Amath's Clutch - Touching.... HATCHING

[Dragon]

Sh'ven and Cele winced in unison as the second diseased dragon hatched. The poor thing didn't even seem to have the energy to move. Cele's eyes drifted over to her Bonded, tears falling unchecked from her eyes from the combined sorrow of herself and Amath. Both were wondering the same things. What had gone wrong? Was it some fault of Amath's? Or of Sephiroth. The thought of the Onyx made Cele look around, spotting him just as he put the second diseased one out of her misery. Ah, the poor thing. As Sephiroth's keen of pain rang through the air and he took to the skies, Cele's tears increased. How many more would there be? What was wrong? All these questions, none of which were likely to be answered any time soon. Celestia hurried to wipe at her face as her tears began to impede her vision, blurring everything together into a mass of colours.

She stared at Amath, who was gazing at her with the same pained expression in her eyes that Cele knew was also in her gaze. She knew, more then anything, Amath wanted to take off after Sephiroth, escape the pain of watching her precious children die, eaten alive by maggots and some unknown disease. But she would stay, wait this out. After all, there were healthy ones too. She would be here to watch them find their life-mates. A bit of light in a very dark day.

Sh'ven was pacing now. He couldn't help it. He wanted to stop looking at the clutch, forget the disease that was evident in two of the hatchlings now. But he couldn't tear his eyes away. Even as he paced, his gaze was locked on the rest of the clutch. He barely managed to clap as the blond girl, He remembered her name was Niora, Impressed to the little purple, the first of the Clutch to find it's Bonded. Well, that was good at least. While the Purple seemed a bit odd, even among the many odd dragons here at Vyrzen, she was evidently healthy. And the two others to hatch, the one seemed as if she should be a Scarlet, though upon close inspection he identified her as a Copper. And she was certainly huge. About the size of the average Silver. And the interesting Scarlet, with the little heart-shaped patch on his hide.

Sh'ven scanned the crowd of boys now, finally able to tear his eyes away from the horror of the hatching to eye the boys with interest. To whom would this Scarlet Impress? He was interested to find out, since his Minth was a Scarlet. He had to hold back a laugh as he realized he would probably watch the Scarlets more then any other at all the Hatchings, and then ended up mentally scolding himself for even feeling the urge to laugh at such a bleak time as this. Well, he could be losing his mind. That was always likely, more so now that he was Candidate master. Shaking his head, he turned back to the clutch. It seemed another egg was hatching, right behind where the Copper-Scarlet sat. The Copper seemed oblivious to the hatching of her sibling behind her, as she absently scanned the crowd of girls in search of her Mine.

The young dragon forced its way out of the egg, shattering it's shell as it leaped out. Not knowing that it's clutch-sister was sitting right outside it's egg, the Aqua landed on the Copper, giving a half terrified, half surprised creel. A great cloud of sand rose into the air as the two landed in a tangled heap of graceful and angry Copper, and awkward and confused Aqua. The massive Copper gave an angry hiss as she disentangled herself from the Aqua, backing away and dashing off toward the girls, evidently ready to find Hers now. The Aqua pulled himself up from the sands, disentangling him strange body. He seemed to be wrapped in his overly-long tail. In fact, all of him seemed to be too long and narrow. He had a very serpent like body, with longer-narrower wings. And what appeared to be fin-like ridges on the sides of his head. His hide was a bright, startling blue like the sky in Southern on the clearest day. From the underside of his chin, all along his belly to the underside of his tail is a darker, duskier shade of blue.

Altogether, this little Aqua seemed more sea-serpent then dragon. He seemed to have disentangled himself now, and was happily bounding over the sands, weaving in and out of his unhatched brothers and sisters. However, the little one seemed to be still getting used to his strange body, and his tail tangled in his feet again, causing him to go sprawling into one of the eggs, which cracked open immediately even though it was one of the unmoving ones. Why it was so still became apparent as the hatchling inside became visible. The aqua gave a squeak of distress and bounded off again, toward the group of boys where His waited. The newly hatched dragon, however, didn't move at first.

One side of the Hatchling, the side facing the candidates, was a gleaming Diamond. it's wing was curled gracefully at it's side. However, the other side of the Diamond was not so healthy. It's eye was completely gone, eaten by the maggots working steadily on it's body. This side of the hatchling was totally devoid of colour, just a stinking mass of dead flesh. It's tail was rotted through even to the bone, and it's wing was falling apart where it sat. However, somehow the pitiful thing managed to leap into the air with an ear-piercing creel and between. It would have been almost a relief to see it go, except that all of the Diamond did not go. No, half of it's rotted wing and most of it's tail appeared to be left behind, falling to the sand in a mass of maggots and blood, while blood sprayed out across the sands, some even managing to reach the candidates and splash them with stinking maggoty goo.

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

Magena watched with wide eyes as Sephiroth put his young daughter out of her misery, then took to the skies. She was so shocked, her eyes locked on the terrible sight of the poor little hatchling, that she did not even notice the wonderful Scarlet now heading for the boys. She did hear the other girls crying, some puking again also. A small part of her mind was disgusted by them, and willed her to move, disobey her orders and stand among the boys, where she was more likely to fit in. Like many of the boys, she only stared at the sigh in horror. Although even some of the boys seemed to be puking and crying at this point. It certainly was an awful sight... She frowned, tearing her eyes from the dead hatchling as she heard the hiss of the Copper as the newly hatched Aqua fell on her and sent her running toward the crowd of girls.

Ignoring the Copper, she eyed the Aqua with interest. Sure, it was a low ranking colour, but it was unique. It seemed more like a sea-serpent then a hatchling, with it's long body and tail, and the strange fins on its head. But it, like the Scarlet she only just noticed, was running off in the direction of the boys now. Oh well, her life-mate would be here somewhere. She knew it. But just before it made it out of the maze of eggs, the little Aqua tripped and fell into one of the eggs that wasn't so much as trembling. As the poor thing creeled in disgust and terror, and rushed away for His, she held back a gasp of Horror at the sight of the Diamond. It had turned it's face toward the girls, as if reaching out for Hers, and Magena caught sight of the face, half gleaming Diamond hide, half rotting maggot-ridden flesh. The one empty, maggot filled eye socket seemed to stare at her accusingly, while the other seemed to look blankly at the girls before the thing creeled in pain and leaped into the air.

As it betweened and parts of it's wing and tail fell to the sands in a maggoty mass, the blood splashed out in all directions, spraying numerous candidates, including herself. Magena made a disgusted noise as the putrid blood sprayed her, giving her a good coating of the maggoty blood. She had to swallow repeatedly to keep her breakfast down as the stench overwhelmed her. She hurriedly wiped the maggots and blood from her face, choking. Swiping disgustedly at her clothing, bothered more by the maggots then the blood, she turned back to the Hatching. No need to bother about her ruined clothing now, or the disgusting blood that was already drying on her skin and clothes, in her hair. What mattered was the Hatching. Her life-mate was still here, and she needed to be strong and wait for him, yes, most surely a HIM, rather then lose her breakfast and rush off the sands as some girls appeared on the verge of doing.

