Lyri points to the rows of cots and presses. "Here it is, home until those eggs start to crack. You're expected to keep your own area clean and see to it that your chores are known and done. There's no drinking allowed and we'd rather not have a lot of fighting. If you have any questions, you can just grab one of those in charge of your chores or come after me. I'll be happy to help out. I'm sure you'll do fine here."

Mechelle nods slightly, looking around, her eyes as big as saucers, "I see...I can take whichever cot I want?" Uh-oh..here come the questions! "Um...chores? Where do I find a list of the chores I'm supposed to do?" No drinking? that's fine with her... "I don't fight!"

Kinecha yawns as she sits up in her cot, stretching her arms and benden her neck from side to side.."'ello," she mumbles, seeing people in here, wondering where /here/ was.

Stella chitters, from her perch on Phea's cot. Uh-oh. Phea-minion. Watch your socks!

Lyri points in the direction of a long board with a list of names on it. "You'll have to find your name there, but it won't show up until tomorrow. Don't worry, we don't give chores that are impossible and you'll have lots of help in it." Kinecha is given a quick wave. "You got company, this 'ere's Mechelle from Ista, make sure she's made welcome, eh? Now, would you like to have a look at the eggs?" This last is said to the new candie as the weyrlingmaster begins to exit the room.

Mechelle quickly notes the board and her fellow-candidate, waving at her, throwing her bag onto an empty cot, and starting out of the room after the rider. It wouldn't do to get lost, would it?

Lyri slips back out to the caverns.

Mechelle slips back out to the caverns.

Galleries Row upon row of stone benching rises above the Hatching Grounds, seats for those who come to watch the incredible experience that is a hatching. Each individual seat is embellished with a worn cushion, the only concession to comfort in a place that traps heat, holding it within so that those who watch are inflicted with its intensity, though on a milder level than those who must stand and face the dragonets. The expanse of sand that is the hatching grounds spreads out in front of the benches, a huge stage for a spectacular show.
Type 'help here' for info on how to view objects on the sands.
Settled along stone are twelve firelizards.
You see Endymion here.
Phea, Lorsalia, Lyri, Mechelle, and Hyzen are here.

Phea waddles into the galleries, nearly tripping over the broom occupying her hand, but managing to catch herself at the last moment. "Shardit!" At the rumble, candidate stops dead, staring in mute terror at the gold. Is she heralding snack-time? Oi. "Um, no, ma'am. I just came to clean the galleries, but I can get you one! Or you can have my broom, if you'd like that instead?" Compromise. Lyri, Mechelle, Hyzen, and Kinecha each receive their fair share of a blindingly bright beam.

Okay, so /now/ Mechelle is in awe, as she stands in the galleries and looks out over the eggs. Yes, she's seen some at Ista, but this isn't Ista, and then she wasn't a candidate. A slow "Ohhhhh..." is heard and she turns to look at the group that is there, "There's a lot of them..." No, really?

Hyzen releases Xena, who launches into the air.

On the sands, Pyrene scrubs sleep from her eyes and blinks up at yet more candidates appearing. "Oh, my.... where did you all spring from?" Oh, wait a minute... some of those people have green in their knots, not white. "Hey, Lyri? Hyzen? While you're all here, want to shepherd them down onto the Sands for a closer look at the eggs. Cadge is amenable."

Lyri settles back and gives a wave down toward the sands. "Hot down there?" Snicker. Did she mention that she /loves/ not ever having to do that again? There are the eggs, Mechelle, and a fine clutch we have this time, too." Yes, she's surprised. Some of those eggs are actually nice to look at.. which means they can't take after their mother.

Lyri stands, sighing, and nods her head before begins to herd candidates to the sands. "Better do it while the mo..er.. Cadge is in a good mood."

Kinecha yawns as she comes up the stairs, attempting to hide it behind a raised hand as she notices Pyrene down on the Sands. "Hey, there, Pyrene," she says in a muted voice, wondering what the goldrider would think of her as a Candidate for her lifemate's offspring.

Mechelle looks at the gold dragon and shakes her head slightly. They're expected to actually go /in/ there? She knew they would when it was time for them to hatch, but...Well, mothers are mothers. If you treat their babies, or eggs in this case, with respect, the mothers are usually nice, too.

Lyri goes out.

