Touching of the Eggs [Open. Come all ye Candidates

[Lilacdew]

((To let you all know. This is not required of all candidates. However, it is highly advised you participate for the upcoming hatching which is scheduled to occur very soon now!))

M'tak stepped lightly onto the sands, inspecting the eggs carefully without care to which came from Eastern or Western. To him, they were each a new rider, a new person to help populate this Weyr which was to become the defense for this Island. A fervent prayer of his was that each would hatch happy, healthy, and impress to a worthy candidate of each.

A shadow appeared in the area, covering a bit of the place. The dragon rider lifted his head to glance over at what the cause was, and smiled, “Zany, you big brute. You’re in the light, and I don’t want to unsheathe the glows.”

Are the eggs ok, Mickmine?

M’tak grinned and nodded, “Yes, they are ok. No cracks, nothing, and they’re warm enough to let the candidates come in and touch them. I wanted to check before they arrived, and I appears that we’ll be ok.”

Are you not worried that the Eastern candidates are going to be coming to Touch as well?. The dragon’s eye whirled as he shifted his head before moving back and flying up to the great ridges made for the Dragons to be able to watch the hatchings as they occur.

M’tak smiled wryly, the shadow that had covered where he was standing now lifted, and said, “Honestly, I don’t care. Eastern, Western..we’re stuck here now, aren’t we? That makes us Bivium, and much as I don’t want to bother with some aspects, we’re here to stay.”

The dragon was silent for a while, as though turning the idea over in his mind. The giant creature merely watched his rider for a time as M’tak sank into his thoughts once more.

You are right, Mine.

The dragon rider looked up at the his dragon and smiled, closing his eyes and nodding, “Thank you, Zanylth. Well, lets await the candidates. Normally a Weyrwoman would do this…but no making fun of me for doing it instead, ok?”

I would never!

“Liar.”



And you're enjoying yourself.

“Hmm. Very true. Perhaps...Perhaps I am.” The rider grinned before leaning back against the entrance to the sands, his inspection complete as he awaited the candidates.

[Fireleaf]

Seldrimme entered quietly, her eyes scanning her surroundings, taking in the unfamiliar scene. She was not afraid, or nervous, but she was respectful, understanding that for some this was a reverential time and place. In a way she felt it almost sacrilege to be here - still sure that this was somehow a mistake and that soon she would be back at work with her cloth, surrounded by the soft sounds of her fabric. Her eyes took in the sand and the eggs, scanning through the number and sizes and quite surprised at the variety. Her eyes saw each, giving favour to none, lighting upon the two gold just as quickly as they did upon all the others. Her eyes then moved up high to the ledges, taking in the huge bronze dragon gazing down. She lowered her head a moment in case he saw her, acknowledging him. Then she turned her gaze to the rider standing near her at the entrance.

He was reasonably tall, tan, and he seemed at ease. His clothes bespoke a penchant for comfort and she liked the colours he chose for himself. His hands said that he wasn’t afraid of hard work. She could appreciate that in a person. She nodded to him politely and spoke softly: “I am Seldrimme, and I am a Candidate. The Candidatemaster instructed I should come here. Is there anything I must know or should do, in particular?”

[Lilacdew]

With a yawn, Syreaka made her way to the Hatching Sands. It was with no small stretch of the imagination to say that she was almost used to this sort of thing now. You walk in, touch the eggs, admire them..for they are beautiful no matter what anyone says....then you walk out. She prayed, hoped, and wanted fervently for all to happen this time so much that it hurt. However, as D'skel advised, she was doing her best not to linger on it. She didn't want to be the child anymore, but a woman proud of who she was and who she could be. With that, Threaka's daughter marched onto the sands.

She was dressed for the occasion too. Neatly tooled leather boots, brown neutral trousers that were just dark enough to enhance the rich violet of her tunic that could never be mistaken for a Healer's robe. She wore a simple belt about the tunic with her pouch on it, as she'd not wear the robes of the Candidate until it was time for the hatching. Her hair was swept up about her head neatly, but impressively. It was clear that this time, she was dressed to impress and it honestly just made her feel better to boot. No matter what anyone thought or said, wearing clothing that made you feel good was more soothing for her than anything else at that moment, outside of Detra or perhaps little Ciri could really be.

