Kala Ree

(Everyone! Feel free to join Kette as she explores the gathering hall! )

This is it, Kette Redstar thinks to herself. The Kyrider banners are visible from some distance even in the rolling foothills, and soon their stone outbuildings come into view as well. Kette's eyes greedily drink in the landscape, but she soon finds herself frowning. She had been expecting to see Kyrka and their riders flying or hunting all across the fields, but there is no one in sight save a single sentinel circling in the sky above. It is too far away to even see the colors of the Kyrka's feathers.

Sighing, Kette digs her heels into Tiki's sides, and the Sillari picks up her speed with a loud honking bray. Together they ride through the fields, past herds of grazing Nuru and low stone fences falling into disrepair. The herds are almost wild at this point, the Serra notices as she watches them roll by. They haven't been sheared in a long time. Kette had known things were bad amongst the Kyriders, but she didn't think things could be this bad.

All the better time to become one of them, she tells herself firmly, gripping Tiki's reins harder. Anyone who bonds with one of Sarasha's first clutch is bound to get plenty of power.

Smiling grimly, Kette continues to ride. The wide cavern mouth, nestled between two steep knolls, comes into view suddenly around a corner. Kette dismounts and peers inside, but there's still no one around. "Hello?" she calls, fiddling with Tiki's reins in both hands. The Sillari follows her lazily, nowhere near as interested as her owner is. "Is anyone home?"

The gathering hall is barren and empty, as if no one had set foot there in ages. Kette shrugs and leads Tiki inside. She doesn't dare seek out the clutching cave, not yet--word would be given if it were time for that. It probably wouldn't be time for that for a few days or so.

But until then... Kette ties Tiki to a stone bench, then sits down on one of the hay-stuffed hide chairs scattered around the room. It's squishy and soft: definitely comfortable enough to sleep in, if it came to that. With a grin, Kette slides her shoulderbag into her lap and digs around for some of the food she brought. Procuring a meat pie wrapped in (now greasy and delicious-smelling) cloth, Kette proceeds to shove the whole thing into her face, chewing thoughtfully. "I wo'er ih a'yone elhe goin oo show uh?" she says to Tiki through a mouthful.

"Eh?" The Serra riding beside Nira repeats. "This is the home of the Kyriders, and all you have to say of it is this 'eh'?"

"Well, I just thought it would be more-stoppit, you-grand, is all," Nira responds, struggling to keep control of the Sillari she'd chosen for its supposed gentleness. The creature frets, making a few rebellious croaks as it tries to speed up. "You know, Kyriders flying everywhere, Frostmaul heads on pikes, that sort of thing."

"Eesh," the woodsman shudders. "Give ol' Wull her head and she'll stop fighting so much," he adds, eyeing Nira's hunched posture with a touch of amusement. "You fixin' to ride one of those Kyrka, are you? Sure you shouldn't just go back to makin' barrels from the timber I bring ya?"

"At least the Kyrka will be more obedient," Nira replies, scowling at the woodsman's air of disbelief. "You told me this thing was the slowest, gentlest one you had," she adds accusingly as the Sillari spins and kicks out in agitation, leaving Nira to cling to its neck with one frantic hand. "That she'd sooner go to sleep on me as walk along. You lie like this when you're selling us timber?"

"Wull's good and solid as a krozza tree," the woodsman protests, reaching for the creature's bridle. "Lest something gets under her skin, of course. But lucky you! This is where we'll go ahead 'n leave ya, since I've got my day's work to do."

"Thank ya kindly, Oolar, it would've been a long walk were it not for you," she says as she dismounts with a sigh of relief. Taking her pack from the cantle of the small saddle, she slings it over one shoulder. "Tell Sirelt to make you a pie or somesuch, for looking after me. And tell Ranik there weren't any Frostmaul heads on pikes, and that I'm very disappointed in him for getting my hopes up." With a laugh, Oolar nods his assent before turning his Sillari and leading Nira's mount away back toward the woods.

