Slightly before normal lunchtime, the Candidates were ushered into the kitchens for a quick, small lunch. Before being given food, they had to clean up at the communal sinks in the corner. After cleaning up, each one was given a precise amount of food, "To keep you from getting sick during or after the Hatching," Headwoman Nataly explained: a couple thin slices of each meat and cheese, two slices of bread or a dozen crackers, and a small serving of each fruit and vegetables; a healthy meal, but hardly filling to Candidates who had been working all morning, and no doubt working up an appetite. But they had a choice of meals: they were allow to choose a meat, cheese, bread or cracker, fruit, and vegetable for their plate.

Meat	Cheese	Fruit	Bread/Crackers	Vegetable
Ham Pastrami Beef Spicy sausage (pepperoni) Wherry	Nut cheese (Swiss) Smoked cheese (provolone) Yellow cheese (cheddar) Soft white cheese (mozzarella) Smoked yellow cheese	Tart apple (Granny Smith) Orange Tomato Peach Dried grapes (raisins)	Plain crackers (Ritz) Rye bread Whole wheat crackers (Triscuit) Plain bread Egg bread (Challah)	Whiteroots (green onions) Celery sticks Fingerroots Olives Mashed potatoes

They were also given a large tumbler of water to drink and instructed to finish every drop to help prevent dehydration on the Sands. Once they all had their plates and were seated at the long table normally used by the kitchen staff, the Headwoman addressed them. "You've got about an hour until the Hatching starts. Eat up, drink up, and then go to your bunks and pack your personal belongings. Place your packs at the front of your bunks; if you Impress, your things will be moved to your barracks while you're feeding your Hatchling. Once you're done packing or you start hearing humming, whichever comes first, report to the bathing rooms to get ready to go onto the Sands."

Artemis
It had been interesting working at cutting up the meat, and highly disgusting. Lucky for Artemis, she had only puked once before getting into things and after a few moments she’d actually managed to not find it quite as horrifyingly gross. When she had finished with the task, she went about cleaning up and glancing down before shuddering. At least they’d given her an apron to use… cause she had somehow gotten wherry guts on the front of it. Thus, she was happy to wash her hands and take the nasty thing off, although she was soon washing her hands a second time. “Ugh! Just think we could be having to do that all the time until the hatchlings are old enough to hunt for themselves,” she commented to her twin (and Kerso if he was nearby).

When she had finished cleaning up she easily got into line and started picking out her meal. Since she knew she could only choose one of each, she took a moment to decide at each step. In the end she made a sandwich that involved rye bread, pastrami, soft white cheese (mozzarella), and tomato. On the side she had a few cut up celery sticks and then off she went to sit down and enjoy her meal… and really tall glass of water. It was a good meal, and she enjoyed eating it. With ease she finished the small lunch, hungry for more but knowing that they would have to wait until after the hatching before they could stuff themselves like pigs… after stuffing their dragons, of course.

While she had been eating, she listened to the head woman and finished her water in between bites… with the majority of it going after she’d finished her meal. With that done she put her plate away and headed off to her room, pausing long enough to wish Kerso and Apollo good luck with a bright smile. They would be fairly busy, and she knew that she would be standing separate from the boys. Thus, she headed off to complete her task of packing up her belongings. This was the longer part, taking a good portion of that hour before she was finally satisfied she placed the belongings at the foot of her bed before darting from the room to go take her bath. She needed one, she still felt kind of gross from all that meat she and the boys had cut up. At least they would be ahead of the game should they impress!

Once she got to the bathing chambers, she was happy to see she was the first to arrive, and easily stripped herself of the clothes she’d been wearing in favor of slipping into the warm water. She gave a soft sigh as the heat spread over her body and then she grabbed the sweet sands and began cleaning herself, hoping to wash off all the meat smell that she could swear had buried itself into her skin…

Fayble had been working hard outside to help prepare for the Gather, and was extremely happy to be allowed in to wash and eat. She scrubbed away grime and dirt frowning about a few bug bites she had recevied for her hard work as she did so. After she tied her hair, she quickly fell behind Artemis to gather her food. The girl would make a ham sandwhich, out of yellow (cheddar) cheese, a slice of tomato, and some white roots on rye bread. She would sit beside Artemis silent for the most part, and eat her sandwhich lost in though. Of course drinking all the water wasn't an issue, as she had been thirsty from her labour and guzzled it down greedily, wishing she could serve herself more than just a sandwhich.

After having finished her lunch she would follow Artemis' lead and pack her belongings up, scared and nervous that she would have to return home, but excited at the prospect of what could come. Of course she had thurst a few things under the bed this morning in a hurry and groaned as she fished them out her bottom high in the air as her fingers wrapped around a stray pair of socks and pushing them into the bottom recesses of her bags. She'd line up her packed items properly and then scamper off to the bathing chambers, there was Artemis soaking, and claiming her own spot Fayble did much the same giving a sigh.

"How were your chores?" She would ask the other girl after a long moment of silence.

--

Derrick had been sweating his...well nevermind that. It was HOT in those rooms, and no amount of circulating air seemed to help. Perhaps it was the fact that he was making beds and trying to keep up with everyone else (who seemed to make up the beds far neater, and faster than he could ever imagine), or perhaps it was sheer nerves, knowing that today he would be possibly chosen.

Having been told to wash he watched that girl Artemis, and chose to grab just some random food. Something to stop that pit of gnawing anger in his gut. That was easy enough with some spice sausage, nut cheese, he made the most of it by stacking it on the few crackers he had taken (Ritz), munching on his raisins while still admiring the beauty. He almost forgot to eat his celery, and only when he accidentally bit down on his finger did he snap out of it. "Focus," he muttered to himself.

Thankfully he hadn't been here for too long, and most of his belongings hadn't been unpacked, when he arrived it took him only a few minutes to throw everything in his bags and get on to the bathing chambers, happy to have that extra time to soak in the warm waters.

