you've got a friend in me

[Kisha-Ra]

Salamandyr, salamandyr, firelizard. R’fuin nodded to himself, so it was true that they produced mixed clutches. Like most he’d heard of it, but the only other mixed clutch had been so long ago that R’fuin had either not yet arrived at Selenitas or had missed it for some other reason.

The conversation in the doorway caught his attention. So Emoyan was trying to haul the candidates away was he? The bluerider smirked, was Emoyan so very clueless that he thought banning them from hatchings would actually work? He should have just not mentioned them to the candidates, or had actually explained why they were a bad idea. Clearly he hadn’t done that because the little buggers where still here. Well really it was their risk if they understood it could lower their chances with the dragons.

Darya noticed Lennae heading toward R’wign through the crowd and attempted to slip a little a closer. This would be interesting; it might even make the risk of Impressing something else worthwhile. A broad mocking grin spread across her face, whether Lennae was telling the truth or not this promised to be a very interesting conversation, and almost certainly one Darya could wind R’wign up about when she was next forced to go to the infirmary.

When K’lir walked in and butted into the conversation Darya snorted with laughter. She absolutely adored the way the greenrider could blithely insinuate himself into conversations like that. She should ask him for lessons. Especially since he was managing a second round of scathing observation on a totally different topic as well.

‘I agree with K’lir.’ R’fuin stated looking at Emoyan with his best reasonable face. ‘And not just about the folly of letting T’rid tell everyone what to do. His dragon isn’t a gibbering wreck because of Showoff, and Adith’s fine too. Come on, Greenrider J’on Impressed his salamandyr as a candidate, a green no less. A green with a green mate, just imagine how many times that pair have mated, and while his dragon isn’t exactly the most sensible green ever she, too, is far from traumatised. Their memories just aren’t good enough for a salamandyr’s mating to upset them for long.’ Thankfully, R’fuin added in the privacy of his mind, he didn’t really want wings full of gibbering dragons but K’lir was so right R’fuin could have kissed him. ‘Where’s the real harm as long as the candidates understand that salamandyr bonds are very strong, and it could damage their chance of Impression?’ he asked reasonably.

R’fuin you do like to cause trouble don’t you.[/color] K’lir is right. It’s a stupid rule, and not one they can really enforce unless they want to cut down the choices for the dragons. If we’re short you can bet it’ll be revised. R’fuin was quite happy to give Ylonth a large portion of his mind as well.

Well Darya just had to laugh at the sight of Lennae wearing whatever R’wign had eaten in the past few hours on her cheat. ‘Oh dear was she that bad in the closet?’ Darya asked as soon as she could speak, though her eyes still danced with amusement at Lennae’s expense. ‘You don’t have to sleep with her again. It’s okay.’ Darya was probably setting herself up as Lennae’s next target but what the hell, it was all good fun.

Trick looked at Imp, he was doing it wrong that human was. That wasn’t how you were supposed to feed your mate. Silly human he needed to bring food that hadn’t already been eaten. Did he maybe think he was an avian maybe? Imp should really explain things to him; the bronze was much better at the whole talking to humans thing than Trick. Nonono. Bad not feed like that! No darter. Make bad right. He demanded of the bronze. If they needed cheering up Trick would be sure to help.

Imp flicked his frill up and down a few times, Trick had better remember who he was talking to. Imp wasn’t a human he could command to do things, but as tiresome as the brown was he had a point. How could a gold prettylove look to someone that stupid? He hopped and glided from Darya’s shoulder to R’wign’s and looked earnestly up at the brownrider’s face. No give that food your prettylove. Give own food, silly. he explained with all the eloquence at his command, which made Darya burst out into a fresh bout of the giggles.

[Avu]

Rusa nodded slightly, amusement flickering across his face, at Anz’s words. He didn’t think they could be much harm, either. What was the worst, honestly, that they could do? Insult the Candidatemaster, maybe, but – but traumatize a dragon? Pfft. If it was really that bad, the things were small enough to be – to be put into a trunk or something. There had to be some way to avoid that, and it definitely wasn’t fair that they could have one – and plus, Rusa wanted one. They were cute, in a deformed firelizard kind of way, and as far as Rusa was concerned, Emoyan would have to find out he’d Impressed before he could kick him out; and if he did find out – well, he’d still have the little Salamandyr-thing, which would be more than he’d had before. Dragons seemed to avoid him like the plague on the Hatching Sands; he wouldn’t really be missing out on anything, Rusa was sure.

And then Emoyan showed up, and Rusa’s fingers closed so tightly around the broom that his knuckles turned white. He wanted to just – just swat Emoyan upside the head with the broom. Did he – what was his point? Rusa almost growled in annoyance, but Anz beat him to saying anything, and one of Rusa’s eyebrows inched upwards before his expression flicked into impassiveness, the Candidate listening intently. Savitri had one – ? Well then, they’d complain to her and hope that she wasn’t hypocritical enough to deny them the right to Stand. Even at Ka’rys’s words, Rusa didn’t move away from the eggs; indeed, he took a step forward, into the kitchen, and then leaned backwards against the wall, propping the broom up and then crossing his arms defiantly.

Lennae and K’lir’s interruption went more or less completely ignored – until the latter spoke up in their defense. They seemed to be drawing a…a rather large crowd, Rusa noted with some amusement, flicking a glance at Emoyan, laughter plain in his eyes. He wanted one, and he wasn’t going to let some stupid rule – as these people were clearly confirming that it was – get in his way. Manage their Salamandyrs – well, how hard could it be? He could do that…Rusa snuck a glance over at the eggs, checking on their progress, and was surprised to see a firelizard already Impressed to some girl, while two Salamandyrs were…preening and sleeping. His head tilted curiously to one side, and he almost asked what they were doing before he caught himself and then looked back at the group again – just in time to see R’wign…throwing up, as it were. All over Lennae. Lovely.

