Straddle the Line [CalKal Double Hatching!]

[Boo]

The drama seemed to have quelled for the moment although Hulair stayed alert, eyes scanning the sands. He’d not realised quite how small some of the whers actually were and had only, after all, stood for a few hatchings. At that moment, a girl had spoken out of turn. Mercifully, a dragonet took exception to her words rather than the mothers of the hatchlings. As a result, the Burgundy dragon pushed the candidate through the group of candidates still remaining.

Then brought his paws down on her, knocking her to the ground and raking his claws up her body. Hulair gritted his teeth and in that moment, he lost sight of one of the whers. A moment later and one of the blues was standing there staring at him but in the next second it had leapt onto Otto.
“Get off!”
He moved to bat at the wher but it had managed to get Otto again, thankfully missing his eye. Hulair glared after the wher as it Impressed to another person. In some ways, he felt let down but in others he was pleased.

“I’m sorry,” he barely even noticed the bloodied handprint left on his robes, “Yes, they do, after time. My wife is a healer.”
Perhaps she would be needed here after all this… Odd that Threadfall didn’t even seem to generate as many injuries as a hatching that produced the creatures that were supposed to protect them.

(Tag: Otto (Sal))

Up in the stands, Tareniss clenched her jaw and looked at the Weyrleader furiously.
"My daughters are old enough that they could stand but I am here for my husband."
Hot tears welled in her eyes as she turned to look back at her bloodied husband, holding up another candidate. The girl would be mourned but how many knew her name? What of her mother? Her father? That child would die as an unknown candidate to most and unable to reach the potential she had been supposed to reach all because a wher had attacked. The woman breathed in a shuddering breath and then looked at her children, there was no way she would allow the same to happen with them.

Rayna was thankful for P'ryt's diplomacy and nodded to the man as the woman turned back, distracted by the movement on the sands once more.
"Fort will be pleased," she replied soberly.
Couineth would be the next queen to rise most likely... Was this a new mutation amongst dragons and would it show up again? Perhaps it was because of Perbiath and the renegade genetics...

(Tag: P'ryt (Raven))

As another dragon passed him by, Seidon drooped his shoulders slightly. Garna’s words were not welcome but in some ways, they were true. Fort would not have stood for it, of course… Then again, they had to learn to adapt. The candidate turned his head slightly, catching Lili trying to blink tears from her eyes. He bit his lip, realising that this was her last chance. If she didn’t Impress here, this was it. Would this be him in a few turns?

A little awkwardly, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, squeezing her into something of a hug and then dropped it back to his side.
“One of them is for you. Happy thoughts, Lili…”
Seemed odd for him to be preaching happy thoughts when he himself couldn’t stop thinking about being left alone again. Kaydian was gone, Seph would still be there unless his dragon found him in the healer’s area… If Lili missed out… A nasty part of him almost hoped she did so he would have someone else who had stood for a long time and not Impressed.

Suppressing this selfish part of himself he tried to throw positive thoughts at the dragons, attempting to attract one to the both of them. Even if he returned alone, there was still Seph…

(Tag: Lili, Rhia))

In response to the thanks, Tedaon nodded his head to the new wherling.
"Don't mention it."
Kindred spirits though they were in some way and as invested as he was in trying to help Pyrus further, he knew that the triage here was done. The rest of the work would have to be finished in the infirmary. Lightly, he patted the man on his shoulder and then stood intending on heading back towards the sands to find another candidate, weyrling or wherling in need of assistance.
"Good luck, wherling."

With that he bade farewell to both wher and handler and then moved his way back to the healing area, wondering what other dramas had occurred whilst he had been otherwise occupied.

[/blockquote]

[RhiaBlack]

Lili was doing her best to be positive. There weren't a lot of eggs left on either side, and it was certain that unless someone had buried more eggs under the sands, there would be a lot of Candidates going home alone. Seidon's hug, however, seemed to cheer her up.

"I hope so. It won't be so bad if mine isn't here, I guess. Kira Impressed, as long as you, Seph, and Sora do, too, that's good enough for me. I want to see all my friends happy. It won't be so bad at all, I can still stay here, maybe work on my studies, be a Master Harper someday. Then I can make up songs for everything that's been going on..."

She was trying so very hard. Positive thoughts, Lili. Positive thoughts. Don't let yourself despair. It's not so bad. There's still eggs left, there's still a chance for you. There's a chance for everyone still.

The sight of the fighting whers made her fiercely upset. Her thoughts were stern, somewhat angry, but nevertheless entirely respectful.

Stop fighting! There is nothing worth fighting over, there is someone here for all three of you, can't you see? All three of you have a bonded here, who is just waiting for you to find them, so they can feed you and love you! Why are you so angry with one another? Why are you fighting? Go, find your bondeds, there is nothing that can't be civilly discussed once you've all found your lifemates...

She had no idea if they'd heard her. She hoped they had, in some ways, but in other ways she wasn't sure if she wanted to bring that sort of aggression down on herself. She swallowed. Time would tell. Time always told. Jaw quivering, she rubbed her face briefly to stave off the tears and wipe the sweat from her face with a non-sandy edge of her robes.

It was sad, in some ways, that she was more worried about Seidon and Sora getting hurt than about herself Impressing. Sora had armor on, but she didn't know if Seidon did. She was willing to take an angry wheret or dragonet for Seph's brother, after all. She didn't have many friends, and she was territorial and ferocious about the safety of the ones she did have. Seidon wouldn't see another stint in the infirmary, if she had anything to say about it.

At least Sora and Seidon were still here. Neither was with the healers, or worse yet, dead. Both of them were respectful towards Callistath and Kalesk, both of them had good heads on their shoulders.

All they needed now was their Dragons.

[maruset]

Hearing the newborn wher, Makkoi glanced at him. He did know to keep an eye on angry whers, and even newborn ones could do some damage. They had proven that quite well on the Sands today. "All right. Do you need anything for the pain before I do that?"

He didn't like the idea of leaving the injuries untended, but he also knew how impatient hungry babies could be. "I will be right back after that, don't plan on moving until I get a chance to bandage you up." He gave the kid a look, trying to get his point across.

Being able to hear all the whers sometimes was annoying, but here it was a valuable service, and he was doing his best to keep track of the ones around him. Any warning of a possible situation was good, and he felt for the wherlingmaster of this group. They were definitely going to be a handful. One reason that Makkoi had never even considered it, though Makkosk liked the idea of training babies.

***

Reaching over, Iola curled her fingers around G'lin's wrist, giving him a faint smile. "I admit, I though the hatching I impressed Jainath was bad, but this one is...." She trailed off again. If nothing else, this one was very good at making her search for words. The entire situation seems to be out of hand. One candidate killed, almost everyone hurt in some way or another, and two stand impressions. And still, all of the eggs weren't hatched.

This hatching seemed like it was running on forever, and she felt for Avalle on the sands with her dragon. And for Kalenna as well, though she didn't see the woman that much. Still knew who she was, and Iola thought that both rider and handler were probably ready for this hatching to end.

She thought that a few candidates might feel the same.

Though the burgundy who had driving the one girl from the sands had Impressed, to one of the badly injured candidates. Iola wasn't sure who she was, she had come after Iola had Impressed, and her days were full of lessons.

"I think that there are just a few who aren't hurt somewhere. I'm sure Gennesk will be quite happy. Is he still trying to harass Letorin into standing for whers?" Iola did talk to her candidate friend now and then, but only rarely. Too much to do, really.


(tag Randi and G'lin.)

[lee]

Joshu hadn’t realized he’d been scared to death until a half-hysterical grin lit up his youngest brother’s face. Automatically, a small, slightly ridiculous one answered it, full of relief and some acknowledgement of the strangeness of it all. The smile faded as Lanorun arrived, Joshu greeting him in silence with a silent shake of his head in apology. He hadn’t meant for this. Jossk took offense at this, swiping her tail into his ankle before leaning in attentively, rocking back on her haunches to get a better look at the girl Hers was so worried about and using Joshu’s leg for balance. She preened at Ranthian’s words. She WAS gorgeous. No-Shirt right. Smart boy. Pleased with him, she gave a took a cheerful nibble of Ranthian’s calf. More like an affectionate gumming, but there were tiny teeth pricks nevertheless, until Joshu leaned and gently pulled her off. Ever-so-dryly her murmured to Ranthian, "She likes ye." To Nori, an affectionate smile and a murmured, "Jossk." He didn’t say much more, preferring, as always, to listen to the sweet chatter of their youngest family member.

Second youngest.

Well, right.

They were all here. Nori’d be okay. She would be. He was so scared, so afraid...he shook his head, blocking it out. "Hey Nori," He murmured. "Healer…" Joshu didn’t know her name, so he just continued, "Can we...s'there anything we can do?" He tried to keep his voice firm and confident, mask the helplessness he felt. Sutures? "Ranthian...Ranthian can...right?" He looked to his little brother, as though realizing for the first time that he could do here what Joshu himself couldn’t, and he felt far away and useless. Ranthian was their healer. Untrained but self-taught. He’d kept Joshu alive when...someone brought a bucket of fish and Jossk demanded his attention, and torn, Joshu trailed off, accepted the bucket, and knelt with his wheret, who had headbutted him for attention.

Joshu may have known next to nothing about whers, but he knew about babies, about kids, and it was obvious Jossk was bolting too much food to fast, so he held up a hand to slow her down. He hadn’t quite caught on to the mental-talking-thing, so he murmured quietly, so as not to disturb the healers trying to focus, “Nae so fast, Jossk. Ye cannae eat that fast…”

Jossk lifted her head to regard him with a baleful stare.

Paused.

Can so.

Joshu’s eyes closed. "Can not." Can so. "No." Yes. "No." Yes. "No." Yes. "No." At some point during this, Jossk swung her head to glower at Noirath, sticking out her tongue and muttering Clearly Wrong. Jossk handler do what want. So Noirath wrong. Joshu didn’t notice, too busy pulling away a piece of fish before Jossk could gobble it and she whipped her head back and caught in her teeth and tugged--YES. "No." Yes. "No." Yes. "No." Yes. It wasn’t that Joshu had any particular feeling he was going to win the argument, but each time Jossk went to ‘correct’ him, she raised her head, and the intended goal of having her slow down her eating was achieved without her knowledge, so Joshu resigned himself to this for as long as it was going to take. "No." Yes. "No." Yes. "No." Yes."No." Yes."No." Yes. SEE Jossk full now, still alive. Jossk right. Before Joshu could reply one way or another, the skinny wher belched, flopped dramatically across Joshu’s feet (well, foot)--she was exhausted--and passed out. But not before adding, Jossk sleep now. No let Stupid Clumsies step on. Uuugh comfy foot. She yawned, or seemed to, and chomped down on Joshu’s lone shoe, causing him to wince automatically, but her baby teeth couldn’t shred the tough hide and, shoe in mouth, the green wher slept.

Joshu mostly looked torn between quiet affection, and, well, strained.

And then she started snoring.

Rasssssk…..big noooooossssse…...keep mean there…. a wheezy, whistly noise. CORRECT….

Strained, as the little wher ‘mumbled’ in her sleep, grunting and grumbling around the shoe in her mouth, definitely took over, he looked up--stopped.

Where had those dragons come from?

Confused, his head swung from Lanorun--L’run? L’nor? L’norun? Good Faranth, had their dragonrider-hating eldest brother really… Joshu gaped--to Ranthian, had he Impressed? No, Norilana…Nori. Hope, quiet, small, fluttered for the first time. He wanted to laugh but he couldn’t quite yet. The danger wasn’t done.