Either way, those little firelizards were clearly unhappy to be away from her. The gold Ciri, a hatchling herself, was just next to Deltra, alighting upon the edge of the stands near the great bronze, as though ready to chitter. With a light smile up at them, Syreaka chuckled before finally walking near M'tak and bowing to him, "Hello, Wingleader. I'm here for the touching."

She glanced to the side and blinked. Oh, Seldrimme was here too. Looks like all the candidates are about to walk in. Interesting, though not surprising.

[Lilacdew]

M'tak was watching the eggs cooly when the first of the candidates walked in. A woman who almost seemed dainty passed through, and relaxed, he glanced over at her with a light smile, "Hello there, Seldrimme. I'm M'tak, and up there, that large hulk is Zanylth."

He didn't bother mentioning that he was the Wingleader for one of the wings, thus one of the temporary leaders for the Weyr until a Weyrwoman and Weyrleader was established. As though wouldn't happen until the first queen rose and was flown, they'd have neither for a little while. The man tilted his head to her and grinned lightly, "Well, m'lady. There really isn't much to it. When you walk through touch the eggs, handle them...please don't lift them. Or rather, don't try."

Mickmine, really. As if anyone would try it

'I'm sure it has happened before, Zany.'

He gave a smile at the comment before he nodded, "They are hard enough to touch, and our own dragons have been taking turns in turning them the way a Queen dragon would. Really, there isn't much to it. Though, make sure you touch the gold eggs as well. As a woman, you're automatically one of the candidates for that."

That was when Syreaka walked in and he nodded his head to her, "Hello, Syreaka. Indeed, you can proceed as you like." Then he blinked and smiled, "Thank you again for the firelizards."
With that, he gestured for the women to go ahead and touch the eggs just as a little hatchling bronze popped out of nowhere, chittering up at the Dragonrider, bobbing his head for reassurance as he landed upon the rider's padded shoulder.

[Briarwind]

Touchings for the son of the Western Weyrwoman had long ago become a chore, a bitter reminder of his previous failures and of how precariously close that twenty-second turn mark drew. He had lost the anticipation and excitement long ago to the foreboding and familiarity. It confused him, therefore, when a small trace of hope wormed its way into him while he dressed for the sands, and he paused when he noted it. He knew better than to hope at these things. What was truly the point in that? But here he was, hoping, and why? What made this clutch seem different, seem worthy of hope? The sands were different, surely, but the clutch was still of a lot whose mother he'd stood clutches for, before. They were only transferred eggs from Western, anyhow.

...And from Eastern. From Threaka's own invidious beast, at that, if he recalled correctly. Oh, R'his would be fit to be tied if his son impressed an egg clutched by that creature, he mused as he adjusted his tunic.

Glancing in the mirror, he satisfied himself with a final, confident nod, deeming his appearance finally suitable, and made his way out of the barracks to the hatching sands. When he arrived, he paused, noting with some faint trace of chagrin that he was not the first. Point in fact, that tiny girl from the kitchens the day he'd received Tyva's egg was already there, and so, perhaps most painfully, was the lovely (and dangerous) Syreaka. Oh, what a delight.

It was just fortuitous that M'tak was handling the touching, he supposed. At least he had an ally from that quarter. He didn't know the bronzerider terribly well on a personal level, but he'd seen and heard nothing but the best of him, and he knew that, for all his mother could be a wherryhead, she wouldn't have allowed him to go on this expedition himself if he were, so there had to be some sense in the man. Slipping over to Zanylth, he deposited Tyva from where she coiled daintily about his wrist beside her mother and sister, admonishing her lovingly to stay put, before turning to bow respectfully to M'tak. In the absence of a clutch mother or a Weyrwoman to manage the eggs, some respect had to be shown, and since M'tak was handling the clutch, it seemed to Rhiskyraenen as if it should be to him.

[wildfire]

Ariya was whistling softly as she headed to the hatching sands. Circa was sleeping back in her room so she didn't have to worry about her causing any trouble. Not that the firelizard caused any trouble but she could get into the stickiest situations. She paused at the entrance to the hatching sands and her eyes flickered over the eggs. They were bigger then she thought they'd be. Then again it was dragons so she hadn't expected them to be small. She gave a curtsy to the rider who was overseeing the touching.

