Down to the Wire [Candidate Lesson]

[kyrillion]

The bulletin had been up for a sevenday, now - posted in plain sight in the barracks, and informing the Candidates when and where they were to have their first lesson. The where: a classroom in the lower caverns, clearly marked. The when: well, about right now. S'rial was expecting good attendance; these things were supposed to be mandatory, after all, but in his experience that was never a guaruntee. Kids came up with excuses as quickly as dragons blinked between; he suspected it was some sort of instinct that most of them, eventually, grew out of.

It was a small room, well-lit, with chairs and desks crammed in tight rows, all facing the back of the room where a large, wooden desk sat. S'rial had foregone his own chair, and had instead opted to sit on the desk; a slightly less formal atmosphere would be best, he thought, for a first lesson. It always helped to put the new Candidates at ease; many of them would be brand-new to a Weyr environment, and he had found that the change could be rather stressful on some of them.

He waited, silent and patient, for his latest batch fo students to gather. It wasn't long before they began to file in, slowly but surely; some looked bored, others as though they'd just woken up. Some seemed excited, which could only be a good thing. It took some time (he had long ago decided that teaching Candidates required a lot of patience), but at last the room looked satisfyingly full, and a low buzz of conversation had started up. He had concluded, by the time the last straggler ambled in, that he had a pretty eclectic group this time around. Every teacher enjoyed the challenge provided by an interesting class.

Grinning, he sat up at last and gave a short, sharp whistle. He waited for the room to quiet down before he began; this lesson was an important one and, unfortunately, would require a bit of lecturing.

"Good morning, Candidates. I'm S'rial, rider of brown Duareth - you might have noticed him hanging around outside on your way in." It had taken some doing, but he'd eventually convinced his doting brown to abandon the Hatching Cavern long enough to participate in the lesson. Which wasn't to say Duareth was particularly happy to be there. "I'll be your Candidatemaster; it's my job to see you all through to the Hatching, and to make sure you each have the necessary knowledge and tools to Stand safely, and to be productive members of the Weyr until Hatching time comes."

He paused for a moment, levering his hands against the desk and moving to stand - he'd always been a bit fidgety during long talks, as both a student and a teacher. "For your first lesson, we'll be going over dragon anatomy; I recommend you write some of it down. We'll be covering a lot of information."

Clasping his hands behind his back, he began to pace. "We'll focus on hatchlings, dragonets - should you Impress, it is imperative you know the basics, and are prepared to take proper care of a newly-hatched dragon. As many of you have heard, I'm sure, dragons are born starving; at each Hatching, there is plenty of food set out. The first, and most important thing, is to get them fed - and to not let them over-eat, either. They should have their fill, and no more."

"Dragons grow very quickly after hatching; it is important to bathe and oil them, else their hides will crack and itch. Twice a day at least, for the first several months, should keep them healthy and comfortable. Also, dragons are meant to fly; they are uncoordinated on the ground, and particularly clumsy as hatchings. It is important to keep their wings from dragging, as many are apt to do at first - if they are not careful, they could snag a wingtip, or tear a wingsail which, as Duareth can testify to, is quite painful."

As he spoke, he took the opportunity to observe the class; he made sure to lock eyes with each of his students at least once. Matching what names he knew already to faces, trying to glean a bit of information about each one. He was not only a teacher, but a guide and a counselor. He always made a point of paying attention to each of his charges; should any of them find themselves in trouble, or need help, he wanted to be prepared to offer that help to the best of his ability. They were his responsibility, after all, and he took that responsibility very seriously.

"You may also have noticed that dragon's eyes will occasionally change color. That color actually corresponds to a dragon's mood; blues and greens are most common, and communicate happiness or a sense of calm. Hunger or anger will turn a dragon's eyes red; yellow betrays fear. Suspicion or uncertainty will show as orange; fear as white. And, finally, when a dragon rises to Fly or to Chase, their eyes will purple with lust."

He paused, then, and took a moment to go over what he'd covered; there was much left to discuss, of course, but he was quite sure most of his students hated lectures just as much as he did. And anything he'd missed could easily be thrown in during the 'project' he had planned next.

"In just a moment, we're going to take this outside, and I'm going to formally introduce you to Duareth. I'll have a little task for you all to complete before you can be dismissed, but first, are there any questions?"

[Reky]

Lin was one of the first few in the door of the classroom. Her internal clock was still in farm mode, since it had only been less than a sevenday since she'd arrived at the Weyr. She had no problem rising early and getting dressed, fed, and functional before the lesson was scheduled to start. She'd memorized the time, of course, and made sure she was there when the notice told her to be. Was it bad to be late for things at a Weyr? It probably was. If it was anything like home, it was. The sight of S'rial sitting on the desk pushed any worries that it was going to awfully rigid and formal from her mind, and she settled into her own chair.

She still felt awfully out of place here. She recognized some of the candidates' faces, but for the life of her she couldn't remember who they were. This whole Weyr business would take some getting used to. She'd have to send word back home with a runner soon, to let them know she was alright and all. Alvo and Nivin would probably be missing her already... and how would mom and dad be taking the news that she was Searched? Who knew. Only one way to find out, really.

Finally, after a long while, the rest of the candidates had filtered in and the candidatemaster up front began to talk. There were a great many things that kept her listening intently. First, the excitement of it all. The thought of Impression was enough to make anyone squirm with it. Second, habit. She listened intently all the time at home, lest she miss something important. Along with that was the fear of sharding up. It probably wasn't the wisest idea to come off in a bad image... Faranth, she was so worried about it all! It was all just a little to new. This wasn't herding, that was for sure.

