The Hatching of Gold Lhiannonth and Bronze Volath's Clutch
PernMUSH, January 29, 2005

The World of Pern is copyright(c) to Anne McCaffrey l967. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright.

You soar into the dark tunnel in the north wall of the bowl. Soon you
emerge in the spacious hatching grounds cavern, high above the sands. You
swoop down to a landing on on one of the ledges overlooking the sands.

You slide off of Lysseth's neck to land beside her easily. She rumbles,
cocking her head down at you, and you rub her eyeridges gratefully.

Hullabaloo cheeps a greeting at Kassima and Th'deus. He recognizes them
from Ista.

Th'deus swings a leg over Belauryth and slides to the ground with a subtle
thump. He leaves the green to wander over to Wirrath before he, himself,
neanders to P'ton.

Arlyth swings her head to look over at first Lysseth and then Belauryth
before looking back down on the eggs bellow. From her comes a faint and
fluttering hum, low key but there.

Omfaleth emerges from the tunnel to the bowl, circling momentarily before
she wings down and lands lightly on on one of the ledges overlooking the
sands.

Faorath emerges from the tunnel to the bowl, circling momentarily before he
glides to a swift landing on on one of the ledges overlooking the sands.

K'tdan climbs down from Faorath's neck.

Wirrath thrums a greeting to Belauryth and he settles next to the green,
one wing across her back as Pax grins a bit, "Silly brown.

Kassima doesn't particularly call greetings or make a show of her arrival,
not this time; she slips down from Lysseth's neck silently, her dress
leathers gleaming, and settles onto her lifemate's foreleg with a gambling
hide and wineskin on her lap and a warm, anticipatory smile on her face.

Omfaleth backwings lightly, black claws settling neatly on the broad
'Reaches ledges with enough room for Faorath to land beside. Atop her,
Ista's Weyrwoman pulls off her helm and shakes out pale hair, then stuffs
her flying gear inside a pouch before jumping to the ground. "Ah, good. I
don't think we've missed anything yet, Kat."

Reye grasps Omfaleth's thick flying straps, using both them and her
lifemate's raised golden forelimb to slide to the ground.

K'tdan is no sooner on his feet that he has a small slate out and is
perusing the marks on it. He smiles as he looks over to Reye. "Good thing,
too. I might even get one or two more wagers on this before the eggs start
rocking."

Danielle catches the familiar sight of Kassima and gets up from her perch,
wandering over to the Telgari greenrider. "Fort's duties. I don't think
we've ever formally met, but L'nan has talked about you," She offers a wan
smile and holds out a hand. "Danielle. You taking bets again?" Her eyes
dart to the gambling skin in Kassima's hands.

On the sands, S'din strolls onto the sands, inclining his head to Josilina
and V'lano.

On the sands, V'lano lifts a hand to S'din, then Emilly, then rests the
hand weary against his dragon's foreleg and leans his temple against the
backs of his fingers. "My stomach's an ashpit," he softly observes.

Verenth flips his tail back and forth in excitement.

Lysseth> Volath senses that Lysseth spins out a thread of resonant,
crystalline thought, alive and tingling with anticipation and affection
both. << Mine wished yours to know, >> she confides, with a laughing
implication beneath that she, too, wished *him* to know, << that we are
here and watch, and expect your children to be brilliant. >> Pause. 
<< Also, not chickens. >>

On the sands, Volath has retreated from his protective place near the eggs
to a more distant spot, leaving the shells - some trembling in seeming
anticipation - plenty of room for what might come next. As people - so many
people - begin to clutter up the sands, he can't help a softspoken rumble
of twitchiness. Spanning his wings, he crooks his neck in an arch sideways,
perhaps seeking comfort from the queen.

Wirrath starts to hum softly, eyes whirling as he watches the eggs with
interest, he's looking for a particular person for his rider it seems.

Hullabaloo warbles loudly for his mine, then goes /between./

Verenth raises his head in a faint hum.

On the sands, Josilina is standing by Lhiannonth's side, bouncing slightly
on her toes as the gold hums, eyes fixed on the eggs. She waves as S'din
walks out and looks a bit relieved when the candidates begin to appear.
"Finally. - Oh don't worry, everyone will probably be fine." Probably?
Lhiannonth, still humming, reaches her head out with aims to nudge Volath
lightly.

Looking up in surprise, Kassi semi-echoes, "Duties t'Fort and her queens--"
She sets down the wineskin long enough to extend her hand to the other
greenrider to complete the greeting. "Kassima, green Lysseth's, as I'm
guessing you've gathered, speaking of L'nan." Wry grin. "Always. What had
you a mind t'lay marks on?"

"Brown hatching first, actually. Just a hunch," Danielle says pulling out
two marks from a pouch at her side. "Normally I don't gamble, but once in
awhile it is fun." She flips the marks between her fingers before holding
them out. "Nice to actually meet you, Kassima."

On the sands, The humming increases in tone, loud and deep enough to make
everything seem to vibrate along with it, sand, stone and body. The
candidates have all assembled about the mound of eggs, and as the first
begins to move, they all bow in unison to dam and sire before taking up a
wary watchfulness of the eggs.

P'ton smiles a bit, "Igen's duties to everyone." he says with a cheeky grin
as he pats his brown, "I'm sure she'll be on the sands soon Wirrath, just
give it a minute." he says as he watches and then he nods a bit and points
out a girl that walks onto the sands, "There she is." he says softly,
grinning a bit more.

On the sands, V'lano unleans his head from his hand long enough to count up
the candidates - eyes narrow on some, blank on others, and a smile forming
on his anxious mouth for a rare few. "Everyone who? Don't count on me," he
jitters. Volath, nudged, swells in the chest with a deep inhalation and
returns his mellow voice to the draconic hum, head canting curiously at the
bowing of the candidates.

On the sands, After the bow, Satiet leans her head over towards her
companion, trying to stay hushed, but the nerves making her voice that much
more audible to those closest to her. "So, when did you draw that picture
of the Weyrleader under your cot?" Blue gaze flicks to the stands to search
for the man in question, a frown tugging at her lips when he's not visible,
and then turn back to Linnea with a knowing arc of her brow. The tease is
spoken lightly, "I really didn't know you had it in you."

On the sands, Amarie holds onto one of Elshian's hands as her other hand
reaches out to snag Satiet's as the bow is made, "Shards I keep forgetting
how hot the sands can be." she murmurs to the other two as she lets her
gaze travel across the eggs that start to rock.

On the sands, With out even an indication of moment, Winter Wonderland Egg
suddenly breaks into thousands of pieces revealing a petite green. Cocking
her head as she shakes off a bit of eggshell that is stuck to her wing, she
gazes over all she sees. Making up her mind quickly, she head straight for
the nearest groups of candidates. Like a lady, this green neither
head-butts nor prods her choice; she just stops at the feet of a young lad
from Nabol and croons up at him. The lad's eyes light up as he escorts his
lady to her dinner.

On the sands, Aislinn keeps a firm hold of Adanion's hand as the pair finds
their places in the loose circle around the eggs. She begins the ritual
hot-feet dance, absently shifting her weight a bit then leaning over to
murmur, "it's a lot louder in here than I thought it would be. Listen to
them!" Then theres a green and an impression almost all at once. "And a lot
faster! Fardles!"

On the sands, Linnea moves toward the sands as directed, her eyes wide and
her hair catching static from the heat of the sands. She stops in her
tracks as the candidates approach, tracked-away sand sinking into her
shoes, to join the bow. Head lowered, she hisses to Satiet, "I didn't draw
that picture. I've never even seen the Weyrleader naked," before staring up
at the packed galleries, openmouthed, the condition only exaggerated by the
arrival of the first dragonet.

On the sands, Fogged-In Inlet Egg begins to move, rolling away from the
other eggs. Once it is alone, the egg shivers as if the hatchling inside it
trying to part the fog that keeps it from being seen.

On the sands, Bidran jumps as the egg shatters, then seeing the dragonet
choose it's lifemate, settles back into his place.

Kassima watches the marks emerge and, after a moment, nods agreement. "Two
marks, Danielle, brown first," she agrees, closing her fingers around the
marks--and just in time, too. She can't quite help but grin. "A pleasure
doing business. And nice likewise--I hope L'nan spoke well of me."

"I can't believe you're still into that," Reye tells K'tdan with a rueful
smile, giving his shoulder a pat before settling onto Omfaleth's bright
forelimb. The queen joins the humming of the other dragons, and Reye leans
forward for a better look. "Won't be long now. And look! She's such a
pretty one."

Danielle's gaze shoots to the sands and she makes a face. "Shards,
well...now you know why I don't bet often. I'd loose the leathers off my
back if I did," She says with a chuckle. "He did, aye. Not much detail, but
that he enjoyed your company."

On the sands, Elshian moves to a good spot to watch as much of the sands as
possible, though his attention is at the moment more on the galleries
trying to spot familiar faces than on the eggs starting to wobble. He grins
at Amarie. Yeah, I'm so glad I'm wearing sandals. Can you believe some of
the candidates said they were coming barefoot?" He glances at the feet of
nearby candidates to see if they actually followed through. He turns to
Aislinn on his other side. "How are you doing?" He notices the cracking of
the egg, but doesn't comment on the impression besides to call a
congratulations to the new rider.

On the sands, Lesra keeps hold of Bidran's hand as he jumps. "Don't keep
doing that, or you'll have sore feet by the end of the night. Just stay as
calm as you can, and keep your eyes open." Good advice. The question is,
can Lesra practice what she preaches?

Nepenth emerges from the tunnel to the bowl, circling momentarily before he
glides to a swift landing on on one of the ledges overlooking the sands.

Kaelyn jumps down Nepenth's side to the ground, using his straps as handholds.

Nepenth warbles to the other dragons

On the sands, Volath pauses in humming to crow a soft, glowing note of
pleasure at the sudden emergence of his first, swift-selecting offspring.
He does, this time, remember to hum more after his vocalization. "Was that
a - is it a - oh!" V'lano startles and stares after the departing new
green. "She's real!"

On the sands, Fogged-In Inlet Egg continues to shiver as the hatchling
tries to leave his foggy prison. It rocks back in forth violently as if it
was being toss about on the waves of a stormy ocean.

"Though I think..." Danielle pulls out another mark and eyes it
thoughtfully. "I'll also put a mark on Aislinn impressing. I won't go so
far as to say what color, but I'll bet she'll impress," And this mark she
simply holds out without any fancy flipping.

K'tdan gives Kassima a highsign when she happens to look his way, but
doesn't call out to her. "Oh?" he replies to Reye with mild chagrin.
"Everyone needs a hobby, right?" he asks her as he goes to settle down near
Faorath. "Yup... any time now," he adds distractedly.