This was turning out to be the worst hatching she had ever attended, sickening to the point where part of her did wish to rush off the sands. The sorrow of losing these young dragons, of the strange disease that ravaged them while still enclosed in their eggs, it was enough to even chip at her emotionless mask. A frown was pulling at the edges of her lips now. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, although no tears so much as glimmered in her cold gaze. She clenched her hands into fists, willing herself to wait this out. It would be worth it. She would walk off these sands with her Bonded today, she must be strong for the Hatchling that would find her when it was time.

[Femisis]

Trying to hold back tears of his own, C'ero pulled Celestia close and held her tight, trying to provide her with some comfort. He couldn't even comprehend the sheer magnitude of the emotions he was feeling and, by entention, Sephiroth was feeling. These were his children, the children he'd never though to have... And maybe he was blaming himself for this? Maybe that it was his fault that his children were rotting and dying right in front of him, eaten alive by a disease that seemed to only affect certain dragons? He had to admit, this was difficult to watch, but the aftermath was going to be even wose when he had to dissect the bodies and the maggots to see what really killed these hatchlings and where it came from. He didn't even want to think of how they were going to dispose of the bodies...

A flutter of wings behind Amath alerted them to Sephiroth's return. He couldn't leave his mate here alone to watch this, even if it was impossible for him to watch it himself. Crooning, he nuzzled Amath's cheek in comfort, content to stay for her sake, if not for anyone elses. Maybe all of this was his fault...

Watching with genuine happiness as Niora led her Faereth off the sands(cute little thing, wagging her tail like that.) to be fed, Crescentia couldn't help but think there was some hope for this poor clutch after all. There were healthy ones roaming the sands and one had even Impressed, so maybe they weren't all doomed... Well, the Scarlet with the heart on his chest was if he came anywhere near her, but otherwise, maybe they would make it somehow, someway.

Blinking, Cresce turned to look at Nwalme with a look of confusion on her face. Had this been any other time and any other place, she would have most certainly have beaten the crap out of the other girl for even daring to hold her hand in public. As it were, the sheer amount of emotions circulating through the hatching grounds was so overwhelming that she, too, needed some sort of comfort, human or dragon, she didn't care. "I right with you there, sister." She replied quietly, hands shaking slightly as she tightened her grip on Nwalme's hand. This was so out of character for her, but with such a tragedy going on right in front of her, she couldn't help but seek out some sort of comfort in this disaster.

The next dragon to hatch, an Aqua(healthy, than Faranth), tumbled gracelessly out of his egg and onto the sands, looking more like a sea serpent than a dragon. Maybe he'd be good at swimming. There was a beach nearby, after all... Fortunately, he was going toward the males. As cute as he was, she couldn't stomach Impressing an Aqua. Too... happy. On the other side of the sands was a Diamond who, at first, looked healthy, but... "Oh my..." She couldn't even finish speaking as the rotting Diamond jumped between, or tired to, anyway. Parts of her stayed, gushing ichor out onto the sands and some of the candidates. "Faranth..." The only thing that kept Cresce from sliding to the ground was her grip on Nwalme, who she was now hugging fiercely. "This is awful." She cried, tears flowing unbidden down her cheeks. At least Niora was spared from seeing this...

Startled by the Diamond's betweening, the Scarlet seemed a bit unnerved and hastened to the males semi-circle, pushing his way past the Aqua. He was going to find His first and maybe make it out of here alive before anyone else got sick. He felt bad for the poor Diamond and her sister from before, but the first hatchling was lost on him, even as he accidentally tore open the foot of one of the candidates he pushed by.

R'linMine, Renoth wants to know why all of these pretty females are leaving. Are their mines not here?[/i] Like R'lin, Renoth was a bit of a womanizer(a bit being an understatement.) and liked pretty ladies just as much as His did.

[Sintarith]

Mikyran was feeling sick to his stomach and for the time being, he paid absolutely no attention to the rocking eggs. He didn't even care that some kid was late, or even who he was - arriving only last night had had some major disadvantages. He was practically alone on these sands, in spite of the throng of boys to either side of him. Snuffling angrily, the lad wiped his face dry of tears on the sleeve of his shirt. There wasn't exactly anything he could do for the dragons. Things were as they were going to be, no matter who did what. Nothing could change the fact that this clucth had suffered an ill fate and contracted some sort of horrendous debility whilst still in the egg. Absolutely nothing. Certainly not crying. It had been weak of him and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got with himself. His greys eyes were hard and unrelenting as if trying to bore holes in the sand in front of his feet. Even the amber splodge was cold, and it usually added some form of sparkle, of life to the otherwise chilly colour. His mouth was set in a grim line, almost a scowl as he inwardly berated himself. 'Pathetic! If you want to act like a girl, then go ahead! But don't expect any dragon to choose you!" His anger manifested itself as that voice one might call a conscience, and his was undeniably pissed off.

As if rather impatient that none of the boys had Impressed yet, Kyran started to tap his foot. In actual fact, this was just his way of letting out steam without going on a rampage where he would shout at anyone and anything. His mind kept wandering back to all the times at Southern wyer where he could have Impressed. With three queens there, and one fairly old, there were at least two clucthes per turn. Even during this interval, though the eggs were much fewer in number. He had been told that when a pass was about to approach, the queens would start laying up to sixty or so eggs. He had thought that immense at the time and his respect for the queen dragons had deepened ever since. But no, no matter how much he'd wanted to, out of love for his father he'd refused to stand as a candidate. He knew it would only rub the old mans loss in further. And now that he finally had that chance, he had displayed his weak side. He sneered at himself in contempt, but quickly did a doule take to make sure that no one took offense.

Finally, he wrestled his concentration back to the sands. He caught sight of the newest dragonet to be plagued by this putrid malady, just as a sweet angel of mercy, in the form of an onyx dragon, swooped down and ended her misery. No tears brimmed in his cold eyes this time, just an impartial gaze. If there were going to be more like these last two, it seemed more sensible to mourn after the hatching, rather than prolong the melancholy that seemed to eat at the very souls of everyone present.

As another egg cracked, he found himself intrigued. This was definately a fighting dragon, from her fierce way of coming into the world. Although he colour seemed to be copper one moment, and scarlet the next. Not that it mattered, Mikyran didn't really know which gender either of those colours Impressed to. He would just see which direction it decided to tarvel in. What really caught his attention was the red dragon with a heart shaped patch on its chest. Now that was interesting, he almost laughed. Perhaps this one would be after every dragon in flight, if theheart hd anything to do with his personality. But the boys face brightened just a little as he realised that thhe very same dragon was heading towards the boys.

He kept his sight on it for long enough, but then was distracted by a rather pretty diamond looking dragon. Her wings were extremely graceful, the way she held herself, adding to the sheer beauty of it.That was, pretty until she turned about to reveal her lifeless eye. And The sight was probably more horrible that the first of the dragons that appeared to be affected, for this poor thing was still alive, the flesh ripped away from its side, revealing the rib cage and several organs. If he looked hard enough, Mikyran could even see the faint pulse of the heart, unveiled to the world, not the subtle movement behind skin. If he was going to throw up, he would now, but adamantly he stood and watched as she threw herself into the air and disappeared. And fliched backwards slightly as part of her wing hit the ground with a sickly dull 'thump', and some of the girls got sparyed by the decaying ichor. This wasn't just decompsure, it was something worse, especially as the dragonets hadn't even died before it had set in. Teh parasites seemd to delight in the fact that there was some meat left for them to feast on and set to it with gusto, if the mad writhing was anything to go by. Some of the maggots had been frozen by the cold of between and dropped dead to the floor, but most had survived. The tail and wing were apparently thebest parts, as the other dragonet had had her membrane and parts of her tail digested by the malevolent little things.