And there was still one sibling left.

--

Braele watched the little cyan nope herself off and, frankly, didn’t blame her. It was taking all of her not-inconsiderable willpower to resist raising her hands to rub her temples. This hatching--prior examples notwithstanding--was getting downright ridiculous, and if these hatchlings didn’t stop squabbling like...well, okay, children, which they were...she shook her head slightly, hearing Yusk’s sad croon, Kalesk’s gentle nudge of her now-gone daughter. The tiny grey wher, precarious in position atop his sibling. Braele turned her head away from their fight, to the eggs still unhatched, and her lips pulled into a faint frown. Enough.

--

Lenticuth? T’yer sat still in the Infirmary, wringing his wrists as he waited for new of the unknown to come from Hatching Sands.

The viridian’s tail lashed once, solemnly. Every cot you have. Came the quiet answer. T’yer’s mouth fell open, but he was already moving, the innate Healer ability to compartmentalize moving him to action even as he processed what that meant.

That bad? He asked, hesitantly, aghast.

Lenticuth lowered his head, watching the fight, fearing more, and knowing what he had not told T’yer, that there would be one less to their number when they left the sands. It was a long time before Lenticuth answered him, settling sadly at last on a simple, Worse.

tag: Ranthian, L'nor, Norilana, Ondine

[/blockquote]

[princesal]

Mine! Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine?
mmm? whaaaaat?
I found a pillie upside down, and flipped it back over and it skittered into the water.

D'nari blinked blearily, shifting on his mountain of blankets and, rolling over to look at Enciath who hovered by the edge of the mouth of the cave. Yawning, he watched her for a moment, and was about to roll over.

Why are you still awake? Go to bed, Enci.
Too much excitement to sleep.

That stopped him mid-roll, and now that sleepy cobwebs were clearing from him mind, he could feel the underlining excitement thrumming through Enciath's body, almost like a hum. A hum?

... are they hatching?!
Possibly.

Which meant definitely, and he jumped out of bed immediately because of it.

Why didn't you wake me up?
Sleep is healthy for you, I was only thinking of your welfare.

He didn't even bother to look at her for that answer, instead was working on pulling on a pair of trousers, nearly slipping and falling as his sleep addled mind tried to turn the trousers into a very tight floor length skirt, as he tried to squeeze two legs through one pant leg. It didn't work, and he figured it out only seconds later. There wasn't much time for other things, no chance to fix his hair either. It was only the last second that had him grabbing his knee length robe-like jacket, not bothering with a shirt, and not bothering to wrap it up either, just shrugging it onto his shoulders, pulling his hair from underneath at the same time.

Don't you want to see Sora Impress?
... there has been death.

D'nari's fingers stuttered and stilled over the riding leathers he was grabbing from their set position. He didn't say anything as he pulled them off, and met Enciath halfway, and started to secure them on her.

Death?
Deaths.

The acknowledgement of there being multiple hit him like a rock, and he winced as he pulled one leather too tight, having to go back and fix it, checking his darling Enciath's sparkling hide first, before securing it in the proper way. Neither of them said anything, both wondering how damaged the Sands were going to be by the time they got there. D'nari went the fastest he could safely go, and by the end of it, the bare minimum of riding straps he felt comfortable with was on, and he was climbing up, securing the strap over him. Barely an eye-blink after he was snapped in, Enciath was running and taking off, shooting off into the sky. Hit in the face by a strap he should have had his hand against, D'nari grabbed it quickly, and held himself close as she barrelled across the sky.

What eggs are hatching?
Both.

Enough said, and he could feel the growing level of irritation from Enciath as she thought of the pointless murder, it was almost as bad as those who chose to eat defenseless creatures because they tasted entirely wonderful. D'nari worried about Sora, because Enciath had yet to mention her. Taking a whimper of a breath as Enciath made a sharp turn, sharp enough that it strained his arms and made the riding straps balled around his hands tighten, whitenning the skin under the pressure.

As soon as they were flying, they were landing too, and D'nari unwound his hands, and slid off, landing more nimbly on his feet then he would have ever a turn ago. His hair had darn near tripled in size due to the wind tugging and teasing it. With a glance at the sands, with the amount of eggs still left un-hatched, and the amount of candidates that looked worse for the wear, D'nari was suddenly glad that he had missed a lot of what had happened. Quickly his eyes scanned the rows, Sora Sora Sora Sora Sora where was she? Oh! There was Letorin! Right at the front, holding hands wi-... D'nari frowned, feeling a prick of jealousy, and quickly kept his eyes scanning for S- ah!

Sora's alright.
Of course she is, maybe a few scratches, but she's ours. She understands how important her health is, or she better.

He reminded Enciath not to say hello to her, it'd be different if there were no dragons on the Sands, but now that both dragons and whers were hatched, he didn't want something either of them did to jeopardize her chances. Patting Enciath's side, and keeping an eye out for a friend, he had no idea that there was a new color yet, but if he found someone he knew (or someone he didn't), he could at least get a quick run-down. It took a moment, but he found his way down off the ledge, and started combing through the Stands trying to find someone willing.

Tag: Anyone who wants to clue in a walking red bird nest

[Minute]

TW: BLOOD

Tag: Yuri, people at the healers(Garna)/Dragon and Wher death-match(Kahrie)

Perhaps she should have seen what happened next coming.

Actually, no, there was no 'perhaps', she really should have seen it coming. Candidates were always taught not to speak during hatchings, and to not only speak but insult the very creatures you were standing for? That was not only dangerous but quite possibly deadly. However, Garna had always been a brave girl, maybe even fearless to a degree. Some might say that this was a strength, but when it combined with her impulsiveness it sometimes drove common sense out the window. so she spat her venom, not pausing for a moment to think of the possible consequences of such a thing.

This was a mistake.

Before she had a chance to say or do anything more she was under attack, and a very unjust one if she asked her. That burgundy beast jumped at her, claws out, forcing her to the ground and scratching at her arms. Immediately pain rushed through her, sharp, hot, burning pain. Pain and fury that she had been attacked and appeared weak in front of so many people. Yet she did not scream, pride preventing her from doing so. Oh, how she wanted to attack, to force this monstrosity off of her. In that moment she came to the conclusion that she was right, nothing good could come from these 'burgundies', and thus they would have to be eliminated before the taint could spread. Oh, but was it only them? There were also the cyans, tans, and viridians to deal with. Maybe even all but the original five colors, none could be trusted. All had to go before Pern met it's end, all were vile.

However, what happened next successfully forced all intelligent thought from her mind. The dragon began squirming under her, forcing her to her feet. While she hated the idea of going along with what the monster wanted she knew that remaining on the ground was a dangerous situation indeed. And so, when a wherlet came to help her up, she stood. But as the burgundy tried to force her off of the sands she fought back, attempting to push back and refuse to go the direction the beast wanted, hissing profanities as she did so. He still made ground, yes, but she liked to think that she delayed him quite a bit.

Turns out doing do was another mistake.

If she thought her earlier pain was bad it was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to what happened next. The dragonet shoved her down again and stomped hard on her leg, successfully breaking it. Despite herself she couldn't hold back the shriek that left her as she felt it crack and shards of bone sink into the surrounding muscles. Already it was starting to swell and bent at a bit of an odd angle, this combined with the blood now covering her upper body made her look like a complete and utter mess. But she was beyond caring at the moment, unable to think of anything but the white-hot pain searing through her, how dots began to form in her vision.

Although she was on the sands in her stunned state for less than a few minutes she had no way of knowing that. All sense of time seemed to have vanished for her, just this fuzzy, painful haze passing through her head. She couldn't think but she did feel vague emotions. Anger, wrath, greed, and, much to her surprise, sorry. Why she felt the sorry she did not understand, nor would she be able to figure out for a while. However, if she had delved just a little deeper she might have found a faint undertone of loss.

Then there was a voice, Yuri, she recognized. At his words she nodded and silently obeyed, although chances were she wouldn't stay silent for long. Garna had never been the silent type, and the events of today had probably shattered any hope of silence from her for a long time. But for now she moved with the candidatemaster over to the healers, focusing on keeping herself from whimpering every time her leg was jostled instead of yelling about one thing or another.

Upon reaching the healers she sat down, closing her eyes as she slumped over. "Sick," she muttered, "those beasts are sick. Can't be allowed to stay, need to be destroyed before they can end Pern." In her muttering and obliviousness to the world she failed to notice Nori's impression to the very dragon that had mauled her. Oh, but eventually she would find out and that girl would be placed on her list of people to be made miserable. If she survived, that is.

Across the sands and a few moments ago Kahrie had watched as a brother and healer carried a mauled girl away. She didn't say anything in response to Ranthian, although she did feel a flare of annoyance. Way to be a jerk to someone that was just trying to help. However, she did not intrude on their moment and did not follow as the girl was carried away, instead settling for mentally wishing her good luck. It was by sheer force of will that she tore her gaze away from the healers. Although, Garna's explosion may have helped a little bit as well.

The girl narrowed her eyes as she got mauled before muttering, "idiot." She felt no remorse for the girl, as far as she was concerned she had brought it upon herself. Her thoughts did not remain on Garna for long though as some more eggs hatched, including a black dragon that proceeded to hide behind Kahrie. Raising an eyebrow at the little creature she murmured, "well then, let's hope your brand of chaos making doesn't include death and bloodshed." Thankfully this one didn't look particularly bloodthirsty, maybe a little troublesome but that was about it.

Unfortunately it didn't seem that peace would last for long. She missed Norilana's impression, but she didn't miss the loud roar of warning as the green wher lunged. Kahrie only just managed to let out a surprised yelp and dive out of the way. She watched in horror as the two tore at each other, the gray eventually diving into the fray. Okay, no, this would just not do. The black might be able to hold his own, dragons where much bigger than whers after all, but the gray?

Kahrie announced her next action was a loud exclamation of, "nope!" She then darted forward into the brawl and attempted to pick up the gray wher and place him a little ways away from the brawl. There was a chance that she would get scratched up in to process, and if it seemed like she was about to lose a finger she would pull back. But there was something about seeing a tiny, rodent-sized wher possibly get torn apart that she just didn't like. And so she had to try.

[Rii]

Somewhere, Joshu was having what sounded like one side of a quiet argument with a very young child. Huh? Who… why wasn’t the other one answering, then? Norilana turned her head again tentatively to see and looked straight into one of the new-colored dragon’s faces. His eyes were so pretty, all shimmery rainbows, and there was a voice in her head. A brusque, clipped voice that was… ah… laying down the law?

Jossk. And Mattoth. Wherhandlers do not shorten their names; it is, apparently, not The Law. Also, they're not that special. She wanted someone she could browbeat, he doesn't even know who he is, if you ask me.

Nori frowned a little. “Wherhandlers don’t. Dragonriders do, so Lanor’n does,” she informed the dragonet in a worn-out voice. “An’ they are too special. Special-est.”

The burgundy didn’t even seem to be listening. His attention was on Lanorun’s brown. Do you even know who you are? THE LAW says you should have Impressed ages ago, brother. I don't actually know any of these laws, Norilana, my Norilana. All I know is that I will not put up with these shenanigans any longer. If they want to put up with it, that's their problem. You are my problem, and I have a very large problem with all of these people crowding you, and also with you bleeding to death. I will not stand for it, do you hear? Stop it at once.

