Tiny Shells

[HG]

((If you've recieved a present by the admins this thread is to play that out))

The clouds above seemed to forbode something that Nevarre would rather not think about. He was walking along the shoreline, watching strange sea birds dive for fish. The sun was still setting though it was hard to see through the haze of the cloud cover. It would be dark soon enough. He began to walk away from the shore closer in towards the jungle though still outside of it. Unaccustomed as they all were to the South, he had expected them to grow weary of doing the tasks assigned. Once again it seemed the others were more than willing to do their share of the work and start their share of the drama. He was tired of the lot of them really. The sooner he was done with this mission the better.

Turning at a strange soft tapping sound, he scanned the area around him. What in the... he saw it then, a bunch of eggs. How peculiar. Walking back to the Expeditioners he said loudly. "Everyone come quickly! Your not going to want to miss this!" If it was what he suspected it was, they would be happy to come. "Bring food." He added after, grabbing some of the fish that was supposed to be for their supper. If the legends were true food would be essential.

He ran, long legged as he was, but not as fast as some of the others, too bad he was the only one who knew where they were going. They needed him to take them to the eggs. According to myth, Gold firelizards guarded their clutches but greens who often laid smaller clutches abandoned theirs to the elements. Not surprising considering green dragons were said to be the opposite of nurturing.

"Here. Quiet." He said softly as the first of the clutches numerous small eggs began to rock the shell with vigor. It would not be long he hoped.

The first egg to hatch produced a large brown with a light brown almost tan coloring to him. He found the first source of food he could and it was easy to see that he was very driven by his hunger.


The next to hatch, a small lovely tiffany colored blue was equally pleasant to look on. Although he did have a slightly long neck and tail it was not noticeable enough to detract from his coloring. He approached in a friendly manner not at all nervous about the people that had gathered.


The third and perhaps smallest of them all, a light sage colored green emerged, looking quite pitiful. She too had a well made body with an elongated neck. While she seemed to want to take some of the food being offered, she seemed much too shy to go up to anyone to take it. Finally however her curiosity got the better of her.


Another blue emerged then, this time large with darker coloring. The navy blue of his hide making the black striations on his legs hard to see. He made loud noises towards the people and seemed to demand his food from them. Obviously he had a lot to say.


Then a green, with no fear burst from her egg and made for the first bit of food she could find. Her forest green hide made her easy to distinguish from her sisters. She was quick to find someone with food, being rather nosy and outgoing herself.


Another moment passed as many more firelizards broke from their shells. It was small clutch, likely laid by a green. The next to come toward them was a large stormy sea colored blue who quietly approached though was unafraid to do so.


A green followed him, brightly jade colored with lighter and darker swirls of jade variants throughout her hide. She seemed to hop toward where the food smell was coming from.


A brown came then, smaller than his brother but much larger than his green counterparts. He was richly dark colored with dappling along his hind legs. He seemed to approach with calm curiosity while the last green came forward.


She was not shy merely quiet and watching the others as if to see what was going on. Her hide was dark like the forest colored green but her hide was different, a more hunter green color with a dorsal stripe of darker green down her back. It may be that she had waited so that all eyes were on her.

[magic]

Lyunne was following Nevarre, she had taken it upon herself to trail his every move. It made no difference if he liked it or not, she was enjoying annoying him. She lost interest in him though as she saw the little eggs. She gasped, "Fire Lizards?" she murmured, but they were stories, they didnt really exsist. Did they?

She knelt down, checking her pockets for any food she might have hidden away and found a couple of bits. When the eggs started hatching she was enchanted by the little things. So very cute. She grinned at the others, "arent they lovely. Must have been a green clutch though." She said to anyone who was listening. She watched as the eggs hatched, brown, blue and then the third to hatch produced a very small, delicate lookig green. She seemed so frail, so weak almost and she leant forward.

"Hey there little one, come and see what I have." She said to the little green, she looked as if she wouldnt make it, and Lyunne couldnt let that happen. She broken a piece of the meat roll into pieces, offering it to her. "Come on then little love, this is good" she said softly, watching as the green nervously edged forward. She took the offering daintily and then drew closer until she was sitting in Lyunne's hand. Lyunne grinned happily, feeding the flitter until her belly was so full and she gave a little burp. Which she managed to look guilty about, then she closed her eyes and slept. Lyunne held her close, her face showing how besotted she was with this little creature. "I'm gonna call you Emerald." She whispered, grinning at Nevarre and the others. "Isnt she wonderful?" she said with a warmth in her voice that hadnt been seen during the voyage.

