Fissures Forming...

[bleedtearsofshame]

A frown crooked the corners of A'dis' lips as he peered down at the leather draped over his lap. He was sitting upon a stool in the Lower Caverns, gulping down mugs of klah while he examined his riding leathers. Although they had not been at Araelen for too long, he already needed repairs. The leather was straining in some areas, weak in others. It was to be expected, of course. He and Sayurith had been doing nothing but flying. They were the Searchriders, the only trained pair who had the true talent to locate Candidates. Other dragons could sense candidates when necessary, of course. But his Sayurith could sense deep into the souls of the young ones and find that stirring spark - the only that would allow them to impress.

With one of his blades, the greenrider carefully cut the stitches holding two of the leather pieces together. He cast the weakened strip to the side. Luckily, Araelen had found several decent leather crafters who were willing to supply a stock of leather strips between three and four feet long, and wide enough to be used for riding leathers. A'dis had several of these leather pieces before him, and he selected one to take the place of the weakened leather.

His hand picked up a stitching awl, a wooden knob from which a metal shaft emerged, tapering off to a dangerously sharp point. He would use this to punch holes into the leather, holes through which he could pull the cord that would 'sew' the strips together.

But as soon as A'dis began to drive the awl through the thick leather, Sayurith's excited voice burst into his mind.

Oh, you must hurry! You're going to be late! she told him, urgency adding vivid shades to her voice.

A'dis' frown deepened. "Late for what?" he asked, though he was already putting his awl away and gathering up his leathers.

The firelizard eggs are hatching! You must hurry to M'kel's weyr!

The dark-haired man was confused and the puzzlement was easily heard in his tone, "Why does that concern me, Sai?" he asked, tilting his head gently to the side.

Oh. I must have forgotten to tell you, Sayurith sounded sheepish now. I told Tirenth to tell his rider that we would like an egg. I should like to have a little cousin to be my friend.

A'dis shook his head, combing his fingers through his hair while he tightly shut his eyes. The last thing that he needed was to have to care for a newly hatched firelizard, along with his constant travel duties. But he had never before denied Sayurith anything, and he was not about to start now.

"Fine," he sighed with defeat as he opened his eyes. "Where are the eggs at?"

Tirenth's weyr! They are hatching now! You must hurry!

Within moments, the greenrider had stepped out of the Lower Caverns and into the Weyr bowl, where the agile figure of his lifemate met him. In a gesture of practiced ease, A'dis swung onto Sayurith's bare back, allowing the green to lift him into the air and deposit him on the ledge of M'kel's weyr. Judging from the sound issuing within, there were many people already gathered.

His judgment was proven accurate, he noted as he stepped into the Weyr. The majority were candidates, although a few dragonriders were sprinkled within the crowd. All had eyes focused on the throng of shaking eggs, eyes wide and breath held while tiny creatures began to stagger forth. It had begun, but he was not too late. Perhaps he would have the opportunity of pleasing his Sayurith once more, bringing home a little friend for her to interact with.

Offering a nod of greeting to M'kel, he silently accepted a bowl of meat from one of the younger candidates and joined the growing horde around the eggs.

[M'kel]

The other two violently vibrating eggs cracked nearly simultaneously, so that attention was divided between the entrances of the two fire lizards. However, although it was obvious that both shells had finally been breached, only one fire lizard was visible as it struggled forth, a disappointment for those who had chosen to watch the other egg. A brown fire lizard burst out of his egg, scattering shards everywhere in his exuberance. It was lucky that the other fire lizard had failed to show himself yet, for the shrapnel of the shell could have caused injury.

Rearing back on powerful, dappled mahogany haunches, the brown fire lizard fluttered his wings slightly to raise himself on his hind legs for a better view of the world. Although he narrowed his whirling eyes in assessment of those before him, this didn’t aid him much in his decision. Snorting in disappointment, the brown settled down to the sand once more and took a more direct approach. He proceeded to the nearest person, Trilia, and began sniffing. The meat smell filled his nostrils, tempting him dearly, but there was a different…smell…behind that. He proceeded past her to Elkie, then Journye, then Draien. All of the meat smelled the same, but the people certainly did not.

