[G] [C] [H] 741.01.10 | Continuously Interrupted Hatching

Sariel noted two blues (lovely lads), two greens...ah! There! One of the golds had made her entrance amid the mess of greens to follow and-- Oh no. She winced as the fifth green and the plump little gold collided. Space conscious as she was, she did her best to move away from the scuffle, easing herself as best as she could away from the developing ball of green and gold as they sought to right themselves. It wasn't their fault, really. They'd only just gotten the use of themselves!

She winced slightly in sympathy just when someone gave her a weighty shove from an unexpected direction. It so over-balanced her that she found herself directly in the path of the two dragonets even as she did her best to roll away. Sariel wasn't quite sure what happened next but claws dug into her thigh and raked across her thigh deeply. She let out a cry of surprise and pain as blood soaked scarlet through the into the white of her Candidate robe.

Out of her peripheral, she caught sight of the distraught gold, who let out a shriek of alarm.

You are hurt! the gold said, her voice carrying with it worry and fuss. This is terrible. Will you be alright? Is there something your Cirith can do?

"Come now, darling, it's not so bad," Sariel murmured as the gold nudged at her as gently as possible, alarm in the swirl of her eyes. "Settle, little one. You've done well to find me and this is going to be just fine. It's just a bit of a scratch. I just need to get my bearings here, and get on my feet." Rainbows danced in the golden dragonet's eyes as she made that all-important connection of Impression and drew herself up proudly. Sariel pressed her cheek into her dragon's muzzle for a moment.

I can help, I can do it! Cirith sang out, her voice charmingly bell-like as she braced herself confidently in the sand. Come on, up you go! We will do this together. Actually, we will do everything together from now on because that is the way it is.

Cirith proved to be quite sturdy as it turned out and Sariel found her to be an excellent anchor as she righted herself. With her new lifemate's support, she was upright and laughing with joy despite the injury, which was leaking blood down her leg just badly enough to be of actual concern. Sharp little claws on dragonets meant the fine things cut like her finest scalpels.

"Cirith and I are both fine," she said brightly and with more strength in her usually tiny voice than even she thought possible. The brightness of Impression buoyed her through whatever discomfort her leg was giving her as well, thank Faranth for that. Cirith needed to be fed and oiled - there were some dry patches already that needed her attention - and then they'd both be able to get some sleep.

Oooh, Cirith said and it came audibly in a drawn-out crooooon, I am rather starving and you are to be tended to, so, if your hands are busy making my stomach feel right, more hands can make your leg feel right. This is a good exchange. The golden dragonet kept her well occupied and focused as they moved to the sidelines for a bucket of meat. Look, your mate comes. It is fortunate that he has the best hands for this task.

Sariel dropped a piece of meat into her rather smug lifemate's mouth as if that would make her hush her face up. Not that she was wrong about L'gan's hands in the least.

---
L'gan

Everything was pretty benign so far, so woo. Kordiavis wasn’t even worried about the brown since it seemed more excited than murderous. He supposed if he had to Stand, Aradissicath was one of the better ones, though her babies still sucked. Fine, the one did, and he had no idea which one it was now but he hoped to never cross paths with it again.

He was still thinking about ways to get out of Hatchings in the future when he felt a sudden pain on his nose that had him grabbing it and then frown in confusion when a voice whimpered in his head. A voice that was very much not his own. He glanced out at the very pale blue that was face first in the sand and Kordiavis sighed.

“Fuck.”

He had actually Impressed and didn’t know how to feel about it. A part of him was devastated that he had to share his mind and never be alone again and another part, the part that slowly had his feet moving to the baby dragon, wanted to cry as a piece of that void was filled in. How long had he been drawing that void? Everything in darkness and despair with no hope of ever finding what would finally bring back the light and …peace.

He sighed again as he crouched down before the dragon and helped the boy out by brushing away some of the excess sand, though it wouldn’t help much without water and a cloth. “You didn’t need to rush, kid. Not like I was going anywhere.”

You needed me and I didn’t want to make you wait. And it’s Taith, not kid. Taith quietly pointed out as he got to his feet.

“I know it is,” he just didn’t want to use it. It made it all very real and he wasn’t processing it all that easily. “Let’s get you bathed and fed… Taith.”

Taith gave the impression of smiling as they started walking off and Kordiavis frowned as he felt the—his—dragon rooting around for a name. “No.”

But K’di is nice and close to what your friends call you. The dragon pouted and Kordiavis held firm. He vetoed K’vis as well, not feeling that vibe either. He attempted suggestions with his name backwards, like S’drok and S’vai because fuck the rules but they both weren’t thrilled.

By the time they reached the assistant taking names of the pairs, Kordiavis sighed and looked at Taith with a shrug. “It’ll do. Kor’is of blue Taith.” And for once, he smiled.

So far everything about the hatching had been absolutely benign and Cazan wasn't really sure why there had been so much uncertain and anxious buzz around her. The eggs shook a bit, a baby managed to break out, sometimes they stumbled around like a newborn foal tripping over themselves as they tried to find their footing, and then went to go give their rider a poke. Some of the people had been acting like they were attending a funeral at first and she just couldn't get why.

Things had begun to relax in general though. She could see why some of the nerves existed with the boys out on the sands dodging out of the way from an overeager little dragon that didn't seem to have a sense of its own size as it barreled towards them. But people in general seemed happy to have gotten their dragons. There were happy tears, a few soft cheers from family members in the stands, and Cazan tried to do a polite little clap of her own for everyone. Nothing too raucous, T'ryn had explained that they didn't want to cheer too loudly to startle the babies.

The first gold made an appearance and Cazan straightened a bit, leaning forward ever so slightly in anticipation. Katiryn was here for a gold, and hopefully this would be it. There was another set of clumsiness and then... she cringed, jumping slightly in alarm as a girl was clawed. At least people were moving quickly to get it handled, and despite the injury the girl seemed rather pleased with her new dragon. She settled back down once she realized things were going to be okay. "Well that explains the healers," she said softly to herself. And then she quietly wondered how many people ended up severely injured during these events. She would ask about it later.

Every time an Impression was made without injury, L’gan felt tension drain from his shoulders. So far, so good. Semath hummed a little louder in excitement as she saw several greens and-- ooh, the first gold! Look, L’gan! The healer smiled, happy for his green, knowing how much she loved hatchings and loved babies. They hadn’t had time to attend Bedith’s, focusing on the weyrlings at Ista, so for this Hatching to be going so smoothly despite the early start was a relief. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he berated his foolishness in tempting fate. A green had collided with the gold near the cluster of young women, and girls were starting to shove to get out of the way of the tangle of claws.

L’gan bit his lip hard to keep from shouting as he saw Sariel fall; they couldn’t startle the dragonets without risking injuries or the babies popping between in surprise. He inwardly cursed whoever had shoved her, though he knew it wasn’t really their fault. Squabbling dragonets fresh from their shells were always intimidating, no matter how cute or sweet they ended up being.

Semath crooned calm reassurance to the dragonets, but he also felt her alarm as they saw claws connect with robes and skin. Nightmare scenarios raced through his mind until Semath gently said, L’gan, they are both okay. Cirith helped her up, see? L’gan took a startled breath, and looked properly at the pair, seeing the rapturous joy on his mate’s face despite her pain, and concern in her dragon’s eyes as they made their way slowly off to the side.

Steadying himself with another breath, he picked up his kit and made his way over, concern still written on his face. Logically it couldn’t be that bad if Sariel was standing again, but he wasn’t taking chances. The little gold’s comment broke the ice and a startled smile crossed his face as he drew close.

