Senior Fledglings To say that she was crushed was an understatement. To say that she wasn’t ready to give up and go home or away or anywhere else was a complete lie. And the fact that she had now stood for three clutches and failed to bond at any of them, any of three!, she started to loath the sight of any dragons. Including Cecar’s rather fetching white-brown Quaritoth. “Relax, Quinn.” Cecar soothed as Quinn quieted down from her latest ranting. Wiping the tears from her face, Quinn sat and glared at her nearest and dearest friend. “That’s easy for you to say!” She snapped, wiping another tear away. “You’ve gone and bonded already. It’s nothing you had to go through!” “Quinn! Get a grip on yourself. There’s a reason for everything that happens, and obviously your dragon is waiting, or you would have bonded.” “And if I never bond?” Quinn whispered, and Cecar sighed and hugged her tight. “You’ll bond.” She promised. Which was when the call came for all bonders to report to the dunes, pronto. “And now you get to prove me right.” Sticking out her tongue, Quinn changed into something lighter and hurried down, for all her angers still eager to be on the dunes. The first egg cracked on the warm sands, and Quinn was caught up in the bonding. An iridescent green fell out of her halved shell and strolled straight to the bonder of her choice. Not Quinn. Although she tried not to feel upset or fidgety, it was all she could do to stand straight and not crumple and start crying. The second egg to hatch was a fiery-looking male. Obviously enjoying the awe he was inspiring in his audience, Quinn felt as though she had a few choice words for the red, but bit her tongue and watched him strut along the dunes. A commotion above caught her attention, and Quinn looked up to see a large bronze backwinging to land on the spot one of the mother’s had occupied not but a few minutes before. And in his claws he held a struggling man, rather handsome from what Quinn could see before he was face-planted into the sand. Stifling a giggle, Quinn turned back to watch an iridescent blue rupture his egg. He chose a quiet, younger man, and Quinn smiled to see the look of glee on his face. A white-blue quickly followed, and as he unfurled his wings and stepped forward, Quinn knew he was another she wouldn’t be bonding. The largest egg in the one clutch shattered then, as if on cue. And a gold stood, looking just like her larger mother. Catching her breath, Quinn waited for the queen to look at her, acknowledge her, even see her out of the side of her eye, but in a matter of seconds, she had pounced on one of the other girls and it was done. Letting her head drop so she could watch the sand moving around her wiggling toes, Quinn contemplating leaving again. Not because she had to, or needed to, but because she wanted to. She was tired of watching other people bond dragons while she stood and didn’t. She was tired of waiting. And as another iridescent green pushed her way out of her egg and made her way towards one of the other girls, she knew she couldn’t….not yet. Quinn wasn’t sure what exactly happened next, besides the fact that she was standing, watching an iridescent brown bond one second, and the next she was on her back, looking up into the worried faces of a couple of people she didn’t know. Lucifidith, the bronze who had brought in the boy, was nursing a shoulder with a crossbow arrow in it while at the same time, he was pinning another of the bonder’s to the sand, letting up the one Quinn had thought was handsome. Standing up, Quinn saw Kelkerli with his new red and turned to look at Cecar, whose look promised she would tell all later. And Quinn was back to watching the hatchlings, hoping with all her heart the next would be hers. But the iridescent green had other plans, and Quinn was again left waiting, it now being down to the very last. Six eggs were left, as well as over ten bonders. And Quinn knew those odds usually didn’t play out very well. Which was why she watched the next hatching very closely. The first thing she saw was a white tail and hindquarters, both making their way slowly backwards. A light purple eventually started to show through the egg, and the white-purple fell backwards to sit with a ‘plop’ in the sand. Shaking her beautiful purple head, she blinked and looked around, and then straight at Quinn. Not daring to breath, really, Quinn looked back at Cecar only long enough to see the I-told-you-so smirk on her face. Which was enough for her. Dropping to her knees, Quinn wrapped her arms around the white-purple and started to cry. I love you Quinn. She purred, and Quinn felt a slight tingle pass through her entire body. “I love you too, Holrirosth.” She whispered back, looking into the whirling eyes of her bond and knowing everything was all right. Quinn bonded at Ryslen