L1: Burimyu Candidates

[Ruby]

Demoted.

It wasn't exactly true, but that's how it felt. He and Iskierka had both been taken off Weyrling lessons, which had been given back to Sel'n, who'd been M'kai's Weyrlingmaster for a time. Of course, that had been before they'd stripped his title for substance abuse, or something equally lovely. Perfect for new Weyrlings. Absolutely perfect.

They'd asked M'kai to take care of Candidates instead. Why was completely beyond him (of course, he conveniently forgot that he'd been a candidate himself for nearly a decade). That had been like three whole turns ago. Now, though, he was at the front of the class rather than behind a desk - not that Burimyu had desks. No, the best they could do for the Candidates here was a selection of mis-matched chairs and stools, grouped in a rough semicircle. Good thing they wouldn't be spending too much time in the classroom.

Rolling his shoulders, the new Candidatemaster took a place in front of the chairs with a sigh, reaching a hand up to soothe Kami, riding in her usual perch on his shoulder. Might as well call them in, Fuffle. Nothing more I can do to get ready for them. Futh obliged, reaching out to Burimyu's handful of candidates. Candidates? M'kaiMineLove awaits. M'kai tried not to facepalm at the nickname; Futh hardly ever called him anything else, even when speaking to others. He didn't mind it in private, but... well. Whatever.

As each Candidate entered, M'kai tried to put a name to a face. Isori was easy, of course, which made Bevany pretty easy too. The boys were harder, but with only five candidates in this lesson... not that hard. Once they were all seated, M'kai tucked his arms behind his back, beginning.

"I'm M'kai, for those of you that don't know. Candidatemaster. We've got a few things to cover today, but let's get rules out of the way first. Burimyu's different than other Weyrs, for those of you that have been at other Weyrs - without Barracks, Curfew is harder to enforce, but if we catch you lurking around too late after dark, you'll get extra chores. Just get a good night's sleep. You're like... the lowest of the low unless a hatching is happening, so make sure you listen and obey when Riders and other Weyrfolk ask you to do something, cause Burimyu doesn't screw around. We'll strip you of Candidacy and send you packing without blinking. That goes for lessons and chores, too. Especially keep in mind what Meira of Gold Jingth, Ka'rys of Bronze Ciceroth, and E'rro of Brown Ismaroth ask for; they're the Council. You should be able to identify them by knots; Meira's our only goldrider, Ka'rys is the older Bronzer who isn't a giant - although you'd do well to listen to S'rei too - and E'rro's the brownrider with a big scar across his face. Keep an eye on them.

"Those are the basics, beyond the standard Burimyu expectations. Feel free to ask if you have questions, believe me, I am well versed in all the rules and restrictions." A face, and a shift of his weight, signaled a change in subject. "So that's that. Questions anytime. Now we can move on to more fun stuff... Pair up, please. If anyone's left over they can pair with me."

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

[hrsegrl]

Making sure that every last part of her was scrubbed was taking a bit of effort really, seeing as the dirt was caked on. She hated hated hated the chores around here. And how was she to know there was going to be that much mud? Her hair ended up being almost more brown than blonde. Ugh. Not that she minded being dirty most of the time. It was not that at all. It was that she was supposed to be going to the infirmary today to help out and she now was not going to make it on time. Bevany already had a reputation here that was a little less than responsible.

She really wanted people at the infirmary to like her. She wanted to become a dragon healer. It would be wonderful! Then even if she did not impress she would have something from her time here that would help her in the world. Even as she scrubbed her hair one more time with the sweet sand she heard the most peculiar voice in her head. Candidate Lessons! Five minutes!!!! Oh Faranth! Why did this always happen to her! She came up for air, made sure the sand was mostly out of her hair and flopped up on dry land to grab a towel and run for her clothes.

