The Tales We Tell {Touching}

[Bellatora]

It was nice to have the help of a dragon with this particular task. The eggs were hard now. Hard enough to be moved from the research lab just a short ways down the corridor to where it connected to the hatching sands. These poor eggs all seemed to have personalities and each one always seemed to hate being gently moved onto the warm sands to be looked after by the greens who were full grown.. or even Tyranith at times when she saw fit. Of course... she didn't think it entirely worth it. These were not her children, but... then again, she was their queen. Or so she had told those who had asked her to come and watch the eggs from time to time.

"Here. This one is the largest and it has the metallic sheen we need to look for. So that one we'll put here. The rest we'll arrange around it." The man speaking had Weyrleader's knots on his shoulder and a short clipped beared. His eyes were severe as he watched them place the eggs. To his right was the temporary Weyrwoman... or rather the woman who had been their Weyrwoman for quite some time. Reltavia of Green Heilliath. They had kept to tradition... even if now it was greens who had clutched that became important...

Now they had a gold and Rel was less than happy about it. She was also less than happy about what appeared to be a second gold egg amongst this second engineered clutch. Certainly golds were great and wonderful... but if this one Impressed to another researcher or Earth newcomer in general, she was going to lose it. Come, come Mine... You are teaching her. So what is better than that? Rel's lips twitched at Heilliath's words, but she made no other motion.

"That black one is large. Looks like a good specimen. Put it towards the center as well." Rel's words were somewhat impatient and her voice warbled from Turns of use naturally. She was stern woman. She did not let much get by her.

She surveyed the eggs as she placed them and as Heilliath moved amongst them. The green was due to fly again soon and this time... Rel knew she would clutch. Again, at most it would be three eggs... but this was why this clutch was off to one side. To make room for her green's clutch when it was time. Though, they would not share the Hatching Sands long... And, if Rel was right, maybe not at all. These eggs looked much further along than the "scientists" seemed to think... At least to her.

"That one there." She pointed to the small red egg with a few white spots on the left edge of its shell to be placed towards the edge, closest to the door. The dragonet inside seemed to give a shudder. Oh no... Not the edge. She was going to be shunned? It was almost as if the little dragon gave a whimper...

"Heilliath. Call the Candidates, would you dear?" The green nodded.

Candidates! Report to the Hatching Grounds for a touching!

One of the researchers had been working on trying to get a word in... but her quiet voice almost went unheard. "Um... THere are some new programmed colors here... based on some mutated DNA we found from some of the firelizards brought from outside of the Weyr..." Her voice was soft and she seemed to shrink in on herself as Rel turned on her.

..::The Tales We Tell Clutch::..

..::The Try Try Again Egg::..

This green, pale pink, and light gold egg is a true mystery. It is the smallest egg. It gives off the least amount of feeling as well. It almost seems to watch the world with absolute contempt.

..::Our Fear Is Very Real::..

This egg is off to the side near the edge of the sands by itself. Reltavia just doesn't seem to like it and the hatchling inside is at a loss as to understand why. The presence in this egg is most definitely female and most definitely very skittish and fearful.

..::The One That Got Away::..

This egg is calm and gentle. It seems to not so much as have a hostile bone in its body, so to speak... Nor is it particularly fearful or shy.

..::All That We Leave Behind::..

This egg seems to be, despite its pale soothing silver and pink colors, to be firy and ready for a fight. It almost seems the dragonet inside is already growling in its egg.

..::Ghosts of Tomorrow::..

This egg seems to be very thoughtful. It seems to observe all that it can. However, it is highly reactive to touch, for most drawing back and hissing violently, though, if you are slow and careful, it will welcome your touch on its shell.

..::The Riddle::..

This egg is insatiably curious and entirely enigmatic. The feelings it gives off are always of questions. We warn you, it may cause you confusion to touch it!

..::The Lessons We Learn::..

This egg seems to have an air of great wisdom. It seems to know more than it should, even now without having any experience in the world.

..::The Climax of Our Story::..

