An Ounce of Love [Harvey's Flit Find]

[Azhdarchid]

[ OOC[/u]: Spectators welcome, but only four people already designated will be receiving flitters. Consider this thread to have a structure like a hatching: there is no post order, and you don't have to wait for anyone. People receiving flits may choose any egg from the bucket (see the last paragraph). :D ]



Eveth wake up! You can come to the waterfall now. Aypoth come down... Halventh called through the stark Autumn morning. There was enough wintry duress in the air that the blue exhaled a visible puff as he sat down aside the grand stone pool at the foot of Dalibor's signature waterfall. They are coming, he assured his rider, who was cloaked head-to-toe in riding leathers, and it was not for the sake of the cold. L'xon crossed his arms over his chest and awaited the first flicker of wings or slink of a tiny hatchling tail. The tanriding giant jogged by and looked at him, unsmiling in passing. L'xon would have waved out of courtesy, but maybe he just was not fully awake yet, because he just stared back through his dark goggles and did not move. He could almost hear the tanrider's derisive snort.

Aren't you forgetting one or two? he asked of his dragon, whose large head and glowing eyes ducked down next to him. The sun had written a crescent on the west flank of the Bowl, but here Halventh's gaze was the only good light.

I am sure they will figure it out, the blue offered. His inner lids flashed up a couple times, then he continued, Did you still want to ask that one with Shobhaith abou- L'xon's back stiffened.

No.

But you are the one that invited him! Halventh's neck sunk into a vulturine sag. L'xon tipped his head skyward.

Oh, look, Aypoth is coming.

Halventh promptly forgot his sorrows and rose to all fours, even kicking up on just his hind feet for a few seconds and spanning his wings wide open. His neck resumed its usual dandy arch and he took a deep breath, holding it in to expand his already muscular chest. L'xon sighed and leaned up against the wall. He and his dragon had taken up posts by the Candidate's "secret" tunnel to the Sands, a corridor that wound so close to the backside of the waterfall that there was even a place where the rock broke open and mist poured over the steps, baptizing anyone who sought a hatchling of their own.

Now I will show you the secret location of the firelizard nest, the blue chirped once everyone had gathered. And by that I mean L'xon will show you because I cannot fit in there! Halventh showed all his fangs in a grin.

"And what he means by that is I am going to go in and retrieve the eggs and I will bring them back out to you. They're right behind the waterfall and it's all slippery, so I don't want anyone to fall," L'xon explained. "Really anyone with eyes should have been able to see the parents coming and going so it really isn't much of a secret." Halventh chuffed, because the word secret was used, nevermind the context! L'xon pointed at his powdery blue bumpkin. "According to him they are ready to hatch right now." Halventh hummed a few notes that managed to convey both greetings and deep self-satisfaction. "So it won't be much of a wait and you can go back to your chores after."

The blond looked around at the gathered parties, then pulled a leather hood up over his yellow lockes. The mismatched slashes of little Jafask's claws ran down the right side of his face from cheekbone to jaw, still pink and wrinkled with healing. "Right. I'm going to fetch the things now. There's a bucket there with meat scraps, make sure to pick a few up. The hatchlings will just between into the wild if you don't feed them." He fit another leather piece to the lower half of his face and picked up a short ladder off the wall, as well as a bucket of sand. "Be right back."

After a minute or so, a flight of twenty or so firelizards exited the tunnel in a flurry of pips and eeks and a single haunted howl. Mostly blues and greens and pinks, the cloud budded out from the cave mouth, then folded in on itself as the flits scattered among the human and draconid observers. Many stuck to the walls, clinging on horizontally with their biting talons, but some also attempted to roost on the dragons. Halventh took five to his head and another couple on the knuckles of his wingspars. An inhuman scream rocketed out of the tunnel after the faire, followed by hisses and snarls that cursed their cowardice.

Halventh, humming, flexed his eyelids halfway shut, the picture of serenity. A few more minutes, and an unholy chimera of firelizard and man started staggering back out of the darkness. Wings sprouted from either shoulder, snake-like protrusions oozed out of the head. L'xon stepped into the wan morning light. He had both arms around the sand bucket and was hugging it to his chest. On his right and left shoulders were firelizards, both glowing the second Rukbat's first weak streamers touched them. On the right: sandy, silty bronze. On the left: an immense copper, dark as a penny draped in mud. Both of them had rolling red eyes, and they were taking turns chewing ineffectively at the leather covering L'xon's head.

The queen especially darted her jaws at the thick wherhide again and again, till she managed to accidentally knock skulls with her mate. Obviously this was his fault, and she leapt halfway over L'xon to get at the bronze, who spooked off the rider's shoulder with a squawk. The copper screamed at him, then grabbed one of L'xon's shiny goggles in her mouth and tried to wrench it off with sharp, spastic tugs of her glimmering neck.

"Alright," L'xon said, voice quite calm despite the attempted skull-peeling. "I didn't really think this part through. Uh, there wasn't a queen egg, but I put the four biggest eggs at the top of the bucket. So just uhm, come over here...I'll stick the bucket out a bit and you can just grab one. They all looked to be about the same size. Yeah, just grab one and spirit it off and I think she will still prefer to protect the majority of the clutch over whatever you steal. It should be fine. Who's first?"

Safe and snug inside the bucket sat a clutch of seventeen, all free from tunnelsnake vampirism and remarkably clean of fungus rot despite their nest by the falls. Of course, had Halventh never noticed them it was likely that any babies would have fallen straight into the freezing water. The wild fair huddled through the area hummed with many voices, all high and thin and wispy in the morning wind. At the top of the sand, a ruby egg rustled and knocked into its dapple gray sibling, which peeped a retort no one could hear under the chorus and their mother's screeches. Two other eggs, mute berries of green and blue, remained still despite the invitations of the fair, though the green one had a hairline crack down its north face already. "Make sure to keep them warm with your hands until they hatch."

