Introducing: The Wilderness Clutch

[boober]

1. Birdsong Egg
2. Whispering Grasses Egg
3. Stalking Predator Egg
4. Open Skies Egg
5. Seclusion Egg
6. Hidden Prey Egg
7. Wildflower Egg
8. Leaf Egg
9. Camouflage Egg
10. Howler Egg
11. Moonless Night Egg
12. Cricket’s Chirp Egg



Birdsong Egg: Wisps of gold meet with streamers of magenta, seeming to drift and wind across this egg’s shell like something that should be heard rather than seen. The gold appears to float across the pink like the clouds in a morning sky. The overall appearance of this egg is very bright and cheerful, just this side of gaudy, as well as large. It’s bound to attract a lot of attention.

Whispering Grasses Egg: This egg is large, rivaling the Birdsong Egg in size. It is also very, very green, with horizontal bands and striations of varying shades running in rings around the shell. Random pale green splotches here and there seem to run in diagonals, somehow giving the impression of long, springtime grasses waving in the breeze.

Stalking Predator Egg: Varying shades of gold mottle this egg’s surface, blending into a beautiful tawny color not unlike that of some felines. To add to the illusion is a smattering of small black flecks across the shell. Toward the bottom, random green slashes are visible, giving the impression of grass for the hunter to hide behind. This is one of the smaller eggs of the clutch.

Open Skies Egg: Medium in size, this egg is a pale, perfect blue mottled with fluffy white on top to give the sense of a summer sky. Toward the bottom of the egg, the white shapes seem to take on a more angular appearance. If one were to look long and hard enough, one can almost make out the shape of butterfly wings.

Seclusion Egg: Another of the smaller eggs, this one is likely the oddest, and some would say the most boring of the clutch. Covered in a medium blue shade, dots and speckles seem to swirl about the shell like bubbles effervescing around a stone dropped into an otherwise calm pond. Dashes of light appear throughout, adding to the illusion of water and bubbles.

Hidden Prey Egg: Green covers each end of this egg, tapering off in tattered edges that vaguely resemble leaves and grass. In between the clumps of green, a starkly contrasting white can be seen, slashed by soft stripes of black. It’s almost as if this small egg is hiding from the Stalking Predator Egg, placed neatly behind several others.

Wildflower Egg: Truly unique, this small egg seems to blend right in with the rest of the clutch. It’s easy for the eye to slide right over it, attracted by much gaudier colors and patterns. But anyone who looks directly at this egg would be amazed. Amid the soft greens are dots and splotches that rather accurately depict brightly colored flowers. It’s nearly impossible to see anything else on this egg’s shell. Little splotches of yellow drift about on the egg’s upper half, open to interpretation. Fireflies, perhaps, or maybe tufts of sun-drenched pollen?

Leaf Egg: Despite the implications of the name, there is not a spot of green to be found on this rather large egg. A deep scarlet encases the shell, embellished with golden yellow points and veins to give the impression of sharp, angular leaves. This egg’s bright gaudiness is rivaled only by the Birdsong Egg.

Camouflage Egg: As its name implies, this small egg is a master of disguise. There is no set pattern to its shell, and its color is one that nobody seems to have a name for. It seems almost to change as needed to blend into its surroundings, and looks as if it would completely disappear out in the wilds.

Howler Egg: There’s something dark and forbidding about this medium sized egg. It sits in the back of the clutch, seeming to loom over the others almost menacingly. At first its dark shell seems entirely black, but upon closer inspection one could see faint swirls of a dark golden brown mingling with the black. Almost completely smooth, it seems as if the shell should reflect all the light that hits its surface, but to the contrary, it seems to absorb it. A truly remarkable, if vaguely disturbing egg.

Moonless Night Egg: Despite what the name implies, this medium-sized egg seems almost bright and cheery. A deep navy blue, its surface is dotted with a multitude of bright “stars” that seem to actually shine and twinkle, as if they were trying with all their might to make up for the lack of light.

