Halloween 2004
Sword and Dagger

Grinning pumpkins lighted the small heart of the holiday cave. Their moving light made more shadow than it illuminated the grey walls, but a large gathering of eggs could be easily seen around the center fire. Outside the cave laughter sounded and more than once the small rapid patter of children's feet could be heard outside. 
A soft slither was barely noticeable, but two round yellow eyes  were all the more visible as a soft green plant dragon entered the special sands area. Wickedness had carefully made her way via the top of the regular hatching sands, avoiding the light of Purelith's mate Einzelth. 
Fading into the background, seemingly just another lantern hanging from the wall, Wickedness watched as Donriven and Lucas entered the caves. They couldn't see her, if she was thrown out now all would have been for naught.
"I don't like it one bit." Donriven said to Lucas, "Why do I have to give out weapons?"
"You aren't using these anymore." Lucas said absentmindedly, still putting up the last decorations - late as usual. "Trix told me they haven't been used in years.
"They're collector's items." Donriven said glowering.
"They'll probably be returned as the hatchlings grow. It's not my fault the 'Bring your own Weapon' part wasn't included on the invitations."
"Not mine either. I was busy with the shadows." Donriven said.
"Well I had to make half the female population happy by installing that espresso machine. Really, it could have ended up in riots if I hadn't."
"Just go call the candidates." Donriven shrugged as one of the eggs started to show signs of hatching. "It's too late to change now." looking at his collection of weapons, stalled aesthetically against the back wall, he sighed. He'd better get these back eventually.

***

The Candidates entered the cavern, The flames inside the pumpkin lanterns casting light and shadow on their faces, obscuring them until Wickedness could not make out their features. She did however see two equally interested eyes on the opposite wall of the cave. So daddy had made his way into the holiday cave as well. This could get interesting.
The eggs in the center of the cave started wobbling and silence descended onto the candidates. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. Wickedness herself arched forward. It was always uncertain what would hatch from these genetically altered eggs. That had been clear to her from the moment she had heard about this clutch. She could barely be called adult, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to bond.
The first of the eggs suddenly burst open, causing a rain of dust and ash to fly from the burning fire. Where the egg had been Wickedness now saw a small beige dragon on the sands. Getting to his knees and hands he looked oddly like a human toddler, crawling with equal grace - knocking over eggs wherever he passed them - toward Donriven's weapon stand.
"What are you going to take from me?" Donriven asked, being elbowed by Lucas to be nice.
The hatchling looked at the weapons with big eyes and finally reached for the net and pitch fork that hung at the very top. Falling more than a metre short the hatchling let out a groan of displeasure before he started crying piteously.
"Alright, alright." Donriven said, giving the hatchling his desired weapons, "You better be quiet now."
Squealing happily, the hatchling pranced around with his new found toys, ready to poke an eye out of every human stupid enough to approach him. With one last look at the candidates, the hatchling finally headed for Lissandra, her own gladiator equipment resting neglected in her room.
"What's your name little one?" she asked.
"Meshrim." 
Stunned Lissandra got up, cradling the hatchling, had everyone heard him speak out loud? From the surprised looks on the other's faces they had.  
Wickedness too looked surprised, her fiery eyes widening for a second. Speaking out loud? How unpractical!
Next three eggs clashed together and broke. Wickedness told herself to remember the move should she ever want to make a giant omelette. From the three dragonets that fell out two were female, one of them was the same beige colour as the previous hatchling. The other female was a light grey in colour and the male, chubbier than his sisters was a darker shade of brown, bordering on milk chocolate.
The three went to the back wall together, whispering to each other, maybe discussing what would be for lunch. Wickedness followed the trio with gazing eyes, trying to mind speak one into finding her while also being quiet enough for Cyan not to hear her. She and Trix had joint Donriven and Lucas where the weapons were, ready to give the hatchlings what they wanted.
The first to step forward and receive her weapon was the slender grey female with her long dark brown braid. The hatchling glanced over the weapons and stopped looking when her eyes hit the razor blade gloves. 
"I want those." she said with a sweet voice, "Please?"
Cyan handed over the gloves and then turned the hatchling toward the candidates. Looking a bit swamped the baby dragon suddenly saw a catlike woman with whiskers. It seemed to be the right thing to do for the hatchling, so she advanced on Teigra Leonius and hugged her legs, ignoring the small gasp as her clawed gloves dug into her flesh.
