Clutch 16 Hatching!

You know,” said Rashei, eying the half-buried orbs resting in the warm sand. “I think that G*non guy miscounted. I see more than six eggs. I see one... two... three...”

”Does it really matter that much?” asked Ellyra. “Some eggs could be twins anyways, so the egg count doesn’t mean the dragon count will be the same.”

Rashei crossed his arms and stomped one foot dramatically into the sand. “But it is the principle of the thing! I think that we have a right to know-“

“Shhh.” Ellyra held one finger to her lips, peering intently at the egg closest to her. “Do you see anything?”

“Sure I do.” Rashei snaked one arm around Ellyra and used it to pull her close. “I see only thy beauty, my love.”

Ellyra resisted the urge to grin at the golem, instead, pointing at the egg she had been watching. “I think it just moved. Maybe we should call the candidates?”

Nydalijuva lifted her head from where she had been resting off to one side. You’re right. They are hatching. I’ll tell that Headknight guy’s blue to send out the message.

Rashei scowled. “I just hope that he got enough. If one of our kiddos has to go unbonded because that idgit of a Headknight didn’t count them right, then I’m going to have to-“

G*non walked in with the seven candidates in tow. The Headknight was looking especially crabby today, perhaps because this was the second hatching he had to oversee without Tenken’s assistance. As far as he knew, Tenken was still off on that stupid island cheating on his girlfriend or whatever. G*non just hoped that the other people on the island would vote to throw him into a volcano. That would serve him right for dumping G*non with overseeing the hatchings.

The candidates were all well familiar with both the eggs and the parents of the clutch, so none seemed especially nervous. Rashei had personally interviewed (or interrogated, as many of the candidates thought) the candidates to make sure that they were suitable for the clutch. No one was quite sure what he thought was suitable, but they had all passed his inspection. Seven candidates, and supposedly six eggs, though no one could be quite sure with G*non’s counting skills.

The chatter among the candidates and spectators grew quiet as cracks began to spread along the shell of one of the eggs. A shining gray paw was the first part of the dragon to emerge, followed by the head when the hole was big enough. The rest of the shell fell away around the hatchling, leaving it looking rather wobbly on the sands. He seemed to have traits from both his parents, with hathian eye-horns and speckled wings. His dominant color was gray with stripes of a darker shade, but his entire body was covered with a sheen that made him a beautiful creature indeed.

This hatchling seemed to know the attention he was getting, so relished in it all the way over to the candidates. He half-spread his wings, basking, when he spotted a face that made him chirp happily. Klondar! When you leave this planet you’ll be taking me, right?

With one hatchling already bonded, all present were wondering what the sands would next produce. With two parents like Nydalijuva and Ventaocith, the hatchlings would all be stunning. The spectators weren’t disappointed either. The next dragon to hatch was a blue, but no one would ever dare call him low-ranking. He sparkled and shone just like his first brother, and a white belly and paws added a flair of style to his lithe form. Gray stripes completed his form, and all together he was a stunning little guy.

For all of his flashy appearance, though, he was very quiet as he headed over to the candidates. He didn’t fuss at looking them over, just glancing past faces until he oriented on the one that he liked best. Tayce.

Tayce gave a slight start at being addressed by the dragon. “Uh... yes?” he asked, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

You don’t have to be shy around me, said the dragon in a voice as cool as a mountain stream. I’m here for you. My name is Yojhonza.

Somehow... Tayce believed what the little dragon said. He immediately relaxed and even allowed a smile to creep across his face while patting the hatchling on the head. “Thanks, Yojhonza.”

“Aw, look at them, aren’t they so sweet?” hummed Rashei, gesturing after the departing couple. “I like hatchings. We should go to more.”

Another cracking shell gathered attention. When the hatchling rolled out of her confines, she spread her rainbow-splattered wings. Two pairs of them. This was the first dragon to have shown the duo-wing trait from the father, and she carried them well. Her primary color was a glittery white, but the stripes and her wings were riots of color. She shook the sand free from her hide, and then turned to look over the candidates.

It wasn’t hard to tell who she was going to choose. Klytie watched as the hatchling headed over, and then planted herself in the sand at her feet. Something in the dragon reminded Klytie of something, something familiar and loved.

It was the flowers. The dragon’s wings were like the flowers strewn all about in her rooms. They were as she liked them, too, unordered and beautiful in their chaos and combinations. A name came to Klytie’s mind and she didn’t hesitate in speaking it aloud. “Fenluriye.”

G*non swore while squinting at the rocking orbs in the sands. He counted another four more, meaning seven eggs total. He had been off again. If Tenken was around then he would have been mocking him by now. G*non sat up straight with a start. That brat of a dragonknight could annoy him even when he wasn’t around? That knowledge was worse than anything else yet so far, and G*non slumped down with a sigh. It was going to be a long hatching...

The next egg that hatched revealed a hatchling that was mostly orange, but with brown and white stripes running down him. He spread his wings out for balance, wings that seemed to hold all of the light of the sun.

