SALAMANDER HATCHING -- New Salamander Acquisition Thread

[Blinded By Silence]

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]When he woke, he was warm. Not hot, but pleasantly toasty and comfortable. He yawned big and rubbed his eyes, blinking around blearily. With a gasp, he looked down at the spot the egg had been. Now, sleeping soundly, was a pale blue salamander, its glow gently brightening and dimming with each breath. He smiled tiredly. It had worked. There was a sigh of relief and then a yawn before Fire Bringer rested his head once more and fell back to sleep.

w: 786

[Aria Starstone]

Creeping Rhythm stared down at the odd looking egg he had found. It had been an interesting day as he had gone exploring in an area he had never been before, and saw new things galore, but this odd little egg had definitely been the capstone to the day. He felt like he had maybe heard about these things somewhere, some kind of story about how they needed to be cared for and some strange but rare and maybe wonderful thing would emerge.

Rhythm considered long and hard, then he carefully collected the egg and carried it to a place that was both warm and nicely dry... He had the idea that heat was needed to hatch any egg, and dry would protect it from some kind of fungus maybe? He was not sure, but this seemed logical to him.  It was a place that had gotten, and would get, decent sunlight to keep the place warm, on an island on the edge of the swamp, near the place one went to go to the desert.

The spot he selected had sun-heated rocks behind him, so that his back was to them, in the hopes they would prevent something from sneaking up on him, and nicely warmed soiled beneath him. He did not want the egg to grow cold over night, though, so he decided to find a way to insulate the egg. As such, he carefully built a nest of soft plants around the egg, and under, and then curled up next to it, figuring he would wait the egg out and see what came of it.

(269 words)

[Aria Starstone]

Rhythm sighed as he closed his eyes, head resting next to the egg, wondering if his own warmth would help the egg stay warmer too. He was not foolish, he knew that he did not know what the hell he was up to, or what he was really doing, but he was sure going to try.

(56 words)

[Aria Starstone]

20. Waking up from a nap, you and your egg are covered in frog eggs. Mama frog glares on protectively.
8. A smack of jellyfish float through your nest. Slight electrical pulses run through their long reaching tendrils.
22. Just at the edges of your chosen nest, you find some delicious berries to help keep your stomach from grumbling.
13. You eat a strange mushroom and lose track of some time.
16. Howling winds blow through your nest and keep knocking your egg out of place.

79 = 1 Salamander!

Rhythm suddenly felt cold, and rather wet, and he woke up with a VERY displeased expression on his face. Had it begun to rain? He looked around, and then saw the mother frog glaring at him and the absolute MASS of eggs covering him and his own little egg-friend. He glared back and bared his teeth, moving in a way that threatened to eat the frog... He was feeling peckish and if this rude thing was going to cover him in eggs, he would happily eat her and her babies in response. The frog made a shocked sound and hopped off at high speed as he lunged at her, and he just missed her. His teeth clicked and he watched her disappear from his line of sight with a sneer... And then began to clean all the eggs off his new friend. He didn't actually eat them, tempting as it was... He just dumped them in a nearby puddle, to give them SOME chance at life. He shook all of the eggs covering himself off, as well, and then settled back in, grumpily.

As he began to relax again, he stared in shock as he realized a bunch of jellyfish were flying RIGHT towards him... And even more importantly, towards the egg he was guarding. He swore, and shifted his body so that he was carefully hovering over the egg, protecting it with himself but not risking crushing it. He hissed in pain as the group moved over him, each shock causing him to want to tremble, but he held as still as he could through the entire time the group passed.

When it was gone, he settled down, hard, on the grass besides the nest, his body trembling with the aftershocks from the electricity. He whimpered softly, and found himself thinking longingly of food. There was a moment where he was considering giving up, or similar, and then he opened his eyes, and to his delight, he noticed a bunch of wonderful looking berries right next to his nest he had set up. He pulled them closer, and ate them all, quickly and happily... And maybe a little too quickly, because at the bottom of the pile he had made, he ate what he thought was the last berry, but to his dismay, he realized he had eaten an unfamiliar tasting mushroom.

He found himself staring out at the swamp around him, brain going slowly into a state of silent nothingness. It was rather peaceful, in it's way... Relaxation, with no sense of what was going on around him. When he came back to himself, however, he gave a sharp cry as he realized how much time had passed while he was in that strange mental place. He looked over the egg with a frantic expression, and then heaved a great sigh of relief to discover it was fine. He settled in again, to wait, wondering how much longer he would be here with the egg.

