[G] [C] 734.02.01 | Searching for 'Treasures' [Casa, any]

It wasn't the best place to be but given, at least to her knowledge, nobody was likely to be in the Hatching grounds when no new clutches laid yet. Why would anybody come in here a month since the last two clutches hatched?  Why indeed. Arddra had heard a few things about the egg shells being used in jewelry. Little mementos for riders, especially if the jewelry was made from the shell of their own dragon's egg. Arddra wished she had been able to get here sooner as she was sure the sands would be well cleaned by now.

She had the time and being such a wide open space she knew if anybody came, like a dragonrider or their dragon, she could hide. Not that she was scared of dragons as much as she used to be but the sad truth was, if a dragon saw something interesting or unusual, they most likely told their rider and that would mean one would show up eventually.

Once dinner was over she gathered up a few sacks, just in case she found quite a few shell fragments, a rake and small trowel. Arddra didn't think she would need any other tools and probably will just be wasting her time. At least the sky was clear so she would have a few hours of light before sunset.

A small part of her wondered if any of the firelizards would clutch in the warm sands and she may turn one up in her search for dragon egg fragments. Highly unlikely but she intended to keep her eyes open nonetheless.

When she left the candidate barracks she had no idea if anybody would notice her heading towards the hatching grounds or not. It wasn't like she was sneaky about her destination but she didn't want to advertise it. One reason she left right after dinner, instead of lounging in the dining hall to socialize as many tended to do. Arddra typically slipped away early, so doubted anybody would take note of her for repeating habit.

Striding across the sands she headed to where she remembered one of the two clutches had been arranged. From the look of the sands, it did appear to have been already cleaned. No matter, she would just rake carefully. Small pieces may have been overlooked or left behind as not worth picking up. Laying the sacks onto the sand

The months after the hatching seemed to have flown by. Granted it was only one but it had still gone quickly anyway. Mizeath was growing by leaps and bounds and was nearly twice the size she was at hatching. The little gold loved everyone she met. Adored Rislan, for which Ameris was eternally grateful, respected and looked up to Xyreith and R'nya. She even liked Krypth and Okalinath. Grith was a constant source of amusement for the youngster and she doted on the other various dragons she'd come across, with the exception of Aradissicath. Ameris had hoped that Mizeath would forget about the unorthodox meeting shortly after her hatching, but no such luck. Ameris couldn't forget so neither could Mizeath. Mizeath was rather not fond of the elder gold and considered her a bully and crass. Ameris had come to find that Mizeath disliked those who were rude or bullies. It was alright with Ameris. She wasn't fond of them either. 

Yesterday Ameris had decided she wanted a memento of the birth of Mizeath. It was rather nostalgic that she thought of the idea exactly one month after her hatching, so Ameris found herself moving towards the hatching sands. She glanced around as she entered the sands. She didn't think there would be any trouble if she went in and searched about for a fragment of Mizeath's shell but she didn't want to risk it so she made sure no one was watching.

I do not understand why you can not have someone else look for a fragment, the gold said from beside her. Ameris rolled her eyes at the slightly put upon tone of her dragon. "What fun would it be if I let someone else find that pretty egg shell?" she countered. Mizeath snorted as she walked sedately through the doors of the sands. Her rider was far from lady like, though the gold took pains in trying to get her to be so. Mizeath didn't mind, though for she believed that one day she'd succeed so she would continue doing so.

I am positive that they have cleaned quite thoroughly, Ameris. I don't think we'll succeed in finding a fragment, Mizeath groused quietly. "They have cleaned, for sure, but you never know maybe we'll find something anyway!" Ameris insisted as she went forward before stopping suddenly. So suddenly that Mizeath, who had been right on her heels, thumped into her back nearly sending her sprawling. With a small glare at the gold - who very nearly stuck her tongue out at her rider - Ameris looked forward once again. There was another girl in here. She hadn't expected that. Striding forward she smiled at the woman, "Hello! I didn't expect to find any one else in here. Have you come to find some egg shells too?"

Tonight was a night for doing something, and Quenym was busy with something or other. This had been a slight disappointment for Casa, who spent most of her days with her best friend now. However, she knew she was still having to watch her back - after the last evening she had gone to wander around (and ended up in a fight that had caused stitches), she was watched for not getting in trouble. She muttered under her breath at the memory of the fight, but a solid chirp from Kaylee set her straight. She stroked the firelizard's head gently, stretching as she shifted from foot to foot outside of the dining hall.

Well, then. What would it be tonight? She glanced around, blinking as Edge popped in from between. The always-curious blue had been winging around the Hatching grounds and there were people! He didn't seem those there most evenings when he haunted around.

