Players on a Stage [Minerva's Hatching]

[Kestrel]

“Gizath, dear, it is a little cold out. Wouldn’t you be more comfortable back in our weyr?” Ziphera, in truth, was the one who was cold, despite being bundled up in the warmest coat she could find that matched her skirt. She had always preferred warm weather to cold, and winter, though certainly better at Dalibor than it had been at Fort, was her least favorite time of the year.

And risk missing the hatching of all the dear little babies? Oh Ziphera, I wouldn’t dream of it.[/color] The pink dragon was lying on the cool ground beside the lakeshore, one paw crossed neatly over the other, and her whirling blue eyes were fixed patiently on the amber, who was scuttling about clearing a large space of land of any trace of snow.

“Gizath, we don’t even know that she'll lay them today. We waited yesterday too--how do you know today is really the right time?”

It’s going to be soon,[/color] Gizath said resolutely. A grandmother’s intuition never lies.[/color]

Ziphera sighed, moving to her dragon’s side to seat herself on one of Gizath’s long pink forelegs. “If you say so, dear.”

The amber pillie herself seamed somewhat less than thrilled about the unwanted companionship, and kept a wary eye on the two as she continued in her work. Minerva had been quiet and diligent in creating the perfect space for her children to be born in, but should anyone get too close, she was ready to ruthlessly charge down any potential trespassers.

But she raised no objections to Ziphera and Gizath’s presence, provided they kept just enough distance and didn’t move around too much. Gizath’s large pink belly helped to warm the ground near where the eggs would be, and Gizath was nearly as good a watcher as Minerva, politely asking any dragons that ventured too close to keep their distance.

Minerva had dug a small hole in the center of her hatching ground, and glanced furtively up at the pink dragon, hoping she wouldn't notice as the amber pillie moved toward the pit, and began, at last, to lay her eggs. But there was no eye sharper than Gizath’s where babies were concerned.

Oh look Ziphera, there they are! The eggs![/color] Gizath leaned forward, paws unfolding, forcing Ziphera to stand up.

“Wonderful,” she said, sighing with relief that their wait was ending at last. “Let everyone know, would you? We need to see that they all go to good homes.” Minerva was undoubtedly a part of their little family, but Ziphera had no desire to expand that family to include Minerva’s myriad children.

Gizath nodded, and extended her voice to the other dragons of the weyr. Hello dearies, our own lovely Minerva’s babies are hatching down here at the lake. If you would like to come see them, and perhaps bring home a dear little pillie of your own, you are more than welcome to join us.[/color]



OOC: Okay! My policy for this hatching is that every member who tags in will get one pillie, except for the people who did chores for Cath who get two. If you're getting two pillies and tag in with two characters, I'll assume you want one pillie going to each character. If you tag in with more characters than you're getting pillies, or you have any kind of more specific preference as to which of your characters you want your pillies going to, please let me know either by PM or an OOC note in your post so I can make sure to get it right. =D Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

[Serah]

Aelynn had been wandering the Weyr, in her winter jacket and long pants. She had taken to thinking about what she should do. She had stood for quite a few dragon Hatchings and had not Impressed yet. She wondered whether or not she should become a dual Candidate, or whether she should wait a few more hatchings to decide on a course of action. Her wandering took her close to the lake.

Had she not been near the lake, Aelynn might not have noticed. Though the dragon calling was sorta a giveaway that there was something going on there at the moment. She headed into the lake. She had never personally witnessed a pillie hatching. Of course, she also hadn't seen many pillies up close before. This seemed like it would be a great opportunity to see quite a few.

She stopped a few paces from the pinkrider and her dragon. Unsure of what to do at a pillie hatching, she stuck to the spot she had stopped at. She didn't want to disturb anyone already there. She was only there to observe after all. Rose came in after her, giving a quizzical chirp. Aelynn put a hand on the Pink flit, quieting her, then went back to watching the area around the Amber pillie.

[twitchie]

Mine! There are pillows hatching! You shall get another pillow? Pillows are nice and I quite like them, hurry now! Pilloooooooooows!!!![/color]
Abyrath pranced around the room, bobbing her neck up and down in an excited, almost frenzied dance of sorts.
Pillies... Ka'mond corrected mentally, trying to strap the pink's riding gear on, despite her wiggling.
Pillies, pillows... Willies, willows! So serious, Mine! [/color]
The pink snorted in Hers face playfully, leaping off the edge of the weyr as soon as Ka'mond was barely in the saddle. She gave a cheery trumpet of greeting, and landed near the eggs. She craned her neck, eyes wide and swirling as she crouched to wait for the pillies to emerge.

"Hello," Ka'mond gave a boyish grin as he greeted the other rider and the other dragon. "I'm Ka'mond and this is Abyrath."
I like your pillows!
Ka'mond rubbed his neck. "She means pillies, miss." He said, a bit sheepishly.

[maruset]

Really, this was starting to get frustrating, as Sourtai started doing her hatching dance on his shoulder. Then Kuanos showed the hatching itself, and Letorin found his feet turning him that direction.

Pillie hatchings weren’t so common that he wasn’t going to go check one out. Besides, he’d never seen a pillie that color up close before, so he was very curious on what she would behave like at the hatching itself. And maybe get a sketch of her at some point.

Though he really did like going to hatchings. Letorin was just well aware that he really didn’t need any more pets, especially ones that bonded with their owner. With his fair fluttering around him as he walked towards the lake, Letorin was amused as they streamed in the air over his head, for the most part.

His two pillies were currently in his rooms, settled there and not interested in coming outside much, not even his explorer.

Well, he’d enjoy this hatching, and try to avoid picking up any other pets. How well that plan worked out, he’d find out.

He got the edge of the cleared area, finding a spot that was not quite so chilly, and settled in to wait and watch how this went.

Such a large pillie, though quite a lovely shade.

[Digitalis]

As soon as the clutch had hatched, it was back to regular boring candidate chores for Tamren. He was looking for something to distract him now, and he was also still wanting a flit or two of his own. So when he heard an announcement from the nearby lake about a "Minerva's babies," he didn't waste any time running towards the clutch. He didn't even listen long enough to hear that the hatchlings being offered were not the fire lizards that he at first assumed, but rather pillies.

The first sign Tamren had that things were not all what they seemed was when he arrived at the lakeside and saw the rather large amber bug perched on a rock. There were few visible eggs in sight, and certainly no momma fire lizard. "Geh," he made a sort of surprised, disgusted sound as he tried to stop in his tracks, lost his balance, and tumbled forward into the sand uncomfortably close to the pillie and her eggs.

This was not at all what he had expected. He really should have paid more attention before running over all helter-skelter. Hurrying to put as much distance between the pillie and himself as possible, he scurried awkwardly backward on hands and knees. Well great, not only had he stumbled into the middle of an area that would soon be crawling with creepy pillies, he had very likely pissed off the mother of the clutch and made himself look like an idiot, to boot.

[Zephyr]

OOC: I don't care who gets either of my pilles. One to each or both to one, it's COMPLETELY UP TO YOU. GO WILD <3

It was damn cold out.

Shobhaith really wanted to stay inside, and he told K'ius as much as they walked along with Sandr around the weyr, and no matter how much the boy told the purple that dragons weren't exactly affected by the cold, he was still whining about wanting a dragon-coat. Kai humored his dragon, but he wasn't exactly hurried to get them inside and near a fire when he could spend time with his best friend.

Ever since they'd gotten back in touch, Kai had decided to spend as much time around him as he possibly could. Which wasn't as much as he'd like, because Sandr was still a candidate and he was a weyrling. They ran in very different circles now. He also had to make sure to tend to Sho's needs before he spent any time with Sandr. A'bar was still watching him like a hawk, and Kai couldn't afford to screw this up now. Things were good. They weren't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but he could have his best friend and his dragon.

Didn't get much better than that.

They were heading back to his room to chill (his room was much bigger and he liked to lord that fact over Sandr) when Shobhaith froze. There's pilles hatching. What's a pille? the purple inquired of his boy as he loomed along behind them, a bigger than life presence overshadowing the two boys. Kai stopped walking, looking back at Sho curiously. "Pillies are giant bug things. Speaking of..." He got a mischievous look in his eye and glanced to Sandr. "Hey, wanna see something cool?" He asked his best friend, knowing that he hadn't got the memo about the pille hatching.

He wasn't expecting that Sandr had heard anything about the hatching, so it would probably come as somewhat as a surprise to his best friend as he changed course, buried a hand in the other boy's coat and dragged him along with him in his wake, the dragon trailing them with a curious glance.

He really wanted to see what a pille looked like.

