The Clutching

[dragon]

Cloar eased into the stands area of the Hatching ground, ever so quietly. He really didn't want to get noticed ... nope. Not with the Queen glaring and snarling and near-roaring the way she was. He didn't want to be privy to that kind of attention at all. Nope nope.

He glanced around down at the sands, but couldn't see much ... all he could see was a paining dragon. So he looked over at the other people, instead, to see if there was anyone he knew there.

Miracle of miracles, there was! Saeo and Raylin were both there, as was ... Pepsi? By the First Egg, what did the lad think he was doing, over there? He was liable to get his head bit off, doing that! Deciding that someone had better prevent a bloody mess before it was too late, Cloar quickly made his way over to the lad, and gently took him by the arm. "Not now, Pepsi." He said, in low tones, before tugging on the arm to lead him away from the edge, and away from Aslath.

A quick glance told Cloar that there were indeed some eggs already laid, after all ... but right now, his perogative was to get away from Aslath ... with Pepsi in tow.

[antinanco]

“You’re more than welcome,” Pasine neutrally replied. Though not knows, she felt a rise in confidence from Shmee’s small smile and took the seat that Danar was so intently staring at. If she had any luck the rest would follow suit, following the nice, organized pattern of the benches already set in stone. The location of her seat wasn’t too far away from the group, but just distant enough to notice Neikolai and Zaqx at the fringes of the crowd. She waved a small, controlled wave in an attempt to call the two to her. (Hopefully the extent of her gesture meant that only Neikolai would see. By no means did she want that idiot Zaqx floundering over. She had enough men in the vicinity as it was.)

Before she could actually say anything, however, Pasine caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing to the right, she noticed a heavily scarred figure clamoring to the one laid egg. Did he really think that he could take on a full grown queen dragon in the middle of Clutching? That was as insane as… as… She couldn’t even think of an equivalent to the levels of stupidly being displayed! Pasine hoped that Aslath would clutch a large egg on him and squash him.

But subsequently a small, quiet boy appeared and attempted to drag the obviously more muscular boy off. Pasine glanced at Shmee curiously, almost perplexed, then turned to Danar to see if he was too busy wallowing in shame to realize what was going on. Nope! He appeared to be enjoying the show, or at least so said the smile etched into his face.

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[Avu]

It wasn't that he hadn't heard Aslath calling him; how could he not? The problem was his Rider, as was typical. Even the usually laidback bronze's eyes were flashing in agitation by the time His got ready; he was absolutely certain T'rid had been moving negligently on purpose just to make Aslath bite his head off when they did arrive. And, Corinth thought with an irritated hiss, he was succeeding, completely ignoring the dragon's urges to hurry up. Stupid and Mir were, fortunately, both asleep, or Mir would have probably ended up fleeing from Stupid, who, apparently, was not fond of hearing Corinth berate T'rid. If you do not hurry up /this instant/, I /will/ ask Aslath to /sit/ on you! the dragon snarled, his claws flexing dangerously as he rustled his wings, eyes narrowing. I'm coming, came the slow, definitely amused response.

The bronzerider swung onto the dragon's neck swiftly enough, and Corinth wasted no time getting to the Hatching Sands, dropping from the weyrledge so quickly that T'rid hissed his irritation, though for once the bronze didn't respond. Between? T'rid queried. No. Between is cold. Aslath won't thank us for the cold. Which made it awfully tempting to go between just for that, of course; T'rid bit his lip - hard - and repressed it as Corinth skimmed over the Weyr, ducking into the Hatching Sands, where an undeniable commotion was occuring, and - oh, wouldn't you just know it? Hardly anybody had been at Millieth's Hatching, but now, this time, there was a whole group of Candidates, along with a brown dragon and, undoubtedly, his Rider. T'rid's mouth twitched into a disapproving grimace as Corinth crooned in apology to Aslath as he backwinged to hover above the Stands. T'rid made no movement to get off, crossing his arms as he glanced at the Weyrwoman and her little group of fans in irritation, until Corinth's eyes showed tints of irritation again and he forcibly gave his Rider a mental nudge.

