Hatch Or Die [Outlaw Flower and Art Clutches]

[puppetmaster]

The Single Early bristled at Algonquith getting all the sharding attention! What was the purple - chopped liver?! Its eyed turned a vague shade of red, and its little jaws gave a snap in the general direction of its sister. No fair! It hatched first!

Firstm but stuck in the egg. And goopy. And stuck in the sharding egg!

The purple hatchling whined, gave a mighty shake in aan echo of Algonquith. Alas, nothing came from it but more eggy dripping down its legs. The Single Early sniffed in grump, and turned its hind end to the outlaws. With a wriggle of a miniature dragons tail, the purple braced itself and threw all of its weight onto the Watch Your Back egg. The shining gold shell of Single early gave a shake, spiderweb cracks covering it where shell hit shell. The egg rumbled, and yet the purple thrust itself at it once more.

It would break free, shardit!

Not before its sibling shoved its way out of the shell with a vicious snarl. The DTwo-Faced Hatchling had arrived! The unmistakable pink hide decorated with tye dye, although one side of that horribly thin hatchling stayed a single shade. Still, a pink, and a seriously pissed off one at that. It tackled the purple, snarling and slashing jaws until the small thing squealed in alarm.

Perhaps in surprise, he drew no blood. The Two-Faced Hatchling leapt from the other dragonet, all scrawny limbs and ribcage visible under the hide. It hissed to the outlaws, claws scraping stone, head twisting this way and that.

...this dragonet wanted blood.

[Spiffy]

Kailin giggled at the little purples attempts to release itself from the shell. The subsequent appearance of another pink from another of the aggressive eggs gave her pause however. When it attacked its sibling she let out a gasped "no!"

She nearly scrambled to her feet in her desire to protect the little purple she had already become so fond of, but before she was even vertical the skeletal pink had let off and turned its attention to the candidates, a bloodthirsty look to its eyes.

At least the purple didn't seem to be bleeding.

Slowly, she lowered herself back down onto the edge of the pool, ready to drop back into safety should this second angry pink go on a rampage in her direction.

[Inkwell]

Astor clambered up, dripping wet for the second time that day, into a position where he could see what was going on. He missed Single Early's desperate attempts to break free, but he certainly saw the Two-Faced Hatchling as it exploded from its egg. Another angry pink? This one was a lot scrawnier than its already-impressed brother, however. He could see its ribs under its split-colored hide. While scrawny, however, it certainly didn't strike him as fragile. It was still a baby dragon and it still had fangs and claws and an obvious overabundance of sheer willpower. This was not a baby he wanted to get in the way of.

So he didn't. He lay low. Not low enough to be in the water again, but certainly low enough that if the pink decided to charge someone, it wouldn't be him. This wasn't backing down, after all: this was being smart. If the pink did come at him, he always had the comforting weight of his stone knife. Not to kill it, no -- he wasn't that stupid -- but at least to discourage it. Maybe turn it on someone less important.

Though he was the only outlaw still definitely alive and bleeding, even if it was only a little. He hoped that blood wouldn't serve to attract the blood-hungry dragonet. How sensitive were their noses? Probably very.

[puppetmaster]

That's right, insects! Cower in fear over might Two-Faced Hatchling! He stook his time, leaping forward to snap at the ones who didn't withdraw. The pink made no attempt to actually shed blood, but those outlaws better know who was boss. The snarling never quite left his throat, hackles raised as the dragonet stalked.

His sibling hid behind Infant's Kiss, round shell quivering with her nerves around its vicious brother. Single Early continued to try and break its shell, a tap-tap-tap. Against the other egg.

Tap-tap-tap.

Then a creen of utter despair, Single Early flopped to the ground in a pitious heap. Its tiny head peered around the curve of the other shell, a whine still leaving it. So ugly. So ugly with the shell. So goopy.

Two-Faced Hatchling hissed at the other dragon and leapt onto the Infants Kiss. He balanced precariously, glaring down at the purple until the baleful whines ceased.

Into the crowd it went. The Pink slammed into anyone in its way, eyes red and yellow, jaws where they needed to be, claws meeting flesh when a few didn't get out of the path quick enough. Those eyes narrowed in on His, rainbow even when the skinny hatchling dove through the air and forcibly tackled his rider to the ground.