Man oh man oh man! She was going to be late, she knew it. Even as she threw on the coarse tan dress that seemed to be the norm around here for drudge women, she felt herself losing time. No matter that she had not brushed her hair and that it was dripping wet! Quickly she put her shoes on, not bothering to make sure her foot was in all the way, dropping the towel on the floor as she ran out of the bathing pools towards (for lack of a better term) the Candidate Lesson Room.

Running was not her forte it seemed as she began to gasp for air. Oh by Faranth's Golden Egg, let her not be late! The blonde, heaving in air turned the corner and practically fell into the lesson room where the stools were set up. Her loud breathing would have been bad enough but in front of the others it was slightly embarrassing. Cheeks flushed from her run she took a seat, trying not to make herself too noticed, though in a room of all of five people it seemed she would have little choice but to be noticed.

The rest of them seemed quite content to listen to the man in front of them. Bevany however, was never one to pay attention to lectures. Her attention span was considerably smaller than the average person so after M'kai introduced himself and went on about Barracks and enforcing curfew she began to zone out. At Meira's name she perked up a bit. Meira had been very nice and she was doing what the woman suggested she should. If she worked with E'rro then she's be on the good side of another council member which couldn't hurt her chances of Standing right?

Bevany looked over at Torino, wondering if he'd prefer to pair with one of the others. Well she didn't really think it would matter who paired with her, she knew next to nothing about dragons and so was the worst partner they could probably pick. Despite this, she knew she was also an excellent person to be partnered with because she was fairly smart. Since coming to the Weyr she had noticed this to less of an extent than out on the farm but she still knew she was no dimglow. After looking at Torino she let her gaze fall on each of the other Candidates in turn, as if she was trying to figure them out from her stool. She wanted to be liked here but she was rather strange sometimes so she understood if she was left on her own.

[Rowana]

Naabriik sang a pleasant voice. No be late! Is rude! Alph bounced onto his boy's head and mussed his dark hair affectionately. Nabrik scowled and tried to push him off, but the salamandyr held fast. Go time, the brown insisted firmly. "Yeah, yeah," Nabrik rolled his eyes. "What are you, my mother?" Alph just crooned happily and Nabrik couldn't help but smile. Alph might be a worry wort, but he was all the family Nabrik had with Path back at Selenitas.

Shrugging, the boy shoved aside his project (a ball of sticky sap and feathers for purposes only he knew) and started out the door. Secrecy and loneliness aside, Nabrik had to admit having his own room was extremely cool. Now he didn't have to worry about anyone finding his pranks or nagging him for keeping it clean. In the months he'd been here, he'd explored much of the new Weyr that was open to him, so finding lessons didn't take long. He gave M'kai a wave and a grin, while Alph bobbed his head from his perch.

The lecture part was boring. Nabrik already knew most of it, though the thought of not Standing had his attention. This guy might be even more strict than Emoyan! Of course, he doubted they could keep him from the Sands if they tried. Still, it wasn't like he had much else to do but chores and lessons anyway. The request to pair up had him frowning. He glanced around at his classmates uncertainly. Two of them were girls, yuck, that counted them out. The other two were boys, but much older than he was. Feeling sulky and left out, Nabrik stayed in his seat, wondering what Path might be doing right now.

[metaldawn71]

Nividya was quiet, listening to the lectures and taking notes. She still felt quite the outsider, though. Fresh from the north and now transferred to the South...how humiliating! Every chore she did without very little or no questions or complaint. She had been through a lot with her father disapproval of this transfer.

Niv was indeed one to look out for. Whenever anyone was in dire need, Nividya was there to help. She watched everyone else's reaction to her. She felt that all eyes were on her, like being watched and she didn't like that sensation, however, she did overcome it quickly. She was a Dragon Candidate, something to be proud of but she was ashamed. Her father's voice rang in her ear:

-Nividya, you can not be a dragonrider because it is not traditional that a female becomes one.-

This hurt her to the bone. She was tough and hid her emotions well. She never approached any male at Fort but he -was- the Candidate Master and she had a question. Nividya cautiously approached M'kai.

"Sir, i have a question?" she winced instantly when she asked.

