Egg Hunt!

[lithle]

If there was one thing you could count on, it was Semith trying to make things more interesting. And, combining Semith and L'vey was only asking for trouble. With much begging, Semith had convinced the man's Gold firelizard to part with her small clutch of eggs.

Under her direction, those eggs had been hidden, as had a number of other small objects. Now, the eggs were almost ready to hatch! Semith was not present, of course. She was too big. But Leshta was. And she was ready, as ever, to indulge the gold's whims.

So, standing off a ways from the bonfire, Leshta surveyed the gathering celebrators.

"Hey!" she called, in that sharp voice of hers. "We've got an egg hunt over here. Find the sharding things before they go wild!"

Then she waited, a bucket of fresh meat at their side. If prisoners came, they'd be allowed to join. They just wouldn't be given anything to feed the hatching flits if they turned out to be female.

1. Under a log
2. Lump of sand
3. Behind a rock
4. Next to a large shell
5. Right behind Leshta
6. In a basket
7. Lump by the waterline
8. Under an old shoe
9. Tucked in a small shrub
10. In a tree


((OOC:
Not all the locations have eggs. You have one chance. Second chances will be given after everyone interested has had a turn. While they are randomized, I will tweak things as needed so that no females go to Prisoners. Prisoners will be allowed a second firelizard if they impress it at this event. Those prisoners who already have two pets may not participate.

These won't have art as it's a spur of the moment thing. But they will have personalities and appearances.

Happy Easter!))

[firebird]

Senar liked searching for things. It was an activity that neither involved other people nor required any strength. Decent eyesight would have helped, but in his experience he could overcome that by sweeping an area three or four times before moving on. The problem about living in a barracks was that there just wasn't enough space for things to be misplaced. Well, maybe that was a minor problem considering it was a barracks in a prison.

So the moment he heard there was going to be an egg hunt, he began plotting his searching pattern. Eventually he decided on a spiral, starting from the Weyrwoman and moving outward.

((5, right behind Leshta please.))

[nozomi]

"Are we hunting for things?" Warden sounded, above all other things, absolutely pleased. Showing up prepared for the night was quite possibly the best idea EVER, despite the horrid hangover he would have in the morning. Shards and shells, he even wore casual attire - a maroon tunic that actually didn't button up to his throat, dark pants, and, surprisingly, barefoot. Even his hair was down! Poor Leshta may not even have recognized him with the lack of scowl and pleasant tone. "I love finding things!"

And off he went. Look! A shell! A shiny one! Warden poked at it, moved it aside. What was this?

(4, next to the shell.)

[lithle]

Leshta had allowed prisoners to stand for Semith's last clutch. And really, as far as such things went, she had little enough problem with the prisoner Weyrlings. They'd been chosen, surely that was a sign of something. Leshta might not like most dragonriders, but they existed in a different category than 'criminal' in her neatly ordered little mind.

But prisoners who had yet to impress, well, that was another matter entirely. Leshta saw things in black and white. Committing serious crimes made you bad. Simple.

So she wasn't entirely comfortable with the young prisoner circling behind her. She allowed it, because it was Semith's idea, and she'd allow Semith anything.

But, as Senar moved behind her, she stepped forward. The motion revealed something that had been hidden beneath her skirt. A egg, with a swirl of soft reds and blues. It was wiggling and, now free, it crumbled lazily revealing the firelizard within.

A brown, wet with egg goo, sat in the remains of his egg and began shaking himself dry. He seemed unhurried, though not particularly fastidious. When he'd found his feet he took a couple careful steps. Yes, that seemed to be working.

He didn't notice Senar at first, nudging a bit of his own shell, seemingly fascinated by the colors there. Finally, hunger won. He snatched the bit of shell in a claw, and clambered carefully over to the prisoner. Once there, he began to croon in a high sweet voice. He seemed to be trying to entice the young man into feeding him.


Coney Island Brown

Appearance:
Small for a brown, but not to the point of being unusual. His hide is a warm tan with splashes of deeper, almost reddish brown. He's a perfectly formed little creature, long winged with extremely dexterous little claws. He's not built for speed, but he is built for grace, long steady flights high in the air will be his particular trademark.

Personality:
This little brown is pure romance. He loves his owner most of all, but barring that, he's ready to love just about everything else in the world too. He's drawn deeply to beauty, be it a bit of shiny jewelry or the sunset. When he spots something he likes, he falls into something like a trance. A creature of care and grace, he'll never stoop to destructive actions, nor anything as low as begging. He knows the best way to get what he wants is charm. He will, however, be difficult to train. This boy does what he wants when he wants to do it.

[firebird]

Senar didn't expect the egg to actually be right behind the Weyrwoman; he only chose her as her starting location because she didn't look like she was going anywhere anytime soon. He certainly didn't expect it to immediately hatch into a beautiful brown firelizard. He had assumed they were searching for boiled wherry eggs. Firelizards explained the 'before they go wild' bit of the call to search.

