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Laenara knew there would be a touching. There was always a Touching unless there was a dire emergency. She stayed towards the back of the crowd, watching to see where the other Candidates would go. She bowed to Banshidheth and her rider, trying to be respectful while not wanting to meet their eyes. She had gotten into trouble again and it was only by the grace of one of the rider women who had been kin to her mother that she was able to finish up a different set of chores and attend. Lae frowned when she saw several of the chatty and rude folks from the Q&A session but kept to the left as she moved further into the Hatching Sands.

She tried not to gape at the eggs but they were so beautiful. So many different colors and shapes that her exterior wall cracked and the child that she had been shone through... But then, the crack was patched and she took a step forward towards the smaller pile of eggs. As a girl, she was sure many would note if she touched the gold egg or not but for know, she explored. Several eggs pulled at her and she was torn for a moment but then made her way to the Bloodstained Egg. Its bold splash of red both repelled and appealed to her. Laenara reached a hand out and stroked the egg. It felt as churned as she did on the inside. like a constant battle of wits and emotion. Refusing to be scared or cowed, she kept her hand on the shell. "We are not too different, are we? We know how we like things, and we don't like people trying to be something they're not. At least I don't. I prefer straight talking and that's what I give too." She waited a moment and removed her hand. Looking around, Laenara wondered how many others were talking to the eggs as well. Times like this, she wished she could ask her parents what it was like but those times were long past.

Jaric had been looking forward to the Touching. It would be his first one, the first time he'd get to see dragon eggs up close. And even better, to touch them. He'd heard you could feel something of the dragon inside, and wanted to know what that was like. Would he be able to tell if any of them liked him, and might want to choose him? He knew that nothing was certain until the dragons actually Impressed, but if he could get some hint, some hope...

After the Candidatemaster's speech, he headed out to the sands and bowed carefully to Banshidheth. Wait, had the Candidatemaster said to salute? Oh, but everyone else was bowing, so he was fine. Except that he was standing there looking at his fellow Candidates instead of meeting the eggs. He started to hustle over to the eggs, found that jogging on sand wasn't easy (and probably not respectful), and slowed to a quick walk.

But which egg should he start at? The eggs varied widely in size and color. He kind of wanted to touch the queen egg, just to see what it was like, even though he know the hatchling inside could never pick him. And the larger eggs were tempting too, since the biggest ones were most likely to contain a bronze or brown. Any dragon was a good dragon, especially with the wherhold stressing that ever dragon started at equal rank. But he was raised in a weyr, after all, where the larger colors had always been respected.

But he didn't want to be seen as arrogant, so he started with one of the smaller eggs. There was one marked with a lightning bolt that caught his eye, so he walked up to that one and laid his hand on the Charging Egg. What kind of feeling would he get from this one?

(please forgive any fail, phone post.)

So this was a Touching and those were dragon eggs. The difference in size was amazing, as was the huge range of colours and patterns, Weyrleader's egg had been plain dark blue and hadn't even filled her palm. These eggs on the other hand....

Well no sense standing about like a ninny. Vee strode out onto the hot sands, and the heat surprised her too, though of course she had been told about it the fact that it even got through her tough boots was unexpected.

A short distance from the eggs the wiry young woman ca we to a halt, stood at attention and saluted. She then frowned in a puzzled manner as she noticed that everyone around her was bowing, not saluting like they'd been told. Her confusion was soon dismissed with a shrug, it wasn't her problem and she had eggs to touch.

The first one she approached was lying on its side. Vee stooped to lay a hand on the shell, trying to think open minded. In return she got nothing, a whole lot of nothing. Frowning again she took her hand off and then laid it back on again just in case she'd done it wrong the first time. Still nothing. Vee straightened up still frowning and now flexing her hand too. What if she couldn't hear anything because she didn't have potential? She'd given three turns to this now and.... No, surely if she had no chance somebody would have said something by now.

