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The silence that had descended on the Sands had grown thick and awkward as the remaining eggs refused to move. Some began to murmur that the gold might be a dud egg... which was strange considering the glow of presence it held. With baited breath, the audience waited five long minutes before Luminous Egg finally showed movement - wiggling so much that it fell on its side and rolled a little away.

And, apparently not to be outdone, the Rocky Band egg gave a great shake and tipped over as well, rolling around beside the Queen's egg. Was it a particularly gold struck bronze? Some began to bet that that was the case - it wouldn't be the first time.

Gazes shifted back to the Gold Egg, however, as hairline fractures chased each other across the surface and the top surface pushed out, egg-slimed and awkward wings shaking out, flinging egg shell over everything nearby. She was taking her time, making her grand entrance and she glowed as brightly as her shell, brilliant and beautiful as she lifted her head and blinked newborn eyes at the assembly that she instinctively knew were waiting on her.

The Rocky Band egg knocked against her shell fragments and she looked over as the rear broke out and a dark tail flicked out onto the sands, the ichor too thick yet to discern the hatchling's colour.

Ceta held still and watched Velath as the Green inspected her by smell and with little nudges that she easily took, and then traded excited smiled with Eliza as the girl sat and began chattering. Yes, it would definitely be better now that they had Impressed together. Training would be easier with someone to share it with, and Halith seemed to get on well with Velath.

"I can't stop smiling," she confessed as another one took hold of her. It never got further than pulling on her lips, but she had the feeling it would only take a little push to get it there, which was odd. She was rarely so elated that she strayed to such strong displays of emotion. "Do you really think we'll end up bunkmates?"

You're right! I bet they know all the best places to visit when we're big enough to fly, Halith replied to her sister, her eyes bright as she finished off the little bit of extra meat Ceta had given her. Her comment showed she was already thinking about ways to escape the confines of the weyr and see more of Pern. We should talk to them now! If they won't come down we could go up to them.

Wait until after the Hatching is finished. Your other siblings haven't even had a chance to find their riders yet! Ceta chastised, turning her eyes to Halith. She could already see this was going to be even more of a job than her siblings; for one thing, her siblings couldn't fly. Halith would, when she was older.

Ceta was distracted by the Gold egg finally taking up some stronger movement and then breaking forth into the world to show off her splendor. A Gold she was, and a brilliant one at that. Ceta had to admire her, as any girl would. She had, at one point during the Touching, entertained the notion that maybe such a calm presence as the Queen Egg felt to have would be meant for her. Now, Ceta couldn't imagine how she could love another creature as much as she loved Halith, intense energy and all.

Of course not. You are Mine. How could you be Hers too? Halith asked as if Ceta were being silly.

Like all the rest, Nawa began to worry, and wondered absently if as much time passed as it felt like. With the hot sand under her feet, the painful gashes on her leg, and the gnawing anticipation, it was safe to say that it did feel longer...although it was quite the lull regardless. But finally, the Queen broke free of her shell, to her relief as well as everyone else's, and the rocky band hatchling began to follow suit. But what color would it be? A bronze, a brown, another giant blue, or the biggest green ever? Not that the latter two were likely, but the only thing she could tell was that it was dark.

Her focus shifted from the gold to the hatching dragonet and back again. The suspense was almost as great now as it had been during the lull. Who would the Queen choose? What color was the rocky band, and who would it choose? There was no telling. All she could do was wait and hope, and then continue hoping right up until the last two eggs were whacked open.

'She seems nice mine' Velath declared pausing her conversation with the other hatchling to share her thoughts with her rider before taking another mouthful and turning her attention back to her hatchmate. 'of course' Velath chirped cheerfully 'We will have to make sure and ask them, they probably know all the best places to go in the Weyr too - and we can go to those places right away!' Right away was far more fun then some nebulous time down the road when they could fly! 'Mine is excited about something called a 'feast' later...she told me there that everyone will be there'

"Me either" Eliza agreed with a sheepish grin "And maybe I know they sometimes pair the new weyrlings off with one another until your dragons are big enough for a real weyr" There was chance they might - Eliza hoped they would but even if they didn't thye would still have lessons together and such things.

