Mosaic Tiles {Kalith's First Hatching}

[Nia]

Those Cyans were pretty interesting. They had a weird sort of gloss to them that Riori didn't quite understand. They weren't really Queens, and they couldn't possibly be Kings. He couldn't place their personalities either, as most dragons had a set sort of personality that most followed. It was probably because there'd only been two Cyans, but the two didn't really seem alike at all! He was sure that a sort of default personality would reveal itself soon enough, what with all the new dragons popping up. The idea of new colors being created kind of confused him, but he figured it was just a natural part of dragon mutation. There were already a bunch of "new" colors already, what was one more?

Anyway, he watched as another Cyan hatched, this one looking bigger and more... important? than the others. She seemed kind of like she was lost in a dream. What was she even doing? Sitting there? Did dragons sit and think like humans did? Riori had thought that only the higher colors were capable of doing that, but with this batch of dragons he wasn't so sure. They all seemed smart in their own way. But then the Cyan was moving towards the Candidates, which was good. And where had the other one gone? He'd lost sight of it.

Riori looked away from the Cyans to notice another egg cracking open. Shells were falling off this egg in chunks as the dragonet inside tried to get out. This one seemed more... violet, somehow, than the others. Was this dragon angry at the egg? Wouldn't he grow some kind of weird affection for it instead, rather than wanting to destroy it? Well, he must be tired of being trapped in there for so long. Riori figured it must be a prison, not a home. That sounded about right. He thought on this as the Brown emerged from his egg, though right off Riori could tell something was wrong with him. He was downright mean looking! Or, you know, it could have been the roar.

Not wanting to look at the Brown anymore, he looked at the other eggs, trying to see if another was hatching. Ah, look! There one was. It was a Black. A very dark Black. He was smaller than the other Black by a lot, though Riori figured that the other Black was rather large. He seemed timid though... and Riori immediately had a bad feeling about him. His bad feeling got even worse when the Brown stalked towards the Black, and he felt his heart skip a beat. That Brown wasn't going to attack, was he?! Riori narrowed his eyes in anger. That was horrible!

The Black was now running towards the Candidates in fear, and there was apparently another Black on the Sands too. Wait, when had that happened? Probably when he'd been distracted with the Brown. Sharding Brown! Now he'd missed the Black's hatching! Sighing, he noticed that the Cyan was also approaching a boy. Had she Impressed? Yes, she had. To a boy. Well, Riori felt glad that she hadn't Impressed to him. He really didn't know what he'd do if he Impressed a girl dragon.... But he wasn't going to, so it didn't matter!

A Black, one that Riori thought might be the first one that had Hatched... it was kind of hard to tell, had gone off towards the... females?! No! He should be Impressing to a boy! Girls didn't Impress Blacks.... But alas, it looked like this one had. A perfectly good Black, one that might have Impressed to him, went with a girl! He was getting confused. Did dragons just not care about sexualities anymore? Or it could be that the girl was... oh.... Well, he hadn't thought of that.

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

There were a lot of dragons on the Sands, now. The Blue had Impressed, so he was gone, and Avalle was glad. He'd been on the Sands for far too long already, she'd been starting to get a little anxious. But it's okay, because he was safe. Avalle wasn't sure why these dragons were tugging at her heartstrings so much, perhaps it was just the atmosphere to the Hatching getting to her. Because she wasn't emotional or anything! She wasn't a typical weak girl who cried at everything. Not that she was crying anyway, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she wasn't!

... anyway, with her mind now satisfied with the Blue, she watched as the Black walk towards the boy Candidates. Well, wasn't he going to Impress to a boy? Of course he was... that's generally what happened. She almost sighed at the indignity of it all, but she didn't. The lower-ranked dragons didn't really care too much if their rider was a boy or a girl. They weren't nearly as picky as Queens and Kings about that kind of stuff. So she supposed it didn't matter. But... oh! The Black was looking at someone! And she noticed it was Okeris and kind of smiled, urging the Black to Impress, trying to help her friend out.

So, naturally she was rather spooked when the Black flipped out and ran away. H-huh?! That hadn't been her fault, right?! She hadn't accidently sent bad thoughts or something, right? It couldn't be her fault... she wasn't close enough for the Black to pick up on her thoughts! So she ducked back into line, avoiding Okeris' eye. Yeah, that wasn't her fault at all! Dragons couldn't read the minds of everyone, just the people they were focusing on. Yulari curled tigher around her neck in comfort, and eventually Avalle slowed her heartbeat back to normal. It was probably bad luck to do something like that, and now she was surely going to be cursed for the rest of the Hatching....

Well, with that happy thought in mind, Avalle looked back at the eggs, watching for the next one to hatch. The Cyans were still the... oh, there was another one now. This one was bigger, though lighter than the others. Interesting. It seemed like Cyans were definitely a new color, there was no mistaking it. Of course not, Kalith had sent out an announcement to everyone. There was no way they could be anything but a new color. Another egg was cracking as well, so she adjusted her vision a bit to watch. Huh, this one was a bit different than the others. More claw-usage, rather than just pushing against the shell. It seemed kind of angry. That was odd, shouldn't it be happy to be escaping it's prison and finding it's lifemate?

Apparently not, as the Brown to emerge was one of the angriest dragons she'd ever seen! Maybe not the angriest, but he was way up there. Yeah, that roar just proved he was really ticked off. What could have possibly made him so angry?! Avalle glanced around, trying to spot some sort of really angry Candidate. It couldn't be her, could it!? She wasn't angry like that! She got a little frustrated sometimes, but... she wasn't a bully! Despite those thoughts, she felt rather, well, angry at this Brown. How dare he act so unforgiving and ungrateful!? He didn't have to be born! He could have been one of the many duds that never hatched, or the dragons that never found their lifemates. She frowned at him, resulting in something close to a glare.

Not even bothering to adjust her glare, Avalle watched as the Brown went over to the huddling Black! Oh no, he couldn't possibly be going to attack that Black?! Dragons didn't fight dragons... everyone knew that. How dare he even attempt to break that rule! But she didn't want to watch if he was going to rip into the Black's sides (though her mind was giving her some very vibrant images) and she instead sought out the Cyan who was over by the boys line. Well, that was alright, she guessed. A lot of dragons going towards the boys, though... she felt kind of jealous, but pushed it aside. Negative thoughts wouldn't help her already bad luck. But she felt a small smile as the Cyan Impressed to none other than Okeris! ... huh, wait. Cyans were... female.... Well, that was awkward. She clapped with a sort of confused stare, but forced a bright smile at him anyway, too far away to really shout her congratulations. She would... think about that later. Like she'd thought earlier, sometimes the lower-ranks were really that persceptive to sexuality....

The Black was over by the females now though and he seemed to be inspecting them. She felt her heart beat faster as he approached but ignored her. He instead Impressed to a girl whose name Avalle thought might start with a C or something. She smiled and clapped, but looked back at the eggs, her hope dwindling. There were still a lot of eggs left (not to mention the Queen egg... but she wasn't going to think about that!) and she still had a chance. Even if the dragons seemed to be favoring boys for now, she was sure there would be some female dragons that wanted a female soon. A female like her! Yeah, positive thoughts. Just keep thinking positive thoughts.

[/size]

[Kila]

That you are perfect, Kalith, my Queen of the skies; Daidoroth crooned, in complete agreement. She had that dangerous edge to her voice that she had teased him with when he had arrived. All before the flight she had spoken to him in that way, more than their riders knew since they avoided being in one another's company, and driven him nigh mad. At the time there had been nothing he could do in return, for taking his liberties and flirting back had backfired once before and had thence seemed disrespectful. Now, though, that they were comfortable and sentimental with one another, he loved to hear that dangerous sense of play when she spoke, for it summed her being up beautifully in a whole.

A host of two or three score of our fantastic offspring could not outshine you, nor could Rubkat, even, Daidoroth returned coyly. But his attention, too, shifted warily to his volatile Brown son. He had caused no trouble as of yet, and there was always bound to be a rougher child in the clutch. The King was not worried- he knew that Kalith would handle it if need arise.
---
Duilios sat on the edge of his seat in the Stands, scrutinizing each dragonett as it hatched, how it moved about the Sands, and to whom it impressed. The crude seating was getting rather discomforting on his backside and he haughtily held his own opinion that he should have been provided some manner of better seating for the event. A Lord Holder such as himself should not have to sit his royal behind on bare wood with a loud crowd of strangers. How base and dignifying.

The arrival of the Cyans was surely something of interest to the man. They did not factor any way into his personal goals, but they were important historically nonetheless. He was unsure what to think at first, realizing immediately that the dragonetts that hatched out almost three in a row were neither Blue nor Green. When the first had hatched and stood by itself he sneered at it indifferently as a mutation of some sort, but the arrival of her sisters proved this a false theory. It was not until her heard what could only be Kalith's voice in his head that her knew that these Cyans, as she'd said, were a complete new color unto their own, and a special, distinguishing aspect of this particular Weyr. Not only was Kalith a capable and beautiful Queen to be won, as was her rider, she would go down in the scrolls as the mother of an entire new sect of Weyr life. He looked on approvingly at the Cyans as they moved about. Yes, they would do.

The obvious rage of the little Brown would not do, though. Duilios frowned down upon him as he terrorized his brother. He did not deny that the beast had a great deal of will and strength about him, but he would surely be a hindrance and nuisance to the Weyr later. He would not allow such things under his watch. If the Brown had been a disobedient member of his subjects, he would have been banished on the spot. No, this troublemaker and his malintent did not please Duilios. Even the runty Black was a necessary and functioning part of the Weyr. Low color as it was, one needed low individuals to keep things running for those up high.

Now, surely there was another King?

[4horseshowgirl4]

"Oorth!" Pratyba shouted as quietly as she could, still sprinting after her errant Pink dragonet. Oorth hadn't had any of the typical hatchling clumsiness, and, shards!, she was quick! Though she was still shorter than Pratyba, she was already faster. "Oorth, I'm going to kill you!" Pratyba joked, laughing cheerily. It was hard to be mad at her lifemate, even if Pratyba was one to get mad, which she wasn't. How could she get mad? Oorth was perfect, simply perfect! She was like a playmate, a best friend, and an entire sack of pranks all rolled up into one! She put the fun into... well, Pratyba wasn't exactly in the mood to think of some word that applied to dragons that had the letters f, u, and n in it. She was having way too much of it trying to catch Hers!

Haha! You'll never catch me! Oorth declared, spinning around agilely. She moved, perhaps not gracefully, but she was able, the perfect example of the speed and maneuverability that so characterized Greens and Pinks. Pratyba tried to follow, but her thin sandals didn't give her much grip in the sand, and her feet flew out from under her, one still trying to follow the crazy Pink, the other going in the other direction. She landed with a soft whump in the Sands. Instantly, Oorth was standing over her, her snout on Pratyba's forehead, front legs placed on either of Pratyba's shoulders. Pratyba smiled, blowing air at Oorth, who snuffled back with much enthusiasm. Hers was so much fun!

Whatcha doin', PratybaMine? Oorth rumbled curiously. Pratyba coughed: she loved Oorth, but not the rancid smell of meat on her breath. Oorth tried to imitate Pratyba's cough and ended up sneezing sand over both of them. That was fun! Oorth said, dashing off again. Pratyba groaned with mock frustration-- though she was relishing every moment with the fun dragonet-- and struggled to her feet, chasing Oorth yet again. Would the Pink never slow down? Pratyba thought for a fleeting instant that she wouldn't mind if this light-hearted, carefree play never ceased. Then, she realized that that happy thought might become, no, was a reality. It was still hard to comprehend that Oorth was her lifemate, by her side forever.

However, Oorth got to the other Weyrlings before Pratyba did. She slid up to Detritath, the Iron, and sneezed sand at his face, too. Wasn't she clever? Look how funny she was! Her tricks were amazing! Despite herself, Pratyba laughed, to be joined from a joyful rumble from Oorth. Still, perhaps it was better if Pratyba distracted Oorth before she got the idea of doing the same to, say, Altith, or, worse, Kalith. Pratyba knew she'd already made a bad impression (and a good one, looking at Oorth!) by arriving so late, and that some of the other Weyrlings were probably sour at her for Impressing all of ten seconds after she'd arrived at her first clutch, and she thought it might be a good idea to maybe not get the Weyrlingmaster against her, too.

