Lesson One: Blooming Flora Weyrlings

[boober]

Aryna stalked down the corridor, her pretty features pinched into a frown. She was dressed in a lightweight shirt that was loose on her frame, adding to the illusion that she was of delicate build. The shirt was tucked into her riding pants, a darker shade of material that hugged her form and, in contrast to the shirt, left little to the imagination as they fed down into the matching boots. Anyone who didn’t know her might assume she’d actually put some thought into her appearance that morning, were it not for the intensely unpleasant expression on her face. Her hair was even down, bouncing from the force of her steps. One look proved that it was safe to say Aryna was not in a good mood this morning.

Weyrlingmaster! Her! Of all the sharding wastes of time! She practically seethed as she stalked toward the lesson room. It was all she could do not to just keep going and play some hooky. There were so many more desirable things to do with her time than stare at a bunch of idiotically happy brand-new weyrlings. Dramuth. Wake their asses up and get them in here. Might as well get it over with; the earlier the better. Rukbat had only just barely broken over the horizon, so it was fairly early in the morning, true dawn. The weyrlings were bound to be unhappy, but that wasn’t her problem. If she had to be unhappy, then it wouldn’t kill them either.

Rather than argue with His, the brown did as he was commanded. Junior Weyrlings of the Blooming Flora Clutch, rise. Your lesson begins now. It was almost as if there were some ritual that Dramuth were invoking as he spoke, his mind voice reverberating through the minds of the weyrlings, both dragonets and their riders. This was bound to be interesting. The brown curled up on his ledge and swiveled his head toward the rising sun. His was already in the lesson room, scribbling something down on a piece of hide. Yes, this was going to be very interesting indeed.

---

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Gold
Savitri of Hepaticath

Bronze
K'dran of Risith
R'aro of Idith

Brown
Gl'myr of Silvytreth(APC)
M'ritz of Origoth

Blue
Roshya of Sheyath
L'nos of Bivroth
As'lin of Stillith
M'kier of Tepidoth
C'ralt of Vomath

Green
J'on of Rinagth
Aminadra of Sairmonath
Liassa of Tiaeth
Lyelle of Pipsissoth
O'dan of Emerith
Celeyn of Foglith

[Ruby]

As'lin was used to being woken up at odd hours and in odd ways, but that didn't mean he liked it. Stillith, of course, had practically shot off his couch when the Dramuth had touched his mind, and was trying to climb into As'lin's bed as discreetly as possible. That got the Bluerider up faster- he wasn't keen on the idea of missing his first day of lessons because Still had caught him with a claw by accident. He wiggled out of bed and dropped to the floor, allowing his Blue to bury his head in As'lin's lap without breaking the bed. Still probably wasn't big enough to damage it yet... but he would be one day, and As'lin didn't want to encourage the behavior.

What's the matter, Still, lovemine? he asked, stroking the light streak down Still's royal blue nose.

I am excited about the lesson, mine!

As'lin gave him a look.

Still's eagerness dropped a bit. I am simply not used to being awoken like that. It made me nervous. I was afraid you were already gone.

"Aw, Still, you know I-I-I'd never leave without you," As'lin whispered, suppressing a yawn in the middle. It was still early, even if he was pretty much up now. He glanced over at M'kier's side of the room, and turned his back to his roommate as he dressed for the day. That was pretty spectacularly uncomfortable for As'lin- he had rarely had to share a room with anyone, much less an almost-stranger. But As'lin stifled another yawn and finished getting dressed- he couldn't wait for M'kier to leave, he'd be late. Shards, he'd probably be late as he was.

Straightening his white shirt collar, he turned to his roommate, silently praying that he was done changing. "I'm heading for the lesson... want to come along?" he asked, trying to tack a smile on. M'kier seemed nice enough, but honestly As'lin had been so involved in Still that he hadn't spent much time with the other blueweyrling. Well, it was never too late to start being friendly, As'lin figured. Still cocked his head at M'kier's blue, Tepidoth, inviting him too by dropping his jaw in a little draconic smile.

Whether M'kier was coming or not, As'lin didn't want to be late. He turned and headed for the door, Still trotting in his wake, and maybe M'kier too. As'lin wasn't sure where he was supposed to go, but Stillith had no problem locating Dramuth, so the pair showed up... apparently before everyone else. As'lin colored a little at his promptness, but Stillith didn't seem bothered. He offered a quiet but friendly Hello to the Brown, and settled comfortably in one corner of the room. As'lin smiled at the woman who was obviously the Weyrlingmaster, not at all put off by her obvious mood, and went to stand next to his dragon, unsure of what to do next.

[kysseh]

Instinct and habit had made Savitri up at about the dawn, and the weyrling was already comfortably dressed. The sling was gone. It hampered her motions too much, and a little work would not completely destroy the healing job done on the upper part of her arm. She would be scarred, but so long as those scars were more cosmetic than impairing, she cared little. It was not as though they were anything spectacular, after all. The scars across her torso were more extensive, and she was still bandaged and stitched, to her great disgruntlement. She hated having to sit still and not be active. There were things to be done, shardit, and she could not do those while sitting around.

Hepaticath had roused soon after her rider, and her quietly plaintive demands of itchiness were immediately soothed with a gentle oiling, all quietly done so as not to rouse the other dragon and weyrling in the room. Neither dragon nor rider bore Roshya and her lovely blue any ill will, and it would not have been polite to awaken them so early simply because neither Hepaticath nor Hers could sleep. At one point, Hepaticath had started to croon with delight at the relief of the itching, until a quick reminder from Savitri had shushed her. //I am sorry, Mine. I forgot.// the gold weyrling replied, honestly apologetic for her misstep.

At the prompt summons, Hepaticath's head shot up, and Savitri was appropriately startled enough to leave off scratching her not-so-little mindmate's eyeridges. Both females looked at each other, and Hepaticath replied politely to the brown as she got to her feet with a small sigh of relief at the lack of itching. //I and Mine thank you for telling us.// Satisfied that she had politely responded to what had been a gracious alert--she thought gracious, anyway--to attend their first lesson, she nosed at Savitri's uninjured arm. //Come, Mine. We can not be late.//

Nodding, Savitri glanced toward her roommate and Sheyath, unsure if they had heard or not. She cleared her throat. "We have lessons now, so... you might want to get up. I'd wait, but Hepaticath will block the doorway," she said with an honest shrug before shooing her mindmate out the door, a demand to which the gold obeyed reluctantly.

