Note: Yuzuki is "Standing" in this story, but he will bond "later" at the Fauna Frenzy instead. Those whom are meant to actually bond first... are his younger siblings!
Kotone and Kiyoshi had been living at Sedona with their mother the other transferred riders for some time now. At the age of thirteen, they could hardly remember living anywhere else. Their extensive and extended family was a confusing mix of crafters and dragon riders. The riders came and went today, in a frenzy of hellos and good-byes that could leave an unaccustomed bystander rather dizzy. The crafters and the children were left to their own devices while the riders ferried visitors back and forth from other Weyrs and even Darkling Dawn all day. There was a good reason for this: eggs on the Sands were almost ready to hatch!
Fhariji's family, crafters, were still living at Darkling Dawn, but still tried to travel back and forth between the two agencies to visit friends and family. Today was a big event and this large group of people packed the stands to see Yuzuki, Otsuko's eldest son, try to bond a dragon! It was the perfect excuse for the friends and families to mingle.
Shimaji and Jamizi, Fhariji's younger twin siblings, had been studying in earnest their metalworking back home and had much to share today. Both Kotone and Kiyoshi were interested in woodworking, though their training (especially Kotone's singing) would likely leave them studying at the music hall, instead of in closer proximity to Fhariji's family. So seeing the riders and the crafters was a rare treat. The four children were quick to disappeared together to share what they had learned most recently.
The child whose presence was markedly missing was the kitsunes' youngest triplet, Katsuro, whom had been relegated to the seating above the sands. He was not allowed to wander around; Otsuko did not want to find him bonding at such a young age. Though like his elder triplet siblings Kotone and Kiyoshi he was already thirteen, his interest in dragon-riding made her worry for him more than the others, whose preferences were not to bond just yet. He sat by Otsuko's, literally at her hip, with V'ben and Fhariji, Magjhizu and also Banifuel, V'ben's sister. The company was not so bad, far from it, but as the wax in the candle slid away, so did his short-lived and youthful patience.
- - -
Finally the riders had returned to Sedona; their dragons were tiring and others had continued on to the festivities without them. Z'sig and N'ne were quick to excuse themselves to find the quartet of troublemakers.
Z'sig and N'ne, still apprentices when they had bonded, were expected to "volunteer" to babysit the quartet of troublemakers. An ulterior motive also existed: life without his craft left Z'sig itching to learn what the kids had learned. In return, they offered to show off their weapon skills, which was, at least initially, met with enthusiasm. However, while time passed and the pair set up targets and a ring, boredom set in. Shimaji and Jamizi disappeared down the halls with Kotone and Kiyoshi, to show off everything they had learned so far.
Their absence was finally realized when everything had been set up, and the elder siblings, riders already tired out from ferrying hatching guests around, were left to try to find them with understandable hesitation and verbal complaint.
- - -
Standing officially in his stark-white robe, the eldest young kitsune in Otsuko's brood was simply happy to be alone, finally, with the chance to be free of his restrictive family. He was independent, quiet and wandering by nature, and brooded much, even here on the Stands. His hope beyond all else was that by bonding to a dragon, he would finally be free of those responsibilities to his siblings.
Suddenly, Yuzuki was struck from behind by a pack of wild anim- er, younger siblings. Shimaji and Kotone, Jamizi and Kiyoshi grinned up at the elder boy and danced around him. While he tried to shoo them away, Z'sig finally caught sight of them from beneath the stands and ran down the hall to grab them. Before he could complete his sprint through the corridor to the Sands, a hush fell over the crowd and dragons everywhere –including his fatigued green Halamath- began to hum. Idly, he wondered with tired amusement the possibility of bondng to a second dragon after being bound to one for these handful of years. But this thought was cast aside as he found the silly group of children gathered around their white-robed friend, or brother.
"Listen guys, only white robes are allowed. If you aren't wearing one, get moving!" Of course by now, the four children had frozen in place, captivated by the sight. "At the very least," he added with a sigh, "let's move off to the side. We can watch from there without getting in the way!"
- - -
Meanwhile, N'ne reached his brother V'ben in the stands and nervously asked (by yelling in his ear) if any of them had seen the kids. White-knuckled, Otsuko was leaning over the railing, wailing at two of her youngest children. He could barely hear her above all the noise. Beside her, Katsuro squirmed in dismay, held fast by his mother. She absolutely not allow her most reckless son to bond today! She'd shoo away any dragon that tried to prove otherwise!
Peering over the edge, N'ne finally beheld the sight of Z'sig wrestling with one squirming child under his arm (Jamizi refusing to obey his brother, apparently), and gesturing to the other three kids surrounding Yuzuki.
- - -
Yuzuki watched Z'sig usher the shifter girl, her twin brother, and Yuzuki's younger siblings, away from the throng of official candidates. It wouldn't do for them to be trampled, he thought with a pang of worry. But it wouldn't do if any of them bonded today, either.
Over their heads, he could hear a clamor. N'ne knew he should go down to help, but decided instead to see the results of the hatching (non-interference for self-preservation reasons). Katsuro managed to raise a fuss from the stands even louder than his squealing mother, tugging on Otsuko's robe and generally complaining that his siblings would get to Stand and he would not.
It was going to be a long hatching.
Shimaji | Jamizi || Fhariji | Z'sig
Yuzuki | Kotone | Katsuro | Kiyoshi || Otsuko
V'ben | N'ne
Sedona Weyr | clutch