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Post by Evadne on Jun 18, 2011 11:54:05 GMT -5
It was sweaty, dirty business hauling baskets of dirt. It didn't help that the area around the hot springs was so humid. Jadore felt that the soil she'd scooped up into some of the sacks that had once carried eggs was like a sponge: one whiff of moisture-thick air and its weight doubled. On the one hand, it probably meant that if they ever tried their hand at farming crops to feed themselves, they'd grow like mad.
On the other hand, it meant that the labor she'd elected to assign herself was backbreaking work.
But it was for a good cause, right? She had no idea if any of the eggs they'd stolen were viable. It may well be that the jostling that comes of being stolen coupled with the lack of a gold to tend them or the lesser heat of the hot springs would leave the entire clutch dead.
But she didn't intend to allow that to happen. Not if there were anything to be done to prevent a makeshift hatching sands full of dud eggs.
Thus the extra dirt.
The soil that had already been arranged around the eggs was, Jadore had decided, not nearly thick enough. Therefore more was required and therefore the buxom woman was struggling under a sack filled with more. I must look a fright, she mused as she crept through the entrance to the springs, moving slowly onto the lip that circled the pool. She could feel new sweat spring up in fat beads along her hairline and the nape of her neck, trickling down the back of her thin undershirt. Wherever the sweat wasn't pooling, it felt as if her skin was covered in a layer of grime. She wanted nothing more than to dive into the water, clothes and all, and rinse herself off.
Duty first, though. They needed dragons. Fierce, toothy dragons to keep the guards at bay.
She sized up the eggs arranged in their makeshift nest and then navigated towards one of the larger ones. And why not? The larger they were, they more likely they needed a bigger cushion of earth, the more heat they needed to soak in. And the Watch Your Back Egg, with its obvious deformity, looked as if it needed all of the help it could get.
Jadore sank to her knees beside the misshapen construction and pulled open the drawstring of the sack. Double handfuls of thick, black soil were taken out and she began to pack these around the egg. Her fingers brushed the shell between every trip back to the bag, though she was careful not to leave smudges on the bright surface.
It was sweaty, dirty business, and there were several more sacks piled up at the entrance to the springs. She could only help someone else would be along shortly.
Preferably someone with more brains than neurosis, she thought to herself. A lady can't do everything herself.
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Post by Spiffy on Jun 18, 2011 13:52:59 GMT -5
Her fishing net was finally finished! Or finished to as high a standard as she was likely to get out here without some proper hemp, but then beggars can't be choosers. It'd have to do. Kailin leaned back and sighed. Spearfishing was all well and good, but their foraging group had had only limited success in that area, and their diet still consisted mainly of fruit and bugs - though at least the fruit was a welcome addition - and whatever meat the wherhandlers were kind enough to share with the other outlaws. No, tomorrow would be a good day. Tomorrow she would walk out to river, find herself a nice spot on the bank with some good deep running water nearby, string out her net, spend a few minutes adjusting it, and then wait patiently while the fish netted themselves, maybe chomping on some fruit to pass the time.
Yes, that was the life. And she could even take a dip if she got top tired of this sharding southern heat. It was like a bloody oven outside, though at least it had begun to cool recently, with autumn and winter approaching (not that the weather would be a whole lot different, at least she wouldn't feel like she was being slowly steamed in her own jumpsuit).
Speaking of bathing, she could really use that right about now. Reward to herself for finishing her net. Yes, that sounded good. Folding her creation neatly and stowing it in the corner of the cave that she had claimed as her own, Kailin made her way down to the hot springs, following her nose for the last bit, the springs having a distinctly sulphurous tang to them.
Reaching the doorway, she almost tripped over a sack that had slid down into her way. "Oops." Thankfully they seemed only to contain dirt, so she didn't stub her toe or anything. Rounding the errant sack, she peered into the foggy gloom. She could see a figure over by the egg shelf. It - or she, she realised - also had a sack, seemed to be scooping it around the eggs.
"Need a hand there?" she called, voice echoing strangely in the fuggy damp of the cavern. Not waiting for an answer - and bath briefly forgotten - she hoistered a sack. To Kailin the weight was familiar, almost comforting, reminding her of her days aboard ship before she got arrested for no reason. She made her way quickly around the edge of the pool to the egg shelf, setting her own sack of dirt down next to Jadore's.
"Oh hey, Jadore. Fancy seeing you here," she said by way of greeting, slightly puzzled by her discovery; Jadore was the last person she expected to see elbow deep in dirt, quite frankly. She watched the woman at work for a second, caught on to what she was doing, and made to start packing some dirt around one of the smaller eggs, Holland's Pride. Once she'd decided that it was sufficiently padded, she gave the shell an affectionate pat, tapping it lightly to see how hard it was. Eggs got hard when they were close to hatching, right?
