[Hatching Feast!]

[nozomi]

Despite reservations in regards to the new colors and Impressed prisoners, so many of them... well, M'onk couldn't fiind any proper reason to not have a Hatching Feast. Dragons were born, with onlly a single dud egg, and all Impressed. No deformaties, no severe maulings; oh, yes, a feast was in order.

As soon as the eggs began to crack, he'd ordered food to be started - just in case. By the time the Hatching was finished, dragons Impressed and fed, a banquet had been set up along the shorefront. No alcohol, of course, but fruit juices and water, food piled as high as possible. Tables were set up so people could relax and enjoy, a longer one especially for the weyrlings. The sun had near disappeared from the sky, leaving glows littering the surrounding area in baskets and on stakes to give them all a soft glow.

"Remember," he had told them. "No alcohol. No sex. Refrain from romantic attachments until your dragon is old enough to handle it. This is for their safety, and yours. We want no babies betweening." He paused, and cleared his throat, voice softening. "And those of you with new colors, or who are now wearing yellow, please do not fret over dangers to your new bondmate. They are safe. If you have questions, direct them to myself or L'vey, but the main goal is to enjoy yourselves."

He smiled broadly, and clapped his hands together."Now! Eat! Be merry! Congratulations."

M'onk waved them off, still smiling, and directed his attention elsewhere.

The Feast had begun!

[firebird]

S'nar felt strange. After all those months of wearing the red jumpsuit, having normal clothes (even if they were bright yellow) felt alien, not right at all. It hadn't helped that Desert had immediately tried to climb down his tunic once he'd put it on. Fortunately, the flit was easily distracted by pointing out the star and dots on Obeth's hide and settled down to examine them.

He felt better, though. At one point he had gone to the healer for some numbweed for his eyes. Well, for the skin around his eyes. He could open them now with only a little tearing up and general inability-to-see-ness. He even felt like he would be able to get some congratulating in for the other weyrlings.

To S'nar's chagrin, Obeth had insisted that they go around and meet everyone. The strengths of our fellows must be determined! he had said when S'nar protested. Thus, instead of gravitating towards the food, the man found himself approaching one of the weyrlings. He recognized the woman's voice as belonging to one of the people who had narrated for him.

"Um... thank you for helping me during the hatching. I'm sorry for leaving so quickly," he said to Serdek, somewhat self-conscious of the numbweed poultice on his face. He must seem so weird...

[nozomi]

When it came to dragons, the day had to be the best day ever. Ramoth and Faranath were all well and good, but she didn't know their riders and thus didn't really care overmuch. Siata enjoyed whers, liked her girl, but even she had to admit that dragons held some sort of appeal.

In this case, Lostris found something that made her emotional, and Serdek received her ticket to not being a prisoner anymore. Sure, there had been that emotional shriek on the Sands, all well and good, but she'd gotten a dragon, and it meant she didn't have to wear the sharding red anymore. Siata had screamed until hoarse, and by the time the feast went underway with the food and everything, the sun started to set and she had been up for almost an entire day. Napping was attempted but... Hatching. They seemed to leave energy crackling around the air.

Once again, her eyes bore the dark smudges of No Fardlin' Sleep, but Siata grinned. And by then, she had her Siatask by her side, the green lumbering near to her. She disliked her handler being far from her all day, too tired to do much other then flop idly against the wher for a few restless hours. She disliked the excitement for others. She stuck close, at least until Siata spotted a certain huge man in the crowd.

Big Uglies. Disgust dripped from Siatask's voice, and she butted her head against Siata's arm. Siatask's find better. No Big Uglies.

"Oh, c'mon, beautiful. We like C'ross! He put up with me during the Hatching."

Disdain. Grumpy green. Siatask find better. Something Man. Not Big Uglies. Siata opened her mouth to say something before Siatask bumped her gently with her head, started to wander off in a direction not towards C'ross.

Siata beelined for him anyway. "C'ross! Hey! Did you sleep at all today? It's been crazy." She grinned, and wrinkled her nose. "Siatask says hello, I think."

