New Surprises (in baby form!)

[Luna]

Luna sighed as she looked at the parchment. She had just gone through all the people in the Weyr and there wasn't enough here yet. Even if she counted the dragons and she wasn't sure they got a count in the eyes of the Harpers. She stretched back luxuriating in the feel of her back popping and relieving the tension of her body. She shook her head, why not just name the heardbeast and count them? She'd definitely be good then. Without a whole lot of dragons, the herdbeast population was plentiful, which was a boon because not all of the Holds nearby were happy to have a Weyr set up residence so close to them.

Luna shifted in her seat and resolved to send some strongly worded letters to the Holds while she was thinking about it, when she heard a crack. Well, that wasn't her back. With a frown she stood up to study her chair. The thing was new crack .. Her eyes flew up to the eggs sitting in a pot with some heated sand in it. They were hatching! She smiled, well this would be a pleasant diversion. While not dragons, fire lizards hatching were still a great thing to see.

Perhaps others should see? Unless you want the whole clutch. You're not going to keep them all ... are you? I don't want so many flitts around. The gold's tone held a small note of actual worry. While they had briefly talked of the idea of Luna Impressing one, it seemed the queen didn't want Luna spending too much of her time focused on any dragon other than her Raineth.

I suppose I could ... unless you'd be so kind as to alert the others for me? She felt the grumble in Raineth's mind at being teased, but the gold did as she was bid and sent a quick message to all the dragons in the Weyr. Luna grabbed a drudge as she walked by and asked her to spread the news around. She was aware of a few people who might want a fire lizard who didn't have a dragon. As she didn't want all of them, anyone who wasn't a Weyrling was welcome to come in. She'd be located in her personal weyr, in the visiting room.

[Risa]

The words had spread like wildfire quick enough. Fire lizards were hatching, and the weyrwoman was calling for people who might want one. Sandra bit her lip, glancing around at the excited drudges who were working with her in the kitchens. While she had not succeeding in impressing a dragon, a lizard would bond with her for the price of food, and not just a gold or green either, but any of them could. It seemed like a wonderful idea, if she could be excused from the kitchens.

Judging by the excited talk though, she wouldn't get a word in anyway, and she was almost done with her task. Nervously, she slipped away, making a mental note to do extra kitchen work next time. It was something to see at least, if not be included in. Oh, she hoped there was no ban on candidates having firelizards. There shouldn't be, though she knew it was frowned on for weyrlings to try and get a young one.

Thankfully, Sandra listened well, and had caught that she needed to head up to the weyrwomans weyr. She nearly sprinted to get there. Slightly out of breath she faced Luna. "Weyrwoman, are candidates allowed here?" she asked, trying to both be polite and catch her breath.

[Luna]

Luna turned from the shaking eggs as a girl appeared. She smiled and motioned for the Candidate to come closer to see the shaking eggs, some with hairline cracks running through them. "Yes, Candidates are allowed. Only Weyrlings aren't allowed and that's just within the first six months of Impressing their dragons. It takes so much time to care for the dragonets they wouldn't be able to properly care for both." She glanced at the doorway, "I sent a drudge to grab some meat so everyone can Impress, she'll probably be back soon. She seemed very eager to watch the event." She grinned, "I'll admit, I am too. Being from the North, this'll be my first time watching flitts hatch."

[yankeegeek]

Yimian was finishing up a lesson to a group of the older weyrfolk, on the local flora and fauna. She had alternated the times for this class, to allow people to come at a time that suited their own schedules. She didn't want tired, half-asleep, proddy or hungover
students, thanks very much.
As she dismissed them, one of the riders got Raineth's message and relayed it. She had been researching fire lizard physiology, among other things. The subject of the new clutch had come up
during a mention of draconic anatomy and occasional illnesses.
Thanking the young man, she made her way quickly to the Weyrwoman's visiting area with a bucket of chopped-up meat.

[Kia]

Lynx had found H`len`s weyr after they had arrived and were given permission to pick a weyr. Lynx was still trying to tease H`len, taunt him, even trying a few other things. But H`len refused to let Lynx get the best of him. He was sitting at his desk, reading on a scroll, glancing up so often to see Lynx sitting on his bed staring intently at him. He wasn`t that she was not pretty, he just did want to be bothered by such trivial things. They just arrived here and should be working on making themselves known with their talents. Instead, Lynx was being herself, flirting around when she felt like it. He sighed, wishing for peace at the moment or someone else`s company when his dragon spoke.
Mine, there are some Fire Lizard eggs hatching this moment at the Weyrwoman`s weyr, the Brown said sleepily.