She would have taken notes, but her writing wasn't really a masterpiece. It took too much effort to put the right letters down, for her. She didn't have the time to. If she was trying to write things down, she would have missed other things S'rial was saying. So, instead, she committed it all to memory best she could, running it through her head a few times. But eventually she got side tracked, her thoughts scrolling back to dragons. She wondered if she would Impress... and what sort of dragon would it be? What would they be named? How did it feel to fly? It must feel amazing... soaring through the air like that, weightless. She smirked faintly at a stray idea -- if she got into the sky, she'd probably never get sick of exploring it.

S'rial finished speaking. Lin hoped no one would have any long, pointless questions. The less there was, the sooner they would get out to see Duareth, and get their task. She racked her brain for any good questions, though, but none came, and she looked around for hands.

[purnip]

One of the first arrivals to the class had been Lyam, of course. This Candidate wouldn't dare miss the opportunity of not only being in one room with the rest of the Candidate pool, but of having a chance to become known on a more personal level to the Candidatemaster. The man, as many dragonriders had, proved to be evasive. It was as if Candidates bore a certain scent others were careful to avoid.

But once he had arrived, his cheerful demeanor slipped at the site of a nearly empty class. He had gotten there a little too early, much to his dismay. He frowned and took a seat near the front; if anyone was prepared to kiss arse around here, it was he. Lyam knew more or less what this lesson would entail. He read about most of it when stricken with panic attacks centered around Impression day. His mental calendar was marking each day with great anticipation. The rings under his eyes, traits he could not hide as easily as his thought and mood, betrayed the fact that he had not slept properly in days. His hair was puffier than usual, guaranteed to upset the Candidate who dared to sit behind him. He needed to cut it soon but constantly forgot to do so. Suede could not perch on his shoulder without having the puffy rag on his back, so the Blue had stayed behind in His' room to sleep.

Lyam eyed S'rial with keen interest, attempting to understand something about this man just by observation. When the other 'students' began to show up and class had started, he compiled those observations and came to several conclusions. The man seemed to like his job well enough, or was decent at putting up with it. Like an instructor, he kept keen eyes on them in return to make his own deductions. Lyam was taking very minor notes mostly to save face; he was informed about most if not all these details. Had he not spent his time scanning the Brownrider, he would have appeared to have no interest whatsoever in the lesson. His eyes traveled away from S'rial now and then to examine fellow Candidates once he had grown bored of compiling his analysis of the dragonman. Most of them he knew rather well, others he did not know aside from in passing. He caught himself drifting after a minute or two and returned his gaze to S'rial again, head in his left hand as he scrawled a note on the bit about wing snares.

As for Rhysia, she got there just as the instructor whistled to get his class's attention. She shifted as obscurely as possible from the doorway and into the seat behind Lyam, behind that unruly head of hair that blocked her view.

"Pssst. What'd I miss?" she whispered, leaning forward. Lyam waved his hand over his shoulder dismissively.

"I thought we were no longer on good terms," he whispered back, his lips barely moving. He didn't want to be a disruption, so he shut his mouth to refrain from chattering on.

Rhysia leaned back with a frown. "I just needed time, Ly." Her voice had risen dangerously above whisper level, but she folded her arms and looked up at S'rial to listen keenly. For about thirty seconds. Then she was doodling on her notes absentmindedly. She too had read her share on dragons, only with a lot more interest back then than her Holdmate Lyam. She stopped doodling to pick up those bits she didn't know, eyeing the writing utensil lightly as she remembered having 'found' it earlier. Such a pity for the poor sod in the room that lost their pen. She drew a tiny dragon at the edge of her paper incinerating some thread. In her head she had named it, thought of its story, and all the while she listened to the Candidatemaster speak. She was a gifted multitasker.

As different as the two were, they both lit up just the same at the mention of meeting a dragon. Not that they hadn't, having been properly Searched, but Lyam was enthusiastic about using his analytical skills on the majestic creatures while Rhysia simply loved to behold them.

It couldn't last though. One of them had to break the combo breaker reaction. Lyam raised his hand to ask a question. "Yes, I've got a question. How did he know? Your dragon. How was he certain he found the right rider? No offense intended sir, but I've wondered at the clarity of a young dragon hatchling with an interest in their psychology."

Rhysia wanted to scoff at that. Everything had to be picked apart and analyzed by this kid. When did he get this bad? When they used to be as thick as thieves {literally in her case}, he was the sort to plan ahead and calculate his every breath, but he wasn't mad with the urge to disassemble and rearrange. He's gotten so...boring. Predictable. If you paid any attention to who he put favor on, you could determine his goal easily. The boy was building his team. He was finding followers and making friends in high places. Rhysia knew why he wasn't desperate to re-ignite their friendship; at the moment she was of little value to him, or a hinderance. Though the mention of seeing a Brown up close had cheered her up, the cheer was gone at these thoughts, only to be shadowed with a solemn annoyance at the mere sound of Lyam's voice.

[Birdy]

Paralee wasn’t the first of the candidates but she wasn’t the last. She came in near the middle, smiling cheerfully at the candidatemaster. Looking around the room she spied Rhysia, and plopped down in a seat next to her. Besides Remiel, Rhysia was the only other candidate she knew but she planned on changing that.

“Are you excited for the lesson, I sure am, wonder when the eggs will hatch,” Paralee said quickly, grinning at the girl. She was perky as she usually was in the morning, eager to learn anything she could on Impressing a dragon. When she’d first arrived, she hadn’t been too keen on the idea, but after a few days of watching the dragons and their riders in the skies and by the lake she had grown quite anxious.

She would have taken notes on the lesson but her writing was horrid and she had nothing to write on. Instead she watched the Candidate master, that was Remiel’s brother right? He was right there was a lot of information! But she would have to remember it. She focused, not talking for once, on the lesson soaking up as much information as her head could hold.

