Straddle the Line [CalKal Double Hatching!]

[lee]

NPC: Kida and Radagast - Kira's family

In the top tier, a journeyman Harper sat next to a young woman. Their eyes were both locked on Kira, far below, and Kida smiled when she entered, tugging on her father's sleeve slightly to point. "There she is!" Her father, Journeyman Radagast, merely nodded. Kida settled back. This was her first Hatching, unlike the man next to her, and while he watched in grim, anticipatory silence, Kida felt only quiet excitement in her sister on the Sands. "This is so fun," She told her father, "We're watching! Woo!"

She settled back, hand on her father's shoulder and giving a quick squeeze. The man was more wary than she, though she too felt the flutter of unease. It seemed so tense, when she had always thought Hatchings were happy occasions. True, this one had whers but...but Kira was a healer, the sister decided firmly. She would make right of it. And any dragon worth their salt would know it.

--

NPC: Issenna, Talcar, Issencar, Issencar's wife - Carissa's family

Below Kida and her father sat a minor holder from Tillek and his wife. He was frowning slightly at the large clutch on the sands, and his wife looked no less pleased. "Dragon eggs." He said simply. His wife nodded slightly, lips pulled into a concerned line. They hadn't sent their daughter to stand for dragons, but...

"Dragonriders protect us. It would be a lovely thing if Carissa Impressed a dragon." Despite the words, Issenna didn't sound convinced.

Talcar huffed, wrinkle between his eyes deepening. "'Course it is." His tone was gruff and abrupt, and the couple shared a glance but neither spoke out loud. A dragonrider was respectable, of course. But they needed wherhandlers. Dragonriders didn't leave the Weyr.

Next to them, Carissa's brother Issencar and his wife watched with wide eyes as a small boy was shoved into Carissa and then...Issencar's wife grabbed his arm so tightly her knuckles were white, and with a horrified whisper, mumbled, "Wait, is that wher dead?" Issencar nodded grimly, and his wife's eyes fluttered close as she whispered, "This is not fun at all."

--

NPC: Inno and Anaira - Inanna's family

Settled in the middle tier, a fisherwoman looked around with gruff approval. She'd heard things about Dalibor, though she wasn't the sort of woman to take stock in rumors and gossip--preferred to make an opinion for herself--and was pleasantly surprised, though none of it showed in her expression. The man next to her was more expressive, brushing her arm lightly with his fingers and beaming in pride and pleasure at the strong, slender young woman near the dragon eggs. The press of the crowds--so many people, all in one place!--was unsettling, but it was worth it, every minute, to see his beautiful, bright baby girl grown up and on the Sands with a chance to Impress one of the dragonkin that protected their planet. "Lo-look, dear. She'll d-do, she'll d-do...she'll be wonderful." His wife made a low sound that might have been assent, nodding once and curtly. Inno beamed, and gave a small wave, though he suspected his daughter's attention would be (as it should be) on the eggs.

He grabbed Anaira's wife in silent fear as the cyan dragonet tore through the candidates, sending Inanna barreling into the small young lady in front of her. But he saw no blood, though his eyes strained, seeking some sign his precious child had been unhurt. It was too dark to tell. Anaira said nothing, but took his hand and held it tight. Behind them, someone exclaimed in horror, "Oh my god! That guy lost a hand!"

[/blockquote]

[Digitalis]

The first attack had been bad enough, but as Callistath's eggs began to crack open, it seemed that that would not be the end of it. One of the larger eggs cracked open to reveal a brown dragon, who calmly observed what was going on. Fortunately, neither he, nor the purple that hatched next, seemed very inclined to add to the violence (or stop it).

The next egg, though...one of the smaller, bright green eggs burst open, and a determined cyan appeared, shaking her dual-toned hide. Phaenna became alarmed as the cyan charged into the candidates, though she relaxed--slightly--when she realized the female dragonet wasn't really focused on the humans. She was going after the murderous wher, and though Phaenna disliked the thought of even more violence, she couldn't help but agree that the wher needed to be stopped.

Things were becoming too chaotic to easily follow events, now, and Phaenna lost track of the cyan, only belatedly realizing it had knocked away the wherlet, which had gone to hide from the cyan among the candidates.

Unfortunately for Phaenna, she had a clear enough view when the cyan collided with Pyrus, one of the candidates almost directly in front of her. The cyan seemed to be enraged, scrabbling at the boy, and Phaenna let out a strangled scream when she heard bones break. Oh Faranth, this wasn't how hatchings were supposed to go. Wasn't somebody going to stop this?

She had been warned earlier not to interfere with the hatchlings though; even without that warning, the girl was too terrified to move. Too shocked to look away, either, even as the cyan clawed at the other candidate's arm and all but severed a hand. She backed away as the cyan finally seemed to lose interest in Pyrus and chased after the wher again. The sight and stench of blood was impossible to get away from.

--------------------------

The red-or-brown wher was still causing trouble over by the wher candidates, but the first of Callistath's eggs were beginning to hatch, and Tamren's gaze turned towards the biggest group of them. Two of them cracked open quite quickly, the first hatching into a brown, the other into a purple. He frowned very slightly, but tried not to let it show. They weren't kings, but they still weren't bad. He was hoping that the biggest egg held an iron, but if it didn't, he wouldn't mind Impressing one of the sub-kings.

Another egg burst open, and the cyan that appeared held little interest for Tamren. She barreled towards the candidates, though, and like many other candidates surrounding him, Tamren was a little too slow to get out of her way. She leaped off the candidate in front of him and tried to go past him; both Tamren and the girl standing beside him were both hit by the dragonet. Tamren winced, as the cyan's wing stung his side, but though he was knocked back, he managed to stay on his feet. The cyan paid no attention whatsoever, continuing to cause chaos as she went after the killer wher. Tamren could tell there was stuff going on in the crowd behind him, but he kind of figured at this point he didn't really want to look. He tried to keep an eye out for more clumsy dragonets around him, but otherwise kept his attention on the two hatched subkings and the large grey egg.

[RhiaBlack]

Lili felt the panic in the world around her, the chaos, the tension. She felt the air, she heard the sands move underneath the Cyan and the Wher. Heard people being knocked to the ground, SAW them coming at her.

All at once her muscles tensed. Don't do anything, Lili. Don't do anything.

All at once, Lili took a small step back. More around Seidon than anything else, to block the Cyan from seeing him. He had been hurt enough. She wouldn't tolerate anything else. She wouldn't tolerate him being hurt. She'd take all of it first.

She should have been panicked. She should have felt fear, but there was a sense of serenity that only came with being under stress. She did her best not to look at the Cyan, mauling the other Candidates, mauling the others. All those being knocked down by the...Brown-Red and the Cyan.

Be cool. Be calm. Be collected. Get ready for the pain, there's still over twenty eggs to go. They might not all be docile and positive. They might be angry babies too. They might be confused and upset. They might be angry from the light, in the Whers' cases. They might be angry because there's some that don't belong here with them, for the Dragons.

Grounding herself with a soft narrowing of her eyes, she kept her attention on the eggs in front of them. Please, please, please, for the love of everything in this universe, let Seidon, Kira, and Sora Impress soon. Let them get out of this nightmare before something happens. By the First Egg...

She turned her eyes towards Seph, briefly, searching the Healers. They would come, right? They would save him? They wouldn't let that boy bleed to death out here? Would they?

Her eyes teared up, and she bit her tongue. No. I won't cry. I won't cry, it's not proper, shard it, it's not proper at all. Positive thoughts, Lili.

Come on, little ones. Find your bonded. Find your other half. There's no need for blood and anger, there's one here for all of you. Come on. There's someone here for every one of you that's left, more of us than there is of you, so that's got to be good, right? Come on!

[Ondine]

Ondine watched and listened to the way the healers bustled around behind her and the blood that was being shed on the sands so close to her. All she wanted to do was to reach out and fix it, and there was no way to do that from here. But going out there would just endanger her and other healers, and that was far, far worse. She didn't turn away, watching how the cyan hunted for the wher in the pack of candidates. She'd like to tell Vyna that now was the time, but if she did, they'd be sending healers into a fight between a cyan and a...whatever it was, brown or a red. So as much as she wanted to send someone in after the injured, it wasn't going to happen yet.

So she shook her head at the girl, “The wher would savage whoever we sent in, and I'm not sure that the cyan wouldn't try to finish the job if we irritated it somehow. Then we'd be down healers and have more injured to deal with. Wait a little longer, Loki or another will tell us when we move.” She didn't want to give that order, but it was that or lose more. Besides, she wasn't a senior Journeywoman or Master healer, and it wasn't her place to give that order in any case. But she was itching to move out herself, especially as the hunt had occupied both of the babies who had shed blood so far on the sands. Maybe they wouldn't get another chance at this.

Tag: Vyna, healers

-----

Maihri wasn't sure when dragons had hatched, all of her attention was on the wher in front of her. All she knew was when a cyan came barreling in after the wher, and everything devolved in a matter of seconds. On one hand, Niorun was saved from the nightmarish beast that seemed to be trying to kill her, but on the other...she was forced to watch as the boy to her left was savaged and had his hand practically torn off. She winced, why had the cyan done that when she had been after the wher? And, in a moment, continued after the other baby. This wasn't the way that hatchings should go. They were supposed to be joyous events, not bloody and traumatic.

Keeping a positive outlook though, she shared one of her inscrutable looks with her twin, and turned back to the bloodied boy. She wasn't really a healer, but Kaihri had taught her plenty, and she'd switched places with her twin for lessons often enough. The danger here was that it would get infected, or Pyrus would die of blood loss. Dropping to the sands beside the boy, heedless of the searing heat that radiated from them, she grabbed for him. “Elevate your arm. Keep it above the rest of your body. It will slow your bleeding,” she stage-whispered to him, trying to keep from antagonizing any of the other babies on the sands. While she spoke, she searched along his arm for the artery, pressing down to put pressure on it and reduce the blood flowing through it while her other hand held the arm up.

Things needed to be happier. After this maybe the twins could do something for all of the injured, make sure they were feeling okay. Or play a few practical jokes on other people to make them laugh, that would also work out pretty good. Pyrus wouldn't be standing anymore though, which would always be hard. Not without a hand, and it had nearly fallen off. She bit back tears, but she wasn't smiling. Faranth, broken arm, severed hand, probably a broken leg, what else was going to happen?

