It's Now The Monster Mash: The Spooky Clutch Hatching!

[Mewsings of An Angel]

Kieza

As the girl watched, she felt her heart skip a beat. More dragonets on the sand! More! So many! All so beautiful in unique ways. She found herself strangely overly excited and then noted that the feeling radiated from a green hatchling that couldn't sit still, that ran to and fro with an excitable mischief that was contagious. There was so much going on, but at least... for the moment there was not near as much stress occurring. Though, Kieza did find her eyes straying back up to the blue hatchling on the great bronze's head. And as she looked back up, the wail of the blue, but it was a pointed wail, calling. But who was it calling to? Had it found Theirs?

Kieza pleaded that the rider would be found.  

[magnadearel]

Vosin and Killakeeth (W)

With a knowing eye, she could tell the fun times weren't over for the candidates yet. The two badly injured candidates from the Demon had been moved off the sands, one with a brown in tow. Good for him! Then it was no holds bar among Demon, Hunter, and Angel. "Demon's strong. I bet it'll be some time before he's overcome." She watched the group with interest. Who would win?

I bet the duo will subdue him quickly Vosin. The burnished gold also watched the sands with interest. Vos shook her head as she watched, amusing to watch the Angel come to the Demon's defense. "I'm not sure who on who's side now." She winced as the little white bore the brunt of Hunter's attack. "Do you think he'll make it?" Vos asked her dragon. We will see, was the only reply she'd give.

She gave a disgusted noise as a candidate pretty much intentionally got himself mauled by stepping between the fighting trio. "What a sharding idiot! Don't they teach candidates better?" Ah the white wasn't dead after all. Trust Killa to know. Vos smiled as he impressed. Though he'd have a tough time with those wounds. "Looks like they'll all survive." Vos commented idly as both bronzes went off to impress.With that trio out of the way, she considered the rest of the sands. Things were calming down now.

Vimiath is feeling better, Killakeeth noted to those around her. Vosin looked over and nodded. "Good. Something must have changed?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candidate Rinis (W)

Rinis wisely moved herself back. If the dragons wanted to brawl instead of impress, she wanted no part of this. The trio were a whirl of wings, claws, tails, and fangs. She kept an weathered eye out in case it drifted toward her. She was also watching out for others who were looking to play a little to rough for her. Ghoul did not seem happy to be kept from the food she so desperately wanted. Rinis didn't want to cross her path either. Although Goblin and Werewolf were cute romping around the sands playing tag.

She was surprised to see another egg wobble itself up from the sands and reveal yet another bronze. And with the bronze another egg was revealed. Rinis wondered just how many eggs had been hidden in the sands? Did it do them any harm? What about candidates accidentally walking on them? Her eyes widened as the fighting among the three dragons intensified, and some ignorant or purely stupid candidate had to get between them! Rinis gave a little gasp, not for the boy, but for the white. She really really hoped the white would be alright.

Rinis clapped her hands to her ears as the Banshee shrieked and shattered his own egg. Those standing unfortunately near probably had ringing ears after that one! She looked up in time to see the white impress. That was a good sign right? He was gonna be alright? She turned her attention to several of the eggs that had been shattered by the Banshee's shriek. A couple of greens.

All in a moment the sands seemed to quiet. Rinis looked around for the cause. It looked like the battling bronzes had finally stopped and found theirs. She jumped as a voice sounded in her head. She looked around trying to find the source, until she spotted the bronze father with the Banshee blue on his head. What.... what were they doing?

She chuckled softly at the brown legs from the shell. Poor thing wasn't even out properly yet.  

[Masterharper]

Frankenstein Monster
The blue dragonet panted, watching as his bronze brothers both finally Impressed. He had a few scratches, but was otherwise unharmed, physically. Emotionally, though, the poor dragon was a wreck. So it was, the blue stalked among the Candidates, pausing now and then to look back at where the bronzes had gone. He wanted to make sure that they would no longer cause a problem.

Still, his temper was gone as quickly as it had come. The blue dragon felt weary, sick, and distressed. Guilt began to eat at him because he knew he had lost it. He had gone too far, had wanted nothing more than to grow violent and rip apart his bronze brother for causing such a scene. If it hadn't been Helsinth it would have been Illiandinth.