---

For once, Mouse was spending time with a human and not a wher. She hadn't spent enough time with her cousins. They had spent the day playing with Charlie and just generally having a good time. Mouse was still convinced she was a wher in a human's body, and Lirmox was probably having a good laugh about that. It didn't matter though. Mouse was just so perpetually happy, that a little amusement at her expense didn't bother her in the least.

And as long as she was spending time around people and whers and dragons she loved, it hardly mattered to her.

In the middle of fetching a ball outside, Mouse all bundled up against the chill of the afternoon, Charlie froze. The little girl watched him curiously for a moment, tugging absently on Lirmox's sleeve. Charlie smells something. Of course he wouldn't know what she was telling her, but she pointed excitedly at the puppy anyway, nearly bouncing in place when he suddenly took off.

Unable to contain herself, Mouse tugged harder on her cousin's sleeve, looking at him pleadingly before pulling her along with him if he'd allowed her towards the direction Charlie had run.

Once they were close to the lake, the little girl would let go of her cousin completely to bounce up to the pink dragon helping to guard the eggs. Once upon a time, the girl would have fearlessly approached the dragon, but she had been taught some manners in her time here and realized that tackling the leg or tail of a strange dragon or where in a mighty Mouse hug probably wasn't the best thing to do.

Especially if they were red.

Well, Gizath wasn't red, but Mouse barely remembered her manners and stopped just short of touching the pink...obviously with great difficulty, because she was nearly bursting out of her skin with excitement. Hello miss pink. She thought solemnly towards the pink, her entire body wiggling with enthusiasm. Charlie was standing a safe distance from the eggs, watching curiously as Mouse watched Gizath. Can I hug you? You're very, very pretty and I just want to hug you because I'm Mouse and I love you!

She couldn't help but peek glances at the giant amber pille while she waited for the dragon's response.

[Dragonwher]

Mira wouldn't have noticed the goings on at the lake if not for Malinoth. Who tilted his head as they'd wandered out into the Bowl, intent on trying to visit Randiel. Well, Mira and Asher had been; Nymeria had been content to sleep on Malinoth's back as the young black dragon was fairly warm. However, Malinoth looked at Mira Mira mine, Gizath says Minerva's young are hatching by the lake; want to go see?.

This got a happy nod from Mira as she turned fully, Perrin having decided to ride on her back "this does sound interesting Malinoth, think you could tell Randiel whats going on?". As she walked Malinoth followed, straining to tap Randiel fading to nothing at least twice before succeeding Ran-di-el? it's Mali-noth, your Clutch si-ster wa-nts to meet you out by the lake, something's happening out here. Before he fully retreated the young black managed to poke Aela to try and get her help waking Randiel if he was asleep to see this as well.

