Thanks GinnyStar for reminding me to do this! I do not own Dragonriders of Pern ® or any of the concepts about Pern. Those belong to the incredible Anne McCaffrey. The only thing I can claim is my muse and my characters presented in this piece. Red River Weyr is a DRoP role playing game that belongs to two people I know only as Kivaari & Cara.
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A thin wailing caught Raliel's ears as a green slipped out of her shell almost unnoticed. The sound was haunting, a high chordal tone that even without any harmony sounded in a minor key. The young woman peered through the shadows of the Hatching Grounds and saw a dark figure stirring. As soon as it stepped into the light, she was caught a bit off guard by the luscious pale green hide of the dragonet. Her green faded into a dark hue along her back, giving her a hazy dorsal stripe and darker green neckridges. Light brown eyes followed the hatchling as she reared up to survey the crowd and the corners of her mouth tightened in amusement. The little dragons were proving to be quite adorable and even though they would one day grow to be truly terrifying beasts, she found that they pulled at her more than she expected. She could only think of how she was determined to stare at them as if each and every one was a murderous heathen. She felt a pang of remorse, then her eyes hardened as she remembered her father. He had died because of the dragons that perched high above the Sands, humming the hatchlings into the world. She felt her animosity swell anew and had a sick sense of pleasure when the little green did not even make it to her, Impressing another girl before she could have a chance.
With an oddly smug expression on her face, she turned her gaze back to the remaining eggs, counting them briefly. Four more eggs, including the golden one that sat so very still between the majestic forepaws of the aging queen. Raliel allowed her eyes to linger for a moment over the brightly gleaming shell before her attention was drawn away. Heavy thuds could be heard from a lightly rocking egg. It was a smallish egg, though it was larger than the one that had just Hatched a green. She couldn't see the hatchling as it fell out onto the Sands but the little growl that it made tickled her into a light chuckle. Feisty little thing. As the thing attacked the remaining egg shell with vigor, Raliel caught a flash of the unmistakable rosy hide. Her brows immediately furrowed with intense worry and confusion. How could so many mutations occur in a clutch of 12? She would be interested in hearing a dragonhealer's thoughts on how it could have possibly happened. She knew enough about genetics to know that mutations were rare and usually a sign of bad health of the mother or a sign of injury during fetal development. She watched in wonder as the odd dragon wobbled over to the Candidates, looking wistfully at the girls. When she selected Ilsa, the older Candidate was pleased. She had liked Ilsa, though she had not known much about her. The way she carried herself spoke of a confident person who cared little for the opinions of others. Raliel liked that.
She watched as the pair slowly made their way across the Sands towards the exit. She did not doubt that some of the pairs would make good Threadfighters. Other pairs she was not so sure about, mostly because she didn't know them as well. As Raliel stared after the rosy brown dragon, the golden queen egg began to stir. It was moments before her attention was redirected towards the Clutch and by then, a strange hush had fallen over the crowd as if all of them held their breaths. There was a moment of confusion before she heard scritch, scritch.... scritch, scritch, scritch.... Scritchscritch... ScritchScricthScricthSCRITCHSCRITCHSCRITCH... A tiny section of the egg fell to the mighty efforts of the gold within, forever marring the flawless gleam of the large egg. Even Raliel, the reluctant beastcrafter whose father had been killed by a stampede stirred up by a dragon, had fallen prey to the trance that drew all eyes at the egg as a tiny foot flashed in and out of the opening so quick it was almost as if it didn't happen.
A great croon echoed through the silent cavern as the graying adult gold urged the egg-bound dragon on. Tiny shards of eggshell fell from razor sharp claws after many moments of tense stillness. Everyone seemed to lean forward to peer into the shadows of the egg. Of course, everyone knew this would be a gleaming gold emerging from the shell, but this would likely be the next Senior Queen of the Weyr as soon as the pair completed weyrling training. Grananth would not last too much longer and even the strong Esme would need to retire soon. The crowd was not disappointed as the sleek gold seemed to slither out of the shell. She was a much better sight than a tunnelsnake, though, and bore no similarities. As soon as those wings unfurled and the little queen stretched to celebrate her release from the golden prison, noises resumed again in the stands as the crowd begin to offer their guesses as to who would Impress the regal hatchling.
You could almost feel the anger of the gold as she saw the great number of scattered eggshards and only half-broken shells. You could tell she was upset at her siblings for daring to Hatch and Impress before she did. She should have been first! Raliel could not deny her that. The little queen was a beauty, so graceful and every bit of the treasure that she was. She withdrew her gaze, trying not to become too attached to the royal hatchling. She was here to do her duty to the Weyr, nothing more. As soon as it was over, maybe even this evening if there was a rider who wasn't too drunk to fly her, she would return home to her mother and the herd. She thought of the cows she had left with sides already beginning to swell with calves. She imagined it would be only a matter of days before those little ones were on the ground, tottering on unsteady legs and bawling for their mothers to help them.
Girls fell to the side of the queen as she wove her way through the line of Candidates. But none of them were good enough for her, it seemed. Ah, Raliel. Raliel jumped as she heard her name and looked around to see who had called it. It seems it took me a long time to find you, but Kessuth is here now. Though I would have been very upset if someone else had chosen you first…She only vaguely heard the words that followed, her mind filing away the words without processing them. It was a moment before the young woman at the end of her Candidacy eligibility saw the amazed stares of the remaining female Candidates. She did not know why, but something drew her gaze downwards and there was a lemony-gold dragon staring up at her with calmly whirling eyes. "K-Kessuth?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper, her tone unbelievably soft. As she stared at the dragon in complete and utter confusion, denial, and wonder, all traces of her roughness were gone.
Now I would much appreciate if you could feed your Kessuth before I waste away from hunger – being born is tiring, you know! She stared dumbly at the gold. No, she didn't want a dragon! She couldn't Impress! She was returning home to her herd tomorrow! The gold hopped back to her feet in startlement, mind reeling from Raliel's thoughts. Her wings flared defensively (and in anger as well) and she stared haughtily up at the woman, eyes whirling bright red. Anyone would be proud to have a queen! You do not want Kessuth? The last was accompanied by a fierce hiss that brought a brief tremble to Raliel's fingers. She...she did want her. But she wasn't supposed to Impress! Her father...a moan tore loose from her throat and little golden Kessuth attempted her flap her wings again, this time in distress. I chose YOU! she said with a brilliant bugle. You can belong to no one else!
That was all it took. Raliel collapsed to her knees beside Kessuth, throwing her muscled arms around the lemon-colored neck. Her face was tucked into the nape of the hatchling's neck and for many moments the pair silently held each other. Slowly the gold's wings slackened from their tensely-held umbrella until the uppermost edge dipped to trail along the woman's back. Raliel pulled her head from the gold, trails shining a path from her eyes to careen off her chin. A fresh tear spilled from her left eye and before it could drip onto the Sands, the tiny queen caught it on her muzzle as she gently nudged the woman who was forever hers.