A Golden Flitt's Pride and Joy!

[kestrel]

Kestrel sat in the hatching sands, looking with apparent pride at the Golden Queen flitt that sat upon a fine clutch of newly hatched eggs. The flitt, Roksha, was preening herself proudly and nudging her eggs one by one, as if reassuring herself that they were all there and accounted for. Kestrel chuckled to herself, feeling pleased that Roksha had seen fit to show off every single egg in the clutch-including two that were kept more closely under her-and surely one of those held a gold. Kestrel counted the eggs, it was a nice sized clutch of 25, and looked quite promising. She had seen the entire flight, and she knew that Christae's own Bronze had been the victor. She wasn't sure if the Weyrwoman wanted an egg or no, but even if her Bronze had not won she would have offered one to her. She could make out two eggs which were a little more unusual in coloration, and wondered especially what they held. She guessed that there wouldn't be more than one gold, as that never happened, and was fairly certain the second large egg held a bronze. She noted a few eggs that were just a tad smaller, and wondered if they held blues and greens, or a small brown, even. It was fun to guess, and she had posted a couple of signs up at the Weyr where they could be seen so people might come see Roksha's clutch if they wanted to. Hasima, of course, had been the first person she'd told. She hoped her friend would impress a flitt from the clutch, in all honesty. She herself was happy with just having Roksha, her beloved little gold. She rather hoped she didn't impress another flitt just yet. Maybe at Roksha's second flight, but right now she wanted to focus on her chores, and training, and other things. She had a gold, after all, and wanted others to have a chance at the eggs who didn't have a flitt already. All the candidates she knew didn't have one. She hadn't seen any around the barracks, with either the boy or the girls. Well, that's why she'd posted on the board by the barracks that there was a clutch belonging to her Roksha.

Roksha gave a proud chirrup, appearing to look around for someone or something. Kestrel was sent an image of Birinj, and she guessed that Roksha wanted her mate to see the fine clutch she'd produced with his victory.

[Spirithawk]

Birinj popped from *between* to check on his mate. He had known she was clutching but he didn't want to chance her wrath. Christae had sent him on a mission as well but now he was back and he wanted to see his golden beauty, and, hopefully, their eggs. He hopped onto the nearest tier and crooned out over to his mate, waiting to see if she was overly protective over their eggs or if he could approach.

[Wolf]

Ah, the glorious heat beneath his feet! How marvellous it felt to feel as if your feet were the representation of two cooking loaves of bread! The boy walked with his knees coming up unusually high so that he wouldn't have to step down as quickly... or so he thought. He looked absolutely ridiculous but ridiculous was his style. He had really expected to just get a peek at what the Hatching Sands looked like, having been almost a thousand percent sure that no body else would be here. Sure, Kestrel had posted something up on the board at the Candidate Barracks but he had never really been all that good with reading so he just didn't bother to bore himself with it-even if it was just a simple list. When he saw Kestrel standing there he froze in place, his eyes widening. "Oops," he muttered to himself, seeing that a Gold flitt was also by her. Oh my, a clutch! He jumped unnecessarily when a Bronze flitt burst from /between/, appearing quite proud indeed. Leander, never giving things much thought, just waltzed right on up to the girl with a huge grin on his face. Now, a normal person would think: Should I go slowly and be aware that the Gold may be startled by my presence? Should I ask if its all right to even approach? Nope, none of these things crossed his mind for even a second.

"Well hello there!" he called out pleasantly. "I don't recall having seen you around before..." He stopped in front of her, squinting his one eye while giving himself time to study her face carefully. He leaned in a bit, also not thinking of whether or not this would be an invasion of her personal space. "You think I'd remember some one with eyes like that. They're quite beautiful." He leaned a bit closer again, trying to catch her gaze intentionally. "I would ask you if I could borrow them so that my own eyes matched for once but I'm not sure that it'd be entirely a possibility..." Leander smirked before asking: "The Gold flitt's yours I presume?" Instead of leaning back out he diverted his gaze to where the Golden Roksha was taking care of her eggs. "I love eggs! They're so oval; it always makes me wonder just how they got that way. I mean they could be any other shape right? Why oval? I suppose its easier to roll them when they're oval, though they could very well just roll away-that'd be a tragedy. Lets not think about it, I didn't mean to bring up a topic that might up set your fine beast of a creature. Quite small, aren't they? Compared to dragon's-very." He then gasped; appearing as if he'd just had a revelation of sorts. "I forgot to introduce myself, imagine that? You haven't given me your name though so you can go first if you like."

He was thinking of how useful it could be to have a flitt of his own. He could teach it how to do tricks, and fetch him things when he was too lazy to do it himself. He could teach it to seek out pretty young woman and then direct them to where he so happened to be, to save him time! The more he thought about it the more he wanted one now. How did one go about getting a flitt although? Would Kestrel give him one perhaps? Oh, that'd be delightful! Maybe after she'd go and get something to eat with him also, when she was done doing what ever it was she was doing here of course. He really needed to get up on his game. He hadn't partied or gone out with a single girl since he'd been here. He'd flirted with a ton so at least he was satisfied in that area.

[Kino]

Khris was the next to arrive on the hatching sands, scanning over the area before catching sight of Kestrel with her flitt. He smiled and raised his hand in a wave, starting towards his friend from the entrance. The boy had heard about Kestrel's flit having risen, but he honestly hadn't been thinking about showing up. Khris had never really thought over getting a flitt before, it'd just never come to mind much.

