In her place was Jigsaw, a competent assistant and Sponsor Registrar, as well as a host of other Ministry employees. Apart from the Ministry, Linaeas arrived to record the event. His xenodragon bond, the ever cheerful and hardly vicious Taxoness, was at his side, as per usual.

The first egg cracked just as the last of the candidates entered the bay. Agstan, a black coloured Dark Court herself, lashed her tail sedately as she strutted to the center of eager bonders. Much to their chagrin, she didn't so much as look down to see if the more humanoids of the lot were in the way. Sojiseth, from her protective curl, gave Agstan a little growl. The black returned it, and the hatching got underway.

The first dragonet to hatch was a little gold. Like her mother, her wet hide was dark (as it should be!), but unlike the full-grown Dark Court, this female didn't sport any impressive horns or tusks, nor any venomous stingers. If you were to put her next to any of her Light Court counterparts, the only thing that would have told her apart from them was her hue. And her faintly glowing, crimson red eyes. The new-hatched queen picked herself up slowly, almost regally, and headed off into the ranks of candidates just as another pair of eggs crackled open. Two blue dragonets--both male--mulled about the still rocking shells while Relevath came to an imperious halt at Basva Yrenvar's foot. ~Hmph, well. You've got enough spirit. Come with me.~ The dragonet snorted up at the young girl, who wasn't sure whether or not to be elated. Certainly she was proud to have impressed a gold coloured hatchling--high ranking and much better looking then that skeletal monster that her brother had become attached to!
Basva followed her new bond to the feeding tables, torn between a smirk and a worried frown.

The two blue clutchmates seemed to be conversing around a rocking shell, but cut off mid-word as it shattered open. A purple hatchling tumbled to a stop half a meter away from her hatch-point, looking most undignified. She looked at the pair of blues from upside down, and at that point a slight shift in the pair's attitude occurred. The first, a slightly more teal colour then the second, sauntered over to his new sibling, grinning cockily. The darker blue rolled his eyes and trotted away from the sticky mess of shell and albumen, out into the crowds.

Xander Byrne was surprised, and a little distraught, to find the dark blue approaching him. After all, he'd wanted a bronze dragon, or something more... regal!
"What, blue isn't regal?" Entoomith demanded, glaring hotly up at the young man.
"Well, no, I mean... I didn't mean to think that..."

"You'd better not have," Entoomith cut the human off, huffing loudly. "Just be happy that I dib you good enough for me! Now, come away, boy, I need feeding!"

Ymeth watched this with his sister, amusement twinkling in his red eyes. "Well?" Said the lighter blue, "you going t'go claim yourself a bond?"
~I dunno,~ the purple replied, non-committal.
The blue puffed out his chest, and swayed his head towards where Shy, again sitting on his high 'throne', was nibbling a lady finger. "Me neither. I have better things in mind." He grinned and left the purple behind, heading towards the Vella Crean man. Not to bond, mind you, but to return to his homeland, none the less!

The purple had finally decided to make her way to the feeding tables--skirting the candidates as best she could--when a trio of metallic dragonets broke shell. Two bronzes and a gold, to be precise. The golden hatching immediately took the lead as her two siblings fell into step beside and a little behind. Only when they reached the edge of the semi-circle of candidates did they split up, and then only grudgingly. The gold came right to the foot of Dermaire, casting the most peculiar creature a curious look. "My, you're ugly," the dragonet exclaimed, but grinned before the Nuikaal could take the insult to heart. "I'm kidding. I'm also Eroquath, but that's beside the point." She gave an awkward little wing-bow to the muscley-looking candidate, eyes twinkling happily. "I'd like to come with you, to be truthful."

Meanwhile, one of the bronze hatchlings had found himself a place at the foot of the quiet Ageang. A half-dragon himself, the Weapon-type candidate gazed down at his new bond. "You may have just made a big mistake, Garopth," the half-dragon said. His voice was reserved, a little sad.
The bronze grinned a cheshire grin. "So you say, halfling. So you say."

The last of the trio had put his foot down on Griffen, grinning cockily up at the therianthrope. ~Feed me,~ the hatchling, Nowath, demanded, not quite half-jokingly. Griffen gave the little bronze a glare, then sighed. So the torture had begun.

There was a lull, then, as the remaining four shells rocked determinedly on the mossy floor, and several candidates shifted, impatient. Jigsaw had taken note of the purple dragonet--one Amberenth, and assigned the little thing to Aleska, a Xidaver Isle native. That ought to hold.

Finally, the last four eggs cracked or shattered or split, one nearly right after the other. Two reds, another bronze, and one last gold worked their ways into the world, and all were relatively quick to get their bearings. They worked their way into the ranks of candidates, and the final bit of bondings began.

Yanneth, the darker of the two reds, invariably found his way to Qasy Yilkanfilide's side, a spark of determination in his eyes. The two of them didn't exchange any words... as similar as the one was to the other, they didn't need to.

The bronze, Toomesoth, approached Xylet and his newly acquired xenodragon burstling bond, fearless even when the slightly smaller creature sent up a warning hiss. The bronze stood before the xenohathian, wings half-unfurled, eyes narrowed in cold evaluation. ~Back down,~ Toomesoth demanded. The burstling gave a surprised shriek, but did as it was told.
Xylet, surprised by the shear strength and bluntness behind the hatchling's order, gnashed his larger set of teeth together... but already he could sense the bronze dragon's mind interceding on his own thoughts, and soon enough he began to calm down. Toomesoth, pleased with his new bond, lead the way to food.

The last two dragonets eyed the remaining candidates, weaving in and out around (and between, in some cases) various legs and catching the attention of every single eye in the bay. It was the last red that made his choice first. He came to Terohon Azkrin's feet, and lowered his front legs in the approximation of a bow. ~I am Noquarteth~ The little thing said, sounding a cross between hopeful and nervous. One crimson eye peered up at the near-mummy-like Lich. Terohon nodded, not so much smiling as looking slightly less dour. He led the dragonet away.

The unmature queen was the last dragonet left, and currently, she was staring up at Agstan, her stubby tail lashing as she and the much larger Dark Court faced off. A moment passed, and then another, as a hush fell over the bay. Sojiseth watched, silent, as Agstan glared down at the hatchling. The hatchling, giving a high-pitched snarl, leapt at the much larger dragoness' foot, and with a shriek that sounded suspiciously like a giggle, began gnawing on Agstan's toe! ~You can't handle the pressure!~ the small gold exclaimed, fighting and batting at the surprised black's foot, ~Back down! Back down!~ She batted surprisingly like a kitten. It was a good thing that her claws were still soft, or she'd be leaving raking marks across Agstan's foot.
The black dragoness gave a chagrined snuff, lifted her paw out of range of the hatchling, and set it down over top of her, effectively pinning her to the ground. ~No, Netearth, it's you who ought to back down.~
The dragonet squealed and writhed under Agstan's paw, but there was nothing like fear in her voice, mentally or otherwise. She was, after all, a child (if a very newly hatched one), and playing was high on her agenda. Perhaps not as high as eating, which, now that she thought of it, she demanded quite vociferously.

The hatching had ended, and not a single negative incident to mar it. Hatchlings and their new bonds clustered around the feeding tables, the audience that had watched the event began to filter out of the bay, or down to congratulate the new riders. Sojiseth cast a glance at the delicate man, who was still sitting in his chair, and received a faint nod of approval. Everything had gone well.