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The eggs were hard and the Candidates were all acquainted with life at the Weyr. It was time. Touchings were an ancient tradition of the Weyrs and no less important then the Hatching itself – at least in Eirlyn’s opinion. She found much value in letting the Candidates walk among the eggs and acquaint themselves with the growing dragonets, it always seemed to instill a sort of determination in them that she quite appreciated.

That, and she couldn’t help but be proud of Feynath. There was a gold egg on the sands and it had stirred up attention among even the Old Weyrs. Golds were rare, even more so in recent Turns and her dear Feynth had produced queens nearly every clutch. As far as Eirlyn was concerned that gave her the right to be proud – her Weyr was prospering.

Standing beside the large, dark gold, she gestured to the Candidate master to allow the prospective riders in. Beside her, Feynath’s eyes swirled slowly orange, yellow, and blue… she never liked letting the Candidates near her eggs, especially the gold egg, and it hadn’t been long into her career as a goldrider that Eirlyn had discovered that she had to be present to keep the queen from terrifying the youths. Even with her presence and touch and constant mental soothing, the gold still mantled her wings and shifted, head low to the ground as she watched.

Beyond the Sands, the Candidatemaster hollered for the candidates to line up, “Alright! Get out, bow to Feynath and thank her, then file through the eggs. Don’t linger too long and for shard’s sake, don’t fall. Start on this side and go across to the person waiting on the other side. If you linger too long, I’ll retrieve your arse faster’n a Hatchling downs a meal, understood!?” He clapped the nearest person on the back then swept the unfortunate soul forward into the sands. They almost bawked, caught off guard by the gesture, and awkwardly found their balance.

The Touching had begun.

.....Tiepet would rather pass, thank you very much. Touchings were fun, but they made her go out there in front of that terrifying Queen! She had nothing against the marvelous dragon of course, seeing as she was providing the Weyr clutch after clutch with future Queens to protect them all, but there was something about not being able to be where she'd wanted to be that made the Timid Shepherd a little on the edge. Still, leaving her flitters at the fields with her mother and father, she made her way into the group to join the others out on the Sands. The touching was tradition, after all.

As each person slowly made their way out, Tie trying not to be first but certainly not to be last, she paused where she was supposed to and looked up at the mighty Queen. Two turns worth of clutches this girl had come out and and looked at the wondrous dragon, and still the shock and awe from something so large an majestic never wore off on her. It still inspired a bit of fear in her heart, but also a strong sense of respect.

Once again Feynath, I thank you for allowing me to walk amongst your eggs. May I continue to be allowed come future Turns and future clutches, so long as your clutches grace these Sands.

It was a pretty good thing that Tie didn't stutter in her thoughts or else that message, were the Queen to hear it, would have been awkward and taken nearly three times the time to say it. Her gracious thanks were given with a bow as well, one that was deep and nearly made her overly loose shirt (she had a sunburn, ouch!) roll up and over her shoulders. It was quickly pulled back down into place as she started out amongst the eggs, her thick and heavy boots causing her to be sluggish as she moved.

Zeren stared, he'd never seen a Queen Dragon before, and she seemed menacing in protection of her eggs. He winced as the Candidatemaster hollered for them all to line up. Looking around at the other Candidates he followed as they lined up, then gawped as he found himself at the front of the line.

Suddenly he was shoved forwards, almost tripping over his feet, His face burned with shame as he recovered before he fell. Glanicing towards the Queen he bowed low, careful to not meet her glowing eyes.

I thank you for allowing me to be among your eggs oh brilliant shining Queen

Moving forwards carefully, he put his hand to the first egg, gasping as he felt its hard shell, not surprisingly it was warm to the touch. He smiled as he realised the importance of the moment. Blinking he moved away from that egg, and moved among the rest, stopping breifly at next egg, familiarising himself with the texture and the feelings from them.

It was that time again: time for the touchings to begin. This wasn't Azuran's first touching, but that didn't necessarily make him much less anxious than any of the previous times. It was quite the event after all. He waited patiently among the other candidates for his turn before stepping forward and giving the queen dragon a low and respectful bow. Thank you, dear Feynath, for once again allowing me the honor of approaching your eggs. I know you are not fond of this, so I won't take long. The queen's restlessness was quite apparent from her fidgeting and the color changes in her eyes, but he respected her for being so protective of her clutch.

As he approached the clutch, the first egg he reached out to was the red and green egg near the front. A strong feeling of confidence greeted him upon first touch, and he blinked a second before smiling softly. Well, glad to see you are so confident in yourself. You will make a fine dragon. He moved on next to the upside-down teal swirl egg beside it. Somehow this odd display amused him, and even as he touched it's surface he could sense the playfulness of the dragon within. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. You are a funny one. I hope you find a good partner. Suddenly mindful that he was starting to linger, the ebony-haired youth moved on, making room for others to come and touch as well.

Right next to the teal egg was an egg whose shell was reminiscent of the dawn itself. Even the feel of the dragon within was as pleasant as the eggs outward appearance. Do keep that calm demeanor. You seem quite nice. Passing by the dawn egg, he moved on to the middle row to greet the baby dragons there. The first egg he touched however nearly made him recoil. Whoa, settle down there, he thought to the egg with the angry red slashes. You haven't even hatched yet; there's no need to be so upset already. Whoever ended up with that dragon would probably have their hands full.

