L3: Burimyu Candidates

[Ruby]

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

Rukbat was high in the sky, dappling the edge of the mountain meadow. It was far from Selenitas and Burimyu alike; high in the range to the east of both Weyrs, closer to the abandoned Monaco Bay Weyr than anything. There were no holds this direction, no reason for sweeps, and the chance that anyone would notice people in this particular meadow was minimal. M'kai had found it by chance, hunting felines one day with A'emi, and he had reason to believe no one at Selenitas had that sort of spare time these days. Because of this feeling of comfort, M'kai had marked various courses throughout the meadow with colorful flags and cones; overall, the place looked quite festive.

The Candidatemaster had asked a few of the more recent graduates to help him ferry the Candidates out; Tenlie, at least, had stayed to watch, and he had invited the other full riders too. Some would certainly come and go throughout the day, as that was the point of this lesson: showing off. Candidates who demonstrated particular talents on 'game day' might be selected for extra training either before or after impression, as he and Cr'oph had been so long ago. For now, though, he stood next to the river that bisected the meadow, surveying his charges with a somewhat amused smile. "It's fairly hot right now, so let's get started with swimming races, hmm? If you didn't remember a swimsuit, tough. Do it in your underwear, or don't compete. You'll start here on my mark, and swim upstream to that yellow flag. It's a good four dragonlengths away - should be... refreshing. Get moving!"

((This lesson is going to work a little differently from the others. Since it takes the form of a huge game day, this is how things will go:

1. I post setting up an activity (see above)
2. You have approximately two days to post (although that can vary!)
3. I will randomize a finishing order, and award points!
4. Repeat!

Your posts don't have to be long or detailed, you just have to show up. Please only post once per activity. Please leave posts open ended (ex. "And then he ran so fast that he won!!!" is not a good post ending). Once points have been awarded for an activity, it's over (ex. if you miss the 'swimming' round, and I post a 'basket weaving' round next, you do NOT have to cover the 'swimming' round in your post; your character simply did not participate, for whatever reason, and you can start with basket weaving. To keep things simple, I will be posting Torino from a guest account; his posts do not count as 'my' posts. I think that covers it, please ask if you have questions.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the day wins! Remember, with a hatching in just about two weeks, this is a GREAT way to impress admins who will be giving you dragon babies. GO GO GO!))

[torino]

Torino barely stopped himself from whining "awwwwwwww", but that made it sound like he cared. He did care, though; swimming this early in the morning (no matter that it was nearly noon), and he'd even done his hair today. It was slicked back from his forehead, molded into a kind of mini-pompadour to go with his undersized formal jacket and bright bow tie. Not especially useful clothes for a game day, but last lesson all they'd done was sit around, practically. How was he supposed to know that today's was all... active, and stuff? (Nevermind the note M'kai had left in the common room about the lesson today). How did he let himself get dragged in to these things?

Luckily, the extremely tight pants he was wearing would be alright for swimming in, and they would cut down on water resistance. Stripping his jacket, tie, and shirt, the skinny, pale, near-hairless Candidate slumped towards the river, waiting for M'kai's instruction that they start. When it was given, Torino waded into the water rather than diving, paying far more attention to keeping his hair out of the wetness rather than watching his competitors. They could do what they wanted; Torino planned to come out of this looking fabulous.

[Sebz]

The ride out to the meadow was exciting to say the least. Though lessons were not on the top of his list of favorite activities (not to say that they were they at the bottom) Keavon was overjoyed with the prospect of being ferried to and from the meadow on dragon back, and though he may have tried to conceal, he was sure his poker face twitched at least once during the ride.

Today was to be a competition day, or so he had been told. It was a very uncomfortably hot day, and by Keavon's estimation, it wouldn't take much physical activity to break a sweat. But perhaps they wouldn't be doing physical activities, though he couldn't imagine why not. Perhaps the riders wanted to test out their mental capacity? But then again, they could have done that in a nice, cool room. No, the candidate decided, they had transferred the prospective dragon riders to the reclusive meadow for a reason.

