What's Going On? This Can't Be Happening!, Happy Halloween

[Weaving]

Kimya had been absent of late. While L’rato had noticed, he had simply assumed that the gold was off sulking somewhere, punishing him for having abandoned her for Wyth. It never even occurred to him that the flight she had had a month or so ago would result in a clutch. He had been so caught up in weyrling lessons and harpering that he hadn’t had much time to think of anything else.

That all changed of course the moment he felt Kimya within his mind. Though the queen was nowhere around, he saw the images she sent him quickly. The sands were empty, save for a small clutch that she guarded fiercely. A small clutch that looked to be hatching right at that moment. But…that couldn’t be possible. Kimya hadn’t clutched. She hadn’t even-

“Oh Shards!” The young man leapt up, beating himself mentally for his inability to put two and two together. And he was, supposedly, a master harper. Wyth rumbled in his mind, her amusement plain as she followed him mentally to the hatching grounds. She wouldn’t be there physically; Kmiya would probably try to attack the seagreen right then and there and never mind the fact that her clutch was hatching.

Wyth, love…please alert the weyr to this. Tell all those interested to arrive on the sands with meat for the hatchlings. L’rato had arrived at the sands by now and was surveying the clutch, eyes wide with worry. He didn’t mind if the creatures didn’t impress. This was the south after all. However, the clutch looked…well, odd, for lack of a better word. Kimya landed on his shoulder, crooning when she realized that Wyth would not be coming too.

Ho the Weyr! Gold Kimya’s clutch hatches on the sands. All interested should bring meat scraps to feed the hatchlings. Wyth’s broadcast could be heard all throughout the weyr and she chuckled to herself at her rider’s silliness. Hopefully someone would come, lest L’rato accidently impress all the creatures to himself.

As L’rato watched the clutch and waited for others to arrive, one of the eggs, the Caramel Apple Egg, began to rock with earnest, cracks spreading along it’s shell.

We proudly present...
The Halloween Clutch
...Come if you dare

Candy Corn Egg
This egg is small, with a wide, rounded bottom and a slightly pointed top. The pattern is a most interesting shading of oranges, whites and yellows in stripes all the way around the egg. Something about the eggs makes it seem as though it would be delectable to eat, but also, perhaps too sweet for those whose sweet teeth are less refined. It is a warm and welcoming egg, nestled closely with the majority of it’s siblings.

Ghost Egg
Buried in the sands away from its siblings, it is difficult to tell how large or small this egg really is. It seems to shift sizes, it’s pure white shells almost transparent. Though it is an outcast from the rest of the clutch, it doesn’t seem to mind too much, preferring to lurk some distance away.

Caramel Apple Egg - hatched, brown ?? - impressed to ??
A lovely shade of red, this egg looks to have been dipped in some thick, gooey substance. Patches of a dark golden color appear to drip down the surface of the egg, engulfing it. It is round in shape, and one of the larger eggs of the clutch, though not as large as the Pumpkin Egg.

Trick-Or-Treat Egg
This egg is a mess of contradictions. Half of it is brightly colored, a multitude of neons and pastels. The other half, however, is dim and dark, a swirl of blacks, dark purples and midnight blue. Those who hold it are never sure what they might feel in response. Occasionally the egg is bright and cheery, but just as often it can give off feelings of nastiness and malice.

Pumpkin Egg
By far the largest of the clutch, this egg is also a bright orange and impossible to miss. Green tints the top of the egg and the egg itself if quite round, rounder even than the Caramel Apple Egg. The egg itself is rather aloof, amidst its clutch-siblings and yet not particularly near any of them.

Frankenstein Egg - hatched, blue Enigma - impressed to Kellenari
A medium sized egg, the first thing that is noticed is the bright green hue of it’s shell. Most tend to stay away, following the traditional superstition of green being an unlucky color. Streaks of black appear in random places, looking like stitches holding the shell together. Whatever lies within is clearly intelligent and restless, but to those holding the egg, there seems to be a hint of madness lurking within.

