Gotta Fight Another Fight, Gotta Run Another Night [Open]

IC Month: Month 2 / Late Summer / 11AL
IC Setting: Night time, the air is sticky and even stickier and more humid deep down in the caves where it appear something has been hidden.

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The heat in these caverns, one sandy cavern in particular seemed to have increased, the air was sticky with moisture from the steam created from the bubbling hot water pits. This was not a place many, if any ventured and especially not at night. However to this one many with glistening rugged skin of dark tan, on earth his origins would be middle eastern, Arabic to be precise. His hair a short unkempt brown, his dark brown eyes almost glowed under the light he carried. Ever since he had discovered the water pools here, he had used them to boil and cook down the meat off cuts into a slop he mixed with old bread and meal to give his dogs.

There was a noise from behind him as he was using a small pool to heat his pot and boil down the water in there. It was once however and when he turned he saw nothing. Once again his attention was turned back to his cooking down of the slop. It didn't take long for him to strip off his shirt, toned and muscled abs glistened like his smooth arms with sweat from the heat and humidity that engulfed the cavern.

-Food?-

He shook his head of the thought, no that wasn't his. It was feminine, definitely not a thought of his. Though he swore he had heard it allowed, or was it just in his mind, it was the chirp and a nose that nipped at his rear that made him turn sharply. There was not one but two little faces, ugly faces but no less draconic looking up at him.

"Where did you come from?"

He queried the more golden of the pair, which seemed to reach out and tug at his sleeve. This little one had probably be the same one to have nipped him. The nips were far from playful but more blunt and serious like it.. not he couldn't call it an it. Well it looked to be gold, like the dragons and flits, so she must be female. She is it was, after all it wouldn't do.. Looking to the other one which seemed to incline it's head in a lady like manor at him he concluded she was female too, not that he could make heads or tails of her colour in his dim light.

It seemed the 'Lady-like' one would show him as she indicated with her head to follow him. Or at least that was how Azrael interpreted it, the other one the golden one followed by his side seemingly very serious, though he had a feeling she understood exactly what he had said. It seemed to be an off shoot room of the cavern he was in, inaccessible but through the cavern he was in.

There were and he counted them... 8 well there was 8 as it seemed to be very clear that one egg had already cracked open. Well if one had cracked open, how come there was two of these things.. His thoughts drifted back to the hatching he had watched not to long ago and it dawned on him.. Ahh.. those two were twins.. Clearly of the same colour though the other one did not appear to be gold at all.

There was a nip at his ankle and he looked down at the gold who sat by his side, oh she mustn't speak like dragons, but if she didn't then who had earlier. She looked intelligent though, she had 'intelligent' eyes as one would say. Well asking couldn't hurt, perhaps she would tell him what she wanted sooner or later.

"Are you hungry?"

Even if she had not given him a slight nod Azrael felt as if he would have known what she wanted instinctively. It sounded weird to say it, but he knew the feeling well, he knew it with his dogs and his camels. The camels had survived the first winter in the warmth of the stables they had, and until the next winter he had been riding them in a sort of caravan down the main access road and visited all the local stakes. He did many things, including mining, something he had inherited from his father. Moving back towards his boiling meat and meal he slopped it into a bowl, stirring it several times he moved the pot off the boiling pit, setting up with his roll that he slept in a barrier around the hot pot.

"Come 'ere"

He reached out and scooped the golden one into his arms and inspected her body, she didn't protest as if understanding exactly what he was doing to her. Well.. he thought.. her proportions weren't bad and she seemed sleeker and more slender than the other one, though she was bigger. He extended her wings, ahh well now there was a difference, there were much smaller than the dragons though on her they looked a little big, he was sure she would grow into them. Grabbing his torch to see into her eyes he quickly shielded them again at her creel against the bright light. Okay that explained why they were hatching here at night, it was obvious the bright lights hurt them. Though the dim chemical lights he used slung high on the walls seemed tolerable. He then opened her mouth... no teeth, well how was she meant to eat and then it dawned on him..

Food should be cool enough now, he remembered reaching for the bowl of meal and meat. Looking at the mushy slop he realized it to be just the right consistency for her to eat with little problems. She wasn't all that much bigger than some of the 4 month old pups he had recently sold to a trustworthy farm to become hunting dogs. She was perfect to cradle in his arms he thought remarking at her sudden cuteness to him. Without thought he dipped his hand into the slop after stirring it and held his hand out to her.

A tentative tongue flicked forth for a taste, it contemplated it and flicked forth for another taste. With her toothless mouth she clamped it on his hand and sucked the slop off it. A small curse slipped from Azrael's lips at the force she had used, but it seemed from first feed she and her were inexplicably bonded. Nothing like a riders bond, or how he had been told it felt like, but he knew this was just as special. That the bond he now shared with this little one would last a long time.

Dipping his hand into the slop again he held this one out to the other gold 'Lady' as he had dubbed her affectionately for the time being though he was not a man to normally do anything affectionately. She refused it, though she did come lay near him and the bundle in his arms which had reached out to suck the goop from his hand again.

There didn't seem to be any other noises coming from the other room, though he could not be sure. For now he would keep an eye for for the other little gold as it seemed the one in his lap was his and his alone as she sucked more goop from his hands.

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Here we go.. Wher hatching time...

1. You need to get through Azrael first. For the moment until he has spoken to them it means that you're posting a reaction to the two wher babies in the hot pool cavern.

2. The hot pools will burn you, if you fall in you will burn and die.

3. No one will probably know their whers names for a few days.. I will post what their name will be, but IC it may take a few days for your whers to announce their names.

4. Azrael is the unofficial guardian he'll tell you where to go, so no just walking into the sands where the eggs are.

5. To show you have read this post you must post a at the top of your post so I can see that you have. You can find it in the emoticon box to the right of the reply area.. or simple : star : without the spaces.

