[Hatching] A Million Marks and a Dream

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Aneesa - Heiro, Healers

TW: Blood

"Ignore...her," Aneesa growled to the healers as they continued their work. It technically wasn't a contest, but Healers were supposed to take care of the patients in most critical condition first, right? As bad as Aneesa's arm was, she was still mostly coherent, and she could tough it out a bit longer. At least she hoped so. Her eyes stung with pained tears as she looked around. There had to be more Healers in a weyr this big, right? She refused to admit it out loud, but it would be nice if someone came to check her arm, but only if they didn't need to help with Heiro's treatment.

Aneesa's attention was quickly drawn back to Heiro as the girl went limp and stopped trying to scold her. "Heiro! Heiro! She's still alive, right?" She asked the Healers, panic rising in her voice.

[nineofswords]

G'las of Green Quenith - Kreta

G'las watched as one after another dragon hatched. The start of the hatching was a mess, with not one, but two more aggressive dragonets. The first one was a brown, so not much concern for their wing, but the second was a green. G'las winced. That one would be a problem to be sure, and as she watched things unfold further, the rider didn't seem the most emotionally stable of people either. The next green seemed reasonable enough, at least.

The blue that came next, though, seemed extremely lazy. "Are all of the smaller dragons in this clutch going to be problems?" he muttered to herself under his breath. The next two greens to hatch proved her worries wrong, though...and then the violent blue hatched. Two girls went down before someone shoved him, and then he calmed right down. "Well at least that rider knows how to handle that firecracker," G'las said. "I hope the girls will be alright, though. A death at a hatching is never a good thing."

The next three smaller colors to hatch were far more reasonable when compared to many of their siblings, although there was yet another blue who seemed lazy, or in some way unwilling to move out from under his mother's protective shadow. G'las sighed and rubbed her forehead. "With that many problem dragons in this clutch, we're bound to get at least one of them," he complained. "Damn. I was hoping this would be a sensible clutch like the last one..." Serapheth's temperament had really rubbed off on some of her children, it seemed.

[Ignys]

Candidate Neidellah - Nielle, New blue

"Well, yeah, I'm sure." They weren't close enough to hear what the two most injured candidates were saying, but she could tell both of them weren't feeling terribly good. "But we aren't equipped to help them. Healers are. And between you and me I dont really have good 'bedside manner' or whatever." The next baby was a stunning little blue, happy enough to be ogled as he walked, and chipper and friendly based on his little greetings to each of them as he passed. He extended the same kind of greeting to her, before...

Ah.

"He's a handsome little guy." She hummed. "I heard High Reaches had a whole clutch of markingless eggs some time ago. Ah, but... hes probably hungry." She gestured towards the other weyrlings, and the buckets of meat waiting neat them. "Congratulations, by the way. I think he made a good choice." Well, maybe... she didn't know Nielle terribly well, but she seemed nice enough to invite her over to talk, so she figured the friendly little blue would pair nicely with her.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Canddiate Costanza - reacting to hatching, panicking

Only two more eggs left. He only had two more chances to impress a dragon before he’d be forced to march off the sands and actually consider an alternate path in his life. His chest felt painfully tight as his stomach burned and churned within him. How was he getting passed up this much? So many of the eggs had been friendly and nice. Did none of them see potential in him? Was this just another failure in a long line of failures? Was he going to have to move back home with parents, tail beneath his legs? Why did that brown laugh at him?

These questions swirled in his mind as the second to last egg hatched, producing another beautiful blue. Perfect! A blue was exactly what he wanted. He smiled weakly as the dragon approached him, trying to convey confidence, since that seemed like a good trait for a rider to have.

With little more than a sniff, the blue moved on, choosing another candidate. "Just tell me what I’m doing wrong!" Costanza called after the dragon. "I can fix it for the next one! I just need to know what’s wrong with me!" There were plenty of things wrong with him, he knew his flaws, he just needed to know which of them were most pressing.

He turned his attention to the sole remaining egg, the Bubbling Brew. It was one of the eggs that had given him a positive reaction, so if any egg was going to be a good one for a last ditch effort, at least it was this one and not one of the nasty eggs. "Please, please pick me," he pleaded loudly with the rattling egg, any sense of shame long forgotten.

