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Vincent looked the dragonet over while Ans sized up the man. Pushing back the few stray hairs that had fallen into his face Vincent nodded to the man still focusing on the dragon. Like Ans it had black scales, the underbelly a brighter yellow than that of Ans. Both dragons however were anything but cuddly or cute, slightly terrifying to Vincent he had an odd fascination with them. Looking to Ans he was gazed back at, caretaker and careneeder locked in a starring contest once again. Once again outside contact brought Vincent back to reality.

"Names Vincent. Nice to meet ya." He said extending his hand.

It is? Ans questioned hearing it for the first time.

"Yes it is." He replied to the dragon without making any motions towards him. "Not you, him." He corrected for Cynoc while his finger pointed towards Ans.

"Anyways, I probably got here the same way as you. A dragon came and flew you back to their cave, right." Vincent said dully. "What I really want to know is why." He continued, "All of a sudden there's a need to steal a human to take care of a baby dragon, it doesn't make sense."

Sighing he put his hands back to his sides, if he wasn't the only person with a baby dragon, then how many others were there. Atop of that how in the world would they have both gotten baby dragons at nearly the same time. Looking at Cynoc now Vincent began to wonder about the man. Both were similar in body although Cynoc seemed more refined, more civilized.


(OOC: Sorry this will be my only post tonight.)

“Let me go, you oversized reptile!” Robin shrieked, squirming violently under the pressure of a pair of large, jet black talons, yet to no avail. The she-dragon that had locked him in such a grip seemed to be weighted by a great burden as she soared through the crisp air, sharp wind licking around the both of them. Bright, fiery eyes were set forward with a powerful determination in which her body did not hold. Robin bared his teeth at the beast, churning the air with his legs like a toddler throwing a tantrum. The dragon lighted down on a cold, rocky cliff, careful not to injure the human in her claws as she set him on the stone floor. Robin immediately lunged away from the creature, pressing his back to the hard wall behind him and glaring up at her with harsh, icy orbs. “Wh-what do you want with me?” he growled. The she-dragon returned his cruel gaze, yet dropped the sudden hatred and lifted her chin in the direction of a deep, dark cavern hidden in the wall a mere ten feet from him. He blinked in wonder, glancing once more at the dragon before making his way forward to creep into the shadow. Dozens of multicolored beams of light shone from the large crevice, and out of an impulse of curiosity, Robin reached in and tugged loose a gleaming shard of red garnet. Almost instantly, a frantic female voice struck his ears, and he wheeled around to cast his shocked gaze at the she-dragon.
“Please, please! Can you hear me?” she called, her knees suddenly buckling beneath her and she collapsed to the floor, her scarlet scales scratching against the stone surface.
“Y-yes…?” Robin answered hesitantly, clutching the garnet between his slender fingers.
“My son,” the dragon bellowed feebly. “You must be his savior… You must take him…” She gestured with the tip of her wing toward the darkest corner of the cave, though Robin saw nothing but a collected gathering of various grasses. When he did nothing, the dragon roared unintelligibly at him, and he yelped and stumbled forward. Now he saw. An ebony stone lay nestled beneath the straw and field grass, or no—not a stone. An egg.
“What do I…?” Robin began, but the she-dragon hissed and cut him off.
“I’m dying,” she snarled. “My son will have no one to fend for him once I am gone, and I’m afraid I will not live long enough to even watch his hatching…” Her voice softened near the end of the sentence, trailing off into a pain-filled wheeze that was followed by a hacking cough. Robin frowned, suddenly overwhelmed with pity toward the pathetic, defenseless beast.
“I have to… take care of him once he hatches?” he asked. The dragon nodded, too weak for words now. She lay her head down on the floor, gently closing her eyes, her chest rising and falling very softly. Robin reached forward, laying a hand on the egg before him. Immediately, a violent tremor knocked the egg out of place and it went rolling across the cavern floor. With a shocked squeak, Robin leapt forward and caught the egg in his arms, cradling it close to him. Tiny scratching noises and even a few squeals escaped the thick shell as he gazed curiously at the obsidian object. “This is amazing,” he laughed quietly, turning to face the dragon. Horror struck him when he realized the creature did not move, nor did it seem to breathe. Still clutching the egg and the gem tight, Robin bolted forward and, without thinking things through, pressed his palm to the dragon’s neck. No reaction, and more importantly, no pulse. He whimpered softly, stroking the rough scales covering her crest lovingly as if he’d really known her before her death. The egg’s dam had died, and obviously his sire was nowhere near the area, possibly not even alive because of the damned plague that had taken hold of the dragons’ lives.
“You’re my responsibility now, I suppose,” Robin murmured, hugging the egg close and turning away from the mother’s body with a saddened sigh. He then fished a white gold chain from a pouch in his tunic, turning the gem over in his palm repeatedly. He found a tiny fissure in the garnet and jammed the chain inside, having it emerge from the other side. Locking the clasps together, Robin slipped the necklace over his head and let it fall over his chest. The stone had meaning, and this he knew.
"H-hello?" he called deep into the cave, suddenly realizing he was alone and knew not where in the hell he was.

ooc/ Sorry it's so long. ;-; Just needed to get all of that over with.