"I'm Ariya. I was told by the Candidate master to come here." she said her eyes flickering to see the others gathered. She wasn't surprised to see the other candidates there and since this was her first time doing this she would follow their lead. Dressed in a simple gray tunic and brown trousers tucked into calf-length black boots she wasn't dressed to impress rather for comfort. Once she had permission she moved to the eggs to begin touching them.

[align=center]~~~[/align]

Yukiro sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he made his way to the sands. It wasn't that he didn't want to be here it was just he didn't think he would impress this round. Not that he couldn't hope he would of course. Dressed in a simple white tunic and brown trousers with sandals covering his feet he entered the sands. Thank Faranth he'd been able to convince Sunfire to stay behind. He wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with her and touching the eggs at the same time. He blinked slightly at the change in temperature.

Shards its hotter then I remember. he thought an amused smirk flickering across his face as he recalled the past hatchings that he'd stood at. He hadn't impressed at either so he was doubtful of his chances to impress here. Oh well he was at least giving it a shot.

"I'm here for the touching. I'm Candidate Yukiro." he introduced himself to the rider. His eyes flickered to the eggs for a moment then returned to the rider.

[Lilacdew]

“Hello there!” M’tak grinned amiably, tilting his head to the side with a light nod. Rhiskyraenen was there, and apparently two more to go. Interesting, what sorts they had this round over anything else. Oh, he was well aware of how Rhiskyraenen felt about the touchings. It didn’t take much to figure that out after how many he has stood for and gone through, but he choose to ignore that for now. After comforting the lizard bronze fire lizard, who settled down upon his shoulder with a squeak . Looking over Syreaka and then the others, the bronze rider nodded, ready to speak when Zanlyth opted to speak to the lot of them, in true good nature for the bronze.

Hello, Candidates. Mickmine has explained everything I'm sure, but please don't call me a brood mother. I'll be most upset.

The dragon rider sighed, shaking his head, “That, for those who don’t know, is Zanylth. I am M’tak, the Wingleader of the wing from Western Weyr and one of the two leaders of Bivium currently. Pleased to meet you all.”

Indeed!

The rider eyed his dragon quickly before he looked back over the candidates, “As I said, for those who don’t know, it really is simple. Your job is merely to handle the eggs, grow accustomed to them. They’re hard enough to touch, and as long as you aren’t romping amongst them, they’ll be fine. I will oversee it from here.”

He nodded to them all, “You may now enter the Sands. I am sure other candidates may show up as time goes on, but you do not have to wait for them.”

[Fireleaf]

Deepening her nod into a half-bow, one that would have been appropriate for any honored patron, Seldrimme replied, “Well met, M’tak and Zanylth.” His grin put her at ease, for really she had no idea what she was doing. As she listened to his instructions a brown rucksack at her side wobbled a bit. She pulled the top of it open a bit more, never losing eye-contact with M’tak, nodding slowly. The thought of trying to pick up one of the eggs - did he really think she would try something like that?! She wasn’t a child, nor was she daft, but perhaps someone had in the past. She tried not to furrow her brow nor take it personally, and the sensible thing said that this man was in charge and had to protect the eggs first of all. He was simply doing is job. This made her smile a bit.

Her pleased feeling was apparently enough to encourage company. A smallish brown firelizard hatchling slipped from the bag and up a strategically chosen and placed sky-blue wrap Seldrimme was wearing. It climbed up and sat upon her shoulder, peering curiously at M’tak, as though wondering what could have made Seldrimme smile. The small brown tail whipped back and forth a few times before trying to curl around the woman’s neck and, being too small yet, settled for slipping into the locks of her hair.

