Reaching for a Hero (Egg Touching, Mandatory)

[Dragon]

Solera

Solera snorted softly at the Queen's reply. She promptly bowed deeply, hoping that she hadn't offended the Queen in any way. "I will do my best, magnificent Aeriath." She then moved away from the Queen to walk among the curiously colored eggs. Where eggs always clutched with colors on the shells? Or were they clutched in softer colors as opposed to these vibrant and curious tones? Solera would have to ask the Candidate Master about that at the next lesson. She hoped there would be another lesson before these eggs hatched.

Anaryn

Anaryn nodded at the Queen's words. And Faranth knew she loved her daughter, Arayn. She didn't want to leave her side, even to come to the Hatching. "I have to admit, I didn't want to leave her side to come here," she ducked her head, her cheeks turning red from shame and embarrassment. "I beg your forgiveness for seeming selfish, but I would like to think, you feel the same way, with your eggs. Not wanting to leave them alone, I mean."

Okay, Ana, stop ranting! She bowed at the waist and moved a short distance from the Queen. "I beg your pardon for ranting like that, while other Candidates are waiting to ask your permission." She looked around her, and couldn't help but wonder if this were all the Candidates or would more show up before the eggs hatched.

[HG]

Convinced that the eggs had something to do with Candidates inside of them. Nevarre continued to ponder the feelings that had emerged from the other egg. If the other contained a Bronze why did he not feel comfortable with it? Obviously the egg was one of the larger colors and certainly it was unheard of for there to be two Golds in a clutch. How was he going to impress a Bronze if the sharding thing didn't like him? He couldn't understand that at all. What was there not to like? He was practically perfect! Bred for leadership, intelligence and good looks (like any Bronzerider should be) he really hadd a hard time grasping why he would feel better upon touching the smaller egg.

At the thought he realized he was still touching it. He drew his hand away quickly as if he had been burned by the egg's shell. Nevarre knew that a talk with Koldyn was in order. Their plan to impress Bronzes and thus lead the other Weyrlings to save the North was not going to work if he didn't impress a Bronze. Koldyn he had no doubt could easily do so. First thing was first though, he may as well improve his chances by touching another.

One of the more middling sized eggs stood out to him next. The shell of the Northern Father Egg, was predominately white and glittered like snow in the sunshine. Nevarre drew close to the egg, slightly apprehensive about what he may or may not feel. Once his hand was on the shell he felt oddly triumphant. A smile began to form on his handsome face. Somehow he knew he had won something by just being there. The dragonet inside this egg was also wise. Much more so than Nevarre was. Although the egg was rather reassuring to him. It didn't fit. None of them would be perfect, he told himself as he stopped touching the egg.

No they were all destined for Weyrbrats. This was some clever ploy by the Weyrladers to keep them here longer than anticipated. After this flaming hatching was over he was going to have words with these Weyrleaders. Using the Clutch to keep the Expedition from asking questions... it was diabolical to say the least! The Candidate Master told them not to touch more than a few and not to overstay their welcome. He saw that a few of the Candidates had begun to leave.

“Good day, Golden Aeriath. It was a pleasure.” He smiled and spoke as charming as he could. He turned to the Weyrleaders and bid them good day as well. Then with the grace of a Lord Holder's son, he walked across the hot sands, pretending his feet did not burn. What did it matter, he was too upset about what was going on to really care. There was much to talk to Koldyn about...

–

Sighing slightly she scanned the eggs once more. Maybe she should touch just one more. There just had to be a dragonet for her among these. The blonde would feel a failure should she not impress with such a large clutch presented to them. She did not know if she could handle the rejection. Vaylee tried not to think about the negative now. Pushing the thoughts aside she focused on happier thoughts. How many people had the opportunity to touch dragon eggs? Not many and she was one of them!

Her mood now improved she moved on to look at the other side of the sands. Some of the smaller eggs were very lovely. When she finally saw one that stood out to her another girl was touching it. Realizing that it was Aisynn she smiled and moved on. Although the small egg continued to look appealing, she figured touching any egg would be better than not. Nearby another egg caught her eye, the soft dove gray coloring that surrounded the egg was inviting.