The girl uttered a slightly hysterical giggle that hiccupped at the end. There was a baby dragon at Ranthian’s feet ordering her to stop bleeding out. It was… kind of ridiculous. At some point this day had taken a very strange turn. “Sorry… sorry. I’ll just stop bleeding. Get right on that. Ranthian, he wants me to stop bleeding.”

What did you say to me? Now he was glaring at the tiny grey wheret. You cannot possibly be serious. She is a Candidate! She is the only member of this family who has Impressed correctly. What do you mean, the Law says I shouldn't - go away! Go and Impress if you care that much! One of the ones who isn't dying, then, if you please! I do not care if she does. I would follow her anywhere, like I would have followed you if you had not turned out to be utterly insufferable.[/i] Turning back, the burgundy stretched up, up, extending his neck and nuzzling her cheek. Noirath, he introduced himself firmly. I am Noirath. Tell another joke. I do not promise to laugh.

“He’s Noirath. He wants… another joke.” Hanging onto her brother still, she continued that somewhat hysterical half-laughing, half-sobbing sound because everything was wonderful and horrible and bizarre. “Am I dying, Noirath?”

You don’t have to talk out loud to me, Noirath reproved. Norilana, you are being very silly. We’ll have less of that nonsense, if you would. Yes, of course you’re dying. But you can stop. If these people are of any use, they’ll do their part in stopping it instead of lollygagging about. He sat, curling his tail around his legs and folding his wings securely against his back. And when you stop bleeding, you should feed me. That too, is the Law. Pausing, he amended, And if it is not, it should be.

“Food,” Nori muttered, her head turning. That was right; baby dragons needed to be fed right away. “Could… could I get food for him? Please?”

The dragonet at Ranthian’s feet uttered what sounded very much like a sigh. You aren’t listening very well, my Norilana. You are being difficult. The slight gentling of his tone might almost pass for affection. We’ll work on that, though. Later.

[Rappu]

Ksenna was faintly aware of Yusk half-carrying her off the Sands. Just as well, as the girl would have put on a much bigger protest. As it were, she stumbled alongside the wher with weak, confused protests. "But I came all this way! Look, I'm sure it's just a scratch, and I must have fainted because of the sweltering heat..."

No avail. Soon she found herself in the Healers' corner, near someone else. She didn't know her fellow candidates, having arrived just prior to the hatching. She lifted her hand weakly and grinned. This hatching was something else! And to think, she was finally at a Weyr, where she could make art with more than clay and twigs. The first thing she'd make would definitely be a memorial of this night of blood and surprises. Maybe a ballad and a vase of sorts, with the ballad inscribed... She would have to get help with the letters, but Dalibor had scribes, didn't it?

She still wanted to return to the Sands. Shardit, her first hatching and she was going to miss out! "Hey," she asked the closest healer, "can you bandage me real quick so I can get back there?" The request was topped off with a charming, sweet smile and shiny puppy eyes.

Draolor felt relieved when the black wher slunk off. There was something very intimidating about where she. Most dragons were nice and some of them even had talked to him, but whers were mean and looked strange. And they were aggressive. Some even growled at Rocky! He shuddered. Luckily the scary wher bonded with someone moments later. The grey wher was cute, though. Maybe it could learn to be a spy and go into all the smallest tunnels. Then he could really help Rayna and Couineth fight all the evildoers in the Weyr.

He turned to watch the dragons. Both new colours had Impressed, but there were still eggs and adorable baby dragons on the Sands. Draolor had to resist an urge to run to each of them for a big bearish hug. He kind of wished he had Mim with him. The toy dog always made him less scared. Rocky was better off in his room with Calamity, because something on the Sands might want to eat either.

Kersk poked Makkoi's leg, a bottle of alcohol held gingerly in his mouth.
Kersk help. Desinfect?
The blue nosed Randi's head and spoke. Keep still. Not going to hurt.
Kerke watched Makkoi and Kersk's work. They were an adorable pair, man and wher working so well together... Sometimes Kerke felt like Kersk should have been Makkoi's wher - they were both smart and into healing and bandaged him whenever he'd dived headfirst into the unknown. So what gives that he should get the clever healer wher and Makkoi the adorably brave and cheery Makkosk?
A tiny thought tried to surface in his mind, but Kerke quashed it before it was anything more than the vaguest idea.

[Dragonwher]

Randiel had nodded a bit at Lyrnn's words when he went to help Naras and just focused on keeping Rask away from the fish bucket. Figuring out how to get Rask off his back without getting bit was his next challenge. Primarily when the sneaky; too intelligent brown managed to get between Randiel and the bit of wall he'd sat near. He'd originally chosen this spot to avoid conflict for space with the other new Wherlings, but now he debated whether this was the smartest move. For a short time before Lyrnn got a chance to switch buckets with Randi the boy had looked a bit foolish; trying to shove at Rask only for the sneaky wher to duck and pinch him on the sides with his hindclaws it felt like. By the time he'd gotten the new bucket to replace the target of Rask's ire Randi had acquired an eye tic; made worse by Rask suddenly sedately sitting on the floor again looking up at him eyes a whirl as if his attempted destruction of the fish bucket had been a game.

When Lyrnn crouched near Randi and Rask however the brown went back to eyeing Lyrnn balefully but not speaking yet, likely due to his being distracted by meat once Randi switched buckets. As he focused on Lyrnn, his hands resumed passing food to Rask to keep him occupied while Randi listened to Lyrnn's words. Then he tried a bit of a grin; ignoring the flick of pain his moving about was causing as he responded to the suggestions of who to speak to to get an idea how to handle Rask. As well as responding to Lyrnn stating he'd be more frustrated if Randi didn't ask for help "Thank you for the suggestions Sir, I'll keep all of them in mind...Cilia's wher was the one who Fathered this wherclutch wasn't he? I thought I overheard that before the hatching a few days back". Then he nodded soberly "I'll keep that in mind about asking you for help as well Sir; I guess I was trying to not stack a load of problems on your shoulders thanks to the other half that chose me".

Though he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as a small laugh escaped him "truly I wasn't sure if thumping him was the smartest thing to do; but I'll try only to use that when needed if he won't heed any sensible commands...though I hope that things won't come to that". Rask, feeling something in Randiel's mind that was akin to a weakening wall; decided to redirect the male in the only way he knew how. Instead of sedately taking the meat from Randi's hand, he bit His firmly on the index finger. Not enough to break bone, but certainly enough to bloody his finger as Rask hissed in his mind gruffly Rask is not be choosing weakling who back down so fast. This made Randiel blink "but I wasn'-then he hissed as Rask dug a fang into the cut; clearly not believing Randi. It wasn't till Randi finally tried out their mental connection and mentally shouted SHARDIT RASK LET GO! with as much force as he could muster. This finally had the hoped for effect of Rask letting his hand go as his voice rumbled through Randi's mind Good boy, Rask finally be teach have spine; Knew Rask's was more stubborn. It was probably pretty obvious to Lyrnn in a sense what just occurred between Randi and Rask if that glare was any clue. Though Randi had been left trying to wonder how a statement of 'good boy' could be turned to a gruff sounding almost insult. Then he was slightly distracted from talking to Makkoi for a moment by Kersk nosing him "Ok...I'll sit still...and stay still when Makkoi gets back to me". His uncertain tone was more from trying to remember the name of the blue wher trying to nudge him, while keeping Rask busy with meat bits going in his maw.

Then Randiel turned to Makkoi "I'll live, what you've done so far helped slow the bleeding and I'm not as bad off as some of the others Sir". Then he shook his head using his uninjured hand to feed Rask more meat "I wasn't planning on moving from this spot till Wherlingmaster Lyrnn dismissed us, but if he lets us loose before you get back around to me I'll stick to this spot". Giving Makkosk a small sidelong glance he looked back at Makkoi "if not for the fact you might need your wher's aid with anyone else's baby wher you could leave your partner here; pretty sure Rask won't try to tussle with them". Then he sighed seeing Rask look toward the older Wher "Rask do NOT start a fight; that wher could probably sit on you and squish the air out of you". Randiel tried to ignore the rising thought in the back most private part of his mind like you did to that little skinny green before bashing her little head in. He didn't feel any sort of pride from Rask at the memory; so Randiel assumed that last thought was private for once since he Impressed.

