Hungry, Hungry Hatchlings

Writers: Avery, Curious, Devin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 8th March 2024

Characters: R'lor, Reyela, L'saz, I'rad
Description: R'lor helps the new weyrlings feed their dragons after the chaotic events of the Hatching.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 17 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: R'ayl
Follows "Bad Meat!"
sorry not sorry about the title.

R'lor

The Weyrlingmaster had rushed off to deal with yet another crisis,
leaving R'lor with the confused and frightened weyrlings. He tried not
to think about Furayl and his little blue, about what had almost
happened. After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he turned to
where the weyrlingstaff was butchering freshly-killed herdbeasts as
fast as they could.

A few of the younger 'staff were tossing the smaller bits of meat into
clean pails. "Only a few pieces each for now. We have to make sure
every hatchling gets something in their stomach as soon as possible."
The last thing they needed was a dragon dying of hunger.

R'lor turned to the weyrlings. "Those who Impressed earliest, up to the front."

Reyela looked around, then stepped forward, her new dragon tottering
close. Her stomach was cramping with hunger that wasn't her own, but
the scared look on some of the others' faces prompted her forward.
Brandith's eyes were fixed on the herdbeast and a bit of drool was
beginning to collect at the corners of her mouth.

R'lor directed the assistants to pass their buckets to Reyela and the
other weyrlings at the front. "I'm sorry, it won't satisfy your
lifemates. You must calm them, assure them more food is coming. Don't
let them eat too fast or they could choke."

Larsaz - L'saz - felt like his head was spinning. This wasn't... This
hadn't been the plan. Yet here he was. And here Faelath was. And he
couldn't fault her for anything, but this... Wasn't... The plan.

L'saz crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at his feet. As
he did, the little green beside him pawed at his pant leg and asked,
}:Why can't I eat yet?:{

"Because it isn't our turn," he murmured.

Faelath huffed. }:What a load of hooey.:{

The 'staff members rushed back to get meat into more pails. R'lor
scanned the hatchlings who had yet to eat, looking for signs they
might be near starvation. A dragon had to eat very soon after
hatching, and too much time had passed already. "All right, next
group. And you, with the green, come up to the front." He pointed to a
dragon who was starting to look weak. She might have taken longer to
find her lifemate after hatching.

I'rad had walked Echovath to the feeding area, his hand placed solidly
on the blue's hide, grounding himself in the reality of having
_finally_ Impressed. Even the confusion and chaos couldn't take that
happiness away from him, that he was a dragonrider now and had the
other half of his life with him. No wonder his mother couldn't explain
it to him, it was indescribable.

As he got into the line with the others, Echovath stared fixedly at
the buckets of meat. }:For me?:{

"I know you're hungry, but the others are older and they need it.
You'll be soon."

He tried to sound authoritative, but it was hard. His stomach was
cramping badly enough that he felt sick. That was because of the smell
of the raw meat. To him, it smelled...well, he'd never liked the smell
of raw meat and hated kitchen duties. To Echovath, it smelled amazing.
The dual inputs felt bizarre, and his stomach ached like the time he'd
eaten too much at a Hatching feast as a child and thrown up everywhere
after. He let out a sad little groan.

Reyela couldn't remember the last time she was so hungry-- or when
she'd seen something eat so quickly. Meat disappeared down Brandith's
throat quicker than a thought. Even so, she couldn't help but feel
guilty as she fed the last of the scraps to her new dragon.
"Weyrlingmaster?" she asked quietly. "Will-- dragons need to eat. Are
they-- are _we_ going to have enough? What can I do?"

"We'll have enough, don't worry about that," R'lor said. "It's just
going to take a little longer, that's all. Right now your job is to
keep her calm." He turned to the rest of the weyrlings and waved the
next group forward.

Kularth was perched nearby, watching protectively. **Keep an eye on
them. Let me know if any of them are in danger.**

Was the weyrlingmaster talking to him? It _felt_ like he was, but
L'saz wasn't sure. Everything was so blurry and disorienting and right
and wrong and... And...

