L2: Burimyu Candidates

[Ruby]

((L1 is still up, in case Row still wants to get back to it, but I wanted to move on so the new Candidates had something to do ^^))

M'kai rolled up the chart of a cross-section of a dragon's egg, turning his back on the class to hide his nerves. The candidates were grouped in a loose semi-circle behind him, the lucky ones in chairs, those who had arrived less promptly relegated to the hard stone floor. Someday maybe Burimyu would have enough chairs to spare for lessons, but for now, M'kai made due with what he had (without having to haul benches over from the Dining Hall, that is).

Once the rolled chart was stowed back in it's case - T'mund would kill him if it came to any harm, obnoxious archivist kid - M'kai tucked it away, then turned to face everyone again. "Alright, guys," he started, carefully not meeting anyone's eyes (Isori's especially), but scanning the candidates none the less. Most were old enough to know what he was going to go in to right about now, but Olivia, Nabrik, and Nividya might be in for a nasty surprise. All of them looked so small, and even Nabrik was hold-bred, although he'd been a candidate longer than all the rest. Weyrbred M'kai had known how to stay away from flight participants from a young age, although he hadn't put together why until he'd had this lesson himself, over a decade ago. He remembered his own Candidatemaster's discomfort with this topic, eyes stopping on him and Cr'oph the same way his skipped over Keavon and Cailan, his own Searches. Well, no use delaying any longer.

"So, we've been talking about dragon anatomy for a few weeks now, how they develop from a hatchling to a full-sized dragon. What we haven't covered is how dragons make more dragons. If you impress, that will be addressed in far more detail, but Candidates need to know how it works too, for other reasons. Just so I know where you're all at, let's go around the room. I'd like each of you to start with your name, since we have a few new faces here today, and what you know about Dragon mating flights, and the human half of those flights. This isn't to show off - " his eyes skipped to Torino, a warning look on his face - "I just want to know what you already know, so I don't waste time on things you already understand. Torino, we'll start with you."

--

The candidate, sprawled on the ground next to someone in a chair, lifted his head when his name was called. With an awkward wave, he said, "Torino," then shrugged. "Actually I def. don't know much," he went on, blowing his floppy hair out of his eyes. "I guess when dragons mate it makes humans do something too. Mate, I assume. Whateves." Honestly, Torino was surprised he'd shown at all; spouting unnecessary knowledge about dragons made it look like you wanted one, and that was so uncool. Instead of paying attention to the rest of the candidates, he went back to cleaning his fingernails, doing his best to feign indifference. It was pretty easy.

Bevany - 1[x] 2[] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[] (current absence thread)
Cailan - 1[] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Connor - 1[] 2[] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[] (current absence thread)
Isori - 1[x] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Keavon - 1[] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Nabrik - 1[x] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Nividya - 1[x] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Olivia - 1[] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Roselle - 1[] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]
Torino - 1[x] 2[x] 3[] 4[] 5[] Special[]

[/i][/center]

[metaldawn71]

Nividya spoke next.

"I am Nividya or Niv." She introduced herself. "I have very limited knowledge of both. I was lucky enough to sneak a peek of a dragon getting repaired from Threadfall at Fort Weyr, but I was spotted and told to get out. That it wasn't meant for a woman's eyes." She shrugged as she explained some of what she saw and learned. What she told the class and the Candidate Master was very limited.

"Now on mating flights? I know there is more to than just 'something to do'." she gave Turino a hard stare. "I have a question, now when your bored..do you go tell your Green of Gold to rise -just- because you are bored? No, I'm sorry. It just doesn't work that way. From what I have observed in Fort Weyr, Greens and Golds, both get a periodic urge to rise. From what my father told me, Golds may rise to mate only once every four of five Turns. Greens rise every three or four times a Turn." she continued to tell her knowledge of mating flights and dragon anatomy.

Nividya wasn't there to say 'I know more than you', she was there to learn. She was determined to survive, to become a dragonrider.

[Sebz]

Though he was new to Burimyu Weyr., Keavon had learned quickly about the going on's and the dragons themselves. He had kept to himself, looking over scrolls, not being social in the slightest. This was his first candidate lesson and his first time meeting his fellow candidates, so he had chosen a seat on the ground, sitting so he was angled towards the candidate master, the only person in the room he knew. But it became apparent soon enough that M'kai was talking at something that was over his head.

Keavon stared blankly at M'kai, looking at him incredulously. Mating flights? Well dragons mated didn't they? What was so special about that? And why was the canidate master looking so... Nervous?

It became apparent soon enough as candidates went around the room, telling what the knew. Keavon's face had turned a very distinct shade of red by the time the first to candidates had finished talking. Glancing around to make sure he was next in line, he said in a surprisingly steady voice, “My names Keavon.” Taking a slight breath he continued. “I honestly have no idea umm... exactly how any of this works. But I'm guessing that when dragons mate their riders.... follow suit...”

