[Hatching] A Million Marks and a Dream

[Ezra]

Candidate Nielle - Reaction to dragonets
TW: Blood | Reaction to attack

Nielle had been quietly watching as the little green bolted out of the Flighty Beacon egg and zipped up their group's way. When she stuck her little nose into her knees, Nielle got excited for a second and then her expression fell to disappointment as the hatchling zipped away and impressed to someone else. Then another gorgeous green hatched and impressed elsewhere. At this point, Nielle was just feeling tired and despite the cool of the winter air, the sand was warm and she felt her robes starting to stick to her from the sweat that began to gather on the surface of her skin.

Grumbling in irritation, she yanked at her hairtie and fixed her hair back where it was off the back of her neck. She knew first thing what she was going to do once she got back to her room.. cut this damned mop short. It was too annoying to manage at this long of a length.

Then chaos erupted as the large blue hatched and went on a mini rampage. All Nielle knew is the blue attacked two candidates before being shoved back by another. This had been the bloodiest hatching she could recall being at. At this point, she wanted this over with. She wanted to shout, to go run and help the two that were injured but a mixture of fear of being attacked and getting in trouble for causing a scene and making the great gold queen angry kept her in place.

That is what the veterans and healers were here for were they not? She was finding it very hard to not bolt herself to a safe distance.. to the stands and to her brother and hide from these crazy dragonets. But... something inside of her kept her frozen, that made her want to stay. Because what if... what if one of those eggs had a dragon in it and they wanted her? If she was gone.. they would... no. She had to stay.. she had to. But there was so much blood today.. red.. copper smelling.. oh Faranth, she felt suddenly really nauseous.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Aneesa - Heiro

TW: Blood

Aneesa laughed good naturedly as the blush filled Heiro's cheeks. Maybe she would have a chance with her after all.

The pleasant thoughts of the other girl were quickly pushed out of her mind as the Beast's Stripes hatched and the dragonet barreled towards them. It moved so fast, she couldn't even process what was happening until a sharp pain shot through her arm, accompanied by a sickening crack. As quickly as the blue had attacked, he was gone, impressed and heading off to be fed.

Aneesa fell to her knees, clutching her right arm. Of course the dragonet had decided to chomp on her dominant arm. She grimaced in pain as tears filled her eyes. She had gotten hurt pulling some stunts in the past, but never like this.

Through the pain, she liked over at Heiro, who was laying on the ground, blood staining her white candidate robes. Without a moment's hesitation, Aneesa was calling to the stands. "Healers! We need Healers!" She shuffled on her knees to be next to Heiro, not wanting to leave her defenseless if another of the eggs decided to hatch a savage dragon that wanted to draw more blood. And the Healers needed to know they had to look at her first, Aneesa could bear the pain a bit longer. "Heiro needs help here!"

[Windra]

Wher Candidate Retsuko - @ Mackenzie, reacting to dragons (mainly Heiro)

TW: Blood

In real time, the world was spinning.

Osk had been bad, but good ... it was so confusing. And the bronze wher at the campgrounds? Leering, advancing, eager to kill ... Heiro, taking the brunt of that black-white. And Heiro again, dashed by a blue with bloodlust in its eyes. And speak nothing of the belligerent green earlier - the one that practically dragged its rider away and not sat on his frustrated form.

The whers had been bad. But the dragons - they weren't much better, were they? What was she thinking, harboring a wher egg? All of dragonkin was so ... vicious. The Sands were bloodied. Why was nobody reacting? Why - why wasn't she? It took several strained breaths to realize she was hyperventilating into her palm. Her soiled fist clenched until the knuckles were white. A fog of terror, concern ...

"Healer ... " Retsuko could barely make out her own voice. It was so small and meek. Eyes slammed shut - remember the kindness. Osk had been apologetic. Kenziesk was maternal. The dragons saved them from the camp and - "Why am I ... acting like I'm so small?" A flicker of anger. The tiniest beacon of rage. It flared into her legs and forced her to stand. "A h-healer! Please! She needs a healer!"

[Kitarial]

Candidate Bede - Open

The next baby to hatch had Bede glad he was standing far from the candidates he’d charged, because that was one mean blue. The ones he’d attacked, two girls, both seemed rather injured, and even Bede couldn’t deny that he felt bad watching that. There was… so much blood. There had been quite a few mauling already, but none remotely so serious as this.

