[G] [C] 734.06.10 | Lights, Camera! [NPC Hatching]

[[Hello everyone!
Firstly, this thread is slightly future-dated, due to the fact that Honey Love will be in transit from October 10th US time to October 12th Australian time.
Secondly, this clutch will be Impressed entierly to NPC characters, but PCs are encouraged to take part in the event. Male candidates are free to stand (we advise against female chromatics standing due to the IC restrictions placed on them) and all gold candidates should take part, too! It is not, however, at all required of anyone.
We hope you enjoy the hatching! We may have some fun surprises in store...

The next Admin post will go up in about 12 hours depending on the day's events, regardless of who has or hasn't posted...]]

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The day had started with a massive thunderstorm, and enough rain to cause puddles and pools all roung the Weyr proper, dripping off rooves and running in little rivers down between the rocky paths. It was both a startling releif and a shock to the system after the week or so of extremely hot weather, and Indivara could tell she wasn't the only one who was pleased with the change in weather. The girl had expressed her delight with the change in weather, most notibly with the rain, by dashing out of her room in the Weyrfolk Hall, still scantly clad in a pair of loose cotton pants and a shirt she had stolen off Ryvian, and stood in the down pour until she'd been dragged back inside by a laughing friend.

That had been as dawn was peeking over the edge of the Weyr proper, now, as lunchtime came to an end, the rain seemed intent on continuing to fall. Indivara didn't mind, for at least it wasn't muggy. She was still more than a little wet from the various times she had trotted across the Weyr grounds, with mud up to her knees (which, granted her miniscule height wasn't saying much) and a smear across her cheek. Her pants had earned her a filthy look from Kerrin, though to be fair, Indivara wasn't sure if it was because she was wearing something that was so raggy, or if it was because they were filthy. Her shirt was nicer, though, a deep blue that matched her eyes and was embroided with swirling vines along the edges; Jada had been practicing during the times she was sandbound with Krypth.

Stepping into the Hatching Circuit, Indivara was slightly surprised when her presence seemed to garner the attention of the resident golds. Krypth, guarding her eggs; Okalinath, growing fatter with those that she would lay in some few weeks time; Aradissicath, who was starting to look ridiculously fat (in Indivara's not so quietly stated opinion) and Nirinath, who seemed withdrawn and reserved at the best of times. All four golds (Indivara couldn't see if the two weyrlings were present or not, though she assumed they were) seemed to turn to look at her and Indivara froze, looking bemused, before realising the attention was upon the eggs.

Oh.

A frown controted Indivara's face and she had just enough time to slap her hands over her ears before the entire Circuit broke out in a resounding hum that, for a few moments, was more than even her hand-covered ears to bear to listen to. As the sound settled, Indivara lowered her hands, and fled across the sands,  almost colliding with the four and a half month pregnant Jada as she reached the other side. "Hatching!" Indivara grinned, reaching for Queenie and obtaining the little gold firelizard in a light grip as Sucker flickered around her head excitedly, dark blue wings finally tangling in Indivara's hip-length sheet of dark hair, and sending him crashing into her shoulder.

"At least they chose a reasonable time, this time." A grin lit up Indivara's face, and she picked the blue firelizard up off the ground he'd ended up on, brushing wet hair back over her shoulder as she straightened.

---

[[Any candidates that want to take part;
- Bowing isn't something SP Canon practices, but one would be wise to avoid Aradissicath, she isn't a friendly cluther; Krypth and Okalinath, on the other hand, are very friendly and excitable. Okalinath might squish someone in excitement, if she can move fast enough
- Firelizards are allowed on the sands for Krypth and Okalinath (Dissi and Niri are unknown entities at this point) clutches, so long as they remain obedient and respectful. Those who question their firelizards training should send them away.
- The Hatching Circuit is literally a great big sandpit, which has a half-circular wall facing the outter part of Katila, with the inner parts facing the Gather Square open up; it has a large roof created mostly from the stolen sails of the ships that came North; it is in no way a traditional Hatching grounds, and all watchers are liable to get wet. The sands are hot, and heated by underground piping that flows from the kitchens and then fills the bathing rooms.

Edit; this is for Krypth's clutch, sired by bronze Gugaroth.]]

With the violent down pour Arddra decided to stay in her room instead of running through the rain to the Dinning Hall for lunch. It was a relief to have the rain for it broke the heatwave and high humidity. Oddly enough she found watching the rain peaceful and soothing.

Just as she was putting away her dishes was when the humming began. After standing for so many hatchings, Arddra immediately knew what the humming meant. Krypth's clutch was about to hatch. Quickly she grabbed her candidate robes and pulled them on, then snatched her oiled cloak to keep the rain from soaking her completely. Not that it would matter given the hatching grounds weren't all that fully covered.

She felt a thrill of excitement running through her she never felt in past hatchings, back then she ranged mostly from terrified to unnerved. This time the fear was gone and she was full of hope. Maybe today she will Impress a gold! Maybe this time because unlike previous times she was fully accepting of this now being her best choice for a future.

Rushing out of her room she sprinted across the muddy ground, doing her best to avoid the worse of the puddles. Masses of people were rushing out of of barely seen buildings in the haze kicked up by the rain, most of whom Arddra couldn't' make out so she simply focused on getting to the hatching ground without running into anybody or slipping in the mud. A few times she nearly did slip in fall so her jog was punctuated by stumbling strides as she struggled to keep her balance.

Entering the Hatching Circuit Arddra looked at the large golden dragons, all so incredibly impressive, their eyes whirling in the usual colors of pending hatching. As she headed towards Krypth's clutch, Arddra bowed to the queen before approaching the egg most believed to contain a gold dragon. She was aware it wasn't required to bow but it was something she felt gave the dragons the proper respect. They weren't just dumb animals after all but very intelligent and shared the souls of those they were bonded to. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

"Hello Indivara," Arddra greeted the other girl before turning her attention to the eggs. She nodded towards the other Candidates who had beaten her here, feeling edgy and excited with the pending hatching.

The rain and warm weather put Ravana in unaccountably good spirits.  Good enough that she was currently rough housing with Terken, Kela, Stubborn, Shanith and Indrith...and winning by virtue of threatening to sneeze on the weyrling when it looked like he'd win the impromptu game of freezetag.  Berani watched from the relatively dry safety of the porch, fascinated by the sight of her normally staid mother playing like a child but not fascinated enough to join in.  When Indrith and Shanith were involved, it meant that a toddler could get squished.

It meant she heard the humming first.  Both dragons paused, then she heard Shanith call, Hatching, hatching, hatching!  Ravana let out a joyful squeal, whooped, whirled T'ken around in an inpromptu dance of celebration, then darted to the porch.  Realizing she was about to be scooped up and hugged by her soaking wet and muddy mother, Berani scooted inside and under the table.

Quickly enough a babysitter was found and Ravana was bundled off with T'ken to the Hatching.  The greenrider hadn't even had time to change, had barely taken time to wipe the worst of the mud off her and dart back out into the rain.  Deciding there was nothing she could do for her looks, the greenrider just about bounced as she walked with T'ken to the sands.

