Touching of the Tidal Seas Clutch

[shadowreine]

Keloran approached the egg he had picked out for first, the brownish 'tidal wave' egg. Frankly, he had ceased to care what color dragon he Impressed. Just let him Impress. Just let him be worthy.

His hand reached out to rest on the shell, then he almost pulled it away. It was a strong one, its emotions flowing through him, but he sensed no feeling of either acceptance or rejection. Not yet. He would be considered, he knew, by the hatchlings. His fate was in their talons. He touched the egg lightly again, then moved to the one that happened to be next to it.

This one was a larger egg, tan and white and blue, and from it came a confusing welter of emotions, as if the dragonet within had not yet decided what to feel. Or maybe who to be. Of course, they didn't know that until they Impressed. That was his theory, anyway. That was why an unimpressed dragon would sometimes maul a candidate. They didn't know who they were yet.

"So beautiful," he murmured, glancing at the clutch. "Especially," he added, more wryly, "If you like blue." Which egg would be next?

[ladybug]

Alifyr hurried to the sands, irritated with himself for being late. He still had trouble finding his way around the lower caverns, and had taken a few wrong turns on the way out to the Weyrbowl. Then, he ran to the Hatching Grounds, terrified the Queen would call off the touching and he would miss everything and be left Standing. Fortunately, the Touching was still going when he arrived. He stopped at the entrance to catch his breath, then stepped onto the sands.

"Ow!" Hissing under his breath, he jumped at the heat of the sand. Gingerly, he set one foot down, then the other, not daring to press too hard. In this mincing manner he managed to lurch across the sands. He knew he looked ridiculous, and he could feel himself beginning to blush.

Well, hopefully Millieth wouldn't mind, as long as he was respectful. He looked up at the Gold, his eyes widening at her size and...shininess. Feeling his face growing even hotter, he turned his gaze down to the eggs. It seemed like a lot of the eggs were blue. Did that mean they would hatch blue dragons? Reaching the clutch, he turned back to Millieth, bowing to both her and Kaegan. "May I touch the eggs, please?" He asked, hoping it was formal enough. It sounded like he was asking his mother for an extra cookie, but maybe Millieth wouldn't care.

[Avu]

Late! He was late for a Touching! Trilesn berated himself mentally as he full-out ran away from the Candidate Barracks, sandals flopping ridiculously as his tawny curls flew out straight behind him, white robes twisted as he tried to stuff one arm through the overlarge robes. It just figured that the Candidates' Robes had been elongated by whoever had worn them previously (especially around the midriff) and made it look rather as if he was wearing a runner's hide. The tiny boy panted as the heat of the Hatching Sands fell over him, almost muffling in its intensity. Sharditsharditshardit - oh. Shardit again. There were Candidates already there, already running their fingers over the lovely lovely clutch.

Trilesn skidded to a stop instinctively, and found that his sandals were unwilling to cooperate. He wouldn't have worn them, but even he had enough prior knowledge to know one couldn't prance all over the Sands barefoot! That would hurt. But as it was, the sandals snagged over each other and, arms windmilling for balance as he teetered precariously at the door to the Sands, Trilesn groped for something - anything - but his fingers grasped only air and he fell. Pain! The boy let out a sharp squeal of surprise as hot sand met his face and front, the heat burning through his robes as he rolled, trying to disentangle legs and feet from robes and sandals. Trilesn cursed mentally at the disturbance he'd probably created as he scrambled to his feet at last, panting, his already over-large eyes wider still, and he slowly made his way around the edge of the Sands towards Millieth.