Siatask does not. She did, however, decide to sidle riiiiiight near to S'nar. Oh, he had a Brown dragon with him, but a small creature. He officially had a large green wher standing beside him as well, ignoring the small baby dragon. ... Little pale man smells.

It was probably a good thing you didn't smell good to a wher, S'nar. All he got was a sniff, an invasive presence close to him. It was poor darling Serdek that received the Stare from Siatask, and the less then pleased voice. Siatask's ... yellow woman.

[firebird]

...Watch-wher. There was a big, muscular watch-wher beside him. Or at least he thought it was big; S'nar didn't really know how big green whers normally got to be. To him the beast sniffing him was huge enough to be worrying. Not to mention he still remembered his conversation with Spencer about not annoying them.

"Um, hello? Am I bothering you, uh ma'am?" Gah! That was probably the wrong thing to call a watch-wher! Stupid, stupid, stupid! "Am I too close to yours?"

Have confidence, lad! Obeth piped up as he stepped forward to lean against S'nar's side protectively. As an afterthought, he stretched out his neck to sniff Siatask in turn. Greetings, guardians of the Weyr! Are you and Yours doing well on this glorious day, ma'ams? he projected to both Siatask and Siata.

[giftwrapped]

She hadn't let go of Greboth since Impression.

Well...that was slightly inaccurate. She had set the dragonet down a few times in order to do things like change out of her jumpsuit into whatever yellow clothes the guards could scrounge for her (shapeless trousers and a long-sleeve shirt, both several sizes too large, exactly the way Serdek preferred it) and pick up a bucket so she could stuff Greboth with meat scraps, but other than that she had been clinging nonstop to Greboth.

The yellow dragonet had been much the same, spending all of her time either asleep or keeping a frantic eye out for the threat she was certain would come. Serdek wasn't sure which she preferred; sleepy Greboth was certainly easier to carry, but awake Greboth was...inexplicably comforting. Perhaps it was just because Serdek had spent so much time glancing over her own shoulder that having someone else to do it meant she could relax for a second.

Now, Greboth was once again stuffed with meat and trying valiantly to stay awake and keep an eye on the Feast. Serdek was there only out of respect for the Weyr - or rather, out of respect for L'vey, who had continued the work the Warden had started, had saved her from rotting in prison. (M'onk, she suspected, would not be pleased. And she dreaded the moment the Overseer spoke to her about it.) It was L'vey she was looking for as she milled awkwardly, arms full of an anxious yellow dragonet who yawned every few minutes, accidentally buffeting her rider with her own sleepiness.

I can stay awake, Greboth insisted, nudging Serdek lightly on the jaw and hanging her head over her rider's shoulder. Serdek didn't answer, just smiled and scratched her neck lightly as she cast over the crowd for L'vey. So intent was she on finding the Weyrlingmaster that she would have missed S'nar's approach entirely if it weren't for Greboth. The dragonet trilled sharply at Obeth's approach, cocking her head to one side. Serdekmine, Obeth and His come.

Serdek turned just as S'nar spoke, giving her fellow weyrling (and rider of Greboth's clutchbrother) a slight twitch of her mouth that might have passed as a smile among people who knew her well. She doubted the pale weyrling would recognize it as such. "It's fine," she answered him softly. "Dragons can't really wait." Initially, that was that, but eventually she realized she should at least introduce herself. "...I'm Serdek, and this is Greboth." And her attention turned to Obeth. Brown. She would have to get used to being around dragons again. Even the browns.

I will keep them from harming you, Greboth muttered, and for a second the look she gave her brother was sharp. But then she calmed and returned to watching the crowd. The green wher did not go unwatched, and Greboth stared suspiciously as Siatask as the massive creature made her way through the crowd. Serdek, what is that wher doing? she asked, returning Siatask's nasty stare with a harsh one of her own.

"Wher...?" Serdek turned, catching sight of Siatask and almost smiling. "Oh...Siatask." The wher's voice in her head made her jump, and her grip tightened on Greboth, who hissed menacingly before Serdek thought to calm her down. "Shush, baby, shush," she whispered, stroking Greboth's neck as she looked at the wher. Yellow woman? It was...pretty accurate. That really was what Serdek had become, wasn't it? Well...she'd accept it. And Siatask meant that Siata was somewhere nearby as well.