"My name is Nesrin, Teigra." she said, "I'm so glad I found you."
"I like you too, Nesrin." Teigra said, "Shall we find you some food?" And get those claws off me. the woman thought along with what she said.
"Yummy."
The second dragonet, the chubby male was enthralled by the hanging pendulum, it's large triangular blade slowly rotating on it's sturdy chain. Not even bothering to speak he reached for the shimmering blade and was saved from a guillotine-like accident by Donriven who shook his head wearily. 
"Seriously, they're too young to get these goodies."
But the hatchling had already gripped the pendulum's long pole and was walking toward the waiting candidates. There his eyes locked with Daralance's and he sighed happily, finally speaking.
"Brann." he said, sitting down near his chosen, apparently willing to see the rest of the hatchling before eating.
The second female then rose to her feet and wobbled toward the weapons, only to pass Donriven who let out a relieved sigh, and was rewarded by an angry look from Trix. Finally the hatchling stopped near one of the empty tables where some leftover decorations were laying. Rummaging through the heap the hatchling was soon covered in fake cobwebs and pieces of black cloth. Throwing a witch' head away she stopped at the broomstick, hurriedly pulling out the straw until she was left with a long wooden stick. 
Crooning happily the hatchling made no move toward the candidates and in stead remained swinging her stick on the table, looking amazed as it twirled above her head.
"We'll find a home for this one later." Lucas nodded, "But we will need her name."
"Zjavella." the hatchling said, not even breaking eye contact with her stick long enough to look toward the Laedrys. 
An egg at the edge of the circle broke and the hatchling that fell out rolled toward the candidates. It's dark brown skin was hardly visible in the faint light, causing a bit of commotion when it rushed through the first ranks of candidates. Finally, the hatchling, a male, stopped in front of Krisholm and gazed up at the harper.
"I bet you don't much like these weapons either." Kris said.
The hatchling shook his head, got to his feet and looked around, finally running away behind a corner, only to return with a small golden harp in his hands. The hatchling held it up eagerly.
"It will be enough to practice on, Creshco." Kris answered.
Meanwhile, over where the Leadrysses were standing, Lucas let out a soft mumble of protest.
"That was supposed to be the center piece for the Christmas Clutch this year." he said, "How did he ever get it away from the angel holding it anyway?"
"Relax." Donriven grinned, "You said it yourself, you should get it back in time."
"That's not funny!" Lucas said.
Before Lucas and Donriven could start arguing, 4 more eggs broke in the circle, some of them cracking even others. As dragonets spilled on the heated sands, the candidates arched forward, all of them trying to get a good look at the different babies. But the hatchlings ran through and over each other, making it hard to follow them. 
All of them eventually headed for the back wall. The first to reach the Mecca of all Halloween dragons was a dark brown female, with dark red wings that surprised even Lucas. With her bright orange-red hair the hatchling could be followed around the cave well. She went to the weapons stand and took one of several knives laying on the table. 
In stead of moving to the candidates after she had gotten her weapon, the baby female headed for the secret stairs out of the special sands. Trix was only barely quick enough to stop her and pointed her to play with her bondless sister saying they would find any home she wanted later.
"Your name?" Cyan asked as the hatchling passed her.
"Ykhamodred." the hatchling said.
Cyan turned to Trix and asked: "How do you think you spell that?"
"I don't think she cares." Trix smiled, "Just make it look cool." 
While this hatchling went to the empty tables, two of her brothers were trying to surround Donriven, a hard thing to do considering they only came to his knee. One of them, a beige male was trailing a piece of black cloth behind him as if it was a cape and reached toward the blades. The second, light brown from hue also, reached for a spear with two curved scythe blades. 
Donriven, seeing the danger of the situation, quickly took a step back as the spear slashed the air where he had been.
"Watch out." he said, "Go terrorise your bonds if you must."
The two hatchlings shrugged that their play session was now over. They headed for the candidates. The little stalker with his knife soon found Lanithro to have fun with. The half dragon with his white hair stood out among the candidates, not only because he wore all whites, but also because his eyes darted through and fro through the cave. Hence he did not see the hatchling until it was too late.
"Boo!"
