Marukaite Chikyuu

[Yellowstar]

Theme of Hatching: [x]

It was a very good thing that this clutch was found by some curious candidates. The sands of the beach was certainly no place for dragon eggs, where they would be out in the open and possible prey for anything. They were brought back to the Weyr and placed in the hatching sands, where they were looked after and cared for with as much care as any dragon clutch would be treated. Here they were much safer than they would have been on their own. The young dragons would have had no chance of surviving with no humans around.

It was still a complete mystery as to where these eggs had come from. No queen would just leave her clutch without anyone to look after them, and no queen would lay her clutch anywhere other than the hatching sands anyway. Some speculated that the mother had died shortly after laying her eggs, joining her rider in death only after making sure her children had been born. But that wouldn't account for the curious place the eggs had been laid. And this clutch... it was just strange. Of course it was usual for and egg to give off a certain feeling or emotion or even show opinions of its clutchmates, but this clutch took that to the extreme. The emotions experienced were so vivid and their interactions so lifelike that some described the clutch as otherworldly. But that surely wasn't possible.

-----

Somewhere in the Weyr, a dragon began humming to announce the hatching of this strange clutch.

Laying in the sands, nestled safely into the warm bedding of the hatching grounds, were the eight eggs. Alone and with no one to see them, they shook, deciding all together that it was time to reveal themselves to the world. This clutch, this unique, bizarre batch of eggs, will soon greet the world. And all of the lucky humans that will be watching them hatch will never forget it.

Hatching of the Allies and Axis Clutch

The White Flag Egg - Red Romanoth of Kitty, Blue Felicith of Yellow
The Soldier Egg - Bronze ?? of ??
The Solitude Egg - Blue ?? of ??
The Hero Egg - Brown Alfredth of Yoko
The Gentleman Egg - Blue ?? of ??
The Rose Egg -
The Winter Egg - Bronze Ivanth of Sydney
The Melancholy Egg - Blue Yaoth of Mousy

[/justify]

[ivyy]

Ivy hadn't been able to get the mage of the clutch out of her head since she'd happened upon them. Everytime she closed her eyes the memory sprung to mind, clear as day. She would relive the feelings the eggs pushed on her all the time, wishing she could be with the eggs once again. But alas, she had other things to do, and the eggs were tended with care.. there was no reason for her to visit. She just waited for the eggs to hatch, anticipating and daydreaming. She had attended dragon hatchings before, but these were different. There was a special draw.. Something was different about this clutch.

When Ivy had heard the humming, she'd nearly gone into a frenzy. The girl sought out confirmation like a rabid dog, excited beyond belief. "Yes, yes, the eggs are hatching." said a fellow candidate, apparently not attending the hatching. She had gotten there as soon as she could, eyes fiery with excitement and joy.

Would she get a dragon for herself?

Ivy arrived at the hatching sands with her chest heaving, she bent over, placing her hands on her thighs. Running all the way probably wasn't the best choice, but then again, how else would the girl have gotten there quickly? As her breathing slowly returned to normal, she straightened herself up. Ivy looked from egg to egg, eyes wide with wonder. Who would hatch first?

She wouldn't leave the spot until she saw each and every one of the eggs had hatched.

[[S]ydney]

[/b] Sydney, in a delirious state, sat up suddenly, eyes wide. ”You're having a baby?” Her younger sister, blinking, rolled her eyes and scoffed. ”No! The eggs are hatching, you dimglow!”

Oh.. the eggs!

Rolling out of bed, Sydney gave her sister a “why didn't you say so sooner” stare and pulled her candidate robes on overtop her pjs, not bothering to change. ”Let's go then!” So, with a rush, the two set off for the sands. The younger sister sauntered off to her friends, once she arrived, and Sydney, looking around with slight confusion, gave a groan. She didn't see anyone she knew-

Oh, Ivy!

Smiling, the tiny teen slunk over to her friend, tapping her shoulder with a devious grin. ”Boo.”[/ul]

[spikey]

Why now, why her?

