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The dragons began humming at a decent hour which was, well, decent of them, and from the intensity of their hum it would probably take until lunchtime for the eggs to be ready to hatch. Fort candidates were told to dress in their white candidate robes and plain sandals and report to the sands to wait. Because of how many candidates there were and how few eggs, they were not required to actually stand on the sands until the eggs begin to move. After all, the sands are uncomfortably hot and there's no way to tell, really, how soon the eggs will hatch.

During this time a messenger was sent to Igen to alert the weyrleaders and invite them. The three chosen candidates from Igen were squished onto their bronze or gold mounts and ferried over. When the weyrleaders from the two Weyrs met, there were swift, angry-sounding words exchanged too softly for the three Igen candidates to make out. After the conversation all of them were escorted to the hatching grounds and the three candidates permitted to sit with whatever Fort candidates have elected to sit and wait.

Meanwhile the humming has grown more intense.

Emora like many of the candidates was dressed and ready by time the humming reached her ears and the candidate master had barged in ordering them up and ready. It looked however like the eggs wouldn't likely be hatching any time just yet. Most of the candidates had been told to get comfy while the entire Weyr tried to ignore the tension between the two Weyrleaders and the Jr. Goldrider. Settling down at the edge of the sands with the others she set out to wait until the eggs began to shift and move. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long, but there were certainly worse things to have to wait on.

Grinning Emora glanced around at her fellow candidates wondering what they were thinking right now and looking for familiar faces in the crowd. Soon. So soon they'd be seeing baby dragons and for the first time for most of them.

Mari carelessly tossed her clothing aside as she squirmed into her robes. White was not her favorite color, and the robe was not the most flattering cut on her curvy body. She smoothed it down, slipping from her slippers and into the sandals. She hurried out and grinned widely, excited to see the eggs break open and spill wet hatchlings onto the sand. The dragons were humming and the sound was gorgeous and warm, vibrating in her bones.

Cai

Cai couldn't deny the excitement she felt. She was not a candidate, had no desire to be, so it wasn't the thrill of Impression that stirred the blood in her veins. Nor was it the hatching of dragon eggs. Yes it was a generally joyous event, but she'd been raised in Fort Weyr. In her creche days she'd seen plenty of Hatchings.

Cai's excitement, echoed in the merry whirling of her flit's eyes as they waited outside the Sands stemmed from her first 'on duty' task in her apprenticeship. At the edge of the Hot sands, surrounded by thrumming dragons and an ever filling Stands, Cai and her fellow apprentices, led by a handful of Journeymen, set up their station. It was a small clutch, doubtful they would do much other than stand around, but any injuries short of life threatening ones would be more than she'd had to deal with up till now. Cai felt confidence in herself though.

Rumors had it there was at least one nasty personality out there. Maybe they would get lucky.

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Zofer

It was finally here. The end of his 'Vacation' if you could call it that. Despite being made to do things he'd never thought he'd had too, and enduring a whole different level of cold than he'd ever thought possible, he'd found he'd enjoyed his time at Fort. A sevenday, maybe a day or two more, and he'd made both friends and enemies. Fort was feeling down-right home-y.

Now Zofer was pulled away from the mornings chores (not unwillingly) and dressed in a rather unflattering and uncomfortable white robe. Zofer decided that yes, he was right in believing pants were by far the better thing to wear over, under, and between one's legs.

He plopped himself down where a few other candidate's were gathering. Nods were given to those he recognized and knew, no matter what kind of relationship they had.

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Zarike

Fort. Zarike's hair was wild and his blue eyes bright with excitement. No hot sands and dry grasses. No instead he was surprised to find himself cold! It was a welcome change, to feel the blood rushing to his wind bitten cheeks and nose. All too soon he was back within stone walls and the heat of the Sands assaulted him. Still, it wasn't the dry heat of Igen.

As Zarike sat where directed, the Weyrleader's out of sight he suddenly wondered what the Fort candidates thought of his, and his fellow Igen resident's presence.

Caelan kept his hair ribbon in. He refused to go out on the sands with his hair a mess, and it was long enough to get his eyes and become a hassle. He did done the white robes, they were not the most comfortable article of clothing but they would do. They contrasted nicely with his dark hair and warm skin tone. He checked the sandals one last time, making sure they fit properly on his feet before walking out to the group. He paused, leveling the stranger a dark focus gaze. Who were they and where had they come from? He shook his head, remembering the possibility of Igen candidates and snorted slightly.

Caelan paused, lifting his eyebrow as he was approached and looked the young man up and down. "No," he said simply. He knew something's, such as 'Lin queen should not have clutched the eggs here. That the touching had been quick and under wraps and... that meant the young man did not know about the angry egg. He frowned, thinking slowly. "That white and red egg... the hatchling seems constantly angry. You might want to make sure the rest of your fellow candidates know, since they were not here for the touching."

Eventually the stands began to fill in with spectators. There weren't many of them from outside the Weyr, but nearly every dragonrider in Fort has turned out to watch. None of them are really watching the eggs though. They're watching F'real and Ninuta, L'ki and Alai, and especially Lin. Watching the last means that they must look at the clutching queen, since Lin and Serith have been virtually inseparable since the day of the Touching.

None of the weyrleaders look exactly pleased, but all of them are differently displeased. Ninuta is alternating between scowling at everyone and looking like she's plotting something vile. F'real looks uncomfortable and like he hasn't slept much in days past. Sitting beside him Alai looks worried and a bit puffy. She's been stress eating. Like Ninuta, L'ki's expression also resembles a grin from time to time. Goodness only knows what he's thinking.

The tension is almost thick enough to cut with a knife, and at that moment two eggs, the so-called Murky and Shiny eggs, begin to rock violently.

Zarike

Zarike wasn't completely ignorant of the politics surrounding his Weyr. He knew full well that this clutch should have been on Igen sands, and a more conceited person than he might have added that an Igen male might have fathered a better clutch. Zarike was not conceited though and where his words might have been misread, at least the answer he received wasn't entirely frigid.

"Thanks for the warning." He responded with feeling. Angry eggs rarely hatched without stirring up trouble. At least he and his fellows would be in the Stands rather than down with the Fort candidates. "I'll let them now." Maybe a placating tact would work better. "This whole thing is a mess. I don't know what the Weyrwoman is trying to do." He shook his brown head. "We're just told we'd be coming along. It's not like we're going to be in the stands and on the off chance if we do Impress, it's not like they can just take hatchlings home with them."

He didn't really want to go back and sit with the Igen Weyrleaders but the rocking of the eggs meant that the Candidates had to get into position. He knew that and without any further conversation, he began to back away.