She darted ahead, found herself starting to skid, and managed a slide of a good eight feet before she lost her balance, and slid a good part of the way to the sands on her rump.  Laughing, Ravana picked herself up and bounced her way to T'ken, grinning up at him.  She ignored his rolled eyes and proceeded onto the hatching grounds with something like dignity.  If you turned your head sideways and squinted.

Ravana picked a spot and settled down, sneezing twice as she did.  T'ken sighed and settled beside her.  "You should calm down a bit, you might cause people to worry about your mental health."

"Nah, I've always been eccentric.  This will be noted as simply more of that."  T'ken was hugged, Ravana offering her foster son a smile.  "Besides, everyone acts goofy around hatchings."

The young man arched an eyebrow.  "You were acting goofy before the hatching."

"Dragon induced.  Shanith's poking around in my emotions.  And I should care about it more than I do at present."  T'ken sighed then settled to sit with her, using his dragon as a seat.

"I'll stay here then so you don't do anything stupid."  When she stuck her tongue out at him, he laughed and leaned agaisnt Indrith who was kind enough to extend a wing over his head to keep him somewhat dry.

The morning storm was refreshing, washing away the oppressive heat and mugginess. Trelanvor felt as if a weight was lifted as thunder rumbled and cracked and lightening flashed across the dawn sky. Rained drummed against rooves with a soothing rhythm that made him want to ignore his chores and remain in bed. That wouldn't go over to well with those in charge so he dragged himself from his cot and dressed.

He let the fresh, rain cleaned air fill his lungs, ignoring the spreading dampness on his shirt. The storm produced a vastly improved mood among the weyrfolk. Smiles and joking returned and chores didn't seem nearly as difficult as before when just think seemed to make one sweat. When lunch time rolled around he felt absolutely famished. The heatwave had dampened his appetite and now he needed to make up for that.

It was shortly after lunch when a familias throbbing hum began. Trelanvor broke into a quick jog for his room, joining the mass dash of candidates for their quarters. The humming pulsed against his ears as he tugging his robe over his head. Keeping the white garments unmuddied would be a challenge today. Holding the hem up around his knees he wondered if this was how girls felt when they wore skirts, bit of a pain in the ass really.

He slipped and slid, nearly loosing his footing completely on his way to the hatching circuit. He took it as a challenge, laugh as he managed an intentional slide across the muddy ground. If there wasn't a hatching to get to he'd have started up a competition to see who could slide the farthest. The steady humming pulled him forward like an invisible leash. Maybe today would be his lucky day.

He wiped what mud he could from his feet, glancing toward the eggs, already showing signs of the life contained within them. There was a Gold egg in this batch and his gaze lingered on Arddra for a moment. She wasn't the only Queen candidate, though he did hope she was successful today. He stepped into the sand, wincing at the heat that rose up around him. He moved toward Arddra, flashing her a grin. "Good luck today!" He said, nodding toward the single Gold egg.

O'wain loved rain, especially the warm rains of the south which broke a heatwave. Despite his light colored hair, quite bleached from the sun, his skin handled sun quite well. He would burn time to time but most times he just maintained a nice light golden tan.

After a hearty lunch he was taking his time striding across the way completely unconcerned with being totally drenched. He was also only wearing a pair of shorts and simple sandals. Flipping his wet bangs out of his face he looked up at the rain coming down.

"Beautiful day!" He called out to the sky then opened his mouth to catch the rain.

You really are a wherrybrain. The brown observed. He didn't like the rain and was trying to shelter himself from it as wel as he could under some trees. Unfortunately the usually quite broad and sheltering leaves were heavy with water and every few minutes the weight caused the leaves to bend and dump water all over him. He hissed in irritation each time it happened.

Why are you complaining? You love swimming, it's raining hard enough it's no different than being in the water. O'wain chuckled, taking his attention away from the sky to resume walking.

Before Nishkath could answer a deep vibrating humming started up and the weyr burst into frenzied activity.

It is time, Krypth's clutch begins to hatch! The large brown suddenly pushed his way out of the jungle and sat back on his haunches to add his own humming along with the golds and bronzes.

"A hatching! What a wonderful time for it," O'wain beamed and took a light jog towards the hatching circuit. He then saw a young woman slip in the mud and go skidding along on her rump for a few minutes and laughed. With barely a pause in his own stride he scooped her up and helped her the rest of the way to the hatching grounds. He really didn't care she got mud all over him, the rain will wash it off quick enough.

Once on the grounds he set her down and gave her a wink and made his way over where the spectators were gathering.

"Good luck Candidates!" O'wain called out and winked at the girls and a few of the boys. Many he remembered standing for past clutches, hopefully the longest waiting had their chance. It wasn't a huge clutch but a decent size.

The thunderstorm had hit unexpectedly after the heat that had strangled the weyr. Ameris had been trying to cool off when the rains had hit. When the thunder sounded the fear and agitation that she had become familiar with had soaked her mind. Mizeath had scrambled away from their rooms in a desperate attempt to find safety and Ameris had scrambled after her. Not for the first time was she glad she'd left Rislan in the creche. A bang of remorse hit her before being drowned out by Mizeath's fear.

Hot on the heels of the gold, Ameris tracked Mizeath's path. And groaned when she realized where her dragon was headed. The hatching grounds. There were three broody golds in that building and Ameris did not relish the thought of collecting her terrified dragonet in front of them.

She'd just entered the building when the humming started. Son of a bitch! They had to start now? With a slight scowl, Ameris scanned the building in search of a little dragon tail. Mizeath! she hollered silently at the gold, Mizeath, hurry and come out! There will be babies soon! the last was said mostly with desperation and a healthy amount of bribery. Babies were a weakness for the gold and if that didn't get her attention, nothing would.

Babies? came the tentative query.

Yes babies! Hurry now! Come to me she said firmly and was rewarded when her smaller gold slunk from behind the stands. How Mizeath had managed to fit there she didn't know, but fit she did. The gold travelled to her, careful to avoid the much larger golds scattered about and Ameris sighed in relief. The eggs were given a sideways curious glance by Mizeath. How did babies fit in there?

Faredin and Diolon greeted the storm with much relief- and a brief but intense mud-slinging fight that left no clear winner despite both boys' boasts to the effect. Dirty and tired, Faredin was engaged in the slow process of herding his younger brother back to their room to get cleaned up when they became aware of the humming around them. Diolon was quick to grin and dart off toward the Hatching Circuit- but Faredin's reaching hand was quicker to clamp down on his nearest arm.

"Come on!" He directed sharply, half-dragging his brother toward their room. "Mum'll kill us if we show up like this at a Hatching!"

By the time they got back, the continuing rain had thankfully washed enough mud off their skin that a vigorous scrub did for the rest. Ignoring Diolon's resentful glare, Faredin shoved clean clothes at his brother and shimmied into his own between urgent nags to hurry up.

"Why?" Diolon questioned even as he obeyed his brother's orders out of lifelong habit. "They're not gonna be our dragons anyway."

Faredin huffed out an annoyed breath, hating the reminder that he was still a few months short of being old enough to Stand. Even if it was for a smaller clutch. "But the next ones might be mine, and I don't want the golds or their riders to think I can't be bothered to show enough respect to be there on time. Now, come on!"

Diolon grumbled all the way, but seemed just as relieved as Faredin when they climbed the stands to realize they hadn't missed anything.

Sigh. Little brothers...

