Flitterbies {Zesa's Clutch Hatching!}

[Avu]

Her head rested on a jar that exuded a faintly medicinal smell, her wings stretched out, resting lightly on top of the eggs that surrounded her. Inside the cabinet, it was dark and warm, surrounded by gathered, soft cloths and one golden earring that was looped around her tail, pressed against her haunch. Outside the cabinet, the Infirmary had a pleasant, quiet drone to it - most of the patients being asleep at 6:30 AM. The young queen nosed the door to the cabinet open, jeweled eyes whirling with idle curiosity as she scanned the Infirmary for Hers and, spotting her, uttered a quiet, satisfied croon, ducking back into the cabinet, which clicked shut audibly as she nudged the eggs thoughtfully, pushing them into a new arrangement as she so often did and -

Zesa froze, her half-flared wings quivering in a moment of uncertainty before she took a step back, head cocked as she pressed one foreclaw against the shadowed face of one egg. And yes, there it was again! The queen whistled, surprised, as the egg twitched against her again, and nearby, she felt the motion of another one start, a spasmodic, sharp jerk. She fluttered her wings in anxiety, pausing briefly before she nosed the cabinet open again, shooting out in a flash of gold, streamlined, wings folded against her sides, before she twisted, nearly colliding with Meira and whistled again, the urgency unmistakeable as she tightened her talons on the girl's shoulder, the image of the eggs unnecessary, for in leaving, the cabinet door had swung open and stayed, the eggs displayed for all to see, clearly with some beginning to quiver with the exertion of the hatchlings held inside.

Meira stared for a moment, helplessly, and then at Zesa's second whistle, swung instinctively on her heel towards R'wign, Zesa adding an insistent trill to catch the Healer's attention, wincing at the sound of her own voice, distinctly anxious, the words coming fast and ending up in a jumble. "Please, can you get Checkoth to call the Weyr? Zesa's clutch is Hatching and I can't; I don't have any way to..." (He wouldn't refuse, would he, unless he wanted to end up with eight new fire lizards?) "And, um...they'll need meat," she finished distractedly, frowning slightly. A major disadvantage to clutching in the Infirmary - no meat. Nothing except herbs, really, and she doubted a fire lizard would eat that anyways.

The not-so-helpful response that was awarded to her was a few spasmodic twitches, R'wign just - staring. And then - was that a nod? Yes; Everybody, everybody, atteeeeeeeention! We've got shiny flitsybitsies! Meat and people are needed in the Infirmary for a flitterby! Meira blinked, her face blank with surprise as she paused, the message broadcasted for the Weyr by Checkoth. Well. Um, yes, she supposed that did get the message across, if not in the wording she might have chosen, and - R'wign had gone. His choice, she thought vaguely, glancing back at Zesa as the queen left her shoulder, landing on the top of the cabinet in which the now-quivering clutch laid.

She raised her soprano tones in another urgent hum...

((Symsy said I could. ^^))

Icy Ocean Egg- Hatched brown Hazard; Impressed to R'wign
Glacier Egg- Hatched brown Rascal; Impressed to E'yan
Blizzard Egg- Hatched blue Vega; Impressed to Raylin
Undersea Volcano Egg- Hatched blue Cuddles; Impressed to Aliscia
Blue Ice Egg- Hatched green Lamb; Impressed to Keirin
Northern Lights Egg- Hatched green Laef; Impressed to Ieoha
Diamond Dust Egg- Hatched blue Collision; Impressed to R'wign
Iceberg Egg- Hatched green Tille; Impressed to Farryl

[Avu]

Gold Zesa and Brown Jabari present
The Arctic Clutch

1) Icy Ocean Egg- Medium in size, the Icy Ocean Egg is not the most eye-catching egg in the clutch, though undeniably beautiful. Soft swirls fade into one another, shades of a turquoise that varies in shade from a gray shade to a brilliant green turquoise, almost covering the entire egg. Silver and white tint the swirls, only visible as a slight gleaming. Small dots of white gather together in thick speckles, as of frothing water, or perhaps shards of broken ice. The curves formed by the swirls seem to act in syncopation, offering an illusion of some idly swirling movement.