Taken in by the egg without realizing it, she felt drawn in. As if she had no choice but to come closer to the egg. Upon closer inspection the egg had areas of silver and then on the bottom darker swirls of gray. The Gentle Moon Egg invited her further in until her hand was on the shell. Mild and serene she felt a peacefulness come over her. Smiling warmly she stood up and moved away from the egg. People were beginning to leave. Why? Because Queens were not tolerant of their eggs being prodded for long. They grew increasingly concerned over the eggs as time wore on...also the heat from the Sands began to burn through the soles of even the toughest shoes.

Vaylee came to stand before the Gold once more, “Queen Aeriath, thank you.” Her soft voice held a new confidence. She could impress, in fact she felt the eggs wanted her to not lose hope. There was always hope. Turning to the Weyrleaders, still smiling, the young woman said, “Thank you both for this opportunity. The Hatching is sure to be a memorable one.” With that Vaylee left the sands as quickly as her feet could take her. They were starting to feel the heat.

–

Orisyn was always in a good mood. Nothing save for maybe not impressing would get him down. As he was young, that might not even upset him. He was beginning to sing to himself, not loudly or audibly to anyone outside a few inches from him. He was pondering what egg to touch now. Seeing his sister quite taken with a little pink egg. He saw another egg that he had wanted to touch. The Sovereign Sun egg. Couldn't hurt to touch just one more could it? Although after the first egg he still felt a bit apprehensive.

The egg was almost Gold in color and therefore left people to wondering though there was no doubt in his mind that this was a Bronze. Who wouldn't want a chance to impress Bronze? He told himself with a small mischievous smile. That was why he approached this final egg. This egg left little to the imagination. When he touched it there was a self assurance to match even Orisyn's own. After all he could do anything anytime and get away with it! Orisyn felt the egg's calm wash over him then and was slightly surprised to find that this egg was not so concerned with valor as the other he had touched. Bronzes generally wanted to be the best, to save the Weyr... to be hero.

Not that he was unpleasantly surprised. Orisyn had always felt there were different personalities in every color dragon so it was hard to judge any based on color alone. He himself would be happy to impress regardless of color. Not that he wouldn't want Bronze if it were possible. After all, Bronzeriders had more respect, people listened to them when they said things...and they did get to boss people around. At fourteen though, he felt most Bronze dragons would go for someone with a more mature outlook on life. One could dream though! He was happily walking back to the Queen, “Golden Aeriath, your eggs are wonderful! I truly can not wait to meet them when they Hatch.” He meant every word he had said though he was nowhere near as eloquent as some of the older Candidates, etiquette was not entirely lost on him.

To the Weyrleaders he bowed then turned on his heel. The Sands were growing hot and the Candidate Master said not to stay too long. He might just sneak back here later though. He wanted to watch them day and night. He wanted to be the first one there when they began to Hatch. He was much much much too excited to do anything else! The only unfortunate thing was that if he did not come to lessons he would not be able to Stand for the Hatching. Not that he wouldn't sneak on somehow anyway but he'd rather not risk it now. The grumbling in his stomach told him it was time to eat. Lately it seemed all his stomach cared about was food. The hunger was almost constant. Oh Faranth let him be having a growth spurt!

[meadow]

At the words from the Golden Queen, Ferlese stopped in place, almost frozen, her brown eyes widening in shock. She couldn't move, her seemingly endless energy seemed to all be sapped into the ground right where she stood. She met her sister's eyes, which appeared to have widened along with her own. Jealousy flashed through the other girls gaze and that one pure emotion snapped Ferlese out of her frozen state. Jumping forward, she gave her startled sister a powerful hug then ran.

She'd been cooking, but this was not a command one ignored to finish a soup! She heard her sister grumble as she turned the corner, but knew, although her elder had wanted to be a Candidate as badly as Ferlese did, she was happy for her. At least, she hoped those emotions were true. Ferlese was wearing an only somewhat patched over light tan shirt and skirts, with her soft tan boots that, thankfully, fit her better than the rest of her garb. Speed was one of her specialties, and she arrived at the Hatching Grounds before too many of the other Candidates had arrived.

