Wherling Lesson Three

[Requiem]

Whinny's lessons didn't tend to be typical, and tonight was no exception. Whisk stood at the entrance into the common room of the apartments, a silent sentinel. The woman's eyes were closed, but she could still see; she was borrowing his at present. Confident that her pupils could, in fact, now access this advantage of their whers at will, the woman was pleased that they were actually running a little ahead of schedule in lessons. The first lesson had been rocky. She was beginning to have hope for them now, though, and a fierce pride was building steadily with each lesson. These young wherhandlers would come out confident in themselves and their whers - and it would be justified.

The only furniture in the unlighted room was a long table, an assortment of various things arrayed all up and down its length. Whinny sat directly in the center of that table, perched amongst the various objects, legs crossed tailor-style. She looked for all the world like a pale statue. Yet, as each pair filtered into the room, she addressed wher and handler by name, eyes yet closed. Whisk padded silently after the last to file in and stood ready, anticipating the lesson, his eyes a becalmed blue.

"Welcome," she addressed them all, eyes sliding open, though she still relied on Whisk's sight to see. Just as all the wherlings would have to do, seeing as there wasn't a single speck of light in this place. "Weh've got uh new exercise planned fuh taday. Fuhst, though. The Night Watch." Her gaze flicked briefly over Rozen. She hadn't been approached yet...by any wherhandlers. But she had spoken to S'rei, and she intended to seek out Jermayan at her next opportunity. After lessons, of course. "Et es bein revived. All of ye will be a part of et, goin tuh meetins an anythin else required of ye. Yer ready fuh simple guard duty, so be prepared fuh that. This will be considered part of lessons, with all the rules that apply."

Her pale gaze lighted on the gold wherling. "Spek ta me aftuh class." Her voice rose, then. "Any questions?"

---

Gold Rozsk, bonded to Rozen (Two)
Bronze Roisk bonded to Roivao
Blue Venusk, bonded to Venus (Three)
Blue Mask bonded to Malara (Four)
Green Cadisk, bonded to Cadil (Five)

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[hseru]

Rozsk lead her into the darkened room, her dark-sensitive eyes revealing the room and its occupants as Rozen concentrated on looking through the Gold’s eyes, her hand on Rozsk’s head as an additional lead. She had the wher look around, following with her own head without realizing, the two looking in the same direction with only one seeing. They were the first ones to arrive, and Rozsk radiated a sense of smug satisfaction to Hers that they’d finally arrived as they should – first. They stopped near the center, watching and waiting as the others filed in.

Rozen perked up a bit as the Wherlingmaster brought the subject of the NightWatch forward, wondering if she could get a message to Jermayan before class was over. Rozsk could pass it to his Brown… she’d ask her to later. For now, she listened attentively to the Wherlingmaster, interested to note the fact that they would be joining the watch in at least a perfunctory manner. She was surprised when Whinny addressed her with a request to meet after class. Maybe Jermayan had already approached her about it and would meet them? She hoped so. The male Brownhandler would be glad to join them, she was sure. She remained silent though, already knowing much about the Nightwatch from Jermayan’s visit.

[topaz]

Venus had risen just as the sun was setting for the night to begin her morning routine. She washed and dressed herself in a pair of black pants and a dull blue tunic, with a dark blue belt and lightweight boots. She had memorized her room and the way to the bathing chamber well enough that she didn't need Venusk, who was still sleeping peacefully on his couch when she was finished. Neon was also sleeping, curled just under the edge of Venus' pillow. She would not be disturbed until she woke up hungry or itchy. The little green sure was peculiar, Venus thought. Nothing like the other 'mandyrs she had seen around the Weyr. Not even like the others of her own clutch, nor her parents! The female kept herself very isolated, and completely ignored Venusk as if he didn't even exist. The blue was fine with that arrangement; he didn't much care for the little green thing either.

When time came for their lesson, Venus gently prodded Venusk's mind awake, and they left their room quickly after; leaving Neon all alone, to her immense satisfaction. To navigate the pitch black halls, Venus instinctively reached out for Venusk's sight, putting her hand on the blue's head comfortingly. Entering the common room, Venus saw that only Rozen and Rozsk had preceded them, which gave the girl a confident feeling as she bowed slightly to Whinny, waiting for the others to arrive.

