On a mission! [Emoyan]

[Ruby]

Tenlie looked perhaps as intense as she had when she asked to be made an apprentice of the Smithcraft. Her hair, frizzed around her face as usual, seemed to stand out even more, as if electrified. Big Brother was tied in an impossible knot around her neck like an odd necklace, glaring balefully at the world. All in all, the sight was more silly than imposing, but Ten liked to think she was impressive when she tried.

She had been mid-project, finishing off the water and juice glasses the Weyr would need to replace those that had been broken in the destruction of the main hall. Normally, nothing could stop the Glasscrafter when she started working, but her mind had been wandering today. Eventually, it wandered onto the idea of being a Dragonrider, and without hesitation she decided that was what she wanted to be. Of course, the Lord Holder of Ista kept his family away from searchdragons, and so did the Smithcraft when they could, so Tenlie had no idea how she would stand for clutches.

But in the crafts, if you wanted to apprentice, you talked to a Master, or better yet the MasterCrafter. Short of talking to the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader, which seemed like overkill, Tenlie landed on the man she'd seen in the Hatching Sands when Fort attacked, later identified as Candidatemaster Emoyan. His title had Master in it. So within fifteen minutes, Tenlie was knocking on Emoyan's office door, perhaps slightly harder than was truly necessary, a highly determined look on her face. She WOULD be a dragonrider.

[dragon]

The knock was answered, but not from the side of the door as expected. "Over here." Came the call, from a bit farther on, down by one of the open windows. "What do you need?" Emoyan asked, doing his best to not sound like a wheezing old man. He'd gotten more than his fair share of smoke that day, and as a result he couldn't breathe the best. At least - not until his lungs healed substantially. Which was why he was also not in his office ... there just weren't enough windows to keep enough air moving for him to keep from feeling like he was suffocating.

Thus the impromptu set up where he was scribbling on some parchment by a window in the common room. Not terribly professional, but it got the job done. However, hearing the knock on that door, he'd set down his work and was watching her instead.

Skink, sitting on his work and just waiting for an opportunity to ink it over, jumped to her feet, flung her tail up over her back, frilled, and hissed. Her corner! Baddd! She intoned, before Emoyan clapped a hand down over her, effectively silencing her mental calls if not the howling that was the audible. "Sorry about that."

She looked determined ... what for, he didn't know. Emoyan had seen her around, but never anywhere near the Candidate Barracks. All he could tell, was that it wasn't an idle wandering past ... she was here for a reason.

[Ruby]

Ten had this all prepared in her mind. He would call her in, she would demand to be made a Candidate, he'd hand her a knot. If he didn't want to hand it over right away (which would be the right answer in Tenlie's mind), she had a list of her strengths prepared, as well as clever weaknesses that were really strenghts. Truly, it was a list prepared for her promotion to Mastery sometime in the distant future, but Ten had never found it practical to be unprepared. She was ready.

But when Emoyan called out from down the hall, she blinked, everything going out of her head. Big Brother rolled his eyes- if His had been paying attention to him, she would have known where the Candidatemaster was, as well as where the two Candidates leaving the Barracks were headed and who they were. Probably getting into trouble, he figured. Everyone usually was.

Like the noisy green. With a feline hiss, Brother swiftly de-tangled himself to hump his back up on Tenlie's shoulder, mostly glaring at Skink (although still darting his eyes away and back, away and back). "Shhhh, shhhh," she soothed the nervous blue, rubbing a finger back and forth on his spine. He calmed quickly, settling back into survelliance mode. By now, Ten had drifted over to Emoyan (certainly causing the disturbance in the first place), and she flashed him a smile, all attempts at intimidation forgotten. "Oh, no worries. I think Big Brother did cause it in the first place," she said.

To cover her attempt to remember what she had been about to say, Ten stuck out a hand. "I do be Tenlie, a Glasscrafter. I wondered how to become a Candidate." There, that was easy enough. Big Brother turned his back on Skink, watching down the hallway. Those candidates MUST be up to something.

[dragon]

Emoyan noted the way she handled her pet without comment, filing it away for future reference. It was a mark in her favor, though ... able to handle it, resolve the problem. Quite well, actually. The caring nature in which she handled him was a boon to anyone... regardless who they were or what they did. It spoke about the inner nature of a being that was a lot harder to see. Out from under his own domed hand Skink finally stopped howling, falling silent. She could hear, sense, mentally taste those in the area. But until she was released - not something Emoyan was looking to do any time soon - there was nothing she could do about it beyond mumble unhappily.

She knew better than to try and chew on his hand - the last time she'd done that he'd squashed her flat long enough that she hadn't forgotten it yet. Which was saying something. She didn't like being pinned to any surface. Much less kept that way.