The girl looked up, narrowing her hazy green-blue eyes. Were these dragons seriously to hatch when she was so busy? She stared down at the snoring dog, the black-and-brown thing snoring once then growing silent again. Her toes curled in his thick fur, the chill of her skin disappearing for a moment. The dog sighed, grunting as he shifted out his back leg. The other dog was also sprawled out, a rare sight to behold. Her light tan fur, marked with flecks of black from her beagle heritage, clashed against the far-larger mutt. She snorted much louder too as she slept.

Why did the dragons have to hatch now? Groaning, the girl threw her legs over the edge. JJ lifted his snout, lazy reddish eyes on his owner. The russet hue was warm and watery but there was the clear message of "what do you think you're doing?" that ran through them. Harmony stayed fast asleep at least. Good thing too. She was in no mood to deal with the rascal of a puppy.

"What?" she asked irately. "It's not my fault they called. You wanna pick a fight about it?" She spoke so seriously to a DOG of all things. He groans and laid back dramatically with a huge sigh-grunt. He wasn't in the mood either. Snorting, the candidate glanced over at the sleeping sibling. Her twin sister despised dragons. Hence why she didn't become a candidate. Stupid girl thought she was gonna be some great singer or harper. Couldn't she have even a little bit of a dream that didn't involve her being surrounded by a swarm of lusty boys? Seriously.

"Yo, Kay," she hissed. "The hatching started. I'm leaving."

"Do you think I care?" the twin groaned. She rolled over and pulled a pillow onto her head.

"I'll guess no," the first-born barked. "Whatever. Just watch the dogs. JJ woke up and I'm afraid Harmony will too. Okay? And for Pete's sake, if they need to go out, take them out! I don't think you'll appreciate the puppy peeing on you again." Shrugging on a quickly grabbed jacket, along with grabbing her white robes, the first-born ran out without listening to the disgruntled mouthful her twin was giving. Kayla was a good sister at times. But damn, was she lazy!

Walking to the sands, Marie, the girl's true name, pulled the robes and jacket on. Jacket beneath the robes which made her look bulky and almost polar bear like. Not that she cared. If they thought her sense of comfort over style was a crime, then they could all-

Oh, look, eggs.

Marie walked in and scratched her nose. Ugh. Thinking that name made her cringe. Inwardly, she knew her real name. Spike. Yes, it had always been a "Spike" name that labelled her. Not only for the fact that she once had straight spikes all throughout her hair once but for her personality. They said she was a rose. Pretty but one could never forget the thorns. Perhaps she was a 'Thorn." Oh, well.

Spike crossed her arms and looked from a distance at the clutch. It was small. Damn. She shook her head and jogged down the sands, already loving the heat beneath her feet. She saw a few people there and instantly she ran to join Ivy and Syd, the two people she knew well.

"Syd!" she cried in a yelpish manner. (Okay, yes, many called her a dog because she seemed to speak and act like one.) Spike instantly put an arm on Syd's shoulder and then the other on Ivy's. Her face was broken into a grand smile, the gap between her teeth giving her the lighthearted look she always had when among friends. "Glad to see you showed up! I didn't seem to miss much, huh?" Slipping her arms off, Spike tilted her head in a curious-puppy fashion.

"So! What do you think we'll get today? Something awesome, I hope!" She was here and awake.

Poor dragons.

Poor candidates.

((Names changed for safety sake. Except for the dogs. Those are my dogs. ^^

PS, I soooooo wanna make my own clutch and hatch it!))

[Sporelett]

[/b] My voice was cheerful and optimistic; why wouldn't it be? There were eight eggs on the sands, and they were about to hatch. It was strange that there weren't more candidates on the Grounds, but the simple fact of that made me confident that all my friends and I would Impress. "Aren't you excited?" I asked to no one in particular as I settled in to await the hatching of the first egg. "I sure am. This is just great!"[/justify][/ul][/size]

[kitty]

Kitty was laying in bed, half asleep, when the humming started. Get up. Eggs are hatching. Across the room, her little sister, Rissa, was already up and moving about, playing with the family kitten and a string. The kitten rolled and tumbled about, then was distracted from the string by the movement of Kitty's foot underneath the blankets. Little paws came barreling across the floor towards her, took a flying leap, climbed the bed, and sunk he sharp kitten teeth into Kitty's foot.

That really woke the teenager up.