[zara]

Cassondra stood towards the back, listening intently. She wanted to know as much as she could about the dragons before she had t ostand ofn the sands... Her ice blue eyes watched the Candidate Master intently. She showed little emotion, as always, but she was obvioulsy deeply in control of herself... She took a deep breath nd pushed a strand of her blonde hair from her face. She wasn't particularly exicted or not excited about the Hatching to come, but that was becuase she always tried to keep a cool head... Or she always did. She always kept herself under control...

((Sorry... I'm out of practice... :/))

[jack]

With a fluttering of his shining wings, a Bronze flit sailed into the classroom just before it started, his eyes whirling with mild amusement. Around once, around twice, and around once more it sailed, taking inventory of all the people there, before with a near-grunt of explanation, it soared out. A moment later, a hesitant young man poked his head into the room, his soft eyes wary and skittish and his arms filled with the bulk of the rather large flit.

Cogs gave a soft huff of encouragement and sent an image of the safest route to his Mine, Sprocket shuffling carefully around the room as ordered. Like a spooked runner he shied notably around the girls, slipping into the seat next to Lyam. "G-Good morning." He stuttered to the boy, Cogs climbing out of his grip as he spoke, "I..uh..hope you don't..uhm..mind me sitting here." With the Bronze perched at his shoulders, staring rather accusingly at the girl behind Lyam, Sprocket seemed to gain a little confidence, giving a shy smile as he pulled his notebook out and began to write.

Interestingly, his words skirted thousands of scribbles, incredible little scribbles that mapped out all of his ideas. The notebook had long-since been dedicated to scribbles, and he hadn't exactly been intending on stocking a new one for dragons. So the notes would have to live around the scribbles, which got at least an inch of space bubble each.

A good while after Sprocket had arrived--an had relaxed enough to remove cogs from his shoulders, his fingers gently stretching out the flits wings for inspection--the sound of hoofbeats echoed in the hallway. As the shifty grey-head shot up in shock, wheeling around to stare at the door, a runner's head appeared just outside of it, tossing up and down with an aggravated complaint.

"HA! Take that, Namairi!" An unseen voice cackled, as the runner settled and shook his head, his nostrils flared subtly, "Can't fit a runner in the barracks...I so can fit a runner in the barracks! Now maybe not Eljae, I think he'd get stuck in the door. Big hips, not like you Joskep. You actually have a boyish figure!" With a hyperactive giggle the speaker slid from the creature's bare back, the sound of her bare feet hitting the stone echoing loudly. Cheerfully, she moved into view, pressing a kiss to the bay's nose before shooing him off to find the stables. The creature did so with a shake of his head, clopping lazily off back the way they'd come. The invader, meanwhile, turned her attention on the class.

"Sorry I'm late, rider!" She chirped as she bounced into the room, an oddly quiet canine skipping alongside, "Bodie got into something or another and got something reeaaally nasty smelling in his mouth. So we had to brush his teeth again!" Laughing, she gestured at the sheepish pooch, who lifted his blue and brown eyes hesitantly, "He's moping now. Don't pity him--he deserved it."

[hatori3070]

Jasra had tried and failed to make her trio stay in her room during class, but they had promised not to make trouble. Anthe and Dioia were on a shoulder each, with Geree in her customary position around her neck. She had made absolutely sure to be up in enough time to get there before class started, and was pleased to see an empty seat next to Lyam when she walked in. She smiled at the 'Rider in the back of the room as she sat down and set parchment and pen on the desk. It was when she turned to talk to Lyam that she notice the dark circles under his eyes. They'd spoken not that long ago and he'd seemed fine. Maybe his nerves about the hatching were manifesting in a lack of sleep. "Are you alright Lyam? You look awful." She was genuinely concerned. Maybe he should see if the healers had anything that could help him sleep?

She was just about to suggest that he do so when the lesson began with S'rial whistling to get everyone's attention. She'd seen the candidatemaster in passing, but hadn't had the chance to actually meet him yet. He seemed confident and laid-back, but not so much so that he appeared to be a slacker. If he was, he probably wouldn't have been here in the first place. Hmm, so both dragon and firelizards were born with a need for food. But only the 'lizards were driven by that need alone to choose their bonded. Jasra made a point to meet S'rial's eyes when he looked at her. She wanted to be noticed, wanted to be able to be recognized in case she thought of any questions later on. The bit about the eye colors was interesting. She had noticed that her flitts eyes changed colors, but hadn't really paid attention to the corresponding feelings at the time.

They would be meeting a dragon today! The only dragon she had met up close was the one who had searched her, and that only briefly. She wondered what the task would be. It would have something to do with dragon anatomy, obviously, but the question was what. Lyam's question distracted her from her musings. It was a good one, along the lines of their discussion of a few days ago, and she was also interested in the answer. How had he known? Jasra was sure she would understand once she Impressed, her traitorous mind had to throw out an if, how they could be so sure of their choice, but she wouldn't mind a clearer idea of it in the meantime.

[4horseshowgirl4]

It was time for their first Candidate lesson. Shells. Dekistee gave an unhappy look in the mirror. Her large quantity of blonde hair wasn't behaving itself today. She'd managed to corral half of it into a tight, elegant braid wrapping around her head, but the job wasn't anywhere near completion, and the half that she hadn't yet gotten to was a frizzy poufball. Still, only the most punctual and teacher-pettish of the Candidates were leaving now, so Dekistee still had several minutes to get there. She frowned before coaxing a brush through another section of her hair. She tried to hurry slightly, but between looking good and being on time, she'd choose looking good every time.

