do you believe in magic? [faerie touching]

[Ember]

Aephon got to the first egg and eyed it, clearly sizing it up before actually touching. He wasn't sure what he was expecting out of the Will o' Wisp Egg really. It was black and looked quite boring. Was there any point in actually touching it. He walked around it for a moment and spotted the odd...seemingly glowing spot on the egg and frowned. He glanced at the other eggs nearby and fully took in the fact that they were all different and well...strangely coloured. Hn. He reached out to feel the surface of the egg and the moment his hand touched it he withdrew.

"What the heck..?" He touched it again and frowned at the random and chaotic feelings emitting from the egg. He removed his hand again and moved away hastily. Okay, that was weird. That was almost as weird as...no, nothing else even came close enough to compare to how weird that was. And people actually wanted to be bonded with the kind of creature that came out of that egg? Candidates were all freaks he decided then. He was tempted to just walk out of the Hatching Grounds then but he had a feeling the gold would be offended. He'd rather not be eaten.

So instead he moved on to the Selkie Egg warily. He approached it one hand outstretched. He'd keep the rest of him far away if possible. Appearances were very deceiving as far as these eggs went. The last one had looked calm. This one too seemed a bit calm looking, although it also looked like it had fur.... His hand came into contact with it and he sighed slightly, relaxing a little. It wasn't calm but it was pleasant enough that he let his hand trail over the egg a bit. He regretted touching it for so long when some odd thoughts started making it through the shell. He withdrew from it, silent and thoughtful as he headed for the next egg.

Eggs, rather. Two that were fairly close to each other caught his interest and he drifted their way. He touched the green egg first and traced the gold when he found that the Leprechaun Egg was a positive egg. He didn't linger on it too long though, worried that he would have a repeat of the Selkie Egg. He transferred his attention to the Elf Egg, the confidence gained from the previous egg letting him reach out and touch it easily. It was a beautiful egg, full of vibrant colours. The 'personality' it gave off was a striking contrast. It earned a dry smirk from the healer lad and he crouched next to it without touching it. "I get you, I get you," he mumbled at it.

Realizing that he'd just spoken to an egg of all things he stood up again and brushed his hand across it in farewell. He couldn't resist. The egg was too easily bothered. It reminded him of himself actually. Tch. He decided to touch one more before leaving. He approached the Brownie Egg and just looked at it for a moment. It was also an attractive egg. He wondered if it disliked being touched as well...? Only one way to find out. Aephon touched it lightly and felt...nothing. Well, that certainly wasn't good news, was it? He considered calling the gold's rider over but suddenly he felt what he'd describe as a 'why?' He glanced back at the egg and frowned at the searching feeling, actually shivering slightly. Bah. Why did it need to know so much about him? Then suddenly it seemed to not care at all.

Aephon removed his hand from the shell and huffed. "Well who asked you, stupid egg!" He snapped at it loud enough that he probably earned some looks. He was severaly annoyed by its 'attitude.' He crossed his arms and stalked out of the hatching grounds ignoring the warning grumble of the brown. Feh. Stupid eggs. Stupid, stupid candidacy. See if he stood at the hatching! That egg probably wouldn't care one way or the other.

-----

Dsoleth quite happily went further into the Hatching Grounds and took up a position where he could quite easily see everyone. He watched with unhappy eyes as candidates put their hands all over his and Jingth's eggs. I don't like it either. So unnecessary, he grumbled unhappily. His was happy about it though. He'd never been to a touching before and was entertaining himself with the reactions of the candidates.

T'san chuckled at Meira's playful comment. "Normal dragons let their riders dress themselves before dragging them off to see their babies." He planted a quick kiss on her forehead before watching a familair candidate approach them. Huh. He was prevented from making any comment about the woman who used far too much kohl by Meira's question. He frowned and shrugged. "I don't really know. Never been to a touching before. Although, I don't see why they wouldn't bow to you too if they thought it would keep Jingth happier."