2) Glacier Egg- Large and plain, the Glacier Egg is set in the center of the clutch, obscuring some of the smaller ones - such as the Blue Ice Egg from view, where they sit behind this egg. Only in its size is it admirable, for the rest of it is covered in an extraordinarily pale blue color, with a white sheen added on top, making it look like so much snow and bluish ice. Slight shadows and highlights give a sense of depth, as of snow ruffles, or rough ice. Despite the plain shell, it has a metallic gleam to it, particularly clear whenever it catches the light just right. A single long, narrow hair-thin crack is etched along one side, and shading along said line makes it appear that the Glacier Egg is subtly shifting, the two halves separating, though in reality it's merely a marking on the shell.

3) Blizzard Egg- This egg is - oddly easy to get lost in considering its simplicity. Dominantly white, the Blizzard Egg's medium-sized shell is marred with ocassional peeps of color through the blank white, and even there white dots cover up most of whatever is hidden. A blur of red valiantly struggles to shine through, but a metallic white sheen nearly covers it, an icy-blue swirl cutting the red in half as well, where it struggles near the top of the egg; likewise, there are peeks of blue and green around the shell. Otherwise, the Blizzard Egg seems to be a relatively flat shade of white, through blurs of a light gray are ocassionally seen by the close observer.

4) Undersea Volcano Egg- Another of the few eggs that has a warm color on it, if only a little, the Undersea Volcano Egg is bordering on medium, though it actually is on the smaller side of things: Its position, front and forward of the rest of the clutch, offer the illusion of it being larger than its clutchsiblings. A stony grayish brown dominates the bottom, though an icy blue sheen covers it, clear "bubbles" speckling here and there. The top is truly spectacular - even if the visual isn't correct - displaying a vibrant red explosion of sorts, streaks of an equally brilliant orange and yellow in it as the "magma" trickles down into the grayish section, fading gradually into the gray coloring as it continues downwards.

5) Blue Ice Egg- It's oddly difficult to tell exactly what color this small egg is. A glance will tell you "blue," but although that is undeniably the base color, the blue varies so greatly in color that it's impossible to pinpoint an exact shade on any part of the egg. Streaks of silver and white melt into the egg, invisible up close, while the lines between the colors can be easily defined from a distance. Darker shades of an oddly glossy blue cover the bottom, and then fade to a nearly white-blue at the very top, the colors in between ranging from powder-blue to a more purple-hued blue. The shell of this egg looks as if it ought to be glassy - an illusion, somehow managed by the shading?

6) Northern Lights Egg- Probably the most visually confusing of the clutch, the Northern Lights Egg is displayed prominently in the front and center of Zesa's clutch, the vibrant hues eye-catching, though it's advisable not to look at it too long unless you're after a headache or getting cross-eyed. With a dark blue, bordering on black, base, swirls of vivid colors decorate this eggshell, reds, greens, lighter blues, silvers, yellows. Each swirl melts flawlessly into the dark background, or into another swirl, seeming to disappear the second it identifies itself. A golden sheen settles over this relatively small egg, pinpricks of white dotting what little of the base can be seen beyond the swirls of vibrant coloring.

7) Diamond Dust Egg- At first sight, the Diamond Dust Egg is a plain one, dominated by a cool clear blue, as that of a sky on a particularly clear day. In fact, said color - seems to be all that's on the egg. On closer inspection, though, a fine sheet of silver and silver-blue specks cover this medium-sized egg, offering an ocassional metallic streak where they gather the thickest, and a pure, unhindered bright blue where they part. The dots varies in color, ranging from an almost blue shade of silver to a more indigo hue, to the palest of grays to a deep, nearly black color; either way, the specks are tiny to the point of being imperceptible unless one really looks at the egg carefully.

8) Iceberg Egg- This small egg is relatively unremarkable, displaying little creativity in the design. The shell of the Iceberg Egg is divided into two sections. Taking up the bottom 9/10 of the egg is a shimmering cyan-blue color, darker in some areas, lighter in some. The remainder of the shell is plain white - which, in short, makes the Iceberg Egg appear as a brilliant blue egg with a white tip at the top. Subtle shifts of the white coloration are there, but it doesn't detract from the plain, straightforward design of the egg in general.

