One egg gently rocked, and then another. Malvayth was sure she saw it this time and that made her shift her weight and pace around even more anxiously. Her babies were hatching! But that meant more candidates would come and she still wanted to keep them safe, but she also wanted them to find their mates and be happy... but what if it was still too early? Another wobble from another egg had her anxiously calling out to Cazan. [Malvayth]The eggs! They're moving![/malvayth]

Cazan sat bolt upright in bed. "What?" [malvayth]The eggs are moving,[/malvayth] Mal repeated slightly more calmly as she stared at her precious remaining eggs. Caz cursed as she reached over to gently shake T'ryn in case he hadn't already woken up. "Mal thinks the eggs are hatching." Double check with Aradissicath. The last thing she wanted to do was wake everyone up too early. She climbed out of bed and started to clumsily rush through getting dressed, cursing her belly for getting in the way of even this basic task.

[Malvayth]You shouldn't curse at your eggs.[/Malvayth] Did you tell Aradissicath yet? [malvayth]Yes, she is here.[/malvayth] Malvayth looked to her mother who had joined her on the Sands and then back to the eggs. There was another little wobble. Another shake. The older gold agreed it was time. Cazan didn't need to wait for Mal to confirm, instead further rushing to finish pulling on her coat and taking a look outside. It was in the dead of night, but the sky was clear enough that the stars above illuminated the blanket of snow on the ground well enough. At least it wasn't storming.

"Lady," no sooner had Cazan said her name when the gold firelizard hopped onto her shoulder. She scribbled down a quick note for Yfris to let him know the Hatching was starting and that T'ryn would be by to pick him up soon and slipped it into a little pouch for Lady to carry. She pictured her husband as clearly as she could as she spoke, "Go find Yfris." Lady chirped and eagerly took off on her task. Sir let out a small growl as he felt left out, moving to perch on Cazan's newly vacated shoulder. She gave him a quick scratch to the head before wrapping her arms around T'ryn's neck for a kiss (which earned him a grumpy hiss from Sir). "I sent Lady ahead so hopefully Yfris will be ready for you. I love you."

After one last squeeze of her mate's hand Cazan went to talk to the Weyrwoman to help with whatever else needed to happen. Once that was done, she left to go check on Malvayth who was now humming and sitting as serenely as she could be in the appropriate space for a gold watching over her clutch during a Hatching. And yet Caz could feel just how anxious and irritated her dragon was at the thought of a crowd of people watching and a bunch of candidates back on the Sands for her precious babies.

Cazan went to go give her gold a comforting pat. "I'm sure Yanth will be here soon to keep you company and help you make sure your babies are safe. T'ryn and Yfris will be coming too, so you get to have some of your favorite people all here to support your babies. Just remember we need to let the candidates in so that your babies can find their mates okay?" She was still soothing the gold as people started to arrive.

[spoiler=OOC info]
Cazan was woken up around 1am, people were informed shortly after, and the eggs will begin hatching at 3am.

Everyone is welcome to come watch! If you’re only watching, please go directly to the stands, do not linger on the Sands or approach the Candidates. Candidates, you can go right onto the Sands and form up around the eggs and settle in for some waiting.

Candidates:
- Will have been told to wear shoes! Sturdy shoes to save their feet from the heat and standing for so long.
- Be in Candidate robes that more or less fit them.
- Will have hair pulled back in a pony-tail or a braid. In addition, there will be no jewellery, belt, sash, or anything ‘extra’. Don’t want anything to get tugged on and cause an injury.
- Malvayth loves firelizards in day to day life but she's become much more protective of her eggs. Firelizards will be allowed in but they must stay with the humans in the stands or up with the dragons on the ledges. If they go near the eggs or Candidates, they may not live to brag about it.

On honorifics – it is SP canon that the dragon picks the honorific. They might pick something their rider likes, something they do not, or whatever. They will usually pluck the name from their rider’s mind, so it is likely that said rider will like their name, or have ‘pre picked’ it on some level subconsciously prior to Impression.

Once Impressed, please move through the following:
- Move dragonet to the sidelines and feed it
- Slap oil on any particularly dry spots
- Head to the Barracks to get some rest. Emotions are exhausting.

PC Impressions will have their dragonet posted on their Candidate Application or sent via Discord! This will let you see your baby before anyone else!

Remember: NO SPOILERS. If you want to talk spoilers, keep it to the Hatching Spoilers channel in Discord.
[/spoiler]

At this point, T'ryn shouldn't have been surprised by the timing of the eggs. Hatchings seemed to always be at odd hours or in bad weather and then add in that these ones were due days ago and you still got a tired and slightly grumpy bronzerider. He had been comfy and warm and asleep but as much as he wanted to give back in to the desire to sleep, T'ryn wasn't going to miss Malvayth's big day. She was stressed as it was which was only feeding into Cazan's mood for an endless loop.

He dressed quickly and joined Cazan on the ledge to see the clear skies. Good. He didn't want another friend getting injured like B'kit. He smiled into the kiss, still confused at how he was so lucky to have Cazan want him. "I love you, too. I'll be back as soon as I can get your lazy husband out of bed. And don't get any ideas about us and beds!" He laughed as he went to grab Syrendryth's gear.

It surprisingly didn't take long to get Yfris moving thanks to Lady being a persistent messenger and the hour in that region. T'ryn suspected Yfris hadn't even slept yet but it did take several minutes to help the lordling pick out an appropriate outfit. T'ryn didn't see the big deal but after a dramatic explanation from Yfris, it made sense. He wasn't just representing Misty Hold anymore but also Katz Field and Cazan.

Eventually he got them back to the Weyr, Syrendryth heading up to a ledge to watch--despite it being Malvayth's clutch, he always enjoyed Hatchings--and T'ryn escorted Yfris to a spot along the first row of benches nearest to Malvayth and Cazan, calling out a greeting to the dragon so she knew for certain they were there for her.

Yfris had indeed still been awake when Lady appeared with the message. He'd been enjoying a night cap and was thankful he hadn't been entertaining anyone or high on some thing or another. By the time the sexy blonde entered his room, Yfris was tossing clothes around trying to find the perfect outfit and explaining why it was important. He wasn't just a pretty face! Yfris did pay attention and knew when and how to behave. This was one of those times, even if it would be dead of night and a Weyr event. It was important to Cazan so it was important to him.

When they arrived at the Hatching, Yfris noted a lot of sleepy faces and wondered why they weren't pouring coffee down the throats of the Candidates. Maybe it was some traditional thing. He'd ask later. Maybe. For now he followed T'ryn, taking in all the sights. He'd been to only one other Hatching and that was the Weyrwoman's first one at Fort. It had been a fun experience and Yfris appreciated the party afterwards but he hadn't been inclined to attend again. He supposed they would be a more frequent event in his life now and he quietly took mental notes lest someone call him out for doing some form of studying.

He joined in waving to the gold pair when T'ryn caught their attention but didn't go down to see them since the bronzerider wasn't. He knew protocol better in this case so Yfris would do as T'ryn did. He'd be able to see Cazan afterwards and check in with her then.

N’mor gave a tired groan as he felt little feet of a firelizard pattering across his back, and the tiny claws digging into his spine. “Go ‘way,” he hissed, extracting his arm from under Z’rin so he could wave it half heartedly at the beast. It ignored him, and N’mor groaned again as he rolled over onto his back and glared at the lizard through the darkness. It had a letter attached to it, and N’mor glared as he took it; the little fucker vanished a moment later, so at least whomever had sent the note didn’t expect a response.

Tempted as he was to toss it aside and go back to sleep, N’mor put the note in his mouth and fumbled around on the bedside table for the lightstone that was hidden there… somewhere… there! Soft light flooded the area, and N’mor murmured an apology when Z’rin grumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Blinking as his eyes got used to the light, N’mor recognised the handwriting but his sleepy brain refused to make the connection as he read the hastily scrawled note. N’mor sighed in exasperation.

Tossing the letter and the stone back onto the bedside table, N’mor rolled over to Z’rin and ran his hand soothingly up and down his mate’s arm until he was semi-awake. “Fort is Hatching,” he said softly, brushing a kiss against Z’rin’s jaw under his ear. “Do you want to come?” N’mor grinned impishly at the way that seemed to awaken his lover, a soft laugh breaking free before he could stop it. “You’re funny,” he teased, pressing a kiss to Z’rin’s lips before rolling out of bed and swearing when his feet hit cold stone.

