Kaith's second clutching

[kestral]

((I don't know if I can bring Tavril in or not, but since I'm leaving in two days to go up to my Cabin for two weeks, I figure I'd better post somewhere at least once. I've been facing a horrible writer's block when faced with Tavril lately, so posts with him are stressful to write. Why, I have no idea!))

Tavril had been wide-awake in the Candidate Barracks, where he and his half-sister had been led upon their arrival in Darkmoon Weyr.
It still seemed so peculiar, when he thought of himself as a Candidate. He had not even bothered to meet any of those who had been his peers, but that morning, as he sat in his cot unsleeping, he heard excited whispers, and strained his ears in order to find out what they were speaking of.
The clutching.
He had known that the eggs were to be clutched soon, but to actually see this for himself?

In uncharacteristic haste, the solemn 17 turn old slid out from beneath his blankets and stuffed his feet into the first footwear which came at hand. He was not going to miss this!
By the time he found his way to the Hatching Sands where the great Golden quen reposed, there were 5 eggs and a cluster of candidates and riders watching.
He had to pause to catch his breath.
They were magnificent. He had, once, seen a firelizard clutch, but those eggs were nothing when compared to the marvels of these 5.
"Shard it..." he breathed in distinct awe, dark eyes wide as they flickered over the clutch. "Shard it all..." He was not cursing.
At least, not really.
Tavril was at a loss for words, but still felt the desire to speak. This was...amazing.


Khaliall had been unable to sleep. As a result, she had seen her brother leaving the Candidate barracks, and even while she was not one of them, had scrambled for her slippers and trailed after him in as near silence as the girl could get. Her hazelline optics were large, dark brown in the lack of light.
Stealthily she followed Tavril, half smilling at the ridiculous picture this would have presented had anyone seen. She could not let him leave her alone! IT was this reason that she followed in silence.
After all, who would want a tag-along half-sister going everywhere with one? While she knew that Tavril loved her, she doubted he would appreciate it.
A bit sullently, she thought, she wasn't doing anything that she wasn't allowed to do. But where was he going?
Upon entering the sands behind him, her intentions of being silent were forgotten. She gasped.

[nike]

Sh'iron nodded, and watched the eggs, and the people gathering around. He was happy. How couldn't he be?
This Weyr which he had came to as a simple, young bronze rider from Benden, had bloomed under Christae's, and his own, leadership. A Weyr which wasn't even worthy of being placed on the map, had finally got it's place. It may be small, but it would someday be mentioned up there with Benden, and Fort. Not just because of their copper and white, but because of it's riders, and Weyrleaders, and dragons. That was it. The people. The people made this Weyr.

[Spirithawk]

((bringing them in is fine))

Christae smiled. "You are more than welcome my dear. Even if you do not Impress, you will have a home here. There is always more work here than we have people to do it. I am sorry to hear that things did not go well for you at your home hold. Welcome to the Dark Moon family." She smiled and clasped the girl's hand warmly.

She turned to the rest of the Candidates. "To those of you who are newcomers here, I wish to welcome you to Dark Moon Weyr. I wish to apologize for not welcoming your properly when you arrived. I hope you will forgive me. For those of you who do not know, I am Weyrwoman Christae of Sr. Queen Kaith. Sh'iron of bronze Myranenth is my weyrmate and your Weyrleader. The baby toddling about on the sands is our son Chiron." She smiled at the Candidates and then beamed at her little son who was waddling about on the warm sands.

[kestral]

Tavril blinked at the Weyrwoman, Weyrleader, and then the toddling child whom she had addressed as Chiron.
He had not known that they had a son.
But then, as a new arrival, he could hardly be expected to know anything about the Weyr, the young man consoled himself dubiously. He turned slowly to study the clutch, and then the rest of the candidates.
Among them was a girl whom he recognized with a start. The youth's features clouded and he stalked over to her, awe and joy dimmed by the sight of her.
"Khaliall!" he hissed, irritation evident in his tones.
"What are you doing here? You aren't a Candidate!"
His younger sister stared up at him with undeniable defiance.
"You can't leave me!" she muttered possessively. "You can't!"
She sounded a little bit frantic. "I followed you. Besides, nobody knows I'm not a Candidate."

