Chilly Morning [Nayarath's Eggs Hatching!]

[Sparrow]

The sun hadn't started rising yet, but Kora would still call it way-too-early in the morning rather than very late at night when Nayarath woke her by suddenly beginning to hum vigorously. "I knew I should have slept in my own bed," she grumbled, not even quite ready to stretch her stiff back. It was too early. She wanted to sleep. "Be quiet Nayarath."

No, I think it's a good thing you slept out here, Nayarath replied, her eyes whirling an excited rainbow. One of the large eggs pressed to her side was vibrating. She didn't want to take her eyes off her queen egg, but in her peripheral vision she could see smaller eggs beginning to awake as well. Don't let the Weyr catch you sleeping.

A resounding hum had started up around Nyocia by now, and the air was loud with dragon wings as they flew to the heights of the hatching ground. Kora's mind was hardly clearing, with Soot and Lilac now buzzing in her ear, but she sat up, stuffed her blanket under the bench, and ran her fingers through her short hair to straighten it a bit. She wouldn't worry about putting on better clothes; everyone but the Candidates would be showing up in their sleepwear anyway, and it would just be errands for a pair of fire-lizards that were not going to listen.

The hatching was beginning, and no one already there was about to leave. Hopefully the eggs would wait for the Candidates to show up.

-------

No specific theme again, but we still have a theme song. ;D This time it's the theme song from the 1994 Olympics translated to English, Fire in Your Heart, performed by Sissel Kyrkjebø and Placido Domingo:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QONFeIoE0LQ

If anyone is interested in the original Norwegian version you can listen to that too because I like it a lot. ;P
www.youtube.com/watch?v=poILi0EvJyc

Egg hatched: 21/21
Bronze Minalth, Impressed to T'ien
Green Jalath, Impressed to NPC
Barred Verilath, Impressed to NPC
Blue Emmirath, Impressed to Hu'sik
Green Sorith, Impressed to NPC
Brown Gonosth, Impressed to NPC
Violet Fioloth, Impressed to Karisna
Brown Tirith, Impressed to NPC
Bronze Asleth, Impressed to NPC
Tan Kailth, Impressed to NPC
Green Koristh, Impressed to NPC
Barred Suth, Impressed to NPC
Green Finth, Impressed to Jackie
Tan Ilikath, Impressed to NPC
Green Samanth, Impressed to NPC
Green Taminath, Impressed to Tessa
Brown Heppath, Impressed to NPC
Blue Cazath, Impressed to NPC
Blue Moth, Impressed to L'on
Barred Hazith, Impressed to NPC
Blue Hiarth, Impressed to D'cien

Egg List:

Pyrite egg: Like all queen eggs, it is predominantly golden, but it is also flecked with bronzes and metallic browns. It has a very rough surface.
Fortress egg: A large, thick-shelled, pale gray egg with splotches of creamy yellow at the tip.
Scaled egg: A dark teal egg, medium sized, and covered small rings of near black giving it a vaguely scaly appearance.
Meadow egg: Yellow-green, with light brown at its base. It is a small egg.
Cobalt egg: Cobalt blue with a smooth, glassy surface. This egg is on the small side.
Ember egg: A large, gray-black egg with small splotches of deep red and orange.
Charcoal egg: A sleek black egg, with little shine.
Pearl egg: A small, smooth-shelled egg. It is more or less white, but has a pearly sheen that reflects other colors.
Turquoise egg: A small, vibrant turquoise egg.
Island egg: A large, blue egg with a spot of green at the tip.
Oasis egg: A large tan egg with a spot of blue at its tip.
Cocoon egg: A medium-small white-gray egg with threadlike bands of dark gray, giving it a woven appearance.
Hide egg: A larger egg with the shade of leather.
Banded egg: A middle sized egg with red and yellow stripes.
Fog egg: A dark steel-gray egg with cloudy patches of lighter gray. It is on the small side.
Warning egg: A vibrant yellow egg with a stripe of black around its middle. It is a small egg.
Maroon egg: A middle sized egg that has a deep maroon shade.
Clay egg: A small mottled brown egg.
Citrus egg: A small egg with mixes of bright green and yellow.
Rhubarb egg: A smaller egg that is red at the base, but quickly turns a dark, leafy green. A couple thin stripes of light red make it up the sides.
Gloss egg: A medium-small, silver-green, and very glassy egg.

[Jenth]

Come! Hurry up! I'll leave you behind Wuith urged, dragging his rider from his bed. Sleepy-eyed L'han struggled to get dresses with the urgency his dragon demanded, at first confused until the hum began vibrating the air itself. The eggs wont wait for dawn

Wuith was about to launch from his ledge when his rider caught him, crouching to let him jump onto his neck. L'han was hardly presentable, but bed hair and wrinkled clothes were the least of his concern. It was his second clutch, but the tan wanted to be there for Nayarath. It was a crucial time, stressful but over too soon. Finally Nayarath would be free of the Sands and back to her usual self. After dropping his rider close to Kora, Wuith turned to the eggs and watched for the candidates to appear.

"It should be interesting..." L'han spoke to Kora, having his own guesses in mind of the impression outcome

[Sketchy]

Tacien couldn't sleep. He'd been tossing and turning in bed for a few hours, shifting and reshifting his blanket and clothes, since they seemed to tangle around him no matter how he fought them. When the humming started resounding, he was on his feet, stuck in a blanket as he jerked and fought with it. Finally freeing himself, Tacien ran a hand over his bleary eyes. It was happening. By Faranth, it was happening!

