Sao, Vaeli and I did an egg touching today and along the way realised that we have one heck of a scary clutch. Actually, this is probably the most enjoyable egg-touching I've ever done. Candidates involved are Airam, Cheyanna, Khalylai, Meerak, Micail and Xayna.

I think I caught all the poses and egg-emits, but I did d/c twice. If anybody notices that I'm missing anything and can provide what is missing, please say!


Living Caverns

Khalylai is all yawns and half-tripped steps; the young woman is as immaculate as ever, her hair groomed back into an almost severe braid, clothes clean if a bit careworn. However, her eyes have the telltale signs of recent sleep. She half-sleepwalks over to the serving table, and fetches herself a light breakfast, moving on automatic.

There are quite a few sleepy people around here. Micail is included as he trails after Khaly, rubbing at one of his eyes tiredly. Really, just a few more hours couldn't hurt anyone, right? Still..even half-asleep, he's hungry, and shuffles for the tables, plucking a few things onto his plate before mumbling a soft hello to Khaly.

Cheyanna bites off half a sausage, swallowing with a minimum of chewing; she offers Micail a bright smile and a wave as she sees him. "Hi, Micky!" she says. "Come sit with me!" Guess who's not sleepy at all. Belatedly, she tacks on a rather less enthused, "Oh. You too, Khaly?" The words are cautious, as if expecting a refusal.

Khalylai yawns again, shoving more food onto her plate at the end. Micail is graced with an unwontedly beautific, sleepy smile. She looks so.. er, innocent like that. Her eyes sharpen, however, with the first blush of true cognition as Cheyanna's words slice through her nice sleepy haze. "Sure," she responds, her voice holding some slight reserve as she pads in that direction, softsoled shoes trodding the stone to where the other candidate's settled.

Klah. Klah is necessary! Once gathered, Micail takes it along with his plate over to sit with Chey, giving the girl an odd look. "How long have you been up?" She's too awake! He does plop down though, tugging his mug up to his lips.

"Hour or so?" Chey guesses. She taps her half-sausage against the edge of her plate lightly. "It's a gorgeous day out. I had to cut my run kind of short, but I hope I get some outside chores today. It's one of those days where the sky looks like you could touch it, it's so /there/. It's clear and the blue is really, really blue."

Sao sidles in from the Central Bowl.

Airam arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Khalylai blinks groggily at Chey and her vivid description of the day. "You're way too awake," she opines dryly, digging into her gravy and biscuits with a slight shake of her head.

Meerak arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Micail shakes his head just a little, and goes about munching. Breakfast! In the stomach it goes. "She /is/ way too awake." Though luckily, that klah is at least having an effect, perking the younger candidate up. "Is it that nice outside?" Maybe he /won't/ mind if he gets chores out there.

Sao thumps into the caverns from the great outdoors. Thump, thump. She is wet /and/ messy, with sand clinging to the calf of her wet trousers all the way up to a few inches past her knee. The reason for this is not immediately apparent. She brings two fingers to her lips and breaks through the slurred and peaceful morning with a piercing whistle. "Oi! Candidates!"

"I am not," Cheyanna starts to protest. At Sao's whistle, she jerks sideways to spin around towards the rider, then flinches back, putting a hand over her ribs. She grimaces briefly, then looks back with more care. "Yes'm?" she asks. Sao is a ma'am, now! Cheyanna's eyes are bright.

Meerak is awake, aware, but not especially amiable. (which begins with the wrong a- sound, anyway.) He's managed to dress himself, which is a bonus, but he's only just shuffled his way toward food and drink when Sao's whistle splits the air. He slants a dark look at her over his shoulder.

Khalylai longingly stares at her food, knowing from the whistle and the yell that the likelihood of finishing said plate is decreasing exponentially. She heaves a sigh and snitches Micail's klah; a big gulp and a wrinkled nose later, she returns the drink to said rightful owner. "I hate the taste of that." Ahem. She throws the most halfhearted salute she ever has to the rider, and straightens in her seat, contemplating what horror awaits her -now-. Oh, wait, there it is. Meerak just arrived.

Airam has just entered the living caverns from further inside and stops his journey to find food to look up at the intrupption that is Sao. Guess he's not getting to eat anything yet. He sighs and leans back against the wall and waits for an announcment with the others with crossed arms.

Micail pauses in his chewing at the whistle, looking up so that he can just blink at Sao. Meep. After another moment though he starts chewing again. Best to get it in his stomach before he has to abandon it. Which is looking pretty likely. "Y..yes?" His klah is /stolen!/ Khaly gets a brief stare before laughing, and just shakes his head. "I don't like it much either..but it wakes me up."

There will be no finishing of plates. Sao shakes herself off like a large wet dog, although this does little besides shed a few water droplets from her damp hair and a few grains of sand to the floor. Blithely oblivious to all shows of respect or not -- except Cheyanna's, which jars her enough to give her an eyeballing -- she bounces forward on her toes. "To me, candidates. Come on. All of you."

Cheyanna shoves the rest of her sausage in her mouth, grabs her juice to wash it down with a long gulp, and pushes to her feet. She swings her leg over the bench and steps away from the remnants of her breakfast, grinning at Sao. "Latrines?" she asks. She really is too cheerful for her own good today.

Meerak palms a roll, breaking it behind his back as he meanders away from the food to jam a bit of cheese inside. Dear, sweet (ninja) food. He hangs back a pace, just in case Sao's calling candidates out for something horrible. He slides his scrawnier torso to hide in the shade of Cheyanna's manly bulk.

Khalylai rises to her feet, graceful despite her misgivings. "Yeah, I did steal it," she impishly replies to Micail, flashing him a grin and hoisting her nose in the air. "Don't you know it's my due?" A roll of the eyes, then, and she pads along in her softsoled shoes to linger about Sao's proximity. "C'mon, Mouse," she calls, slightly mischevous.

Airam nods, and after a longing look towards the hearth, pushes himself off the wall and navigates himself around the room to Sao. He gives her a scan and blinks, then rubs his green eyes to clear them a bit, "What happened?" He asks, praying he isn't going to have to do anything that included latrines before breakfast.

Micail sighs before getting up..and then just /stares/ at Cheyanna even as he follows Khaly over to Sao. "..Chey.. You cannot be /that/ happy while talking about /latrine/ duty." It's just wrong. /Wrong./ "..It's../not/ latrines, is it?"

