Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Aces *Wher Hatching*

[Wish]

It was happening all around, from the smallest of the small to the largest of them all. It was happening, and no one could stop it. No one should though, after all such a thing was something to be celebrated. The Dragons were the regal protectors, the Firelizards the clowns; but the Whers, they were the aces in the night. It was there time, not the shining orange dragoness' or the young, wanting dragonets that had watched the games enviously awaiting their time to graduate. No, it was theirs.

No one knew which started to crack first, but once one did, they all followed suit. Perhaps all were just blind wherries ready to jump off a cliff one after another, but the clutch much preferred that they were following their Queen. Their Queen would lead them through anything, and so for all intensive purposes it was her that led this revolution. A call rose up as Watch-Whers started to crawl from the shadows. It was time, and the growling humm was resonant throughout the Gather.

The place had slowed to an almost standstill, lazy and drunk after the dinner of the fourth night, but where the partakers were dead to the world, the night crawlers were not. Handlers sought out their new recruits, finding the "candidates" that had bought the eggs from the strange siblings. All would stay here, none would leave. This was certain, especially since a Queen was among them. She would be hatched on Trelis' grounds, and so she will stay.

The handlers led them, pulling or prodding, barely saying anything except for the words "Follow", and "Help is here." What started out as a few became many, and soon the entirety of the Wherhold was among the tents of the Gather seeking out the hatching eggs and helping to bring them to the middle where a long table was set up with buckets of meat porridge and oil. A green handler was among them, her eyes sparkling from the cast of the torches nearby, dim and few to aid the sensitive sight of their bondeds.

Remember when it was yours Task my dear? The Green snorted, curling up at the girl's feet and watching the people come with their eggs. This was not how hatchings went, but this was not an ordinary hatching. Eggs were eggs however, and they all ended up as either duds or wherets; both of which needed a mother's attention.

[Bellatora]

Bellatora stopped in her tracks and looked at her young Mai. It was time. It was time to go. She went back to where the whers were to hatch, following a handler to where things were prepared. It was time. She felt a thrill of excitement running through her. Her own eggs would hatch.

She grinned. Hopefully that gold would be hers as well. It would give her a good chance to strike at S'vrin... she had bought the egg. That should have made it hers... but... there was no guarantee, she supposed... time to wait... She stood before her two eggs. The mid-sized one and the queen egg she had bought.

Now... Then... She stood, hand ready to grab her knife and glide it over her own flesh to prepare to blood her whers. yes... She would hopefully be getting at least two. She would feel pleased even with just one... but two... two would be the best. The most incredible happenstance though... would be the gold egg.

She stood so quietly. So still. She looked at them with eyes that seemed as cold as stone. She kept her breath very controlled. She simply looked intense as she stood there before the eggs. Her eggs... supposedly her eggs. She sighed.

[Zirin]

Korvin had already hatched a wher of his own once before. Suffice to say, he had been well prepared to hatch a second on his own. He had some dried, crushed meat prepared, and of course he had his selection of oil and rags readily available in his weyr. Despite that, he somehow found himself being dragged along to some sort of group hatching. He supposed it wasn't all bad; hatching his egg here among the others meant he would have a good meal or two worth of food back at the weyr for later... but at the same token he didn't feel entirely comfortable being this close to people.

He had ordered Kosk to stay in her den, not sure if the physical presence of another wher would somehow affect the hatching or not. He figured it would be best not to take chances.Korvin shifted the egg in his arms, not yet wanting to put it down... he didn't trust the people around him too much and he felt safer touching the egg. In the back of his mind, Kosk was mentioning her worry, and Korvin could tell she was afraid of being replaced. Of course, he could never replace his white... but the assistance of another wher would make hunting easier.

Finally finding a spot somewhat away from the crowd, Korvin put down the egg, though his hand remained on it; his way of showing his possession. He had grabbed food and rags and waited patiently, wondering if this really would be the time for the hatching.

[Aika]

Goblenn had been resting when it happened. While she usually was active in the night, she had recently had a serious bout of exhaustion. It was probably due to stress induced by Phobi, or maybe the fear that the egg she had taken was actually a dud (for it didn’t really move unless she moved it), or maybe even the feeling of dread on what would happen if or when the large Wher egg did, in fact, hatch. Despite her seemingly violent career choice, the thought of being forced to shed blood scared her, if only mildly. The smell of blood brought bad memories, much like the smell of ash and fire.

