Hatching 24
Years had passed since Ouanda had been a forlorn teen on the
verge of ruin. It had been a stroke of luck when she'd been searched by a
dragonrider and luck had been on her side once more when she'd impressed her
green dragon Zuath. And now Zuath was watching over a clutch that would hatch
dragons that would change the lives of more people. Feeling an odd pull of
karma, destiny or maybe just randomness Ouanda looked for support with her
dragon. Her soft green hide was warm to the touch as it had soaked up the sun's
rays in this balmy autumn day.
"It won't be much longer now."
Zuath whispered in Ouanda's mind.
"Our children are stirring in their eggs."
Ekren's dragon Nariti added.
Without waiting, the red-winged brown dragon launched a deliberate mellow hum.
The sound was both calming and hopeful and spurned the dragonlings on in their
eggs. Quickly the candidates were brought around. Theirs had been a small clutch
with only five eggs. Still there were quite a few candidates hoping to bond.
None of them were local but even so, the people of Lantessama came to witness
the joyous occasion and to partake in the celebrations that would certainly
follow. As such the land surrounding the hatching sands was crowded when the
first hatchling broke through the shell encasing him.
The hatchling, a mirror image of his dad with a soft brown hide and bright red
wings, clumsily got up to his feet, getting tangled a bit in the remains of his
former home. While the other eggs were still only rocking, he gingerly walked
toward the waiting humans and sniffed around.
His eye... or should we say nose, fell on Perdhro, a warrior who'd once been on
the brink of ruin as his gambling habit had spiralled out of control. The man
was still equally in danger of losing himself in his new life of battle.
"I'll keep you out of harm's way."
the small carnelian-winged tiger's eye dragon said.
"And how will you manage that, Onghok?" Perdhro asked.
"I may be small now but I won't stay that
way." the hatchling vowed.
Not much later, one of the other hatchlings managed to break free. This time
mostly green dragoness spilled from her egg. The spectators assumed she was just
like her mother until she unfolded her wings and showed that the glimpses of
golden yellow weren't from yolk or sand. The little emerald dragoness happily
flapped her citrine wings and launched herself to Sabine, the Vella Crean seamstress.
"What is stress?" the hatchling
asked her with innocent eyes.
"Something I hope you'll never know, Sakhari." the seamstress replied,
feeling oddly at peace. Or maybe that was because she would return to some
measure of work after the few weeks of leisure she'd had during her wait at the
isle.
"Let's go eat and play, work can wait until
later." the dragon pushed with a musical sound of laughter
sounding through Sabine's mind.
The third egg to hatch revealed a turquoise-coloured hatchling with beige topaz
wingsails. The hatchling was maybe a tad relaxed as he waited and looked over to
where multiple candidates still waited. While he sat, the fourth egg hatched a
blue on blue female, with a Sapphire-coloured body and darker Tanzanite-blue
wings. The younger one looked at her older brother but was given the
go ahead and she wasted no time. She had her eyes set on Lyari Quill, a
strong-willed, tall amazon of a woman with long blond hair and blue eyes.
"I love your feathers." she said
as she tried to catch one between her paws.
Lyari stopped them dangling by holding her hair and answered: "They're kind
of part of my image, Vermaji."
"Do you think I can wear some too?"
As the pair headed off to feed, the Turquoise male got up from the sand and
sauntered lazily to Mechs. The space captain was a fatherly sort. A bit rough
around the edges but with a kind heart and a huge sense of responsibility.
"You shouldn't be sorry for ending up here."
the dragon said as he nuzzled the captain's hand.
'Why is that, Ranghe?" Mechs asked.
"Everyone's life will be better for being
here." was the logical explanation of the young dragon.
One egg remained on the sands. It took it's time to hatch, chipping little bits
away until finally a crack appeared that was large enough to break the egg. The
dragoness that fell out was slender and the deep purple hue of Amethyst, but her
wings were the warm beige of Topaz. With bright eyes she gazed over the
candidates and stepped toward Xechuath, the red Ryshathian.
"Why are you so angry?" she asked
and cuddled up close to the red dragon, "I like
your fierceness but there's no need to be angry."
"How can I protect you without my anger, Zeequith?"
Xechuath asked.
"By staying close to me." opening
up her calming mind to the bond.
Ekren patted Nariti and Zuath and then extended a hand to Ouanda to pull her
up.
"I think we'd best find some food ourselves and get to know the new members
of the family." he said.
"I guess they really are family in some way." Ouanda smiled, "I
wonder if they'll stay in touch."
"We can always do the parent thing and drop by unannounced." Ekren
smiled.
Perdhro
(m) and Carnelian-Tiger's Eye
Onghok (m)
Sabine
(f) and Citrine-Emerald
Sakhari (f)
Mechs
(m) and Topaz-Turquoise
Ranghe (m)
Lyari
Quill (f) and Tanzanite-Sapphire
Vermaji (f)
Xechuath (m) and
Topaz-Amethyst
Zeequith (f)