Though she smiled around at the others present, especially Gizath and Hers "thank you for letting Malinoth and myself know about this hatching".

~~~~

Though Aela's waking him wasn't totally needed, having Malinoth invade his mind had been enough. As a sleepmazed, familiar Wher candidate trudged free of his room. Though with warm clothing on proved his Pink; who perched smugly on his shoulder, had been a pestering mother wherry about getting him in warm clothes for the occasion. Despite muttering about sharding dragons waking him up at the oddest hours, he sleepily smiled as he spotted Mira thanks to the blue splotch on her back. Not to mention the black dragon with a pink blip on him.

As he trudged nearer the male chuckled "so Mira, what was so important that you had your dragon go and turn my Aela into a mother wherry?". Before his sister could respond Aela had clambered on top of his head and sort of chirrup-hummed seeing Minerva, making Randi look at the lake edge "oh...looks like another pillie hatching...". Then he grinned a bit "you hoping to get another little friend then?". His sis's excited nodding made the boy grin and chuckle softly as Perrin agreed with a happy Mmhmm!. Though he did look about and give a friendly wave to the others assembled.

(Kes I know I said I'd like one pillie to go to Randiel, but since I did the flit list fer Reky, feel free to either scoot a pillie at Mira as well or flip a coin on whether Randi gets the second or Mira does, whichever you wish)

[Chimera]

Really, R'lan was surprised he had gotten *this* used to the bitter cold. Wenth's hatching had come and went, but the winter hadn't, not yet. He wore his favorite black scarf, with a pattern of dragon heads in a rainbow of colors, not following the ranks, though with only the existing dragon colors.

While he was making a spring dress in advance for Malikot, who rested her little pink self on Ainoth at the moment, the calm mindvoice of a dragon mentioning a hatching had Ainoth stand up, causing a disgruntled Malikot to settle in R'lan's curly hair.

R'lan. R'lannn! There is a pillie hatching. Last time we didn't get one, and I want a swimming water friend.

"Of course." R'lan sighed, putting the riding gear on. Soon they arrived, Ainoth landing smoother than ever as R'lan and his fair dismounted, greeting Ziphera, Gizath, and Minerva. Ainoth didn't take a multifaceted eye off the eggs, but kept her distance so as to not squish them.

***
Lirmox had been sleeping, but playing and just interacting with his little cousin wasn't a frequent event what with schedules and all that.

So he, Mouse, and Charlie were throwing a ball around in the nippy weather. Until.

There was a pillie hatching, and Lirmox did admit he wanted to see the bugs for himself.

"Of course we can go - " Lirmox grinned, but then Mouse was tugging him by the sleeve to the lake whether or not he wanted to.

Mumbling a greeting to the pillie, and owner in what was unfortunately a voice akin to that of a tunnelsnake-oil merchant, Lirmox found himself - and his black flit Midnight - keeping a close watch on the slippery, do-no-harm Mouse. At least the dragon was a friendly pink.

((1 pillie for R'lan, 1 for Lirmox please uwu Earned a second one by finding all Dali lessons))

[Birdy]

Avna groaned, another announcement meant another distraction from oiling the quintet of firelizards that were sprawled out in front of her in various stages of boredom. Whiarine, the largest of the fair was last and had learned very quickly that Avna's process was thorough and long, long enough that she could nap for a solid hour until it became her turn. The dark green firelizard was seated on a towel and slumped up against Nyetatis who was doing her best not to drift off to sleep as well. Samsereniss and Peredimnal were chirping intently at each other, enveloped in some important conversation and Daresschary, currently being oiled by Avna, was scratching an itch on her face while the brunette oiled her tail.

With a sigh, Avna paused in her work and pulled the towel out from under her largest Green. With a squeak the firelizard righted herself and curled tightly into a ball. She had drifted off back to sleep by the time the Redrider had cleaned her hands and tossed the towel back towards Whiarine. With a hiss the green made no attempt to remove the offending cloth and instead poked her head out from under it and scolded Avna with a serious of chirps and screeches.

"I will not have you talk to me in that tone Whiarine, behave yourself. And as for the rest of you, I will have to resume oiling you once we've returned," she gave a curt nod at the group of greens and headed towards the dresser next to her bed. It took her little time to find what she was looking for, all of her clothes were in their proper place. She quickly slipped into a thick pair of pants and her thickest coat before lacing up her boots. With a glance at her sleeping dragon, the Redrider warmed her hands by the fire before heading out of her weyr followed closely by four of her green firelizards. Whiarine had decided to nap instead.

Avna had never had much to do with Pillies, she knew what they'd done for the weyr though and that they were unique to Dalibor and so after much deliberation, she'd decided she had to have one. What a better way to represent her weyr than to take care of some of it's newest inhabitants. And you didn't have to oil pillies. When she had brought the subject up to Herath the dragon had merely snorted and returned to sleep so with no vocal objection she'd set her sights on acquiring them. When she had heard of a pillie expecting eggs she had known instantly that this was her chance and so when Herath had sleepily relayed the message along to her rider Avna was ready.

Approaching the lake, the Redrider drew her hood around her face. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and she could see her breath. The quartet of greens felt the cold as well, Samsereniss wrapped herself around Avna's neck, safe within the protection of the hood. Peredimnal and Daresschary simply flitted in circles above Letorin's fair chirping greetings (mainly Daresschary as Peredimnal hid shyly behind) and Nyetatis, always trying to do right by Avna, had no part in this foolishness and, though freezing, perched daintily on the Redrider's shoulder. She remained there unmoving like some neon green statue save for her swirling red eyes which were locked onto the two frolicking greens with a look of pure contempt.

Ignoring this drama Avna stopped a respectable distance from the amber pillie and bowed politely to the creature. She wasn't exactly sure if this worked the same way as a dragon hatching but she wasn't going to be rude just because she didn't know the customs.From what she could gather there were several candidates and weyrlings present. Another Pinkrider as well and…was that a weyrbrat so dangerously close to the Pink's leg? Just in case she moved over toward the tiny girl, standing a few feet away. Avna was prepared to intervene should the little girl try something stupid and startle the Pink but for now she seemed fine and so the brunette directed her attention elsewhere.

Avnaglanced at those gathered and bowed slightly once more, first at the humans and then at the dragons. The Redrider glanced disapprovingly at the candidate on the ground but said nothing of it. Instead she straightened herself and pulled down her hood to get a better look at those around her. Samsereniss hissed at the cold and buried herself under Hers' hair in an attempt to get warm again.

"Avna wingrider of Red Herath, pleasure to make your acquaintance, "she introduced in her usual formal manner, her face its normal emotionless slate. Please ignore my firelizards, they are behaving rather horridly today. I am sure these Pillies will be much better behaved." Nyetatis opened her mouth to protest this insult but a glance from Avna cut her off mid-chirp.

( I think I qualify for two pillies as I did the wher thing earlier today )

[RavenSong]

P'ryt was busy in his weyr, dealing with his pillies and a bit of paperwork. Tracker was trying to teach Hidden how to properly hide, and Q was complaining about both of them. How P'ryt knew the black was calling his 'sisters' a pair of scrubs was beyond him, but that was how it was. P'ryt wasn't sure how cleaning applied in a derogatory fashion to the pink and green pillie. Q was a strange one.

At Gizath's call, Hemetath perked up.

Pillies hatch, he said to P'ryt, his words laden with desire and command. He wanted more pet pillies, which meant P'ryt had to bond with them and tend them. P'ryt frowned.

"We have four, you greedy butt," he said.

So? came the Iron's response. Friends. Play, swim. Helpful pillies.

"So Weaver, Q, Tracker, and Hidden aren't enough for you?" P'ryt asked teasingly.

Yes. Still, more, Hemetath responded. Always reasons. Chuckling, P'ryt climbed to his dragon's back and let the Iron convey him to ground level. Once down there, Hemetath approached as closely as he dared move his large self to watch the pillies hatch, almost as excited as he was when his offspring hatched. P'ryt, on the other hand, moved closer to get a good look at Minerva and her babies. He'd never seen an Amber up close, so he boggled a bit at the sheer size of the Amber.

"Gyahh. I thought my four were huge, but this one... by the first Egg, she's the biggest pillie I've ever seen. That is a female, right?" P'ryt inspected Minerva as closely as he dared, looking intrigued. "Huh."

As P'ryt inspected the pillie, Hemetath crooned a greeting to his offspring that had shown up with their riders.

Hatchlings! He said. Get pillies? Much fun. His words were laden with love and happiness.

[Kiran]

Imber rubbed her hands quickly, trying to keep them warm. She had the hardest time keeping her hands warm in the cold! She hoped that she wasn't losing blood flow to them and they were about to freeze off.

...No, she wouldn't think like that. They were simply cold. That was all.

And she was going outside to watch the pillie hatching. Why not, after all? They we're rather cute, in a strange, insect sort of way. What with all their legs and how they scuttled around. Going to see it wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't like she was going to be attacked by any of the hatchlings. Or worse yet, the amber that had laid the eggs. Nosiree! This was going to be a lovely hatching, just like the dragon hatching had been. The thought of Wenth's clutch still made her smile. That had been a nice thing, indeed, and she hoped the next one was just as good.

But who knew? Hatchings were just so temperamental, especially in Dalibor...

Imber wiped those thoughts from her mind, looking at the group of people who had congregated by where the amber had laid her eggs and s watching over them, staying at the edge of the group, well away from any potential mishaps or disasters. It wouldn't do to have the luck to be swarmed and die, would it? Imber didn't think so. Her eyes took in everyone around her, seeing fellow candidates and dragon riders besides. This would be interesting, indeed.

Quellyn was thinking much the same thing as he and Misty came around the gathering, staying near the edges as well. Not because he feared any death. No, but because this would make even more story fodder! After all, Hatchings we're good for that. The last one had a wher-dragon, born from the tender love that Wenth had given the pillie-wher. At least, that was his theory. Wenth had love the pillie-wher so much that one of her children transformed into a wher in the egg! It was a beautiful thing, making his love-square-romance even more complex and beautiful and tragic.

Misty approved, her antennae twitching with adoration for her Bonded's skill at creating romances. Even though he had yet to set up an actual couple himself. Or find someone he loved for himself.

...These things would be remedied one day. At least love for himself could be excused with age. But the moment he started showing interest in other boys, girls, or whatever, she would be plotting away!

For now, though, she was simply pleased to be attending a hatching. They made her Bonded happy. And Quellyn was excited about the whole thing, taking in everything that was happening around him with wide eyes. Not only were the Hatchings eventful, but the people were as well!

[Kestrel]

Ziphera smiled serenely at the approaching weyrfolk, greeting each of them as they arrived. She nodded to the redrider as she approached with firelizards in tow. “I wouldn’t necessarily count on that—though I suppose they should be less prone to mischief than firelizards, with their more limited movement. My Minerva is usually quite an excellent little lady, though.” ‘Little’ probably wasn’t the right word to describe the amber, something P’ryt seemed to notice right away, and she bowed gracefully to him. “Hello, weyrleader. Yes, she’s an amber—the very biggest, as I understand it. Like little queens, they are.”

Gizath was pleased to see how many people were coming to appreciate Minerva’s babies as well, though one guest in particular caught her interest. Oh hello, little one![/color] she said to Mouse in her eternal grandmotherly voice. Why look at you. How cute you are! Are you here for the pillies?[/color] She lowered her nose down toward Mouse’s tiny hand, brushing it gently against it.

Minerva wasn’t at all pleased about all these two—and four—legged spectators. They clearly didn’t understand—these hatchlings were not for them. They had a far more glorious purpose—they were to join forces under Minerva’s command as her own personal task force, to do her bidding for whatever schemes she might concoct. They would bond to her and her alone—not any of these foolish interlopers.

Still, she didn’t chase them off—she was not going to force her children to be a part of her army. If they didn’t join her willingly, they were clearly too weak for her purposes ayway. Still, she and the father were both strong, capable pillies—leaders and fighters—and she was confident that her hatching children would soon flock to the side of their rightful ruler.

A pink was the first to wiggle up out of the sandy pit, her shell a lovely fading light pink in contrast to her much brighter underbelly. She stood alone in the sand, blinking her tiny black eyes at all the gathered colossi, but rather than approach any of them, she flicked her antennae over her shell and face, brushing bits of sand meticulously from her shell.

Lmnm,[/color] Minerva said softly, staring regally down at her firstborn daughter, and the pillie paused, looking up, and took a tentative step toward the amber.

But before she could take another, a dark blue pillie with lighter stripes across his shell burst out of the eggpile in a glorious shower of dirt and egg chunks, shaking himself vigorously and blinking open his eyes. The pink was the first thing he set eyes on, and after a silent moment of awe, he let out an excited cry, bounding toward her. Juulep! Juulep![/color]