Full Moon Egg
Compared to it’s siblings, this egg is oddly normal. No odd coloration marks it’s shell and it is of average size. Only when held does this egg’s true nature show. Sheer craziness is contained within this egg. While not evil or bad, the nature of this egg is certainly not for the weak-willed. It will take a person with a strong mental presence to control the hatchling inside.

[Carni]

Wyth is calling. Something about Eggs... Wreath snorted, awakening her rider from her slumber. You want to go?, she asked when Kellenari rose to her feet. "Yep." was the only answer the Opal recieved while Kell grabbed a good amount of meat and climbed up onto Wreath. The young dragon had grown a lot since she hatched, her size being somewhere between a large blue and a medium-sized brown. They both had changed a little while they grew up. Where Kell had once been sad and lonely, longing for friendship, she was now confident enough to be on her own and still be happy. She didn't care about others much anymore but that also kept her from figthing them, from struggling to be accepted. They never would and Kell was okay with it. Hence the fact that J'cen was still her only friend from Weyrlinghood. One friend was enough. And she knew that she could trust him completely. She could lay her life into his hands and knew that he wouldn't let her fall. One friend, one bound that kept her at Westing. Maybe she and her mutated dragon would've left already, otherwise.

It was only a short trip from their small, wooden house in the jungle to the hatching sands where the eggs laid if you were on dragonback. It was enough time to complain, though. So you want to have another pet?, Wreath asked, sounding a little unhappy. "Another? You ate the last one, if I remember correctly."

That Runner was delicious., Wreath answered, humming when she thought of the soft flesh the beast had have...

"That beast cost me fourty marks and you-!" D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S... "Argh!"

Wreath chuckled, landing at the entrance to the sands to drop her rider right in front of the clutch. Okay, you may have one. But only one. They should be more usefull than those stupid Runners. Why would you need one anyway? You can always ride on my back.

Kell smiled and shook her head before she nodded a greeting towards L'rato. She knew him from their Weyrling-lessons. She remembered talking to him a long while ago but somehow Kell had avoided to talk to him again ever since. He was a harper after all. She did not want someone staring at her soul. "Oh... look, that egg over there..." she mumbled to her dragon, pointing at the Ghost Egg. She ignored the rocking and cracking Caramel Apple Egg quite oblivious to the fact that that egg would probably hatch first. It's an outcast. Just like us., Wreath chuckled when she spotted the egg Kell was pointing at. The little Flitters would choose their new owners but somehow Wreath liked that egg more than the rest. No one else but L'rato and Kell were here yet... so maybe Kell would have to feed more than one... Remember. I said 'One'. And I meant one. I'll eat the rest if there are more. The Opal said, sitting down to watch the hatching. She did not quite understand why Kell wanted a pet anyway but maybe that thing would be more usefull than the Runner. It wouldn't be as delicous, though.

[Weaving]

L’rato smiled brightly as Kell entered. Well, at least some one besides him was here to impress the little devils. Kimya ignored Wreath for the most part, not caring if the opal was present or not. As long as it wasn’t that silly dragon that stole her human pet away from her then she didn’t much care. However, she took great interest in Kell. Would this girl want one of her babies? Well, she wouldn’t get one unless the babies liked her.

As if linked to the gold’s thoughts, the Caramel Apple Egg broke in two, letting fall a large brown hatchling. He creeled loudly, simply sitting in the remains of his shell, looking around with whirling eyes. He didn’t seem as though he were ready to go anywhere however, as when he finally did move, it was to curl up into a ball, looking around reproachfully.

While he may not have been exciting to watch, one of his siblings was. Though previously barely wobbling, the Frankenstein Egg was now rocking wildly, cracks everywhere along its shell. The egg simply fell apart, revealing a large blue. Screeching loudly, the creature spied Kellenari, leaping and latching onto the young woman. Almost viciously he tore into the meat rolls the she held, crooning lovingly at her.

“Congratulatons,” L’rato called to Kell, grinning broadly. “I hope he isn’t too much of a handful.”

