No End In Sight (Ghost's Hatching)

[Kisha-Ra]

Mo’rya trotted into his room and flung his arm full of dirty washing at the unmade bed, wrinkling his nose at both the grubby clothing he’d been through lessons in and the unmade bed. He was really going to have to tidy up in here. Right after he tidied himself up a bit. The weyrling darted around his room, opening the glowbaskets up to ward off the evening’s dimness and flinging the windows open to the evening breeze. It was wonderful to have a bit of breeze blowing through the place and cooling it off (as well as eradicating the smell of dirty laundry). In fact it was just quite nice to not be at lessons, to be able to dress as he liked and style his hair with no consideration for whatever physical activities M’ta might have in mind, and of course to be with his collection of mindmates.

Looking around the room the boy spotted Evil hanging by his tail from the bedpost, which was the sinister blue’s favourite sleeping place. He never seemed to lose his grip, no matter how often Mo’rya was sure the firelizard would fall on his nose. Wit was exactly where he’d been left before Mo’rya headed for the baths; at one end of the desk, under the window, apparently sleeping but it was hard to be sure with Wit. Ghost, of course, was fussing over her eggs, perhaps a little more than usual, and to judge by the sounds the shells made when Ghost touched them they were almost hard enough to hatch. Wait! Was that one moving? It seemed the gold firelizard had the very same thought because she tapped cautiously on the shell of the rounded Despair egg and listened intently. Whatever she heard from within seemed to satisfy her because the young queen began to hum softly, stalking around her nest restlessly. Impatiently she touched the minds of all those in the room; her babies were hatching! Food was needed, and people! Lots of people for her babies please and thank you.

Reactions were instant, Evil and Wit both woke and approached, taking up guard positions on either side of the nest, and Mo’rya paled visibly! ‘No they can’t hatch yet! Nothing’s ready, the room’s a mess and I haven’t done my hair!’ The last of the protest rose into a panicked wail as the boy turned and dashed across the room to pull the covers over the dirty clothes and looked at his reflection in the window glass in despair.

Do not worry little Ghost. I will call people for them.[/color] Epifayrmuth watched the whole performance from his couch with a thread of amusement in his eyes for Mo’rya’s panic, but the tone he used on Ghost was a reassuringly kind one. There are firelizard eggs hatching in the weyrling barracks. Weyrling Mo’rya’s room. If you want a chance at Impressing bring yourself and some food for the hatchlings. The dwarfed bronze raised his ‘voice’ to something that could probably be heard across the Weyr, earing him a grateful croon from Ghost.

Mo’rya, do stop making a fool of yourself and calm down, anyone would think these were your babies not Ghosts.[/color] Now Epifayrmuth expressed his amusement, and rose from his couch to pad across the room and knock and armload of thing Mo’rya was trying to hide from view back onto the floor. There was nothing shameful in the pile, a few doodles, some half finished embroidery still on the hoop and some scraps of ribbon and fabric, all of which went bouncing across the floor. People are coming for hatchlings, not to judge you.[/color] The bronze lowered his head so he was eye to eye with his chosen. Mo’rya just fidgeted, bending slightly as if to pick up the dropped objects.

[Kisha-Ra]

Sitting right in the centre of Mo’rya’s desk in full view of the window is a fanciful nest type arrangement comprised of whatever stray materials Ghost was able to gather in the room, most of it is Mo’rya’s gather day best blue and gold shirt but an assortment of ribbons, bright threads, scraps of fabric and other ‘treasures’ have been banked up around the side nearest the edge of the desk, partially to protect the eggs from a long drop and partly to draw attention to them.

The fact that there is no bronze or brown to be seen does not mean this clutch is under protected, in fact Ghost has recruited Mo’rya’s two blue mindmate’s the firelizard Evil and the salamandyr Wit to help her keep curious fingers at bay. Anyone who gets too close to the clutch is likely to have his fingers bitten from two sides at once.

Destiny egg: Impressed Brown to J'ash
Death egg: Impressed Blue to Erilena
Destruction egg: Impressed Blue to Priya
Dream egg: Impressed Brown Daniel to Serissa
Desire egg: Impressed Blue Eros to Ivy
Despair egg: Impressed Green Neyki to Porita
Delirium egg: Impressed Green Hattie to Ximera
Delight egg: Impressed Green to Dy'shi

[Rei]

Feyrianth was lounging on her ledge, watching the evening as it stirred in the canyon. Wasn’t time yet for hers to go to work. The greenrider was in fact at the table looking over her notes as she had been almost since her ‘morning’ had begun. A soft snort was given in Erilena’s direction. Hers was spending too much time with silly papers in the green’s opinion. Why did everyone like papers so much? They did not seem very interesting to her. Stretching the green gave a yawn and the tilted her head as if she needed help to catch the weyrwide broadcast. There are firelizard eggs hatching in the weyrling barracks. Weyrling Mo’rya’s room. If you want a chance at Impressing bring yourself and some food for the hatchlings. Excited colors whirled through Feyrianth’s gaze before she reached out for her clutchsister’s mind. Chaksister! The little flitters are hatching. The excitement in her tone wasn’t hard to miss. Shall we then? Waiting just long enough for the return answer the four winged green got to her feet and gave a sudden ‘concerned’ chirp. Lenamine! Chaksister thinks she may have hurt her wing a little. Do you mind coming to look at her? I know you are not working now but…