Some action on the sands drew her attention and Eliza glanced that way it looked like the queen had finally decided to show herself and she was everybit as beautiful as Eliza had expected her to be. The rocky band egg looked to be making some progress too and Eliza thought she saw a tail flick out but was to far away to catch any sort of coloration through the egg goo. Everyone seemed to think this one would be a bronze if she remembered right - which seemed like a good choice. It certainly couldn't be a Atypical right? It hadn't needed any help to hatch after all.

All that doubt was almost too much to take, even as the golden egg and it's companion remained still. Then there were the two smaller eggs as well that had yet to shiver or twitch. Perhaps this Hatching would end sooner than they had all planned by now? Narisa had no idea but felt that lonely 'not good enough' feeling more now that there was no hatchlings to focus on. And no sooner had she thought it that the Queen egg began to move again. It fell on its side, rolling to a stop and with another several cracks, golden wings appeared out of it. Narisa felt her breath catch at the sight. Then a smile start to form as the companion egg to the golden one followed suit and rolled down to bump into the golden egg. There was a crack from it and a tail appeared. Narrowing her eyes a little, Narisa tried to see what color dragon was in this infamous egg. It was hard to tell though. Something dark? Maybe? They would just have to wait for it to fully hatch. Hatch...Her gaze wondered over the other two still eggs. Would they turn out to be duds then? Were these the last two dragons to hatch from this clutch? We shall just have to wait and see.

The Queen bugled loudly, commanding silence and attention as she wobbled on gummy feet towards the girls. The boys held no interest for the newborn queen and she all but ignored them, faceted gaze fixed on the girls milling about anxiously, her unattached mind sweeping across them. Want burned brightly in each of the girls but it was evident as her head swung from side to side that she was decisively removing candidates from her own list. She wanted the best, wanted someone who would fulfill her... needed Hers not some other girl.

Meanwhile, before the Gold got very far, the Rocky Band hatchilng finally butted his way through the other end of the shell and stood, wriggling and flexing to get the egg off him. Its fragments oozed down his sides and settled in a pool about his feet as he flared his wings and bugled as well, bounding over to the queen with surprisingly steady steps. Maybe he was to Impress to the girls too? A giant, handsome brown would be a prize for any of the females in the line up!

Bugling, he paced alongside the queen, head held high just like his sister's and together they paced along the girls, the brown seeming to quite enjoy the attention he was leeching off the gold.

...Shesh, so the brown would rather have a girl than a guy that like the occasional (okay, more than occasional) other guys. What a brown he was though, it seemed that the distant sea blue wasn't alone in being oversized. While the rocky band brown wasn't quite as big as the clutch's bronze (Ammonth?), he was pretty close at this stage. How much the gap between them would open remained to be seen of course, but right now he was a good sized thing indeed... And not for him. Because he liked men. It seemed horribly unfair for dragons to choose like that. Pushing his fingers through his hair - and noting with a wrinkle of his nose that he was sweating quite a bit - Zerivon continued to eye the pair of large dragonets. He hoped they at least picked out somebody decent...

When had the last female brownrider Impressed anyway? A while ago, he was fairly sure. That would be one for the scrolls then, a brown big enough to rival small bronzes choosing a female rider.

So it was a brown! And, almost unsurprisingly, he followed the Queen as she came over to inspect the girls. He wasn't likely to want one from what she gathered, but he'd been sharing her spotlight since the Touching, so it followed that he would continue to do so. Taking another deep breath, Nawa stood as straight as possible, evening her weight onto both legs again despite the discomfort. Her eyes fixed on the pair of dragonets, she moved almost unconsciously to straighten her robes and smooth her hair. Not that it would improve her chances at all, but it put her just a little more at ease.