Eleven Minutes to Midnight (Dementia's Hatching)

[Ember]

Iskierka wrung out her hair as best as possible given the short amount of time she had before the brown monster decided he was too impatient to wait quietly. She grabbed her towel and got out of the water using it to hide as much as she could. She wrapped it around herself without bothering to dry off. She scooped up her things, mentally wincing at the fact that everyone would be able to see her undergarments while she got her salamandyr fed. Oh well, likely no one would care to remember it. They had little nuisances to take care of.

Iskierka picked the little brown up carefully enough though he protested all the same. Amusingly enough, he was moving his legs as if he could run and his head was angled downwards. Clearly he though he could charge right out of her grasp. The bluerider watched him as she walked to the corner where the hatching was actually going on. She spotted the meat and put the brown directly into the container rather than hand feeding him. He was intelligent so he could feed himself well enough. She wasn't about to baby the thing just because he had hatched not more than a few minutes ago.

She did stand watch over him. That was all it could be called, what with her crossing her arms and hovering over the meat while the brown ate. Rhino dug in messily and quickly. Food yum! He certainly looked like a miniature beast out of some 'brat's imagination. Iskierka just waited for him resignedly. Just what she'd always wanted, a screaming terror of her very own.

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla Smirked and raised an eyebrow inscrutably. ‘Oh I didn’t say embarrassing you wasn’t a reason for my coming here.’ She said lightly, poking more food into the strange looking firelizard she’d already decided to name Denial (in honour of Lao, Zai, and The Devil all agreeing on something for once). ‘Why wouldn’t it be when it’s so easy to make you blush? It just wasn’t my only reason.’ With a superior look Yoalla fell silent and allowed Elysia to take over the tormenting, distracted by the drama around the clutch.

A goldling! The Devil raced around the outside of the nest for a closer look, how exciting! Even more than the other real babies. Oh it was a real queen too not one of the uglies! That was good, Devil thought, she’d have to punish Lao if it was an ugly, and he really wasn’t worth the time. What? An ugly gold as well?! The Devil’s head whipped around, searching. Where? Ugly flyer where? The green asked, monumentally unconcerned about Dementia being about to read Lao limb from limb in rage. He didn’t need eyes anyway. Punish slave. Best gold ours beautiful. Devil urged, if the gold was going to kill her slave could she do it quickly, the real gold baby was sad now. Dementia needed to watch her, she really did. Best baby. No flyer hurt. The green assured the goldling, Dementia would look soon.

Lao flinched and scrabbled backwards with a frantic chatter. What was she talking about? Greens couldn’t lay queens! And that wasn’t a firelizard, that was a salamandyr! It spoke like Dementia and Devil, although more nicely he admitted, therefore it was a salamandyr. The bronze leapt backwards and tumbled nose over tail in his haste to back away from the slashing claws. Golds were mean! Meeeeaaaan! Lao wasn’t, therefore he was really a green, and that gold baby was nothing to do with him. Nothing! And the bronze wasn’t either, not if it didn’t want to be Lao’s.

Yoalla broke away from Dmitri and Elysia, who probably didn’t notice given the nature of the bet they were now making, and barged her way through the crowd with Denial creeling from her wrist (the firelizard still hadn’t moved) and Zai flying in circles above her shrieking. Eventually forcing her way to the front of the crowd Yoalla bent and snatched Lao up in her free hand before Dementia did something dreadful to him, then skipped back two steps because she didn’t want to meet Dementia’s claws while she was there. Lao scrabbled up Yoalla’s arm, too paniked by Dementia’s sudden attack to recall his flight capabilities, or even care that he was drawing his beloved human’s blood with every frantic step.

Yoalla turned away from the nest without bothering to pick up Devil, she was enraptured by the two gold mandyr’s and would come back when she wanted to. Besides, The Devil probably wasn’t in any danger, being Dementia’s toady and all. Now, how was she going to get away from the remaining salamandyrs?