[Ezra]

Weyrling Elle of Blue Tredjeth - Impression, Neidellah, Rekka

" Oh I get that. I don't think I would have much of a good bedside manner myself." Nielle replied, agreeing with her fellow candidate. Then Spare egg finally hatched and the cheep was heard right before the stunningly vibrant blue popped out of his very white shell. Okay... that was certainly a surprise. She was reminded of a skyline or maybe a large body of water. As she watched him sweetly greeting each person, she fought to keep a smile off her face, because several of them were friendly and that didnt mean she was... then he stopped in front of her and spoke... wait.. that was in her head...no... NO FORSKING WAY?!

She thought this had to be a mistake, surely he wanted one of the people beside her, not her! Before she could form words with her mind, his mindvoice filled hers.

"Greetings, fair Nielle! I am Tredjeth- dragon, blue, up-and-coming threadfighter...And your new bondmate!"

Nielle blinked once.. twice... thrice.. and then proceeded to pinch her arm hard and then yelped in pain. This was real.. this just happened..right? As if to answer her inner question, the rainbows swirled in Tredjeth's eyes and he tilted his head to the side slightly, why did his new bonded just injure herself like that.

" Elle.. is it okay if I call you Elle? Don't hurt yourself like that! You should take care of yourself. If you do not mind my dear new bonded, might I bother you for a bit to eat? Hatching made me a bit.. peckish!" Tredjeth replied in a singsong tone, placing his front legs gently up on her knees to solidify his place near her physically.

That snapped her out of it. She had responsiblity to this stunning dragon now! Also.. that would explain her sudden primal need to gorge herself on food right now. " Yes.. right! One moment, Tredjeth!" She replied snapping out of it and turning to Rekka and Neidellah. " I have to go feed him now. I am sorry I called you over here Neidellah to just walk away again but I hope we can talk some more later, you seem a wonderful sort and the kind of person any dragon would be gifted to bond to. " She said then turned to Rekka. " And you my friend, don't think you can egg-scape my puns now that I know where you are." She teased and then looked at her dragon. " Okay my boy, let's get you fed eh?" She replied and started off towards the feeding buckets, fighting back the urge to cry in joy. No, she would be strong, she had to be.

Reaching their destination, she pulled a hunk of meat out and fed her dragon, making sure to be careful that he did not choke. Looking at the other weyrlings, she offered a smile. " Hello classmates, some day eh?"

[Arcane]

The Bubbling Brew egg didn't have an easy time of hatching. It rolled. It cracked. A leg stuck out at the wrong angle. Then part of a tail. But finally- the shell split open and a dragon rolled out, to sprawl awkwardly across the sands.



A garnet!

She was on the smaller side for a garnet, with large eyes in a youthful face and crescent-shaped wings. Most of her hide was a pale pink, streaked with a brighter, darker shade. Her wings and the top of her head were a darker maroon, the same color forming looping stripes around her tail.

She picked herself up, shook herself off and trotted towards the remaining candidates, glancing around, eyes whirling yellow with anxiety. She looked unsure and a little lost, standing there, looking at the sea of white robes.

And then she saw him- Costanza.

So this is the world, huh? It's a lot...dustier than I hoped it'd be. But this can still work! We can make this work. You and me- in it together! What do you say? Do we have a deal?

And with that, another clutch was hatched and a new class began their adventures at Fort Weyr.

[Ignys]

Candidate Neidellah - Nielle, mention Costanza and new baby.

"Dont worry about it. We can't predict these things." Yeah, it sucked a little, but they were already so close to the end of the hatching anyway, it wasn't like she would be sitting there very long. She didn't need to find someone else to talk with. "...sure. I'll look for you at the feast. We can talk then? For now he's gonna need to eat, and socialize with the rest of the werylings." Okay, maybe the second part wasn't nessesarily needed.

The final egg had another stunning garnet, another anxious little thing like one of the previous blues, though she seemed less shy and more lost than anything. And she stopped in front of... ah. Well, she couldn't very well tease Costanza for his desperation now, could she? If her robes had pockets she would have shoves her hands in them. That was that, then. She would hold her head high, even if she just wanted to slink away and hide in her weyr. There was a feast to go to, and the dining hall was probably further from the storm.

