In the process of trying to get out, one dragonet caused its egg to roll away from where its mother had left it. It stopped beside a smaller egg, and as if the two dragons had somehow planned it, they rocked together, each smashing the other open. Two dazed hatchlings blinked at each other - the first a copper duowing, son of Calionapyth, the second a purple and blue and white creature, who matched the pink who was the first hatched. Thank you. the copper replied, righting himself, and the purple-blue nodded in reply. They parted company at that point, and the copper chose a candidate who was nearby. The young man had his back to the sands, as a four year old girl was chattering at him from the stands. "Dani... there's a four winged dragon behind you!" Riji squealed. Her brother laughed. "Sillygirl, dragons don't have four wings..." "That one does!" Riji said, pointing over the boy's shoulder. Dani turned, and the copper duowing met his gaze. She's very observant, Dani. She could impress when she's older... "Do you think so, Kemmestoth?" I do. the snow-marked duowing said smugly. The tri-colored hatchling was equally as quick to find his bond - a two-colored dragoness who made her home at the Healing Den. Isilath! Khauduk laughed, looking sharp with the white candidate 'scarf' around her red neck. Dukky! the cute hatchling replied, leaping at the dangling end of the dragoness' scarf. His actions elicited a laugh from the spectators, but both dragons were very happy. A new hatchling broke out of its shell, snow-speckled silver hide shimmering very brightly. "Ooh... shiny..." one candidate murmured, and began to creep towards the iridescent silver hatchling. Latoteyth seemed pleased by her brilliant hatchling, and the kender was too. Cute! the hatchling said locking rainbow eyes on Kassander. "Zizizoith!" he exclaimed, laughing. Ian had watched the dragons hatched, still wondering at some level how Sharronn had talked him into this. Dragons? Ships? Flits. The firelizards were always in his hair - and literally. Even now, there was a winged critter making a mess up there. With a sigh he tried to dislodge the creature from his now less-than-perfect hair, and in the act, he missed the hatching of the egg nearest him - but the hatchling within did not miss the captain of the Starship Cherry Cream. Shining silver snowflakes glittered on his white hide, and white ones shown on his copper wings. A regal beast, whose stance only hinted at his prideful, almost cocky manner. When Ian finally had the f'lizard freed from his locks, the copper-winged white locked eyes with the captain. "Stunning, Xeyonth. Simply stunning..." Xarinaroth almost purred as her larger egg shattered, revealing not one but two hatchlings - one blue, one silver. They had the Light coloration of their sire Serianth, and the socks of their mother - but silver. They even had the charms on their wings as she did - stars this time, not snowflakes, but still stunning. Even the snowflakes on their hides were bright. Their twin instincts oriented them on twin candidates - the shifters Kalar and Reala. The blue went to the male, and the green to the female. Sisters can be good, Kalar. Ovioth said, and the green rounded on him What do you mean, can be?? the green demanded. Reala all but hissed. "Uvioth! That's enough!" Sibling rivalry, anyone? One largish egg that had been left standing alone by its rocking and rolling sibling cracked, and the dragon within pushed the shell open. It was the absolute darkest dragon that had ever hatched at the Flurry - or ever on Ryslen's sands. The white snowflakes stood out so brightly against its black hide. Who would this midnight beauty choose? A soft gasp out of one candidate's mouth brought the black's attention to her. "Lord!" With slightly whirling and bright eyes seemed happy to see her. Kaiya... You know my name... the dragon said, standing from his shell and stretching not one set of inky black wings, but two. Ryslen's first solid black dragon was a duowing! "Kanakanizainth." Kaiya said, knowing, just knowing, that this black male stud was her forever bond. Though he had been patient thus far, something was beginning to nag at the back of Tsuki-Neko's mind. Extending and retracting his claws, the feline-demon swept the red sands with his eyes, watching for some clue. While he was looking to the right, an egg snapped off to his left. Instinctively, his eyes flew to the egg, and he watched as a silver-white hatchling pushed apart the creamy shell, and after taking a few steps out into the sand, the dragon flung open his silver wings marked with white snowflakes. This, however was only the beginning. The dragon's body was marked even more boldly. Like the purple tiger who'd come before and must be his sister, the silver boasted the natural camouflage of a snow leopard. Stunning! Tsuki-Neko knelt in the sand, and the silver leopard dragon padded over to him, and nuzzled against him. I am Jylayonth he said. "I know." Tsuki-Neko replied. "I know. I wonder how the Irimotes will like you..." The Hatching slowed, a few eggs rocking lazily from side to side but none showing any signs that they intended to hatch just then. Candidates shifted, whispered to each other, and scanned the stands for familiar faces. Red-haired former harper Calleta put a hand to her eye and bit her lip as she looked for her parents and friends. Sure enough, she found them - seated in one of levels closer to