As evening's chill settles over the land below, the soft sounds of a flute piping a lulliby from a distant Shadow rises and falls in slow, measured rhythm. The song might pull up images of family, of wild skies and the security of home. Harper is sitting near the caged wyverns and the eggs. Kind of half way between them. Clearly, her aim is to lull the hatchlings to sleep while also reassure those growing in the eggs that there is no danger here.

Moxon, having been back-and-forth between city and forest of late, arrives in storm-blooded fashion, barely dressed against the mountains' icy chill. "Rrrr. Hah. Rrraaa. Rrf. Hup! Ho!" he climbs, chalk-dusted hands all he appears to need -- although there might be an emergency spike under the eyepatch. Topping the mountain, he slips his coat back on to conceal the trap-and-tool-laden harness beneath.

Liya comes in, taking a look at who is here and smiling briefly. She looks a bit tired, but not overly so. She heads over to check on the five eggs, kneeling down and gently touching the first four briefly, and then she looks at the fifth, reaching out a hand, but she stays there for a long long moment.

Harper hears Moxon before she sees him. The song fades away to the faint snores of the wyvern in their cages. Rising, she dusts herself off as the flute is secreted away somewhere on her person. Perhaps it is sheethed along a hem so that it is invisible unless one knows where to look. He is offered a wave and a smile though the smile fades as she notes Liya reaching toward that fifth egg. Concern flares in her eyes and she moves closer to wait.

Moxon was likewise going to rib Liya about -- well, something -- and that is suddenly less important. "... everything okay?" he asks, breathlessly, brows knitted as only ogres can knit brows?

Liya's expression goes very tight, and her eyes look like they're just shy of tears. She shakes her head, sadly. "This one - it didn't make it; there's no life in it any more."

All joy in the encroaching night flees on hearing those words. Skirting the effs, she makes her way to Liya's side. One hand moves to rest a little awkwardly on the woman's shoulder, "Oh...no." Her own pain rises to echo Liya's, or ring on its own, "Ah, poor little thing." Pain and guilt. A heady mixture.
Moxon hangs his head.

Liya takes a breath and then she says, "That is how life goes. It's fleeting and should be full of joy." A moment, and she touches that one egg again, leaving it for now in the nest. "D'you think we should get someone else to look and make sure I am right? I would hate to be wrong, and not care for the egg if that's all lit needs."

Moxon says, "... who else? Mandrake, mebbe?"

Harper nods slowly, her brow furrowing, "That is my guess, Moxon. A Mandrake might be able to tell. I do not personally know any that I can think of off the top of my head, but can travel into the city to see if I can find one." Her gaze slips to the one egg there, Poor lost little thing. Sober, she gently squeezes Liya's shoulder and steps back, "I will need to prepare."

Liya takes a breath, before she admits, "It's the Mandrakes who trained me how to use my life sight, but they may have a few tricks I do not. That would be a very good idea, if you are able to do so."

Harper looks back at the two by the nest as she heads to where she was camping. "Let me just get a few things and I will head back now. I will get a horse from the stables to speed the process."

Liya stays by the nest, settled down and watching over the eggs, with every bit as much brooding care as a wyvern egg-caretaker might. "Thank you, Harper," she says softly.

Moxon says, "Can I send anything with you? To help?"

Harper looks over her shoulder and her expression moves between her friends and the eggs, "You are welcome, Liya. Moxon? Not that I can think of. I wish I knew one. I would send an arrow." One shoulder lifts and she turns to head down. Although she does take an expedient route, it is not quiet as dangerous a path as Moxon took on the way up.

--[ Wyvern Weyrs ]-----------------------------------[ The Warden's Seat ]----

It took some climbing to get this far. This area, roughly halfway up
the mountain, is relatively flat - though the edges are quite steep.
As with any flat or even slightly-non-precipitous surface on a
mountain, it's covered in trees, mostly wind-toughened evergreens. And
thank goodness for them, as they serve as natural windbreaks for the
constant breeze.

Liyandra is here.

Kiernan has arrived.

There are wyverns here. Sure, there's the two in the cage, less than a year old. Alive, unhappy, but surviving. And there's the eggs, four of them now, as one did not make it. Sadly. Then there's the other three - one a miniature one, that settles on Liya's shoulder contentedly. The other two about shoulder high, nearly big enough to ride, certainly older than the others. Yes, Liya has brought her own wyverns here, and is working with them as the learn to wear a riding harness. No rider, but the harness. So far, they've eaten three of them, and torn one to shreds, to judge by the remnants piled nearby.

