Here comes the sun (Touching)

Weather: Hot
Time: Midday

Candidate Emmanelain - The Wonderland Egg
There was a bittersweetness to Touchings now. He was older than both of his siblings had been upon their Impression. He'd never stand with them on the same level--it was such a shame. A shame he felt deep in his heart, though he tried to put on a brave face as he bowed to the clutchmothers and their riders. He gave his brother a confident smile before he turned away. These were his dragon's eggs, after all--at least, most of them were.

Then he, as the others, began to ponder which to approach first. It didn't take long for his eyes to fall upon the large blue Wonderland Egg, the little colored hearts drawing his attention most. He hesitated only slightly before approaching and placing his hand upon the large shell.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Candidate Ghendan - The Intertwined Egg
Ghendan,, familiar with his task now, bowed to the Garnet and Green, giving polite greetings to their riders before continuing on to the eggs. He was honestly unsure if he would ever come to ride the skies, but seeing each clutch through to hatching was a gift in itself. He wandered amongst the colored shells for some time, considering which he would like to interact with first.

He ended up stopping beside the Intertwined Egg, gazing upon the large, striking red shell. How interesting. Reaching out, he lightly touched the lightly-textured surface as he allowed a gentle sense of calm and curiosity settle in him. Something easy for the unborn dragonet to digest.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Candidate Katsuki - The Tarnished Egg
Another clutch, another Touching. Katsuki was familiar with the song and dance this time. He walked in, bowed to both clutchmothers--it was a little weird, honestly, since his last experience had been with the Pearl Tsuneath alone--and then wandered into the clusters of eggs. The last time, only one or two really didn't react negatively toward him, so he was honestly a little wary of what he might experience.

With a scowl, he found himself stopping by the medium-sized Tarnished Egg, eyeing the golden surface for a few moments. The last clutch had taught him well that the shell's color didn't match the hatchling inside in all cases. Plus, he hadn't ever heard of a Garnet clutching a queen, so. It was probably safe to touch, right? It wasn't the biggest egg of the bunch, either, so it could be anything. Reaching out, he lightly touched his fingers to the swirled golden shell.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Siera and Green Aluith - Open
Siera had never expected that she would end up riding a dragon who clutched even once in her lifetime. It was possible, of course. She knew it was. But it was still... quite beyond her imagination. At least, it had been. Now that it was here, had happened... Well. She had no choice but to wrap her head around it. Aluith, despite being a green, was an attentive mother, nudging and turning her eggs diligently and relying almost wholly on Divuth to bring her meals--only then to shoo him away unless she needed him to take watch while she got a bit of sleep.

As the candidates came to her to bow, she eyed them all suspiciously, but a light touch from her rider kept her from trying to drive them off. Instead, she merely huffed and begrudgingly allowed herself to turn her head away, instead focusing on her eggs and making sure that none of them were at risk from the Candidates. Siera stood by her dragon's foreleg, one hand against her hide to keep her calm.

T'nal and Bronze Bilynth - Haur'fan
Bilynth was a diligent partner, tending to any of Sidrath's needs as he was able. Should she have expressed hunger, he would have a beast for her in only the time it took to reach the pens and return, ready to be devoured. Should she need him to watch, he would sit still as stone, making sure not a single twitch went unnoticed. Of course, should she want nothing to do with him, he would sit only as close as she was comfortable, watching from afar.

So stretched his attendance, he even neglected some of his usual routine for her--but despite having flown a fair few times in his life, he had yet to sire his own clutch. While dragons didn't much tend to care one way or the other once their young were born, the constant reminder of their presence in T'nal's mind kept him well aware. He would see to their well-being as much as he could.

T'nal, to his credit, was amused by his dragon. Normally such an easy-going dragon was nearly haggard with his desire to tend to his unborn children couldn't help but give him a laugh. He did try to dissuade him and comfort him, but it was to no avail. As it was, he stood by Bilynth's side as the Bronze sat as near to Sidrath and the eggs as she would allow, watching each Candidate as they approached and showed their respects. "How are you holding up?" T'nal asked Haur'fan, offering the other rider a smile.

Candidate Sasha Touching the Gilded egg

Touchings never did get old. There was something magical about it each and every time. Today was no exception. Though it was hot outside, it was even hotter inside and he did the candidate shuffle accross the sands to greet the clutch mothers, giving them a bow in greeting and waiting for their permission. That out of the way he turned to survey the joined clutch of eggs.

Well there was one egg that definitely drew his attention with its golden luster. It certainly seemed rather too small to be an actual gold egg, but heck wouldn't the worlds tiniest gold just be the most precious thing ever?

With an attitude as sunny as the weather outside he made his way to the Gilded Egg Placing their palm gently on the shell. "Hey there, you sure are an attention grabber".

Verinda
tag Siera, touching the Flower Field egg

Verinda was nervous. She had hardly been at the Weyr for a few days, and already she had a Touching to go to. A few days ago, she had never even dreamed of being a rider. She had planned to marry and start popping out babies like her mother. It would be a nice life...but now she couldn't stop wondering what would happen if she took this chance. She would stay for at least one clutch, and if she failed, she could go back home.

Except Verinda had never been comfortable with failure. She was terrified of doing something wrong. She paused at the entrance of the sands to take a deep breath and wipe her sweaty palms on her skirt. Get yourself together. Her mother had taught her how to be a lady. She could do this.

Her mother had also taught her to always bring a gift. So she had a batch of cookies wrapped in a small bag. She walked onto the sands, head held high despite how shaky she felt, and bowed to both of the clutch mothers. "Th-thank you for this opportunity," she said, managing to speak despite the initial nervous stammer. She held out the bag of cookies at the Greenrider. "Um. I baked cookies, ma'am."

