Xanadu Weyr - Hatching Sands
A domed ceiling stretches high above the sands, enough open air for a queen and her mate to be comfortable with their clutch. Thin slits of windows around the edges let in a little light, though more of the illumination comes from electric lamps diffused off the dome. The sands are ringed by the dark blue seats of the observation level, the first third exposed to the sweltering heat of the sands but those in the back glassed off for the comfort of those watching.
The circle itself is filled with a mix of red and white sands, deep enough to cover the largest of dragon eggs with ease. To one side, a small door is visible, hidden away behind a platform meant to provide a place for the clutch parent's lifemates to stand during the on goings.
Public Announcement from Soriana: Xanadu's Eggs are hatching! Or will be, anyhow. It's the middle of the night, there are dragons humming, come see what happens. +go xaw;ha;ol
Everyone who works in the infirmaries knows that if something's going to happen, it's going to happen in the middle of the night. It's when patients take a turn for the worse… or get the peaceful rest that has them doing better come morning. Tonight… is going to be one of those nights. At a dark and cold hour equally far from both midnight and dawn, the dragons begin to hum. It's Meirath and Luraoth who take up the call first, Draukaith a mere moment behind. From there it spreads to all the dragons of Xanadu, even the firelizards echoing the summons. It's hatching time!
The first responders tonight are dragonhealers, those on night shift… or just sleeping on cots in the Annex now that the time is near. Most of them head for the stands, finding seats to watch - and hope. Soriana, dressed in a loose cotton tunic and trousers that's halfway between medical scrubs and sleepwear and with her mussed hair leaning the question firmly toward sleep, makes her way across the sands to stand between Luraoth and Meirath as they croon. Two gold dragons, but… only one rider, for there's no sign yet of Calisi.
It All Turns to Shards Egg shivers just a touch, trembling all over until that spasm passes.
Cutaneous Cage Egg rocks suddenly, falling to its side with a crunching sound and rolling until it comes to a stop against another egg, its surface now crazed with a web of cracks.
Zaria is fidgetting, her too big robe has been altered to fit her wispy frame, but for some reason the neckline keeps falling over one shoulder or the other, and no manner of minor alterations is changing that fact now. As she steps onto the sands, she takes a deep intake of breath but manages not to cry out. She bows respectfully to the queens and then moves over to the side, looking nervously for Risali, cause she desperately needs someone to hand clutch. "Hot hot hot." she mutters under her breath.
Cracked Like An Egg shifts with a tapping from inside the shell, one that seems to move around as if exploring just what happens with various pokes and prods to that outer curve.
Kera rushes in with the line of candidates, a severe case of pillowhead showing the too early hour, and steps aside and hurrying the stragglers along. After the last has stumbled by, still tugging his robe in place, she edges over to by G'ther and the other awlm's. A quick scan of the eggs before looking over to gage the queen's reaction to the white robes crowding her eggs. With an uneasy headshake, she mutters "I hope the healer's are at the rready." Oh wait, that would be her.
Caught somewhere between energetic/peppy and groggy, but alert nonetheless, Brynnjan makes his way hence from the candidate barracks, trying to get his robes to set right. He offers a respectful bow to the queens, and moves up close to the other candidates. He offers a polite smile to all present, but says nothing, maintaining a respectful silence.
Cutaneous Cage Egg crumbles along the lines of those cracks, fragments of the outer shell falling away to leave only a thin barrier of yolk-sac that rises and falls as if with heavy breaths.
Risali is lagging behind, looking almost-wild with her hair at awkward angles and sleep clearly still half-way on her brain. It's the heat of the sands that brings her awake, that has grey eyes blinking wider as she takes trembling steps towards Zaria and pauses - bowing for the queens - and slips her hand into Zaria's. "It's really happening," she breathes, looking for Cara in white and holding out her hand for Brynn if he needs the support.
The eggs wobble and crack, and still no Calisi. Further moments pass, as weyrlingmasters come to stand around the edges and await their new charges… but one of them continues on. Marel crosses the sands instead of waiting by their edges, coming to join Soriana in front of Meirath and Luraoth. The brownrider is greeted with a nod from Soriana, and the two share a few words of quiet conversation as they watch the eggs.
Cara shuffles out in a group of candidates - blinking, unfocussed, and still trying to figure out which way is up. Where excitement comes for some she seems to have settled into clumsy, almost tripping over her own feet as she goes. She wobbles a brief curtsey to the clutchparents before moving off to stand in the line,eyes drifting back closed again for a brief second before she gives herself a quick shake and peers out across the sands.
Cracked Like An Egg continues that tapping, but now it seems more focused on a single spot. Tap… tap tap… tap tap tap… and a fragment of shell falls loose, surely the first of many as that persistence pays off.
<Galleries> "It's the Faranth-forsaken middle of the night." Because the obvious needs to be pointed out by an oversized, overtired figure in Half Moon blues and greys, expression haggard. Despite complaints, however, the rider looks… well, excited might be a gentle term, excited and nervous at once as he finds space for himself and a veritable entourage from the distant island weyr in the stands. "Faranth, they weren't joking about the eggs," R'hyn comments to nobody in particular as he perches on the edge of his seat, fingers steepled and bouncing as blue-grey eyes seek out a familiar figure on the sands. Oh hey, there's that girl and guy he thoroughly embarassed himself in front of and then— "There she is!" And because WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS, even on hatching day: "GO RISA!!!" Faranth. At least that seems to be all for now - R'hyn quiets as eggs start rocking, if only to bite nervously at nails and wait.
