Through The Rabit Hole (Hatching!)

[Lark]

It was midnight, and Task was wide awake. Not because this was noon for her though, but because a subtle twitching next to her side was alerting her to something. The egg twitched again, then a small crack formed along its side. In the two nests nearby hers in the tunnels, the other two green females were pacing around their clutches, Enask and Lobask grunting and grumbling along with a low hum that was between them all.

It was time! The green wher called out for her handler, the dark haired woman getting up to get the candidates' attention. Abetzi was the first one she came to, the blonde haired candidate snapping her body to attention when the wher handler announced the hatching. Smiling, she ran out to the barracks, taking her work clothes off and switching into the white candidate robe. "HATCHING! EVERYONE GET THE CANDIDATES!"

Her voice echoed throughout the barracks, hopefully reaching those there. Pulling her white blonde hair back, she grabbed for the knife next to her bed. It would be needed tonight if she impressed, and she hoped she did. Dusk chirped on her pillow, snuggled under the covers. "Stay here." The blue nodded his head reluctantly but obeyed. That done, she kept going on to the sands, seeing that she was the first one there.

Immidiately, the handler of one of the females took her arm and led her to the caves. "We have to get the eggs sorted quickly. They're already cracking." Enawe was her name Abetzi thought, and then she wasn't thinking she was doing. The den was dark and small, but she crawled in anyway until she barely could see three dark forms with smaller lumps next to them. Task growled and shook her head at the girl, nudging her to Enask instead.

The younger green sniffed Abetzi, and crooned after a moment, rolling her only egg to her. "Thank you." She whispered her gratitude as she tucked the egg against her side and backed out of the den, smiling as she cradled her egg in her arms. Now there was just taking it to the stands and waiting.

Ooc: Have your candidates come up one at a time IC to the dens and go to one of the two mothers, Task or Lobask. Akira and I have a list of which egg goes to which candidate, and you will get a post saying they gave you so and so egg with a little egg description. Then, take it out to the stands and we will come around with a hatching post as well. They will hatch as they are given out, so the sooner you post, the sooner you get your baby.

Candidates-
Abetzi- Impressed to Ruby Abesk
Shenzi- Impressed to Ruby Shesk
Naomi- Impressed to Blue Nask
Theault- Impressed to Green Thesk
Korvin- Impressed to White (f) Kosk
Zaekrin- Impressed to Citrine Zaekrinsk
Jethro- Impressed to Blue Jesk
Ketarian- Impressed to Citrine Kesk

[shinska]

Ketarian had recently been a Dragon Candidate. Now he was a Dual Candidate and on his way through the caverns to the Hatching Sands. The boy was utterly exhausted as he had lessons both by day and by night. With a yawn he appeared on the Sands and greeted the two Cluchtmothers. Then Ketarian went up to Task and greeted her. He tried to keep from yawning in her face as it was rude and uncalled for. The boy succeeded and said, "Greetings Task. I hope you are well?" The boy smiled to the Green and waited for a chance at an egg. He felt that there were already a lot of Dragonriders and that he would give the Whers a chance. They were decent creatures and Ketarian thought that having a Wher might be nice.

The boy had only had several candlemarks of sleep and could barely stay awake. He slapped himself to wake up. If he was accepted as a Wherling he needed to keep awake so he could change his sleep schedule to that of a Wher's. It was a lot of work being a Dual Candidate and it took a lot out of someone, but Ketarian was willing to risk it if it meant that he found his chosen one. That put a smile on his face as he waited patiently for his egg.

[Zirin]

Korvin smiled softly as he ran the brush through Gray's fur. Grooming was always a special time for the boy and his canines. It was a time of bonding, of trust, and of calm and quiet. Aside from hunting, it was his favourite pastime. He had finished brushing the knots out of her fur a while ago and was now just brushing her for the pleasure of it, and simply because he had nothing better to do at the moment; he didn't have chores tonight. So it was that he was still in his room, brushing the canine when a female voice echoed through the barracks, alerting him that finally, the time had come. The time for him to claim the beast he had come to Trelis for. Soon he would have his new partner, soon he wouldn't need Trelis anymore.

He put the brush away and quickly pulled the makeshift collar over the female's head, chaining her near Boar. He knew they couldn't accompany him tonight. Shirking his clothing in favor of the stupid looking white robes they were forced to wear, he changed as quickly as possible, pulling on his sandals once he was dressed. He reached over and grabbed his small, personal knife from under his pillow; the one he used when hunting. It was perfect for today. He would use it to shed his own blood to bond one of the ugly whers to him.