It was hard to believe that something so small could cause so much devastation.

He shuddered at the scene, but was glad to see Sephiroth return, though the despair and anguish that both he and Amath were experiencing was more than obvious. But the cracking of another shell made the boy look back near the copper-scarlet one, to see a rather odd creature entangled about her. It looked sort of draconic, but was long and sinuous like a tunnel snake. He guessed it was an aqua, though the colour of its hide was a more glorious blue than the turquoise colour he'd seen on most aqua's. If mikyarn was completely honest, the dragonet looked part fish, due to the fins of the side of its head. He did smile then as the angry copper got herself up and hissed angrily. It served the thing right, charging into her like that! Or so Mikyran thought that's what had happened, he hadn't actually seen it hatch. Watching the ungainly creature bash into an egg this time, Mikyran tiptoed and craned his head to see what had happened to the dragonet inside, because from what he could remember, that one hadn't began to shake yet. if it ever would. But, due to his shorter height than most of the other boys, and the eggs that obscured his vision, so he couldn't see a sharding thing and gave up.

The next thig he knew was that the scarlet with hte heart had bounded over to a blonde haired, blue eyed boy with painted finger nails. That must have been an Impression, Mikyran judged by the whirling of the small dragons eyes. He offered a congratulations to Relin, but was slightly put down that he hadn't Impressed it. It's colour was fairly similar to his hair, although the dragonet didn't have mousey brown patches where Kyrans roots were growing through. He scowled again, having thought to re-dye it before the hatching, to look the best he could for the dragonets and everyone else. But things had gone desparately awry, so it couldn't be helped.

Sighing, he looked agin to the eggs. His earlier anger had subsided and now he just felt impaatience and jealously. Other people had already Impressed. He knew that if he was patient, eventually his bonded would find him. If, he thought, the poor thing hadnt succumbed to the plague. Shock shot through him at that thought, the thought that his partner could be affected by this life threatening affliction. horror showed clearly on his face, and he began to fervently hope, in Faranth's name, that his dragonet would be alright.

[Lamia]

''What do you mean the clutch is hatching?!'' Aelia practically screamed in shock; a somewhat delayed response to Griffyth's message. ''Wasn't the Touching today? I thought the Hatching wasn't due for another few weeks or so-wasn't it? Or did I get the dates mixed up again?'' She asked, her Bonded, hurrying out of the water lapping the small beach that had become her sanctuary for the past few weeks. I know, but something is...wrong, Mine The Scarlet cocked his head, regarding the naked form of Aelia for a moment before deftly using his long tail
to lift her clothes off a nearby branch and offering them to her. ''Fine, fine. I'll hurry.'' She snapped, dragging her clothes over her form and tying her sopping wet hair up in a knot. Are you coming or not? Griffyth huffed, offering Aelia his leg so she could scramble up and they could finally be off. ''You should know not to rush me by now. Maybe I'll crawl just to bother you.''
She teased, finally climbing up and clinging to her Bonded as he spread his wings and took to the air.

All too soon they had reached the Sands, Griffyth taking up the usual hum as he landed next to Sh'ven and Minth. ''What have I missed?'' She breathed to the other Scarlet Rider after jumping to the ground. A moment leter she finally bothered looking out over the Sands, just in time to see the poor Diamond
between. She gasped in shock, leaning against her Bonded for support. ''What's the matter with this clutch?'' Her dark chocolate eyes were hard, masking the horror she felt when looking at Amath's clutch. A part of her wished she had
never come, though she knew Griffyth would have never let her. ''What could have gone wrong?'' She wondered aloud, more to herself than to those around her. Forcing herself to clap politely as the Scarlet Impressed to a boy who's name she couldn't remember, she sighed.

[FYI- This is Dragon posting for Lamia. She only has email acess at the moment, so she is emailing me her posts.]

[Sintarith]

Zetairen was noting everything he saw down with great accuracy, his mental acuity verging on something like a photographic memory. Which luckily for him, wasn’t actually photographic. He didn’t know if he could actual handle remembering today that vividly. Sure, there was joy interspersed with the horrible, wracking sorrow that threatened to overwhelm him, but his harper mind took it all in, compiling a grim report for the masters at the harper hall. They would surely need to know of this. But yet, he wasn’t sure if he should send a message; he’d ask the weyrleaders when he had a chance.

Amidst the almost organised chaos of this hatching, it seemed almost indecent to be tuning, yet the notes and rhythm of a dirge had started to form in his mind. It seemed only fitting that he should commemorate the event, because it was a first for Pern. Others should know of the suffering that had happened here, at this weyr. Just in case it became a widespread thing, but also to honour those dragonets that had never found their bonded. There hadn’t been a caseof so many dying at a hatching that the dark haired lad had heard of, and with a grim outlook, he knew that out of this clutch, perhaps more than half would die of this affliction. He considered the current ratio. Two hatched healthily, and one hadn’t. That’s when he realised that yes, there had been another hatching. A dragon of huge proportions for one so young, it took him a moment to take in the colour. Was it scarlet? Was it copper? Looking at her conformation, he decided that she must be female, and therefore she must be a copper. Still, he cocked his head to take a better look at her, there was something almost… feral about her. Her hummed, pondering whether that was the right word. No.. more angry, the fighting sort.

Which was confirmed when she raked her claws in the sand, almost menacingly. No, she would not preen and sit about like some silly wherry, she would be ready for anything.

Just then, a scarlet hatched, with a cute little heart on his chest. Now this one definitely was scarlet. And he was heading towards the boys. Hope flickered in Zetairen’s heart, but died shortly after when he saw another of the poisoned - again, was that the right word? He didn’t know anymore - dragonets, and he shivered as a chill passed over him as Sephiroth acted with sweet mercy, then flew away. So now it was three to two. Better odds than if it happened to be the other way around.

It was only when he heard a ferocious hissing that he escaped from his grim thoughts, to see some strange dragon entangled with the rather regal looking copper dragon. She hissed again and the poor thing scampered away as quickly as he could, towards the boys. The scarlet had noticed and ran almost full pelt towards Relin; he certainly knew who he wanted! The beautiful whirling of his eyes was an obvious Impression, and Zetairen couldn’t help but feel a little bit miffed that it wasn’t he who was bonded to this dragon. But the aqua, he presumed, was headed straight towards them. Fancy having a dragon like that? It’d be a different experience entirely, riding him.

But his heart fell another notch when the Diamond that had seemed so perfect betweened with a shriek of pain. He grimaced as she left behind part of her rotting frame, and sputtered with revulsion as ichors came spraying towards them. He shielded his face form the worst of it, but his shirt was dismally covered. So the ratio was 4 alive, 3 dead. Not looking good in his eyes. There would be candidates standing alone on the sand at the end of the day he surmised, and he fervently wished that one of those people would not be him.

Sometimes the world,
Will have her way,
But some live through,
To another day,

With a cry of anguish,
We stand and mourn
As our dragons pass
And we are forlorn…

Yes, that seemed fitting so far, but it would need tweaking. Zetairen would make sure that no one forgot what had happened.

