[E] Make Me Whole (Archith's 3rd Hatching)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

M'brey snorted out a laugh at Saddyris's response to Dyranor's words. In truth, he didn't know what it was that had been eating at his cousin lately, though he did know that the man had something on his mind. He let his grin flash out to his sister, then returned his attention to the Sands, just in time to witness the Impression of a Flame and a Citrine. Only one egg was left unhatched now. Only one, and quite the concentration of Candidates on the Sands still.

Crossing his fingers, M'brey hoped that all would go well.

[Kaya]

He waited. She had looked away and he waited. A still Bronze figure, scanning the curls her hair made, the tears that gathered at the edges of her eyes. There was more in there.

The last egg leaned slowly, inching to the ground. It hung there, almost placing its side to the sand. And then in one last, smooth movement, the egg completed its slow fall.

The Black looked at the Candidates, the people watching her, the crowd. She liked it. She gave a little shake, from her nose tip to tail tip. She nosed her way right into the middle of the Candidates. They would accommodate her. Not that one, no, not bad but not quite right, better for someone else. She stopped to find herself in front of the little Wood with the egg shell in her mouth. She turned her head to the size and gave her a good look. Too timid. Not otherwise bad. She snorted and gave the little Wood a push to the side. Get on with it then, she insisted. She looked up behind the Wood. Another face. Green eyes. Her eyes shifted to match the color. Yes. This one. Perfect. Ayrenn, Junwingth. Pleased to meet you. Junie is fine too. Let’s go. The twinkle in her eye could almost be a wink.

The Wood watched her sister Impress. Beautiful. She would find her one. Picked the shard up again. It had fallen when Junwingth had pushed her to get to her Rider. She needed to adjust her grip on it anyway, it was fine. She turned away from Junwingth, best to give those two their space. In that turn the little Wood got a sense of something earthy. It was a lot like a smell, but there wasn’t a breeze on the Sands, so it couldn’t be that. Something like it then. That rainy, dirt smell that she hadn’t known she missed. Had she herself even known it at all? She followed it to the middle of the line and presented the shard to the girl standing there. Keket. That’s what you’re called. I’m Parsynth. Do you know you are kind of like rain, and the ground, and the grass? They felt the same things now, Parsynth tried to put words to the not-smell, but her Keket should know now, even if they lacked the words for it. And that made all well with the world, having someone who would just know.

And during those two Impressions, with precision, the egg was pushed open along the cracks by the dragonet inside. A steady looking DarkBlue took a few uneven steps, stopped, and then took a few more steps. It went better that second time. Pleased, the DarkBlue took in his needs, his nagging stomach, and looked at the happenings around him. An easy solution then. He walked to the Candidates, looked slowly at several, moving his head slowly closer to each one until he was mere inches from them. He did this three times, but the last girl he chose. He pushed his head in the last bit of space and gave her a light bump on the head. The two laughed. A fine Impression.

Then there was only the Bronze. Slowly, Shazza was looking at him again. The Bronze sat up, only to slouch back. He had waited so patiently. It couldn’t be. No. She was different. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. He felt a tightening in his chest, like the folds around her eyes. He took the effort to stand, he crawled the six feet between them. Every step hurt, but his feet were fine. He saw them. Only sand. He looked up at her, then down at her legs. The Bronze brushed his head against the side of her right leg. Then he walked past her without a second look back.

His steps continued in their slow pace. Archith looked down at him. He looked up at his Gold mother. With the Sands so clear, the Gold decided to move. It was so short a distance she couldn’t glide well, so she left the ledge with a push and landed with a tremendous thud on the ground below. The Bronze pulled himself to her and curled up against her side. I am sorry, my child. Twenty minutes they sat like that. It was a painfully long time for them. Archith was grateful the world let them to it.

The Bronze looked up at the end of that powerful wave. He was very, very hungry. You know you must chose. The young one looked out at the crowds. He had seen them, each one, crowded by the heat and the life all around. Then, one spot. It was almost indistinguishable. The one that when he looked, he saw one standing there, and then, when he looked again, he blended in with the surroundings. That one. Then I chose, he proclaimed to his new Rider. The young man walked forward from the edge of the Stands, down the stairs and placed a calm hand on the small, but great, Bronze’s head.

My dragonets! Archith announced with the Impression of her ninth dragon. All alive, all Impressed, all healthy. And one unknown. With all her might and all her will she would make it ten.


---


Black (f) Junwingth
Name: Junwingth [dʒʌn wɪŋθ]
Hex color: 000000
Adult size: 26 feet
About: Junwingth needs to know the state of things, and her appraisal of a situation is the right one. She makes snap judgements that she’s resistant to change, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Junwingth won’t hesitate to change the social landscape, believes in her ability to do so, and is a bit of a social schemer to her own ends. She will nickname anything she deems worthy of being in her inner circle, despite protests by the recipient.

Wood Parsynth
Name: Parsynth (par-sinth) [pɑr sɪnθ]
Hex color: b4882f / a24600 / 652d03
Adult size: 18 feet
About: Parsynth loves the rain. She absorbs the experiences of others as if they were her own, filling in the details if need be. She takes great comfort in sharing her feelings with her Rider, though she can’t often find the right words. She’ll be an asset in the outdoors, tuning in to listen to nature’s secrets carried in the wind and streams.

DarkBlue Tonoth
Name: Tonoth (toe-noeth) [tonoθ]
Hex color: 01018f
Adult size: 27 feet
About: Tonoth is the precise, careful sort. He wants the best, real results the first time and loathes having to repeat work. Tonoth won’t hesitate to greet others with a push or a bump of the head. He has a particular fascination with eyes.