Searching the subtle distinction between different people that the fire lizard could only interpret as smell, a whiff of something very tempting finally drew his attention. Something about it just…fit. Triumphant, the brown fire lizard scampered forward, gave one last considering sniff, and threw his jaws around the proffered chunk of meat, engulfing Kerji’s fingers in a gentle grip at the same time. Pulling the meat away without harming his person, the brown fire lizard raised his eyes expectantly for more.

Shifting sand in the ring of eggs indicated the pending appearance of the second fire lizard. A blue snout poked out from the sand, followed by much struggling, before front limbs followed, wings burst out, and a long tail finally slithered from the sand. It seemed that the blue had unwittingly pierced his egg at the bottom, then been forced to dig his way out from under it. Had he but only thought of throwing his weight to one side to roll the egg over, he could have saved himself a lot of effort.

As it was, the fire lizard was coated from his head to the tip of his long tail in sand, and he shook himself quite vehemently to remove this nuisance. Once the majority of the granules had been flung from his limbs, his hide was visible. It was mostly an azure blue in colour, but his spine was a deeper navy blue, fading to the azure on his sides.

The blue was obviously not much of a problem-solver, for he faced the great dilemma in front of him with a fair level of uncertainty and confusion. He scanned the faces before him eagerly, but no solution presented itself. Mournfully, the blue fire lizard stepped off the sands and began wandering through the press of people, slipping between and past tree-like legs on either side. None of it was right, and he was so hungry.

His head raised dejectedly, scanning faces once more. Suddenly, his eyes locked upon another’s, and the confusion dissipated from his mind. Squawking in delight, the blue fire lizard launched himself onto Hunter’s leg, wrapping his clawed limbs around it as if he’d never let go. This was followed by many excited squeaks, as he contented himself with a job well done, and his maw opened expectantly for a reward.

Another egg that had been quaking, though not nearly as violently, suddenly cracked open at the top, then fell over. A brown fire lizard rolled out of its grip, landing on his back and screeching indignantly, his wings spread out to either side of him on the sand. From this position, it was obvious that his wing lengths differed slightly, though noticeably, and the brown struggled for a moment or two before succeeding in gaining his feet once more. His hide was a dusky brown with swirls of burnt sienna, and his eyes narrowed in determination as he gazed about the room.

Without warning, the brown fire lizard launched himself into the air. Unfortunately, newly hatched as he was, and with a difficult wing span to cope with, the flight ended as abruptly as it had begun. The erratic flight had landed him at his target, though not where he had planned, and the brown fire lizard perched on the top of Myra’s head, clinging to her hair with his clawed limbs and chattering in dismay. After that harrowing experience, he wasn’t coming down easily.

[Shikai]

Myra initially felt, well, as awkward as usual, towering over many of the candidates (for it was they who seemed to be the majority here) with nothing to do but stand and watch. She clutched her food bowl almost protectively to her chest, but not because she was trying to keep it safe. Rather, holding the thing was the only physical task she had, so she did it with gusto. Not that it was enough to assuage her unpleasant feelings.

However, where the bowl failed, the hatching fire lizards succeeded. The instant the first little blue pulled himself from his shell, Myra was hooked. Her eyes widened in wonder, as though by stretching her skin away from her eyes she would better take in the marvelous sight before her. Fire lizards of all sizes, colors, and temperaments burst into life before her very eyes, transforming from dull, lifeless eggs that a very ignorant person could mistake for rocks, into glistening, creeling baby fire lizards, crying out for food and attention.

