Eleven Minutes to Midnight (Dementia's Hatching)

[Rei]

Elysia took a step back as the gold settled on her chest. Blinking down at the small creature she turned back to it’s master just in time to see a spectacular blush. Yes he had been staring hadn’t he. She didn’t blame him. Dmitri’s words caused a feral smile to flit across her face. He obviously had no clue what he was replying to. Silly boy. “I knew you missed me.” She said silkily before reaching out to run her fingers over his arm. The gold mandyr sitting upon her was totally ignored. She remember the little terror well. Best to ignore her. At least she wasn’t being violent this time.

The benden rider opened her mouth to speak again when another woman approached Dmitri. Closing her mouth, dark eyes flitted over the other girl’s frame. Yoalla’s words caused a cattish smile to flit across her face before she turned to the blue handler hand on her hip. “Who is this? Your girlfriend? You didn’t tell me you where involved. Bad boy…” She would have continued had Dementia not chosen that moment to dig her claws into the flesh of her breast. Hissing in irritation her fingers longed to pluck the nasty creature form her chest but she resisted.

Wincing she turned back towards the clutch which seemed to be the source of the gold’s ire. Hatchings trying to cannibalize each other? Flitters and mandyrs mixed. She watched the drama unfold for a moment. Lowering a finger she poked the gold upon her chest. “Now, now darling. Your babies will be fine. Stop hurting me and go hurt that nasty lizard if it pisses you off so.”

~~~

Tynaris watched another woman join the first and snorted. What was so good about the beanpole? Idly his eyes left them to stray to the clutch. That’s when he saw that there where already babies hatched. Whoops. Priorities. Smiling he caught sight of quite a few others that where obviously candidates. He had seen them around the barracks even though not many of them wore knots he recognized them all the same. Seems as if Emoyan was letting the leash get to slack lately. Oh well~

Leaning back against the wall the candidate whistled and then looked up sharply at the golden mother’s shriek. What was her problem? His eyes flicked back to the clutch and he watched as one of the flitter babies seemed to actually stalk it’s sibling. Ah. That was the problem. Didn’t flitter babies sometimes cannibalize each other if there was no food present? He vaguely remembered his father saying something about that.

~~~

Darmori’s eyes flitted from hatchling to hatchling and then he paused. Flitters and mandyrs? Was it too much to hope that he would get a flitter? As interested as he was in the mandyrs he kind of wanted to be able to impress when the gold wher finally clutched. Then again what if he just hid it from Emoyan? That probably wouldn’t work. Although maybe it could? The boy frowned before his train of thought was derailed. He watched the No Time Green try and sneak up on it’s sibling. He opened his mouth to yell a warning but the other baby had already caught sight of it’s attempted murderer and scampered away just in time.

Waving his hands in the air, he yelled above Dementia’s shrieking. “Hey! Someone throw some meat or something at the flit before it eats it’s sister.” Seriously why wasn’t anyone doing anything? The boy scrambled to find something to fling at the offender. Finally catching sight of a button that had fallen from someone’s shirt he picked it up and tossed it at the green flitter. “Hey get away from her. No eating your sister. That isn’t nice!” Darmori yelled loudly hoping his toss was successful.

[Requiem]

What was this? The wherhandler visibly flinched at Yoalla's appearance, feeling very much like a wherry caught in a trap - only wherries were terrifying and he was pretty sure the number of people he scared was a big whopping zero. The temperature in his face steadily rose. "Player? Girlfriend? She's not...and I'm not...Men." He sighed at his golden mindmate (though secretly glad that she was temporarily rescuing him from this wicked tagteam). The queen did not like being touched, which she made known by chomping down hard on Elysia's knuckle. Ugly bonebag, kill slow, leak much, she snarled lowly. "Men," Dmitri interjected more insistently. "Your babies?"

Backed up against the Something Wicked Egg, the Another Violent End Green was scrambling up on top of it to avoid her hungry sibling. A very annoyed hungry sibling, too, as she eyed the adult green salamandyr circling the clutch and felt something hard bounce off her back. Whirling in a snarling hiss, her tail whacked the dark grey egg, cracks radiating out from the impact. The cracks broadened under the green salamandyr's weight and the egg collapsed in on itself, leaving the Another Violent End Green and the Something Wicked Blue Salamandyr writhing inside the remainder of the shell, all tangled up. Then the male seemed to realize it was a lovely green sister who had released him, and he puffed up as well as he could still tangled.

Pretty greenling, wake best, he commented to his clutchsister. That was when her anxiousness seemed to dawn on him. Why squirm? Not ow greenling. Run brotherlove, she whispered back. Hungry flyer think us yums. As she scrambled out of the egg, the blue stuck his legs up on top, what had seemed to be a flared frill before now showing itself as being a hard ring of hide-covered bone instead. Close come, make bits, scratch bits, bits fly, go all places, he declared gallantly, rearing to slash at the air and tumbling forward in the process, the egg rocking and landing his green sister on top of him all over again as they spilled right before the No Time Green's snout. Her eyes slitted wickedly. Finally!