He had folded his clothing neatly in a pile and slunk in at first just resting with his head against the ledge closing his eyes, enjoying the water as it rippled against his frame, before vigorously scrubbing, wanting to get the dust and cobwebs out of his hair and off his skin.

Apollo

He had found himself rather disgusted by the work, but he did it all the same. At least he had managed not to vomit! He really did feel rather proud of himself for that. Of course, this could be in part because both his "friend" Kerso and his sister were in his group. And well, he couldn't let his sister down, and well... he had a bit of a friendly "competition" with Kerso. It wasn't anything that was really verbalized, just a sort of rivalry that had started when they became roommates and Kerso's attitude about the various colors of dragons became apparent. Most of the time, Apollo found that he liked working with his fellow candidate and he most certainly had fun learning vinterning. It was fun... although he did have a tendency to get into trouble with it because of the whole idea of them drinking while doing their lessons. Definitely not their fault if the tests involved that!

When they were finally called away from working with the wherry meat, Apollo was more than pleased to wash up and go get something to eat. After all, who wanted to continue cutting meat into little cubes while getting covered in blood and guts? In fact, he had to wash his hands a couple times while getting rid of the apron he wore and picking any spare guts off his arms and shirt that had managed to sneak past the apron. Once all was said and done, he felt better and set about working on finding his food.

In the end he put beef, yellow cheese (cheddar), tomato and mashed potatos on plain bread and ate it all together. It made for an interesting sandwich, but he didn't really mind the idea and actually found it rather yummy. Especially with the excess water to wash it all down (which was needed considering the potato managed to help dry out his mouth.

When done, he thought back on what Nataly had said before rising from his spot and trailing after Derrick until he could duck into the room he shared with Kerso and a couple others... it was there that he started packing up his belongings. He knew he would have to try and be punctual about it, as he needed everything prepared should he impress... and if he didn't succeed then he knew his father would want to pull him back to the hold so he could continue his lessons in case it was he who succeeded instead of his brother.

When finished, he made his way to the bathing room and stripped from his clothes before joining Derrick in the water. "Hey" he greeted off handedly to the new kid before he began to scrub himself clean.

Kerso
Kerso was pleased with the way he was chopping up wherries. He inwardly hoped his bronze would LIKE wherry meat. Then he had a thought: what if bronzes HAD to eat herdbeast because they were so much bigger? Before he could voice the question, though, a drudge came running up to H'lee and said the Candidates were supposed to get cleaned up and meet the Headwoman in one of the small dining halls off the kitchens.

He was glad to get cleaned up, even a little bit, and quite frankly, "I wish I could climb in this and really get clean," he complained to Apollo as they washed up. "I want a real bath."

When he got to the lunch, he couldn't believe the tiny amount they were going to be fed - until he actually looked at the meats. He normally didn't eat ham, the fact that pigs would eat practically anything made him leery of their meat. However, he couldn't stand the idea of eating wherry or herdbeast meat right now, so he selected ham, smoked yellow cheese, egg bread, a peach, and olives. He also wished for fruit juice instead of water.

Nonetheless, he lingered over the food, grateful to be sitting down. It wasn't until he realized all the other Candidates had left that he dashed off to his room. Apollo and his other bunkmates had already finished and gone off to the bathing chambers. Unable to coordinate packing the way he would have liked, he started shoving clothes and items into bags haphazardly. Fortunately, he didn't own anything breakable, so it wasn't a big deal, but he wasn't looking forward to unpacking in his new barrack.

---

After the Candidates selected their lunches, the Headwoman went off to attend to other duties. She was, in fact, in the middle of rescuing the bread sculpture that would be the centerpiece of the Hatching Feast: a giant fort made of black bread with dragons of different colors perched or lounging about on it - each new weyrling rider would be given one of the bread dragons of the color that they Impressed. Some idiot had set two third-level staff to carry it out! She turned to yell at said idiot and assign four first-level staff to carry it out when a vibration thrummed against her feet. "SHARDIT!" she swore. No time to yell at anyone, she just pointed, "You, you, you, and you, get this out there CAREFULLY. Or you'll go without pay for a fortnight!"

Leaving that threat hanging over them, she dashed off to make sure all the Candidates were bathed and in their robes, ready to go onto the Sands. On the way, she grabbed a brownrider and gave him a list of the male Candidates, then shoved him into the boys' bathing chamber while she swept into the girls' and started counting noses.

Katarina was missing, but the Headwoman had heard the girl had skipped out on her chores that morning, too, and she hadn't been seen at lunch. Well, if she didn't show up, she wouldn't Impress, although it wasn't unheard of for a hatchling to wander out of the Sands to find its bondmate.

"Alright, alright, enough soaking! Up, up, UP!" She shoved towels at each Candidate and then shoved them in the direction of the robes and boots that were hanging on the wall. Once the dragons started humming, it was only a matter of minutes until the eggs started cracking. "You have less than five minutes! Remember: bow to the queen and her rider when you step out. Project welcoming, happy thoughts. Stay put until you're chosen or all the hatchlings have Impressed - DON'T try to help the hatchlings or you'll get trampled or even killed! Come line up in the corridor as soon as you're ready!" and she strode out of the room.

Meanwhile, the brownrider in the other room was giving the boys much the same advice. Unlike her, however, he was grinning as he did it, remembering his own Impression. He was young and still remembered vividly what it was like to be a Candidate. Instead of leading them out into the corridor, though, he herded them out to where the Headwoman was waiting.

When all the Candidates who were present were lined up and waiting, the Headwoman started shooing them out onto the Sands, reminding them in a harsh whisper to stay 15 feet from the eggs, and 10 feet from each other.