Sao hand-wiggles a beckoning wave, one-handed. "Never you mind, none of your business," she carols cheerfully at Airam, scratching her other hand through her short hair. "If it were latrines, I'd expect happy smiles on all your faces, and all whiners get to do it with a spoon." She crows a cackling laugh, apparently impressed with her own /hilarity/, and then shakes her head. "Eggs are waiting. We're all gonna go poke 'em. You can eat later and play in the latrines all you want."

Khalylai shivers. "I need to go get my boots if we're doing latrines," she states, her voice plaintive. She props an arm up on Micail's shoulder and drops her forehead to forearm. "I want to go back to sleep," she states, voice muffled. It's too early. Khaly doesn't have the energy to perform her aires this early. Then-- she perks, straightening. "We get to go out on the sands?" Wow, that's the first time she's expressed eagerness... er... since getting to the Reaches.

Cheyanna grins cheerfully along with Sao, then casts a look back at Micail. "I'm just happy for Sao," she explains without elaboration. She turns back to the rider, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

Micail leans a little as Khaly settles an arm on his shoulder, and then just laughs for a moment. "Me too, but it's a little late for that now." She should've stolen more of his klah in order to wake up. Still, he does look rather confused. "Happy for..what?" Wait a minute, how does that make any sense? Luckily enough, the question doesn't plague him for long. "We..we're going out there? Now?" Well that certainly has him waking up the rest of the way.

Not latrines! Meerak gets to eat his roll over a calm stomach, bites quick and neat as he settles an empty stomach on bread and cheese. Dark eyes skim sidelong over Micail and Airam, skipping Khalylai to look back at Sao. He looks at her closely, looking for something to be happy about.

Airam scowls at the over the top cheerfulness in the rider's voice, but eyes widen with suprise and intrest at the prospect of seeing the eggs today. Nevermind breakfast, he's ready to go! Not that any of this shows for more than a second on the outside, to anyone watching he'd still look quite bored and irritated with just about everything, but he /does/ move a bit closer to the group and the door.

"Happy for me?" Sao looks blank, wet, and messy. She blinks at Cheyanna, owlish. "Um, awright then," she adds, rubbing baffledly at the back of her head. "Anyway, let's go, move move, you're all too slow coming loose from the tables as is." With that, she turns on her heel and tromps noisily out of the caverns.

Khalylai slings an arm around Micail's shoulders this time, bouncing a bit in her stance as well. Cheyanna's enthusiasm is catching, it would seem. "Our egg-touching virginity is about to get busted," she solemnly declares, a twinkle in her eyes. She follows Sao, then, dragging Mouse along with her, whether he wants to or not. Ahem.

Micail is manhandled right out of the caverns, apparantly. Though he does peer at Khaly as best he can, eyeing the girl. "You like to talk about virginity." But he's also not about to argue with being on their way. He's far too excited for protests.

Airam turns this head to glance at the others after Sao exits and then follows Khalylai and Mouse, albeit much more quieter, and a bit slower.

Cheyanna follows behind Sao, moving with a slight but noticeable limp that doesn't slow her much.


Sands

Cadgwith is waiting for the candidates, mouth agape and leering over her brood. It's hard to tell without knowing the gold well whether she's welcoming or threatening. However her eyes are blue--OK, with yellow flecks of worry in there. But mostly blue! Pyrene is a bit more readable. "Did you bring me some iced water?" comes her plaintive whine.

Cheyanna knows the drill. She moves onto the sands, stepping gingerly as she moves from hard stone to loose sand. Her eyes skim the eggs -- they're much bigger from down here -- but she drags their attention back to Pyrene and Cadgwith, following Sao across to the goldrider and giving the customary low bow of do not eat me please!

The candidates enter, herded by a most unwieldy shepherd; Sao is damp and sandy. "Was I supposed to bring you icewater? I thought I was supposed to bring candidates." Blueriders are so useful! Look how useful.

Micail is going to need some water too if he stays out here too long. He makes a face at the /heat/ once he shuffles in. "Gah..and I thought it was hot in the galleries.." /So/ much worse down here. He does shift around nervously though, not quite sure what he's doing. Therefore? He looks around and copies Chey's bowing. That seems like a pretty sensible thing to do.

Khalylai strides out on the sands after Sao, moving with confidence but treading gingerly. She, in turn, bows low, dark braid falling over a shoulder as she offers her homage to Cadge The Eater Of Candidates. Cadge's getting a lot of worship at the moment, it looks like, actually; Khaly skitters her gaze over the other's bows, and then expectantly gazes at Pyrene. "I like it. It reminds me of home," she responds to Mouse, then, flashing him a grin. It's like Southern! But hotter. And drier.

This is officially the last time Pyrene uses blueriders as her lackeys then! Although she's probably made that resolution before. She nods back to the candidates' bowing. "The eggs are hardening nicely, but please be gentle when touching them. Just spread out and concentrate on getting used to their existence. They really do contain future dragons, y'know." She winks. "Don't worry about Cadge. She's not overly protective, and we've told Ghraith not to bite either."

Airam fans himself a bit as he slowly walks his way in with the other candidates. His eyes are first drawn to the dragons, secondly the eggs, and then Pyrene, taking a few moments to stare and examine each group. He sees Cheyanna and Micail's bows and while he gives his own version, a slight tilting of the head- respectful, but not fearful.

Meerak picks at the collar of his tunic, pulling fabric from from his body. "Huh," he says of heat. He does not know the drill, and has no idea what the expect, so he does what the others do: bow! He is among the last to dip and bob, attention finally pulled from sand and eggs and surroundings to turn to other candidates and the momma dragon. His bow is stuff, but bow-like! He hangs back, taking his cue from the others.

Cheyanna doesn't immediately move towards any egg, all her earlier excitement aside. Instead, she turns to look at all of them, wrapping her arms around her ribs. Taking a few cautious steps, she moves among them, cautiously avoiding contact.

Khalylai is more apt to shiver when looking at Ghraith. Cadgwith she knows-- stories of, if not the actual dragon herself. Her green gaze pins automatically on Beast of Gevaudan, at the other side of the mound, and she treks out for that peculiar egg, moving with slow, but assured strides. (donteatmeplease). She's curious about this one. However, even when she's not a step away, she's still hesitant to touch the shell-- finally, she glances up, quasi-nervous. Meerak happens to be the one she sees; that hardens her nerves, and palms come up to gingerly rest on the leathery egghide.

