Alesia closed the door behind her as she exited from the Weyrwoman's chambers, leaving her gold settling down on her stone couch. On swift feet, she moved over to the crackling fire that belonged to the room that most business was done. It was a large room, able to accomodate 30 men along a large stone table. The room itself was almost circular, shaped perfectly to allow ones voice to carry when speaking. The grand table would be ignored for the most part, being used not as a great expanse for threadfighting plans, but instead had a variety of southern fruits and fresh, cooked meat for any visitors along with freshly baked rolls. Bubbly pies were also present, right next to the great pitcher of hot klah. Near the hearth would be bowls of fresh raw meat, already cut into small enough chunks for potential firelizards, along with a large tray with sand.. all 20 of the firelizard eggs presented before it. A few of the eggs were finally beginning to tremble, and Alesia's eyes lighted with hope. Ah, Maybe this wouldn't be such a waste, after all!

Earlier in the sevenday, Alesia found that a much waited for batch of firelizard eggs was late in-coming, and upon investigating, found that they had in fact been delivered. Well.. that day, someone had decided not to do their job properly. Instead of care being given to the package as the dragonrider who delivered them had instructed, they had been set aside somewhere and forgotten about amongst the other tasks that needed to be done. This of course jeopardized the health of the eggs. The firelizard eggs were meant to be gifts to surrounding Holds, but one can't send dud eggs as a peace offering now, can they? So, instead, these are up for grabs for those in the Weyr.... and the next batch of eggs already payed for out of Alesia's very own pocket. Augh.

Before the Weyrwoman had a chance to ask, the golden one interjected ~I have already sent summons. The small one is notifying all who are without dragons. He remembers well~ The small one that Iolath spoke of would be Mask, Alesia's bronze firelizard. If the goldrider had known of the usefulness of the small creatures, she would have tried for another bronze firelizard, or possibly a pretty gold to send messages to and fro... ~You are gold-hungry. You have more than enough gold to handle already~ The queen said staunchly, but Alesia heard the amused undertones behind her dragon's disgruntled demeanor. In fact, Alesia was sure that Iolath probably wouldn't mind having a little mini representation of herself flittering around.

The tall woman sat down in one of the wooden chairs; a rare commodity with the Hold that created such wooden wares being corrupted.. the Weyrwoman's brow furrowed as she thought darkly of those issues. Their Holdly issues were beginning to affect their tithes, and the fact that this was occuring would make the woman think it not such a bad thing to intervene with non-Weyr issues. ~The little bronze has done his job, and he is soon coming to be given his dues~ The warmth of the firelizard would appear beside her, the creature blinking in within inches of her to land and curl around her neck, cheeping incessantly and sending images of all the people in which he had given the letters to. In fact, he had done such a good job that he had even taken the extra ones that his master had made and handed them out to complete strangers! Alesia sighed, but instead of chastizing the silly little creature, she merely rubbed its eyerides. This elicited a hearty croon from the beast. "Ah.. well I'm sure they can't complain much. We had only sent for a scant few people since they all might not hatch. Maybe this is an omen that more will be viable eggs"



((Okay, whether you got a letter legit or not is up to you. Most dragonriders were informed via Iolath, though if a dragonrider happened to have been given an extra invitation then that's fine.))

Daxter was spending the day up at Kharasi again, watching the riders who were still busy despite the weather. Even if most Thread was freezing before it became a problem, there was still all the work of a running Weyr, as well as the continuing work of trying to bring Kharasi back as a running Weyr. The number of dragonriders didn't fill half of the weyrs yet, and the work of cleaning the remaining weyrs, let alone the various other unused rooms at Kharasi was moving slowly. It was in one of these unused rooms that Daxter had made a home, content to watch the riders about their business and let life go by.

Daxter wasn't entirely unknown about the Weyr, though he didn't let himself be seen very often. Especially he avoided the riders, but that was mainly because he didn't want word coming back to T'mes. Letting word get back to his former student wouldn't help things for him. T'mes was a bronzerider now, and a wingleader to boot. Daxter was simply an old Harper that wouldn't remain at the Hall, and couldn't stay anywhere for a long time. Except maybe Kharasi, for a little while longer.

So when he needed something to eat, or when his clothing was beyond what he could repair, he'd often visit the women of the Lower Caverns and trade a song or some work for food or new clothes. He never took from the Weyr, and whatever he was given he made sure was left from breakfast or dinner the night before. He wouldn't be a burden on the Weyr.

Of course, he bones weren't enjoying the cold and damp, so he might need to travel down to the Holds of Kharasi for the rest of the winter. Something was keeping him at the Weyr though. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something. Well, best to warm these old bones and fingers up, they won't mind if I spend a little time down in the shadows by the heat of the fire. Maybe I can even pick out a tune or two to pass the time.

Daxter made his way down through the labryinth of passages to the floor of the Weyr. From there to the Lower Caverns, where the heat from the fires made him sigh in pleasure.

It's so nice to be warm again, he thought, settling back on a stool just out of sight. Most of the riders were out and about their duties now, the Caverns were almost empty. Just a few riders, and a firelizard or two flitting about. It's a simple melody of life, he thought and began to pick out a tune on the harp.

It was just as he began to play that a bronze firelizard darted in his direction. Daxter didn't recognize the bronze, but it was coming straight for him. Maybe someone had recognized him at last. Well, the worst they could do was to make him leave the Weyr, he was already Holdless as far as any normal person would be concerned.

The bronze dropped a little scroll of paper in the harper's lap, then disappeared between. Slowly Daxter unrolled the scroll, finding only a few short words.

"Please come to the Weyrleader's chambers immediately."

Well, that's the end of that, I suppose, Daxter thought as he rose from his stool. Now to see the Weyrwoman.

Some time later he had climbed to the Weyrleader's chambers and stood before a large wooden door. Change was on the other side. Well, that's what I get for listening to my gut. It told me to stay; now I'll be told to go because of it. See if I ever trust those instincts again, hmph. Well, the choice had been made, and now it was time to face the music, as it were. He lifted his hand to the door and knocked with a steady and clear rap. Then he winced at the pain in his knuckles before the door could be opened.

T'lian was sitting in his weyr, doing his daily chores. He was just about done rubbing oil into his dragon's hide. After that he planed on checking the riding harness that he used on the blue. It was a habit of his to check the harness everyday. It would be bad news for him if he didn't check it and it came apart during his next ride.

He was a little stir crazy. With the cold, the Thread was freezing before it hit the ground, making it pointless to go and fight. After he was done with the tasks that he needed to do, he would probably head out in search of something to do. He didn't relish the thought of running into another dragonrider. They would probably want to engage him in conversation, and that was always akward, for both parites involved. T'lian prefered his privacy, and wasn't all that happy when other people tried to pry into his personal life.

Ionth stretched his neck out, laying his head on the side of the stone couch. A deep rumble emerged from the dragon as his rider rubbed in the last of the oil. ~The Queen summons us. The eggs are ready to hatch.~

T'lian could not have missed the amusement and excitement in his dragon's voice. The blue had been thrilled to learn that they might have a chance to Impress a firelizard. ~Can we go now mine?~

He chuckled and scratched Ionth's eyeridge. "Of course. I would not deny you the pleasure." T'lian might not consider the other members of the weyr his friends, rather he viewed them as some sort of extended family. One that you had to put up with. But Ionth, he was the only family that mattered to T'lian, other than his foster sister Lyrona.

~She will be there too. You can stand by her~ Ionth was well aware of the problems that his rider had with other people. Even if he could not understand it. Lyrona was probably the only person in the weyr that he got along with well enough. Even then the relationship was strained.

T'lian gave Ionth another scratch on his eyeridge before turning to grab his jacket. The extra clothing would help to repel the cold as he made his way to the Weyrwoman's weyr. "Thank you Ionth." He knew that the blue would be in constant contact with him, and that knowledge helped. He didn't want to be alone with just himself and Lyrona for company during the hatching.

He left his weyr, after making sure that Ionth would be comfortable while he was gone, and headed towards the Weyrwoman's weyr. Once there, he noticed that he was not the first to arrive. There was another man already standing at the door. He gave the man a slight nod in greeting and waited for the door to be opened.

Lyrona was bundled against the cold, keeping her hands in the pockets of her fur lined jacket as she leaned against Narcinth. For the life of her she could not understand why her dragon was out on the weyr ledge. The green had removed all of the slush that had fallen and was stretched out, nose resting on the edge on the ledge, and tail dangling over. "Aren't you cold? I know I am."

