Hatch Or Die [Outlaw Flower and Art Clutches]

[Evadne]

If anyone in the camp could recognize the signs of an impending tantrum in Astor, it was Jadore. When Algonquith felt the woman grow tense, she swung her head about to study the man. Really? Disappointed was the best he could do? A huge, toothy yawn followed that sentiment. It was becoming evident that one of the opal's talents was in summoning yawns on command.

Jadore ignored the cool, cultured tones purring through her mind. She could just picture it now. Small tantrum morphing into big tantrum. Eggs smashed. That jaunty little purple swept up and shaken, perhaps...or worse.

She felt no particular liking of Astor but that sort of acting out was a surefire way to wreak chaos in a camp that was still finding its feet.

And besides, she did hate mess and noise.

Be a dear, sweetling, and make certain he doesn't cause a ruckus, mm? I'll fetch you something else to eat in the meantime. Jadore released the opal and rose smoothly to her feet. Her confidence that Algonquith would do as she was told was flawless, no matter how much she might be yawned at.

And she was. Yawned at. Again.

Honestly, they could do with a better form of entertainment around here. But the opal made no further protest. She flowed forward, slinking through and around the crowd to come up behind Astor. Not for her the expression of brute strength! She was grace, she was elegance, she was...standing up and putting her forepaws on the man's back and shoving forward to topple him to the ground.

All right, so maybe she was a little brute strength. Sometimes that's what it took to get a person's attention. That and sitting on him. She mantled her wings and hung her head down to study Astor's wet and flustered face, or whatever she could see of it, at least. Her eyes spun with mild interest. Hello, my little mad man. Jadorelove would appreciate it if you rested for a moment. Down here. With me. It's all so very exciting, isn't it? I've never met a mad man before. Or sat on one. You might try eating more often, you're as bony as Beoth.

[puppetmaster]

With all that was going on, particularly an adorable little purple playing to the crowd, who would notice that more eggs were beginning to rock with urgency. In particular, the Fresh Perspective Egg, one of those pushed aside by Algonquith during her digging, was now shuddering in place. So much was happening and the dragon inside was missing it.

It shook. It trembled. It bounced in place.

And at last, it managed to thrust a leg through its hell. A black leg?

No. Wait. Not black. Brown. Rich and deep but certainly brown. A second leg crashed through, dark as the first. The shell's integrity was ruined and it fragmented, leaving the Inner Visions Hatchling revealed.

He was quite a beauty, a warm chocolate brown swirled through with gentle whirls of milky brown, like half stirred coffee. But his eyes were white. He took a few steps, running first into a bit of sack, then into an egg. It was quite clear that he was blind. Realizing something was wrong, he cried our, a high creening call for his and continued to stumble across the sands, crying.

One could be quite certain that he didn't mean to trip and plow into the tiny Enchanted Garden Egg (Admin) cracking the shell and allowing a flash of something that might have been white to show. Getting back on his feet, he made it to the line of outlaws without further falls. He was still crying.

A woman was knocked over, unintentionally, a man snapped at when he reached out to touch the Inner Visions Hatchling.

The dragon continued walking, bumping into any who didn't get out of the way. Indeed, he walked himself right into the water.

At which point, his cry became an ear-piercing scream. It was then that a man, a dust user known to be fairly sociable, broke from the circle and ran into the hotspring, taking the screaming brown into his arms. He got a long, vicious cut down one arm for his trouble, but the dragon calmed. It was clear impression had been made as the man pulled the dripping dragon from the water.

The Enchanted Garden Egg (Admin) shuddered in its much abused shell. Perhaps not so dead, after all?

(Inner Visions to NPC)

[Inkwell]

The last thing Astor expected was to suddenly find himself face down on the ground with a crushing, dragony weight atop him. He'd been so focused on the Jazz Hands egg and that poor little leg hanging out of it that he hadn't even noticed Algonquith approaching until it was too late and he already had a half-mouthful of dirt mixed with sand. Delicious. He spat it out, turning his head with some difficulty to look up at the dragonet.

It wasn't as though he could see her, of course: to him she was just a large, shiny blur, close as she was. But he could tell her colors enough to know which dragonet was atop him, which she herself confirmed when she spoke.

