"You can let go anytime now," she grumbled, wincing as Ethan continued to tug on her ear. "Ow, dammit!"

"Shush," Ethan said, leading the group of them through the streets. They'd turned off the main road, their two guides having decided to take a different route to the other groups which had gotten off the train with them.

Their destination was what appeared to be some sort of fortress with little turrets sticking out from the rather expansive structure. It looked a bit haphazard like it could fall down at any moment, and neither of the two adults looked the slightest bit worried about entering it. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked, staring at the large oak door they'd arrived at. It was at least twice her height, and the hinges creaked worryingly when Cynthia pushed the doors open.

"It's fine, now get inside."

Cynthia glared at him. "You're going to get your eggs if that's any incentive..."

The scramble for the door was sudden, every single one of them charging for the door aside from Sora – who was worried the place would crash down around them with the amount of squabbling going on.

"We'll be dropping you off at your dormitories after this, so hop to it," Ethan grumbled, guiding her inside. "Now go and find whatever poor dragon has to get stuck with you for the next however many years."

"Personally, I pity your dragon," Sora said, flitting inside as quickly as she could. She weaved into the crowd of teens, soon finding Raelynn as they made their way further into the castle until they reached a set of doors.

They were taller than the other ones they'd passed through already, stained a dark grey, just a few shades darker than the stone walls surrounding them. A sign proclaimed it to be the 'Main Hatchery', and Sora assumed this was their last stop before they went to their new accommodation.

She only hoped Tabitha wouldn't be in hers.

"Dragons..." Raelynn mumbled, salivating at the prospect of finding her egg.

Sora was actually kind of worried for the poor dragon who'd chosen Raelynn.

"Now," Ethan shouted over the racket. He hooked a finger under the hyperactive blonde's coat collar, yanking her to a sudden stop before she could even think of setting a foot inside the room. "You can't just pick any egg – you know," he said. "The dragon chooses you, not the other way around."

"You'll know if you've found the right one too," Cynthia said. "It'll likely be the only one which doesn't give you a bad reaction."

"Bad reaction?" Sora asked, a sliver of worry cracking past her poker face. She didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"Oh, just minor burns, or scales pricking you... just small stuff like that." She smiled. "You won't end up in hospital unless the dragon really doesn't like you."

Sora gulped.

Raelynn looked far too excited.

Tabitha was perfectly calm.

She hoped Tabitha would get pricked, and maybe rid herself of that small smile on her lips when whatever little dragon egg did just that. Sora sighed, mentally berating herself. She wouldn't stoop to Tabitha's level, no matter how hard it might be to resist. Still, she wouldn't stop herself from smiling if it did actually happen.

What the baby little dragon eggs did was totally up to them.

"You ready, kiddies?" Cynthia asked, twisting both handles of the door, flinging the hatchery open.

Chaos descended, a stampede of sixteen-year-olds charging into the room just as another group was ushered out a different door.

Sora just waited calmly, like a sensible person would, before entering once it was clear. Nervousness knotted into a heavy little ball, weighing down on her stomach as she entered the main hatchery. Noise was already echoing off the ceiling high above them, the dark brickwork suddenly making the room seem that much smaller than it actually was. Row upon row of eggs lined the room, each with its own pedestal.

The sheer variety in the eggs made her pause, silently wondering what hers looked like. Some seemed to be made entirely from scales, others looking to be made from earth and stone whilst a few were on fire. Surprisingly enough, nothing around them was burning – the pillows the eggs sat on evidently having been made from some fireproof material. Most of the stuff inside the Outer City had to be at least somewhat flame resistant. They did live around fire-breathing reptiles, after all.

She edged towards the nearest egg, eyeing up the fragile looking shell, which pulsed with a faint blue light, dark veins running up the sides from the base, barely hiding the shadowy figure of the curled up ball of scales inside.

"Wrong choice." The voice echoed around her mind, her hand skidding to a stop mid-reach, and she switched to the egg next to it.

Glossy pink scales pricked her hand.

"Ow, dammit."

"Stupid kid..." A different voice sounded, her eyes widening as she stared at the egg.

"Don't call me stupid," she grumbled, glaring down at the array of bleeding cuts on her palm. "It's not my fault I don't know which of you to touch."