He blinked in surprise as there was a shout from among the eggs and he watched a candidate stomp out. Dsoleth growled from his position and the brownrider tapped him mentally. Easy. The brown was none too happy to have any of the eggs insulted but he settled for glaring at the remaining candidates. "Touchy, touchy dragons," he commented to Meira with faint amusement.

[dragon]

If he had been expecting anything, having a candidate walk up to him and jab him in the stomach wasn't it. Emoyan gave a grunt at the unexpected motion, and gave the girl a very strange look for her efforts. "I can't give you an exact date if that's what you're looking for." He answered. "No one really can know these things, beyond ball park guesses. For an in general estimate ... a month? Maybe more, maybe less. Why?" he asked.

Most of the time his Candidates treated him like they thought he had the plague or something ... never before had one just wandered up and jabbed him like that. Very odd behavior indeed! Stuffing the mandyr he was holding into a pocket and buttoning the pocket shut to make sure the pet didn't get loose and scurry after his owner, he cast a quick look to make sure the kids were all behaving themselves.

[Shiny]

Syrene fell into place behind Aephon, approaching the eggs warily. They were beautiful, she had to admit. Not a bad way to spend the day. It was a change from the usual death-glaring at walls and exploring the surrounding area. Her eyes darted from egg to egg, each one receiving a stare for a brief moment. This would be the second time she'd Stood - the first time was at Fort, where she didn't Impress. She had to Impress now. What would become of her if she didn't? She'd be stuck here for another two turns to attempt two more Hatchings before becoming too old to Stand. She'd go mental if she had to stay here for another two turns.

Ready or not... Whether that thought was directed more to herself or more to the eggs was left to the air as Syrene approached the Nymph egg at random. She inspected the shell for a moment, deciding that the various colours used made it quite beautiful. Cold fingertips pressed gently against the smooth exterior, and waves of simple warmth and greeting washed over her. A slight smirk twitched on her lips at this unborn dragon's clinginess. You wouldn't want to cling to me, dragon, she thought, withdrawing her touch from the egg sharply at another candidate's shout. She fixed Aephon a glare as he started to leave, then went to see what all his fuss had been about once he was far enough away.

"Hn," she grunted, head tilting slightly at the optical illusion of fur on the Brownie egg. How odd. Like all of the eggs, however, it was beautiful in its own way. She gently placed a hand against it and waited. And waited. And waited. Was this one dead? No, she had an inkling it wasn't. And she was right. "That's more like it," she murmured, feeling the chill of its coldness. A slightly bigger smirk spread on her dry lips. The dragon could probably sense her understanding; after all, she was just as cold as it. The smirk slowly died and evolved into a slightly perturbed frown however as she felt it besiege and infiltrate her mind, probing deeper than she wanted anyone to go. No one needs to go there, she hissed mentally, angrily pulling away from the egg. So shouting boy had actually had reason for his outburst, but she wouldn't overreact.

Moving on to the center-of-attention Pixie egg, Syrene almost rolled her eyes. Drama queen, I bet, she predicted coldly, kneeling down to press her palm against it's bright exterior. Might as well get this one over with. She was surprised, though, at the calm feeling that washed over her as soon as skin met shell. The calmness slowly evolved into irritation at Syrene's emptiness. With a slight shrug of her shoulder, she pulled back from the egg. She was sure the unborn dragon was happy to see her leave.

Next, she marched over to the Selkie egg and plopped down, not wasting any time in reaching out to touch it. She merely quirked an eyebrow at the feelings that overcame her - since when had her touch caused cheerfulness? She became slightly more interested as strange new thoughts that were unexpectedly complex bombarded her. Hmm... This one was rather peculiar. She smirked. Whomever Impressed it would probably go crazy, having to listen to that constantly. Poor Candidate.

The Elf egg was next touched by Syrene, and she almost wanted to laugh at how much it was trying to repulse her. Funny how she understood it's need to be alone; and, like the egg, she never really did get her wish. She withdrew her hand quickly from it, not delaying it from its solitude for longer than was needed.

