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Cetalese's eyes swept over the eggs again, trying to pick out the next for Hatching, when movement startled her in the corner of her eye. She looked back in time to watch the little Green fall over and start wriggling around in the Sands, scrubbing herself clean, and then watched the orbiting Green run over to join her sister, wriggling around in the Sands as well. A confused smiled started on Ceta's face. Well, at least she was all right--

No, she was up again, too, leaving her sister happily wriggling in the sand as she bounded straight for the girls. It seemed she'd made up her mind much more quickly than the other Green. Her forward momentum was stopped the same way it had been before, but with more force and more faceplanting. Cetalese watched carefully to make sure she was all right, but the Green seemed to shake it off with a boisterous and rather amused bellow. That was good, but she was obviously as much a handful as--

Cetalese!

Cetalese blinked and straightened up, leaning back slightly from the Hatchling that was now staring at her with a mix of green and red in her eyes, hungry but clearly having more than enough fun to put it aside.

Running is very difficult you know, but your Halith will get better at it! Meet me there by the meat, I will race you! Before Cetalese could even savor the moment of Impression, Halith was off, barreling towards the bowls at a speed that surely meant she was going to fall again.

"No, no, Halith!" She called out, hiking up her robes as she would skirts and chasing the Green down exactly as her lifepartner wanted and in complete abandonment of her own personality. If she'd had any of her copious common sense, she would have treated Halith as the rambunctious child she was rather than indulging her. Don't run!

It looked as if Ceta was going to be spending much more time herding rambunctious children like her siblings than she had expected.

But Cetalese! Look! And Halith noseplanted again. She just flipped onto her side and looked back at her rider quickly approaching, a draconic smile on her face and her eyes whirling quickly. It's right there and so are my siblings! I can't win if I keep falling over, though.

Ceta caught up to her dragon and quickly knelt beside her as she got to her feet, reaching out a wondergin hand to gently rub it over her eyeridge and down her headknob. Halith seemed content for a moment, but she was soon enough struggling back to her feet.

Carefully this time, Ceta suggested. We can walk. We don't have to run. The meat will still be there and I think you would win any race between the two of us.

If Halith had been human, Ceta could have sworn she would be shrugging. Okay! I am hungry, Cetalesemine, she insisted, dancing slightly in place and glancing back over her shoulder at the sibling she had left behind.

"We'll fix that. Come on."

At the permission Halith was off again, running to the bowls, having completely forgotten Ceta's instructions. She hiked her robes up again and in the interest of drawing less attention to herself simply thought the reprimands instead of shouting them as she had been about to. Halith! Slow down!

Gauden watched the two Greens play as he waited to hear another crack or explosion of an egg, and therefore saw the full extent of the tailing trail Green's energy-- and her Impression to Cetalese. As the girl cried out and chased after her new lifepartner, he realized he didn't envy her at all. He also suddenly had a fear that he would be placed with a dragon that had as much energy and distraction as Cetalese's new Green-- Haylieth?-- or the Green still on the Sands. He turned his head to watch Cetalese catch up to her awkward hatchling. Well maybe that was just how all hatchlings acted and they would grow out of it. The first few-- with the exception of the Bronze-- had seemed to be emotionally... upheavaled? That wasn't a word.

He looked back at the quiet Clutch, still just that initial Green present among all the eggs. Was this what a lull in the Hatching felt like?

Then the eggs began to hatch, and it seemed several moved at once, culminating in-- another Green. Gauden leaned back and if he had had pockets his hands would likely have one in them. Well. Another period of waiting then.

Jayden watched the girl chase after her new green with a look of amusement on his face but his attention was quickly diverted back to the sands and those eggs and dragons he still had a chance at. There seemed to be a lull in things for the moment however which after the excitement of the first action just seemed to highlight that it was very very late at night and he was bloody tired.

Not that he'd miss this for anything though and surely once the eggs started up again the sleepiness would go away once more - and as if on cue a couple of eggs rocked a bit before a little green poked her head out. She didn't seem to be going anywhere fast though.

Hatchings never disappointed in terms of interest. The first green to hatch was rather adorable, and it was amusing to watch her wander off who knows where. At one point she thought there might be a stands impression about to happen, but nope,she'd just been distracted by something or another. Watching all of the siblings interact was rather adorable too-- until a small blue and green got into a fight. She wasn't quite as worried about it as F'ren was, but she was still worried. It was a major relief when the fight ended and they both found Theirs. "Doesn't look like there were any serious injuries," she remarked, looking over the crowd of female Candidates gathered. Things could have gone much worse than they had. And no, there certainly was never a dull moment.

"Quite a few cute greens," she added, as the next few eggs that hatched were also greens. She had to giggle at the latest one, who sat there with her head just poking out of the shell. Those who Impressed tonight would be having quite a lot of fun with Theirs.

F'ren watched the eggs with great interest, that first Green still hadn't gone to find hers, which was both worrying but amusing as well since she seemed to be having great fun. "no, that i'm glad of ... no dragon should fight and injure another, not even hatchlings" he said, knowing that hatchings can and will injure themselves and each other but it didn't stop him from worrying about it though.

He nodded and turned to G'brel with a big grin at the newest green to ...uh.... poke her head from her shell, she WAS very pretty and amusing out there with just her head poking up, observing her surroundings and the noise she made was adorable.