Finally, she was done, quite a while after the last female Candidate had left the barracks. Thank Faranth she'd gotten dressed and done her makeup before! She stood up and took a few moments to put everything away before leisurely making her way to the room where they were supposed to have their lesson. There was no rush. It wasn't like they were going to talk about anything important. The first part would almost certainly just be the Candidatemaster introducing himself or herself (depending on who was teaching, the Redrider or the Brownrider) and saying some stupid welcoming thing that Dekistee really didn't care to hear. For a minute, she was tempted to just skip it, but she was already skipping almost all of the chores, and, honestly, she'd rather not get caught. She could sit her way through a couple of boring lessons if it finally got her to her Queen and out of these rundown, shambly barracks.

Dekistee was a bit upset to see that Belor wasn't there, nor anyone interesting looking, really. Jasra was sitting with a boy and a girl, and Dekistee would steer far away from that group. Another girl had dreadlocks. Eww! Then... some crazy-looking girl who smelled like runner, and some boy that didn't strike Dekistee's interest at all. Where were all of the classy people? Finally, Dekistee saw another girl in the back. Well, she'd do. Dekistee sauntered back there to stand next to her, giving a nod of greeting before staring off in space as the lesson started, looking beautifully bored. Oh, she longed for this to be over already, she had way better things to do!

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[heytarsar]

Oh no. Oh no no no no no, Kjara whispered, seemingly lost in the many rooms. She didn’t know where she was going, but soon, she finally found her way into the room and—realized that she may be late. Blushing, she blurted out, “I’m sorry master,” before making her way and finding an empty seat. She was fair nervous, because she was surrounded by others her age, and one thing she did not do was talk to others. She sunk down a bit, hoping not to be noticed as she hid behind her wild mass of curly hair, but at the same time listening. She was very intent on knowing each and everything about the dragons, so when she finally calmed down, she peeked up and kept her eyes forward on the Candidatematesr the whole time, her hands on her lap as they trembled slightly. There was no trace of anger on her expression; her normally olive skin was parched white with fear as she quietly cleared her throat and took a good look around at the other students for a moment, to see what type of personalities she’d have to deal with. But soon, a smile brightened her face when Kadassh walked in, his tail wagging as he caught sight of her. Within moments he had made his way through the room- and even ignoring the other dog, and sat obediently at her side.

Kjara placed her hand on his head and she finally relaxed. But when she took a good look around the room, she realized that some of the children had Firelizards! She had seem a few up close, but she was in love with the small creatures; who couldn’t? They were the ancestors of the mighty dragons that the Pernese ride at this very day. She has always wanted a Firelizard, but they weren’t all that easy to come by. Kjara sighed quietly.

Since she was late, Kjara wondered if they’d see an actual dragon. She’d seen her mother’s up close, and was glad to know a few bits and pieces about them. The oiling she had watched her do, but the eye colors she’s only witnessed once. Her mother dragon, Phiath, had normally been calm around the Dragonrider’s daughter, but she remembered the white eyes of the Yellow dragon the day her mother had died. Kjara shivered at the thought of a dragon being afraid and gently patted the three year old Kadassh as he looked up to her, his crème colored head cocking to the side as he put on what seemed to be a smile. Quietly, with her hands, she motioned him to lie down on the ground and he did so, occasionally looking over at the sheepish dog with curiosity before letting his gaze wanders around the room.

Kjara waited for the teacher to speak, so she gathered her utensils and began jotting down the things she already knew.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[zara]

Cassondra was silent. She hadn't really made friends since she had come... She felt out of place, just as much so as she did at home. But, perhaps that would change. She was near the back, trying to escape notice. She waited for the Candidatemaster's assignment, neither anticipating or dreading it. She wanted to see what it would be and what she would have to do. Her throughts slowly began to wander, however, going to the coming Hatching... She wondered what colors there would be this time... She had missed the last Hatching narrowly... But that was just her luck. The YellowRider who had searched her was not one to usually search... She had learned that much, but that didn't really matter. She often wondered about a dragon's choice. Why would she have picked her? Cassondra didn't see herself as special... not more so than others around her, anyways... But, perhaps... The dragon saw something she never would have... She supposed that was it. Dragons looked for people with something special. Even when people couldn't see it... Every person she had met so far was somehow just a little different...

She shook her head slightly, returning her thoughts to the matter at hand. She felt like she was missing something. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the others, but then returned her gaze quietly to S'rial. She was sure she hadn't missed anything important in her brief lapse of concentration...

[theknightwhosaysni]