Cutaneous Cage Egg is pierced by a talon - then another, beside it. They sweep to either side, ripping through that final barrier with a jagged tear to pull the last layer of shell apart and bare its occupant to the world.
| Such A Curious Feeling |
| A grassy green with a face like a blade. Her long muzzle comes nearly to a point, her skull like the basket hilt for that rapier. She has narrow headknobs, swept back close to her skull and with the tips curved toward each other over the top of her head. From there, she has a long and well-muscled neck that's marred by a large patch of skin where the green of grass has been turned to arid brown, a broad ring around her neck has an almost fuzzy look from the clinging flakes of dead hide. Her body is rounded, almost pudgy in contrast to the leanness of her face. Slender limbs slightly bowlegged around the bulge of her belly contribute to the malnourished look, the hue on the legs more yellowish than elsewhere on her body. Her wings are similar to her legs in that they're long and slender, the sails traced with a branching pattern from blood vessels near enough the surface to be visible. Her hind legs are slightly shorter than her fore even after accounting for that bowlegged stance, which gives her a look like she's constantly just about to stand up or sit down. Her tail is perhaps the only appendage of hers that actually counts as short, barely enough to brush the ground. It's as if the crafter who sat down to make her started with a blob for her torso and big ambitions on the neck, then increasingly realized just how little material they had left to make the rest of her appendages! |
<Galleries> C'rus enters the galleries looking very much like he woke up not all that long ago, because he did. He shuffles in and finds a seat, peering down onto the sands as the first of the dragons makes it out of the shell. Here we go.
Zaria grabs onto Risali's hand gratefully and a look of something…else crosses her features very briefly. But the heat from the Sands is quickly taking her focus away whatever butterflies are her in stomach. She squeaks audibly when the Cutaneous Cage egg starts cracking. "Oh Faranth, what am I doing here? I don't know if I can do this." She says with a little bit of of a waver in her voice. When the Green makes her appaearance though, she is shocked into silence, her sweaty hand gripping Risa's for dear life. "This is actually happening." Poor Holdbred Zar, all kinds of new experiences.
Road to Salivation Egg slips forward in its cradle of sand, settling itself at an odd angle as it freezes once more.
Such A Curious Feeling Green Hatchling raises her head upward as her shell falls away, her gaze angled to the ceiling of the hatching dome as if in the glimmer of those lights she may see… what? Not her lifemate, surely, and yet she regards the heavens before she lowers her iridescent gaze to the sands. She steps toward the candidates with an awkward gait, as if her hind legs are hurrying to keep up with the long stride of her forelimbs.
Risali's attention is ripped from Brynnjan to the newly hatched green, the candidate tugging lightly on Zaria's sleeve as she breathes out a whispered, "Look at her, Zari. Isn't she beautiful?" And then, almost as if only just hearing the other woman, she gives Zaria's hand a gentle squeeze. "You've got this, we're okay. I'm here with you."
Cracked Like An Egg falls away into pieces, the weak spots of its shell exploited so that the whole thing crumbles away… though it might be even more quickly than the occupant expected, for he tumbles to the ground as the egg-wall he was leaning on abruptly gives way.
Cara is awake. No really, she is. Don't let the fact that she still hasn't quite managed to focus on anything fool you, or the slight swaying that's going on. Her hands lift to scrub at her face, and during the seconds her vision is obscured a dragon has appeared. A few more blinks confirm this is not, in fact, a dream and she shuffles just a liiiitle bit closer towards Risali and Zaria.
Brynnjan stands with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out across the eggs — and their occupants — with muted excitement. To be present for such an event is amazing, but to be participating, at this level, is out-of-this-world. It's all he can do to keep his composure.. but he does. He shares a smile and glance with Risali, an "older brother meeting the new baby for the first time" sort of thing.
| Book By Its Cover Brown Hatchling |
| Warm russet brown covers this noble dragon ready to meet the world. He has a squared shape to his muzzle, the tip dipped in black as those he put it in a well of ink and stained the hide. Black outlines his eyes, the ridges above them arched in a perpetually curious expression. His headknobs spread to the sides from there, broad at their bases and gradually narrowing as they curve gently downward and darken along a gradient until they reach a deep bistre at their rounded tips. Those ridges continue back along his head, small undulations in the hide like a brow furrowed in thought whose wrinkles merge into the ridges of his neck. There's a splash of paler tan around it, low on the neck where it meets his torso. It's at about the spot a rider would sit, passing over his shoulders and down along the sides as if that part of his hide was shielded from the sunbeams that warmed the rest to that rich brown. Similarly pale is the hide along his underside, a soft fawn along his belly and the inner surface of his legs. Large paws end those legs, their black talons turned slightly outward to better grip the ground and support his body. He's solidly built, but with an impression of balance; not out of proportion in any particular dimension, yet well supplied in each. A ridge of dark cocoa runs along his back, starting just behind his shoulders and continuing to between his hips, where it ends just before the start of the tail that counterbalances his neck with its curve behind. |
Kera watches the eggs, a couple trembling here or there before the chubby green hits the sands, bringing a grin. "She looks like she's already been snacking." While the green hatchling starts her search, the greenrider turns her gaze back towards Soriana and Marel and gives a thumbs up. No mauling yet, that's good right?
Metan's been running and running and running since he'd been woken from a deep sleep far away from the candidate barracks. He's got a litany of curse words streaming out of his lips as he shoves his way through the hatching arena doors and out another towards the sands. There's no candidate robe on the man, he's dressed in pants and boots that've been hastily pulled on. Bare-chested, he skids to a stop only when he's near to colliding with another candidate.
