A bundle of joy [Honuth's Clutch]

[Lyrikitty]

The spiked form which was restlessly pacing the Weyr was an almost comical sight. She'd calmed after her Flight, settling to a more controllable temper which was the norm for the Magma. Her belly had steadily swelled though, a causeof much frustration to the dragon as her frame became an annoyance. Earlier in the day she'd been chasing a Jade through the Weyr, a thing which often gave her much pleasure as she could stay close and keep the game going for as long as she liked, but this game had been a disaster.

Honuth had been slower on her feet than normal, and the Jade had darted between two buildings placed close together. Honuth could typically fit through -barely- with some scraping of her sides on the walls and continue her chasing, but this day she'd fallen behind the dragon she was tormenting for a start, and then she'd gotten stuck.

The Magma spent an hour bellowing, flaming, snapping, and snarling as she struggled to get free, and finally she grew tired of it, twisting her body and forcing one of the walls to give, crumbling and giving her back her freedom. She'd stormed away from the scene of her disgrace and off to the feeding grounds, where she promptly felled a herdbeast, as if to make up for losing the Jade. Her meal was as messy as possible, though she ended up leaving little behind but broken bone and blood. She'd been starving when she entered the pens, and when she left she was gorged into contentment.

A few hours had been spent in lazy bliss, stretched in a sunny spot and napping lightly.

What ruined the rare moment of peace for the Weyr was the pain in her insides. She was due to lay her Clutch, and when the first pangs which signalled it came to her she roared in indignation and rose to her paws, glaring at her midsection as though it would stop. When it didn't she took to stomping about, making her way through the Weyr in pointless circles and snapping at anything she came across. It wasn't her normal snapping, where she had the silent hope of drawing blood or ichor, but a restless one which had no purpose or even power behind it, none of her usual murderous glee.

Xai had watched with mild amusement, until she Magma came across her and pinned her with a baleful look that said two things. The first was that Honuth would happily devour the woman if she said a single word about this, the second that Honuth wanted it to stop now and would be grateful if it did. Enough that she would consent to letting Xai go a full month without being mauled.

Xai had only given her head a shake and shrugged, sending the Magma back on her way with a spiteful hiss at her rider.

Some time later found the Magma in the Hatching grounds, pawing at the hot sand and sending sprays of it up in all directions. When she paused to lay the first of her eggs she let out a furious roar. The rest of her eggs were lain without as much noise, though she continually snarled and hissed. With all eggs on the sand, she turned her eyes on them hatefully, head lowering and spines rattling.

Xai had, naturally, warned most of the Weyr that Honuth was Clutching today, and hoped that there were dragons ready to drive her from the sands to salvage some of the eggs. Now the rider watched from a safe distance and the Magma charged her clutch, pouncing on the closest egg and tearing it apart. A small clutch of ten, it would be reduced to nothing if no action was taken and already it was down to nine.

[Desert]

Dharth had been in the feeding grounds when Honuth made her entrance. After shooting the egg-heavy and irate magma a glance, he picked up the two wherries he'd felled for a midday snack and made a tactical retreat back to his weyrcouch. He wasn't interested in getting into a brawl with Honuth - not at least until she deposited her clutch. He was intensely relieved that after her Flight she'd settled down - much as Xanntorith had reassured him she would, since he'd pestered the Solainoti Weyrking for information about Riosian while Honuth was under its influence.

Once his snack was done, Dharth settled in for a catnap, keeping close tabs on Honuth's mind as he let his eyelids slide closed. He knew she was due to throw her clutch at any time, so he was being vigilant. When she stomped through the open field that was the Weyrbowl, teeth gnashing, Dharth had lifted his head to watch her sullen rampage with amusement. Her snapping teeth brushing close to his paws hadn't fazed him; he knew a bluff when he saw one. Casually, he waited for her to make it to the Hatching Grounds, and then he followed her at a safe distance. He stayed at the edge of the lake, which was within sight of the Grounds but far enough away to satisfy a broody mother. As he did, he summoned the big males who, earlier in the day, had been alerted by Xai. They congregated around him and waited, eyes spinning in uneasy anticipation, for Honuth to turn on her eggs.

