Donor Clutch - Turn 001

T'yl had taken his place as close to the Queen egg as possible, and barely managed to stay in his seat, impatient as he was. Even still, as soon as Beattrix emerged he jumped up, leaning on the short wall around the edge of the tiered stone benches. He shot V'stan a questioning glance--just the two of them? Where were the other candidates?--before looking at Beattrix again and offering her a reassuring smile.

Of course, they weren't the only two that would potentially be Impressing today, he had to remind himself. His own little brother would be out there soon enough! And he couldn't help but wonder--was Amber right, about the Queen egg not being ready? Because it sure seemed ready to him!

A'rune, seated next to T'yl, tried to pull his brother back into his seat. "It won't do anyone any good for you to stand there and try to fall into the sands. Would you sit? You're not going to help her nerves by staring at her like that. Oh, for..." He gave a yank, catching T'yl off guard, and shoved the older man into his seat. "Knock it off! You can ask questions later!"

T'yl shot his younger brother a glare and folded his arms over his chest, annoyed. "I just don't understand where the others are. I thought there were going to be more ladies out there for the Queen. She'd better Impress that Queen, A'rune!"

"Look at it this way," his brother shrugged lightly. "She has better odds when it's just the two of them out there. I don't really like that other lady so far, though. She took so long getting out here, I'm surprised she made it at all."

A younger man behind them leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as he stared intently at the two candidates and the Queen egg. "If the two of you don't mind sharing a little, I would just love to hear the Weyrleader's suspicions for this..."

T'yl shot the man a look and grunted, but any sharp retort he had for the man was cut off as a gasp rose from the crowd. Ah! The egg was cracking!

V'stan hadn't made it back to the benches when the Queen egg started to crack. Instead he took a position along the wall, leaning on it so he could watch in case anything went wrong. With only two girls out here he was a bit nervous, because these girls had no idea what they were in for, and there was a high potential the new Queen would be thrashing about the moment she emerged from her shell prison.

Beattrix could feel her heart beating rapidly through her entire body, she could hear it in her ears and it felt like her entire body was pulsing because of it. She took in a deep breath to try and center herself, ready for anything at this point.

Amber had her arms crossed over her chest with one hip out to the side, impatiently staring at the egg. This could take who knows how long and she had to just stand here and wait. She was not a patient woman so this was rather irritating for her.

A louder crack echoed throughout the sands, and the crowd even hushed in anticipation as the new Queen popped her nose out of the egg, followed by the rest of her head and soon her neck and front legs, she was kicking fervently to be free from the shell. Once she was finally loose she wobbled around to get on her feet, calling out in a tiny little bugle. She was hungry and couldn't get up or fold her wings right!

Amber glanced over at Beattrix for a split second, seeing that Beattrix was already moving towards the newly hatched Queen. "I don't think so," she said under her breath and she pushed her way in front, aiming to go straight for the Queen's head. She'd have to calm her down and make eye contact -- however, that notion was quickly wiped from her mind. She had made eye contact but she also got smacked right in the midsection by a flailing wing that wouldn't cooperate with the newborn. This sent her flying back and landing on the sands with a frightened yelp.

Beattrix saw her chance and moved forward, not even focused on Amber she paid more attention to the Queen.

"It's okay, little one. I'll help you!"

"I'm hungry! I can't fix my wing..."

"Hold still for just a moment and I can help you and we can go get you something to eat, okay?"

The little Queen stopped her flailing as Beattrix came closer and very delicately helped her fold her wing into a comfortable position. Beattrix then turned her attention to the Queen's head, gingerly scritching at the sensitive eye ridges, "Look at you," she said out loud in a tender whisper, "You are beautiful..." she said as she looked right into the Queen's eyes, her heart started to flutter and she could feel the deep connection starting to bond.

"Sasianth loves you. Sasianth wants to eat!"

Beattrix pressed her forehead to Sasianth's and giggled quietly, she couldn't help herself as she started sobbing a little while laughing. "I love you too, Sasianth. I promise I'll take great care of you, my darling Queen." She rubbed at her eyes and Sasianth cooed and nudged at her human.

"Food?"

Beattrix nodded, standing up and looking at the crowd with the biggest grin on her face. They were all cheering!

She picked out T'yl from the crowd where she'd seen him before and nodded, "Sasianth is hungry and would like to eat!"

