Into the Abyss (Touching)

[Zirin]

"Oh come now, most people get excited about seeing the eggs from close up," J'dol's voice held a joking tone as he walked towards D'rian and Keegan. Kayath rumbled in amusement from the ledge the pair had landed on. Even his fire lizards seemed amused by Keegan's reluctance; both were flying in dizzying circles in the air above J'dol, chattering wildly. Originally, J'dol hadn't planned on coming to see the touching; he had been to plenty before impressing so it was nothing new and exciting to him. However, Kayath wanted to see her dam, and some of the candidates were friends, so it made sense to stop by for a visit. Mother~ Mine and I have come to watch.

"She looks right at home down there among the eggs," He commented now that he was beside them, his eyes on Allesandra as she wove through the eggs. He dropped into the seat beside the two boys, giving D'rian a cheeky smile and a wave. "Mind if I join you?"

[Akira]

~Allesandra~

YAY!!! Someone was touching it again!! The Innocent Egg leaned happily against the girls hand, and gently pushed into her mind. She looked around for whatever it was she was looking for. A warm, gentle happiness enveloped the candidate that was touching it's shell as it did so. Maybe...maybe not, it seemed as though the happy egg just couldn't decide. So it gently pushed the girl with a hopeful little thought for the future, and what might come on Hatching Day.

[Lark]

~RAYAS~

The Warrior Egg was getting tired of all these candidates! Again and again they came to see what secrets it held, to admire its pride and strength. That wasn't entirely bad, but its secrets were its own! The boy came next, and the egg rushed forward into his mind, angry that it let itself go without so much as a thought for the candidate's own pain. I'll see you on hatching day I suppose, the egg withdrew from the boy's mind hating that he admired it so. What was there to admire about it? It was a coward!

[jillianna]

Alessandra's eyes widened at the force shown by dualities. It was completely different from the way she had thought it would be. in her mind she heard jillalene's explanation that some dragnets were more violent and strong willed than others. She felt the dragonet's will shove against her own and tried to do exactly as her friend told her. Her jaw clenched with resolve as her own will pressed back against the invasion. I'm not weak! All the same, though she tried, she couldn't quite retake all of the ground the dragonet had taken. Reluctantly but feeling rather strained, on it was to innocent.

The little egg was so different from dualities she could have happily spent all day touching this one. The dragonet inside was much more gentle. Almost loving. The happy warmth that spread through andra while she touched the pink surface totally made up for the rough treatment of duality. When she walked away from that one the feeling remained.

The poisoned apple egg was up next. It was rough as she moved her hand against it. Shee felt the gentleness of the dragonet inside but then... No. Something was wrong... Jerking her hand away seemed to be the only way to keep the darkness from filling her up. It was a moment or two before she could move on, but once she felt recovered enough she touched another.

The glass menagerie egg. This one was completely different from its predecessor. Completely smooth and cool to the touch. Almost as if it wasn't an egg at all, but rather one of the glassblower's representations. If it hadn't been for the elitist feelings coming from the egg she would have thought someone were playing a dirty trick on them. After a few moments with that one, she moved on to Warrior.

The warrior egg made her smile. Fiercely protective, strong. As she stayed with it stroking the shell gently her smile began to falter. There was anger there. Was it anger at her? ...no. At its self . But why little one? She wanted to ask, assuring it that it was perfect in every way. She stayed with it for a bit longer than the others but forced herself to move on.

Bronzed fish: She touched the bronze colored egg gently at first. She felt... Nothing. Nothing at all. That alarmed and saddened her, but still she refused to think the worst until she tried harder. She stayed by that egg's side, pressing her hand fully against it stroking it gently, mentally begging for it to make an appearance.


~ meanwhile in the stands~.

D'rian grinned and waved back not speaking at first but rather nudging Keegan encouragingly. Keegan cringed slightly away from kayath. Sure she had saved him, and he was grateful but... She was still a dragon.

"I'm not most people. Honestly I don't even want to be here.". His frown was directed at d'rian and he crossed his arms. 'Join us if you must'

D'rian smiled again under the weight of Keegan's frown. " Grumble all you want but you know you'd never forgive yourself if you missed it. Don't let him bother you j'dol. He gets a bit skittish around dragons is all. She should look right at home. She's been glued to 'lene's hip for weeks getting ready for it. "

[Akira]

Akira sighed as she sat on her blue dragon's back as he carried her to the hatching sands. Remind me why we are going there again? She leaned over his large back and looked up at his head. We're going to see the eggs and maybe even make some new friends Kikimine! Oridith's usually sweet and gentle voice was now full of excitement, not to mention that he was practically vibrating with it! He crooned softly to his rider, before continuing towards the sands.