Once she started her charge, Dharth heaved his bulk into the air, flapping up a short distance so that he could drop onto Honuth. He had to be careful of her spikes in performing this maneuver, but once he saw Honuth's teeth tear into the first egg, he folded his wings and dropped. He landed just to one side of her and threw his weight into the magma splaying both forepaws on her sides and shoving. She would either topple over so that he could pin her, or she would at least skid away from the eggs. Other males flocked in under Dharth's direction, a few taking up a stance in and around the eggs.

[Lyrikitty]

Heavy paws slammed into her side, shoving her roughly away from her eggs. A seething hiss arrowed at the Black as the Magma skidded back, thrown off balance but quickly catching herself. How dare he! She set her paws and bellowed at him, shaking herself as her spines rattled. Who did he think he was to stand between her and anything she wanted? He wasn't fit to act as a doormat to keep the mud fromher paws, much less play the role of a wall.

And he'd brought others! Filthy fools who outsized her and thought they could guard those wretched eggs. She stomped furiously and let loose a jet a flame, no real target just the hope of scorching something.

She snarled, and spun herself away from Dharth, startng to prowl the perimeter of the Hatching Grounds, searching for a weak spot in the males who'd come to try and drive her away.

It was never a pleasant task, but it was one which had to take place every time she lay a clutch. The Magma was true to her color in an extreme, and if not forced away fromt he sands and a surrogant mother stepping in to tend to the eggs, she'd destroy them all and in turn force the Weyr to a grim fate.

Xai, from her vantage point, sighed and shook her head, moving further out of the way as the Magma started to circle slowly. The rider wass not eager to be caught by the irate dragon, although Honuth's fury was directed at the males and the eggs for now. Both a blessing and a curse.

The Magma saw a spot she thought might be weak, guarded by a large Roan who she suspected of bluffing his bravery. Swiftly she charged him, bristling and swatting at him in hopes of driving him back and opening up a path for her to reach the eggs. /Let me through you blundering fools, or I'll have your heads as play things!/ Her scathing voice burst into the minds of those present, her threat fairly valid. If she could get ahold of any of them she'd live up to her promise.

[Desert]

The roan balked in fear and wavered, though thankfully rather than sidestepping, he backed up so that he was still between her and the eggs and now partially screened by a bigger emerald who wasn't taking no for an answer. The burly male stepped in front of the roan protectively, but made no move to be aggressive. Their job was to make sure she didn't get at the eggs. Dharth, being the bigger and bolder dragon, was the one whose job it was to drive Honuth away.

The big black watched Honuth circle the Grounds and followed her progress, wings mantled, and as she closed in to menace the roan, he bulled forward again. He pushed his shoulder into her and shoved, head ducked to avoid lashing wings and to keep his eyes and face shielded. He wasn't going to try to injure her unless she didn't move off after a few minutes of this. It was frustrating work, but it was something they'd gotten used to since Honuth arrived.

K'dran had found himself a perch in a tree within sight of the Grounds. It was enough of a spectacle that he usually came to watch the magma-driving. Sometimes, Honuth managed to get in a few blows on Dharth, which was amusing to K'dran until the big black got back and made him tend to the wounds. Juno sat on his shoulder, watching the activity on the hot Hatching sand with confusion whirling in her eyes. She didn't understand what was going on, but when she'd seen Honuth tear into the first egg, she'd squealed harshly and started to keen. K'dran had only gotten her to hush up after reassuring the poor spring that none of the other eggs would be harmed.