Pursing her lips, she held an arm out, and the murky blue winged down onto it, chirping in satisfaction. Casa couldn't help but smile as they headed that way. The blue was always looking for unusual things, just like her and Quenym. His curiosity was greatly helpful. As they wound their way towards the Sands, Casa reminded herself just to peek in. If it looked like people were getting into trouble, she would turn tail and leave. She couldn't afford to get into any more trouble. However...if they were friendly people...

She whistled to Kaylee and Edge, picturing the Sands and the question of who was there? The two popped away, leaving Knack curled around her neck, tail tight to her throat. He chirped sedately, nuzzling her cheek. She couldn't help but to smile again. Within seconds, the two were back, having winged in above the grounds to peek. She got images of Ameris, Mizeath, and another girl wasn't as familiar with.

Shrugging, she walked slowly through the entrance, pausing as she saw them all talking. Overhearing their conversation, she walked cautiously up. Edge and Kaylee swept in, coming to rest near Mizeath. They both chirped a friendly hello, and Dae snapped a friendly reminder to be as nice as possible to a Gold. They both bobbed their heads belatedly in a bow, heads tilted in unison at the sound of egg shard hunting. Casa came to rest a little distance from the two girls, ducking a bow to Mizeath herself.

"Do you guys mind if I join you?" she asked softly, her eyes bright but reserved. You could never tell with Queenriders and girls in general. Knack stretched his little brown wings, winging off quietly to begin scratching around over in the Sands on his own.

Arddra was bending down to pick up a clumped mass, not sure if a shell was hidden within or if it was just something else. A quick poke with her hand and the sand fell away to reveal a clump of dried and smelly egg goo.

"Ick!" Arddra muttered and dropped it, rubbing her hand on the lower part of the rake handle to get the residue off her hand. Just as she was about to resume her raking somebody spoke, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin.

Spinning towards the voice, Arddra held the rake up as though ready to defend herself with it. When she saw it was one of the queenriders only a few years older than she was who impressed one of the golddragons during recent double hatching.

If a dragonrider had to come here and find her, Arddra was grateful it was a goldrider and one who was a Candidate like her only a month ago. She relaxed and let the business end of the rake fall to the sands once more.

"Hello, you startled me. I didn't think anybody would even think it was worth the bother to come looking for egg shells this late after a hatching. I am hoping to find a few shards I could use to make jewelry."

"Oh your gold dragon really has grown since hatching,  she's so beautiful." After all the candidate and other lessons she was taught since she was kidnapped, Arddra knew it was good manners to pay a gold, even a two month old on, with respect. She gave a curtsy towards the weyrling.


As she straightened, she saw another girl, one of the younger candidates whom Arddra only recently seen in lessons. Arddra also saw she had a few firelizards about her as well. Age nor rank didn't seem to play a part in who could get a fire lizard. Once more she longed to have one of her own but again she was worried what would be demanded of her for such a gift.

"I don't have any problem if you come join us," Arddra decided company, especially of other females, was welcome. The bigger the group the more thorough they could be looking for fragments of eggs. The only real down side is she will have to share what they found with the others. Fortunately, the advantages of having help far outweighed getting less shards. For all she knew they wouldn't find anything big enough to make jewelry out of. "I don't remember your name, I am Arddra."

Mizeath hissed quietly at the threatening manner in which the woman turned around. She didn't think the woman would hit Ameris with her raised rake but the little gold couldn't take the chance. "Mizeath! We just scared her is all," Ameris said a bit sternly. The gold sniffed as she glared balefully at the girl until she lowered her rake. As she did so, Mizeath moved to stand next to her rider. She would be sure that the rake incident was just a fluke and protect Ameris if need be.

"You see?" Ameris asked the dragon, "Even she said we startled her. I suppose we just weren't loud enough when we came in." Ameris smiled brightly at the explanation of the girl. She'd come to find shells for jewelry. How wonderful! Perhaps she'd have someone make a necklace of Mizeath's shell. If she could find a piece that is.

Ameris grinned when her little gold preened a bit at when the girl declared her beautiful. She wasn't nearly as vain as most but she enjoyed a compliment when given one. Mizeath chuckled in her mind when the young woman dropped in a curtsy. "Here now! You don't have to do that," Ameris declared, "I'm just a girl who has a dragon. No need for formalities." She turned as the other girl spied something. It was Casa. Such a sweet girl, so adventurous and look she had firelizards.

