Hatchlings and Weyrlings
by Katt

Hatchlings: Once out of the shell, all hatchlings are come over by a different need other than hunger. Some instinct drives them to search among the youth present at a hatching. This drive/need lasts only long enough for them to find the perfect person to be their rider and lifemate. The instant they find that person they link the minds permanently with that youth. Thus the term 'impression' came about when it looked as though the youth had to impress a dragon to choose them. In reality they do nothing. One could be asleep and a dragon will still know that person is perfect for them. It's an unexplainable choice. A Weyrbred child with dragonrider parents may never be found worthy of impression where as a craftbred child who as far back as his grandparents had never stepped foot into a weyr might impress a bronze.

Getting to the youth of their choice isn't always as easy as finding that perfect someone. Having never fully used the range of muscles a hatchling has, they have the tendency to be very clumsy and awkward creatures. They know how to walk and manipulate their wings at hatching but that doesn't mean they can coordinate the weak muscles to do as they want. There have been accidentle deaths on the hatching sands when teens couldn't move fast enough out of the way of an awkward hatchling. Even more rarely will a hatchling attack the teens presented to the hatching for impression. Fear and uncertainty must be present in ALL candidates minds to confuse and muddle the thinking of the hatchlings that are searching for life mates. This has, on record, enraged one or two of the hatchlings to attck the teens to try and find a suitable life mate.

The 'invasion' of the human mind at the moment of impression is record able only by rider as being an awesome experience. At first it can seem just that, an invasion, for everything about them is suddenly known to them and the dragon. But as the connection instantly stregthens, the mind's resistence to the merge weakens. Some have described the instant to be painful when the change happens but others don't notice. Many fall to their knees when they give in to their dragon's mind. The next wave of emotions for most humans is the since of unfailing love, devotion, and adoration. The hatching will croon and send emotions of support, love, and pride to help strengthen their bond. It's their way of reassuring their chosen youth that they mean them no harm and will protect them for the rest of their life.

When a pair have made it passed the first moments of the rest of their lives, hunger takes over the majority of the hatchling's mind. S/He relays this to their rider, often confused about the sensation for until now their egg had provided more than enough food to keep them from ever being hungry. Slowly the new bonded pair will make their way out of the Hatching Grounds to being their lives as a fighting pair. The first thing each pair is taught is how to proper feed/chew the food presented to them. Baths and oiling are the next inline of their training. By which time most pairs are ready to pass out. For the dragon it's been a physically exhausting four to six hours at this point. For the human, the mental exhaustion is far greater than the physical. After an long first sleep, the next day brings on the rest of their lives.

Weyrlings: It's the job of the Weyrling Master to train each rider and dragon what they need to know to be a full fighting pair, but in this time of training the dragon is growing. They start out eating 4-6 small meals a day, resulting in almost one full herd beast a day per dragonet. Before two months of age, riders are taught to kill and butcher for themselves the food needed for their dragon which has slowed down to 2-3 feedings a day but still normally a full herd-beast. By six months of age, feedings are once a day and still one herd-beast. At one turn of age, feedings decrease to every two to three days but increase up to three herd beasts a meal. Once the time they reach their full growth at 18 to 24 months of age, a dragon will settle into a regular feeding cycle which varies from dragon to dragon. Typically three to four herd beast in one meal once a week. They can consume more or less meals with more or less kills depending on activities.

Their growth in exponentially huge compared to a many of species, especially humans. While it takes the average human 15-20 turns to reach their full growth dragons do so in less that two. Humans only triple to quadruple their birth height during the length of their growth, which can seem alot. A dragon will multiply their height by nearly ten fold or more once they are done growing. The amount of time they do this in is why they eat so much as a weyrling versus as an adult.

At hatching, a dragon's size range varies depending on color. Greens hatch approximately the size of the smallest ponies/runners while queens hatch as large or larger than draft horses/runners. On occasion, smaller dragons are born light enough to be picked up by their rider for the first few days but this is rare.

By four months of age, most dragons have more than doubled their hatching sizes. Their growth continues to nearly double itself ever four months there after. At one full turn, growth slows, they spend much of the next turn growing only hand spans more and mostly they are 'filling' out rather than getting longer or taller. By two full turns, most dragons have stopped growing. Queens and some bronzes will continue to grow and fill out till they are four turns old but this hardly noticeable to anyone but the healers documenting their growth.