This egg seems to be nothing less than another Queen egg! Let us hope that we are not fooled. It has a glimmering gold shell of multiple colors. The feelings coming from this egg are gentle and motherly... This is a dragon easily pushed around.

..::All's Well that Ends Well::..

This is the largest egg of the clutch. Its glittering black shell has a sense of great pride. It has an air of royalty about it and is definitely expecting only the best. We would guess that it is male...

[ayla]

<sup>Kalesa knew the drill. Both brothers rode dragons now, and she wasn't the least bit surprised by Heilliath's mindvoice. She prided herself on her ability to tell the green apart from other dragons, although that might have been more context clues than anything else. Not many other dragons addressed the Candidates to bring them to the Sands.

She set her white robe aside and stood, brushing off her dark pants. Kalesa had been fixing a small hole from the last hatching; a somewhat bittersweet occupation, full of memories. She brushed her hair out of her face and straightened her shirt before striding out of the Barracks toward the Sands.

It took a few minutes (bad design, Kalesa always though) but she was one of the first Candidates to arrive on the Sands. The cloud of researchers was ever present, what with the new genetic tinkering projects. They didn't change tradition, though, and Kalesa still deferred to Heilliath with a deep bow and a pause, before she approached the eggs.

Nine eggs, including a large gold egg. There was no doubt that would be Kalesa's first visit. Perhaps afterward she would touch the large black egg, then maybe the smaller ones. She was no dimglow; she knew where rank came from. The larger the dragon, the larger the egg, the higher the rank.

Kalesa walked slowly, reverently, toward the small cluster of eggs. The privilege of being the first to touch the eggs weighed heavily on her mind. It wasn't the first time she had had a sick feeling in her gut, but she desperately hoped it would be the last. What if she tripped and fell on the eggs? It was one of the reasons Kalesa always walked slowly around the eggs.

Naturally, the first egg she graced with her presence was The Climax of Our Story, but oddly enough, it did not feel like a typical queen. The motherly feelings were familiar to Kalesa, but the rather submissive tendencies accompanying it were foreign. A queen was a queen, though, and Kalesa gave the egg a loving rub before straightening up. She had spent quite a long time at it, as was apparent from the number of Candidates who had arrived in the interval, but not too much, she hoped.

With a hand still lingering on the shining gold shell, Kalesa reached out for the largest egg in the clutch, All's Well that Ends Well. This egg got along a little better with her, she thought. The researchers had brought a saying with them: great minds think alike, and while Kalesa didn't entirely understand the meaning behind it, she thought it might mean something like this. She had a sudden feeling that the best of the best were meeting in a fleeting touch, which was a little bit scary. Wasn't the gold supposed to be the best?

The sudden upheaval of Kalesa's worldview in the form of one touch startled her enough to cause her to stand and take a step back from the collection of eggs. She surveyed them silently. What if the new leaders of the Weyr were in the smallest eggs? That couldn't be right; how could there be leadership without apparent power? Kalesa waited and watched, letting the other Candidates figure out the eggs for themselves. She'd jump in again later.</sup>

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[Sayu]

Rikula had to be pushed by Kikunae in order to get to the hatching sands...quite literally. The two were doubling up on some last minute chores for now when the call started apparently echoing in every candidate's mind. How did they know? Well obviously they heard it too, but the many heads that suddenly popped up and then scoffing of shoes against the floor as candidates left was a very loud and unwelcome sound. Riku sighed, placing her hands over Kikunae's ears, knowing her little brother hated loud noises.

Rolling his eyes though, the dark haired boy squirmed from under his sister's arms till he popped out the other side. "Come on sis! We'll be late!" He ran off then, and Rikula was forced to get up and follow the form with the untucked shirt tail down the hall till they got to the entrance. It was here that Kikunae stopped abruptly and turned to smile aide at his elder sibling. "Can you believe we're here?!?" Rikula sighed, bored with this already. She wanted to be outside hunting, not here touching stupid egg-shells! "Yeah, yeah...real special." Kikunae rolled his eyes yet again and walked around his sister.