Nevertheless, his smile widened as some other bluerider – R’fuin – jumped in, again in their defense. Detaching himself from the wall, Rusa wandered over to prop one elbow up on R’fuin’s shoulder, and he drawled in a monotone, “O wise Candidatemaster, I promise not to traumatize my currently nonexistent and possibly never existent dragon should I manage to Impress a Salamandyr – which, by the way, are absolutely adorable – even if it means locking myself in a bathroom, chaining myself to a wall, ad nauseam.” He nodded seriously, and then added, “Just because one idiot can’t deal with it doesn’t mean we’re all going to fall apart at the seams, you know. We’re perfectly capable – minus this ‘Saeo’, apparently – of using our brains…could you maybe start treating us like it?”

[topaz]

Venus was trying very hard to ignore the conversations that were popping up around her, but it was quite difficult. Were all the greenriders getting knocked up at once? Shards. Luckily for Venus, her darling little blue would most likely never win a Run. He was very strange looking, she had to admit, for a wher; sinewy and more draconic than he should be. The female to let him Catch her would have to have very odd taste. Besides, his wings also tended to get in the way more than help propel him along. No, he would probably never win, and therefore Venus would probably never have to worry about . . being vomited on by the father of her future child. Shells, these riders were messed up.

Quickly stepping as far away from the vomit covered woman as possible, Venus found herself a bit more towards the front of the group, and hovering nearby Malara. It was then that she had noticed that there was already a large brown salamandyr preening a top the egg carton. Hm, he must have come from one of the larger eggs. Then maybe she was wrong about the larger ones being flitters?

Then the Zombie Egg revealed a blue tail and, soon after, a blue salamandyr's head. Then nearly as quickly as it came, the head retracted itself back into the egg halves, and seemed to have . . gone to sleep? Weren't these things supposed to be hungry as soon as they hatched? Why were they preening and sleeping?

Finally, there was another crack, and the Werewolf Egg shattered, revealing a beautiful blue firelizard. Ah hah! There was the representation for the firelizard half. And indeed, what pretty representation it was . . However, Venus did not get quite enough time to examine the blue's hide properly, for he quickly creeled and threw himself onto her torso. She was just about able to extend her hands to catch him, but there was a tragic casualty: her muffin! No, she did not drop it. It was definitely secure in her hand, but her new pet had landed right on it, dripping egg goo across it's glorious half eaten surface.

Ugh. Venus cradled the pitifully whining blue in the crook of one arm, while she inspected the muffin in her free hand. No. It definitely could not be salvaged. Into the trash bin she dumped it, with a very annoyed sigh. Looking back at the little flitter in her arms Venus couldn't help but smile. Maybe he was worth the muffin . . just maybe. On closer inspection of her new friend, Venus was slightly confused to find a very apparent birth defect, if you could call it that. The blue had a bizarrely long snout, which just looked . . . well, bizarre!

As she examined him, the little blue suddenly threw his wing in front of his face, whacking her with it in the process, and creeled impatiently. He was HUNGRY. Do not look at his nose. His should feeding him! He really could eat a dragon! Didn't she see? The blue had somehow concocted an unbelievable image of himself, larger than and eating a bronze dragon as if it was a meatroll. Of course the picture was blurry in various spots and looked as if the 'lizard had cut out pieces of drawing and stuck them together, along with some of his own designs. Brilliant.

Venus was confused by the image at first, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind. "Alright, alright. Let's find you some meat." She said quietly, looking around the kitchen for the nearest drudge. Finding one, she requested a hunk of meat, and it was brought to her in record time. Apparently the drudges wanted these things out of their kitchen. That was fine by her.

Exiting the kitchen - which was a task in itself with all the people crowding around the door - Venus wandered over to the nearest table and set down her flitter and his meat; the former quickly jumping the latter and making quick work of the little slab.

[nightingale]

Want! Freckle trilled unhappily, glaring down from her bonded’s shoulder at the cutting board where a small cut of herdbest was being minced. She was ignored for the most part, receiving little more than a mental jab that insisted she was slicing as fast as she could. Baby was perched upright on the edge of the cutting board, burbling curious little notes and occasionally placing the edges of his outstretched frill a little too near the blade for his own good. ~Miiiiiiiiine, want candy~ He crooned in an uncertain key, making a hesitant attempt to snatch a bit of the meat without losing his paw in the process. He also received a telepathic jab, and a light swat with the flat of her blade. “Wait.” She growled softly, earning a plaintive croon from the blue as he rocked back on his hind legs.

And then came a terrifying message from Brat.

Freckle tensed instantly, glaring across the kitchens at the hatching clutch. NO! MineSaeo nowant DO NOT WANT bad babies bad bad BAD babies!! She shrieked, the grating quality of her voice forcing the girl to wince and stop cutting long enough for Baby to snatch up a morsel from beneath her knife. ~Pweeety Baby no you leave me Mine had been saving smile for youuuu~ He sang tunelessly, complexly oblivious to his sister’s anxiety as his mouth was flooded with tender meaty goodness. Saeo promptly snatched him from the cutting board and shoved him into her pocket. “Do not want.” She agreed, and be-lined for the quickly flooding entrance without another thought to the meat she had been cuting. Three separate and highly influential mindmates was quite enough for one person, thank you.

S’van was more than a little uncomfortable to find the kitchens as crowded as they were. Being in such a tight space with so many other people made him uneasy under normal circumstances, but the fact that the former Benden rider knew himself to be unwelcome by for than ninety percent of the people there only compounded his apprehension. The bronze lump on his shoulder offered him silent reassurance. His was safe. None would hurt him. Rifashth offered a similar, if slightly less grimly determined wave of reassurance to his rider. You’ve got as much right to see them hatch as anyone Vanmine. The bluerider would have responded to his dragon's kindness with sarcasm had he not spotted Ka’rys at that exact moment. He dropped his eyes instantly, and moved quickly and quietly to the back of the gathering.

He realized that he was going to an awful lot of trouble just to watch a hatching, but the fact was that he was simply fascinated by the tiny creatures the local riders nicknamed ‘worms’. That they could speak, and in fact would speak to just about anyone was mystifying to him. He was not use to such…openness among telepathic creatures. The young man slipped in behind a pair of taller riders, effectively camouflaging myself while still finding a relatively clear view of the hatching eggs. He wasn’t sure that he really wanted one…but he certainly wanted to see as much of them as possible. Nuisance was only around so often after all.