O romoo?[/color] The pink turned away from her mother, captivated by the blue coming toward her. They reached each other, and brushed their antennae over each others’ shells. [/color=e23b4e]Ooo romoo, o romoo,[/i][/color] she chattered to him. They both knew they were meant to be together, and the pink had a plot. They would run away together, and no one could force them apart! Juulep![/color] The blue pillie waved his antennae wildly in agreement. It was a perfect plan!

The two were so wrapped up in each other that they failed to notice the emergence of two more of their siblings. A light blue pillie with a shell that bore a strange resemblance to the shiny scales of a fish glared imperiously around at the humans. Did they think they were better than him, by daring to be so big? He would show them all! Crrwaa![/color] he cried, making a shaky attempt to rear up and wave his front claws at the onlookers. Crrwaa!![/color]

The other newcomer was a brown, dark in color save for a faded patch on his head and another encircling his rather wide middle, who popped out of the sand and scuttled to his feet. He looked around in excitement, trying to take in all the new sights and sounds—and his gaze fell upon the pink and the first blue. Mareee![/color] he shrieked in delight, waving his spindly frontmost legs. They were so perfect together! It was all so wonderfully romantic! But wait…oh no! It may have been a trick of the light, but he was certain that there was a small bump on the blue’s head! A bump! He wasn’t sure why, but he was totally convinced that that bump would ruin everything. They could never be the world’s most perfect couple like that!

Mareeeeeeee![/color] he cried, charging toward the two. He had to do something! He crashed into the blue, inadvertently forcing him and the pink apart, and repeatedly bashed him on the head. That would get the bump down flat! Juulep![/color] the blue squealed in alarm, while the pink watched the obviously insane brown pillie in a daze. The blue pillie managed to scuttle backward away from his attacker, and sped away, as far as his legs could carry him…until he crashed into a certain rearing blue pillie some distance away.

CRRWAAA![/COLOR] The fishy blue was knocked to the ground, but quickly leapt back to his feet, whirling to face this new combatant. The darker blue merely blinked back at him, antennae twitching. Juulep?[/color] This…this was his perfect ‘juulep’, right? For some reason he just couldn’t quite remember…

Crrwaa![/color] The second blue pillie had no idea what a ‘juulep’ was, but he was pretty sure it was an insult, and he did not stand for insults! He reared again, brandishing his fearsome forfeet at his confused brother, but before he could strike, the latest pillie to hatch—a reddish brown who had pulled himself carefully out of his egg—waddled between them. This wasn’t good at all—his brother was all upset, and now they were going to fight! He hated fighting. The brown climbed onto his angry blue brother’s shell, flattening himself down. Kuluun,[/color] he said softly. Kuluuuun.[/color]

The blue had started to angrily wave his feelers, but there was something oddly soothing about his brother’s voice, and he felt himself calming down despite himself. Crrwaa…[/color] he said, but his battle cry had lost its bite. The brown patted him with an antenna before crawling off, and peering out into the crowd of humans. There was someone else who needed him now! Someone clearly very upset who needed to calm down. Slowly but deliberately, he marched toward Tamren, following him as he continued trying to scoot away until he had managed to climb up his arm. Nor did the pillie stop there, as he kept going until he’d managed to get on top of Tamren’s head. Kuluun, kuluun,[/color] he hummed, as he made his bond. There now, he was here, and everything was going to be okay.

SPOILER: Click to show

Brown (984416) – Bonded to Tamren
Loose inspiration: Benvolio, from Romeo and Juliet
A pacifist by nature, this pillie just wants everyone to calm down and get along. If he judges anyone he judges to be too angry or upset, regardless of their species, he will climb on top of them and make soothing noises in an effort to help them relax and feel better. He is also very snuggly, and will frequently climb in his owner’s lap when he wants to feel better.
Kuluun

The dark blue pillie had had long enough to determine that the angry blue was not, in fact, his ‘juulep’, and raced into the gathering crowd of humans, determined to find her. Juulep? Juulep?[/color] he called, weaving between feet and legs, until—there! There she was! He raced up Ka’mond’s leg, climbing all the way up to his shoulder, where he perched, nearly bouncing in excitement as he peered into his face. Juulep! Juulep![/color] Wait a minute…come to think of it, he was pretty sure his ‘juulep’ had not been quite this…tall. But that was okay—he liked Ka’mond a lot anyway, and surely a great person like him would help him find who he was looking for.

SPOILER: Click to show

Blue (2E3858) – Bonded to Ka’mond
Loose inspiration: Romeo, from Romeo and Juliet
A romantic at heart, this pillie knows that he has found his soulmate, and that he wants to spend his whole life by her side. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to remember who his soulmate is, exactly, or what she looks like. But he is nothing if not determined, and will investigate most everyone (and everything) he comes across to try to determine if it is his beloved ‘juulep’. Unfortunately, he probably wouldn’t know it was her even if he did find her again. Though rather absentminded, he is generally a kind pillie who is very loyal to his friends—if he can remember who they are, that is.
Juulep! Juulep?

The now much-calmer light blue pillie scuttled off into the crowd, deciding to investigate all these strange giants and make absolutely sure that they weren’t all insulting him behind his back. He waved his antennae in what he thought to be a threatening manner at Abyrath and P’ryt as he passed them, until he came across a person who he was certain would never, ever insult his honor. He climbed deftly up to Mouse’s shoulder, striking a gallant pose as he peered about in search of anyone who would dare to say anything bad about his perfect new charge. Crrwaa![/color] he said, swiping a leg in the air. He may be small, but he was courageous, and he would defend Mouse to the end!

SPOILER: Click to show

Blue (33B1E0) – Bonded to Mouse
Loose inspiration: Tybalt, from Romeo and Juliet
An unfortunate combination of quick-tempered, easily insulted, and combatative, this pillie will take most anything as a personal affront. Vain and deeply concerned with his own honor, this inevitably leads to him challenging the offender to a duel, be they a pillie, a human, or even a dragon. He is noble in his own way, however, and will be equally offended and quick to fight for the honor of those he cares about. Oddly, his shell has an unmistakable fishy look to it, with a sort of sheen resembling the flashing scales of a fish, and this tends to draw curious felines to him to investigate. He hates the furry offenders, but no amount of duel challenges can seem to stop them from coming after him.
Crrwaa!

The pink pillie had long been waylaid in her mission to reunite with her blue brother by the brown pillie, who had been trying valiantly to pile sand onto her shell, for Faranth knew what reason. At last she escaped, flailing her way out of the pile of sand he had been determined to bury her in, and raced into the crowd. O romoo? O romoo?[/color] she called, but it was no use—there were too many of those strange tall beings in the way! She scuttled up a nearby leg, climbing up to Aelynn’s neck, and attempted to spot her dear brother from her new vantage point. But it was quite hopeless—she didn’t see him anywhere. O romoo,[/color] she said sadly, turning to look at the face of the person she now found herself bonded to. Her plan to run away with her brother had gone terribly—though the end result had not been so bad, as at least she had found a person she liked quite a lot. But next time, she tried to tell Aelynn with a chirp, she would do better. Oh yes.

SPOILER: Click to show

Pink (E23B4E) – Bonded to Aelynn
Loose inspiration: Juliet, from Romeo and Juliet
A schemer by nature, this pink loves to come up with plans that she thinks are quite scandalous (though truthfully they are usually quite innocuous) but no matter how fool-proof she thinks her latest plan is, something always seems to go wrong. Every sharding time. Regardless, she is a clever and friendly pillie, who tends to play coy but greatly enjoys attention.
O romoo, o romoo

The remaining brown watched sadly as his sister ran away from him. He had only been trying to help! If they had just let him help them, everything would have worked out just perfectly! They just didn’t understand. Maree,[/color] he chirped, deciding to head out into the crowd and see if he could find someone more appreciative to help. He nearly walked right over a small, blue-gray pebble resting on the ground, and peered at it carefully, before looking up at the person closest to him. Yes, yes, yes—it was perfect! Seized with inspiration, he picked up the pebble in his segmented mouthparts, and scuttled up R’lan’s shoulder with a chorus of muffled mareeees. Couldn’t he see? This pebble and R’lan were just meant to be together! And he was meant to be with them too! It was all so clear.

SPOILER: Click to show

Brown (583508) – Bonded to R’lan
Loose inspiration: Friar Laurence, from Romeo and Juliet
This pillie is in love with the idea of love—though not for himself, but for others. He is a total shipper, and everywhere around him he sees pairings that seem just perfect—even if to others they may seem odd and even involve inanimate objects. But he is never to be dissuaded. Unfortunately, in addition to seeing pairings everywhere, he also sees tragic obstacles set in their path, and that just won’t do. Eager to help, he tries to fix what he perceives to be everyone’s problems, though often this can just create actual difficulties for the people involved.
Mareee!

[Cathaline]

You know you're going to end up there eventually.[/i]

"Yes, and that's why I'm putting my boots on," Day'ar groused. He loved pillies in general and his pillies in particular, but it was quickly becoming absurd, particularly considering the number of flits G'dan brought to the table. Still, he hadn't missed a hatching since his arrival at Dalibor, even when he had tried to, and he was resigned to the fact that it was going to happen. If he didn't go, then a baby pillie would charge all the way over to the weyr for the pleasure of suctioning onto his skin. Or Starfall would do something terrible and force him to chase her into the snow. Really, it was far easier to just surrender and go see the babies. Maybe none of them would want him this time.

Serah clambered out of the pool and skittered up his back, and he rolled his shoulders, adjusting to her weight. She chittered away in his ear, and he pulled on a hat and muffled himself in two scarves. Ambrith followed his rider out into the cold day; the Bowl was still snowy after the hatching day blizzard, but the weather appeared to be improving as the world turned toward spring. That was a blessing, anyway.

There were a lot of people he didn't really recognise - young weyrlings, candidates - but he did know the Junior Weyrleader, who had been at many pillie hatchings as well. Sidling up to P'ryt, the masked viridianrider said, "Still looking for more too, huh?"

Ambrith settled his bulk along the edge of the lake, eyeing Minerva. Some of the pillies immediately started fighting and carrying on, and he glanced over his shoulder as Brother and Watsa emerged from the icy waters. The viridian's tail lashed out to wrap around the pink just as she noticed what was going on and seethed, Mn! Day'ar might be hers, but she wasn't allowed to go attack teeny tiny infant pillies just to keep them away.

While he held the pink down, Brother wandered closer to watch, waving friendly antennae at the babies. They seemed to be caught up in their little dramas, though, so he was content to wait until one or more of them actually became his brother or sister to greet them properly. Of course, if any of them needed his help, he could help them out!

[Zephyr]

Glizath's response to her presence thrilled Mouse beyond belief. She loved all dragons and whers and people, so having them love her back was really the perfect scenario for the little girl. When the pink dragon brushed her nose, Mouse beamed happily and hugged the pink's nose as tightly as she thought appropriate, kissing her nose lightly. You are so pretty! She thought happily to the pink dragon as she hugged her nose. I hope one day to have a dragon as pretty as you!

Then someone spoke, and Mouse spun around, tilting her head up to look at Avna proper. Oh wow. This woman was very pretty! And she was so nice and respectful. The girl loved Avna instantly...not that it was difficult to get Mouse to love you. Without preamble, the little weyrbrat stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around the woman's waist. The girl didn't think that hugging strange people would be a bad idea, because she'd never met anyone who was mean to her and she just wanted to be friends with everyone.

She was so intent upon making Avna know that she wanted to be her best friend ever that she missed the babies hatching, but the chirps of the babies alerted her to what was happening, and she pulled away from Avana just enough to grab her hand and try to tug her towards the hatching pilles. C'mon, best friend! We have to see the babies! She noticed the little things climbing up people's shoulders, and she watched with big bright eyes.

The blue wasn't noticed at first. Mouse was much too excited to feel his little feet on her. She didn't notice him until he was perched on her shoulder. Crrwaa he chirped at her, and Mouse stared for a second before her entire being lit up and she had to keep herself from exploding in happiness. Finally, a friend to go on epic adventures with! The pille liked the sound of that immensely and waved his antennae heroicly. Crrwaa, crrwaa!

[Serah]

Aelynn watched as the eggs started to hatch. The first to hatch was a rather cute little pink pillie. Soon followed by a blue and a brown, with another blue and brown hatching after them. Rose watched in awe as the little bug-like creatures by the lake came out of their eggs. She let out a chirp, wanting to get near them. Aelynn had to hold her close to her so that she wouldn't startle any of them.

She watched the babies interact with each other. Pillies were very interesting creatures. Or at least, they seemed to be. She couldn't understand what the pink and the blue might be doing. She saw as the first two pillies bonded to theirs. By the time she noticed the pink, the pink had already made her bond. The little pink was on her neck, and she chirped up at her.

