The beach lies to the northwest, and a tunnel to the sands due west.
Contents:
Danira
Spinner(#523Jp)
Skeo
Obvious exits:
Beach Tunnel
Alina arrives from the sands. Alina has arrived.
Danira stands as the weyrwoman enters.
Alina says "All right, who's up for another egg touching?"
Danira says, after a moment's hesitation. "I would like to join in."
Alina nods. "I imagine you remember the rules from four days ago?"
Jerekan is currently messily feeding a meatroll to the indigo firelizard perched on his shoulder. He peers at the Weyrwoman and nods slowly. "I am, of course... I suppose.." He agrees thoughtfully, before giving a lazy salute and depositing that 'lizard on his cot. "As long as Kylenth is in good spirits." GRin.
One of the other candidates doesn't, so Alina repeats, "Wear boots, leave firelizards behind. No sudden moves or loud noises, no tapping, hitting, or rapping on the eggs."
Danira murmurs to Puff. "Stay here, darling. I won't be long."
Puff has arrived.
Danira releases Puff.
Alina looks at Jerekan. "You should have a healer look at those hand-spasms you seem to have."
Alina enters the tunnel.
Alina heads down the tunnel.
Alina has left.
You walk toward the sands.
No Hatching Sands
Glints from minerals mixed in with the fine white sands catch and reflect the light. Distorted by the heat which is ever-present, they only add to the shimmering sensation which permeates the area. There is enough room here easily for two queens to clutch, or for even the most broody of queens to find a perfect spot for each egg. Near one end is a raised mound where the clutching queen rests once her eggs have been laid, with a mound in front to display the occasional golden eggs of which any queen is proud.
Currently Kylenth guards her clutch of fifteen eggs on the sands.
Contents:
Alina
G'lan
Quonneth
Left
Center
Right
Kylenth
Danira emerges from the tunnel.
Danira has arrived.
Kirysta emerges from the tunnel.
Kirysta has arrived.
Danira inclines her head to G'lan and Kylenth by way of greeting, looking over the eggs.
Kirysta nods to Alina and G'lan as she enters, only slightly out of breath. "And good day to you too Kylenth, your eggs look more beautiful by the day." Corny but hey, it's something.
Kirysta slowly steps onto the hot sands, wincing slightly as the effect of the heat hits her. She walks carefully directly towards Kylenth, very slowly, and stops by the aqua blue egg.
Jerekan strolls in from the tunnel, echoing Danira's nod in greeting to the Weyrleaders and their lifemates. He cranes his neck to peer behind at Kirysta and grins crookeldy before nodding in agreement. "Aye.. Lovely." He smiles sweetly at the queen but keeps his distance from her..
Danira chooses one of the eggs she did not touch last, a pastel one. She strokes it tenderly, looking a bit distant.
Kirysta traces the darker blue lines up and down the shell with her fingers, bending down to follow them all the way to the base of the egg. She sighs softly to Danira. "You know, it's almost hard to believe that.. well, a dragon, is going to come out of this."
Danira nods slowly, looking at her chosen egg. "Yes... somehow, I keep seeing Puff's hatching. But it won't be like that, will it?"
Kirysta shrugs and turns to Alina. "I don't know. Will it be like firelizards hatching? But bigger I suppose. And you have to do more than just feed a dragon, at least, I think so. How do you know if a dragon wants you?" She looks to the weyrwoman for an answer. Quite to which question is debateable.
Kirysta takes a couple of steps backwards and to her right, and gives a cursory glance to the browny grey egg. "This one isn't half as pretty as some of the others." Realising her proximity to Kylenth, she quickly adds "Not that it won't hatch a wonderful dragon I'm sure."
Jerekan peers at a rather... busy and chaotic egg, eyeing the dizzying shades and patterns. "Maybe not beautiful, but certainly.. interesting.." He notes, idly brushing his right forefinger along a spot of pale pink.
Danira murmurs, walking over to another egg slightly closer to Kylenth. "Beauty is overrated."