~I will go inside in a minute.~ The green lifted her head and swung it around to look at her rider. Swirling blue eyes met her own blue ones and Lyrona laughed as she reached out and scratched her dragon's eyeridge with affection. "I don't want a frozen dragon love. We should go get warm."

Lyrona turned and headed towards the weyr, thinking to spend the next candle mark or so in front of a fire to ward off the chill that was starting to seep through her clothes and into her body. Narcinth followed and wedged herself as far into the weyr as she was comfortable doing. It would take her longer to get warm, but it was something that Lyrona noticed the dragon enjoyed doing. ~The warm feels better after being cold.~

Of course. How could she not have known. Leave it to a dragon to inform her of the obvious. She shrugged out of her jacket and curled up on a fur rug next to her dragon. "Then I'll just have to help you get warm again, won't I?"

The green lifted her head from her claws and regarded her rider. ~The Queen calls. And Ionth says that T'lian will need your help.~ Lyrona was puzzled. Why would T'lian need help with the Queen? She was about to ask when Narcinth answered for her. ~The eggs hatch~

It was said matter of factly and Lyrona nodded as understanding dawned. Of course. The firelizard eggs. She had heard about them. "Tell Ionth that I will be there for T'lian." She stood, her body protesting the movement. Warmth had just started to creep back into her and she was loath to venture out into the cold again. The man bothered her. She was his sister, foster or not, and he was so alof when he was around her. She had thought that after being apart for so long, the he would have been happy to see her. But it had been the opposite. Like she had reminded him of a bad memory. She had pushed the issue, and T'lian had stalked off, leaving without a word. After that, she was careful in her choice of words to him. Well, more carefull than she would have been with anyone else.

Once again bundled against the cold, Lyrona made her way from her weyr to the weyr of the Weyrwoman. As she neared Narcinth whispered in her mind. ~Good luck mine~ It didn't come as a surprise that the dragon was giving her support. What she didn't know if it was support for the firelizard eggs or for dealing with her estranged brother.

She rounded the corner and saw T'lian standing with someone else. She gave her brother a clap on the back when she approached. "Narcinth tells me you want some company big brother. So here I am!" She ignored the reproachfull look that was given to her and instead focused her attention on the unknown man. "Greetings to you. Lovely day, isn't it?" Of course there was sarcasm in her words. She hated this kind of weather. It was dank, dreary, wet and cold. Like most of the other riders, she looked forward to the coming of spring. When the days would warm and nights would again become tolerable.

Alesia looked up from the rapping at the door, jarring her bronze flitter as she did so. The little beast gave an indignant squawk, chastizing his perch before more tightly winding itself around her neck. The Weyrwoman grimaced, mildly annoyed at the beast, but made her way towards the heavy doors to greet her guest. Oh! As she opened the door she was expecting to see a single figure, but it seemed like a small congregation of people had already filed up to the door in a short amount of time. "Well! It seems you all are quite prompt. Come in!" She gestured for them to come inside the warm room, greeting them with a warm welcome that was odd for the normally serious-minded woman. It seems she indeed knew how to drop down her burdens for a good occassion. "There's food on the table for all of you, and I was sure to have everything fresh and warm; the least I can do is keep you all warm after calling you out in the cold for possibly nothing" Her chuckle was rather dry, showing that there was only bitter amusement in that fact. Leading the way, she briskly walked over to the hearth. "Just.. don't eat the raw stuff. You all should know who that is possibly for" hah.. an attempt at a joke. Sadly, it seemed her tact only rested in running a Weyr and not in joke telling.

A look at her surroundings noted a smirk of amusement. Ah..such a regal room for the most stoic people of the Weyr... reduced to a party room to hatch firelizard eggs. Ah, now if only she had turned -that- into a joke, for the term 'hatching firelizard eggs' was also a common term for trying to do something fancifully impossible.. which is what hatching firelizard eggs could sometimes be. But enough of that, now it was time to really take a look at her guests. The two dragonriders, she knew right away, but the older man wasn't a face she had seen before. She was taller than most of them, but was able to stand toe-to-toe with the tall bluerider. Alesia's height is always something that brought her joy. One had to be daunting in a man's world. "T'lian, Lyrona, good day to you both." Her glance returned to the older man, passing much scrutiny over his frame over just a breath of a moment. "I don't believe I now your name... or even the face" The fact that this man was unknown to her in such a small Weyr annoyed her slightly, and she arched a fine brow. "Are you new to Kharasi? I appreciate it when new faces actually check in with the headwoman." Her serious demeanor was backed up by the low rumble from within the Weyr, muffled by the door that seperated the Weyrwoman's own personal Weyr and the meeting room they were currently in. Ah yes, leave it up to Iolath to punctuate the Weyrwoman's mood. ((kekekeke... quite the meanie, isn't she? XD))

Before the doors could open a young rider came to the door as well. So it's to be a public trial then. I didn't think that I'd be that much of a concern. The man merely gave a polite nod, which was returned in kind. Then the pair waited in silence.

A bare moment later a small young woman in striking clothing and shining black hair come down the hallway, seeming to fill it despite her small stature. She clapped the rider on the back and greeted him warmly as her brother. This doesn't quite seem to fit, could I be wrong? Daxter thought. She turned to Daxter then, greeting him.

"And good day to you as well. And yes, the weather is lovely. Far more lovely than a gale at sea, or the blizzards of the High Reaches. And remember that any weather is better than no weather." Daxter smiled at the last, it was one of the things he tried to teach Tomes, to be thankful for everything. The boy had learned it, after a fashion. Before he could speak with her further, the door opened and the Weyrwoman welcomed them inside.

The spread was such that Daxter once again felt that he'd misjudged the message. But what, then, was he summoned here for? He'd kept a low profile by and large, and it seemed out of place for him here. Food and drink aplenty, and raw meat? Then he saw the large tray before the hearth with a few gently rocking eggs and things began to click into place.

Still, it was a confusing combination of events. If firelizard eggs were given, and for the Weyrwoman to give them made it all the more so, they were given to friends or those who were wanted as friends. They could be strong peace offerings between individuals, and could be more figuratively be peace offerings between the Weyr and certain individuals if it was the Weyrleader who gave them. Even if they were just for the riders, why should he be here? Perhaps the Weyrwoman, rumoured by all to be efficient and concerned with the running of the Weyr, had just called him here to pull him aside as others were busy with the eggs.

Without a great deal of formality she greeted the riders, then moved to question him. Daxter responded to her questions as he could.

"I'm Daxter, formerly of Harper Hall, formerly of the Traplett Traders and even for a time of Tiazora Weyr. I recognize you barely, Alesia of gold Iolath, but only from a glimpse at the Hatching.

I have been...living...here at Kharasi for some time now. I watched the first dragonriders arrive as you came to renew the Weyr, and I've been around since. I travel between the Holds for my needs, save when I play my harp to pass the time or entertain. Even then I don't know if many people know who I am, some of the youngest riders I believe are murmuring about ghosts haunting the Weyr. A few of the drudges I've taught, as I can, and things that have strayed I've returned. I know these rocks well. Beyond that, Weyrwoman, I am at your service, and the service of the Queen Iolath as well," he added the last in memory of the low rumble punctuating her questions from the other room.

T'lian ignored Lyrona just as she was ignoring the look he had given to her. He paid no attention as she greeted the other man. He had to give the man credit though, he had a way with words. He was saved from having to say anything by the Weyrwoman opening the door and greeting them. He gave a small chuckle at her attempted joke. She was trying. That was what mattered. To him at least.

"Good day to you Weyrwoman Alesia, and Queen Iolanth, good day to you as well." It was only proper to show respect to the large golden one as well as her rider.

The thought of fresh warm food was a powerfull draw to the bluerider and took his leave to pour himself a mug of klah and to grab a bubbly pie. He sipped the klah as he watched the others pour into the room.

Lyrona smiled and bowed to the Queenrider. "Good day as well Alesia." She stood back to her full height, which was well below that of the Weyrwoman. She was small, but some said that her presence more than made up for her lack of height. She turned towards the shut door and smiled. "Greetings my Queen." It was meant as a greeting of respect and she hoped that the golden dragon took it as such.

She followed T'lian's lead and stood by him, pouring herself a mug of klah and wrapping cold hands around it's warmth. She refrained from grabbing any of the food to eat, she wanted to warm herself first. "Thank you for food and drink. It will help to fend off the cold."

Once her hands were warm, she poured a mug of klah for the other gentleman. The one who had been so eloquent in his response to her greeting. She hadn't been able to respond in kind before being allowed entrance into the study and would wait for the Weyrwoman to finish speaking with him before adding her own reply.

