[Candidates] Egg Watching

[Dragon]

Renkestuous - Nebulaeth mostly

When the Queen yelled, Renkestuous jerked as though struck and blushed furiously. Of course she could take care of her own eggs! And Liyanel was undoubtedly right, that they were in the way. He stumbled backward, pressing toward the edge of the sands, although he kept his knife out just in case.

"Sorry, Lady Nebulaeth, we'll get out of the way," he said, thoroughly embarrassed. They were supposed to be candidates, they should have known better than to second guess a gold's ability to care for her eggs!

[emil]

//oops, won't miss this round. I'm almost done being away from home.//

Candidate Levysc - open ish

Levysc was mostly not in favor of touching unhardened eggs, even if it was incredibly tempting. They would definitely get noticed if they tried to pull something that stupid. If Nebulaeth wasn't sleeping right there, she'd have been much more likely to mess around, frankly. The blue-clad femme instead sat on the Stands in-between rows, using a smooth stone bench as a headrest. She gazed wide-eyed as the newly-formed eggs sparkled dully under the dim, dank light of the Hollow. Her heart pounded despite herself. Levysc teased Nesca endlessly for her obsession with dragons and whers, but begrudgingly wondered if she wasn't developing one of her own. At Semaca -- the unexplored wilds called to her, so loud that she felt a bit crazy at times. She would not be allowed to delve the deep, dangerous, amazing jungle without a bonded partner. It was stuffed full with spotted cats, killer plants, giant sand pits, all manner of venomous creature --

Her stomach twisted when the great din went up -- a foul-scaled, many-striped tunnelsnake! It dared the silly wherries to try their luck as it casually attempted to wrap its jaws around the nearest, still-soft egg. Levysc's dominant hand flew angrily to her hip, feeling for the knife instinctually -- then paused, thumbing the handle indecisively. She gritted her teeth, feeling every fraction between seconds. If she rushed in like the others, she'd definitely be pinned with a good amount of blame. Plus, she was terrified of the foul thing and definitely didn't want to touch it herself, at all. Ever. Levysc hated snakes.

"Ohh -- we'd have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling tunnelsnake!!!" Levysc squealed in dismay as the Queen roared in her ears. She was definitely getting in trouble, as Liyanel had absolutely caught them all with their trousers dropped. Ohhh, forsk. She scuttled from Stand to wall, glued as she battled the desire to escape inevitable punishment versus Liyanel's very reasonable order to stay put and let Nebulaeth handle the giant, terrible snake.

[Calingaladha]

Candidate Joffrey - open

Joffrey was already feeling a bit green after Kirin described the bug massacre, but he kept it together, mostly. That is, until they encountered the massive tunnelsnake. In his mind, this was nothing more than a gigantic bug.

While other candidates rushed to defend the egg, Joffrey stood frozen to his spot, and he screamed like a rabbit caught in a feline's jaws. He felt his blood run cold, sweat beading rapidly over his forehead.

And then Joffrey dropped in a dead faint, the color drained from his face as it smacked into the sands.

[Arcane]

Candidate Francesca- Open to riders/handlers

Francesca's blood ran cold, at the sight of the tunnelsnake. She froze for a moment. She wasn't a fighter and there were other candidates and the furious dragon queen mother, already engaged in battle. She forced the vomit in her throat down and tried to will her body back into action.

"I'm going in search of help!" Francesca called out.

The goldrider was right. She couldn't fight a tunnelsnake that large. But she could call for other whers and dragons, who could.

She took off at a run, screaming as loudly as her voice could carry, as she took off towards the weyr's populated center, "The eggs are under attack! We need aid at the hatching sands! Hurry!"

She didn't know if anyone would make it in time, but that wasn't in her control.

Candidate Sylvia- Stabby Crew

Sylvia had never fought a tunnelsnake before. She'd never really fought anything before.

But she'd had (a few sevendays') of the same training as the other candidates. And they were coming together- for their eggs, for Semaca.

"For Semaca!" Sylvia cried, because it seemed like the sort of thing for a brave, daring candidate to cry.

When Nebulaeth ordered them to stop, she stopped short, sliding down onto the hot sands after the sudden shift in momentum.