They came…and they went, moving off to join with candidates Myra did not know. But then, she knew only one candidate, Kitari, and she had yet to see one of the precious creatures approach her. She was so overwhelmed by the mass birth before her that Myra almost forgot that she was there in hopes of bonding with a fire lizard as well. Suddenly, the pile of eggs that once seemed massive didn’t seem so huge anymore, and she was aware of every empty egg. Although she would not admit it to anyone, she really did want a fire lizard, and dreamed of owning one just like many of the children of Pern. And here she actually had a chance…or did she?

There were so many people around her, and there seemed to be less and less eggs…no, she needed to prepare herself for the very real possibility that she would not walk out with a fire lizard of her own. It seemed odd, as she had been one of those to discover the eggs in the first place. But she had never for an instant believed that that meant she was entitled to one or more of the eggs. No, she was certain that it would be better to let the creatures have a chance to choose for themselves. That way, if one did grace her with its love, she would know that she had been chosen by him or her, and gotten hers fairly, just like everyone else. She would not be plagued by doubts of ‘if he had had a choice, would he still have chosen me?’

But little did she know that a stunningly lovely brown, with beautiful swirls of lighter, yellower sienna over a darker dusty brown on his hide, was about to end her speculation and worrying for her.

Myra gasped audibly as the creature, whom she had been admiring, as she did with all the fire lizards, suddenly ceased to be a creeling lump on the ground and was airborne. What a feat for such a young creature! Could fire lizards fly when just out of the shell?! She had thought not, but this brown was determined to do it all the same. Clumsily, he sped through the air…and stopped atop Myra’s own head!

So dumbstruck was she that it was not until the shorter, redheaded candidate beside her who had been her table-cleaning partner nudged her in the side with her elbow, and exclaimed “Feed him!” that Myra clumsily reached into her bowl for a piece of meat. Yet then, there was the dilemma of how to get it to him! Judging by the feel of his claws on her head and in her hair, he had a tight grip and would not easily be dislodged. And she was so tall, that asking someone for help was out of the question, because there wasn’t room for her in the crowd to bend down! The only solution was to try to calm him down, then coax him into coming down with food. Myra was very glad of her beastcraft training.

She deftly ripped the piece of meat she was holding in two, then, raising a long arm above her head, offered it to the brown. He let out a happy chirp of pleasant surprise as a hand bearing food approached his nest of warm, black hair, and extended his neck to take the offering, although not slackening his grip in the slightest. Myra allowed him to eat the small morsel, which vanished from her fingers almost instantaneously. The next piece she held a bit farther out in front of her, and while it was still accessible without the fire lizard having to leave his perch, it did require him to move forward a bit.

Hunger and the desire to stay put did battle within the brown, but hunger won out. Slowly, awkwardly, he inched forward, making sure to always keep his claws as entwined in Myra’s hair as possible. He came forward no more than he had to to reach the food, and then ate it. Myra lured him closer and closer to the edge, until she could feel his claws at her forehead. Myra then rubbed the meat all over the insides of her hands, so that they smelled heavily of it, and little chunks stuck here and there. She then placed a chunk in the center of her hands, cupped them together, and put her hands to her forehead, encouraging the fire lizard to abandon her head and move to them instead. He creeled unhappily, shuffling near them only to back away again. He was clearly frightened, and Myra did her best to reassure him by crooning softly to him.

“Come on now, it’s alright. Just come down, you won’t get hurt.”

Clumsily, he slowly slid down into her hands, liking then, and she slowly brought him down to her chest and continued feeding him. Her hair was in horrible tangles, but she didn’t care. It was short enough not to be much of a problem anyway, but not even the worst of bad hair days could upset her now! She had a fire lizard, a fire lizard of her very own, who had chosen her above all others. Surely there must be something in her that was appealing enough to this brown to make him choose her, so maybe, just maybe, she had a chance with a dragon as well. But even if she didn’t, this warm, pleasant, and quite unexplainable connection with the fire lizard was enough for her.

“What shall I call you, then?” She wondered aloud, staring down at the brown in her hands. He looked up at her with an inquisitive chirp. “I think…I think I’ll call you Pan.” She decided, and a warm smile spread across her face. She wasn’t so alone anymore, because now she had Pan.