Feyrianth let that sentence trail off knowing her bonded would probably jump on the chance to do a little fieldwork. It was very quiet in the infirmary most nights. Frowning from her seat at the table Erilena gently extracted Ca’tauri from her lap and stood up to go retrieve her medical bag. “Where is she at?” I’ll take you to her. The green responded with no small trace of excitement. Which in hindsight should have been a tip off. But the greenrider chalked it up to her dragon wanting to get out of the weyr and in the air. Understandable. Moving over to Feyrianth she tacked the green up in a matter of minutes and mounted. Almost without a warning the four winged dragon leapt off her ledge and in a couple of wing beats had set a course for the weyrling barracks. Feyrianth….. The green could tell by the way hers said her name that she was not all that happy. Regardless she pressed on, back winging to land on a ledge close to the barracks and her sister who was completely uninjured.

“You lied Feyrianth.” Did not. I said she may be injured. Which seems to be not the case. Crooning the green reached over to nuzzle at her sisters neck affectionately. Now get off and go see the babies. No. Yes. Snaking her neck around Feyrianth’s teeth nipped the air close to the straps connecting her to her rider. Get off or I will pull you off. You want a pet. Dancer will not let you have a puppy but he concedes to a firelizard. A firelizard is not a Leo nor will it ever be. Do not be such a silly and make me embarrass you in front of Chakraith’s. And do hurry we are blocking the ledge and it looks like a few of the others would like a chance at a baby as well.

Speechless and quite a bit surprised. When had Feyrianth ever acted like this? Erilena slipped off her dragon and turned to look at Dy’shi a mild frown on her face. “Did you know about this?” Except by the harried expression on her former classmate’s own face it looked like the answer was no. With a grateful pulse and an affectionate nuzzle Feyrianth hopped off the ledge to make room for other arriving dragons, crooning to Chakraith as she did so. Coming Chaksister?