He ran the brush through his hair a few more times, knowing full well he was going to be late, and honestly, not really caring. Tylar was going to look good for this lesson - it really was important that he looked good if he were going to be late - if it was the last thing he did.
His clothes looked pretty nice, he thought with a smug smile, and Tylar looked over at Akal and Meggo. Akal was curled up, looking to be sleeping, but Tylar wasn't fooled. His eyes were wide open, and they were locked on Meggo's sleeping form, whirling a furious red.
Meggo was actually sleeping, his bronze form curled up in a tight little ball, and he didn't seem to notice the Black's sullen gaze.
Tylar clapped his hands, sending both firelizards erupting out of their calm positions, whipping around to glance at Tylar, as if to say 'Where's the fire?'
Akal scampered forward first, landing on Tylar's shoulder with a possessive croon, a sound that was oddly out of place, coming from the Black.
Meggo hissed, launching himself at Akal, earlier rude awakening forgotten, but at Tylar's firm glare, the Bronze subsided, crawling onto Tylar's other shoulder.
"Akal, quit baiting him, and Meggo, quit rising to the bait." Tylar ordered, anger dancing through his voice, "Now, I want you guys to look and act calm. We're going to a Candidate lesson, and if either of you act up, I'll send you back here, and you won't come out." there was no doubting the warning, so the two firelizards shut up, and managed to look civilized as Tylar paced into the room the lesson was in.
His nose wrinkled in distaste as he looked over the empty chairs, trying to decide where to sit hurriedly, before S'rial got annoyed with him. A few moments later, looking as annoyed as Akal had a few minutes back, he walked to the chair beside Jasra. It was empty, and unfortunately, there weren't very many seats that were. He was pretty late, so it would have to do.
He inclined his head in greeting, hardly paying her any attention after that, as he listened to S'rial's final words 'I'll have a little task for you all to complete before you can be dismissed, but first, are there any questions?' and Tylar barely suppressed a wince. He had a few questions, most of them were along the path of 'How can we ensure that we'll Impress a dragon?' but he didn't want to ask them in front of Lyam.
And he couldn't help but be a little worried about the task, Tylar thought for a few moments about what it might be, before shrugging it off. Didn't really matter what it was, he'd probably do it, considering he had nothing else to do...
Akal was managing to remain impressively calm, his tail only whipped from side to side to side occasionally,and he was resisting the urge to snarl at Meggo by the thoughts of the nasty surprise he had planned for that night for the usurping Bronze. Of course, that made him want to snarl even more, but Akal kept it firmly held in, remembering His' threat and keeping his mouth shut, though he gave a warning rumble in the back of his throat. He couldn't keep that one in, so it wasn't his fault, was it?
"Akal..." Tylar hissed, his displeasure coming in loud and clear through their bond, "Do you want to go back to my room that badly?"
Meggo, on the other hand, was perfectly happy. He liked this room, he'd liked the Brown they'd just ambled by, and he liked the stone that was currently in his mouth. His had failed to notice it, as of yet, and Meggo intended to keep it that way, rolling the pebble around on his tongue. That pebble was his most recent conquest from the outside world, Meggo thought proudly, flicking his tail from side to side.

[fidelli]

Tonii was feeling rather stupid. Her mother had told her that she was an idiot, J’jax had told her she was foolish, and she hadn’t listened, and, well, look well it got her. Stuck, in a brand new Weyr. She didn’t know anybody, didn’t have anyone to talk to, and had five flitter’s making all sorts of trouble for her.

Well, if Tonii had even thought about it for a moment she would have remembered that she liked not knowing anybody, hadn’t known many people at Benden anyway, didn’t like talking to most people, and the five flitter’s always got into trouble. At least here she was a proper candidate again, not a silly weyrbrat allowed to stand and believed to be the next Queenrider. But she knew better – she wasn’t going to Impress to one of these wonderful creatures. She wasn’t even worthy of them.

So Tonii was in an unoccupied room of the Barracks, in the center room where they could all gather males and females – the idea being that girl’s not go up the boys, and boys not go up the girls. It was rather empty, and the girl was quite enjoying it – she hadn’t really been showed around too much, and was just newly arrived at the Weyr – so this small room was quite content for her. She was oiling Silk, letting Shine nap draped across the back of the chair, guarded by Streak on her shoulder, and letting Sleek and Soft amuse themselves by popping back and forth around the room in a twisted game of tag.

She was… Content, to say the least.

Meanwhile, Hatoter was snooping. He wasn’t touching much – except for the curious hairpin that he doubted his owner would miss and hadn’t realized he had taken until three rooms later. He was just exploring, carefully moving from room to room, knowing he wasn’t allowed in the girl’s hallway but not really minding that in the least. Since when did he listen to rules? Of course, everything happens by fate – for example, it was in one of the girl’s room that he saw the notice, hung on her looking glass. Don’t forget Candidate lesson! He froze, blue eyes narrowed, looking at it… And then two and two clicked. Normally at least one or two candidates were around, but he was the newest arrival… Meaning that he had not yet seen the notice probably pinned on the notice board.

…Which meant that a lesson was probably starting, considering the last person he saw leaving was at least ten minutes ago. Unconcerned, he turned and left the room, strutting out of the girl’s hallway as if he owned the place – and nearly running into Sleek. The man froze as Sleek landed on his head, chattering the unfairness of this game – and Hatoter spotted the pretty Tonii hiding in the corner. “Well, look at what we have here. Pretty darling, are you a candidate?” Tonii, being Tonii, was shocked at being talked to much less being called pretty, only nodded, terrified out of her mind.

“Well, beautiful pearl, we have a lesson that we are late to… But ol’ Hat has a plan. Come, my heart, let us go!” And to Tonii’s complete shock he scooped her up, planted her arm on his, slipped his hand around her waist, and walked out the door. His pace was brisk, and her `lizards were amused, so she kept with it – after all, he said that she had a lesson, and she needed to go there… She did try to get out of his hand hold, squirming slightly and murmuring protests. “Sir, this looks-“ Hat cut her off, grinning wickedly. “Don’t worry darling, and don't bother sirring me - it's just Hat. I know what it looks like. This gives us a perfect reason to walk in late.” And before she could protest, he had turned and kissed her soundly, giving her bright red patches in her face and a slightly plumper lip. “Anyone with half a brain will be thinking we had something – and you looked like you hadn’t been kissed for a long time. Buck up, pretty girl – kisses make the world go round.”

Soundly shocked, she remembered her manners and told him faintly, "Tonii." she was escorted into the room where they were having lessons, and he let her go with a wicked smile. She ducked her head and scurried off, bright red in the face and considering going to kill herself, while he made his way to the back of the room as he looked for anybody half-way interesting. There was Javyk – she was interesting, alright…. But that was the only one he knew. He tucked himself in a seat, and watched the Candidatemaster, not bothering to write anything down. He could remember most of what he said, and he was almost positive that it wasn’t anything important yet. Later, and even then he wasn’t going to kid himself – he wasn’t writing anything down.

