Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cheoth's roar vibrated beneath the folded legs of Khunoth while the brown dozed on the Heights above the Hatching Ground. Between the wind and being startled by the cry, the brown's rider really never had a chance. Perched high on his dragon's neck, Gh'lan loosed a stream of expletives as the papers he had been sketching on rattled free from his flat drawing board and fluttered to the rocks around him. Normally cheerful or not, Gh'lan was easily perturbed when his hours of hard work bit the dust... literally.

Leave them, you can draw more on a clearer night. We have a Hatching to attend. Khunoth supplied, helpfully climbing to his feet before Gh'lan could scramble down his neck.

"Easy for you to say! I've been working on those charts for-"

We are leaving.

And abruptly they were, for Khunoth spread his wings and beat downward with a powerful thrust to launch himself vertically off the Heights. Gh'lan thumped the brown on the shoulder once, half to let him know that he was still aboard, and half to chastise the brown for acting out like that. Hey! you could have left me back there with that one!

But I did not. Hold tight.

The curt warning was all the brownrider had as Khunoth swooped down into a shallow dive, soaring into the mouth of the hatching grounds cavern. He judiciously left plenty of wing room, and veered far away from the brooding gold dragon. He hadn't needed to see her antics to be wary of them, after all. Cheoth's reputation was well known. The Stands are already filling, and I want you with me. Khunoth said as he angled himself up to land on one of the lower ledges reserved for spectator dragons. Though Gh'lan doubted Khunoth actually remembered why he wanted his rider with him at a Hatching, the brownrider had no doubt that it was due to the sickness that was let loose at the last one. Understanding that, he relented easily, and silently thanked his lucky stars that he had sharp enough eyesight to be able to watch the happenings from here.



Lyveana, like Gh'lan, had been mulling over charts when the call came. Ruinnth's head came up sharply, nearly connecting with the low ceiling of Lyveana's sleeping room where the green had shoved her head through the door to watch her rider watch paper. The action surprised them both, though Lyveana's first response was to promptly chase the green out. "Rui, I told you that was a bad idea! Go outside and I'll just drag this sharding table out where you can watch-"

No time, Cheoth's clutch hatches! The green chimed, raising to her feet once her head was clear of the doorway. We must welcome them properly, to make up for before. Pausing what she was doing, Lyveana tossed a sharp look over at the dark green, wondering for a moment what she meant, until realization dawned. The premature touching... of course.

"I'm surprised you remembered that..."

Who would forget.

Well, that was true. Draconic memory was an interesting field of study, they appeared to remember some things quite well, and others not at all. "You are right, on all counts. " The greenrider replied as she struggled into a slightly more presentable tunic. "Meet me outside."

Of course.

Jaidev had certainly done a wonderful job of giving Jisken the jitters the night previous, even if he hadn't shown it upon going to bed. He awoke that morning far too early, and squirmed about in his bed trying to return to sleep until the cry ran out for the Hatching itself, causing him to jump to his feet. Only vaguely did he remember shucking on his Candidate robes and sandals, his mind a blur amongst all the thoughts crowded in his head. It was starting to give him a headache with all this thinking he was doing, and he wasn't sure he liked it. With a huff, he joined the line of boys his age, some younger, some older.

There was a contagious energy in the air, made of fear and excitement, and it spread through Jisken's limbs as he began to enter the familiar grounds, the eggs sprawled across the Sands. He bowed to the queen, a low and formal gesture, though out of the corner of his eye he watched with some curiosity as the queen egg began to move, already eager to be out of her shell. He spent no more time acknowledging the queen than needed, and somewhat hurriedly took his place at the Sands, the rush of adrenaline beginning to get to him.

Would there really be more maulings? Only time would tell, he supposed.

Alambri had been restless. He hadn't actually managed to get to know any of his roommates yet, and they were all busy anyway so he hadn't been able to simply swoop in and demand their attention. So he'd been pacing about, though he should probably have been sleeping.

Then he'd heard the shouting, the thrumming that vibrated the very stones of the Weyr, and he'd been moving before he'd had the chance to think about it. He'd heard the noise before, after all, he'd been at the Weyr long enough to stand for a few clutches. The noise, the excitement, it worked on him like a jolt of extremely strong klah, sending him shooting about in his room searching for his robe. When he'd managed to put it on correctly, and to note with some satisfaction that it still fit almost precisely, he grabbed his boots. They were good, solid boots meant to be worn while near the forge, and he'd found they worked quite well to help keep him comfortable on the sands.

He made his way through the halls quickly, though he was careful not to run into anyone- he was in a hurry, but so were they, and it would be horribly rude to slow them down for his own gain. Besides, collisions would slow him down as well. He could feel the rush of energy that always came with the Hatching, the thrill that maybe this time...

And really, watching others Impress was almost as good. He loved seeing the moment they met their other half, seeing the look on their faces. And he'd been as worried as everyone else that maybe the clutch wouldn't hatch at all, so this was a welcome moment of relief and joy.

He made good time onto the sands, and looked around. There was the great gold, beautiful and powerful and mighty. Did he imagine that she seemed relieved as well, that her eggs were starting to hatch? He didn't think so. He bowed deeply, and with a flourish, sending a wide smile and thoughts of joy and relief and respect in her direction. That, he also loved. The chance to see the great Queens up close- well, reasonably close- to watch them as they saw their newest young ones emerge and connect. Cheoth's temper had been much spoken of, but honestly, Alambri wouldn't have expected anything but rage from a mother whose young had been trifled with! And she was still a glory to behold, even if he wasn't going to step terribly close, just in case.

