A warm retreat

[Topaz]

Moe was cold. The height of the Rockies, summer or not, was never the ideal sunning spot for a little lizard like him. Even his rather dark coloring did not give him enough of an advantage against the thin air and threatening winds. Taking his leave of Kiana after his latest meal, the brown decided to search for the warmest place in the whole mountain.

Soaring rigidly around the Weyr for a few minutes, Moe had no luck in spotting any exceptionally sunny sheets of rock. Red tendrils crept into his otherwise green lenses as he continued around the mountain, irritation building. A surprisingly intelligent notion struck the firelizard suddenly and he began to climb. The closer the sun is, the warmer it should be, right? So maybe the very top of the big rock was the warmest out of all of it! Fueled by his possible discovery, Moe pumped his wings furiously against the advancing winds, which were becoming stronger and stronger as he went.

Still growing, Moe was frustrated to find that he was not yet strong enough to face the winds by the top of the mountain, and instead was forced to simply fly around it. But as he turned around a jutting face of the mountain, the flitter came across a curious sight. A hole in the mountain was billowing clouds.. into the other clouds. Uh..what? Intrigued, and momentarily forgetting the cold of his hide, he glided over to it. As he neared, the air changed drastically. It was thicker and.. warmer! Reenergized, Moe soared right over the opening in the mountain and was greeted by a gentle, warm breeze from within, spilling out in fluffy bunches to merge with the nearby clouds.

Eureka! With reckless abandon, the brown firelizard dove down into the black abyss of the cave, following the warm current as it got more and more intense. Finally, the flitter popped out into an enormous arena, filled with benches and alcoves, with a large sandy floor in the center. Moe quickly shot down to the sand, back-winged into a hasty landing and buried himself in the hot grains. Oh he had found it! The very warmest place in the Weyr!

Flapping around like a newborn, Moe played in the sand merrily as his body adjusted to the drastic temperature change.

[PhazonDragon]

Winking out of between, Luna made a tight circle in the air, surveying the area. She chirped, her eyes starting to whirl with the colors of blue and green. However, the green flitt started to slowly sink down, her full stomach betraying her. Having just come from a large lunch with Aricoth, Luna was happily satisfied with the meal. This could become a daily thing.. Luna would help the blind Aricoth catch a herdbeast, and in return, the blue would gratefully share part of the beast with her. This way, talkative Ku'rt wouldn't have to feed her! Luna crooned softly, and wheeled about to settle down on a rather flat rock, hoping it was warm from the sun's rays.

It wasn't.

The green firelizard shifted uncomfortably on the slab of rock, her tail twitching in annoyance. The sharding rock should be warm.. Luna had seen many of the dragons sunbathe on rocks back home at Telgar Weyr. Why should this mountain be any different? She pouted, her eyes turning a bit orange at the edges. Above her, Luna spotted the brown form of Moe flitting about. Curious, she watched the brown, and squawked in shock when he dove down into what Luna thought was solid stone. Instead, his disappeared!

Genuinely concerned for the firelizard's well-being--after all, he did just fly straight through a rock!--Luna was quick to leap into the air. She beat her smaller wings to gain some altitude and inspect the area where Moe had vanished. He didn't just go between, Luna knew that. Instantly, Luna was warmed by a blast of hot air. Surprised by the sudden warmth, Luna pulled her wings tightly against her body, and dropped down to cling onto the rock nearby, narrowly avoiding a beating from the windy higher altitudes. This mountain sure was different from back home.. Luna couldn't recall any kind of mountain that expelled hot air! Yet, she was hardly a Turn old.

Moe must've gone down there...! Luna peered into the small tunnel, shoving her head inside. She chirped loudly, the sound echoing off the sides of the tunnel to bounce down and also back out. Rather than wait for a reply, the interested green firelizard carefully started to climb headfirst into the hole, now grateful for the sharp talons that she possessed.

As she climbed further downward, the air became more and more stiff, but welcome to the cool hide of the flitt. Below, Luna made out the laughable sight of the brown playing in the sand. Luna trilled a greeting, and let go of the tunnel sides to drop down into the spacious cavern. While she wasn't quick to jump into the sands, she did invite and let in the warmth. Luna gracefully landed on the sand, and pushed a bit around with her tail, all the while watching Moe a few paces from her.