In the end both rider’s quickly found themselves dragonless and harried into moving by the newly arriving spectators to the clutch. Seemed as if they were in the way. Leaning in close to whisper to Dy’shi the greenrider’s tone was a near sigh. “Any chance you think we can fend them off by reluctance to be here alone?” Although Erilena had to admit the fussing gold and the eggs were cute. Except it also gave her flashbacks to Ghost’s hatching which also was not the best memory ever. At least these babies had a better shot….well as long as none of them picked her.

~~~

Nyssk gave another grumble. Why did she care? Didn’t she love him? Why did she feel the need to go look at these inferior creatures. Others had them and Protected number one even could admit to herself that they were near useless. So whyyyy. Nysania rolled her eyes. “Because like I told you ten times already. I’m curious." The purple hued wher gave a snort. She’d end up with one and then he wouldn’t listen to her whine. He would just laugh and remind her that she already had him. Matter of fact could he eat it if she managed to bond to one? Surely she would not want to keep such an inferior being if it happened to latch? The woman gave her wher a look of warning. “Nyssk. Don’t push it.” Now, now loved one. That was a silly thing to say. He pushed nothing. He claimed it. Did she need him to make sure the other meat bags kept their paws off? “I think not. I can do a good enough job on broadcasting growling canine vibes on my own.” A snort was given as the young blue stopped near the entrance to the canyon hallways. Fine. Well then while she was off cavorting with such stupidity he was going to do something useful.

Nysania rolled her eyes again. “Of course darling.” Stroking along the wher's jaw she sent him off with a pulse of affection. “I won’t be long. Don’t get yourself in trouble.” Nyssk gave his what equaled to an exasperated look. As if he needed to worry about trouble. It was everything else that needed to worry. He was just going to see if any of those silly canines thought it worth it to come back. As the Weyrhealer slipped into the underground hallways of the weyr her blue stalked for the animal pens at an easy clip. Perhaps the silly protected ones there needed more protection.

It didn’t take the wherling long to find where she needed to go. There were a few arrivals by this time. But it wasn’t overly crowded in the room yet. Catching sight of Erilena she offered the girl a brief wave before her gaze traveled back to the clutch and it’s hovering mother. Poor thing didn’t look all that healthy weight wise. Hmm did clutching take as much out of draconic mothers as it did other species?

Really Nysania didn’t know enough about dragon healing to make an assumption one way or another. Could firelizards get intestinal parasites? She didn’t see why they couldn’t. Thoughts were drawn away from the subject by the arrival of more people and the woman found herself people watching more than anything else. None of the babies had emerged yet anyway. Seemed they had some time.

[Ember]

Chakraith brushed Dy'shi's mind gently to warn him before she performed a quick loop at dizzying speeds. The boy's thrilled laughter made the blue female's eyes whirl faster in amusement and happiness. Though she didn't quite understand why a physically landbound creature like Hers loved flying so much she did so like to share it with him. Though she much preferred a leisurely pace in the skies, it was good practice to indulge Hers. The broadcast from the weyrling dragon had the blue spin into a rather complex maneouver before shuddering mid flight and whining gently. Yes, we shall, Feyrianth-sister. Her part of the plan was already underway.

The blue fluttered lamely closer and closer to the weyrling barracks. Dy'shimine, I think I may have injured my wing. I shall call Feyrianth and ask for Hers. For the benefit of the act, Chakraith kept her wing awkwardly held out while they waited for Feyrianth and Hers. The moment they were within sight, though, she folded her wing to her back neatly. "Chakraith...?" Dy'shi questioned, thoroughly confused at his blue's actions. Wasn't she injured? The blue blinked down at the boy and he felt the faint pull of guilt then horror at the realization of what she'd done. "Chak!"

When Erilena addressed him he turned to her with a nearly panicked expression on his face and shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no! I- Chak, she...Guuuuuuh..." Dy'shi turned to actually pout and glare at his dragon before she actually abandoned him there. See you later, Dy'shimine. Feyrianth and I have something to do. You'll be perfectly fine, she said affectionately. In response to Erilena, as they were ushered in, he said, "Worked for me the last time."

----

T'san ducked out of the kitchens with a cheeky grin, carrying two bowls of meat with him as he walked with a decidedly hurried gait. He was content with his one firelizard, and he was certain that Nevroti was happy being the only one he had, but the brownrider rather thought a companion would be nice anyways. If only to try and help him keep the blue away from him during wing training and the like. Convincing the blue to stay behind was a task and a half. Taking him along was just plain dangerous...more so for the brownrider's skin than the firelizard. It was far too hot to wear a second shirt with flame and excercise and the like.

Speaking of his wing...what would he do about Z'ves? He was severely lacking another member of his little strike force. Oh well. The people in charge could deal with it; he'd rather not have to, personally. He made his way to the firelizard hatching, with the help of Dsoleth of course, and set the bowls on the nearest surface. Free for all that needed it. He doubted he'd be the only one to bring food for hungry babies though.The man set about looking for osmeone to playfully torment as he waited. Weyrlings, a few of the wherhandlers, and a class that had graduated just before the invasion. Wow, did that make him the oldest? Ah, nope. That wherhandler looked older than he did. Still, he had a feeling he had the oldest draconic partner.

[Ruby]

Epifayrmuth calls, Nitrath said, gently inserting herself into Caden's thoughts. The Goldweyrling, too, had taken her free time to clean herself, but she was somewhat slower than Mo'rya. Of course, that could have been due to a playful Sel and Blossom, who were chattering and splashing and diving while Caden tried to bathe them. The two greens were perfectly suited companions, and almost never shut up - luckily, Sel's whisper-quiet chatter and Blossom's pretty trills sounded far more like music than most of the Weyr's other creatures.

