The soft spring sun had chased the chill of winter away
these past days. Though the nights still warranted coats and scarves, the
days, especially at noon were pleasant and warm. It was at one such noon
that the eggs on the sands started showing signs of hatching. A small
tremor started in one egg and seemed to ripple through the others, forming
a very noticeable stirring.
"It's starting!" Shezare
called and within minutes all dragons in the vicinity took up the call.
The silver-winged green dragoness protectively shielded her eggs
from view while they hatched, keeping them warm and safe. It didn't take
long for the candidates to arrive as they'd all been training nearby,
waiting for this very moment. A decent group had been searched. Three of
the six were regular human, three others were a bit more unusual
humanoids, with a small bilby rodent girl, a flamboyant toucan
antropomorph and a Kynnese Anari. Of the six, Merey, the Bilby and Moyenna,
a Pernese weyrbrat had a fondness of baking and caring for people. They'd
prepared cakes and tea for the candidates and spectators, providing a
fresh batch every couple of days while they waited for the eggs to hatch,
sharing their recipes. The fruity and sugary snacks were well received and
going by the hungry rumbles coming from behind their mother's wings, the
hatchlings were keen to get in on the action.
Noticing all her hatchlings had safely hatched and all candidates were in
place, Shezare dropped her wings and allowed for the others to get a
glimpse of her progeny. Unlike the usual hatchings at Lantessama, they
didn't need to wait for separate hatchings or pairings. No, these little
hatchlings all wanted cake. So they wasted no time in going over to the
candidates and bonding. They all seemed to know who they wanted as bond,
decisions that had maybe been made before they'd even hatched as the
candidates had been allowed to spend a lot of time with the eggs by their
easy-going mother Shezare and friendly sire Hashuith.
A Ruby red femle hatchling, found her way to the dark-skinned Anari Aymar
and rubbed her self against his legs.
"Bring me cake and I'll be forever
yours." she crooned.
Though the Anari was usually cynical, faced with such eager hunger and
adoration he couldn't help but smile: "As you wish, Aelodi." and
shared his sweets with her.
A blue male hatchling, with a bright Sapphire hide and darker Tanzanite
wings, skipped across the sands toward Moyenna. The still young but
motherly girl was excited to see she would in fact bond this time.
"You were meant to be mine. Aren't I smart
to pick you when you can make such tasty treats? The others clearly didn't
see your charm." the blue hatchling rambled on.
"You are so sweet, Remeith." she smiled as she hugged her
dragon. Finally she was a dragon rider.
"You are sweet. And wonderful. And
practical. And..."
"That's enough praise." Moyenna smothered Remeith.
A more sedate, slow Tiger's Eye brown hatchling, crept up to the warrior Sowulo
and sat down before him.
"My name is Iossith." he
stated and waited for the warrior to reply.
Gobsmacked, the usually boisterous soldier could only pat the head of his
new dragon while the emotions overwhelmed him.
Halfway through the hatching, two brightly coloured hatchlings approached
Merey and Endil. The female of the two, a pink rhodonite-winged spinel
red dragoness seemed to be the most daring of the two as she dragged her
small purple-pink Kunzite brother along.
"We wish not to separate." she
told Endil, "My name is Kuprill."
"Can I come with you?" the
male asked shyly as he looked straight and innocently into Merey's eyes.
"I would be so glad to have you join us." Merey said as she
hugged her new bond, feeling the intense joy of having gained two
children.
Kuprill nudged her brother, who then choked in a cough and said: "My
name is Vitere."
After which she looked over at Endil for affirmation, her community-minded
and energetic personality already settling in at the thought of living and
working on their small fruit farm.
"I couldn't be happier to have you help us." the toucan assured
her.
Being left standing seemed to be something he'd have to get used to,
thought Stevan. All the others he'd ended up with in this place had
already bonded. Of those, only his grandfather actually mattered. Years
had gone by and he was no longer the uncertain teenager he'd been when
he'd arrived at Lantessama. He'd become a decent man, at least he hoped he
was, and had carried his own weight. Still, standing here and waiting,
seeing the others bond made him feel uncertain again. But Stevan needn't
have worried as the last remaining hatchling did have him in mind as a
bond. She was a turquoise-winged emerald green dragoness of quite large
proportions. She was not very elegant or ladylike, but she was motherly
and thoughtful and wanted to chase his worries away.
"You are a good man." she
told him, "Good enough for me if you'd have
me."
Stevan wondered for a moment why the dragoness left the choice to him but
gathered it was so he wouldn't feel pressured to take her as a last
resort.
"I'd be very happy with you, Undroth." he told her.
"Good." she said, "I
wasn't planning on leaving here without you."
With the last hatchling bonded, people turned to the waiting tables where
different dishes both warm and cold shared the space with even more
desserts.
Aymar
(m) and Ruby Aelodi (f)
Sowulo
(m) and Tiger's Eye Iossith (m)
Stevan
(m) and Turquoise-Emerald
Undroth (f)
Moyenna
(f) and Tanzanite-Sapphire
Remeith (m)
Merey
(f) and Kunzite Vitere (m)
Endil
(m) and Rhodonite-Spinel
Kuprill (f)