Apparently Lynx got the message from her Blue, Azurith, as well because he expression brightened up. She smiled, got up, walked over to H`len, and attempted to drag the man from his chair. "I know you know," she said quickly. "Come on! This would be fun! Maybe you can meet some pretty thing or whatever. Browns can still fly Queens can`t they?" Lynx continued, as if taunting him and challenging something.

Yes, it may be true Browns could fly Queens, but H`len didn`t want to think about it. After all, most of the time it was the Bronzes that won. So he was never too worried about those Flights because the decision was left up to Sangoth if he wanted to chase.

Reluctantly, H`len went along with Lynx, mostly for show, but he was not sure if he wanted one. Ah, well, like he left things to Sangoth, he would leave things to the Fire Lizards. And sure enough, as he got to the Werwoman`s weyr and they both bowed, they were Hatching indeed.

~~~~~~~

Mine?

"I know. I heard you the first time," K`lar said, grabbing his shirt and putting it on. He hadn`t been from bathes but maybe a minute when Stetanth sent him the news about the Fire Lizards. So, he quickly grabbed his clothes and put them on, trying to make at least a good Impression on the Weyrwoman. He still had not given her his transfer papers, and maybe after the Hatching this would be a good chance to meet her. After all, it wasn`t hard to notice another Bronze flying around the Weyr lately.

Should we get that girl we brought with us, Mine? Maybe she would like a little partner too?

K`lar stopped for a moment to blinked and then shook his head. "I know Tina. Tina thinks they are interesting, but she may not attend. And I am sure she has heard. We will leave that decision up to her. After all, she has free will and is a strong girl. She just needs to find it within herself," he replied, grabbing a light jacket to put over his shirt.

He was not that far from the Weyrwoman`s weyr. He mostly roosted next to the other BronzeRiders. But going down to her weyr was different. Not awkward, just different and interesting. He had never seen a Weyrwoman`s weyr before. He had seen a Weyrleader`s room before because of his earlier position, but this would almost be a first for him. Making sure he still had his papers on him, he entered the room. He spied a finely dressed woman and approached her slowly. He stopped maybe two feet from Luna and bowed to her. "Weyrwoman, I am guessing," he said lightly and politely, trying to make his first introduction to her a good one.

[Luna]

Luna counted the people in the room. Five, well six if she counted herself. She eyed the eggs wondering if she really wanted one. It surely would make messaging easier, but she would also hate to take one and then someone else get left out. She pursed her lips as she finally decided she'd keep one. She was the WW, why not get a perk now and again?

Looking over the eggs, no one could really tell anything about them. In typical fire lizard fashion they were a grayish mottled color. Some were bigger than others, but that wasn't necessarily any help to discovering the color. There were two bigs ones, three medium size ones, and six smallish colors. "Well," she said, looking at Sandra, "first come, first serve. Don't be shy pick one up. It's all guesswork until they hatch anyway. No one will blame you for being greedy." She winked at the Candidate, "we'll all be getting grays." If Sandra or anyone else got something other than green/blue it was pure luck. Anyone who could know a fire lizards color had to have very good skills or something. No one even knew if a queen flitt had laid this or a green one had.

--------------------------------
Just because it tickled my fancy. The 'M' Clutch

Morel = Green, Bonded Luna
Maple = ?, Bonded Lynx
Medium = Blue, Bonded H'len
Medieval = ?, Bonded Sandra
Music = Green, Bonded K'lar
Moosewood = Brown, Bonded Yimian

Moon = some gray areas are lighter than others
Mash - this egg is rocking into the others
Mach -already has hairling cracks in it
Mass- kinda heavy and isn't moving too much right now
Milkweed - is not moving yet


(( More Characters are still welcome to join! ))
---------------------------------

She nodded to K'lar, "Yes, I'm Luna of Raineth." Blue eyes taking in his bronze knots she spoke, "I guess you're with the new transfers I haven't met yet." Well, that was dumb. Obviously he was since he was here and she hadn't met him yet. She flushed slightly, "Yes, well, you're welcome to a flitt once the others have chosen." She glanced at the other new riders. She was glad for the distraction. They hadn't spoken yet, probably because, like her they were eager to see the eggs hatch. There would be plenty of time later to do a meet and greet.

(( With all the cute guys running around, one of them was bound to get noticed by the young WW. ^.^; ))

[Risa]

First to pick an egg?! Well, the weyrwoman had a point. No one knew what resided in the shells until they broke. Looking over the clutch carefully, she observed only a moment before selecting a shaking egg. (Medieval if you must know.) Gently picking it up, she was stunned for a moment by how tiny it was. "I don't want to hold up anyone." she muttered, stepping back from the rest of the clutch.