[binker]

Neikolai didn't see /why/ he couldn't go back to the Record Hall. No, instead he was stuck here in the infirmary, forced to spend the night in case he blacked out again. Apparently he had passed out while fetching another scroll, and had hit his head on a desk. It still throbbed slightly, but it was really a small bump, unseen under his hair. Cursed healers! He wasn't wounde! He wasn't dizzy, it was just a simple little bump!

He had spent the time since he woke up fuming, and was still up glaring at the ceiling when the chaos erupted. His body was so used to working, he was just too high-strung to just relax... But he couldn't risk enraging the healers by slipping away, so here he was. Wide-awake, and with nothing to do but stare in front of him.

But it seemed Zesa ha something to keep him active, and he sat up from his designated bed to look at the flitter in confusion, then to Meira as she talked to a Healer. Meat? Ahh... She had a clutch hatching. He fidgeted slightly, wondering about the firelizards. He had never been around for a hatching, let alone have the chance to impress. Perhaps he could ask the flit's owner about trying to impress one of the beasties?

Hah, didn't seem to be a need for that. He winced at the tones from the dragon's broadcast, thinking for the thousandth time since coming to the Weyr that he would /never/ get used to hearing voices in his head. Especially when those voices couldn't use the proper name for a firelizard...

He crawled out of bed, thankful he had removed nothing but his boots before he had pretended to go to bed. Hesitant, he moved a bit closer to the closet of hatching eggs, curious to see a true hatching with his own eyes. Reading it could only tell so much...

[antinanco]

Everybody, everybody, atteeeeeeeention! We've got shiny flitsybitsies! Meat and people are needed in the Infirmary for a flitterby!

Ieoha jerked upright, nearly launching the toy she had bent down to retrieve clear across the room in the process.

It had been another regular, relatively quiet day in the crèche. Key word is relatively. So far only five 'brats had managed to up-chuck their meals and only one actually on Ieoha. Thankfully the other women had already agreed to cover her shift in case of Hatching in advance. Though the presence of a baby flitter would subtract from her overall efficiency and in the beginning, it might quiet the rambling stories about. Overall it was worth it and they nearly pushed her out of the crèche as the words boomed bubbly through the Weyr.

Also thankfully, it wasn't a long walk to the infirmary from the crèche and Ieoha was the first to appear through the doorway. She paused with her trusty cane supporting most of her weight as she craned her vulture-like neck about to search for other possible suitors. Apparently she was the first, as long as that brownrider over there wasn’t vying for a flitter himself. And that Candidate passed out in the corner bed over there. Candidates were often eager to get their grubby hands on a miniature dragon in hopes that it might compare to the real thing that they were so anxiously waiting for. She knew; she had been there once. Now in her old age, the old auntie almost felt bad for the people who had to hitch a boat ride to access the tree-top Infirmary… but mostly she just wanted to laugh in their faces for letting an elderly lady like her beat them to a Hatching.

Taking great care in her stride, Ieoha hobbled with dignity over to the cuborn-turned-nest. She held her chin high and examined the clutch with one sharp hazel eye. After a moment she bobbed her head once in approval and turned to Meira, making way for others to eventually view the eight precious eggs nestled among miscellaneous healing supplies. “A fine clutch for a brown sire, and her maiden flight too!” she exclaimed cheerfully as she squeezed the young wherhandler in a tight hug, “You’ve got one of the more finer breeders I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot!” She giggled, the excitement of the impending Hatching getting to her nerves. But where were her manners? Ieoha stiffly bowed and winked at the thrumming queen. “I know I’m a little too old, but mind if I Stand for a Hatching one more time?”

[Rowana]

G'tor arrived well prepared with a small bowl of meat he had taking from Ruskeath's breakfast. The brown was mildly interested in the idea of fire lizards, but not nearly as thrilled as his rider. G'tor had always, for various reasons, missed the other hatchings. He had always adored the little creatures and longed for one of his own. When the call had gone out for the hatching, he had jumped at the chance to Impress his own.

"Good morning!" he told Meira with a smile. "This is certainly an exciting day for you, isn't it?" He eyed the rocking eggs with interest and moved closer so he would have a better chance of seeing them. This was nearly, if not quite, as exciting as the fated day when Ruskeath had chosen him. With luck, today he would get a new member of his little family.