[Sintarith]

Nwalme’s reaction to Crescentia, if anything, was shock. She knew what hse’d done was brash and had been expecting some sort of reprimand, but it still left a small, if unhappy, smile on her face that the girl was alright with her being there. It looked like she needed someone too.

The Aqua that had hatched was surely a peculiar beast, but Nwalme could see the advantages of it’s physique. With its sinuous form it would be able to glide through smaller spaces where the stockier dragons could not - if it ever gained any grace as it grew older. As it was, the poor thing was rather ungainly, and was paying for that as his clutch sister scared him off. He was such a brilliant, blue, and for a moment, things seemed to be looking up. There were more healthy hatchlings than not.

That was until she caught sight of the diamond. Her body was sheer beauty on once side, the other a putrefying mass of writhing vermin and decaying flesh. Some of the maggots fell off as the thing launched herself into the air, to wriggle impotently on the sand in search of more sustenance. Then it seemed that the diamond disintegrated as she disappeared, leaving body parts behind, which the remaining maggots set upon like bloodfish on an open wound.

She clung to Cresce as much as the other girl clung to her, sharing their grief with the mingling of sobs and tears. Nwalme was at least relieved that she had made the decision to come over, because both girls needed the other for comfort, for support. If not, they would probably both be sobbing their hearts out on their knees by now, and separate ends of the semi circle. It almost felt as if Crescentia was a sister with whom she could share the pain, although in reality they were just about friends, because Nwalme barely knew what the word ‘friend’ meant.

After she had gotten over this bout of tears, she straightened up a little and lent a hand to her companion to do the same. A little scowl crossed over her face when she looked over to the boys and saw that Relin had Impressed. She still wasn’t altogether certain of her opinion of him, but mostly, he irritated her. Sure, he was a charmer, but he really didn’t know how to tone it down enough to get he more sensitive or uptight girls. He’d have to learn someday, or else he’d earn a fair few slaps, following the many he’s probably received in the past. In an attempt to cheer the both of them up, she pointed to the Copper-Scarlet that was headed towards their semi-circle. “Look, she’s coming this way.” The girl smiled then, quite prettily as she squeezed Cresce’s hand. “Good luck,” she whispered, keeping her eyes straight on the sands.

[Kisana]

Derrok watched with desperation as another egg hatched. Fortunately, it was a healthy one, a serpentine Aqua that looked more myth than reality. Finlike ridges, long and lean body, narrow wings, even an odd-colored hide - sky blue, with a darker belly. He was healthy, though, and by default that made him attractive in his eyes. There was a glow about him - probably just the absence of pestilence, but Derrok attributed it to some inner quality, and had trouble taking his eyes off of the serpent-Aqua. The Aqua landed on the CopperScarlet, tangling up amidst the more graceful female's limbs. The Copper immediately broke away with a hiss and ran towards the girls' circle, while the Aqua stumbled away, crashing into a motionless egg as his tail tangled with his feet. The egg cracked open, dumping out a Diamond. It looked healthy, gleaming white with a graceful wing showing.

Then he saw its other side.

The Diamond had been eaten by the pestilence, its wing and tail shredded and mangled almost beyond recognition. It jumped up with a shriek and betweened - mostly. Its rotten wing and tail were left behind, left to fester on the Sands while the maggots continued their devouring as if there had been no interruption. Derrok vomited again, this time staining his breeches. What a horrible, horrible loss. And the third of its kind ... at least this one was able to between without suffering too long in the open air. At least he hadn't been splashed by the goo - he didn't think he could have stayed conscious for that. The stench hanging in the air was enough to make him retch yet again, staining the ground in front of him, splashing onto his feet.

The Scarlet with a the heart marking pushed past the Aqua and Impressed hurriedly. So he would have even more of a wait before being able to exit this hellhole of a Hatching. Would they ever be able to rid the Sands of the horrible stench? They'd probably have to replace all the sand - what a load of work! And the Weyrlings would probably have to do it. He dreaded that; hours and hours of hard work in the reeking sands, the scent of sweat mixing with the stench of rot and death in the hot afternoon. Another rush of vomit tried to make its way out of his mouth, but he kept his lips firmly closed and swallowed the horrible liquid - better to have a bad taste than be embarrassed by all the puking.

[min]

Relin had joined those that had started a small smattering of chuckling at the amusing entrance of the Aqua. Landing on his clutch-sister, the pair of hatchlings tumbled into a heap of awkward limbs and shimmering hides. The young man watched as the copper shot off with an angry hiss in the opposite direction from where he stood toward the females. Unperturbed, as he knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, Relin took a step back at the bounding bright Aqua as sped its way between his brothers and sisters, weaving in, out, and around. Taking in the sight, of the happy little creature, a smile crept upon the young man’s face. Although an odd looking dragon, it seemed to fit right into the environment of beach side. The candidate imagined the creature dashing into the calm waves, and splashing about happily, the natural swimmer.

A smile was still on his face when the Aqua clumsily knocked into one of his clutchmates finally. The thing that oozed out was….once disturbing. Even more so then what he had seen mere minutes before. Half dead and half alive, it seemed like it was still had a little more vigor then the other two. With a creel it had launched itself between, but not before giving the young man a good view of its condition. Eyeless socket versus the dull but still beautiful eye faucet. Gleaming diamond hide versus melting skin and bones. Relin didn’t feel the urge to gag this time, but he neatly shook his head to clear this vision from his mind.

It didn’t really work, as the more he tried to stop himself from thinking about it, the more the thought about it.
And then a charging pushing mass of dark scarlet shot its way toward the male candidates. Attempting to focus on the scarlet hatchling to clear his thoughts, he found it easier than he had thought it would be, as rainbows and a happy voice filled his mind.

Shocked as he stared into the whirling rainbow depths of the hatchling—no, Renoth’s eyes, he felt fireworks of equal masses of splattered color fill his mind as he tried to comprehend what the young dragon was saying. And surprisingly it clicked all too quickly. Throwing an arm around Renoth’s shoulder, R’lin knowingly said, “Well you see, obviously it’s because of the-“

Mine! I already know that! Why don’t we follow those pretty ladies toward some food?

And without further wait for His, Renoth shuffled his way off toward where the food laden tables had been laid out, while making sure to stop every so often to bask in the attention he was receiving. Although the devious little mind was set more on the path of showing off his beautiful heart to the wondering females that were running afoot. With an incredulous smile, R’lin hurried his steps to catch up with the demanding little fellow, all negativity from the hatching already long gone from his thoughts.


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

Something about the sight of the Aqua was a complete turn off. The long length in body, the long length in tail, and the bright blinding blueness of its hide was rather disturbing to the traditionalistic candidate that barely managed to stare for more than seconds at the beast. Shuddering at its odd appearance, Aurelie was slightly frightened. With all these infested hatchlings and healthy ones that were still quite odd, the young woman was rather apprehensive if she really would impress something or not. And if she did…she would probably be too dazed at the occasion to tell if it was truly what was right and wrong.

Breathing in to prepare herself for a large sigh, the sudden stench that once again filled her mouth, distinctly told her that another maggot filled hatchling had appeared. This time, Aurelie had already gotten used to it. But still blanching she took in the sight of the diamond, as beautiful as it was on one side, she was able to see just a tad bit of the revolting side with sickening melting flesh. Blanching still, the young woman shook her head and simply closed her eyes, hearing the last faint creel and the pop between.