A flash of gold caught the firelizard in the side, Dementia pinning the hatchling beneath her with a snarl. Some maternal instinct, perhaps, kept her from rending the baby that she didn't claim as hers, but it didn't stop her tail from lashing angrily or the way her nails dug into the hatchling's back a bit more than necessary. Devil slave! she called imperiously, watching as a fourth of the Chaos Egg burst wide and a stocky brown salamandyr forged his way clear of the shell. His gaze swept the eggs, pausing for a moment on the flash of green he saw waving enticingly to him...Then blue blocked his vision, and without a sound he lowered his head, hunching his overly muscled shoulders and charging full into the Something Wicked Blue. How dare he steal his green!

Said green salamandyr decided that she'd had quite enough trouble, and streaked for the people gathered around, not pausing. She was past those watching the Hatching curiously. Wrong minds, wrong minds, too close to all the terrible fighting - and it was all her fault, too! - and there. Right! Making a flying leap, she landed on Evrgarde's head, rubbing her body unabashedly against the woman's scalp. LovelyMine, caused much bad, she whispered to her Bonded despondently, a soft whine in her throat. Leave can? Please? Hungry, will wait. Her tail dipped to curl over the tip of Evrgarde's ear.

Something Wicked Egg :: Blue Salamandyr :: Knocked over by Chaos Brown
Another Violent End Egg :: Green Salamandyr :: Impressed to Evrgarde
Chaos Egg :: Brown Salamandyr :: Attacking Something Wicked Blue
Forge Egg :: Unhatched
Madness Descends Egg :: Unhatched
Behind Glass Walls Egg :: Unhatched
No Time Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Sat on by a Dementia
Serve Man Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Impressed to C'oar
Poetic Justice Egg :: Unhatched
Trail of Tears Egg :: Brown Firelizard :: Impressed to Sari
Critical Mass Egg :: Unhatched

[Requiem]

Another Violent End Green

Name:
Impressed to: Evrgarde
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Green CCFF66
Age: Hatchling

Looking down upon the hate and sin
Is there no way out, a way out of this maze
Why can't we put away our bloody violent ways

Appearance: Very thin and streamlined, though this green is actually a touch smaller than most other greens of her species, she manages to look longer simply because of her ribbonlike build. Her legs, too, are long for her body, and she is capable of reaching great speeds when she has a mind to. Thin but long, her wings won't support a glide well, though they'll definitely aid with balance when she jumps - as will her tail, which is surprisingly strong. It isn't unusual to see her dangling from something by her tail while she 'whispers' comments to Hers. One of her most noticeable features, however, is her complete lack of a frill. Instead, the normal spines that support the material of a frill are stunted and hardened into what resembles spikes on either side of her head. Additionally, a ring of blunt nubs encircles her neck a short ways down.

The color of spring green grass, her hide sports so many subtle markings she looks to be constantly in motion even when she's sitting still. Though she certainly isn't metallic - if nothing else, her size should make that clear enough - this little one definitely shines and glitters. Swirls of pale yellow, starbursts of white-gold, and deep forest green spots congregate along her spine and seem to trickle down her flanks, as if someone threw confetti on her from above. The film of her wings are pale yellow and are translucent enough to cast a glow when unfurled.


Personality: Think about all you know of salamandyrs, and green salamandyrs in particular...then throw it out the window. She isn't rude, obnoxious, loud, insulting, mischievous or aggressive. There are no ridiculous personality quirks. In fact, this green is what most would call good company. Softspoken, though she doesn't mindspeak privately, her broadcasts are the equivalent of a whisper. And, while she prefers to converse with Hers and her chosen mate, she'll always respond politely when spoken to. Not only does she respond, but she speaks with very few grammatical errors whatsoever; her ability to communicate is frankly astounding.

What's more, she's got a sense of humor, of a gentle, teasing sort. Completely pacifist, she will attempt to calm down any situation that has gotten out of control with soft reason, and is often depressed afterwards if this doesn't prove successful. Sadly, though, this green is often the cause of much strife. Does anyone believe in love at first sight? If you don't, you should. For the moment that the Another Violent End Green laid eyes on the Serve Man Green, she knew who she would devote her life to. Firelizard or not. On the rare occasion that she runs, which is quite infrequent, any salamandyr expecting her love will be disappointed...she only has room in her heart for Hers and one other.

[Ember]

Iskierka watched what she could from where she was. What she could see kept her silently amused while she soaked in the water peacefully. Hatchings really weren't her scene...but the mayhem that this hatching seemed to be (if the reactions were any indication) kept her from the mushy thoughts of ever afters and loving mindmates. She wasn't there to watch though. The bluerider sunk under the surface of the water, popping up again a moment later. Her hair clung wetly to her face until she brushed it to the side.

She glanced again at the group in the corner as she reached for sweetsand. She almost felt sorry for how sutpid they all were. What good was a pest to them? She could see the use in firelizards if they behaved but salamandyrs were especialyl useless. Too loud and annoying to be of any good in recon. As mindmates they'd only be detrimental to one's health. Besides, if you already had one you didn't need another...and if you didn't have one you didn't deserve one. Such was the way of the world.