~

As the dragon's voice boomed her head, Farryl was up and running towards the infirmary. It was a good thing she liked to wake early for breakfast, or she would have had to make an extra stop to get meat. As it was, a polite cook had let her have some of the mornings scraps as she darted off. It would have taken even longer to cross from the candidate barracks too. Farryl still wasn't comfortable on the rickety boats and wished that there was another way across the river to the rest of the Weyr.

Boats were far from her mind now as she raced excited to the fire lizard eggs. Thanks to her chore of filling glowbaskets, she knew the path well. She reached the infirmary a little out of breath and with her hair tangled about her face, but she didn't care. She beamed a greeting to Meira and the others already gather. "Mornin'" she said politely, before finding herself a spot in view of the small eggs. 'This was like a small dragon hatching' she thought with amusement.

[kysseh]

Firelizards?!

Strange how something so simple had Aliscia wriggling her way out of her bed. The greenrider had been largely on bedrest for the past month, given the fact that a small body and a still-growing child yielded some obvious difficulties. Aliscia had not been averse to resting, given how exhausted she was, but the mere mention of flitters was enough to stir her. The cute little brown weyrling--Tanith had identified the source for her, irritated at having been awakened so early--was possibly the greatest messenger of good news that she had heard in a long time. Heaving herself to her feet, the heavily pregnant woman waddled awkwardly toward her shoes and slipped her feet in, glad for once that her child had awakened her early. At least she did not have to go through the delay of the candlemark it took too fanagle her large body into clothing.

It took her far too long to get to the Infirmary, and by that time, there were others present. The greenrider let out a colorful string of curses at the realization that she had forgotten that crucial element of meat. She planted her hands on her enlarged hips, silently scolding herself. Pregnancy was killing her brain; she knew it was! As if in agreement, her child gave her a none-too-gentle jab to the ribs that had her turning her glare downward, focusing on her belly. Ridiculous, this was. She nodded briefly to the other people present and eased herself down onto a chair. She was near enough to see the little clutch and was quite happy to see the variations on... blue. Being biased, green was her favorite color, but blue ran a close second.

Settling comfortably in her chair, the petite woman briefly debated getting up again to seek out meat, but given the energy required just to get here, it was unlikely she could make it all the way to the main hall and back in one piece and in time. The old crechewoman--one of Aliscia's arms slid protectively around her belly, as if that would ward the woman off and keep the old lady from touching her as old crones were so prone to do--and her antics elicited a quiet snicker from the greenrider. The snicker ended quickly, though, as she felt a nudge to the back of the head and tipped her chin up to scowl back at a glaring Savitri.

"I'm resting!" the scarred rider protested, gesturing at the chair she sat on whilst the healer proceeded to simply give her a look of exasperated patience. Savitri carefully moved toward a nearby empty table and set down the tray she carried, flicking a smile of greeting at Meira and gesturing to the bowls of meat on the tray. "I figured some people would forget," the healer explained before picking up one of the bowls and plopping it down in Aliscia's hands. "And as for you-" Aliscia just scowled more as Savitri rounded on her for a good talking-to. "-I'm dragging you back to your weyr to rest for real. You're going to wear yourself to pieces at this rate."

Ready to swat the uppity young goldrider, Aliscia proceeded to ignore the lecturing young woman and returned her attention to the little flitter eggs. They were far prettier than Savitri's ugly mug, and they yielded far cuter things.

[shadowreine]

Dragons only generally broadcast to the Weyr for a good reason...like, say, Hatchings. Thus, a long time Candidate like Keloran would immediately lift his head.

No, there was no clutch on the...oh wait! He'd said *flitterbies*. A firelizard clutch, and Keloran pulled the details of location.

This was his lucky day! He had finished all of his chores and got back to the barracks...but he whirled. At a flat run, he ran to the kitchen, stole a bowl of table scraps...he'd return any that were left and the bowl later...and sped to the infirmary as fast as his legs could carry him.

Don't let me be late. Don't let me be late. Don't let me be late.

No. He wasn't late. As he burst in, he could see eight firelizard eggs shaking, rattling and even rolling. Eight. He steeled himself for disappointment. Surely more than eight people would show up wanting a firelizard.

He set down the bowl and then set down himself at a decent distance from the clutch...close, but not crowding them. "You have lovely eggs, little queen," he told the gold guarding them. It looked like the sire was brown, but who cared? He didn't!