She unconsciously kicked out and the kitten flew off her foot and hit the floor with a thump. Rissa let out a nervous squeak. "Gracie!" she screeched and nearly flew across the room, landing on the floor next to the fluffy kitten. "Are you okay, sweetheart? Look what you did, Kitty!"

The sleepy girl, now grumpily sitting straight up in bed, glanced at the kitten. She was sitting up, grooming her fur. "She looks fine to me," she said, shrugging. And Gracie really did look okay.

Then she remembered the humming. "Oh! I have to go!" she realized with a jolt, memory of the clutch she'd Touched the other day rushing back to her. Kitty leaped out of bed and stripped out of her pajamas, pulling on clean clothes as she went. "Later, Rissa."

She ran through the kitchen, her twin glancing up from the counter where she filled up the dogs' water bowl. "Later, Alex," she called over her shoulder. "I'll be home later today." Alex shot her a curious glance, but made no attempt to track her down and question her as to where she was going.

Kitty ran to the Sands and quickly reached them, then walked to the place she thought was the location of the eggs from last time.

Twenty minutes and three times at getting lost later, I finally found the clutch. But I wasn't the only one here.

Spike, Ivy, Spore, and Syd were here as well.

I looked at them curiously and walked over. "Hey, guys," I greeted unmiraculously. "Here for the Hatching, too?"

Well, of course they were. That was a stupid question.

((fail. ><))

[Yellowstar]

The first egg to hatch was, not surprisingly, the White Flag Egg. In fact, the cheerful, bubbly egg had been shaking a good several days before the caretakers of the clutch had decided to call the candidates to the sands and the observers to the stands for the hatching. Once the rest of its siblings had started to shiver as well, the hatching had truly started. But the White Flag egg was having none of that right now, it wanted all attention on it as it started to shake more vigorously. Whether all of the candidates were there or not yet, it wasn't waiting any longer. It rocked back and forth, first one way and then another, with shocking power for the meek striped egg. It almost looked as if... as if it was arguing with itself. 'This way. No, that way. No, I want to go this way.' It rolled away from the Soldier egg, then gave a giant heave back, knocking into the larger egg, before pulling away from it again. The Soldier egg was obviously unhappy at this, but its reaction was barely significant compared to how many pairs of eyes were watching the now hatching White Flag egg. It was no longer rolling around, instead staying in exactly one place as it started to shudder. Then- whack, a dragon leg kicked out, severely damaging the shell. On the opposite side of the egg, claws broke through the shell and a muzzle poked out of a hole torn in the top. Once more it rocked a bit until finally the egg broke apart, falling in two even halves.

What was inside the egg drew gasps from nearly everyone watching. No one would have guessed from the personality and the relatively small size of the egg that there could have been more than one dragon inside it, but that was indeed the case. The two young dragons looked out at the world around them, staring with wide eyes as if they were unable to figure out what to make of it all. The smaller, a blue, had a very bright and cheerfully colored hide, with its paws and nose fading to white. The other, a red, was deep in color and obviously larger than his brother. A pattern of dark markings made a stripe down his neck and back, and both brothers had darker headknobs than their hide color. The Italian White Flag Blue rose first, practically leaping to his feet and whirling around to face his brother. With a delighted chirp, he grinned at his twin and crouched, waving his fork-tail in a puppy-like manner. The Italian Tomato Red snorted and jerked his head away, which caused the blue's wings to droop. The two were still for a few more moments, and many guessed that they were speaking to each other, though the conversation was not heard by any of the viewers.

At last the blue dragonet jumped upward again and looked around, taking in all of his surroundings with whirling eyes. He looked at everything, taking in every sight possible, but somehow his attention went right over the candidates. Impressing was the last thing on his mind as his eyes landed on the nearby Soldier egg. The blue let out a delighted chirp and bounced the short distance over to where the Soldier egg still sat, rocking quietly back and forth. He nudged the dark banded shell. No reaction. He nudged it again and again and again, making an obnoxious sound each time until he was practically audible across the whole sands. The Italian Tomato red, noticing this, rose and padded over to his brother and the large egg, hissing fiercely. The blue shrank back and whimpered, yet the red still growled. In an effort to reconcile with his twin, the blue reached out to rub his muzzle against the red's, letting out a soft croon, and surprisingly, the red closed his eyes and didn't pull away. Some more unspoken words were said between the two, and then the blue gave a chirp and leaped up, practically knocking the red off of his feet. This time the red was very angry, for he hissed and turned away, finally heading toward the candidates.