//I was not completely blocking the way. Only mostly. But it is still good that we leave, for we must not be late. We can not be late for anything; it is not good manners.// Hepaticath said calmly as the two walked side-by-side toward the lesson room. The gold recognized Stillith's familiar form and let out a soft warble of greeting, padding in to take a spot near the blue and His. //Good morning.// she greeted him, broadcasting her voice just enough for As'lin and the weyrlingmaster to hear.

Savitri's face broke into a slight smile at the sight of As'lin, and she stepped up beside Hepaticath to nod politely at the weyrlingmaster, lifting a hand to scratch Hepaticath's eyeridges. "Just wake up?" she inquired, though she thought it was a reasonable guess to assume so. This was quite early, and she had to wonder what had prompted such an odd lesson time. Then again, the weyrlingmaster did seem to be in a bit of a mood, so perhaps that would explain it. Whatever the case, Savitri was sure she could handle it. She had dealt with ornery people often before, and ignoring their raging fits was a good way to make the anger fade. Usually...

[darcy]

L'nos had been so sure he was going to change his ways, after impression. He had thought taking care of Bivroth would take every second of his day, but the young blue was so unassuming and demanded nothing. This meant that the weyrling had begun to slip, though it was quite admirable that he had not slept in past midday since the Hatching. Luckily for him, however, Bivroth served both as a dragon and morning alarm. Unlike L'nos the blue did not sleep solidly, often waking up many times in the night to cast a slowly whirling eye over the sleeping weyrling. He seemed almost obsessed with the safety of L'nos, which was endearing but hardly healthy. The weyrling had attempted to encourage Bivroth not to worry too much on several occasions, but this request was normally met with the blue shaking his head vehemently and staring seriously at His. He knew the young one so well already, he could only imagine what would happen if he pushed the request; most likely Bivroth would draw further back into himself.

Had it not been for the blue, he would have slept right through the whole thing. Bivroth woke him some time before light spread across Selenitas, crooning quietly into the boy's ear. Mine.. I know it is early... but lessons begin to day, and I wouldn't like to get you in trouble. L'nos rubbed his eyes groggily, eyes adjusting to the dark room. He attempted to string some words together, failing quite dismally. Bivroth... don't be stu- And with a sound that vaguely resembled the snort of a runnerbeast, L'nos fell back on to the cot, pulling the furs back over himself. Bivroth let out an anxious noise, looking to the window where Rubkat was rising. He waited a few moments, seemingly debating whether or not to reawaken L'nos, and finally nudged him softly. Mine, please, you will be late. The Weyrlingmaster had not sent out a message yet, but Bivroth knew the simple act of getting ready for anything took L'nos what seemed like turns, and thus he really needed a head start.

Biv. It's alright. I'm not going to be late, and besides, it's barely morning. Bivroth's eyes whirled quickly as he ducked his head gently. You need to calm down, Biv. Worse things could happen. But you told me to wake you early, and you slept again, and I should've- Biv! L'nos ran a hand across his forehead, as the small dragon tilted his head and moved away, giving the weyrling some space. L'nos stumbled over his own feet a few times, but eventually he found himself in the lesson room, most astoundingly early. He seemed stunned to see only two other weyrlings in the room, and stood in the doorway. Bivroth, however, took move initiative, politely introducing himself and L'nos to the Weyrlingmaster. He kept close to the weyrling's side, slowly taking in the scene around him. L'nos moved forwards, greeting As'lin and Savitiri with his characteristic half yawn half grin.

[ryanne]

Normally, Liassa would say that she was curled up comfortably with her dragon, taking a nap at this hour of the day. But not today, nope. She was already awake and running to the washroom, spilling the breakfast that she hadn't eaten yet. It seemed that it was slowly becoming a habit, waking up and then immediately feeling queasy. It started before the hatching and it had slowly gotten worse. She was planning to ask Savitri what she thought was wrong, but she hadn't found a moment to pull the newest goldrider aside yet. That and part of her was scared to figure out what the answer was.

Her Tiaeth was still curled up, sleeping peacefully, much to her relief. Sometimes her morning trips woke up the little green and she quickly became distressed. She didn't like it when Hers was sick and she always wanted to know whose fault it was, a bit of red edging into her eyes. Day after day it took Liassa convincing her vengeful dragon that it was no one's fault and she was just a little sick to keep the spit fire from "accidentally" hurting whomever she decided to blame. Somehow, it endeared Tiaeth even more to her rider. She was just so eager to defend and take revenge for any wrong that she felt was done to her or Hers. But she was way too tiny to do any actual harm, or at least that's what Liassa hoped.

On her way back from the washroom, her teeth successfully cleaned four times, the sound of a foreign dragon's voice echoed in her mind. She frowned, hurrying back to Tiaeth, beginning to try and wake her up. It always took a while; the green enjoyed her sleep and was never eager to leave it. "Come on," she punctuated the early morning silence, all but pushing the green off her couch. What? she whined grumpily, opening her eyes slowly. "Lesson time!" Liassa replied, placing an urgency in her voice that wasn't entirely necessary. She just wanted her bonded off her couch and ready to go. Shards, she hadn't even gotten dressed yet.

Pulling on a new tunic and some breeches that were still clean, she hopped back over towards the couch, trying to secure her boots on her feet. Liassa almost never wore them, but she had no idea what they were going to be doing at lessons so she figured she might as well be prepared. "Lesson time now!" she told Tiaeth, nudging her mentally as well. Fine, the green replied, rolling over and clumsily slipping off the couch. "This way."

It took them another few minutes to get to the lessons, but they arrived far from late. Grinning, Lia made her way over to As'lin, Savitri, and L'nos. "Morning all," she greeted, Tiaeth trailing behind her. She nodded over at the brownrider, attempting to be polite. She recognized the woman from around the weyr, but she couldn't quite place her. Perhaps it was just because she was one of the rare female brownriders and someone had pointed her out. Either way, she didn't look very happy to be here. Oh well, who would be very happy about having to wake up this early?