Cricket’s Chirp Egg: An odd name, certainly, but whenever one looks on this egg, one can’t help but hear the chorus of small insects and others night creatures in their mind’s ear. An almost black shade of blue covers this egg from top to bottom, with dim points of ‘light’ giving the impression of stars. Faint, almost indiscernible lines spiderweb across the shell and it’s easy to mistake these lines for cracks. But upon closer inspection, they look almost like the lace of an insect’s wing…


OOC Note: Here it is, guys. Hope you like it ;D Please keep in mind that this is NOT the Hatching! This is just the introduction thread. If you feel so inclined, you can have your char stop in for a peek at the pretty clutch, but don't post here thinking this is the Hatching xP

[Avu]

T’rid had been contemplating a fire lizard for some time now. Not because they particularly tugged his fancy any more than salamandyrs, but because Corinth had taken a liking to them and regarded them in high amusement. The bronze had gone as far as to urge T’rid to go search for a clutch along the beach. As if! He had rejected that idea immediately, but somehow, the snarky bronze had managed to make him promise to try to Impress a fire lizard from the first gold clutch that popped up. And what was more, he’d somehow been wheedled into trying to Impress a green fire lizard.

Go figure.

So now, he was standing in front of the door of some Rider’s weyr, wondering whether or not Corinth was determined to drive him out of his senses. The clutch Corinth told him about hadn’t even been Hatching. No, he was to come in and look at the clutch. For Shards’ sake, it wasn’t like it would Hatch any second! In fact, T’rid was under the impression it had just been laid.

Growling in slight annoyance, T’rid entered, glancing around for any signs of an angry queen fire lizard. By Faranth, Cor, I didn’t know dragons liked fire lizards, he hissed at the bronze, although he had to admit the bright colors of the clutch left little to be wanted. He tilted his head, judging briefly which would hatch a green like Corinth wanted.

Well, I do, said the bronze stubbornly.
And you want a green one, too… T’rid shook his head at the dragon, but sent him an image of the clutch anyway. What do you want me to do? Kip in here until the clutch hatches?
Ha, ha. Say hello to the fire lizard if she’s there. If not, say hello to the owner of the fire lizard’s clutch. And then ask when the Hatching is going to be, roughly. Corinth’s mental tones were both wistful and excited at the same time.

Repressing the urge to whack the bronze and yell that dragons did not like fire lizards as a whole, T’rid glanced around again. This time looking for any fire lizard queen or the one who owned the fire lizard queen in question. A man, it was said. C’lryn of Bronze Minoath. A Weyrlingrider, Corinth told him.

Okay, sure. So, where was he?

[wingrider]

Hennai walked up behind someone standing at the door she had been told to go to. The weyr she had been told to come to, if she wanted to view the eggs that a gold firelizard had just laid. She hoped she could get one of the eggs. Even if she had to spend marks to get one, she'd do it! She looked the man over in front of her. He was a Dragonrider. "Came to look at the firelizard clutch too?"

[boober]

It was the sound of footsteps that roused Minoath from his doze, the bronze’s eyes slid open smoothly, the glowing facets whirling slowly as they focused on the other rider who had entered the weyr. The dragon inhaled deeply, causing his breath to hiss slightly before he raised his head just enough to yawn, then swiveled his head to peer over at the furs, where His was slumbering blissfully, if not gracefully. Fortunately for the visitors, C’lryn was not in a completely indecent state, merely lacking a shirt and shoes. Mine. Rouse yourself; we have visitors.

There was no response.

Flicking the end of his tail, Minoath seemed to be thinking. As he did, a soft twitter sounded from above. Yes, above; perched atop one of the higher shelves in the weyr were a dozen brightly patterned eggs… with a vigilant little gold coiled protectively around them. Darling regarded the visitors with bright, rapidly whirling eyes; she was rather flustered. It was flattering that her clutch was receiving visitors; it was indeed a marvelous clutch, but still! The little mother readjusted one of the eggs anxiously, even as she kept an eye on the people in the doorway. Would they hurt the eggs? Some humans didn’t realize their strength… or their clumsiness. Perhaps it would be best if she just didn’t allow them to touch. This was no dragon clutch, after all! They didn’t need to touch her precious eggs.

Suddenly, a green blur raced up and over C’lryn’s motionless body. Bite leaped from the furs and flew across the room with a loud hiss, frill in full display at the intruders. GO AWAY! Bite! The little green salamandyr hit the floor in front of T’rid’s feet with a plop! before darting forward in a feint. BITE DUNGHEAD! She shouted her warning again, only to screech horribly as her tail was grasped (gently) and she was picked up and lightly tossed toward the now-vacant furs. It was the most effective method C’lryn had of dealing with his temperamental little green, though it didn’t seem so as Bite screamed before plunging off the furs and charging toward Minoath’s couch. She disappeared beneath the bronze’s jaw to sulk; Minoath hardly seemed to notice.