ARKADY. The thick, masculine voice ceased for a second, jaws snapping up the partiallybutchered meal the killer had brought just for him. Feed you Beoth! I will bite them if they don't give me more!

Name: Beoth
Color: Pink
Flower: Begonia
Hex Code: CC0066

Apperance: Anyone who says Pink is a girlie color has not laid eyes on the might Beoth. He is big, bad, and shaped like a pretty pretty princess. That's right - for all his brute strength, the sheer force of power under that hide, Beoth as an infant is gangly to an unhealthy extent, ribs poking out from an underdeveloped egg. Once grown, though, he will bloom into a sleek hunting machine, every muscle in his body will be utter steel, and the boy a danger t those around him if not careful. As for size - he is sleek, yes, but gigantic in terms of Pinks.

As for coloring, Beoth is a wee bit different. Again: pretty pretty princess. One side of him is a tye-dye of different shades of pink, the other half a single, rather drab tone. He is the Two-Face of dragons, with an attitude to match.

Personality: In many places, wits rule. Subtle manipulation have stolen kings from their thrones, wives from husbands, husbands from wives. There are sayings, such as: the pen is mightier than the sword. Brains over brawn. Use your words - not your fists. Beoth looks at those sayings and subtlities seconds before he starts laughing his pink hide off. He doesn’t need no rules – not at all.

To him, pens are made for stabbing, brains for gnawing, and fists have been replaced by claws for a reason. In this mindset is Beoth. More of a wher then a dragon, he comes off as a bully, using his size and utter lack of sympathy to the smaller to boss other dragons around. While quite the rude assumption, anyone thinking that would be undoubtedly correct. Some may have a skewed moral compass, Beoth merely measures his by what needs to be done and what he wants to be done.

Beoth is a small minded ruffian with little more on his agenda then getting things he desires, whether it is a certain female, herdbeast, or anything else that catches his eye. It doesn't need to be 'shiny' or 'special', but he will use brute force to get it, unafraid to attack human, dragon, or wher. He’s best described as a ‘thug’ – and a large one, at that. Nasty commentary? Of course. He’ll never be one for quick, witty comebacks, but when it comes to those snappish retorts or insults about a persons’ mother, Beoth is your man.

He has no true exception to this rule of bullying and meatheaded behavior, rider included. Beoth does not harm His, mentally or physically, but he will try to push his human around. If given a firm response, he can be tamed as much as any spitting caged animal can be. He’ll love his rider, legit and straight out, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to give them a free ride. They’ll earn his respect, shardit.

Looking For: Behind every good man is a better woman. Behind sneaky Arkady is a very pretty, pissed off, and strong dragpn that can, in fact, kill people. Arkady didn't like the fact dragons couldn't hurt humans, and he damn well got one that not only has the capability, but in fact enjoys the mayhem. Beoth didn't think Arkady would have trouble with loving him without the brains, and Ark has the wits and strength of spirit to keep Beoth in line. Beoth has muscle, devotion, and craves the sort of discipline Ark can dish out.

Also, the human likes pointy shit, and chopped up a pretty girl. Beoth respects that.

[S'yal]

Dragons were mauling people, there was a purple stuck in a shell, and Arkady had just Impressed the most fabulous princess to ever murder the shit out of things.

Iris couldn't muster the will to care about that. Instead, blue eyes focused on a golden shell, Iris biting down on her lip until she could taste blood. Move, She tried to silently will the egg, as if she could use her mind to force it to hatch. Come on, don't die. I promised I'd protect you. Widow's veil wouldn't die, would it?

Iris nearly moved forward before she stopped herself, the abandoned action only visible in the fact she was now leaning forward. Why wasn't it hatching? Where was her dragon? Iris didn't even care about impressing at this point. She just wanted the egg she had stolen to be alive. It'd been alive at the touching, hadn't it? Blue eyes turned to the shells of the Making a mockery egg.

Would Widow's veil...?

[tuathade]

“Oh, here we go,” Arkady muttered under his breath. This was going to be the sharding Hero’s Call all over again. So many sharding angry pinks! But – this one seemed to be going out of his way not to draw blood. He hadn’t killed the little purple, though a single snap of those jaws would have done the job easily enough. And… all those ribs sticking out… Well, he’d need feeding, that’s for sure. Hopefully he wouldn’t decide to make an outlaw into his first meal.