"Siatask, where's Siata?" she asked softly, scanning the crowd for the outrageously tall smith. She had been too wrapped up in Greboth to notice it at the time, but in hindsight, it wasn't hard to recall the background noises to her Impression - most of which were apparently Siata hollering congratulations to her. Serdek would have to say something to her. At the very least be irritated. Siata would never forgive her otherwise.

Luckily, she wasn't hard to find, over talking to someone not far from where Serdek and S'nar stood. and the man she was talking with...Serdek paused, expression caught somewhere between amusement and irritation. Of course Siata would be talking to C'ross. ...Well, he was a rider. She'd have to deal with him eventually. Now was as good as ever.

[Inkwell]

R'en was caught between feeling very uncertain about being at a feast that he hadn't helped to cook and finding the idea that he was technically one of the people being celebrated by said feast to be at once hilarious and a little overwhelming.

Then again, the whole day had been at once hilarious and a little overwhelming, he had to admit. At least he wasn't wearing the robe anymore. He wasn't used to such loose clothing; in his line of work, loose clothing meant sleeves in the soup and stains where stains had no right to be. Of course, in his new line of work, loose clothing would mean discomfort while flying and a whole lot of things getting caught on wings and headknobs, so either way, it was undesirable.

It will be a long time before we are flying, mine, Afilith reminded him. The silver had stuck close to his new bonded since Impression, something that had at first seemed a little difficult for him -- he wanted to go and meet everyone and explore everything. Unfortunately, he was still, as L'vey had predicted, more than a bit tired, which was putting a bit of a damper on his ambition to blossom into a social silver butterfly. Besides, R'en knew a lot of the people already, and could explain things the dragonet found interesting, so he eventually contented himself with trotting next to his bonded and spouting off questions whenever one occurred to him.

Why is that human's skin like that? The silver was peering with mild interest towards F'ox, some twenty feet away.

Well, you know how there are white dragons, like your brother? He's a white human. They're very rare and very special and that one is also very nice. You know, they come out of totally different eggs than normal humans, too--

Afilith butted his head gently against R'en's knee. Humans do not come from eggs. You are telling stories again.

No really. Ask him!

Friend of Mine, did you come from an egg?[/b]

F'ox, you have a dragon you haven't met yet talking to you and an R'en laughing uproariously about twenty feet away. Wat do?

[S'yal]

F'ox jumped at the unfamiliar voice in his head, eyes widening. Snowth- Oh, wait. That was a dragon. Not someone speaking to him out loud. No need to call for Snowth. Just a dragon.

Oh. It was R'en's dragon. The shiny one. F'ox's face turned red as he realized that R'en was laughing at him. He tried his best to glare at the rider, really, even as he made his way over. "No, I didn't hatch from an egg." He wasn't going to have to give the talk to a dragon, right? "... You are very shiny." F'ox, sharing wisdom.

Snowth, Orren is laughing at me! F'ox relayed to his dragon, since he had no clue what was so funny about all of this. Said green was stretched out in the sand a comfortable distance from the tables, blue eyes focused on her rider. I don't know what's so funny. His dragon just asked me if I came from an egg-

Now Snowth was laughing too. Don't you know, F'ox? Most humans hatch from eggs![/i]

I like you better when you aren't telling bad jokes...

"Perhaps Orren is the one who hatched from an egg. He is very strange." F'ox told the little dragon.

[lithle]

L'vey had told him it was important that he attend the feast. He hadn't wanted to. He'd wanted to hide in the silence of the barracks for as long as he could, as long as he could call it private and his. But that was already over. After the hatching, the newly impressed had begun moving in, and he'd been forced to cope with the idea that his half day of quiet and bonding with Passith were all he was going to get.

He'd been considering names. He'd played with J'den, with J'de, even with Ja'de. None had fit. He couldn't think of himself as a dragonrider, not even with Passith's comforting voice in his head.

The voice now saying, This will be fun, Jaden! We will have a lovely time, meet my siblings, make friends.

And the voice was soothing, comforting, real.

But it wasn't what he knew.