Cynoc pondered Vincent's words for a second, thinking back on what one of his instructors back at the academy had told him about taking care of a dragon. He also thought back on his own experience so far, and how Vincent's experience also sounded to be the same. Finally he gave a slight shrug.

"It's hard to say really. It seems like the moms are only going out to find a caretaker at the last second. Dragons are highly intelligent creatures, so they probably figure that humans would be the best caretakers in their stead. For whatever the reason, they seem to think we're best suited to carry on their legacy, or something like that. " Cynoc carried on in a lecturing tone. He got like that sometimes when he started thinking about things to much. He shook his head apologetically. "Sorry. No point in wondering about the past though. Best just to accept it and move on. We got bigger problems now, like getting out of here and finding food for us and our little charges here." Cynoc sitting, indicating the dragonets.

"I'm a charge? What does that mean?" Nazka curious voice shot down at him. He looked up at her to show who he was talking to.

"It means your my daughter." Cynoc said, trying to keep it simple for her. He looked back at Vincent and shrugged. "Well anyway, first thing is first. The more the merrier, do you and....umm, your friend here want to come with us?" Cynoc asked, indicating Vincent's dragonet.

"I want them to come!" Nazka piped up. Cynoc patted her gently on the head. "Something is coming back there." Nazka's voice sounded again. he felt her turn back towards the entrance of the cave. Cynoc turned to, looking back at the entrance. It was a little dark back there, but he could make out a human shape. Just beyond the shape, there was more movement, and another little dragonet also came out of the darkness, running over first towards Vincent's dragonet, then looking up at Cynoc and Nazka. Nazka of course scurried down Cynoc to check out the newcomer. Were there even more new caretakers here? Cynoc waved politely towards them. "Hello!" he called out to them.

ooc/ Eh, I'm going to get over with the hatching. xD

ic/ With a defeated sigh, Robin went to sit on the steep ledge of the cave entrance, egg clutched tight against his chest. What happened next completely startled and shocked him. A tiny chip of the egg shell went flying forward and hurdled off of the cliff and into oblivion. Robin blinked down at the small hole left and noticed a little, black spine protruding from it. He then scrambled backwards, far from the ledge where he was rather carelessly perched, and attempted to help chip away at the hole. However, the shell was a tad too thick, and Robin found that he must use something more effective than his finger nails. He fished out his trusty dagger from the cover at his side, gripped the hilt tightly, and carefully worked away at the shell. He didn't seem to be making much progress, however, but he'd soon find that he needn't help. Dropping the weapon so it clanged against the stone floor, Robin huffed in exasperation and pursed his lips as he held the egg at arm's length. Suddenly, a larger chunk of the shell was lodged free and went skidding across the cavern floor, a tiny, serpent-like head erupting from the egg. Happening so fast that Robin could barely keep up, in his arms now were the remains of the egg shell and a squirming heap of folded wings, a curled tail, tangled limbs, and an odd slime that he'd rather not be holding at the moment. His icy eyes then met fiery, scarlet ones and the dragonet held still and cocked his head up at Robin. "Eyes just like your mother's..." he murmured, not daring to let his eyes wander toward the lifeless she-dragon. He stroked the small row of spines on the dragon's crest, intrigued by their crimson color rather than the ebony hue the rest of his body held. "Cruentus," he chuckled as the dragonet tumbled from his arms and trotted about the cavern curiously. The tiny creature squealed and suddenly charged deeper into the cave as voices sounded from that direction. "W-wait!" Robin cried, stumbling after him. When he had found Cruentus, he swept the little dragon into his arms and ran his gaze along the new cavern to find-- oh. "H-hullo..." he mumbled noticing he was now surrounded by other humans and even dragonets. Cruentus snarled and snapped at the others, trashing about wildly. "Hush," Robin whispered, clapping his hand over his bright, red eyes to calm him. Cruentus instantly ceased and merely began sniffing at the air hastily.