[dragon]

Isori was prepared and ready for lessons. She even had a new dress, despite how crude it was. At least it wasn't her nightgown. Her nightgown had finally gone back to being a nightgown again ... now that it was mostly worn out from being her only dress period.

It was a good thing she hadn't been sleeping in the buff when they had moved!

Her dress was made of a very coarse material, and it was only offwhite, but it was a new dress nonetheless. She had spun the yarns from some plant fibers she had painstakingly gathered. Then woven them into material on a crude stick-loom that she had built out of some sticks that she had carefully smoothed to be perfectly splinter free. It had taken absolutely forever to make just the one bolt of cloth, coarse as it was. But it was cloth. Which she had quickly and eagerly made into a dress. Off white, coarse woven, but totally new and cut to flatter, Isori was totally prepared for lessons.

Without an inch of shame for her attire. It was the newest clothes in the weyr!

Strolling into the room after the summons from Futh, she was eager to see what M'kai was going to do. She hadn't known that he was the Candidate master (last she'd heard he was Weyrlingmaster!), but was not terribly sad for it. She liked M'kai, and this just meant getting to see him again, sooner than expected! With no excuses!

She flashed him a smile before taking a seat, politely and primly crossing one leg over the other after she sat down, hands folded atop the topmost knee. Her hair was balled up in a neat bun, too, without a single flyaway to betray that it was curly.

She listened to what he had to say, but didn't worry about it too much. Barring her scavenging sessions looking for fiber or foodstuffs, she really spent most of her time in her (!) room anyway. Hand-spinning or hand-weaving. Goodness she never knew she could miss a wheel or a real loom so much. Briefly she wondered if she should betray that she was making M'kai a new jacket, but decided against it. She'd tell him after it was finished!

Once he finished up, she glanced around the room quickly. One, two, three ... oh, here came a fourth. That made ... two pairs. So she looked at M'kai again, and with a twinkle in her eye stuck her hand up. Naturally, she wanted to know if she could be M'kai's partner.

[Ruby]

Torino hadn't planned on going to lessons. He'd never much bothered with that sort of thing, and nothing about Burimyu or being a Candidate changed that. He'd actually been looking for Bevany, secretly eager to show her a new song he'd been working on. But of course, because he was Torino, the eagerness was about as secret as possible - although his guitar trailed from one stylishly half-gloved hand, the expression on his face said he couldn't care less.

He'd only ended up in here because he'd seen Bevany go in. Well, not go, precisely, more run like she was being chased like a wild feline. If he'd had any other friends, he would have been vaguely embarrassed by her, but as it was, he had to take what he could get. For now. So he'd slipped into the room, realized it was a lesson, and turned to leave - only to be pointed out by M'kai.

"Since none of you feel the need to make the first move... we'll do Torino with Isori, Nabrik with Nividya. Bevany, you can pair with Connor." M'kai had briefly entertained the notion of fiddling with the rules to pair himself with Isori - given the activity, that could have been quite entertaining - but he figured it would be better to break up Torino and Bevany. He'd seen them hanging out in the halls, generally excluding the other Candidates. Well, Torino anyway, not Bevany so much. Still, it would be good for them both to partner with other people.

M'kai went around the room handing out small squares of cloth - one blue and one red for each team. As he was doing that, he explained. "One square of cloth for each team. I'm going to have Futh drop you off at different points in the Weyr - you and your partner will be split up. Your goal is to find your partner, then steal either a red or a blue square from another team. Bring a matched pair of squares back here. You can use all the resources at your disposal - stealth, ambush, pets, physical prowess - whatever, just try not to kill each other. First team back gets a day off chores." Once the squares were all distributed, M'kai headed back to the front of the room. "Take a few seconds to discuss strategy, then head out to Futh. He's waiting on the ledge. What's your question, Nividya?"

Torino flicked his eyes in Isori's direction when M'kai pointed her out, fingering his blue square and making a "Hmmmph" face. At least she was kind of hot. Lifting his guitar's strap over his shoulder, the Candidate remained where he was by the door, eyes on her red square, waiting for Isori to come to him.