She was huge. Huger, still, to Trilesn, who felt like a twig beside her. (He probably looked like it, too.) He blinked huge gray eyes, his dark lashes splayed across his pale cheeks as he hastily tried to get organized while still sating his desire to gaze at her. She was so pretty! No, not pretty - gorgeous. Absolutely, dropdead gorgeous. Trilesn tugged at his robes and tried to push his brown-blonde hair out of his eyes - which accomplished absolutely nothing; the thick curls fell right back in, obscuring the upper half of his view. Oh, well...he'd tried, and...Trilesn physically twitched in shock as he realized he had to approach the golden queen. Bowing was no problem; speaking respectfully was no problem. But - a golden dragon? That was...it was impossible. Surely she wouldn't acknowledge such as he? He'd be booted off the Sands. Humiliated? Quite possibly. Nothing he wasn't used to, but...his eyes grew even wider as he inched up to her nervously.

Bow. He had to bow. Yes. Trilesn bowed, nearly doubling up as he kept his eyes on the queen's, fearful of rejection as he finally dropped his head, curls completely hiding his effeminate features. "Queen Millieth, I - your eggs are. Um. Words - fail to describe them - and I - I'm Trilesn. I - erm." Okay. Who knew he could fail at being respectful when it counted most? But the heat, the stifling yearning - it was all making him rather dizzy. Shardit. Trilesn squirmed unhappily, acutely aware of the ridiculous figure he cut in his oversized sandals and robes, his girlish hair falling over his face and neck - a mere twig in front of the queen. "I'd love to be able to Touch it, Millieth, but I don't want to disrespect you," he finished feebly. "So, couldn't I please...?" His words drifted off wistfully as he gazed hopefully at Millieth, daring to straighten his back now.

[Ember]

He was terribly, horribly late! Ferneth had rushed to the Hatching Sands but he was still late. He was relieved to find out he wasn't the only one, but that probably didn't improve himself in Millieth's eyes. How could the tall young man be late for a dragon clutch Touching? He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. Generally he wasn't late in his dreams though. As he stepped onto the sands he looked around for the golden queen, determined to make a good impression...in both senses of the word.

Ferny spotted her and was amused to see someone else there. See, not the only late one! The candidate slowed down as he approached warily, waiting to see what would happen between the queen and the boy addressing her. Sloth chattered nonsense in the back of his mind as he awaited his turn to try and redeem himself. The boy seemed nervous or something and that made Ferneth grin. He may very well act the same in front of Millieth.

As he waited Ferneth looked at the beautiful eggs wistfully. Would one of them hatch for him? He hoped so but dared not hope too much. He was still young enough that he could Impress at another clutch but being left behind would be very sad. He did have the blue salamandyr he'd Impressed but he doubted that a dragon was comparable to that. Ah well, everything would be revealed in time.

[reqqy]

With Rawign lingering close to Millieth - what candidates would act up near the great gold, anyway? - Mutasim felt that he wasn't needed lurking directly by the entrance. The short young man scampered into the main body of the eggs, glancing behind him to note who was showing up. Ah, there was his bunkmate. A bit late, wasn't he? And Ferneth. Still unsure whether or not to be amused by the other candidate's apparent lack of fear of Muta, he turned his attention back to the candidates already wandering through the eggs.

His eyes didn't miss much; they never had. Mutasim himself didn't reach out to touch many of the eggs, or take a lot of time standing near any particular one. He figured that touching an egg, while maybe a good idea, certainly wasn't the only factor in Impression. Besides, he was more worried about ending up as the gold's dinner if one of the other candidates hurt one of Millieth's clutch - or otherwise disrespected it.

A few of the eggs did call out to him, though, and as he wandered silently through the clutch, watching each of the candidates' choices and behaviors, Muta would reach out a hand and trace it lightly along a shell. Some he immediately drew back from, but he found himself lingering with others. Another glance backwards showed the crowd building, but still no sign of Kemma. This was beginning to get more than a little frustrating, was it not?

Why wouldn't the Candidatemaster be here for this?

[dreamer]

Brulen had figured out how to get across the river, past a bunch of dragons and their riders sunning themselves on a beach, found a path around a patch of jungle, gone past weyrling dragons and finally found the hatching grounds. His head was filled with images of all sizes and ages of dragons. Some of the riders had been women, wearing very little clothing as they worked on oiling their dragon’s hides or just relaxing, but he’d hardly noticed. It was the dragons that had all his attention. He had seen the intelligence in the dragons, it was obvious in the way they watched each other and the humans around them. You could tell sometimes which ones were talking too; by the way they’d look toward each other and the way their eyes would whirl differently.