[Marnark]

Ragule's interest was grabbed from his minute inspection of local plant leaves and branches, note taking of what he found, when Nevarre started yelling like he'd been bitten. Looking around before he spotted the expedition's leader, he narrowed his eyes against the glare coming off the water and sand.

Nevarre didn't look like he'd been bitten by anything, but he was doing a whole lot of flailing and gesticulating as he scrambled in that awkward way that people had when trying to hurry across soft sand.

He was about to ask what was going on, exactly, when he finally understood what the distorted-sounding words were. He hadn't gotten bitten, he'd found something. Now that, that was something Ragule wanted to see. Finding something always got his interest. Putting down what he was doing and snatching up a blank parchment and charcoal stick, he rolled the one up around the other as he hurried across the sands. He was tall enough and had a long enough stride to handle the treacherous footing fairly well with some decent speed.

"What is it?" He asked, before he came up to and and spotted the nest. The murmers of those around him had him shaking his head, though. "I never thought I'd see them." He remarked, mostly to himself before speaking up a bit louder. "I don't think that's a green clutch." He contradicted, before turning and looking at how far away the water was, and what tide it was. Turning around again, he scanned the area.

No momma. Probably why they were assuming it was a green clutch. But ... given what was coming out of that clutch, Rolgar seriously doubted the parentage had any green in it at all. "Honestly? I think that looks more like what I have read as a brown-sired gold-clutch." Ragule said, kneeling with interest as he watched the babies come scrambling out of the sandy shells.

One part of him said to get the shards away from it, before the momma came back. They had survived to hatch - another indicator in Ragule's mind that the momma was not green. However, the nest was fairly close to the camp, and that might have scared a wild queen away. Maybe? Of course, everything he thought was stipulation and brought from reading records. Not from experience. So it was an educated guess at best.

Not having brought any food at all, having instead brought paper and writing utensils, Ragule was understandable shocked when the sandy-brown baby hopped over toward him and perched on his arm as if he expected Ragule to feed him. "Uh ... " Ragule cast about a bit, looking for something to give it.

"OW!" He protested, when he apparently failed to get food fast enough, as the brown had started gnawing on his thumb. "That's not nice!" Ragule protested, prying his thumb free from the sturdy brown's mouth.

[kaemi]

Essabellona came over with most of the expedition members when Nevarre called them. She had taken a bite out of her dinner- a nicely seasoned fish, if she did say so herself- and therefore simply brought it with her as she followed the random summons. Or, maybe, not so random. A clutch of eggs were rocking back and forth, with cracks appearing on the surface. As they hatched, her breath caught. Firelizards, it seemed. She had always thought they were harpers' tales, subject to more speculation than dragonkind was. It made sense, though, that if whers were real (of course they were, they were the protectors of the North- shells, she was wearing wherhide boots right now), and dragons were around (which was what this entire expedition was based off of), then firelizards, the supposed origin of both, were also still alive.

Still.

Nine hatched firelizards, if she had counted correctly. Ignoring the chatter on the sires of the clutch, Essa merely marveled. She wasn't sure if the winged creatures Impressed like their draconic counterparts, or bonded like the majority of their wher cousins, but she was fairly sure that they were attracted to food. That theory was reinforced further when the hungry creels followed the firelizards as they picked humans, mostly those with food. Well thank you, Nevarre, for telling them to bring food. Ripping a strip of fish off of her dinner hurriedly, Essa dangled it in front of her (enticingly? she hoped) in an attempt to attract one of the creatures.

Soon after, a dark brown firelizard neared her. He seemed more curious than hungry, at the moment, and he seemed to be looking right at her. The strip of fish rocked back and forth from between her fingers, and the sight of it seemed to solidify whatever was on his mind. The brown stopped right in front of her, creeling, and Essabellona had no choice but to feed him. "There you go," she murmured. He shook briefly, goo from the egg flinging off of him (and most of it landing on Essa, but she paid it no mind), before trying out his wings. After his second or third try, the girl took pity on him and sat down, scooping him up, and offering him more of the fish.