Once he'd bowed, he made his way further out onto the sands, finding somewhere with a good line of sight on the eggs. He thought that maybe most people would hang back, this time, wary of eggs that hadn't experienced a Touching, so he positioned himself somewhat 'forward' of where he expected the crowds to form. He was reasonably sure of his ability to get out of the way if he needed to, and it didn't do any good to show fear, now did it?

Anxious, rocking on the balls of his feet, he waited, energy rolling through him as he waited for things to really begin.

L'thor was not strong, but he was quick and agile, so he managed to make it almost to the front of the stands. He held onto his position through sheer viciousness, and stared down at the eggs, and the candidates as they were flown in. He spotted Veyes quite swiftly, but Ren and Allende weren't in view yet. He hoped they hurried, an egg was already moving, and the queen egg no less! If it was considered good fortune for a bronze to hatch first the crowd would go mad if a little queen made it out first. Frankly he himself didn't give a damn for fast-hatching bronzes, but having a queen come out first would be rather exciting.

Elbowing some idiot who was trying to shove him out of place with great prejudice, L'thor waited to see what would happen with bated breath.

/////

C'mor was not far behind the green rider, but only squirmed forward through the press of people until he could see what was going on. The excitement and tension in the air was palpable; a hatching always thrilled and brought joy but today there was more fear than usual. C'mor knew he was contributing a little to that; he worried for his friends out there, willed them to be safe for mauling, unharmed by one girl's stupidity. Actually, come to that he hoped nobody got hurt today.

"Soon we will no longer be the youngest!" Naedreth said excitedly. "I cannot wait to greet the new hatchlings Mine, I hope they are all healthy, and that they find Theirs."

C'mor agreed with his dragon's sentiment wholeheartedly; it would be wonderful to congratulate all the new riders, and to meet all the new dragons. It would, he had to admit, be nice not to be the babies anymore as well. Naedreth was getting taller by the day, and it would be nice to be regarded as growing weyrlings rather than newly hatched and bonded pairs.

/////

R'than was up in his weyr when the humming started, so it took him rather longer to make it to the sands. Thankfully, however, he was a tall man and able to see well almost as soon as he entered. The grey-haired man stepped aside to let a smaller rider stand in front of him, all the while keeping his eyes on the sands. What would hatch first? The queen already showed signs of life, but that didn't mean she would be the first out of her shell.

Rubbing his chin, he scanned for the few candidates he had got to know over the last few sevendays. It wasn't long before he spotted Uuni, and grinned broadly. This would be one of her last chances at Impressing, and he wished her well. Maybe he wanted it for her because he had searched her, or because she had been good company of late which had been an invaluable antidote to stress, but he doubted that was all of it. She could be a good rider, he was sure she could.

It was the first time Canth had ever heard such a hum and, likewise, the first time she could ever recall looking so clean and proper in a robe. Truly, the whole experience of frantic changing and hustling had been a surreal one, and now, holding her breath and not even realizing, she was in the midst of the nervous human flock, before what felt like a stage, watching the most fascinatingly wild display on Pern.

She didn't bother trying to speak. The other candidates were already busy with their own conversations and, quite frankly, she doubted the power of her voice to rise above that hum.

And what luck (or so some would have proclaimed) that the queen egg, of them all, had started rocking more vigorously first... at at least, that was what everyone else seemed to be assuming, and so, she could only quietly assume too. No doubt there would be a buzz of terror and excitement among the ladies waiting with baited breath for that hatchling.

As for herself... she didn't really know what she was waiting for. Anyone sensible would have said 'why, my dragonet of course!' , but... shards, was that really what had compelled her to come here?

Either way, the thrumming and tension was infectious, and eventually, she just gave up her inner monologue to focus on the eggs and the writhing mass of nervous bodies. Too many bodies, too close, too frantic. Faranth help them, it just seemed like begging for disaster in her book.

Where were Marko and Xeran? They had agreed to come join her in the stands, she thought. Vera didn't want to miss the spectacle. It had taken a great deal of coaxing and crooning to get Bell to stay with S'van's little beasties back at his dorm, but eventually she had managed it. Just in time, too. As she scampered up into to take her place up in the watching crowd, Vera fingered the pipes that Xeran had made for her. They would not be broken this time, no. But... there was the chance that there would be more maulings. She hoped not.

Poor little beasts. Surely they must be so confused just out of the shell. No one would hold such actions against them. She had heard that there had not been a Touching this time. Would that contribute to the problem? It had seemed to her that the last time the dragonets had known where to go. Oh, there had been that single little Green, but she alone had been frightened, and had lashed out. This time, there was no telling what would happen. "Xeran?" Where was her mentor? Was he, once more, off consoling Marko over the various apprentices that stood on the Sands?

---

"Vera," S'van said, moving to his cousin's side when he saw her seated alone. "Are you here to watch Mal too?" The tense nod said everything he needed to know, although it seemed to the young rider that there was more to it than that. Perhaps... there were more Candidates that she watched, or she was as nervous about the Hatching as poor Mal had been. Hmmn. He reached over and patted her shoulder, surprised by the lack of flitter. Then again, they weren't terribly welcome at Hatchings, were they? Maybe it was just as well. He had no way of knowing that she'd left Bell with his firelizards, after all.

---

"And to watch the dragonets," Vera whispered, looking down on the Hatching Sands. It had seemed a great shame not so very long ago, when Marko had missed the chance to greet the newest young queen. She had seen such grace and ... well, regal bearing in the young one. She had not believed for a moment that the creature was a danger to anyone, and she had proven it by choosing Hers without mishap. Not so for the Green, but there had been no helping that. Why had they not moved aside? The Candidates, that was. The dragonets never seemed to foul each other up.