Kiernan has been here, at least once a day, for the last several weeks, checking on the eggs and the babies. Mostly in the middle of the night, when most sane people are asleep. He wings in on silent white wings, a snowy owl. He comes in for a landing, and once on the ground shifts to his human shape. "Hallo Liya," he says.

Someone has to take the late shift. The three with Liya have not been here, until today. But today, Liya judged it time to bring the two groups together. Mayhem is around somewhere, lounging, as cats do. The shoulder wyvern squawks and flies up to land atop the cage. The two wyverns within hiss, but don't try to hide any more. They just keep saying don't touch me. Which of course the little one atop their cage isn't going to do. Imp and Sprite pause what they are doing, wings fluttering threateningly, and then at a command from Liya they settle down. "Kiernan. Good day. I think you are hear early today."

Kiernan smile sat the little wyvern at op the cage, and seems pleased that the two caged babies aren't hiding anymore. He approaches their cage, keeping a safe distance between himself and the two bigger ones Liya's working with. "Aye, I am. Thought I'd come check to see how these two're doing," he says, nodding toward the cage. "How are ye?" He stops before the cage, not touching it but very much in the space of the two wyverns within, murmuring to the pair soothingly, even as he's sending soothing and reassuring feelings toward them.

"I'm good. Have you met Imp and Sprite?" Liya asks, with a smile. "These two are older, and have been with me for some time. I think they're almost big enough to ride, but not quite yet." She shrugs, and then says, "And of course Pixie over there is the one that Dirk rescued and brought to me, but she doesn't seem to be about to grow any time soon at all."

Kiernan concentrates on the two within the cage for several moments, murmuring to them all the while. Then he turns away and pads toward Liya. He shakes his head. "I dinnae think so," he says. "They're gorgeous." Something of his feelings of admiration for the two bigguns and the little one are broadcast toward all three of Liya's companions. "Simply breathtaking."

Liya waits patiently, her own empathy for the moment on her own wyverns. Pixie flies back and lands on her shoulder again, then cranes her neck out much like Mayhem usually does, sniffing at Kiernan. Liya chuckles, and then calls Imp over. He pads over and settles on his haunches, snuffling a bit, and giving Kiernan a wary eye. "They need a bit more socializing, but they are used to people and other animals," Liya says. "At the house, there's the kids and the dogs, not to mention Mayhem who I think they believe is an oddly shaped wyvern. And how are you doing?"

Kiernan grins at Pixie's antics, and then nods to LIya's words. "Socializin' is importan'," he agrees. "Moran Cheann still doesnae like people save for a few. 'course, tha' may have somethin' tae do with how often I'm away from people.." Oh yeah, nobody else to blame but yourself for that, Kier! Speaking of Moran Cheann, the white eagle still flies overhead, riding thermals. Scouting, probably. "I'm doin' okay, more 'r less. Y'know. Bein' a hermit 'n all." He grins.

Liya shakes her head, glancing up at the eagle and sending a brief empathic greeting its way. "They are coming along, but they won't be rideable for some time, if we let them age naturallly. I have been wondering if we need to consider some way of - making them grow faster, but I don't know much about any such things. And I confess, I am not convinced it will work. I know that training while they are young and growing is very important to almost any beast, especially the dangerous ones."

Kiernan nods his agreement. "How would ye go about gettin' them tae grow faster?" He sounds curious about that. He glances to the two older babies getting used to harness. "How're they takin' to th' harness?" He looks back to Liya, the question clear in his eyes and expression. "Why do ye think 'twillnae work?"

"I have no idea how one would go about doing that, but if we want them to be rideable faster than nature intends, then something will have to be done," Liya says, a little wryly. "It's totally outside of my area of expertise." She gestures to the ex-harnesses on the ground. "So far, they're winning, and the harnesses are losing, but give it time." That said, she reaches to pet Imp, who nearly purrs, happy with the attention. Certainly they've bonded to Liya very nicely. "I also think - the riders will have to be involved in training them, because they do seem to bond to a person," she adds slowly. "As for why it wouldn't work? It's a difference between 3 months of training say, compared to 2 years."

