Leyora
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Posts: 316
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Post by Leyora on Jul 6, 2014 0:22:23 GMT -8
Leyora was not eager to wake this morning after having been up over half the night watching osidae dance and trying to figure out what to do about the morbid nests that everyone's spiders had created against the walls of the nexus. It would be another matter still trying to find or make suitable cages for all of the critters. She had neither the skills or really the time, with the other duties she had at least half invented for herself, though taking care of so many bondeds and pets was no small chore.
For the time being, though, it was neither here nor there. All that mattered was that she was warm, comfy and slightly annoyed by a frantic chittering that would not let her drift back off into a full sleep. "Something is wrong. I don't like it. Chubs is usually so calm..." groaning, Leyora sat up and stretched. The stretch was interrupted, however, by a little brown streak pouncing into the middle of her. "Oof! You know, for such a little thing you can pack a wallop, when you want to." Chubs gave an indignant squeak and dove off of her arm into the basket that he and Rasmus were learning to share. She really would have to find a better crafted vessel for them soon, though. "I think you are right, kitten, something is wrong." "Nothing more wrong than nature simply taking it's course. Go on and take a look, sleepy head." Eyrdith's tone was almost motherly and prideful.
Near Tavor's sand bowl, there was quite the commotion as Friday, the black echee, scurried up to hide amidst Skipper's ebony wings. The rabbit while slightly annoyed, was more than happy to leave the scene, with Ayman close on his fluffy little tail. Only Tavor stubbornly stayed near the remaining brown echee and what appeared to be her new nest, which was composed of hair from Cyrus's mane, the strange blue rocks Leyora had found, and a wild assortment of other things. it seemed the pload was willing to suffer the little female's scratches and bites, in hopes of catching a free meal. Upon seeing what the female was so valiantly protecting, Leyora let a whoop and scooped up the over sized toad. "You, sir, are getting fat! Shove off and go bother Ayman." It was irrelevant to her that the pload had no easily ascertainable gender about it. Tavor simply had to be male, for reasons she cared not to voice aloud.
Once she was certain that the pload would stay away, she knelt down to watch her sassy little female fling sand in the general direction of those who had harassed her. "Sassy? How's that for a name?" Leyora's question was answered with a tiny shower of sand in her face. Sputtering sand out and trying to ignore the vast amusement of her bonds, she answered herself. "Sassy suits you just fine!" When the female decided that her treasure was no longer threatened she went back to fussing frantically over something in her nest. Much smaller chirps could be heard, just as four tiny, brown heads could be seen. Oddly, though the mother was fussing over something that was much more quiet and still. There was another brown baby in the central most part of the nest that would not move no matter how much Sassy prodded her. She was quick to bite Leyora's hand as the girl lifted the body from the nest to check it over. She was cold and stiff; dead sometime in the night. Closing her eyes, she sighed and whispered that she was sorry. It was evident by the bite marks and crystallized webbing around the body that sometime while she slept, Sweetheart had left the nest and helped herself to a very fresh, tender snack. Yes, cages were definitely in order; including a breeding quarters so that she could control her little wench's appetite.
Though she supposed that most other riders already noticed, she requested that Eyrdith contact the other dragons to alert everyone that if they brought any pets home from the chaotic picnic, they might want o check on them. Where there were mass breedings like that there were bound to be babies.
((500 Word Challenge: Central, Vast, Slight = 706 words))
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Post by Amerlan on Jul 6, 2014 21:27:08 GMT -8
Amerlan picked her way through her bondeds and pets, checking to make sure each one was comfortable and didn't have any needs that have to be immediately attended to. Soon they would be leaving the Nexus and heading into their new home in town. The finishing touches were still being implemented so for now they were all still sleeping here.