Into the crowd the hatchling went, and Arkady braced himself, once again placing himself between the sharding rampaging beastie and the Mindhealer he owed his life to -

ARKADY.

…what. what. And then the pink forcibly tackled him to the ground and the world exploded, and everything was made of rainbows and claws and shouting, lots of shouting. So much loud all up in his head. He was on the wet and bloody cave floor, and he couldn’t breathe so hot, because there was a big pink butt parked on his chest. Arkady shoved it. “Off – all right, get off.”

Feed your Beoth! I will bite them if they don’t give me more! The emaciated hatchling was already muzzle-deep in the hacked-up wherry, and Arkady was glad he’d had the foresight to butcher the beast beforehand. If he hadn’t, Beoth would have almost certainly choked to death in his first few minutes of life, and that would have been a shame all around. Bits of gore flew everywhere. Lucky that Ark wasn’t squeamish! Gore: part of your everyday life as an outlaw.

His head was full of the fuzzy euphoric glow of Impression. Vaguely, Arkady registered that those claws had torn a few new lines in him, but it didn’t hurt so he ignored it. (Hello, shock! You’re back! Been a while, Ark hasn’t seen you around since the egg theft, how’ve you been?) He sat cross-legged on the floor where he’d been knocked down, half-pulling Beoth into his lap with his good arm and feeding scraps of wherry to him with the other. The two of them were blood all over, and Arkady couldn’t keep the silly stupid grin off his face.

A couple scratches’ll be good for you, growled the little pink, gobbling down something unidentified and organ-ish. Maybe you’ll get some manly scars out of it.

You’re one to talk. You’re a pretty princess pink. The thought came unbidden, a natural retort, and one he didn’t actually intend to share with Beoth. Except, oh right, that whole mindspeak thing that happened now. He was going to have to figure out how that worked. Beoth must have heard, because his eyes whirled briefly indignant orange in between the hungry colors.

What?! No I’m not! He whipped his head around to look at a skinny, drab pink flank.

“Other side.”

…Oh. Shards.

[Cansi]

The beautiful savagery was breathtaking. Alezri shifted his weight from foot to foot, grimacing at the latest hatchlings' choices of people. Better than them going between? Maybe. Only time would tell. The way the Hatesong and Two-Faced hatchlings behaved definitely didn't give any indications. Not positive ones anyway. For now, he watched silently, as near to the action as he cared to be. One could appreciate a ferocious feline from a distance, but that didn't mean you'd want to walk right up and ask if it could pose for a sketch. One thing was certain. He'd have to be more careful than ever to either avoid or suck up to the Impressed outlaws.

But if any of the newly Impressed dragonlings started munching on human corpses, though, he was going to bust a gut gigglesnorting.

[nozomi]

HE HAD IMPRESSED.

Jessan could only be more delighted if it were she that had Impressed the little dragonet! Arkady received a fierce boy that had sent her tumbling in an attempt to escape, and onto her ass, but Arkady managed to Impress! Jessan shoved herself into a sitting position, eyes bright and - was that a flash of a slasher smile on her face? Never. It disappeared quickly, but her eyes remained fierce.

"Oh goodness, Arkady." Jessan breathed the words, running a slimy hand through her hair before getting to her feet. "My goodness."

Goodness.

No tumbling for a Turn.

Fantastic.

[Evadne]

It was fortunate Jadore had several fish with her but they disappeared so quickly. She couldn't fault Algonquith's manners (You'd best not, the opal chuckled in her mind), but even at a decorous and dainty pace...mouthfuls of fish simply weren't going to be enough.

I won't fuss if you don't fret, Algonquith told hers as she tossed her head back a last time to send the latest morsel slithering down her throat. Her voice was unrestrained and not limited to Jadore's mind; the more people who heard, the better.

It isn't as if I'm a bottomless pit like Beoth. Look at him. He'll choke. There's nothing quite like not being able to breathe to ruin a mood, is there?

And how would you know? Jadore reached into the makeshift pocket of her coveralls and drew out the handkerchief she'd fashioned from a corner of the blanket she'd found. First she dabbed at her fish-smeared hands and then she dabbed at Algonquith's muzzle. It wouldn't do to look anything other than their best on this most glorious of days. She drew back with the opal fanned open her wings, holding them just so to speed the process of drying. That it also kept Hers blocked from the attention or aggression of any others was simply a convenient side-effect.

