Something Really Amazing

Writers: Avery, Estelle
Date Posted: 17th December 2017

Characters: V'rel, R'fal
Description: V'rel shows R'fal where the Hatching Cavern is when he arrives.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 6 of Turn 9

Vatirel tried to get to know all of the new Candidates as they were Searched to the Weyr. It was sometimes difficult for him, but it was a task he'd gotten more comfortable with over the Turns. He didn't want new people to feel lonely, or homesick, or like nobody at the Weyr wanted to get to know them.

The newest male Candidate had been searched in from a Hold. Vatirel waited until he looked settled on his bunk before walking over. "Hey there. How are you?" he greeted.

"Um...a little overwhelmed." Renfal managed a grin. He didn't want to give anyone the idea he wasn't happy to be here, but his head was so full of new sights and sensations he didn't quite know how to feel. He thought he'd seen more people in the last hour than he had in the rest of his life up till now. "They didn't tell me the Weyr was so big!"

"It's really large compared to anything but a major Hold. Not that I've been to any of those, actually, but that's what I heard," Vatirel admitted.

"I haven't either. It's certainly much bigger than my father's farm - and there are dragons instead of ovines." That was something to be cheerful about, and the people seemed friendly so far. He stood and held out a hand in greeting. "I'm Renfal. Have you been here long?"

Vatirel shook the offered hand. "About 4 Turns or so now?" he mused. "I've always lived at a Weyr though. So if you need a tour or have questions, I'm your guy."

"Thanks! I might take you up on that. If I step out of here on my own I'll probably get lost in five minutes." Renfal considered what part of the Weyr he'd like to see the most. He didn't have to think for very long - the answer was obvious. "Are we allowed to see the eggs?"

"We can't just go in on our own or Panitath will get angry," Vatirel said. "We have to wait for the official egg touching class for that. But I could show you where the Hatching Caverns are."

"That would be great. Out of all the places in the Weyr, that's the one I want to be absolutely sure I know how to get to." Renfal followed the other Candidate out of the barracks. Any disappointment he might have felt about having to wait to see the eggs was alleviated by what Vatirel had said after that. "There's an egg touching class? You mean, we get to touch them?"

"There is," Vatirel said with a nod. "See, gold dragons get really protective of their eggs. Like, have you ever seen a mama canine with puppies? She would get really upset if just anyone came in any time to go see. But on the other hand, the Candidates have to meet the eggs. It's tradition, they say it gives us a better shot. So we go out there with the Weyrlingmasters and they let us see the eggs under supervision, so we don't stress her."

"I see." Renfal did know not to play with young puppies without taking due care - he'd once got one of the worst dressing-downs of his young life from his grandfather for trying to do exactly that. He wasn't sure whether to be comforted that dragons had something in common with the working canines he was familiar with, or worried about making a similar mistake and getting in to ten times worse trouble than he ever had back home. "Have you done it before? What's it like?"

"I thought they'd be leathery the first time I touched them. They're hard but they're not cold. They're warm and you can just...you can feel something special is growing in there," Vatirel said after a moment.

"And you can tell that the gold is judging you. Like she's going to be judging all of the girl candidates. I'm glad it's not me," he added.

"Me, too." Renfal thought guiltily of all of the scrapes he'd got into back home over the Turns, and hoped that queen dragons could not read minds or else she'd surely not consider him worthy of the honour of Impressing one of her hatchlings. Perhaps if he thought very hard during the class of how he promised to behave in future? "And the Hatching? What's that like? I mean...if you don't mind saying," he added, realising that it might be a little tactless to ask someone who hadn't yet Impressed.

"It's something that's really amazing," Vatirel said honestly. "It's so hot out there on the Sands and you're uncomfortable. There's loud humming happening too. People are in the Stands watching you and you can see so many eyes on the eggs and on you. It's a lot to listen to and think about. Then suddenly there's cracking happening and there are dragonets just spilling out and going around, so many of them. It's easy to bump into other people. I just try to keep my eye out for anything coming my way in case I'm keeping a dragonet from someone else."

Renfal tried to imagine it, and couldn't. Perhaps once he'd seen the Hatching Cavern it would be easier. "Maybe this time everyone will be watching the gold egg and not us. Well, besides my parents, of course. I hope they'll be watching me at least some of the time!"

"I hope they all stare at the gold egg and not us boys too," Vatirel said.

"I would, if I was them. I bet it's quite a sight." He could hardly believe he was going to see it himself. "Did you ever see a gold egg hatch before?"

"I saw one. The golds name was Elleth and her rider was Meledei. She transferred away last Turn," Vatirel explained.

"Oh. Does that happen a lot - riders transferring?" Renfal asked. He'd never thought of that, and wondered if it could happen to him, should he Impress. Leaving his home for the Weyr had been bewildering enough.

"It certainly does. There's a lot of reasons why. For Meledei, it was part of a gold swap to change up the bloodlines a bit so the whole Weyr isn't populated with the clutches of the same two golds mating with the same two bronzes. Or in other cases, a rider might want to go somewhere else for a change of pace, maybe an older rider wants to leave snow for warm, or a Weyr needs a few more older greens and they put out a request. I gather it's like changing assignments if you're a Hall journeyman," Vatirel said.

"I've moved twice in my life. I don't think I'd like to move again," he added.

"I can see why someone wouldn't want to leave. It's so beautiful here," Renfal said, remembering his first sight of the Weyr from dragonback. "Did you move with your parents?"

"With my mother, yes. She transferred to work as a junior Headwoman," Vatirel said.

Renfal wondered where Vatirel's father was - back home, that was one of the first things you knew about a person - but was afraid it would be rude to ask. He might have died in Fall, or something like that. They were approaching a
large opening in the cliff and he pointed. "Is that where the Hatching Cavern is?"

"It is. We'll get to look in there eventually. Touch the eggs and maybe find our dragons," Vatirel said with a wistful sigh.

Last updated on the December 23rd 2017

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Something Really Amazing