Watching them go for a moment, she feels an unexpected pang of homesickness. Of course, it wasn't as though she'd be gone forever. And if she was successful, she knew for certain that at least Eneesh, her older daughter, would be following hastily in her footsteps. Maybe Ranik, if he could be torn from his father's side for one moment. It doesn't do to dwell on now, we've work to do, she reminds herself as she nears the cavern entrance. A bit confused as she pokes around, she tries to reconcile this virtually empty space with her imaginings. As she had told Oolar, she had been expecting there to be at least a few Kyriders. There doesn't seem to be anyone until she catches sight of another figure. For a moment she thinks there's a Kyrka present, but the creature's noises dispel that notion. Another blood Sillari. Oh well, it's company!

"Hello!" She calls, bounding over to where Kette is seated and flopping down in a similar chair. "Oh-ho, time to eat! Excellent!" Digging in her pack, she procures the roll her two oldest children had painstakingly crafted for her that morning, a concoction consisting of berry jelly, vegetables, and cold meat smashed together and rolled in a membranous layer of raw dough. She nibbles the messily dripping "pastry" making a face occasionally when the taste of onion makes itself known. For a moment she utterly forgets Kette's presence, but a soft snuffle from Tiki pulls her from her food-induced reverie. "Where're my manners? I'm Nira! D'you know where everyone's gone to perchance?"

[Karah has a page for herself on this slot.]

Karah suddenly rushed into the gathering hall on all fours with impressive speed and agility. She was reminiscent of a cheetah with elongated strides and her long tail acting as a rudder for sharp turns. Of course anyone that knew this seven year old serra wouldn't be surprised at this considering the huge amount of time she spent running with wild animals. Yet she had never come back with any serious injuries, oh sure, she sometimes got a light scratch or two from rough housing or getting too close to a pointy plant, but never anything more. If there was any Serra worthy of the name "Wild Child" it was her.

...And yet there was more to her then that. She was studious and very intelligent for her age which her discerning dark blue eyes never failed to reveal. Yet those same eyes were also normally guarded and filled with suspicion when dealing with most of the other Serra. The only ones who didn't get those eyes were her parents and Laylar.

Suddenly Karah came to a clean stop in front of Kette's Sillari with an inquisitive look on her face. She mimicked a shockingly similar Sillari greeting call and then attempted to stroke it's back. It was clear that she was already attempting to make herself yet another animal friend. It was now that the other Serra would be able to get a good look at her and they would be able to noticed that her black fur clothing were just slightly marked with a bit of powdered dirt. Just a bit earlier she had been scrubbing part of the Kyrider Caverns which she did every chance she got so she could spend some time with the Kyrka. She had only recently turned seven so Sarasha's current clutch would be her very first attempt to bond with a Kyrka of her own, something she desperately hoped that she would be able to do.

Tiki notices the arrival of the others before Kette does. The girl is still chin-deep in her pie. When the Sillari's crests perk up and she starts staring at the wide cavern mouth, Kette hesitates in mid-bite. And she keeps hesitating as Nira flops down in front of her and starts eating too. Kette makes a face at her meal, but doesn't offer to share her own. "Hi," she says frostily, after swallowing her bite. She didn't see a Kyrka, so that probably meant the woman was here to bond... and that meant she was competition. "I'm Kette. An' far as I can tell, it's always like this."

Kette takes another bites of the pie, then licks her fingers of the grease. Karah's sudden entrance causes the young Serra to frown. Tiki, as placid as the old girl is, doesn't mind the intrusion, and lowers her head to give Karah a friendly bump with her snout. Kette, however, isn't amused. "Hey!" she growls, reaching with her free arm to grab the Sillari's reins and pull her away from the half-feral girl. "Don't touch her, she's mine! What are you even doing here?" Kette looks the slim little girl up and down, trying to discern her age. It's possible she was here to bond as well. "Is she with you?" Kette asks of Nira.

Boy, this had been a long walk. Kire didn't want her family knowing she was heading for the Kyrider's cavern, so she left early, before sunrise, and didn't take a Sillari in order not to cause any suspicion. She could hear her mother saying "Blackwaters belong in the water, not the sky!" in her head already. She found it odd so many of her family agreed with that saying. Who would pass up the chance to bond with a Kyrka!? The Blackwaters, apparently.