So it was, the blue threw his head back and keened. He dragged himself through the Candidates, shaking his head this way and that, his guilt and sadness obvious. Slowly, he made his way up to a pair of Candidates that were far, far away. Silviu, Mine, please don't go. Your Aramath has done wrong, has hurt his brother, and needs you. Today is a hard day... but maybe, with me, you will feel better. Please, Mine. Hold me. And with that, the blue pushed himself against Silviu, trying to burrow into the other. He was sad, and he needed the love of his rider to make the world right again.

Teiha

Mewsings of An Angel

Since she's with him, I think.

 

[DruidTigeress]

Roknhin

Roknhin glanced at his friend, more nervous than excited to see the sands. He wondered inf Jal felt the same way. From the whisperings in the kitchen, it was a bloody one... He looked at his hands, remembering the first time he Stood. Even so many turns later, he still couldn't forget that feeling. Blood on his palms, watching the light die from her eyes. I miss you, Reina.. he thought. I wish it'd was me instead of you.

Instead he just forced a wide smile and nodded. They were being nice, after all. Maybe they could find somewhere to hide until it was over.. "Sounds great!" he said, hoisting up the bucket of meat. He nodded towards Jalarus. "Ready to go?"

As described, the hatching sands were a mess. Roknhin made a beeline for the weyrling tables and dropped the bucket (a little heavily) on its surface, before lettin gout a shaky breath. He needed to get out of here. If he left, though, Jal probably would too. And there was still a chance his friend wanted to watch the hatching. "Did you wanna stay?" he asked, forcing another smile as he lifted his eyes.  

[ChaosTheories]

Jagmund

The Candidate was smiling from the Werewolf's influence. Yes, he probably should go find the healer. The sand was hot to sit on this long. But he didn't really want to move. What if his was still out there? The Hatching had calmed down a lot and eggs were hatching and dragons Impressing without much fuss. He doubted if he'd get hurt any more, so he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

Moving with his painful ribs didn't appeal to him much, anyway.  

[magnadearel]

Vosin and Killakeeth (W)

Vosin rested back against her dragon's foreleg and let out a deep long breath. It had certainly been an exciting hatching to say the least! She rolled shoulders to release the muscles that had gone tight. The last few stragglers were at last getting their rumps in gear. Then they could all finally have dinner! Or perhaps breakfast in the babies case?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candidate Rinis (W)

Things were moving quickly now. Hatchling after hatchling moved with theirs off the sands. Rinis looked around and took stock of the remaining unpaired hatchlings. She looked slowly from one face to another. None of the current dragonets appeared interested in her, or perhaps not yet, and only a handful of eggs still needed to hatch.

She felt she'd been pretty lucky to walk away from this hatching so far without a scratch. With the wild ones off the sands now, perhaps it would remain that way.  

[Ryala]

~L'del & Helsinth~

Taking a seat to allow one of the Healers to look at his left arm, L'del accepted a bowl of food for his oh so dark bronze and set it on his lap. Using his right hand, he snagged a few pieces of meat from the bowl and offered them to his new friend, even as another Healer started going over some of the dragon's injuries. "Remember to chew," he coached as the initial handful disappeared in short order.

Though Helsinth really didn't want to go through this tedious process, which as far as he could see only slowed the rate at which he could demolish his meal, he also had no interest in ignoring his rider. He had been here longer, after all... better to listen to his advice. Therefore, as the glorious taste of the meat filled his senses, he exercised his jaws... and was rewarded as the flavor was drawn out even more. Oooooohhhhhh... this was truly wonderful! And then he swallowed, which brought the sensation of the chewed up food sliding down his long throat. If he hadn't chewed, that lump might not have passed so easily.

He was very glad that L'del had thought to let him know of this concept. Chewing...  

