Of Blood and Fire and Steel (Majoriith clutches)

[Lark]

If you asked why Inoria woke so early in the morning, she would be unable to tell you right away. The world outside was still pink and new like the flesh left after a wound heals, and she yawned despite her awakened mind and body. Something was happening, of that the child was certain, and sending thin, sleepy tendrils of thought to the dragons she knew best, the girl began to understand just what. Most of the Weyr was asleep, but there was one dragon awake and for good reason.

Blinking as she sat up in her bed, the child reached over to poke her twin awake, holding her finger to her lips to signal not to make a sound. Of course she knew Talian couldn't really make a vocal sound, but it would keep her Firelizards quiet at least. Giving her sister the look that clearly said they were on very important business, the child scrambled from her covers and onto the cool floor of her parents' weyr. In the larger bed the green and bronze riders were fast asleep, curled together in a way that made her heart ache.

She was happy her mother had come back, truly she was but Inoria held no love for the green she had bonded to. Eying Rudith as the dragoness stirred awake, the child sent a small thought to the female. Majoriith clutches. Flicking her wing dismissively, the dragoness curled back up and fell asleep once more, caring little for what the odd gold was up to.

By the time that Inoria reached the hatching sands she was breathless from running, having started the moment she had closed her parents' door behind her. Eying the gold's rider on the bottom of the stands, she crept closer and clambered up into a seat next to Rikula, folding her legs neatly under her. "There are five." Holding out a finger as the six turn old counter each newly laid egg, she frowned slightly. There should be more than that. "She only just started. There will be more."

In the end there were fifteen eggs that Majoriith curled herself around protectively with a happy sigh. Standing and then walking over to get a closer look, Rikula turned her head toward her lifemate. Do you want to call your mate? He should see his children....unless they really are Amiith's. What difference does it make? Both are good males, both are good sires. It was all Majoriith ever said on the matter, and the young Queens secrecy only kept the rumors going.

Head tilting as it caught a glimmer of pale gold, Rikula ordered the Queen to raise her wing and rolled her eyes as more of the egg was revealed. It had darker green and a silvered grey as well, so it was not a Queen egg. All of my daughters are Queens, and all my sons Kings in their own right. Who is to say color should dictate what personality says best? "Yes, but it's still not a Queen. Is there a Sub-Queen you think? Or maybe some Kings? ...you don't think there are Garnets do you? Does one feel off or malicious at all?"

They are young still, what malicious intent could they hold. What does it matter if one is a Sub-Queen or not? There are Queens here, there are Fighters and Kings and ones yet unknown to themselves. My children are fine the way they are.

Throwing her hands up the goldrider shook her head and pointed to a smaller egg who had a dent in its side. "I don't like the look of that one." It was probably a dud. Just what they needed. You do not have to like how it looks, you just have to say I did well. Did I not do well? Are you ashamed of me Rikula? Sighing the rider shook her head and pulled the Gold's head close. "No, I am proud of you my darling. I am sorry if I upset you."

---

EGGS
Pictures to be added later.

• The Imp
  
  - Fairly small egg, has a slight dent to its side. It's fairly plain in looks, but looks should not be deceiving!
  
  
• The Flower
  
  - Fairly large egg, smooth and delicate. It's decorated with sweeping lines and smudges of almost petal-like markings.
  
  
• The Forgotten Knight
  
  - A medium to smaller egg, the markings look almost like chain-mail, or are those dragon scales? Then there is a streak of reddish brown almost like rust as well.
  
  
• The Rider
  
  - This egg is a larger egg, and the markings have more texture than it would originally seem. There's a sort of rough tension in the design, and the streaks of aged red look almost like blood wiped on cloth.
  
  
• The Dragon
  
  - The egg is a small egg despite its dynamic coloring. By no means does it first seem delicate, but then you see the raised edges and the intricate markings...what is it then; a thing of beauty or something to be feared?
  
  
• The White Knight
  
  - A medium sized egg, the off white egg has pale scale or armor like markings along it as well as high lights. It is clean and smooth despite the details though, and there is a sense of pride as well.
  
