Post by Zen on Jan 11, 2018 4:04:23 GMT -5
Concurrent with Pets or Pests
Treyjen had someone watching his mystery egg at all times. From what Srunae had said, the thing ought to be hatching any day, and he wasn't about to let it go wild if it turned out to be something good. Nor did he want it escaping to some unknown location on his ship if it was dangerous. It wasn't exactly the most exciting job, so he didn't make anyone take more than an hour at it when he was away. But that also meant he was spending a lot of time cooped up in his cabin, or at least very nearby the ship. Which meant he had time to visit with his daughter.
The little girl rather enjoyed being aboard his ship. He'd convinced Mialli to let him have her for a few hours and carried her atop his shoulders back to the Storm's Eye. He'd chased her around the deck for a while, she clambered up and down steps, hid behind crates, and even tried climbing some of the rigging but he'd stopped her. She was a bit young for that, yet. Yelanna had come back to the ship in the middle of their little chasing game and gushed about how adorable his daughter was. He'd been surprised she hadn't met her yet, but Yelanna told him the last time they'd crossed paths while docked at Mavros, Trillia had still been a babe. They rarely saw anything of each other when they came to port.
So Yelanna had stuck around to play with her. He'd been rather amazed at the amount of patience a three turn old girl could have. Trillia sat still quite well when Yelanna offered to make her hair extra pretty and wove some sort of elaborate braiding into it. He watched them for a bit, where they were sitting in the middle of the deck while he sat himself on a step with the crate of sand and the egg at his feet. But he grew bored of it far quicker than his daughter. Treyjen didn't quite understand it. Who wanted to sit still that long just for some fancy hair? Well, his daughter apparently.
Glancing down at the egg, he stared at it a long moment. Had... had it just moved? Or was he just imagining things in his boredom? Shells, it moved again! He stood, picking up the crate and calling to Yelanna, “Keep an eye on her for me, this thing's finally hatching and I don't know if it'll be dangerous or not.” If he had to kill it, he didn't want to do it in front of his daughter. Mialli would kill him. Yelanna didn't respond, too focused on her braiding, but he was sure she'd heard and wasn't about to let anything happen to Trillia.
Closing himself in his cabin, he set the crate on his table. The egg was shaking in earnest now, small cracks beginning to form. He looked around briefly, wondering if he had any food.... Ah. He reached into one of his coat's inner pockets and pulled out a handful of salted fish, and a knife. Hopefully the thing ate meat, if it didn't attack him anyway. The thing that hatched was... interesting. It looked vaguely like a firelizard, but it had obvious differences as well. Most notably the fins. A water dweller then. It didn't take a beastcrafter to come to that conclusion.
The little golden creature turned angry red eyes at him and let out a demanding screech. Shells, what on Pern was he supposed to do with this thing? He wasn't entirely certain it was safe. Still. He picked up a piece of his salted fish and dropped it before the creature, keeping his fingers well away from its mouth. It snapped up the offering greedily and the next look it gave him was of adoration. He shook his head at the strange feeling. Then she creeled at him and he... felt her hunger. This was the strangest thing he'd ever experienced. Cautiously, he picked up another piece of fish and held it out, his knife still in his other hand. It wasn't quite so violent when it took this piece. It didn't take a piece of him with it, at least.
He kept feeding it, her, he supposed. It was clearly a gold. Finally he decided he could put his knife away. It seemed to him the thing had bonded with him in the manner of flits, so it should be relatively safe. Reaching out his hand, he let the creature clamber onto it and held it up to inspect it. Hm. Shards and shells, Srunae had gotten the far better deal. Well, he ought to be able to make decent marks off his new little pet's eggs in the future, at the very least. Though... that was rather dependent upon his ability to properly care for her now, wasn't it? He'd have to seek the woman out again to see if she had any advice to give on that front. If his egg had hatched, surely hers had as well? He smirked to himself, thinking about how he could annoy A'zael with another visit to this woman he seemed to have some sort of attachment to.
With a full belly, the creature curled up in his hand to sleep and Treyjen frowned. Now what was he supposed to do with it? Carry it around all day? He needed to contact Srunae sooner rather than later.
Rhush