By this time, the Stands were full, seemingly to overflowing, with guests and residents eagerly awaiting the Hatching. The dragons' humming which was muffled by the stone in the rest of the Weyr, was unbelievably loud in the chamber itself. In fact, if one watched closely, one could see the vibrations from the humming affecting the heat waves coming off the hot Sands, making the very air appear to be joining the dragons in welcoming the new hatchlings. The Candidates couldn't have heard each other speak even if they'd wanted to.

It was hard to believe anything could be heard over the rumble of happy dragons, but the first loud CRACK of an egg rang out clearly as the Candidates filed onto the Sands...

ARTEMIS

Artemis had been enjoying her bath, and did little more than smile a greeting at Fayble when she appeared. Although she was soon focusing on enjoying the feel of the water around her body. She barely did little more than that as others filed in as well. When she heard Fayble's question, she lifted her gaze and looked to the other candidate. "Disgusting, but helpful should I impress. Apollo, Kerso and myself were cutting up meat for the hatchlings," she informed easily enough, although she had recovered from finding the whole ordeal nasty.

Before too long, she found herself with a towel thrust at her and swiflty she started cleaning up. She had gotten some time to soak and so she was prepared to get out and finish getting dressed for the hatching. Once dressed she lined up and nodded to the headwoman at the directions. Before long she had turned and started walking onto the sands, pausing momentarily to bow to both the queen and her rider. All the while she thought about the happiest and most welcoming thoughts she could think of!

When she got into place, she had paused to watch the others file in when she heard the loud crack of an egg and instantly her eyes darted back towards the eggs. Instantly she started feeling anxious and nervous, waiting for the hatchling to come into the world.

Derrick grunted in return, "Hey." He groaned and rotated a shoulder, "Ex..." He got cut off shortly as a brown rider appeared and began to tell them what was to come. Pulling himself from the warm waters he quickly dried off before changing and filing in. As he walked out he could feel the heat creeping towards him and it took his breath away to feel the heat and the hum of the dragons. Bowing respectfully to the queen and her chosen he waited on the sands trying to remember all his happy moments, dwelling on his new siblings (which gave him much joy to play with and be a part of).

Nerves ate at his stomach once again with the resonating sound of the crack and he gasped softly. This is it, happy thoughts Derrick HAPPY THOUGHTS! he demanded of himself actually closing his eyes to try and better picture them.

--

Fayble winced at the thought of the meats, "Ew, glad I didn't get that job I kind of enjoyed breakfast!" She wrinkled her nosed and wrung out her hair before the Headwoman interupted their bathing expirance. Quickly following orders she chose not to dawdle and was dressed and ready just behind Artemis. Outside the heat had caused her fair to get away from her, and stray wisps could be glimpsed at sticking up strangely.

Her bow was respectful and quick to both the queen and her rider, thinking about the joy it had caused her to come to this place, to be here. She smiled inwardly and concentrated on that, almost jumping in surprise at the sound of the egg. Her heart beat faster, and she whispered softly "happy thoughts" over and over again under her breath, trying to contain her nervous excitement.

Apollo had nodded his agreement with Kerso when his friend made the comment. He had felt utterly disgusting at the time and was even more grateful when he got into the bath because of it. However, before long he found himself glancing at the brownrider who had interrupted Derrick in his response. A soft groan left the young man, he wanted to scrub himself clean better!!!

Swiftly he jumped out of the water and began drying himself off before slipping into the candidate robe that was his, and turning to head onto the sands once all ways said and done. He easily followed after Derrick as the other male candidate bowed to the queen and her rider, Apollo doing the same himself. Once in line, he forced himself to think happy thoughts before his eyes shifted to the source of the cracking egg.

"I'm glad it's starting fast," he managed to whisper to Derrick, truly thankful that they didn't have to wait for very long for things to start.

((Let's see if my brain cooperates long enough for some decent posting eh? Also, cleared Kat's absence with Kes so we're all good. =3))

Katarina
Kat had not intentionally skipped out on her chores or lunch or anything of the sort. But starting immediately after breakfast, she had suddenly felt very ill and ducked into an empty room away from most of the hustle and bustle of hatching preparations. Her intentions had been to just lie down for a bit and rejoin her fellow candidates when she had rid herself of whatever had hit her (she was assuming it was a bad case of nerves). Of course, as with all best laid plans, there's always an unexpected something that happens and she fell asleep, dozing away the morning and lunch time as well.

It wasn't until a vibration went through the Weyr that she became fully aware of how much time had passed and, though her stomach protested at the movements, she rolled from the cot she'd claimed and rushed to her room, shoving items into a haphazard pile and stuffing her bags as quickly as she could. Though she was sure she hadn't gotten everything, she headed for the batching chambers, bypassing the pools and grabbing a robe.

Pale and shaking from both lack of food for the better part of the day and a severe case of nerves, the wayward candidate did a quick check of things and approached Nataly well after the others had taken their places on the sands. "Headwoman Nataly...I....Sorry I missed chores. I wasn't feeling well and I just wanted to lie down for a moment but I fell asleep and I missed everything. But I still want to stand if you'll let me." Her normally boisterous attitude and the most annoying confidence she usually projected were gone in the face of potentially being told she wouldn't be allowed to stand and her rather severe case of nerves. She'd stay right where she was if the Headwoman told her to as long as she got to stay and at least watch the eggs hatch she'd be happy enough.

---

K'then
While H'lee and other had been tending to the cutting of meat, K'then had attached himself to the group helping the healers set up what they needed, bantering good naturedly with the other healers and eventually taking up a place about halfway between where the newly impressed would go to feed their dragonlings and the healers so he could aid either group should they need him when the hatching itself got going. H'lee had plenty of hands to help him with the weyrlings that managed to get through things without any injuries, he figured his job would be to tend those that ended up hurt by bandaging or stitching as needed while Baroleth helped keep their hatchlings calm if he was needed.