Hello, my little mad man. Jadorelove would appreciate it if you rested for a moment. Down here. With me. It's all so very exciting, isn't it? I've never met a mad man before. Or sat on one. You might try eating more often, you're as bony as Beoth.

How did he respond to that? He wiggled indecisively, looking from the blur that was the dragon above him to the more focused but still fuzzy form of the egg he was beginning to feel was probably not going to stop 'pretending'.

"I... I'm not mad. I'm special. And I wasn't doing anything except telling that lazy dragon over there to stop being laaaaazy and get out of its egg and not die." He said this pointedly in the direction of the Jazz Hands egg, trying to hint to it with his signature subtle-as-a-brick-to-the-face style. "If it really liked me like it said it did, it would NOT DIE."

[lithle]

It wasn't until the brown trundled past and into the water, his new rider close on his heals, that Myr put Roni down. One could only hold a thing, no matter how precious, for so long before one's arms began to fall off. And Myr was at that point.

"Stay still, sweetling," Myr warned, once again arranging herself so that the small girl stood slightly behind her, very near the water's edge. This hatching had thus far been much more violent than any she'd experienced from a Weyr's stands. She supposed it was the bad influence of such violent minds touching them while still in the shell. Hers would not be so uncouth, of course. If it hatched violent, well, she would fix it.

Hers.

She couldn't help it. Her eyes kept trailing back to the purple. Oh, Jadore's Opal was lovely, certainly unique, but the tiny, charming purple was winning her heart regardless of any attempts to remind herself that in this, if nothing else, she could not take what she wanted. She had to wait for it to come to her.

When the opal tackled the crazed outlaw that'd been making his way out to the sands, Myr almost smiled. But, as she heard his words to the hatchling, that near expression turned into a pitying look. To her own surprise, she found she could sympathize with such feeling. And what could be said. If the egg was dead, it was dead. There was naught to save the creature. But to lose a treasure?

Oh, yes. She knew how that could hurt. As if seeking reassurance, she reached back and stroked Roni's hair.

[nozomi]

Bodies. Right.

Machi had found himself distracted by how Jadore ended up Impressing. She'd been talking to him one moment, and the next - she had a dragon of her very own. The pink burst free, didn't maul but harassed the now-fawning purple, and Impressed... Arkady. Well, shards. His sisters whatever-he-was Impressed, and to a rage-filled creature at that. Fabulous. His face darkened a bit, shifting away from Myr, Roni, and the then-Impressed Jadore to go get the bodies as ordered. Requested. Whatever it was.

Machi left them, shifting through the crowds to go and find the corpse. It had to be removed, and before there were more (or before a hatchling decided to eat one of them.) Blood stuck to his feet, gummy and dark. The purple hatchling was rubbing up against some random dealer, crooning, as Machi gripped the dead man by the arms and began to lift him.

----

Jessan smiled right back with Arkady, a little jolt of pleasure unfurling in her stomach. She liked him, shardit, and to see him happy was a good thing. When she Impressed herself, they would be weyrlings together, and everything would be as it should. The Mindhealer took the time to shift to her knees, leaning on the back of her bloody ankles with that smile still on her lips.

"Hello, Beoth," She murmured, offering out a slim hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I knew Arkady's would be handsome, but never did I expect something to match his--" That smile twitched. "--Flare for the interesting. I do hope we will be great friends."

She'd seen blue in those eyes, blue and hunger. Otherwise she wouldn't have dared even hold out fingers to such a nippy hatchling. Jessan's smile stopped when that brown, wailing and blind, ran into the crowd. She stood, eyebrows pushed together, and only then did she catch sight of that dangling foot.

"Another dead." Jessan frowned, her hands rubbing together. She glanced to Arkady, that frown still there, and then back to the purple. "Goodness."

[puppetmaster]

Finally! Finally, the Single Early Hatchling found it's rider! Oh, they had hid ever so cleverly in the back, but-- The hatchling crooned happily, frolicked past a man lifting a dead body ew and scooted into the brighter glow of the cave.

Now...