[Lyrikitty]

She crooned in delight as the Roan backed away. She'd found a weakness indeed, and despite the Emerald -she could deal with that, the color was of her native Weyr after all- she was all ready to continue harassing the Roan until he cleared out of her path. Just as she arched her neck, maw filling with flame as she readied to char the brute, a massive shoulder connected with her side, shoving her hard. She toppled over, and as she did her head spun 'round and jaws opened to spurt flame at the Black in indignation at this assault.

Her tail lashed the ground fiercely and she tried to scramble quickly to her paws again, long wings thrashing in outrage. The second she reclaimed her feet she lunged, hissing at the Black. Couldn't he see she wanted only one thing? The fool! For once she had no desire to tear apart the dragons of the Weyr, or torment the herds, or even the flitters or humans. She just wanted those eggs.

I believe that's exactly why he's trying to get you away, Honuth. Xai's dry mental voice informed the Magma, drawing a snarl both mental and verbal from the dragon. /Quiet you, or after I'm done here I'll rub the skin right off of you./[/b] For a moment Xai was unsure how serious to take the Magma, but decided Honuth would be settled down a bit by the time they next saw eachother. Xai'd make certain of it. With a shrug the woman fell back to silence and watched intently, wondering just how many minor casualties would come of this round. Generally the only dragons who took much harm were Dharth and Honuth, depending on how long it took for him to convince her to leave the Sands. Only if she was quick and latched on to one of the males guarding the eggs were others injured, and in the past she never dealt much damage, always forced away before bloodshed could occur.[/size]

[Desert]

Dharth growled under his breath and lurched to the side, avoiding as much of the gout of flame from Honuth's maw as he could. Some of it clipped the side of his neck, though, earning the magma an angry hiss. He didn't like being injured, especially if the wounds were bad enough to leave scars. Scars were for people like K'dran - scars meant that the bearer was too weak to defend themselves from harm. He'd have to have his injuries tended to after he got through here to make sure they healed up properly. From afar, K'dran rolled his eyes at his dragon's meticulousness - he would call it primness or vanity if he didn't know the black so well. The behemoth was nearly OCD.

He manahed to get a few steps back and gather himself for Honuth's next assault. This time she went for him, as expected. Dharth crouched low; he tucked his head and hunched his shoulders, then surged forward to meet Honuth's charge head-on. He felt the spikes on her jaw brush across his dorsal ridges, then the bony skutes made impact with her chest. Given his superior size and weight, Dharth bulled forward easily, shoving harder so that his back ridges slipped down her chest and onto her belly. Then, with the magma's weight on his forequarters, he slammed his forepaws into the ground and jumped mightily. In the process, he tilted his body away from the dragons surrounding the clutch so that Honuth's trajectory was aimed away from the protectors.

His forepaws hit the ground again with a puff of dust from the hot, grainy sand. He spun on one hind leg and tracked Honuth's progress with a sharp eye, knowing she wouldn't just let herself get tossed about. He hadn't tossed her vertically so much as diagonally, so she wouldn't have enough airspace to get her wings under her and take off. But he wasn't ruling that out. He kept his wings mostly folded to protect the delicate sails from harm, but he was ready to spread them at any time to pursue her. In the air, she admitted had more of an advantage over him, since she was far more maneuverable than he. On the ground, he could use his size and weight to push her around without too much trouble.

[Lyrikitty]

The nerve of the pompous, self-absorbed, imbecilic Black! As she was hurled through the air, much like a ragdoll, by the behemoth, the Magma shrieked in outrage. Damn you Dharth! Step aside you pathetic excuse of a Wher! You, and any other snivelling male which dares to stand in my way will be pulled apart and strewn across the beaches all over Pern if you don't stand aside! She landed ungracefully in a heap, rolling several meters before sliding to a halt and untangling hrself, rising to her paws. Her mounting fury was undeniable, and steadily it grew more and more apparent in her demeanor.