Micail shuffles a little, pulling away from Khaly who he was nearly attatched to upon coming in. Or being dragged along, for a while anyway. He chews carefully on his bottom lip as he wanders away, feet scuffing through the sand. He does look back a bit, keeping an eye on the other candidates before he continues on, moving to find the egg he'd seen from the galleries. Slightly different perspective out on the sands, after all. He does locate it though, reaching tentative hands out to graze across the Dark Side of the Moon egg.

Khalylai saw: Viciousness. Evilness. Cruelty. Some dark shadow swirls in the midst of the depths of mind with fearful intellience. Sadistic intelligence. Straight towards the hand that touches it.

Airam shuffles foward in the warm sand, eyes going from one egg to the other, and eventually coming back around to the Moon After Yule Egg, the cold colors attracting him. He looks up at the dragons cautiously and moves a bit quicker to the egg's side, then runs a hand tenderly across the shell.

Cheyanna still does not touch. Cheyanna is being rather the pansy about this, really. She watches as the other candidates all touch their first eggs, and frees one hand to fake-brush the Em-Oh-Oh-En Egg: she does not actually make contact.

Meerak serves a purpose after all: steeling Khalylai's nerves. It doesn't seem to work the other way 'round. He skitters along the edges of the sands, keeping far from gold and bronze. For all the reassurance, the looks that he sneaks back toward Cadgwith and Ghraith are tinged with edgy nerves. The egg he finally heads toward is all warm and sqooshy (metaphorically!) and reassuring: Sweet as Honey, that egg, and sweet as Meerak isn't. He wrinkles his nose at it, looking up and over at the others to see what they do with their eggs. He gingerly prods a finger at the shell, touch cautious.

Airam saw: Visions of a desolate frozen tundra. Freezing bitter winds whips the snow into mini cyclones while a lone speck awaits silently on the cracked ice. Musty. Old. Cold. And it sees you.

Cheyanna saw: Red dragon on one shoulder, white on the other--or so it feels. You find yourself at a moral crossroads with paths to good and evil stretching before you. The choice should be yours, to make free and unbiased. However, the egg's pull on your mind suggests you might not have the choice in the matter after all.

Micail saw: At first, all is stillness. But not he stillness of emptiness. Silence. Coldness. Darkness. The distant glimmer of curiosity. Something, /something/ is aware.

Cheyanna jerks her hand back as if it was burned, betrayed; her eyes lock on the egg as she steps back. Firmly, she shoves her hand back in the pit of the opposite elbow. Safer there.

Meerak saw: Enticing, seductive yet free from guile. A charm and attraction takes possession of you, making you feel inexplicably like singing and dancing. The world has taken on a rosy hue and for this fleeting moment, all people are innately worthwhile human beings and life is not only fair but joyous.

Khalylai jerks away at the first impulse, her eyes widening. They then narrow to green slits, as she dissects what she just felt. Fingers return to brush the egghide on Beast of Gevaudan egg once more, concentrating on classifying the texture of said egg. Her gaze sidles upwards after a moment, fingertips resting on the shell of the Beast as she considers her next target- and her fellow candidates. She notes Chey's reaction, and wryly smiles.

Micail jerks back briefly, just /staring/ at the shell in front of him as if it just did a jig in the sand. "They..they really /are/ in there!" ..Well where did he /think/ the dragons were going to come from? Duh! There's still a bit of hesitation when he puts his hands back on the shell though, firmly, and moves a little closer to it. "Hi there.." What? He can talk to the egg if he wants to. It makes him feel better. "Is it a good day for you..? Hm..well I bet that you can't really tell about day and night in there, huh?"

Airam uses a couple of fingers to trace trail of color that makes it look like the egg is cracked. Suddenly he jerks his hand away and gives the egg in front of him a shocked look. He tilts his head and after looking up at the dragons again extends a hand to feel trace the same line again, see if he feels anything else. He looks around for a moment to see the other's reactions and smiles a bit.

Pyrene stifles a chuckle at some of the reactions. "They can't bite while they're in the shell," she observes casually.

Meerak startles less obviously than some, but he still startles. At first, he's smiling, a really /dopey/ smile, in that moment where fingers press to shell, and tension briefly leaves his stance -- but then he startles, shoulders hunching over and hands going to his side. He stares, and then he stares at the others.

Khalylai saw: Frostbite whirls closer as the -something- recognizes that hand again. Something cruel. Something evil. Is it willing the mind attached to the hand away, or trying to pull it deeper?

Airam saw: The sensations are the same. Desolate and cold. The lone speck seems closer this time. More attentive. A rusty, unused howl screams into earshot. Then...nothing.

Micail saw: Night, night, and more night. Endless night. The world is chill and sheathed in monochrome, all light is silvered, all breath is mist, and there are no answers for you here. There is only silence.

Cheyanna reverts to childhood guile: if she moves around a lot, it will look like she's making progress, even if she never gets within a foot of any of the eggs, right? She meanders, circuitous and tense.

Khalylai caught Meerak's startledment and dopey smile alike, though not in that particular order. She smirks, amused-- before the egg she's touching mentally bites her again. Rawrgh. The young woman gives the egg a considering stare, then, narrowed eyes once more. Then? She's walking away, moving with a certainty over to Feed the Hunger egg. She's just glued to the bad boys, it would appear. Her hands come up of their own volition, spread fingers and palms resting on the shell of conflagration.

Xayna moves into the heat, shimmered and blurred by the ripples that rise off the Sands.

Meerak moves to cut Cheyanna off and interrupt her circling; Micail's busy communing, Khalylai's Khalylai, and Airam is smiling. Clearly unsuitable. "Psst," he hisses, coming up to jostle her elbow. "Are they supposed to do that?"

Micail just grins after a moment, giving the shell a gentle pat. Indeed, he looks downright excitable now, with a silly grin plastered to his face. "We're..allowed to touch more than one..right?" Even without an affirmative, he moves away from it, hands clasping behind his back in order to rub together as he explores about, before one hand frees itself to slide slowly over the Minions of the Moon egg.

"I didn't even /touch/ it," Cheyanna hisses back, reaching out to physically cling to Meerak's arm for moral support. "I swear," she goes on, sotto voce, "we're not waiting for eggs to harden, we're waiting for the EVIL to leach out of the dragonets!"