The thief was curled around the wher egg like a protective mother near the Dining Hall, brows knit in the throes of what seemed to be a nightmare. The shivering of the egg roused her into half-awakeness, only to have a man with a dark animalistic form roughly pick her up by the underarms and grab for the egg. A squawk and a lunge later, Goblenn had wrapped her arms possessively around the quivering egg and lent the strange man a sharp glare. He merely pointed after his quickly-trotting wher, and placed his hand between her shoulder blades to nudge her forward. “Follow Jassk,” was all the man said before practically leading her himself to the hatching sands. Stunned for a moment at the foreign touch, the girl merely walked in the direction that he directed. She faintly heard him whisper “Help is here,” but other than that, she was unresponsive to anything.

That is, until the blast of heat from the heated cavern practically smacked her across the face. A quiet gasp brought Goblenn into reality. Her wher egg was hatching. Hatching! Oh Faranth, she didn’t know what to do, there were people everywhere and eggs were rocking, and people were shuffling around and there were quiet noises that sounded like hatching and… She couldn’t take it. The thief, obviously distressed, hurried to a darkened corner and sat down, wrapping herself around the egg. This wasn’t like Phobi’s hatching, where he hatched alone, there were other people, and she just didn’t know if she could take it. What if anybody recognized her and called her out? What if she was forced to run, leaving the unborn wher to the dogs? She couldn’t risk it. Probably shivering as much as her enveloped egg, she hoped to the first egg that she wouldn’t have to give anything up. Not tonight.

[/size]

[Wish]

It was exactly two marks past the candlemark that the eggs really started getting into it. A few smaller eggs chiseled carefully at their shells, the medium eggs rocking in an attempt to just hammer on through. The clicking of tiny talons on hardened surfaces however rang throughout the cavern accompanied by the grumbled hum of waiting whers. It was the one constant, the one thing that didn't falter or pause in its work. In fact, if anything it just grew louder and louder, escalating to an uproar that had much of the Gather folks flocking to the Stands.

None of it was a concern though, there was only a singular piece of the puzzle that should have the concentration and that was a particular wheret that now had finally broken through. Despite its owner's discomfort within the crowd of people, which wasn't nearly big enough, the wheret inside was more than eager to show itself to the world. No, eager perhaps was not the right term. The world was privileged to share the same space as itself, and nothing would stop that.

Rocking, a hide pushed at the long gash in the egg, fleeting in its attempts to make it larger. It needed to be free, it needed to not be caged by anything. SHE REFUSED! With a loud roar, or what the wheret considered loud and roarish, the creature burst its head through the egg and nipped at the nearest thing, a male firelizard. Hissing, she looked at the offensive creature, angered that it dare share her space. HER LIGHT, HER EVERYTHING!

The Topaz lashed her tail, her wings splaying out as she stomped her foot against the ground, red sparking through her eyes. She wasn't the prettiest of creatures, though she was long of limb. Her wings were spiny, with little membrane in between giving her a clawed look, and her tail was snake like and thin despite her the bulk at her chest. One piece at a time seemed to fit oddly with the next, however when one finally stepped back to consider her she was something to behold. Or that was what went on in her mind at least.

Nothing else was of importance though, this was her world, not even her beloved Golden sister could take that away from her. Snapping her teeth the Topaz shook her wings out, frustrated with the spindly things for not giving her the proper balance to stay upright. Instead she wobbled as she walked, falling or nearly falling as she pulled away from Goblenn's grasp. Who was this to try and take her as well? Sure she was perfect, but give a girl some room right? The peasant definitely did not deserve her if that thing had already been bonded to the girl as well.

Snapping her jaws again in the flit's direction, the Topaz had a cleverly, wonderful idea. Oh yes, a clever, wonderful, horrible idea. She wiggled her hind quarters, pouncing toward the flit only to miss and land her claws against the girl's leg instead. Tearing down, happy with any bloodshed she could have since both were in the wrong for not loving her enough, the wheret gurgled approvingly at the blood that welled up. Except...it looked so good.

