Hatching of the All Hallows Wher Clutch

[Avu]

((On the first page, you say that the Cobweb Egg Hatched Hennai's green, but isn't it the Skeletal Egg?))

Meira sighed softly as the wher pressed more tightly against her, still stroking him rhythmically. As the girl whom she had addressed had moved away, she guessed her query hadn’t been heard. A frown creased her brow—only to grow deeper as Neirin suggested she get him to a healer. She had nothing against that—but surely if he didn’t Bond soon, he’d go wild? Shouldn’t they give him a chance to at least sniff the other Candidates before she trotted him off to see a healer? As he pressed closer still to her, she started as she felt the pain—less than original, due to numbweed, but still throbbing. Along with hunger.

And a name—she—well, it seemed odd to say she ‘felt’ a name, but that was the first impression Meira got. Meisk. Did that mean—? A soaring joy exploded in the center of her stomach. She had Bonded! And she was not going to let Meisk die. The joy dissolved into a more sensible firmness as she considered her predicament. On one hand, blooding Meisk might offer a bit more energy to the tiny creature—but then, she probably still should get him to a healer as quickly as possible. Would any even be awake at this time? A sharp terror poked at her. Supposing they didn’t wake?

Meisk whimpered, bringing her back from her reverie. Okay, blood first. That way she could leave the knife here instead of tripping and accidentally killing someone while she carried Meisk to a healer. She stopped her stroking and picked up the knife, not even wavering now. Before, Meira had thought she’d be terrified to pierce her own skin willingly, but if it offered Meisk a few more precious minutes, that would be easy. And it would ease, hopefully, some of the hunger. She sliced a cut into her palm, and lowered her throbbing hand to Meisk, biting her lip against the sharp pain the cold metal had brought. The blue wher licked a few times, sucked, finished—if he didn’t perk up, at least there was a bit more color in his eyes.

Meira loosened her cloth belt, pushing the knife back onto a tabletop, and wrapped it around her hand. And hesitated. Carrying Meisk seemed the best way to transport him—and yet…well, it had to be done. Hopefully the numbweed should be settling in by now and he shouldn’t feel much pain. She cradled the wher, as she might hold a baby, his limbs tucked against her and his weight against her chest and lower neck. His broken wing was folded awkwardly onto his back, but at least it wasn’t dangling.

To leave the Hatching seemed rude, but it couldn’t be helped. Passing Neisk, she murmured, “I’m sorry I have to leave—thank you!” She would understand—the queen had to. Her baby, Meira’s Bonded, was in danger and she could hardly be expected to remember respect at such a time. She carefully shifted Meisk in her arms; he had dropped his head to her forearm. Hoping she wasn’t jolting him badly, Meira slid out the door, glanced around. Nobody—not even a Drudge to run ahead and wake the healer. She sighed.

Just her luck, wasn’t it?

She pressed her finger against Meisk’s body, searching for the heartbeat, and found it. Steady, but not particularly strong. Keeping her hand in position, Meira headed quickly for the Infirmary. Oh, Faranth, please don’t let my baby die, she prayed silently.

[wingrider]

Hennai watched the Skeletal green coming towards them. She couldn’t help but wonder which of them would be the lucky person she bonded with. She turned to watch Meira and the little blue wherlet she’d helped and then …

WHAM!

“Ooof!” Hennai fell on her back. And the little green wherlet that had come from the Cobweb egg sat on her chest and stomach with what seemed to be an air of triumth. “I think I’m going to have my hands full with you.”

The green sent feelings of triumph and sniffed at Hennai.

Hennai felt the impression of a name. “Hensk, eh?” She grinned at the green. “Alright. Let’s get you fed then. But… you need to get off first!”

Hensk complied and moved off of her handler. She pranced in one spot, though a bit wobbly. She sent the feeling of hunger.

“I’m sure you are, lovey.” She got up and took out her knife and deftly sliced a cut on her left hand and held it out to Hensk. The green drank the offered blood. Hennai could feel the bond getting stronger.