Tonii, meanwhile, had gathered together the various flits that followed her – Pink Silk on her lap, Purple Streak on her shoulder, Black Shine on the other one, and Blue Soft and Brown Sleek off to amuse themselves again. She had sent Streak back to fetch her a writing utensil and paper, and was now jotting down the basic’s… But she realized quickly this was the other fifteen lessons she had sat through before every hatching. Still, it would have been disrespectful so she jotted the notes down, understanding perfectly and lacking questions – she had already stood enough times, and probably would be left standing again… But at least N’yrl and Gryth hadn’t felt badly that she didn’t come with them.

[kyrillion]

With two clutches on the Sands, S'rial had of course been anticipating a big class, and one or two interruptions mid-lecture was only to be expected. However, with the exception of murmured conversations, quiet spats between Candidates and pets alike, and two somewhat late arrivals that looked as though they might be on the wrong side of the no-relationships rule, there proved to be only one major disturbance throughout his spiel. When a rather peculiar sound came drifting down the hallway, the Candidatemaster found himself hoping, with a measure of disbelief, that it wasn't what it sounded like. And yet, sure enough, a runner preceded one of his students into the classroom. Before he could get a word in edgewise, however, she'd delivered an introduction and sent the beast on its way. Bemusedly, the only thing he could think to say was: "Well. Nice to have you with us; I'll ask you to keep Joskep outside in the future, however. I'm sure he'd appreciate it just as much as the rest of us."

When that was settled, there was only one question to be addressed; he'd expected more, honestly, but it was nevertheless a popular one. Every class he'd taught had asked him this question in particular; usually more than once, since there really wasn't a satisfying answer anyone could offer.

"That is something easier experienced than explained, I'm afraid. The base of knowledge a hatchling has might come as a surprise to many of you; it certainly did to me. They are just babies, of course, but they understand many things intuitively, even before they find their human partner. Impression is one of these things that they base on intuition. The dragonet knows who it wants; it isn't a conscious choice so much as it is an inevitability."

He may have lost most of them, at that point; it was difficult to tell. And not an easy question to answer, by a long shot. Still, it would have to suffice for the moment - it was time to move on. Are you ready out there, D?
Your brother and I have been prepared for some time.[/color]

"Right, then." Where he had been leaning against the desk before, S'rial was up in a moment and and striding purposefully towards the door. "This way, please, everyone." Much more cheerful, now that the prolonged-talking bit of the lesson was over, he led the fairly large group out into the bowl, and towards the lake.

Duareth was stretched out languidly on the shore, half in the water and clearly enjoying himself. And it soon became apparent why a certain Candidatemaster's brother hadn't been in attendance at the lesson; Remiel was lounging against the brown's massive shoulder, looking a bit drowsy in the warm spring sunshine. All around him, in no particular order, were buckets - some filled with sweetsand, some with oil, and others, gathered farther away from the lake, with water. "Candidates, allow me to introduce you to Duareth." S'rial announced with a flourish and a grin. "Duareth, say hello to your new students."

S'rial drew to a stop beside his brother and the brown, turning to face the class. "As I've mentioned before, your dragons will require a lot of bathing and oiling, should you Impress. A little bit of practice beforehand can hardly hurt - in half of those buckets, you'll find sweetsand, which we'll use to scrub Duareth here down. If you could split yourselves into two groups, - those of you who wouldn't mind getting wet, and those who would rather stay dry - Remiel will distribute the buckets."

Stepping back to give everyone a bit of room to maneuver, he looked on as they organized themselves. Remiel, looking typically laid-back and maybe a bit bored, was nevertheless ready with the buckets when needed. Duareth, for his part, was examining the latest class with obvious curiosity, his eyes swirling a tranquil and easy-going green. S'rial noted happily that it was rather warm out, today - with the way Duareth had situated himself, half in the shallows, one group of Candidates would have to brave the water.

"Don't be shy; introduce yourself to him, if you're so inclined. He won't bite, and you won't hurt him." He assured the class with a smile. "Now, when you're finished scrubbing him down, the rest of those buckets are filled with oil. Oil will keep a dragon's hide from cracking or drying out, and this is especially important when they're still young and growing; you'll have to apply it with your hands, so if any of you are at all squeamish, now would be a good time to get over it. Weyrlinghood takes it to a whole 'nother level." He finished with a smirk, remembering fondly the first carcass he'd had to cut up for baby-Duareth, and then gave Remiel a subtle nod.

Remiel turned immediately and splashed into the lake, grabbing a bit of salt and starting on Duareth's back; he made sure, at S'rial's direction, to stay in sight of the other Candidates. If any of them were unsure, and wanted in example of how they should go about their task, they need only watch him. S'rial hung back to observe, adding a final thought before he drew the lesson to a close.

"If you have any other questions, or are having any issues here in the Weyr, now would be a good time to talk with me. When you've all finished, you may be dismissed."[/size]

[purnip]

Though his question had been answered quite thoroughly, Lyam couldn't help but feel that the answer provided no relief whatsoever to his mounting anxieties. It only proved, as every testament he had received up to this point, that Impression was practically out of his hands. His question was of course not entirely based on a curiosity of dragon psychology, but rather an off-handed manner of asking how one Impresses. It worked. It worked and yet the answer did not please him well enough to assure him calm nights of sleep or relaxation. Being in his sorry status of sailing in the doldrums Lyam could hardly stand himself and the person he had become. He had been so disturbed by the prospect of having the future out of his control that maintaining his cool was becoming more difficult than acting out of person to appeal to someone. By keeping cool he was out of character. Did it really matter anyways? The rings under his eyes would soon betray his unrest.

