Hatching of the Ben & Jerry's Clutch

[kysseh]

The sound of loud clicking was what awoke her, a noise that refused to cease no matter how long Savitri remained resting with her eyes firmly shut. The volume did not increase, but the frequency did, finally becoming so loud that the goldrider sat up and made a valiant attempt to rub the sleep from her eyes. “What time is it?” she muttered groggily, peering up at her dragon through sleep-fogged eyes. “S’too early.” Both hands instinctively reached over to check the infants on the pallet beside her. She vaguely remembered having brought them all of the furs and blankets down to the Hatching Grounds to sleep beside her restless and paranoid queen. The girls didn’t care where they slept, as they were still out cold, but Savitri minded. Her joints were aching, and she was wholly exhausted.

Not yet dawn. It is still dark, but listen, Mine. Listen.[/color] came the quiet reply, the energy in the mental voice obvious to the woman who heard it. Hepaticath was on the sands, seemingly unbothered by the heat as she very carefully clicked one clawtip on the Americone Dream Egg. The gold paused, tilting her head and waiting until a tapping sound could be heard from inside. The rumbling of the queen could be felt in the stone, and Savitri grimaced as it awoke both of her offspring. “Wonderfully done, Hepaticath. Would you stop fussing over those eggs?! It’s not going to encourage them to-“

A sharp crack re-directed that train of thought, and the goldrider was suddenly wide awake and staring as the egg that her mindmate had been fussing over, watching as the egg began to twitch and wobble. Not… what… but so early in the morning!

“Your offspring choose awful times to hatch,” the goldrider groused, eyeing the sky outside. The sky was just beginning to show signs of lightening, which meant that she had been cheated out of a full candlemark of sleep. Still, it was hard to be annoyed for very long, especially when the energy and excitement that the queen radiated was so infectious. Around her neck, Memory was almost absently cooing, occasionally interspersing the noise with a hum. Baby-time, it was, and Mem’s emotions were starting to sway the goldrider into relaxation. Shard that little beast.

You should come to the Sands now. The eggs hatch. Hepaticath announced to the weyr at large, her voice strangely calm despite the anxiety that she felt. The queen reluctantly returned to her couch to watch, adding almost as an afterthought to her mate that he was welcome to join her to watch. She wanted to cuddle with him as she growled at the candidates. It was always nice to threaten with some company. She let Hers organize the drudges and the collecting of buckets of meat, instead focusing her gaze on the cracked and furiously wobbling Americone Dream Egg. It was finally time.

Eggs:
Chunky Monkey: Brown Nandath to T'by/Tobby
Cherry Garcia: Green Amalath to Ruliana
Peach Cobbler: Brow Jagjith to T'mund/Todmund
Phish Food: Blue Viveth to E'iah/Eliah
Strawberry Cheesecake: Green Chandath to Kalerary
Banana Split: Green Rajnith to Tenlie
Karamel Sutra: Bronze Kamath to Rof'l/Rofinel
Peanut Butter Cup: Blue Dhavalth to Jazheera
Americone Dream: Green Upasanath to Sari
Mint Chocolate Cookie: Blue Pravinth to T'ris/Tynaris
Cake Batter: Blue Madhavath to 'Reine/Aubereine
Chocolate Fudge Brownie: Green Tarath to Meagen
Half-Baked: Green Balath to K'fuzzi/Kainfuzzi

[raii]

Sari was sleeping. Although an early riser, she wouldn't usually wake quite this early. Close to it, of course, but not quite this early. Her morning routine included prodding Mika, who was devistated if Sari left without her. Then, Mika would wake the other fire lizards. Lazuli wouldn't wake up easy at all, but Dusk would jolt awake at Mika's demand.

She was incredibly surprised when her three fire lizards woke her. They were all chirping in her face, making no sense at all, sending her overly excited strings of images. She was able to absorb a couple of them: images of Hepaticath's eggs. "Oh! The eggs?" With one swift movement, she grabbed her white robes and slipped them on. Mika perched on Sari's shoulder, a beautiful accessory she was rarely seen without.

She quickly groomed herself, combing back her hair. Refusing to give her progress, the large blue flopped into her hair, which seemed to be his favorite perch. He entwined his legs in her hair, his paws (as claws could not describe them) poking out of her unruly hair. "Oh, you." She had little time to worry about her hair, though. "Are you coming too, Dusk?" Dusk chirped, leading the way.

Sari jogged after the fire lizard, thoughts going through her mind. Would she Impress? Would she? What if...something happened? No, don't think that way, she thought. She would make her brother proud. She had to. She had to live out his dream for him. A rarely seen determination flashed in her eyes as she entered the sands. She looked around. She'd been here before, but it was like a new place. It thrummed with an energy, and excited tension.

[Tashe]

Jerking awake Eliah nearly fell out of his bunk and onto the floor, grunting as he swung precariously over the edge of the railing. Had he ever mentioned that he hated when voices entered his head unannounced? Well, he did. Since he was already half way off of his bed, the Candidate dropped all of the way down to the floor. Hatching! It was time for the hatching! He felt as if he should be far more excited than he was, but for some reason he wasn't a massive ball of jittering energy. The scroll he was reading lay forgotten on his covers as he dug through his chest for the white robes that he needed. Moving Koulko, although it was more like dumping the cat onto the floor, Eliah finally pulled his robes out. Both his shirt and his pants came off before he pulled the folds of material over his head and smoothed them out as they settled on his body. He shut the trunk so he could sit on the top and pull on his sandals, but first he had to remove Leifa from them. Why she had decided to nap in his shoes would always remain a mystery to him. Gently setting her on the bunk that Rishin occupied, the Candidate then ran his hands frantically through his strawberry blond hair. "No Rishin. Stay. Stay."

