Ayleneth's Hatching 73.11.18

[summerrain]

Yuki smiled up at D'gan, then returned her attention to the eggs. "You don't know how common Aurora dragons are," she said with a laugh. "In Ice Stone, there are usually Auroras everywhere you turn."

The second egg began to crack. The little Aurora went over to it, nosing at the cracks, as if trying to help his Clutchsibling. The egg fell apart, breaking into a few large pieces, and a lovely Pink shook herself free of the last bits of debris. She hummed along with the adult dragons, then searched for Hers. Once Hers was found, the pair Left the Sands.

The Aurora moved to a few other eggs. One was tiny, the smallest of the Clutch. The other was the same size as his own egg had been. There was much chirping from the small egg, but the dragonet didn't seem to be able to get free. The Aurora knew his Clutchsibling needed help, so he clawed at the egg, despite being sligtly off-balance.

Meanwhile, another egg at the other end was moving faster. Cracks ran up the egg, which then split and broke, revealing a very tired-looking Midnight. Either the egg had been harder than he'd thought, or he'd just given too much energy at one time. The Aurora looked over at the Midnight, then went back to helping what was sure to be the smallest of his Clutchsiblings. The Midnight went down the row of candidates, skipping the girls, and pondering the boys.

[darkwanderer]

Miros gazed at the young Midnight Dragonet, amazed by his blueish black hide. The Dragonet had left the clutch and was tottering towards the candidates, scrutinizing the boys and seemingly ignoring the girls. Miros held himself rigid, his nerves fried and the strain of the suspense beginning to show as he stood and waited tensely for the Dragonet's approach.

[Nicole]

As the Midnight and the Pink joined the Aurora on the Sands, Elora found herself unable to stop watching them all move around. The Aurora helping its siblings; the Midnight's determined indifference to the girls; the Pink's whirring eyes as she Impressed to a young girl.

Bonded forever. That was both an awe-inspiring and fearsome thing to think about; to have another half bonded to you for all eternity. Or until one died first.

Which usually didn't happen.

And Metanath and N'kio -- and all the other Riders -- adored it. But who wouldn't? Once you Impressed, nothing else mattered.

She took a small breath and let her eyes drift back over to the Aurora.

[Eirena]

Feeling refreshed and clean, Dagoniat felt like he belonged there with all the other Candidates. He looked the part in his pristine white robe, had on his proper shoes, and looked like he actually cared. Which he did. He was a representation of Rainbow Mists Weyr, and he certainly wanted to do his beloved Weyr proud. Surely none could find fault with how he looked at the moment, though perhaps he could have brushed his hair one more time before heading to the Sands. But he had already been late, it would have been rude to wait any longer. One of the eggs had already been hatched!

He watched the eggs, noting now that the aurora was moving about those eggs that were shaking the most. Auroras were females only, right? He couldn't remember. He had thought so previously, the only aurora in the Weyr was female, the mother of the clutch. This one did seem less feminine, but perhaps he was simply mistaken. Maybe the aurora might be interested? Unlikely. Was it likely? This was terribly difficult, just trying to contemplate the single dragonet that was on the sands, what gender it might be and if it might look to him. It was beginning to make him just a tad bit nervous.

So he focused instead on the aurora hatchling's actions. The first dragonet was clawing at an egg, and out spilled a little pink hatchling. Female, most certainly. And pinks looked to girls, so she was most certainly not for him. Two hatched of the seven, and neither seemed a likely suit for him. That left five chances left to him inside this clutch, though as a weyrbrat himself Dag knew that there were always other clutches. He was not yet too old, and there were far more clutching dragons than there had been in the past. He certainly would have more chances if none of these seven turned to him.

A third egg broke open, on its own and without the help of the aurora. Further away from the other eggs, the newborn midnight dragon stood proudly. Or, Dag thought it was a bit proud, not that there was anything wrong with a proud dragon. Or maybe he wasn't proud at all, Dag really knew better than to make assumptions like he was, perhaps he should sit quietly and watch the dragons? Not that he was making noise, he was simply over-thinking everything that he could possibly over-think.