But still... what a gorgeous firelizard! It was okay for prisoners to have one, right? Senar knelt down and picked it up, letting out an embarrassing cooing noise as he did so. It helpfully clung to his arm and crooned at him again. "What a pretty boy you are! Wow, you're hungry. Um... food. There's food in that bucket over there, so hold on." Carefully cradling the firelizard in both hands, Senar straightened up and bowed to Leshta. "Thank you, Weyrwoman."

[lithle]

Okay, that was scary.

Leshta did, in fact, recognize the Warden. She also recognized that something was very wrong with said Warden. He simply didn't act like that. Of course, he knew nothing of the details of the man's problem. As far as she was concerned, he was just very, very drunk.

That wasn't particularly comforting. What on earth had possessed the man to come out in public. He was likely to make a fool of himself.

The area he was searching turned up an egg shaped rock as she watched. The rock was smooth and rather pretty, but it wasn't likely to hatch into something anytime soon.

"Warden V'tya? Don't you have work you might be doing?" She sounded gruff, but concerned. She had never seen him in such a state.

[tuathade]

Sharding draconic memories. It figured that the one time C'ross was hoping that Merceth would forget something was the one time he remembered.

At Merceth's insistence, C'ross had placed Semith's gift, the shiny shell, on a window-ledge where the big bronze could see it. It made Merceth happy, so C'ross saw no harm in it... At first, anyway. But now he was regretting that decision. Because every time Merceth saw it, he was reminded that he wanted to find a "shiny" to give to Semith in return. It was sharding ridiculous, that's what it was. C'ross offered to buy some trinket off one of the weyr's smiths or weavers, but for some reason Merceth insisted that was cheating. If C'ross bought it with his own marks, it would be a present from the rider, not the dragon. No amount of futile explanation would convince Merceth otherwise.

So that was how C'ross ended up on the beach, holding the arms-folded, unimpressed-face stance universally recognized as angry bouncer, while Merceth wandered happily all over the beach looking for anything interesting or sparkly. Somehow, they'd both missed the memo about the egg hunt.

C'ross!

What.

There is something interesting in this tree.

...Oh shards what was it this time. Merceth had already rejected three rocks and half a shell for being not exciting enough. And honestly, if it was up a tree, C'ross suspected it was probably either a bird's nest or a scrap of cloth blown there by the wind.

But Merceth was adamant. Easier to oblige him than to convince him to give it up. So C'ross headed over to the tree that his dragon was staring intently at. He hooked an arm around the bronze's foreleg and let Merceth lift him to the level where he could at least see what the shards this mystery object was.

(10, please~)

[nozomi]

What?

Had he done something wrong?

Warden plucked the stone up despite the lack of a dragon inside, tucking it away in a small pocket of his pants. The stone taken care of and hidden, Warden paid attention to Leshta and her 'you are in deep trouble' voice. Usually, he'd bristle. This time, he just raised his eyebrows.

"Despite what some may think, Weyrwoman," At least he didn't slur when he spoke, his reaction to the oncoming chastisement being to respond in as proper a tone as possible. "Even I sometimes have time off." Warden paused, considering his words, and tugged a the hem of his tunic. "Although I will admit to being quite surprised this still fit. I haven't worn proper clothing since we started to build this place. I've lost weight."

He pursed his lips, frowning in the familiar default Warden manner.

"Well. Thank you for the rock." And off he went, without stumbling or needing to lean one way or the other. Poor Leshta could worry another time! He had a rock, and was hungry.

[lithle]

Leshta was aware of the bronze and his rider, wandering the beach. Indeed, she might have made her way over to say hello, were she not distracted by the 'egg hunt' and the odd behavior of the Warden. As it was, she barely spared a glance in C'ross's direction as Merceth's shiny hunt brought them to her stretch of beach.

But Merceth did indeed have an eye for the interesting. Halfway up the tree, out of reach without climbing was a firelizard egg. In the faded evening light, it appeared to be a soft, velvety blue. It was shivering, as if even the soft sea wind was too much of it. Yes, the poor egg was cold.

It's shivering quickly grew desperate, so that it was banging into the crook where it sat, breaking off bits of shell. Soon, a flash of hide was visible, the color difficult to make out. Then another. And the shell was falling away, revealing a hatchling of palest gold, a faint, delicate, almost ghostly version of the color.

She gave a little whimpering cry. She was trapped. She was in the tree with wet wings that she did not yet remember she could use. She began to creel pathetically, turning in place and making distressed sounds. She needed help! Someone needed to climb up and save her! She seemed to see C'ross then and spotting him, she gave a piteous little call and began to shiver again.

