Etatoth backwinged to land neatly in the hatching grounds. His mate White Celinath had bugled just as the sun had reached its zenith to announce that their children would soon be born. He had rushed to her side, and now he would have to wait.
D’zren slid off the brown’s shoulder just before Etatoth launched himself up to the ledge where the father of the clutch usually perched. His long legs took him quickly to Rissa’s side. His weyrmate had been looking particularly drawn lately. D’zren hoped that after the hatching things would return to normal. ”Hello love. The day has finally arrived. Just look at the candidates,” he greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.
”Yes, today is the day. Let’s sit down and watch the Impressions. I am not feeling too well,” Rissa said. D’zren noted the dark circles under her eyes.
”Everything will be okay. Just wait and see,” the brownrider tried to comfort her, but he couldn’t mask the worry in his blue eyes. Then he turned his attention to the sands. Nine nervous candidates were standing there shifting from foot to foot. Each one anticipating the first crack and hatching. Each one hoping that they would Impress.
The eggs were steadily rocking now. It wouldn’t be long before one hatched. D’zren had eyes on one particular speckled egg. It was one of the smaller ones in the clutch, but something in his gut said it would hatch first. He was right.
Though its larger sibling’s egg was rocking faster the small egg split neatly in two. A dainty green hatching tumbled out of her shell. She quickly righted herself and headed toward the semi-circle of girls. She inspected each candidate carefully and even glanced in the direction of the boys. Finally one of the girls stepped toward her. “Can you please make a decision? We’ve been waiting such a long time already.” The little green turned her head in the direction of the brown-haired girl. Then she crooned her delight. The hatchling’s eyes took on the red of distress. “It’s okay Riabeth,” Raeana assured the green. The green’s hide matched the young woman’s eyes.“I am not mad at you. I just wanted you to hurry. These Sands are hot.” D’zren chuckled at the girl’s comment and watched as they left the Sands.
Turning his attention back to the Sands, he watched intently on the mound of eight remaining eggs. Suddenly two eggs hatched at once revealing almost twin blues. One is slightly larger than the other, and he squawks at his brother as he runs past him in a hurry to get to his chosen lifemate. He pelts toward the boys until he meets up with Rudandi.The long bodied candidate stares down at the hatchling with dark eyes. The azure blue hatchling’s eyes begin to whirl as blue as his hide. “Here I am, Krynth. I will get you some food.”
His brother not far behind him tries to make it into a race. The smaller more sapphire blue pushes himself until he runs right into Teron’s legs. A little dazed the blue looks up at the boy. Teron looks at the blue with brown eyes and smiles. “Are you okay, Marnatath?” Before he can lead his new lifemate away, another egg hatches.
D’zren whirls around to see a large egg cracking as the hatchling struggles to free itself. Just when D’zren thought that the hatchling would give up, the egg shatters revealing a dark brown hatchling. The hearty brown shook his wedge-shaped head for a moment before sauntering toward the four remaining male candidates. Takial rushed out to meet him. The blonde-haired, brown- eyed youth smiles down at the hatchling. “I just couldn’t wait any longer, Zarkonth. I had to come find you.” D’zren smiles at the brown pair remembering when he had Impressed Etatoth so long ago.
The smallest egg in the clutch rolls away from the others. All eyes turn to the peculiar egg. D’zren leans forward in his seat to get a better look. The egg develops several neat cracks before splitting into exactly four equal parts. An ahh of surprised rattles through the crowd of spectators as the little white stands up. Being a white, the hatchling is smaller than a green. It walks into the middle of the candidates. It cranes its delicate head in the direction of the girls then turns to the guys. The white waddles toward them. It pushes its way through the three and finally stops in front of Anajou. Looking down at the white dragonet with his brown eyes, Anajou’s face lit up. This was better than any gather. The young man knelt in the sands to cradle the white head. “You’ll find out what a gather is later, Berigath. Let’s concentrate on getting you some food for now.”
Seeing the white Impression reminds D’zren of Rissa. He turns to his weyrmate. She looks paler than usual. He reaches over, puts his arm around her shoulder, and pulls her close to him. Before he can say anything cheers erupt all over the grounds as more eggs hatch.
Three greens are standing on the Sands. A set of twins hatched from one of the larger eggs and their smaller sister. The twins head in the direction of the girls and the other green surprisingly runs in the other direction to the boys. The twins find their riders first. Asher and Sana call out their names at the same time. “Arasith,”Sana calls out. “Cheryth,” yells Asher. D’zren is barely able to keep straight which dragon is which.
The other green is standing at the feet of Torask. There is a surprised look on his face. He wasn’t expecting this at all. A look of worry crosses the greens face. “Of course I want you, Mareth. I wouldn’t trade you for the whole world. You just surprised me. Now let’s get you some food.”
Now there are just two candidates remaining, one male and one female. Belay walks closer to Miakada. Both look nervously at the two remaining eggs. One is slightly larger than the other, but both are rocking hard. The two hatch at once to reveal a blue and a brown hatchling. Belay and Miakada approach them not knowing who would Impress which and not really caring. As Miakada draws near to the blue hatchling, he bolts toward Belay knocking the sturdy girl over in the process. Belay looks down at the blue and glances at Miakada. “Herantath, you shouldn’t play with people like that. Nevermind that now. I know you’re hungry. Come with me and I’ll feed you.”
As Miakada struggles to right herself off of the burning shifting sands she finds herself nose to nose with the brown hatchling. “I am okay, Terkath. I just need to stand up. Thank you for worrying about me though. There’s food out there. Once I stand up we’ll get you some.”
D’zren can’t hide the goofy grin on his handsome face as he watches the last pair leave the Sands. He stands up with the others to cheer all of the newly Impressed riders. He turns his attention back to where he feels it belongs on Rissa. His weyrmate is clapping as heartily as himself. He smiles warmly at her as the applause dies down.
As he leans forward to kiss her, the whiterider collapses in his arms. He holds her in his arms. It is then that he feels her thickened waistline. Rissa isn’t sick. She’s pregnant!!!! | <--- Previous Hatching Story | Next Hatching Story ---> |
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