Not bad for the first time
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Eimi, Emma
Date Posted: 15th July 2008
Characters: Teseada, U'kaiah
Description: Teseada and U'kaiah watch as Onnyth clutches
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 6 of Turn 4
}:Now,:{ said the gold, anticipation spilling over into her voice.
}:It's time now.:{ Slowly Onnyth made her way to the hatching caverns.
Her rider wasn't far behind her, marvelling at how big the gold seemed to have become in those last few days.
**You're sure?**
}:I'm sure, and I'm going to tell Kalamath as well.:{ }:She wants me there,:{ the bronze passed on to his lifemate. }:I will watch over her as she Clutches.:{ His lifemate all but sprinted down the dim passages on his way to the Hatching grounds. **And she will allow me to watch too?**
}:I want you there,:{ Kalamath confirmed.
**I wouldn't miss this moment for all the marks on Pern!** U'kaiah assured him, rounding one final corner. "Did I miss anything?" he asked, coming up behind the gold's rider out of breath.
"Only my dragon deciding she wants to make a show of herself," remarked Teseada. Onnyth however, took that moment to produce the first egg.
"Ohh! Well done!!" praised Teseada as Onnyth gently nudged it into position.
"Well done indeed," U'kaiah breathed. He had seen hundreds of eggs in his life but never did one look as beautiful as that one. "I hear the pool is up to thirty-five eggs in some circles. How many do you figure?"
"I think at least twenty eight. it's her first clutch, so we'll just have to wait and see." And while they had been speaking, two more eggs had appeared on the warm sands, "She'll do us proud no matter how many eggs she clutches."
U'kaiah could already feel the pride swelling in his bronze lifemates mind. They had both waited for this moment for so long. It was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes as he reached out to take the young goldrider's hand. "She already has, Teseada. It was a magnificant Flight." It was one step closer to reaching his dream. "Onnyth is a beautiful and strong young queen, and she will someday be as great as the gold who Clutched her."
"She'll do her best, just as I will," it was a promise she made to both the bronzerider who was holding her hand and herself. Teseada could only watch further as more eggs slowly appeared on the sands, each gently placed by Onnyth, who seemed to be coping well with this new situation.
"I bet that one's a bronze," U'kaiah beamed proudly as she nudged a freshly laid egg into a satisfactory position. Faranth he hoped there would be at least one!
"The big one there?" Teseada pointed.
"Umhmmm," he nodded, admiring the way it glistened wetly against the shimmering hot sands.
Teseada grinned, "The tiniest green could be nestled in there just as easily."
"Could," the bronzerider nodded. "But it's highly unlikely. Care to put a wager on it?" he asked with a challenging raise of his eyebrow.
"I have a quarter mark," she had a little more, but wasn't sure getting into gambling on the eggs was such a good idea. All dragons, no matter what their colour were equally valuable to the defence of Pern.
U'kaiah, on the other hand, loved a good bet now and then. "A quarter mark it is then. I bet you a quarter mark that that egg there will Hatch a bronze."
"We'll see on the day."
The bronzerider scanned the Sands below them. "That looks like 19 so far. She doesn't seem ready to stop yet." Though he wouldn't have expected her to. Even the worst Flight of a young queen should produce at least that many during a Pass he reconned.
"Twenty now," she said as another egg appeared. Twenty one, twenty two and more eggs gradually appeared on the sands until the total reached thirty.
**Is that it?** asked Teseada as Onnyth seemed to take a step back from the sands.
}:No more,:{ confirmed the gold to both her and Kalamath.
The bronzerider nodded when his lifemate passed the number along to him.
It was a decent number for a first Clutch. Certainly nothing to compare to future Clutches she would lay, but every gold had to start somewhere, and thirty was a number to be proud of. "They did well," he grinned at Teseada.
"Very well indeed."
Last updated on the July 16th 2008