Trillian watched everything. She was torn between being happy the wherlets where hatching and bonding. But also a bit jealous. She had hopes of bonding, but she had no control over these events. It was the choice of the wherlets. She adored the bronze. The brown was just as adorable as the bronze. She could only wait and watch..... and hope.

[Ember]

Ceryl watched the Skeletal Green for a moment, the fall and subsequent tumble alarming her. There was no need for her concern though. The green was quickly up on her feet again and...Bonded. That happened faster than she expected. She offered a smile for the new pairing, looking back to check on the Living Dead Blue only to find him cuddled up to Meira. Hopefully now he could get proper care.

It almost seemed like it was all over, but there were still eggs waiting to hatch. The second felt like hours to Ceryl. None moved until the Pumpkin Egg moved, actually rolling away from where it was, and crashed into the Jack-O-Lantern Egg. She closed her eyes and hid them behind her hands. When she dared look, two forms lying on their backs. One was another brown and the other a bronze. So far there were two greens, blues, and browns, and a single bronze. Not a bad clutch she supposed. Plus there was one unhatched egg remaining.

She turned her attention back to the wherlets, Rilyer's bark of laughter making it that much harder to suppress a giggle as they both stared at the ceiling. Standing up, the bronze seemed dazed still, but better off than his clutchmate. The other seemed to think that sleeping was a good idea. This indeed made Ceryl giggle a little. What was he doing, just lying around when people wanted to see him better. Although she could sympathize with him. She ought to be asleep still but he wher hatching was more important.

A yawn escaped her rather loudly and she looked around with wide eyes. Oops. Looks like her nervousness was slowly being replaced with the desire to sleep. Ceryl fought to keep her attention on the hatching and not on sleeping, for that would only serve to make her more tired. Being observed by the bronze brought a flicker of anxiousness and she mentally urged it to choose someone already. She bet he'd pick a boy too.

[irbre]

[What are you talking about, Avu? >> -coughcough-]

Two wherlets remained, hatched, as well as a final egg. The Pumpkin Brown remained where he was, eyes closed, obviously more intent on relaxing than anything else. His bronze brother was not quite so lazy, though, and was slowly inching his way towards the remaining Candidates, tail flicking slowly from side to side. Neisk crooned soft encouragement to the pair, though her gaze flicked back towards the Cobweb Egg, which was the only one to remain still. Was it dead, perhaps? The Queen moved closer, giving it a gentle nudge with her nose. For a moment it remained still, then it twitched, ever-so-slightly, but only once. The hatchling within stilled yet again, and Neisk's croon turned to one of subtle alarm.

The Jack-O-Lantern Bronze turned abruptly at the noise, hesitating only briefly before he clambered back up the slight mound of straw and furs, towards the egg. It gave another slight twitch and the bronze tapped the shell, encouraging the wherlet within to try harder. It obliged, rocking a bit more vehemently, though it was not enough, despite the slowly widening crack. Neisk didn't interfer, instead watching intently as her bronze son carefully poked a claw into the crack, peeling back a slight bit of shell. In reply, the creature within began to wriggle harder, putting all the strenght it had into breaking free.

It was only a short while, but seemed to be an eternity as the shell finally split open to drop its contents onto the furs. The exhausted Cobweb Green lay curled, sides heaving from the exertion, fragile body glistening with egg goo. The Jack-O-Lantern Broze ventured a bit closer, though his gaze was already flicking back towards the remaining Candidates, tail swishing back and forth at a faster pace. Apparently content with his clutchsister having been freed, he began to toddle towards the Candidates.

The Pumpkin Brown leapt to his feet suddenly, bounding forward to beat his clutchbrother to the Candidates, casting a quick, snobbish glance back at the bronze as he skidded to a hault in front of the one he had been secretly eying while feigning sleep. With a slight chirp, Rilyesk nudged Rilyer's hand, staring up at him with bright eyes. He was hungry and wanted his new bonded to give him blood, and then feed him. Otherwise, he would just leave, he decided, and bit down slightly on Rilyer's hand, though not enough to break the skin. The Jack-O-Lantern Bronze watched a bit disdainfully, then continued his movement towards the Candidates, giving a brief glance backward at the Cobweb Green, who was struggling to find her footing.