Lanithro was ready to run or fight if cornered by the mass of people. A small paw tugging his shirt took his attention down.
"Didn't mean to scare you, mine." the hatchling said, "Maybe I should have yelled trick or treat first." Hugging his dark cape closely the wild-haired hatchling shuffled his feet, "My name is Shijet if you still like me." two small tears even formed on the cheeks of this fearless Zorro character.
Nodding, Lanithro checked the cave once more. If bonding meant he could get away from watching eyes - for instance those freakishly big yellow ones in the corner - he would leap to the chance.
"Let's go Shijet."
Wickedness watched the weird human go and could swear he looked right at her. Maybe it was the season. After all, her skills of hiding were superior to that of any human. The plant dragon put the looks out of her head and watched the remaining male between the candidates. This one seemed to be lost to her as well.
The hatchling with the two-bladed spear walked forward, not bothering to be careful, people had to jump away from his blades to remain unharmed. Finally he reached Kragmar, he who h had been searching for through the forest of legs. 
"Kragmar, I'm Duonov." the hatchling said.
"I've been expecting you."
Two female dragonets now reached Donriven at the same time. One, a slightly yellow tanned dragon with long black hair grabbed a sword and hurried toward the candidates while her sister, a ravishing black dragonet with golden hair, took longer to choose a weapon. After carefully going over each one of the collection, pausing at some, the black hatchling suddenly took out a very simply, but stunning gold lightning-shaped scythe. 
While her sister had already found her bond in the swordfighter Janine, standing before her like a tiny guardian with her sword ready to strike she looked quite cute. Un-halloweeny even, Wickedness thought disappointed. Where were the fangs? the claws? the bloody murder? Why were all these eggs hatching into adorable babies? Sighing she followed the black dragonet as she headed to a group of five girls with some elemental powers. It was no surprise that the hatchling picked out Dondra, the woman named after thunder.
"I'm Zoerell." the hatchling said, "We shall be good together."
"We surely will." the woman said, her eyes already filled with abnormal sparkles. Thunder rumbled in the distance while the two left the hatching cavern to feed.
After the first rush, the tempo of the hatching died down a bit. Wickedness didn't mind that one bit. Looking at the eggs, getting a good look of each individual dragon seemed to be more fun than having this event over quickly. Halloween night after all was not done yet. Neither was this clutch, only ten eggs had hatched so far and over 30 lay still waiting in the circle.
One of the eggs Wickedness had been gazing at suddenly burst with great force. Surely a sign that this dragonet was hers. The dragon, a beige female with light brown hair, emerged from her egg and didn't even get near of Donriven. 
"Apparently your collection can't lure just any dragon." Lucas smiled.
"They weren't supposed to in the first place." Donriven answered.
The female skipped around the cave until she found what she was looking for, a transparent piece of string Lucas used to fasten decorations to the roof with. The wire was strong, wouldn't rip... Perfect. Happily the female hopped toward Daralance.
"I'm Lynesse!" she said, making the wire zing when she suddenly tensed it.
"You're not going to be too girly, are you?" Daralance asked.
"Try me." Lynesse glared.
A dark hatchling with light brown hair and dark green wings was suddenly moving about through the eggs though Wickedness had not seen him hatch. She watched as the hatchling moved toward Donriven and without hesitating for a second took the big machete. The hatchling seemed to grin when he had the blade in his hands, and promptly turned to the orange hydra Rixth.
"What do you say about us leaving together?"
Going over the hatchling and especially lingering on his machete, Rixth's smile nearly seemed a mock, but his words showed his appreciation: "I shall teach you."
"That's all I ask."
Two eggs broke simultaneously. A male black and a female blond-beige stirred on the sands and headed for Donriven. The female was just a tad quicker on her feet, grabbing a big two-bladed axe before her brother could even get close. Fast as the wind she was headed away from him again, leaving him baffled to see her brother take a four bladed spear and follow her.
The young female didn't waste time choosing, she headed straight for the only human who was good enough for her. She stopped right in front of him and called:
"Amroth Taralom! I am now your apprentice and bond. My name is Dymaese." she let the s slither like a snake, giving her a dangerous smile, or at least she would have if she had had a slit tongue, Wickedness pondered. Of course she had a beautiful hiss. Would she dare sound it? No, better not.