The pace of activity picked up around him as the others finished or just began getting ready, and he nearly tripped over someone's sandal that had gone airborne in their haste. Hopping over it, Eliah scurried over to the door trying his best to avoid the other boys who where moving around. Stopping, he put a hand to his ear. "Ah..." He plunged back into the frantic room. It would probably be to his benefit to remove all jewelry, lest they be accidentally ripped from his body. Yes, he had been initiated into Candidacy with the usual horror stories about maulings. Unclasping his various earrings he pulled them from his ears before removing his bracelet and thumb ring. Eliah felt his ears again and stuck out his tongue slightly. "Yuck." He didn't like the feeling of no studs, it felt weird after having had them in so long. Quickly he made his way back to the doors, exiting and melting into the flow of candidate hopefuls.

He didn't pay much attention to how he got there but when he entered the hallways outside of the Hatching arena, Eliah hesitated back from the candidates flowing through the doors. He felt nauseous. Clenching his hands and then opening them, he breathed deeply before willing his body to move. Entering the sands Eliah quickly bowed to the Queen before walking toward the wall of the stands, although he stopped a few paces from it. He didn't want to be completely with his back against the wall. But it was when he stopped moving, stopped rushing about to get somewhere, that his thoughts caught up with him. Both berating him and encouraging him at the same time. What Dragon would want him, he couldn't even run! He was a good climber, he knew a craft, he was smart. It quite confused the shells out of him. Shaking his head, Eliah glanced up at the eggs. One was already wiggling!

(Kae, Sara and K'thay are in the stands btw)

[Ember]

Jazheera had become a light sleeper over her turns travelling and in Bitra. A mental voice was quite impossible for her to ignore. Not to mention what that voice told her...The recently made candidate sat up in bed and stretched. Thankfully she was also a morning person. She glanced towards a window and made a slightly disgruntled sound. It wasn't even morning yet. Babies never were very patient though so the girl scooted to the side of the bunk bed and got down quietly.

She went to her trunk with barely supressed excitement. There was no need to be squealing over maybes but that didn't change the fact that there was a bounce in her step she didn't normally have. She intended to Impress, though she knew it could take a few hatchings before it happened. She'd Impress and prove to her father that she was not simply meant to be Joined to some disgusting old man. She also wanted to Impress so she'd be more like her brother. Upon reflection, what he'd meant at the Gather and what she'd interpreted it as were probably a bit different. She just couldn't remain angry with him.

The Telgar born young woman discreetly shucked off her clothes and pulled on the white candidate robe. As expected it was loose on her. She was positively tiny and she'd been given a robe that was a touch too big. In the end it mattered little. It was only worn during hatchings and she was hoping this would be her first and last. She took a moment to pull the forefront strands of her long hair into a clip at the back of her head before leaving the candidate barracks. She climbed up the different levels of weyrs up to the hatching sands.

When she got there she paused to catch her breath before wandering onto the scalding sands. She bowed slightly to the big gold (and was she ever big, hoboy!) before moving off to the side a bit. She was in the front of the group of candidates. What need was there for her to be at the back if she actually wanted to Impress? Jazheera watched the Americone Dream egg, shifting every few seconds to move the heat of the sands to another part of her feet. So hot! She'd thought it hot before but the hatchings sands were crazy hot.

----

As Theirs arrived at the hatching sands two firelizards broke away from the people in the stands and headed towards the gold clutch mother. The brown firelizard known as Charming fluted at Hepaticath flirtatiously and actually landed on her head. The other firelizard was a bronze named Mother and he flew within the gold's sight. Such beautiful eggs! He couldn't wait to see her lovely babies. They'd be wonderful too, no doubt.

[neeuqtar]

You should come to the Sands now. The eggs hatch.[/color] Aubereine sat bolt upright as a voice invaded his mind. The former slave was used to being awake and ready to do anything in moments, and ship's hours were... unusual at times. Odd though, that it was the quiet call of something inside of his mind rather that the creak of a door or the cry of the mate. He groped for his comb from the bedside table -- no, wait, it was on the chest. Across the room.

The young man shimmied out of bed, padding over to the chest that held his things. His own chest held his clothing; his items of beauty rested on the other. With the speed of practice, he pulled a comb through his dark waves, coiling the hair and pinning it up to keep it from getting caught in dragon claws. Lash darkener, and then liner in the dim light of a shielded glow, using a small mirror stolen long ago from a merchant ship. Only then did he start dressing -- only to remember that he had to wear the strange white Candidate robe.

Off came the petticoats; on instead was the simplest undergarments he had, with his usual bone corset. A pale frock, and atop went the coarse Candidate's robe. There was no way he would let the rough cloth chafe on his skin. With a wrinkled nose, Aubereine picked up the thick-soled sandals they had to wear, then ducked out of the Candidate room he'd been placed in, peering around until he saw another vanishing Candidate.

Following barefoot, the young man jogged down the riverside path to the huge arena -- where within eggs (and dragons) waited. It was all so surreal. Him, a Candidate? Not only a Candidate, but one at Selenitas Weyr, at a Hatching a scant se'enday after he had arrived? It seemed like some strange sort of dream. Surely in moments, his door would open as a lusty sailor came to make use of his services... But no, he was in the Grounds, and the heat of the Sands hit hit him. It was real.