[wingrider]

Trillian admired the bronze for helping his clutchsister. Better than the angry blue had done earlier. She gasped at the small green wherlet. She was so cute and pretty. She couldn't take her eyes off the green. So adorable. Trillian wanted to run up to the little green to help her. She took a few steps forward, but stopped. She didn't know if the gold wher would allow her to help the struggling green.

"Come on, little one. Come on. You can do it..." Trillian whispered. She didn't dare turn her eyes away to look at the other wherlets. She wanted to be ready if this little green needed help. She would follow Hennai's example and just help.

[ladybug]

Rilyer looked from the brown to the bronze, watching them both carefully. The brown seemed to be asleep. Didn't he have more important things to do right now? Then again, hatching had to be tiring. Maybe that was why the blue had been so grumpy. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed...egg...whatever.

The bronze seemed as if he was going to approach the candidates, but then he abruptly turned and went back to the clutch. Ril had assumed the last egg might be a dud, because he knew it was common, but the bronze seemed to be encouraging it. The bronze eventually managed to free the green, who lay on the sands, resting after the difficult hatching. Ril bit his lip nervously, wishing things would move faster. They were taking forever to choose!

Then, all of a sudden, the brown jumped up...and ran right to him! Rilyer's mouth dropped open, and then snapped shut again as the brown bit his ankle. "Ow!" But he knew it was a comparatively polite request for blood. Ril swallowed dryly, nervous about this part. He wasn't good about blood, and he didn't want to faint in the middle of this. Shaking his head, he grabbed the knife, determined to just go through with it. "For you, my Rilyesk," he murmured, and quickly cut his hand open.

"Ugh..." Closing his eyes tight, he held his hand out, waiting for the brown to take it.

[irbre]

With a final glance back at his green sister, the Jack-O-Lantern Bronze continued to move steadily forward without pause. He already knew his chosen was, of course, but the slight issue of his sister had required his aid, which he had been only too willing to give. It was time to get down to business, though, for his mother was looking quite tired even as the Queen hunched protectively over the weak green wherlet. It was time for him to choose, though, and the bronze moved forward without pause to Piden, staring up at him mildly before rustling his winds. What was the boy doing, just standing there gawking? Didn't he know that his Pidesk was hungry?

The Cobweb Green remained where she was for awhile, sides still heaving, out of breath. Neisk remained nearby, crooning soft encouragement to the petite wherlet even as she began to struggle laboriously to get to her feet. Stumbling a few times and falling down more than once, the Cobweb Green finally managed to get to her feet, wide, watery eyes staring at one girl in particular. Letting out a soft chirp, she began to move forward with slow, stumbling footsteps, slipping and sliding without much encouragement.

After what seemed like forever, she had managed to make her way off the mound of straw and furs, her footsteps a bit surer, if wobbly nonetheless. Her minuscule wings fluttered as she stumbled closer to the few remaining Candidates, almost as if she was attempting to keep herself upright. One last stumble took her straight into the legs of Ceryl, a soft squeak of alarm echoing from her mouth. She lay still at Ceryl's feet, staring placidly up, waiting for her to pick her Cerysk up so that they could leave. She was quite hungry, after all.

So that was it. Neirin smiled slightly, moving past Neisk, who was getting to her feet reluctantly, obviously not content with seeing all her children leave. There were still a few left and Neirin couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for them. The first wher Hatching she had attended was one in which she had bonded to Neisk, so she was not the sort prone to the depression that followed and knew very little about it. Perhaps not having something made it less of a pain than having something torn away from them. Either way, Neirin smiled gently at the remaining few, ushering them out as Neisk continued to plod around the remnants of her Clutch, snuffling with something like reproach for all her children leaving. "Good luck to you all in the future."