Her normal behavior of bulling others, moving in even if she didn't intend to attack to drive her prey away, to draw a reaction from them by any means, was settling into a calm isolation. Claws raked the ground as she crouched low, watchful. She was out of her element here. On the ground, Dharth had the advantage. He was larger, and he could easily toss her around so long as he was mindful of her spines and scales. She was no Wildfire, but she was the next best thing when it came to the air. A poisonous hiss drizzled from between her teeth as she feinted a lunge, hoping to throw the Black off as her wings unfurled and violently swept the air, hoisting her frame into the air and above the males and the despicable clutch she so wished to destroy.

Ah... This was better. With a dlighted shudder she gained altitude, only to roll and fall, maw parting as she buzzed low overhead the males guarding the clutch, flame dancing out to taunt them and lick hungrily at their backs. Much better.

Xai sighed. This was the only part that ever caused her real concern. On the ground, Honuth was a pain. She was still manageable though. So long as someone larger and with enough wit was about, she could be kept to a minimum of chaos. The Magma was fairly small for her color after all, and while she had a mean streak that was thrice her girth there was only so much she could physically do when she was outsized. Once she got it into her mind to take to the air she was better matched against almost anything the Weyr could throw at her. Only recently this had been proven yet again when the Magma had taken to the skies above the Weyr in a mating Flight. How many had she slaughtered in cold blood? Xai hadn't really been paying close attention. She knew that a Roan -one who had far more ambition than any dragon should in the department of romance- had been one. That only stuck in memory because of the purpose Honuth had put the beast to, feeding off him to ensure she could properly torment all who dared enter her skies. If she wasn't mistaken, Xai also thought a Topaz had fallen into her game and found himself impaled on the female's spines.

Hopefully Dhart would be quick and find a way to keep himself between her and those less suited to dealing with the enraged Magma, and drive her back far enough from the clutch that she'd give up and sulk elsewhere. It was a more critical time now that Honuth was at the advantage. If she could send enev one of the guarding males away from his spot she would have an in which she'd drop onto in a heartbeat. Of course this was likely one of Dharth's favorite times of the year as well. Having the challenge of the Magma and the excuse to interact fully and test himself was likely welcome for the sadistic beast. The thought that Dharth and Honuth made a rather interesting pair was entertained at times like this, and the passionate hope they never got it into their heads to pair up and work as a team followed on the heals of that thought.[/color]

[Desert]

Things had been going well, and then what did this infernal magma have to go and do? Exactly what he'd been hoping she wouldn't. She jumped into the air, signaling the point at which the conflict would gain much more even ground. Dharth knew that, however fast and agile he was for his size, given the fact that Honuth had less than half his mass, she was twice as aerobatic. It was just a good thing that he'd been over this eventuality with the other males who were guarding the eggs.

As a group, the other dragons huddled close, shielding the eggs from above with their bodies. It was risky and some of them would incur burns, but as before, Dharth would be the one in the air and trying to drive Honuth away, putting him more in the line of fire than they. Several of the bigger males - the emeralds, bones and roans - planted their feet so that they were straddling the tiny clutch, and some of the smaller ones reared up and balanced on the bigger dragons' bodies so that they could shelter their fellows and cover the gap in the middle.

After pausing for a moment to make sure the others did as they had been instructed, Dharth leaped into the air himself, buffeting the ground with air pushed by great strokes of his huge wings. He circled low, almost turning on his wingtip to stay close to the ground as Honuth climbed. He tracked her progress while the magma suddenly went into a stoop that brought her close to the males. Dharth had been on the other end of his circle when she descended, giving him just enough time to bank around and meet her at the bottom of her stoop. The big black folded his wings and arced his body so that he hit her with his shoulder, ramming into the magma and knocking her aside before the gout of flame leaping from her maw could do more than singe a few dorsal ridges. The males below tucked their heads and wings and huddled closer, like old Terran penguins in the Antarctic winter.

