Building Blocks (Exotic Touching)

[topaz]

As candidates began to be approved of, the brown critter atop the gold dragon's nose suddenly leapt from his perch to land on one boy, giving him a bite on the arm. Quickly forcing the boy off of the sands, the brown thing flung itself Thora's way. It's strange voice ringing in her mind was surprising enough but, silly girl? She was silly? Well . . maybe she really wasn't supposed to wear the robes, she thought, as she noticed she was the only one in them. The queen and her little strange lizard pet had let her pass though, so it didn't seem like a serious offense. Just silly.

Thora bowed low to the queen again, smiling gently. "Thank you, very much."

As soon as the reptile left her foot, Thora made her way slowly over to the eggs. The blonde was naturally fond of very pale colors, especially white, her favorite. Therefore, she was first attracted to the Queen Anne's Lace Egg. Crouching down to it's level, she reached a hand out to stroke it's surface. Looking closer, the egg was not only white, but seemed to have an intricate pattern in it, like thousands of little petals. Thora was delighted by the velvety soft feel of the shell and smiled merrily at the egg before reluctantly moving on to the next.

Another whiteish hue had caught the girl's attention as she moved to crouch next to the Oxalis Egg. The purest white covered the entire surface of the egg, reminding Thora of the bleach white shells she would always find on the beach just outside of her Hold. She grinned at the memory of her home, and caressed the small egg affectionately. Moving on, Thora bent next to the Rose of Sharon Egg. The white wrinkles around the bulk of the egg were intriguing, but the dark red ring and golden splotch on the top of the shell took most of Thora's attention. As she ran her fingers over it, it felt as if it might break, but the blonde knew better. She gave it a final stroke and moved on.

Settling next nearby the Narcissus Egg, Thora's touch instinctively followed the flow of the shell's pattern. Starting at it's base of green, her fingers slid upwards in a diagonal angle, parallel with the tiny pricks of yellow and white. Not wanting to linger too long, Thora moved to the next, and the next egg. The rest of the clutch was quite colorful, and sometimes painfully so, but Thora made sure to give a stroke or a pat to each and every one of the thirteen eggs. When she was satisfied she looked up to Millieth and bowed slightly, whether she was watching her or not, and then exited the hot pit of sand to stand over by the doorway. She wanted to watch the rest of her fellow candidates get to touch, but she was far enough away that she could make a quick escape if Millieth decided not to let her linger.

[Tashe]

Flicking her tail Millieth watched as the first of the Candidates began to wonder through the eggs, touching them gently for fear of inspiring her ire. Every one in a while, the Queen would flare her wings slightly, usually when a boy or girl would dally too long next to one particular egg. Eventually she turned her sights back onto the two she had left waiting, tilting her head as she settled it with a yawn on her forelegs. Had they waited long enough? It was a tough call. The forgetful boy had finally remembered to ask to approach, and the other one looked to be doing his best not to look disappointed. Millieth huffed and closed her eyes, prodding Dash mentally and giving him permission to let the two boys finally pass.

May touch. Go. No make Big Goldy angry! I no save if do. Flapping his small wings, the Brown Mandyr voiced the command lazily, not caring if his voice reached more than the two that he addressed. Letting his gaze sweep across the sands, Dash saw some movement by the corner of the entrance. He bobbed his head as he tried to get a better look at what the little form was, deciding after a moment that he'd have to investigate, the Brown leapt off of Millieth's nose and landed on a Candidate. Using him as a launching post, Dash glided to Danar before repeating the process until he reached the stands. Crawling along the rock, the Mandyr skittered over to Aslan, his frills moving up and down in curiosity. You watch? You human Candy? I Dash. You?

Watching Dash move among the Candidates, Millieth yawned again before training her gaze back onto her clutch and those moving around in it. None of them were good enough for her children, no one ever was... but in the face of such destruction, Selenitas needed as many riders as they possibly could. Though, that didn't mean the Queen was happy about the fact that any of these brats would impress one of her babies. Snorting, Millieth flicked one of the Candidates in the back with her tail, the girl was taking a very long time with her Bird of Paradise Egg.

