Proud Parents

Writers: Chelle, Emma
Date Posted: 15th May 2013

Characters: Rhosyn, K'sedel
Description: Orlaith lays another clutch at River Bluff Weyr.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 1, day 23 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Hygalia, Lenala, G'nir, N'vanik, Solieira, Briata

K'sedel

Unlike most times when she simply waited for her gold to go about
her business and let her know when the time was right, this time
Rhosyn found herself staying very close to Orlaith as the time went on and
her big queen became quite heavy with the eggs. Her belly was
distended and she looked ungainly as she moved slowly around, never very far.
The pair of them were sitting on the ledge in the sun as Rhosyn ate a
sandwich when Orlaith turned her head to her. }:They are going to come now:{
Her eyes whirled a happy blue in anticipation as she moved to get herself
up and head to the Hatching Grounds.

Rhosyn got up and pulled on her heavy shoes for the hot sands before slowly
following her gold, right beside her, encouraging her with her thoughts.

It was the middle of the day and the sun was at its brightest and hottest.
The Sands would be almost scorching. }:Nikornath, our children come. I go to
welcome them:{ the Senior Queen shared as she entered the Cavern, looking
around and heading inside to shape the sands before she began to lay.

Nikornath came to the edge of the sands, pausing for a moment. The great
bronze respectfully asked of his mate, }:May I join you? they will need us
both.:{

}:You may watch but don't come forward. I need to get the Sands just right:{
True to her word, she was using her huge tail and foreclaws to mound the
sand, creating little impressions for the eggs she planned to deposit. Besides,
Orlaith's big form was hard enough to maneuver around dainty eggs without
worrying about Nikornath's as well.

}:And my? rider?:{ Nikornath knew his rider would certainly like to see the
results of the flight.

}:He may sit with mine if he wishes to:{ she replied before going back to
work.

Rhosyn was sitting in the Stands as usual. Of course she wasn't exactly
happy with K'sedel after what had happened and she had mainly been dealing
with all the duties she was forced to catch up with. It didn't help that N'vanik
wasn't speaking to her and she suddenly found herself quite lonely. Wrapping
her arms around herself, she watched Orlaith quietly.

K'sedel nodded to Rhosyn as he came into the caverns, having stopped first
to put some boots on, and to grab a tray of refreshments.? There were some
pastries, and some juice, and some fruit. "I hope these are okay," he said.

She nodded and just sat there for awhile, watching her dragon do what she
had never done. As Orlaith prepared everything, Rhosyn wondered what that
would feel like. Maybe she should ask Briata someday.

And then Orlaith stopped messing around with the sand and settled against
her foreclaws. The first egg came out and was deposited onto the Sands
before she moved just a bit for the next one. }:It is magnificent:{ she proclaimed
to her small little audience as if it could be anything but.

"Well done," K'sedel told the gold and her rider. "The first of many, I hope."

Despite it all, she could at least be civil she supposed. And there was the
recent disaster at Dragonsfall to think about. Whatever Lenala might have
been, Vilarth had clutched and hatched a good number of dragonets. Now,
Orlaith would follow suit and River Bluff wouldn't suffer. "I wonder what G'nir
thinks about what happened with Onnyth." She hadn't spoken with Hygalia
since the Hatching at Dolphin Cove.

Meanwhile before their eyes, Orlaith was being rather quick about depositing
eggs all over the Sands in those little depression mounds she had made. It
seemed the queen was getting down to business. }:Nikornath I will be hungry:{ she
considered as she placed the eleventh egg.

}Would you prefer a young buck, or a doe?{ the bronze inquired of his
mate, }:Tell me, and I will make sure you have it.:{

"The girl and dragon are young," commented K'sedel. "At least we
aren't too far into the Pass, she'll have many flights left in her to make up
for it."

}:Whatever is the biggest:{ Grunting and moving around, it
couldn't be said that she was crawling as a queen of Pern didn't crawl, but
Orlaith was moving just a little bit and laying, then moving and laying.
The eggs were coming rather quickly compared to usual.

"Aye but that's just it, since we're just into it, more eggs are needed. I
don't know..I know Hygalia wasn't happy about it but there's nothing to be
done now. Strange how sometimes dragons make their choices..." Rhosyn
wondered what sort of thing would ever make Orlaith choose such a suitor
and she couldn't exactly find a reason. Her queen had never made such a
choice. They'd also never had a Flight mistake like what Lenala had done so
it was hard to imagine such a thing.

"Sometimes these things happen," K'sedel told her. "Usually it was before
the Pass, but when it does now, we have to get on with things."

"Well I hope it never happens here. Not now. I wonder...if there will be a
gold this time. We could use another laying." They were doing well enough
but it would be safe if they could have another for the coming turns. They weren't
even near the midpoint of the Pass.

"That I can't tell you," K'sedel said with a chuckle. "Like babies, golds
come when they are ready."

"Well I'm ready," she remarked with a lusty sigh before she reached out for
one of the pastries and slowly ate. This was going to begin her confinement
since Orlaith couldn't fly. She could get a ride sure, but there was really
nowhere to go. Not anymore.

"We'll see." K'sedel poured some juice for himself and Rhosyn.
"What does Orlaith say?"

"About?" She was slightly distracted since now there was quite a handy egg
pile out there on the Sands and she could feel Orlaith getting hungry. It
was like an empty feeling in the pit of her own stomach.

"Whether a gold egg will be on the sands this time," came the reply.

"She doesn't say anything. With her, it's a wait and see sort of thing. She
knows how bad I want it, though. Of course she'd like one too. It's a prideful
thing for her." It had happened in the past and Rhosyn thought back to those
times. Of course she had had no part in training or helping any of those
dragonpairs. This time would be different and that was what she longed for.

~*~

The time passed and finally the gold subsided, moving to find Nikornath and
the food she needed. As she left the eggs that were so carefully placed, Rhosyn
moved down off the sands, watching them in the light. "What do you think?
You can count them if you want. She doesn't care." She thought maybe K'sedel
might like that chore.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "She's going to eat. It'll be fine. Just don't touch or disturb
anything." Of course he knew that but it was an automatic caution.

"It's a nice round forty," K'sedel said after he had walked around the
grounds.

"Ah well no more no less." Rhosyn was happy with it anyway, though she had
been hoping for that gold egg. She felt Orlaith's absence keenly then, feeling
uncomfortable there with K'sedel. "I suppose I'll have to get started to moving
my things into the weyr here." Even though her weyr was close to the Hatching
Cavern, Rhosyn preferred to stay on the grounds with her queen instead of
walking over.

"Want me to ask Sol to get you some help?"

"Oh I already made arrangements with her, but thank you." For sure, the
Weyrwoman had been taking advantage of the Weyr's candidates a bit more
lately and she had no hesitation in showing the girls what was involved when
you were a goldrider. Standing up, she dusted herself off, then started moving down
to the Sands to look at the eggs herself before getting on with her tasks.

Last updated on the May 23rd 2013

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