Her grin would not fade, no matter how she tried. She knew she should be solemn, calmer perhaps? But her eyes alighted on the beautiful eggs and it felt like her energy was whirling out of her skin and around her. Turning to the huge golden Queen, her eyes sparkled with excitement and adoration. There was a zing of fear, the Queen was so big! But it was heavily tinted with respect. The dragons were the most magnificent beings on Pern.

"Good day Queen Aeriath. I beg your permission to be granted the honor of seeing and touching your beautiful eggs," Ferlese politely requested, barely containing her need to move.

Though she couldn't stop smiling, she WOULD control herself! She would not bounce like a small child unable to control herself! Though as she stepped back from the beautiful dragon and her eyes alighted first on that gloriously beautiful gold egg, she felt her breath catch. She didn't dare move forward and actually touch the beautiful gold egg until given permission, but she let her thoughts drift towards the gold.

Greetings beautiful one. It is an honor to see you, even before you bloom into being.

[Ise]

Beleren had heard the call of Aeriath. Sort of. The young man was sleeping, candidate chores and all the work his foster mother made him do that morning had wiped him out. He had laid down in the afternoon, planning on just taking a quick little nap but instead had fallen into a deep sleep. He stired as Aeriath’s voice spoke in his mind but instead of waking him up, it made him start dreaming. Such a nice dream too, he was at the hatching where he was fully clothed but all the pretty girls were naked. Beautiful girls who couldn’t decide if they liked him or the hatching dragons more. And oh, there was a bronze dragon coming right for him, running to him and almost reaching him before the little things clumsy legs got tangled together, tripping itself up and sending Beleren-

Crashing to the floor next to his bed.

The young man blinked a few times, yawning groggily as he turned onto his back and let out a slightly girly yelp of surprise to see his foster sister looking down at him, a scowl turning the corners of her lips down.
“You’re going to miss the Touching if you keep sleeping.”
“I’ma mis da waz it?”
“The Touching dim glow,” She reached out and rapped her knuckles against his forehead “You know, when you’re allowed to get close to the eggs and touch them?”
Beleren sat up, the words quickly waking him up.
“Shards! How could I be missing this? Aren’t they suppose to tell you that it’s going on?” His foster sister could only shrug to him as he got to his feet. He frowned a little as he looked down at himself before pulling off his wrinkled, slept in shirt and putting on a clean one. This was the best he could do on such short notice.

He left, giving his foster sister a quick wave good-bye before he ran to the sands. He didn’t see anyone else rushing to the sands like he was, oh shards, what if it was already over by the time he got there? He reached it soon enough though, pausing outside for a moment to run a hand through his messy hair to make it look a little more uniformly messy. And after a couple of deep breaths he had caught his breath and felt comfortable enough to enter the sands.

A couple of the early comers looked over at him as he entered, a few shaking their heads at his late arrival. He gave a sheepish little half grin to the couple of people he knew and ignored the rest. Some of them probably thought he had shown up late to get attention, but Beleren was more worried that showing up late would anger Aeriath instead. Though he was nervous as he approached the gold, he didn’t let it show. He hadn’t hurt any of her eggs so it was unlikely that she would tried to eat him. She could say no to him though and send him back to the lower caverns, which he didn’t want but it would accept it with good manners.

Upon reaching the queen dragon, he bowed low to her before standing back up. The look on his face was serious, no hint of a grin or any sort of amusement in his eyes.
“Great Gold Aeriath, I ask for forgiveness in my late arrival. I thought your voice was merely a dream when you first called to us. Though I’m late and some have already taken their leave, I hope you’ll still allow me to touch your eggs, even if its just for a few moments.”

