Disclaimer: the Dragonriders of Pern is copyright to Anne McCaffrey. And as usual, anything you don't recognize is probably mine.
Where: Marweni Weyr(Southern Continent).
When: Turn 1278.
Moving slowly between the small groups of people by one of the entrances to the Stands of the Hatching Ground at Marweni Weyr, the two women headed for some of the last seats that were still vacant. And after both had glanced down towards the Sands, they quickly sat down before anyone else could beat them to the seats.
"I told you that we should have arrived earlier, Itra. These are hardly the best seats from where to watch the Hatching" the woman who appeared to be the youngest, whispered, brushing a strand of auburn hair away from her face. Then she grinned over at her companion, a slender blonde woman who seemed to be in her late thirties. However, the woman who was called Itra simply shrugged, adjusting the collar on her blouse.
"We'll just have to stretch our necks a little then. Watching this should be worth a little discomfort, won't it Brialli?".
Suddenly a gasp from the audience instantly called the attention of both women back to the Hatching Grounds, just in time to see a large brown break though the shell of his egg.
Brialli snorted, but then she couldn't help but smile as she saw the expressions on the faces of the candidates down at the Sands. To a certain degree she could understand what they had to be feeling now when any of them could be walking off the Sands along with a hatchling who would most likely be their lifelong companion.
However, at the present, most of her attention was directed at four of the candidates; three boys and one girl. Almost unconsciously she crossed her fingers for that her son would be among those who Impressed at this Hatching.
Of-course she shouldn't really have any favorites among those four who had been selected as candidates, but as a mother...
Beside her, Itra chuckled quietly, taking hold of Brialli's hand to give it a light squeeze.
"Calm down dragonrider, Beriin wouldn't have been selected for this if he didn't have a good chance at Impressing at his first try. I can't help but wonder what the pernese would have thought if they knew the true identity of your son and his friends", Itra made sure to whisper the last part so none would happen to overhear it. Not that anyone was likely to over the humming of the adult dragons though..
"I know, I know", then Brialli grinned widely as the brown that had been first to hatch made his choice and Impressed to one of the pernese boys.
"Although I have a feeling of that they would be more astonished by you".
Itra was just about to reply when both she and Brialli were interrupted by the hatching of five more eggs, three greens, a blue and a bronze emerging into the world. And this time, the two women was just as expectant to see who the newly hatched dragonets would choose as everyone else at the Stands.
Brialli and Itra were not the only ones who knew some of the candidates down at the Sands.
"Look at that, the blue went straight for Loegrehn" Itra said, cheering for the boy as he knelt down beside the light blue dragonet as Impression was made.
Nodding, Brialli smiled, silently wondering what color her son would walk off the sands with if he should Impress. Of-course the color didn't matter to her personally, but she knew Beriin very well and the way he were gazing at that bronze left little doubt about what he wished for.
"L'grehn and blue..., " Beralli paused as she waited for Loegrehn to announce the name of his dragonet, "..blue Koreketh".
A low chuckle came from Itra as she watched the bronze choose one of the youngest boys at the Sands, earning him several jealous looks from the other boys.
"I like that dragonet's name though, it suits him" she said a few moments later.
Several more eggs hatched and the two watched silently as the hatchlings headed for the group of candidates. While it wasn't essential, it would certainly be an important event if any of the three remaining candidates whom they were watching; Beriin, Cheorek and Venaket, managed to Impress at least one of the larger colors.
Beralli nodded in agreement, leaning slightly forwards as she noticed that one of the greens were heading for Cheorek, a female would be very useful to the project.. And a second later she chuckled quietly as Impression were made, not to Cheorek however, it was Venaket who was chosen.
Greteyth looked sturdy, and already it seemed like the young green and her rider would make a reliable team, at least if the hatchlings personality turned out to be anything like her riders..
"I think that they will be a good match, although I do regret my bet with Treaylen now.." Beralli said, she had been quite sure of that the girl would have been the one to Impress the gold from this clutch.
"Well, one would have thought that you knew better than to make any bets with Treaylen, and especially not about pernese dragons".
Then she urgently tapped Brialli's shoulder, pointing towards the gold egg just as it cracked and released a wildly protesting hatchling onto the sand. It took a while for the dragonet to right herself, but once she had gotten up on her feet, she appeared as self-assured as any adult gold.
"That one is rather dark don't you think, one could have mistaken her for a bronze if it hadn't been for those swirls of pale gold down her legs", a smile spread across Brialli's face as she watched the young gold take her first steps towards the group of female candidates.
Beside her, Itra shifted in an attempt to find a move comfortable position.
"She seems hesitant. Something tells me that the person she is searching is not among those girls" Itra said.
The tone in her voice left little doubt that she would find it very amusing if the hatchling gold found her match somewhere at the Stands.