“Sariel, are you alright?” His voice was calmer than he felt as his training kicked in--helped, no doubt, by the calming presence of Semath in his mind and her excitement for their Sariel. He rested a hand on her shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze, then knelt to check her leg as she fed her new lifemate. Someone had brought over a stool for her to sit on, making things much easier. L’gan glanced briefly over at the gold as he worked and turned to smile up at his mate. “She’s beautiful; I’m so happy for you, Little Bell.”
---
Sariel

Narinoa enjoyed the light banter and flirting he had with Sariel as they waited for the babes to make their appearances. It was helping his nerves tremendously to have someone there with him and distract him from his devastating thoughts. He wondered if that was a trait Healers had to possess but was thankful for it all the same.

The easy start to it all was helping him as well, as was seeing Kordiavis go to a dragon. He chuckled and wished that dragon all the best. He had picked one surly dude and that dragon had his work cut out for him if he wanted to make Kordiavis somewhat tolerable for more than five minutes.

But then, of course, all the good vibes backfired by making him too complacent. His guard had lowered and his reactions weren’t as quick as he would have liked when the squabble started and girls freaked out. He didn’t blame them but fuck, couldn’t they blindly run away with a bit more attention? He was jostled a bit and dodged another, leaving him further away from Sariel than he liked and when she went down, Narinoa panicked and tried to get to her.

He was too slow. He saw the blood immediately and the panic increased. Sariel was injured and the dragons were shrieking and… and the gold had Impressed to Sariel. He was still worried over the injury but Narinoa couldn’t help but smile at the sight. She looked so happy and wasn’t blaming anyone for the injury which was very much a Sariel thing to do. He wanted to help her off to the side when she got to her feet—stubborn woman—but it seemed the gold pair was determined to do it together so he respected that and watched them go and L’gan quickly run to them.

He owed her the biggest apology later on and probably forever. From his quick glimpse, he’d say that she’d have scars as a reminder of that day—like a dragon wasn’t enough of one—and every time he saw them, he’d be reminded of how he failed to keep her safe.

So much was happening at once, which was pretty normal for a Hatching but at least this one wasn’t of the chaotic variety. Just some excited babies finding their mates and Mylorah could get behind that. She always winced when one of the dragonets tripped but it warmed her heart when their mate would rush out to help them. Like that really pale—she was assuming—blue that went face first into the sand. Poor fella only—

Holy shit.

Was that Kordiavis going to it?

Holy shit, it was!

She knew he was kind-hearted underneath the attitude but she also knew he wouldn’t willingly help a dragonet given his stance on how horrible Hatchings were. That meant that he had to have Impressed! Mylorah placed both hands over her mouth to keep from squealing with excitement and she wanted to run to him and hug him and congratulate him but she knew that wasn’t appropriate either. It would have to wait for later but she really wanted to meet the dragon that saw what she saw in the man.

After watching them walk off, Mylorah turned her gaze to the stands where she knew T’ryn and Tazikel were and sent them a mixture of glee and a confused ‘what the fuck’ expression. She had hoped he would Impress but it wasn’t always hard to keep that alive with his attitude on the whole thing but to have a dragon find him now when she suspected this would have been his last Hatching was simply perfect. It also sucked because if she didn’t Impress, they would be in different Weyrs and he’d be off the market for a while. Another glance a Tazikel and Mylorah wondered if he was aware of that restriction and how the news would affect him.

She didn’t have long to think on that or their lovely time in Tillek because a gold had emerged. Mylorah honestly didn’t care which colour chose her but still she tensed a bit as golds always held more of a guarantee that she could be chosen. It also meant a dragon was more likely to come in her direction and when the gold and green collided, Mylorah had very vivid memories of Syrendryth and Bedith’s clutch and she instinctively grabbed the nearest girl and tugged her back several steps with her as her eyes stayed on the pair.

She cried out when Sariel fell and ended up in the path of the fight and was back to clasping a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. No one else was allowed to die! Tears were starting to well up but when Sariel and the gold seemed to bond and help each other up, the tears fell free from relief and she managed a small smile for the happy pair and she silently wished them well. Sariel was tough and she’d make it through whatever the injury ended up being, especially with her dragon and human mates surrounding her.

Since this Hatching was traditional with the sire and likely wouldn’t contain skeletons in every egg, R’vi was excited for it and happily showed up to support some friends. The hour sucked but seeing bonds form was always worth a little missing sleep, especially if a friend walked away with a dragon.

So far, the Hatching was going well and he nodded in approval at some of the Impressions. He knew a fair bit of the Candidates thanks to his self-appointed job of helping those Searched adjust to Weyr life. The kid of the crazy ex-goldrider was a surprise to him since R’vi didn’t think there would ever be a dragon alive that would put up with him—except maybe an equally surly brown. But hey, good on the kid. It also meant they had another dragon thanks to him so R’vi figured he wasn’t all bad.

Then a gold appeared and R’vi scooted forward in his seat, holding his breath. He knew quite a few of the girls and he’d be happy for any of them to Impress but when they started panicking as a fight broke up, R’vi was on his feet from his own fear propelling him. He didn’t run flailing into the fray, not even when he saw Sariel on the ground and bleeding. It wouldn’t have helped since he wasn’t trained in anything. Besides, she was soon getting to her feet and walking away with the gold.

Way to go, Spicy! he could only cheer in his head but Vydoriath crooned from his ledge for him to show their excitement for the tiny Healer—now goldrider. He’d definitely have to check in with her before he left later to make sure she was okay and to offer his congratulations. He knew she would get her dream as she was far too determined to let anything stand in her way.

He did have to wonder if he’d be making more trips to Fort over the next little while. R’vi hated to think of L’gan all alone at night with only that drawing to tide him over after all. R’vi laughed at how his playing around with the greenrider ended up leading to something he might actually need now that his mate was a weyrling. He was going to have to tease the shit out of L’gan later on as well.

Fediletch was buzzing with excitement from all the baby dragons finding their people. Nothing had gone wrong yet! It was still early he knew, but he was so happy with the start. None of the eggs he had touched had hatched yet so all he could do was try stand and wait and scratch his dull nails across his scalp and through his hair. Hopefully everything with the eggs would keep being okay. Hopefully the grumpy egg he'd met had time to nap so it would be in a better mood for when it hatched and came out to meet its person.

He hadn't been paying too much attention to the gold when it hatched from its egg, but the ensuing scuffle and commotion caught his attention and he frowned at the blood. He wanted to help, but knew there were already healers on hand, and the whole thing was honestly over before he could have made a decision anyway. It still left him with a bit more nerves, a bit more anxiety as he wondered if anyone else would get hurt. Fetch would have to try and watch out for the smaller candidates that were close to him. There probably wouldn't be anything much he could do, but maybe he could pick someone up and hold them up too high to scratch while they impressed.

More dragonets cracking shells and more things happening. August tried to stand still but it was a losing battle as she shifted back and forth on her feet. The greens were wonderful, bronze and brown and blue. She loved all the colors, knowing as she watched that she'd made the right decision in leaving it all to come here. When the gold burst out in the middle of a pack of greens, August stood up straighter. It was the terribly rude gold, the one who had mocked and condescended her scars. Perhaps being in the shell had made her cranky, the weight and cramped nature of the eggs would have made even her cranky, and she watched.