Key to Carnal Desires Egg seems to shiver, a stirring deep within the shell that draws it as nothing has ever done before.
Such A Curious Feeling Green Hatchling makes slow progress around the candidates. She's gotten her feet under her… for the most part, anyhow; sometimes they slip against the sand and slow her down, but most of her lack of speed is made by how she seems intent on considering each candidate in turn. Are you her rider? No… not you. How about you? …hmm…. No, not quite. She offers soft chirps on consolation to some of those she rejects, but reject them she does, moving on to continue her quest through all the possible lives these sands have to offer.
Tick Tock Time Runs Out Egg sways against the sands, moving back and forth with a steady motion. One and two and one and two and…
Zaria shoots a thankful look in Risa's direction, even as she lets out a deep sigh, her body visibly relaxing, well as much as she can. She takes up the candidate shuffle, trying to keep her feet off the hot sands as much as possible. When Risa mentions the green, she nods, "She's so cute and round, I guess the healers really went all out making them as helthy as possible." Cara is noticed and she gives a little chuckle, "Just follow my voice Cara, almost there." Her words trail off though as her favourite egg starts to shiver.
Road to Salivation Egg tips over onto its side, then goes deathly still, as if that one, abrupt motion is all it ever intends. Moments pass, becoming nothing more than a dramatic pause before its occupant breaks herself free with a far-flung shower of shards. Breathing heavily after her battle with her shell, the petite, grassy green stands with her paws dug deep into the sand beneath her, panting at the ground and not too concerned about looking up at the nearby Candidates. Maybe it's because she doesn't want one of //them at all, for when she finally moves again, it's to turn to the Stands and the nearest row of seating, where a small huddle of dragonhealer assistants anxiously observe the proceedings. Making a feeble, mewling noise, she sets her sights on the tallest of them, a girl who easily outstrips the young men in the group, the sound taking on a pained and expectant edge. And so, Itzel has to move, all but falling over herself to make sure she gets to her new lifemate's side as quickly as possible. "You'll be fine, Ivoth, I promise. You will be. Just trust me."//
Key to Carnal Desires Egg shudders, rocking with an eager urge. The shell cracks, a fissure widening as the occupant seeks to push their way through.
Book By Its Cover Brown Hatchling rolls onto his feet and gives himself a shake to clear himself of shards and sand. His wings splay as he does, then settle back to his back once more. His head swings first to one side, then the other, surveying those candidates who still remain on the sands. Hmm. Is that all? His head sways back the other direction, taking a second look at the options before he makes his move.
Watching you Sleep Egg stirs just slightly, turning the tiniest bit in its cradle of sand, unsettling only a handful of pale grains.
Risali's giving Brynnjan a smile, mouthing, 'Amazing, right?' when — oh. There's another dragon on the sands, and grey eyes sweep over the little brown as she pulls Zaria closer, heading towards Cara. She's mindful of the green - and brown - as she shuffles her feet and stills. An impression! "Congratulations!" Risali calls, mindful of baby dragons and Zari leading Cara by voice. And then Metan. Yeah, her eyes narrow, she motions at her own chest, but that's all.
Tick Tock Time Runs Out Egg intensifies its motion, wobbling on the sands until it crashes against them with a loud crunching sound. This is one egg whose shell will definitely be scrap!
After the young green chooses her rider, Kera winds through the eggs towards the new pair. "Ivoth must be hungry. Let's go get her some food." The awlm gestures for the pair to follow away from the chaos.
Cara's head flicks round as Zaria speaks, a smile finally appearing on her face through the web of tired that overlays everything she does - the heat from the sands seeming to make things worse rather than waking her up. A quiet congratulations is murmured as Itzel Impresses, and then she moves with more purpose to join up with the other girls. "How are you so awake? I need a vat of klah or something." And a hand perhaps? One is certainly wiggled in the direction of Risali.
Such a Curious Feeling Green Hatchling pauses once more before a candidate, but this mystery seems to take her far longer to unravel than her previous investigations. At long last she croons, soft and warm, and bows her head to her chosen one, tucking her head to catch their hand between the curve of her head-knobs.
With a triumphant cry it seems that the Such A Curious Feeling has found its partner at last and impression is made!
So Much Waste Egg… bulges? There's definite movement there, yet not one fragment of shell slips away.
Metan doesn't have a care about his appearance, though his eyes meet Risali's briefly. He looks to Cara as he rounds up to the group of girls. A bare-chested man amongst a group of women. It's fitting. He gives a brash grin out and up towards the onlookers, perhaps looking for a certain face in the crowd before he turns and notices another Impression occurring. "At least no one's injured yet," he murmurs, folding his arms over his chest to still any movements. "Last time I was mauled." His bare back is littered with scars, which may on quick glance be mistaken for raking clawmarks.
Brynnjan nods gently to Risali, and resumes his standing, waiting. Hoping, perhaps. He trusts the eggs, the dragons, and their judgement. He closes his eyes, momentarily enjoying the breeze on his face.
Book By Its Cover Brown Hatchling finishes his second visual sweep of the candidate, and rumbles softly. His head lowers, as if sorrowed… but then he lifts it again, with a pleased chirp… and closes those faceted eyes of his to seek with what's inside instead of just surface appearances.
Watching you Sleep Egg rocks precariously forward, only to tip back again, fragments of shell beginning to slip to the sand below as its occupant redoubles its efforts to break free.
Cara is awake now! Her free hand is snagged, not by Risali, but by the little green hatchling that she had lost track of in her stupor. "Oh Faeth." Sensible or not she crouches to enfold as much of the little dragon into a hug as possible, "I won't be far away again, I promise. Not ever."