Not a moment after this, V'kem was led by a chirping Kaino to the crowd. It seemed the little one was wanting to see all that was going on. V'kem was not very interested in another of the little things, but would be more than content to observe. After all, flitt hatching were much more relaxed than dragon hatchings.

"Excuse me Weyrwoman. Kaino here took this direction. Would it pose a problem if we watched." he asked after snatching his own brown from the air in an effort to calm him down.

[Lucius]

Lizard eggs are hatching.

Tugenth's intervention was a pleasing diversion from organizing drudges. And he was almost done. With a sigh, the chore list had been completed and S'las walked out into the bowl, where Tugenth was waiting, one eye whirling.

You know me too well, dear friend. He slapped the bronze's shoulder affectionately before climbing aboard. Then, the pair took to the sky, but stopped when they realized that Raineth had a ground-accessible weyr, like most queens.

Oops. Tugenth rumbled in embarrassment, then landed on the ledge outside of the queen's weyr. He crooned an apology, letting a laughing S'las down, and then swooped down to the lake to submerge himself.

The bronzerider bowed to Raineth as he passed, then approached Luna. "Lizards hatching?"

Obviously.

S'las rolled his eyes, then said, "Tugenth. You know how dragons can be." He glanced at the eggs. "I think an extra pair of eyes will make up for the one he lacks."

I do not need a lizard! Down in the lake, the bronze snorted, sending a spray of water on the unfortunate fellows too close to the shore. Amused with this, he sent the mental image to S'las.

There was a crowd of other riders, including the newer ones to the Weyr and one of the candidates who failed to Impress. "So I'll wait my turn, then, and let the others go before me," he said. He nodded at V'kem. "Ah, hello again V'kem. Always good to see you."

[yankeegeek]

Yimian waited, as the Candidate and Luna spoke, listening attentively. She approached the remaining eggs, scrutinizing them with clear interest and curiosity.
"This should be interesting, to say the least. " She glanced at Luna and her new egg. "Hm.
Fire lizards and dragons both?" Well, why not. It was part of their history, after all.

Murmuring thanks to Luna, with a smile, she decided, and carefully took up one of the shaking eggs with care. (Moosewood) The egg's shape was asymmetrical, but she had little time to
consider that, as it was beginning to shake. She sat, unselfconsciously, holding it cradled in two hands.

[Kia]

Lynx watched as the first girl who arrived pick her egg out. It was hard to be patient sometimes. Especially when it came to Fire Lizards. She had always seen them and really wanted one. Though Azurith did not know why she wanted one of the little creatures, Lynx found them interesting. Finally, the two people who arrived before her had chosen their eggs. She saw one of the eggs (the Moosewood) she wanted get taken. But she smiled at the woman, Ymian, with no resentment. Ymian just got here before her and deserved pick before her. So, taking a step forward, she picked up her second chosen egg (Maple) and held it with fascination. "Hey, H`len, want me to choose yours?" she called out to her BrownRider friend.

H`len shook his head. "I can choose my own," he said. He approached the small clutch and looked at them all. But there was one in particular that stood out to him. He picked up the medium egg (Medium, duh, lol!) and stared at it. He chose this egg because it reminded him so much of himself. He was the Rider of a medium rank dragon, a Brown, and he considered himself to be a medium-sized man. He felt connected with this egg already. And strangely, instant love for it. Like the love that was there when he Impressed Sangoth. He smiled as he stepped back from the clutch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K`lar smiled at Luna when she flushed. "Then, perhaps we could talk after the eggs Hatch. I would like to give you my transfer papers and talk about what all I can do to assist you in making this Weyr great. I may appear lazy sometimes, but honestly I do enjoy working. If you think me working in kitchens would help you with Surion Weyr, I would do so," he said and then chuckled. "But we can discuss this afterwards," he added, turning toward the Clutch. Apparently, it was his turn to pick an egg out.

As he started to approach the eggs, Stetanth invaded his head. She is pretty.

Who?

The Weyrwoman. I know what was going through your head. You kept saying she is pretty.

K`lar tried to keep his face calm as he reached out for the egg that captured his eye. He held the egg (Music) close to him and sat down on the floor to wait for it to Hatch. Glory came from between and stared at the egg, wondering if K`lar was going to give him a little friend to play with.

She is pretty! I mean, is it so wrong of me to think so? But, she is the Weyrwoman, and there are other BronzeRiders here. Not like I stick out, he replied, cradling the egg in his hands. But she is pretty and we will end it at that, he said, not wanting to be teased by his dragon at the moment.

[Luna]