Tag: Pyrus, Kaihri

[Rii]

It was really too bad that she hadn’t wagered with Orkia on chaos, Sora thought with grim humor. This was definitely chaos. A wheret dead already, and its killer tearing through the ranks of the candidates - the girl craned her neck to try and track its progress, but completely lost sight of the… red? brown? wheret until it appeared on a candidate’s back to springboard onto another to bite and claw. She grimaced, so busy watching that she didn’t even notice that Callistath’s eggs were starting to break open to reveal dragons.

Well. Not until the cyan appeared. The apparently outraged dragonet tore into the pack of candidates, bowling over anyone in her way. Sora took a judicious step to her left, giving her roommate space to scoot if she needed because the cyan was right there. Luckily she didn’t stop to chat. Again she twisted to see what had become of a hatchling, wincing slightly as the dragonet caught up with the rampaging wheret and had a fight right there on top of the person next to Lili. She found herself holding her breath, peering at the fight in the row behind her and hoping against hope that it didn’t spread any further.

...Annnnd that was a fool’s hope. The wheret broke off and fled, and… Sora swallowed hard. Oh, that wasn’t good at all. She tugged the end of her armguard reflexively as if thinking what it would have been like to be her arm that the cyan chewed.

Where’d they gone now? Blue eyes scanned the cluster behind her warily, turning in her spot so her back was to the open, empty space that she’d originally placed to her left. The unfortunate part of having trouble happening back there is she couldn’t keep her attention to the front. Aha. There was the trouble wheret - behind… what was little miss fussbudget’s name? Dairine, that was it. Sora clenched her jaw shut tight and braced herself for more trouble.

***

Oh. Oh no. Oh no, this was terrible, it was all wrong! Norilana couldn’t see over all of the taller people around her - brothers included - but something terrible was happening back there, she could hear the cries. Her usually sparkling eyes were wide in disbelief and worry and, well, fear too - definitely a little bit of fear, even with Ranthian standing strong on one side and Lanorun looming protectively on the other. Nori hugged herself, first peering over her shoulder uselessly - too many people in the way, she couldn’t see anything! - before looking back forward at the clutches. What else was going to come out of those eggs?

[Azhdarchid]

Tusk stopped in her tracks, long enough that Tussbuul caught up to her. He looked down at the green, who was staring ahead through the empty Bowl. Did she see something? It wasn't clear. He glanced back through the dull air at the near-lightless mouth of the Hatching Cavern. That was for the baby whers' sake, but he wished he could recruit someone else to stand watch there. Or that someone else had the same idea. He thought briefly of Lonet, then recalled she doubled as a healer on these occasions. Glancing back at Tusk, he caught the green expanding her yellowy inner mouth in a gigantic yawn.

I know dear, he said sympathetically. Tusk fluxed her inner lids over her shaded eyes, then resumed trotting her impromptu patrol route. Fly ahead and give us your images. Tusk is just about blind, Tussbuul told his firelizard, who was not quite as drowsy as the pair of them. Billy hopped off his shoulder and disappeared, manifesting for mere seconds in random spots around the Bowl, never lingering unless something caught his attention.

***

[ Q'sis ]

Q'sis raised his eyebrows as one of the girls went down under the shadow of a sizable wher hatchling. He did not have to check with Unath to know it was not Embla, who he had already picked out elsewhere on the Sands. He tucked his arm at Samael's back, glanced at Qaelis, and smiled. He pointed out the brat who had just lost a hand to justice. "Look, blood," he chuckled.

***

Halventh exhaled in a giddy twitter as Wenth replied, flushing a richer blue. He rubbed his paw at the side of his nose and tossed his head at the tan, clicking his tongue at her from across the other winged beasts that separated them.

L'xon took his hand off the barrier as the amorphous spirit that had burst free early on wound its way through the Candidates, closer to the barrier. He marked the positions of the Weyrwoman and Betahandler, but did not linger on the Candidates that fell. All he could see was the back of Newtollen's head still. What did the face on the other side look like right now?

Maybe the Candidate who lost a hand was worth a second glance, though. Shifting his focus off the blood-fiend, the bluerider constructed a very passive expression of interest as he watching the remains of the Candidate in the Sands, the cyan finding her own path afterwards. Halventh had not been disturbed by either of these hatchlings. Maybe the blue's empathy was off today. Or maybe he was getting distracted by pretty faces and flattery- his fatal weakness.

[ OOC: Quick one in before I leave. xD ]

[Gray]

Callistath's eggs were hatching. She wondered, just a bit, if it was the blood. If the scent of it baking on the sands had been appetizing enough to quicken their movements and inspire their progress. If it had, this first child did not look it. Or at least, Matilda assumed it did not, for she could not see the first dragonet. It lurked among the eggs, perhaps hiding from the possessed creature that had claimed the sands.

Another egg broke.

They were brown and purple, or so she figured. They were far enough away fit it to hinder her color-reading abilities. Once again, her attention shifted to the reddish brown who ravaged the sands. Was it going to be like this the whole time? Would it go wild and end up killed by it's dam? The possibilities were endless. Matilda really had no intention of clinging to any of them, even the good ones. Fate was as fate was. Still, shouldn’t someone do something about all this?

Her thoughts were answered, somewhat, by the hatching of a third. Another dragon, a cyan at that. Though once again, Matilda was not sure. The baby's squeaking roar would have made her laugh if there was not such conviction in it. This child had ideas, strong ones, and was upset by the carnage. Of course, that was what Matilda figured. She too, would be upset, to have to hatch on blood soaked sands, her candidates ravaged. But that latter part didn't seem to interest the cyan as she took to the crowd. Matilda's eyes followed her, wincing slightly as she bounced and banged into candidates in pursuit of her vile foe.

The cyan's attack on Pyrus did confuse her though, what had he done? Confusion did not last long though, as she heard the first sickening crunches of bone. No, confusion flared into outrage.
Pyrus had been holdless! He had mucked out a living with her and her brother! He did not deserve such mistreatment. Her fists balled at her sides, nails leaving ragged indents in her palms, knuckles white. She couldn't help him, which made it all worse. The cyan had made it on a very selective list. A list of names hissed through gritted teeth and vicious avoidance.

[Raining]

Sandr was keeping his gaze fixed firmly on the dragon eggs in front of him. Or at least he was trying, any cries of pain or the crunch of wher bones... had this candidate flinching. He. Would. Not. Look. Though when Kalesk roared and sent her hatchling running, he looked to see where the wher was. He couldn't see it, but the way some candidates either flinched or fell, the hatchling was getting closer to their side.

He was glad for the darkness, otherwise his vision would be spinning stupidly.

Blue eyes almost risked a glance to the stands, before snapping back forward. He didn't know what he expected to see, but again... he didn't know how that would effect him. Why would he be here anyway, after what he told him?

'Shards' he thought to himself as he took in a calming breath. Though he was definitely on edge right now, as the wher was rapidly approaching the dragon candidate side. He willed the wher to go find theirs before its too late. Mauling candidates as it passed wouldn't help its cause. Fingers drummed silently on the hilt of the knife on his side, he really hoped he wouldn't need it -- he wouldn't look forward to cutting himself.

A couple of the dragon eggs hatched, a brown and a purple. This was enough to distract him from anything that was happening behind a few rows. He knew there were people getting hurt, and his bleeding heart wanted to help... but knowing what's there and his "duty" to stand here kept his feet firmly on the ground.

Then... a Cyan hatched... seemingly not happy looking from the squeak she let loose. And he didn't know why he didn't move... maybe it was shock that the cyan suddenly charged at him. She didn't even hesitate as he was bowled over. Sandr grunted as he hit the ground and how his stomach was used as a spring board -- his breath temporarily stolen from him. Thankfully as she jumped over him, his face was spared and his mediocre armor prevented claws from digging into his stomach. As soon as she bounded off he immediately got to his feet to avoid the hot sand, stumbling slightly in the rush to right himself.

Sometime after the Cyan managed to get the wher off whoever... there was a familiar sickening snap. If he didn't flinch much before... well it was evident now. His breathing picked up some as memory from Coui and Min's hatching flooded to the surface. He swallowed hard as he tried to steady his breath. Of course in his biased nature against whers... he forgot that dragons can be just as cruel.

Faranth... and only a couple of eggs have hatched. Keeping his eyes forward and his mind on his thoughts were the only ways Sandr was going to cope with this, and continue thinking as positively as he could. He'd will the cyan to forgo her chase and find hers... as cruel as the wher was... they didn't need anymore dead hatchlings.

---

Riocard looked calmer because its a practiced mask he's used for a while now. He watched as the unknown color of wher killed its sibling and was now running rampart through the candidates, keeping as calm as he could. Surely the wher will find his or... hers and all will be okay and it would cease mangling candidates...

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other for a moment before becoming still once more.

The dragons had begun hatching at this point, a Brown first, then a purple and not long after... a distressed looking Cyan. The dragonet plowed through the candidates, and of course the guy next to him. Tamren managed to stay up right thankfully to Riocard's relief. If Tamren had stumbled into him, he was sure he'd get knocked over as well. He wasn't all that strong, and even a thin guy like Tamren were to bump into him, he was sure he'd fall over.

The sickening sound wasn't lost to him, but Riocard kept his eyes forward. He didn't want or need to know what was happening behind or beside, and if he stopped to look or find out -- he'd probably lose it. He was fine with reading about accidents and such in words, but he wasn't sure how well he'd do if he saw it happen. Call him selfish.

---

Saowyn removed the blindfold from his eyes as soon as they found their seats, Saosk grumbled at his handler about how stupid hatchings were.... but she knew he wanted to be here too. Because well, one of his chosen minions was standing today.

The girl was nervous about this hatching. Sure it was cool to see a full dragon clutch as well as a wher's... but from how the last wher hatching went -- she hoped nothing horrible happened. She honestly feared for Jafari, almost as much as she hoped he found his.

Those fears were not just paranoia either... a wher murdering its sibling... both queens seemingly enraged. And now a cyan ran after the wher... mangling a candidate in her pursuit. Saowyn's face was pale. SHARDING DEADGLOWS, WHY THEY NO FIND NO WORTH HUMANS. WASTING TIME FOR ALL. he remarked. Saowyn nodded her agreement, reaching out through their bond and held on to it, to Saosk's surprise.