Shutting up now, he thought as his mouth clamped shut and he ducked his head in embarrassment of his woeful lack of knowledge on the subject. He had just about zero sexual experience, and even less knowledge on the subject. Keavon hoped that it wasn't a prerequisite to impressing dragons.

[Rowana]

Nabrik sat on the floor, legs crossed and leaning back on his hands. It wasn't that he wasn't early enough to get a chair if he wanted one, but he was used to sitting on the floor back home, so it was comfortable. After the excitement of capture the flags and such lessons, it was clear the boy was quite bored with the lectures. He came anyway, because boring as it was, this was supposed to help him Impress and dragon. That, and he didn't want to be kicked out for skipping. Alph, quiet and polite, bobbed greetings to M'kai and the other candidates from his perch on Nabrik's shoulder.

Nabrik frown a little at M'kai's nervousness. What was wrong with today's topic? Dragons made eggs, everyone knew that, how else did they have hatchlings to Impress. As the conversation continued, however, Nabrik's frown deepened. Somehow, between running around unchecked as a brat and getting evacuated to Burimyu, no had ever thought to explain such things to him. He was thirteen now, but girls were still something of an oddity to him and something to be avoided. Maybe in the next year or so when he hit puberty, that might change.

Shrugging, Nabrik voiced his own answer with perfect honesty and bluntness. "I'm Nabrik. How do people mate anyway? I mean, we don't have Flights, so how does it happen?" He was was genuinely curious and had absolute no idea that he may have just made a few people more uncomfortable, or possibly admitted his own enormous ignorance. The fact that dragons made people mate, according to his classmates, didn't seem to have sunk into his mind yet.

[Zephyr]

Olivia had managed to grab a chair. Not because she was early, but one of the older candidates had vacated it for her. She knew she looked young for her age, but that didn't mean she wanted coddled. Still, a little babying made her happy every once in a while. She wasn't ready to grow all the way up quite yet, though she knew that since she was here, she was going to be forced to grow up rather quickly. Case in point: today's lesson.

At the moment, the twelve year old was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was still a little shy of all the new people and hesitant to meet new ones. She had been told to leave Pip outside, and she didn't like that at all. Neither did he. It had been the first time that they had been separated for a long time, and the fact that she couldn't have him here for comfort upset the little girl a great deal. For at the moment, she refused to look at the other candidates. Her eyes remained firmly on the candidate master.

When realization dawned about what they were talking about today, she flushed bright red, moving to hide her face in her knees. Sex was something her parents hadn't yet spoke to her about, and it was a forbidden topic to even talk around her. So, when it was her turn, she peeked out from where she had been hiding her face and peeped out in a low voice. " I don't know anything about dragon...or human mating." Then she squeaked a little as she realized she had forgot the most important part, and added it without taking a breath. "I'mOliviabytheway!"

Then she proceeded to hide her face again. How embarrassing.

[dragon]

Isori had a seat. Mostly because before the lesson had started she'd threatened to hit one of the candidates that got one if they didn't give it to her. It had been a bluff just to see if it would work (she woke up on a funny side of her cot this morning) and she hadn't really been serious about it ... but it had worked. She had felt bad about it afterward, but she sat in it anyway. What else was she supposed to do?

The dilemma was soon forgotten though, as she had sat there and watched M'kai. But he seemed really wound up for some reason she couldn't decipher. Once he got started in on what the lesson would be about, she could see why some of the candidates got all red about the features, but why was M'kai so twitchy? He was a Rider, was he not?

Oh good grief. Some of them didn't know how humans got to it? Isori just looked at them for a moment trying to decide if they were being serious. Well ... that might be a tough one to iron out if they were! Isori was firmly of the opinion that showing was far better than telling for some things. But ... that was a lot of showing.

She seemed to be the last one to answer ... maybe it was because she was too busy studying the other candidates. But oh well. Last was sometimes best. "I'm Isori. I have seen dragon flights, I know how the dragons do it. I've seen it happen. What happens with the riders, I can't say. Haven't witnessed that." Isori offered, opting to not mention anything about human mating outside of flights. She might not have the best methods for such young, ignorant ears to listen to.

[cailan]

Cailan was very quiet he'd come late and was sitted on the floor then listened to all of their answers. He listened to how some had some knowledge and at least felt better about knowing little of dragon mating habits. The young man was from a farm however and there was no mystery to mating habits of humans. "I have to say that I know little of dragon mating habits and I do know about people mating habits," said Cailan because he had been engaged once upon a time. It was no mystery to a farm boy the ways of life and then waited for someone else to go.