Khalylai saw: How would life be living with the pangs of hunger, but never dying? The imagery isn't imagery at all, but feeling of longing, pain, HUNGER. Phantom pains chase phantom prey over the most desolate landscape of them mind. So forceful, so strong, re the hunger pains, the longing, the desperation on the dream plane, or this reality?

Airam glances up at Pyrene and nods, of /course/ they can't bite while in the egg, he didn't thing that. It's just a bit unsetteling to feel something from an egg. Speaking of, Airam twitches again- his whole body this time- and turns his emerald eyes back to the shell. "Wow." He comments quietly and rises to his feet smoothly to look over at the other candidates and eggs again. He gives the Moon After Yule Egg a last stroke with his fingers and moves over to a differnet one, the Crying for the Moon Egg. He reaches out his right hand and gives it a stroke with his thumb, exploring the colors on the surface.

Xayna has been leaning up against the wall, a very worried look upon her face. Also she is not sure about going anywhere near the eggs, but finally her curiosity wins over and she heads for one of the nearest eggs. "It's ok. They aren't going to bite or hatch yet." She mutters to herself as her slow walk carries her towards the group of eggs.

"It was in my head!" Meerak says, agreement rising and lifting his tone above the hissing whispers of confidence. "All happy-happy-love-everything! What the--" Teeth snap shut over his reply and he shakes his head. "It /changes the way you think/."

"Yeah, well, mine was all, like, good or evil, and /I/ will decide!" Cheyanna hisses back. "I swear, I think these things are -- I dunno!" She sends a haunting look back at the Em-Oh-Oh-En egg. "Weeding out the weak," she whispers back, barely audible. A brief pause, then -- "Dare you to touch the gold one. /Double/ dare."

Airam saw: Salty tears. Slow death. A sentient creature's wanting. The wanting pulls strongly at the mind, longing to give misery company. Anything. Anyone. You'll do.

Khalylai is herself, apparently. Cheyanna is correct, apparently. Meerak is a loser, apparently. These things ascertained, Khaly gives a quick bark - something of a yelp, something of a wheeze, and a definite step back. "That's bloody unnatural," she mutters under her breath, becoming more composed and walking, aimlessly, in Mouse's direction. She eavesdrops on Chey and Meerak. She be's herself, in other words, and... ends up in front of the Sweet as Honey egg, considering it before laying her palms against it. She's wary, now. But in a good spot to watch Meerak touch the gold egg. Birdseye view, y'know.

"That's creepy," Meerak agrees absently, but affirms, "but not as bad as having it change how you feel. That's just /wrong/." He stares at Cheyanna for her challenge. "No. Well--" He temporizes denial by making it inclusive: "I will if you will. Are boys allowed to touch those, even? Because I'm a boy." He is! He's even pulling her toward the gold with manly impulsiveness, the sort of manly impulsiveness that keeps a wary eye on the momma dragon. "Should we bow again?"

Micail saw: Doom lingers here, shielded only by a thin veil of shadow. Dark and sinister, an ill-defined shape lingers on the edges of perception, hinted in black steel and the dribble of bitter venom.

Hovering over the gold egg, Cadgwith looks brightly back at the two candidates who are eyeing it up, teeth gleaming in the glow-light. Bows are nice.

Cheyanna glances again at the gold, trepid. Deeply trepid. "Oooookay?" she tries. Not afraid. Right. She lets herself be dragged, eying Cadgwith. She risks another quick bow, then drops her eyes to the gold. "Count of three?" she whispers.

Khalylai saw: Vibrations of warmth, unlike it's siblings. Weak now, with no contact. Reaching out for more. You know you want to.

Micail continues to touch, fingers lightly sliding across the ominous shell. There's a little shudder though after a moment, the candidate's eyes closing. No, he doesn't start talking to this egg, but he does stay where he is for the moment, quietly looking toward the others...and positively /staring/ at the pair of Chey and Meerak. At the gold egg. Boggle. Although he really can't help the little giggle that comes out of him as he glances toward Khaly.

Xayna starts to reach out to touch A Grand Day Out Egg, stops halfway there. She looks up at the mother and father dragon for a moment, still looking completely worried. After a couple more moments, and closing her eyes, she lays her hand on the egg. Caressing the shell softly, she slowly opens her eyes. See, this isn't so bad. Her attention however is caught by Meerak and Cheyanna going towards the gold egg.

Meerak bows, then! Oh, how he bows, following Cheyanna's lead in a deep, stiff deep. "Count of three," he agrees, edging closer yet. Shuffling over hot sands, he looks up at Cadgwith, then back down. He takes a breath. "One, two--" A pause, the stretch of his hand. "--three!" He waits until she's touched first before laying light fingers on the gold egg.

Airam turns to look at the others, giving them all a roll of his eyes before turning back to the Crying egg and recieving a mental jab. He narrows his eyes at it and frowns as feelings of misery and saddness fill him- it's a bit too meloncholy for even him the poor thing. He jerks his hand away and backs up, shuffling backwards in the sand and giving the eggs around him another look. His eyes follow Cheyanna and Meerak as they approach the gold egg, waiting to see what happens.

Cheyanna operates in good faith, hand going flat and gentle on the eggshell. She is tense, ready to jerk back as needed.

Khalylai wavers, caught between watching Chey and Meerak's antics and the syrupy feel of the Sweet as Honey egg. She catches a familiar giggle and glances askance, finding Mouse the culprit; a quick flashed grin. Yeah, she's crazy. Not as crazy as other people, but-- she shakes her head, ignoring Chey and Meerak to focus more fully on Sweet as Honey, hands laying firm, finally, on the shell of the egg.

Micail saw: Creeping towards you, tendrils of interest: mild sadism, coiling black and malevolent 'round the rictus of an invisible grin. You want to stay, don't you?

Meerak saw: The sensation is slightly jarring, peculiarly feminine, maternal, matriarchal. Yet it is not exclusive, allowing you to visit its garden of sensations: fecundity, love and hope.

Cheyanna saw: Succulent, lush and sleek... these feelings welcome you, with both decadence and earthiness and love. Accompanied with this is a disconcertingly inappropriate sensation of fertility, stirring deep within you. Above all rises hope: a future that does indeed hold promise.

Xayna saw: Laughter begins, distant and warm and full of mirth, on the very edges of perception. As you touch, vitality and fun pervade, fireworks of joviality, sparking through your mind. Hi!