As he jogged off toward the sands, he tried to push back his own excited thoughts. It was no different then getting a new canine... he thought to himself. Yet, deep down, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he knew impressing a wher would be a life changing experience. He arrived at the sands quickly, apparently the third one to arrive. That girl, Abetzi, already waited in the stands with an egg, and there was someone in the den with the greens already. A boy? The new kid? Korvin shrugged and crawled into the cave when it was his turn.

Picking which female to go to was a tough choice really. Would a green even be capable of giving him the overpowered wher he wanted? They were both so small and he doubted it. Not particularly noticing which one he approached, he dipped his head to each of the females before approaching Lobask. He didn't want to do anything other than take an egg, and thought the protocol was utterly ridiculous, but it was apparently the way things were done, so he didn't want to take his chances now. It wouldn't make sense for him to blow it. He tried to make out the sizes of the eggs in the dark, but they were too hidden beneath their mother from him to make a good guess. Only time would tell.

[Lark]

There was someone else coming to her den! Task grunted when a human form pushed its way over. Sniffing, she pushed gently into his mind. Interesting, hmmm. Looking over at the other females, one who still had eggs and one who did not, the older green grumbled. Hers would be best for this one. She nodded her head safely as of in agreement with this idea even though it was already her own.

Next was to decide which. She nosed through her four eggs, glad that none seemed to be duds. That was better than she had ever had before, perhaps wild whers were the way to go after all. She laughed to herself in a broken croon, snapping at the boy lightly in the case he tried to leave for one of the other two females. Yes, yes, her eggs were best for him. Patience was needed though so she could decide which.

Finally, she nosed one egg toward him. It was not the smallest she had, but not the largest either. It did seem to fit him though. Yes, this child would do well with the boy. Task grumbled approvingly and then hissed at Ketarian to let him know that was that. Egg there. Go hatch, now!



This egg is brave most certainly! ......well not entirely. It's brave when it meets someone it can beat, which isn't often, however there is a desire to be loyal hidden there as well. It's almost a wannabee knight if you will.

[Zero]

Theault yawned and lazily ruffled his hair as he bent over and rummaged through the kitchen shelves. It was late, around midnight to be exact, but the first mate had just returned from the seas with a large haul of fish, thanks to the stormy weather, and currently he was filling his gullet with the taste of something other then fish. Ah, yes! Fresh fruit and wherry meat. His mouth watered at the sight as he slid a few pieces of each onto his little plate and continued on his way.

Theo popped a piece of fruit in his mouth and chewed slowly, his eyes nearly rolling back into his skull at the sudden flood of flavor across his dry taste buds. A pleased smile toyed with his features at the sensation and almost immediately he followed it with a juicy hunk of wherry meat. He nearly turned around and headed straight back to the kitchens to clean them out after that little morsel but contained himself, though it was a struggle.

It didn’t take him long to finish his little midnight snack and by now he had wandered deep into the caverns of Trelis and while the Dragon side of the weyr seemed dormant the Wher side seemed very lively this night. Brushing a few crumbs off the front of his tunic, Theault turned a corner, after nearly being knocked over by a young boy in a white robe, and was mildly shocked to see a little gathering of sorts. Odd, but then again wher’s were on a different candle mark then everyone else.

“Ah, a hatching…” He mumbled, clearly to himself as he took in his surroundings and the individuals emerging from the dens with their little eggs. Interesting. Folding his arms across his chest, he leaned back against the wall, content to simply watch the proceedings. It would seem, however, that someone else had other plans for him. Before he could utter a word, the sea faring man found someone gripping his arm and pushing him towards the dens, all the while muttering how he wasn’t even dressed for the occasion.

Theault was in shock as he was lead to the dens and hit his knees among the sand. Surely they must have him confused with someone else. He wasn’t a candidate, he was definitely no wher handler. He was a fisherman! A soon to be Captain at that! The den must have been cleared by the previous candidates because he felt an encouraging nudge to his legs and hesitantly, the man moved into the dark. Two pairs of seeming glowing eyes made him freeze and swallow nervously. What was he supposed to do now? Carefully he bowed his head to the clutch mothers and waited warily for what would come next. Would he even be given an egg?

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OoC||He’s closest to Task right now.

[shinska]

Ketarian took the egg gently and dipped his head at Task. With that he retreated to a corner and waited for the egg to Hatch. It wasn't a small egg, but it most likely wasn't large either. Ketarian knelt beside the egg and grinned. He was prepared with the knife and food for the Wher. The top of the egg was yellow and the bottom of the egg was red. The middle looked like some kind of cross thing. The horizontal colors were green and the vertical ones were blue. Smack dab in the middle of the egg was a black spot. It made Ketarian laugh to see it.

