Egg Touching - Kelth's Clutch

[Sparrow]

((Since Kat hasn't been on in a while, I'm just keeping this moving. =P I'm going to try to avoid rping Kelth and Shador as much as possible though, so when you bring Candidates, they can bow to the queen and ask her permission to be with the eggs and all that, but don't wait for a reply, just say they did it, Kelth accepted, and move on.))

Once again there were fourteen eggs on the sand, but this time Kelth had much higher hopes for them. Ekirith had been a nice mate, but he was a Brown. There was obviously a reason they didn't usually Fly queens. Now the Violet had a new mate, and much more hope for her second clutch.

With the eggs growing nearer to hatching, it was time for the Egg Touching. Kelth had uncurled herself from her usual protective position around the eggs, but still remained near them. There was no possibility of her being too open to these Candidates anyways, the queen had no reason to trust them at all. They didn't even have dragons, anyways.

That's why they're here, you know. Shador could only laugh when Kelth used that as an excuse to not like the Candidates. Kelth just snorted.

I'll summon them now, at any rate. Maybe a few will be worthy. But of her children? Kelth doubted it. She just said that to sate her rider. Candidates! Report to the Hatching Sands, get to know the eggs.

Eggs: ((I don't feel like naming these... so there will just be a list of their descriptions xP))

• The largest egg in the clutch lies near the far edge, it's color a soft pastel blue. There are splotches of white here and there on it, but they resemble ice more than clouds, despite the sky-like background color.
  
• Although a middle-sized egg, this egg is dwarfed by its blue-white neighbor. It makes up for that with coloring though, bright flashes of yellows, reds, and orange fighting to control the majority of the egg.
  
• This egg is similar in size to the brightly-colored one beside it, but it is a very plain yellow. The vibrance of the color varies a little, but the shade never seems to change.
  
• Another large egg comes next, and it is blue-gray in color. It seems unsure of exactly whether it's more blue or gray though, and the colors swirl and mix at their leisure.
  
• The fifth egg is a small one, and striped with fuzzy lavenders and blues. All that combined makes it seem very feminine.
  
• The next egg is also small, although slightly larger than it's neighbor. It's color is a very dark red, and the top and bottom of the egg are orange.
  
• Middle-sized, the next egg seems to blend in with the sand it rests on, except for the touch of vibrant salmon pink at its tip.
  
• The eighth egg is a bit on the larger side, and pumpkin-orange in color. A circling vertical black stripe seems to cut the egg in half.
  
• Number nine is small, and a creamy green color. It's base is darker, more of the color of dry beach grass.
  
• Another small egg, this one is a surprisingly bronzey orange, especially for one its size. Other than its odd color, there is nothing different about this egg.
  
• Eleventh is medium-large, and matches its small neighbor, except for that it's color is a bit less metallic.
  
• Grassy green and specked with pink 'blossoms' is the best way to describe the next egg. It's in the middle in size, but a bit on the small side.
  
• This egg is as unlucky in its color as it's number in the countown, an ugly brown-green. It's smudged with dim yellows and brownish-reds.
  
• The final egg is middle-sized and, although very pale, is obviously red. Violet tinges its base and tip.
  

[Jenth]

Wuith hung close, just of the sands as he once again inspected the eggs he had sired. Kelth seemed very happy with their clutch, though L'han would have liked to seen more eggs. Still, with many good sized eggs he expected the hatchlings to be dominated by medium browns, blues and barred dragons. Only the hatching would tell, or if there were any surprises inside these shells.

Today they were out to see the candidates, from the proud, bold and selfish to the shy, hesitent and clutsy. In the pass Turn they had hatched over 60 dragons, L'hans biggest concern was a candidate shortage. As it was they had so very few, a day might come to throw open the doors and let anyone willing to try their luck.

I don't think Kelth would like that, too many near our eggs Wuith told his rider. Our Flight was well flown, our hatchlings will show that the tan crooned to his violet mate.

[phlysolo]

OoC: I've been...freakishly busy and I've been meaning to get this thread up where Rhen could be found and whatnot, but it just hasn't happened. Hopefully, I'll be able to be more active around here. Assume...for my sake, that Rhenaskel hasn't been here longer than a sevenday or so.

IC:

It had been a long, long sevenday. He'd been poked, prodded, checked up, checked over, and examined by almost all the Healers the Weyr had to offer. Physically, they found nothing wrong with the young man aside from scrapes, bruises, and a two inch gash across his head. What problems they did find in the young man's bill of health was the fact that, mentally, he seemed to be an absolute mess. The blow to his head had addled his brains, though his intellect had remained intact. His memory, aside from his name, was completely gone. Poof, vanish, finito.

