All in a Day's Work [[TOUCHING]]

[Tiddler]

Aryna stretched before going limp, sprawled in the space between Ejjarth’s curled tail and his haunch, clearly quite comfortable. It looked like she’d been there for a while, because her clothes were rumpled, her hair was a mess and… she was actually barefooted. Unheard of on the Hatching Grounds, certainly. But her boots had been discarded nearby and it wasn’t as though her feet actually touched the ground as she was now anyway. Scratching her middle where her shirt had ridden up, she glanced over toward her dragon, ignoring the inquiring chirp from Pretty, who popped his head up from between his human’s shoulder and the curve of Ejjarth’s tail.

“What time is it?”

Late morning.

Aryna grunted before elbowing her blue weakly in the leg. “You let me fall asleep! You good for nothing sod.” Her comment was met with a snort from the dragon, who turned his massive head to peer at her in quiet amusement.

I let you sleep because you were tired. I stayed awake; I would not have let anything happen to the eggs. It was a rather matter-of-fact statement, as if she was silly for even worrying about it in the first place. Aryna just rolled her eyes before sitting up, causing Pretty to slide down the side of Ejjarth’s tail with a protesting squawk. The brown fluttered away as Aryna groped for her boots.

“I suppose you should call the little dears in, then.” The candidates could show their gratitude for being allowed to sleep in, at least; because Aryna just wouldn’t be Aryna if she hadn't been plotting to rouse them at some forsaken hour. After watching his rider pull her boots over to her, Ejjarth happily obliged.

Candidates! Bring yourselves to the Hatching Grounds. The Touching will soon commence.

“Eloquent, for a gigantic blue blob.” Aryna’s comment was met with movement; Ejjarth whipped his tail out straight, dumping his rider on the hot sand and rumbling his amusement as she jumped quickly to her feet and gave him a rather unimpressed look. “Jerk.”

No time for insults; they come.

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1. Geode Egg. Ugly, bumpy, and a mottled mess of gray and brown, this is perhaps the least attractive egg in the entire Clutch. But touch it, and it seems as if gentleness and peace radiate from this egg. A restful, sleeping presence is curled beneath that ugly, thick shell.

2. Covert Affairs Egg. Deep, ruby-red, this egg is eye-catching in the right light. In the dark, it looks like a reddish shadow, but when light shines upon it, it glints brightly and almost viciously blood-red, as if something has been revealed that really should have remained in the shadows.

3. Off-the-Records Egg. Eye-poppingly orange with searing neon yellow spatters, this egg seems to jitter just when you aren’t looking, and be in a slightly different position each time you whip around to glare at it. It’s rather unsettling to have something move only when you can’t see it, particularly something so BIG!

4. Skeletons in the Closet Egg. This egg is smallish, and a dull matte black. It stands out against the sands, but the darkness of the shell is not what catches attention. No, that would be the chalky white markings that lance the black, looking in places like nothing so much as the twisted skeletons of dragons long-dead.

5. Forbidden Love Affair Egg. Ever seen a pink egg? Now you have. Delicate lavender and carnation pink swirl across this egg in a lovely display of colors which one does not usually expect on an egg. Here and there, the pastels darken to rich crimson and royal purple streaks, before fading again.

[Zeneka]

Zenel was a firm believer in not wasting time and so he rarely ever slept in and even then usually only when he was ill. There were plenty of things to explore and discover before the majority of the Weyr’s residents were awake to catch you at it. He’d woken up before dawn, when it was still rather dark, and went to visit his brother, check on his flits and make sure they were still in one piece. Surprisingly enough he seemed rather fond of them. Good, that meant he wouldn’t try to dissect them or anything. He stayed to spend some time with his brother, something he hadn’t done in a while because of candidate lessons and chores and stuff.

“See how he brings me things with only a thought?” Syrus was pointing out with a certain amount of delight that Zenel could not remember seeing in his brother since Rmalkth died.

His Brown flit was bringing him some sort of sharp tool which looked to have something dark green dried on it… Zenel was pretty sure he could guess what it was. He watched his brother give the Brown an affectionate scratch and glanced to his own flit, perched on his shoulder in a rather proud posture.