Saowyn had been rather distant and bitter, but she needed him as much as he needed her.

TINY MOUSE HERE, WITH STOMPING GENNESK... SHOULD GO SEE? he'd ask hoping to tear his handlers worries away from the hatching. Saowyn shook her head once, "you will see her after, let her stay with Gennesk." Saosk huffed at that answer, Saowyn had refused to let Saosk around Mouse for too long... because after what happened she lost confidence -- he was never that violent. She felt that he didn't believe her... but since then he had tried to be better behaved. "I promise... in a little bit okay? Stay here with me." SAOSK HOLD YOU TO PROMISE! SAOSK NEVER HURT TINY MOUSE.... She believed him... she did... but what if..?

As much as it horrified her to watch as Pyrus was nothing short of getting torn apart, she steeled her expression. Dragons were as evil as they come.. she was told. She never believed it... she can't.

'Jafari... please be okay...'

[mopsy93]

The sand were hot but then again that was to be expected if eggs, Dragon and wher alike, were going to develop properly. It might have been her first Dragon Hatching but this was definitely not her first wher Hatching. The Dragon section of the hatching was starting to hatch, the large egg on its side hatched revealing a brown, and the second largest egg in the clutch revealed a dark hued purple. The two brothers seemed calm enough, especially the brown who seemed more interested in making sure that his brother was alright than finding his rider. The only female so far to be revealed in Callistath’s latest clutch was a two tone Cyan who by the looks of things was out for revenge against the dark wheret for killing its Green sister even if the dead Green was not the Cyan’s sister.

Carissa did not approve of just how single minded the Cyan was about tracking down the dark wheret though, pushing aside more Candidates and when the wheret got away after a brief struggle breaking two of Pyrus’s limbs and nearly severing the hand on his broken arm. With how things were going, Carissa was getting a little nervous though she knew that for her to have any chance at Impressing this time she would have try to stay mostly calm for her and other people’s sake.

[Lan]

Hanei grimaced as her father made contact with the brownrider. She wanted to help! His daughter would be okay... she hoped. Her mental consciousness pressed against Noveth's and the green understood. She will be better for this. Hanei certainly hoped so.

Nimara had taken her place in the stands just as the blood bath had begun. She grimaced at the roars of outrage present in many of those that had mothered clutches, but of Waroth all she could feel was a sense of calm determination. She leaned in, questioning, and the red responded, The dark one is strong. The green was not. Only the strong can survive. Nimara frowned, not sharing the sentiment. Her eyes moved to try to catch Yuri's, but they fell only on the back of his head.

That is not true.

It is... although, strength can take different forms.

Had she not known what had been on Waroth's minds, on both of their minds for some time, Nimara might have thought it weird how philosophical Waroth had become in her old age. But she knew, and Waroth knew, and there was somethiing that would need to be done after this trauma... should any of their candidates survive this rampage. More were falling as the cyan moved to chase the wher and she frowned, looking to Jasmine. "We will have to remove those that cannot stand." She did not want anyone to die on her watch.

Tedaon's presence brought some sense of relief to Tesla, even if she was still feeling incredibly sad for all of those that were being attacked on the sands. She felt strongly for them, each blow felt as if it were one she had suffered at her own hatching. She moved closer to Teddy, her instructor, and looked up at him for instruction even as he spoke to the other healers. As she did during their times in the Infirmary, she tried to make herself as unobtrusive as his shadow, although the extra space that Tessk occupied made it a little bit harder to go unnoticed sometimes.

"He cannot be allowed to stand for dragons anymore. He would only endanger a dragonet and their wing."

The whitehandler nodded, her eyes following Tedaon's out to the sands. She moved quickly to strap some bandages and a jar of numbweed salve to the saddlebags draped over Tessk's back, then returned to the Journeyman's side. "When there's a chance, we'll be ready," she spoke in a tiny voice to Tedaon, leaning in so that only he could hear over the chaos of the cavern. With her wherhandler training, Tesla actually felt rather prepared for the task at hand. She and the white wher were used primarily for their abilities to get in and out quickly and without being spotted; with her apprenticeship as a healer she was all the more equipped to help get an injured person off quickly and without causing them more harm. This could be her moment, assuming the poor boy didn't di-... no. She'd rather not think about it. He would survive and they would get him off and get him treatment as soon as the cyan and the wher were in the clear.

Hanei turned at a familiar voice and did her best to smile up at the Junior Weyrwoman. "Hello, Weyrwoman Rayna." She dipped her head solemnly, then turned her head back to the sands. This was getting bad... hopefully now that Rayna was there, however, there would be a little more sanity in their corner where P'ryt and Os'um had recently collided.

Matt did his best to remain calm as the cyan stormed past him, colliding with a girl not two candidates away from where he stood. His normally smiling face had collapsed into a neutral frown and he watched the girl, Inanna to see how she was doing, even as he kept a wary eye out for the hatchlings that seemed to be making their way through the candidates seven at a time. The breath of the dark wher met his ears and he slowly turned his head to peer over his shoulder at the creature that had attacked those that he had stood alongside without discrimination. He glanced at Dairine, then back to the creature. Part of him hoped that the cyan would catch him soon so that the hatching might proceed without as much violence... but part of him knew that there was no such luck to be had in this world.

Yentil frowned up from her job where she was cutting up more cubes of meat... that seemed as if they might go to waste at the rate candidates were being taken out of commision. The two that had caused the trouble were close enough for her to see them now, their snarling breaths she fancied she could hear, athough she knew they were too far away for this to be true. Her grip tightened on the handle of the sharp blade that she held, readying herself. Rules or no rules, she would defend herself if such a creature came near and tried to take her life. She wasn't a candidate. She didn't have to stand there and take it while her bowels were ripped from her abdomen. No; she would fight until the creature leaved or she was physically forced to stop.

Just above the healer's camp A'bar readied himself to help, should he be called upon. Ablath, higher in the stands, sent worried emotions his way. A'barMine! Do be careful! Oooh, I do not want anything to happen to my A'barMine! That would make me ever so sad! He took a moment, and a breath, to calm his emotions and then pressed his consciousness against the bright one of his dragon. Don't worry, Ablath... I'll be careful, I promise.

---

|| tag : Jasmine, Teddy, Rayna

[Chek]

{WARNING FOR BLOOD AND GORE AND MITH BEING CUTE}



Hunkered down beside Wenth, Mith craned her head around to peek at Weslieth and peeped. She shuffled in place, back and forth, then nudged Wenth, Clouds, moon, stars and...sun?

* * *

Drieth broke from his own steady hum – personally against the pairing or not, he could not fail to honor the Queen who'd clutched him – and sent his own wordless greeting to Mesreath. H'mod simply lifted one hand in greeting to Durian, settling back, elbows on knees and chin resting on folded hands.

“Waste of Candidates at this rate; we're lucky this group was so large.”

* * *

With the crowd of people, Tius could only see so much, halfway craning his neck to look over across the sea of Candidates – the most he could make out were the gaps where Candidates had fallen. But with Kalesk in front of him, front row, he was as safe as it was possible to be on these Sands; the gold had issued threat, and if the murderous child returned to the front, it was with it's own life forfeit.

Embla, on the opposite corner of the crowd, shifted uncomfortably, having watched the progress of first wher and then cyan through the crowd in her direction; but now the cyan was off to one side and the wher not within the range of her vision. The maimed boy was not too far off, though, and she crouched discreetly, still watching the cyan that had evidenced such a grudge against him, and pulled some extra lacing out from under her robes, excess brought for emergency repairs to the armor she wore, but good enough for this purpose.

Already there was someone else kneeling beside Pyrus, so she underhanded the bundle of leather lacing, lobbing it over Maihri's shoulder, “Tie it tight and cut off the circulation,” she hissed, “And get him up and walking towards the Healers so they can come get him!”

Niorun wasn't even feeling the pain anymore.

The first few seconds, after watching that red-brown wher turn to springboard towards her were the worst, because she knew, knew what was coming. And she was right.

For such a small thing, the damage it could inflict was impressive. She barely managed to jerk her head away to avoid the loss of an eye,, the damage to her shoulder severe but livable - but then it was at her throat, claws and teeth ripping inwards, blood pouring out as she tried to jam her hands up between the creature trying to murder her and the veins which, if punctured, would kill her before she could get to help.

She didn't want to die.

Niorun had been trying to avoid screaming;; it could only draw more attention – which she very much did not want at the moment, especially from kindred to this wher, but she'd been making small, hurt noises as she struggled, but the wher's claws hooked in, deep, and tore through something important as it's weight was abruptly and horrifically torn away, taking bits of her with it.

The cyan dragonet's clawed feet slamming down didn't help; one catching her right in the temple, the spot where the wher had been pounding, and her skull cracked, the pressure in her head changing and making her white out for a moment. She screamed, but soundlessly, and curled up, hands around her throat and trembling.

She didn't want to die.

When all had been still for a moment, no fangs or claws to be heard, she opened her eyes, and rolled, shoving herself to her knees and, wobbling, to her feet, hands and fingers deep within the raw mess of her throat in a vain attempt to lessen the bleeding. She panted, each breath gurgling, the sand below her staining ever more with crimson.

She needed off the Sands.

She turned and swayed, as she turned back towards the clutch mothers, and bowed, once, to each of them, her lips forming words she couldn't speak, nearly landing on her face after bowing to Kalesk, and then started staggering back out of the Candidates, fading vision locked on the Healer's section. She paused, briefly, by Pyrus, the other mangled Candidate, and tried again to speak, producing only blood, but then had to continue.

She broke out of the back of the group and swayed, only keeping her feet for another ten yards before she fell, going still as she hit the hot sand.

Loki accepted that was the best as he was going to get, “She willingly attempted to leave the Sands, get her off them now, don't try to help her until you get her back, just go now and FAST.”

[Lan]

The order from Loki set Tesla to running, although she had already done her best to plan out how best to get Niorun off the sands. She bolted, seeing nothing but her first target: a stretcher designed to be pulled by whers, as herself and Lonet had both been tapped to assist at the hatching. Her handkerchief in hand, she used it to pull the light stretcher quickly to Tessk and over the white's head. The rope firmly in place in the wher's jaws, it was time to move.

