It was bright, and hot, very hot to the point of almost being unbearable. The Hatching Grounds were in the remnants of the core of a volcano, the rest of the weyr made up the rest. The heat of the Grounds as well as nervousness made the candidates sweat, water droplets ran down the faces and backs of the humans standing and waiting. But it was worth it for the forty five of the eighty five who stood there, the traditional dress of candidates on their backs. There were fifteen girls and seventy boys, ages ranging from fifteen to twenty five.
Ramoth had a large clutch this turn, and F'lar was happy, they were in need of more Riders. There was one queen egg, it was larger than any egg that has been laid in the history of Pern. Lessa was slightly annoyed that a queen was going to be bigger than her Ramoth, but that was evolution after all, can't change that. All the eggs were bigger than normal and that was seen as a bitter-sweet thing. A larger egg meant larger dragons which meant better fighters, but it also meant that the Threadfall would be horrible that turn.
Ramoth was crouching slightly over her clutch, watching the candidates with wary eyes. She knew what was happening, but instinct still stopped her from being calm. These were her babies, her dragonets. She glared as the humming of the adults that lined the rim of the arena grew louder, show time. A couple of the Candidates shifted on their feet and looked around, some second guessing their decisions to volunteer.
As a couple of them glanced at the entrance, a sound made him jump, heads snapping back to the pile. The cracking sound off to the left was quite loud indeed, even those in the farthest seats could hear he sound, even if it was faintly. The frantic looking around stopped suddenly as a crack appeared in one of the smaller eggs. After a second, a green head popped out and swiveled around before a squeak and wiggling began, trying to break free of the shell. All watched as she managed to free herself and laid with egg slime on her. Soon she was rested enough to quickly stand and sniffed around, taking in her surroundings for the first time. Her wings were slightly outstretched to help the tottering baby balance as she took her first couple of steps. Looking around she seemed to analyze every candidate's soul, though it was never sure, to find her Rider. Finding The One, she rushed over to him, and as she did so smile spread over the boy's face as they locked eyes and he communicated with his dragon. True, he, like all the boys there, wished for a mighty Bronze, but how could he now? Now that he has seen this lovely girl who has stolen his heart? He was so enamored that when another egg started to hatch, he was unaware.
All attention was turned back to the rest of the clutch, hearts pounding as one by one the eggs hatched and dragons and riders impressed. Yet the Queen stayed still, as if waiting for something. The girls all looked around, curious as to what was happening. A girl however, looked over at her friend, he too was chosen and was standing a few feet away, watching a bronze with hope It was a larger male, and quite beautiful, but she saw as the hope in his eyes died yet again as the large male impressed on another. "It'll be okay" she said softly "there is one more, don't worry."
Rhylin smiled slightly "Ya, I hope so" he said. "Don't worry, you'll be Rhy'n yet!" she said slightly louder drawing a grin from him "Thanks Myla" he said, his blue eyes shining with hope. At this point the Impressed were over to one side, watching the remaining. There was two eggs left, the Queen and the non-Queen. We all hold our breaths, some taking it too far as a girl actually passed out from e lack of air as well as the stress weighing on all of their hearts. They jump as a crack appears in the last non-queen egg and all the guys, well, those hopeful for a dragon at least, stepped forward, Rhylin among them.
An odd thing occurred at that moment, the Queen started to hatch as well. There was murmurs all through the crowds and a few of the girls jumped back. Myla snorted and took a step forward in response. Stupid girls, why wouldn't they want a dragon? A Queen dragon? 'More of a chance for me' she thought with a shrug and watched with anticipation and bated breath. As they watched, both eggs broke open as if in sync with each other and out poured a large queen and a slightly smaller Silver. A gasp went through the crowd as the silver stood and entwined tails with the queen before walking unsteadily over to the male candidates. The queen was slightly slower, having come out on her back, but quickly rolled over and zoned in on the female candidates. "What is that?" "Is that possible?" Questions ran through the crowed as they watched the Silver totter and weave, seeming to do it purposefully, almost playfully. Both Rhylin and Myla watched the dragons approaching, not caring about others, forgetting that there were others around, it was only them and the babies, no one else in the world.