T'lian ignored the fact that Lyrona had come to stand beside him, even though he was glad for it. He may be silent and alof towards her, but most often she knew how to handle him in a way that wouldn't iritate him. The other times, the other times he wanted to feed her to Ionth. ~She would give me indigestion. And Narcinth would not approve.~ He laughed silently at his dragon. It had only been a joke, one that he had shared with the blue dragon several times in the past turns.

Lyrona stilled as Alesia practically berated the man. As much as she herself was tough and stongwilled, she had nothing on the Weyrwoman. She listened silently, knowing that a remark would likely land her trouble. She would bug and pester T'lian to no end, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut. Sometimes.

When Daxter was done speaking, Lyrona elbowed her brother in the ribs, or more likely his abdomin, since she was too short to reach his ribs while hugging the mug of klah in her hands. "Hey, didn't you run off to harper hall when you left us?"

T'lian looked down on Lyrona and frowned. He had thought that they were done discussing that issue. Apparently not. She knew it was the one subject that would get a rise out of him, and he could never just leave that remark floating around. "None of your buisness Lyrona. Leave it be."

Lyrona smiled as her brother took the bait she had laid out. He was so easy to rile and she did so enjoy doing it. Seeing as how they were in the presence of Alesia and the harper though, she let the subject drop. "For once you could enjoy yourself brother. Don't be so sharding sour."

She leaned up against him, propping her back against his side. She would not stand so with anyone else, and she was sure that T'lian would not let anyone else touch him so intimately. They had been raised together, and she figured that gave her the right. No matter what he thought about it.

T'lian looked down at his sister and smiled lightly. She was the one and only person would could both rile him and ease his mind. He had been about to panic when he heard that Daxter was from the harper hall. It was a reminder of a life he wanted to forget. Hopefully the man had not noticed the comment Lyrona had made.

((Drat you all! You forced me into actually putting work into my post! *despairs*))

Well, well, someone botched their job, did they? Hopefully, said person had been chastised, because firelizards weren’t populous down here. However, it did leave a grand opportunity for him. Tyl’sai was notable in the fact he hadn’t a single flitt. Not one. Maybe today he could remedy such a terrible transgression? Well, he shouldn’t get his hopes too high. What was the saying? Ah! Become a pessimist and you’ll never be disappointed. Yes, that was it, wasn’t it? But the Bluerider wasn’t a noticeable pessimist. He’d be quite the drag then, wouldn’t he? And then who would hang out with him? Being friendless would be horrible, yes it would…oh? What was this?

Tyl’sai was interrupted (thankfully, thought his Wrenayth, who had been privy to the rambling thoughts that flew through his rider’s head) by a flitt who alighted on his table, dropped something off, then darted away again. Oddly bemused, the rider stared at the parchment for a few moments before actually reading the flowy words that scrawled across the page. And…it smelled oddly of perfume? Hesitant, Tyl’sai broke the wax seal and read the message. His face took on an odd green tinge. “Yes, I think I’ll be going to that hatching. Definitely,” he mumbled aloud, pushing himself away from the table, staring at the letter as if it was something horrendously poisonous.

Oh, Yonda again? Did Tyl’sai detect a hint of amusement in Wrenayth’s tone?

Yes, you spiteful wherry. Dratted woman won’t leave me alone.

Oh, but Tyl’sai, your hair is just so soft, and your eyes so blue-greeny… the dragon said, mimicking Yonda’s high-pitched voice perfectly, making Tyl’sai wince in remembrance.

Shove it! Tyl’sai snarled.

“Yes, I’ll have to make myself scarce for a while. Sharding woman will be looking for me soon anyway.” And with that, the ruffled Bluerider scuttled from his room, always on the lookout for Yonda. If she caught him in her clutches, he’d never get away! Thankfully, he reached the appointed room and slipped in with a grateful sigh. Once there, he glanced around, identifying the others. It wasn’t a large weyr as of yet, so it was easy to keep up with people. He easily picked out the weyrwoman, along with the other riders. Once he was sure who was here, he made his way over to Alesia. “Weyrwoman Alesia!” he crowed, skipping over to the woman. “Been busy recently? I’ve caught neither hide nor hair of you this past sevenday,” he commented, playing with the end of his long braid. The rider was then distracted again as he caught sight of the refreshments laid out on the table. He easily drifted over, plucking out for himself one of the wonderful bubbly pies. Yummy! =3

D'aron had just finished checking his harness for his sweep the next morning when a small creature appeared on the ledge of Ajusth's weyr. He could not decide what it was at first. A bird? But then it flew closer and what little light there was gleamed off its hide and the blue-rider reckognized a bronze firelizard.
He was about to wonder what it was doing there when it flew straight up to him and dropped a note from its claws at his feet. A bit confused, D'aron bent to pick it up. When he returned to his upright state the bronze firelizard was gone. He walked out of his sleeping quarters to the ledge to stand next to his dragon while he opened the letter.

D'aron,
Please report to the Weyrwoman's quarters immediatly.
-Weyrwoman Alesia

Wondering what he could have possibly done to prompt a summons to see the Weyrwoman, D'aron folded the note back up and turned to Ajusth.

"I'm going to see the Weyrwoman. You ought to come inside where it's warm, Ajusth. It's not exactly the nicest of days out here." He said, and stroked the small blue dragon's eye ridges. Ajusth closed his eyes and rumbled happily.

Alright D'aron. I was just staying out to watch the people in the Weyrbowl. You know how I like to watch them. Ajusth then picked himself up off the cold stone and shook slightly, rustling his wings. It is not as cold for me as it is for you, mine, but I think I will have a nap anyway.

D'aron smiled affectionately and walked through his weyr and out into the cold stone hallways. He was a bit nervous about seeing the Weyrwoman. He could not think of anything he had done wrong, as he was generally quite conscientious (sp? O__o) and not one to slack off on his duties. Perhaps it was something about his searchriding duties, although he hadn't thought he was due to go searching for some time.
He found his way to the Weyrwoman's quarters after a few moments of walking and one incident involving tripping down a few stairs. He knocked on the door, and then tentatively opened it and walked inside. From the outside he could hear voices, and concluded that he may as well just enter.
Everything clicked together in his mind when he was inside the room. Of course! The firelizard hatching! He had completely forgotten. A grin found its way to his face as his eyes fell upon the faces of the people already in the room. One old man he did not know, and three riders he did, as well as the Weyrwoman.

"Good day Weyrwoman. Extend my greetings to your lovely Iolath." D'aron gave a nod to the Weyrwoman and smiled.

Deciding that he would probably not have much to say that would be of interest to the Weyrwoman, D'aron went to get himself a mug of klah.

"Hello Tyl'sai," D'aron moved to stand next to the fellow blue-rider. "How is Wrenayth?"

The Weyrwoman listened to the old man's excuse, her expression rather unreadable aside from an offhanded look of contemplation. She was about to open her mouth to speak when a boistrous dragonrider burst into the room, causing Mask to blink between. She felt the mild surprise of her queen as the bronze firelizard sought refuge beneath her wing in the other room, and Alesia chuckled. Upon actually looking up at the new arrival, she recognized it to be Tyl'sai. "Busy as a Weryrwoman should, Tyl'sai. As of now I'm dealing with a little renegade of sorts that's been lurking in the shadows of my Weyr" Another look was flashed towards Daxter, but this time it was of amusement. "Well, Daxter the Wanderer, I expect you to stick around after this event. We'd best get your information down on record, if only for the sake of keeping track of you." A dry chuckle escaped her thin lips, curled into that smile that was ever-charming, yet strangely condescending. "There's a lot of work to go around, and even wisened old men such as yourself are useful when there are children to teach" Then, with a certain look that would say that such conversations were now dismissed, she gave a nod to Daxter and looked back to the door as another figure entered.

As Da'ron made his appearance, the Weyrwoman seemed exhasparated in such an amused way. "Another bluerider! Lyrona, it seems greens are becoming the minority. If those daredevil blues decide to make up the entire wing with so few browns and bronzes to keep them in line, I fear we'll be in a mess of trouble once we are called into the sky for thread" Alesia was known for having a keen appreciation for the most numerous color of dragon on Pern and their ability to fight thread, though she would always be utterly bessotted with her golden queen. It was quite ironic though, that she wouldn't be as appreciative of males that rode greens. "But yes, greetings Da'ron" Alesia sobered herself, nodding acknowledgement of the greetings, and gestured towards the eggs. This time she spoke to everyone. "I suppose that they will hatch soon if they are to hatch at all, so I advise everyone to pull up a cushion and seat themselves on the floor near the hearth."

Some of the eggs were indeed wiggling about quite a lot. Some of them were even beginning to show stress marks all along their mottled shells. Some of them though, wouldn't be moving at all.