Brialli's eyebrows arched slightly as she gazed over at her friend.
:You aren't influencing her in any way, are you: she mindspoke.
:Of-course not, it isn't like I would do such a irresponsible thing. When that gold Impresses, it will be entirely her own decision:.
With a light shake of her head, Itra gazed back down at the Sands.
Almost all the eggs had hatched by now, and there was only just under a dozen dragonets who hadn't found their match yet, but as Brialli and Itra watched, two Impressions were made simantaneously.
Suddenly Brialli gasped, she hadn't noticed before as the appearance of the gold hatchling had distracted her, but suddenly she spotted Beriin kneeling in front of a unusually small brown dragonet.
:A Brown, he Impressed a brown!:
Brialli laughed out loud as she hugged her friend. Now she almost couldn't wait to see her son after the last Impression had been made, despite the browns small size, it didn't seem like he were any less healthy than any of the other dragonets in the clutch.
"I can see that" Itra replied with a grin that revealed that she were as happy for Beriin as Brialli was, "his name is Tolaketh by the way. L'grehn and blue Koreketh, Venaket and green Greteyth, B'riin and brown Tolaketh... Now there's only Cheorek left".
Raising her left arm to wave down to her son, Brialli nodded, now there was three dragonets left at the Sands, including the gold. However, there were two eggs that didn't show any signs of hatching, one of them had a thin crack down its side, but it had stopped moving long ago.
"Congratulations" Brialli mouthed, although she doubted that Beriin could see what she were saying at this distance, and he were too busy with the more urgent task of feeding his dragonet anyway.
Then a loud cry called Brialli's attention back to the gold hatchling, who were currently trying to get up into the Stands, just as Itra had predicted.
But when she spotted the girls who were hurrying downwards to stop the dragonet from injuring herself, Brialli frowned. Although the girl had done a good job at disguising herself, dying her hair and skin, it took Brialli only an instant to recognize her.
:Shards! What's she doing here! Didn't Jemiran make sure that she returned home:
The frown on Itra's face made it clear that the girl had just earned herself quite a scolding for later.
"That is what I thought to" Brialli replied quietly.
There was nothing either of the women could have done though, as it was obvious that Impression had already been made between the dragonet and the girl, Jesece.
Suddenly Itra muttered something to herself, before she gazed back at Brialli.
:Unfortunately we can't really give her what she deserve, but I have a feeling of that she and her dragonet should be taken to the projects HQ where she can receive some proper training:.
Sighing as she saw the triumphant look at Jesece's face as the girl urged her dragonet over to where the dragonets were being fed, Brialli couldn't do anything but agree. Of-course such relocations were normally not done before the dragonet was at least half a turn old, but in Jesece's case it would probably be the best thing to do. That girl was too undiciplined to be trusted if she was allowed to remain at the planet, one thoughtless comment could ruin the entire project...
Brialli shrugged, returning to happier thought such as her son's Impression and the Hatching, it wasn't her responsibility to deal with Jesece and the process of making sure that no-one would have any memories of that there had been a gold in this clutch.
:At least they say that the dragon always know, so we should cross our fingers for that Jesece have it in her to become a good representant for the project. Seoracth appears to be a fine young dragon though, her off-spring is what really matters:.
Itra had just finished speaking when the last dragonet, a pale bronze, found his match in Cheorek, making this Hatching a highly successful one for the project.
"C'mon, let's go and see if we can find Beriin" Brialli said, slightly surprised over just how much time that had passed since they first entered the Stands, with everything that had happened it definitely didn't feel like she and Itra had been here for as long as three hours.
"It would probably be less of an effort to just wait for him in the Dining Hall, but he's probably aching for showing us his new friend".
As she stood up, Itra stretched her arms and yawned. At least being seated so close to the exit paid off now as they were able to getaway from the Stands before most of the audience started to leave now when the Hatching was over.
If it was something that had always made Brialli feel uncomfortable it was to be stuck in large crowds, so after the hot air inside the Hatching Ground, that was the last thing she wanted to experience.
"Beriin gave me a tour of the Weyr a few days ago, so we should go this way if we want to get to the weyrling barracks" Itra said as they reached the entrance to another corridor. And almost without slowing, she turned left, heading down the new corridor at a brisk pace.
"Well, I supposed that I should trust in that you know where you are going then"
Brialli nodded a greeting to two senior weyrlings as they passed by.
Although it wasn't really that long to walk from the Stands, the floor was rather uneven as the corridor had obviously been made after the pernese had lost most of the high-tech equipment they had used when constructing the Weyrs, so Brialli were rather glad when they reached the entrance to the barracks. And after talking to the Weyrling Master, she and Itra didn't need much time to find the room where Beriin was.