“You think I could have a look at him?”

He looked back to his brother as he posed his question. “What sort of look?” he asked with eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Syrus hrmphed, “Well he is quite the interesting flit… I’ve never seen a dragon feature two colors like that… what caused it? Could it happen to dragons? Does it mean he is more of a Brown, or a Blue, or is he in the middle?”

“He is pretty… unique,” Zenel took the flit in question into his hands and held him in front of him for a better look, which Dazz was quite happy to allow as it seemed to him his beautiful hide was being admired, which was rightfully so.

Candidates! Bring yourselves to the Hatching Grounds. The Touching will soon commence.

Zenel blinked in surprise and looked around, “The Touching…?”

“Hm?” Syrus tilted his head curiously at his little brother.

“Ah, gotta go. The Touching is gonna start… the Egg Touching, for the new eggs,” he explained after Syrus gave him a rather blank look.

“Oh… Touching… yes…,” he got that pained look that meant he was thinking about Rmalkth.

Zenel sighed, “Hey, you wanted to look at Dazz right?”

Syrus blinked and the look disappeared, “Hm, oh, yes… yes I would very much like to.”

“Well, don’t hurt him… but you can go ahead and have a look at him while I’m gone, kay?” He let go of the flit, “Go on to Syrus, let him have a look at you, stay here with him, kay? But if he starts being mean to you, you come back right away.” He did his best to impress his meaning upon the firelizard, who seemed to get part of it anyway because he flew over to land on Syrus’s arm, much to his brother’s delight. “See ya, Sy,” Zenel waved as he turned and hurried away, toward the Hatching Grounds.

He slowed as he got closer and entered to get a good look at the eggs. Five… well, it would be his first Standing, it would be okay if he didn’t Impress right away. He had lots of time to Stand. He’d get his dragon… he just might have to wait a while. This he had accepted shortly after accepting candidacy, but he was one of the youngest candidates and turns and turns ahead to Stand. He shook his head, why was he thinking about that when there were eggs right there in front of him? One of them might very well be his dragon.

He barely registered the Blue and his rider watching over the eggs. He stepped onto the sands only to step back again at the sudden heat on his bare feet. Hmph, he could handle that, he just hadn’t been expecting it… he’d been distracted by the eggs… that’s all. He stepped forward again, still looking around at the eggs, wanting to see all there was to see about them. It was the first time he’d been close to dragon eggs before…. They all looked so different, in size and shape and color… he wondered how, if it might mean anything about the dragons within. "Can't wait to see what you hatch out as...," he murmured to himself, and to the eggs.

[Tarra]

(OOC> Heehee, I anticipate interesting future relations between C'cao and Aryna ^^)

C'cao had not slept the night he learnt of the new egg thefts, his mind a whirl of agony as he had paced up and down his quarters, mulling on the implications of these latest developments. One might have thought it rather redundant given they had already stolen eggs once before, but the greenrider knew without much inference that this second round would cement their place as the enemy of the North: the rogues of the South who would stop at nothing, and would hence have to be stopped at all cost. The chance for reconciliation, so vital in the face of the ever-growing threat from Thread, was now all but non-existent.

And should the North ever find them again it was likely the coalition would face..not a handful of irate Weyrs, but a combined force totalling all the North out for their blood. It was not a comforting thought, having seen what had happened the last time. What was Kes'lan doing, allowing all this to go on right under his nose...?

Nor did Ejjarth's latest message help his mood. It stirred up worse in fact, as he gritted his teeth at the thought Aryna had dared to call his candidates, going right over his authority as was her usual wont. Not that he had ever considered her for his good books, but one did hope there might be some consideration at the least, especially given she owed her current role to his intervention. Which she had been most unwilling to accept at first. Perhaps she would like to be the Candidatemaster now too? He certainly wasn't going to tolerate much more of such things happening, with him scrambling to keep up like some canine at its master's beck and call. He almost regretted ever bringing her back to the coalition.

Turning toward the fidgeting green dragon at the mouth of his weyr, he snapped a curt response as he pulled the harness straps off their rack.

Let's go.

