A New Flit {{OPEN ^^}}

[raii]

Sari stopped by a the drink stall, purchasing a pitcher of klah. By the non-seafood table, she bought a leg of wherry. By the snacks stall, she bought some bread slices. She also bought 2 slices of fried dough. She moved on to the dessert stall, buying two bubbly pies. She counted up her money, realizing she had spent all but 1/8 of a mark.

She glided over to a picnic table, with a pretty little shell arrangement. Sari dropped into the seat, her arms still laden with food. She layed it out in front of her: her klah, her wherry, her bread, her fried dough, and her pies. Dusk, who was perched on her shoulder, opened his tranlucent pink wings and creeled hungrilly.

She ripped off a good chunk of the wherry meat, handing it to Dusk, who ate it hungrilly. She took a bite, but he chirped for more, so she handed the entire bone to him. He gripped it with his claws and glided down to the table, hungrilly picking at the bone. She laughed softly, stroking his head fondly. She would be fine with her sweets, klah, and carbs.

She devoured the twisted fried dough peices, which she had bought for the uniqueness, not the taste. She took a sip of the rich klah, savoring it, before finishing off both of her pies. She finished off her meal with the bread. It was the sweet, southern blend. She ate her first slice, and, upon finding herself content for the moment, began to inspect her new eggs.

Both the fire lizard egg and the mystery egg were relatively small, held in wet towel-lined baskets. Dusk, having finished his meal, settled beside her, inspecting the eggs. Suddenly, he chirped excitedly, and began inspecting the egg on the left. As if on cue, it began to crack. Sari squeeked excitedly. She hadn't expected it to hatch so soon.

A claw of some sort crashed through the egg, blunted for some reason. It was the mystery egg, so she wondered what kind of creature it could be. The claw--or paw, rather, was a rich and deep, dark blue in color, with a soft hint of purple. The creature followed, proving itself to indeed be a fire lizard. The majority of him was this stunningly deep shade of blue, except for his nearly invisible ridges and his wing sails, which were an even deeper blue, but slowly edged into a dark purple.

Besides his lovely coloring, the first thing she noticed about him was his size. He neared the size of Dusk, in fact, but with a porportional fire lizard body, as opposed to the brown flit. She noted the thick, bunched muscle in his flank and legs. His tail as well seemed to be exceptionally strong, being thicker than ordinary fire lizard tails. He chirped happilly at Sari, and she tentitively scratched his head. He made a soft purring sound, and nuzzled up against her hand.

[Ruby]

Now that he'd bought his egg, Piden needed a drink. Preferably one that woke him up a little more and cooled him down at the same time. It wasn't hard to find the drink stall, and better yet, they had cold klah. How they kept it cool in this kind of heat was totaly beyond the Wherhandler, but he was not about to question. He was about to find a seat and pour the whole pitcher down his throat. That was civilized, right? No one would look at him funny? Well, no matter. It was too hot for civility.

Finding a table, though, was easier said than done. It was crowded, full to the point where Piden knew he'd have to share a table with someone. He looked vaguely for the Bluerider he'd come over with (easy to spot because of that incredible hair), but no. He'd just have to find the rider (M'kay? M'ckie?) later, maybe for a dance. A nasty little smile turned up the corner of Piden's mouth as he bought a smallish chunk of Wherry meat- that Rider was one who didn't look like he'd appreciate an invitation from a man to dance, but that certainly didn't mean Piden wouldn't try. It would be entertaining either way.

Meat, klah pitcher, and cup in one hand, basket with small egg in the other, Piden headed for the first table he saw with only one (attractive) person at it. Cute, in an innocent way, she must have been a few years younger, but not too much. More importantly, she also had baskets in front of her, and by the way she and her lizard were peering into them they were not full of new cleaning supplies. He glanced for some indication of rank or home and didn't see any right away, so he simply sat down across the table from her.

