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Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Adetsu lowered his arm, so that Kaeyne could once again join him at his side. Too much had happened, more than he could even process. But the voice (and he had chosen to not even THINK about that), appeared to be right. The danger was passed. The hatching would now continue.

Like what? Like any other hatching? The Whermaster--

No, he wasn't going to think about that either. Or anything else for that matter. Thinking was for other people. Kaeyne would tell him what all this meant later, would help him process what he felt, an emotion strangely like grief that had begun with the lost green's cry. But he couldn't do it alone, and he couldn't do it here.

He would... stand at the hatching. As he'd been taught. And he would watch for further dangers in the dark.

And he wouldn't think about it. Or anything. Not yet.

Once the action started, it just wasn't going to slow down, was it? Vessali wasn't sure that he'd have had the stones to go and jump on a tunnelsnake the way Brambel had. He'd bash heads in and chop them off with shovel blades, but that tactic wouldn't have worked on a snake that big and it'd probably have gotten him killed too, and ...

He drifted after the other candidates, back to the boys' side of the churned up hatching grounds, sparing a few moments of silent respect for the poisoned man and making notes to thank both the others who'd tried to help him later. The tunnelsnake was dead. The hatching could go on. And some of the dragonets were Impressing. There were still things to be happy about.

He straightened up when he'd reclaimed his spot and looked toward the brown now peering about. With the voice still echoing in his head, he could take a deep breath and he glanced up at the gold, nodding faintly. Calm down. He could be calm.

Valdi watched as the Blue wandered to the girls, eyebrows raising when the Brown decided to move towards the group around one of the dead. When the dragonet remained there, staring, Valdi was curious--shouldn't he be finding His? Sure, it had taken him a little to get up and going, but that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe he was one of those smart, philosophic dragons and was contemplating death--or perhaps he was just staring, that could be a reason too. Valdi wasn't too sure at the moment; but then, when was he really? He watched the Brown now, curious as to what the dragonet would be doing.

Iafri hadn't watched what ensued. She'd closed her eyes, unable to bear it - and would have covered her ears, if that wouldn't have meant dropping her glowbasket. All the while, she was comforted at least that Kala was alright, that her friend had found her. And then it was over, and she heard an unfamiliar voice in her head. Was it the Queen, or...? Or what?

Reluctantly, she shuffled back onto the grounds with the rest of the candidates. Who was to say there wasn't another tunnelsnake waiting somewhere in the dark?

If anyone ever accused Kaeyne of calming down at the womans voice in his head, he'd punch them in the nose. Truthfully, the strange, feminine tone quieted him further, kept the pulse from racing faster only because it was strange in a highly nonthreatening manner. Adetsu's arm fell and he did not speak. Kaeyne stepped forward, yes, but only far up enough to slip an arm around the other mans waist. The silence and straight stare he could see with the dim light of his glows kicked out the temper.

Adetsu was not the one in charge. He was not supposed to be. And so, Kaeyne squeezed him gently, and watched as two dragons hatched safely with (as far as he could see) little fanfare. The brown to the group around the Whermaster - former master - the blues to the girl. The couple was neither of those things and so Kaeyne did not move them from their position - he cocked his head to the side in order to press his temple against Adetsu's arm.

Perhaps something should have been said to Adetsu, to comfort, to tell him it wasn't the norm. Kaeyne opened his mouth to speak and sighed, instead. " "Tsu." he said. Soft. And that was all. Kaeyne could think of nothing else to say.

Kaeyne did not often show affection this openly, certainly not so with so many people around. Perhaps it was the dark. Perhaps it was the stress. Adetsu wasn't one to guess, but he was comforted, at least a little, by the nearness of his comrade. Not enough to relax, certainly. But, a little.

He should have been watching the eggs. Or the dragons. The blue had gone to the girls (and, Adetsu noted, would have more candidates to choose from among them), the brown was standing near the Whermaster's still form. And that was where Adetsu found he kept looking. Not at the brown, but at the body. He had never seen one before.

He had hurt people. He had actually hurt a few people quite significantly when the occasion called for it. It disturbed him. In part, because he did not know how he was supposed to feel. Not exactly in touch with emotions, the confusing mess that were his feelings at the moment were too much for him. He just knew he didn't like it. And somehow, knew that wasn't feeling enough.

Was he supposed to be crying? He wasn't, but he was pretty sure that's what you did. It'd been a long time since he cried.

J'aro placed a comforting hand on Bekar's shoulder. "Leave him be," he murmured. The poor guy had lost his leader. Even if he'd had no reason to show favoritism toward Bekar (and he very much did), J'aro would have extended patience and understanding to the one who had more reason to mourn the old timer than any of them.

When he had first come across the group -- the body -- he had been stunned. His eyes were wide; his mouth opened and stayed opened, trying to make a noise but failing.

He fixed his posture to be straight and stern when he turned to F'sey. The show must go on.

"I agree, but--"

Something nudged his leg. The dragon.

Baffled, J'aro nudged the hatchling with one hand. "Go on. Find yours."

For a while, the dragon did nothing. He had already found His. He had found him long ago, in fact.

The Whitemaster knew they would come, Adetsu. I heard him say so when I was still inside -- when he defended this ground and protected us. A pause. I am very hungry, Mine.