Plianth's Hatching

[.K.aci]

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce. From the corner, it seemed that all Kal could do was bounce up and down on the balls of his feet, such calculating pretty eyes focused on the Hatching. It is odd that he chooses this way to rid himself of the intensity, to find this path in keeping his self-controlled and calm exterior, even as the seething intensity of emotional energy danced up and around in his clay colored eyes, breaking threw in pin-points of silver as they restlessly danced from one egg to the next. To anyone here, it may have looked as though Kal was a calm, slightly intense boy who would do the Weyr proud.

NOT.

Underneath what he looked like, the obnoxious, child-like young man squirmed and had to lock his hands together behind his back from yelping and touching them. The eggs were soooooo shiny... But if he hadn't paid attention to anything else, it was this.

Do not touch the eggs or MOMMA WILL EAT YOU.

Well, while Kal was an idiot, my dear reader, there would be no entertainment if he got his head bitten off happily dancing threw the rocking, rounded orbs. Plus, it would probably scar the poor children for life, and we wouldn't want that, would we? ... Well... No, I guess we wouldn't. Scaring is much more fun later on in life.

Annnnyyywwwwayyy....

He watched (as he always did when he couldn't touch) the eggs like a hawk, squirming but in an effort to stay calm holding practically statue-still, eagerness written all over his sharp featured face. It was then, just as he had crossed to stand in the line with the rest of the nervous boys, that the first egg really hatched. And then... The climax never came. The dragon hatched, but it had apparently decided that it was not ready to Impress yet, and so it stood there. Well, that was a bummer! Biting his lip, Kal turned from the dragon to the next egg that hatched. With a squeak that wasn't meant to escape his lips, he bit his lip harder, and waited. And waited... He hated waiting. A Green seemed to Impress, and the girl's seemed very physicked as the second bonded also. So Kal only listened to what might be called his conscious if he ever had one, and only edging closer and then promptly sitting down on his butt and eagerly watching the show.

Next was a Brown, from another egg that he had liked... He was eye to eye with a rainbow shower.

//Your Helksinth has found you, even though this strange weather has come inside and attempted to hinder him. Your Helksinth shall always find you, Mine, and we shall do great deeds together!

What? The dragon moved closer to him, sounding slightly put-out.

//But first, I am hungry. I think I’d like to leave now.

Of course, Kal was ecstatic.

"Oh wow. A dragon."

The Bronze tilted his head at his rider, the rainbow not diminishing at all as his voice, such proud voice, drifted through his mind.

//K'l'sranmine, I am hungry.

The boy quivered to a stop.

"Wha?"

If a dragon could raise his eyebrow, he would. With patience not actually directed toward the words but to the very boy itself, the dragon repeated himself.

//I am hungry.

"Yeah, what did you call me?"

Another plaintive sigh.

//K'l'sranmine.

"K'l'sran?"

//Unless your name is not K'l'sran, and you will never know your name. Is it possible that you're name is not truly K'l'sran?

The boy only looked at his beautifully colored Brown, raising an eyebrow.

"It's what my parents named me."

//Yes.... I suppose it is. And the mixture of both your parents names seemed to alleviate any questions one might have about who you come from... However, is it a sign of personality? You are more like your mother because her part of the name comes first?

"Ummm..."

The young hatchling was tilting his head to the side, pondering this, and K'l'sran could only watch, slightly puzzled, until a question popped into his head.

//Are you hungry mine? Because I am.

With a frown, the boy rose, dusting off his robes as his bottom complained about being hot.

"Not really. I'm tired though, and really hot.

And the Brown began to skirt away, followed by the boy who followed slightly confused, asking,

//Yes, I think you are. But first I must eat, or I might perish.

[.K.aci]

The confusion, the chaos, the voices of riders and dragons echoing through her mind, she wanted to cry out, her head throbbing as escape was nowhere... And then suddenly something was pushing them away, a single glimmering shining mind that enveloped her carefully. Shying away from the alien touch, she none-the-less welcomed the relief that the silence brought, allowing her to think.

\\I am honored that you would want to Impress a bronze, but I am surprised that you think I face no discrimination. Different stereotypes are held for all of the colors, and my struggle is that I have great responsibility. Mine is a Wingleader and Weyrleader. Others are judging my worth every day.

With the silence in her mind, she allowed them to talk, no longer as poised to flight as she was before, listening to the solid argument echo through her. Ezelth made no mention, only staying there, not retreating.

