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To Ayi, that had to be the most beautiful green she'd seen in a long time. The dapple markings against that emerald hide was truly breathtaking. A wonderful impression indeed.

Anale had stood stock still through the hatching and impressions, her hands clutched on her robe over her thighs. She'd smiled at the stands impression, giggled as the green blundered about, even as she hissed at the wounds she caused. Nerves made her pale, her red hair standing out more against it, green eyes wide and bright. Each impression gave her a little jab of jealousy, her resentment forgotten with each hatching and renewed with each impression.

Who was she, to impress a dragon? She thought to herself. Just a young beasthealer, not some weyrbrat or some other higher up... but she couldn't help the low burn inside of her each time a lovely dragon passed her over in favor of someone else.

Her jealousy flew right out of her head though, when the two males started to fight. She was right with the others, shouting in fear and protest, dancing back out of the way of their path of chaos. That pair... there would be more trouble from them, that much was sure. The healer in her cried out to rush to their aid, the green blood making her tremble and her knuckles turn white. Still, she hadn't been raised with beasts not to know that you didn't get between fighting animals... not if you wanted to come out unharmed.

All with everyone else, she heaved a sigh of relief when the pair impressed, ending their quarreling just in time for... the gold egg! Anale held her breath as the beauty stepped from her shell with the help of the lovely green and make her way over to... the boys? Shards, what was she doing? The act of making everyone bow her to seemed rather arrogant of the gold... even if she was a gold. The young healer frowned at the young queen, thinking at her mother Dorath had probably never made anyone bow to her... if they did, it was probably natural. And threatening with going between! Heavens, who did she think she was?

Anale bowed with the rest, but remained stubbornly on her feet. Whoever impressed that gold had better be a humble soul, or the weyr would never hear the end of it from the pair.

((AAAH CATCHING UP.))

As the blue made his way into the Stands, Bess grinned as he realized who the dragonet was heading for. Rafferty! Of all people, Bess would have never guessed that Rafferty would be one to Impress a dragon. Though Bess did not know him that well, he did know that the man was a good one. Genuinely happy, he turned towards the remaining eggs, hoping the rest of the Hatching would continue with its current pleasantries.

That hope was shattered quickly, however, as the second bronze hatched in a fury. His screams wracked the insides of Bess's skull, but he resisted covering his ears in favor of peeking over the others in front of him to get a better view. He peeked just in time to see the bronze smack the other egg with its tail, sending it careening towards the Candidate group. His eyes following the egg until he was sure it was safe, he then looked back up at the bronze, his brows furrowed. Dragonets were sometimes disoriented when they hatched, and this could understandably make them angry, but he had never seen a hatchling overtly attack another egg like that! He hoped whoever Impressed him would be able to handle such a dragon.

The bronze continued his agitated screeching, and even mauled a boy in the process. Just as Bess was wishing something would happen, the egg that the bronze had smacked hatched with a loud crack. An equally angry-looking brown rolled onto the Sands, and rather than making a beeline for the male Candidates, he made one instead for the bronze. As the brown tackled the bronze, Bess couldn't help but that think the seemingly mean-spirited bronze deserved it. After seeing the three previously sweet tempered dragons, it was hard to sympathize with the bronze.

As the fight escalated beyond a simple tackle, though, Bess realized that this Hatching was now far from the way things should go. He had never even heard of two dragonets fighting! Jostling forward through the crowd, rather than trying to back away for safety like the others, Bess now positioned himself near the front of the Candidate group. He gritted his teeth as the fight continued, desperately wanting to do something, but somehow convinced that there was nothing he could do. These two dragons were destined to be rivals, straight from the egg, and if any human interfered it would only end in tragedy.

So enamored was he by the two battling hatchlings that he didn't even notice the other bronze and the green as they made their stance in front of the queen egg. What he did notice, though, was the great roar as it reverberated across the Sands. He finally tore his eyes from the fight to see the brown and her rider overhead. Huh. Well, anything to stop the carnage.

The roar had done it's trick, though, as the bronze and the brown looked as if they were finally ready to Impress. Maybe now things would return to normal; as normal as this Hatching would ever get, at least. It would certainly be his most memorable on-

Kerebessar! Step forward, but do not look upon this horrid creature or His! Teharth has chosen you!

For a moment time stood still. The other Candidates around and behind him, the Stands, even the searing sand seemed to fade away and all that was left was him and Teharth. Teharth, who had spoken to him! Teharth, who had chosen him! Reality crashed back, and he managed to take two steps forward before sinking knee first into the Sands. He mouthed wordlessly at the dragon before finally speaking, his voice much more strong and calm than he thought it would be. "Teharth, you are bleeding. We should find you a healer," he said, his fingers gingerly touching the dragonet's skin as he eyed one of the green bleeding wounds.