Dragon> Lysseth senses that Volath is so utterly distracted by the flashes
of blinding light which are the echoes of his awakening offspring that he
can barely muster reply: << If there is a chicken, >> and this is a common
refrain by now, << We shall eat it. You may share. >>

On the sands, Bidran watches the shivering egg, he is slowly shifting from
foot to foot. He tries to stay calm, but it is a real effort.

P'ton crosses his fingers as he looks down at the sands, "Oh I hope so
Wirrath." he says to the brown as the fellow's humming grows stronger with
the emergence and impression of the green.

On the sands, Aislinn offers Elshian a hint of a wan smile. "I'm doing OK,
sorta nervous really. But excited too." Her eyes dart from her fellow
candidates to the shivering eggs out on the sands. "I hope the one for you
is out here, Elshian."

On the sands, Adanion continues holding Aislinn's hand as the hatching
begins. He looks like perhaps he isn't in any danger from the VSC and is
rather, simply watching something as a spectator who is no potential peril.
Adanion is beaming a toothy smile, looking around.

On the sands, Satiet's other hand is caught up by Amarie, and she twitches,
startled. "Oh. It's you. Not that dragonets can grasp hands like that." Her
unnerved air is laughed away softly, though a few baby steps takes her
behind the shoulders of both female candidates at her sides. "Well, no one
knows that. You could've and just not mentioned it on pain of death or some
such. I still can't believe you'd draw something that crude." The packed
galleries is visibly ignored, her line of sight trained over the eggs, and
on the bottom rim of the first benches.

On the sands, Linnea has recovered the presence of mind to be aware that
the first egg hatched already, the new pairing made. "Congratulations!"
Quieter, she adds, "Someone's going to lose marks somewhere. Green isn't
the usual starting bet color." Elshian's comment causes her head to tip
toward Ulmet, who is playing tough and going barefoot, and looks miserably
uncomfortable. "Like him? Bet he'll have sore feet, too." To Satiet, she
mutters, "I didn't. I told you."

On the sands, There's a final crack and a blue is revealed as the contents
of Fogged-In Inlet Egg.


On the sands,
                             Serene Tropic Calm Blue
   
Blues and greens mingling into patterns and swirls of aqua and turquoise,
dampened with a sheen as they reflect from this dragonets hide. As each
limber haunch moves, creating lithe ripples in their wake that mesmerizes
the viewer only to clash with the sereneness of movements from his
shortened tail that creates a capping of white at its base. Folded wings
carry the serenity higher, sun kissed speckles in deeper shades of navy
that dance carefree through the dips and swells of wingsails. His long neck
gleaming with the goo of his recent hatching, tiny shards of shell still
clinging to him like barnacles to a solid rocky ledge. Pearl gloss gem
facets dot his eyes that miss no detail around him, inquisitive and sharp
to meet the wonders he sees. In every aspect he is the calm before the storm.


On the sands, Lesra mutters, "Green. The first one was green. That's
usually considered good luck, isn't it?" Then a blue hatches, distracting
her from her thoughts. "Ohh, that's a lovely blue dragon!"

On the sands, Spinning faster and faster, sending sand flying into the
surrounding air, the Glistening Seafoam Egg digs a hole before the shell
cracks and shards follow, the jade green dragonet who had been contained
within, tumbling gracelessly to the ground. She recovers her footing fairly
quickly, head proudly lifted into the air as she spreads her wings, posing
when she becomes aware of the eyes on her. She carefully takes a step
forwards, and then sideways, so that she avoids another tumble over the
piles of sand that was left before her. Making her way towards a gaggle of
girls, she warbles as she looks between dark faces and pale ones, before a
raven haired girl from Boll meets her gaze. A choked up voice is only a
mere whisper as deeply tanned arms wrap around the tiny green's body,
"Vidiath. Vidiath."

On the sands, Amarie looks up at the galleries herself for a moment, the
roar of the noise of all the folks up there, "Oh... isn't he a pretty
blue." she murmurs as she spies the blue as she looks back down at the eggs
at the sound of more eggs splitting apart.

Kassima flicks a smile for that, more than a little reminiscent. "Aye, and
I his, once upon a time. He's a good man; a good friend." She lifts a hand
to wave to her namesake, flashing him a grin too; then, "Aislinn... I met
Aislinn. 'Tis almost tempting t'say she'll Impress blue like *her*
namesake. Still, 'twill take the wager gladly."

On the sands, Off to Oz Egg wobbles in its sandy pocket, its height making
it unstable as it moves to and fro against the grains. It gains momentum in
its rocking, then topples over onto its longer side, leaving the vivid
streak of yellow face up.

"Hobbies are good," Reye tells K'tdan with a lopsided smile. "That's just
one I've never been good at, so I leave you to it. See? You should be
thanking me, lest you come home and find no furniture or something." The
hatching of another dragon attracts her attention below again. "Ah, he's
beautiful. A taste of the south, I'd say. Om, remember that shade for next
time." The queen snorts: As -if- it works that way.

On the sands, Bidran is trying to watch the dragonet and the eggs at the
same time. He watches the other candidates impressing and looks longingly
at the dragents that they have Impressed.

On the sands, Satiet smirks, removing her Linnea-held hand long enough to
swipe it against her robe. "Sure," she finally comments disbelief clear in
her intonation. "Green?" she glances over to try and spy out the first
impression and then turns to focus on the other eggs. "No one really bets
on green first. Auspicious," she mumbles. Her pale gaze is forced up into
the galleries and ledges again, seeking out another, as a sly smile starts
on her lips, "I bet wherever she is, that gambler of a Telgari greenrider's
happy enough."

On the sands, Elshian grins at Aislinn. "Thanks, I appreciate that. Same to
you." He waves to the galleries even though he can't get a good view of
them. Chances are he knows someone there. He looks back on the sands to
notice the egg revealing a new hatchling, and he takes as close a look as
he can without moving forward any, just his neck cranes forward. "That's a
nice blue. Though I'm sure they're all great." He nods at Amarie, agreeing.
"Do you have any guesses about what color will come from which egg?"

Danielle chuckles a bit and nods her head. "She's a nice girl and strong
headed, a blue would fit her but I didn't know her enough to say for sure,"
She says and glances down at the sands. "L'nan -is- a good friend. Very
loyal. I couldn't ask to know anyone better really." Arlyth gives a snort
and Danielle turns her head to eye the green, "You know you are an exception."

Kaelyn leans closer to the edge and looks down at the candidates with a
smile. She moves back over to Nepenth and leans against him. The rider
nows, "Oh I do hope that Lesra impresses this time. A fine blue would be
great for her."

Kaelyn looks around the group and nods to Kassima and then smiles at
Danielle. "Reaches duties to you all. Glad that you could join us."

K'tdan makes a mark on his slate, smiling smugly. "Good start. Might even
afford some more furniture," he quips mildly. Obviously, green hatching
first was a good thing for him. "Looks like a good group of Candidates....
at least from up here."

On the sands, Aislinn waves in place of congratulating the Boll girl on her
green, seeing as how she's a good way across the sands. "No browns or
bronzes yet. I don't think it's true what they say about bronze first being
a good omen though, all these so far have been real pretty." She eyes the
newly hatched blue contemplatively. Sort of reminds me of Ista- my sister
lives there." Speaking of which, she turns to glance up at the galleries,
searching for that familiar face.

On the sands, Serene Tropic Calm Blue emerges from his egg completely off
guard as if is sudden freedom was unexpected. Blinking a few times as he
tries to get his bearing, he lets out an impatient snort. Carefully, he
takes his first steps away from the place that he has lived in for so long.
The aura of perfection that this blue radiates is shattered when the new
hatchling awkwardness takes over his body and the blue takes a nose dive
into the sands.

On the sands, Amarie shakes her head a bit and she chews on her lower lip,
"Not going to even try, too many chances to be wrong." she says before
wincing as the blue takes a nosedive into the sands, "Ouch, that's got to
hurt, even for a dragon."

On the sands, "A blue! And another green!" Josilina is keeping excited
commentary - luckily under her breath. "Wonder what it means that the more
colored ones hatched greens and the grayer one was a blue." She muses and
Lhiannonth briefly lapses in her humming to snort - and then give an
encouraging croon as the blue goes down.

On the sands, Linnea is worried enough by the arrival of sharp-clawed
scrabbling living things that she clenches Satiet's hand rather tightly as
it returns to hers. "They come and go so quickly. It's rather terrifying."
Her eyes begin to calm, that delirious blend of awestruck and fear-glaze,
and she mostly watches the progression of talons followed by dragonets.
"I'll bet she is. If she bet that first. Oh! They're so much like children.
Wonder if they know they're being watched so closely?"

Danielle catches sight of Kaelyn and grins brightly, raising her hand and
waving to the woman. "Hello!" She calls to her, but remains by Kassima for
the moment.

On the sands, Elshian winces as the blue falls. "I hope he didn't hurt
himself too badly. Not the best way to start his life out with, huh? I
don't mean the falling, just the hurting himself part. Falling is something
I heard I did *alot* when I was young after all." He nods at Amarie. "I
know what you mean, I haven't thought much about it either.

On the sands, Bidran watches the newly hatched blue as it falls over,
wondering if he should go and help it up. He then shakes his head and stays
where he is at.

On the sands, Volath attempts a croon of encouragement for the blue, though
the shell-cracking of another of the same hue distracts him - and reminds
him he's meant to be humming. His rider, meanwhile, steps uncertainly away
from the bronze's foreleg, murmuring, "One, two, no oranges yet - " with
face somewhat pale. A glance is flicked toward Josilina with a dry, weak
smile. "That clouds mean sky?" There's logic in that, really.

On the sands, Off to Oz Egg rests for a time after its falling-over, then
shuffles on the sand, 'walking' as the anxious-to-escape life within
tumbles against the shell's interior. The yellow streak spreads wider, a
small crack forming and stretching out the albumen lining across the gap.

On the sands, Twist and Shout Egg wobbles in its sandy cradle, working up a
rhythmic forth-and-back that slowly widens the depression it lies in. Urged
on by an encouraging murmur from the clutchsire, the egg rolls clear up
onto the lip of its little bowl - but lacks enough momentum to be free.
After a perilous moment it reverses course, tumbling back into the
indentation. The shell distorts with the pressure of the landing for a
split-second before exploding open in a gooey mass of shards, revealing a
wet and creeling blue. Lucky hatchling he is, his eyes latch on to his
intended before he's even mastered walking, so he's only just stumbling
awkwardly away from the shards when Tiersi races forward to meet him,
crying out, "Of course I'll help you, Dalyweth!"

Kassima laughs softly under her breath. "He is," she agrees simply. "I'm
glad t'still call him friend now. I'truth, I know some of those Standing,
but few well... the only one I know remotely well, I have a mark on
Impressing out of sheer perversity. If'n I'd my druthers, she might be
drowned by now, so I have this sneaking *hunch* she'll end the night on a
dragon."