The Serra took a wide detour to avoid the grazing Nuru. She didn't want to frighten them, especially since she was armed. A small quiver and a worn looking shortbow both hung around her back and a short pronged spear hung from her belt. She hated provoking animals by walking into their territory, no matter how docile they might be. She didn't take the risk.

Because of this, she arrived rather late, though, and just like Kette, she found the place to be underwhelming. Wasn't this where the Kyriders gathered? They were in more desperate need of new Kyriders indeed, by the looks of it. The fisherwoman continued inwards and noticed three more people inside. She blinked a few times, wondering what was going on."Uhm.. Hello?" She waved, awkwardly at the three."I'm not interupting anything, am I?" Of course not, Kire! Man up!

"Always like this?" Nira repeats, wiping a streak of jelly from her chin with the back of her hand and licking at the congealing goo. Whatever she might have been about to ask is whisked away as the small figure of Karah scuttles in. Watching the child curiously, Nira tries to gauge the girl's age as Karah interacts with the Sillari. Somewhere between her two oldest children, mayhap, though there's something odd about the girl. Ah well, children, as Nira well knows, are odd.

When Kette snaps at the girl, what passes for Nira's maternal instinct kicks up from the depths of her being. "Hey, now, can't you see she's only trying to make friends? When you don't want to share, there's manners for getting that across." She glances over at Karah to see what sort of reaction Kette's reproach might have garnered. before turning back to the question that sounds, to her at least, to be almost an accusation. "She's not with me, all mine're safe at home on the docks with their da. Decided I needed a bit of a break from raising little ones. Funny enough, that, since we're all waiting for little ones to hatch out so we can raise 'em. If we're lucky," she adds, almost as an afterthought.

When she hears another voice, she calls out merrily and waves Kire over. "Over here! Join the fun! There's a bit of room near the Sillari there," she gestures grandly to the large amount of open space near Tiki. "Begging, of course," she adds with a playful glint in her eye as she aims a mischievous sidelong smirk at Kette, "Kette's permission to stand near her beast."

Karah became happy when the Sillari gave her a friendly bump, but it didn't last long as Kette pulled the Sillari away. The wile child drew back her ears in displeasure before looking at Kette with suspicious eyes. "I merely wanted to make friends and I'm no thief. Lastly I just recently turned seven so I have as much right to be here as well as try and bond with a Kryka as you do." What Kette and Nira might notice as she talked however was her unusually long canines which would make her look even more feral.

Then deciding that there were other things she could do then talk with a selfish adult, she walked over to Nira and gave her and bowed her head in a show of silent thanks tho her eyes were still just as suspicious. She then moved to the table and managed to get herself onto a chair that was meant for grown ups. Karah then grabbed some lush looking fruit and started eating them with surprisingly decent manners despite her wild appearance. As she ate her ears returned to a neutral position which showed that she had gotten over her earlier run in with Kette. It was then that Kire entered the hall and she turned her head to look at her, although she remained silent. Even now her eyes were still filled with suspicion making it obvious that she was a very guarded child who didn't trust others easily. These were traits that most would consider to be very unusual in a child however and possibly make people wonder what had happened to her to make her like this.

(As a heads up, the age restrictions on Kyrka bonding aren't hard and fast--they're just estimates of the extremes.)

Kette is a far cry from a grown-up--she's still deep in childhood, proven by her current pettiness and sulking. She gives another pull on her Sillari's reins, softer this time, guiding the animal to stand behind her chair. Tiki follows placidly, though once there, lowers her head to steal the rest of Kette's meat pie. The Serra doesn't seem upset by this, and grabs the Sillari's neck in a hug. "I don't like it when people touch her without asking," she says matter-of-factly to the strangely well-spoken little girl.

Looking to the older woman, she nods again. "Yeah... usually empty. I work the herds nearby, though my da never wants me to. Some days the place looks completely abandoned. It's been emptier in the past week or two..." She frowns, absentmindedly rubbing Tiki's indigo snout. "No idea why." As Nira talks of her children and husband, Kette finds her head tilted to the side in curiosity. "Aren't you a little old to do this? You have kids... and stuff."