Breathing deeply, in and out, she tried to control her emotions. She was not going to panic. She was not going to be weak. She was going to get her lifemate! Ignoring her surroundings, ignoring the sudden cheering of the crowd, Aurelie slowly opened her eyes, as she cast a sweeping glance around the beach. There was the
remainders of the Diamond, and her eyes quickly swept over that, but landed on the scarlet. That bugger had impressed that silly candidate that had tricked her into doing his chores! Immediately anger flared up and she adamantly refused to applaud his impression.

[Sintarith]

Tekah was more than a little unhappy that Aurelie hadn’t noticed him. He’d even called for her! Because catching her attention any other way wasn’t going to work right now, throwing sand wasn’t a viable idea, nor was waltzing over there and giving her a hug. All that would do would elicit a mauling for him from some hatchling or another, and the still fresh memory of the last hatching he’d stood at had stopped any notion of doing that. The scars on his arms and back were still too visible, too painful for him to risk that again. Sighing, he gave up on trying to attract the girl’s attention.

Trying to hide his disappointment he looked to the clutch, and was amazed by the blue dragon that was waddling it’s way precariously over towards the boys, especially since he’d been tipped off balance by the scarlet. As it turned out, that scarlet had Impressed to Relin, and the pair walked away looking fairly smug.

So Tekah turned his attention back to the sand. The Copper was obviously headed towards the girls, but what was that dragon oer there? He caught a glimpse of the diamond just as she leapt into the air, and he had to gag. He could actually see her entrails as she flew into the air, and could audibly hear the snap when part of her wing didn’t follow her between. A part of her tail thumped dully behind, reminding Tekah strangely of the ound that wet fit made when it hit a sandy hull. The thought passed quickly and he looked away from the mess to see if any other eggs were hatching.

But as far as he could see, there were only a few rocking, so he looked again at the gorgeous aqua. It reminded him more of a sea serpent, like the ones old Kilmor had told him and his sister about when they were children. It had frightened him halfway between when he’d imagined it, but this cute little thing, no matter how ungainly, seemed rather nice. The fin-ridges on the side of his head were certainly even stranger, but they added a sort of regal look to him - almost like a crown, despite the low ranking he’d get due to his colour. Tekah strained on tiptoes, wondering if this one had come out of the bright blue shell that he had so coveted.

((Horribly, horribly short))

[Dragon]

Celestia turned to bury her face in C'ero's chest, not able to handle the sight anymore. Amath gave a sorrowful croon as Sephiroth came back to wait out the rest of the hatching with her. The Silver looked on the verge of going back to hide in her Weyr at the loss of so many of her clutch, and seemed to have shrunk as if the weight of grief on her was too much to bear. It was a terrible sight, and yet still the Hatching went on, the unhatched young dragons oblivious to the fact that many of them had already faded out of existence, and the pain all around them. No, there were still a good many determined to find Theirs today.

Sh'ven was momentarily distracted by the arrival of Griffyth and Aelia. Minth gave a rumble of sorrowful greeting to the other Scarlet. Sh'ven simply frowned at Aelia. "It... it seems as though some of the clutch have some strange disease. It's killed so many already.... You should be glad you came late." He sighed, voice quavering slightly as he attempted to explain. Leaving his explanation there, he turned his attention back to the clutch and Hatchlings, trying to avoid looking at the corpses of the diseased dragons in the process.

The strange little serpent Aqua was still heading for the boys, creeling. He kept stumbling, his short legs tangling in his too-long tail constantly. When he walked, he seemed to weave back and forth constantly, adding even more to his serpent-like appearance. He stumbled again, tripping and rolling into the midst of the boys. Franticly he searched among them, constantly pulling himself up from the sand as he searched for His.

Meanwhile, the Copper-Scarlet was walking calmly among the girls. Any girl who dared to look at her was lashed out at as the young dragon attempted to find her life-mate. Finally, she spotted the girl, and bounded forward, knocking over a girl and slashing her open in the process. She came to a stop before Aurelie, rubbing up against the girl affectionately. -AurelieMine, you Tizrath is here! Oh, AurelieMine, today is a sad day. But I have found you! Mine, I hunger so. Take me away from the sick ones of my brothers and sisters, and feed your Tizrath?- Her mind-voice reached out through their newly established bond to touch the girl's mind, almost emotionless but for the slight affection for Aurelie.

Upon the evident Impression, Sh'ven forced another smile and clapped along with the others who noticed, his heart lifting slightly. Despite the loss of so many, there were also good healthy dragons here. This would not turn out all bad, though he was sure the ones who stood here now would forever be scarred by this day's events. Just then, a crack reached his ears and he turned to see another egg was hatching. Forcing himself to watch, he left out a sigh of relief as the rather large egg shattered to reveal yet another healthy dragon. The hatchling was very obviously an Onyx, and now a true smile crossed Sh'ven's face. A healthy Onyx was a very good thing right now.

An average-size Onyx, if with a slightly longer-then-average tail, this one's hide was mostly the gleaming gem-like shade of black that gave the Onyx's their name, though his underside had more of a dusty colouring to it, less sparkly. More like the night sky then the rest of the gem-like hide. He raised his head proudly, surveying the scene before him with an understanding that most of the other Hatchlings failed to show until they were much older. He was at once regal and sorrowful, his gaze resting for a long moment on each of his siblings maggot-ridden forms laying on the sands devoid of life. He stood there for a while, letting the crowd eye him. He would play a major part in the future of the Weyr, what with his rank, and he seemed to know that.

The Onyx preened a moment, taking care to get all the left-overs from his egg off his wonderful hide, before moving toward the boys at a calm pace, head still high. Though he glanced at his clutch-siblings as they moved about the various parts of the sands, he seemed to barely notice them now. For now he was going to find His. And get away from the sorrowful sight of his dead siblings.

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

Magena nervously shifted from foot to foot now, eyes traveling along the clutch. Upon hearing clapping, she spun to face the boys in time to see one of the other candidates... Relin? No, R'lin now, for he had Impressed the Scarlet with the heart-shape upon his chest. She clapped politely with the rest of the grouping, though no smile lit her features. Well, at least from what she could tell the pair seemed well suited for each other. She sighed, and turned her attention quickly back to the clutch. Her eyes lit up as she looked upon the Onyx that hatched, regally surveying the scene as though he knew that one day, he might just be where Sephiroth was today.

She could not help but let out an appreciative gasp. Now, that was a dragon. But, despite her ambition to Impress such a creature, the sensible part of her mind informed her that this was in fact a King in the Weyr, and he would one day chase a silver. There was no chance of this one choosing her, as no matter how much she hated it she was indeed female. No, a male must Impress to this lovely creature so that one day he could chase one of the Queens and help run the Weyr. Her gaze was wistful as she watched the Onyx stride off toward the males, appearing to be in no hurry at all. But then, he had no need to hurry. His bonded would wait for him.

Dragging her gaze away from the Onyx with an even more sorrowful expression then before, she stared at the clutch. Well, the hatching of the healthy Onyx had to be a good sign for the rest of the clutch. There was still hope. Keeping her gaze away from the corpses, and trying not to breathe too much so the stench of the diseased blood upon her wouldnt make her sick, she focused again on the eggs. Willing her mind to focus on good thoughts, welcoming thoughts to bring her life-mate to her as soon as possible. Maybe she would be lucky enough to Impress soon, and escape this ill-fated Touching- turned- Hatching before even her stone heart broke to pieces.....