"Oof!" Pratyba said, tackling Oorth. She was little more successful than the Pink had been earlier, tackling Tec... somethingth, the lazy Blue. Oorth's knees buckled, but she hardly fell, and off she sprinted again, Pratyba rolling off of her shoulders and landing in the sand again. "Hi, guys!" she said, lying on her back and looking at her fellow Weyrlings. "Congrats to all of you! That's Oorth! Innit she awesome? What are Yours names?"

[/font]

[kia]

Okeris watched as more Impressions were made. He was still standing there, sending out thoughts of good luck to his friend, Avalle, and sending out good thoughts to the little dragons, telling them to Impress so they could eat and be happy forever. Lira chirped to get his attention. There was one of the Cyans, walking down the row and inspecting each of the male Candidates carefully and slowly. There was a quality or something there that she was looking for. And as she passed each boy, he knew that they did not have the qualities that she wanted. Then it came Okeris` turn. He watched her as she inspected him. And he sent the thoughts to her as well. Then there came a strong, female voice in his head. O'risMine, do your responsibility to your Rhyolith and get food for me.

Okeris, now O`ris, looked at the Cyan and blinked. He stood there for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. He had Impressed. Though to a Cyan which probably meant something about him he never realized or thought about, but he had Impressed! A small smile tugged at his mouth as his eyes went from that determined look to a kind expression that people rarely saw on him. It was of love, adoration, and happiness. There, in front of him, was his beloved Rhyolith. She was beautiful. Lira thrilled happily and lifted from O`ris` shoulder and flew around them. Well? came her strong voice again. Of course, Rhyolith, he replied, already, for some unknown reason, easily speaking to her with his mental voice. Maybe it was the years of communication with Lira that had helped. No matter, he thought as he led the beautiful Cyan off the Sands. This was the day that things changed for him.

[Admin]

I am the eggman, woo,
They are the eggmen, woo,
I am the walrus,
Goo goo ga joob.

The little black had escaped the wrath of one of his brothers, the brown, to the relative safety of the open sands beyond the eggs. He was forced to stop there was the candidates were suddenly in sharper focus and frightened him as well. However, something else much more frightening was displeased with him being in his very important way. The conceited black came to a stop in his proud march behind the huddled smaller dragonet of the same color with an air of resigned indignation about him and a brilliant orange flash in his swirling eyes. 'Meep' was the quiet noise that the little black made as he turned to look in terror at another of his fearsome, larger clutchbrothers. However, that larger black brushed past with a nasty flick of his tail after his moment and he was left cowering in the middle of the sands. Everyone was so frightening and scary!

The cyan that was off by herself daydreamed, blocking out everything that went on behind her to live as she trying to for a few more moments at least. As she settled into newly hatched self, her dreams and what she saw became more concrete and focused. And definitely a bit gallant. The first real full one that she had involved rescuing a variety of people, and other dragons, from a set of collapsing tunnels that she raced through with a fearsome, growling brown-black draconic shadow chasing them. One could guess that, despite acting very unaware of her surroundings, she fully acknowledged them and they became a part of fanciful, distracted thoughts. She wanted to be a savior, but wasn't quite sure how to be yet. There was something missing, yet it seemed to be almost there as she dreamed of helping everyone with her rider.

Stalking past and well away from all of the three dragonets that were on the sands, the grumpy, vicious, snappy brown looked all about the candidates. Then he stalked towards the males, with only ill intentions on his mind. There was the perfect target, better than his black brother, who needed to be protected, not harmed; he'd been mistaken before about. But this weak human deserved what he had coming. This weak human was too close to his rider, which meant basically that he was in the same cavern as his. The brown attacked Kanamar's legs, claws slashed out at the soft flesh just exposed by the boy's robs as he reared up slightly back. When all his feet touched the ground again, he rammed forward, forcing the candidate to fall, and then proceeded to stand upon his legs, digging his claws in. With a final hiss, he finished and stalked off.

Ignoring his temperamental larger brother, the nastier, larger of the remaining blacks carried himself towards the male candidates as well. Despite obviously outranking him by a good few classes of colors, he firmly believed that the brown was beneath his far superior way of handling things. The cyan was an idiot. The other black an utter weakling. He was far superior and more honorable than any of them; his very presence out shined them easily without him even having to really try. Hardly even sparing them a glance, he was more than happy to pass close to all of the male candidates so that they could admire him. He would find his rider, the best of the bunch, with such ease that it didn't even matter, and it certainly wouldn't be one of those silly girls. They wouldn't do at all. He didn't want one of them, like his first black brother had decided.

But there was his rider, the best of the bunch, in such a sorry state. Well, everyone made mistakes, and sometimes they could be forgiven. Stopping, head still held high and chest still puffed out, he peered down at the fallen boy, sparing him a glance that was still full of plenty of disdain. He flared his nostrils and wrinkled his muzzle at the horrible scent of blood. Despite that, their eyes met and, in that one gaze, Impression was made. It was hard to say if their was room for love in the not-overly-large black with the inflated ego and the large quantity of disdain he was feeling towards his lifemate and the general world. Foolish K'marMine. You failed to avoid my clutchbrother's wrath. Your Nektuth will have to teach you better; he told his with a shake of his head to dispel the foul odors for his nose. His would also need a bath.



The brown was finished with the boys, only pausing to give Tazar a generic hiss as he passed nea him because he didn't like that one either. He was finished with the foolish boys that his black brother and all the others could have if they liked. He stalked towards the candidate that was for him, who was apart from all the others in his mind. From the moment he had lost interest in tormenting his frightened black brother, he had known that there could be no one choice for him but that one. None of the others could have that one. At the very thought of someone else having that one, his one, his lips curled back in a silent snarled to display of his teeth. Like that, with blood still staining his claws and left in drops behind him, he was a fearsome, demonic and evil looking with his swirling red eyes, a scourge on all of Pern. No good would come of him, right, nothing but destruction and chaos? But he didn't want chaos; destruction was just a part of his method and worked.

Upon reaching his intended candidate, he twined his body around his precious, his rider, his lifemate. For a moment, he let their eyes share a look, one of love and adoration for a moment, which was all he felt for that brief, timeless instant. Then he was peering about the cavern again, snarling lightly, daring anyone in all of Pern, in all the universe, to try to come here his rider. Until his death, until the moment they left the world together, he would protect that single soul with every breath in his body. You are safe, DurianMine. You are mine. Your Mesreath will protect. They cannot have you; he told her, voice betraying almost desperation, fueled by a need to defend her and defensive jealousy. No one would take her from him! No one, not ever, not even never! And she would love him for it, wouldn't she?

It was so nice, to here her bronze mate reply to her playful assertion of her perfection and confirm, his voice a croon, without missing a beat. So sincere, so sweet, telling her it would take more than a few scores to even begin to compare to her and she already had Rukbat beat. Well, if she had her way and lived the healthy life she, without really thinking about it, though she would, Kalith might just be able to produce enough offspring to produce one to compare with her finally. Of course, they might not be from quite as fine stock as her current mate, though she wasn't going to settle for much less. Nothing but a King, someone like her fine son over being fed, would do, for certain. Kalith, we need Oveth and B'nyur; her rider called to her, voice clipped and almost snippy. There was blood on the sand. But no ichor. It wasn't dire then.

The brown, her volatile son, had mauled one of the boys, who had just Impressed to one of the blacks. Oh, she couldn't have the boy dying then! Oveth, on the sands with Yours now, to fix the injured one; she ordered the blue imperiously, rising onto her feet and her full height now. Beside the Queen, who was now in her element and doing what had to be done, the Weyrwoman had already moved onto to worrying about another issue to make her headache worse. The brown had chosen a girl, of all the candidates on the sands. Yes, in times such as now, it had happened every so often. The real problem was turning out as such - the clutch had produced three members of a new color so far and a volatile brown, destined to pose a problem, who had Impressed to a girl. That was going to be a very big issue to deal with.



Sitting in an English garden
Waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come, you get a tan from
Standing in the English rain.

[Kila]

Sol was immensely relieved that the small Black had escaped the wrath of not only his Brown brother, but also the larger Black. As the Brown had seen at the last moment, the littlest Black was one that needed to be coveted and protected. Out there alone on the big Sands he looked very frightened and impossibly small. He reminded her of her own Black firelizard. True to his nature, the flitter had been so quiet that she had almost forgotten him. He was a small thing too, and with how he had curled around her neck and hidden in her hair, one would not even realize his presence. You are smart, little one, she told him; If you were loud and flew around like some of your other kind Kalith might eat you.

The last Cyan had not moved from her chosen nest of sand. She was dreaming. She seemed unworried, Sol noted, so perhaps she already knew exactly who she wanted her life mate to be. What was she thinking about...?

Sol's first witness to a mauling came as a rather nasty shock. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked just in time to see Kanamar be accosted by the insatiable Brown. She looked on with horror, knowing she could do nothing. But then again, it wasn't her place to do anything. So, indeed, Sol did nothing as the Brown finished and then charged towards the line of girls. Faranath, surely she would die right there! But the Brown wasted no time on her or any of the other females, going up to Durain with the utmost surety and wrapping himself around her possessively.

She slowly worked out the tension in her shoulders from where she had tightened them in surprise an alarm. One danger off the sands. She looked back over to the boys just in time to see the haughty, larger Black impress to the boy who lay mauled and bleeding on the Sands. Well... at least that was the other element of danger being connected to something a little more stable. Surely they would leave the Sands when Kanamar was fixed up. Sol was largely unsympathetic to the two dragonetts that would be leaving, and focused her attention again on the two that remained, whom she easily liked more.

[jack]

Doppelith's gorging had begun to slow, his belly extended and his eyes swirling with surprising peace as he gently swallowed yet another piece, pausing to feel it slide down his throat before glancing lazily to the side, tilting his head. His Hatchmates were in a nice little row beyond His, and the Purple had the sudden urge to make himself known.

With a pleased chirp he turned away from his mostly empty bowl, F'let following with a curious stare as the Purple shuffled--he was nice and full and tired and didn't feel up to his skipping trot--towards the nearest Hatchling and inclined his head in greeting. Is your belly full yet, Detritath? He chirped pleasently, eyes swirling in amusement and F'let grinned fleetingly at K'ber, and then looked beyond at the other Weyrlings as well, a pleased smile on his look.
"Sorry we haven't introduced ourselves! This is Doppelith."

--

Durian had been watching the Hatching with great excitement, her eyes glittering as she looked from dragonet to dragonet, disappointed as they wandered off the sands yet thrilled as eggs shattered and colored beauties tumbled out. But while her distracted gaze had wandered from Cyan and Black to the Weyrlings themselves, she had not noticed the newest Black nor the Brown.

The sound of tearing flesh was what ripped her away from the Cyan--who she was gazing at curiously--eyes wide with surprise and jaw dropping subtly as the horrific scene met her eyes. Kanamar--who she wouldn't lie she didn't really know--was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. And the Brown who had done the deed, jaws dripping with blood and eyes whirling crimson, was coming this way.

Barely noticing the proud Black accusingly Impressing the fallen boy, Durian shrank subtly back as the Brown grew nearer, the age-old instinct of 'run when the shop keeper turns' booming loud and proud in her mind. She was a street rat, not a hero! When things got dirty, she wasn't supposed to stick around and hope for the best, she was supposed to run and herd her own away to safety!

And yet she found herself rooted to the ground, watching the approaching devil with a mixture of terror and awe. Reggae dashed from her arms and onto her shoulders, the tiny Pink puffing out her chest and arching her neck, wings spread threateningly as she dug in her claws and wrapped her tail around Durian's neck, daring the intruding Brown to harm her bonded!