Khalylai saw: Happiness is the prevalent glow; laughter, good times. Fun, love, passion, intimate; this egg touches places that were never meant to be caressed. It's good, at first. But when is this much too much? The feelings continue, inside and out, worming themselves deeper into the mind and soul with love and passion. Be careful, though. The warm fog of compassion could be clouding the cliff over a chasm. Who knows?

Cheyanna pauses. Her hand is on the egg. Her eyes close. She does not pull back. She just...pauses. Then, slowly, distinctly, her cheeks begin to flush, from nervous pallor up to a light pink and on. Her eyelids flutter back up and she casts a glance at Meerak, calling up a vaguely ridiculous grin for him.

Meerak does not recoil quite as quickly this time, but he does pull away just as completely. The knit of his brow is puzzled, while the set of his lips isn't exactly happy. He rubs his palm against the thigh of his trousers, easing a nonexistent itch. He mutters something under his breath and gives Cheyanna an up-twitched eyebrow of a look. "Weird."

Micail has his attention stolen by the egg again, and he jolts, turning to look at it. There's a hint of mild confusion there..and a horrible amount of curiosity, nibbling on his lower lip as he scoots himself closer, settling more of himself to touch a bit more of that egg.

Cheyanna saw: The egg continues to caress you with a near drunken lure. Warm, protective and cosy, with its own supreme confidence that what will be will be--and it will be good.

Xayna is surprised at the feelings that flood into her, pulling her hand back to just the fingertips. "Interesting. You are..." Biting her lips from saying any more, fingertips caress the shell a bit more before she pulls away and stands up fully. She didn't experience anything like that the last time, but then again she had missed all the egg touchings. After a bit, Xay carefully steps around the eggs to see which one to touch next. For now she avoids the gold egg but comes close enough to speak with Cheyanna and Meerak. "So, what did you feel?" A wink for Meerak before she kneels down to touch the Beast of Gevaudan Egg.

"Do -- " Cheyanna begins, then breaks off. She pulls her hand away, her flush rising. She swallows, then looks down at the egg again. "I need to go swimming this afternoon," she mutters under her breath, stepping away and rubbing at her upper arms.

Khalylai is convinced, now, that every single one of these eggs are evil. Even if they don't appear evil, they're Mira-evil, all pink and bubbles and dead kittens. She slowly removes herself from Honey, shaking her head - hard - as if to clear it. "Oh, that's insidious," she declares, eyeballing the egg and shaking her head again. Eeevil eggs. She squints over at Chey and Meerak, reflexively, and eyebrows cock upwards just slightly. After that? She wanders, over in Micail's direction again.

Airam eyes Cheyanna and Meerak, wondering what they felt when the touched the shell. He moves further away from the Crying egg and towards another intresting looking one, the Chill of Winter Moon egg. He decides to get a bit more comfortable this time and kneels down when he gets about a foot away, then reaches out a hand again to stroke it. He does it much more slowly and timidly this time, still feeling odd from the Crying egg.

Cadgwith snorts loudly over Cheyanna and Meerak, possibly amused by their reactions. And a little curious as she usually is during these events.

Micail saw: Laughter's bite is stark amusement, layered syrupy rich over the deep vibrations of certain threat. The caress enveloping your mind is cool steel and blooded leather. It prickles. It bites. It is followed by nasty, low, creeping shadow, seeping insidious fear into the depths of thought.

Meerak murmurs something appropriately agreeable and entirely vague. He ducks his head as Cadgwith weighs in with her opinion, and skitters away over the sand with a dipping bow on retreat. And, oh, it certainly is retreat. He comes to a pause next to a yellow egg with red laid over the top, and an /oven on skis/ scribbled near the bottom. Meerak eyes A Grand Day Out sidelong, wary. He'll stand here, and you'll stand there.

Xayna saw: Something dark, something swift, something cold -- wind through your hair, cold and icy wind, and the sensation of flight, running. Wary. Wary.

Airam saw: Dark power. Deep wells of intelligent power. Something whirls up from the abyss with sinister intelligence, full of the potential to rip your world apart. Something so old that time itself doesn't remember when it was born into this dimesion. Something so powerful that it's best left forgotten. But it hasn't forgot. It won't forget. There's a vendetta to settle. Power to use. Evil to do. And it likes you.

Khalylai moves, then, footsteps gingerly set as she walks to Harvest Moon. She has a bad feeling about this. A trepidous look is raised to Cadgwith-- "Is it going to bite me, you reckon, madam?" she questions the gold dragon with something of low amusement and wry selfefacement to her tone, before bringing her hands to rest lightly on the apex of said egg.

Micail pulls away from the egg almost abruptly, standing there for a bit in order to wrap his arms around himself a little. There's still confusion there, staring at the Minions egg before peering at the nearby Khaly. "This..is so /weird./" He moves over just a few feet, now tentative again as he reaches his hand to lightly rest on the Crying for the Moon egg. "They..they really do get all in your head and stuff."

Cheyanna just shakes her head at Xayna, not replying. Her eyes flicker to Meerak, who is moving away. Lost, she steps again away from the gold egg, staring in search of an egg that looks wholesome and innocent. Hahaha. She does not find one. Instead, she braces and steps in towards one at random. Chill of Winter, hand. Hand, Chill of Winter. PLAY NICE.

Meerak draws a deep breath and gives Micail an annoyed look, close enough to overhear now that he's abandoned the gold egg to the girls. "You noticed, did you?" His hand twitches at his side, fingers curling to form a fist and then relaxing again. Gathering his composure, he lays his palm over the red latticework of A Grand Day Out.

Airam jerks his hand away quickly, MUCH faster than for the Crying egg. He gives Cheyanna a nervous look over the egg and backs away from both her and the unhatched dragon- rising to his feet as he scampers. He moves closer to the first egg he touched upon entrance to the sands, and keeping away from the others.

Micail saw: As you withdraw, you escape laughter and malice and darkness -- they will be waiting for you.
Micail saw: Soft melancholy thrums awake at your touch, reaching out to bathe you in its bittersweet wash. Blind and fumbling, it wraps you in a wistful latticework of wish.

Khalylai saw: Sweet undistinguishable music floats from this egg, followed by the entrancing aroma of fermenting fruits. Come to me, it calls. Like the beautiful siren that lures sailors to their death, this one swirls with a hidden agenda.

