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Date Posted: 00:54:40 04/15/05 Fri
Author: Mahiri
Subject: stumbling over more than words

The young at heart, petite female had been wasting the day away quite happily; Mahiri had taken to sun bleaching some wherry feathers, attaching them to short white ribbons with clear little beads she had in her bag of odds and ends that seemed quite bottomless. The bleaching process itself was only just complete, as she had been at work on this project for some time now, anticipating the clutching of Shrineth with growing anxiety and excitement day after day. She had seen with her own brilliant green eyes the egg heavy queen, flying nearly as agilely as if she had no extra, fragile burden within her. Mahiri had lain under the sun for hours at a time, watching the dragons fly to and fro in the weyr, popping in and out of between on their daily travels. Mahiri was a daydreamer, spending copious amounts of time lost in thought when she felt the need to do little else but become entrenched in the creative corners of her brain. And thus, this little project of hers came about, a nifty little idea thought up one day while sitting at the far corner of the Bowl. She had gotten closer to a gutted wherry than she ever needed to be, but she had gotten the supplies necessary and started at her seemingly meaningless task.

The Candidate had been sitting quietly, adding the final touches of lime green to the feathers and her recent eye color. When the inspiration struck her, she would take the time to paint her face. Today it was quite sparing: lime green accented the three, short, white feather-ribbons placed neatly into her short, chestnut brown hair. One was braided into the left side of her bangs, hanging just behind her eyes; two others hung loosely, attached to hair behind her ears. Three, one for each of her family members not here with her in the weyr. She had tried to convince Tivuli to go, but the meek little fifteen year old refused. Mahiri had added grass green eye makeup; it was just slightly above her eyelashes, extending past her lashes in short little wings. It made her already bright green eyes appear that much more vivid, for the moment. This was all because the young adult had plenty of time to just sit and wait. She had even helped cook some in advance for the feast that would be held after Shrineth's Hatching. Just the thought made her tingle with anticipation. Mahiri shucked the green dye back into her wher hide bag, which was more of a sack full of some of the most random items one could hope to find. Pretty stones, ribbons, worn out feathers of the oddest dyed colors, scrap pieces of cloth, and other things not of the crafty variety such as numbweed and the like. Her sandals had also been hastily thrown into the ages old bag, sitting uselessly at the bottom, frayed and awaiting the next time that they would be put on. However, Mahiri and her sandals would not be waiting much longer...

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

The bugle was deafeningly loud from her place in the springy grass of the Bowl, where Mahiri had taken to sitting a length, contemplating things of any nature, from work to play oriented. Mahiri sat bolt upright and twisted to see anyone else's reaction. Everyone knew what was happening now. The clutch had finally been laid by Shrineth, and the Hatching was now closer at hand than Mahiri's pretty little head could fathom. She snatched up her bag and headed quickly to her room to find her robe and rummage through her bag for her sandals. She was not that much of a dimglow, to go running around on the Hatching Sands barefoot, even with the calloused pads of her feet. Burns were never a fun time for her. Mahiri dropped her bag on the bed and plunged her hand into her bag, immeadiately feeling the thong of her sandal. She gave a mighty pull...and promptly heard a mighty rip, and let loose a mighty string of curses thereafter. This was not going well. She pulled out the other still-intact sandal and ripped the top from it as well, pushng around the contents of her bag until she found a few lengths of ribbon. Blue, gold, silver...she grabbed the Gold in a hopeful, amused thought that maybe now she'd match whatever dragon chose her, and quickly lashed her sandal soles to her feet. that would do for standing on, she would have to make or somehow come across a new pair later. Mahiri grabbed her Candidate's robe and ran from her room, knowing full well the time she had, but wanting depserately to see what was in store for the Candidates at the Hatching Sands.

