For the first time in a very long time, new life stumbled it's way onto the sands at Draco's Inferno. The weyr itself was emerging from a winter it thought would never end, an impressive thought for a place situated on the very precipice of the snowy wastes. Not so much as a green leaf had been visible for months and months and the sea around the weyr was frozen solid for miles. It seemed as though Draco's Inferno would have been forgotten by the entirety of Pern if it weren't for the draconic lifelines that kept news and goods flowing.

It was with an intense air of relief and joy that weyrfolk and candidates alike made their way to the sands when the first signs went out that the eggs were rocking. Joy and relief from the parents of the clutch, who had long feared that their children may have not survived the intense cold despite their meticulous care, joy and relief from the candidates that finally, finally they would get to meet their bonds, and joy and relief from the weyrfolk who had begun to think that their weyr would never see the wonder of life again on their quiet sands.

The first hatchling was greeted with laughter and cheers so loud that the senior queen had to bellow and glower at them all to pipe down, lest the poor hatchlings be too frightened to emerge. Though the noise appeared to be of no concern for the pale-colored female, who had attention only for her bond. She approached Luna with fearsome intent in her brilliant amber eyes. "Luna, I am Siksen, and yours." she purred, "I will always be by your side." She wrapped her lithe form around Luna's feet and snarled at those who glanced his way.

The next dragon to crack shell was equally as pale as her sister and approached her chosen with a similar focus. The morose green Tithralith had her attention elsewhere, her desire to bond was minimal. "I trust I am not interrupting." came the hatchling's quiet voice. "You may only have eyes for others, but I only have eyes for you." If dragons could blush, Tithralith certainly would be, to find the dragonet's rapt attention focused on her.

After a few moments of relative quiet, a larger egg positively exploded, aiding in the shattering of a few more. From the former came a large male who spread his wings to strike a more impressive pose before grinning a toothy, baby dragon grin. "DORIAN! My chum, my friend, old bean! How's it going? Listen, I've got this idea I've been dying to tell you..."

One of those dragonets so rudely awoken before she was ready was the grumpy looking Delmah. Groggily and grumbly, she approached a similarly sour-pussed black dragon. "You. Let's go." she muttered. Harruarhijeth perked up at her voice in surprise and happiness, but quickly resumed his too-cool-for-you pose. Sure, cool. he said, before casting a last disparaging glance over his shoulder at his fellow bonders. Delmah nodded approvingly.

Sitting to the side, Amikaj had felt largely uninvolved in the hatching. A headache was preventing her from focusing on the flow across the sands. Suddenly the pain was alleviated, causing Amikaj to blink in confusion until she felt a warm touch on her leg. "Is that... better?" came a shy voice. Amikaj smiled and nearly cried. "Yes, it's much better Herungash."

With a full-throated bellow, a rich brown male dragonet burst forth from his shell. Immediately he leapt into a defensive pose, glancing around suspiciously. He slunk quickly toward the cat-formed Mint. "Pssst... psssssst! Mint. You ready? Ready to ROCK?. AWRIGHT!" Mint blinked at the rather loud Drewsgulth, but decided his eagerness was more amusing than annoying and with a meowl of laughter, followed the hatchling toward the meat table.

Another energetic dragonet made her way out of her egg, flapped her damp and sticky wings once or twice as she sized up the candidates, then tripped and stumbled her way to the winged wolf Misa. "Hi there Misa, what took you so long?" "What took me so long? You're the one that took forever to hatch, Tiuflaque." the wolf replied bemusedly. "Oh really? Well... I'm here now!

Inexplicably, on the sands sat a chair. It was an ordinary chair with no special features, yet no one sat in it. A curious dragonet approached it, tilted his head, and then began to gnaw with his sharp baby teeth on a leg. "OW!" the chair cried, and out of it came the infamous Loki, clutching his ankle. "What in the world did you do that for?" "I'm sorry Loki, I knew you were there but I was just confused how." the dragonet lowered his head in apology. "It's ok Golhurrith, I can be confusing at times." Loki grinned at his bond and Golhurrith lit up.

Everyone started when a squeal came from inside one of the eggs. It became louder and louder as the dragonet kicked her way free from her egg. She squealed all the way across the sands to Acey, where she took her bond's hands in her forepaws and bounced up and down, still squealing. Acey echoed the squealing all the way to the meat table.

One egg had been furiously rocking since the beginning of the hatching, and only now did it manage to crack open. Out spilled a small, boldly marked female who hopped immediately to her feet and practically ran to Gwira. "I'm so sorry! I've been trying forever to get out of there!" Gwira hastened to soothe the distressed Ofilisha as the two exited the sands. "You know Ofilisha, I'm going to have to work out a pattern just like yours, it is magnificent."

Only a few eggs remained on the sands now. Vestia stood anxiously, fretting that she wouldn't be chosen. The last few eggs were still, not a single shiver. Those in the stands exhaled as one when an egg finally trembled and split perfectly in two, revealing yet another dainty white. The little female stood and shook clinging egg from her hide, meticulously picking shell off. Once she was perfectly spotless she approached Vestia and bowed. "I am Afarquan, and pleased to meet you Vestia." she said primly. Vestia laughed and shook the offered forepaw before gathering Afarquan into an embrace.

Four little eggs left and just a few candidates. One had remained possessively within Meroclaisen's claws, and it now shook and shattered, and out clambered what could be a near copy of the clutch mother herself (but with a nice compliment from Thumoth. He peered up at his mother blinkingly, then snuggled closer to her chest. It was clear that this little dragonet was not to be separated from his mommy.

A small male had hatched with little to do, and approached the rabbit-anthro Eve, clearly curious about her strange form.

Anerila stood uncertainly, scarcely daring to hope that she might find the love of a family again. So lost in her thoughts was she that she didn't notice the dark male approaching her. "Anerila? It's ok... I'm here now." he said quietly. The girl blinked slowly at the brown male, shakily placing her hand on his forehead. "Numldroth?" she murmured uncertainly before stooping and wrapping her arms around him.

At last, the final egg hatched. Another dark-hued make shambled across the sands and peered sleepily up at Tirala. "I wanna go back to sleep..." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes in a human-like way. Tirala smiled and collected her new bond. "We'll get you something to eat first, and then you can go back to sleep Vdrimilth."