The Candidate master explained the activity very quickly, all the while Keavon's face remained neutral, though his eyes flashed in the direciton of the water. Swimming? He was good at swimming. Very good. This was something that he had an opportunity to excel in, coming from a fishing hold. He had been taught to swim before he could walk.

At the Candidate master's call of "Go," Keavon eyes the yellow flag. And there it was, waving slightly with the wind. Not to far, very doable. Knowing full well that he had worn a pair of swimming trunks underneath his shorts, he slipped his shirt off and his pants and hastily put them in a pile. He straitened up , not liking the fact that he was taller than most in the area. Keavon didn't reveal his discomfort though, and instead turned his attention back to the task at hand.

The candidate took a running start to the water and dove in, feeling refreshed and right at home. When he surfaced for a breath, he began kicking powerfully under the water, and began using his arms rhythmically to propel himself forward. Opening his eyes, he tried to see through the rather cloudy water, but didn't have much success. Vaguely, he wondered how much experience his piers had with the water, if any at all.

Dispelling the errant thought, the candidate took in another breath of air and continued to make his way towards the yellow flag, the distance between himself and the goal shortening with every stroke.

[cailan]

Cailan was listening to Rukbat and looked around at the others. He was good at swimming after learning to in the pond that was near his home back at Blossom and smiled. The candidate could handle himself and though he hadn't had a pair of trunks underneath the shorts he wore underneath would be fine. While the others stripped down he followed suit and watched the other jump in then he went in. It was not too warm or cold this lead him to swim not pushing himself too much because the others already had a gain on him already.

He had been thrown in by his father when he was younger and it was sink or swim. Cailan had almost drowned yet learned to float then swim. The young man smiled as he enjoyed the swim it was a nice surprise as he continued on wards. His strokes we're even and looked up ahead to see his friend Sebz leading the way boy could that guy swim was his only thought.

[Rowana]

Nabrik stared at the array of colored flags and cones with mixed feelings of confusion and excitement. He'd played games before, naturally. Lighthouse, however, didn't usually have pretty colored flags for games and festivals. In fact, they hardly had many 'festivals' at all. Nabrik fancied himself quite a good athlete, despite that fact he was still painfully short. One of these days he'd grow tall like the other boys, he was sure of it. It was only taking long because he was going to be the tallest boy of all the Candidates. This was the perfect chance to prove he wasn't just a pesky kid anymore, he was ready to have a dragon of his own! Not that it matter to anyone except the dragon who might eventually choose him, but it didn't hurt to feel confident in front of the eggs in his opinion.

Shrugging at the mention of swimsuits, Nabrik started to strip off his shirt and tossed it aside. He wasn't afraid of getting a little wet. Besides, he'd never owned a swimsuit and had hardly had the chance to ask for one. Alph curled up in the discarded fabric, watching everyone with a lazy eye. As long as they didn't hurt themselves, he was just glad they were having fun. Nabrik took his place with the other contestants, grinning with anticipation. He'd learned how to swim at a young age, what with the sea being so close. Though it was true he hadn't had much practice of late, he still fancied himself pretty quick in the water.

At the starting signal, Nabrik dove into the water and started swimming as fast as he could. Almost at once he realized this was far different than swimming in the ocean. Freshwater wasn't nearly so buoyant as salt and the constant flow of the stream was harder to fight than infrequent waves. Not that Nabrik thought in that complicated of terms. He just knew that this was a lot harder than he'd thought. He wasn't going to let some mountain stream beat him so easily though! Nabrik pushed himself to keep pace with the others. He wasn't out of the race yet!

[Ivy]

Roselle enjoyed the ride on dragon-back to the meadow, though one could hardly tell from her expression. Eyes darted across the meadow as they made to land and a bit of curiosity flickered in her eyes. She had missed reading the note the Candidatemaster left in the commons room - so really she had no clue what to expect when she dismounted from the dragon that brought her and made her way towards M'kai.

