Kelth's Clutch: Touching

[kandykat]

Kelth nosed at one of her eggs. It was hard, and she knew the eggs would hatch soon. Lifting her head, she turned to address her rider. Shadormine, the candidates may touch now,[/color] she said. She was nervous about letting the candidates so close, but she was also eager to show them off. As long as the candidates didn't offend her, they would be fine.

Shador sent a note with her one of her fire lizards to alert the Candidate Master about the Touching. About an hour later, the candidates were led on to the sands. Shador stood beside Kelth, watching them file in. She would keep a close eye on them, and hopefully she would be able to catch any trouble before it became serious.

Clutch Slideshow: s187.photobucket.com/albums/x169/Katemacetak/?action=view¤t=746b116b.pbw

((And because Sparrow and possibly other people are getting confused... There are thirteen eggs:

Rain Egg: A blue egg with lighter spots that are almost like raindrops. A yellow slash on one side makes it appear almost as though lightning has struck the egg.
Peacock Egg: A blue egg that seems to be darker at the tip and lighter at its base. Stripes of green cross it horizontally and there are little 'fireworks' of lighter greens here and there.
Web Egg: An egg that isa dark olive shade, it is covered with an interesting pattern of whitish webs. This can make its colors appear warped and twisted in places.
Sun Egg: A whitish egg, this is definitely one of the larger ones and has a bright spot of yellow at its base with darkening rays of yellow-orange reaching up to the tip.
Moon Egg: Quite the opposite of the sun egg, this one is smallish and a silver-gray color. Although it has a bright sheen to it, it's color is dim in comparison to its neighboring 'sun'.
Feather Egg: A dim tan-white color, the Feather Egg has markings that look similar to the feathers of a bird here and there on it.
Fire Egg: The Fire Egg has all the bright colors of a fire, and a base that is charcoal black although it was burned. It is one of the larger eggs.
Wine Egg: A very deep shade of maroon-red, the Wine egg is the very color of what it was named after.
Harp Egg: One of the smaller eggs, the Harp egg makes up for its size in its odd marking. A bright yellow-gold 'harp' glows against its dim background of pure black.
Mirror Egg: A larger egg, the Mirror egg is a bright silver that seems almost to reflect everything around it. Darker splotches on the shell give it a slightly rough appearance.
Steel Egg: A dry shade of gray, the Steel egg has two lines of black spots that look almost like the heads of nails holding it together. It's a larger egg, but probably not one of the prettiest.
Patchwork Egg: One of the smallest eggs, the Patchwork egg has an odd pattern of light green and white squares all across the surface of its shell.
Water Egg: Only slightly larger than its neighbor, the Patchwork egg, the Water egg is a deep blue shade that seems to fade from darker to lighter at each of its ends.

=P))

[Sparrow]

Salise quietly entered the Hatching Sands but hovered just inside the doorway to look around nervously. She had come here earlier, when the Sands were empty and cooler. Now the heat seemed to practically radiate off them, and there were eggs! So many of them, and so pretty!

"Hello Kelth... Shador." It took her a moment to remember the Violetrider's name, but Salise bowed a little deeper, hoping that would make up for it. "Your eggs are very lovely, Kelth." She forced a shy smile and then started towards one of them. The Steel Egg she didn't like much, it was warm to the touch, but still struck her as too cold in appearance. There were many darker or silvery eggs, actually. Could they hold the silver-green Barreds?

The Web egg had a very interesting pattern, Salise spent a little extra time with that one. And the Peacock egg, with its pretty stripes caught her attention too. The Water and Wine egg sstruck her as very well named, at least because of their color. Neither seemed quite liquidy... not to Salise at least.

The Harp Egg? That was too odd a marking to turn up on an egg. Salise let that one be. The Sun and Moon eggs she came to next, both were very pretty, and very opposite. She touched each, and despite the fact that all the eggs would probably feel the same, Salise was still a little surprised that the Sun egg didn't feel any warmer than the rest, and the Moon egg no cooler. She always imagined the moons to be very cold, and Rukbat was, of course, hot.