"Mind if I share your table?" he asked, already unloading his food and drink and settling in. "Looks like we've both got..." He was going to say 'eggs', but suddenly the girl's involvement in the contents of her basket was made clear. It had hatched, and a huge blue firelizard was now nuzzling her hand. "Wow," Piden offered, mostly genuine. That was a lovely lizard, much more... normal than Red ever was. "He's gorgeous," he added, then shifted his eyes to his own basket. The small egg was twitching, now, as if the hatching of it's brother firelizard had caused it to speed up.

[raii]

"Oh, thank you!" Sari said with a grin. "And of course you're welcome to sit here." Somehow, the adrenaline of hatching a new fire lizard made her forget her shyness temporarilly. She rubbed the deep blue fire lizard, wonderwing what she would name him. She admired his coloring, and he crooned shyly. Dusk gave an angry squeek. Why wasn't his paying more attention to him? He was beautiful too, right?

"Of course, Dusk, but you musn't be jealous. He's your new brother!" She beamed happilly at Piden. To her, Dusk was just as beautiful as the new flit, perhaps just because she loved him. His coloring was rather pink, and his legs rather short, but he did have a regal masculinity about him, regardless of his coloring. On the other hand, this blue, although beautiful and strong, lacked this masculinity, surprisingly enough.

They were both beautiful, regardless of any flaws, in Sari's eyes. She followed Piden's eyes to his lightly rocking egg. She smiled, excited for Piden. It seemed to be small, as her other egg. Her other egg, however, was completely still. Dusk, as distractable as he was, now peered at the egg. The little blue, still unnamed, watched as well, determined to please his new brother.

((Fail post. D:))

[Ruby]

Piden just smiled absently at Sari, waiting for a flake of shell to fall off. It would be a green, a little firelizard, the perfect friend for Red. Sari's Blue was pretty, and seemed quiet enough; hopefully Piden's egg came from the same clutch. That was likely, wasn't it? How many different firelizards could the eggs come from?

The egg rocked more violently, falling over on it's side. Nothing had poked out, yet, but it had to be soon. Excited, Piden leaned forward as the egg spilled over the low rim of the basket, cracking on the table and spilling its contents into a dapple of sunshine filtering through the canopy overhead.

Piden's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open before he tilted his head back, sending a despairing look at the sky. It was red. In the sunlight, the little beast sparkled like a red gem, only his golden-bronze face giving a hint to his actual color. Love mime, have eggy? the little creature asked (in full broadcast), detangling his long limbs. As he felt the new mind nestle into his awareness, Piden shifted his gaze back to the salamandyr. "Oh, shells," he murmured, grabbing the red-bronze creature by his tail and hauling him away from Sari's other egg. "No eating that, you little beast," Piden said, still looking utterly horrified.

Shells, shells, Shells want to munch and crunch! the creature sing-songed, ignoring the firelizards for the time being while still trying to escape Piden's grasp. Securing the Bronze in one hand, Piden tore off some of his wherry meat, shoving it in the creature's mouth, wondering what he'd have to call the thing. Red was, after all, already taken. But food didn't shut the thing up, and he kept talking even while chewing. No want other name, want Shells want. Shells yes, good mime, pretty fire girl agree, yes yes? he asked, turning his head towards Sari at the end of the little monologue. Shells good, sexy, get egg?

[raii]

Sari watched the red-tinted salamandyr emerge from its egg. She smiled. It was the first time she'd seen a salamandyr up close. Dusk and the unnamed blue seemed to dislike it, however, and she realized why when it voiced its desire to eat her other egg. She went pale. She'd forgotten that salamandyrs ate fire lizard eggs.

Dusk wrapped his tail around what he hoped to be his future mate, and the little blue perched in front of Dusk, trying to look intimidating but only succeeding in looking innocent. Sari smiled, still unnerved. The little creature looked towards her, directing his speech towards her. "Shells is a fine name, but you still can't have my egg, I'm sorry." Dusk chirped in aggitated agreement, but Sari calmed him with a soft nudge.