Kain was having trouble seeing anything that was actually going on around here, partly because he’d backed away from the clutch and was now near the back, and partly because everything was just happening so fast it was bewildering. Salamandyrs and firelizards were just turning up on people to be greeted with assorted reactions without anything organised happening. It was a sort of free for all from the hatchlings point of view, really not unlike a small scale, terribly chaotic dragon hatching in certain ways.

Now what? Kainfuzzi had assumed the bronze firelizard he caught glimpses of around the clutch was the sire and the gold salamndyr the dam but now, the gold seemed to be attacking the firelizard and yelling at him? Maybe he wasn’t the father of the clutch after all then. All the ‘mandyr chatter about gold made him lean over and crane his neck, just in time to get knocked sideways. A glimmer of shiny hide in the nest was all he caught, maybe it was a gold flitter, maybe a mandyr, maybe even a badly identified bronze. The salamandyr beasties didn’t always tell the truth, or have the right words for what they wanted to say.

[Requiem]

"Men! Right here, right now," he commanded sharply, before she could tear Lao to bits. (Ironically, he'd managed to do that just as Lao was picked up.) Sheesh, why was he the adult here? He hadn't laid the eggs! Laid uglies, she sulked, even as she scampered up to his shoulder and rubbed against his neck obediently. "That's a salamandyr, Men. She's talking," he murmured, poking the little menace. Is ugly, harperlove...being tricksy. He rolled his eyes. Of course she wouldn't admit her mistake. That would be too rational. The gold whined at his irritation, and he stroked her absently until the croon had returned. She had taken to ignoring her daughter now - tricksy ugly clearly, not a salamandyr at all - and was attempting to make Hers love her again. Like he'd ever stopped.

The golden baby flicked her tail, head swiveling toward The Devil, and she crooned sadly to the green. Such a nice salamandyr, that one, but she really wanted her mother's attention. Sigh. She wasn't one of the flyers! And she wasn't...that...fat. Right? The gold raised her wings, looking on either side of herself to see. Just a little jiggly. Only baby fat it would go away, right? As she began to dry, it was becoming increasingly clear that the salamandyr was more a soft - yellow - than actually gold, with only a few shinier spots around her eyes and down her back.

Wrong. Bad. Stupid. Fatty! The little blue salamandyr sang, practically skipping through the crowd as he rejected person after person. None of these were His, where was His? Dmitri glanced at the blue and shook his head. Oh, look, he was coming this way. A small smirk touched his lips. "Here he comes," he murmured, smirking down at Elysia and attempting to hide the unease. The blue paused by her, climbing up onto her foot experimentally, and Dmitri broke into a broad grin, ignoring the hands on his chest as much as he could while being forced a step back. "I accept your bet," he added cheekily. At that moment the blue spotted Baron and hissed, fleeing across the room and slashing out at the leg of yet another wrong person. Oh, wait, wait! He'd found her! Now why was she hiding all the way back here? Stupid lovemine, why hide? No is game. Beautiful lovemine, feed? Please now? Scampering up Meagen's side, he curled around her wrist, licking it briefly before diving into the bowl. Oh, yum!

The golden salamandyr curled despondently, when thoughts broke through to her from somewhere not that far away. Love her? Someone would...? Crooning, she suddenly bounded up, spreading her wings and running in an awkward waddle toward the source of the thoughts. Hers! But even with her wings lifted, she managed to get her feet tangled, and the baby yellow/gold salamandyr went into a headlong tumble, crashing into his foot. She clung to the shoe, rubbing against it anxiously. Love, she crooned to him. Not fat, not flyer. Wings...make trip. Still love? Oh please, please say yes! For better or worse, Darmori was Hers forever.