[kaemi]

This was brilliant, Aisynn determined cheerily as she moved to different eggs. She wasn't following any particular order, nor did she have another egg in mind when she moved from one. She was drawn to each different egg by appearance, and the feelings she hoped would be given off by them. The Dancing Cat Egg- brilliant. The candidate had stayed by this egg for a matter of minutes, entirely fascinated by the depiction of the cat, and enjoying the protected feeling she felt encircled her when she touched it. The Winter Hunt Egg had drawn her in with the blue-gray-silver coloring... however, she didn't stay for nearly as long, a bit intimidated, as she was, by the ferocity it exuded.

She visited a number of eggs, even nearing The Dead Soul Egg. It looked intimidating, and Aisynn was almost certain that she would only touch it for a moment before moving on. Therefore, she was delighted when a fairly mild emotion ran up her body, and stayed for longer than she might have, if it had been a more aesthetically-pleasing egg. Eventually, however, she did move on to others. Sparing the largest eggs of the clutch, by the end of the Touching, Aisynn was fairly sure that she had touched about all the eggs. There had been too many to remember all of them, but that had been her goal.

The highlight of her Touching, however, was when she worked up the courage to touch the Gold egg. Like most girls, she had always dreamed of riding Gold... being the Weyrwoman... having that awesome connection with the majestic, lovely queen dragons. So she had, at some point, found her way to the shining egg, fighting past the feeling that she was being 'watched'. Which she probably was. Aeriath was protective of all of her eggs, but the queen egg was something else, entirely. With a brief bow to Aeriath, Aisynn had drawn a few fingertips along the surface. The power there was inspiring, more than anything else, but she did not take the time to bask in it. Instead, she bowed again to the Senior Gold, and backed away with a grin spreading her face.

–

Like Aisynn, Kalindan was attempting to Touch as many eggs as he could before the Touching was determined 'over'. It was more a matter of knowing the Records than the flood of emotions that he received... although that was a part of it, admittedly. But mainly, it was because he knew, despite not being able to recall the exact statistics, that a person was a little more likely to Impress to a dragonet if they touched the egg. So he spent a few minutes with as many eggs as he could, a smile playing on his lips.

He wasn't sure if he was going to Impress, though. There were tons of eggs, but there was also a very large number of Candidates. The odds were that he had... a chance. And sure, he had dragonrider in his blood, which was more than the group of older kids from the North had. He didn't allow a scowl onto his face, instead moving from The Fiery Brimstone Egg, and laying his hand on The Magic Mastery Egg. Surely he would Impress before the Northerners- he had dragonrider in his blood, he supported the creatures, and he had grown up around them. The ignorance of the North had shunned dragons and their riders from their continent, according to the Records, leaving them to fend for themselves in the South.

It only made sense, then, that he would have more of a chance than the Northern kids. Not that he had anything against them- the girls were attractive, in general, and the guys weren't half bad. Most of them, at least. But still, he had Southern pride!

Reassured, Kalin moved on to The Wise Beauty Egg. Without realizing it, his shoulders straightened, and in a few more moments, when he was moving to The Twisting Dreams Egg, he felt better about the approaching Hatching than he had since the clutch had been laid.

–

It didn't take long for Essabellona to pick out eggs which she felt were her favorite. The Serene Horse Egg: not only did it have the form of a runner if you squinted and tilted your head a little, but it gave her a little bit of energy, the emotions which fed its aura making her smile before she moved on. Another egg, The Beyond Death Egg, was a little bit of an eyesore, with its bright coloring. However, whenever she even got near it, it allowed her to calm down from the excitement of the Touching.

Even The Thunderous Sky Egg made its way onto her internal favorites. It was a little bit intimidating to be around it, but Essa laid a hand on it, and she felt a little more... reassured and protected, than anything else. It obviously had a strong personality (from what she had determined, these emotions she was feeling were actually those of the dragonets inside the eggs), and she enjoyed the force behind such a young creature. This one would be able to take care of itself, that was for sure.

The girls seemed to be flocking towards the great gold egg, and Aeriath was apparently much more protective of it. By its coloring, Essabellona figured that it was a famed 'Golden Egg'... obviously. What she meant, was that it would hatch the Queen dragon, and whoever she Impressed would be important. She wasn't exactly sure how important, but she figured that a Northerner such as herself was lucky to Touch the majority of the eggs, much less the egg of the Weyrwoman's queenly daughter. So she spared it a few looks, before moving on to The Bloody War Egg.

