Contradictions of Cosmic Order [Jade's Hatching!]

[Chimera]

There was disruption of the universe's balance.

Somewhere in the complex webs of fate and destiny of the world, one little string had snapped, or perhaps just shook.

But what had caused this worried Jade deeply.

It was true her life was a passive one, full with lazy days of drifting through the lake and contemplation. Sometimes she would go along with her bonded and others on trips to interesting places in the Weyr. But she had a minor role, a simple onlooker to the story of life, and it was better that way - others had other roles.

But the green bug knew she had an egg after her Run won by the cheerful Dapper, and she feared that very egg was the cause of this unrest. She'd felt it from the dragonkin and humans, and the other animals too. Could it be her indirect fault?

And today...felt different. She knew what it meant. It was evening, the last bits of Rukbat fading away to make way for the moons when it happened. The stars already shone in the darkest parts of the sky, twinkling white specks looking down at Pern. Jade crawled to the shore of the Weyrlake, Ohmmming to Nora, Aypoth and the flit fair, beckoning them to come with her. They followed, as luck had it there were no lessons or chores at the moment. Through their mental bond the girl and her young dragon spoke wordlessly. They'd get to see a pillie clutch - Nora's own pillie.

Jade settled on a spot to clutch her sole egg, but kept making the "bowl" of a hatching area deeper and deeper.

"Jade, you okay?" Nora frowned. All she got was a short Ohm in response, and suddenly the dim emotions of her pillie were masked from her. Jade did not want her to worry needlessly, even if the pillie did. She fashioned a sort of staircase in the wet, muddy sand so the baby could emerge, but did it somewhat reluctantly, as if she did not want to let the future hatchling out.

At last, Jade settled and a single egg was now in the pit. The pillie scurried up and watched the hatching from above.

Hello everybody! If you'd like a pillie friend, please come to the Weyr Lake, where you should go to the area where a pink dragon - me - is sitting! Have fun if you attend! Aypoth hummed encouragingly to the hatchling.

Movement. There was movement, and the shallow layer of water that had seeped into the pit, obscuring the egg briefly, had just as quickly seeped away. A single leg poked through a crack in the murky shell, and two long antennae followed.

It had begun.

((OOC: Woo! My first hatching at Dalibor. Just tag in with the character(s) you want to Impress, and I will choose a character to bond this pillie to after a round or two of interaction. There is also a prize of 30 marks for the first person to PM me with the correct guess of the hatchling's inspiration. Have fun! Theme guessed by Birdi! Congratulations!))

[maruset]

Honestly, Letorin didn't want or need anymore pets, But he hadn't seen Nora in a while, so he'd thought he'd got visit her. And see whoever actually got the pillie. Plus he did like seeing hatchings. Maybe he'd perch on a rock or something to keep out of the way.

Vitula was the only one who came with him this time, curled up on his head and sending the vibration of her hum right through his skull. That was an interesting frequency, and he made a note to see if the sensations of the different flits humming was going to feel different. That was something to test out later. He thought it probably did, but testing was always key.

Making his way to where he could see Aypoth, Letorin grinned at the pair. "Hello, you two. How are you today?" He grinned, finding a rock to lean against. "I thought I'd come say hi, and see who the pillie picked." Vitula chirped a hello at the pair, pleased to see them. It was such a pretty day for a hatching, yes. And there was a nice cool breeze off the lake, which made it even nicer. She thought they have a brilliant pillie to pick now to have her hatching.

[Maggie]

Tamarine was on her early evening run before going to eat breakfast and start chores. Paks scuttled along behind her, staying mostly silent. Suddenly, she broke away with a pleased heeeeeeeel!, taking off towards the lake. Tamarine frowned, following.

She paused and blinked as she saw where her pillie was headed. She grinned, giving Letorin and Nora a small wave. She knew Nora from her candidacy, though as a wher candidate she hadn't socialised with her too much due to opposite schedules. "Hi you two. Is this the pretty mother?" she asked, smiling at Jade. "I didn't realise there was a hatching, but Paks can detect them from miles away." She reached down to pat the pink's shell.

Heel, Paks agreed.