(Tag Lyrnn, Makkoi Makkosk; Editted to include reaction to nice helpful Kersk)
~~~~

D'nari's potential Help would come in the form of Malinoth contacting Enciath politely Enciath, I think theres room on the ledge I and Mira have sat on. I think Mira would like the company since her brother's Standing and Impression has made her a bit out of sorts. Mira; far from vexed at her partner's idea, smiled "thank you Mali" then she eeped as all three flits flew toward D'nari when the familiar to Asher mop of red moved along. Out of the three however the oddly giggly cyan would be the only new flit to D'nari as Asher tried to perch on him to send thought of where precisely Mira was to D'nari. Nymeria's attempt to assist was...less focused since she seemed only to remember the halflit blackness of Malinoth's wings around her and Mira.

Meridia was just looking to make a new friend and proceeded to razz-giggle-peep a hello to D'nari. Andel and Mir might have recognized one of the three flits if they bothered to look elsewhere. But all their focus remained on the Sands, Though it was a relief knowing their son had safely Impressed; the two were now somewhat curious to see who would join his class. Though Mir let out an eep of startlement when a wherlet appeared to choose of all people the Master Harper. Andel's reaction wasn't vocal but he did gain a rather poleaxed look before shaking it off. The duo did get that dragons and whers; while oft-times violent on hatching, knew in general what they were after. Though by the green wher's antics before it fought the black dragon; there would always be a few who didn't have their act completely together. Even if it was amusingly cute to watch the poor thing act so bemusedly confused at its own hatching.

Watching one of the new Burgundy dragons Impress to a wounded girl made Andel and Mir hope fervently the young female would fight hard to live. There had been much too much death this hatching as it stood. Least in Mir's opinion. (tag Sal/D'nari XD)

[Chimera]

((Tags: Ranthian/Norilana/Joshu/Healers;;Randiel/Naras/Wherlings/Healers))
The hatching continued with all its madness. It did not freeze in time for Lanorun. It waited for no one. To Lanorun time seemed to slow down, and his terrible state of mind made him feel sick - the pain from his slashed hip didn't help matters, either.

He stood guard next to Nori, staring wistfully at his bleeding sister. Was she bleeding to death? Would her life end before its time, here in a cavern of needless blood and death? What would they do without her? She was the shining beacon of hope in an otherwise miserable life, and Lanorun refused to let that single ray of light pass away. And even without all of that hope and light, she was his sister, his kin.

Lanorun had been the one to save Joshu and hack off his leg, in that situation which needed a direct, strong action for a happy ending, one that didn't involve a painful death, or any sort of it - one that involved staying alive. But Ranthian was the family's self-taught healer. He was less of a brute, though just as much of one sometimes as Lanorun. He was keeping Nori awake despite her wounds, awake and still with her optimism.

"Look a' how pretty J..jossk is." He hoarsely chuckled at the newest, nocturnal member of their family. "Congratulations." Even if Joshu was a Stands Impression, a wherhandler didn't need to rely on a Weyr. Jossk's antics with her new handler were amusing to watch, and cheered Lanorun up somewhat. Then, his attention turned to the...burgundies? A new color? They were strange, red-brown creatures. As long as no burgundy hurt any of them further, Lanorun was fine with the mutations.

"Stupid kid." Lanorun snarled regarding Garna as she was mauled, and dragged off the sands. "I don' exactly fancy tha Weyrs," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "but she couldn' think ahead a little?" He scoffed. Forget it. Some sensible dragonets and wherets at least were on the Sands. The burgundy who...interacted with Garna was violent, but less so than that wheret, who had bonded to Lanorun's roommate, Randiel. There was an iron dragon and that mysterious gray wher. None of those were *very* violent. Yet.

"Nori...See th' brown dragonet?" Lanorun watched him neatly order the remaining Candidates (poor souls), and head towards...the back of the Sands? Was he going to bond to Ranthian, or even cross-Impress Norilana?

No, was he...

No, Lanorun knew his lessons too well to mistake the sudden hunger on the edge of his mind for his own.

L'norOwn.

Who was L'nor? He sounded like a stereotypical rider. The name was stereotypical, everything about it, and...Pictures filled Lanorun's mind. And emotion, too kind and peaceful to be from a wheret of this clutch.

Try not to worry, your Mattoth is here.

"What." The brown dragonet stared at Lanorun - L'nor now - confused.

He stared back, eyes shifting through all the colors of the rainbow.

Mattoth, apparently his Mattoth, stared back.

They stared at each other for a good quarter of a candlemark, which seemed much longer than that.

"I'm too old fer this."

I chose you, so you aren't.

Just like his father, the brown chose an older man who was most definitely not a dragon candidate.

"Well, ye did choose me...No goin' back now. An' now I'm L'nor." He said the last part to his siblings. He sighed. He'd become the very person he hated...a dragonrider, a member of the elite soldiers of Pern who didn't live up to the legends and awe that surrounded them.

But just maybe...just maybe, L'nor could change that. One day, if Mattoth caught a queen like Perbiath, L'nor could even be Weyrleader. But that thought was so strange and alien, so far-off in a hypothetical future that he chose to ignore it.

"Welcome to th' family, Mattoth." He was a baby dragon, and he needed food and strength before anything.

Thanks. Glad I found you, L'norOwn. Mattoth nuzzled L'nor's hand with his brown beak, before slowly turning his head to the feeding buckets.

"Yer hungry." The former wher candidate looked at Nori and Ranthian.
"Gotta feed 'im. I'll be close by." They were about to head to the feeding area, when the burgundy from earlier approached Norilana, and...Impressed her? And he was saying something about law as he turned to his brown brother.

Mattoth did not understand why Nairoth had to be so agitated.

I am Mattoth, and L'norOwn took time to find. That's all. The brown dragonet chirped at his brother, and then Nori asked for food for Nairoth.

"I'm on it. Matt eats, an' I'll be right back."

Shards, Nori's dragon needs food quick, but so do ye...How 'bout I'll bring two buckets back here, one for ye, one for Nairoth? Or three, just in case.

If you say so. I'm very hungry. I can wait a little more.

L'nor and his new dragon swiftly made it to the buckets after copious "excuse me"s as he passed the new weyrlings and wherlings. He took some buckets of fish, and strode back to the healers' area, a gawky Mattoth still wet with egg-goo following.

"Here y'go." L'nor set them down, taking one bucket to feed his own ravenous dragon.

"Remember t'chew." The brown dragonet opened his jaw and closed, opened and closed in an awkward imitation of his partner's motions. The young man had always despised the dragonriders' so-called "bonds", dismissing them as overwrought stories. But now that Mattoth was linked to his mind...he knew that he'd foolishly dismissed what was truth. The moment before Impression seemed a distant, fading memory. Browns overall were calm dragons (excluding Rask, who was a violent brown and not even a dragon) with equally calm effects on those around them - at least Mattoth had this effect on L'nor.

Mattoth sent a wave of tranquility and happiness to Norilana, Nairoth, Ranthian, Joshu, and Jossk as well as his own L'nor. There would be a happy ending to this hatching for the family, the dragonet was sure of it. He ate up the remainder of the meat in his bucket and was satisfied, lying down next to L'nor, yawning, and joining Jossk in the state of light sleep.

"Well-ll, that's that." The new weyrling sighed. "Had a feelin' somethin' ridic'lous like this'd happen. Yer stuck with L'nor nae, Lanorun's gone. Congratulations, Nori." At least he'd be a weyrling in the same class as his sister. Being in different classes would've set him on edge 24/7. Not like he wasn't on edge virtually all of the time, anyways. He regarded the sheathed knife on his belt with a strange amusement. To think he wouldn't need it to bond...

***

Bleeding. Heal soon.

Well, no small thanks to you, 'Drask. What would I do without ya trying to break my ankle?

Blood show mind. Blood and fear show all. With that cryptic - and annoying - response, Dardrask went back to snoozily watching the new wherlings and weyrlings from the vantage point of his handler-in-training's shoulder. The burgundies were fascinating, the color of human blood. He would have to meet one later, see if he was a fearful dragon or not.

Ughhh, shut up with the blood and fear. I get it.

No.

You're an insufferable jerk.

Insufferable, scary jerk.

I'm done with this conversation.

Dardrask pretended to sleep like the innocent, bloodsucking, murderous angel he obviously was.

“I dunno, my ankle almost got broken...you're – whoa, did that Harper Impress, anyways – you're pretty hurt, Randiel, so I can wait a bit. Not too long, though. I hope.” Dardranel watched Naras come over to the feeding area.

“Uh...that was unexpected! 'Grats on the wheret. What's his name? Oh! Yeah, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Dardranel, I used to be a dragon candidate but then Dardrask bit the hell out of my ankle, and came back later to Impress to me. What's your name, sir? Oh, and...blame anytime I forget to be polite on the bleeding and the woozyness, please.” Dardranel offered this rambling explanation slash greeting to the new wherling Naras, grinning at him. “We're going to be in the same class! And a bunch of people.”

Dardrask attempted to creep Naras out, making the scariest imitation of a human smile he could, his lips curling up to reveal clacking teeth.

“Stop it, Dardrask.” Dardranel bopped the wheret's snout lightly with a single finger. He stopped, but continued watching the bluepair with vicious red eyes.

[Maggie]

"Rissy, stop harassing the healers," Tamarine chided. She leaned down, grabbing Tamarisk behind her front legs and scooping her up.

NO! TAMRI-MINE PUT TAMARISK DOWN! TAMARISK DOWN! the wherlet protested, flailing and squirming and trying to escape. She was hindered by the fact that she didn't actually want to hurt her handler.

"Stop that. See, here you aren't in the way and you have a better vantage point to supervise." The little cyan stilled at that. She settled down like a large, ugly lap-canine, grudgingly accepting the pieces of fish Tamarine handed her while she supervised.

Tamarine looked away from her leg, not wanting to see it stitched. She saw Randiel, still with his Rask that Tamarisk hated so much, and grinned. "You could talk to my aunt, too. Task nearly killed her on the sands. Ate one of her fingers. He's supposedly an awful murderous beast and not all that smart, though don't tell her I said that, but I've never once see him hurt anyone. She keeps him on a very short leash."

***

Enciath! Nesdeth and I are watching over here! It's horrible and red. Red is so out of style right now and I will never use it in my fashions! Anablimyth called to his clutchmate, sounding distressed.

Dawnova has chosen not to watch, Nesdeth told her chosen sister, her tone neutral and flat. A girl died, like when I hatched. There is lots of blood. Anablimyth has been scared.

I have not!

[Gray]

There was something about the sands that was starting to bother her. They hurt. They really hurt. At first she was sure she had ignored the pain of them. But now it wasn't just her foot that was throbbing, it was her thighs, calves and butt. Frowning, Matilda shook her head. No, no she would not get off the sands now. Pain would not rule her! It would not break her! But she would still look at the healer's area with a hint of longing. Maybe they had a damp cloth she could apply. That would probably feel nice... But no! She had dealt with worse, right? She was a fighter!

A'til furrowed his brow. Oh she was not.
Asperath, tell that girl to call for help.
Which girl? There was a playful note to his mental voice. He knew exactly what girl, but he wanted A'til to say it. He wanted A'til to admit he cared. The man sighed a bit, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palm. Between the viridian on the ledge and the babes on the sand, A'til was sure he was going to go prematurely gray. Lifting his head, he shot a glare to the gathered dragons that watched from above.
Matilda. Tell Matilda to call for help. He could feel the seafoam dragon's joy fill their bond and he couldn't help but smile. It was only because of Asperath that A'til had not jumped down to drag the baby burgundy off of his sister. After, A'til got the idea that Matilda had found her life being in danger... well, interesting. The thought, once again, made his shake his head.

Matilda sister-mine, go get yourself fixed! You're strong, we get it! Matilda rolled her eyes, bowing her head a bit so her hair was a thick curtain around her face. She didn't want to admit it, but they were right. Going to the healer area wouldn't hurt her chances, in fact, from what she had seen, Norilana and her kin had impressed from there. Peeking from between strands, she grinned. Good on them. They deserved it.

Licking her lips, Matilda made a decision.
“Yuri, Yusk!” She waved a hand, hoping the sweet green saw it.
“I really need to get my foot looked at, before it gets worse.” She didn't want to, really, but at the same time, Asperath and A'til were worried. She had scared her brother enough.

[Tag: Yuri+Yusk, healers, ect.]

[RavenSong]

Naraevhyn was mildly stunned when Z'dyn displaced her and left. Dismayed, she shifted away from Jyderin and went silent again, wrapping her arms around herself as she analyzed what just happened. Well, she'd certainly stuffed that up, hadn't she. She thought a while and decided that she didn't want to try yet again to explain why she felt as she did about her father and opted to just watch the Sands. Things had calmed down for the most part. Maybe the rest of the Candidates would Impress without further harm coming to them.

