This is one of my favorite chapters. Just putting that out there. I've been really looking forward to posting this one!
In honor of this special chapter, I'd like to recommend my absolute favorite dragon-related series of all time. If you read nothing else dragon-related, read this one: Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series. It's a fantasy/sci-fi series taking place on a planet called Pern. Every two hundred years, a planet known as the Red Star passes over Pern, causing a parasitic spore called Thread to drop and devour all organic matter wherever it touches. Genetically-modified dragons who share a telepathic bond with their riders are used to fight the Thread whenever it falls.
I admittedly drew a bit from Pern in certain scenes, such as this and the next hatching chapter, where the Riders line up and wait to be approached by their dragons, though there isn't a telepathic connection here. Jaune's hatching in particular pays homage to a scene from the second book, "Dragonquest."
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
Ren was awoken by Nora poking his cheek repeatedly. He groaned, swatting her hand away.
"Ren, wake up!" Nora chirped. "We're getting our dragons today! Our dragons!" She bounced up and down, squealing.
Ren sat up just in time to see Nautilus flying overhead and landing on a nearby perch. He covered his ears as the loud, deep cry echoed across the arena, jolting the other students awake. He started rolling up his sleeping bag as three more dragons entered the arena, bearing several egg carriers. Despite his tiredness, he felt a definite stir of excitement in his stomach.
Nora pointed toward the entrance. "Look! Ruby, Yang, and Weiss are leaving. They must be going to their eggs." She squeaked excitedly. "That must mean we're gonna get ours right now!"
"Not quite." One of the professors, a tall man with wild green hair and thick glasses, stood nearby. "You have about an hour to freshen up. Since the eggs had to be brought outside, and since they're all meant to hatch at the same time, more care had to be taken, so they won't hatch just yet. The bathrooms and showers are that way." He pointed toward another exit nearby.
"Aw…" Nora's shoulders slumped, but she perked up again almost immediately. "Well, I guess we'd better make sure we look our best for our dragons! No morning breath for my partner. Come on, Ren." Grabbing Ren's arm, she dragged him off.
They met up with Jaune and Pyrrha as they approached the bathrooms with their clothes. Jaune was clad in a fleece onesie, and didn't even blink as the group of snickering boys from before walked by and pointed at him.
"They're just jealous because they probably froze their butts off last night," Jaune declared.
Once everyone was clean and dressed, they gathered around the eggs, which had been lined up in seemingly no particular order on their incubators. People were whispering and pointing, trying to figure out which egg would hatch the dragonet that would be theirs. Nautilus and the other three dragons, which Jaune recognized from his sight test, sat in a semi-circle behind the eggs. Sacks of food, clean towels, and buckets of warm water sat nearby.
When everyone was gathered, Ozpin came forward, nodding at his gray earth dragon before smiling at the students. "Students of Beacon, future Dragon Riders, this is the moment you have all been looking forward to, I'm sure: The bonding to your dragon." He walked calmly along the line of students, sipping from a mug of coffee. "This is a moment that so many people dream of. Yet, so few truly understand what it means. This isn't a magical moment in a fairy tale. This isn't the end of any troubles you had before now. In fact, it's the beginning of many more."
Some students frowned in confusion. Most kept their gazes fixed on the eggs.
"There are two moments every Rider looks forward to," Ozpin continued. "The hatching, and that moment when you fly into battle astride your mighty partner. Few stop to consider the in-between time, which is going to be your lives for the next year. A living, helpless being is going to emerge from each of these eggs. Each and every one of you are going to be responsible for another life. You will raise your dragon. You will feed it. You will clean up after it. You will spend sleepless nights calming it down if it's afraid of the dark. You will tear your hair out wondering why it isn't responding to your commands." He smiled. "We will offer guidance and all the assistance we can, but the fate of your dragon is ultimately in your hands. Do not forget that. This is not a glorified pet. This is your partner for life. Remember that. Remember that every day after today."
By this point, everyone was listening. Eager expressions took on a solemn undertone as the young students took in Ozpin's words. Some started to look nervous. Most, however, remained just as excited as before. They were ready. They could handle what came next. They could handle anything as long as they had their dragons.
Ozpin stepped back and walked over to his dragon, leaning against the gray flank. Another professor, a portly man with a mustache, walked away from his fire dragon and stood in front of the crowd.
