Almost

Writers: Hunter
Date Posted: 28th June 2025

Characters: Xagrus
Description: Xagrus wakes from a bitter dream
Location: Amber Hills Hold, Vintner Hall
Date: month 9, day 13 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Xu’ma
Mentor Approved by Heather

The heat of the Hatching Sands radiated up through the soles of his
feet, through his legs, through his chest. It was alive, pulsing like
a heartbeat, and Xagrus stood still in the thick of it once more,
motionless but vibrating inside, every muscle strung tight with hope.

All around him, the eggs cracked.

Sharp lines split across the mottled shells. One burst with a crack
like thunder, revealing a wiry green who darted out like a bolt of
lightning, tail lashing as she collided into a cluster of boys. Cries
went up as she Impressed to one, eyes already whirling in bliss.

Xagrus didn’t blink.

Didn’t dare even breathe.

He watched as browns and blues found their lifemates, saw smiles
bloom, tears fall, hands reach out to trembling hides with awe and
reverence. One by one, his fellow candidates stepped away, led off to
food and oil and an entirely new life. A life he’d longed for since he
was old enough to walk.

And then the last egg cracked.

It split slowly, deliberately, like it _knew_ it was worth the wait.
The hatchling within surged free of the shards in one powerful motion,
gleaming like sun-warmed metal. He wasn’t the largest, but he was
_perfect_ . Broad of shoulder, proud in the arch of his neck, eyes
blazing like twin suns. Every line of him was strength and grace.

Xagrus’s breath caught. His heart thudded once, hard, then again.

Not for me, he thought, he will pass by like the others always did,
too fine, too strong, too _meant for someone else_.

The bronze turned his head and looked directly at him.

No pause. No faltering. Just a straight, purposeful march across the
Sands, claws scraping against the grit.

Xagrus felt everything melt away. The crowd. The other candidates.

}: I choose you. :{

The words weren’t spoken aloud but they struck him like lightning.
Xagrus, no - Xa'ru now, sank to his knees in front of the hatchling,
laughter catching in his throat, eyes wide and wet.

“I knew you’d come,” he whispered..

Emotion rose in Xagrus’s throat like a wave of joy and disbelief,
something breaking wide open in his chest. Laughter bubbled out of
him, helpless, breathless. “You _finally_ found me,” he whispered,
reaching trembling fingers to touch the bronze’s damp hide.

He felt the bond settle into place, firm as forged steel.

Then there were hands on his shoulders. Someone was calling his name.
His father Xu’ma was there, arms around him, voice fierce with pride.
His sister Xufi sprinted down from the stands to throw her arms around
his neck. His uncle Xouga beamed like a smith seeing his best blade
tempered just right. Even his older brother Xu’kos clapped him on the
back, eyes shining.

“He did it,” someone cried. “Xagrus Impressed a bronze!”

“What’s his name?” came another shout, eager and breathless.

Xagrus turned, one hand still pressed to the bronze’s flank, pride
swelling in his chest like a drumbeat.

“His name is-”

---

He woke with a gasp, air sharp in his throat.

The fire had long since burned out and the hearth was cold. A draft
slipped under the warped wooden door, stirring the sparse coals and
raising gooseflesh on his arms. The feline fur blanket, heavy and
dark, had slipped to the floor in the night, leaving his skin chilled
and bare. His mouth was still half open, breath caught between two
worlds. For a moment, the dream clung to him so vivid it hurt.

For the longest of moments he lay still, staring at the low ceiling
above, his fingers twitching as if still touching bronze hide. His
lips still shaping the name he never got to say.

But there was no bronze. No Xa'ru.

No cheers. No pride.

There never would be.

Just him.

Just Xagrus, alone in this small cot, heart hollow with loss and a
bitter draft crawling up his spine.

He dragged the fur back over himself with numb fingers and lay back
down, eyes wide, fixed on the ceiling.

His name is...

He never said it.

He never got to.

He never would.

Last updated on the July 15th 2025

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