Death Brings Three | Saphireth's Hatching (RMW / 13.15)

[summerrain]

Tera spotted T'kar, her Wingleader, on a ledge not too far from the one Picosith had settled on. She sighed and shook her head. She hadn't been in the air in sevendays due to her mental state, which was only just starting to restabilize. She had retained enough common sense after seeing Metanath and N'kio go between that she knew if she'd gotten back in the air the people who said she was too young would just say they were right. She climbed back onto Picosith's back, but didn't strap herself in. She sat there, appearing to watch the Hatching, but lost in her own thoughts as usual. Picosith stopped humming and turned her head to look at the child.

Tera, you must get past this... the Wood dragoness said quietly.

Easy for you to say... Dragons live for the moment. I've noticed... Saphireth doesn't even seem all that upset about it most of the time... She ran her arm across her face, wiping at her eyes. They're right... I'm just a kid... Someone like me has no place in an adult's Wing. She wrapped her arms around Picosith's head. Tera hoped no one noticed their exchange. She didn't want to ruin the Hatching for the others. She sat back and found herself coughing again, despite having been out of the air for a while. Going to the Aerie hadn't helped. She knew there wasn't anything to do but wait for it to subside. But who knew how long that would take...

[Breeze]

Kyton hadn’t expected the egg to hatch in quite the manner it had, and barely suppressed the urge to take a step back, locking his knees in place as he fixed his gaze on the small brown dragonet. It was hard to imagine that the wet creature would grow into something to resemble the browns that he had seen—right now he simply reminded Kyton of a fish flopping out of the water. A brown first was a good sign though, wasn’t it?

Kyton set his jaw, shifting back on his heels, waiting for the dragonet to move or the other two eggs to crack, unsure of what to expect. He glanced out of his peripherals, trying to see how the other candidates were reacting to the hatching of the first egg—forcing his nervousness about impressing further down as he tightened his grip on his wrist behind his back.

[shapeshifter]

Her eyes lit up with excitement as a Brown made his appearance. Her second Standing as a Candidate felt more like her second chance at the life she dreamed of. Well, actually it was. Her thoughts tended to not make much sense in times of excitement.

She found herself clenching her teeth, a small grin on her face. Her focus turned to the other two eggs, feeling excitement rise hard in her chest. She swayed slightly on her feet, watching the Clutch Mother...knowing one day maybe her dragon would lay a clutch of her own. Impression had been desired even higher after her last encounter with her Ice Stone friend J'lall's impression of his Purple Majith. Saphierah had also seemed to find herself friendless at Rainbow Mists, with only scrolls, Harper's tales and history books to keep her company.

[falcon]

The brown moved. Richet creeped back a bit, eyes flashing as she did so. He was large, awkward, and nothing like the massive adult dragons that roamed the Weyr. Perhaps his rider would love him, but Richet felt nothing except for perhaps curiosity.

How did the little dragons act?

She watched closely, perhaps a little too entranced.

[Shoki]

The small horde around Kashpa let out a ‘ooo’ at the reveal of the Brown, and a few of the boys looked somewhat envious. She smirked a bit and adjusted slightly to keep her gaze on all of the children as well as the sands. She kinda had to keep her eyes more on the kids though, they were a wriggly bunch, at least as a group. So she was getting one of the girls to sit down properly before taking another glance at the sands. Now that she could actually see the sands, not just imagine them, she could almost see her younger brother dressed in white, more excited than anyone, ready for an adventure. She smirked again and returned her attention to the children, grateful that for the most part their attention was one the sands. A good distraction had them mostly behaving. That and they liked her, something she was grateful for.

She felt a tug on her sleeve, and leaned in toward the boy sitting next to her who was the offender. She looked at him with a curious smile as he leaned up to whisper in her ear.

“Do you think I might impress someday?” Kashpa smiled softly and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“I’m not a dragon, but I think you’d make a great rider someday.” The boy smiled, beaming. She couldn’t promise anyone a future, but she could give her opinion. For now, well wishes and baby-sitting were what she could do. Well, that and perform, but one thing at a time. They returned their attentions to the sand.

---

D’ziel was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. It wasn’t exactly the walls, but he had been avoiding people, just in general and he didn’t really feel in the mood with so many people. At least when one of them was the Weyrleader.

“Of course. If you will all excuse me.” He dimly went to a distant seat, looking for the least amount of people around him. He was still arranging this when an egg cracked open. He paused and sent to Hocteth, getting a seat shortly after. The Moonlight should be proud, a good Brown hatching, even if the clutch was small. His gaze migrated naturally, over to where Elora was, and let out a breath. At least she looked okay. Still, he looked okay on the outside, he suspected she was still dealing with it. He was, even if he was at least thinking through it. He was still stuck though, stuck on the point of Why. He soundlessly drifted into thought, his small raft threatening to flip and send him overboard.

---

Mau involuntary breathed in too quick and coughed again briefly. Stupid cough, she could swear her insides were bruised from coughing so much. She couldn’t show it though. So T’kar’s remark, or rather order, was quickly internalized even if she couldn’t quite hide the look of ‘not again’.