Seldrimme reached up and stroked the firelizard affectionately, eyes still on M’tak, looking a little surprised as he spoke of the gold eggs. Before she could say anything about it, though, Syreaka entered and Seldrimme smiled, truly happy to see a familiar face, and also happy to be able to introduce her hatchling. She nodded to the woman and then laughed softly as a bronze hatchling popped up and landed on M’tak’s shoulder as well.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Syreaka.” What a lovely shade that violet is, especially on her. I’ll not tell her, for she’ll think I’m being false this early in our knowing each other, but I do like that shade. I’ll have to remember that. She really is dressed well, and I am glad I dressed as I did. Without realizing it she smoothed down her own skirt, a fine but sturdy linen a shade darker than the wrap the lizard had used to climb. “The egg you gifted me hatched, and Weft is doing well.” Here she stroked the brown again, and it opened it’s mouth a little, looking quite pleased at the extra attention. “I just came in and was about to touch the eggs, though I suppose any candidate coming in that would be the case. Don’t mind my ramblings. It’s been a long time since I found myself in a situation where I didn’t know what I was doing.”

It was about then that she noticed the several others entering. One was the very deferential man, at it again with M’tak. He was very, very polite to everyone. While Seldrimme caught this out of the corner of her eyes she found that Weft was staring at him. How unnerving. She rubbed her fingers together on the other side of his head and he turned away. She'd have to rememver that the little thing was less than discreet. Two more entered and she heard their names, Ariya and Yukiro, but she didn’t know much about them at all, nothing more than perhaps having seen them in passing. She looked again at Syreaka, and then around at the eggs, wondering if perhaps there was a chance … no… this was still all a mistake…and Weft was making soft sounds in her ear.

[wildfire]

Ariya nodded as the Bronze spoke to the group of them as a whole and his words brought a smile to her lips. He had a sense of humor that bronze did, but she decided she liked him. A soft mental sigh escaped her as she took in the clothing of the other girls. She was dressed plain in comparison but then again she wasn't normally one to care about how she dressed. She kept herself clean and presentable of course but she wasn't an extreme girly-girl. Oh well it wasn't something she needed to worry about today. She glanced at Syreaka a smile flickering across her lips.

"The egg you gave me hatched. Storm is sleeping though. He's a real treat to have. Thank you for giving me an egg." she said before she went ahead with the touching since they had permission now.

She moved among the eggs brushing slender fingers along each of them. She lingered her and there for a few moments, a slightly dreamy look on her face all the while. She was completely serious in her task though and every egg was given attention. None were neglected. She saved the two gold eggs for last however. As she approached them she realized she wasn't so sure that she was meant for a gold. Like any girl she'd entertained dreams of flying on golden wings but she had recently started to give up on that childhood dream. She didn't feel she had what it took to be a goldrider. Maybe she did and that strength had yet to be discovered but she didn't know.