She stepped out of the way of the bumbling dragonets, gold and green wrestling on the ground as the sought their lifemates. She grimaced as one of the girls was clawed on the thigh and then fought down a cheer as she impressed. It didn't matter to August that Sariel had impressed the gold and August hadn't even turned the head of the greens, it only meant that the gold was alive still. Sariel would do well and August hoped she would be well with her injuries. August raised a hand to cover the giggles brought about by the words of the gold.

Another green had been hiding and August hoped for a moment that she would be chosen, but it wasn't meant to be. Green impressed to a boy and a fine brown broke from his shell and impressed his boy. She sighed at the fantasy of it all and tried to stand still again. So much happening at once, she loved it and hated it at the same time. She smiled and waited for more to happen.

She stretched when M'ris woke her, moaning at the feel of tight muscles moving and warming, caught the look on his face and knew her own would echo his. She'd would have rather stayed in bed and tossed her weyrmate beneath her as much as he did but Ameris knew there would be no lounging around in bed this day. A hatching was happening and even Ameris frowned when she learned who it was. Usually, Aradissicath was like clockwork and Ameris hadn't expected the hatching to come so soon. She chuckled as she watched M'ris shoo the blue away and shook her head as Muffin blinked between. She climbed out of bed and headed towards the bathing chamber.

My love, you don't mind do you? she asked the gold who was currently lazing about on the sands. Mizeath was gravid with eggs, ready to pop and there was no way Ameris was going to get her into the air and to Fort. The gold was generally alright with Mosiath giving her lady a ride but she was grouchy sometimes. Go, the gold told her without a hint of censure in her voice, It will do you well to see another hatching that is not full of death. Permission given, she arrived with M'ris and Mosiath, settling with the man to watch his daughter stand. Soon her own son would be old enough to do the same thing and Ameris was suddenly a little emotional at the thought. She better not be pregnant again, she groused to herself. She simply did not have time for that nonsense. Maybe she'd talk to M'ris again once they were settled at Benden. But not now.

Fingers linked with M'ris', Ameris watched the hatch as it unfolded. So far so good, the hatchlings looked healthy and hale, not the drawn and deathly sick weyrlings of Thallyath's. Those still brought a frown to her face even though they appeared to be thriving. She grimaced when one of the girls was clawed but was delighted when that same girl impressed the gold that had been wrestling with the green. "A strong clutch," she murmured to M'ris and watched as another brown impressed. She could only hope Mizeath's next was just as healthy, it wouldn't do if Ista was cursed now with terrible clutches. "Mizeath's will be too," she muttered to herself with fierce determination and she could feel the same from her gold. There was no way a clutch thrown by Mizeath and Mosiath would be sickly. Simply no way.

Katiryn watched as dragon after dragon emerged and found their life mates and while she would be happy for her friends later, she was really only focused on the golds and if she would end up with one of them. The Touching hadn’t encouraged her much and she still wasn’t entirely sure she wanted either if that was how they were going to be but once she saw a gold snoot poking out of the shell, she was back on board with the idea.

She held her breath as the gold took her time getting to her feet with a part of her worrying that maybe something was wrong. But soon enough she was proven wrong with how feisty a spirit that gold seemed to impress as a fight broke out and the gold and green rolled her way. Katiryn wasn’t waiting around this time and she quickly turned on her heel and booked it a good distance away and only felt marginally bad for abandoning anyone slower than her. She also then panicked about having her back to the duo and spun back around to see a girl on the ground and the gold shrieking.

No, no, no, no… it wasn’t going to happen again. The gold wasn’t going to murder anyone! Katiryn stared in horror and sobbed with relief as the girl and gold seemed to have bonded and worked to get her off to the side for some assistance. As they passed, Katiryn recognised Sariel and offered her a softly whispered congratulations before meekly moving back to where she had been before. Others did the same and a nervous laughter seemed to circle through them all. Would that have happened if they hadn’t panicked? Maybe, maybe not. She had her back to most of it so Katiryn couldn’t say but she hoped Sariel was okay.

The spat between the green and gold didn’t help encourage her to hope for the other gold to come her way either. Given the way both had reacted to her, the one that was left was probably just as nasty and wouldn’t be a good match for her. Katiryn wondered who would get that one and she ignored the next couple of Impressions to glance around the group of women trying to match them up with the gold.

Several minutes passed as the remaining babies worked at their shells. Rhaedalyn didn’t mind these small bouts of downtime as it gave everyone a chance to breathe and process what they had seen already. She herself was pleased with a lot of the Impressions, though she didn’t know all of the Candidates Standing that day as some were newer and she just didn’t have as much time as she would have liked to visit with them all while they were in her home.

Green07 interrupted her thoughts as a limb broke free but ended up getting stuck. She worried that the creature would panic itself between and hoped it either freed itself or could reach its mate to assist. The limb flailed some more but the egg was close enough to where she stood that Rhaedalyn could hear the dragon working away at the puzzle and gave a soft cheer when it finally worked enough of the shell away to get free. A moment later and a very worried boy was walking away with his dragon and she had a feeling they were going to get into mischief together.

Rhaedalyn found herself rather pleased when Bronze02 appeared. She had hoped for at least one more to help keep the twin golds in line. She could only imagine the headache that would come if they teamed up on the only bronze in the class. He broke free without issue but took his time getting to his mate. She had a feeling he already knew who his mate was but was purposely strolling through the crowd, taking the measure of everyone for his own reasons. He was going to be one to keep an eye on.

Aradissicath rumbled low in her throat as Blue04 wandered the sand. Rhaedalyn didn’t think the boy was doing anything wrong and gave her dragon a strange look. Only once he Impressed and started walking off and several others seemed to be breaking free that Rhaedalyn felt a little dizzy.

It’s not you, child. The ground moves. Again. It did this before my babies woke. I think maybe it woke them early. Rhaedalyn had no idea what her dragon was talking about and decided she had fainted from being dizzy and hit her head. But no, she saw R’nya frowning and then the Candidates seemed to be getting a bit animated and Rhaedalyn realised that the ground was indeed shaking.

It was a low rumble but it felt like it was never going to end. Still, it was enough to cause panic, especially as some bits of rubble fell from the ceiling and the eggs tumbled over. Blue05 and Green08 started screeching at each other as they ran in circles which would have been almost cute if they weren’t clearly distressed and seconds later vanishing between. Rhaedalyn gasped in horror and clung to R’nya as the bronzerider had moved closer to wrap an arm around her protectively. She didn’t care about herself, the dragonets and Candidates were the ones that were scared!

Green09 and Green10 seemed to agree with that notion and ran towards the groups to where their bonded were. That was a relief at least, to see connections still being made but it broke her heart to see the way the humans clung to their brave little mates.

Blue06 seemed a bit out of sorts by it all and in his confusion and panic, he added to that of the Candidates as he ran into a group, knocking a boy over where their joint flailing caused the boy to end up dealing with claws digging in wherever they connected before the dragon scrambled free. Rhaedalyn wanted to go to the boy but saw a Healer already on his way even as the frightened blue Impressed to another boy standing not too far away.

Green11 shrieked her displeasure at everyone and looked like she was about to charge at one of the girls that was crying but Blue07 came up behind her and swatted at her tail, startling her enough to send her between as well. Blue07 squeaked his shock at that result but at least the girl was okay and he went off to his mate that wasn’t sure if he should be proud or not.

The rumbling of the earth finally ceased and Rhaedalyn took stock of what had happened. At least three that she saw had gone between and someone was badly injured but everyone else seemed okay. She couldn’t say for certain about everyone in the stands but no one was screaming for help so she took that as a good sign.