The white wherhandler pair set forth as quickly and efficiently as their wherling training could have provided. There was fortunately no candidates left between themselves and the injured girl as the fleet-footed pair took the opportunity to make a wide berth between themselves and the two fighting hatchlings. Tessk stopped when the stretcher was right beside the collapsed form of Nio. Tesla crouched next to her soon after. "Lie still... we're getting you out." A handkerchief was produced from her pocket once more and she used it to help roll Nio onto her side and onto the stretcher, where she lightly bound the girl to keep her from moving and causing herself more injury. "Keep still on your side." At that she flourished the handkerchief with one shake and stuffed it into her pocket so a piece of it trailed out, just it case she would need it again.

She stood, ready to leave. A thought to Tessk the white was already galloping off the sands back toward the healer's camp, the stretcher making trails in the sand. The apprentice bolted after the white wher, her braided hair bouncing behind her with each step. Together handler and wher arrived near Loki, their charge safely retrieved. Tesla stood back and prepared to assist in any way possible until time brought about another opportunity for her to bring Pyrus back safely as well.

[kireon]

Everything seemed to explode in a matter of moments, Kairhi and Mairhi launching themslves into immediate action once the wheret'd been chased off by the single minded cyan. Kairhi sent a cheerful thought in the rage-cyan's direction, approving of the actions to chase the wheret away from the injured and returned quickly to the task at hand; Healing. She wasn't an apprentice for nothing, after all. And she'd been teaching Mairhi too, just like her twin shared her lessons too. Niorun was already on her way off the sands- and though Kai wanted to protest, she bit her tongue, noting that their Candidatemaster, and his wher as well, were already awaiting as close as they could possibly get without potentially offending Kalesk or Callistath.

Scooping up the cords, Kairhi immediately set her focus on the injuries in front of her. "Good work, Mai." She praised her sister, pleased by what she'd done already. "Pyrus, hi! It's Kairhi and Mairhi, we're gonna keep you safe, 'kay? Okay, here we go, Mai, keep the pressure on, Py, gimme a smile and keep your eyes on me!" Studying the extent of the injury, she measured out three inches from the injury and began setting the steps for a proper tourniquet to be put into place using the cord someone- Embla- had tossed over. A square of folded cloth kept the skin from being pinched by the leather as she used the sheath of her knife as the torsion device. Overhand knot tied quickly and securely into place to keep the pressure on, Kairhi tied the loose ends of the cord around the ends of the sheath and checked them twice, and a third time to ensure everything was secure.

She loosed a breath away from the site of the injury and went back to it. "Mai, we need to get his arm and leg taken care of next, I'll get the leg though. Remember how I showed you?" Which meant they needed cloth. Her eyes dropped to the shift she wore, and restrained the urge to grin at their clever idea of armoring up underneath the white, plain linen shifts. It was off in seconds, and she used the knife to carefully split the tunic in two pieces. Moving the uninjured leg as close to the injured one as possible, she glanced to Pyrus and smiled at him again. "This might hurt a little, so don't be afraid to cry. We're gonna make sure the leg doesn't get jostled anymore than it has to, so I'm gonna immobilize it by fastening it to your good leg."

Which... actually, wasn't all that difficult, the way she thought it was, her hands were hot as they scooped sand away from under the injured leg, threaded the cloth underneath and lifted the uninjured one up a little to get it under the both of them. Slowly, carefully, she began tugging the two sides close together, drawing the broken leg close to the unbroken one until they were as good as they were going to get without causing any further harm. She secured it with the belt from around her waist, wrapping it the same way and nodded to herself in satisfaction.

A bit of excess was used from the undershirt she wore to provide a bit of cover for the ruined hand- she wasn't gonna let him see the ragged remnants of what was going to end up probably being removed totally. Not when it could be super scary for someone who was already really badly hurt. "The healers are gonna be here in just a sec to get you outta here, but until then, we're here with you, Pyrus." Her hands were bloody, as were Mairhi's, and they had sand caked on them now, but she was gonna do her jobs- as Healer and Candidat until she couldn't do it anymore!

--

Yusk paced, her voice rising with that of Kalesk, Ausk and Cilisk's as the wheret proved to be an even worse egg than Burlesk. Naughty, stupid egg! Bad! Her poor babies, her poor Yuri, he would be so very upset by this. Blood filled the air, and even the dragonet who tore off after the wheret couldn't even be considered a good egg, the green hissing indignantly as she savaged another baby. What was wrong with all of these eggs? Why were they not being good eggs? Her eyes whirrled orange and yellow, waiting patiently for Yuri to give her an order to fetch, and she would.

Pyrus would have to wait, unfortunately. With a cyan dragonet on the rampage, and that dark... whatever color the wheret was equally intent on savaging as many as possible, there was simply too much danger involved for anyone to go out there. His heart sank as he recognized the identical looking faces of two candidates suddenly in armor alone, their white garments used as supplies to do what they could to help their fellow candidate. If all went the way things had in the past, their actions would turn them into targets- and he didn't want to see that kind of carnage happen again.

Yusk nipped her handler's fingers, eyes whirrling distressingly as she waited, trembling, for Yuri to tell her to go get one of their babies, any of their babies who would need to be moved off the sands. All they'd need is to ask, to say they were done, and Yusk would be there to lead them off, her body between them and any harm. She'd trained with Yuri on how to keep a wheret or dragonet distracted without harming it- and thus drawing the potential ire of the mother- and was ready to put that into action.

Kalesk knew her, she had been there the last time. Hopefully the gold would remember her as a good hatch-partner and one who could be trusted not to harm the bad eggs, only distract or otherwise return them to naughty parents.

[Maggie]

Tamarine gave Joni a very grateful smile. Her bad leg was screaming in pain, after being gashed again. `We can lean on each other," she murmured back, trying not to call attention to herself.

**

Kaydian nearly screamed as Pyrus went down in front of him. He moved out of the way of the healers, trying to control his emotions and not bolt towards where the healers and Yusk were. He was a candidate. He was brave. The dragon who had searched him had taken him away from Bitra for a reason, he told himself. He had to be strong. It wasn't easy, though. He felt like miss Maelie's traumatised little blue flitt and all he wanted to do was to run to where Pretty and Yusk could sing to him and calm him down. He couldn't do that, though. He had to be strong. He wasn't the scared little boy who had been taken from Bitra, even though he knew he had a long way to go before he was truly confident and could stand tall. He could do this. He had to be worthy of the confidence that his flitts, that search dragon and Yusk had in him. They hadn't kept him from Standing, that meant something. He steeled himself, trying to remember what songs Yusk had hummed to him in her office, concentrating on that feeling. He was in a bubble of songs and calm. He was going to be fine.

**

Gennesk pulled Mouse a little closer. He did not like how bloody this hatching already was. Delicious could get hurt! Mouse could get hurt! He didn't like this at all. He glanced up at the stands, sensing there might be a bit more backup there. Screamy-Saosk is be Lisk-friend? he asked both wherets mildly, although his tone left little option. Lisk and Saosk is be for Mini-Mouse protect. Is be for friend so is be for Mini-Mouse protect. Is be important is be for agree even when is not always for friend, in Weyr. Whers is be for agree, is be for protect, he reminded them both. If is be for agree, Saosk is be come for Mini-Mouse protect with Lisk and Gennesk.

[Dragonwher]

Randiel didn't realize anyone in the candidate ranks had been hurt at first. Not till he finally registered the noises that were different than wher or dragonhide hissing through the sand. Though he tried his best to resume tuning out the sounds of Candidates being hurt. Even though he honestly hoped none of his for now fellow Candidates died thanks to the Cyan or the Wheret. But he tried his best not to so much as sneeze right yet, no sense trying to attract mayhem after all. He didn't see the dragon except for a veritable flash as it went after what he presumed must have been the Wheret that caused a bit of fuss in the crowd.

When Niorun managed to stand and he caught sight of her trying to get to the Healers he finally saw what the Wheret had done. Though he tried to block the fear in his mind from broadcasting to the eggs or the one still living Wheret. If the dragonet was indeed after the Wher...wouldn't that annoy Kalesk though?. Or would she accept the attempt to cow the violent one?. Either way as things went and the Cyan first tussled with the wher then chased it further into the candidates he had been knocked free of his mental ruminations by the sound of something savaging another candidate. He didn't know if it was the Wher or the Cyan though. So he tried to shove the contemplation away in order to focus on happy thoughts for the hatching wherets.

Oddly it was only when he thought of Tussbuul explaining things to him and pointing out that not all Wher's were like Tusk that his heart started to fully settle. Sure things had gotten violent, that was the nature of hatchings sometimes. Clearly moreso with Wher's, but the last double hatching he'd watched was just early proof Dragonets were capable of the same thing. No matter what however; even if he bonded to a violent Wheret Randiel swore to himself he'd make sure that his bonded would not hurt anyone not an enemy of the Weyr. Though if his future partner was as perceptive as Tusk he was also thinking of ways to not be so worried over everything his sister did.