It didn’t take long to get ready, or rouse his dragon who enjoyed Hatchings – probably more than N’mor did – and get him strapped up. Then it was just a bit of air, a pop between and they were in the clear skies above Fort. N’mor breathed in the frosty night air and enjoyed the lazy decent as Rhezalth greeted the watch dragon and then a few other friends as they appeared. Dropping N’mor off, Rhezalth went to find a comfortable spot to watch, leaving N’mor to make his way through the sizable crowd. Glancing around, he spotted T’ryn and lead Z’rin in that direction.

“Hey T!” It had been a little while since they’d gotten the chance to catch up, which made N’mor a bit sad, but he was at least reassured by the easy familiarity of their friendship. “How much longer until Cazan pops?” he asked with a smirk, leaning subtly into Z’rin. He was rarely too obvious about their relationship in public, but certainly not when there were Holders around to cast judgement or for him to dishonour the bronzerider reputation or some such crap. His gaze shifted to the Holder beside T’ryn, and he raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t pull any punches when you picked that outfit.”

After talking with L'gan, Eb'zer, and even B'kit and Erebuth when he was alone with them during a check up, Narinoa came to the conclusion that he should keep Standing. Having a dragon of his own would give him more insight to how bonds work and the pain that passed through them while working on a dragon patient. His dragon would be able to help him understand so much more and Narinoa didn't mind the idea of help on the mental side, someone to keep him grounded and focused.

Now he just needed to Impress. He was short on time but if it was meant to be, it would happen. If not, he would still be trained in what they knew of dragon healing and would assist in research and healing any injuries he could help with.

Even with his newfound enthusiasm and clarity, Narinoa was surprised to see he was one of the first Candidates to head out the door. The hour likely wasn't agreeing with many and it wouldn't have with him either if he hadn't stopped taking all forms of drugs after the last Hatching. He needed to be clean, easy to wake, and ready to attend to Erebuth if needed and now he had his passion for healing beasts back.

He didn't bundle up for the short dash to the Sands but sighed in relief when the warmth of the cavern hit him. He found a good spot to stand, eyeing Malvayth up for only a moment before fixing the ribbon holding some of his hair back. Unlike some, Narinoa didn't hold Malvayth's actions against her. She was a mother protecting her young and lashed out before thinking. It sucked but it was a learning moment for everyone. The gold seemed to be doing better that day which was just as important as seeing the babies Impress in his mind.

Despite the late hour, Casa was still awake. She’d spent most of the evening bogged down in absolutely hideously boring Weyrwoman work; she was convinced her Weyrleader did absolutely nothing, palming off as much as he could onto her. Which she preferred to be in control of most of, well, everything, but that didn’t mean she always had to enjoy it! She would have preferred to invite a lover over, or arrange to see Azrin or. Anything. Even pulling teeth out sounded preferable to reviewing numbers and ugh.

When she’d finished that, she’d been exhausted but not tired. So she’d decided to work on perfecting a brew Azrin had taught her that would prevent her from getting pregnant. She hadn’t told him yet that a quick trip between would fix that issue, since it wasn’t something that had come up in the conversation. But the brew was useful, and didn’t taste awful, though she wasn’t convinced the last batch had been made properly. Thus, she was humming to herself as she moved lazily around her little kitchen, tossing another log on the fire and making sure the water was ready when a firelizard appeared. Casa blinked at it.

“Can I help you?” She asked it, a bit tartly, before noticing it was carrying a letter. She took it from the creature, and was satisfied when it vanished. While she didn’t hate the creatures, she didn’t really enjoy them popping into her weyr whenever they felt like it. “Oh! Thally! Wake up!” She felt her dragon’s grumbling and tired emotions even as she heard the little gold moving around and yawning where she was curled up on her couch. [Thallyath]What? I was having a good dream. Why aren’t you asleep?[/Thallyath] Casa laughed softly, and rolled her eyes.

“Fort is Hatching and we got an invite.”
[Thallyath]Of course we did. We’re quite important you know.[/Thallyath]
“So you keep telling me.” Casa laughed again, and moved to her bedroom to get changed into appropriate clothing. A winter gown and warm pants hidden underneath were climbed into, and then she geared up Thallyath and with a last check over them both, mounted up and made the jump to Fort. The pair appeared and Thallyath made her greetings before circling lower until she could land and let Casa off. Once her rider was making her way inside on foot, Thallyath moved to find a suitable perch for herself, squeezing in between two bronzes.

Casa looked around with interest half wondering where would be most appropriate for her to set herself and if it mattered. It probably did, but in the end she decided to simply wave a greeting to Rhaedalyn and R’nya, flash a smile at Cazan, and settle herself down in a front row position where she could watch the Hatching with her usual enthusiasm. If anyone wanted to join her, she was more than happy to have company!

Despite speaking with Malvayth weeks ago and promising her he would Stand for her clutch, Quinvalis was a ball of nerves now that the moment was upon him. He couldn't do this. How could he go back out there after nearly dying last time? The events at the Hatching barely registered in his mind, knowing Malvayth would never intentionally harm him or anyone if it wasn't for the death of one of her children. All the panic making him hyperventilate was from the memories of colliding with that little blue. He didn't even blame the dragon for the injuries but Quinvalis couldn't stop imagining how another hatchling would trample him.

His roommate was always surprisingly nice to him but never pushed him too far in socializing or even getting him to open up. He showed it again as he rubbed Quinvalis' back and told him everything would be fine. Smaller clutch and Malvayth was a friend, right? Quinvalis finally calmed enough and nodded, thanking his roommate--friend?--and told him he would be there soon.

It took a few more minutes after changing into the robe to gather his courage again. It was the first time wearing that hideous robe since it had been cut off of his unconscious body. It also showed his arms and Quinvalis wished he was brave enough to break the rules and wear a shirt underneath.

Finally he started the trek to the Sands, ignoring all looks real or imagined given to him. Panic tried to grip him when he saw the eggs but Quinvalis focused on his breathing and skirted around everyone to find a spot as close to Malvayth as was allowed. She promised to keep him safe and he was counting on that.

Cazelarias could think of about a million things he would rather be doing at some unnatural hour of the night. Things like sleeping and not being woken up by annoying miniature dragons that clawed at him until he stopped ignoring them, hoping the little things would go away. They didn’t. So when he’d pulled his head out from under his blankets, he came nose to nose with both of his twin’s little hellions and yelped. Then he’d found the note that said the eggs were Hatching and he heard the humming that was starting to get quite loud and he sighed. He sighed such a deep sigh he almost fell asleep again.

But no, he wasn’t allowed to sleep at night like a normal person. The firelizards wouldn’t let him and kept hassling him until he was up, and dressed, and following them obediently to the Hatching Grounds, as if they didn’t believe he could have found his own way there. He knew where the Hatching Grounds were! He spent enough time visiting Cazan there and trying valiantly to ignore her giant golden maneater that he was still not convinced wouldn’t eat him. Best to ignore her, and her attempts to talk to him and pretend to be invisible.

So, with his mind focused on not existing, Cazelarias found a seat as near his sister as he could, still shocked by how fat she was with her growing offspring (but wisely kept his mouth shut. He’d already been punched in the arm once for making a comment about it, and Cazan’s punches hurt!) and instead waved to her when their eyes met. Hi, I’m here. Now what? Was written all over his expression as he curled up on the seat and turned his attention from fat sister to wobbly eggs. So long as they all stayed away from him, he could survive this event and then go back to his wonderful bed. He missed his bed. Cazelarias sighed.

Mylorah was not happy as she aggressively braided her hair. This Hatching was the last place she wanted to be but she had made promises to several people that she would Stand despite her aversion to wanting to be a healer of any sort. She was also still mad at Cazan and Malvayth for how everything ended up during the Touching and that Fediletch was banned from the Hatching and a lot of future ones. All because he was trying to help and stop the stupid fight! She wasn’t going to forgive either of them for a while. She now had scared friends and siblings, a sad friend who didn’t even want to Stand now because he was convinced he didn’t deserve a dragon, and her brother’s mate couldn’t control her dragon or step up and ask for leniency for Fediletch.

At least it was a small clutch and her chances of Impressing in this horrible Weyr were slim. She pondered faking being sick but they’d likely just give her a bucket and send her out anyway. She’d Touched some eggs so she had to Stand. Fetch had Touched some as well! Every Hatching she saw more and more flaws with the tradition but it was nice getting a peek at the little ones hidden away from them.

With the braid finished, Mylorah wrapped it up in a bun and secured it in place. She hardly wore her hair in such a manner—sometimes for a party Tazikel invited her to when she wanted to look mature and proper—but it helped she felt it helped add to the glare she was going to level at Cazan as soon as she got in place. Once her boots were on, Mylorah sprinted over to the Sands, taking a moment to double check her laces were still nice and tight once she was inside. The amount of times she had to run or move around to keep herself or a friend out of the way was climbing far too much.

