Clutching!

[Kayla]

Neory woke feeling a pressure in her mind. It took her only a moment before she awoke fully, realizing what was going on. Sheluth was ready to lay the eggs that she and Ionuth had produced. The Gold Rider jumped out of bed and quickly dressed, "Go on, lovely. I'm on my way."

She jotted a note for R'net - trying not to think about how much she wished that Torenth was the father of the eggs and she'd be waking him up to be with her during this. Instead, she let him sleep, not wanting to wake him up to remind him that she had had to chose someone other than him. Let Ionuth know. He and His should be there for this.

Neory headed out to the Sands, moving quickly. She managed to arrive before her beloved Gold actually began laying the eggs. Good. You are here. Now we begin.

Ionuth. It is time.

Neory lent her beautiful Queen every bit of support that she could. There could be no question within the mind of the Gold that her Rider was proud of her and there with her during this rather exhausting process.

No matter how many times she watched it, Neory found herself in awe as she watched Sheluth lay the first egg. A good sized one, but not a Gold egg, and settle it in the warm sand. Neory remembered her own experience bringing her two children into the world. She could not imagine the multiple births her Dragon performed.

[Zenniel]

Very rarely did one as young as Live see a birth. Even more rare were the layings of eggs by the great Golden dragons that commanded the skies. Live did not know why the wondrous queens decided to remain inconspicuous when they were ready to lay their eggs, but Live did know that, to see an egg clutching was marvelous. And rare. Only one in ten golden dragons liked others watching the egg layings, and only then if was usually just their riders and their weyrmates.

Live didn't know what type of dragon Sheluth was, the one who was protective over her eggs or the one that didn't care who saw them. She did know, however, that, if she was spotted at the time of Sheluth laying her eggs, then she would surely be sent away. The only problem was the fact that she hadn't known Sheluth was going to lay her eggs today. It had been cold that morning, colder than usual at least, and Live had sought the warmth of the Hatching Sands to warm her.

Live was not one of the people who danced around like little sissies whenever they touched the warmth of the sands. Rather, she revelled in the warmth, loved it, embraced it. She would much rather stay on the sands themselves then in the pews, she called them, overlooking the sands. The sands were just brimming with heat, and she liked it. Maybe that was another reason why she had come to the Southern Continent, the heat.

Live was leaning against the stone wall of the Hatching Sands when Sheluth came in. Live had been surprised the first time Sheluth went to the Sands, but all of the times afterward she didn't mind. In fact, it was Sheluth's right to come to the Sands. It was Live who was intruding.

It seemed Sheluth didn't mind who was in the Hatching Sands at this particular moment. The whole of the Weyr could have been in here and all that Sheluth would have done is lay another egg. Live revelled in the great golden mass as contractions split through her body. The poor dragon.

'But,' Live reminded herself, 'It is all part of the circle of life. Someone dies, someone is born.'

Live couldn't help herself, though, and crawled forward. She planted herself on her stomach, soiling her tidy clothes. The sand stuck to everything, and her clothes, as well as her hair, was no exception. But she was enthralled in the sight before her. Sheluth was laboring massively, and all Live wanted to do was comfort the dragon. She could see the eggs poking out of Sheluth's sides at random angles, and wondered if they hurt. Soon, though, the eggs would be out, and Sheluth would be rid of her labor pains.

'One step closer to the hatching.' Live said, and knew she could hardly wait.

[TheDreamerLady]

Sheluth Clutches!

Torenth's voice, instead of Neory's woke the older Bronzerider. And it wasn't pleasant. First of all, Tor, like any Bronze was very excited about a Clutching. That much excitement, in the morning, was not what R'net wanted.

Then, the fact that Tor wasn't Neory led him to assume- correctly - that Neory had left without waking him. To understand that, one must realize that Neory always woke her Weyrmate when Sheluth Clutched. Growling under his breath, he rolled out of bed, and blearily glared around, hunting out clothes. The letter almost escaped his attention, but when he noticed it, he stared for a good minute, not doing anything.

Mine?

R'net ignored his dragon, and stared at the note as though he could learn what it meant without touching it. Through the chaotic thoughts his brain held, one stood strong. That the letter had better not be one about leaving him for the Weyrleader.