Dharth quickly righted himself, though the loss of momentum on impact had been great enough that his paws briefly touched the ground. He kicked off strongly, wings flared, and got himself airborne again. He wheeled around to face Honuth.

[Lyrikitty]

A surprised screech dropped from the Magma as Dharth slammed into her once more. For a moment she'd almost forgotten about the Black, so focused she'd been on the clutch and the males huddled over it. She tumbled through the air and back down to the ground, clawing at the sand in an attempt to stop her sliding. Finally she found purchase at the very edge of the sands, hauling herself up and shaking off. Grains of san sprayed about, giving the female an idea.

Growling she edged closer again, wings mantled, and crouched. The great expanse of filmy membrane, vastly more than was needed for a dragon of her size, swept forcefully down, stirring the sand into a mini storm. Again she did this, over and over as she effectively cloaked herself and a small section of the area surrounding her in blindness. She knew what direction she wanted to go, and she moved forward slowly, keepnig the storm of sand and grit going to hide herself from sight. She could sense the unease of some of the males, and kept moving in. She could faintly make out, through sqionted eyes, the outline of a dragon, too small to be Dharth thankfully, and charged, pouncing deftly on the beast and shredding a portion of his shoulder with her scaled hide. His squeal of pain was musical, and she sank her claws into his side playfully. Her wings kept beating to encourage the cover of sand, aided now by her prey's thrashing and flailing.

Honuth... Xai's testy tone entered the Magma's mind, and the female snorted, ignoring her Mine for the moment. She had better things to do. Maul the poor creature she'd caught unaware and then smash eggs for a start. Not to mention she'd found an interesting use for the otherwise useless sand -in her opinion at least- in trying to keep out of Dharth's reach. She knew the big Black had no qualm with injuring another if it meant he got a job done, however she was relying on his caution for the clutch to ensure her momentary freedom. As close as she was he'd have to be cautious or risk batting her right into the eggs, and giving her what she wanted. True, she was letting a lot ride on those eggs, but she was Eden's only resident Queen, and this was the only clutch on the sands.

She didn't expect a long lapse in his minstrations, he was too crafty to be put off for long by any of her tricks she was sure, but she was going to make use of the time she had. She clawed her way up the male's side, still unsure who or what she had snared, kepping close to him. Thankfully for him the direction of her travel kept him from being shredded entirely by the tiny scales, but one wrong move could send her sliding the wrong way down. On his back she perched, claws biting into his dorsal ridges as she peered cautiously through the whirling grit in an attempt to spy Dharth, her tail lashing irately until the spines along it's top were buried, accidentally, in the flank of her perch. A hiss drizzled from her maw as she tried to yank it free, distracted from her purpose once again.

[Desert]

A sandstorm, huh? Dharth stayed airborne this time and circled around close to the ground to track the magma's progress. The whirling grit was a good idea, but the actions of her wings didn't create an entirely even distribution of flying sand. From above, she was much easier to see, as the air currents she created cycled back down and parted slightly, allowing a window of sorts into the center of the cloud. It took him a few passes to find it, by which point Honuth had already pounced.

Dharth slowed to a hover just above where Honuth was, and the backwash from his wings interfered with the action of hers and cleared up a lot of the whirling sand. The bone Honuth had clambered onto was pushed out of the circle by the other males, who closed ranks to make up for his absence. The bone collapsed with a shriek of pain and writhed desperately, eyes turned up to Dharth's silhoutette he could see through the dwindling cloud of sand. Dharth dropped directly onto Honuth from where he'd been hovering, shoving her off the bone and away from the rest of the males. This time, rather than backing off again, he continued bulling forward and knocked her over onto her side. Then, the big black stamped both forepaws down on her side. He was growing tired of this game, and if he had to bodily push her off the Grounds, he would.