Aelynn was rather happy. True, she had only come to observe and had little interest in bonding to a pillie at this time. But she had bonded to one nonetheless. Now all she had to do was think of a name for the new addition to the family. "Hm..Adue. I think I shall call you Adue." She said quietly.

Now that there was a pillie close enough, Rose broke free of Aelynn's hold on her. The pink flit sniffed at the pink pillie, having never had the chance to see one up close. Rose chirped at the pillie that was on Hers' neck and was confused when Adue responded with O romoo? Rose jumped, and landed on Aelynn's head. Aelynn, for her part, just sighed. These two would have to get to know each other soon.

[Digitalis]

It was too late to get away, they were coming for him. Small pillies were bursting up out of the sand, and Tamren paused a moment to stare incredulously at the miniature drama playing out among the hatchlings. Then it became clear one of the hatchlings, a brown, had noticed him, and as soon as the bug started for him, Tamren resumed his backing away, while the brown matched him, scuttle for scuttle.

Too close too close tooclosetooclosetooclosegetitoffGETITOFF! His mental protestations were no use; the pillie had managed to climb up onto his head, and was doing the bonding thing that they did. It was humming now, an oddly soothing sound, but that huge amber was still too close for comfort.

Tamren gingerly poked at the pillie on his head with a sweeping motion, which obligingly moved down to his shoulder, but no further. Great. He was stuck with it. At least this one was small, as pillies went. He finally climbed to his feet, backing further away from the clutch until he was at the back of the crowd. The bug on his shoulder clearly didn't want him to go away entirely; there were so many of his siblings left to hatch and he wanted a chance to meet them all.

[Raining]

((One to each or both to Sandr [muahahahahaaaah] It doesn't matter to me <3))

Recently things were starting to look up, sure he was left standing again but he recently got in touch with K'ius. It was hard, keeping up with his candidate duties and lessons if there were any (and he had recently decided to change crafts)... on top of the fact that K'ius had to attend to his numerous lessons and his dragon's needs. But when they found time, they found time -- he didn't push K'ius ever because Sho was more important. And even as much as Kai pouted Sandr was sure he didn't hold anything above his head if Aleksandr couldn't make it.

It was hard not to notice a dragon had stopped walking behind him. Blue eyes would glance back curiously flickering from Sho to Kai. When the word pilles was uttered Sandr rolled his eyes muttering something under his breath. Like the naïve boy he was, he didn't put anymore thought into it. So he honestly though K'ius had changed the conversation for his sake since only Kai would know how much he didn't uhh enjoy them.

"Uhh, sure?" he responded tossing a clear 'what?' expression at Sho because... oh why were they going outside? "Couldn't the 'cool' thing be figurative? I really don't want to be in the sn-"

So they got there after a bit, Sandr complaining some of the way because he really hated snow. There was a crowd of people by the lake and his brows furrowed glancing to Kai. "A hatching?" he questioned, "you hate flit ha- oh shards." His eyes caught the movements of bright(and not so bright) bugs skittering along the ground. He immediately recoiled, but K'ius kept him grounded. "Oh no, no...Kai shards I can't." he muttered only loud enough for the other to hear him, pulling backwards.

---

Oh wow she was tired.
Saosk ended up hearing the Dragon's call... and as much as he says he hated company his handler was promptly woken up. He knew what time of day it was, so he couldn't go out and see himself for fear of being blinded and his hate for the sun. Saowyn used to his bellowing mind voice had ignored him at first, but the sleepy wher had heaved himself on her bed in his regular silent nature. There would be a pause, and a loud mind voice warning before he promptly shoved her off the bed.

"Saosk! Its daytime! Which means sleep!" she snapped sitting up from the floor. THERE BE PILLIE HATCHING BY LAKE. SAOSK WANT PILLIE. SAOWYN WILL GO, OR SAOSK BE SHARDING MAD. ALSO WON'T LET SAOWYN SLEEP TODAY. GO! and he practically shoved her towards the door with his head.

After fighting with her wher to actually let her get dressed before she parades out in the snow. She finally made it down there, all bundled up and seething quietly. Saosk wanted a freaking pillie! A pillie! It was still really early! But in all honesty Saowyn was happy Saosk woke her, because she wanted a pet too! Pillies were cute and she's seen a few in her life. It would be fun to have another mind mate around, and Saosk will be good to it... uh loud but good.

Saowyn pushed past two boys pretty much arm in arm to get a better look. She may have bags under her eyes but oh my Faranth look at them. Light eyes then spotted lil Mouse. "Oh Mousey!" she trilled happily, "you got one!" the wherling would approach Mouse and give her a biig hug. "I missed you!"

[Birdy]

Avna nodded at the pinkrider's words. Even if they were just as misbehaving as her fair of firelizards these pillies could not fly and that would remove one dimension from the places they could possibly be. And besides, they would be able to play with the firelizards and keep them distracted while she oiled them, that was a plus.

She bowed politely to the Jr. Weyrleader as he arrived but made no attempt at conversation. The redrider focused her attention instead on the hatching eggs and watched as a handful of the tiny bugs emerged from the sand and started tussling and calling out. Whatever they were saying Avna wasn't sure and she didn't have much time to think about it because suddenly something very small and heavy had grabbed her from behind. Her hands moved outwards for balance as she nearly fell over, Nyetatis struggling to remain perched on Hers' shoulder. The rush of alarm woke Herath and the red immediately went into protective mode and glided down to the Bowl to investigate.

Avna looked over her shoulder at her assailant and found it was just the weyrbrat. Nyetatis scolded the tiny girl for a second until Avna quieted her. There's no need for alarm, Herath, please restrain yourself, she told the red who had paused near Hemetath and was looking at all gathered accusingly trying to find the one who had caused Hers to react with such alarm. At the redrider's words and with soothing thoughts sent her way the red considered returning to her weyr. She had never seen a pillie up close before though and if they were going to be a new part of her family then she felt she should become acquainted.

The redrider made no move to remove the tiny girl but frowned down at her. "Perhaps next time you might ask before hugging someone, it caught me off guard and my Herath is rather protecti-," she started to say, nodded towards the red who was sitting a small distance from the group of people and watching them all intently. This conversation was cut short though as the weyrbrat tugged her hand and pulled her closer to the hatching pillies.

"Yes alright, we'll get closer. Faranth you're a quiet one aren't you," the brunette made no attempt to free her hand and watched as a tiny blue pillie made it's way up the girl's shoulder and called out happily. Once the blue pillie had quieted down and the first wave of pillies had bonded she looked down at the weyrbrat and started to say somehing but the wherling approached and she waited until they had finished before speaking. "Mousey? Surely that's not your real name, your given name. Do your parents know that you're here? Surely you're a bit young to be wandering around the weyr and talking with other rider's dragons. One should really ask before talking to a rider's dragon," Avna stated. She wasn't trying to lecture the girl but with her stern face and formal tone it seemed like it.

[maruset]

It was interesting to watch how fast people gathered, and Letorin was watching them as much as the pillies. And it was quickly becoming pillies, as several hatched out and scurried to people that they bonded to.

He did recognize more and more of the faces that were showing up, though he stayed mostly to himself. There were nods of greeting as people he knew came up.

Around him, his fair was humming some, several on him, the others scattered around on rocks or flying in a pattern above the crowd of people. So at least they were behaving themselves.

He watched as a pink appeared, quickly followed by a blue. They seemed to fascinate each other, and he had to grin as they interacted.

A second blue followed, and he was quite the pretty fellow, then a brown. Letorin wasn’t sure what to expect when the brown started flailing at the first blue, but it lead to a rather amusing situation to watch. That only seemed to settle once a second brown hatched and laid on his brother.

That little group seemed to find someone to fit them easily enough, and Letorin grinned as his own pillies started to take interest. Akshi was curious about what he was up to, and if there were exciting new discoveries to be made. If so, Akshi would come to join him. And Xaxanc had apparently decided he didn’t like the situation at all, and was plotting...something. Letorin wasn’t sure, and he was pretty sure Xaxanc wasn’t sure either. Though it probably meant that he was going to ‘help’ Letorin by destroying something of his.

(ooc note: I plan to have both my pillies to go to Letorin, as I make him crazy pet person of Dalibor)

[Chimera]

The pillie's owner and her pink dragon had greeted all who attended, from Weyrlings like R'lan to even a Weyrbrat and what looked to be a friend or sibling trailing after her. When Jr. Weyrleader P'ryt arrived with Hemetath (and his...four pillies?), R'lan rushed to greet the man.

"H-hello sir, how are you doing today? Forgive me for not introducing myself yet, I am Jr. Weyrling R'lan of Green Ainoth. It's a pleasure to see you! And I couldn't help overhearing what you said about the pillie - she is very big, yes."

Ainoth for her part acted more calmly, though her timidness didn't disappear as she padded over to Hemetath, who was her sandfather too.

Pillies swim, so I would very much like to get one for R'lan and me. How are you? The water-loving green nodded her head at that statement. The last hatching they'd attended, the Greenpair hadn't gotten a pillie, but this appeared to be the equivalent of a Queen dragonkin's clutch, so there was more chance, of course.

Aulyur and Malikot were flapping around, the former generally hovering in his own corner of "personal space", while the more social latter giggled and cheeped as she flew above the crowd of attendees, interacting with Letorin's fair.

The tall Weyrling watched the hatching as the first pillie emerged from her egg - the babies were tiny, in contrast to their huge clutchmother. The first was a pink, and seemed to pine for her blue brother. Then another blue and a brown hatched - unfortunately the brown started whacking the first blue's head, and attempting to bury another pillie in sand.

And the brown went to bond to someone. Good riddance, that one.

Wait.

What was that crawling up R'lan, the tall pillar of a boy?

What was that barrage of Mareee's?

Daring to turn his head to the small thing on his shoulder, R'lan was surprised he didn't break his face with how hard he slapped his palm against it.

Maree! Mareeee!

"I had to get the crazy one." The little brown wiggled from his vantage point on his new bonded's shoulder.

Maree? The pillie was hurt by this accusation, and laid the pebble down on the fabric of R'lan's winter clothes. Unfortunately, a slight movement from the boy and it fell. MAREE! The bug cried in despair.

"At least you can't fly, little thing." R'lan had watched this "terrible" event with growing amusement, though he did feel bad for the pillie. "Since you seem so obsessed with that thing, might as well call you Pebble."

Maree! Pebble agreed to this new name, even if it would cause some...confusion? He had decided to let go of the pebble for now - perhaps it would be reborn as a greater boulder for R'lan, yes! Pebble turned around with his little bug legs when he felt the hot breath of Ainoth nearly push him off R'lan's shoulder.

Hello, water pillie friend! I am Ainoth, R'lan's dragon, and we will have fun as a family! In the water, a lot! I am really a creature of the water. As the green excitedly chattered to her new friend, said new friend clambered onto her snout and perched between her headknobs. Oh, she and R'lan were a good pair! They'd even already found each other!

Yes, Ainoth, take it - him away from me. R'lan rolled his eyes.

Just another day in Dalibor.

***

Luckily the dragon was friendly. Lirmox shuddered to think what would happen if she wasn't.

"Mouseyy, careful." So far she had charmed most of the Weyr, and even now had her own personal team of "bodyguards" - that being W'lin and Chyurath, Genner and Gennesk, Ryiah, aand himself. But she'd have to learn to be more careful, though that was easier said than done.
Then the Weyrbrat had turned her attention to a woman who introduced herself as a rider by her mention of Herath. Lirmox clapped as Mouse Impressed a little blue pillie. Soon after that Saowyn seemingly appeared from nowhere, and Lirmox quietly walked along nearby as she spoke. Then he made his move, and joined the hug, making it a group hug.

"Hey." He greeted the wherling. "Doing good?" The redrider had followed and as the hug disbanded Lirmox turned his attention to her. "Why, hello there, ma'am! Pleased to meet you. Unfortunately, Mouse *is* her real name. As far as we know. My little cousin has a lot of caretakers around the Weyr, instead of..." He looked down. "...Parents." The wher candidate quickly veered off the topic. "But that's besides the point! And I took her to the hatching, so no worries, miss." He grinned, not mentioning that it had been more the other way around.

[Dragonwher]

Mira chuckled as things got going, with babies popping out of their shells rather abruptly. But she remembered her manners and smiled at the ones who got chosen "congratulations on the new friends". Though one boy freaking out a tad caused her some confusion as he was picked; but didn't dwell on it as she looked at the rest of the hatching. Malinoth meanwhile hummed happily as he called out to Ainoth Congratulations on your new little friend Ainoth.

Then he chirped happily at Hemetath as he responded to his clutchfather That's what Miramine is hoping, so her Perrin has a friend. With that he sent an image of Perrin when Mira brough the blue pillie into her dorm. Then Nymeria sat up with a squeak as she looked up wide eyed at the Iron. Nymeria waking caused a draconic chuckle as Malinoth spoke again and this is Nymeria her other new baby, Hemetath.