T'lian pushed Lyrona off him once other riders started to file in. He entirely (sp?) comfortable being around so many people, and having Lyrona lounge on him wasn't helping matters. "Why don't you go pester one of them?" He'd feel better if she left him alone for a few minutes. Not that it would matter much anyway. Guessing by the way that the firelizard eggs were starting to wobble around and show signs of cracks, everyone would be busy in a few minutes. That in itself was a relief to the blue rider.

Lyrona smiled as two more riders entered the study, then grumbled at her brother as he pushed her away from him. Go figure. It wasn't really that big of a deal though. She had other things to worry about than just the odd habits of a foster brother. She turned to smile at the two new riders and greeted them. As she walked to stand near them, since it was obvious that T'lian wanted his 'alone' time, she made the same conclusion that Alesia made.

"Too true Alesia. I thought that the greens were supposed to outnumber all the other dragons, but here I am. The lonely greenrider. Oh what is a woman to do?"

She siddled up to Tyl'sai and smiled sweetly at him. She was in a mood to have some fun, and since T'lian was being a wet blanket, she firgured she would try her luck with the other bluerider. "So Tyl'sai, word is you've found yourself a stalker." ((Making an asumption that she would know.. if it's not okay let me know and I'll fix the post))

She took a sip from her mug of klah, thankful that she was finally warm enough to remove the jacket. The mug of klah was placed on the table for a scant candlemark while she removed said jacket. "You can always tell her you're seeing a dragonrider. I can spread a few rumors or even talk to her myself. Hmm.. imagine that. An irate greenrider chastising someone. Could be fun."

T'lian shook his head at his sister and followed the weyrwoman's direction. He finished the last of the bubbly pies and grabbed a pillow before turning to Tyl'sai. "Be warned, she bites." He was of course refering to Lyrona, and it would be one of, if not the only joke he made for the evening. He seated himself near the hearth as instructed and watched the eggs. They were indeed moving now, at least some of them were. Too few of them. He felt a pang for the ones that would never hatch. How someone had left them unattended and forgoten he could never figure out.

((Figured out it would be easier to mesh my two charries posts into one. That way I can interact with them. Yay. And I'm babbling now.. hehee))

“Renegade, right,” Tyl’sai threw over his shoulder, mumbling around his pie which he was consuming with relish. He didn’t even need to flitts to tempt him. If he had only been promised pies, he would have come anyway. Well, no need to worry now. He had his pie /and/ a chance at a firelizard. It was delightfully wonderful! However, he only had time for one, sadly. The weyrwoman wanted them to sit around the hearth. So the Bluerider eagerly grabbed a cusion, only pausing when a friend bespoke him. “D’aron!” he said, sounding pleased to see him. “Oh, Wrenayth is fine, as usual. How is your Ajusth? I haven’t seen you two in a while.”

As spoke to D’aron, he was setting his pillow down so he’d have his place all nice and set out. Hearing footsteps, he snapped her green-blue eyes to the side to view another rider. He identified her as Lyrona, then smiled in greeting. However, when he spoke, he shuddered. “Yes, sadly. The woman is going to drive me mad! I’m sure you’ve heard her screeching my name,” he said sourly, making a face at the thought of Yonda. He listened to her offer, one graceful black eyebrow arching up before pulling back down as he frowned in thought. “You know, I truly wouldn’t mind. But knowing her, she’d still pursue me /and/ be angry with me. I can hear it now, ‘Tyl’sai! How could you cheat on me like that! What kind of a hussy is she? I’ll tear her hair out!’” he mimicked with a roll of his eyes.

He then turned his eyes to Lyrona’s brother, chuckling. “I’ll heed your warning, though so far I’ve seen nothing to really worry about,” he replied, grinning as he settled himself down on the pillow he had pulled out. Then, hearing the door open again, he looked towards the entrance.

A woman of average height had walked in, her smoky green eyes scanning the area before she walked in completely and closed the door behind her. “Beonith suggested I come down here,” she said in way of greeting. An adult Blue flitt was perched on her shoulder, giving everyone a curious look. But when he noticed the clutch, he quickly got to humming. Rikaki ran her fingers through her short brown hair, which wasn’t spiked today, then walked forward. Following everyone else’s example, she grabbed herself a pillow, which she kneeled upon. That was the only way she could sit, since she was wearing a rather short skirt.

(Your characters were complaining of there not being enough greenriders, so here’s Rikaki!)

((*chuckles* Yayness! Lyrona isn't the only greenrider now.))

Lyrona smiled at Tyl'sai's comment as she settled herself down on a pillow. "I'd like to see her try that one. Narcinth would tear her to shreads. If do want help with her though let me know. I'd love a new person to pester." She stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her hands. Narcinth intruded into her mind and she smiled as her dragon spoke. ~I'm the only one who gets to threaten you mine.~ She had never really seen the green upset, she was usually so calm, except when she was playing with the other dragons. Of course love. I wouldn't have it anyother way.

She threw a heated look at T'lian. "I do not bite. At least not you. Someone else though." A small shrug was her only finish to that statement as her eyes sparkled with laughter. "That remains to be seen."

T'lian only huffed at his sister's response to his teasing remark. "She's a wild one Tyl'sai. I'd be wary of any offer she made." Even though the two of them had been fostered together and had been close when growing up, they were different people now. He wasn't as close to her as they had once been, even though Lyrona had been trying to gap that bridge since she had Impressed Narcinth. For the most part he kept his attention rivited on the wabbling eggs. He was proud to have the chance at a firelizard, and knew that Ionth would get a kick out of helping him to raise a 'baby dragon' as the blue was known to call them. It was kind of cute how the dragon always refered to them as baby dragons, even if they were full grown. ~They are. They are smaller than me. I am full grown. So they are still babies.~

T'lian smiled. So if they are smaller than you they are still babie dragons? What about Narcinth and the other dragons who are smaller than you? He waited for Ionth's reply as he continued to watch the eggs, also keeping an ear on the bits of conversation that were going on around him. Never hurt to be alert and aware of your surroundings. It was then that Rikaki walked into the room. Maybe that would cheer up Lyrona and continue to keep her from bugging him. ~They are still dragons, and full grown. Narcinth has flown before. She is a dragon. The baby dragons are baby dragons.~ T'lian could hear the firm belief in Ionth's voice and decided to let the matter rest. He had found over the turns that it was useless to argue with the dragon. Ionth usually won, whether from a great deal of frustration on his rider's part, or because he had been right about something. It was usually the latter though. It was frustrating arguing with Ionth, and he hated to do it.

Lyrona leaned her head back at looked at the new arrival. Even upside down, she recognized the greenrider. "Rikaki. Welcome." She felt a small bit of relief at seeing the other greenrider. "Looks like greens are making a come back."

"Oh, Ajusth is being a lazy glutton, as usual." D'aron replied and smiled, "I have out of the Weyr a lot lately, it seems." He explained and shrugged.
He picked up a cushion and set it down in front of the hearth, regarding the shaking eggs with interest. He had never had the chance to impress such a special creature and couldn't honestly say he knew all that much about them. He'd seen them around the Weyr of course, but it was rare for such an animal to allow anyone but the person who impressed it to have a very close look.
The eggs that shook were creating a kind of rustling sound from the basket and D'aron started to lose a bit of focus on the conversation going on around him. How many would hatch? Would the baby fire-lizards be alright even after having been left out in the cold? He shivered a bit at the thought of something like that happening to actual dragon eggs. Thank Faranth they were kept hot by the sands in the Hatching Grounds.

((Well damn, what an exciting post that was. Sorry for the crummy skillz guys, it took me forever just to write this much. D=))

Kiskith moved slightly, crooning suddenly, Lyriania gave her a look that told her to settle, after all, reading was hard enough when you didn't have a dragon, or well, finding the time was.
~Mine?~ Kiskith asked hesitently, Lyriania tried to keep a stern face on as she looked up at her dragon, who shifted slightly, that alone was enough to make Lyriania crack up laughing.

~Mine?~ Kiskith asked again, Lyriania got up form teh ground and walked over to her dragon.
"What is it Kiskith?" She asked, amusement lighting her voice.
~The queen... She spoke to me!~ She began, Lyriania forced her facial fetures to remain impassive.
"And?" She prompted the green, Kiskith blinked at her then shifted
~Oh yeah, the eggies are hatching... The mini me's!~ She giggled mentally, Lyriania laughed, she petted her dragons hide.
"All right.. I'll be back later." She called over her shoulder as she headed towards the queens study.