[Rei]

Raylin was halfway to the infirmary, nibbling on some jerky she had taken from the kitchen, by the time she heard Checkoth’s message. The candidate had been heading there to allow Meira one more look at her ankle sprain. She had stopped using the crutch days ago and her ankle seemed to be bearing weight well still she had wanted a clean bill of health. At the dragon’s message, the dark haired girl practically sprinted the last few feet to the infirmary stuffing the jerky into her pocket. It would have to do for meat, it was all she had. Raylin hoped the hatchlings wouldn’t be too picky.

She slowed at the doorway and took a deep breath before entering the room.There were a couple of people already in attendance but that hardly mattered to her. Raylin glanced at the rocking eggs displayed in the cabinet and turned to Meira. “Wow they are beautiful”, she breathed, “Congratulation’s Zesa.” After giving her greeting to the two she made her way over to an unoccupied cot and sat to await the arrival of the hatchlings.

[Avu]

Meira was - surprised that anybody had even managed to interpret the message sent out by Checkoth but - heh, she wasn't complaining. The first was one of the patients. Oh. So maybe the message hadn't been interpreted so much as the boy - who'd had a nasty bump on his head, if she remembered correctly - had used his eyes and seen the clutch. The spike of anxiety drew a warble from Zesa, the queen flaring her wings in agitation, glancing from eggs to Bonded and then to the boy and - to the old Crechemother who came in and, with no frivolities, went directly to the clutch, eliciting a mixture of a pleased hum and an slight warning from the queen. She mustn't get too close! Her clutch. At least until it Hatched and her babies Impressed, it belonged solely to Zesa and anyone who got too close would get nipped. Well, except maybe for Hers, but that was special.

And - Meira blinked, stiffening, her eyes widening in shock as Ieoha grabbed her in a tight hug, tight enough for the wherling to wonder how much air was enough. Luckily, she was released after a moment, Meira stammering an almost incoherent thanks. How many people knew that Zesa had been Flown by Jabari? Quite a few, probably, she thought absently, rubbing her ribs as she turned her gaze back to the clutch. At the woman's question, she hastened to nod. "Of course you can. There're no qualifications for flitters. I - " She paused, grinning ruefully - "I'm just glad anybody understood the message." Had it been uttered in her head, she wouldn't have. No questions asked, she'd've been bewildered. "Zesa agrees," she added quietly, and the queen paused in her Hatching thrum to chirrup reassuringly, bobbing her head slightly. Any Candidates were welcome, after all, even that patient, though...meh, he didn't seem to take very good care of himself, now, did he?

More people. Meira shrank back instinctively at the Brownrider's arrival, until the small of her back pressed against a counter, though his cheerfulness - and the fact that he was clearly a "Candidate" - and yes, that was the name she'd labeled these people - drew a small, shaky smile from the wherling. "Very exciting, yes," she managed quietly. Good thing someone brought meat. Hmm. Infirmary. Definitely not a good place for - her thoughts were cut off by yet another arrival, a Candidate girl, who drew another, slightly weak, smile from the girl. So many people. How she wanted someone she was familiar with here. But no; all were, as of yet, strangers. (Except for R'wign and the other healers, but they weren't the ones pressed around her and the clutch.)

Another patient interested? Meira smiled, clearly amused, at the interchange between Goldweyrling and patient, nodding gratefully at Savitri for her foresight. Looking at all of the people without meat - how did they think they'd attract the fire lizards? 'Kind thoughts' couldn't do it all, could it now? "Thanks," she stated, her voice soft, nervous, but clearly sincere as she glanced at Zesa again, completely disregarding the next two Candidates who entered, as one of the eggs had given a particularly violent twitch at that moment, and she instinctively turned on one heel to better watch the Hatching better, Zesa's hum rising to a sharp pitch as -

The Northern Lights Egg's shell collapsed completely on contact with one of the jars of salve in the cabinet, crinkling inwards, a pastel green foreleg pushed its way from the shell, followed by a long, thin body, two crumpled wings held against the green's sides as she glanced around, the Hatching shock splashed in clear shades of vibrant yellow and orange into her eyes as she uttered a slight, quiet squeak, her eyes flickering around the gathered crowd as she began to disengage her startlingly skinny body from the egg shards that still constrained her, when -

Another sharp crack as the Undersea Volcano Egg split in two, the hatchling it contained having rocked so violently that it had been brought sharply against the side of the cabinet, all but tossing the Undersea Volcano Blue onto the shelf, the hatchling drawing itself up uncertainly, eyes flashing as it glanced around at the others, uttering a surprised squeak as it carefully examined the shattered remains of its shell, a small sad noise in his throat before it flicked its tail, wobbling over to the edge of the cabinet and giving them a solemn look, completely at odds with the almost round frame it sported as it rubbed its head against the rough edge of the cabinet, clearly mulling over its choice. Which?