~~~~

Like his sister, the sleepy looking Wher candi smiled and waved at the new bond-mates "congrats to all of you that got a Pillie so far". As her person spoke Aela trilled her own congrats to the other people too. At least when she and Asher; Mira's black, weren't hum-trilling a welcome to the babies. Which she accompanied with chirped greetings to the other flits about.

Aela's antics caused a bit more of a wakeful laugh in Randiel as he looked at the pets and people around him. While his mind slowly continued toward wakeful despite his altered schedule he good naturedly sidestepped anything approaching his feet if it wanted past him. All without actually lifting his feet so he wouldn't hurt a curious baby; even as the antics of the young ones made him grin and think they weren't so scary as he'd thought.

A theory helped by the excitedly Mmhmm!ing blue on his sister's back but creeping up her shoulder to see better.

[phantomofthewolves]

Toreld was heartbroken. He was sitting at the edge of the lake, throwing rocks into the water. He had failed to Impress a dragon at the last hatching and now he was questioning his role as a candidate in the weyr. Many candidates have made fun of him for not Impressing and memories of his bullies back home made him shed a tear. He felt tears coming down his face and he wiped them away. His heart was heavy; he really needed a friend who would understand his pain. Just then, a person walked past him with a smile on his face, holding what appeared to be a baby pillie.

I wonder where he got that? Toreld wondered and looked over to where the man walked from. A crowd of people were crowded around a particular spot on the beach. Curiosity getting the better of him, he gently pushed through the group and discovered a pillie nest! A smile spread across his face as he gazed at the clutch of eggs that were shivering in earnest. Oh, how he would love having a little pillie around him! He sighed and continued to watch the clutch, hoping a pillie would bond to him.

[Gray]

Her cold was doing much better. She could actually talk with out sounding like her mouth was full of Buzzing Terran Insects that didn't really exist on Pern! Not that she thought of that metaphor, but honestly she was still a bit loopy from illness. It had sucked. It had sucked a lot. Kidanyr, Adventurer, Pillie Advocate, and Potential Physician had been bedridden for themost part. She didn't even remember Wenth's hatching well. She was sure she had fallen asleep halfway through. But now that her nose wasn't gushing like a waterfall, and she could talk with out devolving into a fit of coughing, Kidanyr was out and about.