For so long, Spins had been the voice in the night, the hand on his back, the weapon that kept the dark away. And now he was locked on one side of a wall, and Jaden was on the other, and he simply didn't know what to do.

So he approached the table, picking up a cup of fruit juice and sipping at it nervously while Passith pressed against his legs. His posture was hunched, his head lowered.

Siblings! he sent the greeting to Obeth, Greboth, and Afilith. I am glad you are here. Glad I found you.

[tuathade]

So both of the Candidates that Siata had been rooting for had Impressed. Good for them. C’ross didn’t know Lostris all that well… and the few times he and Serdek had encountered one another, they generally ended up viciously snarking at each other… But this was a happy occasion. The bronzerider was willing to be happy for them on Siata’s behalf.

So when the greenhandler approached him, he managed a wry smile. “Sleep? Think I’ve forgotten what the word means. Merceth says shard off to Siatask, but that’s normal for him.”

And here came Serdek, carrying her yellow. On a smaller dragon, it would be adorable. With a yellow, it frankly looked kind of silly. She wasn’t exactly a little creature, after all. But he kept a straight face and nodded politely to the new weyrling. C’ross wasn’t going to be the one to wreck Siata’s mood by starting a fight. “Evening, Serdek. Glad to see you Impressed.”

Well, he was. It meant that she was L’vey’s territory now.

---

No alcohol, no sex, no romantic attachments? Pffffffffft none of those things had been issues even before Ral – R’vyn – whichever – got a dragon to look after. And now? He had a dragon who had time for girls eeeee dragon!

So there was no dip in his mood, nothing but brilliant beaming smiles and quiet ‘thank you’s as the Healer-apprentice-turned-weyrling headed into the feast. Dexeth, properly fed, oiled, and cleaned, padded at his rider’s side. The little white had a few candlemarks of rest between the Hatching and the Feast to recover from the ordeal of his hatching; he was already looking stronger and more alert. Still, R’vyn was careful not to overtax him too much. The two of them were content to move slowly and mingle.

Still… all the people, all the new weyrlings. R’vyn’s cheerful resolve to Make Friends With Everyone was already fading somewhat in the face of, well, intimidation. It wasn’t that he was nervous around the prisoners or the guards in particular, he just didn’t know where to start. Dexeth didn’t seem to have the magical answers to social awkwardness any more than his rider did – two of a kind they were, in that regard. Somehow R’vyn found himself over at the table with the refreshments… and there was another new rider who looked just as lost as he felt. (Curious, R’vyn didn’t remember seeing Jaden at the Hatching – but, well, he’d been stolen right off the bat by Violeth and Dexeth, hadn’t he? Of course he could miss someone Impressing.)

“Congratulations,” he said softly, with a small smile. “Handsome dragon you have. What’s his name?” Dexeth trilled a greeting to Passith, leaning his shoulder against R’vyn’s leg with eyes whirling brilliant blue. Hello, brother!

[nozomi]

Oh look - manners from the little human male and the boy. Siatask eyed the little brown dragonet and his pale little human, quiet disgust twisting all up in her. Her eyes flickered a brief red, an orange, but it faded because, well, one mustn't snap at young men when they showed proper respect. It would teach them the wrong thing, if a lady-wher such as herself went about scolding them for being imprudent. Still, Siatask preferred blues, and small creatures, and especially when they didn't talk at her.

She leaned in, sniffing once more at S'nar. Will do, for now. Siatask didn't even sound disapproving, merely cold, aloof, and her attention went riiiiiight back to Serdek and Serdek's. Greboth and Greboth's?

Did she care?

Greboth and her fierce little glare helped soothe whatever irritation Siatask managed to conjure up towards the two of them. A dragon meant Siata would sleep more, and moon less, and do productive things once more. The wher approved of productive things, and much less so of dragonriders. (Especially yellowriders, mainly because they distracted Hers.)

Siatask's bother Big Uglies. No yelling now, just stupid. Big Ugly too big for feast. And ugly, but that went without saying. Smug Siatask, for being just the right size to wander with, her large eyes still on Serdek and Greboth's. Yellow good. Siatask's sleep now. Not get silly. Which was, of course, all of Serdek's fault.