On the sands, Pyrene doesn't give them time to fuss, but flaps her hands at them commandingly, jumping down from her tier onto the Sands proper herself. Cadgwith flares her wings out to their full expanse and extends tail and neck. Streeeeetch. She's waking up. See? Her eyes are spinning faster. Isn't she pretty?

Phea blinks, sizing up the situation. Go touch eggs. Safe enough. Go near brooding gold that is very big and has sharp teeth. Not so safe? "Um, um, um, um, shewon'teatmewillshe?" candidate spouts, brandishing the broom in front of her as a shield. Safety precaution.

Mechelle goes out.

Phea goes out.

On the sands, "Probably not," Pyrene calls up with great reassurance.

Hyzen goes out.

This heat really wasn't doing anything good for Necha's continued drowsiness, but she follows the others and walks down to the sands, seeing as everyone else was going that way. Don't wanna be left here all alone.

Minding the Sands proper, you skirt the vast sea of heat to reach the relative safety of arched rock.

Lyri says, �Right, you all need to make sure that you greet the clutch mother with a bow and move /slowly/ over the sands." She probably doesn't have to go into the gruesome details of what angering a brooding gold can cause."

Mechelle follows Lyri, a nervous look on her face, but, she's a candidate now, after all, and better do what everybody else is doing. She's not going to faint or anything..at least not at the moment. She listens carefully to the rider's instructions. They /sound/ easy enough, anyway...

Lyri moves warily out onto the Sands.

Phea moves warily out onto the Sands.

Mechelle moves warily out onto the Sands.

Hyzen moves into the heat, shimmered and blurred by the ripples that rise off the Sands.

Mechelle steps onto the sands carefully and immediately wishes she'd taken her cloak off in the candidate's quarters. It's /hot/! She remembers what she was told and bows towards the gold dragon, staying there for a moment to make sure she notices before straightening and looking around at the eggs. They're quite interesting!

Phea steps tentatively onto the Sands, blinking dazedly from gold, to eggs, and to rider. As instructed -- because she is the good, obediant, puppy-dog candidate! -- she proffers a bow to the gold, cringing slightly under the heat. "Owowowowow.." When Mechelle returns to an erect position, she follows suit, peering inquisitively over at the eggs. Pretty.

"Hot," Kinecha mummers, as she moves onto the heated Sands, feeling a burning sensation even through her thick-soled boots, keeping a respectful distance to both dragon and eggs. "Hey, Pyrene," she repeats, nodding to the goldrider, giving her a sheepish grin.

Pyrene looks all courteous and such, "Welcome, welcome... Do I know all of you? What's your name?" That addressed to Mechelle. "Anyway, can I just remind you that the eggs are just a few days old and are still quite soft. Cadge says they're pretty sturdy, but please... just sort of stroke, to be on the safe side."

Lyri stands back a bit, giving the candidates plenty of room to move but near enough to grab one should the need arise. "Alright, touch the eggs gently and no fast movements. I don't want to cart any bodies out." If there /is/ a body left.

Mechelle notes the goldrider now, her attention finally back to where it usually is : noting anything and everything with a careful eye. "I'm Mechelle...Nanny at Ista Weyr." Okay, well, not any /more/. "Um...at least I /was/." she actually even bows slightly as befitting the goldrider's position. As the woman speaks, Mechelle's eyes go back to the eggs. "We can /touch/ them?" she asks in surprise.

Hyzen follows quietly, giving Cadgwith a polite bow and Pyrene a salute before she moves to one side near Lyri, wide eyes watching from a different position than she was three turns ago.

"Yes, ma'am, and you know I'm Phea, doncha?" Said girl complies to Lyri's directions, inching warily toward the eggs. Immediately, she drifts in the direction of her favorite -- Enamelled Blue Faberge Egg -- stopping here and there to examine this one and that one. "I'm afraid I'll break it," is whimpered ruefully, "And that'd be /bad/." Bad for the egg and for Phea, most likely.

Lyri nods, gesturing toward the eggs. "Gently. And no loud noises."

Pyrene ahhs in sympathy. "A nanny... Well, welcome to High Reaches. If you're lucky, you might get latrine duty rather than brat supervision." Lyri gets an affirmative nod. "Exactly. Yes, you can touch them... get to know them, feel comfortable. There are baby dragons inside, y'know." Pyrene is wise.

Kinecha didn't think she needed to introduce herself to the goldrider, but gives her a slight nod anyway, before casting a glance at Cadgwith, just to make sure the queen wasn't in a too sour mood. She then proceeds slowly to the egg that had captured her eye when it was clutched. The international space station egg. "Such a fine looking egg," she mutters under her breath.