With his tail-tips flicking to and fro like a cat's and a low prowl in the way that he walked, he looked every bit like the type of dragon reds were expected to be. It took him no time at all to find His. My brother is so dimwitted, KittyMine. I do not understand it. It feels so good to finally be out of that crowded egg. But my brother will just go back to that other brother of mine... ugh. I am starving, take your Romanoth away now. And keep me away from all of them. Especially that one. Nudging his roughly and casting one last glare in the direction of the Soldier egg, the newly named Romanoth urged his rider off of the sands and away from the rest of his siblings.

"Italian Tomato Red" Romanoth

"In my right hand is an olive! In my left hand is a tomato~!
Tomato-mato-mato, tomato-mato parade!
Towards the enchanting world, "Don't follow me, you jerk!"

Take our hands, make a circle, spin, and it's the world
My sparkling boots "are getting dirty, you jerk!"
Verde, bianco, rosso è tricolore
I'll skin your muscles off! Hetalia!

"My younger brother...
"It's fun, so why not come over!" is what he said, so I came to see, but...
Of all people, why does that jerk have to be next to him!
I can't sing normally like this, you bastard!"

Rank: Red (Male)
Impressed To: Kitty
Color Code: c42d04

Appearance:
Being crammed into that small shell with his twin brother may have stunted Romanoth's growth a bit. He is by no means miniature, still being larger than his lower-ranked brother, but still on the small side when it comes to reds. It is entirely possible that he could have grown larger if he had not had to share his egg, and perhaps he will grow into a more average size for his rank now that he's hatched, but that is mere speculation at this point. There is not much to say about Romanoth in terms of build for he is completely average for a red. He has a long, feline like frame, with lengthy tail and wings. When he walks it is like a prowl, low to the ground and often with an angry flick of the tail with each confident step. This is a dragon who knows what he wants and will never appear unsure with either his words or his body language.

A very, very deep red, Romanoth's hide can be described as "tomato red" and, in fact, is how he got his name. One of the most striking in the clutch in terms of coloration, most of his hide is that solid, dark red with little variation, yet it still draws eyes to it just by the fact of how red it is. What little difference in coloring there is takes the form of a dark stripe down his head, neck, and back. The stripe is lighter in some places and darker in others, and appears to be a mottle-like design, as if ashes were sprinkled over his hide. His headknobs are darker as well, with the same dark sprinkled design.

Mindvoice:
Deep, with a bit of a gruff sound and... is that an Italian accent? Romanoth's voice sounds as if he's in a perpetually grumpy mood, and most of the time, he is. He's not an unhappy dragon by nature, but it takes very little to set him off into fits of anger and foul language. Yes, he has a tendency to use words that are not... appropriate, but when he's very angry at someone or something, he can't seem to help it. When he is in a happy mood his voice is surprisingly very festive and cheerful, and that's when it's the most pleasant to listen to. Romanoth loves females, particularly greens, and when he's around them his voice will adopt a flirty tone. But this red obviously has a strong dislike for other male dragons, obvious in the irritable sound to his voice whenever one is around.

Personality:
Hotheaded, condescending, foul mouth, stubborn, cowardly

[x]

[/color]

---

It took some time for the Italian White Flag blue to realize that his red brother had left the sands with his bonded and was not coming back. When he finally figured this out, though, a sort of whining croon escaped from the blue and a voice drifted out to all those listening, spacey and airy yet heavy with sorrow. My brother is gone... where did he go? I didn't mean to make him angry... The blue picked up his head a bit, looking toward the candidates once more, then slowly got to his feet. Before his steps had been light and bouncy, but now his paws dragged across the sands as he knew he needed to search for His. Where are you, Mine? Mine? Won't anyone want me?[/size][/blockquote][/justify]

[Deleted]

Well.

Mousy had never been so excited in her life.