His initial reaction to the group size was staggering he had expected more people to come. Cailan twiddled his fingers and then looked around looking at Keavon then smiled they had meet the other day. The boy was happy to have meet someone else and then waited for one of the others to continue. In the room there was few furnishings they lived a rough life out here even more rough then at Blossom Hold. He had hoped that after a while they might find more comfortable accommodations.

[Ruby]

Oh good Faranth, this was going to be worse than he thought. M'kai shot Torino a warning look when the Candidate opened his mouth the snipe something back at Nividya, and for once, the kid listened. M'kai didn't really want to get into a discussion of why dragons rose periodically but humans mated whenever they wanted, especially not with a 13-turn-old. Regardless, Nividya was one of the only ones that knew much about dragon's mating cycles, even if she didn't seem to know a lot about the human side. Some of the others had the idea that when dragons mated, their humans followed suit, although that was a sensible thing to guess.

And... Nabrik. And Olivia. M'kai clamped his hands behind his back to stop himself from covering his face. Well, that was a 12, 13 turn old for you, he figured; maybe holdbred kids should be older before they were allowed to impress, or before they were taken on search, although Nabrik had been at the Weyr for a while without learning anything, so maybe that wouldn't help. Well, he had a way around explaining the human side of things so they could get to the meat of the lesson. This wasn't "How To Have Sex", after all, it was "How To Avoid Rape." Cause you know. That sounded way better.

"So here's the deal. We're not going in to the mechanics of human or dragon mating today; suffice to say that the male puts his..." M'kai gestured vaguely at his crotch, trying to find a more delicate word and failing, "Penis into the female's... vagina, and through some miracle, that might make a baby. So, you know, don't try it until you're ready to care for a kid." Well, that was out of the way, perhaps more bluntly than he intended (and of course he'd left out homosexuality), but whatever. "If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer them in private outside of lessons, or you can talk to the older Candidates. Torino, Isori, Roselle, Connor, I'm sure some of the other ones know too. It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Hypocrite, what? "So just ask."

After that was over with, M'kai visibly relaxed, moving back into his comfort zone. "What we're covering today, however, is what a couple of you hinted at: when dragons rise to mate, humans are driven to do the same. Salamandyrs too, and flits to a lesser extent. Whatever male catches the female, their riders will mate, but the left over humans are often driven to mate as well, as a form of release for their dragons. Often, they will turn to flightmoths, who hang around flights for that exact reason - it's a good way to get experience if you're too shy to figure it out with someone else, but I'll warn you it isn't even remotely pleasant. On the other hand, we do recommend that Candidate try to lose their virginity in some way before impression, so it's something to consider. At Burimyu, the riders usually go with their dragons to the desert where the flights take place, but just in case one gets left behind, you all need to know what to look for - and how to get away in case you find yourself in the middle of a flight.

"What to look for is simple enough. Glazed eyes are a really good sign, as is moving - they'll be looking for their mate, or following them somewhere. Often, they will act strange, be in some state of undress, and physical boundaries will mean nothing. Getting in their way can mean them physically removing you, often painfully, or being forced into flightmothing. My own brother got knifed in a salamandyr run, and he was one of the participants, so flights aren't a joke. Stay away, if you can; hide, run, whatever. They won't pay attention to you unless you really get in the way."

Taking a step forward, M'kai grinned. "Ok, so what if you do get caught? Best thing you can try to do is distract the rider and run. I'm going to teach you a few techniques for that purpose. First, though, I'll pair you off - Introduce yourself to your partner, tell them where you're from, how you got here, tell them if you already know anything about defense and what you know if you do, and then something interesting about yourself. Might as well get to know each other before you start hitting each other. I'll pair you up by height as much as I can..."

((Omg monster post so sorry.

Partners:
Keavon/Torino
Isori/Roselle
Cailan/Nividya
Nabrik/Olivia

The partner that posts first will determine success in the next round, so post quick!))

[Sebz]

Keavon managed to shoo away his urge to run as soon as M'kai started to explain the mating process. Not so much embarrassed for himself- he viewed the information more as a lesson, and had become more relaxed once he had realized that he was not the only lacking of knowledge- but for the younger candidates were were gathered there. Some hadn't even reached their teenage years.

Keavon did begin to drum his fingers when the Candidate Master began explaining about flightmoths. In Keavon's opinion that was horrible advice. If What M'kai said was true, then if your caught in the path of someone consumed by their dragon's lust, your going to be raped.

Great way to lose your virginity.

Ahh, defense! That was something Keavon knew about (Kinda). He glanced at his partner, and as soon as M'kai stopped talking, he approached him. "Hey, I'm Keavon," he said, nodding in greeting. "I was searched from Bollosom, and ahh.. what else were we supposed to say?"Keavon remembered quickly enough, and continued on. "I know a bit about self defense, I mean, I'm pretty handy with the knife-" True enough, "and uhhh, does kicking somebody in the nuts count as self defense?"

