I Know Them!

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 17th February 2026

Characters: Ketlyn, Kemmin
Description: Ketlyn and Kemmin attend the Hatching
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 13, day 20 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aydhara, Felorin, M'kadja, T'thalin

Ketlyn

"I look dumb." Kemmin adjusted his new tunic and squinted into the little polished brass mirror that Ketlyn held up for him. The tunic felt a bit too tight through the shoulders and the burnt orange colour seemed garish to his eyes. But Ketlyn had insisted that he take it when they'd gone down to the Lower Caverns to find him something to wear for the Hatching several days earlier.

Ketlyn, meanwhile, looked far too grown up for his tastes in her green dress. The edges of her sleeves and collar were edged with lace, and he could see flashes of her calves above her boots when she walked. The heat and humidity of the day had frizzed her dark hair, although she'd done her best to plait it back and tame it into something sleek and sophisticated. She'd strung beads through her braids that sparkled whenever she moved her head.

"You look just fine," she told him, setting aside the mirror. "And we have to _go_!"

Kemmin let himself be hurried out, and the siblings were soon swept up in the stream of people heading toward the Hatching Cavern. The air reverberated with dragons' humming, and it reminded Kemmin of the first time he'd gone to a Hatching, when Ketlyn had first been Searched and taken to Dolphin Cove Weyr. Hot, humid and ripe with expectation.

They found a spot on the benches halfways up the cavern and Ketlyn pointed out Varinth, who was crouched on a ledge by the entrance and half-concealed by a lanky blue dragon. Electric lights blazed bright as sunshine and the mouth to the Hatching Cavern yawned black. "I have a good feeling about this Hatching," Ketlyn said, wrapping her hand around Kemmin's arm. She was practically vibrating where she sat. "Aydhara's dragon _has_ to be in this clutch. It's her parents' dragons, how could he not be?"

Kemmin made a face, remembering his encounter with Aydhara in the Hatching Caverns. "You think?"

"Oh, absolutely," Ketlyn said. "Her blue dragon is down there."

"But she's a girl..." Kemmin trailed off. Aydhara wasn't special enough to Impress a _blue_ dragon, was she? If she was, she'd be terrible at it, he decided. Dragons were only supposed to Impress nice people.

"So? The last few Clutches at other Weyrs have seen girls Impressing a blue. It's about time that Barrier Lake Weyr's blue dragonets did the same, and if they have any sense one of them will pick Aydhara," Ketlyn said stoutly. "I bet-- look! I think that egg's about to hatch!"

Far below, white robed Candidates filed onto the hot sands. Ketlyn squinted as she tried to pick out Aydhara, while Kemmin tried to spot Akadja, but he got distracted when he spotted Felorin instead. She looked regal in white, he thought. Like a clam shell on the lakeshore, or a really nice tree - the kind that had flowers in spring, maybe. She'd Impress for sure.

Then the first egg cracked and a sticky green dragonet was making her way across the Sands-- straight to Felorin. Kemmin stood and whooped excitedly but his voice was lost in the crowd.

Ketlyn looked at him quizzically. "You know her?"

"Yeah, we went on a date once," Kemmin said offhandedly as he sat back down beside her. "That's Felorin."

"Huh." Ketlyn turned her attention back to the Sands, but now was distracted wondering just what on Pern her brother was getting into when she wasn't watching him. She'd wanted space after they'd lived together, but maybe she'd left him with too much space. Felorin looked _way_ out of his league. "Wait-- there's a blue! Oh," she sagged with disappointment as he headed away from Aydhara.

But then-- Ketlyn sat upright as two other blue dragonets tumbled into each other on the Sands. Then one of them-- the larger-- headed straight for Aydhara and butted her in the stomach.

"YES!" Ketlyn leaped off her seat, her fists in the air. "AYDHARA! I KNEW IT!"

Kemmin ducked her flying elbows and clapped politely along with everyone else, but his attention was snagged by a bronze dragonet and a-- was that a gold dragonet? - in front of a pair of young men... one of whom he recognized. It was Akadja who walked off with a bronze dragonet with a gleaming reddish hide.

Akadja! "Yes!" Kemmin threw his head back and howled like a canine. "I know that guy!"

Ketlyn sat down next to him, her face stretched into a grin so wide she thought it would never come off. "You know him, too?"

"Yeah, we go way back!" Kemmin elbowed her. "Is that a gold dragonet?"

"No, a bronze," she said. "Varinth says he's just really yellow looking. But did you see? Aydhara Impressed! Varinth says his name's Rath! I knew it, I _knew_ it!" She flung her arms around her brother. "I'm so happy!"

He hugged her back, fiercely. "Wanna go get drunk at the Hatching Feast?" he asked.

Ketlyn nodded eagerly. "I am ready to _celebrate_!"

Last updated on the February 28th 2026

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I Know Them!