[Hatching] I'll Make a Handler Out of You

[Dragon]

Briolette of Brown Briosk - tag Hunter, Rhaadys

Briosk huffed in annoyance as the baby who was to bond to Hunter was half-rejected by his new handler. Is yours, he told the handler gruffly, reluctance in his voice. New partner. Blood properly. Bond.

Whers could leave, he reminded himself. They weren't bound the same way as dragons; their bond was breakable. They could leave a handler who did not treat them well. Treat well, earn loyalty. Whers not dragons.

He watched as his next egg was given away and hatched, a handsome blue son. Very good.

"Congratulations," Brio noted to the handler, a smile on her face. The blue looked like the serious sort, and she hoped he would be a good match for his new handler.

[Arcane]

Hunter of Bronze Yndesk and Brown Brysk - Briolette, Open

Hunter squinted suspiciously at Briosk. So he couldn't buy an egg but if one just happened to walk into him, maternal choice no longer mattered?

But he didn't offer again. He'd wanted a baby, after all, and there was nothing about this baby that made it any less promising than any other, he supposed.

"Thank you," he said, simply and politely, "He'll choose to be loyal to me or he won't. I won't do him ill, regardless."

It was a fair assurance, for a father to ask.

And hopefully payment enough Hunter wouldn't later be asked for a favor less easily fulfilled.

He cut a slit around his arm, at about the same spot he'd sliced himself open for Yndesk, and offered the brown his blood. The brown sniffed at it, before taking a ginger, almost polite lick.

And his mind bloomed into Hunter's, somehow entirely different than the presence of the bronze Hunter was so used to carrying with him.

It wasn't like any mind Hunter had ever felt.

He wasn't sure what to make of it. Beyond that it didn't feel like the sort of

Too early or too late to cause trouble much, the wher tutted warmly. Hunter was not the sort of man people- especially babies, of any species- tutted over. He looked at his parents and assured them, Heart not as bad as tongue suggests.

But whatever he was- he was Hunter's and he was hungry. Hunter could feel the brown's ravenous growling in his own stomach.

Let's get you fed, Hunter said.

Food? Yes...food, the wher said, distracted from his social niceties, Food feed Brysk very nice Brynden.

Hunter blinked, momentarily taken aback.

But he knew what the wher meant well enough and hatching was hungry work, Call me Hunter.

[Dragon]

Briolette of Brown Briosk

The large brown relaxed slightly when his brown son stood up for his new handler. He would trust his child's judgement in this. And he didn't consider the choice of Hunter by Brysk to be stepping on Riask's right to decide; the twin, a surprise to them all (despite Briosk's earlier musings that it might be so), had chosen for himself, and that was that. Neither he nor - he assumed - Riask would begrudge him that choice.

He watched the remaining eggs with interest, eager to see what the last two held. He was proud of the clutch so far, even more so than he had been when it was first laid, and he was eager to see what these would bring.

[Fel]

Mera of Bronze Merask and Green Mesk Tag: Hunter, Wyrsil

Mera fought the urge to point out that the wherleader would do no such thing. The other woman was honest, but there was no sense arguing. Hunter had apparently laid off his attempts to buy the egg, and any further whingeing on the man's part could be safely ignored. It was the same as with children complaining about not getting pie for dinner: annoying, but it was simply better not to engage.

She turned her attention instead to the eggs and the garnet who presided over them. She still wasn't entirely certain what to think about those, even so many Turns later. They had become the norm, but did that make them normal? She wasn't sure. Still, Briask seemed to be a responsible mother, and that was what counted here.

As though trying to prove her right, the garnet carefully nudged and rolled the first egg toward the clustered handlers and Candidates, finally stopping the egg with a wordless grunt. In front of her. Mera nodded to the wher, then watched as the egg rattled and shook and finally split.

Bright, almost eye-searingly green even through the egg goop. There was no doubt whatsoever about this wherlet's color; she was green. Vibrant, neon green. And apparently feisty, as she spotted Mera's sleeve as the woman knelt toward her and immediately launched herself at it, teeth and claws sinking into the cloth and worrying at it.

"Not a toy," Mera said sternly, to no avail. She glanced up at Wyrsil, who was asking questions she couldn't yet answer. "I'll let you know as soon as I do," she said, pulling out her knife. She wouldn't be able to get to the back of her arm until the wherlet let go though.