Just like she took the remaining babies that were currently crawling free of their eggs to be a good sign. They seemed a lot more calm and she hoped that meant everything was back to normal, though she couldn’t help cast a glance around the room.

Blue08 looked like he was on the prowl until it became clear that he was still afraid as well and was hunched low in a protective stance. His mate came out to meet him and after a brief conversation, they moved off together.

Green12 and Green13 were a bit lazier, or perhaps cautious, as they rolled free. Green12 went to a group of girls, and Rhaedalyn held her breath but she ended up continuing past them and to a boy standing a bit behind them.

Finally, Green14 seemed to free herself with what looked like a yawn and a big stretch of her limbs. Rhaedalyn swore it looked like one of her daughters waking up from a peaceful sleep despite one of the others screaming. Green14 looked around, probably trying to figure out what all the commotion was about and then meandered her way over to her mate.

Egg 11 - Green07
Egg 27 - Bronze02
Egg 39 - Blue04
Egg 23 - Blue05 betweened
Egg 26 - Green08 betweened
Egg 34 - Green09
Egg 17 - Green10
Egg 8 - Blue06 (injured a boy before Impressing to another)
Egg 33 - Green11 betweened
Egg 37 - Blue07
Egg 22 - Blue08
Egg 25 - Green12
Egg 1 - Green13
Egg 32 - Green14

When I lived in Japan, I experienced multiple earthquakes and of varying types/strengths. This one is based off of a couple I went through. One was very subtle and we wouldn’t have noticed it except for the chandelier in the lobby started swaying. The other, the bigger influence here, happened when I was in my room and everything had a low rumble to it. And it kept going. It went on for what had to be almost a minute and it got to the point where I finally opened my door and the guy across the hall did as well and we were like “should we be in our doorways or outside or something?” but it was just an incessant rocking that didn’t cause real damage, didn’t even knock anything off my shelves. So this one, while it lasted for a minute, it only caused a little dust and some pebbles to fall and probably freaked people out, especially if it’s their first one or believe in the spirit of Fort Weyr or some such thing is angry at them. But no giant boulders are falling and this is the “big one” the little rumbles Aradissicath felt earlier were leading up to.

Since they were sitting on either side of him, T’ryn grabbed the legs of Cazan and Tazikel when the earthquake started. He almost didn’t notice it at first, but he did notice the dragons shifting and felt something was wrong with the way they were behaving. Then he felt it and he was back in the dorm in Katila with his hours’ old dragon when the landslide hit. It hit hard. He had been asleep and didn’t hear or even feel it coming but everything rumbled as the mud continued to flow and the building started to crumble around him. Them. He had been with N’mor trying to get B’jin’s damned guitar and he had no idea where any of his friends and classmates were, like Casa. He gave a haunted look to N’mor and then to Casa even as he continued to grip the knees of his holder friends.

Breathe, T’ryn. This is different and nothing like that night. Let it go, Syrendryth urged, voice soft and soothing and T’ryn closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was different, he knew that, but it was hard not to link the events together. This was a lot of rumbling but not much else. Some loose stone but not boulders or trees and crumbling buildings.

A few more breaths and T’ryn opened his eyes and let go of his friends with a quietly whispered, “sorry,” but didn’t offer up anything further. He’d tell them later if they asked but for the moment, he wanted to forget the past and focus on the Hatching and what he missed during that moment of his. From the keening, he knew at least one dragonet hadn’t survived the ordeal and he saw a male being dragged away though he couldn’t see who it was or how bad it was. What he did see were faces of his friends, Mylorah, and Wynera. They all looked shocked but intact.

"I am or, rather, I will be and she is perfection," Sariel said tipping her head to give her weyrmate a returning smile. The claw marks were deeper and longer than she'd thought but they'd missed anything important. "I suppose it really should hurt more and I suppose stitches are in order but Impression does do wonders." There was also an awful lot of blood.

I am helping. I said I would. It does hurt. I could wrap my tail around it... With L'gan's presence finally noted, she squirmed impatiently. Oh! Oh! Yes, I did say you were coming. For a moment she refused another cube of tasty meat, hrrum thrumming as if she had a finger raised.

Cirith neatly used her new lifemate's robe to gently and neatly clean off her nose and muzzle so she could have a proper sniff at L'gan. Immediately, her eyes whirled an intense wash of greens and blues right before she flicked her tongue against his cheek in greeting. She did make sure that she'd not leave any meaty bits or gross on him.

How rude would that be, anyway?

You have the best face! I see it! So pretty, like your wonderful hands! Cirith exclaimed joyfully. Then she paused altogether, cocking her head, before planting herself against the ground and snaking her tail around L'gan's leg. Sariel found herself with a golden wing around her.

The ground talks! I do...do not think it speaks very well at all. It is very, very rude! She growled back at the earth beneath the sand as if giving it a firm talking-to. Dragons were not supposed to bark but it came out in surprise anyway. Sariel found herself speechless but Cirith seemed to have all the words.

Come close, treasured-face! That was directed at L'gan, specifically, in a soft ruble-croon. It carried with it courage and a deep protectiveness. Why if Semath were with them, everything would be quite perfect. She had larger wings, after all, but Cirith did her very best. And--

And that was when the Hatching itself went pair shaped and suddenly three of her clutchmates went between and there was such noise and panic. Her immediate reaction was a whining keen at the loss as she did her best to get her other wing around L'gan too because he was Important and there were things falling.

Mind the up. It is spitting at us! No talking ground nor spitting ceiling was going to make her cower! One day, she'd be bigger and she'd make it want to hide.

But all of the rumblings ceased a few moments later. If ever a dragonet's face could have looked as if it were expecting even more trouble, Cirith's did. She was torn between keeping as much of herself about her rider and L'gan and shoving her nose back into the bucket of meat. After all, L'gan had to have a proper look at the clawing. She let out a huff and released them, hunger winning out. She had been careful with her claws, so they had not hurt anything at all.

Sariel let out a careful breath and looked around. Three dragonets gone, a badly injured Candidate from what she could see but the Hatching went on. Her thigh had begun to ache deeply and she took measured breaths as Cirith took the bucket away and wriggled, making appreciative nom, nom, nom sounds as she chewed each piece with care. It left L'gan proper space to work and she was proud of her new lifemate catching onto that.

"Faranth preserve us," Sariel said as she did her best to take in the drama of the last few moments and then let out an actual giggle at Cirith taking her meal away entirely. Clever girl. Brave, too. Her fingers touched L'gan's hair lightly as if she needed tangible proof he was uninjured.

Be still, she heard her lifemate say gently. It was almost as soothing as a lullaby, full of such tenderness and compassion. He is yours, he is lovely green Semath's, and he is mine, too. I would not stand for harm to come to him. The little gold looked up at Sariel and L'gan with the most complete adoration and Sariel was so completely overcome at the moment that tears began to stream down her cheeks.

She couldn't have asked for a better match of minds. Cirith had a heart as large as her own and-- And she was perfect.
---
L'gan

Cazan wasn't sure of what was happening at first, but things were shaking, bits of the ceiling were falling, and baby dragons were just vanishing. There was enough panicked cursing around her that she was able to catch a few things, earth quake, between. She grabbed onto T'ryn's hand, her knuckles paling as she squeezed from her own fear and uncertainty. Between? She hadn't seen those babies impress anyone, they didn't have anyone with them, they just... they just went? But she remembered dragons went there to die, that they got lost and trapped.

"Fucking baby ghost dragons now?" She hissed the words softly under her breath without realizing she'd said them aloud. With the quake stopping she turned to T'ryn, releasing his hand. "Things like this happen all the time?"