He couldn't even remember how he'd managed to find himself stranded on the shores just off Nyocia's coast. If it hadn't been for the sweeprider who found him, the young man would have probably died from exposure and blood loss. As it was, the young man was still recovering from the shock of losing everyone and everything he knew to a blanket of white unknown. Perhaps that helped his recovery just as much as it had dampened it over the past couple of days. He really didn't have anyone to miss, but the fact that he couldn't recall if he had anyone back home (wherever home was) was a bit of a slam to his personality.

At least that, too, had remained whole. The rider who'd brought him to the Weyr proper had been a bluerider and had done Search on him, hoping that the knowledge that he could be the rider of a dragon someday would spur him out of his mild depression. For the most part, it had not, as he had to reteach himself lots of things, especially when it came to dragonkind. He had been startled to hear that the Weyr's junior queen, violet Kelth, was on the verge of Clutching and that he'd be slated to Stand. How anyone thought that he, Rheneskel, could handle such responsibility as Impressing a dragon just as he was trying to handle getting used to himself was beyond him.

Still, who was he to complain? It was an excellent opportunity, probably the best he could have hoped for in his past life...whatever that had been. Some of the healers speculated that he might have indeed have been a seaman, as it was quite obvious that he'd washed ashore as a survivor from the wreckage that had drifted up along the coast as well of some downed ship. Rhen really tried hard not to think about what he was, or what he used to be. For one, it gave him headaches; for two, well, it was wholly depressing to know that he was literally a no-body. He tried to assure himself from time to time that perhaps Impressing a dragon, and with all the responsibilities that came with it, would help him recover.

Ironically enough, just as he assured himself with these thoughts in the bunk of his barracks, a call sounded in his very mind. The unfamiliar presence shocked and unnerved him, just like it had when the blue who Searched him had done it. He hoped that the sensation of Impressing a dragon to himself would...be much more pleasant. As it was, the beast who called out to him was none other than Kelth herself, he decided, as it was decidedly female and was instructing the Candidates to come to the Eggs and, what was it?, get to know them.

Not one to disobey an order or to pass up such a unique opportunity, he slunk out of his bed and made his way down to the Hatching Grounds, surprising himself by not getting lost. For having been in the Weyr for such a short time, discovered that he had an uncanny sense of direction. Well, all the better for him. The Weyr was sharding confusing with all of its twists and turns, and endless corridors.

He hadn't been expecting the rush of heat from the Cavern when he stepped into it. Even through the soles of his boots, he could feel the scorching sand burning under his feet. How the rider of the great violet coped with the heat was beyond him. Remembering his lesson with the Candidate Master, he bowed to the queen, but made no attempt to communicate with her; he certainly didn't want her invading his mind again.

As he moved through the Eggs, Rhen was mildly amused and almost alarmed by the sheer size of some of the Eggs. Having no recollection of...anything, he didn't have a point of reference for this pivotal moment in his life. Perhaps if he could have recalled seeing some firelizard Eggs before sometime he might have been able to scale the flit Eggs to the dragon ones, but, as he had no memory, he couldn't. Rhen decided that now was certainly not the time to be idly contemplating how big the Eggs were. He had some Touching to do!

It was a good thing that his memory of events after he awoke on a cot in the Infirmary had proved to be sound or he'd have forgotten everything he'd been taught about dragons and Eggs and Hatchings and the like since he was allowed to learn about them. Touching, as it was theorized, was supposed to allow the telepathic and emphatic dragonets the ability to feel their prospective life partners. By Touching the Eggs, they could rule out Impressing to Candidates who were dissimilar to themselves...or so the thought was. It had been shown in records that the more a Candidate Touched, spoke to, or spent time around a certain Egg, the more likely it was to Impress to that particular Candidate. Of course, there were many exceptions to the rule, as it had never actually been proven that the practice worked at all. Still, it was a good luck thing that Rhen wasn't about to question just for the sake of arguing.

Walking up to the nearest Egg, noting its interesting splay of reds, yellows, and oranges across its surface. It was a quite attractive Egg, in spite of the fact that it looked particularly small next to the massive Egg just next to it. Rhen gave it a small pat and gave a similar one to the large one. Thinking it would be improper to only lay hands on two, Rhen went around the lot, indiscriminately patting the Eggs down.