[mopsy93]

Carissa was just wandering around the Weyr lake when Aypoth announced the beginning of a pillie hatching. Admittedly it was only a green pillie’s hatching, if a Green pillie was anything like a Green wher or Fire Lizard there was only going to be a maximum of two viable eggs available. Despite that, Carissa decided to go over and join in the hatching even if her chances of bonding with the rather large aquatic insects were slim. This was her first pillie hatching after all, she should at the very least get a feel of how that sort of hatching would go. For a Green pillie hatching the hole was pretty deep, the green having to make a makeshift ladder out of mud and sand on one side to allow the baby pillie (for there was only one egg on the bottom of the hole) to get out. Janvia, Carissa’s young Green Fire Lizard, was seemingly just as curious appearing out of between as Carissa neared the hole. She gave a couple of quick hellos to the three people that had gathered already, two fellow Candidates and a Pink rider the latter who appeared to be bonded to the mother of the clutch. Carissa didn't know that much about the other two Candidates besides names, Tamarine who usually only stood for wher hatchings and Letorin who usually only stood for Dragon hatchings.

[Chimera]

As the baby pillie took his, her, or its sweet time getting out of its egg, Nora was getting a bit bored. Luckily this hatching would have attendees - she didn't need another pillie at the moment, three flits and one pillie were time-taking to care for as is. The first was Letorin, and she waved with her trademark grin to the Candidate. Only one flit had joined him this time - she recognized the green from the largest flit hatching in Dalibor, as she hummed into her bonded's curly hair. Triantan's flit memory had no recollection of Vitula, however, but the friendly blue managed a greeting chirp in between his humming.

Ceannaire, meanwhile, had nestled on Nora's head as well. The bronze was growing quickly, and soon he'd be too big to use Nora's hair as a perch. He stared down, surveying those at the hatching. One day he would be an official leader, and be in charge of...everyone. Well, just his fair to start with - he didn't want to overwhelm himself and take on too much.

"Hi, Letorin." Nora took a few steps closer to him. "We've been good, thanks for asking, and you? Nice of you to come say hi!" Aypoth lowered her head down to be eye-level with Letorin, her shimmering blue eyes staring into his.

It is indeed nice to see you, Letorin! I am very curious who will get miss Jade's one pillie. Oh, and, after the hatching, we'd want to speak to you about some...musical stuff, yes! With that, Aypoth sat back down, sniffing the fresh breeze.

Next was Tamarine - Nora greeted her.

"Oh, hi! Tamarine, right? I remember you from my Candidate days. G'lin's cousin, I believe? Nice to see you again in any case."

She stared at the next arrival, another Candidate - she hadn't seen her before.

How cute! You were very cute as a Candidate too, they all seem so little as Candidates!

Ayp, you're a dragon. Of course everyone seems little to you.

Aypoth knelt down again to sniff Carissa for a moment. Hello there! It's nice to meet you.

As the greetings were happening, Nora did not notice the mystery baby pillie rise behind her until it was too late.

Chomp.

"Ow!" She wheeled around, but the mystery assailant was gone. The next target was Tamarine, whose ankle was nipped.

For the foolish ones had no idea. She had risen. She, out of the deeps of the Pernese ocean, out of the dark side of the universe where unspeakable horrors lurked.

She

was

Ktooloo. Letorin would find something crawling up, up his shirt to his shoulder, a dark green antenna brushing against his face and a thwap of a thin, insectoid leg before she was gone again. Ktool! Ktoloo ktoo!

Ohmm. Jade was not pleased with her baby pillie at all. She calmly walked to the baby pillie, but the mischievous green had sharply butted against her side before running away.

"Oh my...Stay safe, guys." Nora grumbled with a sigh.

Meanwhile, the green had paused for a moment, thinking. She was a dark, rich green, splotched with a sickly, lighter green all over - making her look like a murky lake. On her face, swirls of color made the illusion of her having - tentacles on her head? This pillie was no mere baby to be messed with, no.

