Hatching of the Starry Night Wher Clutch

[Rowana]

The screaming had died down, though the pain continued. He understood what the queen felt about death. He wished he could accept another's fate so easily. Humans, he thought, tried to hard to avoid death and when it got too hard, they brought it on themselves. It was so easy to choice death for another, less to choose for oneself. Who were they to decide when the green would pass? Her other half was already lost. It would not be much longer.

Roi opened his eyes at the sound of another egg cracking, fearing what he would find. He now noticed that one of the smaller eggs had already hatched and a green was being led off quickly by one of the boys. The large egg revealed a bronze, strong and healthy, much to Roi's relief. He was ignoring the candidates completely, and concentrating solely on the dying green. Roi felt a tug at his heart. It reminded him of Iloth. Tending for him, even after his wind was torn in battle. Always so selfless. He hoped the bronze would chose and chose well. This weyr could use one like him.

The next two hatchlings were also healthy and equally uninterested in humans. For them, however, it seemed a different reason. Roi winced as the brown slashed a girl's leg, recalling when a green had torn his before Iloth found him. As the blue distracted his brother, Roi grew more concerned. He hoped the two would not fight, but he was powerless to stop them if they wanted to. Even this young, their claws could do serious damage to one another. Roi hated feeling so helpless. He was the oldest present, but he felt like a worthless child in the face of so much. And he was certainly in no fit state of mind to offer comfort or advice to anyone.

[Rei]

Malara watched as one of the heads finally succumbed to it’s lonely fate, leaving only her sobbing handler on the sands. Poor girl but what did she expect? It would have been a cruel fate indeed if the monstrosity would have lived. She tore her eyes away from the remaining half of the Libra green as The Pegasus bronze shattered shell. He was a fine specimen indeed, almost making up for his deformed and sickly looking sister.

The blonde was surprised at the level of compassion the bronze showed. The Queen seemed less surprised and more angry at his show of defiance. To be fair the bronze showed no intention of wanting to pick a handler. Such must be hard for the obviously nervous queen to bear.

Malara turned from the scene of bronze curled around dying green, as the Draco egg burst revealing a domineering brown. She watched as the hatchling stalked towards the line of candidates and purposely took a swipe at Venus. The look of indifference he shot the girl made the candidate’s eyebrow raise. That brown defiantly had a dominant personality.

Something seemed to have caught the little demon’s attention but before the Draco brown could react properly the Sirius egg shattered with a growl reveling a Blue wher. The Draco brown shot a glare at the Sirius blue and the wher returned the glare with a low growl. The Draco brown seemed unfazed as he returned the growl. The two seemed destined to clash as the Sirius blue refused to back down. Malara watched the scene with rapt attention and probably was not the only one who found the scene horrifyingly captivating. Would one back down? Would the queen interfere, or would wher blood mix on the sand with Venus’s human blood.

Wait Venus? The blonde turned to regard the dark haired candidate. Wouldn’t someone help her? Cold as she was Malara had no desire to see someone bleed out on the sands. Especially someone she had yet to evaluate. How could she be useful if she was dead?

[binker]

Oh, well this time the dragon-beast made sense; more sense than the first message had, and better than the shrieks of a Salamandyr. A bit enthused by his success with the golden creature, he tried again, instantly agreeing with her choice for her children. If they wanted to bond with the stupid weyrfolk, it was their decision, and their loss. What was the company of a human compared to a life in the jungle? He knew what his choice would be, if he was such a creature...

But no, he looked like the weyrfolk, so their odd morals made them decide that he had to be brought in to their community. He didn't get a choice in the matter, because they simply thought he was confused... Stupid humans didn't understand anything, and forced their opinions on everything else!

He didn't realize he was scowling as he watched the hatching with flinty eyes. Hah, one of the hopefuls were opened up by a disapproving Brown; he liked that wher. Though as he continued watching, a fight seemed to be brewing between the brown and a newly hatching blue. He looked towards the Wherqueen questioningly, trying to be polite as he tried to form another question; did she wish for the two to stop fighting? And if not, would she allow him to touch her, perhaps scratch at the ridges along her eyes? Dragons always seemed to like it, and he wanted to ally himself with this big beast... She seemed strong, independant, wild. It was something he missed, being stuck here in this tamed-down Weyr...

