Aaryea, female, having turned 20 in the meantime, what has gone before?

Aaryea, Tzeado and Joser have arrived at Enzan Shi. Tz'o and J'ser bonded (bronze and brown) but Aaryea and the other 4 gold-candidates were all snubbed by the single gold hatchling of the clutch. This has left Aaryea somewhat depressed and worried. Tz'o and J'ser are doing everything they can to help her through this time.

Everything... Including finding a little flitter to keep Aaryea occupied. Read on, to see what that's all about.

The hatching was announced and Aaryea was shuffled with the other girls into the sands. They all noticed it immediately, but Aaryea commented: "look at all the other people on the sands..."

"What is up with that?" Asked another of them, "why so many?"

Well their questions were shortly answered. After Tzeado became Bronze Rider Tz'o, a big egg shattered to show off not one but two green hatchlings inside! Several of the eggs during the hatching had twins - and not all of them chose to bond.

It was when the gold, the beautiful lustrous gold hatchling came from her shell, that Aaryea's world came apart at the seams. The gold opened her shell, and the group of girls unconsciously all stepped foward. There were too many faces, too many grasping hands... The little dragoness gave a shriek and pushed her way through them, to huddle below her mother's protective glare.

The bronze queen snarled, and announced loudly that her daughter would not be bonding anyone.

"no one?" was the oft-repeated question on their lips. How was this possible? Aaryea saw through tearing eyes that there were men and women to help the group off the sands. But - there were unbonded dragons! Wouldn't they die if they weren't bonded?

Eventually they were explained that in this day and age - and at this place which was not the old world - dragonets didn't up and die if they did not find their appropriate bond. They would wait, or even just live their lives without a bond.

The thought was devastating. Aaryea could hardly stand, and she barely saw where they were led, back to the normal barracks - not the candidate rooms. That in itself caused an outburst from several of the girls.

Somehow, Aaryea slept. There was a celebration going on down in the feast hall, for the new bonds. She had dreams of falling, being crushed, suffocating...

She woke with a start, to see Tzeado - Tz'o - standing near her bed. "Are you all right, Aaryea?" He asked.

"Such the gentleman," she muttered, wiping the sleep from her eyes and noting that her tears had left her eyes all puffy and red.

"We wanted you to stay," he said, tossing his head back at J'ser. "We've spoken to the rurachi and she said it was all right, you can stand again if you wish, and there is a clutch on the sands, too."

"I don't know if I want to put myself through this again," Aaryea said, her hand trembling as she reached for her comb. "But thank you for the thought."

"You're going to stay, aren't you?" It was J'ser's quiet request that stung her. Maybe she should.

***

As their dragons grew in size and maturity, J'ser and Tz'o both had Aaryea working with their dragons. At first she was a bit put off by the smell of hatchling muck - but then realized that the men didn't even notice it, it was their dragon shitting so therefore it was obviously the best smelling stuff in the world. So she had her fill of it, helping shovel it, and helping to cut up meat with the other candidates who hadn't impressed. Some of the others who hadn't bonded remained, some moved on.

J'ser and Tz'o waited until a nice spring day - her birthday - to give her something they'd found. A basket with an egg inside, tiny but warm.

"Oh - this is a surprise!" Aaryea said. As she cradled the egg, it trembled and broke open.

"What color is it?" Asked J'ser.

"... Looks like... a warm brown, taupe, it's a girl myph!" Aaryea said with tears in her eyes. "She's lovely!"

"What are you going to call her?" Asked Tz'o. His two brown flitters looked nervous around the feathered creature but they warmed up soon enough.

"Sandy," she said, "because she knows I'll be on the sands again some day."

***

Aaryea watched the pair of dragons grow up. There was always something to do - except that Aaryea could only handle sitting on the sidelines for so long, and then she had to leave their sight. Some times for days, once almost a full week went by while Aaryea slunk around the corridors of the place with little Sandy on her shoulder.

It took until well after the brown and bronze boys were fully adult for there to be a proper clutch again. There were several now, in fact, after a couple truly amazing flights. And Aaryea looked at the beautiful dragons - gold, gold blue... silver and gold... So many colors that her old world heart almost broke. They were all lovely. Exotic.

The eggs were finally shaking after what felt like the longest wait ever. Tz'o and J'ser and their dragons had remained on at the Deragonry waiting. Just in case, perhaps? Aaryea thought perhaps they wondered that if a dragon hadn't chosen her by now, there might not be one? Her heart sank again but Sandy chirped at her and cheered her up.