"Hello" said Leel, walking forwards into the light from the dark tunnels, he was still blinking and trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness after the walk in the dark but managed to make it over to to the two unknown human shapes without tripping. The whole time his little dragonet was watching the her three fellow hatchlings on the ground.

"I'm Leel" said the shepherd, shifting his charge in his arms, "And this is Rerequm. I'm pretty sure the little one that came running in is called Ryou and....."

He paused slightly, not knowing Ryou's gender. The little dragon's caretaker had only referred to small reptile as an it.

"Ryou is a girl father" spoke up Rerequm, for the first time since there conversation in her birth cave. She looked at him with bright and intelligent eyes, looking (almost begging) for her caregiver to praise or thank her for helping him and was rewarded with a smile, as he nodded to the little dragon. Had she been human, a bright red flush would have colored her cheeks.

"Her human should she following shortly, being named Amberlie" finished up Leel, putting the blue dragonet down on the floor. He wanted to see if she would play with the other hatchlings but instead, she curled around his leg, studying them with mixed emotions.First off, she was shy and then add in intimated by their larger size, Rerequm did not want ti the perceived safety of her father's legs.

Ion's eyes were narrow and continued to flash from the opening of the cave to the mouth of the tunnels, both of which were echoing with the voices of people now. She had no idea who they were or what they wanted, but she did not want to meet them. Not yet. The egg was shuddering now, more and more hair-like cracks spidering their way out from the first. And then, inside of the egg, there was a sound, somewhere between a gurgle and a growl. Hesitantly, Ion let the tips of her fingers drift over the main fissure in the egg's surface. The egg stilled, and then began to shudder twice as violently.

"I want to be out, I want to see the new one..." a small, grumbling voice murmured in her mind. This time, Ion had heard it come clearly from the egg, or rather the creature inside of it. She shot a nervous glance at the huge dragon who had gone quite still quite suddenly. A child, she had said. A child that she was supposed to take care of. A little dragon.

Wouldn't it have been nice if her own mother could have found a complete stranger to come and care for her before she had died? Ion's eyebrows drew together as the thought ran through her mind.

"Do you need help?" she asked suddenly. Again, the egg stilled and its efforts redoubled.

"Yes! Yes!" came the little voice again. "I want to come out now." Biting her lip, Ion ran her hands more surely against the shell, pushing experimentally in a few spots.

"Look here, little one. Shove right here and I'll pull and then you'll be out," she said, tapping on the shell gently. Instantly, the little dragon on the inside got to the task. Ion had to grin as she began to pry the fissure wider. As they worked, the dragonet spoke, pausing in time with the small quivers that ran through the egg.

"My name"-crack-"is not"- shudder-"little one" He pronounced the nickname with an obvious and child-like contempt that made Ion laugh aloud.

"My apologies, honourable dragonet. What would you prefer to be called then?" There was about an inch of space in the shell now and she thought saw a bright green eye roll.

"It's Krain. My first mom told it to me when there was still a lot of room in the world. And she said when the world became tiny then I should push and push until I got out."

"First mom, huh? And who was your second mother?"

Suddenly, there was another loud crack and Ion fell over backwards as the pieces of shell she had been pulling on came loose. For a moment, she could only lay still and dazed. And then, there was a great weight on her chest and a little pointed face poking its nose into her face. "You are! You're the new one, the new mom. How come I know more than you?" The little face mouthed briefly on her nose and then started on her hair. Ion winced. It had sharp little teeth, no matter how gentle it was being. She pushed Krain back gently, trying to get a handle on the situation. She scowled briefly, but without much heat.

"You don't. I'm just still getting used to things. Sit still for a second, will ya?" The dragonet seemed completely unfazed by her request and by her tone. It continued to wriggle in her hands, peering at everything.

"Is this out? Wow, look how big it is! How come it has holes in it? What are all of those noises? They sound like you when you say things. I want to see if they look like you too. Come on, get up, get up, get up, get up!" The still damp dragonet slipped from her grip and suddenly went scampering in the direction of the tunnels. It stumbled the first few steps, but after that it seemed to have completely mastered its short little legs and was off. Ion scrambled up and took after it, cursing already. She had been its caretaker for all of three minutes and already it had gotten away from her.

"Hey! Krain, slow down! Wait for me!"

Vincent listened intently, he wasn't the brightest of bulbs and took some time to light up. Cynoc's words were similar, taking a moment or two for them to register in his mind. Grumbling in agreement he shifted his footing. Food would b a problem, Vincent knew how to hunt, but enough for a baby dragon, and what about when it matured. Upon the proposal to join Cynoc and Nazka in what Vincent thought could only become stressful he sighed.

