[2014 Easter Event] Hoppy Happy Hatching

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

A purple egg seemed to be gradually burying itself into its sand wallow as it twisted and rocked. The sand piling up around the sides. The firelizard seemed almost intent to bury itself in a slow and discreet way. The egg gave a shudder before going still, the tip still visible above the sand. A few heartbeats passed before the sand in front of the egg dipped in and then pushed up, a blue hatchling scrambling up and hauling himself out of the sand. Sand covered the firelizard as he coughed, spitting sand out of this mouth. Snorting the blue looked up and froze. Oh dear, there were a lot of eyes looking at him. He didn't like that too much. If a firelizard could go pale then this one certainly would have as he tried to shrink away from the crowd. Maybe he hadn't been ready for this. He didn't have long to worry though before a rolling egg collided with him, pinning the blue down. It was this block that finally allowed the bronze hatchling to wiggle his body free. Looking about he noticed the blue under him and stepped back, flipping the egg shell off with his muzzle. He looked down at his smaller clutchmate and leaned down to lick the blue's face. Instantly the bronze pulled back and rapidly flick his tongue in and out to try and dislodge the sand that had gotten in his mouth.

One of the largest eggs in the clutch gave a sudden jump. A moment passed and the egg jumped again. A third and a forth jump followed, keeping the egg in place as cracks from on the top of the shell. It was the fifth jump the had the firelizard explode outward. Well... Half of her. The little gold's momentum was not enough to carry her all the way out and as with all things 'what goes up, must come down'. The egg landed and was unbalanced by the sudden shift in weight and tipped to the side, leaving the hatchling to only flail her tiny claws wildly as she tried to stop the egg before she thumped down onto the sand, her rump still in the egg as she lay on her back and blinked up at the ceiling.

The two blues that had hatched together had finally managed to haul themselves out of their shells and had paused to preen themselves. The two sat side by side and cleaned the remnant of their hatching from their wings and bodies, occasionally turning to aid the other in a hard to reach spot. It was the darker blue that first decided he was finished. Rising to his feet he ruffled his wings and then happily paced away, jumping out of the trough and walking towards the humans. The brighter blue glanced up from his preening and gave a surprised squeak. Jumping up he looked around, spotting his clutchmate walking away. Calling out the blue ran after his smaller brother. Wait! Wait for him! The dark blue had come to a stop in front of a weyrling and had enough time to look up at the lad and chirrup a question before his brother plowed into him. The two fell to the ground in a heap. Instead of fighting though the two had a brief exchange of chitters and chirps before two pairs of eyes in unison turned up to look at Wen. They were both hungry. They could share him.


There. He was clean now. All the shards had been meticulously picked from his hide and any and all egg goop licked off. He was clean. That was satisfying. The brown picked himself and looked around, spotting the antics going on at the front of the clutch. Nope. Nope. Nope. He was not going over there where all that sand was flying everywhere. Not a chance. Instead the firelizard climbed off the back off the trough and decided to walk around the other hatchlings and their mess. Spying a human he trotted swiftly forward and gave a polite chirrup of inquiry. Morning.

 

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

A rather complicated egg began to wiggle. This one seemed to have an easier time than many others as the front of the egg swiftly crumpled in and left a rather surprised looking green sat in the remnants. Blinking in the light the green firelizard tried to look about as her eyes adjusted to the sudden explosion of light. Still blinking she picked herself up and stepped carefully out of the egg. Three feet out and she was almost clear, before her back right foot caught the edge of the shell and flipped it over. The half a shell flipped up and landed squarely on the green hatchling, trapping her once again. The green gave a quiet and confused whistle, the egg shifting as she turned around inside and tried to find a way out.

The trapped green's egg bumped into another that bore the scratches of firelizards trying to remove the paint. The green and purple paint however had stubbornly stuck to the egg despite the attempts of getting it off. The green moved on and the large egg tipped backwards as it brushed past. The egg was still for a moment, a small network of cracks appearing near the base. The egg rolled sideways as a dark brown foot burst from the egg, shortly followed by another. They looked to be back feet and the pair scrambled to find some purchase. At last getting a grip on the sad the egg managed to right itself, though the legs clearly were not strong enough to support the entire body weight and the shell too. The forefeet managed to make they own gap and the seemingly dark brown managed to force himself up. Unfortunately he got a tad too carried away and darted forward. His sudden movement unfortunately sent him careening off the edge of the trough, the egg shattering as it hit the stone floor. The firelizard now revealed was shown to not be as dark as he first appeared, well, not on his body and wings at least.