  
• The Wolf
  
  - This large egg definitely is plain, and yet there is something eerie and beautiful in its simplicity. There is more to meet here than what you would think, and the creature inside is happy to keep coming with more surprises.
  
  
• The Priestess
  
  - Fire and blood and passion, that is what this medium sized egg holds. There is a calm sense of pride and purpose within it as well, and a mysterious pull is there in the almost "flickering" markings.
  
  
• The Queen
  
  - This small egg is the one that at a distance or in the right lighting can be mistaken for a Gold Egg. However, closer up you will realize that not only is it far too small, but it also has other colors as well.
  
  
• The Warrior
  
  - Dark and green as the forest, this small egg blends into the shadows. It's perfectly fine with that, let it blend. It is far easier and better to do that then stand out among its shiny and colorful siblings.
  
  
• The Lady
  
  - Demure and pale, this egg is basically white with colorful markings swerving in delicate lines around it. There is something to be said about it though, and despite being sweet and little, there is a cold aloofness to it as well.
  
  
• The Boy-King
  
  - This medium egg is not just blue, it's a blue, and it has gold shardit! Pay attention, because if you look away too long this egg will have your mind reeling.
  
  
• The Jester
  
  - Colorful and joyful, this small egg is loud and quiet all at once. There are cool colors next to warm colors, and brights next to darks. It's more than just joyful though, it has a sense of ego and maybe even a type of vanity as well.
  
  
• The Stoic
  
  - This large egg is quiet plain, but in not the same way as some of its more drab siblings. It has nothing to be excited about, and why should it? It is what it is, deal with it. No matter what, this egg just seems to be disapproving of anything.
  
  
• The Thorn
  
  - Dark and beautiful and dangerous, that's what this small egg can be described as. You should not underestimate a pretty red that looks like a rose, because a rose has thorns and even the smallest prick spills blood. Go ahead though, don't worry, it wouldn't hurt you...it's just a silly little egg, right?
  

[taylor]

It was Bubbly who woke first, perhaps tuning into the fact that one of his relatives was doing something important. Easing himself carefully out of the loving snugglehold of his human, he took to the air and then between to the hatching sands. He spotted the eggs - six, at that point - and crooned a soft approval to the gold laboring for the weyr. With that, he disappeared again, returning to his human and nudging her gently awake. As Rineska blinked sleepily at him, he sent her an image of soft, damp eggs on the sand.

It took the girl a moment to process, but when she did, all sleepiness disappeared. "Babies?!" She threw the blankets off of herself and jumped out of bed. The woman Kariss had found to watch her during her mother's candiday rolled over, one eye opening to give the girl a chastising look before she grumbled and closed her eyes again, pulling the blanket up tighter around her neck.

Rineska gave her a confused look - why wasn't she jumping up, too? - and then shook her head. Who cared? There were babies! Shell-covered babies but still!

She tiptoed to the door in a belated attempt to let her watcher sleep, easing it carefully open. The moment she was outside, she started running. She sprinted straight for the Candidate barracks. She hesitated a moment to remember where Kariss slept, then burst into the room. "Mom!!!" Her shout likely woke more than her mother, but she wasn't thinking about that. She remembered which bed was her mother's and ran over, launching herself up onto it and her mom. "Mom, mom! Get up! Get uuup!" She shook Kariss, who blinked blearily at her for a moment before her eyes widened in fear.

Kariss bolted upright, wrapping her arms around her child and pulling her against her chest. "Are you okay? What happened? What's wrong, Ness?" She spoke considerably quieter than the little girl.

Rineska shook her head. "Babies!! There are babies, mom! Can we go see the eggs? Please? Can we?"

Kariss frowned. Was that allowed? She couldn't remember - the early hour and sudden awakening surely had a lot to do with that. The alternative, though, was to let her kid keep babbling loudly, and she was already getting some pretty intense glares from her neighbors. "Sure. But be quiet, Rineska."

Rineska nodded solemnly, climbing out of her mom's arms so Kariss could get dressed. Once Kariss was wearing something a little warmer than her pajamas, she nodded. "Okay we can go, now."