What does he want? Caden grumbled, although the thread of amusement that turned her mouth up at the Girls' antics came through in her mental voice as well. She trapped Blossom, attempting to scrub yellow/green/blue hide while the Green tried to escape, splashing and... humming? Well, Caden had never claimed she understood her pets. His small gold one has a clutch, it hatches.[/i] That was enough information for Sel - the word 'gold' got the Green's attention every time, no matter what it referred to. She had to have a place to hide herself when people arrived, better to go find it now. Blossom wriggled free as well, turning big, imploring eyes on Caden and flashing her images of the clutch. "You want to go see?" the Goldweyrling asked aloud, trying not to sigh. "Guess if they're Mo'rya's we better, huh?" Blossom agreed.

She wasn't anywhere near as vain as her fellow Weyrling, settling for a quick toweling of the hair and pulling on whatever clothing was at hand (a loose green shirt and flightleathers on the bottom) before settling Blossom on her shoulder and trotting out into the hall. One door down people were already arriving; Caden trailed a Greenrider and a Bluerider in, falling in comfortably next to Mo'rya. "Need help with those?" she asked, gesturing to the pile on the floor.

---

There is excitement. What was that, Sesk? Hinsero asked, yawning and rubbing at his face. The Brownwherling wasn't really one to lay abed for hours, but he'd had a hard time waking up this evening. Hinsesk seemed to think they had been awake too much, and had taken it into his head that he should be sleeping far more. This was only a problem because Hinsero liked to be up with plenty of time before work, something that seemed less and less likely to happen this week. There is excitement, like when my siblings and I broke shell, and Darmosk's gold's... thing. Something's hatching? Weyrling barracks, my love, Heart put in, her contempt thinly veiled.

But after Hinsero flopped back onto the pillows, Heart changed her mind. However... The miracle of life is beautiful to behold, and there is at least half of a candlemark before you begin work, she added, sounding much less disgruntled this time. "You wanna go, Heart?" the groggy Handler asked, remembering Hinsesk's hatching, and Harmony's most recent one. Heart wasn't usually much of one for hatchings. Oh, only if you do, she said. Hinsesk added that he would be interested to watch through His' eyes; it was still somewhat bright for a Wher to be wandering around. Or maybe he just wasn't ready to get up yet.

"Better stop and get Porita then, huh?" he asked, glancing briefly at his roommates while he pulled on a pair of pants, although Kalaht and Kalsk didn't seem to be awake yet. Well, they could come if they wanted, but he doubted Porita would come on her own. Once he was dressed, the Brownwherling tapped on the Bluewherling's door, leaning against the door frame when she answered. "C'mon, I've got a surprise for you. Unless Posk told you what's up?"


---

There she goes, SeriMine. Why does she go? Why with the other Blue, who is really female? Would she truly choose a female mate, like you do?[/color] Who are you talking about? Four-wings, green one. Feyrianth. Yes, I think that's the one. See, they go to that ledge together, the one where the babies stay. And someone is talking to me.[/i]

Serissa dropped her book and rolled over on her bed, tucking her skirt back into place around her thighs (not that it mattered, only Ildyth was around to see). What's the someone say? Ildyth answered that with a long explanation of Epifayrmuth, and how little he was still, and how Ildyth himself was bigger, and how their gold was skinny and strange and and and... Serissa tuned him out quick enough, listening instead to the humming issuing from her dragon's throat. If nothing else could be said for Ildyth (and it was true, little could) he never discriminated against the littler draconics simply based on their size. He wouldn't usually speak to them, but that had more to do with not being quite able to figure out how it was done than anything more serious, and he honored their hatchings just like a Dragon's.

Interesting. Would you like a friend? Will I be bigger than it? Certainly, and forever. You'll always beat it at that. Will you love it more? Never, Ills. Never. Then... yes! Serissa laughed, hopping off the bed to plant a kiss on her dragon's muzzle before swinging up onto his back. You'll have to drop me off. Ildyth complied, chattering the whole way. Once Serissa slid down off his back, she strolled into the Weyrling Barracks like she owned the place, glancing around for anyone she knew. The answer looked like... Erilena. Fabulous. Ildyth had been talking about Feyrianth after all. Giving the other healer a sickly-sweet smile, she headed for Nysania instead, the smile there much more genuine. She hadn't spent much time with the other senior journeyman, especially since the woman had gone on to impress a Wher within weeks of showing up at Selenitas, but she had no reason to dislike the Bluewherling. Yet. "Hey, Nysania. Are you hoping for a pet?"

---

With a little pop, an old, half-tailed firelizard appeared from between, offering a growling caw to Ghost and glaring over at the mostly hidden Sel. He hadn't been able to stay with her after the Flight - the wildling had tried, but men with arrows tried to chase him off when he tried to bring her food, and she'd been fed by her human anyway - but he wouldn't miss the hatching for anything. He might be wild, and he always would be, but these were his babies. Unless someone chased him off, he'd be here. If Ghost let him stay, of course. Cocking his head at the Gold, he picked up the hum, hopping closer to her on the windowsill he'd perched on. Could he stay?

[Rowana]

Something tugged at the blankets and Porita moaned softly in protest. Posk paid her no mind, but continued to tug at the blankets and her mind. Come! Something was happening and they were missing it! Just think of all the wonderful and magical things a hatching would bring. Porita blinked open her eyes to meet the blue wher's. Her mind was still confused, only half recognizing what he was trying to say. "Posk? What...?" Her eyes drifted across the room. Nysania and Nyssk were gone, what time was it? It couldn't possibly be night yet. could it?

They were going to be late, Posk insisted, nuzzling her as she sat up straight. They had to go see the little ones! Before Porita could respond, a knock voice interrupted her thoughts. Porita pulled on decent clothing as quickly as she could and went to answer the door. Opening it a crack, she was surprised to see Hinsero, though Posk was quick to push the door open farther. See? Everyone wanted to see the magic of hatching! "A surprise?" Porita blushed. The very idea that anyone would want to surprise her made her self conscious. Shaking her head, she focused on what Posk had been trying to say. "He said something about babies," she started in confusion.

