Keep Close to the Hearth [Firelizard Hatching]

[Shoki]

74.13.12
Mid-day
Kitchens

The kitchens were always a busy place, even more so when there were hatchings in the mix. Today, not only were the kitchens busy for the afternoon meal, but were being filled with the humming of firelizards. The mother of the clutch, a lovely little Ice had started her humming a half a minute ago, after catching sight of one of her eggs moving. She would be guarding her eggs of course, like the good mother she was. Some of the kitchen workers around her grumbled that the clutched had perhaps picked the worst time to begin hatching, though at least one had managed a brief moment to leave some meat on the counter nearby. For the moment it was only the firelizards that were watching the eggs as they slowly showed more signs of wanting to break free. More voices from the rafters joined in, and the firelizard watched the eggs with interest. Eighteen eggs were warmed at the hearth, many of them moving back and forth even now. It wouldn’t be long until some of the people having lunch decided to investigate the noise, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new flitters as they made their way into the world.

Suddenly, on egg that hadn’t been even showing a sign of hatching burst open. A tiny White flitter had unexpectedly hatched, far ahead of any expectation. The White immediately regretted the decision and yawned widely before curled up next to the nearest egg. The Ice chittered at little White, who yawned once more and lazily shook some pieced of egg off of his hide. Too tiring. Perhaps a quick nap. The Ice chirped at him again, as he curled up again. It took him a moment before he yawned once more for good measure and finally looked up and around. His hunger was finally starting to balance with the effort it took to hatch. Some food and then straight to sleep. It was hard to hatch! He’d feel loads better after food and a nap.

[Terayne]

The quiet, or relative quiet, of the kitchens had drawn in the young man with the oddest past, and he was seated near the hearth when the commotion began, enjoying the warmth. He hadn't even been AWARE of the presence of the clutch, despite its size, until the humming, and his head turned, eyes sharpening as they saw what was going on. A little Ice had dropped her clutch right by the hearth, and he cocked his head curiously, wondering what was up.

The humming he'd become familiar with over the Turns spent in the Weyr, so he wasn't COMPLETELY oblivious to what it meant, but he couldn't see any movement within the clutch(not being close enough to do so). Therefore, he jumped when the White suddenly Hatched, blinking in surprise. He then smiled in silent amusement when the little one went to go to sleep by the egg of one of its siblings, only to be stirred into action by its mother.

His interest peaked, the Dakrbluerider moved a little closer, not seeking to draw attention to himself, as much as he liked fire-lizards. He only wanted to see what was going on. Through him he felt Storith examining the situation with the same curiosity. You should try for one, Mine. It might be nice to have a little one around. The calm voice echoed into his mind, and M'iren smiled faintly.

Not just yet darling. Let's see what happens, shall we?

[Shoki]

The White flitter was still going about trying to motivate himself to seek out food when one of the eggs behind him started to show a web of cracks starting to form on its surface. The egg took its time though, as the pattern of cracks spread across its surface before finally breaking open. The flitter inside flopped out, a lovely little Black flitter. She got up and tried to look a little more dignified, dusting herself off of the bits of shell that were still on her. After making sure she was clean she stretched out her wings and started to, well strut about, enjoying the feeling of freedom from her egg. Much better. Far too cramped. She rather ignored her White brother, who was poking his head out and looking about for food. She also ignored the other eggs which were rapidly on their way to breaking free into the world. She was just going to enjoy this moment.

The White flitter looked about, now actively looking for some source of food. His head poked out and he gave a creel for whoever might be around. To the kitchen staff, his cries fell upon deaf ears. However, either one of his siblings heard him, or simply took the opportunity to hatch anyway, since another egg showed signs of cracking open. It took a bit of time, but soon enough the egg split in two and a Brown firelizard was thrust into the world, taking a moment to take stock of what was around. His gaze encompassed both the White and Black flitters and he strode over to the latter. The young flitter spotted company and began to strut more, showing off to the Brown. He seemed at least a little pleased and watched the Black show off a little longer before paying attention to much else.

