Welcome to Gaia! ::

Akaya's mouth had dropped open, she was sure, as she witnessed her first dragon egg hatch--and it was a sort of humorous sort of dignified, she thought privately, backing out of the egg so. Still, he seemed to have his bearings, and he did make a pretty sight. She wished luck to the boys, one of whom would undoubtedly Impress the lovely bronze.

*

Hah, a bronze--take that, Benden! E'lai was part of the collective sigh, and the triumphant feelings rising the mood considerably. "That's the way to start it off," he said to S'ren, with a grin.

It wasn't like Lanakirene to throw down her work and shout "Finally!" at the top of her lungs when the Weyr began to hum. Honestly, it was more like Lanakirene to look up with the startled realization that hey, there was a Hatching going on, wasn't there? Go figure. But this time around, it meant that all those extra chores that O'rer had saddled her with were finished. By the good graces of Abigail (and by the lucky fact that just a few days after her rather severe punishment, Hitath took to the skies and left O'rer much less of a little b***h), she had been permitted to take to the Sands rather than the Stands. And that meant she could abandon all the stupid chores she had been saddled with as a result of her little outburst at the last Candidate lesson.

And shards, was she ready to be done with those! Back to healer work, back to her normal life, back to ignoring the things she didn't want to deal with and sneaking off the Candidate chore roster with notes from the Weyrhealers! All those things she wanted were just a few eggs away. Thank Faranth. She was quick to change into her Candidate shift, but surprisingly slow to actually arrive near the Sands. There was the briefest of moments where she tried to decide whether or not it was worth it to get on the Sands. She had, after all, missed the lesson. And she saw the familiar face of that tanner girl in the Stands....

Well, life was life. Shooting a merry wave to Ofelia and a bow and smile that might have been sardonic but might have been sincere (that wicked grin was just too difficult to decipher when it was coupled with such an exciting time as a Hatching) to O'rer as she passed him, she headed into the girls' side of the Candidates, looking for a familiar face to stand near. Nasuymi caught her eye, and she sidled over to the creche worker turned Candidate, slipping in beside her and opening her mouth to say something when she realized she had missed the first egg bursting.

"Well, Faranth. A big ol' bronze!" she said, and she turned her bright smile on Nasuymi. "Good omen, they say. Then again, just means that us girls are going to be standing here longer." Speaking of.... "You're barefoot. Do you want my sandals?" Ever the gentleman, La stepped out of them and raised an eyebrow at Nasuymi.

And then remembered her manners and bowed to Brakiath.

Was that Sheridan again? Bless him. He looked out for her so, and he had no reason at all to. "Thank you," she shot back in a stage whisper, glancing in his direction. "I'll... I'll try not to." Malina knew that she distressed Sheri with the crying, but it was so hard to avoid. She'd never really seen death before that time, and knowing that those poor eggs were motherless was even worse. Loss was something that seemed to hit her hard. It was the suddenness that had gotten to her, she thought. Grandmama's friends had died before, and while there had been some weeping, it had not been quite like this. She couldn't explain this, but that it was somehow... more.

And then, instantly, her expression was transformed. Caught by wonder, Mali watched as a beautiful Bronze dragonet made his way out of the shell. By the Egg! Oh! That was marvelous! She was grinning, and it was silly, but she was grinning because he was beautiful, and lovely, and he was alive. He was glistening from his sojourn in the egg, an absolute beauty. She was beside herself with excitement, delighted by the presence of a new baby, and even more excited because soon that Bronze would be somebody's dragon! And someone would be that Bronze's rider.

---

As though drawn by her gaze, S'raid caught her eyes and smirked. There was no other way of describing the expression. It was simply smug, and superior, and knowing. 'You sharding messed up, and now you're suffering the consequences', said S'raid's eyes, and mouth. His very incredibly smug mouth. He could afford to be good humored! Though it was not a Benden Hatching, it was a Hatching. A time for celebration... even if that celebration seemed primarily to be of the misfortunes of others.

Namely one other. Eat your heart out, pintsized. He, after all, had a dragon. A very excellent dragon, in point of fact. It occurred to him that he was perhaps being immature, but that was... immaterial. What mattered was that Moira wouldn't be Impressing a dragon, after all of her words and her bluster. Why did it not surprise him that she had gotten herself into trouble and had been held back from Standing? Oh yes, this was truly delightful.

Moira had never in her life so badly wished that she was capable of shooting fire out of her eyes, so that she could smite the pompous, moronic, wherry-brained deadglow known as S'raid. She didn't shy away from his gaze, but held it with every bit of venom and loathing that she could pump into those pale blue irises. If her brows drew down any lower, she would be practically blinding herself. As though to prove a point, after a long moment. Moira tore her gaze away defiantly and lifted her chin, staring out at the sands. She straightened herself to her full height, crossed her arms across her chest, and stood there as though she were in the Stands of her own accord.

Instead of watching that... horrible, awful, thing up in the Stands, she fixed her attention on the newly emerged green.

Nasuymi, who had been trying to keep a rather neutral look on her face, let one of pleasure slip over her face. The girl, La, whom she had started to make friends with was actually standing next to her. Now was the silliest time to have a crush on the girl and she pushed those thoughts very far deep down. She liked her thoughts to herself. Sides, if she Impressed, there would be no time for that!

Giving a shake of her head, Nasyumi whispered to her companion. "S'posed to be barefoot. We all need to look teh same. Don't wanna startle teh babies."

Then a green tumbled out of her shell and looked very surprised. How cute was that? The little one let out a quiet bugle and the bronze began to make his way through the boys. How many more would hatch before first impression would be made? "She's a beauty, eh?"

Akaya had to suppress a grin at the bronze's easygoing manner--well, if he wasn't concerned, surely there was nothing to be concerned about! His nonchalant seat as he poured over the boys was no doubt causing a few of them some discomfort--or maybe it was all anticipation, as they waited to see which the bronze would choose out of their number?

The green hatchling was precious, Akaya decided, and despite a somewhat inglorious introduction to the world her bugle, quiet and controlled, seemed as if she had things well in hand. Perhaps it meant that she didn't wish to move further and risk another slip? Akaya glanced around at the other girls, but it didn't seem as if there was anything different--so the green had yet to Impress. Impression, the Harper apprentice knew, was the sort of thing that would make itself clear on one's face--or so the ballads said.

Oh! It was a Green, now! And such a dainty little thing... Mali could hardly get over it! Oh, oh, oh! She beamed at the dragonet, as encouraging as she could possibly be, all things considered. So quiet, and so pretty, and just so... so! Malina was beside herself with excitement, clapping her hands despite her every effort to remain composed. There were two dragonets on the Sands, and they were both lovely and whole, and there was nothing to worry about yet.

Mali remembered her lessons. "I... thank you, Sheri," she told him, just to be polite. She wasn't going to stand their and let a dragonet maul her. At least, she hoped she wasn't. There was a chance that she'd fall down, and then she might have lain there, but it would not have been on purpose. Even then, she could still scramble backwards. It would just be awkward!