The dragon itself had no shine to it's hide but - what? It's claws. The dragonets claws glittered, clicking on the stone as it shoved itself through the people. Click-shimmer-click-shimmer, and then she wrapped around the legs of one very pretty Pretty in particular.

What are you doing, dearest? Even with the dragonets red eyes, her voice sounded high and amused. If the dragonets gender was up for question, her new rider would know better now. Staring at my clutch sibling! That one is no good, not as good as your Tith, Alezri. Stop looking at it, admire me, and feed me. There is so much to do! So much to see! Hold your Tith now!

Beyond her and the crowd, the Jazz Hands finally moved. Astor yelled, Algonquith did what she was good at (placating the psychos), and then the fireworked egg shook. The leg retreated abruptly, leaving a hole in the shell. A darker yellow nose poked out, then pushed, and the egg fell away.

A yellow sat in the middle of what had been the egg, blinking large, confused eyes. It had been shaken! And crashed into. She was so dizzy. The Shimmy Shake Hatchling crooned towards Astor and her step-clutchsib, before standing in the rubble of her shell.

Name: Tith
Color: Purple
Flower: Tulip
Hex: 990099


Appearance: Tith is quite the eyecatcher and, sadly, she knows it. While born exceedingly small, Tith will grow to be one of the larger end of purples, hitting past Ramoth by the time she is 2/3 grown. She is a stocky dragon with just as much muscle visible as 'fluff' - not quite fat, but not muscle. Her neck is long and slim with a head smaller than most dragons but given her size, it still dwarfs most dragons. In order to carry her bulk, Tith's wings have an exceedingly large span.

As for color, this girl has a deep purple hide reminiscent of the royal colors of Terrian Rome. Small, lighter stripes lash along her stomach and down the insides of her tail and legs. Like all purples, her nails have that shimmer to them that Golds, Bronzes, and Opals have.

Even without all the fancy decorations some less than interesting dragons may have, Tith makes herself known. One doesn't need fancy wrapping in order to be the best gift under the tree.

Personality: Fame, love, passion - Tith has it all. She loves life and all the pretty things that come with it. She wants the best, and at no matter the cost. This could always mean scheming to steal away someone elses goods as long as there is some indication in there that there is an off-chance she could, one day, be in possession of it. Things aren't allowed to be beautiful without her being present, and Tith will be the very first one to inform you of that. She is beautiful, carrying herself with the pride that simply begs to be adorned by the beautiful and the shiny and - well, you get the point.

She has a very strong sense of the dragon chain of command, understanding without protest that Golds are in charge, riders with dragons aren't to be hurt, and that whers are (of course) the bottom of the totem pole. Even with the knowledge that shiny egg-makers are typically the ones in charge, if a green happens to be in charge of a certain operation, or a Pink is the one with higher ranking then a Bronze or Gold, they are still the one in charge. Color has little meaning to Tith unless they hold a position of power. When authority changes hands, so will her obediance. Tith obeys, even if her rider is not too keen on the idea. Things must be followed in a way that would best benefit the Weyr/cave-system, after all. Life must run smoothly.

Even with her penchant to be vain and just a smidge self absorbed, Tith is no skinflint when it comes to affection for others. She throws herself into friendships wholeheartedly, even if it means lying just a little to make them like her. Everyone should like her automatically, this is a fact, but some people just don't understand things like 'should'. If it takes a little twisting of the truth to get those to like her, Tith has no problem taking a page from her dam's book.

As for her rider? Tith knows she is more then just an accessory, a pretty nothing to hang on a riders arm for no reason. They are an extension of herself, and thus should be treated with respect by those around them! She is intensely aware that she may not be the top dog, but that doesn't mean non-riders, or dragons with lower rank in the camp hiarchy need to be treating her and Hers worse then they are. You don't insult a girl from Jersey Shore - and you don't talk trash about Tith's rider. Shrieks and insulted pride may ensue.


Why Me?: What's that? You expected Tith to pick someone ugly? As if. The skin has to be flawless, even if what's underneath is a bit rotted. And, let's face it, Alezri is a bit coarse. That is where Tith comes in. This lady will be able to take over where he blunders, be polite when Alezri fails, she can appreciate his greed, his anger, and use them to be something less then chaotic and useless.