She bounced back up, hoping nobody'd noticed.

She thought she was more the supportive type than the warrior type anyway.

"I'll guard the entrance!" she announced instead, "I will not let it escape your righteous draconic motherly wrath."

[EW-NA]

Diendiatto - Tag: Joffrey (tldr; Dien taking pity of Joffrey and dragging him somewhere safer)
--

If Diendiatto had been honest with himself, he'd have expected a very displeased Gold to be the terrifying thing to greet them all on their 'adventure'. She was the least of the trouble, as something else chose to serve as an efficient roadblock: a tunnelsnake the size to rival a dragon itself.

So of course, the moment the creature was proving itself a threat to the precious eggs of the clutch, many sprung to action. And it was going as expected- so far.

Dien held himself back, as a few more 'hopeful heroes' rushed passed him. He'd dealt with bothersome opportunists back home, and even the small ones you had to be mindful of. Truthfully, the cavern was starting to erupt in chaos – shouting, people running, Nebulaeth having awoken to the situation. It was hard to follow or decide on which would be the best action---

-Fwump-

Diendiatto turned towards the dead-weighted drop to the side of him. He didn't have to see what happened to piece it together. It seemed one of their earlier rabble-rousers, the ever gallant and confidant candidate Joffrey... was taking a recuperating rest face down in the sand. Outstanding.

Tempting as it was to relish in the situation, Dien knew it was probably more trouble for him to be there. Someone more important might trip over his carcass coming into the cavern, or if the tunnelsnake chose to go for something else that was 'helpless and round'...

It took everything in him not to let out a verbal moan as he let his head lull back to glare upward. Dragging his fingers down his face cathartically, Dien shook himself back to the present. Ignoring the chaos farther in the sands, he turned his eyes towards the downed candidate.

“Come on---”

Wrapping his strong hands around Joffrey's ankle, Dien gave a yank and took to dragging him out of the main pathway and towards the side. Could he have been gentler and perhaps flipped Joffrey over? Yes, but it wasn't his concern if the other candidate collected every stray shard and pebble up his nose like a beach comber.

Dien's charity was limited.

[Windra]

Candidate Petraxen - @ Hamuntep, trying to pull him back

Nebulaeth was awake and pissed off. Though really she didn’t seem to be aiming the most of her temper towards them. That was good – right? Besides, the tunnelsnake was clearly the bigger threat. Its jaw unhinging to swallow the egg brought the daunting reality of its actual size into full perception. But the lad next to him was vaulting for the creature anyway!

”Idiot!” Petraxen snatched out a hand to grab the boy’s shoulder and yank him back. The guy was burly. Petraxen was not. He wagered he was about to get jerked into the line of fire whether he wanted to or not. ”Don’t get close! She’s gonna thrash that thing! You’re gonna make it panic – or pissed!”

He struggled to convey what was on his mind. The notion of that massive asshat snakey getting roaring mad, tossing and turning and cracking every egg on the Sands – His desperation and alarm caused a surge to flow into somebody else. She appeared on the sands before them, now: quiet, timid little Honeysuckle with teddy bear in tow, squawking concern. She paid no attention to what lurked in the backdrop. Petraxen was anxious! Why was he anxious?!

Forsk. ”Let big goldie handle it, c’mon!” he snapped at Hamutep. ”Honeysuckle! Honeysuckle, get over here – and don’t look behind you!”

[GalaxyMir]

E’nel Of Bronze Xalemeth

E’nel expected Xalemeth’s job as clutch father would be a tedious one. As they walked down the weyrbowl, E’nel fanned his shirt trying to air out the heat. All too aware of the sweat settling in after a day of drills. He walked next to Xalemeth, his hide gleaming polished bronze, the dragon also tired. ”Update me, how is the clutch doing?” E’nel asked , glancing up at the bronze , walking confidently along side his rider. The eggs harden well. They’ll hatch into fierce beasts, they will know the skies as well as I do. He replied , a tad bit of smugness accompanying his tone.