[Topaz]

As he played amongst the hot grains of the hatching sands, Moe was suddenly pulled from his blissful state by a loud, reverberating chirp from above. The sweet sound was amplified by the domed walls of the arena and made the flitter stop in his tracks. As it dissipated, a scratching noise could also be heard as the anonymous flitter clambered down the dragon entrance of the hatching sands.

Not wanting to look like a complete fool in front of the other creature, Moe hurried to shake himself free of sand. Settling his wings onto his back, he gave himself a once over before looking up to see a little green female already staring down at him. She greeted him melodically and then glided down to his level; although a little more reluctant to bathe in the sand than he. Crooning heartily in response, Moe cocked his little head slightly as he watched the pretty green play with the sand. Twitching his tail back and forth reflexively, the brown projected an image of the white-eyed blue and human that the green was bonded to. A soft thought of questioning was attached to the image, asking where or how the green's companions were.

[FaizahPandora]

Reyna roused herself from a warm nap in the Hatching Grounds as she heard an echoing chirp. When she opened one of her fauceted eyes she saw the brown Moe and the blind blue's green Luna. Her eyes whirled a mixture of green and blue as she chirped in welcome to them. She then joined them in the sands and rolled about, warming her gold hide even more in the hot sands. She sent the brown and green flits an image of herself finding this place when she and Faizah and the great white Surth first came here.

[redwerecat]

A sleepy burble of greeting came from another direction entirely in response to Reyna as Spock ambled into the warm sands. He'd simply walked in, shuffling along rather than flying, and his little belly was stuffed from the remains of a sandwich his bonded had given him, and part of a second sandwich that Halderoth and Tiggy's bonded had snuck him on the sly. The thought of the playful and bossy queen made him grumble; she was always bothering him when he was napping. But she was with hers, so Spock decided he would be quite safe for the time being.

He hopped into the sands with a blissful crooning noise, soaking up the heat with relish. After he'd settled himself (which mostly involved him burying himself in the sand) ha sent a querying thought to the others, along with a sleepy greeting. While he was perfectly situated to just doze off right there, he was curious about the others. Luna and Moe he'd only met very briefly, and Reyna not at all. At the queens polite information about her and Faizah and Surth, he'd already decided she was much more sensible than silly bouncy Tiggy.

[phyrstyr]

Jas, having just checked on Quith and Shasta and seeing they were well situated, decided to check out this new home of theirs. He zoomed past the feeding grounds, circled the Weyrbowl where he saw the blind Blue and His, did air somersaults through the infirmary, and flitted around the Main Hall. What would he find next on his adventure? Suddenly he heard chirps and trills from behind and to the left. he backwinged and swiftly flew over to check it out. Just before crossing under the entry, he felt a blissful heat radiating out. He entered into a large amphitheater-like place to see four of the other Fire lizards either playing or relaxing in the sand that covered a large section of the floor. He bugled excitedly and dropped straight down, fanning his wings at the last second for a soft landing. the sand was comfortable in his toes and the heat warmed his belly causing him to become pleasantly drowsy. But he really wanted to get to know these fellow Flitts and so shook off the desire to sleep. He trilled happily at the others in greeting and sent images of his dragon and bonded as means of identification.

[PhazonDragon]

Luna mirthfully crooned at Moe's horrible attempt to hide his playful acts in the sand. She sat proudly, with only her tail giving away her urge to join the brown. Surely, she would, but the thought of dirtying her brilliant green hide was too much to risk, especially not after Ku'rt had just given her a good bath, and was well on his way to bathe Aricoth. The green recieved a mental image and inquiry of Hers, a picture of the blind blue and the cheery human. Luna gave Moe a funny look, her eyes starting to swirl a mischievious red. She chirped and turned her head away from the brown, taunting him with her knowledge of where Hers wase--not that it was important to know anyway. Moe was merely curious. Luna sent the brown a fuzzy image of a pool of blue-green, and let the male flitter decipher the meaning of it.