As Iskierka scrubebd her hair with sweetsand she was content with her conclusion and counseled herself agaisnt curiosity. Besides, after the bath she had some rather interesting items to find for training with what she assumed was an elite wing. Who knew Selenitas had one. She was curious what the training would entail. It ought to be interesting.

[marge]

He was concentrating so hard on the chaos before him, that Tobby nearly leapt out of his skin as some tapped his shoulder. A small yelp escaped him and his heart rate began to race as wide brown eyes turned upward. "Oh! G'tor." He gasped, trying to shake off his surprise. "You scared me." The candidate forced a smile and tried to calm his heart down. After another moment, he stopped to actually figure out what the brownrider had asked him. "Oh, yes. I've tried twice so far, but haven't managed to Impress one of the little things. But third time's the charm, right?" The candidate grinned, but glanced back toward the clutch.

"They're a rather rowdy bunch, aren't they?" Tobby giggled, before frowning as the hatchlings began to try to eat and attack each other. They weren't supposed to be doing that, were they? At his side, his fingers were twitching as he tried to resist intervening between the blue and brown. Didn't they know better to fight? At least their mother had stopped the one from trying to eat the others. "I hope they all Impress soon. They might hurt each other other wise..." The boy trailed off, chewing at his lip in his worry. He'd never seen a clutch where the babies disliked each other.

[Rei]

Elysia was distracted from Dmitri’s stuttering by the bite the gold gave her knuckle. Vicious nasty creature. Still the greenrider didn’t retaliate. She wasn’t into causing people’s mind mates harm. It was just bad manners and although Elysia could be nasty she wasn’t quite that nasty. Sticking her bleeding finger in her mouth she sucked on it thoughtfully before turning back to the bluehandler. The look she gave him was suggestive as she pulled her finger out of her mouth to wipe the dots of blood off her chest. Bah. Here she came for fun and all she was getting was abuse.

Idly her eyes flicked back to Yoalla and she smiled. Ok so if she wasn’t his girlfriend maybe she would be in for a bit of tag teaming? Purring she caught the green handler’s eye before taking a step towards Dmitri. Now that his golden guard dog was busy with her screaming prodigy…maybe she could have fun without the distraction. Yes no more distractions.

~~~

Tynaris watched in rapt attention as the new blue mandyr hatched and looked to be ready to stand his ground against the cannibal sister. Oh this should be interesting. Before the nasty flit could finish the job however she was sat on. Quit literally. Angry mother to the rescue. The candidate watched further drama unfold as a brown something flung himself at the blue with reckless abandon. Where all hatchings this violent? Did dragon babies attack each other or was this just a mandyr and fire lizard thing?

Sliding his foot out in front of him he watched the other green scramble away from the clutch and the chaos to jump upon a bathing woman. Surprise! He had to fight back a chuckle at her obvious expression of surprise? Revulsion? Anger? A mixture of all? He wasn’t sure but it did amusing things to her face. Now quite amused he let his eyes drift back to the hatching curious to see what else may happen.

~~~

Darmori couldn’t suppress his little cheer as the button hit it’s mark. It was a small victory through because the green didn’t even look to be the least bit taken aback by it. She hissed sure but she was still poised for the attack. Then there was a blur of gold and the baby was quite literally stopped in it’s tracks. The candidates sigh of relief turned to a gasp of horror though as yet another baby, this one a brown, launched himself at his blue sibling. What in Faranth’s name? This was a classic example of sibling rivalry at its worst. Did the whole clutch seek to participate in siblicide?

Biting his lip the teen silently urged them all to impress and stop fighting each other. Weren’t siblings supposed to get along with each other? He didn’t have any so he didn’t really know but arrgh. It was frustrating to watch them squabble and not try to help in some way. Unfortunately he had run out of buttons. So concerned was he with the fighting that the candidate didn’t see the green escape and impress.

[Rowana]

G'tor nodded in agreement. "I'm sure you'll have better luck this time. Though, with salamandyrs it's hard to tell." He winked cheerfully as Star poked her head out of his shirt to see. Didn't he like her? She was a good salamandyr. "Yes, Star," he patted her head with a finger. "Of course I like you." Tervain snorted from her shelf. As if she needed anyone to like her. She could care less. As long as they didn't insult her, they could say what they liked.

"They certainly are," G'tor went on, in response to Tobby. "I don't think I've ever seen so many out at once without Impressing. Usually they pick straight off." He raised an eyebrow at the chaos surrounding the eggs. Were they actually trying to eat each other? As worrisome as it seemed, he doubted Dementia would let it go that far. There, she'd put a stop to one of them already, that was good. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

[Ruby]

Todmund was... distracted to say the least. The first hatchling hadn't even Impressed when a woman he recognized came up to what appeared to be the clutchmother's owner, wearing next to nothing. She was from the last hatching Todmund had found himself at, and she'd touched him. And now he could practically see most of one of her breasts (the other was mostly covered up by the gold clutchmother, but Todmund didn't care). He was obviously staring, not to mention bright red, and his mouth made a perfect 'o'. And he was completely ignoring the clutch. There was a reason Todmund only bathed at strange times of day, like as soon as he could leave the Barracks in the morning. He hadn't even noticed the other bathing women (and good thing, or he probably would have died of apoplexy).