Nodding shyly, she started to follow Hinsero with Posk bouncing happily at her heels. Hopefully the sun was nearly down. She wasn't sure she could get him to stay behind. Porita followed Hinsero to the Weyrling Barracks, stopping at the kitchen for meat scraps for some reason. Coming here, with all the young dragons reminded Porita too much of Jipth. She almost ran back to the safety of her room, but Posk and Hinsero were with her.

They reached one of the rooms where a small crowd was already gathering. Porita spotted Nysania and offered her roommate a small wave as they drew near. Then she saw the reason for the excitement. It was sitting on the desk of the cluttered room. Fire lizard eggs! Posk crooned with excitement and it was all Porita could do to keep him from running forward. Her own eyes lit up with hidden delight that was more than a little from her bond with Posk. Maybe this really would be magical.

[Requiem]

It shouldn't have been surprising that the short brownrider showed up, looking very much like a forbidding olive-skinned...garden gnome. Sans hat, of course. Whether his purpose was to see that the weyrlings didn't get up to any more mischief or simply acceptance of the earlier invitation of Mor'ya's was anyone's guess. Sneak was his only companion today, the colorful, rotund brown coiled around M'ta's bicep and watching the salamandyrs with poorly concealed interest.

---

Ximera was in one of her bouncy moods. What's new, right? So naturally the bluehandler bounced right out of the apartments at the broadcasted announcement, having finally decided that while salamandyrs were cute, they weren't worth the loss of her prince. But flits were safe! Upon verifying that Ximesk would not be waking - or moving - without their long drawn out routine that usually included copious amounts of bribe milk, she left the lazy behind.

Oh, look at all the 'little' wherlings! (Yeah, like they were younger or smaller than her. Riiiight.) Ximera practically skipped over to join them, throwing herself at Porita in an enthusiastic tackle hug. "You're adorable!" she exclaimed, as if she'd never seen the girl before. Of course she had, but you know, that mining thing took time and she rarely saw the babies.

The little girl - older than she looked, but still just sixteen - glanced at Hinsero and Nysania, flashing them both a big, cheerful smile. But they were a bit more intimidating than Porita. I mean, Nysania was like, the Weyrhealer! That was some big important thingamajig. And Hinsero was just big. Really, really big. Guys should be more her brother's size. Though he'd make an excellent tree for climbing.

"And so are you!" she added suddenly, spying more excited movement from Posk from her peripherals. Ximera proceeded to throw her arms around the wher's neck, draping herself partly over him. "Did you come to get a little friend, too? They fly you know. Really fast. My brother has one and he's all cheerful," the bluehandler commented happily to the wher as if he were her own.

[Kisha-Ra]

Ah people were arriving. Ghost looked around at the gathering humans and flicked her wings slightly in relief, pausing in her humming to give the first few into the room a welcoming chirp. How nice to see them all on this day! However the eggs very quickly regained her attention as the very round Despair egg began to roll on a collision course with the Destiny egg. Ghost quickly moved to trap her escaping baby in the curve of her tail before it rolled into any other eggs, or out of the nest entirely. The hatchling inside the Despair egg, however seemed to have had enough for now as the egg stilled again.

Ghost gave the eggs a look and hummed a little more insistently. Come on little ones; time to hatch! The Dream egg responded with a mighty heave, cracks appearing in the shell, but before the egg could break apart completely Ghost attention was divided again by a raucous sound to rise from a firelizard throat and on she certainly recognised. A welcoming trill greeted the wild bronze, she never thought to see him again! Come in, come in, right on time too. See? The hatching was just starting. The thin gold curved her body toward the bronze in invitation, though she didn’t risk moving away from the egg she held captive.

My dear Evil, it seems we are quite superfluous. Wit commented with amusement and an unusual grip on grammar for a salamandyr. Evil simply ignored the salamandyr and flared his dark wings to hiss at the nearest human on general grounds. Meanwhile behind the pair of blues the Delirium egg seemed to crumble, leaving a brightly coloured green in it’s wake. Immediately the green dashed to the edge of the nest and pounced on Wit, nibbling at one of his frill spines. Hi! She saw him, yes she did! Saw and heard; and here she was! She liked forks, did Wit like forks? Evil looked highly amused by this turn of events and Wit, needless to say, did not.

While the Delirium green stole the show the Dream egg broke apart with dignified decorum to allow a rake thin firelizard that seemed very nearly black and white to step forward and survey the room. Slight hints of colour to his hide as he caught the light revealed him to be a brown. With a great sigh he looked over at his green sister and walked over to tap her flank with a talon. Little sister that was not proper at all, she should let the little blue up.

Ghost turned her eyes back to her babies at once when she heard the first shell break open, although it the minds of the two adult blues around the nest she touched. They were certainly not superfluous! Now, pay attention to the babies, everyone please.


Mo’rya stood speechless in the middle of his room for a while; quite glad he didn’t have to answer the door to people, and since he had adorable baby firelizards about to hatch in here, he couldn’t blame them for not knocking, he wouldn’t knock either. Most of the people arriving he didn’t even recognise except as faces in the Selenitas crowd, so it came as something of a relief to see Caden approaching. Mo’rya shook his head slightly in exasperation as he tried to pick up his belongings again. ‘Oh I already picked them up once. It’s Epifayrmuth’s fault they’re on the floor again, he thinks I’m being too fussy. Really I just don’t want people to think I’m a complete slovenly creature, but I suppose he wouldn’t understand that, he doesn’t really own anything to get in a mess.’ The bronzeweyrling let his mouth run on nervously as he gathered up most of the dropped items and piled them on the bed for now, at least that would discourage anyone from sitting there and finding his washing!