Tith does not have a drop of true malice in her soul, something she firmly believes Alezri needs less of. She loves rather then hates, even if the love is a bit on the violent side, but she knows her darling Alezri understands that. He will be able to get her the things she needs, and she will be that little grasshopper on his shoulder telling him that no... probably means no, and being gentle while she does it. Listen to the chain of command, after all! In the world of the outlaws, that will get them far.

[Inkwell]

If Astor had been a lesser man, he would have cried with relief. But he was Astor, so instead he smiled from ear to ear, wriggling beneath Algonquith. Shardit, his dragon was alive and well and right there, the least the opal could do was let him go to it. The fact that the little dragonet hadn't actually Impressed to him yet didn't matter; that dragon was still his.

"So you were just playing. Hah! I knew it! I've been guessing everything right at this hatching, don't you know. Well I mean, you do know, you've been here. I mean, probably not paying attention, since you've been in an egg, but..." He trailed off, gave another wriggle. "I knew you weren't dead."

Of course he'd known. Never mind the fact that he had definitely been in a panic just a few minutes before, never mind that he had seriously been considering killing that strutting purple beast (who he was glad to see was Impressing to someone far away from him). No, he had definitely never been worried. Not him. Any egg of his had to be too strong to die, as the yellow had just proved.

[Evadne]

The purple's frolicking was ignored by Algonquith. Jadore had told her to control the situation. She was controlling the situation and right now, that meant keeping Astor right. where. he. was. He wriggled and she yawned again and sank down to rest Sphinx-like upon his back, her tail coiling over his legs.

Honestly, a little perspective, special mad man. Do you think I would be sitting here on you if there were a problem with that egg? No. Do you know why? Because you are extremely uncomfortable, that's why. Do stop whining, it's boring.

The opal paused for a moment and swung her head back, trying to nip at an itchy spot between her shoulder blades. What was this? Uncomfortable below and above? Was there no justice in the world?

Apparently not, as Astor began to flail about some more. Celebrating something from the sound of it but she really did not care to hear why. One paw shifted forward and fwump, landed heavy on the back of his head. Shush, she advised.

Then a pleased and ladylike croon was directed towards the emerging yellow, an answer to the freshly hatched's greeting. Pay no attention to the mad man she was attempting to squoosh.

Unaware of Alonquith's unique way of dealing with the situation, Jadore was busy pushing through the crowd in search of someone with edibles but no dragon to feed them to. "A little help here? Anyone?"

[firebird]

Yekemi had hoped the little purple would Impress someone more tractable, but what can you do? It looked that whats-his-face (Alesi? Alemi?) had enough meat on hand. Heh, for a beast that small he had more than enough. He ought to drop by Alezri's corner (assuming he could find it) after the hatching was over and have a little talk.

And who was this walking around asking for help? Oh, the one who Impressed the opal. She seemed to have the sense to have the annoying brat restrained while she was gone, so why not try to curry favor? "Is something the matter?" Yekemi called from his place in the entrance. "Something I can lend my help for?" Yes, lend his help. He fully expected to be repaid.

[lithle]

Oh, she was going to regret this. Somehow, Myr knew she was going to regret this. What would happen when her own dragon hatched and she had nothing to feed it? Hmm?

But, whatever else Myr might be, she liked to believe she was a nice person. A generous person. She gave a short little whistle to attract Jadore's attention and waved the half a dead something-or-other she'd traded for. She could always trade more booze, the next batch promised to be almost drinkable.

"Feed your new precious, Jadore. I can get more meat." Her voice was sweet, soft, and just a little tense. She was worried about Roni, and she was worried that she'd not yet found her own lifemate among the dwindling eggs. Soon though, soon. And with Jadore's dragon healthy, there would be a next clutch if this one failed her.

If she was aware that someone else was also offering meat, she showed no sign of it. But, with most her attention for Roni and the eggs, she probably simply hadn't heard the man.

