Fissures Forming...

[Flamewolf]

Keldara grinned as she saw the little blue flit hatch out of the egg. He looked so delicate, yet sure of himself...and hungry. Her eyes followed the blue as he started to nibble on Q'tris's pant leg, and had to stifle a laugh. The little fire lizard was cute, a beautiful color of blue, and already had a slight personality of his own forming. Not to mention that he reminded her of the sea, which always brought a smile to her face.

The candidate couldn't wait for the others to hatch. The first arrival was breathtaking, if only for excitement, and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She cradled the meat bowl in her hands as she watched the blue. Finally, after tearing her gaze off of the new flit, she turned to the others so she wouldn't miss anything.

*~*

Kerji didn't want attention to himself. He was beside Keldara, a candidate he'd seen in the halls occasionally, and they'd both agreed to silent agreements for, well, silence. The young boy felt safe enough around her; but the Weyr was beginning to get crowded, and he was in the front, gazing down at the clutch of fire lizard eggs. Though the candidate knew it was his imagination, he felt as though everybody's eyes were boring into his back, to force him to turn around and stare into angry eyes. He shuddered.

The meat bowl started to slip in his hands so he quickly grabbed the rim to prevent it from falling. He took a deep breath and calmed inself, which worked, and shifted slightly on his feet. He forced himself to ignore the others, except maybe the bronze rider and the candidate next to him, and glanced over to the blue flit. He smiled at the small creature, his gaze lingering on his delicate form before turning over to the clutch again. Such innocence was a bliss...where did it all go? He sighed and shook his head to himself.

[D'gellin]

Trilia's eyes darted excitedly over the clutch, silently trying to guess which egg would hatch first. Look that one's rocking! That one's got a fissure forming! And - there - her smile became noticeably wider with delight as a tiny blue tail shot out from one of the eggs. Soon to follow was the hide of a beautiful little royal blue fire lizard, its long legs somehow adding to just how cute it was. However, before Trilia could even think to hold her meat out, it darted forward, giving the little girl a shock of excitement. It was heading right for her! Or...she blinked in disbelief as it shot past her proffered meat and chose to latch itself on to her father's pants instead.

Q'tris almost toppled over in surprise, stunned into uncertainty for what to do as the blue struggled to get a bite out of his pants. He could see Trilia looking like she wanted to unlatch the fire lizard and take it for herself, but apparently the notion hadn't caught up to the expression on her face yet, because she too, did nothing. "Stop that.." Q'tris hissed, trying to push the blue off but failing as the little limbs squirmed around in an attempt to find a better grip. However, there was one thing that the blue /did/ notice; the piece of meat that was in Q'tris hand. And oh did it smell wonderful. Unfortunately for Q'tris, the blue chose to climb up and across his arm instead of using his wings, leaving Q'tris wincing as the little claws pinched his skin.

In one fatal swoop, the long-legged blue had done away with the meat and started creeling at Q'tris for more. The greenrider faltered, catching an expression of irritation on his daughter's face that he immediately recognized as a 'that's /my/ fire lizard, so what are you doing with it?' look. He tried feebly to hand the lizard off to Trilia, but the blue creeled in protest and dug his claws decidedly into Q'tris fore-arm.

Trilia sniffed in distaste and turned away, her posture a little straighter in her aggravation. Her father had said he /didn't/ want a fire lizard! So why on Pern did /he/ get one? That should have been hers...That just wasn't fair. She glanced inconspicuously over her shoulder as Q'tris resigned to the inevitable and fed the blue more meet, a hesitant smile twitching at his lips despite himself. Frowning, she glued her eyes back to the eggs. That was only the first to hatch, after all, there were plenty more. She held her meat out a little farther with a sour expression. But she couldn't help feeling that the blue that just rejected her was perhaps one of the prettiest little fire lizards she'd ever seen.