A'dam had never liked hatchings. They were too loud with too many voices, both dragon and human, all around and inside his head. If not for the fact his gift was useful in tending injured dragons, he wouldn't have even gone to the hatching at all. But H'lee had asked nicely and A'dam was always reluctant to really say no, especially since Dragonhealers were somewhat rarer than other Healers. So he'd joined up with Fort's Dragonhealer to make sure they had everything they would need to tend injured hatchlings.

Prior to the humming, A'dam had kept his mind closed off to all but Dranith but when the candidates made their way onto the sands and the first egg started cracking, he opened his senses and was suddenly assaulted by draconic voices as the dragons of the weyr chatted amongst themselves or with their riders. He made a face and ran a hand through his hair. He was definitely sneaking off with a skin of wine and some fellis after all was said and done. A good night's rest would hopefully alleviate the headache he knew he would end up with by the end of the day. Too bad for Erin if she wanted him to attend the Hatching Feast with her. There was no way he was going to feel up to it at all.

Erin had mulled over various things, but in the end she couldn't deny that it would be fun to take the kids with them to the weyr. After all, she was curious to see if that Fayble girl would impress, and she had an inkling that it would simply be something fun for her adopted children. Thus she had brought Saelit and Selisa with her to Fort, only to find herself having quite a bit of fun pointing out all the dragons for the two kids and explaining their questions as best she could. Of course, since they were sitting in the sands away from A'dam, that included one very important question from Selisa (that had already been answered a couple times).

"How come we can't sit with Daddy?" the little girl questioned, noting that he was with the rest of the healers.

"Because, sweetie, he's working and has to stay down there in case one of the dragons gets hurt," the woman explained softly, chuckling.

"But don't you heal dragons too?"

"Yeah, but I'm not as good at it as he is, and I've only started learning," she responded, kissing the girl's head.

Saelit just rolled his eyes at the interaction. Despite his sister's desire to call their adoptive parents "mom" and "dad"... he preferred to just call them Erin and A'dam... it made things far easier since he already had parents... they were just dead...

Kerso

Kerso darted into the bathing rooms only a few minutes ahead of the brownrider who was in charge of them - surprising, NOT H'lee. He practically leaped into one of the tubs and started scrubbing like mad. He muttered something in Apollo's general direction about not wanting to be mistaken for a hatchling's first meal because he smelled like butchered wherries.

He had ducked his head under the water when the brownrider came in, so he missed the first few words, but he got the gist of it quickly enough. He finished scrubbing down and was one of the last ones out the door and onto the Sands. He scrunched his face and cringed as the heat slammed into his scrubbed skin. Happy thoughts...right. He'd just taken his first step onto the sands when a loud crack split the air - the eggs were hatching! He scurried out with a perfunctory bow to the queen and her eggs, eager to see what the first hatchling would be.

---

H'lee
Some might have argued that the Weyrlingmaster, who was also a Dragonhealer, should have been helping the Healers and other Dragonhealers set up. But that's why he'd brought A'dam, of course - the young man was much better equipped to identify injured hatchlings before they got off the Sands, and H'lee spent his time, instead, setting up the tables with their accoutrements: a basket of meat, two baskets of water (one with a moderately stiff-bristled brush hanging on the side), and a bowl of oil with a couple of cloths.

In truth, no rider wanted to miss the Hatching and Impressions of the youngsters, not even H'lee. However, he would only be able to witness the first few, until the first one reached his station, then he would be too busy getting the newly-bonded pairs straightened out and their first meal and bath started. However, he'd done this plenty of times before; the only difference was that this was the first time he'd been in Fort Weyr doing it, and that was minor enough. He had plenty of time to limp partway from his station to the Sands with his other Assistant Weyrlingmasters to watch the beginning of the Hatching; hearing the first egg's cracking echo up the tunnel, the group scurried around the last corner to where they could see the eggs and their attendant hopefuls.

---

Hatching


Not all of the Candidates were on the Sands when the first egg cracked, and Nataly practically shoved the last handful out the doorway. "Get out there, out, out, out!" she shooed them. Then, her job done until the Impressions were over - at which point she would escort those who had been rejected back to the bathing chambers to change and would then preside over the Feast - she leaned against the wall with her assistant brownrider and watched.

A second crack followed the first and a shard of eggshell went flying outward toward the curve of Candidates from the center egg in the front row, closest to the Candidates (egg k). A moment later, the rest of the shell crumbled away from its contents: a bronze!

There was a long moment of relative silence as the bronze - whose back was to the Candidates initially - peered around the Sands, seeming to nod to himself before turning around to regard the Candidates with a critical eye. Again, he seemed to nod to himself before moving toward one of the boys on his right - the end farthest from the door where the Candidates had come in from. With an amazed, high-pitched cry, the boy flung his arms around the young dragon's head, shouting, "His name's Zhlucarth!"

With that, it was as though all the other eggs decided they'd given their clutchbrother enough time in the spotlight and that they'd hatch all at once. Crackling filled the arena: egg b split in half to reveal a brown; egg d bounced around for a bit before the bottom broke out, revealing the bottom half of a green, with the upper portion of the shell still stuck over the hatchling's head and neck; egg h also spilled out green contents; egg f revealed a blue. These looked around at the assembled Candidates (except for the one green who was still trying to back out of her egg and was comically turning in circles), but seemed content to just sit for the moment and their siblings continued to punch out of their confinement.

Artemis focused on the eggs, thankful that they had something else to think about. Especially as she spotted the bronze that appeared from the first egg to break. Her eyes widened and she gave a smile, wondering if it would go to Derrick. She was certain that he would impress well, although she smiled as the bronze chose it's candidate. Regardless of whether or not it picked Derrick, she was happy to see that a bronze was the first hatchling. That was a good sign, right?

With that she focused her attention back on the other eggs and easily looked over each of the hatchlings. Although a soft chuckle left her as she watched the half-revealed green. It was cute to see and it took her a second before she put back on the proper little candidate face and looked over the rest of the newly revealed hatchlings.