Reyna, the gold flitter of the Weyrwoman arrived, and Luna dipped her head in submission. She wasn't going to challenge a Queen, the highest ranking of the firelizards. However, this ranking disappeared from Luna's mind when the gold followed Moe's example and rolled around in the sand. From the gold, Luna picked up clear image, of the gold herself, discovering the enormense expanse that was the hatching sands. Luna squawked a belated greeting to Reyna, and the brown who recently appeared. The brown was Spock, who belonged to.. That one older weyrling the green didn't know. She recalled shortly that the dragon of said weyrling was the black-colored brown.

Digging her snout into the sand, Luna burbled happily. It was just these three flitts, and her self. No huge dragons taking a look around, and no protective queens clutching. Luna nosed at the sand, glad for the warmth it gave off. When the blue flew in to join the party, Luna quickly responded to his greeting with a bugle, and a fuzzy image of her own caretaker and dragon.

[Topaz]

The fleeting redness that crept into the green’s eyes was taken sharply into account by the brown. Moe did not want to irritate the female in any way, and he stiffened subtly at the thought. Fortune shined down upon the male, or at least he felt so, as he saw the invitingly coy way in which she acted towards him. Irksome though it was, her vague response was tantalizing and Moe was further interested in the emerald lady.

It seemed that their meeting had roused the interest of another flit; and a queen at that! Moe immediately crooned a respectful response to her hello, turning to see her frolic in the sands. This particular gold had been the very first he had met on Earth, bonded to the humanpet of the biggest one. As if on cue, Moe received an image of the large pale cousin and the redheaded female, explaining how the golden queen had come to find the sands. The brown dipped his head in acknowledgment of the message and sent a fleeting snippet of His and his own tiny queen. A minor, yet firmly possessive feeling followed the pale gold dragon’s image. Oh yes, palebaby was his and he was very proud of her.

A softer hello and some shuffling was then heard from another section of the arena as a second brown stepped into view. Moe was not too familiar with this male, but he did recognize him from around the Weyr. The darker brown was also slightly relieved at the distraction from the two females, bright blues whirling swiftly as he rumbled to the other ashy brown. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the female’s attention, certainly not. However two of them, a queen included, was a bit much for the brown to handle. He wasn’t the most outwardly social of beasts after all, and preferred more intimate conversations with fellow firelizards. Two on two was a good balance.

Absently watching the lighter brown bury himself in the hot sand, Moe burbled amusedly. That must feel just delightful. A bugle interrupted his thoughts though, and a blue winged his way down into the sands. This was another male that Moe was not incredibly familiar with. Come to think of it, he didn’t really know any of the flits in the Weyr all that well. Shrugging off that last thought, Moe rumbled a hello and sent his own images of His and the palebaby to the blue male.

Luna’s response to the blue made Moe finally turn back around to her. He was pleased to see her finally taking the time to enjoy the heat of the sands, and let out an affectionate chirr.

[redwerecat]

Spock simply let his eyes drift half-closed, basking in the delightful heat. He chirped a welcome at the blue, and scooted along to get a better look, trying his best to stay under the sand as he did so.

This worked, and at the same time, failed quite spectacularly. Spock managed to get a little ways with his sand-blanket, but then his forequarters sunk deeper, and he lost his balance, tumbling forward to bury himself in the mini-landslide that occurred when his butt came free of the sand and dumped all that it carried directly on his head.

He was momentarily stunned, then leapt free of the sand with a scolding chitter, acting as if it were all the sand's fault. In the most dignified way he could, then sent a response to the blue with a proud image of his human and dragon.

[phyrstyr]

Jas catalogued all the information surprisingly well. At least, for the time being.
He was so excited to have all of these new friends that his eyes whirred blue-green and he trilled joyously. But his emotions ebbed due to the blissful effects of the warm sand. Tuckered out from lots of flying and making new friends, he prepared to take a nap.

But Wait! How were Shasta and Quith?!? In all the action, he had neglected his duty to His Two! Jumping up from his warm nest, he prepared to leave. But manners always came first. He paused long enough to express his gratitude for having met all the flitts and explain where he was going as well as assure them that he would be back momentarily.
With that, he launched into the air and winked out.

[FaizahPandora]

Reyna trilled at the coming of Spock, the blackish brown Skirth's brown flitter friend. She also recognized Jas, the eyeless green Quith's flitter, and Luna, the blind blue Aricoth's flitter. But before she could greet Jas he disappeared with intentions to check on Quith and His Shasta. With a final sigh Reyna settled herself in the warm sand, keeping her eyes on the remaining flitters. She rather liked having company other than the annoying and malicious Hobbs. She trilled happily at the thought, then sent the other flits an image of the blue firelizard with a clear warning of his misadventures and poor manners.