A black egg caught her eye. The Will O' The Wisp egg was the most beautiful of them all, in her opinion, and its darkness drew her in like a magnet. Without hesitation, she placed her hand on it, and was blown away by the sheer amount of emotion flooding from this otherwise calm-looking egg. From this egg she also separated quickly; too much emotion for her rather emotionless self to handle.

Keeping a watchful eye on the Gold as she approached her, she carefully knelt and inspected the Faun egg before touching it. Well, although she wasn't a fan of the friendliness, she certainly welcomed its calmness after the explosion of emotion she'd just experienced. This egg seemed to accept her... which just caused Syrene to frown. You don't know who you're dealing with, she thought flatly, withdrawing her hand and walking to the next egg, away from Jingth.

Finally, Syrene came upon the last egg on her list, the Leprechaun egg. Just as she had been doing, she wasted no time in touching the egg. A distasteful scowl spread on her lips and her eyebrows furrowed as what can only be described as positivity flowed into her. She sniffed sardonically as the positivity took a flirty turn. She didn't have to touch this egg long to know that it was definitely not her match.

Syrene stood from her knelt position and swept her eyes one more time over the Clutch, Jingth, Meira, and T'san before deciding it was time to leave. The eggs were certainly interesting this time around - what a weyrling class they would make, whether or not Syrene Impressed to any of them. The black-cloaked girl stalked away from the Sands and out of the arena, intent to go explore some more to pass the time.

[kat]

There was a sense of familiarity bout this whole affair. It seemed as though time had been inching by while she watched candidates Impress, become Weyrlings and then graduate. Her first hatching had been on these very sands. It had been the very hatching in which Jingth, now the clutchmother, had Impressed in. She still had the four scars on her hip, faded though they'd become, to prove she had been there. She had been mauled by this very gold at her first hatching and now it was this gold's eggs she was here to touch. She wondered just how much of a difference touching the eggs made. After all she had touched every single egg from all the other clutches. Nothing had come of it. Still it did not mean that nor had the others who had actually Impressed to what was inside them. Silly things to muse over. She had a touching to attend.

She listened to Emoyan reciting the familiar instructions. Half listened, really. She already knew them by heart. You didn't do anything untoward. You showed brief respects to the queen and her rider. Then you touched the eggs, one by one. You could touch them all or only a select few. She decided that since she was here she might as well check each and every one out. And then they were arriving at the clutch and she no longer had much time to think about it.

Jingth had certainly grown. Though like any in the Weyr she had seen the gold many times this was the first time she had seen her on the sands since that day. It was like deja vu but then again not precisely. She offered Meira a small smile and polite nod. It felt odd to do so and she wasn't quite sure why. Even the courteous bow to Jingth felt almost like she did so in a dream like state. Why did it feel irregular? Was it because this was the same gold that she had stood at the hatching of? Was it because of that, maybe? Or perhaps her familiarity with Meira as a fellow healer? Whatever it was she decided to put it out of her mind. Jingth seemed to accept each candidate with a slight movement of her head and she was yet again just another candidate down the line.

It was a nice sized clutch, she noted. Neither too big nor too small. As she neared the eggs she felt the familiar flare of anticipation. So perhaps she had not lost her hope, even for this.

The first egg that seemed to catch her eye was coincidentally the Nymph Egg. It seemed to be a good choice. She gently laid a hand on it, and was surprised to find that she could have stayed there with it and been content with just touching it and no other. However she knew that lingering was a bad idea. The last thing she wanted to do was compromise herself by upsetting the golden clutchmother. The egg itself was lovely. It reminded her of the forests just outside the Weyr. Of sunlight filtering through a canopy of trees. It was with reluctance that she removed her hand and went on to the second eg that she took note of.

The Selkie Egg was the next to receive her attentions. She liked the feel of the egg from the moment she laid a hand upon it. Something about the feeling it gave to her made her smile wistfully. As she gently ran her hand over it she found herself musing at what it might hold. There were other candidates who also seemed interested in it but she didn't want to move. She was aware all eggs would not be as pleasant. They were always so different. It was merely luck that had her touch these two first and foremost and she was loathe to leave them. Again only courtesy forced her to make her way on to the next egg...but not before she was suddenly bombarded by thoughts that had nothing to do with the cheerful feeling said egg gave her at first. She was surprised but pleasantly so--and a little confused. It only sought to make her all the more curious about that particular egg. As she withdrew her hand she shot a wistful glance backward. She wished she might have spent longer there though she had a distinct feeling she would never quite figure the hatchling inside out.