6. If you do not post the or follow the rules this may/will jeopardize your chance at getting a wher.

7. Above all.. Let's have fun ^.^ if in doubt just ask.. it can be an OOC addition to your post, a PM or IM to me.. or even just asked in the chatango box if I'm around. If I'm not don't fret, just PM me and I'll get back soon as I get on.

Yet another day of monotony.

Or at least that was how it seemed to Zachariah when he got up in the morning. All he saw ahead of his was the same thing he'd done yesterday, and the day before. It was the same sense of intolerable sameness he'd been having for the past while. Sometimes to him it seemed his life was just....dull. One long never-ending pattern; sometimes things like hatchings or performances would register a slightly higher blip on the screen, but then it would fade away into the dull sameness again.

Well, Zacha decided he wasn't going to let it go on.

Unfortunately, that decision did nothing to help him actually think of what he could do that was new. So after swimming in the lake most of the afternoon - true, it was something he did all the time, sigh, but it had been a really hot, sticky day and it had seemed necessary - and grabbing a quick bite to eat, he'd set off exploring. Not outside, around the Caldera - even with night fast approaching, it was still unbearably muggy - no, instead he decided with sudden inspiration to explore inside the Caldera, in the caves he knew existed in the rock. Hopefully they would be nice and cool at the end of the day.

So, quickly pulling on a shirt and grabbing a light to take with him, Zacha made his way, unnoticed except for a couple of his friends, down to the caverns. It was an intriguing place. His lantern lit up only part of the darkness, and cast crazily flickering shadows skittering across the stone. The caverns had, the teenager soon noticed, a sort of 'breath', a slight wind traveling back and forth from deep within the bowels of the Caldera.

At first his suspicions had been correct; the coolness of the caves quickly chased away the muggy heat of the day. However, the farther in he traveled, the hotter and steamier it seemed to get again; the rough stone, before so cool against his fingertips, was now warm. Eventually Zacha pulled his shirt off again, tying it around his waist instead. These caves were rough and uneven; Zachariah began to seriously regret not putting on his thicker shoes before coming; his sandals were getting all scuffed up, and he'd stumbled more than once. This place could really be dangerous. One wrong step and he'd be stranded down here with a broken leg and nobody to call for help.

It was so much fun!

Zacha didn't know what time it was, but he judged that it must be fully night by now. Not late enough for Aunt Claudia to worry - besides, he'd told his friends where he was going; if they thought something was wrong they'd tell her - but still.....Well, it was impossible to judge the amount of time he'd spent down here. Zacha knew one thing though: he'd never been bored for a second of it. I am definitely coming back here again tomorrow, he decided. He'd invite someone to come with him, maybe, and bring a better light.....if he brought chalk or something to mark his way he'd be able to go farther out, too; true he was wandering around right now, but he wasn't stupid enough to get lost. He stuck to the main, widest path, going as straight as possible, and he couldn't have gone that far. Besides, he had a fairly good sense of direction; Zachariah was confident he'd be fine.

By now he was in a hot, steamy part of the caves that was even worse than outside had been; his lantern illuminated clouds of steam wherever he looked, and he was surrounded by hot pools. Really hot pools. He leaned over to examine one, but was deterred by the giant cloud of scalding steam that hit him in the face; he stayed carefully away from them afterwards. Anything that hot would probably be a really bad thing to get to close to.

He'd almost decided to call in quits and make his way back when he heard a noise. That's to say, a different noise; the caves were alive with little rustlings and such, undoubtedly from bats or something. But this wasn't like that; a soft scritching sound as if from small feet on rock....A slight thump, then a curious sucking sound. Curious but (perhaps stupidly) not afraid, he stepped towards the source of the sound ,which turned out to be coming from the very next room-like cavern. This too was filled with hot pools, but unlike the others that wasn't all that was there. Holding his lantern out, Zacha made out a coppery-skinned man who seemed to be holding something....It looked like some sort of animal, but he couldn't make out what it was...

It sucked on his hand, and the movement sent a startling flash of gold Zacha's way; if his lantern hadn't announced his arrival then his sharp intake of breath certainly did. Was that....Is that a hatchling? was his first thought; what was this man doing with one of the gold dragons? But a second glance told him that....no...this couldn't possibly be one of the dragons. It was too small for one, and something about it looked very....off. It lacked the dragons'....regal appearance. His second thought was a dragonet, but....no.,..that couldn't be right either, could it? This thing was just....different.

He took another step forward, and the glow from his light fell on the second creature lying near the man. It was an odd, hard-to-discern color; the other one was clearly gold, but the smaller one's color was debatable. He could clearly see the features of the one stretched out on the ground, and they were odd. Draconic, but not dragon. No gold hatchling had been that small, or that stout. The proportions seemed off somehow - dragon's wings were so much larger than that! Intrigued, Zacha asked, voice tinged with curiosity and awe, "What are they?"

He looked back up at the man, and noticed for the first time the goopy stuff in his hand, which the bundle he was holding was quickly sucking off. That explained the odd noise he'd heard before. "They look like dragons, but they're not.....they're kinda cute." He knelt down to look at the one stretched out, holding up his lantern so he could see. It protested, and he saw it flinch away....Idiot, he should have guessed, seeing they were in a cave.....light hurt them? He quickly lowered it again, half-pushing it behind him. "What are they doing here?"

Jonas was restless. The dark shadows of his room were soft and comforting to the eyes after the bright sun of day, but however full his days were, the young man felt the need to roam. As usual, so did his green dragonet, Mari. The small creature twitched and fidgeted on Jo's belly. When her foot jabbed into his gut for the fifth time, he'd had enough.