For a moment she hoped he had given up and was leaving, but then he started pushing her out into the sands. Not one to like drawing attention especially during embaressinh situations, Rikula finally stopped fighting and crossed her arms. "There, you got me here, now what?" She narrowed her eyes at him who simply looked up at her with his. There was a slight plea in them and for a moment Riku thought she might win...but naturally she didn't. Instead, she heaved a heavy sigh that was partially a groan, and started following him as he went to the furthest egg of the bunch.

Kikunae smiled as he looked at the Our Fear Is Very Real egg and placed a gentle hand on its shell. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I like you." He tilted his head and caressed the bright casing, a little humm playing on his lips. Rikula huffed, and resisted tapping her foot. She wasn't bored, she just felt awkward standing there, which was t something she normally cared about feeling. Somehow though, she felt like she should be in on this as much as she didn't want to be. I'm here because Kikunae wants to be...I'm here because Kikunae wants to be...In here be...

Rikula looked over to where another girl was touching the largest eggs. She made note of how the candidate made a bee-line for the Queen egg, and Riku smirked. So it was another Queen chaser perhaps? She'd heard about them from the weyrbrats. Yawning, she looked down at Kikunae as he bumped her hip. "Go touch one!" The hissed voice and pleading eyes finally got her going toward the Ghost Of Tomorrow egg. She didn't approach it too fast, but almost took her time out of a stretched out mockery of some candidate's anticipation. Rikula wasn't fearful of an egg that wasn't even close to hatching. The dragonets upon escaping their prisons deserved respect, but now they were harmless...not that she would threaten or challenge them any way. She was just trying to make Kikunae happy and get through this whole ordeal. There more important things on her mind anyhow, like her Uncle.

[Bellatora]

..::Kalesa::..
..::The Climax of Our Story::..

The draognet inside the egg turned towards the touch curiously. Oh... she was supposed to visit with this person? Okay. She seemed to send a very cautions probing tendril towards Ayla's mind. No... she wasn't right. She sent feelings of deep apology because this one was not right for her....

..::All's Well that Ends Well::..

Oh? So someone saw fit to visit him. He turned his attention to the touch and pushed his mind against hers, probing deeper into her mind. Oh yes. This one would do nicely. Very nicely. You have found me. Just wait. We will soon be together my darling. But... until then...

Kikunae
..::Our Fear is Very Real::..

The egg turned her attention to the boy. Oh oh oh! Someone wanted to see her! Someone wanted to speak with her! Oh! OH! She pushed her mind into the boys gently, almost tenderly. Wait... this one... this one was special. She pushed deeper. yes! Yes! You have found me Mine! Mine! I love you! Mine wait for me! Please Please! The feelings were of excitement and a love... and did not immediately recede. She wanted him to stay with her.

..::Rikula::..
..::The Ghosts of Tomorrow::..

The egg was pleased to have such a considerate visitor. It seemed to probe her mind, pushing against it gently. Hmm... She was almost perfect. She would have been good for him, he supposed... but she wasn't the one. No... Unfortunately not. But he wouldn't mind if she stayed and visited for awhile.

[Sayu]

So, the touching had started? Miniri smiled as she finished pulling a brush through the young runnerbeasts's mane. The creamy hair had turned silken with the careful time she had taken. Nearby, Midnath was curled up in the shadows of some trees. The green opened one eye though as she heard the call for candidates. Well then, a hatching could be interesting. She only giggled in Hers mind, and grabbed Miniri by her shirt. "Hey!" The green chortled in response, flapping her wings and carrying her to the sands that way. Finally she set the weyrling down though and received a glare from the blonde. "Never do that again!" The green snorted as if to say yeah right and then turned back to the eggs.

---

It liked him.....it liked him.....IT LIKED HIM! Kikunae gave a little whoop of joy that was taken with a curious glance from his sister. Immediately he quieted down, and laughed. Maybe this was his dragon then...boy, girl? He couldn't quite tell. "I thought you said you'd go and look at all the eggs Kikunae." Rikula picked herself up from the egg she had gone to in order to fetch her brother. Old habits died hard, especially this one. Kikunae rolled his eyes in response, shaking his head. "It likes me though Riku."