[firethorne]

Koldyn sat on the beach, cross-legged, watching the waters ebb and flow rhythmically. In his hand was a fruit, foraged by the others, and a rather tasty fish given to him by a nice girl named Essa. Well, that wasn't her true name, but Faranth knew her given name was too long to remember and even harder to pronounce. It was good enough for him that she went by the far easier 'Essa'. His amber eyes moved with the ocean, almost becoming hypnotic in their steady movement. Nevarre was off strolling the beach, and the young holder had no interest in conversing with any of the other expedition members. He was certain some of them had to be nice and easy to get along with...he just hadn't found them yet.

So here the holder sat, alone, watching the waves and foamy edges lap at the sand near his feet. Suddenly, the Igen tilted his head, turning his body when Nevarre approached them and started issuing commands excitedly. Blinking, Koldyn leapt to his feet, following his only friend with a confused frown upon his features. What on Pern had gotten his fellow holder so riled up? Kneeling at Nevarre's side, the boy sucked in a breath, watching the rocking eggs. Were those what he thought they were?

His suspicions were confirmed as the eggs began to crack and burst, little firelizards of varying colors and personalities making their way to the expedition members. The Igen grinned to himself in perverse amusement as the first bit Rolgar's thumb. However, his amber gaze quickly cut back to the eggs, holding out his fish and hoping one would find it appetizing. Koldyn dared only to blink and breath shallowly, afraid to scare them off. Finally, the sixth shell broke open, a large blue the color of a stormy sea striding forward with no apparent fear. Swinging his whirling eyes to the holder, the flit marched forward, tearing into the fish voraciously.

A silly grin split the Igen's face as he watched the blue eat from his hand, then the flit raised his eyes and stared at the boy. Suddenly, Koldyn could feel...something from the firelizard, an impression of emotions and vague colors flitting through the back of his mind. Gazing at his stormy blue hide, the holder abruptly found inspiration and nodded. "I'll name you Squall." He said softly, then turned to look at the others. Everyone had managed to entice one of the little fellows, including that nice girl Essa. He nodded to her, hoping she saw him, with a half-smile for her. At least she didn't act like he was some evil jerk. Leaning over to Nevarre, the boy grinned as he saw his buddy had hooked one too. "What name are you going to use?" He asked, suddenly exited. He had his own miniature dragon!

[HG]

As he suspected the urgency of his call had sent most of them to follow him. Or at least they were concerned enough to come along. He was acting abnormally, he realized but this was no normal situation! After arriving the others seemed to be concerning themselves with what color the clutch came from which was really unimportant to him at this point.

The Holder was staring at the little firelizards. They were as he suspected and that gave him a feeling that he had done the right thing. The little hatchlings found the closest sources of food it seemed. Rolgar had even managed to be bitten on the finger which seemed to suggest that these little guys were ravenous enough not to care what they ate.

Nevarre's waiting proved to be fine as the last of them seemed to be coming towards him. He bit his lip, what was he supposed to do? It looked...angry. Feed it and it will leave you alone. That was the best option really. Nevarre, holding fish that he hand grabbed on his way over, sat down and stipped a piece of the fish off, dangling it from his outstretched arm. “Come on, I know you are hungry.” The green could care less about what was being said to her. She took the fish from his hand in a way that made him concerned for his own life. What if they ate people? What happened if they ran out of food to give the little things, would they kill one of them for food?

He was as usual skeptical and pessimistic. Then Koldyn leaned over and asked him the most shocking question. Name it? This thing wasn't his to name, was it? “Name it? Oh I don't think that she's going to bond to anything but that devoured fish.” She was now eating another whole strip of the fish and really not caring where it was coming from as long as it was food. They must bond with eachother in the wild like this, they had interrupted the natural way of things. He was quite certain his mother would not approve of a Firelizard. He watched the green come closer and slid a little back. She needed to eat and be on her merry way.

“You ate all the fish, now get on with you...” He said watching her continue to get closer and closer to him. Nevarre's eyes were wide. She was going to eat him. Of course the green did nothing of the sort. As she got close enough to touch him again she licked his hand and then went to lay in his lap. The shock wore off eventually. “I've actually no idea what to call her...”

[Yuu Kanduet]

Jerezen was still a little put off by the way the group had disregarded his warnings on the dangers of this sharding continent. Just walking bare-foot could endanger your well-being. If only there were more records intact. Then Jerezen would have felt at least a little more comfortable with their position. To make matters worse, Jerezen had gotten some sand in his inkwell and had had to spend the morning preventing it from drying out.