The Feather egg's markings seemed odd too, but not quite like the Harp egg, so Salise spared it a pat. Better that she touched more right? It made her more likely to Impress, or at least that was what she hoped. The Mirror egg was very pretty, so Salise lingered by that one. The Rain egg was next, and then the odd patchwork egg. Then she nodded to Kelth, whispered a soft "Thank you," and left the Sands again.

[friar]

If Kendric had been nervous before the clutch had been laid, he was doubly nervous now that it was. Once again, he was on the Sands, but this time, he was following Candidate Master Kiasi. This time, he wasa llowed to touch the eggs that might contain his lifemate.

Kalen was excited. There were eggs! He darted about the Hatching Grounds, inanely pleased that Kendric's constant canine companion- CCC- was nowhere to be seen. He crash-landed near violet Kelth, and chirped a draconic greeting.

Kendric counted the eggs up mentally, and came to a tally of twelve. Twelve...and yet there were thirteen canidates in the barracks. He began to worry that he would be the lone candidate not to Impress.

He would have worked himself into a minor frenzy if he hadn't heard Kalen's chirps. A startled glance revealed that the blue was merely paying his respects to the Violet mother.

Hmmm...he should probably do the same! He took a few hesitant steps closer to the impressive female, and made an attempt at a bow.

"Good day, Lady Shador, Lady Kelth. You look to be in excellent health, if I may say."

He cut himself off, horrified that he might have been too presumptive in that last statement. Why would he say something like that?

[POTMRayne]

Firelae gave Kedric a quick pat on the shoulder as they passed each other, and carryed on to the violet rider and her dragon." My lady Shador" bowing curtly to the rider, he turned to the dragon." Thine dragon Kelth." he slowly walked to the twelve eggs and reaching the steel egg, he felt something very odd, like a presence. And the feeling only got stronger when he touched the egg. It must be normal, I mean how should I know? This is my first hacthing. he went around thouching all the other eggs but yet none of them seemed to present that same feel as the steel egg did. bowing to the violet rider as he left."Thank you my lady." and more pointedly to Kelth." They are quite beautiful, Kelth." he walkd the rest of the way out of the sands with a smile on his face until he saw the harsh image that one of them wouldn't impress."It has more chance to be me tan any other, I just feel it for some reason." he wispered sadly to himself as Blade landed upon his shoulder, crooning to be scratched." thanks Blade at least you like me." petting the falcon's head and walking off.

[Missa]

There was no way Rosalind could keep still. Practically bouncing on the spot as others moved forward to greet the violet mother, waiting her turn. When she did move forward, it was at a slow walk, something that was obviously taking effort. Bowing deeply to the violet and her rider, Rosalind grinned as she looked about her at the eggs.
"Greetings to you Shador and mother Kelth. Your eggs are beautiful Kelth, stunning. They really are." Bowing again before hurrying off to look at teh eggs, Rosalind found her eyes skating over them.

The Web Egg had such an eyecatching pattern, so very... Interesting. It took every ounce of control Rosalind had not to skip to the egg, she figured Kelth wouldn't like that. Still it was so hard to act calm and rational. She was about to touch a dragon egg. How often did that happen in a life time. Resting her hand on the egg, Rosalind's smile only grew wider, stroking her fingers down the egg.

With a farewell murmured to the egg, Rosalind moved away, eyes catching on the Harp Egg. That was an odd marking wasn't it? Very odd. She definately wanted to touch that one, it looked so... Different. Some of the eggs were plain, others were out there, and then there was this one with it's single mark. Resting her hand on the mark, Rosalind let her fingers gently trail over the marking of the harp. So pretty.