[dragon]

Isori put her hand down at the realization that she'd just been shoved off to deal with some kid. Some kid who carried some instrument around like some small kids did with their stuffies. She looked over at Torino for a moment, and then at M'kai. This was terrible! But her features didn't show what she thought of it.

Fingering her square of cloth, she had to wonder where M'kai had gotten it. Or any of them, really. Someone had cloth? She was going to have to see if there was a use for the squares after the lesson was over. Isori was pretty sure she could put them together to make something. A quilt, a coat, something. Having random squares of cloth was ... well ... useless.

Her next thought went to what her advantages might be. She sure hoped that Torino had something to offer besides lugging around a guitar that was only going to get him into more trouble on this mission than anything else. Because she didn't have any skills that would be useful for this. No pets, no stalking skills ... nothing. All of her skills lay in either textile, mimicking her sister, or ... or ... she sighed. She was so doomed. There was no way she was going to win this lesson, or possibly even complete it. What was the point of this lesson?

Getting to her feet, she walked over to where Torino was standing. "Whatchagot?"

[Rowana]

Nabrik blanched, then glared at M'kai with obvious distaste. He had to work with a girl? That was just unfair! Sighing, he inched over to Nividya and looked her over, completely unimpressed. She was one of the new ones too, who knew if they could be trusted. At least she wasn't old like some of the others, that was something. Alph curled around to get a better look at the girl, his eyes calm, despite his scary appearance. Nice to meet, he announced his usually greeting. It would be rude to stay quiet when they were going to work together. Is Alph.

Nabrik stroked his salamandyr's back absently. "You any good?" he asked critically. She didn't look like much, but maybe she'd be a good distraction at least. He would feel better if just he and Alph were a team, though. Those older kids wouldn't know they were coming.

[metaldawn71]

Nividya looked at Nabrik with a cold, dark and hard stare. She studied him for a few moments. In silence, she nodded. She smiled at Alph. "Hi!" she waved. then said to Nabrik...

"Look, you don't trust me, i don't trust you. i don't -need- to tell you I'm good. let my actions speak for you. I don't believe in words. Words are just that. Words. Empty.Its Action. For every action there is a reaction." she paused to sigh heavily.

"I saw how you looked at me when you came up to me...like i was some sort of disease. Well, i'm not. i don't have a cold or a fever annnnddd i -don't- have cooties!!" she spat angrily.

[Ruby]

No question from Nividya, apparently, and by the time M'kai had turned to ask Isori what hers was, her hand was down. He tried to murmur "Sorry," at her when he handed her the square of fabric, but she didn't seem to hear. As it was, a little storm suddenly broke out between the two youngest Candidates. Striding over, M'kai crossed his arms, looking down at the two of them. "C'mon, guys, you have to work together. That's part of the exercise, fighting won't help. Calm down, shake hands, get over it. You'll have to work with people you don't like on Wings, if you impress, and in training, so you better figure out how to do it now. That goes for all of you, actually," he added, turning to address the rest of the room. Connor and Bevany seemed to be doing fine, but Torino was acting exactly as elitist as he expected, and Isori wasn't necessarily taking it that well. Giving up, M'kai clapped his hands together. "Alright everyone, to Futh. He can take two at a time, besides me. See if you can mount on your own, if not I'll give you a hand up." They could sort themselves out in the halls, where he didn't have to hear it.

Torino tilted his head, looking Isori up and down. Younger than him by a few turns (although honestly Torino didn't look hardly any older than Isori herself), pretty enough, but in a conventional way. Her dress was interesting, though - looked like she'd made it herself. If she chopped her hair off, maybe brushed some of it into her face... well. That didn't matter, now. Folding the square of fabric, he tucked it into his jacket pocket, as if it were a pocket square. "What've I got," he mused, as usual leaving the question marks off his questions. "Well, I can play a note on my guitar, that echoes pretty well. It'll help us find eachother to start, anyway." His tone was bland, as if he didn't care either way what she thought of his plan... but there was a twinkle in his eye, if she looked close enough. Clearly he thought pretty highly of his plan, and was waiting for her to acknowledge his genius.