[Lyrikitty]

She was caught entirely off guard as the Black shoved her off the Bone, though the poor beast she'd attacked wasn't entirely saved by the act. Her claws sliced along his spine, her tail ripped out a chunk of flesh, and the unexpected direction she had taken rubbed herscales the wrong way over the Bone's hide. Overall he was still lucky, compared to what would have most likely happened. Snarling she barely managed to land on her paws, expecting Dharth to back off once more, but to her surprise he didn't. Instead she was met by another forceful shove, throwing her off her feet, and before she could act heavy paws came down on her side.

Screeching in outrage at her treatment, she writhed beneath the brute, snapping vainly and lashing her tail with every intent of catching hold of him, one way or another. Her neck arched, maw splitting wide to spray flame at the Black furiously. At such close range she was sure to hit, even if she only singed him. As she flamed she gave her lithe body a violent, rapid twist, wrenching free from the Black and scambling out of reach, throwing a baleful hiss over her shoulder at him.

Honuth. You ought to give up before the both of you get hurt. Shut up maggot! You'll be tending to my side when this is all over. Now silence or I'll break both of your legs. You don't need them to live after all. She tossed her head, pawing at the sand and snapping. That's right. Throw a tantrum you little Wher. Worse than a Jade Hatchling you are, aren't you? Shells, I think a newborn kitten has more menace in it's littlest claw than a runty Queen like you. Now get your useless hide off the Sands and back to our weyr, or you'll be spending the next month tending to yourself without so much as a word of acknowledgement for the entire time. Now MOVE it. Xai rose from her perch and dropped to the ground, turning her back on the Magma who's jaw had literally dropped in astonishment at the way Hers had just spoken. For a moment the Magma didn't move a muscle.

Slowly she came back to life, head turning back to Dharth and blinked. She gave a faint twitch, shuddering slightly and then spread her wings. Her fury with the eggs was forgotten. There was a certain rider who was about to be introduced to a world of hell for such impudence and disrespect. Wordlessly she sprang into the air and flapped away from the sands, making her way almost liesurely back to her weyr, and back to Xai. She was going to bring new meaning to the word pain for the woman.[/color]

[Desert]

Dharth hunched his shoulders and tucked his head to avoid taking serious blows from Honuth's lashing tail. When the magma started spewing flame at him and writhing, he reared up to release her and stepped back. The hide on the side of his neck and eye ridges got burned; not seriously, thanks to his quick retreat. After shaking off the pain he planted his feet again, head held low and wings half-mantled. Now he was provoked enough to risk more serious injury to get the magma off the Sands - though when the fierce queen suddenly paused, shocked, he too hesitated.

Then the big black threw his head back and roared in laughter. He had been halfway listening to Xai's thoughts, so he could hear the magmarider's scornful words. Dharth knew that Xai was in for a severe thrashing for her impudence - after all, he'd done the same to K'dran several times in the past. It was a timely intervention on Xai's part, though he did wonder why on Pern she would deliberately incur her dragon's wrath just to get her away from the eggs.

The badly-injured bone, meanwhile moaned in agony and tried struggling to his feet. Once Honuth had left the Grounds, the other males who had been guarding the eggs broke ranks, and several of them went over to help the bone up. The bone's rider had thrown caution to the wind and come running out to his bonded's aid, and stood by his dragon's head as the other males helped him limp to the edge of the Grounds. It was slightly difficult to get the big male back to the Weyr, since between the Grounds and the Bowl were a dragonlength's worth of ground that was soggy geothermal swamp and unfit for walking.

Dharth went over to the injured one and allowed the other males to help the bone drape partially over his shoulders. Between Dharth and a particularly burly emerald, they got the bone back to the Weyr proper where Healers waited. K'dran sauntered over to his dragon, who was also being seen to by a Healer for the gashes and burns. The big black's tail flopped irritably and he rumbled a low growl as the Healer worked. Once his wounds were treated, the behemoth stalked over to the feeding pens. K'dran went over to the Healer and warned the man that Xai would probably be needing assistance as soon as Hontuh left the weyr.