Sandals on, straighten the robe, step out like you know what you're doing. He froze moments before his sandaled foot hit the ground. Pausing, Aubereine turned to face the golden dragon on her couch. With as much aplomb as he could manage, Reine dipped into a deep curtsy, as good as any a lady would perform, staying down a few seconds before rising and stepping out, following the other Candidates in building a circle on the Sands.

Ignore the people filling the Stands. Ignore the heat. Project welcome. Well, at least that he was good at...

[Rowana]

Nabrik practically leaped out of his bed and landed on the floor in a tangle of sheets. Path yowled as he landed on her short tail. "By all the skies of Pern," Nabrik shouted angrily. "What the shards was that!" Path whined sadly, reminding the boy that he really aught to get up and off his canine. He grumbled darkly about being woken up in the middle of the night. Who was playing such a prank anyway? It sounded like Sylph, the talking lizard, only bigger. He blinked as the words that had been said starting to sink into his young mind.

"Skies above, Path!" Nabrik tried to jump up, and tripped over the sheets. "The eggs! It's the hatching! It's the hatching!" He fought a losing battle with the cloth for a few minutes before he managed to free himself. "Come on, we'd better hurry!" He rushed for his clothes, now slightly cleaner then when he'd arrived. Of course they hadn't let him be a real candidate. No amount of insistence had convinced them that he was old enough. If only he was taller, he was sure he would have been able to fake being twelve until it was too late.

No matter, he wasn't going to let a little thing like candidacy stop him! Nabrik slipped out of the weyrfolk apartments where he was staying and tiptoed towards the Hatching Grounds. The first thing he'd done after he'd arrived a few days ago was learn where they were. Fortunately, everyone else was going there too, so there really wasn't a need to be sneaky until he got closer.

Kale had promised to meet him outside and help them both get in. Now he just had to wait until she show up. He wasn't really big on relying on other people, but he had to admit, Kale had a much better idea of what they should do. He had only just gotten to the Weyr, after all.

[glamourie]

She wanted to see the eggs closer. And of course, asking Savitri was unacceptable – that kind of involved talking to her. She had no problem asking Hepaticath but she would’ve told Savitri and that wasn’t good either.

(Kale was, once again, in an anti-Savitri mood. The goldrider had done absolutely nothing to merit it, but usually in the summer, Kalerary always had a problem with her – because the summer was the anniversary of when Leradi disappeared, and Kale saw it, privately, as a tribute to her mother. She held a strong grudge against “the other woman” when she thought about her mother and how wildly different she and Savitri were – of course the younger woman couldn’t hold up in comparison. It was only natural to idolize her mother in her death.)

Logic would’ve dictated that asking was sensible – or sneaking around before the hatching. And she’d intended to do that, until she found out how stubbornly Ciceroth and Hepaticath were guarding those eggs. It was impossible to get even close without one of them seeing, and even though Ciceroth looked to her father, he was not exactly willing to budge; he’d picked her up by her pants and carted her away from the Sands and back to her father (who had laughed at her and told her to learn to be sneakier – tch, like he could do better). She decided that day that she had to find a better way onto the Sands for her closer look (she’d never seen dragon eggs or baby dragons up close – it was upsetting) and the best solution to that, in her opinion, was to go to the Hatching. After all, there would be a lot of people there – Ciceroth wouldn’t boot her out if he couldn’t find her in a sea of candidates. Right?

Okay. So she was really short. But there were other short candidates, right…? Right.

Getting onto the Sands meant she had to sneak. Which meant she’d needed robes. Getting them was difficult as it involved breaking into the candidate barracks – which she’d done while the candidate master was most efficiently distracted by a boy around her age begging to be a candidate. Hearing his protests had made her sympathetic – and when she escaped the barracks, it was with two robes, not one. She’d given one to the boy, and explained to him to put it on and meet her outside the Hatching Sands the day of the Hatching. She’d get them both in, even if it meant having to hide between other candidates. Her plan was flawless. She just… hadn’t mentioned to the boy (whose name apparently was Nabrik) that there was a chance of them getting hurt at the Hatching. She trusted dragons unfailingly. Their riders were another story entirely.

When she heard the tell-tale humming, Kale immediately sprung awake and darted out of the rider weyrs. She’d been sleeping in a healer’s weyr because his didn’t have any annoying babies (his name was E’rro, apparently – she hadn’t really thought to ask, she’d just brought her blankets and slept on the floor without permission and he hadn’t thrown too much of a fit). While E’rro was away at the infirmary, she yanked on the stolen candidate robe and positively bolted to the hatching sands. They were already filling (how was she so awake at such an early hour?) and Kalerary immediately spotted her partner-in-crime. Running over to his side, she grabbed his wrist and leaned over to whisper, “We’ve got to be careful. Look for a tall candidate we can hide behind so that no one notices us, we’ll make our way to the front to see the eggs better once we get inside. Stick out your chest, breathe deep, don’t be afraid. We’ve got just as much right to be in there as any of them – he’ll do, c’mon.”

She didn’t wait for a response, immediately jerking Nabrik over to a tall boy with black hair whose eyes were half-closed. Easing in behind him, she looked up and caught sight of a brown salamandyr who hissed at her from the hood of the robe the boy wore, and she stuck her tongue back out at it – much to its obvious offense.