[Ruby]

Piden was, in fact, gawking. This was his first Hatching, and after only one Candidate lesson, he didn't exactly feel prepared. As it turned out, he wasn't- the violence and infighting among the new-hatched Whers shocked him into silence and stillness. He had stood silently for most of the hatching while chaos seemed to rage around him, clutching the handle of the knife so hard that his knuckles turned white. The hatching progressed around him, mostly seperate from his self-posessed thoughts, leaving Piden dragonlengths behind as he struggled to process.

It wasn't until something shiny crossed into the line of sight that his lowered eyes permitted that he snapped back to the present, trying to figure out what had happened. Almost all the Wherlets had impressed, it seemed, and at least one girl was missing. And... Piden's thoughts were interrupted by an alien feeling, one he was sure was not his. It seemed to say Pidesk, although that made no sense at all to the Candidate. Pidesk? What was a Pidesk, and how had that word occured to him without reason? And- most mystifying of all- why was a Bronze Wherlet sitting imperiously at his feet, demanding attention?

It hit him like a sack of firestone to the head.

He had impressed. Pidesk was his, and he was Piden of Pidesk. The color didn't matter at the moment, but somewhere in the back of his head the new Bronzehandler realized that shiny was high ranked. Instead of dwelling on that, though, Piden dropped to his knees, slicing his forearm open without thinking and offering it to Pidesk. The bronze leaned forward immediately and began to suck, taking enough blood that Piden felt a bit light-headed. Before it got too bad, though, Pidesk left off and started in on the meat in Piden's outstretched hand, devouring it in seconds.

Piden was still in a bit of a fog as he got up and led Pidesk to the bowl of meat, selecting a few more chunks for the hatchling as the final Wherling of the clutch- the Green Pidesk had helped to hatch- impressed. Although Piden hadn't known a thing about the Green or the girl she impressed, he felt a sudden rush of attachment. Pidesk, apparently, felt himself responsible for the hatching and impression, and Piden knew he'd better get to know this girl- he doubted Pidesk would ignore the pair now that he felt this kind of responsibility to them. Ah well, now wasn't the time; All the Bronze Wherpair wanted was a nap.

[Ember]

Ceryl watched without much interest as the bronze impressed, leaving his clutchsister the only one who had not found someone. The poor thing was so small, but an absolutely gorgeous colour. She finally stood up after much trouble in doing so. Was it just her tired mind playing tricks on her, or was the Cobweb Green looking at her? The green struggled off the nest, seeming a little sturdier on flat ground, but not much. The candidate's heart lifted more as the last wherlet continued on a path towards her.

Suddenly at her feet, the green looked up at her, the name springing to Ceryl's mind, but she didn't know how she knew the little creature's name. "Oh Cerysk!" She exclaimed quietly, if such a thing was possible. She fell to her knees before the little green, feeling the hunger from her wher. Her wher! What a thought. She scooped Cerysk on to her lap, cuddling her gently. The wher lifted her head and nuzzled Ceryl lovingly. She loved her bondmate, but she was oh so hungry, and couldn't she eat?

Ceryl giggled and stroked the small head, the feeling of hunger not belonging to herself growing. She picked up the wher, holding her close, and stood up. She saw the new bronze wherling and smiled gratefully at the pair. Without that bronze she was sure her Cerysk would have had more trouble. There was another thing more important than them right now though, and that was feeding her little wherlet. She moved over to the meat, more graceful than Cerysk was. She carefully set her down and looked at the knife still in her hand. Right, she was supposed to let Cerysk taste her blood. It didn't scare her anymore, oddly enough. She dragged the blade across her hand carefully, wincing as the edge sliced a thin line on her palm and the skin was stained with her blood. Cerysk nudged her handler's hand and the girl let the wherlet drink.

Cerysk finished, licking the hand as more blood came out. Ceryl smiled and grabbed some meat with her uncut hand and offered it to the small green. As Cerysk ate that piece, Ceryl ripped a strip off her candidate robe's sleeve, wrapping it around her hand. She fed Cerysk more meat, and when the wherlet was satisfied they left the hatching, Ceryl encouraging Cerysk's stumble-walk as they went to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be the start of a new life for both of them.