On the sands, Satiet's hold on Linnea's hand, once it returns from the
sweat wiping, tightens, knuckles white at the various other impressions and
egg hatchings happening before them. "At least it's quick." She won't
vocalize her own fears, of course, and every so often she looks at V'lano
and his lifemate, an off-color smirk threatening on her lips. But back to
more important matters - like staying alive. "I'm sure they know, cocky
little things." She pauses to add dryly in regards to the tropically calm
blue, "Clumsy too."

On the sands, Adanion looks like he's almost willing to head over to help
the fallen blue, but keeps his place, those blue eyes watching every moving
thing on the sands, like a child with a thousand sweets before him who
can't decide where to look.

Danielle bobs her head and says, "Well, if you'll excuse me I see some
others I've not in awhile that I should greet." She bobs her head politely
to Kassima and takes a step back before turning and heading towards Kaelyn
and Nepenth.

On the sands, Aislinn winces at the sprawling blue, giving Adanion's hand
an involuntary squeeze. "Gosh, I hope he's okay." There's not much time to
think on it though, as things keep happening at such a fast pace. "Ooh,
another blue, wow, still no big dragons."

On the sands, At the encouragement of his clutch father, Serene Tropic Calm
Blue picks himself up off the ground as gracefully as he can, looking
around to see if anyone saw him. When his realizes that /he/ is the center
of attention, he holds his head up high. Clearly, I meant to do that!
Moving now closer to the candidates, the blue stops just short of a small
group of them. Giving a small grumpy growl, he carefully looks over a lad
from Fort Hold. The lad looks back at the blue with wide eyes and takes a
hopeful step forward. No, he isn't the one. He is not perfect enough for
me. The blue hatchling growls at the lad's hand and backs away

On the sands, Josilina is close enough to catch the murmur and grins.
"Well, who knows - that one hasn't hatched yet." She points out to V'lano,
nodding to the Immaculate Ice Egg. "Sky... I guess that - another blue!
From a gray-y one."

"Mmm," Reye agrees Kat's way. "I hope we're as lucky for Essieth's clutch.
Especially after the storms ran through- Hold and Hall might not have as
many folk to spare. Another blue!" Reye eyes the sands, then shifts to sit
beside K'tdan, looking over his shoulder at that all-important slate. Of
course, it likely looks like gobbledegook to her.

On the sands, Linnea tips her head in sympathy, "I understand, poor thing.
Must be a great deal of pressure to pop right out of the shell and have to
find the right person." She closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them
in time to see Tiersi impress. "Look, over there," she urges, directing
their clasped hands in an awkward pointing. "And that one! Growling like
that." A fear-ridden giggle escapes, unbidden.

On the sands, Amarie giggles a bit at the blue, eyes twinkling a bit as she
keeps a close eye on him while trying to watch out for any new hatchlings
wandering in her direction, "I think he's quite neat, all babies are
clumbsy at birth."

On the sands, Bidran blinks, still watching the Tropic Blue dragon.

On the sands, V'lano grins. "Well, better than gray dragons," he returns,
and after that focuses on breathing, chest heaving a bit with the effort.
Volath's barrel-belly, too, swells and diminishes as he hums, mastering
slowly the art of singing dragonets to wakefulness and shell-breaking -
with almost immediate success.

On the sands, Off to Oz Egg shudders, every motion making the crack in that
yellow streak gape wider, seeping egg-goo from within. As the space grows
wider, a few voices in the stands murmur and a young boy points, but
there's no clear visibility of the dragonet within.

On the sands, With an enormous crack and a rush of movement, a Tumultuous
Tornado Green prowls among the scattered fragments of Off to Oz Egg.


On the sands,
                            Tumultuous Tornado Green
   
A whirl of style and unmistakable presence, this green is marked from the
very beginning. Her cuspate form flaunts too many sharp vertices, all
angles from maw to hindquarters; even her tail whips around as if to
strike. A decidedly different shade of green separates her from her
clutchsisters, deep and muddy, brushed with glistening undertones that
sweep in busy clouds across her form. The shimmering streaks are frequent
but dark, creating a swirl of color that is all her own: ferny and
reptilian, all jeweled city lit from beneath. Eggshells and sand are swept
along with her movement just as navy-black wingsails, long and capelike,
seem to soak up the surrounding light. Sharp even to each neckridge and the
defiant, defined point of her head, her gaze may be the most dramatic of
all: full of venom, or brimming with love - well, that depends on which
side of the story one chooses to read.


On the sands, Lesra looks at the blue dragon inspecting the Candidates.
"Uh-oh. Is he coming this way, Bidran?"

Kaelyn crosses her arms over her shoulder and watches the eggs crack open
revealing the different dragonets. Her green eyes look over the group once
again before making herself comfortable.

On the sands, Bidran says "I don't know, he seems to be wandering around,
he might end up over here if he doesn't find someone else." He doesn't add
his wish that it doesn't find anyone else."

Danielle comes up behind Kaelyn and reaches out to gently tap her on the
shoulder, "Oh Kaaaaelyyyyyyn," She says and leans forward with a grin. "Hi!"

K'tdan makes another mark on the slate, less gobbledegook than chicken
scratchings. How they make sense to the bronzerider is anyone's guess.
"That was annoying, to be sure," he murmurs.

On the sands, Elshian nods. "Though don't tell him that, he seems very
proud. In a good way." He watches the newest green hatch. "Lots of blues
and greens, are there usually so many?" He doesn't wait for an answer and
does it himself. "Probably is pretty normal."

P'ton keeps watching, ahhing as he sees another green hatch and the Tropic
blue moves about, "She's quite the looker yes Wirrath, but then again,
you're always looking at Greens." he mutters to his brown.

On the sands, Serene Tropic Calm Blue turns from the clearly unworthy boy
and moves on to the next group of candidates. His eyes still whirling
crimson and scarlet, he moves on to another group of candidates. Is the one
that he is looking for here? Just as he is about to pass a small group of
two, a male and a female, he stops. Turning around, the blue gives the two
those that are in front of him one last good look and bulges in triumph as
he moves to greet the one that is just for him.

On the sands, Satiet's eyes shift, unbidden to Tiersi, in perfect timing
with Linnea's words. "I wonder what Rasiter will think," is her first
comment, followed swiftly by a jerk of her arm. "Growling dragons can stay
away from me," she remarks primly. "Congratulations," is called out towards
the small girl, though her words may fall on deaf ears. To Amarie, "Dragon
babies have that up on humans at least. They can walk, or try to. And no
need to carry them everywhere. If there's any bright side to this," she
begins, eyeing the dragonet still unimpressed and the eggs left, "It'll be
no more nursery duty."

On the sands, Serene Tropic Calm Blue looks into the charming blue eyes of
a lad with unbrushed dark hair.

Reye is familiar with K'tdan's chicken scratchings; she's been making
valiant attempts at reading them for turns. "Apple," she reads, eyes
narrowing as she cocks her head to make another attempt sideways. "You're
taking bets with apples?" - "Susus are annoying- those storms were
horrendous, for Boll especially. Remind me I should visit tomorrow- Ah!
Looks like that pretty blue has found someone."

Kaelyn turns around as she recognizes the voice and smiles warmly. She
pushes off of Nepenth and picks Danielle up in a big hug, giving her a
friendly kiss on the lips. "Hey there cutie. How are you these days?"

On the sands, V'lano, perhaps, overhears a word or two and mutters,
retreating to lean weakly against his dragon once more, "A nursery with
only bigger babies." But there's a brilliant, pleased smile on his face,
despite the weariness in his deep eyes.

On the sands, Rolling Thunder Egg isn't going to be outdone by its ovoid
brethern, so it bounces around as if the heat from the sands was just too
unbearable to stand at all. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Oh, and bounce again.
The egg pauses, resting perhaps, then bounces again. Such energy.

On the sands, Bidran grins, "He's coming this way! I wonder if it's looking
for you or me... I guees we'll find out!"

On the sands, Tumultuous Tornado Green pauses only steps away from her
shell to raise up her head and shake, spattering the sands with droplets of
egg and causing herself a little wooziness, as right afterward her head
sways fro and to. Dizzied, her forelegs bow, elbows dredging into the sand.
After an irritable creel of frustration, she struggles again to her feet,
lifting grain-speckled wings of midnight jet to tuck carefully against her
sides. Movement facilitated, she sallies forth, considering a cluster of
candidates with whirling, hungry eyes.

Danielle can't help but giggle as she returns the hug. "Oh, I am well, I am
well. Yourself and Nepenth?" She glances between the dragon and rider. "I
got promoted to Wingleaer at Fort awhile back," She says glancing often now
down at the sands.

On the sands, Ad'ion's world fades away as he all but falls into those
faceted eyes of the blue. He doesn't seem to realise that he's sunk to his
knees, either. "Mazinth.... Mazinth!" That's all Adanion can say, it seems,
looking about as dumbstruck as possible without his jaw dragging through
the sands. It's replaced, though, by elation and he says, "You found me!
You /are/ perfect!"

On the sands, S'din grins and steps forward, "Welcome to High Reaches Weyr,
Ad'ion and Mazinth!" He guides the bedazzled pair toward the passageway off
the sands.

On the sands, Linnea's gaze is drawn from the wandering blue to the
shivering and goo-leaking egg, then to the others, both eggs and humans,
trembling on the sand. "This was maybe a bad idea. It was maybe a good idea
to stay home and do laundry. Doing laundry doesn't involve claws. Or
cleaning up after dragonets, which has to be worse than stable mucking."
She edges backward a step, almost bumping into Satiet. "Adan-he found..." A
smile emerging despite, she quiets.

On the sands, Elshian overhears Satiet's comment from the other side of
Amarie and grins at the girl. "That's actually a chore I might miss now
that candidacy is about to be over, either way." He almost misses the
newest impression having been pointed the wrong way, but he turns at the
sound of other people's congratulations and the hearing the name of the
dragon. "Congratulations!"

Kassima leans forward to inspect this newest pairing of human and
non-poultry Volath-offspring: "Mazinth and... 'twas Adanion a'fore, Lyss?
Did I ever--that's right, he's the lad who wanted t'talk t'*you* more than
me." Amused, Kassi lifts her wineskin in a salute to the pair down below.
"Now he'll never lack for a dragon t'talk to, I should warrant."

On the sands, Amarie eews a bit as the green spatters goo everywhere and
she gasps as she looks to see who the Tropic blue chose, eyes widening as
she looks aover at Adanion... Adion now, and she shouts out a congrats, but
it probably falls on deaf ears right now before she looks back at the green
and the other eggs, "Adanion ipressed!" she says to Elshian on an aside.