The ride to the Hatching Sands was relatively fast, and C'cao noted with his usual alacrity that at least one candidate had already arrived. Opheriath hit the ground with a slight lurch; the greenrider unclipped his harness and slid off in the same smooth motion.

"Aryna," a nod was all the greeting he gave the bluerider, his attention all for the arriving candidates. They would need some ground rules - not something he expected Ejjarth's rider to provide, given her own track record. Most of this batch of candidates had not been involved in tending the previous stolen clutch after all. When a good number of candidates had arrived, he gave his instructions with Harper-precise projection, his voice carrying easily over the Sands.

"Candidates, I hope you remembered to bring thick shoes! Remember - don't rush or push. Touch the eggs, don't tap them or knock them. Let's keep this orderly."

With another nod he stepped aside, clearly indicating the candidates could proceed with the Touching now they had heard the instructions.

Opheriath, for her part, was less sullen than her rider about the blue and his rider. Eggs always made her happy, whether or not they also made her rider irate, and her mood was currently buoyant. She sent a soft pulse of greeting to Ejjarth as she slipped over to the other side of the eggs; there to help keep a watch on the candidates, relaying the images to her rider as needed.

[Nene]

Orlaithe practically bowled over a few other workers from the call. Eggs now... She slowed down as she felt her heart race. She slowed her dead run to slow walk. She tried to comb her hair down. The eggs were not going anywhere. Its not like they were hatching- yet. That would be something time would tell.

She stopped-a complete shut down of all motion -except for breath. Five. Five Eggs. I mean they were worth their weight in marks. But there were only five of them. She looked around for a moment. "Just five..." she said with the sudden realization that perhaps the amount of candidates were for selection was adequate.

Orlaithe listened the instructions and started to work her way towards the eggs. Five Eggs. Not a lot to work with. The Queen needed to fly didn't she?

[Tiddler]

“Good to see you, Candidatemaster.” Aryna’s response to C’cao’s terse greeting was both wordy and deceptively sweet as she cast a smile in the greenrider’s direction. There was something about the man’s behavior that amused her endlessly… perhaps the blatant tension and the obvious disdain he was treating her with; could he be holding a grudge for their little scuffle they’d had upon first meeting? Well, she had stabbed his dragon, so it was possible. She didn’t hold any ill will towards him or his green for that day though, so if that was the cause of his somewhat chilly reaction to her then it just served to feed her amusement even more. Of course there was always the chance that he’d felt she was stepping on his toes a bit... but that was shrugged off.

He would get over it.

The dragons seemed to hold none of their riders’ inhibitions though, as Ejjarth edged a bit closer to Opheriath, his gaze innocently sweeping the eggs along with hers. It was all Aryna could do not to snicker at her blue; he’d taken quite a shine to the ladies of late. She cast a glance at C’cao before smirking. Opheriath wouldn’t Rise for a while yet, but it was funny to imagine what might happen if Ejjarth were to win her….


It wasn’t a call he’d been expecting, at least not that day or… really any other day in the near future. Lyraneth had not taken to the skies, and as far as Calerin knew, a dragon had to Fly and be caught in order to make a clutch. He had heard slips of a rumor regarding something about ‘egg theft’ but he hadn't really paid much attention to it.

Until now.

The five eggs sitting together so innocently on the hot gritty dirt was a powerful image to a lad who’d never seen a clutch of dragon eggs before, large or small. He hesitated for a moment, passing it off as a pause to listen to what C’cao had to say. Where did he even start? He hadn't been expecting to have to do this so… well, soon. The blue and green dragons hovering over the clutch seemed almost like protective parents, the whirling eyes glowing brightly in the dimness of the cavern. The Covert Affairs Egg was the first to catch his eye, and Calerin moved forward to press a hand to the egg’s shell slowly. The movement was a combination of caution and almost reverence, as if he feared his touch might somehow damage the shell. Even after knowing that the egg had survived a journey from… whatever place it had originally been laid.

The feelings and emotions that engulfed him through the shell came as a shock to the holdbred boy, and he jerked his hand away at first. The sensations immediately faded and he glanced around almost furtively to see if anyone had noticed his reaction. Deciding that no one had, he placed his hand back on the shell, more prepared now that he knew what to expect.