A Curious Happenstance {Naireth's Clutching}

Samael had been elated to find Naireth returned to her normal self after the flight. Dealing with the ornery stranger of a dragon for those few days had been enough to last her the next few years. It was solely the change in attitude that had Sam hoping Naireth wouldn't Rise again for quite some time. The rest of the event had been rather enjoyable.

The three - as little black Balto found it safe to spend time around his idols again - returned to their regular lives and it was good to crawl out of their weyr again. Samael took joy in oiling mild-mannered Naireth, soaking up the sun and the cool water of the lake. She could travel about Dalibor with no care in the world, no petulant dragon at her heels. It was a blessing from Faranth herself. She had never guessed that only a few days of such internal conflict would have left her so miserable that breaking free of it felt like paradise. She savoured the first free day especially, and after that, it all felt normal again.

Naireth, however, grew increasingly reluctant. She was tired, less immediate in her obedience, and liked nothing more than sitting on her dragon couch. Samael had let the idea of Naireth clutching fall by the wayside until the symptoms appeared. There had been no guarantee that eggs would come, no tan template to follow, as Naireth was the first of her kind. Sam was curious and constantly asking the dragon how the dragon felt, personal questions that Naireth found difficult to answer. They were too abstract. She ate more than usual but was partial to mass amounts of wherries. She slept a great deal and preferred it when Samael stayed in with her. Over the sevendays, there was little weight gain, no large tummy to indicate eggs, and Samael wondered if she really was carrying.

The day came, though, that Naireth felt a pressing in her gut, and she knew instinctively where to go. She could not figure out why she was going, but as she flew laboriously to the Hatching Cavern that morning, she at least knew to alert her lifemate. I am going to the Sands, she said, and the answer was supplied by her other half. You're clutching? Samael asked urgently, looking up from her breakfast. She wiped her sticky fingers and fled the dining hall.

It took Naireth some time to reply. She touched down and looked blankly about the cavern, sunlight streaming on where the overhang did not reach. Her body, however, knew what to do, and the strangest sensation she had ever felt overtook her. Immense, squeamish discomfort radiated out across their mindlink, and for a moment Samael was worried. A small and bright yellow egg was dropped onto the sand, though, and it all became clear.

Yes, SamaelMine, the Tan said belatedly, and let the eggs slowly but surely come.

Samael came into the cavern with enough time to see the majority of the clutching, but she thought it a very personal and awkward thing, and let Naireth go about it herself. When the poor creature was finally done, Samael sped across the hot sand to see. Hidden from the Stands by Naireth's great body and wings were six healthy eggs, granules of sand sticking to their soft, fresh shells. Two, one a pale yellowish hue and the other a strong gold, were the largest of the group. The next largest was the palest of them all, the two middling eggs of middling yellows, one considerably duller and murkier, and the last and smallest being the brightest. Naireth seemed quite unconcerned about them, but laid near them anyway. Even Samael's cooing could not provoke any expression of fondness from the dragon. With a little push, Naireth bespoke the clutchfather. Poseith, I have clutched, she said blankly, a simple statement with no emotion whatsoever. That was Naireth, though, and even if she was not sure what to do with them, the fact still remained that eggs had been laid by the first Tan of Pern.



((ooc: it isn't like naireth's going to broadcast her clutching, but eventually word would get out that there are eggies. she has no mind to move, though, so her big body is going to remain solidly in between the eggs and the Stands... which means there isn't much to see. i suppose posts of candidate disappointment could be made, but mostly there's not much to do unless you're f'ton and poseith. cheers!))