Stalking quietly in the background, Lazarus watched the brown rider as he set the tightly wrapped package onto the hearth and start up the steps to the Weyrwoman's weyr. He padded up to the package, keeping his ears trained on the steps and voices coming from above. The dragonman had just come back from a trip to the planet of Alskyr with a gift from a Caer he had visited. "It's probably just one or two eggs.....I'll only take one if it is." Lazarus was tired of feeling his heart hunger for companionship.....he could live without friends if he had a firelizard or two. Lazarus wasn't known for his people skills, he either ignored people all together or yelled at them to leave him alone. He just simply didn't want friends. But his human nature was to seek companions, and since he didn't want to bicker with that sharding Ilori over a firelizard from their own hearths, he'd just take one. Quickly, he ripped apart the dense padding that had shielded the eggs from the intense cold of between on the trip home and got down to the eggs themselves. There sat five small eggs, all swirled with different colors from purple to light green. He chose two, both mottled with black splotches, and slunk back off to his room.

Sitting in the dark silence, he clutched the two eggs next to his chest to warm them and dug for some dried wherry strips he had stowed away and a fresh glow so the hatchlings could find him in the dark. Finding both, he sat on his bed to await the hatching. It took so long that he was afraid that the eggs had not survived the cold of being out of hot sand, but one suddenly began to shudder as a hairline crack split up it's middle. A golden muzzle pierced the shell and two claws hooked through the hole and ripped the egg to shrapnel. Sending the most loving thoughts he could manage, Lazarus offered the little gold some meat. It greedily took it and ate itself into stupidity.

"You're Ryu, little one." he said to the sleeping gold. A tiny tail had broken loose from the second egg, and since it was dark, Lazarus at first thought it was a black flit. A rear leg came next, but soon the firelizard had itself lodged in the hole and creeled loudly to be set free. With a groan, Lazarus reached down and gently picked up the egg and crushed it with one squeeze. The second hatchling proved to be surprising as well, for it was a red female. He shoved food into the flits face until it too, was in a stupor. "And you will be Kyofu, my little terror." he said mockingly at the flit. As if the little female understood his tone of voice and took offence, she sunk her teeth into Lazarus's finger. He gritted his teeth to the pain, but didn't shout. Kyofu released his finger and closed her eyes to sleep. "I think we'll get along fine, my new friends." he whispered to the slumbering flits and settled down to sleep as well, the red and gold nestled in the crook of his arm.

The next day...

"Lazarus!" J'son boomed. He stood in the door to Lazarus's room, scowling. "Come downstairs right now." Lazarus rolled his eyes as the Weyrleader pounded downstairs to the kitchen. He rolled out of bed and looked around the room for his two new flits. "Kyofu, Ryu?" he called softly. A chirp came from under the furs in the area of a lump. Lazarus pulled back the fur and saw Kyofu's tail and Ryu's head poke out. "Lazarus, now!" came the shout from downstairs. "I'm coming, you overgrown wherry." he muttered under his breath as he dressed. Scooping the two flits from where they lay under the furs (to the indignation of both) he set them one on each shoulder and padded down the stairs. There stood J'son, Kayla and F'lan, the brownrider who had brought the eggs. He stood, looking innocently up at the adults. "Where did you get your flits, Lazarus?" J'son asked irritably. "I found them on the hearth last night." he said, his voice cold as between. "Really, in a bucket, wrapped in five layers of cloths?" J'son said through gritted teeth. Kayla lay a calming hand on his arm.

"Yes, that's right." Lazarus was getting bored with this stupid dance. "Those were a gift from Caer Brynmor, for the weyrleaders!" J'son exploded. "J'son!" Kayla said, authoritatively. J'son's face was as red as the Red Star itself and Lazarus had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. "Calm down, J'son. It's only a couple of flits for Faranth's sake!" "But he STOLE them right from under our noses, and blatantly ignores our authority!" J'son shouted, his fiery temper showing. Kayla turned to him. "Still, there's no need to yell at the boy." she glared at him, her eyes icy. J'son stomped off outside, cursing vividly. With a sigh, Kayla said to F'lan, "Please go try to calm him." F'lan nodded and followed J'son. Then she turned on Lazarus, her eyes still held their icey anger. "I'm mad at you too Lazarus, but J'son is just tense about other items of business. Now, why did you steal them in the first place?" she asked, he head tilted slightly. "I saw these two rocking, so I thought since there was no one around, I'd take them." he lied easily. "You could have called us down, we we're just upstairs." she said. Lazarus shrugged. "Didn't see the point." "The other three eggs died because you left the pail uncovered." Kayla said, gesturing to the three cold, unhatched eggs still in their bucket on the hearth. "Sorry, I didn't know Alskyrian breeds were so weak." he said with a smirk.

"You won't get to me the way you did to J'son." Kayla said calmly, then nodded to a large blue sitting in the weyrbowl. "That's a Searchrider for you from Tripaldi. It's your choice to go, but I have half a mind to make you. You could use the discipline of a weyr that doesn't know you and love you as we do." Kayla sat down on the edge of the table as Lazarus began to fidget under her strangely intense gaze. He felt as though she were looking directly into his soul with ice blue eyes. "If it will get you people off my back, I'll go." Lazarus complained. Only Kayla had ever been able to shake him so. She sat back and smiled. "Go pack then, another snow storm is blowing in and the rider wants to leave before it gets here." Lazarus stalked angrily back up to his room, cursing himself with each step. Why did he say he'd go? It's not like a dragon would want him anyway. But he had made a promise, and the only thing he was good for was his word. He grudgingly packed his meager things and was off to Tripaldi in an hours time.