Jerekan nods slowly. "Unless you're talking about a beautiful woman, of course." Smirk. Shallow, shallow, shallow, that Jerk. He inches to the next egg, closer to the stands. "Sort of plain..." He notes of the average egg, gently placing both palms on it's ivory shell. His expression twists into a slight smile just before he moves his fingertips away, letting his hands fall back to his sides.
Alina says "It will be nothing like a firelizard hatching, and having food on the sands will get you mauled faster than immediately. If you impress, you'll know because you will suddenly realize the dragon's name."
Danira looks at Alina. "They have names already?"
Kirysta moves to her right, and traces the outlined circles from the inner brown patch out to the pale white edges. "This one's interesting." shr murmurs to nobody in particular.
Alina nods. "They have names, and they know them. They will know yours, as well."
Jerekan nods slowly. "They're hatched with them.. I always wondered why that was.. Just one of life's mysteries, I suppose." He let's his hands brush against that ivory egg again before wandering closer to Kylenth.
Kirysta's eyes widen. "They know our names too? How do they do that?"
Danira touches another egg, murmuring again. "What will your name be, I wonder?"
Alina says "Probably the same way that they know who the perfect match is."
Kirysta ohs quietly. She turns and looks at the gold egg, so very close to Kylenth, and takes a deep breath. "Umm. Alina, Kylenth, would it be alright if I touched your gold egg please?"
Alina nods. "Definitely."
Koraela emerges from the tunnel.
Koraela has arrived.
Koraela steps out from the barracks, looking put out that she has to be there at all.
Kirysta swallows hard, and breathes again. She slowly steps forward, and approaches the gold egg. Crouching down on the balls of her feet, she places first one hand, then the other, on the pale gold egg.
Danira watches Kirysta...
Koraela puts on a happy face once she's close enough that anyone might noticed her bored expression, "Hello everyone! Am I late? I had /so/ many other chores to do."
Jerekan cautiously heads toward the center of the sands, pausing before that large, neutral, cloaked egg. He absently digs the toe of his boot in the sand as he watches Kylenth and sloooowly leans froward, fingertips touching the brown and gray surface.
G'lan eyes Koraela skeptically.
Kirysta strokes her palms along the length of the egg, and then steps backwards, away from Kylenth, as fast as she dares, almost bumping into Jerekan as she does so.
Koraela smiles a little wider at G'lan, willing her smile not to look plastic and forced. She steps up to an egg and pats it distractedly as she turns her attention to the gold dragon and the single golden egg.
Jerekan takes a hesitant step back from the vaprous egg, blinking as he nearly bumps into Kirys ta, and reaches a hand out to steady himself before losing his balance. OOf. "As long as you don't know me into /her/..." He mutters a t the other candidate amusedly, giving A quick nod Kylenth-ward.
Kirysta bites her lip and mutters a heart felt "sorry Jerk, didn't mean to bump you. Either to her or any other way." She heads for the small pastel egg to her right that she spent so much time on the other day, and strokes it with almost familiarity, whispering to the dragon within.
G'lan says "Koraela, don't you think you ought to spend time with the rest of the clutch? That egg's getting enough attention as it is."
Danira moves to another egg.
Koraela jerks her attention away from the object of her scrutiny and turns to G'lan, pat-patting the egg before her as if to prove she's giving it some attention. "I am spending time with the rest of the clutch sir." Though not with much dedication.
G'lan says "Really? I haven't seen much evidence of that."
Koraela sucks in her lower lip, looking wounded, "I have been though." Her tone a whine, "I don't know what else to doooo."
G'lan says "Don't touch the gold egg for a while. There are fourteen others in the clutch, and you are just as likely to impress one of them as you are to impress the gold."
Koraela's nose crinkles slightly and despite her efforts lets out a sigh of disapointment. "I haven't touched it yet today--." She protests weakly. "You mean I don't get to?" Ignoring the whole idea of impressing anything else.