She stood towards the back of the group and listened as he explained everything to them. Eyes went to the water when he said they'd be swimming first - she wasn't the most accomplished swimmer ever. Her father had kept her busy cutting gems and making jewelry for him to profit off of when he wasn't busy letting into her over something or other. The last time she had been swimming had been before...

Shaking her head as if to shake the memories away she tugged her top off. Her face gave no impression as to what she was thinking or feeling, though her eyes were very expressive. Sadness and determination shone in their depths as she undid her pants and slid them off. It wasn't really a bathing suit but it would do - a tight tank top she'd been wearing under her shirt and her underwear. Side stepping around a few other candidates she waded knee-deep into the water before jumping forward and diving in. Skin erupted in small bumps and her dark hair clung to her cheeks and neck as she surfaced. Ignoring the cold she began kicking with her feet as her arms cut through the water. Between each stroke she sucked in a breath and looked to each side to see how she was doing.

She may not win this race, but she'd certainly give it a good attempt.

[Ruby]

First: Nabrik (3 points)
Second: Keavon (2 points)
Torino (1 point)
Cailan (1 point)
Roselle (1 point)

M'kai smiled as Nabrik came in first; for some reason, he wasn't surprised that the precocious kid was the first past the flags. Keavon followed him just a stroke or two later, then the rest trailed in, with Roselle bringing up the rear. Not exactly surprising either, she had never seemed like the most confident of swimmers. Marking their finishing order on a list he pulled out of his pocket, M'kai gave everyone a second to dry off, then headed over to the trees, where they would be screened from the wind. Rings had been hung from the trees, all different heights. They were only about six inches across, small targets but certainly big enough for the pebbles in baskets a good fifteen paces away from the tree line.

M'kai handed out slingshots, the kind that naughty Weyrbrats liked to play with - a Y-shaped stick with a stretchy band strung across the top of the Y. He couldn't quite keep a smirk off his face; he and Cr'oph had been quite good with these weapons when THEY were Nabrik's age. "You have five minutes, or thereabouts, to get as many stones as possible through the hoops. I'll count down when we're getting close to the end. They're easy enough to use, for those that haven't before -" He demonstrated, pulling rock and band back to his ear, sighting between the prongs, and releasing, sinking a stone perfectly through a ring. "Like that. Get ready... set... Fire!"

[Ivy]

Frowning as she came in last Roselle hurried out of the water and wrung out her hair then her tank top. Grabbing her pants she tugged them back on before following M'kai and the other Candidates to the next event.

She listened carefully to M'kai as he explained what they were expected to do. Taking up the slingshot she smirked a bit to herself. Growing up with brothers she definitely knew how to use one of these. Perhaps she'd do better at this than she had at swimming.

So Roselle waited until M'kai gave the order to begin and she grabbed up the first stone. Putting it in place she pulled it back as far as she could then released. It hit the ring and she snorted a bit. Maybe she wouldn't do so well after all... Another stone was selected and she repeated the process of tugging it back and letting it go - this one made it through the ring! Huzzah, now if only she could keep this up...

[Rowana]

Nabrik couldn't help a triumphant whoop as he passed the flags. He paddled to shore, breathing hard, but grinning all the wider. He'd done it! He'd actually beaten the older kids, and in a river too! He didn't feel quite so young and small now, that was certain. Maybe he wouldn't do so well at all the events, but he'd done more than enough to prove he was just as good as any Candidate. Brimming with confidence, he took a moment to catch his breath and let the sun dry him off. Hopefully the next even wouldn't involve running, he was feeling pretty winded after all that swimming.

Well done! Alph declared happily, as Nabrik retrieved his shirt. The salamandyr rose on his hind legs, frilling for congratulations. Good swimmer! "You bet, I am," Nabrik agreed, beaming. M'kai was calling them to the next event, so Nabrik was quick to scoop up Alph and trot to join the group. The boy's confidence didn't waver when the Candidate Master brought out the slingshots. He'd used one of those hundreds of times in the past and fancied himself a fair shot. Sure, he hadn't had much chance to practice of late, but he bet he could give this event a good try.