The older candidate sighed and closed her eyes, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and another over his hand which still was on the egg. Her fingertips lightly brushed the shell. "Come on, it'll still be here later." She pulled him away, not ready yet to let her little brother go. No, that would be a very hard thing for her to do in the end. Together they went to three eggs, All that we leave behind, The try try again egg, and finally the Queen egg when Kikunae pushed Riku toward it.

"Come on you." He smirked at her as Rikula froze in front of the egg. Shaking her head, she refused to go any closer. "No, no, no! I'm not going to touch a gold egg Kikunae. That sharding blue was wrong, I'm no Queen candidate. I'm a fighter...I dont want to deal with politics." Kikunae rolled his eyes, reaching out to gingerly touch the glowing shell. He smiled lightly. "I don't think she wants to either sis. Come on...I think she needs a protector, and you need someone else to focus on besides me so much."

Rikula groaned and finally gave in. She wasn't about to stop being his big sister...his mother in some senses. Everything she did, she did for him. "Fine." She couldn't look at those pleading eyes any longer. Kikunae stayed long enough to make sure she touched it before going back to "his" egg. Rikula watched him go carefully before looking at the shell of the newest Queen. "Or at least they hope your a Queen...boy have I heard that before. It's a lot to ask someone so young...I know that too." The hunter closed her eyes and sat next to the egg, letting her arm touch it instead. "Why am I here..:can you tell me that? Is it really just to protect him?"

Rikula shook her head and looked at Kikunae, the boy was hugging the little red egg and laughing it seemed. What was she doing here indeed! "I'm making sure he can stay laughing."

[Bellatora]

..::Rikula::..
..::Al that We Leave Behind::..

This egg rejected Rikula violently. NO NO NO! This wasn't right! No! This one was NOT for her! NO! She didn't even thank her for coming in any way. She simply rejected her.

..::The Try Try Again::..

This egg didn't even react to her. It seemed so passive, so.... uncaring. Whatever. This one would pass away too. It would be as if nothing happened. Nothing at all. Who cared, right? Go away. You are just going to leave anyways.

..::The Climax of Our Story::..

Oh... This one... It was as if the egg twitched already as she touched her. Oh! Oh! She was something special! The feelings she got. She understood! Oh yes! It was a lot to expect! But... She didn't even understand why they hoped for that! Weren't queen's basically useless? Other than clutching. And.. they only loved her because her shell shone. It was pointless. But... Oh! no. That isn't the only reason! You are here for so much more! You will shape us! Shape the Weyr! I love you Rikula! You are MINE! Please! Please stay... You love him. You love him a lot. I will love him too Mine. Love him as much as you do.

[Sayu]

Rikula jerked as she felt a sudden rush of emotions from the egg. So far they hadn't been too obvious. Sure the first one had liked her a bit, and the second she sure wanted to sooner claw her than impress to her. The third had done nothing at all...but this one? The hunter stared at the egg and her mouth fell open. She heard a giggling somewhere, and when she finally looked around to see where, she noticed a green near the temporary Weyrwoman. The dragoness was looking directly at her, then the giggling was just gone. The other feeling was still there though. Was it...was it trying to talk to her?

The candidate wasn't quite sure. It was muffled, probably from the shell, but there was something there in its depths that was trying to get her attention. Then she felt something else, something like an answer to what she had asked. "I do love him...why else would I have taken him with me when I ran away from home...they only wanted to use me." Oh, she didn't know that the dragonet inside was feeling much the same, but she knew what she was feeling. She was staying at the Queen egg, oh Faranth the world had frozen over for sure! Rikula looked up as Kikunae smiled at her wide, and ear to ear grin.

She stuck her tongue at him, a childish move, but she did it anyway. "He can be annoying though, let me tell you that...and Faranth, I'm talking to an egg....but...you're not just an egg. You understand me, don't you? That. Is. So. Weird...and yet cool too." Rikula swept her braided hair over her shoulder and played with the end. Eh, she didn't feel like getting up. Looking casually around, her body was tensed in case that other girl came back around. Somehow, Riku didn't think it would be appreciated that she was spending so much time around the Gold. "So...I guess we're kinda alike in that we only have our siblings too huh." She let her words fall onto the air.