[TheWishling]

Isilje

Lennik yanking her from the path of the egg surprised her, getting a sweet little squeak as she looked at him in awe. Oh...Well then, "That one seems to just want to go!" SO many more Impressions! It was so wonderful! Her heart swelled with joy, smile breaking on that pale face as she pulled her hood higher around her. Goodness, her skin was starting to burn a bit. At least it seemed that there were only a few now. A bronze, several greens, several Blues, and a Brown...not to mention a handful of eggs that were now on the sands. She was so glad for everyone, though there was that familiar pang of jealousy that she tried very hard to quell. At least she was making friends!

demon_pachabel

Tsunake

Meepfur

 

[demon_pachabel]

Martirae

She dusted herself off as she rose again, holding in a scowl. This was ridiculous and she knew it. Not the babies - the babies and the hatching, outside of some drama, were fine. Her. She kept not having her head on her shoulders for uneggspected egg-missles (what) or stampeding blues. How absolutely disappointing. Now wonder a dragon didn't want her. It had absolutely nothing to do with that Lennik had advised her on previously.

Maybe it did. No! It didn't!

But she pulled her ego into check once she'd made sure to remind it that she was looking absolutely inept. While she'd been sitting on her a**, two more dragons had impressed to....well, she wasn't sure she knew those boys, but she let it be. They weren't for her, so she wouldn't let the fact that some were worried the numbers were dwindling bother her. Because it didn't. She was young. She had plenty of Hatchings before she had to worry.  

[SilverLutz]

Vennodren heaved a sigh of relief as the two battling bronzes finally Impressed, taking the tension from the arena swiftly. There were still those that were hurt but the immediate danger seemed now to rest on the playful dragons and Venn would much rather have excited baby dragons running around rather than two battling to the death.

More and more dragons began to Impress and he watched as the little blue Banshee rode on his father's head to get a better look at those gathered.

"I think we can only assume that nothing about this clutch or Hatching is normal," he responded with a wry chuckle, feeling better now. Dragon after dragon made their way to various Candidates, some that were injured and others that were standing by and watching. There were still quite a number to Impress so his hopes weren't quite flagging yet, and the joy of his fellow Candidates was hard to ignore as well. Even though he could end up dragonless again he would always feel incredibly happy for those who did find their One.

"The ones that seemed to need their rider the most have found Theirs, it seems," he added after watching a few more dragons Impress. "That's quite the improvement. I do hope it's helping Vimiath feel a bit better," he said as he turned his gaze to the golden queen for a moment. She looked sickly still despite the pride her children gave her and he could only hope her rider would recover from the illness that had befallen her before the whole Touching incident.

Masterharper

 

[Masterharper]

DruidTigeress

the_Muffin_Puppy

Because I think the baby is still on his head. <<

Jalarus
Like a quiet shadow, the large man followed his friend out of the kitchens and over to the Hatching Sands. They were close to the entrance, and while it wasn't easy to see the commotion, or the eggs, they weren't going to avoid seeing the babies up close. In fact, there were already baby dragonets being fed -- some of them looked banged up, while others simply looked hungry.

What would it be like? No. No he had to stomp firmly on the thought, as that familiar ache burrowed into him. He was not one of them. He would never be one of them. He'd stood for Turns, hoping, waiting... and it was for naught. He had stood because it gave him something to live for. Without Kharin -- his own thoughts fluttered towards the ache of his long-dead love. Well. As always, he knew that if Kharin had bee alive, he would have actually managed to Impress. Unlike Jal, Kharin had at least been charming, and talented, and confident, and clever. Unlike Jal, Kharin had been good. So very good. There was no doubt in his mind that his love would have charmed a Hatchling from the Sands....

Had he no succumbed to the sickness. Why Jal lived and he hadn't, he never really knew. It had been a cruel joke. But with his loss, he'd taken Jal's sun, and every day had been difficult since. It was going on close to ten Turns now, but the pain hadn't left. Perhaps he knew better how to handle it, but that grief was a passenger that would never leave.

His aging out at High Reaches had only proven that he'd been . . . worthless. Oh, sure, he'd gotten a job, and took orders, and did what he was told as a worker; he was liked because he could hold a great amount of weight, and didn't often complain; he was a grunt. He had friends, but the always shone so much brighter. . . Dr'stan and Roknhin both were talented with crafts -- one a healer, the other a harper. They both had great love affairs, they both could be charming, and Jal felt quite deficient in their presence. He never would admit it, but it was true. He envied them both, in a way, and that envy turned into guilt, which turned out grief, which turned in to . . more negativity than he should have felt.