Annoying! Annoying! Mine, annoying little –

“Shut up, Calamari, it’s too early for you,” the candidate mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Oh, he was well-aware that there were people behind him – but he couldn’t be bothered to care as he filtered his way onto the Sands and into the cluster of people forming in front of the eggs. Interestingly, he didn’t even look up at them, though the girl peeked out from behind him to get a better look. Marsayis being in the front meant she could hide behind him and still see the eggs. As soon as he settled into spot, Sayis looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “You seen a blond, ‘bout this tall,” he paused to signify a height significantly taller than Kalerary, but shorter than he was, “with piercing blue eyes? His name’s Kostya, he’s obnoxious, can’t miss him – I seem to have lost my slave.”

“No, I haven’t.” Blinking, Kalerary looked at Nabrik. “Have you?”

“Never mind, I’ll find him. You’re welcome,” he said absently, waving one hand before moving – presenting the two weyrbrats to the queen (who he hadn’t bowed to, not to be disrespectful, but because he had two weyrbrats idling behind him; as soon as he was out of the way, he offered her a courteous nod before filtering back into the crowd) and her clutch. He’d gotten them in without complaint. They could deal with the dragon. Kids, tch.

[kysseh]

Hepaticath was pleased and somewhat calmed by the good manners displayed by the candidates, dipping her golden head in acceptance as the group filed onto the sands. Her whirling eyes caught sight of two very small aberrations, and she let lowered her head to get a better look. Was that-? Oh, it was. A flare of yellow in her eyes was indicative of her annoyance that RysCiceroth's hatchling felt the need to sneak in, but she decided to let them Stand unmolested. Much of her good humor came from Savitri, the goldrider in the midst of trying her hardest to keep the queen calm. The clutchmother was abruptly startled by the arrival of firelizards, one on her head and one flitting about near her face. Though she snorted, she made no other move to dislodge them. It would have taken too much of her energy away from her precious eggs, and that just would not do.

The Americone Dream Egg finally started to crumble, weakened by the constant thrashing of the dragonet inside. A pale nose, nearly white, became visible peeking through one of the holes in the shell, nostrils flaring to drag in some of that precious air. After a brief moment of rest, the green managed to free herself from her shelled prison and flop inelegantly down on the sands, whuffing in exhaustion at the effort it had required. Within minutes, though, the little creature was up and moving at a swift, if somewhat clumsy, scamper, her wet wings and long tail dragging inelegantly through the sand behind her. Had to find her person. Had to find her person. Had to find her person…

Her clutchmates were not to be outdone, though, for while the Americone Dream Green was making her way across the sands, the Chunky Monkey Egg began to quiver and shake. It rocked to and fro with increasing ferocity before two forelimbs splintered through the now-fragile shell, the little clawed forepaws wriggling ferociously as the creature inside attempted to figure a way out of its predicament. The matter was decided very quickly, though, as the egg toppled over and knocked into its clutchmate, the Cake Batter Egg, cracking them both. While the Cake Batter Egg displayed onto a flash of dark hide through one of its cracks, the Chunky Monkey Brown picked himself up out of the remains of his egg, staggering woozily away from the mess before tumbling in a heap to the sands. His legs and tail looked entwined in a hopeless sort of knot, and he was just not going anywhere, instead showing off his pale yellow-brown hide to the world as he rolled in the sand in an attempt to get free.

Hi there! a cheery voice announced loudly to everyone present, the Americone Dream Green twitching her wet wings as she sniffed curiously at Eliah’s feet. I have just met you all, but I am sure I will love you very much indeed. I am looking for my person, though. Have you seen my person? she continued to broadcast at large. The little green peered up at the candidate and then moved on to the next one, snuffling at him too until she caught the scent of the one she had in mind and scurried to meet them. Oh, yes! Oh, yes! I have found you! She raised up on her hind legs and clumsily planted her forelegs against Sari’s torso, her tail waggling about in obvious delight. I have found you, my Sari, and you are my personlove. Your Upasanath would like to have some food very much now, and- SHINY!

Apparently, the little creature was distracted by the bronze flit in front of Hepaticath’s face. Hopefully, the fixation would pass.

[kysseh]

Feel free to expand on, tweak, and go wild with this. <3 This is bare bones, at best. (And find a better color code! I color-fail!)

Americone Dream Green
Name: Upasanath (from “Upasana” meaning “worship, devotion”)
Age: newly hatched
Color Code: 65E17B
Impresses to: Sari
Appearance: Upasanath is on the larger side for a green and shares her sire’s long and slender sort of build, though she takes it to the extreme and is built along far lighter lines than he. Her tail is disproportionately long in comparison to the rest of her, perhaps a third longer than it really should be, and she will have to find a way to keep it from tripping her up. Her body borders on the frail and settles instead for somewhat dainty, given the elegant little face and high arch to her neck that she sports in addition to the lean little body. She is a pretty little thing, even if she seems to try hard to conceal it. Her ridges are soft and understated, matched with claws that are grow in blunter than most dragons’. She is a feminine girl, all the way around.