[dragon]

Isori smirked at M'kai's effort to slip past what had clearly become a rather awkward predicament for someone to try and explain through to get to something else that needed to be said. She was interested to learn that it was not just rumor that dragons drove humans to breed as well ... but just as interested to learn that it wasn't something that non-participants would want anything to do with. Ouch. She certainly was going to steer clear of those events. She wasn't opposed to random flings, and had on occasion been known to instigate them. But rape was a whole other ball game ... especially if there were knives involved.

Defense. Interesting! This was something she was going to like to know. She could roughhouse with the lads, sure. But actual fighting for one's own self defense was something she'd never done ... and hoped to never have to do. Whether against friends or enemies either one. She glanced around to see who she was paired up with, and shrugged slightly, waiting until it was apparent. Then, following along with M'kai's plan simply because she wanted to see where this was going, she did as he instructed;

"I'm Isori. I am from Blossom Hold, though my lineage is actually Lighttower." She offered, to explain why she wasn't a fair skinned blonde, like most Blossom people were. I was searched to Selenitas, and then I was kinda force-evacuated during the invasion, to here. I can wrestle better than I look like I can, but I've never actually participated in actual fights." She shrugged slightly. "I'm not afraid of playing dirty, though, and my father taught me some key points. Like eyes, balls, throat. Things like that."

[metaldawn71]

Nividya giggled at the way M'kai tried to explain the mating habits of the male and female human. However, she approached the quiet Cailan and introduced herself.

"Hi, there! I am Nividya or Niv. I am from.......Fort Hold, originally. My father is a Bronzerider and got my mother and I passage to Fort Weyr. There I myself was almost raped and would be if my dad hadn't came in and it was that reason they sent me to the South, to Selentias Hold. I was Searched and brought here. I don't.....know....how to-to defend my-myself." She said looking down on the ground once more and shied away from him, sort of. "I am....sorry if I seem a bit blunt with you and the others." She quickly added and was sincere about it.

[Ivy]

Roselle had come in late but she hadn't missed the bulk of the day's lesson. Really for a girl who knew so little about dragons and the ways of the Weyr, one would think she would show up promptly for lessons. Still she was not pleased about where that sharding Searchrider had brought her, coming to the lesson was only done because she had nothing better to do. Standing in the back she listened with feigned disinterest, really she was hanging on his every word but she didn't want everyone else to know that. Stifling a snort when a few of the other Candidates - the youngest ones it seemed - asked about how people mated she sent an icy glare in M'kai's direction when he mentioned her name as someone they could talk to about it. Hopefully if any of them were thinking of asking her later, the scowl she wore now would keep them from doing so.

The instructions were given and he eyed the other girl she'd been paired with. She did not want to do this, but it wasn't as if she was going to draw attention to herself by leaving mid-lesson. Besides they might stick her with chores or something boring as punishment if she left - she didn't really know how things worked around here still. So taking a deep breath she closed the distance between herself and the other girl - as soon as she approached the other one was already blathering on everything M'kai had told them to go over.

While the other girl, Isori she'd said her name was, continued talking Roselle just eyed her. "Roselle. Hyphen Hold. Searched from Hyphen and brought here -" Roselle decided to leave out 'if I had known where she was taking me I would have just stayed behind' and continued on, "Grew up with nothing but brothers, I can hold my own against most. No formal combat training - though I can throw a wicked dagger." She grinned for a moment then added, "I left my daggers behind though, so you won't have to worry about that."

[cailan]

Cailan was listening and waited as a girl came up to him introducing herself to him. He was a bit taken back on the girl and how upfront she was with him. "Okay, I'm Cailan" said Cailan who tried to get over the very fast speech that was given to him. "I'm from Blossom Hold and used to be a fisherman," said Cailan as he looked at her. "I used to be a winemaker," said Cailan then held out a hand to her to show proper greeting. His encounter with girls we're usually of the meek variety and was a little caught off guard with her.

She seemed nice enough to him and just would have to get used to girls that we're more outgoing. The girls at Burimyu seemed to have a mind of their own and guessed it made them good riders. Cailan looked around guessing that this clutch of eggs must be small because there weren't a lot of candidates around. His own thoughts went to his family and promised someday he'd return on a dragon.

[metaldawn71]

Nividya didn't know how males were in the south. Her first encounter was with Nabrik, she appeared to be a nice kid but a little snappy and Turino in the caves. He was a bit snide and very rude to her. This was the only male she had encountered that was actually polite and pleasant.

She smiled at him and put her hand out and nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Cailan."

[Ruby]

((Jen - please remember to make sure that I have posted in between each of your posts. Thanks!))