Welcome to Gaia! ::

Some people said that when you fell in love, the world went silent and fireworks burst through the sky. Well.. This was so much better than that. Marue bit her bottom lip as she watched the Noisy Sociolite egg burst, and the beautiful hatchling came forward. She commanded attention, dominated those puny little greens with beauty and ferocity. Now that was a dragon. Saain's presence fell out of Marue's mind completely as the girl waited, and rightly so.
Marue. How the shards did all this happen while I was still stuck in an egg? I'm not missing anything ever again, and you need to work on not getting yourself mauled. The dragon looked down at Saain, and a lip half lifted. What was this dirty little creature doing near Hers? Well. It seemed like she was helping. Sturnuth would allow it.
Marue bit her lip, smile widening more so than she ever thought it could.
Well, my darling, maybe if you hadn't taken your sweet time getting out of that shell of yours, this wouldn't have happened. Her tone was laced with love as she reached out and wrapped her arms around her wonderful gold--Oh please.
I'm not some run of the mill gold, thank you very much. Everyone knows Yellow is so much better.
Marue gave a small laugh, Quite Right too. Everyone knew gold was the softest metal. Why would anyone in their right mind prefer gold?

Marue took hold of Sturnuth's neck, pulling herself to her feet. She straightened her posture as best she could, and smoothed her hair back in place. Her legs trembled beneath her, but she'd be damned if she was going to bumble about like some sharding cripple. She was a Du'Lace, and now, she was a dragon rider. Sturnuth arched her back under Marue's weight, both rider and dragon pure examples of posture and everything else that was awesome, with their heads held high as they made their way toward the meats. That's right. All of you. Suck it.
Such words Marue would never be uncouth enough to say out loud, but she didn't have to. They knew, and if they didn't, they were daft.
We're going to rule the world, Mine.
Damn Straight, my darling.



Needless to say, No one in the Weyr was ever going to hear the end of this.

Joscelin

Joscelin lift an eyebrow in polite inquiry as the Noisy Socialite finally hatched. Gold? He wasn't really sure, everyone said that gold eggs were clearly gold and the purple shell while large wasn't right with the stories. He snorted as she screamed, head tipped slightly to show his disdain for the screaming gold on the sands. Again? This one shrieked more than his sisters after a bad breakup.

Ooh look, she chose the girl that got mauled earlier and screamed just as high pitched and ear deafening as herself. How very appropriate. He was rather glad they didn't co-ed the barracks, at least he didn't think they would considering the age gaps and he rather pity who ever ended up bunking with those two.

Screech, screech, flapping lips and all.

Wait... was that a second gold? Joscelin blinked, looking over the clutch and back at the paler hatching. Had she hidden eggs? He had been so sure there had been thirteen but the eggs were all accounted for. He watched the surprise move off to a small group of healers... the master he recalled and he believe the mauled boy and the girl were apprentices. Hmm, this was so very intriguing.
______________
Saain

And she was being ignored again. Saain clicked her tongue, irritated the girl and well life in general at the moment. She sighed and giving up, wrapped the wound tightly in the sash and paused as something gold -yellow?- brushed pasted her. A hatching?

She looked up and then back at Marue and smirked slightly. "Well, it seems you are going to be able to get medical help sooner than I thought." And get out of my sights. Saain ignored the hatching, standing gracefully and absently brushed sand from her clothing. Marue was to twitter pat to notice her and Saain did not care to bother. Leave it alone...

Two golds? She paused, looking over the healer corner and the second gold-yellow?- they didn't seem shinny enough to be golds but she never had really seen a gold up close. Not one healthy so how was she to judge what was normal? Still, at least it seems that both of them had impressed without much fanfare. Good.

Nicoth was not at the Hatching. As far as I'saak was concerned, this was a good thing. Frankly, the very last thing he needed was his foul-tempered, dragon-aggressive green getting too close to hatchlings. And the longer the Hatching stretched on, the gladder I'saak was that the green hadn't attended. Because he didn't trust Nicoth's genetic programming against harming humans, and the actions he had seen...

It had been going so well, too. The greens hatching, Impressing without incident. And then...there had been a glimmer of gold in one egg, and a burst of - he still wasn't sure. White, or grey, or a deformed green or blue, perhaps. But it had gone after Candidates - nothing I'saak hadn't seen before. Run of the mill mauling.

Until C'ross.

At first, I'saak wasn't sure if he had seen what he thought he saw. There were no real formal Stands, so he was at enough of a distance that it had looked - strange. Confusing. He had been able to pretend he hadn't just seen his wingsecond lift his crossbow and -

The dragonet flashed between.

I'saak stood stunned, staring at C'ross's hands. Maybe it had been the deformity, the fact that there had been something clearly wrong -

And then V'tyai was screaming in C'ross's face, and Taavetti was getting between them, and I'saak stood, and watched, and panicked. His wingsecond had shot a hatchling. Had deliberately shot a hatchling. He had not seen M'onk, had not seen anything other than the man holding the crossbow, and the grey flashing out of sight. C'ross had killed a hatchling.

His hands shook. He said nothing. In the back of his mind, Nicoth curled fierce and protective.

To say that Descanth was devastated would be an understatement. The crippled green did not scream or lunge at Merceth or lash out – but when the Kestrel took a fatal bolt, she keened a low heartbreaking note as if one of her own eggs had been destroyed in front of her.

And M’ska? M’ska was not a man to raise his voice. V’tyai was the kind of man who could stride up to C’ross and shout at the squadsecond and snarl and nearly come to blows. But the greenrider was quiet. Even when Brakiheth died, he was not among the shouting arguers; his place had been with the Weyrwoman, offering what comfort he could. There was no comfort to be offered today, but there were quiet words to be had.