In spite of the blood and pain and some death floating about Randiel faintly smiled as thoughts of his sister actually strengthened his happier thoughts. If his sister could survive the bloody hatching she Stood for so Malinoth could find her, then he could do this too after all.

~~~

Randiel might be remembering how brave his sister had been to stay out on the sands till her Malinoth found her. But Mira began to have a hard time dealing with seeing her brother down there; especially when the Cyan hatched and chased the wher away from a candidate it was ripping up. Then it took Malinoth trying to become a tent to shield her eyes with his wings and letting his thrumming hum drown out the sounds of the Hatching when the Cyan mauled another candiate as he spoke to his Miramine, I know it looks bad; but the mauled one got up and managed to get near to the healers I'm sure she'll be fine. And others are helping the boy who was hurt by the Cyan dragon. They likely wouldn't be trying to help if there was no chance for them to live. None of the ones attacked have been your Clutch brother; he is still whole and Standing strong like a tree in a storm.

Mira managed a shaky breath as she nodded, her braids base rubbing Malinoth's grey 'badge' as she silently responded I know Mali...its just...things look worse from a spectator point of view. So now I can see exactly how my brother and parents felt. Mali's response was warm and comforting Yet you were brave enough to Stand there and wait for me in spite of all the hurt and chaos, and even after you were brave enough to keep going throughout all the sadness up till now. I may be hiding you from seeing what's happening now, but that does not mean you are not brave; you worry for others and show compassion as well. But even the brave ones need a respite from things like this. Malinoth's talking and the flits cuddling her with their own little bodies thrumming away Mira calmed enough to smile and point out I'm proud of you Malinoth, all that talking and not one fib...well the bit about my brother could be debated but I know you meant that as truthfully as possible. Not yet willing to unwrap his wings until he likely developed a cramp, Mira only got a wordless wave of love once more as he thrummed away.

Andel for his part was hugging his wife to his side and petting her hair whenever she had to turn away from the sands. Which so far had been due to a pair of Candidates being hurt and the broken body of the tiny wheret that the brown-red looking Wheret had killed. Though she silently shook her head at each whispered suggestion that they wait outside till the hatching was done. Mir might not have been Randiel's birthmother but she was not going to leave till he was off the sands. The woman simply hoped he'd be off the sands on his own power, potentially with his lifepartner toddling beside him; but Mir would happily settle for 'not dead or maimed beyond repair'.

[birdi]

As if to assure Inanna of the folly of believing that only wher hatchings were violent, the little cyan who had hatched shortly after her brown and purple brothers ran through the crowd—fully intent to get at the destructive wher, it seemed—only not so interested in avoiding candidates to get there. She was running through like a bull in a china shop, bumping into candidates as she went, and she was heading this way.

Inanna flinched, realizing what was about to happen a split-second before it did, not having the time to do more than instinctively bend her legs to prepare for the weight of a new-hatched dragon before the clumsy creature rammed into her. The cyan moved away after that, focused on her goal, but the force had been enough to send Inanna tumbling backwards and into one of the other candidates.

She rolled off the other girl as quickly as she broke out of the shock of being plowed over, breath heaving in. “A little winded…” she admitted, looking down at her robes to check if she’d been terribly injured. The leather seemed to have done its job, or at least she couldn’t yet see any blood from the dragon’s claws in her mad scramble. Still, it didn’t exactly feel good to have that weight on top of you.

Wincing, she accepted Kira’s help in getting up to stand.

A commotion drew her attention, and Inanna looked over to see the sad results of the strange wher and the cyan dragon’s fight. A male candidate, his arm torn off. Inanna flinched, letting out a slow exhale. There was one who would never stand again, at least not for a dragon… It reminded her of how careful she had to be out here. Most areas of her craft required full, able-bodied people—if she didn’t Impress and was instead left crippled, she would have to find a plan B.

“Better off than him,” she answered Kira, darkly. It sounded cold, but it was her visceral reaction of disgust to the events which kept it from being totally misunderstood; her brow was creased in distaste, and her lips thin and pressed.

A part of her wondered, if the cyan dragon succeeded in taking down the wher, maybe it would be worth it… after all, the wher still seemed like the uncontrollable element, the dragon was simply reacting; if she hadn’t hatched and gone after him, would the wher have killed that girl? Would he have tried to kill more candidates? One boy without an arm was still better than two or three without their lives… well, that was if the cyan even succeeded, of course.

She didn’t place much faith in it.

tag: Kira

Hirman wasn’t surprised that the response was negative, though he didn’t like it. It didn’t even settle his nerves; even from this far back, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand upright in attention. He knew without having to be told that his eyes were likely dilated, the familiar thrum of adrenaline pulsing through his system. Still, he kept himself controlled and still, nodding slightly at Tedaon.

The reasoning wasn’t unfamiliar to him. And it was logical not to want to upset the newborn whers or dragons, when more violence could result from that. Candidates remaining on the sands to Impress, regardless of injury, was something he could understand as well. As foolish as it was to wish to remain on the sands when your life was in jeopardy. But then, there was a reason he’d never stood out there.

“Understood,” Hirman said, lips thin in distaste. The disgust was not directed at the other healer, but directed out towards the sands, though it could have easily been misinterpreted.

Then the boy… the healer took in a deep breath, clasping his hands tightly together near his waist, the only physical showing of emotion this time in the widening of his eyes. The cyan dragon’s actions were unexpected, her attention having seemed to have been on the wher before—the first few brushes with candidates hadn’t so much as set off alarm bells but, then again, perhaps he hadn’t been paying enough attention.

He held back asking if they could go after the boy, at least, because of the danger, though it was getting difficult not to move out of this relatively safe zone. “Hatchings here, are they typically always this violent?” he murmured, “From what I was familiar with, it wasn’t often that there would be two violent eggs in only the first quarter of the event. Though,” he allowed, “it is not as though I am familiar with whers and dragons hatching at the same time.”

There was a bustling along the group, preparations and double-checks, and generally unsettled behavior all around. He wasn’t the only one desperate to go out and help—he overheard a little of Vyna and Ondine’s conversation, though he felt no pull to join it. Tesla and her white wher seemed ready to head in, and Hirman noted approvingly how organized everything seemed to be here. At the very least, disastrous first few minutes or no, this weyr seemed prepared to deal with such disasters.

The girl did her best to make her way out of the group, though she fell forward in the effort, and instantly Loki gave the go-ahead to get in there and help her out. Hirman tensed, preparing to move, but one of the others darted out before him. Telsa. He forced himself to relax. If they didn’t want to confuse things for the just-hatching, he didn’t think more than one scrambling healer at a time would be the wisest of efforts.

The girl was brought in, and Hirman’s first thought was this wasn’t as bad as it could have been, in a cold sort of calculating manner as he looked her over. She was lucky. It truly wasn’t, however, and that should have been apparent in the fact that she had been able to stand up, bow shakily, and attempt to remove herself from the sands. What would have been troubling would have been that she had not been able to stand or move, if not from psychical damage, then from the shock. Though, he supposed, pure adrenaline may have factored in quite a lot in the feat.

Cloth bandages, bowls of warm water, clean needle and thread, numbweed, wood enough for more sprints than there were eggs on the sands, and the various other essentials were all within close proximity. Hirman still did not, however, make a move towards the injured candidate. He stood awkwardly, unsure of how the hierarchy worked around here, nor of what they would expect of him; back before, he would have deferred to the master healer at his old weyr before doing anything. He could only assume someone would be barking commands soon, though it made him twitchy to see wounds bleeding in front of his face and not be doing anything about it.

At the very worst, he'd be yelled at for not doing something, rather than doing something wrong. The latter was always the worst in his position.

tag: Tedaon, healers

[RavenSong]

Naraevhyn narrowed her eyes at Z'dyn, her expression going carefully blank as she retreated emotionally. So he was going to blame the carnage on her? No, he couldn't have meant that. With a faint sigh, she wrapped her arms around herself and went absolutely still. She just watched the Hatching, not outwardly reacting to anything. Simhath stirred up on the ledge, peering down intently at her bonded as the Hatching played out. She felt Nara's fear for the Candidates. Her own eyes whirling yellow with concern, she snuggled up to Baihujinth for comfort.

Naras was working on notes for the hatching, notes that got abandoned pretty quickly as the Cyan started her rampage. His eyes widened as the poor boy on the sands practically lost a hand. Or officially. He couldn't quite tell. All he knew was that this was particularly horrible and he certainly wasn't going to make a hatching ballad out of this one. Definitely a warning tale, though. A dirge of sorts, especially if someone died.

---

As Niorun was carefully taken from the Sands, it was all Os'um could do to refrain from jumping into the Healer's area to hold her hand. He knew he had to stay back to let her get the attention needed, but there was nothing that was going to stop him from sticking his head over the edge of the Stands to watch.

"Niorun," he said, doing his best to keep his dignity intact. "Niorun, baby, you'll be okay." She was his, she always had been, she always would be, and he'd even gone face to face with her mother to protect her. The fact he couldn't protect her now simply rankled. He decided then and there that he was going to leave the Hatching when they moved to take Niorun to the Infirmary. Looking at the red, red ruin of her throat, though, he despaired, hoping fervently that he wouldn't have to take his baby girl's body between.

---

P'ryt smiled to Rayna, budging over to let Rayna sit. Her question, and what he perceived as its undertone, was given a nod.

"Everything could be better," he said, gesturing to the Brownrider he'd just shut down. "I feel for him," he said. "And... well, I'll tell you more privately." He nodded to Hulair's family, grinning at the girl pretending to be a dragon.

His smile faded all too swiftly as the Cyan rampaged through the Candidates after the murderous wheret. She was harsh in her judgments, and the severe mauling of a Candidate had P'ryt shaking his head. No, this wasn't an auspicious beginning at all. Hopefully it got better.

---

Down on the Sands, Davalla struggled not to be sick. She'd turned to keep an eye on the wheret and saw the Cyan dismember somebody. She was terrified. Was this really worth a dragon or a wher? She wasn't so sure at that point, but she was there and she wasn't about to give up. Maybe a dragon would approach her and save her from this mess.

--

N'yn was on pins and needles, waiting. There were people to save and both he and Eidukth wanted to save them. He wasn't too pleased with the cyan. Up in the ledges, Eidukth hissed. Her smaller colorsister had a misguided sense of justice, she thought. N'yn quietly shushed her, watching as Niorun was brought in. He deferred to Loki for instruction.

Seph had been ready to go assist in dragging out Candidates and thus was poised right on the edge to go help, but he wasn't about to go assist unless directly ordered to. He watched the dragonet and wheret, hoping that neither Lili nor Seidon were harmed by them.