[Lysita]

Candidates! Report to the Hatching Sands, get to know the eggs.

Kyrissa was up and out of her room as sson as she heard the dragon's summons. Egg touching was an exciting yet important time for all candidates and she was eager to see them. She almost ran into one of the eggs, but stopped herself in time. She turned and bowed low to the queen, showing her respect.
"May I be allowed to be with the eggs for a short while?" She asked politely then waited for the answer.

After being giving permission, she started to slowly move between the eggs, studying each of them quickly. As she continued moving around the eggs, one of them caught her attention. It was red with violet at either end and it seemed to call to her. She made her way over to the egg then gently touched it, almost afraid it might break. She had thought it might be blistering hot, yet it was only comfortably warm. She knelt down beside the egg and started to softly stroke it, quietly whispering to it, as if she was talking to the baby dragon inside.

[phlysolo]

As Rhen walked through the grand Hatching Ground, he couldn't help be slightly annoyed at how few of the other Candidates had showed up yet. He'd already finished a circuit around the Eggs, his hands groping each of the Eggs until he found himself in the same place he'd been before. His eyes were drawn to the especially large Egg of the bunch and found his hands caressing it. Rhenaskel couldn't deny that the largeness of the Egg did touch with his own masculinity. A burly guy would go hand-in-hand with a big Egg.

Still, it wasn't the only Egg here and he turned away from it, spying a girl kneeling by an Egg, touching it just as lovingly as he'd petted several others before. A small ironic smile lifted his face and he couldn't find that he was embarrassed for being so tender with inanimate objects as other Candidates were doing the exact same as him.

"So, what are your bets with yours? What do you think'll be in it?" Rhen asked the kneeling girl quietly, standing beside her. He wasn't sure if there was any stigma in putting bets on the contents of the Eggs, but he had no qualms discussing his hopes.

[Lysita]

Kyrissa hadn't noticed the guy that had been walking among the eggs, being too concentrated on the egg she was kneeling next to. That was until she heard a male voice beside her and she looked up to see what she assumed was another candidate.
"Oh, I'm not really sure, but I don't really mind as long as it is a female. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I impressed a male." She tried to be as honest as she could, even though she didn't recognise the guy standing beside her. She stood up, thinking she probably looked silly kneeling beside an egg and not moving among them.
"I am Kyrissa by the way." She introduced herself, better to make friends with those that might be fellow weyrlings before the hatching.

[Sparrow]

Riscan shoved his brother as they arrived late to the Hatching Sands. "This is your fault!"

"Oh whatever! It's the, um," Rivkah managed to cut himself off when he saw the Violet queen he was about to blame sitting over her eggs not far away. When her voice had suddenly appeared in his head, the boy had dropped the tottering pile of dirty plates he had been delivering to the kitchens, and cleaning up that mess had made both brothers less. And, of course, since Rivkah was younger he was going to get in extra trouble for it from his older brother. It sure would be nice if Riscan would mess up sometimes, not that Rivkah could do much about it.

The pair were about as different as brothers could be, Riscan tall, strong, and loud, while Rivkah was smaller, frailer, and quieter. Easily intimidated, the younger brother stood a little behind Riscan while the boy greeted Kelth. "Thanks for letting us come see the eggs..."

Nah, neither quite knew what to say to a queen. They both bowed and when Shador said they were free to visit the eggs, they headed over to them. Riscan immediately went to the larger eggs- of course he planned to Impress one of the larger males. Could a Violet lay Bronzes? He didn't know, but who actually did? It could happen.

Rivkah's attention was caught by the small but bronze egg. Why was it that color? He touched the surface and felt a slight shiver run through him at the surprising warmth. Yes, he liked this egg. "What's it like being stuck in there, little guy? I doubt it's at all nice." He hovered around this egg, paying a little attention to those near it but mostly focused on the bronze egg. Who cared that it was small, surely it held the dragon for him...

Riscan passed over the small eggs and gave his brother a disgusted glance when he saw that Rivkah had decided on one of the smallest there. Riscan had plans for much bigger and better things, he would only pay attention to the big eggs, so that they were the most likely ones to hatch for him. Medium-large to largest, a little stroke for each, a glance at the few other Candidates, and lots of hope for a big dragon, it was the way to go.