"You can hear me?"

"Yep... and I'm guessing you're the dragon inside that egg?"

"Wow. A smart human... who'd have thought?"

"Oy!"

"Sora... you alright?" Cynthia asked, coming to a stop next to her, having abandoned Ethan at the door.

"Just a dragon being annoying." She shrugged.

"A dragon?" she questioned. "You can hear your dragon?"

"My... dragon?"

"Follow that voice and you'll be fine," Cynthia said, clapping her on the shoulder. "That'll be your dragon."

"But..." Sora trailed off, watching the redhead walk back to her partner, her words barely audible. "There was more than one voice..."

"Don't go thinking you're anything special, idiot," a new voice spoke. "You're just a weird one."

"First stupid, now weird..." she muttered. "All you dragons are delightful."

Sora sighed, her ears straining to catch every single conversation going on in the room. It was fairly easy to tell the difference between the loud ones belonging to the rabble and softer ones belonging to the baby dragons. She doubted she'd be able to hear her own above the din. Shaking her head, she placed her hand on the next egg along, pulling back almost instantly as she felt the scorching heat.

"Dammit," she hissed, wincing.

"Still trying to find your egg, slowcoach?" Tabitha asked, sneering at her. "You'll be left in the dust at this rate... honestly, you're pathetic compared to them."

"You already found yours then?" Sora tilted her head. "How small is it?" she asked, her vindictive streak getting the better of her. Besides, who did Tabitha think she was? Comparing her to some other people she'd probably never met.

Tabitha held out her egg, showing her the glossy red scales which gleamed like rubies in the light of the large lamps above them. It was just a bit over the average size of the rest of the eggs in the room, fitting comfortably in her arms. Though she had lanky arms to begin with. "It's hardly small, idiot," she said, cradling it like a small child. "Clearly you need your eyes checked."

"Pfft."

"Not going to say anything?"

"You aren't worth it," Sora said, taking pride in the flash of anger that flitted across the other girl's face.

"Alright, alright," Ethan came between them, having wandered over from his post at the door. "Break it up brats."

"There's nothing to break up," Tabitha said, glaring at her.

"Of course," she hissed, glaring straight back. "Who'd want to get into trouble with a loser like you?"

"Tabitha, go and see Cynthia. She'll show you the way to your dorms," Ethan ordered, placing a restraining hand on Sora's shoulder. "And you..." He turned to face her. "Find your damn egg. I'd like to get to sleep on time, thank you very much!"

"Fine," she grumbled, stalking off back into the numerous rows of eggs, touching every egg she went past until a new voice stopped her in her tracks.

"For crying out loud, brat," a distinctly masculine voice echoed through her head as she continued to wander around. "Stop touching all of us with your grubby hands and go and check out the egg in the corner of the room... the weird one by that red door."

Her gaze shot over to each corner of the room, soon finding the little burgundy door situated in one of them. She walked over to it, eyes fixed on the egg right by it.

It was different to the others—

"SORA!" An arm wrapped around her neck, almost strangling her as Raelynn spun her around. "I found my egg!"

"That's... nice," she choked out, pulling at the arm encircling her neck.

"Have you found yours yet?" Raelynn asked, looking her up and down, slowly loosening her grip. "Want me to wait till you've found your egg?"

"Don't worry about me," Sora muttered.

The sound of footsteps interrupted Raelynn's response, a familiar redhead striding towards them. "Come on, hyperactive maniac," Cynthia said, grabbing her by the collar of her coat, all but dragging the blonde away with her. "You're in a different dorm to Sora, so we might as well get going now."

"But—"

"Shush."

Sora stared, blinking a few times and then heading back towards the corner she'd been aiming for before she'd been so rudely interrupted.

The egg was different compared to the other ones around it. The waxy surface gleamed in the light, shining an odd silvery-gold hue which seemed to hold tints of other colours depending on which angle she looked at it from.

Her fingers brushed against the smooth scaleless surface, a smile pulling at her lips when a strange warmth rose in her. It felt right.

"Found you," she whispered, lifting it off the pedestal, stumbling back as she lifted it up far more easily than she'd been expecting.

It was light.

In fact, it barely weighed anything.

It was too light.

Almost like it was... hollow.