[Zephyr]

Sho had gotten Aypoth's summons and was up in an instant. K’IUS WAKE UP! Shobhaith screeched into his rider’s sleeping mind, flicking the boy with the tip of his tail hard enough to sting. The motion disturbed Kai's fair of firelizards and they flew everywhere, some hiding, some betweening sharply. Kai made an unintelligible sound, drooling into his pillow in a truly elegant sleeping position that was vaguely a la starfish. “G’way Sho. ‘M sleepin’. It’s too early for this.” Sho was not about to let Kai sleep, though, and used his tails to flick the covers completely off of his body. There are EGGS! Stop being lazy and get up, or I won’t let you sleep the rest of the morning.

Now, Shobhaith hadn’t told Kai about even applying to Halventh to get an egg, and the boy had been too preoccupied lately to look too closely into his dragon’s secrecy, and while he was too groggy to really comprehend the purple’s words, he took away enough that he knew that to do whatever it was Sho wanted, he’d have to go outside.

Shard that.

“It’s too sharding cold to go outside Sho. Leave me alone!” He grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it back up, but the purple held it tight with claws until the boy was forced to sit up and glare at the purple. “Why do you do this to me, I hate you.” It was nothing Shobhaith hadn’t heard a million times before, and he perked up, thrilled that he’d gotten his boy’s attention. Well, get dressed and tell me how much you hate me on the way there…oh, and dress warm.

~*~

Five minutes later, the bleary boy was fully dressed with flight leathers and straps on both human and dragon. Shobhaith could barely contain his excitement, and was off of the ledge before Kai had even fully settled. Ignoring the boy’s hiss of displeasure, the purple found his pink sister immediately. I’m coming, Aypoth! Did I ever tell you how annoying my boy was? Maybe I will sometime. Kai facepalmed and snorted at his dragon, bundling up as Sho dropped him off near the candidate’s entrance to the sands, next to Nora, before perching outside to watch. He was bigger than the other dragons in attendance, so he couldn’t greet them like he wanted, but he whistled to Aypoth and thrummed at Eveth, settling down with a friendly chirp towards Ana.

There are times in Kai’s life when he doesn’t question his dragon, and regrets it…this is one of those times. He freezes from something other than cold when L’xon comes outside with the eggs, firelizards attached to his being. Sho? Firelizard eggs? The boy’s mindvoice was low and even and like a barely suppressed fire, but Sho was cheerful back. Stop being a butt and take one. It’ll be supremely rude not to. The boy hesitated, wondering how easily he could get back to the weyr without Sho, but glaring mentally at the large purple, Kai took a step forward and studied the egg. The grey and red looked ready to hatch, so he avoided them completely. The green and blue weren’t moving, but the green had a crack. Without another thought, he grabbed out the blue egg and stepped away. It looked the least like it would hatch.

It would do.

You should name it after me. I. Am. Amazing. “I can think of a few other words to describe you.” K’ius grumped under his breath, looking up at L’xon. “Thanks.” Because he wasn’t a total tool. Then he went to go stand back beside Nora, egg grasped between his hands, protecting it…even if he wasn’t too thrilled about Shobhaith roping him into this.

Hello, Halventh. He chirruped to the older blue. Though he was light hearted, Sho glanced between Halventh and L’xon, a little nervous. The blue had told him that his rider had wanted to talk about Al’dr…and that was a conversation he wasn’t ready to breach. Not yet. He’d already put his paw in his mouth enough on that particular subject.

Suddenly, and without warning, a very familiar red form exploded into the air in front of them. It took the firelizard a moment to take in what was happening. There was a man, holding a box of flit eggs, holding them out towards her boy...nevermind the face that she's all but disowned him as her owner...but details. of course Titania was one to jump to conclusions -- they were right in this case -- and she gave an angry screech, taking to the air to bat enormous red wings around L'xon's head. She knew better than to actually attack the man, like the bronze and copper were doing, but only just. Hissing and spitting, she busied herself with snapping at him and batting her wings at him, hoping to have him drop the basket. Her last ditch effort was to divebomb the basket, pulling up at the last second to snap razor sharp claws at the hands of anyone reaching into the thing and the eggs themselves.

K'ius. Had. Enough. Pets.

She had enough competition.

K'ius froze when Titania appeared, the egg still in his hands. The boy is lucky he didn't drop it in his shock. The tenseness in his spine bled out though, and he busied himself with comparing eggs with Nora. "That's a pretty egg." Maybe L'xon would think Titania was one of the fair and not...you know, his flit.

Worth a try.

[Chimera]

Noraaaaaaa. A pink dragon said to her rider soon to graduate from Weyrlinghood, with all the calmness and patience of her...temperamental golden dam. Flits. Firelizards.

Can I brush my hair at least? The teenager ran her comb through the messy mop of her brown hair. When she was done with that, and her face looked presentable, Nora groggily stepped over to the small sink in her Weyr, cupping some of the geothermally-heated water in her clammy hands and washing her face with it. Ahh. That was refreshing. The water was definitely heated, perhaps even too warm – winter was coming, even if it had not reached its destination yet. It still woke the weyrling up – the sun had just started shining. Her steadily-increasing fair of firelizards peeped and chirped to each other, and the dark pink dragon.

Bronze Ceannaire was growing quickly – Nora knew the bigger colors of firelizards, were, well, big but she had never really realized it until she got the third or so largest color. Imni watched over her fairmates – in a sense, even when Ceannaire had finished growing, the green was the true leader of the fair.

Shobhaith! Come on! The firelizards are hatching soon. Good morning, brother! Aypoth reached out for her purple brother's mind.

***

Once everyone had arrived, Aypoth began her greeting.

Halventh! Aypoth warbled excitedly at the blue, her rose-striped tail waving back and forth. Eveth! Anablimyth! Shobhaith! Hello hello! Firelizards are coming soon, how exciting! Good morning, oh it is a colder but very nice day. Nora chuckled, scratching Aypoth's eyeridges as the pink snaked her equine head down for that very reason. Aypoth's faceted green eyes shifted their gaze to small Eveth. Oh, the baby pink was so cute and small! She reminded the almost fully grown up Aypoth of when she'd been that age. Eveth would grow up a proud pink!