}:If he isn't, he isn't. If he is, I get food. Let's go find out.:{
Faelath's strength was rapidly starting to wane, her energy being
consumed by the gaping hole in her stomach, but she still found the
energy to tug at her rider's robe. }:Come _on_, L'saz! You wouldn't
want me to waste away, would you?:{

That snapped L'saz out of his stupor, at least partially. "Right," he
murmured, "Sorry."

He stepped up to the front and moved to take one of the buckets.

R'lor moved closer to the pair, concerned that the green was looking a
little pale. "Feed her steadily and watch to make sure she doesn't
choke. We've had to rush the butchering so some of the pieces might
not be as small as they should be."

L'saz robotically set about feeding Faelath. It was weird - he could
/feel/ the whispers of mischief bouncing around within her, the
temptation to make some sort of comment. However, her hunger was far
stronger, so she stayed quiet as he fed her her first bits of meat.
Small bits offered slowly. It wasn't /near/ enough, he could feel her
hunger, the aching need for more, but it kept her quiet for the time
being.

Then I'rad approached. L'saz blinked at him for a moment then, in a
somewhat shell-shocked voice, said, "You know my name. It's Larsa-"

}: L'saz, :{ Faelath corrected. }: As in, Faelath should get more meat
before we run out. :{

Another blink. "Oh. L'saz, I guess."

He faltered for a moment more, but another mental nudge from Faelath
made him look over at the weyrling master and ask, "Uh, what if she's
still hungry when I run out of meat?"

Echovath leaned towards the bucket Faelath was eating from and opened
his jaws. }:Faelath, do you mind? One bite?:{ the blue asked
hopefully.

"Echovath, not yet," he scolded. "I'm sorry he's being rude, L'saz."

"All of your dragons will get enough to be full," R'lor said, looking
around to include everyone. "You can reassure them of that. We'll give
each of you more as soon as we can. All right, last group, up to the
front." He'd feel much better once each hatchling had some meat in
their bellies.

Faelath eyed Echovath thoughtfully. However, before she could come to
one decision or another, the weyrlingmaster called for the final group
of weyrlings to come forward. She sent Echovath a brief wave of
reassurance before promptly returning to her own food.

Meanwhile, L'saz shrugged numbly. "'S fine," he murmured. "Faelath's
plenty rude."

}: _That's_ rude. :{

"_Now_ we go, Echovath," I'rad told his blue. They walked forward and
he reached into the bucket, taking a small piece to feed his dragon.
Whose head snapped forward to grab at it. The meat felt so good going
down the blue's stomach. His stomach heaved a little at the crossing
between his revulsion and his blue's desire for it.

Because he was trying not to pay attention to the feeling, he missed
at first when Echovath swallowed one chunk with only two chews, and
emboldened, tried for a second swallow. He noticed the catching
sensation and his dragon's gag as his throat worked.

"Echovath, no," he said, reaching for his blue's throat.

R'lor heard the gag and his eyes snapped immediately to the blue.
"Make him cough it up," R'lor said as he rushed forward.

Reyela looked up from Brandith with a wince. Every instinct screamed
at her to _do_ something-- to help--

}:What is happening?:{ Brandith asked.

**Ssh, everything is going to be all right. R'lor will help,** Reyela
said, reluctantly turning back to her little green. _Her_ green
dragon. A cautious welling of pride bubbled up within her. She had
Impressed, and next time-- next time she'd be training to be a
Dragonhealer, and she could help. _would_ help.

I'rad was sure that he would have been able to handle this himself,
until he felt Echovath begin to choke, felt his own throat feel full
and painful. "Cough up," he insisted, following R'lor's words.

Echovath spluttered. Dragon jaws and throats were designed to rip and
tear meat in, but regurgitating... Getting rid of the tasty meat...
The catching of the large bite and the desire to try to keep
swallowing the tasty meat warred in him and he bobbed his head up and
down.