Which, of course, made her giggle shortly. The fierce masculinity of the egg amused her a little; it matched it's exterior so perfectly. Running her fingers along one of the splotches, she shuddered a little at the strangely fierce feelings. It wasn't a particularly natural feeling, not one that a girl her age experienced frequently. The contrast to her generally good-natured attitude was funny! Not so amusing that she would stay there for an extended period of time, but nevertheless, it made her happy.

Time would run out, surely soon, and so Essa left and moved on to other eggs. She was having fun!

[kira]

Meri was in wonder at the slight brush to her mind. And then...she was granted permisson after all! Smiling happily up at the queen, she bobbed another curtsy to her, then turned and remembere to do the same to the Weyrleaders. Stepping cautiously toward the eggs, she bit her lip and picked a direction at random. She wanted to touch them all and wish them well, but she wasn't sure where to begin.

Starting to the left, she first approached The Silent Nature Egg and tentatively brushed it with her fingers. The sensation was shocking, but the waves of overwhelming calm soothed that away almost instantly. Placing her palm fully against it, she felt a presence there that eased her nerves. After a few moments, she whispered a well-wish to the dragonet within and moved on - walking a bit freer than she'd begun.

A few more eggs, and then she encountered The Bloody War Egg. She felt something very, very...intimidating...from that one, and gave it as wide of a berth as she could while still brushing her fingertips lightly across it's shell. The Dancing Cat Egg was next, and she smiled at the coloring on the shell seeming to almost depict a little feline like the one she'd left behind. Its love of life was easily understood to her, and its protective aura made her feel both reassured and strengthened.

The Lightning King Egg was an interesing one. The aura around it made her grin a bit. It was so different from her, but she grinned anyway while petting it gently. The Mighty Sea Egg was another intimidating one, but this one didn't make her quite so fearful as The Bloody War Egg. The Serene Horse Egg intrigued her with its design, reminiscent of the runners her family raised. Smiling as she touched it, she felt a bit of a kinship in mentality to the presence within, its aura mirroring her own loving care of others.

The Benign Creator Egg was very pretty, and the lively spark it impressed to her made her giggle quietly. The Passionate Love Egg was next, but she only touched it briefly. The feelings present made her blush rather fiercely, and she was quick to skitter away after her well-wishes were done. A couple eggs later, she was drawn in to The Earth and Sky Egg by its absolutely beautiful coloring. A smile spread across her lips at the genuine sweetness felt there. Even if she didn't Impress this creature, she rather hoped she could make friends with it later on. She felt rather comforted as she left it for the next.

The Stormy Chaos Egg had a very interesting shell. The vacillating emotions felt from it made her somewhat uneasy though, and she was a bit confused as she walked away from it. More eggs were passed with a quiet whisper and gentle brush until there were just two left. She felt the need to just spend a moment basking in the aura of The Sovereign Sun Egg. She almost wished she could spend even more time in its presence, and a brief thought of being able to lean against the lovely creature's hide at some point in the future flitted through her mind. Whoever bonded this one would be lucky, and she hoped she could befried both dragon and rider. The self-assurance that radiated from it turned her from thinking it would ever choose her - though normally thoughts of 'if any dragon would' would be tacked onto the end of that, but that assurance was catching.

And she rather needed it. Even if The Enchanting Great Queen Egg wasn't meant for her, she wanted the little queen to feel her loving regard almost more than the others. She was their future - all of them - even if she wasn't Meri's future specifically. Second only to her great mother, she would help lead them into the future. The judgement she felt made her shiver slightly, her own doubts about her worth threatening to come to the fore. While she was afraid that the weighing regard would turn into a certainty that she was indeed unworthy, she steeled herself and stepped forward anyway. She placed her hand gently on the beautiful shell, sliding it up to the almost whitened top in awe. The power she felt there was enormous, and she was able to smile at the confidence within it. This would be a great queen indeed. "Grow well, little one," she whispered sweetly. "May your hatching be grand, and may you find yours quickly."