She watched him warily from beneath her lashes, and his tense frame relaxed, as did the fingers which had tightened instinctively on her shoulders.
"You should go back to bed," he told her under his breath, trying to sound stern. To his surprise, Khaliall tore away from him, staring back at him with piercing optics.
He was astounded.
"Khaliall? Is something wrong?" he queried warily of his half sister in soft tones that he hoped noone else could hear.
"Nothing is wrong!" she responded heavily. "Nothing. Besides, you don't need to concern yourself with me."
With that remarkable statement, the small young woman whirled around and stalked away from her brother, as she attempted to run a hand through her tangled hair.
Tavril sighed, and shrugged. Khaliall was Khaliall.
He wouldn't ask what had gotten into her.
Besides, he was at a Clutching, and wasn't about to miss any more of it. Courteously, he bowed to the Weyrwoman and turned his attention to the eggs.

[Spirithawk]

Kaith was oblivious to the goings on of the humans. While they were talking she laid another egg.

The next egg was a strange brownish orange color. It was the smallest egg so far but it was still rather large. The egg was darker at the bottom and had a circle of lighter orange in the center. The egg looked like a piece of the rock known as tiger's eye.



((Ack short but g2g my friend is waiting))

[nike]

Sh'iron bowed his head when he was mentioined. He smiled at each of the Candidates, and then turned to his son, and the eggs. Pride swelled up in his heart when he looked at both of them.

†††††††††††††††

Nevvanikea sniffed as she poured herself a mug of klah from the night hearth. The young rider sipped the warm liquid with her eyes closed. She was 13 weeks pregnant, and felt better than she had since she became pregnant. One really chouldn't tell, and only the ones she told knew. A smile formed onher lips when she tookt he mug away from her lips. It felt good to drink something that didn't make her nauses.

She sighed as she walked out of the kitchen, and into the dining caveren. She took a seat at an empty table. Well, all of them were empty at this hour. A smile formed on her lips. It felt good to be away from everyone. Since last month, she had no time to herself. Between the last days of Weyrling Lessons, which would be ending soon, taking care of Ruanth, her Master Healer duties, and the chores which she was forced to do, Nike barely had time to herself.

Nike sighed, and rna her hands through her long hair. She would also be turing twenty Turns, in what? no more than two sevendays. A smile formed on her lips, as she took another sip of klah. An odd feeling came to her, and then she heard to noise. Standing up, the Healer made her way to the back halls, and then walked down the hall towards the Hatching Grounds.
She smiled, seeing the eggs, Kaith, and everyone else. Nike turned around, and walked out of the Caverens, and then she entered the Hatching Grounds the normal way.

Nike made her way to the stands, and took a seat in the front row. She rested her elbows on the ledge infront of her, and watched the eggs.

[Dragon]

K'dan walked into the stands and saw Nike looking out at all the people there watching the eggs. He came up behind her and placed an arm on her shoulder and sat by her. He looked out to the sands then said, "I remember when that was me out there. Kaith seems to have outdone herself this time". He smiled then looked at her and gently rubbed her shoulder his hand was resting on.

[nike]

Nike looked up when she felt an arm on her shoulder. She smiled up at K'dan and then turned back to the eggs, and the newly layed one. "Yes, I remember standing the sands," Nike said, and sipped her klah. "Yes, I think she has. But I don't think that there will be any whites in this clutch," The Healer gave her own little laugh. She placed her mug on the ledge, and then moved K'dan's hands down to her stomach. "Can you feel it?" She asked, placing her place hands over his. Her gravic stomach was started to swell, and could be felt if the hands were in the right position.