At the start of the lecture, Venus was excited about the new exercise that Whinny had begun to mention, but the brownhandler quickly switched gears to the resurrection of the Night Watch. Venus was vaguely familiar with the term but, either way, it was self explanatory. Just like there was a watch-dragon during the day, there would be a watch-wher at night. Whers were commonly called watch-whers, after all, and Venus was slightly surprised that they had not been used for this task in the Weyr previously. She couldn't recall hearing of whers being used in mining in recent turns either. What else was a wher to do? Aside from this unaccountable lapse, Venus was excited to be able to put Venusk's skills to good use.

She listened silently along as Whinny quickly went over this aspect, and shook her head slightly when she asked if there were any questions. It was an important, but still simple matter, and Venus felt she and Venusk would do well with it. She was much more interested in the new exercise for today.

[Rowana]

Roivao was settling more easily into wher life with each night. He missed being outside during daylight, but didn't mind the quiet peace of the Weyr at night. It was a nice relief from the turmoil of life before. And any sacrifice was worth spending time with Roisk. The pair were growing increasingly close. The introduction of Tiida had been tense, however. The green salamandyr didn't seem to understand the concept of sharing Roi's affection and constantly plague the "big shiny" with barely disguised insults. Roisk thankfully tolerated her enough not to eat her, but his patient would grow thin enough to growl threats in response. Roi had taken to leaving Tiida in his room during lessons, much to her fury. It was easier that way.

As he listened to Whinny's announcement, Roi felt a spark of interest. Having been raised in the war-torn North, he could see the use of such a thing. He was surprised and a little sad to learn that it hadn't been completely successful before, but at least with their help it would revive. Roisk sat proudly. He would protect His and the others well. It was his duty as a bronze, after all. There didn't seem to be anything to ask about it now, so Roi waited to see what Whinny had in store for them today. Knowing her, it was bound to be interesting.

[Rei]

Mask entered the darkened room ahead of Malara, a silent snarl was given as warning to the other occupants as his entered after him. Ever watchful the wher shifted his yellow orange gaze from person to person until his stopped and pressed him to stay. The blue curled himself around Malara’s legs to await the start of the lesson. His had chosen a good spot. They were still able to see the Wherling Master but they were far enough away from the inferiors to be safe.

Malara used Mask’s eyes to see and was happy to find that it was becoming a lot easier. After the last lesson she had practiced over and over with Mask until she could distinguish things without a second look. Mask gave a soft growl. Yes his was doing well. Not that he had expected anything less from his. After all she was the best.

The blonde listened carefully as Whinny spoke. Night watch? Didn’t the whers already participate in watch duty? No this had to be something different. Malara frowned. So they had no choice? They were expected to join this watch? That irked her slightly. Why couldn’t they have a choice in the matter? The blonde held her tongue but Mask growled low in his throat his eyes taking on a slight red tinge. The request to Rozen was noticed however and the blue wherling gave the other girl a searching look. What was that about?

[ladybug]

Cadisk and Cadil entered the dim room side by side. Cadil had his eyes closed, trying to rely entirely on his wher's sight. He was getting better at it, and he found it easy to tune into Cadisk's senses and emotions now. He managed to make it across the room without stepping on anyone. His face brightened when Whinny greeted them by name. Maybe they were starting to live up to her standards. Cadil knew he was developing a lot of respect for the Wherlingmaster. She was tough, but a good teacher.

He perked up at the mention of a new exercise, but Whinny quickly moved on to the Night Watch. Cadil was excited to hear that the Night Watch was being recreated and he was honored to be a part of it, even though it also seemed like a daunting task. Hopefully he would be ready after his lessons to join the Watch. He glanced briefly at Rozen when Whinny asked to see her after class (or rather, he looked through Cadisk's eyes at her...whatever). Maybe she was going to help lead the Night Watch.

Cadil did have one question, and he raised his hand. "Are we going to learn how to fight in the Watch? I don't know anything about that," he admitted.