Key to Carnal Desires Egg unlocks its own personal potential in a thump against the sands, falling forward and shattering around that fissure into a slick puddle likely left behind by one of those dragonhealers' ointments.
| Knight of Passion Blue Hatchling |
| Sleek and sinuous, his hue is a striking shade of indigo like blue ink splashed across his form. It's speckled with brilliant patches of pale cyan, their shapes varied like blotches spattered down from the outer corners of his eyes to trace the proud sweep of neck… then down his lithe body with splatters of pale sky that accent the graceful curves of muscle and splash above his wings before sweeping down over hips toward his long tail. Just down the center of his back, the hide beneath those pale spatters warms to the color of iris flowers, spreading over the top and down to about halfway down his tail before the sky-blue dapples more intently to all but cover the rest of that long and sinuous appendage. The top of his muzzle is indigo speckled with sky blue like his back, relatively broad and flat - it's his eyes that draw the attention on his face, large and with an arch of the ridges above them as they sweep back to his cobalt knobs that gives him a permanently teasing look. Underneath his chin, the hide has a whorled hue, mottled between sapphire and royal blue like brocaded silk or the dapple of tie-dye along his belly and down the toned legs that touch earth with violet-dappled paws and small, delicate silver talons. Those four limbs can carry him with confidence on the ground, and for the air his wings are a generous span, long and narrow rather than broad. Their upper surface has indigo spars and azure sails marked with splashes of a pale silvery blue while the underside has almost the inverse as the silver-blue dominates on the sails and even the spars brighten to iris from the blue-dappled hide beneath. |
<Galleries> A large and muscular greenrider from High Reaches begins to sob very loudly, wiping a waterfall of tears and snot from his face. He sniffs loudly, coughing a bit as he peers around. "Hatchings ALWAYS make me cry. Look at those tiny babies. So beautiful!" He blows his nose, a loud honking sound before settling down to more movement.
Risali's free hand goes right into Cara's - or would, but there's a green there instead. "Congratulations!" she breathes to her friend, all excitement as she pulls on Zaria as if to say look, look. "Oh! What a clumsy little egg." Crashing about, making a ruckus. Grey eyes trail after the remaining hatchlings until Metan speaks and Risali answers with a dry, "I'm about to maul you." Pause, and a hasty, "I mean - not like -" Dignity, she dons it, lifting her chin just so. Shut up. She actually didn't say anything, look at the babies. "There's another blue, Zari!"
Digest the Venom Egg pulses awkwardly, threatening to rupture and send all that nutrient goop all over anyone in range.
"It's going so fast, is it always this fast?" Zaria asks a little shakily as she continues her attempt to keep her feet on the hot sands for as little as possible. Cara just about reached them, but it seems the little green is for her and tears start welling in her eyes, "Faeth? What a beautiful name!" She cries and claps her hands together. Her attention is taken from the impression when her favourtie egg hatches a blue and she grins, "Ohhh, he's a handsome one."
Knight of Passion Blue Hatchling rises from the sands with a slow stretch, extending his graceful neck - then his sleek shoulders and elegant wings - then his slender body, all the way through to that sinuous tail. He poses there, lingering to give every eye a chance to appreciate his form and patterns before he continues.
Tick Tock Time Runs Out Egg falls away… mostly. Small shards like strewn confetti dust the form of the dragon so revealed, and a single large fragment clings over the face to cover it like a mask going from head-knobs to the top of muzzle.
| Let's Rock This House Gold Hatchling |
| Broad shoulders and hips shine with yellow mustard, their imposing lines tapering down to a narrow keel and short but strong legs tucked beneath her. She's a bright gold, her colors brash and undiluted along the trapezoidal prism of her body. Her head is a wedge shape, with a short muzzle and large eyes, and one of her knobs sticks almost directly upward while the other remains tucked close to her head. Across her chest sweeps a band of cream, crisp-edged as it goes from the base of one wing to the other in a straight (well, curved around her torso) line. Those wings are powerfully built, with squared spars near the shoulders that extend - and extend - into long sweeps that stretch until they're almost skeletal at the ends, narrow pinions with the sails between fading from a smoky amber glass through to an all but invisible shine of golden sunlight along their trailing edges. She may have short legs, but those wings ensure that no stairs will ever defeat her… even if those slightly gnarled black talons can't quite manage to get a grip. Matching those wings in extent is the length of her tail. It's broader on top than the bottom, tapering along its length until it divides into a forked tip whose prongs are sparked with fluorescent white. |
WLM G'thar steps over to Cara and her new dragonmate. "Congratulations Weyrling. Let's get some food into her belly. You two head over here." With a quick gesture, he starts away, expecting the pair to follow.
Cara takes an eternity to move again, even after G'thar appears, though it's not from sleep this time. When she finally gets to her feet again and follows out of the way there's a definite teary look to her face, but a happy one.
<Galleries> Does R'hyn have nails left? HE HONESTLY MIGHT NOT. Blue-grey eyes twitch from candidate to candidate, dragonet to dragonet, watching hatchings and impressions, but mostly his daughter-friend-thing down there on the sands, only occasionally reaching out a hand to grip Ila'den's knee, Citayzleat's arm, or really any other part of their groups' personages he can reach. Blubbers from nearby distracts him only momentarily, lips quirking up as he glances over at the rider with a thumbs up and an understanding, "They are gorgeous, aren't they?" Despite their inauspicious beginnings… And that little golden brick house of a dragonet down there, which R'hyn marks with a wry, "Shells, but she's… interesting." He says it like he means it. HONEST.