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Post by Evadne on Jun 18, 2011 16:39:08 GMT -5
The feeling of dirt beneath her fingernails was one that Jadore had become accustomed to over the past several Turns. She'd never grown to like it, of course. It was, quite frankly, both disgusting and uncomfortable. But there were times when personal discomfort was trumped by other priorities and this certainly seemed to fit the bill. When she imagined that there was an infant dragon's body curled inside of that shell, separated by a scant few centimeters...
The ripple of a voice through the cavern brought Jadore out of her thoughts. She turned a little, dark head tilted while she studied the person arriving.
Kailin. Not a woman she was that familiar with. Petty thief? Arsonist? Something like that; beneath her own status, certainly, on a number of different levels.
Her smile was immediate and seemed genuine. Even touched with a hint of relief, as if she were glad to see the other female. "Ah, darling. You don't know how happy I am to have company. They are looking fine, aren't they? So healthy."
At least, she could hope they were. Laying her hand on the surface of the egg beside her, she felt nothing more than the heat that had soaked into the shell. But surely that was a good sign. A dead egg would be cold and lifeless, she suspected.
Kailin's tapping brought another glance at the young woman. Jadore's lips quirked with an off center smile. "Do you fancy yourself a rider, darling?"
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Post by nozomi on Jun 19, 2011 11:58:24 GMT -5
For Jadore:
Who the shards are you, talking crap about brains being better? Huh? Huh? Jadore has outright enraged the Watch Your Back Egg, the dragonet inside shoving its mind against Jadore with a bull-headed mental strength, an angling of brute force rather then anything subtle. Take that, you - you - you human you!
For Kailin:
Ohthankgoodness. Someone sane! Probably! The Hollands Pride Egg is immediately welcoming to Kailin and her cheerful tone to those around them, and especially for that pleasant way kailin touched it. But - but - please don't tap the egg? Please? It echoes so very uncomfortably but... but if you continued, the egg would not protest. It could do nothing about it, after all.
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Post by Spiffy on Jun 19, 2011 13:07:53 GMT -5
Jadore, at least, seemed happy to see her. It was often difficult to tell whether your company was welcome among the others, it was nice to get a bit of solid relief from someone for once. She wrinkled her nose at being called darling though, even if she did smile back.
"I wouldn't know. They seem alright. The whers haven't had a fit over them looking funny yet at any rate, but then they are only young..."
She trailed off as she placed her hand on the shell, getting an immediate rush of relief from the little egg. Sane? Well, she probably was, truth be told, at least relative to many of the other outlaws at any rate.
"Oh, sorry," she said as it expressed displeasure at being tapped, settling to merely stroking the shell as she gave Jadore a sidelong look to see the other woman's reaction. She giggled at Jadore's expression after the egg's outrage and, curious, reached out her own hand to the Watch Your Back Egg.
"Let me try," she said, though Jadore really didn't have a choice as to whether Kailin touched the egg or not, she was gonna do it.
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Post by Evadne on Jun 19, 2011 16:34:01 GMT -5
There's gratitude for you. Try to make an egg comfortable and be slapped around in turn. It put Jadore in mind of some of her erstwhile compatriots. "I'll have you know, these brains are what have kept you toasty warm," the woman pointed out, an edge creeping into her cultured tones. She couldn't help that; the shove of the shell-bound infant's mind was no comfortable thing. Jadore was wincing as she stood up to place some distance between herself and the egg.
Her dirty fingers touched her temple and left a smudge of dirt there as she rubbed away the discomfort. Formidable little thing, she had to admit, even at so tender an age. Unborn and still capable of stinging. That was a good sign, she had to assume.
"Do please feel free," Jadore told Kailin. Let the woman subject herself to the presence in that egg if she wanted to. If she were at all perceptive, she'd realize the risk of it and Jadore was hardly about to dictate someone else's risk-taking, however much she approved of their manners. Instead, she bent to lift the sack with its remaining earth and set off towards another egg. "We can hope the others are as energetic as these two," she mused, "I wonder that no one's wagering yet on which will hatch and which won't."
The Call to Action Egg was nearby. It didn't seem to be in dire need of shoring up with warm earth but it was difficult to ignore the thing. Jadore sank to a knee beside it and rested one hand against its shell while the other began to scoop dirt around its base.
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Post by lithle on Jun 19, 2011 20:12:47 GMT -5
For Jadore:
Well, aren't we the subtle one? It was hard to tell whether the Call to Action egg admired that subtlety or was simply scoffing at it. There was a hint of appreciation there, yes. But also, irritation. Things needed to get done! No time to be pulling levers in the dark.
((Noz and I will be posting separate touch responses for the separate clutches. Yes, it slows things down, but we know our own dragons best.))
