The Touching

[Rowana]

Farryl climbed carefully into the boat, sitting in the center as Keirin instructed. She didn't speak for the whole trip, keeping her mouth shut tight and her gaze fixed on the far shore. After what seemed an age, they returned to land and Farryl jumped gratefully onto the hard, firm ground.

She turned and beamed thankfully at Keirin. "Thank you so much!" She flashed him a smile before darting off to the Hatching Grounds. She was already late. As she ran, she decided she should thank Keirin somehow. Maybe he would like a carving shaped like a dragon?

Candidates were already moving onto the sands when Farryl arrived. She dusted herself off and pulled back her hair so it would stay out of her face. She approached the Weyrwoman and her queen first with a polite bow. "Thank you for the honor of letting us near you're lovely eggs," she told them. She spoke plainly and confidently. Speaking with others was something else Paukor had taught her well.

Farryl had no preference over the eggs, she let her steps wander throughout the clutch. The Stars at Night Egg caught her eye with it's deep shade and sparkles of light. She ran her hand over it's surface, marveling at the tiny specks of color and the rich band of purple that could just be seen amid the blue. The Winter Wonderland Egg also drew her attention and she drifted to see it closer. The plain white shell was beautiful in it's simplicity. So to was the Hot Cocoa Egg. It's pleasant aura made Farryl smile and want to laugh for they joy of being near it.

Her wanderings continued, running careful hands over several more eggs she passed. She missed the queen altogether. If by purpose or accident, she just didn't feel drawn to it as many girls were. She returned to the Stars at Night Egg once more. This was her favorite. It drew her gaze as surely as the skies out in the wilds had on so many nights. She wondered what kind of dragon it might hold. Whatever it was, it was sure to be as beautiful as its egg. She hoped the candidate this dragon chose would love it well.

~

Toumke lingered by the entry to the Hatching Grounds. He was late, of course, but that wasn't why he wasn't rushing to the sands like so many others. He wasn't even sure why he had come, since he had not attended the clutching. The queen dragon made him nervous and he was sure she could squash him if she had a mind to. He sighed. His arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall, trying to make up his mind what to do. Did he even want to stand at the Hatching? And even if he did, what dragon would want a coward like him? Teonie had told him about whers and their ways. Perhaps one of them would have him?

Toumke sighed again. This internal debate was getting him nowhere. In the end the choice was not his, but the dragons and whers who hatched. It was completely beyond his control and that, if possible, made him even more afraid. He could not fathom what would happen at the Hatching in only a short time. All he could do was wait and see.

[Avu]

She'd prefer he wasn't there? Corinth barely managed to keep from flinching, a low, apologetic croon issuing from his throat as he dipped his head, though the comment about his Rider - only served to irritate him. It wasn't Aslath he was irritated with; it was T'rid. Hadn't he told him to actually work? Tried to force him? None of which had accomplished - well, anything. At all. He huffed, nostrils flaring in brief agitation, - at least, until Shmee addressed him; the bronze's head came around and he regarded her uneasily. What the Weyrwoman apparently didn't know was that it was one thing to tell T'rid something; quite another to have it done. And in this case, Corinth had a pretty good idea about whether or not the bronzerider would deign to come. I'll...let him know. No promises, he barely refrained from adding.

Mine. You're needed.
...hmm? Why? The man sounded sleepy. Not a particularly good sign, that.
Aslath's wants you.
/Why/?
Isn't that reason enough?
Mm. No.
GET DOWN HERE.
Why am I needed? There's nothing for me to do! It's for the Candidates!
You seem to be suffering under the delusion that I /won't/ drag you bodily down here. Would you prefer to keep dignity and limbs intact? Then I suggest you come down.
...well. Fine. Don't expect me to stay long, though.
Well, just hurry.

The bronze had almost missed Pepsi's being tossed off of the Sands, and despite his irritation, absently sent the images to His, who responded with an emotion that bordered on sulkiness. Immature brat! Where are you? Not everyone has wings, you know! Nevertheless, the image of the boats reached Corinth, and he nodded apologetically at Shmee and Aslath. He's coming. I think. As long as the bronzerider didn't just take off somewhere like the jungle, anyway. He dropped his head onto his foreclaws, watching as the Candidates were admitted to the eggs and started rubbing them, though the sight of a young male Candidate petting the queen egg drew an amused snort from the bronze. Didn't he know boys didn't Impress queens? A few leaves short of a tree, that one...