The Feather Egg was next, it's strange markings drawing Rosalind in. It seemed there were so many... Odd eggs in the clutch, so many pretty ones, not many plain ones at all. That was good wasn't it? Or were dragon eggs supposed to be... Plain? The last clutch hadn't been plain, not at all. Running her finger tips over the markings as she had on the Harp Egg, Rosalind nodded her head slightly. She'd think a nice pretty... One of those silver ones from this one.

The Sun Egg and Moon Egg were next, the two opposites catching Rosalind's attention rather quickly as she moved over to them. She'd expected one to be cool, or rocky, and the other to be hot, so hot to burn, but it wasn't. They felt the same. Still, she'd believe that two completely opposite dragons came from them. Like a blue and green, or a green and a... bronze!

Then, it was the Patchwork Egg, Rosalind had never even imagined that an egg could look like... That. With those markings. It looked... Cute. Like a blanket you wanted to wrap about yourself and snuggle nice and deep into. Resting her hand on the egg, she was almost surprised that it didn't feel like a blankie. It felt like every other egg. Hm. Strange.

Stepping back for a moment, Rosalind wasn't sure if she wanted to touch others and finally touched three others, The Rain Egg, the Peacock Egg, and the Mirror Egg. Before bowing deeply to Kelth,
"It was an honour to meet your children queen Kelth." She practically sung the words, bouncing on the spot again before rushing out of teh Sands. She couldn't wait to tell Kitty!

[ShadowReine]

Gwenduinne stepped onto the Sands, wishing she was somewhere, anywhere else.

If she wanted a chance at a gold, she had to stay. She could not, in the cold equation of it, simply skip this clutch. She couldn't do that to Shador. It would have been incredibly rude. So, she would Stand...and hide behind a bigger candidate, hoping none of the dragonets looked her way. Surely, they'd be mostly blues and greens, from this pairing. Kelth might at least have chosen a tan or bronze to sire them.

Keeping Spunky on her shoulder so the barred firelizard would not disturb the queen, she inclined her head to Kelth and then made her brief visit with the eggs, lingering by the sun egg thoughtfully. No. There would be, could be, no queen for her in this clutch. She thought she counted thirteen eggs. Thirteen eggs and thirteen candidates. They needed to Search a few more... Each egg was given equal, but scant attention, except for that one, then head held high, she swept from the Sands.

--

Brecan was to linger rather longer. There were twelve, no, thirteen eggs. He wondered if a candidate or two would choose not to Stand for a clutch that was unlikely to hold more than one bronze, if that. But greens were important too.

The fire egg drew him somewhat, it looked warm, but it did not feel any warmer. Still, even looking warm, it drew him somewhat. So did the blue of the rain egg. "They're gorgeous, Kelth," he said, out loud, loud enough for the violet to hear.

She was a gorgeous color, he decided. Of course, -he- could not Impress a violet dragon, but he could definitely admire them. There were two now, and thus there would be more...it was guaranteed now. More violets, more tans and probably more barreds.

Wonder if they Impress guys, he thought.

[Alaska]

Piyor trudged onto the Sands, staring downward as he approached the Violet Queen. Despite knowing that the chances of him Impressing were more than very slim, he'd decided that a look at the eggs wouldn't hurt.

"Greetings Kelth and Shador. This is a beautiful clutch." Not that he'd seen any others but flattery seemed to be the name of the game. "They all look different than what I'd expected." And what he's expected was a nest full of giant chicken eggs, to be honest. He didn't think that the dragon eggs would be as colorful as the firelizard eggs he'd gotten.

Speaking of firelizards, despite telling them over and over again to stay in his room, they had decided to blatantly ignore him and follow him.

Pip, the leader of the trio, trilled a haughty greeting to Piyor before perching a safe distance from her big purple cousin. She looked at the eggs with gently whirling eyes. Such pretty, pretty eggs. But wait! There were other firelizards here, too! She called out loudly to them, hoping to play.

