Early Morning Breakfast

Being as the blue rider had awoken early, as was his habit after impressing Pistoth, Echlerov had decided to cook up some breakfast. He had found eggs, normal avian eggs, while out wandering, enough to feed the small group of candidates and riders, and decided that since no one else was cooking, he'd go ahead and have it ready when people started to wake up.

He had already skinned and chopped tubers, and was now cooking the egg and tuber hash over the fire. It would be done soon, and there was already klah made, ready for anyone who cared to join him.

Habits such as waking up before the dawn were not easily broken, and certainly not by a day of camping. The chill of the night was still lingering, but a run and a light jacket shrugged on were quite enough to fend it off. She was strolling down the beach, contemplating food, when a delicious smell wafted towards her. Just up the beach, a man cooking, with klah steaming. Her stomach grumbled, and Ellaira made a wry face. It didn't take long to reach him. She recognized him as one of the newer weyrlings.

"Good morning," she said pleasantly. "That smells amazing. Did you make enough to share, or should I go forage for something to trade? People keep finding eggs on the beach" - eggs she was very suspicious about, as they were hardly similar to any avian eggs she had seen in her life - "and I'm sure I could find something to contribute."

"Morning!" It was nice to see that he wasn't the only one awake at this gorgeous hour, and he stirred the food making sure it was cooking evenly. "No need. I made enough to share. I got lucky and found normal eggs while i was out wandering yesterday." He knew about the strange eggs as well, having found one of his own, though he hadn't decided quite what was inside. A baby tunnelsnake most likely, but he hadn't managed to convince himself to get rid of it. Curiosity was killer.

He snagged a mug from his pile, and offered it to her. "Klah? The food's not quite done yet, but I started the klah earlier so it's good to go." She wasn't one of the candidates that he was very acquainted with, and he grinned. "My name's Echlerov, rider of Blue Pistoth."

Ellaira grinned and took a seat on one of the logs for firewood, crossing her legs. "Thank you muchly," she said, all politeness, taking the proffered mug of klah. It was still piping hot, the warmth of the drink seeping through the ceramic mug to heat up her hands. Ellaira sipped it, and was pleasantly surprised. Unlike the vast majority of the food people were making, it didn't taste like ash, but rather like mildly scorched klah. Delightful.

"I'm Ellaira. I suppose I'm sort of a recluse - I spend the vast majority of my time in the aviaries or working with the wherry flocks." She shrugged, used to not knowing faces in the Weyr. She knew her coworkers, her leaders, her housemate, her children, and a few strays. No reason to memorize every face in Katila. "But that's neither here nor there," Ellaira added with a smile before taking another draught of the klah. The drink made a warm spot in her belly, and tingled a little bit with its wake-me-up affect. "What sort of eggs did you find? I mean, were they on the ground, or in the trees, or huge, or what? I've got a bit of irrepressible curiosity when it comes to avians."

"It's no problem." He would be the first to admit that it wasn't the best batch of klah he had ever made, but it wasn't the worst either. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He wasn't really sure what sort of eggs they were. "There were a whole bunch of nests up in the trees, and so I took a couple from each of them. They were all the same looking, about the size of my fist or so, so I'm pretty sure they're the same species, but I have no idea what type they are." He grinned. "Not much use for eggs in winemaking."

Ellaira grinned back at Echlerov, then downed the rest of the mug of klah, which had cooled sufficiently to keep from scorching off the lining of her esophagus or all the tastebuds off her tongue. Any further cooling was unnecessary and would delay her intake of morning stimulants. "I've made my share of quickal and moonshine, but I think I would be utterly lost if it came to something as nuanced as wine."

"But for the eggs... probably some sort of wading-bird. They tend to nest all in groups and I've seen some flocks out here before." She shrugged and flashed her dimples at the young rider once more. "I'm sure they will be delicious." Ellaira set the mug in between her feet and pulled out a little pouch from her jacket, opening it up to reveal some curled remnants of shell, which she started poking at. "Have you managed to see any of the mystery eggs? All I've gotten my hands on are some of the torn open shells, but they're weird enough."

He liked her already. "Yeah, it can get complicated, but I bet your job is too. To me, a bird is a bird." He chuckled, and then scooped a large scoop of hash onto a plate, setting a fork on it and then handed it to Ellaira. "Here."

Ooh, she had shell pieces from one of the eggs. Why hadn't he thought about that? Maybe he'd have to go back to the beach and gather up some, they might make some interesting looking jewelry. "Yeah," he said. "I found some on the beach after Seijin helped me give Pistoth a bath. I've got one buried here in the sand if you'd like to see it."

"You mean you can't tell a Violet-throated Emerald from a Forktail Emerald??" Ellaira said in mock horror. "I am shocked - shocked!" She grinned, taking the plate from Echlerov. "Thanks." She pulled her beltknife out and took a bite, making a pleased noise.

Her head snapped back up when he mentioned that he had an egg, her eyes glinting with scientific avarice. "You have one? Really? I'd love to take a look. I mean, if you don't mind." Ellaira was more than eager to take a look at what most people were calling avian eggs or tunnelsnake eggs, and a few conspiracy theorists were calling fire-lizard or dragonet eggs. Idiots. But she was something of an egg expert - at least with avian eggs and a few species of tunnelsnake eggs - and she felt quite certain she could put an end to the mystery.

"I know," he said dramatically, his hand to his forehead. "It's just terrible, terrible." He grinned teasingly. "How ever am I to live?" He laughed at himself, and then helped himself to a plate of the hash, moving it off the fire, and then covering the pan to keep it warm. If more people showed up, it'd be ready. "You're welcome."