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Mine, it's time for lessons, Vomath informed his rider, a cool edge to his voice even though it was barely past sunrise. "Are you sure? You must be mistaken. It's too early. Let's just go back to sleep," C'ralt jested, closing his eyes and curling up again on his cot. He had heard the summons and he knew it was time to go, but he was not fully awake yet and he really wished that started more than a few candlemarks later. What was up with people at the weyr and rising at such early hours unnecessarily. He understood why it was that way for farming; they had so much to do before the sun went down. But lessons? They could easily be rescheduled for after everyone was fully awake and functioning.

Mine, you're not funny. Wake up. I refuse to be late, Vomath insisted, the straight edge to his voice still there. There was no hint of grogginess or even disgruntlement. It was just clear, concise, and factual. C'ralt quirked his eyebrow, actually reopening his eyes. His little blue amazed him sometimes. He was just so...well...cold. It wasn't a bad thing, no, never a bad thing, it was just interesting. C'ralt knew that he could never be like that.

That's why I'll be that for you, the blue informed His, encroaching upon his thoughts. C'ralt laughed appreciatively. "Alright, you win, lessons time," he responded, rolling off his cot. "Now where did I put my pants?"

After finding the elusive piece of clothing, the weyrling pair made their way to the gathering group of their classmates, staying a bit off to the side. It's too early for socialization, C'ralt informed his bonded, standing a little to the side of the group of four. Apparently they were still early despite the debate over whether or not they should actually awaken, or whether or not Vomath could actually awaken C'ralt. Of course, Mine, the blue agreed, sitting down on the ground, his eyes wandering around.

[boober]

She wasn’t sure what exactly she’d been expecting in this job, but as soon as the weyrlings began to file into the classroom, Aryna began to relax, little by little. By the time L’nos and his Bivroth arrived, she was standing next to the desk, one hand propped on the top of it and the other on her hip with her ankles crossed, the toe of her right boot resting against the ground. She had a roster with all the names on it that she glanced at periodically, mentally checking the names off as the weyrlings shuffled in. She looked considerably less irate than when the first pair had arrived, but there was still nothing enthused in the way she presented herself.

Long slender fingers drummed impatiently on the top of the desk as she glanced outside. Judging from the slant of the light, she could tell roughly how long it had been since Dramuth had made his call to the weyrlings. Then Aryna did an unusual thing: this being the first day, she decided to be somewhat lenient. She remembered how horrible being a weyrling was, and some of these weyrlings weren’t much her juniors. Once more, Dramuth, for the heavy sleepers. Rather than reply, the brown sat up slightly and drew a deep breath. It was released in a sudden trumpet that reverberated throughout the canyon and likely woke up more than just the weyrlings.

Weyrlings! This is the last call. Lessons begin now. There was an implication that tardiness wouldn’t be acceptable, and don’t even think about not coming at all! Knowing Aryna, the brown was sure that his rider would probably take it personally and hunt down any who decided not to show up. That was a disaster best avoided. Settling back down, he swiveled his head to watch as a few sleepily irritated heads poked out of various weyrs. He rumbled his amusement, eyes whirling with humor. There were times when, just like his rider, the brown really didn’t give a steaming pile what people thought.

Aryna frowned suddenly as she felt the familiar tugging of claws on the back of her shirt. “Clover, you’re supposed to be in the weyr. What are you doing here?”

Stay! Clover stay. The green ‘mandyr stubbornly pressed herself into the brown rider’s back, determined not to be chased away. Resisting the urge to growl at the little green, Aryna huffed instead. She couldn’t fight with Clover in front of the weyrlings.

“Fine, but if you cause trouble I’ll feed you to Dramuth” was muttered under her breath. The brown wisely kept quiet, knowing that His would do no such thing. Uncrossing her feet and straightening, Aryna drew herself up and swept the room with her pale gray eyes. “All right, we’ll give the others a few minutes to get in here, then we’re starting.” Her voice cut through the idle chatter in the room quite efficiently, even though she was far from yelling. Settling down on the desk, she crossed her legs and bent over to toy with one of the buckles on her boot. Shells, it was starting to come off. She needed to have it replaced. What she really needed was new boots, but it was such a bother. Well, she supposed she’d have to get some, at least before the lesson about proper equipment care. What sort of example would she be if she came in with old shoddy boots and preached to young impressionable minds about properly caring for one’s gear?

Shaking her head, she grinned briefly at the thought before straightening and folding her arms. She still had a few minutes to think amusing thoughts before the rest of the weyrlings (hopefully) came stampeding in.

[Kisha-Ra]

Roshya considered it a luxury to stay in bed past the first light of dawn so even though she heard her roommate rising and preparing for the day Roshya enjoyed a little sloth, which was guilt free since she had no assigned tasks to take care of this early and a light brush at Sheyath’s mind found the blue dozing and content. Sadly the oment was too short.

Sheyath blinked and shook his muzzle, probing at Roshya’s mind with his to reassure himself that she was awake. ‘Yeah, we’re getting up.’ Roshya muttered, though whether in response to Savitri’s questions or Sheyath’s mind against hers was debatable. Do you need anything before we go, my love? she inquired of her dragon. Sheyath seemed to consider matters for a moment. I have a few itchy spots. All else can wait as long as the lesson isn’t long.[/color]

Last call came just as Roshya was wiping her oily hands off on a rag, Sheyath’s head shot up and the almost white dragon headed for the door hurridly, looking guilty. Roshya trotted after him, taking no mind that her feet were bare, and Riss crooned worriedly and hastened to fly after his minething and the dragon.

Roshya didn’t really have time to worry that a firelizard might disturb the lesson and in any case Riss would probably take fright at something and leave within minutes. As she slipped into the room behind Sheyath Roshya noted that Savitri was already surrounded, Roshya just hoped those people were tolerable company. She would have headed for the other side of the room from the small group of weyrlings already present but Sheyath had other ideas, the blue headed directly for his clutchmates and settled himself firmly on the edge of the group, leaving his bonded to follow and mumble a greeting to her peers.