Today, however, he'd walked by the announcement board and had seen the poster there from Kestrel talking about her Roksha's clutch. It certainly wouldn't hurt to take a look, and he figured it'd be the right thing to do. He'd befriended her, after all, might as well show up! Khris slowed as he neared the clutch, shooting a lopsided grin towards Leander and offering a quick wave so as not to be rude and ignore the boy. He'd arrived near the group of two just as the other boy stopped talking, and so he hadn't heard exactly what was said. Instead, he looked over to greet his friend.

"Hey, Kess," he said. "Congrats on your Roksha having her first clutch. They look great." Khris blinked once, then shrugged. "Well, I mean I think they do. I've never seen a flit clutch before." The candidate looked over towards the other boy that was there then, giving another nod. "Hey," he greeted. "Name's Khris, great to meet you."

[Akki]

When Kestrel told Hasima about how Roksha had a clutch, the girl was ecstatic for her friend. She was definitely happy for Kestrel, and it was obvious that her friend was very pleased with the idea of having a clutch. She didn't see or hear about the notice but was just going to assume that that was where she would find Kestrel. She nervously chewed on the corner of her thumb as she walked to the hatching sands with Rimith at her side, crooning happily. She walked gingerly on the sands and breathed out in relief, glad to see that there was not too many people there just yet. She wasn't a big fan of crowds, it was too easy to do something embarassing when you were in a crowd.

Hasima reached Kestrel's side and smiled at the girl, only to notice Leander. She blushed deeply as she realized that she might be interrupting something so she stayed quiet for a few minutes until she was positive that the boy had finished speaking to congratulate her friend once more. Congratulations to you and Roksha. Rimith sent happily, glad for her riders friend and her flitt. Hasima looked around and gave a small wave to Khris as she noticed the boy. She looked around to see if Akki had come. The bluerider said she wanted too and was going to try and convince a candidate named Zuhayr to come along for it seemed he was scared of flitts.

[kestrel]

Ooc: okay, guys? This was meant to be the 'clutching' thread, but Hawk has given me permission to go ahead and start this hatching. Everyone should be here, because who gets what has been decided already. ^^ So, I'm just going to go ahead and make this the 'hatching' thread instead, because it's a waste of a thread otherwise. XD

Roksha crooned to her mate, proudly lifting up her wings to display all but two of her eggs, which were furthest beneath her but could still be seen, along with most of a third. Kestrel was quite sure one of them was a gold. Roksha had, after all, been caught by the Weyrwoman's own bronze, and Kestrel felt sure the pairing was a good one.

Kestrel was watching Roksha when she saw someone entering the hatching sands out of the corner of her eye, and paled when he drew nearer and she recognized him. It was that boy candidate who was staring so obnoxiously at the two rebel girls and flirting with Akki! She had an uneasy feeling building up inside her as he drew nearer and nearer, and could literally feel herself squirming uncomfortably inside. She suddenly wished Hasima was there, but there was no one there but her, her and Roksha and Birinj. Well, that wasn't good. If he flirted with her like he did every other girl, how would she respond? He was finally close, and closer yet, and then he actually came right up to her, and shoved his face right up to hers!

Kestrel turned a bright scarlet red, her cheeks being apt to color while her face did not have the habit of many whose entire face reddened. Her? Beautiful eyes? What on earth was the matter with this boy? Not even that he'd just blatantly made a flirtatious comment, but didn't he know that by her actions she wasn't an outgoing person? She suddenly was very aware of a feeling of anger and protectiveness, and before she could reply to Leander's words, Roksha gave a screech and flew straight at the boy's face! He had come right up to her clutch, near enough to touch without reaching out! She was okay with Kestrel being there, and her mate. Leander was a stranger, and was upsetting both her and her bonded.

Kestrel looked over in horror as Roksha suddenly flung herself off of her nest, and did the only thing she could think of to do. She flung herself at Leander, so that he was flat on his back in the sands with her on top. She looked over as Roksha gave a confused chirrup, and then settled back down on her nest, making little noises of irritation at the too-daring boy. Kestrel looked down at Leander and her cheeks turned more crimson than scarlet this time. She suddenly felt very, very uncomfortable indeed!

Suddenly, she heard someone say 'hi Kess!' and then heard Hasima's voice from beside her, and immediately pushed herself off of Leander, standing up and looking anywhere but him as she stammered, "K-Khris, Hasima! I-it's not what it looks like! I mean, he came to close to the nest, and Roksha flew at him and I was worried she'd claw his eyes out or something..." she swallowed, and would have said more, but right then, she heard a humming.

Kestrel gasped, and looked over at Khris, than Hasima, trying to ignore Leander altogether. He had embarrassed her right off the bat, and then the whole thing with Hasima and Khris walking in right when she was in such a compromising condition! She felt her honor was rather at stake in such a situation as that, though she knew that Hasima, and probably Khris, too, would believe her. At least Khris had seen Leander's behavior during Candidate Lessons, and she was sure she'd mentioned the obnoxious boy to Hasima when relating how lessons were going.

It was a couple sevendays after the previous Weyrlings had graduated, and she was so proud of Hasima becoming a full rider. She couldn't find it in herself to treat her any differently now that she was a rider, and was glad she knew that they were friends and that would never change. She motioned excitedly to the eggs, which were beginning to rock slowly back and forth, and to the firelizards that were gathering about the sands, humming in unison with Roksha and her mate.

