Eggs In A Basket (Aries' Clutch)

[Lark]

Ara gently put the basket of eggs on her hip before moving over to a stall nearby the feasting area. She had just finished the arial show with Avirith, and the green was preocuppieing herself by eating. The rider hadn't wanted to leave the eggs where the gold had laid them..even if it was a pretty place. It was too frequented and after four of the eggs had been stolen, she didn't want to take anymore chances with the babies. Aries flew behind Hers, fussing over the basket as any good mother would. She didn't like that Hers was taking them away! She had spent so much time clutching them in that space and now they were being taken away!

Setting up the eggs in their own individual pots, the rider nodded her head. She had cards which she'd named the eggs on and given a bit of instructions for each. She didn't know which would end up being larger colors, and which would be smaller colors, but they did have some varied size. For instance the large purlpish egg was much larger than any of the others. Even more so than the Queen egg that Aries had laid. That didn't bother Ara though. Someone would be getting a very large Bronze apparently.

Fixing her hair, the rider called the gold flit to her. Aries chirped unhappily but went along with it and perched on Hers' shoulder. She'd behave if the people did. She certainly didn't like this idea though! Snorting, the orangish hued gold flicked her wings, letting the dots of yellow gold on the back portion of her figure glint in the sunlight.

Aries' Eggs

Reserved Eggs: *Prizes*
3) Kiss The Girl Egg *reserved for ad winner*
4) Off With Her Head Egg *reserved for ad winner*
5) The Sword in the Stone Egg *reserved for ad winner*
8) Under The Sea Egg *reserved for ad winner*
11) The 40 Thieves Egg Egg *reserved for Zirin-made all three of the ads*
14) The Hunchback of Notre Dame *reserved for ad winner*
15) Beauty and The Beast Egg *reserved for ad winner*
16) Up in a Tower Egg *Reserved for Zero-was our first contest prize*

Egg Up For Grabs:

1) The Littlest Dwarf Egg
2) The White Rabbit Egg
6) The Wicked Step Mother Egg
7) Hukuna, Matata Egg
9) I Just Can’t Wait To Be King Egg
10) Bipidy, Bopedy, Boo Egg
12) Blue Catapillar Egg
13) A King’s Devotion Egg


Cot & Dot's Eggs
1) The Pandorica
2) The Tardis
3) The Ood
4) The Silence

[Zirin]

Yufa strolled leisurely through the gather, stopping here and there to glance idly at the stalls. She was, of course, in her finest gather wear. A long, lacy green dress, a decorated and matching hat made up her wardrobe for the day. She shifted her parasol, a custom-made gift from her late mother, to block out the sun better, as its rays were harmful to her complexion. She stopped near a weaver stall, looking over the wares that were being sold. She untruthfully complimented the seller on the fine work of the wares, though she bought nothing; they weren’t fine enough for her.

She stopped by a few more stalls, though nothing seemed extraordinary. Then she saw a smith’s booth. Walking over, she picked over a couple items until she found what she was looking for; a simple, decorated knife. She pulled out her marks purse, counting the contents and happy that she would be able to purchase it with the money she had brought with her. She handed the marks over to the seller with a dainty thank you. She also picked up a plain sheath, the simplest she could find in order to save the marks she had left. Her brother deserved a gift for his success at the hatching and she hoped this would help his training. She placed the knife in her handbag, making sure the sheath was on properly to avoid injury of any sort, and continued on her way. The rest of the stalls were only briefly visited, and the ridiculous kissing booth was ignored altogether. Then a small stand drew her attention and she walked towards it, carefully making her way over to see what it was exactly that was being sold. Flit eggs, apparently, and then she realized that she recognized the Gold from the caverns.

“Salutations little queen,” She greeted Aries first before giving a light curtsy to Ara. “What lovely eggs. If I may ask, are they for sale?” She looked over the eggs as she waited for a response. She glanced at the gold as she extended a hand to touch one of the eggs, hoping she wasn’t offending the little queen. Her fingers ran softly over the 40 Thieves Egg, careful not to damage it in any way. For sure, it drew her attention more than any other there. Glancing at both Ara and Aries, she tentatively picked the egg and its pot. Yes, she wanted that one.

[Lark]

Ara looked up as a nicely dressed girl came by. She suspected that the girl was a holdbred lady. Probably the daughter of a Lord. Smiling, the rider watched as the girl picked up the pot and egg holding the 40 Thieves Egg in it. "They're just up for grabs. Trying to give them good homes you know?" Petting the Gold so that flit would allow her child to go, Ara looked over the remaining ones. "You sure it's that one you want? Well, I'm sure it'll have a nice home in the Hold. Which are you from?" The rider spoke assuming again that this wasn't a candidate of any sort.