"Behind me are enough elemental eggs for all of you," he began. "But, these eggs weren't haphazardly chosen. Four eggs have been taken from each of the planned clutches. Four eggs, four elements, four teammates. After your dragon chooses you, it will smell its three siblings and instinctively seek them out. The partners of those three siblings will be your teammates during the rest of your time at Beacon." He nodded encouragingly. "And don't let Ozpin get you down. This is a moment to remember. Good luck."
He walked away, calling over his shoulder: "Oh, it doesn't matter where you stand. I've seen dragons from the far end of a line choose a person on the complete other side before. So, no pushing. Just let the hatchlings decide."
There was still some shoving as the students quickly moved to stand in a line. Jaune found himself sandwiched between Sun and the red-haired boy with the tattoos around his eyes. He stared at the multicolored eggs, his heart hammering against his ribcage.
Nora stood next to Ren, gripping his hand as she stared fixedly at the eggs. "Ren, this is happening," she breathed. Next to her, Ren nodded and squeezed her hand.
Pyrrha stood at the end of the line, glancing at her fellow students, then at the eggs.
A few minutes of silence passed. The sun started to creep over the horizon. The first crack split the early morning air.
There was a collective intake of breath as everyone tried to see which egg it had been. Then, there was another. And another. Soon, the air was rending with the sound of shattering shells and the first cries of the squealing dragonets. Some people got on their knees and held out their hands, making clicking sounds or calling.
Pyrrha knelt down, but she didn't make any noise. She just looked at the eggs and the emerging dragons, stunned by the clumsy beauty of the tiny creatures as they moved forward, calling out for the partners they had been genetically conditioned to seek out. She watched, trying to see if any of those jewel-like eyes were turned in her direction.
Next to her, a brown earth dragon stumbled into the arms of a girl, who promptly burst into tears as she hugged the hatchling. "Congratulations," Pyrrha said as the girl hurried away to get a towel and some apple slices.
She turned back toward the hatchlings and immediately found her gaze fixed on a set of eyes several feet away. They were pale blue, almost white, and practically glowing in the gray light of the morning. The dragonet that held these eyes was a bright, golden-orange color. It blinked once, then hurried toward her.
Pyrrha held her breath, a lump rising in her throat. She didn't dare to blink, didn't dare risk breaking the link that was forming between her eyes and that of the dragonet. She watched as it tripped over the tail of one of its fellows, hissed irritably, then continued forward. As it drew close, she held out her arms, letting out her breath in a gasp as she felt the warm, wet form leap into her embrace, tiny claws digging into her shirt.
She held the dragonet against her chest as she stood up, walking toward the towels. The creature's hot breaths on her neck were the most wonderful sensation she had ever felt.
As she rubbed her new partner down and fed it some apple slices, she took a moment to examine it. It was a fire dragon, with eyes like blue flames and scales that were pure gold-orange, without a single other marking on them. The beginning of two dark horns were on its head, and its ears flicked curiously when Pyrrha cooed at it.
"You are just grand," she murmured, stroking the creature's warm brow. "Simply grand. We will do so well together. I can feel it."
The dragonet nipped her finger, growling quietly.
Pyrrha withdrew her hand, trying not to feel too hurt. Fire dragons are a bit more vicious than the others. It's nothing personal, she reminded herself. It still chose you. She tried rubbing the hatchling's back. It blinked up at her, and didn't try biting again.
Nora, meanwhile, had let go of Ren and was kneeling on the ground, calling out to each dragon that came near. "Here, here! I'm right here! I'll take good care of you! Me, me, me!"
Ren was a bit calmer, remaining standing and waiting patiently for one of the hatchlings to look at him. Still, even though his excitement wasn't as obvious, he felt his heart leap hopefully every time a dragon passed him.
One of the nearby eggs started to shake, and Nora turned toward it. She felt all of her senses honing in on it as it continued to move. This is the one, she thought. This has gotta be the one. In that moment, she knew that she had never felt so sure of anything before.
A crack appeared, and a tiny snout peeked out. The dragonet shook the shell away and extended a set of large wings. Pale green eyes blinked open, a pair of head fins twitched, and the dragon turned to look at Nora.
Nora's breath caught in her throat. "Hey," she whispered, finding herself unable to say much else all of a sudden. She waited, blinking rapidly as tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. Please, please, please… Then, the dragonet took a step forward.