She'd apologize to Z'dyn later, without explaining things. If he saw her side already and ignored it, it certainly wouldn't help to explain further. If he didn't care, it wouldn't help to explain further either. Explaining at all wouldn't help.

---

Naras nodded to Lyrnn, smiling warmly.

"Thank you," he said simply, moving to get a bucket of food for his wheret. He settled in to feed the icy blue, who regarded his surroundings with what felt like apathy at first. As Naras gently explored this new connection in his mind, he realized that Narask didn't really feel anything. He was cold.

Oh wonderful, he thought.

What wonderful? Narask asked. Hatching? Yes. Burgundy violence? Yes. Wonderful solution annoying problem. Loudmouth dimglow female silenced now. Narask prefer silenced forever, but get what get.

How did you... oh. Right. You can hear my thoughts.

Yes. Narask gave a mighty yawn. Strange mind, Naras. Focus dragons, not know much whers. Narask teach. Make useful Naras.

I was useful before, you know.

For song, maybe. Narask make useful for more. The wheret turned his head to regard Seph. Easy end that one, he said. Bite to throat. Never see coming.

I'm sure. You're not going to do that, though.

Could if wanted.

And that's a firm no from me, little boy.

What? Not little boy. Narask. Narask is wher, not human child.

Boy can refer to any male child.

Not child. Wher.

Just eat your sharding fish.

At Dardranel's rather interesting introduction, Naras smiled a bit.

"I'm Master Harper Naras, though I wonder if that title will change. He's Narask. He's... definitely different and remarkably unexpected," the Master Harper turned Wherling said. He eyed Dardrask, just raising a brow at him as the wheret attempted to intimidate him. He was a bit creeped out, but wasn't about to let the little wher know it.

"May I help you, little sir?" he asked.

Dardrask, go away. Dimglow, Narask said. My human. Scare your own.


---

K'var passed a bucket of fish to K'ian, grinning in embarrassment at how he'd overlooked the new yellowrider.

"Hello to you," he said. "Sorry about the delay there, son, mildly distracted. It won't happen again. K'ian, you said? And your Yellow is... Kamikith? A pleasure to meet you. Such a sunny-looking... boy? I never can tell with Yellows, I'm sorry. Valeath and Weslieth are the only ones I know. If you need anything, just ask. Even if it's extra food. We can't always predict the appetites of hatchlings, but for the most part one bucket will suffice. We have to be careful not to let them overeat, too. Constipated dragonets are not awesome at all." He smiled warmly.

---

Seph eyed all the dragonets and sighed, shaking his head a bit. He moved closer to the Stands side of the small zone, leaning up against the side of the Stands as he watched the remaining dragonets and wherets. A sinking feeling settled into his gut as he saw how few eggs there were left. The dragonets weren't going to notice him way back there. He'd be going back to the Barracks with no dragon. He'd remain a Candidate, while Lili and Seidon Impressed.

Dragons would separate him from family again, he just knew it. He swallowed hard, pushing away that insecurity. Lili and Seidon wouldn't do that to him, would they? He certainly hoped not.

[Zephyr]

((Tags

Ranthian; Nori/Lanorun/Joshu/Ondine
Addy; Sora
Mouse; Genner/Gennesk/Saosk/Lisk))

There was too much happening all at the same time. Joshu was here, with his wher, and Lanorun…he had his…dragon. Now there was yet another dragon up in their business, and Ranthian was about to shoo the (brown…red?) baby away when it looked up at Nori and (rainbow eyes) impressed. His heart fell in his stomach. The boy was torn between being happy for his family and upset that the one link he’d had left was now gone. Now he’d be forever and inexorably separated from his sibling.

He might have felt separated from his siblings before, but now he definitely was. They had mindmates…he just had an empty hole in his head filled with fear and pain and worry. Ranthian was happy for them, really he was, and he smiled, dry eyed when he wanted to break down, about to say something when the dragon spun around and smacked him straight in the legs with its tail.

“Faranth” He hissed, his legs buckling from pain and exhaustion and he landed straight on his ass, still clinging to Nori on the way down. He peered apologetically at Ondine, and then Nori and let out a little only half forced laugh. “Sorry about the rough ride, Nori, can’t seem to keep my legs under me.”

“M’happy for you, Nori.” He smiled sleepily at his sister, leaning back against the stands with his sister leaning against his chest so that Ondine could still get to her. He’d lost so much blood, and he was so tired, that he couldn’t find it in himself to be anything other than giddily thrilled for all three of his siblings. He’d probably feel the pain of being the odd one out in a more permanent way once he’d gotten his strength back.

For now though, he held his sister’s hand, thumb rubbing concentric circles around the back of his hand while his eyes fluttered shut. Ranthian sighed heavily. “You’re gonna be okay sis. I promise.”

---

Addy had no more gotten to her feet again when another baby, this time a wherlet, ran straight into her knees. The girl had no time to move out of the way, and she went tumbling back onto the hot sand with an indignant yowl. Her hand burned, sharp pain ripping up through her wrist and arm as she went to catch herself.

Then she just laid there.

The sand was hot, and burning into the areas where her skin touched…and even through the thin material of her robe…but she huffed, not in a big hurry to get up, since it seemed like all the babies were intent upon keeping her on the ground.

She twisted her head, looked up at Sora and half thought about telling the girl to tell her when the hatching was over, but sighing heavily, she raised herself up onto her knees (favoring her injured right hand), then onto her feet. She was so tired, it was like the world was weighing down on her, but she stayed on her feet, even if she was dead on them.

The girl had to stay standing, even if she didn’t impress, things would only get worse if she was sprawled out all over the sand, no matter how tempting it might have been to just stay down. She gave Sora a knowing look, shaking her head before turning her head around to idly watch the dancing pink dragonet.

---

The little girl leaned against Gennesk. All this excitement was making her sleepy, but the babies were exciting! Even if all the mean babies and blood and death scared her, it seemed to calm down now. There were a lot of bright, pretty eggs left and Mouse was looking forward to them hatching. She decided not to say anything to Gennesk about remembering the fallen, because her little mind still couldn’t wrap itself around the concept.

Instead, she perked up when he mentioned Saosk. She grinned broadly, gripping one of the brown’s head knobs and kissing him on the cheek. I’ll be safe, promise. I’ll hold onto Saosk and everything, and we’ll fly and it’ll be so much fun! She was so excited that she was nearly jumping in place. That’s when Genner came down to speak to her. Mouse blinked up at him doeishly. She trusted Genner, but she was still a little more comfortable around the whers, probably because she couldn’t communicate with the humans as well.

The girl blinked, looking from Genner to the whers to the nest. She wanted to watch the babies down here with her whers, but Gennesk’s wanted her up with him. It took her a second, but as long as Saosk and Gennesk and Lisk could come, she’d be okay. Okay. Can go. She told him, even if he would never be able to hear her. She wiggled out of the circle of the brown’s body, tugging on his wing, Lisk’s leg, and finally Saosk’s headknob as she jumped down and was led by Genner up into the stands. Come with? Gennesk’s says we should go up higher. Maybe see the babies better?

She didn’t want to go without them.

[Serah]

Kiaja was nearly stiff as a rock. Yusk's presence did little to deter him from standing, though he knew it was not meant to do that. No, she was just worried about her Candidates. Each time a wher passed by him, he just sent it mental 'go away' thoughts. He didn't want them near him right now. Besides, there were probably better people for them anyway. Though a Black wheret gave him a long look.

When the Burgandy knocked him down, he was knocked down. Then his legs were further scratched. He didn't know the reason for this, but at this point, he didn't care. Kiaja just wanted to get through this Hatching. He was still trying to think happy thoughts, and mostly succeeding. Though his sister was never far from his mind.

Then the Black wheret seemed to be done with him. Going off to look at others, Kiaja sighed relief. He had thought for a moment that the little Black was going to maul him as well. He got back to his feet, once again. He was trying to stand straight, through the pain of his scratched and bruised legs. He would not let himself be taken out of the Hatching, but he also knew that if anything else happened to him, he would need to go to the Healers.

Awnia had really been watching the Whers. There was a Black wher running around the sands. He was looking for His, it seemed. Or something important to him, at the very least. As he hit her, she stood still. Trying to allow the wher to maneuver as he pleased. When the Black left, she noticed some more Impressions. She clapped for them, the Wherlings and the Weyrlings. She hoped they would be happy with their partners.

Szene was barely paying attention to what was going on. When she snapped her attention back to the Hatching, she noticed the new color dragons. Burgundy. They seemed to be larger than Blacks, but smaller than Blues. A new male fighter color? Well, Szene thought, this evens the numbers of male to female fighter colors. And it wasn't like she would Impress a fighter.

No, Szene was confident she would Impress something of a little higher rank. Riding a fighter, she could not imagine that. She (in her mind) was to ride a Queen. Or at the very least, a sub-Queen. Though she didn't see either of those coming from this Clutch. So she would just have to wait this hatching out to wait for the next one. She had barely noticed when the Brown began to push her. She went along with it, seeing little point in angering a baby.

[Nia]

Valdis looked at Cambyses and shook her head, trying not to let her nervousness betray her. She wouldn't leave. No way. She was strong, she could do it! "I'm okay," she said, with more of a waver to her voice than she wanted to hear, "I can still watch. But, um, thank you. It's definitely...." she paused, looking out at the Hatching again, "A bit more than I thought my first Hatching would play out...." she was certainly glad she wasn't down there on the Sands. Those Candidates were all so brave! She did reach out a hand to touch the Purple firelizard's paw, hoping that he'd climb into her lap anyway. She didn't want to leave, but being able to pet a cute Purple firelizard while watching would probably help.

The Gray wanted to get down, and the Iron obeyed, lowering his Sheriff to the ground so the Gray wher could go off and take Noirath over to His, like he was supposed to be doing the entire time. The Iron remained in his place up in front, watching over the Candidates and deciding if he should go out and start to re-order them properly. Mattoth had done his best, but there were still some rather large gaps in the crowd that he disliked. It was while he was deciding that the Gray wher had doubled back to stop the fight between the Black and the Green, and the Iron sprung into action. Well, he moved rather slowly and calmly, but he made his way off to the trio all the same.

Fully believing that the Gray could handle it, the Iron kept his distance, awaiting the orders from his sheriff. However, while he might respect and obey the Gray wher, he certainly did not treat others the same. The Law must be upheld, and he was here to keep it that way. Kahrie made to grab the Gray, and the Iron bristled and growled at her. No. She was getting in the way of The Law, AND it was very against The Law to touch one of the hatchlings, unless they touched you first. This, the Iron was sure of. He snapped at Kahrie's hand, biting down on it and pushing her back. No. She was not allowed to get involved. It was The Law. He wasn't about to maim her like his law-loving sister, but she had gotten enough of a warning. He growled at her again, and then his Black clutchbrother, who seemed to be having issues of his own.

Warnings sent, he gave a small nod to the Gray wher and started off to go find His. He'd been wasting enough time out on these Sands, and he was still in the belief that the Gray wher had the situation fully under control, tiny size or not. The Iron moved past the bloodstain on the Sands, he glanced at Ahburn as he walked past and shook his head, moving in front of Lilianai and Seidon, past Maal and Draolor, leaning on each other, to stop in front of Jaedellyn. He gave the boy a prompt sniff before sitting down and locking eyes, feeling the happiness of Impression push through his very serious mind. J'dynMine, this entire farce has been utterly chaotic, and I do not plan on sticking around for it to get worse.

[/i] he sounded bitter and angry about it, his eyes whirling into J'dyn's, We may not be able to stop the hatchlings, but we can go re-order my siblings who have already Impressed. You'll go with your Imperiuth.[/i] It was an order, of course, not a suggestion. He wasn't exactly the type of dragon that made suggestions.

[/blockquote]

SPOILER: Click to show

Iron Imperiuth - The Emperor - 57544B
Personality:
Imperiuth is a ruler. He was born to rule and he definitely knows this, though he does not let that fact go to his head. He craves order, and knows he can achieve order with his power. It's his responsibility to make sure everyone else is orderly as well, a job that he holds to a very high degree. He has a bit of a righteous outlook, believing that he's always doing the right thing, even if other's don't agree. He might not be outwardly arrogant, but Imperiuth doesn't exactly hold the opinions of others in a very high regard. Sure, he'll pretend to listen, but he'll always find a way to circle things back so that his way is right. He seeks to bring others into "the light" as well, feeling something similar to pity whenever he feels that someone else's opinions aren't what they should be.

