5.12-The Treasure Box Opens (ANY and/or ALL)

[kitllwynog]

The gold came to her first, and Sade felt her heart squeeze with hope as well as surprise. The hatchling examined her critically, almost threateningly and Sade stared back, refusing to let the fractious newborn intimidate her, though in the back of her mind she remembered that Hatchlings could injure and even kill Candidates. But the little Queen didn't seem to like her, she turned to stalk away and Sade sighed sadly even as the tail hit her shins with a sharp thwack. She gasped with surprise as she was knocked backwards into the hot Sands. Itzal squawked his indignation at the Gold as he fluttered above his pet.

It stung, both physically and emotionally. It was bad enough the little Gold hadn't wanted her, though Sade had tried to prepare herself for that, to be left Standing again. But to hit her as well, it hurt. But it also made her angry. That little brat! Safe surged to her feet, hurt, frustrated, and angry, wiping her face with the back of her hand before standing, glaring at the Gold, hands balled into fists.

She'd stay until the gold Impressed, it was only right, and it felt less like losing that way. At least she would show that little dragon that she wasn't one to be scared off. But after that, she was going to go back to the Barracks and play loudly on her fiddle.. And drink. That was the ticket.

Arkadian still stood outside the Grounds, eyes fixed to the Sands in fascination, unable to tear his eyes away no matter how much it hurt.

Aquila, meanwhile received M'riels summons from Duhath and sighed. Why would she want to attend the Hatching of that stupid Gold egg anyway? In fact, she wasn't feeling like doing much of anything lately. She didn't feel well. But the bronzerider was not to be gainsaid, she knew from experience, so she pried herself out of her chair and mounted her faithful blue, letting him deposit her at the entrance. As she walked in she could see that the Gold was already out of her egg. Well, this was pointless, the Hatching was nearly over. She leaned against the wall wearing a very put out expression.

[goldenauthanth]

The little gold hatchling still stood frozen in time infront of Evie - seemingly extra interested in the youngest candidate on the sands. She uncrouched herself and inched forward towards the little girl, sticking her nose out as if to sniff at the girl with curiosity.. and then moving herself to circle around her - looking at Evie from all directions, stalking like a cat would its prey..

[sorra]

Evie stood frozen in shock for a few moments, her eyes widening as the little gold stretched her nose out to sniff her. The girl tried not to tremble and be strong like the candidates were always told to do, but this was too much. When the gold started to prowl in circles around her Evie couldn't take it anymore. She squeaked in surprise and took off, hoping to escape the scary gold. She didn't want to be Bonded to that one. She ran as fast as she could, not knowing if the gold was following or not.

[goldenauthanth]

Evie’s decision to turn and run had surprised Sherath, and for a second the gold dragonet stood there confused. Why was she running!? She wondered, watching, she hadn’t even decided if she was any good or not yet... The gold thought worried, and then started to chase after her, bellowing out angrily as she did do. How *dare* a potential rider run away from *her!* She thought trying to loop off across the sands in the same direction, tripping over her own feet in her clumsiness and crashing into Eraydine and Siarie as she tried to aim for the gap between them. What resulted was a pile of golden hide, white robes and human limbs.. The little gold really started to make noise then, warbling and panicking as she felt trapped with the humans, sharp little dragon talons lashing out at the candidates, connecting with skin.

“Ouch!” Siarie exclaimed, trying to keep calm as the little dragonet panicked. This was fast turning dangerous and if she wanted out of this in one peice she was going to have to calm the little gold down. “Eraydine..” She tried to talk to the other girl in the tangled mess, the noise of the warbling gold making it impossible for her words to be heard. “Enough!” She shouted at the golden dragon, starting to lose her temper, she was shocked when the gold appeared to suddenly still..

{{You!}} The gold responded to Siarie {{You are who is mine!}} She said as a matter of factly, eyes linking with Siarie and impression made. {{I am Sherath, and you are my Siarie}} There was not even a second for Siarie to say anything against that.. for some reason Sherath was all she wanted..

Dragon: Golden Sherath, Impressed to: Siarie.