Mechelle frowns. The word 'brat' is /not/ a favorite of hers. She opens her mouth to berate the rider about it, but then closes it sharply. After all, she's not a nanny anymore, and she's unsure of herself now. She decides to try her luck and walks slowly around until she stops at the nearest egg, the Labyrinth Egg. She slowly, with great care, dares to place her hand against the top of it.

Hyzen goes home.

Phea's leaves her favorite egg with one more glance, wafting now toward the Dark Broken Mirror Egg. "This one's kinda.. neat.." She comments, to herself, allowing her fingers to skitter carefully across the shell for a fleeting moment. "It's all.. broken-like." Not literally, of course.

Kinecha crouches slowly in front of the International Space Station egg, running a fingertip along silvery patches, tilting her head as she breaks into a smile, forgetting how tired she was this morning. Well, Necha /was/ partial to black and blue (wonder why), so all her attention was now focused on this one particular egg. Touching it very lightly with the tips of her fingers.

Mechelle nearly ends up on her rump,anyway...and here she was thinking that she'd gotten away from that sort of thing after she finally got down from Lyri's dragon. She can't help it, though, as something invades her mind. /This/ hasn't ever happened to her before. She looks around, almost guiltily, as if she's afraid it's something bad. "I...It.../did/ something..." she frowns slightly, and then wanders to another, wondering if it will do the same thing. She touches the Crumbling Papyrus egg gently, rubbing a hand softly over the top and down it's side.

Squaln moves into the heat, shimmered and blurred by the ripples that rise off the Sands.

Phea blinks, owlishly, looking momentarily disturbed by something. She brushes it off, though, deserting that egg for the 19th Century Persian Rug Egg. "Pretty.. colorful... orange-ish." Fingertips brush over the egg for a moment, as eyes admire the colors. Especially the orange!

Pyrene hums happily, wandering around the eggs herself. "Ever so pretty... wonderful clutch, love," she murmurs to the dragon, who continues to loom overall, her cragged face teetering /just/ above candidate's heads.

Lyri motions Squaln over to Cadge. "Give a bow to the clutchmother and then get to touching eggs. Gently, mind you, and no fast moves or loud noises."

Mechelle blinks. They must /all/ do that. Okay, so she's a bit unsure of herself here. This is a first. She likes the Papyrus egg, though. It might be plain, but then, that's Mechelle for you! It seems mysterious to her! She moves on, though, ready to see what the other eggs will reveal to her. She touches the Rusty Bike Egg next, actually leaning over to get a better look at it.

Phea giggles inaudibly at the rush that asserts itself within her. Fun! And to the next egg she ambles, approaching the Nuclear War Egg with less caution than before (not that the isn't wary, mind you). "Greeeeeen... Lots of greeeeen.." Not as good as orange, but hey, a close runnerup. She outstretches her hand, trailing it down the shell softly.

Squaln carefully steps onto the Sands and glances about. Nodding to Lyri, he does what he is told; stepping over to Cadgwith, he gives a polite and courteous bow to the queen. Right away he sees the junior weyrwoman and a few other candidates ooo'ing and ahh'ing over the eggs. Remembering the clutching yesterday, he immediately searches for Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg - he spots it, but doesn't bolt towards it. Instead, he greets everyone here with a grin. "Hey all." he says.

Kinecha closes her eyes for a moment, senses something coming from inside her unbidding. She glances up at the others, wondering if they'd felt it too, then shakes her head, grinning to herself as she rises from her crouched position near the Space Station egg, casting another glance down at it. Taking a deep breath, she almost burst into a raking cough, having swallow a lungful of heated air. Managing to avoid it only because of the situation at hand, and only because the cough turns into streaks of tears running down her cheeks. No, she's not crying!

Phea stares, shivering at the feeling that encompasses her; she'll just scuttle toward the next egg, thank you. This time, she meets Ancient Egyptian Cloisonne-Work Egg, tickling the shell with the barest of touches.

Squaln shuffles over to the Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg and just gapes at it's incredible coloring. Crimson red with whirling scarlet tones engulfing it. It really /is/ a sight and is one of the best looking eggs here; atleast Squaly thinks so. Now standing in front of it, he crouches down and is tempted to touch it.. but doesn't know if he can or should. Blue optics fix upon it and he just gazes at the egg's beauty..