[Tigersilk]

Animals were not humans, Sunita recalled her mother - her real mother, several years dead now - telling her when she was small. Their ways are different, and not always readily understood by humans, she'd told her little daughter when Sunita sometimes asked why a canine sometimes turned on a packmate for no apparent reason she could see, or when she witnessed a strange wherry kill some wherry chicks, while their mother stood by and did nothing. It was years later that Sunita realized that that was as good an answer to such questions as could be expected. It was just their natures; neither humans nor could ask the other why, so Sunita had to accept those questions had to go unanswered.

Which led her to today. Sunita was too far away from the Wher eggs to have witnessed some of the actions of the dark wheret, but she - and her younger sisters, who stuck close to her - had heard something's bones breaking by those eggs, heard the angry screams of both Queens, and saw some of the other Candidates fall down. Sunita had a good idea of what the dark wheret was doing - she and her sisters had heard all the very gory details of Hatchings while still in their father's home - but she still didn't want her youngest sister to actually see it happening right in front of her. Jas had seen more than enough horror already in her ten years; she didn't need more of it than was strictly necessary now.

"Watch the dragon eggs, Jas, and say if any dragonets come this way" Sunita told her quietly, hoping that job would keep the normally sunny girl distracted from the sounds of someone getting torn up somewhere behind them. Sunita, though, kept an eye on what the wheret was doing, to make sure it wouldn't surprise them if it came their way. Ziata, her second-youngest sister, kept an eye both on the wheret and the dragon eggs in the front; a second set of eyes could only be useful in this gloomy cavern. Sunita figured the dark coloring all three of them shared let them blend into the gloom a bit, though she doubted it'd be anywhere near enough to hide them from a rampaging hatchling.

Jas quietly warned her sisters when the...light blue?....cyan?....dragonet came barreling in their general direction, thankfully missing the sisters by several yards, at least. The girls watched as the dragonet attacked the wheret, driving it off, then watched with increasing apprehension when the dark wheret made it's way towards where they stood, using a boy one person over as a human shield between itself and its enemy, the blueish dragonet.

"Guys, be prepared to move FAST if they come this way. Jas, become a rock if necessary." Sunita told her sisters. Be prepared to move, she meant, or fall down and curl up in a ball, to protect the stomach and head better. 'Rock' was a good move against attacking wild canines, since they wouldn't usually bother something that ran like their prey did. Sunita had no idea if that move would work to prevent either a wheret or dragonet from attacking or seriously injuring someone, but it had to be a better move than doing nothing, she thought. She hoped. She prayed.

[Kiran]

Kira couldn't help but turn her head to stare at Inanna when she said that it was better the other candidate than them. The words were dark, unfeeling, but as Kira looked at the other girl she couldn't help but see the disgust, sorrow, even pity there in her eyes. What happened was horrific and in a place in her heart, Kira couldn't help but feel that yes, she was happy that the brutal mauling hadn't happened to her.

But there was still time for worse to happen.

She tightened her grip on Inanna's arm for a moment before letting go. If another dragon or wher came bounding into the group - or even if the wher and dragon already causing chaos did once more - then it wouldn't do to have the both of them taken down at the same time. It made her gut twist to know that she had to think in such terms. It made Kira feel like she didn't care about the other candidate, that she was looking out for her own skin. Even as that ran through her mind Kira had to tell herself that it worked in reverse as well. If something came after her, Inanna wouldn't be put in danger.

She glanced up at the Stands once more as the Healers came and got the almost-handless man from the Sands. Her eyes cast about for her sister and her father - her sister looking downright horrified (Kira was glad she had left the babe in the creche), while her father had a serious expression on his face. This was her third Hatching. The third time she had faced danger like this. He had given his approval that first time, so long ago, but... But would he be okay with her doing it yet another time if she didn't Impress this one? In the end it didn't matter.

Her eyes then glanced over to Z'dyn. He had been her support the whole time she had been here, from when she had first come skittering over to take a closer look at a dragon to after the other hatching, and a number of times between. If she had an older brother, she would have wanted him to be like Z'dyn. And she wanted to make him proud. Twice now he had told her he was confident she would Impress, and both times she hadn't. Kira wanted to now, finally at last. She swallowed hard and hoped she would have a dragonet to introduce him to by the time this was over.

With that, Kira turned back to the eggs. Good thoughts. They needed good thoughts. Impress quickly, get off the sands to safety, have a long, happy life with their rider or handler. She started hoping as hard as she could for it.

[Zephyr]

((Tags:
Adelaide; Kira, Inanna
Kai&Shobhaith; The tan gang, Sandr
Mouse; ALL HER WHERS (Gennesk, Saosk and Lisk)))

They were in the front row.

This wasn’t something that hadn’t caught Ranthian’s attention…even he wasn’t that unobservant. It had been hard to miss those eggs so close. They were in the first sharding row. If he had had his way, he would have dragged Nori and Lanorun back into the crowd of candidates…especially when the sound of cracking shells announced the babies’ entrance into the world. He flinched at each sound of cracking eggs, and he didn’t have to look to know that the sound of crunching bones and squeaky roars was a bad sign.

Seems the whers were starting things off with a bang.

He had to keep himself from reaching out and grabbing his sister’s wrist to pull her away when the hulking, dark wher of indeterminate color lunged into the crowd. She wasn’t close enough to it yet to be hurt, and it seemed like it was heading further towards the back of the pack. Good riddance…but that meant that the back wasn’t any safer than the front.

“Oh Faranth…” The kid muttered under his breath, looking over to his oldest brother for guidance…for something. Then he twisted his neck to search out Joshu in the stands and maybe catch sight of the dark wher. His eyes were hard. The other two had always been so good at keeping Nori safe…even if he doubted they’d do the same for him, at least they had similar interests at the moment.

Which were, namely, keeping their sister safe at all costs.

He didn’t have much more time to come up with a solution, because the dragons, right the hell in front of him had started to hatch. Ranthian’s head shot back around just to see a cyan launch itself at a boy a person away from him and he took a step back with the fallout, trying to shield her sister from the dragons.

They’d escaped unscathed for the moment, but that didn’t mean it’d stay that way. This hatching had already proved that it was going to be a particularly violent one…and it’d only just gotten started. It was clearly going to be a long day.

---

The bubbly candidate was excited beyond belief. Even though she was just standing there, and her limbs were itching; twitching for something to do, at last, after so long of waiting, there was something to occupy her attention, at least for a while. Her grin got even wider as the first of the whers started to hatch…and that smile rapidly shrank as the wherlet promptly killed one of its siblings and set its sights on the candidates.

It was mass chaos. Addy half expected to hear candidates screaming, running for the exits. But no, they weren’t allowed…not until all the babies had impressed…or died. The thought was a sobering one, but she steeled herself. She wasn’t some little girl to be frightened off by a little blood. Still, she couldn’t help but follow the path of destruction, her attention finally off of the boy in front of her. This would require her full attention.

Then the wherlet started shredding a candidate further back, and she felt her resolve start to crack. This was not right. They were like fish in a barrel to these vicious babies, who seemed to want nothing more than to slaughter them all…and there was nothing anyone would do. She half wondered, while suppressing a hysterical laugh borne out of panic what would happen if the whers killed all of them. What would they do?

The scent of blood – and maybe ichor, but the green wher was so far away – came to her and she was having a hard time thinking straight. Then the dragons were hatching, and it seemed like she wouldn’t have anymore time to think, because there was a cyan, and the dragons proved that they weren’t any better than the whers when the cyan went on a rampage, knocking over the girls right next to her in its rush to get to a certain boy not too far away from her and start shredding him.

Adelaide swallowed heavily, her face growing pale. She would not bow to this though. She wouldn’t let the mad children see her weakness. Instead of rushing off the sands like her mind was screaming at her, she turned he attention to the two girls at her side, because asking of others made her feel like she had a little control of the situation. “Are you two okay?” Addy whispered breathily to the two girls, relieved, at least, that they didn’t seem to be injued.

Small miracles.

---

If you looked any grumpier, people’d think you were in physical pain. Sho groused at Kai, his voice distinctly amused if not pleasantly distracted. He’d settled down in a spot next to a bunch of lovely tans, and he was really in heaven. Not even K’ius’ bad mood could get to him. The young purple shuffled in place, shifting his wings and twisting his neck to peer at the tans next to him. You ladies are lovely today. The sky itself cannot do you justice.

But he was suddenly distracted. There was a tightness in his chest and a panic that was not his own and the purple’s attention was instantly on the boy he shared a mind with. Kai was no longer in the shadows. He was perked up, fingers wrapped around the bar in front of him until his knuckles were a sickly white. His entire body was tense and his eyes were locked up on the front of the sands…where Aleksandr was on the ground.

Sho hadn’t seen the cyan launch herself at the boy first hand, but the scene was playing through his head as his own rider relived it, teeth grinding and jaw tight. Sit down! He’s fine and you aren’t going to do him any good by getting yourself hurt if something does happen. If another one of those things gets near him, I’m going to… Nothing…you are going to do nothing because this isn’t your place. You and him are all I have…I can’t just let him die… The boy’s voice was weak, and his limbs were trembling, and Shobhaith couldn’t understand, not really, but he didn’t have to.

K’ius is tense. You worried him there. Do me a favor, and don’t become some hatchling’s chew toy…he’s ready to leap the stands. Sho found Sandr’s mind with little difficulty and imparted his advice without warning before he settled back down, disturbed. There was death and destruction at his own hatching, but not this much, and Kai had been in shock when he’d impressed. He didn’t want a repeat of history here.

Kai finally took his dragon’s advice and sat down, mechanically, his eyes tight on Sandr’s position, appeased, at least, that his friend wasn’t injured and his fingernails digging into his palms. This was not happening.

---

There were babies everywhere!

When the eggs had started to hatch, Mouse had pulled herself away from Gennesk, trying to hoist her little body up to see what was happening. She couldn’t see much because she was so small, and she wanted a better view, but her smile started to fade as the dark wherlet began its rampage. Little face scrunched into a frown, she leaned out to watch, even as Gennesk pulled her back.

That wher, it’s mean. She said to her protector, little fingers pressing into his hide. It’s hurting people…it hurt its sister. Look, she’s not moving. She’s green and pretty and she’s not moving. Death wasn’t a concept she had much experience with, so that wasn’t something that crossed her mind…she just knew that the baby was very, very still. We should help her, Gennesk. Maybe we can wake her up. Silly wherlet, sleeping during her hatching. She should be awake! And the meany needs a hug…maybe then he’d stop hurting people!