Her color seems strangely unhealthy at first glance, though a second quick look will confirm that Upasanath is perfectly healthy. She rarely falls ill, this one, though the slightest bit of bad feeling would be displayed in a clear discoloration hide. She looks somewhat like a patchwork quilt, being made up of diamonds of beautiful pastel green that are tinted to some degree with white or overlaid by a dusting of gray. The colors fade completely to white on her nose and to gray along the leading edges of her wings, fading back into the green as one looks farther along her wing membranes toward the trailing edge. Her ridges seem to be the general exception to the pattern, each one crowned with a stripe of a medium green that fades back into the general hide color as one moves from the ridges down into the valleys between them.

Upasanath is a green, for sure, for she will be quite the quick little thing in the air once her tail is under control. She can twist and turn at a moment’s notice, winding her body through the air with both grace and speed should the occasion call for it. Her stamina will be greater than most greens, though not enough so that she can last an entire Fall. On the ground, her tail will be her biggest handicap, particularly if it tends to get stuck in doors or chewed on by fellow weyrlings. The poor gal will have to work to keep it from getting underneath her feet and into the jaws of others, and the dragonhealers will probably get to see her a lot for that very reason. Tails are easy to wound.

Personality: If someone took an canine puppy, turned it green, and blew it up to the size of a dragon, the result would be Upasanath. This green seems to be completely unaware of the fact that she is, actually, a dragon. Perhaps that wisdom will come with age. For the moment, Upasanath is simply obsessed with all things fuzzy, be they human, canine, or feline. She will probably pester Hers to bring her some fluffies home to play with, simply because she enjoys nuzzling up to and playing with anything that feels nice and soft. Really, though, Upasanath will play with anyone or anything. She especially loves chasing moving objects (including her own long tail) and will probably chew on everything until she learns that wood makes splinters that hurt her mouth. She positively adores anything or anyone cuddly and will flop on top of or cuddle up to any dragon that stays still long enough for her to get close. Of course, snuggles will last only long enough for her to regain her energy before she’s back to using their tail as a toy until they get up and play with her. Why is everyone so lazy?!

Upasanath, for all her craziness and energy, is truly intelligent at heart. She is a great problem solver, able to figure her way through many obstacles when the need should arise. Create the need, and she will rise to the challenge quite admirably without any real need for recognition. Her enthusiasm and confidence will make her a good leader since the power won’t ever go to her head. She too much enjoys everyone’s company to start bossing them around without good reason. Her friendliness towards everyone will doubtlessly make her many friends, and she is unfailingly loyal to them all. Upasanath will probably be very selective about her mates, though she will never, ever be rude to those who choose to pursue her. There always exists in her a deep gratitude and appreciation for their attentions, and she could never respond to that with meanness. That would be unfathomable.

Given that she is probably going to be quite the popular gal, it will be unlikely that she will settle on a permanent weyrmate without good cause. She does not choose a lifepartner on a whim, but when she does choose him, he can expect utter faithfulness from her. She is a creature that does nothing halfway, throwing every bit of energy and time and effort into every situation that she comes across. The creature that is the focal point of most of her worship, though, is Hers. Hers is precious beyond all measure, and Upasanath will do anything to please Hers, no matter the cost. Hers is to be kept happy and comfortable and safe at all times, and Upasanath will be downright vicious to those who get in the way of it, unapologetically so too. There are very few unforgivable crimes in Upasanath’s mind, but upsetting and hurting Hers falls into that category. Hers is just so precious to Upasanath.

[rii]

"White is suppose to mean purity, isn't it..?"

Kostya had joined the small group of robed figures after given Hepaticath the respects they had been taught to do by the candidate master. He had only idled briefly outside the candidate barrack when the humming started. Ironically he had been waiting for Marsayis, only to realize after the rooms had emptied that his friend had gone one ahead without him. He lightly bumped into Marsayis's side, it was rather easy to pick his tall frame out from all the others.

Falling oddly silent, Kostya trailed his eyes onto the clutch as the small dragons began to emerge. A smile even tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched the green, so canine-like, choose her person. The little dragon was cute, kind of, in that utterly child-like way. He tilted his head and glance side-long at Marsayis – he looked tired – then shifted his attention elsewhere to pass the time by.

Could almost see through the fabric of the robes. Was that girl even wearing anything under there – Kostya's eyes narrowed in a not-so-discrete manner onto Jazherra's backside.

[marge]

Tobby had been doing just what everyone else had been, sleeping. But it's hard to remain sleeping when someone starts yelling at you. LoveMineLove! Wake! Good eggs hatch! Wake now! Melly ordered as the tiny salymander nibbled lightly on his bonded's ear. Nothing could have woken the candidate faster. Within seconds, the boy was on his feet and pulling on the proper robes. It was finally time!

As he rushed for the Hatching Grounds, thoughts rushed through his mind. He was so excited that not even the unconvinent time could keep the bounce from his step as he stepped on to the sands. Ouch! They were pretty hot. He paused to smile at Hepaticath, giving her a short bow and a wave that he just couldn't help before he moved to join the other candidates. He must be late. There were already hatchlings on the stands and one had already Impressed. Tobby smiled toward the new weyrling before he turned his eye to the brown that was hatched. Poor thing must have hit his head.

[Ember]

Jazheera watched the Americone Dream egg hatch a green. She started towards the group of candidates but what caught the girl's attention was an egg that was chaking in the clutch. The Chunky Monkey egg hit another egg and revealed a brown and a flash of something dark in the egg it hit. The poor brown was all tangled up by its own limbs and her lips quirked into a grin. She'd heard of the hatchlings' grace...or lack thereof.