[Kisana]

The Weyrwoman was hiding in C'ero's chest, which gave Derrok shudders. Even Amath's bonded couldn't take what was going on here. At least there had been plenty of healthy hatchlings recently. There was the CopperScarlet and the Scarlet with the heart on his chest, and the serpent-Aqua, who was searching among the boys for His, tripping over himself and seeming very panicked. Maybe he would Impress to that Aqua. Sure, he was low-ranking, but he would give Derrok an excuse to make a hurried exit. And he was beautiful in his own way, with his sky-blue hide and dusky underbelly. No, Derrok wouldn't mind him at all. Certainly he would be somewhat of a conversation piece, and that would attract attention that his rank would deny him. Visions of flight atop the sea serpent Aqua, diving smoothly into the water and swimming through the sea, filled his head. What a life that would be!

The CopperScarlet was walking through the girls, slashing out at those who gazed at her, until she found Hers, tripping over a girl in her haste. She nuzzled her Bonded lovingly. They would probably make a good pair. Then again, what dragon was not perfect for its Bonded? The world's most perfect relationship was between a rider and his or her dragon. And hopefully he would soon be a part of one of those relationships. He clapped absently at the Impression, watching a large egg shudder and crack. 'Please, Faranth, let this one be healthy!' He thought fervently, his hands clasped tightly together. The shell fell away, revealing...

The dragon was healthy! He was about average size, with a longer tail. His hide was the shimmering jewel-like black that matched the Onyx's namesake stone. The underbelly of the Onyx had a slightly dustier cast to it. Looking around the Sands, he seemed lonely. His head was held high, and he seemed to exude a kingly air even amidst the suffering of his clutchmates. After cleaning himself thoroughly, he started walking towards the boys' semicircle. Even though his pace was even and relaxed, he seemed to be in just as much of a hurry as Derrok was to get away from the rotting dragons on the Sands. A fervent hope was growing in his belly - that maybe, he would be able to Impress to the Onyx, and become Weyrleader one day. And then he could be in the same place as C'ero (hopefully his dragon's clutch would be healthier than this one). The hopes and dreamings distracted him from the hatchlings that had lost their lives on this horrible day.

[min]

Aurelie with eyes still focused away from the stumbling cute Aqua, saw the immense Copper approach the section of females, as those creatures themselves chose to utter squeals and shrieks of both excitement and fear, respectively. Aurelie herself was fascinated with the creature of mixed hide, until it started snapping at people who simply stared too long at the shine. The hatchling was going in a dead straight line, occasionally stopping to look here and then there, but always started to move forward again, and uncaring of what stood in its way its talons ripped through flesh and sand alike to keep to its line.

The candidate had been admiring the creature from afar when it suddenly seemed to be very much so right in front of her. Or at least it had been in front of the girl that had suddenly jumped into its path, right in front of Aurelie, perhaps hoping for a forced impression, until the scarlet copper completely ran the red head over, in a screaming mess of blood and gore. Gaping at the sight right before her eyes, warm blood splattered across her front, slapping her face with warmth. Disgusting as it was, the feeling in her stomach as some of the body fluid slid into her mouth as it dripped over her lip, was something that Aurelie hadn’t even felt when the rotting dragons had appeared.

Immediately what she had managed to keep back where it belonged came flying up her throat, washing the blood away from her mouth, and Aurelie shot up the contents of her already empty stomach onto the warm sand, barely missing the scarlet tinged foot in front of her. The coughing and retching stopped as rainbow swirls, splatters of sheer color in blocky chunks filled her mind, in distinctly lined areas. Looking up, the girl gaped at the swirling rainbow eyes, as she craned her neck to look into those rainbow jewels, as she was nuzzled by a large head.

“T-tizrath..?” was mumbled as both puke and saliva was wiped away with an ungraceful arm.

Yes Mine that is my name! I am glad you are good of hearing, although of course you are, because you are the mine that I chose. But hurry, your Mine is starving and more of my brothers and sisters might come out /wrong/. Hurry and take me away!

Nodding numbly, Aurelie reached a shaky hand out to the hatchling, while sickly pale but grinning with brimming pride. This one would stay with her forever. No longer would she have to deal with separation especially after attaching herself so much to those herdsbeast.

Mine! Why would you even compare your Tizrath with a herdsbeast! cried the mindvoice of the copper with indignation in every word, even as she bristled visibly.

Laughing softly, Aurelie reached up to scratch the soft eyeridge of the copper that was just as scarlet toned as the rest of the shimmering hide, with pride. ‘Of course not, a sharding herdsbeast could never compare with you!’

Mine….what is Sharding?

Flushing but still chuckling the girl shook her head and ignored the question, as she reached for a bucket of chopped up bloody meat, grabbing one and holding it out to the hatchling, who daintly picked it up and gulped it down.

[Femisis]

As C'ero and Sephiroth struggled to calm their respective mates, two more eggs began to rock. They were side by side, one much larger than the other, but their coloring was so similar that they could have been twins, maybe. Their rocking was perfectly in time, back and forth, back and forth, never missing a beat. They rocked in harmony, then began to hatch in unison, bits and pieces and chips and then finally the eggs shattered to reveal two startling hatchlings.

The first, the large one, was a gorgeous Onyx with diamond streaks in his hide, gleaming brightly in the light. The smaller one, a Diamond, had onyx streaks in her hide as if to contrast her clutchbrother's hide. So spectacular a pair were they that they didn't seem to notice their lower halves being eaten away at by the grubby little maggots. The Onyx's hide was almost completly gone from his legs down and they were working their way up to the flesh on his back. The Diamond, however, only seemed to be affected on her tail and wings; she could be saved. The Onyx seemed to realise this after a few minuets. He knew he was going to die, sadly, but if he could save her...

Lowering his head, he wrapped his jaws around the Diamond's neck, sending a gasp throught he crowd. The Diamond, too, squeeked in terror, but relaxed as he half-skeletal Onyx picked her up and half carried, half dragged her over to the female semi-circle, as if he knew where her's was. Setting her down, he pushed her forward, watching as she stumbled for Hers. The chosen girl cried and swatted the maggots away, stomping on them several times before tending to her hatchling.

His job done, the Onyx made the silent jump between before the pain became too intense. The dragon's keened his loss, even as another egg began to split and splinter, then opened like a flower to reveal an elegant Copper. Her hide was a light shining Copper everywhere, then changed to a mix of orchid purple and light Diamond that swirled attractively on her tail. She flipped her tail flirtingly at the boys as though trying to attract their attentions. In fact, she was, but only so that she could assure herself a future mate. Maybe. There was only one Onyx roaming around, and of the two grown ones, the better of the two belonged to her mother. Not for long, though...

All of a sudden, she hissed fiercely as a dark Jade tumbled into her. He seemed a bit surprised, but eagerly backed off when the Copper hissed at him. He seemed in no hurry to be injured and gladly got out of her way. Fuming, the Copper tossed her elegant head and stalked over to the girls, intentionally tearing into a few of them.