“Good morning, Wingriders and you other Weyrlings. The weather's getting chillier indeed. But hey! Flits! K'ius, help me, how do you firelizard. Three've hunted me down already...and there's a fourth very soon.” Nora whispered the last part to the purpleWeyrling she was standing next to. She would've asked how things with Al'dr were going, because while she didn't know much she did see there was something going on between the two boys - a Weyr above K'ius' allowed Nora, to, well, snoop. And sometimes her flits would come over to visit the other guy's flits.

***

"So, I don't know..." Nora regarded the four eggs - well, three, now that K'ius had taken first pick. She lended Aypoth her gaze, and after a moment the pink had made up her mind. The girl's flits did not come inside the cavern - Nora had ordered them not to just in case...something happened. Except Imni - the fretful green had curled around the back of Nora's neck, crawling a bit down her arm to get a better look at the ruby egg. The other two firelizards were sitting on Aypoth, all three humming with interest. Aypoth paused momentarily to chirp at Shobhaith and inform Nora of her choice.

The ruby egg! I think that is the right one!

"Yeah. Red egg." Hopefully the hatchling inside would not share its container's color. The Weyrling extended a hand and...Titania was attacking. She flinched away from K'ius' red flit, watching as she made a tantrum. A growl slowly grew louder in Imni's throat. Titania was trouble. When said trouble had gotten out of the way, Nora went forward and carefully picked up the ruby egg, wrapping it in her hands. The miracle of life.

[Maggie]

G'lin, Halventh has found us flitt eggs. Doom and I wish to have a new associate to aid us in our mission to better the fashion sense of the Weyr. Hurry, we must get there quickly, before they hatch. Doom has gone to the kitchen to acquire food for us to secure the alliance.

G'lin stared at his dragon. "But I told Gennesk we go take Mouse for the morning," G'lin muttered. He was dressed in his flying leathers, since he had planned on taking the girl up while Gennesk was too busy sleeping to notice.

Hatching first, Ana ordered. He waited impatiently for his rider to climb on his back, flying them down to the waterfall where the others were.

Good morning to you too, Aypoth. Halventh, you look very dashing, this morning. Shobhaith, I hardly recognised your without your tan following. May I point out that your rider would look quite stylish in tan? It is a colour that goes very well with your hide. Hello little Eveth The irony of calling anyone else little was completely lost on Anablimyth. He was the biggest, sparkliest dragon, on the inside.

G'lin waved a little greeting to the others there, wincing as he saw the poor attacked L'xon. "Thank you for going through all this trouble," he told his fellow bluerider with a small grin. "Ana, which egg is ours, you and Doom pick since it's your associate."

Ana leaned in to examine the eggs. They needed to choose the perfect, most stylish one, of course. And none of those mainstream eggs would do, not with Doom and Ana's collective genius already present. The grey one. It is the most unique in this clutch, he decreed.

"Grey it is." He reached out, taking the egg and brought it to his chest. He had opened his jacket slightly to be able to keep it nice an warm there until it hatched. On his shoulder, Doom craned his neck down to look at it, chirping a bit in encouragement.

[Digitalis]

Eveth was indeed asleep when Halventh's call came, but she came awake almost instantly at the sound of the blue's voice. Waterfall? Yay! What waterfall...For what?

"The flits, remember?" Phaenna prompted, as soon as she realized the dragon was awake. "I suppose they're getting ready to hatch. You wanted a chance at a fire lizard egg, so come on, we don't want to be late." Eveth didn't need any more encouragement, and Phaenna followed closely behind her until they came to the waterfall where Halventh, as well as a few other dragons and their riders, were waiting.

Hello, Halventh! Hello, other dragons. Hello, other humans. Hello, fire lizards. Eveth took her time greeting everybody, giving a cheerful chirp to Halventh and then to Shobhaith. Aypoth she bumped noses with as soon as the other pink's head was low enough. Lacking proper hands, she settled for waving one of her wings in Anablimyth's direction when he acknowledged her. Hello! Thank you for letting me have one of your eggs.

Phaenna assumed the last part was directed at L'xon, until she realized her pink was actually staring at the copper and bronze fire lizards who were focused on attacking the man. She didn't seem to realize it was an attempted mauling, not a game of some sort, and Phaenna simply didn't have the heart to disabuse Eveth of that notion. Instead, the girl just shook her head and took the green egg that was already cracking, taking some of the meat as well and holding it ready for the hatchling that would emerge.

[Azhdarchid]

Hello! Halventh sparkled back at Shobhaith, without any hint of subtext. Anablimyth got an even warmer greeting, the blue's reluctance about both the other males apparently drifted away. Oh hello~ The dragon swished his tail, and under the mask, L'xon smiled. Really, he was a very selfish man. This activity made his dragon happy, so he went along with it, frothing coppers be damned. And in fact that problem was about to lift off.

The queen's head coiled up in a momentarily shocked gape at the mutant that descended onto the other side of the egg thief's head. Another intruder? Her eyes fluxed orange, confused by the red's hide and the feel of her mind. But a proactive mother had little time for more than instinct: with a deep squawk, she bunched her legs up on L'xon's shoulder then jumped off, getting her first good flinch out of the leatherbound young man. She circled around her previous target's head, and when Titania dove for the basket the copper dropped after her, kicking at her shoulders with her hind talons. The red might be fierce but the copper had enormity (for a firelizard) on her side.

K'ius was right: L'xon did not recognize Titania in particular. As the two queens squabbled, he backed up a few steps and finally let his shoulders sink in a pantomime of relaxation. Three eggs were out, and his job was almost done.

"I guess you get this cute green one," he said, walking over to Phaenna in the event that she did not actually want to try and sneak around Titania and the copper. The copper's bronze mate was starting to get sporting about defending again, so long as it meant just flaring his wings and cheering on his queen while he danced around behind Titania. Some of the other members of the wild fair were starting to get a little raucous in their humming too.