"Oh, shells," Kinecha croaks, blotting the tears away from her eyes, wowing to herself that she'll never ever take such a deep breath again while in the Hatching Caverns. She then sees an egg that entices her as much as the one she just left. Moving slowly, with another polite nod to queen and lifemate, she kneels in front of the Science Fiction Double Feature egg, tilting her head to catch a glimse of what might be hidden there. "Fascinating," she mutters, laying a hand softly on the eggshell, her thumb moving up and down, following the image of ivory teeth. "Very fascinating." All she could say right now. Mindboggling, this experience.

In the galleries, Nuff trundles in from the Peek-A-Boo Ledge.

Surupa moves into the heat, shimmered and blurred by the ripples that rise off the Sands.

Surupa is shuffled upon the sands, pushed away from the cold snow covering the bowl to the heated sands. Even with her sniffing and sneezing and the thick blankets covering around her, Rupa still seems to shiver a moment. However, as soon as her eyes widen to the clutch-- more about the heat under her than eggs-- and she gives a stratled shriek. "Shardin' sands are /hot/!" Amber eyes gaze up towards the queen and then Weyrwoman, the candidate finally holding her tounge back and giving a respectful bow before bouncing closer. As long as she doesn't have to stand all day there.

In the galleries, Sarah comes up the stairs.

Hot! Kinecha suddenly notices the heat coming through her pantlegs, burning her knees where she sits. Shifting to a crouching postion, her hand never leaves the surface of the Sci Fi egg, so fascinated she is by this one particular orb, that the first she had touched had slipped into the background of her mind. This just felt so... Right.

Pyrene waves Surupa over unceremoniously. "C'mon, c'mon..." she calls. "CAdge won't bite unless she thinks you're plotting something." The sea-monster above their heads contrives to look innocent.

Lorsalia steps from shadows to sand, joining the eggs.

Surupa seems to always be plotting against something, though she drops the blanket upon the ground instead of dragging the heavy thing. Following that comes yet a thinner blanket from the cots back in the barracks and finally shrugging off the rider's old jacket to reveal her island clothes. Simple, and just perfect for the sands. She dips her head in a response to the Weyrwoman, shuffling even closer and coming to the first egg in her sight-- That Liquid Crystal Display one. "So they're in here?" She questions herself, giving the egg a thorough look before a delicate hand is placed upon its surface.

Kinecha slips away from the Sci Fi egg reluctantly, giving a glance over her shoulder to lay eyes on the Space Station egg once again. A tie? Now that she stands between the two, her eyes going from side to side, as if she was watching a tennis match. She couldn't decide which was her favorite. One thing was sure. It was one of the two, and she hardly offers any of the others a glance, though they were pretty as well. They just didn't /feel/ right.

Lorsalia hops onto the sands, oohing when the heat hits her feet through the soles of her shoes. "It's soo much warmer here." She mumbles, thinking of the snow-covered outside. Glancing at the candidates already gathered, she frowns before scuttling towards her current Object of Lust, Squaln, and whispering, "We're allowed to touch them, right? That's what we're doing?"

Squaln is crouched down by the Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg, eyeing it over very carefully and wonderously. The lad seems to be hooked just on this one egg; the other eggs don't really matter at this moment. A hand hovers above it, wanting to touch it, but he hesitates. Not wanting to disturb any rules, he just retracts his hand and gazes. What an egg..

Pyrene tsks as Lorsalia proves to be another latecomer. "Go! Touch eggs! While Cadge still has a mind to let you!" she urges. "What's that one's name?" she enquires of whoever happens to be nearby and is familar with Lorsalia's identity.

Lorsalia jumps up at Pyrene's voice, then nods. "Uh-huh. Okay." Is stammered and she leaves Squaln's side to pick her own egg to touch. Her attention is caught by the Broken Mirror and she scuttles through the sand, not wanting to keep one foot down for too long, hurrying to touch it before the pretty gold says to stop.

Surupa blinks at the egg, almost startled by the contact of the round object. She carefully leans closer, almost to get a better look at the surface. Her face, from all that she had been through, finally seems to soften for a moment before it returns to that scrunched up form from all the sneezing and sickness. She frowns a moment, bobbing her head casually and then scooting away, removing her hands at last from the texture of the egg. She begins her journey from there, shuffling between two other eggs to get towards the Nuclear War Egg, one she had seen from above before. "What an interesting design," she states, placing a hand caustiously, wondering if the egg itself could do her any harm.