[Cait]

Firelizards! Davquil was fair bouncing with excitement when Niekolgoth informed her of a "miniature hatching" taking place in the kitchens. The Purple-Gray had long since been fascinated by the little creatures and had shown an interest in them but it was Dav who had been chomping at the bit fpr the opportunity to get her wiggly fingers on a firelizard. Not only were they adorable but when trained properly might prove to be quite useful to the Weyrling and her friend in their continued attempts at espionage where a certain Weyrsmith was involved.

After nearly tripping over the sprawled form of Niekolgoth--the poor thing had gotten so excited he'd overwhelmed himself and dropped like a sack of tubers--Davquil finally took off through the corridors, nearly bowling over a weyrbrat that had been sent on an errand before she finally made it to the kitchens and was forced to slow down when one of the staff gave her a particularly reproachful look.

Only slightly subdued, Davquil did her best not to run and ended up performing a strange little skip hop through the busy kitchen until she finally found the proper hearth. With a piercing squeal that rivaled any obnoxious firelizard she bounced in place and sent a mental image of the scene to Niekolgoth who stirred slightly at the excited thoughts of his rider. It really was quite taxing to have such a dualistic personality and more than once Dav had been asked how she handled the Purple-Gray. Baffled by the questions she'd just grinned and shrugged; Niekolgoth was perfect just the way he was. What did it matter if he sometimes got a little overstimulated or ruffled a few feathers here and there? The dragon was essentially sweet and always meant well.

Bouncing her way over to one of the only others that had gathered in the bustling kitchen; a rather tall young man with hair that vaugely reminded Dav of her closest friend Tiv. In fact for a moment her hyperactive mind mistook the Darkbluerider for her Chromeriding friend and when she came bouncing to a halt, she grabbed hold of the man's arm with a grin, eyes fixed on the three small bodies. "I was wondering if I might ever see a clutch! Hopefully one of us will get one." It didn't take overly long for the girl to realize her mistake and blinking, she turned her head to peer up at M'iren, twin spots of color appearing on her cheeks as she let out a little laugh.

"Oops! Wrong blonde man. There do seem to be an awful lot of you sometimes. I'm Davquiil by the way." Extracting herself from his arm, she then turned and offered her hand, beaming smile still in place.

[Terayne]

He heard her before he saw her, and his head turned slightly, an amused light appearing in his gaze at her little dance over to the hearth. She wasTRYING to pretend to calm, he could tell that much, but it disappeared when she grabbed his arm in her excitement. Chuckling under his breath, the Darkbluerider waited patiently for her to finish and realize her mistake, giving her a vaguwly snarky but not unkind smile.

"M'iren, of Darkblue Storith," he returned politely, taking the offered hand and shaking it, then releasing it and turning his attention back to the drama unfolding before them. "I've always been rather fond of the little creatures myself," he added, in an uncharacteristic involuntary comment. Usually the man only spoke when spoken to directly. Perhaps her excitement was infectious, he thought.

She is a BOUNCY one, Mine, Storith commented, his amusement obvious. She's also a Weyrling. Who of? A moment passed as the Darkblue made some inquiries, then got back to him. Purple-Gray Niekolgoth.[/color]

[Cait]

Glad that she hadn't inadvertantly glommed onto a surly individual, Dav's eyes sparkled as she shook hands with the dragonrider then giggled as she realized she'd forgotten to add Niekolgoth to her introduction. For all that she'd been a Weyrling for nearly a full turn, she still hadn't gotten used to introducing him when he wasn't on hand. And of course, in the slightly overwhelmed state that he was in, the Purple-Gray latched onto the thought and let out a pathetic moan.

"Oh, I forgot! I am of Purple-Gray Niekolgoth."

You forgot about me?[/b][/color]

Of course not, silly! I just forgot to introduce you; there is a very big difference.