[hseru]

As the dying green's sobbing cries began to hush, so too did Rozen's tears, but the low moans and whimpers were almost as bad, and she almost clamped her hands over her ears to shut out at least the audible parts of the green's agony. She had her attention in the right place though when the Pegasus Egg hatched rather violently, a lovely bronzeling wher. The bright hatchling went to his dying clutchsister, and wrapped himself protectively around her and her two handlers. She could just hear the soft noises he made to comfort them. It was beautiful in a saddening way.

The queen clearly wasn't pleased with his actions as she sharply ordered him to move, but he ignored her. A tiny smile brushed her lips at the bronze's bravery, but it quickly subsided into a neutral mask of semi-indifference that somehow still seemed pained. She just couldn't erase all the telltale signs. Of course, the wetness on her cheeks belied any indifference she was able to put on her face.

She watched in a silent stupor as the Draco Egg was the next to hatch -a brown. It made her think of Zeek, and as if bidden by the thought, the little brown touched her mind with a question of why she was in pain. His shouldn't be in pain. Was the goldgroundthing hurting hispet? Rozen quickly tried to focus on something to block out the brown. Stay there. Do NOT come. She reinforced the command with a promise of treats later. Disgruntled, but too uncertain to disobey, she felt him grudgingly settle down again to wait further.

She watched as the brown took a swipe at a candidate... Venus? if she remembered correctly from candidate class. The numbness was growing so that she hardly flinched at the blood spatter. Poor girl would need some good bandaging before the night was through. Another egg hatched, and now three live, healthy whers were on the sands, not counting the second green who had already been taken away. It looked like there might be a clash between the newly hatched blue and the haughty brown though, and Rozen had some feeling left to hope not. She didn't want to see more dead hatchlings. So engrossed with watching and hoping for the two males, she didn't take notice of yet another egg wobbling as its occupant began its egress.

[Tashe]

Maybe he hadn't come at a bad time after all. The eggs were starting to crack like crazy and the first, well third really, produced a metallic Bronze. But what was it doing? Being short, and being at the back of the pack did nothing to help his field of vision. Edging into the last layer of the candidates, Nautic chose a spot where he could see the clutch as well as the mother well enough. So the little bronze had cozied up to his dying clutchsister... it was a touching sight, at least the little Wher would know a little love before it passed away. Poor thing. By the looks of it, the other sister wouldn't last to much longer. Nature, sometimes is a cruel mistress.

Noises of another egg drew his attention from the sad sight, and he couldn't help but watch the Draco Wherling uncurl himself out of the egg debris. A Brown! Browns were his favorite color for sure, in Dragons and all of their kin. His father rode a Brown, and there for, he was exposed to that certain color a lot more. Nautic leaned forward slightly to get a better look at the Wherling, but then again, he wished he hadn't at the same time. The Brown took a nasty swipe at one of the girl's legs, spilling blood that he didn't intend to drink. He didn't mind the sight or feel of blood, but seeing a Brown do that made him nervous. It also made him remember what people said about maulings, and how nasty some could get.

Stepping backward, Nautic used his knife to rip the seems that attached his sleeves to his tunic, they didn't matter much anyway. If something was going to get him, no amount of lousy cotton was going to save him from much discomfort. Tucking the knife back into the back of his pants, the Candidate slowly slipped behind the rest of the people, stopping behind Venus. He nudged her gently with his body, offering the pieces of cloth to her so she could apply pressure. It probably wasn't the best time to speak or draw attention to themselves with big movements, especially when the two Wherlings looked like they were about to have at it.

[lilliana]

Maisk’s screams had quieted, into heart-wrenching moans, and then horrible, terrible whimpers. The pain… the pain was there. And Mairen could do nothing, absolutely, positively nothing about it. He heard a girl’s crying next to him, as she cradled the lifeless head of his Maisk’s other head, but he paid little to no attention to her. His little green – his poor little green – was whimpering so pitifully, and his heart was being pulled out of chest.