As the newly promoted Weyrleader dropped to the Stands, Corinth took off again, hovering indecisively over the hot Sands. Apologies, Aslath; Mine can be exceedingly slow. He fully expected to be yelled at. In fact, he would have simply come without T'rid had he not wanted His to at least moderately get along with Shmee (apparently, they'd been from their Weyrling class, or something, and that hadn't gone amazingly well). May I land on the Sands, or would you prefer I stayed on the Stands? he added, more quietly as he held his position a half-length off the hot Sands, head tilted with anxiety. The egg was beautiful, of course; the bronze was extremely proud - and what bronze wouldn't be, after all? - but neither did he want his mate to bite his head off for landing without her express permission. (Wasn't it normal for the sire bronze to be able to? - but then, probably, they weren't late, Corinth thought, with a tinge of irritation at himself.)

His lips were moving, imperceptibly, in a steady flow of curses - very imaginative, they were, too, had anybody been close enough to read his lips, or hear the hiss of breath escaping from him. T'rid narrowed his eyes as he followed Corinth's flight, gave a slight shake of his head, ignoring the hair that fell stubbornly across his face. He should have brought Stupid. It was tempting - very much so - as the brown 'mandyr would probably attack Aslath for not being a green dragon (and yet attracting Corinth); how dare she. Even his thoughts were sardonic, though after a brief reflection, T'rid decided he'd really rather keep Stupid wholly intact if at all it could be helped, though sometimes he thought it couldn't be.

Another sigh, another curse, and he slid through the seats towards the Weyrwoman and the group of admirers, lips tightening slightly as he arrived. "Weyrwoman." A sarcastic grin flicked across his face. "Weyrwoman's fan club," he added innocently, nodding slightly at the Candidates, crossing his arms across his torso and glancing at Aslath and Corinth again. Wouldn't she just hurry and finish clutching so he could leave?

That one of the Candidates had invaded the queen's personal space didn't seem to particularly matter to the young man, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched them - watched as the boy went daringly close to Aslath (squash him, Aslath! Squash him!), followed by another, who seemed to be trying to get him away (squash him, too). A slight smirk flicked across his face as he glanced at Corinth, one eyebrow raised questioningly. Aren't you going to stop him? Sit on them or something. The bronze's eyes were flecked with shades of anxiety. Let the other boy drag him off. The Hatching is for maulings, not the Clutching. Oh, how boring was that? T'rid scowled slightly at Corinth, impatiently pushing his hair out of his eyes. If I were a hatchling for this group of Candidates, I'd go into depression, he commented candidly. You'd better hope they don't, or I'll blame you. Somehow.

Go figure.

[nightingale]

Saeo had to bite the inside of her cheek hard to keep from grinning. Watching Danar get chewed out by the weywoman was brutally satifying, not so much because the boy was being made a fool of but because every moment, Shmee was proving herself to be even more amazing than the girl had ever dared imagine. What an honour it would be to fly under the rule of a goldrider such as her...and she would. There was no getting around it.

Kei stiffened visibly as the weyrwoman's attention settled on both him and the vibrating bundle of nerves clinging to his shirt collar. Shards, so Raylin had been right...and judging by that look in her eye, she was well aware of the fact. Well, he supposed it was his own fault for making an assuption.

"I...apologize. I'll be sure she stays out of sight and well away from Aslath's clutch."

The statement was a desperate attempt at finding middle ground when there was none to be had. As much as he would have liked to send Lamb back to the dormitories to wait, the poor thing was deathly afraid of both jumping between and leaving his side for more than an instant. Removing her from the situation ment removing himself...and well, that just didn't seem fair!
In any case, it was hard to identify his own guilt amongst the mournful, dejected and downright hysterical thoughts Lamb kept forcing at him. Oh, what ever had she done?! Now the gold Aslath AND the weyrwoman AND the blue flitter AND all the other candidates HATED her! Oh, she was such a wretched little green -making a mockery of Hers by coming out onto the hatching sands with him! He ought to send her away forever, because she brought him nothing but trouble an oh -oh she could just DIE!

