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Sleep, blissful, blissful sleep. Interrupted. He should have expected the Candidatemaster to come in with all the usual ruckus and shouting that was only fighting of a man of his station. After all, he'd done the same thing at the last Touching. Granted that time he hadn't exactly been asleep, or eating like he should have been. Shaking the sleep from his brain he rolled off of the small corner cot and sighed, feeling several bones in his back scream in protest. The bed was too small, too curled in the corner of the room. Of course considering how some of the other candidates were curled on the floor or cramped into even smaller quarters so he couldn't really complain, much.

Trailing his hands through his shoulder length hair he sighed, thankful not for the first time that the lice attack had bypassed him. Looking around as he dressed as quickly as he could, Deldynwar made a mental note of all the butchered heads. So many people had hacked off their hair in fear of the little biting creatures. He'd almost been tempted to join the mayhem until he'd found a wonderful, wonderful little remedy.

Following the line of candidates out of the room and down to the sands, he paused long enough to bow deeply to the queen, taking note of the small clutch, slightly larger than the last but still small, before rising and moving toward one of the smaller eggs. Letting out a soft breath to calm his racing heart and mind, Delydnwar reached out letting his hand brush over the shell of the egg. The bands of red, yellow and black bands were beautiful, even if it was hidden by the larger eggs.

So much rode on these little dragonets, so many hopes and dreams and they hadn't even hatched yet. Everyone here hoped there was a dragonet in here for them. Everyone... Shaking himself from his thoughts he drew his hand back and moved toward one of the other eggs.

Equal time with each egg, equal time to be allowed have a brush with the life inside the unyielding shells. The larger eggs could be browns or bronzes, or even a rather large blue. No one would know until the eggs hatched.

Drifting between the eggs, letting his hand linger on each one, feeling the pulsing of the dragonets heartbeat. There was a queen in the clutch. Which meant one less egg he had a chance with. Not that...he envied the girls, oh no. The one who impressed the little queen deserved her just as much as anyone deserved a dragonet when they Impressed.

Denik stretched and yawned as he followed the other candidates. His hair had a slight case of bed head, but he pushed it out of his mind. This time, he was actually on time to the touching! It probably had to do with the overcrowded rooms. Of course, his flit, Apid, wanting to be fed may have helped too.

As he entered the sands, the boy turned to the queen nearby and bowed slightly. He smiled.
"Good morning!"

After greeting the queen, Denik approached the eggs at an easy pace. It wouldn't due to have him trip or anything...and he didn't want to miss an egg.

He gently touched each one, admiring their colors. It seemed like this clutch had lots of eggs that could be a pick between many different colors. Many of them were hidden behind others as well.

Denik placed his hand on the Death Adder egg while admiring its shade. He then moved through the others, letting the other candidates have a turn. After stopping with his hand on the Boa Constrictor egg, he looked toward the queen egg. A few girls were already braving the queen above the egg and had approached it.

It sure looked like this hatching would be a good one!

Veyes smiled a little as he turned towards the next logical egg to visit. Being so close it wasn't hard to rub up against it. It wasn't as smooth as its slightly larger sibling and the deep orange reminded Veyes of the warm sunset blending into rich soil. Times he might have spent on the distant fields of the family farm...

But as his fingers traveled the jagged lines he realized this was more like the great mountains and whoever would be lucky enough to impress this one might be intended for great things. Well, that was his dream anyway. His thoughts were open to the oranges and browns of the shell hoping that something might sink in and connect with the hatchling within. Such a large destiny to imagine upon this egg and he wondered if this one would always challenge his hefty sibling beside it. Wouldn't that be a grand story...Would you be brave enough to take on the world with me?

When he stood from this magnificent egg he felt a bit more confident and didn't dally as he sought out the next one. Making a small circle he caught sight of a small banded beauty deftly hidden behind the large ones. It was almost hidden in the shadow of the two giants. He couldn't help but smirk a little and agree with the egg's sentiment. As he plopped down beside it, he took a quick view around before his hands slide over its handsome shell. Some days I feel just like this, he thought for a moment. But...It doesn't always do me service....not here. It's ok though I think I'm learning how to live here. I bet you can too.