Daria had left her three babies with the headwoman at Telgar Weyr, demanding that R'alras and D'rk go to watch the hatching that her son was standing at. Although, they had been forced to stop by Snowy Hold in order to pick up her mother and uncle. Naturally, Sakura refused to ride her daughter's gold, unable to picture anything other than how own dead gold. Thus, she had ridden to the weyr on D'rk's bronze.

Now the two women sat in the stands and watched as the bronze hatched first before keeping an eye on other thing. Sakura sat between Tray and D'rk, while her daughter sat between D'rk and R'alras.

Fayble had squealed slightly at the sight of a bronze and was surprised it went to a boy that she barely remembered seeing in classes with them. None-the-less the girl puffed out her chest a bit more and smiled inwardly as she watched the little green with its head stuck in its shell still. She desperately wanted to help but stayed rooted firmly to the ground not daring to disobey. "Poor thing." She muttered softly.

--

Derrick was shocked as the bronze lumbered by him and Kerso and went for the boy. But he was glad. After all it was a cute hatchling but clearly it wasn't his. He stole a look at Artemis before looking back at the eggs. -Keep cool and happy thoughts-. Of course he ended up thinking about how they had been sneaking around and it made a smile form in his head. Hopefully no one would notice much.

--

D'rk had been happy to give his family member a ride, and R'alras had let Dertray ride with him (though it caused great pain, but Dertray refused to ride a queen.). R'alras had been holding his breath and let out a sigh softly as his boy was over looked.

"He's a proud dragon, but I'm sure he'll impress well. He's got his mother's genes in him." D'rk commented and R'alras nodded with an agreement.

Dertray had been squeezing Sakura's hand and his heart almost lept from his throat when the boy was over looked. He couldn't muster to say anything but merely squirmed a bit in his seat trying to keep his anticipation at bay.

Apollo watched patiently, his thoughts focused on plenty of happy things. Namely... the idea that he would no longer have to worry about whether or not he would ever impress to a dragon after that day. If he impressed, then he would be working his way towards following in his grandfather's footsteps, and if he failed at impressing... then he would simply go back to training to become a lord holder! With a little vintner training on the side, of course.

When the little bronze hatched, he watched with anticipation. Although he didn't really realize just how excited he had been at the prospect of bonding until that first bronze passed him up for another boy. The small stab of disappointment made him feel a little guilty... but at least there were plenty of others available!

Kerso
The arrogant young man was - understandably - excited when the first egg opened up and revealed a bronze. A wonderful sign of a healthy clutch! He couldn't believe when the young dragon's gaze passed him over and he headed for a young fellow on the far side of the circle. How could that be? Then he laughed aloud. There were at least two, maybe three bronzes in the clutch; of COURSE he couldn't have them all, someone else had to Impress one! He would still get his.

He turned his gaze back to the remaining eggs and chuckled at the green who was having eggshell difficulties. Poor thing. He wondered if she could find her human life-partner if she couldn't see; maybe she could and that girl (or boy) would be able to go over and help with the shell. Wait, no, they weren't supposed to move closer to the eggs. Well, maybe if she hadn't gotten free by the time the rest of the dragons had hatched and Impressed, then they could move closer to her.

He felt just a twinge of anxiety when none of the other eggs that had hatched thus far failed to reveal another bronze. But less than half of them had hatched, so there was plenty of time.

---

H'lee
A bronze! Excellent sign. And the new-hatched dragon, Zhlucarth, made an excellent choice of rider. H'lee reached out mentally and touched Seeth's mind and the pair shared a tender moment, remembering their own Impression. The Weyrlingmaster glanced over at his best friend, T'lon, and could tell that he and his dragon were sharing a similar moment. But the bronzerider saw the look, smiled and nodded, blinking back the tears in his eyes, and went forward to lead the new couple off the Sands and start taking care of them.

H'lee would wait for the first brown to reach him; his Assistants helped those who bonded the same color they had. Seeth had already turned his attention to the young bronze T'lon was leading from the Sands; the brown found the Sands awkward to enter and exit due to his injuries and since he needed to supervise the hatchlings, it was much simpler for him to wait. Besides, the hatchlings needed to immediately associate him as a figure of authority. Usually, the other Assistants' dragons attended the Hatching from inside.

Hatching


The brown from egg b seemed to make a decision. He huffed at the blue from egg f, seeming to order him out of his seat and off toward the Candidates, where he found a suitable older boy and they headed for the exit after announcing his name, "Shimarkth!"

The same brown turned and gave egg a a sharp rap with his nose, expanding a hole through which a green nose poked. The green took that as a signal and got one of her claws through the hole and started tearing at the shell. He repeated the demonstration with egg e, egg g, and egg j as he moved forward toward the line of Candidates before picking a boy out of the line: "Niocth!"

Meanwhile, the green from egg d on the far side, near her father, was still trying to get out of her shell. She backed into two of her neighbors, egg c and egg i before backing into her clutchfather, who snorted and took pity on her, flicking the shell off her head. She creeled happily up at him before peering around at the Candidates and spotting a quiet girl nearby and bonding to her. "Basidith!"

The green from egg h seemed to make a decision finally and headed for the two girls who had been first onto the Sands, Fayble and Artemis. She squirmed shyly past her clutchsibs before stopping in front of the girl who was showing off her...assets. Sister Basidith is just fine. Your Deasirith would like something to eat, though. Our sibs are going out where there is food, we should, too. she told Fayble.

At the same time as Deasirith was approaching Fayble, another green finished breaking from her shell (egg e) and headed toward the pair. As they both approached the girls at the same time, the second one hissed aggressively at her sister and increased her pace in an attempt to reach the girls first, but tripped over her own feet and face-planted into the Sand. With an angry squeal, she lashed out with a claw, raking the boy standing next to Artemis and flinging him aside. I am Jadziath! she crowed into Artemis' mind. Then she whimpered aloud and tried to right herself with heavy overtones of embarrassment in her mind voice as she shamefully asked her new bondmate for assistance.