It was this new knowledge and appreciation of dragons that supplied the incentive to get him into the hatching chamber and forward to where the Queen and her rider could see him. The Queen did not look very pleased, and was much, much bigger then any other dragon he had been close to. This was not a reassuring combination, but there was no way he’d be scared off now after the glimpses he had just gotten of what dragons could be like. He’d better be very, very polite and very truthful.

“Good day, Weyrwoman, Queen Millieth. I’m Brulen, newly arrived from Southern Hold. I’ve only had one of the Candidate classes, so maybe, if you permit me, I could just look at your eggs?” He was very glad he was several turns past the time his voice would crack because this was nerve racking enough to cause it! Part of him even wished he was back hacking at vines at the edges of the fields. A small part, but it was there. Warily he watched the Queen, ready to back away quickly if she thought he was too new or ignorant to be here.

[wirevix]

Late arrivals, there looked to be plenty of them. Well, that meant he wasn't likely to be turned down for being late himself! After all, they couldn't turn down everybody, could they? Of course not. That would be outright silly. Still, it didn't mean he could be careless!

Trulurve stepped forward across the sands, smiling broadly at everyone that he saw, waving here and there just to say hello because why shouldn't he? He hadn't made many friends yet but he hoped he would make some soon, and he figured the best way to go about that would to be friendly to absolutely everyone. Eventually, he was sure, someone would feel compelled to be friendly in return and that would be that.

As it was now, he needed to turn his attention to other matters of great importance. He smiled up at the great Gold dragon, bright and excited almost beyond belief, and then bowed before her as best he knew how.

"Hello Queen Millieth. I am Trulurve from Blossom. You and your clutch are absolutely beautiful--may I get to know them better?" he asked, keeping his voice as respectful as he could. Even though getting refused or even forced away was a very real possibility for anyone, he just never considered it, holding on to his confidence and his optimism.

[shadowreine]

Keloran glanced over at the various latecomers. At least he had not been late. A dragonet might not care, but the humans around certainly did.

Not greeting anyone for right now...the queen could throw them all out at any time and he could talk later...he moved on to the next egg. The dark fissure one. He touched it for a moment, only that, then rested his hand back on it for a longer period. "Bronze," he murmured. A guess, but it was such a large egg and with such presence.

Did he really long for it, desire it, the way he should? He knew the 'correct' answer, but really...there was power there and glory and responsibility and...weight. Definitely weight. But he was absolutely sure the egg had to hold a bronze. It just had to.

[Tashe]

Reaching down to accept the basket of flowers, Kaegan gently ran her fingers over the soft petals, their subtle fragrance overriding the Minuit smell of sweat. "Millieth says that Stumpy is not as annoying as other Flitters she knows, like Azaran. So therefore, she accepts the flowers from him." Glancing up from the basket to the Queen, the Rider gave her a sly smile before returning her attentions onto the teen before her, brows perking as he produced a long stemmed flower. Indeed, there seemed to be flowers of different lengths in the basket, it was funny how she hadn't noticed before now. Kaegan was about to say something in response to the infirmary joshing as she accepted the Flower from Rawign, but a sudden flood of late candidates interrupted her, forcing her attentions on them instead of her newly won friend.