C’lryn offered a sheepish, if somewhat sleepy grin to his visitors as he ran his fingers through his short brown hair, effectively standing it up in spikes. “Sorry about that. Come on in; I take it you’re here to look at Darling’s clutch?” He stepped to the side and motioned lazily toward the shelf on which Darling was perched with her clutch. The gold in question fluttered her wings once before folding them against her sides and giving the visitors the full extent of her gaze. She didn’t want them touching her eggs. Noting her nervousness, C’lryn approached the shelf and extended his arm. Darling hesitated only briefly before fluttering down to perch gracefully on his forearm, wrapping her tail around his arm for stability. But most of her attention was on the visitors.

“It’s all right, beauty; they won’t harm your eggs.” This was spoken soothingly to the gold, who peeped quietly in response before accepting C’lryn’s scratches. If he said they wouldn’t hurt her eggs, then she knew it was true.

[Avu]

T’rid glanced around aimlessly for a minute or two, and then a voice alerted him to someone with him. A Candidate, it looked like. Shouldn’t she be doing chores? Her question went unanswered as he regarded her briefly, condescendingly, and then shrugged. Why else would he, a ranking Bronzerider, be wandering around like a little lost herdbeast in someone else’s Weyr? It made no sense whatsoever. In fact, he mused, why he was around here even with a fire lizard clutch made no sense anyway. He had never expressed more than polite disinterest in the little beasts.

Three things occurred at once. First, the bronze dragon awoke, and Corinth seized the chance to speak to Minoath. I hope you don’t mind, the bronze said apologetically, We didn’t disturb your rest? Mine wished to see the fire lizard clutch. Second, T’rid’s eyes focused suddenly on the bed and he realized that C’lryn was both asleep and familiar to him, although it took a second to place the man’s face. Ah, that’s right: Wing drills. And, third, after glancing briefly at C’lryn and then looking away to allow for some privacy, he caught sight of the eggs, along with a golden form sprawled among them.

T’rid was going to bow in polite greeting to the fire lizard, but a very small flash of green distracted him; his eyes flitted instantly downwards as a little green thing started screaming at him mentally. An expression of intense dislike found the Bronzerider’s face. At least, thank Faranth, Corinth hadn’t decided to fall for one of these things. I believe said ‘thing’ goes by the name of a ‘Salamandyr,’ reported Corinth. It really is kind of adorable, isn’t it?

Mentally promising Corinth that he would receive a throttling later, T’rid managed a polite enough smile at the young man that faced him, depositing of the Salamandyr. Suppressing the urge to inform C’lryn that his Salamandyr needed strict training, T’rid nodded abruptly. “Corinth told me that they had been laid a short while before,” he said, not a statement, but a question to make sure the bronze hadn’t been ill-informed. At least there was even a fire lizard clutch at all. It’d be Sharding awkward to show up and be informed by a befuddled Bronzerider there was no clutch.

He watched the fire lizard queen suspiciously, half-wondering if she was going to start screaming at him like the silly little Salamandyr had. You bow, Corinth reminded him. I am not going to BOW to a little fire lizard that looks as if she’d rather eat me than let me touch her eggs, T’rid snarled at the bronze mentally, outwardly schooling his features sternly into a more respectable expression.

“Ah…” Well, a queen did deserve some respect, even if it was a queen fire lizard. At least it vaguely resembled a dragon. He could fool himself into pretending she was. Darling, said Corinth. What? That’s her name. Darling. Oh. What a nice name! Just perfect for a queen…shaking off his morose mood, T’rid inclined his head slightly to the queen. “Ahm, Darling…I’m T’rid of Bronze Corinth. It’s a…pleasure…to have the chance to Impress one of your clutch. May I…touch?”

He felt so. Sharding. Stupid. Could she even understand him? It wasn’t like she was as intelligent as a dragon was. She’s still a queen, Corinth informed him delightedly, and T’rid could sense the bronze’s excitement. He made another mental note to saddle Corinth with the feeding of whatever fire lizard he ended up Impressing if he did. Then he could see how his lizard fever fared.

[wingrider]

Hennai wasn't insulted by the bronzerider's attitude. She sighed and shook her head. "Bronzeriders, their all the same," muttered before spotting C'lryn. She smiled at him. And then looked at the gold firelizard. "Ah, she's a beauty." She bowed to the little gold, and then to C'lryn. She had spotted the clutch. "A beautiful clutch, little Queen." She stood where she was. If the bronze rider wanted to touch the clutch, she'd let him. But she'd wait her turn for a chance to get closer to the eggs, after seeking permission from the mother.