She wasn't expecting an answer, wasn't sure she really wanted an answer. People were calming back down already though, or rather they were settling back down. There was still a noticeable feeling of tension buzzing in the air, but no one was running. Even with another candidate clawed up no one was running, things weren't being canceled (though she supposed that you could not simply pause a baby dragon from hatching). Hopefully there would be no more shaking, no more baby dragon attacks, or other surprises.

Mizeath had been right. Watching a hatch that was normal and healthy was doing wonders for her. Fingers still threaded with M'ris' she watched everything with shining eyes. It boded well for Mizeath's clutch that Aradissicath's was well. Dragonets were impressing correctly and not a single issue was seen. But truly, good things were always too good to be true and it was proven by the low rumbling of the ground. She gasped, hand tightening around M'ris' and every terrible memory of the night half of Katila was destroyed was brought the surface. Breath was ragged and her heartbeat far too fast and Ameris could feel the attempts to sooth from Mizeath.

She very nearly came out of her seat as a couple of eggs tumbled to the ground. Dragonets were startled enough to go between and the beginnings of keens could be heard. Too much like that night and her breathing was harsh. The only that kept her in her seat was the need to be calm and collected. She prided herself on it, on not losing her cool under pressure but the quaking of the earth almost made her screech. Breath, my heart, just breath, the gold told her over so much distance that Ameris felt she would never get back to her. But she did as she was bid and breathed.

For all the rumbling only three dragonets betweened and one boy injured by a blue. "That was close," she whispered in an attempt to regain her composure. As long as the only person who could hear her rapid breathing was M'ris she was fine. She loosened her hold on him and settled deeper in her seat. She blinked quickly, clearing any tears that might have formed out of her eyes. She cleared her throat and coughed a little. She was fine. They were fine. There was no mud and barely any damage, nothing was amiss. She would be fine and she forced a smile on her face as she faced the hatching once more.

Cazelarias looked up with a blink at the sound of his name, turning to find the speaker and he tilted his head slightly, offering the smallest of smiles. “Hello,” he greeted, as if he had any idea who the man before him was. He hadn’t been the first person to call out to him, and Cazelarias knew that the greenrider – he spotted the knots after a subtle glance – wouldn’t be the last. While he had no name to go to the friendly face, Cazelarias had been playing the role of ‘Cazan’s Cazelarias’ (also known generically as ‘CC’) for too many years not to settle into the role and go along with the conversation. Something about wineskins and good work and a Hatching? Cazelarias blinked and his brows furrowed as he frowned.

Would he like to go? A small smile tilted one corner of Cazelarias’ lips, and he fell into step with the man as he agreed to go to the Hatching, listening to him babble and picking up the name in the process. It was funny, how regularly people threw their own name into conversations in one manner or another. It had gotten Cazelarias through more strange situation than he cared to admit. When he was presented to the green dragon, it took him a few moments to capture his breath, and Cazelarias was grateful that the rider pawned his awe off as normal behaviour and Cazelarias couldn’t determine if he was supposed to know the shiny creature or not. He opted on the side of caution and greeted the dragon with a kind of reserved respect. He wouldn’t put it past Cazan to be on first name basis with a dragon, but he also wouldn’t put it past her to have never even seen one up front if she was as busy as the man beside him implied with work orders.

Damn it, Cazan.

Cazelarias’ heart was in his throat as he was bundled up on the dragon, the rider trying to help verbally before getting far too handsy for Cazelarias’ taste in assisting him. Of course, to Cazelarias, even a brush of fingers in passing was ‘too handsy’ so a helpful boost was practically the greenrider groping him, as far as the young holder was concerned. Blushing and uncomfortably hot, Cazelarias obeyed orders to hold on, following instruction and squeezing his eyes shut in terror as the dragon sprang into the air, beating her wings to gain altitude and then – with far too little warning from the rider – they were in the darkest, coldest, most terrifying place Cazelarias had ever been in his life, and he sobbed in terror, managing to swallow the sound just before they reappeared above Fort Weyr. The greenrider was kind enough not to comment on the grip of terror Cazelarias had on him.

Almost as soon as he’d disembarked the dragon, Cazelarias had been swept up in the throngs of people who were milling around, rushing to get to their seats. He lost Je-something in the process, glancing anxiously over his shoulder to see where the greenrider had gone. Was that him? It was hard to tell, and he gave up, especially when he realised there were lots of green dragons milling around and he really hadn’t taken enough notice of the green the man had been on to know which one she was… which was a pity, because he had the impression of unrivalled beauty in his mind, but he couldn’t call it forward. His study of her had been too swift, too flooded with awe and the terror of the travel. Cazelarias sighed, and looked over – managing in the process to spot Cazan sitting in the stands, beside a blonde man who was talking to her – the her dressed as him. Cazelarias frowned for a moment, before sliding between a few more people and moving with the flow of the crowd in the other direction. He needed to be far from his sister, but not so far that he couldn’t see her.

In the end, Cazelarias made it a few rows above, and to the side of Cazan and her friend, sitting behind a broad man with a big bushy beard so that he wouldn’t easily be seen by anyone searching the crowd for ‘CC’, and settled in to watch. The gossip around him made his heart flutter with anxiety – deaths? Gore? Dead hatchlings? – he’d never heard such horrible things about a dragon’s birth, and wasn’t sure whether or not he should believe it. But really, he decided, the men who were chatting looked like they knew what they were talking about, and some subtle studying revealed Weyr colours in their knots – Ista and Telgar, if he wasn’t mistaken – but he also heard whispers about the eggs hatching early, and other interesting things. Leaning forward and planting his elbow on his knee so he was completely hidden behind the big man in front of him, Cazelarias listened with a vague expression to the gossip floating around him, trying to learn as much as he could from it.

(I’ll change his account when I have it. And add reactions later :) )

M’ris held Ameris’ hand, doing his best to comfort her in a silent manner as he knew how important strength was in her mind and she hated showing any weakness to the public. He knew she was strong and knew that the mask slipped when they were alone and only because she could now trust him enough to see that side without judging or telling the world. This time, he didn’t need to ask what she was going through as he recalled that night just as clearly.

It didn’t bother him quite as much, truth be told, only because he had already lost so much with his mate dying in exile and becoming rather emotionally dead for a decade. But he saw it on the face of many, including his daughter and some of her friends out on the sand with distraught baby dragons. He wanted to rush to Dimarna and hold her close and keep her safe as much as he wanted to pull Ameris in and tell her everything was fine. Both of his girls were tough and he certainly wasn’t going to set a precedent for it being okay for dads to run out there and stand with their daughter during Hatchings. He didn’t need that headache on top of everything else.

When the land seemed to calm itself again, M’ris let go when Ameris took back her hand but gave her knee a light squeeze even as he went into Weyrleader mode to survey the damage that had been done. It wasn’t his Weyr but if anything was too severe, he might be needed to lend a hand. But no, it seemed everyone was mentally rattled and he saw a boy being carried off, but that seemed to be the only causality and M’ris let out a breath of relief. He knew some of the dragonets didn’t make it from the keening but Aradissicath wasn’t distraught so it must not have been a large number. It always hurt to lose dragons but a small number was better than a greater one so he would take it if he had to.

Looked like even Aradissicath thought her Hatchings were too smooth and had to shake it up a bit.

You are so lucky you didn’t say that out loud. I would have encouraged Ameris to hit you harder for that pun right now.