When Kire enters, Kette is immediately intrigued. Rarely the girl takes an interest in people that aren't herself, but Kire has weapons, and that's worth a second look. She huffs at Nira's playful ribbing, and goes back to stroking Tiki's eye ridges.

A Kyrka clutch has been born, a Kyrka clutch has been born!!! Amirr could barely keep his heart from hammering a hole through his chest as he made his way to the gathering hall, beaming from ear to ear as he had been ever since he heard the news. The young boy had been wishing and dreaming for this day for as long as he could remember, and despite the many years that passed without the birth of a single egg he had remained vigilant. Amirr's boundless optimism had quickly shut out the naysayers that told him he'd never get his chance to bond with a Kyrka, and finally his efforts had paid off. A clutch had been born, and he was going to bond! Maybe. Hopefully. As the boy made his way toward the gathering hall to wait for his chance to meet the hatchlings, his secret inner fear of disappointment whispered doubts into his ear. What made him think he was anything special? He wasn't going to bond... heck, for all he knew, there could have been complications with the Kyrka's birth and all of the eggs could have been stillborn. Stubbornly, Amirr pushed these negative thoughts aside, unable to be bothered by such things at the moment; he could finally see the opening of the Kyrider Caverns! His arduous trek across the canyon was almost over. Strength seeped back into his tired legs as he covered the last few yards and stepped foot inside the cool underground cavern... only to see a group of Serran already gathered in a place he'd hoped he'd find empty. What strength he'd momentarily regained fled immediately as he forced himself to continue onward. People... there were already people here. His social anxiety reared its head and slapped him full-force in the face. I knew I should have left earlier! If I'd gotten here first I could have slowly adjusted to each person at a time, instead of meeting an already-established group...

Amirr continued to second-guess himself as he approached the group of Kyrider hopefuls and made a bee-line for a seat on the far edge of the room, a comfortable distance (to him) from the others but not so far as to isolate himself. Face your fear! His father had reminded him many times as a child. You'll never get over your fears if you don't face them head-on! Amirr knew that if he wanted to follow his (probably childish) dream of becoming Alpha one day, that he would have to learn how to be around people without freaking out, so he forced himself to smile and wave as he came in. "Er, hello, um, everyone. Nice day, right?" Smooth, Amirr. Real smooth. He quickly sat down and pulled out the satchel he'd brought which contained a small lunch for himself and his month-old Tenki hatchling, Squiggle. The small pouch he wore around his neck had been still on the last leg of his journey, but as soon as the young man spoke, his voice roused its precious cargo. The soft leather bag began to kick and squirm until Amirr loosened the small rawhide strings which kept it closed. Immediately a turquoise green head popped out, and upon seeing the gathered Serran the baby reptile let out a loud, high-pitched squeal of greeting. For all the shyness that Amirr possessed, little Squiggle was twice as outgoing. Within seconds, Squiggle had kicked out of her sleeping pouch and shot across the cavern floor toward the nearest person with food, which in this case was Karah. The jewel-colored reptile ran a full lap around the girl, squeaking playfully, before tripping over the Serran's foot and landing clumsily on her face in front of her. Unhurt, the Tenki picked herself back up and stared angrily at Karah as if the mishap was her fault.

"Don't mind her," Amirr says quietly, smiling. "Her squeak is worse than her bite."

Kire looked at Kette and her Sillari. She couldn't help but chuckle at Nira's suggestion."Oh, no thank you. I'm not coming in between such a deep bond like that." She mused as she took a seat on one of the pillows, not far away from Nira. Already she felt more comfortable. The amount of people didn't really surprise her. News like this spreads extremely far and extremely fast. All she hoped for was a fair chance at bonding with one of the little guys.

When Amirr entered, Kire waved at her when he sat down and offered him a friendly greeting."Hello there. Nice day indeed. Perfect for bonding with a Kyrka, won't you agree?" The sight of Squiggle however managed to allow a little "aww" to escape from Kire's lips. She does adore tiny animals. They make her feel much more comfortable than adult ones. Even around gentle Nuru she tends to be a little on edge.