[Rei]

Malara watched the goings on with baited breath. The hatching of the eggs was overshadowed however by the bonded of the gold mandyr as she flounced over to the one eyed wonder of a healer and announced she was pregnant. The blonde burst out into laughter as R'wign vomited all over Lennae. How was that for an answer? For the moment the babies where ignored, although she did hazard a glance at Venus as she impressed a flitter.

Turning back to R'wign she decided that the scene they where creating was far more interesting than flitters impressing. How much she missed while she was asleep during the day. Pity. Night life was supposed to be more interesting. Obviously not.

[serenitychick]

The space around her quickly filled up with other people, some wanting to watch the hatching as she did while others were hoping to Impress. Sasheen’s eyes passed over the growing group until her gaze landed on a familiar face amongst the crowd. A familiar and yet unwelcome face. Emoyan, the candidate master. Shards. Sasheen’s mouth settled into a pout as he started in on his ranting and she was surprised to hear how many of the older riders disagreed with the rule. Still, she was curious to know what had happened to cause it in the first place and she listened to the discussions the riders were having around her until the murmurs of those intently watching the eggs alerted her to a change.

Holding her breath, Sasheen watched as the eggs began hatching. A salamandyr! A brown one, though Sasheen couldn’t really judge how big it was for a brown, being unfamiliar with the creatures. A blue one hatched next, followed by another blue although this time it was a flit. The blue salamandyr curled up in a ball and seemed to fall asleep while the flit quickly Impressed itself onto a girl standing nearby.

Swallowing hard, Sasheen watched the expression on the girl’s face change and when she pushed her way through the crowd with her new flit, Sasheen took a deep breath. Was standing to watch and risking losing the chance at a dragon really worth it? Sick with worry over the prospect that she could mistakenly Impress just by being nearby, Sasheen took a step back, doing her best to huddle unnoticed behind the taller folks around her while she edged away from the hatching.

Perhaps she could at least stay close enough to see who had Impressed and who hadn’t; she was curious about the salamandyrs and adored flits. But she couldn’t help herself and in the end stayed at a distance that made her feel safe but allowed her to still occasionally stand on her tiptoes and peek at the eggs, though the shoulder to shoulder crowd made the view terrible.

Besides, the smell of vomit in a crowded space was horrendous.

[dragon]

Emoyan heaved a slow sigh. The candidates ... being just as unco-operative as always. Granted, Ka'rys did speak up, and he appreciated that. But then a couple other riders jumping in with thier two marks on the other side of the scale ... was not helping. "Alright! Look... I already told the whole lot of you why they are outlawed to Candidates. You know the risks, and you know what the penalty is! I did not make the rule, I just enforce it. Understood? I am not going to make any of you leave. So stop glaring at me. But ... if you impress a Salamandyr by the fool hardy and ill advised stance of staying here to watch - or whatever your current excuse is - be warned I will enforce the rules!" He said.

"As for the rest of you." He shot a look at the other riders. "It does not matter what you think. The Weyrleaders are the Weyrleaders. Thier mandates stand, regardless of popular consent. And regardless of what kind of fool T'rid may or may not be, he was the Weyrleader! And even now, Ka'rys is Jr. Weyrleader, and what he just said trumps anything the lot of you happen to have to say! There is no point in arguing a point that is written into law. So get over it."

And with that, Emoyan turned, and started making his way back through the alarmingly fast-forming crowd. He fully intended to get out of there as quickly as he could. He'd warned the Candidates, that was all he could do. He was not going to stand there and bicker with the lot of them, or the other riders for that matter. And he most assuredly did not want another pet of his own!

The added lovely perfume of R'wign's daily diet on Lennae's shirt was added incentive to get the heck out...

But, wait, on that thought ... Emoyan paused, and turned around again. "Candidates ... that over there is Weyr Healer R'wign." He introduced. "Ask him about where babies come from ... he can tell you all about it. R'wign? These lads all want to know. Enlighten them, would you?" And then he spun around on a heel once more, and continued his efforts to get out.

[weaving]

Did he look less than pleased? Good. In fact, he looked quite ready to pass out which was somewhat surprising. While she’d expected him to look somewhat worried, she hadn’t expected him to be that worried, though she couldn’t say that she minded. The worse that she made him feel, the better. It certainly served him right, and honestly, she hadn’t really expected him to believe her. After all, she thought that she’d made it very clear whenever the topic arose that she had no interest whatsoever in ever having children. Ever. Then again, she couldn’t remember that discussion ever happening with R’wign. He was best friends with K’lir though and she wouldn’t have been surprised if the greenrider had divulged that information. Though apparently he hadn’t.

Speaking of K’lir…

“Sadly no, it’s a boy. I was thinking Lenign for him. Our names don’t mix too well, but we’ll make too. I like Lene though. I’ll keep that in mind for our next one!” Had she brightened just a bit more upon seeing the greenrider. Maybe, though she’d never admit it. Focusing on K’lir, she completely missed R’wign turning to empty the contents of his stomach all over her front. Of course, the smell was immediately overpowering, trigging her own gag reflex. While there wasn’t very much in her stomach, what was there was promptly deposited all over Ka’rys, the poor man. She smiled weakly at the bronzerider, sincerely feeling badly for her actions. She wasn’t mad at him after all. If she’d gotten to choose who she’d thrown up on, it would have been R’wign; after all, he’d ruined her clothing. And she’d have to stay until the end of the hatching. No way was Brat going to let her leave early.

“Sorry, morning sickness,” she offered weakly, immediately looking around for anyone who might be willing to lend her a shirt. Darya’s comment caught her attention however, and she paused to look at the older woman strangely. “What closet?”

