Tucked Away (Whisk's Clutch)

[4horseshowgirl4]

It was sweltering in the little room. To Whinae's surprise, Whisk had clutched after mating with the ancient Bronze wher. The Wherhandler had expected that either the sire's age or Whisk's low color (there wher had never before produced even one egg) would have rendered the pair infertile, but apparently it was not to be. A few sevendays after her Run, shortly after the group of renegades had arrived, Whisk had absolutely demanded that Whinae build her a nest. Whinae had obliged, knowing that the Green was about to clutch and as eager as her wher to avoid the Hatching Sands at the moment. There was no way on Pern Whisk was sharing the Sands with the Orange. All of the bad tension would not be good for her eggs!

So, Whinae had filled a corner of their room with sand, keeping the sand in one place with a small ring of stones, essentially forming a small Hatching Sands in their quarters. Of course, then Whisk had protested that it was too cold for her eggs, and she could not continuously cuddle them because they had guard duty during the night. Whinae had cautiously built a small fire in their room, moving her wooden cot and trunk into another unused room. Thankfully, Dalibor was still fairly small, and the number of Wherhandlers and staff didn't fill the lower caverns.

Whinae had hardly left Whisk's clutch since day one, as much to make sure the fire didn't get out of control as to comfort Whisk. She had been almost obsessed with her eggs, determined to be a good clutchmother. After a sevenday or so, Whinae had even given up on convincing Whisk to leave for a few moments to go hunt; she had started to slaughter wherries or a herdbeast to feed Whisk, like when the Green was just a wheret. She was hot and exhausted, and would be quite glad when the ordeal was over. Luckily, Dalibor had a couple of Candidates that were interested in Impressing whers, and now that the renegades were gone and Whisk's eggs were nearing their hatching time, she had invited them down to see and touch the eggs.

There were three eggs, sitting in a triangle. The one in the front, closest to the door, was the medium one in terms of size. It was a dark grey color, but the color was inconsistent. Near the top, it was tinted with an almost navy color, but towards the bottom, the color had a definite orange hue. The one nearest the fire was the largest, and also the one Whisk fussed over the most. It was a pale, milky brown color all over, with flecks of grey at even intervals. The third egg was slightly smaller than the other two, and was a combination of soft, muted shades of yellow and green swirling together. Whisk was quite proud of them.

[/font]

[harbinger]

Flayn was pleased as he walked down to the Lower Cavern's and fought to keep the skip out of his step less it seem unfitting for a wher candidate. He didn't know Whisk or her handler well and it was his desire to make a good impression. He stopped far outside the door, ruffling his orange-red hair as he waited. He was so excited that he could hardly hold it in but he managed to calm himself a little. He cleared his throat.

"Wher Handler Whinae? My name is Flayn. I'm a wher candidate." he said, unable to keep the pleasure and excitement out of his voice.

Folding his fingers together, he tried to wait patiently but rocked back and forth on his feet.

"I heard Whisk is allow the wher candidates to touch her eggs." he said, licking his lips.

[kia]

(( Still thinking on a Candidate. You can go ahead with the touching, though. ))

She clutches, Risk spoke.

"Who has?" Ridan asked, looking over at Risk where he laid. Risk had moved away in the day, moving closer to a dark corner. Ridan had taken the chance to spread out on his bed, on his stomach, legs spread out. He looked over at Risk, waiting for the Gold Wher to reply.

Whisk. Go see, Risk said, turning her head to look at her Mine.

Ridan sighed and got up, grabbing his pants and shirt to put on. He liked sleeping naked. Made him feel good. And he would lock his door if he did not feel like being disturbed. Another reason he locked the door was to prevent someone from being mauled by Risk. Once, a Candidate at High Reaches knocked on the door and opened it before Ridan could tell him to come in. Risk had roared at the boy and jumped at him, mauling him and nearly killing the boy. The boy survived, but only after he paid the price with his face and an eye. Ridan shivered at the though as he button the pants. NEver again. That was why he locked doors to his room.