Her eyes had dulled white, the impression done, and the pain unbearable. Mairen felt tears rolling down his cheeks, and didn’t have the mind to brush them away. His little Maisk, his poor little Maisk, didn’t even have a chance. Just enough time to bond to him – to give him this feeling of belonging, and, Mairen knew, that it was soon to be wrenched away. Still, the comforting words fell from his lips… ‘it’s all going to be over soon… the pain will be gone…’ because the pain would be gone.

For her.

The green’s quiet, creeling pleas drew more tears, more words. Because, even in this pain, Mairen couldn’t bring himself to end her life. After all, Maisk’s end would come soon enough, without his help. And, even with her in such intense pain… with him in such intense pain because of her own… this was still the best time of his life. The worst, of course, as well. But this was his Maisk, and she was going to leave him, but for now she was with him. And she trusted him, and he would be with her in her final moments. But he couldn’t take this small, last bits of life from her. He just couldn’t.

Another wher was there, suddenly. A bronze, Mairen dimly recognized. He didn’t, however, register why the creature was there, or the queen’s growl. Only that his little green was in pain, and there was another wher showing sympathy to her. Mairen continued stroking Maisk’s head, and softly rubbing her eyeridges. The bronze stretched out behind them, and the newest handler barely even reacted.

The green pushed her head against his chest, releasing another keen, and another. Mairen’s tears continued, just as his motions. He bent his head lower to whisper in Maisk’s ear – the reassurances, of both the end of pain, and of his love. In a few minutes, the pain would be gone. The pain would be gone, and he loved her. The young man’s breath rasped in his chest, as he watched her eyes dull around the edges… still bright white in the middle with her intense pain. His Maisk. His Maisk that would always be his, even if she was going to leave him soon.

[nightingale]

The Draco Brown barked harshly and began lowering himself into a predetory crouch, but the Sirius Blue was too fast for him. In a moment the brown’s front leg was clasped in his smaller brother’s jaws and was being shaken like a canine might shake a stolen boot. The brown bellowed his pain, striking out and catching the blue across the nose with the blood spattered claws on his free paw, but the call was quickly overshadowed by the queen's fierce roar. Weather it was at his mother’s request or an act of his own volition, the Sirius Blue released his brother and slunk backward until he felt it was safe to glance back at the wher queen. The brown had tried to chose HIS! Surely both His and his mother intended him for fight for the handler he wanted?

The Draco Brown however, was no longer in any mood to chose a handler. With an angry growl he turned and began plowing through the candidate ranks, trampling anyone who did not clear him a path. Any who caught his attention were immidiately handed a swipe of a snap, but thankfully the wherling did not seem inclined to attack them any more fiercely. The queen barked some message after her hatchling as he broke free of the crowd and galloped for the exit as quickly as his wound permitted, but the Draco Brown was gone, returned to the wild that had birthed him.

The humanthing saw now? The queen wher's question was directed toward Pepsi as the she fixed him with a rather penatrating orange stare lanced through with pale blue. Some would chose meat creatures as companions, and some would return to the jungles with her. It was her duty to ensure that no one interfered. This humanthing would also do well to remember that she was no day creature, and to not refer to her as such. She was a wher -this word she pressed forcefully into his mind- and more than that, she was queen to them all. If it touched her, she would devour it.

The Sirius Blue licked the ichor from his face and growled, the slow, thrumming irritation directed at everything and nothing at the same time. His eyes flickered across the candidates only breifly before he found the one he wanted, and he gave a small snort before shoving his way through the crowd to reach her. When he had found the girl's side, he circled her with an appraising gleam in his swirling eyes. He then curled himself about her legs, giving the back of her calf a tender lick before catching it in his jaws. He squeezed, until he could taste Malara’s blood in his mouth, then released her. A deep, purring growl resonated through his entire body. Let the wild one run. He would be her Mask. He then released her, and turned his eye toward the food the drudges had set out on the far side of the cavern. They would eat now.

A cracking sound was suddenly audible from the Andromeda Egg as a flap of shell pressed outward, revealing a sliver of glimmering hide smeared with egg fluid. It then settled back into place and became motionless, and several new cracks began to splinter out from another area. It seemed that whatever the egg contained was very particular about the way it hatched.