"I'm here, I'm /here/. Shells, why do I need to be here to watch them cuddle with eggs?"

Well. Ahem. Corinth wished himself invisible as T'rid approached Shmee - though stormed probably would have been a more accurate term. He scowled, adding as he approached, "Congratulations, Weyrwoman, you nearly got my salamandyr drowned." /What/?! Well, Stupid can't swim very well. Why was he /swimming/?! Corinth's head had come entirely off the Sands now; he stared at T'rid in clear astonishment. He wanted to know what was so urgent down /here/. Which /I/ have yet to figure out myself. The bronze gave a slightly wistful rumble as he flicked an apologetic glance at Shmee and dropped his head back on his foreclaws. Not fun, this.

[topaz]

Venus thanked Aslath and quickly moved over towards the eggs. Mmm...I don't know which to touch first..they're all so lovely. She thought apprehensively, but there was a line of other Candidates waiting behind her, so she figured she should get on with it.

Although the clutch as a whole gave off a very warm and cheerful feeling, there seemed to be a an area of cold towards the edge of the clutch. Venus wander over to the Icicle Egg and kneeled down, reaching a hand out to touch it. She was surprised to find it was quite cold, and didn't seem to have much life coming from it at all; not like the other eggs. She was put off, but strangely drawn to the egg's cold nature and likewise appearance. It was a slight reprieve from the burning hot sands beneath her feet.

Moving on, Venus was immediately drawn to the midnight blue Stars at Night Egg. It's rich, deep color was extremely attractive to Venus, as her hand ran over it's smooth surface. She soon noticed a cloudy purple ring near the top of the egg, and then a multitude of fine, glittering specks of white, yellow and red. You're beautiful.. She thought, as if she were talking to the egg itself, her eyes wide with wonder. Giving the shell one last stroke, Venus reluctantly moved on to the next egg that caught her eye.

The Hot Cocoa Egg was warm to the touch, and a sweet change from the first two eggs. A grin quickly spread across Venus' lips and she caressed the small brown oval. All her fears of not Impressing quickly faded away, along with her nervousness towards the upcoming Hatching. Well aren't you lovely. The brunette thought cheerfully, her index finger swirling about on the egg's surface, as if to mix the little white dots in with the brown.

The next egg was the Winter Wonderland Egg. It was the lightest in the clutch, aside from the larger and much odder looking Snowman Egg, and that was what most attracted Venus. As she leaned over and began to stroke it, she noticed dainty silver swirls all around it's white shell, which made her smile. It was small, but extremely pretty, Venus thought, and she stroked it lovingly.

The rest of the eggs were each stroked and patted with just as much care, until there was but one left. The Five Golden Rings Egg was by far the largest, towering over it's clutchmates. No doubt a queen. Venus stood now, not needing to be crouched down for her had to reach the massive golden shell. She stroked it gently and lovingly, and the egg just seemed to soak it right up. For a moment Venus thought she could almost feel the egg pulling and forcing her hand to continue her show of affection. But eventually she let her hand fall back to her side and took a last look at the clutch. She sighed. Now that the Touching was over, the only thing to worry about was the Hatching; of course, the most important part. Her anxiety returned as she left the Sands, but the cheerful feelings from the clutch still lingered in a satisfied smirk on the Candidates lips.

- - -

Corvin bowed again to Aslath as she snorted her approval and made his way over to the clutch. He crouched down before the Snowman Egg. It's whimsical looking shell attracted Corvin at first but, while it was still somewhat warm to the touch, it's absence of feeling surprised the Candidate. He smiled at the egg and stroked it, in an attempt to coax some emotion out of it's otherwise cheerful looking surface; to no avail. Corvin moved on.

The next egg he was drawn to was the large Rudolph Egg. Corvin put a hand on each side of it's large shell and calmly stroked it with one. The red splotch on at the top of the egg seemed to flush even more at his touch, in an almost timid fashion. Corvin smiled at the warmth now radiating off of it. Don't be afraid. You're the biggest one here..besides the big gold one of course. But that's no doubt a queen, she's got to be big. He gave a subtle nod and patted the egg reassuringly before he moved onto the next.

