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V'tur cursed. Was that a Hatchling he heard? With the dragons humming at full volume, he was happy when B'nas moved forward and started herding candidates towards the caves. They could not let any of the hatchlings go Between. Shards, he wondered how many they had hidden.

Pest in the meanwhile had popped in above the ones who had taken the shiny rounds but didn't see any little dragons or shiny rounds. He flew around hissing and not happy but when he saw a green dragon suddenly appear, he squawked and disappeared. Back at V'tur, he began to chatter excitedly, sending images of a little green dragon.

Z'fer was shoving some girl into the mines even as others started to head in and towards the others. V'tur moved forward to provide support. Turning to Z'fer and B'nas, he spoke angrily. "We need food. I wonder if they even thought to bring anything for the Hatchlings. We might have to use that one's caprine. I can send Pest or Iwieth hunting but I don't know how long that will take... And if these are Hatching, the ones on the Sands might be as well."

Iwieth grumbled. I don't know where to hunt here. I will go back to the pens and take a buck. Moving back to try to get some room from the other dragons, Iwieth was not pleased with the lack of space for takeoff. And he did not like leaving his rider alone. Finally, he jumped into the air and pumped his wings to get some distance. Be careful, my rider. I will be upset if you get yourself hurt.

He went Between and appeared above the pens where a blue also was hunting. Daroth if he recalled properly. You found your hatchlings? He swooped down for a large buck. Killing it quickly, he kept it in his claws.

Yes. I bring food for the little ones.

Bugling his approval, Iwieth groped for his rider's mind and took the picture so he could return. Hopefully, in time for the little ones.

Her caprine? But...but it was hers! Her family needed it! Not these- these hatchlings. Hatchlings? Wait. There were only so many things that hatched, and even fewer things that hatched and for which a baby caprine wouldn't be enough food. It had taken her awhile, preoccuppied by her own plight as she was, but Iafri finally gathered that these people were here looking for baby dragons. She had no idea, however, whether or not this was normal, as she knew next to nothing about them except not to trust their riders.

And here she was, trailing along behind one - one who moved quite a bit faster than she did, thanks to his long legs and her reluctance, and she stumbled a little as they went. She said nothing, though, just held possessively to her prize and snuck fleeting looks at the men as they spoke.

She wanted to protest the use of her caprine as hatchling-food - she had gone through an awful lot of trouble for it by now, after all! - but she didn't want to draw any more attention or invite more potential punishment than she already had, either.

A'nos shook his head rapidly. "Can't pick up a baby dragon. At least we've still got this... egg.... Shards!" The Harper hissed the word between his teeth as he continued to back down the tunnel. "This one's moving a lot too now," he muttered, "we're not going to get them out of here! We can either leave them for the Resistance to Impress or... try to get this one at least away so they can't have it. This one has to be a brown or bronze... it would be a great loss, to their way of thinking. Are we prepared to go through with that? It's extreme action, keeping a hatchling from being able to Impress."

He personally didn't have much feeling one way or the other; the idea of killing or essentially killing a blameless hatchling wasn't something he relished, but if it weakened the position of the enemy... well, maybe it was worth it. Whatever the others decided was what he would go along with in the end though; he wasn't here to make enemies amongst his allies.

Inside its fur lined back the Self Absorbed egg started to develop cracks on its bright blue shell, but the soft sounds of their appearance was muffled by the bag and other background noises. Whether A'nos and the other Revolutionaries realised it or not however, it was almost ready to break open.

"It was just a thought," A'nos murmured, "but you're right. At least this one will get treated decently." Just as he moved to put his burden down a foot punched straight through shell and bag, closely followed by a second one. The bronze rider startled, and the egg fell the last couple of inches to the stone floor of the mines. Luckily it had the padded bag to protect it from breaking... not that it wasn't doing that of its own accord.

The dragon inside the Self Absorbed egg gave a disgruntled cry from inside its shell regardless, and the bag wriggled and bulged as the hatchling tried to find a way out.

A'nos exchanged a look with Kr'stof and dived around another corner. "Still got my knife," he confirmed with a nod, "if they don't just take the dragons and go, I think your plan is the best one we've got right now."

Back around the corner Self Absorbed managed to break free of both egg and bag and gave another shriek of displeasure. Was he bronze? Was he brown? It was hard to tell at a distance in the dim light provided by glows but whichever he was he was not at all impressed by the situation he found himself in. Where were the people? There should be people here for him!

A'nos nodded he agreement to this plan. "Got it," he elaborated quietly, "I hope it doesn't come to that... but if they hang around and insist on looking for us then that can't be helped." He really would rather avoid violence, at least any violence that had a chance of getting him hurt or killed.

Before Echo could try and lead anyone anywhere, a small shape moved out of the passage the flit had been trying to lead them towards. A small green shape on all fours, who stopped and looked at them all. A hatchling! Echo, his guidance no longer needed, flew back to perch on his bonded's shoulder.

Tacelon watched the green as she watched them. It was the first hatchling he had ever seen, and he was surprised that such lareg creatures as dragons started as something so tiny. Well, of course they had to be tiny to fit in the eggs, but even so...

And then she was moving forward toward the group. Toward a Candidate? Toward him? They were all in a middle it was hard to tell. But no, she stopped to look up at...an apparently lost girl holding a baby caprine? He blinked at that, surprised and unexpectedly disappointed. He'd been sure he wouldn't Impress, what dragon would want him? But for just a moment he'd dared hope, and had that hope swiftly dashed. His face held its typical resigned expression, but Echo crooned a low note that betrayed his disappointment.

But there was another sound, a cry that echoed from down one of the tunnels. He looked toward it, startled. Was that another dragonet? If there were more, how many were there? The inhuman shriek sounded from the passage again, and he figured it was at least worth investigating. He quickly whistled, Find to Echo, and the flit took off without further instruction. The little brown sped down the passage, trying to locate the source of the noise.