Kei did his level best to calm the distraught creature with soothing reassurances that everyone most certianly did not hate her. She wasn't the only flitter who hadn't been invited -none of the others were at the clutching because Aslath preferred it that way. He knew it wasn't possible for her to ignore him, but Lamb certainly seemed to be doing just that. She crawled dejectedly into his shirt, forming an oddly-shaped pucker beneath the fabric as she settled onto his shoudler. Periodically she let out a faint, wheezing chirp -a sound that Keirin could only guess was the flitter equivilant of heartbroken sobbing.
He sighed. If his dragon turned out to be as clingy and hyper-emotional as Lamb, he was certain that he wouldn't survive it.

Saeo, being among the candidates who were not destracted by an overly theatrical mind-mate, was quick to notice T'rid and his mount swooping in for a landing. It was still hard for her to believe that T'rid -the same sardonic brozerider who had flown she, Raylin and Cloar to the infirmary after they had decided to break curfew and injure themselves in the process- was now leading the entire Weyr. Well, she supposed he could do as good a job as anyone else...it was just odd...

She was tempted to greet him in a properly sarcastic manner as he addressed them as Shmee's fanclub, but instead bobbed her head politely and murmured a cheerful;

"Weyrleader T'rid."

She noticed Pepsi about the time Aslath did, and winced as the queen's warning hissed dangerously across the hatching sands. Oh shells, now what was that idiot doing? Pay attention Nikolai, your pet is wandering...well, fortunately for Pepsi at least Cloar seemed to be aware of what was going on around him. Now get that dimglow off the sands before he gets himself eaten...

[binker]

Pepsi blinked at the hiss, eyes taking in the bulk of the angry clutching Queen. What was she so angry about? He wasn't going to hurt her; he didn't have his knife, as Neikolai refused to allow it in to the Archives, and he had forgotten it from her shrieking. He frowned thoughtfully, wondering if she thought he was going to harm the egg. Hah, yeah right! It wasn't like he could eat the huge thing, even if he was hungry... And he knew the minute he tried anything against the egg, he would just be a bloody smear on the sands.

He heard Cloar coming before he came close, which was why he didn't startle and try to claw the other's face apart. He followed along the other for a moment, but quickly became agitated by the other's touch, and moved ahead. In an easy, fluid movement, he jumped from the sands, landing lightly on the balls of his feet on the stairs of the stands. Being cooped up in the Weyr was so /boring/ for the wildling; he was used to leaping through trees, running where-ever he wished, without all these confining rules. But the stands were mostly clear, and rather even, so he hopped his way up them in controlled leaps; he made it look easy, really.

He came to a stop near the group of people, eyes wary and alert as he gazed around. Hmnph, they all looke dlike softlings... There was that big bully male, Dumper? Dumber? Damar? Whatever, Pepsi didn't care about his name. There were also those two girls who had been feline-bait, and a mix of faces he only vaguely recognized. He soon lost his attention for them, instead peering at Shmee and T'rid to listen in on them. For a moment, he almost decided to be on his way, but a certain word came up that he knew...

His face brightened, brain hooked on the word; 'club'. A club was a big heavy thing that you used as a weapon, and he liked weapons. Why were all these softlings being called weapons, when they were obviously soft-willed and weak? He frowned, hopping next to T'rid to get his attention. "I can be club! See?" With that, he happily tried to sock the poor Bronzerider as Neikolai could only gape.

WHAT WAS HE DOING!?

[topaz]

Venus watched with fascination as she saw the wild boy, Pepsi, wander too close to the queens eggs, eliciting a hiss from an irritated Aslath. What a fantastic idiot. She thought. The brunette would have given a mark to see him mauled, but her morbid hope was defeated as another boy began coaxing and tugging him away from the angry queen. Well shard it. That would have been so entertaining. Too bad.

Corvin had had his back towards that part of the Stands, as he was facing Shmee, so he was not aware of the near mauling. He did however, as did Venus, hear T'rid arrive atop Corinth and turned to face the bronzerider as he approached. Ignoring the Weyrleader's snide remark, Corvin gave a polite smile. "Good afternoon Weyrleader T'rid." He inclined his head towards the man in respect.