Pulling on his white robe, shrugging into it and loosely tying it, he slipped on his sandals and poked at Dacien. Dacien was of course dead-asleep- his mouth partially opened, an arm flopped over the side of his bed.

"Hatching," was all Tacien said as he kicked at his brother. Dacien sat up, groggy and yawning as Tacien threw his robe into his face. "Hurry," he snapped, pulling Dacien's sandals from his chest and shoving them at him.

In no time at all Tacien was hustling down the hall, dragging the still barely awake Dacien. "It's just a hatching, Tac," Dacien mumbled as he rubbed his eyes, trying to work the sleep out of them. Before they stepped on the sands, Tacien turned to his brother and straightened his clothes.

"This is not JUST a hatching, Dac. This is THE hatching." His voice firmer than he felt by far, he grabbed his brother's arm and marched out onto the sands. His eyes immediately sought Kora and Nayarath, lingering for only a second before stopping to greet them from a distance. So that was L'han. Tacien took him in for just a second before looking to the eggs.

"One thing at a time," Dacien murmured to his brother. "One thing at a time."

[wolflover1458]

When the humming first began, Tessarah was to groggy to listen to it. As it grew in intensity, she slowly came to the reasoning that humming meant hatching eggs. Hatching eggs needed Candidates. She was a Candidate. But why so early? No one in their right mind would wake up this early, and she couldn't see why the baby dragonets would want to. Unfortunately, she had no way to change things, and had no choice but to just get up. The humming was growing steadily, but she couldn't work up the energy required to become even slightly concerned. If the eggs started hatching without her she would be let, but she highly doubted they would all have hatched before she was ready to go. Even the other Candidates were still stumbling down there.

Very carefully, she proceeded to put on her white Candidate robe. She was still feeling to brain-dead to think about all the excitement and nervousness that seemed to be emanating from the others around her. Certainly it was a bit exciting, but she just couldn't began to feel that at this hour in the morning. She doubted it would be good to show up half-asleep anyway, so she forced herself to wake up until she began to feel more coherent. That was a much better state to be in with clumsy dragons hatching. She also doubted she would impress them much if they found her groggy, and she really did think Impressing would be nice, if any dragon found her worthy.