the stands thanks to her parents' ranks. Calleson and Manetta glowed with pride in their daughter and returned her gaze with encouraging smiles. Piramon nudged Samra who looked annoyed until she caught sight of Calleta. A wide smile spread across the journeywoman's face and would have jumped to her feet had Piramon not caught her by the sleeve. Calleta smiled back, reassured by the presence of her friends and family. Somewhere near Calleta, an egg shattered with a sharp crack. She flinched in surprise and hurried to put out thoughts of love and acceptance in place of surprise and rushing which might detour the hatchling now stepping from her shell. Calleta had seen many beautiful dragons hatch that day, but none seemed so beautiful than the snowflake-dappled, white, crested dragon who was carefully extracting beautiful purple wings with larger snowflakes on them from her eggshell. She paused to pick the last piece of shell of a wing and then trotted calmly towards the candidates - and away from Calleta. Calleta's heart ached at the thought of that beautiful dragon belonging to someone else and then nearly missed a beat as the dragon stopped dead in her tracks and looked straight at Calleta. Kia chirped nervously. You think I would choose someone else? Riishinith asked, sounding hurt. "Well... I... no, never," Calleta stammered in reply, then ran over the sands to meet her dragon before leading her off in search of food. The Hatching was picking up again, and two more dragons had decided it was time to make their appearance. One had the same snowflake-covered white body as Riishinith but wings the color of ice glazed water, the other was a Light red who shared the snowflake coverings but not white bodies of the two previous hatchlings. The blue winged hatchling started to make his way in a dignified, stately manner slightly out of place for the gawky hatchling but obviously coming naturally nonetheless. His progress was interrupted as the red and white dragon snorted and shoved him out of the way, bowling him over. The Light red hurried over the sands, wings slightly extended as he rushed up to the pierced and tattooed Lynx. She smirked as she watched him, thinking that perhaps not all males were worthless and disgusting. Most are, Varadiath snorted, tossing a look of contempt at the iced blue who was meticulously cleaning off his sand-covered hide, but a few of us are worth getting to know. As Lynx led the new - and more permanent than the last - male in her life, off the sands, the ice-winged blue finished cleaning his hide and continued up to Ischashei. The ice elf studied him with his usual cold gaze before stooping to pick a last piece of sand off his head. Thank you, the dragon said simply, all the love and adoration blazing in his eyes making further words unnecessary. "Anytime, Zayeondayth," he replied and the pair followed Lynx and Varadiath off the Sands. Dalmar watched in wonder, not believing the ice elf whose personality he had found as frigid as the mountains they had traveled together was capable of such tenderness. It was a glimpse of how he might have been before Seshalya's betrayal. So intent on watching his traveling companion was the knight that only a tug on his robe and chirp from Pandala on his shoulder alerted him to the presence of a twilight blue dragon sprinkled with snowflakes gazing up at him, forepaws placed gently on his stomach. Blue eyes widened in surprise as they met gently swirling rainbow ones. You're very high up already, the dragon observed, but together we could go much much higher. Dalmar chuckled and automatically reached out a hand to scratch his dragon's eye-ridges as if he'd done it every day of his life. "I'm sure we will, Ajorwith. But first, we should get some food in you." Another egg split and a twilight green tumbled out into the world. She picked herself up, looking disgusted at the state of her hide. She made a few unsuccessful attempts at cleaning the sand off her snowflake dusted hide and raced over the Sands to hide her sand-covered head in Isilsulė's robe. The Alskyrian blonde knelt, trying not to laugh, and gently lifted the hatchling's head out of her robes. She rubbed the sand away from the twilight green's eyes and muzzle and was rewarded with a look of unconditional love and trust beaming from newly cleaned eyes. May I have a bath before I eat? the dragon asked. I can't stand being covered in sand! Isilsulė chuckled. "I think you are hungrier than you know, Undomeoth." Undomeoth bent her neck to examine her belly. Perhaps food would be a good idea. Two more eggs shattered, one revealing a dragon who looked much like Calleta's Riishinith but with nubs that would one day be horns like those Alskyr's dragons sported. The second split to reveal a richly colored brown, hide beneath the ever-present snowflake pattern resembling a tiger's eye stone. Mutters of admiration for this handsome pair rippled through the crowd, distracting the two dragonets from the candidates they had been so intent on. The purple-winged white snarled and tried to back into the safety of her shell - instead she backed into the lithe, robed form of Shire. She whirled on the half-vampiress, only to stop in mid-snarl to gaze in wonder at her sunglasses. Where are your eyes? she asked curiously, standing up on her hind legs to get a closer look at this oddity. Shire chuckled and removed her glasses, careful to cover her eyes against any light. "Right