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You're walking through the halls, when you come upon a doorway.

The door, made of a dark wood, is flung wide open to let sunlight and air inside. You enter, and come face to face with a young girl of about seventeen. She eyes you, dark blue eyes intense and a little angry, until she seems to decide you're okay. Hands on her hips, she stands back, and says, "Greetings. So you're the one we've been told about, the 'Journeyman Journalist'? Well, I suppose you could take a look around my cathair. I'll even let you take a look at my journal, if you like. I keep it pretty up to date..my name is Tessar."
"Pleased to meet you, Tessar," you say, extending your hand. Tessar stares at it for a second, like it's some foreign object, then laughs, all the stiffness gone from her eyes, and shakes your hand. You glance around her cathair with an air of appraisal, and start with her-
You write down a description; short for her age, boyishly short tufty wheat hair, intense dark blue eyes, almost indigo in color, dark leather no-sleeved tunic, dagger attached to knife belt, soft tan leather leggings, soft brown leather ankle-boots.
Tessar escapes your eyes, skipping across the floor to her eating area. You follow her, and she serves you some a hot drink and some hot, fresh bread. Fruit sits in a nicely made blue bowl atop a short cherrywood table, where you sit to eat. After you finish, Tessar leads you to her room. A small bed in a corner is covered with thick sleeping furs, a closet with scant choice of dresses, but many leggings, boots, and tunics of the same type she wears now, and a few brightly colored cloaks, and a dresser stacked with bottles and jars labled as numbing salve and oil. A bag of aromatic scrubbing salt sits on a table next to her bath. A few lanterns, giving off a sweet smell, are placed around the cathair. Also in her room is a small carven desk, laden with Records, her journal, and a few pieces of hide and a bottle of ink. You open to middle of the journal. It reads-

Iraith's eyes swirled an angry red as one of the blue males at Dark Moon got, in her opinion, too close to where she was. She snarled loudly, and it was obvious to everyone at Dark Moon that the green was rising. However, she was one of those few greens that hadn't chewed birthberries, and therefore there had been more males signing up for her chase than most. It was well known, though, that Tessar, Iraith's rider, and T'lekk, the bronze Riamoth's rider, had cathairmated quite a while ago. Iraith was just as taken with Riamoth as Tessar was with T'lekk.

With a cry, Iraith landed on a young buck that she fancied, and lowered her head down to rip off the tender meat. Tessar came flying out of the Cathairhall, screaming, "BLOOD! BLOOD, IRAITH!" Her incessant commands eventually won over Iraith's need to eat, and she obediantly lowered her head and sucked the carcass dry of blood.

The process was repeated four times, and each time Tessar proved her worth by easily defeating Iraith in the mental struggle. After that she began to glow- Tessar could see that her dragon was going to rise, and now.

With a bloody roar, Iraith sprang into the air, followed quickly by the jostling males. She looked back over her shoulder and saw Riamoth- the only one whom she cared for, and definately the only one that was worthy of her. All of the others might as well of stayed on the ground and saved their energy, in the green's opinion.

Riamoth was in the back of the pack, and Iraith smugly dropped below her competators to slide back towards him. Suddenly, out of nowhere a pair of blue talons grabbed her shoulders. She spun around in a full circle, bulleting away from Raimith's grasp. Hissing her defiance, Iraith bugled in her superiority.

She tried a differant tactic this time- going above the competators and dropping back whenever she reached Riamoth. Brown Eniath had foreseen Iraith's idea, and had shot up into the clouds. Bugling again, this time in anger and annoyance, Iraith shot back down towards the main group of competators.

The green noticed with glee that Eniath and Raimith had dropped out, leaving three worthless competators and Riamoth. Iraith felt herself tiring slightly, but knew that if she could only hold out long enough then Riamoth would be the only one left. He could outlast all of the others, she knew.

She flew straight and true, like an arrow, wasting no energy on acrobatics whenever she could help it. Blue Birith and Yikmath both grew tired and dropped slowly back to the ground, leaving only the bronze Riamoth and the brown Lukinath.

Iraith watched as Lukinath began to gain ground on Riamoth, and watched him out of the corner of her faceted eyes. He dropped in closer to her, and with fear she noted that Riamoth was no where to be seen... Had the mighty bronze dropped out?

Suddenly the green felt a pair of strong talons grasping her shoulders, and twisted around to face Riamoth. She crooned softly as his tail entwined with hers, while the remaining competator dropped back down to the ground.