V'stan had sent out an order for a medic team to come tend to Amber as he ushered Beattrix and the newly hatched Queen Sasianth off the sands. The other eggs still needed to hatch but it wasn't polite to keep any hatchling waiting for their first meal.

"Congratulations," he said to Beattrix as he escorted her and Sasianth, patient with his pace since Sasianth was still figuring out how her legs worked.

"Thank you," Beattrix beamed, "This is the happiest moment of my life!"

"As it should be, sugar," V'stan said with a knowing grin, "Ya' just made the best friend yer ever gonna have fer th'rest of yer life."

T'yl was well among those cheering for Beattrix and her Impression, having jumped to his feet as soon as he could see the Impression was made. Having been around Weyrs his entire life, he--and many others--could tell just by watching when it was done! He moved to the wall surrounding the sands and grinned, showing her all his joy.

Even Teneth bugled his pleasure as T'yl moved to sit down, jostling A'run happily. His brother, however, was more focused on Amber--was she alright? He sure hoped so. He motioned to the woman and glanced at T'yl. "Think we should help?"

The older brother shook his head, pointing to the rest of the eggs. "No, our brother is going to be out there. We are going to sit here and watch the poor lad finally Impress a dragon." T'yl shot A'rune a look and frowned. "You know how badly he's wanted to fly with us. You know how upset he would be if we weren't here to see him Impress."

"And if he Impresses a bronze? He won't be in our wing if he does," A'rune grumbled.

"He won't," T'yl laughed. "A green, maybe a blue, I think. Brown at best, but even then..."

Sindre paced anxiously in the waiting room for the rest of the candidates, stopping when he heard the cheering above them. He swallowed nervously and looked around at the others, his gaze finally landing on Angel. "The Queen must have hatched. I wonder why she came out before the others. Think they'll come get us soon?"

He continued pacing, from one end of the smaller room to the other and back. "What if the others don't hatch today? What if we have to sit in here for the next three hours until they start? At least we aren't roasting on the sands, but... What if there are dragons that don't Impress? They'll just die! Or what if I--" He cut that thought off and dropped into a chair next to the blonde, shaking his head.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked Angel, turning to face him. "I mean, are you worried? Excited?"

Angel shook his head, "I'm not really excited... too nervous about the crowd... but I also think that I'm... dwelling too much on it. You know I have no idea what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do, I was half expecting we'd get to go over that before the main event but you know... the dragons hatch when they are meant to hatch, not following any schedule we make for them."

He glanced at the door when D'va came in and motioned for them to line up. The other eggs were starting to hatch and they had to get out there! Single file in two lines -- there were a lot more boys present from the Search as well as ones like Sindre who were weyrbred and waiting for their chance to hopefully make that lifelong friend.

"Good luck," Angel whispered to Sindre and gave his new friend's shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

Sindre flashed Angel an uneasy smile, wringing his hands in front of himself as he waited in line. He really couldn't help how nervous he felt, like he might fall over right then and there and then some hatchling would have to come to his rescue!

The thought made him laugh quietly and he ran a hand over his face, stepping forward to follow the candidate in front of him as the door opened and they started filing out.

Instead of circling the eggs like the Queen candidates, they were instructed to group in front of them in as much a half-circle as they could. It would be easier for these hatchlings, as they came from their shells, to head into the crowd.

Sindre glanced at Angel, then waved to get his attention before anything actually emerged. "Hey! When they come at you, get out of the way if it doesn't feel right, okay? They'll claw and bite and push to get past someone who isn't meant for them. When the right one comes, they say you'll know it. And they must be right, because I haven't felt it yet." He flashed Angel a smile and shrugged.

T'yl straightened in his seat and sat forward, nudging A'rune to get his attention unnecessarily. "What is he doing talking down there? This isn't the time, Sindre..." Of course, he spoke under his breath and to himself, but he couldn't help but wonder. And now that the Queen egg had hatched, all eyes were on the clutch rocking on the sands!

Angel nodded at Sindre's directions, doing his best not to focus on the crowd which had quieted down once again now that the new Queen had made her debut and exited the sands, and the other candidates for the other eggs were out. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly -- just as the first egg started to crack and a small wedge shaped nose popped out, huffing in mild frustration as the baby dragon was pushing it's way out of it's egg.