She poked her head in after knocking. Shyly she smiled, she was only just old enough to be a rider and was still uncomfortable around other Riders.
"Good day Weyrwoman, extend my greetings and Kiskith's to Iolath." She whispered, bowing, the top she wore pulled tighter than she'd like but she'd had no time to change.
"Iolath spoke to Kiskith, something about Firelizards? She was all of a twitter, I couldn't get much out of her." She continued, clasping her hands infront of her.

((Bah bad, bad first post!))

So that's it then, Daxter thought to himself as he found his way to a chair near the fire, Noted, penned, recorded, shelved and called for upon demand. Just like the way they treat the Records at the Harper Hall. Ah well, at least I won't be able to complain about nothing to fill the hours of the day.

Watching the dragonriders, the old once-Harper found his mind playing over their characteristics, seeing their interactions, noting their moods and ways. This one would chafe in stricter Weyr, that one needed to work through his past. Little nuances told him these things, little tricks to let him read people and know what they were about. The warmth of the fire chased the little bits of stiffness there were from his fingers, and he felt them begin to itch. The fingers knew what this ocassion needed, even if they weren't skilled enough to provide it yet. Still, best he tried.

Daxter bent by his feet and pulled the small harp from its case. The harp had become his one constant companion the past few years. Being back in the company of riders put him in mind of the times he'd spent at Tiazora, and where he'd been there. He remembered an angry young man, Martan by name, who'd become bluerider at the same time that T'mes has Impressed his Kasmalith. Impression had changed young Martan drastically, and Daxter had penned the words to a song because of it. Years later at Harper Hall he'd found the song again, and taught himself the music that someone else had arranged to his words. It seemed fitting for the moment.

He cast his mind back in time, to that moment when the words first rose unbidden in his mind, then he captured in memory the sound of the music, and began to sing softly as he played the simple melody:

Heart of my heart, my heart you healed
With a name and a word, my fate you sealed
Now ev'ry word that I speak is filled
With joy because of the heart you healed

Mind bound with mind, we live as one
My thoughts are yours, O dragon young
For e'er more as our fate is spun
My mind is with yours till our time is done

Lives lived for life, you saved my life
By the grace of your being, I'm safe from strife
I once used my tongue to cut like a knife
By your joining with mine, you saved my life

Strong mixed with weak, the balance won
Bright's light on your wings, under the sun
Your strength saves from Thread every one
My weakness was cured when my life you won

My life's born anew because of you
Of your and my kind there are too few
But together forever are we two
One life born anew from separate two.

((Sorry, but Daxter faded there for a moment, and this gives him a chance to carry forward if I miss out on things for a while. Ah, the Tiazora memories...))

Before the Weyrwoman could have much chance to respond, one of the eggs gave a frantic heave, nearly launching itself out of the basket. Alesia's deft hands stopped it, carefully rolling it back into place as the shell began to fall into small pieces. Finally, the membranes would give, and the creature within would come forth. The slippery, creeling brown would sway its head from side to side, opening its sweetroll-colored wings to steady itself as those whirling, faceted orbs looked around at what was going on. So many people were here! Meep! In its haste, it began to squabble away from all the frightening people, but soon learned that the stone floor held a chill that did not please the creature at all. Disgruntled, it made its way back to the sands. Oh, but so hungry!

"Well, -someone- feed it..." Alesia murmured in a hushed whisper, so as not to scare the little thing away. Carefully, she pulled the buckets of meat over to the others. "We'll be lucky if any other hatch.. ah!" A blue spilled from its shell, but it seemed so tired, and maybe even a little sick. It was a miracle that the little thing could get out of its shell. With a courage that would rival that of a bronze, the blue forced itself up onto its spindly feet, eyes somewhat gray with fatigue. Its hide was a light, gray-blue, but it would probably be more of a pristine ice-blue when the blue got a little healthier... if it survived.

T'lian nearly jumped out of his skin as he watched the small brown firelizard that had hatched. The poor thing looked so desperate and frightened. He barely heard the Weyrwoman's words as he watched the flitt and took the bucket of meat. He reached down and grabbed a piece of the cut meat and offered it to the brown. He saw that one of the other eggs had hatched, and looked at it a moment before turning his attention back to the brown. He felt bad for all of the eggs, both the ones that would hatch, and even worse for those that wouldn't. He kept his eyes trained on the small brown and offered feelings of hope and care to it. The piece of meat lay in his open palm, ready for the flitt to take it if he so chose. (sp?)

Lyrona was yanked away from her conversation by the sounds of hatching eggs. She had been listening to Daxter sing and was about to comment on how lovely she thought the ballad was, how it had made her think of Impressing Narcinth. But she quickly repressed the unsaid remark and watched on as T'lian tried to offer the small brown a piece of meat. She looked back towards the nest of eggs and smiled as a blue shead his shell and cried out in alarm. The poor thing looked like it was about to drop from exhaustion (sp?). She quickly reached into her own bucket and offered the tired little thing a nicely sized hunk of meat.

((Sorry.. I can't seem to spell today... huh.))

Alesia groaned at the sight of the blue. "Maybe it would have been more merciful to throw them between" but despite her words, the blue composed itself, trembling with the effort, and made its way towards Lyrona's offer, wolfing down the morsel, and seeming to be barely able to get it down its throat. Alesia tittered and pointed to the bucket next to Lyrona. "Be sure to give it smaller portions. It seems far too weak to eat such a big piece.. though Faranth knows the poor thing needs it.." Heartened by the taste of food, the blue leapt forward, but merely collapsed in Lyrona's lap, giving an exhausted peep.

The brown watched after its blue brother with a worried creel, eyes whirling colors of stress. But what was this? The blue had found these scary creatures to be something of comfort, and a source of food. The brown fell back onto its hind end as it saw a hand thrusting towards him. Sure, it might not have been coming at him very fast.. or even all that close, but it had startled him, shard it! The brown one took a nearly aggressive lurch for the hand, but the tantalizing smell of meat made it falter, and consider. It didn't take long though, before he bolted down the offer and demanded more.

Other eggs were moving, and it would be at this time that a beefy, strong looking green broke from its shell. It would indeed take a powerful green to hatch from such a sad, mistreated clutch! It looked around suspiciously, flaring her dark, forest green wings. What on Pern was going on? What were all these strange looking creatures?!

D'aron was uncertain at first about offering a handful of meat to such a voracious creature. Its talons looked sharp and dangerous! But then the green hatched and came out of the basket cryling piteously for meat and he could not resist. His heart melted and he offered a scrap to the little creature. It just seemed so small and helpless, D'aron couldn't really bring himself to care if it was going to claw his hand off or not, but of course it was so small and ungainly that he doubted it would be able to move quickly enough to do any real damage unless it got very close.

In the back of his mind D'aron could feel Ajusth stirring from his sleep. Once the blue was fully awake D'aron could tell his dragon was as involved in the hatching as he was, though the blue said nothing. He smiled. Perhaps Ajusth would have a little friend, Faranth knew he needed something to keep him occupied, the dragon was about as lazy as you could get.

Lyrona could only nod at Alesia's statement. Perhaps it would have been better for the poor flitters to have been tossed between before they had hatched. Faranth only knew that they would be in for a struggle if they were to live. As the small blue one took her offering of meat and collapsed into her lap though, she couldn't imagine giving up on the poor little creature. She made small crooning like noises and gently stroked it's small neck as she offered it a much smaller piece of meat. ~We will take care of him mine. He will be strong. You will see.~

Lyrona smiled and continued to stroke the small blue, doing her best to comfort it and let it know that it wasn't alone, that she would take care of him. What shall we call him love? She would leave the naming of the firelizard to her dragon, knowing that it would give Narcinth a sense of pride and attachment to the little blue. ~I will call him Storm. The name will give him strength.~ Lyrona was not about to question the wisdom of her dragon. It did fit the little one in a way. He had come into the world with the strength of a storm and Lyrona could only hope that he would keep that strength and survive. "Storm it is."

T'lian watched the brown with hope in his expression. He knew that Impressing the firelizard would not be the same as Impressing his Ionth, but that it would be emotional all the same. He almost laughed as it launched itself at the meat in his, only after seeing his brother accept the meat from Lyrona. It was fitting in a way that he and his sister had flitters from the same clutch. He reached into the bucket and withdrew another piece of meat, offering it to the brown. Since the creature had launched himself at T'lian with such ferousity, even if it was tempered towards the end, T'lian thought that the name Talon would be fitting for the brown. "How about it Talon? You want more food?" He reached out his other hand to scratch the small brown along his neck. "I bet you're still starving."