/She may./ Surprised at the sudden response from her Gold, the Junior Weyrwoman turned to the girl, a slight bob of her head in response to the bow. "Millieth has granted you permission to touch her clutch. Though, it was rather amusing how fast she responded to your request. She must like you." Giving the girl a small smile as she dismissed her, Kaegan had hardly a moment before the next Candidate took up the open position before her. It was the nervous one, the one that the Goldrider had spoken kindly to not a mere five minutes before. /He is afraid. Weak. I shall not allow him!/ Millieth! Fear is 'not' a reason to turn him away! Remember how it felt to be afraid? AND. If you were his size and I was yours, would you not be afraid that I'd eat you or something. I'll give him permission whether you want to or not. Although the last part of her statement was an empty threat, for she really could do nothing if her gold really didn't want him on the sands, Kaegan hoped her small amount of defiance had done something at least to make her reconsider. It had. /Fine. But he had better not scream or make loud noises... or faint./ Triumphant, the Queenrider gave the boy a wink before talking to him once more. "Queen Millieth says you can touch her eggs. But she's pestering me to say that you'd better not faint on them. Personally, I think you're doing just fine." Giving the boy a dismissive flutter of her hand, Kaegan took a deep breath before addressing the next Candidate in line. Had she had this many come to her last touching?

/... She is forgiven. The heights are far away./ She was in the middle of itching the back of her neck when Millieth's response came through, forcing her to stop and speak to the girl. "She forgives you, and understands the Drumheights are far away, and that some messages need to be sent right away. You may proceed to touch her clutch." Once again, the bob of her head was a kind dismissal, these things were not her strong point. Give her Political debates with middle age people with while beards, than simple conversations of acceptance with those close to her age any day. Turning her hazel gaze upon the next Candidate as he made his way to them, the Queenrider arched an eye brow at the rather comical way he was walking, apparently he had underestimated the heat of the sands. /He did not know the power of the heat, he is amusing, if not a little dull in the mind for thinking so. He can touch them, long as he doesn't hop onto them./ Twirling the flower in her hands by the stem, Kaegan nodded to the boy before speaking. "You may. Apparently she thinks you are amusing, and thinks that you might want to reconsider how hot it is, if you ever return onto the sands."

Wiping her brow on her sleeve, she glanced down at Rawign, watching as the next body entered the sands. "Is there no end?" Both of the Queens watched in unison as the boy tripped and fell, giving an echoing squeak and successfully entangling himself in his robes. Although Kaegan herself thought that unexpected scenario was highly hilarious, Millieth thought otherwise, though she kept her comments to herself for the moment. Watching the boy approach them cautiously, Kaegan listened happily to him as he spoke, crossing and uncrossing her ankles all the while. Her smile fading into a confused line as she felt for Millieth, the Weyrwoman knitted her brows. /He may not! He shall trip and fall on my eggs. I will not allow him on my sands!/ Line fading once again, this time into a frown. "If you'll hold on for a moment. My Gold is being unreasonable." Kaegan flipped herself around so she was kneeling in front of her Queen's head, very unhappy at the amount of teeth showing. Millieth. It was an accident. An Accident. I doubt he will trip again! He didn't stumble once on his way to us, and anyone could trip in these sands, especially the one with the bad shoes. Just give the guy a break, hmm? /No./ Why are you being so unreasonable? /I'M IRRITATED./ I don't care! You can't dismiss a candidate on the grounds of being irritated. /Well I do, and I can Mine! Maybe Kirayuth will go and console him! Since he certainly doesn't think I'M important enough./ "Oh I see... So thats why." Glancing up to the archives where the Bronze had to be, since this was rather spur of the moment distress, Kaegan tilted her head to the side. Millieth, darling, please take it out on him and not the humans. /Fine./ Turning around as the Queen directed her attentions to the caverns over their heads, the Weyrwoman looked upon Trilesn. "Millieth has decided that you won't fall on her eggs and crush them, so therefore, please go ahead and touch them."

