Perfect {Kalith's Second Clutching}

[Admin]

It's the perfect time of day,
It's the last day of your life,
Don't let it drift away,
While your heart is still racing.

Fajra looked up sharply from her work, blinking her blue eyes. She was tired. It was the middle of the night. However, finally, Kalith was pulling herself from her couch and launched herself laboriously into the air, fighting to keep her body, heavy with eggs, in the air as she sailed down to the hatching sands. She had been later than was normal; she should have clutched day before. Fajra scrunched up her face, to force her tiredness and any ill thought of the gravid Queen, who had been able to sleep all day, needing to clutch right at that moment. She rose, walking quickly, mentally reminding herself Osro was asleep in the lower caverns, where she'd put him in expectation. She arrived in time, the Queen only busy shifting about sand in a frenzy as she stepped into the huge, dim space and moved to take a seat amongst the empty and quiet stands.

The candles around the Weyr burned down, and hours of time past. Busy and protective, Kalith lorded over the sands even during her clutching. They did the task alone. Anyway, most of the Weyr was asleep when they started, or had the sense, even when they knew what was occurring, to simply sleep. It took time. Fajra was painfully aware that it took time. She wanted to go to sleep. She'd stayed up to finish a report, which lay, almost done, in her weyr and wasn't likely to be done for another day. She sat, waited, and offered her assurance and assistance to Kalith. She didn't doze. Though no word of protest was issued, she left exhausted from it all, despite the faint pride and joy the rippled through the occasion over everything else. Candidates complained of midnight hatchings, but no one thought of poor Weyrwoman and midnight clutchings.

Finally, Kalith was finished. Fajra perked up, blinking her eyes to focus. However, Kalith wouldn't let even her see how many there were in the clutch at that point, wings stretched protectively to hide them all from view and mind intent on only herself. Like her last time as mother, she push them about, organizing them and neatly setting them atop sand so she could watch them. Finally, once she was settled with them, she closed her wings and laid down to rest behind them with a content huff of air, tired but watchful, having no interest in anyone staring at her beautiful eggs but Fajra. There were nineteen mottled eggs, no obvious Queen, but that was reasonably expected after Callistath's birth in her last. They formed into three loosely curved lines. Seven lay close to her body, and two sets of six were tucked into the wrap of those seven.

Half wrapped in the curl of Kalith's tail, a smaller, maybe more average, egg sat, beginning the back line of eggs. It was both tan and gray, splashed together in a pale mixture. Beside it, the second stood a big taller than it, though the egg looked skinny when it sat as it did. It was a yellow-brown, but a very dark blue patterned over the majority of the surface, turning some areas a yellow-brown purple and other sections almost black. The egg next to it on the right was only a bit smaller, a nice medium in size. It was violently colored, a basic cream mottled thickly in amber and green and yellow and orange and red. The base of the fourth egg in the back was brown, a somewhat deep brown. It was mottled with a million different shades of red and orange and tans and even some deep greens, though more simply than how the egg beside it had the coloring done. In size, it was hulking, definitely the biggest of the clutch, towering over all the others. It towered over the smaller average egg to the right. The boringly sized egg was a boringly regular mix of creams and browns, perhaps a little on the brighter and paler side but not overly distinct. The sixth egg in the back, getting towards Kalith's resting head, was bigger medium, the opposite end of normality compared to the creamy fifth egg. It was also a creamy color, but more brown, and with a more brown red filtered over top. The last egg in the row was the smallest of the set, though not tiny. It was dark but still quite dramatic, mainly an ashy brown with a subtle purple mixed into it.

The center of the middle row was crowned with two large eggs. Neither was quite as large as the one that sat between and behind them, in the middle of the back set, but the one to the right gave it a good run for its money. It was darkly colored, a mix of almost black brown and a very dark green across its shell. Its smaller but still large companion a foot to its left was brilliant beside it, though only a fairly normal brown with mottled yellow across it. Farther to the left, past the brown, two smaller eggs made up the end of the row to that side, the one on the very end being the slightly bigger of the two. That one was brilliant, far outshining the large brown and yellow egg nearby. A nice, rich, natural green color was half hidden under a strong splatter of light yellow and brilliant oranges, simple colors gone awry. The littler egg beside it faded to the back, being a wistful swirly mottle of very gray blue on a simple brown. Way away from those two to the right of the big central eggs in that row, another two eggs completed the set to that side. They were both medium, the one on the very end being slightly larger like with the ones at the start of the row. The first of the pair was colored in a random mix of pastels, faintly pink brown with a lovely yellow and a neat orange. The second was mottled energetically, all of the circles to its patterning being small and coming in abundance, a mix of a yellow-brown with a faint blue.