A faint jingling sound caught Corvin's attention. At least...he thought he had heard a jingling sound. Nonetheless he was drawn over to the round, golden Jingle Bells Egg. Aside from it's odd shape, it's golden color was striking to Corvin, and when he reached his hand out to touch it's surface he could swear he heard the jingling once again; almost like laughter. He stroked the shell slowly and smirked at the confident feeling the sphere exuded. Well you certainly won't be having any problem Impressing, will you? He chuckled aloud.

Corvin passed over most of the other eggs quickly, pausing for a little longer on the Presents and Bows Egg. Corvin was giddy with the feelings of happiness that radiated out of the green and red egg. Before leaving the Sands, the lad quickly patted the Five Golden Rings Egg. It was only polite, since it would no doubt hatch the Weyr's next queen.

[nightingale]

Saeo was desperate to take her place in line -surely the eggs would think her terribly rude for keeping them waiting- but she just had to make sure that her friends made it into line and didn't miss their chance at touching them as well. Cloar was accounted for, and now here came Raylin with that arrogant bronze hopeful she'd met a few days ago. She waved briefly to her friend, anxiety obvious as she smiled and gestured toward the clutch, implying that she'd best hurry up and get in line with the others. Her eyes then flashed back toward the river. Now where were...right over there! She gestured wildly to Farryl and Keirin as they pulled up to the dock, calling for them to hurry.

-----

Keirin was two steps behind Farryl as she made for the hatching sands. Shells, why was everyone in such a hurry? There was still an entire line of candidates waiting to get onto the hatching sands and at least a half dozen boats in the water behind them. Surely they weren't to be judged by their place in line?

"It's about time you showed up! I was beginning to think that you'd tipped the boat over and drowned!"

Saeo scolded gently, grinning as she fell into step next to them when they came near. The boy smiled wryly, offering her no apologies, and gave his head a tired shake. Impatience had to be a feminine attribute, he decided, stepping into line behind the two girls.

"Good afternoon Aslath, Weyrwoman Shmee."

Saeo murmured politely, trying to sound less excited than she was as she dipped into a wobbly, but decidedly sincere curtsy.

"I hope you'll forgive my being a bit red in the face...I'd be quite honoured if you'd allow me to say hello to your...er..not quite hatchlings..."

Not quite hatchlings? Keirin mused, raising an eyebrow at the back of Saeo's head as she all but skipped off toward the dragon clutch. Meeting the dragon that one impressed would be very interesting indeed...

"My sincerest congratulations on your clutch Aslath."

He said, smiling bowing neatly.

"Would you mind terribly if I saw them up close?"

-----

Saeo had planned days earlier the order in which she would touch the eggs. Her first stop was the large golden egg in the center of the clutch -the queen egg if all guesses proved correct. It was her duty as a female candidate after all, and if the egg did contain the Weyr's new queen, offering her the respect she deserved certainly couldn't do any harm.
She touched the golden shell tentatively at first, hoping that the egg's occupant wouldn't notice how raw and cracked her hands were. She was surprised by how warm and smooth it was. Using the flat of her right palm she began rubbing the shell in smooth, steady circles. She was quite awed as she realized that for some reason she could sense that it was enjoying the attention. Could dragons really communicate before they had even hatched? Ieoha certainly hadn't mentioned that!

"Ammm...It's very nice to meet you. Grow strong in there."

She murmured, reluctantly pulling her hands away as Danar approached. She scowled at him as he winked, then wandered off to the other side of the clutch to examine some of the more vibrant eggs.
She hadn't really been planning on touching the large red-spotted egg, but there was something about the boy's smugness that demanded she do just that. How could he be so sure that it was his bronze? It was sitting just over there after all -surely saying hello couldn't do any harm?
Carefully stepping around some of the smaller eggs, she placed first one hand, then the other onto the red-spotted egg's smooth shell. She rubbed carefully, making sure that she was pushing neither too firmly, nor too gently. It was warmer than the queen egg, she noticed, and while it didn't really seem to object to being touched it lacked the regal, self-assured air that the golden egg surrounded itself with.

"No need to be like that..."

She murmured softly, ignoring the fact that there was very little chance that it could actually hear her.

"I think you're quite wonderful -and I can only see your eggshell. I've always been quite partial to red."