Bronze Hylozoth
Name: Hylozoth (hi-leh-zoth) [haɪ lə zɒθ]
Hex color: c0a108
Adult size: 39 feet
About: Hylozoth is the placid type, often awed and very respectful. He is a Bronze who holds thoughtfulness, nature and the sacredness of life as primary values. He is the one to sit and watch, and then even when he feels he has an understanding, will keep watching. He will not take the war well and struggle to find his identity in it, should it come to that.

[T'ren]

She watched the black, who'd shaken herself from tip of nose to tip of tail. There was a tug, a strange pull. A feeling she'd not felt before, and it was all very new and strange to her. The wood, who was also very close by drew Ayrenn's attention also. Her attention snapped back to the tug in her mind and a voice not familiar to her resounded in her head. Oh, yes. Yes my Junie we will go. A smile tugged at the corners of the new Weyrlings lips and she couldn't help but grin. She'd impressed! She did it! How wondrous and beautiful it was. A dream Ayrenn wasn't sure would come true had certainly done so. Hungry. Junwingth reminded Ayrenn as she stood still, astounded for a moment. Yes, hungry. Let us go feed you then. She replied with a stroke atop the black dragonets head. That was going to be an odd thing to get used to. No longer alone in her own head, her thoughts not only her own, but the blacks beside her as well. The pair made their way from the sands to feed Junwingth, Ayrenn having a new and exciting pep in her step.

[Nicole]

Jungwingth. Parsynth. Tonoth. Hylozoth. Healthy. Happy.

Mostly.

The Bronze should have chosen the girl on the Sands, for all her broken legs and bitter smile, but he had chosen a boy in the Stands instead, and Artemis wasn't sure it had been the right choice. He hadn't felt happy. His Impression was as all Impressions were - raw and energetic and worthy of her headache - but how he had gone about it had been... strange.

But Impressions could not be undone.

If they could, Artemis could think of a dozen people who would have tried to rip Zabrielth from her. More than a dozen. And she had - who, exactly, on her side? Rilora? Who would sacrifice her in an instant to save her Weyr. L'ras? He didn't know her.

She needed somebody who needed her.

Somebody alone, left wanting, hungry, with a gap in her heart and hope to fill. Somebody everybody else would overlook.

She stood and slipped from the Stands without casting a second look at Rilora.

[Kaya]

Good as any. Her conversation with Artemis had gotten rather quiet as that Bronze that stood still on the Sands. Rilora kept an eye on the other Impressions, still healthy. Good. Her concern rested with that Bronze. When she felt Archith gather up her son to her side she stiffened her lip and held in the tears. How awful. It made her feel nauseous to think of Artemis listening in. This was private. She was nosy. She would be listening.

When the feeling started to lift, Rilora caught the edge of Artemis trailing off. 'Good to see you, then,' the polite statement drifted through her thoughts. The AzureRider was already out of range for her voice. She had Hatching formalities to attend to in any case. She looked down at that Candidate girl on the Sands. She'd need to ask the Aerie to keep an ear open, in case she needed to be...well, stabilized. There was probably a better way to put it but her chest was in enough knots to make it difficult.

Time for congratulations and plentiful food then. She considered a glass of wine before deciding against it. Her sister would be there, and R'le. Not a wise decision.

[aliceinwonderland]

BEKHA

Bekha clapped giving excited cheers with everyone else when the dragons, one by one Impressed to their chosen ones.

She felt a little disappointed yes, she couldn't deny it, but she was young and she was practical, her being chosen as a Candidate had come out of no where, nobody in her family had ever been a dragonrider...ever..so yes she was disappointed enough that her sunny smile disappeared and she winced, grasping her tummy at it sunk to her toes.

But she was genuinely happy for the new Weyrlings and thought maybe her dragon just hadn't been here today. Her sister was waiting for her, somewhere..she just knew it!

What to do now? She began looking around..

******

T'AI


T'ai was carefully trying not to think about the raw meat that he was feeding to his new dragon partner. He forced himself to stay carefully blank and not react to the blood on his fingers and the nausea that responded deep in his belly, as Bodoth just as carefully accepted pieces of meet from his new bondmate, holding back from his natural tendency to butt his rider's wrists, knees anywhere he could reach in a demand to hurry him up.

But instinctively as the young dragon's awareness and personality continued to twin with the red-haired Candidate, he was aware of the young man's fear and horror of blood, so he tried..he really did, to be patient and chew as his he was told.

But he was unable to stop a yawn and a quiver in the Midnight hide over his haunches, coincided with his grunt, as belly full, his hide announced it was itchy.

Feeling better able to cope with this, then the raw meat, T'ai wiped his bloody fingers on a towell that was handed to him, and he began the process of cleaning the young Midnight, oiling him and getting him settled.

[Kitty]

Kitalia found herself rather distracted watching the hatching. Ayrenn was still on the sands and she was looking distressed. She would make it. Surely her lifemate was here! She had to be... Or he, she supposed. Well Kita continued to quietly feed Paigleth as she watched. Her baby was quickly growing full so she didn't mind the slow pace. But Kita watched what was happening on the sands. She watched a little black dragonet show off and then trot right over to... Yes! To Ayrenn! Kita screamed in delight for her friend. She had impressed! Her baby might be a handful in the future but she was hers!

Kita applauded as Ayrenn came to take her place with the new Weyrlings. Much to Kitas delight. Paigleth soon signaled that she was done eating so Kita moved on to bathing her gently and tenderly. She passed Ayrenn and spoke quickly and joyfully to her. "Congratulations!" She grinned to her before setting to her own task of cleaning and oiling her beloved dragonet.