It was hard to miss the egg that drew her eyes next. Bright and gaudy, the Pixie Egg was brighter than any in the clutch. It shone with a brilliance she had never seen on any egg before now. Fascinated by the dazzling appearance Maya walked over to it next. She laid her hands on it gently, running the right one over the surface while keeping the left still. It had a nice feel to it but what she hadn't expected was the feeling it gave off. As though it were actually amused with being touched by her! It was delightful all in its own right. It was as though it was both amused and indulging her touching of it. Well, if it was going to indulge her, she would certainly appreciate it's kindness. She stroked the shell as she admired the brilliant array of colors. She was lucky that the other candidates were preoccupied and she was allowed to be so as well. The egg was so lovely to look at it was hardly as though she wanted to have to move on quickly. But she could not stay and linger once the next candidates wanted to have their chance to touch it. So she moved on to the next egg.

After the eggs she had touched already the Elf Egg surprised her. She noted it because it seemed to be just outside the actual circle of eggs. As though it was trying to escape from the rest of the clutch. It amused her and the colors were quite brilliant. After the last egg it was obviously not going to be as blindingly bright. Yet it was lovely nonetheless and she liked the way the colors intertwined about it. Only when she touched it she immediately drew back in surprise. The hand she'd laid on it had been met with a feeling of irritation. As though it didn't...want to be touched? Well, she wanted to know why and touched it a little more tentatively this time. She lightly brushed the shell with her fingertips but the same feeling remained. She wouldn't have felt right intruding upon anyone who didn't want to be intruded on. It made her decide that she'd move on to the next egg. Hopefully it would be more receptive.

After the brightness and colorfulness of the past couple of eggs she noticed the Willow-the-Wisp egg. It was dark black and she felt a sense of foreboding coming from it. But it was an egg just like the rest. It contained a dragonet, just like the rest. So she had no inhibitions about walking over and laying hands upon it as though the color were not of importance. You could never know what an egg held. Or what it would be like once touched. Hence why appearances were deceiving.

She felt like she had just looked directly at Rukbat in the skies overhead. For all the darkness and lack of color the radiance of the egg was blinding in feeling. She didn't remove her hands, however. She was so enraptured by the contrast that she forced herself to stay put. It was difficult though. It was overpowering and brilliant. Not exactly in a positive way for it made her stagger back once she lifted her touch from it. She had to stay still a moment before moving on to the next egg. What a surprise that dark egg held. Would there be more like that?

The next egg she approached was the Brownie Egg. It was odd to look at and reminded her of a furry creature rather than an egg. But when she touched it it was not of that feeling--just that appearance. She smiled lightly but in the next instant felt as though it were somehow searching her for answers. It was almost uncomfortable. Was it trying to see if she was worthy of it? Was it testing her somehow or could it tell what sort of person she was by doing whatever it was it was doing? It was unsettling but she kept still and her interest piqued. She had nothing to hide from the egg or the creature within it. She was surprised by the end result though. She got the feeling it withdrew. Either satisfied with its findings or perhaps completely indifferent. Whichever it was she was all right and would move on.

Perhaps because it resembled the last egg she found herself approaching the Faun Egg. It was less attractive than the last egg. The only other egg to be less so was the dark black nothingness of the Willow-the-Wisp egg. However she did not judge by appearances. While the brighter eggs were nice to look at, the Elf Egg had proved a point by its making her feel as though it would rather not be bothered with anyone. So she approached the egg with a curiously hopeful feeling. It was well met.

The egg seemed to be friendly and welcoming. It was a welcome feeling that she was glad for. A couple of the eggs had actually unsettled her a little. She had forgotten, somehow, how powerful some of the feelings emitted from the unhatched dragonets could be. So this egg was comforting and she lingered by it for longer than the last few, just running her hands over it lightly and appreciating the pleasantness that was offered by it. She bid it a silent and thankful farewell within her mind before moving on to the final egg.