It walked slowly, but deliberately toward Nora, stopping just in front of her. The hatchling stared up at her, blinked, and then bobbed its head. If that wasn't a sign of approval, nothing was!
"EEEK!" Nora squeaked, making the hatchling jump. "Oops, sorry." She picked up the dragonet. "Come on, let's get you dried off." She grinned at Ren. "Look, Ren! It's a wind dragon!"
"Go take care of it, Nora," Ren replied, not taking his eyes off of the eggs.
"Right, right." Nora ran over to the towels and picked one up. "Come on, gorgeous." As she started rubbing down her new dragon, she appreciated the fact that this probably was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Its scales were like a pastel-lover's heaven with patches and swirls of pale yellow, baby blue, and rosy pink covering it. "You are the prettiest dragonet in the world!" she declared, bending down to kiss the creature's snout.
The dragonet snapped at her nose, opening its mouth wide.
"Oh, right. You're hungry." Nora grabbed a handful of apple slices from a nearby bag and held her hand out. "Here you go. Eat up. You gotta grow big and strong." She giggled as the dragonet's snout tickled her palm. "Omigosh, I love you so much!"
Ren allowed himself a smile as he heard Nora rushing off to take care of her dragon, then turned his attention back to the eggs. There were several unclaimed hatchlings, but he still felt the beginning traces of worry that the others were probably starting to feel. Will I not get chosen? he wondered, even though he knew it was silly. Of course he'd be chosen. Everyone would get chosen.
To his right, a dragon jumped from an incubator and started running, only to trip and fall head over heels. He turned to look as the hatchling shook its head, flashing a very human expression of aggravation. Then, it turned toward Ren.
The first thing Ren noticed was that the dragon was odd-eyed. Its right eye was a dark gray color while the other was a deep teal. The next thing he realized was that those eyes were looking right at him!
The dragonet tilted its head, blinked, then opened its mouth to let out a loud, excited squawk. It then promptly started to bound toward Ren, jaws open like an eager puppy.
Ren knelt on the ground, unable to keep from laughing as the half-crazed dragon barreled toward him. It was a water dragonet, and kept tripping over its webbed feet and pounding the ground with its large, flat tail. He held out his arms, catching the hatchling as it tripped into him. He let out an "Oof!" as the dragonet inadvertently headbutted his chest.
"Okay," he muttered, groaning as he stood up. The dragon wiggled against him, rubbing its head against his collarbone. "Easy, now. Try to calm down. I don't want to drop you."
The dragonet twitched and squeaked, as if the mere sound of Ren's voice was enough to send it into a frenzy. He walked by Nora, and stopped as his new charge extended its neck and started to bark.
Nora's dragon looked up from underneath a towel and responded with a squeak of its own.
Ren grinned as Nora looked at him. "Looks like we're going to be teammates." He walked over and set his dragon down next to Nora's, smiling as they started eagerly sniffing and nuzzling each other.
Nora squealed, bouncing up and down. "Omigosh! Ren! Ren, this is the best day of my life! Oooh, your dragon has such pretty eyes!"
Ren tried to hold his new hatchling still as he dried it off. Its scales were dark blue with freckles of sea-green all over and streaks of the same color on its wings. He looked at Nora's dragon, nodding appreciatively. "Yours is quite pretty too."
Nora giggled. "I guess good looks run in the family, huh?" She looked around, trying to see if any earth or fire dragons were leading their partners over.
Then, they heard a warble and turned to see Pyrrha approaching. In her arms was an excited fire dragon, whose neck was stretched at its full length as it tried to reach its two siblings.
Pyrrha smiled, placing her dragon down so that it could get acquainted with the other two. "It looks like we only have the earth dragon left," she remarked.
Nora nodded, looking toward the dwindling line of students. "We'll know any second now!"
Jaune, meanwhile, was trying desperately to suppress the meltdown that was building up threateningly in his brain. Everyone gets chosen. Everyone gets chosen. You're getting a dragon. You passed the sight test. The profs' dragons like you. You're gonna get one.
He watched as egg after egg hatched. Dragonets ran to their partners. Some even brushed against his leg in their hurry to get to their chosen human or Faunus. Minutes passed. He knelt on the ground, trying to catch the eye of each dragon. None of them even looked in his direction.