Having finished her snack, Brat took it upon herself to chase after her brown son, forcing him to impress someone. With an indignant squawk, the Boogeyman Brown leapt away from his mother’s snapping jaws, leaping and scurrying toward His. He’d spied her earlier, though he’d been letting her admire him for a bit before he’d actually said anything. After all, she’d needed to truly comprehend how amazing he was before he announced his choice. Then everyone could be jealous of who he’d chosen.

Babies come from where? Where babies from? He asked Sasheen, quickly scrambling up her leg to cling tightly to her chest, unwilling to be taken away from His. She was His after all and no one could take her from him.

While the Zombie Blue slept on, the Frankenstein Egg finally split apart, revealing a rather odd looking green salamandyr. The Zombie Blue woke up long enough to snap at her - she had interrupted his nap after all! – causing her to flee from the safety of the egg carton. She darted through several pairs of legs before finding the ones she wanted. They were bright and comforting and she hoped that the person wearing them was just as nice. He had to be, right? Only nice people wore such lovely bright clothes.

Help?Help?Please?Help She crooned up at Anzalorin. She might not be very pretty, but she was nice. He would love her, wouldn’t he?

The Things That Go Bump In The Night Clutch
1. Vampire Egg
2. Monster Egg
3. Boogeyman Egg – Brown Salamandyr ????, Impressed to Sasheen
4. Ghost Egg
5. Zombie Egg – hatched, blue salamandyr
6. Frankenstein Egg – Green Salamanadyr ????, Impressed to Anzalorin
7. Werewolf Egg – Blue Firelizard ????, Impressed to Venus
8. Chupacabra Egg
9. Spider Egg – spider cracks
10. Reaper Egg
11. Poltergeist Egg
12. Witches Egg – spider cracks

[weaving]

Boogeyman Brown
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Brown(AA6600)
Looks to: Sasheen

Appearance: This brown is positively mammoth, rivaling some of the bronze salamandyrs in size. He is extremely muscular as well, almost to the point of being excessively so. This makes him quite slow to move about as he has quite a bit of extra weight to lug around with him. This will give him extra stamina that others of his color and even some of the bronzes don’t have, but it comes at a price: speed. He’s extremely slow, as one of his weight cannot possibly move quickly, though he doesn’t seem to mind too much. He’s perfectly content sitting about and flexing his muscles, hoping that that will be enough to attract all of the females to him. Even his tail is thicker than most in part due to how muscular he is, and while it’s less flexible when it comes to holding onto things, it makes for a powerful whip. Like a proper salamandyr, his wings are small, and in his case are completely useless. They’ll never have the strength to lift him off the ground, and are mostly used for show when he is exceptionally angry, flapping about madly in a show of rage.

Like the rest of him, his frill is quite large, a fact that he’s very proud of, and he’s perfectly happy to show it off whenever possible. The majority of his body is a light brown the color of cinnamon, with a slightly red tone to it, though it lightens slightly toward the end of his appendages. On his chest are patches of a darker brown that are patterned in such a way to look like chest hair all along his chest and even creeping up along his neck. That same dark brown continues in one long stripe along his belly, down to where a belly button would be if he were a human. That same pattern covers his frill, giving it a furry look to it and when he flares it, it’s as though he had a mane.

Personality: Simply put, this salamandyr believes that he is Faranth’s gift to females. Anything of the opposite sex should be grateful and thank him thoroughly if he deigns to spend time in their company, as he is clearly doing a great service to them. Other males are completely ignored unless he needs someone to do something for him. Then he will attempt to boss and bully others into doing his dirty work for him, relying on his sheer size and muscle mass to get him what he wants. It generally works and he’s smart enough to only pick on those who are small enough that he can beat up on them easily. He’s also not very fair about how he fights, doing anything he can to ensure that he wins with little care about fairness or doing things properly. All that matters is that he wins. Even his Bonded will be expected to be honored that they were chosen by him and dote on him properly. No less than kingly treatment is to be expected.

Seeing as he is the best, he also feels that he deserves the best, and so will only chase queens of any species. Firelizards, salamandyrs, even dragons and whers are not exempt. After all, they are the queens, which means that others listen to him and he is worthy of nothing less than a queen himself, seeing as he is the best male ever shelled. Greens are, in his eyes, only useful for stroking his ego, and while he may occasionally place himself in their company it is only when he needs an ego boost, and he is more often found stalking after one of the various golds of Selenitas. Rather than bring them pretty presents or compliment them however, he simply talks about himself and how wonderful he is, expecting that it will help them realize that he is clearly the one that they need. His ego is absolutely huge and nothing, it seems, can deflate it.

Frankenstein Green
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Green(7FFF00)
Looks To: Anzalorin

Appearance: This salamandyr is by no means the loveliest salamandyr ever shelled. In fact, she is quite easily the ugliest, with not even a face that a mother could love. Her snout has an odd upturn that might have been cute if her nose hadn’t been so squished into the rest of her face. Her eyes are of two different sizes and placed oddly on the side of her head. As if that weren’t bad enough, they also bulge out, making her face an overall unappealing sight. One should be careful to keep her away from the crèche as she’ll easily make the younger weyrbrats cry. It might be difficult to think that things could get worse as far as appearance goes, but indeed they can. Her spine has an odd hump, right where her wings rest, and she’ll never be able to fully straighten her body out or properly stand on her hind legs. This odd kink in her spine is present again in her tail, which is shorter than is normal, with a few odd kinks in it, as though it were broken in several places and healed incorrectly. Even if a predator manages to snag her tail off, it’ll continue to grow out crooked. Her wings are small, like a proper salamandyr’s should be, with slightly tattered wingsails. Unfortunately this carries over to her frill, which is also on the small side, with tattered edges.

As far as coloring goes, this salamandyr is an unfortunate shade of yellow-green that is absolutely blinding (and not in a good way). From nose to tail tip, there is absolutely no variation in the color to make it even slightly more appealing and it will be difficult to focus on her for long. The only other color can be found on her frill and it is no less unfortunate, being an even more yellow shade of green. It forms an odd pattern of stripes along her frill that might be attractive if not for the absolutely repulsive coloration. As such she is rather unlikely to unfurl her frill except on very rare occasions, as she is quite embarrassed by it’s meager appearance compared to the brilliant patterns that others of her species sport.