-----------------------------------------
Cygnus Egg ~ Still

Sirius Egg ~ Hatched blue Mask to Malara

Draco Egg ~ Hatched Brown|WILD

Libra Egg ~ Hatched green Elask to Elanise(NPC) and green Maisk to Mairen |LETHAL DEFORMITY

Pegasus Egg ~ Hactched Bonze: On the sand

Aries Egg ~ Hatched green Cadisk to Cadil

Andromeda Egg ~ Cracked

[nightingale]

Name: Mask
Looks To: Malara
Species: Wher
Color: Blue (#003365)
Age: Hatchling
Physical Appearance: Built solidly and close to the ground, Mask is a lot stronger that one might guess by looking at him. His muscles are not bulky as on most whers, but lean and compact so as to give him an almost streamlined appearance. His head large and blockish, and would probably be out of proportion if his neck wasn’t short and muscular to compensate. He isn’t much to note by way of size, and while his poor posture means that he will rarely stand at his full height, he is still only a hand or two higher at the shoulder than a small pony when he does. While his wings are small, they are surprisingly well formed, and Mask will often hold them in a partial flare over his back to make himself look larger than he is.

The base colour of his hide is a deep, vivid shade of blue reminiscent of the sky at twilight. An even richer mottling of midnight blue dampens his back, the outer portion of his legs and his face, almost making this wher look as if he has been standing out in the rain. His feet are a noticeably lighter, greyer shade of blue than the rest of his hide. This colour can also be found on his muzzle, the membrane of his wings and the underside of his thick, blunt tail. An animal lover might point out that his patterning is almost canine, and truthfully it does look more like a terran husky than any creature found on Pern. This illusion is only made more complete by his penchant for growling, be it a rumble of contentment or a warning to stay clear.

Personality: Most whers can be described as acquired taste, but this one is downright unappetizing. While Mask is a loyal friend and guardian to those he takes a liking to, he is very specific about the sort of people he chooses to bestow that grace upon. Adopting a 'maul first, ask questions later' stance on most topics, he does not care for the feint of heart and will not bother to pretend that he does to spare their feelings. Those with personalities weaker than his bonded are shunned as fools, while those with stronger personalities are often perceived as threats that he will instantly seek to protect her from. It will take a great deal of effort, a vast amount of patience or a magical set of circumstances for him to truly like anyone but Malara.

Mask does not appreciate being insulted, but he will absolutely refuse to tolerate any affront directed toward his handler. She can expect him to defend her body and her honor with all the ferociousness his teeth and claws can provide. This little blue wher is both fast and fierce, so it would not be difficult for him to take down an opponent twice his size given reason and opportunity. He has a wonderful memory for grudges, and forgiveness is not something that will be offered readily -accepting the forgiveness he will offer a defeated opponent. It should also be noted that he does not approve of dragons. In all frankness, he absolutely loathes them and will take orders from neither a rider nor his mount. That honor is reserved exclusively for his queen and his handler.

[hseru]

She flinched despite herself when the Blue latched onto his brown brother's foreleg, causing him to howl with more pain, though this was a completely different pain than the green's.. more healthy perhaps. Idle musings of a mind that was trying to distance itself from the happenings. The queen's roar snapped her from it though, and just in time as she quickly moved aside for the offended brown who came barreling through in his attempts to escape. He aimed a stray paw at her, catching her leg in a swiping laceration very similar to the one Venus had gained, though more on the calf than the shin as she tried to doge it by turning. She barely felt it until the immediate danger of the brown wherling was past, and the heat of her own blood began to trickle down her ankle.