The male took longer to decide who he would go to, but in the end placed himself beside Moknaris.
"In case you are wondering," he said, "My name is Drae'anis."
One more lonely hatchling - a rather clumsy one at that - hatched and immediately caused several eggs to fall as his tail hit one. In a domino-effect four fell and cracked, the dragons inside fighting to get free at the sudden action.
The baby black-haired, brow dragon made for Donriven as fast as his legs could carry him. He grabbed the first weapon that he felt in his little paws, a long, heavy sword and tried to go on. The sword was too heavy now, his small arms not able to carry it. The dragonet, showing his determination, did not want to take up any lighter sword. Finally he managed to drag the sword to the ground and sat upon it so no-one else could take it.
"I shall stay here until I'm big enough to carry it." he said stubbornly. "My name is Gregor."
The dragons Gregor had awakened with his tail started to surround Donriven, each wanting him to give them their weapon of choice. Cyan and Lucas came to his aid, while Trix remained noting down the progress of the hatching. Wickedness inwardly smiled from her secret perch. They really weren't a very organised bunch. Maybe that would turn to her advantage some day as well.
The first hatchling of the group to get her weapon, was a beige little girl with a brown braid. She motioned Donriven to give her his whip. Cracking it softly she grinned to him and then ran off to find someone who could use it well enough to teach her. Her eyes fell on Katia, the young woman with a lust for vengeance and a love for flaying.
"I'm Ianda." she said, "Will my whip talk like yours?"
"I doubt it. But maybe Shy has one left where he got mine."
Lucas handed another dragonet, a yellowish male with black hair, some nicely sharp shuriken he immediately started to use as juggling balls. Carefully returning the shuriken to his paws, Lucas told the hatchling to go bond before he hurt someone. Looking a bit shocked at the thought the hatchling moved toward Ameshiroi and quickly handed the shuriken over.
"I shall give them back once you have completed your training, Kouzaiku."
The hatchling nodded and then nudged Ameshiroi to the feeding tables outside the holiday cavern.
While these two where leaving, a third hatchling, female, slightly reddish in tint who had relieved Donriven of a spear, was going over the candidates. Finally her eyes went over Savaren. The 75 year-old might very well be the oldest candidate there though he didn't look his part. With an approving look in her eyes the hatchling glanced over this particular human and then placed her spear in front of him.
"My name is Reanne and I am yours."
Savaren only nodded, keeping his thoughts hidden from a cave full of people.
The next baby to get her weapon looked very unusual with her dark brown, almost black skin and her white-grey hair. But she acted no different as the others, being just as eager to get her weapon. Her weapon of choice was an axe with twin winged blades, a fine choice for a weapon by the look Donriven gave her when she took it. 
She headed toward the group of five girls that had come together though they came from different worlds. The white-haired hatchling set her gaze to Kaylisz, the one with the wind magic, and noticeably shorter than the others. The woman was hiding behind her friends, observing the hatching from a safe distance. But no-one would be safe from the baby dragons.
"Ehem." the hatchling said, not sounding young at all, "I believe you are mine. I am Ellaorel."
The last of the small group stirred by Gregor with his sword, a medium brown female with lighter brown hair also made her way toward the decoration tables. After having thrown half a dozen boxes with outfits aside, she finally reached one labelled: 'Prehistoric'. Diving into the box the hatchling suddenly pulled out some strips of green cloth as well as a primitive weapon consisting of 4 rocks bound together on a string.
Donning the costume onto herself she made her way to the candidates and finally picked the striped Ferilon Mahno as her bond. After all, he too was brown with green stripes.
"I'm Sling." she squeaked and then sat down beside him.
A momentary silence fell over the hatching grounds again, broken only by some coughs and shuffling from restless candidates. Wickedness, looking from her perch carefully observed her father. His three summer cocktail flits - the critters were not worth being called dragons - had appeared and were now buzzing around his head. She giggled. How long would it take before Cyan saw him?
An egg broke on the sands, making her lose her concentration before she could aid Evilness' detection. Turning back to the center she watched a black dragon with brown hair fall from his egg. The hatchling stumbled to his feet, twisting and turning to get through the eggs without making one fall. Finally he reached Donriven in the back, taking not one but two weapons. one for each paw. The hatchling's choice had fallen on a small dagger and a longer sword. 