Staring at the dark crimson stain, the wheret couldn't help but lick her claws, and then the girl's leg.

Goblesk'sGoblenn must watch Goblesk! Goblesk not tolerate less. Goblesk'sGoblenn understand?......


...........GET FROM GOBLESK'SGOBLENN PUNY SHADOW! FEAR GOBLESK, ALL FEAR GOBLESK, ALL LOVE GOBLESK, GOBLESK IS RED QUEEN!

Does all understand now? Good, food must be.

SPOILER: Click to show

Bloody Mary Topaz
Name: Goblesk
Handler: Goblenn
Mutation: None
Size: 6.1 feet
Hex Codes:
Body- FF5721
Wings- FFA500

Characteristics: Spindly wings with little membrane between, very long and thin tail and legs, thick trunk. Often will get unbalanced because of her build.
Personality: Incredibly prideful, thinks she's a "Red Queen", prone to fits of jealousy and rage, acts all proper afterwards, doesn't like Phobi *shadow* or any "pests".

[Akira]

Naomi had followed, if a bit begrudgingly, the person that had told her about the group hatching. She had already raised one wher to adulthood; did they think she couldn’t do it again? She shook her head and sighed. There was no point in getting frustrated over something that meant she would be able to save the food she had hoarded in her weyr the day she had bought the egg. She tilted her head to the side a little as she sat near the back of the group, and stared at the small egg in her hands. She hadn’t wanted a large egg, and was thankful that the people she had bout this egg from still had at least one small egg left. A small smirk crept across her face as she thought of Korvin’s reaction when he saw her with not one, but two whers. Oh yes, she would show him what she could do one way or another.

Don’t worry Nask, you’re still the love of my life. Naomi couldn’t help but giggle at her wher when he sent her feelings of jealousy. She sent him feelings of love and happiness and smiled happily when she felt her wher relax, and actually start thinking about what he would do with their new companion. The young woman quelled her whers excitement with a quick reminder that neither of them knew if this egg would actually impress to her. No matter how much talking was done, or how much a person hoped, no one could predict what would happen when a creature hatched. Whers were no exception to this, in fact, from what she had seen, they were the best examples of this rule of nature it seemed. She sighed once again, feeling a little afraid that whatever waited inside of this egg wouldn’t be happy with her.

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Merlin couldn’t believe it, he was actually going to have the chance to impress, not one but two, whers! To say that the young man was excited was a huge understatement. If it weren’t for all the other people around he’d probably be dancing in circles and jumping and hollering for joy. He had seen plenty of creatures born before, but the fact that he would have the chance to impress at least one of them, and find his life-partner made this all the more sweeter for the nineteen old, accidental wher candidate. He hadn’t originally wanted to actually impress the whers that might be inside of the eggs he had bought. He knew that there was the chance that at least one of them could be a dud, but he just couldn’t bring himself to think of that. No, instead his mind had turned toward more pleasant things.

Merlin was literally twitching with anticipation, and it wouldn’t surprise him if no one actually wanted to sit beside him. Though from what he could see more than one of these people were also new to this whole thing, and he wondered if they were as excited as he was. He shook his head and went back to staring at the two eggs that he had placed in his lap. Needless to say there wasn’t really much room for anything else there, and he was surprised that the two eggs actually fit, though neither of them had much room. As he thought about things, he decided to place his jacket on the ground and put the eggs on that. He didn’t want them to hatch and then him getting cut to ribbons by the egg shards. He wanted to be as fit as possible to raise whatever was to come from his eggs.

[Jilli]

Alessandra had been pretty much staring a hole through her egg. It hadn't so much as twitched and she was afraid it may even be a dud.she spent a few minutes arguing about that possibility until she saw it... There. The egg twitched, just once. It almost perfectly coincided with a man coming by scooping up the egg and grabbing her wrist dragging her off to where all the eggs sat. She watched with the others, standing by bellatora as the hatching began and the little sub queen attacked her own.

That, the blooding aspect made her alittle nervous. She thought of how painful it might be and cringed, but she'd made up her mind. This was her destiny and that was all there was to it. Her life partner was somewhere in this batch of rocking shivering eggs. She smiled happily at the thought. She couldn't wait to meet them!