Epifayrmuth sighed and took himself back towards his couch, it was really time he got out of the way of all these people. M’ta was briefly mindtouched with a warm greeting, the bronze approved of Behruth’s rider. T’san, too was acknowledged with a mindtouch in thanks for bringing food for the babies. Everyone else was simply avoided as the small bronze made it back to his couch and flopped onto it out of the way.

[Rowana]

Porita had been focusing on keeping Posk from running forward, when someone practically attacked her in a sudden hug. A loud squeak of surprise came from the older girl and her eyes widened as she tried to figure out what was happening. Staring at Ximera, she tried to comprehend what she'd done to deserve such a warm greeting. She barely knew the other girl except that she was also a handler. "I...um...thank you?" Porita whispered shyly, turning slightly pink at the attention.

With his bond distracted, a joyful Posk started to bounce closer to the eggs. In his enthusiasm, he managed to trip and push several things back off the bed with his wings in an effort to stay upright. Fortunately, before he got much farther, Ximera hugged him too. His brief moment of unhappiness at being distracted quickly faded at the girl's cheerful greeting. Oh yes! It was wonderful to have new friends! Together they could all see the magic! Look! Already new little friends were hatching! It was fantastic! Hard to believe that he too had come from such an egg.

Porita knelt down next to them, setting her small bowl of meat aside. She patted Posk fondly, feeling very glad he was here to help her get over her nerves. It was hard to afraid of anyone that Posk liked so quickly. Ximera certainly seemed like a fun person to be around too. "I don't know," she admitted quietly. It wasn't like she'd had much time to thing about it. Posk scoffed at her and laid a wing over her knee. Of course they would get a new friend! It was destiny! That was why they were here, wasn't it? "Posk wants one," Porita went on slowly. "But I'm sure everyone deserves one more than I." She waved at the growing crowd with a shy smile. Really, she was just here because Posk had wanted to see, not to impress one. Glancing over to see the first few fire lizards break shell, however, she couldn't help feeling that it would be nice if one came to her just the same.

[Requiem]

Despite himself (or perhaps he simply forgot to be the scowly teacher of doom for a moment, as if his class really saw him that way anyway) the brownrider's expression softened at Epifayrmuth's greeting. He nodded to the bronze. There might even have been a smile in his eyes that didn't quite reach his lips. Hard to say. The man's attention remained mostly on Caden and Mor'ya, though he was at least peripherally aware of the loose gathering of wherhandlers and wherlings that included Nysania, as well as Erilena and Dy'shi who he had somewhat more intimate knowledge of than the rest of these - in different ways.

In the end, though, it was to none of these that he approached, but rather T'san. M'ta naturally strode right up to the wingleader and nudged him in the ribs with an elbow to get his attention. Meira's boyfriend certainly wasn't unknown to the younger man, if only through Riaren, and there was the matter of the interest he'd expressed..."If you and Dsoleth still want to come out to one of the lessons, we're going to have to start straight flying for landmarks here soon. Could use the help." The short man didn't add the obvious that 'Ruth's endurance wasn't terribly great. He felt ill at ease sending the weyrlings on ahead of him but they did need to get a feel for the local layout if nothing else. Betweening would depend on it later.

Then his expression twitched into a slight half-smile. "Maybe you could come to the ever-wonderful Flight briefing. I'll even let you explain Flights," he added wryly. Sex and virginity. Really not M'ta's cup of tea.

---

Ximera giggled at her newfound wher-friend. "Yes, many new friends," she agreed, rubbing her face against his neck in a rather obvious imitation of a nuzzle. "Do you believe in magic, too?" Then, lowering her voice, she confided in him in a near whisper, "I'm a princess. One day, the prince who will save Pern will come for me. Will you be my familiar?" Because obviously her steed was Ximesk. If she could get him to move. Or carry her.

The young teenager blinked at Porita, confused for a moment, then shook her head vehemently. "Posh! Posk is right. You're so adorable that a flit would not be able to resist the two of you. Why does anyone have to be more deserving than anyone else, anyway? That's just silly." Her arms tightened in a squeeze of the wher baby. "Isn't that right, Posk? You know Porita is deserving though, don't you? You wouldn't have picked her if she wasn't." A bright smile was offered the older girl.

[Rei]

Erilena ended up only nodding at Dy’shi as the bluerider spoke. Worked well enough for him last time.... Well that was one way to avoid them perhaps. Problem was that they were darn cute. Maybe a tiny part of her was almost wistful about it. Would it really be so bad to have a little firelizard of her own? Maybe. But maybe not? Now was certainly not the right time to be so indecisive. Not with little firelizards breaking shell left and right. They really were cute. In the way that nearly all babies where cute. Little dragons in the miniature really. Almost reluctantly moving her gaze from the hatched babies the greenrider moved a step back so that her bluerider companion was more noticeable than she herself. Okay so many that was a bit mean but darn it better him than her.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched the others enter. Seirssa’s entrance in particular causing her to snort lightly. Erilena returned the other healer’s smile nonetheless, the gesture just as fake as the other woman’s was. You’d think they could all get along by now. Obviously not. Hazel eyes perused the rest of the gathered spectators. She was mildly surprised to see M’ta there. A small wave was offered the brownrider. Though the greenrider doubted he saw it. Too busy with T’san. A return wave was given Nysania and a smile to Hinsero before Erilena watched the interaction between Ximera and Posk with slight amusement. It was kinda cute. Almost too bad that she was too far back to hear what they were saying. With a small sigh she whispered to Dy’shi. “So who was the bad influence? Feyrianth or Chakraith?” The greenrider had thought it a bit odd that the two females had been spending such a large amount of time together lately. Well now she knew half the reason why.