I wish you the best of luck, whoever you may choose. she thought as she brushed her fingers against the smooth golden shells. A soft sigh of longing escaped her and she shook her head a bit. Syreaka would be much better suited for a gold. she thought wistfully.

~~~

Yukiro nodded as the bronze and his rider spoke. He wasn't so used to dragons talking to him so it was a bit disconcerting. He listened though because as a bronze, Zanylth commanded attention not just for rank but something about his voice held the young man's attention. Well he was used to listening to orders and the orders the candidates were given were simple enough to follow that only a fool would mess them up. So with permission given the young man went to the eggs.

He brushed gentle fingers over each egg he came to and he visited every egg but the two gold eggs. He was not the rider those eggs were looking for so he decided not to waste time. Oh he would respect the hatchlings and their riders when the eggs hatched but he figured it would be better not to waste time.

I wonder what will hatch. It's certainly going to be an interesting hatching with all the politics. he thought as he wandered among the eggs. He noticed the candidate named Ariya lingering by the gold eggs and couldn't miss the wistful look on her face. A soft smirk crossed his face. Someone's dreaming aren't they? he thought a soft chuckle escaping him.

[Lilacdew]

Syreaka smiled up at the people around her, who were starting to greet her with such amiable attitudes. Her giving out the firelizards had indeed achieved, in part, what she had hoped. Deltra had given the Weyr a clutch to be proud of, for all it was small, and the woman nodded. Elegantly tilting her head to look at Seldrimme, she smiled not having to feign any sort of happiness about Seldrimme's pleasure in her new one, "I am glad, Seldrimme."

Once more, that smooth voice filtered out, issuing as much warmth as she could manage with it. She looked over at the brown upon the woman's shoulder and smiled, "Weft? That's a fine name."
Syreaka had, however, apparently spent too much time admiring the brown for it was but mere moments later that her little queen wrapped about the woman's shoulder, glaring at the brown, then Seldrimme and finally Syreaka herself. The woman sighed, staring at the little creature, "Ciri, back with Deltra. I can't very well touch the eggs with you on my shoulder."

The lizard didn't quite listen, however, and it caused the woman to sigh. With a surprisingly deft motion, she plucked the lizard from her shoulder, walked over to where Deltra sat and once more plopped the gold down before walking back to Seldrimme. Rubbing her neck, she smiled ruefully, "Once more..Weft is a beautiful brown, Seldrimme. I'm thrilled you got him. Though, don't worry about knowing what or not to do. The Touching really is very simple. YOu walk amongst the eggs, touching them, getting used to them and really nothing more. They won't begin hatching yet."

That was when Ariya caught her attention, and she smiled in reply as well, "Storm? I can hardly wait to see him! You are more than welcome."

With a nod, she looked about at those gathered, including the ever handsome and puzzling Rhiskyraenen. Huh, he was there too, thought that wasn't a surprise. With a flicker of a smile in his direction, she nods once more, "Well, I believe I shall get started if you do not mind, M'tak."

With that, the woman curtsied before walking onto the sands with all the elegant poise she possessed.

[Briarwind]

Rhiskyraenen blinked in surprise at Syreaka's brief, fleeting acknowledgment, a flicker of a smile dancing across his own lips in response before it really processed what was occurring. As the candidates began to break up and drift out into the eggs, he let the smile fade into a contemplative expression, pausing to bow his head to Zanylth before drifting out to join them.

The queen eggs, he, of course, paid no mind whatsoever, drifting attentively amongst the others instead. Thirty two eggs was no small clutch, and he had seen already that fools who touched only the largest of eggs rarely impressed, so he was not about to squander one of his ever-dwindling chances by doing that. Still, it was hard to keep his hopes up, after so many failed hatchings.

Rather than dwell on that, however, he allowed his mind to wander, contemplating the texture of this egg, the warmth of that one, the shape of this third, as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he pondered the other candidates, as well, from the familiar Western children he'd grown up with, to the strange crafters who had been drawn in, to the 'enemies' of Eastern Weyr who had come as fellow founders, a challenge and a blessing. For many of them, they moved as if it was their first hatching, hesitant and hopeful, but he saw in a few the same reluctance he felt in his own step, the hesitation and self-doubt that questioned what the next step would be if he failed to impress. Again.

This was not the time for such thoughts, however. This was the time to prepare (again) for the future.

If nothing else could be said of Akantral, it must be said that she was as good as her word. Nevertheless, that did not make her altogether comfortable with stepping so far outside of familiar bounds. Just outside of the sands, she hesitated, drawing the blade from her beloved hip-bag and turning it slowly over in her hands once more. She had tended it carefully, all too aware of the value of the object and the significance of the promise she'd made when she took it. She hadn't seen J'tan, yet, but that didn't release her of the promise she made.