Grumbling under his breath, Jerezen poked at the fish he had been given for meal-time. He wasn't sure he really wanted to eat it yet. Instead Jerezen was thinking about digging out some of the dried salted meat he had stored in his bags. Before he could make up his mind himself, Jerezen heard Nevarre calling out for everyone to go look at something and to bring food.

Sighing, the apprentice harper stood and picked up his half-cooked fish before wandering over to the growing crowd. The fact that the people who where already there seemed excited peaked Jerezen's interest. What could it be? Shouldering his way through some of the crowd, Jerezen was met with a small Blue that flew from no-where and seemed intent on the the fish in his hand.

With a flabbergasted expression, Jerezen offered it the fish and let it gobble it down. Jerezen was still in a state of shock when the tiny Blue wrapped itself around his neck and crooned affectionately as it nuzzled his cheek sleepily.

"Does this mean you're mine?"

Jerezen brought two fingers up so that he could stroke the tiny Blue's head.

"I think I'll call you Sabastian." (Sah-bah-stee-in)

[kaemi]

The brown was quite content to cuddle into her lap, still eating whatever fish Essa would give him. She wasn't entirely sure what to do here, but looking around showed her that some of the 'lizards were still looking around at their new humanpets, and some were fast asleep. She met Koldyn's eyes in her search, and returned his smile brightly. He had Impressed- good! It seemed as though all the f'lizards had Impressed (or, at least, that's what it felt like). Curious, she looked back down at the brown, to see him staring straight up at her. Her gaze was met point for point, as he stared at her inquisitively. Merely chirruping when food was offered again, the brown instead lifted himself out of her lap a little bit to look around.

It seemed as if he wanted to look at everything at once, by the rapid pace his eyes moved. Essabellona laughed quietly, her arm reaching to scratch his eyeridge fondly. The first lid covered his eyes as he relaxed briefly in pleasure, but when she stopped the brown immediately picked up his previous task of satisfying his curiosity. But despite the celerity of his movement, Essa felt a calm, pleased emotion whenever she looked at him. Hopefully, that would mean that he wouldn't be running off anytime soon to look and smell and whatever else firelizards did.

Stroking his back softly, her fingers caressing the soft hide, she realized that everyone else was coming up with names for the firelizards. Well, that was a problem. Essa had never named something in her life- had never needed to, and had never planned to until when and if she ever had children. It wasn't her job, after all, to continue on the line for their hold. That was her brother's. Not to mention, the problems with her own name did not spawn the desire to label others with names they did not appreciate. But... it didn't seem as if he was going to name himself.

Looking up at her, the brown again chirped, making the noise sound like a query. It decided the name for Essabellona, so she smiled down at him. “Query,” she tested, feeding him a last piece of fish. He seemed satisfied, whether from the name or the meat (although she would bet on the latter), so that was that. Essa stroked him until he fell asleep, still in her cross-legged position, and not likely to move for at least a few minutes.

[Marnark]

"Ow!!" Rolgar grabbed the little winged beast around its chest, right behind the front legs, even though that meant the wings had to be folded back to do it. The other hand took a hold of that head full of sharp teeth right behind the jaw, and he held onto it that way for a moment as he inspected his new wounds.

The flitter flailed, but at the moment was not able to do anything about the hold he'd found himself in. Finally giving up, the sandy brown dangled loose and limp, trying his best to look pitiful and forlorn.

Deciding that the bites were nothing more than shallow and stinging, Rolgar turned his attention back to the little beast that had bitten him repeatedly, trying to eat him. Knowing better than to let him go just yet, for fear of new bites, he looked around. "Does anyone have a scrap I can use before this thing eats me alive?" He asked.

But apparently not. The other flitters had eaten it all or most of it already. Rolgar saw that quickly, and then decided on a different action plan. Releasing the flitter's head, he quickly grabbed his charcoal stick and stuffed that into the flitter's mouth as he got to his feet.

The flitter grabbed a hold of that with both front feet and started gnawing on it speculatively as Rolgar walked back to the camp carrying the beast. Finding a fresh fish that hadn't even been gutted yet, Rolgar picked that up and walked over to a log to sit down on. Setting the flitter in his lap, he tugged on the now rather chewed charcoal stick until he managed to extract it from all those sharp little teeth. "Here, you little imp." He remarked, flopping the fish down - whole - right in front of the brown.