Doesn't seem very big a difference to me. What if you forget to bathe me and my skin cracks and falls off when I go between? Or maybe you forget to feed me.

I would never forget you, you talk too much for that. Besides, you can feed yourself and you let me know when you itch. It was just a simple mistake, not the end of the world. I'm glad you're talking now though; aren't the little babies adorable? The little black reminds me of one of your sisters and if I get a firelizard I can train it to spy on the Weyrsmith so T'vax and I can get evidence against him!

The sudden change in topic was enough to distract the dragon now that he wasn't in complete shut-down mode and pushing himself up, Niekolgoth ventured forth from their chamber, suddenly just as excited and bouncy his counterpart.

The little white one...it's so tiny! Was Senphorth that tiny when she was hatched? I don't remember.

Of course not! She was small but not nearly so small, besides, she's grown quite well, as have you!

"I've always wanted one but my parents never thought I had enough attention span to train one. I figure I've well enough proved them wrong having made it this far through training with Eraviya as a Weyrlingmaster. Besides, I think that Niekolgoth is doing quite well, of course I am extremely biased." She managed to sneak a breath in as she bounced on the balls of her feet, groping at the counter behind her for the bowl of meat she'd seen and accidentally plopping her hand into the goopy mess. "Ack, well I suppose it was inevitable. You going to try for a little firelizard of your own then? Here." She held out a rather disgusting looking handful to M'iren.

[Terayne]

He resisted the urge to chuckle as she started up again, although his amusement gleamed in his eyes, focused on the Hatchlings. "We're all biased in favor of our Bondeds," he admitted lightly. "My Storith and the Copper guarding him were the only dragons I'd ever seen before coming to the Weyr after my... Odd, Impression of him," he added thoughtfully. He then shook his head slightly, refocusing his attention.

"I do wish to Impress one, yes." He delicately took the meat from her with an amused sound. "This looks like what I used to feed Storith when he was little." The Darkblue sensed his nostalgic amusement and gently 'peeked' through his eyes, sensing his thoughts, and a low sound rumbled from him, emitting through his mind to his Love as well.

[Anaxarete]

Virvine came charging down to the kitchens when Throsnoth relayed the news of humming fire lizards, but when she saw it was the full clutch and not her little foundling, her heart plummeted. Still nothing? Admittedly she had no idea when hers had been laid, but she'd thought for sure it would have hatched by now. Squeezing her way to the front of the group gathering around the eggs (aided rather than hindered by her size, for once) she glumly picked up the bowl of sand containing her single egg so none of the new hatchlings would knock it over. She couldn't help but look at the three new babies with a little envy -- not that she necessarily wanted one of those flitters just for the sake of having a flitter, but she would be very sad if the little egg she'd rescued turned out to be a dud. How long would she hold onto her egg before giving up on it? It wasn't nearly as bad as standing for dragons, Virvine reflected, but the disappointment still hurt.

But it was worth it. Wasn't it, Vir-mine? Throsnoth asked, and it took her a moment for her to realize he meant Standing.

Of course it was, she replied firmly. I'd stand for a dozen more if I knew you were at the end of it.

And this will be worth it too. The egg will hatch, Throsnoth said. His certainty made her giggle aloud, apparently apropos of nothing.

Because you know so much about clutches, she teased her young male dragon.

[Shoki]

The White flitter finally found something he was looking for. Namely he spotted someone with food. Finally he had his chance! The white almost flipped over in his mad scramble toward the human with meat before running into Davquil. Having done so he started to creel repeatedly for some of the food she had. Oh she would give him some right? He was so hungry!

In the meantime the Brown flitter had completed his inspection of the Black’s strutting and was getting a better feel for the area. The Black wasn’t feeling particularly good about that, and endeavored to recapture attention, with some rather endearing bouncing. It quite failed, which left the young Black to sulk next to one of the eggs that hadn’t hatched yet. This new position gave her a clearer view to a gently rocking egg, which the Black decided to investigate. Before she could make it all the way over, the egg broke, spilling a Dream out into the world. The Dream looked up, stared at the Black for a moment then gave a quizzical chirp. The Black gave a pleased chirp back, apparently glad for her new audience. Someone else to show off to, hooray!