The broadcasting of the newly hatched green distracted Jazheera from the brown's spectacle and she looked to see the green sniffing at one of the candidates. The green succesfully kept her attention and she smiled at the actions of that one too. She saw one of the other girls Impress and mouthed a congratulations that was probably overlooked. Plenty of time to say congratulations later.

Jazz probably would have turned her attention back to the other hatched dragonet had she not noticed someone looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at Kostya and frowned slightly. It wasn't that she was all that modest. If guys wanted to look at her they could eat their hearts out - it certainly didn't mean they'd get anywhere - but now that she'd noticed she didn't feel it was right to simply ignore it. That invited an opinion she didn't care for. She didn't want guys to think of her just as a piece of meat.

She settled for clasping her hands behind her back and letting her hands hide some of her behind. Jazheera knew it was likely she'd forget about it soon enough and cross her arms or something but it would do to get the point across. Or so she thought.

----

Charming chittered and proceeded to preen on the gold's head. Look at him! he was amazing, yes? Hilarious, right? Charming, the tamer of the big golds! It sounded funny to him. Mother was more preoccupied with the hatching babies. Hepaticath hadn't chased him away so he figured she was fine with him staying. The bronze flew a little lower and brushed the brown's mind lightly, encouragingly. He could do it!

[Rowana]

Nabrik nodded with barely contained glee as he slipped on his robe. He was starting to like Kale. She was pretty smart for a girl. He nodded at her instructions with a barely disguised grin. True, he had no real idea what he was getting into, but he didn't really care. "Stay here, Path," he whispered to the canine. "I'll be back." Path whined, but sat outside the entrance as the two youngsters slipped in behind the tall candidate. She really didn't think they'd be fine without her, but neither did she want to be any closer to a dragon that big.

Nabrik was sure they'd got in without notice. At least until the tall boy actually addressed them. He blinked and stumbled a little in his surprise. He looked at Kale uncertainly for a moment, then shook his head. "I ain't seen no one like that." Not that he'd really been looking anyway. Of course now he was leaving and they were quite exposed. Exposed and with a very clear view of the largest dragon Nabrik had ever seen in his life.

Hepaticath was huge. There was no getting around it. The small boy already thought Ahth, the first dragon he'd seen, was big. Most of the others he'd seen since were blues, greens and some browns and they were all pretty sizable too. Nothing compared to the queen. She was quite possibly the most magnificent sight the sheltered holdbrat had ever seen. Nabrik couldn't help himself, his mouth fell open in awe and his eyes swelled with amazement.

An older boy might have known better then to stare rudely at something that could easily swallow him whole. A wiser one might have thought it best to be polite and bow or offer compliments. A more cautious candidate might have at least had the decency to be a little be scared. Nabrik was, sadly, none of these things.

"Skies above!" he blurted out, in a whispered loud enough for most of the candidates to hear. "She's huge!"

[kysseh]

A harsh squawk directed the attention of the clutchmother towards her hopelessly-tangled offspring, the queen crooning quietly in comfort as the Chunky Monkey Brown began to pick his limbs apart. After a moment, the pale brown got up onto his over-long legs and wobbled precariously, his tail attempting to brace itself on the sand as if it would help his terrible balance. His wings flapped a few times, further encrusting them in sand as he started to stumble away from the wreckage of his egg. Oh, but the sand was so slippy on him, and he faceplanted more than once on the way to the candidates, immediately popping up and shaking himself off before continuing his awkward toddle towards his destination. His was somewhere in the bunch, he knew, and he bulled his not-inconsiderable weight into Marsayis’ legs, croaking a rough apology as he staggered away.

His bumbling through the mass of candidates was overshadowed, however, by a series of shrill twitters that were awful enough to make the clutchmother cringe. The Cake Batter Egg had fallen to pieces, and the dark little dragonet inside had rolled out onto the sands, liberally coating its gooey wet body in sharp crystals of sound. Pain was not the motivation for the noise, though. The Cake Batter Blue was instead happy to be out of his egg, and he tipped his head back to warble quite badly for some time. When his head finally lowered, he glanced around at his audience. They were watching and listening… right? When he realized that they were not paying much attention to him, he creeled unpleasantly and hopped his way towards the candidates. He tripped over Kostya’s feet, squeaking out an apology for any clawmarks he had left on the poor boy’s legs. His next move was for Jazheera, clinging to her legs for balance and a plea for attention for a moment before roughly shoving her away. All bad, all bad.

Then the feminine little blue caught sight of what he was after and flared out his wet wings with a terrible flourish. Oh, helloooooo, my gorgeous, ‘ReineLove! Do you like me? The question seemed to not need an answer, for the blue sprawled with great dignity at the feet of Aubereine, crooning tunelessly up at his chosen. ’ReineMine, I am your Madhavath, and I am beeeee-yooooo-teeeee-fuuuuul, am I not? Your beautiful girl wants to be feeeeed now he singsonged shamelessly, accompanying them with a horrible series of attempted chirps.

Staring in bewilderment at his gender-confused brother, the Chunky Monkey Brown went back to his search, ignoring the sounds of cracking and shattering from the clutch. The brown uttered up a shocked squawk when a tiny ball of emerald green dragon emerged from the Banana Split Egg and screeched her dislike of the world at large. She made him uneasy, and so the brown tackled the nearest boy, squeaking in apology as he knocked the poor candidate flat on his back.