Carefully cradling the half asleep Mari in his big hands, Jonas rose from bed and pulled on a pair of boots, not bothering with a shirt. When he stood to leave, the green firelizard slipped up to his shoulder, twining her slim little tail around the back and side of his neck. "Ready to go, Mari darling?" he asked her, as if she could truly reply back. She chirped and the pair headed out into the night of the Caldera.

The cool breeze of the night brushed Jonas's skin. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of the wilderness and the evening. Though he was old enough to get his own place, after his sisters had been killed by the menace that is Thread, he'd moved back in to his parents' home to keep them company. Now that his mother was expecting again, things were getting a bit awkward for him to be around the house with his dad acting like this was their first child all over again.

Jonas's meanderings through the night brought him to a few of the caves' entrances. Peeking inside, Mari bounced off of his head to fly inside and then back out to him when she realized he hadn't followed her yet. "Fine, fine," he grumbled taking the first steps into the darkness of the caves, Mari circling around his head. The soft sounds of bubbling water ahead greeted Jo's ears as he pursued his firelizard further and further into the darkness that was darker than night.

More than just boiling pools of deathly water greeted Jonas when he reached the larger caverns, surprisingly. There was a light, as if from a lantern, and voices. They sounded male, and coming further into the caverns, Jonas saw that the owners of the voice was indeed male. And another man stood near him. Mari chirped a long string of excited trills, diving and dipping through the air. Confused, Jo watched her as it slowly dawned on him that what his firelizard was singing sounded eerily like the welcoming song firelizards sang when the dragons had hatched.

His gaze falling to the ground, Jonas nearly swore at what he saw. There were two creatures there, one seeming a bit gold, that looked quite like the hatchlings the other candidates had Impressed at the last hatching. And yet...they were definitely not dragons. "What are these astounding creatures, do you think?" he asked, looking back at the other two people in the caverns. Mari flew back to him for a moment and then dropped to the ground, her wings fluttering over her impossibly slender body.

Tilting her head sharply sideways, the green chirped at the little creature that wasn't in the dark, seated man's lap. These were her kin, she could tell, though they were much stranger than the big things that hatched from the eggs on the sands by the place with the rows and rows of chairs. That was where her pet had stood to see if he could bond with one of them. This time around, he hadn't, but didn't seem to put out about it. Was this another such bonding ceremony thing? Mari was very interested.

Kneeling down, Jonas stretched out his hand towards his spaz of a pet, murmuring, "Here, now, love, don't bother the poor thing." As he spoke, the young man watched the wandering little draconic creature. It was pretty in a strange sort of way. Very earthy, quite different from the dragons that hatched which were all very elegant for the most part. Mari hopped a little between her kin and her pet, still very excited. Jo knew exactly how she felt now that he'd found something other than pits of water that could boil a man alive. "Aren't you a lovely thing?" he said to the second creature, whatever they were, quite interested in how the rest of this night - or morning as it would surely turn in to - would play out.

Azrael looked up at the new comer, obviously the young lad had never been down here. For Azrael himself it seemed these caves doubled as his home, he had been down here cooking for so long that well it had become like home. It was part of his well almost daily routine, during the winters he slept here, it was warm and much better than sleeping in the stables. Though for the life of him he could never remember eggs being near here, then again he never checked that tunnel before which lead to them.

"I guess they are somewhere in between."

It was right, they were somewhere in between a dragon and a firelizard of which it seemed to show neither preference for. Wheres.. hmm well now that might fit. If he dropped the last 'e' it sounded alright.. well he supposed that would do for now. It was better than calling them things..

"I s'ppose I'll call them Whers.."

He didn't really elaborate on why, hoping he would avoid having to explain it to the youngster. He was about to offer the young man to see if the other gold would accept him, when another man entered with a green flit that seemed to spaz about the place in an excited panic over the young ones. The flash of light in the eyes of the wandering gold from Zacha's lamp had her cringe, flinching away she moved swiftly across Azrael's legs to wind herself around Jonas' leg and in an almost dainty manner placed on two taloned pad on his boot.

A smile graced Azrael's lips as he gave Jonas a side long look, well the little one had obviously made her choice. Just like the one in his lap had, turning his eyes back to Zacha his smile was slightly sympathetic.

"You might have lucked out with her, but if you look in that cave over there you might find the adventure you're looking for."

He gave an indicative hand towards the tunnel which lead to the eggs which was in the same direction that Azrael was facing. He was surprise he had not see more wandering out, though last time he checked there had not been all that much movement.

"She's hungry you know. Come grab one of the bowls, slop some of the stuff from my pot in it, make sure it cools down first though. Prepare to get it on you though as she'll take it by hand."

Indicating the pot he took another handful of the slop in his bowl for the gold in his lap to suck off his hand and fingers again. The pleasurable chirping noises that came from her an indication she seemed to quite like it.

Lost again. Sobi sometimes cursed herself for her lack of directional skills. Now deep inside the dark caves, she knew she'd be in trouble soon if she didn't find her way out. Oh WHY had she decided to go exploring today? Even Mischeif hadn't wanted to come with her and that was saying something for the little blue. As she continued her wandering, she caught the sight of a flickering light from around a corner and hurried her steps deeper into the cave to find the sourse. What she found were two young men she didn't recongize and two golden creatures she didn't have a name for. They looked a bit like dragons, but not quite like them. What were they? Taking a tentative step forward, careful of the dangers around her, Sobi cleared her throat and spoke up. "Excuse me Sirs? What's going on here? What are those adorable creatures? And also, can one of you tell me the way out? I'm a bit lost." She smiled faintly, showing how much she understood her getting lost was annoying. But lost she was, and it was a good thing too, because if she'd hadn't been lost, she'd have never stumbled upon this strange event.

"I guess they are somewhere in between."