Help!

Times to Remember Gold

Appearance:

In the wrong light, this pretty little creature just might be mistaken for a white. Her hide is ghostly pale, as if there wasn't enough gold to go around and she was tragically slighted. Close examination of her hide shows tiny stripe like markings that circle her legs and tail. But they're almost as pale as the rest of her and hard to see without careful attention. She's a big girl, though, larger than her momma and capable of making her voice heard.

Personality:

This little one is clever as heck. In particular, she seems capable of remembering everyone she meets and everything she sees. First impressions are last impressions with her, as she'll never forget who offered an extra bit of meat and who chased her away. It's all neatly filed, ready for use when needed. She's not vindictive, but she's not forgiving, either.

Quiet, and not particularly adventurous, she'd rather be on the shoulder of her owner than out sunning herself or flying about. She's almost clingy and he'll be hard pressed to get some time alone. Eager to please and helpful, she'll be quick to learn and useful once she's trained. But if C'ross wants privacy, he's out of luck.

[tuathade]

“Asdfjkl,” said C’ross eloquently.

This was partly because of the gold flit, partly because he was halfway up a tree, and mostly because he had a Useless on his face.

The very irate green was flapping her wings and squawking at the terrified golden hatchling, making her message very clear indeed: this was her human. Little interlopers were not welcome! Especially shiny little interlopers! The gold creeled and recoiled from the threat display… at least until C’ross swore furiously and batted the green away from his face. Shards, he couldn’t see-

At which point something became abundantly clear. Dragon hide, especially hide that was slightly damp from sea spray, did not make the most solid footing. Merceth’s forearm was easy enough to balance on under normal circumstances, but C’ross could feel himself beginning to lose his balance. And he was halfway up a tree. Completely on instinct, C’ross grabbed onto the nearest tree limb for dear life. The gold hatchling, seeing her opportunity, climbed up onto his shoulder and snuggled herself into the warmth of his collar. And that was that.

I told you there was something shiny in this tree. You should listen to me more often.

I sharding hate you.

Once C’ross was securely back on the ground, only then did he notice that Leshta had a bucket of meat by her side. That explained things. An egg hunt did seem like the sort of thing that Semith would think was a fine game for a beach party. And, now that he noticed it, Useless was still fluttering around him and shrilling, but she hadn’t made any attempt to bite either of them or knock the gold from her perch. Maybe… having a little queen could come in handy? Certainly, it might help keep his angry green in line.

Walking over to where Leshta stood, he greeted her with a polite wave and a dry smile – hopefully she’d forgive him for not bowing, as he didn’t want to dislodge the little one attached to him. “Weyrwoman. I seem to have acquired another shiny, and I believe I have you to thank?”

[S'yal]

Yari wasn't one for these... shennagins. She honestly disliked firelizards, but Trusith was enamored with them. They were so loving and kind... he needed one. Thus the brown had whined and cried until Yari had wandered over, the brown noticably not in tow. She nodded her head respectively at Leshta, before passing a glare at her.

"Trusith is whining about these eggs now." She growled, before she made her way to a log and crouched, trying to peek under it.

(1)

[giftwrapped]

Nicoth wasn't allowed to come to the gathering.

Then again, Nicoth wasn't allowed to go much of anywhere, particularly when she had only recently mauled her weyrmate and I'saac was trying his hardest to enforce some sort of punishment. So the green had rumbled and snapped and snarled until I'saac had just stopped responding, at which point she had grumpily curled up in a ball and fallen into a sleep deep enough that I'saac couldn't have roused her if he tried. It was probably for the best, considering I'saac would almost undoubtedly end up doing something that displeased the moody green by the end of the night.

At the moment, though. he was looking for C'ross. And it wasn't particularly difficult to find him, largely because there was an enormous bronze silhouette halfway up a tree not far from the bonfire where others had gathered. I'saac headed for the large bronze shape with cheerful purpose, stopping only momentarily when he was distracted by....something in a shrub as he passed it. Huh, that was odd, for a second, he thought he saw something...

Might as well check, just to make sure.

(9, if you wouldn't mind)

[lithle]

Leshta's eyes followed the Warden as he wandered off. There was something off, a lot off, and even the slight return of his usual reserve had done little to comfort her. The Warden was who he was, the wall that Leshta ran up against. He couldn't change. Leshta hated it when things changed.

But then C'ross was approaching and he was comfortably as he'd been before. She turned her attention to him, smiling in that wry, unhappy way of hers. "Oh, please, Squadleader, don't thank me." She nudged the meat bucket with her foot as she spoke. "Go ahead and stuff the little beast. The eggs were from L'vey's queen. And the idea was Semith's. You can thank them, if you still want to, after it's kept you up a week screaming for food."