Akira shook her head, but held on for the ride. After all, she could never say no to the once tiny dragon. He was nine months old now, and from what she had heard from other riders, he would be fully grown soon. She smiled fondly as she thought back to the day she had impressed the now large blue. He had been so small, and so innocent. It had made her wonder why he had chosen her. To tell the truth, she still ponders that question even to this day.

We are here Kikimine. Oridith crooned a greeting to everyone there, and even bowed his head to Loraketh as they got closer. He knelt down and let His off his back before walking over to the stand beside the stands. Akira wasn't exactly happy that they were here, but she saw at least one familiar face up in the stands. She climbed the stairs and walked over to D'rian. He had impressed Oridith's larger bronze brother, so she felt a little more at ease with him than she did most people.

Just because she felt more at ease with him didn't mean she was going to talk to him. He was surrounded by other people, and that made her uncomfortable. So she sat down on a seat not too far from the others, but far enough away that she didn't have to have direct contact with any of them. She would let them approach her first. Oridith had other plans though. He walked around the stands and over to Kayath, where her bowed his head once again, and crooned his greeting to the larger female.

[shinska]

Daria snorted. "Fine who needs you?" She stalked over to the second egg in line. The Unthinkable Happenstance Egg was next in line. She placed her hand on the white egg and waited for its response. She wondered how the baby inside would react to her.

OOC: Bleh my post sucks.

[Lark]

THE WARRIOR EGG turned to the girl, wondering why it seemed like everyone had to come to it. It was thankful for the attention of course, and it loved them all even if they weren't Its. However, it didn't deserve their praise. This one seemed to realize this. Curiously wrapping around the girl's mind the dragonet considered the candidate. Allesandra was a good candidate, but was she the Warrior's? We will have to see come hatching day my dear.

THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENSTANCE purred at the angered candidate. Yes anger was a good thing! The darker side relished this, churning the hatred of the previously seen egg into a more sinister thing. Didn't Daria hate it so much she just wanted to kick the little egg? The egg hissed happily before being pushed away with a great shove. No! Daria couldn't harm the egg's sibling! The two sides fought, and no longer paid any mind to the candidate.

[Zirin]

Allessandra

Bronzed Fish
Well fine, if you're going to be so adamant about it I'll answer you. The egg seemed to say, annoyance clear in the feeling; it was tired of this, of all these people touching it. After a moment of suppressed anger, the feeling seemed to go away and be replaced with... apology? It was just grumpy was all, really, don't be afraid. It seemed to like the kindness it could sense in her, but it couldn't tell if she was quite right for it. The feeling slowly backed away, as if unsure whether it wanted to leave or not, and when it finally did, it left a happy, if unsure, feeling.

---

"Skittish and staying in the Weyr? You're a strange one all right." He chuckled as he got himself comfortable, leaning back lazily to watch the candidates. "I hope she impresses, Kayath is adamant that she saw something in her." He replied to D'rian. Then he paused and looked at Keegan,

"She saw something in you too. Not as strong, but she swears by it... Have you ever thought of just... trying to meet a dragon?" It was a long shot, but Kayath wanted her mother's eggs to have all the candidates it could get and J'dol could hear her thoughts on it. Finally, the topaz seemed to decide that the boy was silly and contacted Keegan directly. Go touch an egg. Ther don't bite, silly human.

Her attention then turned as another weyrling pair arrived. Hello there, cutie! She chuckled, preening slightly as Oridith bowed to her. Yes, she approved of him already. J'dol chuckled at the dragoness and gave a friendly wave to Akira. "Oi, you must be lonely over there!"

[Zara]

*Tiris*

The Glass Menagerie egg seemed to welcome Tiris at first.... but soon the dragonet inside forced its way into the mind of the young man who touched his shell. It was almost as if it was speaking to him in a voice like honey... Seeping through his mind in a wordless tone which turned sweet and oily, almost sickly. Then... just as suddenly as it had started, it seemed that the consciousness within the egg left the boy with the pain and the sick oily feeling that this egg had left with so many others. It was slick like ice or like walking on polished glass.

*Rayas*

The Poisoned Apple egg seemed to shrink back from him at first, irritation and fear for a moment. This one could be just as treacherous as all the others! But... slowly, very slowly, the dragonet inside seemed to change its mind when, in a sudden burst thrust its mind into his, moving through and exploring quickly. Hmph. No. This one would not do. The dragonet left him so swiftly... it was likely to make his head spin.