She wasn’t quite as interested in the dragons right now, but that little cyan looked like she needed a hug too, and Mouse strained in Gennesk’s grasp, trying to see…but this wasn’t right…something was so wrong about this.

The child reached out for Lisk, holding onto the green and sticking close to Gennesk while she frantically looked for Saosk. She had to protect them from the dark meanie...and she had to give him a hug, but she wasn't sure exactly where to start, so she just sat there, eyes wide.

[turkoizdog]

As Pyrus stood, watching the eggs crack, he began to wonder if his spot near the back was not the best. He should be near the front, where all the new babies could see! What if being too far back made him easily overlooked? However, his fears were soon popped once he noticed the rampaging red wher, slashing and biting as she went. His neck whipped around and he instinctively looked up into the stands. Emiya. Stomach tightening, he faced front once more, trying as hard as he could to look like nothing bothered him, even though he could feel the red's presence coming closer. He wasn't sure if he wanted her there or not. On the one hand, she could witness his impression, as he has witnessed hers. On the other, she could also witness his death. But he was trying not to think about that.

****************************************************

Zynn watched as the whers revealed themselves first -- green, black, and red... or was it brown? The third soon proved itself to be a red, for that's certainly the color she saw. Watching her weave through the candidates, slashing and biting, Zynn saw more anger and violence in that wheret than he had from any wher he'd met. Standing still as he could, poker face on, he began to wonder if standing for whers was a mistake. After all this time, he wondered if maybe, whers were no better than dragons. But no, this wher had at least not killed anyone, as that dragon had, right? Besides, she was probably just upset over the dud egg.

He then turned to watch the dragons as they hatched. Brown and purple seemed to be alright, and while the cyan seemed full of energy, he didn't think there was anything wrong with that at first. So far, the whers were more violent and dramatic than the dragons. Maybe he had been wrong about dragons after all.

At first, the cyan's pursuit of the red wher was amusing. Watching her knock over candidates was almost comical in comparison to the cuts and scratches the red caused. But what followed was enough for him to cement his thoughts on dragons in his mind altogether

****************************************************

Pyrus was determined to keep his eye on the bloodthirsty red wher. He wanted to make sure that if it came for him, he was ready, and while he was doing a good job watching it, that meant he completely didn't notice the cyan until she had crashed into him.

It had all happened so suddenly, that he was on the ground before he knew it. He looked up to see the cyan sitting on his stomach. He was in pain, that was for sure. His arm was broken (though it would heal, right?) which was enough for him to ignore the uncomfortable position of his leg and the rest of his body.

His first instinct was to wait for the cyan to get off and resume the chase, but the moment he looked into her eyes, he knew she wasn't done. Pyrus felt his entire body clench, eyes slid shut, so whatever she did to him, he wouldn't see the blood. Hopefully the healers would be here soon. Hopefully, Emiya would look away. And if he lived, he only hoped that after all of this, she wouldn't think any less of him for it.

Time seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time. While it seemed forever before the cyan did anything, his dragon-prescribed handectomy happened in a metaphorical blink. And the cyan was gone and running. And he couldn't feel any pain.

And all he could think was 'well, at least it picked my broken arm'.

Once he could comprehend that the cyan had gone, he did his best to lift his remaining hand into the air, trying to signify to everyone -- well, mostly Emiya -- that he was not dead. He was okay. There was no way he was going to let himself miss this hatching, even if it cost him his hand. What if his bonded was still in one of those eggs? He knew if he opened his eyes and saw the blood, he would puke. Or faint. Or both. So he kept his eyes as shut as he could.

A moment later, there were two girls by his side, saying something about pressure. He opened his eyes. As long as he was looking into the eyes of two pretty girls and not at his bloody stump, he was okay.

"Mai... Kai... Hi... Py." he offered up as introduction, still searching for words. God, no wonder girls didn't seem to like him, his pick up lines were horrible. At least, he figured, he'd have some sexy "battle scars" to show for this. He wondered if a missing hand counted as a sexy battle scar.

As he watched the girls at work, he had so many questions, so many thoughts, and in his desperate effort to stay conscious, he decided to say... well, more of them than he would in any other situation. "You're pretty... Are you... twins? Oh... there go your robes... oops..." a small smile crept lazily across his face. He turned to the girl who was applying the tourniquet around his stump. "I see you've met my ex-girlfriend. We're... recently separated." Nope. That was the exact opposite of a good pick up line. God, imagine if Emiya had heard him say that. What would she think?

He wasn't paying attention to what the girls were saying. How could he? But when one of the girls mentioned the healers would soon be there to take him off the sands... that upset him.

"Wait... no wher?" He had already figured out that missing a hand would disqualify him from riding a dragon, but he may have a wher out there, right? "I already... have blood..." He tried to lift his former hand up, but instead winced sharply. He wanted to stand. Even if, physically, he would have a hard time actually standing. He would not abandon his wher, like his family had abandoned him.

[Cathaline]

The dark wher did not wish to die. It was violent, but far from stupid. The cyan dragon was huge compared to its form, as bulky a behemoth as it was; unlike the candidates, rigid with their orders not to dare harm a baby, she had no compunction about sentencing it to death. It would be foolhardly in the extreme to come to blows with her.

Besides...the dark wher sort of liked her. Oh, she was clearly flawed like everything else, imperfect. But unlike the cowardly candidates and weeping now-dead wheret, she had spirit. The dark wher appreciated that. If it ever got a chance it would still probably try to test her to destruction, mind you, but...

So it fled from her, darting in and out of the candidates, nothing but a breeze while it lurked in the shadows, saving its violence for later. It paused behind Lavi when she assaulted Pyrus, watching keenly and with decided approval. Yes, he was terrible too. Definitely one of the worst. But once she finished, her gaze fell on the dark wher again, and it darted away down toward the left-hand side, weaving in and out to confuse her; she was much slower, too big to conveniently fit between candidates. Only too late did it realise that it had skidded right out of the pack, which might put it in danger if Kalesk noticed. However, she couldn't see through the ocean of white robes, and she was still jealously guarding her daughter's corpse; the dark wher had a bit of time to kill here while it waited for the cyan to catch up.

Sunita and her sisters were the targets. The dark wher went for the smallest first, launching itself at Jas. She was only ten; even its small form had enough strength to bear her to the ground, but it did no more than use her as a springboard, claws pricking her through her robes, to leap to Ziata's hip, sinking its teeth into her upper arm. Such soft skin, stupid soft human skin, how the dark wher hated the softness of human skin, and it jumped for Sunita next, snarling directly into her face while it scrabbled at her shoulders -

Then the cyan arrived, barreling through Artolan in her haste to attack him; his legs were swept from under him, but shouldering him out of the way gave the dark wher enough time to abandon three bleeding sisters and fight its way forward. It nipped around Sora, and the cyan dragon made a leap at it, incidentally tossing the girl aside as she did. The dark wher skidded in the sand again and zipped right under the cyan's belly; she crashed into Riocard, hopelessly entangling her claws with his body, and the dark wher raked its talons down Sora's back before she could even try to get back to her feet. Then it was off again, swarming up Toreld's body, shallow gashes starting to bleed as the wher used him like a rock wall.

Meanwhile, the small blue-circled egg on the left side of the clutch hatched, and a black wher snaked out of it. He was large for his color - though unimpressive, of course, as an infant. Still, his sibling was out there now, proving just what an infant could do. Slender and long-tailed, his hide was shaded toward blue, with hints of red, and he slithered to the front of the nest. On one side of Kalesk, his like-colored brother still waited, listening to the proceedings; on the other side, this one paused, then slowly spread his large wings.

There were screams, many. He wanted to be involved in causing the screams, wanted it like he wanted nothing else. He oozed directly forward and looked up at Dardranel; she was fascinating, unable to stand still, a little powderkeg. For her energetic trouble, she received an elegant bite on the ankle, razor-sharp teeth piercing her skin. The black's jaw slowly worked closed, slowly, slowly, to see if he could break bone -

Kalesk growled in warning, behind him. Usually she did not care what happened to the candidates, so long as murder was not done - but murder had already been done. The black let Dardranel go, the taste of her blood an interesting spice in his mouth, and slinked deeper into the pack. Braele got a set of claws dragged down the side of her leg, simply for being there and not bleeding, yet, and the black stared at Carissa and Mleynn, shaken but not seriously hurt. His wings slowly spread again, and it looked as though he might take up arms against one or both...

Then he simply strolled right between them, satisfied with having caused fear, and headed for the site of the most pain and terror.

Here was a boy, bleeding, maybe dying. Here were two identical girls, helping. The black took one look and knew what to do. He scrambled onto Kairhi's back easily enough, she was bent over helping Pyrus, and then worked his vicious jaws around the back of her neck and began to bear down. His eyes fixed on Mairhi, waiting for her to look, faceted and gleaming. Which was the worse nightmare? To have a creature behind you, in reach to break your neck or snip your jugular...or to watch it happen to your twin, unable to interfere without incurring wrath?

The black waited until Mairhi looked, waited until he saw the comprehension in her eyes. Kairhi was bleeding into his mouth now, but she didn't taste as good as the other girl. The black wher let her go, and jumped over to Mairhi, claws digging into the leather armor. What a good idea this was, armor. The black scrabbled over her body, picking at seams, until one side hung loose, and then it inserted a single talon into the space to drive into her squishy side as deep as it could go -

Kalesk roared. By this time, the dark wher and the cyan dragon had shown themselves at the front of the pack, and Kalesk was off to try to avenge her daughter. If the black wanted to get involved in the show, he had to go, and go now. Smartly, he went the opposite way one might expect, clawing at Naim, at Maal, at Quellyn, too small to do serious damage like his sibling, but drawing blood -

At Quellyn's side the trio met. The dark wher jumped off of Toreld and fled into the safety of the white-robe sea; the cyan dragon followed it; Kalesk slowly began to prowl around the left side of the candidates. The black wher climbed up to Quellyn's head to perch, watching keenly, and when the dark wher appeared, he leapt -

Just in time to land on the cyan's back.

Startled at the tiny weight, she swung her head around to try to nip at him, and the black wher laughed and swiped at her eyes. Intelligently, she rolled over, which certainly did the job of forcing the black to glide to the ground, but also resulted in Maal and Draolor being completely bowled over. The black laughed and laughed, and the cyan turned on him, infuriated. Obstruction of justice again! Had nobody learned? But then, he had not been present to watch the example she'd made of Pyrus. Ignorance of the law was no excuse for breaking it, naturally...

The dark wher had once again absconded, and for the moment, there was no destruction in its wake. And up at the front of the clutch, in the nest, the large red egg shattered.

