He held out his right arm for the sunset-colored flit to land on, and took the letter from his fire lizard. Dosuku chirped, making his way up to sit on the boy's shoulder as he read the letter.
Dear Boetius,
Everything's fine here at Darkling Dawn. The Senior Queen's clutch has hatched,
and guess what? Not only were there a pair of twin greens, a black dragon also
hatched! It's too bad you had to miss it.
Boetius rolled his eyes. He didn't care about any freak of a dragon. He silently seethed. Why couldn't he have stood for Eoth's clutch, why?
There's another clutch on the sands now, which is supposed to hatch soon.
Also, the mother of this clutch is a Rainbow-White!
Your mother and I are doing fine. We hope to see you Impress soon. Even if
you have your heart set on a bronze, we will be proud of you, no matter what color
you Impress.
Love,
Your Father
Boetius' eyes narrowed as he crumpled up the hide and threw it away. What did he care about Darkling Dawn? The searchdragon didn't like him, he never would have been able to stand, even if he did have potential.
He stopped, and blinked. Did anyone really like him, after all? Dosuku chirped curiously, and the boy reached up to scratch the fire lizard's dark red head. Dosuku hissed suddenly, snapping at the boy's hand, and flew off, out of the room.
Boetius blinked, staring at his hand in astonishment. "Dosuku..."
He looked up as someone rushed past the door, and looked inside. It was the Weyrwoman.
"Boetius!" She hissed at him. "Didn't you hear the humming? The clutch is hatching. Hurry up!"
Boetius jumped up, pulling on his white candidacy robe as he raced out of the room, after the Weyrwoman. He arrived on the sands, and stared at the rocking eggs. The green mother hissed at the late arrival, eyes glowing red. Boetius backed away nervously, jumping back in surprise as the first egg cracked, revealing a green dragonet, which one of the girls helped to break free of the shell.
The next two eggs hatched at once, once of which paused until another egg had hatched, which spilled a brown dragonet onto the sands. Several people let out gasps of surprise, brown dragons from a green's clutch, especially one sired by a blue, were rare.
Boetius paused, staring at the brown dragonet. It was probably his only chance to Impress something other than a blue or green. But he stayed where he was, while several other boys rushed forward. There would be no bronzes here. If he didn't Impress, he'd have to wait until the next dragon flew. This was his only chance. But still he hesitated.
He watched with a sinking heart as the brown chose another boy, nuzzling his chosen in the leg.
The next egg rocked slowly, finally cracking, and a small blue dragon slowly climbed out of its shell. It stood up, wincing slightly, and looked at the remaining candidates. The other candidates ignored the hatchling, busy helping other dragons out of their shells. Boetius stayed where he was.
Painstakingly, the blue hatchling made its way to the candidates, closer to Boetius. The boy hesitated, glancing at the other candidates. Wasn't anyone going to help this dragonet?
Boetius, I don't feel so good...
Boetius stared down at the blue hatchling in shock. Suddenly, it didn't seem to matter what color the dragon in front of him was. Because Alerath was his, and he was Alerath's.
He knelt beside the pale blue dragon. "Come here, Alerath." He said softly. "I'll feed you, and then you'll feel better."
Really?
Yellow-tinged eyes looked up at him with love and adoration, and Boetius couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I promise."
(Originally Heath, name changed with permission.)