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Arolon danced from foot to foot, hot rays of the sun heating up the sands beneath him. Why hadn't he worn sandals at least? He was half jogging half running toward the cooling waters of the ocean. As he approached he noticed lots of other people walking around the beach. At first he thought they had the same idea as him but as he got closer he noticed they weren't paying any attention to the water. They were moving sand around, looking for something.

Arolon breathed a sigh of relief as he finally made it to the water's edge. It was freezing cold! Just what he needed to sooth his feet. It seemed too cold to swim in though. He pondered what the others were doing here. Remembering the rumors of a wild gold Flit's clutch he blinked. Was the story really true? Apparently these people believed it was. The gold Flit must be worried sick about these egg-hunters taking all her babies away. Flits weren't like pets, were they? They could communicate in a way, like miniature dragons. What would it be like to have one?

He thought about queens. They needed warm sand at all times and guarded their clutch fiercely until a touching. They didn't bury their eggs either. Would the gold Flit be like a queen in behavior?

It made sense to lay them at a beach where the sun heated the sand...or near a volcano that would heat the sands from beneath. If she were anything like gold dragons she wouldn't bury the eggs. Being wild, she would have to hide them very well, away from human eyes.

Distracted from his original plan to go swimming he joined the search silently. It reminded him of some of the crazy adventures he and one of his half brothers would go on. If he was lucky enough to find it though, what would he do to appease the wild little gold?

M'zaji had gotten pretty lucky, picking 'Rish as his search partner. The kid seemed to have a good head on this shoulders, and a logical process to finding the clutch. Maybe they'd get lucky today! The bluerider grinned and gestured for 'Rish to lead the way. "You seem to know what you're talking about, have you had training in the sea craft at all? If not, you must be from a sea-bound hold," the bluerider speculated out loud and left it open for reply.

M'zaji kept his eyes peeled for any of the signs that 'Rish mentioned, the small holes in the sand, or tiny bubbles that might indicate shellfish hiding underneath. With his line of sight focused down near his feet, the bluerider wondered, in the back of his mind, if he'd make a fool of himself- trip and fall over a piece of driftwood, or something. He chuckled. Hopefully he'd managed to stay upright! "There's got to be a place on this beach with fresh water. There's a small stream in the forest that empties out into the ocean; the mouth has to be nearby," he assured both himself and his egg-hunting companion.

At the arrival of yet another beach-goer, M'zaji took interest. If only slight interest. the boy seemed afraind to go in the water... Why? The water around Ista was chilly, but nothing near frigid. It was a tropical area, and it had waters warmer than anywhere else on the planet. the bluerider shrugged to himself. Why Arolon did not want to enter the ocean was beyond M'zaji. Especially on a hot day, like today? Why, the bluerider would have dove right in! If he wasn't so busy with other, more important things- that is. He quickly returned his attention to scour the beach around his feet; Arolon had refrained from speaking to them, so M'zaji could only assume he wanted to be left alone.

Kaedrelath's attention was drawn away from his nap by a girl who happened to be rather close to where he lay. The blue watched with whirling, placid green-blue eyes (still covered by two of his three eyelids, sleepy beast!) as the girl's green firelizard dove to the sand and began to shovel it away. The blue's interest was piqued. What was she trying to get at? If the green was so avid to dig, then Kaedrelath certainly wanted to know what was there! Maybe it was a tasty crab, or a whole colony of them! The blue hefted himself up with a happy rumble, which turned into a lilting warble directed at Lissa and Rini. Kaedrelath only needed to take three steps and stretch out his neck to nose around where Rini had been digging. He came up empty-handed (empty-nosed?). Kaedrelath warbled again, this time his voice tickled with confusion. He sniffed at Lissa, his nostrils widening then closing to small slits. His eyes picked up pace as they whirled; what were they looking for? Idly, the blue wondered if it was the same thing his rider sought.

"Southern Boll actually, I lived there with my great gran and my mother. I never trained for sea craft but I loved playing at the beach and watching the ships come in and out. I also like digging for tasty shells though catching an occasional crab is a bonus." ' Mmm crab.' “And you? Where are you from M’zaji?”

‘Rish dug his toes in the sand as the waves crashed about his feet, glancing over and shook his head. “So many people at the beach, well, let us continue our search. Do you know what direction that river flows? It would be nice to find it so we can wash out our catch. Unless you like sand and sea water flavoring the meal,” he grinned showing he was teasing, “eat them raw right out of the shell.”