"I love you F'renmine, i am glad you were there on the sands when i hatched" commented Toulonth, as if to remind F'ren she was His and was still there. F'ren chuckled "and i love you too my lovely Toulonth, as cute as those greens are, i'm glad that i was there for you to find me too" he replied then told G'brel what Toulonth had said, with another low chuckle.

The tailing trail green certainly seemed… energetic. She romped over to the girls (and to him at this point), falling down on the way. When she bugled then turned to race towards the feeding area, it became clear that she had Impressed. But who? When Ruven noticed that Cetalese was hurrying after her, he smiled. He did not know the female candidate very well (they had only been at the same place at the same time on a couple of instances), but he liked what he knew of her. He was, in a word, happy for her. Both Cetalese and Peradan had obtained dragonettes so far! He would be lucky to be part of their weyrling class.

He returned his attention to Nawa. She seemed initially to be shocked by all of the blood coming from her leg. That was not surprising. After all, her cuts WERE fairly deep. He had been about to tear off a piece of his own clothing to help bandage the lacerations when she took the initiative herself. Strong girl. At that point he realized that she had not even shed a single tear. Instantly Ruven blossomed a newfound respect for her. This one was nothing like the crybaby privileged women he had known back at his Hold.

Ruven was quite relieved when she finally took his hand and stood. Ah, good. She could still handle herself. Then she smiled and pointed out that he was on the wrong side of the candidates. Laughing weakly, he scratched the back of his head. Yup. She was fine. “Yeah, you’re right. I’d better get back to the boys before I start confusing anyone.” With that he added, “My name’s Ruven, by the way. Good luck!” Now that he had met her, he would be rooting for Nawa. Hopefully she would find Hers.

His duty done, Ruven hastily headed back over to the front of the boys. It was then that he noticed that the Sands were still. Apparently, no new dragonlings had hatched during his conversation with Nawa. Was something wrong? The redhead was beginning to worry again when the rocky band egg shifted. Of course. That dragon deserved a quiet stage. That way, it had everyone’s undivided attention. Next the queen egg cracked (how exciting – even Ruven was interested to see who the gold would choose). Disappointingly, after this brief activity both seemed to settled down again.

Suddenly, the brilliant flash egg burst open, revealing a green. Like the orbiting green, she appeared to be more interested in her fellow hatchlings than the candidates. Ruven was not about to complain. Secretly, he was terrified of the possibility that he might Impress a female dragon. Having to be on the receiving end of Flights… he did not want to think about it. Naturally he would adore His, no matter what color it turned out to be. That did not mean he had to adore everything about becoming a dragonrider.

Silently he hoped that the two little ones wandering the sands would gravitate towards the right side of the candidates.

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Another green, another Impression. Aeri was somewhat disappointed to see the tailing trail egg wander off with a girl she did not recognize, but she promptly reminded herself that only four dragonettes had Impressed out of a potential thirteen. That meant that she still had plenty of opportunities to find Hers in this clutch.

By this point, the ill-tempered girl had started ignoring the orbiting green entirely. Patiently she watched the remaining clutch, still as it was. First that large egg –probably a bronze or brown?- wiggled. That prompted the luminous egg to move. Aeri’s heart skipped a few beats. Although most would not admit to lusting after the power and prestige a queen dragonette offered, Aeri was not shy about treating the gold as her “favorite”. She was sure she was not the only one among the female candidates who secretly had her fingers crossed every time that important beauty shifted.

That being said, she would not be heartbroken if the queen chose someone else. All she wanted was a dragon. Beyond that, nothing mattered.

An egg hatched. This one was yet another green, not a metallic. Aeri watched the brilliant flash green silently. This was one of the ones she had taken an interest to during the Touching. She was sad to see that this lovely creature had turned out to be such a boring color. The dragon had such a bright and colorful personality. Would it end up going to waste?

A chirp from the brilliant flash green attracted the attention of the orbiting green, who gave a chirp of her own and heaved herself to her feet before setting off towards her sister. It was notable that there was less bounce in her stride now, perhaps the exuberant little green was getting tired. She still didn't seem to be distressed but equally she wasn't moving off to find her rider and get herself fed, apparently nudging her new sibling's face and then her egg was more interesting than boring stuff like survival instincts. The brilliant flash green greeted her sister happily, touching noses with her and then peering over at the candidates and their audience as the orbiting snuffled and poked at her shell.

The first sign that anything else was happening on the sands was not a loud crack of shell or the loud cry of either a furious or bouncy new dragonet, it was merely movement. The guiding light egg, which had been almost completely still until now, rocked just once and then broke open without ceremony to reveal a beautiful little dark green with soft blue eyes. She took a moment to look over at the gathered candidates before neatly folding her wings and padding over to her sisters. Giving a very soft hum she nudged the brilliant flash green's face and then the orbiting green's shoulder.

Now distracted from the brilliant flash by the sister her egg had nestled up against the orbiting green squeaked happily, and when the guiding light green set off slowly towards the candidates she trotted along beside her. Meanwhile the brilliant flash green started to shake free of the remains of her shell, and once she'd managed to get to her feet she trotted along after the pair. As the guiding light green steered to orbiting towards the male candidates, however, the brilliant flash peeled off and headed towards the girls.