Peorray and Wyrdrith huddled near the entrance to the circuit, the gold wanting to be where all the excitement was, but still terrified (and Peorray was surprised at how strong the impression remained in the dragon's memory) of the whole Hatching process. If their position happened to be far away from the egg-heavy Aradissicath, chalk one up to happy coincidence.

Peorray kept one hand on her gold as they waited for the eggs to hatch.

But what if they don't? What if they're stuck in there forever? Wydrith's anxious voice worried, gaze flitting from egg to egg to judge its level of activity.

If Wydrith's current behavior was a sign of things to come, Peorray was *not* looking forward to the day when the eggs on the sands would be hers. But they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. "Then it just wasn't meant to be, and we'll celebrate those who do hatch. I'm just glad I don't have to be down there anymore." Nervous, hopeful, tense and half-resigned, out with a couple dozen others who felt the same.

Wydrith sent wordless but emphatic agreement/relief, suitably distracted for now, and the two settled to watch the eggs rock.

They're coming.. the dragon sent urgently to V'riy, his musical voice in a minor tone that almost sounded discordant, such was the anxiety the bronze was feeling.

What? What's becoming of you, my great bronze friend, that a hatching would get you so worked up the bronzerider inquired as he rushed to don his riding leathers nevertheless, and headed outside of his hut to climb onto his dragon. The bronze beast could barely sit still as V'riy got himself situated on top of him. Finally strapped in and ready to go, the bronzerider raised his hand and with a mightly leap into the rainy sky, Morith shifted /between/.

Circling down from overhead, Morith choose a somewhat secluded spot to the side of where the candidates were gathered and softly landed, folding his wings. To V'riy he said Her dragon might be here. In this one. We can't know, but she might. And that could mean big things. Big things, the dragon promised as he quietly scanned the room and all of its inhabbitants while V'riy dismounted and did the same.

Oh. Of course. Arddra. The pair didn't need to say anything further. V'riy had become protective of Arddra as of late and valued their friendship. Should anything happen to her on the sands.. V'riy was perfectly willing to break some rules in order to protect her, of that he was certain.

He nodded to Faredin when he saw the boy, and to the others that he recognized around him. He saw O'wain, and Arddra, and Ameris, Peorray... so many of the people he knew of, but had never had a relationship with. He had tried to stay away from the gold riders... not wanting to be caught up in a relationship that he might not want, because of a dragon pairing. It was a reason that Morith and he made themselves scarce most of the time..

But a hatching should be a relatively safe time to make new friends, should the opportunately arise. V'riy would wait and see what happened in the next few hours. There was sure to be at least one interesting development. He settled to watch the eggs rock and listened as Morith hummed along with the others, the sound comforting to him. He leaned back against the bronze dragon, feeling the vibration of the sound through his body, and closed his eyes for a moment. It wouldn't be long now.

It had been a good day, she thought with a sleepy, satisfied smile. Up early, out to the gardens, work on weeding. Break. Oil the beasts, wash laundry, find her way to have lunch. It had been pretty much go, go, go  since she had gotten up, and it wasn't likely to change now, if her energy levels were any indication. She just wanted to do stuff. She felt the need to be active, and there was going to be no stopping her from doing what she was going to do!

That was, until Knack perked up from her shoulders and crooned, his eyes flashing at her as he turned to the Hatching Grounds. Blinking, she begin to walk that way, curious what had gotten the surprisingly quiet beast all riled up. Seconds later, Kaylee and Edge burst into the air above her, wheeling and humming loudly. She snapped her fingers, and they settled onto her shirt meekly, but the humming didn't stop. Their excitement seemed to be spreading like wildfire, and the hum of dragons could be heard, the closer they got.

...Oh.

She looked in dismay at the soaked tunic she was wearing, her eyes closing in irritation at the seemingly bad timing. Oh, well. The heat of the Sands would dry her out. A thrill of fear shot up her spine, and she found herself reluctantly approaching the grounds more and more, finally dragging her feet once she got to the entrance. She didn't want to be here without Quenym. This was supposed to be something they did together. She couldn't imagine BEING here without Quenym.

But it was a Hatching, and she was already here. Besides, she knew certain people would be watching out, waiting to see how she did. She didn't really expect to Impress - no one did on their first Hatching - and she still wasn't sure how she really felt about this whole thing. But like Z'jan had said...commit to it. Never look back.

She straightened her spine at that moment, holding her head high as her wet hair clung to her face, and marched right into the sands to stand beside the other girls. She technically fell into the purview of gold candidate, but she glanced occasionally at the other eggs, wondering if she might not find her other half among them. As she stood, feeling the heat begin to rise and warm her, she sent Kaylee and Edge to sit on ledges near some of the dragons. They immediately went towards Nishkath, crooning a hello. Knack remained around Casa's neck, eyes intent on the eggs as he so gently hummed, waiting for the cracking of the shells.

It was, without a doubt, spectacularly uncommon for a clutch of Krypth's to decide it was time to grace the lives of those within the Weyr at an hour that was not inconvenient to just about everyone within the community. Midnight, dawn, and whatever other outrageous times the eggs had made themselves known, just after lunch time seemed by far the most practicle of times, and as a result it didn't take long before the vast majority of the Weyr was squished into the area, surrounding the tiny clutch with umbrellas of dragon wings spread out above their heads managing to block out most of the rain. Someday, something might actually be done about the crappy conditions of the Hatching Sands, but who was going to worry about that at that moment, and with teh way teh golds were taking turns on it, when would there be time for renovations?

Thoughts, whatever they might be, were swiftly interrupted by the first of the eggs beginning to crack, the sound almost unheard against the solid competition of the pouring rain and the occassional clap of thunder. The egg rocking, and falling over, however, was more than enought to grab the attention of the vast majority of the audience, and that topping was quickly followed by two front feet exploding through the side of the shell and a squeaking rumble of frustration was heard; freedom was so close! Scrabbling in the sand, it was difficult to see what colour those legs were at first - bronze? brown? green? Breaths were held, though some exploded into giggles or amused snorts when those avildly flailing legs managed to send a near by egg sprawling through the sand. A moment later, and the Circumstance egg managed to finally break free, a head popping through the shell, followed by shoulders before the whole thing exploded. The young Bronze gave a defiant snort at his shell, then moved to stick his nose in the air so fast he fell over side ways, directly onto the Motivation egg he had sent sprawling just moments earlier.

Tossing his head, Circumstance Bronze dismissed the Motivation egg and the youngster now attempting to break free, in order to prance arrogantly towards the young men set out upon the Sands waiting for him to choose one of them. He didn't waste a moment of time, nosing one young man out of the way with a hiss to reach another, and Impressing him with a swirl or rainbow through his eyes.

Brought into the world somewhat before ready, the Motivation egg was escaped with a couple of kicks and a full body wriggle, a Blue dragon slowly extracting himself from within. Pulling himself free, the newst hatchling snorted sand out of his face and peered around with a slightly hazy look, hsi brains addled from the topple his egg had taken after the Circumstance Bronze bowled it over. Puffing out a huge sigh, the Motivation Blue peered at the girls surrounding the gold egg for a few moments, before turning his back on them and making his way unerringly towards a young man, Impressing before he'd even made the entire journey.

