Egg Search [Open]

It was terrible weather for hunting eggs in, even if it hadn't actually started to rain yet, but if Echlerov had to guess, using the dark grey storm clouds and the occasional hint of lightning, it would start before too long. He wasn't ready to head back yet, though if it actually started to rain, he figured he'd change his mind.

He was farther down from where he and Seijin had found the eggs, figuring that the nearby places had already been searched. Even if they did just turn out to be wherries or something like that, it was kind of fun, and it seemed to be a decent sort of group activity too. Certainly he'd seen the candidates banding together to look for more of the silly eggs, and he was no different.

It was easier with more than one person looking, but with the weather, he wasn't really expecting to run into anyone else out searching.

Things had been a little odd since Krypth’s flight but Jisra was doing her best to keep from driving herself mad by thinking over much about the events that had transpired after the flight. To top it all off, her cycle was late in arriving though she felt it was far too early for it to mean anything definitively. So when the time came for the Candidates to attend a camping trip of sorts, she was eager to go along. Perhaps a change of scenery would clear her mind.

Of course it hadn’t taken long for strange things to happen that more than took her mind off the recent past. Batches of small eggs had been discovered that had sent the gathered campers into a frenzied swirl of activity. Some began to speculate with frowns on their faces while others set about seeking out more eggs with eagerness akin to children. Jisralna was amongst the later group, her own secret hope being that firelizards, like the dragons, had escaped to the Southern Continent and despite over a quarter century of habitation, were now being rediscovered. Of course, perhaps the skeptics would be right and the eggs were just scattered wherry nests.

Seijin and Echlerov had already found a small batch of eggs and once she’d become aware of the efforts of everyone else she’d gone seeking the two men. It was Echlerov she spotted first and lifting her skirts in front of her she jogged after him, intent on catching up. Green eyes darted up to take in the ominous sky but she wanted to see eggs for herself, even if it was just once. Having already found a few, perhaps Echlerov would be able to find some more. When she neared she slowed and let her skirt fall, calling out even as awkwardness and insecurity claimed her. “Echlerov!”

It was a gorgeous day. Cloudy, and overcast and downright lyrical. When the eggs had been found, Krypth had been most insistent that Jada fetch her some. There could be nothing that someone could have that she and her Jada could not! Especially not something so intriguing! And it was a game that would take Jada's mind off of the fallout from the Flight and what Krypth's rising meant. Krypth didn't see the hullabaloo that Jada apparently did. So off the girl had gone, obedient, carrying a small satchel in the event she actually found something. And if she didn't, the satchel served the dual purpose of carrying a snack.

The threat of rain was something that didn't disturb the Harper, though she could have done with a bit more light. Her brow furrowed as she poked and prodded around bushes and the base of trees, looking for sandy dips and hallows that may be a place for eggs, and keeping an eye out for nests on the ground that could belong to avian creatures. That's what her wager was on the contents of the eggs, anyhow.

Sighing, Jada pressed her hand to her eyes, pressing back the strain, and took a moment to breathe. "Echlerov!" she heard someone call, and her head poked up. Pistoth's was one of the ones who had found the eggs to begin with... Maybe he would be able to give her some valid information on what she was supposed to be looking for? And company would never go amiss! A social creature at heart, the Harper quickly came within sight of her classmate and a redhead that looked quite familiar.

"Hello!" She cried cheerily, trying to alert the others to her approaching presence without interrupting (too much.)

Echlerov's eyes lit up when he heard Jisra's voice, and he turned around, smiling happily. "Jisralna! I heard you were out here, but I hadn't managed to find you. Are you having fun?"

He was really glad to see her, and he moved towards her, giving her a brief hug. "Want to come hunt eggs with me?" It wasn't long before he heard a second familiar voice, and he spared a grin for the goldrider. "Heya Jada." He was a little surprised to see her out here, but he supposed that she needed to get to know the gold candidates, and why shouldn't she be out here. "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it."

He grinned wryly. "Want to come with us? I was going to search the sandy beach to see if I could find more eggs?

At the sight of Echlerov’s smile, Jisralna was incapable of keeping the smile from her face. Despite the events that had transpired which she still wasn’t quite certain about, he was a wonderful man; friendly and kind and she genuinely liked him.  When he moved towards her and wrapped her up in a brief hug, her cheeks colored and uncertain of what to do with her hands, left them at her sides as he pulled back. Like her hands, her tongue was unsure of what to do and without meaning to, she squeaked out an abrupt reply to his question. “Yes!”

Blinking several times, the color deepening in her cheeks she lowered her gaze to the center of the bluerider’s chest, thoroughly embarrassed with her awkwardness. A million greetings and questions raced through her mind and yet she could voice none of them. A faint crease appeared between her brows as she sucked her lower lip between her teeth. Before she could force an inquiry about Pistoth from her mouth, another voice called out, startling the weaver as she spun around, green eyes wide.

It was only Jada, Krypth’s rider. But even as she settled, Jisra began to fidget. This woman’s dragon would clutch soon enough and Jisra would be put on the Sands once more as a candidate; a Gold candidate in fact, despite her lack of having given the Weyr a child. Already there had been whispers Jisra had overheard. Bets were likely to be made once the clutch was laid but what the gossips were saying was that she was a B’jin girl, just as the last Gold Weyrling had been…and just as Jada herself had been.