[FaizahPandora]

Hobbs was flitting around, looking for something to do after His Kain had taken the wonderfully delicious food away. Suddenly Faizah's Reyna came to mind, and Hobbs knew exactly where to find her. He followed the path that His Kain normally took to get to the Hatching Grounds, and zipped in on quite a party of flits. There were two browns and a green there, and Reyna was burrowed under the warm sands. Hobbs let out a small pruum of welcome and greeting before clumsily landing, spraying the green and browns with sand and effectively uncovering queen Reyna.

[PhazonDragon]

When Moe noticed her relaxed actions in the sand and offered up a chirp, Luna sharply sat up. She was too dignified for that, right? The green was about to tell the brown off with a scolding squawk, but the sudden thump of Spock falling face-first into the sand made Luna completely forget about it. She bounded forward like a rabbit, her wings held out slightly and tail trailing behind elegantly. The green's leaps kicked up small clouds of sand that settled back down without a second glance. Luna trilled loudly in laughter as she sidled up to the brown, nosing him with her snout. Sending him bursts of glee-filled thoughts, Luna was interrupted by the mental message of Jas, the blue.

She chirped out a question, tilting her head and looking towards the blue. He was going to check on his bonded? Fine, he may leave... Though the loss of one playmate wasn't going to ruin Luna's fun. Not even the constant thought of having to look dignified to each of the other firelizards. Luna send Jas a short good-bye thought, even as he disappeared between. The only flitters here now were Moe, Spock, and the golden Reyna, from which Luna picked up an image of a certain blue, Hobbs, and a warning of his antics.

Curious, Luna took a step forward towards Reyna. She had met Hobbs once before, back when hers and Aricoth had arrived. If she remembered, he was a mischievious one. Of course, with the limited memory of greens and other lower colors, all Luna could recall was the emotion at being annoyed at the blue and his actions. Luna was in the middle of sending the gold a question, asking where the blue Hobbs was, only to be sprayed in the face with a wave of sand.

Hobbs! Luna made out the distinctly blue hide from under the disturbed sand. The green shook her head, forcing the sand off of her snout, then flapped her wings, effectively clearing herself of the warm sand. The action did nothing for her temper though. Angrily, Luna bugled a warning to the blue. She would not stand for being peppered with sand! She beat her wings, lifting herself into the air, and circled around like a hawk. She kept her red-tinted eyes on the blue figure beneath her. With an echoing squawk, Luna dove, snapping at Hobbs' tail. That would teach him!

[Topaz]

The pretty green did not seem to appreciate Moe's attention as much as he would have liked. However there was no time to make up for it as the other brown on the sands fell over himself, grabbing the attention of Moe as well as the green. The female instantly bounded over to assist the brown, as far as Moe could tell. He sweet trills were followed by a soft, indiscernible burble from the darker brown male, frustrated with her interest in the other. Possessive.. Moe? Not usually. Even he thought it odd of himself, but he brushed it off and slowly shuffled over to the green and clumsy brown.

It was then that the blue departed. Moe gave him a fleeting glance, and nothing more. He was much more interested in the situation at hand. Besides, one less male around was a boon to him.

The queen's message sharply interrupted his thoughts for a moment, and he snorted at the irritated feelings the gold was radiating in reference to the imagined blue. Moe remembered him only vaguely upon their arrival to the Weyr, as he was quick to go and sun, but with the gold flitter's warning he would be sure to keep away from him in particular.

As if summoned by his mere image, the vexing blue himself dove into the sand with as much grace as if he were just shelled, spraying the entire group with more sand. Squawking his indigence at the interruption, Moe's eyes whirled bright reds as he flapped his wings to remove the hot grains; making sure not to rustle any more up into the air. His next move was to make sure the females were alright. Even a single grain of sand in a firelizard's eye could be extremely uncomfortable because of their small size. The queen was looked over first, mostly out of courtesy, and luckily the sand had mostly been blown off of her bright yellow hide, so she was in no trouble. The dainty green was Moe's real concern, but as he turned to try and fan some of the sand from her body she was already a rage and quickly took off, screeching her complaints at the blue.