”They’re lucky to have you as their sire. And we’re lucky nothing’s gone wrong so far, knowing the history this planet has with clutches going wrong”[\b] E’nel chuckled, remembering stories of eggs being stolen, mysterious eggs appearing in sands and candidates being mauled. [b]”Healthy eggs, that’s what matters.

The two carried on in silence when a girl’s scream pierced the air. E’nel’s heart lurched , panic rising as he heard the clutch was in danger . He dug his heels in the ground , bee lining it for the sands . Being closely followed by an equally panicked Xalemeth, racing forward with his rider.

The great bronze’s eyes whirled red with rage at the sight of the group of candidates huddled near the eggs. Inspecting them, he saw the tunnelsnake attempting to gobble on, meanwhile E’nel offered Francesca a quick word. ”Thank you for alerting us.”

Away from the eggs , you fiends! Let the queen deal with it herself! Xalemeth roared loudly , eyes flicking between candidates near the tunnelsnakes and the rest of the eggs. His tail lashing as he towered above them all. E’nel looked at Nebulaeth , her rider and then at the tumultuous group of candidates. ”Faranth’s sake! E’nel’s voice rose , sharply swearing Have you all got no manners? Absolute fools! I’ll be taking to the candidate master about this- you can count on that!!” He pointed at the Queen. ”Didn’t you hear him!? Get away from the forsking eggs!”

[FirebrandPhlox]

Candidate Brabbop - Snake Stabbers, Kirin

Brabbop grinned widely as he pulled his knife from his belt in a quick motion. A fight! And one with a good reason! He couldn't let the eggs just get eaten by a tunnelsnake, no matter how overgrown it was. Plus, a perfectly valid reason to use his knife was easily accepted.

As he jumped onto the sand to charge the reptile, Nebuleath roared in his mind, and her rider came running out, telling them to stand down. Brabbop stopped for a moment, looked at the dragon, then the tunnelsnake, then his knife. The thoughts slowly pieced together in his mind. Yeah, the dragon would be the won winning this fight and he didn't want to be on her bad side.

He reached and grabbed the nearest candidate, who he vaguely remembered was called Kir-something. "Hey! Listen to da rider!" He shouted, pulling the boy back. "Dat dragon can take out da tunnelsnake in a single bite!" Now that he said it, he wanted to see the gold pull of such a feat.

___

Candidate Phelps - Petraxen

Phelps was glad he had held back, as much as he wanted a dragon, he wasn't about to fight a giant tunnelsnake for a bunch of eggs that might not even be his. The rest of the candidates quickly fell into chaos, some trying to fight the gargantuan reptile, some cowering from it, heck, one of the more pathetic candidates fainted. Still, it wouldn't look good if he just bounced from the scene without attempting to help in any way.

Then he spotted a flit he recognized, one that hung around with that annoying goody-two-shoes Petraxen. "Petraxen, you idiot!" Phelps called over the ruckus. "The flit can between! Go send her to get help!" A flit would be much faster than running to find riders or handlers to assist.

[DinoInADress]

Candidate Erina

Erina stopped dead in her tracks, sliding a bit and wobbling from her speed and winced at the mental volume of the dragon who she was pretty sure was the clutchfather. A wave of relief washed over her as she put her knife away and ran back to the stands and away from the very pretty eggs. The riders and dragons would take care of it. She wouldn’t get hurt. Not that she wasn’t willing to get hurt to defend the eggs and her fellow candidates but she would rather not be.

“Thank you whoever got help.” she said thankfully to the group.

[nineofswords]

Hamun - Petraxen

"Let go of me!" Hamuntep snapped at Petraxen. Faranth if this lout was the reason he missed out on a chance to make his mark in history, he was going to have words with them. He jerked his way out of Petraxen's grasp, helped along by the unexpected arrival of the flit.

Hamun sprinted onto the sands as best he could. It slid under his feet and he didn't want to eat shards before getting to the tunnelsnake. This was his moment, he wanted to make history, and here was his chance. Everyone else could balk if they wanted to, but people like that never amounted to anything in the end.

He ignored the shouts from the bronze sire and his rider. They weren't important. This wasn't about them. They could try and kill the tunnelsnake before him over his cold, dead body. He had his dagger up and ready to strike. He was getting closer to the cursed monster.