[Wish]

Despite the general difference between each egg and its maybe handler, they all had one thing in common. They were bouncing and moving now like there would be no morning to come. Wiggling as if sensing a need to bind together as in a real clutch, they wobbled to and fro, rolling toward a central location where they clacked against one another as egg-path traversed egg-path. It was madness, and the bonded Handlers just watched and smiled, already moving toward Goblenn and her Topaz Sub-Queen with a bowl of blood porridge.

A random egg, a smaller one that might have come from Allesandra's direction, perhaps Naomi's or someone else's entirely, stopped suddenly, a claw poking through the battered shell. Just as quickly though it plopped onto its side, hiding the opening with a frustrated growl as another shell cracked nearby. More and more movement occurred, and the humming never stopped. They were a dancing bunch, some eggs wobbling back and forth as if frenzied by the hatching song. All any of them really wanted though was to just get out.

Eggs apparently were cramped spaces, and though the Queen egg was the largest of them all, she was no different in her attempts to come free. Clicking against the shell, she crooned and gurgled pushing until one wing extended from the egg and shrunk down again hiding most of the creature and opening with an oddly wide wingsail. The pale sandy gold color shown gently in the light and she let it rest there while her eyes blinked delicately from below it, her body wrapped in its shell around herself still, unwilling to move quite yet.

Somewhere nearby another shell broke, a dark purple tail whipping back and forth as the wheret tried to shimmy backwards. It wasn't really working though, and instead it only landed on the thick appendage, squishing it back up into the opening it had made. Well, that was one way to not hatch, it would have to think some more the wheret supposed. She could already hear her siblings gurgling as they too hatched, and through one tiny slit of a crack the half hatched Amethyst could barely make out a dark brown head appearing from a medium sized egg as well.

[Zirin]

Korvin hadn't really been paying much attention to the goings-on around him. He was more than comfortable with just leaning back and waiting for the egg to crack. He had done this once before, he understood how it worked, and knew that just because he HAD an egg didn't necessarily mean it would impress to him, or even hatch for that matter. He had been resting, staring at nothing in particular when the egg really started getting into its rocking, wiggling dance. At some point the egg managed to roll away from him and he was forced to actually stand and follow it lazily.

His attention was more focused now, however. A rather vicious seeming beast of a wher hatched somewhere off to his right, and he gave the creature a glancing look; only long enough to know that she already had her impressee in mind. He didn't mind at all; if he had things his way, it would be a good, strong male hatching from the egg he bought. He glanced about the various eggs, though in the dark it was rather difficult to tell which egg was which.

As he glanced to the side, he noticed an all too familiar form. Naomi. He growled to himself, wondering what in Pern SHE was doing here. Well no matter, if he was lucky, she wouldn't notice him. He couldn't dwell too long on it. Soon, chips of eggshell were scattered everywhere as multiple whers began to break shell. A yellow one over from that big egg, a purple from the little one. Ah, and there was a brownish looking one from a good sized egg over there. Korvin glanced over each, trying to discern what they were and who they were going to.

[Jilli]

-possible Aki tag-.
Alessandra scanned the crowd of wher handlers and the whers that stood beyond them for a brief moment. This could be the night she found her other half! Was he here? The handlers were hard to make out but she could clearly see at least some of the whers. This one no... That one? No! Still not amonsk. She didn't know exactly why Amon and Amonsk's being there was so important to her, but it was. Maybe because they were the ones to have set her on this path? Maybe... Something else?

She didn't have much time to think about it however as the dance of the eggs began. She watched as each and every egg began to bounce, wiggle, and rock to and fro. The one that had been closest to her was finally able to get a claw out but to no avail. She winced with a sympathetic smile when the egg tumbled to it's side and she heard the wheret's frustrated growl. She had to work not to give a soft laugh at that. The queen's egg that that Bella girl had bought was no different from the rest of her siblings in that she joined the dance.

Finally a pale gold dust colored wing made it out. Alessa noticed how large the wingsail was. Well that was unusual for whers. The wing she had been studying tucked back in and alessa had to tilt her head a bit, but she was able to see the gold peeking out almost sweetly from her shell. A louder crack came from a smaller egg nearby and an amethyst tail wiggled almost as if it could move itself with that appendage alone. This didn't work however and backfiring, the tail disappeared back into the opening it had come from. She saw a brown making headway from the medium sized egg that held him.