The little green growled, shaking her head again as though she thought it prey she could hunt. If she'd nicked the skin, she might even have inadvertently completed the bond, but life apparently couldn't be that easy. So Mera waited until she tried to reposition her grip on the sleeve, then pulled her arm away, rolled up the sleeve--which was looking rather the worse for wear--and made a quick cut on the back of her forearm.

As though she'd been waiting for it, the little green immediately focused on the new scent of blood. Blood for her. She pounced at it, emerald-hued tongue lapping at it, and her eyes whirled rainbows. MINE, she told Mera firmly, forepaws gripping the offered arm tightly. Can have back when done. Maybe.

Not that the green, Mesk, had any notion of actually eating the arm. That was silly. It was her own arm. She felt the sting of the shallow cut, the warmth of her paws gripping it, her claws pressing at the skin. Hers. Besides, there was food elsewhere. She let go, hopping up with a surprising amount of grace given her distinctly roly-poly figure. Done now. Can feed. Need food.

Without waiting for a word of recognition, she trotted off toward where she could smell food. Meat. Meat all for her.

Mera gave Wyrsil a slight, almost apologetic shrug, though the other handler surely knew that wherlets had a one-track mind, and that track was food. "Mesk, apparently."

[Arcane]

As new partners met (eager or reluctant- you couldn't choose your family), Riask tenderly and gently nudged forward the next egg- the Pampered Pet, small and colorful, and a bit more delicate than his siblings. After some consideration, she offered the egg to a once-veteran handler, whose first wher had perished when the pass was still young, with warmth in her eyes.

The egg hatched quickly and eagerly, a wherlet rolling out in a puppy-like play bow- a marked contrast between the grizzled new handler and the wherlet, who looked even more like a baby than most so newly matched.



A green! A small, pretty green, with a round head, big, adorable eyes and long, luxurious headknobs. Her tail was short and frankly kind of stubby, but she was otherwise well proportioned with just enough wrinkles to give her some wher-ish charm and was, frankly, all around pretty cute, even to some people who don't ordinarily find whers cute. Her hide was a medley of greens, from rich emerald to gentle sage, with a pale underbelly and dark headknobs.

[Dragon]

Briolette of Brown Briosk

A fifth perfect babe! Briosk was puffed up with pride, about ready to burst with it, and he was sure the grizzled handler would be a good match for this little green. And there was still one egg left. The brown clutchfather turned his attention to the smallest egg, eager to see who lay inside.

Riask, he knew, would pick well. She had made excellent decisions so far, and Briosk was looking forward to seeing who the last baby would partner with.

Wysril of Green Wysrisk - tag Mera

"Mesk," Wysril repeated. "What a perfect little girl." From there, though, he thought it best to leave Mera and Mesk to bond, and he turned his attention back to the hatching just in time to see a lovely green hatch for a handler that Wysril knew had lost their long-time partner several turns back. It made his heart ache a little, his head momentarily filled with thoughts of how awful it would be to lose Wysrisk, and he reached out to her wordlessly.

Always here, Twinkletoes, she responded, her voice almost affectionate for once. Now, see last egg. Maybe ours!

Wysril smiled a little at that. The last egg, the smallest egg, was truly lovely. Although with some eggs larger than that hatching into greens or blues, he had to wonder if there was possibly a white inside. Not that it couldn't contain a small green or blue as well. Or even something large and particularly cramped. Sometimes egg size was deceptive.

[Jabberwoky]

The last egg, small and bright, was starting to wobble. Riask got up, and the shell was rolled right into Garrett's leg so he knew it was there. Small thuds against his shin, then a breaking feeling.



A blue!

He was a beautiful myriad of blues, from a deep ocean to a tealy gem. There were streaks of an aqua blue down his neck and over his wingsails. He was a sturdy little blue, even from hatching, firm legs and a strong chest.

The little wherlet looked up at Garrett, and after a few seconds, headbutted his leg as if to say 'Hey! I'm here!'.

There were no more eggs to give, another successful hatching for the Weyr!