A small, milky-yellow egg that reminded her of unbaked pie crust suddenly caught the girl's attention. Murmuring a small farewell to the spotted egg, she inched her way sideways until she could kneel in the hot sand next to it's smaller clutchsibling. There was something odd about the way light played on it's surface, and as she let her fingers rest against it's surface she understood why.

"My! Aslath must have had just a horrid time producing you!"

She exclaimed quietly, grinning as she rested the tips of her fingers on the sandpapery surface. The motion of rubbing with any amount of firmness was decidedly more painful on this egg than it had been on the others, and the girl was quite mortified as she realized that a crack on her thumb had opened and left a dark brown smear of blood on the pale surface. The girl didn't give up though -hadn't she decided that her dragon's egg would be different from the others? She had been expecting rainbow speckles of course...but far be it from her to overlook what might be a genuine sign.

"Hello."

She said to the egg, rubbing a sore thumb lovingly across it's rounded top.

"Are you my dragon? Oh, you don't need to answer now of course! I'm sure that many more candidates will come to see you today and you'll want them to give you a good rub as well...umm...I'm not sure if you know this, but your egg is rather rough...so try to feel carefully for when the others come to pet you, alright? You wouldn't want to miss one just because you didn't realize they were there."

-----

Keirin's wanderings had begun on the far end of the clutch, with the average-sized egg that looked vaguely reminiscent of a face. He spent a few minutes stroking this one, wondering what kind of dragon was growing inside of it. A brown perhaps...or a large blue...in all he thought it was a very nice egg, but couldn't help but wonder if he had somehow offended it into retracting it's emotions from him.

He had stepped onto the sands knowing that his focus should stay on the larger eggs, for they were almost certain to contain males. By his aunt Juno's recollection, his father's brown had been one of the largest eggs of his clutch. If he was going to be a dragon rider, brown was be something to hope for.

However, as he made his way across the sands, he found himself simply unable to bypass any of them. They were all so beautifully pattered and endearing that he had to give even the tiniest eggs a little rub and a warm thought as he walked by. He spent a little extra time with the eggs that seemed the most friendly -the red stripped egg devoured almost five minutes of his time on the sands, the brown speckled and green striped ones nearly twice that- and he spent an especially long time sitting with the odd, blueish coloured egg that seemed more dead than alive.

It was only when he reached the far end of the clutch that he managed to pick out a favourite -if pattern counted for anything anyway. It was a smallish egg that he justified sitting with on the grounds that it might hatch a small brown or a very small bronze. He found himself entranced by the star-struck egg that seemed to have fallen from the sky itself, and wondered if he would be able to find some of the Skycrafter markings in it if he looked long enough.

[dragon]

Cloar was more than a little surprised when Pepsi was sent off the sands like that. He was slightly curious why ... he had been led to believe that Pepsi had been a Candidate, too. Was he not? To be sent off the sands in such a cold manner left Cloar wondering. He had no idea what was going down, and suspected that it might be awhile yet before he found out.

The snort of approval from Aslath had him moving on again, though. He didn't want to irritate her by just standing there when he wasn't supposed to. Cloar really didn't know where to begin or how to guide his actions. There were twelve eggs. One appeared to be a gold egg. And while the Queen usually knew about these things, there really was no telling what was inside it. It wasn't impossible for her to be wrong. So he started systematically going to visit each and every egg. He was intrigued at the emotions coming out of each. But he really didn't know if that or the color of the egg was really indicative of what was inside the egg.

He also didn't know which one was his dragon ... if any of them held his dragon. And he wasn't about to take the chance of not meeting his dragon simply because he'd discriminated away from it due to something as silly as color, size, or emotion.

With that thought in mind, Cloar made a full rotation through the clutch. He spent several minutes with each and every egg, seeing its colors, feeling its shell, sensing its emotions, in general visiting with them all. With the Five Golden Rings egg, this was borne somewhat of a curiousity as well. If is was a Gold dragon indeed, then it plainly didn't have a chance of being his. But on the other hand, he was also curious what a gold egg felt like. He didn't stick around long, however, wary of upsetting the clutchmother.

Once he had visited all the eggs, Cloar was really ready to leave the sands again. He wasn't overly comfortable, felt he had given all the eggs an equal and ample attention, and he really didn't feel very well.