"Burlen, Trulurve." Nodding as the two approached, Kaegan looked up to the distracted Queen, receiving a muddled response. "I... think she says yes. She's rather... er... distracted at the moment? Lets see..." Pushing again at their bond, the Weyrwoman this time got a sharp reply, itching her cheek in surprise. "She says yes to you both, please be careful around the eggs." Tapping the flower against her face as she waited to see if another Candidate would come, Kaegan subconsciously tapped into Millieth's conscious, though she didn't stay long since she was in the middle of a rant to the Father of the Clutch. /... AND YOU DIDN'T COME TO SUPPORT ME WHEN I WAS GIVING BIRTH. AND NOW YOU COME LATE! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! .../

"Oh dear. It looks as though Millieth is yelling at Kirayuth... I'm certainly glad I'm not him." Glancing down at Rawign, to see he hadn't moved much, at least it looked to her like he hadn't. Though she had been so distracted by the onrush, that he could have gone around and touched all the eggs without her noticing.

[wirevix]

Kariel swallowed when at the pause after his question. That was it, he was sure of it, he was going to be stepped on for even daring to ask. What had he been thinking? So stupid, stupid, stupid! He ought to just turn around and leave now before something really bad happened--

But somehow, he was allowed. He dared to glance up for a moment, trembling, nodding quickly. "Th-thank you..." he whispered, trying to force all the relief and gratitude he really felt into his quavering voice. "I promise I won't." He shuffled away, then, turning his attention to the eggs.

They were all so... vibrant, and full of character. He hadn't really expected that, had expected it would be like they were sleeping, curled up tight and not yet awakened. He hadn't thought that some of them would reach out, trying to find out who was around them. It was a little intimidating--some of them, he knew right off, would be too much for him, and he skirted around those ones carefully.

It was the calmer ones that he found himself more drawn to, they didn't frighten him so much. Tentatively, carefully, he slid his fingertips across the smooth surface of the Open Ocean egg--its more relaxed state made him smile faintly, though he didn't stay too long, moving on to some of the other, smaller eggs, because they were less intimidating. He was trying to steel his courage for the big ones, not sure if he would be able to approach them or not--maybe he just wouldn't.

The biggest one that he did dare approach was the Low Tide egg, for its initial period of calm, daring to stroke the shell of the larger, decorative egg carefully. At least until it startled him with its tendencies of sudden emotional outbursts and he shied away, though not too far away, being very careful. It was still easier dealing with the eggs, even the loud ones, than it was dealing with people.


Trulurve grinned broadly when he was given permission, even if it was distracted permission. He bowed again, respectfully and gratefully. "Thank you, Lady," he said, before heading away. The activity of the eggs fascinated him, making him wander amongst them, carefully sliding his fingers over their shells here and there, even the ones that bit back and clearly didn't want him and his silliness around. He didn't mind and didn't hold it against them, just moving on.

He was fascinated by so many of them, and the only one he did not attempt to approach was the guarded High Tide egg--for as friendly and warm as it seemed, he could guess that that egg was important, and he wouldn't want to get in trouble with an already-aggravated Queen Millieth. The other eggs he all gave at least a curious touch.

[archenstone]

The moment her fingers touched the egg she felt an astonishing outburst of curiosity with an undercurrent of frustration. She pulled her fingers back slightly amazed as the tendril of contact began to recede. It was like nothing she had ever experienced! She touched the egg again. This time tracing her fingertip along the random lines that caught her attention before. The strong wave of curiosity and frustration hit her again but it wasn't quite as overwhelming as the initial contact.
Do dragons know what's going on before they even hatch?! She thought. Her mind was working furiously to figure out how something still in an egg could do this! Another strong burst of emotion washed over her mind causing her to blink. It almost felt like an acknowledgment. There where so many emotions/ feelings trying to convey themselves at once that Kalina couldn't make sense of all of it. Tracing another line out she tried to pinpoint individual feelings. Its like it can't wait to be hatched so that it can do what ever it is it wants to. She was tempted just to stay with that egg but saw all the other candidates touched different eggs. I guess I should see if the others do this. She thought. She gave the egg a parting rub as she stood and looked around her. She blinked her eyes again as the contact receded. Her heart still pumping a little hard from the shock of roiling emotions she began a slow walk over to another egg that she liked. She made herself take a deep breath. Would it be the same?

