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Iridescent Egg 1'6'' tall
Sitting at the forefront of the clutch, the first that the candidates will see, is a round and very attractive egg. This egg is comfortably medium, but it is not the egg's size that will draw people attention. The shell is best described as pearlescent, a softly swirling mass of pale rainbows. When candidates reach out and touch the surface of this smooth egg they will be greeted by a radiating sense of warmth that swiftly encompasses them.

Layered Egg 1'9'' tall
Sat shortly behind Iridescent is the Layered egg, slouching in a shallow wallow. This egg has a series of pronounced ridges and is one of the more boldly patterned eggs in the clutch, with a series of green shades in overlapping layers, darken towards the base. This medium-large egg unfurls warmth to candidates that touch the green hued shell, the greeting is sleepy and tired, but it is still clearly there.

Average Egg 1'5'' tall
On the smaller side of average, this egg lives up to its name exceptionally well. The shell shape is average. It's position in the clutch is comfortably in the centre, without being overly close to anyone. It's nearest neighbours only seem to serve to draw attention to how muted the blue and grey tones of the egg are. The shell has a series of shallow ridges that run in line with the changes in colour. Even when touched the shell is nothing remarkable. The dragonet is clearly there, it just doesn't make much of a statement.

Daydream Egg 1'3'' tall
The second that any candidate touches the smooth surface of Daydream they will feel a presence tickling at the edges of their mind. The touch is light, feeling somewhat like hair or a small insect alighting on skin. The small egg, noticeably one of the smallest in the clutch, sits in a deep wallow, behind a cluster of its siblings. The smooth shell is attractive with a series of soft pinks and pale purples.

Lightning Egg 1'6'' tall
On the left side of the clutch is a second cluster of eggs, with the bold patterned Lightning standing at the forefront. This rough-shelled oval stands almost precariously upright, tall mounds of sand keeping it upright on all sides. Touching the egg will make candidates aware of a building pressure, of feeling like their hairs are starting to stand on end. The dark swirling purples and blues, or the bold, jagged, bright streak may give candidates the feeling of foreboding.

Lamenting Egg 1'10'' tall
This egg is by far the most vocal of the clutch. This tall, thin, oval, lies slumped in the sand. Candidates need not touch this shell to know its feelings, being anywhere near this egg they will become aware of something akin to a soft sobbing. Those that dare to touch the egg will instantly feel damp, as though they have just come in from the rain. The smooth, blue, egg will continue to sob, but will quickly cling to visitors as it does.

Enfolding Egg 1'10'' tall
Nestled behind and between Lightning and Lamenting is the monumental Enfolding. This plain, brown, egg sits in a deep wallow that by no way serves to hide how large the egg is, being the tallest and drastically widest. Touching the smooth, mammoth, egg will give candidates a fuzzy feeling, as though something fluffy is slowly wrapping around them and crushing them. Some may even find the experience oppressive.

Snowdrift Egg 1'3'' tall
A pale egg sits on the fringe of clutch. Were it not for its more distant sibling, Snowdrift may well be considered an outcast. Truthfully it is not overly far from its siblings, sitting in the middle and equally close to both clusters that have formed. The smooth egg is a gentle mix of whites and greys, and candidates that touch this egg will be greeted by a feeling that matches the shell. A feeling of cold will slowly seep into candidates, making them shiver.

Noctis Egg 1'3'' tall
The Noctis egg is a clear outcast in their clutch. The egg is noticeably quiet, touching the shell will feel like looking into a void and it is debated whether there is even an occupant in there, although Malsalth is adamant that there is, but she is sick and it would not be surprising for her to be wrong. This small egg is one of the darkest of the clutch, a dark swirling sphere of dark purples and blues.

They'd been given the talk before of course but she guessed some people needed a refresher, some of the kids here looked like they were going to wet themselves with either excitement or terror.

Vee was excited too but she was trying to play it cool and though she was near the front of the group - she wanted to be able to touch an egg straight away - she wasn't right at the front. She would've stood slouching with her arms crossed if she thought she could get away with it but today she suspected she could not, She'She would whack her with her cane and toss her out probably and that was the last thing she wanted.

At long last the old woman stopped talking and led them into the sands; Vee was careful to keep her place in the pack just the way it was, and for once not by shoving because everyone was on their best behaviour.

