|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:33 pm
“Skreeee!”
That, as far as Mal could determine, was Aeron-speak for ‘this displeases me’. There were many sounds and gestures that meant this, including a slightly different tone of screech, another screech, and a bite. Truly, it was a varied language. At the moment, however, the Bronze firelizard was displeased with the sand. His eyes whirled orange at the sight of some particular mound and he hissed again.
Mal ignored him, on the basis that nothing really ever truly pleased Aeron, except perhaps for Shim herself. Strangely enough, the Candidate felt just a tiny touch of jealousy over that; his own firelizard preferred someone else over him. Well, it was a small comfort that Aeron had elected to come out with him to the beach at least.
“Well, what about this sand, Aer? Is this alright?” Mal asked, holding out a handful to the judgemental
‘lizard. Aeron gave it a dubious sniff before turning up his nose at it. The young man sighed and brushed off his hands before picking up the sack again. He could’ve sworn that all this sand was the same, but Aeron felt otherwise. The point of this trip was to find appropriate sand for Shim’s sand/nest box. And for the jars afterwards, but Mal wasn’t going to let Aeron know about that.
And then there were the eggs… there was a rumor of a gold firelizard that had clutched out here. With Aeron seeking out the best sand, Mal felt there was a chance that they just might come across this gold. Maybe.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:07 pm
Ahoy creeled her eyes swirling red feeding off of the emotionss Hers was feeling. Ollen stomped down the beach trying to control her emotions, her awful roommate had accused her of taking one of the girls tunics. Why on earth would I take that fat wherries tunic?
She tried to cool her emotions and put all of her energy into something more useful, like trying to find the rumored gold fire lizard's clutch. Some of the young men were muttering about it in the kitchen a few days ago.
"Ahoy, do you know how to find fire lizard eggs?" She tried to project the image of her little green's egg to her fire lizard. The green didn't seem phased and continued fluttering above her. Ollen picked up a slim piece of drift wood, it would make for good poking into sandy mounds or in the brush growing near the coastline.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:01 pm
Mal couldn’t hear much over the crash and burble of the surf, especially since he was busy searching for firelizard eggs. Then again, he figured that the gold mother would see him first… and that would, no doubt, be rather unpleasant. He glared at Aeron for a moment as he scratched at the newest bite mark from the firelizard. The Bronze was horribly protective of his clutch and the wild firelizards would probably be even more so…
The young man blinked a few more times, studying his firelizard. Something was different about Aeron right now. He seemed… tense, as if waiting for something. “Aeron? You better not go off chasing something again. If you do that, I will stuff you in this sack. I will!”
“Skree!” Aeron hissed at his human before trying to listen again. The human couldn’t hear anything----they were deaf! Wouldn’t last a moment out here if it wasn’t for Aeron to protect him----but Aeron could hear it. Spreading his wings, the Bronze firelizard took to the sky, but not for a Flight. He chittered at the Green firelizard before landing once more, shaking his wings off. There was a brief hiss at the human, but most of his attention was focused on the Green.
“Hey! Aeron! Stop that!!” Mal ran after his charge quickly, hoping to get there before the sharding ‘lizard bit someone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:45 pm
"Creeeeeeee!" Ahoy shrieked and dived into Ollen, her human barely saw what was coming and just before she scolded the little green she spotted a blur of bronze and jumped back.
"Crazy flitter, what were you thinking flying at us!" mostly at being caught off guard, but also feeding off of Ahoy's feelings Ollen burned with anger. Holding Ahoy with one arm and pressing the green to her chest Ollen held the stick up in hopes it would detour the lizard from jumping at them.
"Are you wild? Who's your owner!" Ollen looked down the beach and spotted Mal, wouldn't she have a what for, for him!
"Is this your lizard?" She felt like an angry wherry fighting for the last berry on the bush. "What on all of Pern!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:26 pm
Aeron screeched loudly at the sight of the stick, not at all pleased that Ollen had picked up a weapon. He was up in the air again in a flash, clearly displeased with the turn of events, but not quite daring to go any closer. Besides, Mal was here now, and he clearly had to defend his person against this menace! With another screech, the Bronze darted back to perch on Mal’s shoulder, still hissing softly.
“Hello,” Mal said idly, not quite catching onto Ollen’s anger. “Yep, he’s mine. Don’t mind him. He’s a load of hot air. Well, he is usually, but you can hear the steam escaping.” Well, he was sort of harmless, anyway. Harmless like… umm… a pudding bag full of knives, perhaps. With a bright smile, Mal held out a hand for Ollen.