She was talking absolute nonsense now, or that's what it might have seemed like. Rikula for whatever reason just found it hard not to talk aloud, and from the looks of things with the other candidates, she wasn't the only one. So..it was normal to talk to unhatched dragons? Apparently. Sighing, a bit confused, Rikula partially just wanted this whole thing to be over. "I don't know about you, but I feel like we're in the middle of everything and just ripe for being stared at." She crossed her arms, brushing one against the shell in the movement. "I can only guess how you feel...at least I can hide in the forest when I don't want to deal with people...though I suppose eventually I just need to grow up and face them...eventually, I'll have to face my uncle too."

[ayla]

<sup>Kalesa hesitated in her spot away from the eggs for a moment before returning to All's Well that Ends Well, which seemed to like her better than the gold. She was mildly disppointed, but such a large egg would no doubt be ranked equivalent to, or higher than, a gold. She brushed a hand against it and was surprised to feel the telltale push against her mind. Accustomed as she was to dragons, she didn't resist the mental contact and allowed the little dragonet to explore her mind.

She had found her lifemate, it seemed. Kalesa pressed her hand tightly to the warm shell and attempted to return the feeling of finding someone in a crowded room to the presence inside the shell, but she wasn't sure if she had succeeded. Kalesa bent down slightly, unaware of her hair falling forward over her shoulder and hanging in her face. As loudly and clearly as she could, Kalesa sent a mental message to the dragonet: We'll be fantastic.

Kalesa tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened up. She had to at least visit the other eggs; it wouldn't do to sully her public image by focusing on the large eggs. A good start, she thought, would be with the smallest egg of the clutch, the Try Try Again egg. It was small enough that Kalesa had to almost kneel next to it in order to properly touch the shell. The presence inside was contemptuous, but Kalesa didn't mind; it meant the dragonet had something to brag about. If she didn't already feel a bond with the All's Well that Ends Well egg, she'd spend some time with this one, too.

As it were, she stood up after a minute or so and moved on to The Riddle egg. It was a little less attractive, both in looks and in mental presence. Kalesa preferred solid answers to questions, and this dragonet seemed to be full of questions. She shifted her focus to the nearby One That Got Away egg, stroking it with one hand and opening her mind. Kindness was a virtue, one that Kalesa apparently didn't have enough of. She didn't hesitate to say there wasn't enough kindness in the world, but Kalesa also held the view that there was such a thing as too nice; you couldn't get anywhere in life if all you wanted to do was help people.</sup>

[fellis]

Oswin had never done this before. He was older than many of the candidates, but it was his first time standing and he was not familiar with eggs at all. He was sure that the Touching would be an interesting experience. With a scientific mind like his, he was looking forward to observing the eggs. He nodded a greeting to the researchers before approaching the eggs.

His only concern was the fact that other candidates had been touching the eggs, too. Oswin had washed his hands thoroughly before coming here, but there was no guarantee that the others had done the same. In fact, prior knowledge of humanity led him to believe that it was quite likely that they hadn't and they were touching the eggs with grimy, disease riddled hands. Well, there was nothing for it, he was just going to have to hope that he didn't catch anything.

He was fascinated by the tiny Try Try Again egg, which was so much smaller than the others. He bent down beside it and touched his palm to the shell. It was warm and a little leathery, but obviously getting harder. The Hatching wouldn't be for too long now.

Next he went to the Ghosts of Tomorrow egg, which was more average in size. He touched the mottled shell gently, brushing his fingers over it. After contemplating that egg for a bit, he moved on to the biggest one, All's Well That Ends Well, which reminded him of a starless night sky.