Egg i, which Basidith had collided with earlier, decided this was a good time to put in his blue appearance. The pale blue hatchling found his lifemate among the boys, "Spindath!"

The two eggs that Niocth had encouraged along decided to hatch at the same time, egg g releasing a greyish-looking brown who immediately starting creeling unhappily and egg j spilling out a blue who paused to preen himself. The final two eggs also chose to explode and reveal their contents, egg l a final green and egg c, the last egg, a second bronze.

The bronze crooned encouragingly to the unhappy brown, trying to move toward him and getting tangled in his own limbs. The golden mother was anxious about this brown and bent her neck to nuzzle him gently - although a gentle nuzzle from a creature the size of a gold dragon tumbled him end over end toward the Candidates. The brown rewarded her attempts to assist him with a hiss as he rolled about trying to get on his feet. MINE! Make her stop! I don't need her help! brown Mccoreth snapped into his faraway lifemate, Katarina. He punctuated his authority with another hiss at his clutchmother and the nearby Candidates.

The last hatchling, the green from egg l, crooned happily to find her bondmate so close to where she had hatched. She waddled eagerly toward him, stumbling at the last moment and colliding with her chosen. She squealed anxiously and tried to climb off of Derrick, which only resulted in her claws digging deeper into his left arm. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Haranth didn't mean to hurt her bonded! the green whined in a panicked mindvoice, at least knowing enough to stop moving and freeze before she hurt her rider any more.

The last green, from egg a, had taken her sweet time clawing her way out of her shell, even with her brother Niocth's help. Now she peered around and picked an older boy, "Pareilth!"

It was down to the last two hatchlings, a bronze and a blue, on opposite sides of the shells that were all that remained of their siblings on the Sands. The two began crossing the sands, wading through the shells toward each other - and toward their soon-to-be riders on opposite sides of the half-circle of Candidates. The bronze reached his goal first. I am Rikraketh. You are Apollo, and you are my rider, he stated clearly.

The blue reached Kerso only a few moments later, just long enough for the young man to have no doubt realized that he wasn't Impressing a bronze. Who cares about those bronzes? I am Qancith and I'm much better than any bronze! the blue told him in no uncertain terms.

H'lee
The first brown to Impress didn't seem to be in any big hurry to get off the Sands. This wasn't particularly unusual, there was usually one brown or bronze who took it on himself to supervise the rest, so H'lee didn't worry and didn't move to hurry the pair off the Sands. This was fortunate because when the other brown hatched, it was obvious something was wrong. H'lee hobbled out toward the brown, keeping clear of the line of Candidates and well back from the queen. He didn't dare approach the hatchling until his bonded arrived, so he stood back and waited for one of the boys to step forward and help the young dragon. Was he in for a surprise...

Meanwhile, the other Assistants continued to lead hatchlings off the Sands and out to the tables that were waiting for them, starting at the tables farthest from the entrance to reduce confusion and injury to the hatchlings. At each table rested three baskets, a heavy brush like a finishing brush for a runnerbeast, but with more densely packed, stiffer bristles, and a small pot with clean cloths draped over it.

The use of the first basket was very obvious: it was filled with herdbeast or wherry meat chunks and was meant for feeding the hatchlings. The other two baskets were tightly woven and filled with water, one of which, the new weyrlings were told, was for their dragons to drink; the brush was attached to the other basket and was for scrubbing their dragons. And the pot was filled with oil, for its own obvious purpose.

The weyrlings were instructed to feed their dragons first, one chunk of meat at a time, and to try to get their dragons to chew the pieces before swallowing. The Assistant Weyrlingmasters didn't stress this last part much; that's why the chunks of meat were so small since it would be very difficult to get the famished hatchlings to do more than swallow the food whole. Once they were done eating, they were to take the brush and carefully clean their dragons' faces before allowing them to drink. While the dragons drank from the basket meant for that purpose, their human counterparts would scrub them from neck to tail and then rub them down with oil.

After that, the hatchlings would be very sleepy and they'd be guided off to their barracks. Then their humans would be shepherded back to the Weyrbowl for the Hatching Gather and Feast, which would last well into the evening.

Kat was shooed out onto the sands with a couple other stragglers and took up a place in the line of candidate, trying to hold down the remnants of her breakfast and not pass out. Which was easier said than done but she knew she had to try. Somehow she didn't figure a dragon would impress to someone who was unconscious on the sidelines. But then again, she knew very little about dragons and how they impressed and how they chose who they wanted to impress to. If she did pass out it was entirely possible she'd wake up with a dragon looking at her.

At any rate, she focused on the hatchlings and watched the Green that was trying to rid herself of half an eggshell. There were other dragons about, moving here and there, finding their lifemates and moving off toward H'lee and his assistants. Despite no lunch and a still queasy feeling in her stomach, she found she was faring far better than she had expected upon being shooed out onto the sands what seemed like only a handful of seconds ago. However long it had been, it seemed far shorter than she might have expected as eventually they were down to only a handful of dragons left to impress.

A Bronze, a couple of Greens, a Blue and a Brown that seemed to be in some sort of distress. She didn't pay too much attention to the Blue or Bronze, expecting them to find their lifemantes with boys from the line. Same with the Brown though his distress had her glancing at him from time to time even as she tried to watch the two Greens, one of whom was still clawing her way out of her egg. But it was no feminine Green's voice that assaulted her mind. This voice was loud and somewhat angry. And it belonged to...the Brown? Not that it mattered much what color the owner of the voice was. He was demanding she aid him and by Faranth that was what she was going to do.