We will, Kerebessarmine, we will. But first, I must eat. My injuries are not serious. They can wait, my hunger cannot. And that's the way it was. Nodding, Bess (or K'sar now) rose from the Sands and began walking towards the tables, Teharth walking strongly and evenly beside him.

If you asked Daeluin about the hatching at a later date, she'd swear to you that it was over in about 30 seconds. Flat. Almost as soon as she resigned herself to being patient and waiting, s**t started going DOWN!

Lulu didn't miss the first egg hatching. That bronze that just stayed in his egg-cradle, sitting and watching the candidates- that was cute. She grinned. Some of the boys were probably going to get impatient, but Daeluin couldn't really be anything less than googly-eyed over the languid bronze. He was cute enough to watch- that is, until more eggs started hatching. Then Daeluin couldn't figure out where to look! It really felt like everything was happening at once; a flurry of splitting shells, flailing dragons, and slashing talons.

The Sweetheart Egg split open and revealed a green, as Daeluin had guessed. She was an adorable little thing to, but Lulu frowned, disapproving of her slight use of violence. It really was not necessary to hurt others to get to your final goal. Daeluin pursed her lips thoughtfully. It wouldn't be right to hold it against any of the hatchlings; as she understood it, the need to find their rider was a very urgent feeling. Daeluin forced herself to accept the fact that some blood would be shed today. She was likely to see more, so why not steel herself to it now?

The green found her rider in Raysan, that helpful young man she had talked to over dinner about their firelizard eggs. "Good for you!" Lulu called to him, her grin spreading from ear to ear. It was nice to see deserving people have their dreams come true! He had been very insightful, giving her some really helpful information about her firelizard egg. Daeluin was more than pleased that the green found him suitable.

Rock. Rock. Twitchshudderrock. Daeluin's eyes were drawn by its movement to the Pot of Gold Egg. What..?! Whaaaat? Was it really hatching so soo- OH. Nope. It wasn't. Tricksy little Noisy Rainforest Egg! It was the one shaking, but it just so happened to make the Pot of Gold Egg move, too! Bearing a blue, Daeluin watched interestedly as the dragonet inspected each and every girl. She smiled down at him as he passed by her, but he barely paused. He already knew who his rider was; Uuni! The girl Daeluin had met after hauling firestone sacks, and spent some time at the lake with. Again, Daeluin was more than happy to see a deserving friend Impress! She clapped excitedly for Uuni, not even thinking that she might startle one of the dragonets with the sudden noise.

The next two eggs were both equally astonishing. First, the Pink Raptor Egg let out a blue. No surprise there. What was surprising was that he didn't even hesitate in heading up into the stands! Daeluin was first confused, and then simply awestruck at the blue's determination. He was making a beeline for.. for Rafferty! Daeluin had never made the boy's acquaintance, but she was sure that the dragon saw something in him. She smiled, and turned away. The majority of the clutch was still unhatched; her focus returned to the eggs. The Seaside Egg let out a mighty bronze, who immediately began to terrorize and hurt the candidates. Daeluin's frown deepened into a scowl of pure disapproval. "That's just not right," she growled angrily. It took a lot to get Lulu angry, but uncalled for violence was one of the things she could not stand!

"Why don't you go pick on someone your own size?" she dared to call out to the bronze, her voice ringing out clear and strong- not at all what she would have expected. But Daeluin immediately wanted to shove her words back into her mouth and eat them. The Sunset Egg had apparently had enough, and it split open, letting out a brown that, without any hesitation or thought, ran to tackle his bronze brother. An epic battle of talons, teeth, and rival-brothers ensued. It was messy, bloody, and ugly. Daeluin turned away at several moments, unable to watch. It almost made her sick to her stomach.

What was the point?! The dark-skinned young woman was caught off guard by the adult dragons' insistence that the brothers cease their squabbling, but approved of their determination to end the mindless violence. How could the brothers fight so? They had only just been born! Had they been harboring some sort of petty rivalry the entire time they'd been in-shell? Daeluin scowled openly, fiercely. Then she noticed something that restored her faith. The first bronze to hatch was standing in front of the queen egg, protecting his unborn sister and queen. "There you go," she murmured softly, approvingly with a nod of her head. "You show them what it means to be a dragon," she encouraged the bronze, her voice growing stronger, hoping to be heard.