He tilted his head as he pondered that thought and shifted his foot along the sand so he could carefully turn around to the egg that sat very close by. This egg was similar colors to its sibling but the patterns were different and it was a slightly smaller. Maybe these two eggs could have been the larger ones support group. But it was obvious that this egg didn't want to be hidden; it wouldn't be overcome by the larger ones.

Veyes relaxed as his calloused hands moved across the broad bands following their pattern in a gentle rub. He vividly imagined how this one would never let any put it in its place no matter how large. Prepared to take on any challenge... that was a good feeling in itself.

Rising from this egg, things seemed a bit odd because this time, he had fewer anxieties and misgivings about being on the sands. So much had changed over the past few sevendays that he hadn't even noticed but maybe he was adapting to life here. Although while he was caught in this line of thought, he almost missed the egg he had been heading towards and ended up having to wait as someone skimmed in ahead of him. So he had to wait but it allowed him to take a gander about to seek out a glimpse of his other friends. At least, he knew that they were all going to be free of Latrine duty soon no matter what happened; however there was a secret hope that they would eventually all find dragons upon the sands.

Nelioa bid her sleepy fairwells to Grein, the little flit would have to stay in the weyr alone today while she visited the sands. Grein was less than content with the idea but stayed where she was told and crooned as Nelioa walked out into the hallway. Her mind was buzzing and her stomach churned, she was nervously excited and with the added experiance of the last touching behind her she knew what to expect this time and she knew it was going to be wonderous.

Her hands clucthed at her stomach as she walked out onto the sands. Hatching day was still at least a seven day or more away and yet her body was all a flutter. She could see the others gathering around the clutch, taking their turn with the eggs. Having arrived a little late this time had gained her a place in the back of the line. She didnt much mind, it gave her time to study them from afar and fill her mind with thoughts of what the little dragonets might look like inside them.

Kastina yawned, her eyes narrowed and gummed with sleep. She hardly registered the bustle around her, staying fast in bed until the shout reached her.. Touching.. Touching!

She got out of bed carefully, trying not to fall over furs, and pulled her hair back in a leather thong. She was determined to impress, longing and hoping, so much introverted that her face looked drawn as she stepped onto the hot sands.

"Ooh." she mumbled, picking her feet up, then glancing up. She waited till the girls in front had bowed the to queen dragon and moved to the eggs, then bowed herself, lowering her eyes respectfully - the dragon was beautiful, and she wondered if she would impress - as determined as she was, she hoped that a dragon would want her for a friend as much as she wanted it to! She laid her hands softly, trying to be very careful - shards, if she was clumsy now, she would probably see that dragon in a fearful way! She moved as slowly as she dared, sensing the grumbles of the candidates behind her.

After touching each of the soft, leathery, round eggs, for she had no pattern, just Touching at a random after the queen egg, she made her way back to the candidate master. She knew she had not done much in the way of effort, but if she could just... improve! If she could do that, she felt like she could take on the world.

A small smile played on her full lips, and she hoped a dragon would choose to improve her.

Jahangir quickly jumped out of bed at the bellowed wakeup call and rushed to get dressed and down to the sands on time. He couldn't miss any chance he had to impress and he sure wasn't going to miss it because he overslept during the touching.

Straitening his hair and clothes as best he could, Jahangir quickly made his way out of the rooms and towards the hatching grounds. He ended up bumping into someone in his rush but with a bashful smile and hurried appologies, Jahangir finally reached his destination.

Knowing better then to simply rush at the eggs, he gave his full attention to the queen that was watching the proceding. Giving a respectful bow to the golden dragon, Jahangir waited patiently for his turn.

The first egg he came to was rather bland compaired to the others but to Jahangir it was just as beautiful. He crouched down next to the egg and petted it lovingly for a few moments before standing up when he started hearing the shifting of the other canidates waiting thier turn.

His attention was quickly drawn to some of the largest eggs of the clutch and he made his way over to them. With them being so close, Jahangir was able to touch both at once, his mind trying to figure out what each egg held. He didn't stay long, however, since there were other eager canidates waiting for their turn. He almost didn't notice the smaller egg hiding behind them but once he did he moved so he could run his hand down the smaller egg. It looked similar to one of it's neibors but after a little study he could tell the difference between the two.