[Zirin]

Ara would be right in suspecting that Yufa was holdbred, though it was obvious enough in her demeanor. She was not, however, a Lord’s daughter. Her father had been a Steward, and had believed that his children would behave like royalty. She smiled lightly as Ara answered her question, pleased that she would be able to have an egg without spending the few remaining marks she had with her.

“That is very kind of you, Miss,” She replied, though her face had returned to the emotionless state that she had been trained to wear. She glanced over the egg again, confirming that it was indeed the one she wanted. “Yes Miss, I think this one will be lovely. I thank you kindly for the opportunity.” She held it closer. Maybe… just maybe the little one inside would choose to stay with her. It would be worth a shot regardless, and Yufa would treat it properly if it stayed. She knew, no matter what, she would love the little hatchling.

“Yes Miss, I will make sure it is cared for properly, though a Hold is not to be its home. I am Yufa of Apollo Hold, though Trelis is my home now.” She curtsied as she made the introduction, “May I ask the same of you Miss?”

[Lark]

Ara blinked as the girl not only told her own story, but asked for Ara's as well. So she had been right about the holdbred part, just not the still holdsfolk part. Smiling, the rider brougt Aries off of her shoulder and to her lap, petting the Gold flit as Avirith landed nearby. The green crooned at Hers in greeting and padded over, shaking out her slightly darker, but still pale wings. Hello there! The dragoness trilled like a hatchling as she noticed the customer. "Sorry she talks to anyone she sees fit to speak to." Giving the green a warning glance, Ara turned back to the girl.

"My mother and father were fishermen at Solace. I was out with them though when a storm hit and I was soon found on the shore. I didn't remember anything so Trelis took me in and a GreenRider took me as her own. I thought she was my mother for the longest time until I found out around the age of...oh late 14 turns I'd say. I ran to the hatching sands to be alone from everyone then, I wasn't a candidate either at the time mind you. The eggs started to rock suddenly and Avirith was the last to hatch. I impressed." Done with her own story, the rider reached back to lovingly scratch at the green's eye-ridges.

[Zirin]

Her hand shot to cover her mouth as she gasped in surprise, completely unprepared for the green’s personal greeting. It took her a moment to regain her composure, ashamed that she had lost it so easily. Then again, hearing a dragon was a rare occasion indeed. She curtsied low to show how grateful she was.

“I am honoured, lovely dragoness,” She replied, still awed at the experience. Then Ara began her life story and Yufa was a tad taken aback. She was quite loose about her past wasn’t she? So unladylike… Well, she couldn’t fault her for it, since it was her fire lizard’s egg that now resided in Yufa’s gentle hands.

“You have been most lucky, Miss. I only hope to one day share such a fate.” She was distracted then as a shirtless man approached from behind the booth, followed by a striking orange dragonet. The dragonet for sure held herself with dignity and pride, which, had she been human would be entirely inappropriate, but she was a sub-queen after all, and was allowed such pride. The man though, was entirely inappropriate. He was not working so he had no reason to be so horribly underdressed. She stepped aside to make room for him, her head bowed in the customary submissive position, though she in no way believed he deserved it. It was only years of training that kept her following the rules.
 

---

Oh there she is! Over there Mine! I can seeee her! Kayath called, her head stretched above the crowd as she looked for the Egg booth that Avirith had mention a while back. J’dol chuckled, realizing they would have the advantage of sneaking up from behind. In the time between her leaving his booth and him taking a break to come find him, he had managed to get four kisses, and Kayath had even had a nice young Blue visit and complement her, so both parts of the weyrling pair were pretty happy.

J’dol decided to use the sneaky tactic again, since it had been so much fun a few hours ago. He approached slowly from behind, holding his fingers over his mouth in a shush motion as he looked at Avirith, hoping the green wouldn’t alert her rider to Jaks’ intentions. He snuck ever closer, Kayath walking slower to avoid her colour drawing attention just yet.

Closer… closer… as long as she didn’t turn around now he would be able to surprise her. He reached his hands out, planning to poke her gently in the sides. He wondered if she was ticklish… wouldn’t that just be fun! Kayath then greeted Avirith, Hello again Avirith! Mine is such a troublemaker, isn’t he?