Sitting front and center, two almost identical eggs sat together, side by side. They completed the core of the clutch, all of the very center eggs having been large in Kalith's design, both of them far on the bigger side of medium, though not as large as the three largest. Though the exact way the shades lay across their shells wasn't quite the same, both them had the same colors and same type of basic mottling to them. They were a deep green and a deep blue over a stronger light brown. Aside from those two, the front row was small. The first egg wasn't that small but it was below the line of average. It had a stripy pattern to the colors streaked across its surface, which was mainly a very dark red but it had little flares of brown and a lighter green. The second egg was smaller, one of the smallest. It was neatly colored, the splashes of it subtle. It was brown, very brown, a few shades of brown on it but not even that much variation within the ruddy color. Aside from the two at the center, the fifth egg was the biggest, but it was still fairly small. It was a warm, hearty, creamy yellow, covered in a faint patterning of a pale, brownish pink. At the very end, the sixth egg of the row sat, and it was tiny, the smallest of the clutch. It didn't look unhealthy, though it certainly held an engaging uniqueness. It was glossy gray-brown with fine, light pink-red and grand, deep purple and pale, aged yellow running across its surface.

Light flickered into the quiet space. Fajra blinked and turned away from the healthy clutch. It was a bit past dawn, Rukbat breaking over the edge of the bowl. No sleep. The Weyr had nineteen eggs on the sands, and all she wanted was some klah. She ran her fingers through her hair, staring out into the bowl through the gaping entrance of the cavern. It looked pretty, shadows long and light slowly growing. Then she hurriedly straightened out her hair and turned to Kalith. The Queen, also tired, watched her eggs intently, only paying attention to other things in case of some unforeseen danger. Fajra smiled faintly, momentarily ignoring the fact that the seemingly peaceful but dangerous looking copper would probably throw a fit for her leaving too soon, while her clutch was at its softest, if she tried to go get something keep awake.

Still, faint fondness at the sight of the Queen and her clutch sprawled across the sands lay on her face. "You do know you will have to give some space to Nikianeth;" she commented, lightly and mildly, to the copper. The orange had been showing signs that she was going to clutch a small set of eggs. Raising her head a fraction of an inch, Kalith simply looked at her in response, offering no answer. She would consider it. Sighing, figuring the argument was better left for a time when she was awake, Fajra shifted about, trying to get comfortable without falling asleep. The stone seating of the stands wasn't that comfortable, but it was comfortable enough to fall asleep on in a pinch. She had experience with that. Kalith liked Nikianeth fine. It would work out. She yawned, fighting off the exhaustion. She had to somehow be alert, for the nineteen eggs born at an inconvenient hour of the day.

I quit running behind,
Oh, I know your meaning,
You look for,
For what you want to say.

[Kila]

The Bronze pair were naturally early risers, but on this day they were not the first ones awake in the Weyr. O’sho slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the blackest black of early morning. It was a beautiful, familiar time to be awake, but it was not what had roused him.

Own, wake up. Own? he heard Daidoroth’s deep voice probe gently into his mind. The large dragon peered into the weyr, his eyes aglow in the darkness. He needed His to wake up and mentally shook him to that state, reviving O’sho’s consciousness in the most gentle and tender of ways. Good morning, Mine, he said warmly when he sensed that His was indeed awake. Kalith is clutching. She and Hers are on the Sands. I must go stand guard. Shall we go? Daidoroth was always protective of his children, especially when they were defenseless in their eggs with the shells yet to harden. He was always protective of Kalith, especially when she was clutching and bound to the Sands. Since the renegade Queen had dared to come into the Weyr and even take up residence on their sands, he had been very leery of renegade activity. He knew His was concerned with what the renegades did beyond their cliffs, but when they threatened to trespass directly on his territory, the Weyr itself, it was Daidoroth’s concern too. He would not be letting any renegade dragon or rider anywhere near Kalith and the clutch he had sired.

Oh she is, is she? O’sho said, sitting up and stretching. He placed his hands against the small of his back and cracked it with a sharp pop. She’ late, isn’t she? he pondered as he moved aside his furs and got out of bed. He pulled on his pants that were hanging over the end of his bed and located a clean shirt. Do you know how long she’d been clutching? he asked ask he shrugged on his riding jacket. Since very very early.Ouch. Kalith had taken a long time to clutch the last time Daidoroth had flown her, and O’sho estimated that this time the case would be the same. That meant that Fajra had been down on the sands all night too. Poor things, he thought, walking out onto his ledge. Daidoroth’s large form was discernable there, sitting straight and motionless as he stared down in the direction of the Hatching Cavern. Drop me off at the kitchens, old boy? O’sho asked, patting Daido’s shoulder and pressing his cheek against his hide.