She hadn't really wanted to run to the beach, but she had discovered that she had to, and so she picked up a stick, a handsomely-carved, polished one, standing above her hip-height, coming just to her ribs. She had carved it herself in her free time, and she always kept one around; it was so very useful, particularly since she got injured so easily.

She ran, dragging the stick, although she put it down once or twice, the whole way to the Sands.

When Mousy arrived, she was (obviously) exhausted. Digging her fingertips in to the handle of the crutch, she looked around tiredly, her amber-brown eyes flashing as she looked for a quiet spot where she could sit, and somewhere to leave her stick (her joints had been acting up quite a bit lately, particularly her ankle, and she hardly got a moment when she wasn't either limping or using a crutch, so she always carried this stick around with her, although she hadn't when she had gone to touch the eggs) while she observed everyone else: it was just inconvenient to be carting the thing around all the time.

Glancing at the stick, which was decorated with the body of a dragon curling around it, the head forming the top and the space between the spread wings (over its back) where she put her hand.

Mousy quickly observed, through dark eyes (and from under bushsy eyebrows) that all the people who had been there previously (when they had gone to touch the eggs, of course) had turned up, which was great.

Great.

She never thought she would be, but she was so pleased to see people. She smiled slightly, leaving her crutch where she was and walked, somewhat uncertainly, across the sand towards some girls she'd seen a few times before. She walked a few paces before her ankle gave in, and she swore irritably under her breath, limped back to where she'd left the stick, picked it up and went over to them again, chuckling.

"Great day, huh?" she said, with a slightly sarcastic tinge, for no real reason.

[/size][/justify][/blockquote]

[OoC? Yeah, this is technically OoC:// I live in the wrong country! I missed the excitement! T_T]

[spikey]

How eventful this was turning out to be. Many people had showed up, each as familiar as the last. Spike was practically like a hyena with her nervous laughter. She was uneasy about being here, afraid she wouldn't Impress. Not that any could blame her. She was stressed beyond belief when something like this was offered. A dragon... her own dragon.

She quickly hugged Kitty and Spore as they appeared, her smile never faltering. "Hi guys!" she laughed. "About time you all showed up." And that was meant because an egg had started to hatch. One way... then the other. Then the other. Then finally it cracked only to be be split in two. "Look!" she cried. Marie "Spike" clenched her fists and buried them into her pockets, fingers growing moist with sweat. This was it. The start of a hatching.

The red and blue were very different straight from the start. Spike chuckled dryly at their little talking fits and she already decided she sided with the blue. He was too cute not to adore. Still, she wasn't eager to see who he Impressed to. The thing was probably going to be a handful for His. She saw an energetic blue. One that'd need attention. It wasn't exactly what she wanted. Turning her head away, she stared at the other eggs momentarily.

Oh, the Solider Egg was still there. She had liked it even from a distance. That and the Solitude Egg. Something about them made her feel deliciously evil. The good evil. The one that made it easy to feel okay for supporting those that went unliked. Okay, yes, maybe she was a little bit of a lover of hte unknown, of the adventure. Spike turned back to the red and nudged Syd. "Wonder who will get that one," she whispered.

It didn't take long for hte answer to be revealed as it trotted across the sands to Kitty. Shocked by such a choice, Spike smiled and shook her head. "Lucky," she joked. "Congrats, Kitty." Inwardly, a drop of jealousy licked at his stomach. She did want a hatchling. Not the red but a hatchling none the less. She did adore her friends. But the green monster didn't stop for that reason. Staring at the forgotten blue, pity went out for him. The blue was so handsome and so alone. Poor thing.

She hoped he Impressed soon.

[/blockquote]

[Icy-son]

Shifting her gaze from her cousin's house toward the direction of the beach, she took one step toward the house. Although, something was telling her to go back to the clutch. Just... something was. Sighing, backing away from the icy shade of the house, Icy headed toward the beach, running at her highest speed.

The beach was about a mile there, and she could probably walk it in fifteen minutes. But no, she /has/ to get there quickly. Using her energy, practically all of it, she dashed to the sands, specifically the place where the clutch was.

About half-way to the waters, Icy turned her head toward a small grouping of various people. Taking her time, she stepped slowly, suddenly realizing who they were. "Oh, hi everyone!" She mocked her cheer, and it was more in suprise. They all seemed to know what would happen here, with the hatching of the- Wait. Hatching of the Eggs?