The mere thought of a brown wher made her scan the crowd again. Where was he?

[Akira]

Merlin was feeling so excited and scared he was actually feeling a little nauseous. Everything around him was swimming, and he felt as though he wasn’t sure which way was up, or which way was down at the moment. Eggs were rocking all around him, and at that point in time, he couldn’t even tell at that point which eggs were his own! He was now most certain that he never wanted to experience this again. Though he couldn’t help but thinking that if he ever did have to experience this again then he might be prepared a little more than he had been this time. Especially since he was almost positive that he was bound to impress at least one of the hatchlings from the two eggs he had. Oh well, so much had happened so fast around him that he had missed the opening of at least two eggs, one of which might have even been his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naomi smiled as she watched the eggs around her. All of this bringing back memories of Nask’s hatching. She sighed and smiled, that was one happy night. She giggled quietly to herself as she thought about that night. She shook her head and focused on the egg that was lying on the ground in front of her rocking like nuts. That’s when she noticed Korvin, and silently started to pray that he hadn’t noticed her. She knew that that was a long shot, but hey, she could wish couldn’t she? She glanced all around her then, looking for the closest hiding spot. She just needed to disappear into the crowd, and with the amount of chaos and confusion going on all around her, she figured it would be too hard. But she just couldn’t bring herself to move, she just didn’t want to disrupt the hatchling inside of her egg.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amon and his brown wher Amonsk were among the full-fledged handlers that had been rounding up all of the people that had gotten wher eggs, and so, of course he was at the hatching. He smiled triumphantly when he spotted Alessandra among those waiting to impress. Amonsk's Amon greet girl? The brown wher crooned at his handler as he spoke. Oh yes, he had noticed Alessandra as well. In a moment Amonsk, I want to see what happens. There was a proud smirk on his face as he watched the young woman closely. She had an egg, but unfortunately he couldn’t tell the color, which meant that he couldn’t tell what would be coming from it. Of course the main thing on his mind was the loud humming that was echoing around inside of his head and ears.


(((OOC: Sorry it sucks x.x)))

[Wish]

The little Queen Wheret was definitely taking her time and taking in everything around her. With gentle eyes she searched the crowds, something not quite right in their depths. She shrunk in more against her shell, her tail making a shushing sound as it rustled against the sands. Finally, she stepped out completely and unfurled her wings. Oh yes, they were quite a bit larger than a normal Gold's perhaps the size of a Gold's and a half, but they were hers and that was enough to make her happy. Standing there, slightly shaking on her long, gangly legs the wheret chirped and cocked her head at the nearest candidate.

It was Bellatora, and the presence of the candidate was the same as that of the one that had taken her egg from her clutch. Gurgling in a high pitched voice the Queen wheeled backward, her wings flailing in an attempt to get away from the girl more and more. She had wheretknapped her! She had taken her from her family, she'd hurt her, she'd not be right at all! How could this have happened, how could this be?!?! Squeaking despite her rank and those around her, the Queen dove under her shell again attempting to hide from the person who had taken her.

The gentle grumble from her brown brother however was enough to make her look up. It was the one that had hatched before, dark in color and with hindquarters slightly larger than his front end. The brown nudged his sister, gurgling happily as he rolled around in the sand. Play was fun, it was fun see? Queenie Sister didn't have to be sad or scared, fun take away it all! The Queen chittered back, her wings drooping against the sand as she looked around. Alright, if that girl who had taken her was not the one, then surely she could still choose who was, right? Taking a deep breath as to calm herself the Queen closed her eyes and shivered.

She let her heart choose, or at least she let herself go toward whoever called to her mentally. First it was at a walk, timid as she was, and then she flat out ran until she plowed into a body. It was a girl, but not the other girl, this was her girl! She licked the wound she had made in her attempts to find Hers, and gently the Queen sent tendrils of thought to her lifemate.

Allesandra's Allesask though never find Allesandra. Allesask was wheretknapped, Allesask frightened. Allesask no want fright, Allesask Queen, Allesask brave...or be brave...want brave. Allesandra brave, she kind, she important. Allesask want be too!

Nuzzling against her handler the wheret curled her body up around the girl and gave a sigh of relief.