Kirysta gives the small multi coloured egg one final friendly pat, and walks around to the small speckled egg.
G'lan says "Not today, no."
Jerekan shakes his head slowly, grinning. "Only teasing." He admits at Kirysta, holding his hands up helplessly. See? Innocent. He moves even closer to Kylenth, pausing before that small green-and-blue egg. He glances at G'lan and Koraela, grinning as he notes, "Can't say that I blame her, G'lan... It's rather lovely and I envy the females who get to touch it." He winks before reaching to touch the egg in front of him. "So is this one, though..." HE admits, giving a low, appreciative whistle.
Danira touches the last of the eggs that she had not yet visited, and tries to catch Alina or G'lan's eye to get permission to leave the sands.
Koraela looks like she wants to stamp her feet, but thinks better of it. "oh , alright. Sir." Her shoulders slump down a little more in defeat and she eyes the other eggs distractedly as if none of them seem to interest her at all.
G'lan says "Go ahead, Danira."
Danira nods, and slips away quietly.
Danira moves into the tunnel.
Danira has left.
Kirysta places her fingertips over the speckles and smiles at the egg, before walking deliberately over in the direction of the other pastel one.
Alina says "Do note that even if you seem not to care for the existence of the other eggs, that each one will hatch a dragonet as capable of mauling you as the queen is. It's a good idea to be aware of -- and used to -- every one."
Kirysta shivers slightly at Alina's words. "They can maul us? Really? Even if we don't have food? Um, why would they want to do that?"
Koraela pulls at a lock of her hair nervously, turning her head slowly to look at Alina to see if she's just kidding or just being spooky. "oh dear! They will?"
G'lan says "They're born with sharp claws. Tell me, how well could *you* walk when you were five minutes old?"
Kirysta looks curiously at G'lan. "Not at all well, why?"
G'lan says "Neither can they. They're clumsy, awkward, very very hungry, and often confused. Walking gracefully isn't something they're much concerned about, and if they stumble or fall they'll not be thinking about where their claws go."
Alina says "Dragonets hatch and within minutes have to make the most important decision of their lives. They're as afraid, if not more so, than the candidates, and they aren't used to walking. They may rush, and if they do they won't be able to stop. If someone gets in their way, they will just want to get the person out of their way, and they have no idea that they're hurting them. And if some half-wit is so busy watching an egg that he or she doesn't see a dragonet nearby, she or he deserves to be shredded."
Jerekan continues to brush his palms against the woven egg, nodding slowly in agreement with the Weyrleaders. "Newly hatched dragons are hungry and confused and have several pointy parts. One or two people are bound to get hurt.. As long as you pay attention and dodge well you'll be fine." JErk...giving words of wisdom... Odd. "I've stood twice and never been hurt before. Well, except the first time I forgot my boots and had to wear sandals and burnt my big toe." HE babbles, gesturning to his left foot...One of them, anyway.
Koraela lets out a little huff of breath and stalks towards the back of the grounds, as if to avoid the weyrleader and weyrwoman, or at least look as though she's getting a look at the other eggs. She finds herself before a little snowflake flecked egg and glares at it petulently, back to the dragonriders as she has a few choice words with the little creature inside the shell. She has to vent sometime right?
Kirysta bites her lower lip as she ponders G'lan's words. "Oh. And we really don't want them to go into us. The claws that is." She nods, and strokes the odd shaped blotch on the beige egg she's standing in front of, before moving to her other "favourite" one, the larger of the pastel eggs.
G'lan says "Correct. I'd really rather not have half the Candidates in the infirmary at once."
Kirysta strokes the pastel egg, and gently whispers to the dragon inside. "Hullo there, I'm Kir, but maybe you already know that, if you're my dragon."
Koraela's voice raises in pitch as she really gets into her venting, "....And THEN let me tell you what would happen...." and once more her voice drops down to an angry mutter as she bends a little closer to the egg. Threatening youngsters--this can't be good. With a flushed face she draws back, her lecture finished and looks over her shoulder smugly, "I'm sure we'll all be very careful. Sir."