The little male then turned to the candidates, grinning at a few of the females, acting a real charmer, before he finally pulled a dark purple cloak from the ground and donned it. Walking with more pride than anything this little should have, he found himself watched by many eyes - and liking it. Wickedness groaned in her perch. he was soooo cliché, and yet, she liked it. She almost hoped this hatchling would be hers, but she knew she would not be able to live with him.
And indeed the hatchling stopped in front of Christian, another Ladies man. Placing his weapons on the ground before the youth, the hatchling said: "Naglass 's the name, Charming's the game."
Christian just grinned.
Three eggs hatched next, all of them revealing female dragons. the first baby dragoness was a pale beige with thick blond hair and medium brown wings. She crawled on all fours to Cyan and pointed up to a bow that was hanging above the swords and axes, making it impossible for her to reach. Cyan nodded and handed her the bow that was almost as big as herself. 
Happily strutting around, the hatchling did not stop in front of the candidates, but kept walking and finally placed herself near the other bondless dragonets at the empty tables, very quickly amusing herself with some glitter crème. With unsteady hands she wrote out Sylva'ess in big childlike letters.
"I'm assuming that's her name." Cyan said dryly, spelling it so Trix could write it down.
The next two moved as if the were twins. One was light brown with a long darker brown pony tail, the second white-bluish with spiky grey hair. They ganged up on Donriven, babbling reassuring words before taking a double-bladed axe and some icepicks. The two of them went to the group of five magical girls after that. The brown hatchling, looking into Zraylin eyes and saying: "I'm Xiomy." while the second gazed at Glacy and just uttered "Soruell" in a silent whisper.
Wickedness nearly broke her cover as an egg burst open right below her. Dangling dangerously, she regained her balance and looked down to spot what had made her startle. A light-tanned, black haired male was standing below her, seemingly oblivious of the danger lurking over his head. Or was he? He stepped remarkably quick toward Donriven's little weapon depot, not stopping once to let sharp claws reach him.
"I shall take these two blades, thank you." he said with the voice of a born leader, "My name is Centurion and I shall be staying."
"Noted." Trix said, "Go play with your clutchmates."
"Goodie." the dragon answered sarcastically.
Two eggs sprang next, one showing a pale female dragoness with wild hair and eyes to match. She looked frantically around and soon found the other hatchling on the field. A male this was he looked hardly anthropomorphic. This darker baby had stripes running all over his body, and two large ears perched up on his head. Impatiently the female motioned for the male to follow her, which he did, and they both reached Donriven. However it was only The female that chose a weapon, two sticks, fastened together by a short chain. She denied the male his choice.
"Come." she said in a musical voice, running toward the dragons. Sighing, the male followed again.
Gangstath watched them come and soon was certain they were going to be coming home with him. Another two mouths to feed, but at least there'd be the welfare to collect.
"I am Vegha." the female said, "And this," she motioned, "Is Bukon, my bond."
"Why doesn't he say that himself?" Gangstath asked.
"He can't speak."
"At least he won't keep me awake."
Letting out a cat-like meow that rang around the cave, Bukon grinned, stretching his limbs in a cat-like fashion.
"Scratch that." Gangstath answered.
One after the other five eggs hatched, stirring the sand up into clouds of dust by their force. The five hatchlings were obscured for a while, but Wickedness' eyes were used to bad conditions. Without problems she picked out the five new dragonets. One was a faded brown female with a somewhat insane look in her eyes - Wickedness thought she was very promising, the second was an odd grey female with a look of superiority to her although she really didn't look anything different from the others - Wickedness did not believe she would be able to work with this one. The third female on the sands was a faint orange-brown female hatchling with grey hair that hung long down her shoulders, but stood also up in a large spike on her head. She looked cool, the way of moving: stalking, swaying like a cobra... Wickedness adored her, but the hatchling looked up and shook her head. Just shows you that the kids today aren't polite any more. The other two hatchlings were male, one was grey and bald with a look of danger around him, the second tanned and seemingly uninterested in all that was happening.
In group they went to the tables where they were presented with their weapons. The female with the insane look received a nice square spear, blood still on it's blade. Looking overjoyed, the hatchling purred at the sight of blood. She turned around and called: 
"Bleyda? Shall we see more of it on this blade?"