Hissing in pain, Rozen's dulled mind went immediately from witless and depressed to alert and annoyed with herself. She limped back a few paces to the wall so she could lean against it, and gingerly peeled the shredded cloth of her pants off and out of the heavily bleeding lacerations. She sank to the floor as the pain caught her hard. Shard it, she was better than this! She'd just wait till the next wher clutch, if this particular set of hatchlings didn't want her. There would be more opportunities, and HER wher might just not be in this clutch. Besides, it wouldn't make her future wher happy if she allowed herself to get mauled so easily. With this thought solidly in mind, it gave her more energy. Flicking the knife strapped to her forearm out with practiced ease, she cut the cloth of her pants leg off just above the knee, tearing it so she could wrap it around her calf. The things were already ruined, they might as well serve a better purpose. The motions were a little too sharp, causing her to wince when she she tightened her makeshift bandage, evidence at her anger with herself, though she muted it mentally as best she could to keep the gathered whers from feeling it.

She glanced up at the hatching just in time to see the blue latch his teeth into Malara's calf, blinking in surprise. She hadn't been chosen by the queen either.. had the blue gone against some order from the queen? Rozen licked her dry lips, and finished wrapping the cloth around her leg, wincing as it began to throb angrily. She was partially glad she'd been so far back, because otherwise she might not have been given the time to bind herself up. Using the wall for support, she stood again, limping a step forward to rejoin the initial line of those not chosen. Her renewed watch on the clutch was different, more focused as she kept her distance from the quick Blue who had bonded to Malara. She rested nearly all her weight on her right leg -the uninjured one- letting only her toes touch with the other one. She bit her lip as it began to hurt more. What she wouldn't do for a good dose of numbweed right about now.

[Avu]

((May I introduce...failpost!))

As soon as Meisk's low whines of sympathy for the Libra Greens faded into a soft keen, the traditional mourning, his Handler's head lifted slowly, staring in a mixture of horror and pity at the remaining head, whose screams had died into moans and whimpers. Biting her lip, Meira half-stood, uncertainly, rubbing almost impatiently at her eyes, blotting away the tears as she glanced out over the Sands. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized that the Aries Green had already Hatched and Bonded, and that the Pegasus Bronze was curled -- protectively? possessively? -- around the dying green. Meisk crooned softly, and images flickered through her mind courtesy of the blue wher: The Pegasus Bronze ignoring the wild wherqueen's demands to leave the green be, to Impress. His ignoring her...was strange. Appealing, Meira supposed, in its selfnessness; but -- strange nonetheless: Typically any hatchling obeyed its mother instantly, didn't it?

The Draco Brown's Hatching distracted her, though, and, while she still didn't let go of Meisk's neck (nor did the blue wher seem to mind, cuddling against her as shamelessly as she him), Meira did lift herself up uneasily to see the Draco Egg's occupant. A lovely wherling, a brown the color of -- of topsoil, she thought vaguely. He didn't, however, seem to want to choose; rather, upon approaching one of the Candidates, he lashed out at her, catching her across the shins and sending a splatter of blood across the Sands at her feet. It wasn't a horribly deep wound, and already one of the others, a male Candidate, was offering her a strip of some material to stop the blood. The signs of a growing argument between brown and Sirius Blue didn't distress Meira much; they were hatchlings and even squabbles never usually amounted to much. She dropped off of the Stands and took off towards the Candidates, coming up behind Venus.

Gently grabbing the girl's forearm, Meira tugged her backwards a pace, murmuring in her ear, "Shh, c'mere," and, without further explanation, she jerked the bag at her side open, and pulled out the tiny vial of redwort. She wouldn't need numbweed; it oughtn't to hurt that badly. The main point of their being a Healer was to make sure that the Candidate wouldn't die, and as fast as a Hatching went, there was simply no time to make every mauled Candidate comfortable. "Redwort," she whispered, pressing the vial into Venus's palm. "It'll clean the wound. Just pour it all on. It'll sting, but not bad, then wrap it in -- that," she finished urgently, touching the cloth that had been given to the girl by that male Candidate, Nautic. "I can't help you more, I'm sorry, but just stop the bleeding and I'll get to it later."