[nineofswords]

Garrett of Blue Garrsk

More eggs were rolled across the room. More eggs that didn't go to him, more 'oohs' and 'aahs' as the wherlets emerged. Garrett tried not to let his bitterness overtake him, but it was hard. Maybe he should've saved himself some heartache and just bought an egg, but that felt like cheating. Fort was supposed to be the place where he'd finally find his niche, but so far no one and nothing had made an effort to make him feel welcome. (Clearly, it shouldn't be his job to meet anyone halfway, no, that was ridiculous.)

Five was not an especially high number, but it was hard to keep track of how many were left with all the cross talk and general chatter. He was trying to work out if the last egg had gone to someone yet and he should just go when he felt something bump into his leg and then shatter. An egg? One meant for him? Honestly, he was so surprised he forgot what he was supposed to do for all of a moment, long enough that the newly hatched wher had to headbutt him. Garrett scrambled for his knife, drawing it across his hand and wincing as he did - Faranth. That hurt. That was stupid of him, he should've cut his arm instead - and then held it out.

He felt a tongue rasp on his palm, and then another mind snapped smartly into place next to his with almost military precision. Garrett jerked back, startled both by the suddenness of the bond and because he could suddenly see through the wher's eyes and it was disorienting to say the least.

Garrsk, report for duty, the blue said, but Garrett was distracted by the sight of himself through Garrsk's eyes. He wasn't vain, never had been, but having the first thing he saw after turns of blindness be himself was almost surreal. He'd been just a dumb kid when he'd lost his vision, and he still remembered himself as that, with baby fat and his hair cut short, ears that looked a little too big for his head. But now...now he looked almost like an adult, and it was throwing Garrett for a loop. Even with the very different eyesight of the wher, being able to see himself again was so....odd. There was no other word for it, but it was enough to capture his entire focus for several breaths.

Garrsk gave the mental equivalent of a cough, and between that and the hunger pangs, Garrett's attention was brought back to more important matters. Sir. Am need food, Garrsk prompted.

"Right. Right, yeah," Garrett said, bending down and retrieving his walking stick. "Also, you don't have to call me sir," he added, still distracted as he peeked through the blue's eyes (he couldn't see his wher's hide, even through his eyes, Garrsk wasn't looking at himself, but he knew, just as Garrsk did, that he was a blue wher).

A wave of discomfort came from Garrsk at that. Like 'sir'. It show respect.

Garrett frowned, baffled at that response, but the hunger was positively clawing at them both, so he just shook his head and decided he'd dig into that later. "Whatever. Where's the meat?" Garrsk led the way to the meat buckets. Garrett almost wondered what was even the point of him being there, since Garrsk seemed fully capable of finding the buckets himself, and had the discipline not to gorge himself. Garrsk seemed like the sort who didn't need a handler. Garrett couldn't help but wonder if the garnet hadn't given him this wher because she'd known he'd be self-sufficient, that even a blind handler couldn't possibly forsk things up with him. He felt a little annoyed by that, but it passed quickly. It was still practical, despite the fact that it still stung.

Not charity case, sir, Garrsk insisted, picking up on what Garrett had been feeling. Need human for work. Need human who work hard. No slack. You no slack. You work hard. There was an implication in there somewhere that if Garrett didn't have any choice in whether or not he wanted to work hard as a handler.

Hey, I'm no slacker, you know! Garrett argued, doing so privately so as not to cause a scene.

Did not say were. Do not think will be. But we must be best. Is duty to Weyr.

This little guy had been a part of the world for all of five minutes and already had very strong opinions. This was certainly going to be an interesting partnership, if nothing else.

[Dragon]

Briolette of Brown Briosk

And that was that. Five eggs hatched and six babies partnered. Briosk looked over the babes in pride, two of each color that had hatched. Four sons and two daughters. He was quite pleased with how this had turned out, and he was looking forward to seeing how his half dozen wherlets grew up.

You fathered an excellent clutch, Briolette sent, scratching behind one of Briosk's headknobs. They're really all quite lovely.

Good babies, Briosk agreed. Strong. Healthy. Make Weyr safe.

In time, Briolette agreed. They have a lot of growing up to do first.

Wysril of Green Wysrisk

With the last egg hatched - a truly stunning blue! - Wysril couldn't help the disappointment sinking in his gut. There was no new partner for him, not right now. He'd gotten his hopes up -

Try again. Or not. For now, back to Wysrisk. Twinkletoes need rest.