Something Wicked Egg :: Blue Salamandyr :: Impressed to Meagen :: Clingy
Another Violent End Egg :: Green Salamandyr :: Impressed to Evrgarde :: Tea Leaf
Chaos Egg :: Brown Salamandyr :: Impressed to Iskierka :: Rhino
Forge Egg :: Green Salamandyr :: Impressed to Mi'rah :: Piccadillo
Madness Descends Egg :: Gold Salamandyr :: Impressed to Darmori :: Harmony
Behind Glass Walls Egg :: Blue Salamandyr :: Impressed to Tobby :: Melly
No Time Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Impressed to Yoalla :: Denial
Serve Man Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Impressed to C'oar :: Autumn
Poetic Justice Egg :: Bronze Firelizard :: Impressed to Todmund :: Carenath
Trail of Tears Egg :: Brown Firelizard :: Impressed to Sari :: Dusk
Critical Mass Egg :: Blue Firelizard :: Impressed to Farryl :: Isshun

[Requiem]

Something Wicked Blue

Name:
Impressed to: Meagen
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Blue 003366
Age: Hatchling

The house of mirrors is your place of play
Ten thousand faces driving you insane
A carnival of hate crawling through your mind
A gripping fear that leaves you paralyzed

Appearance: Just as with some of his clutchsiblings, this blue lacks a frill, but his cluster of hardened spines are so numerous that there is virtually no space between them, leaving him to look as if he has his 'frill' permanently flared rather than an array of spikes. His head is most definitely wedge-shaped, and his eyes are a curious upward crescent, giving them something of a mysterious edge. The tines around his neck, like those just behind his head, form a perfect ring of protection, though a smaller one. While he's pretty average in length for a blue, his body is thick - even plump.

This blue's thin wings will never be of much use to him, and he mostly employs them to express himself rather than to aid with balance or glide. His hide, at first glance, seems to be a solid, rich blue - the hue of the night sky a candlemark after full sunset. When healthy, his hide gleams so that you truly can see your reflection in it. If anyone was to try, however, they'd note that part of his glimmer are thin, nearly invisible lines of pale silver, forming sharp angles but otherwise random in their distribution. These lines break up any reflection into a million pieces. The fine silver hue dominates his wings, though the ribs are the same dark blue as the rest of his hide.


Personality: If there ever was a creature who epitomized the saying 'all bark and no bite', this salamandyr is it. While his speech is somewhat limited, almost to the point of being difficult to follow, the emotion behind it is all too clearly antagonistic. And if that weren't enough to make it clear that he's threatening to tear you into little pieces, his little puffed chest as he comes up onto his hind legs and hisses should be enough to get the point across. Never one to pass up the chance to exchange insults, if another salamandyr (or flitter, or any other creature, really) gets physically aggressive he immediately backs down and bows and scrapes - though that doesn't mean he won't get off a parting shot when he hightails it out of there.

This little guy packs quite the emotional punch for His, and unfortunately bonds closely enough that his emotions will take effort to learn to ignore. Part of this is the fact that he very much adores his bonded, and will defend his territory quite loudly (until the threat of violence makes him cringe.) The blue tends to posture for green salamandyrs, showing himself off as the 'tough guy', and should he ever win a mate, he'll likely defend her just as jealously as he does His. Perhaps unfortunately, though, the blue has an insanely strong fear of avians and tunnelsnakes that will send him into screaming fits as he tries to burrow into His to get away, and this fear extends to those clutchsiblings that resemble these tunnelsnakes.

---

Madness Descends Gold

Name:
Impressed to: Darmori
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Gold FFFF66
Age: Hatchling

Brothers fighting one another
And no one ready to make amends
Violence calls to my spirit and my sanity

Appearance: Her firelizard sire seems to have effected this gold drastically. She is nearly the size of an average green firelizard, which is absolutely enormous for even a gold salamandyr. It also makes the characteristic lack of a frill even more drastic, the long, hardened spines behind her jawbones potentially dangerous if she isn't careful. Also reflecting her sire, her wings are ridiculously large for her. They'd rightfully belong on a creature half again her size, and she dare not ever flare them lest she be blown away. Instead they remain folded, the claws clasped in front of her rather large chest and the tips dragging behind her like a cape gone horribly wrong.