Sticking Alph on his shoulder where he could watch, Nabrik walked up to the line and took a slingshot. At the cry of 'go' he let fly his first stone, but missed when it dinged the edge of the ring. He reloaded quickly and took more careful aim. This time the stone sailed neatly through the center of the ring. Yes! A few more like that and he would show them how good he really was.

[torino]

Faranth, Torino hated this nonsense. He managed to come in third (an excellent place, as far as he was concerned; not in the top two, but just good enough to seem like he was naturally talented without really trying), getting out of the water and starting to dry himself as the other two finished behind him. He drifted over towards Roselle as she wrung out her hair, pushing fingers through his own as the Candidatemaster started prattling again. "Nice," he said, with absolutely no preamble, "I like how you sort of didn't try. Or whatever you did there. People don't realize that coming in last is sometimes just as hard as coming in first." What that cryptic statement was supposed to make Roselle feel was anyone's guess, but Torino stuck by her side as they headed for the slingshot targets.

Shards. Slingshots? Really? What, exactly, did this have to do with dragons?

Whatever. Torino didn't bother testing the draw or anything like some of the others did; he just slumped at his place on the line, slingshot tucked in his back pocket, until M'kai told them to begin. Then he spent a while sorting through the pebbles to pick one that went with his outfit before taking causal aim... and missing by a mile. The next stone actually went through the hoop a good three feet to the right of the one he was aiming at. This would end well, he could tell.

[Sebz]

Keavon toweled off silently, watching the other candidates with interest. He had done well, and was pleased with the results of the race, but as M'kai explained the next challenge, he realized that he was going to have to try a lot harder in order to keep exceeding,

Slingshots. Not his forte, but really, Keavon thought, how hard could they really be to work? He scooped a sling shot and held it in his palm, weighing it. So you just picked up a stone and hooked it on? Was that all there really was too it?

The boy grabbed a stone and pulled back the slingshot and fired. The stone sailed high over the target. Shards this was harder than it looked. Grimacing, Keavon scooped up more stones and started firing them in quick precession, steadily becoming a better and better shot until most of the rocks were hitting the target or getting pretty damn near

[cailan]

Cailan smiled he hadn't come in first yet had finished okay and toweled off once reaching shore then listened with the new directions. He gave the candidate master a look of what did this have to do with dragons then thought it was a training exercise to start the bonding with the group. The candidate knew that they would all be together for the next few turns. While he picked up a sling shot and then picked up a few pebbles watching the others. The candidate took aim as a few missed then he got better as a few more went through the targets

He saw that the other others we're about the same as him and didn't take it to heart that he would have to sling shot stones. Cailan looked around as he did a few more then stopped and knew that he was ranked basically in the middle of everyone. It would be a lot better then being the bottom because just doing well as a candidate didn't prove what type of dragon one would get that was about heart.

[Ruby]

First: Roselle (1+3=4 points)
Second: Cailan (1+2=3 points)
Nabrik (3+1=4 points)
Keavon (2+1=3 points)
Torino (1+1=2 points)

M'kai's left eyebrow climbed slowly towards his hairline as the Candidates started firing pebbles. Torino was clearly at the bottom of the pack - the one or two stones he managed to sink appeared to go through hoops he wasn't aiming at, which wasn't particularly useful for anything. The rest did passably well, all three of the other boys distinguishing themselves, Cailan beating Nabrik and Keavon out by only a few stones each. No, it was Roselle that made M'kai look mystified. She was a girl, and while M'kai didn't have some of the heavy prejudice of other Benden riders, he still tended to expect boys to outperform them more often than not. But no, Roselle either knew what she was doing or had excellent aim. While her total wasn't necessarily that much higher than Cailan's, she was a girl. M'kai made a note next to her name on his sheet.