Metan casts the barest of glances at Risali and he winks at her, flexing enough of his arm to make it apparent he's trying to distract her. "Maul me all you want," he teases, laughing quietly and then his gaze is drawn away as more dragons hatch around them. The gold catches his eyes and they hold there for a moment. "Beautiful," he murmurs, looking to those around him. He's got the protection of solid boots on the sands and so can steele his movements against any shuffles. Beads of sweat begin to form on his brow.
<Galleries> C'rus has been to his fair share of hatchings, but a gold on the sands certainly catches his attention. He sits up in his chair and tries to wipe the sleep from his eyes to see just what is going to happen here.
<Galleries> The blubbering greenrider peers over to R'hyn and gives him the ole JUDGEMENTAL EYES. No one is safe out here! "SHE IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT. Interesting is used by people with no taste!" SASS.
So Much Waste Egg splits down the middle in an ugly, jagged line, almost unnoticed, if only because it just sits there… breathing? Its shell seems to expand and deflate rhythmically, surely breathing in time with at least someone on the Sands or in the Stands, until its occupant prises fragments free and widens the gap enough to escape. Skinny, all long limbs, neck and tail, the young, arctic glacier blue looks positively sickly in the wrong light, yet he moves with a lithe ease and a boldness of spirit to claim the one he wants. Wrapping himself around the ankles of Sarahi, Searched from a distant hold and known to be still in the process of learning his letters, he melts into the sand, his first task complete. Hunkering down, S'ahi tries to awkwardly gather him up. "Come on, Enuketh. You can't nap here!"
Brynnjan flashes a smile to the weyrlings, feeling more and more like a proud father, even though he's not a dragon. When the gold appears, he beams. Gold is good. And then a blue. Wow!
Book By Its Cover Brown Hatchling opens his eyes once more, and ventures forth! There's a few stumbles along the way as his paws slip against the sand, but he's practically wiggling with enthusiasm as he finally makes his way to the candidate who's right for him despite their different exteriors.
With a triumphant cry it seems that the Book By Its Cover Brown Hatchling has found its partner at last and impression is made!
Watching you Sleep Egg shatters all at once, dark wings flaring to hide shards and occupant both from the view of those inhabiting Sands and stands alike. Only those wings droop just as suddenly as they appeared, leaving the large bronze freed from the shadows of his own making to slowly lift his head and hold it high, surveying all that he sees.
Risali is a whole lot of nope right now, grey eyes narrowing on Metan as he flexes and — ugh. This is her ugh face. "Dream on, pretty boy," she hisses, giving her attention quick to Zaria and breathing out, "He is a handsome little — oh." Speaking of handsome, look at that little gold. "Zari, look at her, she is perfect." Risali might also be squeezing the she-candidate's hand to death. This is fine.
| Night Triumphant Bronze Hatchling |
| He's a strapping creature, this sturdy bronze - at least, at first glance. It's his broad shoulders that at first suggest a powerful build, yet the strength promised there soon tapers off into a slender, almost skeletal chest, each rib visible beneath rich, coppery hide, no scrap of spare weight on him as his body narrows to slim hips and a lean, starlight-touched and narrow tail that could aid his balance as much as hinder. Once his long wings unfurl, it becomes clear that those chestnut burnished wingsails are heavy and opaque, threatening to weigh him down and force his shoulders to hunch, leaving him apt to try and carry his wings close to defy the need to stoop and keep them from trailing along the floor. Despite his evident contradictions, or perhaps because of them, he carries himself proudly, his blunt muzzle always tipped slightly upwards, the shadows swept across his large eyes lending him a hooded air of quiet smugness. Fragile limbs wrapped in dark, inky tendrils that now make each and every strand of weak muscle plain to see vow to fill out, given proper work and attention, though the pale, near white scarring across his dexterous paws may be a permanent feature, his midnight claws sharp and deadly from day one. |
Zaria can't keep up, it's hatchlings and impressions all over the place and she doesn't know where to look anymore. She feels herself getting dizzy and then the gold hatches. "Woah! That's a gold!" Way to state the absolute obvious Zaria, as if no one else has noticed. "She really is Risali, absolutely perfect!" she replies
Knight of Passion Blue Hatchling moves lightly across the sands, his steps graceful and his body swaying with the motions. He's floating on air! Or at least gliding over the sands, his movements elegant despite these being his first moments actually using this body. How he's dreamed of being here!
Let's Rock This House Gold Hatchling is here! Her full glory is revealed. Well, okay, not quite her full glory, she's still covered in bits of shell, but that's just because you can't HANDLE her full glory. SO GLORIOUS. Nothing can stand in her way, and so she goes straight from her shell to charging across the sands, full speed. Vroooooooom…..thud! There she goes, running straight past the scattered candidates and into the wall with a crack as loud as any of the shells. Was that the plaster, or her skull?
<Galleries> BRING THE SASS. R'hyn is locked and loaded and ready to engage. "She's perfect for somebody," he argues with no small amount of amusement. "Or at least, one does hope. I can't really judge, my dragon is— interesting," he says very pointedly with a twinkle in his eye, "and I love him to death. But she's just so…" Hand gesture. At all of her. "That." And then a bronze pours forth, and R'hyn is BIASED OKAY SUE HIM and gestures again. "Now that's a dragon." Rude.