[tuathade]

“Ah – not dead after all!” Arkady laughed. “See? Look, there you go. Another healthy yellow.” Good for her. What a sweetheart. Grin turning into a sly half-smile, Arkady nudged at Jessan and added in a soft undertone (hopefully soft enough that Astor wouldn’t hear and murder him) “Bet she’s yours.”

Beoth eyed the offered hand thoughtfully. Jessan was not a clutchsib to be intimidated or a nasty outlaw to be snapped at. Jessan was his rider’s… something. Something important. He was too young to quite understand the complexity of relationships at the moment, but there was something important about females and chasing deep down in his instincts that he would probably understand later. So he sniffed the slim hand, licked it hopefully, then lost interest when it didn’t contain any meat. He was still starving, and he rumbled a soft growl as he looked around at the other outlaws. Lots of them were holding meat. Some of them didn’t look so tough… He could probably take one down with not too much trouble.

“Sorry,” Arkady sighed, rubbing a hand over his dragon’s shoulder and concave flank. “Short notice, and I wasn’t expecting you to be quite so big. Or so…” His hand passed over the slight indents of the pink’s ribcage, just as he realized precisely what his dragon was intending. You can’t, he told Beoth silently. Dragons can’t hurt humans, not after they’re Impressed. And yet – he could feel the hatchling’s mind so closely linked to his own. And he could feel Beoth’s absolute certainty that yes, he could. Given the other oddities of the clutch, was it possible…?

Okay. That went on the list of things to test at a later date. In private. On someone Arkady didn’t like much.

That man has meat. Beoth, never one to be distracted from the goal for long, nudged his rider’s leg and then indicated Machi with the corpse. The fact that it was a human corpse didn’t seem to bother him. Before Arkady could even protest, the pink was off and away through the crowd, weaving past people and – yes – occasionally lashing out with claws when someone didn’t move out of his way quick enough. There was a little pale man trying to haul the meat away. He was in Beoth’s way, and that wasn’t acceptable. The pink growled, stepping forward -

DO NOT BITE MACHI.

All right, all right. Too many rules.

Beoth sank his jaws into the dead man’s leg, then put all his little dragonet strength into helping Machi pull. The faster the meat was out of the way in a safe place where his siblings wouldn’t steal it, the sooner he could eat it. Arkady cussed under his breath and set off after the hatchling, following in the wake of confused people without so much as an apology. Look out, everyone. Hungry pink on the loose.

[puppetmaster]

The thing in the Enchanted Garden Egg was not dead. That much was clear by the weak little shudders going through the shell. But if it was alive, it wasn't so alive as one might have hoped. Its trembles were barely visible, almost as if it was shivering from cold in the hot, muggy springs. But maybe it was, it had not been cared for as the other eggs had. It had been forgotten.

Another shiver. Another. Tiny pieces of a tiny shell flaked away and now it was clear that the hide beneath wasn't white. It was purple, mostly dark, but fading to pale in some places. Yes, this was another of those tiny creatures, but not nearly so energetic as her sister.

Finally, the shell had flaked away enough to allow the Fragile Shadow Hatchling its freedom. She was a little thing, even smaller than the other purple. She was also, quite clearly, sickly. She was scrawny, all bones and she was still trembling even as she dragged herself across the sands.

But the sound she made wasn't a becoming chirp or a pathetic whine. She was hissing. A quiet, constant threating sound from something that was unlikely to be able to take a baby feline.

[tiamat]

Ragniel stared at the pink—Juarth—blankly for a long moment before it finally registered that the giant pink dragon that had mauled three people (and expected her to kill one for him, which was… mildly problematic) had Impressed her. She had Impressed a dragon and she was going to need to go get those wherries she had killed if she did want to deal with being killed for making her dragon’s first meal fresh human.

Juarth, wait a moment, I have food that won’t require me to kill him. Yet, anyway; if the man died before she got to him, she wouldn’t weep.

…If you say so. Juarth backed slightly away from the ledge as he looked down at the drowning man and snarled briefly. Villain scum.

At Juarth’s assent Ragniel hauled herself out of the water and grabbed at her wherries; she didn’t have a knife on her, but Juarth didn’t let a little thing like that stand in the way of him eating. He ripped it out of her hand and tore it in two before attempting to swallow half of it.