I thought you didn't want one. Minth said with a waver of surprise in her mental voice. Q'tris' mouth formed a thin line. I didn't. But... He coaxed the little blue off his bare forearm, and onto his clothed shoulder. I didn't have much of a choice, did I? He sighed inaudibly as Trilia purposely ignored him. Is she angry with me? Oh, she's furious. But she will get over it. Anyway, what are you going to call the little one? Q'tris blinked as the blue settled down enough for Q'tris to stoke it's neck. I'm not sure... He paused How does Phineas sound? Terrible Minth replied serenely, with a mental ripple of a laugh that relaxed Q'tris just a little.

[M'kel]

The other violently twitching egg gave one last shudder, and limbs burst through the heat-hardened confines. Wings extended to shake off the final shards, and the brown stumbled more than stepped from the fallen shell pieces. Upon gaining his footing on the unevenly heaped sand, the brown paused to take in his new surroundings. His hide was rough in colour, resembling tree bark, and he was quite stout in stature. The excited faces surrounding him warranted a tilt of his curious head, but then his thoughts turned elsewhere. He was hungry.

While he was squawking in a thoroughly demanding tone, stomping around and sniffing for hidden food (the thought hadn’t occurred to him that the meat smell was coming from the people), his hopes seemed to be answered. A hole had appeared in another, smaller egg, and a green leg was poking through experimentally. This thrashing green enticement held his attention, and the stout brown began creeping closer to the egg. The hole was not widening very quickly, and the fire lizard was finally close enough to pounce and grasp the green leg in its mouth. He chomped down excitedly, certain that he had found a suitable meal at last.

The attacked green screeched in pain and indignation, momentarily stunned inside her egg before her leg began to thrash. Suddenly, her egg shattered all at once as she spread her wings and burst out. Immediately, the green began to swipe at her attacker. The brown was not going to be deterred, though, and he held on viciously.

Unbeknownst to the locked fire lizards, another egg had split erratically, the pieces falling away in uneven chunks. A haughty looking bronze marched across the sand, little unsteadiness in his newly used limbs, eyeing everything around him. His wingtips and snout were so dark they appeared black, and his whirling eyes gazed intently at the extended meat offerings. The bronze paused to scan the hopeful individuals, and he made his decision, striding off at once to a suitably sizable offering and intriguing mind. His head held high, the bronze walked right into the brown, knocking him off the green, and kept going.

At once, the brown with the rough hide demonstrated his true character, shying away from the impressive bronze and scuttling to hide behind Elkie. He crooned hopefully up at this person, eyeing the meat in her hand and requesting the protection of her arms.

The green, no longer thrashing in the brown’s grip, swung out her head and wings, revealing an algae green hide with frothy swirls. Her long neck extended fully as she stumbled away on her injured foot, falling against Hunter’s leg. Her whirling eyes turned upwards to the lad’s face, locking upon his own. Her plaintive cries split the air, as pain warred with hunger.

Ignoring the seeming mayhem around him, the puffed-up bronze extended his wings, the span of which seemed unusually wide, and leapt into the air to glide and land in front of Keldara. He neatly snapped the meat from her fingers and swallowed it voraciously. His red-tinged eyes fixed upon her own, demanding more food immediately.

[Journye]

Hunter watched as the first little blue made his impression to a rider that he didn't know yet. He chuckled to himself as he noticed the younger girl with him give him an angry look. He attention was soon turned back to the remaining eggs as he heard another shell crack open. He tilted his head as he watched the little brown search for food, smiling softly.

He couldn't help but choke back a cry of alarm as the brown latched onto the leg of the green who burst from her shell in shock. He barely kept himself from stepping forward to aid the dainty creature, but thankfully the appearance of the bronze seemed to scare the brown away. Hunter let out a soft sigh of relief as the the brown hid behind Elkie, then he blinked a few times as he felt something bump into his legs and his gaze lowered to be entranced by the whirling eyes of the green resting against his ankle.