A cyan stepped out. There was no mistaking her color, or would not be, once she stepped from the shadows - she was mottled and dark, in such a way that it acted as camoflage. But her hide was glossy in the glowlight, and her tail unmistakably greenish in a way no blue could be. Cyan, but gigantic for her color, and hugely muscled.

War had come to Dalibor. And every war needed its sergeant.

She wasted no time. She blazed right past the black still sitting at the front of the group, knocked down and trampled Dardranel in her rush, shouldered Tamarine aside, and then paused. Had to be sneaky; the little black was much faster than she was. Slowly she circled round to the side, using Ksenna as a bit of a shield, and then - pounced. GOTCHA. She slammed her paw down on the tinted black's tail, and he protested loudly, but could not escape with her paw clenched tight. Tossing her head in the direction of the cyan dragon, she seemed to ask, what should we do with the miscreant?

The dragon was happy to chat with her for a little while about justice. Regretfully, the wher could not recommend execution. Just look how Mum had reacted to that poor little dead green, after all. Feathers ruffled, the black was let go with a severe warning. Then the large cyan wher looked around.

Yes...she could see it all so very clearly. This was HER turf, this was where SHE belonged, and she had much work to do. But her stomach was rumbling, and she could see that none of these little white-robed idiots were ready to take orders. What the shells! They were so much bigger, and none of them could stomp on the little evil ones? Clearly, they were following all the wrong rules, and they needed a guide.

Stomping back over to Tamarine, she bellowed, ATTENTION MY TAMRI. TAMARISK THINK WOULD BE GOOD IDEA BE IN CHARGE NOW. LOOK ALL THESE SOLDIERS NOT READY FOR FIGHT! NOT EVEN FIGHT REALLY! COME. WE LEAVE THEM. WE GO FIND GOOD SOLDIERS, TELL WHAT TO DO. OI. OI. WHAT YOU LOOK AT.[/i] She turned on Kazynn and gave him a good bite on the calf, gnawing a little, before returning her attention to her new handler. WE FEAST. THEN WE KILL. GOOD PLAN?[/i]

Cyan TAMARISK, Impressed to TAMARINE

SPOILER: Click to show

Tamarisk SHOUTS, ALL THE TIME. She barks orders like a drill sergeant, and acts like one, too; she is perfectly suited to a military role. She may appear at first glance to lack all tact and subtlety, willing to tell anyone to their face what she thinks their flaws are, and she is wholly convinced she knows best. She has no patience for incompetence, and no problem cuffing someone in the face for talking back to her. Despite her blunt, loud attitude, however, she is also capable of walking quietly while carrying a big stick; sometimes she will elect to lurk in the shadows to catch wrongdoers, springing out on them with force and a very noisy GOTCHA. She has VERY STRONG OPINIONS of what is wrong and what isn’t. This basically boils down to: nothing she does is wrong. Ever. Everything is permissible for her, and for Tamarine. Tamarisk is never one to fade into the background except on those aforementioned occasions when she wants to play spy, and she is very active, determined to seek out danger and wrongdoing wherever it may rest and take out the enemy by any means necessary. She is decidedly a predator, and not one to be underestimated.

Tamarisk is a hulking monstrosity of a cyan, enormous for her color and alarmingly muscular. She is a dark teal, striped and marbled with other blues and greens in a camoflage pattern; in the darkness of night, she could be a dangerous stalker in the shadows. (3B8471)

It was obvious who Tamarisk wanted to kill: the dark wher. Once it had made its way out of the cyan dragon's potential grasp, it stopped to drag both paws down the back of both Idra's legs, trying to make her collapse; then it gnawed on Matthaus's ankle a little bit, teeth driving down to the bone. But at this point, it spotted - Kalesk. She growled, and snapped, Move ASIDE,[/i] to the three sisters and Dairine. Before any of the girls could respond, the dark wher fled, and Kalesk retreated, circling around to the back, on the prowl. They could stay where they were, then. But she would get her vicious child. She would, or someone else would - Impression was the only way it would walk from these sands alive, if there was any brave soul here not so horrified they would drive that evil mind out of their own in a heartbeat.

[princesal]

She hadn't seen him, but Otto doubted she could see anything right now. He wasn't looking at the dragon or the wher eggs anymore, instead he was thinking about the girl... he didn't know her name, and the only thing he had said to her was sorry. Twice. But she managed to stand up, something he was still struggling with (his front of his knees ached with the sands heat). Quickly he searched for the cyan dragon that had chased the wher off, and when his eyes landed on her ripping into a candidate, Otto found himself scrambling, his breath suddenly labored.

He felt like his eyes were so wide, that it was possible to see the white all around the iris. There was a certain feeling of helplessness, but it made a horrible sensation of a rock in his stomach. They were both going to be fine. The healers were already out there, taking them away. Otto's eyes lingered, but he knew for sure that they were both going to the best place possible for them. There were still a lot of eggs too, maybe by the end of it, they'd both be back out on the sands, and Impressing to strong bondeds that would help them through the pain of healing. Sometimes hardship caused people to grow closer together.

He swallowed his fear, and worry, and made an effort to emblazon their faces upon his mind. Even though he was new to Dalibor, he'd still visit them if they were kept on bed rest. It was a strange way of making friends, but maybe the boy who seemed to have been ripped open to the bone would find some humor in seeing some bones other than his own. Otto could share what little bits of his collection he had been able to bring. Maybe the girl would like them too, but most girls he had met didn't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about remains as he was.

Not one to enjoy dwelling on negative emotions, fear was definitely one of them, which was why he was so quick to commit to the idea of them recovering their health. Having dealt with that, he put his hands on the sand, and with a groan and a wince, pulled his legs more underneath himself. His toes felt cold to the touch as he moved one them from pointed to flexed, now appearing the be down on one knee. The back bottom half of his white candidate robes was stuck to his legs, saturated with blood from the flesh scrapings that made a significant mess of his calves.

With a deep breath, he surged upwards, or tried to. The moment weight was trying to be supported on one leg, his knee buckled, and he was on all fours, shaking his head clear and trying not to retch. Swallowing the additional saliva that filled his mouth, his nose made a little squeaky wheezing noise as he shuddered breath in and out of his lungs, sweat dripping down from the center of his forehead, running down the bridge of his nose, and falling off the tip, disappearing into the sand below. Damp sand. Damp with his blood? Damp with her blood? He didn't know, just like he couldn't differentiate between the heat of the sands, and his own blood still steadily oozing from his decorative skin lace.

Reaching for the stone necklace that wasn't there, just the thought of it filled with him with adrenaline strength. With a grin (or was it a strange grimace) of determination (stubbornness), Otto gathered his gangly limbs, and not wasting another second, pushed himself to his feet.

He was standing! He was standing! It was alright that the blood flowed again, he was standing! He stood for a full three seconds, smiling and looking at the eggs. By the fourth second, he was on his side, and looking at the other candidates legs, a bit of a glossed look to his eyes. For some reason it was really difficult to get his own legs to bend the way he wanted them to. For some reason he found himself mentally comparing them to meat rolls, that seemed really funny. His wheezy noise trembled with a muffled nasal laugh.

tag: healer?

[Gray]

Sometimes, Matilda hated rules. Already two candidates were almost killed, and were most certainly damaged for life. A wher had died, and Matilda was not even going to kid herself into thinking it was the last death. She knew the sands were not nearly as red and green as they would be by the end of the hatching. Flicking her eyes to the stands, she watched A'til. His eyes were narrowed, and he hunched over, his hands shadowing his nose and lower jaw. He might have been trembling in fear or barely contained rage, Matilda couldn't really tell from this far away. Seeing him, though, helped steel her heart.

He was watching out for her. He would help take care of her if something cut her low. The Weyr had the resources and talents to save her if possible, it was not the dangerous, infection laden grave that used to be her mother's hut. No one was actually dead yet, at least, no human was. Those who were close, well, Matilda really needed to remember who they were to ask them questions later. But still! There was still the promise of impressions, she just hoped it was soon, because this bloodbath could use a few motes of joy.

Clenching her fists, Matilda took a deep breath. What had been said at some of their lessons? Think happy, positive thoughts? She could do that, though she wondered if 'Happy' and 'Positive' for her were more dangerous. Still, she would try. Though she watched the dark wher once again muscle and claw their way through the candidates, Matilda's thoughts were on things that made her happy. Fresh fibers, random animal bones, polished stones and dark, over cast days like today.

More were hurt, more blood hit the sands in sizzling slashes, children were being attacked.

Matilda liked warm fires on cold nights, and the crunch of snow beneath her shoes. She liked to stare at whisps of clouds that danced across the stars and moon. She liked horrible impractical clothing and dark colors. They cyan dragonet had caught up, but the wher was too swift. A new player make themselves known on the scene, dolling out damage like it was sweets. It wasn't working. Positivity wasn't working.

If anything, she felt wrong thinking positive things with all this going around, even more so because it wasn't forced. As gross as it made her feel, she had to admit there was a strange beauty to the hatching. It proved quickly that whers and dragons were certainly the same. Neither had any care for whom they hurt, they were all just as selfish deep down inside, only caring for themselves until they found their pairbond.

The black was just as bad as it's sibling. It hurt those trying to help. Kalesk's children hit them where ever there was a hint of weakness or compassion. Then it moved on to others, abandoning the twins like they were just fleeting amusements. Then it hurt Quellyn. That sweet kid with his pillie. His perching earned him the most vicious glare she could muster, her lips pulling back in a rather feral growl. Someone needed to put these babies in their places. But it couldn't be them.

Matilda had to close her eyes. She had to block out all she could just so she could calm down. Anger would just make her a target, though it seemed everything made people a target in the dragonkin's eyes. When she opened her eyes again she caught sight of cyan from the corner of her eye. Not the same cyan as the dragonet, but another. This one was intent as the dragonet was. She watched heads drop as people were knocked over or hurt, squinting a bit to try and focus on the gaps between people. She did catch the black though, and Matilda had to tip her head in silent accolades for that. Then, she impressed. Good. Perhaps not a sterling example of young dragonkin, but one that at least knew what they were supposed to do.

[mopsy93]

The dark wheret and the Cyan Dragonet were still at it leaving injuries and people falling over in their wake. With the death of her Green daughter on top of all of this, Kalesk was having none of it and would have done something to the dark wheret if it had not fled into the crowd of Candidates. It didn’t get much better with the arrival of a second, much larger, black wheret who seemed to be bound and determined to cause as much trouble if not more than his redish-brown sibling. Ironically enough it was none of these that Impressed first, nor was it either of the Sub-King Dragonet brothers or the first black wheret, instead it was a rather loud and big Cyan wheret who Impressed Tamarine. At least that was one less hatchling that Carissa had to worry about making trouble, in terms of this hatching anyway, though there were still plenty of potential troublemakers with thirty-one eggs still unhatched on the sands. That of course included the largest eggs of both clutches as well as the smallest, you could never be sure what colour would come out of any given egg until it hatched after all unless it was a Queen egg.