Time passed quickly at the Weyr, and by the time the clutch was ready to hatch, Jaydren had made friends with a few of the other candidates who came to the Weyr, particularly Esten and Nehesi, who tended to look up to him like an older brother. They were certainly more pleasurable to be around than his own siblings, who had driven his mother to foster him with Solyer in the first place.
It was early morning when the dragons began to hum, and Jaydren hurried to the sands excitedly with the other candidates. There seemed to be an argument among the older dragons, but his eyes were locked on the eggs as they began to crack. At first he thought the tiny egg the clutchmother was fussing over was going to hatch a white (which would have logical, considering the parents), but no, a tiny, sport-sized bronze appeared.
Jaydren waited impatiently, and a little hopefully, as the other eggs hatched explosively, but the bronze chose another candidate. There were plenty of other dragons searching for riders now, though, and he turned his attention to them. A green bonded, then a blue and another green, but they all ignored Jaydren and he sighed impatiently. He had to Impress. He just had to.
Now there were two dragonets left, a blue and a green. He smiled a bit as the green walked to Nehesi, but then his attention was caught entirely by the blue. I am Zheith, Jaydren.
With that sentence, he realized the little blue dragon in front of him was his, and he smiled. "Of course you are," he said as he knelt to touch the pale hide--and realized it wasn't just a pale blue. "Looks like there's more to you than meets the eye, Zhieth."
Of course there is, Zhieth replied with the confidence that J'dren had been trying to show but didn't entirely feel. Now to get us back to where we belong.
"He's blue with white," J'dren told the genetist who came to test Zhieth later.
"Maybe, but we'd still like to be sure," was the reply.
Of course, it was Zhieth's rider who turned out to be right.