Like most in attendance, Mylorah remembered the landslide and had lost people to it. Her mother and little brother hadn’t survived and while she’d never forget them and always quietly celebrated their birthdays with her brother Korlin, she hated thinking about that night and refused to right then. It wouldn’t do to get lost in memories like several Hatchings had done to her in recent times and she was putting her foot down now and refusing to lose anyone else.

Mylorah called Wynera, F’drel’s sister Ferra, and a few of the younger girls over to her, seeing how terrified they were of the ground trembling and the dragonets panicking. She wrapped her arms around the little group that huddled close to her while a few others were on the ground against the wall behind her that she had led them to, telling them to keep their heads down and that it would all be over soon. She had to believe that and as it went on, Mylorah noticed the leaders in various spots looked a bit worried but weren’t doing anything more either so it really couldn’t have been that bad. They weren’t even being told to leave the cavern which meant they had to be safe—though she did keep stealing glances at the ceiling to ensure nothing was going to fall on them.

When the boy was mauled, she was glad she saved a few people that sight and hoped it looked worse than it was. It was hard to tell from where she was but the healers were moving him out of the way so that had to be a good sign. A chance he would live, right? She waited until he was out of view before telling her little group that everything was fine and offering them more reassurances as they slowly let go to take a look around.

It was only after she was standing alone again that Mylorah realised that she had heard the keening but hadn’t been sent into her memories, causing her to scream or cry. She wanted to believe she was finally over what Thallyath’s clutch had shown her and she was letting go of the memories of all the death at Hatchings, but she knew better. There would never be a way to truly forget any of that but having a purpose in keeping the other girls safe had helped her keep a cool head and focus.

Katiryn was done with this Hatching. It wasn’t as horrible as some she’d Stood for but she was just over this one. Horrible little golds weren’t enough? Have some earth shaking good times! She wanted nothing more than to run into the stands and hug her daddy. She didn’t care about the rules anymore or what was proper of a Candidate or how she would be viewed afterward. She just wanted to be away from the chaos and safe in her daddy’s arms.

Instead, she was crowded back against a wall with some other girls—not her choice. She didn’t want to be pinned down in case one of the stressed dragons came their way! But that’s where the crowd had shuffled to and she had learned how it was a bad idea to try moving against such a force and went with them. She could still see what was going on and she could even see K’tir in the stands, on his feet and looking ready to murder anyone or anything that harmed his daughter. Best dad ever.

But before K’tir could actually approach the sands like it appeared he was about to do, the rumbling stopped and the baby dragons calmed while the older ones mourned the loss of new life. Katiryn slumped and slid down the wall until she was huddled on the ground. She wanted to sit but that was too hot for only the robe to protect her from so she stayed on her booted feet, hugging her knees.

Nerreh had seriously debated skipping the Hatching - there were probably plenty of people who felt him and Faxx being there was bad luck - but he wasn’t enough of an asshole to miss seeing a friend Impress because he couldn’t handle some glares. Besides, he was a petty bastard and would rather shove his presence in their faces then let them think they’d scared him off. Hah. Fuck them. Instead, Nerreh headed over to Fort as soon as he’d gotten the news the eggs were hatching (and he’d been awake enough to actually process that information).

He saw R’dare, R’dal, and A’tay all sitting together, along with R’dal’s greenrider friend and some random girls Nerreh didn’t know, and he started heading for them, intending to join them, when someone else caught his eye. Caz. But not Caz, actually, because Nerreh had seen Caz already sitting up with T’ryn, and this Caz, even from a distance, seemed to hold himself a little differently. Which meant this Caz must be Cazelarias. The first Cazelarias, not the disguised Cazelarias that was Caz. Interesting. What was he doing at the Hatching? Was he interested in the Weyrs too? Or had someone mistaken him for Caz-him and offered to bring him to the Hatching? Nerreh supposed he’d just have to find out, and changed his course from his friends to his friend’s brother.

“Hello there,” Nerreh said as he slid onto the bench next to Cazelarias. “N’reh, of blue Faxxonth,” he introduced himself, “And you’re Cazelarias. The original one, I mean.” Hopefully that was vague enough anyone who happened to overhear wouldn’t understand what he meant, but clear enough that Cazelarias would. Nerreh could only hope.

By Tazikel’s sensibilities, it was way too early when a gold dragon was appearing above his Hold to bring him to a Hatching. First of all, he’d been expecting a bronze, though he had no complaints about Casa being his ride instead of T’ryn and any dragon was just as good at getting him to the Hatching. His third one since meeting Mylorah, but not his first ever at Fort. Tillek was under Fort Weyr, after all, so his father insisted they make appearances every once in a while to show they were supportive of the Weyrs. Or something, it was all politics and Tazikel didn’t care.

What was much more important was the fact he hadn’t seen Mylorah since she had visited Tillek at Turn’s End. Which had been a very enjoyable time and fun was had by all, but Tazikel had been alternating between trying to ignore certain aspects of the visit and spending absolutely all his time thinking about them. The excitement of a Hatching was a nice distraction, chatting with Casa, T’ryn, and T’ryn’s friend (who was the brother of the lady he’d brought to the family event right before Turn’s End) and watching all the little baby dragons. At least it was a nice distraction until the source of his internal turmoil Impressed a dragon.

He watched Kordiavis walk to the edge of the Sands with a blue dragonet and couldn’t help remembering Mylorah telling him about how when a Candidate Impressed, the first few months of their new dragon’s life was all about the dragon. Which meant no fooling around of any sort until the dragon was older. Until that moment Tazikel had only thought about that restriction in terms of Mylorah - she had teasingly bemoaned the fact of Weyrlinghood one day, telling Tazikel that she would miss him dearly for a bit once she Impressed - but it was only just then occurring to him that the same rule would apply to Kordiavis. Which would have been fine two weeks ago, but two weeks ago Tazikel hadn’t impulsively kissed his male friend during a threesome because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and two weeks ago Tazikel had been able to think about other things than his dumb decision or looking at men a different way or - fuck, this was why Weyrs had a reputation, wasn’t it? Drawing you in with pretty women and amazing sex and suddenly you started kissing men. And then the man in question Impressed a fucking dragon before you get to talk to him about it and figure any of this shit out. Damn it. If Mylorah Impressed too Tazikel was going to lose his fucking mind.

Thankfully there was some drama with someone getting hurt by a hatchling, and then the cavern was shaking which Tazikel was very much not a fan of, but it gave him something else to focus on, at least for a split second before T’ryn grabbed his leg and Tazikel was reminded how very attractive and very close Mylo’s brother was.

Weyrfolk were going to be the death of him, Tazikel was absolutely sure of it.

Dareji was one of the ones that stood there in shock as everything almost literally fell apart. The ground was shaking, people were freaking out, and hatchlings were just as panicked and vanishing before they could Impress. Like many, she remembered the landslide but her entire family had come out unscathed, though friends were lost and the memory of the keening that seemed to go on for days was something she’d never forget.

But it left her in shock this time and she didn’t run like some others or take shelter in case the roof caved in or more claws started flying. She just stood there as tears silently slid down her cheeks as she watched baby after baby give into fear. She hated losing dragons in general as older ones could leave someone behind and young ones could go alone without ever bonding. But there was more to it this time as the babies seemed to choose death over dealing with what frightened them. Dareji didn’t think she ever hid from things but that wasn’t true. She had her own fears, like disappointing her family with Impressing, or telling Madiquel’s cute Healer friend she was cute and being rejected because Holders were odd.