While the aurora and the pink remained among the eggs, the midnight was on the move. Midnights could traditionally Impress either gender, but this one in particular seemed to move past the female Candidates more quickly than the males. Was he looking only at the boys then? Dag tried not to get his hopes up, he had been here on the Sands so many times before with no luck yet. But it only happened once, didn't it? Even if he had more opportunities ahead, it could happen today, couldn't it?

He watched the midnight move, certain that though the aurora had hatched first, the midnight would be the first to Impress. Who would be the lucky one to make the first Impression today? Likely a boy, if the midnight had any say, it seemed!

[phantomofthewolves]

Miska watched as two more eggs hatched, one contained a pink dragon, the other was like the midnight sky. The pink Impressed quickly, and Miska sighed quietly. A pink would have been nice, but fair is fair; she Impressed to someone else. The midnight passed over her and and all the other girls, favoring the boys. She turned her attention back on the Aurora, hoping that it would choose her as its rider. She groaned as it walked toward the other eggs; will she ever Impress?

[Void]

The Pink had hatched second and took no time finding Hers. In the back of Svak's mind she heard the crowed exclaim at the first Impression. But Svak's attention was fully on the sands. The Aurora seemed intent on helping with the smallest of the eggs. The next to hatch was a Midnight true to his name. He passed Svak and the other girls with hardly a second glance. She sighed, and looked back towards the Aurora curious what his efforts would bring forth.

[summerrain]

Kokoro watched as the pink dragonet found Hers and left. She then turned her attention to the Midnight.

The Midnight stopped at the end of the row of Candidates, then turned back toward them. This couldn't be right. His wasn't among the boys... So His must be one of the girls. He went back down the line, this time ignoring the boys and focusing on the girls. He stopped in front of Svak and looked at her.

SvakMine, your Tsubareth is tired... Won't you feed your Tsubareth?

Midnight Tsubareth, Impressed to Svak
Name: SU-bar-eth
Hex color: #1b1b1e #09096d
Adult size: 27 feet
About: Tsubareth prefers the hours of the night to those of sunlight. He is respectful, like his Aurora brother, but prefers to keep himself uninvolved with small squabbles that do not affect the Weyr as a whole.

The Aurora stopped trying to break the small egg when a large crack suddenly appeared down the middle. For some reason, the egg stopped shaking, though chirping and other noises could still be heard from inside. It was as if the hatchling within was unhappy with the fact that it's brother was trying to help.

Meanwhile, the egg next to the smallest began rocking, small cracks appearing on various areas of the egg. The Aurora turned his attention to this egg, watching it, but not touching it.

[Void]

Svak had been watching the Aurora claw at the egg when she noticed the Midnight coming back down the line, this time ignoring the boys and focusing on the girls. He resolutely walked passed each girl inspecting with a critical eye. She watched the dragonet, enraptured by his namesake coloration. Mentally Svak was terrified with the whole process of Hatching. So much was going on so many noises, so much light, so many people. She suddenly felt comforted and slightly calmer. She focused back into reality snapping out of the brief moment of terror she had allowed herself to fall into and stared directly into the eyes of the Midnight. Everything else fell away. Nothing else mattered, not the noises, or the light, or the crowds of people. Only those eyes and this new feeling of, wholeness. How long she had just stood there looking into those whirling voids of color she did not know. She just knew that new emotions and senses were running through her mind, these things she had never before experienced. Then as the emotions grew stronger so did something else. A deep ache in her stomach the grew to incredible ferocity and a slight numbness in her body that one feel after running for miles and suddenly stops.

SvakMine, your Tsubareth is tired... Won't you feed your Tsubareth?
"Of course Tsubareth" Svak whispered after a second, feeling the name for the first time, "Food is something we both can agree on, I haven't eaten either." And with that agreement Svak stood up. She had not even noticed she had slid to her knees when she first looked into Tsubareth's eyes. They both walked off the sands towards the agreement of food.

I was found. Svak thought in shock looking at the piece of night sky walking beside her.

Of course you were Mine. I can not be the night by myself.