When Tessarah had finished getting dressed and waking herself up, she started to head down to the hatching sands. It was quite exciting, actually, thinking about all those dragons that would start to hatch soon. It was something she didn't plan on missing.

~~~~~

Hunolsik heard the humming and, as he woke up, began to grow quite concerned. He didn't know when dragons were supposed to hatch, but he really doubted it should be this early. Then again, maybe the hatching always happened at an inconvenient time. Well, he didn't mind too much, it was better than waiting around for it to happen. Best for it to start now. He was nervous, certainly, but he wasn't about to let that show.

He changed in the clothes he was supposed to wear before following the other Candidates out silently. Some of them were chatting, but Hunolsik wasn't about to be bothered with that. His mind was still racing in turmoil. He didn't know what the outcome of this hatching would be., and it bothered him some. What if he didn't Impress after all of this? Naturally there were more Candidates than eggs, so not everyone that came was going to leave with a dragon. What if he didn't?

Well, there would be other hatchings, so he didn't have to worry to much, but he wasn't sure how long he could stand being a Candidate. He'd much rather be a Weyrling. Hopefully no talkative dragon would choose him, because he didn't think he could stand that much either. He could see the hatching sands now, and as he got closer, Hunolsik felt some emotion creeping into him, although he wasn't entirely sure what it was.

[ShadowReine]

Yawn.

Hum.

Yawn.

What was that...humming noise? Humming noise! With an "Eep" loud enough to wake quite a few of the girls near her, Kari realized what was going on. She didn't even bother with a breast band, but rather just pulled the Candidate robe straight on over bare skin. She knew from last time that she would have other things to worry about than her attributes bouncing.

Like her feet burning. Her feet slipped into the sandals...she knew better than to wear boots, which just absorbed the heat from the sands and then held it. Belt. Where was...there. She tied the belt around, making sure the hem of her robe would not drag in the Sands. She didn't want to trip over it.

Don't run. She made her way at a brisk walk, dangerously close to running but not crossing the line into it. Entrance to the Sands, and the heat hit her in contrast to the chill morning air. Washed over her. Now she would find out if...

She repeated under her breath, three times, 'I deserve a dragon', before she stepped into the grounds. Not alone, of course...other Candidates, yawning and slightly disheveled, were making their way out towards the eggs. A deep curtsey to Nayarath, not just the dam of the clutch, but the senior queen and ruler of Aphelion, a smile to Kora and then...

...Kari positioned herself carefully, on the same side of the clutch as the gold-hued queen egg, but not *too* close to it. To her. To the being she, if she was honest, desired and feared in almost equal measure.

The great forms of dam and sire might have dominated at any other time, but Kari's vision tunneled down to the eggs. Twenty-one eggs meant twenty-one dragons meant...likely about sixteen chances for her, given only one woman had ever Impressed bronze and she was really not sure she was the type to bond a brown. And that one egg, one and twenty, which she was trying not to watch too closely. She had told herself many times how little she cared about that queen, but now she was here and the queen egg was here and perhaps a small part of her dared to hope.

[Sparrow]

Jackie woke slowly but hurried after that. She slipped into her robe, unhappily put on her sandals, and hoped that her dragon would find her fast, before her hardly-protective footwear led to permanent damage to her feet. She needed those. Her robe would hardly help her feet either, so she attached a belt to hold the fabric at bay- well, that was the excuse; she was tall enough it wasn’t too in the way. Belts made her look a little better.

Forgetting her hair despite her other efforts, she rushed out to the sands and appeared looking plenty disheveled and very nearly late, but she had a grin on her face. Finally, the eggs were hatching. Today she would get her dragon.

-----

Kora smiled to L’han as he arrived behind him. “Today we’ll match in being utterly unpresentable, huh?” It was better that way; she would have been very embarrassed had he shown up groomed and ready for a hatching. That hadn’t been a big worry; she wouldn’t really have expected him to.

She looked down at the Sands, her eyes a bit more on Tacien as he arrived and quickly greeted her, one of the few Candidates thinking straight enough to do so, it appeared, than on the eggs. She still spoke the rather expected reply to L’han, “I’m excited to see who our newest queen chooses.” Which she was, but queens were usually later to hatch. Bronzes, hopefully, would crack shell first.

-----

Several eggs were shaking violently and flinging bits of eggshell around by the time Candidates had arrived, but the first one to split and entirely reveal its contents was an egg holding the strongest dragon. A Bronze stood and shook shell and goop from his hide before making his way through the maze of related eggs to the arc of boys. His movements were slow and decided; he wasn’t about to trip up in front of this crowd. When he reached the edge of the line of boys, he set to inspecting each one, slow and methodic.

A pair of smaller eggs were not going to wait for their brother though, and although on opposite sides of the clutch, they hatched simultaneously, revealing a very green Barred and a rather gray Green. They both rushed for the female Candidates, the Green tripping and stumbling and, eventually, falling into the path of the Barred. They unscrambled and started squabbling, forgetting the Candidates for a moment.

The Cobalt egg hatched next, revealing a blue of a shade similar to its eggshell. He looked towards the boys, then the arguing females, and headed tentatively for his sisters.

Ignoring the ruckus behind him, the Bronze settled in front of Tacien. Minalth has made his decision, he informed his new lifemate. But I am very hungry, T’ien. Show me to the food.

A fifth egg, the Clay egg, hatched as the Blue split the fight between the earlier females, and a Green scrambled from its clutches. While the Barred and Green quickly made their own Impressions, the Green joined her Blue brother and headed for the boys. Each Impressed quickly, the Green to one boy, the Blue to Hunolsik.

Hu’sik, Hu’sik! Emmirath feels like he is coughing saying that name. But I like you anyway.

----

Color and Name: Bronze Minalth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Minalth’s hide is a deep, orange-bronze shade, only just touched with metallic greens. He is a powerful, heavy set dragon, and compact in every trait. His tail, legs, wings, and neck all are a bit short, leaving him not as flexible as many dragons. This adds up to him being a smaller Bronze, 37 meters long. However, Minalth is blessed with massive endurance and can outlast just about any of his fellows.
Personality: Minalth likes to do things slowly. He thinks things through, chooses his actions carefully, and never hurries a decision. Despite, he is a fairly proud dragon and his vanity can knock his well thought out decisions off the mark a bit. He dreams big… but doesn’t mind leaving plenty of time to achieve his goals. It’s hard to disappoint Minalth, because he has no problem with waiting for things to go well.
Color Code: A47428

Color and Name: Green Jalath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Jalath is a dark Green with a light build. Her shade is like that of wet pond algae, deep, and with a tinge of brown to it. Her build is lean and light, with a long, whiplike tail and slightly angled wings, built more for speed than agility. She is on the smaller side of Greens at 21 meters.
Personality: Jalath is very active and, apart from when in the air, clumsy. Her gangly build works against her on the ground. However, she is sweet about it, and as she is just about everything else. She is very friendly, hard to embarrass, and does her best to get along with everyone, usually through jokes and silly stories about her own mishaps.
Color Code: 3D5229 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Barred Verilath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Verilath is a light green Barred, and her stripes are a bit faded, making her look much more like a light Green rather than a Barred. She is middle-sized at 24 meters and fairly light and agile, but also has long, slender wings that limit her agility a bit.
Personality: Verilath is very much like a Green in personality, except that she’s a bit lazy. Rather than being up and running around being silly or pulling stunts, she likes to chat and ramble and joke and rumble over whatever crosses her unmoving form.
Color Code: BCED91 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Green Sorith
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Sorith’s hide could be a pastel green, except for its surprising vibrancy. Along her belly it is duller, looking almost dusted down, but apart from that she seems almost to be glowing, and it only gets worse when she’s proddy. Her build is average, and she is only a little bit above average at 24 meters.
Personality: Sorith has a sweet, glowing personality. Very little gets her down, and nearly everything makes her happy. The few not-so-nice things she encounters she is generally very quick to forget. She likes to play, particularly in water. When she’s having a bath, everyone should keep away because they’re going to get soaked.
Color Code: 43DF8C ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Blue Emmirath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Emmirath is a slightly lighter blue and specked with darker and lighter shades, giving his hide a grainy appearance. He has a tough build with broad wings, and is a very large Blue at 30 meters.
Personality: Emmirath likes to be a guardian. He has the protective leader nature more prone to Bronzes but without the vanity and need to chase queens. He realizes he is a Blue, and will always defer to the larger dragon, but in groups his size or smaller, he likes to be in charge. He particularly prefers to have the upper hand with his rider. Emmirath also has a knack for picking up on personalities and makes a good Searchdragon.
Color Code: 3299CC

[ShadowReine]

It was happening again. True, the bronze could not have been for her, the bronze that hatched first to shed luck upon the entire Weyr. It chose one of the brothers, and Kari hoped the other also walked off the Sands with a dragon.

But...it was happening again. Two greens and a barred, and one of them going, eventually, to the boys. But the two that had come to the group of girls, all drifting somewhat close to the queen egg bar a couple...Kari suspected those who did not to be of that persuasion that made Impressing a queen unlikely...did not even look at her.

Did not even... All three were fine dragons she would have been proud to be partnered with, but none of them glanced her way. The lighter colored of the two greens was particularly attractive, drawing her eye more than the other two, but it chose a girl she barely knew.

She chose. They were all females, after all, and she started to...force herself to stay focused. There was a large blue, too...almost the size of brown hatchlings she had seen. He'd be a good big dragon, a good beast for the wings.

Kari let out a firm breath. No matter what happened tonight, she was not going to be forced to leave the Weyr, she could Stand again for Turns before she was too old. But for some reason...maybe she had some quirk that required a very specific dragon to choose her.

Maybe.

[Sketchy]

Tacien was watching the weyrleaders interact for a second before Dacien jabbed him in the side. "Tac," he whispered hoarsely, watching as the bronze lumbered past him to his brother. Dacien was a little sad that his brother had Impressed. He could feel it, just on the edge of his mind, the comforting presence of that solid bronze. He reminded Dacien of a giant tree, standing there patiently forever. "Tac, is he..?" Maybe Dacien was imagining things. Just because he was tuned to his brother didn't mean he'd be able to notice his brother's dragonet... right?

"He's in my head," Tacien commented in wonder. Or, perhaps rather, T'ien. "Minalth. His name's Minalth," he murmured, letting the stubby bronze coax him over to the food. T'ien fed him slowly, the dragonet taking his time as he swallowed the meat, eating a bit slower then the other dragonets who were gorging themselves. It is good you came for me, T'ienmine. I knew you would, of course, but I wanted to be sure.

Dacien watched his brother with the bronze for just a second before glancing back to the hatching. He knew all eyes were on the queen egg- but as it was unlikely he'd find a dragonet who wanted him in there, he scanned the other eggs, hope feeling heavy in the bottom of his stomach.

[wolflover1458]

The eggs had started to hatch all at once. A Bronze hatched first, which was supposed to be good luck. Hunolsik didn't understand that much. How could it really be good luck? Just to show that a strong dragon was the first to come out? Probably something like that. Some other dragons came out as well, but they mostly headed off to the girls, and Hunolsik let them go. From what he had heard, Green dragons were terribly chatty, so they wouldn't want him anyway. He wouldn't mind a Green if it weren't chatty, but he doubted that happened often.

A Blue hatched and followed the other two towards the female Candidates. Hunolsik watched the dragon go off, not particularly caring, so long as the dragon managed to find his lifemate. The Blue didn't Impress to a girl though, and started coming back the other way. A Green that had just hatched joined him. Hunolsik watched with some surprise as the Blue waddled straight to him and then informed him that his name was funny.

Well, I'm glad you like me Emmirath, I like you too.

That is very nice Hu'sik. Now please feed your Emmirath.

Hu'sik nodded, and took Emmirath off to where food was lying piled up. The boy who had Impressed the Bronze was over there as well. Hu'sik ignored him and found a chunk of meat for Emmirath, who happily gobbled it down.