Sighing, she folded the blade carefully back inside the wrap she'd prepared for it and put it away before straightening and slipping inside. The sands were hot, unfamiliar, and oppressive, but she'd expected that much, and she was, to all appearances, just a little bit late. Hesitating, she frowned, watching the candidates move amongst the eggs. They were so many, eggs and candidates, and all at once, Akantral realized that she hadn't the foggiest idea how one was meant to behave during a touching. Where was her confidence, now?

Frowning, she reached up and brushed her fingers lovingly over Haldis's head. The bronze stretched his neck out, crooning softly. As if the sound was a gentle admonition, the girl lifted her chin, smiling softly at the creature, and slipped across the stands to the rider. "Excuse me, sir?" she inquired gently.

[nightsong]

Eris slipped from the bowl into the sands, a look of blatent curiousity etched on her careful features as her eyes touched each egg. She noticed the other girls standing nearby, and nodded cautiously, offering a bow to the riders. She knew she looked odd, the bare feet shifting on the deeply hot sands, but she was at least comfortable, the heavy calluses born of years running on the island's terrain, protecting her soles from what would send some screaming to the nearest pair of sandals. She took a deep breath and scanned the faces once more, this time with trained eyes, ending at the bronzerider that was all too familiar. She sauntered forward, long legs adjusting to the give of the sand, the panels of cloth doing very little to hide the muscles working as she hesitated before him, nodding her head respectfully.

"You must be busy, bronzerider. I have not had the chance to check up on you since I have arrived. Tell me, what is this 'Touching'? I assume its for us to see the eggs?" She cocked her head curiously, strands of white gold falling across her bright blue eyes, the smirk touching her lips friendly and amused.

[Fireleaf]

Seldrimme was pleased to note that from all she could tell Syreaka’s smile seemed genuine, and this put her somewhat at ease. The woman seemed knowledgeable and influential and not overly emotional, and ‘Drimme could understand those things. Her way of talking, that smoothness, that was a little more business, but that wasn’t unlike the way Seldrimme changed her way of speaking depending on whether she was dealing with shop holders or Lord and Lady Holders, not that she’d done a terrible lot of the latter, mind you.

The gold firelizard that came challenging made Seldrimme blink a few times and she found herself looking over to the golden eggs in the sand. Her eyes went steady up to Syreaka’s face and then back down to the tiny little golden flitter. It wasn’t something Seldrimme would have to deal with much longer anyway. What concern was it of hers what dragon Syreaka would have? They could get along while she was here, and then she’d be gone, back to her life from before.

Seldrimme thanked Syreaka for the compliments about Weft, and the firelizard seemed to know what was going on and sat a bit taller, chest puffed out. Then Seldrimme nodded slowly, hearing from Syreaka the same things she’d just heard from M’tak and feeling a bit sheepish for it. She hoped the rider wasn’t laughing at her now for her nervousness or chiding … ugh. Insecurity. This wasn’t like her at all. Get your head on, girl. All these tall dragon men and these Weyr-born women just have experience, that’s all. That’s all that sets them apart. If you set them in front of a loom they’d feel just the same, or asked them what colour their skirts were they’d just say “red” or “blue”. Get in there, do this, and get back to the cloth. Cloth… Her eyes flicked back to Zanylth and she studied him intently a moment, the colour of his hide an inspiration for something she’d work on later.

She looked around again as Syreaka began her rounds of the eggs. There was the plainly dressed girl now at the gold eggs, her face wistful, and a male candidate watching her, amused. Seldrimme sighed inside, knowing that he’d never really understand. She watched them a moment, marking them for later. Ariya, Syreaka had called the girl. Syreaka seemed to know them all. She glanced back at M’tak and Zanylth and then her eyes passed again over the man whose name she still did not know. She took a moment, a risk, and let her eyes rest on him, taking in the sight of him for a moment, wondering why she felt like she wasn’t really seeing him. Maybe it was the heat in here.

With that she stepped into the sand. She wanted to be as far from anyone else as she could and so she went now to the unattended gold eggs and knelt by them, looking at them for a moment before placing a hand on one. They were warm, as her firelizard egg had been. She felt the egg all over, wondering at the texture, surprised that she even felt anything at all for the egg. It was that same feeling she got when she had an idea for a pattern or a blend… NO! No, ‘Drimme, don’t you dare put any thought or hope into this. You’ve not worked and studied your whole life to put it into some little basket with a bunch of eggs. It’s not logical to hope, ‘Drimme, and you know it. Looking around she realized she’d spent more than just a moment at this one egg and she tried to nonchalantly rise, gently touching the other gold egg, feeling the desire to do the same with this egg, but resisting. So it was as she passed around the sands, each egg, large or small, she fought the desire within to spend more than a moment touching. Her hands wanted to feel them, to know the warmth, knowing that inside were little creatures of different colours, each one as unique as the fabrics she wove on her loom.