Then, registering Hasima's Rimith, she replied, "Hasima, please tell Rimith that Roksha and I thank her back-and maybe could she let everyone know that the firelizard eggs are hatching? If word doesn't get around some of them may between!" She looked worried, now, looking at the sparce few so-called 'Candidates' for her gold's clutch. She didn't want any of Roksha's precious hatchlings to be lost to the cold of between!

[Torva Anian]

Hatchings were awesome, especially when mini! Or at least he hoped. Or maybe hopped was better? Kallan started hopping in diagonals as he headed towards the Sands. This was gonna be so shardin' awesome! He'd see some baby flitts. And since he'd been doing so well in his Candidate studies they'd give him a flitt. It'd be his first and bestest flitt ever. Herrmmm, wonder why that sounded a little wrong? He was the bestest right?

Quiote burst out of Between and started chittering at Kallan. Oh, yeah, that. He smiled, well then he'd have two. He frowned, but some others didn't even have one so maybe he shouldn't be so greedy. And by the way Quiote was chittering he didn't want to have a flitt brother or sister. Well, it would still be cool to watch. After all Quiote needed to see who his new friends would be. They'd all have so much fun. And if not, ah well. There would still be some great food and fun adventures!

He entered the Sands as the humming started and hummed along. Wasn't this nice? A little music to welcome the new flitts. A bit of caution entered Kallan's normally carefree head and convinced him not to go bounding up to the Queen fire lizard. He stayed close enough to see, but hopefully not close enough to risk the mini dragon's ire. Since he was one of the first to enter he'd have a prime spot to watch the happenings.

[Riler]

Riler excitedly made his way down towards the Hatching sands. Down the metaphorical grapevine, he had heard that the female Candidate, Kestrel, had a flitt which had laid a clutch of eggs. He, having never seen a clutch of eggs before, wanted to see what it looked like.
Riler hoped that Kestrel wouldn’t mind his gawking of the eggs—what was the flitt’s name, he questioned himself, did it begin with an S? Or was it an R?—and that he could just maybe catch a glimpse of the eggs. He hadn’t really talked that much to Kestrel, only really seen her from afar, so he didn’t really know how she’d react to him just walking up and looking at eggs.

As he walked down the Hatching sands, he noticed that there was a small group forming. Could that be where the egg clutch was? Riler meandered over to the growing crowd, observing the people. He recognized a few of the people—Hasima he had talked to a couple times, and he could’ve sworn that one of the other people was a candidate named Khris—Riler was pretty bad with names—but not enough for him to start up a conversation without feeling a little awkward.

Just as he entered the little group, Kestrel was just finishing up saying, “…let everyone know that the firelizard eggs are hatching? If word doesn't get around some of them may between!”
Riler’s jaw dropped slightly. They were hatching? The clutch? He blinked as the thought was sinking in. Does that mean he could Impress a firelizard?
“How fortuitous!” He exclaimed loudly. “How lucky of me to come here at such an opportune time, eh?” He asked no one in particular. He looked over at the eggs as they began to rock back and forth, firelizards beginning to gather around and hum.

[Spirithawk]

Anassa saw a few people entering the Hatching Sands and was curious. She hadn't seen the bulletin posted on the Candidate Barracks. She had no reason to go there at the moment. She was too busy trying to settle into the life of a full dragonrider. The new Weyrlings were waiting for someone to be appointed their Wingleader or to be assigned to already existing Wings. Anassa couldn't wait. She and Priath had been working hard lately and were looking forward to joining an actual fighting wing, not just the W'ling wing.

She wondered what could have drawn so many people into the Hatching Grounds. The cavern was usually empty save for the occasional drudge keeping the place tidy. Priath was sunning herself on her new ledge. The green was a glorious creature and her deep green hide shone brightly in the sun. Anassa wondered when she would rise to mate. Greens matured faster than Golds and already she was two Turns old. She pushed the thought aside as she walked into the giant cavern. It was hard to believe that this place looked small when the Queen was in it. Kaith was a large dragon and she made even this giant place look crowded. Her mind went back to the way she had felt walking into this place with her white Candidate robes on. She had walked in a lowly Candidate with Harper training and had left a dragonrider. She planned on continuing her studies with the Weyrsinger but there would be time for that a little later. For now she was just glorying in the feeling of being a full rider. No more mundane chores.

She walked further into the cavern and started towards the not of people. A few drudges had wandered in and she caught whispers of a Hatching. She glaced around. No Queen was on the sands so she figured that the hatching was a flitt's clutch. Anassa thought about her dragon. Would the green mind if she was able to get a flitt?

I would not mind as long as you don't neglect me for the little dragon.

Of course not! I could never neglect you

Good now go see.

Anassa made her way to the people and noticed a girl with Candidate knots near the Queen. The eggs were beginning to rock and it was only a matter of time before the first made its entrance.

"Do you want me to ask my green to spread the word about the hatching Candidate?" She asked politely. She hoped that it would better her chances for getting an egg. If not, she would still be happy. She was more than content with her dragon.

[Akki]

A small gasp slipped out of Hasima’s mouth as she covered her lips with her fingers when she saw the…interesting position Kestrel was in with Leander. She took a step forward to see if she could help her friend up and out of the awkward situation, but before she could Kestrel was up on her feet and looking quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Hasima quickly found herself blushing on her friend’s behalf and because of the fact of what she saw. She gave Kestrel a reassuring smile, the yellow rider was definitely not the kind of person to judge anyone because of what she saw. Especially when that person was a close friend of hers.