He had seen all of the Candidates in this room in passing. Jasra, when she questioned him about his condition, was answered with a shrug. As if he didn't know what she was talking about. Truthfully he simply did not wish to be an interruption in S'rial's lesson any more than he had speaking to Rhysia. When Tylar and his sister entered he was rather certain that the boy was making a conscious effort to avoid him. Lyam smirked to himself for the slightest moment. He couldn't understand why Tylar saw him as a rival, or even a threat. They possessed some similar qualities in the end, but they also possessed staggering differences. Lyam was willing to Impress any dragon on the Sands, whereas Tylar was obviously vying for the big and beautiful Bronzes and Irons. Lyam was also willing to take his time and make friends with the right people. Perhaps the other was doing the same. It made no difference, really. Would be a shame if Tylar saw him as an enemy so soon. Lyam couldn't find what he had done to deserve it. Perhaps his intelligence made him a threat. Well, it wasn't something he could help. And that thought alone also made him smirk for half a moment.

Rhysia perked up at Paralee's greeting. She had met the girl a while back at the Dining Hall and considered her a friend. She was just so nice, unlike some of the others. It brought a smile to her face to hear her voice as she replied in a whisper, "Don't know! Can't wait!" She was already drawing some eggs on the margins of her notes beside the dragon searing thread, and a small flag on one of them with the words 'Rhy's Dragon' scrawled on it. She hoped so. P'nay told her that she was likely to Impress. She knew it was foolish to get her hopes up, but with twenty-two eggs on the Sands, she'd just have to be really unlucky. All that had to stop at some time; this time she would find her dragon. This time her dragon would find hers.

When the Candidatemaster answered Lyam's question, Rhysia wrote down how the dragonets know who they want. So cool. She clenched her graphite pencil tightly at the thought. Unlike the boy who sat in front of her she was elated by the answer. She wouldn't have to worry about being settled for like a bad deal. The dragonets chose humans like it was destiny. Rhysia only hoped her destiny was true too, that the Bluerider that searched her didn't make a mistake. If only.

So it was now time to go and meet Duareth. Once again the two Candidates shared similar reactions to the getting up and going. Anticipation, though both have met dragons in their time here. Anticipation growing because they may learn something new and vital to their success. Even the low-esteemed Rhysia craved success, in finding the perfect dragon partner and taking care of it like her best treasure. Something she'd never have to steal or claimed to have done so. Her one and only. As for Lyam he craved the knowledge to put to good use, maintain his future partner who will someday lead them to a high-standing place in the Weyr. He'd love to prove that it was possible and that even a Hold-born son of a present day lowly accountant could ascend to a position of importance. One to be depended on. The two left with mixed goals yet one common desire. Out to bask in the rays of Rukbat as they faced the Candidatemaster's Brown Duareth, having followed S'rial to the lake. Though Rhysia had somehow faded back to the center of the group, Lyam stayed ahead and preferred to be as close to the action as possible. He had no fear of being singled out. In fact, he could use the public image. He was practically tailing S'rial out.

Both Lyam and Rhysia had volunteered themselves into the group that didn't mind getting wet, though secretly Lyam minded. A lot. He didn't want his hair to get wet, for it was already a horrid and tameless growth and the water would only make it more troublesome to him later. Unfortunately, he needed to be as convenient as possible. He needed to prove he was willing to make the sacrifice, well aware that he'd hate the consequences of his volunteered-for position later. As for Rhysia, she loved water. She couldn't wait to scrub the great big Brown down. She needed practice for her own and she knew it, plus, it would only be fun to do with everyone else, wouldn't it? The sand in her hands would keep her from stealing from others, she hoped. Or just the act of being involved in a scrubbing.

When they received their buckets, the two were practically ready to start right away. Rhysia bowed to Duareth in greeting and Lyam, who nearly forgot to do so and was unsure if it was necessary, did the same anyways. Both managed to snag a spot near Remiel to watch closely at his work first. Rhysia caught on quickly and was already soaking a patch of the Brown's hide to rub some sweetsand on him. Lyam watched Remiel a little longer before he too had started. He didn't like to get into something unless he was certain he could do it right.

"Scrub, scrub, scrub! Soon Duareth will be nice and clean," Rhysia said to herself in a sing-song voice. She looked to be in a better mood than usual. Being around any sort of creature other than humans always put her in better spirits. She felt more of a kinship with animals than she did with her own kind.

"A free bath compliments of Dalibor's Candidates," Lyam said to himself with a forced grin, his clothing already soaked and his hair starting to follow suit. "Wonderful, really. Should Dalibor ever need another Candidatemaster, sign me up." He was joking, beside himself with humor in his rather dripping situation. He knew this would be worth it, or at least he liked to think so. Just keep smiling and enjoy yourself despite all discomfort, he would tell himself. He gave Duareth a small pat and continued to scrub, not too harshly. "We'll have you gleaming like royalty in no time."

[Birdy]

Paralee listened to most of S’rial’s lesson, though she had to admit that she was distracted by the drawings on Rhysia’s paper. She’d have to figure out how to do that one day… Once she’d grown tired of that she took a chance to look around the classroom. There were lots o’ pretty girls here weren’t there? As she wasn’t trying to ignore the lesson and keeping one ear tuned into the lesson she didn’t spend too much time scrutinizing her peers, just enough to look over each one. Yes this was a good group, quite a few that caught her eye but she remembered about weyrlings and chasitity….. Well that would certainly put a damper on things but she still had a little time before the hatching right?