Luna shook her head, "It'd be no problem at all V'kem." She smiled as S'las entered, "Yes, he'd perhaps do well with a new friend." She said trying to be diplomatic about the bronze's tendencies. She wasn't sure if she quite managed it, but she hoped S'las understood what she meant. The man seemed very dependable and level headed. Solid would probably be the best word. She chuckled at K'lar, "While it's nice to know, I don't think I'll be sending my riders to the kitchens for chores." She did appreciate his enthusiasm to help with the Weyr. She dearly needed active people who were willing to sweat for this place. She couldn't have any complacate people here.

[Luna]

The moosewood egg thumped and rolled in Yimian's palm as the flitt tried to escape from his confines. Finally a crack appeared in the shell, instead of a head or a foot or any usual body parts, a tail flipped out. It was dearly hoped that Yimian didn't lean forward because the flitt then used his feet to pop the shell forwards finally breaking free. A desparate creeling came from the top half of the shell as the little brown tried to move it off him. Whether because of the traveling, his being wild, or just random luck this flitt had a bad foreleg. It was crippled beyond use. Lucky for his, it was just a foreleg and not a back one.

The music egg stopped chirping or moving for a full candlemark. Then all of a sudden it shook harder than before and many chips appeared before it's head popped out. The little moss green flitt trilled in happiness while the egg shell slid down her head. She was free! She tried to spread her wings and found herself trapped by the shell on both sides. With a terrified bugle she struggled, breaking off pieces and slowly getting the shell off her. When she could finally stand she started crooning half part content, half part hungry.

[Kia]

K`lar was surprised that his egg had Hatched suddenly. He was happy that it had. And it was a pretty little Green. Glory chirped in question and then thrilled between his humming. He had a new little friend! He could now have someone else to play tag with. K`lar chuckled at Glory`s reaction. But first, he needed to find some food. Didn`t someone bring some food? He was not sure. He picked up the little Green and looked around. No food. No body brought any food. He quickly excused himself and ran out of the weyr. He followed the stone stairs down to the kitchen and quickly asked a cook for some food for the newly Hatched Fire Lizards. As soon as the cook brought out a bucket, he snatched it up and went back to Luna`s weyr. The entire time, the little Green began to squeal with hunger. She saw the food. She wanted the food. But K`lar held her back. He wanted to feed her when everyone else could feed theirs. When he arrived, he put the bucket between him and Ymian. He then gave everyone a smile as he lifted a piece of meat and finally began to feed the little Green.

[yankeegeek]

Yimian kept still, her arms enclosing an area on her lap, as the egg began to crack. She laughed softly, delighted, as the brown struggled free. He looked rather indignant about the whole business. Handsome little fellow! Though granted, she was biased. The foreleg drew a closer scrutiny, her eyes narrowing in concern. Inborn defect? Or ...well, she'd look more closely later, see if she could do anything for him. First things first.

She fished a small bit of chopped meat out of the bowl she'd snagged, holding it out. "Come on," she coaxed kindly.
He pounced on it, creeling in what she could imagine, and ...feel, dimly? was hunger. Thankfully, she'd come prepared.

Danathi had heard the ruckus, and come to the Weyrwoman's reception area. She peeked over a man's shoulder, watching with
intense curiosity. A few eggs were cracking already, a good sign.

[Luna]

The morel egg started to wiggle and out popped a little green. Luna smiled at the baby flitt and started to feed her some of the meat the drudges brought for the event.

The medium egg finally started cracking open the shell and a large blue peered forth from the fluid depths of his egg. Unlike the others, once his head was free he seemed rather content to beg for his food. He'd worry about getting free once he had more strength to do so.

[Kia]

H`len watched as his egg began to crack finally. He wondered what was inside. And suddenly the little Fire Lizard poked his head out from his egg. It was a rather large Blue. H`len smiled as the Blue decided to stay in his egg and just chirp for food from inside. This actually made H`len chuckled. He got a piece of food from the bucket that K`lar had brought and held it before the little Hatchling. He got another one, but instead of giving it to him immediately, he used it to draw the Blue out of his egg. At first, the Blue did not want to leave the comfort of his egg, but hunger drove him to come out. Once H`len had him out on his lap, he gave him the meat and continued to offer more to satisfy the little Blue.

[yankeegeek]

Danathi held back a giggle, seeing the tiny hatchlings. Even this early on, they definitely had personality. She was reminded of dragon Hatchings, to a point. Fire lizards weren't that common in the north; she hadn't had occasion to watch this sort of hatching before today.