She really enjoyed the colors of the Leprechaun Egg. It was so many shades of green but there was a lovely gold that weaved throughout. When she put her hands on the shell the bits of golden lining felt a little more upraised than the rest of the shell's many green spots. It was a lovely egg and though it sat near to the one that had given her a feeling of disdain it was nothing like it in any way. Instead it felt friendly and outgoing. This egg brought a smile to her face as well. She wondered what kind of color and dragon it held. Whatever it was interested her. It had to be something pretty confident and she was loathe to make assumptions but she found herself thinking bronze or brown. Probably she was off the mark but it was fun to guess. She would probably be musing over what each egg might hold a lot more in the next few sevendays.

She finally stepped away from Jingth's clutch. She felt better than she had when she'd come here first. The eggs had given her hopefulness again. Maybe this time there would be a dragon in one of them for her. And she had to remember that she had a few turns yet--and a few surprises!--to Impress. She bowed politely to Jingth on the way back and gave Meira a more friendly smile. Things were all right, after all.

xXx

It was hard to miss the gold and her clutch. From the moment he stepped onto the sands he could see the gold on her ledge; the clutch was in a corner and looked in a disarray. He could feel respect for such a sight. As it was it was his second time here in this pretense. His second touching. He felt much as he had the first time. A touch of nervousness and not only a little awe. There was fascination, excitement and curiosity. He was not even near them yet and he was wondering what they held within their shells. There was really no way to tell. The sizes differed but sometimes a larger egg had been known to hold a particularly large blue. A smaller looking egg had held a brown who had yet to grow into his own. There was simply no telling and to him? This was more fun than anything else.

He found himself only half listening to Emoyan as he gave out the instructions. He wasn't the sort who would do anything compromising. He wanted to touch the eggs and wouldn't screw it up for himself--or anyone else. So as his turn came to show his respects to the queen and her rider he did so. He knew that if he Impressed it was only because this gold had deigned to allow it. So it was that he bowed in earnest to both dragon and woman before unassumingly making his way for the eggs. He didn't know if he was supposed to touch them all or just the ones he wanted to. He wasn't even sure what the point in the touching was or if it really increased your chances of Impressing. Well, it was unfair to touch just a select few if that were the case. So he started with the one closest to him.

The Elf Egg was bright and colorful. Though not the brightest, because there was an egg there that was almost blindingly bright and colorful. But he liked the milder, less obtrusive colors that the egg had. It seemed an outsider of sorts--just like him. It seemed to be trying to escape the confines of the social grouping of the clutch. He was drawn to such a thing inexpressibly. It was a sort of kindred feeling and he welcomed that kind of thing here, of all places.

He put his hands on it and unlike another might have he didn't pull away. It felt as though it wanted to be left alone. He recognized that, too. Instead he stood there quietly with his hands on it. Appreciating the kinship he felt with the egg he stood there longer than most he had noted. Sometimes those that seemed to want to be left alone most were sorely lonely. Maybe the hatchling inside the egg was that way. He stood there for seconds that felt like minutes before he let it remain alone. He then walked toward the next closest egg.

The Leprechaun Egg was an assorted array of greens with a winding gold 'ribbon' pattern weaving in and out of the many different and distinct greens. He rather liked the colors himself. Green was the color of life and nature. The gold was just a pretty sort of trinket wound throughout. As he put his hands on it he wasn't sure what to expect. However he had to smirk as he was assailed by a friendly and flirtatious air. It was all good and nice but there was something else there. It was underlying all the positiveness. It was as though the content of the egg was...wary of him. It was strange because of all the more outgoing emotions he could sense. But he could appreciate wariness. It was the safer way to be, really. With strangers touching it it made a lot of sense. He kept his hands there a moment longer and then with an amused sort of expression moved on to the next egg.