Arolon wondered if maybe this was a bad idea. He's grown up here but this was his first time ever looking for fire lizard eggs. He didn't know what to look for, what were prime spots to lay eggs in? Should he try teaming up with someone? He recognized a couple of candidates, but not many.

Getting an idea he started looking for places Gold Fire Lizards would hide. If gold dragons defended their clutch then so did gold fire lizards. She would stick nearby the eggs so that meant she needed to hide. He started jogging toward the cliffside and the base of the volcano that met the sands of the beach. Maybe there was a little cave somewhere? Or a ledge? A tunnel underneath where lava would heat sand? Somewhere near those cliffs, he could just bet a gold fire lizard hid!

This time, Lissa did laugh as the dragon whuffed at her hair. Reaching out, she gave his nose a stroke, enjoying the spicy dragon scent that seemed to cling to every dragon.

While he hadn't tried digging for very long, and she had a feeling she knew why. Dragon talons could shift an awful lot of sand, and you'd never know you were digging up and possibly breaking a tiny egg until after the fact. And since Rini didn't seem inclined to stop digging anytime soon, Lissa sighed and decided that she could at least give the tiny green soem guidelines to avoid wasting all that energy.

Calling her lizard to her, she carefully visualized the patch of sand that had held the clutch she'd gotten Rini from. When the lizard chirruped in confusion, she reassured her. She didn't want Rini to look at where she'd been clutched. She wanted Rini to look for places on the beach here that resembled the sand where Rini had been clutched. Privately, she hoped the green could understand the distinction. The lizard seemed to understand a little anyway as she went back to the sand and began to carefully and daintily pace around and sniff.

Now that that was sorted out, Lissa turned back to the dragon.

"Thank you for trying to help, Kaedrelath. The next time I have a free day, I will go fishing and bring you back a fish as a thank you gift. Or maybe a few fish," she amended, remembering that a single fish would hardly be a morsel for the blue. Shading her eyes, she looked out to the water. With any luck, she could use that free day of fishing to play with her dolphin friends as well.

Kallista had made her way to the dunes not wanting to wait for a partner. And as more and more Searchers arrived, she decided it was best if she stayed further and further away. The dunes were shifting, making it hard to climb but she did notice bits of bones and broken shells from the ocean. That had to be a good sign. Musing, she looked about and noticed a small grouping of rocks much higher up on the shore.

Depending on the high tide, the grouping would be a great place to put a nest. Scrambling up the dunes, the green rider tried not to get her hopes up. If anything, she could always go to a Gather someplace and pick something up for her youngest brother. Though the longer she stayed at Ista, the less Sandy Bend Station felt like home. She wondered if her brother would become a runner. He was going to be 13 turns this time around. My how the turns flew by!

Astarateth, would you be kind enough to ask Kaedrelath to tell his rider that I might have found a likely spot. And I will let him know if I find anything. Kallista bespoke to her dragon.

My rider says she found a place to search. She will let yours know if she finds anything. Astarteth replied lazily. The pretty green was now dipping her head below the water and splashing about generally having a good time. I could get her a fish if she needs it.

'Rish chuckled tilted his head giving a grin. "I been here on Ista for three almost four years. I was working with the glass smiths and just got searched not so long ago." He mmm. "Never been to Southern Weyr. Ista is the first one." He paused glancing down as something tugged at his toes, kicking away a strand of seaweed before continuing onwards.

"At least we are going the right direction then. We should come across the stream just in time to clean our catch and cheek for any firelizard activity." He walked on a few steps before grinning, looking down at his feet as bubbles rose. "Found our first digging spot." He knelt, hands digging into the sand for a few minutes before pulling out a clam. "Give it a try."

Just as he was standing up Arolon realized all of the insects had escaped his pocket when he fell and were now scattering all at once. He couldn't hope to capture them all again.

"Awww..."

Swiping a hand through his hair he patiently started his search again. Now he wanted the company of others. On his way back to the shore he came upon a tide pool. Maybe there would be things fire lizards eat in there? It wasn't too deep. He reached his hand in and started looking for anything that might be hiding.

A spiderclaw moved within a clump of sea plants underwater. He reached in to grab it when a watersnake slipped out of the crevice of a rock. He froze and watched as it swam into a different hiding place farther away from him. His sigh of relief rang through the clearing. Not bitten.

He dared to move again, hauling up the spiderclaw. Well if he didn't find the fire lizard clutch he would have an interesting dinner at least! If the tide could get here the eggs wouldn't be left here. He turned back the way he came. He started towards the cliffs again, choosing to dig gently in the small dunes and rocky areas near the base of the cliff/volcano. It was hard to do with one hand, he had to hang on to the spiderclaw!