Hunter could only stare in awe for a moment, telling himself that he was only supposed to be here as an observer to better understand what happened at a dragon hatching, but he knelt down to offer a piece of meat to the lovely green, admiring her intriguing color before looking around for assistance with looking to her injured foot. He couldn't just let her suffer and well he had already fallen in love with this lovely dainty creature that had turned to him for aid and food.

~~

Journye was thrilled with the honor of being allowed to be present for the hatching of these lovely, helpful creatures. She hoped that she would be able to impress one because it would be helpful in the hospice and sending message. At Healer hall she had seen quite a few of them around helping the the senior healers.

She shook her head to bring her wandering mind back to the present just in time to see the brown latch onto the green's leg. She stood perfectly still as she watched the whole proceeding, a slight sigh escaping between her slightly parted lips as the bronze startled the brown away from the green. She followed the green's movements as she stumbled amongst the waiting hopefuls.

Journye made her way carefully over to the boy that the green had found to protect her. She knelt and smiled gently to both of them as she fumbled one handed in her pouch at her side to pull out a small jar of numb weed. She also pulled out a small wooden spatula shaped spoon to carefully sooth the ointment onto the wound. She set her bowl of meat down and with Hunter's help examined the green's foot. Journye clicked her tongue softly at the damage, but didn't think it would be terribly detrimental to it's health.

She looked up at Hunter and smiled gently "She should be alright, but she may have a slight limp when she walks, but it should be slight," she told him as she fished out a small roll of gauze and carefully and gently wrapped the green's foot, murmuring softly to her dainty patient. She handed Hunter the rest of the gauze "Come and see me later and I will give you some numbweed, I'm not sure if I'll need more at this hatching," she said softly.

[Flamewolf]

Keldara's expression remained the same, slightly smiling look as the rough-hided brown hatched. He looked around, eyes gliding over the meat offerings, just as another egg hatched. A green leg poked through, but disappeared behind the brown hatchling. Frowning, the candidate wondered what the brown was doing when her eyes widened. She gasped quietly as she saw the brown gnawing on the brown. Afraid to interfere, she just watched the two with fright lurking in the edges of her eyes for the green, and was not aware of the third egg that hatched.

Kel did see him at the last second as he charged into the brown, knock him off the fully hatched green, coming in her general direction. She blinked in surprise at the impressive bronze before her eyes glanced behind him to the other two, to see the brown had hid behind Elkie, a girl she'd met previously, and the green limping over to a lad that was unrecognizable to her.

Her gaze snapped back over to her hand as she felt the meat being ripped from her fingers. Her gaze met the red-tinged eyes of the bronze for a second before her brain caught up with her. She quickly pulled out another strip of meat and held it out to the bronze, who quickly snatched the strip as soon as it came in range of his small snout. She continued to feed him, an amazed look on her face, until he was finished. Holding the bowl at the bottom, the bronze spread his unusually wide wings and glided over to the bend in her arm, snuggling down as he folded his wings, but still remained awake, watching the clutch as if to make sure none of his other siblings did anything despecable.

She raised an eyebrow at the flit. Interesting little fellow. Hm...A name...I wish I was better at these. Alright, then, his name will be... She smiled. Rudd. The candidate, satisfied with the name, she glanced one last time to the newly-named flit before returning her attention to the eggs.

*~*

Kerji remained unpassive, though just a tad bit surprised, at the brown who turned on his the green. He was intruiged by this sudden change of trait, watching as the green finally was free from the egg and started to thrash around. Then he noticed the bronze; knowing that he would set them straight, he stole a glance at the people around him, to see most of them trained on the eggs and the newest arrivals, though a couple were still looking to the greenrider's blue.

He returned to the clutch to be surprised; the brown had hid behind a candidate to escape the haughty bronze, the green had limped over to another lad, and the bronze...had walked right over to Keldara. He smiled, watching him, until he returned to the clutch with a silent sigh. There were more chances; maybe, one would be for him? Well, hopefully there was. All he could do was wait, and since he was usde to it, he could handle it.