To Futh. Torino trailed out after Isori, eyeing the blue dragon without any expression on his face. Truly, he was pretty apprehensive - he'd never mounted a dragon before, and now he had to do it in front of all these people? What if he couldn't? Well, it didn't matter. He gestured for Isori to go with the first batch of candidates. He could wait.

((Futh will drop all the candidates at various points around the Weyr. Based on random number generators, this is what happens this round:

Torino and Nabrik find each other
Isori and Connor find each other
Nividya is lost
Bevany is lost

First person to post out of those in pairs takes a square from the other, by whatever means they choose (ex. Nabrik automatically gets a square, because he'll post before Torino goes again). I've randomly assigned square colors. Since no one has found their partner, if you mention in your post a method your character is using to find their partner, it'll improve your chances of finding each other! Feel free to PM and/or catch me in the cbox with questions.

Candidates who aren't actually here PC-wise will be treated as NPCs.))

[dragon]

A note. That was all he had? It was better than nothing she supposed. "Alright. I guess that might work, so long as there aren't any other instruments wandering the halls at this point in time." She conceded, before glancing at M'kai and heading out. At least she not only knew Futh, but she'd ridden him a few times already. She offered him a quick greeting before scrambling up his shoulder to his neck. It was a bit different to mount up without M'kai assisting her up, but she managed well enough. Isori figured that it was probably easier to do in trousers than in a dress. Once she was up, she reached back down to offer Torino a hand up ... especially since he was plainly going to want to mount with his instrument.

After she was deposited at her assigned location, she heaved a sigh and tried to watch to see where Futh might be taking Torino. Notes ... right. Again she fingered her square of cloth, before pulling on the front of her dress and shoving it down the front of the neck into her breastband. If some twerp was going to take it from her, he was going to have to find it first!

Trotting down the hall that she was in, she glanced down each hall as she passed it, looking for one of the other candidates. Anything that might get her that other square that she needed to win. Shards if she was going to lose this. She more than planned on being triumphant when she next saw M'kai. Though how she was going to pull it off yet, she didn't know. Maybe she'd ... do ... well.... narrr. She had no idea what she was going to do. Her skills lay in making yarns, threads and cloths. Clothes. Not in overpowering someone to take a square of cloth from them. Oh ... hey. She knew what she would do!!

Snickering to herself, she trotted a little faster. Not only listening for the note that Torino had promised, but also searching for a cloth to steal. But though she trotted the straight halls a little faster, corners she treated with far more caution. In the end, it worked. Peeking around a corner stealthily, she saw another Candidate. What was his name...? Connor? Whatever, it didn't matter what his name was. What mattered was that corner of a square of cloth she saw poking out of his pocket. Faranth, it was even the right color, the same as hers!! Sliding around the corner when Connor wasn't looking, she stealthily snuck up on him.

Thank Faranth for all those turns of her and Orena sneaking out of the house to go have fun ... and sneaking back. Or heck, even just the mischievous streak itself. She knew how to swipe things she wanted. Or how to plant evidence for that matter. Tip-toeing down the hall and ducking into a doorway, she waited a moment and then peered out again. Falling back into hiding, she reached up to brush a flyaway back behind her ear. The last thing she needed was to be given away by a stray lock of hair! When the coast was clear again, she tip toed after Connor again as the lad walked down the hall in the other direction. Clearly searching for something like she had been, but not in the direction behind him.

Dancing forward the last few steps on her toes, she reached out and snagged the cloth with two fingers. Once she had it, the need of stealth was over with; she was confident she could outrun him. Giving a strong yank to pull it free of his pocket, she whirled around on a toe and sped the other way. Lest his 'strengths' should be something like tackling or hitting. She was taking no chances. With nary a word uttered, she wadded it up in a fist as she ran for all she was worth, stuffing it down inside her dress as went, right on top of the first one. Hands freed of cloth, she poured more effort into running and taking every turn which way she could fathom to lose the kid, imagining that he was probably chasing after her.

