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Merrell's strength was bolstered by S'lar and Ja'kki's support, and she took a deep breath, deciding that no, they didn't have to tell them where the eggs were but yes, the candidates should be able to come in... perhaps... but her thoughts were cut short.

~ Mine he is here! Oh, look at him! He is beautiful! ~ Amaranth crowed as the little blue slunk out onto the sands. That made Merrell's mind up for her, the poor pitiful little dragonet was so tiny and lost, she couldn't bear to see him go between.

"Bring your candidates in, but you stay by the door and your dragons outside." She said forcefully to Kleos, eyes narrowed. They would either cooperate and have the chance at impressing the blue, or there would be a fight. And she knew if there was a fight there would be no way for anyone to reach the new dragon in time. She hoped they would see reason. Later on, she would probably laugh at the way she had made demands as if she and the other Bolts weren't outnumbered and outgunned. But for now, her passions were blazing high, making her verge on unpredictable.

"No, not you," Kaeyne called out from the cave back towards S'lar. "The arrogant self righteous tit of a silverrider. Also, there's a dragon."

He could hear the dragon, either way, and then actually saw it. The Candidate blinked and smiled, just a little, the anger at Hekate hidden away until he had to go back out and deal with her. She was nothing more than a rider and he not under her command. Nope, he had a dragon to deal with and - squinting at the ground, trying to discern where the steps came from - perhaps another egg to find.

People! The slender blue looked relieved for a moment and chirped a greeting; he hadn't liked being all alone! He started to trot towards the humans... and then stopped. With an indifferent toss of his head he sat down and started to clean egg goop off his handsome pale hide; oh, there were people here? Well that was nice, they could come and bask in his beauty if they wanted but he wasn't going to go to them.... But the urge to move, to find His was strong. After a moment more he got back to his feet and stretched luxuriantly, as though this had been his plan all along.

Oblivious to the tension outside the cave he started to pad towards the little group of humans, carrying himself with all the grace and poise of a Lady Holder and all the proud confidence stereotyped as the territory of silvers or bronzes.


Kleos tensed, lips pursed into a thin line. She didn't like this, she didn't like this at all... but what choice did she have? "Very well," she replied, "but you and your allies will also remain here, and your dragons will remain outside too. You must also tell us the location of any others eggs you took from the Sands." When the dragons were safely Impressed they could resume combat if the Revolutionaries would not leave, but she would not risk harm coming to hatchlings or indeed candidates right now.

F'ren's appearance was something of a relief, the more they outnumbered their enemies the better, and as he approached she turned her mind to more practical matters. "F'ren, welcome, they appear to be well enough.... We are negotiating with these ladies, and this gentleman," she gestured at the Revolutionaries, remembering to use the hand her knife wasn't in; the last thing she needed was to provoke more violence with a careless wave of a weapon.

"Hatchlings cannot eat grubs," she went on, now turning to N'ymi with a small shake of her head. "There is merit in hunting however... we have already agreed that our dragons shall remain outside the cave. Will you send Daroth to hunt and, F'ren, you Toulonth? There may be game to be found in nearby clearings."

Sensing that an accord had been reached Moriath grudgingly backed out of the cave again, her eyes still whirling red and orange. If she had it her way she would tear the traitorous dragons limb from limb, or perhaps just tear their wings and march them back to the Weyr for judgement and punishment. As it was however she would accept the deal; the hatchling, and any others that were inside the cave, had to be protected. she said stiffly, addressing all present dragons save for the little blue hatchling.

Meroc couldn't help, but grin at the blue as it took it's seat grooming his handsome hide to perfection. Well he couldn't rightly blame the little hatchling since the blue was quite the handsome lad. At least someone was conducting themsevles with dignity and pride unlike certain other candidates. "Bad form." Meroc murmured under his breath arching a brow at Kaeyne. While he didn't know the red haired young rider personally there was no call for such language. They were candidates the should conduct themselves with dignity. Which Meroc did straightening his back and waiting on the blue to finish his grooming.

Merrell, who was somewhat used to speaking for the Bolts (though usually she knew what they wanted her to say first) drew strength from Ja'kki and S'lar and from the constant, comforting presence of Amaranth. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and sheathed her knife as if to signal a break in the hostilities.

"I don't know where everyone else took their eggs." Merrell said. "The other one we took is back there." She nodded towards a small crevice where the egg was wrapped warmly in furs. "Send your candidates in, then. Lets get this over with."

She still held out hope that the candidates might come to the realization that the traditional values they had been brainwashed with were not the best for the dragons. There was one candidate, arrogant and outspoken, that Merrell found herself hoping would impress. He had potential for the revolution, that one did. She liked his anger.

N'ymi shrugged. Turning to Daroth who was still in the clearing, she gave him a wave. "Go and find sum food fer the lil' ones. Dun need them 'pressin' then bein' hungry."

I go and hunt. I shall bring back what I can. Daroth backed up and then gave himself a huge heave into the air. It was not easy maneuvering and he had to take several wing strokes to get good space in the air before going Between. He popped back in over Trine feeding pens and looked for a decent sized herbeast. Toulonth. Take from our feeding area. Easier than hunting.
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Kharmeen had been steadily working his way deeper into the caves. He saw the blue and further back believed he saw another round shape but was not positive. Keeping his hands out, he moved closer to the dragonet. "Hey, hey little fellow. We are here for you."

Kleos nodded stiffly. "Very well." The sooner it was done the better.

Moriath addressed all of the unbonded humans inside the cave, She pictured to them the crevice that the revolutionary woman had indicated to Kleos.

((The Knockabout egg can now be discovered! It's moving around a bit, and not visibly damaged.))


The Slender blue meanwhile padded gracefully towards the candidates, head held high and tail giving the occasional flick. Each human was visited and looked over with a critical eye. He paused in particular by Aurelien and Muroc but walked past each to look over the others. Before long he had inspected all the possibilities, chosen none, and having done so he sat back on his haunches with the tip of his tail twitching and flicking. For some tense moments he remained where he was, running his gaze over his options one more time.

Eventually he gave a little rumble and seemed to reach a decision. Rising to his feet he padded slowly back over to Aurelien and sat down again.