His neck was throbbing again ... which was making his head throb painfully. Probably from all the bending over he had done, displacing the blood in his body. He was still square and sturdy, the discomfort not showing on his features. But he felt it plainly. Thankfully the wound wasn't as bad as it could have been. And would more than likely be mostly healed by the time the Hatching came around.

But it did still detract from the magic of the moment that the Touching should have been. Thus feeling he needed to sit for a moment, Cloar made his way to the nearest stand seat, and sat there. From there, he continued to watch the Touching happening, and looked at the eggs from afar.

They really were a marvelous sight to see.

[Administrator]

Noises were disturbing Aslath. Her eyes whirling dangerously, she jerked her golden head up to stare at Iehoa. She was obviously displeased. Who dared screech like that so close to her children? Aslath could handle talking, but she didn’t like obnoxious noises like what that stupid woman was making. She growled warningly. Alarmed, Shmee looked up at the culprit and sighed. That woman again. She didn’t really like how she just seemed to bust right in onto everything, even she meant well. Perhaps some of it was a fear that she’d try to separate her from Shei—irrational, yes, but totally along Shmee’s train of thought. She bobbed the babe up and down on her hip, which Shei almost didn’t even notice in the midst of her games with the flitter. “Excuse me, but loud noises like that are upsetting to Aslath,” she called up, maintaining her false air of calmness.

And the flitter—[/color]

“And Aslath would like your flitter gone, too,” Shmee added, increasingly firm. Aslath huffed as her bonded took care of that mild crisis. Now, onto the next one.

Mine will be very displeased unless he shows up,[/color] she warned Corinth, fanning her golden wings lazily. Fortunately for T’rid, the man soon burst onto the sands. Shmee’s vivid eyes located him quickly, anger flashing behind them. At the same time, Shei paused in her game, focusing on the man, as well, with the same blue eyes. There was no amusement in either girls’ eyes.

“Weyrleader T’rid,” she said calmly, locking eyes with him. “You do realize that being in your position means you have duties now, yes? This is traditionally one of them. You are young and foolish. You cannot change tradition. The older riders already look down upon you because you have not lived up to even the barest expectations. Do your share, and help with the work. I don’t give a runner’s ass about your salamandyr. Do your job, or I will make this next year the most miserable that you could ever imagine.”

Arlo said nothing, but he did snake his blue tail around Shmee’s neck supportively. Nono, he didn’t like this Weyrleader. “Why you are here. Ah, yes. I do believe that it is your job to help keep these urchins in check, and answer questions that they might have. You can relate to bronze-hopefuls more.” The coldness of her tone surprised even Shmee. She had never called younglings urchins before. She grinded her teeth uneasily. “So wander the sands, ask if they have questions. Your dragon sired these eggs. Don’t foist them off onto my dragon and myself. You’re equally responsible for these dragonets.”

Naturally, her patience had thinned by the time Saeo got to her. She frowned. “Neither I nor Aslath care if your face is red, purple, or blue,” she told her harshly—perhaps a bit too harshly. “Just go touch the eggs with the others.” Aslath huffed a response—she had heard Keirin, but didn’t need to answer his question. The fact that nobody had protested to their arrival was sign enough that they could touch the eggs. Neither did she question the candidate in the Stands; if he wanted to pass up his chance to touch the eggs, well, he was her guest.

[dragon]

After a few minutes of sitting still for a moment, the throbbing went down considerably, allowing Cloar to move back onto the sands again without fear of his head exploding uncerimoniously, and spraying Aslath and all the pretty eggs with bits of brain matter and eye jelly. He rather imagined that the Queen wouldn't appreciate that kind of attention very much.

Not that Cloar would like to give that kind of attention, either! He was very grateful when his head stopped pounding so badly. It left him with a great deal more brainpower to put to the eggs. He approached the clutch again, walking slowly yet deliberately across the sands. He didn't want to aggrevate his neck again. Once he reached the eggs, he started once more on touching them all, experiencing the emotions coming from them.

This time around, he spent more time with each egg, running his big hands over the shells in mute wonder. These things held baby dragons on the inside. And those baby dragons were going to be strong enough - without any kind of excersize - to break through these shells. They were no light weight shells, either.

Cloar didn't bother the Five Golden Rings egg again, however, leaving it entirely to the girls. It was thier egg. He had explored it once already, that was enough. If he gave it any more attention, he would risk being thrown out of the weyr as a raving lunatic. No ... all the rest of these eggs were the ones that needed his attention.