---

King -

King's eyes stayed huge as the stands errupted into chaos. Everyone was running every which way. He looked around, trying to figure out what he should be doing, what made the most sense. And then a rider on a big dragon appeared and started yelling at them all. Faranth, oh Faranth, this was a mess. A mess that King was stuck in the middle of, and he had no idea what to do or who to listen to! Should he help with attacking the egg gobbler? Or flee like the riders were telling him to? He darted towards the sands, determined to prove how brave he was like some of the others, only to change his mind and start scrambling back up the stand stairs. He darted away from the cavern entrance, deciding maybe he should try helping some of his fellow candidates, only to dart back towards the sands again, thinking maybe he could drag back the few who were determined to join the fray.

He couldn't make up his mind on what to do, and so he just ended up darting around in circles in the stands.

[toby-du-coeur]

Candidate Kirin - Brabbop, stabbers

Kirin forged on until the other half of the brooding pair showed up, yelling - and then someone grabbed him by the back of the tunic like a kitten. Brabbop.

Kirin struggled. Then, quickly reconsidering, he squirmed out of Brabbop's grasp and walked himself toward the stands, backwards so as not to lose a single moment of the happenings by the eggs. This had definitely been his own idea.

Hamun fought on toward the eggs, and Kirin gave him a grimace - unsure if it was out of admiration or more of a yikes - as he shuffled himself toward Sylvia, who seemed to be guarding the periphery of the sands. He stationed himself near her with a broad grin. "Isn't this forsking insane?"

It was - almost - just as exciting to watch the battle. And he'd surely proved his bravery to the eggs - who, after what he'd been told on Dragon Day, he imagined as having a sort of omnipotent sense of what went on outside the shell.

'Fiend' from the clutchfather was kind of a compliment.

"Still here if you need me! Go Nebulaeth!"

[Calingaladha]

Candidate Joffrey tag: Diendiatto

It took a moment of dragging for Joffrey to begin to rouse, his face and limbs dragging loosely in the sand and grit the whole while.
The candidate groaned softly first, and then began to lift his head in a daze, looking around. The snake was still there!

Joffrey sputtered from the debris that had entered his nose and mouth, and an errant pebble shot out of his nose. His face looked scratched and raw, but he didn't seem to suffer any serious injury.

He still wore a mask of pallor, and scrambled to get even further away from the attacking beast.

"It's going to eat me!" he squealed, even as the beast had taken no notice of him. He couldn't even focus on his rescuer, or the fact that his trousers were a little wet. It wasn't secrets he had leaked in his fright.

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

Garma of Green Vranath -- OPEN

Vranath had heard the frantic call of a candidate and she and her rider wasted no time in springing into action.

Death has come to the Hatching sands! Look, and be afraid! But Death must face greater dangers still! The blood spilt here will not be dragons'!

Vranath's screech wasn't easy to miss as they appeared above from Between, bugling a challenge to the tunnel snake. Nebulaeth may not be able to maneuver with the candidates in the way, but a green could try.

Doom will be decided here and now, snake!

Vranath dove, foreclaws outstretched as she made to grab at the head of the snake, if she could. Those jaws were perilously wrapped around an egg, and nobody could outfly her!

[Dragon]

Renkestuous - Open

What was he supposed to do? On the one hand, Renkestuous's first instinct had been to protect the forsking eggs, which was in its way good and right - but both the clutchmother and the clutchfather had made it clear that human help was neither needed nor welcome at the moment. Was getting out of the way really all that he could do?

Awkwardly, Ren clung to his belt knife, staring at the gigantic tunnelsnake. Incongruously, he noted that the thing was far too big to have stuck in someone's bed. He hadn't actually known tunnelsnakes came that big. You could ride that thing!

None of which was helping his indecision. He felt helpless, poised at the edge of the sands and unsure what to do.

V'geta of Bronze Saiyath - Open

An alarm had gone out: there was a danger on the sands. A danger to the eggs, and while they weren't Saiyath's eggs, they still carried the future of the Weyr in their hardening shells. V'geta doubted that it was anything that Nebulaeth couldn't handle, they could still provide backup. It wouldn't help Saiyath's chances next time the Queen rose - neither of them would remember - but it might help V'geta's reputation around his new Weyr.