The Brownie Egg had a really unique appearance. It looked like an animal in appearance but an egg in shape. It was different shades of brown but he liked the golden brown most. It was warm and gave him a comfortable sort of feeling. When he touched the egg however he was tempted to recoil. Was whatever was inside it dead? There was no feeling! He didn't recoil, though. Instead he sought to feel something, anything, from the egg. And then there it was; and he wasn't sure that he liked it at all.

It felt like someone was prying into his mind. It was uncomfortable and made him want to just simply move on. Only for whatever reason he didn't. He simply put up with it and then, when the feeling stopped he gave an inaudible sigh of relief. He was glad to move on to the next egg closest to him. More than, really. He didn't like feeling laid open bare by that particular egg...

The Nymph Egg happened to be the next egg he would approach. The colors were warm and reminded him of the outdoors. Of traveling with the caravan and his family. He still felt a little wariness of his own from touching that last egg. So he spent a moment just observing the egg before him. It still gave off a feeling of familiarity and so he decided to place one hand at a time on it. What it made him feel had him chuckle aloud to himself. It seemed to be scoffing at him! As though he'd somehow shown it some insult and he didn't quite know why. Well, that wouldn't do. He wondered if he could send feelings back to the eggs. He was particularly amused by this one and tried to send his curiosity and apologies for whatever it felt he'd done wrong to it. He couldn't help but wear a wry smirk as he ran his hand over the smooth shell. He didn't want to offend the egg any though. He allowed it to just be and moved onto the next one.

The Willow-the-Wisp Egg made him feel a chill go down its spine. He almost didn't want to touch it but thought himself quite silly for even thinking that. It was only an egg. An egg like all the rest of them. But he side skirted it and walked around it tentatively, eying it now with blatant curiosity. It was just eerie somehow; until he came around the back and saw the bright, silvery-gold mark. It was intriguing and he decided to just go ahead and touch it.

The look of it and feel of it were blatantly different. It assailed him with so much that he could hardly bear to linger for long. It was shocking and startled him in a way none of the other eggs had. He decided that it was easier to move on after a few seconds rather than keep the uncomfortable assault upon himself.

The bright egg that was the Pixie Egg had been nearly dancing in the corners of his vision since he'd arrived. Now that he was approaching the center of the clutch it was the first egg he decided to touch. The colors were almost too much to look at and he decided he would be here forever if he had to simply look at it. So it was that he put his hands on it, curious as to what it would feel like.

The shell was smooth and for his curiosity he was awarded with a reassuring feeling, as though the egg was an open book and had no secrets to hide from him. He really found that he enjoyed this egg as much as he had the Leprechaun and Brownie eggs. It made him fell a sort of security and comfort that the others had not. He stood next to it aware that it had probably been gleaning attention from just about every candidate. It was hard not to with all that color and brightness. He was reluctant to move on but he didn't want to stay too long either.

The Selkie Egg seemed to him to be a bit like the furred looking egg he'd touched earlier. Only it had more hints of colors. The one he liked best was the silvery grey. He noted that there were others eying it and so he decided to hurry about touching it. When he did he found that it seemed to enjoy his touch. Was it like that with all those who touched it or just some? Well, he certainly wouldn't know. He wasn't going to find out by standing there and touching it himself. He wasn't about to ask anyone else, either. In retrospects to those waiting he moved on to the last egg of the bunch.

The Faun Egg, at least to him, was the least attractive of the clutch. Not that to a person like him that mattered much. Not as though it would indicate the dragon inside. He was aware that it was the last egg he'd be touching and so placed his hands on it with a bit more eagerness than the last. He was surprised as could be to find that by far it was the most pleasant. Easy going and seemingly acceptive it made him feel calm and easy as the others hadn't. He was only too glad to spend a bit longer with it. He had been a little nervous with the rest, but it was gone altogether now. Seemed like it was a good way to leave things off.

Other candidates were filing back out and he joined them, musing over the eggs he'd come into contact with. It would drive them all batty, he was sure, trying to guess what would come out of the eggs come hatching day. For his part he wasn't the betting kind and would simply continue to believe anything possible.