Unexpected Events

Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 30th May 2014

Characters: Riveenata, F'lin
Description: An unexpected Impression occurs.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 22 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: D'jul, Reyela, Vilarth, K'reyel

They'd planned to find seats together, but in the rush of getting ready and of being teased by her family, she'd forgotten where they were meeting. Her mother said Veyth had passed the message on, but since Riven had split from her family, she didn't know what had been said afterwards. Maybe he was looking for her somewhere totally different...

Her smile blossomed when she saw F'lin standing by the entrance to the sands. She decided to be sneaky, trying to blend into the crowd walking into the grounds. Then she approached and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Hey handsome. Waiting for me?"

F'lin was grinning as he turned around, picked Riven up, and swept her in a circle before planing a large kiss on her nose. "Sure was. Happy Hatching Day!"

She giggled and kissed his cheek back. "Ready to lose that bet we made?"

"Lose? _Lose_" The bronzerider shook his head as head as he began making his way through the crowd to the Stands. "You're sadly mistaken. You're the one that's going to lose.'

"I've seen more Hatchings than you have, so I bet I'm better at guessing colors," she retorted. She was glad to be following him - he cut through the crowds better than her parents did, and maybe he'd be able to find them a nicer seat too. She was looking forward to see what happened, win or lose.

"Maybe so, maybe no. Maybe I have inside dragonrider knowledge you can't comprehend," F'lin replied absently. The stands were filling up fast, and every time he saw a free seat someone was about to sit on it. Somehow the Hatching Caverns could hold everyone, so why was it always so hard to find somewhere decent to sit?

"There!" She pointed at a section of bench less than halfway up the stands and not that far from them. Somehow no one claimed it before they got there. She settled onto the bench and smoothed down her green skirt. "Fine then,how many bronzes do you expect?"

F'lin tapped his chin with his finger and narrowed his eyes. "Four. You look really great today, by the way."

Her lips curled up in a pleased smile. "Thanks. Always an excuse to dress up."

"And an excuse for a good party." F'lin grinned, already thinking about the feast and the dancing. The Weyr transformed itself on Hatching days. "Save a dance for me, will you?"

"Believe me, I'm going to keep you on your feet for quite awhile."

The humming changed and the dragons who also ringed the grounds stirred. She breathed in quickly, watching the candidates file out there in their white robes, remembering how hot the sands felt under her feet. That was always the worst part. Even the eyes of everyone in the chamber staring at them hadn't been so bad.

"Were you nervous?"

His gaze was fixed intently on the white robed candidates below. "Sure. I only Stood once, so I had no idea what to expect when I got out there. Were you?"

"Every time, even after the first. You feel so small down there, looking up at the huge chamber, with all the dragons and people staring at you expectantly." Like the pair of them were doing now.

Her gaze passed over the Candidates, seeing who she could recognize at this distance. There was Reyela, Vailen, and Deajul. She hoped they Impressed.

"Anyone you know?" F'lin had turned and caught her peering at the candidates instead of the eggs.

"Deajul. And K'reyel's daughter. They're good people."

"I hope Reyela Impresses." Apparently he also knew someone on the Sands. Absently he took Riveenata's hand as the humming from the dragons intensified. "Any moment now...!"

She ran her fingers along his before the cracking sound caught her attention. "Look!" A little brown head was poking out. "That's a good sign."

"He's so small..." Seneth had been that size once. It was hard to believe that it was only three Turns ago that his little bronze head had poked out of a shell and turned unerringly toward him, and a broken young man found his life's course heading into unknown waters. He sent a thought to his dragon and recieved a rush of love in return.

"They're all little," she said, pointing at a tiny blue who had popped out of a dark grey egg. "Even golds seem little at this age."

"I know. It kind of boggles my mind that a dragon can actually fit inside one of those things," F'lin said after a moment. "Look-- the blue's Imrpessed!" A Candidate was kneeling in front of the blue dragonet from the grey egg, and even from this distance F'lin could see the joy on the boy's face. Shrieks of excitement caught his attention and he looked to the other end of the Sands where a young girl had her arms around a green dragon with clumsy, fragile wings.

"I can't believe they fit in a gold," she said. She hadn't seen too many egg-heavy golds; usually candidates only saw the eggs once they were out and on the sand, and they were impressively sized there. "Compared to that, human kids grow so slowly.

The red egg they'd looked at during the surprise wobbled and cracked. A dark brown pushed out and wobbled his way towards an older boy. "Looks like you were right," she said.

He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss against her knuckles. "I'll take the first dance as payment." His fingers tightened around hers, and he pointed as the first bronze shattered his shell with a mighty crack. "Look!"

"Oh!" She followed the bronze with rapt eyes, and sighed as he Impressed someone she didn't recognize. "I think he was holdbred."

"So am I!" He grinned at her upraised eyebrow. "Technically..."