~~~~~

Evidently dragons did not hatch one after they other. They exploded all at once. Within what seemed seconds of the first dragon hatching, two more hatched as well. The second two, Tessarah thought they were a Barred and a Green, headed toward the female Candidates. Tessarah had heard that Candidates could change what dragon Impressed to who just by moving aside if they didn't want the dragon. She didn't see the point of changing Impression tactics. She would move aside if some rampaging dragon was going to run her over, but not because she was ashamed of Impressing Green. Some hatchling was going to go between some day because no one wanted it.

Impressing a Queen dragon did have a certain lure, obviously, but like any good Candidate, Tessarah was simply going to have to stand here and see what happened. It was hardly good conduct to get out of the way anyways. She watched the Green and Barred Impress to two girls she didn't really know, while the other three dragons that had hatched Impressed to some of the boys. Then she looked back at the eggs, wondering what would hatch next. She almost wanted the Queen to hatch now, just so she could see what was inside and get to see who the dragon Impressed. If it took to long to hatch, she might be off feeding a dragon of her own and miss it hatching completely. She'd never seen a Queen dragon hatch, but it was probably something special.

[Sparrow]

There went several hatchlings in the usual rush. Kora got distracted watching the squabble among the females, and the little Blue coming in to solve it and nearly missed the first Bronze making his choice to just who she would have guessed: Tacien. She leaned out a little, her hand on L’han’s knee, feeling excited relief. Well there you go. Not only had he Impressed Bronze, it had been the first Impression of the clutch.

Were Nayarath not so focused on the queen egg shaking violently between her forepaws, she probably would have had a taunt for her rider.

-----

Jackie watched as the Green and Barred sped to other girls and felt a little twinge of anxiety. Of course she wouldn’t be among the first to Impress; Jackie was always late to things, it only made sense that her dragon would be a little later too. But someone had to be among the first, and she would have liked it to be her. Nothing to worry about anymore.

She eyed the queen egg but was quite sure that it wouldn’t come to her. She hadn’t even visited it, nor did she want a queen. During the brief lull in eggs hatching, Jackie glanced over a Kari. The females had passed her by too, and she couldn’t help but feel that her friend would be far more worried about that.

Jackie didn’t know much about what was going on, but she was glad this was her first clutch. She was confident.

