Hello loves! While I haven't been writing, I have been working on updating some issues that have been hanging around on the layout! The Character change box is now at the bottom of the page, beside the up/down arrows! Green and Gold dragon flight dates have been shifted to the bottom of the page, where the (useless!) discord widget was located. Where the dragon flights were in the header, is now replaced by a Monthly Event box! This will be updated at the start of each month, with a fun mini-event you can take part in, if you want to! Thistle!
19.Mar.12, 05:50 PM
Breccan watched the Empty Rooms Egg most of all, both dreading and oddly anticipating seeing the mad dragon hatch. It did no more than shiver, and had done no more than that the entirety of the Hatching, but it was the only remaining shell she'd had any contact with. No, it hadn't been welcoming or given her any positive feelings at all, really, but she still had to wonder. Maybe it had been even less friendly to all the others who'd Touched, and all that tapping had been its version of friendliness.
A sudden crack made her jump, and she swung her attention hurriedly to a shell that had apparently just disintegrated all at once. The hatchling trumpeted grandly, making her wonder if a Brown or Bronze was standing just over there, and then went jumping across the Sands in a manner that made her think not. An angry shriek arose from where the Empty Rooms Egg had stood, and soon the two hatchlings were rolling over one another. She couldn't see any ichor, so she had to conclude they were more gentle with one another than with the Candidates. Of course, immediately after, she clearly saw one hatchling gouge the other deeply across the jaw. A boy abruptly stepped forward and pulled them apart, which was perhaps the stupidest thing she'd ever seen, but he was rewarded by an Impression. She wasn't positive, but she was reasonably sure that was the hatchling from the Empty Rooms Egg. Well, so much for that hope.
She watched until she was quite sure the dangerous little thing was a Blue, then looked back in time to see the remaining hatchling choose a girl, and then prove to be a Green. A small hatchling remained, but she couldn't remember seeing a third Egg hatch. Odd. It moved to circle a boy near where a Green had just chosen, and was, apparently, another Blue.
Another slow time passed, with little more than rocking from three of the remaining Eggs. Breccan was oddly sure, somewhere deep down, that she would be leaving the Sands alone today. If she did, would she try again? Could they force her to? She remembered what Echlerov had said about Hatchings being the most exciting and the most disappointing thing to ever happen to him. That was much easier to understand now. At least he'd Impressed, to that fine little Blue. Perhaps he'd let her meet his dragon. Perhaps that would make this all worse. Her heart tightened within her at the idea of being left alone today. Obviously she'd changed her mind about Impressing.
A big hatchling spilled out of one of the few remaining Eggs, obviously doing its best to keep its feet, and then there was suddenly another, tripping and dancing across the Sand before abruptly slamming directly into an Egg. The hatchling inside vacated quickly, hiding behind another large shell and holding a brief conversation with the hatchling who'd so rudely evicted it.
Breccan looked down, a little surprised to see the big hatchling right in front of her, sniffing thoughtfully. It bumped her hand -affectionately, she wondered?- and then darted to someone else, Impressing almost immediately. She watched it curiously as it went towards the food with its new other half in tow, and felt a sharp sting of surprise to see the hatchling had been a Bronze. Why would a Bronze give her any encouragement, or any attention at all?
In the meantime, the wild little hatchling had Impressed; she managed to catch sight of a Green hide before turning back to the remaining dragon on the Sands. This one was moving methodically, carefully examining each Candidate. Breccan stood patiently for the study, but was unsurprised when the baby moved on, going right to the end of the line before doubling back and choosing a girl, one Breccan vaguely recognized as a former Weaver.
Nothing seemed to happen with the remaining two Eggs, but the dragons were still humming determinedly. Did they know that there was more to come, or were they just optimistic? She half-expected to hear the humming falter or begin to die away, but it remained, steady in the background, for the next fifteen minutes. Finally, one of the Eggs rolled, tipped, broke, expelling yet another new dragon. This one knew precisely where it was headed. With a piercing sound, it charged towards the platform, and Breccan caught a surprising glimmer of gold. So Nirinath had produced a daughter after all! She supposed she should have been relieved, along with everyone else, but she felt oddly distant from everything, removed.
The squeal of a voice in her mind made her wince. Was the Gold referring to Indivara? She certainly wasn't talking about the other one who'd been injured, a boy. Well! She supposed a Katilan-born girl would be the logical choice, but Indivara hadn't quite seemed like Gold-riding material to her. Too young, too wild. Then again, dragons knew best, didn't they?