Lyriania moved forward slightly, she was going to stay out of it until she could actually see someone not feeding a firelizard. SHe sat by teh hearth with everyone else, sitting back on her heels to wait, when the green hatched she told Kiskith who shifted outside.
~Ooooh! A mini-me!~ She crooned, Lyriania laughed and quickly told her that the green was being taken care of, she no it's wasn't a mini-her.

Tyl’sai nodded, grinning. “I’d be glad to have your help. You don’t know how happy it would make me to get Yonda off of my back and out of my life. I don’t know what flew through her wherry brain to make her think I was hers. Must have been my hair. I swear, the woman is obsessed with it, always nagging at me to let my hair out of its braid. But then it would be a horrid mess. Do you know how hard it is to brush out hair when it’s this long?” he asked, shaking his head.

His grin widened as he listened to the sibling bantering. Made him wish he had a sibling. Sometimes. Well, not really. Siblings tended to get annoying from what he saw. He just needed someone to play fight with, he supposed. Ah well, in time, in time. “Wary? Whatever for? Lyrona seems like such a pleasant woman.”

Rikaki walked towards Lyrona at the greeting, nodding in return as she swueezed herself in beside the other Greenrider. “Seems we’re the only ones representing our color. How sad. Ah well, glad I came. You won’t be so lonely. Oh, hello Tyl’sai, T’lian,” she greeted after speaking to her fellow Greenrider.

Tyl’sai nodded. “Good to see you, Rika. Where’s your brother?”

She shrugged. “No clue. But I’m sure he heard the announcement like everyone else, so if he wanted a flitt, he would be here. I suppose Rukbat gave him enough trouble as a little’un so he lost the desire to have anymore. But Ocean here wouldn’t mind me having one more, so that’s what I’m here for.”

Tyl’sai smiled slightly. “I don’t even have one. I think it’s about tome I try for one, eh?” As D’aron finally sat down, the rider looked to him. “Well, out of the weyr or not, you should stop by some time, yes? We could be drinking buddies again!” he exclaimed before looking at the clutch just in time to see the first of the eggs to hatch, spilling out a Brown. It was adorable, the way it scurried back. His hatching was followed by a rather sickly Blue. Poor thing looked as if it would keel over at any second.

Rikaki was glad she had arrived when she did. She had just gotten settled when the first two hatched. T’lian offered his meat to the Brown while Lyrona offered her own to the sickly Blue. Those two were nice, but she’d like a little Green, like her own Beonith. That would be nice. The two flitts ended up accepting the two riders. However, her attention was no longer on them. It was on the spitfire of a Green who had just hatched. Immediately, the rider reached for a bucket of meat of her own, taking a small piece and holding it out, hoping to attract the Green to her. Ocean seemed to approve, since the volume of his humming increased.

Hearing his two friends, Tyl’sai looked from one to the other. “Nice names,” he murmured, smiling at the two before looking back to the clutch. Both D’aron and Rikaki were trying to secure the Green. He’d try for the next that hatched, he decided, finally reaching for his own container of meat. He let it rest in his lap while he waited, since he was sure there would be more flitts in coming.

The green gave a startled squeak at the thrusting of many hands towards her, regarding each one with a scrupulous eye. There were no other siblings hatched at this moment, no matter how hard their shells had taking to rocking. Obviously, all these offerings were for her alone! The green let out a haughty screech and flared her wings. As another hatchling broke shell though, they wouldn't think much of their sister's superiority complex. It was another green, smaller and more the shade of dragon ichor, but sure of what she wanted.

The ichor green firelizard hatchling crooned, flapping her wings awkwardly as she made her way towards Lyriania's offering, which in this firelizards mind, seemed closest and tastiest looking of all. The larger green was truly cowed by her sisters display and gave a dismayed squeak, running over to soothe her sullied mood with D'aron's offering. He seemed strong, and wouldn't let anyone else push her around any more!

Two eggs snapped open simultaneously, a dainty, tired looking green from one, and a dark, burnt klah sort of brown. The brown picked itself up with a shake of its wings, looking around for a moment with eyes that whirled with hunger. The green stood up slightly, but the sudden movement of the brown's wings caused the green to fall out of the sands, hitting the stone with a sad sounding 'thud'. Alesia, and possibly a few others, caught their breath, but the green shook itself off, though she gave a piteous cry from the bruising pain the fall had caused. Her light green hide was.. pretty, and so frail looking to encase a frail, spindly body. How on Pern had she managed to even hatch? Fearful, she darted away from many of the human things, confused by what was going on around her. Thump. Ouch! The green had run into someone's food, and it was that of a creature that looked similar, yet slightly different from most of the strange creatures. Oh well, he would do! Shivering from fear and cold, the green crawled up into Daxter's lap, creeling for both protection, warmth, and food.

The brown left on the sand looked around curiously, slightly oblivious to the distress that he had caused his clutchmate. He instead began to totter around, letting forth obnoxious peals of sound from its maw to announce to everyone that he was quite hungry. An errant step would have him totter over a weakly rocking egg, knocking it and its contents on the floor. What spilled forth was a pale, almost gray looking creature with only the slightest hints of yellow to her hide. It seemed that the creature was dead. Alesia gave a startled cry, for the slippery contents of the egg had put spatters on her arm. Something about having the egg-fluids of a dead queen's egg spatter onto her was unnerving, revolting, and she had to keep herself from presenting her previously eaten dinner to everyone around her. Iolath gave a sudden bark at her rider's distress, but Alesia soothed her. It is just how things must be, Iolath. That egg should have never been cracked. Her queen did not respond, nor did her unease abate.

But alas, the hatching was still going on! It seemed that the last of the trembling eggs would find that this was their final moment to break free lest they die within their shell, and they began cracking with a frenzy unlike before. Two bronzes crawled from the sad wreckage of a hatching, near the same size but contrasting in light and dark hides, but with the same greeny gold sheen. Another brown would make his appearance, his pale brown hide gleaming healthily despite the lack of a more robust coloring. And even another blue would make his appearance.. a large fellow for his color, with an obnoxiously beautiful color of azure making him stand out amongst his darker brethren. Yes, quite a few things had just occured, and now was the time for everyone to react to the frenzy.

Lyriania smiled at the other greenrider
"I guess so, how's Beonith?" She asked politely, getting a shock as a small green creeled at her, she smiled again and offered the piece, the green eating it hurriedly. A smaller piece would be better to offer the next time and so Lyriania dod, jumping back with shock as the dead queen fell to the ground. Kiskith crooned at her rider, bringing a smile to Lyriania's face, she turned her head away from the others, concentrating on the little Ichor green lizard infront of her.

~Is she cute? I can't see! Not fair, I wanna see the mini-me!~ Kiskith whined softly, annoyed at being ignored slightly, Lyriania laughed
~Yes, she's sweet, hungry, but sweet.~ This calmed Kiskith... If that dragon could EVER be called calm. The firelizard chirped and Lyriania hurried ot offer her some more meat.

As the last words of Daxter's song faded out the once-Harper closed his eyes and settled back into his chair. The fire was warm and he'd managed to get his fingers to cooperate with the melody of the song, both of which left him with a smile of satisfaction on his face. As a consequence his missed the first few moments of the firelizard hatching. The startled gasps from the others brought Daxter back to the moment, as did a spindly little green firelizard clawing its way up his leg.

The little green dumped herself in his lap, and Daxter stared at her for a moment before the little one began to creel for hunger and comfort. Without thinking he reached into his pocket for a sweetroll he had there, breaking it into little bits to feed the small green. Then he noticed the stares of the others and reached for little bits of meat that were in a pot by his feet. Smiling a little sheepishly, Daxter began to feed the little green on meat, stroking her little body while making soothing noises. He was so intent on taking care of the little one that the idea that he was impressing her fled from his mind.

As the other small ones continued to hatch from eggs that might never have even begun to rock, Daxter concentrated on the little green in his lap. He traced her tiny, delicate bones and stroked her head gently as he fed the little one her first meal on Pern.

Tlian continued to feed Talon pieces of meat from his bucket, only looking up from the brown when he heard Alesia gasp. He saw the remains of what would have been a queen flit and he shook his head. He hoped that the person responsible for the disaster with the eggs had been punished. It was truely a shame that most of the these eggs would not hatch. "Aren't you one of the lucky ones boy?" He stroked the newly hatched and kept his attention on him. Even though a few more eggs had hatched and he saw the bronze firelizards along with the browns and blue that had yet to Impress, he was only interested in his brown and making sure he was fed and happy.