Everyone seemed to be accounted for, except she couldn't spot the Echee. She had checked under the Saydar, on Seroth and Cinth's backs, she had even grilled Keeva to make sure the big cat hadn't eaten them, but she just couldn't find them. Amerlan had even gone as far as getting out a handful of blueberries, a favorite snack of her Echee, to try to lure them out, but still had no luck. "Just where could they have gone off to? I hope the Osidae didn't get them." She grumbled. She had been woken up early and it had left her mood semi-fouled.
Just as she was about to give up the search one of the boys ran up to her squeaking excitedly. Little Noodle was bouncing this way and that, chattering away. About what she could not be sure, but she was certain that he desired for her to follow him. Humoring him she ran off in the direction the Echee had gone.
It didn't take long to discover where they were at, even a moron couldn't have passed them by. Four Echee, all of them male, and all of them hers were jumping and squeaking around a dead tree. "Well what's gotten into you guys?" She questioned as she approached. The males seemed very focused on one hole in the tree in particular.
Crouching down Amerlan inspected the hole. Inside were three very proud momma Echee and several babies. Cooing she made to reach for one of the babies when one of the moms squeaked shrilly at her. It was obvious that she was meant to look and admire only, no touching. The dads however would have none of that. Chattering away at the females they went on and on until the females acquiesced. Noodle, the male that had brought her here grabbed her hand and tried to pull it towards the nest. Chuckling Amerlan gently retrieved her hand and then made for the nest again. This time she met no resistance from the mothers.
The babies were soft and squishy, and oh so very tiny. It looked like a nice even mix of black, red and brown. It was plainly obvious who some of the parents were. The females had kept their pups separated and the males were only approaching one female each, giving the other males and females a wide berth. There was one pup though that wasn't receiving any attention.
Placing her hand delicately on the pup she instantly could tell that it hadn't made it. The body had already gone cold. Picking up the dead pup she felt a twinge of sadness, but this little one's life wouldn't be wasted. It wasn't much of anything really, but the footfalls behind her told her exactly what to do with the dead pup. Turning her body, but not her head she offered up the dead pup to Keeva. Within moments the pup was gone and Keeva was padding away.
(( 500 word challenge : desire, foul, blueberry : 553 words ))
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Post by Terris on Jul 6, 2014 22:43:41 GMT -8
Terris awoke late, his back resting comfortably against akanth, with the much smaller Ianoth curled up beside him. The three had been out into the early hours of the morning, teaching the half-grown female some of the more difficult aerial maneuvers that she had been bugging the two about. Once she had taken to the air, there was no getting her down, and, though Akanth and Terris had protested, there was really not much one could do to force a dragon to do something it didn't want to do, or in this case, to NOT do something. Knowing this, they had persisted with her until she was well and truly done, and then, weary beyond the point of exhaustion had made their way back to the hot sands. The flight lesson had taken such a toll on the knight that he had been shuffling forward, half-slumped like a hunchback when they had finally gotten back, and this morning, as consciousness came upon him, he was feeling it. Muscles he did not know existed ached beyond belief. He stretched languidly, the utter decadence of the motion not lost on Akanth who gave him an amused look.
Oh, aren't you a bastion of modesty!Could you have done that any more indecently. I'm sure half the females here just got pregnant! he said, humour in his multi-faceted eyes.
Terris, still not entirely awake, blinked stupidly, the words not making sense right away. Then realisation struck and he groaned. "I'm sore, I was stretching my back, not thrusting at the air, filthy old lizard you are" he chuckled, and then. "I can't wait until I can sleep in my own bed, in my own house, without anyone to comment on my morning rituals!"
The dragon snorted. 'I'll still comment, house or no house he replied, then stretching himself, he waddled over to one of the many exits of the nexus, launched himself out of it and flew off to get breakfast, the half-grown female trailing behind him like a tugboat in the wake of an ocean liner.
Terris grinned at that, thought it probably would not be long before the relationship between his two dragons, which right now was akin to student and teacher, would change into something much more. He had an eye for these things, and he was sure, in not too many more months there would be love...or lust, at least, in the air for those two.