He wanted to push the black spot and open the egg up, but he waited. The Hatchling inside was his, if there was one in there. The boy stroked the egg lovingly. He had a possible match. He murmered softly to the egg, "Hello. I wonder if you are alive. I look forward to seeing you if there is a Wher baby in there. I'm Ketarian." He was talking to an egg. Ketarian had lost it. He was talking to a sharding egg! With a shake of the head he ignored himself and continued murmering to the egg. What was the baby like?

[butter]

Jethro awoke from a deep sleep at the news that the Wher eggs were hatching. He jumped up and looked around his room for his white candidate robe and threw it on before looking for his sandals. After finding them in his trunk he grabbed his knife knowing he’d probably need it tonight and said goodbye to Roberta as he raced out the door. He made his way down to where the two three females where and went to the one called Lobask and smiled and bowed to her to show respect and hopped that she might give him one of her eggs. Jethro waited patiently to see if this mother wher would see him worthy of one of her children or if he would have to try Task.

[Lark]

For Theault

The green looked over as yet another boy came to her. She sniffed him too, already tiring of this. She wanted out already! She wanted to run. Her young needed to come first though, even if she only partially was paying attention to that instinct. Pushing and prodding at the candidate's mind, she barked and shoved at his body to make him back off. No Egg. Try Lobask's Young. There was no match here for him, he'd have to try one of the others.

For Ketarian

It was his egg that hatched first, Task's young chirping as it tried to struggle free of its shell. Enask's was close by too, but no, Ketarian's egg made it first. A strange thing happened though. Silvery gray, a nose popped through followed by a faded yellow head. The wheret looked around, curious at this new world he had sworn to protect from inside his egg. Or maybe it was his Queen? Whoever that was. The male chirped, for he most definitely was male, and squirmed out of his shell.

That was better, much, much better. Shaking out his silvery gray wings, he grumbled something about his hide being dirty and looked around again. Nearby an egg was shaking fiercely in its little shell, a girl by its side. Should he go over and help? Or just find His? He was awfully hungry, and the light...it would come soon. Shaking his head, he growled a bit when he saw only handlers. These ones had already devoted themselves! The little yellow and gray male turned around then, running from Ketarian and around the small hatching sands in brief circles.

His, His, where was His? Stopping suddenly, the male skidded to a complete halt. Wait a flit-chirping second! The yellow head snapped around and fixated on Ketarian, and with a squeak the male barreled into the boy. Ketarian'sKesk find Ketarian! Ketarian devote self to Kesk? Kesk hungry? Ketarian feed Kesk, right? Kesk hope so, Kesk veeeeerrrry hungry! Wagging his tail, the male looked at himself then at a few flits flying above. Hissing, the male tried to circle Ketarian's body with his own. Kesk defend Ketarian from flying baddies! Flying baddies easy to defeat....Kesk no succeed if not...Kesk probably not try then. The wheret shrugged his silver wings as if to say what do you expect and then went back to grumbling for food.

Citrine Kesk


Impressed to: Ketarian
Rank: Citrine *like a Blue*
Size: 5.8 feet at full growth
Color-Codes: Body ffff24 Markings 4d5238
Personality: Loyal, matter-of-fact, fun-loving, brave when he knows he can win, a bit of a wannabee in that he wants to be like the Kings, eager to prove himself



For Abetzi

It was finally her egg's turn, after the strange wheret had hatched, Abetzi could only guess about this one. Like the other before it, the wheret inside was eager to get out. A squeak came from the egg, then a wiggle and a crack. Finally, the wheret made an appearance...or its tail did. Blood red, Abetzi gasped hoping it wasn't like one of those Garnets the dragons had seen. It was tiny though, between the size of an average green and white hatchling, and that only was confirmed as the rest of the red wheret came loose from its shell.

Looking around, it sat on the sands, opening and closing its tiny wings as if to test what these strange things were there for. So far, it didn't seem hostile. Then, it saw Abetzi....and warbled a happy sound before prancing over. Prancing! Abetzi laughed as it did little twists and "moves" on its way over, finally kneeling a bit at Abby's feet. Abetzi'sAbesk make Abetzi laugh! Abesk like this. Abetzi should always smile, Abesk give reason, right? The wherling nodded her head, taking the nearby knife and cutting along the meaty part of her thumb and holding it out for the little red hatchling to drink from.

