¤ Brotherhood ¤
part 3: watching from the Sands

by Neishai

It was difficult to hear anything above the crowd. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, which made hearing one just two people down the bench all the more difficult. It was all too common to hear someone yelling across the stands to wave a friend over, all too easy to be kneed in the back as someone shuffled their feet. Children laughed, babies cried, women chattered, and men bellowed out hearty laughs. The atmosphere was not altogether uncomfortable, unless one disliked crowds. In fact, it was warm and friendly, comforting in its own way, to sit in the vast swell of humanity encircling the dunes below.

Piosa's mother stood giggling with three other women; while only one did she know by name and the others she vaguely knew, nothing kept her out of the latest gossip loop. Two of the boys sat staring down at the sands, two too young to Stand, but old enough to wish and imagine that one egg should be theirs. They stared intently at them, though from this distance it would be impossible to see one a-rocking. One of the younger children whimpered, squirming in her seat. "I'm hungry," she whined. Next to her, her guardian, a girl of the same age, shushed her and offered a morsel from her linty pocket.

One of the boys who had been watching the Sands with such intensity finally stood and stretched in his seat, and rubbing his neck absently, looked down to see the candidates gathering. As they spread out to accomodate the eggs, he blinked. Two girls in the bunch looked familiar. He looked up at an elder brother sitting with his young wife and tugged his sleeve. "Bwotho', isn't that--" he began, pointing at Piosa.

The elder squinted and finally nodded, then put a finger to his lips. "Shh, wait and see how long it takes Ma and Da to find out," he said with a wink. The younger nodded, grinning, and sat back in his seat. He elbowed the sister on his other side, whispered in her ear, and pointed. In this way, the whole family except their parents found out about Piosa's scheme before she ever laid eyes on the first crackling of eggs.

The first egg broke shell, revealing a lovely lavender dragoness who glared at the sand with disdain. She snorted and strode with ladylike steps to observe the Candidates, seeming to frown at every single one of them. Every one of them except ...

Pisoa! My darling Pisoa. I'm Guastatoth! You'll absolutely *have* to paint pictures of me, she stated, as if there were no question at all.

Pisoa smiled at her dragon and stroked her slick lavender head as the two were lead off the sands.

No more than Pisoa and Guastatoth stepped off the sands that another egg split, revealing a sleek, black dragon who shook his head as if to clear it. As he tromped over to the Candidates, it was soon revealed that "he" was actually a "she", when her rainbow-hued eyes lifted to those of Sumuru. Pisoa's surprised guardian laughed. "Well met, Wachterth."

Pleased to meet you, Sumuru. I'll help you watch those two to make sure they don't get into any more trouble, she glanced in the direction of the lavender and her bond with a draconic grin.

~ Exerpt from Cathair Utopian's 5th clutch, written by Drakiera

"Piosa!" the girl's father bellowed, unheared by his daughter. "What does that girl think she's doing?! Get back up here this instant!"

Next to him, his wife rested her hand on his arm soothingly. "Now, now. Piosa cannot hear you right now. Talk to her about later, hm? Maybe during the feast."

Some of the elder children eyed their parents, baffled by their irrationality. You can't just convince a dragon to choose someone else. The lavender she Imprinted certainly fit one so regal and proper. Why she had been down there was anyone's guess, and more than one's hunch, but there was not a whole lot to be done about it now...

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