[mopsy93]

The Pink was friendly enough, no surprise there, though quite honestly Carissa did not know anything about her rider besides being a Weyrling and a part of the Rainracers class. Carissa paled a little a few seconds later, when the newly hatched pillie bit two and hit another of the people gathered around to see her hatch; hit her mother; and then ran off. Janvia was certainly not happy about the pillie potentially biting her owner, chittering unhappily in the pillie’s in the direction that the darker green pillie ran off in. “Well this is a good start,” said Carissa a little worried trying to calm down Janvia with soothing thoughts. The little Green settled on Carissa’s right shoulder seemingly poised to take off again at any second in case of any further mischief from the hatchling Green pillie.

Carissa herself was admittedly a little worried about how this was going to go if this is any indication. She looked to the other three people attending the hatching, the person bonded to the pillie who was the mother of this baby pillie in question seemed to be as concerned as Carissa about this new development. As for the other two Carissa wasn’t completely sure.

[birdi]

When the pink dragon sent out a call, Inanna had to muse on it for a bit.

She liked critters well enough, but more from a distance than actively taking care of the things. Really, having a canine around or a runner had never seemed worth the trouble of keeping one--cute as they were, and don't get her wrong, she did like coo'ing over them when she could. But owning one? Eh.

But pillies were interesting. They attacked fish, she knew, even the man eating ones that'd show up every now and again. That alone put them more on her list of 'useful' critters than just about anything else. At the very least, it might be fun to watch what they did when they'd just hatched.

Deciding at last that it'd be worth a shot just to look, Inanna headed toward where the pink dragon had called from.

Inanna realized she was a little late when she arrived and there was already a small clutch of people gathered around. Curious, she jogged over to join them. At first she couldn't figure out what was happening--then she saw that the baby green pillie was already up and about, appearing to ponder something.

"Hey," she grunted at the group, remembering her manners at the last possible second. "hope ya'll don't mind if I join in."

[Alec]

A'lec blinked as Aypoth's call rang out to all minds. The pinkrider had never been one to obsess over pets like some other people were. He had his dog, Maggie, and he was content with her alone. However, pillie hatchings always seemed like something of interest, and it had been a while since he had last been to one. A'lec had no true intention of having a pillie bond to him, he just felt like it could be interesting to watch the going ons and who the little pillies out attach themselves to.

Getting up from where he had been sitting propped up against Tinikth's side, the rider gave his dragon a pat. "I think I'll go and watch that hatching that's happening. Could pove interesting. Are you coming?" I think I would rather rest here, Mine. There might be a crowd there. Tinikth said softly. As sociable as the shy pink tried to be, she would never be a fan of crowds. She was rarely around them, and the times she was, was from A'lec's encouraging.

The pinkrider gave his bonded a loving rub and nodded. "Alright, then. I'll be back shortly." He said, before leaving his dragon and dog by themselves. When he arrived there, he was a bit surprised to see only a single egg. Considering the mother was a green, though, the surprise faded away quickly. "Hello there. Pleasure to meet you both." He said to Nora and Aypoth, as he could quickly tell it was her pillie who laid the egg from the greetings. "I'm A'lec. Congrats on having your pillie lay her egg....even if it's not the kindest bug in the lake." He said, adding the last bit as the pillie bit her, and scuttled off

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

Meanwhile, Dapper had heard the call as well, and was currently scuttling over to go and see his spawn and the green he had won, if not from the sheer fact that there were no others to choose. Chee! Cheerio! He said as he made his way in between the legs that were there. He waved his antennae to Jade in greeting. Cheerio~ He called out to her respectfully, before looking around for his young.

When he spotted her, though, he clicked in disappointment. That was not how a young lady should act! Certainly there should be some mannerisms to uphold! No, his daughter wasn't acting ladylike at all! He scuttled after her, and stood in front of her. Whether it would actually stop her or not, it would seem like the latter would be more than likely, but the brown tried to anyways.

Chee chee, cheerio! Cheeeerioooo! He scolded her, all the time waving a feeler in the air as if to help justify what he said. A lady does not go biting people and ramming into her own mother. A lady should have poise and grace! She would never find herself a gentlepillie should she continue these.....terrible mannerisms! Why, he was almost ashamed to have her as his daughter!

It was at that moment, that Dapper decided he would change her. Make her the /proper/ pillie that she should be, then no gentlepillie would be able to resist taking her antennae in mateship. Unfortunately, he would likely forget he even had a daughter by the time the week was through. Still, with determination in his head, he began thinking of ways to help the hatchling green...reform herself into what the brown thought she should be.