And now, T'lekk's side of the story.

T'lekk heard Tessar's fierce cries, both bewildered and determined, and rushed out to join the brown and blue riders, who thronged around the petite young lady. "BLOOD ONLY, Iraith!" Tessar's admonishments and fierce mental strength easily won over her emerald beauty, and soon Iraith had finished her meal. She vaulted into the air, shimmering, and the males below her followed. In vain, so far as she was concerned. Riamoth was the last up, but quickly overtook the other suitors, remaining in back. T'lekk, with a joyous shiver of his heart, noticed that Iraith had eyes only for Riamoth--unheard of, as most females in Chase had only hostility toward the pursuing males. Iraith dropped back several times, but each time a blue or a brown intercepted her. She hissed in rage, and shot up higher. Three males had already dropped out. One more joined them. Soon, there was only a brown and her beloved bronze, Riamoth. She hesitated, her wings tiring, and strained to go higher..suddenly, she felt claws settle firmly, but gently, around her shoulders. Angrily, she turned--and was face to face with Riamoth's whirling purple eyes. Her eyes soon turned the same shade, and as Riamoth crooned in loving sincerity, she gave herself up to his larger form, completely. Below, T'lekk kissed Tessar gently, and then, with a strong urgency, he lifted her into his arms and ran into the room especially for them, as their dragons spiraled downward to the ground.



Birdsong awakened T'lekk, and he shifted under the tangled furs, realizing that his arms were around the slim Tessar, and hers wound tightly around his neck. Her body was shivering slightly, and, careful not to wake Tessar, T'lekk moved the furs over her. He smiled fondly at her, and kissed her pale cheek. The results of the past day's event replayed in his mind. Riamoth's sleepy, smug voice entered as well.
~I knew I'd catch her~
-Well, since you're a bronze, I'd hardly expect anyone else to be able to outlast you!- T'lekk replied.
~Well..I wasn't sure if you'd be able to catch your mate. You are rather shy, compared to me~
-Oh, shut up- T'lekk grinned mentally.
Tessar's eyelids fluttered open, and she smiled drowsily at T'lekk.
"Good morning, love," she murmured.
"A very good morning," sighed T'lekk. Outside, the two newly-paired dragons bugled.


A Hatching...


Iraith was actually at the Feeding Grounds whenever her clutch began to hatch; Zyranth and Aein were the only two creatures on the sands. It was Zyranth who noticed the eggs beginning to rock first.

~Aein... Look at that egg over there~, The retired Senior Queen said, turning one huge faceted eye towards the pile of eggs. ~It rocked!~

Aein, too, turned to look at the eggs on the other side of the large cavern. "I think that youre right!" She gasped as one of the smaller eggs in the bunch gave another shudder. "They are!"

Her cry and Zyranth's bugle both sounded at the exact same time. Within a few seconds, Iraith had swooped into the sands, folding back her wings and hovering over the eggs, light green head swaying back and forth.

~Get away from them, green!~ Came Zyranths mental cry as Iraith growled at one of the Candidates. ~Let the Candidates by!~

Iraith backed away more calmly than most mothers, and allowed the twelve Candidates to make a semi-circle around the dozen mottled eggs.

The first egg, one of the smallest in the group, split open and a tiny, light-blue dragonet was spilled on the Hatching Sands. He looked up with blue-green eyes at the male Candidates, and a few of the nearer ones held their breath.

Suddenly, with a cry his eyes picked up a tinge of red, obviously not seeing the Candidate whom he wanted amongst them. Everyone looking froze. Had they been wrong to only have twelve Candidates for twelve dragons? Would they witness the first ever dragonet gone between on Dark Moon's sands?

No, they would not. With another cry, this time soul-wrenching, he turned to the females, and to Cethitca. "Oh, Zoarth!" She cried out, and ran to embrace the tiny blue. "Oh, am I ever glad that you saw me!"

Eyes of the crowd turned back to the remaining eggs, but to everyones surprise, there were no longer eleven eggs, but ten. And there were no longer eleven Candidates standing in the semi-circle, but ten as well.

Kalam's arms were wrapped around his average-sized brown Sheminth's neck, and the dragonets pitiful creel turned quickly into one of hunger as he butted his chosen Candidate with his head.