On the sands, Aislinn gasps as that blue nose pushes past her, then drops
Ad'ion's hand as he drops to his knees. "Oh, wow! Congratulations, he's
just perfect," she crows, knowing that the lad's thoughts are far away and
he probably won't be able to hear her anyhow. "Mazinth," she murmurs, then
shifts sideways, closer to Elshian. "I thought he was going to fall over
again and squish us or something and then... Ad'ion." She grins almost
goofily.

K'tdan hmmms to himself. "Mazinth? Good name," he says. Then he gives a
start. "Apples?"

On the sands, Lesra looks mildly disappointed, but controls it.
"Congratualations, Adianion! He's a very nice blue dragon." In a lower
voice she murmurs, "Sorry, Bidran. Maybe the next one will be for you?"

On the sands, Mazinth rumbles hungrily at his lifemate.

On the sands, A spray of sand in the vicinity of the Enchanted Autumn
Change Egg gives the first hint that there is life within, followed by a
series of cracks forming across the shell. Time seems to slow to a crawl as
ever so slowly one piece and then another break off, until four large
shards are left behind to reveal a tiny green dragonet. But once freed from
her shell, she doesn't isn't in any hurry to leave it behind, tilting her
head to look down at her former casing, the motion of which lands her snout
first into the hot sands. Righting herself with more grace than would be
expected, she hesitates no longer, heading directly to a large round faced
lad and warbling with delight as Ulmet bends down to slowly stroke her
head, his face radiant with joy, "Lannith, of course you can get something
to eat now."

On the sands, Bidran smiles for Ad'ion, "Maybe... Hopefully..."

On the sands, Rolling Thunder Egg doesn't rest for long. However, since
bouncing didn't accomplish much beyond knocking bits of sand a short way
away, it opts for a rocking and rolling motion, much like a small rowboat
on a gentle sea. Being approached by a storm. It rocks. It rolls. Hey, it
even throws in a short spin just to make things interesting.

On the sands, Elshian grins at Aislinn. "Yeah, isn't it great? That's a
good one there, they'll make a good pair." He offers his hand to Aislinn.
"Why don't you join us? Maybe Amarie's luck will travel all the way to you
too, and we can help her reputation as lucky-handed grow."

Kaelyn puts the greenrider down and smiles. "That's great. I had not heard,
but that is wonderful. Congratulations." The bluerider thumps Nepenth on
the snout. "Oh he is doing great. Get's a little bored." She looks down at
the sands and nods in approval as Adanion impresses. "I'm doing well also.
Been busy."

On the sands, Josilina rises on tiptoes to get a better look at both newly
Impressed pairs, "Oh! Adanion and that blue! That was a pretty blue - and
Ulmet! He was there when I was making them draw."

On the sands, Rolling Thunder Egg gives a last shudder before shattering
and revealing a brown.


On the sands,
                             Summer Lightning Brown
   
Hide winged with wind and a din of red-umber hues of the day's last hours
flames vitreous bright over wide set shoulders and an egg-moist back that
is divided by tempest tossed sea of sardonyx ridges. The ever eddying flow
of light's final touch gleams in fire opal touches along this bronze's
flanks until it fades into a western sky rose that flows over a belly in a
backdrop that is encrusted with gems of star-like radiance giving the
appearance of iron scales and hard jewels save for one noticeable place
over the hollow of the great beast's left breast. Scarlet electricity forms
the formidable coils of his dire looking tail while his wings are forged of
sun-steeped embers. Perhaps too short of muzzle to be classically handsome,
there is, nevertheless, definite pride in the bearing of his magnificent,
brown head. Self-assured and strong of step, whenever he moves the sudden
arc of summer heat lightening seems to glow around him.


On the sands, Satiet watches the blue's progress as it nears their area of
line, and blinks owlishly. "Mazinth." She takes both hands out of those
closest to her, allowing the briefest of smiles of apology for them, and
then brushes hair out of her face. The tie that holds the runnertail
together has come undone from its bow, instead becoming two loose strands
of white. "What did he say his name was? Ad'ion? Hmm?" Elshian isn't
ignored, per se, but it takes her a while to fashion a tart response, "Then
become a manly nanny. There's male ones I'm sure."

"Being busy is not a bad thing," Danielle says with a chuckle. "I prefer it
to being bored. I was worried I'd go out of my mind when fall ended. But
since I'm a Wingleader now...I can't complain. OH! Look at that brown."

On the sands, Ad'ion laughs and says, "Yes, yes! Alright! Let's go stuff
you full..." He /does/ remember to wave to the others that remain, wishing
them luck with a smile.

On the sands, Tumultuous Tornado Green considers the cluster she's closest
to, arching her neck and turning her head one way and another to achieve a
superior, multi-faceted view. A narrow tongue flickers from her narrow
mouth and her tail flicks upward, then down, stirring up a stinging but
brief cloud of sand. Of the varied candidates, girls and boys mixed, she
finds nothing that suits her, and head high she turns to walk past them
all, seeking better pickings.

On the sands, Aislinn slips her hand easily into Elshian's with a smirk.
"You just want to have two lucky hands to hold on to. I'm the one who was
grabbing on to Ad'ion when that blue found him after all, now wasn't I?"
She takes the time to wink, then nods out at the sands as the rolling
thunder egg breaks. "Ah, there's a brown. Gosh, these are all really pretty."

On the sands, V'lano rounds Volath's chest while the bronze whuffles
interestedly at a not-yet-broken egg barely within whuffling reach. Nearer
the weyrwoman, the bronzerider grins - slowly seeming more and more at ease
- and replies, "I wouldn't have pegged him for that one, though."

On the sands, Lesra says, "Oh my goodness! Look at that brown dragon! Isn't
he gorgeous? He's even more attractive than some of the bronzes!"

On the sands, Bidran smiles as he watches the brown, "I've always liked
browns, I wonder who he'll pick..."

Kaelyn looks down at the sands and looks the brown over. "He is nice
looking. Has some confidence." She looks back at the greenrider. "So how is
Arlyth doing?" She looks around the ledge until she spots the little green.

On the sands, Linnea watches the reptilian green struggle with and overcome
dizziness, her frown pursing her lips. "That one looks like a tunnelsnake,"
she comments, aiming to chase away nerves. This changes to a grin of
amazement as Ulmet finds his lifemate too, and stupidly, she tells Satiet,
"He found one, and didn't get clawed! I thought surely he'd get clawed."
The other candidates are given a silly grin, Li asking of Amarie. "Is that
what the name, Lucky Hands, has to do with? I thought it meant you and Big
Mano...you know."

On the sands, Sandy Storms Egg gives a twitch that might almost be missed,
as it's more a delicate trembling within the nest of sand around it than a
true, hearty rock. Still, the shower of grains from its hardened surface
might catch the attention--particularly as its occupant really puts some
effort into it and manages one unsteady wobble.

On the sands, Amarie hrms some as she looks at the latest to hatch and she
blinks some as she watches the green's tail flick sand everywhere, "Wow,
she's a little fiesty, isn't she?" she murmurs to Satiet and Elshian, not
sure if she really wants her getting close so she takes a step back when
and if the green gets near her and her handholding buddies.

On the sands, Elshian nods at Satiet. "I might do that, yeah." He grins at
Aislinn. "You have a point there. Now I've got all the luck I'll need
either way I guess." He missed the brown's hatching and looks back when
Aislinn mentions it. "That's a nice one too...though I don't think there
could be one that isn't. He smiles at Amarie as she moves back. "Don't
worry. With so many of us on the look out, there's no way we'll let you get
hurt."

Arlyth has all her attention focused on the sands and Danielle at the
moment is doing the same. "Arlyth? She's doing pretty good I must say.
Taking on the responsibility with pride. She's always been very fierce
about her duty."

On the sands, Summer Lightning Brown is large and in charge! He surveys his
immediate surroundings, taking immediate interest in the fragile shards at
his feet, kicking away one piece of egg shell as one flicks away a biting
bug. What are those white-clad things? He takes a step towards them to
investigate further, stumbling as his muscle control isn't quite a match
for his sheer bulk. Seemingly in slow motion, the brown dragonette's head
flops onto the sands. Oh, that's got to hurt!

Kaelyn smiles and nods as she watches the nervous candidates, "Gosh was it
so long ago when we were standing on the sands to find our lifemates. Seems
like Nepenth has been mine for a lifetime." She watches the brown and green
roam around trying to find their perfect matches

Danielle nods her head slowly and lets out a small sigh. "It has. Ten turns
and some for me. It seems a lifetime ago," She says absently.

On the sands, Satiet's smirk isn't veiled at the other candidate's
assessment of the green. "It'd be fitting if Joilin Impressed to that," she
murmurs. "Tunnelsnake, meet tunnelsnake." Though it's ironic coming from
her. "Big Mano, indeed." Blue gaze shifts again to the clutch sire's rider
and she laughs, darkly humored, "Lucky Hands. You're full of surprises
today, Li." But nervousness does tend to bring out other facets in people's
personalities. The brown's stumble is stared at, reaffirming her stance on
baby dragons, "Clumsy. I'd give all my marks to somehow see Faranth fall on
her bum a few times."

On the sands, Summery Sky Egg gives one last good shake as the egg splits
down the middle. A confused bronze rolls out from between the two pieces of
eggs. Shaking, the bronze boldly roars as he gathers his wits about him.
Once he is on his feet however, he rushes head long into the good fight
nearing running over dark-haired Jarin from Benden and blonde-haired Halona
from Southern Boll. Halona falls hard on the ground yelping in pain causing
the bronze to turn around to look back at the two. When Jarin reaches down
to help up Halona, the bronze roars in triumph. Jarin smiles softly to
Halona before turning to greet his lifemate. "Yes, Kyranth, I will make
sure she is alright."

Kaelyn chuckles and nods. "Its been over 20 turns for me. I can't believe
it." She leans back against the blue as she watches the sands with her dark
green eyes.

On the sands, Bidran watches the Brown as he falls over, "I hope he isn't
hurt."

On the sands, Lesra says, "I hope not. It seems as if several of them are
falling down tonight. I guess after being cooped up in those eggs for so
long their legs don't work."

On the sands, Amarie gasps as another hatchling falls down and goes boom,
her eyes tracking the green as she loses track of her as the brown grabs
her attention for a moment, "Yeah, that's what it means, I seem to bring
good luk to those that hold my hands." she says before she shrugs a bit,
concerned as to where the green has gotten to.

On the sands, Tumultuous Tornado Green stumbles a bit as she stalks past
more candidates, pausing to sniff expressively, flicking her wingsails and
scattering grains of sand matted by drying bits of egg-goo onto the robes
of a bright-eyed girl and her lookalike brother trying to step closer, the
girl holding beggingly out with one hand and clinging to her sibling with
the other. The angular, muddy green sniffs again, disinterestedly this
time, and turns her head sharply away from the outstretched palm, moving
onward.

