Whatever may have happened of the course of the eggs hardening in the second bay, they were rocking, now, and things were proceeding according to schedule. Siche had slipped into the back-row (the better to escape, should she be singled out by anyone in particular), sending Jigsaw, her sponsor-dealing assistant, on down towards the front of the audience seats. The candidates, below, were filtering in to the bay as well, either hurrying down from the audience chamber, or from the doors beneath that led to the candidate-apartments.

Linaeas and Keum both were here, though this time it was the female wolfen creature who was in charge of recording the hatching. Linaeas... well, the scarred male didn't seem to like to miss out on hatchings. He was just here to watch, today.

The eggs were shaking, the candidates all lined up, and Shy, sitting upon the platform usually meant for the mother-to-be's rider, was sipping delicately on a light cup of something too sweet to be good for him, smirking just faintly. Things were about to begin.

Three eggs hatched in quick succession, spilling first a brown and then two gold dragonets to the loamy ground. They were surprisingly quick to get to their feet. Virith, the brown, seemed to take the lead, (though a brown leading two golds certainly didn't seem likely!) while his two clutch-mates fanned out on either side of him. They moved forward together, a wedge-like formation that aimed itself directly at the three... not quite human candidates at the edge of the congregation on the bay floor. Vance was not here because he wanted to be, but then, the Vella Crean dragons that had cornered him, literally Searched him along with the others... they weren't about to let him slip off into the crowd, not when they felt he (along with the two female therianthropes he accompanied) was perfect for the dragonets that were hatching today. And it seemed to have paid off. Virith stood a respectable distance away from the man, his pale brown hide still glistening from egg fluids. He gave the therianthrope a sly nod, then said aloud, "I can tell you're against bonding a dragon, but accept me, and I think you'll have more going for you then before."
"Yeah?" Vance seemed more then skeptical.
"Of course. Hey, if nothing else, I can be a liason between you and the rest of the world."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the man asked, but already Virith was leading him towards the food. "I'll explain after I eat," was all that he offered.

Both golds, an air of determination about them, now stepped up to Etienne and Savannah. The first, almost amber in colour, put a paw on Etienne's foot and said, "I'm Emelseth,"
~And I'm Sarontamath,~ the paler of the two added, looking up decisively at Savannah. ~We choose you,~ she added, smug as any queen might be.

By this point, the rest of the eggs were rocking hard, and it was inevitable that one would shatter. The largest shell of the lot gave way to the industrious peckings of not one, but two dragons, and it was then that a pale green, along with a blue, stumbled away from their shared confines. They didn't seem too upset to have collapsed one upon the other. In fact, almost as soon as they had extricated themselves from each other, they began to play on the spot. They didn't seem interesting in bonding at the moment.

By contrast, a deep bronze dragonet was already hatched and making his way towards the candidates. Krosimorth by name, he headed straight for Kar'Irina and plopped down by the Hybrid's foot. "Kar," the bronze said, eyes glimmering with amusement. As soon as he'd sat himself down, the bronze was up again, trotting towards the food and leaving Kar'Irina to trail behind him.

Another chromatic dragon hatched, this one a pale purple male. He, as well, didn't seem very interested in bonding. Instead he rested in the shattered remains of his shell, licking himself free of excess goo. He grinned over at his frolicking siblings--both of which had caught sight of Krosimorth's vector, and by that, the food tables. Looking at one another, the two bounded over to the tables, shunning (or not noticing) the gathered candidates. Mingeeth and Mongeeth gave up their names willingly enough to the Archivist, Keum, who relayed the info to Jigsaw, who in turn slated them in to Moranis' care. True, the big man had asked for 'high ranking' dragons, but she didn't expect any more golds or bronzes to appear... at least, none would probably appear that wouldn't find themselves a bond!

The purple fellow finally seemed to be done with his leisurely cleaning, and now he strolled out into the ranks of candidates--stopping quite suddenly, as if some extra sense had gone off, at the feet of a bulky looking dwarf, Haive Silverhook. The smith gave a grunt of surprise, his expression not altogether welcoming, as Hasheeth grinned at him. "Hey, man," said the little dragonet, "you need to chill out a little..." He paused as his little tummy rumbled ominously. "Oh man," said he, "I'm feeling seriously hungry!"
"You don't expect me to feed you," the dwarf said, his voice gruff and guarded.
"Well yeah, man... that's what bonds do!" Hasheeth grinned at him again. "C'mon, they're eatin' the best stuff already!"
With much resignation, poor Haive set off after his unlikely bond towards the food tables.

After that little scene, two bronzes hatching at once seemed almost normal. Both of them seemed ready to pick a bond as they scanned the faces presented to them, but it was Vemenoth that made the first move. With complete and utter determination on his face, the little bronze made his way to the classic beauty of a boy, and gave the human a little grin. ~I think we'll do well together,~ he said, his instincts kicking his first message into telepathic gears rather then verbal ones. ~You're Voraio?~
Half-surprised, all gleeful, Voraio nodded and gave the dragonet's smooth head a pat. "That's me," he affirmed, before the two of them moved out of the way together.

The second of the two bronzes--this one more of a brown tone then Vemenoth--finally skipped over to Nickelum Swith. "Uh.... hi!" said the dragonet, then continued, "I'm... I, uh, I'm, that is..." He looked frustrated, tongue-tied.
"You're Nioremth?" Nickelum supplied, the bond they'd already forged providing him with the proper information.
Niore' nodded vigorously, not saying another peep lest he screwed up again.

And that led to the last two eggs. First a pale red--somewhere between pink and orange--then a buttery golden dragonet hatched. Both were quiet, unpronounced, but with them being the last to hatch, all eyes were on them.

The gold seemed to realize this, and preened. Strutting, as best she could, anyways, towards Jonquil, she gave the ex-attempted model a stunning smile. ~Hello, Jonquil,~ said she, her voice as stunning as her appearance. "I'm Jaddath. Quickly, lead me to the food. I'm hungry!" She all but flounced ahead of the woman in order to get to her first meal.
Well, that was a rather peculiar pairing.

The reddish dragonet had made not a move, and like the twins, she didn't seem at all interested in bonding. She gave the candidates a perempatory glance, her eyes sliding once, then twice on Shy, himself. Turning her head to her golden mother, Createoth had a quick, private conversation. After that, she slunk over to the food table, not even glancing at the gathered, (and now disappointed) remaining candidates. Well, Shy had wanted to take a dragonet home with him... it looked like one had actually taken the initiative to demand to be that one!

The hatching was over, but for a number of people, things had only just begun.