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The blue STILL hadn't chosen his, but it appeared that the other dragons no longer felt like waiting. The Giraffe Egg cracked open, spilling its contents onto the sand. It was not, as many people had guessed, a male dragon. It was, in fact, a rather large and elongated green, who shook her head once or twice and clambered to her feet. She did not bother with making piteous noises. Indeed, she stopped once to give Hanumanth a friendly nuzzle, making sure he was okay before he had chosen his.

She gazed at the blue in concern, but she could not hold back her instincts for much longer. Hers was right there! And she would be able to better help the other dragons once she had formed her bond.

By the time the curious looking green had stumbled forward towards the girls, the blue had made his own Impression. Good! Now she didn't have to worry about the rest. Of course, the green had spoke too soon- another egg was cracking open, revealing a sliver of shell of indeterminate color.

Standing before her girl, happy little Isonth made her choice. Hello Lanakirene! Your name is very long. Isonth's is very short. Can we wait until I see all my clutchsibs safe before I eat? I can wait a little bit. Isonth stood up on her hind legs, to better see eye to eye with her newly bonded, Lanakirene.

The blue had impressed...Gar made note of the girl it went to. She was one of the older candidates too, the same age as he...Well if she could do it, so could he, right? The bronze had impressed as well, to a boy he didn't know, but no matter. His eyes roved the eggs. What would come from them next? Which was his?...Was one his? No, no, he couldn't think that way. One of them was his, for sure. He just had to be calm and wait. He applauded the two impressions and moved a bit closer. Now only a row behind the front of the boy's crowd, he was about as close as he could get. Not even the hot sands were bothering him yet, his anticipation overriding his outward senses slightly.

Faranie of course clapped for the impressions. The bronze had chosen a boy, Cilyme. She didn't know too much about him...but she'd plan to get to know him better after the hatching. Hopefully her dragon would be coming son, then she could find a chance to talk to him before too many weyrlings filled the adjacent hall with their chatter. Hatchings were a time to make bonds in more than one way. Alliances had to be forged.

Ugh, why so early? Or, in fact, why when she was sleeping might've been a better question, since it wasn't all that early at all. Brynne had just been napping instead of the chores she'd been assigned, feeling a little too lazy. It wasn't normally like her, to procrastinate too much. But every teenager had moments, where they just needed to catch up on sleep. And the excitement of the upcoming Hatching kept her awake night after night, wondering if she'd impress and if so, to whom. The alarm woke her uncomfortably, the female rolling off of the sacks of flour onto the hard floor with a 'Thud!', groaning softly. That was her elbow!

Suddenly realizing exactly why she was being shouted at, Brynne's face shot skywards, eyes gazing at the dragons hurriedly gliding towards the Hatching Sands. It was happening! The dragonets were hatching! Scrambling hurriedly to her feet, she dashed down the corridor and into her room, hurried stripping herself of her working clothes and replacing it with the plain white robes she'd been instructed to wear. She checked her neck and wrists for jewellery, hurriedly removing the two bangles she found before removing the hairband from her hair, allowing it to curl freely over her face. She didn't want to risk anything going wrong.

Pulling her sandals on she sprinted towards the sands, most likely looking like a mad woman. But this was such a rare occurance - something she'd never seen before. And just overally extremely exciting! She was on the sands before long, the heat wriggling up and making her feet uncomfortable. But for now, that didn't matter. She politely remained at the back of the collection of candidates that had already arrived, feeling that pushing forwards would be of no help. If her dragon was here, it would find her wherever she was.

She heard gasps and cries as dragonets hatched, Brynne strained herself to see over the heads of the other Candidates. She caught a flash of green, and then bronze, the excitement in her rising to an uncontrollable level. She was hopping from foot to foot, partially in excitement and partially because of the hot sands, but she tried to keep it subtle, and not draw attention. Less than half the eggs had hatched - what was in the rest, she wondered!

The egg that was cracking earlier was, in fact, the Flamingo Egg. It had been hotly contested what was inside the bright little egg, and it appeared that their questions were soon answered- it was a very, very bright green. Oh dear. Most people hadn't known such colors could come on a dragon, but the spritely creature was determined to prove them wrong.

Scrambling to her feet quickly, the green powered forward. She knew who was hers. She had known since she was in the shell. And she was so ready to prove her point!

Hello Emori. You're mine. We are together forever. Entwined. Entangled. You will feed me now? Fulfill my hunger. Satiate me. Oh, my name is Inannath. My calling is Inannth. Oh Faranth, does this little green ever shut up? Probably not. Emori had her hands full.

As a Blue spilled from the tawny egg, Cil held his breath. He didn’t even notice this for a while until after the little dragonet had wandered towards the girls. At least it had hatched. His blue eyes briefly wandered towards the bumpy-textured egg, hoping that it would follow suit soon. So far no luck… at the gasps from some hundred mouth, he looked back at the eggs just in time to see the first Bronze of the clutch hatch. And mewl.

Faranth’s egg, the little Bronze was actually mewling! How adorable was that? Even someone like Cil was sorely tempted to squeal at the sheer adorableness of it. Others were lumbering around---like the Blue that had gone to seek his among the girls---and Cil tried to keep an eye on that. The Blue didn’t seem like the mauling type, but the longer he spent without a Candidate, the more likely it seemed he might turn out that way.

He didn’t even notice when the Bronze wobbled towards him, still mewling all the while. That is, until the Bronze sneezed at him, expelling the egg goop all over his clean white robes. If that wasn’t enough, Hanumanth buried his face in the robes, spreading the egg goop even further.

Hello, C’ym, you are mine now. I am hungry. And it's bright. Hanumanth wants sleep.

The little striped Bronze mewled a few more times, mostly just because he rather enjoyed the noise. Besides, His was smiling. That was a good sign, yes?

Cilyme looked down at the Bronze in surprise, his mind barely comprehending the new presence. He certainly didn’t notice the other dragonets Impressing other Candidates. He just… gawked at the striped Bronze. Hanumanth. His dragon. Then the boy fell to his knees and hugged the little dragonet around the neck. This got egg goop on his face. It was totally worth it. He didn’t even notice when two of his friends Impressed, La and Raena.

The hatching was happening more quickly now, the blue had found his girl and not long after, a spotted green hatched and promptly made her way over to the girls. Hesendek watched with his head tipped; she seemed completely sure of where she wanted to go. The girl she had chosen...wait. Didn't he know that girl? That was La, the girl he'd been sent to the wine cellar. (Oh, that Ista wine cellar. What a shame.) He would have to congratulate her!

He didn't have much time to be happy for his friend (were they friends?), because another green popped out and made her way over to the girls. She was just stunning! Hesendek caught his breath, smiling at brilliant color. He didn't even know dragons could look like that! And, at least, when they went right to the girls, it wasn't quite so nerve wracking, either. Besides, there were plenty left. He would be fine. All the dragons had plenty of candidates to chose from. They would be fine too.

Dusen smiled in amusement. Only one of his guesses had been accurate so far, and really, what else could have hatched out of the little flamingo egg. He had finally passed the point of nervousness, if he was going to be chosen, he would be, and if not, there would be other hatchings. Shards, there was still another clutch hardening right now.

He was glad to see the hatchlings impress, although he had been hoping that one of them would chose him. No matter, there were still plenty of eggs, and plenty of chances.