The Egg Touching (Happy Holidays Clutch)

[Alyx]

Fingers tracing along the shell of the Guardian Egg, Cleissa did her best to pluck up her own courage as girl after girl touched the Gold & Grey Eggs. Did she want to touch them? Oh yes; what girl wouldn't want to? The chance so have a Grey or Gold hatchling looking for her on the Sands when the shells shattered was something every girl dreamed of. Eyes traced to the Golden Queen, resting and watching them all - a beautiful golden mother watching the Candidates wander her Clutch.

Even one of the boys touched the Grey, but not the Gold. Time was running out.... Cleissa didn't know how much longer the Candidates would have to try to concrete bonds with the sleeping Hatchlings. Throat jumped sharply as she swallowed, pushing to her feet. She let her had drop from the shell by her as she stepped away. She had touched most of them - all by the to Queens to be and the one in the middle she was sure was a Bronze waiting.

Sandals pressed into the hot Sands as she stopped by the Gold & Grey Eggs, pulling her eyes from them long enough to look back at the Queen above them. Even though others had touched them, Cleissa wasn't so sure she should be there. Still.... she couldn't back away now. With a gentle moment she just looked at the pair of eggs... then reached toward the Gold.

The shell was lovely, smooth and warm. It reminded her water when the sun had heated it, the feeling of the water on your skin when you swam in it. Fingertips played over it for several moment, the smile blooming onto her lips the moment she touched the Gold's shining surface. Linger on it for a moment, Cleissa then turned her attentions to the Grey.

The Grey was not silver, like she thought originally. As her hands rested against it, she thought it was more of a smoke - swirling and shaded. Like a thick, rich fog - so thick that she almost hoped if she blew on it with a good breath, the color would part and show her the hatchling within. She told herself that she didn't feel anything tremble inside, that it was her own heart racing and not the Queen Eggs.

Stepping back, she let her fingers drop reluctantly from the Grey's shell. They were.... beautiful was too tame a word. Radiant, wonderful- none of the words seemed to fit them right. The smile was still there as she looked back at the Weyrwoman. Eyes danced at Talaria, the first real smile Cleissa had given anyone in a while. She thought about saying something - but instead, Cleissa simply gave a little curtsy to the Weyrwoman and her Dragon, then turned to rejoin the others wandering the Sands.

Cleissa felt happy. She had done everything she could this time that she could. It was up to fate and the Hatchlings now. Contented, Cleissa wandered dreamily back to join the other Candidates.

Others were not so comfortable. Viktor still didn't understand what had happened and how he had ended up on a one-way trip to be standing on the hot sands with the other Candidates. He gave a soft sigh, watching the others move around the clusters of Eggs. He wasn't really as focused as the majority were - he was telling himself mostly that he was going threw the motions to make them all happy.

Strands of tossed brown hair flared into his face as he crossed the path the others had done to meet the Weyrwoman and her Queen. He bowed, a stiffer gesture that spoke about the man's laborer's background. Viktor was not accustom to 'courtly manners'. Straightening, for a moment he couldn't think of anything to say; the others had been so poetic and proper. "Thank you, Lady and Queen, for the chance to be here. I am honored."

Hoping that he sounded right and that it was enough, he turned from the pair and moved into the Egg Clusters. He cast a look about, surprised exactly how many eggs were on the sands. He didn't move to join the groups, preferring to move on his own another the paths others had tracked between the eggs. Viktor did take a moment to focus his attention on the large, solo egg in the center.

Worn hands ran over the shell, a smile slipping into place very briefly on his lips. Other then the two sitting by the Queen, this had to be the largest. Crouching down, he couldn't help but wonder what sort of dragon lay within. Turning his head, he rested his ear against it but the shell was too thick to hear any movement within. Leaning back, he smiled. "You, my friend, will be a great Dragon. I know it in my heart. You will rule the skies." The words were a bare whisper, but enough.

With that, he stood and moved away reluctantly from the egg to look at the others. The Hatching would tell it his prediction was right or not. Viktor still held to the words.

(Edited to bring in Viktor)

[tealah]

Falynn had, sadly, been forced to hurry through his breakfast since he'd shown up late. He'd been up late thinking and sketching an ornamental vase that had started taking shape in his head, and had only finally gotten to sleep a few hours before it was time to wake up. At breakfast he was still caught up in thinking of details - what color would go where, what amount of which substance would be needed to make the delicate crystalline glass he wanted - and so barely noticed when the other candidates left to begin their day. He was finally jolted from his reverie when that slim girl-candidate with the gemtail (what was her name again? Nira? No... M-something...) brushed against him as she moved toward the exit. Oh. Yes, mustn't be late for chores. He regretfully abandoned his still half-full plate to follow after.

He was dutifully trying to pay more attention so as not to miss when his chores were assigned, when the candidatemaster unexpectedly announced that they were going to be having an egg touching. Falynn perked up - he'd yet to see even from a distance a gold dragon, let alone with her clutch of eggs. The idea of such a novel experience drove all thoughts of his vase idea into the back of his mind. He followed along with the other candidates toward the hatching cavern, but even with the excitement of an egg touching driving him, Falynn still got momentarily distracted by the sight of a green dragon flying over, and had to pause to watch the way the sunlight shimmered along the deeply colored hide, and file away the exact shade and way it glimmered into his mind - it would make an excellent color for the smaller swirl in his vase... And so he arrived at the hatching cavern a few moments late and was one of the last of the candidates to get their turn to see in.

The sight of the gleaming golden queen drew his mouth into an O of delight. Such splendid color, such bright sheen, so unblemished. His hands itched for a charcoal and hide that he may capture the pose and lines of the gold, oh what a beautifully artful sculpture that would make... He settled for committing as much of it as he could to memory. "Beautiful... the line for her wing like so, such a graceful curve to her throat, such watchfulness..." he murmured even as he was pushed forward to show his courtesy to the weyrwoman and her dragon. He bowed automatically, but his gaze remained locked on the gold dragon as he took in the details of the way her talons curved, the angle of her legs. He almost forgot to extend his courtesy to the weyrwoman (what was her name? Oh yes, Weyrwoman Talaria) with another bow. "She's so marvellous," he blurted out without meaning to. "You are so.. so lucky to have such a partner."

And then he was past them, and the next candidate in line bowing low, and Falynn's eyes finally turned to the clutch that might hatch out a dragon to Impress with him. Interesting thought, that. He'd never expected.. Ah, but he should stop blocking the way, and do what they'd come here to do. He picked an egg at random and ran his hands over it. Touch was as important as sight for a glass artist, whose works may well be stroked and carried and felt, and Falynn sighed in pleasure at the complex warmth-and-rough-smoothness of the shell's surface.

As he moved on to the next set of eggs, he passed by another male candidate (Viktor? he was pretty sure it was Viktor) and patted his shoulder. "Amazing, aren't they? And to think that soon they'll be hatching into such brilliant colors, such a remarkable shining palette of babies." He beamed at the other candidate.