Siata ignored her wher's rudeness, grinning wide at C'ross. "Yeah, well, her hello's aren't far off either. I have a feeling she's tormenting some friends of mine. C'mon now, big man. If I'saac hasn't kidnapped you away for the dusk, humor me." And off they went. To Serdek and Greboth, to Senar and Obeth, to Siatask. The Smith beamed, even at S'nar. "I have no idea who you are! But congratulations, kid. Hurrah and all that, he's lovely. And you-"

She pressed a large hand to her wher's side, smile not even wavering with the sight of suspicious!dragonet and yellow!Serdek. "What's her name? Congratulations, by the way! I want to hug you, but she may bite me. Can I hug you?"

Cue open arms and the human equivilant of the ? face.

[lithle]

On a scale from one to hiding behind a couch, R'vyn rated little higher than a five for terrifying Jaden. To rate any lower, he'd either need to get a sex change, or become Spins. And with neither of those likely to happen within the next few minutes, the poor apprentice dragon healer would just have to cope with the much larger man taking a very conspicuous step away from him while flinching.

His retreat might even have continued were it not for the very stubborn gray dragon at his feet that pointedly placed himself behind Jaden's legs.

This is your first friend mine! You are going to meet him. And he will be nice and you will be nice. It is going to be just fine. Now, smile.

Jaden did not smile. He did not do anything remotely like smiling. But he obediently stopped attempting to flee.

"He's Passith." Jaden managed. And then, at a wordless mental prod. "I'm Jaden."

And then he got a good look at Dexeth. A white. L'vey had mentioned something about even more new colors among Passith's clutchmates. And here was one.

He wasn't sure what to say to that.

Spins would have something to say, wouldn't he?

Even Passith would.

Which, in fact, he did.

Brother! This is Mine. He's Jaden. I found him. He needs friends. Will yours be his friend?

Jaden, meanwhile, heard himself saying, much to his own surprise. "You work in the infirmary."

He'd never spoken to the man, but he'd seen him there.

[firebird]

...It looked like Serdek and the new woman (the handler of the wher?) were going to be busy talking to each other, so S'nar planned to just step away and go somewhere else. There was no reason to keep the women from their conversation, after all, and he didn't like socializing anyway. Maybe he would go get himself some food. The stuff they had in the prisoners' mess hall got quite tedious after a while, and he was eager to try something different for once.

A certain brown hatchling, however, insisted that he at least introduce himself to the woman. "Um, I'm Sena- S'nar." Right, he had a different name now. That would be hard to remember. "And this is Obeth. I'll just leave now; don't want to bother you." Introductions were over; time to go!

As S'nar scurried away to the banquet tables, Obeth took off running to Jaden and Passith. Absent brother! he called out to them in a delighted tone. Where have you been all this time? I did not see you at the hatching, brother and brother's rider. The brown was genuinely curious. He had vaguely felt a sense of loss, that there were too few eggs for the double-clutch. This grey dragon might possibly have something to do with that feeling. In any case, any hatchling at Warden's was his brother or sister, and Obeth planned to meet them all.

Meanwhile, S'nar busied himself with pouring a glass of fruit juice and trying not to take anything someone else was reaching for.

[tuathade]

When Jaden flinched back, so did R’vyn. And he mumbled a vague “sorry” to go with it. And indeed, it might have turned into a terrible exponentially increasing cycle of flailing and apologizing, if it weren’t for the presence of Dexeth. Who interrupted the whole thing before it started by headbutting his rider in the knees.

Yes. I’m sure they’ll be good friends, the white told Passith firmly, with the confidence of one who absolutely believed this to be true. Sort of like two firelizard owners attempting to introduce their neurotic flits to one another and going ‘oh they’ll be darling together!’ Mine, this is Jaden.

Right. Okay. “I’m R’vyn,” he offered cautiously, as if worried that talking again would cause the man to flee outright. “And… yes. Yes, I’m the Master Dragonhealer’s apprentice.”

And that was when he realized why the name Jaden sounded familiar. Shells, that had been… seasons ago. But he remembered meeting Spins in the infirmary. The wher tag incident. It had been memorable. “You’re Spins’ friend. He mentioned you, once…?” There was a note of hope in Ral’s voice, the tone of a drowning man who can see something floating on the waves and hopes it’s sturdy enough to cling to.