Tenlie, meanwhile, was done with this hatching. All of the babies were simply trying to maul or eat each other, and she did not want to be around when that "try" turned into "did". She'd gone over to the shelf unit Big Brother had claimed with an apologetic look at Dementia- the gold didn't seem to like anyone near her nest, and Tenlie didn't blame her- and stood on the lowest one, stretching up as high as she could. No dice. Her fingers barely made it over onto the top shelf, and Bro was in the far corner. Ten wasn't really short, but she wasn't really tall, either. Not tall enough for this, anyway.

She hopped down and scanned the crowd, quickly picking out the tall ones. Clutch's owner, no. Tall, muscular candidate who looked curious but not all that engaged? Bingo. She had to reach up to tap Tynaris on the shoulder, but she did. "Excuse me?" she asked, waiting for his attention. "I do not wish to take you from the hatching, but you would no mind helping me reach my 'lizard, would you?" She gestured in Big Brother's direction, waiting for the Candidate's response. She didn't want to impose, but she also didn't want to stick around while the ichor started flowing. She left off the bit about Big Brother not wanting to leave.

[Requiem]

Dementia hissed tempramentally, deciding right then and there that these ridiculous uglies had caused more than enough trouble amongst her babies, and the Devil's slave simply wasn't sire material. Clearly. And was that another one? Oh yes, it was, the Poetic Justice Egg spinning with the force the bronze ugly applied to it. In fact, he spinned himself right out of his egg as shards rained down everywhere, coiling around the dud Madness Descends Egg. The male was...tiny. Certainly no bigger than a blue of his species, but the bronze color of his hide was undeniable. Completely legless, his slender body curled around the egg as much as it could as he attempted to regain his equilibrium.

Before Dementia could intervene between the Something Wicked Blue and the Chaos Brown, the smaller of the two salamandyrs was sent flying into the Critical Mass Egg, which exploded so powerfully all the other eggs smacked against each other, some forming cracks, the little bits of shell so tiny they could barely be seen with the naked eye. More bothersome, however, was the high-pitched shriek going off like a siren from what looked to be...a shimmering blue jewel. With wings. Fused to his skeleton like a butterfly's. He rolled - perhaps on purpose, or perhaps thrown aside by the poor Something Wicked Blue. The chubby little body hovered for a moment over the ground, wings beating hard to lift all that weight, before fluttering erratically through and around the gathered people, still screaming. Before it ran smack dab into Farryl's stomach and was apparently startled silent, digging in his claws. The Critical Mass Blue uttered no sound, pressing against her mind for food. Please, so tired. Couldn't she just bring him some?

Dementia, just as startled as all the firelizard's clutchsiblings had been, sprung off the No Time Green, snarling to the Devil, Keep away from ours. The green firelizard's head swiveled toward the Devil in interest, tongue flickering. Big right now, but later? She suddenly whipped around, slithering purposefully toward the gathering around the meat bowls. This one...no no he smelled of the fatty that sat on her, too...this one! The No Time Green coiled around Yoalla's ankle, creeling sweetly to Hers, but not before she snuck a crafty look back at the Devil. Give it time, tasty treat. Give it time.

Dementia was about two seconds away from collaring the Chaos Brown when a new voice broke through, a solemn little mindvoice that managed to convey authority...even as its blue owner carefully worked the crack that had split his egg down the middle wider with his forepaws. Clutchbrothers, will hurt clutchsiblings. Find Ours now, eat, play rough later, he stated calmly, working his head clear of the Behind Glass Walls Egg. The brown paused where he stood above his cowering brother. Hungry is. The gold, crooning at her smart son as he pulled himself free of his egg, swatted the brown's snout. Go then, little baby. Find Yours, go eat.

Making sure to keep his dam between him and his mean clutchbrother, the Something Wicked Blue apparently regained his courage, rearing up on his hind legs. Scared, beat you, hah! Not big. Small, look big, brain small. Win me! By this point, the Poetic Justice Bronze was thoroughly fed up with all the crazies drawing attention away from him and distracting him from finding His. None of these minds felt worthy. None of them! He hissed at the jeering Something Wicked Blue, who turned to spit out, What look at, winged ugly? Why small? Why no leggies? Wrong. Bad hatchling, crawl back egg, no bonebag want. The bronze hissed louder, wings flaring.

The Chaos Brown ignored his loud clutchbrother, trundling past the feet and legs, but finding none that he wanted. They didn't...smell right. Further into the baths, he got a whiff of something unique, and with a happy little huff he charged, running full on into the back of Iskierka's head. Hungry is. Feed now, he demanded of His, charging her head a second time.

