Caution: Contents Hot (Closed)

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Hot! Hothothothothothot!

Pasine hoped on her toes from one sand dune to the other, inwardly cursing her ineffective footwear. Her skirt twirled around her frame and wrapped itself awkwardly around her nearly non-existent thighs as her temperature-inspired dance step sent her body flailing about the Sands.

Jays! It wasn’t like she deserved this! People and the records had warned her that the Hatching Grounds had a hellish heat to them, and she had thus warn the thickest pair of shoes she had! Not only that, but her venture out onto the Sands had been carefully planned just as the sun began skirting the edge of the treetops. This was there wouldn’t be an oppressive midday heat or a dusty twilight that made things hard to see. She even had a flask of water attached to her hip! She was prepared for this scheme, sharddit! Why was the ground being so unjustly cruel to her feet?!

The Candidate galloped towards the edge of the Sands and scrambled up into the Stands. Hefting a collective sigh she slumped uncharacteristically into a stadium bench and took off her boots to allow the heat to escape. Massaging her feet with a look of pure relief on her face, she let her head fall back and watched the clouds pass by as she cooled off.

Vacantly, Pasine pondered if the very hide that she thought would protect her from the heat had trapped the temperature in and caused it to escalate? She had been on the Sands for a while before the fever had become unbearable. Perhaps that was the reason all the Candidates wore open-toed sandals? Either way, she wasn’t going back out any time soon without blisters forming on her feet so Pasine paused from her hectic schedule and allowed herself some time to calm before trying once more.

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((Crap, sorry. I never notice those tags. >.< I'll just delete my post.))

[antinanco]

(( It's fine. x3 Thanks! ))

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[Rei]

Danar walked up to the entrance to the hatching grounds. A fine sheen of fresh sweat bathed his face. He had run all the way here from the river. Running was a way to relieve anxiety and he had been plenty nervous about entering the grounds when there was no clutch. The candidates usually saw the grounds as sacred and not a lot of people ever ventured here when there were no eggs on the sands.

Danar took a couple of deep breaths and walked through the entrance. He had donned his hatching sands shoes the customary open toed sandals wore at standing. The sands were uncomfortable under foot but he ignored the discomfort scanning an appraising eye over the empty sands. Soon, very soon if her bulging belly was any indication, Aslath would be laying on these very sands. Soon his bronze would be born.

The candidate smiled at that thought and then a small movement caught his eyes. He swung around a apology half formed on his lips when he saw it was just a girl. A candidate like himself he gathered by her white knots and knots were usually a fail proof way of identification. “Hey there!” he called out and waved before ambling over to the stands where she was sitting. “What brings you to the sands?” Curiosity like himself probably. Who didn’t want to see where the great dragons laid their offspring? Or perhaps she just needed to escape? Either way she was here and she was pretty.

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Suddenly an unexpected cluster of movement caught the corner of Pasine’s eye and she was horrified to see another upon the Sands. Briskly she pulled herself together and tried to look busy, but to no avail. The figure, a male, had already spotted her and was coming over with a welcoming greeting. Well, jays. “Hello…” she called back, waiting for a name but receiving none. However her mind was not as irked as she would normally had been as the man’s features appeared from under the veil of early morning shadows and her curiosity forced her to inspect the newcomer.

As her watery eyes wandered over the figure before her, Pasine picked up a few facts. His white knots professed him to be a Candidate like her (There sure were a lot of them running around, weren’t there? She had expected not nearly as many). And finally, he was wearing open-toed sandals. She narrowed her eyes at the offending pieces of footwear and the back of her heel knocked irritably against the pair of heavy wher-hide boots under her seat. Hopefully this guy wouldn’t notice her fault, but, just to be safe, she distracted him.

“Well… I did want to gather why everyone considers these Grounds sacred,” Pasine started slowly, “But so far all I have gathered is blisters.” One of her bare feet slid over the other unconsciously, a futile attempt to shield them from the heat and scrutiny. “You’ve at least been here before, correct? Perhaps you could explain this?” The female Candidate hated not being able to figure it out by herself, and thus her words came slowly and steadily as she tried to word things so she didn’t seem as helpless as she felt. Besides, if he was going to be here and talking, he might as well be of some use.

Oh, right, nearly forgot again. “My name is Pasine, pleasure to meet you.”

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[Rei]

Danar gave the girl’s feet a sympathetic glance. “Oww those look rather nasty. If you want I can carry you back out so you don’t make them worse.” He smiled at her and ran a hand through his unruly brown hair. Shards she was pretty but in a rather plain way. At least she was friendly. So what if she didn’t bring the proper foot gear? Not everyone realized how hot these sands really were.

The burly lad took a seat next to Pasine and situated himself before deciding to speak again. “I guess the weyr considers the grounds scared because this is where the dragons are born. A Weyr revolves around dragons so I guess that makes their birthing place of utmost importance.” Danar focused on the hot sands an almost faraway look in his eye. “As far as why the sand is hot the grounds are traditionally placed where there is an underground hot spring or lava vein if near a volcano. It keeps the sand warm enough for the developing hatchlings. What keeps our grounds warm I have no clue never thought to ask really.”