---

Cirumstance Egg - TABronze01 to TAMale01
Motivation Egg - TABlue01 to TAMale02

As more and more people crowded the Hatching Circuit Arddra wondered if they will have to make it bigger. With so many gold dragons now old enough to clutch they filled the hatching ground with their large bodies. She knew the last hatching she attended there were two clutches hatching at the same time. Was it good for them to clutch so close together and having their offspring emerging the same day? She had not sensed any panic or worry in the riders, then again her mind was more focused on the eggs.

Today she knew there wasn't anything she could do about the hatching sands, perhaps once she Impressed a gold of her own she could work with the other goldriders on an appropriate solution. Unless S'kef did move them all North by then. Arddra could only assume the Weyrs in the north were better constructed and had more efficient hatching grounds.

Trelanvor's arrival broke her away from her thoughts and she gave him a smile. "Good luck to you as well Trelanvor!" she called back, warmed by his words. She really should spend more time with her fellow candidate. He was a good man even if prone to pranks and getting into trouble. He reminded her of her playfulness when she was in her teen years.

Another rider called out good luck and she turned to see the blonde brownrider. He was always smiling and flirting and probably was a decent enough man but she didn't trust him. His flirtatious wink didn't make her at all interested in getting to know him. But he did wish them all good luck and it would be rude to totally ignore him. Arddra simply nodded and glanced away just in time to spot a bronze dragon land off to the side. Immediate her heart raced and she waved. After helping wash and oil his hide several times as V'riy taught her how to care for a dragon, Arddra would recognize Morith anywhere.

To know V'riy was here to watch the hatching and maybe even Impress a pretty golden dragonet thrilled Arddra. It also filled her with some fear. What would he think of her if she failed to Impress this time? Fortunately she was distracted from her fears when she spotted a young girl joining the female candidates Arddra stood with many times already.

"Casa! I am glad to see you decided to try your luck today," Arddra smiled at the young girl, "Good luck to you."

Conversation suddenly changed volume as the first eggs started to rock and by the time the first egg cracked, the only sound was the sound of the rain and thunder. Arddra turned her attention fully to the egg before but at the moment it wasn't showing any indication it was going to hatch. Scanning the other eggs she spotted which egg had been the first to crack. As the bronze dragonet struggled to free itself, she chuckled then sighed as Impression was made. It was the one thing she truly enjoyed about the last few hatchings she attended, it was seeing that look of amazing wonder on each boy or girl who Impressed.

Not long after the bronze dragon found his new life mate, a blue staggered free out of his tumbled egg to find his partner. It was such a beautiful sight and for the first time she could truly enjoy the hatching without bearing any reservations. She wanted to become a goldrider with all her being, there was nothing else expected of her that she could do.

Settling in with the other dragonriders come to watch the wonder that Hatchings is, O'wain nudged those standing next to him. "So who do you think will impress the Gold?" He asked nobody in particular.

Nishkath settled down between a couple other dragons and spread his wings to help shelter his rider and those near him. It was a miserable day for a hatching. Then a bunch of firelizards showed up and settled around him, Nishkath crooned a greeting to Edge and Kaylee. He liked the firelizards of the little Candidate.

It will be nice if she Impresses today. Nishkath commented, giving an image of Casa to his rider.

Oh that will be quite wonderful, we can all celebrate together if she does. O'wain hoped she would get a blue or a green, he really didn't think Casa would be suited for a gold. Even if she did get a gold, he would still like her as much as he did now. It just meant dealing with the annoying 'gold flockers' that always tried to keep him away from having fun with them.

"You can do it Casa!" O'wain bellowed over the noise of humming dragons and other shouts. "Good luck!"

He didn't say anything more as the first egg gave a loud crack. O'wain turned his gaze to the first eggs to hatch. He had placed a few bets with his friends about who will Impress and which color. O'wain was hoping to gain some marks and materials from this hatching.

Ceilidhe and Twilirth appeared from between high above hatching sands. Twilirth gave a loud bugle to announce her presence over the constant humming that could be heard from below. They were late! Ceilidhe urged Twilirth downward and the dragon obliged, spiraling quickly downward in an effortless drop, then quickly unfurling her wings and righting herself a reasonable distance above the sands.

Ceilidhe turned this way and that, her hands over her eyes as she shaded  them from the bright sun. Where was he? He had said he was coming, that she would be here.. the greenrider fidgeted nervously in seat, barely able to contain her excitement.

[Twilirth] He is here, [/twilirth] the green dragon said with an amused snort as she projected the image of where V'riy and Morith were, and turned her head to point to the pair, lifting it upwards a few times. [Twilirth] We join them, [/twilirth] she informed Ceilidhe and before Ceilidhe could protest, Twilirth was angling down toward their spot.

Morith bugled happily and then resumed humming. He moved his bulk to allow her comfortable room to land and get situated. V'riy, still leaning back on his bronze beast with his eyes closed, raised a hand in greeting.

Ce'lie! I'm so glad you could make it. Really. Don't worry about thinking you're intruding. If there's anyone's company that I'd like right now, it's yours," he said kindly, opening his eyes and approaching his "mother" to give her a tender hug.

He put a finger to his lips, indicated that she should be quiet, and turned her to view the scene in front of them both. A bronze! Quite a good sign for a hatching. And that blue certainly seems to know what he wanted. The hatchlings seemed to be good on their feet, so far.

V'riy glanced at Arddra surreptitiously, worried about what the next few moments would bring. He hoped that she had enough of her wits about her that she wouldn't need his help. But if she did, she would have it.
He was torn between his feeling about the possiblity of her impressing a gold.

Ce'lie noticed the look on his face and rubbed his shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension the bronzerider was feeling. She kept watch on the eggs, and on her adopted son, and on Arddra, her son's... something. She was definitely something. What exactly she was had yet to be determined.

She studied the woman's features while Arddra was busy focusing on the eggs in front of her. She was slightly built, but there was a quiet inner strength about her that was ... like a breath of fresh air. She would bet that this one could be stubborn when she had her mind set on something. And that she might actually get it.

With a small sigh, Ce'lie turned her eyes back to the hatching eggs and squealed in delight at the small blue that had peered females. She slumped dejectedly against Twilirth as the blue turned and went speedily toward a young man. She had been hoping for a long time that a smart blue might pair himself off with a young version of J'di. Well, maybe not this time. Or, maybe there would be a blue. She'd just have to wait.

Rhaedalyn had made a little shelter – or rather, her friends made her one – that had some wood set down to keep her off the wet sand with a tarp over her head to keep the rain off of her as it rolled down the slanted roof. She had been a bit miserable with so much rain and greyness but she was also grateful for the dry comfort that had been given her since it now made watching the Hatching so much more enjoyable! At least, it was enjoyable until Aradissicath’s mood finally took a turn for the worse.

Aradissicath was less than pleased with all the commotion. It was bad enough that she had to share the Sands with two other gold dragons but now she had to put up with Candidates marching all over the Sands and giving off nervous vibes along with the crowd that had gathered to watch everything. How did anyone expect her to enjoy being egg-heavy with so much noise? Another irritable huff of breath was given as the large gold shifted once more to find a comfortable position to lie and at the same time tune out the nuisances.