<Galleries> BRING IT? OH. HE'S BROUGHT IT. "Just to death? That's unfortunate." The large musclebound greenrider even offers R'hyn a little pout and what's that? A finger trailing a tear that isn't there? UNDERACHIEVER. "She's just so what? So beautiful and stunning that you can't find the words to express how ravishing she is amongst all of those other dragons? She IS A QUEEN."
Metan only has more laughter for Risali before he moves closer to Brynnjan, or is it to get a glance at that bronze hatchling that's tumbled free of his shell. He's tearless, focus clear, as he mutters something about, "He's so skinny," of which only Brynnajan may hear.
Risali's face is saying that maybe she's not so perfect (she's totally perfect) when she makes a noise in her throat and scrambles sideways to avoid the GLORIOUS little beauty who — thuds right into the wall. There's a wince, Risa's shoulders going up towards her ears as she breathes out, "That looks like it hurt." She pulls Zaria a little closer, and then snipes, "Don't get mauled," to Metan over her shoulder for good measure. So maybe she does care.
Night Triumphant Bronze Hatchling slowly casts his gaze about, seemingly in absolutely no hurry to get anywhere. Perhaps he already knows who he wants. In any case, he's not going to rush things, and takes him time in making one, steady step away from the remnants of his egg. He pauses, shoulders flexing uneasily, then takes another step, and another until he's travelling comfortably across the Sands, headed for the white-robed folk in a manner that allows most only the briefest of acknowledgements entirely by accident. His attention caught, he moves with purpose, unwilling to be distracted.
<Galleries> Fashionably late, J'en slips in at some point once the eggs are hatching and such, taking a position by the door way at which he leans back and slides his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Golden eyes are cast not to the those observing the hatching from the observaton area, but rather to the sands themselves. Specifically to the tiny black haired steamroller in her candidate robe.
<Galleries> Citayzleat has herself seated to one of R'hyn's sides — the occasional death grip doesn't seem to bother her, and neither does anything happening on the sands. Actually, the healer is smiling, one arm around a short Xanadian 'brat and the other occasionally going up around the tall bronzer's shoulders or poking Ila'den in the ear-hole she can reach, or waving to new arrivals; J'en's gets a grin and finger-wiggling wave. "The clutch looks healthy so far, doesn't it, C'rus?" Either healer-ly familiarity or personal knowing of the healer, one, brings Cita to call out to the other healer, as she eyes the bickering riders with amusement. "I think she looks nice." Ladies have got to stick together, and all.
Kera comes back to see fewer eggs and several hatchlings cruising the sands. Edging around to a couple of new pairs one blue, the other brown, "Congrats. Let's get both their bellys filled right over here." She motions for both new riders to lead their dragons off the sands.
It All Turns to Shards appears to disintegrate, shell flaking away and covering the peppermint green dragonet once held within. She remains curled up, found just as she was within her first home, only to warily blink yellow-touched eyes open as she gradually notices the change in light. Rolling over, she lazily stretches her limbs, then lies there, prone, ribcage gently rising and falling in a slightly laboured fashion. No further does she go, physically, yet there's nothing at all wrong with the strength of her mind, a burly, once baker apprentice, now weyrling summoned to attend her. "Ayurath, you'll never know until you try," the newly made M'achi insists.
Let's Rock This House Gold Hatchling backs up from the wall with a series of low chirps. The broken piece of egg-shell still covers her face, but there's definitely a dusting of white flecks on her muzzle that wasn't there before… though at least the wall's still standing. For now, anyhow! Better send someone to fix it later… but never mind that. Her first attempt may have been just ever so slightly off-target, but she is undaunted! SHE HAS NO DAUNTS. And she still has plenty of charge, so… a turn to adjust her angle, and off she goes again!
"Mauled? Wait no one said anything about maulings." Zaria is looking truly worried now. The gold bonks her head, and Zaria kinda chuckles, "Oh she's a darling." She grins. The browns and bronze are eyes wearily, but as she shuffles, all Zaria can think of is when she can leave and get some relief for her feet.
<Galleries> OH NO HE DI'INT. "I know you didn't just imply that I don't love my dragon enough," R'hyn laughs, eyes bright with challenge as they twirl down to the sands— just in time for the gold to ram head-first into a WALL. "Yes. Beautiful and stunning. Ravishing. Truly. I can't imagine a dragon more deserving of our admiration." BACK FLICK HIS EYES, full of mischief as the gold goes barrelling off… again. "Faranth help the girl that impresses her, truly. She's going to be a treasure if she keeps up like that." And then there's CITA. "You're horrible," R'hyn quips. "You're just saying that cause she's a girl." Calling her on her BS? YOU BET.
Knight of Passion Blue Hatchling seeks the rest of his dream, the beautiful person - at least to him - who has called him from afar. He can feel that pull - and surely then can too, the summons of the heart that leads him to his destined one - and around her, that sinuous body curling around her with his tail wrapped around one leg and his head leaned against her heart, muzzle lifted so he can stare adoringly into her eyes.
With a triumphant cry it seems that the Knight of Passion Blue Hatchling has found its partner at last and impression is made!
<Galleries> "I'm no dragon healer, but so far so good. Doesn't mean there aren't any problems on the inside, but we can be be optimistic I think. " C'rus replies to Citayzleat, "And no one has been hurt so thats a bonus."
<Galleries> Movement out of the corner of J'en's eyes draws his attention temporarily towards Citayzleat, remaining for several seconds until he jerks his chin up at her in greeting. Once the healer's attention moves on, so does his, sliding the evenness of his gaze off towards the sands once more and the activity that they hold. Expressionless as always, not even the excitement unfolding with every breath and Impression appears to have any effect on changing it.
