Clutch 6

Tytula's Blue Serau-ra & Green Perturmiles

*the beginning of the strange, from Shy's point of view*

Shy looked around, quiet as he restrained a barely hidden smirk. Perhaps lavender and teal were not the most subtle of colors to wear on a little night spree, but honestly- what was? He was here, wasn’t he? He had gotten past everyone else, and even the dam seemed less surly. Of course. That might have been due to a dart. Of sorts. Looking around and letting out a little giggle at the thought of what he was going to do next, he approached the eggs. He needed to be rewarded, for this. And while he had a feeling Atari would admire his guts and his skill… well. Only one person would truly appreciate the efforts of what he was going through. Tolethven was unlike anyone Shy had met before. And he wanted to make the man chortle with so much glee, he fell over.

Patting the smooth surface of one the eggs, he nodded. He was not allowed to make the ones reserved for the breeders. But the rest were fair game. So with a smile that barely instilled any confidence in the drowsy drakkin dam, he reached for a little bag full of tiny vials. The eggs would be his, marked by his name, and his touch. Shy was truly making a home for himself at the Arena.

Ushering the buyers and breeders into his breeding barn, where blue Serau-ra's clutch had been laid and tended, Lord Breeder Dwahro carefully kept his face expressionless for the first few minutes as some donned their night-vision goggles and others merely allowed their eyes to adjust to the pitch black of the area.

The hatchlings were separated into three different groupings, the largest romping around their unusually tolerant mother. The first was a pair playing behind Dwahro, a bronze and a red, as normal-looking as their parents had been. They were obviously the ones he'd selected from the clutch and it was apparent after only a glance at the remaining ten why he had chosen those particular offspring.

All of the other hatchlings were unusually colored, to put it mildly. From their hides to their horns, something was off about each and every one of them. Some of them were bright, some of them were dull, and one of them looked close to an albino...except that he was currently chewing on the tail of his blue brother and taking a blow from another with little apparent distress. No ordinary weakling albino would ever be strong enough to withstand such abuse, much less dish it out.

Off to the side, standing next to Tolethven and Inrahi as they acted as observers rather than stay with the buyers, Shy looked positively gleeful. Dwahro looked less than amused, though the shock had obviously worn off some weeks before and left him with an accepting, if grim, attitude about the whole affair. At least the scientist had known well enough to leave his two untouched.

The second of the groupings was another pair, these two behind Tytula and romping with their father. They were two of the brighter hatchlings in the batch, one described as key lime and the other as strawberry. Both were making grunting, squealing noises as they fought, able to dish the pain but not to take it and yet too ferocious to give in. At a bark from their mother, they obediently quieted down and sprawled in sullen, impatient silence. They were the pair selected by the breeder as her own.

The third grouping was by far the largest and most diverse, consisting of the eight hatchlings due the present buyers. One of them was larger than the rest and could be guessed as female, the assumption furthered by the copper band around her leg. It mirrored her mother's larger golden copy.

"Greetings," Dwahro offered the assembled buyers formally, nodding his head to one or two he preferred and pointedly avoiding the gaze of one or two he did not. Rather than spend a few moments exchanging pleasantries, he got right to it. Tytula may have owned the female, but this was his area. "As those of you who know drakkin can see, this group of hatchlings is unusual in several ways. First, the colors of most are unusual. Second, there are many more than there were eggs laid. The first I will not bother to explain, as I would rather not upset the mother by yelling. The second...well. How many of you know the circumstances of Serau-ra's hatching?"

Receiving mixed responses from the assembled, he nodded and explained. "She was born from a twin egg herself. That's not unusual for drakkin in and of itself, as twin eggs do happen from time to time, but it's never before happened in one of our females. Clutches sired by twin males in the past have been known to produce one or two twin eggs, but this is the first recorded instance of a clutch produced by a twin female. The results are obvious."

Leaving them to mull over the apparent four sets of twins for a moment, he paused and then continued. "Once we realized how many offspring would result from this clutch, we accepted several more offers in hopes that all of them would survive to two months. They have, for which we are thankful, and now it is time for you to take what belongs to you. All show exceptional cunning, which would have been a trial if it were not for their obedience. They will listen to you, but only if they recognize your authority. Now. Let us begin with perhaps the most significant youngling."

Sitting off to the side, away from her parents and siblings, the young female blinked cold fuchsia eyes at the assembled humanoids. Her servant had already been chosen for her, she'd been told, and she would have a population to lord over instantly upon her arrival. It was a heartening thought and one of the main reasons she didn't struggle or fuss against the decision. Even as a child, she would relish the power such underlings gave her.

When the male drow she knew as Dwahro looked to her, she stood and stretched in a seemingly graceful manner before straightening and approaching Lady Ten'oio. "I would call her flavor mincemeat," Shy offered cheerfully. Indeed, the copper ring around her hind leg only served to highlight the reddish-brown hue of her skin. It was a color shared by one other clutchmate. The hatchling ignored his label and stared up at the vampire with an intent expression and intelligent eyes.