Nirinath was on the move, and soon the remaining Egg was gone, the humming dying off. Breccan looked at the faces of those left behind, interested in the gamut of emotions. Predominant was sadness, and there was more than one girl crying openly. Even a boy seemed to have his head in his hands for that reason. A few looked relieved, but it was a confused sort of relieved. She did not bother to ask herself how she felt. The answer was too big to be given out here, and if she was upset, she hardly wanted to show it to everyone. Instead, habit composed her face into a serene mask as she left. She knew from experience she could maintain that expression easily for sevendays at a time, even months, if she had to. And by then, she'd have dealt with whatever it was. Everything would be fine.
Eventually.
A sudden crack made her jump, and she swung her attention hurriedly to a shell that had apparently just disintegrated all at once. The hatchling trumpeted grandly, making her wonder if a Brown or Bronze was standing just over there, and then went jumping across the Sands in a manner that made her think not. An angry shriek arose from where the Empty Rooms Egg had stood, and soon the two hatchlings were rolling over one another. She couldn't see any ichor, so she had to conclude they were more gentle with one another than with the Candidates. Of course, immediately after, she clearly saw one hatchling gouge the other deeply across the jaw. A boy abruptly stepped forward and pulled them apart, which was perhaps the stupidest thing she'd ever seen, but he was rewarded by an Impression. She wasn't positive, but she was reasonably sure that was the hatchling from the Empty Rooms Egg. Well, so much for that hope.
She watched until she was quite sure the dangerous little thing was a Blue, then looked back in time to see the remaining hatchling choose a girl, and then prove to be a Green. A small hatchling remained, but she couldn't remember seeing a third Egg hatch. Odd. It moved to circle a boy near where a Green had just chosen, and was, apparently, another Blue.
Another slow time passed, with little more than rocking from three of the remaining Eggs. Breccan was oddly sure, somewhere deep down, that she would be leaving the Sands alone today. If she did, would she try again? Could they force her to? She remembered what Echlerov had said about Hatchings being the most exciting and the most disappointing thing to ever happen to him. That was much easier to understand now. At least he'd Impressed, to that fine little Blue. Perhaps he'd let her meet his dragon. Perhaps that would make this all worse. Her heart tightened within her at the idea of being left alone today. Obviously she'd changed her mind about Impressing.
A big hatchling spilled out of one of the few remaining Eggs, obviously doing its best to keep its feet, and then there was suddenly another, tripping and dancing across the Sand before abruptly slamming directly into an Egg. The hatchling inside vacated quickly, hiding behind another large shell and holding a brief conversation with the hatchling who'd so rudely evicted it.
Breccan looked down, a little surprised to see the big hatchling right in front of her, sniffing thoughtfully. It bumped her hand -affectionately, she wondered?- and then darted to someone else, Impressing almost immediately. She watched it curiously as it went towards the food with its new other half in tow, and felt a sharp sting of surprise to see the hatchling had been a Bronze. Why would a Bronze give her any encouragement, or any attention at all?
In the meantime, the wild little hatchling had Impressed; she managed to catch sight of a Green hide before turning back to the remaining dragon on the Sands. This one was moving methodically, carefully examining each Candidate. Breccan stood patiently for the study, but was unsurprised when the baby moved on, going right to the end of the line before doubling back and choosing a girl, one Breccan vaguely recognized as a former Weaver.
Nothing seemed to happen with the remaining two Eggs, but the dragons were still humming determinedly. Did they know that there was more to come, or were they just optimistic? She half-expected to hear the humming falter or begin to die away, but it remained, steady in the background, for the next fifteen minutes. Finally, one of the Eggs rolled, tipped, broke, expelling yet another new dragon. This one knew precisely where it was headed. With a piercing sound, it charged towards the platform, and Breccan caught a surprising glimmer of gold. So Nirinath had produced a daughter after all! She supposed she should have been relieved, along with everyone else, but she felt oddly distant from everything, removed.
The squeal of a voice in her mind made her wince. Was the Gold referring to Indivara? She certainly wasn't talking about the other one who'd been injured, a boy. Well! She supposed a Katilan-born girl would be the logical choice, but Indivara hadn't quite seemed like Gold-riding material to her. Too young, too wild. Then again, dragons knew best, didn't they?
Nirinath was on the move, and soon the remaining Egg was gone, the humming dying off. Breccan looked at the faces of those left behind, interested in the gamut of emotions. Predominant was sadness, and there was more than one girl crying openly. Even a boy seemed to have his head in his hands for that reason. A few looked relieved, but it was a confused sort of relieved. She did not bother to ask herself how she felt. The answer was too big to be given out here, and if she was upset, she hardly wanted to show it to everyone. Instead, habit composed her face into a serene mask as she left. She knew from experience she could maintain that expression easily for sevendays at a time, even months, if she had to. And by then, she'd have dealt with whatever it was. Everything would be fine.
Eventually.