[Flamewolf]

Kerji's eyes watched two eggs as the trembled, cracking almost at the same time, his eyes on the one to the right. He blilnked and jerked back ever so slightly as the shell shattered, a shard hitting the other egg as well. It revealed a brown flit, raising himself on his powerful hind legs, his wings spread. Intruiged, the candidate watched as he seemed to scan around the crowd before falling to all fours, and walked over to the line of candidates. The fire lizard seemed to inspect all of the people, whirling eyes going from person to person, until he stopped.

Kerji felt the jaws around his fingers, pulling the meat out of his grasp. His gaze locked with the brown's, who then tilted his head to the side as he waited. The young boy pulled out another strip of meat and held it out, the brown quickly eating it again, rearing on his dappled mahogany haunches, wings raised to keep himself balanced. His front limbs rested on Kerji's forearm as he dipped his hand back into the bowl for another strip of meat.

After a few more strips, the brown was satisfied with his meal. Kerji shifted the bowl in his grasp as the brown clung onto his forearm. The flit pulled himself up, gently but firmly climbing up Kerji's still arm until he was on his shoulder. Giving a small, satisfied chirp, the brown turned slightly and laid down. His wings folded, and his tail draped over his person's shoulders, he rested his head on his front paws and closed his eyes. Kerji smiled.

"You need a name."

The brown peeked open an eye, soft green and whirling gently. Kerji smiled slightly. "How about Lupin?" The brown crooned quietly before settling back down again, closing his eye.

"Lupin it is, then."

((And no, I'm not changing it this time XD))

[biraun]

B'raun had been viewing the Hatching with such rapt attention, watching as all of the gorgeous flitts wandered throughout the throng of people, attracted to the various personalities, and finally finding their perfect match. As each fire lizard was accepted by an eager candidate, B'raun's heart grew a little more rapid. He was holding the dripping meat in his hands so tightly that a pool of blood had formed on the floor beneath his outstretched hand. He was hoping with all his might that he could have a miniature dragon all to his own. As these thoughts swirled in his mind, B'raun could hear Klazariath grumbling over his little obsession, but B'raun paid no attention. This was his chance to get a fire lizard at last. He had no particular colour in mind. He really didn't mind what he got.

When the pine-green fire lizard struck pose after pose before the crowd, B'raun restrained a chuckle. Just hatched and all ready she was flaunting her shimmering hide. Then the little blue that had hatched right after her caught his eye. It was as impressed with the green as B'raun was and made his way on his stubby limbs towards it's beautiful form. But, stumbling, it's snout collided painfully with the sandy earth right before B'raun, to his astonishment. As it whimpered pathetically B'raun automatically bent down to aid it. When their eyes locked it was an instantaeneous bond that reminded B'raun for a fleeting moment of his Impression with Klazariath so many years ago. B'raun carefully scooped up the little guy and cradled him in his arms. The blue flitt nuzzled him slightly in thanks before licking at the stream of blood that had run down B'raun's arm. Hastily B'raun brought the hunk of meat to the blue's mouth and testing it in his dainty jaws, the blue decided that it had quite a delightful taste, so it quickly began to gobble down chunk of the raw meat after chunk.

As it fed, with such ravenous hunger for such a little creature, B'raun remembered that he was suppose to give the little feller a name. He peered down at the blue, racking his mind for inspiration. It's uniquely coloured wings caught his attention and he thought hard on a name that could represent his little pal. "What say you for the name... Munich?" B'raun drew a tender finger along the firelizard's eye ridge and it chirped appreciatively. "All right then, Munich it is!" B'raun said and beamed in delight at the fragile little guy in his arms continuing to feast.

I'm glad you're so pleased over him... Klazariath rumbled in his mind once again, seeming to finally regain his voice.

Why thank-you Klazariath. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you either. I'll be over shortly to oil your hide. B'raun replied. Klazariath sniffed slightly in acceptance and was silent once more.