G'lan says "For your sake, I hope so."
Koraela pokes the tip of her finger against one of the snowflakes on the egg before her and pushes slightly, as if to see if it would rock over just by the slightest of efforts. "They can't be /that/ fast. Can they?" She's sounding more sure of herself than her nervous expression lets on.
Kirysta shrugs to Koraela. "The firelizards were fast enough. And dragons will be a lot bigger."
Alina says "Ever seen something large try to stop?"
Koraela lets her hand fall back to her side, "I haven't seen a hatching firelizard." She high-steps across the sands to another shadowy egg, looking at it with some disaproval for it's coloring or shape or somesuch nonsense. "um...no, I haven't. Never seen a hatching before."
Alina says "Not a hatching, *anything* big trying to stop quickly."
Koraela thinks about that, "well, yeah. Like when the herders try to round up those bovines. But I didn't think baby dragons where so big."
Kirysta giggles. "I have. One of the stallions my uncle used for runner breeding. It was going down hill, and couldn't stop. And fell over. It wasn't really funny, and he did hurt his leg, but it looked funny."
Koraela giggles at Kirysta's comment, "That sure sounds funny."
Jerekan nods in agreement to Kirysta, turning Koraela-ward as he notes. "Dragons' pointy parts are much more formidable, too." He notes. "You'd probably get far worse than 'lizard scratches if you tried to 'stop' a newly hatched dragonet." Ever-so-wise, that Jerk. He creeps closer still to the Queen, stopping before that reflective pastel egg. "Lovely..." He mutters, giving that low whistle again as he touches the smooth egg.
Alina says "The gold will be about as large as a young horse, and the others will be somewhat smaller. However, they will be moving more quickly initially, and have never had time to practice stopping."
Kirysta giggles again at Alina's words. "I suppose they don't get to practice much, being inside an egg." She pats the large pastel patchworky egg again and bends to whisper to it. "Well you'll get plenty of practice at all sorts of things when you hatch. And food, and oiling and baths and all sorts of nice things that you won't know what they are now. But you will."
Koraela gives Jekekan a lofty look and drawls snobbishly, "I won't be trying to -stop- them. I'll get right out of the way of /course/." Her eyes roll to one side before she looks back to Alina, nodding at her comment. "oh."
Koraela wipes her sleave over the dirty looking egg before her and sighs in disapointment, her attention shifting slowly back towards the gold egg though she pretends to be checking out the egg nearest her.
Kirysta listens and a look of concern crosses her face. "Weyrwoman, I think I hear Horizon, may I go and tend to him please?"
Alina says "Yes."
Kirysta nods in thanks, and heads for the tunnel.
Koraela looks as though she wishes she had a firelizard to go check on and smiles at Kirysta.
Kirysta moves into the tunnel.
Kirysta has left.
Koraela thinks up something in a hurry, "I have ah--mending left to finish. Can I do now Sir? Madam?"
Alina says "If I can find anyone in the Weyr with those names, I'll certainly ask them."
Jerekan blinks at Koraela and cowers visibly. "Ma'am?" He whisper-hisses frightfully, miss-hearing the other candidate. "Where?" He peers conspiratorally at the galleries.. Nope, no brownriders...
Koraela manages to look sheepish and murmurs, "I ment Weyrwoman--Weyrwoman." And to Jerekan she makes a face, "I said 'Madam' not Ma'am, why would I call the Werywoman /that/ name?" She's a Telgar hold girl, she knows that name at least.
Koraela has disconnected.
Koraela has left.
Jerekan frowns, in any case. "I suppose Cook is expecting me to go help peel tubers.. I haven't done that yet, today." HE makes a face before touching that glassy ovoid again and glancing at the Weyrleaders for permission to leave.
G'lan says "Go ahead. We don't want the cooks mad at us."
You head down the tunnel.