But he carried on. Step by step. Day by day. He carried on for Kharin.

Today was no different. Chop the meat, carry the buckets, report for new assignments, wash, rinse, repeat. The Weyr was different, the people primarily unfamiliar, save Roknhin. When his friend asked him whether or not he wanted to stay, he gave a small grunt and shrug. Still, he looked over at the little ones getting fed, and though it hurt, he knew the only one to get over it was . . . to face it. There would be plenty of alcohol later tonight to wash down any pain, any bitterness. "I'm in no rush." It was, perhaps, a non-committal sort of answer, but the fact he said anything at all belied his lack of interest. Though it hurt, the babies were cute close up -- and this was as close to them as he'd ever gotten before.

Jalarusmine, please stop hiding! I cannot find you, and I need you. Please come find me?

Hmmm? He blinked, glancing first at Roknhin, then at some of the Candidates. "Did'ja..hmm." He gave another shake of his head. He was hearing things, surely. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, and yet. . .

I cannot find yoooou.

Okay, now he KNEW he heard something. And there was a note of panic filling him, which was odd. He cleared his throat, though his eyes narrowed, and he glanced once more around. His shoulders tensed, and he frowned, trying to find out who it was. Was it was one of the dragonets nearby, talking loud? Was it some punk weyrbrat? He shifted his stance, irritable by the worry and stress that was suddenly gripping him. Everything was upsetting, and there was a strange pang of loss, of hurt, of fear. He licked his lips, feeling cornered, but also feeling desperately sad.

Ignore it.
Push it down.
Bury it.

That was the only way. Accept the feelings, and either let them out, or save it for another day.

Strange, though, his usual trick wasn't working. In fact, the feeling was only getting worse. "Hey, Rok," he questioned, brows knit. ". . . I think I'm hearin--"

Jalarus, please. Your Loreleth needs you.

The yearning, the wistfulness, the worry... It all culminated into that one phrase. Loreleth. He immediately knew the name, which only added to his confusion. How could he know -- and yet, he did. It was the missing piece. The anchor that held his heart so low was immediately cut free, and for the first time, in a long time, he suddenly felt free. Though he felt pain, grief, fear, angst; though there was bitterness and sadness deep within himself and his dragon, there was also, quite overwhelmingly now, hope. Neither Loreleth nor Jalarus need ever be alone again. The pain and fear in the baby could be held by the stoic man. He could take it, he could ease it, he could help the little one through his grief, even as Loreleth helped him through his.

"Roknhin," he gaped, all color draining from his face. "I gotta go."

He half-stumbled past a brown dragonet, only peripherally aware of Konvakith heading towards Roknhin. Unfortunately, he was too desperate to find the source of all that hurt, and to comfort him immediately. Nothing else mattered in that moment, heartless as it seemed. No, right now, the large, ex-merc pushed his way through the crowd of bystanders, and entered the Hatching Sands without fear. He knew the drill, but it didn't matter; let others try to stop him, let someone object.

"He's mine," was all he said to those who tried to pull the kitchenworker back. And the steeliness in his voice, and the look in his eyes, made them shrink back. "Loreleth! I'm here, baby, right here!" He seemed so far away. He needed to see his dragonet now. He needed to look into those eyes, needed to get to know his perfect lifemate - and yet he was so very far away.

The little round blue's eyes suddenly whirled a vibrant rainbow, and he squirmed excitedly atop of sweet Blundarth. Daddy, there he is! Oh, do you seeeeee? He is perfect! But... But he is so far away!! And I am so high up! The little blue gave another pained keen, because the Hatching Sands was so big, and the ground so far for a little distressed baby. And now, what had seemed like such a good idea at the time was proving to be a disaster because he was so very high up, and could not move. He was stuck! He creeled petulantly, and wriggled his little rump in his anxiousness. He wanted to stay close to his hero father, and yet, he also wanted to be down, so he could be with his... but he was ultimately still stuck and could not move. So very stuck. Halp! And his panic and angst began to grow once more.  