She spotted Yari, then, not missing the look the brown weyrling gave her as she passed. And Leshta was more than prepared to glare in turn. "Watch yourself, Weyrling," she said, her voice very cold. To C'ross she said, "You best go enjoy the party."

Under the log, something began to scream. Apparently, it'd already finished hatching as Yari approached and had found itself under a log, lost in darkness. It was hungry. It was scared. It wanted out! It wanted food! Bright eyes whirled in the dark, and just barely a green hide could be made out among the shadows.

Finally, the green found her strength, scrambling out toward the light. She was dirty and desperate, but she launched herself straight toward Yari, not aggressive so much as desperate.

99 Luftballons Green

Appearance:

This little beauty is made to hide in the shadows of leaves. Dark from nose to tailtip, the tones of her hide vary greatly. Her is a patch of near brown. Next to it, an evergreen splotch. Near her nose, a splotch of black-green. And so forth, across her wingsails and down to her toes. She's of average size, with a particularly loud voice.

Personality:

Fight the power! This green is a tiny anarchist, wild, curious, and utterly impossible to train. Luckily, she's sweet natured, or she'd be a real problem. As it is, she goes where she wants, takes what she wants, and shows up only when she cares to. At least, she doesn't require a lot of attention.

Yelling only makes her more rebellious and when upset, she's likely to take small trinkets. She's not really a thief, she doesn't hoard objects. She just likes to move them around, and watch the chaos that follows when nothing is where it should be. Fascinated by people, she'll be drawn to anyone acting in a way she's not previously witnessed.

[Spiffy]

J"thir had somewhat reluctantly attended the beach party when he'd been told there was to be no alcohol involved. He'd been rather looking forward to some, not having been allowed any in sharding ages! And that didn't only include Weyrlinghood, but prisonerhood too! By Faranth he wanted booze and he wanted it now!

He settled for a redfruit juice instead, the sweet red liquid sloshing about in his glass like runny blood. Funny thing for him to compare it too, but after several months of slicing fresh heardbeast for his ravenous dragonet, it held little revulsion to the greyrider. The colour made a stark contrast to his yellow shirt, too. At least the little bronze sitting on his shoulder, asleep, went with the shirt, and at least it wasn't the horrid red jumpsuit he'd been wearing for the better part of a turn before Impressing.

He was about to head over and make some remark to L'vey about the quality of his firemaking skills when he realised that not where J'thir had left him. He glanced around in confusion, before spotting the tiny grey just as he faceplanted in the sand.

Jareth, I think you should come look at this, he said, righting himself and craning his neck around. What on Pern are you doing? J'thir asked, ignoring the summons, but wandering over anyway, to check if his dragonet was alright. I tripped on a rock. But I found something underneath it. The bronze, waking, launched himself from J'thir's shoulder and flew ahead, to land in the sand next to Golith and batt at the object with is paw.


(3. Behind a rock please!)

[lithle]

((Lithle is going to this differently so she can make the replies a bit more brief.))

I'saac:

There was indeed something tucked away in the shrub. It wasn't shivering, though. But certainly, the bush wasn't shaped quite as it should be. Yes, something was there. Further poking quickly revealed it to be...

a hat.

A large, purple tricorne hat with a gaudy rooster feather tucked into the hat band. It looked quite new and the quality was good. Ridiculous, yes. But nicely made.


J'thir:

It was under attack! Firelizards, tripping dragons, rocks. It was no surprise that the poor egg cracked under the stress, spilling a befuddled looking little blue onto the sands. He chirped, thoughtfully, and seemed to take inventory, making sure all limbs were accounted for. He stretched his little wings, wiggled his toes and lashed his tail back and forth a few times.

Apparently satisfied, he gave the dragon and firelizard both extremely disgruntled looks, hissing a bit to make his point clear. Then, apparently settled on the subject, he toddled his way over and sat on J'thir's foot.

Knuckle Down

Appearance:

This little blue's hide has a pebbled appearance, if one works on the assumption that pebbles are a bright sapphire blue. Maybe it's a pile of gemstones? Regardless, to look at him, one would expect to touch a textured, bumpy hide instead of the truth of the smooth surface that meets the fingertips. He's quite the pretty little thing, with an extra long neck and a face that somehow gives the impression of exhaustion.

Personality:

Poor little blue. From the moment he enters the world, he seems somehow exhausted by it. This isn't to say he's lazy, instead, one might say he's sad. He still does the things other firelizards do, but he somehow fails to take joy from the actions. It's as if he has some sense that things will soon go wrong, regardless of what he attempts, but he's determined to attempt them anyway.

Perhaps because of this dark attitude, training him will be difficult, though not impossible. He needs concrete bribes, doing things just to make his owner happy isn't enough. He's fond of other firelizards and seeks their company. Yet even with them, he seems to be halfhearted, playing without joy.