Hatching 29
Lanthun looked excitedly at his eggs.
"They're mine." Terloth, his
white-coloured mate corrected.
"Well, without me you wouldn't have had
them." the brown dragon of Lantessaman descent said
proudly.
Terloth, who was just as excited as her mate, refrained from continuing
the petty squabble. Although both of them resided on Pern, she had let her
mate convince her to clutch here, on an entirely different world. His
birthplace to be exact. It did give them privacy and nobody seemed to care
that they were pretty small dragons. Although she'd seen plenty who'd been
smaller than her. Some with odd builds, missing limbs or wings and even
some who seemed to be rooted in place.
"Treasure?" Lanthun drew her
attention with the pet name he used for her.
"Yes?"
"Aren't our eggs shaking?"
Terloth gazed at the eggs. They seemed as usual... and then there it was,
a slight tremor. Barely there but it was soon followed by another and like
a ripple, the other eggs took over.
"Our babies are hatching!" Terloth
called.
Next to her, Lanthun was just as elated. He rose up and bugled, calling
all to come and see this happy occasion. People rushed from all over the
isle, some hitching rides on dragonback or carts. The candidates that had
signed up for this clutch were close by and made it in a matter of
minutes. Terloth watched as 3 humans, a dragon and someone very different
approached. The delicate, pale spider-like Zhizu had been a sight she'd
never seen before, but the woman called Ashera was captivating and warm,
enjoying to study more than creeping around. The dragon, a dashing
sunset-winged Beige female had come from a place where she'd apparently
been herding sheep. Something Terloth never thought about doing. One of the locals, Kimry, was
social and outdoorsy and had spent many hours with the eggs. Likewise,
Fynnont, a Pernese young man, had been found early on and when he hadn't
been close to the dragon eggs, he'd been at the dunes, talking with Astrid
about the resident breed of firelizards. Lastly, there was a runic warrior
from days long past. Though far out of his comfort zone, the man remained
calm and responsible for his men, some of which had already impressed at
previous clutches.
About an hour or two after the original cry had gone out, the eggs were
rocking in earnest and cracks had appeared on all five of them. Terloth
felt mighty proud that her babies were doing so well. She knew it wouldn't
be long now, and indeed, just then, one of the eggs toppled over and
shattered. A brightly purple dragonet rolled out and stopped right at
Fynnont's feet.
"My aim was pretty good, wasn't it, F'ont?"
the female dragon asked, looking smug and accomplished.
"It sure was." F'ont told her, "You are just right for me,
aren't you Zermanath?"
Zermanath dropped down close to her bond and relaxed, a content rumble
coming from her throat as she wholeheartedly agreed.
Not much later another egg cracked neatly in two. The dragon inside popped
his head up, pieces of shell still stuck to his head and neck. His colour
was a bright red and he was just about as excited and energetic as his
parents. He jumped lithely out of the broken shards and wasted no time to
head for his bond.
"Kimry!" he said, "I
want to go hiking!"
A loud grumble came from his stomach, "Okay, maybe I need to eat
first."
Kimry smiled, her Iolite Gem-Glenn dragon bond, hovering beside her.
"I think you'd be too tired after eating though, Orideth."
"I can help with that." Auralia
offered, the gem dragon possessing some powers akin to a stimulant.
"Better not, we can go hiking tomorrow anyway." Kimry decided.
The middle egg of the clutch, the one that had started this all, shattered
and a bright green dragon fell out. A male looking by his size and build.
He got up, flexed his wings and gave a tiny happy roar before he bounced
off toward Pyriel, the feathery dragoness.
"I want to see all these sheep!" he
told her, "And I want to party and meet your
friends..."
Pyriel chuckled as her little chatterbox of a bond talked on and on about
how exciting this all was. Somewhere in all the chatter she did manage to
catch his name and she interrupted:
"I'll take you as soon as you can travel,
Ralbuith, but first you must eat and grow."
The second to last egg cracked rather low in it's shape and the
hatchling got pulled along by the top part of the shell. Ashera was quick
to react and cushioned the mad roll with her webs and body.
"Thank you." a tiny voice
told her.
Just a fraction later, a brightly coloured teal-blue head poked out. Her
head was still spinning from the ride but she did manage to lock eyes with
her saviour.
"My name is Chiristh." the
aquamarine hatchling sighed and closed her eyes to adjust.
"Focus on a single point, that works better. Wait until you get
sucked to a rift." Ashera told the hatchling jokingly, "You
learn a lot from that experience."
That left the last egg. The hatchling inside took it's time, but finally
it too had chipped away enough of the shell to break through. A dragon
almost the same colour as it's shell appeared, white with just a tint of
blue. Teiwaz went to meet the diamond male, believing his fate had finally
arrived. In the back of his mind a small voice warned him that the dragon
could still choose someone else, but once the leader lookd into the
radiant eyes of the hatchling all doubts fell away.
"My
name is Lemkath." the dragon introduced himself.
"Teiwaz." the warrior returned, "Do you mind that I also
have a duty to my men?"
"No."
Lemkath responded instantly, "They
are yours to protect and I shall help you accomplish that."
With the hatching over, people cheered on the new dragonriders and their
bonds and made their way to the waiting banquet that had hastily been
prepared.
Beige-Sunset Pyriel (f) and
Peridot Ralbuith (m)
Ashera
(f) and Aquamarine Chiristh (f)
F'ont
(Fynnont) and Amethyst Zermanath (f)
Kimry
(f) and Spinel Orideth (m)
Teiwaz
(m) and Diamond
Lemkath (m)
**People who do not wish to use the -th ending can add Lanth(un)'s -un to the end of their dragon's name