[G] [H] 739.10.13 | What Dreams May Come

12:22

Three eggs hatched at almost the same moment; green Perchance hid behind Blame, who had no sympathy for his sister and trotted off to Impress, leaving Perchance to dash towards Liar to hide behind her. Liar bumped her nose against Perchance before heading off to Impress, and Perchance, alone, chirped sadly. She quickly scanned her surroundings and within seconds was bolting off towards a young man who hugged her as she trembled against him. Mulrissa wished him luck, and hoped the green got less timid as she grew.

12:49

Words and Wit hatched on opposite ends of the Sands, and each headed towards the other’s end. They met in the middle, trilling excitedly at each other as they flared their wings and hopped around in a little dance before continuing on, Impressing to the Candidate closest to the other’s egg.

1:14

Currents fell in an ungainly heap out of his egg, giving himself a good shake as he stood up, sneezing some of the sand out of his nose. Rissa couldn’t tell you what he did next, because the gold egg began rocking in earnest and everyone turned to watch it. She figured he must have Impressed, but likely the only one who saw was his lifemate, and maybe someone standing next to him; everyone else was watching the gold egg and whispering, a new energy filling the Sands.

Mulrissa gasped when the little queen broke through the shell, dramatically unfolding herself from the egg. Coronet was possibly the largest hatchling Rissa had ever seen, having clearly inherited both of her parents’ size. She gave an imperious look around at the gold Candidates who had formed something of a ring around her as they approached, all wanting to get closer to her. Of course they did, she was what they were here for. But none of them deserved her, not a one, and they were in her way.

With a snarl Coronet launched herself forward at the closest point of the circle, trampling over one girl before reaching another standing behind her, wide-eyed and frozen in fear. Coronet regarded her for a moment, before giving her a haughty sneer and moving to get past her. The girl still didn’t move, so Coronet grabbed her where her neck met her shoulder and threw her aside, tossing her into another gold Candidate nearby. Now, she could get through the circle of girls unworthy of her.

There was definitely screaming, but Mulrissa couldn’t really hear it. This couldn’t be happening. It had been going so well, it was Bedith’s first Clutch, she had a gold, why was it all falling apart, why was she hurting the gold Candidates, her daughter was Standing for the gold egg, what if Bedith’s daughter killed hers, what if —

Her madly spinning thoughts were interrupted because Coronet had sprinted past the girls Standing, but she wasn’t done yet. One of the male Candidates was blocking her way. He certainly didn’t deserve her, and she swiped at him, claws tearing through his legs. He collapsed with a soft cry, as Coronet growled at the nerve of him to get close to her. She didn’t want him. Coronet snarled at him for good measure, before swinging her head toward a Candidate who was scrambling away from her. Launching herself forward Coronet impacted with his chest, claws shredding the thin Candidate robe as if there was nothing there. None of them. None of them deserved her, and she hated them.

Roaring Coronet stampeded a group of Candidates, male and female, who had tried pushing themselves to the sides of the Sands, away from danger, away from her, and she knocked them down with claws, wings, teeth, and tail. Golden hide turning red, Coronet turned her wedge shaped head towards the Stands. There were more there, and still none of them for her, and she hated them too. Mulrissa frantically hit Bedith’s leg where she could reach it, over and over, feeling the little gold’s anger washing over her, the hatchling unable or unwilling to reign in her emotions. Rissa feared for the Candidates, but also for the audience. Candidates knew what they were risking, though it usually wasn’t death, and never on this scale, but there were children in the Stands, even younger than the twelve turn old weyrbrats on the Sands.

“Bedith, do something, please!” she cried, frantically trying to find her children in the mayhem that was the Sands. Bedith rumbled quietly, unnerved by her rider’s distress and the fear all around her, and reached out to the angry hatchling.

Little daughter, Bedith said quietly, directly to Coronet, not really sure what she should do. If it were up to her, she’d let her daughter do as she wished, but Mulrissa was so afraid and Bedith couldn’t have that. Coronet turned from the Stands to look up at her mother, eyes whirling.

There’s no one, she said, voice audible to anyone who was at all sensitive to dragonspeech, I’m alone. And suddenly the rage that had been fueling her since she hatched fell away, revealing the deep despair beneath it. She was alone. Alone. With a wail, Coronet ran forward toward the nearest female Candidate, and butted her head against her, as if trying to force Impression. It didn’t work, and Coronet wailed louder, claws digging into the Candidate as she shook, rage and desolation rolling off her. With a last high pitched moan, Coronet leapt between, leaving the body of the girl behind.

Bedith was the first dragon to keen at her death, as everyone tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Blame
Perchance
Liar
Words

Wit
Currents
Coronet

Trampled girl (living, bleeding heavily)
Thrown girl (dead, neck badly torn open and likely broken by the throw)
Girl knocked over by thrown girl (uninjured, likely pretty traumatized)
Boy whose legs were clawed (dead, major arteries severed, lots of blood)
Boy with his chest torn open (dead, immense blood loss)
Two boys and one girl from the group off to the side (dead)
Any number from the group off to the side (alive, various states of injury)
Girl Coronet tried to Impress (dead, torn up)