She found herself before another egg. She was glad she noticed it because it was small. It looked so entirely different from the Low Tide Egg she had first touched. She knelt down in front of this one too so she could look and touch. As she brushed her finger along the cool green shell she felt a presence. It wasn't as outgoing as the last one. Instead she felt a great well of patience as she stroked the cooler feeling egg. It felt like a solitary essence and she smiled at its mild aloof feeling. I felt that way most of my life....like it was better to be by myself and away from the hold. She admired the feelings she received from the egg. Surely to be an independent creature. I like that. So she wasn't the only one who preferred to be alone at times. Not sure if the connection was two-way she simply imagined sending a good feeling towards the egg before leaving it and looking around.

So they are as different as the patterns of their shells...She realized. Curiously she wondered what each one felt like but even curiosity could not drive her to touch some of the eggs. Briefly she stopped to touch the Tidal Wave egg. It felt like her curiosity of everything was matched by an equally but unrestrained feeling of the same. She allowed the contact to remain a little allowing their feelings to blend. After a span of several seconds she moved her hand away. The strength of that creature's energy felt too strong to her. Bolstered by a sense of curiosity greater than before she spotted one more egg she wanted to touch. As she moved toward it she thought she could already feel a sense of happiness from it. It was rather close to Millieth though, as if for extra protection.

Well she did say we could touch the eggs. She didn't put any off limits. Moving closer to it inevitably brought her near the Queen's shelf. The bright gold dragon seemed distracted so she was unable to gauge how she would feel about Kalina moving in on this egg. Cautious of Millieth she walked over to the beautiful aquamarine egg and the source of such happy feelings. The egg was so small she knelt down beside it. She was facing towards Millieth though. Something about the dragon seemed daunting beyond the size of her body. Kalina gently brushed the egg with her fingertips from the top down to where it was buried, enjoying its pleasant emotions.

[glamourie]

Rawign opened his mouth to reply that Stumpy could be just as annoying as any other firelizard if he wanted to, buy was cut off by the steady stream of candidates arriving on the Sands. His gaze fell on yet another wherryhead who had decided to walk around barefoot, and it was most effectively snagged. What was wrong with them? He made a mental note to suggest to Kemma that she remind everyone that the Sands were scalding. The last thing the infirmary needed was a steady stream of imbeciles with burnt feet after the hatching. They had enough valid injuries to take care of that the ones that were preventable. Twitch, twitch. It took all of his self-control not to walk over and grab the two boys by the ear and throw them off the Sands himself. Sure, they had as much right to be there as he did, but that didn't change that they were behaving absolutely appallingly. Mutasim especially. He had to know exactly how hot the Sands could get. There really was no excuse, aside from a latent death wish. At least the other one could be justified by the argument that Rawign really had no idea who he was and how long he'd been there to begin with. Twitch. Twitch.

Kaegan seemed sufficiently distracted, as did Millieth, and Rawign used that opportunity to look at the eggs more closely for the first time. Eleven eggs, from the looks of things, in varying sizes. Most of them were blue hues, and Rawign liked blue -- probably because three out of five of the firelizards he'd Impressed in his lifetime were blue. His gaze snagged on one of the darkest of the eggs, the Deep Waters Egg, and he watched it in silence; however, no part of him was inclined to go over and touch. As strange as it sounded even to himself, the idea of touching the eggs seemed like... cheating. Unfair. He did not want to accidentally influence a dragon to like him if it would have been better suited to someone else. Considering his track record at Hatchings, that was likely the only way he'd ever get one of the hatchlings' attention, too, but... Rawign didn't feel right doing that. So many people. The dragons deserved a chance to pick who they wanted, right?

... Maybe he just didn't want to incur Millieth's wrath.