Finally, he was sitting alone in the middle of the arena. He stared at the incubators, his eyes resting on the last egg. Okay, he thought. It's gonna be you, then. Come on out.
He stared at the egg, waiting to hear a crack, waiting to see a shake. Nothing happened.
Behind him, he could hear students fawning over their dragons, talking to their new teammates, and squealing with excitement. He heard squawks, chirps, warbles, hisses, and practically every other animal sound imaginable. Still, he continued to stare at the egg.
It was pale green with streaks of light brown. An earth dragon egg. His dragon egg.
More minutes passed. His heart started to sink. His eyes started to sting. "Come on…" he whispered. He glanced up, and saw the professors exchanging worried looks. His throat tightened.
A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up to see Pyrrha staring down at him. Her face was sympathetic. Cradled in one arm was a fire dragon, who was gazing intently at the motionless egg.
"I'm sorry, Jaune," Pyrrha murmured. "It happens sometimes. Don't worry, though. Ozpin will inject another egg for you. You'll be on our team."
Jaune shook his head numbly. "It can't be dead…" He turned to look back at the egg. His stomach churned. "It's mine."
"You'll get your egg," Pyrrha repeated. "You have to. You'll just need to wait a bit longer." She knelt next to him, rubbing his shoulder. "Don't worry. You can play with our dragons until yours hatches."
Jaune opened his mouth to reply, then froze as the tiniest sound reached his ear. It was a tap. Not a crack, or a scratch, or anything loud or particularly noticeable. If his ears hadn't already been trained on the egg, he would have missed it.
He turned toward the egg. Another tap just barely reached his eardrums. "It's alive," he breathed. "It's moving."
Pyrrha watched Jaune, pity causing her heart to ache. It doesn't matter, she thought as she watched the egg. It's too weak. They'll take it to be culled. She could see Ozpin starting to walk over, a grave look on his face. "I'm sorry, Jaune," she sighed.
Jaune stared at the egg. It shook. It was the slightest vibration of a movement, but it still shook! Then, he saw Ozpin approaching. "No!" He stood up and ran over, kneeling in front of the egg. "Come on, little guy. You want to live, don't you? I'm here! Come out. You can do it!"
He could hear movement within the egg. In response to his voice, the tapping increased. In the light of the incubator, he could just barely see through the shell. For an instant, he saw the outline of a tiny head desperately bumping against the inside of the shell. It doesn't have an egg tooth, he realized, looking around for a rock.
Finding nothing, he settled for pulling his Scroll out of his pocket and sharply tapping the shell with the corner. A crack appeared. Inside the egg, the hatchling's movements redoubled. "That's it!" Jaune said eagerly, hitting the egg again. This time, a large crack went all the way down. Tiny claws slipped through the gap as the dragonet tried to pry the egg apart, struggling and thrashing.
Jaune slid his fingers into the crack and pulled. A flood of egg juices came out, soaking his pants and hoodie. He didn't care, though. Sitting in the middle of it, trembling, eyes tightly shut, was his dragonet.
It was tiny, half the size of its peers, resembling a lizard more than a dragon. Jaune was easily able to lift it with one hand. It whimpered and crawled blindly toward Jaune's chest, rubbing its head against his hoodie and trying to soak up what warmth it could get.
"Mister Arc." Ozpin's voice caused Jaune to look up. The Dragonmaster was looking down at him, an expression of sadness and regret on his face. "I am so sorry."
Jaune stood up, holding the tiny dragon against his chest. His heart sank as he looked at Ozpin's downcast eyes. "Why? Is it still going to die?" He drew the little dragon closer, looking at its shaking form.
"Most likely," Ozpin sighed. "This is not supposed to happen, you see. It can, but we try very hard to prevent it." He handed Jaune a towel. "Here. You'd might as well make her comfortable. Come talk to me when…when it's over. You will get an egg after this. I promise."
Her. Jaune took the towel and walked toward where the apples were. He was aware of Pyrrha falling into step beside him, but his eyes were only for the dragon that was curled weakly against his chest. He sat down, rubbing her gently with the towel. The movement caused her to stir slightly. Her eyelids twitched.
Jaune reached for an unused bucket of warm water and took a rag, carefully running it over the dragonet's face. "Hey," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Hey, little girl. Come on. Open your eyes."
The dragon shook her head once, groaning. Her snout twitched when Jaune held an apple slice near it. She weakly licked it.
