had just elbowed him. "Hurry and up and feed her Zuhayr." The girl said with a sigh, motioning to the gold. Zuhayr grimaced and slowly bent down, holding the meat out and closing his eyes.

Right away the gold clung to his hands, nibbling at the food that was being held and Zuhayr couldn't help but wonder if his hand was going to get devoured along with it. He slowly stood, the flitt still clinging happily to his hand, and reasoned with the flitt "Please don't eat my hand. Or kill me.". It was more of a request than reasoning actually, but when the flitt creeled he took that as a 'I won't'. It actually meant 'Feed me some more', but there was no need to correct Zuhayr. He relaxed slightly, but was still nervous about the flitt and probably would be for quite a while. He supposed he had to name her, he really couldn't keep the gold nameless. Zuhayr struggled for a moment, trying to think of a name. "Uhh...I guess I'll call you...Aesa?"

Ooc|| Aww~ Thank you for the gold ;3;

[Spirithawk]

OOC: Aww Aesa is a cute name. Congrats everyone

[Sparrow]

Sh’rel picked himself up off the ground when he noticed that no more flits were coming from the shells. He brushed the dirt from his pants before grinning at Akki. “He doesn’t seem that much of a problem. However, if it is just a show to hide the true manner of firelizards then perhaps it is a good thing I did not impress one. Let someone younger deal with the manic little things. Besides Rolaranth can be quite annoying too, if I had impressed one of the flitters they might have ganged up on me.”

The Brownrider turned to Zuhayr seeing that he was the one that had impressed the golden beauty. He was careful not to move too fast lest he scare the gold firelizard, though it looked like the boy was more frightened. Not knowing where this fear may have stemmed from he said, “Don’t worry about her, you’ve impressed her now, the only people who should fear her are people who try to hurt you. I would suppose she will unleash a mighty temper on them.”

“Here,” Sh’rel handed Zuhayr the piece of meat that he had, unsuccessfully, used to try to lure a firelizard with. He was careful to make sure the gold did not see for he did not want the little thing to be confused. “If you feed her enough she will go to sleep, like the others have done.” Sh’rel waved over a drudge who held a bowl of meat so Zuhayr would have enough meat to make the queen go into a food coma.