If the appearance of Sherath does not cause you to keep your distance, her personality certainly will. Her appearance screams strength and stamina, a wild beauty to be observed from a distance, watched but never touched. To touch Sherath without her direct permission could be a very wrong thing to do indeed, the gold has a very low tolerance and a short temper, she is quick to fly off the handle and even quicker to snap back in an argument. She is a very possessive dragon, possessive of her rider, her ledge and her weyr – she is the type of dragon that would limit the amount of other golds in the Weyr, if she had that power. She prefers to be a solitary dragon, and will more often be found alone, away from the others than in their company.

Sherath has no patients for pranks, tricks or schemes, and is quick to throw her distaste or displeasure around, and even assert her dominance where she feels she can. She *will* try it on with the senior dragons, and although she will be forced into submission, it will not come without a sulk – Sherath is most certainly a sulker!

Work Sherath takes seriously, wing drills and lessons that she feels is worth her attention she will work hard at, and will do and do and do until she feels that she, and her rider will have them absolutely perfect. This extends towards the rest of the dragons she associates with, and heaven forbid, any dragons than she comes to ‘lead’

Physical description:

Even as a Hatchling Sherath will tower over the other dragons of her age, and will continue to remain so large far into adulthood. Being a dragon breed in the future from lines and lines of powerful and large dragons, the best of the genes passed on are evident in Sherath. With her long length, and tall height it is not a surprise that her body build is on the larger size as a hatchling this will primarily be more baby fat, but as she grows and exercises, Sherath’s body will change, it will, one day, ripple and glow with strength and stamina.

Her hide colour is a deep burnished gold, a solid colour throughout that stretches almost every span of her body, from tail to almost her wing tip. The only part of her hide that changes colour is the actual tips of her wings, they darken very slightly, so slight is the change that it’s only really noticed on a bright sunny day after a thorough cleaning and oiling, and unless you are Sherath’s chosen it is very unlikely that you’ll ever get close enough to appreciate it.

The dragon appears foreboding, her size over powering.. a dragon that is certainly powerful and strong, and the problem is? She knows it.

[sorra]

Evie glanced over her shoulder quickly and squeaked when she realized the little gold was chasing her. Now what was she going to do? The dragonet was persistent. She cringed though whenever she saw the gold trip over Siarie and Eraydine. The girl didn't have long to think about what had happened when she tripped over something in her path. She looked up quickly to come face to face with a gold wher. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, trying to get to her feet again. She hadn't meant to run into Sani. Hopefully the wher wasn't too mad at her.

[Mik]

Sani had been idly watching, humming her own tune as her own eggs were rocking behind her, but the glory belonged to the gold dragonet for the moment as hers were not quite ready to break their shells. It was when the girl came her way that she started to get up to move out of the way, but for once a human was slightly quicker than her as the girl tripped over her lithe body and tumbled to the sand at her feet. Sure, a slight hiss of fright came from her, but it was quickly changed to a happy hum as she stuck her awkward looking nose in Evie’s face, her lidded broken faceted eyes studying the girl before her.

Another moment later, she crooned delightedly at the girl and circled her calmly, nudging her in the back with her golden nose to direct her toward her tiny clutch hidden in the smaller cavern. No images or words were sent to Evie, but her intentions were not intimidating or even worrisome as she gave the girl another gentle nudge to get her moving.

[sorra]

The girl trembled slightly as Sani looked into her eyes. Now what? At least the wher didn't seem as mean as the gold hatchling had. She bit her lip, not sure what to do. She looked around for some help, but no one was there. She was on her own. Evie staggered to unsteady feet and was confused as Sani pushed her in the back.

"What?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit as she tried not to show her fear. She wasn't quite sure what Sani wanted. Then she saw the eggs and smiled. They were pretty, but why was Sani pushing her toward them?

[kitllwynog]

Sade watched, still full of angry and hurt adrenaline as the gold circled a very young girl. The youngster, intimidated by the dragonet's threatening posture, she supposed, started to run away in fright and the hatchling actually began to chase her. Sade felt less angry and more worried as the two crossed the sands, and then the gold tripped over a Candidate. She put her hand over her mouth, expecting a fatal scratching, but that did not occur. Instead, another young girl firmly rebuked the fractious newborn and the gold turned her way, seeming to regard her anew. And then, Impression occurred.