Panting, she came to a halt by and door, and dove through it. Casting about, she caught sight of a laundry basket. Diving into it, she pulled the wicker lid down over herself and laid still while peeping out through a tiny gap in the weave. Hopefully he wouldn't find her ... at least not before she got her wind back!

[Rowana]

Nabrik was taken aback. Who could fathom girls, he thought. Even when you tried to be nice they got angry. Feeling insulted and more than a little hurt, Nabrik was about to shout back at Nividya when M'kai came over. "She's the one with the problem!" he accused, eyes burning. He crossed his arms stubbornly. "I didn't do nothing and she goes all crazy and mad!" Nabrik was not pleased, no matter what M'kai said. Nividya had no right to get so angry, in his opinion,. Once class was over, he was going to have to think of something very special for her to teach her not to treat him like a little kid.

Ah well, he would prove he could work with her if he had too, but he didn't have to like it. Once Futh dropped him off, Nabrik was in his element. Alph slipped free of the boy's shoulder and slithered away to search on his own. It didn't take long for the stealthy pair to find a victim, one of the older boys, Torino. Grinning, Nabrik waited until the other boy rounded a corner, then pounced. His tackle was wide and clumsy, but it was only a diversion. In the confusion, Alph leaped up and snatched the blue square from Torino's pocket.

Squirming free, Nabrik ducked under Torino's legs and raced back down the hall. Now he only had to find that wretched girl and keep Torino from catching him. He made a few rapid turns that would hopefully get the other boy lost, even as Alph returned with his prize. Now where would Nividya be?

[metaldawn71]

"Forget it! I can find my own way back. I know you think I'm a useless piece of dragon dung but I'm not. I'll show you. I can do everything a man can....even better!!" she spat angrily at Nabrik. The problem with her was she was from Fort and at Fort she had to SHOW everyone she could be better. To her father, a Bronzerider. That was pressure enough but to show everyone at the Weyr the little girl of a Bronzerider?! She went toward Futh. "My problem?! You had one before you spoke. Your mistake was you looked at me like i had some sort of disease! I am NOT a disease! I -can- do it and i will not be at any males beckoned call, either."

Nividya had a right to be a little perturbed. She felt like she under attack. He had something more to prove than just another pretty little face. She was not angry, she was upset at the boy that she sort of liked took her as a dimglow who didn't know anything....then she thought of something. Something that she hadn't before. Being nice. True, they were partners in this exercise and the had to get along. She was starting to feel bad about what she said. It was true, she didn't trust him. It wasn't a angry spat, it was more of a warning.

She walked up to Nabrik, rather than spatting out angry flames at him, she said...

"Please don't take what I said to heart. Let me show you that I can be good enough. It's true. Actions -do- speak louder than words." She said it with a more softer voice. She started to put her hand on Nabrik's shoulder. "I just have major trust issues with the male figure since one attacked me at Fort." She sighed sadly and admitted to the attack that her father witnessed. She was almost in tears. Her tears were very real and she almost didn't want to go on this expedition but...she would never give up. Giving up on herself, was like killing herself. She wanted Nabrik to know she had a soft side as well, a likable side.

"Am I good?" she said slyly and gave him a twisted smile. "Well, that's sounds more of a challenge, my boy." she giggled. "Question is....are -you- good enough to find me? Oh, yes...and I am sorry for treating you like trash. It was just where I grew up.....it wasn't a very nice place. where are you from, Nabrik?" Navidya was sincere in her apology. Weather he accepted or not, it was up to him. She would not be upset anymore if he didn't accept her apology. It would just make her even more determined to prove her worth.

Once Futh dropped her off at her point, she grinned and chuckled. There is no way she would let other teams win. She knew how to hide and track. She was taught secretly by her Uncle, who was a very good at tracking and new the little tricks to get out of sticky situations.

