Post by Zen on Dec 22, 2017 1:07:55 GMT -5
10th Pass, 5th Turn, 6th Month
Weyrleader A'zael, Weyrbrat Azora
The dragons were humming. The sound resonated throughout the Weyr and everyone was scrambling to make it to the hatching cavern in time to witness the newest clutch hatch. Fath was impatient, though less so than he'd been at the hatching of his first clutch. After all, there was no Gold this time. But A'zael had a quick detour for them. Landing outside the creche, Orana and Azora were already waiting for him. They hurried over and Orana helped their daughter up. She settled in front of A'zael, wiggling with excited energy, and Orana climbed up behind him, her arms wrapping around his chest, “Are you sure this is all right?”
A'zael turned to glance back at her, wondering what she meant for a moment. Then he scoffed, “It's fine. Don't worry about it. I already promised Azora. I'm not going back on it now.” He urged Fath back into the air, one arm wrapped around his daughter to keep her securely in place. They rose to the hatching cavern and it took a moment for him to get Fath to lower himself so they could all dismount easier. The Bronze was too excited.
He slid down first and Azora came quickly after. He caught her and she giggled, turning to look up at her mother, “Slide down, momma, it's fun!”
Orana gave her daughter a soft smile and shook her head, and A'zael stepped up to help her. He steadied her once her feet were back on the ground, her hand tight on his arm for a moment. He lowered his voice slightly, “All right?”
Orana nodded, “Fine. Let's go, before we miss anything.” Azora took her mother's hand in one of her own, and her father's in the other, tugging them both inside as Fath winged his way up to a better vantage point.
“Come on, come on!” Azora urged them, but A'zael tugged her gently to the side.
“You're going to drag us right onto the sands,” he told her, amused, leading them toward the stands where Karredy was already sitting. Talera sat with her as well, and B'rax and X'ar were nearby. Clearly Orana had noticed them all.
“A'zael... it's all right if-”
“I told you it's fine,” he assured her quickly. If anyone had a problem with them sitting with him, they could shove Between for all he cared. He was going to give Azora this. The three of them together, watching a hatching. It was a simple thing, but he was certain it would become a memory that would mean a great deal to his daughter, after Orana was gone.
He took his place beside Karredy and Azora scootched up beside him. After a moment's hesitation, and a quick little bow to all the surrounding rankers, Orana sat as well. She looked stiff and uncomfortable, and A'zael sighed, reaching past Azora to grab Orana's hand, and her attention. She looked over at him, surprised, “Relax.... Enjoy yourself.”
Azora batted at his arm, so he released her, “You're in the way!” She made a face up at him, but Orana reached out to get her attention then.
“Azora, best behavior or we can leave right now,” she scolded, “I know you're excited but that's no reason to be rude. I don't want you bothering anyone around us.”
The girl instantly sobered. Orana rarely took that tone with her, “Sorry, momma....”
A'zael sighed, glancing over the rocking eggs below, and the candidates in their white robes. One egg broke open and he nudged Azora, “Hey, look... first one! What color do you think it is?”
Azora watched the egg intently, “I hope it's green!”
A'zael laughed, “You'd be all right if the whole clutch was green, wouldn't you?”
His daughter nodded emphatically, then gave a soft, disappointed groan, “Oh it's a blue.”
Curious as to what his daughter might have to say about the old superstition, he informed her, “You know, they say it's bad luck if a green hatches first.”
Azora looked as if she had been personally insulted, “That's stupid.”
“Azora...,” her mother's warning tone kept the girl from saying anything else on the matter, and she threw a glance at A'zael as well, “Why would you tell her that?”
A'zael gave her a sheepish grin, “I was curious.” Orana rolled her eyes.
“A green!” Azora exclaimed. The blue and green both quickly Impressed without incident.
A'zael ruffled the girl's hair, and she didn't even swat his hand away this time, too distracted by the cracking eggs below to care. He was glad there were no Betweens so far. Hopefully the trend would continue. Impressions without incident. The next egg that burst open was the largest currently on the Sands, and predictably, a bronze. There was cheering in the Stands for him, to which Azora huffed, “No one cheered like that for the green.”
“You did,” he reminded her. He was pretty sure he'd heard Rau's woop somewhere too. She stuck out her tongue, eyeing the people around them with annoyance. As Orana opened her mouth to scold her again, A'zael flicked her on the forehead instead, “Are you here to watch people or dragons?”
Azora gave him a brief glare, rubbing her forehead lightly, but turned back to the hatching. The bronze Impressed as another blue broke shell, followed quickly by a brown. The hatching seemed to go faster after that, faster than previous hatchings, which was a bit disappointing, but oh well. Finally only two eggs remained.
It was clear that one was a green, struggling greatly with escaping her shell. But a green nose or leg would appear in a hole every so often. Finally she broke free and lay panting in the Sands. Everyone in the Stands seemed to lean forward collectively. She was positively scrawny. She looked downright sick. Please no... no Betweens.... He glanced at Azora. He didn't want this occasion to be marred by a Between.
A big hearty blue broke from the last egg, pausing by his sister as if to offer some form of encouragement, before moving off toward the remaining boys to Impress. Murmurs went through the crowd over the yet unImpressed green, still lying in the sand.
“She's okay... right daddy?” Azora looked over at him, clearly concerned.
He watched the green for a moment, unsure just what to say. He didn't want to lie to her. He didn't know if she was all right. At long last, the little green pushed to her feet, stumbling forward, staring at the girls with a pleading look for help. She stumbled a bit closer, and one of the girls came forward to meet her. She'd Impressed. A'zael breathed a sigh of relief, “She's fine.”
Azora clapped and cheered louder for that little green and her rider than any other dragon the entire hatching.
Karredy rose and looked over at him, waiting to go congratulate the new weyrlings with him. “Just a moment,” he told her, rising along with her. He turned to Azora and Orana, “I'm afraid I can't fly you back down, but S'fin'll be waiting to take you.... Will you be all right?” He looked at Orana pointedly.
She smiled softly, “We'll be fine. Thank you.”
“But I wanna see the new dragons too!” Azora protested, but quieted down at a look from her mother.
“You'll be able to see them soon, right now they need to eat, and then sleep. Hatching is very tiring for baby dragons,” A'zael ruffled his daughter's hair again, but this time she did slap his hand away. He laughed, “I'll see you two later.” With that he turned and headed down to the Sands with Karredy.