Hasima jerked her head in response to Kestrel’s request, she was happy to help out if her friend needed it. She looked at Rimith and knew that she didn’t even need to ask the dragon, who was already on it. Everyone, please come to the hatching sands. It seems that Kestrel’s miniature dragon’s clutch is hatching. Rimith crooned to everyone and anyone who was interested, hoping people would appear soon. And with that sent, Rimith acknowledged the presence of Anassa and happily sent a greeting to the girls green, Greetings clutch-sister, I hope I find you doing well.

---

Do I need to tell you about the mini hatching taking place right now or should I assume that you already know? Ebbeth rumbled silently to his rider a few moments after hearing Rimith’s announcement and sending her a thank you for telling him.

Akki rolled her eyes happily, Of course I already know. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t know about it. I like to stay on top of things, if you couldn’t tell. She reminded the blue of hers. She’d be ashamed of herself if she didn’t know what was happening on the hatching sands. Hasima was actually the first person to tell her about it, the girl was wondering if she would want to come along. Of course Akki wanted to go along, but she couldn’t go alone and the yellow rider had already disappeared from sight. So her only solution was to grab someone and drag them along for the ride. And soon enough, she found herself in the candidate barracks with a large grin.

She grabbed a boy, that happened to be walking by her, by the arm and smiled at him. “You don’t look busy, right? Perfect. Then follow me, you can’t let a lady go off on her own, right?” Of course she was definitely no lady, but that didn’t need to be pointed out. She more than happily steered herself and the boy to the hatching sands, and grinning broadly as Kestrel came into view along with the others. Akki stopped and saluted Kestrel, “Message received, thanks for the tidbit of information.”

---

Unfortunately for Zuhayr, the boy had quite bad timing. He was about to take a break and have himself a leisurely stroll around the weyr when he found his arm in a sudden death grip. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t surprised by this, who wouldn’t be? “Darling, I have no problem following you, but normally people buy me flowers first.” Zuhayr said with a blink, still not sure what exactly was happening. “Or at least they ask me my name, but I guess casualties like that aren’t always needed.” He added with a shrug.

Of course he probably wouldn’t have been so cool about this situation if he knew where he was ending up. He just followed Akki with a curious expression on his face that seemed to go slightly confused as they reached the hatching sands. What exactly were they doing there anyways? When he and the blue rider stopped in front of Kestrel and he looked around and suddenly had a good idea about what was going on. His eyes widened slightly and he took a step back, looking slightly nervous. A hatching? A flitt hatching? Wasn’t it bad enough he was already partially scared of the idea of seeing a flitt from afar? And now he was stuck here, where there would be tons more. Ever since having a flitt more or less try to rip off his face (And when he said rip off, he really just means leaving a small scar) he was paranoid around the flying critters.

[Kino]

[I've got an ooc question (I'll post tomorrow, I swear xD; it's just almost 1 am here) that I've been wondering on for awhile...Why is it that so many dragons seem to have no qualms with talking to, like, everyone? I mean, I know dragons can do that, but usually they don't like talking to anyone except their rider. Yet here we have dragons are greeting other people who aren't their rider without another thought.

Shouldn't the dragons only be talking to their riders, or other dragons? Riders are usually the ones who translate what their dragons say, and sending their dragon's greetings for them. It just...doesn't seem right, I guess. xD; It's a question that's been drilling a hole through my brain for awhile ^^; I just never got around to asking until now.]

[Spirithawk]

OOC: That's normally the case but with the first dragons from this weyr (Akki, Rhia, and Christae's dragons) they were closer and wound up talking to each others riders more than usual because of the circumstances surrounding their hatching and such. The rpers in the weyr have just taken a bit more liberty in that aspect. Its just something that has gone on since the weyr began and its something we never really think about. It makes for interesting circumstances to say the least.))

[Kino]

[Ah, mkay. xD Finally got that answered then. My mind can now stop screaming at me to ask =P]

Khris glanced over to Rimith when she'd sent her congratulations to the flitt, but tried to disregard the dragon's speech other then that. He looked back over with a blink when Kestrel had tackled the boy to the sands, though luckily enough for her he'd been standing there long enough to have seen why it was she'd tackled him. He recognized the boy from candidate lessons anyway; quite a flirt, that one, and apparently all the flirting took the place of common sense in his mind. Even he knew not to get that close to a flitt's clutch, and this was the first one he'd ever been witness to!

Then the flitts had started to hum, and the boy looked over towards the clutch with intense curiosity. He looked over to Kestrel when she started worrying for the eggs, looking to reassure her a little with the bits of information he'd at least heard of flitts. "I don't think they'll between," he said. "There's wild flitts, right? So...I mean, I don't think they need to impress like dragons to." Khris put emphasis on the word 'think', because he didn't want her quoting him on the subject. It wasn't as if he were an expert.

Khris turned around to look back towards the Weyrbowl entrance as the other boy came up to the clutch, and he couldn't help but smile somewhat at the boy's reaction to the fact that the eggs were clutching. He'd never actually heard anyone talk like that. At the very least, 'fortuitous' wasn't a word he heard used very often. The boy looked over his shoulder at the sound of talking, turning back to Kestrel and her flitt's clutch when he realized that it was just yet more people entering the hatching sands. Well, Rimith's words had certainly gotten around fast! With that thought in mind, and since Kestrel seemed occupied with her flitt's clutch, he looked over towards the girl who'd just entered (Anassa).