But before the trembling--for no matter how brave she tried to appear Reggae was a player not a fighter--flit could muster up the will nor reason to strike out at the offender--Durian found herself squeaking and flailing her arms for balance, the large Brown wrapping around her legs and clinging tightly.

Feeling a bit like a tree bearing golden apples being guarded by a serpent the girl gave a soft meep, falling forwards and bracing her hands against the Brown's hide. Eyes wide and mind blank she out-right stared at him, expecting that any moment he was going to whip around and chomp off her arms. But he didn't. Instead, his voice--so loving, so protective, and so very desperate and lonely--trickled posessively into her thoughts and she froze, heart all she could hear in her mind even as the words he spoke disappeared into the sound of shock and outright disbelief booming in the girl's mind.

"M-Mesr-reath...?" She repeated blandly, her usually unshakable grin and strength brushed away to leave naught but a hesitant girl, "Y-You're Mesrea-ath?"

Durian swallowed, eyes widening a shard more as she gaped once more, things clicking firmly into place. Impression.

She'd Impressed.

She'd Impressed....a Brown Devil.

Fear blossomed for a moment in her heart as she looked into his bloody eyes--stained with a red she knew would never fade--but a silent yet piercing cry of sheer desperation and saddnes sliced through her and she froze again, muscles relaxing and fear hesitantly fading away. He was vicious, he was fierce, he was unforgiving and fearless, but he was safe, he was a protector...he was not a murderer nor a monster.

A soft sigh of relief and Durian let a smile spread once again onto her lips, eyes lighting up with her normal energy as she twisted to better see the dragon so determindedly looped around her legs, "No, they can't." She chirped softly, Reggae giving a wary trill in her ear as she reached out and cupped the dragonet's cheek in her hand, smiling cheerfully as she rubbed his muzzle and let her fingers slide down his neck, "You're mine too..."

She bit her lip sheepishly and prodded his belly, "But you're cutting off circulation to my legs, Mesreath."

[4horseshowgirl4]

B'nyur and Oveth were lounging comfortably on one of the lower tiers, the Blue dragon stretched out on the stone, warmed from the heat of the Sands, and the Dragonhealer reclined on his back. They were closer to the Weyrlings than the eggs, so B'nyur didn't even try to see the Hatching. He let Oveth see for both of them. So far, it was a good Hatching. Pratyba, the Candidate that had run into Oveth, had Impressed unnaturally quickly after walking in late, but B'nyur was still happy for her. Oveth was concentrating more on Sol, the Candidate that he'd Searched himself! She was still Standing, but the dragon had nothing but confidence that Hers would hatch soon. They were intrigued by the Cyans, but they didn't overly concern themselves with them. Yes, they were interesting, but they were healthy, and that was all that really mattered, right? B'nyur was careful not to admire them too much, or Oveth would feel bad for not being one of the new colors.

Oveth's interest piqued at the hatching of the Brown. B'nyur sat up, instantly alert, as the Brown looked like he might attack his meek Black brother, and heaved a sigh of relief as large as anyone's when the larger dragonet refrained. He and Oveth were quite enjoying just being spectators, but hardly anyone could wish for injuries at such a happy event as a Hatching. Oveth sat up on his haunches, causing B'nyur to slide down his back several feet before grabbing one of the Blue's wing bases and swinging off. {Oveth?} B'nyur questioned, prodding at the Blue's mind. That Brown is trouble,

[/color] Oveth said. I'll be ready. B'nyur said nothing, admitting that there was truth in the Blue's words. Oveth was not intelligent, but his instincts still outstripped B'nyur's.

A few moments later, the Brown dragonet launched himself at Kanamar. B'nyur gasped and Oveth rumbled angrily, but he didn't bespeak the Brown to reprimand him: that was Kalith's, Altith's, or whoever-was-so-unlucky-as-to-Impress-the-Brown's job. B'nyur swung back up onto the ridge behind Oveth's neck, glad to have put on the riding straps today. Oveth leaped off of the ledge as Kalith's orders reached his mind. Right away, Queenie![/color] Oveth said, his usually happy tone to be talking to the Copper clouded by worry. As Oveth made the short trip just outside the ring of Candidates, B'nyur pulled bandages out of the confines of the straps, jumping off the instant Oveth touched the ground. B'nyur sprinted over to the injured Candidate. At that moment, he was frustrated to see that Kanamar had Impressed. Yay. Yes, it was a great moment for the Candidate, but B'nyur didn't exactly enjoy the thought of working around a clumsy, protective new hatchling. {Oveth! Bespeak that Black and tell him that I'm going to patch His up. Make sure he knows I'm not taking His away from him!}

Oveth complied immediately. Nektuth, Mine is going to heal Yours. Do not panic. Stay where you are and don't interfere, and Yours will be fine.[/color] Oveth crooned to the youngster, sad for him. How disappointing that his beautiful moment of bonding was ruined by that Brown! Pain made everything awful. Oh, had his brought numbweed? Of course he had, no worries. Oveth laid down on the warm Sands, so not as to intimidate the shier hatchlings, such as that little Black, and to make access to the riding bags easier if B'nyur needed any supplies.

B'nyur worked quickly. Injuries such as these were nothing difficult, and B'nyur's apprenticeship as a regular Healer had covered the basics like this in depth. He pushed the boy's rope up to expose the wounds. The scratches weren't bad, but the puncture wounds caused by the Brown's claws when he'd stood on K'mar's legs could pose more problems. B'nyur wrapped a tight tourniquet to slow the bleeding, before slapping redwort and then, of course, numbweed on the wounds, working quickly to ease the new Weyrling's pain. The Black seemed stoic enough, but dragonets were known to occasionally /between/ if their bonded's pain was beyond what they could handle. It didn't seem like that would be a problem here-- that usually happened when the Weyrling was unconscious-- but it wouldn't hurt. The Dragonhealer wrapped bandages firmly against K'mar's legs once the bleeding had slowed enough to remove the tourniquets. "That was a nasty mauling, lad. Do you need help up? Congratulations on Impressing, by the way!" B'nyur smiled warmly at K'mar, offering a hand. Oveth rumbled, flashing B'nyur an image of the Brown Impressing. He wouldn't be a problem anymore, hopefully. [/right][/font]

[zara]

K'nan could feel himself holding his breath, watching the candidates below. He hoped that this wouldn't be a bloody hatching... or a much bloodier one. He looked calm, but he could feel his heart beat excelerating. His dragon had fallen silent, his eyes whirring colors of contradictory hues - excitement, anxiety, happiness, joy, and so on... He shifted where he stood, his tail twitching slightly. Embraeth's normally calm exterior was slightly dented as his worries tried to fight to the surface... But he was quiet... watching, looking to each dragonet to aproach the Candidates, just as his rider did. Both waiting for one to Impress.

Calm, Mine... His dragon told him, his voice calm, even though he didn't appear as such.

Who is telling who to be calm?[/i] K'nan replied, not entirely calm himself.

Both dragon and rider focused on the Cyans. A most interesting new color... Both mused now over the new color, thinking of this develop meant, minds almost as one as their thoughts curled around the actions of these interesting new dragons as from what they could see at this point.

((Sorry... bad post... but... yeah...))

[Birdy]

Chelo frowned as the next egg she’d picked to soothe her emotions Hatched, not that that was a bad thing. Every egg that Hatched was another dragon for the Weyr, but why did It have to be that egg at that time? And another Cyan at that, the mutation most have been strong in the Clutch. It wasn’t a mutation, she reminded herself, but a new color.

Other eggs were hatching, but she had set her sight on another egg, the orange and purple one. She ignored the new black and the other Cyan, but a strange noise distracted her. Chelo could see the Brown out of the corner of her eye, and could tell that it was causing some sort of commotion, and she blocked it out of her mind, focusing, focusing, thinking good thoughts…her mind drifted slightly, but to what she wasn’t sure, for time seem to stop as something black obscured her vision. So little, so far away, CheloMine, so hard to find. But your Seiseth did find you The voice in her head was male! And she didn’t care, nearly overwhelmed by the sense of pure elation emanating from their bond, mixed with his many other feelings, and hers as well. All she knew was that she loved the dragonet in front of her unconditionally, and knew he did too. Chelo eyes were wide, staring into Seiseth’s just inches from hers, she wasn’t quite sure how to reply to her dragon. Her dragon, she thought, her mind was rushing to find something meaningful to say…

“Seiseth…” she managed at last, it was barely audible, but the black heard and that was what mattered. He watched her, still reveling in the light of his new partner. I am hungry he said simply at last, not wanting to ruin the moment, but feared what would happen if he didn't eat soon. Chelo nodded slowly then quickly snapped out of her trance, putting up a hand to gently touch his eye-ridges, “Yes… Yes! We must have you fed!,” she said hurriedly, not quite sure how to talk to him without speaking.

Still looking a bit dazed, she lead Seiseth, or rather was lead by Seiseth to the tables. He nudged her back lightly to get in the right direction, until she was safely seated on a bench. Food he reminded her, and she nodded a smile on her face. She grabbed a bucket and began to carefully feed him pieces of meat, not too much at once because she didn’t want him to choke.

[Admin]

Step one, you say we need to talk,
He walks you say, 'sit down, it's just a talk',
He smiles politely back at you,
You stare politely right on through.

The world remained unimportant to the cyan and her daydreams continued. There was no loss of hope; there was no real reason she didn't just go off and sweep up her rider. She was just so far away, so far apart, so special. She was gallant and thoughtful, and lived that all in her mind. It was the embodiment of what she and her cyan sisters was - the idea of reaching and stretching forward. The first had been so eager to just do something. The second was set upon showing Pern what they all could do. She was busy wishing and hoping that she would be able to simply do everything. Running, carrying the imaginary weight of the world and its saving on her shoulder, turned into the sweeping feeling of flight and love, which she didn't quite understand in all its forms but knew quite well that it was always good. It was a big part of all that was good.

The little, tiny cream colored egg at the end of the back row was producing noises, a steady, insistent but soft tapping that faded back behind the sounds of dozens of humming dragons. It only moved a little and the entire process was slow, but it began to break open with a little time. The dragonet inside, still hidden from the world, seemed to be meticulous with how it made an opening in the side of the small container. Finally, all the industry stopped and silence fell about the egg. Then a muzzle stuck out and a tail flicked about. Carefully, a leg reached out, touching upon the hots sands daintily, and, after a moment, another joined it. The white inside stepped forward ever so delicate. He was of average size, a good fit for the small enclosure he'd been in, and looked strong and healthy. Except for one small but very important fact about him.

There was no swirling color in his eyes, no blue-green touch of well-being, no red of anger, or yellow and orange of anxiety, fear, and strength. And there never would be. They were a stony gray-black color, reflecting upon the color with which the young dragonet saw the world. He was blind, born with his eyes underdeveloped and covered by a thick film; they would never function and there was no hope of ever fixing them. He would be disabled, unable to function as a proper dragon. It had taken him far longer for him to get out of his egg then even all his siblings who had hardly tried before. When he had cracked the shell, it had been moments before he'd been able to tell. He couldn't see the light. He couldn't see anything around for him. For his entire life, his eyes would remain lifeless looking in comparison to normal dragon eyes.

Yet there was no lack of life in him. He felt no dismay at not being able to see this new world; he was happy to be born into, optimistic as could be. Physically, he couldn't see anything, but, despite that, he saw it all. Simple objects posed a problem for him, impending his movements and threatening to cause him harm, but he could see them all, all the warm, welcoming souls that filled the cavern with such wondrous noise! The candidates, out beyond the warm, soft lights of his unhatched brothers and sisters, so hopeful for the chance of a dragon, a silky serenade to him. The sharp, commanding presence of his mother and father, and their riders. The nippy thoughts of his brothers against the dreamy thoughts of his sister. But where was his lifemate? Somewhere out there, mixed and masked by all the others, somewhere beyond them . . .