-----

The Charcoal egg had been shaking for some time now, very gradually reaching its climax until finally a Brown sprouted from the mess of shattered shell. He trotted towards the boys, a little ungainly on his new feet, but likely wasn’t watched by many. A bit of a snout, shiny with egg goo, had poked from the queen egg.

A final thrash made the golden shell split, and a reddish Violet stood, blinking in the light. She gazed around the stands, then at the line of female Candidates, looked back her mother, and sat down amid her egg shell. Nayarath inspected her, eyes whirling, and her daughter merely sat there. She wanted to be dry, looking good, before she found a lifemate.

Another Brown hatched from the Hide egg and rushed towards the Candidate, barely skidding to a stop in front of a boy his slightly older brother had just been looking at and Impressing to him. The first Brown gave himself a shake and moved on, soon Impressing to one nearby.

The Island and Oasis eggs cracked against each other, revealing a Bronze from the first and a large Tan from the second. They both rushed to the boys and, the Bronze snarling at his smaller brother, ran into their respective lifemates, both standing side by side.

Finally came another Green, this one from the Scaled egg. She looked over the girls, shivering with excitement, lingered at a few but eventually came back to Impress one that she had nearly passed over earlier.

-----

Eep, sorry, all NPCs this time. e.e

Color and Name: Brown Tirith
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Tirith is a somewhat dark brown, and his color is smooth and pure. He has no markings, but rather stands out by being somewhat of a lightweight among others of his color. He is sleek, quick, and agile, while his size still helps him to outlast Blues, although not by as much as other Browns may. He is a large Brown at 38 meters.
Personality: Tirith is a competitive and often silly Brown. He likes to joke around, and has a knack for sarcasm, although it has a tendency comes across to the less observant as pessimism. He likes to lie around as much as any dragon though, and prefers to work hard and fast so that he can get his task done with and relax.
Color Code: 6B4226 ((Adoptable))


Color and Name: Brown Gonosth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Gonosth’s color is mostly an average brown, interrupted only by bands of darker brown running down his tail. He is hefty and strong, but average sized at 35 meters. His wings are long, helping him to soar without using much energy but leaving him with little agility.
Personality: Gonosth is a steady, hard working dragon. Little upsets or surprises him, just as little brings him sincere pleasure. He runs at a pretty even, mildly amused sort of tone and rarely changes from that. When it comes to proddy females, however, he is quite the elegant flirt.
Color Code: 8B4500 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Bronze Asleth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Asleth’s hide is a dark bronze shade and deeply tinged with green, especially along his back and on his cheeks. Well-proportioned and muscular, he is a handsome Bronze and at 43 meters in length, he is also a large one.
Personality: Asleth is sweet- for a Bronze. He is also a ladies man and loves to flirt, but he has less of the cockiness that is usually associated with his color and more just a desire to please. He can be a bit competitive, and tends to get airs if he wins something, but usually after the initial “Haha I beat you” excitement, he calms down again fairly quickly. On the other hand, he generally forgets losses even faster than most dragons forget most things and really isn’t one to linger long on anything.
Color Code: 968033 ((Adoptable))


Color and Name: Tan Kailth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Kailth’s hide is a fairly average shade, just plain tan. His stripes are like most of his kind as well, a dark, near-black shade. He is a middle-sized Tan at 39 meters.
Personality: Kailth is an easygoing dragon. When he needs to work, he will, when he’s hungry, he eats, and when he finds a patch of sun, he’ll sit in it. He pretty much goes with the flow. He is very obedient and easy to get along with. When it comes to Flights, however, he gets pretty competitive.
Color Code: CCA86E ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Green Koristh
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Koristh is a pure, average green. She is light in build and agile in flight, and a fairly large Green at just under 25 meters. Her neck and tail are a bit longer than average, but hardly long enough to be noticeable. Other than that slight hint at a unique trait, she is a very average looking dragon.
Personality: Koristh is the average Green in build and in personality. She loves to joke, flirt, get on her rider’s nerves, splash, hunt, whatever, as long as she’s up and about having fun. However, she manages makes a good Searchdragon.
Color Code: 008B45 ((Adoptable))

[wolflover1458]

There were more eggs hatching now. Tessarah wasn't sure if they were speeding up or if it was just her. Everyone stopped to look when the Pyrite egg started to rock. Out of it emerged a Violet dragon, if a bit redder than the other two had been. Tessarah waited for the dragon to do something, but she merely sat back down. There were other eggs hatching though, and she looked back at them Some Browns and a Tan, another Bronze, and a Green. None of them came to her, and yet they all Impressed easily enough. Well, there were still plenty of eggs left, and still one dragon sitting there by her mother, not yet bothered to find a lifemate.

Tessarah had thought even the Queen hatchlings would be ravenous and quite happy to just find a lifemate and be fed. Obviously there was something about them she had missed. With the brief lull in hatching while some of the other eggs shook, she diverted her attention to the Violet. It was impossible to call the dragon beautiful, what with her being covered in egg shell and other goo, but once all of that was gone, she would undoubtedly be a rather pretty dragon. Tessarah was quite glad she'd gotten to see the Violet hatch. It wasn't overly spectacular but it was still something.

Some of the other female Candidates were looking at the dragon as though their life depended on Impressing it. Tessarah didn't see the point to that. This might very well be the only hatching she could stand for, but she wasn't stressing one bit about Impressing. There were other things in life, and it just wasn't in her nature to care. She could appreciate the beauty of the Violet dragon, but she wasn't going to ogle at it. That wouldn't help when it made it's choice anyway. Some of these other Candidates were really acting ridiculous.