When it became clear the environment simply would not tone down despite the rain that should have sent people back to their huts, Aradissicath got to her feet. She didn’t tell Rhaedalyn what she was doing or where she was going since the girl would figure it out easily enough. To prove a point that she was far from happy with the crowd and the size of the Sands that currently had multiple golds and too many people squished onto it, Aradissicath purposely strolled through the middle of the Hatching, hissing at Krypth as she went, daring the older gold to say or do anything for her walking so close to the eggs and Candidates.

It would have been a successful jaunt across the Sands and to freedom if not for her gangly size made even more awkward with the pregnancy. Aradissicath stumbled once more or less tripping over her own feet and as she caught herself, her tail bumped against Influence to send it toppling over and rolling several feet with cracks heard with each movement. Some in the crowd gasped in shock but knew not to tangle with a gold that was close to Clutching and even more hormonal than normal.

As the cranky gold moved off the Sands, the Influence egg came to a stop but the cracks continued until finally a nose poked through, followed by a head. All at once, the remaining bits of shell fell away as the newly revealed Bronze shook himself free. A moment passed and then another as the dragonet stood in place, as if measuring everyone in attendance. Finally, a male stepped forward and nearly closed the gap between him and the bronze hatchling before the dragonet moved and with slow measured steps, led the man off the Sands.

Rhaedalyn continued to sit in her little shelter, gawking at everything that had happened. Aradissicath was so rude! She’d have to apologize later, You most certainly will not. There is nothing to apologize for. Now sit and finish watching the babies pick their obnoxious humans and come join me back at the hut. Rhaedalyn did exactly that, nibbling her lip anxiously even as she watched the Influence egg hatch and Impress successfully. It was so nice to see so many bronze babies around the Weyr now!

Thanks to Aradissicath’s distraction, the Excellence egg Hatched almost in silence and overlooked by most, except for the few Candidates already in the area. The shell fell away from its form occupant just as the bronze found his life mate to lie neatly around the hatchling. The young Blue sneezed once which caused some giggles but he didn’t seem to notice or mind as he trotted towards the girls, stopping to sniff at one and then another; the second of which made him sneeze again. Clearly deciding no one in the group was for him, he moved to a group of boys and sat down before one, making the Impression quick and as quiet as his hatching had been.

---

Influence Egg - TABronze02 to TAMale03
Excellence Egg - TABlue02 to TAMale04

Casa found herself a little restless on the Sands, bouncing from foot to foot not due to miscomfort but because she didn't like to stand idle. She'd been told by many that something big like this, something that could potentially change your life, well...it was supposed to go fast. She felt a little guilty, thinking this was taking forever, but it just seemed to be dragging on, with nothing exciting happening....

But then, the sound of cracking eggs! She perked up, turning away from the other girls to watch with interest at the going-ons of the clutch and the other candidates all around. Right off the bat, one of the eggs split with a loud crack, revealing after a moment a bronze. She grinned, excited to see more of them around - how else was Quenym going to Impress one(though she still thought he should Impress a brown, really)?

While the bronze moved to Impress, he caused the release of another egg, and a Blue was now loose. Both seemed to choose with little to no problem, and Casa nodded enthusiastically. Now things were moving along! This pace was much better, she decided, and she rocked back a little on her heels, eyeing the rest of the clutch with more interest.

As she waited for the next to get going, however, it became apparent that Aradissicath was not at all happy with this bunch while being so egg-heavy. She decided to stomp her way through the Hatching, causing another shell to go, before sulking away out of the Grounds. Blinking and staying back, she wondered how this was all going to go down later. What an unusual action. She'd never seen anything quite like it before.

Regardless of the gold dragon's actions, another bronze made his way through the candidates, making a seemless Impression to his chosen. Two bronzes was a great way to get started with this clutch! Another egg hatched much more quietly, and she almost missed the blue who appeared to have interest. Tilting her head, she watched him turn instead to the boys, once again choosing and setting another Impression in stone.

Hmm. Maybe Hatchings were kind of quick events after all.

As if aware of Casa’s thoughts about Hatchings, the remaining eggs made no attempt to break free as quickly as their brothers. Nearly fifteen minutes passed before one of the eggs started to tremble once more. While it wasn’t nearly as long of a break as some of Krypth’s past hatchings had, it was still noticeable after the quick succession of shells shattering.

Adversity seemed like it would find freedom from its confines first with bits of shell starting to drop away but it was Success that managed to roll itself onto the side and claw away at a weakened spot of shell to poke its head through. After some rather impressive wriggling that brought out laughter and cheers of encouragement, the Success hatchling emerged and promptly sat down with a rather pleased look. Thanks to sitting still it didn’t take long for the murmuring to spread, announcing another Blue had hatched.

The newest Blue finally stood on momentarily shaky legs before strutting around his remaining siblings, mewling encouragement, as he looked for his bonded. It only took two completed circles around the last two eggs, weaving closely to some of the Candidates, before a male finally called out the hatchling’s name and the Blue came to a stop with a nod before his mate.

As the latest pair made their way off the Sands, the Adversity egg cracked a bit more and started to shake with the clear effort of a dragonet wanting free. Several minutes passed as everyone watched on, anticipating the arrival, especially since the gold egg still seemed intent on making a fashionably late appearance.

At long last, Adversity broke free and tumbled out with a shocked expression that was mirrored on multiple onlookers who hadn’t bet the egg contained a Green dragonet. The young female creeled and looked around for her bonded, gaze sweeping the Candidates and the crowd before a beeline was made towards a small group. The little green came to a crashing stop, landing her nose in the wet sand at Indivara’s feet but was soon looking up at the girl and mewling once more. After a long stare down between dragonet and girl, the green moved on, stumbling twice more before a male crouched down in encouragement, showcasing the bond that had been made.

---

Success Egg - TABlue03 to TAMale05
Adversity Egg - TAGreen01 to TAMale06

Ce'lie's breath caught as she witnessed first one, then two blues break their shells and emerge onto the hot sands of the Hatching grounds. Would one of these two pick a female? She was always hoping that they would. The greenrider slumped back against Twilirth, her disappointment continuing to mount as a green dragonet partnered off with another male.

All males so far. Ce'lie let out a quiet hiss through her teeth as she watched the latest bonded pair make their exit from the sands. She rolled her eyes heavenward as her eyes scanned the tracks made from the passing of the large, egg-laden gold. How did her rider let her get away with such a thing? Ce'lie frowned deeply.

What was that gold's name again? Aradissicath. It was too bad they didn't use honorific contractions on dragon names. That one certainly was a mouthful.

And a handful for her rider... too much of a handful, the greenrider decided. The young gold queen had certainly been acting childish. She hoped the more senior queens would bring the young one into check, along with the gold's rider... Rhaedalyn.

Sighing, she turned her eyes back to the remaining eggs. Ce'lie was almost positive now that there would be no more female chromatic riders from this clutch and didn't bother concealing her disappointment from V'riy. She folded her arms, determined to wait out the last few eggs anyway. She had to keep V'riy company while he watched over Arddra. The man was a bouncing ball of nervous energy beside her.

V'riy gave a sidelong glance to Ce'lie as she let out a quiet hiss beside him. He studied her face and realized quickly from her expression that she was less than pleased with the current results of the Hatching. He studied her for a long moment.