"Sure you can join us," she said with a smile, "I'm after a piece of Mizeath's shell." Its very polite of them to bow to me, Mizeath said with another light chuckle, And her firelizards are darling. Mizeath had a slight fascination with the little creatures because the reminded her of babies and she adored babies. Ameris's little Mud was a usual companion of the gold dragonet, especially after he realized she was gold.

Casa visibly relaxed when both girls seemed agreeable to her company. Edge and Kaylee crept closer to the little queen, their heads tilting in unison as they sent out a general question about her shell. Biting her lip, Dae tried to offer what she remembered about both queen eggs.

They screeched joyfully, dipping and wheeling as they went to another section of the sands, scrabbling around with their claws and making a general mess. Sighing affectionately, she watched them play in the sand. They were more throwing it then digging, but they were having fun. That's all that really mattered, she supposed.

As she turned back, she noticed that Mizeath had grown quite a bit in just a month. She was a beautiful little Gold, and Casa let her admiration creep into her general mindvoice, expressing her appreciation to the little queen quietly. She knelt over beside the other two girls, her fingers sifting through the sands slowly. It looked like most of the big ones had been picked out long ago, but there was still a good chance of finding something.

Bending over the nearest section, she knelt down and began to dig in earnest, glancing up occasionally to listen to the other two girls talk. She really was generally more talkative, but right now, well...she just felt quiet for once. Especially around two older girls, Candidates both. She had started to peek into lessons, but she still wasn't really considering herself to be a candidate. 

"I would never have used the rake on your bonded, Mizeath. I just didn't know who was coming behind me. Silly of me to be defensive and I am sorry to have worried you," Arddra wasn't anywhere near as intimidated by hatchling dragons, even if the gold was much bigger now then when she came out of the egg.

"I didn't want to be rude," Arddra then turned her attention to the new girl who hadn't introduced herself yet. Before she could ask again she noticed the younger girl's firelizards were being horribly cute.

"They really seem to like your gold," Arddra commented to Ameris. Totally forgetting about raking through the sand she watched the fire lizards tilting their heads at the queen. When they screeched then flew off to attack the sand with vigor, obviously doing what they could to help, Arddra chuckled.

"With their help and you two ladies, I am sure it won't take long to find any remaining shell fragments." Arddra resumed raking, pausing now and then to watch the antics of the fire lizards and their bonded. The youngest of the trio was even on her hands and knees, digging through the sand. "Oh I do have a trowel over on the sacks there, no point wearing out your fingers in the sand."

With a twitter and shush of wings Mud popped from between to scold Mizeath and Ameris for not being where he looked. Circling twice he took in the sight of Casa's firelizards cozying up to his gold. Mud had taken an immediate shine to Mizeath upon introductions and the young gold had done nothing to deter the little brown's sudden obsession with her. It was endearing she said and cute. The little brown squawked as he came to settle between Mizeath's wing joints. Ameris chuckled at his antics with a shake of her head as she turned to answer Arddra, "They certainly seem to."

Ameris watched as the industrious little firelizards set off to dig at the sand with vigor and smiled at Casa, "Thanks for setting them to the task, Casa! Arddra's right. With all of us digging, I'm certain it won't take long to find a shell or two." She looked at Mizeath with a brow cocked. The small gold had flopped out on the warm sands, intent on feigning a nap. "Well?" Ameris asked her bonded.

Mizeath cracked an eye as Ameris posed her question. Did her rider honestly think that she was going to dig in the sand for something like a piece of shell when there were others that could do the job just as well? Golds did not go about digging in the dirt. Yes? Mizeath said sweetly. "Well aren't you going to help?" was the reply. Mizeath hummed quietly to herself as Mud began to scratch a itchy spot, No. I think not. I am perfectly content to nap thank you very much With a huff Ameris glared at her dragon, "Fine then. Nap you silly thing." A musical mental chuckle threaded through her mind as Ameris set about raking sand away from the spot she thought Mizeath's egg had sat. "Anything?" she called towards the two girls that were busy digging in the sand.

((sorry it took so long ;-;))

Casa peered up when Arddra mentioned the trowel, but politely declined. "I don't mind so much..the sand is warm and pleasant feeling in general. But thank you!" Belatedly, she realized she hadn't really introduced herself at all. "I'm Casa, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." She folded herself cross legged in front of the spot she had chosen, fingers shaking out excess sand bit by bit. She watched in amusement as Mizeath decided it was nap time, not blaming the Queen in the slightest - this was perhaps one of the better places to take a nap after all. Warm and comforting. It was also where she had Hatched, making Casa wonder if dragons were attached to places where special things had happened in their life.