Tucking it under his arm, he waved them all over to the northern end of the meadow, where grass turned into a rough rock face. "We won't be climbing up today," he told them, "But you might be expected to in Weyrling Training, so if you have any problem with heights... well, if you have a problem with heights, you may want to rethink being a dragonrider. Today, we'll just be climbing across. Here's the trick: see the red circles on the rock?" And indeed, there were red circles painted here and there across ten yards of the face or so. Just a bit larger than a hand, some were just inches from the ground, some were pretty high up (although not so high that a fall from there would really damage anyone), many more were scattered through the middle. "You'll be climbing from this side, getting as far as you can before your arms get tired. I don't really expect anyone to make it to the end. Every red circle you put a hand on gets you extra points, but you have to move forward only. No climbing back to get a circle you missed. Plot yourself a path that takes you in arm's reach of as many circles as possible, and whoever is ready can go first!"

As the first Candidate was about to put a hand on the wall, though, M'kai stopped them. "Oh wait! Sorry. Clearly we're doing this without harnesses, and it's just grass protecting you if you fall, so be careful. After each of you finishes climbing, you'll spot for the next Candidate, and I'll start so you can all see how it's done. The spotter isn't a pillow, by the way - they're just there to try and keep you from breaking something if anything goes wrong. No one should be more than five feet off the ground at any point in the course, so the falls shouldn't be long. NOW you can go."

[Sebz]

Keavon laid the slingshot down, feeling pretty good about that challenge. He had gone from almost accidentally giving everybody in the vicinity a concussion, to successfully shooting a few of the rocks through the hoops. He was impressed with Roselle's performance, though not because she was female, but because he couldn't tell if she had been feigning incompetence at the beginning. If she hadn't known what she had been doing, she had hid it very well.

The next challenge proved to be slightly more interesting than the last, but perhaps the candidate only took interest in things he could excel in. Climbing was not something that Keavon tended to do often, but he was certain that he had enough upper body strength to complete the challenge fairly well.

He listened to M'kai carefully, all the while tracing the path he would take with his eyes. He planned to zigzag across, allowing him to hit all but the most awkwardly placed circles, and even those he felt fairly confident about being able to reach some of them, if only with his fingertips.

Hoping he had a spotter, Keavon grabbed the first rock and started slowly- no point in rushing- making his way along his chosen path, reaching for the red circles, and feeling immensely satisfied whenever he succeeding in touching one. He made his way upwards, with no intention in stopping before he reached the top.

Keavon didn't think he was being reckless in his refusal to quit, more like... persistent? Yes, that's a good word the candidate decided as he continued to climb.

[dragon]

Isori listened to M'kai, and then eyed the stone face. Climbing, huh? She figured that would be easy enough. After all, she had spent lots of time climbing trees. Climbing rock couldn't be any harder. It had about the same consistency as various kinds of bark. The only difference was ... she couldn't hang onto branches or wrap her legs around a trunk. Woof.

While other candidates ran the course, she watched them critically. Noting where they slipped, where they didn't, and how many dots they hit. She also took the time to plot out the best course to take. Noting not only spots (some of which appeared to be impossible hits to her eye) but the rock around them. It was no good to head for a spot if there was no climbable rock around it, leaving one stranded or falling.

Isori wanted to ace this one. Especially since she had opted out of the swimming and rock tossing. She could have done both, she supposed. She'd done enough of it back at the hold. But it had seemed boring, simply because she'd done alot of it before. This, this looked like fun. She'd never done rock climbing before, barring a few scrapes in the Weyr back when Orena had been at her side. That was just fooling around. This was a challenge.

Isori loved challenges, especially intellectual challenges.

Once it was her turn, she started out with confidence. It helped she was nimble. She also did it barefoot, rather than with her shoes on, using her toes to greatest effect with greatest traction. She would do her best, and be satisfied with that.