Speaking of that, she glanced around for Zelana and Zoremet and noted neither had arrived yet. She sighed. Zoremet wasn’t going to sleep in, was he? Surely an assistant or the owner of whichever bed he curled up in for cuddles would make sure he arrived in time? She’d make sure to collect the two to keep them close by. It was Zelly’s first Hatching and she knew her friend was nervous and she wanted to help ease that.

After she showed up and after Mylorah did her glaring. She turned her gaze on the gold pair she had forgotten in the moment and levelled her angriest look at them, not at all close to forgiving them for Fetch—even if her friend was too nice and felt he deserved it all. Glaring officially complete, she turned her back on them and kept an eye out for self-appointed charges, waving at other friends when they arrived.

She rolled over, groaning as she did so, the thrum of dragons humming seeming to vibrate her very bones. August had no idea what time it was but she knew she'd only been in bed for a short time. She slipped out of her bed and reached for her robes. A yawn cracked her jaw as she stripped out of bedclothes and into the white robe they were forced to wear. She never did understand why it made much of a difference. Maybe it helped the dragonets find them, she didn't know. Maybe she'd ask Helyna and Iliyith about it the next time she saw them. Another yawn and she shoved her feet into boots. Her hair was a simple thing, a high ponytail that swayed before she frowned and wrapped it around itself.

Her eyes scanned the crowds looking for Fediletch but she knew he wasn't supposed to be around the hatching. It still turned her lips down in a frown that the sweet boy couldn't even watch, he'd done a terrible thing but he hadn't meant to and August was fairly certain that Fetch didn't have a cruel or mean bone in his body. But.. She could understand Malvayth's demand too, she wasn't sure what she would do about a person who harmed her son even by accident. She sighed and moved to stand with the rest of the candidate hopefuls.

Sleep hadn’t come easily that night. Still on edge from the Touching, compounded by the thought itching at the back of her mind that maybe she shouldn’t have said anything that day after... Aederyn had been trying to offer some sort of feeling of connection to someone else outside of her rider, plus, Malvayth, usually so chipper and social, had worried about being seen as a monster, so she’d wanted to reassure her that she wasn’t... surely those weren’t bad things, right?

But every time she thought of it she worried that it hadn’t been the thing to do. Going to the grounds had seemed like the exact thing to do at the time, but with each passing day she’d felt more and more awkward about the whole exchange. Had she overstepped, however well intentioned it might have been? Had she ruined her chances of Impression if she’d inadvertently made Cazan or Malvayth uncomfortable? Had her effort to reach out been taken as obtuse?

The questions danced through her mind, taunting her during any idleness, so she’d thrown herself into work and chores for the past few days. But despite her efforts to distract and tire herself, it was in vain. After lights-out, she’d slept initially before waking at some fardling hour. Unable to get back to sleep, she decided to just get up and do something. Kneeling at her bedside and reaching underneath, she quietly pulled out Rudi’s message harness and made sure, again, that the letter was secured within. She was just pulling the sleeping fur back up under her chin when Rudi gave a small, sleepy chirp of curiosity and warning; someone was coming?

The next few minutes were a blur as glows were uncovered and the candidates were roused. She made quick work of robe, boots, and her hair, then rigged Rudi out in his harness, sending him out to Handsome and Alekse. She’d love for him to be there if she Impressed, and having his support if she didn’t would be nice, too. Skipping her warm outer robe as she’d have nowhere to put it once she got there, she dashed across the bowl to the hatching grounds, among the first of the candidates to arrive.

Thoughts of previous days seemed to melt away with the heat of the grounds, she smiled warmly at Malvayth and weaved her way around to a spot among the candidates roughly equidistant from the gold egg and the others. She’d be pleased with any dragon, and wanted to give herself any opportunity she could at Impressing. With watchful eyes going back and forth between the door, the eggs, and the queen, she waited.

Ulliendis muttered something impolite and mostly incomprehensible when someone shook him awake. He batted the hand away. Of course he had heard the loud screeching about a Hatching beginning but it was far too early and cold to get up. So he hadn’t. And then the shaking started. And continued. Rude! Fine, he’d get up!

He sat up in looked around bleary-eyed at all the commotion happening around him. Boys of all ages were running in every direction yelling about food or even baths while others looked just as tired as he felt but were putting on boots and hideous robes. Right—those robes. He had been given one after the Touching and Ulliendis laughed, thinking it was a great joke. It wasn’t. They actually wanted him in that horrible and rough fabric. Life in a Weyr was so tragic!

He ran a hand through his hair and decided that was also tragic and did his best to pat it down as he continued to wake up. Eventually he got himself out of his pyjamas and into that robe and worried he would break out in hives at any moment. He’d gotten a tad spoiled over the years and tailored clothes in finer fabric filled his chest of clothes at the foot of his bed. Instinctively Ulliendis reached for a necklace to help jazz it up a bit but remembered the rules and frowned. Weyr life was tragic and barbaric! But he went along with it, mostly because he was too tired for a debate.

As put together as he felt he could be given the circumstances, Ulliendis followed behind some Candidates that seemed to know what they were doing and joined in the jog from one slightly warm room to a much hotter one. This was the room to be in! They needed to have slumber parties in here. So toasty and so much space! Maybe he’d suggest that later on. First he had to survive his first Hatching.

Ulliendis glanced around, taking in the room he had seen before with the Touching but he’d been too nervous at the time to focus on more than making sure he didn’t trip and kill an egg since that was a thing that could apparently happen! He’d been assured by a lot of people that rampaging golds weren’t normal but he’d been in the Weyr at that time for about two weeks and had never attended a Hatching or read much about their histories before. He was working on a lot of trust but so far it hadn’t led him astray.

Orgailian laid in his cot as others rushed around him. He wasn’t in any hurry and not just because he didn’t want to get up. He may not Stand as regularly as others but he’d attended enough Standing or in the stands to know there would be time. It wasn’t always a guarantee that they would have an hour or more to wait but he was willing to risk it to avoid waiting around bored.

He didn’t even care one way or the other about the drama from the Touching. He hadn’t been in that group though a couple of siblings were. Everyone survived and the injured weren’t badly off. Sure, it sucked some guy his sister liked was banned but examples had to be made and he wasn’t going to hold a grudge over someone he didn’t know. Mylorah could be angry all she wanted but Orgailian didn’t care. He barely even knew Cazan anyway and didn’t expect her to bend over for him just because he was related to her mate.

A Candidate came over to him, no doubt trying to get him to move, and Orgailian silently flipped him off and the guy skittered off. He’d move when he was ready to. It wasn’t like he had to style his hair or do more than slip into the robe and tie up his shoes. It was tempting to drift back to sleep but even he didn’t want to push his luck with that. He was still somewhat on the fence about Impressing but he wasn’t going to do anything stupid to block his chances at it.

He took out his journal and decided he could start writing his thoughts that were drifting around in his mind and make notes about how others prepared for the Hatching. At one point when he looked up from the page to gather a thought, he was distracted by someone doing stretches. Was that a normal thing upon waking or was that part of their routine for a Hatching? To each their own, he supposed. He was the one journaling currently so in this one particular instance, he couldn’t judge.

Eventually he did get up and change, joining a small group of stragglers. They ran through the cold night but Orgailian took his time, using it as a way to help wake himself up further. He was definitely born for the hotter climates like Ista but a short blast of winter wouldn’t kill him. When he arrived, he saw family on the Sands and in the stands. He lifted a hand in acknowledgement to the family sitting down and meandered further inside finding a spot that wasn’t too crowded.

[Taith]Malvayth’s babies are hatching! Wake up, wake up, wake up![/Taith] Taith’s excited voice pierced through his conscious and Kor’is growled in annoyance, “I am, I am, I am.”

He rolled over, blanket going over his head as if that would help shut out Taith’s voice. He’d barely in bed, having stayed up to paint. The quiet of night was perfect for it and it was honestly surprising that he hadn’t still been awake when the announcement came. But since he was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to move.

[Taith]But it’s Malvayth and Cazan! You have to go![/Taith]

No, he really didn’t. Despite their odd relationship, Kor’is didn’t have to show his support for everything Cazan did. Honestly, it kind of was because of their hook ups that he didn’t want to go and ‘odd’ was perhaps too weak of a word. She was married to one man and mated to another which made him… the side side piece? Not that he cared since he wasn’t looking for anything serious with her or anyone. He also didn’t care what others thought about him and the situation.

[Taith]It seems like maybe you kind of do, Kor’is,[/Taith] Taith added softly and Kor’is sighed. Maybe a little but more because Cazan cared about… that wasn’t true either. She was very much like him that regard and didn’t care what people thought. Besides, it wasn’t like they were wearing big signs that said they were sleeping together sometimes. He was simply going because their dragons were friends.

