1. HISTORY
Though there had been a long span of time where no eggs had been on the Hatching Sands, there were finally clutches again, and one of them was readying to hatch now. As always, candidates stepped lightly but excitedly onto the hot sands, spectators filled the stands, and Rahel, followed by A'ra and Ean, sat down in the front row to watch the hatching.
There were enough candidates, but still some of the dragons decided that their fated one was not around. Just a second ago a gold hatchling had done so as had a couple of bronzes, a green and a brown. And now the last two eggs hatched. They revealed another bronze and a brown. The brown looked over the remaining candidate with good humour, but shrugged.
"Nope, I'm stumped as well. To the Abandoned Sands for me as well, though I think it should be called the Unbonded Sands, really, or something."
The others all sighed. "Whatever, Murrdeth".

2. BONDING
Peter and Mohammed were transported back to Darkling Dawn on Aten, Rebecca's Gold dragon. The ride was eventful to say the least. Between was a cold and peculiar place where nothing could be seen, heard, smelled or touched. And halfway there, Aten had alerted them that peter was slipping. Aten had barely managed to catch him with her tail as he slid down her sides, which she really couldn't feel.
Then they'd suddenly appeared above land again. But how different were the lush green forests of darkling dawn compared to the red and orange of the desert. They arrived at Darkling Dawn in the evening. Rebecca explained it would help them catch enough sleep to get through the following days.
"Don't worry." she had said, "It's a lot, but I'll help."
Both Peter and Mohammed were shown to the candidate quarters. they were asked to share a room since there was a clutch on the sands and most of the other rooms were already taken. Neither of the men objected.
The following morning they were woken up by the load calls of a dragon, a sound they learned later, was referred to as 'bugling'. They dressed themselves in clothes someone brought them. The clothes fit awkwardly since the tailoring was different from what the both of them were used to. Peter even refused to wear anything beside his suit, wrinkled as it may be.
Half an our later they walked outside, admiring the large cliff walls that housed the hundreds of residents of Darkling Dawn. Rebecca awaited them near the largest cave entrance and smiled.
"These are the hatching sands." she said, "I was told you could watch the eggs, but after that I was also told to bring you to meet some of the unbonded older dragons. Apparently Aten thinks you might make a good match for some of them.
"Just how old are they?" Peter asked thinking he'd end up with a grandpa dragon.
"Oh they hatched only a couple of weeks ago. You'll have plenty of work raising them."
"How long does it take for them to reach adulthood?" Mohammed asked.
"A dragon needs about a year to grow large enough to become a weyrling. During the following two or three years it practices running, hunting, flying and fighting. Usually they are considered adults when they've joined their first mating flight though exceptions need to made for some of them. At first you'll need to feed them every day, but gradually their hunger lessens and they'll become self-sufficient. They can get by with a large cow once a week."
"That's a lot." Peter remarked, looking slightly uneasy.
"They're big." Rebecca shrugged.
The three of them walked around the eggs where a weary female dragon gave them a once-over and then returned to her nap. She seemed to not be interested in them, but Mohammed felt her eyes on him the entire time they were inside.
"Shonakasen likes you." Rebecca said smugly, "That's a good sign."
"She didn't even look at us." Peter remarked while Mohammed smiled knowingly and let his boss be.
"Now for the unbonded dragons, the road is a bit hard." rebecca warned them, "Only the ones with the best of determination impress." she shrugged, "It's a way of making sure these dragons don't get hurt unnecessarily."
The three of them climbed a long set of stairs, rising ever higher until they were walking on the top of the cliffs. The view was fabulous. Forests as far as the eye could see. There were mountains and lakes and rivers and all of it looked fresh and untouched.
Rebecca waited for everyone to catch their breath and then walked on until they reached a small group of dragons enjoying the sun. Some opened their eyes and watched them, others ignored them and some even flew away.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Mohammed and Peter. Aten says they might suit your tastes."
"Not mine." Lackadeith said and trotted off.
Rebecca shrugged and whispered, "He does not like humans much."
"That sounds like discrimination." Peter said, "I'm not just any human. I'm a Brit."
The gold dragoness, barely big enough to look Peter in the eye looked up and said, "Murrdeth."
"Yes fellow clutchmate?"
"Isn't he your type?"
"Of types and tastes there is much to discuss." the dragon noted, "But yes, he does seem to be one to converse with on the many subjects that strike my fancy."
"Then shoo." the gold dragon said while thinking: 'at least we got rid of HIM.'
And maybe this was a chance to get another pest of her tail. Falideth looked around and then said,
"Druedoniath, don't you think this human is very promising?"
She looked over Mohammed, licking her lips, "I know I said I wanted a girl... but you know for someone as yummy as this..."
"He's mine!" Druedoniath interupted.
"Awww." Falideth sighed and giggled, "You got me."
"Great!" Druedoniath thought to himself, "I found a human that she likes." Then he turned to Mohammed and asked, "You're not married, are you?"
"Eh no."

Brown Murrdeth

3. FLIGHT
Peter climbed onto Murrdeth's back, still feeling that he wasn't as fit as he should be, but not minding it anyway. He made sure everything was secure and tightened his riding gear, which had custom-made British flags on it.
"We're ready to head out." he told Murrdeth.
Excitedly, the brown dragon started chattering: "I feel like I could just do a couple of loops. Finally my genes are going to be spread into the population of dragons. This feels so empowering. Rider-mine, what is this feeling I'm having?"
Peter felt for a moment adn then said, "It's pride."
"And pride you should feel. You are my dragon which means just by that you're already a bit better than everyone else. But we should not show it. It's not right to disciminate against others. Which is why I'm also proud that you decided to join this flight. I'll be rooting for you on the ground."
"I'll do my best to catch her." Murrdeth ernestly said.
The two of them lifted off and then travelled between to meet their destiny.

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STATS

Peter: male, 29 blond hair, blue eyes, out of shape description: Peter is a chauvinistic, impractical Brit. He is romantic in nature and likes to dream of better times (when Great Britain still ruled most of the world).

Brown Murrdeth: male, medium Murrdeth is fun-loving and a bit of a goofball, but for some reason, everyone just finds him incredibly annoying. Perhaps it's something about his voice or his speech pattern, or just some innate quality, but most get tired of his company very quickly.

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Story

Lantessama Isle
Peter and Mohammed impressed at Darkling Dawn
Background made with a picture found on google search engine