Once Oveth and B'nyur were caring for the fallen new weyrling, Kalith settled down again, but not for long. She looked a bit sad when the blind white was born, looking at him with worry. He was not as healthy, not as perfect as the others from her clutch and it worried her. It worried her rider too. Who could talk to the rider of whoever Impressed that dragonet? If it survived, she added with a twinge. Neither she nor O'sho seemed appropriate for the situation; perhaps she would have B'nyur address it, if he would be willing. How in the world was she going to deal with this now though? Cyans, brutal browns with a bonded that was not a boy, and blind whites! Deep, subtle breath, in and out, she steadied her nerves and tried to settle her aching head. No matter what, she would have to, and simply would, handle whatever happened.

With his larger brothers settled in with their new rider, the little, timid black finally worked up the courage and approached the candidates cautiously. Not wishing to attract to much notice, he came up around the side, trying to pick out his rider and find that one comforting presence that could save him. There was blood on the sands over by the boys, so, even thought the frightening brown had picked one of the ones over there, he slunk towards the girls pitifully. He was such a skittish creature, afraid of his own shadow by the way he jumped sometimes, and utterly silent, afraid to make a noise. When too many people stared at him, he tended to freeze for a moment, hunkering down and pulling his wings up to shield himself from their watching eyes. He'd had to much violence in his just minutes old life; all he wanted some was lovely peace.

Finally, there was safety and he finally stood up straight, revealing that, although he was still small, he was a well built, well proportioned if slightly awkward looking dragonet. Basking in the presence of managing to find his rider, he finally made eye contact with someone and Impression occurred instantaneously. There was nothing to fear with her; she would keep him safe. Oh, FeliciaMine, your Dellauouth finds you so lovely, so peaceful, so kind; he said so softly, his mental voice so feeble and cautious towards even her. But the fear slowly traced its way out of his eyes as the adoration set in and they changed to a peacefully swirling blue-green. Not wishing to intrude but wishing to be closer to her as well, he curled up gently on her feet as a tiny ball, eyes remaining fixed up on her. He could definitely be described as 'adorable' and 'pitiful'.



Some sort of window to your right,
As he goes left and you stay right,
Between the lines of fear and blame,
You begin to wonder why you came.

[fidelli]

Ooh, baby don't you know I suffer?
Oh, baby can you hear me moan?
You caught me under false pretenses
How long before you let me go?

Onto the sands safely and with as much space between him and Luven as possible - he felt a little bad about provoking the boy, it wasn't his fault he was an idiot - Kanamar couldn't help but eye the unpleased Queen. She looked alright... Though not happy with him. It was her rider he was more worried about. One slim eyebrow raised he watched Fajra put her hand on the large Copper, and inwardly winced. That was probably him making her mad. Oops. But even as he made a mental note to apologize to the woman later for his mistake, he was back and focused on the hatchlings. One at a time they came out of their eggs, and the young man stood through it all. He slowly pulled himself away from the other candidates in body, just letting his eyes wander - he had never seen a hatching before, and would admit to himself that it was quite an amazing thing.

He stood controlled and calm, but that seething intensity boiled under his skin and intense eyes seemed to drink in everything at once, even as he fought to pretend not to see anything. He carefully tucked away the aggression he wanted to shove out into the world, wanted to organize and hurry the event up, even as the intensity of his gaze seemed to slow it all down. He became stone - thinking about things that weren't part of the hatching but were. He had his whole self carefully known, down to the T - he knew that he was too rash, relied to much on his emotions, but he didn't care. He was too critical in that aspect, watching over the slowly hatching dragonet's with a careful eye. Despite not knowing everything about what he was doing, and not knowing everything about dragons, he had seen enough of them to realize when one was too long, when one was taller than average...

He wanted to fidget - the old scars under his shirt itched with the heat, an old wound that thrummed with imaginary pain. He wanted to scratch, and needlessly fidgeted with the wide sleeve, only stilling when he realized that he was moving. He was too demanding of the order - why couldn't they just hatch and Impress, simply? But even as he shied away from the fact that he knew he was too hasty, unforgiving of the faults of them all even as he knew his were far greater.

The tall candidate, taller than the rest of the males still standing in the line watched the Blue lounge around the sands - the dragon was too lazy to keep his interest and he flickered over to the excitable Pink. She was cute in an amusing way, rather like a young foal just finding it's legs, and he let himself relax in the view of the young, if not for just a few minutes. But another egg hatched, and he flickered to the new movement, narrow face one of thoughtful curiosity and amiable impatience. A long finger reached up to thumb his crooked nose, and he crossed his arms, a thoughtless gesture, while the silver sparked red-brown eyes watched the Pink Impress to a boy. It was interesting - his first Impression, and he had thought that girls Impress girl dragon's and boy's boy dragons. Filing away this information, he turned his head back to the sands, even as they were led away.

A late one! Pleased at the fact that he wasn't the last one here, he watched Sol walk to her place. He had flirted with her at the party, a pleasant girl, and pretty. He couldn't stay still for too long - the hands uncrossed, one running through carefully placed muddy brown hair and then back down again to cross over his chest. he kept the crooked mischievous smile on his face, a taunting grin that promised trouble and amusement. The hands uncrossed again, unknown to him, but this time they settled. His right hand went up to rest against his left collarbone, the left hand wrapping around his body to curl around his hipbone. The heat was getting to him - the old burns were a dull ache. He had missed the collision of the big blue and the pink, but looked over just in time to see her slide from his back - he couldn't stay focused on the sands as the time dwindled by and the heat only seemed to grow more potent, his mind playing tricks with paid.

Another egg was hatching, and he welcome the relief - a Purple that seemed to skid it's way through the world. He flew through the Candidates - Kanamar took a step back as the little creature tumbled this way and that - but Impressed quickly, leaving the rocking eggs and those two dragonets again. Shouldn't they be Impressing? Really now, this was getting ridiculous. But his thoughts stayed trapped in his head, his face a mask to carefully hide everything from the world. Another girl slipped in, and he caught her quickly with his eyes, but they dragonet's were more interesting. He was still against having one of them for himself - but they were fun to watch. The little Pink - she must be quite hungry by now - was finally tottering over to the candidates... Look! She Impressed, finally. To the girl hiding behind Sol. Interesting. The candidate's faces didn't look pleased - yes, it didn't seem fair that she should be Impressing right as she touched the sands, but that was life.

Bitter memories pushed, but he shoved back, focusing again on the sands and gritting teeth against the heat. He didn't like the heat - it was being to burn, a slow aching pain. The blue had collapsed down again - Kanamar ignored him - and another egg was hatching, a fine distraction. A young black hatched, studying the candidates firmly, and the Blue was moving again - he could study them as they walked, but the usually focused young man was distracted again as another egg cracked open. It was a pretty dragon, a Blue maybe? He frowned at it, fighting to discern the color... And another egg was hatching - he glanced at this one to see one very similar - too big for even any green. What color were they? He was frustrated at his lack of knowledge to understand the draconic species, and gnawed at his lip, unmoving otherwise. Thankfully, the large Copper queen decided to announce what they were; They are female. They are Cyan. The name was so oddly declared that he looked at the two dragons with fresh eyes - new colors?

It was an interesting experience, being on the sands with new color's hatching. Fighting down a thrill of excitement - he already had a runner, he didn't need a dragon, he focused on them, trying to decide what they would Impress... One did decide to Impress, a girl he didn't know, and then there were two dragons back on the sands, a Cyan and that Blue. But he turned to watch the girl walk off with her Cyan, still studying the strange new colors - they were pretty, in an oddly feminine bright way. And then there were more eggs rocking, and the hatching seemed to be in it's stride now. Pain shot at his scars, but he ignored them, pushing back the hollowed burns and memories. Another Cyan... Who walked away from them all and settled herself down. Shaking his head - dreamers were useless - the candidate focused on the next egg cracking - more like shoving it's way free - and saw the angry swirling eyes of the Brown. A dragon that didn't know how to control it's anger... He studied the creature, but the other's were hatching, and he was off. It was his favorite part, watching the young break from eggs.

Perhaps it was fate. What a funny thing, fate. A tiny black hatched, a small timid thing that looked so tiny and lonely he felt bad for it... But what was fate was that Kanamar heard the egg cracking, a hollow noise that seemed to want to be more. He watched the young Black, kingly despite he was the lowest ranked of the color, the little creature fought it's way free and strutted onto the sands. Kanamar watched him, amused - and then turned to where the Black was fleeing from his bigger brother. And then the Cyan was making noise as she Impressed to a male. Kanamar watched, interested - another hatching that didn't go to the same sex. Interesting. Four dragonets on the sands now, and he was trying to keep them all in sight - the brown was coming near the boys, and then - pain. The heat had suddenly doubled, flaring up and making the boy wince, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around himself - an oddly submissive pose for one who was very clear in the fact that he followed no one. His eyes closed, he turned away from the dragons..

A bad idea. Pain on his torso and on the scars, and then more pain, and a soft cry was falling from his lips as blunt claws ravaged his legs. The thin breeches he wore under the robe did nothing to stave the claws, and he opened his pain ledened eyes to see the Brown on him, attacking. His mouth closed - he would not yell out, even as he fell onto the sands, he threw up his arms to protect his face... But the dragonet was marching away, leaving Kanamar down. The boy stayed still for a few moments, cursing himself and trying to think through pain. He was an idiot - dimglow, for nothing thinking about the old scars. This was his redemption for trying to be something he wasn't - he wouldn't ride for a few weeks, and he would bare more scars. Even as there was no pain from his legs - that was a bad sign, he knew, the boy knew there was pain from elsewhere. In contact with the sands his scars were burning, shrieking from the heat.

He struggled up, sitting up and mindless of all the blood, yelping now quietly to rip off the robe and shirt he wore, baring his back and the hideous old burned scars that rippled down his back and across his chest. But it was good that he had managed to struggle upwards - for the black, not the cowering one was standing there, and in a heartbeat he was staring into the eyes of his lifemate. Foolish K'marMine. You failed to avoid my clutchbrother's wrath. Your Nektuth will have to teach you better. Impression? What? But love was there, even in vanity, and K'mar reached out a hand to touch the dragon, hazily. "Nektuth?" The black sniffed at him, dancing backwards after letting him touch him once. You smell too badly to touch me right now - but yes, that is my name.

But pain was now lancing up his legs, and with a groan the male was falling backwards, hissing as pain slashed his back, the agony too great to even pillow the burning. A dragon was flying down, and Nektuth watched the Blue warily. His was His, and he wouldn't have any Blue claiming was rightfully the best. Nektuth, Mine is going to heal Yours. Do not panic. Stay where you are and don't interfere, and Yours will be fine. An idle toss of his head, even as worry - someone way deep down - made him move aside. I am not panicking. It is K'marMine's fault for not moving. He shall be, even if Your's did not be helpful - he is Mine, strong enough to take care of himself.

The young man that was currently trying to blink past the throbbing pain too many places was peering up at the rider standing over him - he felt the robes that were in his lap be shoved aside, and hissed as the cuts were disturbed. Reaching over, he ripped the bloodstained robes away and half-rose, hand groping out for the Black. Nektuth, come here. The command was sure enough, and the Black, despite firm disapproval, did so, letting the rider lean on him even as he kept his nose turned up and away, watching the man work. The rider worked quickly, and the numbweed settled fast, lending the now pale rider enough strength to grip the offered hand. 'That was a nasty mauling, lad. Do you need help up? Congratulations on Impressing, by the way.' The Black was quick enough to come between them, nosing His's hand out of the rider's and letting him lean on him to Rise. You do not need other's, MineOwn. Do not be stupid.
Realizing this was going to be a problem, none the less the newly Impressed K'mar stayed steady on his legs, only wavering slightly.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you. I would ask if I could borrow some of that numbweed - the scars hurt." He was curt, but kind enough, and scooped the numbweed out of the jar to smear it down his chest. Nektuth, meanwhile, was growing impatient, shifting from side to side and giving impatient tosses of his head. I grow hungry. Feed me. Letting the rider weed his back the boy was finally ready to go - "Thank you." Was the soft response, and then he was limping after the average Black, wincing as every step caused pain and the burns still hurt - despite the numbweed, most of it was mental, memories of bright lights and pain from long ago. Only Nektuth hurrying him gave him the strength to gather a bowl and stand, making an odd sight in just a pair of ragged breeches, feeding the dragonet by hand and ignoring the silent commands to feed him faster. He had heard the Purplerider say 'Slowly, Weyrling, feed him slowly,' and despite his irritant with commands, saw the meaning in this one. Bloodlose making him hazy, he focused on feeding the dragonet - one piece at a time.

