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Chyssen eagerly waited her turn at the dining hall, just to get another chilled drink. It was so hot here! She was completely unused to the whole hot-weather thing. It wasn't like she didn't want to sunbathe like some of the candidates, or swim around like others. It was just... so hot! Sticky!

"Thank you!" She finally got her drink and sipped at it, relishing the drops of condensation on the outside of the glass.

Then the unthinkable happened. The dragons on the sands insisted that the candidates come to the eggs! The eggs were hatching!

She gulped back her drink and ran into her dorm, put on the - ugh! uncomfortably hot white robe. This was everything she'd been hoping! A hatching, her own dragon... Blue Arrow flew down to her shoulder and chittered in her ear, she absently petted his back and found her place at the edge of the egg ring.

It seemed as though there were twice as many eggs than before, but there were also a lot of people waiting and watching. Yet even so, several of the first to hatch - brilliantly colored beautiful dragons they were - chose not to bond at all, instead going to other weyrs. Chyssen wasn't sure how to take that. Because she was positive that dragons would die out of the egg if they didn't bond!

But, these didn't. Then - another unthinkable thing happened. A brown dragon came toward her, the last of the clutch of obviously broken eggs. It was a good sized brown, not too big and not too small.

What halfway disturbed Chyssen, however, wasn't that it was coming her way. It was that the mental voice inside her head was female, not male!

Come on, Chyssen, I'm hungry. My name's Hildemeceth, won't you feed me now?

"Of course - of course!" She giggled, the dragonet bumped her head against Chyssen's side. "I didn't know browns came in girl-type!"

Now you know! Feed me!

Laughing, Chyssen and Hildemeceth left the sands. Those same sands, just a moment later, erupted with a second hatching from another female! Chyssen almost wanted to bolt back and watch - because she'd been the last to bond in the group, she got to look over every one and their reactions. But Hildemeceth was insistant that she get fed more and more!

Keandyn was a good place to just sit and watch, and from his perch above it all, Haleny watched a lot. He knew that this clutch would be small but special. How special?

He'd find out in just a minute. The glowing smile on the dam's muzzle meant only one thing. When she started to creel that her eggs were hatching, Haleny joined the rest in the cavern, but lurked to the corners. He'd learned a lot about dragon care, most of it was sensible kinds of 'fix this wound this way' and 'don't over feed a hatchling' and such. He was glad he wasn't a girl - they had so much more to worry about if they had a female dragon!

He didn't think he'd have to worry about that. The eggs broke one after another, and each of the few candidates paired off. When a bronze came from the sand, Haleny laughed. But then - there was only one more egg and he was the only person left?

The egg bulged and was pushed from the inside by strong feet. Finally, the bulk of the shell fell away. The bronze that came from this egg, though still a bit unsteady, was a regal and good-sized one. Haleny jumped down and moved with a purpose toward him.

"Hello Rath," Haleny said, smiling. He noticed the sire of the cluch was giving off a bit of a gloating smile himself.

You're H'aeny now, the boy reminded himself. The dragon knew this, and butted his head against his thigh. Oh the adventures we'll have, he bespoke. H'aeny knew he was right.

But first, they had to get something to eat...

Draco's Inferno was alive with sounds and activity, even though it was the middle of the night. That was of course because of the hatching being announced. Some of the candidates were bleary-eyed, like Fiorion himself, but he noticed that there were some of those odd people - the vampires - who lived in darkness and thought this was just great.

He wasn't sure why everyone had been called down, because there weren't that many eggs on the sands and too many candidates to go around. But, this was a white-sired clutch, so maybe there was something no one knew. It turned out not to be far from the truth!

A green snapped open her shell first and found one of the vampires to her liking. Then an oddly dark blue (for a white's offspring?) bonded off, and the next egg hatched as if on cue. It was the biggest of the bunch, though no one expected a queen or anything from this clutch.

Instead, two tiny light-colored greens burst out! They looked at one another first, and then one came forward to the candidates. Her sister remained in the bits of broken shell for the moment. That was fine - because the first came to Fiorion!

The light green trotted to the remaining two male candidates and looked up at Fiorion. My name's Akuaneth, Fiorion. I...I hope I'm good enough for you. she said shyly. Fiorion smiled. "Of course, Akuaneth. You're great!"

Really? Akuaneth preened, before her stomach got the better of her, and Fiorion led her away to get food.

The feeling of deep hunger in Fiorion's stomach passed as the newly hatched dragonet ate. He'd never been so hungry, and now Fior... F'iori, had never needed sleep so very much. All the emotions and feelings he wasn't sure were his own turned into his, quickly.

Chyssen was surprised at how fast Hildemeceth grew. The female brown was now fledging and her wings had grown larger and stronger - but still not strong enough to carry Chyssen.

"It won't be long now, though," she said to the agitated brown, who really wanted to fly. "Probably just a few more days or a week or so. Won't it be great?"

Then you can shoot from my shoulders and we will provide your friends with great meals! The dragoness said. But I will want to hunt for myself too. I do not like your cooked food!

***

It wasn't that long at all before Chyssen and Hilde were ready to head back to Dragonhope. There, she knew, they would be welcomed as members of their wings! Her heart swelled with pride at the thought, she wasn't afraid to ride and flame Thread. She'd be good at it, they had practiced against practice items and Hilde's flames were quite strong.

But that left Chyssen wondering: would this brown be fertile? She wasn't nearly as big as a gold, of course, not even the size of a bronze. Would any sands on Pern take her? Of course they would...