She barely waited to see if the rider accepted--if she didn't, she'd just drop them on the sand in embarassment--before moving away to the eggs, her heart pounding. Assuming she didn't get mauled because cookies were offensive, she picked out the green speckled Flower Field egg. "Aren't you cute?" she smiled, patting the small egg curiously.

It was... strange, being back on the sands. Eralti had scarcely imagined he'd ever have reason to step foot on them again considering the time of impression had long since come and gone, and Divuth had never shown much interest in chasing prior. The blue was a... rather withdrawn sort. Shy even, which was what Eralti had always contributed it to. However... he was accustomed to Aluith. Comfortable with her, which Eralti assumed was the primary reason he'd tried.

And... succeeded. Thus the reason he found himself here, with his dragon and his sister, though he remained some distance away, leaning against the divider separating the hatching grounds from the stands. Divuth remained vigilant, sitting some distance from Aluith's nest, on full alert in case the clutchmother needed anything. He had been about as attentive and respectful as one would expect, bringing her anything requsted and giving her as much space as desired. He looked on with genuine pride all but radiating from him as the candidates began to funnel in, though Eralti could also sense his own protectiveness over the eggs-something he found just a tad peculiar, in all honesty, though he felt little need to point it out.


While he at least knew what to expect this time-to some degree-Shouto was still somewhat nervous as he found himself on the sands, bowing to not one, but two mother dragons. It was just as hot as he expected it to be, and he was glad that this time he'd thought to dress a bit lighter than before. Once he had paid his respects to the mothers, he carefully moved around the nest, eyes scanning over the eggs. Just as before, they were far...different than he'd once imagined. Every one unique in both size and color, let alone the odd patterns they bore.
He'd thought at first that the color may be a clue to what color the hatchling within would be, but his first hatching had proven him wrong, there.

It was ultimately the Stoplight egg that drew his attention first, the colors standing stark against the dark gray backdrop being quite odd and eye-catching, especially with how they lined up along one side. Despite knowing the egg would be far tougher than any average one, he was still careful as he laid his hand, palm flat on the bright red spot near the top of the egg.

Candidate Emmanelain - The Gilded Egg
Emannelain looked at the egg under his palm for a moment, a complicated expression pulling at his features. Something... seemed off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Like a farce, a lie just beyond the edge of his senses. He pulled his and away, pursing his lips and studying his hand. He rubbed his jaw in thought, considering.

Ah, he shouldn't linger too long at any one egg. Surely there were others who wished to meet them. Even with the... admittedly strange feeling he'd gotten from this one.

Shaking his head, he moved through the various shells, before stopping beside a small, bright golden one. He tilted his head, looking at the little markings across its surface for a few beats. If it were larger, there might be some genuine interest in this being a gold. Not that he was sure he'd ever heard of a non-Gold clutching a gold. Even so, he reached out, gingerly touching the smooth, warm shell after giving Sasha a polite nod.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Candidate Ghendan - The Scaled Egg
Ah, this one seemed a little uncertain of him. Uncertain, putting up walls--only to warm a moment later. He couldn't help the subtle upturn of his lips. It was... cute, in a way. He smoothed his hand in a small circle over the warm shell, considering lingering for another few moments before stepping away. He did not like to linger, no matter how fond the hatchling beneath the shell made him feel, he knew it was important for it to meet everyone.

He glanced around at the other Candidates, noting which eggs were alone, before approaching another. This one was roughly mid-sized and deep red, almost... scaled, like a fish? It almost looked like it might have a texture as well, but as his fingers touched the sand-warmed shell it was smooth as any other dragon's egg.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Candidate Katsuki - The Feral Egg
Well, this one didn't immediately reject him. That was--good news, maybe. He still didn't really understand what the problem had been with the previous eggs. They all seemed sort of testy somehow at the Hatching, though. Maybe that was just how they were. It hadn't been all of them, but enough of them to be a deterrent.

If nothing else, the calm reaction was enough to ease the tension in his shoulders. Maybe this would be different.

Stepping back, he looked around for another egg that caught his eye. At the first Touching he didn't really have an interest in the smaller ones, but he tried to open his mind this time around. Biting his lip, he approached the small, brown egg. Crouching down, he looked over the shell for a moment or two, then tentatively touched his fingertips to it.

The Gilded Egg - The Wonderland Egg - The Scaled Egg - The Stoplight Egg - The Feral Egg - The Cityscape Egg - The Tarnished Egg - The Intertwined Egg - The Flower Field Egg

Siera and Green Aluith - Acknowledging Verinda, Haur'fan
Being... bowed to was new. She really had only had it happen a few times, mostly by Holders visiting the Weyr thinking they needed to show deference to every Rider they passed. So having every Candidate show such respect was... Well. She tried not to look uncomfortable, though the exchange was keeping her expression schooled into neutral, which probably made her look stern rather than friendly.

Even so, she nodded at each as she had been instructed, watching them each begin to filter through the various eggs. Aluith was especially vigilant, staring at each hopeful as if she could see into their very soul and judge them for it. She wasn't a Searchdragon, so she wasn't as... sensitive as others could be, but she was holding the worries of a first-time mother.

Seeing one of the Candidates trembling, she realized after only a second of confusion that--she was being offered a bag of baked goods. "Oh," she spoke, stepping forward and gently taking the offered sweets. Verinda was given a small smile in return. "Thank you." It wasn't--necessary. Actually, she wasn't sure she'd ever heard of Riders being given gifts at Touchings, but. Well, it was rude not to accept. She stepped closer to Haur'fan, offering him the bag to share after she had tugged it open for them both and extracted one of the cookies.