"Guess so," was Zachariah's murmured assent as he let his eyes roam the length of the little queen's body. Too small for a dragon, too big for a dragonet - but where had they come from? Zacha hadn't ever heard a single word breathed about a new kind of dragon, not one....And surely not even the geneticists would keep such a secret? Then again, maybe they would. But if this was some project, why were they all the way down here, alone? Clearly the man in front of him didn't know much more than Zacha.

After a pause, in which Zacha stared thoughtfully at the smaller brownish gold, the man spoke once more.

"I s'pose I'll call them Whers.."

Zacha looked up, taken aback. "Whers?" Well, he guessed they had to have a name....and it was certainly more distinctive than 'thing' or 'they' or 'creatures'. Still, he wondered where that one had come from. "Sounds kind of like wher, but without the 'e'," he observed needlessly. He considered asking what had brought about that name, but shrugged; it was a good enough name a any, and what did it matter much anyway?

It turns out he wouldn't have had time to get the question out anyway; the next second a flurry of excited trills shattered therelative silence, and the teenager looked around sharply to discover the source of the noise, which turned out to be a very excited green firelizard. Now where had that come from? He wondered if it could be the Wher-man's, but in another instant its real owner had turned up, and immediately asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Whers," Zacha supplied cheerfully, knowing full well that that was no better than silence for the newcomer, as certainly 'wher' was a foreign word for them all. Movement from below drew his eyes downward; they poor gold, hurt by his light, had flinched away, backing towards the newcomer and winding around his legs like a feline. A moment later the first man spoke, directing his words at Zacha. For a moment he didn't comprehend what was said - "'lucked out'? - then suddenly it dawned on him: These were Impressionable creatures!

The realization and amazement on his face was clearly readable, as he stared first at the gold in Azrael's lap to the other by the owner of the green firelizard. Well, shells, that meant he'd just missed out on Impressing a gold! But, wait...."There are more of them?" he asked the cave in general, looking towards the indicated tunnel. More creatures - more 'whers' down that way? "Uh...okay," he agreed, stepping hesitantly towards the cave.

He wasn't quite sure what he was getting into here; these whers were unknown things, certainly Impressionable.....What was he asking for by going into that cave? Still, the hesitation was drowned out by typical boyish excitement, no matter the outcome how could he possibly say no to such an adventure - as Azrael so rightly put it?

The room was hot - of course - and sandy, but his eyes were drawn to the magnificent, if seemingly unimpressive sight of seven eggs, of a uniform pearly color, not nearly as large as dragon eggs, slightly off-looking just like the creatures they contained. Well, eight eggs, if you counted the egg shards strewn across one part of the sandy floor as one egg. Seven more....all wobbling, some more fiercely than others. Zacha approached slowly, his breath catching in his throat.

It made him remember how, a few months ago - the day he'd met that Alicia girl - of how he had been contemplating trying to see if he could Stand for a dragon, to do something different for a change, but he'd decided he didn't really want to....he hadn't been sure he wanted something that big or powerful.....Well, wasn't a wher the perfect substitute? Grinning, he strode forward into the midst of them, and picked out the egg that was shaking the hardest, kneeling down by it. He didn't know what kind of wher it could contain - but he was going to find out.

The egg wobbled and a tail flopped out onto Zacha, if the younger boy peered any closer the sudden burst of rear legs kicking out to strike the young boys chest as the wher pup emerged in an upside down manner. Tail first, then legs, and finally as the egg toppled over came the rest of the very wet wher pup, spilling it into Zacha's lap.

Turning big faceted eyes upon Zacha the wher pup gave what seemed to be a happy chirp. In the dim glow coming from the main cavern the hide seemed to glow white, and would have been were it not for the clear blue overtone on it that proved he was indeed a little blue. He chirped again, boy was he hungry, wondering if he could get some of that wonderful stuff he smelt.



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"They're Whers."

Azrael stated with a matter of fact tone, his eyes wandering up to Sobi's own he regarded her for several moments. Well there were plenty of eggs still left in there and it would not be right by them if he didn't help them find who they belonged to.

"In that tunnel just down there, there are eggs. Go ahead one might be for you.. If not turn around and just walk straight, you'll be outside in no time"

He was giving her the choice, opening it up wide for her to make the decision, to choose her own path in what she wanted to do. He may not have had much choice, but he wasn't going to abandon the sweet thing in his arms either. Reaching down he lifted another handful of slop for the young gold to lick and suck from his hand.

Whers...they looked like such amazing little darlings. Much more so than the larger dragons. She wandered breifly where they'd come from but then her eyes at the young man's next words.

"In that tunnel just down there, there are eggs. Go ahead one might be for you.. If not turn around and just walk straight, you'll be outside in no time"

Eggs? Meaning that whers were Impressionable? Well, she'd never much been interested in dragons, but these whers; so new and so different, were something that had captured her interest, and her heart, almost immeidately. So she had a descision to make. Stay or go? Take a chance or let it pass her by? The answer was obvious as she headed towards the tunnel Azrael had pointed out to her. Maybe one of them would want her; it seemed the chances were good at this point. And if not, then she'd found something worth waiting for in this confusing place she called a home. Taking a step for the tunnel, then another, she smiled faintly in thanks to Azrael before going off to see what would become of her. Oh Mischief was going to be so angry that he'd missed this.

Thatcher had never been to the caverns before, didn't even know they were there honestly. But a rather cute girl had told him to meet her there late at night for a playful romp. Of course he wasn't going to ask questions, he just went at the time he was told. He waited in the shadows for a bit at the entrance, afraid of people seeing him. After thirty minutes and the girl had never shown, he was debating just going back to his quarters. That's when he noticed Zach approach the caverns and then entered. Perhaps he wanted some company? So Thatcher followed him in.