The Brown, all the while was inspecting the area. Eggs were about, but he didn’t find them nearly so interesting. So he decided to get a better look out and about. Humans were around, they were much more interesting. He slipped away and observed his White brother a moment before heading over to an adjacent human. M’iren’s boots were the first thing he observed, but as he sat down at the rider’s feet he looked up at the Darkblue rider quietly. The rider had a handful of meat in his hands, but the Brown merely looked at the meat, then back to the rider’s face. ‘Well?’ the Brown seemed to say. He certainly wasn’t going to cry over it but he did want food.

[Cait]

"Could you imagine if dragons were this small...wait, a Copper?" Dav's expression sobered somewhat and she turned her attention from the clutch to M'iren. Coppers were one of the notorious ones--from Dark Mists Weyr--and now that she thought about it so were Darkblues, though the later were a bit less scarce. For a moment she entertained the idea of being suspicious of these odd circumstances that the man spoke of before she remembered that her best of all friends had Impressed a Chrome which was also a notorious one. "Just the dragon, no rider?"

True, she knew the history of Ice Stone Weyr, however, it was still a strange image that M'iren painted with the few words he'd said. Though, naturally her mind was quickly diverted from the topic at hand when the hatchlings lurched into action. It would seem that the white had spotted the food first and he came barrelling on unsteady limbs towards Davquil and M'iren, bouncing off the boot of the former before creeling as though the world might end if he wasn't fed.

With a bark of laughter, Dav quickly crouched down and extended her hand, giggling when the tiny hatchling latched onto her fingers and began to gobble up the goopy mess in her palm, pausing only long enough between bites to belch; an effective way to make more room in his little stomach. "So cute!"

Niekolgoth, look! She sent the image of the little white--who could quite easily curl up in the palm of her hand at hatchling size--to her dragon and laughed at his non-verbal response of unadulterated delight as he romped about in the snow looking very much like an overgrown firelizards.

----------

Irritated by the racket that was growing louder and louder, Korvalia skirted around the hearth as she went about her duties. Her only hope was that Korinath wouldn't find out about the hatching or she'd be needled and pestered into getting one of the obnoxious little food pits. Lifting the tray of meat pies she still had to bake for the upcoming meal, Korvalia slipped behind the hopefuls that had shown up for the clutch and lifted the tray above her head. If this had been her kitchen, she wouldn't have allowed the little pests to be born here.

After all, it was going to be herself or one of the other kitchen hands that had to clean up after the whole thing! There was just too much work in a day between cooking and being a weyrling to add to the load. Before she could so much as reach the large oven, however, an excited squeal pierced her mind and she winced, almost tipping the tray forward.

Korinath! How many times must I tell you--

There are firelizards! Please Korvalia, please! You said you'd get one for me! You promised![/color]

I said no such thing. If you recall I said perhaps. That is neither a promise nor does it mean yes. I do not have time to take care of a firelizard and you. Korvalia slid the tray into the oven then moved away from the heat that poured out of the open fronted contraption. Wiping her hands on her apron, she moved towards the table where her next project was already laid out.

Oh! I'll take care of it! Niekolgoth say's they're tiny, they can't possibly eat much. And I do so love them. Pleeeeease, Korvalia. I promise to take care of it![/b]
You will feed it, bathe it, oil it and train it? Korvalia was not convinced in the least.

Of course! I will take care of them like you take care of me!

Them?

Of course! You can't just get one; two is a much better number. Besides, they can keep each other company when we're busy being rider and dragon.[/color][/b]

I have not said you can even have one.