Something Wicked Egg :: Blue Salamandyr :: Taunting Poetic Justice Bronze
Another Violent End Egg :: Green Salamandyr :: Impressed to Evrgarde
Chaos Egg :: Brown Salamandyr :: Impressed to Iskierka
Forge Egg :: Unhatched
Madness Descends Egg :: Unhatched
Behind Glass Walls Egg :: Blue Salamandyr :: Squirming out of his egg
No Time Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Impressed to Yoalla
Serve Man Egg :: Green Firelizard :: Impressed to C'oar
Poetic Justice Egg :: Bronze Firelizard :: Hissing at Something Wicked Blue
Trail of Tears Egg :: Brown Firelizard :: Impressed to Sari
Critical Mass Egg :: Blue Firelizard :: Impressed to Farryl

[Requiem]

Critical Mass Blue

Name:
Impressed to: Farryl
Species: Firelizard
Color: Blue 666699
Age: Hatchling

We do these things, let them be done
Apathy creates despair
The damage done will be too great
The world wounded beyond repair

Appearance: Little bitty nub legs make this firelizard no different from his other firelizard siblings, though his smaller size makes that truth less noticeable. This little rotund baby really has no means of moving across the ground short of curling up his plump body and rolling. And, well, to be honest, that's not very comfortable for his back or his head, so most of the time he simply...doesn't bother trying to get around. His wings, too, are rather odd, and have fused down the entire length of his spine rather than just behind his shoulderblades. This makes it pretty awkward to do anything but fly up and down in space like a butterfly, and all that extra weight makes him tired very quickly, it does.

While his body might be decidedly strange, his coloring is absolutely lovely. A soft, misty purple-tinted blue, light blue and white overlap in roughly diamond shapes...very small...all over his hide. It creates the illusion of a shimmering, multi-faceted gemstone, even prettier because of the extra girth the blue has to display that lovely hide. The membranes of his wings are a frosty white, lined in deep royal purple that seems to drip like syrup from the top of the wings.

Personality: Hissy little roly poly ball of doom. Okay, maybe not exactly. For one, this blue is predominately sedentary, preferring to be carried by His everywhere and literally dumped in a bowl of food. And why not? It's astonishingly difficult to get around thanks to the nasty mandyr genes swimming through his DNA. Yes, he very much blames the entire salamandyr population for what he sees as his 'disability,' which causes him to go into shrieking, bouncy ball fits whenever he sees them. (You laugh and say 'bouncy ball?' Yes, folks, bouncy ball. He is so mad he literally gathers the energy to jump the barest amount, then proceeds to bounce and jiggle for several seconds afterwards, up and down.)

The blue is an excellent alarm system, as well, since any who aren't known to him - i.e. bonded to His - will get shrieked at while he flutters around their heads (or above them if they happen to not be human) raucuously until His tells him to shut up. Which His will have to reiterate several times, depending on how upset the poor fellow is. This is, really, the only form of affection this firelizard offers his caretaker - his chauffeur. He isn't at all affectionate, doesn't respond to cuddles - though at least he doesn't shriek at them - and doesn't make any noise except when he's playing angry little bouncy ball.

---

No Time Green

Name:
Impressed to: Yoalla
Species: Firelizard
Color: Green 66CC66
Age: Hatchling

Wander into someone's life you're self-assured
You're building trust and winning dreams
You hide behind a mask your face is not your own
Of your true side little is seen

Appearance: The peculiar lack of functionally sized limbs holds as true for this green as it does for the rest of her firelizard siblings. Aside from that, however, her proportions are all fairly average, if somewhat more streamlined along the trunk of her body. This little one seems to have been hatched with the innate knowledge of how to live what amounts to a limbless life, however, tucking in her tiny appendages and literally slithering along the ground. Her wings, too, seem to have been specially adapted to the peculiarities of her form, as they are exceptionally long and slender, folding tight along her flanks to keep them out of harm's way.

A dusky, dull matte green, there isn't anything terribly distinctive or interesting about her coloring. All her markings are grey, and take after the usual markings of salamandyrs rather than firelizards. Her underbelly shades more toward grey, the color reappearing in spots that are more unclosed outlines of circles rather than perfect spheres. Although she is capable of flight, due to the elongated nature of her wings the action is awkward at best, and she spends most of her time on the ground or swimming, which the green is specially adapted for.

Personality: Dull coloring does not at all equate to a dull personality, at least not in this firelizard. Though it's true that she rarely makes a sound, the green is nothing short of hyperactive. She simply must investigate everything, particularly if it has the potential to yield up a tasty treat. This firelizard is also something of a bottomless pit when it comes to food, scarfing things down until her belly is quite distended, then coiling up on a safe shelf somewhere to sleep it off enough so that it's comfortable for her to move again. Nor is she at all picky about what she eats, so you'd best not bring anything edible around near her unless you plan to lose it.

Her absolute favorite meal, however, remains salamandyrs, even if they're not particularly easy to catch. The green will chase down any that comes in her vicinity with the full intent of gobbling it right up (whether it happens to be bonded to Hers or not) and as such makes an excellent room guardian if you don't happen to be too fond of the loud little menaces. Of course, this green is smart enough to know that eating talking bugs annoys people, so she's very careful not to do so when one of the two-legged's is looking - including Hers. This little angel, eat someone's pet? Never! Who could think such a thing?