Squaln still gazes at the Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg as he answers Lorsa. "I don't know." he say. "I assume we can.." The /is/ an egg-touching gather, isn't it? With that thought in mind, the lad ever so gently touches the scarlet toned egg. He grins. His hand travels over the soft shell slowly and he feels the soft texture of the egg. "Oooo.." he says. "Wow.." Squaly has never touched a dragon egg before..

Kinecha tries. She really does, and thus moves to yet another egg, just in case the two she'd already tested wasn't right. Getting down before the Silvered Russian egg, she runs a careful hand over the silvery shell, closing her eyes in order to let her feelings decide. What a paradox, eh? The ex-guard allowing her feelings to shine through, and make a decision for her.

Squaln breaks his gaze from the Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg and glances about at the other eggs; all of which have vibrant and beautiful colors. They all will go to worthy candidates when the Hatching arrives and Squaly grins. Blue optics stares at the crimson colored egg again and his hand still touches the surface - what a soft feeling underneath his palm.

Lorsalia, in awe despite having seen innumerable dragon eggs before, squats down next to her egg of choice and tentatively reaches out one finger to brush the shattered surface of light-dazzled ovoid. She gazes into the splintered reflections, catching brief glimpses of what she thinks of as herself and she gasps quickly, grabbing her finger back to herself. "It, it moved!" She whispers, glancing up at the others.

Pyrene blinks at Lorsalia. "Eh? I hope it didn't! Or did it just talk? Talking they do..." And she exchanges an embarrassingly cringeworthy look of maternal indulgence with Cadge.

"They talk?!" Kinecha exclaims, looking over her shoulder at Pyrene, surprise clearly written on her face. No wonder she'd felt something strange and very un-Necha-like when touching the eggs.

Squaln can't leave this egg, although he desperately tries to with all his physical and emotional power. The Sleek Red Convertible Sports Car Egg entranced him and he's still crouched down and feeling the smoothe scarlet toned shell. Squaly grins. He looks like he's under hypnosis by the way he just gawks over the sleek egg. Beam. Is it possible to be in love with an egg?

Lorsalia blinks her wide eyes before reaching out and stippling her finger tips on the soft surface. "But there was something-" She stops and frowns, looking carefully at the broken refracting images. "I thought I saw my picture on it, but it isn't there anymore." The candidate storyteller takes a deep breath, then puts all the fingertips of both hands onto to Dark Broken Mirror Egg at once, moving them over it slowly.

Standing, Necha is quite sure now that it stood between Sci Fi egg and Space Station egg. Looking from one to the other, she could still not quite believe that the eggs talked. How could that be, anyway? She gives Pyrene another look of something close to disbelief, then turns that expression into a smile.

Surupa rocks back gently on her heels, her eyes strolling around the Nuclear War egg in her studies. Quietly, feet pad towards the side and then towards the other, pacing back and forth along the egg as she wonders and ponders. Oh, but this might look suspicious to the golden mother? Of course, coming from Rupa and all. So she plants her feet down in the warm sands, bobbing up and down as she keeps one foot to the air and then the other, placing one last hand among the steaming surface of the egg itself.

Lorsalia suddenly pulls herself back from the egg, an unexplainable expression covering her face. But as earlier she couldn't keep herself away from Squaln, she can't keep herself away from the egg now, and is intrigued by the images she sees in the mirrored surface, despite being repulsed by them at the same time.

Cadgwith suddenly yawns, her head dropping very very very close to the candidates. "Right..." Pyrene declares. "That's it! Out you get. See you later. Bring me a drink sometime! Goodbye!"

Squaln escapes the earth-born heat and heads off the sands.

Lyri sighs and heads for the galleries. "I'm a bit too hot out here, so.. let's go." Right. It's all aobut Lyri.

Lorsalia pulls herself away again with a pout and a short curtsy to Cadgwith and Pyrene before leaving the sands. Just before she steps off them, though, the girl can't resist another look back and if anyone were to see, they would notice a greedy look in her eyes.

Lorsalia escapes the earth-born heat and heads off the sands.

Lyri escapes the earth-born heat and heads off the sands.

Kinecha does the appropriate thing, and gives the queen a short bow (since she forgot it coming in), and smiles to Pyrene, "thank you both..." she says, nodding once more, as she moves off the Sands. It really /was/ getting hot in here, anyway..