((....wow, that was longer than I expected. XD))

[draien]

Draien remained silent as he stood in the room, allowing himself to smile as the lizards began to hatch. His eyes studied the blue carefully, as though he didn't want to miss a single detail of any of the lizards. The blue made his way towards Q'tris, eagerly snapping up the meat in his hands. Swiftly Draien's head jerked away from the two as more eggs started to crack, watching in awe as a brown emerged from his egg, stumbling his way to stand on the sand. A green soon followed, voicing her complaint with an indignant screech as her leg stuck out of her shell. He couldn't help but laugh inwardly as she swiped at the brown, clearly not pleased by her situation.

Another egg began to crack, seeming to spazz as it did so, a bronze gazed out from the pieces of egg shell, clearly looking for food. His eyes finally landed on someone, and began to proudly march over, knocking back the green and the brown as he made his way towards Keldara. The brown, clearly startled by this, hid behind Elkie, seeking protection from the haughty bronze as the green stumbled, falling on Hunter's leg.

((Short! And crappy Dx I hate me.))

[M'kel]

((Silly Draien! The correct description should be: Of sufficient length and well written!))


Four more eggs had begun shaking insistently, and cracks rippled along the curves of one of them. Although it seemed certain this one would shatter first, another egg gave one last shudder and split neatly down the middle. Almost elegantly, a pine green fire lizard stepped from the halves of her former home. She stretched out her wings experimentally, flapping them daintily to show off their perfect form. The undersides of her wings, visible when she paused with them held upright, were the pine green of her hide at the edges but faded to a light fern green in the center of the membranes.

The other fire lizard finally succeeded in breaking through the shell of his former home, little chunks breaking off in a thoroughly anti-climactic manner. The little blue shook himself to send these clinging pieces flying, then swayed on his feet from the dizzying movement. Once he had steadied himself, the colours of his hide stood out vividly against the sandy background, for the fire lizard’s hide was a rich marine blue in colour, while his wings were a contrasting midnight blue. He peered around in search of every fire lizard’s dream feast, but the larger eggs surrounding him caused some difficulty. He lifted his short legs to prop himself up against another egg and peer above it more effectively.

The sight that met his eyes momentarily faded the hunger gnawing at his stomach. A pine green beauty was strutting around the sands, and the blue fire lizard couldn’t help but become entranced in her graceful stride. The wings folded elegantly to her back, the arch of her neck, and her well-proportioned limbs held his attention quite effectively. Slowly, the blue fire lizard dropped down from the egg he’d perched part way upon and began wandering across the sand in her direction.

Seemingly aware of the rapt attention she was receiving, the green fire lizard emphasized her form, gazing inquisitively up at the faces looming over her. She sniffed delicately, then tilted her head charmingly to one side in consideration. Finally, she began striding forward purposefully, though gracefully, and delicately nibbled at the meat held in Tarren’s grip. Although conscious of her appearance, the green fire lizard could only maintain her composure for so long with the taste of meat filling her mouth, and she soon succumbed, gobbling down the whole chunk quickly and creeling for more.

Trotting fixedly across the sand, the blue’s short legs failed to lift him over a fallen piece of shell, and he stumbled, burying his snout in the sand. This defeat was too much for the little fire lizard, and he raised his head, crying mournfully up at B’raun to rescue him from this cruel, too-large world. His midnight wings flapped feebly, as if he was too apathetic to rise by himself.

[D'gellin]

Where on Pern had all the candidates gone? Degellin blinked blankly at the blatant lack of his peers as he deposited a large bowl on one of the kitchens in the Lower Caverns. One moment there was some incoherent babbling coming down the shaft, then a swarm of excited people, and finally a mass exodus that involved more bowls of meat than Degellin could count on his fingers. This, of course was problematic because, one: he was now sure their responsibilities that they abandoned would weigh on him, and two: if - when - he couldn't stand cleaning /another/ dirty plate, who was there to prank? No one. He'd go mad for sure.