---

Chaos Brown

Name:
Impressed to: Iskierka
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Brown 663300
Age: Hatchling

Don't blame me
Your sins are on your head
I won't be accused
I'm a product of my times

Appearance: This salamandyr is...interesting. If all of his siblings came out a touch odd, he certainly wins the prize. Rather than a frill or the hardened spines of the others, he sports knobs - rounded off protrusions of bone where his frill should have been. His body, from the moment of his hatching, was heavily muscled, concentrated at his forward haunches. This creates the impression of a humped back that slopes down to a much smaller hindquarters. His tail is about half the size it usually is for a salamandyr, and thick. Nor does it detach like it should. Add the beady little eyes that only shade toward certain colors rather than glow, and he could be a miniature version of a nightmare fellbeast, just waiting to consume you when your back is turned.

To add to that impression, his hide is of a singular shade of brown so dark it is, for all intents and purposes, black. The only indication of his color are the two stipes of chocolate brown that line his spine and come to a pinpoint at his tailtip. Many would assume he didn't have wings, but in fact he does - perfectly transparent appendages a fourth the size of the average salamandyr's. They are completely useless and he doesn't often move them from their position folded against his flanks.

Personality: This brown is, without a doubt, anything but stereotypical in demeanor for his color. In fact, he is a drama queen to the nth degree. Every female is the absolute love of his life (and yes, this means a female of any species except, notably, firelizards who he believes are an affront to all Pern) until the next female comes along, and if they don't praise him and fall at his feet instantly he sulks and whines to His about how cruel the world is. Similarly, males had best not so much as glance at his beautiful soulmate (whichever one it happens to be at the time) or he will challenge them to a duel to the death!

Exceedingly easy to insult or upset, the brown answers every affront with a charge. This isn't much of a problem for bigger creatures, but with his head tucked, his shoulders rolled forward and his not inconsiderable mass directed at another salamandyr, he can be quite dangerous. He isn't at all obedient to His, though he loves her in his own way and will get very pissed off at anyone who either insults His or tries to harm her in any way. Angry mandyr charge. And, as with most his species, this brown is pretty much impossible to reason with. He sees the world the way he sees the world, and it's everyone else's fault for making him mad. Apologize? Never.

[Ember]

Noisy creatures. Iskierka heard the little things even more then she had a moment before but she carefully supressed her curiosity to find out what was causing all the commotion. She continued to scrub at her hair and would have continued to do so had something not rammed the back of her head. She heard a voice demanding food and she attempted to ignore it. The mandyr clearly had no intentions of leaving without a warning. It made it clear by the repeated ramming of her head. Nuiscance. She turned to look at it and surprised herself by catching it just before it ran straight into the water.

She placed it back on the outside of the pool...or tried to. The little brat clung to her finger with its little claws. Her eyes narrowed a fraction and she said, "Shoo. Bother someone else, pest." He dropped off her finger and she nodded. At least it had common...sense...or not. The little hatchling charged her hand before she moved it out of the way. Will feed, he had the audacity to command. Not feed is bad. The annoyance in the tones and the continued charging of her hand was rather comical to the woman.

"And why should I have to feed you? Get someone else to do it." Was she really having a conversation with it? Apparently so. You feed. Are mine, so must. His...? Oh no, not happening. "Get lost. I don't want you." She had little choice she realized a moment later. Anger not her own came across a bond and she immediately knew it wasn't Ioth's. She wasn't an unintelligent woman; she knew that feeling the little salamandyr's emotions meant it had bonded to her. Pest.

She gave the brown a more thorough lookover. My, he was an ugly one, wasn't he? The brown hissed when he picked up the thought and he charged a little more vehemently. She grew annoyed with the action and said in her usual even tone, "Okay, stop that. Sit there, be good for a moment, and I'll get you food." As should. Do hurry, hungry is. She mentally rolled her eyes and sunk under the water to rinse her hair. Silly thing didn't even let her finish her bath. He'd be needing a name, she supposed. She surfaced once again and looked at the little brat. "Your name is Rhiligno, got it?" Rhi...no. Rhino name is. Yes yes, is good. Iskierka didn't bother correcting him. Rhiligno, Rhino. It was all the same to her. If he wanted to be Rhino, he'd be Rhino. Now to get out out of her nice hot water and feed him...

[Lotty]

Oof. It was admittedly a little sore still, no matter how ginger he was trying to be with that leg, but for the sake of being a trooper, the man was not going to mention it. Make a few faces, groan a bit, mutter profanity to oneself...yes that was all still totally appropriate, and occasionally the odd hiss came when he shifted his weight too heavily onto the healing joints, but aside from that he was tight lipped and secretive; keeping mostly close to the wall as he tried to appease his salamandyr. You see he wasn't hanging around the hatching to Impress, and he wasn't planning on bathing (he had his own weyr to do that in...if he could get up the steps), he was here because Doppelganger sooooo loved babies and wanted to see all the new ones, firelizard and mandyr a like.