"I'm sure we will." Bleyda called back, a vision of blood-soaked cavern walls suddenly visible. But only for a second, not long enough for anyone to actually believe what they had seen. No-one even thought that it had been real, it must just have been a play of the flames.
"This blade deserves that. I shall go with you, My name is Quitaery."
The orange female shook her head at all the weapons Lucas presented her with. Finally she sighed, headed for the food tables, guarding the punch bowl like she was paranoid.
"Is she going to drink that?" Lucas asked, "I just put it there for drama's sake." and indeed no-one had gone near it, the bowl shuddered, hissed and fumed, looking not at all drinkable.
"I think she wants someone else to drink it." Cyan whispered.
"Good luck for whoever catches that one." Lucas sighed. 
"I shall not be caught." the female called back, "I'm Merix and I stand alone... after all, no-one could survive long in my presence."
"Nice." Lucas said, "Someone to poison our drinks while we're not watching. Just what we need around here."
The grey female had taken a longer time to chose her weapons, but finally took up two ornately carved daggers. Studying them minutely, she finally lowered them and nodded. These would do. She turned to the candidates and said: 
"Don't you think so, Solanum?"
"They will, my lady of the blade."
"Just Messia to you." she answered.
The next in line for choosing his weapon was the grey male. He did not have to think long before he grabbed a ivory-worked scythe from the wall. The weapon was long, but the blades were light and the hatchling seemed to have no difficulty in wielding the scythe. As a shadow he headed for the candidates, swift and staying in the dark until he found the nightbringer that had so graciously left everyone alive. The hatchling could feel the dragons guarding this candidate, watching his every move closely. Well, one more to watch would not be so bad.
"Hello Mor'Iktar, I'm Xenyde."
"Greetings."
The last remaining male on the field now looked through the weapons. he found none to capture his interest, turning around he grinned and then ran as quickly as he could toward, Benjay.
"We have much to discuss, Nahkt." Benjay said.
"I could use some people to talk too..." the hatchling said, "Who are we going to visit?"
"Shy of course."
"Ooooh! I'm going to like him." the same sneaky grin came on the dragonet's face, something disturbingly wrong with it. While the pair left the cave, Donriven turned to Lucas and asked: 
"Did that hatchling just tried to be an exhibitionist without a cape?"
"I don't know...." Lucas said slowly, "He did look as if he was streaking."
"There's something very wrong with that one."
"Yeah..."
"Considering dropping the gengineering?" Donriven asked.
"Are you?"
"No."
Another egg burst open, momentarily stopping the two Laedrysses from talking. They watched as the light grey dragon with his spiky black hair walked around the last of the remaining eggs, shells breaking under his feet. Careful not to stumble the dragon made his way toward the back of the cave, picking up a nice axe from Donriven and Lucas who were watching this hatchling like hawks to see if he too would show some improper behaviour.
"Doramon!" the hatchling called, "They're freaking me out here!"
"Don't worry, Axl, I'm coming."
"This one seems to be ok." Donriven shrugged as he handed the scared hatchling over to his bond, who gave the two of them some worried looks.
Lucas tried to smile friendly, though it looked forced and creepy, "No harm done."
Two more eggs broke shell. Two male dragons fell to the sands. One was dark grey, the other brown. Wickedness noted that all dragons hatching this Halloween were not very brightly coloured. As the pair made their way to the back, one of them -the brown one- tripped and could only stay erect by clinging to a dark blue table cloth. Staying panting for a while the hatchling suddenly threw the table cloth around him and grinned. Wickedness also noted these group of hatchling's fondness of capes. Apparently only the insane hatched on Halloween - what was so fun about a cape anyway?
The grey male had already chosen his mace, the point on the orb gleaming with malicious light before the brown one even got close, hindered by the cape he wore as a poncho.
The grey one waited for his brother to make a choice, some daggers and a stout metal axe left Donriven's table, before he tugged Trix' shirt.
"I'm Klahren." the grey one said, "I won't be going until I'm adult."
"Add me too," the grey one said, "I'm Jonjas."
Another thing Wickedness couldn't help but notice was that there were an awful lot of hatchlings going unbonded. There must be a reason, no-one in their right mind would pass up the chance to bond to her with her deadly grace and powerful vicegrip.