Tears started streaming down Jaune's cheeks as he looked down at the tiny dragon. "Come on, girl," he breathed. "You made it out of the egg, didn't you? You can make it now." He didn't care that this dragon was weak, or that it was a runt. He didn't care that he'd get a stronger one if this one died. This was his dragon. She needed him. He wanted her to live!
Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora stood nearby, their faces solemn. Their dragons were straining against their arms, trying to reach their motionless sibling. Ren's water dragon let out a loud howl.
In Jaune's arms, the little earth dragon twitched. He blinked. "Guys, bring your dragons over."
The others knelt down next to Jaune, allowing their dragonets to see their sibling. The three hatchlings leaned in immediately, licking and whimpering and barking and squeaking. The scene would have been utterly heartbreaking, if it weren't for the fact that the earth dragonet was starting to stir just a bit more.
"Come on," Jaune urged. "You can do it. I'll take care of you, girl. You just gotta live, okay?" He bit a piece of apple from the slice and held it under her nose. "Here. Eat up."
Slowly, a tongue came out, wrapped around the piece of apple, and drew it into the tiny muzzle. She chewed, then swallowed.
Then, her eyes opened.
They were silver, like the eyes of a wild hatchling. They glistened as the shivering runt squinted against the rising sun. Her pale green and brown scales shined as she slowly, shakily sat up. She blinked up at Jaune, tilting her head.
Jaune let out a sob and hugged the dragon close. "Good girl. I knew you could do it," he whispered. "My name's Jaune. We're gonna be partners, okay?"
The dragon wriggled against his chest and let out a quiet squeak.
Pyrrha wiped her eyes, smiling with relief as her dragon squawked its approval.
Behind them, Ozpin cleared his throat. When Jaune stood up, the Dragonmaster was regarding him with an unreadable expression. "You might have saved her, but she is still a runt," Ozpin said bluntly. "Raising her will be doubly difficult, as will making her capable of fighting Grimm."
He looked down at the dragon. "You can still ask for a replacement egg." These words came out forced, as if he really didn't want to say them, but was obliged to.
Jaune, however, shook his head. "And let her be culled? No way! She wants to live." He looked at the dragon, who blinked up at him and chirped. "Besides, we already chose each other. She's mine!"
When he looked back at Ozpin, the Dragonmaster was nodding. His expression had softened into a smile. "Very well, then. Good luck."
Nora walked over, holding her wind dragon in her arms. "Um, sir? Could you tell me if my dragon's a boy or a girl? I'm trying to figure out what to name it."
Ozpin nodded. "Of course." He examined the dragon for a moment. "Yours is a girl." He turned toward Ren and Pyrrha. "Yours are both males."
He looked at each of the four and their dragons, his gaze finally falling on Jaune and the runt once again. "You will have hard times ahead," he said to Jaune. "But, I now see why Ragnar, Nautilus, Gust, and Pepper approved so strongly of you. I have a good feeling about you and the rest of your team." He smiled at them before walking off to speak to the other assembled teams.
Jaune felt his new dragonet shivering, and held her closer, cooing gently. "We're going to be the best, girl. Just you wait. In a few years, the Grimm will be the ones trembling."
Nora talked excitedly about potential names while Ren listened patiently, trying to keep his water dragon from leaping out of his arms.
Pyrrha, on the other hand, was silent. She kept her own dragon close, stroking his back and smiling at him while watching Jaune with one eye. Her heart warmed as she watched the runty earth dragon chirp quietly in his ear. She knew Ozpin was right: The next few years would be difficult. The runt would require extra care, and the team would have more hurdles to go over. However, she was more than willing to make the extra effort, and knew that Ren and Nora would be as well.
Ozpin was also right about there being something special about Jaune. Looking at that gentle smile and the protective way he was hugging his stunted dragon, Pyrrha felt truly glad that she would be sharing her time at Beacon with this accepting, kindhearted young man. She fed her dragon another apple slice and glanced toward the rising sun.
This is only the beginning, she thought. Things will only get better from here.
And that's Team JNPR assembled! Next week, we'll see how the hatching went for Team SSSN. After that, we get baby dragon bonding time! Yay!
If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards (including being further ahead in this fic), please consider pledging to my P/atreon, which is Solora Goldsun.
Peace out!