((Erm yeah... NPC's xP Sparrow felt like posting but not like making herself characters. If anyone happens to like either of them, they can write them a bio and take them and stuff, otherwise... they shall just remain NPC's. =P))

[wolflover1458]

Lidi went down to the hatching grounds carefully. She moved slowly even though excitement surged through her. She couldn't wait to touch some of the eggs. She felt the heat of the sands before she had even stepped her feet down. When she did, she instantly wished she had worn boots or something instead of sandals. The heat went right through to her feet, and it was intense.

She looked over at the eggs, and almost forgot about the heat. She moved forward, then bowed to the queen. She had been taught this so long ago, and she was so amazed by the eggs, she almost did it unconsciously.

After she bowed, she walked, no skipped, towards the eggs. She skipped because she didn't want to look like an idiot, and also because she didn't want her feet on the ground for to long. When she had reached the eggs, she looked around at them, wondering which ones to touch.

She went up to a sand-colored egg with some pink on the tip first. She admired the coloring of the egg as she pet it. Then she went up to the largest egg, feeling she just couldn't ignore it. She noticed the sky color of the egg. She rubbed her hand down the egg with yellow, orange and red that was quite large, although it seemed very dwarfed.

She made sure to go through every egg, liking especially the coloring of the green and pink egg that reminded her of grass and flowers. She also liked the rather large orange egg with a black stripe going down it.

She came to the last egg, a rather unattractive brown-green egg. She felt quite sorry for it, and gave it a few extra pats. Then she went around and rubbed all of her favorite eggs again. These included the largest egg, the one next to it, the pumpkin colored egg, the grass colored egg, the sky colored egg and the brown-green egg.

When she had finished going through all of her favorites, Lidi settled down next to the brown-green egg. She felt sorry for its odd coloring, and doubted most people would want to look at it. She hoped the dragon inside wouldn't have to go between at the hatching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nalel hurried down to the hatching grounds, wondering if he was late or not. He had heard the Queens message a while ago, and he wanted to be down there as long as possible. When he got down to the hatching grounds, he felt the heat through his boots, and jumped around for a while until he got a little more used to the heat.

Then Nalel went up to the queen and bowed. After gaining permission to pass, he went towards the eggs. He looked around at all of them and the other candidates already there. He wondered which eggs he liked. He felt much more comfortable with the small eggs, but he looked through all of them.

He noticed a rather small bronze-orange egg, and he went towards it. Nalel bent down next to the egg, wondering what could be in an egg this small yet of such strange coloring. He stroked it lightly, thinking about what could possibly be in it. The egg was warm, not like the searing heat of the sands, but a comfortable warm. He stroked it a bit longer, then got up.

Nalel noticed a medium-sized pale red egg with violet on the top and bottom. He bent down and stroked it a few times. It was warm too, he liked the warmth from the eggs. He wondered what dragon was inside this egg, and the curiosity made him wish the eggs would hatch now.

After a while, Nalel went back to the first egg he had touched and sat next to it, stroking it lightly and trying to think of what could possibly be in it.

[Illia]

Illia's mind had gone completely blank when the call for the candidates called through her mind. Her heart nearly missed a beat, and both Frea and Aedan gave curious, confused squeaks as she suddenly halted her stride. Both of the small creatures had taken up positions on her shoulders, giving her a rather amusing appearance as she turned her silvery gaze towards the hatching sands, two heads mirroring her own before she suddenly took off at a quickening stride. It wasn't a Hatching, she was positive of that, but a Touching was... well, a completely different story. There were really very few individuals who didn't know that Violet Kelth had been caught by Tan Wuith, though the fair-haired candidate really had lost track of how long ago that was... she had been far too caught up in her day-to-day chores to have really paid much attention, something she was even now cursing herself for.

Frea gave an irritated little chirp as her Favourite sped up her pace, promptly spreading her pale green wings and fluttering from the girl's shoulder to fly a little ways ahead of her. She wanted to see the eggs to be sure! The little Barred was just as fascinated by them as most of her species was hatchings, which was obvious as she flitted through the opening to the Hatching Sands and released a call of greeting towards the large dragons below before settling herself on a ledge to watch her Favourite and the eggs from above.

Illia arrived soon after Frea did, stepping hesitantly onto the burning sands as she regarded the great dragons with a mixture of awe, respect, and perhaps even a little fear as she bit her lip and watched as the other Candidates bowed to the beautiful Violet and began to run their hands over the eggs that rested beside her. Almost timidly she finally stepped forward, her Kagen curled around her neck and jerking his muzzle about rapidly as he tried to see everything that was going on around him at once.