On the sands, Sandy Storms Egg manages to get the hang of this 'hatching'
business in fairly short order, and what began as a series of small quakes
soon becomes an emphatic, steady rocking. The dragon inside wants. Out.
Now! And judging by the web of cracks appearing over one point of the
surface, it's not far from getting its wish.

On the sands, Summer Lightning Brown isn't about to whimper or show any
sign his ungraceful introduction to the world was anything but a grand
entrance. Hissing at the white clad humans who dare to approach with
thoughts of helping the brown. With a carefree shrug of his muscular
foreshoulders, the Summer Lightning Brown rises, head undulating back and
forth as it watches the others. More cautiously, he steps forward.
Tentative step followed by tentative step. It stop and gives the closest of
the white clad humans a menacing look. Might actually terrify if his face
weren't covered it sand.

"Twenty turns? Wow..." Danielle shakes her head and a hand comes to hover
briefly over her stomach. A dreamy look comes to her eyes as she watches
the hatching. "Usually it's other people who feel old, but suddenly I
really feel old! No offense, Kae." She glances at the bluerider with a grin.

On the sands, Linnea observes the selective green making the rounds, though
she turns her head to stare at Satiet's comment about Joilin. "She's not a
tunnelsnake," the blue-eyed girl protests, but which 'she' is being
discussed isn't specified, for Linnea can't help but wince at the brown's
faceplant. "Ouch! Poor darling! And you'd best not say that too loud, about
Faranth, or maybe the clutchparents will hear you. And what did /you/ think
about the nickname?"

On the sands, Elshian watches the brown for a moment. "I don't envy these
hatchlings having to be born with so many people around and have to perform
right away. When I was born all I was required to do was cry and eat and
sleep a lot." He looks from Aislinn to Amarie. "You too doing okay?"

On the sands, Hellish Hail Egg twitches, a long hairline crack forming
silently down its side. Left behind without Tiersi to shore him up, Dundren
watches the eggs with dull, wide-eyed panic. He's the first to notice the
crack in the shell and points - "Look!" As soon as all eyes have turned
that way, as if knowing there's now an audience, the egg splits in two,
spilling forth a glistening blue. The hatchling stumbles around on the
sands, complaining in low creels about the heat beneath his tender claws.
Despite his discomfort he makes a tidy half-circle around Dundren, who
reaches out hopefully but is to be disappointed - the dragonet latches onto
young Rinley, who shrieks with fear at the touch of talons on her foot,
then melts into beatific grin as realization slowly dawns. "Oh, Weeth! I'm
sorry I was so hard to find!"

Kaelyn laughs and shakes her head. "No offense taken dear. I try not to let
myself feel old. And Nepenth does a great job reminding me that as long as
I can still climb up on his back to fly then I'm not." She pats the
greenrider on the arm and smiles.

On the sands, Aislinn takes a deep, steadying breath, then nods. "Yeah, I'm
alright. It sure is a lot to watch all at once though. I don't think these
guys really do much other than eat and sleep a lot either, once they find
the right person to bond with."

Danielle chuckles and nods her head turning to watch the hatching now in
silence. At least for the moment.

On the sands, Amarie nods her head a bit at Elshian, not responding to
Linnea's question, really too concerned with the moving green and the now
hissing brown to think of an answer, "Oh sure, just fine." she says in a
almost strained sounding voice as she shifts from foot to foot, "I'll be
even better when this is all over."

On the sands, Bidran watches as the the eggs continue to hatch, trying to
keep track of all of the unImpressed dragonets at once.

On the sands, Satiet also watches the green, flicking a look at the just
hatched and quickly impressed bronze. "There's one finally. Though it's in
the middle. I wonder if there's any superstitions in regards to middle of
the hatching bronzes." Her teeth come down to worry along her lip, and then
laughter bubbles out, lightening the fear in her eyes. "Weeth?" Eyebrows
arc in dark humor. "Now -that-'s totally fitting. Weeth. Wee wee. Rinley."
Smirk. "Dragons must know something we don't. Even newly hatched ones."

On the sands, Sandy Storms Egg erupts into a final series of crazy spins
that sends bits of shell and a spray of sand flying everywhere, dark marks
crackling across its sandy surface like some sort of twisted desert storm,
before the shell gives up the ghost and sets its inmate free.

On the sands, Sandy Storms Egg finally shakes apart revealing a gold dragon.


On the sands,
                           Dewdrops in the Desert Gold
   
Brilliance glistens in the expansive sails of this pale and diminutive
queen, stretched like sunlight caught in the web of her narrow wingspars.
Exceptionally large eyes are lined with sweeps of rich ochre and set deep
beneath finely-built eyeridges, gracing a broad head of wheaten gold
crowned by curved headknobs scattered with dewy droplets. Ridges of cream
filigree arise like flower petals from a sinuous neck which expresses, far
more than does her enigmatic face, her moods and opinions with its arches
and twists. A slender but powerful tail is similarly articulate, its
tarnished-copper tip - the only dark part of her aside from those shadowed
eyes - lashing whiplike with curiosity or upset. Despite the gangly
awkwardness her long, sinewy limbs currently present, she moves with an icy
determination that promises, in maturity, a certain statuesque grace.


On the sands, Volath cheers on more of his hatchling offspring with
rumbles, the humming hard for the scatterminded bronze to hold onto with so
much going on. His tongue lolls at the side of an open maw for a few
moments while another egg cracks open, and silent, he flicks his wings
upward, letting them shine for all to see.

On the sands, Tumultuous Tornado Green stalks a circle around a pale-haired
girl, then cocks her head to consider yet more candidates - from behind the
candidate's back, as if the girl's only so much debris in her personal
obstacle course. From that vantage she discovers something seemingly of
interest and trumpets a cracking, soft-spoken note of triumph before
setting out at a trot for the one she's got in mind. Angular, narrow limbs
are ill-prepared for such a dash, however, and she elbows herself in the
underbelly, creels indignity and pain, and stumbles forward onto her
forelegs and chin right in front of a brown-curled girl. From there she
peers upward, seeking the sympathy of blue eyes for her sudden plight.

Kassima has been mostly quiet through this Hatching, save for occasional
exclamations to herself more than others of triumph or appreciation. But
the arrival of a dragon of *that* color gets her to sit bolt upright--and
not for the regular reason, either. "Shardit! I'm going to owe Vel breakfast!"

On the sands, Like the stereotypical Candidate, Lesra is momentarily
entranced by the gold dragon. She even lets her jaw drop in amazement and
her eyes goggle briefly. But then pride kicks in, and she shakes her head
sharply. All right, she can handle this. "Looks like there's a metallic on
the Sands, Bidran. Better keep an eye on her 'cause she could do more
damage than a smaller dragon if she charges." Her voice is calm, as if she
sees this every day.

On the sands, Elshian notices the entrance of the gold, but doesn't give
the hatching itself more notice than he did the others. Instead he seems
more interesting in checking out which candidates are left, presumably
trying to figure out which one the gold will likely approach. "This should
be interesting."

On the sands, Now Halona is left all alone on the stands as she watches a
dark green muzzle breaks through the center of Fall Foliage Egg. After
mighty shake, the sensual green steps out of her egg into freedom. She
gives a soft croon to her parents before she is up on her feet. She makes a
sweeping pass over a few group candidates before stopping at the feet of
Halona. Crying this time out with joy, Halona drops to her knees to caress
the green's faces. "Oh, Keairath. I will love you forever."

On the sands, Linnea looks over toward Aislinn, nodding, "I bet they do
more than just eat and sleep, if Rinley's any indication. Rinley? Rinley!"
Her stunned realization that the incontinent one's Impressed brings a
raised hand of cheering, which turns into an outstretched one of concern
for the narrow-limbed choosy green. Satiet's comforting presence is left
behind as Linnea embraces her lifemate, murmuring, "Elindath. I'm yours,
too. And you don't look like a tunnelsnake. Much. You're beautiful."

On the sands, S'din returns from gathering up yet another pair on the other
side of the sands. In case anyone missed the names, he calls out,
"Congratulations, Linnea and Elindath!"

On the sands, Summer Lightning Brown takes another step closer to the
chattering white clad humans, then stops. Holding up his left leg, he tries
to kick off a shard of his former chamber egg off the bottom of his foot.
Kick. Kick. Kick. That's not working, so he turns his head away from the
humans and peers at the offending shard. He stamps down hard on the sand,
sending loose sand and egg fragments everywhere, including his face. Yes,
he meant to do that!

On the sands, Satiet looks briefly stunned, paleness sweeping her still
vaguely sun-dark features. The hand that clasps onto Linnea is snatched
back, and the side of her nearest the brunette flinches away. There's no
peanut gallery commentary on clumsy hatchlings, though the disdainful lift
of her chin would indicate she, at least, -wants- to say as much. "Con..
gratulations?" The freed hand flexes into a fist and uncurls, back and
forth and finally just clings to the side of her robe. "Elindath."

On the sands, Amarie blinks a bit and her eyes widen again as the gold
hatches and she nudges Elshian, the green is apparently not on her mind for
a second before she snaps her gaze back to see who the green fell in front
of, "Gratz Linnea." she syas softly, chewing on her lip a bit as she sees
the brown stomping his feet on the shards, "He's going to put a shard
though his hide if he's not careful."

On the sands, Immaculate Ice Egg begins to roll a bit, white highlights
catching the reflection of the cavern's glows, sending sparkling dewdrops
of light over sands and the faces of spectators and Candidates alike. The
glacier may be slow, but it is powerful, and little can be done to stop its
progression. This egg /will/ hatch...although it will take its time to do so.

P'ton ahhs as the gold hatches and Wirrath gives a low bugle of delight,
"Yeah, she's a pretty thing."

Lysseth> Volath senses that Lysseth sings out a sweet note, higher and
purer than the hum she's been contributing to since this great birthing
began: << My own says she owes yours a breakfast! Or perhaps even two. >>

On the sands, Dewdrops in the Desert Gold doesn't make the entrance into
the world that she'd probably prefer. The collapse of her egg leaves her
sprawled in a melee of shards and sand, and she lies there a bare moment,
the red in her eyes briefly--very briefly--streaked yellow by startlement.
Still, it's with some small scrap of dignity that she pulls herself up and
shakes the debris from her gleaming hide. Did she stumble? No matter. She
takes in the Sands around her, the first thing to catch her notice being
the enormous, gleaming forms of her parents, and it takes her a moment of
study to decide that they can probably provide her with neither food nor
lifemate.

On the sands, Aislinn shifts her weight around, doing the whole hot sands
underfoot dance that's becoming rather familiar by now. She wipes her free
hand absently on her robe then, leaving a darkish smear of sweat behind.
"Oh, ew, it's getting way too hot down here." She turns to answer LInnea
then, only to find the girl quite distracted by an angular green in her
arms. "Elindath, that's perfect. Congratulations, Linnea." Her gaze flicks
back to Elshian then. "Interesting, I'd say. Who do you think she'll go
to?" She eyes the gold quizzically, then cranes her neck to peer down the
row of remaining candidates.