“I’m Mal and this lump of firelizard is--”
“Skreeee!” Aeron screeched again, most displeased that his person had chosen to go up to this definite danger. Why was he so stupid?!
“…” The Candidate merely sighed and waited for Aeron to shut up. Then he continued to speak. “This is Aeron. Call him Grumpy-Tail if you like. It definitely won’t improve his temperament at all, but it can’t get any worse.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:32 pm
Ollen held her breath for a moment to compose herself and let out the air slowly, "I thought he was going to attack Ahoy, she seems so scared!" The young woman was not about to admit her fear. Pushing Ahoy to her shoulder she pumped his hand firmly. She lowered the stick to herside, not wanting to discard it.
"I'm Ollen, this is Ahoy...pleasure to meet ya, Grumpy tail," she shot the bronze a look, "and good to meet you, Mal."
"We've some time away from duties and lessons so I decided we should look for the fabled Queen filitter clutch. Plus gets us out of the way." She flashed a crooked smile. "Are you out looking for it too?" Ollen thought that finding some flitter eggs would bring her a few marks for the next gather.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:59 pm
The Bronze’s only response to Ollen’s rather polite greeting was another loud screech and a wing flare. Unfortunately, since he was still perched on Mal’s shoulder, this caused the Candidate to go temporarily deaf. Also, the wings smacked against his face.
Mal merely sighed, being well-used to this sort of thing. He let go of Ollen’s hand quickly, and the firelizard settled down, just as he always did. “Sorry about Grumpy here. He’d be much happier if I spent my entire life alone in a room somewhere without any interaction. But where’s the fun in that, I ask you? I would perish before denying others the pleasure of my company.”
There was another bright smile---as if the expression ever left his face----at the question. “Well, I thought to myself this morning, ‘hey! You know what would be an awesome fun thing to do today?! Go visit the beach!’ Unfortunately, before I got there, I was attacked by wherries. You know, the ones with the big sharp teeth. But luckily, Aeron was there to bravely fend them off! And I knew the wherries only weakness was sand so I came out here. I’m collecting it, just in case they attack again on the way back.”
He paused for a few seconds dramatically before shrugging. “Yeah, I’m out here for the clutch too. And to get a bag of sand.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:12 am
Was this young man addled in the head? She gave him a skeptical look and burst into laughter, "Sand their greatest weakness? I better grab a few handfuls myself. And what a brave little fellow your bronze!" She laughed again a deep chuckle.
"Ahoy here isn't very...well she's not very smart, affectionate and ditsy. I went to the Dragonhealer and he said that each flit's intelligence is a bit different....say you're not really looking for sand are you?" Ahoy chirped softly to Aeron tilting her head, why was he so foul? Was he trying to be nice? She stood holding Ollen's ear in one paw for balance.
Ollen eyed Mal skeptically, he certainly did have a way with words, a harper perhaps? She loved listening to the harpers sing during gathers, they told the most wonderful stories.
"Would you like to look for the clutch together? Ahoy here isn't much help."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:24 am
Aw! He had made her laugh. That alone made Mal’s day feel complete. Some people would call him easily pleased, and maybe he was. He simply enjoyed the simpler pleasures in life, such as not having a firelizard screeching in his ear. He scratched Aeron slightly, which quieted him down some. “Sometimes I wonder if Aeron here is part wher, honestly. And, yep! I really am looking for sand. Gotta keep myself safe from those wherries, you know. Sure, I might as well help out with looking for a clutch.”
With Aeron around, he had firelizard eggs to go around. Or at least he had. With the Hatching coming up, they’d be going to new owners pretty soon and what a relief that was! Mal would be happy to have Aeron back… which reminded him. “Have any of the rumors mentioned the father of this clutch? Just curious… if it’s a Bronze, we better watch out. They get nasty.”
Aeron hissed softly and ventured a quiet croon at the other firelizard. He genuinely liked other ‘lizards, so Ahoy’s reaction confused him a little. He had only been trying to play…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:58 pm
Raising an eyebrow at Mal's antics she started walking down the beach toward where he was coming from. She thought he was peculiar and just for a moment thought again that perhaps his brain was addled...or wherries actually hated sand. No sense in standing around she peered at the ground thinking about how to respond, what were all the rumors.