"Looks like Hasima's Rimith just did," he said. "You're welcome to stay and wait for the clutch to hatch though, Kestrel's worried about the little guys; she wants to make sure they all impress to someone." The assistant candidate master, Akki, entered then, dragging a boy onto the sands. Khris offered the two a smile in greeting, but blinked once when he saw the other boy's expression change as soon as he caught sight of the eggs. He actually looked nervous about being near it, and Khris felt like trying to say something that might calm him down.

"Here for the hatching?" he asked, even despite the fact that the question was quite an obviously answered one. Why else would anyone be there? "I hear that flitts are really friendly when they first hatch." Sure, it wasn't really much of a reassurance, but Khris figured that maybe talking about how friendly flitts could be would maybe take the edge off of his nervousness.

[Wolf]

The last thing Leander wanted was for his perfect face to be torn apart by a flitt. He really hadn't seen it coming, or would have thought it'd happen either, but thankfully Kestrel saved him by her tackling him to the ground. He wheezed out a breath, looking up at Kestrel in surprise. "This is kind-of fast... but I'll go with it," he told her enthusiastically, all the more surprised when she got up. "What, you simply jump me and then don't let me react? Well, that's not very fair at all." He sat up, brushing some of the sand off of himself, laughing at how perfect both Hasima's and Khris' timing had been.
"Well, hello there," he said to the pair, ignoring the fact that Kestrel had said her tackling him was simply to save him from Roksha's attack. "We were just sharing a bit of a fling moment, don't mind us." He stood up, clearing his throat. "I'm Leander," he introduced himself. He thought that it'd be far easier if every one just knew his name beforehand, but no, introductions were always required. Perhaps one day I'll be infamous enough that every one will simply know who I am. That was a dream that'd never see the light of day!

When he heard the humming he turned to where Roksha was, his eyes widening. "Wait, /between/

---

Admin's Note:[/hr]" he choked out. He didn't want to be present as baby flitts were dying! "You," he said, jabbing his finger at random people. "Do something! Tell people so they'll come! I won't have it on my conscience, flitts dying. Pah, I won't hear of it! Because I'm me I'll impress at least one, but that doesn't mean that any of you will be lucky enough to have that happen, so we need to give these flitt's options," he called out. He looked back at Kestrel, feeling bad that the girl was so worried about her Gold flitt's clutch. "Everything will be all right," he smiled reassuringly, "Just you wait and see. Who knows, maybe I'll be the first to impress an entire clutch. It could happen. Then I'd be king of flitt's!"
~ ~ ~

Tieler ungracefully came running in to the Hatching Sands, having heard the humming of the flitt’s, along with the announcement of Roksha’s clutch. She stood apart from the others, not caring to converse with any of them. All she wanted was the chance to impress a flitt. She wasn’t really too sure why she cared; they were tiny creatures after all, about an arm’s length. She kept her hands together in front of her, her gaze intent on where Roksha reigned over her clutch of eggs. She glared over at the group of people that were conversing as if this was an everyday gather. Were they all dimglow’s? She couldn’t keep the scowl off of her face when she heard Leander’s comment about being king of flitt’s. The only thing he’d ever be king of was the most consecutive amounts of having one person’s-Tieler’s-foot shoved up his butt. She rolled her eyes, putting her focus back on the clutch. If she didn’t impress its not like it’d be that big a deal anyway, right? They didn’t really have much significance, dragons… on the other hand. She untied her hands, swinging them back and forth, clapping them when they came together. It was a sure sign of her impatience. She hated waiting for things to happen. She preferred it all to be: Bang, bang, bang, and just like that.

She wondered if there’d be a Gold in the clutch, what if she impressed it? Would people think differently of her? Did other people view flitt’s as a way of gaining status? She doubted it, but it was something for her to consider.

[kestrel]

Kestrel heard the announcement made by Rimith, and turned to the yellow dragon and said gratefully, "thanks, Rimith. Now people will know to come here and the clutch will have a better amount of choices." She then turned to face Leander when he began speaking up again, blushing furiously as he called what had happened 'a fling', and about to retort hotly that he knew what had gone on, and shouldn't make up such foul stories, when he began speaking yet again. Her face took on a bit more of a surprised look, as he seemed to be concerned for the well being of Roksha's clutch. Maybe she had him figured wrong? Or maybe not...but he couldn't be all bad if he was so concerned about her gold's hatchlings, perhaps. Well, no matter. She was sure he'd not impress 'the whole clutch' in either case. Though she guessed that he'd like to impress at least one, and that was fine by her. The more choices the better, right?

When Khris began speaking, she smiled gratefully at him, and then replied, "maybe you're right. I'm not sure either-I'd just rather not find out the hard way, you know? Besides, I'm sure I'd like to see Roksha's hatchlings around the Weyr, and I bet she would too." The golden flitt chirruped as if agreeing, and Kestrel would have said more but then she recognized a young woman who'd just graduated at the recent Weryling graduation ceremony. She smiled brightly and bowed to the young woman, and said formally, "dragonrider, so good to see you got the news. I hope you impress today." She sincerely did-a dragonrider would be responsible and know how to properly care for a flitt, since she did, after all, have a dragon. She had hoped more dragonriders would come, and was rewarded when she saw Akki entering with a boy she recognized from Candidate lessons. She recognized Riler, as well, when he'd entered, and thought it might be nice if some of her fellow candidates impressed.