Rineska held up her arms and the message was clear. Carry her. Kariss picked her up and set her on the bed, then turned around so she could wrap her arms around her mother's neck and pull herself up onto her back.

Kariss looped her arms under Rineska's legs, boosted her up a bit more, then headed off to the sands. It didn't take too long to get there, and Kariss walked quietly out into the stands. Now that she was here, though, she wasn't sure what to say. Rineska beat her to it, though. "Hi goldma'am. We came to see your eggs!"

Kariss winced. So much for being quiet. "Hush, Ness." She turned her gaze to the gold pair, bowing her head and dipping briefly in what she hopped passed as a suitable gesture of respect. "I hope that's okay... She came and woke me up."

Kariss barely got the words out before Rineska was talking - nearly over her. "I like that one! That's my favorite." She pointed to the very same one Rikula was displeased with. "It is small and cute. Can I hug it, mom?"

Kariss shook her head. "The eggs are too fragile to touch right now." That and Rineska wasn't a candidate, so she would never get to touch that egg (let alone hug it) but she'd break that news to her kid later.

Rineska leaned forward to try to see better, but there was only so much you could lean during a piggyback ride. She tapped Kariss' shoulder and was set down. She started running forward until a stern "Rineska!" had her walking. She went as close to the sands as she could while still being in the stands, looking at all of the eggs. "They're so pretty!!!" She beamed at the gold. "You did such a good job! How did you decide what colors to paint them?"

[Akira]

Talian blinked herself awake when she felt her twin poking her. She turned over and nodded at Inoria’s unspoken request to be quiet. The young mute child quietly scooped up her white firelizard to keep him from making a ruckus when he saw that she wasn’t there, and silently followed her twin out the door of their parent’s weyr. She didn’t really know what was going on, but it was obviously something important, and she so wished that she could talk so that she could ask her sister what it was that Inoria had sensed. Where Inoria could talk to every dragon, Talian had the ability to communicate to every firelizard, whether they liked it or not.

Talian bent forward, trying to catch her breath as she stood beside her sister. She had a smile that stretched ear to ear as she looked at the gold dragoness curled around the eggs. Talian clapped her hands and jumped up and down, smiling at Rikula, and then Majoriith. Oh this was so exciting! After Majoriith was finished, and she thought it might be safe, she snuck down to the edge of the hatching sands where the gold was protecting her eggs. She gasped and smiled lovingly at the little egg that had a dent in its side. That meant that it wasn’t perfect, wasn’t normal, just like her. Chef crooned and sent the same picture that his human sent him, to the gold, hiding in the stands where it was perfectly safe.

(((OOC: Next post will be bigger.)))

[Thorn]

Jisene was jerked from sleep by the sound of a child running into the candidate barracks. She sat up, blinking sleepily at the two, her hair tousled heavily from where she'd forgotten to braid the golden length the night before. She watched as the little girl jumped on her mother, waking her and asking to go and see the eggs.

She blinked again, trying to throw off the last remains of sleep, before finally registering the girl's words. With a small yelp, she scrambled out of bed and grabbed for her clothes, pulling her trousers and blouse on over her night gown, quickly followed by her boots and a tie for her hair that she quickly abandoned as she followed them through the tunnels to the Hatching Sands.

Once there, she gaped in shock at the sight before her. Egg after egg lay on the hot sands, and she swallowed before looking up at Majoriith and Rikula in awe. "Majoriith... they're so beautiful... And I'm certain that the father, whoever is, will be proud of these eggs." She smiled up at the dragon, the same one that had shown her that she would have a purpose here at the Weyr.

After all, without Rikula and Majoriith, Jisene would likely have died of boredom. Now, when she wasn't in classes, she was roaming the jungles that she loved, complete with her hand made bow and arrows. Now, she was able to grow herbs and other plants for the kitchens and infirmaries. Thanks to these two, she had a purpose, and something to do. But more than that, they had been two of her first friends here at the Weyr.

Despite the fact that Majoriith wasn't her dragon, Jisene was more than happy for her. She was also proud.