“Just, don’t,” he snapped as he rolled out of bed, knowing Taith would try to bring logic further into it. Maybe he just didn’t want to get out of bed and maybe he didn’t really care for Hatchings. At least he couldn’t Impress again. “Shit, Mylo.” He’d been focusing so much on one lover that he forgot about the other. Damn, it was odd referring to multiple lovers. Cazan’s stupid theory about dragons making you horny and whores might have had weight to it after all.

When they finally glided down from their ledge, Taith gave an excited trill and greeted his sister before joining some friends on a ledge to lend his voice to the humming. Kor’is for his part just quietly hiked up the steps so he could sit in the last row of the stands away from everyone. He had a good view and found Mylorah but she wasn’t paying the crowd any attention at the moment. He also spotted T’ryn and Yfris but he didn’t want to join the Cazan fan club and stayed where he was.

Though he was curious about why T’ryn was suddenly jumping up and scurrying off to meet Syrendryth. Not too much time passed before his patience was rewarded and T’ryn returned with Tazikel. Kor’is gave a short laugh before composing himself.

Zelana had woken up before anyone else had to shake her just from hearing the commotion starting. Was it time? It was! She was filled with a mix of dread and excitement. She'd get to see the babies go and make their new friends up close, and maybe some of those friends would be her friends! And hopefully not her. She didn't want to stay here for too long after all. Fort was fine for visits, and now that she had another friend here those visits could be even more fun, but she really quite enjoyed the warmth of Ista. That and not having to go to Healer school was a huge bonus.

Still she got ready, making sure to leave all of her jewelry behind before pulling on the plain robe and some sturdy boots. It was hardly comfortable, and she considered for a moment if being naked would be better, but thinking about Quinvalis and his scars quickly chased that thought away. Hopefully he would still go even though he was afraid!

That was another reason to rush and get ready and get to the Sands, and Zelly braved the frigid night to rush into that blissful warmth to look around for him. She spotted him, standing just a little too close to the giant gold than she cared for, but she waved all the same in excitement. She spotted A'tay's sister after that and went to join the woman, trying to keep in a place where she could keep an eye on Quinvalis too. And now all she had to do was wait she supposed.

Corvilis groaned as he was shaken awake, pulling a pillow over his head as he batted the hand away. "I'm up! I'm up! Just give me a moment." But then his firelizards were hopping around on his back too and he groaned as he rolled over to shoo Sky and Fern off to the side. They had picked up on the overall excitement buzzing through the Weyr at the hatching and were eagerly trying to share too many images with him at once and he gently tried to sooth them until they calmed down. "You two can't come, okay? So you can hide out with your friends and watch, but stay away."

He thought back to the Touching, sending them both mental images of the angry gold as a reminder to reinforce the command. And since Corv was up now he might as well just get dressed. Not that he had any high hopes with how snotty the Fort eggs had been in general to him. Still, he should go and roll the dice, maybe Nari would Impress and he could celebrate with his friend. And speaking of friends, maybe B'kit would be feeling well enough to watch too.

That was the first thing he checked once he got to the Sands and made sure his firelizards were behaving. He didn't see the bluerider in attendance yet, but it was still early so things could change. Corvilis did spot Narinoa though and walked over to greet him. "Hey, think you'll get lucky this time?"

"Fuck," Zoremet cursed as he fell out of his cot. It had taken several attempts to rouse him from his sleep and when they finally did and he realized what was going on he was so startled that he got tangled in his blankets. A quick look around showed that he was running late, most of the candidates had already left. Fuck. He didn't bother trying to do anything with his hair, instead hastily pulling on his boots and streaking out into the cold as he finished pulling the robe over his head.

Fuck! At least the Sands were warm when he got there and he paused to take a long breath of relief to see that the eggs were still just gently wiggling instead and nothing had actually hatched yet. He adjusted his robe and quickly sent Pit off to go spend time with R'dal where it would be safer. Not that he thought anything bad was going to happen. He hoped.

Zory quickly scurried off to find his sister, stopping to give her and then Zelana quick hugs. "Sorry, I hope I'm not too late! I just had trouble waking up." He looked up at the gold and saw that Malvayth seemed... less angry? Maybe? It was hard to say really since she was a dragon, but she wasn't glaring too much, not trying to loom, just waiting there and not trying to hit people away with her tail or anything. So that was good news at least. He swallowed nervously and turned his attention to the eggs. Only twelve of them now, but at least it wasn't a giant daunting sea.

[Urudith]Wake up.[/Urudith] Urudith's words were backed up by the feeling of a firelizard pawing at his head. S'far grumbled and sat up, stretching before reaching over to his night stand to fumble around until he'd illuminated the room. Once the firelizard seemed sure he had his letter it vanished with a puff. Ah, so the Hatching was finally happening. He climbed up to his feet and got dressed, pulling on his clothes so that he could go attend. They had skipped the last one because Urudith did not want to bother with the storm and he couldn't blame the bronze, especially after that lightning strike business. But this one he'd attend to be neighborly and also to get a look at the gold pair that would be coming to Telgar soon.

As much as Urudith didn't want to admit it, he was curious about the new gold too. He'd heard plenty of stories to suggest she was an air headed fool, and while he was willing to cast initial judgement based off of those he did want to get a look for himself to decide. Not that he would be able to determine too much since he doubted he would be properly meeting her during the Hatching, but he could at least see how she conducted herself. So despite the cold and the late hour he didn't grumble or complain as S'far affixed his straps and they set off into the night.

Urudith announced their arrival over Fort before making his way to the Sands, dropping S'far off and finding a comfortable perch to watch from. He was trying to get an initial impression when a dainty gold squeezed in next to him. He slid over slightly to grant her a little more room as he nodded to her. [urudith]Thallyath and Casa are here as well.[/urudith] Oh that is nice. Maybe I'll say hi after the Hatching. Just try to be polite, old man. [urudith]Just don't embarrass us with puns.[/urudith] I will do my best not to get egg on my face.

S'far took a look around from his own seat in the stands, but didn't really feel compelled to go socialize. He was mostly here to observe after all and he was still a bit too groggy to be especially sociable. So far things seemed to be going just fine though.

At least K'dar hadn't yet fallen asleep when he got word that Malvayth's Hatching was starting. Hopefully Gangleri wouldn't be asleep yet either, but he would deal with that when he arrived in Fort to fetch him and his lady friend. "Tiber! We've got to go." The bronze grumpily stirred, giving his rider a baleful look. [tiberuth]That could have been our clutch you know, but you had to anger her.[/tiberuth] K'dar sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, we have to go be supportive and we also agreed to give people rides."

It wasn't long before they were both ready and in the sky over Fort Hold and landing as close to the Harper's home as they could so that K'dar could go fetch them. He was greeted at the door by Fret who gave him an irritated chirp before Gangleri appeared, bleary eyed and sleepy, to request that he come in and wait inside while they got ready.

At least it didn't take the two that long to get ready, and once they were bundled up and helped onto Tiberuth and hooked in to his straps they made the short jump to the Weyr. K'dar left them to their own devices, quickly spotting T'ryn and Yfris and going to sit with them. He plopped down next to the lordling with a grin, happy to see he could make it before he looked for his other siblings out on the Sands. Once he spotted Mylorah out there he gave her a frantic wave until she finally saw him and then settled down to keep an eye out for his other adopted siblings as well.

Fret was just so irate about something, some sort of intruder. A quick mental image showed it was just K'dar, so that was fine. Though it was a little late for a visit. Gangleri sat up on the couch, groaning as he trudged to the door to greet the man. "Oh... the Hatching... now? Yes, yes... well give us a moment to get ready, you can wait inside."

He knocked on the main bedroom door where Quilriana was staying, making sure he heard her voice before cracking it open and saying, "The Hatching is starting and K'dar is here. I'm going to go get ready and you should too." Hopefully she would wear the nice dress that Jav- no... that Mylorah had helped him pick out. But even if she didn't he was sure she'd be able to wear it some other time. Really what he truly hoped for most in the world was that there would be klah at the Hatching. Who had the audacity to try and be born at this hour anyway?

Babies in general, he supposed with a grump to himself as he sorted through his clothing to find something suitably dapper and appropriate for such an auspicious occasion. After all, Quil's son was Standing, and if he Impressed he wanted to look his best. And if he didn't, he still wanted to look his best since this was technically an event and dammit, he would never look bad for an event if he could help it.