Seldrimme touched the last egg and let her hand slide off it, sighing softly, and then mentally chastised herself for looking like a silly, wistful little girl.

[Lilacdew]

M’tak was indeed not a stupid man. He watched everything occurring on the sands with a keen interest, attempting to gauge the people who may or may not become fellow Weyr inhabitants. With the Weyr so new to the world, they really needed to do their best to gain more in number. Even a small island like this could not be protected with only 32, or rather, 64 dragons once these hatched. They had to make every dragon count, and even the loss of one between would be a sheer travesty.

The dragon rider glanced over at Zanylth as the bronze crooned, speaking privately to his rider, “Everything will be fine, Mine. Do not worry, your Zanylth will flame and we will ride together.


I know, Zanylth, I know. I just know how important everyone is here, no matter who wants to rip the other apart. I wonder what will happen when the Queens are born, and rise.

Simple. I will fly, and one of us will catch the Queen and all will be well and there will be many many eggs.

M’tak chuckled. Zanylth’s blatant honesty usually helped him feel better, and it was doing the trick now. The bronze’s attention turned back to the people on the sands, crooning when people showed him a bit of respect. If anything, the dragon’s pride was going to increase. The rider just shook his head before looking over at the candidates who were addressing him,. A woman, from the looks of it and a new face that he couldn’t quite recognize, “Are you a candidate too? I’m M’tak. What might I do for you, gentle lady?”

He was his gentlemanly self at all times, and he bowed slightly to the woman when Eris walked up. Now there was a face he recognized, and wasn’t sure if it thrilled or caused him dismay. He glanced back at her and smiled lightly, “Hello there, Eris. And I am always busy.”

He was about to say something more as he grinned, but Zanylth interrupted him to speak to Eris instead, He really is Eris, but pretends it's greater than it is. It's really fun. I like it, don't you? Are you here to Touch the eggs like you said you would?

M’tak sighed at his eager dragon, so willing to speak to anyone. Just shaking his head, he began to talk to Eris again, “The touching is very simple. You go through, get accustomed to the feel, look and what not of the eggs. Get comfortable that soon, little ravenous dragonettes will hatch from them, ready and willing to bond to their chosen. So yes, for you to see them, but also, for you to touch them.”

[Little Ebony]

Aurum had slipped onto the sands shortly after most of the others had. She's just arrived-- literally-- adragonback from her home at Delant. She'd removed her skirts-- no fear of being caught here-- and was now wearing her riding pants and boots instead. It seemed lucky that she'd being trying to sneak out for a ride when she had, or else she would have had to wear those sharding awful skirts on her ride here. She glanced over her shoulder, but saw no sign of Teimei and sighed. She'd probably gone off to make sure there were no hidden assassins in the Weyr,

Wat was she going to do with the woman?

One last glance back for Teimei and she slide onto the hatching grounds. There was a creeling by her ear and she reached up to scratch her little blue firelizard's chin. He crooned in delight before Aurum motioned for him to go up top as to not be in the way. As young as he was, he was already understanding her quite well. That didn't always meant he listened though, the little scamp. She was lucky this time, however, and he popped from her shoulder to reappear on a ledge above.

Aurum looked around and studied the other candidates a moment to see if she knew any of them and-- was that the daughter of Threaka? Aurum's brows shot straight up. Interesting. She moved on, and, not recognizing anyone els,e concentrated on what they were doing. She'd arrived just in time for the touching and the Rider had given her a few brief words on what to expect when she'd asked. Now she was just making sure she understood correctly before she slipped over to the Bronzerider guarding the eggs. He was speaking with someone, and instead of interrupting she motioned for his attention and gave a quick bow. She turned her gaze towards the Bronze with him and, eyes twinkling in delight, waved to him as well.

She moved off after that, to the eggs, and began doing what the others were doing: touching. She began with the smaller of the eggs and worked her way in to the larger ones, unsure of what she was looking for. She brushed her hands over their shells and listened. Some of the eggs seemed to speak to her, others did not. She moved like this, around the circle of eggs, until she thought she'd touched each one. It wasn't a quick process: stop, touch, listen, move one, stop, touch, listen, move on, and so it took her some time to get around the circle. Every so often she would try to evoke response from the eggs, letting her fingertips draw swirling patterns lightly on their shells and wondering if they saw or knew what she was doing.

She, like the rest of the girls, stopped as well at the Queen eggs. She grinned. Every little girl's dream lay in those: to be a magnificent Queenrider! It was not a dream she'd ever considered herself, but she couldn't deny it wasn't tempting. She looked at the other eggs and realized the idea of being a Dragonrider or any sort was thrilling. She thought of the Queenrider she'd seen and stifled a laugh, but not managing to hide her grin ,"I wonder if an attitude like that is a prerequisite." she grinned down at the Queen egg she was currently touching before moving on.