He drifted off, his chin resting next to his little egg... But was awakened by the sound of howling winds. He looked up, shocked, and saw the trees that were on the island whipping and thrashing, and his little egg was being shoved around. Rhythm stood up and moved himself... Finding the strength of the winds making it hard, but still... And wrapped himself around the egg as best he could. Every time the egg shifted, he gently pushed it back into place with his snoot, taking the worst of the wind's wrath onto himself, just as he had the Jellies.

When the winds finally died down, he let his head rest on the ground, not moving again from this position, even though it was not the most comfortable... At least he would rest while protecting his find.

(636 words)

[Aria Starstone]

The egg began to roll and jostle as Rhythm found himself almost ready to sleep again, and he lifted his head, shifting enough that the egg had room to hatch. He was, for once in his life, silent in his excited waiting.

(42 Words)

[Aria Starstone]

Rhythm watched as the shell finally split, almost peeling apart rather than cracking, and a lovely little red Salamander finished hatching from the egg. The little fellow (or lass, Rhythm was not really sure), stretched itself out, and looked around, then, in a way that Rhythm THOUGHT seemed delighted, the young Salamander darted up Rhythm's leg, and settled on his shoulder.

"A friend... My very own new friend. How lovely. I think you shall be wonderful at my side, my friend, and you were definitely worth the hours and the pain to hatch. It is good to meet you."

(99 words

Total: 1102 words, claiming for 5 RP points.)

[Tiarana]

Chrysanthemum Ashes had coveted the rare and wonderful salamander for years - decades even - since she had first come to the swamp. There was little she wanted more than a little flaming creature, in fact, but in all those years she had never had the fortune of finding one.

Until today.

Someone at one of the wild parties that she and her lovely Jasmine Smoke still threw every night without fail had tipped her off to a secret location, where sometimes - just maybe - a salamander went to lay its eggs. Ash had set off immediately, and after several weeks of observation, she spotted the salamander as it climbed into the hollow of a particular stump to lay its eggs. And the next time it left in search of food, she gently, ever so gently, removed one of the eggs from the nest. She carefully slipped the delicate egg into the center of a melon that had been split in half and scurried away to prepare a hatching space for her new friend.

There was always the large bonfire, constantly roaring, in the communal clearing. But Chrysanthemum Ashes worried about party kin - not always the most graceful, or in their right minds - disturbing her egg if she placed it there. So she built a small stone oven some distance away, with rocks in a circle and more rocks fitted on top to make a little chamber. In the bottom she stoked a fire, using flames from the bonfire; in the top she placed her egg and settled down to wait.

[Tiarana]

The salamander egg safely ensconced in its little oven, Chrysanthemum Ashes broke out some mushrooms and settled in for a relaxing evening of staring into the fire.

But she fell asleep!

When she awoke, the stones from the oven were knocked about and the egg was gone. Ash stared in horror. If she ran, maybe she could find the culprit before they got too far, but what if it was animal and the egg was eaten? She jumped up to start searching and spotted a pair of floxes playing around with something.

"Hey, you!" She chased after them. They deposited the object in a pitcher plant and when she ran to investigate she found her egg. Oh no no no. This was much too wet and cold for a fire salamander! Quickly she pulled it out, holding it carefully in her mouth to warm it up as she put the oven back together. Finally, the egg was settled back into its nice, warm resting place, and Ash settled down next to it to watch it with a more careful eye.

Some hours passed. Ash carefully maintained the fire at a consistent temperature, ensuring the egg would be nice and hot and dry. But a peal of thunder from above startled her from her dreamy reverie.

It was going to rain! Her little fire would be put out! But the rain was rarely heavy enough to put out the bonfire in the clearing, which was typically attended by several kin. She'd just have to bring the egg there and hope that she could stick closely enough to fire to keep it warm and dry.

Carefully, she scooped the egg out of the stone oven and wrapped it in a small bundle of leaves and bark. But the rain hit suddenly and forcefully, like a shitty hotel shower, and she was so startled she dropped the egg, which rolled away into the darkness.

A string of profanity might have been heard by any kin passing by as Ash chased after the egg. In the end she caught it - she was afraid to unwrap the bundle and check for damage, so she simply brought it back to the fire and collapsed down, exhausted.

The next day, she was covered in an itchy poison ivy rash, half her face swollen. But the egg was safe (?).