[Dragon]

K'dan nodded and smiled. "Yea", he said softly to her. He looked back at the sands briefly then looked back at her, then to her stomach. So many memories. Him coming here, flying with G'han on Gerenanth, impressing Hydrath, the feast after, the times at the lake and beach, and other times, then going to his hold to see his family again, that one night with Nike, now she was having his baby. He smiled again at all the good memories.

[nike]

Nike smiled. "That's our child," She murmered. Her eyes looked back to the sands, and smiled at the eggs.
"So much new life that is coming to the Weyr," Nike smiled at her mate. "I have a feeling that it is going to be a girl. Don't you?" Her own memories flashed before her eyes. Everything from coming to the Weyr, and then up until now.

[Dragon]

"Yeah. A girl would be nice. I know she would be as beautiful as her mother", he said to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Perhaps she will impress one day too and become a great dragonrider. Maybe even a gold, who knows", he said to her.

[Tenma]

Miya glared at Nike as she took a seat near her. She noticed, luckily, that the whiterider didn't even notice her. Neither did the annoying blue-rider mate, who had broken the rules and gotten the master-healer pregnant while they were still Weyrlings.

The gold-rider snorted at their annoying hopes for the future. "And if you are lucky, she will be an annoying suck-up like you two." She snapped at them. Kalie and Tonu, who were perched on her shoulders, chirped to support their bonded.

[Dragon]

"Shut up Miya we weren't talking to you so butt out. No one would want you in their conversations anyway. Especially after hearing how you got someone kicked out of the weyr or that you have been using your flitts to spy. I would keep my mouth shut if I were you for you are the last person that should be talking", K'dan snapped at her. He never could stand Miya and she seemed to have a nack for butting in where she didn't belong.

[nike]

Nike smiled at K'dan. "Yes, mabey," She said hopefully. "I wouldn't mind if she Impressed a gold, so long as she would Impress," The white rider said with another smile. That smile faded when Miya spoke. "I agree with K'dan, and I don't thinkyou should come into a conversation where you are not welcome," The Master Healer said, and then turned back to the eggs.

[Dragon]

"I am sure she would impress and a fine dragon too", he said to her. He ignored Miya from this point and looked at Nike and smiled. She was so beautiful to him and it was only her that could put this special smile on his face.

[Tenma]

Miya's face remained unfaltered. "I did nothing of the sort. You, miss Nike, sat down next to me and your little lover joined you, near me. I can't help if you decide to talk next to me, where I can hear you. If you want to talk about making out, or even doing such, please go somewhere else. This is a clutching, not your private Weyr." She said simply, seemingly unnerved by their comments.

She completely ignored their comments about Decir. She acted as if she hadn't even heard those comments.

[nike]

Nike smiled sweetly at K'dan, and then rolled her eyes at Miya. The Healer gave a soft sigh, and turned her attention to the eggs. "I hope our child will Impress, that is really it," She said to her mate.

[Dragon]

"Just because we did talk near you doesn't mean you have any right to comment on our conversation. No one asked for your imput and no one would want it either", he said to her. He then turned his attention back to Nike. "I am sure our baby will impress and a fine dragon too. With that I have no doubt", he said to her. He gently rubbed her back and looked at the eggs.

[nike]

Nike smiled. "You keep saying that, you know?" She said with a grin. Her hands cupped her mug as she watched the eggs. Memories of the last clutching came quickly to mind. The pain. The pain of seeing all that new life, and she had to dragon to share that joy with. But now, she had Ruanth, a mate, and a soon to come child. The pain seemed to never have existed.

[Dragon]

"Well I truely believe it. I have confidence that our baby will", he said to her, returning her smile. He wrapped one arm around her and rubbed her other shoulder as he looked out to the eggs and the numerous people surrounding them. So many new faces and yet familiar ones as well. He envied the older riders, they all seemed so very close to each other. G'han and Akki, Nira and Rhia, and others as well. Sharan popped from between and landed on K'dan's shoulder, being between K'dan and Nike. He chirped happily at them both then looked curiously at the people gathered on the sands.