Her disappointment reminded him of how lonely it must be for her.  There were fewer female than male riders and the greenrider was always looking for new friends. The bronzerider felt a bit guilty about that, feeling somewhat responsible for her loneliness. V'riy had to admit that although he had made peace with his father's untimely passing quite awhile ago, even now he still found it hard to spend any extended period of time with Ce'lie. It reminded him too much of his father. He resolved to make more time for her in the future.

He quickly turned his head back to the Sands as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. One of the eggs was rocking back and forth. He watched Arddra's face as it cracked down the center and the small head of the blue dragonet emerged and slowly let out his breath as the hatchling made his way towards a young boy.

Next was a green, who headed toward a small group and stared for a few long moments at a young female Candidate. Something didn't quite fit for the young dragonet, who made a move for a male after considering the girl in front of her. Hmm. That was unusual, V'riy thought to himself. The green had made a beeline for the young girl.

The eggs were hatching!  It was a good thing too, the dragon's humming was beginning to rattle Ravana's bones.  That was the only thing she didn't like about hatchings, was that she vibrated as well. 

She still nearly bounced as she sat.  It was wonderful to see new dragons bursting their way into the world becasue for every dragon that impressed this day, two lives would begin.

Ravana leaned on Shanith, watching with bright eyes, repressing a chuckle when Aradissicath made her journey across the sands.  She moved like Ravana did, all awkward, clumsy grace.  Ravana liked the gold for that alone. 

She knocked into an egg and Ravana flinched, then relaxed finally, when she saw the hatchling make it into the world unscathed by having his egg knocked into by an irritated gold. 

As more eggs hatched after a lull, Ravana watched, nearly cheering as one green beelined for Indivara.  The Impression wasn't to be though and Ravana sighed.  Was she truly amoung the last of her kind?

She was no idiot.  She knew she was considered living proof of why a female shouldn't be allowed to impress a fighter.  It was proven out every damn wing practice.  She was barely adequate, mostly through a dint of D'hys's hard work but she still screwed up.  Often.  Now, a green had been staring right at Indivara and hadn't chosen her.

There had to be girls out there that would make competent riders for a fighter, right?  Where were the girls like that?  She knew that a fighter could impress from the sands if they were determined to have a girl, but...she also knew girls were being encouraged to not want the life of a fighter.

Enough.  It is a good day, it is raining and there will be no more thoughts of depressing things.  She paused, nudged her rider's shoulders.  Today is a happy day.  Sweeping away the beginnings of the worry that was touching her rider's mind, the green added, cheerfully.  Look!  Aradissicath made dragon print puddles in the sands!

Cheerful mood restored, Ravana bounced, a grin touching her lips as she saw indeed that the gold had made dragon track shaped puddles.  "T'ken, look at hte puddles!  Dragon tracks!" 

The brown weyrling rolled his eyes, Ravana shaking her head as he did.  Simple pleasures.  That was the key.  Too bad she forgot it so often, hmmm?

Honey Is A Meany Warning: You’ve Been Warned.

---

A shriek cut through the air, the sound high pitched and obviously juvenile, it shattered through the gathered individuals with blood curdling clarity. Attention flared from those watching, eyes searching for the source of such a terrible sound during such a wonderful event – and all eyes eventually landed upon what was once the contents of the Experience egg, the tiny Green dragonet a tangled pile next to her shells. With her wings all bent and tangled up under herself and stains of green ichor, it was clear that it was no laughing matter. Another scream was released from her tiny muzzle before she flopped helplessly.

How and when the Experience Green had hatched was anyone’s guess, attentions at the time having been firmly captured by the other dragonets. It was clear she wasn’t going to be able to find her bonded without said bonded’s help, however, and glances were exchanged all around as everyone seemed to be waiting for everyone else to take action and assist the little thing. As another pitiful whine was released, the Remembrance egg seemed to feel the time was right, and the egg toppled sideways, rocking heavily against the tangled body of the little Experience dragonet. That seemed to be the final straw for several candidates as steps forward were taken by boy and girl alike in a rush to assist.

One young man pushed the Remembrance egg sideways, yelping when it crumpled under his hands and the Green dragonet within went sprawling and he had to do some rather interesting acrobatics to avoid landing atop her. Another young man was helping the Experience Green to untangle. His reward for his assistance was getting hit in the face with her tail as she stumbled to her feet, shaking herself out before mewing in pain as one wing refused to respond properly. A close look revealed it was set at an awkward angle, bleeding and clearly swelling; the wing was broken. Even as that fact was noticed by most, a young man who hadn’t been paying nearly enough attention, suddenly yelped in pain before turning and stumbling to the little green, collapsing at her head and calling dramatically for help.

Shaking herself regally, the Remembrance Green picked herself up from her tumble and looked around with wide eyes, focusing on her damaged sister for several moments. A questioning mew was uttered, her head tilting slightly to one side as she watched the people frantically trying to help the other green. It was all very strange! But there were other things to attend to, like finding her own lifemate so her stomach could be filled! Almost skipping – as much as a gangly and awkward dragonet can skip – the little Green flounced off towards the outskirts, ignoring the far-too-serious folks that had gathered to help her sister. They were boring!

Her partner was found near the girls; a young boy who had been standing with his sister. The little green crooned with delight as she bounced over and twined around his legs with a purring rumble before snorting at his sister indignantly when the girl tried to pet her nose. While the youngster alternated between edging his dragonet away and looking apologetically at his sister, the last of the main clutch seemed to feel the world was ready for entering – with very little fanfare and a whole lot of dignified movements, the Majority egg released its contents. The Green dragonet struggled free with her nose in the air and a casual air surrounding her.

Looking around regally, Majority Green seemed to consider her options for a few moments before turning completely around and following the Remembrance Green to where she’d picked from the quieter out skirting candidates. Her eyes a serious shade of concentration as she walked past three – four – young men, before finally coming across one that seemed to fit her needs. The youngster was on the tail end of candidacy age, a Weyrbrat just barely old enough to Stand. Nodding to herself, the Majority green Impressed without fanfare and hummed happily to herself as the startled youngster took her to where she could be fed.

With the last of the babies from the main clutch Impressing – expectant eyes turned upon the gold egg, which seemed to be frozen under the watchful gaze of so many people…

---

Experience - TAGreen02 to TAMale07 *this dragonet will come with a gimpy wing, and will not be able to fly properly despite healers best attempts to fix it; her youth and swift growth means it can’t be bound properly and it grows badly. Her flights will be short, and painful, assuming she makes it through Weyrlinghood.

Remembrance – TAGreen03 to TAMale08 *this young man should be aged 12-13 at Impression, is Katilan bred, and has an elder sister.

Majority – TAGreen04 to TAMale09 *this young man should be aged 12 at Impression, and is Katilan bred.

The Hatching took a turn for the slower briefly after she saw the first wave of Impressions. She took the brief interlude to catch her breath, surprised how quickly it had all happened. Almost half the clutch had already happened! Still, there was more to come, and she found her attention focusing as the sound of shredding egg shards begin to fill the air once again.