Venus had never met the new Weyrleader, as she had only met Shmee for the first time today. She smirked, and almost laughed, at his comment. She liked him already. "It is nice to meet you Weyrleader." She said, inclining her head in much the same fashion as Corvin had before her. Venus looked the bronzerider up and down, analyzing him, but she was interruped as the wild boy made his way over to the group, said something about a club, and then proceeded to try and attack the Weyrleader! Venus' jaw dropped in astonishment, and looked from boy, to Weyrleader, and to Shmee, in turn. Her eyebrows raised, her gaping mouth slowly turned into a wry, toothy smirk, anticipating the berating that would no doubt rain down on the strange boy like the Falls, in a matter of moments.

Corvin was just as astonished as Venus was but he was more pained then amused. The sharding idiot, he's going to get himself thrown out of the whole Weyr, hitting the Weyrleader like that! Faranth.." He softly cursed under his breath. Corvin's brow wrinkled, and his eyes softened on the dimglow of a boy as he waited with bated breath for the lashing that was soon to come.

[ladybug]

Burena glanced at Aslath, surprised when she hissed. Then, she noticed one boy lingering too close to the eggs. Burena had not had the privilege of meeting Pepsi yet, so she thought he was just especially stupid. He was cute, though! She eyed him speculatively for a moment, but then her attention was captured by the bronze dragon who flew into the sands.

The bronze was impressive, different from the Queen, but still a sight to see. She guessed he was the clutch father. She was right; the bronze was soon followed by his rider. Speaking of impressive...the Weyrleader was cute! Burena grinned, her interest in the male candidates waning, eclipsed by T'rid, who was obviously the best because he was a bronzerider and Weyrleader! And everyone said Shmee was involved with some other bronzerider, so she wouldn't even be mad...

Burena forced herself to slow her train of thought she was getting ahead of herself. First of all, the Weyrleader had called them a "fan club," grouping them all together like clones. Second of all, if she Impressed, no relationships until she graduated...ugh! So maybe it would be best not to start anything. She'd just say hi, then.

But before she could spit anything out, the stupid-but-handsome boy candidate tried to smack the Weyrleader like they were old pals roughing around. Was the kid crazy? Burry shook her head. "Is there something wrong with him?" Burena murmured to the nearest candidate.

***

Alifyr, meanwhile, had quietly made his way up to the stands, and now he sat with the other candidates, demurely watching the clutching. He was far more interested in the eggs than in any of the other candidates, although he did raise an eyebrow at Pepsi's antics. Was it really a good idea to let the wildling be a candidate? Things were just going to get more disastrous if he Impressed. Alifyr could just picture the wildling terrorizing Pern from the back of a dragon.

"This is going to be one interesting group of weyrlings..." he remarked to no one in particular. He just hoped he would be among them!

[Rowana]

Farryl stopped just before the hatching grounds to catch her breath. Curse this fear of water! It had taken her far too long to cross the river and now the clutching was well underway. She took a deep breath to try and hide the fact that she had run all the way here, she stepped onto the massive hatching grounds. Farryl stared at the huge gold dragon in awe as she made her way carefully around the edge. She made sure not to step onto the sand, since it probably was not good to approach without permission. Spotting Saeo, Raylin and a few of the other candidates, she made her way in that direction.

Her progress was slow, since she was still staring at the queen and her growing pile of eggs. Each one more interesting than the last. Farryl was glad she had forced Tille to stay behind. The bouncy green fire lizard would not have been able to contain her excitement at seeing the shiny eggs. Farryl wondered how many eggs Aslath would lay. Unfortunately, she knew it would likely not been enough for all the candidates to impress. It made her slightly sad that some, possibly including herself, would not find their dragon in this clutch. Yet she knew there would be others, so she was not as bothered by the idea as she might have been. With Tille to keep her company, she didn't mind if she had to wait.

Saeo and the others seemed distracted by something when she reached them. Farryl blinked as she saw a wild boy being dragged off the sands and then practically attack the Weyrleader. She was surprised to say the list, but had to hide a growing smile of amusement. The boy might be stupid, but he was certainly fearless. Turning, Farryl smiled and curtsied politely to the Werywoman. "I'm sorry for being late," she apologized quickly. Then, realized that she probably aught to introduce herself as well, she added, "My name is Farryl, m'lady."