Xayna blinks and then closes her eyes to let the feeling be felt without the distraction of sight. Caress, caress. Slowly, very slowly, she pulls away. Palm, fingers, until finally she pulls the fingertips off the egg. Only then does she open her eyes and stand. "They do, but some of them are...well..." The train of thought isn't finished as she decides to move down to the next egg, which happens to be the gold egg. Should she? A look of apprehension and she looks up to Cadgwith again, giving another bow. "May I?" Is asked softly, even though she has seen others touch it, she gets down on one knee and is reaching out towards the Harvest Egg. Her fingers don't touch though until Cadgwith gives some sort of approval. In the meantime, she is looking around to see what other eggs are near just in case.

Cheyanna saw: Play /nice/? The egg does not deign that with an answer at first, and for a moment there is just a discomfiting sensation of nothingness, death within the shell. Then comes the realisation that despite the heat and sweat of the Sands, chills are running through you, raising bumps on your flesh. It is not for you to command this egg.

There's no real reason for Micail to pull back as Airam had done with the Crying egg. Still, he does peer toward Meerak as the other talks to him, and sticks his tongue out. "I like it." He doesn't mind the little things in his head, and he concentrates on the egg under his fingertips..despite the trailing gaze that slips right back to the Minions egg. That one.. That one is interesting.

Xayna saw: Warmth bathes you, all-encompassing, enveloping: soft hands over your mind like a mother's caress. It is as rich as wine, as heady as pure song, a cornucopia of feeling. Passion and love and female, bound together inextricably, with an aureate shimmer that surpasses mere beauty.

Khalylai stares at the egg. "Are you for real?" she states, her tone dubious. "Look, every single last one of your buddies is evil, and you're trying to play it off too?" Yeah, she's totally over it, now. "Posturing. That's all they're doing. Posturing." This is a dark mutter to herself- but Xayna probably hears it, given she's right there. "You can lay off." Muttermuttermutter, but her hands don't shift from the egg.

Cheyanna does not pull away. The fingers of her left hand curl into a tight fist, but her right hand remains, stubborn, unyielding on the shell. Her jaw tenses, jutting out very slightly as she settles down for the brief contest. She's pitting her will against an embryo. That's... actually kind of sad.

Meerak saw: Bizarrely it's a sensation of cheese that assaults you in a veritable mood-picnic. Mozzarella stretches lazily around you, gorgonzola rears over with mouldering challenge, but loveliest of all is the crumbliness of Wensleydale satisfying your very soul. Strike up the band! Cheese is the new religion and the one true quest in life!

Micail saw: Wistful and lonely, unseeing touch. The world is empty. Stay. Search with me. Are you lost?

Khalylai saw: The music is stronger now. The smell is sweeter. It knows it has won. It is a matter of time. A feeling of sinister grin like the Cheshire Cat gone bad fills up your mind with drunken laughter. A little closer now.

Xayna looks over at Khalylai, but does not remove her hand from the egg. "What do you mean by that?" She is enjoying the feeling coming from the egg, so doesn't understand why the other candidate is making the statement she is. Though after a good couple of minutes, she does remove her hand from the shell. Maybe she'll come back, maybe she won't. For now, she eyes Minions of the Moon Egg not far away, but does keep glancing back at Khaly.

Cheyanna saw: So you will let it in? Or are you trying to guard against it? No matter, the cold seeps inside you, oddly seductive once it settles in. The world is bleak, barren and hopeless, but all of a sudden it is yours. And you have the choice whether you give up or whether you carry on the eternal struggle.

Airam sighs and kneels down on the sand beside the Moon after Yule Egg, ignoring the heat as well as he can. He watches the others silently as he idly strokes the shell beside him, finding a bit of comfort in the fact that /this/ one didn't feel evil or miserable. He raises an eyebrow at Cheyanna, wondering how she could keep touching that one. Maybe it didn't /like/ her as it did him.

Meerak drops his hand back to his side, folding both at the small of his back. He stares at the red-and-yellow-and-cheesy egg. Just stares. -- And takes a step away, then two. He swears softly under his breath in a rapid murmur of syllables.

Cheyanna stills. Her left hand opens. Her eyes close. Her lips part. There is, there, an instant of... something.

Micail tilts his head just a little bit, smiling gently at the Crying egg. His hand moves then, rubbing over the shell lightly. One caresss for the little one within. "Hi.." And he's back to talking to the egg. Minions needed no words, apparantly.

Xayna saw: As you withdraw, warmth earthen and deep falls away, leaving behind only alto shimmer of music fading slowly from your thoughts.

Airam saw: Lonely. Older than time itself. The howling screeches back towards the entity touching it. The ghostly speck, no longer tiny, burns with two pinpricks of fire-red light, strong intelligence, eternity of waiting, and now it has someone. Goody for it. Bad for you.

Khalylai stills, staring at Xayna as if she's grown a second head. The lass considers Harvest Moon once more, shudders, and pauses one final moment before completely removing herself from the egg. "Oh, that's bizarre. All of these eggs are bizarre." There's a pause. "Begging your pardon," again to Cadge. "Don't eat me or anything. I'm just saying." With that, she turns and moves -away- from the eggs to catch her breath.

Cheyanna saw: Wind laced with frost blows through you. It promises little but at least it does not offer false hope.

Micail saw: Emptiness, hollowness, loneliness: there is no sight, there is only blur and a weary, distant thread of hope. It grows stronger as you touch it, drawing you in like a bolster to its spirit. No more I am alone -- we are alone. We. Lost, alone, empty, hollow ...

Cadgwith huffs slightly--as indeed does Pyrene. "Honestly, they're just /eggs/," the latter declares discomfited. "Cadge has produced some fine dragons." Some. Let's ignore that one clutch she had with Druseth....

Meerak sidles over to Khalylai -- not /friendly/, no, but with a certain companionable paranoia. "Hey. You touched that one, right?" He jerks his chin toward the Honey egg. "Aren't they kind of--?"

Xayna watches at Khalylai walks away, confusion furrowing her brows. Finally she shakes her head and stands, but seeing Micail is talking to the Minions Egg, her eyes look around for an egg she hasn't touched yet. She begins to walk around the eggs, stopping to touch the Dark Side of the Moon Egg, bending over to let her fingertips touch the top of the shell.

Micail gives a little whine after a few more seconds of touching that egg, and then pulls right away from it, frowning. "That one.." Is a vaccuum. Shaking off that little chill of emptiness that came along with it, he shuffles back again, gravitating right back to the Minions egg that he'd been touching previously. He just stands in front of it though, staring, before giving it a little poke with a finger. Look! He came back. "Are you still in there..?" ...Where would it /go/?