Oooh, I am so sorry, T’byMine. he told Tobby with an apologetic sort of look, trying to bury his wet and sandy body in the boy’s white robe. He liked his boy, he did. He wanted to stay with nice His and get away from the green who wanted to be mean. Why did she have to be mean? Soooo sorry. I did not mean to knock you over, but I am very excited to see you. She is a little funny, that green sister of mine, and you are a very small sort of human. My blue brother there is just very silly. He is not a female! So when are we going to eat? I am hungry enough to eat a whole…something. Am I talking too much? I think I am. Did I tell you my name? I think I did, but you probably forgot since you look very surprised, I think. Or are you in pain? Or maybe you have to make an icky? Your Nandath hopes that can wait. I need feeding, and I want to go see my goldmother! Have you seen my goldflittymother? Not that big one but a small one. I /know/ she should be here…

Hepaticath watched the Banana Split Green sit in the remains of her egg and glare at the candidates, the queen’s gaze then travelling over the remainder of the eggs as she spied the Peanut Butter Cup and Half-Baked Eggs beginning to twitch and rock. My, but she had hatched some strange offspring thus far, her gaze fixed on the chatterbox brown. Perhaps he was just enthusiastic. Flittymother? He must have meant Elegance, who had helped to guard the clutch. The gold shook her head very slightly, trying to not dislodge the flitter above her head. Nandath seemed completely unaware of the bronze flit over his head, too fixated on his new human.

The gold heard a comment on her size from one of the little candidates, and she snorted in his direction, eyes whirling a sudden bright blue in amusement before returning to their usual green. Silly little boy. She would lick him later.

[kysseh]

Cake Batter Blue
Name: Madhavath (from “Madhava” meaning “vernal, of the springtime”)
Age: newly hatched
Color Code: 3016B0
Impresses to: Aubereine/‘Reine
Appearance: This little blue is almost embarrassingly feminine, a soft-edged male that is right about average in stature for his color. He will forever be in baby fat, a creature that is just on the slimmer side of chubby. His legs look a little too short as a result, even though the bones are no shorter than the average blue his size. The extra thickness in his tail gives him more strength on which to balance and wield, though it makes him look slightly heavier in the back end than the front. Underneath the layer of padding, though, is a fine layer of lean muscle that keeps him from being a complete pudgeball. His head and ridges are all gentle, blunted curves that lack real sharpness and definition. The only masculine parts on him are the long, sharp jet black claws that decorate each foot.

Madhavath’s feminine appearance is also apparent in his color, a dark purple-hinted blue that fades into a color near to black along his ridges and the centerline of his spine, as well as along the bones of his wings. The majority of his hide could best be referred to as stippling, as if tiny dots of purple and blue in a variety of dark shades were planted all over his hide in such a random pattern that anyone looking at Madhavath would be hard-pressed to find a boundary between the spots of blue and purple. His face is somewhat bizarre in appearance, though, as both his upper and lower ‘lips’ are mostly colored in purple hues, and the ridges over his eyes are a dark purpled blue. Poor Madhavath always looks like he is painted in make-up.

Given his slightly plumped frame, one would expect Madhavath to be slow in the air and on the ground, but the opposite is true. He is no more agile than the normal blue, but he hides a surprising amount of wing muscle in that slightly squishy body. Perhaps the little bit of added mass gives him speed in a dive, but Madhavath is quite the quick dragon in the air, so long as he’s not allowed to get lazy for prolonged periods of time. Keep him in good shape, and he’ll be an excellent addition to any wing. His stamina will never be anything of legend, but his speed and reliability will speak for themselves.

Personality: Madhavath is a curious mix of contradictions that will make the impatient or unfamiliar go insane. This lovely blue is very secure in himself… if by ‘himself’ you mean ’herself’. Madhavath’s will probably have to look there to check and make sure that all of the male parts are in place, since Madhavath will never refer to himself as male. He is a blue and a male, to be sure, and he will never deny that he is a beautiful blue. But he will always insist that he possesses female parts. That other blue is a female, so the logic follows that Madhavath is as well, right? Really, it just makes so much more sense if his pretty purple-blue self is a ‘her,’ right? Despite this, though, Madhavath seems to be attracted only to females, specifically greens. Golds are just a little out of his (her!) league, you see, so he enjoys the pretty, delicate greens that best exemplify their color. Nasty, ugly greens aren’t to be tolerated. They’re just not properly female.

In addition to being female in the brain, Madhavath is something of a performer. He is a proud creature and enjoys having an audience to appreciate his greatness. He seems to have an unusual fondness for singing, and though his warbles and crooning may sound nothing less than earsplitting as a hatching, his excellent hearing will inspire him to improve his vocal control as he ages. Singing dragon, anyone? His mindvoice possesses a bizarre sing-song tone to it, and he seems to be ‘singing’ even when half-asleep. His is well-advised to start learning how to distract him or shut him up, or there will be no peace for anyone nearby. Madhavath is not as discriminatory with his friends as he is with his love interests, and he will cheerfully broadcast his songs to anyone within hearing range, be they dragon or human. His friends will always find him exhaustingly and perhaps endearingly optimistic, always willing to look on the bright side of the situation.