Angel found it completely fascinating, it was like witnessing a miracle of science! He'd never even watched a clutch of fire-lizard eggs hatch before! The gooey membrane of the egg's interior clung to the baby dragon as it set itself free, wobbling around erratically. It was a brown!

One of the boys present stepped forward when the tiny dragon started making whiny sort of distressed noises, and their bond was made as the boy started helping the brown clear the membrane from it's skin and they made eye contact. Angel could see it. The moment they bonded. He understood that was what he had to feel and look for when the dragons hatched.

Sindre sucked in a breath when the first dragon's head appeared, but he quickly lost interest in that hatchling and started casting around for something else. He forgot about Angel, forgot about everyone else on the sands, even the quiet crowd, the dragons humming.

He watched uncertainly as more eggs cracked, his attention solely on which dragons were emerging. He made note of which direction the dragons were going, and if they were headed away from him and towards another boy, he forgot about them.

He watched as a nearby egg tipped over and the dragon inside cried out pitifully, would have closed the distance to help, but another boy jumped in first--blonde, he noticed, not Angel, pretty, the dragon green--before he was refocused on the rest of the eggs.

Before he knew what he was doing, he stepped out of the way of one dragon and knelt in front of a blue that had just shoved out of its shell, his wings nearly tangled (a common occurrence!) with its legs. The dragon cried out, lifting his head to look at Sindre as he tried to help untangle the poor beast, and Sindre let out a quiet cry--oh!

Now this was his Peth! He helped the dragon to his feet, wiping the rest of the sac off of the blue skin as he lead Peth aside gently, making way for the other boys and hatchlings. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face, tears running down his cheeks, all the while Peth making pitiful sounds and insisting he was very hungry and could he please have something to eat?

T'yl let out a cheer from the stands, the crowd full of murmurs and sounds as people discussed the Impressions--no, not all of the eggs had hatched, nor had all of the candidates Impressed yet, but those who knew the boys who had Impressed so far were talking about it! And those who were waiting for the other candidates to Impress were talking about that, too!

Angel stood absolutely still, eyes focused -- some of the eggs weren't hatching fully, not just yet, they were just wobbling -- aware that their clutchmates were emerging and they had best come out too! Out of all the eggs, most were producing green or like Sin's a blue, a handful of browns... and one larger egg in the center. Angel was not the type of guy to go for the biggest catch, he was usually satisfied for something small or medium -- but there was something about this egg, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach.

The other boys around him were antsy, darting towards dragons that called to them or just like him... waiting. Waiting seemed to be the worst part for all of them and Angel noted that his patience, while it wasn't as thin as most other people's, it was starting to waver as his anxiety started to grow. The weight of the crowd's eyes on him -- even if it wasn't on him directly, he still felt it and he found it difficult to maintain his composure. He wanted to just quietly duck out and hide in that back room.

"I'm hoping to get that big egg," one of the other boys said behind him with no small amount of arrogance. He sounded like a snobbish holdbred heirling.

No... Angel thought to himself at the other boy's words. No, that egg is mine.

More of the eggs around the large egg had hatched or rolled to the side since there was more room, and it was as if the dragon knew that the space had been cleared out for him. A firm solid powerful knock from the inside of the egg cracked the shell and the baby bronze freed itself with a single push.

He lifted his wedge shaped head and looked directly at Angellous... The boy who had boasted that he'd take the bronze had stepped in front of Angel and approached the bronze -- to which the new baby dragon snapped and shoved past the boy and went straight up to Angel.

Angel gingerly placed his hands on either side of that wedge shaped head, petting the dragon's eye ridges and clearing away any excess membrane.

Haloth is hungry and would like to eat... Angel could hear the new little bronze request. And he nodded, how could he refuse?! He made sure nothing else would inhibit his Haloth from walking and once the coast was clear he started to guide his new best friend off the sands. The crowd had started to rise up in a roaring cheer once again, but Angel paid them no mind... he was focused entirely on Haloth.

T'yl was on his feet, A'rune just behind him, the moment the last of the eggs had hatched and Impressed on one of the candidates present. As always, there were some boys out there without dragons to escort off the sands, but his brother was not one of them! And Beattrix had Impressed the Queen! And none of the eggs had gone without an Impression!