Thus far, she had high hopes for Anassa, Akki, Hasima and maybe Riler, who'd seemed all right. It was when she spotted someone else enter that her stomach knotted a little. She almost wanted to tell the newest entry to the hatching sands to leave. She knew that girl from Candidate lessons, too. Her and her black haired, trouble making, fight inducing friend. She neither liked the attitudes nor the look of those two girls. She didn't trust Roksha's hatchlings with the irresponsible likes of this girl, whom she recalled was named Tieler. The bright haired red head was nothing but troublesome. However, Roksha, seemingly picking up on her bonded's sudden protectiveness and anger, crooned reassuringly, and Kestrel turned to look at her questioningly.

It then sunk in. If a flitt chose this girl, then there would have to be a reason. Maybe this girl wasn't totally bad, maybe she was just messed up, or had issues, that caused her to be the way she was. Well, if she did impress, she'd better not be a little ingrate and treat Kestrel rudely afterwards. Kestrel wanted to see how all Roksha's clutch was doing. She didn't need some snobby girl being nasty about her wanting to see how a flitt from her gold's clutch was doing.

She decided to let things run their course, and with a sigh she turned her attention to the sound of an egg beginning to hatch, her golden eyes sparkling in excitement.

The green that emerges from the first shell is very small, so much so that she has a bit of trouble emerging from her shell. She claws the shards away, frantically trying to break free. Kestrel's breath catches as she tries to decide if she ought to help it-but that would mean the flitt would be likely to impress her, and she didn't want to have that happen, especially not with the first flitt. However the little flitt does emerge, and she looks strong and healthy, creeling loudly for food. Her coloration is no better described than as a lime green, but midway down her body she seems to begin lightening in color, so that all along her underside, from neck to tail, she is a pale green, so much so that it is almost white with a green tinge. She has long claws and looks delicate as a green ought to, with long wings that look a little thin width wise, though that may change as she grows. The tiny green doesn't seem to be making any moves towards any of the potential Candidates there, though, and Kestrel worriedly looks over at Khris and then Hasima. She didn't get much time to think on it, however, because a second egg suddenly splits down the middle, revealing the second of Roksha's hatchlings.

Kestrel smiles in delight as the second flitt emerges, shaking a shard of shell off of his nose, and giving a loud creel as he stands up and looks at the people before him. He is a smaller sized Bronze, with a hide that is a coppery sort of bronze, with greenish tinges in places that make him look very unique, like he has 'shading' on him. This is especially visible under his wings, belly and tail, where the greenish shading is darkest. He almost looks like his ridges are more 'spike like' than the others, and his proportions are perfect, with fine muscles that will develop more as he grows. He walks forwards, intelligently eying the Candidates as if he is seizing them all up, making no more sound than the occasional sharp creel for food.

It was then that one of the three eggs kept closest to the little Queen rolled out and cracked, sending eggshells flying in a flurry. Kestrel had not known why one of the smaller eggs, one that she figured had perhaps held a green, had been kept under there with the obviously-much-bigger eggs, which Kestrel had assumed had potential of holding the gold. However, she gave a gasp of surprise as the contents of that small egg were revealed, with Roksha giving a proud chirrup at the unusual hatchling.

A blue-grey flit the color of the skies before a thunderstorm had emerged from the egg. She seems to shine, however, with a silvery hue all over. Her underbelly is a silvery-blue, as well as the underside of her tail. Under her wings, however, is jet black. Along her back are marks that look like arrows, in a >>> shape, going all the way down from the base of her neck to the base of her tail. On her chest is the shape of a crescent moon, also in the same silvery-blue that is underneath her belly. She is the size of an average green, and her build is also average. She creels a little more loudly than the rest to be fed, searching for whom she will choose frantically. Instead of looking at the Candidates in front of her, it's as if she's trying to see around them, to something that lies behind. She gives a frustrated creeling sound, as she walks back and forth, still seeming like she's trying to see through the throng gathered.

Kestrel let out a breath of air. A mutated flitt. What were the chances? She hoped that the little female impressed well, she'd definitely want to see that one grow up, most certainly want to be able to comfortably converse with the one who impressed it from time to time-well, as comfortably as she could, anyhow, with anyone whom she wasn't friends with. Maybe, just maybe, Hasima or Khris would get it? She sincerely hoped so...

Then another egg hatched, and she smiled delightedly at the new hatchling. He was certainly lovely! A perfect blue had hatched from the egg, shaking the last bits of shell from his hide and then looking around hungrily for food. He is an unusual shade of blue indeed, and appears almost teal in coloration, unlike most blues that simply range from light to dark. He has silvery white speckles that look star-shaped on his back and down the top of his tail, unique markings which will also set him apart as much as his coloration. The undersides of his wings marked with the same silvery white ‘stars’, though they are placed closer together. He is perfect in proportions, nothing looking out of place in the least. He, begins walking towards the people, passing Hasima, Khris and Kestrel, heading for...

---

Admin's Note:[/hr]
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[Akki]

Zuhayr scanned everyone’s faces that were at the hatching, trying to see if he could recognize a few of them, which he did. A fair number of them were candidates so he knew them by face if not by name and he began to wonder if this means that the Assistant Candidate Master just abducted him. He caught Khris’ eye when the boy offered Zuhayr and Akki a smile, and flashed one back. A small, quick one that seemed to faintly want to be somewhere else at the moment. He really didn’t want to be rude and walk away, or run, and perhaps offend the girl who owned the golden flitt. The idea of a fair number of flitts erupting from eggs seemed rather daunting to him, but the thought of making enemies was far worse.