*Allesandra*

The Poisoned Apple egg was gentle at first... but then it turned to be harsh and accusatory. And she pulled away. Oh... But... she had actually... now started liking her. She begged her to come back. But... she had just turned away.... Like everyone else! Hmph. There was someone though... there had to be! There just had to! the egg almost seemed to cry in dismay.

The Glass Menagerie egg Oh.... so someone else thought they were worthy to touch its shell. Hmph. No one was worthy of him. Not truly. Even if someone was worthy in anyway... then, well, it would be the one in control.

--------------------------------

Xaemia blinked in mild surprise at the voice. Certainly she had heard the queen... but certainly she had not thought that she meant... her.... There was no way that she was that important. "Oh! Um! No it's not!" She smiled warmly, her eyes still unfocused even as she looked in the general direction of the woman's voice. "Hi. I am Xaemia." She held out her hand, though... it wasn't exactly straight in front of Inali. "Stayn and Tizzy have done a good job of showing me your kind smile."

---------------------------------

Iirla walked into the hatching grounds. Iz was watching from the dragon's ledges above the sands with interest. Iirla couldn't help the smile on her face as she walked in. She shook her head, laughing softly as she caught site of D'rian, J'dol and Keegan. She walked over and gave them each a smile. "Hello. How are my boys doing today?" she asked in a teasing tone, walking up to them.

((Sorry it's so short.... ^^"; )

[jillianna]

You would have thought someone had stabbed Keegan. He sank low in his chair, growing paler as more dragons came onto the scene. There was kayath of course, if he didn't look at her she wasn't all that bad. He could think of her as another human. But then again she HAD saved his life. Then a blue showed up and between j'dol and kayath it seemed like they actually wanted him to join his sister in the touching.

"she loves dragons. I'm sure she'll impress.". He hunkered down a bit more pale and sullen as he shoved his hands in his pockets. " I will Not go down there. NO." His grip on the edge of the stands had his knuckles white as he tried to get smaller and smaller. Eggs weren't the problem until they hatched. That gold on the other hand... He shook his head and was still vehemently denying any type of involvement when Iirla arrived.

------------------d'rian----------------------

D'rian grinned at j'dol. "She's a sweet kid. Lene woulda been here to watch too , but eulurth's being training obsessed again." Kelath wandered in slowly from checking on the blue pair, about to climb onto his own ledge when he noticed the shrinking Keegan.

" Mine. Keegan does not seem well. Is the boy alright?"

"he's fine kelath. Just a bit dragonophonic as usual."
Rolling his eyes, the bronze looked over at kayath crooning to her and his blue brother in greeting.

'You're wasting your time beautiful. We'll never be able to get this one down there. He's about to have a seizure from just usbeing so close, much less wandering around touching lorakeths young ones. '

D'rian nudged kelath's tail as the bronze situated himself on the ledge.
" Were they alright? ".

Kelath's rumble of laughter was short. "Lene's almost ready to beat Eulurth. And the little ones are infuriating eulurth. All is as usual mine. "

D'rian relaxed a bit more now. He'd noticed a few nights ago. The junior weyrleader had begun Following the young blue weyrling, so he and Kelath had kept a closer eye on them.

He smiled and waved at Akira as she and oridith showed up and sat a bit away from them.

"Hey Akira! We don't bite ya know! Come sit and tal- "

His jovial greeting fell off when Iirla walked through the entry and started making her way to them. She seemed to grow more beautiful eAch and every day , and given the fact that a few days ago she'd told him most women like men to unpuzzle them on their own, he took a wild leap and walked calmly over to her, gave her his most charming smile, and gave her a light kiss.

"Very well my dear, and how are you?"

--------

[Akira]

Tiris smiled when he felt the Glass Menagerie Egg seem to welcome him, but couldn’t help but jump when he felt the creature inside the egg force it’s way into his mind. It was sweet, like honey, but it sorta made him feel sick. He quickly pulled his hand away from the shell, holding on to his hand as if it hurt. He shook slightly as he stood up. He forced himself to calm down, and move on to the next egg. The next one that had caught his attention was the Wayward Friend Egg, he was hoping that it would be a little friendlier than the one he had touched before it. It might not have been the smallest egg of the clutch, but it was still pretty small. He knelt down beside the small egg, and gently ran a hand over it’s dark colored shell.