Gangleri was still fussing over his accessories when Quilriana came and found him. He picked out a tie and was getting it properly knotted around his neck as they walked to meet K'dar for their trip. At least the trip was quick, even though it was far too cold for the finery that he wore, and soon enough he was offering Quilriana his arm so he could walk with her to the stands and find a suitable place to watch her boy. "Ah, is that him there? Should I shout something to catch his attention? Just wave? I don't really remember all of the rules for these, it's been... I'm not actually sure if I've been to one of these before now that I think about it."

L’gan groaned at the early hour, hiding his face in Sariel’s shoulder for a moment. Why were so many hatchings at such ungodly hours? Still, it didn’t take much for the two of them to rouse and get ready after years of training at the Healer Hall. Plus, thanks to Sariel’s night-owl habits they had a small pot of klah kept warm near the fire at most hours. Adding a little water to his, he drank the mug as he dressed quickly, waking up with each sip.

Tying back his hair, he stole a brief kiss from his mate, then turned to grab his kit and make sure everything was ready at the sands. He greeted Malvayth and Cazan politely from a distance, while Semath found a spot to watch from, then went over to the station the Healers had set up, checking in with the others and double-checking the supplies.

Semath was already humming along happily, eager to welcome the new babies from their shells. Hopefully this one would be quick; there weren’t many eggs, and he also hoped they would be in better shape than the other small clutch he’d attended.

She had been awake for some reason or another when the call came and slipped into her Hatching robe without much delay. Zahrah, not for the first nor the seventh time, wondered if her lifemate was out there. The gold hadn't been terribly receptive to her, so perhaps not.

They lined up, waiting. And when it was time, she greeted Cazan and Malvayth before settling in a spot on the Sands to wait for what might come, good or bad.

She did scan the arriving crowd as well, hoping to see familiar faces but right now was for Malvayth and Cazan's eggs. It was their time to shine.

Elloren woke at the first excited voice and carefully pulled on her catching robe. She was there and she hadn't had much time with the eggs themselves but maybe this what how it was meant to be this time. What with the terrible touching and nearly being slapped but Malvayth's tail, she hoped so much that it would be a good Hatching.

Even a quiet one, if there was a chance. But then again, quiet hatchings seemed fairly rare.

Mildly quiet, then.

Meryem had said she was going to the Hatching and she'd never gone back on her word, so she showed up, dressed in Haper blues, her eyes everywhere. She carried a sketchbook in case she found a moment she felt like using it. The unusual hour was a usual of hers, so she wasn't as sleepy as some might be.

There they were, all on the sands waiting for something to happen. Meryem had sat herself about at the middle of the pack of people now easing their way in. It afforded her a decent view, unblocked, of most of the proceedings.

That would do splendidlly.

It was the worst possible time for a hatching to start he was pretty sure. It was the middle of the damned night and Landen groaned as he fussed with his blankets. He thumped the bed a few times, legs kicking and body wiggling before Pie finally had enough and the blue scolded him harshly. "Fine," he muttered and got up. It didn't matter to him that he was one of the last to get up and shove his body into robes and feet into boots. Late night hatchings were terrible.

Pie settled neatly on his shoulder as the candidate made his way towards the hatching sands, sauntering with as much confidence as he always had and Landen's eyes wandered around the area. He saw Zoremet off with Zelana and the candidate grinned, maybe Zor did like big titted women and he just didn't know it. Landen was still chuckling when he tossed Pie up in the rafters of the sands and took his place.

Three brown firelizards dove and whirled about his head, chittering excitedly. Rudi and Shard each fought for a perch on his shoulder, bickering between the two of them, while Handsome scolded both of them from a safe distance. The two not belonging to him had each come with a note: The Hatching at Fort was under way!

Gathering Zarel in a blanket, he sent Handsome off to find their ride, who met them in the bowl. With a gentle shove, he helped settle the still-sleepy but slowly rousing girl up in front of the rider, while he settled in behind.

The ride there was easy, and the dragon and rider landed them daintily in the Bowl at Fort. Bidding the green and her rider thanks and determining where they’d meet the pair after the Hatching, Alekse yawned and stretched mightily, still trying to shake off his sleepiness. The two followed the growing crowd into the Hatching grounds, and Zarel, now wide awake, towed Alekse by the hand up toward some decent seats, close to an aisle so that they could have as unobstructed a view as possible without being in the front row.

Shushing their small fair of firelizards and warning them to behave, Alekse passed Shard over to Zarel, where the brown promptly curled himself around the girl’s neck, and the other two settled, one on each shoulder. All eyes of their little group scanned the sands below, eagerly watching and waiting.

Quilriana was relieved when the knock came and Gangleri told her the Hatching was starting. She had been quietly anxious, doing her best not to alert the brothers to her nerves, the last several days. She knew from all of the events in the past few years that the Hatching was roughly a week after the Touching but this one had gone days past that estimation. Now the moment was upon them and the nerves doubled and fear started to creep in.

Needing something to focus on, Quilriana took her time slipping into the dress Gangleri had bought for her. She’d tried her best to get him to return it, insisting she didn’t need anything and especially not something so lovely but he was stubborn when he wanted to be. She smoothed a hand down her front and then brushed out her hair, tying it at her neck to keep it free of her face and somewhat presentable.

As soon as she stepped out of the room and saw Gangleri all gussied up, she managed a smile and compliment for him before K’dar was whisking them off to the Weyr. They settled in and Quilriana laughed as she smacked his arm playfully. “Don’t you dare. You’ll embarrass, rules or not. But mostly you should keep quiet so you don’t startle the hatchlings.” They were already a bit unfocused and easily spooked. She didn’t want to think about what would happen with excess noise.

After Quinvalis finally glanced in their direction and Quilriana smiled and waved, mouthing she loved him and was proud of him, he looked away and she took a sobbing breath. “I’m scared, Gangleri. My baby nearly died a year ago and now he’s out there again.” She wouldn’t cry, however. Quinvalis needed her to be strong and she was determined to give him that.

Luckily, her son kept glancing toward someone and Quilriana tried her best to figure out which girl it was—because it was definitely a girl with that look. “Which girl do you think it is that has captured my son’s attention?” She was still worried but this mystery was a good distraction.

It was nearing dawn in Ista but A’tay was still asleep. Xyxyth heard the Weyrleader’s dragon’s announcement of the Fort Hatching and gently nudged his own rider awake. A’tay had siblings and Zelly Standing! They definitely couldn’t be late, especially since they had to find Lazerat. [Xyxyth]Rise and shine! The Hatching is starting![/Xyxyth]

A’tay bolted awake despite that gentle nudging and nodded as he stumbled out of bed. He took a moment to stretch and wake up a bit more before sending the note he had written for Lazerat a while ago off with Shadow. The man had promised he wouldn’t hop on any ships until after the Hatching as he didn’t want to miss Zelly’s first time Standing and her possible Impression.

With that taken care of, A’tay dressed and geared up Xyxyth before heading down to the Hold and to the meeting spot previously arranged with Lazerat. He ended up waiting a short time but he wasn’t too worried about it but was relieved when the holder finally showed up. He waved off apologies and soon they were landing at Fort Weyr.

Xyxyth happily joined a ledge that had some friends, taking Shadow with him, and A’tay escorted Lazerat over to the area where he saw a portion of his family. He explained some of the basics as they moved, keeping an eye on his siblings and Zelly in case they happened to glance their way. Once they were settled in, he introduced Lazerat to everyone and then finally saw Mylorah pointing them out to Zelana and Zoremet. He smiled and waved with only a bit of nerves settling in. He loved Hatchings but there was always a danger to them—which he knew first hand!—and now he had so many people out there to worry about even as he cheered them on.

Lazerat was a bit overwhelmed to be honest. He’d seen some of Ista Weyr but Fort was a lot larger—not that he could see much in the dark—but the Hatching Ground was amazing. It was huge and full of people standing around the eggs—large eggs as well!—and a lot of people lining the benches to watch this event. He’d always heard about how big of a deal Hatchings could be but he didn’t quite believe it until now.

He followed along behind A’tay, taking it all in and nodding at the knowledge being shared but wasn’t quite absorbing it just yet. Poor kid was going to be peppered with questions that he had already answered but there was just so much. And now there were names and faces to remember! Normally he was great at this sort of thing but he wasn’t quite awake and in a new environment and trying not to embarrass his sister when she was pointed out and he smiled brightly. He cocked his head to the side when he noticed her companions. New friends? The blonde boy looked a lot like the blondes he was currently surrounded by so probably a brother of A’tay’s? Hopefully he could see her after the Hatching and maybe her friends as well.

He exchanged a few more gestures with his sister, making her laugh a bit, before finally settling down and trying to focus on his new companions while asking a random question here and there when one struck him.