And then he read it, and was just as irritated. It informed him that Sheluth was clutching, and nothing else. With another growl, he left his and her weyr, and strode briskly out to the Hatching Sands, and then decided to wait by the entrance, and watch for a while. He wanted to see if anything else had changed with Neory.

[Kayla]

Sheluth had more important things to worry about then some Candidate who had snuck onto the sands to watch her clutch. She didn't like that the girl was actually on the Sands, but for the most part, she was able to ignore her. If she became problematic, she would inform Neory of her and have her removed.

"You're doing well, lovely." Neory crooned to the Gold as she laid yet another egg. There were now four eggs nestled carefully in the hot sand, and it was obvious that there were still many more eggs in the Gold - this was going to be a long morning.

As the dragon took a momentary break, Neory glanced up, scritching the Gold's eyeridges. She saw R'net, and her smile was sad, almost apologetic. They should have been enjoying this day together, celebrating their flight, their leadership of the new weyr, this should have been their acheivement. If there was any change in Neory, it was that - a suppressed sadness. Suppressed so that she could focus on getting Sheluth through the clutching, suppressed because she knew that the next clutch would be Torenth's.

She blew him a brief kiss and then turned her focus back on the large Gold dragon who had begun pushing out the next egg, this one a bit smaller, but still decent.

[TheDreamerLady]

R'net rubbed the scruffy red and silver shadow on his face, and continued to stare pensively at his weyrmate. He didn't like how sad she was, he didn't like how she avoided him, he didn't like how they weren't talking, and he didn't like how she seemed overly sensitive about the fact that he hadn't won. All of this muted, unspoken emotion was getting to him, and really bothering it. And if it was that way with her losing a Flight, he hated to see what would happen when Elfreth rose.

Something drastic would need to be done. R'net decided as he blew a kiss back to his Weyrmate. Something that would blow Neory's tight reign on her emotions up, so that they could have a healthy discussion, and she could understand that none of this mattered to him, so long as she was happy.

[Zenniel]

Oh no, another dragon. And another dragon meant another rider. She was fairly certain that Sheluth had noticed her presence, but Live could do nothing about it now. She was at the farthest outskirts of the Sands, and hoped that it was far enough away from the great queen to not arouse any mothering instincts.

Live decided not to move. She was afraid that, if she moved one single inch, Sheluth would turn on her. She was sure Sheluth knew exactly where she was. But she also wanted to stay in that position to watch the eggs being laid. She would leave afterwards, even if it meant walking past the Bronze dragon, his rider, and the Weyrwoman.

There seemed to be a tension between the two riders. Live really didn't like it that she was seeing all of this when this was supposed to be their alone time. She felt like hitting herself for intruding upon such personal business. But then again, watching the glorious queen clutch muted out all other emotions she felt emanating from the two.

[Kayla]

Neory was trying to focus on Sheluth and her clutching, but the suppressed emotions were enough to irritate the clutching queen. That irritation became expressed not in snapping at Neory - she did not understand what the situation was with her Rider, but she would always love and support her. However, it was expressed by turning to glare at the intruder. Mine, make her leave. Now.

Of course, lovely. You're doing great.

Neory moved from the Gold dragon in the direction of the Candidate. Her expression was stern, none of the sadness from the silent communication with her love nor the tenderness that tended to be typical of Neory and especially her interaction with the clutching Gold. "Leave." It was a simple command, no reason given, no threats made. As stern as Neory was being, she would forgive the incident if the Candidate left immediately.

[Zenniel]

Oh shards. She saw the Weyrwoman heading for her. She frowned and stood up. She knew it was her fault, all her fault. The queen hated her, everything was her fault. She did not express these self-doubts, however. Instead, she just curtsied slightly, bowing her head.

"I'm sorry for being here, Goldrider." Live said clearly, though she was thinking that she really shouldn't have been here anyway. "I was here before your lovely gold started to lay her eggs." Not thinking about the Weyrwoman and if she was being too talkative, Live looked straight into the Queenrider's eyes, "I hope there is a lovely clutch this time, your Sheluth--and you--really deserve it."

She turned and, without wiping off the sand or doing the infamous 'sand dance' she walked purposefully out of the cavern. "Hope your clutch is good." Live said to the golden dragon, curtsying. Then Live was gone. At least she knew there were some good sized eggs, and that maybe she could Impress one when they hatched.