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Inkwell
Drudge
deal with it, europa
Posts: 95
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Post by Inkwell on Jun 19, 2011 22:20:54 GMT -5
Astor wasn't here for a bath, much as he desperately needed one. No, he was at the hot springs to check on his egg. The egg he'd stolen that stormy dawn not too long ago, risking life and limb for. The egg that had loved him at first touch, had wanted him. Of course, this feeling was mutual. Astor could appreciate an egg that knew immediately who the best outlaw was.
He made his way over the sands, taking in the warmth of the springs and the strong smell of sulfur, and wishing very much that it was woodsmoke instead. The humidity was still preventing him from lighting many fires, unfortunately, and the other outlaws didn't seem keen on him lighting many anyway. Seemed to think that the smoke would give away their position or some such nonsense. Fire wouldn't do that! Fire was good and kind and completely under his control. Didn't they trust him?
Well, no. Of course they didn't trust him. He just wasn't quite sure why.
He ignored the two women, scooting past them with barely a glance in favor of honing in on the egg. His egg. Its shell glimmered invitingly and the heart and firework patterns -- oh, what a shame that he could barely see them close up -- only made it more perfect. It understood love and it understood big, bright explosions. It was clearly made for him. He crouched near it, gently brushing his fingertips over the shell, pleased to feel that it was hard. At least, by his estimation, it was -- he knew nothing about dragons. It could be soft for all he knew -- did dragon eggs have a different scale to measure that? Well. It didn't matter. What mattered was the familiar warm greeting, the sense of 'I like you. I really do like you' that came from the glittering shell.
He liked that, and was fully prepared to fight for it if he had to. If this egg hatched, and impressed to the wrong person... but it wouldn't. It liked him.
Though to be fair, the other eggs probably did as well. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the whole clutch Impressed to him. He was awesome enough for that, right? And how intense would it be, having a whole wing's worth of dragons at his beck and call. Oh, yes. He could learn to like that. His eyes fell on the Making a Mockery Egg, which was closest, and he eagerly reached out to touch it as well, expecting the same warm acceptance as he'd gotten from the Jazz Hands Egg.
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Post by nozomi on Jun 19, 2011 22:35:05 GMT -5
For Kailin:
So you think you're better then Bossy Betty, huh? The Watch Your Back Egg doesn't care what you think! Although - well, you aren't like the smarmy one that thinks brains are so important, pah! This egg radiates self-importance at lovely Kailin, as if elbowing itself into her mind before releasing her once it invaded enough to please itself.
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Post by Spiffy on Jun 20, 2011 7:41:11 GMT -5
She left her hand on the egg for a few seconds, then withdrew, slightly disgusted. "Well someone's got a stick up their ass in there," she said, brushing her hand off on her trouser leg, leaving a dirty smudge. "I think I like the little one better."
"I suppose because no-one's been around and touched them all yet. I'm fairly sure those two will hatch, they seem sprightly enough.
Then another figure appeared in the hotsprings, moving with quiet determination toward one egg in particular, feeling it up with some familiarity. She'd noticed more than once that people tended to get attached to the egg that they stole. Many were quite protective of them. This guy had obviously taken this one. Kailin herself hadn't taken an egg. Bella had taken one instead, and since she wouldn't be standing as a candidate, that made the numbers even out. They shouldn't be an egg short, unless any of the others who didn't join in the theft decided that they wanted to stand too.
"You get that one?" she asked the guy by way of conversation. If he'd even answer that is. He'd said nothing so far.
Shrugging, she moved off to the Golden Starburst egg, muck-sack in tow, and began stuffing earth under the golden egg that a couple of the outlaws were speculating to be an opal. She wondered about that, gently stroking it's surface. If the poor thing was as paranoid as it's mother it wouldn't likely survive long out here, unless it toughened up pretty quick.
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Post by lithle on Jun 20, 2011 8:21:00 GMT -5
For Astor:
So Astor likes affection and fire? Well Making a Mockery is cold and apathetic. Even in the heat of the room, the shell is almost chilly to the touch, which certainly doesn't bode well for the eggs survival. Its reaction to him is strickly 'meh' a brief stirring of awareness but no emotional response.
For Kailin:
Hmm... The Golden Starburst Egg was quiet for a good long moment at Kailin's touch. And then something stirred against her mind, a sense of understanding. It didn't go so far as liking, but there was certainly a sense that the egg felt for Kailin, sympathized with her crime, with her escape, with everything. Sometimes, such things happen, right?
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Post by Evadne on Jun 20, 2011 8:34:14 GMT -5
"You've quite the diplomatic way about you, darling." Jadore was well aware that the endearment wasn't something Kailin was fond of. She didn't much care though; it was a compliment and the young woman should take it as such. Two compliments, really, when counting what came before the last bit. "Sprightly is an excellent word. Far better than "obnoxious" or "ungrateful"."