Stop that! You’ll choke if you just swallow it like that.

I will not. But he slowed anyway, and chewed before tossing it down. Satisfied that he wasn’t going to accidentally kill himself, Ragniel left him to awkwardly drag the man (well, she supposed he was a corpse now) out of the water. No sense leaving serviceable meat to waste… A distasteful meal was still a meal.

Are you still hungry, Juarth?

Juarth responded by ripping off and eating (reasonably sized) bits of the corpse. Ragniel turned to look at the hatching (because nothing would prepare you for watching a large carnivore eat another human), and tried to figure out how many she had missed... At the very least she had missed a lovely opal hatching, as well as another pink (who had Impressed to Arkady of all people, and if that wasn’t a sign to tread even more carefully around him nothing was) and… A purple? It was so tiny…

...And Arkady's pink was off with a corpse. Of course. Ragniel shook her head in exasperation, and went to help Juarth with his unsettling meal.

[nozomi]

Out of all the things in life Machi could find himself expecting, a rampaging pink coming at him was not a part of that plan. He stayed out of dragonets way because being mauled was a bad idea and the last thing he needed was to end up like Arkady and that sharding dragon coming right at him. Beoth made a low noise - a growl, and Machi dropped one arm from the corpse to grab at his dagger.

But the dragon did not attack him. It bit into the body, dragged at it's leg. For a few seconds, Machi stumbled under the sudden jerk of rubbery flesh and a fierce, starving hatchling nomming into it. Arkady was on the move, heading towards them, and Machi held a hand up to stop him.

"Just eat, you." Machi knelt down and bared his teeth at the pink. There was a slice of fabric from the man's other leg, and machi cut off a bit of the thigh. He tossed the meat towards the dragon. "No one is going to try to eat him. Just you, Pinky."

"Don't taunt him!" Jessan moved right after her Arkady, skirt rustling before they got to the... Beoth's meal. Her stomach turned slightly, and the womans cheeks flushed green. She looked away, bile in her throat, and that's when the little purple revealed herself. "--Oh, dear." A whisper, one that caught Machi's ears.

They stared at the hissing creature for a moment, before Machi went back to Beoth, and his knife, and the body. "Should we... should we cull it?" Jessan asked, slowly, but without hesitance. Her nose wrinkled. "Or will it between? It's too small to... do anything. The green betweened."

[Evadne]

Yekemi's call brought Jadore up short and she turned to study the man. She had to stand on her toes to do it, to see around and over the crowd. Ah, him. She recognized him. But it did nothing to dampen the brilliance of the smile she gave him. "Do you happen to have any other meat, darling? Algonquith is still feeling peckish, and..."

She paused, glancing back the way she'd come. There was a commotion there, hissing and a whistle and in between herself and the source of both or either, there were pinks doing their utmost to shred a pair of human bodies.

Delicately, with a ladylike shiver, she pressed two fingers to her lips. Oh no no, that wouldn't do.

Without thinking about it or realizing what she was doing, Jadore reached out with her mind to touch the opal's. What she felt was smugness, boredom, the displeasure of itching and a fresh ache in the belly that signaled her lingering appetite. And how long before that hunger led her to sample the local fare as the pinks were doing? Jadore didn't know but she had no intention of finding out.

Turning back to Yekemi, she said, "We're there, by the pool. Could you be a love and bring it?" Phrased as a request but in the tone of an order, she punctuated the command with another smile before beginning to push back through the crowd towards Algonquith. It was no simple passage, there being carnage to step over and around. Killers everywhere and not a bite to eat...

Well, not a bite she'd tolerate her darling nibbling on.

"You really are an incredible woman," she breathed, that comment meant for Myr. Let that stand in lieu of thanks as she took the dead something-or-other and then called Algonquith with a glance. The opal gave Astor's head one last firm pat before sliding off of him. At least she took care with her talons?

Did you see? My trinket's hatched, she informed both Myr and Jadore. Somehow, she managed to seem delicate in her smugness; that may or may not have been aided along by the way she nibbled at the dead thing being offered.