Ruby Abesk


Impressed to: Abetzi
Rank: Ruby
Size: 3.5 ft at full growth
Color: cd0601
Personality: Forgetfull, Cheerful, Chaotic, Optimistic, Willfull, Jester

[shinska]

"Oof!" Ketarian let out a gasp as the Citrine barreled into him.

Ketarian'sKesk find Ketarian! Ketarian devote self to Kesk? Kesk hungry? Ketarian feed Kesk, right? Kesk hope so, Kesk veeeeerrrry hungry! Kesk defend Ketarian from flying baddies! Flying baddies easy to defeat....Kesk no succeed if not...Kesk probably not try then.

"Well hello there Kesk. Of course I will devote myself to you." Ketarian took his knife and made a nick in his hand and held his hand out letting his blood drip onto Kesk's tongue. "There now. We're now officially bonded... I think." Ketarian used his other hand and rubbed Kesk's head gently. He was a Wherling! Now it meant that he would attune his sleep schedule to Kesk's. No more daytime outings for him.

The boy was happy with Kesk. The Citrine was an exciting little blighter and Ketarian found that Kesk was more fun than a Dragon. "Shall we get you fed?" Ketarian asked the Wherlet.

Food. Yes. Ketarian'sKesk fed by Ketarian?

Ketarian laughed. Kesk was a funny little Citrine.

[Akira]

Naomi shook her head at her young puppy. Training her when there was so much going on was a bit difficult. It seemed as though Sarabi believed it was her duty to show everyone what the word, "calm" meant. She was sitting around staring at the people walking by them looking much older than her very short, few months. Alright you pay attention. She reached over and lightly tapped the female on her nose. Resulting in a small arguement between the two of them.

Naomi jumped when she heard people calling for the wher candidates. Ayame, Akela, take Sarabi back to our room and stay there! She had full confadence in her older canine's ability to heard the small pup into the room, and to keep her there. She jumped up, and started to jog towards the hatching sands, wondering how many eggs were left. She hopped that there was at least one left for her, but she wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't.

Naomi watched as the newest candidate, or well, the boy she thought was the newest candidate, entered the dens. She took a few deep breaths, and calmed herself. When she was told it was her turn to enter, she cautiously made her way to through to where the whers and their eggs were waiting. She approached the first one she had come to. Greetings green mother, I hope you see me fit to have one of your children. She bowed her head to the female she knew as Task, and waited to see what would happen.

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

Lobask shook her green head as she paced around her clutch. Soon enough Hers was there to calm her down, that was the hope anyways. Alright Lobask, calm down, everything is going to be ok. Loba smiled and gently scratched the green wher's chin. At least she had stopped pacing, which helped calm both of them down. Something the young woman wasn't sure would last very long. Her wher had never been known to be calm even at the best of times.

Lobask hissed when the first of the candidates arrived, and Loba looked up to see Korvin. She nodded her head to the young man, and sent happy, and calming thoughts to her wher. Lobask sniffed at Korvin, all the while growling, and standing over her eggs protectively. This wasn't the first time she had had eggs, but there was just something about these three eggs that she didn't understand, and because of that strange feeling, she was being extra protective.

Lobask pushed into Korvin's mind, and none to gently either. She poked around, and it looked to Loba as though a small light bulb had been turned on inside the wher's head. Lobask give, man take. Lobask practically purred as she searched for the egg which egg was to be given to Korvin. She crooned softly, and gently nosed one of the hard eggs, and watched silently as Hers picked it up, and walked over to hand it to the young man.

Here, this is the one she wants you to have. Loba smiled gently and handed the egg to the young man. She knew he could be quite mean, but she hoped he would take good care of the wherling that was inside that egg. She shook her head, and walked back to Lobask. You're doing great. Her voice was soft, and her green wher crooned in response. It felt good to be praised for something that she had done before, but this time was different for some reason.

A little while later another human entered the dens. Lobask cautiously walked out of her den, and peeked around. She sniffed at the young man, and pushed into his mind, just as she had with the human before him. She snorted at him, then walked back to her eggs, and nosed around. Man come, Lobask give egg. The green wher was talking more or less to herself, but made sure to let the human know she was talking about him.

Loba rolled her eyes at her wher, and looked around for the person she was talking to. Greetings young man, but it seems as though my wher has chosen you for this egg. She held up the large egg for Theault to take. The young woman was very proud of her wher, and was actually surprised that the young female's eggs were going as fast as they were. It felt like one moment there were three eggs being guarded by their mother, and the next, there was only one.