Wrapped in a thick scarf, then further wrapped up by Quince, Kida plodded through the snow, crunching it underboot with much gusto, creating a path of mud and slush for Quintin to follow through. The grey seemed to be greatly pleased by this, and followed, waggling her feelers occasionally.

They had a destination in mind. There was a pillie hatching going on, and Kidanyr had to see it. As they neared, Quince reared up and gave a honk. Scrambling to her bonded's head, the green sent orange-eyed glares to any who dared get near her and her bonded. Quintin, on the other hand, politely tapped those they passed in a light 'hello' and continued with Kida to where others sat.

The nearly 8-turn old grinned gleefully, her ruddy cheeks dimpling slightly.
“Oh look at the ones that have hatched Quintin! Look at them, they're just too cute.” She looked to Minerva and waved a gloved hand.
“Your children are just precious!” She piped up, tugging down her scarf enough so it didn't muddle her words.

[Kestrel]

The pile of eggs in the sand was alive with motion, seething and rocking as countless pillies tried to break free of their eggs at once, but slowly, a pair of blue antennae began to poke their way out. This was quickly followed by a dark blue head, and out of the eggshells, the blue pillie rose out of the pile. Strangely, however, he didn’t appear to be walking. His legs were still and straight, keeping him standing at his full height as he was slowly lifted out by some unseen force below him.

That was, until said unseen force finally managed to climb out into the light, revealing that the blue pillie had in fact been riding atop his brass brother the whole time. Mdurff,[/color] the blue pillie chirped in a strangely deep voice for such a small creature. He tapped one foot against his brother’s shiny shell, and the brass stopped, allowing the blue to hop off onto solid ground. He surveyed his surroundings in a stoic silence, giving everyone watching a long moment to think about just how cool his entrance had been.

The brass, for his part, slowly began to scuttle around, looking up with curiosity at all the very large things gathered around. WooOOOoooOo…[/color] he said, more to himself than anything else. His shell was strangely pale for a brass, almost ghostly so, though his underside and legs were a bit darker. His shell was attractively marked with curving strips along the sides, and a little white crown was clearly visible on his forehead—but even more prominent were the markings on his face. And oh Faranth, what a face. A jagged dark line seemed to draw out a giant toothy mouth, and dark spots covering his eyes seemed to extend them into a sinister shape. Worse were the stripes on his head, which seemed to draw out goofy exaggerated eyebrows in conjunction with the eye spots. It was certainly not a sight anyone would want to see first thing upon waking up, that was for sure.

The next to wiggle up out of the sand was a gray with a pretty fade along her shell and bands of almost gold-tinted gray along her legs and head—and if one looked very closely, light speckles of an almost pinkish color were splattered over her legs, face, and shell. She blinked up at the faces looming above her, and unlike the brass, she was not impressed. They didn’t know it—they may never know it—but she was going to rule over all of them.

First, however, she needed her figurehead—someone to take the fall in case her plans at any time didn’t quite work out. And the gray knew just the person to pick—spotting the back of her brass brother’s shiny shell, she headed straight toward him. Vrrrrrrrrrim,[/color] she said, in her trademark sound that was almost a purr—and the brass turned to face her with a friendly wooOOOoo?[/color]

The gray pillie was usually quite good at staying cool and unreadable, like her amber mother, but the brass’s face, now that it was turned toward her, was startling enough that she stiffened and took a step back. Well, this obviously wasn’t going to work out—no one would trust a leader who looked like that. She turned and marched away, leaving him looking after her in confusion. There must be someone else she could use.

Meanwhile, a black with faint crossing stripes covering his shell was just picking himself out of the wreckage of an egg, tumbling out onto the sand. He regarded the world before him, and everyone in it, with immediate suspicion. They were plotting against him, he was sure of it—they all were! He could nearly hear it. He pressed his face to the ground, as if that would somehow help him hear it all. Tragically, he didn’t overhear any conspiracies, but he did hear a strange noise—as if someone nearby was…digging.

In fact, someone was digging. A vivid green pillie had hatched and, ignoring all the humans, immediately set about digging a pit near the water’s edge. Her work complete, she moved into the shallows of the lake and began splashing as much water as she could into her tiny personal pool. She couldn’t quite get it full, but it was close enough, and she began scuttling around, grabbing pebbles, dirt chunks, dead bits of lake plants—anything that struck her fancy—and threw them into her little cauldron. Satisfied, she peered into its depths, swaying slightly from side to side. Drrrble drrble, trrrble trrrble. Brrble brrble![/color] she chanted, pretending to be oblivious to the black pillie slowly coming her way. Wakaka?[/color] he leaned close to her dirty water pool, curious, but she smacked him away with a wispy antenna, turning to look at the startled black with intensity. Brrble trrble! Trrble drrble, trrble. Brrble.[/color]

He stepped back, simultaneously shocked and elated. She could see the future in her strange water, and she had told him his fate—a glorious fate! He was going to be a leader! Excited, he raced away, eager to go find someone to lead. This excitement was somewhat short-lived, however, as he very nearly ran right into the gray. Alarmed, he jumped up, ran behind a nearby protruding piece of an egg, and waved his antennae wildly. Wakakaka![/color] he cried in what he thought was a threatening manner, but the gray disregarded his display entirely, tapping him with a long feeler.

Vrrrrrim,[/color] she said, tapping repeatedly at his shell. The black stopped crouching behind the shell, peering at her. He wasn’t sure why, but this one pillie—and only this pillie—he was convinced, was not conspiring against him! No—she was a kindred spirit, someone he could band together with, and they could be leaders together! Vrrim, she said, nudging him. Their first order of business was clear—that brass was a problem. He was going to be pretty big later on, and might start thinking he was better than them, and that he should be the leader instead—and they couldn’t have that. Certainly not. The black squinted at him, and let out a startled chirp. That face! It was so…suspicious. The brass was obviously plotting against him, he could tell!

Wakakakakaka![/color] He charged toward the brass, hitting the surprised pillie right in the side and flipping him over. WOOooOOo![/color] The brass flailed his legs miserably, trying and failing to get up, and totally convinced of his victory, the black planted a foreleg on his wiggling underbelly proudly, while the gray watched from a distance. The blue had been strutting around, trying in vain to find something cool enough to be worth his time, but the brass’s cries caught his attention, and he turned back to look at the brass and the black for a moment. Mdurff.[/color] The black had gone too far, and clearly, something had to be done.

The brass was right in the middle of another chorus of wakakakas when he was suddenly knocked to the side by the blue, who, with only a single flick of his head, then proceeded to flip the brass back over. The shiny pillie then raced off into the crowd of humans, eager to get away from his mean black brother. Even when running, his movement was oddly quiet for a pillie, and even with his shiny shell it was likely that he seemed to almost disappear amongst all the legs and boots. That is, until he began climbing up Saowyn’s leg. Or rather, trying to, because he was not a particularly good climber. WooOOOooOO?[/color] He poked at her with a stick-like foreleg. Maybe she would just pick him up—that would be easier. She would pick him up, right? He wasn’t bad like some of his siblings seemed to think he was, honest, and he had no idea why they thought that anyway!

SPOILER: Click to show

Brass (bb8d43) – Bonded to Saowyn
Loose inspiration: Banquo, from Macbeth
Though generally a well-behaved pillie, his scary face tends to put people off and make them think he’s plotting to steal their firstborn son or something similarly disreputable. It doesn’t help that he is usually very quiet—almost ghostly so—and has a tendency to pop up when you least expect him to. He’s likely to be caught in situations that may seem as if he’s in the middle of something suspicious—but he’s usually innocent, and likely has no idea why anyone would think otherwise. He also has the unfortunate habit of liking to watch people while they sleep while standing very, very close to their faces—simply because he finds it strangely fascinating. But it tends to make for an unpleasant experience if the person (or dragon, or wher) wakes up.
WooOOOoo

The green pillie finally left her makeshift cauldron, moving to stand beside the gray, who chirped in greeting. Their eyes, however, were both locked on the drama playing out in front of them—a standoff between the black and the blue. The black had scrambled back to his feet after being knocked to the side, and seemed to almost be dancing, hopping about on his many spindly legs with a series of loud wakakakas and shakes of his antennae, but he did not actually move closer to the blue, and the blue seemed as unimpressed as ever, merely standing and watching. But this couldn’t go on forever—a fight seemed inevitable, and at last, the blue made his move, leaping toward the black and colliding, sending the two rolling across the sand. They scrabbled at each others’ undersides, hissing violently, but neither really seemed to be hurting the other much. For a moment they rolled apart, and took a minute to recover, though still staring each other down.