~~~

Nysania gave each of her wherling classmates a smile and a wave. It seemed like there were a few of them here tonight. It was kind of amusing as to how many people had showed up for the chance to acquire such an almost pointless creature. Oh she had heard that some of them could be quite useful, but it seemed to her that you were playing roulette. Her attention was stolen by an approaching woman. Ah Serissa. Being on the night shift now the Weyrhealer hadn’t had much time to get to know the other woman. Returning the smile with a warm one of her own she shook her head. “Not really. I’m just a bit curious. Have you ever owned one of the creatures?” She asked the bluerider curiously. Trailing off when a couple of them broke shell. Well they certainly were a bit cute at least.

“Are they all that exuberant when they hatch?” The little green sure seemed excited. The brown? Not so much. He seemed like a quite poised creature. Much like Nyssk when he was born. Speaking of her blue. He must be concentrating heavily on something or he surely would have had some comment to make. With a little shake of her head the woman turned her attention back to Serissa. Really she must make a better effort to get to know everyone in the infirmary. It was technically part hers now. In a way perhaps. But it sure didn’t feel that way at times.

[Shiny]

The call from Epifayrmuth made Craivaruth slow down in hesitation as J'ash seemed to take an interest in it. No, you don't need any more of those things. But Craiiiiiii. The more, the merrier! The bluegreen dragon grouchily tried to continue flying, but J'ash's resistance made the Blue's flight jagged. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, the blonde whined, nudging the side of Craivaruth's neck with a palm. Wouldn't you be happy if I got a Blue or a Green firelizard? Grumbling mentally, Craivaruth pulled a U-turn as best he could and frustratedly flew over to the ledge other dragons were landing on. Fine. Have it you way. Thank youuuu~

J'ash hopped off of the Blue's back. "Thanks," with a grateful pat to Craivaruth's side, the blonde wandered into the Hatching room while the Blue launched into the air to leave. He had no idea who Mo'rya was, and thus could not thank him for letting him into his living space. Upon sight of the nest of eggs and the Gold hovering excitedly over them, J'ash smiled. He always loved Hatchings. It was the start of life, and it always made him feel so happy.

There were quite a few people here now, two in particular catching his eye. "GUUUUYS!" The loud cry was accompanied by a tackle hug in which involved Erilena and Dy'shi. Sure he didn't know Dy'shi that well, but they were Fear Weyrlings, and it was always nice to see people with whom he'd had former relations with."It's been so long, fancy seeing you here!" Pulling back, J'ash's eye was caught by a T'san. He'd move on to say hi to him next after conversing with Erilena and Dy'shi for a bit.

[Tahki]

It was plain luck that she heard the call in the first place. Priya had jerked her head up at the sudden invasion of her otherwise quiet chore. Replacing the glows around the barracks didn't seem like that much of a problem. It was defiantly a change from hanging around the kitchens or cleaning the muck in the runner pens. Both involved some crowd of people which made her shiver at the idea. Why was she in a crowded Weyr again? Oh right, to try her measly little luck at impressing.

Firelizards may not be dragons but it was certainty enough temptation to drive the otherwise social outcast towards the open weyrling barracks. Ever fiber of her being screamed when she saw the already growing crowd of people who also wanted a chance at the eggs. Was she even allowed to try? Oh there were already so many people and certainly not enough eggs to spare for her as well.

She tiptoed by the edge of the door, spotting shoulder knots and picking up how they spoke. Some were weyrlings, wherlings, and who else knew. And of course, no one she knew. Priya couldn't blame herself there. She hadn't even attempted a conversation since coming here. The eggs were moving but none had hatched when she had taken that second to peek. The little ones needed food didn't they? She searched her pockets and smiled as she pulled out a few bits of dried meat. It had been fortunate she hadn't eaten her lunch yet. Judging by the crowd and the already moving eggs, she wouldn't have time to run back to the kitchen for scraps. Asking someone else for some of theirs was also out of the question.

Priya breathed in deep, mentally preparing herself for the close quavers contact. Her anxiety would just have to wait this time. She wanted a chance at one of these magnificent little creatures and by the first egg, she wasn't going to run off screaming now. She slipped inside past some people, arranging herself in the farthest corner; enough away to not bother anyone but close enough to watch. Two already hatched and the rest of the eggs still waited. She hunkered down and waited, actually a bit unsure of what she was supposed to do now.