Sade let a tear fall down one cheek as she turned away. It was too hard to be rejected twice so close together, and she was much older than the others, she didn't have a lot of time left as a Candidate. Her thoughts were bleak as she left the Hatching Grounds, not noticing the gold wher's strange behavior, and she made her way back to her room in the barracks, dropping heavily onto her cot and letting the tears flow until she fell asleep with Itzal on her chest.

But Arkadian did notice the wher, and after several moments of hesitation he lurched unsteadily across the Sands, ignoring the fuss over the gold dragonet, making his way to stand by the entrance to the smaller hatching grounds. He wouldn't go in without Sani's permission, she was half wild after all, but if the eggs were hatching, he needed to be there, or this trip would've been a waste. Well, maybe be not a total waste, he told himself, thinking of Hya, but just for his brother and father's sake, he had to try to bond one of the wher hatchlings.

[Mik]

Kolteya watched as the gold displayed much of the same traits as Tsunath had and still did, noticing Ardalae’s arrival and giving her fellow goldrider a friendly smile. As the next several moments unfolded, the former Raider cringed as Evie ran from the dragonet’s intimidation and the gold chased her, knocking Eraydine and Siarie over in the process. That was going to leave some marks. Then she saw the Impression happen when Siare stood up to the goldling and smiled as another successful Impression was made. What further marveled her, though was the collision between Candidate and gold wher at the entrance to the smaller Sands. Sani did not react like she thought the gold would, but instead was pushing Evie toward the smaller, joining Cavern. Maybe Sani’s clutch was ready to hatch, too?

Eraydine watched the dragonet circle Evie like she was thinking of eating her. When Evie ran, her mind whirled as her fellow Candidate took off only to find herself moments later in a collision with the goldling. The sand felt hot on her back as she held her arms up in front of her face, feeling a burning sensation from her right collar bone to almost her waist. Normally quiet and confident, she cried out in pain, trying to curl up against the dragonet on top of her. She had not heard Siarie’s call to her, too focused on trying to make herself a much smaller target for the talons that ripped another burning gash along her left side, arm, and neck. Suddenly, everything stilled. The talons left and she risked a peek from under her burning arm, unaware of the red staining her robe to tell of her injuries. Did she find her Rider? She must have. She did not think she heard any more shouting or humming for that matter. “Siarie?” she asked, hoping that the younger girl had fared better than herself.

[goldenauthanth]

Siarie stood there in disblief looking into the rainbow eyes of the golden dragonet, nothing else mattered to her at that moment in time as she was taken by the glamour of the dragon.. the sudden need to do anything she could to protect the little golden queen.

Siariemine.. Came the feminine, yet strong voice of the creature in front of her. Feed Me! Her words and tone was demanding, even of her chosen rider.

It was the soft call of her name that attracted her attention and she looked sideways at Eraydine who she had momentarily forgotten about under her new dragons spell. "Eraydine!" She exclaimed seeing the state of the candidate, and instantly knelt down to help her - just what had her dragon done to her?!

Done?! The gold hissed in relatiation upset at being blamed for something, despite the fact that it was indeed her own fault. She should have moved out of the way She snapped, turned on her tail, stuck her nose in the air and trapsed across the sands to find food. She expected hers to follow.

[sorra]

Evie started to turn back to see what had become of her sister, but she was met by Sani and was unable to get around. The poor girl was still confused and had no idea what had happened with the scary gold dragonet. She did catch sight of Arkadian though and breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you know what's going on?" the young girl asked of him. She was so confused and so very young that nothing was making sense to her at the moment.

[kitllwynog]

Arkadian looked down at the young girl, who looked terribly confused and frightened, and much too young to be on the Sands at all, and he smiled at her gently, suddenly remembering being young and frightened. "Well, I think the eggs might be hatching. The mama wants you for her eggs. She won't hurt you," he said, his voice rough but kind, and he gave Evie a gentle shove in the direction of the clutch. He thought she was too young, a wher Impression was rougher than a dragon's, and it could be dangerous. But you couldn't argue with the mother wher, if that's what she wanted, so he may as well encourage her.