He was a fair bit behind him, but was close enough to see his light source. He was about ready to say something to him, when he heard his gasp. That's when he noticed the others, they had small dragons, at first Thatcher thought they were the dragons. Then after a second look realized they wasn't, that and the fact there was a clutch of eggs on sands told him they were new. "What in the world?" He asked dumbfounded.

'I s'pose I'll call them whers.' The man said who had a hold of a very bright colored gold.

"Where did they come from?" Thatcher asked, moving to stand beside Zach as a little blue came up to his friend. He had certainly not heard of them before and by the looks on everyone elses faces they hadn't known about them either. "Have to say they have faces only a mother could love, but I guess they're endearing in their own way." He said looking at the whers and then eggs. This sure was turning out to be a different kind of interesting night than what he had thought of.
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Harriett had had a hard time getting to sleep that night. Not even Trinket's soothing trills and humming had managed to lull her to sleep faster. Finally sleep had came, but fate had decided not to give her a break this evening. Her already restless sleep was assaulted by nightmares of her husband and daughter's deaths. Things she really didn't want to think about let alone dream.

In a feverish sweat she bolted out of bed, too scared to even scream. Trinket was woken from sleep feeling her owner's panic. Harriett was so upset she couldn't stay in her room and without thinking about it left. She didn't know where she was going, didn't really care, tears stained her face as she ran blindly through the night. Eventually she found a place she had never before seen. A cavern of sorts, curiousness got the best of her and her tears dried up. Trinket flew right next to her, not so panicked as she had been.

Harriett didn't even know this place existed, but as she carefully plodded her way deeper into the cavern she thought she could hear voices. Indeed she did hear voices. At one spot in the caverns where there was hot springs, a small group of people was gathered around something. She couldn't see much from where she was, but Trinket was sending her images of small dragon like creatures. That couldn't be right, she thought back to Trinket, but then someone moved and indeed there was a small blue dragon like creature. That's when she heard someone say the word 'wher'. Apparently that's what they were, but how come people wasn't told of this secret clutch? She didn't say anything, but crept closer to try and get a better look.

Jonas was surprised when the little creature in front of him darted to twine about his legs like a cat, one small paw resting on his boot. He tentatively reached out a hand to caress her, pleased when she leaned her nearly brown head into his palm. "Aren't you such a beauty, my love," he said with quite a bit of affection in his tone. "And I'm yours now, hmm, is that it?" It was a bit of a rhetorical question, but the little creature's nod made Jo chuckle.

Jonas looked at the youngest of their trio when his question was answered, Mari finally back on his shoulder though she was still trilling softly. "Whers, hmm, an interesting name if I've ever heard one. Not a bad one, considering all of the other things these beauties could be called." And Jo's gold was quite different from her sister, bulky and small.

"She's hungry you know. Come grab one of the bowls, slop some of the stuff from my pot in it, make sure it cools down first though. Prepare to get it on you though as she'll take it by hand."

Smiling, Jonas accepted the other man's offer.The little gold following him, he scooped some of the slop into a bowl and made sure it was cool before giving any to his new companion. Mari nearly fell into the slop a couple of times in her typical sporadic ways of moving. Scooping some of it onto his fingers, Jonas stretched it out in front of the dull gold wher in front of him. She seemed to sniff it, not quite sure what to do with it.

The gold wher chirped at Jonas, a strong feeling of combined confusion and curiosity accompanying her vocalizations. She was so very unsure what he meant for her to do with the oddly good smelling smoosh on his hand. She stepped daintily towards him, looking up at him with big, smooth eyes, as if she were a blank slate to be written upon.

The bare-chested man's head jerked back in surprise to feel the voice that was not his own in his head. He looked over to the first person down here, asking, "They speak to you the same way dragons do? In your mind?" Jonas had never thought he'd actually Impress any dragon, let alone a gold! Well, gold wher, but she was still his.

Turning back to his wher, Jo tried to reply the same way she'd asked her question, unsure if it would work at all. -It's food. You're hungry, aren't you, sweetling?- It was clear she still wasn't sure about ingesting what was on his fingers, so he tried again, sending the image of the other gold eating off of the other man's fingers with his words. -Your sister is scarfing it down from her bonded. She seems to think it's positively delicious.- Jo wiggled his fingers in front of her nose, trying to entice her. All that persuasion worked, as the golden creature began to lick it off his fingers. Once she'd finished what was on his fingers she glanced at the bowl, then back at him. Laughing, Jonas took some more and gave it to her. She was so polite! This would be a treat of a relationship.

Several others had come through the caves and past the two newest gold wher handlers while Jonas fed his gold. He turned his gaze once again to Azrael. He didn't know much about the other man, but now they were in the same boat anyway. "How many other eggs were there besides these two we have here?" he questioned, assuming that the two golds were from separate eggs.

It was dark and someone should have been sleeping, but instead she was outside throwing a few punches at some rocks. Ayana however was not dumb enough to come alone, Landon was with her.

"Maybe it would be a good idea if you stopped beating yourself up over something that was not your fault?" Landon suggested. With a sigh Ayana did stop and looked at her knuckles. They had soem blood on then and the blood made some dirt from the rocks stick to them. Landon took her hands and carefully brushed the bloodied dirt from her knuckles. "Feeling better?" He asked sounding somewhat concerned.

Before Ayana could respond Spring and mud appeared from between, humming and sending images of eggs and weird dragon like shapes coming from them. "Even if I wasn't I would still go and see what is up." Ayana said as Mud did the same thing as Spring. Then ayana was off with Landon not that far behind her. Ayana pushed her feelings aside so that she could focus more on trying to find the cavern where the eggs were hatching. Landon was muttering something under his breath but Ayana was to focused to make any of what he said. Once they found the cavern they saw a boy at the entrance. "None of the golds have risen yet." Landon said.