She bit back the shudder of shock as Draco Brown and Sirius Blue attacked, though. The blue had the upper hand almost instantly, grabbing his brother by the foreleg and shaking him with a viciousness that had Meisk, still on the Stands and watching anxiously, uttering a soft keen of anxiety. However, the wherqueen's loud roar broke the two apart and Meira bit her lip in alarm as the Draco Brown turned tail and left for the wilds, ichor from the attack still visible on his hide. The Sirius Blue had already chosen, apparently, a Handler in one of the girls, and seemed not at all worried about the small cut on his nose, so Meira turned her attention to tending the row of unlucky Candidates that had been in the way of the Draco Brown. Each of them got firm instructions, and ocassionally numbweed. She didn't bother trying to make small talk to soothe their nerves; the way she saw it, there was simply no point. Besides -- she could very well be mauled herself, if she stood in front of a Candidate that one of the whers wanted.

Finally she slipped back up to the Stands again and promptly flopped against Meisk, smiling at his croon of clear delight. "Talk to them, lovely? Tell them to come up here, please, if they hurt and need numbweed, or something, after the Hatching's over. Hmm?" The wher whuffed understandingly, and contacted the Candidates obediently, though he squirmed shyly. Could they...could they possibly be sweet and come up to talk to His, maybe, when the Hatching was over, if their wounds still needed numbweed or doctoring, or the like...please? His would like it so much...and good luck to all of them, he added, nervously, before the blue ducked his head shyly against Meira again, whuffing softly as he nosed her affectionately and then glanced out over the clutch again, drawing her attention to the cracking Andromeda Egg. What, hmm, did she think that one would Hatch?

[topaz]

Willing herself forcefully to keep her eyes on the moving eggs, Venus was eventually drawn back to the dying green wher pair as the shrieking quieted. Only a glance, to notice that the life force of the weaker head had now been spent, then Venus quickly looked back to the Pegasus Egg as it burst open revealing a stunning bronze. To the Candidate's surprise the bronze hatchling swiftly moved over to his dying sister, holding her and her chosen handler in his embrace. Venus was overwhelmed with affection for the brassy creature. Bronze dragons had a reputation of being rather standoffish and even cruel at times, but this wher was so tender, even ignoring his gold mother's reprimands to stay by his sister's side. Venus' eyes stung slightly as she looked at the touching scene, emanating a feeling of admiration and gratefulness to the bronze.

Suddenly, her good thoughts were cut violently short as a shocking pain ran through her leg. Venus shrieked, much like the dying green had when she was first shelled, but the Candidate quickly gritted her teeth and blinked the tears out of her eyes. Looking down, she saw a newly hatched brown wher giving her a disapproving look and turning away indifferently. Hunching over, and immediately shifting her weight to her uninjured leg, she hovered her hands over the bleeding gash. Slowly, she kneeled down onto her right leg, placing the left one gingerly out in front of her.

A soft bump on her shoulder alerted Venus to a new Candidate that she had not noticed before. He held out two pieces of cloth, that she quickly realized were the sleeves of his tunic as she looked him over. She opened her mouth to thank him, but noticed his attempts at keeping quiet, and decided instead to mouth the words and smile, attempting to convey her appreciation of his sacrifice. Taking the cloth, she sopped up some of the blood that was trickling down her shin, and then pressed the folded fabric into the deepest part of the wound. It stung, and Venus sneered at her leg, but the bleeding did begin to recede. Another hand on her arm, and Venus was met by a..a Healer, apparently. She took the redwort vial with as much of a smile as she could muster, and nodded. Shrinking back against the wall slightly, Venus took the pressure bandage off and began to pour the redwort in. It stung a whole lot worse then the simple bandage, but she gritted her teeth through the pain, for she knew it would be to her benefit. Shuffling over closer to the wall, Venus propped herself up and finally took another look at the Sands.

By this time, the blue wher that she hadn't notice hatching had already bonded, and she watched with a mixture of happiness and morbid fascination as the hatchling licked it's handler's bleeding calf. The brown who had attacked her, had apparently left the Hatching Grounds for the wild jungle. Good, she thought, rather spitefully.

Another crack sent brown eyes whirling back towards the two still unhatched eggs. It was the Andromeda Egg who had shuddered, but the creature inside now seemed indecisive about wanting to emerge yet or not.