Watching apprehensively, he was thankful when a candidate finally shoved the blue back and impressed to the brutish hatchling. He didn’t want a hatchling like that anywhere near him. Even if it meant not getting the bronze or gold he’d hoped for. Even if it meant not impressing at all. He wanted to impress, badly so, but… seeing the violence this large blue had wrought, Bede decided he definitely didn’t want a hatchling quite so prone to pushing people around.

[Femisis]

Candidate Izumi- Nielle, Rekka

The first Bronze of the clutch hatched from the next egg an impressed to an older candidate without much fanfare. He'd looked at a few others, but none but his chosen got his full attention. Ah well, there was always the next egg.

"That's good to hear!" Izumi replied to Nielle. "Maybe there's hope for those sourpusses yet." He was sure they would all be alright, after all, who could truly tell a dragon 'no'? Right? That wasn't a thing, right? He didn't have long to dwell as the hatching progressed, two more Greens and a Blue finding their partners. "This things always seem to fly, don't they?" He asked idly with a bit of a sigh. It was looking more and more like he'd be left standing again...

[Fel]

Kee

So cute! The excitable little green was just so cute! Kee practically squealed with joy as the hatchling shoved her face into her... even if in the end she wasn't chosen. Oh. A brief pang of disappointment flooded her, but she must not have been what that dragon needed. What she wanted maybe, but not what she needed. It was hardly fair to expect anything for a Hatching, she guessed.

More dragons hatched, a blue that seemed intent on causing chaos. She winced as he seemed to do some real damage, but everyone knew Hatchings could be dangerous. You never wanted to see it, but she didn't think it was worth letting it ruin the day. Especially since there were so many lovely eggs still left!

Spensa of Garnet Xanneth Tag: Br'on

"She's purple! Use your eyes! There's some pink on her but she's mostly purple. And she is not a girl brown. She's a mutant. And boys don't have to ride boy dragons. They've ridden greens since forever. What are you, illiterate and deaf? It's in the lessons and songs, and not just at a failing Weyr like this one."

Spensa paused mid motion as she fed Xanneth. A failing Weyr. And now she was really stuck here. At Fort. Where they practically worshiped unsuitable dragons. A mutant's rider was even allowed to be Candidatemaster! Well at least she didn't have to deal with him any more.

She glanced over at the sands at Br'on's exclamations about his dragon, and snorted. "Everyone knows you were never good enough for a bronze."

---

Esther of Green Krugith Tag: Relli

Esther was more than a little relieved that Relli wouldn't have to go out into the storm. She knew riders wouldn't have, but that was because it made flight unsafe. That didn't apply to handlers. She yawned again, taking that as a cue to take another sip of her klah.

I guess that's true. Everyone is likely to be distracted. And possibly drunk.

She smiled down at the sands as she saw a rather bouncy little green hatch, followed by another. That smile faded when a much less friendly blue hatched, immediately going on a rampage. She looked away, not wanting to see that just then, instead turning her attention on Relli. Tell me when he's done. Please.

[Arcane]

While most of the weyr's eyes were turned on the blue and his carnage, the small Stunning Harper Egg began to rock. before cracking neatly in two. The green from within rose, looking confident and ease, barely bothered by the pressure of hatching- or the chaos preceding her hatching.



She was a slender green of around average size. Her hide was a softer, paler green. The bottom of her wingsails were a paler color. Dots of the same color adorned her wingsails, the top of her neck, her hind flanks and her tail. Her underbelly and much of her face were a darker, richer green.

Looking entirely at ease, the green strode down the line of candidates, looking them over, meeting their eyes, until she stopped before one in particular, tilting her head towards Izumi.

Izumi, is it? Yeah, I guess this could work. Nice to meet you, the green said.

And just like that- with minimal fanfare or mischief- another new rider pair was formed.

