Meeting the Students (Attn: All Candidates)

[harbinger]

If any are rude to you, I will devour them whole.[/b]

You will do no such thing. Savrent said as she walked into the Candidate classroom. It was the day after her arrival, three days after the Renegade hatching. She had posted a notice in the Candidate common room that the first of her classes would begin today. There had been some candidates who had no Impressed; little wonder there only being eight eggs or so. Savrent had not gotten a complete report on who had Impressed. Nor did she need one; her job was to teach candidates.

"Good morning, Candidates." she said, turning to face them all. Her gray eyes moved out the crowd and she tucked a length of dark, coal black hair away from her face.

"Now, my name is Savrent and I will be your new Candidate Master. My dragon is red sub-queen Shiobth. My advice to you will be to stay on her good side if you can find it. She is a red, so keep that always in mind while dealing with her. Even on her best days, she's abrasive. As she is a Red and may provide Dalibor with a clutch in the future, I suggest you remember your manners around her. Now, I do not want to waste any time on dwelling on the events of the last couple of days. If you didn't Impress, it was because your dragon partner was not on the Sands. Nothing more. It isn't because you are unacceptable. Nothing will be accomplished by sitting on your ass and feeling sorry for yourself. It won't Impress a dragon nor will it impress me. I expect you all to carry your weight and accord yourselves the way future dragon riders of Pern are expected to."

She paused and walked toward the right.

"Now, I need to get to know names to put to faces. Who is first?"

[onivale]

Like the rest of the Candidates in her barrack, Shani had come along bright and early to attend the first day of class. Tired eyes stared out in front of her, focusing on nothing in particular. The room had not yet crowded with the coming students, and she had taken advantage of this by reminiscing of the memory of being Searched. Being Searched had happened before with no result, so she often wondered if the dragon that had Searched her had made a mistake. Then again, it was an honor being chosen to begin with, so the fiery female had nothing to complain about even if she did not Impress this time around. The first time that she had not been chosen the event had been a stinging blow to her pride as she stood seeing the many dragonets spilling out of their glistening shells and Impressing to the other Candidates. As the turns went by and her focus was mainly on her lover, the young woman had not been interested in finding a lifemate that would stand by her through and through. After the events of losing Irenes, the pain of not Impressing seemed like nothing, and so she had no fear of the coming result after the Hatching. What happened, happened.

Sigh. Shani had hardly been at the barracks long before she needed to wake up early and attend the class. The exhaustion of running around was beginning to catch up to her, and the ebony-haired female found it strange that there was class to attend to begin with. At the previous Weyr she had lived in, the only thing the Candidates did before attending the Hatching were chores. Perhaps things were different here than in the North?

Other children began to trickle into the classroom, and Shani straightened in her seat. Her mind was turning, curious to see as to what class would be like. What would the Candidate Master be teaching? How long would the class be? Until the next Hatching? Questions mulled within her head until the Candidate Master spoke.

"Good morning, Candidates." The woman looked at all of them with gray eyes, sliding a lock of hair to reveal more of her face.

"Now, my name is Savrent and I will be your new Candidate Master. My dragon is red sub-queen Shiobth. My advice to you will be to stay on her good side if you can find it. She is a red, so keep that always in mind while dealing with her. Even on her best days, she's abrasive. As she is a Red and may provide Dalibor with a clutch in the future, I suggest you remember your manners around her. Now, I do not want to waste any time on dwelling on the events of the last couple of days. If you didn't Impress, it was because your dragon partner was not on the Sands. Nothing more. It isn't because you are unacceptable. Nothing will be accomplished by sitting on your ass and feeling sorry for yourself. It won't Impress a dragon nor will it impress me. I expect you all to carry your weight and accord yourselves the way future dragon riders of Pern are expected to."

Already the 19 turn old frowned, displeased with this dragonrider's attitude. Was it really necessary to be so blunt? Raising a brow she continued to listen to this instructor speak. As the older woman walked to the right, she followed her with green-brown eyes.

"Now, I need to get to know names to put to faces. Who is first?"

"Candidate Shani." The Candidate said plainly, raising her hand to indicate who the voice belonged to.

[harbinger]

"Shani." Savrent said, looking at the girl hard as if taking her measure. She liked Candidates who took the intiative to place themselves in full view of their class. She would remember the girl's boldness and gestured for her to stand.

"Candidate Shani. Would you please stand and tell us a little about yourself and your background?" Savrent asked, turning to look at the other students to take note of their reactions. The Candidates might know each other already but Savrent would put them through the paces to make sure she knew all there was to know about them all. Savrent took her seat in a chair not too far off, giving the girl Shani her attention. Savrent sat, crossing one leg over the other and looking at the female candidate. Boldness might very well draw the attention of a queen or sub-queen, assuming the girl's preferences allowed for a gold, orange or red to take notice of her.

'Not that boldness can tell. I've known handfuls of pink and green riders who could sum up boldness at their need.' Savrent thought to herself.