He was very slow in his movements, near each egg, and moving from one to the next. The last thing he needed was to fall in a dead faint on the sands because he'd stood up too fast.

[Avu]

So, Aslath's wouldn't like it if T'rid didn't come. Well, he had come, but Corinth still seriously doubted that the Weyrwoman was in any way pleased. He wasn't even pleased, and it was his mindmate. That really said something, Corinth thought unhappily, his tailtip twitching in his distress. Er, mine? I'm blaming /you/ for this, you know! ...okay. Why don't you just listen to Aslath's, please? There was no response, and Corinth considered slinking to some dark corner to avoid humiliation. He resisted the impulse, sighing rather dejectedly as he dropped his head onto his foreclaws, tailtip still flicking agitatedly as he crooned anxiously at His. Not that it accomplished anything, he thought as he forcibly retrained his gaze back on the Candidates and the eggs, doing his best to ignore everything else. Namely, His and the Weyrwoman.

Aforementioned bronzerider's temper was rapidly falling, as if it hadn't been low enough already. "I don't care what the 'older riders' think about anything. They can all shove off between for all I care; I didn't ever want to be Weyrleader. I didn't even want Corinth to Chase, and just because he's Caught and my rank's changed doeesn't mean I've changed, and the rest of you'll just have to live with it, because I'm not going to change." He kept his voice relatively low, considering how much he wanted to outright shout, though there was a defined hiss in his tone.

"What'm I supposed to tell them if they do ask? 'Just go there when Aslath calls with your Candidate robes on and stand there until the eggs Hatch. Try to avoid being mauled and looking too stupid, and if your dragon's there, it'll find you. If not, don't suicide or anything, just suck it up and move on with life. If you Impress, congratulations! You might have to get up obscenely early for Weyrling lessons for the next turn, your dragon might annoy the hell out of you, you might get Scored later, you might end up loosing your virginity in the most violent possible way, you might have a dragon trawling through your mind and picking up on all the wrong things and then pestering you about them, and maybe you'll end up Impressing a salamandyr or fire lizard that you've never wanted because your dragon tricked you, but hey! At least you Impressed.' Because that's what I will be telling them, and I really don't think that's what they want to hear." The sarcasm was all but dripping off of his words as he waved at the eggs and the Candidates. "Or if they ask what the purpose of the Touching is? 'So you can see the eggs up close before a bunch of violent, bloodthirsty, hungry dragonets ruin them. Enjoy 'em while they last, because soon they'll just be a bunch of shards on the ground. Does it affect Impression? Who knows! Hasn't been proved right or wrong, but hey, you might be wasting your time, but at least you get to cuddle up to eggs.' I'm sure they'll love that.

"And as to my relating to bronze-hopefuls? I can't imagine why I'd wanted a bronze if they're all anything like Corinth. But sure. I'll go act like I'm a total expert on Impression, and when the Hatching occurs, we'll see just how many of them get mauled. At least that might cheer me up." He was definitely scowling as he spun on his heel, dropping to the Sands and striding to towards eggs and Candidates, the heat from the Sands only serving to irritate him further as he skirted a sand dune, kicking at it in frustration, before he ran his hand through his hair, paused to compose his temper into something slightly more manageable (no need to frighten away the Candidates; if they all left, there'd be none left to be mauled), and then approached the clutch and Candidates - and slowed to a stop a few yards away, surveying the Candidates warily as he stood, idly crossing his arms over his torso. If they needed help, they'd ask. If they didn't, he wasn't about to actually talk to them. That would be silly.

[binker]

Neikolai had had enough of the sands, uncomfortable around so many other people, occasionally moving close enough for him to touch. Neikolai craved distance, so after he finished his route and touched every single egg, he made for the entrance. He ducked to the edges and scant shadows, hoping not to get noticed and perhaps scolded for leaving early. But others had left long before he himself...

Still, it was because of his habit of slinking off that he overheard the Weyrleader's... Outburst. His eyebrows rose to nearly his hairline, shocked to silence; what kind of Weyrleader was this, who yelled at his Weyrwoman, who said he disliked his dragon and refused his duty? Neikolai was mad at him in Shmee's stead; who did he think he was, to go against tradition? The Weyr needed both a Weyrwoman and a Weyrleader to live in harmony... And T'rid was no Weyrleader, merely a boy who hadn't grown up and accepted his responsibility.