Wakakaka![/color] The black was already gloating—why was the blue even attempting to fight him? Their green sister had already told him that he could never be defeated by any creature who had hatched from an egg. Mdurff.[/color] The black froze—what the blue said was impossible! But the blue didn’t back down. Mdurff. Mdurff.[/color] It was true—he had never hatched from his egg at all. Unbeknownst to everyone, he said, one of Dalibor’s dreadful man-eating fish had swum into a small cave right below their feet, and lurched up, right into the eggs, where it had latched onto one of the legs of their brass sibling, and nearly pulled him down to be eaten. But the force had shattered the blue’s egg—and only his egg—before he could hatch from it himself (because he totally could) and he had swum down valiantly after his brother, into the dark cave. There they had fought, him and the fish, and after a long, epic struggle, he had won. His grateful brother had permitted him to ride back up to the shore on his back, where they had both emerged alive, and unscathed.

One of the black pillie’s antenna. Slowly began to twitch. Wakaka![/color] Surely he couldn’t expect anyone to believe that!. Mdurff.[/color] If pillies could shrug, he surely would have. Some people were always going to be doubters, and you couldn’t change that. The two lunged at each other for a final time, and met midair—but the blue triumphed, sending the black pillie into a spin while he met the ground on all eight feet. The black pillie rolled, landing this time on his shell, and now it was his turn to flail helplessly in defeat. The blue pillie took one long look at the black, and turned away. His work was done, and the black, he was sure, would never pose a threat to anyone again.

The gray’s antennae swept back in annoyance at the uselessness of her chosen figurehead. But the blue was capable—perhaps she could convince him to join her side. She scuttled toward him with as much regal grace as a pillie could muster, and chirped to him, questioning. He was silent for a long moment, and at last, tapped her with an antenna. Mdurff.[/color] He liked her spots—the pink ones. He had spots too, though his were blue, and much larger. Spots were cool—the very coolest of designs, obviously.

Pink?! For the first time, the gray pillie looked down at her legs, inspecting herself. Indeed, the light speckles dusted here and there on her shell did indeed have a slight reddish tint to them. This was terrible—no one would ever take her seriously if they thought she was only a lowly pink, instead of a mighty gray! She headed at once for the lakeshore, wading into the shallows and seeking out mud with her antennae. She began to slap the now-muddy appendages all over herself, until she was certain that no one would notice the pink anymore. There, that was better. Unfortunately, the blue had already moved on, but she wasn’t interested in him anymore anyway. She needed someone far more malleable for her purposes. She strode off into the crowd of people, looking critically at everyone she passed. No, no, no…hm. He might do.

Vrrrrrim.[/color] She dug her muddy legs into Lirmox’s pants, steadily making her way up to his shoulder. Yes, he would be a much better minion for her than other pillies could be, she was sure of it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Gray (adadad) – Bonded to Lirmox
Loose inspiration: Lady Macbeth, from Macbeth
While this pillie has no interest in her mother, seeing the amber more as a rival than anything, she certainly does take after her. She is determined to rule over everyone someday, but neither is she the sort to throw caution to the wind in pursuit of her goals—power can be dangerous, and she would sooner manipulate from the shadows. And manipulating is something she will do often—both to Lirmox, and anyone else she happens to run into, regardless of species. Whether it is to steal her a meatroll from the kitchens, or to stomp on someone’s foot, she will act as a figurative devil on Lirmox’s shoulder, whispering bad—and sometimes downright stupid and possibly pointless—ideas.
Vrrrim

The blue pillie never would have agreed to participate in his sister’s schemes even if she had gotten around to asking him. He was a free spirit, an independent wanderer, a humble defender of the weak and virtuous. His life was going to be a great journey, full of epic battles and struggle, and he was probably going to perish in violent, awe-inspiringly manly way, but that was okay, because he knew that somewhere, pillies would sing ballads of his exploits forever.

And right now, there was someone else who needed him. Mdurff.[/color] He said, squinting all the way up into Day’ar’s face. The human was far bigger than him, but he wasn’t afraid. He tapped the rider’s boot in greeting with his antenna just once before walking all the way up to his shoulder. It was going to be a long, hard struggle—perhaps the most difficult of his exceptional life—but the blue pillie was going to make Day’ar the tough, incredibly macho man he knew he could be.

SPOILER: Click to show

Blue (08244f) – Bonded to Day’ar
Loose inspiration: Macduff, from Macbeth
This is quite possibly the most manly pillie you will ever meet. His life is an epic saga, full of unbelievable adventures that he will, of course, handle without ever losing his cool. He has no problem recounting his adventures to Day’ar, though it is plain enough to see that many of the things he claims to have done are downright impossible. But he doesn’t have time to be bothered by that. He does his own thing and is very stubborn, unwilling to be told what to do by anyone. He believes it is one of the great missions of his life to impart his manly ways onto Day’ar, and the methods he may take to do this will no doubt be strange and often disconcerting. But it’s all for a good cause…in this pillie’s mind, anyway.
Mdurff

The black pillie, after spending many minutes wallowing in his defeat, had finally managed to tip himself back over. He almost seemed to glare at the people watching. See? See? He had known he was being conspired against! He never would have lost otherwise. He raced into the crowd, eager to get away from all the watching eyes, and ran right into Avna, scampering up her leg to her stomach, and wriggling his way under her jacket where he could be safe, and hide. Wakaka,[/color] he warned her. They were being watched, did she know that? Someone was plotting against them. But they—well, he—would get back on top again, just you wait! He would just have to outsmart them. Whoever ‘they’ were.

SPOILER: Click to show

Black (2f2d2d) – Bonded to Avna
Loose inspiration: Macbeth, from Macbeth
This pillie is incredibly paranoid. Or is he? He does seem to end up in unfortunate situations a lot, and on the occasion he does get his way, it never seems to last long before it all comes crashing down around his little black antennae. He is ambitious and bossy, enjoying the feel of being in control, but while he is certainly not too averse to violence, he also has a cowardly streak, and often seems to be all bark and no bite.
Wakaka

The green pillie found herself alone, for the moment, all her siblings having departed to find human companions. Of course, none of this was news to her—she had seen it all in the depths of her cauldron! Everything had come to pass exactly as she had told the black it would, and she knew many more things that would happen soon. A braying draybeast, a blue rock, the wings of a vtol in flight—these were the images she had seen, but now that her siblings were gone, who was she going to share them with? She too took to the crowd, weaving amongst the legs until she found just the perfect person.

Brrble trrble,[/color] she said mysteriously to P’ryt, climbing not straight up his leg, but weaving around him in counterclockwise spirals. He’d better not question her ways. But if he was patient, she would share all her mystical knowledge with him—but first, she needed a bigger cauldron. And probably also some food.

SPOILER: Click to show

Green (40c10d) – Bonded to P’ryt
Loose inspiration: The Witches, from Macbeth
This pillie fimly believes that she can see the future, though only by peering into her special, mystical ‘brew’ which she usually makes by dumping assorted ‘mystical’ objects in a small pool of water. Mystical objects can include any of P’ryt’s personal belongings as well as dead insects, food, and other assorted junk. P’ryt will need to provide her with two water supplies, because if only given one she will fill it with strange things and refuse to swim in it. She tries to be serene and mysterious, but tends to get excited and ends up spilling her ‘secret prophesies’ to anyone who will listen.
Brrble, trrble, drrble

[Kiran]

Imber watched as Impression after Ipression was made. A brass and a bronze, blacks and greens and pinks. They were.. Rather cute. She rather liked them. She kneeled down in the dirt to get a better look as they scampered past, Impressing to a dragonrider and other candidates. They we pretty neat. All said and done. And kept the lake safe. Perhaps one would a impress to her. She might get lucky and get one that could be a protector. That would be handy. Or perhaps they would pass her by. That would be fine, too. She had survived this long without one, amazingly.

She hadn't been in the fire or gotten eaten by a fish. Was a pillie really necessary? Hrm. That was a good question. But then again, she wanted a dragon or wher to protect the Weyr with, so perhaps having a pillie fit in with that. She wondered, head tilted, contemplating that angle of the situation. It made sense. Perhaps.

She would simply wait until the hatching was over and would see want happened.

Quenym sat in the dirt with one hand on Misty. She was rather relieved that no other pillie wanted her Quellyn. After all, they made great stories together! Another one would simply throw a bug - so to speak - into all their adventures. Another pillie would probably not care half as much about romance, or about the adventures that happened around the Weyr! No, no, she wouldn't want that to happen.

Her antennae waved in the air, trying to indicate that they should leave to her Bonded. But he didn't seem to notice or care, caught up in what was happening. After all, stories we're being made!