The time was dawning upon the world when the greatest honor would be bestowed upon the chosen few who faced their fears in the presence of anxiety, and anyone who had a name that rang importance was here to witness it. The ring of white robed adolescents began to form around the clutch of elliptical objects that seemed to draw the attention of everyone in the cavernous room and entrance them so deeply, no one dared to make a sound or even move. As the children filed in to take their designated spot, one girl in particular tried hard to keep her head held high as the inner turmoil raged inside her body and mind. The silence of the room, even from the great beasts that sat perched on ledges spattered around the cavern, gave her no hope for tranquility, but only assured her that this was the calm before the storm.
She soon became separated from the larger group by the according plan given to her by an adult before entering the cavern and a few other girls followed suit. They positioned themselves around one of the objects that had been set aside, because it held a greater importance than the rest. Realizing then, what this all meant, she wanted to run and hide into the tiniest crevice she could find. This was not where she belonged, she shouldn't be here. Why had they chosen her of all people to stand here, on the hot sands staring at this glistening egg? Her intelligent eyes took in the facial expressions of the other girls around her and she could see her own emotions reflected in their eyes. She wanted to let them run and run with them, but they all had a duty to fulfill by standing at this point.
But isn't this what all little children one day dream of doing? To stand on the sands of the Hatching Grounds and stare into the face of their highest goal in life? Yes, she'll admit it, as a young girl of seven she had fantasies of standing in this very spot where she was at now and achieving what she had come here to do. But that was half of her lifetime ago, she'd grown since then and her fantasies and dreams had faded into the background. Yet, here she is one of the few to even experience this honor and she wanted to run?
No, she could not back out now, even if she wanted to. She had gotten this far and she would regret never having gone further, perhaps even getting the chance to reach her goal and Impress a dragonet. She couldn't let that go, yet she kept asking herself, 'What have you gotten yourself into Shiak'. Firmly planting her feet on the ground, as if telling herself that there no chance of running, she made her own resolution to see this through to the end, whatever the outcome. With that thought in mind, she waited until the time when everything would become known to her and she would no longer have to regret.
Across the clutch from this girl stood a young man who felt the exact opposite of the feeling to run away. In fact, he was confident in his appearance in this room today. Feeling as though after long torturous years living in a fishing hold, he'd earned this position to stand amongst this group and hope for the same dream they all shared. He'd never had much to look forward to in life and hoped that this was the event that could change everything for him and allow him never to go home again. With feet planted squarely and hands clasped behind his back, he faced the eggs with a yearning that can only be hidden by formal behavior.
It was this yearning that brought him here. Day after day, he would dream of being lifted away from the terrible life he held at home when Father was always gone off on the boat bringing in the weeks or months catch to feed the family. There was never any notice of when he'd leave or when he'd return, but Tobias soon began to learn how to take of the household. When Father was home, Mother would always cry and there would be shouting heard from the children's rooms and he would try to cover his little sisters' ears as best he could, but she would still sob. At breakfast the next morning, Father was gone and Mother was crying and covered with bruises. Tobias never asked why and didn't want to know.
Sooner or later he found out. At the age of 13, he was sent out on a fishing trip with his father and soon became to know the man he truly was and came to hate him. He resented that fact that he carried this man's name and blood. He would never let this man touch Mother again or let that voice reach the ears of his sister ever. That was two turns ago and now his plea had been heard. This chance was all he had to help his family, and he had begged for it day after day. If he became a dragon rider, he could one day pick up and move his family away from that horrible man, to save them.
Standing fast against the sea of emotions that over took him; he managed to keep most of his thoughts upon the task at hand, and kept his sea green eyes fastened on the eggs before him, pushing his past behind him once more. This was all that mattered right now, the eggs and the dragonets inside them. One path will lead to salvation, the other to damnation. Tobias could only pray for the former.
The faintest sound of humming broke the eerie silence that hung like a mist over the cavern and brought forth a sea of whispers and gasps as all eyes became even more entranced in what lay before them. The great golden body of the closet beast bent her head down and joined in the chorus, urging the dragonets forward. All of the Candidates began to shift uncomfortably, partially due to the heat under foot and the anxiety that seemed to build a wall around them as the humming gradually became louder.
In no time at all, the humming became rather deafening and several members of the audience in the stands had to place hands over their own ears or the ears of the young ones closest to them, yet the Candidates remained as still as they could, turmoil of confliction of emotions raging through each of them. The loud humming seemed to direct toward the queen egg, resonating through the cavern, yet bounced for the egg and all the attention focused on that egg that Shiak could not bring herself to look away lest she miss anything.
Tobias was the first to notice a slight wobble in an egg closest to him and his heart nearly skipped a beat. The entire experience of what was occurring around him was nothing anything he could have dreamed and here he was, standing right before the egg that very well may be the first to hatch. He could hardly believe his own luck.
The egg began to wobble a bit more, shaking enough to gather the attention of the other boys around him and a few shouts from the crowd, but he had blocked these out long ago and with his heart and begun to encourage the little one inside to break free and view the world with it's own eyes. The humming around him was unblockable though as it grew to an intensity that shook the stone of the entire cavern around them all, and seemed to twine itself into the minds and hearts of the Candidates themselves as well as the dragonets inside the egg.
Then with a sudden violent shake of the egg, the humming abruptly ceased and the crack in the shell began to make its course down the entirety of the egg.