here, Rhiwyth," she replied. "Where else would they be?" While Rhiwyth was looking for her lifemate's eyes, the brown was sizing up the tall Chaltyk. The young man returned the brown's gaze steadily, until, with a snort, he swaggered up to him and declared himself to be Xersenyth. As if a hatching wasn't excitement enough, an egg buried off to one side in the hatching grounds began to shiver and shake, causing the microscopic red grains to fall away like a waterfall. The spherical egg shattered, and a beast that was khaki and olive green colored backed out of the shell and up onto the sands. She turned and hissed at everyone present. She had a horn on her nose, and two nub horns on the back of her head - but worse, she had six serpentine heads to go with it. G*non leapt to his feet, reaching for his sword. "Let me at her!" The HyDragoness hissed, and lunged at the next candidate. Murmurs of surprise, a few stifled screams, and the thud of one or two young ladies swooning and falling to the floor were heard, and then the sharp crack of an egg in the HyDragon's path silenced the humans. She'd certainly kill whatever came out of that egg. Brown Kisero of the Healing den flared his wings, ready to protect the sands here, as he did at home. The dragon burst from his shell, dark as a latte coffee, and marked with white. He tackled the hybrid hydra, pinning her to the sands, and fending off her snake heads with the horns on his nose. Angeronath! Behave yourself! the hatchling ordered, and the six snake heads pulled back. Get off me Wykorth! the HyDragoness hissed. Considering that she had calmed, he stepped back. G*non was frozen in place. Destroying the hydra meant the death of a hatchling dragon. The gathered folk could only watch as the dusky colored duo walked out of the Hatching grounds. They couldn't leave that pair loose in Ryslen, could they? Another egg cracked, and the horned muzzle of a green pushed out. A happy croon came from Domalith, or Dom' as she chose to call herself as her chosen rider impressed a HyDragon of her own. (Not that Cloudy Red Dom' wanted Kitai, once she cleared her head.) The green had the same cloudy markings as her mother, and her wings were cloudier yet. The snowflakes stood out like stars as the cloudy dragon chose her bond - the rainbow winged Elarcoth. Her name is Cayeith. the black announced as the cloudy green cuddled close, careful not to spear her bond with her tiny horns. No need to worry about the HyDragon and her bond. Dom' announced after a moment of as close to silence as a hatching could get passed. They've been taken away... Another egg from Neva's centralized clutch ruptures, and a Light Purple dragon slipped out of the fragments. Flaring out her purple tinted snow flaked wings, she gained a gasp of her own. The first Light Duowing! She carefully paced her way to the candidates, and chose one as unique as herself - Khymyre. 'Myre, sometimes we get more than we bargain for. the hatchling purred, and the snow-leopard mutate reached out to the hatchling. "Kelcedayth...." A smaller egg shattered, the shell by far thinner than one would expect on a small egg than one would expect. The white dragon within was marked with snowflakes, and accented by rich chocolate brown. There was an intelligent, domineering look in his rainbow eyes, and he turned to one who was as assertive as he surely would be in adulthood. "Eritoth..." Aaron said with far more patience than he had with any member of his cast. "Stage LEFT..." An average sized egg quickly cracked, yielding a not-so-average dragon. With a snow speckled silver hide and rainbows on his wings, tall spined crest, and scaled chest, he was equalled by only one - his clutch sibling Gzrieth. With a sure stride, the silver walked directly to a blind candidate. Kaki... open your heart. See me. The rainbowed hatchling gently directed, and the Dracanian priest smiled as the image of the dragon reached him. "Sylath..." he murmured, tears pouring from his eyes as he embraced his bond. A bright pink dragon pushed out of her shell, and stood and shone while her wings dried. Iridescent, and as shiny as her silver sibling, she was sparkling with snowflakes. What a distraction! To her right, another egg split, yielding a white dragon dotted with rust colored dalmation spots. His wings were laced with rust colored snowflakes, not silver or white like the other dragons. The pink dragon began to strut towards a human actor - the Diva himself, but the rust spotted boy wouldn't have it. Get away from him, you hussy! the male roared, charging the iridescent hatchling. She leaps back, squealing, and the white slams headling into the foreleg of a brown who stepped between them and now was glaring down at the aggressive male. Brendan stepped out, and boldly retrieved Adaleth, leaving the pink to adore Kisero. I love you Kisero! she cooed, and the guardian brown looked down into her adoring eyes. It's time to start behaving like a lady, Gliolith. He tugged the candidacy scarf from his neck and draped it around her. It suited her far better than him. The third of Xhorieth's eggs shattered, exposing a third tri-colored hatchling. Silver and Bronze and White, this one, and there was no doubting his gender. With a shake of his snow-spangled wings, he trotted up to a candidate who was loyal, determined, intelligent and tall, who regarded the hatchling with slit pupils the color of sulfer. I am for you, Maekotek