"I forget that, sometimes," she amended. "Oh, Deajul got a blue!" she exclaimed, pointing.

F'lin's smile widened, the sight of another Candidate Impressing and the hum of dragons and the crack of shells stirring some half-remembered emotion that he'd never quite fully grasp again. An echo of something so strange, wonderful, complete-- it made him feel a little funny. "Good for him!" he said, the words not really meaning much in the face of it, but true none the less. He held her hand a little tighter.

A sky blue egg near the edge of the clutch began to wobble and shake, a tiny green pair of feet poking out before the whole green broke through. Riven saw it out of the corner of her eye, but she got distracted by two dragons nearly fouling each other. "Look, another bronze!"

But the Impression of the weyrbred boy wasn't that interesting, in the end. The little green, pieces of blue egg still attached, was making her way _away_ from the pack of Candidates. Vilarth rose on her haunches and let out a loud sound, echoing around the chamber.

She flinched and her hold on F'lin's hand became nearly a death grip. "What's going on with Vilarth?"

"I don't know." He scanned the Sands as he asked Seneth what was happening, and he received a reply at the same time that his gaze found the little green dragonet. In the cavern above, Seneth's whirling eyes were also fixed on her. "I don't-- it's the green. Can you ease up on my fingers a bit?"

"Sorry," she said, uncurling her fingers. Riven looked for the green in question and her chest seemed to constrict as she looked at the little dragonet, who had now spread her wings and started making little crying sounds. The green was swinging her head from side to side, looking for something, visibly ignoring the Candidates who were trying to get her to look at them.

The green's head started turning towards the stands. "What's she looking for?"

"Someone to Impress," F'lin said grimly. Most of the spectators in the stands were now watching her . The best Candidates were already on the Sands, and if she'd already rejected them... Sometimes a dragonet could find someone in the stands, and sometimes they'd... die.

That poor green, all alone down there, seeking something she couldn't find... Riven felt a sudden sense of panic and fear flood her body, like a vise gripping her chest and the sensation of being about to faint slamming into her at the same moment. Other people around them were standing to see what the dragonet was doing, blocking her view of what was happening. Whether it was a mercy or a curse, she didn't know. The feeling of being trapped increased and she felt a painful twisting in the gut.

"I can't..." Her breaths were coming in rapid gasps. "I need air." she said suddenly, rising to her feet.

"Riven? Are you all right?" F'lin rose after her, his hand on the small of her back to keep her steady.

She was relieved by his support, and shook her head. "I need to get out of here." There were too many people, standing up to stare, blocking the way to the aisles down. She elbowed her way through a large group of holders, one of whom said something about "uppity weyr bi-". His words didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the rising need to get out of the stands before she started screaming.

Once she got to the stairs, she could again see the sands. The distressed green had stopped crawling and was lying motionless, wings still outstretched. The rest of the Candidates had move back to a safer distance and to interact with the last few hatchlings, which were doing a much better job of finding their riders.

The dragonet lifted her head one last time to point directly at the startled healer on the steps and make a weak cry. Riven stopped, unsure of what to do.

F'lin caught up with her a moment later. "Riven--" He put a hand on her arm, then paused when he sensed the crowd's attention shift. His fingers tightened as he spotted the little green below them. "Look!"

Look at what? she wondered. But her gaze met the green's eyes and suddenly she knew what she had to do.

Riven barely hesitated as she took the last few steps from the stairs onto the Sands. The heat was palpable even through her shoes, the sand she was kicking up burning her legs, but it didn't matter. She reached the dragonet and kneeled there, throwing her arms around the green.

The panic that had gripped her wasn't subsiding, even though she knew she was doing the right thing. The green didn't seem to recognize her presence. Riven grabbed the dragonet's head and turned it up so she could look into the eyes. They were whirling yellow and red in agitation. "I'm here," she said, trying to fight off sense of panic and project a calm authority.

The green stopped struggling at the eye contact, and Riven felt the vice around her chest start to loosen. }:I couldn't find you! You weren't here and I thought you weren't going to come for me.:{

"I found you." Her words were low and her voice soothing. "What's your name?"

}:Savith.:{ The declaration seemed to calm the green, whose eyes were decidedly less red now.

She heard a shout from the crowds, and remembered that there were others in the weyr watching. She rose to her feet, turning to face the upset Vilarth. "Her name is Savith!" she shouted as loud as she could.

Savith! Above the Stands, bronze Seneth bugled his approval to echo his rider's. F'lin's voice was lost in the crowd and there were too many others who had risen to their feet, cheering on the unexpected Impression, for him to congratulate Riven. His own words could wait, but he felt ready to burst with a mix of pride, excitement and anticipation. Finally, after too many Turns of waiting, she'd done it. Riven was a greenrider!

Last updated on the June 15th 2014

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Unexpected Events