[sorra]

She stared up at Arkadian in shock. The lovely gold wher's eggs were hatching too? Evie shook her head in disbelief and looked over at Sani. "She can't want me," she said softly. She didn't know the first thing about Bonding to a wher. And she didn't understand why Sani would want her. She was still so young and shouldn't even be Standing for a dragonet yet. She was just now about to take care of Diri, her blue, properly. "There has to be a mistake," she said as Arkadian pushed her closer to the eggs. "What happens with a wher?" she asked, looking up at him. "Do you know? I've never been around whers before."

[kitllwynog]

Arkadian kept his face neutral but he winced inwardly. He didn't want to frighten her, but for one so young, the bonding process would sound scary no matter how he put it. Well, there was nothing for it, no one else seemed to have noticed Sani's behavior yet.

"Well, from what I understand, they'll hatch from the eggs, just like dragons, and if the baby wants you, they'll come over to you. Maybe they'll say something to you. And then.. You have to um... Give them a taste of your blood. And then they'll be yours forever, just like a dragon, only not quite as smart. More like a canine," he said finally. "But you shouldn't be afraid. I'm here to bond a wher too, so I'll be right with you the whole time. That gold is pretty smart so she must think you're pretty special if she pushed you over here. They know what's best for their babies."

[kendrall]

{{R'en to Sade, Siarie, Eraydine}}

R'en started to move as soon as one of the Candidates stumbled to the hot sands, hearing the girl's gasp as she fell over backwards. She quickly stood to her feet and her hands balled into fists, anger evident. Well, that was some relief, but the field medic knew he would have to send for her later as he quietly resumed his post near the Stands. Another girl panicked and ran, causing R'en to shake his head in utter amazement. This wasn't good for a Candidate to run away, especially from a Gold dragonet. It imposed a risk of said dragonet going Between if that girl was intended to be its Rider. Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view - the Gold started to give chase, only to crash into two other girls.

Once again the Healer was in motion with a few Apprentices in tow, two of them were carrying a stretcher. The small group was quickly at Eraydine's side, but R'en's facial expression suggesting he wasn't too pleased with what just happened. He could tell the Candidate had been roughed up pretty badly when the Gold dragonet crashed into her and one other girl, the girl who had just now Impressed. "Let's get you off these Sands," R'en said politely to Eraydine, and signaled for the Apprentices to move the girl onto the stretcher and secure her for transport. He spared a glance at Siarie. "I know you've just become a Gold weyrling, and therefore technically outrank me, but..." he tapped his field medic's knots. "I'll expect you to report to the Infirmary as soon as you've fed your dragonet." R'en knew as much as anyone else present on the Sands that he had the authority to pull rank in a medical situation like this, in spite of his status as a Greenrider. That was one advantage he often employed. R'en knew that the newly-hatched Gold dragonet wouldn't like it either - Golds were often fickle and haughty things, expecting all others to obey them and their Riders without question - but the field medic expected the Weyrling to comply with his request.

As soon as the Apprentices would have Eraydine secured onto the stretcher, R'en would order them to take the girl to the Infirmary for further medical evaluation, and tend to her wounds. Before they could depart, however, he turned to one of them. "Find that Candidate who just left," he instructed. "Ten marks says she probably headed straight for her bunk in the Candidate Barracks. Have her report to the Infirmary so we can make sure she didn't suffer any major injuries."

{{M'riel to anyone present}}

M'riel winced when one of the Candidates fell backwards, but could only watch as the girl stood back on her feet. If he was any judge, the girl looked like she could throw a punch at the Gold. The Bronzerider, of course, knew better than to interfere with a Hatching. Especially with another girl panicking and turning tail; the Gold now chasing her only to crash into two others...

M'riel groaned. He should have known that Impressions were often hazardous. He himself was lucky not to have been too badly injured when Oreath found him. Still, he was curious about who the Gold was...

Oreath? M'riel turned to look over his shoulder at the large Bronze, who was watching from his perch with the rest of the Dragons present.

Gold Sherath, to Siarie, came the Bronze's reply. If I didn't know any better, Mine, I'd say Siarie is...

Too young, M'riel finished the silent statement, sighing as he turned to look at the Sands again. Too young, and I'd hate to be in her shoes when Sherath decides to Rise. He could only pray Shayna and her Josiath would be able to have a positive influence on the new Gold weyrling pair...