Apparently her daddy wasn't too glad with all the unbonded either. His frustrated hiss was audible even for Cyan, who immediately locked on the the venus fly trap. Wickedness smiled inwardly as her father was scooped up by Cyan and dragged away from the sands by his tail while he vainly fluttered to stay put. This evening would be victorious now either way. Keeping even more quiet, the green plant runner gazed back at the eggs, wanting one to be hers.
Two eggs, wobbling since Evilness had passed them, broke open one shortly after the other. A slightly yellowish male and a brown female rolled out of the eggs, getting caught up in each other. In a large ball of tail and limbs they stopped when they hit the wall and where helped by Cyan and Lucas, and directed toward Donriven. The male looked up with wonder-filled eyes and finally tried to grab a double-bladed sword. The female looked over the weapons and sighed. She did not like any of them. Joining her sisters on the decoration tables she soon found another left over pole that she hugged close. Not much after she found the fake feathers and was in heaven when she found out they stuck to her stick. When asked her name she mumbled 'Heirast' barely slow enough to be understood.
The male looked at his sister, but then decided to go to the candidates. There weren't many left, though more than a few of the already bonded had stayed to see the rest of the hatching. Trying to find someone he liked through the masses, he finally saw someone he liked. Tashrin, cornered by his bonded sister and friend. The hatchling hardly noticed the angry looks the trio gave each other, but barged in, bumping against his chosen's legs, distracting him long enough to calm down the heated tempers.
"I'm Kriag!" the dragon started, and talked several full sentences after that in a rapid sort of speech that was hard to understand. Tashrin smiled and nodded, and kept nodding as if what the dragon said made all the more sense to him. Finally the dragon stopped and looked at his brother and sister who were trying to get him to the feeding tables outside.
"I guess I'm hungry too."
"Finally!" Brann called out, his little stomach making a rumbling noise that made him run all the faster toward the food.
Wickedness counted and noticed that Halloween night was ending. 7 more eggs lay on the sands, a lucky number, but would it be lucky for her? Wickedness had always considered herself to be more of a thirteen person. Sudden breaking sounds stopped her trail of thought. Four eggs had broken, leaving only three whole. Three, another lucky number... was it a sign?
The four dragonets on the sand were all brown in colour, the first to get to Donriven was a small male with darker brown hair hanging to his back in two separate tails that started at the base of his neck. This hatchling chose one of the last two axes, lovingly petting it before he went to stand beside Cyan.
"Excuse me." he said in a tiny, almost feminine voice, "I won't be bonding tonight. I'm not worthy of an axe master yet."
"As you will." Cyan shrugged, "What's your name?"
"Lienar."
The second, a more beige female with wavy black hair looked at Donriven with a disturbingly daring look before she very slowly took a dagger, never once taking her eyes of him. When she had the dagger in her paws, she winked and then skipped off to the candidates, jumping right into the arms of Raven Hellation, the demoness.
"I'm Desdemona." she said, her voice the equivalent of a sparkling stream, of honey, of sugar. Sweetly she blinked, then yawned and said, "Do you think there's some food around."
With a knowing smile, Raven carried her hatchling out saying, "Don't think I'll always carry you, my little actress. You walk on your own at home."
Another female closed in to Donriven. She hastily took the two three-pronged daggers, not bothering to stay standing long enough to yell: "Nefnum." before she was gone. She darted past the other unbonded, past the candidates to the feeding tables, grabbing a bit of food and then continuing to the outside.
"That one was in a hurry." Lucas sighed, "Where do you think she'll end up?"
"Where the night takes her." Cyan nodded, "We'll know."
The last of the four was a medium brown female with brown wings in almost the same tint as her skin and hair. She took a glaive from the wall, nearly ripped it away when it wouldn't come, before she turned to the candidates, facing Morana Thanatos.
"Hello." she said, "My name is Valdis, what's yours?"
"Morana."
"That's a pretty name."
"Thank you."
"Can we go eat?"
The third last egg broke and a yellowish male wandered from the broken shell, his movements quick and minimalist. When he reached Donriven he just pointed to the Samurai sword hanging from the wall. After that he opened his mouth only to say, "Omoimori." then he bowed slightly and left for the feeding tables, not even bothering to look at the other unbonded, though he did glance over the blond female Zjavella once.
The second last egg broke when Omoimori had just left the hatching cave, a beige female stepping out. She stepped to Donriven, looking at the table, but finally turning to Trix.