The same sad state of the fields that Kette had noticed strikes Lesa'ah's eye as she makes her way up the path into Kyrider holdings. She frowns at the sight of the shaggy animals, the grass sprouting in the roadway, the fences sliding from their foundations. This all needs work, and lots of it. Maybe if she stays around, she can make some improvements. She's never worked with animals, but she can do brute labor if someone gives her guidance, and stone seems like it would be easy enough for a carpenter to figure out.

She pauses a moment just outside the cavern door, tugging on her green cotton vest and yellow pants, then raising her hand to check the arrangement of hairpins and wooden clips holding her auburn braids in a series of loops. Kuka, draped over her shoulder with his hind feet clinging to the fabric at her back, chirps curiously in her ear and noses her fingers. "Stop that," Lesa'ah tells the Tenki, and he pulls his head back with a mournful little noise.

There's no Kyrka when Lesa'ah enters, only a Sillari and a handful of Serra. And a Tenki, she realizes, as Squiggle darts across the floor. Loosing his grip on her shoulder, Kuka trills loudly in excitement, swarms down her arm, and drops to the floor with fluttering wings. For a moment the pink Tenki is still, neck twisting wildly as he looks around, and then he trills again and, rattling off chirps like a Morse code operator, he shoots towards Squiggle and Karah.

Heading for the cluster of chairs, Lesa'ah smiles at the other Serra there. She unhooks a bag from across her back and drops it to the floor beside her as she chooses an unoccupied chair and sits. "Hello," she says, looking around from Kette to Nira to Kire. She twists around to glance at Amirr, who is behind her given the seat she's chosen, just in case he's troubled by Kuka's excited chirping at Squiggle, but from the way she looks about when she turns back, most of her attention is on the other three women. "I'm not stealing anyone's chair, right?"

[I'll post tomorrow. I would post now, but I kinda want to wait for Nira.]

Nira nods in quiet approval when Karah stands her ground. The girl seemed a bit skittish, but it was good to see she had in her possession a backbone. She smiles to herself, then turns and gives the wildling child a wink.

"Oh, I think I can dodder about just fine," Nira adds to Kette, laughing merrily at the question. "Besides, having kids doesn't exactly make you ancient, yanno. My husband's sister'd say it doesn't make you an adult, even, and it's fair the truth, I'd wager. I have 'em and I love 'em, but they've also got their da and their aunts, and they'd rather be out on the river anyway. little river rats as they all are." She gives Kire an appraising look when the young woman settles nearby. She had noticed the same thing that Kette had, that Kire possesses weapons. "Planning on a battle to the death over the eggs, then?" She asks, pointing to the weapons. "I must warn you, I'm a fair shot with a spear, 'specially if you look like a fish. Hope you brought enough of those to share, though I suppose they'd arm us all..."

They are joined by Amir and Lesa'ah in quick succession, as well as their brightly colored little companions. Nira, gregarious as she is, beams at the addition of more folk. It wouldn't be as desolate as she had at first thought! "Welcome! Come right in, make yourself at home!" She says grandly to Amir and Lesa'ah, having appointed herself (in her own mind, at least) the unofficial greeting committee, conveniently forgetting that she'd been in Kyrider territory a grand total of perhaps an hour. She, like Kire, coos over the Tenki and grins as they both frolic around Karah. "It's a right party, now," she observes, grinning. "I'm sure some Kyriders'll overhear, and they'll be jealous they're not invited. I'm Nira, by the by, that's Kette, and..." she looks at Karah and then Kire, blinking as she draws a blank, "and I don't know anyone else's name just yet."

Karah gave Kette a nod and then returned to silently eating the fruit she had taken. She didn't eat very much however when a Tenkis started racing around her before tripping on her foot. Yet she didn't seem to be the least bit perturbed by the tiny reptiles apparent anger with her. Instead she reached for a small berry and offered the treat to the Tenkis as a gesture of goodwill towards the pet.