Khalylai bobs her head fiercely in agreement. "I know, they're just... well..." That's to Pyrene, but sidelong to Meerak, she hisses under her breath, "They all want to eat me or lure me to my death or drown me in sweetness!" She's especially paranoid, now that Meerak has verified her feelings.

Slowly, Cheyanna's hand pulls away, fingertips trailing. For a moment, she stands like that, then she opens her eyes to stare again at the egg. Her right hand closes in a loose fist, and she pauses for a long moment. Then she turns away, shoulders first, hips after, and her eyes last, dragged away only at the last minute. Her skin is prickled with goosebumps, despite the heat of the sands.

"Yes!" Meerak agrees, whisper rising to a sharp punctuation. He eyes the eggs suspiciously. "Yes, yes! Well -- less with the eating. But they are all trying to make you /be something/. Or /do something/. Control you! Which one wanted to eat you?"

Airam doesn't feel bad about anything as he recieves another mental prod, he just pets it some more and keeps quiet by it's side, in contrast to the howling it seems lets off. He gives the egg another small smile, "Lonely." He murmers, knowing perfectly well how it feels. He doesn't move to another egg- he's has had enough evilish presences poking around in his mind thank you very much.

Xayna saw: Stillness. All is still and silent and dark. There is no breath, no word, no heat, no hope. There is only something -- something indefinable and distant. But aware.

Micail saw: Darkness unfolds to wrap around you again, welcoming in its prickly, treacherous way. Mocking laughter rings in your mind. Of course you came back. Of course.

Cheyanna casts her eyes over all the eggs. Innocuous, light... there. She seeks presence, fire, life -- yes, even evil life. To Feed The Hunger Egg seems to fit the bill; she bypasses several eggs to brush fingertips against the cacapohony of color.

"Yes she has, from what I've heard." Xayna responds to Pyrene but since she's hasn't been here but a couple turns she doesn't know more than what others tell her. "I haven't felt anything controlling." Yet as feeling floods over her from Dark Side, she pulls away quickly. "Ok.." She moves off and decides to put her fingertips on the Em-Oh-Oh-En Egg since she is making her way back towards the eggs nearest Cadgwith.

Airam saw: The loneliness doesn't abate. It gets stronger. The fire red eye creep closer. Circling the prey. Are you company, or something else?

Cheyanna saw: No slow infiltration here, but a full out assault, flashing lurid colours into your mind's eye. Brassy and vivid and distracting--for it may take a beat to realise that they're accompanied by hungry fingers clawing greedily at your very awareness: You live; live for /me/....

HOLY CRAP. Chey rips her hand away.

Khalylai saw: How would life be living with the pangs of hunger, but never dying? The imagery isn't imagery at all, but feeling of longing, pain, HUNGER. Phantom pains chase phantom prey over the most desolate landscape of them mind. So forceful, so strong, re the hunger pains, the longing, the desperation on the dream plane, or this reality?

Micail looks quite pleased to be back at the Minions egg, tilting just a bit to rest his forehead on the shell. His palm presses to it finally, fingers curling just a little against it. He does turn his head a little after a moment, looking at the other candidates still milling about, touching eggs and lamenting over carnivorous egglings. Meerak gets a little grin then. "It's not so bad.. I kind of like what they do." Messing with /brains/.

Khalylai points at Beast. "Wanted to eat me. I'm telling you. Vicious! Like... violent!" She just used the word 'like'. This is Khaly. She must be shaken fairly bad. A shudder, then. "And that one..." she nods to Harvest Moon. "Wanted to lead me off somewhere-- for something BAD." It's stated with ferver. "See? Seee? That one's -hungry-," with a point to Chey. "For -you-." She's fervent, now, indeed. Ahem.

"You're a freak," Meerak tells Micail, point blank. He slides over the stand to Chey, who has much more reasonable reactions, and eyes the egg she'd touched. "What's it like?" he asks, unwilling to touch it yet.

Cheyanna turns to look back at Micail as he speaks, her face flushed and her eyes dark. "What are --" She breaks off. "You are just..." She trails off as Meerak approaches. "DON'T," she tells him. "Just don't. I'm going back to the one that wanted me to sleep with you, okay?"

Airam arches a 'brow at the egg beside him, but doesn't remove his hand or show any fear inside or out. He knows the presence in his head can't hurt him. Of course, that information didn't stop him from getting away from the last egg he touched pretty quickly. He turns to look blankly at Khalylai, believing it fully if any of the other eggs are like the Chill one.

Xayna saw: Chaos in balance -- opposites strive against each other in a wild furor that spills over to assault you with paradox. Coldness and passion, sin and virtue -- this egg holds a choice.

Airam saw: Loneliness will follow wherever you go. The feeling gets weaker as contact gets farther away, but it is still there, nonetheless.

Meerak holds his palm a breath away from the surface of the HUNGRYEATYOURFACE To Feed The Hunger egg and eyes Cheyanna. Dare him? Dare him? "I--" Don't have a comment. He closes his lips and considers. "Okay."

Khalylai saw: Dark laughter still rings quietly in the far corners of your mind. It has won. Don't forget that.

Micail saw: Darkness does not rest content. It prods, it pokes, it bites, it blades. There is no peace here, no respite from the continuous, curious batter of sensation. It thunders, a horde of black and vile monsters sending forth a single scout. Is this pain? Is it something else?

Cheyanna goes back to the gold egg. Bows to Cadgwith. Reaches out a hand for warmth and life and...contact.

Khalylai nods at Airam. "You know -exactly- what I'm talking about, don't you." She's happily living in her paranoia, now. Conspiracy theorist she may be, but she -heard- that laughter. She eyes each of the eggs in turn, wondering which sadistic monster did that. A shiver, and she moves to one last egg: Minions of the Moon. Her palms shift, hesitant, and then gracefully slide down the sides of said egg. She glances over at Micail. "Do you need a tissue?"

Airam rolls his eyes at the others and raises his voice enough to be heard by the rest, 'specially Khalylai, "They're just eggs! Can't hurt." Physically at least. The corners of his mouth twitch up a bit at Cheyanna's comment, knowing it was probably the gold egg that made her feel that after seeing her reaction the first time she touched it.

Cheyanna saw: Addictive, isn't it? Flushed with life and so much else, the egg greets you as an intimate friend. Open and inviting it invites you in: for honest work; for unabashed revelry.