"Wasp!" she bawled at an acha curled nearby. "You need to keep the ivy out of here!"

(changed the order around for The Narrative tm)

13. You eat a strange mushroom and lose track of some time.
3. You doze off and mischievous floxes steal and hide your egg in a pitcher plant not too far off.
11. The weather changes dramatically in the night, and you have to protect your egg's chosen habitat.
10. A sudden downpour causes you lose your grip on the leaf bundle the egg is in; it starts to roll away down the hill.
12. That greenery around the edges of your chosen nest is poison ivy of the intensely itchy kind.

(Total: 49, one salamander)

[Tiarana]

Chrysanthemum Ashes was busy bawling out Wasp when she heard an odd chirping. She turned to the egg immediately and carefully unwrapped it. Out crawled a tiny, perfect, red salamander. Ash squealed in delight, poison ivy forgotten for a moment, and nestled the salamander into her shoulder. This was going to be her very best friend.

[Astraea]

In Harmony peeked around a tree.

One of her family members, one of the more quiet ones at that, had been kicking up a fuss all morning. Mother was usually to herself with some of the other bird types, not very needy, but today she had been clucking and shouting very loudly with much distress. Harmony could hear the chicken across the length of her territory.

"Hey, hey!" She approached the nesting grounds. "Whats going on?"

The chicken's feathers were puffed up from agitation. She walked around Harmony, clucking, and headed to one of her nests. The doe turned and followed Mother and watched at the chicken began raking at one nest. After a moment or two, the bird kicked out an egg. That shouldn't have been too unusual, she was an egg laying creature. The problem, that In Harmony quickly picked up on, was that the egg that had been dug out wasn't a chicken egg.

"Huh." Harmony gently nosed the egg. It was semi-transparent, pale, near-white color, and felt slightly gooey and soft to the touch. Definatly not a chickens egg. "Okay, okay, I see, I see." she tried to comfort Mother who was still agitated at the very sight of the foreign egg. Harmony very carefully picked up the egg in her mouth, careful to not put any pressure on it.

"Where to put it though?" she though, looking around her territory. Others would likely reject the egg as Mother had done, others still would consider it a snack. Since she'd never seen this sort of egg before, she was completely in the dark on how keep it safe till it hatched.

She decided to take it back to her personal part of the swamp so she could keep an eye on it herself.

In Harmony dug under some roots into the cold ground, lining and padding the hole with some damp mosses she pulled from the same tree. She carefully set the egg into the nest.

"There we go. Hope this is good little one."

[Astraea]

In Harmony's stomach growled loudly. Ahh..she hadn't had anything to eat because she'd been awakened early and hadn't stopped to eat before going to check on Mother. Fortunatly the bushes around the tree actually had some berries on them. She ate a few with a happy sigh, her hunger being assuaged for the time being.

Just as she was picking off the last berries for her breakfast when a large, unknown bird landed near the nest and was eyeing the egg. Harmony stood up and checked just as the bird poked it's head into the hole.
"Ah! Ah! No!" she shouted, stomping her hooves right next to the animal. She made a screeching noise which caused the bird to pop it's head out from the nesting area. Now that the bird was distacted, she used a hoof and made a kicking motion into the bird, forcing it back into the air without actually hurting it. Hurriedly she checked on the egg and luckily it seemes mostly undamaged.

With a relieved exhale, In Harmony turned to go back to her personal area when her stomach growled again. Well..she hadn't eaten a lot of berries and after the excitment of the bird, maybe she was just hungry again. Rooting around the bushes where the berries grew, she saw some small light orange and brown mushrooms with white speckles all over it. Harmony was pretty sure these were the ediable kind, no worrisome colors or cap shapes, so she quickly ate them up and settled next to the nest. She was feeling pretty comfortable and closed her eyes, humming a gentle tune. When she opened them again, to her a moment later, the sun was low in the sky. In a panic, Harmony got to her hooves and hurriedly checked on the nest.

Fortunatly, no other birds or other animals had disturbed the egg while Harmony had zoned out. Late day sunshine peaked into the nesting area. As she tucked a few more bits of damp moss into the hole, she noticed movement under the soft shell. She stopped what she was doing immedatly to observe the egg, hoping it might hatch. The unknown creature inside shifted slightly in it's pre-life slumber before the egg stopped moving. After watching it for a bit longer, hoping for more movement or hatching, Harmony decided to leave the nest be.