The candidate leaned back against the next row of seats and fixed his golden brown eyes on the clouds. Suddenly he sat up. “Shells I am being rude.” He exclaimed before thrusting a hand towards Pasine. “I am Danar a candidate like you. From Selenitas so I guess I was once a weyrbrat.” He punctuated the last bit with a small smirk.

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Pasine paused and watched interested as he ran his hands through his hair nonchalantly. A lift back to the Barracks was very enticing. Perhaps if she had known this other Candidate better, or if she wasn’t so pious, she might have taken up his offer. “No thank you, I don’t have chores until later today,” she offered the excuse with a slight, polite smile, “I just need a little time to cool off.” She was teetering between excusing him and offering a chair when the Candidate took a seat himself. Well.

As he explained his reasoning, Pasine pouted. She knew all about the mechanics of the Sands, she wasn’t ignorant. What she had wanted to figure out was the mentality… and he had explained it to some extent, though his rationalization had brought up more questions than answers. “But is not a dragon meant for one single person and them only? That they will find each other as long as they are close? Then the circumstances surrounding the Hatching are irrelevant and only the matching of minds matter.” Her head nodded firmly once: it was perfect logic. Surely Danar would see this, since he at least had a good head on his shoulders, as somewhat proven by his explanation of the workings of the Sand. That was more than she could say for most of the Weyr, judging from who she had met so far.

Taking his large hand in her own slender, pockmarked one, she replied seriously, “Pleasure to meet you, Ex-weyrbrat Danar.”

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[Rei]

Danar raised an eyebrow as the girl explained her own rationalizations. He tilted his head in a thoughtful manner before speaking carefully. “I suppose it is all that matters in a way, yet the queens give birth here and the sands nurture the hatchlings so without the ground there would be no dragons so nothing for the minds to meet.” The lad smiled at Pasine and then a slight frown graced his features. “Shards I guess that was kinda confusing huh? Never been much of a scholar.” He amended and his smile returned.

The candidate flicked off his sandals and swung his feet onto the back of the bench in front of them. “Aslath should be close to clutching have you seen how bloated she looks? I can’t wait! What are you hoping to impress? Myself I’m going for a bronze.” His eyes sparkled as he regarded the girl beside him. “I suppose everyone has high hopes but I think I have a legitimate shot. Don’t ask me why just a feeling.” Danar returned his eyes to the clouds drifting overhead as he waited for the girl’s answer.

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Pasine frown and burrowed her brows, looking down towards the ground as her eyes clouded over in thought. “No, that makes sense…” she insisted after a long moment of thought, “Without the Sands for physical stability, the dragons would not live. Without the Candidates for metal stability, the dragons would not live. We are equally important.”

Pulling her knees to her torso and clasping them, Pasine turned her chin skywards. Her watery grey eyes searched the sky, trying to pick out the cloud that Danar was currently looking at. Her mind idly spun. She hadn’t spoken that much at once in a long time. It felt good to get things out, she supposed. But the silence that followed as the two cloud gazed was peaceful and soothing as well. She almost felt guilty breaking it as the female Candidate felt required to answer, “I never expected to be Searched in the first place, but I did exceed my own expectations. Why should I hamper myself now? Gold.”

“No feelings, though.” Pasine slipped a hand through her knees to her stomach. It rumbled in return since she had skipped breakfast to come here, but that was hardly a feeling. The morning sun finally broke through the trees and she winced slightly as the light broke her cloud-gazing momentarily. “Are you expecting her to fly down and Clutch now?”

[Rei]

“Gold huh?” Danar smiled at her. “I hope you get it. Gold eggs are rare though no guarantee she will clutch one. I’ll hope for you.” He returned his eyes to the sky. “As for Aslath clutching not for a few more days I think. She ate yesterday and I think Golds normally go off feed a few days before laying. Since she still has an appetite probably another week or so. Then again I’m no expert.” The brown haired lad turned to Paisune again and laughed when her stomach growled.

“Skipped breakfast huh? Me too.” The candidate reached into his pocket and pulled out two cloth wrapped meat rolls. “Lucky for us I managed to weasel the kitchen staff into giving me some food to go.” He winked before handing her one of the cloth bundles. The boy then proceeded to unwrap his own meal and give it a sniff before taking a bite. Danar chewed his breakfast in silence gazing across the grounds as if interested in the empty sands. “Wish I had some klah” he said wistfully between mouthfuls.

[antinanco]

Wait, what? Didn't they just have a conversation about how minds were made for each other and such? If it was true than it would render hope pointless. Pasine was about to assume that Danar was either confused or stupid when he described the Clutching pattern of Golds. She was impressed, to say the least, and her eyebrows shot up past her slanted bangs. Was this knowledge that all exbrats knew? Or was he exceptionally informed? For the life of her, she couldn't figure this male out.