[Journye]

Journye had turned her attention back to the hatching after seeing to Hunter's little green, making sure she was alright and not going to suffer much from the chomped upon leg. She smiled as she watched the next couple of fire lizards make their way into the world. She was a little disappointed that she hadn't even caught the eye of one of them, but there was still eggs left and if she was lucky she would be able to.

She arched an eyebrow as she noticed the little blue digging himself out from under the egg that had harbored him. She was confused as to why he would do such a thing and let a soft chuckle escape at the sand covered blue. She watched him make his way through the crowd and held out a strip of meat in offering as he went by, but he passed her by.

She watched his progress and couldn't stifle the laugh that bubbled up from her throat as the little one latched onto Hunter's leg and trilled expecting a reward for finding him. She felt a small pang of jealousy, but she was happy for the boy.

~~

Hunter smiled his thanks to Journye and turned his attention to the little green cradled in his arms, feeding her chunks small enough to keep her from choking since she was so voraciously hunger, he felt his own stomach tighten slightly in hunger. He tilted his head curiously at this, figuring that the such a feeling would probably be triple fold if he impressed a full sized dragonet.

A soft smile graced his lips as his green final had her fill and was beginning to doze off cradled in the crook of his left arm, leaning in a slight reclining position on her back with her head resting against his chest, her tail curled around his wrist. He admired her color thoughtfully and chewed slightly on his bottom lip "Hmmm....I think I'll call you Ivy," he said, grinning as she gave a sleepy little chirp of approval.

He was shocked out of his admiration of Ivy when something latched onto his leg. He looked down and was even more surprised to see a blue fire lizard there with his claws dug into the material of his pants and he winced as he heard the cloth rip slightly. He looked around completely unsure what to do. He thought he had only come for observance and then he had impressed a green. He had figured that there perhaps been enough eggs that he might get one, but now a second one had chosen him and there were still others that had not impressed.

He chewed on his bottom lip and carefully knelt, trying to get the blue to release his pants and quiet his excited squeaks and chirps, but with no success. Ivy chirped softly to her brother and nuzzled her head against Hunter's cheek. Hunter smiled softly as he felt a reassuring thought from Ivy as if she didn't mind having to share him with her brother. He sighed softly and fedd the little blue a chunk of meat, snatching his fingers back before the blue could take them with the meat in his hurry to eat. Being near the back of the crowd Hunter as able to position himself in a sitting position with his back against the wall and be out of the way.

He repositioned Ivy carefully so that she was curled in the crook of his folded legs and finally managed to get the blue to let go of his pants without too many tears to be mended later. The blue perched on his knee and stretched his neck to its full extent, begging for more food. Hunter chuckled softly and gladly feed the hungry little thing. The little blue chirped and trilled contentedly to himself as he ate, choking a few times as he couldn't quite grasp the concept of chewing.

Hunter fed him slowly so that he wouldn't choke to death, gently reminding him with each piece to chew until he finally figured it out. The blue stretched his wings out and after a few awkward tries was able to refold them. He was full now and getting sleepy. Ivy shifted to give the blue space as he curled up with her in the crook of Hunter's legs. The blue nuzzled his sister and draped his neck across her back and the two promptly fell asleep.

Hunter looked around at the others within the room and noticed a few jealous looks and frowned slightly. He hoped that his fellow candidates would have any hard feelings toward him now, afterall it wasn't like he forced the blue to choose him. He shook his head and looked down at the two sleeping firelizards and hummed thoughtfully. He gently brushed his fingertips along the blue's spine, along the deeper navy blue "I think I'll name you Cobalt," he said softly before looking up to watch what he could of the rest of the hatching.

