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Raedue suddenly found his eyes drawn to the girls and the flash of green among them. It seemed like things were going well for her. He hoped she made her choice soon. It would hopefully raise the spirits greatly in the place to have a successful hatching.

Ailurath's voice cracked and Jessmet spent a moment convincing the green to stop her keening. "Let's go down," she murmured, stroking her dragon's cheek. "I see several of your clutchmates." The green's chest rumbled as she calmed down, angling her wings into position for a controlled glide.

Convinced that her dragon would be alright for the moment, Jessmet began to wind her way through the long hallways of the Weyr from the ledge to the Sands.

Ailurath arrived amongst her siblings in a puff of sand. She stretched her neck out in greeting, seeking comfort. Even with Jess' knowledge of the Weyr's corridors, using every shortcut she knew, it would be another few minutes before Jessmet joined Ailurath near the Stands.

The second he'd reached the table, Matsukazeth hot on his heels, A'nt had flopped to a seated position, tears slowly streaming his face. Despite the horrible, gut-wrenching sadness, he knew that His Matsukazeth needed to be fed- desperate to control his shaking hands, the boy was carefully sizing the meat, handing it to the Brown in small chunks. With his other free hand, he was stroking at the dragon's neck, murmuring encouragement over the sobs.

"D-don't forget to chew, Matsukazeth. Don't want you choking to death right when I've finally found you," he said, a hint of humor creeping into his otherwise miserable voice. Rubbing a hand once more over the Brown's neck, A'nt finally was unable to choke back a sob, leaning to touch his forehead to Matsukazeth's. The dragon crooned in mutual sadness, closing his eyes.

Oh, Mine. Oh, Mine, Mine, Mine, why must this happen when you found Yours? My poor brother! The two shared a moment of mutual grief, here- Matsukazeth not wanting to upset His any further.

Knowing he still had to tend his, A'nt forced himself back into feeding, still tearing the meat and quietly whispering to Matsukazeth. Swallowing back another burst of tears, A'nt quietly turned to another new rider, face devoid of any shred of happiness.

"S-some hatching, huh."

Everything had been going so... well....

O'asis had barely begun explaining that Uktenath had chosen not to come to the Stands because they would be too crowded to fit in a dragon of his growing size (which, Jr. Weyrling though he might be, was still considerable), when in an instant, everything was uprooted and changed. O'asis had never seen a dragon going between before - it was rumor, not fact, that even hinted to the possibility. His voice cut off in mid-word as he stared down at the Sands, uncomprehending.

His hand was gripping Kyllae's a bit more tightly than was probably comfortable now.

Mine. Uktenath's voice was superficially cool, as though the tragedy had been intellectually processed in an instant, but the emotional impact was still just dawning. Mine, he went between... and I do not think that he is coming back.

"... Oh." O'asis should have said more, but at that moment, he didn't know what better to say.

Uktenath, however, knew better than to wait for him to find more words; the little bronze appeared as if from between himself (though of course, he'd merely shoved his way very through the crowds to find His, knocking more than a few knees and hipbones along the way). His head appeared over O'asis's shoulder, even as the ex-Trader was still coming to acknowledge what had happened. He spoke carefully, calmly, but there was no hiding the yellow in his eyes - Mine... I do not want to be without you right now....


***


Dolmin simply fell apart.

There was no make-believe he could do to pretend that the blue wasn't gone. He'd tried it. It hadn't worked.

Every Weyrbrat his age knew what between was - it was the terrible place you wished all your enemies and troubles to, and the scary place that dragons were not afraid to cross. He wanted to tell himself that the blue was okay - he hadn't gone to that place, he'd gone through that place! He was going somewhere else. Maybe he knew someplace better to go than here....

But it wasn't true. And Dolmin knew it wasn't true. And it was impossible to believe how that was more terrifying to him than the rampaging dragons of before, but it was.

So the tears had started. And soon the sniffles. And then the eight-year-old was simply curled up against the wall next to the crack, sobbing his heart out, regretting very much for a moment that he'd mocked his only company until she'd run away. A bit of company would have been very nice just then, if stupid Dolmin hadn't been so mean....

E'rik recovered relatively quickly from his shock and though he knew he ought to be soothing Dara he knew there was something more pressing he had to attend to. Despite having spent most of his life paralyzed by stage fright, he knew how to read crowds and their moods. He scanned the stands until he saw a familiar face now pale and drawn haloed by blonde hair. He made his way to Kyllae as quickly as he could, his gitar still slung across his back and suddenly feeling like a weapon. As he drew near her he took a deep breath, aware that his actinos would have unpleasant repercussions, but they had to be taken. It was the same action he would have taken whether he was a Harper or a Dragonrider or an absolute nobody.

He passed O'asis as he said to Kyllae, "Do you want to leave? If you come with me now I think I can get you out of here before anyone does anything regrettable."

Santhea bit down on her lip, ashamed by the angry babble coming from her own mouth. But the tears flowed freely down her face. She couldn't see anything, and missed the little green coming from the Freisian egg. She rubbed her eyes furiously, and looked up at the stands, at the dragons, running her eyes until she found the blue Dievath.

She wished the dragon would speak to her, as he did once before, but that was a selfish wish - it was unusual enough for him to talk to her in the first place. But she scrubbed her eyes against the heel of her hand, and looked back at the two eggs - then was struck by how there was only one.

Oh, a little green dragonet. She's beautiful.. Santhea thought, eyes wide. She..she doesn't know what just happened..
Looking at the calm green, marching confidently, crooning, Santhea felt the ugly anger drain away. The blue brought sorrow, but now the green brings.. hope..