Thus the third... -- Lost Souls

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Date Posted: 14:52:32 05/13/04 Thu
Author: Grasscat
Subject: Thus the third...
In reply to: Grasscat 's message, "Commeth the second..." on 14:50:46 05/13/04 Thu

((I like my chars to have a past...))

�What a beautiful day for a Hatching�� Tirali said from the doorway. Rinali turned, one hand still on the windowsill, from where she had been gazing out into the eggshell-blue sky dreamily. At 15 years old, the girl was fine-boned, almost delicate, but with a strong will and cascade of black hair. She smiled at her mother, running to hug her.
�So there will be a Hatching today?� She asked, her wide mouth breaking into a smile.
The Weyrwoman nodded. �Your first as a Candidate, my daughter.� She told Rinali, returning the hug.
�And hopefully my last!� The girl grinned with her own infectious charm.
Tirali smothered a sigh. She had been trying ever since Rinali came back from fostering to convince her impetuous daughter that not everyone Impressed at their first Hatching. But the girl was dead set on becoming a dragonrider, with a mother and father who were Weyrwoman and Weyrleader of her home Weyr. �You might not be so lucky, �Nali.� She gave a half-hearted attempt at dampening her daughter�s hopes, and, as usual, the girl paid no attention.
�I know, mother.� She said, smiling. �But I can hope, and I can assume, and so I hope and assume that I will Impress.�
�Older girls with dragonrider blood than you have failed to Impress��
�I know. And if I don�t make it, then I�ll go to Hatchings till I�m fifty.�
Tirali giggled, dropping her usual calm for her daughter as she looked into the intense hazel eyes. �You do that. And remember, when the humming begins��
��Drop everything to change into the robe and run to the grounds.� Rinali finished her mother. �I know.�
The Weyrwoman shook her head, and kissed the girl on the cheek. �Good luck, dearling. I have to go back to Srath now. She�s getting restless with all the people.� And with that, Weyrwoman Tirali left her daughter�s bedroom to go to her queen.
�I�ll see you after Impression, mother��

It wasn�t until the early afternoon that the hatching began. The humming of the dragons began to throb deep in the ground, and Rinali ran to her room full pelt, followed by the shouts of the kitchen drudges: �Go on, Rinali!� �Impress, you�ve got it in you!�
She waved back at them, and was clothed and at the Hatching Ground within five minutes. The stands were already filling, the humming accompanied by the excited chatter of hundreds of people, all gathered to watch their friends, relatives or Hold members take their chances on the Sands.
Placing herself at the head of the group of girls, Rinali led them to form a ring around the great queen egg, evenly spaced around the enormous shell. It wasn�t quite as big this Clutch, but there hadn�t been a queen egg three Clutches in a row, so that made it all the more important. The heat of the sands didn�t bother Rinali, so intent was she on the eggs around her. Her eyes wandered, taking in the green-swirled shells of the smaller eggs, but always returning to the gold one. Green or gold. The two colours for which she was eligible, and the two that she was waiting for.
The humming stopped.
The Hatching began.
The first to Hatch was a bronze, and he went straight to his rider. Two blues and a green followed, the green making for the circle, to break it up and choose a girl. Browns were next, breaking shell to run towards their chosen ones, and they were followed by still more of their siblings. But Rinali had only eyes for the golden shell in front of her. She felt a green brush past on the way to Sonna, her best friend in the Weyr, and smiled, but her intent gaze was still fixed on the queen egg.
Dread began to seep through her, and she realised that she was one of only five Candidates left standing, the others having impressed. There had been far less Candidates than there should have been, the Search not having found that many good boys and girls. There was one bronze egg, and the gold egg still to hatch, and the two genders began to cluster around them, hoping against hope�
A crack ran down the length of the golden shell, breaking it, and in a huge movement a pair of golden wings and a head burst through it, wet and shining from natural lustre and egg yolk. The head turned, searching frantically for the one it wanted, and almost immediately fixing its eyes on Rinali.
Rinali! The contralto voice, like a trumpet-call in Rinali�s mind. I am Lilith! And the golden hatchling ran to the girl, letting her new Weyrwoman wrap her arms around the satin-soft neck.
Tears ran down Rinali�s cheeks as she buried her face in her dragon�s shoulder, murmuring compliments about the queen in a low voice.
The same happy tears coursed down the cheeks of Tirali, as she embraced her Weyrmate and her dragon at the same time. She took a bucket of meat scraps to the girl, and Rinali gave her dragon her first mouthful of food.
�What�s her name, Junior Weyrwoman Rinali?� Her father beamed at her.
Rinali smiled through her tears, and Lilith pressed close as she announced, her voice clear and ringing through the stands. �Her name is Lilith!�

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