[dragon]

Nris smiled gratefully as she was allowed to pass, and moved smoothly to do so. Her feet were getting hot already, making her hope that hatchings happened quickly. The last thing she wanted was to be on the sands for a long period of time and getting roasted for it, waiting on eggs to hatch.

She glanced at the others, and then looked to Danar as he started talking. She didn't know who he was, other than another Candidate (obviously). He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, though. So she paid heed. Any bit of news was good ... especially since there had been no Candidate lessons that she had been able to attend.

Once Danar's little speech was over, she glanced around and moved to touch some of the eggs, stroking thier shells lightly and admiring thier brilliant coloring. "I wonder if the colors on the outside hint at what's inside?" She muttered to herself, rather fascinated by the giant eggs. They were nothing at all like fish eggs. Not a thing like them. And very dry ... compared, anyway. She didn't know what they were supposed to feel like, if that wasn't it.

It took her a moment to realize that there was more to the eggs than the physical touch ... there was a mental flavor as well. And once Nris discovered that, she paused longer to feel that, and taste it too. Even if the initial was not overly nice. It was still interesting. And it made her want to touch all of them, just to see what they would all say.

In moving from one egg to another, she spotted Lanthos moving around, and flashed him a bright grin, before turning her attention back to another egg. She never noticed when the Queen flared her wings, so enamored with the experience she was.

By the door, Aslan pulled back guiltily when he noticed he'd been noticed. But the mandyr that stopped before him didn't try to bite his head off, which made him a little bolder. Straightening in place, he tilted his head as he listened to the other mandyr. I is Aslan. Mine human be ... there. Mine ... hair of stars? he asked, hunting for words. His vocabulary was not very large yet. And 'silver' or 'blonde' was still beyond him. I wait here. Ismine say so. I wait here. Good, yes? No? Yes, minethink. I watch. I like watch. I see. What do? He asked, curiously.

[tompoko]

He tried to school his excitement and relief on his face when he got the message from the little lizard whom paradoxically guarded the gold. He probably failed horribly at it, but he wasn’t anywhere near a mirror and the thought of which muscles were moving in his face was furthest from his mind.

Tyrone walked gingerly from the place he was concreted a moment before, suddenly noticing how hot the sands were from standing in place so long. He stared for a while, standing just before the eggs absorbing the whole site.

The other candidates had long since picked there way through the eggs, and appeared to be starting to hover around a certain few each.

As he stepped into the proximity of the clutch, he wasn’t sure which one to view or touch first. Maybe I’m too excited.. I should calm down and try to focus. Tyrone took a few deep breaths while closing his eyes. Upon opening he stared directly at the phlox egg. He walked toward it, fascinated by its complex designed and allured by its beautiful back drop of dark green. Green was his favorite colour, and this egg had lots of it to show off. Although being visually attracted to this egg, he got an odd feeling from it. Crystal? Was all he could say to describe the feeling.. the image in his head was something of clear cleanness, something overtly new and pure.

Tyrone tried not to stay too long at the egg but soon one minute ran into the next. He begrudgingly removed his hand from which he did not remember placing on the egg and turned towards the clutch again. Once again he closed his eyes and focused momentarily. When he opened them again the Rose of Sharon egg was in his view. He walked up to it. It was dull and startchy looking. There was a ring atop of it which seemed somewhat out of place. The feel of the egg reminded him of some old weathered vagabond who traveled from hold or hold selling wears and supplies. The feeling he got inside though was different. It was something happy. Not happy overtly, but just genuinely content with all things. It was a very sobering feeling and was something he could get used to feeling all the time compared to his seemingly recent nervous disposition. Give yourself credit he thought to himself, your not nervous like this all the time. Tyrone sighed inwardly stepping away from the egg. And closed his eyes again

When he opened them the third time he seemed to not focus on any of the other eggs. They all appeared to be the same. Well obviously not the same, but none of them really stood out.