"Oooh, rightt." she nodded, muttering to herself. Her hazel eyes turned toward Ivy, the one that she knew a bit more than the others, and shrugged. I don't understand it well, the shrug seemed to say. Well in Icy's mind it did.

[/blockquote]

[kitty]

Kitty was hugged quickly by Spike and then was distracted by movement among the eggs. The first one was hatching. Her attention was now focused fully on the egg rocking violently back and forth, as if it were fighting with itself. The White Flag egg was hatching. Kitty recalled her feelings surrounding that particular egg and remembered that it was a very cheery, happy thing that craved attention. The dragon housed inside would probably irritate her, but hey, Impressing was Impressing, and Kitty was eager to Impress to a dragon. The egg shook violently, bumping the Soldier egg and finally, finally, a foot stuck out the bottom and a claw and snout appeared from the top, largely damaging the shell of the dragon's former home. And then the egg broke in two, exactly down the middle.

The egg had hatched. But there was something Kitty most definitely had not expected that came out of it: twins!

Just like Kitty!

The simple connection between herself and these two baby dragons amused her, and she watched in interest as the two of them conversed. The smaller one was a blue and the larger one was a red, although small for one of his rank. The blue was adorable and bouncy, the red handsome and serious, and kitty wasn't sure which she liked more.

Finally, it seemed that the red was ready to Impress. He turned away from his little brother and strode towards the candidates. He prowled around for a moment, and finally stopped in front of her. Suddenly a voice sounded inside her head. My brother is so dimwitted, KittyMine. I do not understand it. It feels so good to finally be out of that crowded egg. But my brother will just go back to that other brother of mine... ugh. I am starving, take your Romanoth away now. And keep me away from all of them. Especially that one

KittyMine? Had this dragon, Romanoth, Impressed to her? Kitty was surprised and flattered at once. Romanoth nudged her roughly in the direction of the stands and she led him away, smiling and turning to wave at her friends on her way out. Come on, Romanoth, she thought.

(Yaaay fail )

[Yellowstar]

Many eyes were now on the bright blue dragonet, watching hopefully as he padded among the male candidates, sniffing some, passing right by others in his search. But while the blue continued to search for a rider, it seemed there was another egg that was ready to hatch. Two, actually. The Hero Egg was practically leaping into the air with how energetically it was shaking, and it certainly stole the show at the moment, but anyone not paying attention to the Hero egg noticed that the Gentleman Egg was shaking as well. Perhaps not as noticeably as its larger sibling, but the way it rocked back and forth was a telltale sign that the dragon inside would soon emerge. The Hero egg rolled around on the sands, bumping into the Rose and Gentleman eggs repeatedly, which produced tiny cracks on its shell; The Gentleman egg shook more subtly, determined not to make an obnoxious fool of itself, the complex shell fracturing in several places.

Finally the Hero egg broke- no, exploded open, pieces of shell rocketing outward to shower over the nearby eggs and candidates. The American Hero Brown, who now stood on the remains of his destroyed egg, drew excited murmurs from the crowd. He was a handsome brown, not as dark of hide as some of the others of his rank, but still a healthy looking dragon. He stretched, revealing a pattern of stripes on the undersides of his wings and a light stripe under his neck and down his belly. Soon after the Gentleman egg broke apart, large sections of the shell falling off one by one as the dragon inside freed itself. At last the shell crumbled apart and a blue dragonet was revealed. But surprisingly, despite his remarkable egg shell, the dragon himself had a rather plain hide. There were very few markings, only subtle changes noticeable in the shade of the dark blue hide. But despite that, he was a handsome blue, perhaps more so than his brown brother.

The English Gentleman Blue turned his head slightly toward the American Hero Brown, scowled, and walked in the other direction. The brown, oblivious, leaped up and ran after his smaller brother. The blue stopped suddenly and the brown nearly collided with him, but managed to stop in time and roughly nudged his brother. The blue turned to growl at the brown, but was met with the larger hatchling leaping at him playfully and knocking him over. The blue gave out a startled shriek but soon joined in, and thus the two dragons were then rolling on the sands together in a play fight. Several candidates "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at the sight of the two young dragons playing together, in their own world and not worrying about their siblings or their need to Impress. For several minutes the brown and the blue played, until finally the smaller of the pair broke away from the larger, looking quite flustered and surprised at himself. The brown chirped in confusion, but the blue only tilted his head upward and sat down regally, now ignoring his playmate as well as the candidates.