Mi'rah was happy to oblige, he had to get out of his chair at some point, and napping as much as he had been for the past days was just getting to the point of sloth. Besides he was told he had to use that leg, and unlike most patients, he tended to follow the healer's orders to an overly cautious exactness. Yes, that meant when everyone else was escaping the infirmary, his behind was still planted in a cot, waiting to be officially released. When he was told not to scratch, he didn't. When he was handed a cane and told to walk, he did that too. This brings him to the here and now...doing a small little adventure to the salamandyr hatching and trying his darndest not to slip on wet floor.

Wheee! Babies! Rahmine baby loves, see babies? The little brown went on and on utterly delighted to see the hatchlings pick out their bonded. Babies pick almost bests. You best Rahmine. Others close, good choices. His was perfect of course, but the others, well they were good too! He wasn't in the business of judging after all. The rider just smiled and turned his head to look at Doppelganger as he curled his tail tighter and tighter around his neck. Didn't the little guy realize his excitement was choking him?

As he tried to pry the whiplike tail from around him, he couldn't help but notice someone familiar. Was that Elysia? The one who visited him in his drug induced stupor? He felt his dragon rumble with disdain in the back of his mind, so yes, it must have been her. The bronze was so proud of himself after chasing her away before. Yes, he pissed off Onyth, but she was collateral damage, she made the mistake of bonding to a she-witch who wanted to steal away His, and for this he felt little regrets. After all, this is what happened when you were a master shit disturber. If the woman made a move again, he would surely pull the same shenanigans...anything to save Mi'rah from a big, big, mistake. Anything.

Sensing the dragon's distaste of the woman...and also finding her occupation with the young harper quite fascinating (if not a little absurd) he made no movements to greet her or call any attention to himself. He couldn't very well hide, but he was always good as keeping low key, and used this trait of his to escort his little mandyr past the hatching eggs, "See Doppel, they're almost all done..." Eeeee! Good babies pick well yes yes.

[Rowana]

Farryl was still looking at Sari's brown. She missed Zellos so much. She thought maybe she'd better leave now, before she ruined everyone's happiness. She started to turn away, without even looking at the hatchlings, when something screamed. For a second, she was sure one of the babies had died. Then Hobbs chirped in alarm and something hit her in the stomach. She stared. It looked like a ball. Just like a round, purple, ball with wings. Wait...wings?

"Oh, no," Farryl bit her lip as she caught the odd creature. "Please don't pick me," she begged, refusing to let herself cry. "I can't...not again." Not so soon after losing her salamandyr. It didn't seem to matter, she could already feel the poor thing's hunger. Hobbs crooned worriedly. Was his little kin alright? He didn't look right. Farryl-mine? What is wrong? Peppeth tried to squeeze her way in to see, but just ended up blocking one of the doors. Even she was too big sometimes.

Farryl sighed deeply. "You really should have picked someone else, little one," she told it. "I'm a terrible owner." Hobbs slapped her with his tale. He didn't think she was terrible at all. What happened wasn't her fault, and she needed to stop taking the blame. Farryl hugged the plump blue close and petted him gently. "Shh..it's alright." He grumbled at her. He didn't want to be petted, he wanted food and he was so tired from just getting to her.

What will you name him? Peppeth asked, clearly liking this far more then Farryl was. "Um..." Farryl's mind drew a blank for a moment. "Isshun."

[dragon]

Getting through people with a big load ... not easy. Why was the place so crowded anyway? "C'mon, let me through." C'oar remarked, trying to avoid braining anyone with his load as he attempted to edge his way through. Was bath-watching the latest sport or something? And all so near the front. Where had Storm gotten to anyway? Turning the knotted tarp, he managed to more or less make it through the worst of the grouping and into clear area - if on slippery and treacherous footing. Bathing rooms - always a good spot to lose your footing and go for an unexpected splash.

Storm hummed encouragement to the babies hatching below, if he was a tad perturbed at how violent they were all seeming to be. They weren't supposed to eat each other!! What was wrong with them? Oh! Storm suddenly realized what was wrong. Mandyrs, and flitters both. Now ... that was just wrong! Storm crowed encouragment, then. Eat those little nasties! Before they had bondeds to get mad, before they could do any damage!! No, it was no secret ... Storm liked salamandyrs about as much as C'oar did. As in ... not at all. This was all Stupid's fault, of course, on both counts.

Storm was so interested in seeing who managed to eat whom that he somehow managed to entirely miss the green flying into his side. Jumping to his feet, he stared at her for a moment before uttering an uncertain croon of encouragement. Wow, she ahd short legs. What happened to her legs? But before he could really figure that out, she was off and gone again ... over there to where C'oar was navigating past baths and heaps of clothes with his bundle.