R’aro heard the call to lessons but he couldn’t exactly do anything about it right then. Idith had caused a slight accident and R’aro was forced to clean up the mess, and what a mess a bucketload of oil, one dragonhide for the oiling of, could make! Idith stood well back from the mess of his creating as his chosen scurried around with a bunch of rags trying to keep the puddle from spreading and damaging things. I am sorry, I didn’t mean to.[/color] the powerful hatchling apologised repeatedly.

I know you didn’t mean to but it still needs cleaning up. Shardditall we’re going to be late now! R’aro wiped with renewed vigour and pitched the dirty rags in the empty bucket with a grimace. When it wasn’t his firelizards it was his great clumsy dragon it seemed.

By the second call R’aro was done cleaning the floor to a state of none slipperyness but he had a bucketful of dirty cloths. He put the bucket in the corner to clear away later, hoping his roommate wouldn’t complain about it. ‘Come on then Idith, we’ll have to run now, just watch out with your tail.’

The boy and his bronze raced down the hall and into the classroom, however Idith totally ruined any hope of dignity as he somehow tripped over and went over on his muzzle with a squawk.


Nonononononononono! NO! J’on groaned at his errant salamandyr and flailed a hand in an attempt to get her to be quiet. Wraith however didn’t pay any attention to the flailing of her humanpet except to take it as a sign that he was now awake. Wraith hopped up onto J’on’s chest and grumbled. NO! Bad bug, bad Ri’th. No Ri’th, nononononono!

J’on growled at Wraith but figured he’d better get up and find out what Rinagth was doing that prompted Wraith to tattle on her. He sat up and looked around for his dragon. When his eye alighted on the shimmering green she looked back with an expression of artful innocence, not easy to do when she had one of O’dan’s more gaudily embroidered shirts hanging from her maw. ‘Rinagth!’ J’on snapped, diving out of bed. ‘You know better than to take other people’s stuff.’ Once again Rinagth eyed her bonded with innocence.

Rinagth snarled at Wraith. How dare that thing, which her J’on had clearly only Impressed by accident, try and tell Rinagth what to do? The young dragon flared her wings and continued rooting through O’dan’s things. There was something very nice in here somewhere.

Oh wonderful, now the little annoyance was telling tales to J’on. Rinagth flared her wings again and grunted in satisfaction. Now she had that thing! She just needed to get it over her head somehow, then she’d look prettier than any other green! She jumped and tried to look innocent as J’on looked at her (stupid Wraith, why did she have to wake him?), fortunately she was saved from having to comment as Dramuth announced the start of a lesson.

J’on instantly left the matter of his dragon’s thievery, he could always apologise to O’dan later as the other boy seemed to have wandered off somewhere this morning, and hastened to wash and dress while Rinagth carefully replaced her stolen shirt, she couldn’t work out how to get it on anyway.

Pretty soon the pair were on their way to the lesson, hampered by Rinagth’s slow strutting pace, which was oh so clearly designed to show off her wonderful hide and her shapely form. In fact only the second call, with trumpeting, persuaded Rinagth to pick up her pace at all. When the greenpair finally entered the classroom, Rinagth turned pointedly away from her gold sister and flounced off to the far siode of the room, with a resigned sigh J’on followed.


O’dan woke early, against his custom, for he normally played the little layabout, and after tossing and turning for several minutes and establishing that he wasn’t going to get back to sleep O’dan slipped out of bed, gaining the attention of Emerith. His heavyset green fell in beside him as the blonde haired lad escaped his room.

I suppose you’re hungry? O’dan said without any hope of being refuted. Emerith tipped her head up to look at her rider and yawned. A little, not as much as before I think.[/color] The green answered after considering things a little. O’dan laughed fondly and stopped to scratch Emerith’s head.

No time now. We must attend the lesson. I would not want you to get in trouble because you took time to feed me when I can wait.[/color] Emerith commented as the announcement for weyrling lessons, she turned and headed back inside
Are you sure?[/.i] O’dan asked, turning to follow Emerith anyway.

In short order Emerith led her chosen to the classroom and picked somewhere for him to stand.

[boober]

Even as one hand hid a wide yawn, Aryna was keeping an eye on the doorway. A few more weyrlings trickled in (or perhaps a better word was 'tripped'), and the vision of reluctant wakefulness that seemed to be their instructor suddenly slid off the desk and landed neatly on her feet, all pretense of sleepiness gone as she eyed the weyrlings with intense interest. She was obviously measuring them up, though what she saw in each of them was impossible to tell. The seemingly slight young woman took a leisurely stroll around the room, giving each of the weyrlings a once-over. Glimpses of green could be caught between the strands of her dark, dark hair where Clover still clung to her back, but Aryna acted as if this were completely normal. And perhaps it was normal for her to have a salamandyr on her back. If there had been any doubt before, it was made clear that she was someone who did not like to be idle; Aryna was very much a creature of action, and when she reached the center of the room, she turned to face her pupils and offer them a bright smile that seemed to incite more of a sense of wariness than welcome.

“Good morning weyrlings! Most of you should know me, but since I’m sure there are some of you who don’t, I am Aryna, rider of brown Dramuth. I will be your Weyrlingmaster during F’rah’s absence.” Lacing her fingers, she made a motion as if she were pushing something out with her hands. A satisfying ‘crack!’ sounded in the room as her knuckles popped before she propped one hand on her hip and used the other to gesture carelessly to the other side of the classroom. “Since I know your dragons are starving to death, or at least think they are, I’ll get down to business.” Threats as to what will happen to those who were tardy could wait. “Now I’m sure those of you with working eyeballs in your heads have noticed that there are a couple of large, dead animals on the other side of the room. Anyone know why that is?” The faint hint of sarcasm in her voice would be obvious to all except the dimmest of glows, yet even as she walked toward the carcasses in question, the brown rider didn’t really seem to expect an answer from anyone, indicating that the question had been rhetorical.