As he stormed off to the sands, Neikolai hesitated, and finally drew himself over to the Weyrwoman. He hoped he was the only one who had overheard this; this was something that, when spread around the Weyr, could unbalance them. Neikolai had a tighter rein on his tongue, however.

"Weyrwoman Shmee..." He stood by her side, looking at her for a moment before he spoe again, slowly. "I am not sure if I can be of much help, Weyrwoman, but... If you need anything recorded, or need help with little tasks, I can be quite helpful if..." He glanced towards T'rid, "You need it."

[Rei]

Raylin made another circuit of the eggs and having touched each one at least once more turned her head to regard the clutch’s sire. Sauntering up to him she bowed and smiled. “Congratulation’s Corinth. Perhaps you don’t remember me but I am one of the candidates you took to the infirmary months ago. I just wanted to congratulate you on your clutch.” She bowed slightly again and made for the stands totally ignoring T’rid as she passed him.

The candidate had done the best she could to prepare now she just had to wait for the outcome. Climbing the stands Raylin sat near the railing to watch the rest of the touching. Shards were her feet hot! She slipped off her sandals and examined her feet wincing as her hand came in contact with her foot.

-----

Danar had finished touching all the eggs and had spent an ungodly amount of time with the Rudolph Egg. Now he was in fact bored. The burly lad milled about the eggs and stopped as he witnessed the exchange between Shmee and T’rid. He wasn’t close enough to hear what was said but by the body language being displayed it wasn’t pleasant.

As T’rid stalked off Danar smiled and made his way over to the Weyrleader. “Hello sir nice day for a touching isn’t it. I quite admire your bronze. He’s a magnificent beast.” There was really no reason for the candidate’s speech he just enjoyed prodding people. Plus T’rid looked like he could use a little prodding. “So any advice for the hatching?”

[antinanco]

Pasine stood near the edge of the Stand rather irritably. Was it over? Could she leave? Her gaze swept over the Sands hopefully, but it looked like everyone was making second rounds on the eggs. One or two even visited each egg more than twice. She was astounded. This Touching was not what Danar had made it sound like at all! And then there was that old crone in the Sands, calling out to Saeo now that she had appeared. “Saeo, darling,” Ieoha called, “Careful with the eggs! You don’t want to hurt it—or yourself!” Yes, she had indeed noticed a reddish-colored smug. Despite her years, her eyesight remained as sharp as a hawk’s.

Pasine shook her head in exasperation and pondered going up there to tell her to stop, but then Shmee interrupted. Immediately her attention turned to her, and she watched as the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader exchanged a few heated words. At first they were audible but then lowering to a level where she couldn’t even tell if they were speaking anymore. Then T’rid stomped off and was instantly surrounded by eager bronze-hopefuls, a few of which she knew and lingered on for a few moments.

Then Pasine was off, planning to get a second round in at the eggs while the men were distracted. Though as she was shuffling through the sand dunes in-between the sacred eggs, she felt... odd. Not quite out of place, not quite like she didn’t want to be there, but nonetheless she couldn’t help but detest this activity. It was definitely stupid. Unless the Candidates’ minds were in their fingertips, she doubted that fondling the eggs would do much besides possibly endanger them. The Candidate suddenly stopped shuffling around in the middle of nowhere to look down at her worn hands. Pasine snorted to herself. She certainly hoped her mind wasn’t in there! She’d have been no brighter than a Drudge if that was so.

Meanwhile, Ieoha seemed to have quieted down and looked down at the perfectly content Laef. Well, she supposed she could part with the growing flitter, if Aslath demanded it. Her options were either carry the green out of the Stands herself, which would never happen in a million years, or have her between to somewhere else. But, the question was how? After all, she was fairly certain that all dragonkin alike needed to at least be awake to between.

Staring down at the slumbering figure in a perplexed manner, the auntie carefully prodded the fragile figure in hopes of awakening the beast. The fire lizard’s body moved limply along with her finger and a small exhale could be heard. Ieoha grunted and poked her harder. Nothing. Picking up the flitter, she gently shook her body in hopes of waking her, but at the same time refrained from completely rattling the poor thing. She always looked so frail, she didn’t want to break her.