[Meepfur]

Dragonets continued to fill the Sands, green and blue and brown, and even one that didn't bother finishing to hatch properly before it was off and running. One spent some time on the clutchfather's head as it looks for its rider, one did nothing but roll over once, while others did their best to gain their fair share of the attention. In the chaos of it, it was hard to keep an eye on them all, although Dezerac did his best. Ideally, the worst was over with the first two bronzes and their white brother Impressed, along with several others, but he knew as well as anyone else who'd attended a Hatching before that there was always time for something to go wrong.

What he wanted, more than anything, was for something to finally go right, but that was a dangerous hope. It had let him down before, over and over again, and he was weary of that disappointment. There was coming a day, sooner rather than later, when he'd be disappointed one last time. For now, he diguised those feelings even from himself as boredom and impatience, and continued to wait.

------

Lennik, with his experience with Hatchings - bless him for that - was a bit better than he at keeping an eye on their surroundings, which Rio was finding increasingly difficult with the entrances of more and more hatchlings. Things were busy now, weren't they? And, as the other young man exclaimed, Vimiath's rider was here! She was up, and alive, and here! Despite not knowing her, he grinned happily at her reappearance. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!

And then Lennik was calling out a warning about a running egg (ha, ha, that is not funny don't say it) and pulling back the girls. Rio jumped back as well, and couldn't help but laugh. "Did that really just happen? Someone's in a hurry!"

------

Eyes closed and focused on breathing, rather than the easy way Vimiath had gulped down the caprine and could have done the same to her, Akaris was not expecting her to move all of a sudden. She gasped in surprise and clung on to keep her balance, but didn't open her eyes until the gold came to a halt, at which time the reason for the little ride became abundantly clear. And though she felt - and looked - sick to her stomach, she smiled down at the goldrider, and answered her almost shyly (she was sitting atop the woman's dragon, after all), "I'm glad you didn't give up."

Akaris had been too wrapped up in her own issues after the Touching to pay much mind to the whispers and concerns about the health of Talela and her dragon, and until she'd seen the Queen up close, until Vimiath had let her feel it, it hadn't really registered, but the reason for all the worry had become resoundingly obvious then. The goldrider could have died, and the gold... It would have been awful.

demon_pachabel

Tsunake

-_Wish of Tevarae_-

Teiha

 

[Andranis]

"Why anybody would want to go somewhere like High Reaches is beyond me sometimes..." Nemo hugged himself, just slightly. "Far too cold for my blood up there. But, I do rather like the people, lots of tall drinks of water up there."

P'tius only grumbled at the greenrider, then accepted Casgar's hand. "I only want my remaining brothers and sisters close, nothing more." He didn't get up, though he did glance at Jacomus. "I worry, and want to be there to protect them." The brownrider cringed as he heard the hatchlings fighting, before it seemed to cease. "Have they stopped trying to tear the candidates apart yet?"

Reaching down, Jacomus gave P'tius' head a pat, "They have, yes. The little trouble-maker's found his own now. The poor lad he mauled even Impressed! There's hope for this hatching yet!" Nobody was dead, which was a very good sign.

Feeling naughty and cheeky, both Fish and Marsh appeared out of between, Fish taking up a spot on Nemo's shoulder while Marsh circled Casgar, chirping for permission to land. Now that they were sure things would stop being chaotic, they wanted to see the baby Big Ones!

Mx Cherie

---

Nora gave K'gan a reproachful, if amused, look, "He broke his arm, not his leg. Thank you, Plague, just what I needed." Accepting a simple skin of water(When had his dear little flit gone off to get it? He didn't remember seeing her leave...), he began to clean the wounds on Farellen. "So far, I'm fairly possitive he'll live to see another Hatching, if this hasn't scared him off the sands for good. Faranth knows they CAN get violent." The arm could wait, the flesh wounds could not. Even if they were only flesh wounds, they could potentially get infected, and that was something he wasn't going to have, not on his watch!

Plague climbed down to the bag, offering a jar up. Each one was marked with an image, something to make it easy for her to identify them. Not that she needed a label, she could smell what was what, why Her Human didn't trust her judgement was beyond her.

Spines raising for a moment, she looked over and chittered in surprise as an egg burst open, and another howled. Then her attention went back to helping Her Human.

Sinders Path

Revel1984

Tatterpixie