Suddenly, the last egg began to shake, twitching slightly. Perhaps the sudden change was from its brothers' hatchings, or perhaps the loud Dusk. Perhaps it had somehow sensed the threat of the salamandyr. Perhaps, of course, it simply happened. The egg was relitively large, almost as large as the little blue's had been. Sari began to worry that it would be a blue, maybe even a brown.

Picking up on this thought, Dusk chirped angrilly, the salamandyr forgotten. His eyes whirled almost threateningly, as if to say, if you bought a male I'm going to kill you. As always, the fire lizards potential anger was displaced, as he had picked out such a large egg since the others had not met his high expectations.

Dusk peered over the egg, opening his wings. The little blue did the same, trying to gain his new brother's respect. It was a strange sight: a young man holding a red salamandyr while it devoured wherry; a young woman staring at an egg, enthralled, and two fire lizards perching on their hind legs with wings wide open.

The little creature seemed to have some trouble freeing itself from the egg, as it simply rocked around, collecting small cracks. A crunch could be heard as a small section cracked. Another crunch could be heard as a delicate claw smashed through the egg. The claw dissappeared. Apparently desperate to free itself, the creature slammed itself, head first, from the weak part of the egg. Even as it tumbled free, it was the epitome of grace.

The little creature proved itself to indeed be female, nothing less than a beautiful green. She delicately perched herself on the table, grabbing a bite of Piden's wherry meat, unaware of the fact that it was his. She shared many qualities with her blue clutchmate. She was large, even a bit larger than him, as a matter of fact. She was well porportioned as well, perhaps even more so, as her tail was more dainty and showy than his muscular fifth limb.

However, her shape was much more elegant. Although large, she was slender and graceful in every part of her body. Overall, her body was incredibly beautiful, right down to her coloring. Her hide seemed to glow, almost as though she were close to flight, though this of course was impossible. It was one color, not one little section a single shade lighter or darker from the rest. She was a deep, vibrant emerald in color.

The little green, having satisfied her stomach, first looked to her mine. She spread her wings and slowly glided over to Sari, creeling happilly. Sari stroked her head. She was so lucky, to have two more beautiful fire lizards. The girl at the stall had been right: the eggs were beautiful and certainly healthy.

Part of her, however, had wished an egg had been unhealthy, in the back of her mind only. She was the motherly sort, and enjoyed taking care of others. Little did she know she'd have her hands even more full with the three healthy ones she had.

Either way, she loved her little ones, and in retrospect she was happy they could live healthy lives. Piden had already found a name for Shells--or, rather, Shells had found himself a name. Hers were fire lizards, however, so they couldn't tell her what they wanted to be called. The blue creened softly, trying to grasp her attention without hurting the new green.

"I don't know what to name you two..." The blue chirped, nuzzling its head into her arm. When the sun hit his hide as he did so, it illuminated the deep blue, giving it a vibrant sheen, like a color she'd seen before. A name suddenly popped into her head. "Lazuli, you'll be Lazuli, is that all right?" He chirped happilly, proud of his new name.

The green creeled. She wanted a name too. The green's name was a bit harder, because when she looked at her only adjectives seemed to pop into her head: Beautiful, pretty, gorgeous. The green purred happilly. These were not names, but she was glad her mine thought she was so pretty! Emerald popped into her head for a moment, but she dismissed it almost immidiately.

Almost as an afterthought, her mind began combining random letters into patterns she liked. Ideas swirled through her head, but as always, she was indecisive when she held many different ideas. After a few seconds, she decided. "How is Mika?" The green purred louder now, happy to have a name and a wonderful mine who thought she was pretty.

[Ruby]

Piden had to stop a veritable tirade of curses. He had a Salamandyr who regularly went into fits over the color red, not to mention that she was still recovering from sheer shock, and now he had a salamandyr that WAS red. There was no justice, absolutely none. The world very obviously, violently hated him. What was he supposed to do?