[Cathaline]

You always go.[/i]

"Yes, and look what happened last time. Our weyr is literally crawling with pillies and there are firelizards everywhere. I think it's time for a moratorium on all things pet, don't you think?" Day'ar asked. "Or at the very least we ought to think about getting a bigger weyr."

Prith and I are perfectly comfortable in this weyr. You enjoy being able to walk in and out. If your bedroom is too small, perhaps you should consider getting a smaller bed and cuddling even closer than you already - [/i]

"Shut it, lizard!" Day'ar howled. "I'm going. I'm going. Just stop talking. Stop talking now. Are you coming?"

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS,[/i] said Starfall, and trotted along after her hapless human minion.

He arrived in time to see the green baby thwapping people, and Day'ar instantly dove at Starfall, picking her up round the waist and hauling her into his arms. She was bigger than his torso, by a lot, but much lighter than she looked, and he held her tight even while she wiggled her legs and feelers and hissed up a storm. Flushed, he stammered, "Hello, everyone. I'm not really here to - I'm just hoping for - look, don't mind us."

Starfall intended to murder something, that much was clear to the man who adored her despite her homicidal tendencies. He just had to keep her from swallowing the baby.

[Maggie]

"What the everloving shards!" Tamarine exclaimed, jumping away from the biting, slapping pillie. "That little thing is dangerous!"

Heel! Paks shrilled in alarm. Her person was being attacked! She most certainly would not stand for that! She waved her antennae, standing guard in front of her person.

That is, until she spotted Starfall and Day'ar. "Paks, you are not starting... Paksenarion!" Tamarine lunged, grabbing the pink and hoisting her up as well as her pillie decided to go and help Day'ar guard Starfall so that she wouldn't injure anyone. "I'm so sorry, she's a little gung-ho on the protecting people thing," Tamarine muttered, blushing.

Paks waved her legs around, indignant at having been immobilised when there was such an obvious threat lurking. Heeeeel! Heeelheelheel heeeeel! she protested, trying to struggle free. Tamarine held her firmly, glaring down at her.

[maruset]

Letorin smiled as Vitula continued to chirp hellos at everyone. He grinned at Tamarine, nodding his greetings. "Sourtai is usually my detector, though she's watching her own nest. But Aypoth was sharing the news, and I do like watching the hatchings to see where the babies go."

He smiled at the other candidate. "Hello...Carissa, right? I've seen you around, though I don't think we've really be introduced. I'm Letorin, in case nobody ever mentioned it." He did try to say hello to other candidates when he could, but sometimes circumstances were against that.

Then he laughed a bit. "I'm doing well, Nora. Hoping to Impress this hatching, like always." A nod to Aypoth, as the pink spoke to him. "I'm curious as well, and I'd be happy to talk to you about musical stuff." She was just too cute, and Vitula trilled a little song at her, then went back to humming.

He started when Nora yelped, then Tamarine, and Letorin tried to find where the baby had gone when he felt it crawl on him. There was a flash of green, though it seemed that he was getting off a bit lightly, with just a hit of a leg and a brush of antenna. And at the size of a newborn pillie, a leg wasn't too bad.

She was quick, though, and Letorin blinked at that. "She's.... Well, fast if nothing else."

They were joined by some other people, and waved a greeting to the new girl. Another candidate, and he gave a bit of warning. "She's apparently something of a nipper." Vitula gave a soft trilling sound.

He did smile at A'lec, happy to see the man. and there was also a second rider, who he knew rode the viridian Ambrith. He needed to see if that man wanted a copy of the drawing that the viridian had been willing to let Letorin do. Though he didn't move to go ask, as the pillie with him definitely didn't seem friendly. Once the hatching was done, he'd try to snag the man to make the offer.

Right now, though, he was watching the green as best he could. She was interesting.

[Chimera]

Nora felt terrible. This hatching was supposed to be fun, but poor Jade had mothered a dastardly troublemaker of a green. She nearly pitied Inanna when she arrived.