SPOILER: Click to show

The Gentle Queen Gold:
Name: Allesask
Handler: Allesandra
Mutation: None
Size: 6.2 feet
Hex Codes:
Body- fcf9c2
Markings- bca20e

Characteristics: Long wings for a wher, Very thin and petite body with long legs, Often hides behind Hers *will until she gets a bit older and more confident*
Personality Shy, often gets paranoid, random fears, totally NOT your average Gold, Caring of others, Mothering and Gentle, Potential for confidence and leadership abilities

[Akira]

Merlin couldn’t help but jump when he heard someone or something squeak. He placed a hand over his heart in an attempt to calm it and tried to take deep breaths. But with all the excitement and adrenaline rushing through his veins, it was no easy task. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face when he saw the little gold wher. Yes, he remembered the basic sizes of all the colors of whers and dragons from all the scrolls he had read. He felt so bad for the poor female though, she just seemed so scared of everything around her. He didn’t know the cause but he had a feeling that she was afraid of everything that was bigger than her, which seemed to be just about everything. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. He tilted his head to the side as he watched the little female curiously.

Merlin clapped happily when he saw that the gold had impressed, and cheered for the young woman who had been picked. He turned back to his own two eggs, and wondered if they would like him or not. Just thinking about that made him so nervous that the palms of his hands started to sweat. He sighed, oh yes this was perfect, just perfect. He shook his head at himself and actually started to wonder whether or not the whers inside of the eggs hadn’t hatched yet because they were embarrassed of him. That didn’t make him feel any better. So he tried to turn his mind to more pleasant thoughts. Whether or not that would help or not, he wasn’t sure. But he was sure that it would help him at least to calm down. That was the most important thing for him right now, calming down.

[Bellatora]

Faranth! A Topaz.... and a Queen! A gold had hatched from ehr egg, but it wasn't Impressing to her... She frowned. Well... She nodded to the girl the wher had chosen. She wouldn't complain. Mai seemed a bit smug. Hers didn't need another queen. She was the only Queen for hers.

Bellatora rolled her eyes at the feeling from her flitter and scratched her eyeridges. Mai gave a croon and flapped her wings happily as she was given attention.

But she was soon complaining again as she was no longer giving the flitter attention. No... she was watching all the eggs around as the started to break and bits of wher showed through the shell. She was just waiting for her egg to hatch and come to her... She really didn't like waiting. It was so hard.

Mai chittered irritably at the topaz and gold as well as the eggs that might dare to take hers. "Mai. Shush." Mai started chittering at Hers then. How dare she reprimand her!

[Jilli]

Alessandra let her eyes dance across the gathered crowd one more time, seriously doubting she would have any more luck this time. Boy was she wrong. There he was standing about halfway around the table from her, behind the circle of candidates. That smile was something she hadn't seen on him before and a blush warmed her cheeks as she now tried to force her gaze anywhere but at him. Her lips curved in a small smile and she paid attention to nothing, standing in her place.

Until, that is, Bella's gold egg hatched. The wheret squeeked and backed away flaring her larger than normal wings. She couldn't see what had happened between the girl and the wheret, but the gold looked as if she was freaking out and terrified. She watched the wheret closely, the brown handler forgotten mostly in her sympathy for the little beauty.

She watched in approval as her brown brother rolled around in an attempt to cheer her up. She wouldnt mind a brown, she thought happily. That one looked as if it was a sweetheart, caring for his sister enough to try to cheer her up. Still lost in her musings, she didnt see the wheret barreling toward her until she'd been basically tackled, the little gold's claw raking across her leg just above the ankle.

It hurt but she was still trying to process the fact that the gold had chosen her and not bellatora. When Alessask's tongue lapped over it consolingly she looked down at her. Her little gold. She could have never imagined this would be the outcome. The voice in her mind made her want to cry. She was perfect, and she was hers. She stroked the wheret gently rubbing her eyeridges.

"I'll protect you my little queen. We'll work together to be stronger and braver. " She nodded to Merlin as he clapped and Alessask curled herself around her, slightly embarrassed. Bella caught her eyes and she nodded in turn to her as well. Her eyes, almost sparkling with happiness found Amon again and she lifted a hand in greeting, smiling brightly.