She studied the unhatched eggs, noting that five were left. One wasn't moving around much at all. The others were beginning to wobble dramatically, showing cracks. She hesitated only briefly before calling over to Luna. "Weyrwoman--? Are they all spoken for?"
Silth privately reassured her that no, he didn't object if she tried to take one of the eggs. They are our cousins, after all, he pointed out.

[Risa]

~V'kem~
With the weyrwomans word allowing him to remain and watch, V'kem shot a glance at his now frustrated brown. Kaino did not like just watching, he wanted to say hello to these strangers, and perhaps get some of that food they were getting all to themselves. Thankfully for the flitt, V'kem was distracted as he watched the new hatchlings, and he was able to free from the mans grasp.

Was it odd for the brown to take an interest in eggs? If so, Kaino wasn't aware of it. He approached the unclaimed eggs, nosing at a few curiously, before darting back to V'kem and biting his hand. Before the bronzerider could say or do anything, Kaino was back to the clutch, chirping as if to encourage them, the milkweed egg more than the others.

"I... I don't know if he's being helpful or trying to tell me something." V'kem was simply baffled at his flitts behaviour. This had never happened before after all.

The little one giving you trouble? Teglth asked sleepily. I wondered why there was no noise to wake me.

Lazy lump of bronze hide you are, if I didn't know better, I'd think you told him to act like this.

Perhaps I did.

~Sandra~
Looking around, she noticed other eggs had already hatched. Not that it worried her. Her little egg would have to hatch too. It had been shaking when she picked it up after all. She even thought it was shaking more, though that could have been her hands. One fully grown brown was causing some trouble it seemed though, drawing her stare from the egg.

Then she began to think. When hers hatched, it would want food. Looking around, she spotted some others with meat ready. Hoping it would be no trouble, Sandra took a few smaller bits of meat from the bucket K'lar had brought. This way, she was ready...

[Lucius]

S'las chuckled as he watched the flitters hatch. Then he glanced down at the Milkweed egg, not moving. "Poor thing," he said, leaning forward to pick it up. "I hope it's not a dud. They're like little dragons. Pity a bronze hasn't hatched so I could tease Tugenth about it."

What are you going on about now?

Nothing. S'las turned his attention from the eggs to the reast of the cavern. "You'd think there'd be more. Lizards can be expensive. Free ones are an opportunity." Speaking of opportunities, he cleared his throat and decided that now would be the best time to tell Luna about his little surprise.

"A little bird told me that the former Junior Weyrleader and Weyrlingmaster of High Reaches is coming here for joint problems." A subtle smile crossed his lips. Having a father who was also a bronzerider as well as a wingleader had its perks sometimes, and S'sen would not allow his son to be sent home in shame. Pulling a few strings here and there wouldn't hurt, would it?

[Kia]

K`lar finished feeding the little Green that he held. She was finally sated and happily sleeping in K`lar`s arms. She had crawled up into the crook of his arm and curled up until she found a comfortable spot. K`lar smiled while Glory continued to stare at her. And then, with a whistle, K`lar received feelings of curiosity.

He wants to know what her name will be, Stetanth said, translating for the little Brown.

K`lar stared at the Green before smiling to Glory. "I think her name will be Pera. What do you think of that?"

Pera? Where did you get that name from?

It sounded good and I think it fits her. And Glory did need a little friend so he did not bother you too much.

There was an agreeable rumbling somewhere after that comment.

K`lar stood up with Glory wrapped around his neck now. He walked over to where Weyrwoman Luna was. But seeing that she was dealing with her new little Fire Lizard, a Green just like Pera, he decided to stand and wait till she was finished. He did not want to interrupt her until she was done. He then noticed there were two other BronzeRiders here at the moment. One definitely looked like a Rider, but could the other be a Weyrling? Maybe. Stetanth had reported seeing some younger dragons around the Weyr. He couldn`t help wonder if the clutch had been clutched by Raineth or not, but wouldn`t there be a Sr. Weyrleader around if it was Raineth`s clutch?

There isn`t. I have been talking with a Blue Azurith since we have been here. And you know what that means.

Yes, I know, but I don`t want to be like other Riders that go chasing after the Weyrwoman in hope of favors that would...

But you think she is pretty!

That is besides the point! I do not want to over concern her about that. Maybe I should just hand her the papers, ask here what she wants me to do, and leave it at that.

Stetanth rumbled unhappily. Mine, flirting is not bad.

Then you flirt!

Are you scared?

No. I just don`t want to force people to worry about things.

Mine, you are confusing sometimes. And as to your comment, fine, I will flirt!