As the pair was led off of the sands, three eggs burst out simultaneously. Two greens and a blue were left standing among the shards of eggshell, one of the greens with two strange lighter bands on her right forearm. The blue was small and dark in color, while the other green was average-shaded and large.

Although the dark blue was the one who picked himself up from the sands and began to walk over to the male Candidates first, the two greens scampered over quickly to the female Candidates, and beat him to Imprinting.

~I am Zayinth, Jadis!~ The green with the banded arm declared happily as swirling blue-green eyes locked with the Candidates. ~I love you a lot, too! Whoever left you doesn't deserve you... But you are mine and I am yours! We will be together always!~

It was then that the second green began to waver. Previously she had been heading directly to Nerloi, but stopped midway. A female Candidate standing miserably behind the rest of them caught her eye, and she slowly headed towards the females, seeming strangely shy and unsure for a green. ~Etala?~ The large green asked, looking up at the Candidate unsurely. ~I am Brenth. Do you not want me? Do you not think that youre good enough for me? You are!~

Etala, who was remembering all too clearly remaining standing last time, looked down at the little green, now with tears in her eyes. "Brenth, I was afraid that you wouldnt like me!"

The tiny blue then made his choice, darting quickly to Panitatil with the agility of a green. He tripped on a piece of eggshell, and another of the males darted forewords to try and help him up. The blue hissed, swiping out with one claw at him before picking himself up and heading once again to Panitatil.

"His name is Cianth!" Panitatil announced proudly, and led his blue off of the sands as though he had Imprinted a bronze.

Another blue hatched from a medium sized white-gray egg, and the smallest egg in the bunch exploded into tiny shards, leaving a tiny, dripping, dark green dragonet. She seemed strangely possessive of her right to Imprint before the blue, and hissed at him whenever he tried to Imprint before her. The blue backed away, appearing slightly fearful, and the green, proud and vain, strutted over to Nerloi, who was chuckling slightly.

~Do you think that is funny?~ She asked Nerloi in a slightly angry voice. I am Jahazath, and I think that it was rude of that blue to try and Imprint before me! Youre much more important to me than whomever he Imprints!~

"Youre the most important to me too, Jahazath!" Nerloi exclaimed happily, and led the green dragonet off of the sands.

The blue, obviously confused from his sister's strange actions, sat down amongst the eggshells, and didn't get up until another average-shaded, average-sized blue emerged from his egg. The latter of the two nudged his brother slightly, and together the two went to the two Candidates standing on the end of the broken semi-circle.

"Zybath!" Geoffil exclaimed happily, as the first of the two blues to hatch locked eyes with him.

"Myrth!" Ghiban echoed Geoffil's cry of the other lad's dragonet's name with the name of his own. The two nearly-identical blues were then led off of the Hatching Sands to the Cathairhall by their riders.

The four last eggs were some of the largest in the group. The biggest let out a large shudder, and with a loud crack, a deep klah-colored brown nose broke through the eggshell. With another snap, the entire dragonet was revealed, very large for a greens clutch. He strode confidently past Lamanir to Bahnemos, who locked eyes with his brown Tymaziths.

The new brownrider chuckled as his dragon said something, then muttered lowly, "No, this doesnt suck, Tymazith."

During everyones entrancement of the large brown, the last three eggs split open. The two greens were large in comparison to the rest of the greens in the clutch, but varied sharply in color. One was a light minty green, while the other was a dark pine colored green. The minty green tottered on ungainly legs to Deliah. ~I am Kysaith!~ She said happily. ~And can we go eat?~

"Of course." Deliah led her green dragonet off of the golden-brown sands, assisting the large green so that she didnt fall.

Elevias eyes locked with the remaining, darker-colored green's eyes. "Emalith," She sighed softly. "Youre much better than that blue that Ehishanya Imprinted. I promise."

The last blue, the largest in the clutch and average in color, didnt hesitate as he charged past the stands to Lamanir, butting his head and tilting his head as he questioned his rider. "What do you mean, can blues catch whites?" He asked quietly, chuckling. "Of course they can, Rysendith!"

With that, the last Candidate and dragon left the Sands. The spectators filed out, and Iraith seemed anxious to get out of the Hatching Sands. "Come on, let's go," Tessar said to her green, and the dragonpair left the sands, leaving Aein, Zyranth, and the gold's rapidly-hardening eggs on the Sands. Even though this hatching was over, there would soon be another at Dark Moon Weyr!