Letting one last shiver pass through her spine, she turned to look back over the eggs to make sure she hadn't missed any. That wouldn't have done, certainly. But she nodded to herself when she saw she'd gotten them all. ...Though a fair few people had left by now. Oops. Finally taking her hand back, she gave a small obeisance to the egg, then made her way quickly back to where Aeriath and the Weyrleaders waited. Curtsying to them, she lifted her head and bit her lip on a smile. "Th-thank you," she said, with feeling, then turned to hurriedly shuffle her way out.

This was an experience she would never forget.


.o0O0o.


Ziridech felt a bright smile light his features when he was granted the queens permission, her words easing a place in him that had stored that one great worry. He wasn't sure where to begin or how long they'd have, but he spent a few moments just walking between the eggs looking them over. The tales he'd heard said that one could feel the presence of the dragonet within the egg when you got close, and he was certainly curious.

Liking the muted colors of The Law of War egg, he decided to go for that one first. The presence it had was so very interesting. Strength, perceptiveness, and daring - perhaps not really his sort, but he decided he likes it anyway. Not that he could imagine disliking a dragon, but...well. Moving onto The Wicked Trickster Egg, he couldn't help but grin. Ohhh, this one would be fun~! He could imagine now all the mischief that this one would get up to if its bonded didn't try to stop it.

The Bitter Vengeance Egg was next, and he could feel his eyebrows raise to his hairline as he touched it. Stifling a laugh, he decided that fine, he could be aloof that way if he wished. (And he did believe the dragonet was a he - a bronze, to be specific.) I hope your bonded was gifted with a great deal of patience, good sir. Or mirrors you. Chuckling quietly, he moved on again.

The Witching Prophecy Egg felt quite broody, so he gave it a smile and a little pat as a cheering effort. It had a rather neat shell once one got close enough to see. The feeling of retribution was a bit confusing, though. What wrongs could this little one possibly have been dealt so early in its existance? Shrugging, he touched next The Fiery Brimstone Egg. There was a certain rigidity, almost, and it made him squirm. It was interesting, though. He gave it a jaunty - though unseen - salute before continuing on.

He was among those who almost got whipped with Aeriath's tailtip, and he turned to regard her with laughing eyes. He wasn't so confident to pull a teasing face in return, but he thought about it. His eyes were caught by The Twisting Dreams Egg next, the pattern so interesting to his eyes. There seemed to almost be little bits of hope glimmering in the darkness, much like dreams in the night. The calm and wistful feelings were very much enjoyed for a little while, but he decided to move on.

He was almost about to pass up The Beyond Death Egg, but he caught a feeling of something as he minutely brushed it... He tentatively placed a hand on it, and then had to blink back some very sudden tears. A small bit of that forever-sorrow over his parents that remained in his heart was soothed with just that feeling. They were gone from this life, yes, but perhaps they still did watch over him from somewhere out there. A little happier than before, he moved on with a slightly dreamier glide to his step.

The Healing Peace Egg was the next to be touched, and what a sweet little one it seemed. Such pretty shades on its shell as well - he knew this one would be a beauty. He took just a moment to run his hands over it tenderly. With a grin, he then angled himself for The Enchanting Great Queen Egg. Oh, he wasn't quite so daft as to think that he was even eligible for it, but he still wanted to pay his respects. There wasn't a hint of fear in his approach, for he was far too much at ease in his own skin to fear her judgement of him - especially after Aeriath's previous kind words. He brushed his knuckles over it sweetly, then presented it with a flourish of a bow that could only have been done better if he had a large hat to accent it with, uncaring of how silly it might make him look. He smiled at the egg again, then winked and turned to find another one.

The Great Hunt Egg had an interesting look to it with all of its glitter and shimmer. The warmth he felt from it was nice, and he enjoying it for a bit, until the sheer purity from it became a little much. The freeness and wildness he felt from The Winter Hunt Egg was amusing, to say the least. He couldn't help but let out one of his silent laughs at the feeling - like you could do anything! He left that one with a bright smile, whistling a jaunty little tune quietly - so as not to disturb the queen - and walking with a bit more of a bouncy flair to his step.