Khalylai saw: This one calls for attention. Look inside. Look at me. Silence. Armies upon armies of....creatures march forth into the mind. Still silence. No sound accompanies this vision. Sheer numbers, after all. Blood, gore. From above, a hand reaches down...down...down into the mind. Only visible out of the corner of the eye. Try to focus, and it's gone, coming from another angle. Intelligence is here. Somewhere. Looking for you.

Cheyanna remains for a moment, hand pressed, hand still. Her eyes are closed, her breathing even. Then she pulls away, letting her fingertips trail. She inhales deeply, then exhales, and steps back. Again, she bows to Cadgwith.

Xayna cocks her head at the egg and then slowly pulls away. "Interesting...so..." She shakes her head and walks on. Though she does start moving through the eggs again. Apparently she is headed back toward the gold egg, drawn to it. At overhearing Cheyanna's comment, eyes to turn to look at the other woman. "Sleep with him? I haven't gotten that feeling." Yet she stops as Cheyanna is now in front of the gold egg, not really sure what she wants to do. Giving a long sigh, she decides to let her fingertips touch the Harvest Egg again, hoping against hope that she gets the same feeling. It is a bit more gentle than some, and with her current state of confusion, it is helping to increase her confidence.

Micail just pouts at being called a freak, glaring after another moment. "I am not a /freak/. You're just grumpy!" Though there's a tremor going through him, he just as defiantly turns his glare back on the egg. "I'm not afraid of the dark anymore, you know." ..Yes he is. Shh. Don't tell. Khaly gets a pout as he leaves the egg behind though for her to touch. "Not yet. Probably later." And off the boy shuffles, dropping a hand firmly on the Moon When Trees Pop egg.

Xayna saw: Welcome touches you, golden cascades of music singing to life again at your touch. Passion. Love. Hope. It is everything a woman is and could be: motherhood and lust and life and beauty and giving. It caresses you, kisses you, draws you in.

Khalylai twitches. "You don't scare me," she whispers to Minions, and her voice is perfectly straight-- not haunted or evinced of the fact that every egg is out to get her; simply straightforward. "You don't." And with that, she lifts her hands away from the egg and turns away. A deep bow for Cadgwith, and a crisp salute to Pyrene, and she moves towards the edges of the sands. No more eggs for her, she reckons.

Micail saw: Poised on the verge of happening, something teeters: something indefinable, wonderful or terrifying or both. It is the tension of a coiled spring, waiting to sproing.

Cheyanna is totally done. She moves back, towards the edges of the pile, back from the crush and the push and the energy throbbing below those eggshells. The depth there is too much for her, and she retreats back to the comfortable shallows.

Khalylai saw: A deep sensation of unseeable eyes following you accompany your journey to the edge...and then stops. No more eyes. No nothing.

"Yes, I am," Meerak agrees to Micail, "but -- you really are. Wrong, I mean. You're wrong." He watches the exchange between Micail and egg with a twitch of a very bland look. No dare to touch To Feed the Hunger from Cheyanna, who left to abandon him to it, but still -- he turns to eye this egg, and tentatively to lay light fingers on its curving side.

Xayna closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling, caressing the egg for a couple moments, before reluctantly pulling away again. Her expression is more serene and with more confidence as she stands up and bows to Cadgwith. "Thank you for letting us touch your precious eggs." A wide smile to Pyrene and she makes her way carefully out of the throng of eggs towards the edge of the sands, now feeling the heat and lifting her feet quickly.

Meerak saw: Colours blaze around you, vibrant and clashing. Loud it is, but peculiarly deceitful, smothering you with its blare, battering down defences while something else entirely laps greedily at your mind. Stay a little longer.....

Micail tilts his head just a little bit, and nods, pulling away after just a moment more of touching. "It'll be soon, I hope." Sooner than later, anyway. Hopefully. He does shake his head then, before he shuffles away from the eggs, the back of his arm wiping sweat from his forehead. He doesn't look too pleased though, despite the experience, locking an irritated look on Meerak. Hmph.

Pyrene sniffs at the general reaction. "I think you'd all better take a break. You're starting to unsettle the eggs," she snaps peevishly. Or rather, they're not prostrating themselves in adulation as Pyrene considers appropriate. "Come on, scoot! Let Cadge get some sleep." Because it's not like the clutchmother has ample opportunity for that...

Airam sighs sadly and lets his hand fall away from the egg and into the sand. He's done here, just wishes he could reassure the thing inside that he'll come back soon. He stands and turns to face Cadgwith and repeats the respectful nod he made when he first arrived. "Nice clutch," He comments politely and moves away to join the others on the edges of the mound of eggs.

Meerak pulls from this last as quickly as he did the first, startling away with a surprised yelp only half-bitten back behind his teeth. He more than moves away, he moves out! It's not quite a retreat, but it is certainly a withdrawal. "I gotta-- there's a thing," he explains, dipping his head to rider and dragon. "Right, a break!" Feet patter lightly over the hot sand, withdrawing to put Xayna and Cheyanna and others between him and the eggs.

Oh. /They're/ unsettling the /eggs/? Cheyanna just stares at Pyrene.

Cadgwith is less irritable, her head hangs low over the exit to the Sands as the candidates file out, tongue darting happily at the air above their heads. Thank-you! Come again!

Cheyanna also says to Meerak, "I /told/ you so!"

"I know! Sorry!" Meerak calls over his shoulder, still retre--/withdrawing/.

With no more kibbitzing to be done, Sao goes. Maybe to get Pyrene icewater, maybe not!

Xayna turns and laughs at Pyrene. Though she doesn't say anything, she makes her way off the sands as told, in happier spirits then when she first stepped onto the sands. It will make setting up the bowl for the games a lot easier.

Airam waves goodbye to Pyrene and follows Xayna off the sands. Now that he's away from the eggs, some concerns have popped back up. He's /hungry/.

Khalylai files out with the others, peeking a glance up at Cadge. She wonders aloud before leaving- "How'd -you- make -them-?" Cadge is too sweet for all this darkness.

Cadgwith blames Ghraith.

Cheyanna is in a dignified retreat. She is not fleeing. She is... moving hastily. Away. Coincidentally. She makes it to the exit and slips through.

Micail hurries off the sands with a quiet little giggle to himself. That's right. There's a giggle. Maybe for the way some of the others are fleeing. Or as they say, 'withdrawing'.