"We don't mind. Watch out though. The pillie's evil." She sighed, burying her hands in her face. Though the arriving pinkrider brought something of a smile back to Nora. "It's nice to meet you and yours, too, m'lord. Please be careful of the pillie." She felt something brush against her feet, looking down to see a brown pillie. Why would he be here...?

Ohmmm. Jade greeted Dapper. He was a very nice pillie, not getting involved in needless fights. He was not happy about his rambunctious daughter's behavior at all. Ohm, ohh ohm. Jade told the brown about her worries, and that they seemed to be proven by the darker green baby bug. She was not sure what to do - she was not one to fight fire with fire.

KTOOLOO! The green bug yelled at Dapper. How dare he tell her how to behave! She was beyond them all, the harbinger of chaos in this soft, puny world!

Nora, cringing from the mild disaster happening, turned to the arriving viridianrider.

"Oh, no, really, it's no trouble at - it did it again. Shards, that's it." Nora stomped through the sand, then jogged after the tiny pillie. Trying to catch her was like trying to catch the wind, and she nearly fell face-first in the sand. Exasperated, Nora went back to just watching. "Jade, daddy pillie, I am sorry for your evil daughter." Imni growled at the baby as she made her way, circling the group of people near the lake.

Ktooloo...KTOOL OOLOO!

Jade hissed at her daughter. Enough was enough. Walking over calmly, the light green bug picked the darker green up in her segmented mouthpiece, as she wriggled furiously. She was not going down until she learned how to behave. At last, she froze, and Jade let her down carefully. She ran away instantly, butting into Inanna's leg. Foolish one, thought she knew the sea! The sea was tamed by no foolish two-legged softthing! Then she went over to Day'ar again, contemplating. Hmm...

...Yes. This one had already been weakened, weakened by the dark pillie magic of her kind. His soul would be a vessel for all the chaos she needed to make in this world.

This one would do.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ktooloo
007b00; 002200; 669600

Green; bonded to Day'ar

Appearance: She is a dark, rich, green akin to the color of a murky lake, and her markings contribute to the comparison as well. Lighter, sickly green swirls of color are all over her shell and feet. The front of her head appears to have tentacles, though this is nothing but an odd marking. Two draconic “wings” are yet another strange marking on her carapace.

Personality: This pillie is not the gentlepillie her father is, or the meditator her mother is. She is quite possibly one of the most evil, chaotic pillies on Pern. She loves nipping at people, scaring them, trashing property, and generally being evil, and she plots to do some giant chaotic thing to the whole world one day. She's prone to long naps and dramatic awakenings – those who wake her from her slumber, beware. Day'ar will have his hands full with this green for sure.

Aypoth was more interested in Letorin.

So, we will discuss music sometime soon, when we're not both busy with lessons? I am a bit tired right now. Weyrwoman Rayna and hers met with us some time ago about an anthem for Dalibor, so I would be delighted to have you, a Harper, helping out...and maybe some more...structured music training? Sadly, dragons are not allowed to take up a craft. Officially. She hung her head down.

[mopsy93]

Three more people arrived as well as two more pillies, though the person that the Brown pillie was bonded to was nowhere in sight if he did have an owner. The Grey seemed more intent on killing the baby pillie rather than scolding her, which the Brown proceeded to do soon after his arrival. It was a good thing that the Viridianrider that the Grey was bonded to was holding her back, if he didn’t then this hatching might’ve ended with at least one pillie dead. The only other rider to make an appearance was a male Pinkrider, while the third newcomer was a female Dragon Candidate named Inanna. Carissa, and to an extent Janvia, was relieved when the pillie did bond even if the lead up to it was by no means normal. Carissa was glad that she did not bond with such a troublesome pillie though Carissa did feel a little sorry for the Viridianrider that the Green did bond with. By the looks of things he seemed to have enough trouble already with the Grey he was holding back let alone any other pets he had. Janvia also was relieved with not having to deal with the baby Green pillie on a day to day basis either, finally getting comfortable on Carissa’s shoulders looping her tail around the back of her neck and letting her tail hang down the other side.

Carissa laughed a little to herself at the Aypoth's statement after the little Green pillie bonded despite what had transpired during the hatching.

((OOC: it would have been a little awkward for Carissa to reply to Letorin since I have already posted Carissa's initial reaction to the baby Pillie's actions.))