Madhavath’s entire outlook on life, in fact, is that of the glass half-full. He seems to fully understand the concept of carpe diem and hates to spend any time at all in depression or exercising caution. That is a waste of time and talent on everyone’s part. He prefers the ‘jump first; think later’ philosophy that has him taking some risks that he probably shouldn’t be taking, but he judges that it is better to take a chance and lose than to never take that chance at all. Thankfully for all involved, though, Madhavath tends to take others’ risks just as well as his own. He is clever enough to know that he is not clever enough to be in charge, and so long as his wingleader knows how to handle Madhavath’s little problems, Madhavath will be a loyal and reliable member of the wing. His pride dictates that he must do his best and fulfill his responsibilities, even if it cuts into his own performance time. Happy wingmates make a better audience, after all.

----
Chunky Monkey Brown
Name: Nandath (from “Nanda” meaning “joy”)
Age: newly hatched
Color Code: BFA130
Impresses to: Tobby/T’by
Appearance: This dragon is among the most bizarre-looking creatures to ever hatch, and though he will certainly grow into himself as he ages, he will probably be at the back of his weyrling class due to utter lack of coordination. He is just on the larger side of average for his color but stands much higher at the shoulder given his unusually long legs. These legs, though he can use them all separately and in a gait much more like a runner or canines, are going to be an enormous liability until he takes it upon himself to diligently practice. They easily get tangled with each other or with his overly long tail, which results in a wriggling heap of dragonflesh. Nandath’s extraordinarily long tail is about a third again as long as it should be and almost prehensile in nature. His head is somewhat wide, though the muzzle is a bit shorter than one would expect, giving him an adorably short-nosed face. His slightly shorter skull should not be a hindrance, though it, combined with his round-edged ridges, will combine to make him look slightly less than intimidating. He’s certainly masculine, given his size and the strength apparent in his build, though a dragon that trips over its own legs is probably not going to have much of a presence…

Nandath’s coloration only adds to the bizarreness of his appearance, his hide largely a pale brown that borders on a yellowish tinge in places. Were it any more yellowish, he might look a bit ill. As it is, the pale brown is the dominant color of his hide, darkening to a slightly reddish hue along the midline of his back while the yellow is mostly apparent around his feet and on his chest. His nosetip is very bizarre, almost a pure pale yellow that only extends to about his nostrils before fading back into the very light, even brown. His wing membranes are a shade or two paler than the majority of his hide and are almost translucent when held up to bright sunlight. Since his coloration is already pale and a bit odd, it will probably be difficult to tell when he’s off-color.

As far as aerial maneuvers go, Nandath’s skill will depend entirely on practice. His wings are of a good size and proportion to take him skyward should he choose to stretch them and take flight, though he will not be an acrobat. His movements on the ground, however, will be absolute chaos and disaster until he learns to get his oddly-shaped body into proper discipline. Expect a lot of stumbles and trips and falls… and a few trips to the infirmary on a daily basis until he gets his bearings. His and the weyrlingmaster had best be patient folk; coordination comes slowly to the long-limbed and quickly-growing. His flexible and strong tail will be his saving grace, and with some discipline, it will become just like an extra limb to use for grabbing, swatting, pushing and pulling. Better watch out for doors, though. Getting a tail caught in one of those is unpleasant.

Personality: Physical difficulties aside, Nandath is the sort of dragon that any wingleader would want around. He is attentive and resourceful in addition to being very easygoing. Nandath is surprisingly relaxed, despite his problems in getting from Point A to Point B without faceplanting in the dirt. His handicaps seem to be very little to him, and he’ll cheerfully pop up from a fall with a happy croon and a bounce in his step with all the resilience of a young hatchling. This resilience and willingness to go with whatever life throws him will probably follow him into maturity, resulting in an intelligent and good-tempered brown that will make a decent wingsecond if he puts his mind to it. Nandath is not lacking in brains or good sense, and he will be fully able to do anything he wants with enough time and effort involved.

However, this intelligence seems to have come at the mild price of some… well… shall we say naivete? Despite being quite observant and picking up details (“Mine, did you see that Salenth’s has a new shirt today? It becomes him very well!”) that few others would notice, Nandath seems to be stuck at the innocence level of about a nine-Turn-old holdbred child. Concepts of Flights and human intimacy are completely beyond him, despite the fact that he’ll cuddle with anyone who will sit still long enough for him to cling to, and his general reaction to anything remotely related to intimacy is a childish ew!!!!!! He is not bereft of the hormones that incite him to Chase females, but he might be just a bit of a late bloomer on that count. Similarly, he seems to be a bit lost on the concepts of sarcasm and doublespeak, so don’t ask any question unless you want an honest answer. Do those pants make you look fat? Of course not! Your backside doesn’t need the pants for that.

Those who are willing to put up with his sometimes-painful honesty will find themselves with a cheerful friend for life. Nandath has an unusually long memory for a dragon and can remember everyone who has offered him kindness in the past. Of course, he also remembers everyone who has done wrongly by him, but those wrongdoings are brushed off with the childish approach that people just made a mistake. No one really meant to hurt him that way, did they? Strangely, though, he seems to take greater offense to wrong done to others, particularly His. Everyone clearly made a mistake when they hurt him, but all harm done to his friends is completely intentional. How dare they! Given his nonviolent personality, though, the worst he will normally do is give someone the silent treatment. Why bother picking fights when ignoring them is so much easier? Those who want to pick on His, though, should think better of it. This is the only occasion that will cause Nandath to let loose with fury. Nandath has room in his heart for many, but besides His, the creature who will receive the most devotion is the gold flit Elegance. He seems to have recognized that she helped guard his egg and the others, but he seems to have latched onto her and is obsessed with worshipping her. Lovely Elliemother... favorite Elliemother.