Risali is all reassurance: "They happen, Zari. Gotta stay out of their ways when they -" Charge? Like the little gold seems to be gearing up to do again, and Risali is trying to find a path and a method to make sure neither she nor Zaria are in the way should the beauty head in their direction.
<Galleries> Musclebound greenrider just raised his eyebrows as high as he could do it, cleaning between his teeth with the tip of his tongue. Sorry, were you saying something, R'hyn? "You better be careful you silly man, she might impress someone so powerful and influential that you're going to be eating your words." FINGER SNAP, PIGEON HEAD ROLL, EYE ROLL. Not just any eyeroll, either. The kind that makes you think he auditioned for Beetlejuice.
Feeling a heat rise in her cheeks that has nothing to do with the sands, Zaria drops Risa's hand and sinks in front of the dragonet in front of her. "Oh Azrith." She's speechless as she throws her arms around his neck and just sobs happily, a release of tension in her whole body.
Let's Rock This House Gold Hatchling will never give up! Never surrender! Never stop… until she crashes directly into a dark-haired candidate and tumbles down on top of her, limbs sprawled in all directions to bury her with that golden bulk.
With a triumphant cry it seems that the Let's Rock This House Gold Hatchling has found its partner at last and impression is made!
<Galleries> Citayzleat's mouth does a kind of twitchy-twitchy thing that might be a bitten-back laugh; the kid next to her full-on cackles, clapping with glee. Cita chucks the side of his head and snickers under her breath, side-eyeing R'hyn with amusemment. "She's doing fine. You couldn't walk for months after you were born." The healer points out, staunchly. Her breath might catch a little at the sight of that green — she's a real beauty — but the healer can talk and gape at the same time. "I certainly hope there aren't any problems. And," A quick, suspicious kind of glance out to the sands. "I hope it stays that way!" You know, injury-free. J'en's nod is noted with a fierce kind of grin, but. Wait. "Is…" Uh-oh.
As his lifemate's mind links with his own, Bryn'jan smiles. "Sanarth," He muses to himself, ever the proud father. Bryn'jan gives the brown dragonet a gentle, reassuring hug, and moves to lead him off the sands toward the others. "Let's get some food in you. You must be hungry. I know I am." Or is Bryn hungry because Sanarth is hungry? The world may never know.
<Galleries> R'hyn can't help it; he laughs, a veritable guffaw that rolls into what might be a giggle, might be a squeak of something vaguely panicky, but is ultimately just NOT A VERY MANLY SOUND as the musclebound greenrider's words amuse and then REALLY SINK INTO HIS BRAIN BECAUSE GUESS WHO IS DOWN THERE?? "Yes. Fair. My luck she'll wind up impressing— "RISA NO." Eating words? Definitely eating words. And regretting everything that his life now is. One beat. Two. Then a dramatic point back at the bulky greenie. "I blame this on YOU!" And now he'll be burying his head into Cita's shoulder with a groan that might contain words. It might not. It might just be one long series of swear words.
Metan puffs out a breath and finds himself standing alone in the Sands as those around him begin to pair off again. He's not getting anxious about the process. Though his shuffling feet can't be blamed on the heat of the sands. He has a glance for Zaria and Brynn as they pair up and move off. That gold is given a glance and then he's looking out at those remaining.
Risali's suddenly empty handed, blinking after the lack of contact to see just what's happened. There's a breath of, "Zari, congratulations!" Only Risali doesn't get to finish the end of that sentence; suddenly (she stupidly took her eyes off of the gold), she's getting tumbled onto the ground by a gold dragon and this is it, this is how it ends. But it doesn't end, does it? Risali is shakily opening her eyes and getting smothered by a gold (she wiggles her way out, but she's dazed) - and then… is that a laugh? It is, and shaky hands to guide the little gold as she breathes, "Risa? We'll talk about that later. I've got you, Leirith. No coatracks, I promise." And off to be a seeing-eye minion forever she goes.
Night Triumphant Bronze Hatchling reaches the end of his travels - and the beginning - presenting himself before the man with the crooked smile with an air of expectation, a challenge in those rainbow eyes that also promise acceptance. There he leans and there he stays, the edges of his wings grazing sand.
With a triumphant cry it seems that the Night Triumphant Bronze Hatchling has found its partner at last and impression is made!
Digest the Venom Egg cracks. Or, at least, it sounds like it does. There's a shudder and that noise, though no further sign of any progress. But then a murky green tail. And a paw. The top of the shell is roughly launched away, the heavy-set green now free to roam and find her future. However, she's intent on not going forward without a piece of her past. Stomping on the remnants of her shell, she selects a significant shard and holds it between her teeth as she ventures forth and gambles her way towards one of the younger girls, almost bowling her over as she belatedly discovers her brakes don't seem to work. "I'm alive! You're alive! It's okay, Isometh, it's okay! Really!" The cry rings loud and clear, Averie having toppled forward onto her new friend instead.
G'thar motions for a nearby pair to follow. "Congrats Zaria. Let's move Azrith where it's calmer so he can eat." He picks up Bryn'jan and Risa on the way. "You should come along too, they'll be starving as well."
<Galleries> Musclebound greenrider just stands up and does a little victory dance. No other words need said, the magic has happened and it's there on the sands in all it's glory! Bonus sugary goodness for it being someone he actually knows. If you listen closely enough, you'll hear the silent litany during that dance, 'She is a queen~' Poor, poor R'hyn.