Jig, however, looked less sure than her bigger sister. She had stolen a shiny trinket from Piyor's room, a simple golden chain, and presented it to Kelth, hoping to appease the gigantic violet.

Poe gave a frightened squawk as he saw his two sisters getting so close to Kelth. She could gobble them in one bite! He flew to Piyor and latched himself to his shoulder, chattering fearfully. They were getting awfully close to the eggs. He was touching the eggs! He hoped with all his might that the big purple one wouldn't get angry.

Piyor, meanwhile, went to each of the eggs, patting each one gently. Was he supposed to be looking for something? Was one egg in particular supposed to stand out to him? None of the eggs grabbed his attention more than the other so he spent equal time with all of them. He saw that many of his fellow Candidates looked nervous and he inclined his head to them as they all walked amongst the eggs.

[Archer]

Iosif slipped quietly into the Hatching Sands behind several of the other candidates, wincing at the heat that was seeping up through the soles of his boots. He wasn't sure how the sandals he had been given would stand up to the heat of the sand, but he was certain that it wouldn't be very pleasant.

Giving Kelth and Shador a proper bow, Iosif spoke quietly, trying as hard as he could to keep the stutter out of his voice.

"Good day, Rider S-Shador and Violet Kelth."

Shards! Well, at least it wasn't as bad as it had been previously. Still, the slight stumble was enough to make Iosif blush heatedly and turn to devote his attention to the eggs.

And what eggs they were! He had never seen such variety of colors and hues in eggs in his life, and to touch them was almost sacrilege. But touch them he did, running a shaky hand over each and every one, not wanting to leave one out.

What would he Impress if he was chosen by a dragonet? He was sure it would not be a bronze or tan, but perhaps a brown, blue or green... It really didn't matter much; just to be picked was enough, and Iosif didn't want to get his hopes up too high and see them crushed.

[kandykat]

Shador nodded and smiled at the first candidate, a girl. Kelth eyed her for a moment, but apparently she passed inspection, and she just bobbed her head in acknowledgment of the respects paid. Then she noticed movement at her feet, and she bent her head to sniff at the blue fire lizard. She snorted. As long as he didn't disturb the clutch, she would let him stay. She turned her attention to the next candidate, this one a boy. Shador raised an eyebrow at his comment about her "good health." Just because her dragon was broody didn't mean there was something wrong with her. She shrugged; the boy was probably just nervous. The next candidate, Firelae, impressed her with his fancy words. Maybe...no. She blushed. It wouldn't be right! Kelth paid him no more attention than the others, but she growled lightly when the hawk appeared, flying to his shoulder. Luckily, they left a few seconds later, and a conflict was avoided.

Shador chuckled at the sight of the girl candidate who couldn't stand still. She kind of liked this one; it seemed like she had spunk. She couldn't say the same for Gwenduinne. Shador nodded curtly at the girl as she passed, but she didn't smile at this one. She had a feeling that one only wanted a Gold. Of course, there could be a Violet in the clutch, and they were Queens too. She sighed, trying not to get too upset about it, and she gave a small smile to the boy candidate who came after her. He seemed respectable enough.

Kelth tensed a little as three more fire lizards came near. One was bearable; more might make trouble. She was about to banish them when she saw the gold chain. They were paying their respects! The little green was, anyway. Reaching up, she delicately took the chain with one claw and lowered it to Shador, who's eyes widened in surprise. "Where'd this come from?"

The fire lizards, mine. I don't know where they got it from.[/color] She turned her attention to the trio, as well as the blue. She sensed the other green's restlessness. No playing on my sands! Now that you have paid your respects, you must go to the stands to watch.[/color] Grumbling slightly, she looked over the candidates. Those that remained on the sands seemed fine for now, but she was ready to get rid of them if they upset her.

Shador looped the gold chain around her neck and nodded at the last candidate, who was so nervous he stuttered when he greeted her. She didn't blame him. From her position, this wasn't bad, but the candidates had a Violet Queen breathing over their necks and the uncertainties of a Hatching ahead.