It seemed like the eggs were intent on going almost all at once. Some of the eggs were quiet, others made their entrance into the world with a loud announcement. She watched a blue come forward, finding his bonded after a little poking around. A green followed, wandering to a female before pausing and then turning, and connecting to another boy. She let out a soft sigh, sad to see that a girl had missed the opportunity, but glad the Green had found someone who could be a good match for her.

At that moment, another three Greens made it clear it was time for them. One let out an unearthly screech, and she turned, seeing her all tangled up in her egg shards and wings. She began to move towards the green, ignoring the fact that there were others who could do that, but several males got to her first, and she found her other half among those who helped her. She slowly eased back with the gold candidates, continuing to watch warily.

The other two greens seemed to know fairly quickly who they wanted - she was pleasantly surprised to see them both choose younger boys. So people their age DID have a chance! It would be a little rough on them while they learned to adjust, but she was willing to bet they would make great riders.

That left the last egg, and the one she was meant to be up here for - the Gold egg. She nervously switched back, suddenly missing Quenym all the more. He wasn't going to Impress at this point; she still hadn't seen him anyway. She shifted back, and held her gaze steadily on the Queen egg, waiting to see what would happen next.

Arddra watched in surprise as a very pregnant Aradissicath strolled out of the hatching circuit in what Arddra could only call a huff. It seemed the gold didn't like all the people around in her current state. Without realizing it she scanned the gathered dragonriders wondering if Weyrleader S'kef was watching the hatching.

The sound of shattering eggshells drew her attention away from the crowd and back onto the eggs. It didn't take long for Arddra to spot the egg which the departing gold had disturbed has hatched out a bronze. Soon the dragonet found his life mate and they trotted off to where food was waiting.

Suddenly there was a blue dragon among the girls and it sniffed one before trundling off towards the boys. Arddra exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath when the blue dragonet came towards the female Candidates.

Glancing towards the gold Arddra wondered when it will start showing signs of hatching. It also seemed the few eggs remaining were also taking their time to hatch. Arddra shifted her feet, the heat of the sands making it through the sandals she was wearing and making her feet uncomfortable.

Just as she was thinking the remaining eggs were all duds, two more eggs started to rock and soon another blue and green dragonet had broken free and found their lifemate. No girls were Impressed to the fighting dragons which suited Arddra fine. She felt golds were for women and the rest for men though she didn't begrudge those women who did end up with chromatic dragons. SHe had been to enough hatchings to realize the dragonets do the choosing.

With so few eggs left, Arddra focused her attention on the gold egg, willing it to start rocking. Her concentration was shattered when she heard a shriek. Turning towards the sound she spotted a green dragonet all twisted up in her shell and in her struggles damaged her wing. It was a dreadful sight, causing Arddra to bring a hand to her mouth.

"Oh poor thing..oh don't be too badly hurt..don't go Between," Arddra said softy, watching as two boys rushed forward to help the poor dragonet. She also noticed Casa heading in that direction then stopped when it was clear the closer boys were helping. Feeling unsettled by both the dragonets painful cries and the injury to it's wing, Arddra looked to where she had spotted V'riy. A part of her wanted to go to him and just feel his touch but  she knew that wouldn't be possible right now.

Taking a deep breath, Arddra did her best to block her mind from the sympathetic pain she felt for the poor green and focused on the remaining eggs. This was when she noticed two other eggs had hatched and produced greens, leaving only the gold egg left to hatch. Once again she took a deep breath and let ot out slowly, calming herself and doing her best to present herself as the best candidate for the gold. There still was a little doubt in her however, that she would Impress this hatching but she had plenty of hope she will.

When the eggs began rocking and hatching again, revealing greens, and an injured one at that, V'riy tensed against Morith, reading to jump onto the Hatching grounds at the slightest indication of trouble. He knew all too well what could go bad at Hatchings and would save Arddra from it at any cost.

Luckily, the wounded dragonet was aided by several quick thinking candidates on the sands. V'riy could hear Arddra calling to the injured baby green to not go between and it brought a smile to his face. She was so .. tender.. in her ways. The new green was able to get to her feet and Impression was made.

V'riy scanned the sands before him. Only the gold was left. This was the moment he was going to find both exhilirating and dreadful to behold. Gold dragonets could be cruel in their handling of the female candidates and he hoped that Arddra was prepared if such a thing were to happen... if that kind of queen hatchling were to happen. All he knew was that he was ready. He raised his hand at Arddra and smiled warmly in encouragement.

If she's not for you, be ready to move away... quickly, the bronze dragon cautioned the girl while attempting to bolster her courage with his warmth. Move quickly, be ready. We don't want any scratches on you, the dragon joked, rumbling softly next to V'riy.

V'riy send a grateful thanks to his big bronze friend. Well then..Nothing to do now but wait it out, the bronzerider thought, reading to spring into action at the slightest hint of danger to Arddra. Perhaps he was being overprotective, but he didn't care.

Ceilidhe was muttering under her breath by now.

"Green... male.... green... male... green... male.... green male! I might as well just make it one word," the rider muttered to herself, her voice low enough that none but V'riy could here. He smiled at her sympathetically but she shrugged and rolled her eyes, making a joke out of it. Deep down, she was disappointed, of course she was. But there was nothing she could do about it. She felt badly for the injured green but there was nothing for her to do about it so she just watched the pair slowly exit from the sands.

When Thread returned, Ceilidhe had no doubt it would be an advantage to the Weyr to have strong, capable male fighters that could lead their dragons to sear Thread from the skies and protect Pern once again. It was just a shame that so many women weren't as serious about the fighting part as they were about the flighting part! Ceilidhe was sure that was part of the reason that the blues and greens passed over many of the females. They must be able to sense it. She had once heard talk from a young female candidate that the only reason she wanted green was for "frequent flights" - at this point in the conversation the girl collapsed in a fit of giggling.

Ce'lie had been glad when that girl had not impressed one at the Hatching. That kind of thinking might be fine for future a gold dragonrider, riding the female dragon that has the sole responsibility to breed... but for a fighter, you had to be smart. Dedicated. And better than your peers, much better.. because they were almost all men.

The greenrider blinked as she came back to the present and scanned the sands once again. It looked like the only one left was the gold egg. She grabbed V'riy's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She dropped her voice to a whisper and said, "Everything will be fine... stop bouncing like that. Relax. If Arddra sees you bopping all over the place she's going to worry."

[Twilirth] Yes, calm down. You look rediculous. Be at peace, we are also here to help if needed. [/twilirth]

"Thank you..." V'riy said softly to the green, a touch of surprise in his voice. "That means a lot to me."

The two dragons and their riders turned their eyes on the sands again, awaiting the inevitable.

Contents of this post could be considered gory.
Please keep what you read out of the cbox until everyone has had a chance to read it!

---

One would be hard pressed to say that any of Indivara’s more positive traits consisted of patience; while the girl could be patient, she was far more prone to outburst, and prideful acts created by the heat of the moment. The girl certainly wasn’t someone to sit back and let the world wander past her, nor was she one to sit around waiting all year for eggs to hatch. A loudly obnoxious huff was given by the young woman as she glared pointedly at the gold egg, which was still just sitting there. Honestly! She had chores to attend to and a life to live and she really didn’t want to waste the remainder of the delightfully stormy day staring vaguely at a stupid egg.