But... just spreading his wings wasn’t enough to keep him upright. The hatchling walked two paces before tripping over another egg, sprawling himself into the sand and unknowingly helping his brother to hatch. The second egg cracked open and another white dragon toppled out, silver in his wings and horns while a spectrum of colors danced in his stripes.

Ack! Sorry! yelped the orange, untangling himself from his brother and taking a hasty few steps away. I didn’t mean to!

Don’t worry about it. The shell was a bit hard to crack anyways, said the other dragon genially, giving his brother a nod. I’ll see you later, ok?

The white cocked his head while looking at them. There weren’t that many left, but he still seemed to be taking his time deciding. When he finally did, it was the draclin Ryil that he settled for. Hi, said the dragon in approach. I’m Torva. An almost amused look passed across the dragon’s face while blinking up innocently into Ryil’s astonished face. I’m not too different from the dragons that you’re used to for you, am I?~

The orange was heading over to the candidates himself when his foot caught yet again. This time, though, it seemed like a much more serious fall. He smacked snout-first into the sand and his wings became tangled up beneath him, causing the hatchling to whimper in pain.

Hey.... could you help me? The hatchling’s mental cries went unheard in the minds present, except for one. I mean... ouch! I can’t really get up. Please? A little help? I don’t like the way my wings are twisted up. Hello? Is anyone there?

Sanzanon twitched every time the hatchling’s voice grated against his mind. Why wouldn’t the brat just shut up? His flitter stalkers twittering around his head were bad enough. When a particularly loud cry shot through him he decided he had had enough. He was going to go give the hatchling a kick, so that it would know not to bother him when it was hurt. He stalked over to where the orange was still collapsed in a heap and lifted one foot, prepared to punt the hatchling all the way across the sands.

But then the hatchling looked up at him, opalescent eyes meeting his own slit-pupiled ones. The hatchling’s jaw dropped open in a gape of wonder, staring up at Sanzanon like he had never seen anything so beautiful. Sanzanon couldn’t quite explain why, but he suddenly lost the will to hurt the little guy. Instead, he helped him to his feet, brushing the sand from his new charge gruffly. Hey, try not to be such a klutz. I don’t want you to always be embarrassing me, you know.

There were now two eggs left and two candidates. G*non made a mental note to himself to give a pat on the back to whoever had brought that extra candidate in, that is, if it wasn’t Tenken.

Since all the eggs had been on the tiny side, the fact that this one was a bit smaller than the others didn’t attract much notice. Cracks spread slowly along the shell, radiating out from the point where the hatchling’s nose soon emerged. The nose was a glitzy black, and the shell fell apart as the paws came through. The hatchling was indeed a black, with shades of lighter gray for stripes. His spread wings were a sparkling blue with a single band of rainbow running through them, shining in the bright light of the hatching sands.

The hatchling glanced between the two candidates left, up to the sands, then headed resolutely for Chewein. The black seemed to rub against his legs like a happy cat, looking up at his chosen one with opalescent eyes. Chewein, things’ll get better now. I’m Tyraphim.

That left one egg left, and one candidate. Sabra was grateful that the Headknight couldn’t count, that they had decided to search her as a last-minute extra candidate. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t have a chance to bond whatever was going to hatch from that egg. Of course, there was always the chance it would go bondless, but yesterday she hadn’t even known she was a candidate, so it wouldn’t be like she had lost something. However, she couldn’t help but feel the tension rising in her, watching that last egg crack.

The most beautiful and dainty creature she had ever seen rolled out of that shattered orb, four wings unfolding and white hide sparkling. Her stripes and wings were golden, like the sunshine that Sabra had been rejoicing in just earlier that day. She might not have been able to capture the day in ink, but this dragon seemed to do that for her.

Sabra smiled and hugged the hatchling close, not caring about the sticky egg fluids. She wasn’t sure what her career as a scribe would be like now, but she would never regret her decision to bond.

Rashei gave an exaggerated sniffle from where he sat next to Ellyra in the sands. “Look at our babies... they are all so beautiful and now they’re all gone!”

Nydalijuva gave her bond’s boyfriend a slightly amused, slightly admonishing glance. I think that they would actually be my babies, not yours. Do I recall you laying any eggs or tending them on the hot sands? I don’t think so.

Rashei crossed his arms and gave the dragoness a huffy look. “I was moral support. And, I inspected the candidates. We probably would have gotten some psycho in here trying to squash them if I hadn’t been around.~"

G*non gave the two a grin as he passed them by. “Actually, Tenken tried to squash a few at his hatching. Aren’t you glad that he wasn’t around for yours?”

“But no more eggs,” sighed Rashei. His posture and expression flipped in an instant, becoming seductive and sly, hovering over Ellyra so that his hair just barely tickled her face. “Of course, we could just arrange for Nyda’ to fly again, you know.”

G*non rolled his eyes, following the last few people out of the sands. It had been a relatively easy hatching, but those two were getting on his nerves. Maybe he should give them a wing or something so that they had something better to do with their time than flirt...