[Windra]

Weyrling Lr'nia of Brown Bubovirith - Br'on and Mesomelath

Lr'nia bristled at the insult to her nickname for the beloved brown. Of course the dragonling objected to the pet name. Maybe it felt demeaning to him. Insulting? Lr'nia really didn't care. She rounded on the other weyrling, eyes narrowed with irritation. "Man, don't be insulting my Bubby like that. Pull the stick right outta your - "

Perhaps it was in her best interest that a bronze hatched right then and there. Br'on was in the middle of a crisis, dashing out to the Sands as if to sweep the large creature off its feet even when his green bounded after him. He was promptly planted into the sand under what could be understood as a threat to his wellbeing (probably). Flexing claws punctuated his words. He cried out loud about how he wasn't gay and boys shouldn't ride greens and blah blah blah. Really, so stupid.

"He knows guys ride green all the time right? It's like ... written in scrolls and whatnot." She wasn't disappointed as much as confused. She took her candidate robe and wiped off the bits she missed on Bubovirith's russet hide, dusting sand off as she went. "And what's wrong with being gay?"

He's very steeped in his ways. Mesomelath will shape him into something better. At least that's what she's hoping, I suppose. I don't see him readily breaking from whatever mold he's stuck himself into. They'll crash and burn. We'd be lucky if they don't take the whole Weyr with them.

"That's kinda mean, bab. Didn't you say your sister was all 'queenly' and stuff?"

In her mind, yes. She acts the part. Whether she can actually uphold to what she wants to do without being greeted with torches and pitchforks remains to be seen. His hide was itching. Bubovirith brought his forelimb up to lick it, only to roll onto his side once more. Sand coated the spots that had just been wiped clean. I want a bath. And you ... you're hungry. So, food for you as well.

"And a drink!" Her eyes lit up, suddenly pepped.

You're supposed to be sober for the next turn or so. Best keep it that way. Your brain is quite foggy right now. You're ... scared, of what? It was hard to decipher her thoughts. They were plenty, shooting off in different directions without tangible direction. He could feel her mistyness. The ground felt like liquid. Is this not what you expected?

"It's just ... a lot to take in, I guess?" She wasn't really sure how to put her feelings into words. "I mean, I got an awesome baby boy. And we'll do great. Now what?"

We bathe. You eat. We sleep. Tomorrow we start fresh. You've got a lot of work to put in if you want to be a decent rider. If I ever rise to fly a queen, I want you to be in tip top shape. Right now, you're a work-in-progress not capable of leading anything.

"Fly ... a ... " Bubovirith was thinking far ahead. Lr'nia was stuck in the now. She felt dizzy. "Let's um ... talk about this later. You just freaking hatched. Future talk isn't right now talk, kay?"

--

Wher Candidate Retsuko - @ Mackenzie, happenings

Retsuko's hand once again fell upon her mouth. It took her a few moments to realize she'd still been standing. Upon settling back next to her friend, she ran her palm against her face to pull the salty wetness from her cheeks. Tears flowed freely. Anxiety was rising so high and there was somewhat of a hush falling over the stands as Heiro appeared to fall unconscious. She was in the hands of the healers now and nothing could be done from Retsuko's part. Still, she wondered over the potentials of everything, somehow convinced it was her own fault for allowing Heiro to get bitten by that wher at the riverside. What if the chips all fell into place because of that one disastrous moment?

As far as she knew, Heiro didn't like her. Maybe after this, she would hate her. Retsuko was to blame. Somehow. Her hands were shaking. "Mackenzie, Mackenzie ... will she be okay? I didn't expect this level of violence from dragons. I know the records said they could be violent, particularly when having a hard time deciphering their bondeds from the crowd, but ... "

An arrow of lightning suddenly pierced through her mind. Retsuko keeled over, holding her head. FoxFire was touching her brain with incoherent thoughts. A riddle of images bombarded her skull: a dark room; burning embers; mushrooms backlit by blue hues shaking, rattling, cracking. The little green fire-lizard screeched somewhere further down the caverns - it carried beyond the tumult of voices.

