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The hatching feast held double meaning for Benden this time – it was a celebration of the successful Impression of nearly twenty dragonets and a wake to remember fondly Gold Yirath and their Weyrwoman Kestril. As such, the feast that was prepared included delicacies and extras that might not have otherwise been included in such an event. The wine flowed freely and all of the Riders, the Weyrlings, and their families had been invited. A more public funeral was scheduled for later that week – it had been put off out of respect for the grieving gold.

As each Weyrling approached, it was the Weyrleader that greeted them, alone at the door. The new riders had been given an opportunity to eat and sleep after the Hatching but now that the initial rush to feed was done, many were full of boundless energy, and itching horribly. W’lin was looking forward to seeing these new recruits grow, to seeing what they would accomplish. Those bronzes held potential, the browns, the golds and even the lesser colours. They would put all other weyrs to shame.

He smiled as the first approached, a suave, daring thing so typical of a bronzerider. Giving the first set of knots out, he gestured for the individual to move into the room with the rest of the milling riders. Kestril’s absence was a strong contrast to the usual feasts and the conversation was hushed for the most part, with the occasional burst of laughter or raised voice. People were celebrating, yes, but there was a more serious undertone to the whole affair that was impossible to miss.

Brynja fiddled with the new knots on her shoulder as she walked on, adjusting them minutely as she glanced around the hall, looking for her brothers. She hadn't seen either of them in the stands, but that didn't mean they weren't here - someone would have fetched them for this, and maybe her Ma and Da were here as well. Besides, she really wanted to show off Larth to them (something which met with a rumble of approval from the dragon in question - he rather liked the idea of his' kin admiring him). She'd no doubt her Ma'd cry everywhere, which'd be a little embarrassing to say the least, but at least Da'd be a bit more sensible.

She'd dressed up as smartly as she could muster - right down to her pretty (and much-treasured) necklace - Larth pestering her about this or that piece of clothing the whole way, because his rider had to look the best at the feast. As far as Larth was concerned, this was to do with significant amounts of shiny jewellery, something which Brynja had just laughed at. She couldn't imagine where the dragon had got that idea from, beyond her own attachment to the necklace.

Larth promised absently, more interested in everything else going on at the least - especially his brothers and sisters. Microth he had kind-of-sort-of got to know already, and she was nice, but he needed to do some more talking. They needed to know him properly - how else could they admire him properly?

K'en felt rather humbled being here at this feast, he and his brother receiving their knots at the door directly from the Weyrleader himself. It was a joyous occasion, but the sad tinge associated with the event kept the new bronzerider in a rather more subdued state of happiness than it might have had events not happened as they had. Last evening's events aside, he was rather glad to find that he and his brother had been assigned the same barrack; it'd made the evening far more bearable having the support of their dragons and each other alike. Sleeping arrangements had been a bit interesting to try to navigate, but all had worked out in the end.

He cast his eyes about the room after they had entered, seeing who had arrived already to the feast.

Several of our brothers are near, Stromath noted, giving a polite nod of acknowledgement to any of his clutchmates' gazes that he met. We should greet them. Tyeth and His were not too far off, after all, and this bronze brother of theirs was far more tolerable than Orthoth was. Good evening, Tyeth. I hope that you and Yours are well.

As Winderick combed over the feast Pectolath spotted his sister and greeted her with a soft, faintly amused croon. Before they could reach the table Pectolath stood and calmly walked over. Winderick glanced over his shoulder curiously and went back to what he was doing. Pectolath tilted his head at Persephone quizzically and turned to his sister. ”Greetings Pyrth! Is Your’s giving you trouble?” he joked lightly.

The green trilled a greeting between a mouth full of fabric towards her brother and tucked her wings close to her body as she releasing her bonded one from her maw. ‘Not at all, Pectolath. She is just being playful. I wish for her to eat and she seems set on keeping her mouth full of words rather than food.’ Pyrth mused airily, with a flick of her tail she found her bonded one’s waist and held her in place as if she were some unruly child.

“Hello there,” merrily called Persephone towards the boy at the feasting tables and wildly waved towards him as if her verbal greeting simply wasn’t enough to get his attention. At times she was nearly as bad as Orthoth when it came to controlling the volume of her voice. “Mind if I join you? My name is Priss! It is really nice to meet you and yours!”

‘She is just very nervous,’ Pyrth trailed off for just a moment as she glanced over at Hers as the girl toddled in her very odd pigeon-toed manner towards the boy named Winderick. In her mind Persephone could hear Pyrth telling her to calm herself and to not act so over the top, for just a brief moment the short haired brunette’s brow wrinkled however she did just as her beloved lifemate instructed. A dainty hand outstretched towards a bit of meat set at the table and lifted it with abandon. ‘Indeed I did see you call out to him, isn’t it funny how they can’t tell that we are theirs when we hatch? She should have known it was me, it was clear as day! Tell me Pectorlath is there anything that myself or mine could do to help you, or yours? Anything at all, we are eager to aid if you need anything. I cannot wait until our little gold sisters arrive, surely they will need me and mine the very most. We have so much to offer them and theirs.’ Pyrth stated in a matter of fact tone, pushing her wings up and outward she stretched her limbs for just a moment before letting them droop and drag at the floor.

“Your name is Winderick? Are you not going to shorten it? I have been thinking that I need to shorten mine, but I am not really sure if I want to. My full name is Persephone. Do you think I should make it shorter?”

”Mine was very surprised when I found him! Many other candidates came forward and I felt sorry for them, even though they were not Mine, but they should have been paying attention.” Pectolath sat down, looking almost as regal as a bronze despite his youth. ”Mine has few friends. We do not need many, that is not our way, but we need at least one who is loyal and reliable. So that is all I ask, that you and Your’s be our dependable friends.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I guess I should…” Winderick frowned. Although he wasn’t particularly attached to his name the idea of changing it put him off. Before he met Pectolath he felt the same way about Impressing. As much as he wanted to be a dragon rider he feared he would lose too much of himself in the bonding. Of course, it hadn’t been that way at all. Instead of losing himself he gained a lifelong friend who understood him on a level he never thought possible. Nothing else had changed, at least not that he was aware. But what if he didn’t know? A worried shadow passed over his face, vanishing only with Pectolath’s reassurance. ”Do not fret, Winderickmine. I like you just as you are.”

He looked at Persephone, brow furrowing as he sounded out her name. “Pers-e-phone. What would that shorten to – P’hone? P’one? I think you should keep it, if you want to. If the weyrling master tells you to make it shorter you could just go by Prissy. That works.”

Analyssa had gone ro the barracks to change into nicer clothing. While Malath patiently waited, she brushed her mahogany hair until it shone and pulled it back into a lovely twist. Going with her Gather best, she wore a dark green skirt to match her lovely's hide and a loose long sleeved shirt the color of cream. Finally, Malath was oiled and fed lightly, Lyssa had a hunch that there would be plenty of food st the feast.

Walking in, she bowed to W'lin and took her knots. Grinning, the teen made her way to the tables. Looking around, she was a little disappointed that her brother wasn't around yet. But her easy smile soon found her moving towards in of the last who had Impressed. "Oh hello! I'm Lyssa and this is Malath. Pleased to meet you. Congratulations on Impressing. What a lovely girl you have-Demanth is her name? "

Hello I am Malath. How nice you look. And how nice ours look together. They should sit. We should sit. And relax a little. It has been a busy day already.