[Jenth]

Wuith rumbled contently and with pride at the hatchlings he had sired so far, and his violet daughter. Many had doubted it would be a gold since Wuith was tan, sure it was just like when Jorindath hatched. This one had more of a gold's personality though, since her predecessor had wasted no time once free of her shell.

L'han took Kora's hand from his knee, entwining their fingers in their excitement. "I know he was one of your favorites, he was well chosen." He spoke in her ear, reffering to T'cien. The boys brother would do well too, a brown or a tan the tanrider had a mark on. The queen egg was where the serious bets were, but L'han hadn't felt game. The odds were higher, despite there being a clear favorite

[ShadowReine]

More eggs cracked...the first brown of the clutch hatching only to be upstaged as the queen egg split.

A violet, as the Weyr had predicted...likely a tan couldn't sire a gold. She was in no hurry to move, Kari noted. Perhaps she was carefully considering her actions.

Second brown, bronze and a green of precisely the shade of green Harpers used in illustrations to show the average green. Kari couldn't help but smile at that, the smile even lingering as the green examined her and then passed on to choose a younger girl. Needless to say, neither of the browns looked at her.

She really didn't see herself as a brownrider...it could happen, not all female brownriders were lesbians...she just didn't really see it.

Her attention, thus, went back to the queen. Considering her. She was more reddish than the other violets, perhaps having inherited something of whatever gene gave her mother those red markings. But she was emphatically a violet and definitely a queen. At the touching, she had told the violet to choose well. Now she willed her to do so...even if she was not sure which among the remaining girls would count as the best choice. Some had already lost their chance with the Impressions of the barred and two of the greens to females.

But there was plenty of choice for her, although. "Don't take too long about it," Kari muttered. "You don't want some upstart barred choosing the best option out from under you." Not that she expected the queenlet to hear her.

[Sparrow]

Kora smiled at L’han, then hesitated, wondering just where he had found that out. Things got around Weyrs quickly though, nor was she being very discreet; she ought to just not worry herself over it. “Now we just need to see who the queen chooses.”

She was hoping for Kari. That was one other Candidate she already knew a little. It would be very nice of the ranking dragons to pick the couple people she was actually familiar with.

-----

Jackie’s heart was pumping excitedly as the particularly green Green paused in front of her. She listened hard- if that was what riders did- hoping to hear her voice, but nothing came. The dragonet moved on. She looked back at the clutch, glancing anxiously over the maroon Violet and on to the eggs still shaking. It was what, about half of them gone now?

A lot of males had hatched in the last rush. There were sure to be plenty of females coming, and the egg she had claimed for herself had yet to hatch. She would get a dragon today.

-----

Nayarath was growing impatient with her daughter. The heat of the sands was drying her quickly, and the little Violet ought to get moving. Lowering her head, she shoved the young queen in the rear. That earned, after some scrambling, a vicious glare, which Nayarath returned. She was the one in charge here. Get out there.

After giving herself a shake, the Violet raised her head proudly and strutted away from her mother. She looked for all the world like a cat trying to hide a mishap by looking fancy, but her movements were a bit too elongated, the fluidity exaggerated. She had yet to learn grace, as much as she seemed to want it.

A pair of females hatched from the Warning and Gloss eggs while the Violet made her slow track, a Green and a Barred. The Barred squawked something at her smaller sister and then paraded towards the girls, but to the opposite end the Violet was headed for, and soon Impressed.

Next the Ember egg hatched to reveal a Tan, who ignored his wandering sisters and headed for the boys. He seemed to have one in particular in mind, and as he moved picked up speed until he nearly bowled the boy over. A slightly frantic Impression was made and they headed off the sands.

Two more Greens scrambled in the meanwhile from the Citrus and Meadow eggs. The first rushed for the boys, the second to the girls. While the first considered, the second found her girl. Tessa! Taminath is so happy she found you! I am hungry!

The earlier Green was trailing the Violet, inspecting girls as her larger sister passed them over. Finally she stopped in front of Jackie. Jackie! Finth is hungry, so hungry! I smell food, where is it? We need to find it! It smells so good!

The Violet didn’t have much further to go. She stopped in front of Karisna. Kari, huh? You're the one so full of advice? Fioloth requires you to lead her to the food. I'm in charge now.

-----

Color and Name: Barred Suth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Suth is a silvery green color, with vibrant stripes. Her build is powerful for a Barred, but still only a little bit above average in that area. She has a habit of making herself look regal and likes to show off, but not to the extent where she will look silly rather than like royalty. She likes to hold her head high and has mastered the “you’re inferior to me” look.
Personality: Suth likes to be in charge, and as such, she avoids ranking dragons and, in particular, queens. She wants nothing to do with them. She is the best, she is the most beautiful and wonderful, and she will not hear some big vain female telling her that she is not quite as good. She likes to be praised and is thus an easy catch for Blues with a knack for flattery.
Color Code: C0D9AF ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Tan Ilikath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Ilikath is dark for a tan. His hide is a dark, almost honey shade, and glossy like it too. It’s almost as though he has the metallic hide of a Bronze, but still the dark stripes of a Tan. In build and stance he is slender and regal. He is on the large side of Tans at 41 meters.
Personality: Ilikath acts as Bronze as he looks. He is a dragon that saves his energy only for queens and has very little desire to spend time with lower ranking dragons, unless it’s to belittle them. He is vain and stubborn, loves to look good, and generally argumentative towards his rider or other male dragons (at least those around his rank, since smaller males are hardly worth his time). He is a show off and a flirt when it comes to large females, and slightly more obedient to those around him when in their presence. Queens are about all that sooth his behavior.
Color Code: CAA747 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Green Taminath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Taminath is a bright, but thankfully touched with some blue to make it not too unendurably neon, green shade. It is this color throughout, except for a small spot of near-white at the end of her nose. She is a very large Green at 26 meters.
Personality: Taminath is a cheerful dragon that likes to be around others, but is often content to simply sit and enjoy whatever they are doing rather than do it herself. She hates to be alone and will whine constantly if she is ever left by herself, but as long as she has company she is pretty low maintenance.
Color Code: 00C957