Oh, look! With a warble of joy as its eyes landed on Aliscia, the Undersea Volcano Blue launched itself unsteadily into the air, long slender wings flapping to support his weight as he wove around several others, huffing in exertion before it collided with Aliscia. Having sunk lower and lower in flight as he progressed, he was now at stomach level and there he clung to the pregnant woman, claws latched onto her shirt, eyes peering up at her as his wings drooped limply, the blue uttering a hopeful peep as it gazed at Aliscia. His would feed him, now?



Icy Ocean Egg-
Glacier Egg-
Blizzard Egg-
Undersea Volcano Egg- Hatched blue ?; Impressed to Aliscia
Blue Ice Egg-
Northern Lights Egg- Hatched green; looking around
Diamond Dust Egg-
Iceberg Egg-

~*~*~

Undersea Volcano Blue
Looks to- Aliscia
Color- Blue
Physical Appearance- This blue will never acquire the grace that some of his cousins flaunt, definitely more adorable than anything else. Every angle possessed by this little fire lizard is soft, with no hard lines whatsoever, giving him an almost squashy appearance. Slightly chubby, his head is slightly larger than his small body and wings demand, with large, round eyes. This blue's neck ridges are slightly blunt, melting into his hide, defined as only the slightest bumps. His wings are long, barely proportional, and slender, while his legs are on the short side, and chubby. His hide is dark, a navy blue color, darker where each part of him melts into another, making him look more like a stuffed plaything than anything else.

Personality- Like his appearance suggests, this little blue is completely laid back to the point where he could be mistaken for lazy, though he (very mildly) protests that. Lazy? Psht. Why should he work when he can just cuddle and cling onto His' shoulder and let someone else do the work? Likewise, it takes a lot to excite or discourage this blue; once he gets his mind set on something, it can be difficult to make him deviate from his chosen course of action. However, more likely than not, said course is a good one, as, even if the thought process can be slow at times, this blue thinks everything through very carefully. He takes everything very seriously, whether it be a mild threat or just a comment, though it's unlikely he'll do much about it - he's simply not a jokester in any manner. As beforementioned, this blue is patient to a fault, never protesting any discomfort as long as His is near.

[Rowana]

G'tor could see Meira's discomfort and hid his sympathy. He had no trouble dealing with large groups, but the young wherling was clearly nervous with all the strange people present. Thankfully, attention was soon diverted from her to the hatching eggs. A green hatched first. The little fire lizard was clearly healthy and a good sign for Zesa's first clutch, in G'tor's opinion. He didn't really adhere to the opinion that bronzes hatching first meant the best clutches.. The blue that came next flew for Aliscia, a green rider he vaguely recognized. G'tor clapped lightly in congratulations. The green was still free, probably trying to decide which pile of meat looked tastiest. The brownrider waited patiently for her and her kin to make their choices.

~

Farryl barely notice Meira's reaction to her arrival. She was too enthralled by the eggs. To her, nothing existed but the cracking shells and the cries of newly hatching lizards. They were just as she had imagined. Tiny dragons, each beautiful in their own right. Both blue and green were adorable in her eyes and she smiled happily as the blue Impressed. She shifted with excitement and held her meat ready. Would one of them come to her?

[antinanco]

Pleased with the response from the gold flit’s bonded, Ieoha set out on her second task: gathering meat. She was being constantly reminded of her empty hands as more flitter hopefuls filled into the Infirmary, a large amount of them with bowls of meat. Her hands were empty but not by accident; she had wanted to be first, dammit! And if that meant skipping the step of going to the Kitchens for a plate of meat was the sacrifice she had to take, then so be it. Besides, she was old. Didn’t that entitle her to go get one of the younglings to run the errand for her? But the Candidates were spared from their functional fate as Aliscia waddled into the room followed by a rather meat-ladened Savitri.