La'Saber. the bold hatchling seemed to challenge, and the candidate nodded, accepting. Meeko looked up. "His name is Belithrandith." Neva's clutch shivered again, and in the middle of the remaining eggs, a more round egg cracked along it's equator, and the dragonet within pushed the top off. There sat a white dragon - a duowinged white dragon. It stepped out into the red sands, unfurling its silver snowflake marked wings, and nosed the unhatched eggs which contained its clutch siblings. The dragon oriented towards one young candidate who respected traditon, loved her siblings, and was polite even when her rights were being withheld. I am Kerilleth, Zanari, and I choose you. the lithe white said. Zanari hugged the hatchling close. What would the future hold for them? Danielle had been eagerly awaiting the appearance of her own dragon ever since Kaiya's dark duowing had first appeared. She'd been anxious all along, hardly able to stand still since the first egg hatched, but now it was just unbearable. Kaiya got hers, when would Danielle get hers?! An egg popped apart, and a white dragon pushed out, the silver snowflakes bright on her back and wings. When the dragon spread her wings, they were dark - purple and black, and the lithe white had two-colored socks on her feet, markings on her wingspars and tails, and a dark blaze on her face. Yo! Danielle! The dragon said, eyes locking on the girl. "Teazeth! My Teazeth!" Danielle squealed, and that was that! The next egg revealed a purple dragoness, softly clouded and sprinkled with glittering snowflakes. She was lean and long limbed, and would likely retain this feature when she grew to adulthood. She would be fast in the sky, and on land as well, if she chose to run. She turned her head and surveyed the candidates as if they were her unwilling prey. She stalked up on one young woman, and though Lityan had her back to the purple, her own hunting skills let her know the dragon was there with plenty of time to avoid her first pounce. "Nizryth... you'll need to practice more to catch me..." Nocesleth's clutch had also yielded three, and from the two remaining there, one grew spiderweb cracks on its surface before the Light dragon within pushed his way out. The blue shook out his wings, snowflakes sparkling. Ooh... It's bright out here... the dragon observed, blinking his first set of lids. C'mere Xeckth... the young Alabaster Green Lielth whispered, opening her arms and heart to the hatchling. With a forceful shove, two little horns cracked through thin ivory eggshell, and after a moment, the clouded blue had worked his way out. His eyes were bright, and the snowflakes on his definitely clouded wings. He looked immediately to a young man with copper hair and clouded eyes. Misery loves company, and the blue butted his head against the haunted man's leg. Ysvelt... Ysvelt... The man looked down at the blue, whose love he could feel flooding him. He knew this was Myoth, and that the blue would stay with him for life. A tri-toned female stumbled out of her shell, and looked around the sands. She took a few wobbling steps, and then sat down in the red sands, her snowflake wings drooping. Dyonath... Are you giving up? She looked up, and at a dark blue dragon who hovered at the edges of the sands. I can't do it, Braenyth! the hatchling cried, and the blue from the Healing Den stepped forward, gingerly, as not to disturb the remaining eggs, and nudged the hatchling to her feet. Yes, you can. He insisted lovingly, and helped her off the sands. There was a short lull in the action then, and those candidates on the sands who were tired of standing began to pick up eggshells just for a change of pace and to stretch. Spectators took a moment to move around and chat. Siralla and L'ven of Calyeni Caverns exchanged places with two other folks, and had a chance to chat with Jeyann and Ke'l. Inquiries were made as to the health of Anoushith and Nadezhdath and their green and blue Ryslen bonds - All are well, and Laloith and Nadezhdath have clutches on the sands, always exciting! Another egg shattered, revealing a paler version of Latoteyth. The iridescent purple seemed very calm and confident, as though she was wise beyond her years. Indeed, she was intelligent, and as her snowflake markings shone in the light, she strode towards a small, emerald eyed woman with raven black hair. The Ryslen candidate 'vest' looked unusual but yet pleasant over her flowing rainbow-colored robes. "Cadarewenth, it is nice to finally see you..." Dream said as the dragon's rainbow gaze met hers. We will fly together, Dream. The dragoness murmured softly, knowing full well the dual nature of the 'chaos goddess'. With a shiver, another white-bodied dragon made its way out into the world. The sleek dragon opened its silver wings, shining on their own, with the dazzling white flakes making her brighter yet. She was calm, and her huge rainbow eyes dedicated and loving. She seemed to glide across the sands to her chosen, Seto, who had known her name for so long. "Beygonth..." A blue dragon forced his shell apart, and stumbled out into the sand. He threw his white wings wide for balance, and the snowflakes shone upon them. This seemed to be a bit of déją vu for one candidate, whose snowy winged flit had done the same thing when he first laid eyes on her. "Maiyoth...?" Leun murmured, the name becoming a question. Leun! the blue answered, bounding to the young man's side. | ||||