MagenaMine, your Nithuireth is not pleased. Silly Jade, he thinks he can over power ME, can he? He will think again.[/color] She growled, pushing firmly against her rider's leg. Mine, I hunger. Feed me.

Though Nwalme’s wish of luck was appreciated, it was unecessary as the hatchling Impressed to neither of them. She was still holding on to the other girl, though not as tightly as before. She still needed the support, especially when the Onyx and Diamond hatched. Poor things... She gasped as well when the Onyx picked up the Diamond, coaxing her to Impression before he himself disappeared. Oh, fate was so cruel... he was so kind...

"Look at them." She murmured to Nwalme as the Copper and Jade hatched in a tumble of limbs, the Copper heading to Impress Magena. Cresce didn't clap much as the girl seemed a bit odd to her, but she didn't want to be rude. The Jade, meanwhile, seemed to be coming toward the girls as well, though without the attitude the Copper had. "Maybe him?" She querried, looking from her friend to the dragon.

[Kisana]

Derrok's eyes widened as a beautiful Onyx and Diamond pair hatched out of their eggs. The Onyx had Diamond streaks through its hide, while the Diamond was streaked with Onyx. They seemed like perfect hatchlings, a new and interesting pair that would make a good addition to the Weyr. Until, that is, he saw that they too had been struck by the pestilence. The Diamond's tail and wings had been eaten off, but the Onyx was in far worse condition, the hide gone form his legs and part of his back. He grimaced, trying to hold in the vomit, as the Onyx saved his clutchsister, dragging her across the Sands toward her Bonded, who sobbed and started picking the maggots away. Tears were pouring down Derrok's face as he watched the Onyx between. What a terrible hatching! But at least the Diamond was saved. The mourning keen of dragons echoing around the Sands was intense.

A Copper hatched next, with a lighter hide than normal that swirled into purple and Diamond-white on the tail. She was gorgeous, flirtatious and perfectly healthy, which was a relief. A dark jade crashed into the Copper, but backed away quickly when she hissed at him, rushing over to the girls' circle and IMpressing quickly to a girl he didn't know by name but recognized.

Jade, Onyx, Aqua, any dragon would do for him as long as it got him off the Sands!

[Sintarith]

Nwalme clapped, if not very enthusiastically when Aurelie Impressed the Copper-Scarlet; the depressing atmosphere was getting to her and she didn’t have much she could feels he could be happy about. Truly she was happy for the newly bonded, but was worried that the lack-lustre way of showing it might seem sarcastic, so she just smiled then continued to watch the clutch. It was true she felt sad that neither she nor Cresce had Impressed the such a beautiful dragon. Still, there was hope yet. And it wasn’t so surprising that she hadn’t Impressed the high ranking dragon anyway, she knew that she was all wrong in the dragon’s eyes.

Her eyes were drawn next to the onyx dragon that hatched beautifully, but the sadness in his eyes was evident. He was already old beyond his age. And it seemed that he was always be so; all in all, he and his rider could possibly make weyrleader one day, and good ones at that. Especially if the dragon kept his rider in line if it was one of the more wherry-headed boys. But that, just looking at those beautifully sorrowful eyes, and the gleaming hide, was not going to happen. The onyx would choose a strong boy for His. But her dusky blue-grey eyes were still mesmerised by the way that the surface of his hide shimmered in the sun, and then his belly was more of a rough colour. It was rather spectacular. And along with the amazement, came a great relief that at least one onyx came of this clutch, healthy and with its full wits about it.

The strange aqua was still headed towards the boys, so Nwalme only gave it a fleeting glance when she heard it creeling. She saw it stumbling along, and her heart fluttered, wishing the little thing would find his bonded soon. Perhaps then he wouldn’t be in quite as much of a rush, and take a little more time to use his legs.

But the tears sprang all too easily back into those soft eyes of hers, especially as the two eggs rocking in unison hatched. The onyx and diamond both were spectacular, sporting flashes of each others’ colours throughout their hides. With a flash of hope, Nwalme set her eyes on the diamond, not caring that she wasn’t high ranking. Rank didn’t matter to this girl. Except they were both caught in the throes of disease, though the diamond, perhaps, was saveable. Her heart twisted as the young onyx used the last of his strength to carry his twin to her bonded, a feat that many normal folk would not believe. It was just so full of compassion, so heart-breakingly beautiful, and all the more bittersweet as the bowl was filled once more with the incredible keening of dragons as the onyx threw himself valiantly between, knowing his sister was safe. The sound was horrible in Nwalme’s and tears streamed forth from her eyes, and into Crescentia’s top as she buried her face in the shorter girls shoulder, her blonde hair covering her face from the sight.

When the other girl mentioned the Jade on the sands, she brightened a little; this dragon may take an interest in her. She gazed shyly at him, his hide a gorgeous dark green tone, although she couldn’t see much more than that through her veil of hair.

But then a brightly coloured copper came past, unseen by the sobbing girl. The creature lashed out, and Nwalme’s world was filled with a little more pain, though now it was physical. Long raking gashes tore through her trousers, cutting deeply into the muscle on her right leg. Blood ran freely out of the wound, not even oozing like many other wounds she had received in the past. The rate it was flowing, she was worried it had punctured an atery in her leg, although she didn't have enough healing knowledge to wrok out if it had or not. The blood was certainly not slwoing down much, if at all. The dragon hadn’t even stopped, but went straight to Magena. But now the pain flared into life as a small gust of wind blew sand into the wound, the girl almost screamed from the pain of it. She was usually good at ignoring the pain of wounds, but this, combined with the depth the vicious claws had achieved along with the stinging grit of sand, caused her to utter a small shriek of agony, before she stifled it, trying not to rest her weight on that leg, but not willing to put too much on Cresce.

Trying to ignore as much of the pain as possible, she stood back on that leg, to be rewarded with a sharp spike that ran up from mid-calf to almost the top of her thigh. Yet satill she managed to look over at the huge silver egg that had been set aside, and wondered if it was going to hatch. She’d not noticed it moving, but maybe she hadn’t been paying that much attention to it; after all she hadn’t touched the thing, she wasn’t worthy of a queen dragon. Yet, the jade that headed towards them gave her a spark of hope, though she ddin't look back at him. She was again wincing with pain as her leg smarted, the flow finally slwoing a little, but the snad about her feet was saturated with the dark red liquid, and the girl was beginning to feel slightly woozy.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Spying the regal looking onyx, the fluffy blonde haired boy looked on appreciatively. Now THAT was a king of dragons. Forget the bronze dragons at every other weyr; they seemed somewhat commonplace amongst the rare dragons that resided in Vyrzen Weyr. No, this onyx was dazzling to the eye, and surely an extremely eligible candidate for flying a queen one day. But there was a great difference in this dragon when compared to the other dragons; be they more klutzy than the others or more fierce. No, this king was unique, his eyes whirling with a sorrow that nothing that young should ever have had to experience.

Tekah nearly laughed as the little aqua stumbled and almost bowled a few boys over when he got close enough to the semi circle. Surprisingly, some of the other lads were scattering to give the creature a wide berth, as if they feared it for his strange appearance. But Tekah remained where he was, bright blue eyes sparkling with amusement that he couldn’t quite get rid of. He knew that this was sad occasion, but the sight of the little aqua almost gambolling around was fairly funny.

