Clutch 4

Dwahro's Bronze Tikina x Brown Duwas

Dwahro surveyed this latest batch with a critical eye. As a whole they were rather lacking in strength, though some had improved since childhood. Thankfully, they more than made up for it in cunning. The little monsters had been driving their handlers up the wall for the past two months, skulking around and setting interesting traps. Their buyers would have their hands full, especially since only half of them showed much inclination towards obedience.

At the moment they were crawling all over one of the buyer Cinnibar's offerings, a rather unusual piece. It was a statue made entirely of money: gold coins, silver metal, and paper currency, to be exact. When he first received it he'd had absolutely no idea what to do with the thing. That was when Lefati and Tikina had approached the room.

The females saw it. The females liked. The females claimed it. If anyone but him tried to lay a hand on it, that hand was soon lost. Literally. Two of his better handlers had to be rushed to a healer because of their new obsession. As a result, the breeding barn had acquired a new...accent piece.

Two of the younglings scaled the statue's neck and defended their perch with loud snarls. The 'shining stars' of the clutch were a young black and his green brother. They dominated their siblings, proving themselves to be superior in most every area. He would be interested to see how their owners would handle them.

Ah, but enough of that, he could hear the buyers approaching the breeding barn. Apparently the hatchlings heard it too. All of them save one rushed from their statue and started shoving one another to see what was going on. One push led to another and soon the lot of them were snarling and growling and posturing.

The door to the barn opened and this clutch's buyers filed in. The Horse-shifter seemed somewhat startled at seeing his offering standing proudly in the middle of the area, but didn't comment. Those that needed them wore night-vision goggles, the room completely darkened, and the last buyer, Aubrey, was glad to remove her bulky suit in the safety of the darkness. She would be exposed to no light here.

Dwahro was dressed in his customary black for the occasion, including a new black drakkinhide belt. The silver embroidery of his shirt and a Lesthpoldian DragonStone were the only bits of him him that showed any color, save his silvery hair and colorful eyes. He did not go to extremes to flaunt his payment, as did Lady Inrahi. Seeing them all expectant, he smiled politely and began.

"It is good that all of you were able to make the event, and I am pleased to announce that all hatchlings are in good health, though it was a near thing in the beginning due to an...unexpected complication." He glanced at the one hatchling who wasn't posturing and trying to make his growls heard above the others, the one whose coloring set him strikingly apart from his siblings.

"This event is going to be like all the others with only one difference - I will not be prodding the hatchlings to approach their pre-chosen buyers. They don't have pre-chosen buyers. Call it an experiment in drakkin psychology."

Stepping back, he left a clear path from hatchlings to buyers. The young black and green immediately started forward but stopped at the other's movement and began challenging one another for first pick. An opportunistic young bronze took advantage of the situation and darted past both of them, running headlong into Yaaven. The shifter himself seized the opportunity presented and held on to the young drakkin until his struggles lessened.

The black and green had settled their little match with the black on top of his opponent. Proud of his accomplishment, the victor strutted towards the buyers and happily bit down on Kody's ebony hand.

"Ow!" the drow youth exclaimed, drawing his hand in protectively. "No! Bad drakkin! Bad!" His new charge had the grace to look guilty, proving that his training would not be as difficult as it might seem.

As the green slunk back to the statue to sulk, the clutch's second black slunk towards the buyers, catching his choice by surprise. Byakko managed to keep his balance as the hatchling jumped at his back and sunk small, dangerous claws into his skin. How he managed to dislodge it was anyone's guess.

Cinnibar watched all of this with mounting interest. All these ferocious young hatchlings, ripe for training and battle. He would have the patience to work with one of these younglings, mould them into promising young fighters and teach them--

A small noise at his feel caught the horse-shifter's attention and he looked down into a pair of pinky-red eyes. The albino sat in front of him, blinking cutely and looking for all the world like a little lost puppy. Cinnibar's expression was comical, to say the least.

Oh, this is just...damn. So-lahnje is not going to be happy.

The vampire Kekkon smirked when he noticed the other's predicament. Unfortunate fool, stuck with a weak little nothing when he could have had a true fighter. Ah well. At least the weakling wasn't coming for him. A fierce young bronze was, however, and he smiled when he saw the confidence in its step. This was a fighter for sure.

With the green still sulking near the statue, Aubrey could either stay where she was and hope he would snap out of it or go and approach him. Dwahro was watching her expectantly, waiting to see whether she would catch the hatchling's fancy, Lefati and Tikina laying sprawled near him. Their watchful gaze was also on the girl.

Squaring her shoulders, Rey marched up to the drakkin and tapped on his head to get his attention. She was rewarded with a snap for her efforts, teeth only just missing her fingers. The green did not attempt a second, however, watching her with bright yellow eyes. "Are you coming?" she asked pointedly and began to walk away.

If the scrabble of claws on rock behind her was any indication, he was.

Dwahro considered the matches made. Some of them had been quite unexpected, but he could see how they all worked. In their own odd ways, of course. He concluded the event with almost the exact same words he had used before, having gone over the instructions many times over the years. His only addition was a gesture for Aubrey to stay behind afterwards. He had a few questions.

"Before you leave, be sure to collect the small packages awaiting you at the door. They contain several species of subterranean insects that do well in the conditions that drakkin prefer. They will provide your hatchlings with hours of amusement and a ready source of snacks, as they breed quite rapidly. I look forward to seeing you in this city again someday, perhaps at the arena."