"The egg!" she gasped, breathless. "Of all the times - now?!" Dragonkin certainly knew how to time these things, didn't they? Yet with Heiro's form prone on the crimson sands, her compulsion to take up and leave was a far cry to what she should actually be doing. But her fire-lizard was determined. Images flashed before her eyes before Retsuko could take it no longer. She stood sharply, face pale and still damp. "Mackenzie - can, uh ... come, it's starting to - "

Her heart was pounding so furiously in her chest that Retsuko failed to catch her breath. The last word dissipated on the wave of commotion - congratulations on Impressions; whispers of concern; general banter. Wide eyes mingled emotions that wrestled for dominance. The wind whipped behind her as she struggled past the legs of others and ran into the lower caverns when her way was cleared.

[EW-NA]

Weyrling Tygirtaull - Here Come Tygir and the Fat Man!!!
--

After the raging predatory Blue, a more subdued one appeared. The candidate wasn't sure how he felt on that. On the outside, it was all indifferent disappointment, but internally - maaaaaybe it was better to not get such a wild card. By chance his gaze had turned on occasion towards the two candidates that got shredded instead.

It was a bit hard NOT to notice as the Healers dragged them off. You know, not being subtle when trying to feign subtly. The battered candidates weren't yowling or crying or whatever but...

Well, maybe Tygir would admit they did seem pretty beat up. Not trying to fake it, you know. And perhaps they did get it a bit worse than an annoying canine tearing at the pants...

Remembering, Tygir turned his eyes down to the large slash in his attire. While he was still mostly covered by it, the rip went right up to where his belt held it down about his waist, the fabric pulled and stretched as it sat disheveled. His lips pulled crookedly as he lifted up one corner of the torn end to look over. A frown pulled the one corner of his lips further down, while he dug the thumbnail of his other hand to the ample spaces among his teeth. Sucking air through the gaps as his thoughts wandered.

He couldn't keep distracted for long though, not when the next dragonet burst from their egg. Big and confident... and Brown. Tygir almost turned his eyes down again, seeing the creature's earthy color. No real shine or pop- until the dragonet stopped and struck a pose. Wings flared and tense and legs displayed to show the muscles holding his girth form.

What a ham!!

Tygir couldn't help but suck in a breath of amusement as a grin snuck in over his teeth picking. He was about to go about his business when a voice and warm sensation filled every space of his mind.

My draconic instincts have guided me here- to you. Never fear about your robe- we will repair it! We will make it better and stronger than ever, in the name of Faranth and all my draconic forbearers.

Tygir blinked, turning his eyes up to see a draconic muzzle right in his face. He immediately jerked back, recalling his incident earlier with SharkFace. Seeing as this dragonet was not ripping off his face parts, Tygir felt bold enough to give him a hard stare. At least until his attire was brought into question.

"Huh?" He turned his eyes down, flapping the torn edge before tossing his head back with a snuff. "Please-- this junk ain't worth the effort," Tygir boldly claimed. "See if this Weyr were smart, they let us wear cool things to the hatchings. Like this--!!"

Dropping the rode's torn edge, both thumbs worked themselves behind his patterned belt, pulling the form material taunt to display it. Amusingly, the Brown dragonet seemed intrigued enough to lean closer for an appreciative look. Tygir could almost feel the approving rumble.

It only made him puff his chest, "If we got all duds like this, 'bet no one would get torn up either! It's tough and it just looks awesome!" Tygir boasted so casually, barely realizing he was talking to a dragon in such a way, or what that entailed.

I see, Odobenuth mused. A sturdy piece! Did you craft it?

Tygir's puff immediately deflated as he stumbled a bit. "Well, no... my Pops made this one for me. But I know how to make them," he quickly amended, looking quite assured and determined. "I made lots of awesome stuff-- I know all about radical style!!"

Hearing that, Odobenuth's eyes whirled into rainbows as the dragonet tossed back his head. The laugh, though only in thought, was still loud and rolling and joyful. The Brown mimicking the actual human gesture of it by displaying his teeth, as he bounced from the emotion. His two front canines seemingly most noticable to Tygir, though there seemed nothing of note about them.

My draconic instincts never fail me!! Come then-- we must celebrate! Let us feast with the rest of our kin and discuss it! You won't be disappointed!!

The Brown let out another bellowed laugh before moving behind Tygir to force the lad forward with his weight. Tygir let out a yelp as he stumbled, shooting the... his dragonet a fierce look.