Stumbling only a little, she stalked her way across the sands and toward the Brown who was being coddled by his clutchmother. "Stop that right now! Your big head is only knocking him over. Let him be." She announced, looking directly at the Gold dragon and forgetting her manners for a long moment. Maybe she would apologize later. Maybe. If she remembered what she'd done. As it was, she was far more concerned with seeing that her hatchling was alright. As soon as she'd told off the clutchmother, she'd knelt gingerly by the Brown, brushing sand off of him and instinctively checking for injuries in the same way she might have with one of her family's runnerbeasts. She could feel a sort of...stiffness where she ought not to feel stiff and it took her a long moment to register that what she was feeling was her Dragon's discomfort and she frowned at him. "Are you alright....?" Mccoreth. "Mccoreth?" She questioned the dragon, who, after a moment of ungracefulness, finally had his limbs in all the right places for the time being.

No I'm not alright. You try being cramped in an egg and then pushed about by something several times your size and tell me if you're alright afterward. Mccoreth huffed, adjusting his wings again and peering around at his surroundings. His gaze landed on H'lee and he gave a rumble, almost seeming to glare at the older Brownrider.

"Oh don't you go getting snippy with me. Now shush up and answer the sharding question." She grouched back at the Brown, drawing what she would later describe as the closest thing to a shocked expression she figured a dragon could make.

Mccoreth seemed to consider her for a long moment before snorting and shuffling his wings again, stretching them out and resettling them. I'm just stiff and a bit sore. Nothing to worry yourself too much about. The sand is warm and I feel a little better already. My stomach is still empty though. Do you plan on feeding me or will you just let me sit here and waste away to nothing?"

Kat made a face at the Brown but turned to H'lee who was still hovering nearby. "He says he's just stiff and a bit sore but the warm sands make him feel better. He's hungry though." She told him, almost positive the Brown would refuse to go anywhere right away, especially if she asked him to. And really, her mind was still reeling enough from having impressed at all that she hadn't even considered asking him to move.

Artemis watched as the hatchlings began to impress, noting who got what before she watched as two greens headed towards them. A soft gasp of worry left her at both the little green's tumble... and the poor boy's injury that resulted. At least before she felt the utter joy of being bonded to her life partner. When she was requested for help, the girl moved forth and did so, smiling when finished. "All better, Jadziath," she assured her bonded.

The little green snorted her annoyance at the embarrassing situation before she regarded her bonded. ~I am hungry.~ she stated simply, and Artemis could only smile as she led the little hatchling off the sands, although not before noting two things. One, that Derrick had impressed a green. That was something that made her heart sink a little... The second was that her brother, her TWIN had impressed a bronze. Not that she hadn't always known he would make a good leader. She grinned her congratulations to her twin as she walked past, although she doubted that he noticed as they headed off.

~I am hungry, Artemis-mine. We may worry about males later~ the little dragon scolded, causing the girl to chuckle before the headed out to the feeding tables, as directed.

--

Apollo had watched all of the hatchlings impressed, and was doing his best to hold onto his hope that he would impress. Although he smiled when he noticed that his sister had bonded. Before long, there were only two hatchlings left and he watched as the blue and bronze slowly made their moves. A moment later, although it had felt like forever, he heard the voice. What was more, was that he felt the connection, and he couldn't help the stupid grin that touched his features, nor the happy announcement to let the weyr know the name of the new bronze.

"Rikraketh! Of course I am yours," he assured the bronze before leading the way off the sands, noting along the way that his 'friend' had bonded to a blue. He wondered what Kerso thought of not getting a bronze.

--

Daria and Sakura had sat patiently next to their mates. All eyes trained on the sands, the eggs, the hatchlings and, of course, Derrick. Although, the shock could hardly be kept from either of their faces at the sight of Derrick getting a green of all things. Regardless, they were both happy that the boy impressed.

"Awww! She's a beautiful little green, but I hope Derrick is alright. I think she hurt him," Daria, worried before she rose from her spot, wanting to go down and check on her 'baby'.

Sakura just worried what her mate and his brother might think. After all, she knew neither one was a huge fan of homosexual men.

Fayble watched as the other little hatchlings waddled by, they were cute in their ways and was shocked when she was told that the other green would be okay..By her green! "Right Deasirith!" She actually bent down and snuggled her beautiful beast before wandering off shortly before Artemis. She wasn't concerned about who impressed who, she had to feed her hungry Dea!

--

Derrick was in PAIN! His arm was clawed and bleeding and his green was feeling the pain and wasn't moving because it HURT. "You have to get off me gently Haranth, I need to get this looked at. And feed you." The green wasn't sure how to and it showed in her facial features.

~I'm sorry mine but I'm scared to move and hurt you more!~ She shifted gently and with more claw marks he was released and sore. Bloody. He only caught a glimpse of Artemis and her green. ~Are you not happy with your Haranth?~ She sulked.

"No no I am. I am. Come on." he limped towards the tables and looked at the spectaters. Could someone please get him a bandage?

--

D'tray looked at R'alras and D'rk. "Daria you can't go down there yet..." D'tray reminded carefully and D'rk snorted. "Though the green is beautiful...Since when has he liked men?!"

"I don't think he does idiot. Shut up." D'rk snapped at his brother. "Go check on the boy we'll keep D'tray in line." R'alras rose with his mate.

"A green? Is he...gay?" He whispered in his mate's ear softly grabbing her elbow.

Erin had enjoyed watching the hatching, and was thankful that it was short (if only because Selisa kept complaining that she wanted A'dam). The woman couldn't help but chuckle at this, when she wasn't trying to get the girl to settle down. The second all the hatchlings were bonded, the little girl was gone before Erin could stop her. Even Saelit couldn't stop the girl from darting off in search of the bluerider.

When she found A'dam, she dashed up to him and pounced his leg (regardless of what he was doing). "DADDY!!!" she announced happily, feeling quite proud of herself for finding the man in the first place.

Kerso
Kerso watched the other Impressions with a certain dispassion. Almost all of the girls got greens - no surprise there. He was puzzled by the brown who was acting hurt, but didn't notice that the hatchling also bonded to one of the girls.

