The Veteran
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
Date Posted: 30th August 2005
Characters: Birigundi
Description: Birigundi stands for another Hatching
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 20 of Turn 3
Birigundi was giving his flit, Leaf, some much needed one-on-one time when the little green sprang up and took off with an excited chirp. The candidate perked his ears as he began to hear equally excited voices in the hall. He could read the signs. It was time for him to get into his Candidate white and get down to the sands. The eggs were ready to spill the treasures that been well hidden until now, and some in the room would walk away with one of the glistening dragonets as their prize. His heart began to beat harder in his chest as he slipped into thick soled boots. **Maybe this time. Maybe I will meet my lifemate today.**
He looked around the room at the other boys. Some were so excited they couldn't stand still. They tended to be the younger boys, the newer boys. Other looked almost sick with nerves. He had learned that could be for a variety of reasons - fear of being injured, or fear of being rejected, or in some cases fear of Impressing and revealing to their families where their _real_ interests lie.
And then there were the quieter boys that gave him knowing half smiles as they looked his way. They tended to be the ones who had been there a while - the ones who had stood at hatchings repeatedly but not Impressed, and for some of them, it was their last chance. They all wondered if it would be one more disappointment - one more chance to get their hopes up just to have them dashed to pieces. And some of them wondered if it was even worth trying any more, even worth _hoping_
anymore.
One of those Candidates walked towards him now. He had known the boy for turns. Olbadahl had stood on the sands even longer than Birigundi had, and all the excitement for the Hatching had left his eyes. The young candidate reached his hand out. "I'll meet you by the buckets, Birigundi."
"I'll be there, Olbadahl." It was their traditional way to wish each other luck on such a day. This time as Birigundi took the boy's hand it was almost painful. All the hope had left the boy and they both knew it. Olbadahl had reached his limit. Either way, he could tell it was the boy's last stand.
But Birigundi was one who was determined to hope. This time... _This_
time was going to be it. And if it wasn't it would be _next_ time. But someday, he would have a dragon to call his own. He pulled himself up and began his march towards the door, picking up one of the sickly looking ones along the way. "It will be your chance this time, Yukoron.
I can feel it."
"But my father is here, Birigundi. He will _know_..." the boy looked almost close to tears with fear.
Birigundi gave him a clap on the shoulder. "Once you have that pretty dragonet look into your eyes you won't care what your father thinks. It's better than marrying a woman you will never love for a plot of land you don't really want. Come on now. We can't be late. Our dragons' are waiting for us."
~*~
Despite the thick soled shoes, Birigundi shifted from foot to foot as he stood facing the rocking eggs. His heart was beating as he scanned them. The young man's eyes drifted up towards the crowd. Some of the faces were familiar. If he happened to catch their eye many would wave and give him smiles and gestures of encouragement.
**Oh shards, she's here,** he thought as his eyes locked on to a small, furiously waving woman, dark in hair and eyes but fair skinned. There was no mistaking the similarity in their features, though. It was not that he wasn't happy to see her. In fact, it was only after Hatchings that he had the chance to meet and talk with with his mother. It was just that every time he failed he knew her heart broke for him, and he hated to see his mother having to try to act brave for his sake.
He gave her a smile and a wave. She was excited and anxious, and determined that his time her boy would find his dream. If she could _will_ it so she would, Birigundi knew. And with every crack of the shell, he was pretty sure that was what she was trying to do.
The eggs were rocking violently now. He looked to his right and his left. He was flanked on either side by boys he knew. One was Yukoron, and the other was Courison, a fourteen-turn boy at his first Hatching. "Don't lock your knees, Courison or you're going to pass out." He smiled down at the young man, a full head shorter than he, before turning to the boy on his other side. "Do you see your father, Yukoron?" The pale boy only nodded and pointed into the stands at a large, strong, proud looking man with his arms interlaced across his chest, a stern expression on his face. **Whoa. No wonder the poor boy's afraid,** he thought.
And then the first egg cracked, spilling out a little green. At first it didn't seem to know where her rider was, but she was determined and bold as he tripped towards their group. Birigundi watched as she started his way. Rather, he was standing in _her_ way since she obviously wasn't looking for _him_. Yukoron, however, gave a cry of disbelief as he bent down to the little creature. "She said her name is Finth!" All trace of fear had been washed away from the boys face in that instant as he looked into the whirling eyes. The first Impression of this Hatching had been made, and Birigundi was happy for his friend. A glance towards the stands told him the boy's father wasn't nearly so happy. **Oh well. Shard it all if the man can't appreciate that his son is going to risk his life fighting to save his lands on that little green some day.**
More eggs started popping open - blue, green, bronze, brown. It was the normal confusion of a Hatching. Birigundi didn't pay too close attention to the greens or blues, it was the browns and bronzes he was sending _his_ thoughts of love to.
And suddenly, there was a piteous little brown standing right in front of their little group, crying, swaying, looking for someone. He would swing his head back and forth, looking at each in turn. Birigundi's heart was leaping into his throat as the little brown took a tentative step his way. He was about to take a hopeful step forward when Courison cried, "He says his name is Birkanath!" Birigundi's heart fell into the pit of his stomach. He glanced up into the stands and saw the disappointment written on his mother's face. She perked up quickly as another bronze broke from his shell, but he knew exactly where his lifemate was, and he was nowhere close to where her son stood. The eggs were running out. Only a few remained. He looked down the line of Candidates. There were many left on the sands, and only a few eggs left. He saw Olbadahl farther down the line, his head already hung in dejection. **He might as well start walking for the exit now and save his feet,** Birigundi thought sadly.
And just as fast as it had started, the eggs were down to only a couple, one being the queen egg. Birigundi knew when that one had started to rock because everyone in the crowd sounded excited and the dragon's humming changed. But Birigundi's eyes were fixed on that last egg rocking, whose contents no one could guess at. He knew he could be an Olbadahl and give up hope, or he could keep sending those thoughts of love. **One of us _has_ to be last. It might as well be me,** he thought as he sucked in his breath, more determined than ever.
The queen's shell had cracked, but that one egg still quivered. A little gold head and peeked through it's shell, but Birigundi's thoughts and hopes where on that last egg. And just as a cheer rang up to the valuted ceiling, for the little queen had found her intended, _his_ egg shattered. Birigundi's eyes fell back to the sands. It was over. While sounds of cheers filled the room for the little queen and her new rider, very few noticed as a little green found hers. Birigundi looked small, alone between the empty spaces where Yukoron and Courison had stood. As the crowd cheered all the Hatchinglings, Birigundi stared at the piles of broken shells in front of him. So many, and yet _still_ none for him. His eyes traveled from the shells up into the stands. He was looking for his mother's face, but it was covered by her hands.
It was time to go. He turned and began walking slowly towards the exit.
His arm looped around the shoulders of a young boy, not even fourteen turns yet, who stood fixed in his place, tears streaming unchecked. "Come on lad," he said, his voice full of forced hope and cheer. "No reason to wait here. Your dragon just isn't ready yet. It only takes one Hatching, you know, but it has to be the right one. Maybe next time will be that one." He marched toward the exit, the boy's face burried into his white Candidate's tunic, hiding his eyes as they shead their heartbroken burden while they walked. Birigundi ignored the tears that escaped his own.
Last updated on the August 30th 2005