[nineofswords]

Br'on of Green Mesomelath - Spensa

"She's a garnet, you dimglow," Br'on spat at Spensa. "We've had them for turns now, you should know what a garnet is. It's hardly a mutant if we get some in almost every clutch." Sure, they were weird, but Spensa sucked, and any excuse to point out that she was wrong felt good. "Yeah, gay boys have ridden greens, but I'm not gay! I'm not! I like girls, and only girls, I should not be riding a green!" He yelled this last part. He'd never really said it out loud before, but now anyone within hearing range knew his feelings on the matter. Which included a good portion of his weyrling class.

Br'on could totally shove this tiny, horrible little monster off his chest if he wanted to, but the way she kept flexing her claws among his robes like a kneading feline was...disconcerting. Worrying. Vaguely terrifying. Especially because he could feel her intent to hurt him if he actually tried it. She wasn't bloodthirsty, but she wasn't shy about drawing it if that's what was needed to get her way.

Br'on watched, miserable, as the bronze found his partner. And it wasn't him. He was stuck with this...this...ugh, there weren't enough words to fully capture how nasty and awful she was! And he was stuck with her. It was enough to drive anyone out of their mind, but at least if he had been a girl, this wouldn't be such a problem! But he wasn't, he wasn't, he didn't want to be a girl, and no one seemed to understand!

He ignored Spensa's comment about not being good enough for bronze. She was jealous. Everyone always was, about people destined for greatness. She was clearly just upset that she had gotten the dragon that was actually appropriate for her rather than the one she'd wanted. Why did he have to get the most defective dragon in the clutch?

Oh good, you're starting to come around on the idea that I'm not letting you go, Mesomelath said brightly in his head. Now, be a good little minion, and I'll let you up to feed me! Otherwise...well, I have the very difficult decision about whether I want to bite your other hand or give that first one its third bite of the day...

"For forsk's sake, I am not your minion!" Br'on snarled at her, but she just laughed.

Anyway, that ego of yours is what makes you so perfect. I'm going far in this world, and I've decided you're good enough to take with me. You want to go to the top, right? No, don't answer, I know you do. Well, you're in luck, because you get to do it with me.

Br'on didn't want to go to the top with Mesomelath, he wanted his bronze, but she let him up finally so he kept his mouth shut rather than risk getting knocked over and terrorized again. He trudged dejectedly back to the buckets of meat. He sat down on the sands, his back to everyone, and started mechanically shoving food in Mesomelath's general direction, the absolute picture of a toddler having a pout in the hopes that someone would come and fix the problem for him.

[Tyto]

Candidate Asch - Loek

He tried not to groan as he spotted someone breaking from the cluster and making a beeline for him. Instead, he took a slow breath in and exhaled slowly. Despite Loek's best attempts, Asch still found him to be just an annoying little brother. But he'd been able to at least--well. Deal with him in small doses without snapping at him. "Yeah," he agreed after a beat or two, though his expression was slightly pinched. He smoothed his hand over his face, trying to wipe it away, just in time to miss that someone else was getting hurt. He raised his eyebrows at the blue who had clawed Heiro, then glanced around warily. "These ones sure seem to have a taste for us this time around..."


Kylan of Brown Logariuth - Heiro, any healer near the edge of the Sands

CW: Blood, vague wound tending because I am not a nurse or medical professional

Ah, speak of ill and it comes to pass, it seemed. Kylan glanced at the other healers as the Blue made his aggression clear, their muscles tensing. When one of the Candidates went to the ground, it wasn't hard to miss the red quickly staining the white robes. They adjusted their bag of supplies on their shoulder and stepped from their place on the sidelines to the burning sands. They were technically more specialized in healing dragons, but they had a basic knowledge of human care as well--enough to triage as needed.

Keeping an eye out for any wayward hatchlings coming from the eggs, they crossed quickly to Heiro's side. Looked like she was already putting pressure on it, which was good, but they needed to get her out of further harm's way and assess the wound. From the amount of red, it was a little worse than they'd initially thought. Kneeling down, they offered a comforting smile. "Hey, it's going to be alright. Just take slow, deep breaths for me, yeah? What's your name? My name's Kylan, I'm one of the Healers. I'm going to carry you, okay? I want to move you to the edge so we can get a good look at your wound." And not risk more hatchling-induced injuries went without saying. They didn't need Heiro getting hurt worse, or have a Healer wounded for being in the way. Kylan didn't want to take her completely away unless they needed to, either, considering there were still dragons hatching and one might have had their heart set on her.