She hadn't meant it like that when she had yelled it. She wanted to help, to make things stronger, and Bronze's... They were like the holy creatures, things that seemed to rule. Queen’s, she had taken in the image of Siterah’s lazy queen who never seemed to do anything, and Pilanth’s queen. Nevermind that two normal queen’s were being raised, that was what she saw, and she had wanted to make a difference. Plus, no one would dare to mess with her when a Bronze protected her. Hauze, or H’aze now, was a Bronze to her, protecting her, comforting her, always seeming to know when she really needed him… And when he left, she substituted that for him subconsciously. 'And you are not trapped, Crown.'

She looked over at M'kel, her face solemn, taking one step backwards even as he took his step forward, refusing to let any near her as she threw up blocks against her dragon. Yes, yes she was. She was bound to the Weyr now, forever. ‘You are far more free than you've ever been! You were a drudge, Crown, and now you are a goldrider! You can do whatever you want, trust me.’

No, no she couldn’t.

‘The skies are yours, Pern is yours. Bloody sharding hell, you can even boss me around now.’

…A plus, yes it was, but the only one!

‘And more important than any of that.’ She watched as M'kel's voice softened, as his gaze softly looked at Tirenth. ‘You now have someone in Pern that you can always depend on. No matter how life treats you or who lets you down, there is one who will love you forever. She is a piece of you. She is that part of your soul that was missing until today, the void you never felt until it was filled. But you will feel it now, oh yes, you will, if she is gone. If you lose her.’

Crown let him take that step forward now, biting her lip as she wavered on the line. ‘I don't care if you think yourself unworthy, I don't care if you don't want the responsibility or the spotlight, today isn't about what you want. It is about that dragonet. She wants you. How can you deny her?’

Confusion struck at her mind, guilt, anger, emotions a whirl as she fought to understand everything, to make sense of this world.

‘Besides, Crown, I never thought you'd be one to discriminate based on appearance. You of all people ought to know that the colour of her hide does not decide who she is. If you gave her the chance, you might be surprised.’

She was a drudge of her own choosing! This was something that she hadn’t chosen, and in doing so, Crown thrust in her heels. Stubborn, stubborn girl she was, she fought this. How badly had she wanted a dragon? How long had she waited for this hatching? A turn? Two? She had arrived just after the first hatching… So long it had been, sitting, watching, being worked and yelled at… Was it worth staying a drudge? She couldn’t think now, and it took all she had to not blow up, her temper boiling.

The thing that stayed her was the fact that M’kel had always been so nice to her, and that gold creature that was trying to stay away from her mind and yet at the same time be as close as she could to Crown stopped the temper, the voice of reason. She was a young creature, just wanting to be loved. How often had she felt that way, when she was younger?

“I am trapped,” she told him softly, trying to explain her feelings without exploding. “I can’t be responsible for so many people! I /won’t/ be responsible for so many people, it’s not fair to them when I screw up. That girl that was left there, she deserves her, not me. I’m a child that no one wanted, and that’s how it should stay. I don’t know how to deal with this!”

Frustration ripped at her, shredded her apart, and yet she couldn’t help but take that last look back at the Hatching, her face suddenly very young. She had fought so hard to be older, fought to be someone that people could trust and talk to, someone that wasn’t like everyone else… With a sigh, her shoulder’s dropped. She couldn’t leave the creature there by herself, and he was right. There was something in her that couldn’t let her leave, no matter what she felt. It was the most solid thing that Crown ever had, and hesitantly, she reached out to the Gold.

//E…Ezelth?

The Queen, so proud, was at this moment in her mind a quiet creature, just as hesitant with Her’s as Her’s was with her.

//Yes, Claudiamine?

Crown flinched backwards physically, but stayed strong as she spoke back.

//I’m… Not quite sure that you should pick me.

The dragon seemed to roll her eyes, even as the fear that she carried with her bled into Crown’s mind. Both would never acquire that skill, blocking out each other as some dragons could, the truth always revealed to each other.

//It is done.

Silence. And then the little Queen spoke, her mindvoice soft, pleading, scared.

//Would you… Please come back, Mine?

Crown hesitated that moment longer, and then nodded, both in her mind and out.

“I have to go…” She told M’kel and Tirenth quietly, blinking and her face worried. But… Something was there that wasn’t. A relief? Perhaps. It was the subtle truth that, as M’kel had said, she finally had someone to fall back on. She had the love of someone.