Ieoha shuffled her way over to the two women, eyeing the platter greedily. As some of the eggs began Hatching she quickly scooped up one of the bowl with her right arm, the other busy clutching her cane almost possessively. Though she did not pause to touch the woman’s obviously guarded belly (she wasn’t stupid, just eccentric, mind you) Ieoha slipped in a quick, “I hope to be seeing your healthy babe in the crèche soon!” That was her way of wishing the mother the best of luck and before the pregnant greenrider could get another word in edgewise a blue hurtled across the room and onto her bulging stomach. The crèchewoman chose this moment to make her exit, not really wanting to stick around in case the mother happened to be another overprotective sort. She hadn’t been expecting a reply anyway.

Old habits were hard to break, and a green being first to was a nasty omen. Ieoha gazed coolly at the pastel green, trying to hold a grudge through the obvious charisma of the Hatchling. Such a nimble figure and the hue was simply lovable! It reminded her of the crèche’s soft color scheme. Finally she gave in and chose to instead dwell on a first blue bonding, that what her slightly superstitious mind could rest with a more neutral premonition as she wiggled her way next to a small, slight Candidate with nearly delicate features. If her joints weren’t so bad, the auntie would have been bouncing up and down in excitement. Hatchings were so much fun! The anticipation was killer but still thrilling as well!

[/font]

[Rei]

Raylin watched the new arrivals with unconcealed awe. They were so fragile looking. The blue had impressed to the pregnant woman so she wrote that one off with a smile to the lucky mother to be. The green was still flittering around still seemingly undecided. The candidate pulled the jerky from her pocket and reached for a meat laden bowl grabbing a few mid sized pieces. She settled to watch the green flitter her eyes darting back to the eggs every so often. Plenty of eggs were left there was no need to become nervous.

She idly wondered if flitters knew who they wanted before they hatched or if they randomly decided on the fly. The smells and sounds in the tiny crowded room were all filtered carefully out as Raylin strove to concentrate on the matter at hand. She wanted to impress one of the beautiful creatures but would she be worthy? That was up to fate to decide.

[shadowreine]

Keloran watched as a blue hatched and chose, while the green seemed less certain.

He took a piece of meat from the bowl, presenting it towards the clutch. He might not want a green dragon, but a green firelizard? They were pretty, after all. He would definitely not mind if the little one came to him, but with more hopefuls than eggs... All he could do was hope, and try for happy, welcoming thoughts. Like how cute the babies were, what gorgeous colors...the remaining eggs were pretty.

You could make jewelry out of firelizard shards, he mused, if you had the artistic skill. But they had to break, hatch, be destroyed to reveal a greater beauty. There was some kind of message in there, if the boy could only understand it.

If. That was a big if, he was not exactly a philosopher. He forced his thoughts to focus back on the eggs and the green. "Choose," he whispered to her.

Anyone here would look after her well, but how he wanted one. Any of them. He didn't care...any firelizard that came to him would be...

...spoiled rotten.

[glamourie]

Maybe if he stood on the complete other side of the infirmary, it would be safe. Maybe.

Firelizard hatchings frightened R'wign. Considering that he seemed to be a magnet for the things (evidenced and reinforced by the blue and green perched near the clutch), it would not surprise most people who knew him to find that he was literally hiding near several jars of suspicious-smelling and looking ointments. Firelizards. Eek. At one point, he'd Impressed five. Five. Then within a span of a month, he'd lost three of them. He'd gained in Checkoth, his beloved brown noise-maker, and he thought himself exceedingly fortunate. He had no desire to try and Impress any of the flits from Zesa's clutch. That would've been selfish, wouldn't it, since he already had two? He had too much work to do. Too much work! No flits wanted.