Daidoroth did, and then flew straight to the mouth of the Hatching Cavern. There was an overhang there atop the entrance and against the face of rock. There was just room enough for him there, though plenty for any normal sentry, and he settled himself on it silently. His eyes glowed as he looked out over the Weyr, the only light outdoors while Rubkat still slept with the rest of Pern. He made himself comfortable, but only just enough, for this began a long watch that he did not plan to abandon until all of his children were safely hatched and impressed. He did not try to peek at the eggs, knowing that Kalith would not have the patience for him or anyone at that moment. He reached out and gently touched her mind, though, to let her know that he was there. And he was proud. He adored her. He would not let anything or anyone that she did not want pass.

O’sho, though he was interested to see the clutch, arrived with a different purpose and with simple gifts in hand. ”Good morning,” he called softly as he reached the mouth of the cave. He stopped beneath Daidoroth and bowed to Kalith respectfully. I brought some nourishment for Yours. She will be here a long time with you. May I come in? he asked her humbly. From his watch, Daidoroth rumbled his own plea for His. Kalith admitted him, but only grudgingly it seemed. The attitude with which she dealt with him was immaterial, however; it mattered only that he was allowed in.

”Congratulations.” O’sho walked up to Fajra and said it with a smile. He spoke quietly, the hour and the setting seeming to demand it. He studied her, knowingly already before he did that she would look (and was) exhausted. He would never point out such a thing. For one, there was not need to state the obvious in her presence, it might only annoy her, and secondly, she did not like to have her weaknesses pointed out. She knew that she was tired and worn, and O’sho knew this about her. Though their relationship was distance, they knew more about each other than they would ever voice. ”Here,” he said, handing her the mug of klah he held in his left hand, ”It’ll keep you awake and warm.” In his other hand he held a large plate of food that was filled generously with some of everything that had been in the kitchen. She could eat and snack from it all day is she pleased. O’sho had a feeling she’d need it because she wouldn’t be leaving Kalith’s side for some time.

[hatori3070]

Geree, Anthe, and Dioia were snuggled in with Theirs, sleeping peacefully, when Geree stretched in her sleep and nearly fell off the edge of the cot. She was careful not to actually cry out as she rolled back into position. Hers was sleeping, and it was still pretty dark out, but Anthe and Dioia woke at the sound of her rustling, asking why she was up so early and whether she wanted to go exploring or not. She quickly silenced them with a mental reminder that Jasra was asleep, and told them that yes, she would like to explore since they were all awake. Anthe and Dioia leapt from the bed and went straight for the window, Geree following at a more dignified pace. She flashed them an image of eggs and heat, along with the beautiful Copper Kalith. Geree knew she would be due to Clutch at any moment, and since Hers was too busy sleeping to go look at them for herself, it would be a good idea to be able to show them to her when she did get up. All were in agreement, and zipped off to see, Anthe and Dioia squabbling the whole way there. Geree shushed them just before they got there so as not to disturb the clutchmother. They landed at the entrance and carefully poked there heads just inside. It was wonderfully warm here and it was tempting for them all to run inside and frolic on the sands. On a normal day, they would have, but today was special. Huge eggs were resting on the sands with Kalith curled protectively around them. Geree carefully brushed the Queen's mind, asking permission before actually entering the chamber that held the sands. The other two would've come far too close before asking permission without Geree there to keep them in line. If it had been another firelizard that had clutched, she wouldn't be quite so submissive, but Kalith's reputation was known by all. Geree had no desire to get her or her sisters into trouble with the great Copper Queen.

[Admin]

Hold on to whatever you find, baby,
Hold on to whatever will get you through,
Hold on to whatever you find baby,
I don't trust myself with loving you.

Kalith sense Daidoroth outside, sensed his reassuring brush in her mind. She didn't move. She would not move for a long time. She would leave her eggs once, maybe twice, while they were hardening. The first time probably wouldn't be for at least a sevenday, if not three. However, she wanted to sleep and even that was a dangerous thing, a despicable thing in her mind. If he was there, she could sleep, just for a few moments. He would guard their children. He would keep them safe. She didn't need him to defend her. She saw no threat of another Queen threatening her territory. She would could take care of herself. It was only her children for which she brooded that she was truly concerned about. They had to be safe. Nothing would happen to them. Until they hatched, they were hers. Only hers, and a little bit Daidoroth's.

The copper began to drift into a doze, both eyes still completely open. Then the bronze's rider arrived and she snapped up sharply. Daidoroth, a dragon and the sire of the clutch, was one thing about even allowing near the cavern to defend her eggs. She glared at him for asking to come into the sands, raising her head and staring at him with red-tinged eyes. Why did he speak to her so! Why did he ask! He was smarter than that! However, there was sense to his words, and Daidoroth wanted her to let him into the cavern. With a huff, she grudgingly sent him her agreement to the idea. For Daidoroth and the betterment of her rider, she would agree to it. No one else had better go thinking they could come in and see her eggs. Protectively, she flared one of her wings and protectively held it out over the eggs, not touching them but covering them.

