Post by Desert on May 29, 2009 17:32:10 GMT -5
ooc; no one has to reply to this, i just wanted to 'play out how Adria gets her Cion.
Not far from the fodder-pens was an outcropping of dark basalt rock, honeycombed with hidden nooks and crannies that were perfect places for an errant candidate to hide if a grown-up was trying to make her do chores. Adria clambered up the slabs of stone, grinning to herself as she recalled the one who had shown her this hiding place: K'dran. This had been his favorite spot once upon a time to escape the rest of the Weyr, and he had passed on the sacred hiding spot to his daughters.
Halfway up the mass of rock, Adria heard a baleful serpentine hiss. A long, slender shadow detached from the pool of darkness lurking within one of the smaller niches in the rock and charged aggressively at her. Since her head had been level with the orifice from which the truculent creature emerged, Adria jerked herself backward to avoid having her face damaged by whatever was still hissing at her. Perplexed and fascinated, the candidate watched the Cion's defensive display -- head cocked and fin-like webbed feet planted, if the young beta hadn't been so small it would have been quite intimidating.
Adria sat on a ledge near where the Cion stood; her seat was just above the halfway mark between where the serpentine creature was and the slab on which she'd just been standing. It brought her up so that her shoulders were just above the Cion's platform of rock, though a more respectable distance away. This change let the startled serpent relax, and it return to a more normal posture, tilting its reptilian head to study the human girl.
Once it calmed down, Adria smiled at the Cion. She'd always thought they were charming creatures, despite their obvious relationship to the tunnel-snakes that plagued most of Pern. This one must be a young female protecting a batch of its young; perhaps a first-time mother. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't hurt your babies," she murmured to the Cion soothingly. She went so far as to hold out her hand toward the creature, like she did with canines and the few domesticated felines around the Weyr. The Cion padded closer to the extended hand and touched it warily with its muzzle, inhaling Adria's scent, even flicking its thin tongue out to caress her skin. Adria grinned wider. "That's it. See, I'm not so bad."
The candidate withdrew her hand and dropped into a lower ledge, beginning to work her way to the side a bit so she could go around the Cion's den. "All right, babe, I'll leave you to your little ones now." It was a habit of Adria's to speak to the many-legged creatures of Pern as one would humans; hearing and speaking to dragons all the time gave her the tendency to consider nonhuman and nondragon animals to be like scaled or furry people, just dumber and mute.
As Adria was climbing down the outcrop not long after that, eager to get back for supper, a flash of movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention. The Cion she'd met earlier was scampering agilely over the rocks after her, its black scales making it hard to see against the dark basalt, except for the silver edging to its scales. She watched the Cion in bemusement all the way down and finally paused, dropping to her knees, when the little serpent even left the rocks to trot through the grass after her. "What're you doing, sweetheart?" she asked it. Of course, she didn't expect an answer, but she truly did wonder why this Cion was trailing after her when earlier it had looked ready to gouge her eye out.
The Cion stopped just inches from her feet and looked up at her; its flat reptilian eyes regarded Adria steadily. Though she couldn't hear it like she could hear its distant draconic cousins, the Cion's body language was fairly clear. Apparently it was younger than she thought, and in the manner of fire lizards had imprinted upon her. Adria reached one hand down to it again, and this time the Cion slid onto her arm so that she could pick it up. "Well, looks like I'm stuck with you," she remarked wryly. The Cion leaned gratefully into her fingers as they scratched under its jaw.
As she turned to head back, Adria muttered quietly to her new serpentine friend. "You need a name, don't you? Hmm. On second thought, I don't think you're female. I s'pose I'll find out soon enough, though I wish you guys had some dimorphism so we can tell gender from gender! Anyway. I think your name will be... Morpheus." A contented sigh seemed to indicate that the young beta liked his name. Adria smirked to herself, wondering how her family would react to the new addition.
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Not far from the fodder-pens was an outcropping of dark basalt rock, honeycombed with hidden nooks and crannies that were perfect places for an errant candidate to hide if a grown-up was trying to make her do chores. Adria clambered up the slabs of stone, grinning to herself as she recalled the one who had shown her this hiding place: K'dran. This had been his favorite spot once upon a time to escape the rest of the Weyr, and he had passed on the sacred hiding spot to his daughters.
Halfway up the mass of rock, Adria heard a baleful serpentine hiss. A long, slender shadow detached from the pool of darkness lurking within one of the smaller niches in the rock and charged aggressively at her. Since her head had been level with the orifice from which the truculent creature emerged, Adria jerked herself backward to avoid having her face damaged by whatever was still hissing at her. Perplexed and fascinated, the candidate watched the Cion's defensive display -- head cocked and fin-like webbed feet planted, if the young beta hadn't been so small it would have been quite intimidating.
Adria sat on a ledge near where the Cion stood; her seat was just above the halfway mark between where the serpentine creature was and the slab on which she'd just been standing. It brought her up so that her shoulders were just above the Cion's platform of rock, though a more respectable distance away. This change let the startled serpent relax, and it return to a more normal posture, tilting its reptilian head to study the human girl.
Once it calmed down, Adria smiled at the Cion. She'd always thought they were charming creatures, despite their obvious relationship to the tunnel-snakes that plagued most of Pern. This one must be a young female protecting a batch of its young; perhaps a first-time mother. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't hurt your babies," she murmured to the Cion soothingly. She went so far as to hold out her hand toward the creature, like she did with canines and the few domesticated felines around the Weyr. The Cion padded closer to the extended hand and touched it warily with its muzzle, inhaling Adria's scent, even flicking its thin tongue out to caress her skin. Adria grinned wider. "That's it. See, I'm not so bad."
The candidate withdrew her hand and dropped into a lower ledge, beginning to work her way to the side a bit so she could go around the Cion's den. "All right, babe, I'll leave you to your little ones now." It was a habit of Adria's to speak to the many-legged creatures of Pern as one would humans; hearing and speaking to dragons all the time gave her the tendency to consider nonhuman and nondragon animals to be like scaled or furry people, just dumber and mute.
As Adria was climbing down the outcrop not long after that, eager to get back for supper, a flash of movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention. The Cion she'd met earlier was scampering agilely over the rocks after her, its black scales making it hard to see against the dark basalt, except for the silver edging to its scales. She watched the Cion in bemusement all the way down and finally paused, dropping to her knees, when the little serpent even left the rocks to trot through the grass after her. "What're you doing, sweetheart?" she asked it. Of course, she didn't expect an answer, but she truly did wonder why this Cion was trailing after her when earlier it had looked ready to gouge her eye out.
The Cion stopped just inches from her feet and looked up at her; its flat reptilian eyes regarded Adria steadily. Though she couldn't hear it like she could hear its distant draconic cousins, the Cion's body language was fairly clear. Apparently it was younger than she thought, and in the manner of fire lizards had imprinted upon her. Adria reached one hand down to it again, and this time the Cion slid onto her arm so that she could pick it up. "Well, looks like I'm stuck with you," she remarked wryly. The Cion leaned gratefully into her fingers as they scratched under its jaw.
As she turned to head back, Adria muttered quietly to her new serpentine friend. "You need a name, don't you? Hmm. On second thought, I don't think you're female. I s'pose I'll find out soon enough, though I wish you guys had some dimorphism so we can tell gender from gender! Anyway. I think your name will be... Morpheus." A contented sigh seemed to indicate that the young beta liked his name. Adria smirked to herself, wondering how her family would react to the new addition.
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