"Are you going unbonded too?" the Laedrys asked, stopping the record for a second.
To her surprise the hatchling grabbed her pen and began furiously writing with it on the paper. 
"Can you speak?" Trix asked.
"Of course. Writing is just more fun."
"What's your name?"
"Pennae."
"Figures." Donriven said before Trix gave him an irritated look,
"Will you bond, Pennae?" she asked the dragoness.
"Can't I just stay here with you?" the dragoness asked, "I can record too." she smiled.
"Maybe you can give out a paper later." Cyan smiled, "I don't see why she couldn't stay."
"Maybe we can even get her to stalk Evilness and Wickedness for practice... writing up what they do can surely fill more than a few pages."
Wickedness nearly fell from her perch. Where was the freedom of expression going on this planet? had she no rights? No other dragons were being monitored... why should she? She considered leaving her perch to talk some sense into Cyan, but than she would miss the last egg. With an egg still left there was still hope.
The last egg sprang, but the last dragonet not so much as looked at Wickedness. The flaring of her eyes though was enough to alert Cyan to her presence. With a stern look, the Laedrys gazed up at the hanging plant dragon. Finally she sighed, shook her head and returned her attention to the dragon that had picked up a nice two-bladed axe from Donriven's largely diminished collection of weapons.
This dragon too turned to Trix saying: "I'll bond later. No-one I like came to the hatching. My name is Bijel."
"Noted."
Wickedness followed all the bonded pairs out, So many missed chances... And then the dishonour of being found out at the very latest. It had not been a good day for Wickedness, but Wickedness at least saw some good in the ordeal. After not making a scene Cyan might trust her more.
'Yessss, believe that I wassss only here to watch.' Wickedness thought, 'Believe that I am nicsser than my daddy. You sssshould know better though... I'm far worssse than he ever could be.'
Giggling softly Wickedness slithered out the hatching cave, past her father sulking outside and bothering the gold noticeably. Wickedness could not resist saying: "Next time...sssss"

The End

Knives:
Lanithro and Midnight Stalker Shijet (m)
Solanum and Lady of the Blade Messia (f)
Rixth and Machete Wout (m)
Sword and Dagger Naglass (m) to Cyan
Teigra Leonius and Claws Nesrin (f)
Ameshiroi and Shuriken Kouzaiku (m)
Knives Ykhamodred (f) to Trix
Mercenary Klahren (m) to Cyan
Christian and Threepronged Daggers Nefnum (f) 

Swords:
Janine and Sword Joan (f)
Lissandra and Gladiator Meshrim (m)
Tashrin and Double Sword Kriag (m)
Samurai Omoimori (m) to Mieke
Duoblade Centurion (m) to Cyan
Knight Gregor (m) to Cyan

Spears & Sticks:
Savaren and Maiden of the Spear Reanne (f)
Moknaris and 4-blade spear Drae'Anis (m)
Morana Thanatos and Glaive Valdis (f)
Kragmar and Twin Bladed Spear Duonov (m)
Bleyda and Blooded Spear Quitaery (f)
Benjay and Streaker Rod Nahkt (m)
Stick Zjavella (f) to Mieke
Feathered Amazon Heirast (f) to Trix

Axes
Doramon and Axe Axel (m)
Amroth Taralom and Twin Axe Dymaese (f)
Zraylin and Forest Axe Xiomy (f)
Kaylisz and Whirlwind Axe Ellaorel (f)
Dondra and Lightning Scythe Zoerell (f)
Mor'Iktar and DeathScythe Xenyde (m)
Axe Bijel (m) to Cyan
Axe Lienar (m) to Cyan

Other:
Raven Hellation and Seductress Desdemona (f)
Mahno and Lady Snare Sling (f)
Gangstath and Hidden Dragon Vegha (f) and Crouching Tiger Bukon (m)
Glacy and Ice Pick Soruell (f)
Ferri and Pendulum Brann (m)
Daralance and Piano String Lynesse (f)
Katia and Whip Ianda (f)
Krisholm and Harp Creshco (m)
Student Pennae (f) to Trix
Poison Merix (f) to Trix
Elfic Archer Sylva'ess (f) to Cyan
Mace Jonjas (m) to Trix