How quaint. You may not have noticed, Jadorelove, but until recently I was trapped inside of an egg? Have you ever tried to breathe inside of an egg? Now, we simply must...

Jadore surprised the little opal into silence by curling her arms around her wedge-shaped head and drawing it against her breast. The wings drooped, and that long, skinny tail lashed once before going still, trailing down into the pool. "A few less musts, dearest," she said, ignoring the infant's squirming. Soon enough Algonquith gave up her fussy feline behavior and relaxed into the embrace, trusting it. "First I've a mind to see what comes from the treasure you unearthed, mm?"

Algonquith affected a tone of boredom. The edge of her hunger had been taken, she was wrapped in her beloved's arms and none dared approach; particularly not those pesky pinks. It was a good moment. Therefore, it was appropriate to pretend boredom and false modesty. Oh, that. It's just a little nothing...a trinket.

A live one?

This time, Algonquith's amusement was silent, meant for Jadore alone. A lady never tells.

[firebird]

Yekemi didn't respond to Bella, so intent was he on watching the progress of the little purple dragonet. Why wasn't it hatched all the way yet? The beast couldn't go find someone to Impress like that! Would it between if it couldn't hatch? It was trying to get out, but it was just so tiny...

Shard it all, that was his opportunity for status out there. He had been the one who brought in the egg! And he would not let it go without it first repaying him for the theft... Yekemi stepped into the hatching chamber proper, shoving people aside and occasionally prodding them in the knees with his pointy stick. It looked like all of the violent ones had Impressed, but he was still ready to fight back should a hatchling attack him.

"Little purple!" he called as he walked up to the tiny hatchling. "Come on, you need to go find yours." Yekemi crouched down and began assisting in whatever way he could, being careful not to injure the dragonet. Wiping off the goop, carefully breaking off part of the eggshell... He knew that it was possible to accidentally injure it by forcing a hatching, so he was very gentle. His beastcraft training would help him here, he was sure of it. He would not let his dragon vanish into nothing without even having the opportunity to Impress.

[puppetmaster]

So, Beoth found his. And single Early got to it's feet, momentarily safe from its siblings wrath. The purple creened again and tried, one last time, to break its shell. But then! Yekemi! Oh, the dragonet knew him! The purple cuddled right close, crooning and gnawing on his clothes. He left the diminutive dragonet naked, and happily so.

But, abruptly, the Single Early abandoned him. With a fierce liiiiiiick up Yekemi's cheek, it struggled fre and bounded towards a sibling. The Single Early pounced at Jazz Hands, rocking against it before the purple squirmed against the shell. It needed to be cleaaaaaan!

The Jazz Hands started to crack under its siblings assault, chipping away. Single Early rubbed. Against it like a feline would, crooning under its breath. So pretty it was now! Oh yes.

Once suitably cleaned off, the remnents of its shell clinging to Jazz Hands, Single Early trotted off towards the outlaws. It avoided the Impressed few, rubbing gently along the legs of a Dust dealer. So pretty. Sooo pretty. It had already been nice to Yekemi - time to share the love.

So pretty and attention whoring, in fact, the purple did not notice the limp yellow leg falling from the Jazz Hands Egg egg.

[Inkwell]

Astor bristled when he saw what the purple was doing to the Jazz Hands egg. To his egg! It was getting egg goop and shell all over that gorgeous hearts-and-fireworks pattern, it was cracking it -- possibly hurting it! Any love he had for the purple thanks to its pretty hide dissolved into hate. That was his dragon in that egg, and the stupid beast only cared for looking pretty!

Well. Everyone else might be too busy cooing over the stupid runt, but Astor saw that leg and knew what it might mean. But it couldn't... the little dragonet was only playing, right? Hah. Hah. What a kidder. Astor knew they'd get along well oh please don't be dead I worked so hard to steal you and keep you safe and I love you because you love me don'tdiedon'tdiedon'tdie!

That was it. He pushed his way forward, taking a few shaky steps out towards the egg. His eyes were wild, even wider than usual, and that combined with being dripping wet and still bleeding a bit made him look... well... insane. Moreso than usual.

"Don't you dare die on me! You'd better just be playing or... or I'll..."

What? He couldn't hurt the baby; the other outlaws would murder him. Though if it was already dead there wouldn't be much point...

