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[Alive please, and able to Impress in a future clutch!]

Biran was rather pleased with himself for taking down one of those wherries and had insisted on plucking the one he'd killed himself to show that he could, though he'd handed it over to somebody else after that. It was a gorgeous night and wonderful to get away from the Weyr and its mundane routine for a spell. Though he would not be on the Sands this time many of the candidates who'd come on this trip would be and that made the air all the more charged with excitement... and who knew, a dragon might even come up to the stands for him! He quite fancied the idea of a small dragon.

While the food cooked Biran was caring for his sword, for though it had seen no use it was hard instilled habit to check it over properly each night. Besides, it reminded of home with its golden wher's head pommel and the glory of its beautiful pattern-welded blade. He missed home, yet he was glad to be a candidate. He missed the comforts of his former life yet it was somehow refreshing to have real peers outside of his own family. Life got a lot more complicated when you started making decisions rather than allowing them to be made for you, he supposed.

Satisfied that his weapon was in good order Biran sheathed it and turned his attention back to the other candidates. "So, who has bets on for this clutch?"

“We’ll know when they hatch” Aeglentine said quietly, the skinny candidate straightening up. She’d been hunched over repairing a rip in her hose sustained during today’s hike with tiny careful stitches, in the hope that that no-one could tell how it had been darned. “In the meanwhile, there’s not an awful chance of making quite a few marks. It’s just about calculating the odds and hedging your bets if necessary. It’s like trading, just in miniature”

[ Alive and able to stand at the Hatching. I'm find with wounds or even scars, but I don't want his Standing jeopardized, either. ]

"Everyone seems to think that the biggest egg is a gold," this came from Nimian, who was carrying firewood so they could have somewhere warm to sit. "But I'm not so sure," he went on to add. Since golds and bronzes were generally the largest of the dragons, it only made sense that they came from larger eggs. However, sometimes people could be surprised. Nimian heard news of the last clutch, and other candidates who didn't Impress said you could never really judge a dragon by its egg size. A blue in the previous clutch -- Goliath, he think he remembered him being called - was a perfect example of this.

A smile graced his lips as he set down the firewood. All of them had been eager for the camping trip, and now here they were. It hadn't been canceled after all; how lovely! "It seemed as if I had a whole other thing when it hatched, or something like that, when I touched it." With the wood set down, he began to pile it up in order to start a fire, and thought deeply as he did so. Placing bets, huh? Who knew what could be in the eggs.

"I think Crystal Clear is green," he eventually said. To this, he nodded, before he went about busying himself with a flint and steel. The group of them would be warm momentarily, he would make sure of it. While camping had never been a strong suit of his, he was eager to try anything that he could and make the most of their adventure.

"Nothing wrong with an idle flutter, it's only for fun," Biran said with a nod of agreement to Egg and a grin to Shiloh. "I think the golden egg has to be a gold, as Lex says you don't get other eggs like them... at least I've never heard of a mistake being made. I didn't get to see them up close though so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage for wagers.... But tell me about this possessive egg?" Biran turned back to Shiloh, curious. "You can feel things from wher eggs, I've been allowed to get to know my mother's wher's last two clutches as they expected I would bond to one this turn or next and you do get a feel for what they wher inside is like but I've heard it's much stronger and clearer with dragon eggs, because they're so much more intelligent I suppose?"

Grace, Biran's green firelizard, chose that moment to appear and land in his lap where she proceeded to crunch on a large bug she'd caught. Biran gave a brief laugh and wrinkled his nose in mild distaste but he made no move to shove her off.

Shiloh listened quietly until Nimian asked her why Crystal Clear egg creeped her out and she scoffed, "Sure it started off nice, all cloying and full of promises but I asked it what it wanted... not sure how, but it answered." Her expression turned pensive, the quirk of her lip unhappy, "Its answer felt... well, it felt twisted and possessive, like what it wanted was me and that it would never let me leave the egg." She shook her head, "It lures with honeyed tongue and then lays claim, like some of those perverts you hear about lurking around holds."

She shook her head, "It was far too grasping and clinging for it to be my partner. I can't imagine a dragon like that would choose someone who doesn't want it. Didn't any of you feel something behind that 'you're the best' it kept implying?" It didn't shock her that the others seemed so surprised by her dislike of the egg.

The evening had grown dark, and the night drew in like a veil over the little camp, bringing with it watchful eyes.

Rain began to fall all at once, a drizzle for a few seconds and then a sudden torrent, extinguishing any light that didn’t come from the twin moons far above. Across the clearing, a small group - maybe fifteen or twenty to the twenty-odd candidates in this small group - emerged from the tree line. They wore a motley rag-tag of armour, and had a similar assortment of weapons: one might have a sword, but another an axe, or even just a knife. A few had shields, but most simply had knives, or even bows.

They were led by a woman, tall and cocky, with short-cropped blonde hair and a sneer. She carried a sword - a good looking one - naked in one hand, the blade bright in the moonslight.

“Alright, kiddies. Keep yourselves sat, and none of y’are gonna get hurt. Which’ve you brats is the little Lordling?"

[n.b. There was not expected to be any trouble on this trip! Your candidate may well have weapons with them (especially if it’s something owned by them personally - no self-respecting teenager is going to be separated from *a sword that they own*), but it’s unlikely that they own more then a knife or a sling. Take this into account ;D ]

(I'd like at least one of my people to attend a touching, but that doesn't necessarily mean soon. So do with Ayadar anything that will heal within a few years)

For the most part Ayadar hadn't really socialised that much with the rest of the group. He'd done jobs as he was tasked and then positioned himself a little ways off from the main group, staying out of the conversation. He didn't have anything to bet on the eggs and he wasn't standing, so there wasn't anything to contribute. With Bow lying on his shoulder and Arrow lying in his lap enjoying some absent-minded attention. His back to a tree and his legs mostly up there was a neat little dip for the blue to lounge in.

The rain was not a pleasant contribution to the evening and made the whole situation a great deal darker without the fire. He was thankful for his tree coverage at that moment though, even if the weather still had Bow shuffling closer and huddling against his neck. Approaching footsteps had the lad looking up just in time to see the newcomers emerging from the trees, weapons clear in the moonslight. Well shells...

Arrow looked up as Ayadar stiffened, but the lad moved his hands to obscure the small creature. Bow was in clear sight, but he could keep Arrow hidden at least for the moment, perhaps he could get the blue to get help somehow. Of the two he was better at picking up on emotions and intent than Bow was anyway. As long as nobody made a fuss they could hopefully get out of this with all their hides in tact.

...So much for that plan. Still if the lad was intent of drawing attention to himself Ayadar wouldn't stop him. He looked down and focused on Arrow, the firelizard turning his head to look up between Ayadar's fingers at the serious tone that his human's thought's had taken. Ayadar held the image of the ground in the clearing in his mind, coupling it with an image of Venk's office and the candidate barracks. He showed Arrow an image of the blue going to barracks and showing whoever he could find the image of makeshift camp, then dragons coming here. He tried to impress the importance and urgency of the matter on Arrow. Ayadar looked up at the scene again opening his hands on one side to provide the blue with an escape route in the opposite direction of the group. Carefully the blue climbed out of his hands, scuttled along the ground, jumped into the air and disappeared between. Eyes still on the group Ayadar hoped to Faranth that the rain and dark had hidden the blue. And that he'd have the brain power to carry out the mission with so little instruction.