"Well met, Tenlie." Emoyan answered, in kind, accepting her hand in greeting. "Becoming a Candidate is easy. You just ... state you want to be one. Then, you must attend classes. It is preferred that you bunk here, as long as you are a candidate - but if you have lodgings elsewhere, that can be accommodated." He answered, before gesturing for her to take a seat. "Classtimes are posted, and must be attended for the right to step onto the sands. There are also some basic rules that must be followed. I suggest you familiarize yourself with them, but I suspect you already know most of them. Since you are here at the Weyr already, and are not fresh in from a Hold." Indeed, he had seen her around before... so she knew how different it was.

"There will be some tasks assigned, to familiarize you with things - I don't know what all you are already familiar with, or where you have other obligations. If you would inform me of anything you have, I could possible schedule you around it. But no promises." He smiled slightly with a small shrug. Afterward, he remained silent for a moment, trying to get his air back - that was a lot of talking for the state of his lungs, and they were making sure he knew it. Woe for the days when he could give entire lectures and not even think about breathing!

[Ruby]

Big Brother shifted uncomfortably, disliking the presence of the nasty green thing. Skittering down Tenlie's back before dropping to the floor, he slunk away along the join between wall and floor, heading for the Candidate's rooms. No doubt he would have a full inventory of their chests by the time he returned, and then would forget what it was when he tried to report to Ten. She let him go, unconciously smiling to herself every time he balled himself into a ridiculous position as someone walked by, pretending to be a piece of trash. He was an odd one, that was for sure.

Tenlie herself squared her shoulders as Big Brother dropped off of them, and announced, "Well then, Candidatemaster, I do wish to become a Candidate." She listened carefully to the rest of his instructions, nodding. Bunking in the Barracks wouldn't be a problem, although moving would be a pain... but really, she was perfectly happy not sleeping above the forge anymore, not in this heat. That stone caught heat like nothing else.

Other obligations, however, might be a problem. "As the Weyr's resident Glasscrafter, I do be obligated to fill as much of the order for new glassware as possible. The explosion, it did destroy nearly all of the Main Hall's glass. Some comes with the next tithe, if I do be correct, but we will no know until it arrives," But Tenlie was no slacker, and she wouldn't shirk her responsibilities. "I may work my crafting around other assignments, however," she offered.

Most people might not have noticed Emoyan's difficulty breathing, but smoke inhalation and seared lungs were common ailments at the Hall, and if you were fool enough to burn your own lungs, everyone liked to know. "Sir?" she asked, trying to figure out how to bring this up delicately, "Do you... your throat, it do be raw, yes? It do be none of my business, but I do have some lozenges. I do burn my throat weekly at the forge, it seems."

[dragon]

Skink hissed as Big Brother slunk away, and then preened in victory. Her territory was still hers! And that was the easiest one to win, too. Hmm! She must be getting better at this. When she stopped being confrontational, Emoyan stopped hanging onto her, and she skittered away quickly - no good sticking around to get trapped to the table again! Hr hr hr. Dropping off the table, she dashed after the trash-zard, to see what exactly it was he was attempting in her territory. Moving quick, and not shy of anything or anyone, she quickly caught up. Circling his knotted self, she sat up on her haunches and tilted her head at him. What be do? She puzzled. This didn't look like any brand of mischief she knew - and she was the queen of mischief! All it looked like to her was he was asking to get stepped on or kicked! Especially with this short clumsies that inhabited this place. Her minions, yes yes.

"I'll bet you are busy." Emoyan agreed. "No, that is a task unto itself, and you are well suited to do it. The Weyr does need new goods, so. For as long as that is needed, you'll be suspended from anything else. There are things to be learned from the rest of it, mind you, so let me know when you aren't needed anymore." He nodded, and turned to his parchments real quick to scribble something down on a few of the sheets. "We are glad to have you, miss Tenlie. Just let me know whether or not you wish to stay here, and I'll make suitable arrangements, whichever way." He nodded and looked at her again with a small smile. There was a dragon clutch coming soon, or at least so the rumors had it. As such, more people becoming candidates was a very good thing!

Her question about his throat though, that caught him a little off guard, as he'd been thinking about Candidate-related things. "Huh? Oh. No ... I'll heal in time. My throat is fine, actually. It's my lungs ... I was fighting that fire in the stands, and I'm afraid I inhaled a bit more smoke than was good for my prosperity." He grinned a bit in humor, but shrugged. "I never bothered to go to the infirmary, due to their being so overwhelmed in the aftermath. I suppose that was stupid on my part, but eh. As with all things I'll either get over it, or die. Right now - I don't much feel like the dieing part." He remarked, trying to make light of the situation. "But, as a result, there'll be more reading type classes than lectures for awhile. I hope you can read?"