This Iron very strictly adheres to rules, and only ever comes up with his own rules when he feels the old ones don't apply to the situation. This doesn't mean that he doesn't have any ambition, however. Imperiuth craves order, and the only way for him to really achieve order is with power. He will strive to be the best and the brightest, and he is always looking for ways he can impress his superiors. He does know his position, however, and he generally won't boss around others around his same rank. He's very polite and courteous, seeing himself very much as a gentleman.

This Iron is also very rational and logical. He prefers logic above all else, and will scoff in the face of anything that seems "magical" or out of the ordinary. His motto is "There is a perfectly good explanation for everything!" and he will refuse to accept something unless he can explain it. However, if something out of the ordinary does happen around him, Imperiuth is not very likely to look into it or research it. He's much more like to come up with an explanation out of his own head, or even just ignore whatever happened. If he can't explain it, it might has well have not even happened at all.

Appearance:
Imperiuth is built very averagely, though perhaps a bit more on the bulky side than average. He is decently proportioned, with long legs and larger wings. As a dragon, he is clearly much more suited to the air than walking on the ground, but he can manage to walk just fine without looking too awkward. His muzzle is fairly long, making him look a bit more on the quine side. His headknobs are also quite short and stubby. Imperiuth holds himself with a very regal air, always keeping himself upright and never slouching. He is always perfectly poised, even if no one is looking at him. It's just a habit to sit like a king on his throne.

As for coloring, Imperiuth is on the grayer side of Iron. He is a medium-toned blueish gray with lighter markings on his legs and wings. Even lighter markings are on his chin, neck and the underside of his tail, fading out to darker until it blends into his hide. He will grow to be 47 feet.

The Iron came by and the Black thought that maybe he'd help, but instead all the Iron did was bite some girl on the hand and push her away from them. The Black howled under the Green's claws, wiggling around and smapping at her, only occassionally managing to hit her hide. Get off! Get off get off get off! This joke wasn't very funny anymore! He might have been bigger than her, but shards, this little Green just didn't stop. They wrestled on the ground for a while with the Black trying to escape, until the Gray came up and decided it was enough. The Black replied that he KNEW it was enough! He wanted to stop too! But she just- and then he found his escape, where something else had distracted the Green long enough for the Black to claw her off of him, and he bolted straight back into the Candidates, nearly crashing into Kiaja, though he dug his claws into the sand and managed to just barely avoid an impact.

As the Black darted into the crowd of Candidates, the last red egg in the back row broke open without much cracking at all, with the dragonet looking dazed and a little bit frazzled at his sudden entrance into the world. It was another Burgundy, a pleasant red shade with odd, lighter markings on his hide that couldn't quite be seen in the low light. He looked around wildly, swishing his tail back and forth with what looked like sever nervousness. Why were they all staring at him?! What were they thinking about him?! They were all thinking terrible, awful thoughts. He could tell. They were all out to get him!

The Burgundy ducked back behind the remaining shell of his Iron clutchbrother's egg, until it crumbled around him and he jumped up in surprise. There weren't enough eggs over here to hide him, but... he made a run for Kalesk and her nest, ducking behind the large golden wher and hoping that she'd just let him stay here for a little while. She wasn't mean. She felt nice. He liked her thoughts, though that was probably only because she'd been around his egg so much. The Cyan wher got a few nervous glances as he assured her he'd remain entirely pacifistic. He didn't really like all the blood either, and he was POSITIVE that it'd been the evil monsters out there in those white robes that had caused it.

The Black continued frantically running through the Candidates, searching their minds as he hunted for a way to escape the Green, despite the fact that she had gotten completely distracted with something else and probably didn't even remember he existed anymore. But the Black didn't care! She'd been scary and she hurt him, that was so mean all he wanted to do was play a joke and- oh! This! He barreled straight into Mleynn, crashing the both of them down to the sand. M'ynMineMine! M'yn! Miiiine!

[/i] The dragonet shouted into the boy's mind, untangling himself and flopping down in the sand next to His. Michiath just wanted to play a little joke on her! But she was so mean. Can you even believe it, M'ynMineMine?[/i] Michiath wiggled over so he was looking at M'yn as he spoke, Impression evident in both their eyes.

[/blockquote]

SPOILER: Click to show

Black Michiath - 111010
Personality:
Michiath is a chaotic little beast. He loves causing mayhem and trouble, and barely any empathies for his victims or even those just caught in the crossfire. He's a trouble-maker and loves pranks, though sometimes his pranks can be very mean-spirited. Michiath hates tranquility and calmness, and goes out of his way to wreck things that are particularly calm. He is the first one to make tracks in snow, the one who jumps into the lake while everyone is floating around peacefully. That's BORING! He needs disorder and excitement!

In that way, Michiath sort of has the mentality of a 13 year old boy bent on destruction. He loves to spoil things, as well. If someone was working on a surprise party, Michiath would go out of his way to alert the person to their own surprise party before it happens. It'd also be best to never let him in on any secrets, because he has a bad habit of blurting them out loudly for everyone in the area to hear. He sees it as just in good fun, and gets angry when someone actually takes offense at anything he's done.

To M'yn, he is marginally nicer, but he loves to tease him. His teasing can go rather far at times, but he never means for it to be actually insulting. A bit of a cold shoulder from M'yn and he'll come crawling back begging for forgiveness. It is capable to make him feel bad, and ignoring him is an easy way to make him regret what he did.

Appearance:
Michiath is mostly jet black in coloration, but his hide is accented by a red overtone. The red accent makes him look a bit shiny, as well as making him look bulkier and more round that he would otherwise. The red overtone is the only marking on his hide.

He is a rather decently sized Black, though he is very bulky. Michiath is a strong, powerful looking dragon, with muscular legs and a powerful tail. His markings make him look fat and round rather than muscular, however. His muzzle is large as well, giving him a masculine look. His headknobs are somewhat small, though. Being on the larger side, Michiath will hit 20 feet when he's fully grown.

The little teal egg all the way to the left of the clutch cracked open in the same was the Burgundy's had, with very little shaking or any notice that it was hatching at all. The dragonet inside was revealed to be a Pink, and she slumped out of her egg much like her lazy Blue sibling had, although rather than laziness, she just seemed rather spaced out. The Pink lifted her head slightly, twitching her tail and waving one of her front feet at the Candidates, as though saying hello to them. The other Pink, darker than the newly-hatched one, bounded over to her sister once she was done huffing that the Candidates weren't paying enough attention to her. She nudged her dazed sister, who finally managed to sit up and tilt her head at her sister. Hello, sister....

The more energetic of the two prodded at her sister and the other Pink fell over again, flopping into the Sand and looking at her sister with an expression that might have been surprise. Pay attention! They all had to Impress, she was sure of it! But the other Pink was moving, and merely seemed to giggle at her sister. Take it easy, would you... there was a lot to see, you know.... Hearing the same words that her Blue brother had also argued at her with made the Pink somewhat irritated. She gave a snotty huff! to her sister and marched over to the Candidates, continuing her prancing and showing off.

As the darker Pink left, the green egg that had been next to the dazed, lighter Pink's egg began to violently shake and crack, splitting open with a loud CRACK. The dragonet inside tumbled out and quickly righted herself, brushing sand and egg goop off her very dark Green hide. She sat up and shook herself again, splattering her Pink sister with egg goop. Rather than apologizing, the Green just scoffed. Her medium Pink sibling looked like she didn't care much about the egg goop on her, though it was probably more likely that she just didn't notice.

The Green was annoyed at the lack of reaction from her sister and stomped over to her, looking down at the Pink in the sand and seeming to berate her. The reality was that the Green was quite a bully, and was using a lot of colorful insults towards her sister. But the Pink really didn't care, or she didn't quite understand, and she merely stared at her sister with a relaxed expression. When the Green was done, the Pink tilted her head to the side in the sand, as if asking if that was all she had to say. The Green looked angered that the Pink had just tossed aside all of her great insults like that, and she swiped out a paw across the Pink's nose before huffing back off towards the remains of her eggshells. The Pink looked mildly surprised, but she simply reached her own paw up to her nose, touching it. The Green hadn't even scratched her enough to draw blood....

The other Pink was still trying to show off for the Candidates. Wasn't she cute? She was cute, right? Only a few of the Candidates actually appeared to be paying attention to her though. The Pink didn't seem to mind this, however. She nudged herself between Letorin and Newt, loving how close they were, and loving how much they'd love her! Probably. She repeated the word love in her head at them, hoping that maybe they'd get the hint, before she butt her head against Newt's butt and continued onwards through the Candidates.

The Pink then continued into the crowd of Candidates, searching their minds for something she liked, though it was difficult, because she liked a lot of things. Who was the most likely to pay attention to her, and tell her she was cute every day? She nudged her way between Maal and Draolor apart as well, loving the fact that they were so close to each other, even if Maal was just helping Draolor keep on his feet. She moved through the big empty space that her brother hadn't managed to fill up, and finally found a mind that fit PERFECTLY into hers. She bounded excitedly over to Phaenna, and she curled herself around the girl in a very loving, very affectionate manner. Eveth LOVES you, PhaennaMine. Loves you! Lots. Loves you lots. You'll pay LOTS AND LOTS OF attention to me and call me cute ALL THE TIME, right? I'LL CALL YOU CUTE TOO!

[/i] she said loudly and excitedly into her rider's mind, nuzzling against the girl and curling herself tighter, not wanting to let go.

[/blockquote]

SPOILER: Click to show

Pink Eveth - The Lovers - 5d123d
Personality:
Eveth is a lover. She loves EVERYTHING, she loves EVERYONE, she loves LOVES LOVES LOVES LOVE! She's a very bright, very cheery pink who simply can't focus on one thing at once. How could she?! There are just so many things to look around and see and love and see! She tends to repeat herself a lot, doubling up her words in her distracted nature. She simply does not have a very good memory or a very good attention span, and she'll often try to point out the same thing to Phaenna several times over. Getting her to focus can be a challenge, but with the right direction from Phaenna she can give it her best effort.

This Pink is incredibly loud. She doesn't know how to restrain her voice, both mindvoice and her bugles. She loves to make noises to get attention from everyone, because another thing she adores is attention. Look at me! Aren't I cute?! Is what she seems to scream at all times. She really, really loves screaming. The louder the noise the better, in her opinion. She has a ton of energy and her way of getting rid of it all is usually to just start screaming. With some assistance from Phaenna, however, her energy can be channeled into something more productive.

She's always willing to listen to Phaenna and to help her rider. She loves Phaenna, and she wants to help her! She wants to be useful! Eveth really does try her hardest to be useful and a good dragon to her rider, she just is too easily distracted and very hyper. Eveth can talk a mile a minute, especially when meeting new people. She likes to tell her entire life story to whoever is willing to listen, or whoever is polite enough to pretend to listen. Eveth is also a horrible gossip, and adores spreading around stories she's heard.

Appearance:
Eveth's base color is a very dark, very saturated pink. Her markings look like some child scribbled all over her with crayons in order to make some sort of Valentine's Day card. She has very suspiciously heart-shaped markings at the base of her neck and on the back of her wings, and her legs look like she's wearing several pairs of pink socks. There's also a patch of a lighter pink color on her tail.

Her tail is quite oddly shaped. Not only is it long, but Eveth has a bit of a kink in her tail, near the end of it, likely from laying on it wrong while in her egg. If held at the right angle, Eveth can use her tail to make a very cute heart-shape. Otherwise, she is about an average-sized Pink, though perhaps a bit more on the thin side. Her wings are huge for her little body, making her very agile in the air. She will grow to be about 22 feet.