The exceptionally young looking teen leaned over the newly washed bowl with a contemplative look. What would cause so many people to vacate the Lower Caverns so quickly? "You! Random person!" Degellin shouted suddenly as something clicked, clambering over to the first passerby he found, and nearly knocking the other person off-balance in the process. "Do you know if the fire lizard hatching started?" The response was something along the lines of 'yeah, where have you been?' but Degellin easily brushed the negativity off, snagged a bowl of meat, and shot down the halls with surprising speed. It was in that bronzerider's weyr, right? He skidded to a halt outside of a horribly packed weyr. That had to be it. Grinning, Degellin wormed his way as close to the front as he could and peaked his head over the people in front of him (with some frustrating difficulty), absolutely delighted to see all the little fire lizards running around. Amazing.

~~~~~

Trilia could hardly contain her enthusiasm as more and more eggs hatched. Little fire lizard hatchlings were creeling and swooping and eating all over the place. They were really such beautiful creatures. Each time one presented itself, Trilia held out her piece of meat eagerly, but as more and more chose to ignore her, she couldn't help but feel a stab of dejection. What was she doing wrong? Trilia didn't think she looked scary or anything. Usually her smile would ensure everyone's happiness. She could only assume fire lizards didn't like it when people smiled (her dad didn't always smile, after all, and he got that handsome blue! D: ). But that couldn't be right, people were all grinning ear to ear all around her. Maybe there was something wrong with her...something deep down that the fire lizards just didn't find appealing...The thought struck her suddenly, filling her with a leaden feeling of doubt that she wasn't accustomed to. If a fire lizard didn't want her, did that mean a dragon wouldn't either? The hopeful smile that she'd assumed after getting over her father's fire lizard (more or less) slipped off her pretty little face. Well what an unexpected hurdle...

[etoile]

Elkie watched the first blue Impress, slightly jealous of that man's luck. That blue was a beautiful one! She sighed, her eyes wandering to the other gorgeous, rocking eggs. Her eyes unfocused for a moment once they landed at their destination. She rubbed the now good-sized lump that had formed on her smooth forehead, but she was deep in thought. Would she, a simple candidate, actually have a shot at Impressing a creature as beautiful as that blue had been? Determined that she would, her eyes came back into focus, concentrating with determination on the cracking eggs.

She shouldn't be so envious, she thought guiltily. If she was meant to Impress one, she could be patient and just wait. And that she did, watching curiously as a brown hatched. She grinned in amusement as he tried to eat one of his clutch-mates. Never had she realized they could be that hungry! It was so strange- but strangely entertaining. Elkie smiled encouragingly to both the brown and the green, but they obviously not needed as the bronze regally shoved him from her.

And then... the brown was coming to her! Her vibrant blue eyes widened as the precious little creature hid from his scary, bigger clutch-brother. Elkie let out an incredulous moan, but was ecstatic. She knelt to the floor, lifting the rough-looking creature into her protective hands. At once, he struck at her fingers, once again hopeful that this was the food he was searching for. Elkie flinched, letting one hand leave the flitter so that she could grab a chunk of meat from the bowl she had brought with her. Though trying to maintain his daintiness, he snatched the meat greedily, gobbling it down his throat.

"Don't choke," she warned him, and fed him more. Not heeding her words, the brown attacked the meat, not even chewing before swallowing. Choking slightly, Elkie thumped his back gently. He crooned with relief at having that piece out, and it seemed to bring him to his senses. He began chewing after that, and Elkie sighed with relief.

For this whole moment of feeding the brown, nothing else existed. It was only Elkie and the brown flitter. She was so overcome with love for the little guy, the fierce desire to protect him... Nothing was more important to her than the little brown. As he finished, he collapsed in her hands, asleep. Cradling him in her hands, Elkie stood back up, the delight on her face plain. This, she knew, was one of the most amazing experiences of her life.