Well, he'd have to figure that out when he got home, he supposed. At the moment, he was more concerned with stopping Shells from eating his table-mate's egg. Not a good way to start a relationship, Piden was sure. Buying a girl a replacement for the egg your beast had eaten wasn't exactly as romantic as ordering her a glass of good Benden. Not that Piden necessarily intended anything romantic with this girl- he'd let her get her eggs hatched first, at least- but it was always an option, right? Very nommy option, even no egg, Shells put in before Piden could cram him into a pocket. Normally Piden liked to keep his pets under his collar, but he figured it was probably not a good idea to train Shells to like any places Red liked. Who Red? Shells reed, no kick greensies.

"I have no idea what he's saying," Piden claimed, already understanding that Shells liked to air his personal thoughts to the world. Luckily it seemed that Shells didn't fully understand which letters went where, and that words like "fire" and "hot", while related, didn't mean the same thing when applied to a human female. The Bronze continued to mumble cryptic puzzles about the level of Sari's attractiveness and suitability as a mate (luckily, mostly picking words that did not exist in Pernese), while Piden turned his attention to the next egg to hatch. Hopefully Sari would just... ignore the creature. She had more interesting things to pay attention to anyway. How come everyone but Piden got pretty, sensible pets?

Much sense, sexy sense, Shells claimed, climbing deliberately back up out of Piden's pocket to perch on his hand, tail wrapped back around his owner's wrist. Then the green soared over and Piden pulled his hands back, letting her at the wherry. Shells, however, disagreed. Flaring his ruby-red frill, he hissed, snarking in a nasty tone, Fugly greenie, wants MY meaty! Leave off!Other, why not suck on...

"LAZULI'S VERY NICE," Piden said, raising his voice in an attempt to drown Shells out. "Mika too," he added, once Shells had quieted down a little (and gone on to less embarrassing subjects, like Dusk, Mika and Lazuli's clear inferiority). "Speaking of names, I'm Piden," he offered, with an inviting smile and hand in the girl's direction. She seemed less occupied with her creatures now, and since Piden was nowhere near done with his dinner, he might as well get to know her. "Where're you from?"

[raii]

Being a bit on the slow side, the large green shrunk back, unaware that the wherry had been anything but free game. Mika opened her wings an glided over to the haven of Sari's shoulder. She hid behind a curtain of dark hair, peering out at the offending salamandyr. "Don't worry, you're very beautiful," Sari whispered to the green, who immidiately calmed down.

She rubbed her head gently as the green purred. Piden, trying to drown out the chattering salamandyr, commented on the niceness of the two names. She beamed. Feeding off her mine's pride, Mika chirped happilly, forgetting her upsetness. Lazuli, however, seemed completely uninterested. He was rather tired, having just hatched. He curled up beside the pitcher of Sari's klah.

Dusk scoffed at the blue for his lack of interest. Although the green had already forgotten about the offense, he glared at the bronze threateningly. Before Dusk could start a power struggle, Sari scooped Dusk up and placed him in her lap, stroking his back ridges.

Piden introduced himself. Sari smiled shyly, embarressed. She'd forgotten to introduce herself too, being too wrapped up in her fire lizards. Mika nudged her gently, as if to say that it was important to be wrapped up in her and her clutchmate. "I'm Sari," she said. "I'm from Selenitas Hold."

"What about you?" Noting that his name had no contraction, she wondered if he was a candidate too. "I'm a candidate, are you one too?" Her eyes glimmered with excitement. She hoped she would Impress. She'd been in an especially good mood since the eggs had clutched.

[Ruby]

Piden was quickly revising his first opinion of Sari. He liked her smile, her excitement, the way she was with her pets. Unfortunately, being a female and having Piden like you was not a particularly good place to be. For the moment, though, Sari was safe- Piden was more interested in his food than in her.

Oh yes, and Shells.