"We trusted that you could handle the responsibility of her gender, and its significance. I hope for frequent visits as she grows and develops." Behind Dwahro's words to the lady were those left unspoken, though they could be inferred from his steady gaze. I would never permit Tytula a second female, and the others would never permit me a third. You were my preferred choice. Do not challenge my station and welcome to the fold.

Left completely unsaid was the fact that, the Lord Breeder's decision or no, Serau-ra had already decided her new daughter's servant after the woman impressed her at their first meeting. What the lower creatures didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Dwahro next, reluctantly, looked to the scientist known as Shy, with whom he'd become unwilling familiar over the past few months. "For your...services...in the creation of this clutch, it was felt that you should receive two of the results. Make your choice." The words were said with a tightening of the jaw and a gritting of the teeth unusual to the man. Obviously this was not something he'd agreed with, but was allowing only at Tytula's insistence. The colorful, scented, flavorful bunch had met with her approval.

Smiling serenely, Shy pointed one elegant finger towards the batch of remaining drakkin. "I already have," he said with a smile. When he turned to see, the breeder was greeted by the sight of the blueberry hatchling busily licking whipped cream from the head of his chocolate brother. Kosca smiled ingeniously from behind them, can quickly going behind her back as she nudged the pair towards her father and his androgynous 'guest'.

Eyeing the girl with annoyed distaste, Dwahro purposefully ignored her and turned to the young man named Seige. His perpetual companions, an old nutter of a woman and a partly animal child, had not been permitted to enter with him but they were no doubt waiting for him outside. "Your offering was a valuable one, and so the next youngling is yours." He motioned towards the cherry male, who noticed and trotted forwards to stare up at the former bandit. "He's strong and tough, so hopefully you'll be able to make a decent fighter out of him."

Finished with the new buyer, he next turned his attention towards a more experienced hand at the business. Kekkon was one individual who didn't need the night-vision goggles to see well in the caverns complete darkness. "This one will listen to you," he told the vampire, voice lightly tinged with amusement. He was familiar with the trials and tribulations surrounding another of his drakkin, the red he called Kit'sune. Such disrespect would not be found in this hatchling.

The young pumpkin was called forward, his hide a warmer variation on bronze. He approached and sniffed at one of his buyer's pant legs before curling around it in apparent boredom. He had been fighting all morning and was tired, though he'd certainly given better than he'd received.

Three hatchlings remained, one of them the pale creature that would be called albino at first glance. Closer inspection would reveal it to be more of a lemon meringue, however. It was an oddling, so pale in the darkness. By all rights it shouldn't be battle-worthy but it was. It also displayed an average intelligence for a male, which was a relief. A super-smart warrior wasn't anything the breeders were willing to deal with. The females were hassle enough.

"This one is for you, Eien," Dwahro told the strange vampire, who looked as if he was paying attention to something other than his surroundings. He nudged the hatchling forward with a booted foot and it gnawed ineffectively on the tough drakkin hide before grunting and allowing himself to be moved. He eyed his new owner, cunning extreme, but with an obedience nearly to match. This one, while weak in certain areas, was very strong in others.

Feeling that nothing more needed be said to that one, the breeder moved the apple hatchling towards Chaitali in the same manner. Even more ferocious than his brother, the young male latched his teeth onto the boot and refused to let go without a good, hard shake that flung him towards his buyer.

"As sure of yourself as you seemed," he addressed the feisty girl who'd so arrogantly made her offering months before, "I hope you're up to the challenge of this one. He's a nasty piece of business and he'll take whatever you can dish, but with a little training you might get him to come 'round." The look in his eyes suggested that he'd be surprised if he did, but no one could tell whether or not that was a deliberate challenge on his part.

The last youngling looked around, a puzzled expression plain on his draconic little face. Where had his playmates gone? He was tired from all of the roughhousing but didn't want to sit there alone either. It was almost a relief to him when Dwahro pushed him towards the last buyer without a hatchling - the Roman space Commander, Faustus. The offerings he'd given had of course been given to Tytula, with the small tithe he'd demanded, but the unwelcome service of his crewman had been foisted off on Tolethven. It had just seemed appropriate, since the other man was making an indirect point of collecting all the semi-permanent freaks to visit their subterranean city.

The male, who was colored mincemeat like his larger sister, moved towards the spacefarer on his own after the initial push and stared up at the man with curiosity. No bitten hands for this man, as the hatchling apparently took a fancy to him right off the bat and sat leaning against his leg pretty as you please, continuing to look upwards at his new owner.

With a raised eyebrow at the pair of them, Dwahro shrugged it off as diplomatically as he shrugged off a lot of things and prepared his closing remarks. They were nearly identical to those uttered before, his refusal to make special accommodations for this unusual clutch marred only by the ending statement.

"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. Except for you." Here he actually glared at Shy. "Stay away from my house."

If pressed later for details, the Lord Breeder would admit which had hatched from twin eggs: the strawberry and the cherry, the pumpkin and the chocolate, the mincemeat male and female, and the apple and Dwahro's bronze. Obviously the first pair would have been reds, the second and fourth bronzes, and the third browns...had not Shy's tampering occurred. Twin eggs tended to hold like colors.