That is not cute, Halventh corrected him, and L'xon raised his eyebrows uselessly under his mask. He picked up the green egg and held it out to the Weyrling. It still wasn't moving on the outside, but he could feel something ticking around the shell, even through his glove. Maybe you should pick one... Halventh mused wistfully.

You have enough pets.

First picked, first to hatch. It was only proper. The contents of the blue egg spilled out through a single delicate pinhole that had been pierced through the side. A wet head and neck stretched out against K'ius' longest finger, then the hatchling had to pause, breathe, and make another push to get her slightly broader shoulders through the opening. She bent more than broke her blue eggskin, and dribbled out longer and longer till her nose reached the tip of the purplerider's finger. Lifting her tail free of the spent yolk and membranous debris of her birth, she wrapped around the hapless digit, since it was warm, the air chilled, and her newborn skin just a little thin for the elements. Her body depicted the problem: it was almost as hot as the candleflame it resembled. She lost heat rapidly in the open air, the egg sweat chilling on her hide.

Outer lids unshuttered, and she curved back toward the center of K'ius palm, sniffing out the meat scrap there and biting through it gently. With her first mouthful of oily carnivore's delight melting on her pale violet sprinkle of a tongue, she opened her second pair of lids and leveled pale blue eyes at his wrist. The wrist alone did not seem like an adequate parent to imprint upon, so she traced the arm's flow to the shoulder, then in to the base of the neck. Her head lifted sharp to the spotted shine of deep, intelligent eyes. The orange firelizard stared for a moment, then gaped her half-full jaws in a simple, unladylike delight. Maybe it was off-base for a gentle, graceful creature, but what was perhaps routine to her new daddy was a once-in-a-lifetime ecstasy for the tiny princess. Maybe he was not quite what she had expected, but he was kind and soft inside. She could already see ahead, to their life together, once her wings dried-

The orange choked on her first scrap of sustenance. Her eyes abruptly matched her skin, save for a more sickly quality. She coughed, hard, and spit the meat out, only to gobble it back up at the demand of her new stomach. She had just encountered something- not K'ius, exactly, but something about K'ius. What was...what... Her jaws opened in a high peep, and then she shriveled up under the wave of foreign mentality, skin turning powdery. Her eyes twitched in her head, fixed on Titania, and filled with red.

She was still hungry, though.

Food first?

It seemed a necessity.

Growing up might help too.

Coloring back up, the ravenous hatchling fell upon the scrap. As she ate, the taste of the sweet jerky was thrust upon her new man. She sent him a picture of it too, for good measure. He would never know she was eating it otherwise, right? She had to tell him everything! He was hers!

Not hers.

ORANGE, Impressed to K'ius

[/b] ( e17620 )

SPOILER: Click to show

Personality:
Born a sweet, principled little lady. Then she joined a man whose fair also includes red Titania. Sweetness? Principles? She would never have survived. She is therefore a changeable spirit, some might call adaptable, some might call hopelessly broken. First of all: the dragon is hers. She gets to ride around on the dragon rather than flying whenever she wants, because he is hers. Second: K'ius' left shoulder is hers. No one else may have it. And K'ius had better not try and pet her while she is up there unless he likes a minced hand. In fact K'ius may find her a bit on the whimsical side of violent: sidling up to his leg, crooning, or exposing her belly? Go ahead. Tickle her. You might get a perfect feline purr, or a missing fingertip. And K'ius is the lucky one. No one else may touch her ever. Say what? Someone might need to do some sort of touching when she Flies? NO. No one EVER. That is her opinion right now and obviously no one's opinion ever changes as they age.

One last thing that should be brought to K'ius' attention is what will definitely be brought to his attention all the time: is she going to sleep? An image of where she's nesting and a cozy thought will be sent his way. Is she eating a bug? He will enjoy every savory crunch as if it were in his own mouth. Is someone being ugly around her? She'll forward their picture for him to laugh at (hint: Titania is THE UGLIEST). K'ius is her live feed stream, and she sends twenty instagrams a minute. With training, he may be able to coax her into sharing with Shobhaith instead, or maybe even outsourcing to the Weyr hive mind.

[/center]

[Maggie]

Ana's eyes whirled a happy blue, matching his hide as he saw the first little flittlet hatch. Look at her! Her colouring is such a beautiful complement to Shobhaith's. You truly found a very good clutch, Halventh! We will have a wonderful new associate, Doom!

Doom trilled in agreement, watching the mottled grey egg G'lin was holding against his chest with interest.

G'lin, unlike his dragon, eyed K'ius with sympathy. "She's really pretty," he offered up. "Um, that's your red, right? I hope the two manage to get along soon." It couldn't be fun to have warring flits, especially warring sub-queen flits.

Dawnova and Nesdeth have gone to pick up Mouse for us from Gennesk, Ana told him suddenly. Dawnova has promised her that we will introduce her to our new associate. Mouse does like babies. He crowded his rider a bit, also curious about their new flitt. Soon they would be able to dominate the Weyr's fashion scene!

Dawn held on tight to the little girl riding in front of her on Nessie's back. She was wearing her yellow wher costume again, which amused Dawn to no end. She'd have to make herself and D'nari red wher costumes, at some point, just to mess with Gennesk's mind. Nesdeth had suggested this, as another "experiment" meant to drive the brown wher nuts. "Look down, Mousie. Can you see Ana? That big pink and that purple are in my class, they hatched at the same time as Nesdeth. Looks like K'ius already has a new baby flit!"

Nesdeth landed, folding her wings and hunching like a looming vulture. Anablimyth looked over at her, fussily rearranging his own wings as if preening. Halventh has been generous and kind enough to give my G'lin, Doom and I an egg so that we may have a new associate. Do you want to see the egg hatch, Mouse?

"Hi Mousie! I see you didn't want to miss a hatching. Thanks for bringing her, Dawn." G'lin grinned at them.

Dawn's eyes were already fixed on the little orange K'ius was feeding. She burst out laughing. "Oh you are so doomed," she cackled at her classmate. "Titania is going to murder you in your sleep."