Personality: If ever there was a creature whose personality did not match it’s appearance, it is this green. While most would be repulsed by the sight of her, she sees nothing but good in everyone despite their exteriors. While salamandyrs are known for their annoying and occasionally malicious personalities, this green has not a mean bone in her body. There is nearly nothing that can rile this green into a temper, though if there is one thing she absolutely cannot stand, it’s a bully. Only then will anyone ever hear a mean word out of her and even then it will in all likelihood be quietly said. Normally very little is heard from this green as she is painfully shy, preferring not to draw attention to herself, as the reactions she normally gets are less than pleasant. While others may not appreciate her, she still does her best to make sure that people in the weyr come to know harm, watching from a distance protectively over those that she has taken a liking to.

If any are able to look past her monstrous appearance, they would discover a very loyal friend indeed. A kind deed is never forgotten by this green, and she does her best to repay any kindnesses given to her. Even those who are not the kindest toward her are given second, third and even fourth chances. She clearly believes that everyone has good in them, even if they don’t always show it, and she’s willing to wait for as long as she has to in order for them to prove it. She may not be the most intelligent of her species, but it’s the thought that counts, and she certainly always means well.

[Avu]

They had won. That was it: They had won. Rusa lifted his chin, blatantly defiant, as he smirked widely. Rules – blah. If only one person out of the dozens that had Impressed Salamandyrs managed to loose control so badly, then what was wrong? Just because one person was an idiot – they really shouldn’t all be treated like idiots. He settled for a decidedly triumphant look, glancing around at the eggs vaguely to make sure he didn’t miss anything, before he turned back to the group, dropping his elbow from R’fuin’s shoulder absently and rubbing it. Maybe he should get closer – but how close was too close? He didn’t want the mother to attack him – but he did want to get close enough to see what was going on. Rusa glanced sideways back at the group, and then inched away from them towards the eggs. And if it got him slightly farther away from the contents of R’wign’s stomach, so much the better; it was absolutely disgusting – especially since Lennae promptly threw up, too. Well. Lovely. He probably would have, too, to be fair, but the smell was getting to be all but unbearable and Rusa actually stopped breathing through his nose, lips parting slightly to allow air in and out.

Emoyan’s comment about R’wign being able to tell people about where babies came from – as well as his making to leave – made Rusa move, though. He was very, very fast when he wanted to be; sliding between R’wign and some other girl who looked to be on her way out, he was at Emoyan’s side before the Candidatemaster had gone far, and the maneuver he pulled was an incredibly simple one – but also one very, very difficult to evade unless someone had been expecting it: He was almost certain Emoyan wasn’t. His foot hooked around Emoyan’s and he pulled, neatly pulling the Candidatemaster’s feet out from under him even as he clicked his tongue reprovingly, speaking loudly for everyone there to hear. “You shouldn’t be leaving, especially if R’wign’s telling us how babies are made – I mean, you wouldn’t tell us, so I assume you don’t know, either; don’t you want to know? And anyway, you need to watch us, because we’re definitely not intelligent enough to be left on our own…”

Whereupon, he slid back into the kitchen; he was trusting that Emoyan would come to lecture him or something. Rusa was very much aware what he’d just done was a blatant show of impertinence and probably deserved to be lectured, assigned extra chores – he didn’t really care, though. It felt ridiculously good to trip the Candidatemaster, truth be told, and he needed to stay. Of course he did! His being there made it one person more likely for a Salamandyr not to Impress to a Candidate, after all – sliding back next to Anzalorin, he actually absently bit into his meatroll, though he wasn’t actually aware of doing it even as he chewed – and then promptly almost choked, watching in amusement as Brat chased one of her babies away – the brown one who’d been posing for those looking on – and Impressed to a Candidate. Rusa restrained himself from snickering – and then he promptly froze as a little green Salamandyr stopped at Anz’s feet – the other Candidate had, clearly, Impressed.

Was he jealous? Oh, yes, slightly – but nevertheless, he offered the meatroll to Anz; the other Candidate had actually been eating his stew, and – he didn’t know how much the Salamandyr-things ate at birth, but it was good to have an extra roll on hand just in case, right? “Congratulations,” he commented quietly, well aware that the other boy probably was paying absolutely no attention to him at the moment. Even as he held out the meatroll, Rusa’s head rose, his gaze falling onto the eggs again for a moment. That blue Salamandyr was still sleeping, and there were two other eggs – the one that looked like there was a big spider on the front, and the one that looked like it was constantly in motion – with cracks on them. Silently pleading with them to Hatch Salamandyrs, Rusa bowed his head slightly, and then glanced back in Emoyan’s direction. Let the games – or rather, the war – begin…?

[glamourie]

How … disgustingly… Ka’rys was at a loss for words as K’lir spoke - and then R’fuin. What was wrong with them? Who would want a salamandyr willingly? They were obnoxious, evil little monsters. Totally evil and unworthy of acknowledgment or attention. Didn’t they realize that their pets did more harm than good? K’lir’s especially! Resisting the urge to scowl at the greenrider, his gaze followed the second boy and he made a mental note to laugh if he Impressed a green salamandyr. It would serve him completely right, for being so bold and foolish. Maybe there was a point, in the argument that not all salamandyrs were traumatizing dragons, but it didn’t matter - what happened before was proof enough that some did. They caused enough problems. Better that some of the monsters should go wild, in his opinion. He didn’t speak, instead rolling his eyes. No point in arguing with a bunch of fools, no matter how tempting it was to snatch the black-haired boy’s knots off his shoulder. And it was very tempting to do just that.

And then -- then R’wign vomited and Ka’rys blinked twice. He raised an eyebrow, turning to look back at the healer, and it was fortunate he did, for right at that moment something warm and … decidedly… gooey crushed down over his body. His whole body tensed and he stared at R’wign’s face before slowly… slowly… turning around to look at Lennae. If looks could have killed, she would have been lying flat. Certainly it was one of the scariest looks the bronze rider ever wore. He pulled his shirt off from the bottom up and then tossed it off into the nearest trash bin. The entire movement was very quick. Then he turned back to Lennae and fixed her with a solid, steady stare.