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

[Nia]

There was a lot going on in this Hatching. The dragons were oddly lively, not that they weren't usually lively to begin with. Perhaps it was just because this was Avalle's first Hatching at Dalibor, and perhaps because it was Dalibor's first Hatching as well. It was an interesting thought, the fact that she was Standing at the first Hatching of Dalibor. So, even if she didn't Impress (which wasn't going to happen, because she was going to Impress!) she'd have something to talk about. It seemed like a lame thing to bring up though... so she figured she wasn't ever going to say anything about it. It was just an interesting thought, was all.

Anyway, the Brown hissing and walking around the Sands brought her back to reality. He kind of rubbed her the wrong way. He was an ungrateful dragonet that wasn't thankful at all for the live he'd been given. It made her angry just to watch him... though, she figured that since Kalith hadn't done anything that maybe he'd be okay in time. Avalle had no idea if Queen dragons killed their own children if they were too violent... but she didn't think so. Still, she felt a little aprehensive as he came closer to the Candidates and-- oh, Faranth. He'd just mauled some boy. She stared around the girls to the side of her to get a better look, as curiosity did kill the cat, afterall. It was someone she didn't know, but shards, that looked bad. Really bad. Avalle wasn't squeamish or anything, but just the fact that there was so much blood was enough to make even her queasy. So she looked away, watching the Brown march angerly away from the boys.

No one was going to help the boy who'd been mauled. Were they just going to leave him to die? That would be terrible! Avalle kenw that Candidates died during Hatchings all the time, but this boy looked like he could be saved! Oh, and he'd also Impressed. He seemed to have Impressed one of the more brave-looking Blacks, and oh, look, now Kalith cared. The Dragonhealer had gone down to help, and hopefully the boy would be fine. Not that Avalle cared...! She didn't care about other people like that. The Brown could maul who he wanted to, right? It was his choice if he wanted to be mean.

Now that the Black had Impressed and the Cyan still hadn't moved, AValle looked over at the Brown as he came towards the... girls!? But Browns did NOT Impress girls. Sure, Blacks did a lot (as this Hatching proved) but not a Brown! He was a sub-King! But Avalle watched as the Brown Impressed to none other than Durian. Ah, she knew who that was. The girl she'd met when Pratyba had gotten herself stuck to her cot. She'd seemed like a nice girl, though maybe a little quiet, but definitely hardworking. All qualities that suited a normal Brown, but that Brown was definitely not normal. Yulari hissed quietly as the Brown came closer, it seemed she didn't like him at all. And if she curled any tighter around Avalle's neck the girl was going to choke.

But after the Brown Impressed she felt some weird weight lift off her shoulders and she looked back out at the eggs again, feeling refreshed. The Brown had taken all the negative energy away with him, or so she figured. The Cyan was still sitting peacefully which made Avalle feel rather peaceful in itself. But, oh, another egg was hatching. She watched as a white emerged. Huh, those were rare dragons. But, wait, what was wrong with him? His eyes weren't swirling... was it similar to when human babies were born and didn't cry? Was he going to die? No, the White looked happy, or at least as happy as a dragon could look. As she was trying to figure out the White's eye problem, the last Black on the Sands had gone and Impressed to a girl, not a lot of surprises there. Still, the White seemed to be a problem. Whites were generally kind of problematic what with them being so small, but what if he was blind? That would be awful, could he even Impress?

---------

Riori decided he did not like that Brown. He just didn't. It was kind of scary! But he wasn't that scared of it. It was just a violent hatchling that could probably kill him. Nothing to be scared about! He might even Impress it. ... no, that probably wasn't going to happen. Or at least, he hoped not. Riori wasn't sure if he'd be able to control a Brown like that, and he wondered if the Brown might Impress him just because of that. Jeez... it sure was angry. He tried to adjust his position so that he could easily run if the Brown decided to maul him, because this Brown definitely seemed like the type to maul.

And Riori was, unfortunately, correct. Though it hadn't decided to maul him, and only instead mauled the boy only a little ways away from him. He jumped back in a panic, hoping to avoid the Brown in case he still wanted some blood. Faranth! He'd... he'd been mauled! Riori didn't really know the boy, but oh shards that was a lot of blood. He willed himself not to throw up at all the blood splattered on the Sands, hoping his self-control would be enough. Riori wasn't very good around blood, and shards that boy's legs looked awful... and it looked painful and... oh Faranth oh Faranth oh Faranth he was going to throw up.

Trying desperately to ignore the quaking in his stomach, he ignored as the Brown Impressed to some girl (his mind not even caring about the absurdity of that) and tried to find something to distract himself with. Phareon had moved his spot down into Riori's arms, forcing the boy to hold him, but the black-haired boy didn't mind. It helped his stomach to have the Bronze flitter there, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Taking some depe breaths, Riori noticed that a Black had come over and Impressed to the boy who'd been mauled. At least that meant he wasn't dead... but Riori was not going to look down at the blood anymore, he didn't think that Kalith would like it very much if he threw up.

So he distracted himself by watching an egg shake... shake... shake... and then break open. A White? That was pretty cool, he guessed. At least the White wasn't angry like the Brown had been. But there was something wrong with him. Riori noticed right away that the dragonet was blind, and it kind of shocked him. Didn't dragons Impress with eye-contact? Was he going to be okay? But he looked okay, really. Riori glanced over at the Cyan for good measure, but she still looked like she was dreamily staring off into space. Well, she wasn't going to Impress any time soon... but he didn't mind, she wasn't going to Impress to him anyway, because he was a boy.

Anyway, the White was walking forward, and Riori had to wonder how he could walk towards the Candidates like that. Could he sense their presence or something? That was pretty cool. And it was cool enough to make him feel a lot less queasy. There was still another Black on the Sands though, and he watched as... it went over to the girls. What was with the Blacks Impressing girls anyway? Were there just a lot of girls that were, uh... well... you know! He didn't want to think it.

[/size]

[lysita]

Felicia had gasped when one of the boys got mauled, it scared her a little to see such an occurance. The brown that had done the mauling impressed to one of the girls, and the mauled boy impressed the larger black that had been roaming the sands. Her mind whirred, hoping that she wouldn't end up getting mauled, that would just make her all the more shy and withdrawn. Then she noticed the smaller black was up and working its way towards the candidates. It seemed rather timid, crouching and hiding behind it's wings at every loud noise.

She smiled as it stood up straight, showing it's well proportioned body before it's gaze caught hers. Instantly she was flooded with such love and warmth she thought she might cry from the happiness she felt. Oh, FeliciaMine, your Dellauouth finds you so lovely, so peaceful, so kind.

[/color] Then the black was curled up on her feet and she knew this dragonet was hers and would forever be hers.

"Oh Dellauouth, we will make a wonderful team together."The black snaked it's head up as high a possible, crooning agreeably as Felicia reached down to scratch his eyeridge.
"Now, how about we get you some food. I am sure you are very hungry." She said softly, smiling down at her magnificent black dragonet. Dellauouth carefully stood up, not wanting to hurt his bonded. That would be nice Feliciamine. My middle is hurting from hunger.[/color] With that they walked off together, keeping to the edge to be away from the others as they went.[/size][/center]

[123notit]

Tazar jumped as a boy near him got attacked by the vicious brown. He slowly began to reconsider the creature. A violent creature such as that would have to be reeled in a lot. He completely changed his mind as the brown hissed at him. He jumped back, not wanting to be the next Mauled, and sighed in relief as the brown continued on to the girls and Impressed.

The two pathetic blacks also Impressed. He found this satisfactory and crossed his arms over his chest. The only thing left on the sands was the cyan...but now a White. What was wrong with it? Its eyes were colorless. He soon got the reason. The thing was blind. How useless. You couldn't do anything with a blind dragon. He sighed in contempt, feeling high and mightly once again since the aggressive brown wasn't attacking him.

As the Brown attacked the boy, U'ar pulled Mu closer to him. She needed to see it. To see what could happen to every Candidate. But part of him wanted to shield her from it. It took all he had in him, to let her gasp in horror and continue looking on. He bent down after the boy soon Impressed and B'nyur came to care for him and kissed her head.

"I know. It's terrible. Some dragonets are just volatile at birth. I must say that a brown like that is rare though," he said to her quietly, his voice calming, "Know that if you decide to stand, this is a risk. But I wouldn't let you do it if I thought it was too dangerous, my dear."

[fidelli]

Run and fear,
Scream and hide,
The terrors in the night.

;;Now it was down to the part that had come in every hatching - when the eggs all seemed to open on their own at once and stream forth the young. F'del and Altith, together since the man had been sixteen turns (he was now thirty-two, how scary), had been part of many Hatchings. They had been Weyrlingmaster Assistants at the bigger Weyr's that required them... But it seemed that Fajra had not been thinking ahead on this one. Perhaps she did need more help - this would have been better planned out if the Weyrlingmaster could have been here, with a few drudges helping out. But the Weyr was small yet, and he could see the fact that the woman took the running squarely upon her own shoulders - she did a fair job of it, too. As the hatchlings began to stream out, he kept his eyes focused on these here - those that were beginning to slow down their feasting, those that were just arriving, and those that were done, now socializing. He knew from experience that the hatchlings - while now excited and bouncy - would have just enough energy to stagger to the Weyrling Barracks (helpfully placed near the entrance that Altith was standing guard at) and fall asleep, stuffed. Then the Weyrlings would be permitted to go the Hatching Feast... Those that could tear themselves from the sides of their Bonded.

;;Altith was still at the position he had assumed before, blocking off the exit that was reserved for Weyrling's. But instead of his too big wings being mantled, he had stretched them out, the thin membranes snapped out to their full extent as he expanded them around, the top of a huge circle. It didn't impede the view of anyone that cared to look at them, but he did it out of anxiety and eagerness to protect and care for the newly hatched. He kept his head cocked to one side, one whirling eye on the hatching, but now focused more narrowly on the children at his feet. Settled back on his haunches in a oddly canine pose, he snaked his long neck back and forth slowly, head swinging from the Hatching to the babies. Excitement not diminished at all, he nosed His from time to time and as true to his job as he could be, continued the commentary, although it was interrupted every now and then to talk to the Hatchlings. 'No worries, sir.' The young Purplerider told him, happy and peppy (was he ever that young?) telling him, 'I'm used to gobblers.' F'del only gave an amused gentle smile as the `lizards appeared, and nodded. "Alright. Just be careful."

;;The little pink is moving over to the funny hideless things and looks at the females... The Blue is content to lay in the Sands.... And a Black hatches! He is a quiet one... The Pink is scanning them... And she Impresses! To the last late candidate! F'del looked up in surprise from another scan of the Impressed Weyrlings. He had missed a third late one? Really? They had guts, he would give them that. She is Oorth. She is very a very nice Pink, but we must be careful - she seems hasty. He swung back down to check on the Weyrlings, and content that everything was good there, he resumed his speech. The Black and the Blue are inspecting the Candidates... And an egg is hatching! F'del had to laugh at his eagerness - an egg had been hatching every few minutes, and yet he still treated each as the ginormous special thing it was. It is a... Green? This was interesting in the way the egg hatching announcement was not - Altith was very sure of himself when it came to the dragons. I think it is a Green... But it is Blue? It is pretty... Whatever it is.