Then, suddenly, there were only two hatchlings left - a blue and a bronze. A bronze! Knowing with his absolute certainty that the bronze was his, he took a step forward toward the youngster, only to stop in shock as the hatching turned away and started trampling across eggshells toward...Apollo?! No, that wasn't right! That wasn't fair! Jealousy, anger, and despair raged within him as he watched that pair bond off.

Just then, a voice as arrogant as his own intruded on his thoughts. Who cares about those bronzes? I am Qancith and I'm much better than any bronze! The deep tone of affection and companionship drowned out his previous emotions and for a long moment, he was lost in the blue hide and whirling, contrasting orange gaze of the blue hatching who had chosen him.

Of course you are, Qancith, he automatically soothed his new lifemate. There was a rumble from the vicinity of the pair's stomachs. "And you are at least as hungry as one!" he laughed. "C'mon, there's food somewhere off that-a-way."

He led the ungainly hatchling around the eggshells toward where he'd been told to go when he Impressed. At some point as they stumbled across the Sands, a bluerider approached and helped guide them and keep Qancith's far wing from drooping in front of his legs where it could get clawed. The blue snapped at the assistant, stretching his wings on his own so violently he smacked his rider in the head. "Ow! Qancith! Yes, I know you think you're ready to fly, but this isn't the place to do it. Besides, flying won't fill your stomach!"

When they reached the table - the one nearest the Sands - Kerso found the meat hardly seemed as disgusting as he had earlier in the day. Amazing what a hatchling's hunger does. He wondered if that would continue to be effective until Qancith no longer needed to be hand-fed. I hardly need to be hand-fed now! I could go catch something larger and-- A gust of cold wind chose that moment to whip through the feeding area. Or not. Another piece now.

Kerso snorted. "Well, that makes two of us. And chew your food!" he ordered, reminded by the hovering bluerider. "Hey, watch it!" he yelped as viciously sharp hatchling teeth grazed his index finger.

Well, don't put your fingers where I can bite them, the blue snorted at him. Obviously.

"Want me to start tossing your meat for you to catch like...like...like a dolphin trick?" Kerso retorted, mentally picturing a performance vid he'd seen in school. Qancith hissed at him. "Well, I thought you were dignified."

Qancith hissed again. Fine, I'll watch your sharding fingers. He snorted and took more care with separating the next chunk of wherry from his rider's grip.

After the basket was empty, Qancith was still hungry. Looking around and not seeing any easily-reachable extra baskets, he looked at his attending babysitter and asked if there was more food. The rider brought another smaller basket of wherry meat - apparently, there was some stored off to the side where it would be out of the way if not needed, but accessible if it was. Qancith only finished about two-thirds of this one before deciding he'd had plenty to eat.

I feel sticky. And itchy. And thirsty.

"Yeah, well, have a little patience, will you? That's the next thing we're doing," Kerso rolled his eyes. It hadn't - yet - struck him that others felt this way about him, at least some of the time. He grabbed the scrub brush from the water bucket for that purpose and dipped it in the water.

This'll be easier, the blue said and stuck his head in the water bucket.

"No, you'll get blood all ov--" Kerso started, "--er." Too late. "See, now your bath water has a bunch of blood in it and it's going to get all over you."

How is that any different than you washing the brush in that water after you scrub my face? the blue pointed out logically. Kerso sighed and decided not to argue that point and just started scrubbing. He tried to follow a reasonable pattern, starting at the blue's head and working toward his tail. But Qancith kept interrupting, complaining about how certain places, especially his wings, itched. Half of the other weyrlings had left before he finally had the blue, who was by no means the largest of the weyrlings (even if he was the largest blue), scrubbed clean. And he still had to oil the beast!

"Okay, that's enough. Stop telling me which parts of you itch the most or we'll NEVER get out of here. Let me start with your tail while you drink up," he ordered, putting the basket of drinking water within easy reach of the thirsty hatchling. He oiled all the way up to the hatchling's hindquarters; then started in on his torso, then legs, and finally neck and head once Qancith had finished drinking. By that point, the young dragon was falling asleep where he sat. Kerso was feeling very sleepy, too, although he wasn't sure whether how much, if any, was his own weariness and how much was Qancith's. They were also the last of the weyrlings to head for the barracks.

"C'mon Qanc, let's get you to bed. There's a comfy one waiting for you." The mention of comfort was enough to bestir the hedonistic dragon to waddle across the cold, snowy field that comprised the Bowl to the warm comfort of the barracks and to curl up on the bed after Kerso had placed enough pillows and blankets on it to satisfy him. Once the hatchling was asleep, Kerso found his own lassitude lifting some, although its vestiges still hung around the edges of his mind and senses. Wrinkling his nose at his appearance, he ducked down into the weyrling bathing chambers and gave himself a scrub of his own.

H'lee
After his shock at a girl running up to the dragon - a female brownrider? - he focused on the weyrling. It didn't much matter; a weyrling was a weyrling.

H'lee frowned thoughtfully at the dragon. In all his years as Weyrlingmaster and Assistant Weyrlingmaster, he'd never encountered a newly-hatched dragon complaining of being stiff and sore. It sounded the hatchling was ill, but the only illnesses he could think of off-hand was a type of food poisoning that dragons could get feasting on fouled food - highly unlikely, considering - and joint-ail. He knew, from his Healer training, that there was a particular type of joint-ail that could affect young humans. He'd never heard of it in a weyrling, though; but it was the only thing that made sense at the moment. Heat and relaxation were known to ease the aches of joint-ail.

He said as much to Katarina. "While you're getting him fed, washed, and oiled, I'd like to take a closer look at him; I'd like A'dam to help me, too." He wanted A'dam there to help ask questions of the dragon.

"Alright, c'mon you two, let's get you up to the food."