She then looked at Amirr whose Tenkis it was and nodded her understanding. The young Serra then offered another berry to the the pink Tenkis Squiggle since she didn't want to let him feel left out. She then looked at all the Serra that had gathered and a bit of worry creased her face. This was a lot of competition and more was sure to come. On top of this there were only five eggs. Then then as the berry on top, she was still only seven and it was unusual for someone of her age to bond with a Kyrka. Oh it had been done before, but it was for more common for older candidates to be chosen. Karah however intended to see this through and be there when the eggs hatched. Perhaps her ancestors would smile down on her at the hatching and she gave them a silent prayer in hopes of pleasing them.

Kire seemed to be enjoying the talkative nature of Nira. She was probably the only one in here who was closest to her own age, which might have something to do with her sympathy towards the brave mother. She chuckled a bit at the mention of 'fighting to the death' in order to get an egg."Well, who knows. It might be a new tradition the Kyriders introduced without us knowing. It pays to come prepared." She mused."No, I'm not going to use them here ... at least I think I won't. I came here on foot, since I don't own my own Sillari." Liar. She just didn't want to cause suspicion around her family."And I've lived long enough to know wild predators see our kind as a tasty breakfast when we're on our own. I wouldn't want to fight a bear with just my claws."

At Lesa'ah's entrance, she once again offered her friendly wave towards. And then it hit her she hasn't really introduced herself."Oh, my name is Kire Blackwater. Pleased to meet you lot." She introduced herself before her attention went back to Nira."So you're a fisher as well?"

Amirr could always count on Squiggle to put him in uncomfortable social situations. It didn't take long for him to learn after she hatched that she was an outgoing little beast and that he would be forced to explain or apologize for her actions. Being young and lightning-fast, it was difficult to keep the little Tenki reined in; try as he might, she often managed to slip through his fingers and get into trouble. Today he was just glad she hadn't embarrassed him... yet. In the back of his mind he knew that there was always the chance that his little companion would exercise her lack of self consciousness to do something he would feel embarrassed about. For this reason, as they were gathered in the hall he watched her like a worried mother, hoping she wouldn't do something to cause trouble.

Amirr nods to Kire when she spoke to him, though he quickly broke off from the uncomfortable eye contact to resume watch over his hatchling. However, as he did so another Serran entered, this time with a full grown adult male Tenki riding on her shoulder. Amirr smiled slightly as Lesa'ah entered, although more worry flared in his mind as the pink reptile grew excited at the sight of Squiggle. The boy could feel his spine tingling anxiously as the larger Tenki rushed up to greet her, to which the smaller female responded by letting out a series of excited squeaks and chirps of her own. She immediately ducked her head and pounced at the larger male, attempting to nip at his nose before digging in her heels, spinning around 180 degrees, and taking off like a shot in the opposite direction, the berry Karah had offered her forgotten. Squiggle made a bee line for Kette and Tiki, darting in and around the Sillari's feet at lightning speed before making an attempt to climb up the woman's back and perch on her shoulder. Amirr immediately looked chagrined at this and attempted to regain some control over his Tenki.

"Squiggle, leave her al-- no, don't bite her ear... Squiggle, STOP, for the love of... Ughhh." He sighs as the bright turquoise creature tries to explore Kette's ears and short-cropped hair. Amirr gives Kette an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry... she's only a month old and hasn't learned her manners yet."

Kette nestles deeper into her seat. Her small stature allows her to sit all the way back and have room to pull her knees up to her chin. She loops her arms around her legs and hugs them loosely, half-glaring at all of the other hopefuls coursing into the room. Her investigation had told her the hatching couldn't be more than a few days off, perhaps even tonight or tomorrow, and the sun was already sinking into the foothills. Unless anyone had a nearby home to go to, they'd all be camping out right here in the gathering hall for as much as a week!

Kette didn't relish the thought, but nor did she have the time to dwell on it as Amirr's Tenki decides she would make a fine plaything. But rather than snarl or swat at the little reptile as she scuttles up the Serra's back, she instead lets out a high-pitched shriek of laughter. Her pointed teeth stick out as she grins from ear to ear, flinching as Squiggle tickles her with her tiny claws and tail. She reaches up, not to grab her and pull her away, but instead to stroke whatever part of her squirming scaly form she can reach. "Daah!" she exclaims, attempting to regain her composure. But she just can't scold him. "... she's adorable. I've always wanted a Tenki..."