“This is stupid,” Indivara ground out, her voice modulated enough for Jada to hear without really informing the entire crowd about her thoughts. The gold egg hadn’t so much as twitched and if the little bitch wanted to be the centre of attention when she hatched, she was certainly going to achieve it at this rate! Everyone was waiting on her, and Indivara was pleased to see she wasn’t the only one that was far from thrilled by being made to wait. She could see some of the womenfolk leaving on pretence (in her opinion) of needing to tend to children and the girl wondered vaguely if she could use Varlea as an excuse. Probably not; better to use Ryvian. He was an over grown child at any rate, sulking back in his hut. Stupid.

“Aradissicath had the right of it!” Indivara didn’t bother to modulate her voice that time, the words coming out both clear and determined as she flicked the sheet of long dark hair back over her shoulders and marched across the sands to where the women were surrounding the gold egg. She threw off one hand that seemed as if it might stop her with a twist of her shoulder, and stopped right before the egg. A heated glare was given to it for just a breath, before Indivara reached out and knocked firmly on the shell, mouth opening to call out a sarcastic ‘knock knock’, she was taken vastly by surprise when the entire shell crumped under her touch, the shell brittle.

Indivara was the first to scream, the sound high pitched with shock and horror, but she was hardly the only one. The shell, brittle and unhealthy, crumpled under the sudden pressure of Indivara’s knuckles to collapse inwards on itself, before rushing outward with the flow of foul smelling liquid that had been within the shell, a tidal wave of gunk ridden by the half formed body of the dead dragonet. It landed with a hushed slither on the toes of Indivara’s shoes, and the girl’s entire body jerked with a sickening heave. How she managed not to puke was anyone’s guess; Indivara scrabbled backwards with a distressed mew, elbowing someone as she moved.

The world sounded muted in her shocked ears, but even so, Indivara could hear Krypth screeching and the sounds of girls heaving and screaming. The thick, rotten smell was heavy on the air and Indivara’s eyes watered from it as she scrabbled backwards more, escaping the group of gold candidates she’d joined in order to knock against the golden shell. Why was it dead? Hadn’t it been rocking earlier? Hadn’t the girl’s Touched it just last week? Surely it—Bile rose and Indivara barely scrabbled aside before puking up her lunch, not bothering to make sure her long hair would stay out of the muck. What if she’d been the one that killed the little gold dragon?!

Despite the ridiculousness of such a thought, Indivara’s skin crawled and she wiped a hand over her mouth as she realised someone had pulled her hair back for her. Looking up with a fierce, ready-to-fight expression, Indivara was both shocked and relieved by who it was she saw, her walls almost crumbling – almost – as relief fluttered through her and Indivara threw her arms around V’ler, and buried her face against his chest; only to see the vision of the dead dragonet sliding free against the back of her eyelids.

---

Yes. Honey is a terrible, horrible person. She makes no apologies for that :P

Thread dating is officially 'unlocked' now.

Casa waited, perhaps a smidge impatient, as the gold egg seemed to just rest there, still. It was unusual that it wasn't rocking...maybe it was getting ready to push out into the world with one big force? She'd seen a bunch of dragons do that before, so there was a good chance that was it. But the longer she waited, the more worried she got. What was going on? Why wasn't the dragonet coming out to find the person it was meant to be with?

It seemed her impatience however, was nowhere near as bad as Indivara's. Her eyes widened when the girl pushed her way up, her snotty comments loud enough to be heard by everyone. Not only was she not really meant to be up here - talking disrespectfully to a Gold rider? Testing the mother of the Clutch like that? - but then she went on to TOUCH the gold egg? Casa couldn't believe her eyes. She instantly worried about how severe of a punishment might come down on Indivara, now or in the near future.

This thought quickly left her head when the egg crumpled to nothingness. She stared in utter shock for about three seconds before she shuddered, hand against her mouth as her eyes were met with the horror therein. The half-formed rotten corpse of the gold dragon stared back up at her, and she found herself unable to move, unable to look away. The vision was seared into her head, and she stared back emptily, fighting the urge to throw up as the smell wafted up at her.

Indivara seemed to break the spell when she elbowed Casa out of the way, and the smaller girl tumbled backwards. Blinking, the smell hit her a second time, and she gagged, scuttling backwards and as far away from the disgusting sight as she could manage. She ended up on the other side of the Circuit, leaning against a wall and hyperventilating as she tried to clear the awful scent from her sinuses, her head turned away from the horror happening just beyond her.

She sat against the wall, eyes turned to stare instead at the hot sand that was beginning to burn her where she had landed when she finally stopped moving. It took a couple minutes, but she managed to fight down the bile that rose to burn at the back of her throat. After she had control of her stomach, she slowly stood up, refusing to turn back around, refusing to see the sad and twisted sight of the failed dragonet. Why hadn't it formed? Why was it dead?

These thoughts raced through her mind, and she instead went over to the crowd, careful to keep her eyes averted lest it cause her to start wanting to puke again. Shaking badly, she managed to work her way up to where O'wain was, crawling into his lap and leaning against him. A single tear slid down her cheek as she realized her first Standing as a candidate was an utter failure, guilt riding up in her as she sat there, trying not to tremble like a leaf, unable to do anything else.

The warm velvet of Morith's voice in her mind caused Arddra to smile. She turned to look over at the bronze and gave a thumbs up gesture to assure both she was ready. Turning back to the egg Arddra really hoped the gold inside was meant for her. If she did Impress she hoped it wouldn't affect her friendship with V'riy as she valued it greatly.

Turning her attention back to the motionless gold egg, Arddra wondered why it was taking so long to hatch. In all the past Hatchings she had been part of she was certain no egg took so long to hatch, gold or otherwise. A thought entered her mind, 'what if it didn't hatch?' She had heard some eggs didn't hatch but those were always described as unusually small eggs and never did she hear of a gold egg not hatching. Pushing the doubts aside, she continued to stand patiently with the other girls. It wasn't like she had any other matters to worry about, other than her recently hatched firelizard's next feeding time. Well if the egg didn't hatch by the time she needed to take care of her firelizards she will leave. Otherwise the firelizards were likely to come to her keening their hunger.

She suddenly heard a woman's voice loudly stating the gold who had left had the right of it. Arddra turned to see Indivara impatiently pushing through the gathered gold candidates to get to the egg. Arddra frowned, thinking the woman was rather rude.

"There's no need to be so rude, Indivara," Arddra told her firmly, reaching out a hand to stop the girl from plowing her way to the egg like she had the right. The younger woman twisted away before her hand could even touch her and before Arddra could do anything else, Indivara was knocking on the egg.

What happened next was something Arddra never expected. The egg crumbled into a foul smelling gooy mess with a half formed body of the occupant washing onto the sands. With reflexes she didn't know she had, Arddra jumped well clear of the rush of foul fluids and backed away from the entire scene, hands covering her face to block out the smell.

It was a horrid smell and it caused her to gag. Unfortunately this wasn't her first counter with the smell of rancid decay and death. It smelled quite close to the stench that filled her room up north when her husband was sick and feverish from what could only be be a terrible case of infection.

The horror of having the only gold dragon of this clutch die in the shell caused Arddra to want only one thing, to get away from it. Turning she ran to the only comfort she could find in this place. Without a backwards glance she ran straight for V'riy and wrapped her arms around him.