"Those are not dragons Landon," ayana looked over her shoulder and pointed to a gold at the boys feet. "Do you know what they are?And could we perhaps watch the hatching?" Ayana asked as she and Landon told Mud and spring to go back to their rooms and keep quiet.

The sudden cracking sound did not give Zacha enough forewarning for him to scramble away, and as such he ended up with a tail flopping out on his chest, wiggling about like a fish. Suddenly the entire egg gave way, and he found himself kicked in the chest by two surprisingly strong little legs. "Hey," he protested to the wher, which was still half-obscured by the pearly egg; the next thing he knew he was knocked back onto the sand with a pale wher squirming upside down on top of him.

A very wet one too; Zacha laughed at both the sight and feel of the little wher pup. "Hey, get off!" he told it, half-pushing the mass of nearly-white flesh off him; it scrambled away before turning large, clear faceted eyes on him. He noticed off-handedly that the eyes looked larger and flatter than dragon eyes. It chirped at him, and though the means of communication may be sketchy, it was clearly a happy sound.

Zachariah sat up, brushing sand off his bare chest - that had been hot - and stared intently at the little wher. Hey - it had just hatched in front of him, and it seemed to like him....did that mean it was his? Had he just Impressed? It didn't feel like how dragon Impression was supposed to feel....in fact he really didn't feel any different at all....but still, it seemed like the little wher was looking to him. Cool, he decided, bending forward to take a closer look at his new charge.

At first glance the wher was almost white - a color never seen before in dragons or any other draconic creature - but after a moment Zacha realized that, no, that wasn't the case; instead he was just a very light blue; the clear blue overtone made that apparent. So that meant it was male, if it were like dragons that was, and they seemed to be so far. Therefore he was a very pale blue, like ice.

After a moment of allowing himself to be the object of scrutiny, the wher chirped again, reaching out around Zacha to point his muzzle towards the tunnel, from beyond which was the wonderful smell he wanted to get to. The indication was clear; the teenager stood up, gesturing for the blue to follow him. "Sure, bet you're hungry, right? Yeah, there's food there, c'mon."

The blue nodded happily, and trotted off beside Zacha as they made their way back to the others. In doing so he flared his wings slightly, enough for the new wherhandler to see the darker blue splotches on his sails. He really was kind of cute; his proportions were rather off, like the others, and his knobbly hide and bulky appearance assured he'd never be anything on the dragons' regal beauty, but he was still cute. And he seemed intelligent, having apparently understood everything Zacha had said to him thus far, though he wasn't very talkative himself. Maybe they were like dragonets, and didn't vocalize beyond standard chirps and trills and whatnot.

The wher pup quickly located the source of the delicious smell as soon as they'd come out into the open again, and bounded away from Zachariah's side to get to it. The first place he saw it was in a big man's hand, feeding his sister, but he didn't want that stuff; he wanted the boy he'd found to feed him instead. So, turning, he dashed back and used one claw to tug on Zacha's pant leg, again using his muzzle to indicate where he wanted to go, which was the large pot of slop. Zacha quickly obliged, crossing over to the pot and, mimicking the man that, for lack of knowledge of his name, he'd dubbed the Wher-man in his head, and scooping some up with his hands.

The blue did not linger over the slop like his golden sister had; he knew food when he saw it, and immediately attacked Zacha's hand to get to it. The boy saw the toothless mouth in the split second before it had closed around his hand - that was curious, but at the same time he was glad of it; if he'd had teeth he would have bitten Zacha's hand off with the force he was applying. "Hey, ease up," he told the blue, but it gave no notice beyond a glance, continuing his happy sucking of the mushy goop.

And suddenly Zacha realized it. Something had changed. It still wasn't like how he'd heard dragons Impressed - but it was there, undoubtedly. It was a core-deep certainty that they had a bond, maybe different from the dragons' but every bit as special. Wow. I guess you are mine. And the blue seemed to hear and understand even his thoughts, nodding contentedly, as if that were obvious - the movement dragged Zacha's hand with him, which the wher was still latched onto.

More people were arriving, and after a few moments more, Zacha realized he and the wher were in the way. "Hey, come on, we gotta move," he told the blue, trying to get his hand out of the little guy's mouth so he could shift him. The blue cast him an annoyed glance that was out of par with his previously upbeat attitude. Busy!

Zachariah blinked in astonished surprise. It was the first time he'd heard the little guy speak - not out loud, but in his head. It was the oddest sensation, and it was a moment before he got past the voice itself and understood the word. Busy, huh? The wher obviously didn't want to be interrupted. Well, too bad; you're out of luck, he informed the blue. No more food till you move.

The wher pup growled irritably, eyes whirling a defiant reddish tinge, but complied, shuffling over until they were no longer in the pathway between everyone else and the tunnel. Much better. Have more. The blue seemed to cheer immediately at his reward, and once more attacked the slop Zacha held out for him.

I can see this is going to be a very interesting experience.... Zacha decided, but the thought was filled with nothing but excitement.

There was a nose that pushed through an egg behind Sobi, working it's way through it till the shell finally cracked and fell off around it. Shaking itself free of the goop and shell remaining on it, the little wher pup moved to take a step forwards. By some great feat the wher pup managed to trip itself up with it's own feet, tumbling heel over head till it came to a rest upside down against the back of Sobi's legs.

As the dim glow of light managed to seep it's way into the sandy caves the eggs were in it and lighted softly the hide of the wher pup the colours became clearer than they had been in the dark. It was in fact a he, and a he of a light golden bronze hue with what seemed to be darker bronze stripes down his side, though in the dim light they could have just been shadows.

In an instant he had clumsily righted himself and was chirping at her indignantly, emotions of displeasure and blame for her being in the way of where he was going clearly coming across to Sobi.