Fajra had been slowly losing the battle with staying awake. It was silly, that she didn't notice O'sho arriving when she was trying so hard to be an attentive extra guardian to the eggs to keep Kalith happy. Maybe it was for the best though. She had no interest in seeing O'sho, not in the state she was in, not when she was tired and exhausted and worn out. Her eyes, downcast due to her state, snapped up as he offered his quiet congratulations. She hadn't heard his greeting before. Even in the silent, expansive space, where a voice sounded like a clap of thunder, she hadn't heard him at first. She didn't start at his voice. She simply eyed him warily for a moment, and that never really faded. He looked fined, and there she was, tired out of her mind. He was even smiling. She felt an urge to smack it off his face, but she blamed that on exhaustion.

However, the congratulations, which felt like a flat consolation to her and better offered to Kalith, turned to an offering of food and she blinked. She accepted the klah, and she gingerly took a sip, not taking her eyes off him. Perhaps it was the copper, in the back of her mind, telling her not to let him do anything that they couldn't see there. Perhaps it was just a mild mistrust built on a bear-like temperament blossoming from no sleep. Either way, she kept her eyes fixed on him. However, the klah was warm against a faint chill on her body and sent a jolt running through her. She blinked once, lowering the cup slightly. She took the plate of food he'd brought, setting it out of the way. "Thank you." She said it coldly, mildly, harshly, but there was a sincerity. She raised the cup of klah again, to drink more, and then spilled it as Kalith let loose a shriek.

"Ugh, Kalith;" the Weyrwoman muttered quietly, in no mood or state to deal with the temperamental Queen, who was suddenly quite awake. There were flitters who wanted to come onto her sands! Two greens and a pink! She didn't want firelizards on her sands! Surging to her feet, carefully minding her eggs, Kalith flared her wings wide. She looked huge, the spread of her wings enough to easily shelter all of her eggs and making her lithe but long body look all the bigger. Her shriek made it abundantly clear that the trio wasn't allowed on the sands, her sands. To make that all the more clear, there was a flash of dark bronze and the flutter of smaller wings. Afzal appeared and zipped down to send the three scurrying. He would protect Kalith's eggs too, if only because they shared the same person. She was gracious enough to allow him.

Content that her point was made, the copper settled back down, curling protectively back around her eggs just a bit farther. Sighing, highly unmotivated to do anything about it, saving up for a fight over Nikianeth, Fajra tried to wipe off the klah now on her with a tired expression. That had only been three rather polite flitters, and Kalith was seeming in a reasonably good mood about the firelizards in terms of encroaching on what was hers, since she'd let Afzal help. What was it going to be with people? With another dragon? She was hoping that it would get better as the eggs grew harder. She looked up at O'sho and raised one eyebrow at him, daring him to think up something helpful to argue. She was actually surprised that Kalith hadn't thought to kick him out with the firelizards. She supposed it was Daidoroth. Kalith liked Daidoroth.

Who do you love?
I see through, through your love,
Who do you love me or the thought of me?
Me or the thought of me?

[hatori3070]

The three scattered, Anthe and Dioia screeching, at the roar from the Queen, trying to get away from the Bronze that was chasing them. Geree creened apologetically. They hadn't meant any harm. They were just curious, as it was in their nature to be. She had known that Hers would be curious as well, but too nervous to try and see them herself. The Queen had been so angry. They didn't understand. They had been polite, waiting on the ground, outside of the sands. They had asked permission.

They were clumsy in their haste to retreat. They were still young, and being so scared and confused didn't help their flying skills. Betweening was beyond them as well, so they had to do their best with what they had. Anthe was wont to blame Dioia. She had poked her head into the entrance farther than anyone else. Anthe just knew that it had been her fault Kalith had been so angry with them. Dioia blamed Anthe just as strongly, believing that she had actually stepped farther than the other two. There would be a fight later to settle the matter. Now though, their priority was escape. Hopefully the Bronze wouldn't pursue them too far. Theirs would be very unhappy if they brought home an irate Bronze this early in the morning.

[arratra]

There was a quiet tap as Margras popped out of between, bearing a glow for the Queen.

Giving a low creel, he landed on the edge of one of the holes far above the sands, glittering eyes looking down at the queen and her clutch was admiration. He presented an image to the queen; it was himself, placing the glow held in his claws in front of her, before taking off again to admire the queen and her eggs from a respectful distance. A moment later, he sent another image of A'tra and Avartiath poking their heads in to give their congratulations.

There was a faint clatter from outside; Matren was working at something, not yet aware that Kalith had clutched. It was a flamethrower, but it was in terrible condition, and Matren was trying to get it back into working order, even if it was only for drills.