[Zephyr]

How dare she!

Titania felt claws lash at her shoulders as the queen retaliated. The red let out an awful, bloodcurdling screech and forgot about the eggs completely, rolling around in mid air to counter the queen’s attack. It might be a risky move, opening her belly up to the copper, but it also meant that she could get at the queen’s belly. Some flits might have balked at attacking a queen, but Titania was passionate and firey and impulsive, and she struck out, attempting to drive claws and teeth into the copper’s underside. The red’s tail was thrashing, and she was keeping up her cacophony of screeching and hissing the entire time.

It was a very good thing that the copper was keeping Titania occupied, because the egg in Kai’s hand cracked without any warning at all. If he’d been a little more in tune with Shobhaith, he’d probably have a little warning, because the purple perked up right as the pinhole began to widen, but as it was, the purplerider was more intent on keeping the red firelizard away from his immediate being to pay too much attention to him.

So it came as a complete surprise to the boy when the egg seemed to sag in on itself as a very small, very slimy little flit began to squeeze her way out of the hole. He just stared, slack jawed, as the little orange wrapped her body around his finger. He was still staring stupidly when she gobbled up the bit of meat in his hand before she slithered her way up to his shoulder. He stared back at her, still stunned by what was happening, until she shrinked in and seemed to grow pale. “Is she sick?” He blurted out without thinking…odd, for someone who didn’t care.

Titania Shobhaith said evenly, never taking his eyes off of the mid air queen battle. Kai’s head shot up, watching the red and copper tumble in mid air. He knew flits were more hearty than dragonets, that they could take more stimulus and activity than dragonets and not die…but this was intense. Titania’s rage tinged their bond, and the pure passion of the red’s emotions bled through. This might be too much.

But the orange bounced back as a picture of bloody, disgusting meat flashed through Kai’s mind and the boy nearly gagged, leaning forward to snatch up a few more bits of meat to feed to the hatchling. He glances sharply to G’lin when the guy spoke to him and for once, Kai found himself caring more than he probably should have. “Yeah.” He said simply, no indication of which statement he was agreeing with. “Titania is difficult to get along with though.” As evidenced by the tumbling females and the red whirling in the hatchling’s eyes. “Thanks, though…”

What are you going to name her? I take it Shobhaila is out? What about brat? That’s a terrible name, no! Well, if you can come up with something better, hotshot, I’m all ears…er…mind…whatever. Sho thought for a moment, watching the flit with a low hum. Aaylii. Fine. Kai was surprised with his dragon’s naming abilities.

---

Flying was the best thing ever! Mouse kept trying to crawl out farther onto Nessie’s neck, but Dawn held her tight. Mouse countered with the fact that she can’t be a proper wher without the wind blowing through her wings, but she was given no quarter. Not that it bugged the cheerful little girl too much. How many whers got the chance to be this high above ground. She would have to fangirl with Saosk later about flying. The black was one of the few whers she knew who actually could fly…even if he couldn’t get this high.

She half leaned out over the cyan, as far as Dawn’s arms would allow her. The dragons were beautiful, and she was thrilled to see Ana, but Mouse only had eyes for the eggs, and the babies beginning to emerge from them. Babies! She trilled to Nesdeth, barely keeping in her seat as the dragon landed. The girl was pleased and bouncing at Ana’s words. Oh can I? Then she turned around to tug at Dawn’s shirt. Can I get down to see the babies? I want an egggg. I’ll give it to Charlie. He needs a pet. She mused happily, already trying to slide down off of Nesdeth, even though she was much too small.

Mouse waved at G’lin, bouncing on Nesdeth. Look at the babies, Nessie! They’re adorable! I LOVE THEM.

---

K’ius was taken aback by Dawn’s pleasure in his predicament. “I’m glad you’re pleased by this.” He almost choked at the near constant picture of bloody, gross meat in his head. “I think I’ll just dump her off in your room. That should go down really well.” The firelizard would just find her way back. She always did. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve Titania, really…or what he was going to do now. Oh, think of it as a grand adventure! “Adventure my ass.” He murmured to himself. “Don’t you have a brat to babysit?” Kai grumbled sulkily up at Dawn, even though his tone was way more petulant than hostile.

[Chimera]

Nora was watching Titania and the copper fight, with a rather confused look on her face. Accurate to how she was feeling inside right now, anyways...Without consciously noticing, the pinkrider had started humming a bit as well - if much quieter than the rowdy wild fair. Imni was humming again, though her bulbous eyes still glowed a menacing orange if anyone dared to hurt Nora. Stupid subqueens and queens.

Nora didn't agree with her green flit - who tensely clung on to her arm, with an arched back and wings curled downward to form a dome of sorts - that subqueens and queens were all stupid, but she was worried about the violence.

"Well, congratulations Kai! You have an orange now! I'd clap if I could. Holy shells, good luck having Titania and that one." She kept her hands clasped around the egg, feeling the movement of the little one inside. What color would it be? L'xon had "borrowed" the four largest eggs - perhaps this would be a red, or another orange, a brown or purple, or even a new color! The suspense was exciting, and she could hardly wait.

Mouse! Hello there, little one! Hello, Nesdeth, dear sister, and Yours too! You all have arrived at a very exciting moment, indeed! Aypoth bugled excitedly, Ceannaire following up with a firelizard-sized bugle of his own. Triantan, helpful but oblivious as ever, tried to join the chorus with a greeting noise of his own, but the bronze bopped him on the musically-untalented blue snout before he could do so. Ow. The bright blue firelizard wheeled down, hovering in front of Mouse and cheeping at her. He sniffed her face. Yay! She was for friend. Oh yeah, had he seen her before? Had he not? Triantan had, in fact, but the flit did not remember all the Weyrbrats - his mind did not have that sort of capacity.

Nora turned around and smiled at the girl. She wasn't in the Creche practically ever - Gennesk had adopted her, as well as those two scary younger whers, apparently. Regardless, Aypoth and the flits had their ways of tracking down every child in the Weyr that they could, and kidnapping them to teach them of the wonders of the world - musically, most of the time. Though Aypoth was talkative, she had adapted her unofficial "lessons" when possible to fit silent, wher-obsessed Mouse.