Her fears were a lot more minor than thinking her life was in danger and disappearing to avoid the pain or loneliness, but Dareji took it as motivation all the same. If she didn’t Impress this time, she’d keep standing until she wasn’t allowed to anymore. As to thinking a Holder was cute, well screw it. She would tell Vaera that after the Hatching and go from there—unless she got a dragon and then that would have to wait a bit.

Then someone was mauled and Dareji lost a lot of her determination to handle her silly matters. It wasn’t good to lose focus on the sands and she snapped her attention back to what was going on around her, thankful that the chaos didn’t seem to really come in her direction. A little green did and while it wasn’t her preferred colour, Dareji still held her breath and let out a disappointed sigh as the girl continued on to her male lifemate.

L’gan couldn’t help but smile at the inquisitive young gold, letting her sniff him and laughing brightly at the sudden lick and approving words. “Thank you, little one-” the shaking and sudden tail twining around his leg caught him off guard, and his hands tightened reflexively on Sariel’s leg, loosening again as he heard her wince, and looking up as Cirith wrapped a wing around her rider protectively.

L’gan!He felt Semath’s panic and distress as everything suddenly went to hell. Everything in the green was screaming at her to go protect her humans and their new gold, but she didn’t dare approach the sands. As a result, she had stretched her neck as far toward them as it could go and a terrified whine emerged from her throat as her eyes whirled an alarmed red. We’re okay, Semath. It’s alright. We’ll be fine. He reassured her, not sure if he believed it himself.

The keening for the betweened dragonets was a knife in him, reminding him of the tragedy rife at Thallyath’s hatching. L’gan spared a hope that the ceiling would hold; he couldn’t bear the thought of losing eggs, dragons, or humans to such a disaster. Which, naturally led to anxiety about the twins in the creche, which he firmly tamped down. This was not the time to give in to panic; focus on what you can control, nothing else. He could see and hear the chaos as dragonets hurried for their chosen and a shriek of pain as another person was clawed.

As suddenly as it began, and as much as it had seemed to go on forever, abruptly the earth stopped moving. He glanced around and took stock of what had happened. The injured boy was already being taken care of, and a few of the dragonets were still clearly as afraid as the humans, one blue slinking cautiously around with his belly low until his mate found him.

He felt Sariel’s hand in his hair and turned back to face her, words of reassurance on his lips, but her dragonet beat him to it. L’gan held her a moment or two as she cried, then kissed her forehead briefly and forced himself back into Healer mode. The sooner she was patched up and Cirith sated, the sooner the pair could get off the sands and get some rest… Faranth only knew what would be tossed his way next.

“All done,” he had stitched everything quickly and neatly, and finished tying a bandage around it. “Take good care of her, Cirith,” he told the dragonet with a tired smile. He patted the gold fondly when she nudged his hand, then helped Sariel up off the stool. “Rest up, both of you. Healer’s orders. I’ll check on both of you after you get some sleep.”

The earthquake wasn’t something he’d never felt before. He recalled a few when he was younger in Telgar but nothing since coming to Fort Weyr. So it was startling for him but he knew what to expect and it didn’t seem to be too violent of a shake. That didn’t mean others felt the same way and the hatchlings certainly didn’t know what was going on, especially since the quake seemed to have knocked some of the babies out of their shells, leaving them disorientated.

When a few vanished, Quinavlis’ heart broke for them and he hoped there wouldn’t be more deaths. Why couldn’t even Aradissicath’s clutch go without incident now? He was still mourning the little ones when a frantic blue charged right at him. Instinct had him lift his arms to cover his head, but he didn’t move as the shock held him firmly in place.

Then he was on the ground with a heavy dragonet atop him with limbs trying to find purchase. He screamed every time a claw hit him but Quinvalis didn’t try to push the blue off of him, especially since his arms had received some of the attack, proving his face or neck would have been hit.

All he could think as he laid there, trying to squirm away, was how disappointed people would be with him. Why hadn’t he moved? Why didn’t he do more? Maybe that was unfair and they would be more worried than disappointed. He had to believe the egg he Touched the day before, he was loved. His mom, F’drel, R’nya, Rhaedalyn... they would see this happening but maybe they wouldn’t think poorly of him. Maybe they’d only worry and love him.

Or was it loved him?

As the hatchling finally got away, Quinvalis’ arms dropped limp and he wondered if it was normal to no longer feel the pain anywhere. Was that a sign he was dying? His last thoughts before he surrendered to the need to close his eyes and rest were that he was glad his sister wasn’t there to see him and how he actually felt bad for A’tay. He’d have to be the one to tell Madiquel her friend died.

R’dal went from excited to afraid in seconds. The earthquake was just as triggering for him as it was to others he could see near him but he shoved that all aside to look for Dimarna and Ferra. He had friends out there but he felt more protective over those two since his sister was, well his sister and younger, and this was Ferra’s first Hatching. He saw Mylorah tend to them and that helped relieve some of his stress but he still couldn’t stop worrying for the Candidates out there or the scared hatchlings.

And then he saw Quinvalis go down beneath a blue dragonet. R’dal held his breath and glanced at F’drel who seemed ready to lose his mind over everything happening. As the dragonet finally moved on and Impressed, R’dal sat there staring at Quinvalis, silently urging him to move. He saw the way the arms fell and how the boy didn’t move again after that. He refused to believe anything other than passing out from the pain but what if…

No!

Quinvalis was one of the kindest people he knew. He wasn’t allowed to leave them!

R’dal started softly crying and he felt a hand on his shoulder to give some sort of comfort but he wasn’t sure if it was R’dare or Aederyn as he refused to look up away from the Healers moving Quinvalis. Rhaedalyn and R’nya either hadn’t realised who the victim was or they knew he was fine since neither ran to him so he held onto that. Quinvalis would be fine, he chanted over and over and blindly reached out to take F’drel’s hand. The greenrider had befriended the boy on his own and R’dal felt that made the friendship even stronger since he hadn’t been the one to introduce them and practically push a friend on F’drel. Their sisters were safe but a friend may not have been and R’dal didn’t know what to do.

She was beyond exhausted now that the stitching was done and the imminent danger had passed. The adrenaline was easing off and even with her brave little gold helping, the pain was sapping her strength. It had been a day already. The clawing, Cirith's Impression, the earth-shaking. Out of all of that, there was such joy. The joy in knowing that her lifemate's mind was twined with her own and her heart would be full of many loves was something that would never cease to amaze her.

She sniffed a little and then smiled as she put weight on the leg, leaning into L'gan just a little and long enough to brush a kiss on the very tip of his nose.

"I will be very good and even change the dressings," she said, waggling her eyebrows at him. There was a rough edge to her voice that said she'd be out as soon as she tended to her lifemate. "There will be sleep soon, I hope. I'm sure you checking in and telling me what I've missed will help me settle."

I will carefully sit on her if she has ideas that involve moving, Cirith said in a teasing voice. Do not worry, L'gan. We will be fine and so will you. Cirith's mind shifted like a sunbeam to rest against Semath's since this was as close to a snuggle as she could get. One day, perhaps when she was a little larger, the green would get a proper cuddle. She wanted the elder dragon to be at peace too!

"Be safe, love," Sariel murmured, letting her eyes linger on him for a while.

Cirith burble hummed as she immediately went to support Sariel as they moved to get the gold all bathed and oiled before sleep could even be considered. Her arm was slung over Cirith's neck as they shuffled off. There was a...death on the sands, she could hear the murmurs. Cirith let out a soft warbling sound of distress and very clearly wanted to turn back. But they couldn't. They had things to do now that Cirith had her fill of meat. There was a bath, oiling, and then the both of them would dream of better things.