M’ska did not miss much that happened on the sands, and he saw the hesitation. He saw who the brownrider had looked to before he leveled a weapon. And so while V’tyai dealt with the executioner, M’ska deftly edged his way along the sands to lodge a protest with the judge.

He stood by M’onk, pleasant and seemingly unassuming as always. “Have to get your new favorite dog to do the dirty work for you, Warden?”

Lin

Lin kept her eyes on the grey hatchling. There might be other eggs rocking, other hatchlings hatching.. shells, eight dozen golds could spring from their shells at once (that seemed a ridiculous thought at the time, but considering what was about to happen..) but still, Lin would not remove her eyes from that thing until it was Impressed or gone!

Then.. Lin blinked. And it was gone. Just like that. She blinked again, starring at the spot where it had been. What just happened? Were hatchings always like this?

She heard the Candidatemaster's roar and jumped (she couldn't help it, she just assumed when he was angry it meant they were in trouble), but a quick glance in the direction he was moving revealed the source of the trouble. Lin might not be clever, but she was quick; she didn't miss the crossbow in the rider's hand, or its implications. So that's what happened to the little grey. Poor thing. Even if it was a crazy murderous beast. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, but pushed them back. This is exactly what she'd promised she wouldn't let happen that day when the gold died. Her dark eyes shifted to the scuffle that seemed to be happening between the two riders. And poor V'tyai, who had always been fighting for them. If she ever impressed a dragon.. if she ever got rid of that red jumpsuit and became someone important.. Then, maybe, she could pay him back.

But for now, her attention was called somewhere else. Lin might have missed the flash of golden hide before, but when the egg exploded, no one could miss that. Lin turned to look at the gold and watched it going up to the injured girl. Before she realized what she was doing, her hands were clasped in front of her as she held her breath in anticipation. Would it stay with the girl? It wouldn't -couldn't- hurt the poor girl again, could it? she thought. But taking note of herself, Lin quickly unclasped her hands and replaced her smile with a scowl. I mean, like, not that she cared.

To prevent a relapse, Lin crossed her arms firmly in front of her, but before long, her attention was swept away again. A egg she hadn't even noticed before began to rock. "Wow!" Lin breathed in awe as a second golden hide emerged. Two Golds? That had to be rare! "Oh, wow!" Lin repeated, forgetting herself in the moment. Oh! It looked like it was going to impress too. It was walking over to another one of the injured candidates and.. Wait, wasn't that a boy?

That couldn't be right! Lin might not know much about dragons, but golds impressed girls. That much she knew. An old saying came to mind; "Not all that glitters is gold." she muttered to herself. She knew something was fishy here. Two golds in one clutch? This had to be some kind of trick, right?

Jaykkial

If he kills him I'll kill HIM! Atheth snapped her jaws down on the piece of meat offered, red eyes promising death if another bolt was loosed on her siblings. The loss of one brother for his hide color was one too many. Of course the golds had been left alive though Jaykkial was having one of her more stupid moments as she was sure the young man had Impressed one. How, she wasn't sure...but it looked like he had. The pink dragonet was snapping around, though with less malice than the previous mutation had.

Jaykkial didn't have to remind Atheth that she couldn't harm a human, between the two of them there was a subconscious knowledge that they would be able to come up with something. Maybe not death... but Jaykkial was used to skirting the rules while still getting away with exactly what she wanted. Given a moment, they could make the lives of those responsible miserable.

Luka

If she had to Impress to get out of here, a gold wouldn't be that bad. She wouldn't be expected to fight or be a guard or any of that nasty stuff. Instead she'd be desired as a mate, her dragon for breeding babies. Sure if she wanted to leave, a gold wasn't as easy to hide as a smaller dragon, and probably missed a lot more, but she had no desire to stay here. It actually brought a smile to her face as she slowly came out of hiding, not seeing the monstrous little grey thing anywhere. Wouldn't that just burn? If she went back home and told her ex that he could have been with a gold rider and instead he chose some backwoods dimbrained baby maker.

She spared a thought for her own child. She'd received a couple letters, letting her know the girl was healthy and being raised with her sisters children. It was doubtful she'd take the child back if she went home. She had no real desire to be a mother, especially an unmarried one.

The loud bugle drew her attention back to the Sands and she blinked hard, wondering again if she were asleep or crazy. She hadn't paid attention to who the gold's had Impressed, only knowing that it wasn't her. The draconic face presented to her was not gold. Nor Green. Nor any other color of the known spectrum, like the odd grey hatchling before it this bright pink one was making it's way through the Candidates. Luka slipped around a few, putting distance and bodies between herself and it.

There was a egg by his feet. What did he do? Joscelin stepped back lightly, looking over the red shell of the Strawberry wine egg, slight bemusement crossing his face. He had not touched this egg so he wasn't sure what sort of hatching laid inside. He hoped it was an decent tempered one since he wasn't going to run away. It would be horribly undignified. Was he suppose to be doing something? Or just wait here till it hatc-

Ooh, there it went. Wait, why by blunt quills and ink sticks was it pink? That wasn't normal or dignified or anything he wanted apart of. He would be a blazing laughing stock if he impressed a PINK dragon. It was sort of cute but he had enough gender indentify issues without tossing a pink dragon on top of them. Thank you, ohh gracious elder sisters for that mess of problem-

Do not touch me! He managed to bite down his shriek of displeasure as the dragon bumped against him, staggering slightly at the over enthusiast head bump. Don't want, don't want... go awwaaay.

It went away? Joscelin swallowed, attempting to collect himself and fiddled with his sleeves, uncomfortable. At least the pink was distracted with someone else now.