"That's right, Sandy, with so many eggs, how can I go wrong?" She said, and rushed down to the sands when the call went out urgently. The eggs were cracking, and two of the clutches were coming at once!

The superb males that flew with one of the golds, the two-toned one, all clung around the nest. They didn't all look like they really wanted to remain this long, but their precious mate wanted to string the bonders along as much as she could. She had never told which of the bunch was her actual mate.

But when the first of the eggs hatched, one of the dragonets seemed to tell off one of the males - and Aaryea wondered just what was going on. He left, leaving a couple of them, which of them was the sire?

Sandy flew up to where the other flitters and such were resting, back a ways, where they could all chatter and talk among themselves if they were able. Aaryea's shoulder felt more bare than ever, while she watched the other dragonets choose their bonds. So many at once! Almost all the eggs had hatched really before anyone got there. The queens decided to hold the hatchlings back, an attempt to make them patient and organized.

Even Aaryea saw the futility of that, when the first bunch were allowed to run off. It was hard watching so many bondings before Aaryea noticed something wonderful. In the back of her mind, something more solid than Sandy's little eager feed-me and love-you emotions. Something deep.

Something gold, with shining black wings. Who came to her, silently on the sands, but with a pleasant hum of mental activity. This was no indecisive or shy daughter of a half-gold. This ... was Kaairth's daughter.

There were differently gold dragons out there. This one was awesome. And was her own. My name is Etiuruth. I am glad that there were no others worthy of me, I would have had to deny them. Only you - you are mine.

Aaryea threw her arms around the gold's neck, knowing that she wouldn't be hurt. This was a large female, and her wing sails were a beautiful obsidian shine! She announced the name to the recordskeeper, and then went off to the hatchling's gathering, where for the first time she fed her own dragon.

The time started to fly by now that Aaryea had finally impressed. Etiururth was as polite as she was regal, and Aaryea enjoyed the looks on people whenever they would parade past. It was as though she'd been reborn. All her past moments were nothing, everything was here and now.

That is not true, bespoke Etiuruth, because your past led you to me. That means it must be important.

Smiling, Aaryea and her growing dragonet headed to the flight parade area. There, they would learn more about flight process, the gear needed, and they would eventually fly. Having grown up in a place that was as vertically intimidating as a weyr only 'deeper' down, Aaryea had little fear of heights. The stocky gold-obsidian by her side was trying her best to emulate that feeling.

"Don't you want to soar like your mother?" Asked Aaryea.

I do - just ... not today. Today I think I need to practice flapping a bit more. I am bigger than those others, you know.

Aaryea nodded. While it was true that Etiuruth was bigger, she wasn't going to be a huge queen. Overhead, Aaryea looked at the flight of sweep riders - Tz'o and J'ser's dragons among them - and considered that Tz'o's bronze would probably be bigger than her two-toned gold.

In the cool of the morning, when most of the dragonry was still groggy from a long night's party or eating too much, Aaryea, J'ser and Tz'o signed out on the roster of exiting dragon pairs.

"It's been really good here," Tz'o said. "I've learned so much, and I hope to pass those skills along to others." He recieved a handshake and a salute from one of the esling trainers for that, and his bronze gave a trumpet.

"It is time for us to head home now," said J'ser. "Got everything?"

Aaryea nodded. Sandy was busy flitting around Etiuruth's nose - barely bigger than the dragon's head entirely. So with their posessions, pets, and dragon gear all assembled, the trio began to head home to Alskyr. It was such an adventure - Aaryea had kept an on-again-off-again journal about her time here.

She was planning on making it into a book, if she could. J'ser encouraged her to do it, and Tz'o kept asking if he was in it. A lot.

Do you think we should tell them that I am going to rise when we get to this Caledrus place of yours? We have spoken about it before.

Let's keep that a secret, and do try and behave yourself until then. I want to see what others have done for themselves too, you know. There may be other males you are interested in, not just those two.

I do not know, Etiuruth said with a glance at the bronze Xakyth. Aaryea could feel the stirrings of her gold's emotions already. He is pretty good for a male...

Don't start! Aaryea pleaded with her gold, and finally they swept between to the coldness of the nexus.

***

Caledrus on Alskyr was little different than it had been on the old world. Only now, the sun rose on the other side of it. That was all. Since it had been in a fissure and set within the stone of a hillside, few people ever really noticed when the sun came up in the 'west'.

That sun was rising now, in its true easterly way, and the trio of riders came down to the landing flats in triumph. Everyone cheered when they saw Joser was now J'ser, and most of the girls came to see Aaryea and her lovely exotic queen.

They really seem to like me, the gold-obsidian said. I could get to like this!