"Hi, Mouse and Dawn! Come to watch, huh? Careful - the wild flits are...loud. And probably dangerous."

[Azhdarchid]

The copper shoved herself backward with a sweep of her wings so heavy it would serve to slap the attacking red in the face. When Titania kept on the attack, she bunched up her legs to her belly so she could kick away any attempt at biting her soft underside. But she was still being forced back. She squalled, and a few of the firelizards gathered on Halventh took off and fluttered up behind Titania, using their thin limbs to poke at her backside before betweening a few feet away. It was the firelizard equivalent of pulling someone's hair and then running off. A few of the greens jeered the red actively, and altogether it was a very colorful ruckus.

Speaking of colorful, the bright ruby egg in Nora's hands started quaking back and forth, a few loud peeps from inside announcing the imminent hatching. Then the shell popped apart, pieces rolling off the pinkrider's palm, leaving a puddle of egg goo in the center of her hand. Yellow yolk, blue veins trapped in the web of a temporary organ, and then from underneath the entire ratty mess: a little orange head.

"Pip." The orange's jaws worked open and closed, she tried swallowing, then- "Pip." She was hiccuping. She got out three more before she opened her eyes, yellow, and started foraging around for something to eat. When she found a meat scrap, she picked up the end with her paws and began nibbling off the fatty edge. Some sections of the jerky were firmer than others, and she tilted her head this way and that to find the most amiable surfaces. Her tail swished back and forth against the pinkrider's palm, unwittingly spreading the mess of her egg out to paint the entire hand. She still had a ruby shell piece stuck to the back right of her head.

Her bright eyes, mellowing into green, looked to her left, where Imni was crouched into a hard green ball of tension. The baby flit peeped, then looked past Imni at Nora's eyes. Her mind wavered between the two of them. Imni looked the part of mother, except for being green. Nora did not look like anything normal. The orange could accept that Imni was mother. So Nora was...father? The orange peeped at the rider too.

Like her sister, she became abruptly aware of the wild fight happening just at her back. Unlike Aaylii though, it did not become part of her. Titania did not stamp her with any fraction of her voracious identity, nor did the fighting queen and her fair. This orange's stamp had already been pressed, so her only reaction was fear. She dropped her jerky and scampered up Nora's arm, inserting herself firmly under Imni's belly with a squeak of alarm. She touched her moist nose against the green's keel, then crept back out long enough to grab the meat one more time and drag it back to the safe zone with her. Crouching under the anxious green, the orange was anxious too...but also hungry.

ORANGE, Impressed to Nora ( faa64e )

SPOILER: Click to show

Personality:

[/color]
Inadvertantly attached not just to Nora but to her most worrisome firelizard, this orange is a quiet, fussy babydoll. Growing up, she will take her cues from Imni: lots of observation, lots of concern for minutiae. Underneath that though, she is a creature whose compassion does not stem purely from reflex. She prefers to keep her dealings with firelizards and other creatures of similar size, and may never be of much use for note-carrying or other tasks that involve interaction with "titans." Once she crests into maturity, she may be capable of detaching somewhat from her accidental parent Imni, even taking on the leadership her color is known for. Ceannaire is, for this reason, clearly to be disdained. He's just a stupid boy after all, and his goals are in no way similar to her own. She will desire power over the fair because she was born to it, he just wants it because he's greedy.

Nora is the strange, giant crux at the center of the orange's politicking. The firelizard sees a limit to her power: she cannot command a power, but maybe she can encourage Nora to conclusions she prefers. A thought here, an alerting chirp there, she is a subtle queen. She is a firelizard's firelizard, and a cuddlier relationship with her human will require a concentrated effort on Nora's part. Her tendency to inherit a certain nervousness from Imni probably is not helpful. She spooks very easily, and tends to run back to her favorite hiding place no matter how old she is: under Imni's tummy.[/spoiler][/center]

The dapple gray egg had stopped moving once the fighting started, and turned to stone in G'lin's hands while the fair and Titania exchanged quips. Then, with the world's tiniest trumpet, the hatchling flung himself out through the top and out of G'lin's grasp. His jump took him right out into the air, hind legs dragging a few crumbles of meat off the bluerider's hands as well, knocking them to the ground. The hatchling opened his wings, bright as Rukbat climbing the wall-

-and fell on his face. No harm done, apparently, because he got up and charged away from G'lin, lumping along with heavy flaps of his soaked wingsails. With a whistle of greeting he ran straight up underneath the flying scuffle. The whistle warbled through a change of octaves, and then the baby yellow fled back to G'lin. He flailed up against the bluerider's shoe, flapping uselessly till he spotted the crumbles he had knocked to the ground. Seizing one, he opened his wings straight out in delight as he ate it. A cheer in miniature rang out each time he found a new crumble to eat, and when he was done the yellow chirped up at G'lin, and his face- it was so handsome!

Sticking out his wings more purposefully, the firelizard began flapping the soggy sails back and forth. Wet sails would not work for flight, but he kept motoring his wing muscles faster and faster in the attempt to gloriously rise up to G'lin's face level. After a half-second his wings were a sunny blur, and after another half-second they collided, and the flit fell over himself in a tangle of love. Where he could not fly, he rocked incessantly, peeping endless hellos at G'lin.

YELLOW (M), Impressed to G'lin ( ffea61 )

SPOILER: Click to show

Personality:

[/color]
NAKED ALL THE TIME. No one can fashion him. He is anti-fashion, anti-grace, anti-order. FREE LIKE THE WIND. Fulfilling his role as a sun in miniature, his energy never ebbs. Zipping along the Rim all night because no one is around to play with would not be uncommon. His mental proximity ties in pretty well with his physical proximity, and it doesn't matter if it's G'lin or someone else that he's getting close to. As he nears, he warms the mind, almost to burning. Spending too much time with him is not recommended if you are not insulated by bond of dragon-strength. You may end up in a giddy, charbroiled stupor. Not particularly intelligent or curious, he tends to beam after people or things laid out very obviously before him.