[Lark]

Oh-sharding-great! "What are you doing here?!?" The green rider hissed between her teeth as she turned around. Someone had snuck up behind her while she was talking to the girl and their fingers had tickled her stomach. "As for you," the rider swung around to her dragon, "I would expect you to be more protective of me. What happened to that Avirith I impressed huh?" The green crooned and fluttered her wings. I'm still here. I offered for him to come by, if he was any real threat I'd be more wary. The dragoness nuzzled Hers before dipping her head in the candidate's direction. Also thank you for the compliment. However if you think I'm lovely now you should see me when I'm dancing in the air. I'm a goddess then!

Sighing the rider shook her head. "Thank you for taking one sweetheart. As for you....what do you want?" The rider narrowed her eyes. "I'm not kissing you if that's what you're here for. I'm your Weyrling Master for one, and you're a weyrling for two. It's innapropriate to the highest degree and could get me in magor trouble." The rider pet Aries who hissed at Kayath. It was bad enough being around Big Sister Green who thought she was wonderful, but this thing!?! Fluttering her orange. gold wings Aries snapped her teeth. First her eggs were being taken away, now there was a dragonet who thought she was better than her! How wrong that dragonet was. Oh how wrong she was.

[Zero]

R’xth wandered about the gather at a very languid pace, looking but not really seeing the goods the many stalls had on display. At his heels marched the midnight blue dragonet he had the great fortune to Impress, Mideth. The normally reserved and stoic young male was showing a slightly different side to his personality today as his swirling blue/green eyes whirled at an almost sickening speed. The pair had seen a few of the other weyrlings and their lifemates during their stroll but nothing of real interest or enough importance to keep the two lingering around the others for long.

R’xthMine, are you at least going to look at this stall?
Tilting his head to give His a once over Mideth turned into his companion, using his body to guide the lads through the crowd and towards the stall that had initially caught the curious blues attention. “Woah, hey..Mideth!” R’xth tried to regain his footing and fight the blue but it was hopeless. Before he knew it, Ry stood before a tabled lined with pots, each filled with their own little egg. Odd.

Rubbing the back of his neck, the man took his eyes off the eggs for a moment to take notice of who was standing behind the stall and carefully watching over the eggs. “Hello Ara, Avirith.” Giving a slight but polite nod to each of them as he spoke, Ry turned his curious gaze back to the planted eggs. For some reason one stood out to him more then the others.

Mideth greeted the green rider and her dragon seconds after the words left Ry’s mouth. Nudging R’xth in the side, the dark dragonet encouraged his companion to step that little bit closer to the stall and the eggs. The little one’s are waiting for theirs to come. Will we take one home, Mine?

Absentmindedly, Ry patted the young blue beside him as he thought carefully about what he was going to do. He never had much luck with fire lizards when he was younger. In fact a young green had left her lasting mark on his forearm not even a turn ago and not to mention another had ruined his favorite pair of boots. Now he was actually contemplating taking one in as his own? It would mean another mouth to feed, another soul to look after and another hatchling to care for night and day. The company would be good for you, for us both.

Sighing, Ry turned from his companion to the eggs and their caretakers once again. “Are you selling them or is it more of a first come first serve kind of thing?” As he spoke he moved to pick up the pot containing the “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and giving it a once over before carefully setting it back on the table and moving on to examine another until he came across the ”Up in a Tower” egg.
That’s the one Mine, that’s the one for us.
“Mideth chose this one, so I suppose it's the one we're going with.“ Carefully holding the Tower egg in its pot close to his chest, Ry looked back at Ara, waiting to hear if he would be able to keep the little egg or how much he was going to be paying for it.

[Lark]

Looking up from her troubles with J'dol, Ara smiled at another of her weyrlings. "Hey there Ry. I was wondering when someone would take the Queen egg. It's first come first serve so you have her if you want." Nodding her head in approval the rider smiled again. Better that the blue weyrling get it than J'dol. Who knew what influence that boy would bring. Aries crooned as she watched her golden daughter go. She didn't want that one to be away from her! That was her special child! Hissing unhappily the Gold curled up around the other eggs. They were HER children!

[Crovin]

I do not understand why we must give them all away. I will not be satisfied until our fair numbers well beyond double digits. Could we not keep at least five? That is very little to ask for the services you will be performing. Certainly they know how useful my cousins are to one of your craft.

Naira did her level best to hide the growing smile from her Seth; though of course he could feel her mirth shimmering between them as an unspoken cloud. For his part he simply glowered at her with those beautiful faceted eyes and then returned to his ready position on their weyr ledge. Standing in front of the reflective metal she unconsciously straightened her Gather leathers. Her smile brightened and warmed—she was beautiful, and had no qualms with admitting that. Every piece of leather she wore was dyed the black of between and served to contrast not only against her white hair—which was growing out around her shoulders—but also against her knot. A tailor had specially dyed the bonded cord that ran through the assembly to the rainbow hue of Seth’s hide: It was knotted and looped for Wingrider, and also knotted and looped for Dragonhealer with the addition of another loop, knot, and a silver tassel to mark her as the Masterdragonhealer of her craft.