Infuriated even more by the female's distress, Moe screamed his threats at the blue before turning his gaze back to the green female. She watched the offender like a predator stalking its prey, and with one deft swoop she came down to assault the other male, seemingly trying to bite off the tips of his forked tail. At this point, Moe was content to let the green handle the problem herself, as she certainly was a fiery little lady. He did however croon concernedly for her to return to the ground, sending her calming thoughts of the warm sand below.

[FaizahPandora]

Hobbs trilled happily as the green followed him. He was unconcerned as she tried to attack his tail, and his eyes whirled with amusement.

Reyna chirped indignantly at Hobbs ruining her time with other flits. She allowed Moe to look her over more because he felt he needed to before she joined Luna in pestering the pest Hobbs. However, after a half moment Reyna realized that Luna had it more than covered. Reyna then turned her attention back to the two browns.

Missy was wondering where the other flits had disappeared to. She knew there were other flits around, especially a Queen, from the image she had gotten from Nakia. At the thought of Nakia Missy had to check on her again. She found Hers with the gold green Isath. Isath assured Missy that Nakia was fine and they were enjoying themselves. it was only once Missy saw a blue tail disappear down a corridor that she thought of following the blue. Where was he going? What would be there? The little green was amazed when the corridor led into what had to be the Hatching grounds. And there was a Queen... The very same one that Nakia had pointed out in her memory before sending Missy to play. Missy chirped in greeting and then disappeared between to tell Nakia.

[phyrstyr]

Jas was happy as he popped out of between. Both of His were safe and sound and even making friends, just like him. He was excited to be able to get back to the others. Maybe there were even more flitts to meet! However, as he looked down at the sandy floor, he could see something had happened. The sand was thrown around and Luna was dive bombing another blue. Jas seemed to remember this one from his first day there as being rather mischievous, which meant that the greens attack was probably justified.

He cautiously winged down closer to Moe, Spock, and the Gold...Reyna? He remembered her also, though faintly, from his first day. Landing in the soft sand, he assured everyone that all was well and that he would be staying for good now. He also sent inquiring thoughts as to Luna's attack of the Other-Blue-Whose-Name-He-Should-Remember-But-Couldn't.

[FaizahPandora]

Missy reappeared in the Hatching Grounds, after having told Nakia about her find and being shooed to go play again. She noticed a green chasing the bothersome blue Hobbs, and also noticed his eyes whirling yellow with amusement. She landed next to the two browns and the gold Nakia had told her was named Reyna. Before approaching closer to them Missy gavea trill of greeting.

Reyna chirped back at Missy as the little green landed among them. With disdain she watched Hobbs allow Luna to chase him, and the pleasure he took out of being chased by the spunky green. Then she put it determinedly from her mind and buried herself under the sand again, happily absorbing the warmth.

Hobbs trilled in the hopes it would keep green Luna chasing him. The blue liked to harrass other flits, but none more than the greens. And this green had caught his attention almost as soon as she had come to Rocky.

Maria swooped into the Hatching Grounds, quite surprised by what lay within. She had gotten Lakeen to ask her to find somewhere warm to waste the night, and this is what the little green had found. but as she laid eyes on other flitters warming themselves in the sands, Maria was more than tempted to join them. There were even browns and other greens about! (Maria somehow did not notice Reyna there, hidden beneath the sands)

[Samari]

Darwin was spiraling through the clouds, chittering at the birds he passed. His wings began to tire, so he banked to land in the Hatching Sands. He cooed and stretched his wings out, flopping on his back and wiggling through the warm sand.





Orn had other ideas though. He swooped down on the Hatching Sands, landing next to Hobbs. He chirped with a laugh, swatting the blue before betweening next to Luna. He nudged her and blinked away again. This time he appeared next to Darwin, who he watched intently. He sent an image of Darwin wiggling on his back through the sand, with a thought of inquiry added to it. Orn was confused.


Kara had been napping away from the other flits, but was roused by the chirps of the brown and the bronze. She lifted from the warm sand and shook her green self free of the sand. She flew over and sat next to the brown Moe, trilling a sleepy hello.