Shaking off the idle chat, she continued her work. Kaylee and Edge enthusiastically ripped through the sand, sending small sprays out behind both of them. They weren't really being all that productive, but they sure thought it was a lot of fun, and Casa was content to let them wear themselves out whilst keeping company. Sure enough, they both got bored (relatively fast) and decided to half-hop, half-fly towards Mizeath, curling up in bright little balls near her to agreeably share in the naptime.

Whilst the two brighter ones had been busy being entertaining, Knack had been working away over in his corner. He suddenly crooned triumphantly, easily gliding over to the three girls and dropped two large shards between Arddra and Ameris, a shard from each of the Queen eggs. Casa clapped, rewarding him with a gentle scratch across his eye ridges. He crooned and wrapped himself around her neck, content on his end for now. She in turn set down some very thin slivers she had also found, turning to see what the others may have found.

"I am Arddra, pleased to meet you Casa and thanks for coming to help," Arddra smiled at the young lady. With the firelizards help, Ameris and Casa, Arddra was certain they would find any remaining shards of eggs.

"I suppose it is too much to ask your lovely gold to dig in the dirt and get all dirty." Arddra smiled warmly at the hatchling and her rider fondly. A part of her was a little envious, she had hoped to Impress during the double hatching earlier.

Given she had been kidnapped from her home and forced to stand that first time, endured the unwanted attentions from a flightlust mad dragonrider, Arddra wanted to Impress a gold. At last she would get that sense of accomplishment. If she failed to Impress before she was told old to stand, what would she do here? The last thing she wanted was to be some man's sexual release because his dragon wasn't fast enough.

Even as she let her mind dwell on her discontent and worries, Arddra dug and shifted through the sand then spotted something that didn't look at all like a clump of dirt. Setting her rake aside she knelt and and brushed through the disturbed sand, distantly aware of the croon of fire lizards. Just as she uncovered her first shell fragment, a piece about the size of the palm of her hand she heard somebody clap.

"Did he find something?" Arddra asked Casa. "I found a piece here, it's a nice size too."

"Did you find anything Ameris?" Arddra looked to the other woman. "Casa's firelizards found a few pieces of one of the gold eggs, at this rate we are sure to have enough for us all to barter with or make something out of."

Mizeath murmured happily when the little flits belonging to the smaller girl came to curl next to her sprawled body. She enjoyed the happy little creatures nearly as much as she enjoyed Ameris and Rislan. Mud chittered to the two new additions to their dragon pile and was content with them being close to his gold, provided they didn't think to climb on her of course. Possessive little bugger. Are you nearly finished digging in the dirt? the dragonet asked her rider, a hint of reproach in her voice. Ameris shook her head as she continued to shuffle through the sand in search of a bit of shell with a tiny grin on her lips. Mizeath never could understand why Ameris felt the need to be in the middle of everything which included dirt. And Ameris never could seem to get Mizeath to understand that it was soothing to her. One day they'd come to gripes with each other.

Her head turned when the little brown flew between her and Arddra, dropping bits on shining shells. "He found something!" she exclaimed a touch disappointed that she had yet to find what she searched for, "And they look to be good sized too!" Her hand sifted through the sand and she gasped as a tiny sliver found the tip of a finger. Blast it! Shaking her hand out she watched the thin sliver of a sickly green fall to the sands. A sliver belonging to the egg Quelseth had hatched from. Reaching out she pocketed the shell, perhaps S'cer would like to have it.

She grimaced at the size of the shell Arddra had found, but for the green shell, Ameris had found nothing and her disappointment was heavy. Perhaps if you ask one of your friends they will let you have a bit, Mizeath reasoned with a gentle croon. Though the gold disliked when Ameris acted the tomboy she disliked when her rider felt anything but happiness more. Ameris murmured noncommittally. She didn't want to take away from the girls currently shuffling through the dirt, unwilling to demand they give her their find, she could find her own. "No," she replied slightly mulishly, "I haven't found anything."

Casa wrinkled her nose, rolling her eyes at both the other girls. "I don't want any of these shells," she said with a laugh, seeing the stubborn but disappointed look on Ameris' face. "I just wanted something to do tonight! The 'lizards are happy to have a new friend, and I'm happy to be able to spend time with two people I don't know very well. Take any of the shards we find, I'm not interested in them for trade or barter or anything."

Pausing, she pursed her lips and then continued. "Unless we find blue or brown shards. Those I might want to snag a chunk from to make something with. Quenym and I, we make good jewelry." She let a hint of pride slip into her voice, as she was proud of the work they had done creatively. They were no masterpieces, but they were pretty enough. She fingered the rock choker at her throat before shaking her head to clear it.

