Third Hatching

Clutching Story
Forest Kuniri burried her eggs in the sands of the deep cavern. One of the walls was open and supported by more pillars. It let in light and the warmth of the day. In front of the opening, benches were placed in a half circle. A large set of doors, framed again by pillars and wall fountains, could separate Kuniri and her eggs when they hatched. 
"How many eggs are there?" Her mate Plant Decalan asked.
"You'll find out at the hatching." she replied sweetly.
"How many candidates should we judge?" Xander asked.
"Hmm... at least three and preferably five."

And then some unforeseen events
"What do you mean you need to be in the deep cavern, Corilyn?" Xander asked.
The brown-haired High Knight of exploring cringed a bit at the serious tone of the High Prince. She couldn't help it that her drak had snuck off with her mate to have a clandestine rendez-vous that had resulted in eggs. If they'd been that eager to create offspring they could have just added their names on the list of waiting pairs.
"It seems Meyanal is expecting eggs." Corilyn sighed.
"Does Hael know?"
"Of course, Luïkios is the father!" Corilyn called out.
By now the two humans had reached the deep cavern where they found rain Meyanal happily providing company to a bored Forest Kuniri. 
"Kuniri said it's okay if we share." Meyanal happily supplied.
"Some company will do me good." the other drak sighed.
"Apparently that worked out well." Xander noted. 

Hatching
As usual the day was pleasantly warm at Dawn, with a light breeze cooling down the stone-covered area that led to the sheltered deep cavern. It had rained that morning, and the area around the castle seemed to be caught in a fog that made the stories about pirates and bloodshed all the more believable. 
Of course, since Raf had taken up the rule of Dawn Castle, more than one pirate had come to land. In fact, two of the resident aspirants were pirates. Flint, an accomplished second in command, the other, Eleuterio, a lowly cabin boy. Other than that there were a few delegates from the other castles, Phende, the son of the High prince of Castle Yavier and Dahmura, a tribesman from the desert villages around DesCas Castle. Acicade had sent a very young girl, though it had been a few years since she'd come to Dawn to study. Raf had felt it only right to let her mature a bit before letting her pair. The last three aspirants were travellers: A Kynnese native with platinum hair and grey eyes by the name of Yanna, a blonde healer from Pern called Tillimey and Seanna, a wayward earthling that had arrived by some unknwon magical means. Nobody really cared about that, it had happened before.
Once everyone had gathered, the heavy doors to the deep cavern opened and the two draks strode out, each accompanied by her draklings. They settled on opposite sides of the door. Meyanal waited patiently as Kuniri strode forward and said:
"Myrian. Be careful not to let your passion rule your good sense."
A golden drakling with vibrant red wings stepped forward, bowed to his mother and turned to the waiting aspirants. He had a lot of choice but did not stray from the path toward the pirate Flint. 
In the stands, his younger brother Xaedan, already a knight at Dawn Castle jumped up and cheered, some of the other attendants joined in with clapping, but the commotion died down quickly as Meyanal now raised her head and called:
"Foosla. May join and happiness be part of every day."
A dainty grey-silver female drakling pranced forward. She did make a show of going toward the aspirants, parading herself in front of them, snapping her tail and flapping her wings, until she finally sat down in front of Eleuterio.
Again the assembled pirates cheered and Eleuterio smiled so wide some would later say they were worried his face would crack. 
Kuniri gently pushed a little duplicate of hers forward as the forest drakling had been too busy playing with her siblings to realise she was up next.
"Gisanri. Live every day to the fullest."
The little forest drakling let out a call while advancing to the aspirants and nearly tripped into the arms of Yanna who somehow managed to keep her from going down. 
"Rügosla. Don't worry about limits." Meyanal advised and another forest drakling came forward. She was a bit more relaxed than Gisanri and took her time to make her way to the aspirants where she sniffed and nuzzled Seanna. The drakling pushed her little body to the girl and refused to budge.
Kuniri looked back at her draklings and two stepped forward at the same moment, causing a little bit of hesitation and commotion among the draklings. Kuniri snorted and finally the beige desert male gave way to let his blue-green sister go first.
"Leanri. May grace be your guide."
The water who took the message from her mother to heart, seemed to glide toward the aspirants, wings fluttering gently in the breeze and almost seeming to shimmer in the faint light. Attracted by the calm and quiet confidence of the Pernese healer, she sat down in front of Tillimey and let her tail twist around the woman's wrist.
"Yrian, let righteousness guide your path."
The desert wasted no time to cross the short distance toward the aspirants himself and quickly let his eye wander over the three remaining humans. He could see himself fit with all of them but was drawn to one in particular. He went forward and bowed his head in front of Phende McDairmid-Ridsaw, second-born to the High Prince of Castle Yavier and offered his support. 
Meyanal let her last remaining drakling crawl in front and called his name:
"Hyalos. Be steadfast and sure in all your decisions."
The little white and brown drakling looked up at his mother and nodded solemnly before walking over to the desert tribesman who'd fought more battles than he would admit to and went to stand quietly by his side.
That left one more drakling. Hardly noticeable against the shade in the cave, Kuniri stepped aside to let a little beam of light fall on her black and gold daughter.
"Allanri. May you experience as many adventures as there are stars in the sky."
Even knowing she should wait to see if maybe this drakling would choose not to bond, Etyl couldn't contain her excitement and ran straight to the small female drakling. Stopping just in front of Allanri, Etyl held her breath and waited until the night butted her head against her side and let out a contented sigh.
With all aspirants and draklings paired, the crowd gave a final applause and the cheers lasted longer now as onlookers and family members swarmed around the new pairs to wish them luck and hear their stories and expectations. High Prince Raf gestured for the food to be brought around, knowing all those pirates would get rowdy without some food and drink to keep them entertained. Meanwhile Xander let in the trainers and some experienced riders to introduce them to the squires. Tomorrow morning they'd start training but tonight was for dreaming and being merry. 

Forest Kuniri & Plant Decalan
Etyl (f) & Night Allanri (f) - trained by Wim & Mud Fregiki (Knight)
Yanna (f) & Forest Gisanri (f) - trained by Rowan & Forest Paienna (Judge)
Tillimey (f) & Water Leanri (f) - trained by Hael & Night Luïkios (Healer)
Flint (m) & Fire Myrian (m) - trained by Xaedan & Fire Reenkios (Pirate)
Phende (m) & Desert Yrian (m) - trained by Aaryn & Earth Myrundios (Defence) 

Rain Meyanal & Night Luïkios 
(using Savannah images)
Eleuterio (m) & Rain Foosla (f) - trained by Caylea & Wind Hyenna (Knight)
Dahmura (m) Earth Hyalos (m) - trained by Gunnar & Desert Phakios (Fighting)
Seanna (f) & Forest Rügosla (f) - trained by Corilyn & Rain Meyanal (Exploring)

pick-up

Night Allanri (f)

Forest Gisanri (f)

Water Leanri (f)

Fire Myrian (m)

Desert Yrian (m)

Rain Foosla (f) 

Earth Hyalos (m)

Forest Rügosla (f)

Landing Flat