"I'll... be very disappointed!" he finished desperately. It sounded utterly lame, the sort of thing his father used to say when he'd come home to find Astor halfway through lighting all of his important belongings on fire. But it got the point across. Astor would not be abandoned a third time in his life.

[tuathade]

Arkady didn’t look up until he heard the voice, remembered that Jessan was there. Oh right! Jessan! He beamed at her, all thousand-watt smile that was for once not laced with any predatory threat. He was just… happy. Happy about his freedom and the world and the hungry dragon nomming down the remains of the wherry and the half of his soul that he’d somehow been missing all of his life.

So this is the hot chick? Beoth asked quizzically, tilting his head at Jessan. Thankfully the faint blue of approval was creeping into his eyes; Arkady didn’t know what he’d do if his dragon and his… whatever Jessan was didn’t get along.

“Jessan,” Arkady corrected automatically, then smoothly turned it into an introduction, “Beoth. Beoth, Jessan.”

The purple freed itself with the help of one of the other outlaws, but in the process bumped hard against the Jazz Hands egg. He remembered that one from the Touching, recalled the kindness and how its occupant had tried so hard to comfort him. He loved Beoth, wouldn’t trade the pink for the world… but seeing the little leg lying there all limp, he couldn’t help but feel a little catch of disappointment in his chest. It would have been nice, to have a possible ally in weyrlinghood – most of the Impressed dragons so far seemed more like shady characters to be avoided.

Arkady. Arkady! Why do you care about that one? Beoth huffed and butted his head against the harper’s chest. If it can’t hatch on its own, then it’s too weak to live!

Hey, fuck you. That’s your clutchsibling. And it’s a good dragon. A yellow could be a valuable asset to have on our side – but not if it dies.

…Oh. Do you want me to break it open?

“No!” he hissed aloud, arm tightening around Beoth’s shoulders in warning. For all that the hatchling was big, he was still tremendously thin, without all the solid muscle that his brother Juarth had displayed. The pink fidgeted for a while, then stilled, huffing. Only when he deemed that Beoth wasn’t about to go charging off on his own did Arkady dare to release his hold and get to his feet.

[firebird]

Yekemi watched the little purple hatchling as it trotted away, noting that it seemed to be in good physical shape. That was good. His investment was safe, and if anyone thought him soft after his actions he could just mention how good it would probably be at hunting. Large dragons would scare away prey, but a small one could be stealthy. He noticed the leg flopping out of the Jazz Hands egg, but didn't particularly care. It had nothing to do with him.

The man decided that it would be prudent to return to his designated spot posthaste. He did not want to be near the rest of the eggs if a violent one hatched. Yekemi shoved his way back through the crowd, again using his pointy stick to assist him, and retook his place near Bella.

"So, who do you think will Impress what?" he asked her after making sure his meat was still where he had left it.

[whiteangel28]

Taking a deep shuddering breath, she hid her face in her hands for a moment, finding that the scene before her was swimming and twirling ever so wrongly. This Hatching, was apparently going far to fast for this young one, the one at Telgar so long ago hadn't gone this fast! Well at least, for her. It might have something to do with all the bright colors in front of her, the deformed green having been the only traditional color she had seen so far and it had betweened so even that wasn't there for her to focus on. Pink, yellow, opal, purple. Ugh!

Finding her stomach becoming slightly nauseated, the smell of dead bodies mixig with the sulferic smell in the air did nothing to calm her dizziness. She didn't even peer up at the sound of more splashing, screams and grunts that signaled the appearance of another rather violent dragonet. Instead she simply leaned back against the wall, trying to stop the horrible spinning her head seemed to have taken as normal and completely ignoring the little voice in her head telling her to buck up and not show weakness.

When it had gone quiet for a while, her dizzy head slowly stopping its spin, she deemed it safe to lift her head up, spying the second violent dragon of the clutch. Another pink, but of course. Those seemed the most deadly at this point, pink or not. Thankfully he had Impressed apparently, now where was the purple? Eyes darting about, they found the object of their search, walking away from the Jazz Hands Egg to the candidates. But her eyes did not stay on the purple, no they found the limp limb of the yellow, the dragonet that seemed to be already dead. The young woman felt her throat closing up.

Perhaps it would have been better, if she had kept her head in her hands...?