On the sands, Elshian shakes his head at Aislinn. "I'm not going to even
venture a guess. I could be wrong, and if I suggest someone I might insult
someone else. Did I remember to say good luck to you? If not, good luck."
He turns to Amarie. "You too." And to Linnea, "Congratulations."

On the sands, Elindath finds her feet yet another time, seemingly
stabilized by her chosen one's affection. A low murmur joins, briefly, the
humming of much older dragons, but the muddy green's song is just for her
Linnea. She butts the girl's hand with her jaw, then, tongue flickering.

On the sands, Lesra calls out congratulations to Linnea as well.

On the sands, Immaculate Ice Egg pauses, the quiet before the calving
iceburg...or the silence before the avalanche. The shattering of eggs
continues around it's icy perfection, as do the noises of Impression and
cries of happiness. Then, with a loud 'CRACK!', the egg splits.

On the sands, Immaculate Ice Egg crumbles, freeing the frosted brown inside.


On the sands,
                               Frosted Earth Brown
   
Gleaming light curls around each line of this young brown's thick frame,
deep umber of breast and belly surrendering to winter-light frost that
collects and clings at every edge. Corners, like each joint of moon-bright
wings, shine with the pale whispers of reflected, illuminated light, while
the rest of him dips into the shadowed hues of bare earth and scuffed soil.
His hide appears finely textured for the contrast of rich brown and smooth
gilding, with just the subtlest of spring's brightness at tail and talon to
offset those glittering highlights - so like his sire's in frozen form.


On the sands, Still stuck on Linnea's impression, Satiet's mouth opens and
shuts, and finally she's able to vocalize, "Tunnelsnake. Too bad for
Joilin. The name's prettier than the dragon is." If she sounds acerbic in
her assessment, it at least is weighed out by the sudden emptiness at one
side of her, and as such, she moves in closer to Amarie. "I expected her to
at least stand with me the entirety of this." Her gaze sweeps across the
sands again, pinpointing the other dragonets to dodge, and pauses, very
briefly, on the gold. "The clutch of chin-to-sand hatchlings. They seem to
like falling over a lot."

On the sands, Summer Lightning Brown suddenly feels the need to sneeze,
probably induced by the sand on its face. It is an impressive sneeze,
likely sending a light spray of sand on the white clad humans nearby.
Opening his eyes, the brown sees a red headed human and sneezes again,
stumbling forward by the violence of the action. This brings him closer to
the group of white clad humans, but that doesn't matter. First, his face is
free of sand and egg fragments, and second, there stands the slim and
slender girl and that's all that matters to him.

"Isn't that what that says," Reye can be heard asking K'tdan distractedly,
having been silent a while to watch the action on the sands below. "Right
there." A gesture indicates a scrawl on the slate, and with a glance toward
the sands she adds, "Did you have bets on that?"

On the sands, Lesra has one eye on the newly hatched dragons, and another
on the eggs. Now she needs a third to watch her fellow candidates, as she
misses half the Impressions on the Sands. Her head flicks back and forth as
she tries to see everything, and occasionally scan the Stands as if looking
for someone.

On the sands, V'lano is moved to his first actual cheer of the hatching,
though he's remarked in the positive for several Impressions thus far. It's
for Linnea he hoots a sudden, undignified whoop, then backs into his
dragon's foreleg. "I saw her get Searched," he informs Josilina, then, a
bit dumbly, "Er... so did you."

On the sands, Amarie nods at Satiet's comment and she ahhs as the
Immaculate Ice egg hatches out another brown, "He's rather handsome, isn't
he?" she says to the others, before chuckling a bit at the comment from
Satiet.

On the sands, Dewdrops in the Desert Gold launches a new plan of attack and
sets off, with determination, for the nearest clump of white-robed things.
Instinct tells her that the answer to all her problems and the second half
of her hungry soul is somewhere among them, and it's just a question of
finding... but momentum is another thing she hasn't quite yet mastered, and
when eagerness quickens her step, she only avoids barrelling into a young
man by his last-minute dodge. The catch is that this jump causes him to
step on her damp and dragging tail. The young dragon *bawls* out a note of
dismay and jerks away, storming from the source of her embarrassment as
fast as her weak legs can carry her.

On the sands, Linnea raises her head, her watery eyes strengthened by the
presence of this other being. "Yes, Elindath," she repeats, perhaps to
clarify to Satiet. The dignified gold? Might as well not exist. Linnea nods
appreciation of the well-wishes, then laughs as the little one flicks her
tongue. "It stings?" Li touches her own belly, eyes dancing with light.
"Let's fill it up!" Remembering the directions, somehow, she looks around
to figure out where to go to soothe the dragonet.

On the sands, S'din shows Linnea her way off the sands back through the
passageway.

K'tdan is more than a little distracted himself. "Oh... no. That means
G'rint owes me a half-mark since a bronze did not impress first," he tells
Reye. "Bets on which?"

On the sands, Aislinn's eyes start to get clouded over as she falls
completely silent. A blank look takes over her face, and then she bursts
into tears, shouting out a name, "Kienth!"

On the sands, Elindath trails her selected person, her happy little murmur
chasing the newmade weyrling along.

On the sands, S'din wasn't busy at the moment, so seems to simply appear
behind the new couple. He gathers them up while calling out, "Welcome to
Aislinn and Kienth!" he guides them both gently off the sands and out of
harm's way.

On the sands, Elshian grins at Aislinn. "Congratulations. Kienth? Great
name." He lets her hand go and grins at Amarie. "Didn't he make a great
choice?"

On the sands, "I did." Josilina agrees with V'lano, looking rather
delighted for the green's impression as well. "/And/ she was in the records
room with us. Elindath. That's a pretty name, I think, even if she did come
from a kind of gray egg."

On the sands, Bidran 's eye follow the remaining brown as it makes it's way
through the sands.

On the sands, Frosted Earth Brown stands still a moment, as if shocked at
his sudden birth into the bright world, the shards of his icy egg still
crumbling around him. Then the situation he is in crashes down upon him. He
is wet. He is sticky. He is hungry. He is tired from breaking his egg.
Mostly, however, he is hungry. His head raises up on his neck and swivels
around, whirling red eyes searching for a certain someone.

On the sands, Amarie blinks a bit as Aislinn calls out a name and she
smiles a bit more, "Oh Aislinn, congrats, really." she says as she hears
her call and then she blinks a bit of sweat out of her eyes and looks back
at the gold and brown still on the sands, "Wow, is it almost over already?"

On the sands, Lesra has to let go of Bidran's hand to wipe it and the other
one on her robe. She claps for Aislinn's Impression, then resumes watching
the Sands.

On the sands, Foggy Fall Egg rustles determinedly in the sand, moving with
such agitation that a few grains are scattered airborne around the shell
before it subsides again. It is quiet for only a few moments before a
subtly encouraging croon from Lhiannonth seems to give it renewed energy.
The shell bursts open at the top, leaving a hole for a slender, graceful
green to clamber out of. In the process of escape, she tramples the remains
of her egg, then starts out across the sand in a beeline, trampling other
shell-shards and barely leaving a girl from Boll time enough to flee her
determined path. At the end of that self-sure journey she's found, at last,
the massive apprentice Dundren, who just gapes in wide wonder for a moment
before stammering, "Uh. You, uh, want -me-, Salvayeth? But you're - " No
matter. The big boy buries his head in the dragonet's neck to hide sudden
tears.

On the sands, Satiet watches the other girl move off, and sighs quietly. "I
can't tell if they're handsome or not. They've just hatched. It's like
those daft mothers who push a baby to your face and expect you to tell them
they're the most adorable little red-faced runt you've ever seen." Her
teeth, instead of just worrying her lips, comes down to clamp on the lower
one nicely. Perhaps the pain'll help bring her to some state of normalcy.
"Kienth? Bless you, oh, the name." She's so eloquent at the moment.

On the sands, Storm Tossed Sea Egg trembles slightly, like ripples foaming
outward on the ocean as the wind ruffles its surface. A moment's hesitation
and then a wave seems to pass underneath the egg, lifting it up to the lip
of sand it wallows in, not quite carrying it over the top.

"HA!" Danielle says suddenly and shoots a fist in the air. "I knew it! Glad
I didn't go for color though," She says in an aside to Kaelyn, grinning at
the bluerider.

On the sands, Elshian now has a free hand, which he tries to put in a
pocket, but the pocket isn't there. He looks down and grins. "Oh yeah." He
let's his hand just...be there then, and he's still holding onto Amarie's
hand with the other. "This is a lot different than watching it in the
galleries. I can't wait to see my family, I hope they got here."

On the sands, Frosted Earth Brown shambles down off the mound, head darting
back and forth as the kinks are worked out of his young muscles. The light
of the glows shine off his burnished brown hide, still wet with hatching
fluids. Hungry. Wet. Wet. Hungry. And...sticky. The grains of sand start to
bunch up under the brown's fore talons and he has /another/ thing to occupy
his attention. He stops and with wobbling balance licks at his foot to
dislodge the sand. There. Step. Except more sand is under his /back/ right
leg now. He whines just a bit in frustration.

On the sands, Dewdrops in the Desert Gold is not helped by her irritation,
because the path she takes across the Sands, though determined, is towards
all the wrong people. She investigates this boy, she investigates that one.
None seem to content her for some strange reason. Her wings fidget, their
tips dragging in the sands, and her claws rake marks in the ground from
sheer frustration. But even this young, she isn't stupid. The males aren't
what she wants? Then it's time to study the females, and she does so,
looking over each form she passes with brilliant and decidedly crimson eyes.

Kaelyn chuckles softly and nods. "I sure hope that Lesra impresses. I've
seen her on the sands before."

On the sands, Lesra sees the gold moving around, and stiffens a little bit
in case running is necessary. She shifts her weight again to try to cool
her feet, and that action brings the brown into view. OK, another one to
watch out for. "Bidran, do you know how many have Impressed so far?"

On the sands, The Northern Spectacle Egg has been shaking and then stilling
for quite some time while others surrounding it have yielded their
contents. But finally, with only another one or two eggs remaining cracks
finally spider across its surface until the pieces of shell fall off to
reveal a midnight blue dragonet. Still damp wings are spread out, oversized
compared to his body as his head turns this way and that to survey the
remaining candidates. Spotting his clutchsire and dam he offers up a polite
warble before moving towards the figures spread out on the hot sands. After
closely examining a pale slender lad, he wanders off again, stopping in
front of a brown haired girl from Fort. As her brown eyes look down at him,
a warm croon is heard, and then a cry of delight from Bevy as she says,
"Yes Avasith, yes, I will be yours forever."