Where normally—was she rising against Thread—she would wear her black riding belt assembly, now she wore a white sash tied to accentuate her supple hips: What she lacked in height she certainly made up for with curves, and she would play it up fully. Seth may not be interested in flying—but she was; in her own two-legged way. Which brought the dragon no little amusement. Of course any male who sought to bed her would have to fight their way through her fair (currently scattered about her weyr save for Jax, who was still hovering around his Queen and their unhatched clutch) and her fair was ever-growing. It would hopefully swell in numbers from this hatching—though she would certainly give the Weyrfolk of Trelis first chance at any Imprinting that happened. There would be many clutches in the future.

Assuring that she looked absolutely fantastic for anyone she would meet at the Gather; she turned to scoop up the sand pot that held Cot and Dot’s clutched eggs—to be given away down near the bubblies and Benden along with the Gold’s eggs. Very generous of Trelis to hand out firelizard eggs—or sell them; she honestly wasn’t sure how it was being done, but she did approve. Seth of course did not, but he had a selfish streak in him the length of a dragon; and as Naira walked to his side he pretended to give her the cold shoulder. As if he could—or wanted to. She thumped him on one shimmering rainbow-white shoulder and then pulled herself into the specialty saddle he wore for such occasions. Saddles typically were not used with the Dragons of Pern, but his served many functions. First and foremost it could be used to carry passengers whose lives were in peril; it could also be used to carry modified medical racks she had designed herself: Not to mention the black leather looked amazing on him.

Do try to—

The world disappeared, and then reappeared around her as Seth went between appearing directly beside the tent where Ara stood—scant inches from the ground. That was unnecessarily stupid, love, even for you. What if someone had been standing right here? The Dragonhealers’ lips pursed into an angry line and she glowered down at the facetted eye which had turned to her—swirling a mirth-filled green tinged with blue as the air around them filled with her angry fair. Cot and Dot settled down on the tent; awaiting their own eggs to be added alongside the Gold’s. Bir made off instantly to follow his bonded’s bidding, and Cogo was quickly chased off by Jax—who settled around Naira’s neck and shoulders like a large angry scarf; his tail trailing down across her black leather bodice to frame her in a metallic necklace.

Someone was not. You will secure more little ones for our fair.

The White settled those last few inches with a simple flick of his wingsails along his spine, and Naira dismounted him as if an agile cat. Still quite livid with him. She expected he would simply leap forward and disappear over the heads of the Gathergoers at any moment; but he seemed content to stay for now—following her like a dog as far as he could fit until his head was hovering over and around those who both gave away, and contemplated eggs. Naira smiled a bright cheery grin and waved at Ara; setting her own Greens’ eggs down where they could be picked over. A couple had been duds—and she had candled and discarded those before bringing the healthy down. So the count sat at four: Not too bad for two first-time clutching Greens. Not wishing to interrupt the current egg-chooser she lifted her short form gamely onto the countertop and maintained her open expression. New people!

[/size]

[Zirin]

Feeling out of place now that the stall had drawn more attention, Yufa respectfully dipped her head Aries, Ara and Avirith before lightly stepping away from the booth. Though her face remained emotionless, she was actually mildly excited about the egg, and she held it carefully as she wove away through the crowd.

---

J’dol merely chuckled at his teacher’s reaction. It had, without a doubt, been better than he had expected. However, the young woman did not seem pleased to see him. Him! EVERYONE was pleased to see him! This woman obviously had a screw loose somewhere. That, or she was holdbred, he always had trouble with the holdbred girls. He sighed as she turned back to the young lady that had chosen one of the eggs. Then wrath almighty turned back on him.

“Harsh Ara! I am simply honouring the promise to visit, since I was given such a wonderful invitation from your Avirith,” He then added, with a look at the green, “Which I thank you for, lovely.” He laughed as she mentioned kissing him.

“Sheesh teach, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve been thinking about me all this time! How endearing.” He walked around to the side of the booth, deciding giving her a bit of personal space back was likely a good idea. “In all seriousness though, I just thought I’d take a break and see what wonders your little beauty produced. I’m not obsessed with kisses after all, that would just be weird wouldn’t it.” He did not add aloud that he was, of course, still expecting the dance later that night. Her only way out of it would be if Jaks was too busy with other people. In complete truth though, Jaks knew the limits, and though he was enjoying messing with Ara, he did not plan on getting her, or himself, into trouble.