((I'll do Robika later... my fingers hurt from typing, but I just wanted to get a post it.))

[Shikai]

Eggs were cracking left and right, baby fire lizards bursting out and creeling to be fed. It was, certainly, quite different than anything Tarren had seen before! Living a fairly reclusive life up until his arrival at the weyr, he had seen neither fire lizard nor dragon before being Searched. Having been unhappy in his previous life anyway, he had adapted without difficulty to weyr life. But this, this was something else entirely! He had helped with animal births before, but dragons and fire lizards just didn’t seem like the sort of creatures who could be put in the same category as animals, and here was another difference.

Wet and slimy, baby runners or herdbeasts or what have you would be pushed from their mothers’ wombs, although there weren’t more than one or two for the larger aforementioned creatures. For felines or canines, there could be more, but never, never, into the twenties! And certainly, upon being born, they did not race or stumble or strut about, seeking to bond with a human and, more importantly, be fed! No, this was a birth unlike any he could have imagined. If these were but fire lizards, what must a dragon hatching be like? The same, but on a much, much, much larger scale? The chaos of this hatching was enough for the boy, and he gave up on trying to imagine something even more stunning and confusing.

Yet that wasn’t to say that Tarren did not admire these amazing creatures, or was not enjoying himself thoroughly by merely watching them! He had woven his way through the taller people to a place far off to one side, but in the front. What did it matter, when the eggs were pretty much in a circle anyway? He was squatting down, to put himself closer to eye-level with the glistening, colorful baby fire lizards, although to creatures still so small with youth he must seem to tower above them even so. His bowl of food was tightly clutched to his chest, although a generous strip was held in his outstretched fingers, like bait for a fish. But he wasn’t paying any attention to himself, clearly, for his brown eyes, sparkling with wonder and merriment, were fixated upon the gem-like dragonets in front of him.

Doing his best to take in the hatching in its entirety, he marveled at the blues, greens, brown, and bronze as they appeared, not making note of the people they bonded with. After all, from his viewpoint, anyone standing up was just another pair of boots.

Thus, his first reaction to the quite unexpected approach of the dainty green was surprise. He dared to draw his head a little closer to her as she nibbled the meat he held, enjoying being so close to a fire lizard, for this was the closest yet! It took him a moment to realize, however, that it was his meat she was eating, and thus, if he could hold her interest, she was to be his fire lizard! Imagine, one of his very own! Well, that was why he had gone in the first place, he supposed, but that seemed so long ago now! Hastily, he fumbled for another piece of meat to offer the creeling creature, and she instantly took his offering. She seemed more polite, more reserved, even in her great hunger, than the others, yet even so she gobbled down what was offered greedily and begged, in her own, elegant way, for more.

When her appetite was finally sated and his food bowl empty of even the meagerest scraps, Tarren rose slowly to his feet, holding the pine-colored green with both hands, drawn up to his chest. Her eyelids drooped sleepily, although it was with great, and surprising elegance that she crossed her two front paws, one over the other, and, extending her long, graceful neck, settled her head upon them. Tarren looked upon her with mingled wonder and fondness, still adjusting to the fact that she was his.

“Well,” He began, to the nearly-asleep green, “I suppose you’ll need a name, hm? You are a prissy little thing, so you’ll need a name like that.” Tarren speculated, and the green lifted her head slightly to give him a disdainful look of disapproval as he called her ‘prissy’. “How ‘bout…Calliope?” He suggested, ignoring the look she had cast him. Again she raised her head, but this time she tilted it sideways as though reflecting on the idea. She then gave him a clear look of approval , accented by a contented chirp, before resuming her resting position and finally falling asleep.

“Well, Calliope it is.”