Mahiri's broken sandals slapped flat against the stone floor of the corridor leading into the Sands; she was already blinded by the light from everywhere, reflecting off eggs and sand and dragons and walls and heating the inside of the whole area to a mind numbingly, searing hot temperature. The heat wave hit you before you even set foot near a grain of sand, and Mahiri could feel herself start to sweat already. Too caught up in the rush of adrenaline of trying to get into the Hatching Sands, Mahiri ran until she ran out of stone and the ground turned literally to sand underneath her feet. She tried in vain to stop, but failed miserably, skidding her feet and windmilling her arms forwards. Her momentum threw her petite frame forward and she rolled into the fall, doing a forward roll and landing with her feet splayed out in front of her. She crossed them and put her hands in her lap, seemingly unfazed by the tumble from the door. She had worse falls in her lifetime, and was not embarrassed any longer by the fact that she was clumsy. Mahiri simply stared, eyes getting as wide as saucers as she took in the vast expanse, twenty four eggs nesting quietly in the sand, the immense Golden Queen Shrineth a backdrop to them, her talons fatally close to the Queen egg. A sharp intake of breath punctuated the silence that rang in Mahiri's mind, taken by her as she sat cross legged and in awe. She dare not get up until she knew without a doubt that she would not trip over herself walking in awe of the beauty stretched out before her. She opened her mouth, itching to profess her excitement, her elation and awe at the entire thing; however, Mahiri had no words that would do this justice, and her lips closed her slightly crooked teeth from view.

After a few minutes of burning her butt on the wickedly scorching hot sands of the Hatching Grounds, Mahiri brought herself up onto her feet and flashed a friendly smile into the stands, noticing that there were people watching for the first time. Having people stare was not an uncommon thing for her, and she dismissed her past fall, knowing that there would be plenty more to be embarrassed about later. Her lips quirked upward into a smile, and then a slight flash of those crooked teeth. She had a slight overbite, an imperfection she hardly noticed but didn't quite show off either. She absently scratched at the scar above her eye, wiping sweat from her brow and walking forward, just forward of the little ring of Candidates. Her father had taught her this way, taught her to make a statement. She walked up to the threshold, close to where the farthest egg from the Queen lay, and gave a highly theatrical, but extremely sincere curtsy. She pulled at the hems of her Candidate robe and inclined her head, giving Shrineth her utmost respect. Mahiri was like this, embellishing her actions for those watching. People loved to gossip too much: they would go home and speak of that quirky little Candidate with the feathers in her hair, the bright smiles and waves she would give to anyone who made eye contact with her. This was always how Mahiri appeared: silent and cheerful, ready for a smile and a nice chat. She hadn't had a nice chat in days now. She itched for a good idle conversation. And for a moment Mahiri paused, her mind flitting to the thought of what she was wearing. She pulled at the collar of her robe and looked down. Oh, her green shirt and the light, cream colored pants that cut off at her knees. She should have dressed it up a little more, she thought. But oh well, appearance did not matter in the eyes of a dragonet.

No, don't get the odd nineteen Turn old wrong, Mahiri's brown haired head was full of wild thoughts of anxiety: what she would Impress, if she would Impress, and all the darker thoughts that only grew more and more doubt as Hatchings went on. But Mahiri had several days to be thinking of this. Mahiri had her whole life to doubt, and chose instead to look at the bright side...just as long as it wasn't the sun, for then you'd go blind, which was bad. The young adult stretched out her legs and held her hands up, stretching out her arms and yawning as she pushed up to her tiptoes. Stretching was a good way to relieve tension and keep from being so bored. And so, Mahiri occupied a few moments of time, still looking around. So far there were five boys and two girls. A devious grin snuck across Mahiri's features. She had great chances...as far as boys were concerned. The lithe femme was quite the flirt, but she would save that until later on...like after the Hatching. With all these thoughts, how was Mahiri to go about concentrating on one thing?! Her mind buzzed with all the activity surrounding the Candidates, the eggs, and Shrineth. This could take awhile, and Mahiri was ready for it.


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