There was only a rumble of laughter in response and Korvalia frowned. Then a startled exclamation had her spinning around where she found Korinath wedged in one of the larger openings that was closest to the hearth, her neck outstretched and...yes, that was a gnaws on hank of herdbeast in her mouth.

Korinath...

The Moonlight dropped the hunk of meat and settled herself as comfortably as she could in the doorway, silently refusing to budge both physically and mentally. She wanted a firelizard; her friends had firelizards, why couldn't she? She'd promised to take care of them and besides, they were all so darling! With a scowl, Korvalia turned back to her work. She would not be a part of this. She refused to take care of any more creatures. She didn't even like firelizards! If Korinath thought she could wheedle her way into getting her rider to take responsibility for the firelizards she had another thing coming!

[Terayne]

"Mhm. A riderless Copper. She was heavily injured, which I fear means she had likely stolen Storith's egg, being unable to clutch her own, but she died before I could ever ask her what was going on. And he was already Hatching when it happened, so I couldn't waste time wondering..." He trailed off and watched her, white hair shimmering faintly at a slight motion of his head towards the nest.

M'iren quirked a brow slightly as the little ones began leaving the nest and coming to the humans, smiling faintly as the White nearly ran into his companion in its haste for food. The creeling was a little shrill, but not unexpected. After all, some dragonets also cried for food once they had found their Owns. His own Storith hadn't, but then he'd been too busy complaining about how his eggshell had refused to release him at first to worry about food, and once he actually began thinking about it, M'iren was ready for him, food in hand.

Chuckling at the memory, he was about to step back, then stopped as he sensed a presence at his feet and looked down. The Brown who had been the subject of the Black's strutting was now seated at his feet, just waiting, and his look was clear as day to the man, who kneeled and offered him the food without hesitation. The flitter chirruped and took it a little quickly, making pleased little noises between bites, and when he was done, he looked to M'iren once more. "Alright little one. Come now," he said gently, and lightly slipped a hand under the little one, picking him up and settling him to his chest as he went for more food. He was still keeping an eye on the clutch, wondering if the Queen he'd always wanted(A Silver one, since he couldn't ride a Silver Dragoness, despite being besotted with the beasts-They were Queens after all) was present. It WAS an Ice's Clutch, and Ices were Royals...

[Shoki]

Two eggs broke at the same moment. A little White female broke her way free, and her Cloud brother. They looked at each other for a moment before the White wandered over beside the Dream to view what was going on, and the Cloud went about investigating the interesting goings on in the kitchen. There must be something interesting going on here!

The Dream continued to watch the Black strut for a little while after the White came watch, before abruptly turning about and wandering over to someone from the growing group for food. She’s had just about enough of that. The Black noticed immediately and looked mad at the loss of part of her audience but couldn’t very well stop, since the White was still watching. The Black decided to try something like a skip and this seemed to catch the White’s attention more. The Black, pleased with herself tried it again, but didn’t watch where she was going. She ran headlong into an egg, which promptly cracked open to reveal a Purple flitter. The Purple didn’t know what was going on, but jumped up almost immediately and chirped at the White and Black. The Black looked rather unhappy at that, having her spotlight taken away.

One of the eggs in the group had been letting spider web cracks form across its surface. It was taking its time hatching, but apparently the time had arrived. A pale yellow snout poked out of the egg shells and the rest of the egg quickly fragmented into tiny shards. The flitter inside stepped out, before dusting herself off. She was mostly pale yellow but had black across her back and stomach. The little Sunlance-Black yawned before curling up with a peaceful croon. She liked being out as well, but rather wanted to spend the time cozy by herself.

[Cait]

Sitting on the floor so she could coddle the little white after he'd finished eating his fill of the globs of meat. Naturally, due to his size, he didn't eat nearly as much as the little Brown who had latched onto M'iren. So when the little white burped and curled up around his distended belly, Dav giggled. "You look like a snowball all curled up; I think that's what I'll call you." And name given she carefully tucked him into her pocket to sleep off his first meal. As she turned her attention back to the clutch, watching as more eggs hatched, she wondered where Tiv was. He should be here; he needed a little spy as well!