“Your salamandyr Ran less than a month ago. You’re not pregnant enough to be experiencing morning sickness, unless you and R’wign had sex before that, which I doubt. You can put your lies away and buy me a new shirt, greenrider, just like he had to the last time he puked on me.”

R’wign probably would have panicked. Probably. Except Ka’rys’s words kept him staring at Lennae with a pointed look of accusation. As a healer, he knew that to be untrue; some women showed symptoms earlier than others. But -- the way Ka’rys said it left no arguing, and he was hoping (at least silently) that Lennae didn’t know enough about pregnancy to know Ka’rys was wrong. Her question made him raise an eyebrow and he glanced from Darya to Lennae then back again. “She was wretched,” he said, shameless about his lie; it was a lot nicer than telling Darya the truth. “So wretched that I guess she’s forgotten it entirely. Pitiful, Lennae. You don’t remember that event…?”

Lenign - morning sickness - K’lir frowned. The look on his face was actually unhappy and he shifted his weight before ignoring Lennae and R’wign entirely. Was he jealous? … Maybe. Maybe a little. He didn’t say anything else, though, instead turning back to Emoyan as he burst out that he only enforced rules. “As candidate master, you have the power to change unrealistic, stupid rules in regards to candidates. You can get it changed. You should go talk to the Weyrwoman. Or maybe I should. I wouldn’t mind teaching a class on salamandyr care, especially since some people don’t seem to -” As he spoke, Showoff snaked out from his shirt and hopped onto Kahrelir’s head, “- understand much about them anyway, like how to train them and the like. Hmm…”

The other speakers made Anz perk up and he turned to look at Emoyan, who… seemed to be fleeing. He was going to argue, when the next statement made him raise an eyebrow. R’wign - WeyrHealer. The boy who threw up all over the girl? Errr, pass. He did not want to go near the vomit, it smelled atrocious and --

Speaking? Speaking. Blinking, Anz looked down at his feet just to have his eyes fall on a blindingly yellow creature that he thought was the most adorable color ever. Just a shade between yellow and green. It was asking him for help? He crouched down slowly and scooped the little critter (he thought it was lovely, he did) into his hands before holding it up in front of his face. “Help?” he asked softly as one finger trailed down the salamandyr’s back. Rusahre’s words drew his attention and he smiled his gratitude to the other boy before taking the meat roll in his free hand. Carefully, he pinched a piece off and offered it to the salamandyr hatchling before raising an eyebrow. “Are you hungry? Here you go - go on, go on.” The nervous glint in her eyes pulled at his heart and he backed away against the counter before stroking down her back as she took the meat from him. “Don’t you fret, you~ I’m not gonna take it away. There’s some more - here - here - do you want some more…?”

What was he going to name her?

The last of Emoyan’s statements drew R’wign’s attention away from Lennae for a moment, and then a devilish smirk went across his face. Carefully stepping around the very-angry bronze rider, R’wign grabbed Lennae by the wrists (vomit aside; he was a healer, it took way more than that to upset him) and pulled her against him before pointing. “Since Lennae claims she’s pregnant, I think she should explain the complex process of baby making to all the candidates,” he said, before reaching up to grab one of her breasts firmly through the shirt. If it was sensitive, she wasn’t lying - but he was betting it wasn’t sensitive at all. Little snot. “She can also explain the process of giving birth and lactating. If you please, Lennae, my darling - we wouldn’t want them to be confused. You can consider it practice for our son.”

[dragon]

Emoyan heard what K'lir said about the rules, but didn't put too much stock into that comment... He didn't go around assuming everything he heard was truth, and he certainly hadn't been aware of that particular bit. Emoyan was fairly sure that someone would have told him about it, if it were so ... someone who's word actually meant something in the Weyr.

Emoyan felt the trip before he saw it. Thankfully, he hadn't been striding out... the place was altogether too crowded to do anything like that. If he'd been striding out, that little stunt might have made him fall and crack his head on the floor. As it was, he still stumbled into several people ... the press of which kept him from going down flat out. Instead, he just landed rather hard on one knee ... and that hurt. More than it ought to have. A nerve must have been hit, or something, for it flared hot and livid ...

... the snot had tripped him!!

And the pain in his knee didn't improve his mood any, either. He had only just landed on his knee when he'd grabbed some random person's arm to keep from falling farther, and jumped back to his feet. Spinning around, he lurched after Rusa. The irritating snot was going to regret doing that! His first grab missed, and the Candidate made it back into the kitchens again.

Heedless of the clutch and the little 'mandyrs wandering around, Emoyan made after Rusa quite a bit faster than he had been making progress out. For now he was not above shoving to get through. "RUSA!!" He thundered, before finally reaching the Candidate and snatching him up by the front of his shirt with both fists. The lad's feet came off the ground as Emoyan lifted him, eyes flashing in anger, until thier noses were a bare inch apart. "You do not fool with me, boy." Emoyan warned, in a tone so low, cold, and hard that few other than Rusa could even hear him.

Dropping Rusa just as suddenly as he'd picked him up, Emoyan hooked his own foot around and yanked, preventing the lad from keeping his feet, shoving with the same double-handful of shirt that he'd used to pick him up by. Releasing his grip on Rusa's shirt, he allowed the Candidate to go sprawling into whatever happened to be there ... open floor, pots, pans, table ... whatever was there to land on.

Emoyan glared coldly down at him for a split second, before pointing a single finger at him in utter, dangerous silence. It had been really hard for the ex-Fortrider to not do something far worse to the kid. It was really hard to stay true, without his dragon to help him stay objective, too. Finally, he decided he had better leave, before he killed the boy. Turning on a heel, he headed back toward the exit again. "Get out of my way." He growled darkly, to the people blocking his way, not slowing his pace.