Frankenstein Blue
Personality: This little guy is always moving around, even in his sleep. He is also extremely vocal, loving to announce his presence to the world with various shrieks and calls. For a blue, he is quite intelligent and can be trained to the level of most golds and bronzes. However, as smart as he is, he is also, for lack of a better word, crazy. His reactions are unpredictable at best and it is best to be careful when in large social settings. Being so smart, this critter is quite good at getting revenge when he feels he has been wronged and he has the tendency to find an excuse to hold grudges against people, dragons, and other firelizards. On the flip side, he can be extremely loving and his scheming can be put to good use in the form of performing small favors for those he likes.

Appearance: Large for a blue, he has more of a snake-like appearance than the typical, more stocky build of firelizards. His tail and neck are both longer than average and his wings are also long and thin. He doesn’t have much stamina, but he certainly his graceful performing tricks in the air.

His actual shading is quite dark, like a midnight sky, with lighter flecks of blue sprinkled across his body and more concentrated around his muzzle, like freckles. His wingsails and underside are a few shades lighter than the rest of him, though the light flecks of color can be seen even there.

[Carni]

Kell chuckled slightly when she saw the young brown hatch from his egg. Of course he came from the Caramel Apple Egg, which had looked as if it wanted to hatch first and Kell was a little disappointed when he did not move at all. When he curled up into a browl ball, almost as if there was still an eggshell around him, she sighed, highly doubting that this little creature would stand up and come to her. The hatching of the Frankenstein Blue surprised her, the egg had not looked as if it was about to hatch soon. But the blue who emerged from the egg surprised her even more when he leapt into her direction and attatched himself to her. She was much too stunned to act when he begun to munch on the meatrolls she had brought along, crooning at her.

I bet he's yours now. You should name him and leave before the rest hatches. One is enough, remember my words. Wreath said, coming closer to eye the little creature - she earned a deadly glare when she came to close, though and withdrew with a snort, holding her head as high as possible. Stupid little thing! How could it dare to look at her like that!

"Oh my, don't be so rude to her... she's just jealous, you know?" Kell said lovingly to her new pet, scratching his chin and offering another Meatroll. The tiny blue purred happily as if nothing had happened, eating the Meatroll quickly. I am NOT jealous!, Wreath spat, staring down at her rider and Kells new pet, earning her another deadly glare from the blue.

...such a stupid little thing... as if I, a mighty dragon, would need to be jealous... it's just a lowly flitter... a pet... bah! Wreath mumbled into her imaginary beard, turning away from her rider and the blue flitter, being in a huff when she heard Kells chuckling.

"Thankyou L'rato and thank you Kimya, I will take good care of your son" , Kell bowed into the direction of the tiny queen before she chuckled, scratching the yawning blue's head "...I doubt he'll be much of a problem, the only problem could be Wreath. She seems to be a little... jealous." Again she chuckled because Wreath snorted and held her head even higher. "...so, little one, I need a name for you. Which one would you prefer? You look like a stary midnight sky with all these lovely freckles... I won't name you Midnight... that's too long." Kell mused seizing the flitter up. Looking for Wreath for advice was useless. She would probably name him Scum, Pestilence or something simillar. She thought for a while before a smile split her face: "I know, I'll name you Enigma!" she said, taking the answering purr as a 'yes'. The name did not seem to fit perfectly, somehow, but Kell felt it was right to name him like this. There was something... 'unusual' about this blue.

"Oh... one question, L'rato..." she said, looking up to the fellow rider "...what if no one else shows up? Wreath won't allow another one coming close to me..." Except if it's the one from the Ghost Egg, I bet, she added in her mind "...will the other flitters turn wild? Or will you try to keep them?" With one impressed, there were still six more left... poor L'rato if he had to keep them all. They would eat him out of house and home...