Storm hollered a warning, taking wing and chasing after her, toward C'oar. Don't knock him over, don't knock him over, don't knock him over .... ~~~ Oh, whew. C'oar did flinch when a strange creature landed on him, but he didn't fall. No, he was far more stable than his own pet gave him credit for, even on slippery ground. "What in the world?!" He demanded, eying the creature trying to rub all over his jaw.

Storm quickly landed on the other shoulder as C'oar realized what had happened, the hungry feelings striking him all over again as he saw those little rainbow eyes. "Oh, for crying out loud." He looked over at where the gathering was, in time to see a bit more of flailing small creatures dashing about madly. "For Faranth's sake ... should have known. Alright. Come on then ..." Some of those had distinctly looked like mandyrs ... there was no way he was going to stick around when mandyrs were hatching! Just not going to happen. Besides, he had work to do. Reaching up, C'oar picked the not-quite-legless green off of his shoulder to keep her from tumbling as he walked farther from the nesting area.

Storm chirped, bouncing once before settling down. He'd gotten a pretty! How exciting!! So what if she was a funny looking pretty? He'd gotten a pretty!

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla’s grin only widened to levels usually associated with large hungry felines at Dmitri’s discomfort. She didn’t know who the other woman was but it was clear they were allies in the war of the snarks. Was the human face supposed to go that shade of red? However, possibly quite fortunately, the drama surrounding the eggs caught her attention, even if she couldn’t see most of it thanks to being one of the shortest people in the room.

Clearly there were more salamandyrs than just one in the clutch, and they were all jabbering away to each other now. Well there’d be trouble for those babies that were misbehaving now, Yoalla thought as Dementia shot off, she just hoped they survived their dam’s formidable wrath.

Slave! Slave! Terrible slave! The Devil echoed, glaring at Lao, it was time that stupid bronze/green/whatever-he-really-was ugly got down here and sorted out his foul babies. Ah good, another one of Dementia’s real babies had hatched, and the first green had gone to find her own humanslave. The Devil continued to stalk around the nest despite the situation now being what she would consider under control, with the evil little ugly green restrained and more real babies hatching.

Lao chirped sweetly to the babies, and hopped up and down excitedly when a tiny little bronze firelizard emerged from his shell. Oh Lao liked that one, he was just adorable, could Lao keep him? Oh pleaseplease! Emboldened by the sight of the little bronze and his desire to posses Lao glided down to land on the outer towels of the nest chirping softly. Oh! The critical mass egg startled the bronze into hopping backwards, only to stretch forward again in the next moment as a beautiful blue emerged from that egg. Lao liked him too, but sadly the bright little blue was already fluttering off to choose his. Lao chirped encouragingly to the bronze and green firelizards. They could do it! Particularly now Dementia felt the green sufficiently punished.

The Devil frilled at the baby ugly and hissed quietly. Keep away, keep away. she warned softly, menacingly, and turned to flare her frill at Lao for good mesure. He could stay away from the proper babies too. His uglies had done enough damage to Dementia’s perfect clutch. Ah good it was going away. What? WHAT?! KEEP AWAY! NO! Nonononono NOOOO! Away! The Devil’s shrill objection was joined by Lao’s shriek of rage. Not another green! He wanted the bronze, not another green. Even Zai, who, as usual, was lost in her own world fluttered her wings in agitation, rattling her pinions, and chattered grumpily. Go away baby. Find someone else.

The noise was expected, the mixed clutch of firelizards and salamandyrs was making plenty of noise, what was one creel with all that? However the sensation of something wrapping around her ankle was entirely unexpected and more than a little unwelcome. ‘No…’ Yoalla moaned as she looked down. But, yes, sure enough a green firelizard with really short skinny legs was curled lovingly around her leg. ‘are you sure you don’t want someone else?’ She asked the creature hopefully. In response it creeled again and rubbed it’s head against her.

Happily for the no time green, and for anyone in the area who wasn’t mind deaf, The Devil was distracted by a new, smart hatchling. She’d deal with the uglies later. The real babies were much more important.


Kainfuzzi looked around in an apparent lull in the activities, or at least the visible activities, of the clutch of er, whatever they were. There was nothing that really caught his eye, apparently some people had actually been in here to wash before the noisy little beasts got going. Kain’s eyes skimmed over a selection of undressed and half dressed women, presumably riders, before a little streak of gold caught his eye.

Ah, judging be the sudden amount of slightly disorientaing mental chatter coming from the clutch now the mother was back Kainfuzzi could only assume that there really were salamandyrs among the hatchlings. Ah yes a small green emerged and ran off, presumably finding someone suitable to Impress, although Kain didn’t see exactly where she went. Shards those little creatures really were fast.

And what now? The next thing to emerge from the confused clutch was a firelizard, and a strange one at that. A blue of brilliant colours, but with a bizarre shape indeed. Then another firelizard, or at least he thought so, it was far too big to be a salamandyr, but it, slithered along and wrapped around the ankle of a girl who didn’t seem too thrilled to have anything attach itself to her. Then the amount of chatter that broadcast made Kain back up a few steps and banish all thoughts of having a pet. He did not want anything else to reduce his chances of Impressing a dragon.