Nabrik didn't know that she had been taught to hide herself very well and to track as well. She now was an intermediate in what her Uncle had taught her. Now, where was Nabrik? She wasn't the sissy type that cried to her mommy and daddy, no...she was more a rustic, tomboy type. She didn't get easily scared and if she was, anyone would have a hard time knowing it! She loved to learn and was up to every challenge the the Candidate Master dished out. Hm, so what if Nabrik didn't accept her apology...it was no big deal. She knew she had to work with people that she didn't like.

It wasn't easy but playing nice would be better than pitting her against her partner, whom ever it may be. She could prove to be more flexible to her male counterpart and work with him instead of against him. People got along better that way, at least in her experience. After all, she was tired of fighting. With all the fighting she saw, she abhorred any kind of violent behavior. She should have never blew up at him...yes, he was a male but he didn't deserve what was said.

On the other hand, it had been a Turn after she was attacked and she never really had the chance to get over that. She needed someone to talk to. Someone that could understand what she was going through. She sighed as she walked along the mountainous terrain within the Weyr. She climbed a tall tree to see where she was. She was lost....most definitely lost. She wasn't going to cry. She climbed down and sighed again. Well, only one thing to do. Find her way back to where she was.

[Ruby]

((Isori (2/0) and Nabrik (1/1) find each other -- If Isori posts first, she'll keep the two red squares she has. If Nabrik posts first, he'll swap his blue square for a red one. Both will find their partners next round, congrats!
Torino (0/0) and Nividya (0/1) find each other
Connor (0/0) is lost
Bevany (0/1) is lost

First person to post out of those in pairs takes a square from the other, by whatever means they choose. I'll wait 24 hours before I post Torino again - hurry, Jen (not that it'll help, but...)! Feel free to PM and/or catch me in the cbox with questions.))

[Rowana]

It was quiet in the halls, almost suspiciously so. Nabrik stayed still for several long moments, but it looked like Torino had taken a wrong turn. He took a moment to examine his two squares, one blue and one red. If Nividya still had hers, they were all set. He had his doubts there, but she had been apologizing before M'kai had interrupted them. As long as she didn't talk that much while she was sneaking around, she might be just fine. Still, it couldn't hurt to have some extra squares just in case. It would also keep other teams from getting their squares, he smiled to himself.

Someone comes, Alph whispered, crawling up to sit on the boy's shoulder. Nabrik ducked behind an open storeroom door as he spotted Isori coming his way. Perfect, here was another victim! Sticking the two squares in a small pocket, he considering his options. If he tried jumping her, she might grab his squares instead. This time he needed a new tactic. Glancing around, he grinned as an idea formed in his head, he whispered quickly to his salamandyr.

As Isori passed the door, Alph swooped down into her face. With spiky wings, frill and claws extending, he was a frightening site. Not that he would hurt her, of course. Alph would never do such a thing, even if Nabrik had asked. He even felt a little bad for scaring her, but his boy had asked and it was all in the game. Nabrik ducked out behind Isori, snatching one of her red squares as he bolted back down the hall. It was a pity he couldn't get both, but at least he had two red ones now. Dashing around a few more turns, Nabrik halted behind another door to catch his breath.

Alph sure was taking his time. Nabrik glanced out into the quiet passage nervously. What if Isori had caught him? What if she held him hostage? Then a familiar shape appeared and he breathed a sigh of relief. "What took you so long?" Nabrik hissed. Alph looked extremely apologetic. Scared girl, he answered sadly. Nabrik rolled his eyes. "Yes, that was the point." Left sorry present, the salamandyr continued to explain. Nabrik blinked at him, then felt in his pocket. "You didn't!" He almost forgot to whisper in his rush. Nabrik's eyes widened and he dug even deeper into his pants, but only had the two red squares, no more blue one. "Alph," Nabrik groaned, covering his face with his hands. To think he'd been worried Nividya would be a problem.