He nodded. "I've actually got three of them, but I'm only carrying the one with me. It's a bit bigger than the other two, and I think it's my best bet for having one hatch on me. No idea when that might be though."

It was a really good idea to have someone who knew eggs to look at them, and he brushed the sand away from it, picking up the egg gently. "They were half buried in the sand when we found them, so I figured that it would be best to keep it warm that way." He held it out for her to take, trusting that Ellaira would be careful with it."I'm thinking that maybe they belong to some sort of sea creature that lays eggs. That'd explain why they were found on the beach."

It had taken him some thinking after finding the nest to come to that conclusion, but it was the only one that made sense. 

Ellaira wolfed down another bite, then balanced the plate on her knees and reached over, taking the egg carefully and cupping it in her hands. Fingers curled up protectively to prevent the egg from moving, Ellaira gently tipped it side to side. It was still somewhat leathery, not hard. She pursed her lips and opened her hand slightly so that Echlerov could see the egg while she pointed things out.

"Sea creature is probably a good bet," she said, nodding her head slightly. "See how the egg is ovular, with both ends being the same width? Both Pernese and terran-bred avians have asymmetrical eggs. It keeps them from rolling out of their nests. Ovular eggs like this are from draconoids - you'll see it in dragons, whers, and tunnelsnakes, essentially." Gently, she passed the egg back to Echlerov, then took another bite.

"It's probably some sort of water-'snake, or something nobody's ever seen before," she added after a moment. "Probably worth hatching, just to see what it is, though it will be a little while still, I bet. You said you found three?"

He listened to the explanation intently, curious to see what she had to say about the eggs. She seemed to be rather knowledgeable about these sorts of things, and he would trust her judgement.

He accepted the egg back when she handed it to him, reburying it in the sand. "Yeah. I figure if whatever hatches isn't useful they can always be released back into the wild. The nest that Seijin and I found had 5 unbroken eggs in it, so since he already had one, he took two and I've got the other three. There were also three broken shells, but no sign of whatever creature laid them." Maybe that was what he should be searching out, to try and discover the unknown egg layer. Maybe not. Eggs were likely easier to find, and maybe if he found another nest, he should leave them there, and spy. Hmm.

"Unless a nest is guarded, tunnelsnakes will snack on what eggs they can find, which is probably where all the broken shells come from," Ellaira said after a moment. "If it's some creature that only comes out of the water to lay eggs, that would make sense. I bet if someone surveyed the beach at night, they could find one of the nesters laying yet." She returned to eating, definitely enjoying the food. The young rider was a good campfire cook - that was for certain!

"Have you heard the rumors people are passing about fire-lizards? I don't know where people get that notion. Even if there were fire-lizards on the Southern Continent, we brought the plague with us. I've been here fifteen turns and never seen a hint of a flit." She sighed. "It's a pretty story, I suppose."

Huh. Well, that was interesting. He did have to wonder why they hadn't eaten the whole clutch, but maybe it was just eating one at a time and then returning later when it was hungry again. That'd be pretty smart.

"You're probably right about that." It probably wasn't going to be him, but maybe someone would. "It'd be kind of disappointing if you stayed up the whole night but didn't see anything." He grinned wryly. "Yeah, I've heard a few of the firelizard rumors. Kind of silly, though it's probably mostly wishful thinking." He wasn't quite as sure of the fact that they had brought the plague down here, there were still dragons, and if there were firelizards left, it wouldn't surprise him that much to find them down here in the south. On the other hand... there hadn't been any sightings, so meh. "It's likely that this is going to end with a bunch of disappointed people if they really think these eggs are going to hatch firelizards."

"Life is disappointment," Ellaira replied with a grin, before taking a rakish bite of her food. Almost done, actually, though she was enjoying her conversation almost as much as the hot food. "It's a fun daydream, though," she said, waggling her belt-knife at him to punctuate the statement. "Who doesn't want to believe that fire-lizards survived the plague? Dragons did. I'm just... oh, I don't know. I guess I'm too used to reality to let myself dream about little wings."

Pensively, she ate the last little bit of her food, scraping the plate clean with her belt-knife. Then she shrugged and grinned, placing the klah cup down on her plate and passing it back to Echlerov. "I'd love to be proven wrong though! Let me know what hatches, please. And thank you for the food!"

"Isn't that the truth." He chuckled. He could certainly see the appeal, the wishing for a miniature dragon, especially for the candidates who had been around but hadn't impressed a dragon yet. "I can understand that." Katila wasn't really the place for dreams.

He grinned happily when she handed the mug back. "We'll just have to see, and I'll let you know as soon as they do, or well, maybe a little bit afterwards. It would depend on what hatched." The weyrling was pleased that she had enjoyed the food. "You're welcome! I'm glad you like it, and if you see anyone else who looks hungry, feel free to send them my way. I'll be here for a while."

Probably until it had all gotten eaten even.

Ellaira grinned at him. "Thank you muchly - I will certainly send any hungry faces your way, should I happen to see any. It's a little early, I think, for most of the Candidates." She shrugged and smiled vaguely, expressing bemusement at those who would forgo the beauty of the morning for the sake of a late night and a little more sleep. "I'm off to go hunt down shorebirds. Talk to you later!" And with that and a wave, Ellaira headed back off, lacing her fingers behind her head and whistling softly, eyes scanning the shore for any movement. Might as well make herself useful while she was trapped out here!

[[This is my last post ^_^ Fun!]]

"Later." He watched the girl go, and then turned back to his cooking. The egg and tuber hash was still warm, but it looked as if he would need to make up a new batch of klah if anyone else was to join him. No big issue there.

He emptied the rest of the pot into his mug, and then prepared a second pot, setting it onto the fire to cook. There would be little else to do until it was done, and so Echlerov settled, taking a long drink of his klah.