He moved toward the door and warned Risk to turn her head. The Wher did as she was told. Cracking the door, Ridan tried to move out without letting in so much light. But, once he was outside, he had to stand there for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the best that they could. Even still, he moved in and out of the shadows, trying to keep to the shade as much as he could. Eventually, he made it to Whinae`s room and smiled when he entered the room. He bowed to Whisk, quickly, knowing she was a brooding mother at the moment and could be upset easily. Then he smiled at Whinae.

"Risk and I wish to congratulate you and Whisk, Whinae. It must be exciting, having our first clutch of Wher eggs in the Weyr. I really hope we can find enough Candidates to Impress to the Wherets," the man said, moving closer to Whinae to stand next to her. "What colors do you think will come from the eggs? Or, what do you predict about the eggs?" he asked politely.

[harbinger]

Flayn watched as another Handler, a gold Handler, walked into the room. As calmly as he could, he followed. He cleared his throat, nodding his head low to Whisk.

"Beautiful Whisk. I heard you were allowing wher candidates to see your eggs. May I touch them?" he asked, his blue eyes going from Whisk to her handler, Whinae.

Flayn could see the eggs from where he was standing and immediately his eyes went to the large milky brown egg with gray flecks. He rubbed his index finger against the inside of his thumb, looking down at his finger tips. He would cut his index finger, he had decided, when the time came to bond with a wher. It would make the bond stronger and he wanted very much to have a strong relationship with his wher partner.

"They are lovely." he breathed, his blue eyes going wide.

[4horseshowgirl4]

Whinae was kneeling near Whisk, one hand resting comfortably on the Green's head, beginning to doze off (this was her version of the middle of the night, after all!) when she head footsteps. She clambered to her feet, brushing the sand off of the front of her dress. Whisk, too, opened one multifaceted eye. She spotted the young stranger coming in, and she too got to her feet, albeit with much more speed than Whinae. She hissed almost inaudibly at the newcomer, but was silently shushed by Whinae. {Darling, this is one of the youngsters that want to Impress your children,} Whinae said soothingly. No harm eggs or Whisk attack!

[/color] the wher said, bristling, but she relented and backed away, stepping unwillingly away from her precious eggs.

"It's good to meet you, Flayn," Whinae said quietly but sincerely, stepping forward and offering a hand. "Yes, that is correct. I'm sorry you had to trek all the way down here to do it, but Whisk clutched when the renegade Orange, Alizadehth, I believe, had her eggs on the Sands, and neither of us wanted to share space with her." She stood back, giving Flayn room to come inside, wiping a bead of sweat off of her brow. Faranth, it was hot in here! But, if she wanted the eggs to hatch, which she did, it would have to be warm, so she couldn't complain much.

Whisk narrowed her eyes as the unworthy wher Candidate approached, but her gaze softened suddenly when he complimented her beauty. Paranoid and aggressive, yes, but she was also quite vain, and flattery was the way to her heart. She rumbled with pleasure when he complimented her eggs; his adoration was sincere, as Whisk could tell. She approved, he could touch her eggs. She stepped back and nodded slightly, flicking her tail as she did, gesturing him closer. Where were the other admirers for her eggs, though?! Only one came? No, this would not do! Her children deserved dozens of Candidates, the best selection! But this one had come, so she could not blame his fellows' absences on him.

"Oh, thank you, Ridan," Whinae said, turning at the man's words. "This is a surprise! I apologize about the fire; Whisk and I have gotten fairly used to all the light and heat." She smiled at the Goldhandler; she didn't know him very well, but it was very nice of him to stop by. "Yes, but I will be very surprised if all of these eggs are viable. Whisk's parents and all of her clutchsiblings were of the old colors, and all I know about the sire was that he was Bronze and unbelievably old, so I assume all of these eggs will be the old colors, but, then again, I didn't even think she would clutch, so, who knows? She's never had a clutch before, and I never saw the eggs she came from, so I honestly couldn't begin to guess which color is in each egg... I'm just hoping I'm caring for these eggs correctly!" she laughed quietly. She would guess that Ridan would have much more experience with clutches, as a Goldhandler. "What do you think? You probably know better than I do."[/right][/font]

[harbinger]

Flayn took Whinae's hand, shaking it warmly. He was glad that he was used to wher behavior and to his credit, he didn't flinch as the green wher got to her feet.