I'rad gripped his blue's head to try to stop the motion and pulled his
jaws open, looking into his mouth. He couldn't see the meat. He didn't
want to stick his arm in there yet. "Please..." he begged, distressed.
Echovath couldn't choke!

Echovath's throat worked again and the dragonet's little body heaved
with the effort before the meat glob was spat out. The lightly-chewed
bit hit I'rad in the face and rolled down his white Candidate robes,
leaving a trail behind.

"Ewww," another weyrling said from nearby.

R'lor let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging. "Make sure he's
okay," he urged I'rad. "Check that his stomach has settled and then
give him a small piece." The Weyrlingmaster Third turned to the rest
of the group. "You have to watch them and be careful. Make sure they
chew before swallowing." The 'Staff began handing out a second round
of buckets.

I'rad carefully fed Echovath a few smaller pieces and he didn't choke
this time. Echovath nudged happily at his hand and chewed much more
carefully this time.

"Do we know anything about what was happening about the meat?" she asked R'lor.

R'lor frowned, wondering what he should say. He didn't want to panic
anyone, but he also didn't want to keep information from them. "Fellis
somehow got into one of the meat pails. We're still figuring out
exactly what happened." Which was true enough, because even R'lor
wasn't sure. Kularth was informing him of what the other dragons were
saying, but it was difficult to get a clear picture of the situation
from second and third-hand dragon accounts.

**Fellis?!** Reyela's hands briefly stilled against Brandith's soft
hide. There was no way that fellis could get into the dragons' meat
accidentally. She started running her hands over Brandith again as her
mind see-sawed between what she'd overheard and the strange newness of
bonding with a dragon.

Brandith nudged her arm with her little nose. }:I'm hungry.:{

The Weyrlingstaff continued to cut meat as quickly as they could, now
filling the pails halfway before others scurried to carry them over to
the waiting hatchings. }:They are all very hungry,:{ Kularth told his
rider. }:But none of them are sick.:{ Even the green he'd been most
concerned about was looking more steady.

R'lor saw a hatchling going for another's bucket. "You must control
your dragon. Make him wait his turn."

L'saz, the would-be victim of the intended bucket thief, pulled his
bucket back with a snap of, "Control your animal!"

With a grumble from Faelath, he abruptly added, "I didn't mean _you_."

R'lor gave L'saz a look. "Control your temper, greenrider. You all
must remain calm. Your dragons can feel everything you do."

"S-sorry." The lifemate of the impatient brown put a hand on his
dragon's head. His gaze shifted between the Weyrlingmaster Third and
L'saz. "He's just very hungry." Then he looked at his tiny brown. "You
have to wait a little bit more . . . I know it's hard. No, you won't
be hungry forever, I promise."

I'rad directed Echovath to slowly eat the last of his bucket, and felt
the blue settling down. "Let someone else have food," he said. "We're
doing all right."

R'lor smiled at him. "Thank you, I'rad." Another check with Kularth
confirmed that while there were many complaints of hunger, none of the
hatchlings were in danger.

L'saz flinched at the word 'greenrider'. He tried to act like it
didn't happen immediately after, shooting the brownrider a glower and
muttering, "Keep him away from me, then."

Luckily for L'saz, the Weyrlingmaster Third's attention had been
elsewhere. The Weyrlingstaff got additional help from other riders, so
by the time the third round of feeding started, the buckets were full.
"I've gotten word that your families will be able to visit with you
for a short while, however the Feast has been cancelled. I'm very
sorry."

Of course it was. Someone had tried to poison the dragonets. But
Reyela still felt a hot, sharp jab of disappointment. She'd waited for
so long to Impress, dreamed about it ever since she was little-- this
was _her_ day, and it was ruined. It wasn't fair! But-- she turned
back to Brandith and shoved her anger and resentment down. The tiny
green was looking up at her with loving, hungry eyes. "It's fine,"
Reyela murmured, partially for herself and partially for Brandith as
she handed the baby dragon another bloody handful of meat.

Last updated on the March 9th 2024

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Hungry, Hungry Hatchlings