In fact, the poor gold has very little in the way of dignity. Robust would be a kind description of her; in truth she has the misfortune of a large skeleton as well as a frame that has firmly crossed the line from chunky to downright fat. Waddling when she walks and frequently tripping over her overlarge wings, this queen prefers to set up a throne and stay there so as not to further embarrass herself. She doesn't even have the benefit of a queenly color. This gold is decidedly yellow, and a pale yellow at that, with just enough darker, metallic gold flecks circling her eyes and running down the length of her back to maybe convince someone she isn't just a really strange-looking green firelizard.

Personality: A well-behaved queen salamandyr? Do such creatures truly exist? Apparently so, because this gold is almost loving when it comes to others of her own species. She isn't the most talkative of salamandyrs, though she tends to be very eloquent when she does choose to speak. Gentle, caring, she makes an excellent salamandyr to go to with all your little salamandyr problems, and she'll do her best to fix them. Just so long as you don't make fun of her, and don't you dare ever call her 'fat' or compare her to a firelizard. In the bat of an eye she'll go from sweet and motherly to a raging hellion, not hesitating to Command any salamandyrs in the vicinity to defend her honor and dignity.

Of course, after most such episodes she feels absolutely terrible, first convincing Hers to bring her food to mollify her mood, then apologizing to the creature she just raged at. Unless, of course, said creature happens to be a firelizard. Firelizards are ignored by this salamandyr at the best of times, and attacked verbally - and even physically - if ignoring them doesn't get the point across. This gold absolutely loathes them with all her might, and will never, ever be caught by one. In fact, only a bronze salamandyr has the hopes of making her his mate, as she's far too big for any smaller salamandyrs, though she appreciates their devotion at making the attempt.

[Rei]

For one heart stopping moment the little blue thing had actually looked at her. However one look at Baron had sent him fleeing and a wide grin split her face. It looked decidedly odd on her features. Downright scary even. With a happy wiggle she got closer to Demi and purred. “I win, I win.” The urge to do a happy dance around him was there but she had some dignity thank you very much. Instead she blew him a kiss. “I’ll give you the time and date as soon as I figure it out love. Don’t try and escape either because I will hunt you down. You promised.”

