The impressions of a blue and two browns were a learning experience for the raven-haired young woman, as she knew they must have been for her friends. She could see the look of recognization in the human's eyes as they bonded with the dragons, and she smiled softly, imagining what it must be like. On and on the hatching commenced, as each dragonet came forth from its shell and bonded to one of the young men or women standing, waiting. Two more blues, another brown, a dragon that she heard the others whisper was called bronze, and four more greens found their lifemates.
From the murmuring she could hear clearly from the crowds, she was instantly aware of the fact that all the normal dragons, as they were called, had hatched. Which means... she didn't finish the thought as another wave of dizziness washed over her. Sometimes, it would be nice to be one of those people who could actually use medicine to its fullest, instead of broken pieces of it for minimal amounts of time, she sighed softly, putting a hand to her head, glancing over her shoulder at Fuinraug. She could feel her brother, trying to brace her, and she forced herself to stand upright, straightening her back.
The large egg, which she heard the crowds muttering was gold, rocked back and forth slowly, not in the manner that the others had before they'd hatched. It was almost as though it were teasing the five girls, or perhaps young women, who waited there. Keigharia set her jaw, focusing on anything that would still the continuous motion in her head, as she felt like the only stationary being in a world that had to be sitting on a boat in a tumultuous ocean. However, a sound of small explosion brought her to the present, and she gasped, throwing her arms up to shield herself from what looked like sharp knives of bone-color flying everywhere. Peering back, in the midst of the explosion, she saw a large shard slice into the other egg sitting there, causing it to burst itself, exposing a dark, wet looking hatchling to the sands for all too see. It was wet, as though born from a live birth, and Keigharia gazed at it for a mere second before she heard the gold snarl at it.
She felt herself take in a breath of alarm, as she hadn't seen any of the other hatchlings do anything like this. Keigharia, along with the other young women there, reached out, trying to contain the gold, when the dark colored dragonet snarled back, rising shakily. Keigharia raised an eyebrow in surprise as the gold backed off, snorting in astonishment that the dark hatchling had retaliated. She wrapped her wings around a reddish-brown haired girl, for she could hardly have been older than thirteen or fourteen, by Keigharia's judgment.
A funny feeling started in the pit of her stomach, and she glanced over her shoulder at her brother. ~Ijael, what if you're wrong about this??~ He didn't answer, simply pointed at the creature, the last hatchling left there. Keigharia turned back in time to see the darkish colored dragon stretch, much like a cat, attempting to dry herself. The liquid on her hide shimmered as she moved, causing everyone to gasp at the sight of her. Keigharia, with eyes that were far better at picking up color than a normal human's, caught glimmers of color undescribable, for the way that they lit. There were the richness of purples and burgandies, of royal blues and deep greens, and all manner of colors in between. The way the light played upon the dragon's hide made her head spin, literally, and she swayed still.
From the hatching:
The dark opal hatchling, fully as big as the gold had been now that she was standing and dry, looked about her with an air of appraisal about her. She looked each candidate over in turn until her intelligent eyes fell on a young woman standing a little apart from the others; a young woman who wasn't sure yet of her place in this new world. A young woman, who even as the dragonet looked at her and tried to meet her gaze, glanced nervously back at a group of people who seemed to be waiting expectantly for her by the door.
Keigharia swung her gaze back around and was startled to find the dark opal hatchling at her feet, peering up at her curiously. Eyes wide in surprise and still weak from her ordeal she felt herself swaying on her feet as she stared into that multi-faceted gaze but then such joy and love suffused her that she gasped and felt her head return to normal.
Keigharia? I will help you findyour parents if you will let me. Keigharia placed one hand on the dark opal hatchling's head and nodded. "Of course I will, Oscurielth, come, I'll introduce you to everyone."
Can we eatfirst? asked the dragonet as Keigharia led her off the sands, her tone longing and Keigharia couldn't help but laugh as she nodded in agreement.
Her head, well, perhaps it wasn't fixed, she could tell that it would take time for that to happen, but simple contact with Oscurielth eliminated the nausea that had been trying to build within her. Keigharia gazed down at the dragon, unable to believe the feelings that were within her at that moment. It was odd, as though a void were filled, as though she hadn't known there really was a void until she's first heard Oscurielth's voice, soft, fluid, a mellow alto of liquid gentleness.
The sounds of an empty stomach, complaining for nourishment brought Keigharia to the present, as she hurried her little bondmate, who was nearly the size of a gold, to the nearest dish of meat, helping her to eat slow enough so as not to choke. The dragoness rumbled in appreciation as she gobbled up the food, ignoring the gold and other hatchlings anywhere near her. As she ate, Keigharia felt and heard, rather than saw, her companions coming, and she pivoted so that she could watch Oscurielth, and pay attention to them at the same time. What she didn't expect, and it was obvious that neither did any of the other new riders, was to find her savior with a long, ten foot tail, swishing back and forth. His skin appeared different, scaly in a sense, though she knew that it was only that her eyes were so sensitive as to see the scales, his eyes, a blue color, as a gem.
It was obvious that the others in the vicinity was planning on giving Fuinraug a wide berth as he strode, with her friends, towards her. Before he could get a word out, Oscurielth snarled at him, moving in front of Keigharia, seeing him as a rival. He put out a hand, out of her reach, sending waves of calmness towards her, to no avail. Keigharia reached down, putting a hand on the dragoness's multi-colored head, and took a deep breath.
"I should congratulate you-" Fuinraug began, however, was cut off by the dark-haired woman's insistent inquiry,
"What are you, and why is Oscurielth acting like you're an enemy, Fuinraug?? What... what's with... you have a tail??" Her composure was rattled, and she could hardly do more then look away, afraid that staring would be rude. Her brother moved up to her, hugging her, and extending his hand to Oscurielth to sniff, which she did, moving her head under his hand in a gesture of approval, still not moving from in front of her bondmate.
Fuinraug tried to appear undisturbed, though Keigharia, whether from the contact he'd had with her to pull her back to the world of the living, or because of the lingering effects of his gifts on her previously spinning head, could see the split second by which he pulled on a mask, though that second before was quite shocked. "You have a tail as well, my dear," he murmured, as though it were an everyday thing. She shook her head.
"Yes, I'm a shifter, but I don't go around displaying it for all the world to see, you know!! You're a shifter??" He shrugged, his ebony flesh hiding any other color, absorbing it perhaps. "More or less, I suppose a shifter is a good way to describe it." She shook her head, felt a bit of spinning, and stilled, swallowing. "So, you're a... I don't know what you are. You're like the gatekeeper of Hades, but on the side of the living. Instead of admitting people into death, you pull them from it. You're a healer for just about everything, and now you're... you're... what are you?? What's your shift?? You must know that mine and Ijael's is black leopard, what is yours?? I can hardly tell by the tail, but Oscurielth doesn't seem..." her voice trailed off as the innocence answered,
He's like me, only I can't shift, or whateve r you called it.
Fuinraug sighed. "Well put, Oscurielth, well put." Keigharia faced him, her mind still not comprehending what she was hearing. "You can hear her?? I thought dragon's... did she... did you want him to hear you??" she redirected the question at her bondmate. The creature answered, He's a dragon, he can hear what he wants to. Dragons speak to other dragons, Ari. This was spoken without a trace of condescenation, only truth, as the dragoness was going to have to teach her rider more than a few things about her kind.
Obscurielth
Ijael's Decision