The Thunderous Sky Egg was the next, and he felt almost bolstered by the strength he found there. While not quite certain he was quite strong or brave enough for this little one, he decided he wouldn't mind trying to be. A companionable pat, and then he moved on to The Sovereign Sun Egg. The almost-queen coloring made him quirk a brow. A smile lit his face again when he felt the self-assurance of the being within. He spent more time with this one than the others, happily enjoying being around one that accepted itself just as much as he did. It was the one he identified with the most thus far, and he was certain that even if it wasn't going to bond him that they'd be friends eventually.

When he finally did look away from The Sovereign Sun Egg, it was to feel a bit sheepish. So many people were gone! When did that happen? Laughing, he shrugged at the egg as if it could see it and patted it again in farewell. Strolling back to the clutch-parents and the Weyrleaders, he gave them another respectful set of bows and a smile. This had been an experience, and an honor. As he walked from the sands, he tapped his fingers against his pockets. This was something that he just needed to try to capture, and his thoughts of what instrument to work it out with were only interrupted by his need to guide himself back to the barracks.

Getting lost was not on his agenda when he had a song in his head and his heart.

[Yuu Kanduet]

Jerezen looked up from the egg he was standing in front of and noticed that many people who had entered about the same time as him were leaving. Perhaps it was best he leave as well. Then he could get some more rest and herbs so he could attend the hatching without a trace of his sickness left.

Removing his hand from the egg, Jerezen straightened his back as much as possible as he took his leave.

~Sorry it's so short, but Kira's post kinda intimidated all the wordiness out of me. ^o^~

[meadow]

As soon as the Golden dragon had given her leave, Felese gave the Golden egg one last smile then carefully moved amongst the others, not wanting to upset the Queen too much by staying near the most rare of her eggs. The first egg to draw her was the Winter Hunt egg. She smiled at the feeling that emitted from this beautiful egg. Freedom she thought, humming to herself and lightly caressing the side of the egg. The colors were what had drawn her, but the feel of fierceness that emanated from it called to something within her.

The Lightning King egg drew her next, with its muted colors that nonetheless made her take sharp note of the subtle designs within those dark shades, and the bright yellow marks like lightning were startling against the contrasting background. Her hand hovered over the egg for a second, before she touched it on one of the yellow marks. Her hand traced the mark, and then she respectfully backed away. There was a solemn strength about this one, she thought, before turning to another of the eggs.

As she moved, she tried to guess at the color of the dragons within the eggs, but the feel of the dragon eggs was so strong, how could a person tell? She wondered. The next egg she Touched, the Northern Father Egg, made her smile, just for the colors. She loved the sparkles of color, and she gave the egg a quick pat before moving on.

She stopped for a moment before the Relentless Destruction Egg. It drew her, but also frightened her a bit. She wanted to touch it, but her hand hovered over the shell. She almost didn't notice the spiderweb of colors amongst it. She finally did touch it, a small smile on her face. It was a dragon after all, there was nothing bad about dragons!

The blue and green splashes of color over the Mighty Sea egg caught her eye, and Ferlese moved quickly onto the beautiful allure of this egg. She wanted to hug it. Looking at this egg was like looking over great waters, the roar of the sea. She caressed it, then held her hand to it a moment longer before moving on. She had to hurry, perhaps she'd taken too long. Other Candidates were finishing and she...well she'd been looking forward to this for so long! This was her chance to connect with the eggs before...

The last egg she Touched was the Magic Mastery egg. There were so many colors attached to this egg, Ferlese couldn't begin to guess from them what the dragon within might be. Orange and yellow and blue and purple...and black. All swirled around the egg in different places. She touched this egg, feeling her resolve strengthen. She would Impress one dragon at least, she hoped so much!

Leaving was hard. Bowing deeply to the Aeriath before she left, she thanked the Gold fervently for allowing her this great honor.