On the sands, Bidran shakes his head, "No, sorry, I haven't been able to
keep track."

On the sands, Amarie hrms a bit as she looks at the gold as the hatchling
passes, "She's rather... intense, isn't she?" she says softly to Elshian,
before her eyes go to the brown as well as he whines some, "And he doesn't
sound happy at all." she says before she ducks her head a bit to wipe some
sweat off her brow and she puffs a bit of air upwards, trying to dry her
damp face at the same time as cool it off as she hops a bit from one foot
too the other, "I do hope they'll get on with it though, it's hot out here."

On the sands, Storm Tossed Sea Egg spins around frenetically, as if being
propelled by a stiff wind and undulates in place as waters shiver its
timbers. Another rising wave of motion shifts it upwards, upwards again and
over the lip of sand this time, rolling rapidly down and away from where it
lay. It comes to rest some feet away, rocking back and forth crazily,
subtle cracks changing its surface structure, a warning sign of the life
within about to break free.

On the sands, Elshian nods. "She even took a look at the boys too. I
wouldn't want to be the subject of her gaze too long." He lifts up his
burning feet and nods again. "I wouldn't mind some cool water to put my
feet in right about now."

On the sands, Frosted Earth Brown starts to shake his back leg with
annoyance. He starts to walk again, but now it has a distinct limp to it. A
limp that progresses from one leg to two to three as sand gets under most
of his claws, now. A dragon with an all-around limp is a somewhat unusual
thing to see. He flutters his wings. Hungry. Wet. Sticky. Sandy. The list
of complaints is growing. There definitely has to be a someone for him, if
only to take care of these /horrible/ conditions. He starts towards a group
of Candidates which includes some overly tall ones.

On the sands, Satiet tilts her head, following Amarie's line of sight and
smirks, "At least she hasn't fallen more than once that I've noticed." Her
feet shift, as if suddenly cued to the fact that they should be
overheating. "And their hides must be rather thick," she adds begrudgingly,
"For all their tendency to fall over like top heavy women of ill morals.
There's no burns that you can tell of right now." The slight figure aligns
herself a little behind the former herder assistant headwoman.

On the sands, Storm Tossed Sea Egg finally crumbles, shell falling away
around its bronze occupant.


On the sands,
                                 Red Sky Bronze
   
Streaks of morning flame paint this sinuously long dragon's sides with
bronze forged in the red heart of the rising sun. From nose to tail-tip, he
shimmers with the glory of matinal light reflecting off a bed of cloud,
casting brighter rays against clouds' darkness that fade out into pale
ghosts. Wing's span, when spread is wide, a graceful sweeping arc that
belies the sometime awkwardness of his ground-bound form. Translucent sails
are barely more than a veil of reflected carmine glow, delicate-seeming
when cast open in flight.


On the sands, Dewdrops in the Desert Gold gathers her limbs, their number
and length cumbersome enough to make her awkward in approaching yet another
Candidate. The approach, however, is final, sparing her further
indignities. After arching her neck high to consider her new possession
from a skyward vantage, she merely lowers her head to the slight girl's
shoulder, seemingly content to rest there a while. They'll have much to do,
this blue-eyed lifemate and she... but for just this moment, each is surely
all the other needs.

On the sands, Josilina looks rather puzzled as she watches the brown start
to limp. "What's he doing?" She sort of squints, head tilting to one side.
"D'you think he got sand stuck in his claws?" A pause. "-All- his claws I
mean? - Bronze!" That's for the latest hatched. "Oh he's pretty."

On the sands, Amarie tries hard not to chuckle, first at the brown's antics
and then at Satiet's comments, "You know, if one of them wants you, I don't
want them trying to come through me to get at you." she says as she looks
over her shoulder at Satiet, nissing the bronze hatching til Josilina
shouts it out and she whips her head around.

On the sands, Elshian chuckles at Amarie and Satiet. "That's a good point
Amarie. I'm sure if a hatchling comes barrelling over here, we'll all help
make sure nobody gets mauled. So no worries Satiet."

On the sands, Red Sky Bronze rests a moment as his egg falls away from him,
like a seacrafter washed up on the beach from the wreckage of a ship.
Slowly, lids pull back from eyes, whirling orangely as he takes in his
surroundings. Finally, his long limbs curl beneath him and he pushes
upward, longer even tail uncurling like a banner behind him. This way and
that his head swivels on his sinuous neck and then wings gracefully unfurl,
spread wide for a moment, light tracing redly through them, before they
fold once more. Gravely, the young bronze regards this motion of his, as if
it is the most interesting thing in the world, before he takes a first
unsteady step forward.

On the sands, Satiet's snittish commentary comes to a halt, if briefly, the
seconds of silence from her possibly dragging out longer in her own mind.
And then there's a hand reaching to her shoulder, an owlish blink to her
eyes and a falter of the prim fear/confidence that strikes her face. "You
do," is the reply to an unvoiced comment, "And I am yours, Teonath." And
there's just one tear that stings the corner of her eyes, the subtle play
on her lips curving upwards in that too old, too knowing smirk of a smile.
It's still only one hand and a cheek to the head on her shoulder, but the
claim and submission to ownership is made.

On the sands, S'din swoops down upon the newest Weyrlings at High Reaches,
"Congratulations to Satiet and Teonath!" He guides the glowing pair out the
passageway and into their new lives together.

All Kassima can really do, seeing that particular Impression, is stare. And
stare. And finally mutter to herself, "I'm going t'have t'be consulting
m'genealogy records as soon as I get home. I can't for the life of me
remember how insanity could be a part of Volath's line."

On the sands, V'lano is, by now, relaxed enough by the diminishing number
of eggs and the increasing number of little dragons off the sands to smirk
Josilina's way. "That's two bronzes, isn't it? And a gold." That gold's
selection is, briefly, without his notice while he brags additionally, "And
no grays." He returns his attention to the sands, then, and starts forward
as he sees Satiet draped by the young gold - "She'll be mauled!" And then
stops just as suddenly. After a breathless moment of dulled realization, he
mutters darkly, "Or... not."

On the sands, Lesra is distracted by Josilina's cry and misses seeing the
gold dragon choose her lifemate. She's momentarily lost in admiration of
the bronze when a cry from S'din brings her out of it. "Oh, congratulations
Satiet!

On the sands, Elshian watches the bronze for a moment. "Now that's
interesting, how deliberate this one is. Some of them impress so fast, you
don't get to see much of them before they're already gone." He turns away
from the sands and lets go of Amarie's hand long enough to clap briefly.
"Congratulations Satiet." He retakes Amaries hand and grins at her
neighbor. "Your lucky hands strike again."

On the sands, Amarie eeps as the gold hovers over her for a moment to rest
her head on Satiet's head, "Now see, what did I tell you, one of them
wanted you, gratz." she syas as she edges out of the way, "Yeah, so it
would seem." she says with a faint, now tired grin at Elshian as she hops
from foot to foot, "Look at that Bronze though, he's amazing, isn't he."

On the sands, Satiet's hand drifts away, only somewhat listening to the
order of the weyrlingmaster behind her. A mute nod is her reply, followed
by a lowly voiced jumble of gibberish to the dragonet, followed by a simple
command, louder, "Come." And keeping tactile contact between the gold and
herself, she follows S'din's voice towards the exit off the sands.

On the sands, "And no chickens." Josilina agrees with a brief glance
towards the shards - all that remain of the ice egg. "Don't sound so
disappointed." She chides V'lano in a mutter for his last, craning her neck
to get a better look at the new gold pair. "Congratulations! - great
Faranth that's Satiet. I've met her."

On the sands, Teonath indeed does not maul her Satiet--anything but. She
extends her head yet further to rub her own soft-hided cheek against that
of her chosen, a sound escaping her that's remarkably like a soft croon.
Still, such contentment can only last so long. Croon turns swiftly to
creel--she's hungry, here!--and she follows after S'din right beside, her
tail flicking once to bid farewell to Sands and all their already-forgotten
embarrassments.

On the sands, Frosted Earth Brown stops before a /very/ tall boy. He looks
up and up and up, momentarily forgetting about the sand caught under his
claws. He doesn't forget about the hungry and sticky bit, though. Maybe
this one will do? At the very least, maybe this one will feed him. He
headbutts into the knees of the blond-haird lad, forcing attention to be
paid to him.

On the sands, Brinath bugles happily, if a bit high-pitched, at his new
lifemate, B'dran.

On the sands, B'dran 's mouth falls oopen in suprise as he realizes that he
has been chosen by the Brown, "He say's his name is Brinath!"

On the sands, Intimately familiar with the way a new Weyrling pair can be
completely oblivious to everything around them, S'din herds the
newly-Impressed pair out through the passageway after calling out, "Welcome
and congratulations to B'dran and Brinath!

On the sands, Red Sky Bronze looks down as his foot makes that first step
and sands' texture meets sensitive new skin. He rumbles softly and digs his
claws into the stuff a bit more deeply, something akin to glee in his
expression as the orange dims in his eyes for a moment, the immediacy of
hunger giving way to exploration. Another step taken, each motion
deliberate, likely a good thing, given how gangling the bronze dragonet
looks and then at last he turns his head towards the remaining Candidates
on the sands. His nostrils flare as new scents come his way and then he
lets out a thrumming, low-voiced croon and sets off towards a huddled
group. He doesn't get far, unfortunately, his long tail swishing back and
forth behind him, drags in the sand and he stumbles to his fore-knees,
haunches still uplifted, albeit all a-wobble. Will he, or won't he fall?

On the sands, B'dran follows S'din and heads to the passage.

On the sands, Lesra laughs and appluads loudly. "Congratulations Bidran!
Brinath is a wonderful brown dragon." /This/ time at least, she got a good
view of things.

On the sands, Elshian looks over and grins at the new pairing.
"Congratulations there Bidran...or, what is his new name? Anyway, welcome
to High Reaches Brinath," he calls to the departing pair.

P'ton hmms a bit and he looks down at the sands and he sighs, "Oh no, is
Amarie going to be left standing again?" he murmurs as he watches the gold
impress and then the brown, leaving just the bronze on the sands

On the sands, "It -is- Satiet," V'lano replies with a sigh. "And I've met
her too." A slow smile creeps over his face as Bidran becomes by grace of
brown hatchling, B'dran, and he notes to himself, "This is Reaches." As if
he's only just realized.

On the sands, Josilina gives V'lano a sidelong, perhaps curious look before
she shrugs, attention quickly drawn by the mentions of B'dran's name. "Ooh,
Bidran! That's wonderful - Brinath? He was the limping brown?"

On the sands, V'lano strokes Volath's foreleg with strangely reminiscent
affection while watching the second bronze make his rough way around the
sands. "No chickens," he belatedly adds to his list of draconic
accomplishments. "Yes," a bit louder, with a cant of his head toward the
goldrider. "He's going to need some serious oiling with the sandbath he took."