Illiaine bowed at her waist, her blonde hair momentarily falling before her eyes as she called to the dragons quietly. "Your eggs are beautiful, Queen of the Sunrise, much like yourself! If me presence would p-please be allowed, I w-would be eternally greatful for such an honour!" She knew she had stuttered, despite having tried her best not to, but she only straigtened herself after she had finished, half expecting the Violet to turn her away. Much to her surprise, however, just the opposite happened, and her body felt almost numb as she slowly made her way closer to the other candidates and the many eggs that were nestled against Kelth's side.

She watched carefully as the others went around touching the eggs, though her gaze settled on number thirteen. It's colouration was muddy and dark, and it didn't seem to be getting as much attention as its other, more brightly coloured siblings. She slowly approached it first, dropping into a low crouch and doing her best to ignore the burning of the sands underfoot as she carefully laid her hands on its dark surface. "I'm sure you are a magnificent creature hidden beneath such a veil..." she said quietly, whispering to it in hushed words. "I look forward to see you soar above, little one."

She kept her hands on its surface a little longer, feeling more comfortably talking to the egg than she did its mother or really any of the other candidates, but she soon moved on, Aedan chatting in her ear as he seemed to debate leaping from her shoulder to investigate on his own.

She then came to the green and pink 'blossomed' egg, also laying her hands on it and speaking in hushed tones as she praised it on just how marvelous the creature inside would be. She was doing her best to appear as small as possible as she continued around to the other eggs, feeling meek and unimportant among the candidates around her.

[/blockquote]

[phlysolo]

OoC: Just FYI, Rhen talks like a PIRATE...but only sometimes. He's embarrassed by it. XD

Of course, of course, the girl would want to bond herself to a dragon of the same gender. It was very rare indeed to see an individual who wished to be bonded to a male, in a girl's case, or a female in a boy's. To Rhenaskel, he couldn't understand that at all. He did understand how someone could relate to a creature whose built completely different on the down side, but he'd seen a fair bit of females on male dragons and males on females. Well, as long as the pair was good off, it really didn't matter too much to him. Only the fact that he might very well indeed end up with another guy in his bed then a pretty girl bothered him mildly.

"Yah, I underst'a' yer sentiments," He said, feeling mildly mortified that he had such a strange accent. It only came out some of the times and he was learning to school himself to talk in the gentle, slow drawl that most of the Southern dragonriders had. The Healers told him that he'd retained a small bit of his past life, the "sailor's mouth."

"So, yer nawt hopin' fer anytin' sp'ific?" Rhenaskel continued, surprising himself with the fact that the strange accent he had slipped out once more. Hopefully, the girl would be able to understand him. "I dunno what I'd be good on. Dunno much about dragons 'cept what I've learned here."

"And yeah," He paused, thankful that he'd got it under control again. "Pleased ta' meet ya. I'm Rhenaskel."

[wolflover1458]

Lidi looked around as she patted and caressed the brown-green egg, along with occasionally offering words of encouragement to the dragon inside. She should be paying attention to some of the other eggs, especially if she wanted to Impress, but she felt sorry for this egg. There weren't a lot of candidates that came over to this egg. They looked at the larger and prettier eggs instead.

But had the dragon inside of the egg chosen what color it was? It didn't have chose. It was born the way it was born. Well, Lidi didn't want to see any dragons go between at the hatching. She liked this egg, despite how small it was. It was very strange for her, because she had always thought of herself as Impressing a gold or violet. Yet here she was, patting one of the smallest eggs in the clutch.

Yet somehow, being with this egg felt right. So she sat there and patted the egg. She told it that it would probably be one of the best dragons in the entire clutch, and that no one should look at the egg shell to decide how good the dragon inside will be.

[Sparrow]

((Sorry for not pointing this out, but the thirteenth egg isn't a small one. It's not the biggest either, but it is one of the larger eggs in the clutch. It just happens to have a less-than-attractive color. =P))

[kandykat]

Kelth watched the candidates move around the eggs, relaxing slightly. They seemed to be behaving well so far, and she did want to show off her eggs. Yes, we will have strong children. I just hope the candidates are strong enough for them![/color] she answered her mate.

Her whirling eyes settled on two candidates talking with each other. One of them had a funny voice. They didn't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary, so she shifted her attention to another girl, who seemed to be spending a lot of time with one egg. Shador perched on the Violet's forearm, also watching the candidates. It brought her back to her own candidacy. She had never expected a Violet beauty to choose her when she was touching the eggs.