Cazan was glad that there was still quite the turnout of candidates, even though Malvayth was quite unsure about it. Some of them were a little too close for her liking but with everyone watching she really didn't want to be a horrible villain. So she did her best to pretend to be someone cool and collected who know how to handle things, like her mother, and just stuck close to Yanth as she waited and watched with a mix of eager excitement and anxiety.

One of the eggs began to wobble a bit more vigorously and Cazan held her breath for a moment as she watched it before turning to the stands to make sure that T'ryn and Yfris were also watching as she gave it a vague point. She felt silly, of course everyone could see the eggs wobble and shake, that was why they were all here! They hardly needed her to point them out. Mal looked over at Quinvalis, pleased to see that he had decided to still come after all. The tip of her tail twitched over so slightly as an egg caught her eye and it slowly began to crack. She turned to give Yanth an excited nuzzle, their babies were coming!

As soon as it popped open and a delicate green head popped up, Mal forgot her initial anxieties, pleased and proud to see the dark faced green peering around curiously. [dgreen]Green 1[/dgreen] took her time at first, creeping from the shell slowly before trotting over to a group of candidates, peering at them curiously before turning and darting away. She circled a different group before finally creeping up behind one boy in particular, nudging him with her nose and chirping in delight when he jumped.

Another egg began to wobble and crack then, this time a blue tumbling out. [dblue]Blue 1[/dblue] seemed content to stay near his egg for a moment, carefully scanning the field of candidates before locking eyes with one of them and casually strolling over to meet his boy.

While those two were being settled in the egg with the dent in it began to shake furiously, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface until it practically exploded and [dbrown]brown 1[/dbrown] spilled out with a panicked roar. He took off running as soon as he was out, charging straight towards a group of boys and hissing and slashing at everyone to try to clear them out and away from his specific target.

[spoiler=results this round, in order of impressing]
Egg 4 - Green 1
Egg 2 - Blue 1
Egg 11 - Brown 1 to ??
[/spoiler]

If it weren't for how many greens there were, Corvilis would thought that it could be bad luck that the first one out was a green. But she seemed healthy and alert from what he could see so at least that was a good sign. Even if the mother had this clutch early it didn't seem to do too much other than make the overall size of the litter small. Clutch, he reminded himself. This wasn't a litter of pups, though that first green did certainly act it a little with the playful gesture.

The blue boy was much more direct, he noticed, but he didn't find himself terribly disappointed when it went straight to a different boy. That was fine, Corvilis reminded himself. He'd probably get his dragon eventually, and most likely it wouldn't be from here. The explosion from the third egg derailed that train of thought as suddenly a rather round and angry looking brown charged in his direction, angry and terrified and- [pharalth]GET AWAY![/pharalth]

The voice was made of gravel and the smokiest whiskey he could imagine, grating against his mind as Pharalth panicked. The egg had been too small, too tight! The dent had been pressing against him and it was awful and [pharalth]WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU GO AWAY![/pharalth] He hissed and swiped at everyone near his boy. How dare they try to crowd him! He needed room! He couldn't breathe!

Corvilis winced, clutching his head as the brown swirled around him like an angry tornado, kicking up sand and blood in his mix of fury and fear. [pharalth]V'lis, I can't breathe! I CAN'T-[/pharalth] "Shhh," he caught the brown, grunting as the shockingly sturdy dragonette's body collided with his chest, possibly hard enough to crack a few ribs. "Just breathe. Close your eyes, you're outside, everyone's away, it's okay. Just calm down. Shh, I'm here."

Somehow he knew it was okay if he touched Pharalth, and for a moment the brown started to calm down, but then out of the corner of his eye he saw another person approach, probably a healer to try to patch up the gashes on V'lis's leg and arm, but it set him off and he snarled and snapped, taking a swing at the intruder anyway for daring to approach him. "Shhh, let's... let's go to the side okay? Come on. Let's just go over there, where there's no one else and just breathe okay?"

The weaze and wince from his boy caught Pharalth's attention and he shrank down on himself a moment, his voice still grating but sounding contrite as he apologized, [pharalth]I am sorry, V'lis... I did not mean to catch you.[/pharalth] "It's fine, Pharalth... let's just go over there for a moment okay? I want to sit down..."

L’gan had grabbed a kit and headed over carefully towards the scattering group. Most of the candidates had enough sense to get out of the way of the upset brown, but he saw it collide with one and calm down. Likely it had Impressed, and might be safe to approach.

Apparently not, he thought as he jumped back out of range of the claws. He caught Corvilis—no, V’lis now—eye and nodded, backing off for a few minutes while he calmed his new dragonet down again. He checked to see if any of the other candidates needed attention, then had Semath reach out to V’lis and ask if it was okay to try approaching them again.

When he got a nod, L’gan headed over slowly, careful not to startle the brown. “I just want to get a look at those gashes on V’lis, okay? I won’t hurt him, or you,” he said soothingly.

Going by superstition, a green starting them off wasn’t a good sign. He still wasn’t sure how much he believed in that but it seemed to be fine so far. And then the dented egg exploded and his head felt the same way as the dragonet screeched and charged in the direction of his little group. He wanted to push Corvilis out of the way but the brown was quick and Narinoa only had time to dive aside.

He felt a claw still grab his leg but Narinoa didn’t stop when he hit the ground, instead rolling several times, hoping that put him far enough away from the furious brown. Okay, so maybe greens opening up a Hatching were actually a bad omen after all! He swore softly, more from getting sand in the gash than from any actual pain—adrenaline was pumping too high in the moment to notice that—and that Corvilis hadn’t moved and was trying to calm the dragonet.

“Well fuck, Corv… V’lis? Did I hear him say V’lis? Congrats, man,” he managed to get out before his friend ushered the dragon off. Narinoa got to his feet with only a little trouble but once he was standing, the wound didn’t bother him much and he suspected it wasn’t too serious. Maybe a sexy scar for the memories of his friend’s Impression but he’d live. He hobbled out of the way of the other Candidates so a healer could clean the wound and wrap it up. He might need stitches but he was willing to wait until the Hatching ended for that, not wanting to worry about fellis or missing the remaining nine eggs hatching.

Quinvalis was regretting a lot of things the moment the brown burst free and ran. He had kept his cool with the excited green—she hadn’t come close to him so that helped—but the brown was angry. He also wasn’t anywhere near him but the anger was unsettling and then he was slashing out and Quinvalis shut his eyes, not wanting to see the massacre and trusting Malvayth to keep him safe if anything more happened.

When the screams didn’t come, he opened his eyes and saw some of the men had scattered and Corvilis was talking to the dragonet. Great. Quinvalis was already afraid of Corvilis and now he had a brown dragon that was more likely to murder than Malvayth despite what some Candidates thought of her. He quietly thought the pairing made sense and that worried him all the more. But he focused on the positive aspect that it didn’t seem like there were a lot of serious injuries. He saw one guy bleeding and limping off to get it looked at but he was moving on his own. He didn’t need help or wasn’t staying put. Good things.

Deep breaths. He just had to get through nine more eggs.

She was pleased the angry brown had found his match rather than terrorize the rest of the candidates. The excited green seemed to know her mind as did the blue. Zahrah scanned the candidates, the eggs, and everyone looked well enough, even the few that might have gotten hurt.

So far, it had been relatively quiet. One could hope that would keep up. She did glance to give Aederyn a quick smile, wishing the other woman the best.

Aederyn couldn’t help but giggle with delight at the little green’s antics. She was going to be a handful, it was plain to see. Then the reserved but decisive blue…and a brown! She flinched, ducking down and leaning away, even though she wasn’t anywhere near his path. She didn’t want to run, though. She was done running. She wanted to fly, and if her wings were in this clutch, she’d be damned if she was too scared or distracted to possibly miss Impression.

With a deep, steadying breath, she scanned the sands and rocking eggs, noting the healer looking after one of the injured. Her eyes met Zahrah's briefly, and she returned her quick smile, glad she hadn’t been hurt, and trying to send all of the mental good feelings she could. Then her eyes wandered to the stands…Alekse! He made it! Who was that with him…? Wait…No, she told herself firmly. No distractions. She had to be completely aware to what was happening on the sands around her. Her dragon might be here, after all.

Setting her jaw determinedly, she danced on the balls of her feet, ready to go wherever she needed to be.

Madelan was just as put out by the late hour as the rest of them, the candidate rolling out of his cot with a bitter and rather disgruntled mutter. He was alone this night, something that he hadn't been in a while but he'd had a need to be since the attack during the touching. He'd gotten away from it relatively unscathed, a few bruises and some scrapes when Malvayth's tail had smacked him as she'd gone by but Mads was annoyed by it. He had finally gotten a firelizard egg from E'rid, a gold too. He'd demanded and greased enough palms for it, though it had taken a good damn long while for him to finally get her but got her he did.