Once she reached the first carcass, obviously a herdbeast, she gave its skinless body a slap and turned to face the group of weyrlings. “This, pupils mine, is a dead herdbeast. Its purpose is to feed your starving mind mates. The workers in the kitchens have been kind enough to skin it for you, so that’s one less step in the process that has to take place to get the meat from here to your dragon’s belly. Observe.” With that last droll word, she took up one of the knives that was stuck in the meat of the animal and began to make nice, even slices with quick movements of her arm. The slivers of raw meat fell forward, but didn’t detach completely from the carcass, simply hanging there as if waiting to be cut completely. They were roughly the size of Aryna’s hand, just right for most of the maws they’d be going into. Stabbing the knife back into the herdbeast, the young woman turned and took a step to the side, holding up one of the slices so it could be seen properly.

“Despite what some of you have heard, size does matter. If you stand here cutting little tiny pieces, not only will you be getting dirty looks from your dragons, you’ll be here all day. If you cut too large, you’ll have to take the pieces back and cut them up some more to reduce the risk of choking. Now that’s not too complicated, is it?” Wiping her hands on her pants, she motioned at the carcass as she stepped away. “Have at it. Preferably in a neat, orderly fashion. Don’t be all day about it either, we still have the next part of the lesson.” With that, Aryna returned to the desk to observe, interested in seeing how the weyrlings would take this first lesson.

[kysseh]

Savitri was surprised by the slow trickle of weyrlings. Had there not been sixteen dragons?! Where were the rest of the weyrlings? She set her mouth in a thin line. Skipping, perhaps. Very well; let them miss the important details. She could use every ounce of guidance offered, and she was not about to start their training off on a bad foot, a sentiment with which Hepaticath wholeheartedly agreed. The girl arched an eyebrow at the sleepy boy with his blue, allowing herself a smile when Liassa and little Tiaeth finally arrived. "Good morning," she replied amiably.

Hepaticath punctuated Hers' greeting with a quietly squeaky rumble, lowering her head a bit to peer at Tiaeth. The poor thing looked so sleepy! The larger weyrling sympathized; it was rather early after all. Hers was an early riser, though, so Hepaticath tended to be too. She liked to spend the quiet time with Hers, partially because Savitri always had the most fascinating stories to tell. She was distracted by movement when one of the weyrlings promptly came in and tripped ungracefully. Her eyes whirled a bit faster, and she crooned in quiet concern. Are you all right? she asked kindly, hoping he had not seriously hurt himself.

There was suddenly no time to wonder about the absent weyrlings for the weyrlingmaster was suddenly making her rounds, and as she passed by, Savitri had to wonder if she was always such an... action-oriented person. If so, perhaps she'd get along well with this instructor. Savitri rarely, if ever, liked to sit idle. She knew what had to be done, she did it, and that was that. She filed the brownrider and her dragon's name away for future reference, quirking a wry half-smile at the all-too-cheerful smile. Oh, this was going to be one of those lessons. She waited patiently through the explanation, or mostly patiently since Hepaticath's gnawing hunger was being shoved quite repeatedly at her. I know, Hep. Just let her finish, all right?

While some of her lessonmates might have been disturbed by the butchering, Savitri was completely unbothered. She had been a healer long enough to know how to handle a knife, and she had filleted enough fish while growing up to learn how to manage it properly. When the weyrlingmaster said to go for it, she glanced around at the other weyrlings. Well, no one wanted to be first in line, so she stepped briskly forward toward the carcass, unafraid of getting her hands dirty as she pulled free one of the knives. She made a row of about four even slices, and if they weren't quite as neat as Aryna's, they weren't any bigger, at least. She let the slivers hang and then glanced at the weyrlingmaster. "I suppose we should just feed them the slices we make?" That seemed like the most practical alternative.

Still near the other weyrlings and Theirs, Hepaticath perked up noticeably at the sight of the pieces that Hers had cut. Sure, the one looked a tad ragged on the edges, but food was food! She shifted her weight from one side to the other, wishing that all the weyrlings would just hurry up and slice up some slabs of meat for their hungry bondeds. The poor little dragons all had to eat, after all.

[mashiara]

As always M’kier looked as if he had just only rolled out of bed-though considering the hour this time he actually HAD. The youths raven hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that hung at the nap of his neck, the light brown shirt decorated with so many wrinkles it was rather impressive that he actually hadn’t slept in it. Though this was how the tall youth always looked and in truth aside from a slight stagger in his step and amber eyes that blinked a bit too much there was no great indication that he had been dragged from slumber. The purplish blue dragon at his side was another matter all together. The plump little dragonet used his wedge shaped head to give his lifemate a gentle push whenever the lad slowed in step-and frequently when he didn’t-and paused only to allow a dragon sized yawn to escape his jaws ever now and then. Tepidoth had all but dragged M’kier out of the bed, excitement and eagerness for lessons making the minutes the lad had taken seem like hours.

Though that didn’t stop the little blue from yawning or making a mental remark or three about how dreadful it was to be woken up so early and not fed and oiled right away for his trouble. M’kier simpled focused on his steps and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The little blue did seem to enjoy making shards into shells, the former journeyman knew very well the blue was far more eager than sleepy however many yawns he gave.

At any rate they made it into the room as others were scurrying in and to M’kiers satisfaction they were seated-and Tepidoth chided for his grumblings-before the Weyrlingmaster began. M’kier was not sure what to make of the teacher…but he rarely knew what to make of people. The lesson was straightforward enough and the subject easily held Tepidoths attention. I DO hope your paying attention M’kiermine. The little blue said with such seriousness that the dark haired youth nearly snorted. He had no doubt the blue would be offering his advice and critique of the task. Tepidoth had high standards when it came to just about everything and doubtlessly he would want M’kier to cut every last piece perfectly.

When they were set loose on the carcasses it was Tepidoth that got to his feet and hurried to a table, M’kier following at a more leisurely pace. He hadn’t done much cooking…but instead of approaching it from that angle M’kier treated it as another task preformed at the crafthall. He was a strong lad with an eye for measurements so if there was any concern it was directed more at the dragonet he was paired with than the meat. The concern proved to be justified when Tepidoth bugled his impatience. Why was His taking so long?! Didn’t he want to feed his Tepidoth?!