Despite the thoughts swarming in her mind, she offered the younger woman a friendly smile and glanced at the sky and then Echlerov at his insistence that it was a lovely day. Hoping that it wouldn’t dissolve into a thunderstorm, which would likely send Jisra running for her tent where she would hide under her blankets and cover her ears, the weaver nevertheless thought Echlerov a bit silly.

But at the mention of Eggs, Jisra’s skittish awkwardness was replaced by eager curiosity. “Do you think there are more out there? What do you suppose they are; have any of them hatched? Oh…I’m sorry.” Once more color overtook her face, and she fixed her gaze on a particularly fascinating pebble on the ground, her voice soft once more. “Greetings Jada, how fairs Krypth?”

It was a bit of a relief that neither of them looked too bothered when Jada scrambled her way towards them. "I do love cloudy days." She gave Echlerov's wry grin a brilliant one in reply, eyes sliding to the redheaded woman. She knew her name. Jisra? No, longer than that. This woman was one of the Gold Candidates, so it was really in Jada's best interests to remember her sharding name! Classes would be starting soon. "And I'd love to come. I've been looking, but no luck so far."

Both women seemed to be sharing a certain "Egg-citement". Ha. Ha. Oh, Jada cracked herself up. (Get it? Eggs? Cracking? In the back of her mind, Krypth was disgusted.) "And hello." she gave Jisra...l....nnngh... a friendly smile and waggled her fingers. "Krypth is well. She's quite satisfied with herself, actually." Wasn't that the truth, too! Krypth seemed inordinately pleased that she'd sent people into a tizzy, Rising again already. Not even a turn and a half quite yet and two flights under her belt? Wings. Harness? Semantics! The colloquialism stood. "And she is just as egg-" her face scrunched as Krypth's disgust raced through her- "EXcited as most of the humans seem to be about these mysterious little objects." Her tongue pressed to her teeth, a little pink peeking out through her big grin.

"Thank you for offering to let me come with." Her gratitude was sincere, eyes moving back to Echlerov. "I'd really like to, if that isn't a problem?" she gave the other woman the opportunity to veto, but for Jada? Refusal was hardly an option! The opportunity was too good to pass up- and an extra set of eyes was a fantastic thing to have on one's side. "It would be fantastic if there were more! Or if we could even catch them hatching. I've heard people suggesting they might be wild Wherries, which could be great." Not that Katila seemed to be wanting for the self-renewing resource that was Herdbeast and Wherry, but it never hurt to have a backup.

It seemed that both women were interested in the eggs, not that he could blame them. The curiosity surrounding them was incredibly high, and he had to wonder just how disappointing everyone will be if they just end up being a strange breed of wherry or tunnelsnake. For that matter, how disappointed would he be?

"I do think there are more out there, it's got to be laying season for whatever creature laid these eggs. That's the only thing I can think of to why we're finding these eggs now, and not in the turns that Katila has existed." It was kind of odd, really, but maybe there were reasons.

He grinned broadly. "I'm glad Kryth is doing well. And I don't think it'll be a problem at all. More eyes will give us a better chance to find them. The ones that Seijin and I found were on the beach, but I don't know if they'll be anywhere else."

Smiling, Jisralna couldn’t help but giggle at Jada’s slip of the tongue. If there was anything that Jisra enjoyed almost as much as bubbly pies it was humor—even if certain brands of sarcasm tended to confuse and consequently make her nervous.

“Oh, I hope they’re firelizards, really I do!” The words burst from Jisra and at almost the same moment she began to blush, a hand flying up to clap over her mouth. What a horrid thing to exclaim in the presence of two dragonriders. After all, wasn’t it the firelizards that were blamed for the plague? And if that were true, then it would have been firelizards that had taken her bluerider friend from her as a child.

Shifting and suddenly wary that she’d offended the Goldrider, Jisra let her hand drop though she kept her lower lip firmly between her teeth and listened as Echlerov and the other woman spoke, green eyes straying often towards the sandy beach and other likely places. Deciding that it would be best to let Echlerov take the lead as he had already found some of the eggs. “Well if you were an unknown egg-laying creature, where would you hide your eggs so that they wouldn’t get eaten and still be warm…assuming these creatures are smart enough for that.”

Jada grinned at them both, the tip of her tongue touching her front teeth. It was good she'd made at least one of them laugh with her little quip, even if it had been a slip of the tongue instead of deliberate. "Firelizards?" the Harper blinked at her redheaded companion, then stared thoughtfully in another direction. "Who knows? Really, if the Dragons managed to survive it is possible, but so many of the stories say that they were the creatures that bore the plague to us in the first place." If they were struck by the plague again, would Katila survive it? What about she and Krypth, who weren't being taught to go Between with the rest of the class, or the babies who were newly hatched- or not even clutched yet, still held inside of Krypth's body. The loneliness would be terrible.

She lightly reached out to Jisralna as the woman dropped a hand from her mouth. "Wherries lay their eggs year round. Didn't I hear that some wherries had gotten free from that Beastcrafter who was mauled a turn or so ago?" It was a lie, of course; Jada had heard no such thing, but it was a good way to try and switch the conversation in a direction that didn't suddenly seem so... morbid. "What else lays eggs? Most of the eggs have been found near the water, right? Are there creatures that lay their eggs on land and live in the sea? Fish lay eggs, don't they?"

Jada had never seen fish eggs, but she'd heard they were disgusting things. "And don't some creatures lay their eggs in trees?"