The grey egg right next to it wasn't entirely happy either. Angry neighbors do rather suck, don't they? he thought with a faint smile to the grumpy egg below his finger tips. Perhaps he would just pass this one on...

Oh, you feel nice, Azuran thought to himself with a mix of mild surprise and relief. This green egg was a welcome change from its previous two siblings. Perhaps your siblings can take a lesson from you and be a little less hostile, hm? He pet the surface of that egg fondly for a moment before moving on again.

Moving from the warm atmophere of the seemingly glowing green egg, Zeren moved towards a Greyish coloured one, speckled with lighter dots, smiling to himself a little at the aura of grumpiness from it. Upon touching it, he get a better impression I dont like this much either, too many people he sypmathised with it, moving on to the next egg.

He was filled with wonder at being here, his feelings of inaequecy bubbling up, he tried to keep the negative thoughts to himself, having been told that it could put a hatchling off, and he didnt want to risk putting a dragon off, not even at this stage. He wanted to Impress, to show his parents that he WAS good enough by himself, surely his sister would NEVER have gone to a hatching, least of all be a candidate at one.

Lothan didn't need to be pushed; rather he strode firmly out onto the sands. Nerves and anticipation had him tense all over, but he strove not to show that anxiety; wouldn't do to look nervous, even if he was. Feynath was watching the candidates; he bowed and framed a careful phrase in his head. Thank you for letting us touch your eggs, lovely, strong Feynath. I'm honored.

Then he moved out among the eggs, wandering among the clusters, reaching out to brush his fingers against the shells. This one - the one that seemed to glow within with gentle green - felt easy to touch, and his hand lingered on the shell, palm settling briefly against the curve. I greet thee, he said to it. Could dragons hear from within the shell? Nobody seemed to know, but certainly it couldn't hurt to try.

He moved on, stepping up towards the cluster of larger eggs. The largest he avoided respectfully. A gold, certainly, and the young queen wouldn't likely appreciate it. Instead he stroked the shell of the red-brown egg that rested beside it, feeling the heat of the shell; but soon his fingers were drawn instead to the cooler-colored egg that lay beside it. This egg felt friendly, somehow, and he smiled. Hello, he said. You're a handsome one.

He pulled his hand regretfully away from the eggs and turned back towards the entrance. As he rounded a cluster of eggs, his fingertips brushed again against the bright shells, gently, carefully. Soon the hatchlings within would be ready to come out and choose their riders. He hoped, tried not to expect, but hoped fiercely. Soon.

Shards, but that was a big dragon! Inaari had asked around, determined to know as much as possible about the Weyr procedures for Touching and Hatching, along with the temperament of the queen that had clutched. She had also eavesdropped mercilessly and learned that Feynath was always at odds with the youngsters tramping their way through her brood. That made the wood-haired girl even more nervous now, but a quick poke to the bruise at her forearm fought it back with pain, and she took a deep and bracing breath. You never let them see you afraid, it was the first rule in Inaari's mind. Dragons did not choose cowardly riders, and though nervous, she was not a coward!

Stepping forward into the queen's sight, Inaari bowed at the waist as she was taught, audibly and clearly uttering her thanks to the massive body for her patience and permission. Though all the eggs were equally lovely and attention-grabbing with the lurid colors, there was one that drew her the most, and that was the egg sitting on its head. Immediately upon seeing it, she giggled, surprised and clapping a hand over her mouth to hush the sound, smiling as a hand reached out to touch it. "You go your own way, huh?" The texture of the shell was warm and rough, almost like the sand it was resting on. Hesitance turned to interest and a rising giddiness. Out of everyone, she was here, touching the eggs of a dragon. Hoping to Impress a dragon! Talk about going your own way!

Her smile was wide, and didn't dim at all as she moved to the sunrise egg next to it, the base being appealing in that it was the exact shade of her hair, fingertips grazing over the top blue. "Sunrise, new birth. I'd think you'll be a very appropriate, proper little dragon, huh? That's funny, next to your upside-down sibling, isn't it?" Looking up, she noted with little surprise that the larger eggs were garnering the most attention, and why shouldn't they? They were the largest, most impressive dragons. Even her own heart welled with an impossible at the sight of the gold, who wouldn't love to be a queen's rider?

But because she'd been raised to be a practical young woman, Inaari moved on again to the next cluster of three eggs, leaving a soft positive comment at each with a smile. There was something wonderful about each and every one of these future baby dragons, and they would go on to find wonderful riders. With any hope, she would be one of them!

Zeren moved quickly from the grey speckled egg, reaching his hand out to the next one, the angry red stripes seemed to show its temper even before he touched it, the sharp angry aura seemed rejectful of anyone who touched it, and he swiftly withdrew his hand. He moved to the next egg, manouvering his body so that he moved against the other candidate as little as possible.

Reaching the New Day Egg, he was filled with warm acceptance, and this made him smile, despite being jostled by the other boys and girls, lingering longer there than anywhere else. Snapping back to reality he took back his hand, his feet shuffling him towards the next. He cocked his head sideways a little as the upside down Teal Egg, a wry and amused smile playing on his face, reaching out his hand he could feel the playfulness of this egg "be sure to be a clever clown" he thought to it, enjoying the feeling emanating from this egg.