"Anyone get anything from that one?" She asked softly of those around the dud egg

Banshidheth, ever poised, observed the procession of candidates impassively, her faceted eyes holding mostly blue with only a tinge of orange. Instinct would have her be wary of them, but logic dictated that allowing the children to touch the eggs would improve the dragonets' chances of finding their riders when the time came. It was to everyone's benefit that this was allowed, and so she remained controlled and still as they either bowed or saluted and then moved on to lay their hands on her eggs. Her many, magnificent eggs. She allowed herself some measure of pride at their number, and that one was gold. The Wherholds needed dragons, and the addition of one who would eventually be able to consistently produce more dragons still was a welcome boon. It also disproved the belief that browns could sire only small clutches with no gold eggs. Let every gold who had ever turned their noses up at anything other than a bronze take that and shove it!

The gold turned her head slightly to regard the dragons that had come to attend the affair as well, a little more orange creeping into her gaze as instinct reared again only to be reined back in. There was no reason they should not see the eggs, see how well she continued to fulfill her duty to the cause. Mirath's warble was returned with a feeling of gracious acknowledgement, while Rugarth received words in exchange for his. Thank you, Rugarth. Her own voice held a hint of pride, shared but quiet. Smugness could be their little secret. I am told it is my largest.

Anali, the source of this information - as Banshidheth could recall previous clutches only with the help of her rider's longer memory - stood close by her dragon, hands folded behind her back, and nodded and smiled at each candidate who came forward.

Vesin smiled at the gold's reaction and started moving her right hand in a circular motion, caressing the egg as she had suggested. "Of course I wouldn't mind." Ves said, ignoring the small bit of demand. She was a gold, and golds had the right to be able to do that, but since she wanted to do it anyway, there was really no problem. As she stayed longer than she probably should have she looked around at her siblings. Esre had stayed with Vos, which wasn't a bad thing. He was normally glued to her side but she knew he would be in good hands no matter what. "I need to go and meet your clutchmates. You were my first stop..." and then she whispered, "And you'll be my last." Ves gave the gold egg one last caress before moving around the group near the gold egg.

She started with the springing egg, it tried to scare her and she had been startled a little bit but soon smiled. It didn't spend much time with her, though, and she was soon moving on to the next.

From the crystallized egg, she got a swell of sympathy and hopefulness and a little bit of excitement, but it's attention was lost quickly as well.

The suspicious egg came next and Vesin lightly put her hands on the shell just as she had done with the gold.

The seriousness of the suspicious egg was met with seriousness from Vesin. "You don't have to worry about me, I will be on my best behavior, you have my promise." She left with a smile as she was similar with her own feelings towards her siblings.

The burning egg was a mystery to her. She could tell there was something there and wished it would reveal itself to her. Ves gave it a gentle pat before moving on.

The dancing egg was next. It was so pretty! Vesin honestly felt bad when she interrupted the poor dear and made her apologies in abundance. The pride, strength, and zest for life was a pleasant surprise to her as she was glad that such an exuberant egg also had strength.

The pretty sky blue laughing egg held Vesin's attention before she touched it. It reminded her of a clear day she'd like to spend out with her siblings. The laughing that accompanied touching the egg seemed to make her day dream even more real. It was a little bit of a silly ceremony but it was tradition none the less.

Vesin went to the welcoming egg next and placed her hands just as gently as before.

The ringing echo of the Keep Out egg still lingered as she kept a hand on the Dancing Egg. She could feel its confidence, its happiness, its readiness to have the world look it over. When she was reprimanded, Lae gave an apologetic grin. "You're right. One thought at a time, one egg at a time. I am sure that you will outshine any of the others here. After all, there is so much more freedom down at the bottom of the ladder instead of the top."

She stayed with the egg for a moment before noticing that the crowd was starting to shift again. "I hope your happiness tempers your sibling's anger. I know that you will make someone very happy."

Removing her hand and stepping back, Laenara almost felt wistful. Shaking herself, she moved and stood over by the Gold Egg. Surrounding it were other eggs and she stood there, thinking.