Motherly Instinct [[Egg Stall]]

[raii]

Sari had never been to a gather before. She always stayed home. Meir went, though, and would bring her home a trinket of some sort. When Meir was gone, she wanted even less to do with gathers. Now that she was a Candidate, she felt it somewhat essential. No one was taking care of her, making her clothing. She wasn't growing particularly fast, and would not need anything for a while, owning her brother's old cloak and some plain and generic clothing. She did, however, need some clothing for the cooler weather. She tended to lose those things easilly.

No matter how much she claimed it was to get supplies she didn't really need, she knew that wasn't her real reason. Meir had loved going to gathers, even though they had been too busy for her to even attempt going to. She wanted to see what he had seen. It was still relatively empty, or so she assumed, since it had just started. She had planned to come in the begining, when less people were here, to ease into it. She glanced around. There were still a lot of people. There was so much to see, though.

She observed food stalls, clothing stalls, craft stalls: anything she could imagine was there, and more. Everything was decorative and colorful. Her eyes immidiately drew to a stand that seemed to stand out. It didn't stand out because it was especially decorative or colorful or big. It stood out because it was small and plain whereas everything else was the exact opposite. Curiousity drew her closer.

There were several bowls on the table, each labeled either "Fire Lizard," "Avian," or "No clue." In the bowls were eggs. Another sign claimed that only one was allowed per customer. They were probably the most expensive items at the gather, but that was to be expected considering they held tiny, unborn creatures. She considered the eggs. Perhaps she would buy one of the unknown eggs. It could have some unique creature. Even if it wasn't, there was the element of surprise, which excited her.

Maybe she would buy an avian egg. She didn't know much about avians, but they seemed interesting and powerful. She doubted they were as expressive as a fire lizard, however. Maybe she would buy a fire lizard egg, getting a companion for her little Dusk, who was probably still asleep. He would be huffy to be left behind, but she felt a Gather would be overwhelming for both of them if he came.

There were small, medium, and large eggs. The large eggs, naturally, were the most expensive. If she bought a large egg, she would only have 5 marks left. The medium wouldn't leave her with too much more, so she might as well go for the large if she chose a fire lizard. Perhaps she could go for a small, but she worried the creature could be sickly and weak. That thought encouraged her to buy a small egg. She would nurse the little creature into a strong little thing.

Always indecisive, she wished that the one per customer rule wasn't in place, but she knew she wouldn't be able to buy all of them anyways. She inspected the eggs. She was a motherly character, longing for something to take care of, so perhaps she would buy the small fire lizard egg. Maybe the size had more to do with color, though. She wasn't sure, she had been too wrapped up in excitement at the only Hatching she'd attended to notice.

"Pardon me, but does the egg size relate to the health of the fire lizard? Are the smaller eggs less healthy than the others?" She blushed lightly. "I...I'm sorry, I don't know much about fire lizard eggs."

[glamourie]

“It’s okay!” Eselda, the stallkeeper (a girl of mere thirteen) climbed onto her stool behind the stall (she’d been sitting on her knees on the ground playing with one of her three firelizards). Bobbing her head in greeting, the girl brushed her curls back over her shoulder and then indicated the baskets with one hand. She was oodles and oodles of energy and she may or may not have just consumed a bubbly pie to supplement the usual amount. “A lot of people don’t know much about firelizards ‘til after they have one and that’s okay ‘cause that’s the best time to learn, yanno. Anyway, yeah – size doesn’t determine the health of the firelizard at all. Actually it’s usually an indication of the baby’s color. See, firelizards – they’re like little dragons, and they come in all the colors of dragons, but you probably knew that. Gold firelizards are the biggest so as babies they come in really big eggs, and greens are the smallest, so they usually come in the smallest eggs. I’d be really surprised if any of our firelizard eggs weren’t healthy though. We have the best eggs ever!”

There was no anger or scolding in her tone. The only emotion portrayed through Eselda’s words was just sheer happiness. She’d managed to sell two eggs so far, and her mother would be most proud of her. Maybe she’d give her another mark or two to buy something nice from the Gather; that would be fun, because she really wanted one of the brightly colored kites to play with once she went back home. (Eselda was very visibly Southern, if her demeanor didn’t give her away then her looks did; she and her family were all from Selenitas Hold.