######

At the arrival of two new people didn't even make Azrael bat an eyelid and he was thankful he didn't have to explain their name again. The other question he didn't mind answering, they seem like upstanding residents of the Caldera. Then again one could not judge a book by ones cover, a saying than rang true for people. Though is seemed the little guys had a knack for choosing who they wanted so he would let them be the ones to decide.

"Don't know where they are from, but the eggs are just down that tunnel in that cave there. Feel free to try your luck."

######

As he heaped another handful of the slop out of his bowl for the gold in his lap he was spoken to by Jonas... hmm.. perhaps that is what the voice he swore he had heard earlier was. Well it was definitely something for them all to discuss and it seemed with the more of them finding these creatures he had called whers by their sides, the more he was willing to talk to them. After all it seemed they were all gathering around him, like he was the one to know everything. He knew just a little as they did, it just seemed he had a few more minutes of knowing them is all.

"They may... Perhaps they just need to get to know us first. I do believe they are quite intelligent, though we may have to teach them to speak."

His words were honest as the gold sucked on his hand again, a few more handfuls later and with a little 'erp' she curled in his arms. Her head rested on his chest as she fell asleep. Careful not to bump her he grabbed a rag to wipe his hand clean and push the bowl aside. Hand lifting to stroke her back as she slept, Azrael could feel a content feeling of fullness from her that reminded him of the feeling he got after eating one of his mother's homecooked meal. For the next question though Azrael managed a hushed reply.

"I counted seven unhatched and one hatched, so eight eggs all up. These girls hatched from the same egg."

######

To Ayana and Landon he gave curt nods and lifted a finger to his lips to quiet them, he didn't want them waking his baby as she had only just gotten to sleep. In a quiet and curt voice to those new comers as he didn't particularly want to explain what they were again, he pointed to the direction he had pointed Thatcher and Harriett in. Giving a curt and quick explanation, hoping they would move quietly away from his sleeping girl.

"Whers, eggs in that cave, go try luck."

######

When Zachariah returned little blue in tow there was a small smile which graced Azrael's lips. Well that made three of them now and the boy deserved congratulations, though what would come out of Azrael's lips were not quite congratulations they were about as close as one was going to get at that moment.

"Well done lad."

Thatcher nodded thankfully to the man. He kept his mouth shut though, no need in scaring the little things this early in life and some seemed to be drifting off to sleep already. He noticed that a woman had come in not long ago and she seemed to be trying to have a look for herself.

"Come on, let's go have a look for ourselves." He said in a whisper to Harriett, holding out a hand to her.

Harriett was still a little stunned by all of this, but she took the man's hand as he led them into the little cavern. Her thoughts weren't as addled as they had been not too long ago and she realized that she was doing something important without thinking about it. At this point though she didn't really care, a little voice in her head was telling her to follow the man and try her luck. That and Trinket was chirping anxiously to see what all the fuss was about.

Sobi heard the noise behind her but wasn't aware of a problem until something warm and small bumped into her legs. When she looked down, she saw a small bronze wher-creature sitting upside down agaisnt her legs. She blinked in suprise when he righted himself and started sending her the strong impression of his displeasure. Dark eyes widened in suprise at what had just happened. This beautifully handsome creature, he wanted her?

The bronze looked up at Sobi with a look that stated very clearly that he thought she was being silly. He was looking at her wasn't he? So obviously he didn't want someone else. His head tilted to the side and he let out an annoyed growling bark at her. Following this was a single word floating through her mind.

Food?

Sobi blinked again, before a large smile spread across her face. He wanted something to eat. "Well of course you're hungry. Hatching is hard work after all. Lets head back out to the others. I saw someone with food for you."

The bronze held his ground though, and it seemed as if he was waiting on her to do something.

Sobi sighed after a moment of unsuccessfully trying to get the little bronze to move and bent over to pick him up. He was heavy for such a small thing. Sobi didn't know she'd done just what the bronze had been hoping she'd do until it was too late.

He was hungry, and the one he wanted didn't have anything for him to eat, therefore he had to do something. This something just happened to be in the form of nipping on her hand and then using his claws to cut her so he could suck on the blood that came from the wound. If she didn't have food for him, this would do just as well to tide him over.

Sobi stopped walking almost immediately and almost dropped the bronze when a sharp pain started in her hand. Quickly righting herself and tightening her grip she looked down at what he'd done. "You little cretin, what was that for? It hurt?" He'd cut open her hand so he could drink the blood? Why? Because he was hungry? She hadn't done anything to make him angry she thought; or maybe picking him up had done that.

The bronze cuddled closer to her as he licked on the wound he'd made contently. A contented purr escaped him as he looked up at her hopefully. Food?

Sobi shook her head and kept walking until she was back where she'd started. Looking to the young man that had pointed her in the right direction, she had to ask the question of food. "Excuse me, do you have something I can feed him? Otherwise, I don't think I'm getting my hand back anytime soon."

At the signal and words Ayana quieted down so that she was not the cause to the boys gold waking up. Ayana nodded her thanks to him then with Landon being silent behind her they walked straight ahead to where the boy said the eggs were. Ayana thought about the gold and how cute she seemed. Ayana may never have a chance at a dragon but maybe she would get lucky here. She had told Landon all what had heppened and how lonley she felt now that Malcolm was busy with his brown and how Otania didn't even really talk to her anymore. Landon had also told her that he felt the same way. Maybe tonight we both shall get lucky, Ayana thought to herself as she looked over her shoulder at Landon who nodded at her. Then she saw the eggs. Three eggs lay cracked open already and five eggs were left. She wanted to see if someone did care about her. Then she saw Thatcher. She motioned for Landon to go by the eggs as she moved over to the man.

"Thatcher, do you know what is going on at all?" Ayana asked him not even sure if he would reconize her.