[remy]

Zora came down to the hatching grounds with everyone else as the call came to come to the hatching sands. She had wonder what these new eggs would bring as she carefully approached the eggs and one in particular caught her eye. When she had approached the Riddle egg and tentatively laid a hand on the egg which instantly connived feelings of confusion. The young girl pulled back a hand almost scared of these feelings and sighed for a moment as she looked around. Her sleeves we're pulled up as she was bound and determined to touch a egg that gave her good feelings. When she had come upon the lessons learned egg and tentatively raised a hand to it good feelings of wisdom came over the girl. She smiled at the feelings as she lingered then noticed another candidate and pulled back. It was a great desire of hers to impress and to get out of the marriage proposal that her parents had maid for her.

When she had walked a few other eggs and passed a huge black egg that seemed to be protecting a golden colored egg. The black egg was not something that invited a feminine touch and she decided against touching it. She felt the need to go the Climax of the Story egg and laid a hand on it as feelings gentleness came to her. It was the first real time that she had smiled at this touching and then laid another hand on the egg. A feelings of a motherly nature came over the young woman and she had to smile even more then backed away out of respect as she couldn't wait for the clutch to hatch.

[Bellatora]

..::Rikula::..
..::The Climax of Our Story::..

Hers was staying here! Hers understood. She sent loving feelings of encouragement to her. Hers was right here for her. We will face them together she sent to her as best she could. We will be together. We will face the world together. I won't leave you. I won't ever leave you. Please don't leave me.

Your brother has found his, hasn't he? We will take care of them together...? Won't we?

..::Oswin::..
..::Try Try Again::..

The egg hardly stirred, but it did react... slightly. No... not this one. This one, though... he was intriguing, but, unfortunately, not the one for this little egg. The egg brushed him off.

..::Ghost of Tomorrow::..

Someone was touching him! No! Don't touch! This one couldn't belong to this egg! This one was too... too he didn't know!

..::Alls Well that Ends Well::..

The egg was forceful and pushed against his mind as with the others, but not so hard, not so interested. I have already found mine. I am sorry. You will find yours. I know it.

..::Zora::..
..::The Riddle::..

Oh! A visitor! He needed answers! It was good to have her! Hi! What's your name? You haven't found yours? I haven't either, but mine is coming. I know it. Mine is a wonderful person. He just doesn't know it yet because I have not told him. I think mine will be a he. HE should be.

..::The Lessons We Learn::..

Oh. This one was young. She was wonderfully young, but not naive. The egg pushed further into the girl's mind. Oh! Oh! She was! Hello Mine. You have found me. You were not slow in coming. I promise we will be together soon and we will both learn of what is around us. There is so much in the world.

..::The Climax of Our Story::..

Oh... so another person wanted her attention besides hers. Fine... she would give it... briefly. She wanted to speak with hers... Hi... I'm sorry, but you are not mine. I already have Mine. And you have yours. I will be glad to meet you on hatching day.

[ayla]

<sup>Syre was still getting used to the whole Weyr thing. He got lost constantly, and no one would even give him the time of day. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was dressed like a drudge and probably acted like one, too. He had managed to find a bed in the Candidate Barracks and not get killed by the older boys. Or girls, for that matter. Girls were more ruthless.

He didn't have a clue about a lot of things, and one of those was voices in his head. He had been briefed on the concept of speaking with a dragon using only thoughts, but in actual practice, Syre was still ridiculously surprised every time he heard a voice and couldn't identify a person who had spoken. Just like every other time he was bespoken, Syre didn't catch the first few words of Heilliath's message, since he was too busy trying to convince himself, yet again, that he wasn't insane.

Hatching Grounds, touching. Easy enough. Syre was good at touching. He made his way to the Sands, only hitting one dead end along the way, and eventually blending in to the rush of Candidates who were taking the same path. Before long, he was actually warm for the first time in a while, due to the sand and some probably complicated science.

Syre directed a bow toward the green watching over the clutch before walking to the group of eggs. Closest to him was The Riddle. Typical lazy Syre for immediately heading to the closest egg and planting both hands firmly on the shell. Almost as quickly, he jerked them away. His eyes widened as he scanned the rest of the crowd. No strange reactions. One girl was talking to the big shiny egg. No one appeared to be recieving feelings from their eggs.