She was fat and lazy, named Butterball, and lay snoring on his cot. Madelan shook his head at her and scratched beneath her chin before instructing her to stay in his room or in the ledges with the big dragons. She was lazy enough Mads knew she'd probably still be curled in the middle of his bed when the hatching was all said and done. He sighed and readied himself.

He settled with the rest, mind still playing the idea that perhaps he wasn't good enough for these creatures when the eggs started breaking. A green first. Wasn't that some kind of bad luck? He'd always heard it was and she was followed by a blue and then a brown. He sidestepped the brown when he came barreling towards the group of candidates. He had no desire to be mauled by some mindless dragonet before it impressed. He'd heard stories about the beast who'd eaten a girl's face. Then he was impressed to Corvilis or V'lis now he supposed and he winced at the panic in the brown's voice.

He sighed and turned back to watch the rest.

"Awe, look at that cute little green. She couldn't hurt a fly I bet," Gangleri kept is voice soft as he remarked on the Hatching, gently holding Quilriana's hand as she nervously watched the proceedings. So far things seemed to be going rather well though, especially when a rather well behaved blue popped up next. And then the little fiery looking brown creature exploded forth and the Harper became acutely aware of just how hard Quilriana could squeeze as he felt her grip tighten.

"Now, now... it's... look, it's not going to your boy. It's headed elsewhere. Over there. Yes and... ooh." He knew he saw at least a few gashes out there, the boy who impressed seemed to be suffering as well though he did eventually get things in hand. Until a healer approached. But at least that wasn't so bad either and Gangleri turned his focus back to Quilriana, patting her with his free hand while he waited for her death grip to return to more reasonable levels. "See, it's fine. Everything is fine. I'm sure of it."

He drummed his fingers on his knee for a moment as he watched a few candidates limping to healers. "You know this is probably a good thing. I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that there's only allowed to be up to on mauling per event. So with this incident out of the way everything is sure to be fine." He so desperately hoped the baby dragons didn't turn him into a liar.

She yawned, jaw cracking as she settled into the seat she'd chosen. She'd ditched her escort rather quickly, the bluerider she'd snagged for the night bringing her over to Fort with nothing more than a pretty please and a bat of her eyelashes. It was nice to know she was still good at that. Maliah grinned as she watched the dragons hum and the eggs shimmy and shake. There was always something rather interesting about hatchings. So much chaos and love and all the shit a person never knew was going to happen. Maybe a little blood, plus all the damned fun they got to have afterward.

She bounced a little in her seat, smacking the arm of the person next to her with excitement as the eggs finally started showing what they held. A green first! And wasn't she just the prettiest damned thing a person ever did see? That coloring was magnificent and she was followed by a sweet blue who had no hesitation in finding the boy for him. The next was a brown who shrilled loudly as he slipped people out of his way. Even where she was Maliah could hear the crazy panic in his poor little voice as he impressed Corvilis.

She couldn't remember if she knew him well or not, maybe she'd make an effort to get to know him.

She continued watching and reminded herself to refrain from slapping the arm next to her next time a dragonet made their appearance.

"It's just fine, Mal. See? It looks like no one was seriously hurt, and the baby is fine with his mate." The gold nodded. [malvayth]Yes, but he has frightened a little one.[/malvayth] Cazan blinked up at her dragon for a moment before looking out at the eggs again. She realized that in the chaos another egg had hatched, poking out the tiniest little hole to watch carefully from while it seemed to wait for the dust to settle. Once things had calmed down the egg topped over and [dgreen]Green 2[/dgreen] crawled out, darting around first to one group, then another before shyly hiding behind a boy she found.

[dgreen]Green 3[/dgreen] was much more active and direct as she chipped her way out of her shell, scurrying quickly over to a group of boys to nudge hers out of the crowd and stand vigil between him and her grumpy brown brother who she wasn't afraid to hiss at.

There was a small lull before another egg started to wobble and crack, falling over and then rolling some more before a brightly colored blue climbed out. [dblue]Blue 2[/dblue] let out a cheerful chirp before suddenly charging headlong towards a boy. Unlike his brown brother, though, he harmlessly managed to dodge at the last minute, running laps around him until he finally slowed down to a stop and then while standing, tipped slowly over in one direction until he'd fallen over with an awkward squawk.

[spoiler=results this round, in order of impressing]
Egg 1 - Green 2
Egg 6 - Green 3
Egg 5 - Blue 2 to ??
[/spoiler]

Quinvalis felt bad when he saw the green that seemed so timid and ready to hide with every chance she could get. He understood that desire and almost wished she had chosen him so they could help look after each other but he recognized the boy she went to and knew that would be a better match. The next green to appear made him smile and he enjoyed a moment of letting go of the fear that kept grappling him.

But that fear quickly returned when the blue that had deceived them all with a cheerful chirp started running toward him. He flashed back to the last time a blue ran at him and just like he had that day, Quinvalis found he couldn’t move or make a sound. He only closed his eyes and braced for the impact that would come and hope he survived another encounter though he didn’t think he would. He’d used up any luck he ever had.

However the impact didn’t come and he slowly opened his eyes to find the silly thing running laps around him. Quinvalis laughed—whether at his damned fear getting the best of him or the dragonet being adorable, he wasn’t sure—and hoped the little fella was appreciated by whomever he bonded with. When the dragonet finally came to a stop, something clicked into place and Quinvalis let out a soft, “oh,” the same time the hatchling toppled over.

With another soft laugh and tears sliding down his cheeks, Quinvalis dropped to his knees and brushed sand from the blue’s nose. “Oh, Dalsuth. What have you done?” Quinvalis couldn’t even stand currently yet the baby dragon still saw something worthwhile in him?

I fell, it happens but you just get up again and keep going, right, N’lis? The voice was a complete contrast to the bright hide as a soothing tenor washed over him and N’lis smiled.

“I guess so. I’m not very good at that, though.” Dalsuth wasn’t having any of the negativity in that moment as he got to his feet and shook some more sand free and stared at his mate. You’re constantly getting back up again, N’lis. We wouldn’t have met if you didn’t.

N’lis didn’t want to think too much on that statement right then, not in front of such a large crowd that could hear a lot of the conservation. Instead he stood up and pointed to where they were supposed to go. “How about we get you something to eat instead?” As he led his dragon off, he couldn’t help but smile and look for his mom and her reaction.

R’nya was watching everything quietly from his spot beside Rhaedalyn, his gaze shifting over Cazan and Malvayth, the Candidates, the crowds watching in the stands; he didn’t want any more mishaps or upsets and wanted to make sure he was aware of everything that was happening. Xyreith was also on watch, and he could feel the mild emotions from his bronze. They were reassuring, as they were meant to be.

The green first had R’nya sighing in mild exasperation. He honestly couldn’t remember when the last clutch had started with a bronze or brown first. It was always the greens! Nothing he could do about it, of course, but it was a superstition he believed in and was marked further as true when the brown hatched and caused a mess. R’nya was relieved the dragon found his mate relatively quickly and before too much damage was done, his expression flat as his lips were pursed, watching silently. We’ll have to watch that pair, he said to Xyreith, watching as they made their way to the sidelines. The young man was one of the ones on D’hys’ watch list.

A couple more greens followed, and R’nya almost smiled at their antics, watching as they harmlessly found their mates. If only all the babies were so quick and tidy about Impressing, there would be a lot less stress for everyone involved in the Hatching process! Then there was a blue charging at Quinvalis and R’nd sucked in a breath, leaning forward anxiously as he tried to prepare himself for a repeat of the last time such a thing had happened; how was he going to survive the guilt? Quilriana would surely want to take Quinvalis home. R’nya cringed, refusing to look towards where he knew his lover was sitting with the man she’d arrived with.

Instead, R’nya’s breath caught when the dragonet started doing laps around Quinvalis, and before he could stop himself, R’nya gave a cheer of success when the bond was apparent, spinning around to wrap Rhaedalyn up in a gleeful hug of success for the boy – young man – that was more or less their unofficial foster son. R’nya kissed Rhaedalyn briefly, before turning back to watch as Quinvalis – N’lis – lead his little dragon off to the sides to go through the motions of post Impression. “Well done,” R’nya said softly, mostly to himself, as the pair settled in to eat. His pale gaze flickered to Quilriana, and R’nya flashed her a proud smile, thrilled for Quin—N’lis – before his attention was forced to return to the eggs that were still waiting to Hatch.

Of course Corv would get some sort of psycho murder dragon. That checked out. Zelana took a step closer to Mylorah for added security and paid extra close attention to the dragons that followed. The greens were adorable little balls of brightness, and it was cute to see them running around with their vibrantly different personalities.