A sharp chattering interrupted his thoughts. He cast a wary eye around the immediate area, his gaze falling on Romeo, his lone male echee, who was bouncing up and down trying to get his attention. This worried him. Romeo may have been a lively little fellow, but he'd never seen behaviour like this out of him, and so, he moved forward to pick him up. The echee ran a few paces ahead when he did this, then looked back over his shoulder and chittered again, before scampering over to the large enclosure that he had built for him, and his three females.
This probably was not a good omen.
Terris raced forward, images of one of those large, horrible spiders some of the other riders owned sleeping in the communal nest, the bodies of Romeo's "wives" surrounding it filled his head, but when he got there, and peered into the nest no such horrible sight greeted him. In fact, it seemed his echee family had increased overnight.
Three mothers sat proudly, their oildrop eyes sparkling, as eight tiny pups wriggled and squirmed between them...but this was not what had Romeo's attention. Romeo sat outside the nest, at the bottom of the enclosure, on top of the quiet, still forms of two tiny pups.
Terris moved toward them, reached out a hand and scooped up Romeo and the two babies. One had clearly fallen out of the nest and broken its neck, it was dead and cold. The other, while still alive (barely) was so badly broken from its fall that there was no hope. He put Romeo back in the enclosure, near the nest, and walked away with the dead pup, and the dying one. There was no need to upset the mothers, father or remaining pups with the mercy he would have to perform.
(ooc:500 word challenge, bastion, hunchback, decadence 700+ words)
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Post by Arlene on Jul 7, 2014 3:56:23 GMT -8
Arlene had gotten up thinking it was another generic morning of feeding everyone and trying to wrangle the house into a liveable state. She had seen her Trouble running off somewhere and that was odd enough Amon followed even though if a predator chose not like the little spirit dog could do anything to protect the echee. She placed fodder in the sayder pen not seeing Romeo from Terris's own plot of land run in to check on his own mini brood.
She went to open the cage to feed Miss Priss since Trouble had escaped and saw Miss Priss nudging and nuzzling three lifeless forms. Arlene gently nudged Miss Priss to the still faintly squeaking of her two remaining babies gently lifting the three dead still covered in the birthing fluids. She knelt down in the garden digging a tiny hole laying all three side by side so none of the siblings would be alone in death. She sat for hours even her dragon not approaching as the emotions built but not a single tear actually fell. Her breath hissed in and out as she tried calming herself yet it only built and built until it had to be released. She tilted her head back and let out an inhuman scream startling the wildlife and the plants tried uprooting themselves to comfort her. The hares came over to scold her about startling their charges before seeing the look of misery on her face and backing away.
(200 word prompt challenge generic actual count 243)
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Post by Duzell on Jul 7, 2014 22:52:36 GMT -8
Duzell was woken from a dream of his home in his old world and most importantly his washing basin by the shrill shrieks of an angry Echee. Suddenly he was back in the Nexus, face first in the dry hot sand. He groaned and rolled over. He didn’t want to move, much less get up and investigate the racket. He tried in vain to get back to sleep but between the uncomfortable ground and the cries of the Echee it was clearly not going to happen. He got up and walked over to see what all the fuss was about.
One of his Echee, Dana had barricaded herself inside her nest and was shrieking as one of the other females, Tamika, was trying to climb inside and take something. He picked up Tamika in an attempt to break up the argument and was promptly bit for his trouble. With a curse he dropped the female and she ran to try and climb in Dana’s nest again. Whie Tamika was struggling to climb up to Dana’s nest he took a look inside to see what the commotion was about. Dana stood inside, ready to attack should anything else try to enter her nest. Next to her lay four brown baby Echee. He smiled, although he did wonder who the father might be. Glancing around he saw one of Arlene’s males, Trouble, lurking nearby.