[/size]

[Boo]

As soon as he was back amongst the healers, he looked out onto the sands, scanning them through the blood. It was hard to see which candidates needed attention and which ones seemed determined to continue standing. As he scanned them, he spotted a girl waving at Yuri and Yusk. She was towards the back and therefore reachable.

Once again, Tedaon ventured out onto the sands to reach for the girl, carrying his bag of bandages and other supplies. He heard her mention something about her foot and was kneeling before her even before she had finished speaking.
“What happened?”
He could swear to Faranth herself that it was impossible to keep track even if they had a scribe writing down all the injuries.

Gritting his teeth, he examined the injury and then nodded his head, dashing off the sands and soaking a cloth in some water before hurrying back.
“This will probably only do so much, but it might be something to keep you standing at least for a while longer.”
As annoyed as he was at this hatching, he didn’t want to see dragonets between because they couldn’t find their bonded partners.

Applying a compression bandage quickly to the girl’s foot, he then straightened once more.
“Is that all right?”

{tag: Matilda (Gray)}

[/blockquote]

[Tigersilk]

Things were relatively quiet where Annuziata and Jasjitts stood, after Kahnasunita left with her new Cyan.

The Brown had come close to them, herding most of the remaining Candidates closer together; evidently he didn't see them because they weren't included in the roundup. The girls felt ambivalent about it. On the one hand they wanted to bond with a dragon, on the other they really didn't want to be attacked again, killed like that girl that had stood a few rows in front of them, or violently butted off the Sands like that stupid girl was. Then another one of the new Burgundies came by, followed by a small grey wheret. They both thought the little thing was cute; it was slightly too dark to tell what the wheret had been doing on the head of the Iron dragonet besides sitting. Their attention was drawn back to the front by a brawl between a Black dragonet and a Green wheret. Thankfully no Candidates were caught in the middle of it, though the Iron prevented one from trying to keep the little Gray (who'd returned to the front to break up the fight) from getting hurt in the brawl. The Iron wandered off, and the Black escaped the Green relatively unscathed.

Though the heat of the Sands was getting to them, they continued to stand.

******

Back at the Healers' area, Kahnasunita thanked the Weyrlingmaster (K'var? She'd have to remember his name better) for the meat bucket and retired to an empty bench towards the back. She concentrated on feeding Ibith her food, making sure she didn't choke eating it too fast. All the while Ibith babbled in her mind, commenting on everything and anything, sometimes telling Sunita things she overheard other newborns saying. It was only after Ibith, curled up in her lap, started napping that Sunita started to process what had happened to her.

It sank in. She'd done it. She'd done the one thing her bitter father, back in her old Hold, had always longed to do, but didn't. She'd Impessed, first time Standing. A fighter, to be sure, and not the King dragon father always claimed he would have gotten, had her mother not become pregnant with her, 'forcing' him to remain in the Hold instead of returning to Fort Weyr to one day become its Weyrleader. Or so he claimed, all those times he tore into her, screaming about how her very existence ruined his life, and the future of Pern itself. And he convinced the whole Hold of it too, that her late mother, then later she and her sisters, were responsible for everything that'd ever gone wrong in his life, and that he wanted them gone forever.

Well, he had his wish now. Her mother was long gone to the grave, and the girls he so despised had run away, to ultimately arrive at a Weyr on the other side of the world. Where she had found her sweet little Ibith. And freedom from ever returning to that hell Hold ever again. And even if Jas and Ziata didn't find their partners tonight, she could still use her new position to protect them too, and make sure they had a shot at a better future as apprentices somewhere in case they aged out of Candidatcy.

For what felt like the first in years, Sunita relaxed, finally looking forward to the future with anticipation again.

[Kestrel]

Artolan took a deep breath, letting his lungs stay inflated with warm, reassuring air for a good moment before letting it go. At least for the moment, no one was dying, which made now a good time to try to get himself back into a proper hatching mindset. Which meant looking at all the dragons (and the whers as well, he supposed) as potential lifemates, instead of little killers who could turn on him at any moment.

He was none too surprised to see that yet another fight had broken out—though this was another between the hatchlings, who were apparently leaving the hapless candidates out of it this time. That was a good thing, as far as he was concerned—let them squabble with each other instead, maybe then they would learn the pain their claws could inflict, and show some mercy on the white-robed humans. Despite himself, however, he couldn’t help but feel a bit worried as the fight just kept on going—it was bad enough that a candidate and a green wher had already died senselessly. The nearby candidate made the mistake of getting involved, and got a bite to the hand for her trouble, and Artolan found himself rubbing the unbroken flesh of his own hand in subconscious sympathy.

But then the black went tearing away from the scene of the skirmish, apparently not too much the worse for wear, by how quickly he could run. The iron seemed to have gone off and impressed at last—about time, really—and the black seemed to have impression on his mind as well, with the way he seemed to be surveying everyone. But it wasn’t long before he, too, had picked someone out from the other side of the candidates. Two more down. Artolan frowned slightly. Good riddance, he thought, though he had to force his eyes back to the other eggs instead of letting them linger jealously on the lucky chosen.

There were still quite a few left, he tried to reassure himself, though he couldn’t help but find the fast-diminishing number of intact eggs discouraging. Hold on now, though, hadn’t there been a few more just a moment ago? A quick look around was enough to locate the newly hatched pink—the burgundy hiding behind Kalesk went unseen—and he watched as she was approached by the other pink. Watching a pair of pinks proved to be good therapy after all the violence of the hatching—Artolan couldn’t help but like pinks, though he wouldn’t have said so. They were sweet, though very different, and despite himself, his mouth tweaked into the faintest of smiles as he watched them.

The green, though, he wasn’t quite so sure about—had she just scratched the younger pink’s nose? What had the pink done to her? But the darker pink caught his eye again as she went back to prancing about—she certainly seemed to have a lot of energy. She appeared to be moving through the candidates now, and he watched with the slightly quickened pulse that always came with a hatchling coming anywhere toward his general viscinity—but she stayed on the other side, and picked a girl in the very back. Oh well. He looked back to the front, scanning around to see what the green and the remaining pink were up to now.

[kireon]

That she held her tongue as long as she did was enough to get her somewhat more tolerated, though her muttered comments as healers descended upon her weren't overlooked in the least. If the girl made it through the end of this hatching unImpressed, she would not see another- not unless she showed a genuine repentence for her attitude and sheer disregard for the rules she had been taught.

It was the part about killing them that did it for Yuri. There had been enough death, enough bloodshed and pain in this hatching, and she was grating hot sand into fresh wounds. "Enough, you will observe and keep the venom locked away as you were taught during lessons, or we shall have you transported to the Infirmary before you bring more harm upon yourself- or those around you. Do I make myself clear?" Commanding, authoritative and completely lacking the compassion that the man was notoriously good for. Garna had stripped away the man's patience, his ability to forgive almost everything for the sake of the children's well being. She was acting like an undisciplined child half her age, and an undisciplined child half her age she would be treated as.

Yusk gave the girl a completely disdainful look and a pointed shake of her narrow head. BrightOne and QueenRed, bad baby not listen. YuriLove mad now. Yusk not happy either, baby still saying bad even told to shhh. Maybe bring bad baby to stands? Have QueenRed teach how behave? All behave when RedQueen involved.[/i] She posed the idea to Weslieth, Jazz, Nimara and, of course Waroth.

Either way, Garna would have a lot of making up to do for her actions and words in order to earn herself back on her man's better side. Very few ever made the man truly angry, and Yusk knew he was rapidly approaching that point with all the stress that was going on. An arm waving was her saving grace, and she reared up on hind legs to better see who. Even the healer scuttling out to triage her injuries wasn't good enough in Yusk's opinion. He'd completely missed the legs! Silly man, the feet were important, but so were legs! Yusk come fetch, stay put baby. And like the little sage colored arrow she was, the lanky nursemaid-wher was off like a shot to go retrieve another baby for patching up, and possible return to the sands.

Long as the girl was tall, Yusk's head lifted and her eyes whirled in gentle, approving colors. Smart baby know when ask for Yusk, good baby. Lay on Yusk back or climb on, Yusk carry even Yuri this way when not well. Yusk get to healer, get fix, let legs rest, return baby if feeling well enough. Yes? Either way the girl chose to go about it- laying, attempting to ride, or otherwise just using the leggy green as a bit of a crutch to support her injured foot and relieve the pressure even the compression bandage couldn't rid completely on her injured foot- Yusk would complete her escort duties and stand proud and strong afterward.

Matilda, on the other hand, received an affectionate nibble of her fingertips, an approving croon, and a bumpy-soft muzzle brushing against her cheek and snuffle of her ear and cheek once she'd sat down to let the other healers on duty patch up the wounds on her legs and propped that foot up.

Yes, good baby indeed. And good babies were rewarded with lots of Yusk affection.

--

What was even going on anymore?

The grey wheret was lowered to the ground by the largest dragonet yet, and while the former got himself- greys were guys, right? Maybe? This whole dragon business was confusing. A growl drew him from the chaotic mess that was his many thoughts, watching as the girl reaching to break up the fight was chomped on- and pushed back in a clear "No." response. Not a hard bite, a warning one, he knew what those looked like from experience with his mother and sister's dolphins.

Dolphins could be the biggest jerks sometimes, especially when his sister was in the mood to start messing with him.

It was while he was contemplating the similarities between Dolphin and Dragon- that he'd seen during the hatching, anyway- that the crunch of sand and a sudden very gray-steelish colored something stood directly in front of him. He blinked, rapidly, looking down to find himself nearly chin-to-snout-full-of-sharp-fangs with none other than the very same dragonet who'd bitten the other girl for trying to interfere with the fight going on. "Uhh, hi?" He offered, tone uncertain as the Iron cocked its head and gave him an inspective sniff. He suddenly sat upon the sands, looking quite expectant and... satisfied? with himself- at least, Jaed thought he was male, anyway. Something about the dragonet struck him as such, anyway.

Three things happened simultaneously; the faceted eyes of the dragonet suddenly burst into short-lived rainbows, a voice not his own rang imperiously in his head, and something threw the earth, or sand rather, beneath his feet into some sort of chaotic pitching completely unlike being on a boat at sea and dropped him on his ass faster than taking a drink of the homebrew something his buddy had tested out on him back in Southern. The order of the dragon- definitely male, by the way- was the only thing that managed to penetrate the whole thunderstruck mess of feelings not entirely his own.

When he could do nothing more than just stare incredulously at the Iron- Imperiuth- the dragon lifted his muzzle skyward, as if wondering why his destined had to be so... unprepared for everything, and dropped it back to stare in what he hoped was a particularly stern, disapproving manner at the gawking man with flame red hair. You, J'dyn, are a mess.[/i] He informed the newly Impressed weyrling. His tone turned the same bitter and angry as before. I loathe messes."[/i]

And, because there seemed to be the expectation of an apology, Jaed- no, his name was different now, wasn't it?- J'dyn gave Imperiuth a weak, abashed half-smile, feeling very much like he did that one time he'd walked off the dock after seeing Valha for the very first time. "Sorry?" It was awkward, and he wasn't even sure if this was really happening. "Did you get the right person?"

Imperiuth sent a look to Callistath, as if asking his mother if there were really such disorganized, uneducated and absolutely hopeless individuals at her weyr, before returning to the face he was intent on memorizing. He supposed even if J'dyn's brain was a complete and total cluttered, disorganized wreck, the man's powerful build and hidden potential were more than enough to make up for it. A dragon did not choose someone ill-suited for them, after all. Not unless they were foolish, anyway. As you should be. We have work to do. On your feet, this instant and accompany me. Do not slump. I want your back straight, shoulders back and head held proud as you walk beside me. Do not swing your arms, that asks for one to be removed by one foolish sibling of mine, or,"[/i] he stated the Law's name to his boy, startling him with the information. as you can imagine, we are not impressed by this mess.[/i]