And then the very bright blue came out and... oh no. Zelana grabbe donto Mylo's arm for a moment, pointing, hoping she'd be able to do something, but thankfully it seemed that nothing had to be done at all. She couldn't help but let out a small cheer for her friend with his new name and his new friend and she gave him an excited wave as he passed by with his dragon. "So cute! I'll have to go visit him and congratulate him afterwards."

She was so giddy and excited that now she hoped she'd be next, completely forgetting about the Healer hall. She turned to the stands where she'd seen her brother and A'tay and gave them both a grin before turning her attention back to the eggs. Just because things went well for Quinvalis, or N'lis she supposed now, didn't mean that the next baby wouldn't be a Corv liking jerk or just clumsy.

Malvayth watched N'lis and Dalsuth wander off with pride, pleased at the match. She gave Cazan a small nudge with her tail to make sure she'd been paying attention which elicited a soft laugh. "I saw. You have some rather bright babies, Mal." That only made the dragon puff up even more with pride. Her babies were beautiful, even the grumpy brown, and everyone got to see that.

There was a small lull in the hatching before the next egg began to rock and crack. [dgreen]Green 4[/dgreen] thrust her head out of her shell with a musical warble before prancing and chirping around the groups of candidates until she found her boy and nosed him out.

With all of her antics, Cazan almost missed [dblue]Blue 3[/dblue] quietly break out of his shell and stalk towards his boy, sitting quietly for a moment before the young man even realized he was there and jumping with a start. The blue tilted his head curiously, but otherwise didn't seem bothered by the reaction as he followed his new mate off to eat.

And then another egg began to rock and tumble, cracks spreading across its surface until finally [dgreen]Green 5[/dgreen] popped out, wings tangled up in each other for a moment before she finally righted herself. She stumbled towards a group, taking a few awkward and clumsy steps before she tripped on one of her own wings and crashed into a girl. She let out a pitiful chirp, looking towards another for help.

[spoiler=results this round, in order of impressing]
Egg 9 - Green 4
Egg 3 - Blue 3
Egg 8 - Green 5 to ??
[/spoiler]

[shirrikath]Was my hatching as exciting?[/shirrikath]

A little more I think.

[shirrikath]That brown is a loud fellow don't you think? Louder than most hatchling.[/shirrikath]

A bit.

Shirrikath shifted and reached with his tail to whack D'ion on the back of the head. "Hey!" D'io shouted at the sting and glared at the brown who was lounging there with a smug look on his face. The brown was incapable of being subtle and he wasn't exactly good at trickery. "That wasn't nice Shir," D'io grouse. [shirrikath]You're not paying attention, D'io![/shirrikath] the brown told him with what could only be classified as a draconic eye roll, [shirrikath]There's a gold in this clutch you know. You should pay more attention to those kinds of things,[/shirrikath] Shirrikath told him quite seriously.

D'io looked at him aghast. Was this seriously the same brown that used his head as a snow shovel a few weeks ago? "Oh no no no," D'io shook his head, "Don't you even think about it. Stick to greens my friends. Greens." Shirrikath rumbled with amusement, his joke one only he thought was funny. "I'll give you some bubblypies if you never speak of crap like that again."

[shirrikath]Hmmmm..... Deal![/shirrikath]

Tears glittered in her eyes as she watched Quin—N’lis—lead his new blue off of the sands. He had been through so much, a dragon was much deserved, and welcomed, by the sight of the tears streaming down the young man’s own face. A small lull allowed everyone to breathe and take in what had happened, and in the quiet moment Aederyn found herself looking to the stands again. Before she found her brother once more though, a burst of movement caught her attention, and she watched with joy again as another little green made her appearance.

A vocal thing, she wandered over to a cluster of a few other candidates, and the redhead couldn’t help but laugh at she swore the thing was showing off. Another quiet blue took his new life mate by surprise, and though she wasn’t sure entirely of Yanth’s personality, it seemed the boys were taking after the reserved brown—except for the one angry brown—and the ladies after their mother. Mentally ticking off the number of eggs, Aederyn watched the dwindling number shrink even more. Well…maybe next clutch. With a sigh, she gazed longingly after the pair, taking in the growing number of new matches.

Eggshell splintered and finally shattered, letting another green tumble out, wings wild, the poor thing caught all up in them, sending her sprawling. Aederyn watched the silly girl making her way across the sands, a half smile playing across her lips as she watched the green look over the group of candidates not far away. The green chirped, made a few shaky steps toward the group, and before she could lock eyes with anyone she tripped over her own wings again. Aederyn attempted to jump out of the way, knowing the damage those claws could do and not wanting to tangle the hatchling further, but it was too late and she was knocked off her feet, the both of them landing an an undignified heap.

“Go, shoo! You need to find your person, you silly thing!” Aederyn tried to extricate herself from the pile, her robe catching on a wingtip.

[jenath]Excuse you, I meant to do that.[/jenath] The green took in the mess the two were in and decided it was more than she wanted to deal with, chirping for assistance from whoever else might be close by. [jenath]Now, please, help me up? I’m hungry. And sore.[/jenath]

It took a full four seconds of staring at the green to realize it. This dragon, this beautiful little green, was hers! “Oh! Of course!” With a start, she leapt to her feet, helping the still egg-wet little green, Jenath, to her feet once more. Bewildered, stunned, and absolutely overjoyed, the redhead lightly gripped the dragonet’s wingtips to hold them up out of the way and off the sands, and the two made their way off to the side of the grounds.

Ah! Impressions.

There.

Aedereyn had Impressed a lovely green, how perfect and the overlarge wings might give her lift enough to rival the blues out there. Perfect for a woman who wanted to fly. She suppressed a cry of happiness for her friend, not wanting to startle anyone, and watched them go get some food for a moment. Safe and sound.

Only after watching her new friend, did she turn her attention to the eggs once more. So far excellent matches.

The Hatching had been an event so far, to be sure, what with the brown on a rampage. Thankfully, injuries only seemed to be minor. He watched Zarel next to him, checking to make sure the child wasn’t distraught, but no, she seemed to be completely at ease, save the excitement everyone else was feeling. Perks of growing up in a Weyr, he supposed.

The brief pause in dragonets breaking shell gave him time to think on his missed sleep, and he glared at the two lizards who had migrated to his lap, both dozing lightly during this slight break. A flurry of movement introduced two more dragons, a green and a blue, who both happily wandered toward their…boys. A sigh from next to him told him he wasn’t the only one disappointed. So far, both Zahrah and Aederyn had been passed over. He spotted them, offering a smile if either of them were paying attention, though he wouldn’t blame them for having their minds on other things.

Another shattering of eggshell sent a green tumbling free, and the creature stumbled and tripped toward a group of candidates before tripping over her own wings. He half-rose from his seat as the dragonet careened into his sister, he’d heard horror stories of hatchlings mauling candidates to get away from one or to get to another, and for a brief moment he feared for his sister’s life…Until, there was no longer a reason to. Impression was made. The two sat staring at each other, and with a jolt, his sister rose and started tending to the dragon. Her dragon.

“Yes!” Dislodging the browns in his lap and sending them flying, he stood and pumped a fist in the air before he slammed back down into his seat, not wanting to disturb the others around him too much. “That’s my sister!” He said, to nobody in particular. Zarel was grinning now, but shot him a particular look and he realized why…he was crying. His sister had finally got her wings, and he couldn’t be more proud.

Elloren managed to keep all of her cool with dragnets Impressing this one and that and a girl Impressed a green, even. Wait, that was Aederyn! Oh, how wonderful that was! The angry brown, she hoped would find his anger abated once Impressed.

They were lovely things, the dragonets.

Even if they were all mouth and claw at the moment.

A chance of Impression to any one of them was worth Standing and worth the possibility of Impressing.

More and more and more and more.

August stood patiently while eggs hatched around her. Dragonets finding theirs and the girl she'd met not long after her one of her first failed clutches was impressing green. She liked Aederyn and wished the girl well, she could feel a little niggle of jealousy starting to dig around in her heart and it was a trial to push it back out. August didn't have time for jealousy and certainly not of someone whose company she enjoyed. What kind of person would that make her? Not a very good one in her opinion. She rocked back on her heels, hands clasped behind her back as she waited for the last couple of eggs to hatch.

The gold and another, she wondered if it would be another green or if Malvayth might have laid at least one more brown. She was pretty sure the gold hadn't clutched a bronze, as far as she knew (which wasn't all that much admittedly) browns couldn't sure bronzes. But she wasn't completely positive in that regard. Maybe she really should take the time to ask some of the goldriders or maybe some of the bronzeriders. They'd know the answers to these questions of hers surely.