The Hatching was going to be tomorrow, she could feel it. There was a certain tension in the air, a sense that some of the eggs were already ready, drawing in on themselves to gather energy for the last fight before their life truly began. Gwillanth would be up all night, meditating over the eggs and “holding” them til morning if they were all ready early... And Shayled would stay up with her, as was tradition.
There was very little that was traditional about it this time, so Shayled clung tightly to this little thing. She sat on a little stool near the center of the scattered eggs, the wind outside making the tent flap a little. The night yawned widely right outside those thin sheets of cloth, the stars were bright and close; Shayled wondered if any clutch had ever felt so vulnerable and exposed -- had every clutch since Faranth’s been laid under the strength of stone?
She spoke. “Each of you... is our future.” She stopped, thinking through her words, taking her time. Shayled had all night.
“Most turns I feel like this final vigil, saying something to you eggs -- it’s just empty, more for me to feel a sense of finality than to really say something. Every turn I’d say the same thing... how you are our hopes for the future, the flames that will shelter Pern, the minds that will push us forward. I imagined... if I was an old woman when the Pass ended... I could sneak in to the last clutch and tell them all how lucky they were.
“But, oh Sky, you are lucky. Shit, there’s not been a clutch in memory or in the records who have been through the scoring you received and -- lived. For all you’ve been through, alive! I can barely put the thought to words, I am so infinitely relieved it almost feels like grief. You, my little ones, you are truly the Weyr’s children. I say that every turn, but after this -- you, each of you, is the triumph in disaster, the will of life to continue, the tenacity of Dunespike to pull through despite all odds. When you hatch, it will be proof that we will all get through this, that life will go on.
“Even if Issrodeth can’t Fly this turn, if the weyrling wings are lean for the next few turns, if we must make bad deals with the other Weyrs to keep ourselves up, even if we survive with trauma too deep even for the mindhealers to fix... we’ve survived. You’ve survived. Not all... but most, enough, an ember that the Weyr will kindle. Every last one of you will be loved and honored beyond all other hatchlings, I assure you, no matter if the dents and cracks in your shells have made you lame.”
Shayled smoothed each wriggling egg as Gwillanth would want to, their minds curling about each other’s. ”You are our hopes and dreams, young ones. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever let the world weigh down your wings, remember how you soared above the worst disasters when you were just an egg. Have hope. Have hope...”
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The Virtues series is the last chance for your dragonet to reflect on themself as an unbonded individual, and the last chance to sort out what they would like in a bond. When Hatching and Impression come, what went before will fade into dream. What does the virtue on display mean to your dragonet? How important is it in their choice of rider? Is this lesson one that will stick with them, or does it seem of no consequence?