The green that appeared from within the Tye Dye Egg sided with her guarding-bronze brother, and Daeluin almost burst with pride. To be allowed to stand for a clutch that produced dragonets like these- with such a sense of responsibility and honor? Daeluin wanted to cry. She knew what they must feel like, protecting those unable to protect themselves. Yet, anyway. Once the queen hatched, she could silence the shrieking, fighting, rolling bronze and brown with a mere look their way. But soon enough, it was all over. A brown dragon, surprisingly, was the deciding factor to end the fight. Frowning, Daeluin watched the bronze and brown choose their riders and she had a sneaking suspicion that today wouldn't be the last time those two would fight. She would have to keep her eyes on them!

Things were returned to some sort of normalcy once that bronze and brown were taken off the sands by their new riders. Daeluin wrinkled her nose unhappily, silently bidding them good riddance! If they didn't grow up quick, put their petty squabbling aside, Daeluin would not at all be surprised to see one (or both!) of the pairs transfered out to new Weyrs. All thoughts of the past drama leaked out of her mind in a rush when the Pot of Gold Egg finally hatched. The queen was small, comparatively at least, but held herself with such a commanding and mighty presence that it made up for her lack in physical size. Daeluin smiled easily. This was such a soothing, relaxing change of pace! The queen showed no interest in hurting anyone- wait. What was she doing? Lulu was puzzled as she watched the queen move towards the boys. Whaaaat in FARANTH'S NAME was going on?!

Oh. She just wanted a litte R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

Daeluin couldn't blame her for that. The first two boys the queen approached weren't too quick to catch on, but after the Weyrleader made everyone on the sands aware, no one missed a beat. Daeluin didn't blame the queen for demanding the respect she was due. She was a queen, afterall, albeit a young and new one. Lulu was impressed at the queen's gesture, letting her green sister choose first. Aww! Adorable!

Once again, Lulu settled in to wait. The queen and her noble bronze clutchmate remained as the only hatchlings on the sands, with several eggs yet to hatch. A lull came over the sands. What were they waiting for?

My name is Havocath. he answered back smoothly while his eyes changed from an orange tone to a more serene blue. Why thank you for noticing. He shifted his large body on the ledge just a little to offer a better view. You've nice flight lines. he responded with a discerning eye and what could be a smile on his dragonish lips. He didn't seem to mind the flirting not one single bit.

A'ras chuckled as Havocath was so kind to tell him what the other dragon was saying as he leaned against Havocath's arm. His own eyes taking in Kallista's figure appreciatively then following up to the locks that drifted freely about her face. He was a smart enough man not to linger too long on any one area and fixed his eyes firmly on her face when she spoke.

"A'ras." he said with a smile upon his lips. "And this big guy..." he patted the bronze, "...is Havocath." As for him, he always wore his full blonde hair loose on his time off letting it hang about his tanned shoulders except for the two braids which were woven with various beads, charms and thread. He was dressed in leathers that were worn but comfortable hugged the appropriate places while a short sleeve blue shirt stretched across his toned chest. "Havocath doesn't mind flirts." he grinned up at his bronze with a knowing smile.

"Ah, from Ista? I know the Weyr got a few transfers and we've had a couple new faces around here. Mmm...you weren't assigned to the wing I'm in; I wonder if they placed you in the other. They've switched some of us up since we had new arrivals." he pondered that thought but couldn't bring to mind all the rider assignments of the top of his head.

The queen bid her dearest friend a fond, vocal farewell as she found Hers. She had a high opinion of herself, but she was not afraid of standing alone, and that was a good trait for one of her color to have. On her way to the girls she gave a nod to the bronze, and he bowed his head to her a second time.

Each and every girl were inspected closely, even the ones who didn't exactly fancy the male gender. The Weyrwoman couldn't possibly know all of their personal lives, but she did recognize some of them and wondered if Dorath's treasured gold offspring wasn't taking some sort of tally while she searched.

The Spring Flowers Egg began to crack down the middle. Bad timing, since most eyes were not going to tear themselves away from a gold on it's behalf. Or perhaps it had intentionally waited?

Avery's hazel eyes met the regal queen's gaze as she surveyed her, like she did with the other girls. It was not to be, of course, would never be, but she wanted to look and so she would. This gold was very important to the Weyr, Dorath's first, and Avery could see no harm in greeting the dragonet properly.

She had shown respect and affection for those of other colors, even while demanding her just due. It would certainly be interesting to see her grow. It wasn't until the Gold had moved on that her gaze shifted to the hatching egg. Who was this?