Let it be known that Jadore did not shy away from giving people their due.
Call to Action Egg's response to her touching drew a small, blade-thin smile from the brunette. Its reaction reminded her oddly enough of her own father. The approval, the irritation...
She bent close, putting her lips near the shell to whisper, "We all have our strengths. Yours to you and mine to me. Impatience gives you wrinkles, pet, best keep that in mind."
Straightening up, she felt a spark of satisfaction. She was becoming rather wise, wasn't she? Of course, the strongest blades were those tempered in the fire and if this situation didn't count as a fire, Jadore didn't know what would. Standing, brushing dirt from her knees, she caught up the corner of the sack and started towards the next egg.
Her choice had absolutely nothing to do with it being a healthy distance from Astor's chosen touchee. Really. Honest it didn't. Her smile for the young man was pleasant enough, after all. The Fresh Perspectives Egg simply needed more dirt around its base, due to a slight tilt. And duty before pleasantries, that was the rule of the day!
She bent to her work, alternating packing soil around the egg with stroking its side. They did seem to be a little harder, if memory served...
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Inkwell
Drudge
deal with it, europa
Posts: 95
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Post by Inkwell on Jun 20, 2011 12:32:55 GMT -5
Astor simply sat there for a moment, stunned. For a moment, his face twisted, rage flashed through his blue eyes and he lifted the hand that had been touching the egg as though to smash it -- but then he realized that that would be a monumentally stupid thing to do. Not only would the other outlaws probably tear him limb from limb, but that would mean not giving this egg time to realize how wrong it was. Astor could make anyone love him, with the proper care and attention. He smirked, gently running one finger down the Making a Mockery Egg's shell. Oh yes.
It would learn in time how wrong it was about him, and then it would be very sorry.
But for now, he could ignore it. If it wanted to be a little frigid bitch and try to resist his charms, that was its deal. Literally -- he had noted how cool it seemed compared to the other Eggs.
"Yeah, that one's mine," he said when Kailin addressed him. "Likes me, too. Thinks I'm just the best." He puffed slightly with pride, and then remembered. Cold egg. Bad. "Hey. You two're trying to keep the eggs warm with that dirt, right? There's one over here that's kind of chilly. Don't want it dying before it even hatches."
Well, maybe he did. Just a little. Because it was a bitch. But the thought of the shitfit the other outlaws would throw if even one egg died prematurely was enough to make him keep his personal vendettas to himself.
Instead of lingering by the Making a Mockery Egg, he stalked off through the other eggs, choosing one far from the egg that rejected him: The River Blue Egg. This one looked respectable enough, even if the colors were a bit cool for his taste. With just the slightest twitch of hesitation, he gently brushed a finger against the shell. Surely he wouldn't be disliked by two eggs in a row?
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Post by Spiffy on Jun 20, 2011 12:56:57 GMT -5
"Really?" she said in response to Jadore. She'd been accused of a lot of things with how she spoke, but being diplomatic was not one of them. "I'd be more inclined to the other two, myself."
After a few seconds of touching the egg dragged by Kailin began to worry about the Golden Starburst egg. She was getting no reaction from it, yet the egg was warm. Did that mean it was a dud. But... oh there it was. Not dead. That was good. But understanding? That wasn't exactly what she was looking for nor expecting, but some little part of her rejoiced. Someone believed her! Anyone else she'd told that she was innocent hadn't, had patted her on the shoulder with a faked 'there there' or outright disbelief, but this egg believed her! It could see she was innocent.
That made her smile. Although the egg was neither joyous nor sweet, she liked this one. Maybe not as much as she liked the first one she'd touched, but it hadn't exactly slapped her round the mind like the other. "Yes. Shit happens, doesn't it? You just gotta roll with the blow and get back up again," she muttered, giving the shell one final pat before standing again.
A voice behind her distracted her from looking around the others, that kid that'd come in earlier. She grabbed her bag of dirt and hauled it over. It was getting rather light now, maybe she'd have to get another one in a minute. By the time she got there the kid had moved away, so she didn't bother saying anything. Arrogant twerp.
She upended the bag of dirt next to the Making a Mockery, spreading it around the base and up against the sides in the hope that that would help, before laying her had on the egg to check just how cold it actually was (not that she knew anything about dragon eggs, but still, you had to try).
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Post by nozomi on Jun 20, 2011 18:02:27 GMT -5
To Astor:
The River Blue egg did not react as strongly as it's sibling did, did not say anything bad about Astor. It puzzled over him and his strange mind but - but. Strange was okay, at least the egg thought so. Don't worry, Astor - not all were like it's egg-cousin. The egg felt near as cool as it's shell.
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