Said thief popped his head out from the bushes just behind his owner, staring at her curiously.
Jeryllan stopped and turned around, to meet the bright eyes of her ebony cinettai, Medyn. The fox-like creature's eyes were innocently wide, even though he clutched a huge, flaky, newly-baked bubbly pie in his mouth.
Jeryllan sighed, staring at her pet in exasperation. "How in Faranth's name did you even get that thing into your mouth, Medyn?" She asked as she picked up the ebony cin.
Carefully. The cin answered mischeivously. The bubbly pie had already disappeared down the greedy little creature's throat.
Jeryllan rolled her eyes, scratching the cin behind his long, furry ears. She smiled as she looked down at her friend. "Well, couldn't you have at least stolen one for me too, then?" She laughed as the cinettai scoffed at the very idea.
Jeryllan looked up as she neared the doors of the hold. Two dragons, a green and a blue, circled in the air above Beim Hold. She frowned as Medyn stared up at them curiously. What d'you suppose dragons are doing here, 'Llan? There isn't Thread today, is there?
Jeryllan shook her head slowly. "No, Thread won't be for a couple more days. Besides, I don't think they're from the Weyr, anyway, Medyn."
A pitious mewling sound rose up from somewhere within the hold. Medyn's long ears perked. Jeryllan! D'you hear that? What is it?
Jeryllan frowned as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I don't know. It almost sounds like a fire lizard..." The girl and the cinettai raced through the halls, searching for the source of the crying sound.
Not looking where she was going, Jeryllan almost ran into a taller man just exiting a room with two creeling flits in tow.
"I'm sorry, sir." Jeryllan said. "I didn't see you."
The man dismissed her apology absently. "Do you want one of these?" He asked, motioning to the two flits. "I can't take care of all of them by myself. Go on, just scratch their heads, they'll take a liking to you." He said, and grimaced. "I hope."
Jeryllan shrugged, taking a silver-colored flit from the man's arms. Medyn sniffed the curious flit somewhat suspiciously. It was not, after all, a fire lizard. Instead of having wings, the strange flit just had a wingflap that extended from it's front leg all the way to it's tail.
Jeryllan stroked the flit's head, and it chirped at her curiously. "What're they?"
"They're called Llithra. They came from Draco's Inferno Weyr. They bond like flits, and even talk, like your cin there." The man said, nodding to Medyn, who purred in reply. "Except they don't do much more than mimic, and they haven't been able to form a full sentence yet." He grinned unexpectedly. "Watch out, those wingsflaps can carry a surprisingly large amount of purloined food and trinckets."
Medyn perked up at this. Brilliant! Now I have an apprentice, someone to pass on my marvelous skills to, and somebody to help me stea-er, liberate excess food from the kitchens. Follow me, young grasshopper! The cin said as he bounded off.
The llithra in Jeryllan's arms chirped again. Steal! Food! Grasshoppers taste good?
She giggled as the creature followed the ebony cin away, still chirping away simple questions to the cinettai. She glanced at the man, who smiled and shook his head. "Well, I must be off. I've gotta find homes for all these other ones, too, after all."
Aahhh!!! Jeryllan! It's a monster! A horrible, vicious bloodthirsty villain!
Jeryllan monster! Villain have food?
Eh? Sorry, little one. I'm afraid I don't have any food for you...
Humph. Well, what good are you, then? Come on, Thau, let's get out of here.
Jeryllan's eyebrow's raised when she caught sight of her two pets stalking away from a very confused-looking green dragon. "Thau?" She asked.
The cin snorted. 'Course. He has to have a name, doesn't he? Medyn said, gesturing at the llithra, crooning happily at the dragon.
Jeryllan just rolled her eyes. "Medyn, and...Thau. Quit bothering the dragons."
A woman laughed behind her. "Don't worry, it takes more than that to upset Hilth."
Jeryllan turned to see a man and a woman behind her. The man smiled and spoke up. "Or Lajuneth, for that matter. Hello, I'm T'yr, and she's Manya. We're searchriders, from Tiyaza."
Jeryllan nodded. "Pleased to meet you, dragonriders. My name's Jeryllan. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to take care of these two little theives before they get into any more trouble."
There was a short pause as the two riders spoke to their dragons. "Actually..." T'yr began. "Would you mind terribly if we took you back to Tiyaza with us? You see-"
Medyn's ears perked. Tiyaza? I was born there, wasn't I, Jeryllan? Ooh, let's go, let's go! Can we, 'Llan?
Jeryllan shrugged. "Sure, I guess..." She said, still not quite sure just what she was agreeing to.
"Great!" Manya said. "Because Hilth and Lajuneth think, and we agree, of course, that you should stand for the clutch. But we'd best be hurrying, because it's supposed to be hatching anytime now."
Jeryllan, to shocked at having been searched so unexpectedly, stayed quiet as she was helped onto the green dragon's back as Medyn and Thau jumped up behind the bluerider T'yr. As the dragons went between, she frantically hoped that she would not get there too late.