[Requiem]

Sweeping her gaze over the wherlings, Whisk naturally following where she wanted to see such that they looked like puppeteer and marionette - though who was the puppeteer and who the marionette was rather hard to determine - the Wherlingmaster nodded slightly to herself. As expected. It was fairly straightforward, and she didn't think there would be much in the way of questions. Waiting silently as Cadil spoke up, a brief flash of teeth in what might have been a smile came over her face. A valid question, that. "From what I understan, one of the dragonriders has agreed ta help teach fightin ta us. I haven't yet got uh time an place, but ye'll know as soon as uh do."

Clapping her hands briskly to be sure she had everyone's attention, the woman's arms swept out in a gesture of the items strewn out on the table. "Thar ur five pieces uh clothing here. Yer wher es ta sniff each an identify the scent. Once ye have identified all five, write et down on a piece of paper an give et to me. We'll be doin this until I'm satisfied." Which could mean the next several lessons, given they had lessons every night, or months. However long it took. A wher's nose was one of its strongest assets. Tonight, however, she had each article of clothing doused with something aromatic, undetectable to a human nose, yes, but still easily identifiable if the wher could pass on what it smelled to the wherhandlers.

It was as good a place to start as any.

tormeata
yheon
lianalv
geanor
moeln

Unscramble the above words and pm them to me! They're all aromatic, used in cooking, and you should be familiar with them. Good luck.

[topaz]

Venus was pleasantly surprised by Cadil's question. The girl had never been taught to fight in any sense of the word, and she usually stayed away from situations that would lead to a physical engagement. However, the thought of being able to defend herself properly was a wonderfully exciting prospect, and a shadow of a smile touched her lips in the pitch black of the room. Venusk, in turn, did not like the idea of learning to hurt another creature, but His exuded pleasure at the mere mention of it, so it didn't bother the blue quite as much.

As Whinny began describing the exercise, Venus was quickly interested. She and Venusk had never exercised that sense before, and Venus was eager to see what her wher could do. Aside from their incredible night vision, Venus knew that smell was the wher's next best sense. Those two skills combined were the major reason that whers were used in mines. Not smelling anything distinct when she arrived, Venus sniffed the air quietly, confirming that the exercise wouldn't be that easy. Right, no out of the ordinary smells. Walking up to the table - still using nearby Venusk's eyes as a guide - the bluewherling leaned slightly over the table, sniffing subtly again. Nothing.

Turning to Venusk, standing silently to her right, Venus smiled and sent undulating waves of affection and confidence. Venusk's eyes glowed calm, rich blues in the dark, as he rubbed his jaw along Venus' thigh. He knew what to do. He would be successful this time. For Her, if not anyone else. The blue stretched his slender head up to the lip of the table, sniffing and huffing at the first stretch of fabric. He sniffed for a few moments, but then sent a fuzzy image of the origin of the scent. This one was tricky, he felt. He wasn't so familiar with the smell, but he felt he discerned it correctly.

The rest of the scents came a little easier and quicker, with clear images, and Venus quickly wrote down each of their names. After the last scent was identified, Venusk returned to Venus' side, and the wherling handed her list to Whinny. Another wave of adoration radiated across the mindlink between handler and wher. Venusk cozied up to Venus' right leg as the wherling cradled his jaw in her hand. Hopefully they did well this time.

[Rowana]

Roivao frowned as he looked at the clothing. This was something entirely knew to him. He was used seeing and even hearing through his partner, but smelling was something entirely different. He glanced at Roisk questioningly. How were they going to do this? Roisk sent him feelings of confidence and assurance. They could do this. It would not be hard. Roi put his hand on the wher's shoulder as he moved forward to sniff.

It was a strange sensation. Roi had to close his eyes to keep from trying to see through Roisk eyes and concentrate instead on his other senses. Then he could smell it. Much stronger than the faint tang he had detected before. It was still hard to identify though. It wasn't like he had ever spent much time in the kitchens. The next few were easier. Finally Roi had written down his answers and passed them to Whinny. Hopefully they had gotten them right.