“Uhm. I think I am? To be honest I’m not sure. I was really accompanying someone here without realizing what was going on.” Zuhayr said truthfully, sounding slightly bashful. He eyed the flitt eggs rather nervously. “Are you sure? You’re not lying to me, are you?” Zuhayr asked Khris, hoping that the boy was right and no flitts would attack him. “Last time I was near a flitt like this, it tried to eat my face. I don’t think it liked me very much.” He confessed in a lower tone. Of course as soon as eggs began to crack, he made a small noise and took a step closer to Akki. Maybe any enraged flitts wouldn’t see him beside her.

---

Hasima blinked as Leander made a rather few brazen comments to Kestrel, but she figured that it was probably all in a jest. Or at least she hoped so, she didn’t want to have ruined anything and have Kestrel made at her. She offered him a small smile and greeted the boy in her soft whisper of a voice, “I’m Hasima and that’s Rimith.”. She had to admit that she was slightly awed by the boy, by his ability to laugh things off and be a rather outgoing person. She was slightly jealous of that fact, and was aware that she could never do something like he just did.

Rimith grinned politely at Kestrel, glad that she could have been of help before settling down and watching the events take place, eyes whirling contently with a mixture of interest and curiosity. Hasima nodded with what Kestrel said, she had to agree. It definitely would be interesting to see Roksha’s hatchlings around the Weyr. It would probably put their minds at ease if they both knew that they were being taken care of well. She understood that much at least. Hasima let out a small gasp as she heard the sounds of eggs cracking and flitts scratching their way out and watched with wide eyes. She watched as flitts began to crawl out and admired them with a smile on her face as she beamed at Kestrel.

Another gasp slipped out of her mouth, unable to control it as another flitt emerged. However, this was certainly not your everday flitt since it wasn’t the usual color. A mutant flitt? Kestrel must be overjoyed by this fact Hasima thought happily, watching the flitt with close eyes, curious as to where it would go.

---

Akki grinned at the people around her, “Looks like we have a party going on here now. And for what better occasion?”. She grinned back at Khris, glad that the boy was trying to make small talk with Zuhayr. She didn’t realize that she dragged along someone who seemed quite scared of flitts, but she didn’t exactly feel bad about it. Maybe if she was lucky, the candidate would get over his fear and all thanks to her. Doubtful, but quite plausible. She rolled her eyes as Zuhayr took a step towards her and ruffled his hair, the kid was obviously a drama queen. She couldn’t really see a flitt attacking him. She could slightly picture Leander trying to hit on one though.

She let out a low whistle as flitts began to surface from their comfy looking eggs. “Huh. They’re much prettier than Sargon, not gonna lie. You did good, Kestrel and Roksha.” She said with a grin and a nod as she surveyed the flitts closely. In her mind she was trying to picture who would get what but soon gave up. It was more fun when it was a surprise, right? She raised an eyebrow as the mutated flitt made its appearance. “What in the name of Pern is that?” She asked, examining it before laughing. “You definitely did good, you two.”

[Torva Anian]

Sorcha entered the Hatching Sands. Lirlith had deemed to notify her that a Hatching was going on. It was a golden flitt's so it was bound to be interesting to watch. Sorcha could still remember getting her little blue. She half smiled and scratched his eyeridges for a moment before trying to get closer while not being too close.

She had comtemplated not going, but she was a full rider now and she couldn't hide from the Weyr any more. A Hatching was as good a time as any to socialize. Plus none of the attention would be on her while she tried to get used to being in public again. It was a nice and small step.

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

She really didn't understand why they were here. It wasn't like a real dragon's hatching. Satnee didn't even like going to those, but felt obligated to do it. One of the other kitchen drudges had dragged her off and would not let Satnee find an excuse to leave. So she was stuck here watching. She supposed it wasn't too bad. After all they were only fire lizards. Not like Impressing a dragon or anything. Sometimes they were even said to be useful. ... Not that she wanted anything to do with dragonkin.

So Satnee was stuck with a bowl of meat in her hand standing beside her now ex-friend...well she couldn't blame her that much, while trying to see without being too obvious. She wondered if she should hand the bowl to the owner of the gold? It wasn't like an official hatching so there wasn't a table or procedure set up for this. Oh decisions decision.

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

Man, this was like the awesomest thing on the planet of Pern! He was gonna....well maybe not. But he bet that songs would be sung about this! Yeppers. Finally departing from the inner dialogue in his head he started paying attention to what was going on around him.

He frowned when the guy Leander mentioned being King of the Flitts. "Oh no, if they had a choice between you and me, they'd definitely pick me. Right Don Quiote?" The flitt chittered at him and from the tone and small nip he delivered to Kallan's ear he might not have agreed. "See? He thinks I'm perfect for the job!"

He gasped, forgetting to hum, when the first of the flitts hatched. Weren't they just the cutest little thingys when they got out of their shells. Kallan smiled and bounced on the balls of his feet. Quiote would have soo many friends to play with after this. And ooooh look at the odd colored one! Well, the three that hatched all had a little something odd about them. Yep, that's definitely why he chose Dark moon weyr.

