Al'os stumbled into his weyr, his violet eyes droopy with sleep. The clutch,
sired by Crolteth, had just hatched and the rider and his dragon had finally
returned home to their own weyr. The bluerider was greatly looking forward to
his bed.
Sleepily, he yawned and entered the weyr. Then he stopped. Sitting
there, curled up on his bed, was a tiny, green dragon hatchling, fast
asleep.
Al'os stared at the dragon, and ever so slowly, he turned to face the
stone dragon bed where Crolteth was sleeping. "Crolteth."
The blue's eyes
flickered open a little too fast for him to have actually been sleeping, and he
raised his head to look at his rider. Yes?
Wearily, Al'os frowned and pointed at the
hatchling on his bed. "What's that?"
Crolteth's eyes flickered with
amusement. It's a dragon, Al'os. A
hatchling. He said condescendingly.
"I know that." Al'os
snapped. "But what's it doing on my bed?" He was tired, and all he
wanted to do was go to sleep. Instead, he was arguing with his dragon. Al'os was
not at his most amiable.
Crolteth blinked, and he looked at the hatchling
with pride. She's my daughter. Her name's Nydarjarth,
and she said she wanted to come live at Darkling Dawn. I thought we could bring
her back with us.
Al'os stared at his dragon, then at the
hatchling, and groaned. "I suppose you expect me to take care of her as
well?"
But Al'os, she's my
daughter...Crolteth's eyes whirled as he looked at his rider
forlornly.
Al'os sighed, defeated. There was no way he could compete against
Crolteth's puppy eyes look, especially when he was almost asleep on his feet.
"Alright, but after tonight, she sleeps with you." He grumbled as he grabbed a
pillow and blanket from the bed and lay down on the floor beside
Crolteth.
Crolteth crooned and looked at his daughter. Cautiously, Nydarjarth
cracked open one eye, and seeing Al'os was asleep, she crooned. Crolteth
snickered. See? Told you it would
work.
Name: Nydarjarth
Gender: Female
Size: Lauocan [24 meters]
Color:
Green
Bonded to: Unbonded
Dam: Green Vinyath
Sire: Blue
Crolteth
Personality: Nydarjarth is rather obedient and curious. She is
child-like in manner, easily distracted but brought back to task by a simple
warning. She is likely to wander off after a butterfly or anything that she
wishes to investigate further. However, she will always obey the person - or
dragon or anything else - that she has identified as her 'caretaker' of
sorts.
Nydarjarth grew quickly, though she would never grow to be a very large
green; she would actually be slightly smaller than average, fully grown. It was
surprising that she had not become spoiled, considering how much Crolteth doted
on her. Al'os was not immune to her charm, either.
Nydarjarth practically
squealed when she saw the gift her father's rider had brought her. Al'os patted
the green's head while holding the flitter egg in his other hand. "Here you are,
Nyda'." He said, grinning.
Crolteth watched as Nydarjarth, very carefully,
took the egg in her mouth and trotted off. Then he looked at his rider
knowingly. So, what happened to the annoying
dragon-child who would take up all your time and get in your way?
The blue asked.
Al'os looked up at his dragon with a frown. "What are you
talking about?"
Oh, she's got you wrapped around her
little claw. Crolteth chuckled.
That made Al'os scowl. "Oh, be
quiet, you." He grumbled.
Nydarjarth watched over her egg religiously, making
sure absolutely nothing happened to it that could harm it. Late one night, the
egg began to rock, and the green weyrling woke up both Al'os and Crolteth with
her excited ramblings. They watched in amusement as the egg hatched.
Slowly,
a gleaming wet head appeared, followed quickly by the rest of the body as the
hatchling creeled hungrily. Nydarjarth crowed in joy. A
bronze! Look, Dad, I got a bronze fire lizard!
Crolteth chuckled.
We can see that, Nyda'. He pointed out. What are you
going to name him?
Nydarjarth screwed her eyes up in
concentration. I think I'll call
him...Dart.
"That's a good name." Al'os grinned.
Thank you so much, Uncle Al'os! Nydarjarth crooned
and enveloped the rider in a dragon hug. As Nyda' was already slightly larger
than him, he was knocked off his feet and fell to the ground with a dragon
weyrling on his stomach.
Crolteth was practically beside himself with
laughter.
Dart flew in circles around her head as Nydarjarth stood outside her weyr,
yawning. Her eyes blinked as the morning's sunlight hit her face. She stared at
the bronze flitter, shaking her head.
She jumped off the ledge and flew down
to the feeding grounds, where she could already see her father Crolteth eating
his own breakfast. The cattle and wherries were in a tizzy, milling around
anxiously, no doubt due to the feeding dragon in their midst.
Crolteth looked
up from his meal as she approached. Hello there,
Nyda'. He said. Did you get any sleep last
night with that overactive flitter? He asked dryly, eyeing the
bronze flit.
A little. She replied
lightly. Have you found a place yet? She
asked eagerly.
She was referring to a place to stand. She had always dreamed
of bonding and as soon as she was old enough, she had set out searching for the
place she wanted to stand. Her father and his rider had taken it upon themselves
to help her decide, knowing of far more worlds than she.
Crolteth sighed.
Not yet. Although, it occurs to me, this would be a lot
easier to do if you told us what you wanted.
I
don't know yet. But when I do see it, I'll know. Nydarjarth
explained.
Well, Crolteth said, finishing
his meal, We're going to Star City Dragonry
today. He said. Then he grimaced. We haven't
gone there before, because it's pretty different from Pern, or Darkling Dawn,
for that matter.
Nydarjarth cocked her head thoughtfully.
Really? Okay, well, I think I'll go with you this
time. She decided, cheerful as ever. This place sounds
interesting.
Nydarjarth was not disappointed when they arrived at Star
City. The only thing more varied than its residents were the dragons. Some were
wingless, some had patterns with everything from tiger stripes to panda
markings, and others were clearly hybrids of dragons from other places. On top
of that, both the dragons and the other inhabitants had everything from metal
spikes on their heads to tattoos, and even cyborg limbs on some!
Fascinated
with the dragons and their 'cyborware', Nydarjarth quickly decided to hang
around for a while. And, while she was here, she reasoned, she might as well
sign up as a candidate for the clutches in the public Hatching
Bays...
Name: Zhoqueiath
Bonded to: Nydarjarth
Gender: Female
Colour:
Blood-marked Green
Breed: Vella Crean Blood Court
Abilities: Elemental
magic cast with blood as as a reagent. Telepathy. Teleporation. Verbal
speech.
Size: Green-sized
Height: 21'0"
Genetic Rating: Not
Available
Personality: "Evil" might describe Zhoqueiath, but it is an
imprecise evil... she isn't an evil mastermind type, nor is she a crazed
scientist type, nor is she the type to be a schoolyard bully. Her cruelty is
much more subtle, and usually concealed: she is the kind who will create a
collection of dragonfly wings, but only dragonfly wings which she has pulled off
herself. Any wrongs made to her are repaid, tenfold... but five or even ten
years later, when the one who slighted her no longer even remembers her
face.
Cyborware: Zhoqueiath may redeem one minor cyborware token upon
adult-hood.