Lyrona felt pity rage through her body at the sight of the broken gold firelizard. The poor thing. It was a miracle that any of the eggs had hatched, let alone as many as seemed to be hatching. She looked down at the small blue who curled up sleeping in her lap. The poor thing had eaten a few more pieces of meat then fallen asleep. Not that she could blame him. She could only hope that he survived, altough she and Narcinth would do everything they could to make sure that happened.

She noticed that more eggs had hatched and held her breath. The little bronze ones were so adorable. She looked down at the blue and a thought crossed her mind. Would it help him to have one of his clutch mates with him? She thought it might and since Storm had barely eaten the meat in her bucket, she still had plenty left. Reaching down, she grabbed a piece and again held out her hand, the piece of meat held in the palm. She didn't push it towards any particular flitt, she just held it where they could see it. If she got lucky, she got lucky. If not, she had Storm.

She turned to Tyl'sai as she held her hand out the flitts. "It's not a problem. Besides, I love causing people trouble. It'll be fun for me. As for the hair, that's why mine is short. I don't think I could deal with it being long. Just let me know next time she bothers you, I'll put her straight.. claim you as mine and all." She laughed then and winked at him in jest. She smirked at his comment about her being pleasent. "Me.. pleasent? Shards. I have to work on that one."

Rikaki let her hand drop, fingers closing over the small gobbet of meat she held. It seems that Green wanted another, as did the other one who hatched. She frowned a tad before looking around. It seemed as if almost everyone had a flitt but she. Well, Tyl’sai was in the same boat. She grinned when he saw her look and rolled his eyes. Silly Bluerider.

“Oh, Beonith? She’s fine, silly Green she is. She wishes there were more excitement going on, but other than that, she has no complaints,” she said in response to Lyriania’s question.

As the rider looked back, she saw another Green and a Brown hatch. The Green promptly found someone while the Brown wandered. He bumped into one of the eggs which were not moving, causing it to fall and crack open, revealing a dead golden flitt. Rika’s bright green eyes softened as her lips turned down into a frown. ‘Poor thing,’ she thought. ‘To have never had a chance at life…’ She distracted herself by watching the other surviving flitts as they hatched. There were two Bronzes, another Brown, and a Blue. They weren’t Greens but…Rikaki held out her hand again, this time towards the lighter colored Bronze. He reminded her of Rukbat, her brother’s flitt.

Tyl’sai watched the two Browns. What a pair they made. Watching the multitude of flitts, he simply held out his hand, dangling the meat. He wanted a flitt, but was more attracted to the pair of Browns. He heard a light snort in his mind and grinned. Seems Wrenayth was offended by that. Oh well, he would live.

“You love causing trouble, eh?” he asked Lyrona, chuckling. “I like my hair. I couldn’t cut it. Besides, it’s quite manageable in a braid. And…I could deal with you claiming me for a while. Even if you don’t want to be pleasant,” he told her, cracking a smile before looking back to the wandering flitts.

Distracted by the green fire-lizard, D'aron had a bit of trouble responding to Tyl'sai's offer. The prospect of impressing the little one was so exciting for the blue-rider. It was a taste of impressing a dragon all over again.

"Hm? Oh yeah, drinking buddies, right." He managed to get out in a tone that clearly said his mind was somewhere else. He lured the green closer with bits of meat until he felt it was safe enough to pick it up.

While still feeding the green more meat, though she wasn't eating as quickly or desperately now, he watched the rest of the clutch hatch. At first nothing seemed too unusual to him, but he let out a groan as the dead queen slid out of the shell the brown had broken. It wasn't a pretty sight, and he tried to focus on the live flitters, but occasionally his gaze would still drift to the dead body of the queen.

It didn't really bother him as much as he thought it might. With the warm satisfaction of his impression of the green still fresh in his mind he didn't really linger on it. It was enough to stroke the hide of the warm little body in his lap while he tried to think of a name.

The obnoxiously bright azure blue began to totter around the area, opening its maw wide to emit a peal of hunger every so often. It seemed most people were already paired off, and this made the creature rather sad. Even sadder was that they seemed more interested in his dull, brown looking compainions. Ugh! The light colored bronze perked up as the meat dangled from Rikaki's hands, rather simple mindedly going towards it. The blue creeled and chased after its sibling. No, she's mine she's mine! The bronze snapped at the blue, irate, being sure to eat the meat offered from the woman before the blue had a chance. Cowed by its larger brother, the blue backed off. Sure he was big and smart for his color, but that didn't mean he could beat a bronze! The blue looked around, spotting Lyrona. She herself would already have a sick looking creature, trying to coax it to eat all of its food. He could help! He was smart for a blue, and large. It bolted towards the woman, but instinct was to eat first, Impress later, and he pealed hungrily, demanding food from the one he had chosen.

Only one of the browns would break free from the sands, eagerly bolting for the offer Tyl'sai had dangled overhead. It was the lighter one, voracious and demanding. He was hungry! In its haste, it latched onto Tyl'sai's hand with a surprisingly coordinated leap, taking a few test bites of his knuckle and clawing up his forearm before claiming his true meat prize. Though the scratches welled up with blood that would probably not even be enough to drip from the wounds, the knuckle bites would leave only painful pricks that would hardly bleed. What? A voracious flitter with moderation? it really seemed the smartest and strongest of all colors were the ones that hatched from this clutch!

Suddenly, all of the firelizards paused vaguely, even the ones who were now getting their first meal. They stopped for only a moment though, enough to hear a tiny, petulant peep. Alesia nearly jumped out of her skin, giving a wail that belied her stoic nature. She's cold? She lives... Iolath murmured, so in shock that her voice carried to all in the room. Her tone was of mild awe, but apprehension. The gold, still gray, but now shuddering slightly, was giving off the saddest of noises, lean muscles wriggling beneath a lackluster hide that seemed too big for her body. Alesia faltered, frightened to touch the creature, but her dragon coaxed her to do so. It seemed so.. not right. Immediately upon picking up the chilled beast, she nearly dropped it again. It felt cold as death, and she held it closer to her. "By the shell... There's no way she'll live" She said both to herself and everyone. She momentarily thought of how people would snap the necks of wherries and other fowl to kill them quickly. She half wondered if she should do this creature the justice of putting it out of its misery. Don't you dare! It wasn't often that Alesia was put in place by her dragon, but that vehement statement was quick to make her rethink that decision.

Upon having warmed slightly, the gold began to show more activity; one of them being an appetite. Weakly, she cried for food, opening her maw wherry-style in a desperate cry for nutrients. Alesia looked up, feeling almost guilty for what had just transpired. "I thought she was dead." Was all that would come out of the woman's mouth, looking back down at the creature while a hand almost subonciously reached for meat, only giving the smallest pieces from the bottom so they would be soaked in blood. Maybe, if it was fed on a blood and gruel diet like with baby whers, it would actually survive. This first meal of meat would be unavoidable though.

The issues with the queen were soon forgotten by her ravenous clutchmates, and the remaining firelizards would continue their quest. The remaining brown; the dark, burnt klah fellow, would scramble up into Lyriania's lap, nearly shoving her other green out of the way in his desperate search for food... probably waking up the little green in the process, but no injury would be sustained.

The bronze was equally hungry, and he cried with indecision and his dislike for being the last to have to choose. His head swiveled left, then right, and finally chose to run towards D'aron. True, he might still be busy, but the dragonrider would just have to make time for him! The remaining eggs were still, and would continue to remain that way, for all that would hatch have already done so.


((Yep.. a bit of a plot twist there. I asked quite a few of you what you thought about this.. probably not all of you. Aha, but I have something else up my sleeve! It takes truely powerful flitters to come out of disaster like that.. not the golds and bronzes though. That's expected of them. But the browns, blues and greens of this group, even if born slightly weak, might be slightly smarter, or faster, or stronger than average. Feel free to note this if you write a description for them =) The bronzes and the gold are normal though, but are about middle-range and not particularly special for their color. Bwaha, what you think of that? XD We're not talking extraordinarily special, but moreso that you have my permission for the lower ranked flitters from this clutch to be slightly better than the average of their color.))

Lyrona continued to stroke and pet the sleeping blue flitter in her lap and smiled mischievously. "Well... I think I can pleasant towards you. If you think you can handle it of course." She looked back towards the hatching flitters and a thought struck her. "You know Tyl'sai, you could always claim me too.. it doesn't have to be just a one way thing." She was having fun teasing the bluerider, and the whole game would cheer her up and give her some amusement for a while.