He is deeply gullible and will diligently perform any chore or journey he is assigned, by anyone. If any random stranger told him to fly to Benden and retrieve them a cask of wine, without Betweening, well...G'lin would not be seeing him for a while.[/spoiler][/center]

L'xon smiled at first for the sake of the newly arriving spectators, only to realize that if they wanted an egg he would have to continue standing around and giving them out.

"Nothing yet?" he asked a little tersely of Phaenna's green egg. "Maybe the shell is thick. Here..." He shifted the bucket to just one of his arms, and picked his belt-knife out of the sheath. "Hold it still for me." L'xon depressed the thinnest apex of the egg with the knife till he pierced a gushy fracture in it, letting the outside air flood the cavity inside. "Just so it doesn't suffocate," he advised. "You still have to wait. And don't ever try that with a real egg- a dragon egg."

Raising his voice to the others, he continued, "Everything looks on track here, so I'm going to go dump the rest of these off on the lakeshore..." But when he glanced into the waterfall pool below, he noticed a growing crowd of pillies, a very flat gray one in the front of the horde. At first he did not understand...then the bluerider grimaced behind his mask. "Nevermind. I guess I will have to take them down to the ocean." The oceanside might not be a hatchling's best friend, but it was better odds than a grindhouse. The gathered pillies deflated together, voices rising in a single sad whoopee cushion impression.

L'xon sighed too. Can you clear that up before somewhat gets hurt? he asked his dragon, eyeing the growing fight at the center of the flitfinders' circle. Halventh dropped his head toward Titania and her flock of challengers. Try not to scare the babies, Halventh. The blue considered, but there was really no finessing this negotiation. He opened his jaws wide and snarled. The copper queen's head drew up with a very off-key MEEP! Then she and her fair disappeared simultaneously, every last wild flit gone from the scene.

[Digitalis]

While Eveth watched the feuding flits in what must have been an epic game of tag, Phaenna stared at the egg that L'xon had handed to her. She was glad not to have had to get near the wild flits, so she had readily accepted the egg, even if she hadn't exactly picked it out herself. There was still the crack down the middle of the shell, but the hatchling inside was taking its time emerging from the shell, and she looked up occasionally to see how the other eggs were faring.

One of them had hatched already, revealing a pretty little orange, and she gave a congratulatory smile to K'ius. She doubted he actually noticed, considering everything else that was going on, but that was fine with her. She turned her attention back the egg in her hands, which had not shown itself yet, and wondered what was inside it.

It was Eveth who noticed the new arrivals first, and she greeted Dawnova and Nesdeth and Mouse indiscriminately. Hello, new humans and dragon! I haven't met you before. Oooh, more babies. Phaenna looked down again, but it wasn't her egg that was hatching yet. The others who'd chosen eggs were busy Impressing fire lizards, though. A second orange from one, and a bright, sunny yellow fire lizard. If L'xon hadn't already mentioned that there was not a queen egg, she might have mistaken the male for a gold.

"Nothing yet?" L'xon asked, and Phaenna shook her head mutely. It would be typical for her to end up with the one dud in the clutch, wouldn't it? She hoped not though, mainly for Eveth's sake. She'd be happy with just Valen, but on the other hand, she wouldn't mind another pet if the egg did manage to hatch. Eveth wandered back over to her rider, watching worriedly as Phaenna held the egg still for L'xon. The hole was bigger, but she still couldn't see the hatchling inside, and Eveth started humming hopefully. Come out, come out, little one. I want to meet you!

[Chimera]

Maybe it was scary.
Maybe it was Harveylline.
But Nora still found solace in the fact that no one - even L'xon - was majorly injured by Titania's fight with the wild copper. Her attention went wholeheartedly to the latter's egg when it started to shake back and forth, and muffled peeps could be heard inside it. Aypoth could feel the heightened attention of Nora, and instinctively stretched forward, her humming growing louder.

The hatchling was another orange, all covered in egg goo that had made a puddle in Nora's hand. All the previous draconic creatures that had Impressed to her - Triantan, Imni, Ceannaire, Aypoth - had wandered around before Impression, and some of the slimy liquid that coated them had dried off. Here, the entire mess of the little orange's hatching was cupped in Nora's hand, and while there was no significant smell, the feeling was not very pleasant. But she could deal.

"Well, hello there!" Nora spoke softly to the hatchling as she opened her eyes for the first time, getting a fatty bite of meat to eat. She stood still, to make sure the orange or Imni didn't fall off of her, as the former scrambled up her arm and hid under Imni's tummy. The stiff, anxious green blinked in surprise with both lids, revealing eyes softer in tone as they slid open again. Imni looked down, craning her head and looking at what exactly had used her for protection. A baby hatchling. Yes. It was her job to be mother for the fair, but this little orange needed protection and love the most right now. Distracted from the catfight (flitfight?), the green crooned softly to the orange.

"Pip." Came the quiet reply from the hatchling. Imni was mother, a good mother. Nora was a strange thing, one of the "titans", but Nora was father. And so she asked both of her "parents" for food with another "Pip?", a bit more confident now. With her free hand, Nora gathered more meat scraps for the orange, who daintily but hungrily nibbled on each one. Despite her nibbling, the orange had devoured enough meat scraps rather quickly. That was the hunger of a newborn firelizard for you. The bond was made concrete.

"Lemme think about your name for a little." Nora regarded the unnamed orange fondly, as she became a bit calmer and dared to crawl a bit out of the space under Imni, staring back up at those relatively giant eyes that did not change color. She carefully removed the shard of eggshell that remained on the orange's little wedge of a head. The miniscule ruby fragment stuck to her hand easily. The hatchling was frightened by this sudden looming hand, retreating back to Imni, who made a disapproving huff at Nora.

"As if it's my fault, Imni." She scoffed, her expression softening again. "Sorry, little flit. I won't touch you then."