Sarxi, he started, and Piden knew where THAT one was going even before Shells went on, Mines Denden wantz your flitter-babies! The Bronze's tone was clearly insulting as Piden tried to capture his pet and get him under control. Too bad fugly beasties, create less pretty! With a roll of his eyes, Piden lifted Shells by the tail, looking the Bronze in the eye as Shells halfheartedly flailed. "Look, you," he said, gesturing at Sari, "This is a very lovely young woman, and you WILL shut your mouth and be polite, or I'll shut it for you!"

With a pouty look, Shells frilled, crossed his over-long arms, and claimed, Can't. Piden gave him a dangerous look, the put the Bronze on the table, and said, "You don't want to find out what I can do, Shells. Now stop bugging us, or run off and get into mischief elsewhere." With a humph and another frill in Sari's direction, the Mandyr climbed back down into Piden's pocket. They could still hear him mumbling aloud for a few minutes before he apparently drifted off to sleep, still exhausted from his recent hatching.

"Sorry about that," he said, switching his attention back to Sari. "It's nice to meet you, Sari. Congratulations on your candidacy," he added, smiling, mind drifting briefly to his stint as a Candidate. That had been a short stay, for sure. "Oh no, I'm a Wherhandler," he said, coming back to reality and opening his hand to show Sari the scar across his palm. "I bonded Bronze Pidesk a few years ago... I must not have been much older than you, at the time. You're a dragon candidate, I assume?" he asked, still pondering his scar. He looked back up at her after a moment, thought of Pidesk making his smile broader and calmer. "What with Hepaticath's clutch on the stand, I mean. Any preference on Impression?" he added, so he didn't sound rude.

[raii]

"It's all right. I'm quite used to...uhm, impolite creatures. They'll learn...maybe..." She smiled. "You seem to be better with Shells than I am with Dusk. I'm afraid I let him get away with a lot more than I should." She beamed as he congradulated her. "Thank you! It's been my dream since I was a kid." He then explained that he was a wherhandler, and had Impressed a bronze wher.

He said bonded, and showed her a scar. She didn't know much about whers. "Why does his name sound like yours? Did you name him? What does that scar mean? What are whers like? Are they as smart as dragons?" She blushed at her lack of knowledge. "I mean, I've seen whers before, but never really met them or learned much about them. I guess it applies to the majority of living things in my Hold."

He looked really happy when he thought about Pidesk, so for once Sari let her curiousity out. She doubted he wouldn't like to talk about him. "What is he like? Is he at the Weyr? How big is he?" He asked her about her candidacy. "Oh yes, I was just searched for her clutch. I don't really mind, I'd rather a fighter dragon more than a queen, though. Probably more fun, and that's what my brother had wanted for both of us."

Her mind quickly jumped to the time when he'd promised they'd be on the same wing. She smiled fondly, knowing he'd be proud of her if he was still here, but missing him nonetheless. "I just hope I Impress, though. I don't mind what it is, be it green, blue, brown, bronze, or gold. Though I'm pretty sure I can rule out bronze for me."

[Ruby]

"Well, I have a very difficult Salamandyr at home, and Shells looks like he'll top her by about a mile," Piden drawled, surreptitiously holding the top of his pocket shut. "I wish I could spoil them, it would make life much easier. And Dusk seems well-behaved enough," he added, smiling over at the pinkish flit. "At least he isn't trying to imply that I'm impotent and celibate or something. Shells, on the other hand, most likely assumes that I already am and if I'm not, he'll do everything in his power to fix that situation." That brought a little chuckle out of the Handler, and shells stirred in his sleep, muttering, Mmmpotent. Yes, Shells yes. Piden simply shook his head.

Her curiosity about Whers made him smile with surprising warmth. Anyone he could turn into a Wher candidate sounded good to Piden, even if he just planted the seed in their mind. The Night Watch needed all the help they could get, and it would be a shame to see Wherlings run wild. "Curious much?" he asked playfully, reaching across the table to steal a little piece of Sari's second slice of sweet bread with a rakish smile. Hopefully she wouldn't complain, but if she did, the Handler would be happy to buy her another (or whatever she wanted, really).