"This here." He paused to point to Ans who tried to evade the finger for a moment before deciding it was play worthy. "Is Ans." He finished while the dragonet wrapped the tip of its tail around his finger causing he to pull it back in pain. "I guess we'll be joining you for now."

We're joining them? The dragonets voice pierced Vincents mind again, this time lower, less excited.

"That's what I said." Vincent replied in a dull tone.

Why? Ans continued to question.

"Because there's strength in numbers."

Not paying attention to Nazka or Cynoc as he conversed with Ans, Vincent hadn't realized the appearance of the new dragonet until it had emerged from the darkness in a rush. As she smelled Ans he mimicked her. Vincent looked on with a small smile taken aback when the new dragonet bound into the air. Ans replied in a similar nature as he jumped behind the safety of a rock, his small talons picking away at the rough surface. With the appearance of yet another person Vincent scratched his head. Hearing Cynox greet him, and the mystery mans introduction Vincent felt compelled to do the same.

"I'm Vincent, this one here is Ans." He said politely, his feet sticking where they were. Ans however had a different approach and crept towards Rerequm, his back arched like a cats. A few feet away from Leel's feet he sniffed the other dragonet, peering to Vincent a moment or two afterwards.

Are we joining them too? Ans pondered in Vincents mind.

"I'm not sure." Vincent replied in an undertone.

Amberlie ran out of the cave somewhat out of breath. "I'm sorry for whatever he's done. I swear I have no control over him." Ryou glared back at Amberlie with a 'thats right you don't' body posture before continuing to bound and play with Ans and Nazka. He gave Rerequm a curious sniff but backed away when he knew she felt invaded.

Amberlie listened quietly as introductions were made. "Well I guess I can drop the 'fifteen year old boy' looking for work plan." She thought to herself. She took off her brothers hat and slid it into her bag. Long black hair cascaded over her face. She quickly tied it back into a ponytail.

Ryou looked up at Cynoc and Vincent. "I'm going to go make friends with the caretakers who see their dragonets as children and not burdens." Ryou said. He went up to Vincent first and did a figure eight between his legs, petting his light blue scales up against the bottom of the mans leather shorts. Amberlie rolled her eyes. "Come here you." She said in a teasing tone and scooped him up, just as he was on his way to make friends with Cynoc.

"Are you jealous?" Amberlie looked around. "I'm gonna have to get used to that." she thought.
"How do you know what jealous is?"
"Mom taught me lots of stuff when I was in that shell. I don't think she knew I could hear her but I did. "
"Apparently she never taught you that you were in an egg not a shell."
"That isn't the point, and you didn't answer me."
"Well your mom did leave me in charge of you."
"You are jealous! You do care about me!"

Ryou squirmed out of her arms and smiled back at her. He had been away from his new companions for too long and wanted to go back to playing. He cast an inviting look back towards Rerequm, hoping maybe she would eventually come play. Amberlie watched her dragonet. "Yeah, yeah I do."

Amberlie looked back at the group. It seemed peculiar that so many would be brought to watch dragonets at the same time. She decided to speak her mind. "So I'm guessing we got brought here after the Dragon's breeding season seeing how there's so many of us. Does anyone actually know what they are doing as far as caring for these little guys goes?"

Cynoc smiled as he watched Nazka darting around, checking out and playing with the other dragonets. He could tell she was having a good time and enjoying herself. He was happy that she was already making some friends, and it seemed like he might be making some to, at the rate things were going. He turned back to face the three newcomers at the entrance of the cave, interested.

"I'm Cynoc, new around her just like we all seem to be. My daughter over there is Nazka, who was recently giving into my care." Cynoc said to them, emphasizing the word daughter just in case she was still paying attention to what he was saying. He shot a quick glance over at her, to see she had stopped and appeared to be beaming up at him before going back to interacting with the other dragonets. He decided to continue on with what he had come up with so far.

"I think your right, Amberlie, was it? The fact that we all managed to all show up at roughly the same time is probably either directly related to this sickness I've heard is supposed to be taking over the dragons up here, and or their mating season. As for taking care of them, one of my previous instructors was a dragon caretaker, though when I was with him the dragon was already grown up pretty much and was able to take care of itself mostly. From the stories he told me though, it's no different then have a human kid. They pretty much eat anything, and a lot of it at that. It's been out to sound like being a dragonets caretaker is the same as having a puppy or a kitten. There just bigger, smarter, and will eventually fly and shoot things out of there mouths." Cynoc summed up, nodding to himself after thinking about if he left anything out. Nope, that was about it.