[Amejisuto]

Cerridwen was nervous, alright nervous was definitely not the word that she was. She walked out in her Jewelry crafter colors, the dress was just a simple one, falling around her ankles and being of a simple design, nothing ornate. She only wore her usual clip, holding back her hair a little. She walked up to the queen rider slowly, and her dragon. She curtsied then, her hands slowly dropping her skirts as she straightened and reached into the pouch at her side. She stepped closer, and held out the pendant she had worked on, it was just a pendant. That fit easily into the palm of her hand, the metal work was like the claw of a dragon in silver, and the gem was a lighter amethyst.

"I wish to gift you with this Queen Rider Shador..." She said softly as her green eyes stared across at the other woman. Her lips quirking with a faint smile as she looked towards the Violet Queen as well. She held out the pendant, and waited patiently, "I am working on a chain to best work with it. I figured it would make a create accessory to your hatching day feast outfit." She said with a soft smile. She stepped back slowly and turned to look up at the great beautiful Violet queen. "I love the color of her hide... " She whispered softly as she smiled happily.

"Great Queen, do I have your blessing to go around and touch the eggs?" She said lightly. SHe felt the need to ask in such a manner, that was probably because she wanted to know the mother was fine with her. She let a smile spread across her lips as she bounced on the balls of her feet, seeming full of energy and very excited. Her eyes turned over the eggs, resting on one in particular, the Mirror egg. Its shell... was just so... so marvelous...

[Jenth]

13 eggs the violet Queen had lain, some thought there wouldn't be any but Rasimal thought these had to be some of the most characteristic eggs ever lain. The most common colors of egg shells were suppost to be green, brown and blue but half the clutch had greyish or yellow coloring or markings. The grey unsettled him, dull colors could mean dud eggs but at least these eggs had a seemingly healthy shine to them. There was still hope, the same hope he clung to.

What he Impressed may or may not inhance his gender and sexuality. He was proudly a boy but was plagued with such gentle and feminine characteristics. All to often for his liking he was teased about it, causing his short temper to flare. If only he wasn't so small and so slow in maturing, then maybe they would just shut up!

He bowed to Kelth and her rider Shador though he had hung back in the group as always. The grey eggs; Moon, Mirrow and Steel grabbed his attention adn he couldn't help but want to stroke them. As his fingers ran over each one he hoped that these eggs would hatch great healthy hatchlings, it would just be too sad if they didn't. The next one was the Fire egg and the Sun and Feather eggs shortly after that.

But it was the Web egg he was most fond of. There was something about it, weither ti was the strange pattern or color but he lingered more on this one egg then any other. "Hatch soon little one, I'm looking forwards to meeting you" he spoke to it softly before moving on to the others.

[Alaska]

The giant had liked her gift! Jig gave a cheerful chirrup and fluttered up to the sands as the big queen had asked. She couldn't contain her excitement, however, and kept bouncing and trilling to herself.

Pip glided after Jig, looking more bored. When would the big eggs hatch? She wanted someone new to play with! And then she was being forced to sit in the stands? No, she wouldn't settle for that, oh no. With a playful nip to her sister, Pip flew away to look for more trouble- er, fun.

At Kelth's words, Poe dug his claws into Piyor's shoulder. He was far away from Jig and Pip had left! He felt much safer curled around his human's warm neck anyway. He squeaked in fear and closed his whirling eyes.

Piyor felt Poe's fear and anxiety began to rise in his stomach. He suddenly had to get out, to run away and get outside in the open air. He took a steadying breath and laid a shaking hand on the nearest egg. He reached up with his other hand and patted Poe on the head.

"Calm down, boy," he whispered. "Don't go freaking out on me, okay?" The last thing he needed was to make a bad impression in front of the queen dragon and her rider, not to mention the other Candidates.