The interactions of the newly-hatched dragons were forgotten in that moment, because yet more eggs were starting to hatch. The Soldier Egg, now impatient, was vibrating on the sands. Unlike the rest of its siblings, it did not shake and roll like they had, it instead stayed in place, yet the movements of the dark, banded egg were visible. A deep rumbling sound seemed to come from it as an almost... pounding noise was heard from the inside of the shell as the dragonet attacked its prison of an egg. Next to it, the Solitude Egg rocked more softly but twice as violently, sudden large holes appearing on the white shell as if it was being stabbed by a blade. The shell cracked steadily, bit by bit, pushing outward but still remarkably staying together. That was, until the final push, when the entire egg crumbled at once. It was a very neat and obviously planned procedure, that some candidates found fascinating and others found boring. Whatever the crowd's reaction, the egg was no more, and a pale ghostly blue dragon stood in its place. The Japanese Solitude Blue sat calmly, his tail curled around his paws like a feline's, watching. He did not flinch as the Soldier egg gave a sudden shudder, instead turning to watch as his more sullen brother tried to hatch. The dragon inside of the Soldier egg seemed to be having difficulty, for even though it was now shaking more fiercely, the thick shell did not crack.

For the past several minutes the Italian White Flag blue had been padding around the candidates, sniffing them, poking them, sometimes chirping playfully at them. But he still had not Impressed, and no one was sure whether it was because he was unable to find his rider or because he simply didn't want to yet. He seemed to be in a happier mood and not at all worried, though, so the safer assumption would probably be the latter. Something back toward the clutch caught his attention, for he turned to look in the direction of his siblings. Upon seeing that the Solitude egg had hatched, the vibrant blue forgot the candidates once more and bounded over to where his brother sat. The pale blue did not appear as exuberant to see his brother as the lighter one was, but he gave a polite nod and then resumed watching the Soldier egg.

The Italian White Flag blue looked to the Soldier egg, tilting his head curiously as he watched the large egg trying to hatch. There were several moments of stillness, with nothing more happening on the sands aside from the Soldier egg still thrashing around, the two blues sitting and watching and the other blue and the brown sitting away from them. Finally, the bright blue seemed to get tired of waiting, for he jumped up, hopped over to the Soldier egg, and pushed it. The egg didn't give much of a reaction, so he pushed harder, using all of his body weight to move the egg. The Soldier egg eventually moved, rolling over onto its side, and the blue gave a loud chirrup of victory at his accomplishment. The Japanese Solitude blue huffed a bit, obviously not seeing the logic in his larger brother's attempt.

But that push seemed to be all the Soldier egg needed. It heaved once more and finally the egg split, one giant crack appearing all the way down the shell. Claws broke though the crack in the shell and tore at it, making a hole big enough for the dragon inside to emerge. Out poked a dark head, followed by a long neck and broad shoulders. The German Soldier Bronze pulled himself out of his egg, looked around, then sat down, but not after kicking the remains of his egg away. Sharding thing, keeping him in there for so long. The Italian White Flag blue chirped happily at the sight of his friend finally out of his egg, and was quickly by the much larger hatchling's side, nuzzling the bronze affectionately. The Japanese Solitude blue got to his feet slowly and went to greet his newly hatched brother, and the bronze and the blue then spoke quietly to each other while the other blue remained glued to the bronze's side, oblivious of the bronze trying to ignore him.

---

Shards, she couldn't be late! Not for a hatching! The girl cursed to herself and to her bad timing as she quickly threw down the rag she was cleaning with and hastily made her way back to her room. Of all times for the eggs to hatch, it had to have been when she was in the middle of chores, hadn't it? The 17 Turn old candidate had never been late to witness a hatching before, ever since she first started standing at age 12, but unfortunately, it looked like this would be her first. So much for trying to keep a good record!