Munching on the bread corner, he pondered her questions. "Whers bond either to people or places that they wish to protect, and take on their names. For instance, if a Wher felt very close to Southern Hold here, he might call himself Southsk, or Southernsk, or any other variation of Southern with a -sk ending. If you impressed one, she might be Sarisk. They name themselves based on how close they are to the Handler - Pidesk and I are very close, fo instance, where if he had called himself Pisk the bond would be much weaker. I'm not sure which one comes first, it's kind of a chicken and egg scenario, but that's the way it is. As for the scar: when Whers bond with people, they do it by blood. I cut open my hand and Pidesk... well, drank my blood, I guess, although that sounds a lot creepier than it actually was." That might have been a teensy lie, as Pidesk's hatching had been incredibly creepy indeed, but that had more to do with the scary looking eggs than anything.

What were they like? That was a harder question. "Whers are... well, I guess not as smart as dragons in the conventional sense, but they are much more instinctual. They don't speak mind to mind, but they rely on their senses heavily, and they can make themselves understood. More like a firelizard bond, but much more intense. Pidesk is fairly small for a Bronze Wher, but he's still around the size of a large Runner, and quite a bit thicker. Most people think they're kind of ugly, but I like 'em," he finished, fairly certain he'd gotten all of her questions answered. Finishing off the glass of iced klah he'd poured himself, Piden added, "You're always welcome to come meet Pidesk, if you want. He likes people. We live in the Handler's Apartments, or you can usually find us hanging around at night."

Now, time to turn the conversation to her. He'd talked enough. "Well, good luck on the Sands! I'm sure you'll do great. And if you don't, you've got plenty of years to keep trying, and even if you age out of Dragons, you can still stand for Whers!" Shameless plug? Perhaps. He laughed at himself, then smiled over at her. "But no, I'm sure you'll impress first shot. Green or Gold, I'd wager; you don't exactly seem like the half-male girls that seem to ride Blues around here. What Wing would you want, if you did get a fighter? And what was your search like?" he asked, then added, "Brother? Is he a Rider?"

[raii]

"Mmm, trust me, if he could, he would certainly be spewing names AND swears. More likely at Shells than you; You haven't offended him yet." Sari smiled. "I love animals of all kinds, really. Would you like some more bread? You don't need to take such a small peice, I'm very full." She brought the bread closer to him, offering him some more.

She nodded eagerly throughout his explaination, happy to learn more about one of the wonderful creatures on Pern. "I'd love to meet him! He sounds charming. Wherhandler's appartments. At night. I really don't think I'd be too upset if I didn't Impress. It's a wonderful experience, and isn't there a Wher Hatching later?"

"Green or gold? Green, maybe. I'm too passive to be a goldrider." Wing? Search? "Hmm, I don't know what wing I'd like to be. My search was surprising, though. I didn't expect it, I suppose. It was amazing. A change of perspective, a chance." Then he did what she expected most people to do. He asked about her brother. "Should be. Would be. He..."

He died. Tragic irony, if you asked her. The day his life should have really started it ended. The dragonet who mauled him couldn't really be blamed; he didn't know any better. The healer who tried and failed to put his blood back into his body couldn't be blamed either. "I've...I've got to go! I'll...come visit you and Pidesk...I...bye." Before he could say a word, she hurried to her feet and rushed off into the crowd, her three fire lizards trailing her.

[Ruby]

Piden smiled, taking some more bread as Sari chatted away. He tossed in an appropriate, "Yes, Eikask's running, and Pidesk will be chasing, I'm sure," when she asked about the clutch. He was enjoying her company, and Shells had even shut up for a second... this day was shaping up nicely.

Until he asked about her brother. Sore subject, Piden figured, watching Sari's abruptly retreating back. Ah well, hopefully she'd visit some time. If not... maybe Eikask's hatching.