;;Still studying the hatchling, Altith missed the next egg hatching - but F'del didn't. Sure the Weyrling's all wouldn't all die within the next few moments, he looked to the sands and watched the next hatch... Altith, look! The generally very calm man was almost excited, looking at the big-enough-to-be-a-Blue green colored creature. They were an interesting mix of the two colors, a pretty range, and F'del studied them, curious. They are female! They are cyan. A powerful voice ripped through his mind, far more fierce than Altith's, and made the man blink, dropping his eyes to the Candidates. That is Kalith, Altith informed him. They are young Cyan's. That really didn't clear them up... But they were new colors! That was fascinating - he would love for the chance to study them closer. And apparently his wish was granted, for Altith was suddenly telling him, She Impresses! A girl! Her name is Topeth. So they Impressed girls...

;;He lifted his head to watch them come closer, gnawing on his lip thoughtfully... But their wasn't time, for other things were happening. Altith was watching the Pink that had sprinted over, and was now chiding her gently, Oorth, do not eat fast! You will choke! But she was off to the Sands, chased by Her's, and Altith was rumbling cheerily. She will be fun. F'del only looked after the girl, trying to figure out how best to capture her and advise her to slow down the dragonet when she was eating that quickly... It wasn't good. But instead he was turning to the Cyanrider and pointing out that food to her. "Here, Weyrling." Altith, distracted from the sands, peered down at the Cyan happily and greeted her - Hello little Cyan! I am pleased to meet your acquaintance - it is interesting to talk to the first of your color.

;;It was Altith that was no longer focused on the Hatching, and now watching his brood with as much pride as Kalith was. So he missed the Blue Impressing, only blinking up when he heard the announcement of his name. Oh! The Blue Impresses - he is Tecarracath, to a young male. And then it was back to watching the Impressed Weyrlings - so far Blue Tecarracath, Cyan Topeth, Iron Detritath, Purple Doppelith, Pink Oorth, Pink Coath, and Green Gneith. They were busy eating and talking among themselves - he spared a glance up just in time to see the Brown rip it's way from the egg and the Cyan Impress... The Cyan has Impressed a male, MineOwn - they are both Impressers. F'del nodded, eyeing the Brown as the Cyan, Rhyolith, joined the group. He's one to be kept an eye on. For once, Altith was sober, watching the Hatching will all his attention focused on the small Black and Brown. The other Black went nearly unnoticed - it was the angry Brown that he was intently watching.

;;He is threatening the Black. But the Purple didn't interfere - the hatchling was under Kalith's jurisdiction until he Impressed, not his. F'del was not watching the vicious Brown - his focus was on the Weyrlings, and that pink, Oorth? Altith, get her to finish eating and stop running around the Sand's please. We can't have her interring with the Candidates. Altith only rumbled at him, still focused. He would - in a few moments. It was only after the Brown turned from the Black did he huff a sigh of relief, focusing back on the Weyrlings and asking the Pink, Young Oorth, please do come finish eating. You may play with Your's later - but you need to grow big and strong, and there is a Hatching going on. Other's might be grumpy and snappy - F'del only uncrossed himself and rose from his leaning position on the table to walk over to the girl, offering her a hand up. "Weyrling, she needs to eat. You're in control - get her over here." The words were gentle, no malice in them at all, just a contented patience and soft reminder.

;;A bugle overhead made the rider look up, the girl forgotten. He attacks! Who? F'del was scanning the Sands, trying to understand. The Brown! He rips at a Candidate! Stop him, Alt! I cannot - he is not mine to reprimand. The rider was off to the edge of the feeding station, watching the Candidate that lay too still on the sands. Shards, he hated death on the happiest day of the Weyr. But... With a sigh, Altith shifted, telling him - Noyth says he lives. He also Impresses, Black Nektuth. F'del knew his duty - it was back to the Weyrlings to make sure they were still focused on Their's and not the rider down. Of course, Altith didn't bother - he was more worried about the Brown, that... Mesreath Impresses. A girl. He is the Brown. Altith rumbled the words carefully, giving the Weyrlings the once over before returning his eyes to the Sands and bespeaking the young Brown. Mesreath - You and Your's over here please - food for Your's to feed you. Altith wanted him off the Sands - he would be trouble enough with the other Weyrlings, but Altith was careful with the babies! It was more of a direct order than usual - firm and with no room for argument.

;;F'del meanwhile, was watching the Black Weyrling limp over, dressed scantily, with the prideful black at his side. Only one thing to say to him... "Slowly, Weyrling, feed him slowly." And then he was back to watching them all, especially the Brownrider (a girl, what fun) and the Blackrider that didn't seem to be very good. Blood lose was like that... But it wouldn't do to have him pass out. Meanwhile, Altith was back to his cheery self - nothing could rip him away from that for long. And the Cyan is still on the sands... Oh! He watched the egg hatch, and suddenly gave a soft snort, eyes whirling in distress. He is Blind, Mine. He cannot see. F'del spared a glance for the slowly moving White, and bit back a harsh word. That was sad... It would be almost cruel to the Rider, and the dragon if he lived. The Black Impresses - Dellauouth... Only the White is left on the sands with the Cyan. F'del crossed back to his spot at the tables, and patted the large Purple head that snaked down to him for a moment, before swallowing the harshness of the world and moving on. They had quite a nest here - Black Nektuth, Black Seiseth, Black Dellauouth, Blue Tecarracath, Cyan Topeth, Iron Detritath, Purple Doppelith, Pink Oorth, Pink Coath, Green Gneith, and Cyan Rhyolith. With two more dragons on the sands, that made... only ten more eggs to hatch. And if this was just the beginning, F'del almost began to dread what was still in the shell.

They fight and scramble,
Threaten lives,
And bring the night to a hasty end.

[Kila]

Now fully alert and fearlessly involved in the hatching, Sol did not miss the hatching of the seemingly small and unimportant cream colored egg at the end of the back row. Little by little from the inside of the egg the dragonet meticulously made a hole from which to escape. From the moment he first poked out his maw his color was clear- a White. It wasn’t saying much because Sol hadn’t seen a lot, but she had never seen a White dragon before. She vaguely recalled a handful of them being quite famous for something or other.

Delicately and with trepidation, the newest baby stuck his foreleg out onto the hot Sands. After a moment the other leg joined it and he carefully emerged from his broken shell. He seemed strong, and did not falter, but there was something wrong. Why are his eyes so dull a color? Or rather….. no color at all? Sol wondered. She mulled over his appearance curiously and then came to an unhappy conclusion. Why, he must be blind! The poor thing! Sol gazed out at him sympathetically.

Perhaps he did not need her sympathy, though. Sol was warmed at the heart to see the White, despite his lack of physical sight, swing his head around and seem to take in everything around him. He may not be able to see it, but she had a feeling that he knew it was there. What would it be like to live like that, relying solely on your intuition and feelings, she wondered. Go on, you can do it! she urged, touched by the peacefulness of this, Pern’s newest creature.

Sol was quite glad when B’nyur and Oveth arrived on the scene. It was a good thing Oveth was so sharding adorable- she doubted Kalith would let any other dragon on her Sands at such a time, even Daidoroth. But the King had more sense in him to try that. Coupled with the relief of medical aid, another of her ranks impressed, this time to one of the Blacks. My there were a lot of female Black Weyrlings! No matter, Sol cheered for the newest couple as enthusiastically as she had done the rest.

[Admin]

He said take my hand,
Live while you can
Don't you see your dreams lie,
Right in the palm of your hand.

The cyan had reached a new level of daydreaming prowess. If the first Pernese world war had broken out behind her, it was doubtful that she would have noticed. A war already raged on in her head as her dream turned to one full of ichor and blood. With dauntless courage, she accepted these new terrible visions and ideas that she developed in her mind. She let them pass, let herself come to believe that she could prove herself for a moment by facing the bad of the world, and they slowly changed. Inside of her own mind, destruction was replaced with daisies and poppies, sprouting up against a white washed landscape. The image of a mixture of prairie and meadow popped up around her, full of flowers and soft spring grasses. What was wrong with dreaming to forget the world for awhile? Sometimes you just had to make some inner beauty.

Every so often, the red-brown egg in the front row would give a gentle rock or two before settling back. It seemed to be very tolerant of its current condition but it slowly began to grow more insistent and cracks started to form. Soundlessly and silently, it hatched and the dragonet inside tumbled gently out onto the sands. The blue picked himself up, not bothered and unharmed, and looked about himself with placid eyes. He was the second blue of the clutch and the smaller of the two, in every way, since he did not have the bulky build of his predecessor. In coloration, he was sort of similar, but, if you wish to refer to jewels again, his hide was lighter and more cobalt than sapphire than the others had been. Though a bit of a delicate and agile little fellow, he was not that comfortable on his feet yet. He didn't appear to mind that much.

In fact, he didn't appear to mind much at all. Standing up properly, he set off towards the candidates with a very soothing, gentle aura about himself. He took his time and started at the end of the line, slash group, slash whatever their not entirely organization clumping should be called, where the boys were. By each one, he gave a sort of pause, to stir their hopes and sooth them as best he could, but he never tarried long enough to cause them more pain than healing. He had the pick of the candidates, with the only other dragonets on the sands being the white and the cyan, but he didn't really seem to care about that, taking his time with moments for each despite knowing that none of those near him were going to be his rider. That patience and gentleness that he had seemed to glow about him; his very presence was calming upon others.

Brushing eggs with the tips of his wings and his tail, the blind white made his way forward. He did not move smoothly, each of his steps not entirely well placed and not overly sure of how to use his young muscles. None of that matter though. His mind reached out, searching a bit farther and a bit farther with each of his steps. A hundred, or two, minds were all around him, each one so different but none of them more than a flicker to him. He was looking for a glimmering glow, not just a presence, something more concrete. There was one that made him stop for a moment, pausing with his wing resting on one of the eggs in the front to keep himself oriented. The very subtle mind he felt amused him and brought him added joy. Oh yes, it was so wonderful to be alive, especially at such a time as this! He radiated cheerfulness as he continued.

Breaking free of all of the eggs, he was alone, not entirely sure how he was supposed to sense his way forward anymore. But there was his lifemate! What in the world was she doing over there? Entirely sure now, he trotted forward, pushing his way through the girls near by Avalle and Sol. AnimatamoraMine; he said, coming right up to her in front row of the stands with her name slipping so easily from his mind so he could properly Impress her and see her. And, for a moment, he did see, all of the hatching sands, through her eyes. AnimatamoraMine, you're going to get your Zucherroth in trouble; he told her, utterly happy despite what he said. He could take care of it, with a bit of help from her! He was so optimistic that everything would work out just perfectly.

Firmly gripping the candidates' robe that she held in her hands in his teeth, he pulled her out of the stands and out onto the sands, butt wiggling as he walked backwards with her in tow. He was not stupid; he knew he was SUPPOSED to pick from all those hopefuls on the sands. Of course, since he was just as not stupid as he was, he knew just how to handle this. It was ingenious, and he was sure that everyone would be happy. Once he'd gotten them both back out onto the middle of the sands, so that everyone could see them, though he didn't quite know why them being able to be seen would make all that much of a difference, he let his new rider go. You'll have to forgive Mine everyone. She got tired and had to sit down; he explained very simply to the entire cavern, beaming a dragon's smile up at all of them. Anyway, isn't to great how clutchmother's got a little one in her belly now; he continued cheerfully.

The Weyrwoman stared at the white in a mixture of shock and murderous anger. Or possibly it was just the nausea, because a mixture of stress and the dragonet's sudden declaration about her had brought it out full force. The shocked expression turned towards one of just sickness as she started to raise a hand to cover her mouth. Then she just shifted away from the crowd so she could throw up towards the wall, half hidden by the concerned, huffy form of her dragon. Blood pounded in her head. The white's suggested idea that she was pregnant, unfortunately, seemed to make sense, and how could she have not put it together? Tiredness, aches, fits of sickness sometimes in the morning, moodiness she'd thought was just Kalith. Second, she felt like she was going to end up like her mother. Shard it.



For I felt what I had not felt before,
And you'd swear those words could heal.
And as I looked up into those eyes,
His vision borrows mine.