Pausing a moment to pin the little blue with a glare M’kier set to carving a junk of meat from the herdbeast carcass. There’s no need to fuss so much, haste makes shoddy work. You want me to do this right, yes?The journeyman scolded silently as he finished cutting the chunk and passed it to the eager little blue. Gulping it down quickly the shameless little dragonet barely paused before chiming in sweetly. That was good Mine, but a bit bigger next time allright? Now keep practicing.

[Ruby]

As'lin and Stillith inclined their heads almost in unison at Savitri and Hepaticath, acknowledging their good morning. They also politely responded to other greetings aimed their way, at least by smiling. As'lin made an effort to recall the names of all the Weyrlings, but he really only recognized one or two- a disheartening thought. He'd have to do something about that as soon as he could. But now was not the time. Aryna was starting the lesson, and As'lin started paying all of his attention to the Brownrider. The few days As'lin had spent in the Weyr had already taught him that he needed all the help he could get.

Lucky for both Dragon and Rider, meat had never made As'lin squeamish and he had a vague idea at least of how to butcher. Too bad nervousness caused him to have very unsteady hands. It was harder than it looked to get strips as perfect as Aryna's! As'lin's were oddly sized, every one of them. Good thing Stillith was such a small dragon- his hunger was under control, so As'lin didn't need to worry that his bonded was starving to death. Stillith, of course, knew he was, but no way was he going to let As'lin know that. His rider didn't need to know everything, right?

After a little while, As'lin had some decent pieces, and started tossing them to Stillith for the blue to snatch out of the air. Soon the tiny dragon was full, and As'lin left the extra piece or two that Still hadn't consumed near the carcass, in case someone else was having as much trouble as he had. With no other issues (Still did not choke, for instance), the pair backed off, leaving their spot open for another pair to fill.

[ryanne]

Liassa listened as their temporary instructor introduced herself, amused by her matter-of-fact mannerisms. She was very brisk and quick, two traits that she had learned long ago to respond to. Her sarcasm was almost refreshing, especially since it wasn't directed at making anyone feel bad. Now if Aryna started to pick on someone unnecessarily, she wouldn't like that, but general mocking never hurt anyone. At her motion, she looked over at the carcasses, a look of indifference on her face. She had cut too many bloody carcasses in the kitchens to be even the slightest bit squeamish. Cutting meat was a part of life and it was definitely something she could handle. Good, Mine, because I'm hungry,[/i] Tiaeth commented, curling up at her bonded's feet.

She was tempted to drift off asd Aryna began to demonstrate how to cut the meat, having diced up more than a few herdbeasts before a hatching for the new dragons. However, it was against her nature to ignore instructions that pertained to her so she focused her attention on the woman's words. It was easy enough and Aryna did it with a firm and practiced hand. It was nice to know that she wasn't going to be learning from an overconfident dimglow. Her small joke wasn't lost on Lia, but she didn't bother to crack a smile. It just didn't seem suitable.

Waiting for a moment for someone to go first, Lia looked down at Tiaeth, urging her to her feet. Food time, she prodded the green, trying to get her to wake fully up. The mention of food was sufficient, though, drawing the tiny dragon to full attention. A grin on her face, she led her over there, surveying the beast for a moment before grabbing a knife. Assuredly, she sliced into the beast, cutting neat bites for a dragon, roughly the same size as the ones that Aryna had produced, if not just a little thinner. Tiaeth snapped them up hungrily, but it wasn't long until she was full. She was still a small dragon and it didn't take as much as it took others to fill her belly.

Sleep time, she murmured, beginning to curl up again. Liassa just laughed, bending down and awkwardly scooping her up. She carried her away from the herdbeast before laying her back down again, taking a seat at her side.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

C'ralt paid attention to the brownrider, focusing on her words at first before musing about the fact that she was a female brownrider. Sure, he was new to the weyr still, but she was the only female he'd seen on a brown dragon. He supposed that it was odd, but she didn't seem to mind. She was far from timid or bitter, just sure of herself and sharp. Realizing that his mind was drifting, he refocused his attention, determined not to miss the instructions. He grew up on a farm, herding, not cutting up meat. He wasn't sure how well he was going to do at this particular task.

Slices the size of his hand. That sounded easy enough. I don't want to choke, Vomath informed him, his eyes whirling a clear maroon. C'ralt grinned looking down at him. The little blue was so, well, concise. It entertained him to no end. Vomath ignored his sentiment, turning his eyes back to the meat hungrily. You won't choke, he promised, making his way up to start cutting. That's the goal, the little blue commented, waiting for the first slice of meat.

Awkwardly, C'ralt pushed the knife through the meat, a little intrigued by the texture of the meat. Think about that later. Feed me now,[/i] Vomath ordered, bumping his leg. Sighing, he started the second slice, pulling it through slowly before cutting out the strip of meat. It was decent-sized, but the edges were very jagged and it was very slowly made. Faster, Mine the blue told him, snapping up the piece hungrily. I thought you didn't want to choke, he retorted, starting to cut a little quicker. At the end of it all, he got the hang of it after trying to feed Vomath a few tiny pieces. The blue had decidely told him that he wasn't eating that and he needed to try again. But after it was all said and done, the dragon got fed and C'ralt learned how to do it properly.

Finished with the meat, they backed up, standing at the back of the classroom again.[/size]

[darcy]

L'nos listened to Aryna with as much enthusiasm as he could muster at such a time. He found his eyes losing focus several times, as his thoughts drifted to trivial things, such as how Aryna could be a brownrider and how strange a herdbeast looked skinned. Luckily Bivroth seemed to be paying more attention, and whenever he felt the thoughts of His wavering he brought L'nos back to the lesson in front of them with a gentle nudge. After a few repeats of this, he managed to truly focus on Aryna. As she spoke, he felt a yawn rising in his throat; but now was not the time, he didn't want the Weyrlingmaster, stand in or not, to think him inattentive and so carefully covered his mouth and stifled the yawn.