“Yes sir…” She should just get a cot in the Aerie at this point. She was basically going to be living there until the fires stopped.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Something was not right with the Hocteth’s rider, but, well…

Later, keep eyes on him in case, but sometimes you just need to be alone. After all, T’kar couldn’t very well fault the man for dealing with a problem by means of a similar solution to his own.

With a nod to Mau and Holt, T’kar strode off. He knew the exact place he wanted to watch from.

Glancing down at the eggs, he smiled. “Brown first, not bad, not bad at all,” he murmured to himself, leaning against the wall.

[Nicole]

The Brown, his wings and claws covered in sand, stood in the center of the Candidates. His was here. He could feel it, he knew it, but why must they be so difficult to find? They should be together!

With eyes whirling and head swinging from side to side, he prowled closer to some of the female Candidates. Was his hiding behind one of them? Were they trying to keep them apart? That would not do at all. Not at all.

Behind him, one of the other Eggs fissured and cracked, splitting neatly in the middle. A nose appeared, pressed up against it, green and twitching.

Just as the Jungle pushed their way out of the egg, the Brown knocked Shazza over, claws tangling in her legs. But the direction she had been looking did not contain His, he squeaked apologetically and turned towards the male Candidates.

[summerrain]

Among the little kids that Kashpa was watching was a little girl with coppery blond curls and brown eyes flecked with green. She looked up and saw Ayleneth on a ledge across the sands and smiled.

"That mama's dwagon," she said, pointing. Then she looked back at the dragons on the Sands. "Bwown... And Gween!"

"No Yura, that's called a Jungle," said one of the older girls. Yura's head tilted to the side.

"Jungwe...?" Yura echoed.

"Yep. That's a Jungle. And it looks like a good sized one too!" The girl was excited, but she sat with Yura in her lap. Normally mischievous, Yura sat still today. "Ah, hey! Don't lean so far over the rail!" the girl called to one of the boys. "You might fall in!" He turned and smiled apologetically at the girl holding Yura, then went back to watching the Hatching, this time standing up straight. The girl sighed. "I really can't take them anywhere, can I Yura?"

Yura shook her head. "Kenta silly," she said with a laugh.

"Yep. Kenta sure is silly."

"Wen fun."

"Silly girl. It's Rin, not Wen," she said with a laugh. Rin looked up at the Sands, watching the dragons. "Maybe the two of us will be down there one day..." she said wistfully.

[Shoki]

D’ziel’s eyes caught movement and he lurched forward, out of his thoughts. The Brown had pushed his way over one of the candidates and that made him frown. However, he was on his way a moment later, which left him to look at the other eggs. Or rather egg. A Jungle had appeared out of one of the eggs and D’ziel sent that along too. A swelled up sense of pride seeped into D’ziel, though he shooed it away.

Two fine dragons had hatched, Hocteth was proud. The Moonlight couldn’t ask for much more. There still remained an egg to hatch, and the dragonets hadn’t impressed yet, but he was hopeful. He reached out with his mind, gingerly, to try and get a bit more than the images that D’ziel had provided, to find he was trying to block him out. The Moonlight let out a long breath and settled. Their dynamic had shifted to one where D’ziel was controlling the pace of conversation, not him. Hocteth didn’t want to push it. It would continue until D’ziel found some sort of answer for himself. What that was? He had no idea.

---

Kashpa leaned over to check down the row, where one of the boys was trying to get too close a look, but was wrangled back. She soon had her lap full, as one of the girls was so shocked that the brown had barreled over a candidate that she leapt into Kashpa’s arms.

“Whoa, settle down.” Kashpa situated the girl so that she could sit on her lap. The girl settled quickly, still watching the hatching, owl eyed. The harper smiled and took a chance to glance at the sands. Brown and Jungle, huh? There were going to be some lucky lads this day. She continued to watch, looking amused. They were a fairly well behaved bunch, even with their tendency to want to wander. Speaking of which, one of her boys was trying to climb to the seat above him.

“Tynel, sit in your seat.” She did say mostly well behaved…

[Breeze]

He visibly paled as the brown tangled in Shazza's legs, taking a small step back, eyes widening. Up until this point he had disregarded the fact that accidents happened during hatchings, that the awkward small creatures were widely unaware of the harm they could cause with a brief touch of a claw. Kyton tightened his grip on his wrist further as he felt his hands shaking, he couldn't let everyone find out that he was as fearless as he appeared-especially not now. Not with the dragonets that had hatched so far being those that typically impressed males.

Get a grip and stop shaking! He scolded himself in a voice reminiscent of his father, taking a step to resume his previous place, blanking the emotion from his face. The only indication of how he felt was the mixture of worry and fear apparent in his eyes. He looked away from the brown and Shazza, training his eyes on the unhatched egg, focusing on breathing evenly and hiding how shaken he felt.