Twirling on one foot she flipped her hair over her shoulder and gracefully made her way to an unoccupied pool. Oh today was just the best day ever. No little menacing screamers to call hers and torture on the horizon. Just to fun ~ <3

~~~

Darmori’s heat literally skipped a beat as the little gold skipped to him and he automatically picked her up as she took her tumble. The emotions running through him where unfamiliar and a bit scary but he was willing to deal. The amount of love she coursed into him was astounding. Unfortunately her color caused so much fear in him that his hands trembled. He loved her but why oh why did she have to be yellow? Quickly he closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to breathe. Ok, ok so she was yellow. The poor thing had enough rejection in her short time on Pern. She didn’t need anymore. “It’s ok. Of course I love you. Your not ugly, or fat, or a flyer. You’re my perfect little Angel and Imma call you Harmony.” He stated firmly.

The chubby little mandyr turned adoring rainbow eyes to him and chirped sweetly. Harmony. She repeated softly licking his fingers. Hungry is Harmony. Feed angel please? Her words just dripped love and Darmori only fell in deeper. Faranth help him. He was going to need counseling. Or at least a bucket of non toxic paint.

[mierce]

After escaping the communal baths, Evrgarde procured a cup of tea and a bowl of meat from the kitchen and found solitude at a corner table of the dining hall. At the time, her new green salamander was quietly eating from the bowl. Evrgarde watched with some confusion, an elbow propped up on the table, cheek resting against a fist. “So, you probably need a name or something,” she muttered to the little creature. She hated thinking up names, and was part of the reason why Iorath’s dog was still nameless. “How about you just tell me what you want to be called?” The mandyr paused in her eating to look up at hers. LovelyMine pick name best. Yes yes.

It was at that moment that Lange decided to between onto the scene with an excited squawk. The green fire lizard made a few loops in the air before promptly crashing head first into the meat bowl, effectively sending the much small salamandyr skittering up Evrgarde’s arm to hide behind her neck. Groaning, Evrgarde plucked the green flitter from the meat only to find a tangle of strings around the knobs on her head. The flitter shook her head, righted herself, and dove right back into the meat. It would seem that it was attempting to eat.

Evrgarde gestured to the flitter. “Well, this thing is called Lange.” Good Faranth, was she having a conversation with a salamandyr? “’Cause she’s kind of lanky and long.”

Lange good name, the salamandyr quietly offered.

The bluerider picked up the green salamandyr and set it back down on the table to examine. The salamandyr, in turn, made a small circle before rearing up on its hind legs to look back at her human expectantly. “Hrm…” Evrgarde picked up her cup to take a sip. “I suppose you’re sort of the color of fresh tea leaves.”

Fresh tea leaves good?

“All right.” Evrgarde set her cup back on the table and leaned back, crossing her arms. “Tea Leaf it is.”

Tea Leaf lowered herself onto all fours and skipped off the table to land on her human’s stomach. She stretched upward to lick the skin on one of the exposed forearms. Tea Leaf. Tea Leaf. she repeated, then scurried up and snuggled in the crook of her human’s elbow. Name good. Thanks.

Well then, came a long absent voice tinged with amusement. Maybe now you can name your puppy! I do believe he’s been waiting in line for quite some time.

The bluerider scowled, but was secretly pleased that her dragon had finally broken his silence, even if it was to tease her.


~*~*~


With all the salamandyrs and fire lizards safely bonded with their humans, Cer’c let out a jubilant cheer to all the lucky new owners. “Congratulations, everyone!” he yelled out to the crowd. From Harmonyth he felt an obvious feeling of relief. The green weyrling lingered about a bit more to watch the little creatures feed from the bowl before skipping out of there. Yes, he had clearly forgotten what he had gone to the communal baths to do in the first place.

Ugghh… humidity. Cer’c picked at the collar of his already very thin shirt as he looked up at the overcast sky, then headed over to the river where he had left Harmonyth and his two fire lizards to bathe in the water. The green had submerged herself as best as she could a distance out. Eee was floating in a small “bay” created by the curve of the green dragon’s tail, and Cuprite clinging to the same green’s hide just under her spread wings.

Cer’c kicked off his sandals and waded out towards her clothes and all. The sort-of-cool water was such a nice feeling!

[midnight]

Meagen watched amused, as one of the Mandyrs pranced his way through the crowd. Chirping something at just about everyone. Then she watched as it approached the clutch owner and a woman that was trying to get in his pants. Only to swerve around and prance back to... her. He darted up her leg, causing the girl to gasp. Her lips pursed in confusion for only a moment. Stupid lovemine, why hide? No is game. Beautiful lovemine, feed? Please now? the Mandyr exclaimed to her, before he dove into her bowl of food. Ok, now she was officially confused. Officially and completely confused.

She looked around watching everyone there, her hand slowly stroking the Mandyr. She hoped him and Gojii got along, otherwise this could end up problematic. She laughed weakly as she looked up at the sky. Shards, it was getting hotter and hotter. She was going to end up in nothing but a breast band and a pair of cut offs, pretty soon. If the heat kept up like this, something bad was going to happen. It was getting pretty hot, and didn't seem to be letting up. Even the rain was hot, when it rained. She avoided outside as much as she could now. Hiding deep in the bowels of the Weyr, when she didn't have to go see the MindHealer.

"I think, you little one... shall be named- " She stopped talking as she twisted her wrist and tried to shake the Mandyr's grip a little. "Yep, Clingy. Your name is Clingy." She stated. No not Clingy responded. "Is too!" Meagen exclaimed at the Mandyr. Alright. If stupidlove mine say. Is so. The mandyr finally said, in a mollified mandyr. Oh shards, what was she going to do. "I'm going to go insane..." Yep!

Faranth save her.