Kayath stared at Aries, contemplating hissing back, and only stopping herself because of a command from her rider, and only then because she needed to behave if she wanted to have an oiling helper. Soon she was distracted as a familiar dragonet approached.

Oh, Brother Mideth! Hello cutie. She crooned at the blue. J’dol gave a greeting nod at his fellow weyrling as R’xth looked over the eggs. He somehow had not expected the boy to take the gold egg, he would have pegged one of the girl weyrlings doing that. Well, whatever worked for him. Do you see one you like, Kayath? Jaks asked silently as Ara was occupied by the blue weyrling. He looked over the eggs, which was difficult with Aries in the way. Kayath told him the egg she liked and J’dol agreed with the choice.

“Little darling, How will anyone impress and care for your babies if you won’t let them leave?” He asked. He had his eye on the I Just Can’t Wait to be King Egg, but if she didn’t move then not only would he be unable to pick the egg he wanted, but he would be stuck pestering Ara even longer. Oh darn…

[Zero]

The lads eyes widened in mild surprise as the news that he apparently held a gold was revealed to him. “Really? A gold!?” Looking down at the pot and its unhatched resident. He would have never figured it for a gold, it’s shell was appealing in its white and gold flecked pattern but Ry simply thought it held a bronze or just large brown. He actually had half a mind to return the gold egg and choosing another little egg instead. Mideth though crooned happily as His picked up the right egg and the two received a hint of what the creature inside might be.

R’xth hesitated though before leaving the stall. Would he really be able to keep up with the demands of his quickly growing dragon along with this possible little queen that might hatch for him? “I’ll take good care of your daughter.” Addressing the gold Aries, Ry looked back at Ara and allowed himself a small smile. “Thank you.” Carefully handling the egg so he wouldn‘t drop it, R’xth turned and moved away from the table with the dark Mideth hopping along right beside him. Before he could move too far away though, Ry took notice of his fellow Weyrling and returned the casual nod in greeting. “What have I got myself into…” Mumbling to himself, he sidestepped the recently arrived, darkly clad woman and wandered back off into the crowd.
Hello, Kayath. Enjoy the day out with Yours.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

S’val wandered through the vast array of stalls the Gather had brought out and took his time looking over the goods that were up for offer. Dressed to his best in his freshly oiled black and bronze riding leathers with his Wingleader knot bouncing from his shoulder, signifying his rank, weyr, and color of his beloved Solarith. Now not normally one to enjoy the act of getting all dressed up, as he felt it drew too much attention, S’val was obligated to portray the correct image for the Weyr. Unfortunately that involved looking sharp and forgoing the comforts of his usual day to day wear.
Reign, his troublemaking brown flit, was perched high on the bronze riders shoulder, gazing curiously at the stalls as well as the many passing people. He chirped and trilled at the passing crowd of people and dragon alike. So many things were going on and the little brown could hardly keep his wits about him. Spying the gold Aries however, completely drew his attention. The flit quickly lept from His shoulder and made a beeline for the stall and the remaining eggs. Hovering above the potted eggs, Reign trilled happily at the sight of the remaining eggs and quickly sent a mental picture of the stand to S’val.

Pulling himself away from a blacksmith and the negotiations that had been going on over a expertly made and designed hunting knife. Looking through the crowd it didn’t take him too long to spot the hovering form of his brown and the stall his small companion had pointed out to him. Drawing closer, Reign dropped back to S’vals shoulder, chittering wildly. No doubt trying to convey to His that one or more of the displayed eggs could be one he himself sired. Scratching the brown under the chin to calm him, the Rider flashed a smile to Ara and Naira each in turn before nodding to each of their dragon bonded in greeting.
“Afternoon ladies, Seth. Has the time come for adopting our newest fire lizard clutch?”

With Reign chittering away, S’val offered the little queen curled around the remaining pots a small smile of what he hoped would be reassurance. “Golden Aries, will you allow me the honor to bring one of your children home with me?” Looking among the eggs there wasn’t really a sure way he could tell which egg had been sired by his own Reign. He kept his hands to himself though for the time being, waiting for some sort of sign that he was allowed to touch before he risked flesh and blood to take one of the eggs. Also another individual, J’dol, was already looking over the eggs, trying to decide which egg he wanted. So S’val waited till the boy had made his decision before he picked one of the potted eggs for his own.