On the sands, Drips and Drizzles Egg suddenly flops over. For a little
while it just lies there, though a telling stain starts to seep onto the
sand from beneath it, the clear damp of egg-goo. Slowly the shell seems to
levitate upward, though soon it becomes apparent the egg has grown
dragon-legs, which protrude from breaks in the shell's underside. The
dragonet-to-be hunches down on those legs and shakes, spanning wings - a
pairing of actions that sends shards flying and reveals him in all of his
brown glory. He makes a tiny effort at a bugle, announcing his delightful
presence to the world, then struts forward to sniff at several candidates
before burying his snout in Joilin's hair. A lengthy huff of contentment
precedes the new weyrling's triumphant shout: "Vanoroth!" Then, more
softly: "You can get your eggy little snout out of my hair now."

On the sands, Elshian points the newest impression out to Amarie. "Wasn't
someone talking about that candidate? I can't remember who." Attention goes
back to the wobbly bronze. "If he falls, I hope he doesn't get hurt..."

On the sands, Red Sky Bronze trembles in place for a moment, a curled wave
of bronze, nose hovering dangerously near sands' surface, before strength
and determination prevail. There's a smooth-enough motion of wings outward,
that helps him balance and he's moving once more. This time, he makes an
effort to keep his tail up, looking behind him to make sure it's following
properly. Satisfied for the nonce, his eyes return to roving the awaiting
crowd, head swaying back and forth thoughtfully as orange intensity returns
to his gaze. And then, unerringly, like an arrow released from the string,
he suddenly strides forward, though his gait is far from graceful. He's
bearing down on a girl and boy, standing near each other, intent on the
lad, rather than the lass.

On the sands, Lesra watches the bronze, even though he's not heading in her
direction at the moment. Best be safe from the VSC's. She edges away from
him, after a quick backward glance to make sure she doesn't step on
anyone's toes.

On the sands, Amarie nods her head a bit, "Satiet was" she says softly,
looking up at the galleries as she blinks a bit and as the bronze draws
near, she pulls back from Elshian, "Go get your dragon." she says as she
wips at her eyes with a free hand and she moves over tos tand with Lesra.

On the sands, Josilina leans against Lhiannonth's side as the last egg
crumbles and the gold's humming fades away completely. "They all are. I
mean, how many took nosedives today? There were at least three, I'm sure of
it." Three. All. Same thing. "Last one." That's so-softly said as the
bronze appears to close in on his choice.

On the sands, Elshian blinks at Amarie. "Huh? What?" Suddenly he's alone
and a little confused about how that happened. He takes an instinctive step
backwards and looks at his now empty hands. What will he do with them now?
Temorarily they clasp each other until he finds a better alternative.

On the sands, Red Sky Bronze emits a deep, throaty crooning from several
steps away before he even reaches his intended quarry. The wave of sound
precedes him, even as eyes meet eyes - his swirling with needful hunger,
the boy's, icy blue in a round face topped by shaggy in-need-of-a-cut hair.
His nose delicately bumps the young man in the chest and his tail starts to
curl around him protectively, causing him to lose what balance he'd found
and sit down. The joyous crooning doesn't stop however, thrumming deeply
outward from the radiant dragonet.

On the sands, L'ian laughs and nods, unclasping his hands so he can put
them around the bronze. "It sure looks like you've found me Rojieth. Wow,
who would have thought?" He looks at his neighboring candidates. "His name
is Rojieth, isn't he great?" He turns back to his lifemate. "Here, let me
help you up. You must be hungry."

On the sands, S'din looks around the very-nearly-empty sands as he calls
out, "Welcome, L'ian and Rojieth!" He guides the final pair off the sands,
following behind them himself, leaving the truly final, unenviable task to
Josi and V'lano.

On the sands, Lesra sees the bronze make his choice, and calls out
congratulations to L'ian and Rojieth.

On the sands, Amarie wipes at her eyes a bit and she curls her arms against
herself as she heaves a deep sigh, looking over at Josilina, waiting for
the ineviable that's to come. Been there, done this before, not the first
time so she just waits for what's going to happen next.

On the sands, V'lano grins. While the bronze has half of his attention, he
keeps a spare eye on the remaining candidates, offering a tired smile for
any who might look his way - those who are not, at any rate, watching much
more closely the small bronze than the grown one. "Now what," he murmurs,
while Volath, too, finishes humming - mostly at Lhiannonth's cue - and then
looks stunned, crooking his neck to eye the empty eggshells.

On the sands, Josilina watches for a moment as L'ian and Rojieth are led
away before she straightens and steps away from Lhiannonth. "Now we talk to
them." Josilina mutters back, stepping forward and closer to those
candidates left. "You all have been amazing, really. And we're really
grateful that you all were willing to stand here for Lhiannonth and
Volath's eggs."

On the sands, V'lano, semi-startled, accompanies Josilina in stepping
forward only a split-second behind her movement. He smiles blinkingly at
those who remain, a light redness rising in the tops of his ears, while the
goldrider speaks. "Thank you," he tacks on, helpfully.

On the sands, Josilina pauses before she continues, "You all are, of
course, welcome to stay here at High Reaches if you wish to. If not, we'll
make sure a ride is arranged for you to get home, if you need. But in
either case, thank you for being here and there're drinks and food and
stuff in the living cavern, and we hope you'll join us all there."

On the sands, Amarie shrugs a bit and she just looks down at the sands,
probably just wanting to get off the sands and cool her feet. Her shoulders
twitch a little and she rubs at the sweat on her face and she shakes her
head a bit, probably getting her hair out of her face.

On the sands, Lesra looks out over the shard-littered Sands, an
all-too-familiar sight. She squares her shoulders and wipes the sweat off
her face with the shoulder of her robe. "I'll be staying here, Weyrwoman.
I'll be at the dinner as soon as I clean up a bit."

On the sands, Seeing a few people shuffling uncertainly Josilina adds a bit
awkwardly, "Erm. That's all, really. Just, thank you." Then hearing Lesra
she smiles, "That's good to hear Lesra. I'm glad you'll still be around."

On the sands, Amarie nods a bit and she bows to the dragons and thier
riders again before heading off the sands quietly.

On the sands, Even the clutchsire's rider brightens at the notion of
feasting to be done. "And music, I hope," V'lano smiles, with a sidelong
look of almost curiousity at the weyrwoman before returning his attention
to the candidates. A faintly disappointed look falls on Amarie, a heartfelt
nod to Lesra, an encouraging grin for a Lemos boy - and then he notes, "A
cold - anything - would be perfect just now."

On the sands, Lesra bows to the dragons on the Sands, out of habit, then
leaves.

On the sands, "I hate that bit." Josilina mutters as she steps back a bit,
watching as the sands empty out even further. "Probably music. Maybe." She
shrugs, leaning back against Lhiannonth for a moment. "Shards." It's either
a mild curse or simply an observation.

On the sands, "Josilina?" V'lano retreats as well, but not to his bronze.
Instead he nears the weyrwoman and tilts his head a bit, the curious look
returning directly now instead of askance. "If you're up to it - would you
like to go eat a little, have a drink? Unless R'sel's waiting - " He grins.
"But now that this is all - over - " The grin weakens. He offers a hand,
but then, "If you'd like to just go rest, I'll make good for you."

On the sands, Josilina's head tilts too, in consideration. "You know, I
think I will. R'sel can find me if he needs." She decides with a grin,
straightening up again - this time with more energy than for the last task.
"Did Kassima make it?" She wonders, adding, "Did you two have a bet going
about one of the colors?"

P'ton sighs a bit and he rubs at his face a bit "Poor Amarie, I'll have to
stick around and give sis a ride home if she wants to head back to the all
tonight." he says before swinging up on Wirrath as the brown gives a sad
sounding rumble towards his rider.

P'ton mounts Wirrath.

On the sands, "We had a bet regarding a gold egg," V'lano replies with a
smirk. "Something about a blue, too," he absentmindedly notes while a turn
toward the galleries leads him to squinting for the Telgar wingleader. "I
don't remember that part so well. Only marks." As the crowd's dispersing
with haste he's forced to admit after a little more scanning of galleries
and ledges, "I don't know. It'd be unlike her to not come to make good on
her wagers - unless she sent someone to do the tally for her." His smile
crooks wryly on that. "I already paid up on the gold egg. She'll owe me well."

Wirrath rises effortlessly off of the ledge and into the air. Crossing the
cavern, he swoops into the tunnel, leaving the hatching grounds.

On the sands, "You -already- paid up?" Josilina repeats, eyebrows arching.
"That's a pretty silly way to run a bet. So now, what? She'll owe you
double?" She extends a foot to nudge at a blue-ish egg shard before waving
the bronzerider on. "I'm sure she came. It's near impossible to figure
anyones faces up there," she nods to the galleries, "when you're down here."

On the sands, "Well, she figured there was no gold. I mean, you saw the
eggs." But Volath's rider looks coy at Josilina for a moment, smile teasing
up the edges of his mouth. "You're probably right that she did. But you and
I should have at least a little talk before he finds you - and I imagine he
will - or your Weyr swarms over you." Warm eyes turn back to the weyrwoman,
then V'lano moves back to her. "Shall we?" The bronze, already twitching
his wings, cants his head toward Lhiannonth in turn. A tired but adoring
rumble favors the queen.

On the sands, Lhiannonth rumbles back to the bronze - tired too, and
perhaps a little mournful of hatchlings hatched and gone. But overall she
seems pleased as she gives the sands a final look-over and stretches some.
"Mmm. Swarming. What fun." Josilina grimaces, albiet good naturedly.
"Sounds good to me."

On the sands, "Thanks," V'lano tells the goldrider with a hint of wryness,
and starts toward the bowl at an easy pace, leaving the dragons behind to
consider the remnants of their fled offspring - though as he crosses the
shell-laden detritus, he pauses to bend and filch up one shard, streaked
with yellow and dappled with red, and then another in foggy gray.
Satisfied, he straightens and continues. "You know, I've really enjoyed
Reaches' hospitality..."

You place one hand on Lysseth's neck and she warbles down at you fondly.
You grin and scratch her eyeridges once before climbing up onto her lower
neckridges, using the riding straps and Lysseth's thoughtfully offered
foreleg.

<*> On the sands, Josilina doesn't miss the picking up off that gray shell
bit and her eyes narrow just a touch. But in the end she shakes her head
and starts after the bronzerider. "Well. We try. And it hasn't been all
that awful having you here." Such graciousness.

<*> On the sands, Josilina heads up a short flight of steps to the galleries.

<*> Lysseth springs from the ground, the air from her wings churning up
dust as she takes to the skies.

You leap off of the ledge and into the air. Crossing the cavern, you swoop
into the tunnel, leaving the hatching grounds.