[Weaving]

Kimya chirped happily in response to Kell's thanks. While a protective mother, she understood that her children would leave her. To be angry that her son had found a good humanthing to bond to made the gold mother quite happy indeed. This girl would take care of him well and hers liked Kell well enough which meant that the girl had redeeming qualities. She seemed nice enough, as did her dragon, though Kimya eyed Wreath suspiciously. While not even remotely like Wyth, Kimya saw all dragons as inherently the same. So far the opal had done nothing to found the flitter's suspicions, but there was time yet. Wreath could simply being polite now, but might later terrorize her poor child. The fact that Enigma seemed to be doing more of the terrorizing seemed to go unnoticed. Surely the blue had some well founded reason for giving Wreath the stink eye.

"Wreath is jealous? Funny how that works. Wyth is the complete opposite; Kimya is the jealous one. Perhaps its something about being the older child so to speak. Ah, well, she'll get used to it, I'm sure. Dragons are much more reasonable than firelizards." Kimya chattered at L'rato. How dare he say that she was unreasonable. She was perfectly reasonable. It was Wyth who was the unreasonable one, trying to steal away L'rato. He constantly ignored her to take care of that stupid dragon. Why, he hadn't even noticed that she had laid a clutch, and what a beautiful clutch it was, with such lovely babies. Distracted by the thought of her clutch, the queen turned back to the rocking eggs, watching over them. She crooned softly to the Caramel Apple Brown, who responded with a half-hearted chirp, though he continued to lay there curled up, groggy from the warmth of the sands.

L'rato chuckled at Kimya's actions, though eyed the brown with puzzlement. Was there something wrong with the poor fellow? He certainly hoped not. He eyed the other five eggs and then glanced back to the otherwise empty sands. No one else had showed up. Perhaps they were late getting some meat, but he didn't think that this clutch would wait much longer. It would probably be for the good of the weyr if the rest of the clutch didn't impress but something within the man didn't want to see these children left to the wild.

"Me? Keep them? Faranth no. I may as well be asking to go mad!" The harper chuckled as he spoke, shaking his head slightly. "No. I think they may very well go wild if no one else happens by. It's not as though this weyr needs more mischief though, so perhaps that'll all be for the better. Are you sure that Wreath wouldn't let you keep one more? They aren't so bad once you get used to them." He continued chuckling. Kell would be smart to refuse and run away now before any of the other eggs hatched and latched onto her. He was surprised that the little brown still hadn't done so. He looked healthy enough except for the rather lethargic way he lay there. Even Kimya had begun to eye him with worry, not sure what was wrong with her child. It was one thing for the hatchlings to go wild and quite another for them to die from some sort of problem. L'rato eyed Enigma discreetly. Well, he certainly seemed healthy enough. Perhaps it was just that one hatchling.

[Carni]

Kell chuckled slightly, a noise she rarely made when someone else but her dragon was around. She was in a good mood, today, it seemed. "I'm sure she will. And unlike the runner I had, she probably won't eat Enigma. She promised to eat every other flitter that tries to be mine, though. She'll get used to it, you'r right. Maybe this little bugger will prove her that flitters are usefull." She knew that Enigma would. He seemed intelligent enough to help keeping an eye open during night and day, when Wherries were around. Kell wasn't living at the Weyr anymore, she had found a nice hidingplace somewhere in the djungle. Not far away but far enough to be away from all these unnerving people. Of course she wouldn't mention that to L'rato. People tended to try and urge her to come 'home', not understanding that Kell would rather die than loosing her freedom.