Color and Name: Green Finth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Finth is a bright, vibrant green and almost entirely that shade. The only blemish is a spot of dark, gray-green that ends her tail. It begins just before the spit and finishes off her tail that way. She is a fairly large Green at 25 meters.
Personality: Finth loves to be doing anything and everything. She is sweet, playful, and curious, always one happy with whatever is being done, so long as something is happening. She is very outgoing and flirty as well; being in the company of Blues is among her favorite pastimes.
Color Code: 00CD00

Color and Name: Violet Fioloth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Fioloth apparently inherited some of her mother’s red, because she is far more maroon than purple. Her hide is all one color, just a slightly odd one. She is a middle-sized Violet at 44 meters, and a bit hefty. Rather than a slender, agile female, she is tough and built for endurance. Her headknobs, in small contrast, are long and slim.
Personality: Fioloth has an utterly feline personality. She loves to laze about in the sun, but is still quick and sudden when she decides to be. Despite how much she holds still, she is still good about ending up underfoot (or at least happening to put her tail there). She has a high-and-mighty, disobedient attitude, but still loves attention and scratches and will begrudgingly act sweet and friendly to ensure she receives plenty of that.
Color Code: 89213F

[ShadowReine]

Kari laughed a little bit as a barred popped out of an egg right as she made the comment about upstart barreds. The barred, upstart or not, was not coming anywhere near her. While the violet took her time, three more greens hatched...and a tan. This was not going to take long.

At least she was going to get to leave the hot sands fairly soon, at the speed at which dragons were hatching and Impressing. She tried NOT to laugh...and mostly succeeded...as Nayarath gave the violet an encouraging nudge. There was grace to her, Kari realized. She would learn it in time...but right now, it warred with hatchling awkwardness. She looked like nothing so much as a kitten just leaving the den.

But at least she was moving now, making her way along the line of girls. Out of her peripheral vision, Kari saw Jackie Impress a green...and another girl she did not know. At this...wait, where did the violet go? She'd taken her eyes off of her for the briefest of moments, and these new-hatched dragonets moved surprisingly fast. There she was, examining the girl next to Kari, then quickly moving on. Definitely redder than the other violets, but definitely a violet. Definitely a queen.

At her approach, Kari felt her lips tease into a smile. It was perhaps good that the queenling was taking her time, good that she was considering her choice. Her lips started to open to make another comment...but then the whirling eyes came into contact with hers and she found herself just staring.

Unable to take her eyes off of the violet, unable for a moment even to *think* about any other being. A little heavy, perhaps, for a female dragon, and that unusual color, but there was that...there was something...something very special.

Something Kari *knew* as if she had known this dragon all her life, and only after a moment did the sense in her mind form into words. Oh...shards. HER? But then the last thing Fioloth said registered. "Uh-huh. We'll see about *that*."

HER? But it was inescapable, she could no more imagine life without Fioloth than she could imagine life as, say, a blind deaf mute. Everything about her life before had dulled to grey. At the same time...her life was about to become very interesting. Quite possibly in the sense of the ancient curse. "However, I can tell how hungry you are...so, just this once."

What would her aunt say? How would SHE react to having raised...queenrider. Shards. It...but there was no way she could doubt Fioloth's judgment. Not for a moment, not even for the time it took to think the violet's name.

[Sketchy]

The newly dubbed T'ien was busy listening to his stolid stump of a dragonet lecture him about proper timing. Not that he didn't agree. But it was interesting how the dragonet thought, to be sure. He was going to have a lot to learn, it seemed. Lifting his eyes for a second, he searched for Kora, catching a brief glance at her before Minalth (not so quietly) demanded some more food. I must grow to be strong. You are big.

Dacien was nervous. He licked his lips and fidgeted just a little, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He couldn't lose hope now- there was still eggs on the sands. His eyes searched as he waited, seemingly unable to take a breath as he watched. This was it. he knew he was getting too old for this. And his brother had Impressed- if he didn't, he'd never live it down. What would his mother think?

Panic was setting in before he roughly shoved it away. No, he refused to believe there was not a dragon out there for him. And he would stand until that dragon found him. Taking a look at T'ien for a second, he looked back to the eggs, determined to stand proud until the end.

[Sparrow]

Finth. It wasn't the most gorgeous name, but Jackie already loved the dragon. A Green. A bright, beautiful Green. Finth was precisely what she wanted. Jackie couldn't imagine anything different. As they headed for the food, Finth trying to bound clumsily ahead, Jackie glanced back and saw Fioloth with Kari.

A Violet for her? Well, Kari had said she wanted a pretty female. Violets were very pretty, although not as pretty as Finth. She was already decided on that. Finth reminded her of how hungry she was and Jackie started moving again.

Now Dacien just needed to Impress. She had caught a glance of him still standing and willed a little luck his way.