Startled from his musings by the queenrider speaking, Rawign looked back over at her, and then up at Millieth. "She mad that he wasn't here to eat us for coming without Kemma?" he asked, no small amount of playfulness in his voice. If queens were anything like human women, he was betting that Kirayuth probably wanted to hide under a rock somewhere. Rawign would have. Having any dragon mad at him was scary but queens were more frightening. Millieth was the lesser of two evils, though, since she appeared to at least be stable in comparison to Aslath. Yes, Rawign was secretly terrified of the Senior Queen and quite convinced that she was completely crazy. Pushing that thought out of his mind, Rawign added softly, meant more for Kaegan than anyone else to hear, "Her eggs really are beautiful... I think this is the closest I've ever been to dragon eggs, too. Ironic really."

He was actually frightened he'd hurt them, although... compared to most of the candidates, he seemed to be a lot less - just less. The hapless bundles of enthusiasm was understandable to some degree but no part of him was comfortable with the way that they were behaving; from the shoeless ones to the stutterers to the clutzes, it was... nerve-wracking. He was amazed at how calm Kaegan was. In her place he would have panicked and kicked everyone out. Then again, she had more experience than he did.

"Do you know if they can hear us? The hatchlings inside the eggs?" he asked, unable to help himself. "If we talk to them - do they know they're being spoken to? I mean, that's the point of touching the eggs, isn't it? Or is it to help familiarize ourselves with being on the Sands and close to Millieth?" So many questions he had and really he had no idea of Kaegan knew the answers, but Rawign was secretly very fond of learning. As it was his first touching (despite standing before), he wanted to take as much as he could from the experience. It wouldn't be long, after all, until he couldn't stand anymore at all. He was getting to be too old. "They remind me a lot of firelizard eggs -- only.. bigger and more impressive..."

[dreamer]

Brulen took several calming breaths as he walked toward the eggs, wishing he knew more about just what he was supposed to do. Touch the eggs and look them over, yes, but why? Maybe to get used to being near the annoyed queen before they attended the hatching? Or was it to be used to the Hatching Sands?

He turned a slow circle, looking around at the stands and trying to imagine them full of people. Shards, that would be strange, being looked at by so many. No, the eggs and hatchlings would be looked at more, probably? That thought helped his sudden nerves. The thought of the whole Weyr full of people looking at him had made his stomach flutter. Any time he had been the center of attention in the last couple of turns it had been to be disciplined, not rewarded. Yes, he was very glad to see the place empty first!

A little more used to the vast hatching area, he looked back at the eggs. The familiar earthy tones of the under tow egg drew him, but the feeling of dislike radiating from the egg kept him from touching it. It was startling feeling anything from the egg, and it would be wrong to touch the egg when the dragon inside could not prevent it.

The largest egg of the clutch, the Dark Fissure egg, was next, who wouldn’t want to look at what would probably hatch the biggest dragon? The feelings radiating from the egg put a smile on his face, he knew some of those feelings. He and other unmarried male holders had fought with each other, run races, swam races and competed for the best looking girls back at Southern Hold, all wanting to be the best at something in their dead end lives. He had mostly been best at being surly, though he had liked the fights and races. He had escaped to a place where he wasn’t locked into a narrow little life, here there was a wide range of things he could work toward being the best at. Someone else would be best at being surly though, he seemed to have left that type of anger at Southern.

The Deep Waters egg, though, he didn’t like. Having emotions forced through him was a bit too much like being forced to be a quiet and obedient holder, something he had refused to do. He continued on, touching eggs as they became free, wishing he could stay there forever and to keep feeling the emotions of the dragons in the shell. Being able to come in and just let the High Tides egg’s feelings wash through him a couple times a day would be sure to keep him from wanting to smack a pair of the more annoying young male candidate’s heads together.

[Avu]

Trilesn's eyes were wider than ever, the slightest sliver of hope growing in them. Maybe he was acceptable, for once ine his life...? He knew he was tiny, he knew he looked ridiculous and he was clumsy and that he wasn't worthy. But just...just maybe...? He shrank backwards, dropping his head in shame, as, instead of either a negative or a positive, he got a 'wait a minute.' Perhaps it was better than an outright 'no,' but surely that was just because Millieth, or the Junior Weyrwoman, was too kind to just yell at him to get off. He clasped his hands behind his back, swiveling on his heel as he mumbled, his voice inaudible to any, even himself, "S'okay, didn't really expect..." He paused, trying to keep himself from seeming too dejected. Emotions were no good - nobody cared how he felt. He needed plain, outright words. But they wouldn't come. The boy swallowed, opening his mouth to voice an apology for disturbing the queen. He would...waitwaitwait. Pause. Rewind. Stop.

