Esham still standing at, while Ganjia and Razzi have Bonded At Beach Shards Weyr
Everyone was gathered around long before the eggs finally started breaking, though. It was more than long enough for the trio of siblings to have gotten a little restless. But then a beautiful dark blue dragon hatched from the middle of the sands, and bonded quickly!
Another pair of eggs cracked open, a brown and a green were revealed. The brown was trying to dry himself off when his sister lept upon his back and snarled loudly at everything. The brown shook her off, but the green scampered in front of him to be able to get to the candidates more quickly than he. She growled and howled loudly, the whole time.
He was so annoyingly arrogant! Why would a brown like that think he's so much better than me! Just because he hatched first doesn't mean he's the best dragon on the sands! I am!
Ganjia ran up to the green, hearing the emerald-toned voice in her head. "Don't worry, you get used to haughty males, Juneth. I had to..." She laughed.
I guess. Maybe. The dragonet bespoke. They left the sands unconcerned about the rest of the candidates.
The brown bonded, then another green hatched. A bronze finally came out after two greens. The big dark bronze shattered his shell and fell over himself getting onto the sands, then jumped back up. Aha! I finally got ou--- At which point he tripped up and dug his nose into the sands, hind legs kicking comically in the air. Raaaaaaazzzziiii!!! He bellowed. Razzi switched from watching Ganjia lead her green from the sands, to looking at Esham, who smiled, and went to get the bronze out of his little hole.
"Oh, well done, Deradith." He announced, "Let's get you head up in the air, so you can at least learn which way is up... I hope you learn that better than it looks..."
I will! Oh, it's so grand to be out of that confining shell! I like it out here. And I like you! What about him? Who is he?
"My brother Esham? Well, he's... " Razzi glanced at his brother, who had not impressed any of the greens, nor the amazing black who hatched, nor the brown... Razzi and Ganjia met up in the kitchen, and they spoke quietly of their joy, but also of Esham.
"He's alone after the hatching," Razzi, or R'zi, said. "He'll be needing to stay with us. Can we keep him on in our den?" He asked the passing weyrling trainer.
"Well it's unusual, but since you are a trio, we won't have him alone out in the candidate barracks. This way at least he'll learn more and be that much stronger than the new candidates."
So it was agreed that after they were set up in their shared den, Esham would help out and go to their classes with them, even though he had not bonded.
After all, his siblings were on rapidly growing dragons, themselves, and they needed all the help they could get! With a grin on his dark face, Esham would assist the pair in washing up their big dragons, or moving the furs and reeds back onto the dragon's bedding. It was something Esham really got into, the whole care-for-the-dragon effort.
He could often be found humming to himself as he worked, and led some of the younger kids in the Weyr in their ballads while they were doing chores.
In all, Esham made a home for himself with or without a dragon to ride.
But he always looks toward the pair of beautiful dragons he tends, and hopes. Just hopes. His heart aches, in fact, but he says nothing about that. Esham hides a few notes he's written here and there, in the hope to assemble a ballad of bonding or loss. He doesn't know which form it will take, just yet. Whether the end of his song will be triumphant and happy, or sad and mundane.
Just the honor of being in the weyr this long, without bonding at the hatching, makes his heart swell. But... He really does wish that the dragons will want him, next time. Always next time.
They dragged him down along with their dragons, and any thought of aching muscles was forgotten as the shaking eggs came into view. Esham gulped, watching a girl help cut open an egg which wasn't hatching very well. A lovely green dragon hatched at last, and of course chose her rescuer to bond with.
Then, a darker green and a light blue hatched and paraded themselves around before choosing their partners. The green actually nudged open another egg, and from it came a most astonishing green -- who had blue wings! It was apparently a female! She bonded, and then a couple minutes passed, and the eggs were silent. Esham and one other candidate were left, hoping beyond hope--
The brown which hatched bonded to the other candidate, and Esham took in a breath, shaking. His siblings up in the stands, along with their dragons, knew as well as he did that the last egg could be a dud. He strode up to the egg, and gazed at it.
It might not hatch. Esham's heart thudded. Then, it filled with joy as the egg did break open! A dark blue dragon stepped free of the shell, and looked up at the young man.
I guess we know the end to that ballad of yours, eh? I'm Quarith!
Quarith... I can finish it later! Let's get you fed! And maybe now some of those weyr brats will help ME clean up!