[falcon]

She did not expect someone to actually get hurt. The claws took Shazza's legs and Richet responded on pure instinct-- which was, to say, that she froze like a deer in the headlights.

The confidence rattled. It wasn't going to happen to her, she said, but blood thundered in her ears.

How much blood was there on the sands? More than she'd ever seen? Swallowing, Richet stepped back behind the others. Instantly her thoughts turned to survival-- if she had to throw another girl in the way of a rampaging dragonet, she would.

[Nicole]

Neither of the dragonets had Impressed yet. They took their time, wandering between Candidates - leaving some bloody, in the case of Shazza, her poor legs mangled - and looking. Looking hard and looking wide.

It sent nerves up Elora's spine that only Saphireth could calm; Saphireth, who reminder her patiently and calmly that these things took time, and that not everybody knew precisely who they wanted, or could find them, and they had just hatched. Trust her children.

And as the Jungle and Brown passed each other, refusing to engage in the squabbling antics that so many newly hatched dragonets seemed to revel in, the last egg fell over and rolled slightly before a little claw pushed its way out.

Then a wing. And another claw.

And then, with bits of shell clinging to it, a little Purple wandered out onto the Sands. If she had been combined with her siblings, they would form some sort of exotic flower; the Brown for the base, the Jungle for the stem, and the pretty Purple preening at the top.

At least, that's what Elora thought.

But the Purple merely shook its head and, with a steadfast determination and pride that the other two hadn't shown, walked towards the boys.

[shapeshifter]

Saphierah gazed at the Jungle and Brown dragonets in awe. They were all heading towards the males, which concerned her. Was she not good enough? Again? She sighed and felt this fear rising in her chest; the fear of disappointment.

She swayed from side to side, watching the unhatched-...wait, is that? She paused and held her breath as a wing and then a claw began to appear from the inside of the shell. Then, it emerged. A little purple. It was amazing watching these dragonets Hatch and search for their mines, bloody mess and all.

[Shoki]

Purple.

D’ziel watched the three dragonets on the sand and could feel Hocteth’s pride washing over him. He stood his ground though. The Moonlight was pondering something, and considering how D’ziel was tuning him out, he was confident he could sneak over for a quick look and be off before anyone was the wiser. So he took off with care and glided over to the sands to poke his head in. He just needed a moment.

So the Moonlight looked down into the sands, looking and seeing them all. One little Brown, one little Jungle, and finally one little Purple. Yes, that was enough for him. He looked once toward Saphireth before ducking out like D’ziel would want. Everything would be fine with them, yes?

---

Some of the small girls ‘ooo’ed when the Purple hatched. They loved the sight of the colorful dragon and Kashpa chuckled at their responses. It was cute how the boys latched their eyes on the Brown while the girls went for the Purple. She could see some of them wishing quietly, and who knew, one of them could be a rider someday. She looked pleased at the thought. Still, a moment later she looked out onto the sands and wondered quietly who was going to impress today. It might be a spectacular impression. As a harper, she hoped that was the case. Though, she knew, the humblest of beginnings could start the greatest of adventures, so ordinary impression was alright as well.

She just couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

[Kaya]

They said it happened fast. Kheveptsol hadn't believed them. He had been out in the herding fields. The disgusting air that cling to this valley had left him red eyed and coughing since he arrived about a month ago. Smart people would move to higher ground. His people did have the advantage of being mobile. These people did not.

He had been out in the field working with a particularly ailed beast. She had lost her calves earlier that Turn and with the smoke had never really recovered. So it took longer for word to reach him than it should have. It took him longer to get to the Sands than it should have. Repeat. He had considered going straight to the Sands without venturing into the unpleasant caverns that made up the quarters for his fellow Candidates, few of whom he was more than simply acquainted. But his people put stock in certain traditions, and especially luck. So in that line of thought, to forestall misfortune, Kheveptsol had detoured (as he viewed it) to acquire his robe and sandals, incredible impractical things that they were.

As he stepped onto the Sands, unbearably muggy and hot in the southern summer heat, he choked. A sputtering cough shook him. He walked much more tentatively on towards the others after. He was in time to see the Purple break free of the egg, a fascinating way to be born really. What else in the world of large beings was born in such a fashion? He couldn't think of any. As he took stock of the event before him (three dragons now, all hatched), his eyes fell upon the bright red amongst the white and sand. He held back the shudder but it was still visible, if lessened. A canine struck by a hoof belonging to a randy spring goat. A young goat bleeding from an overaggressive canine. It happened, not often, but it did. It seemed humans and dragons were no different. The sight slowed his steps further. As he struggled to pick up a foot he realized he was not treating this right at all. This was a Hatching day, meant to be faced bravely by brave souls. Look, he told himself, Ahead. There is even a Brown just as you dreamed. Sense of purpose renewed Kheveptsol picked up his steps to stand near the other male Candidates, leaving plenty of room around the dragonets. He did feel the twinge of his dreams pang his chest when he looked at that Brown, but it was the way of these people to wait with courage. So with his chin up, perhaps too much to reassure himself, Kheveptsol waited.