Shattered Shells and Surprises

Writers: Ames, Devin
Date Posted: 15th May 2011

Characters: Janani, N'vanik
Description: Angdelouth's first clutch as senior Weyrwoman hatches
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 18 of Turn 6

N'vanik

Janani knew the time was nearly here. The dragons had been
anticipating the hatching for a few days now as the eggs had hardened
and were now ready. When one egg began twitching she knew the time was
upon them! Messengers had been dispatched to pick up honored guests
and inform others that the time had come.

Janani had retired to her weyr to quickly don her dress for the
hatching when Angdelouth called out to her. }:It is time, mine.
Hurry!:{

**I'm coming my sweet,** she replied just as she began to hear the
first chords of the dragon's hum. The creatures recognized that the
eggs were hatching. She could feel the low rumbling almost vibrating
through her body as she smiled. Her first hatching as Weyrwoman.
Janani vowed to remember this moment forever.

She turned and hurried out of her weyr even as she finishing pinning
her hair up off her face. Being right next to the hatching grounds had
their advantages as she was only a few steps away. Being one of the
first on the sands, she looked around with jubilation and
anticipation. **It will be a glorious hatching!** She told her
lifemate as she looked around for the one other person that truly
mattered this day, N'vanik.

Loseth backwinged gracefully to a landing just outside the Hatching
Grounds and hurried inside. He paused near the stands to let his rider
slide off his neck and then went to go find the best vantage point to
watch his Hatchlings enter the world. "Here we go," N'vanik said as he
joined his new Weyrwoman. He gave her a kiss.

She smiled at him as he joined her and returned his kiss briefly.
"They're already moving. It really won't be long now." Janani reached
for his hand and took it in hers giving him a squeeze. She _always_
got excited and nervous on hatching days. Even as they stood on the
sands it was clear that the guests were already arriving and filing
into the stands. Janani smiled and waved to a few familiar faces,
knowing she would speak with them soon enough.

}:Our children are coming,:{ Angdelouth said to Loseth, raising her
head from her spot on the sands to look toward her mate. }:They will
be magnificent:{ The golden beauty was already anticipating how
amazing her offspring would be.

}:Of course. How could they be otherwise?:{ Loseth knew their
hatchlings would be perfect.

The Stands grew more crowded as more and more people arrived, dragons
rushing in and out of the cavern carrying passengers. A few last
stragglers arrived and the dragons all began to hum.

Any Hatching was special, but this was Loseth's clutch. For only the
second time, N'vanik looked down at the eggs his dragon had sired.
After everything that had happened, those eggs seemed all the more
precious. He was still Weyrleader, the Weyr was growing stronger, and
Janani had proven herself a very capable Weyrwoman. He squeezed her
hand.

She returned the gentle squeeze as she leaned on the edge of her seat,
anxious and eager like a candidate herself. The humming of the dragons
filled the air and she knew the time was upon. "Here they come!" She
whispered, looking towards the entryway where the candidates clothed
in white were filing in. "Oh, they do look nervous," she couldn't help
but comment, watching as some of them seemed to shift from foot to
foot anxiously.

A few of the eggs began to rock in earnest, which riveted Janani's
attention. She squeezed N'vanik's hand tightly as she waited for one
of those eggs to crack. When that sound _did_ fill the air, it was
almost as though all the watching guests drew in a breath at the same
time. And suddenly the flurry of wings filled the space as a green
dragonet burst forth from its shelf and flopped onto the sands.

The little dragonet managed to right itself and wobble it's way across
the sands, its head swinging back and forth as if it couldn't quite
find who it was looking for. Then, almost as if the little green had
been called, she turned quickly and darted as fast as her clumsy wings
would allow her towards one of the smallest candidates. The first
Impression was made!

}:Here name is Liddith:{ Angdelouth informed her rider who was peering
at the young girl. "That's one of the new candidates. Pierka, her name
is."

The next egg to crack revealed a bronze. He stumbled a bit as he got
his footing and made his way toward the Candidates. Some of the boys
moved forward, but the little hatchling moved past all of them and
found a young man who looked almost too old to Stand. Impression was
made. N'vanik glanced up at Loseth, remembering the day the bronze had
found him. }:I knew you were mine,:{ Loseth said.

Words weren't enough, so N'vanik sent love across their bond.

Then he looked back down and got a better look at the new bronzerider.
"Hey, I think that's one of Meledei's friends."

"A bronze!" Janani couldn't have been happier to see a bronze so early
in the hatching. "Ang says his name is Taldeth and his rider is now
T'nom." She smiled as she watched the pair being led from the sands
even as more eggs began to rock and crack around them. Things were
beginning to happen much faster now with not one, but sometimes two or
more dragons bursting forth from their shells. Many Impression were
being made and Janani was overjoyed, until one little green dragon
drew everyone's attention.

The little dragonet was almost running on shaky legs as though she
couldn't find the one she sought. Janani felt her heart constrict.
**Please don't go /between/** She knew if the dragon could not find
itself a suitable mate that could potentially happen, but it was not
something she ever wished to witness again. The little dragonet
barreled over one candidate as she finally seemed to have a goal in
mind. Her talons drew blood on the injured girl who hadn't moved fast
enough. Yet, still, the dragonet seemed lost as it looked for someone.
Whirling back around its eyes rested on the girl whom it had knocked
to the ground in its haste. Suddenly it was clear. An Impression had
been made.

}:Kisiloth is pleased she has finally found hers.:{ Janani let out the
breath she'd been holding. "That's Dashii. I do hope she wasn't hurt
badly. She seems okay."

N'vanik was about to comment when another pair caught his attention.
He nudged Janani. "Hey, there's our little troublemaker," he said as
he pointed to Taeshin hugging a brown. "I hope that clears up his
attitude problem." He chuckled.

}:Raisheth,:{ Angdelouth announced to her rider. Janani couldn't have
been more pleased. She'd worked with that boy for many sevendays now,
hoping to get him to see the good that he held inside of him. "He'll
make a fine rider," she murmured quietly, feeling, in a small way, the
way a mother might feel for her own child.

She didn't have long to dwell on her thoughts, however, as another
brown burst forth and flopped it's way towards another boy. "That's
Surryad," she replied, "Well, S'ryad now," she grinned happily. Most
of the eggs were gone as S'ryad and his new partner, Eldoranth.

"That's nearly all of them," she said quietly as she glanced out at
the few eggs that remained and the many eager faces that hoped to
Impress this day.

One of the last eggs to hatch was a blue, who looked around for a
moment at the remaining Candidates. Then he tottered off in a straight
line and stopped at the feet of a young man. "Another older rider,"
N'vanik said. "We'll be filling the Wings for sure."

}:Camyth's is a healer,:{ Loseth commented.

"Loseth says the new bluerider is a healer." N'vanik figured he'd
learned that from talking to the dragonhealers' dragons.

She watched as the last of the eggs hatched. Janani was ecstatic.
Every dragon had found it's partner and all that remained were the
shattered shells to show that Impressions had been made. She squeezed
N'vanik's hand.

"It was a marvelous hatching," she said happily. "Let's go meet all
our newest riders, shall we?"

"Yes." He kissed her. **Our new riders,** he thought with pride.

Last updated on the May 18th 2011

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Shattered Shells and Surprises