[lithle]

It seemed that both Passith and Dexeth agreed that the best way to keep their riders obedient and friendly was to physically hold them in place, what with bot the dragons going for their riders legs. At least it seemed to be working! There was conversing going on.

Jaden is a bit shy. Passith confessed. An odd way of saying 'deeply traumatized and phobic of people' but the little gray was ready to run with it. But he is sure to warm up quickly.

Obeth's arrival had him turning his head and creeling a warm greeting. He kept his stance though, right behind Jaden's legs, cutting off retreat.

I was with the bad people! The ones that took me! I hatched before you but we are together now.

Jaden, meanwhile, was still attempting to find a way to back away without upsetting Passith. Indeed, he was so focused on it that he only glanced at Obeth before leaving the question to his dragon to answer. It was only Spins' name that froze him, his expression changing in an instant from fear to fondness. Spins was Jaden's word for safety, for reassurance, and even here in this terrifying place, away from the comfortable walls of the prison, he could cling to it.

"Yes. He, umm, he isn't allowed to be here." There was a certain amount of raw pain in Jaden's voice as he lay that fact in the air. He was still having difficulty facing the idea of being separated from his oldest friend and only ally. "They won't let him stand. He wanted me to, though."

In the end, he hadn't, actually, but that was neither here nor there.

Even if Spins hadn't killed someone, there was still the fact that the man was incapable of maintaining good behavior for more than a week.

[giftwrapped]

...He barely even offered his name before scurrying off, and Serdek sighed, unsure why exactly the newly-Impressed weyrling was scurrying off. But she figured it out after a moment, as a voice she recognized had her stiffening, and she bared her teeth in either a grimace or a very, very odd smile. "C'ross," she said, and for the brieftest instant her tone was the same deferential one that she had used with guards. But then she realized she didn't need to. The slouch straightened slightly, and even if the look Greboth fixed on C'ross was one of sharp alertness. According to her rider's internal reactions, this man was threat.

...No, love. No. He is safe. Serdek squeezed the yellow gently, offering the bronzerider a softer expression, one that might have been pleased, if not genuinely happy. "Thanks," she said softly. And it was the closest thing C'ross would probably ever get to politeness from the pr-yellowrider. But anything else Serdek might have said was lost as Siata came charging up and asked a flurry of questions and then - a hug? Really? "Her name's Greboth," she said, ducking her head and giving Siata a look that was much closer to a smile than anything C'ross had gotten. As for the other question...

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Serdek let Greboth to the ground, scratching her headknobs slightly as the yellow huffed in protest. I don't like this, Greboth muttered. It would be so easy for someone who meant Serdek ill to slip to her with a blade, or use the embrace to take her - but Serdek, for once in her paranoid life, pushed nothing but mildness and good will into the yellow's mind until Greboth stopped protesting. And then she sighed, a heavy noise that was as much 'I don't know why I'm letting myself do this' as it was resignation, and opened her arms. Hopefully Greboth wouldn't attack Siata when she hugged her.

But Greboth turned her head, jerkily like a bird's, and fixed whirling yellow-tinged eyes on Passith. For a moment, her entire body was tense, particularly as Serdek caught sight of Passith's rider, but then Serdek made an indistinct noise in the back of her throat and turned away slightly. Greboth nudged her gently, nibbling at the vibrant yellow trouser leg, but after a moment, convinced that Serdek was safe, she simply leaned against the woman and eyed Passith. Brother, she answered, tone soft but not without suspicion.

It is good to see you, and I am glad you found Yours - but neither of you were at the Hatching, were you? And there it was, the anxiety, the subtle sense that something about Passith and his massive rider, the man that so made Hers uncomfortable, was not the same as the rest. Something was off about this, and Greboth was not pleased about it. But she would not be hostile; not unless anyone offered threat to her and Hers. She crooned quietly, butting her head against Serdek's leg and earning a gentle scratch from her rider, who was still focusing her attention on Siata and C'ross.

You are all right?

Always now that you're here.