He stirred the contents of a large ceramic jar, the smell making him twist his face unpleasantly. The commotion at the other end of the infirmary was primarily ignored, and he took a seat on one of the empty cots. Did he smell foul? Good, maybe it would reinforce that he was off limits. If he could've convinced Checkoth to do it, he'd have asked the brown to chase off any wayward hatchlings. As it was, he was being bombarded by questions --

R'wignmine, R'wignmine, the little cousins hatch like we do? Why did she clutch in the infirmary? How do the eggs get warmed up? Ooh! It must be very warm in there. That's why you spend so much time, isn't it? That makes sense! R'wignmine is very smart. Oooh, do you want a little cousin? Do they pick the comfy ones too? You'll be picked I bet, you're comfy. But -- Pause. Why do you smell like that again? Is that how humans attract other humans? If I smell like that will I attract other humans to you? I will find out!

"CHECKOTH, NO!" Ignoring the fact that yelling would probably draw attention to him, R'wign shoved the jar onto one of the desks and flailed his arms around him. He'd just oiled Checkoth, but the hatchling, convinced that smelling bad would somehow attract more people (why more people was needed, R'wign had no idea), decided it was quite a good idea to roll in the mud. Even before R'wign spoke, the brown was wriggling about in the nearest mud puddle to the infirmary, taking quite advantage of his two tails to splatter himself most thoroughly. Once he was caked in mud, he walked over to the entrance of the infirmary, as R'wign found his way near to the entrance, and Checkoth flopped down and preened in pride. R'wign sighed, bringing one hand up to his face. Why him? It was as though the brown lived to make him flail. "I just oiled you! What are you doing! Now I have to bathe you again..."

We can bathe together! And you didn't answer my questions! Checkoth crooned, then asked Meira, since she was more likely to know, Is it very warm in the infirmary, wher-girl? Is that why the little gold flitterby laid her eggs in there?

"Yes, just.. go right over my head to Meira and ask her. Can't you see she's busy?"

She won't mind!

[nightingale]

"Come on, come on hurry!"

Saeo growled with barely contained aggravation, willing her legs to move faster as she gave the arm she grasped a vicious jerk. The boy attached to it let out a small cry of alarm and stumbled, only to catch himself at the last second and continue on at a faster pace. Late to a flitter hatching. Shards! If this was a sign of what his future life among dragonmen held, Keirin was certain that he'd be forced to trudge home in disgrace when Aslath's clutch impressed. He heard the girl in front of him murmur something bitterly under her breath, and raised his pale blue eyes to watch the back of her head.

Their meeting had come completely by chance. Saeo had accidentally body-checked him into the wall in her hurry to get to the infirmary, and had stopped with obvious reluctance to apologize and help him gather the various unidentifiable bits of meat he'd managed to charm away from the kitchen staff. A brief introduction followed and before he knew it, Keirin had been drafted into rowing them both to the infirmary because after being viciously attacked by a rock last week there was just NO WAY she could pilot a rowboat on her own, much less fast enough to make it to the hatching. She'd been alternately growling at him to go faster and muttering about the traitorous actions of someone named Raylin for the past twenty minutes.

Kei was beginning to wonder just what he'd gotten himself into.

When they finally reached the room where the hatching was taking place, Saeo wasted no time dragging him across the room toward a dark haired girl who was watching drawer full of colourful eggs.

"Raylin you brain scorched traitor!"

She squealed as quietly as her flaring temper could manage, releasing her death-grip on Keirin's arm and throwing herself atop the older girls' shoulders in what seemed to be a combination of hug and a head lock. In truth, she wasn't intending to do the girl any harm -just to knock her off balance a little.

"I thought we were going to watch the hatching together and you leave me stranded on the mainland! They haven't all hatched yet, have -Oh! Zesa they're beautiful! You must be so proud!"

Kei watched with confusion as the girl's attention shifted abruptly from strangling her captive to smiling at the golden fire lizard who perched nearby -the mother, wasn't she? Zesa. A fine specimen if ever there was one. Saeo slid off of Raylin's back carefully, her movements and voice suddenly devoid of rage or nervous energy as she realized that she might very well be being rude.
Kei let his attention drift back to the drawer and he examined the Northern Lights Green with a warm, almost disbelieving expression. It was so...small! His, he wondered, allowing the tiniest flicker of hope to light itself in his chest. No, he decided with a light sigh. It must still be searching the room for an appropriate shoulder to perch on -someone who had been there earlier. Oh, but if all the flitters were so beautiful he didn't know if he'd be able to stand leaving without one. Come on little eggs, he thought, casting his pale eyes over the similarly hued clutch. I know that I'm a little late in coming, but I promise that I'll love you just as well...