Lobask curled up around her remaining egg, and crooned sadly. It was her last egg, and she wasn't going to just give it away freely. She sighed and started to calm down when Loba started scratching her green eye ridges, and started to relax. Both her and her handler looked up when another candidate approached them. Lobask pushed herself into the young man's mind, and hissed at him when she didn't find what she had wanted to find. He was not the one for her egg.

- Theault

This egg can be tame one moment then in your face the next. It's incredibly hot to the touch as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Korvin

Fearless. This egg isn't scared of anything! Engarde, try to take it if you dare!

[Zirin]

Korvin had to supress as snort as the little green wher growled at him, as if she could intimidate him. Though... in a way he supposed it was a little unnerving to be in the dark cave, almost blind save for the glowing eyes of a beast that could rip your throat out faster than you could scream. Korvin was cocky though, and he stood his ground, even when Lobask forced her way into his mind. Forced was, perhaps, an understatement, as Korvin was none too keen on just letting her waltz in there and have her way with his mind, so he actually felt a twidge of pain as her mind slipped into his temporarily. Eventually, she seemed to either tire of the charade, or had simply found what she wanted and he felt her retract from him and move to nose through the eggs. Had he been successful then? Had he 'earned' the right to one of the eggs? Yes.. apparently he had, he mused as Lobask's voice entered his mind again.

He took a step forward, assuming he was supposed to go get the egg himself, but Loba beat him to it and the girl was holding it out to him faster than he would have expected in the dark. He took it from her, holding it as gently as he would a newborn pup, though there were no smiles from him, just simple acceptance in his posture, and a look of determination in his eyes; not that it would be easy to see such things in the dark though. He was rather shocked at the sheer strength of the feelings coming from the egg. Was that.. fearlessness? Would the hatchling inside share that feeling? Was it a good thing? Bad? Korvin was rather entranced by the egg, weird as that was for him.

"Thanks." He said curtly, aware that he should at least show some manners for an occasion like this. He backed away from the woman and the wher, exiting the den to find a seat in the dark stands like the other candidates and glancing quickly in an attempt to see who had gone into the cave after him. Finding a spot, he returned his attention to the egg, trying to make out its actual size and shape, its colour, anything that would give him knowledge of what was inside. He grunted, finally deciding it was a useless attempt. He was stuck waiting for now.

Finally taking a chance to look around, it was then he realized that some of the beasts had already hatched! His eyes, relatively good in the darkness of the cave, hinted that one of the creatures was red, and the other was.. gold? No... much too small. Yellow perhaps? Not that he knew much about whers yet, but he was pretty sure something was abnormal here, just like with those dragons. He snorted. The Weyr was messed up. Simple as that!

Glancing around one final time, he noticed he couldn't spot Naomi. Not that he cared! Faranth no, he didn't care about that blasted woman at all! He just.. wondered if she was here yet or not. In the caves already? ugh! He didn't care! Focusing harder on the egg, he willed it to hatch.

[Zero]

Theault cringed slightly as a presence forced its way into his mind as the first clutch mother sniffed and huffed at him before, not so gently, shoving him towards the direction of the other den and the rest of the eggs. The sea faring man, reeking of salt and fish, inch his way towards the younger green and his eyes widened somewhat as he came face to face with another protective mother and her eggs.

This one acted differently around him though. He watched Loba cautiously as she approached him and took a good sniff before giving a toss of her head and almost snorting in his face. Theo groaned inwardly as an idea struck him, they probably thought him to be a very large, albeit odd, looking fish, if only by scent alone. Theault shifted uncomfortably in the dark as he continued to watch the movements of this green creature. She had turned her back on him, did this mean he was off the hook? Was he going to walk away from this little show without a souvenir?

Just as he was beginning to back out from the darkened dens, a voice broke into his mind and all his hopes of continuing his life at sea died right there on those sands. He settled back on his knees, a mixed look of confusion and curiosity playing on his face, as a girl walked up to him and deposited a large egg into his arms. “Ah…erm…” He stuttered at first, speechless, as he looked down at the oddly colored egg now cradled in his arms and slowly pushed himself to his feet.

“….thanks…” His words were low as he spoke to the girl as well as the green mother before he turned and carefully made his way over to find an empty place in the sand to sit. This egg was heavy and shards did it feel like it was burning the skin off his hands! Frowning, the dark haired man sat down and set the gently in the sand in front of him and took a moment to look over its shell.

Was it supposed to be hot? He quickly looked around at the others to try and gauge their reactions from their own eggs before looking back at his own unhatched companion. Theault frowned once more before pulling a fish oil stained rag from his pocket and gently began to wipe down the fiery shell as he nervously waited for the being inside to hatch.

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