"Not heard anything about the father, just that the mother is a wild queen and that somewhere on the beach she may have laid her clutch. I'd like to get my hands on another egg. Don't get me wrong Ahoy is swell..but a lot of people are looking for eggs." She chatted looking around around at the sand. The pot Ahoy had come in was filled with a soft sand that warmed easily, would the queen look for this type of sand?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:06 pm
Hmm… well, even a Gold firelizard could be vicious if she was defending her eggs. Privately, Mal sort of doubted the eggs would be on the beach. He had watched Shim and Aeron try to find a nesting site; the Bronze had inevitably tried to convince the Gold to nest in places that were completely inaccessible to humans. A wild flit would be even worse, he figured. “It’s not very protected out here,” he said, speaking seriously for once. “A mother would want her babies to be safe, so she’d find a safe place for her eggs. Not just leave them out in the open like this… right?”
Admittedly, he didn’t know much about firelizards, except what he had observed from Aeron. And Mal knew the Bronze wasn’t exactly the best example of his species. “Aeron’s enough firelizard for anyone. If I find the eggs, I’d probably sell them off. A few marks here and there never hurt anyone.”
He paused for a few moments before adding, “Well, unless they’re thrown at someone’s face and get in their eye. Then they would hurt.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:44 pm
"I heard that greens lay their eggs in the sand, I guess golds'd lay their eggs some place smart, seeing as they're smarter," she chucked. Mal would've been a good friend to keep a ship company with all of his funny remarks, keep morale high. Ollen wasn't sure exactly what to think of the other young man.
"Maybe if we look in the rocky areas with little holes in them?" She suggested shrugging, she hadn't really thought the search through, and had hoped Ahoy would be..well..more intelligent on the matter. "I mean..eggs have to be in sand to get warm? But they'd be swept away with the tide if they were too close to the waterline." Ollen mused out loud and poke a lump with her stick as she walked.
"I'd take a mark in the face if it meant I could keep it. How'd you get Grumpy? You obviously didn't find him?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:32 pm
“I was thinking of some cliffs or something… keep the eggs safe from tunnelsnakes on a cliff, where only firelizards can get to,” Mal pointed out. “Maybe they could transfer some sand up there somehow, or just keep a nest in a place that’s turned towards the sun most of the time.” Course, things would cool off at night, but that happened everywhere no matter what. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s try looking for rocky areas, like a nest or something.”
“Aeron here? I won his egg at a Gather.” Actually, Mal had recently begun to suspect he might’ve been fooled into ‘winning’ the firelizard egg. He had been cheating, but… well, maybe it had been a little too easy for some young Harper like himself to win at that game. Well, no use thinking about it now. As bad-tempered as Aeron was, Mal wouldn’t trade him for anything else.
Aeron screeched in response. “Skreeee!”
“What about you? How did you get your lovely little lady?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:25 pm
"A woman said her green had clutched and Ahoy's egg did not hatch at the same time as the others. Said she was a dead egg. I looked at the egg as a bet, I pay a little and hope for a pay out," she shrugged and poked another lump in the sand.
She started walking toward a rocky area along the beach. Ahoy circled, twittering at Aeron cheerfully. Did this bronze want her human? That was not allowed! This was her human, she liked humans, they gave treat and knew the right places to scratch. She chirped loudly into Ollen's ear to suggest her human did not look at the bronze.
"Ahoy," she chided the little green bewildered about what had gotten into the docile fire lizard.
"What about over here," she pointed to the rocks, "I'm not sure.." she 'hmmed' and looked around the beach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:00 pm
Dead eggs. Ugh… Mal hoped that there wouldn’t be any dead eggs in Shim’s clutch. Aeron would be even testier than usual if any of his babies were dead. “Uhh… are there any ways to know if eggs are dead or not? Just incidentally and not at all connected with anything else?” Yeah, that was subtle…
Aeron snorted. No, he did not want Ahoy’s human. He had his own human, thank you very much, and he was very nice! Ok, so he was a little stupid sometimes. Like he kept going to see the big firelizards. Aeron didn’t trust that… The Bronze screeched quietly----at least, quiet compared to his usual noises----and dug his talons into Mal’s shoulder. He was not going to let His go anywhere without supervision!
“Ow. Yes. Aeron, you’re very handsome. We all know this. Please let go,” Mal muttered before scratching the firelizard’s eyeridges. “Right, let’s go check out those rocks.” At least he was good at climbing and scrambling over rocks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