It seemed the brown was not the only one to go breaking loose of the trough too soon. A multi-shaded blue egg with two yellow bands rolled straight off the side of the trough, however this one did not break when it hit the ground, only crack slightly. The egg continued to roll in short spurts across the ground. It rolled between legs, past people until it finally collided with somebody's foot. The egg bounced back and rolled into the foot. A third time managed to break a gap in the egg large enough to look into. The egg shifted back so the gap was facing upward. The pale, slightly speckled, green looked up at the person who she'd hit. Lying on her back she tilted her head to the side. Oh, hello there.



Two of the original greens were left and clearly one had decided that she was done waiting, while the other seemed almost about to fall asleep. Content to sit around up until now she had finally come to a decision. Then again, her waiting had vastly lowered her options, many of the people handing out food had already had a firelizard come over and be given their food. The green looked down as her stomach growled audibly. She would have to act now or there would be no food left for her at all. That just wouldn't do at all. Lifting herself off she walked to the end of the trough, hesitating at the drop she saw there. Was it safe? The others had made it, but could she? Taking a deep breath a green jumped and spread her wings, hoping to not land too roughly. She glided a short while before her wings gave out and she dropped the last inch to the ground. That wasn't the worst that could have happen. She looked around a spotted a hopeful face holding some food. The green paced over and crooned, big eyes turned up toward the goldweyrling's face.

 

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

Another one of the larger eggs began to twist and shudder as the firelizard inside ramped up its effort to get out. It could hear noises outside and really wanted to be out there. It scratched insistently at the shell trying to work its way out, but the egg would not be worn down in such a way. The egg tipped back as the hatchling leaned back and then slammed its foreclaws into the shell. The force was too much for the egg and it shattered, sending the bronze hatchling flying out of the egg. Oddly composed the hatchling dug his claws into the sand and slid to a halt, looking up he seemed neither surprised nor intimidated by the crowd. It seemed that this large firelizard wasn't going to be shaken by anything. Come at me, bro.

An egg painted with vibrant zigzags began to wiggle back and forth. The hatchling clearly not intenting to do anything other than throw its weight from one side to the other. Oh well, eventually it would manage to get out. Possibly. As it was after a long while and a few moments break here and there a crack appeared in the front of the shell. Even more shakes and the crack lengthened and widened, giving a glimpse into its dark depths and the hatchling that wiggled about inside. One more mighty heave and the crack down the middle slit the side of the egg apart, the sand wallow being the only thing keep the two half of the shell together. A blue nose pushed the two halves aside and hauled himself out. The dark blue chirruped happily at all the people. Hello there, people. Hello!

It seemed the shell could only contain the green for so long before she decided enough was enough. Of course that decision was made after a few minutes of walking around, bumping into other eggs and hatchlings and nearly walking off the edge of the trough a few times. Finally the large green reared up and flared her wings, pushing the shell off her back and looking rather impressive doing so. Surprised to find she was right in the middle of the trough and right at the front too the young green beat her wings to keep herself standing. Oh dear, she'd made quite a spectacle hadn't she? That wasn't very good, people were looking at her now and it made her a tad uncomfortable. Still there was no use running and hiding so she best make the most of it. Ignoring the people with firelizards already asking for their attention the green scampered forward a young girl with meat in her hand. She gave a quick poke around in the girl's head and found no dragon attached. Yay! That meant she could have all her attention! She gave a happy squeal and stood before Bacha, wiggling happily.


She didn't want any of these ones. This ones all seemed far too eager to get her attention. It didn't matter whether it was her or the next hatchling along, they just wanted a firelizard to pay attention to them. Well, she would be no part of that. Jumping off the trough the green firelizard padded away. These were all too eager for her tastes. With that there were no more greens left on the sands only a cluster of twelve eggs, two blues, two bronzes and a gold. With the brown hatchling gradually picking himself up off the ground after his tumble, though he seemed somewhat unnerved by the person approaching him. The dark green left the crowd and peered about, looking for someone a little less needy. She spotted some youths and gave a discerning sniff. No, definitely not. Spying a grown woman the dainty green paced over and looked up at Lavi with a well meaning chirrup. Good morning, would you perhaps like to join her for breakfast?