He wasn’t sure what type of dragon would come from this tiny egg, but he was sure of one thing. It really was a pretty egg. After a few minutes spent with the Wayward Friend Egg. He moved on to the next one. The next egg to catch his attention was the Dualities Egg. The strange black and white coloring on the egg’s shell intrigued Tiris, and he wanted to get a closer up view of the egg. He once again knelt down on the hot sands, and ran his hand over the shell of the egg, wondering what would come from inside of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rayas cocked his head to the side when he felt the Poisoned Apple Egg shrink back from him. He wasn’t sure why he felt irritation and fear coming from the egg, but when he felt the creature inside the egg thrust it’s mind into his, he was almost knocked onto his butt. Then, it left him, and he really did fall back onto his rear end. Well then, you really are a swift little one aren’t you? His words were quiet, only for the egg to hear.

Rayas shook his head softly, and stood up slowly. He felt a little dizzy, but after a few moments of standing still, the dizziness went away. Then it was the Warrior Egg’s turn. Once again he felt as though his mind was being assaulted when the dragonet inside the egg rushed into his mind. He winced, but didn’t pull away just yet. It wasn’t until after he felt the creature’s message that he withdrew his hand. He wasn’t sure why the eggs he had touched seemed to be so hard on him, but part of him put it towards their mother’s own bad feelings towards him.

Rayas stood up once again, and moved on to another egg, hoping that this next one would be a bit gentler on his mind. He walked over to the Bronzed Fish Egg, and knelt beside it. He ran his hand over the shell of the egg, and marveled in the appearance of it. It really does look like you have fish scales doesn’t it? A small smile crept across his face as he sent the silent question to the egg. He spent several minutes with the egg, probably more than he should, but eventually he stood and left the egg to move on to the next one before their mother decided it was time to eat him. He walked over to the Lost Sun Egg, and knelt down. He reached out and touched the dark shell with his hand, and looked at the markings on the shell closely. He had never seen an egg with little suns for markings before, and the look of the egg made him smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira watched curiously as the candidates moved from egg to egg, and wondered how many of them would be left standing just as she had been. Do not worry Kikimine, they will all find Their’s eventually. Just as I had found you. A small smile crept across her face when she heard Oridith’s strong voice. I know, but it doesn’t make me feel any better that some will be left standing. The blue dragon crooned at His’ concern. He knew how she felt about being a candidate, and not finding the one being that you are meant to spend the rest of your life with. They looked at each other, and she smiled, glad that she had finally found him.

Oridith wagged his tail happily when the larger topaz greeted him. Greetings, you look lovely today. He crooned as he spoke to Kayath. He was a gentleman, but he had a flirty side too you know. Akira shook her head at her dragon, before whipping it around to see who had been speaking to her. I am quite used to being alone. Her words were polite, but held no hint of friendliness. It just wasn’t like her to be friendly to people she didn’t know, and the only reason she had sat up there, as close to them as she had, was because she sorta knew D’rian.

When Akira saw the kid they had been calling Keegan, she felt sorta bad for the poor kid. He looked as though he had seen a ghost, and she wondered what had happened to cause him to appear as such. She looked at them curiously, and wondered who they were talking about. She figured it had to be one of the female candidates that were already on the sands, touching an egg. What is so bad with dragons? Her words weren’t as harsh as some might think they would be, instead they were gentle, and curious as she spoke to the young man. It didn’t make sense to her why someone would be afraid of one of the large creatures that protected them.

Akira raised an eye brow at D’rian when he stopped talking mid-sentence. Then she noticed that Iirla had arrived. She nodded and waved at the young Junior Weyrwoman, and wondered what it was about her that made so many males forget them selves. Not that she was complaining. She was quite glad that the other girl got the attention, and she was left to herself. She looked over at her dragon, and wondered if he would be content enough to leave, or if he would ask her to stay a little while longer while he, “made friends” as he called it. She sighed; she would let him socialize a little while longer.

[derek]

As much as he wanted to smack D'rian with everything he had, S'bel was not only a bronze rider, but a Wingleader. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him, and he knew Inali would surely punish him if he so much as touched a head on that Weyrling's head.

So, as much as he wanted to knock D'rian to the ground for being so insolent as to kiss Iirla, his girl, S'bel simply calmly approached the other man, his eyes flashing.

He had been in the stands for awhile, watching how the Touching progressed. It was interesting to watch, for sure. He remembered his own Impression day, and felt sure that these Candidates were just as nervous and excited now as he was.

He had noticed Iirla the moment she entered, and had been keeping his eye on D'rian since he arrived... and it was a good thing, too.

Stopping in front of the Weyrling, he smiled, but there was no friendliness to be found there. He slipped an arm around Iirla in a protective sort of way, and turned to D'rian. "D'rian!" He greeted. "I see you think it acceptable to kiss a woman already with someone else? I don't think I can stand for that, boy." The last word was hissed with contempt. "Now make yourself scarce, before I really get angry!"