A gentle, almost undetectable pressing on her mind made Venus look up into the stands where the healer from before had returned to. So she was a wherhandler as well? That was appropriate, Venus thought. She gave a quick nod to the woman and her kindly, if not incredibly shy, blue wher, and then turned her attentions back to the eggs. After a minute, the pain in her shin seemed to have abated, and she wanted so much to be able to stand proudly for the rest of the hatching. After tying the sleeves firmly around her injury, she shimmied her way up the wall and regained her balance. Putting a small amount of pressure on her left leg, she found that it did hurt, but it was bearable to stand for the next two eggs. With a gentle limping motion, Venus made her way back into the lineup, and gazed across the sands once more, her eyes falling affectionately on the bronze wher. She hoped very much that he found only the best Candidate in this bunch to be his handler. Otherwise, she thought bittersweetly, he might be better off in the jungles.

[Rowana]

The hatching was starting to go by in a blur for Roivao. The fight between the brown and the blue, the brown's angry charge through the candidates, and the blue's selection of his, it all washed over him like a dream. He was vaguely aware of these events, and of Meira tending the wounded, but his mind didn't register their significance. His dull eyes were staring at the mostly hatched clutch, unseeing, lost in a mixture of the past and present.

Images of the wher hatching and his impression of Iloth danced through his head, along with countless images of the other hatchings he had attended in the past. Some had been violent, some tragic, most had ended in joy, but all seem to include blood. Why so much blood? Why such hatred and fear when the young ones broke shell? It was as if some force gripped them until they impressed, bonded, or didn't. Roi didn't know why he was trying to work this out. His brain was a muddle mess of pain, sadness, and confusion. Sometimes he wished he had been born a dragon. They always seemed to understand things so easily. They just accepted life for what it was, and didn't waste time with internal debates like this. Iloth had always found an answer for everything. Now more than ever, Roi felt lost without him.

[Rei]

Malara turned her attention from Venus to the two opposing hatchlings when it was obvious the girl had help. The quickness of the Sirius blue surprised the girl. One would think the Draco brown would have won. After all the brown clearly out muscled and out sized the lesser color. Still it was the brown wher who limped off the sands obviously to live out a life without a handler. Interesting.

Her musings where cut short as the blue stalked towards her, pushing his way through the loose grouping of the queen’s chosen. What was he doing? Following his brother to the wild? It quickly became apparent that he had no desire to follow his defeated brother as he began to circle her. Surely such a inferior color wouldn’t bond to her? But no a caressing tongue was followed by a quick bite and she now had her Mask. The blonde’s initial disgust was washed away by the emotions of impression.

Mask’s obvious adoration and protective wishes filled her head and she resigned herself to her fate with a sigh. What was done could not be undone, she was now bonded to a blue. It would make her wish for power almost unreachable but maybe she could still find a way through manipulation and deceit. After all where there is a will there is a way. Malara bent down and caressed Mask’s massive head. “Of course we will go eat darling. None of these fools matter anymore. Let them impress what they will. I got the best of the clutch.”

Mask rumbled his agreement and followed his bonded in a quick trot pressing against her injured leg and flashing warning glares at anyone who even dared look in their direction.

[Tashe]

Bobbing his head, not quite unlike a bird, Nautic indicated that it wasn't a problem. Looking past Venus as a woman arrived on her other side, the Candidate was happy to see that the woman was there to offer some assistance. Remaining where he was as the two females moved back from the lineup, Nautic winced as the Queen let out a savage roar, forcing his attention back onto the hatching. Just in time to see the Sirius Blue let go of his brother's foreleg, the young man quietly lept out of the way of the fleeing Brown, it's jaws missing him by to close of a span to count. It really was to bad that the Draco Wherling decided to go into the wild. Sure, he was a little brutish, but then again he had just been born.

Resuming his original position, Nautic quietly observed one of the other hopefuls Bond to the Blue, apparently it hadn't wanted to wait for the girl to give her own blood. He predicted, more to his own self amusement, that she was going to have her hands full with that one. Finally, since he hadn't before, Nautic noticed that the Andromeda Egg was moving. Drumming his fingers quietly against his palm, he watched as the egg shed a single portion of its organic cage. More movement to his right drew his gaze onto the girl he had helped earlier. Good for her, she wasn't going to give up on the hatching. Along with Venus another girl, he couldn't tell exactly who it was from where he was standing, was also rejoining the ranks.