Fantastic. Sharding fantastic. As far as Syre could tell, he had a unique ability to communicate with dragons before they hatched. He didn't know anything about dragons! An interesting development, but not one Syre particularly welcomed. He returned his hands to the eggshell, not wanting to be entirely out of place, and tried to look deep. Thoughtful. Like a pretty together guy.

Syre wasn't sure if it worked or not, and that might have been partially due to the confusing feelings he was getting from the egg. Questions, questions, questions, and Syre didn't know where to begin. He had questions of his own, of course. Could the dragon hear him? How screwed up was he in the head for being able to hear them before they hatched?

...Where had he left his nice boots? His feet were on fire.</sup>

[derek]

He would have heard Heilliath's call even if she hadn't opened her voice to all of the Candidates to hear. Yawning, still half-asleep from a nap, Zion stretched lazily. He knew the drill by now... he had stood before enough clutches to know what to do.

Of course, that meant he still hadn't Impressed, which irked him more than anything. He could hear and talk to any dragon he wanted to, so why hadn't he Impressed yet?! He couldn't understand it. But at least this clutch was different... it was engineered, not laid by a green!

He wondered how the scientists had done it, and vowed to find one of them later and ask them... if they would stop long enough to answer, of course. That was a problem he had a lot... most people never stopped, for they knew he'd just ask questions all day. Oh, well.

Stepping smartly across the Weyr and to the Hatching Grounds, he poked his head in. A lot of other Candidates were already there, but he didn't mind.

It looked to him like some of the eggs were occupied, too, by people already touching them. The two largest were occupied, which didn't bother him in the least, so he went to the smallest egg, the Try Try Again Egg. Extending his hand slowly, he ran his hand over it's small surface.

He liked the little egg, for all that it was the smallest. However, he knew he should move on, so he reached next for the All That We Leave Behind egg, which, despite it's calm colors, radiated a fierceness that startled Zion. He was unprepared for such violence, so he quickly turned to another egg.

The third egg he went for, the Ghosts of Tomorror egg, seemed reserved, which was a nice change after the violence of the previous egg. However, it reacted rather violently when he touched it, so he drew his hand away quickly, and approached slower the second time, and got less of a reaction. Okay, then...

[Bellatora]

..::Syrevek::..
..::The Riddle::..

Oh! Someone new! The questions rushed over the candidate. He searched him. He had so many questions of his own about things that the dragon did... not just about the things he wanted to learn. That scared him a little. He needed answers... not questions! I'm sorry... I'm sorry! But... but you aren't... aren't meant for me. Yours will find you and they will have answers. We aren't stable together. The dragonet inside the egg then shrunk away from the touch all together, the eggs feeling going quiet.

..::Zion::..
..::Try Try Again::..

The egg was slow to react, but once it did, it actually showed some level of excitement, probing into his mind, a cool touch, calm, unreactive, pushing into his mind, exploring. Yes. It is you.

..::All That We Leave Behind::..

The egg seemed to snap at him violently. This one did not belong to it! HOW DARE he touch its shell! If it could have hissed at him... it would have.

..:Ghosts of Tomorrow::..

The first time he touched it, it drew back violently, rejecting him... but the second time he slowly touched it... It accepted him, slowly exploring his mind... but... but... No it wasn't him. I am sorry, but you have found yours and I have yet to find mine. I hope that I will be as lucky too.

[Sayu]

More and more candidates were filing onto the sands now, and Midnath watched them from the most shadowy part of the sands. She crooned mischeviously as a particular candidate neared, the boy seemed to be one of those special people, the kind that could hear them all no matter what they did. The green tilted her head casually, then practically turned it upside down in her inspection of Zion. Well, well my dearie. You're an interesting fellow aren't you? Miniri hissed slightly through gritted teeth, her eyes closing quickly. Midnath...we're not supposed to talk to them, or you aren't at least. The green simply snorted as if to say she did whatever she pleased, and as if to ensure this was put into Hers brain, she turned her attention to the rest of the candidates.