[Sparrow]

One of Sh’rel’s goals since moving to the new weyr was to get into much better shape than he had been. On this day Sh’rel had been jogging around the Weyr when Rolaranth relayed Rimith’s message to his rider. The Brownrider really did not pay attention to where he was going while running so it took a few minutes, and Rolaranth’s help to figure out the right way to go to get the Hatching Grounds.

~Do you wish to have one of the miniature dragons?~ Rolaranth asked as his rider jogged to the Hatching Grounds.

I wouldn’t mind one, Rol. If one chose me and if Kestrel allowed me to try for one, I think it would be nice to have. Would you be bothered if I did get a firelizard?

~If I chose you, I’m sure one of the tiny ones will as well. If you want one then let’s try for one.~

Sh’rel found himself at the Hatching Grounds soon enough. If he was allowed to try for a firelizard he hoped the little things wouldn’t pass him by because he hadn’t had time to bathe or change his clothes. He wiped sweat from his brow as he approached he recognized several of the people here but decided to head over to where Akki stood with Zuhayr. “What’d I miss?”

His green eyes fell upon the firelizards that had already hatched, “Wow look it that one, never seen a dragon nor a flit that looked like that,” when he spotted the mutant one.

---
Marletta was in the Lower Caverns when she heard Rimith announce the firelizard hatching. The girl nearly dropped the cup of klah she held. “So that’s what it is like,” she said to herself. Since being here she had not spoken to many people but then again it was not very different from home. She set down her cup and not knowing if some sort of food would be provided for the flits she grabbed a couple of meat rolls.

This would be the first chance she had ever had to possibly get a firelizard, her father had promised to try and get an egg for her but that had never happened. Soon enough she was at the Hatching Grounds. She knew Kestrel from candidate lessons but had not spoken to her yet.She hoped she would not object to her trying for one of the flits.

[Kino]

Khris offered up another of his lopsided smiles when Zuhayr asked if he was lying. "I've never been one for lying," he said. "That's really what I heard! Sorry to hear you were dragged into this unknowingly, but I'll bet it turns out allright in the end. Kestrel's a friend of mine, and it's her flitt's clutch. There's bound to be some friendly flitts coming out of it." The boy was honest in that opinion. He'd met the golden flitt at least once before, and she'd seemed plenty friendly.

It wasn't more than a moment later that the first flitt began to hatch, and Khris was immediately watching with apt attention. Ever since he'd heard that Kestrel's Roksha was going to have a clutch, there'd been one nagging question at his mind. He could hear all dragons, were flitts the same way? He hadn't heard anything from any flitt before that point, but he'd never been around a large group of them at once. And so while he smiled and watched the flitts hatching, marveling at the various oddly colored ones, he had a bit of apprehension just below the excitement.

The boy grinned at the sight of the small mutated flitt, watching as it made it's way determinedly past him. In the lull between hatching creatures he allowed himself a moment of thought. "Whew," he sighed, bringing a hand up to run it idly through his hair from front to back. "Nothing," he said, mostly talking to himself. "I was kinda worried I'd have to worry about even more voices in my head." He'd be lying if he told anyone he wasn't relieved. Yes, it was pretty cool to be able to hear all the dragons chattering around him, but a quick think back to his first day at the Weyr was all he needed to make him glad that he didn't have to worry about flit's talking as well.[/size]

[Riler]

Riler peered curiously at the enthusiastic Candidate as he obviously was flirting with Kestrel, who was blushing marvelously; Riler couldn’t help but grin, allowing a quiet snicker to escape from him. True, he did enjoy flirting with women—though hardly was he ever serious—but it seemed like this boy was just acting ridiculous. Then again, he commented idly to himself, he did have a sort of charismatic charm about him. Maybe he actually was good with the ladies? Though Riler couldn’t see how from this little display. He seemed more like a jester than anything else.
As the enthusiastic Candidate—Riler had no idea what his name was, he had never been introduced to him before, but he could’ve sworn he had seen him in the Candidate’s Barracks, so he was sure he was a Candidate—began pointing at the growing crowd, demanding that they do something or else the flitts perish, Riler rolled his eyes. No, the prospect of the flitts dying wasn’t appealing, but he was pretty sure that enough people would come. Only a few people were trickling onto the Hatching sands and the hatching had just begun, imagine how many people would be here as it was finishing up?
Riler snickered again at his last comment. “King of the Flitts,” he humored to himself quietly. He did like this enthusiastic Candidate.

Riler looked around and noticed dryly that Tieler had arrived. Riler rolled his eyes before looking back to the eggs as they rolled around. He didn’t dislike Tieler, but he had no reason to particularly like her. He wasn’t sure whether or not her being here at the Hatching was a good idea. He didn’t know if Tieler could be a good owner of a flitt. But then again, maybe having a pet like that would do her some good.

Then the first egg hatched. A small, green flitt emerged from its shell—with what seemed to be great difficulty, Riler noted sadly—and simply sat there. Next, the bronze flitt burst out of his shell and began to pace around, watching the crowd, as if he were sizing up each individual. Was the little flitt judging him? Riler wondered to himself with amazement. They really were stunning little creatures.
Then the blue-grey mutant flitt. Riler looked at the youngling in awe as she began to also pace around, looking to the crowd—or, was she looking past the crowd? Riler wasn’t sure.
Next, the handsome looking blue emerged from its egg and began walking towards the crowd. Riler watched all of these dragons—the mutant in particular—wondering if any of these would Impress upon him?