[darkwanderer]

Miros watched as the Midnight Dragonet came trundling back up the line of Candidates. Now Miros noted he was ignored by the beast as it inspected all the girls. The stunning creature came to a halt in front of Svak and Miros realised with a happy jolt that she had just Impressed! He grinned, wanting to say something in congratulations, but not wishing to break the spell of the most wonderful moment of her life. She was now a Dragonrider, of a beautiful Midnight beast! He watched them make their way off the sands until they disappeared from view. He turned his attention back to the clutch, where more eggs were beginning to shake and stir.
Good for you Svak

[Nicole]

Svak. Elora's brain helpfully supplied the name of the girl that the Midnight Impressed. Elora offered her a small smile as she walked out, but the girl was oblivious -- too enamored by the beautiful dragon she had impressed.

Elora vaguely realized she thought every dragon was beautiful. Strangely, she didn't have a problem with that.

She redirected her attention back to the Aurora and the dragonet she was trying to help. The chirps from inside the Egg made her smile. She sounded annoyed. Good. You tell her. You can climb out yourself.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar and Jatheiron had joined in the cheering when the Pink Impressed. After all, cheering was basically mandatory. There was a pause then, as the Aurora tried to help siblings into the world and the Midnight walked around the sands, inspecting the boys first, before moving over to walk along the girls. Then there was another round of cheering, which K’tar launched with a whoop that made Jatheiron elbow him while joining the cheering in a more restrained fashion, as befitting the heir to a Major Hold.

“Way to go, Svak!” K’tar called out, grinning, though the sound didn’t carry far. Catching sight of a flash of purple from the cliff-top on the far side of the Sands, he found himself staring at Viarth, recalling every sensation of the moment that they met.

Actually, your nose was sunburnt. I had to choose you quickly, or they all would have been laughing at you.

K’tar smothered a laugh. He retained sufficient knowledge of manners to do that much, at least.

[Shoki]

Cyanee was standing next to the other candidates, watching the eggs on the sand. The hatching was exciting, but even though her eyes were glued to the sands, something was tickling her brain. Her big brother's words had gotten into her head and she didn't really understand them at all. Still she thought about it.

"Listen. When you go in there, you are allowed expectations. You can think whatever you want, you were searched because you think that way. Once the hatching is over, whatever happens, you have to deal with it. You can't run away, you can't hide away, just take it, and live with it. Good luck Cyan."

Cyan's hands ran across her white robe, not having string to toy with. She knew Cr'wean was watching, and even Kiyosh had found a place though she found the idea of a public hatching weird. She didn't know if that made her any more nervous then she would have been but she knew that she didn't know what her brother expected. Why did he have to say that right before she went onto the sands? Now she was thinking about his words while trying to watch all the dragons, and deal with the excitement. It was a strange feeling trying to deal with all at the same time. She usually didn't worry, but now there was something like worry getting to her.

Even as thoughts buzzed around her her attention was drawn to the struggling egg. What was this? Did dragonets have issues getting out of eggs? It felt like they shouldn't, after all weren't dragons really strong? Cyan's dark eyes locked on the egg and its Aurora sibling, loosing a little of the tense feeling in her hands that she didn't know she had. She didn't know that her brother was silently watching, along with his Lifewing.

[summerrain]

The smallest egg began moving again, only slightly. Ayleneth looked over at the small egg, a worried glimmer in her eyes. The little one inside, she knew it wasn't strong enough to break the shell on it's own. But it was too stuborn to accept help from a Clutchsibling. Suddenly, a mental cry for help resonated from the egg, audible to all dragons, but only one of the people.

Kokoro had been near the back, waiting for the Hatching to end. Her dream was to fly on the back of a Silver dragoness, and she knew a Clutch with an Aurora as the Queen had no chance of producing what she wished for. But when the mental cry went out, she gasped softly. She made her way through the other Candidates. Then she did the one thing they'd been told not to do. Interfere with the Hatching. Ayleneth turned to the girl in understandable anger, but calmed down when she saw the object of the girl's focus. The smallest egg. That confirmed it for the Clutchmother.

Kokoro fell to her knees next to the smallest egg and began tearing atthe cracks. Soon enough, a small White dragoness was unfurling itself. It turned toward the girl, and their eyes met.

KokoroMine, what took you so long? The voice resounded within the girl's skull, shocking her. The emotion was rare to see on the tranquil girl's face. Your Angeth is hungry. Can we get food now?

"Of... Of course, Angeth," Kokoro replied. The dragoness was small enough that Kokoro was able to pick the White up, holding the dragonet in her arms as she left the Sands.