[Nia]

That Cyan really did not want to do anything. Riori watched her, trying to read her dreamy expression for something that vaguely resembled Impression. There was no rainbow tint in her eyes though, so the black-haired boy just shrugged it off and moved on. If she didn't want to Impress then fine. She wasn't meant for him anyway, she was a girl dragon, so she was probably going to Impress to a girl. He seemed to have conviently forgotten that the last Cyan had Impressed to a boy.

The red-brown egg in the back was shaking around a bit, though calmer than the last few that'd broke open. He watched it instead of watching the White, wondering what was inside. A Blue emerged, and Riori wasn't too surprised. The colors of the eggs really hadn't mattered much in this Hatching, had they? Irons hatching from brown eggs, Blacks hatching from blue eggs... man, the people who bet on these eggs were sure going to lose some marks. Thank Faranth he was too broke to bet anything.

Anyway, Riori watched the Blue hatch and noticed that he was rather calm. Not the lazy sort of calm as his bulky brother had been, but just a sort of soothing calm. It relaxed Riori to just watch him, slowing the boy's pounding heart down to a dull thump. Or at least, that's what he thought it did. He certainly couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest anymore just by watching this Blue. Yeah, he wouldn't mind Impressing it. But the Blue came closer and walked past him, seeming to pass on even more soothing thoughts to Riori who was now rather conscious of the hot sands burning his feet rather than the Blue.

Or for that matter, the White who was walking around. No, he wasn't going towards the boys. He was going towards the girls... and past the girls. Wait, what? He wasn't going to Impress someone in the Stands, was he? Dragons didn't do that. Weren't they required to pick from the Candidates in front of them? But no, the White had Impressed, as was obvious from his little announcement. Well, that was odd... also, it seemed the Weyrwoman was pregnant. He almost laughed obnoxiously at this little exposing comment, but managed to stifle it down to a slight, immature snicker.

-------

That White was really kind of interesting. Even if he was blind, he just had some sort of aura about him that made him seem okay. He was walking forward, in any case, even if he was just a little unsteady he could still do it. But what about flying? Would he ever be able to be proper dragon? Avalle wasn't sure, but it didn't seem likely. Poor thing, he'd never be able to do a lot of the things the other dragons could do, or at least it'd be very difficult for him and his rider.

Looking away from the White for a moment, she watched the Cyan sit there absentmindedly. The dragons in this clutch were taking a lot longer to Impress than they usually did. She was sure there wasn't anything wrong with them, seeing as the Blue and the Pink had Impressed fine even after being on the Sands for quite some time. The Cyan was just lost in her own little world. There wasn't anything wrong with her, she was simply taking her time. But the longer she sat there the longer Avalle felt her anticipation and nerves grow. Why? It didn't matter how long the dragons sat on the Sands, if they were meant for her, then they were meant for her and they would come over in due time. But that didn't explain why she felt so nervous about the whole thing.

She glanced back at the other eggs just in time to see the Blue hatch, noticing his color before his personality. He was pretty, almost sapphire-like. She'd always liked the color blue, and Blue dragons were just pretty as a whole. She wouldn't mind Impressing one, even if it was male dragon. Perhaps she was only thinking this now because O'ris had Impressed a female, but she really wouldn't mind Impressing that Blue. He just had such a calming air about him, she liked it. It was a welcome change from the violent Brown. There was no way this Blue was going to maul someone.

Anyway, the White was still on the move and he was walking towards the Candidates now. He was walking towards the... girls. Was it a female White, maybe? Avalle had no way of knowing, there really wasn't much way of knowing with the dragons that could be both genders. But indeed the White was approaching the girls and it looked like he was coming in her direction. She felt her heart skip a beat, wondering if the White could see her or if he was just sensing them. Was he coming over there to Impress? No... he walked right past her. Where was he going...? Had he just missed the Candidates in his blindness?

That wasn't right, as the White was walking with purpose towards the Stands. And right up to a girl Avalle recognized as that Animatamora. Was he Impressing to her? Yeah, that seemed about right. Either that or he wanted to take her somewhere... no, he'd Impressed, his little announcement was more than enough proof of that. But she hadn't been Standing, even if she was a Candidate. Well, Avalle supposed it didn't matter. Impression was Impression, wasn't it?

[/size]

[Admin]

I've been taking what you've given,
Now I'm thinkin' I've been livin',
The fantasy of your sweet smile.

The Queen egg was the rocking; the dragonet inside had decided to make her entrance. A couple of smaller rocks with short pauses in between were the only warning she gave to everyone to tell them that she was hatching. Then she began to precisely break off the top half of her egg, flaking off chunks in the middle and carefully avoiding doing to much damage to the entirety of it while still managing to get an opening all around the middle. It didn't take her all that long to get where the point where she could cause the upper section of the egg to flip off with a little push. Raising her head proudly as she freed herself from her egg, the young gold Queen stepped forward to show off her glorious presence to all those that were assembled. She definitely knew what color she was and carried herself to demand the attention that she deserved.

In terms of size, there are two ways to really look at her. The most obvious way was that she was the largest dragonet of the clutch and definitely the Queen. However, in terms of objectively looking at her, she was a small gold; she would probably only grow up to be around the size of her mother. It wasn't like the fact she wasn't going to be the largest gold to ever exist diminished just how impressive she was. Her upper body, her head, neck, tail, wings, and most of her torso and back, was a brilliant metallic golden yellow with ever so slight touches of amber to it. Down on her legs and belly, the color turns into a deeper color, stained with olive brown and deep yellow, that was reminiscent of old rusted gold with the metallic edge that it had. In the light of the cavern, which was not overly strong, as she stood tall and strong, she glowed.

As soon as the Queen dragonet had hatched, the large gray-brown one nearby her egg, having just been separated from the golden egg by the one that had held the violent brown, began to move with great force. One leg punched its way through the shell and quickly retreated so that it could make another hole a little bit away from the first. Breaking it apart, the bronze inside freed himself with his great strength. It was hard to say if he was the second or third largest in the clutch. There was no hope of him beating his golden sister, but he had the large, violent brown that had come earlier beat easily. It was just hard to tell if he was as large as the iron that had been one of the first to hatch. He was a large bronze, and the other King had been a small representative of his color. Either way, he was a big, strong, young creature, a good young King.

The royal hatchling only had eyes for one other at that moment - the other, more magnificent and golden royalty that had graced the sand just before him. With a certain sense of dignity about him, which was somewhat deluded by the fact he seemed just a bit eager about it, he hurried to come stand at her side. It was easily apparent that he was much enamored with her but it was an interesting sense of loyalty. If one overlooked their age and the slight awkwardness of proportion that they had between them, he was like a knight, guarding his lady honorably to live up to his duty. At the very least, he was being a protective brother to his lovely sister, and he happened to think that she was pretty. Of course, he also thought that his cyan sister on the sands was also pretty. One could just default to the idea that just all girls were pretty to him.

Another of the dragonet's attentions had been caught by the entrance of the gold. The cyan had finally broken out of her daydreams and was looking over at her larger, metallic sister with interest. Her bronze brother was going to defend and help their golden sister; she got the idea! Elegantly standing up, she took her time with turning and gliding over to join the other two. She took up position flanking the Queen dragonet on the side opposite of the bronze. Even dwarfed by the two of them, she had her own dreamy presence. She held her own against those two, a gallant little ballerina of a dragonet. Brave and true, she wasn't quite always there, but she never backed down and she never would. She could guard her sister just as well as her big brother could; she could do her duty as a clutchsister just as well as he could!

The blue gave the trio a slow, respectful look but didn't really stop to admire them. He wished them peace and all that was good, but he had taken the care of the candidates upon himself. The boys were left behind after a time, once he'd done his best to give them a chance and make them feel better. It would appear that, like some of his brothers and sisters, he was going to choose to Impress a member of the opposite gender. What difference did it make? Perhaps he wouldn't; he could always go back and look about the boys again. He was a patient fellow who felt no hurry about going to do what he had to do. Not lazy at all, just very placid and content with his place in life. Each of the girls received the same slight pause, the same comforting presence as each of the boys had. He saw little different between the two groups of candidates.

There was his lifemate at last. He didn't change his task, pausing to give a peacefully look at the last couple of girls before her. Then he came to an entire stop and fixed his relaxed gave upon the only one for his. With great patience, he savored the feeling of Impression and finding her. Hello, QuinslieMine. Perhaps you would like to take your Esketh to be fed; he told her placidly. There was nothing but calm, gentle love and affectionate in his voice and in his heart. He was a simple but intelligent enough creature who felt emotion strongly, both his own and others. All he wanted was a good, nice life and nothing more; he wasn't complex because he didn't want to be. There was nothing simpler than knowing who she was and he stood, able and ready, in front of her. Though he would very much like some food.



Boy, you swallow truth like honey,
As you spew your lies upon me,
Sweet and smooth as it goes down.

[Kila]

Duilios was, at the very first, pleased to see a White come out of the Hatching. Whites on Pern were mutations that were few and far between. While the fact that they were a mutation in the first place and not common enough to be useful might have made him indifferent or even embittered towards the color, the fact that all of the select few Whites and their riders had gone down in the scrolls of Pernese history cloaked the little dragonet with a glittering veil of promise.

But there was something wrong. Duilios frowned as he peered at the Whites dead eyes. It was a deformation of a mutation. That was stretching it a little far for his approval. His whole-hearted joy at the emergence of the White, then, was only ephemeral. The hatching of the Blue he noted, but quickly, and returned to watching the rare, blind dragonet stumble around the Sands. There would be no grace in the life of this dragon.

What was this!? Duilios went rigid as the White suddenly altered its path in a decisive sort of way and began to awkwardly trot his way towards the Sands. Duilios was in the front row- the White was coming towards him- this was not OK. He quickly threw up every barricade his mind could supply, emitting nothing but defensive vibes and thoughts. This pitiful, crippled lily was not what he was destined to impress!

His precaution turned out to be superfluous, however, as the White had no interest in him, but rather went to a girl who was sitting a few feet away with a candidate robe balled up in her lap. The White grabbed the crumpled garment and forcefully pulled the surely surprised girl out onto the Sands to make the impression proper. But the happy little dragonet didn’t stop there. Addressing the entire cavern, the White cheerfully explained himself and his choice… and informed the collective assembled audience the maternal state of the Weyrwoman.

Duilios snapped his head around to look at Fajra. His initial reaction was surprise, but he then looked away in disgust, as if the topic were not appropriate for his noble ears. That’s right; her dragon had been flown after all. Pregnancy was a common side effect of flights. The fact that it was by O’sho, that detestable, disrespectful Bronze Rider who muddled his plans without even trying, that her child was derived that made the idea sour. The seed of a high rival was in his prize, and he didn’t like it one bit.

---

Likewise surprised by the announcement of the little White was the professed father himself. O'sho had no problem with the dragonett seeking out His Own in the Stands, for he would much rather the White find someone, anyone at all, than between for lack of a life mate. Much more lax in his adherence to historical example, O'sho smiled quietly to himself as the White tugged His, who turned out to have been a girl searched as a candidate anyway, onto the Sands.

When, the dragonett spoke, though, O'sho's smile dropped in surprise. Fajra was pregnant? How could that be- she hadn't said anything to him. She didn't even much care for him. But then, she wouldn't have have told him, he realized sadly. Perhaps it wasn't true... but there was no reason to doubt the White who, though blind, had sight special enough to seek out His from the crowd.

Looking over in the Weyrwoman's direction for confirmation, O'sho observed her expression. Though her face mainly wore shock, he could easily see the fury burning through. This mask was only twisted in place for a few moments, for Fajra directly began to look ill and raised a hand to her mouth. This tell tale action foresaw her turning to mask herself as she got sick.

Concerned and alarmed, O'sho abandoned his post and crossed the distance to Fajra's side. Reaching an arm softly around her shoulders, he rubbed her back. He had studied healing extensively under his father in his younger turns, so it was in a way that he knew would fend off the nausea for a short time. "Take it easy for now," he whispered, not bringing up the subject that had just been broached and was so obviously at hand. "Everyone is here. It's almost over." They were not the most comforting words he had in his head, but he knew it was what she needed to hear.