Making his way to the next egg, he was careful and he gently laid his hand on the bright yellow egg. Jahangir wondered what color this brightly marked egg could hold. You never could tell until after the fact and it always amused him that so many people bet on what the eggs held.

Humming to himself, he only had a few eggs left before he could get off the hot sand. He might love the experience of being able to touch the eggs but he hated the stifling heat of being on the sands. Shaking his head to clear it, Jahangir made his way to the brown egg he had yet to connect with. Rubbing his hand down it lovingly he was making mental guess on what it could hold. The obvious thought would be a brown since it could be the size for it and the shell was brown but he had been to to many hatching to say for sure that was what it held.

With only a few moments more with the egg, Jahangir made his way to the last one besides the queen egg. It was off by inself and he had to wonder if was lonely being without his siblings or if the dragonette preferred to be alone. Sometimes he could understand that. Growing up the way he did, he found an appreciation of his alone time. He liked company for the most part but sometimes you just had to get away. Jahangir probably spent the most time with the loner egg but all to soon he was getting up and bowing one last time to the queen, heading off the sands.

She could hear the Candidate master bellowing at the boys. Merya took a deep breath, stretched, and sighed. Morning. She didn't want it to be morning yet, even if there were eggs to be touched. Well, dragons would do as dragons did: she'd just have to put up with it. Whatever she put up with now would be worth it if she Impressed. Eyes on the prize, girl, she told herself silently. Eyes on the prize.

There was no point in rushing. It seemed that almost everyone else was scrambling to get down the sands - she could afford to do things properly and still comfortably join the back of the queue. The order didn't matter at this sort of thing, surely - the first X candidates to get down there were hardly going to be the ones to Impress purely on grounds of their swift arrival. Come the Hatching, then she'd hurry. This earlier event, with time to manoeuvre, required poise rather than pace.

By the time the doorway was nicely clear for her to exit, she was presentable. Her hair was just about long enough to tuck back into a tail, so she did that with a plain brown tie she'd filched from Saren just after arriving at Ista. Satisfied, she plucked the hovering Beru out of the air and plonked the flit on her bunk with a firm order to stay here - she couldn't afford to get in trouble for flits-on-the-sands again. Beru, thankfully, understood, and only squeeped mild disappointment at being left behind.

As she arrived at the sands, she feigned a little haste. There were a lot of nervous and excited faces, and it seemed wise to blend in. She could probably field any awkward questions that came her way, but why take the risk? Looking very much like everyone else would let her avoid them altogether. And everyone else, as far as she could see them, looked tense. That she would admit to. Back in the dorms she'd been perfectly calm, but now she was down here there was a definite sense of urgency. She could make or break this Hatching for herself right here and now. Not that she'd ever know.

...But then, wasn't it all decided in any case? A dragon was a soul-mate, Saren had said, each one made for its rider. If her dragon was there, it wouldn't matter whether she touched its egg now or not. It would see her on the sands, and it would know, and that would be that.

Maybe she should've asked L'thor about that. Saren, she well knew, had hardly been an expert.

A gap formed at the entrance, and she took the opportunity to enter the cavern before anyone else could block her path. The sands were hot, but not quite painfully so. She'd deliberately left her shoes behind, knowing that on the day she'd have to go without them. That was what a Touching was all about, wasn't it? Preparing the poor little neophytes for the main event?

Merya did not intend to be a neophyte for long.

The Queen egg was the subject of much excitement, of course. All the girls wanted to be a goldrider, and if they said they didn't they were lying. Everyone had a reason for wanting it - for some the power, for some the prestige, for some the chance to see their lifemate clutch and usher in the next generation of dragons. For a few, too, the fact that queens did not rise as often as greens would be a factor. That sounded good to Merya. She didn't much fancy being caught up in all that nonsense too often. After all, what good was the act if you didn't get to choose your partner? Pure serendipity, serendipity and a lust-filled dragon, decided who you got the chance to manipulate. Of course, there were those who claimed that anything you did during a mating flight meant nothing. Merya suspected that any such claim was ninety percent wherry-s**t. There was the chance, wasn't there? The connection, or the opportunity for one? Better you ended up with a bronzerider, for instance, than with a bluerider; better with a goldrider than a greenrider.