White (f) Angeth
Name: ANJ-eth
Hex color: #fefefe
Adult size: 16 feet
About: Angeth is one who will strengthen as she matures. She does not like being told that she can't do something, and tends to brood when she is unable to achieve what she wants.

Meanwhile, another egg had begun moving. This one was closer to the Clutchmother, as if under special protection.

[kelsin]

Kelsira stood with the other female candidates, though slightly towards the back so as not to block their view with her height. Outwardly calm, her thoughts were racing through her head. She'd paid close attention to the Candidate master's hurried final instructions as they'd made their way onto the sands. Her brother V'len had given her a pep talk of sorts beforehand, telling her to trust her instincts and to enjoy the event no matter what happened. Kel cheered along with the rest as the eggs began to hatch and find their riders. With each Impression, she began to doubt that her dragon was in this clutch. There were so few eggs left, and there were more candidates than eggs.

A smile crossed her face as the small white dragon hatched with the help of a candidate. The thought of what could've happened had its rider not been there was a sobering one, causing Kelsira to take a good look at the rest of the eggs. She hoped that the rest of them would hatch smoothly.

[Eirena]

The pink had Impressed first, even though the midnight seemed so intent. She hadn't waited around like Dag had originally thought she had, but then he hadn't really been paying attention to her. Pinks went for females, she would never have wanted him. First hatched, aurora, first Impressed, pink. With a midnight on the Sands also, and four eggs left of the original seven, most of which seemed to be moving to some degree or other. Dagoniat was trying hard not to be nervous, like he always ended up being at the end of a hatching, but it was hard just standing there, thinking about whether or not you will find the dragon that is right for you, whether or not any dragon would ever be right for you. He fidgeted a bit with a loose string on the sleeve of his Candidate's robe, wondering why he hadn't noticed it before and if it made him look like he was in shambles. Robes should be pristine, to prove that the Weyr was capable and proud.

Dag watched as the little midnight walked past him, after contemplating for the smallest of moments, just enough to make his heart race. But it wasn't to be. He watched as the dragonet walked all the way to the end of the line, then paused and seemed distressed for a moment, which likely caused a lot of distress for everyone who was paying attention. No one wanted to see a dragonet between because they couldn't find theirs! Fortunately, instead of shrieking or doing anything obscene, the hatchling merely turned around and began to look at the female Candidates and ignore the boys. The midnight stopped in front of a girl and Impression was made. Dag smiled for them, but then respectfully turned his eyes back to those that were still unclaimed on the Sands.

The aurora seemed to be far more interested in seeing its clutchmates hatch safely than finding itself a bondmate. Dag still wasn't entirely certain that auroras could be males, but it was a bit more intriguing. Females could help other dragons too, most certainly, but there was the way that this one seemed to be doing it. It simply appeared more masculine to Dag.

He watched as the aurora turned its attention to an egg that seemed to be shaking considerably. However, the first hatchling did not touch this egg, merely looked at it. The egg was small, the smallest of the clutch easily. After a few moments, something changed. A girl raced forward from the lines to help the little egg break open, and pulled a tiny white hatchling out of the remnants of the shell. Dag swelled with pride, happy to see such devotion from any Candidate of Rainbow Mists Weyr. Even as he watched her carry her dragonet off, he believed that the best of Candidates came to his Weyr.

Pink, midnight, and white all Impressed. An aurora on the Sands, and three eggs still left unopened. One close to the clutchmother was shaking more violently now, and Dag was left to watch and contemplate the hatching so far. All three Impressions were to girls. Four chances left, and how many of those would prefer female Candidates to males? He glanced down the row of Candidates, noting the boys standing there, all looking as eager as he felt himself. Would any of them be chosen?

Uncertainly, but determinedly, Dag stared back at the remaining few from the small clutch of the non-queen clutchmother. She had done well, in his mind, to produce at all. And of the seven, four had hatched, three had Impressed, and the other eggs all seemed to be moving at least a little. Yes, today would make any dragonrider proud, to know that there were healthy happy hatchlings running about. Still, he waited, to see if he would be able to Impress today, or if he would have to wait for the next clutching dragoness to rise.