Unfortunately, wounds needed to be tended to quickly to minimize the risks, so they didn't wait for further acknowledgment before carefully picking Heiro up and carrying her to the side nearer the other Healers. They were careful not to jostle her as they walked and, true to their word, they weren't completely off the sands, just away from the other Candidates and less likely to draw an errant dragonet's ire. Once they were a safe distance away, Kylan called for another Healer to lay out a cloth on the sands and placed the wounded Candidate on top of it, then beside her their bag of supplies.

As they began to work, or to help a specialized healer had they stepped up instead, they tried to keep her mind off of what they were doing... should it seem like she was up for it. "Do you have any friends that have Impressed yet?"

[Grayson]

Weyrling G'ston of blue Nakalath - Br'on, Spensa

"Nakalath, nap or food?" G'ston had arrived at the buckets, and Nakalath's head turned to survey them - and then the little blue dragonet yawned.

Nnnn.... food. He opened his mouth, presumably expecting the meat to levitate into his maw.

"It doesn't work like that. I need to put you down so I can feed you."

But I'm comfy!

"Nap, or food?" G'ston had had younger siblings, he knew how this went.

Mmmph. Nakalath wriggled and G'ston set him down on the sands, then retrieved a bucket and started applying meat to his maw.

And now, with the gnawing hunger in his belly starting to ease, he had attention to spare for the others at the dragonet feeding station. Specifically two others, who were right there and getting loud.

"How have you two managed to live at the Weyr for this long, wanting to be dragonriders, and not notice a few things?" G'ston looked up from where he was adding food to Nakalath, and at the two complaining weyrlings. "Just... how? Reality is reality, it doesn't change itself because you think it should. Congratulations on Impressing, both of you. You've been chosen to be Pern's protectors. You'll rank just about everyone else on the planet when we graduate! Can't you be happy with that?"

~~

Healer H'nel of green Fuyusath - Heiro, Kylan

TW: Healery stuff

H'nel saw Kylan approaching with a Candidate, and she grabbed one of the folded cloths that was waiting and hurried over to intercept them.

"Here, put her down on this," she said, then started opening her own bag of healing tools while addressing Heiro directly. "Hi there! I'm H'nel of green Fuyusath, and I need to see what we're looking at. Can you tell me your name while we get these robes out of the way?" The shears came out of H'nel's back, and she started cutting open the robes to expose the wound.

One of the advantages of being a dragonrider as well as a Healer was that your dragon could perceive - and relay to others - what you could see. H'nel could act in the confidence that if she needed to call in a senior Healer, that Healer would arrive knowing exactly what the problem was. But she wouldn't know if that was the case until she saw it.

[Dragon_Dreamer_2018]

Candidate Rekka - Nielle, Izumi, weyrling mentions & reactions to events since last post

Rekka just grinned, delighting in their companions’ reactions to their bad dad jokes and puns. The sour grape one seemed to land especially well!

Then a very sleepy blue hatched, who eventually impressed to Gariston; shortly followed by a gorgeous bronze baby, who then impressed to an older candidate she didn’t recognise. Out of another rocking egg came an adorably small green, who then proceeded to zip her way speedily through all of the candidates in what felt like the blink of an eye; until the little cutie had found her person. Rekka blinked. Aww. Clearly a lil’ somebody had the zoomies!

Meanwhile, another green had hatched, and safely Impressed. And then the Beast’s Stripes egg practically EXPLODED, spilling forth into the Sands a big, burly blue! Who roared, revealing twin rows of teeth that seemed rather uncomfortably large and sharp in comparison to his siblings’.

And he immediately chose violence.

Chaos, and then the coppery scent of blood. The sound of screaming.

For once, Rekka was speechless. WAS this much violence normal? It all happened so quickly..

But the blue’s rampage was swiftly cut short, though, by a candidate bravely shoving him back. And then—wait, apparently, that seemed to be his new person. And the two candidates he’d hurt.. oh no. It abruptly registered that one of them was Heiro, a nice girl that they definitely remembered from the Touching. “…Heiro!” Rekka belatedly looked ready to throw hands, though the blue had already caused his damage and then gone.