-----

A Brown slunk from the Maroon egg, looked around with surprise, and then turned and bounded towards the boys. A collision with the Banded egg shortly followed, revealing a disgruntled Blue that quickly forgave his clumsy brother in favor of sniffing around and eventually heading to the girls. Each made their Impression. The Green from earlier also found herself a boy and they cheerfully headed from the Sands.

The Cocoon egg hatched next, revealing yet another Blue. He scurried towards the boys, keeping low to the ground, whirling eyes on one throughout. Upon reaching his choice, he wrapped as best he could around the boy’s legs. Moth is frightened, L’on! And also very hungry. Help me.

A silvery Barred spilled from the Fog egg and headed briskly for the girls. She Impressed with hunger-driven speed to one, leaving one egg on the Sands.

It was shaking, apparently just waiting for everyone else to have cleared away so that it could have the spotlight. A Blue burst from it and stood up, eyes whirling with excitement. Then, goopy wings half spread, it dashed for the boys, hardly even attempting to stop as he reached his future rider. D’ien! Hiarth has been waiting and waiting and now he is very hungry! I’m glad I found you so quickly!

-----

Yes, Leon exists, kinda. P:

Color and Name: Brown Heppath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: At 33 meters, Heppath is only a little smaller than average, but his light coloring helps him stand out. His sandy brown hide is speckled down the back with darker and light browns, and his hide throughout is tough and durable. He has an average build, and tends to be a bit more excitable than most Browns and is often up and moving around.
Personality: Heppath likes exciting things and is always searching for them. He likes to drag his rider along with him too. Heppath doesn’t ever miss an event, and likes to have company with him. He’s a very social dragon and loves to talk to any dragon that will listen and go over various adventures and exciting times… exciting being a word he defines very loosely.
Color Code: 9C661F ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Blue Cazath
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Cazuth is a somewhat dark blue with a bit of green to it, giving him a slightly teal shade. His muzzle and paws are a lighter blue. He is lean and quick, but has little endurance. He is a smaller Blue at just over 24 meters.
Personality: Cazuth is slightly silly, slightly shy, mostly curious and dedicated. He doesn’t talk much, but he does like to poke his nose into things and learn. He is a very determined dragon, is always willing to work, and hates to give up on efforts. He doesn’t need to win, but he needs to come out of things knowing he did his best. He expects the same of his rider.
Color Code: 3E766D ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Green Samanth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Samanth’s shade is just a bit darker than pure green, and on her legs it darkens even further, fading slowly from her base color to a dark olive green. Her build is fairly average, with the exception of the split at the end of her tail, which is a bit higher than on most dragons. Samanth is an average size at a little over 23 meters.
Personality: Samanth is a slightly more serious Green, but still not by a whole lot. She is willing to settle down and be quiet, wait for things, but she can’t stand doing that for very long. She loves to talk, especially when she is interrupting her rider’s conversations with comments that will, hopefully, throw him/her off.
Color Code: 397D02 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Blue Moth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Moth is a dusty blue shade all across his body. His wing membranes are the same shade, but patterned with darker, clearer blues. He has a slightly heavy build and a shorter tail than average, and is a middle-sized Blue at 26 meters.
Personality: Moth is a sweet, tender hearted Blue. He is a bit shy around females and, well, nearly everyone else. He is easily startled but also very trusting to those he knows and relies heavily on his rider. He is a hard worker, but overall shy and dependent.
Color Code: 5F9F9F

Color and Name: Barred Hazith
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Hazith is a more grayish Barred, with stripes that are a dull, dusky purple. In bright light, she does have a bit of shine, but for the most part she is a drably colored dragon. On the other hand, her build is elegant and slender; on ground and in air she is very agile. Hazith is a middle-sized Barred at 25 meters.
Personality: Hazith is a solid dragon, but a little vain. She is generally respectful to humans and larger dragons, but among anything smaller can be rude, and has absolutely no taste for wild Greens. Apart from that, she is very serious and down to earth, and doesn’t, ironically, take well to teasing aimed at herself.
Color Code: B7C8B6 ((Adoptable))

Color and Name: Blue Hiarth
Age: Hatchling
Appearance: Hiarth is a lanky dragon, long-limbed and almost stretched looking in every aspect (yet still only totaling an average size of 27 meters). He is a light, powdery blue, speckled down his back and the front of his legs with cerulean, a bit like the egg of a Terran robin.
Personality: Hiarth is fearless. He loves to take risks and, when not actually crossing it, run right along the line. He is silly and loves to joke, and finds particular humor in the stiff natures of the ranking dragons. He loves to berate Bronzes and tease Tans. He is clever with his words and takes a particular fondness for alliterations, and has a knack for making himself particularly popular among the Greens.
Color Code: 96CDCD

[Sketchy]

Dacien managed not to flinch as each dragon picked another person- he managed to keep his eyes locked firmly on the eggs as they hatched, distantly thinking to himself small details. When the last hatched, the blue who barely had his wings open before he ran full-force towards him, Dacien caught every piece of it.

He'd never forget it.

"The last egg," he managed to get out before Hiarth tackled him to the ground, walking on him as he peered at him and chattered. It's good you waited, D'cienmine. I was waiting to come out, you know.

The tirade in his head was dimmed by his brother's hand on his shoulder, helping him up as the bronze Minalth watched dryly, gulping meat. We did it, T'ien's eyes seemed to say as he brushed his brother off.

"We did," the newly dubbed D'cien replied as he grabbed at the meat, feeding Hiarth in a daze. He'd done it. He'd Impressed. Last, but that was no matter. The wait was worth it.