Oraiste, Aypoth remarked with the same random inspiration that had led to the names of Nora's first three flits.

"Oraiste? Do you like that name?"

"Pip."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Halventh roared then, to end the fight and to scare the wild firelizards away. The sudden lack of raucous humming was a relief to her ears, but the blue had scared Oraiste too despite his efforts not to scare the hatchlings. The orange squeaked and curled her tail around Imni's foreleg.

Nora stared at the mess of egg-goo and the orange and green firelizards all on her arm. She'd need to clean that.

Congratulations, Mine. What a cute orange firelizard...and a cute name that I named. She is so shy though, poor dear!

She is...I hope she'll be a bit more social later. For now she needs sleep. Nora turned her head to G'lin.

"Oh...congrats G'lin!" A yellow. "Is it a boy or a girl?" She chuckled at the other hatchling's antics, before looking at K'ius.

"So we both have oranges. Cool."

[Maggie]

G'lin bent over to pick the adoring little yellow up, giving him a scrap of meat. "That was quite the bold hatching, little one!" He praised it. The little yellow trumpeted excitedly at him, cuddling up to his fingers before cooing adoringly. Ana and Doom both stared at the newest addition to the family in shock. Doom cautiously held out a little baby flitt scarf he had brought for his new associate. The baby looked at it in utter confusion for a minute, then rejected the offering, preferring to trill and coo at G'lin and his food.

He...he... This can't be! We were going to have the perfect associate, not this... Dimglow! Ana told his rider in horror.

G'lin laughed, carefully keeping his fingers away from greedy baby teeth, but loving the little love-licks he was getting. "Well sometimes children aren't what we expect. You weren't what anyone expected. Doom wasn't either. It's just my luck getting the three of you," he chided his dragon. "My, my, you aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you baby? I think Ana just found the perfect name for you. Dimglow. Glow around the little kids."

He grinned at Nora. "Well, this one at least won't be trying to dress me up! Congratulations yourself, she's really pretty. Dimglow here is a little boy. Sweet as bubbly pie, but he seems more enthusiastic thN smart. At least he knows not to wear clothes. Little rebel." He turned, holding the baby in his cupped hands out so Mouse could see. "Mousie, meet Dimglow. Glow, this is Mouse." The little yellow looked ip at the girl, peeping an enthusiastic greeting. He was so happy to meet everyone, even the appalled blue dragon and the horrified black flitt.

Dawn grinned at K'ius. "I'm a red wher, Kai. I can handle your fierce little lady. In fact she and I would probably get along quite well." She helped Mouse down from Nesdeth's back, letting her run to G'linto see the baby flitts..

[Azhdarchid]

L'xon pulled off his mask. Now that the wild fair had departed, there wasn't any danger. Not even the largest of firelizard hatchlings could do anything to a human. He noted Phaenna's wordless response, and lifted one of his gloved hands under hers, steadying her grip on the green egg. Phaenna's pink was headed back over too, and the bluerider recognized a point or two of dragon expressions.

"Just think about welcoming," he said. If she were shy, that might explain the hatchling's refusal to emerge as much as any physical mishap. The other flits had all been challenged by the appearance of that dangerous red, and maybe this one's brains had been souped while it was still in the egg. His mind leaned toward Halventh.

So do you like all these eggs I got you Aypoth? the dragon was humming. I always get girls lots of eggs because I am really virile like that-[/i] Halventh caught his rider poking into the conversation and grunted, then aimed his thoughts back at the pesky man. What do you want?

This one...

Oh he is fine! Halventh snipped, then went back to oozing towards Aypoth. L'xon exhaled through his nose.

"Just wait," he assured Phaenna again.

At Eveth's prompt, the egg split open and a large hatchling writhed on his back in the egg goop, trying to find his feet. But despite the contortions his body went through to find its first balance, his head was steady at the end of a powerful young neck, his frosty blue eyes already fixed up on Phaenna. "Okay," L'xon said, pressing his fingers against the back of the Weyrling's hands. Despite Dimglow's little show, dropping an unprepared hatchling was very dangerous. At the same time, the firelizards tended to pop out of their eggs like jack-in-the-boxes, and dropping them out of surprise might be common.

He was surprised, maybe because he was thinking too much like a dragonrider (or a Fort native). Bronzes did not go for girls, not shy little girls especially. But firelizards never had much of a choice in the matter did they? The bronze in Phaenna's hand flipped to his right, tiny talons needling her palm for a moment before he relaxed his toes up. He did not make a sound, and after staring at the girl a while lowered his head through a few half-bird, half-serpent poses before he nosed the nearest meat scrap into his mouth.

Though the cool touch of his mental interior could not be understated, he had no more insulation against Autumn than his brother or sisters, and opened his drowned wings in an attempt to cup them over his body. L'xon watched this maneuver uncertainly, then moved his hand out from under Phaenna's and tugged off his glove with his teeth. He placed it over the hatchling, who did not acknowledge him.

The bronze's first experience in life was kindness. This did not reflect on him, did not change him, because he was metal, and did not bend without a passionate fire at his back. But he did pass his first thought to Phaenna, and Eveth, and Valen whom he identified by following the threads from the girl and the dragon.

The thought was this: they should not have worried for him. He was there now. He had decided to remain, and so he would protect them all.

BRONZE, Impressed to Phaenna ( 3d2c12 )

SPOILER: Click to show

Personality:

[/color]
Has more passion than what is wise in a creature of his size. Hosting him is akin to walking around with a giant wild eagle affixed to your shoulder: his glimmering eyes make note of everything, fix everyone under their icy judgement. Independent to a fault, he makes a point of exercising his disagreements. Even the opinions of queen flitters don't matter a great deal to him, if they're not in the right. He may not end up the most popular with the rest of the royalty, but this does not bother him. He would rather do what is true to him than yield to the ethics of the flock. He sees Phaenna, Eveth and Valen as friends, but his bond never has the frantic grip of necessity. He remains because he chooses to.[/spoiler][/center]