[Ruby]

Big Brother was focused on three Candidates just around the corner who were discussing the other day's lesson and subsequent chore. Sure, the talk was innocent enough, but Bro was certain it was really code, where 'chores' really meant 'secret meetings' and 'boring' meant 'where we plan to sabotage that blue flit', or something along those lines. He hadn't quite cracked the code yet, so when Skink slunk up, he ignored her. Until the little green beasty started talking; then Bro hissed gently, sounding suspiciously like he was saying "Shhhhhh". He threw a calculating look at the Candidates, trying to make it clear to the Salamandyr that he was performing surveillance, and she wasn't helping. She could help, if she could keep quiet, but it was clear to the Blue that the Candidates were the ones up to something, not him or Skink.

"I would like to move to the Barracks, if it would get me out of the Forge," she clarified. "And I certainly plan to attend lessons, whenever they do begin. I do know much about glass, but nothing about dragons!" She truly smiled when Emoyan said he'd be glad to have her- she was, and always had been, an excellent Glasscrafter, and she planned on being an excellent Candidate, too. She liked knowing that she was off to a good start, even with her non-candidate type obligations. Positive signs everywhere; she must be on the right track. It was the same when she had become a Smith apprentice, and when she'd started working with glass, but good signs had fallen off in the past few years. Being somewhat supersitious, she figured a change from Glasscrafting was a good idea, and she could at least give candidacy a try. No guarantee she'd impress, right?

She nodded seriously- not much you could do for burned lungs, really, if your throat had already healed. But he smiled again, and so did she, glad that it seemed to bother him so little. "You should be fine in time, if I do be any indicator," she offered. "And I can read; my uncle did make sure of that when I did be just a wee child." Of course, she left off that her uncle was Lord Holder, and that any Lady Holder to be should be able to read, but no problem. Nothing Emoyan needed to know, and something she prefered to forget. "I have not needed it in some time, but it will return, I am confident."

[dragon]

Skink looked past Big Brother at the three Candidates, then at the flitter again, trying to puzzle out what he was up to. Those were her minions… some of them better trained than others. Doubtless, it didn't take Candidates long to figure out Skink… and that she thought the whole barracks tree was hers. Seriously she acted like a miniature Queen of the place. She chuffed a few times. Watch. Skink do. She told him, before darting past him almost faster than could be seen. Smaller than most leaves, the pale green mandyr made up for it with insane speed – just like her semi twin, Sylph. She darted around the first Candidate, then raced up the leg of the second. Stopping on the boy's chest, she frilled at him and hissed. When the lad gave a startled yell, she bounced off of him to land on the first one's shirt. She hissed again, before giving what was a seriously miniature roar. There was no doubt about it; Skink was making it plain to the three that they were doing something she didn't like. When they started moving away and trying to be rid of her in comical flailing actions, Skink harassed them a bit more before leaping free and darting back toward Big Brother again. To make it worse, the poor Candidates had no idea if that was just Skink, or if she'd been sent by Emoyan. Only a few ever figured out that Emoyan had little say over what Skink did or did not do. To be on the safe side, most assumed she was reporting back… one never knew after all. See? No like squirts, scare them 'way. Easy. She informed the sneaking blue.

"That is perfectly fine by me." Emoyan answered her with a nod, making another note on one of his pages. "The girls floor is up on the top floor, there are plenty of empty bunks. While we have just a few girls in there, it is perfectly alright if you claim an entire bunk rack. But don't get too used to it – if we get an influx, that top bunk will he assigned elsewhere. As will half of the trunk at the foot of the bunk rack. But until then, feel free to use it. It is preferred if you stay near the front of the room with the rest of the girls, but otherwise feel free to select the empty one of your choice." Emoyan informed her, with a small shrug. Very easy going, he really had little restrictions on the bunk that a particular candidate would get to use. He also had no problem in letting them claim the whole rack when it was there to be spared. "Lessons are held at regular times, for the different rotations. There is an itinerary, which is posted on the wall in the common room, right over there." He pointed over that direction. "Sometimes it gets covered up, but I do try to keep it open. Included on that sheet is the curfew times. They are more for your safety than anything else, it is highly appreciated if you respect the curfew." He informed her. "Naturally, as a beginner, you'll be starting in the rotation that will be having Lesson one. Just make note of which rotation that is, and you're good."

Emoyan smiled at her and nodded slightly. "You are also quite a bit younger than I am, miss. As you age, your ability to heal backs off. Take care of yourself; whatever happens to you now, you'll feel tenfold a few decades down the road." He warned kindly with a small smile. "Go ahead and get your things, if you need it, I am sure one of the other girls can show you around."