Of course, Krain did not listen to Ion. She could still hear him ahead of her, thankfully, scrabbling along. From the few words that drifted back in her direction (a very strange and unsettling feeling when such sounds were in her head...) he thought that the situation was intensely amusing and was having the time of his short life. The "old world," as he referred to his egg, had never held such a sport as chasing. Ion rolled her eyes and increased her speed and lengthened her stride. The crazy thing had no concept of what this "new world" was like and was likely to tumble off the side of the mountain if she didn't catch him.

Suddenly, as the pair of them rounded yet another bend in the darkness, there was a large illuminated cavern before them. Ion caught sight of a group of human-shaped figures just before the ground and the ceiling switched places abruptly. Krain had apparently halted nervously right in front of her. Luckily, her reflexes saved her from breaking her neck and she managed a hasty and sloppy handspring that dumped her on her butt. Huh. At least being a general's daughter was good for something useful.

Before she could get up, Krain was in her face, nudging her cheek enthusiastically. "Mom, you flew! Do it again!"

Ion groaned. "Sorry, Little One, one time performance only. Anyway, that wasn't exactly flying... Are you okay?"

Krain ignored the question, which Ion took to mean either he was or he was too distracted to notice if he wasn't. "I think you're pretty when you fly. Can I go play? And I am not little!"

Ion snickered as she got back onto her feet. Now he was asking permission to do things, huh? She eyed the group across from her suspiciously, weary of the way she was outnumbered by males. She didn't exactly trust the girl, but boys had the tendency to make her uneasy. Still, the other dragonets frolicking in the corner looked innocent enough. Better to have Krain out of the way if anything unfavorable started. "Let's see, in order, thank you, yes you may, and you will be a little one so long as I'm bigger than you." She shrugged. "That's how it works with moms, I suppose." Krain huffed and nipped at her boots a bit before he blundered off into the group of tussling dragonets. Ion watched him out of the corner of her eye like a hawk. She wasn't completely sure the dragonet understood the concept of gentle.

"Hello." She nodded toward the group. "It seems I'm not very unique in my situation," she said. She hoped they would introduce themselves before she had to give her own name. If there was one among them that would send word back to her father... She shuddered to think of what could happen to Krain then...

(OOC: Sorry Kruor)

Amberlie laughed at Cynoc's description of dragonet watching. "Its going to be a pretty big puppy if you ask me." For the first time in the last week she wasn't thinking about how terrible a turn for the worst her life had taken.

Ryou smelled the air and trotted away from the rest of the group. Just as he did he saw a man carrying a dark colored hatching. Ryou looked up slightly taken aback when the dragonet started snapping. He quickly turned around and went back to the friendly dragonets.

Amberlie's gaze followed Ryou until she saw the man. "Hello. Wow that makes five-well-er six of us with this wonderful responsibility." She said as she saw another girl walk up, slight irony still in her voice. She really was trying to be nicer to her dragonet. "No not unique at all. My name is Amberlie."

Ryou suddenly found himself another tail to chew on. A dark purple one. He looked up at the body attached to the new tail that was still in his mouth. He bit down gently enough that he thought he didn't hurt him a few more times before ditching the tail and playfully pouncing on his neck. Ryou wanted to make sure he was social with all the young dragonets.

Yet another new person came annoying Vincent, how many were there, and why couldn't they all just come at once, save him the trouble of introducing himself over and over. This new person, who dressed as a man couldn't disguise their voice well, or simply didn't. Either way it made Vincent think twice about her, shrugging away the thought he looked on in silence. Shifting his weight onto one foot Amberlies, dragonet began to weave around and between his legs. Casting her a glance, his eyes silently pleading for help he tried not to move too much. Sighing in relief when the dragonet was stolen from his legs he noticed another newcomer, and yet another.

By now Vincent felt like introductions would be wasted, after all the way it was going there was probably still more to come. Looking the women and man over, each in turn he sighed deciding he might as well introduce himself "Me' names Vincen' "He mumbled, his speech hardly understandable unless you could talk the same way.

While all these events took place Ans had been surprisingly quiet, sticking his snout into the air to catch the scent of the newcomers. Sitting as a dog would he let his mouth hang open, his tongue peaking in and out of it. This was the first time Vincent had actually seen the creatures fangs, long but smooth, like a dogs or wolf. Something Vincent thought odd was the lack of teeth surrounding the upper canines when you looked from the front. Looking closer there were two flaps of skin, holes that didn't seem to serve any purpose. Before Vincent could study them some more Ans had snapped shut his jaw, looking to his caretaker with curious eyes.