Her stomach growled again. Ugh. Harmony ate the last of the berries around the tree and settled down for the evening. The "nap" during the day gave her enough energy to keep watch during the night.

22. Just at the edges of your chosen nest, you find some delicious berries to help keep your stomach from grumbling.
1. A bird flies down and tries to make off with your egg; fend it off before it does too much damage.
13. You eat a strange mushroom and lose track of some time.
24. When the light hits just so, you see something moving under the slightly-translucent skin of the egg.
22. Just at the edges of your chosen nest, you find some delicious berries to help keep your stomach from grumbling.

[Astraea]

The tiniest of hisses made Harmony snap awake. She must have drifted off to sleep sometime in the night. Scrambling to the nesting spot, she poked her head in and gasped. Where the egg used to be was now a small green lizard surronded by gooey shell peices, some still stuck together. The lizard had a grass like coat down it's back.

No, not a lizard, a salamander!

The salamander squawked at her but Harmony just continued to stare. She'd only heard of such things in whispers. The creature crawled forward and up onto her nose. It was moist feeling was a little like a frog. It squawked again.

"Hi." she replied.

There was no way anyone was going to believe this.

[Astraea]

"Keeper! Keeper! Stop! Drop it! Drop it right this second!"

In Harmony chased after her flox as he took off through the brush. By only chance, she had come across her nine tail companion as he was prancing by, an egg in his mouth. She'd been pleased that he was pleased, an egg snack was sometimes rare treat in the area as many of the birds were quite protective of their eggs. But then she did a double take.

The egg that Keeper had wasn't a bird egg. It was the distinct thin, moist looking shell that made her whip around and order him to put his prize down. Of course, Keeper wasn't in the mood to share and instead of obeying, he took off running.

Harmony tried hard to keep up. She absolutely could not let Keeper eat that egg.

"KEEPER! STOP! STOP!!! PUT THAT EGG DOWN NOW!" she shouted rather frantically.

Perhapes it was the desperation in her voice that caused Keeper to slow down and pause, turning his head towards her. Harmony quickly caught up, panting.

"Good, good, now please Keeper, drop it."

Keeper chattered around his treat. He was not interested in the slightest in giving up his egg, he had found it fair and square.

"I know, I know. I'm really sorry but I truely need that egg."

Keeper made a growling sound around the egg.

"I know. I'm sorry! Look, if you give up this egg, I will get you two eggs."

The flox cocked his head, interested. "Mrrrr...?"

"Three eggs!" She had no idea how she was going 3 eggs, maybe she could convince Mother to part with a few.

Keeper smiled around the egg, his nine tails rippling happily. He sat the egg down and Harmony finally exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

"Thank you Keeper." The flox give a little yip.

Knowing how precious the egg was, Harmony took it up in her mouth and headed back to her personal part of her territory. The nesting area where Meadow had hatched was still there, although it was a bit colder then normal. She wasn't even sure if an egg would hatch in winter, but salamanders weren't normal creatures.

The moss that had fostered Meadow had grown up the inside of the tree and curled around the tree a bit. After hatching her first salamander, the tree where the familiar was born had blossomed somewhat. The bushes around the tree were evergreen and small flowers, moss, and vines had entwined around the base of the tree. Because of the weather, Harmony packed the inside of the nesting area with dried grasses that she used in her own bedding.

"Okay...here we go again..." Harmony carefully placed the egg into the nest.

[Astraea]

This time, Harmony was more prepaired.

She ate well just after settling the egg into it's nest. No more random snack attacks this time and the possibility of eating weird things would be totally out. Feeling 100% ready for the 24 hour marathon that hatching this egg would entail, she settle next to the nesting area to wait.

Voices distracted In Harmony not long into her watch. Oh, some kin were cutting through her territory again. Her ears flattened against her head and she stood up to confront the tresspassers as they came closer. Noticing another kin in front of them, the misfits approached her, asking what she was up too and why was she there alone. Harmony was curt, informing the group that they were not welcome here and to move along quickly "or else." They others laughed at Harmony's threat, there was no way a doe like her could do anything them. In Harmony rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck. She'd spent a lot of days in an arena learning how to take a hit and give one back three times as hard.

The misfits were sent packing, several wolves also on their tails as the sound of the scuffle had attracted her pack's attention. She'd taken a couple hits, but nothing she couldnt handle. She'd be sore, but it would be worth it. Settling back in for the afternoon, Harmony daydreamed about what sort of salamander would hatch.

