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So much work, so much so.

Sahar grinned as the little one wandered off towards the female candidates while watching with an approving eye. The little silver was tired, oh that he could tell, but he seem to relish the audience he had. The hide was like a piece of freshly-forged metal, unscathed by time and a piece of art to compliment.

With a small laugh, he nodded softly to the females with a silent wish for luck. Whoever got him was indeed very lucky.

[Diedre]

Diedre watched the silver. Oh shards, he was beautiful. Silvers were male, right? She knew very little about Atypicals. As it cooed at her and the other female candidates, she was tempted- tempted, mind, to coo right back. But she wasn't supposed to do that, was she.
She couldn't help the small smile on her face, though.

Orlina held her breath as the light colored little Silver came close... and passed her by. She let her held breath out in a huff and made a rueful face for a moment, before beaming at one of her friends who was going to come up next in the lineup. Maybe this would be Addie's turn!

Orlina's eyes skimmed over the dark collar around the back of the Silver's neck, picking out the differences in tone in his hide, and then she glanced over at the boys. Zarike was still there, too. Maybe the Silver would decide the girls weren't good enough after all and... would decide to pick him?

Orlina gave her friend a bright smile, willing him to look her way. She knew better than to try to catch his attention with more obvious movements, though, and resisted the urge to wave.

The silver stumbled and wobbled, its ungainly wings half spread to keep its balance as it failed to stand upright and fell over with a startled chuur. It was quiet in all its sounds, its eyes whirling worried colours and its head twisted in the direction of the boys and it ended up a tangle of limbs on the Sands.

It struggled, mewling piteously, as it tried to right itself - it hadn't made it halfway to the girls and was now stuck between the two groups, wasting its energy trying to reorient itself.

Hekate and Devith watched silently from the stands both dragon and rider holding their breath as they silently encouraged the new hatchling onwards. Come on little one. Come on you can do it~ Hekate mentally willed the young silver so different from her own beloved Devith. Had he been so weak when he first hatched? No he couldn't have been. True Devith had gotten winded easily, but he'd certainly had more then enough spunk to make sure he bellowed her down from the stands.

Do not fret so mine. He is a silver. He will do fine and find his just as I found you. Devith assured her with a gentle loving croon his eyes a mix of blue and green with love for his own rider.

I know, but he's so small. Hekate mused staring down at the wayward silver as it stumbled and searched for his rider. It was hard to imagine that not so long ego Devith had been not much bigger. Reaching out she felt the warm thrum of her lifemates mind and knew that soon there would be another silver pair for them to greet. Another pair born of Trine that they could aid and teach and talk too.

After the crack of shovel on shell, what seemed like too many very long moments passed before one of the Candidates stepped forward to gather up the hatchling. As the boy sat down with his bondmate (was it really small enough to gather on his lap like that?), Tacelon thought he saw a flash of red hide. So it was a crimson? Someone came and fetched a bucket of meat to bring over to the new pair, so Tacelon supposed the hatchling was too weak to walk to the feeding tables yet. She would grow stronger, wouldn't she? The adult atypicals seemed healthy as the typical colors, but he hadn't seen much of the hatchlings.

Then there was another whack as the queen's rider helped the last egg along. This time Tacelon could shift enough to catch a glimpse of the pale hatchling that emerged. There was no mistaking the bright metallic sheen of that hide, shining like a polished mirror under the midday sun. So this one was a silver. Tacelon hoped this one would be able to find his rider, too.

Don't fuss so, my brother will be fine, Poth told him drowsily. He just might take a little longer to find His.But His will take care of him after that.

The little silver's calls grew louder and louder, more and more panicked as it flailed about. It knew what it had to do, knew what it wanted but its hatchling clumsiness was making that impossible. Eyes whirled red and grey and yellow until it found its partner. The gazes matched across the Sands in its tangled, tormented shape and it froze.

Silence descended and engulfed the now perfectly still silver as it stared not at the girls but at the boys.



As if it had no more to worry about - even for moving itself, a streak of laziness shone through and it resigned itself to the tangle of wings and limbs and waited for its partner to come claim it. It sagged in exhaustion.

With the last Impression made the Sands clear of Hatchlings, there was a collective sigh of relief and a few claps on the back. Cepheith had done well and there were a dozen new, healthy, and spunky dragons to add to their ranks. Everyone knew, however, how precious these were and how important it would be to guard their lives.