...But she was digressing. She was also heading away from the Queen egg, having managed (she hoped) to catch the mother's eye and give a suitably respectful bow. There were plenty of other eggs to be touched, plenty of other possible connections to be made. Even if none of these eggs held her dragon, it was worth trying to get on their good side.

Then again, if any of these dragons did turn out to be her lifemate...they'd know. They'd know everything. They'd have to be a partner in crime, a co-conspirator for every last scheme and design. Lying she could teach, if dragons even could lie, but from the word go they'd have to know how to be silent.

In that case, it was probably better to be completely, even brutally, honest.

The first egg she stepped up to was patched with bright yellow, and almost falling over - neither upright nor on its side, and rather precarious. Ought she to move some sand and shore it up? ...No, best not. Let the mother do that if she saw fit. Besides, there was an air of indecision about this dragon that she wasn't sure she liked. If you're mine, she thought as she cautiously touched the warm shell, you'd better not be as woolly as you look. I can't afford to be indecisive, and neither can you. But if you're just in danger of falling, count on me to steady you.

There was one lying on its side here, black and white. Was it pandering to the group? That could either be promising or troublesome, depending on how sincere its need for approval turned out to be. She was probably reading too far into this, but no matter. You, she thought at it through her fingertips, not feeling as silly as she'd expected to, had better know how to be serious when it matters. I like your joker's façade - that'll put people at ease - but what are you underneath?

Two of the eggs in the main group looked very similar. Merya passed over the more concealed of the pair in favour of the other, reasoning that she was less likely to damage the other eggs that way, and gently stroked the shell. You know not to be outshone. That's good. But are you trying to stand out? Do that too much and you'll become a target. Watch yourself, little one.

And what about that one over there, all by itself? Merya crossed to it, knelt beside it and pressed both hands to the shell. It seemed cooler than the rest. You say you're not like them. Don't say it so loudly! Sit over here away from them and you lose their shelter, their support, and most of your ability to persuade them. I hope you learn to pretend, young one. I hate to think of you left out in the cold because you couldn't put on the same colour cloak as everyone else.

Time was running short. There was nobody beside the golden egg. She had to touch it; that much was expected of her. Passing up the opportunity would be foolish in any case: for one it might be a chance to make her mark, and for another she'd get a lot of awkward questions if she didn't. Every girl had her reasons. And so she headed towards the golden egg, affording the Queen another bow in case the first had been missed, and laid one careful hand on the dark upper shell.

You're hard to read, beautiful. I'm not sure it's wise to presume to judge a Queen in any case. But if you want power, I'm yours - provided, knowing all my secrets, you don't breathe a word to betray me.

As she rose to leave, again nodding her respect to the Queen (whose patience was probably wearing thin by now, what with all these candidates milling around her precious children), Merya took a half-handful of sand from beside the golden egg. She kept her fist wound tightly around it as she headed for the exit, making eye contact with no one, speaking to no one, caring for nothing save escape. Being close to that huge gold dragon had been rather unsettling: she'd got the distinct feeling that this dragon might know her secrets too, and that she could not afford.

Beru popped in from between with a cheerful "squeep!" when she was about half way back to the dorms - thankfully long after she'd left the sands. The little green flit was a surprisingly comforting sight: it was amazing how quickly she'd grown fond of the simple little darling. "Fetch the leather purse, love," she murmured, making an image of it in her mind. "The little brown one. Fetch."

Obliging as ever, Beru vanished, reappearing about thirty seconds later with the purse in her jaws and giving a muffled squeep of triumph. Merya poured the sand into the purse - yes, good, there were no holes in it - and pulled the drawstring tight. Done. She wasn't quite sure why she'd done that, but it had felt right. She'd learned by now not to question her instincts; nine times out of ten they were several steps ahead of her. When the time came, she'd know.

That, she considered, was probably the same with everything.