Still, she did not wake. Finally furious with the flitter, Ieoha scooped up her body and flung the frail thing high into the air. Laef was jolted awake, her wings flailing to catch the air around her. But she was too discombobulated to coordinate her over-sized sails in time and her body began its descent. Before she could hit the ground, however, there was an abject squeak and Laef safely blinked between to the comfort of the furs in Ieoha’s small Weyrfolk apartment.

Ieoha felt rather pleased with herself. That had been a very risky move, she did admit, but it was much less risky than getting her head eaten by an angry clutchmother. And besides, it had all worked out, hadn’t it?

Meanwhile, Pasine had finished fussing with her hands and had returned to ambling between eggs again. Once more the Jingle Bells egg was visited, and once more the ringing sound bemused her intensely. None of the other eggs did that, so far as she knew. They only gave out emotions. For example, this time around she skipped the Christmas Lights Egg, opting for the Present and Bows Egg. It had given off such strong, loving emotions that Pasine had almost thought she was having her sixth-turn party all over again. She shook her head of the notion, quick to squash any feelings of home-sickness that arose. And, when the opportunity arose, Pasine visited the Five Gold Rings egg again. It was a popular egg and she had needed to wait near-by for another, Saeo, to move along before pouncing. Again she repeated the steps as before, massaging the egg from top to bottom, but this on this occasion spent more time making sure she hadn’t missed a spot.

[ladybug]

"Thank you," Burena said when Aslath let her pass, although she hadn't refused any of the candidates. Except that weird wild kid, but he barely counted. Humming to herself, Burena walked over to the eggs, trying to decide which she would touch first. The warm brown Hot Cocoa egg drew her in right away. "Hi there!" She said cheerfully before putting her palm flat on the shell. It felt warm, and she could swear she almost felt something move inside. It was funny, but she thought the egg's..."personality" felt sweet and nice. Maybe it was just her imagination, though. She patted it fondly before moving on.

Next was the small, sparkly Icicle Egg. Burena thought it was pretty, and judging by its size, it was likely to hold a green. "I like your sparkles," she said as a way of introduction. When she touched it, she was shocked by the cold emotions she got from the egg. It almost felt like a dud. She wanted to run back to the Hot Cocoa egg's warmth, but knew she had to give all the eggs some attention.

Moving on, she turned her sights on the strange looking Eggnog Egg. It wasn't pretty, but it was different, and Burena liked unique things. She wrinkled her nose at the rough texture, so unlike the other eggs she had touched. But it was warm, and not as threatening as the Icicle Egg. It would be interesting to see what kind of dragon came out of this one.

She didn't really think she wanted a Gold, but she thought it best to pay her respects to the Five Golden Rings egg anyway. When she laid her hand on the bright gold shell, Burena almost laughed out loud at the ridiculous arrogance emanating from the egg. No doubt this was a Queen, even though Aslath seemed wary of it. Shards, Aslath had probably just gotten fed up with the baby's ego! "You'll be quite the partner for some lucky girl," she said bemusedly before moving away. She brushed her fingers over the rest of the eggs, giving them all the attention they deserved, but those four would stick in her mind the most.

***

Alifyr had picked out a favorite right away, the dainty Winter Wonderland egg. It was small, and likely to hold nothing more than a blue or green, but he didn't care. Smiling, he traced his fingers over the silver swirls. As he spent a few minutes with the egg, he got a definite sense of, well, girliness. He blushed faintly, wondering why he felt drawn to it then. Shaking his head, he moved on to the Rudolph Egg, which seemed to be the Winter Wonderland egg's polar opposite. He brushed his hand over the brown shell, and was surprised to feel that the big egg felt a little self conscious. Alifyr chuckled. He had felt the same way often enough in the Weyr himself. He patted it reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's someone waiting for you," he told it before going to another egg.

The green Presents and Bows egg captured it attention next. He followed the red stripes with a finger, and was stunned by the overwhelming love coming from the egg. It put a smile on his face, and he almost felt a little choked up. Clearing his throat, he moved on before he made a fool of himself.

The Christmas Lights egg seemed plain at first, but when Alifyr got close, he could see the red and green dots all around the shell. This egg was just as open as the Presents and Bows egg, exuding a sense of happiness. Alifyr's smile broadened into a grin. This was a really nice clutch, and he couldn't wait to see what the dragons inside the eggs were like.