“Most of these eggs are from my mama’s gold firelizard’s clutches, so I’m pretty sure they’ll all be healthy. I mean, some of the smaller ones aren’t – they were donated by people who owned green flits at the Hold – but I’m sure they’ll all still be very healthy. Do you have an idea of what color firelizard you’d want? I’m happy to help you pick out the size egg most likely to give you the color you’re aiming for.” Eselda lifted one hand to stroke her pale little green, who chirped pleasantly to the customer in greeting. “I really recommend greens, they’re usually so sweet, like Loli here, and they’re not nearly as bossy as bronzes or golds. But I think I’m biased ‘cause mama’s gold is really bossy and commanding, and she scares Loli a lot. I’ve got twin blues too but they saw shinies at the Glasscrafter stall and I don’t think I can convince them to come back any time soon, pff…”


((Sari – I’m trying to keep my posts shortish to guarantee timely responses to everyone; sorry ‘bout that. If you have an idea of what egg type she’s going to end up buying, you can PM me and I’ll write the description in advance so you can have it as soon as she purchases it.))

[raii]

"Well, that's very good," Sari said, regarding the fire lizard eggs and their health. "I'm not sure what I want, exactly. Fire lizards in general are just wonderful, and I'd love a companion for my lonely little brown, but..." she trailed off, inspecting the mystery eggs. "Did you find these eggs?"

"I might buy a mystery egg...I'm not sure." Sari blushed again, looking at the ground. "I don't really know what I want. There are just...so many choices." She scraped her boot on the ground. She wasn't used to wearing shoes, and it made her feet feel large and awkward.

((Hehe, mine are going to be even shorter...I'm incredibly sick at the moment. x.x))

[glamourie]

“Find? Nope. They were given to us by a caravan. Sometimes they hatch firelizards; or at least, one hatched a brown that went to a boy who came by earlier. I don’t know what other egg types there are. This one, for instance,” the girl indicated a particularly large egg, “doesn’t look like a flitter egg, but who knows? The caravan didn’t label it so we don’t know what’s in any of them.” Eselda brushed her hair out of her face and leaned on the counter before indicating each of the baskets. “But those ones we know all about. Like one has eggs that’ll probably hatch at least browns but maybe bronzes, and the other has eggs that could be blues or browns, and the last could be blues or greens. It really depends on what you’re lookin’ for.”

Being someone who owned numerous firelizards herself, Eselda was biased and she made no effort to hide that as she grabbed the basket of small eggs and tugged it over. “Me? I recommend these ones ‘cause they’re likely to hatch blues and greens, and I think greens are just the sweetest firelizards ever. You’ve got a brown you said? Should try to get him a pretty green mate~”

[raii]

Sari considered this for a moment. Dusk was a very lonely creature. "That sounds like a good idea, but he just hatched recently." She laughed softly. "I don't think I'm ready to think about him having a mate." She would love a sweet little green fire lizard though...

"Hmm...well, there will be other chances to get a green fire lizard in my lifetime." She gestured towards the pile of mystery eggs. "I think I'll buy one of those, though. I'm very curious about them. I love surprises." She thought of Dusk for a moment. "Besides, my little brown would be happy with a playmate of any kind."

She blushed again, remembering she was with Eselda. "S...sorry...I make decisions aloud sometimes." She smiled warmly, although a bit embarressed, at the girl, and waited for her to pick out the egg. She pulled out five marks from her pocket and carefully counted them.

[glamourie]

“Well it wouldn’t be that soon then! They could grow up together~” That sounded really cute to Eselda, who made no effort to hide the happiness she felt as she bounced twice in her spot. “Just think, a pair of baby flitters growing up together as siblings, like a brother and sister pair. I really recommend that ‘cause yeah, flitters are so cute. I’ve got three, and all of mine are siblings. They were a pleasure to raise together, although they’re older now and kinda a handful. They were a bit rambunctious as babies too…” Musing aloud, Eselda scratched her head before pushing her fingers on the top of the counter. Was it smart to tell her that most baby firelizards were really demanding? It sounded like false advertising not to but she really wanted to sell the eggs, because if they took them home they’d have to give them away and she could use the marks.

The girl’s apology made her blink twice and she cocked her head to the side. “Nothin’ wrong with talking, y’know, I’m not gonna get mad at you. Mystery Egg, you said? They’re five marks each. Here, pick out which one you fancy the most.” She pushed the basket over toward the girl while retrieving a small, hand-sized basket from under the counter. Then she laced numerous towels within and nodded. “These are heated towels to help the incucumber process. When you pick an egg out, take it and put it in this basket, and you can lay the marks here on the counter. The smaller basket’s yours to keep but I recommend putting the egg in a jar of heated sand near a fireplace once you get home ‘cause that’ll help it hatch better. This should last you today at the Gaqther though~”

[raii]

"Thank you," Sari said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure babies of any kind are rambunctious though, but that just adds to their charm." Sari picked out a rather small egg, one with slight speckles on it, and gently laid it in the basket. She made a mental note to buy a jar with her remaining money.

She left the five marks on the table as instructed, and picked up the little basket. She had ten marks remaining, and a world of possibilities. Where to go, what to see...