[123notit]

A blue was on the Sands now. Even with the new color on the Sands, it was a bit of a normal Hatching. A Mauling, a strange dragonet or two, nothing new except for cyans. But what was this? The white was going to the stands? Why would he be doing that? U'ar studied the scene, watching the little white wriggle and pull until he succeeded. Then he, surprisingly, talked to everyone.

U'ar found that odd. But he found the second message even odder. Fajra was pregnant? U'ar joined the many in staring at the Weyrwoman with wonder, just to see her turn and puke. Poor thing. She looked so surprised. It seemed that she didn't know about it.

And then something came along to take the attention off the Weyr woman. The Queen was hatched! This was followed by a bronze. A Queen and King- lovely. They stood next to each other like a brave royal pair, but then the little daydreaming cyan joined, making the scene slightly comical. U'ar smiled at the trio then applauded as the blue Impressed.

Tazar watched curiously as the white impressed out of the Stands. That wasn;t supposed to happen. And the Weyrwoman was pregnant? What was going on? He thought about it for only a minute as another egg cracking caught his attention. The Queen. Ah, she was lovely. One day, he decided, his dragon would fly her and the lovely lady, for a Queen would surely Impress only a pretty girl, that she Impressed.

But next Hatched was a Bronze! Finally. That had to be Tazar's dragon. He stood bravely next to the Queen and Tazar began to imagine himself standing protectively next to the Weyrwoman, there both to protect her and admire her. It would be perfect. He ignored as the cyan came up to the two and the blue Impressed, completely focused on the bronze.

[Admin]

C'est la vie here in my lonely,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie here in my lonely without him.

The very first egg in the very first row was shaking. The entire thing shook violently to the point where it was just vibrating, then it snapped apart into a collection of pieces. Bursting forward, the green dragonet flung her head about in the air, shaking off a bit of her green-gray egg with a spray of the gooey material from inside her old prison. She was an energetic little creature, with a little bit of bite to her. Once done cleaning off her head, she bared her teeth at all those assembled. She eyed her Queen and shimmery blue-green sisters and King brother out of her corner of one of her violently swirling eyes as well. Stupid egg, keeping her trapped inside for so long! Stupid grouping clutchsiblings, taking up all the attention! She looked just a bit grumpy and bitter about the entire affair of hatching. It had so not been worth it and now she was a bit upset.

Though not as large as green Gneith had been, she was a reasonably size green. And, boy, was she ever a green! She was a very lime-like shade of chartreuse with a lot of yellow in her hide. It was blinding, like a crash of color against your eyes. You didn't want to stare at it, but you simply had to as it slowly dissolved your eyes. In terms of being as bright as you could bright without starting to turning really yellow, she was awe inspiring, a color worse than lime even. If one looked past the blinding quality of the shade, it could be described as a little bit pretty, though she looked more nasty with the way she was holding herself. Eager to try to get to pick out her rider before any more of her siblings did, she leaped forward, then almost slipped as she was unable to coordinate her legs after that. Despite her energy, she had to slow.

It wasn't like she had a chance of doing anything that the gold dragonet didn't wish. Done surveying the domain in front of her with pride, she had started forward. Flanking her while holding his own proud stance, the bronze followed after her, matching her step for step. There had only been a moment of distraction by the brightly colored green. She was pretty too, like the cyan, but he had to protect his royal sister first and foremost. Despite his body language being more cheerful and happy than anything, he looked fierce enough to do the job he was doing. He carried himself well, showing his valiant nobleness with ease. He was a kingly, imperial, distinguished, impressive, magnificent, extraordinary young creature. a good soul with a little touch of ambition and plenty of pride, who beloved his sister and well acknowledged her beauty.

Unlike her brother, the cyan quickly got distracted. At first, it was her brilliant colored, glowering green sister. She tried to think up why the other hatchling might be upset, walking with her two royal siblings towards the candidates. She looked at the green dreamily as they passed her by, curious about her and a little worried that she wasn't alright. But the green was left behind and she tried to turn back to the task of playing a guard. However, there was something right there to distract her again; the candidates suddenly captured her attention. Lagging behind the other two, she stared at the group of humans that she suddenly noticed with interest. She needed one of those. That's what had been missing! She needed a rider! But which one? And was she supposed to pick a boy or girl? Whichever would do she supposed, whichever gender.

With slow, drifting steps, she approached them, giving each a dreamy glance or two. Her thoughts drifted as her movements did. Then she was just in front of one, the right one; it had been so easy to find her lifemate, in truth. Smiling a dragon's smiling at the girl, she looked into her eyes and her own dreamy eyes finally focused for a moment as Impression was made. We have so many things to do, SolMine, but the first thing you should do is feed your Eccolath; she told her new rider contently. She was a dreamer, full of big ideas and things to do, and definitely showed it, but that didn't mean she didn't plan on figuring out how to do some of the things she wanted to do somewhere in between all her dreaming. For the moment, she was just happy though, happy to be with her rider.

The gold ignored her cyan sister's desertion as she ignored her green sister's problems, pretending not to notice at all like the proper lady she was. With her bronze brother still in tow, she began to demurely inspect the girls, starting with the one after Sol at the end. None of the ones that remained seemed to be fitting amongst the first few she cast a glance at, but she didn't even once believe that one of her siblings would have dared to pick the one intended for her. She walked in a very proper fashion, taking small, delicate steps and carry herself in a manner befitting someone of her obvious rank. Unlike some of her lower ranking sisters, she did not 'bounce' or 'skip' or 'hop' in any way, shape, or form, and she certainly did not stumble. She was graceful and elegant, even if her wings and legs were too large for her body.

With careful inspection, she finally came upon the one that was intended for her and she came to a delicate stop. Making eye contact with the girl, she insured Impression while keeping a respectable distance and then sat down elegantly so as to speak with her lifemate. There were a few things that she had to make clear. AvelleMine, would you please stop slouching in that manner? It is not proper for you to stand in such a way if you are to ride your Callistath; she told the girl precisely and primly, fixing her with a poignant stare despite the polite way with which she phrased her comments. The young Queen was a creature, more a lady, who believed in proper manners and etiquette. She definitely expected her rider to immediately start acting in a way that befitted the fact that she now rode a gold.



C'est la vie here in my lonely,
C'est la vie,
C'est la vie here in my lonely without him.

[Nia]

It didn't take the Queen very long to break through the shell of her egg, and Avalle watched with interest as the Gold emerged out of her egg. She was pretty. No, that wasn't the right word, but it was close enough that Avalle stuck with it. Her hide was a very nice shade, a bright metallic yellow. Next to the Cyan, her shininess was obviously different, but still shiny and metallic. Avalle could see now that the Cyans were more glossy than plain metallic.

The Gold wasn't really a large one, Avalle could only barely tell this, but that was okay. Size didn't really matter. Okay, it kind of did, but she doubted any of the other female Candidates would care. She pulled her eyes off the Gold to look at the females gathered around to check their reactions. There weren't nearly as many girls left as she had expected there to be, as a lot of girls had already Impressed. What, did that mean she had a better chance? No, of course not and she shouldn't think like that! Avalle wasn't getting her hopes up when the Queen hadn't even started to look for her lifemate yet.

So she glanced at the other egg that was also hatching at this time, the large one near the remains of the Gold's egg. The dragonet inside quickly revealed himself to be a strong-looking Bronze. Huh, would you look at that. A King and a Queen hatching at the same time. But Avalle figured this type of thing happened often, Bronzes seemed to follow the Golds a lot. But this one was behaving strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, because he walked in a rather dignified way over towards his clutchsister. That was... kind of cute. Was he trying to be her knight or something? The way he stood at her side made Avalle sort of smile. Alright, that was cute too.

The Cyan had picked up on the Bronze's idea and had walked over to the Gold as well, standing on the other side. She looked almost ridiculous, standing there next to dragons so much bigger than her. But she still held her own, and Avalle had to admire that about her. She'd also broken out of her daydreams to go "help" the Queen. The little trio was very interesting, if not cute. A Green had hatched, and she was very... vibrant. In more than one sense of the word. She didn't really go towards the Queen as the Cyan had, but instead moved towards the Candidates, seemingly along with the trio anyway. But eventually the Cyan moved away from her clutchsister to Impress, and the Blue was already long gone.

The Queen hadn't noticed though. She just kept moving towards the girls. Of course she was going towards the girls, Queens didn't Impress to boys no matter what. It just didn't happen. The Gold inspected the Candidates thoroughly, and Avalle watched, wondering what exactly she was looking for. But she tried her best to just keep her mind calm and open, rather than extremely panicky and anxious. She looked very dignified, just as one her rank should look.

Avalle wasn't sure what to think about when the Gold approached her, but she didn't have much time to think about that, because soon she was looking into her eyes and then there was some sort of rainbow and waves of feelings and then she heard it. AvalleMine, would you please stop slouching in that manner? It is not proper for you to stand in such a way if you are to ride your Callistath.

[/i] Had she... Impressed? Obviously. She kind of stared blankly at the dragon in front of her before realizing that, yeah, she was slouching quite a bit. Well, she was tired.... "Uh... sorry, Callistath, it's a really bad habit," she said without really thinking about it. She'd Impressed... she'd Impressed the Queen.

Yulari uncoiled herself around Avalle's neck to get a closer look at the Gold, who was still looking at Avalle with that whirling gaze. Feeling as though she was required too anyway, she attempted to fix her posture the best she could. We're going to have to work on that, Callistath responded, and then she stood, feeling that Hers had corrected the little problem the best she could for now, but they were definitely going to practice later until she got it perfect. Now, let us go, I require some food, Callistath added as a sort of afterthought, and Avalle quickly nodded, still kind of lost with her Impression to really say anything intelligent.

They walked over to the feeding area in kind of a silence, but it wasn't an awkward silence. They were sharing each other's thoughts, so it wasn't really quiet. Yulari was very intrigued by Her's new addition, and crawled down the girl's arm to try and get as close as she could to this dragon with such a proud air without actually touching her. Arriving, Avalle didn't exactly know what to say to the other people gathered there, and with her heart was still beating from the anticipation of the Hatching that she didn't think she'd be able to say anything. But she did glance at O'ris with a small smile before finding a little place with enough meat to feed Callistath.

She could introduce herself to the other Weyrlings later (she already thought she recognized a few), right now Callistath needed food and her attention. Remember to go slow, Mine, Callistath coached Hers, who responded offhandedly with, "I know, I know," before starting to feed her dragon with a determined smile on her face. She resolved to improve her posture and all those other things that made a lady a lady, she was going to make Callistath proud. And herself proud... she'd been meaning to improve on these things for a while, she just never really had the oportunity to try.[/blockquote][/size]

[123notit]

The Queen Impressed! The Weyr would have another Queen and surely grow from it. Especially since the Queen seemed like a lovely, regal thing.

"They make a lovely pair, huh?" U'ar said to no one in particular.
His brown responded to him, though, having remained silent for most of the Hatching, watching it quietly and with interest.

~Yes, Mine. I don't know much about the Candidate she chose, but she looks capable. And this Gold seems to be very no-nonsense. It shall be a good balance with Kalith.~ He mused, a rumble in his throat as he prodded at Kalith quietly to his rider. It was true. Kalith was a good Queen, but not completely serious. This new Gold seemed to be already very mature. And the bronze flanking her would surely grow large and strong and most likely fly her.

Tazar watched as the trio soon dispersed and Impressed. Only the Bronze was left now. Well, besides the Green. And surely, now, the Bronze would turn to the boy line. He would come and come to Tazar. Tazar had managed to get a small glance at the new Queen rider. She wasn't too bad. Kinda angry-looking and small in many regards, but not unattractive. He could live with her as his Weyrwoman.

His harsh brown eyes focused on the Bronze, willing it with all his might to come to him. The Bronze was proud and valiant and perfect for him, he assured himself. He would, he must, have it as his dragon. It was the only thing to bring honor to himself int he eyes of his family. He wasn't worthless. He was better than Zarem. He had to be...in something. Even if it was something like impressing a King dragon. Something Zarem would never do. He'd show them all.