"It's alright, Wher Handler. I don't mind and I understand a lady's need for privacy." he said, giving Whisk a smile. He could see that she wasn't going to rip out his throat and might even be pleased at his admiration of her clutch. He released Whinae's hand with a smile and turned toward the clutch.

"I promise to be very very gentle." he told Whisk, lowering himself down to a sitting position.

He sat himself down in front of the medium sized egg, for it was closer to the door than the others. Reaching out with a soft hand, he gently ran his fingertips across the smooth surface of the egg. It felt so warm and alive. He grinned broadly, admiring the colors that banded across it. He concentrated on warm, appreciative thoughts. He had been instructed by his mother that warm thoughts were very important to wher Impression.

Next he moved to the smallest one, looking at it's soft yellow and green shades. It was pretty and he gently let his hand stop at the top.

"You are very pretty." he told the small yellow-green egg. The color reminded him of flowers; yellow petals and soft green stems. He let his hand resume moving, softly tracing his fingers around the egg.

Last but certainly not least he came to the largest egg, milky brown with flecks of gray. He began to wonder about the color of wher each egg contained. He noted the wher handler's comment about some of the eggs not being viable. He hoped she was wrong; he hated it when an egg didn't hatch. It made him sad to think of the wher inside not making it. He smoothed his hand over the large egg, sudden deciding that the color of the hatching didn't matter to him. He could work with any color or gender wher that came to him, so long as he had a partner he could work with. He would like that.

"They are all so nice, Whisk. You must be so proud." he told the green, giving her an appreciative smile.

[kia]

Ridan smiled as the woman. "Risk would not let me get away with not coming. And besides, why would I not congratulate another Wherhandler?" he said with a smile. "And don`t worry about the fire and light, it really is understandable. My only other suggestion I would have made after Whisk clutch would have been to get a bucket or two of sand to bring in here for her. But..." he looked at Whisk and walked over to. "Whisk, Queen of Greens, more fair in your color, I wish to be able to see your eggs. You have done an excellent job with them, but I would like to check your nest to make sure that that your nest is very comfortable for them to help ensure as many of them to Hatch," he said, hoping she would let him see. Risk, can you convey my promise to her again? Maybe hearing it from a Gold would help put her mind to rest to know I would never harm an egg, he asked his Gold.

Risk rumbled from where she slept at and agreed. Whisk, Mine not hurt eggs. Mine want best you. He help. He cares for all eggs, the Gold spoke to the Green, trying her best to assure the Green that Ridan would not hurt her eggs. Besides, Ridan would never hurt any Wher eggs. Ever since he had fallen in love with Risk, he had become more than loving with other Whers so long as they allowed him to help them. He would always do his best to help.

[harbinger]

Flayn listened in silence as the two handlers spoke, wondering to himself if he would ever be standing with them, speaking over a clutch as new, young wher candidates touched and admired the eggs. His wher's eggs; well hopefully if he Impressed a female wher. What if he found himself sitting with a green wher of his own, listening to her fuss over the nest material and arrangement of her own eggs.

'Oh I hope so. I would love to be standing there, giving advice, shaking the hand of new wher candidates looking for their partner.' he thought. He looked back down at the largest egg, his hand still gently pressed against the milky brown and gray flecked shell. He wouldn't mind a male wher either; certainly he understood a male's mind a little better than a female's.

'Still, I just want to Impress. If Whisk doesn't have a hatchling for me, I will have to wait until the gold or the red clutch.' he thought and he didn't like the sound of that.