HAD HE JUST BEEN DEEMED ACCEPTABLE?

Trilesn's mouth fell open in shock; he blinked, his long dark eyelashes fluttering against his pale cheek. "I - I - I - thank you. Thank you so much," he whispered fervently, wincing at the broken words as he bowed again, pushing his curls out of his eyes in an effort to look slightly more presentable for the clutch. "I - I'm - it's - I - it's such an honor, I - thanks so much," he choked out, completely ignoring the half-buried comment about his clumsiness. He was acceptable! For a dragon's clutch. It was amazing, perfect - completely and absolutely wonderful. His elation carried him flawlessly to the clutch, the agility and speed his tiny form gifted him shining through despite the awkward, flopping sandals. So what if he looked ridiculous, so what if he was girlish and a Drudge and weak and stupid and boring? He was acceptable.

Which egg? Trilesn rocked nervously on his heels - quite nearly overbalancing as his robes flapped around his legs - studying each egg. So pretty - so many shades of blue, too. A good thing - blue was such a pretty color. Green was better - but then Trilesn had always been biased towards green, since that was the first color of dragon he'd ever seen. But blue was lovely, too. He wandered through the clutch, and then a slight tugging feeling started in his mind. Funny, it felt like...an egg? Did eggs do that? Trilesn wavered in front of the Half-Tide Egg, and, glancing nervously up at Millieth just in case - she seemed preoccupied with the Clutchfather, a lovely bronze dragon - he brushed his fingers lightly across the surface, eyes widening at the swell of confidence and joy that rose inside of him. Did eggs do that? How funny! How completely wonderful.

[felina]

A pleased grin broke out on Niera's face. "Really? You think so? I never been told something that nice before, certainly not by a dragon, or close 'nough to one." It was hard to believe that the great dragon appeared to like her, and not just because she was pretty. This place, regardless of what happened in the next couple of weeks, was home, unequivocally. She didn't have men staring after her constantly, she was sleeping in a real bed for a change, and she wasn't working in the stables. Even the kitchens would be preferable after so many Turns of runnerbeasts, though she did love them.

She made her careful way onto the sands, heeding the Millieth's admonishments not to trip regardless of the fact that they hadn't been directed at her. For Niera, there was no deliberation over which egg to choose to touch first, for the choice had already been made for her. The largest egg, inky black and absolutely gorgeous. She stepped around the other eggs, not paying any of them much mind yet. Their time would come, but this was not that time. This was for that huge egg almost seeming to ooze power. Surely the queen, no other could possibly have such a command presence. She crouched down next to it, nearly awed by its size- while in this position, she could likely hide behind it. Tentatively she reached a hand out to brush against the egg and nearly drew it back when it grew hot. Instead though, she let her hand remain there, and even put her whole palm against it. She was drawn to the power like a flyby to a bright light. This was the dragon for her, and she was loathe to stand up and move on but she knew that she did have to cover her bases. Just in case some smaller egg held a secret that was meant for her alone.

From one extreme to the other, it seemed, as a much smaller green egg caught her eye. There was almost no feeling from the egg, nothing compared to the raw power of the black egg. When she knelt down to touch it, it was cold, and a wave of realization washed over Niera, realization of just how alone she was here. She jerked back, nearly bumping into another candidate. Corenne's face; she'd seen Corenne's face. Faranth, how long had it been since that woman had entered her thoughts? There had been love there, love she'd never found and never would with any man, and now that egg had gone and dredged it all up. "I blame you," she whispered before standing up, "even though I know it ain't really your fault."