And while he might enjoy admiring strong women, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Giving Venus a smile before zeroing in on the only moving egg, Nautic rolled his neck and worked out the muscles. Wild Whers were so fascinating. They were certainly not as mellow as their Weyr and Hold bound counterparts. Maybe he'd read some scrolls about them in the archives, but until then, he would have to busy himself in switching his gaze between slowly unfolding Andromeda egg and the still silent Cygnus egg. What color would that one hatch forth?

[nightingale]

A very small, very tentative cracking sound rose from the Cygnus Egg. It was difficult to tell where the cracks were forming on it's dark, matte surface, but as the slow rocking motion became obvious it blew away any lingering doubt that the crowd might have had about the egg being a dud. The Andromeda Egg cracked loudly, effectivly rendering it's small grey sibling invisible as it's sides split open like a flower under the rising sun. The queen it revealed was nothing short of dazzling as she arced her neck and spread her wings, snapping three even pieces of shell free and sending them pirouetting into the sand.

The Andromeda Gold crooned, rising gracefully from the remains of her shell. A deep rumble of pleasure from elder queen's throat resonated throughout the cavern as her gold wherling moved toward the candidates, eyes whirling with the colours of impression. She paused as she reached the row of candidates her mother had selected, tilting her head in what appeared to be puzzlement. What was this? She looked over her shoulder at the elder queen and barked. Where was Hers? Of course, Hers had to be in the front row! Why was Hers not in the front row?

When the elder queen offered her an answer in the form of a growl that was more irritation than affection, the Andromeda Gold huffed turned her eyes once more upon the crowd. Roivao was the first to catch her attention, and she quickly closed the distance between them. Broken humanthing! He was not Hers! What did he think he was doing, standing in the place where Hers belonged? She reared up onto her back legs, using her tail for balance, and pushed him roughly backward into the sand with her front paws. It had not been an intentional mauling, but unfortunately for the man receiving those paws, the claws they bore were sharp enough to pierce the fabric covering his chest and tear four bloody gashes into it. The queen snorted, returning to all fours and peering intently through the crowd to where Rozen stood. Hers certainly did not belong at the very back of the cavern! She would join her at the front of the group, and there her Rozsk would blood with her where all could bare witness! She crooned happily, the rainbow in her eyes fading to an aquatic blue.

Almost timidly, a pale blue nose poked out from the dark shards of the Cygnus Egg, followed shortly thereafter by the rest of a sticky blue face. The Cygnus Blue made niether a sound nor eye contact as he carefully knocked out the sides of his shell and rose shakily to his feet. He was a beautiful creature to be sure, possibly because he looked far more like a stumpy dragon than any proper wher should.

The Cygnus Blue looked back toward the elder queen, as if not quite sure what she or the crowd expected of him. She snorted harshly, and the hatchling cringed slightly under the heat of her crimson stare. He turned toward the crowd, his thin body trembling as he labored to draw his large wings atop his back. His whirling eyes drifted over the candidates once, then twice, then a third and forth time. It seemed that he was quite intent on finding a very specific someone. His eyes found Venus, and stayed there. The Cygnus Blue gave a bark that was little more than a whuff of breath as he hurried over to her, stumbling on his trailing wings. The moment he was near enough, he wrapped his trembling body against her uninjured leg as tightly as he could. His Venus was hurt! Oh, his poor, dear, sweet Venus had been hurt and her Venusk has not been there to protect her! Oh he was so desperately sorry! He loved her so much, and he would never have let it happen had he only known that she needed him!

Only the Pegasus Bronze, the Libra Green and her guardians were left on the sand.

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Cygnus Egg ~ Hatched blue Venusk to Venus

Sirius Egg ~ Hatched blue Mask to Malara

Draco Egg ~ Hatched Brown|WILD

Libra Egg ~ Hatched green Elask to Elanise(NPC) and green Maisk to Mairen |LETHAL DEFORMITY

Pegasus Egg ~ Hactched Bonze: On the sand

Aries Egg ~ Hatched green Cadisk to Cadil

Andromeda Egg ~ Hatched gold Rozsk to Rozen