Just then Tamika made it back to Dana’s nest. Not wanting Tamika to disturb Dana or hurt the babies he grabbed her and set her down in her own nest only to be greeted by a terrible sight. Three baby Echee lay in the nest. It took no analytical skill to see that they were cold and clearly not breathing. It looked like none of poor Tamika’s litter had survived; prompting her to try and steal Dana’s and replace her own. Duzell started numbly as Tamika went to check on her babies, hoping that she may have been wrong, that one might have survived. With a mournful squeak Tamika raced at Duzell and launched herself into his arms. He noticed Cecil standing near the nest, hoping to look in but fearing Tamika’s wrath. He picked up both the Echee and walked away from the nest. He would have to take care of the babies at some point, but right now he had some devastated parents to attend to.
ooc: 400 word challenge, 401 words, basin, barricade, analytical,
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Post by Terris on Jul 8, 2014 13:24:01 GMT -8
Chaos had watched the altercation between Dana and Tamika with equal parts interest and sadness. She may not have been a very smart echee, but she understood pain and loss, one of her own babies had died that very morning, but to lose your entire litter? That was unthinkable, and so, she made her way back to the communal nest she shared with two of Romeo's other females, and explained (as far as an echee could be said to explain anything) her plan to the other two mothers.
Surprisingly, she faced little opposition from trouble and mischief, perhaps because the nest they shared (warm, cozy and smelling faintly of dried clover now), would soon be a very tight fit for eight babies and three mothers, or maybe because they, too could empathise with Tamika, and the horror of losing, not one baby, or two, but your whole litter.
And so it was, several minutes later that Chaos had left the nest on a mission, the very special little package she was going to deliver grasped firmly but gently in her mouth. She scanned the area, black oildrop eyes seeking out Duzell. Ah, over there! And he had Tamika and a male she didn't know as well. This latter knowledge nearly made her turn around and scamper back into the nest. What if the strange male had killed Tamika's babies? Would he kill this one too? No...no...he looked as upset as Tamika, he was as much a grieving parent as she was.
Mind made up, Chaos scurried forward, her little legs kicking up tiny sprays of sand as she moved quickly toward the human and the two echee. It did not take long, but the journey was exhausting, the pup, only a few hours old had almost doubled in weight since being born, and did not look like stopping, even now the little grey baby was crying hungrily.
Chaos dropped the baby on the sands long enough to scratch gently at Duzell's leg, trying to get his attention. When she got it, she nudged the little grey newborn forward. The offer was clear, would he and Tamika adopt the little one?
(ooc: 300 word challenge - clover, opposition - 364 words)
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Post by Duzell on Jul 13, 2014 16:51:15 GMT -8
Tamika felt like her little heart had been fractured. She had been so happy to have her very own babies to love and care for but... they had not woken up. All she had wanted was a pup if her own and now all she could do was cling to Duzell and wish that all of this was a horrible nightmare.
Duzell tried to comfort Tamika as best he could, but there was only so much he could do for her. Cecil was sitting on Duzell’s other shoulder looking worriedly at Tamika. He had gone over to check on her but she had snapped at him so Cecil had decided to give her some space. He heard the pup’s cries at the same time Duzell did. It was not one of his pups, so Cecil quickly became uninterested and went off to search for something to make Tamika feel better. Duzell looked down at Chaos and the small grey pup she had brought with her. Gently he picked Tamika up off his chest and placed her in front of the newborn. He hovered his hand nearby in case Tamika reacted badly and he needed to intervene.
Tamika stepped forward slowly and sniffed the grey pup, as if uncertain whether he was real or a fabrication of her own grief. He smelled real, although nothing like her or any of Duzell’s other Echee. She looked over at Chaos and squeaked. It was both a thank you and a promise at once. Tamika gently picked up the pup and carried him back onto Duzell. She would make sure absolutely nothing happened to her new baby. Her little Chance would be the most well cared for of any Echee pup that had ever lived; she would make sure of it.
ooc: 300 word challenge, 301 words, fracture, fabrication
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