The amount of slop in Jonas' bowl decreased as two others headed into the cave where the eggs were and the youngster from before came back out, a wher pup at his heels. Still feeding his gold, the older man observed the newest wher to join the crowd with interest. It was so pale it was almost white, but the pale blue overtones to its skin clearly indicated that 'it' was clearly a blue male. While the blue worked on getting the boy to feed him as Jo and Azrael were doing with their golds, Jo's bonded held off daintily licking the slop from his fingers.

Instead, she turned to watch her blue brother, chirping what had to be a greeting at him. She fluttered her small wings and shifted towards him, trying to be polite and say hello. True, she was still hungry, but not as completely ravenous as she had been when she first hatched. As she had been before she found Hers. This train of thought brought her attention back to the man she called Hers. Her chirp caused Jonas to offer her his fingers, still partly covered in slop. Returning to her food, the smaller, duller gold went back to licking her first meal from her bonded's fingers, quite different from the manner in which her blue brother practically ate his bonded's hand.

"They may... Perhaps they just need to get to know us first. I do believe they are quite intelligent, though we may have to teach them to speak."

Jonas nodded as Azrael spoke, his fingers slowly getting wrinkled from all the slop and wher spit covering them consistently. "I thought as much, since this little girl here seems to be quite proficient at broadcasting her emotions. Haven't heard a word yet, though, so they may be just like babies." As if to prove his point, Jo's gold chortled and sent him her affection and pleasure, taking a few more licks before nuzzling up against his crossed shins.

"Eight eggs," Jonas commented thoughtfully, ruffling his dark hair with his clean hand. And these two golds were twins, huh? How very interesting. "May I borrow your rag, seeing how I don't have a shirt to use instead?" he interjected, his voice bland and courteous, before returning to his previous train of thought. "Twins, how fortuitous. I suppose the ranking system with our whers must be similar to that of the dragons. And it will certainly take time for them to grow up enough for us to see which colors can or can't breathe fire."

Picking up his drowsy gold, Jo lifted her into his lap and cradled her against his chest, though she wasn't fast asleep like her larger twin. She chirped when the youngster shuffled his blue closer to the side of the chamber so that they were out of the way. The older man grinned after Azrael had congratulated him. "That's right, these darlings deserve as much congratulations as Impressing a dragon would. After all, your blue chose you like any newly hatched dragon would." He examined him, finding the young man to be a strapping lad though his choice of hair style was nothing less than interesting.

"I am Jonas, by the way. And this other fellow is Azrael," he added, looking minutely for a confirmation. "And you might be, lad?" And then the young girl from earlier reappeared, a bronze sucking contentedly on her hand. Jonas' eyebrows shot up when he caught a bit of blood on the girl's skin. "Right here, miss, take my bowl and go grab some of the slop..." he said, holding out the wooden bowl to her. Then he rethought, taking in her position and then looking at his cheerfully half-awake gold. Cradling his baby in one strong arm braced against his chest, Jonas rose and used the bowl to scoop some of the slop out of the pot so he could give it to her.

Looking down at the bronze, Jonas wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or impressed that the hatchling had been hungry enough and resourceful enough to think of drinking his lifemate's blood. His hand free again, he used it to better position the drowsy wher in his arms. Taking a seat against the chamber wall so he could brace his back against it a smile came to his face. Jo now had what he knew would be a friend he could trust that would always be there for him, and with a gut deep feeling he knew that he'd do anything he could for her.

Nuzzling her smooth, spicy scented nose into her chosen's neck, the dull gold observed her newest sibling's presence with the same interest she'd shown the blue and his young handler. Chirping, she still attempted to be polite even though her blue brother's response had done nothing to raise her hopes that the males of her kind were any sort of good company.

Sobi gratefully accepted the food bowl from the young man the gold wher had chosen. "Thank you sir, and it's Sobi. Since we both Impressed to these darlings, I thought I should at least introduce myself. And congradulate you on your Impression as well, she's lovely. Now lets see if this little monster will give me back my hand in favor of something better."

The striped bronze growled lowly at Jonas, unsure of what to make of him. He did, however, know what to make of the gold with the young man. Letting out a growling bark that served as a greeting, he released his hold on Sobi's hand in favor of interacting with the golden one. He did still, however, take the offered bits from Sobi.

Sobi let out a sigh of releif when her hand was released. "That still hurts, I'll have to see someone to bandage that later. For now at least he's eating and trying to be social." Though strangely he had no interested in the lighter colored gold or the pale colored blue. Only Jonas's darker gold wher seemed to interset him.

Before anyone could next enter the cavern full of eggs, there were two figures who tumbled out and raced across the sandy floor, one tackling the other and rolling across the floor with it. When they finally came to rest in some sort of light, the distinguishment between them both were stark. The smallest one was of darkest brown that almost faded into the dark were it not for his tan muzzle and tan splotches on his haunches. The other was larger, more of an average size it seemed compared to his other bronze brethren, he was a paler bronze with green tinged rings on his tail and ankles. They toussled with each other again, neither caring much for anyone in the room, it wasn't long before the aroma of food had them lured closer to the others.

It did not take long for Azrael to realize there was no one in the room they wanted and he certainly couldn't let them wander off and starve. His gold sound asleep in his arms he shifted and in an unprecedented move into two bowls he scooped the mushy slop into them. Placing them on the ground he was not surprised to see them both dive for the food, quite competent in scoffing it down themselves without any help from anyone. It seemed they were both still hungry and one more half serving had them both content and curled up in the middle of those who had bonded to sleep contently.



The other eggs however, a remaining three; their gnarled and bumpy surfaces barely seen in the dark refused to move. They didn't move, nor did they do anything. Like the dragon eggs of previous hatchings that didn't hatch they lay eerily still. They were dead and gone, and for only 5 eggs hatching out of eight it seemed in these creatures there was a higher mortality rate in birth than what they had seen in the others.



[And thus the hatching ends..]