Dazed, and still unsure of what part of this was real life, and what was just fantasy, J'dyn did his best to follow the orders given by his dragonet- his!- until they reached the feeding grounds and he gave K'var a rather pointed look. "How long does it take to realize this isn't some crazy dream, sir?"

Imperiuth, already in the process of figuring out exactly how everyone should be organized, merely gave him a disdainful look and a rather human-like disgusted shake of his head. No longer than it shall take me to rid the mess in one of these feeding pails. Should you still be dazed, then I shall remedy the confusion for you in a manner you cannot dispute.[/i] The graceful head sank down to take the first piece of fish from the bucket, paused and whipped up instantly. All of you, assemble properly. You are a disorganized mess and you disgrace your mothers for it. Show a little respect, all of you. In a line, wher with wher and dragon with dragon. I want you side by side and eating neatly while your humans are tended to.

"Any reason you're telling other peoples', uh, partners what to do instead of letting them handle it?" J'dyn asked finally, managing to break himself out of shock long enough.

Their partners, as you call them, are not capable of installing proper order and ritual in them. I will do so, for I know the way things are meant to be and how to get them to their utmost, and proper, potential.[/i] A pause as he finished arranging the fish in the order they would be eaten in, singling the first out to devour in large, neat bites until it was all down his gullet. Similar to the purpose you were chosen, J'dyn. You required me, and I, you. They will need us both, and so we will not fail them.[/i]

How in the name of the biggest pearls ever create did a dragonet basically fresh out of the egg know what he was meant to do in the world when J'dyn'd been looking for that the last eighteen, almost nineteen turns?[/size]

((OOC: Tag Matilda (Gray), Garna (Minute), K'var (Raven), and all the Weyrlings/Wherlings so far! xD))

[Tigersilk]

Kahnasunita was lightly scratching Ibith's eyeridges when the sleepy Cyan startled awake. We are supposed to line up now. Imperiuth says so.

"Who's Imperiuth?". That didn't sound like the name of Master K'var's dragon (whose name she also had to remember, Sunita reminded herself).

He's the Iron over there. Ibith pointed him out with her muzzle.

Sunita looked suspiciously at the new Ironpair. "Did either Master K'var or his dragon say this Imperiuth and his rider were in charge here now?"

Ibith thought for a moment. No.

"Then we don't have to obey him, untill Master K'var says we must." Who was this pair to start giving out orders to the other weyrlings already; they were as new as she was at this. Master K'var and the Wherletmaster were the ones to be obeyed tonight, not sone dragon fresh from his shell. Even if the iron King was a higher rank than her Cyan fighter. "Tell him Master K'var must say he's in charge before we can obey. He's our teacher, after all, and knows what's best for us all tonight." Sunita really didn't want to move again until she had to; she was too sore to want to be reorganized into a stranger's arbitary sense of order.

Okay. Ibith relayed the message, yawned, and went back to sleep. She had a tiring day too, and didn't want to move.

[mopsy93]

Carissa was almost finished feeding Junonth when Janvia sent another image to the newly Impressed pair this time the largest of the clutch, an Iron, Impressing J’dyn. “At least that was fairly normal,” said Carissa referring to the fact that Irons always Impressed men. With one exception Bronzes did as well, but admittedly Carissa didn’t know the full details, and H’mod did contract her name like a male rider. It came as no surprise when the Dragonet Iron started bossing the other Dragonets and wherets around. Carissa was annoyed with him since she was one of the few Weyrlings not to be injured at some point thankfully.

And Argotath’s rider hasn’t told us to listen to him, pointed out Junonth half-asleep with all the fish she had eaten in her belly.

Carissa smiled a bit at her Dragon referring to their WeyrlingMaster’s Dragon by name instead of his rider before telepathically saying, He’s getting ahead of himself really, he barely started Weyrling training and he already thinks that he’s in charge. That’s King Dragons for you. Until he is actually in a position of power you don’t have to listen to him unless somebody in a position of power in the Weyr says so.

Don’t worry CarissaMine I won’t.

[Gray]

Matilda felt rather bad for having to drag one of the healers out to the sands, especially with how dangerous they had been. But she was relieved when Tedaon came over.
“The brown, um... Randiel's?” She wasn't so sure that was actually his name, but she continued on.
“Before he impressed he kind of broke my foot.” He looked at the injury, and she did too, making a face at the swelling and discoloration. Then he was off, though not for long. Matilda held her breath and gritted her teeth as he applied the bandage, but a few tears trailed down her cheeks. Ugh, she hated crying. She wasn't sure what was worse, the pain, or the shame of tears. Still, when he asked his question she nodded.
“Kind of.”

Matilda was about to say more when Yusk's voice entered her mind.
“Yusk's coming. I'll just need my legs looked at.” She smiled weakly at the healer, and before she knew it, Yusk was there, her eyes whirling. The green's praises made her chuckle a bit, a smart baby would have called for help when first hurt, not let themselves get worse. But she did stand, using Yusk as a crutch to awkwardly hobble with her to the healer's area. Carefully sitting down, she explained what was wrong to the healers there.
“I think I've got burns on my legs, My foot is ok, for now, and the scratched on my chest and shoulders aren't that bad. It's mostly the burns.” Yusk's attentions were rather welcome and Matilda hugged the green.
“Thank you very much Yusk. You're a wonderwher.”

It was then that the iron's actions caught her attention, looking over, Matilda tilted her head a bit. Was he ordering them all around? That was yet another strong personality. The Wherling and Weyrling class this time around would be quite interesting to see.

[Tag: Tedaon {Boo} and Yusk {Kireon}]
[Matilda has moved to the Healer's area.]

[twitchie]

Mleynn felt dizzy. Everything was going so fast around him, blood, dragons, whers, healers dragging people to be tended to...
He glanced at his leg again, frowning at the red stained fabric that had been absorbing the blood. It was gross, but with so much going on, Mleynn didn't really notice the pain.

He watched the new colors, Burgandy, hatch, and he smiled. How cool! New colors were awesome! Right? He scratched his head, noticing he had sand and sweat in his red hair. But there were plenty of others who had it worse!
A green and a black were fighting, and he watched in dismay. Don't do that! He practically yelled, but he was too tired to actually say anything. Plus that was against the rules. The black finally dashed away, and Mleynn began to clap softly. Hoorah! The two hadn't done much harm thankfully and---

Mleynn remembered the black running in his direction but suddenly he was on his back in the sand, with a very excited Black on top of him. Mleynn exhaled, or did something in between a gasp and exhaled, as the tackle knocked air out of his lungs. He drew in an awed breath because, a voice filled his mind. M'ynMineMine! M'yn! Miiiine! Michiath just wanted to play a little joke on her! But she was so mean. Can you even believe it, M'ynMineMine? [/color] Mleynn- now M'yn sat up on his elbows, a grin spreading across his face as he touched the black's muzzle. He didn't say anything right away, instead he stroked his bonded as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Wow.... He thought, testing the new mind bond, his face brightening even more as he realized that his mind was now shared with his life mate. Wow is right! We're together now, at last! I can't wait to do all sorts of stuff with you! But... M'ynMineMine??? [/color]
Michiath leaned in to M'yn until their faces nearly touched. M'YN!!! [/color] The mental shout was followed by a puff of air and a playful lick, both of which surprised M'yn so bad he flopped down again. Michiath was immediently concerned, and hovered his head over His. But M'yn was laughing, and crying alittle because his leg was starting to hurt a good bit. Funny! M'ynMineMine? I'm reeeeeeally hungry. Can I have like 5 buckets of food? I'm worried I won't get enough!! [/color] Michiath's eyes whirled yellow in alarm, but quickly turned a vivid green and His stood up. M'yn fell forward onto Michiath, and the two hobbled over to the buckets. Michiath circled and grabbed 2 buckets, and tried to grab a third by the handle before M'yn stopped him. "You'll bloat." He murmured, and began to fill the Black's mouth with fish. Turns out, after one bucket the black was content, and his eyes went droopy with sleepiness. Michiath lay down, and M'yn sat right against his dragon to wait for the healers.

[lee]

Eithne was trying so hard not to get sick. The longer the blood remained on the scorching sands, the more it stank in the heat. A sick, coppery smell that lodged itself in nose and throat and sank like spoiled meat to the pit of her empty stomach, which rejected it as wholly as possible. Ruined flesh, and spilt ichor, she could only be glad someone hadn't been physically ill and added bile to the stench, and it was this, and pride, and the horrible knowledge that even if she did get sick the smell wouldn't go away that kept her fighting her stomach. It was everywhere. Her lips parted softly as she tried to breathe through her mouth, and it felt dry and hard to swallow, so she didn't.

She'd seen blood before. When they had been holdless, and a wild wher had attacked after its eyes had been hurt by the firelight. It had torn through camp with a vengeance, and hardly anyone had been unmarked. Killing and dressing wild wherries, or when her Poppa had put down a burdenbeast with rothoof, or given himself little injuries from repairing the wagon or having harmed himself during one of his strange, wild moods, those she'd had to stitch neatly closed because there was no on else. But in each of those times—each one—it had been hot and quick and over quite fast. She could still remember camp, peering past her father's arm as he held her tight and hollered, as the others worked together an someone at last brought an axe down and her eyes had been covered...and people had moved, the injured tended to and camp packed up almost immediately. It was the staying that made this so awful. Drilled into silence, drilled into stoic stillness, just waiting for the last eggs to crack and spill hatchlings into the world, some made game of roulette, of chaotic chance on whether they could, would, be Yusks or Rasks, or perhaps almost worse, the poor wildcard Pyrusk who you simply didn't expect it from. Vicious Atenaths or gentle Kamikaths. She knew none of their names yet, only colors, and it didn't really matter.

She was herded—there was no other word for it—by one of the hatchlings. Grimly put into a better line. She resented it, all the more because she stumbled and when her knees hit and her hands went to catch herself, they splashed, for she had been nudged closer to the spot Pyrus had fallen, and though she stood back automatically she'd gone sheet white, staring at her red hands in horror, unable to produce the rational decision to wipe them off on the still pristinely white robe, or any thought at all, and with horror came anger, potent but formless because she had no target for it, but she couldn't seem to blink or look away, mesmerized and furious. She was still pale, still ice cold and scared but oh, she was angry. Her hands at last lowered, balled into unhappy fists and when they unclenched there were half-moon marks as nails scratched away dried, crusty copper, and Eithne felt like a storm, roiling and tossing without thought, only churning clouds and sick and exhausted and scared and angry.

Quite without thinking, she stepped just enough forward and to the side, in a single step, to make the neatly ordered line squiggly, an automatic response that she did without thought, because she hated it, hated the arbitrary demand she was called to answer simply for being, simply because some creature ordered it with no explanation, no reason except that they wanted it that way. She was not theirs. She would not heed or bend like some spineless, brainless wherry to something less than a candlemark old on something so ridiculous, and if they wanted her back in line they would give her a reason and it would be better than 'want' or she'd bleed for it and be glad. It was a wild thought, and she had enough of a sense of self-preservation to amend that her pride wasn't enough to die for, if it came to that, and even the thought of a bite or scratch made her quail in the natural way of humans faced with harm, but the small step, the tiny disruption of the neat row, made her feel like herself again since aw had not felt since Rask had killed his little sister, and so she stayed, and fought her temper.

She fought because she'd seen another temper, a darker temper without logic or rational thought and what it could do and she feared it as much as she feared echoing it, and she forced her fingers to stretch, splay, and the blood cracked further still and flakes fell to the Sands, ad she tried to get the rage down to a simmering annoyance and did not entirely succeed. It was a struggle, as each vicious, furious thought—as potent, perhaps, as Garna's though less directed—rose up, the smaller cooler part of Eithne meticulously seized it, calmly analyzed why it was wrong, or at least not entirely correct, and shoved it back down to be buried. Fighting with herself felt familiar, helped her ignore the heated stench that had grown even stronger, and she felt that if she let this temper burn out she might lose what strength of will kept her upright and collapse, sobbing, and she did not care to do that.

Not yet.