Finding one, his name being Syre she found, she smirked a devious little grin if Miniri ever saw one, and slipped into his mind as much as she could. Oh, we hear you alright. Can you hear us? I think you can. "Midnath! Stop!" Miniri placed a hand on her dragoness' shoulder, narrowing her eyes at the green. Midnath blinked steadily in return, as if she was confused as to why she was being blamed. It was just good fun after all. Hers liked having fun and being happy, right? Why shouldn't she then be happy too? "Because, you over grown flit, you're not suppose to tease them like that. Don't you know better?"

Of course I do Miniri darling. Just two more! ...Oh boy, you're spending a bit too much time around that egg aren't you? You'll make the others jealous, same for you sister. She went from Kikunae's mind to Rikula's, never really separating her speech from the two. The siblings looked at each other, and though Riku rolled her eyes at the dragon's voice, Kikunae turned to his egg and whispered a sorrowful goodbye.

---

"I'm sorry....I'll be back, promise! I just need to see a few others...you need to see others too. I'll be back though."

Letting his fingers trail down the bright shell's side one final time, for now, Kikunae got up and shuffled over to the nearest egg. It happened to be the Queen's that his sister was at. Looking down at Rikula, who had folded her arms tightly around herself and had apparently rooted her but into the sand next to the egg, Kikunae laughed softly. "Sis...that green's right. We'll look stingy if we just stay to one egg...you always said to keep moving." Rikula shot him a glare that would have normally quieted him right away, but right now she had too much on her mind besides that.

The egg kept trying to talk to her, send her feelings. She didn't understand why a Gold would choose her, if it really was a Queen, the researchers could have goofed up for all she knew. However, she felt protective of the presence within, even though she would never say that. Indeed, she was about to lie her but off. "I'm not moving because I'm lazy, that was concerning towns Kikunae. I'm comfy where I am." Her younger brother smirked and put a hand on his hip, mimicking his sister when she would stand and scold him. "Now Sis, you know full well that as candidates we have a duty to see to ever egg. Do you want to look like a Queen chaser? I thought you hated the idea."

He was teasing she knew, but he words hit exactly where they should never even attempt at going. Rikula snapped her eyes up to his, and Kikunae visibly shrunk. Instead of feeling satisfied though, Riku sighed and closed her eyes tight. The last thing I should be doing is snapping at him...the kid's probably right. Taking a deep breath, she opened one eye to peak up at him. Great, kid's still there. Finally opening both and rolling them in an exagerated fashion, Rikula got up and brushed off her pants. Looking back, she settled a careful hand against the gleaming shell. "I'll be back." Nothing else said, no heart-felt goodbye. She'd be back, the sharding dragonet should know that about her by now.

Instantly, the smirk returned to Kikunae's face until Rikula rounded on him and pointed one finger between his eyes. "Don't. Say. Anything." Her tone was enough to shut him up and wipe the grin from his lips. Instead, he just nodded vigorously and turned to the Queen egg. "Wow....yeah....hi." He smiled as he placed a hand on the shell, just as a greeting. Can't wait to see how you deal with that. The expression on his face was enough for Riku to guess at his thoughts, and she snorted, pulling her hair back over her shoulder as she headed to the egg nearby.

It was The Lessons We Learn egg, and she at least didn't have to bend over too much to touch it. "Hi, yeah, greetings." Rikula breathed a still frustrated sigh out, and attempted to center herself. Sorry if this is weird... She imagined a clearing, a bow in her hand, the ease of pulling it back. She breathed, steadily, easily. "Better." It always helped putting her back somewhere where she had to be calm, and she knew nothing calmer than when she was practicing...which she hadn't done lately, shardit! Back to square one with the frustration, she turned on her heel to the next egg. "A few more to go..then I can go back." The words were muttered under her breath, but she was no less surprised by them.

She needed a sharding news flash!

With Kikunae, the boy was having a bit more fun. Sure he was upset that he wasn't with the first egg he had touched, but he had gone to The Riddle Egg and had briefly touched The Climax of Our Story too. What wonders would the riddle one hold though? Well...question for a question, wasn't that fun?