[weaving]

Stupid bronzeriders, always having to be know-it-alls. She gave Ka’rys a rather nasty look, though ignored everything he had to say about her ‘pregnancy’, not bothering to even acknowledge that he’d spoken. It was all just harmless fun, or rather had been, until R’wign had gone and thrown up all over everything. He was ruining her fun and she wasn’t in the least bit pleased. And by Ka’rys’s logic, R’wign owed her a new shirt as well, which would be greatly appreciated sooner rather than later. Unlike Ka’rys, she couldn’t simply remove her shirt. Or, well, she supposed she could, but that wouldn’t be very acceptable now, would it? She supposed not. Oh well. She’d just have to stew in vomit for a while longer. Although R’wign’s shirt looked nice and clean. Maybe they could trade. It was his vomit after all.

“You’ll get your shirt come gather-time and not a minute sooner bronzerider and what are you talking about, closets? R’wign, what’s going on?!” She replied, her voice rising in annoyance as she questioned R’wign. Cloests? There’d only been the once… What was he talking about. While waiting for whatever answer he might try to give her, she focused in on the other conversation happening nearby. They were arguing in on whether or not candidates should be allowed to impress? Well, she didn’t really care much either way. The only perk if candidates were allowed to attend hatchings would be that the babies would have more of a selection which meant less of a chance of her getting stuck with yet another one. That definitely didn’t sound in the least bit fun. Not in the slightest.

Therefore, she was thoroughly distracted when R’wign grabbed her and pulled her closer to him. His initial statement confused her, but as soon as he grabbed for her breast, she reached out toward the nearest counter, pleased to find the handle of a knife just within her reach. Grabbing it, she quickly brandished it in the healer’s face, her expression less than pleasant. Public molestation was something that she definitely did not appreciate, especially in front of certain people. Her eyes flickered toward K’lir momentarily, curious as to his reaction, before she returned to threatening R’wign.

“Touch me again without my permission and you’ll find yourself less of a man shortly.” This was what she’d originally intended when she’d come to in the main hall, and while poor Rusahre had gotten the brunt of it then, she finally had R’wign where she wanted him.

Despite all of the chaos unfolding around them, the eggs stopped for no one. In unison, the Spider Egg and Witches Egg split neatly in two, the halves falling away to reveal greens that looked exactly alike in every respect. Immediately they drew toward each other, winding about in a show that was sure to make it completely impossible to tell which was which. They looked absolutely identical. After rubbing up against each other for a few moments, the pair leapt lightly down to the ground, their tails tightly twined together as they moved through the crowd, clearly in search of their bondeds, whomever they might be.

They neatly dodged many pairs of legs, making their way toward the back of the kitchens where they finally separated. One leapt for a boy sprawled out amongst a mess of pots and pans, rubbing up against him and tucking itself beneath his chin. Rusa! Rusa! She crooned happily, clearly pleased with the choice she had made. She paused in her attentions, looking toward where her sister had gone.

The other green had gone chasing after Emoyan and had quickly caught up to him, clinging to his pantleg desperately. Once she had a good hold on it, she quickly dashed up his back to sit on his shoulder, rubbing her head against his ear lovingly. Stay, stay. Mine, she announced loudly, absolutely refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer.


The Things That Go Bump In The Night Clutch
1. Vampire Egg
2. Monster Egg – cracking
3. Boogeyman Egg – Brown Salamandyr ????, Impressed to Sasheen
4. Ghost Egg
5. Zombie Egg – hatched, blue salamandyr
6. Frankenstein Egg – Green Salamanadyr ????, Impressed to Anzalorin
7. Werewolf Egg – Blue Firelizard ????, Impressed to Venus
8. Chupacabra Egg – shaking
9. Spider Egg – Green Salamandyr ????, Impressed to Rusahre
10. Reaper Egg
11. Poltergeist Egg
12. Witches Egg – Green Salamandyr ????, Impressed to Emoyan

[weaving]

b]Witches Green[/b]
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Green (A4FA9B)
Looks To: Emoyan

Appearance: Absolutely tiny is this green, and built slender enough that the casual viewer might mistake her for a leaf. She’s that small. Her wings are smaller than average and serve for little more than a decorative purpose on her body, for flying is entirely out of the question for this female. On the flip side, her body is sinuous enough to allow for her to slip into cracks, underneath doors and through the smallest imaginable location with ease. She has a long, spindly tail that sways around behind her animatedly, easily showing off her moods. Typically she keeps it arched up and over her body, like a kind of banner showing off her size and making her appear slightly larger than she actually is. The end of her tail is often twined pleasantly around that of her clutch sister, the Spider Green, usually between the two of them when they’re together. As far as her frill goes, it’s extremely small and virtually nonexistent when not flared, which can make her appear to be little more than a prancing lizard. Since she can’t fly, the amount of grace she offers when walking is alarming. To see her run is to see a green streak and little more; she’s devilishly fast.

In terms of color, she has a very pale green base of her hide that can almost be described as white. Powdery in color, at the very least. Darker shades spread around her eyes and up her forehead, spreading down her back to encompass her entire tail. The same hunter green hue wraps from her feet up to the middle of her legs as though she is wearing socks. When she displays, her frill is colored in the same pale as her body, except for jolts of dark green that spread out over the folds, like bolts of lightning that can give her a serpentine, even cruel look when she’s angry - especially coupled with burning scarlet eyes. She is the perfect mirror image of her twin and frequent companion, the Spider Green.

Personality: A troublemaker - that’s the best description of this salamandyr, and indeed the only one word that fits her. She’s extremely fond of getting into things, sometimes to the point of being maddening. Considering her size and build, she is able to climb into the most awkward places that many salamandyrs (perhaps whites exempted) could never dream of fitting - and probably should never be. Places like underneath doors, or the gap between trunks, cracks in walls - you name it, she gets there, and she’s certainly not afraid of anything. Her body makes her adept at climbing, and getting to-and-from places is surprisingly easy for her -- much to the misfortune of her mindmate, who will probably find this climbing about habit of hers maddening. The fact that she likes to climb into places like, oh, the dish cabinet (and she takes unholy joy in breaking the dishes in the process) will be an extreme amount of difficulty for her bonded. She’s destructive. And she’s clever.

