Preparing for the big day

Writers: Francesca, Paula, Roxanne, Vix
Date Posted: 10th November 2008

Characters: E'naer, Kamalia, Reyina, Arrilon, Nardin, Kalnear
Description: E'naer and the candidates prepares for the Hatching day.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 3 of Turn 4

E'naer watched the classroom full of candidate faces. Eager, excited
faces, bored faces, uncertain, I-am-not-sure-I-belong-here faces and even
frightened faces. Some very familiar, some new. The greenrider cleared his
throat and started.
"Ladies and gentlemen. As you well know, we have eggs on the Sands and
they will Hatch any day now. I'm here to make sure you know how to act
during the Hatching and answer any questions you might have about it.
First things first: Does everybody have his or her white robe?"

Nardin nodded quietly. He had been through this at the last Hatching? and
the one before that? and had come away from the Sands alone.
Sure, he was only sixteen turns, but he had no real expectations of any
other result.

Beside him, his brother spoke up. "I have mine!" Kalnear was
practically bouncing in his chair, so eager to try for a lifemate.

Arrilon nodded solemnly in response to the question, while his younger
sister said, "Yes." Kamalia thought it was a fairly silly question
because she checked on her robe every day, now that there was a clutch on
the Sands. One of her fears was not being able to find it on the day of
the Hatching.

There was one or two just arrived candidates who hadn't had their
robes yet. E'naer write down their names to make sure they would get the
robes.

Even though she had heard the lecture before, Kamalia was excited the
Weyrlingmaster Third was speaking to them, because that meant the
Hatching was very soon. That thought was enough to keep her attention on
E'naer, at least for a bit.

E'naer continued: "When you heard the humming, leave what ever you are
doing and gather to the candidate barracks. Put on your white robe and we
will arrive to lead you to the Hatching Ground. There you will form a
semi-circle around the eggs. Onnyth is a first timer, so no one knows how
she will react. You're adviced to keep a respectable distance to her."

This was something that had worried Kamalia for awhile. "Do golds ever
get violent during a Hatching?" She had heard stories of
incidents, but wasn't sure if they were at all true.

"No, not as it, but they can act hostile and believe me, angry gold is
scary. No dragon has ever harmed a human on purpose. A word of
caution: new hatchlings are starving and desperate to find their
lifemates, and they can't control themselves yet, so if it looks like the
hatchling is interested in someone behind you, please, step aside.
Otherwise, they might try to get _thru_ you," E'naer replied.

Kamalia nodded, absorbing the Weyrlingmaster Third's response. As long as
Onnyth didn't attack, she wouldn't be too worried. Dragonets were just
too small and young to scare her much.

"Are there ways we can encourage them to choose us?" The question was out
of Kalnear's mouth as soon as he thought it, drawing a glare from his
brother.

"I don't honestly do, no human does. You can try being as open and
welcoming as possibly. I don't know if it helps impression, but at least
it won't do any harm. There are lot of people who have tried hundered and
one knacks to ensure the Impression, but in the end, it's the dragon who
chooses," E'naer replied.

"Oh." Kalnear frowned slightly. However, he was to have a chance to Stand,
so how unhappy could he be? In his mind he saw himself leaving the sands
with a dragon, the biggest one of the clutch.

"There is thirty eggs so thirty of you will Impress. After Impression, you
are to lead your lifemate out of the Sands. Staff will be waiting at the
entrance with meat. Make sure the hatchlings chews before
swallowing. You don't want him or her to choke. After they are eaten, go
to the weyrlingbarracks. Your things will be brough there later. I
recommend you pack up most of your belongings now and keep them near your
bunk, not scattered around. Of course, if you want to, you can also move
over your personal items yourself. The Hatching feast is usually held at
the evening," E'naer continued with his lecture. He paused and looked over
for questions.

Arrilon nodded. He remembered the previous Hatching. He had remained on
the Sands until every last egg had hatched and every dragonet had found
his or her lifemate. And then he had walked, alone, past the new ecstatic
weyrlings, feeding their new hatchlings. Last time he had packed his
belongings and then had had to unpack them again. This time, he didn't
know what he would do. He'd rather not think about it.

"Has a Hatching ever happened in the middle of the night?" Kamalia asked.
She seemed to remember someone saying that they never happened while
Thread was falling, but wasn't even sure if that was true.

"Yes, it has, as well as in late evening or crack of dawn." E'naer replied.

Arrilon hoped the eggs decided to hatch at a decent time. Kamalia just
wanted them to hatch as soon as possible.

Reyina listened intently to the conversation around her. She had her robe
ready and knew what to do when the humming started. She had never been to
the first clutching of a gold before so that was something new. She liked
the exuberance that Kalnear showed and remembered she had felt that way
once not too long ago. She knew that this was her time to Impress, but
couldn't explain why. "Does it matter where we stand?" she asked before
she could stop herself. It was truly a silly question and not one the
Weyrleader's daughter should ask.

"Near the eggs," muttered Nardin with a roll of his eyes, bringing a glare
from his younger brother.

"A close enough for the hatching to reach you. There's no need to crowd
too near the eggs and get trampled. Remember, the hatchling will find you
if you are there. There have been impressions from Stands too," E'naer
replied.

"I'm going to Impress," Kalnear murmured.

"We'll see," his brother whispered in return, though Nardin wondered if
perhaps,finally,this would be his time.

Last updated on the November 14th 2008

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Preparing for the big day