Tyrone walked for a bit around the clutch brushing past each egg in turn, spending an extra moment when he crossed the two stand-out eggs.

[Lotty]

Secretly, Kasella was surprised that he was allowed to carry on. But he wasn't going to let that show. Humbly enough he nodded his thanks to the queen dragon before shuffling off towards the eggs and totally ignoring this preconceived notion of one person per egg at any given time. He was very much going to look at the eggs that caught his eye and carry on with his day.

Now, this collection of eggs were of the predominantly bright and cheery sort. Pinks and yellows and all the colors of the rainbow that nobody usually associates with swamp creature Kasella. But despite the boy's penchant for wearing earthy tones and somber expressions, he was rather fond of the splotches of exotic color gathered on the sand. After all, even he had a bit of color here and there; his shirt had the tint of the faintest blue in it.

First he found himself reaching out a dirty hand toward the Narcissus Egg where Thora had just been before. When he remembered the black dust still on his hands he was careful to leave the contact to the tips of his fingers, tracing along the swirls and patterns the shell offered. It was his ginger handling that led him to notice, that despite his angst and ill memories of hatching past, he still got a kick out of touching the eggs, regardless of all the times in this same situation. Glancing over he caught he burgundy of a fine red wine pooled on the shell of the Rose of Sharon Egg and decided to head over a give it a good pat on the side, if only for it's flourish of color reminding him of a favorite pastime.

Not wanting to test the patience of the queen, but still morbidly curious, he made his way over to the Bird of Paradise Egg. One might as well have called it the boy's the forbidden fruit. Sure there were other eggs that he had an itch to see, eggs that he thought were better looking or in color schemes he preferred. But none of them called his name. Maybe it was the danger in it all...the almost taboo act of taking the whole egg in and turning his back on Millieth. It was one of those risks that Kasella had to take. His skin skimmed the circumference of the egg following green and yellow streaks and grinning to himself all the while.

[Rowana]

Merridan continued her wandering through the eggs. She wanted to touch all of them, but she didn't want to try Millieth's patience either. She didn't seem in a very charitable mood. Mer winced in sympathy at one girl who had apparently taken too long. She would visit a few more, for as long as the queen would tolerate them.

The Hybiscus Egg was next on her path. The bright red color intrigued her. Yet as she touch it, she felt it was different from the others. Would this be the egg for her? It was impossible to tell. Whatever it hatched, she was sure it would be special to see. With a final delicate pat, she moved on. The Phlox Egg drew her closer. Vivid colors against dark green automatically made this one of Mer's favorite eggs. She ran her hand along the shell, delighting in the smooth blending of color. She lingered a moment, then moved on.

Mer circled to the other eggs, touching each on in term. Some she linger on, admiring their colors or patterns. Others she only brushed by, for whatever reason. She simply didn't feel drawn to them. Larger eggs attracted most of her attention, perhaps because she unconsciously touched those the boys liked, but she was sure to pay each egg a visit.

[ladybug]

The brown 'mandyr approved of her and, with a warning to be gentle, allowed her to pass. Burena cast the creature another suspicious glance before moving to the clutch. She looked over the eggs, feeling a stab of anticipation. Maybe one of the eggs contained a dragon for her at last. Then, she shook her head. It was silly to count her dragons before they hatched.

She headed for the Gladiolus Egg right away, attracted by its pink color. She reached out and lay a hand on the shell. It was warm, like all dragon eggs. When she touched it, she had the distinct sense that the egg would prefer someone else. Wrinkling her nose, she withdrew and went on to another egg. The Phlox Egg drew her near with its myriad bright colors. She smiled as she tried to trace the patterns on the shell. She could see magenta, purple, and orange. Burena wondered what kind of dragon would come out of such a colorful egg.

Noticing an egg on the edge of the color, Burena went over to the lavender Heliotrope Egg. The bright yellow starburst stuck out and Burena put her hand right over the mark. The egg seemed cheerful, not a loner like its distance from the rest of the clutch would suggest.