Of course her attention immediately went to the little white that hatched, almost identical to the little male in her pocket from which she could hear a little peep or chirp every now and then. The antics of the little black were adorable but Dav had her eye on the little white. She extended her hand with the few remaining globbs of meat, shifting until she was on her knees, sitting on her heels.

Glancing up for a moment she grinned at M'iren. "Congratulations on your little brown, he's adorable! What are you going to name him?" Initially Dav missed the hatching of the purple as the black ran headlong into its egg but she did notice the little black and yellow firelizard and smiled as she curled up and crooned. Silly little thing.

---

Korinath watched the little Black huff about with one whirling eye by turned her head slightly to the side, her long neck twisting about. She wasn't sure what to think about all the little firelizards that kept hatching but she knew that she wanted at least one. But how to trick convince Korvalia into helping her? At the moment she was a bit too far from the clutch for her little offering to be noticed in favor of some of the closer humans.

Korvaaaaalia. Could you come here please?

No.

Korinath huffed and tried to wriggle further into the kitchen. She used to be able to fit when she was younger. If only she could get her shoulders and wings through the door...the Moonlight twisted and contorted, trying her best to shimmy her way into the kitchen.

[Terayne]

Mine. Look to the door. The amusement in Storith's voice was unmistakable, and M'iren's head turned, his eyes widening faintly at the sight of the Moonlight trying to get in. Who was- Korinath of Korvalia. The interruption to his thoughts took him a moment, but once he'd translated it, he inclined his head ever so faintly.

I see... Why is she trying so hard to get in though? The sensation from Storith was confused amusement, meaning the Darkblue had no idea but found it funny nonetheless. He stopped thinking about it, figuring that either Korvalia would intervene or the stubborn dragoness would manage somehow to get in and cause havoc. Either way, he'd been asked a question that needed answering.

"I don't know yet, to be honest," he told Davquil, considering that. "I hadn't considered it yet." His attention was distracted by the new Hatchlings, but quickly reverted back once he saw none of them were the desired hue.

[Shoki]

In the kitchens the little Cloud was getting into trouble. An angry kitchen worker shooed him from the food she was working with, and left him feeling a bit sad. The people around here didn’t seem to want to play with him. He started back toward the other flitters to see if he couldn’t find someone to play with. On his way back though he found someone willing to take pity on him and give him some food. That cheered the Cloud right up.

The Sunlance-Black was enjoying her little rest, but was suddenly pushed when the egg near her cracked open and a Blue flitter spilled over her. The Blue chittered some sort of apology, but the yellow and black flitter merely chirped, not looking too troubled by this development. She seemed to have patience to spare. The Blue chirped back a bit then stumbled towards the group of siblings, joining the Purple just as he wanted someone to play with. The Black looked rather displeased by this and the White merely watched. The dual colored flitter watched as well before turning back toward the other eggs. She noticed the largest of the eggs here was moving. Once, twice, three times it moved before a large crack formed. She got a feeling about this and moved further away before sitting down again.

A second crack formed on the egg, with a quick movement. A third soon followed. Finally the egg broke, and a red firelizard spilled out. His eyes whirled and he looked annoyed that it took so long to get out. The Crimson fumed a little, looking down his nose at his siblings. He turned away from them, his tail lashing about before moving away from the other young flitters and moving toward an egg further away, not belonging to the current hatching clutch. The Crimson looked up briefly at Virvine before sitting down next to the unhatched egg. He was not going to move, from the looks of things.

The Black was pretty fed up at her spotlight being stolen at this point. She went off to find someone who would appreciate her antics. She headed off and stared for a moment at the Moonlight dragon trying to get in. Maybe her antics would be appreciated on this one? The Black attempted to strut for the dragon, and tried to gauge the reaction. The White watched the Black do this, observing from afar, even as her Purple and Blue siblings started to play a game of chase.