Karah looked perturbed when Kire mentioned wild predators making meals of Serra. It was an idea that was...alien to her. She had never come under threat from bears or wolves. She had shared berries with bears and lead them to carrion. She howled with the wolves and removed parasites from their coats. It hadn't really occurred to her that most Serra just didn't have an innate ability to commune with nature, didn't have the ability to read the body languages of the wild animals. To her, they simply hadn't tried.

"Why would the animals try to eat you? I play with them all the time and they never tried to eat me. I played with Tyra's cubs and she showed me where some really sweet berries are. I also helped to get a really stubborn thorn out of her front paw. Then just the other day I howled with Wisun's pack and showed them where an old wild Nuru had died. Then I took a nap with their pups. Why don't you try to make friends with them like I do?

It was clear that while she was rather intelligent for her age, she still didn't see the world the way most adults did. She didn't see the dangers or the worries that the adults dealt with. No Karah still had some of that childhood innocence despite the mistreatment she had endured at the hands of the other serra children.

{Just to be clear. Tyra is a mother bear and Wisun is the alpha male of a wolf pack.}

"Not all of us have a gift for making friends, little one," Nira says to Karah, thinking to herself that she ought tell Sirelt and that bedamned sister of his that there was indeed parent more lax than herself out there. She might let her children bait fish hooks and go swimming in a running winter river, but from the talk of howling, cubs and carrion, this girl was left out to run wild in the forest. Take that, Usahra! She thinks smugly with an inward smirk.

"Most folk'd as soon be prepared to defend themselves should something happen, just like animals'd defend themselves. I doubt Kire here," she looks over at the fisherwoman for confirmation of her name, "I doubt she's out there starting fights with wolves and whatnot."

Turning to Kire, she nods with a grin. "Not a river rat by blood, that's my husband's claim, one he's passed on to at least one of our get. But I've done my time afloat, know a carp from a trout as it were. Did you say your name was Blackwater?" She adds belatedly, blinking at Kire in some confusion. "What's one of your ilk doing so far from the water?"

Amirr can't suppress the huge grin that spreads across his face as his Tenki hatchling elicits a shriek from the previously-grumpy Kette. He hangs his head bashfully and blushes as the green reptile begins to churr happily upon receiving affectionate strokes from the young woman. Squiggle leans into the petting happily, closing her eyes in bliss from the attention. "I always admired them too... they're so cute, it's hard not to love them. Especially Squiggle there; she's too adorable for words." The green lizard settles down further on Kette's shoulder for a few moments, closing her eyes and producing an almost cat-like purr. She sits happily like this as long as the attention keeps coming, but the moment Kette stops stroking her scales the demanding little hatchling immediately chirps, squeals, or tries to nibble on the woman's hair or ears. "Squig, behave yourself," Amirr scolds, before smiling at Kette once more. "Sorry, ma'am. If she gets too annoying just brush her off."

Seeing that they could be in for a long wait, Amirr unpacks the lunch he had brought with him and begins munching on his meal; strips of jerky, a handful of berries, and a flask of fresh Nuru milk. As the others in the room converse, the young man lets his mind wander. How much longer could they expect the wait to be? The eggs could hatch any day now, right? Would it be one day? Two? Three? More? Amirr felt sick at the thought. What if they were here for more than a few days? He would run out of supplies and be forced to go hunt for more, and then while he was gone the clutch could hatch and he might miss his chance! It had been many years since the last bonding, and he wasn't about to miss his chance this time. No, he would stay in this gathering hall as long as possible before venturing out. Maybe Squiggle could help him catch some small game nearby so he wouldn't have to travel far for food.

Deciding it wouldn't be a bad idea to ration what food he'd brought with him, he decided he'd eat only half of the lunch he had set aside and save the rest for later. Amirr began chewing on one of his strips of jerky, daydreaming to pass the time while he watched the others.