"HEY--- WATCH IT, WATCH IT!!! I GOT MY OWN FEET, PAL!!"

Despite the fierce claim, Tygir still let himself be pushed along. This wasn't the flashy dragon he envisioned for himself, if he were honest. No bright color or radical markings but... Tygir found he liked him. He liked the warm unexplainable feeling that rolled over his mind. Assuring him that he was 'right.'

Normally, he'd always had to tell it to himself, but it was nice when it came elsewhere.

"Come on then--" Tygir claimed, once he found his feet to walk himself. He excitedly set his hands on Odobenuth's wide back and wing joints. "Gonna show you off to all the other suckers, cause -I- got the best dragon!!

[Tyto]

Kylan of Brown Logariuth - Heiro, Aneesa, H'nel

CW: Blood, more healer stuff

Kylan, luckily, was helped by another healer, so they had less issue with diverting their attention. "She's alive," Kylan assured, "She's lost a lot of blood and being hurt like that is very stressful, so sometimes it happens, but H'nel will get her patched up in no time. She'll just need a lot of rest." Once H'nel seemed to have things in hand, they turned to Aneesa, motioning for her to sit on another portion of the cloth. It was large enough to seat them comfortably without worrying about the hot sand getting everywhere. "Here, I can take a look. If H'nel needs help, she can ask, yeah?" They glanced at H'nel, before focusing fully on Aneesa. There wasn't much else that Kylan could do at that point, they'd just be getting in the way unless H'nel asked for additional help.

Should Aneesa do as instructed, they'd carefully inspect her arm and the wounds. A fracture, nothing too bad. Well, bad enough considering it was broken and would take many sevendays to heal. They'd need to get to a proper brace and set her wounded arm, and possibly get a couple stitches on a few of those punctures. Glancing up, it seemed that the last of the eggs had hatched and bonded without an issue. "We'll get you fixed up in no time," they promised.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Weyrling C'stanza of Garnet Ivalyth - Impression

"Please pick me, please pick me," Costanza continued to plead with the last wriggling egg. He had no shame, only desperate panic fueling his actions. He maintained his unapologetic begging as the dragonet inside the egg awkwardly hatched, a leg and the tail poking out at strange angles until the shell finally cracked fully, and an inelegant garnet sprawled across the sands.

He didn't even care that this wasn't one of his coveted blues or greens. A garnet was absolutely better than not impressing, lingering controversy of the color mutation be damned. He would make sure this dragon saw him.

"Over here! Pick me!" He hollered, waving his hands above his head. The garnet was scanning the crowd of candidates, looking lost and borderline helpless. Then she spotted him and perked up, approaching him. "Yes! That's right! Come here!" He encouraged, waving his arms wildly in a beckoning motion.

So this is the world, huh?She asked as she approached him. She looked around, assessing her surroundings. It's a lot...dustier than I hoped it'd be. But this can still work! We can make this work. You and me- in it together! What do you say? Do we have a deal?

Costanza just blinked a moment. She was asking him to make a deal? That was an easy decision to make! "Yes! Yes! We have a deal!" He cried, bursting out into a loud chuckle as he wrapped the dragonet into a big hug. He wasn't fully sure what he had agreed to, but he was getting a dragon out of it, which was fine by him.

Her eyes swirled with rainbows as Costanza embraced her. I'm Ivalyth, by the way. You might want to ask a dragon's name before making a deal with her. She playfully teased. Now can we go get some food? I'm starving and it's almost my bedtime.

"Of course!" Costanza said, unwrapping his arms from the dragonet. His arms were now covered with egg goop, which he unsuccessfully tried to shake off. He let out a small disgusted noise as he began to walk alongside Ivalyth towards the rest of their weyrling class. "I'm Costanza--no, C'stanza. You have no idea how happy I am to meet you!"

I have a pretty good idea, Ivalyth said with a yawn. I can feel everything you can.

Now that she mentioned it, he could feel the immense hunger the garnet was experiencing, as well as her growing drowsiness. Neither could put a damper on his giddiness. "We'll get you fed! Bed will have to wait until after a bath though." He beamed widely at the other weyrlings as he began feeding meat to his bonded. "Everyone, this is Ivalyth! She's my dragon!" He proclaimed proudly.