She was shook from her conversation by another blue flitter coming at her and crying out it's hunger. She had seen the poor thing being cowed by it's bigger brother. What luck though, both blues that had hatched out of the clutch had chosen her. She offered it pieces of meat and crooned while gently running her free hand down the length of it's body. It was healthier than the other blue, but with luck this blue would help with the care of Storm. ~He is smart. Smarter than normal. Name him well mine.~

Lyrona laughed at her dragon's comment. The blue was smarter than normal huh? Then again, she had seen him not attack the bronze one for food. Who knows, maybe he was. He had hatched against all odds. She looked up from the flitters in her lap and shook her head as the rest of the Impressions were made. Eleven out of twenty. The poor things. But good had come out of this though. Half the clutch had hatched. That was something, and the 'lesser' colors had hatched well. Not that she thought the two blues or any of the others were any less than the bronzes. She loved them already and would care for them and protect them as if they were Narcinth. She knew that Narcinth would care for them as well as defend them also.

She looked over at Tyl'sai and noticed the small scrathes and welts from his brown. "Poor Tyl'sai. You've got a fierce one haven't you? Best not let Yonda see those marks, she'll be all over you." She paused for a moment as a plan formed in her mind. "Of course, I've got some numbweed in my weyr. Consider it part of your claiming."

Her attention was drawn to Alesia as she heard Iolath's voice. She blinked in surprise. It wasn't everyday that she was graced with hearing the golden one's voice. She gasped as she realized that the queen flitter was alive. "By Faranth. She's alive?" She couldn't believe it.

The azure blue in her lap creened and Lyrona diverted her attention again. "You still need a name little one. How about Gizmo? I heard it once when I was a child. It's supposed to be the name of an extremelly smart little critter." The blue creened again and took more food, waking Storm with his cries. The smaller and weaker blue creened in hunger and Lyrona found some smaller pieces of meat to feed it as well. It was starting to look a bit better. "You'll have to help me take care of Storm little Gizmo. Can you do that?"

T'lian had watched the rest of the hatching while feeding Talon. The little brown was now fat, happy and sleepy. He yawned and stretched, before curling up in T'lian's lap. He continued to stroke the brown, until he was sure it was sleeping. He had heard the Queen's voice and felt awe that the little golden flitter was still alive. He knew that Alesia would take care of the queen, and who better to bond to a golden flitter than a golden dragon rider? He looked over at his sister ploting with Tyl'sai and laughed. "See, she's already got her claws out. Careful Tyl'sai or she'll claim you for real."

Call her Lana, mine. I like that one best. Ajusth insisted, as D'aron gazed down at his drowsy green flitter with a confused expression on his face.

"No, no, I don't like that." he mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard, "I like Lira better."

Suit yourself then. Ajusth replied in a mock-offended tone. D'aron smiled.

"I'm calling her Lira." he decided. He could imagine the amused rumble Ajusth was making and smiled.

Suddenly Lira lifted her head up from his lap and looked intently over at the gold fire-lizard that D'aron had assumed was dead. Apparently it was not, and looking around the room, D'aron noticed all the fire-lizards paying the same attention to it as his green, but they then went back to the activities they had been involved in before. He watched the Weyrwoman stride over and pick up the fragile queen, and he winced at its obvious weakness. How on Pern had it survived?

His musings were soon interrupted by a rather insistant-looking bronze approaching him. D'aron looked at it quizzically for a moment. He had already impressed one fire-lizard. Oh, but he then remembered that fire-lizards were not like dragons. You could impress more than one.

Smiling at his good fortune, D'aron picked up some more meat from a bucket and offered it to the bronze. The creature lunged at it voraciously and practically tore it from his fingers. Deciding it would be no good to feed the bronze a piece too big and have it choke, D'aron picked smaller pieces, and lured the bronze closer to him just as he had with the green, who watched in interest though she was obviously very tired.

Now with two fire-lizards resting on his lap, D'aron was faced with the predicament of naming the bronze one as well. He continued to feed it and stare at its glossy hide. What to call him, what to call him.

Ooh, can I name him, mine? You wouldn't let me name the other little one. Ajusth commented. D'aron chuckled.

'What is it that you want to name him?' He asked the dragon.

I think you should call him Souhn. Ajusth replied, I think I like the sound of that.

"Souhn it is, then." D'aron replied in his speaking voice. The bronze looked up at him almost as if it understood that it had just been named.

Alesia still had the most puzzled frown on her face, sopping up blood into small pieces of meat and carefully feeding it to the creature. "Her color is starting to look better..." Without noticing, a small, gentle smile spread across her features, losing herself for a moment before she composed herself to look to everyone else. "Well, I hope this was not too traumatic of an event for you all. If you all wish to stay a while and enjoy the food, or even if you want to leave but take a few rolls with you that is fine. But for now, I need to deal with our little renegade" Impression having broken down the Weyrwoman's barriers a bit, her tone no longer held the cynical bite that it had beforehand. "So Daxter, if you are in a state in which you can give me some information, I would be appreciative"

(ewgross short XD)

"Weyrwoman, I can provide you whatever information you need. This little one," Daxter indicated the green, "more than makes up for whatever hardships I might endure for intruding on your Weyr. As I said before, I am at your service."

Daxter remained seated in the chair, hoping that the Weyrwoman would not take offense at his doing so. He did not want to disturb the little one, and truly he was quite comforatble. The little green soon swallowed the last piece of meat she would take and curled in his lap. Daxter tucked a fold of his tunic around her to keep her warm and looked up once more to address the Weyrwoman.

"Yes, I'll answer any question put to me, within reason."

Lyriania stroked the green, she was sleeping now,
~Mine? What should we call her? Come on... Something... Cute.~Kiskith whispered, speking softly as though not to wake the fire-lizard. Lyriania frowned while she thought, a name...
~How about.. Um, Lil'Bit?~ Lyriania asked her dragon, Kiskith let out a sound like a giggle
~I like it! I do.~

The brown woke Lil'Bit and caused her to creel in annoyence. Lyriania looked down at the brown, surprise in every line of her features. Moving almost automatically she fed him, taking in his colouring. Lyriania stopped for a moment and stared, the little queen was alive? A smile broke out, that was wonderful! The brown nudged her, sure, yeah wonderful, could she feed him now? Lyriania laughed at the look in his eyes, and picked up feeding him again. Lil'Bit sat calmly observing the brown, if she had eyebrows, they would have been raised. Lyriania laughed, as if Kiskith wasn't enough!
~Oh did you get another one? Oh what shall we name it, what does it look like?~ Kiskith asked excitedly, Lyriania laughed, nodding to the other green rider.
"Like all greens huh?" She asked, before turning her attetnion to her dragon,
~He-~ Lyriania began, stressing the word, ~Is brown, what would you like to name him?~ She finished, Kiskith's excitement grew,
~Oooh, let's call him, let's call him... Um... Flier!~ Lyriania laughed and looked down at the two newly named flits, Lil'Bit settled herself and closed her eyes, Flier copied her example, settling.

The man seemed so terribly solemn that Alesia almost felt bad for the man. Maybe she shouldn't be so harsh with an elder. Still, she would keep her face straight as she stood up, a quick glance taking note that he was staying seated before slipping through the door, excusing herself. A few minutes passed before she came back into the room with a large wherhide book tucked at her side, her inks in her other hand. The flitter would be nowhere to be seen, but if someone bothered to look at her shirt pocket they would notice it move every so often. She set them down on the side opposite to where Daxter was sitting, and seated herself there, flipping open the books and ho-humming every so often as she found the parchments she was looking for. "There we are. I have quite a few of these forms already scripted out for people to fill in. Just fill in the blanks with your information." She slid a parchment over along with quill and ink. The form would have a variety of questions on it, such as place and turn of birth, name, what Holds he had lived in, and where his information had been recorded last. "I hope you know that this procedure is necessary. A Weyrwoman must keep track of everyone in her Weyr, as a holder should know who is in their hold."

EDIT: post removed~

((no worries, and yeah they all hatched XD No worries though, there will be more hatchings =D))

aw poo... I tried, but what'ya know... kk y'all, I'll just fix that post up there.

Daxter looked at the various forms, the ink and quill, and finally back to Alesia.

"The paperwork is rather thorough. If you truly want me to fill it out completely I'll need more hide than this to write on. Records haven't exactly been kept on me for the past three decades or so. I've wandered through all the major Holds of the North at least twice since then, and a few that I liked more I must have been to at least a dozen times, not mentioning all the holds minor. Records don't exist since I left the Harper Hall the first time. At first it was to stay clear of the Hall, but over time it became habit. Ask the bronzerider T'mes, the only reason I stayed near him and his family so long is that they were Traders, and that I could move with them. I really don't know how long I'll stay here, beyond long enough for this little one to be able to travel."

The little green had woken up, and Daxter had picked her up to comfort her against his chest. She huddled closely to him as he stroked her head and tried to soothe her.