Turning back to the sand where the Golds had hatched, she continued to dig around, humming the little song B'jin had taught her before. It was a pretty and simple little piece, perfect for weyrbrats to pick up and sing along to. She felt a sharp edge cut into her palm, and hurriedly pulled her hand - and it - out of the sands.

It turned out to be two its - a large chunk of shiny shell with egg goo still inside, and a long, thin, razor sharp shard of one of the brown's eggs. Cursing loudly, she tossed the shiny shell to Ameris - it looked an awful lot like Mizeath's shell - before blinking dumbly at her hand and applying pressure to it, grinning wryly. "Guess I got my brown shell, at a cost..."

"I am surprised we found as much as we had so far," Arddra proclaimed as she looked over what Casa and her firelizards had found. There was more than enough to make a few nice trinkets to trade.

Walking over to Ameris Arddra offered the rake. "How about you use this for awhile, it does speed up the shifting and will spare your hands."

"It's fine you don't want any of the shells, Casa," Arddra smiled. "I really do appreciate both your help too. This would  have taken much longer to do by myself and I doubt I would have found anywhere near as much either."

When Casa started cursing loudly Arddra frowned. It was a very poor display of temper and a clear sign the girl really wasn't taught such words should never escape a woman's lips. Yet she wasn't the first weyrbrat who cursed like a lowly sailor Arddra came across. But she wasn't going to hold the girl's substandard upbringing ruin any chance they could become friends.

"I am glad you found the brown shell you were looking for, are you hurt bad? Might be best to get that washed up before infection sets in." Arddra wished the girl had used the trowel but both seemed intent to dig in the ground recklessly with their hands.

"I'm rather surprised myself," she said and she was. Generally they did a much better job at cleaning the sands than this but with the few they'd found she was glad that they had done such a piss poor job of it. She glanced up from the sands as Arddra came over with her rake. Waving it off she said, "No. I think I'm about finished here. I found a few flakes from another egg I might give to S'cer and Mizeath needs an oiling and a better nap. Besides, Rislan is probably tearing the walls down of the creche waiting to go home."

She was about to push herself up when she heard a loud curse followed by a quiet thump next to her. She chuckled at the words that came from such a small girl. Casa was always a general source of wonderful amusement and it would seem that today was no different. Mizeath on the other hand was not as amused by Casa's outburst as her rider, Language like that really is not necessary, Casa the gold said to the bleeding girl, Ameris. Wrap her hand quickly so the bleeding is staunched. And do stop rolling your eyes at me. Ameris grinned at the girls before pushing herself to her feet for she had been doing just as Mizeath said, rolling her eyes.

It was a good thing the dark eyed girl carried loose rags in her pockets most of the time. You never knew when you needed them and with a young son and a young dragon is was more often than you thought. Moving quickly she reached for Casa's hand and pulled a clean rag from a pocket. She wrapped the small striped cloth around the bleeding wound in the girls palm, "Are you alright? It got you good," she said with a grin, "and thank you. You're very sweet to let me have Mizeath's shell shard."

OOC: Final round of posting, YAAAAY.

IC: Casa beamed at the other two girls, applying pressure and shaking her head. "I'm fine, I promise," she reassured them, blinking owlishly. "Just caught me by surprise more than anything..." She wrinkled her nose at Mizeath, bobbing her and laughing. "I'm sorry I offended you, Mizeath...I'll keep my language to myself in the future." She shrugged absentmindedly, yawning. "I think we did fairly well...time for me to go curl up. Chores come nice and early around here."

As she stood, the three firelizards swarmed around her, settling down. She stroked them, smiling fondly. "Thanks for letting me spend time with you all...I promise I'll get my hand looked at tomorrow if its still giving me a problem." She ducked her head and turned to leave, waving cheerfully before slipping out of the Hatching Grounds.

"Thank you both for your help, the shells collected will be very useful." Arddra smiled at both girls then beamed at the little golden dragon. "She is really growing fast too, in no time she will be flying and she can take you anywhere."

At the mention of somebody called Rislan tearing the walls down of the creche, Arddra tensed. She didn't need to ask who Rislan is, obviously she was a child. Given a mental sigh she forced herself to relax.

"I will put the rake and trowel away, thank you both again for your help." Arddra turned to gather up the shells they did fine after Ameris took what she wanted. As Casa didn't want any, Arddra folded them carefully in a cloth and stuffed the cloth in her pouch. By this time Casa was well taken care of by Ameris.

"Good night," She said and headed off the hatching grounds, stopping only to put away the trowel and rake.