She was startled when Rhysia stood up to leave. She’d been dayreaming! And during candidate lessons, that was no way to Impress was it? With a mental shrug she jumped up to follow the other girl outside. The Brown was huge! It was her second encounter with a dragon up close and she was still amazed at gigantic they could be. She’d though herdbeasts were big! This time Paralee did pay attention, nearly jumping with excitement at the prospect of actually getting to wash the dragon who cared if she got wet! And Remiel was there! She remembered him from the dining hall and waved somewhat spazzticly as she took a bucket from him, then flitted after Rhysia and her male friend whose name she didn’t know.


She took to scrubbing a spot next to Rhysia. “Nice to meet ya Duareth, the name’s Paralee, you sure are a handsome dragon and you’ll be nice and shiny clean once we get done scrubbing. Well maybe not shiny I don’t think your hide is of the shiny variety not that that’s a bad thing, it’s quite a pretty color if I do say so myself,” she chirped, though she wasn’t sure if the brown could hear above the other candidates talking.

[hatori3070]

The lesson was shaping up to be interesting, with one candidate showing up on a runner, when Dekistee strolled in late without so much as an apology to S'rial. She ignored the obvious snub, keeping her face carefully composed, but Geree wasn't so calm. She hissed as the other girl walked in, coiling her tail protectively around Jasra's neck. Her sisters shared in her display with a bit of hissing of their own before Jasra calmed them with a few strokes each. You three promised to behave. Now behave. Their audible expression of dislike quieted, but they remained tense as Dekistee headed for the back of the room, keeping their eyes on her the whole way. They weren't going entirely off of their memories of the girl, dim as they were at this point, but they were very in-tune to Jasra's state of mind. Even if she showed no visible signs of distress, they knew she didn't like the girl who had walked in the door, and had responded accordingly.

That bit of unpleasantness behind her, she focused on the remainder of the lesson. S'rial's explanation of how dragons Impressed was as good they were going to get, apparently. It was an unsatisfactory answer for her. He hadn't explained what it was the dragonets actually looked for in a person. She could only hope that it would be covered in one of the later lessons. As soon as he moved to the door and asked them to follow, she was up and out. The prospect of meeting a dragon, fully grown and the size of a Brown, was exciting. When they were split into groups, she chose to not get wet today. She'd worn a long skirt today and, even though she knew she'd be putting herself in the same group as Dekistee, she didn't want to have to deal with it in the water. She accepted her bucket of sweetsand and walked up to Duareth with a small bow. "Nice to meet you Duareth." She said, and chose a position scrubbing his neck. "This must be nice for you, having all of us cleaning you up like this. At this size, I'd think it takes S'rial quite some time to get the job done on his own." Dragons were intelligent and so she assumed they may enjoy some conversation with others, even if they chose not to talk back. She had filled both hands with sand to begin her work and was keeping Remiel in the corner of her eye, not wanting to scrub too hard or not hard enough.

[mangonumnum]

Lasd had joined the other Candidates as the middle group of them shuffled in. He still felt awkward, not having met hardly anyone yet. He tried not to let it bother him and sat slightly towards the middle, though it ended up being a little more towards the back since he wasn't one of the ones to arrive early. Though he had already learned some things about basic dragon anatomy from his sister (Dragons had always interested the family, especially after one of their own became a dragon rider), it was nice to have a refresher. He wanted to know all he could in case he did Impress. It was like fishing. If you didn't know how to properly haul in a net, you could hurt yourself and others. The same for cleaning a fish. He had plenty of scars, one that was still pink from a recent cut, to prove it. He was not perfect at fishing, even after he had been doing it for so long, so something new like dragons would mean that he had to take every opportunity to learn.

Of course, the first thing the Candidate Master says is they should have brought something to write with. His things, of course, were back in his room. He sighed quietly, it wouldn't be too bad. If he paid attention, then he'd remember most of it and hopefully, he can make friends with someone who had thought ahead and either copy their notes or review them. Lasd turned his attention quickly from his worrying and focused on what S'rial was saying. Rama had told him about how ravenous her green was when it was born. She had laughed about it, as the green scolded her mentally for bringing it up. She had included Lasd into the mental conversation though, so he had known it was simply playful and loving. Instantly, the longing returned. The longing for something more. Something apart of him, but separate of him. Like....an outside piece of his soul.

No, he had to focus. What was S'rial saying? Something about oiling dragonets. 'Ok, Lasd, no more distractions. You already missed some information!' he scolded himself mentally before quickly focusing on the Candidatemaster. However, there were expected disturbances. A couple late Candidates who decided not to just slip in quietly. Even a....runner....in the hallway... That was certainly an odd thing. But S'rial didn't seem to let it phase him too much. Probably why he was the Candidatemaster. Lasd was sure there were always a few unruly ones.

The one question asked perked his interest greatly. What did make a dragonet choose? The answer, however, was basic. It was close to the answer Rama had given him. Thus, it left much to be desired but it was the best he could do. I guess one would have to be in the mind of a dragonet at that point. And that would be the only point where no one else was in its mind.

At that point, it was time to get up and go outside. It was a beautiful day, so this excited Lasd. He eagerly got up with a small stretch and went outside with the group. Soon, the Candidatemaster had them at the Lake. Lasd was in luck, S'rial had repeated the information he had lost. And there was the chance to get in the water and get wet a little. Lasd knew instantly which group he wanted to be in. As S'rial finished talking and the groups organized themselves, Lasd took off his shirt and shoes, glad to be rid of them, and joined the water group.

He passed by Duareth on his way and nodded his head, "Hello Duareth. It's very good to meet you. I hope you enjoy your bath." He smiled gently and began to work on bathing the brown. He noticed, as he scrubbed, Rhysia. She was pretty much the only Candidate he knew so far as they had met up on the first day. As he passed her he called out her name and waved, but she seemed surrounded by others, so he decided to not bother her too much. Maybe take this moment to meet others.