And then they were on the sands looking at the remains of the clutch, and the remains of a dragon. The gold hardly looked alive at all to Vee, she'd heard people say that Masalth would already have gone between if not for her eggs. Poor shaffing beast; it'd be kinder to her to put her out of her misery right now but people never seemed to think that was a choice for dragons or humans, ironically the exception to this was a human who'd lost their dragon. Would the tired looking teenager hang on after her bondmate was gone? And what about any of them who bonded, but then their dragon got sick?

Vee's scarred hands flexed, her knuckles itched because she was angry and she was angry because she was scared and for once she couldn't deal with that by fighting. She swallowed, clenched her fists, and bowed to the sickly dragon and her worn rider; least she could do was offer the dead-things walking some respect even if it hadn't been a requirement.

When Sh'shi indicated they could now approach Vee took a deep breath and headed past the main group of eggs right to the back where the Noctis Egg stood alone. So. This was going to be... interesting. The egg would know she was scared, right? She couldn't hide that? Well, shaff it then, let it see her and if it didn't like what it saw she'd move on.

Vee exhaled and stooped to lay her hands on the dark purple shell of the Noctis Egg, and yes she was scared but she was determined to honour her friend by doing this and she was excited too underneath it all. A dragon egg. Here she was, Holdless born and bred, and she was touching a dragon egg. One day, if she was very lucky, she might find herself flying through the sky on the back of one of these very dragons! They could lead wings, travel wherever they wanted, and- Well whatever else riders did! They'd do it well, they'd do it better than anyone her she and her dragon! And it wouldn't get sick, not her dragon. It would be okay.

Well she'd be pretty pissed if she was stuck inside an egg too, how boring must that be?

The egg's excitement seemed to bubble through her veins like that expensive wine they'd once stolen four cases of, her heart beat faster and her fear faded into the background. Well! She'd been to every Hold worth mentioning from Fort down to Souther Boll. Mountains flashed through her mind with the bite of cold and aching feet, fast flowing streams and then fat silty rivers, then there were fields growing all manner of crops, and then there were trees. The sea roared against cliffs in a storm and then lapped lazily at a golden beach; the scent of it was strong in Vee's memory, nothing quite like the smell of the sea.

"And that's just the places," she whispered to the egg, "it's the people that're really interesting!" She'd always liked people, on her own terms of course. Without a brand she'd been free to wander the bigger holds where a stranger didn't get commented on; busy markets filled her mind and noisy ale houses lit by glow and firelight.

Iskosian had been anxious about this day. This oh so important, drilled into his brain day. He would be touching the eggs laid by the gold. It would be nothing like Clipper's egg, which had been warm and not done much until it hatched. Even now, Clipper was a clever blue but he didn't speak. Just sent emotions and images that made sense to him. He was in better garb than he normally wore as he wiped his palms on his pants. They went a different way to the sands and soon were before the eggs.

What were they supposed to do? Oh yes, bow and say thank you. Nodding more to himself than anyone else, Isko stepped forward and gave a quick bow, his eyes to the ground. He spoke, his voice deep and low, but respectful nonetheless. "Greetings Gold Malsalth. Thank you for this chance to touch your eggs. Greetings, Goldrider K'rin. Thank you as well for this opportunity." Thanks given, Isko stepped to the side after receiving a nod and moved away from the other candidates.

He stood for a moment, not quite in the center, unsure of how to act. Was he supposed to feel something now? Finally, he stepped towards the Average Egg. He liked blue and in a way it reminded of himself. Average, not much to see or look at, but perhaps a deeper mind than most expected. Hesitantly, Iskosian placed a hand on the shell and gave it sort of a stroke. Should he talk? Say hello? He didn't like to talk out loud too much so he just sent a greeting in his head. Like when he was trying to Impress something onto Clipper. Hello, I hope you are well inside of there. Many people are hoping you come out. Iskosian kept his hand there for a moment longer and then pulled it back.

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Endalil was not nervous. He kept repeating this to himself. He was NOT nervous. He talked to Vesunth practically every day. He worked near dragons, was a weryr brat from ISTA, and was not nervous. He huffed. They would go out to the sands and he would get an idea of whether or not his future life mate was out there. He hoped. His father hoped. Ista hoped. No pressure whatsoever.

He listened to the speech and then they were off, walking towards the sands through the entrance used for candidates. Ugh. Why did that word suddenly make his stomach turn? There was nothing he could do except put one foot in front of the other? So he walked. And he stopped. Before he realized it, he was bowing low in front of the gold and her rider, "Thank you, Malsalth and Rider K'rin for this chance to Impress your eggs."