Kiernan looks to the ex-harnesses on the ground, and laughs aloud. "Well then! How'd they get th' harnesses off? Bitin' or fire 'r somethin' else?" He walks over to the harnesses to look them over, to note what materials the harnesses happen to be and the damage to them. "Oh, aye. 'tis goin' tae be a matter o' discoverin' wha'll work for wyverns, I imagine. Do Imp 'n Sprite fly yet?"

"Yes, they fly very young, actually," Liya says. "The ones in the cage are capable of it, but so far, there's a bit of an issue with letting them out." She grins, as Kiernan laughs. The harnesses so far are leather, hardened perhaps, but obviously not something the wyverns have any trouble biting or melting with fire. "Both, I think - biting and fire, they are quite determined." And also they are good watchwyverns, since Liya can trust them to come back to her, even if they do go off for a bit.

Kiernan looks closely over those harnesses. "Hrm," he murmurs. "I think a' a star', the harness material needs tae be fire resistan' if we cannae find somethin' fireproof, and toucher so they cannae bite through i'." He turns from the harnesses and walks back over to Liya. "Y'know, we can probably ge' chain o' th' righ' shape, jus' tae ge' them used tae wearin' somethin'."

Liya considers for a moment and then she nods. "That might be a requirement, especially if we can get a very lightweight but strong chain. Can you make something like that?" Hopefully she looks at Kiernan, not at all sure who might be able to. "And if not, I bet we can ask the rest of the rangers. Someone is bound to know someone."

Kiernan shakes his head. "Nay. I cannae make anythin' like tha'. You're goin' tae need a smith for somethin' like tha'. Migh' be somethin' tha's goin' tae have tae be go' ou' in shadow. Hrm. Maybe somethin' can be found a' th' docks. They use chain for anchors, aye?" He grins and perks up. "Aye, someone else is bound tae know someone."

"I am sure we can work that out," Liya says. "We've got House Gozar working on building them and us a home here. Now we just have to figure out how to get the eggs to hatch, and how to teach them to let us ride them." A pause. "Oh, and how to grow them faster, I guess. Maybe." She shrugs. "I think there's tea. Someone said something about tea earlier, before they beat a hasty retreat when they saw Imp and Sprite."

Kiernan nods his agreement. "Things'll work out," he says. "The eggs will hatch when they hatch. Maybe we need to get them warmer?" He considers, and glances between Liya and her two larger wyverns. "Have you ever tried to sit on them?" He eyeballs the wyverns, then Liya. "Or, I suppose, drape yourself over their backs, maybe? You're pretty small, so just leaning on them should be fine."

Liya laughs, and nods. "They'll let me lean on them, at least." She is closest to Imp, so she puts her hands on his back, and leans. "And I do know how to ride a horse pretty well," she adds with a grin. Imp rumbles a bit, but stands, and lets her do so.

"Well, that's a good start," he says. "And a good indication that when they're big enough, they'll probably let you ride them without too much fuss. Getting them there though..." He grunts and shakes his head. "Growing. There's a lot of odd things out in Shadow. Maybe we can find something."

Liya nods her head after a moment. "I think it can work, but of course, I've had these two for a couple years already training them. So one of the things to note - is that with time, all things are possible. If we speed up their growth, that eliminates some of that time, repetition and getting to know them. I am concerned that they will be untrustworthy."

Kiernan considers that, and nods slowly, thoughtful. "Well, maybe to get by that, they'll have to be with their trainer as much as possible. I dunno. It's possible that though the development of their bodies speeds up, maybe their minds won't and they'll still be immature. That has it's own problems, though." He shakes his head and moves over to have a look at the eggies.

The four remaining eggs have strong live sources, and they have perhaps doubled in size. "I think they will hatch soon," Liya says. "Couple weeks, no more." They are near a couple fires, and with nice warm bedding around them. There is definitely a temperature difference in the area they are in, protected from the elements.

Kiernan doesn't have anything to allow him to sense life sources, but he does have really good hearing. Maybe he hears something within. Of course, he can likely sense what little emotion they have too. He smiles at the eggs, and nods to Liyandra. "I'm looking forward to them hatching."

"Me too," Liya says, with a smile. She lets Imp go, and he turns to nuzzle her arm, before he heads over to where Sprite is hanging back. "I should go pay some attention to Sprite now, so she doesn't get jealous. I'll leave you to working with the littler ones, and keep working with these two."

Yesterday was one of those days. If I thought I knew Amber was crazy before yesterday, I was wrong.