[M'kel]

Loud cracks pierced the air once more, drawing attention away from recent Impressions and back to the Hatching. The top of a partially buried egg burst open, and a bronze head poked out of it. Front limbs scrabbled away at the shell, tearing it apart in chunks until the opening was wide enough for the bronze fire lizard to slip out. He stepped upon the sand, narrowing his whirling eyes in thought as he examined his new world. His hide was streaked in gold, and his smaller stature belied the strength in his form. An important decision needed to be made now, as the bronze must sate his hunger, and he fell into deep concentration, his eyes flicking from one face to another. Unconsciously, his tail began to lash upon the sand in response to his dilemma.

Another egg burst in two places at once, as a tail and a front limb broke through simultaneously. These green appendages lashed briefly, before the two holes widened to become one. Slithering out, the green fire lizard screeched in triumph and scuffed sand upon the egg with her back limbs, burying it in its defeat. She swung her narrow head around the circle of sand, prepared to take on any new challengers who dared confront her. Dark swirling patterns danced their way across her malachite green hide, and her wings flapped experimentally in the steaming air. Suddenly, movement caught her eye, and the green’s head began to jerk from side to side, following the movement of the bronze’s lashing tail.

Crouching down, the green snuck forward, eyes locked upon the tail. Her narrowed head continued to follow its movements, while she crept from egg to egg on her way to this enticing target. Unexpectedly, the tail began to move away, for the bronze was finally striding forward, approaching the hopeful onlookers. However, the tail continued to lash, and the green hopped after it, never quite bridging the distance before the tail moved out of reach once again. She screeched and pounced, but instead of plunging her teeth into the target, the green was surprised to find a chunk of meat extended in front of her face. Her eyes shifted to meet Evias’s, and she accepted the offer, snapping the meat down eagerly.

Disgruntled at having his tail pounced on, the bronze fire lizard hissed and turned to face his attacker. Upon realizing she had become distracted, he gave a visible shake of his head and returned to the task at hand. Striding forward, the bronze sniffed at a young girl, snorted, then moved past her. His whirling eyes fixated upon Q’tris’s face, and he creeled in delight, insisting that his person feed him immediately. To this was added a rumble of warning for his brother already with this person, for the bronze was not willing to wait while the other had his fill. As it should be, he would be sated first!

[D'gellin]