To add to the confusion a package was handed to Pasine, and she accepted it with curious hands. She unraveled herself and placed the bundle on her lap, pausing to look over at Danar. He was busy with his little parcel. She smiled, leaned against the bench and unwrapped hers.

A minuscule feast lay before her starving eyes. “Thank you,” Pasine graciously breathed and began tearing the meat roll into bite-sized sections. By the time Danar spoke again, she had finished the first and was breaking apart the second. Reaching under her blouse, Pasine snapped a wher-hide canteen from a belt resting on her hip and offered it to Danar. "It is not klah," she apologized, also wishing for the near-holy drink, "But hopefully it helps.”

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[Rei]

Danar took the canteen from Pasine and took a long swig before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thanks that helped.” He flashed another smile at her before digging into his second roll. “What do you think she will lay? I am hoping for a couple of bronzes. There will defiantly be one but I hope there will be more.” He finished his last roll and folded the cloth neatly before stuffing it back in his pocket.

“You know any of the other candidates? I know a few that have stood before but there seems to be a flood of hold bred ones lately.” Why that bothered him he wasn’t sure, probably that old thought that weyr bred candidates didn’t have to adjust so much. With no candidate master the new candidates didn’t have any knowledge of dragons past what they managed to overhear. It was sad really. The poor kids were going in blind. No doubt a dragon was bound to prefer a weyr bred bonded. Danar shook his head to dispel such thoughts. No sense troubling himself with something he couldn’t fix.

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“I don’t think I’m hoping for bronzes,” Pasine slowly replied as she chewed on the last piece of roll, “I do hope for a Gold, though. Still, there can’t be more than one.” It had said so in thee Records Room, but she had at least known that. That was common knowledge. As she finished her last sentence, the Candidate swallowed her mouthful and folded her cloth as well. But instead of stuffing it in her pocket she silently handed it to Danar in exchange for her now empty canteen.

“I was Searched with two others from Southern Hold, actually,” she recalled as her face lit up, “Neikolai and Zaqx. An archivist and an, ah, a Vinter, yes.” Her eyes wandered off to the right slightly as she remembered. “They are brothers, but you would never know it from the way they acted. Have you met them?” She returned to Danar with a smile. Her memory was usually fail-proof and she enjoyed employing it to work. It was thanks to it that she didn’t feel any disadvantage over the weyr-bred folk. Besides, if a dragon was made for one person then it didn’t matter how much you knew or didn’t. But that was just going around in circles, so Pasine passed on mentioning it.

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[Rei]

Danar nodded at her comment as he accepted the cloth and tucked it into his pocket beside its sibling. “Yeah there might be a gold in this clutch. Hepaticath is close to coming out of weyrlinghood I think. This will make four golds for the weyr if there is one. Normally when Queens start producing more golds it is a signal that thread is due soon.” He glanced over at the empty sands as if by staring he could cause a gold egg to materialize.

The lad listened politely as Pasine talked about her search mates. “Zaqx and Neikolai huh? Yeah I have seen those two around. Zaqx seems like an ok guy but Neikolai acts like he has something perpetually shoved up his butt.” He gave a slight chuckle at the last part of his comment. It was true he couldn’t see may people getting along with that particular guy. “You met Cloar yet? Danar continued in a light happy tone. “He has stood quite a few times I like him. Pepsi is another one I unfortunately know, that guy is an idiot I have no clue why they are letting him stand.” He trailed off what dragon would want a wildling like that?

“You have any girl friends? I have seen quite a few running around lately. That’s another reason to suspect a gold egg. Search dragons have seemed to be picking up quite a few females lately.” Quite a few good looking females to, he added to himself. He made a mental note to visit the girl’s barracks soon. After all it wouldn’t hurt to scout them out now.

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Pasine listen quietly, a mellow air about her. Her feet had completely cooled by now, but the fact barely even registered on her radar as she digested the information that Danar was churning out. She had known everything up until the point of Queens producing Queens when Thread was imminent, and from that point out she was registering only new information.

Suddenly, at the mention of a stick and Neikolai’s butt, Pasine perked up and persisted, “He does n—” Just as she was about to lecture Danar, her jaw snapped shut. Thankfully she had caught herself before she was embarrassed with an outburst. “Well, if I was stuck with such an idyllic idiot I might act in such a way as well,” she finally affirmed and added in a decisive nod for good measure before continuing.

Before she could continue, however, Danar started up again about having girlfriends. Wistfully she remembered the tribe of women that she had lived among back at Southern Hold. If anything, that was probably what she missed most. Otherwise she hadn’t felt much homesickness until… now. Though it helped calm her, it was also an unwelcome emotion. Pasine avoided the topic. “I assume you are not implying I’m a lesbian,” she stated bluntly, but not in an offended manner. Men never knew how to articulate themselves, or at least not as well as her past family had. “But no, I do not here. Back at Southern… I had many in the Weaving workshop.” Pause. “Do you have any boy friends?”

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