Well, he was amused until he spotted the twin dragons; onyx and diamond. The poor onyx must have been suffering terribly for all his beautiful appearance. The lower portion of his body was almost completely stripped of hide, the foul maggots working upon his flesh. Tekah grimaced as he heard the bone in the onyx dragons legs scraped as he moved for his sister, and something in the boy very nearly snapped when he though the onyx was going to crunch down of the diamond’s neck. It would have been a weirdly beautiful act of mercy, were she more ravaged, but Tekah wondered if she could be saved, with so little damage done to her. But his presumption had been wrong. The onyx wasn’t going to kill the diamond that shared streaks of his colour. But, in sharing streaks of hers, true twins, he showed an even greater compassion by half dragging the squeaking dragonet to the girls. It was a long, painful moment, Tekah’s ears hearing every scrape of raw bone on bone, where the maggots had begun digesting cartilage. He heard the grunts of pain as the onyx struggled to his destination, where his sister found her bonded. The girl wept profusely whilst scraping away the squelching vermin from her beloved’s hide, whilst the onyx looked on with something that may have been the ghost of happiness. It was his only, and greatest, service before he died, leaping between to die without littering the sands with another corpse.

A couple of tears escaped him then at those heroics, his hardened face cracking into a mask of grief. It was so completely selfless, he couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been just to pull the will power together to move all the way across the sands, before going between. Wiping the tears away roughly with his sleeve, he looked up just in time to see a scuffle between a brightly coloured copper and a very dark jade dragonet that seemed to get tangled together as they had hatched. But both headed towards the girls, the copper lashing out here and there before she Impressed. The jade was slower, perhaps more cautious, as he was still looking about. He gasped in shock as he saw the injury that a blonde haired girl had sustained, although he couldn’t remember seeing her before. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled at an extremely high pitch, to try grab someone, anyone’s attention.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mikyran watched with complete passivity as the Copper-Scarlet Impressed. He was paying more attention to the other hatchlings on the sands at the moment, in particular, the ones that were heading towards the boys. He was still uncertain what he felt about the sinuous, less-than-graceful aqua dragonet, because it went again his ingrained knowledge of what a dragon –should- look like. But of course, being weyrbred, and at a weyr where no mutations had taken effect, this entire place was rather unnerving. Full of more slender bodies, longer wingers – generally narrower builds, that would be good during thread fall. Not all dragons should be muscular and bulky, he surmised, but that blue dragon that weaved closer and closer to the dragons was pushing his limits a bit too far. He was odd to the extent that Mikyran didn’t know what to make of him. The longer spikes of Faereth the purple who had made first Impression weren’t too odd. The small patch of different colouration that Renoth had was easy to cope with. And the distinctly odd coloured copper was even alright, he was getting used to the different shades of hide, but the conformation of the aqua was still getting to him.

He looked away as soon as the onyx and diamond hatched, as soon as he saw the eaten flesh, as soon as he smelt the rot on the air. Therefore he didn’t see the bravery of the onyx, saving his sister, but he heard the great keening caused by his betweening and it pierced him. The dragons had done the same when his mother had died, for she was honoured amongst dragonkind. She had saved his father. To gain the respect of dragons in such a way was unforgettable.

But the healthy onyx dragon did catch his eye. The hide was a beautiful shiny colour, the clarity of the gleam. Mikyran briefly wondered if you would be able to see your reflection in such a highly polished hide. He lingered on the onyx dragon greedily almost, not caring for the other boys who would covet such a prize. If he could impress that king that stood out there, preening to ensure he looked as grand as he possibly could, then he would be the envy of the weyr. And the attention shone to Mikyran as much as the hide of the onyx did.

But when he saw another girl Impress another copper, he scowled. Mikyran was getting irritated, and was wondering if he was ever going to Impress. So far all but a few of the girls had Impressed and only one of the boys had. He shuffled uncomfortably in the heat, getting more and more irritated as the slow minutes crept by. He even went so much as to almost snarl as the little aqua stumbled over its feet again and nearly into him, but he stopped himself, remembering that most dragonets weren’t exactly steady on his feet, and appearance was nothing to judge upon; after all, if people did that with him, there’s be a lot more heads rolling. He’d already heard some mutterings about ‘why wasn’t he standing where he belonged?’ and ‘what did he think to gain by standing with the boys?’ except the ‘he’ was said as ‘she’. Which aggravated the boy even more. It wasn’t his fault his sharding appearance was so sharding androgynous. He scowled again, keeping himself out of the careening aqua’s way. Last thing he needed now was bleeding feet.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zetairen was mesmerised by the astonishing beauty of the sacrifice made by the Onyx that had Diamond patches on its hide. He had been tuning up until he’d heard a squeal of terror, and had looked up from the sand.

To save a sister,
I give my life
Rescue her please and
End my strife

That verse was for the gallant young hatchling, as he watched his opposite bond with one of the girls. There was almost a knowing look in his eyes before he made the jump to the cold nothingness where he would find death. And now, maybe he would find his peace, for without even a bonded, he had saved a clutch sister and that was the most moving thing that Tairen had ever seen with his own two eyes. Rather than dwell on his own pain, the dragon had given those precious few moments to a sister that was so far below his rank, because he knew that she could be saved.

At last
A light shines through
The ravaged fought
For a bond so true

He kept tuning to himself, adamant he would make this into something that would be sung around all of Pern. Sure, he was only a journeyman before he got chosen for a candidate, but there was no reason he couldn’t continue his harpering whilst he was here. If he learnt from the weyr harper, he may even be able to make master, as well as being a dragon rider! That was some feat, one the boy doubted that he would achieve, but a goal nonetheless.

The next hatchling to catch his eyes was the angry Copper that Impressed more swiftly than any other hatching he’d seen today. He’d apparently missed the Copper-Scarlet Impressing to Aurelie. He clapped a little belatedly, and smiled over at them, but he avoided the gaze of Magena – she’d probably only scowl back at him anyway. She didn’t really deserve his congratulations, especially after the mean greeting she had given him when he’d been polite. No, that girl he’d taken an instant dislike to, and that was unusual for Zetairen. He focussed his teal coloured eyes on the Jade that was again heading towards the girls, wondering to whom it would bond.

But now, he looked at the queen egg. There didn’t seem to be many female candidates left, and no one had been paying attention to the great egg, so much as they’d pay attention to a rock in the sea. He frowned, and wondered whether it was going to hatch at all. With the current state of the clutch, it may well not even crack the shell. Then he took his thoughts away from that severely depressing thought. No, it wouldn’t do to think of it, he had to be optimistic.

But the thing that now mesmerised him, and even his fingers stopped their ever so subtle movements in the air – movements as to the fingering of the pipes that he was composing for this dirge – was the striking onyx that sat preening. He had no idea how long it had been there, but at once the boy was relieved and amazed that the high ranking dragon had not been attacked by the pestilence. Then again, position in the weyr wasn’t exactly a factor for this disease, was it? But the clarity of the hide was spectacular, even the coarser colouring on his belly, that looked as though it could be black granite, speckled with white quartz, or like stars in the night sky. He was pretty certain other people would be thinking that too. It was a pretty good analogy. Aware that he was staring, mouth agape, he closed it and looked to Derrok, giving him a thumbs up for luck. The onyx would be wandering over this way, and with many of the boys there still unimpressed, he wanted to show some friendliness, rather than a cold competitive nature.