[4horseshowgirl4]

Whinae smiled at Ridan, keeping one eye on the Candidate, more to make sure that Whisk didn't maul him for, say, getting a grain of sand on an egg, than to ensure that no harm came to the eggs; Whisk was more than taking care of the latter. "I suppose the surprise is that you came during the day instead of at night," she corrected herself; that wasn't what she had thought originally, but it seemed politer to say so. "After all, we've had a lot of long nights recently with guard duty and whatnot." She was quite glad that that job had ended; patrols on the lands around Dalibor could almost be fun with the right group of people. However, it was only tense and miserable watching the asleep (maybe) renegade dragons to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

Whisk settled down on her belly, as if to convince Whinae that she could behave herself. However, the 'Hander wasn't fooled; Whisk did not look like she was relaxing so much as if she were about to pounce. The Green put her head on her forepaws, but her eyes followed Flayn. Though she had allowed him near her eggs, she was overly protective like any clutchmother. Humans, especially young ones, could be so klutzy! Her eggs were tough enough to withstand the touchings with no danger of cracking at this point, but if Flayn broke one, the young wher inside would have no chance of survival. Still, she growled throatily from deep inside her chest, quite proud and flattered, accepting Flayn's compliments. Though she was only a Green and her eggs numbered only three, he was properly in awe of them, which pleased Whisk very much indeed.

Whisk turned her attention lazily to Ridan as he approached, but she was not so worried about him doing any damage to her eggs as she was the Candidate. She rumbled again, nodding her head, allowing him closer. He, too, was quite flattering of her and her eggs. Whisk's yellow eyes were shot through with a blue for a moment. She liked being a clutchmother! Whinae grinned subtly at Hers's vanity. Whisk knows! the Green said back to Risk. Risk's must be good with eggs because Risk's must take care of Risk's eggs!

[/b] Whisk paused before shooting a look at Whinae. Tell the little one to move for Risk's. My Sands not big enough for both![/color] she demanded, not willing to take the slightest risk that the two would bump into each other and hurt an egg. Whinae did not respond to the wher, but said gently to Flayn, "Flayn, if you would not mind, would you step over here for a moment so Ridan can check the eggs and the nest?"

[/right][/font]

[harbinger]

"Oh, of course." Flayn said, getting up slowly and moving away from the eggs to give the other Wher Handler space to look at the eggs. He nodded again to Whisk, the expression on his face speaking gratitude to her. She had allowed him to touch her eggs and he was so grateful to her for that. Her knew how protective females could be over their eggs. He had certainly stood for enough hatchings.

"Good day, Wher Handler." Flayn said, looking at Ridan and giving the older man a respectful nod. His blue eyes moved to his queen wher and he nodded respectfully to her as well.

[kia]

Ridan looked at the young man that was interested in the eggs as much as he was interested in their safety and making their clutchmother happy. He nodded, not wanting to correct the young man that he was talking to a GoldHandler just yet. Maybe right before he left he might say something, but over all Ridan was not very concerned. He loved talking with other Wherhandler. And even though he knew his rank, he still tried to make friends with others and make them as comfortable as they could. Ridan moved forward, slowly, carefully, checking every move that he made. Reaching into the nest to place his hand between two eggs, he checked the temperature of the sands. Once, he accidentally let the side`s Risk`s nest once get cold, and because of this one of her eggs had not hatched. Ever since then, he always made sure that the nests and Sands were to the right temperature. He smiled, pulled his hand away, and smiled up at Whisk. "You and your Mine have done a wonderful job. The sands are warm, which ensures that you have a healthy clutch," he commented to the Wher.

He stood back up, moving slowly still, until he felt he was at a safe distance to not put any potential harm on the eggs. He looked back over at Whinae. "I am not sure when Risk will Run again or anything, but when she clutches, you and Whisk are more than welcome to a visit. Risk might be a tad broody, her being a Gold and all, but she will also be more than pleased to show off her eggs. Typical Wher," he said with a chuckle.

Mine thanks you. He thinks eggs beautiful, Risk commented when Ridan moved away and told the Gold that the eggs looked very healthy. Risk shifted where she laid in their room, letting sleep come back over her again.

[harbinger]

Flayn stuck to one side, not wanting to be in the Wher handler's ways. Green handler on one side and a Gold handler on the other. He felt so outclassed but at the same time he felt invigorated by their presence. He could only hope he would be allowed to go back to touching the eggs and that he would Impress one of the whers that came from these eggs. He bit his lip; he couldn't stand to be rejected again. Looking back to Whisk, Flayn gave her an adoring smile. He wondered if she knew how much she awed him; he was beginning to feel he would do sharding near anything to win her approval.