Degellin couldn't sit still. Everywhere around him there was something happening. An infectious smile split across his face, accentuating his dimples as another fire lizard burst from its confines. The whole thing was amazing; absolutely amazing; there was no other way to describe it. What an honor to be here! And to think he'd be facing larger versions of these things on the Hatching Sands at some point! The idea was mind-boggling. Just getting used to the concept of dragons being back was still something he was trying to wrap his mind around. He had to keep sticking his meat out over and over, as he had a tendency to get so enthralled by the hatching that he'd forget his purpose for being there: to be able to impress one of these strange little creatures.

~~~

Trilia forcefully threw away any pestering doubts as more eggs began to rock more violently. There were still more fire lizards! More chances! And as if to prove the point, a handsome brown strolled right over to her, sniffing experimentally at her proffered piece of meat. A smile alighted her face as she attempted to appear and think as flatteringly and kindly as she could toward the little creature, but the look of delight faltered as the brown glanced behind her than promptly walked away. Stunned, Trilia watched in complete disbelief as /another/ fire lizard walked away from her, choosing someone else entirely... But maybe it wasn't herelf that was the problem, she reasoned, looking guardedly over her shoulder at her father. That brown had made a distinct motion towards Q'tris and she knew it. But what for? With a stab of betrayal she wondered if perhaps her father had /made/ the lizard leave. But he wouldn't do that would he? He loved her, didn't he? Trilia's mind was reeling with possible reasons for why this just wasn't working out. Perhaps it was just luck of the draw; fire lizards weren't supposed to be on nearly the same plane as dragons in the mentality field. Flitters were driven purely on the ravaging hunger in their stomachs, not their ideal companion. And yet...Trilia started as she realized her limply hanging piece of meat was being sniffed at by a gold-streaked bronze which, quite frustratingly, snorted and turned directly to her father.

Without giving herself a chance to think it through more, Trilia crept away from Q'tris, and over to Degellin, who looked friendly enough, and whispered a plea to let her share his bowl. Degellin, who had been completely immersed in the hatching, blinked in surprise but agreed without complaint, even moving over about half an inch for her to get a better look before locking his eyes on a severely rocking egg once more. Trilia gave a half angry half guilty glance in Q'tris' direction before holding out her offering once more. She didn't know what it was, intentional or unintentional, but there was something that her father was doing that was distracting fire lizards from her.

Q'tris gave an audible groan as the bronze made his presence known to him, chirping for food and growling warningly at Phineas. "I didn't come here for my own indulgement." The greenrider muttered in aggravation. Then, leaning forward with a bargaining air he whispered "Look, /she's/ got some nice meat," he indicated Trilia "why don't you take hers? Honestly, it's much better than the junk I have. Phineas is a pig; he tore it all up." The blue trilled indignantly at this lie, but Q'tris was desperate. Quite the contrary, the bronze was adamant. He wanted his meat now and he wouldn't settle taking it from anyone less than Q'tris. He chirped more insistently now, thrashing his tail at the indigence of making him wait so long. Then, quite to Q'tris' unpleasant surprise, Trilia left him and went to the other side of the room. Stunned, Q'tris hardly took notice as the bronze tore at the meat dangling from his limp hand. His daughter had just abandoned him without a word. "Shaffit." He covered his mouth with his hand, completely at a loss for what to do as he shoved a bit of meat into the complaining bronzes' mouth to shut him up, and muttering something about calling it Regulus. Phineas creeled in distress on his shoulder, both flitters echoing Q'tris' dejection. What was he supposed to do? Minth? Q'tris pleaded, helpless. She hesitated before crooning gently into their mental link. There's nothing to worry about. She will understand; she always does. She is just confused. You have no reason to feel guilty, mine. Minth murmured, trying to quell the rising panic in Q'tris' chest. What can you tell a man when he fears that one of the most precious parts of his life might be rejecting him?

[Shikai]

((I’m writing just this one post for Shame/Kitty. ^^ Sorry for any confusion.))

There was a slight lull in the hatching of the fire lizards, when, for a moment, it was silent. It was as though all the remaining fire lizards had paused for a breath, before hurling themselves back into their task once more. And one did indeed hurl herself back into the hatching process with a fervor, exploding quite suddenly out of her egg. An unusually large green lay sprawled out a few inches to the side of where her egg used to be, looking slightly dazed to so rapidly have gone from the comforting dark security of her egg to this vast, bright world, full of faces peering down at her and the scent of meat wafting from every direction.

As she picked herself up, struggling to her feet, she revealed herself to be a pleasant, spring green color. She raised her wings, flapping them weakly to remove the goo left from the egg membrane, and all who were paying attention would note that the undersides of her wings were, in contrast to her body, mossy green.

The green shook her head lightly, as though to clear herself from her stunned state, and it seemed to work, at least partially. Moving determinately back and forth, examining faces, she was the epitome of a strong, healthy fire lizard, for she was well proportioned, although large for her color. Confused, as most were, as to where to go, she paused for a moment beside another egg, pondering what to do.