As soon a she reached her room at the candidates' barracks, panting with the effort it took to run there so quickly, her little dog Tinkerbell let out a stream of startled barking. Her cat, Mina, disliking the noise, rose from her spot perched on the girl's bed and disappeared to a more quiet part of the room. At least Yellow's brothers weren't here, or they would have made it even more difficult to get to the hatching on time. "Calm down, Tinkerbell, I'm only getting something." Yellow sighed and set to work rummaging through some pikes of clothes on the floor of her room. It was difficult to find them in the piles of dirty clothes, and when she finally spotted them she saw that they were wrinkled. Too late to do anything about it now, she thought as she quickly put them on. Hopefully it would be the last time she had to wear them, anyway.

She then left her room and set off at a jog to the hatching grounds. The other candidates were probably there already, and she would be lucky to get there before any of the eggs hatched. Despite all the chatter and the rumors about the mysterious orphaned clutch, Yellow had never gone to take a look at it. Perhaps she should have, after all it was commonly believed that interacting with eggs before they hatch lowers the dragons' chances of betweening. But she had been so busy with chores and lessons that she just didn't have the time. Upon reaching the sands and looking at the eggs for the first time, Yellow was shocked by how colorful and uniquely designed they all were. Several had hatched already, too; a handsome red had Impressed to her friend Kitty, and as they left the sands Yellow waved and gave a quick, "Congratulations!"

The other dragons didn't seem to be having much concern for Impressing. Three blues, a brown, and a bronze all just seemed to be minding their own business, not paying much attention to the candidates at all. She smiled a little at the group of three and the blue who was acting very affectionate toward the dark bronze, as well as the handsome blue who seemed to be arguing with his brown brother. They all looked so wonderful, and Yellow hoped that she would get one.

[yoko]

LATE LATE LATE! DARN PAPERS!

How could she be late to a hatching?! What if her baby had gone poof? In near tears, Yoko unlocked her monster of a bicycle, the lovely black Haruka who was marked by swirls of white and pink flowers. Switching to gear three so she could peddle faster, Yoko revved Haruka and shot down the sidewalk. She ignored all rules of of traffic and physics and broke several laws as she rode straight to the train station.

Sitting still on a train was agonizing knowing that dragon bebs were hatching while she was there in first class seats. ;o;

Finally, they were at the Weyr, Yoko shoved all the other passengers aside.

"OUT OF THE WAY, CANDIDATE COMING THROUGH! >=O"

She ran all the way to the sands and passed Kitty who had a lovely red Dragon with her.

"OH KITTY! Did I miss them all?! T_T" Yoko sobbed, just outside the Hatching Cavern.

She sank to her knees and put her hands and her palms and repressed the urge to sob. Yoko was a very passionate person, and the thought of a Betweened baby dragon because she was late made her want to throw herself off a cliff.

[kitty]

Kitty grinned a thank you to Yellow as she left the sands and her friend entered, tossing a quick 'good luck' over her shoulder only to notice that a few more eggs had hatched. More dragons for her friends! She had been lucky enough to Impress first and avoid the frenzied worry that came with wondering whether one of the eggs would Impress to you. And she was still amazed that she had Impressed at all, especially to a handsome red dragon such as Romanoth, despite his temper.

She was just leaving the Sands when her friend, Yoko, arrived. She paused, noticed the dragon, and broke down into tears. "Oh Kitty! Did I miss them all?!" she sobbed. Kitty shook her head furiously.

"Not yet, Yoko! Quick, quick, run! Hurry!" She flailed her arms, urging the still-crying teen onward. "Go Impress! Good luck!"

[yoko]

Yoko looked up through teary eyes at a flailing Kitty. Had she heard right? They weren't all done hatching? Well why the DF was she still out here! She jumped to her feet and ran inside. Whoa, most of the eggs were still here, but there were plenty of baby dragons all out at once.

She was totally confused by the scene and tried to match up which dragonet hatched from which egg. But she remembered her matters and briefly said:

"Hi Everyone! ^^ Trains suck when you're in a hurry! Did I miss much? Well, I guess I did seeing as a ton of eggs hatched. Anyone other than Kitepic impress?"

She looked around but couldn't really absorb who was there and who wasn't due to her growing excitement and lack of focus.