When they woke, they'd figure out who was no longer among them and they would be honoured. Sariel would see to it.

---
L'gan

F’drel was not enjoying this Hatching. First a gold got into a fight with a green and all the gold Candidates - including Ferra - were sent into a panic, and F’drel hated not being allowed to do anything. He almost stood up to go down to the Sands anyway, but Mylorah got Ferra into a small huddle of girls with her, including R’dal’s little sister, and F’drel knew Mylorah would protect them. He shot her a grateful look, though he figured Mylorah didn’t see it. She was a good distance away and paying attention to the girls she was protecting - as she should be, really. Still, F’drel was deeply grateful.

Then of course the ground had to start rumbling. F’drel had no idea what the fuck was happening, and Halomirth whined in distress, burying her face against the side of the nearest blue. A quick scan of the Sands revealed that Mylorah was, once again, taking care of that same group of girls including Ferra. F’drel was going to have to thank her profusely after the Hatching was over, her actions were probably the only reason he hadn’t run down there himself. As the shaking petered off he kept his eyes on his sister.

A loud gasp and a few cries from the crowd drew his attention away from Ferra, Mylorah, Dimarna, and the other girls to see what else was going wrong. F’drel almost immediately regretted it, because it meant he got to see Quinvalis being torn up by a distressed dragonet. He froze in horror, his jaw clenched so hard it felt like he might break his teeth. No. Halomirth wailed, curling further into the nearest dragon. Her friend was hurt! He was hurt and she didn’t know how badly, F’drel didn’t know how badly, she couldn’t lose a friend like this she couldn’t. Quinvalis had to be okay!

F’drel felt R’dal take his hand. The bluerider’s grip was nearly painfully tight, but F’drel didn’t really feel it. He couldn’t just sit here. He could stay in the stands when he knew Mylorah was making sure his sister was alright, but Quinvalis wasn’t alright, and between Miri’s desire to rush down to check on their friend and his own, there was no way he could stay put and do nothing.

“I’m going down to the Healers,” he announced quietly, tone making it clear no one could change his mind. “R’dal, you’re welcome to come with me if you want, or you can stay here if you prefer. Up to you, but I’m walking away in five seconds.” R’dal didn’t let go of his hand, so F’drel took that as him saying he’d be coming with him to the Healers. The walk from their seats to the Healers station seemed both too clear and a blurr, taking too much time but it was hardly any time at all before they reached the edge of the area set aside for the Healers. F’drel hovered anxiously, not wanting to crowd the Healers or get in the way of their work. There was a group of them around Quinvalis, rushing to bandage him and put whatever healing stuff Healers put on wounds, F’drel couldn’t remember. But if they were bandaging Quinvalis that meant he was alive, and that was at least some sort of news. Better than nothing at least. F’drel stayed where they’d stopped at the edge, letting R’dal grip his hand or lean into him if he needed to, staring at Quinvalis and hoping once he was… more stable, one of the Healers would notice their staring and let them know how he was. If it took too long F’drel wasn’t against calling someone over, but for the moment it was better to let the Healers focus on healing.

Quilriana was always nervous at Hatchings since her son started Standing but when he was injured at one over a year ago, she almost asked him not to Stand anymore. It was hard as a mother to see her child suffer and she knew how lucky they had been that it had been only a cracked rib and broken ankle when others had lost their lives that day. But Quinvalis was resilient and she didn't want to hinder his dreams. She knew how much he looked up to R'nya and how he wanted to be a dragonrider so she didn't force the issue.

But now she had to see him getting mauled by a scared hatchling and she screamed like, well, like her son was being murdered before her eyes. When the dragonet moved on and his arms went limp she waited for him to move again. He didn't.

She was running before the Healer had started moving him off to the sides. She didn't care about the rules but knew she could be in danger herself if she cut through the actual area so she skirted the edges.That not only gave the Healers time to start examining her son before she reached him but gave R'nya time to intercept her.

"Let me go, R'nya, or I swear it won't be baby dragons you need to fear." It wasn't his fault Quinvalis was hurt but he was standing in her way of getting to her baby. But the bronzerider was stubborn and refused to let her get any closer, and she knew she had to let the Healers work but she needed to see him, to hold him.

She always kept her fears and worries inside, never wanting to let her kids know she was struggling with anything but she couldn't keep the facade up any longer. Instead of fighting the man, she broke down crying, legs giving out on her, though R'nya caught her before she crumpled to the ground and held her as she wept.

R’nya was pleased with the Hatching thus far; it was unexpected, it was early, but it was going well – as Aradissicath and Xyreith’s clutches were prone to, for which he was especially pleased. The last clutch Xyreith had fathered, before he began capturing Aradissicath – back in the days prior to the Plague – had been wrought with the illness of the Plague, with Hatchlings that he’d seen too similar to those Thallyath had clutched. The only reason he (and likely others) hadn’t gotten loud about Thallyath’s clutch, was because it was clearly the blame of the blue sire, and not a new Plague. Not that that had stopped the nightmares or the memories from cropping up unexpectedly. The terrors in the night was why R’nya had taken to working longer hours, and often sleeping on the couch or in one of their daughter’s beds when they’d sought out their mother.

Of course, he should have known better than to think that a Hatching a week early would go smoothly from beginning to end. It took him a few moments to realise that the world was moving, and he reached out a hand, pressing it to Xyreith’s hide as the huge bronze dragon stood up tall, rumbling a low warning and spreading his wings wide over the humans, eyes swirling with distress and irritation, unimpressed by this disturbance to his children’s entrance into the world. Like Aradissicath, he confided that the earth had been moving on and off since late in the night. R’nya shifted, moving away from his dragon and pulling Rhaedalyn to him. He made a soft rumble of displeasure himself when the infants vanished between, rubbing his hand up Rhaedalyn’s arm and frowning at the Sands.

The flurry of blue caught R’nya’s attention, and his lips pursed as he foresaw the mauling even before the little dragon crashed into the Candidates. Unfortunately, it took him a precious breath to realise that the Candidate that was on the ground was Quin, and R’nya swore under his breath, a rather foul word that he definitely didn’t say around his children. His grey eyes glanced around, and he relaxed slightly when he saw the healers moving swiftly towards his surrogate son, before stiffening when he realised the scream from Quilriana had stopped. His gaze darted, and he saw the beautiful woman making a mad dash towards the Sands.

“Fuck!” R’nya hissed, “She’s going to—” he fell off, dropping his arms from around Rhaedalyn and bolting along the edge of the Sands, moving swiftly and easily. For all his time spent locked up in the office, R’nya still made sure to find time to exercise and take care of himself. He quickly came upon Quilriana, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her firm against his chest as she struggled and spat threats at him. He murmured softly, trying to soothe her, naming the Healers, praising their good work that he’d seen in the past. When she crumpled, he loosed his grip – enough to hold her without restraining her – and sighed deeply, looking anxious and regretful for a moment, gaze shifting to look at the Healers as they worked on Quinvalis.

Turning his attention back to Quilriana, R’nya helped her, making sure she had her feet under her. “Come, dear,” he murmured softly, moving her along the edge of the sands, and then towards her son. “I will take you to Quinvalis. I am so sorry,” R’nya’s voice was riddled with guilt, eyes clouded as they finally made it to the youngster. R’nya let Quilriana go, eyebrows knitted as he approached the greenriding Healer, and had a quiet conversation with the young man about Quinvalis and his situation. R’nya nodded, touched Quilriana lightly on the shoulder, and then moved back to Rhaedalyn to let her know how Quinvalis was doing, frown still furrowing his eyebrows.