Harmony shivered hard. After the sun had gone down, the temperature plummeted, much, much lower then expected. She was deeply concerned about the egg and checked on it. The nest was becoming wet, the dry grasses she'd put in eariler had started soaking up the water from the frost and ground and was becoming damp. This wasn't good.

She started to look around for something to help keep the nest dry. Crud crud crud crud. She started pawing through her own things, kicking out a number of things before coming across her winter covering. The skin was of a larger animal that had had white fur. When it was deeply cold, like it was now, she pulled it onto her body to help her stay comfortable. She pulled the skin over to the nesting area and pushed it inside. The fur was put against the wet ground and she tore more of her bed apart, putting fresh, dry grasses onto the leather side of the skin. Satisfied, Harmony placed the egg back in the nest and hoped that it would be ok.

Settling back, she tucked herself closely into a ball, shivering in the cold. She'd spent a lot of nights like this before she'd had her winter covering, one more wouldn't kill her. Her breath puffed in the air. The night went on, cold and quiet.

The light was beginning was a sliver on the horizon. Not only was warmth coming, but the end of her vigil. Harmony got up and shook herself vigoriously trying to warm up and flick frost off her coat. Looking out into the swamp, she saw colorful lights. Strange. They made no noise and seemed to float closer. In Harmony watched them carefully because they seemed to be heading her way. Then, the cause of the colors came into sight. A smack of Jellyfish! Harmony watched in wonder. It wasn't often you see such a thing happening in the colder parts of the year and it made her happy to see such a rare sight. One of the jellyfish bumped gently against the nesting tree, trying to get around it.

"Oh..oh..be careful.." she said softly, worried for both the jellyfish and the egg. The jellyfish gently bumped against the tree again, seeming to have a difficult time getting around it. It slowly sank, bumping the tree as it did, looking for a way forward. Harmony gasped as the jellyfish entered the nest and stuck her head in after. The tendrils of the wild jellyfish instantly touched and defensively wrapped around her muzzel and nose.

"AYE AYE AYE!!" Harmony cried, yanking her head out, the jellyfish still attached. It continued to shock and sting her as she tried desperatly to shake it off her. She finally freed herself of the creature and it managed to float on to try to catch up with the rest of the smack since it was no longer hampered by the tree. Sting marks crossed arounder her face and they burned.

As the sun finally started turning the sky blue again, Harmony plodded over to the nest and sat directly outside it, head resting just outside of the boarder of the grasses and closed her eyes.

She must of fallen asleep, because the next sensation she felt was a chill running up her nose. She sighed as the pain of the jellyfish stings were ebbing away and slowly opened her eyes. As her vision focused, she saw a blue-ish creature on the tip of her nose. Ah! Harmony sat up fast, cracking her head on the top of the tree opening. It was fine, it's fine. Just a little pain.

The salamander, perhapes sensing the pain, crawled straight up her face onto the side of her head that was slowly starting to swell. The relief was almost instantaneous.

"You..are going to be very handy my new friend."

14. A band of misfits wants to see the egg and are ready to rumble.
14. A band of misfits wants to see the egg and are ready to rumble.
11. The weather changes dramatically in the night, and you have to protect your egg's chosen habitat.
21. Not too far away, you find some additional supplies to more comfortably protect your egg.
8. A smack of jellyfish float through your nest. Slight electrical pulses run through their long reaching tendrils.

[Astoria]

Cloaked in Dreams had been enjoying the cooler morning air near a local swamp when she found herself staring at something above, a bird had stolen her attention, this caused her to trip over a fallen branch. She landed with a rather loud ump-hf and as she caught her breath she realized she was staring at something interesting in the process. Luckily she hadn't landed upon it, but not to far from her face was a unique sight. Was that a salamander egg? She herself hadn't really gotten a chance to interact with the creatures, but she had heard stories of others. Finding her feet again she looked around for some materials. Finding a cool and wet spot, she gathered up some moss and a bit of dried bark and fashioned a makeshift nest in a hollow stump. After she was satisfied with her masterpiece she returned to where she had spotted the egg and carefully picked it up in her mouth. It was soft and strange and she tried not to gag because it was something she'd hope to not have to put in her mouth again if she could help it. Placing it gently in it's new bed she stood back and proudly examined her work. Nuzzling it gently she shifted it and some of the moss and bark around to keep it safe and secure.