<Galleries> Now this had Jae's attention as that gold there steamrolls the dark-haired steamroller, pushing himself up off the wall and peering over the railing but not so much as to in anyway get close to another living person, seeming to be holding his breath as he presses his lips together. Thus he misses the tail end of Citazyleat's fierce grin, because this was something momentous it was. As Risali finally makes the announcement, a soft smile curls up the corners of his lips. "Good job, Risa." he breathes hardly above a whisper and probably lost amount the groans and cheers. He turns then towards the way he had come, slipping away and gone.
Zaria moves over to the side, helping Azrith to his first meal.
Metan finds himself looking down at an expectant gaze as his eyes light on that challenge before him. He blinks once, twice, and then closes his eyes tight against a sudden onset of pressure in his brain. He manages to gasp out, hand reaching to rest on Sirhyth's head. "Be kind to me," he tells the bronze, "and I will never fail you." He hasn't quite managed to clear his vision as the bronze presses a head against his legs and urges him to move.
Eggs have cracked and hatched, young dragons have impressed to their riders. All is… if perhaps not entirely well, at least accomplished. Soriana steps forward from between the pair of golds, looking at the candidates left on the sands. "You didn't impress tonight, but that's okay. Rukbat will rise, and there will be a new day to come. Make something of it." She smiles to them. "Now go. Back to bed, or off to the caverns for some food." A shooing gesture, still accompanied by that smile. They don't have to go home, but they can't stay here! As for herself and Marel? They'll be following the new weyrlings. A new day dawns for everyone, but for some people it involves baby dragons!
Brynnjan falls into line next to G'thar, dragonet in tow, not wanting to be out of contact with his lifemate for one instant. This is Bryn's dragonet. There are many like it, but this one is his. "We are one, Sanarth." He whispers, hopefully soothingly, to his new charge.
<Galleries> Kassala slips into the viewing stands, just in time to see the last ones leave, and the Weyrwoman announce it's the end of the hatching. A sigh escapes the young dragonhealer, "Late.." Oh well.
<Galleries> C'rus will get up from the seat with a yawn as the hatching comes to an end. It is time to head down to the caverns and see what is going on down there. He'll give Cita a wave as he heads out the door.
<Galleries> Yep. Definitely Risali. "Well." Cita straight giggles, like some sort of person who does things like giggle, eyes alight a she shoots a look sidelong at the men sitting on the same bench. Maybe she's gotten over the whole Pie Thing. Maybe she just thinks that it's as funny as the helpless giggles suggest. The journeyman pats R'hyn's back consolingly. "Why the long face? It's not like she can boss you around from here, man." Cita nods, firm; clearly, that's the only problem. J'en and C'rus probably have the right idea, slipping out before the majority of the crowd does, but she'll just. You know. Be here a second. Making a vaguely sympathetic face Kassala-wards. "'fraid so."
<Galleries> Looking towards Cita, a wry smile offered, "Better late than never?" That's one way of looking at things, at least. As others file out of the stands heading wherever, she steps out of the way, likely considering where to go next.
<Galleries> RIGHT. Right. Congratulations are in order. "I MEAN— YAY RISA." Day late. Dollar short. Fight him! "You don't understand," is murmured as he thunks his head back onto Cita's shoulder. "It's not just her. It's him." HAND GESTURE AT ALL OF ILA, who is probably HAVING FEELINGS AND STUFF OVER THERE, feelings that he is stalwartly ignoring in favor of staring down towards the sands as the candidates-turned-weyrling departs with her fellows. "Faranth. That's just going to be—" He doesn't have words for it. At all. And so he gives up with a helpless noise and gets to his feet, making to drag his weyrmate off. "I need a drink. Stat." But before he goes… "And I need to buy you one, sir," is added to the musclebound greenie and then he's off!!, clutching at bits of Ila and Cita and family to tow them all along with to surely make a post-hatching feast spectacle of SOME sort or another. Because NICE THINGS. RISA ISN'T ALLOWED THEM. He's at least nice enough to offer Kassala a polite nod as he passes? Small blessings, truly.
<Galleries> Riohra has been sitting towards the back of the room watching it all happen, though he finally spots Kassala he waits for people to pass by before walking up next to her and gives her a shoulder bump. "I thought you were studying all night and couldn't be pulled away? Or was that so you could sneak off with that strange boy you like?" If he is teasing it doesn't sound like it, kid has dry humor maybe.
<Galleries> Nodding to those that head out, Kassala is looking towards the sands that are fairly empty by now but for the shells of the eggs hatched. Feeling the shoulder bump, she turns, offering Riohra a bright smile, though his words earn him a roll of her eyes, "No, I was on duty, but was drug here to bring some supplies to the dragonhealer.. of course, we arrived too late, it seems.."
<Galleries> Citayzleat hums agreement Kassala-wards, still kind of pat-patting gently. Mockingly. A little. "They all looked okay." The healer adds, bolsteringly, and snorts for R'hyn's dramatics. "I'll buy the first round. You," Greenie. Squint. "You can come too. Yeah." She agrees, grinning. Because anybody who can get a rise out of R'hyn is definitely worth drinking with. She'll happily shepard the little group out, keeping a firm grip on the Weyrbrat she's appropriated — better that than lose the kid into causing trouble. Riohra and Kassala get an unusually jaunty wave from the journeyman, as she goes. "I bet there's food." You know, because, the middle of the night is time for food. Or drinking heavily. As it were.
<Galleries> Riohra nods and stands close to Kassala "I am sure you can get to see them before to long. Especially if you keep hounding that teacher of yours, you know the one with the weird hair cut" he has his hands at this sides as they talk not truly invading her space but still close enough.