Admittedly, at this point in time he was being somewhat inattentive but the was a habit he knew would have to go. At any rate he had improved from his post-weyrling days wherein he would lose interest in anything after a few moments. Then again, a dragon was an entirely different thing and not something to be treated with inattentiveness. And there he was again, thoughts wandering all over the place. So much so that he had altogether missed the actual demonstration of cutting the herdbeast, and a look of embarrassed guilt rose in his face.

Luckily for L'nos the other weyrlings had paid attention, and it seemed easy enough to mimic their actions. It was at that moment that L'nos remembered his complete and utter inability to cut anything neatly and without slicing off pieces of his own fingers as well. In his earlier years, when musical pursuits seemed to elude him at the Hall, he had helped his mother in the kitchen. It only took a few days for his mother to essentially remove him from anything that involved a knife, as cutting even tubers seemed to be a difficult task for the boy.

Taking in a deep breath, he took a knife. His brow creased in concentration before he had even begun cutting, teeth sunk into his lower lip. Bivroth seemed somewhat concerned at this, eyes whirling faster. Is it difficult? It's alright, you are only learning, I'm sure she will excuse some small errors I think if I lose my finger it may be more than a small error, Biv. If one had glanced over at L'nos it wad be an amusing sight; from the weyrling who could barely stay awake earlier, every ounce of concentration he was capable of was now focused on such a simple task. He almost closed his eyes as he cut the first piece, but thought better of using a knife blindly. Much to his dismay, the piece was wonky, wide at the top, thin at the bottom. It was too small, not long enough. But, being L'nos, he found the silver lining. He still had ten fingers. Bivroth crooned, attempting to cover the sense of urgency he felt in being fed. With a chuckle, the weyrling threw the disfigured piece of herdbeast over, and the small blue devoured without a moment to spare. It is alright, mine. I'm sure if you practice, you will only get better. L'nos snorted, grateful for the small consolation. Thinking he had said something inconsiderate, Bivroth hastily added It tasted very good.

[flupine]

K'dran was one of the heavier sleepers apparently as he did not hear the first call. Risith did, but he did not bother to get up. why should he? He was tired and he had no reason to get up just because it was demanded of him. Who was he trying to impress? Only K'dran and he was asleep. Stirring briefly, the bronze dragonet managed to roll over and made a half-hearted attempt at reaching out to K'dran. Half hearted, mind you. Lazily closing his barely opened lids, Risith promptly fell back into sleep. And he would have enjoyed sleeping for a while yet if he hadn't been -repeatedly- agitated while he slept. Hearing another noise, Risith's head jerked up, eyelids cracking open slowly, his eyes looked about the room first, then landed upon K'dran. His was so tiny, so in need of being protected. Nearly drifting off yet again, Risith did jerk fully awake as one last roar ripped through the Barracks. Someone was determined to wake him up.

K'dran heard the roar rip through the Barracks, blasting into him. Before any senses were gained, K'dran had already leapt off the bed in a startled lunge and had fallen onto the ground in a heavy thud, managing to bang his head rather resoundingly against the floor. "By the first Egg! What in Pern is going on? What wherry-headed fool is going about blasting people awake?" Grumbling while he sat up, K'dran reached with a shaky hand to run the knot that was beginning to form on his head already.Weyrlings! This is the last call. Lessons begin now. K'dran could already tell that the day was going to ridiculously difficult. Standing up on wobbly legs with one hand stretched behind his head to rub his aching shoulders, K'dran spun around the room. Where was Risith? Slightly disoriented, his eyes twisted about wildly until they landed on the weyrling dragon. Who was right behind him, watching him cheerfully, make a fool of himself. Risith! What are you doing over here?! K'dran demanded. MineK'dran, I was just watching you. You are fun to watch. though the sentence sounded casual K'dran knew that Risith was mocking him. Glaring at teh bronze dragon, K'dran wondered why he was even up.... oh no! Lessons! They would be late to their very first lessons!

Scrambling around k'dran dug through his piles of clothing that he had left scattered across his floor of his room. He needed clean, decent clothes. Frantically throwing his clothes on haphazardly, K'dran barely paused through his mad rush to finger comb his hair, using his other hand to pull on Risith. Risith who was not moving. Risith! Come on!! Worried at the frantic voice, Risith answered him calmly. Mine should stop worrying. We will arrive, when we get there. No one commands us. They will have us for sharding breakfast! Come on! K'dran ran wildly for the lesson room, Risith following at a much more slower and reluctant pace. Risith! the boy hissed at the dragon more than a few times. The sharding stubborn dragon would get them into trouble on the first day.

Reaching to rooms, K'dran pulled up sharply to enter the room at a much more slower and even stately pace. No need to show how flustered he was. But K'dran fooled no one, red cheeked, chest heaving with his hair standing on end in all different directions, even the slackness in his jaw and dull eyes betrayed him. K'dran had obviously woken up late and had scrambled to make it to class. Pushign a hand through his hair in an attempt to lay it back down, he had barely managed to arrive just as the Weyrling Master began to talk. In fact Aryna had indeed been talking and K'dran fearfully wondered if he had somehow missed part of the lesson.Oh no Risith.Do not worry, Mine, i am here to protect you. Giving Risith a quick adoring look, K'dran focused mostly on the lesson at hand. Hopefully he would not be in too much trouble.

