Shuffling and Stumbling

Writers: Kastaka
Date Posted: 26th January 2009

Characters: K'sen, Vasha
Description: Kelasen Impresses while Vasha looks on.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 23 of Turn 4

As the dragons' unmistakable hum rose around the Weyr, Vasha dropped the hide she'd been working on and headed over to her trunk. An island of calm in the chaos of the girls' side of the candidate barracks, she carefully extracted her robe and her over-shoe sandals that had served her so well previously, ducking out of the way of the more over-excited types as they flailed and squealed their way into their own robes. Some of them might have been trying to catch her eye and enthuse at her, but she quietly ignored them. This time she wasn't going to be distracted. This time it was just going to be her, and her dragon.

Kelasen had just set out along the path that led to the Dolphin Hall when the noise stopped him in his tracks. He'd finally got together the courage to forget revising his candidate class notes and instead head over to the Hall and ask for swimming lessons like he'd been told to, but it looked like today wouldn't be the day for that. Turning back to the Weyr, he started to jog back along the path, not wanting to run and tire himself out completely, but mindful of the dire warnings and superstitions about being late.

Shuffling through the corridor on the slightly unwieldy shoes, Vasha couldn't help but smile occasionally at the antics of the other candidates. There was a boy jogging into the Barracks, trying to balance being polite and pushing through the crowd of white-robed candidates already exiting the place that held his robe. There were girls trying to fix their hair and smooth out their candidate robes after the initial rush to throw the things on in the crowded barracks room. The hushed whispers and stifled squeals of excitement on the way to the Hatching Grounds.

It was awkward to get into the Barracks while everyone else was coming out. Kelasen felt awkward trying to slip between the other boys and get through to his trunk - his frame lent itself more to shoulder-barging than deftly sliding through a momentary gap, but his politeness prevented him from actually elbowing the others out of the way in his haste to get in. Finally the tide of emerging candidate slackened somewhat and Kelasen managed to access his robe. In his haste to get the unfamiliar garment on, something made an unpleasant tearing sound, but there were no obvious extra holes - it was obviously just a seam weakening somewhere, he reassured himself as he hurried out of the barracks. Nothing that he needed worry about right now.

Filing onto the Sands with the other girls, Vasha soon parted company with them as they went to stand around the gold egg and she headed over to stand among the smaller eggs arranged a litlte further away. If the gold did want her then it would be strong-willed enough to head a little further out in any case, but she had this theory that the flightier greens might have a wider range of potential partners to choose from and might go for someone who was standing closer and paying them more attention.

Kelasen immediately regretted all the hurrying he'd been doing when the heat of the Sands hit him, not that he was going to admit it or show his discomfort in any way. He paced slowly towards and around the eggs, inspecting each one in turn, although he knew that guessing their contents was fruitless. He had meant to do this throughout the whole Hatching, to keep moving and avoid doing that little dance that beset the candidates who stood too long in one place on hot sand, but as the boys took up positions and kept to them he felt self-conscious and stalled next to a nice middle-sized brownish egg. It was a good a place as anywhere, he guessed.

Vasha watched with a certain detachment as the dragons started to arrive. She'd been here before, after all. One of the larger eggs fell open to reveal a stumbling bronze dragonet, and as if on cue about four others shook and broke as it climbed to its feet and looked for its rider. She smiled hopefully at this green and that, here and there, but they all had someone else on their minds as they single-mindedly scrambled across the sand to find their intended.

For a moment as the bronze hatched Kelasen had allowed himself to hope, but it wandered over to another and all of a sudden there were young dragons everywhere, exploding from their shells, rolling end on end and then emerging from the broken remains of the egg, carefully shattering their confines and peering out to see the waiting candidates trying to attract and welcome and encourage them.

He was admiring the solid build of a brown hatchling off to one side when he felt a sudden need to look down.

}: Don't look at him, look at me! :{ she demanded.

Dragging herself across the sand towards him, all beautiful un-coordinated determination, was the most perfectly formed little dragon he could ever have hoped to set eyes on.

"You're..." he said, scarcely hoping to believe it.

}: Sarath, :{ she supplied, but he could feel that she was actually answering his question in the best way she knew how.

"Her... her name is Sarath!" he announced, just like he'd been told to.

}: And now, :{ she concluded, }: you're going to feed me. :{

Drifting into reverie as the Hatching continued, Vasha watched the progress of every green hatchling as it creeled or stumbled or dragged its way over to its lifemate, not letting herself look up into the faces of the humans that were chosen. Her dragonhealer training sitting in the back of her head gave her a running commentary about the strain on the young hatchling's wings and limbs, the likely growth patterns and strengths and weaknesses of each little dragon. She winced as one of the boys reached down to pick up his new dragon - didn't he listen to the classes about how delicate a hatchling's bones are? - but fortunately he seemed to think better of it before he managed to do any harm.

Watching Sarath drag awkwardly along the ground practically broke Kelasen's heart, so without thinking he reached down to swing her up on his back like he'd do for one of his little sisters. She made an unhappy noise and dodged his grasp.

}: I can walk, it's okay :{ she reassured him, redoubling her efforts to look upright and healthy. }: Although I might faint if there is no food soon. :{

"It's not far to the food now," he reassured her as he led her over to the place where he knew they kept the meat for the new hatchlings.

Last updated on the January 27th 2009

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Shuffling and Stumbling