We could always move the candidates that don't want to move themselves, Saiyath pointed out loudly, a cruel edge to his tone. If that meant they wound up with fewer candidates, well, it hardly mattered to Saiyath; there were always people in the stands that dragonets could Impress if there was no one on the sands.

V'geta smirked at his dragon's suggestion as Saiyath came to perch above the sands, the two of them peering down into the fray. They were too big to work around the candidates, but if someone did decide the wanted the candidates moved they'd be happy to oblige.

[Fel]

Candidate Malady - Stabby Stab™, Hamun

Malady hated this. He was sure he could take it, he had practiced in private every day after all, but he was still terrified and he did not like the feeling. Equal parts confidence in his martial prowess and a sheer, primal terror at the sight of such a big tunnelsnake.

And they were being told to stop. Surely that would be an excuse to not go through with it; he wouldn't have to do this. He could blame his lack of follow through on the rider and dragon ordering them away.

But Hamuntep didn't stop. And that meant Malady couldn't either. If someone else fought the tunnelsnake and he didn't, he could be called a coward. His reputation couldn't take that. He had to fight. And then, of course, he would find a way to win.

"I can take it, you don't need to do this," he told Hamun, brandishing his knife in a reverse grip on the moved alongside him. He wished he had two knives. He should have grabbed an extra from one of the Candidates who was too much of a weenie to fight. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Calm, cool, and collected. Oh yeah, he was going to be practically drowning in adoration after this.

[Windra]

Candidate Petraxen - @ Phelps, Hamuntep, Malady

”Dude, shut up!” Petraxen snapped when Phelps called his name, frustration screaming into his voice as the candidate he’d grabbed gave a mighty jerk that propelled him forth and Petraxen back. There was no time to think of how correct Phelps was – something he would admit through clenched teeth – since Hamuntep was now full-on sprinting towards a tunnelsnake that was easily as tall as a wher and several times longer … ! ”Damn it, you fool!”

The golden fire-lizard’s eyes wheeled to follow Hamun’s trajectory, not fully understanding what she’d betweened into. Her vision gradually took in the long thing of yellow, red, and black. Honeysuckle’s orbs became wide discs, vanishing into a blur of gold – not between, but flinging herself into Petraxen’s chest with frightened squeals and shivering limbs. She knocked him off-balance, sending his ass to the searing sands with an oomph.

”Go back to the barracks, baby!” he yelled to her. Honeysuckle would not budge. Dragons were appearing all around them. The cavalry had arrived! Yet Malady and Hamun were still trudging towards death. Petraxen gathered the teddy bear that had fallen and thrust it into Honeysuckle’s grip, forcibly removing her from his body to set her quivering form on the ground. ”Close your eyes, it’s gonna be okay!” Then he was running after the other two candidates, his stride impeded by the soft sand beneath his shoes. He was gonna tackle Hamun. He had to! But would he reach them in time. ”H-HEY! SOMEBODY! STOP THEM THEY’RE GONNA GET THEMSELVES KILLED!”

--

Radagast of Blue Radask - @ The Candidates who are NOT Stab, Inc.

As assistance began filtering into the Sands through the form of dragons and their riders, so too did the wherhandlers and their charges make an appearance. Radask in all his blue glory bounded well past the the candidates at first. Then he zipped back and forth in an action that mimed the instinct of herding canines, intent on driving the folks still lingering between the Sands and the Stands back further, hopefully out of the cavern.

Heyo! Need riders for bebbehs! No good if’n snake bait! He made a low noise quite like a bark with his tail thrashing back and forth. Bad candidies! Back to kennel!

”You’re going to get a tongue-lashing from Naxen later, I’m sure!” chortled stinky old Radagast as he wheeled about hallway behind them. He strode around to stand before them, holding both hands up and making ‘pushing’ motions gesturing for them to switch into reverse. ”Let those more experienced than you handle this, please! Turn around and wait outside if you can’t be compelled to return to your barracks!” For all the chaos erupting in his hindsight, Radagast was far from perturbed.