Shoving those unwanted thoughts away, she turned her gaze down to the Caramel Apple Brown laying in the sands. He seemed well and healthy but somehow she had expected him to be hungry instead of just laying there. Weren't flitters meant to find food directly after hatching? He should either be clinging to a human, begging for food or going outside, hunting his own. But laying around... "...he doesn't act like a normal hatchling should, does he...?" Kell asked carefully, seizing up the lazy creature. Somehow she was glad he had not shown any interest in her yet, a creature as lazy as this one wouldn't quite suit her. The brown would just unnerve both her and her dragon. Speaking of her dragon... Ah, Wreath was still busy with sulking in a corner, she was probably watching a dragon in the sky outside the hatching grounds Kell couldn't see from where she stood. "Kimya wouldn't allow you to have someone steal your attention from her, would she?" Kell smiled, watching the remaining eggs. She knew that most flitters lived wild... but after seeing what happened to the clutch Kimya hatched from, she didn't feel good about seeing all these flitters turn wild... and probably die. "I doubt Wreath will be mad at me when I just stand here, scratching Enigmas head and talking with you..." she mused, her eyes sparkling with mischief "...it's not my fault if one of the young flitters that are yet to hatch latches onto me. I'm sure she'll forgive me being here in the wrong moment because I wanted to talk to you..." Kell said, eyeing the remaining eggs. One more wouldn't hurt... if it wasn't that brown, it would be unnerving if he kept being so lazy. Unlike L'ratos she wasn't experienced enough to sense the trouble that could come from these eggs laying in front of her. She did not grab her blue and run. Maybe L'ratos should've warned her? Enigmas belly was full and the blue was too happy to protest, Wreath was busy with sulking... no one would protect Kell from being latched onto by one or even more flitters.

But Kell had been on her own for the most part of her Weyrlinghood if she wasn't doing Lessons or causing mischief with J'cen. Maybe it truely wouldn't hurt to have more than one flitter. At least as long as it was only one more and not the remaining six. More than two or maybe three would surely be too much for Kell to handle. But she would have to learn that first. Her experience with flitters was limited. Very limited. Until today, there had never been a flitter sitting on her shoulder and snoring into her ear. Small Enigma wasn't getting heavy yet.

[Weaving]

L’rato opened his mouth to reply to Kell, but closed it again quickly as the Ghost Egg shattered suddenly. The egg had given no forewarning and the sudden crack of the shell was surprising, for it echoed loudly in the large cavern. The harper glanced quickly toward the egg, hoping to spot the hatchling. Amidst the ruins of its egg sat a tiny creature. His hide was pale, though bronze highlights faintly shone through and his hide glittered brightly, reflecting the various glows in the cavern. He sat still for a moment, studying everyone around him. As if having decided that no one in his immediate vicinity was worthy of him, the hatchling leapt up into the air, flying quickly for the entrance.

L’rato sighed at the sight of one of Kimya’s children going wild. It probably wouldn’t be the last time this happened, but he couldn’t help but wonder what the little fellow would have been like. Glancing down at Kimya, he noted that she didn’t seem disheartened at all. In fact, she was crooning happily, her gaze fixed on…Wreath? Glancing toward the opal, L’rato was surprised to see that the Ghost Bronze was clinging to her, chattering at her in earnest.

“Well, that’s certainly quite unusual,” he commented, pointing toward the sight. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of such a thing happening before, have you? At any rate, you and Wreath both are going to have an interesting time of it.” He chuckled as he spoke, unable to fully hide his amusement. The idea of a dragon bonding to a firelizard was simply absurd, but this was Westing, a fact that he seemed to need to constantly remind himself of.

Ghost Brown
Personality: An independent creature, this bronze loves to be in secluded areas away from the majority of the weyr and loud noises. When he is placed in such situations, he becomes agitated and will often try to hide somewhere on his bonded, clinging to her like a lifeline. Apart from that, he isn’t extremely physically affectionate, preferring to show his love for his bonded in other ways. If there is one thing that he loves to do, it’s to spy on others. He is quite adept at remaining hidden for long periods of time while he’s doing his spy work, finding it all very amusing. Oftentimes he will attach himself to one or two people in particular that he follows, but if his bonded needs to know something about a particular person, he is more than willing to comply.

Appearance: Small as a hatchling, this fellow will grow to be the size of a small bronze. His wings are wider than average, though they remain of normal length. In fact, the whole of him seems to be more wide than long, giving him a rounded appearance, like that of a pastry ball. His tail is longer than the norm, giving him added aide in quick maneuvers in the skies and helping him with balance on land as well.

His hide is an interesting color, being extremely pale, though a bronze tint can still be seen, along with veins of a richer color running through his hide. He has a tendency to burn in the sun since he is so pale, and so prefers to come out mostly during the night hours, where he easily can be mistaken for a ghost zooming through the air.