As the talking part of the lesson concluded, K'dran jumped up eagerly to try to cut off meat for Risith himself but he held back just a tad bit. It was not as if he could very well push his way through the crowd and jump into the front of the line. Why NOT?! Risith clearly seemed displeased with this type of thinking. He was much too important to wait, he was a Bronze! He should be by the Queen! Though he was not the largest Bronze Hatchling, Risith sure acted like it. Holding his wings slightly aloft to create a "presence" he boldly moved forward, daring others to remain in his path. But K'dran called him back. Risith! You cannot do that! You cannot approach Hepiticath! You attacked her bonded! Desperate to stave off any confrontation, K'dan followed in Risith's wake, wanting to keep him away from the girl. Oh Mine, I am sure she has forgotten all about that! After all, she was pretending to be you, I could not help it. Wanting to put off the moment. K'dran sunk his knife into on side of carcass he was close too, diggin out a chunk of meat. Risith, come eat. For once it sounded as if k'dran was demanding something. K'dran simply -could not- let Risith wander over to Savi after what happened at the Hatching. K'dran was embarrassed of it even if Risith did not mind. Following instructions, K'dran cut off some chunks of meat to hand over to Risith who chose to come to K'dran's side. Is mine really so worried about this? Not talking K'dran practically stuffed a chunk of meat into Risith's muzzle. MineK'dran, I doubt that if the meat will barely fit into my mouth that my throat will be able to swallow it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Celeyn practically waltzed into the room, Foglith tagging behind faithfully. The pair were neither early nor late, arriving just as the second warning was rang out. Celeyn had come awake as the first announcement rang out, through her mind and if that hadn't been enough to awaken her, Foglith was bound and determined that they show up to class properly. It had went against everything in Celeyn at the moment, Impression had melded her heart to another but she was hardly ready to accept living in a Weyr under Shmee's guidance. But there was Foglith, the little green just staring up at her unblinkingly,demanding that Celeyn not only attend the lesson but conduct herself accordingly. The thought made Celeyn's lips curl into a sneer. Oh, she would act accordingly. According to her bloodlines.

With a confident air that a short plump girl should probably not possess, Celeyn marched to a spot on the outside of the room, carefully guarded by the ever faithful Foglith. DearestMine, please behave. And at least -try- to look like you are enjoying this, you need to learn. Celeyn look down at her green dragonet, the myriad of dark green swirls over her body, no one color took prominence over the others. Her colors seemed to fit Celeyn's mood today - dark. And for once, Celeyn was not bothering to hide it. Let them see her being upset, it would not hurt them. Meeting Foglith's eyes, she attempted a gentle smile for reassurance.I will do nothing inappropriate dearheart. But before Foglith could ask what Celeyn defined as being "inappropriate," The weyrlingmaster begun to speak.

Listening to her speak, there were several times when Celeyn felt the urge to add something in. To say some comment aloud though each time her mouth opened, she was met with resistance from Foglith. The little green was becoming more and more agitated with Celeyn. Celeyn would dare to interrupt something such as a lesson. Foglith could not help but think that Hers needed to learn some proper respect and learn to be nicer. Celeyn could actually feel the need to release somethign dark and angry each time she clamped her mouth shut, dying to shoot off a remark. These people - all of them. They were the ones who needed to learn respect. Pulled out of these thoughts by the feel of a sudden bereft spot beside her, Foglith had left! Immediately distraught, Celeyn jumped up, her eyes searching for the green as her body tensed to readiness. But there she was, Celeyn's little Foglith, off talking with her clutchmates, making friends. Making friends is actually nice, you should try it sometimes Mine. You hold too much anger, you need to let go and be happy.

Striding over to Foglith, her hands immediately reached out to rest on the green hide as she gulped a deep breathe. Why was she so nervous/ She should feel right at home in her Weyr. But she did not. Uncomfortably aware of her own uneasiness, Celeyn gave up trying to fall back out of the crowd of Weyrlings. She might as well get it over with. Reaching out a dagger, she made a neat cut across a chunk of meat. It looked pretty good, small enough for Foglith, turning to give the meat to Foglith, she smiled to hear the green's voice. Perhaps next time, just a bit bigger, Mine. I am a growing girl and one day I will be big! Feeling calmer already, Celeyn methodically cut out meat for hers, one part of her mind in conversation with Foglith, the other one on how early she could escape the lesson without being noticed.

[boober]

“Unless you can think of something better to do with them.” A surprisingly good-natured grin accompanied Aryna’s response to Savitri’s question, taking some of the sting out of what might have otherwise been blatantly sarcastic. Well, she had to give the girl credit; she’d been the first to approach when nobody else would, the little wherryheads. She was mildly surprised that more of the dragonets hadn’t clamored for their riders to go forth and cut their meals immediately.

For the most part, the brown rider stayed perched on her desk, legs crossed, fiddling with whatever her fingers found to mess with; clothes, leather strings, broken buckles. She was there to observe at this point, and somehow her gray eyes managed to keep track of all the weyrlings and their progress. Not only this, but she noticed odd behaviors and little quirks about all of them. Which ones hesitated, which of them seemed full of themselves, and even the ones who really didn’t seem to give a big steamy pile. Aryna squashed a grin. She had to confess, she’d been one of the latter in her weyrling days; she’d paid attention only enough to ensure Dramuth’s wellbeing, and anything extra went straight in one ear and right back out the other. So how could she get mad at these weyrlings for doing the same? Some things she’d had to learn the hard way, and so would they.

While any who were inattentive would certainly not get any sympathy from Aryna, she wasn’t going to toss them into the nearest dung heap either.

She waited, standing (or sitting, as the case actually was) by in case anyone truly needed her. She supposed she could have mentioned that the slices didn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing, but the concept seemed absurd. Who cared what the slice was shaped like, so long as it went down the dragon’s gullet? Yet, to her amusement, the weyrlings were fussing over the appearance of their slices of meat. Her earlier agitation at being chosen as a replacement weyrlingmaster had all but vanished beneath the sheer humor she got out of watching them and the things that they worried over. She couldn’t remember ever having been so… worried, as a weyrling. At least not about her own handiwork.

As the weyrlings started to pull away from the carcasses, the brown rider straightened, placing her hands on the desk beside her thighs. She gave the weyrlings her full attention now instead of fidgeting boredly. It was almost unnerving, as still and intent as she was on the young riders and their younger dragons. Clover had moved from the young woman’s back to drape across her shoulder, and the salamandyr also watched the weyrlings as they worked and moved about, albeit she didn’t seem nearly as interested as her bonded. When most of the weyrlings had finished and stepped back, Aryna slid off the desk and brought her hands together with a clap.

“Full?” Her gaze swept the lounging dragons before a smile spread across her face. “Well, don’t fall asleep yet, because we’re going outside. This lesson is only half finished.” She waited until the last of the weyrlings trickled away from the much-reduced carcasses. She’d have those cleaned up after the lesson. “All right boys and girls, what say we head outside?” Without waiting to see if anyone else answered her, she headed for the door, not seeming to care if they followed or not.