However, she had picked the wrong spot to stop, as just then, a sky blue foot punched its way through the shell, colliding immediately with her head. The blue soon shook the rest of himself free, although, unfortunately for him, the first sight he took in as he blinked his eyes to adjust them to the light was the face of his angry green sister, who was screeching in indignation.

He was of average size for a blue, and his sky blue hide was graced with lovely cloudy swirls. Attractive though he was, this said little for his courage, for he quailed immediately at his sister’s anger. Scared, he turned and broke into a run, stumbling at first, but then moving with surprising grace and speed away from his sister. She gave a few little hops after him, beating her wings, but soon lost interest.

The blue, unlike his sister, picked out the right presence immediately: a strong, commanding person, who would certainly be able to give him the protection he wanted. Like a feline, he clawed his way up Kitari’s leg until he found his way into her food bowl, where he immediately curled up into the smallest ball he could form with his blue body. He was trembling, but became aware of the scent of meat, and cautiously began extending his head to examine it. He was hungry, after all.

The green’s anger had faded, to be replaced by unhappiness. She was hungry, and had the most important decision of her life to make, and her head still hurt too! But she needed to find the right person, so she continued walking up and down the row of people, eyeing each person speculatively.

As she was searching for her human, another fire lizard was just about to hatch, after which he would need to go through the whole process as well. After much effort, a brown head butted through the shell, followed by his neck. Suddenly confronted with the world around him, he chirped in delight, turning his head to see all around him. His first views of Pern were seen, however, from an upside-down view. All his twisting about then caused his egg, still quite intact save for the hole from which his head was protruding, to roll over several times. The brown emitted a squawk of surprise as everything started spinning, and he couldn’t control where he was going! He thrashed about, trying to adjust himself once again, which only caused his egg to roll further, and faster.

Suddenly, he collided with a large, soft object, and his egg split neatly in two, causing him to tumble out. This brown was marked by alternating shades of maple and ochre, and he leapt quickly to his feet, overjoyed to finally be free! However, a certain green fire lizard who had just been knocked over mid-stride did not share his happiness. Creeling with anger, hunger, and confusion, the spring green lunged at the brown, who squawked very loudly in response as he was bowled over nearly as soon as he had gotten to his feet. Unlike the blue, he did not run, but detached himself from his sister, and regarded her with a long, curious look. She glared at him in return, and looked back up at the human faces. After pacing one more time down the line, she finally locked eyes with Degellin, and walked, crying unhappily as she made her way to his hands, and- ah, his food bowl! Her creeling stopped immediately as she filled her mouth with meat, and hungrily went after more.

The vocal little brown was left by himself, and he was soon distracted by his exploration of the eggs, sand, and feet around him by a fierce rumbling in his stomach. Oh, but he was hungry! He made a beeline for the nearest food bowl, that of Q’tris. But he skidded to a halt, realizing that, hungry as he was, he had to find the right food bowl, and this was not for him. Besides, he didn’t want to share with those two others! He wove through the legs with great speed borne from much energy, although certainly not great command of his limbs, for he collided roughly with several people. However, he simply rebounded like rubber, not deterred in the slightest.

The brown was moving so quickly that he almost forgot why, and so he went past his person on accident, and wound up tumbling head over tail, rolling across the floor, as he tried to stop too quickly. But the brown soon righted himself, and squawking happily, he turned around and raced back to Barec’s feet. He reclined onto his back legs and sprung into the air, jumping up and down many times as he tried to reach Barec’s arms and food bowl.

[Flamewolf]

((Lol, talk about traffic jam))

Kerji shifted on his feet as he watched the crashes of the next three fire lizards, and had to stop himself from laughing. Beside him, Keldara was doing the same as well, her bronze's eyes whirling faster as he glared at his sister. Kerji didn't think that the green noticed, but smiled in amusement, turning back to the clutch to see the brown hoping up and down like an excited toddler. He chuckled quietly, causing Lupin to peek open an eye at him. The candidate scratched the brown's eye ridge, and he immediately settled down once again.

*~*
Minelli had heard that there was a fire lizard hatching going on. She'd finished her chores first, humming the whole time with her green flitter joining in, before making her way to M'kel's weyr. Mini sat on her shoulder, tail curled around her arm, wings folded on her back as she entered the crowded place. She wasn't thinking of impressing, but rather watching, for she already had Mini and was okay with just her.

As her eyes swept the crowd, she noticed that a few people were lucky to already impress; she saw three browns, a few greens, two blues, and a bronze by her first glance. And there were still a good amount to go. It must have been a gold's clutch, she thought to herself with a smile as she easily slipped into the crowd to get a better look. She stopped near the front but way off to the left, just so she could get a better view without blocking the others from impressing. As she waited for the next to hatch, she absently petted Mini, who was humming softly.

((Spectator!))