[Kisha-Ra]

Wit struggled in vain against the weight of the green that held him trapped; he was a salamandyr of leisure, not strength. My Evil slave, will you remove this green? Evil? The Delirium green questioned, letting go of Wit’s frill spine, to the blue’s considerable relief. What was Evil? That was Evil? Call it Evil… Evil ignored both the salamandyr and the green (ew, a female, so close to him) to lash his thick tail furiously and glare at Posk. I she does not go, she may stay. Near you Evil. Near you. Wit warned, and being as the salamandyr was ever the master of manipulating his firelizard slaves his brilliant ploy worked perfectly as the other blue turned red eyes on the Delirium green and told her in eloquent images exactly what he’d do if she didn’t go now, snapping his jaws together to prove his point.

The Dream brown looked on the pair of adult blues, and his sister with detached interest, shuffling his wings as he did so. The hatchling seemed to be having some trouble with those appendages, and no wonder since were so huge that the brown seemed to be little more than a pair of wings with a small body hidden among them. The Delirium green backed away from Evil hurriedly, reaching out to her brother. Look, the Evil one was nasty too her now! And the frilly! They were all nasty, even her brother, he should protect her! Well, she didn’t need him! At all. Ever.

With a flick of her tail toward her bemused brown brother the Delirium green moved to the edge of the desk and flapped her wings a few times while she waited for someone to catch her attention. There! The hatchling took flight, clumsily, and smacked right into Ximera’s chest, where she clung. Hi! Hers was a princess? She knew a dancing princess once. The princess was a tree, the dragon was a dragon, the dance was a sea that ate stones. Did hers like forks? Did hers have food? The green seemed set to go on like that for a long time.

The Dream brown looked around again, only to be confronted with a hatchling that hadn’t been there before, though those who were watching the eggs and not the hatchlings might have seen this bright hatchling emerge from the Desire egg. Bad, bad brown. The new hatchling taunted with a derisive chirp, stalking around the Dream brown as it did so. Did he not know how to behave? Did he not know that a good male looked after his female siblings? The Dream brown tracked the Desire hatchling, a hatchling so androgynous and of such a colour that the brown couldn’t work out whether it was blue or green, with dark red eyes, and hissed softly. How dare it imply such things about him?

Ghost let out a happy little trill as her first hatchling Impressed and nudged her wild mate. Wasn’t their baby adorable? For a moment after it hatched the occupant of the Desire egg, so brightly blue/green in shade confused even the gold. She blinked at it a few times and decided that, yes, it really was a blue, albeit a very odd one.


Mo’rya looked back, just in time to see half the stuff he’d stacked on the bed go on the floor again, this time thanks to a wher that didn’t quite seem fully grown. Apparently he was doomed to have his things on the floor. Doomed. Oh wasn’t that just the sweetest little green ever?

[Kisha-Ra]

Delirium green- looks to Ximera

Name:

Colour: green #003E04 #DFE5DF #0FFF1A #0FFFA7

Appearance: There’s something odd about this green, no part of her is quite in proportion. Her head is long muzzled, fine boned and very pretty, but it’s just a touch too large for her body with eyes just a touch too large for her head. Her body follows the same the long and elegant pattern as her head, but her legs don’t, they are comically short, not that that seems to stop her running and bouncing around. In turn her wings are also small and very delicate looking, though they’re not small enough to hinder her in flight apart from making for poor endurance, they look too small to hold her up. To put the whole tin lid on her appearance this green has a tail that would better suit a salamandyr, this bizarrely long appendage is always in motion, anytime she wants to point something out or gain attention she uses her tail, and whenever she is idle it wriggles and flops around as if it has a life of it’s own.

Her colouration can only be described as unique, it starts out with a dark forest green base over which irregular shaped silvery green markings fall thickly like a rain of blossoms, and if these were her only markings this would be a very pretty green indeed. However she also marked with two eye blindingly bright shades a neon green one down her left, and a equally bright near blue one down her right. These retina burning shades speckle and splotch their way across her hide with in senseless patterns until they reach her legs, where they vanish. Her tail is marked at the base with a neon green band, a blue green one above it, and a silver one above that, all separated by the dark base colour. When she’s ready to Rise these tail markings will always give off the brightest glow.

Personality: This is a green that loves to talk, to anyone, even those who detest her, in sounds and images. Her range of images is both incredibly varied and highly detailed. Despite this however her ‘conversation’ is well… rather strange to say the least, most of the time she makes no sense at all, her images apparently selected at random, and when she can’t make herself properly understood by anyone she’ll get dreadfully upset, although she’ll forgive them, forgive them for being so limited that they can’t understand the wisdom she’s trying to impart. On those rare occasions when she does make perfect sense nothing will sway her from her expressed opinion or course of action. She may get distracted at times, but she’ll always return like a compass to her original point.

Due to her nonsensical tendencies and her world class inability to focus (anything can distract her, anything, colour, sound, her own reflection, a blank wall) this will be a very hard firelizard to train for anything but the most basic good behaviour, which she’ll always try to display if only to please those around her. She does so badly want please people and will go out of her way to make kind gestures such as singing sweetly to people or bringing them wonderful gifts, however she has no sense of timing and no sense of what others want. It will probably hurt her feelings dreadfully when a raucous song at three hours past midnight or the gift of a dead tunnelsnake is not well received.