Amidst all the chaos and drama, a green hatched almost unnoticed. She so very calmly approached them, the movement catching Rekka’s attention. Which of the three candidates was the little hatchling aiming for?

It turned out to be Izumi!

“…Congratulations, dude! She’s so pretty!”

[Ezra]

Benedict of Garnet Benesk - Eloise, Daphne

Benedict huffed. " Yes but Coronatuth had the sense to not cause extreme wounds if memory serves me. Biting and nipping is one thing, even Benesk got a bit snappy as a whelp when she would eat or someone touched her that she did not initiate. But what is happening down there.. that's different." He replied, raising a brow, almost offended at the perceived admonishment. He then turned to Daphne with a chuckle. " You fancy this lad? The way you talk about him makes me wonder." The man said, a teasing glint in his expression. His thought process was interrupted for a moment by Benesk protesting in his mind. " Benedict! How could you leave Benesk behind? Did Benesk do something wrong?" She protested... very loudly and a visible cringe of pain resounded in his head, she was being rather forceful in her pouting. " No, you did nothing wrong. Serapheth just does not allow whers at her hatchings." He explained. The grumbles in his head subsided but he could feel her massive amount of pouting.. he would have to give her an extra treat later for not fighting him further on this. Sometimes it was like having a big red wher daughter at times.

" Perhaps the weather or bloodline could have something to do with it, but I am done arguing it. I said my piece and I am done with it." He replied with a tone of finality in his voice. He then casually scanned the stands, wondering if he might see a trace of Tamin.. but then realizing his sisters might notice him.. looking for something, he pretended to just be looking at the sky. " You think the rest of these eggs are going to hatch before that storm rolls in? I would very much not like to be caught in this." He added, though he knew if he was not at this hatching, that meant being out in.. this brewing storm and no thanks.

The hatching of the blue and the rampage he went on had Benedict looking at Eloise and Daphne. THAT was hardly a nip or bite, even from where they sat, the blood on the sand and the robes of the attacked as well as the dashing towards the sands of the healers to the downed candidate. " I hope that candidate is alright, that looked serious." He replied, concern in his expression. And people said whers were the violent ones.

[Mal]

C'leu of Garnet Nyseth

Well, you can't say that Serapheth had boring hatchings, the garnetrider thought to himself as he silently watched. He wasn't in a socializing mood today and hunkered down by himself near the top of the stands. He just wanted to see what this latest bunch of dragons and new riders would be like. Unfortunately, he was rather disappointed. The dragons were stunning but there were more violence than he'd like to see and while he couldn't hear what was being said, he got the impression that a few of them weren't too happy, based on body language alone. That Bronze seemed promising at least and there hadn't been more than that one Garnet so far so overall he was somewhat pleased with the clutch. He kept watching, judging silently.

[Jabberwoky]

The Wild Wanderer was shaking. Then cracking. Then breaking. It seemed so methodical, so practiced. The green shell fell away to reveal a stunning dragonet, though upon seeing so many eyes and so many people, he froze.



A blue!

With a dark, almost navy blue hide, broken up by slightly lighter stripes and dots, he was stunning. His underbelly was a still darker but richer, truer blue.

But he wasn't moving, eyes whirling in nervous yellows. Serapheth extended her wings over him, hiding the crowds until he started moving, making a beeline towards only one person - Mithras.

Uh... hi? Hello? I'm sorry there's just a lot of people...

The big Ice Wall shook next.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Aneesa - Heiro, Kylan, H'nel

TW: Blood and gore

After screaming towards the stands for a healer, finally one came to Aneesa and Heiro. He quickly went to caring for Heiro, before scooping her up and taking her to the edge of the sands. Aneesa's wave of relief was short lived, as the pain in her own arm tore her attention away from the other candidate.

Aneesa looked down at her arm that had been bit. Her robes were torn, and what remained of them was stained deep red. The parts of her arm that she could feel were searing with pain, but her hand was alarmingly numb. The lower part of her forearm was sticking out at an unnatural angle. Wincing, she forced herself to get back to her feet, though it was difficult to find her footing on the sand through the swirling pain.

Clutching her arm, she staggered over to where the healers were attending to Herio. "How is she?" She asked the healers through grit teeth. Even with her arm in the condition it was in, she was more concerned that Heiro pulled through.