Shoved off so the next body could stand in front and stammer out some sort of greeting. Endalil looked around and tried to catch the eye of somebody, anybody. He wondered if Vesunth was up there watching. If F'liel was around, looking to see how his only child reacted. Yeah, no pressure. Would anyone be inside of the shells, or were they already gone? Making a choice, he went to the Layered Egg. He liked the different shades of green and the pattern of the egg. He saw Iskosian across from him but the larger youth said not a word. Maybe he was nervous as well.

"Hello in there. Big day for both of us," Endalil felt something, almost like he was ready to take a nap. He shook himself and looked over again. Iskosian was still quiet. Hm, he wanted to tap on the egg but was scared it would hurt the shell. Instead, he gave it almost a pat, like one would pat a canine. "I hope you are okay, maybe paying a little attention to who is coming to check you out." Endalil felt silly just talking but he felt it was better to talk out loud than inside of his head.

Iskosian had watched two other interact with the other eggs. They talked to the eggs, he just stared and hoped he talked. He felt something... weird. The closest thing he could figure was maybe two ships passing close and the crews waving to each other. Maybe something else. It felt odd to have his brain picked at when he barely knew his own thoughts.

And then, that tiny little nugget of information that he had tried to hold so close to his heart was pulled out, tugged out and questioned. He rubbed his head and looked around almost guiltily. Everyone wanted to be here, didn't they? Leaning in close, Isko tried to reach out again. Being honest as only the way he knew how. No, I can't say here was my first choice. But here is where I chose to be now. I like what I know and everything in this place, with these eggs are different. But I am dedicated. I will not leave until all the eggs have hatched and I am left standing. If I do get picked, I will be of this place and be just as dedicated to the weyr.

He hoped that the tiny dragon inside could see the truth. In his own mind, his own thoughts, he spoke quite a bit. Had much more to reveal. But here, everyone was a stranger. No one knew him like his family had, in a way like Clipper does... He gave the egg a little bow. I hope you don't judge me too harshly.

Joscelin fiddled with the cuff of his shirt, fingers swiping over the curling ferns embroidered there. He had spent a bit of time picking out his clothes, settling on a deep cream tunic with embroideries he had stitched himself on the cuff and collar, and pants of dark deep blue. Joscelin had tied his hair back with ribbon to keep it out of his face.

He shifted slightly, nervous because as long as he had been a candidate there hadn't been a clutch before this one. Though to be fair, he hadn't been a candidate all that long. Telgar's gold had been too ill and passed. Joscelin shut his eyes, breathing deeply and shoved it aside as much as he could. That, he shouldn't focus on that.

He was here and the eggs were young, and just stop focusing on that and pay attention.

Joscelin focused on Shi'shi as she spoke, focusing on her words because this was the first time he had been on the sands, the first time there had been eggs. And it wasn't Telgar but there was hope. And that was what he had to focus on then numbers.

He offered his bow to Queen Malsalth and Weyrwoman K'rin. "Thank you," he said politely and walked out into the clutch. He moved to sit down by a group of three and focused on the narrow thin oval of the Lamenting Egg. It was sobbing. "I really can't make this better, but I can be here," he said softly, laying a hand on the shell. It was damp, like coming in from the rain.

"I will," Vee promised, and she tried to send the feeling of that promise along with her words. "Until next time then." With that and a last stroke for the pretty shell Vee straightened up and stretched. As she did so she found herself feeling... odd. She wasn't sure if her head felt empty now she was out of contact with the egg or if it was filled up with it's thoughts and feelings still.

Either way she wasn't feeling exactly in the best frame of mind to touch any more eggs just now and so she made another little bow to the gold and her rider before turning to leave the sands.

Later that day, a bit after dinner, Vee stepped onto the sands again after confirming that it was alright for her to do so. After some consideration Vee approached the Lightning Egg and stooped to place a hand on its boldly marked shell. The egg tingled and Vee shivered; was unsure whether what she was feeling was excitement or foreboding, and whether it was coming from inside her or from inside the shell.

Isko was still feeling very muddled. He was never good at talking or explaining... And it appeared even silent conversations strained him. He tried to read what the egg was probing but he felt like he was going port when he should be starboard. Why be here? I guess because... the dragon saw something in me I didn't know I had. I want to know what it is... I'm used to knowing myself and knowing what others expect of me. I really wish I knew what he saw that made him pick me and no one else. Whether I want to be here or not. If I have to admit it, I hope that spark can make me a better person.

He whooshed out a deep breath. It almost felt like a long day's work. I hope you don't mind if I chose to step away. This isn't easy to deal with... All this talking and trying to figure things out for myself. I like simple. This candidate thing is not simple.