There was a method to his madness, he wasn't being mean for being mean's sake. He wanted to see how intelligent the flitter was, see what its problem solving skills were. And also, what one would normally do in the wild. After all, he seriously doubted momma flitter was going to gourmet slice the baby's food.

Tackling the fish, Imp licked it all over hungrily, tried to bite one fin and found out how inedible and painful that was, and went back to the main body of the fish. Settling down on his haunches, Imp sank front talons into the flesh of the fish and pulled, cramming his snout into the fish's side. It seemed like a futile endeavor, but after a few more punctures were made by the little talons, meat started ripping away enough for him to sink his teeth into. Once a little hole was started, there was no stopping Imp from feeding himself on the fish until he was utterly stiff.

All while being semi held by Rolgar, making sure neither the baby or the fish slid off and hit the ground.

"Hm. Interesting."

[firethorne]

Koldyn’s brow quirked slightly at Nevarre’s reply, and the Igen chuckled softly. The other boy looked about as comfortable as a skin of Benden in a room full of harpers, but then again that green did seem pretty angry. He was willing to bet she was just voraciously hungry, though, just like his blue. Of course, the stormy-colored lizard was almost finished with his fish, and Kol did suddenly wander what he would do when it was all gone. After feeling…whatever it was from the little fellow, he had rather assumed Squall was going to stick around. Just like a canine, you know; feed them once and they keep coming back. However, they were in the South, after all, and who knew what kind of things went on here?

“I don’t think she’s going anywhere.” The holder’s son remarked dryly, watching the green curl up in his friend’s lap. Feeling a demanding tug on his sleeve, Kol glanced down to see all of the fish was gone and Squall was staring at him with that unnerving whirling regard again. Once more, he could feel an impression of emotion and color in his mind, as if it was from the blue, and shook his head. “Are you doing that?” Koldyn asked, scowling lightly as he stared at the flit watching him. An answering wave of possessiveness and loyalty slammed against his conscience, and the Igen blinked in surprise. He doubted Squall had understood him, but that answered his question nonetheless.

Crawling over his leg, the blue curled up against Koldyn’s stomach and gave a soft chirp, satisfied and full. Well, that answered another of his questions. Apparently neither of the firelizards were going anywhere. Amber eyes glancing around, it appeared to the Igen that many of the expeditioners had managed to lure in one of the clutch, and though there were varying reactions among them, it seemed the pets were going to stick around. Essa seemed to be getting along well with her little brown, which pleased him. He liked her more than anyone else in this sharding group, except for Nevarre, of course, whom he felt the closest to.

Humming thoughtfully, careful not to jostle his leg where his flit was resting, Koldyn stared at the green in his friend’s lap. “I’m not sure, either. Squall seems to fit this guy—both in color and temperament.” Shrugging, the Igen suddenly got an idea, and leaned in close to Nevarre to keep their words between them. “Do you think these lizards can help us in the jungle? Animals always seem to know things humans do not; surely they will be able to smell felines approaching or something.” Now that was a tempting thought to the holder. Anything to keep this journey going smoother.

[HG]

“Apparently not.” Nevarre said as the green fell into a deep sleep. How did he know she was in a deep sleep? That he could not answer. Not that it mattered, when she woke up he would make it clear to her that he would not be giving her all of his food. She was going to have to learn to hunt for herself. He had a great many things that he intended to make known to her. Not that he had any idea how to do that. Greens were not known to be very intelligent even in dragons.

He was busy with his own green that he failed to really spend much time figuring out what the rest of them were doing. Most of them would be sleepy after eating. They really could not stay here, it would be better to move the lizards and carry them to the camp. He would announce that in a few moments, first he figured he could share this with Koldyn, whom he grew closer to every day. No surprise there though. They had much more in common than the others. “Yes, Squall is a good name for him.” He agreed as if his opinion were necessary.

Nevarre looked back down at the green, naming was not really an easy thing to do. The little one would have to live with it forever. Just like his name, which he happened to think suited him fine. “Names, hmmm. Laurel, Briar, Fern, Myth...” He sighed, “what do you think?” He trusted Koldyn's opinion on this as with everything else. The others seemed to be having no trouble at all choosing a name for their firelizards.

“You know I do believe they may be of some use to us.” He said thoughtfully. Who knew how much of what firelizards knew was instincual and how much was learned? The only way to find out was to give it a try. No doubt they might at least be able to find fresh water which would be a big enough help out in the thick jungle. “So long as they don't get themselves into trouble and bring that trouble back to where we are...”