As often as she can be, the Witches Green is in the companionship of her twin sister, the Spider Green… and the two of them are a match straight out of any fire lizard’s nightmare. This female will go out of her way to pin the responsibility for her destruction on fire lizards and, given a choice, she’ll even destroy things specifically to get fire lizards into trouble. If confronted, she’s also not above or unable to completely lie. She’s fast, too, so for a fire lizard to catch her at her antics will be very hard; it will be near impossible to prove she’s done anything wrong. She’s excellent at playing innocent when she wants to, which will be virtually any time she’s caught, and she’s not above playing the victim card if she thinks it will get her anywhere. She is most distinguishable from her sister from her eloquence - she speaks very clearly, and at nearly the same competence level as a bronze salamandyr; it’s very easy to understand everything she says.



Spider Green
Species: Salamandyr
Color: Green (A4FA9B)
Looks To: Rusahre

Appearance: Delicate. Dainty. Beautiful. These are all words that can describe this diminutive salamandyr’s appearance, for unlike many greens, she is absolutely tiny to behold. So much so that she can disappear amongst the leaves of a bush and be unable to be located. Her wings are staggeringly small and make flying completely impossible, while her body itself is slender and stream-lined, built for speed, agility, and getting into places where she’s most assuredly not wanted. Her tail is long for a salamandyr and she has a habit of arching it up and over her back - or twirling the end of it with that of her clutch sister, the Witches Green, seeing as the two of them are nearly inseparable. The appearance of her tail when arched around her is that she is much larger than she actually happens to be. This green has a very small frill that can appear virtually invisible when she doesn’t display it, so that she looks more like a strange winged lizard than what she actually is. She is graceful on her feet, and very fond of showing off.

As far as her coloring goes, the backwash of her body is an exceptionally pale sheet of green. Hunter points adorn her body, starting at her face to wrap mask-like over her eyes, and then bleeding up her forehead, down her back and then covering her long tail completely; the color is so dark as to appear nearly back. The same shade wraps up her legs like a pair of boots, covering her feet and stopping near the middle abruptly. Her frill, on the other hand, is the same pale shade of the rest of her body, save for near-black lightning bolts that zip over the folds. Coupled with her slender body and naturally small size, she can appear highly dangerous when angry, and this appearance is emphasized by her frill. She is the perfect mirror image of her twin sister and frequent companion, the Witches Green.

Personality: Like her sister, the Spider Green is exceptionally clever and flexible. Her mindmate will learn quickly that she’s also just as much of a troublemaker. Her preference is to tearing apart papers, and when she’s bored, she will sneak her way into places like the candidate and weyrling barracks, destroy the bulletin boards of signs, and then escape before anyone can notice her. Little claws are made for rendering things completely to shreds. Even the archives will not be safe from her mischief, and it will not be unusual to find this little girl knocking over records and anything else she can manage to push over. Her little body holds a great deal of strength as well, which will make it easier for her to accomplish her goals. No paper is safe, and no amount of coaxing from her bonded will convince her not to go about starting a ruckus. She enjoys it.

But she’s almost never alone. No, the Spider Green is usually accompanied by her twin sister and accomplice, and the two of them excel at one thing: framing others. While both greatly enjoy breaking things and indeed causing destruction, the best part about it to them is to make it seem as though it was a fire lizard that did it. She will specifically pick locations frequented by fire lizards to wreak her havoc, and she won’t do anything until the fire lizard is present. Then she’ll move fast enough for them to avoid seeing her, destroy everything she can get her little claws on, and vacate -- making the fire lizard look responsible. Should she ever be confronted, she will also be fond of outright lying. Eloquent, but prone to speaking backwards (rather than I think so she will say things like think so, I do), this is one female who can and does twist her words. Let no one doubt her cleverness.

((Brought to you by Sym ^^))

[hseru]

Oh, he had almost not made it out of bed. For a number of reasons, it should be noted, but Zanalorin was indescribably late to the one hatching he was most anxious to arrive at. He quickly slid from bed, and shoved his legs into his pants, balancing his hip against the edge of a bed that wasn’t his as he shoved on his boots. He was almost out the door scott free before someone grabbed his arm, a someone he wasn’t too interested in talking to right now. Turning back, he positively hated the begging look in the older drudge’s eyes. It was so weak. Oh, he was a pretty thing, only a few turns older than Zan himself, but only good for a tumble, that one. Still, better not burn the bridges, as he was a rather doting lover. This was their second night together.

“Don’t leave.” He pleaded, and the candidate smiled winningly at him before pulling his shirt on. “Gotta go get me a salamandyr. You go back to bed, I’ll come show you if I impress.” The older man smiled at his reassurance, and slipped back into the rumpled pillows. His was a later shift, and they’d met sometime around midnight. He’d be able to snatch a few more hours before his work detail. Zan leaned over to brush a hand down the drudge’s cheek, narry a thought to his conscience for using the man in such a way, and then skipped out of the small room at a dead run. He still wasn’t all too familiar with the sensation of having words sent directly to his mind, but the directions were clear enough, and he was annoyed to find the kitchens positively filled with people by the time he arrived. If the salamandyrs were as bad as Emoyan said, why did everyone want one? How ridiculous. As if to emphasize that fact, the few familiar faces he found in the crowd were already busy, with what you might wonder, salamandyrs of course!

Jealousy flared up as Zan wiggled his way through the crowd at the door, only to find his brother on the other side, with a tiny green thing attached to him. Scowling at his bad timing, Zan found a spot next to Anz, leaning against the same counter as he watched the green. “Just my luck. Miss a few minutes and you’ve already got one of those neat pets.” As if to further tease him, he finally noticed Rusa was there and had impressed, as well as the candidatemaster. He must have missed something good, if the stormy expression on Emoyan’s face and Rusa’s current location were any indication. He crossed his arms before him, leaning over to Anz while watching the pair and their new pets. “What did I miss?”