Christmas Weyrlings (Lesson Three)

[weaving]

Ah, weyrling lessons. I’fael’s favorite part of the day. Call for them please Morendoth. The man sat at his desk, feeling better than he had for the past sevenday. He’d probably caught the cold from Lennae at some point during their weapons training. Sharding thing had made it impossible to teach and so Sel’n had taken over for a while. Thankfully the cold hadn’t lasted too long; I’fael would have felt bad if the other man had been forced to teach too many lessons. He had the other two classes on his plate already, though one of them was just about ready to graduate.

Weyrlings, please report to the lesson room. Weyrlingmaster I’fael will be waiting for you. I’fael smiled as he heard Morendoth’s call go out. Up on the board he had already written notes, though those wouldn’t be discussed until later that morning. First they would be going over hand signals, one of the most important aspects of dragonriding. Knowing your hand signals could be the difference between life and death during threadfall.

He waited patiently for his students to arrive before beginning. Once it seemed as though everyone was settled and ready to start, he stood, looking as he normally did before he began explaining the morning’s lessons to his students. Instead of speaking however, he lifted his hands, making a series of gestures. Some of them would recognize them, those weyrbred with dragonrider parents, but the majority of them would not. He was silent for a minute more, smiling as he noted confused looks on one or two of their faces.

“For those of you who don’t know what I said, that was weyr sign language for ‘Are the wings ready?’ It may seem silly to use sign language when we have our dragons who can communicate and relay our thoughts for us, but during threadfall, concentrating on that can take away from your focus of what is physically happening around you. The sign language is designed to convey short messages across an entire wing when it is impractical or dangerous to do so any other way.” He paused for a moment before continuing.

“We’ll be learning and going over these commands this morning and then breaking off into smaller groups to practice them. Right, so lets begin.” With that, he launched into the lesson, demonstrating each command, beginning with the simpler ones before moving onto harder ones. After each demonstration, he watched as the class mirrored it, correcting those who hadn’t quite mastered it and praising them when they did.

Roll Call
Ke’rin of Bronze Jaymith
C’oar of Brown Frosstyth
A’fyr of Brown Rudolth
N’lai of Blue Kyssith
C’vin of Blue Mallowth
Saeo of Blue Cherilith
T’ke of Blue Garaeth
Za’x of Green Irylth
Raylin of Green Ebolath
Farryl of Green Peppeth
T’rea of Green Rioth(APC)
Morea of Green Heith(APC)

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[dragon]

C'oar nearly jumped out of his skin when Frosstyth nuzzled into his side. "What is it, Frosst?" He asked, patting the brown's head. The young brown was growing fast ... so fast it was almost frightening. C'oar was glad that his dragon would never turn on him. He was going to be a big, honking beast someday soon, he could tell.

Morendoth is calling everyone for lessons. Frosstyth mentioned casually, warbling softly as his head got patted and scratched lightly.

"Lessons? Now? Shards!" C'oar grabbed one of Frosstyth's earknobs, and used the handhold to lever himself upright, off the ground where he had been sitting and filing on metal. His project was slowing taking shape ... normally, back at the forge, he could have completed it swiftly. But what with the rigamaroles of taking care of a growing dragon and a growing flitter ... he had to snatch moments in which to work on this project of his.

Once on his feet, C'oar dusted his rump off, tugged on the hem of his sleeveless tunic, and then took off at a trot for the Weyrling barracks, where the lessons would be held. Frosstyth trotted along behind him, humming a merry tune as Storm practically fell out of a nearby tree. Snapping his wings open, the young bronze zoomed after his mindmates, and landed on Frosstyth's head. Sitting down there, the flitter rode the rest of the way to the barracks.

C'oar and his little group assembled in the common area, taking thier customary places. Once settled, he nodded to I'fael, and payed attention to what was going on. A confused expression spread across C'oar's face as he watched the seemingly spastic motions the Weyrling master was going through. Was the man alright??

Just as C'oar was about to open his mouth and ask, the answer came ... sign language. Now that was just odd. But he listened as the need for the method of communication was explained. Nodding in understanding, C'oar was careful to pay even closer attention ... this was something he had no background in whatsoever, and would need to get down pat quickly. He also made sure that Frosstyth was alert and paying attention as well ... the dragon could help him embed the motions and meanings into his memory.

Storm, for his part, stayed silent and watchful. He didn't watch the lesson, however ... he was eyeing all the other flitters in the classroom, being completely useless to the end in mind.

[nightingale]

Saeo’s trip downstairs had been hampered only by the slightest of limps that a firm hand on the banister had helped to even out. Having I’fael back was a huge relief, and the blueweyrling was certain that she wasn’t the only one in her class who thought so. She was certain that Sel’n’s sadistic little river adventure would have many of them dreading the sound of Kaaoloth’s voice for years to come. She and Cherilith chirped a good morning to their friends -and Neiko for good measure- then took their seats.

Despite his pedigree, Ke’rin couldn’t even begin to extract meaning from the Weyrlingmaster’s display. Sign language? Well the concept made sense, but as to weather or not he would ever use...oh wait. Jaymith was bronze. The boy sighed, wondering how the fact could have slipped from the front of his thoughts for even a moment. Bronzeriders usually ended up as Wingleaders or Wingseconds -the sort of riders who needed to convey a lot of messages. Well, he’d best pay close attention then.

What she lacked in physical prowess and tact, Saeo made up for with a keen mind and a ridiculous ammount of seemingly useless knowledge. She was already aware of several basic signs riders used to communicate -she and her brother had even made up their own when they were younger, to use as a sort of secret language- which made picking up the new symbols a simple, enjoyable matter. She spent most of her time watching the other Weyrlings, trying not to giggle.

Mine, I think he said that means ‘north’ not ‘west’. Kei sighed, frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t quite manage to bend his hands into the proper positions. Shards, why on earth would something this important be so hard to learn? Lamb peered curiously down from his shoulder, chirping occasionally to show her interest. Oh, this was a game, yes? Could she play this game?

[Rowana]

<Time for class!> Peppeth declared with delight. Farryl's heart sank. If she had to go near the river again... Peppeth nudged her in encouragement. <Do not worry. Peppeth is here!> Farryl smiled and patted the little green's head. "You're right, let's go then!" With Tille on her shoulder and Mikka safely locked in her room, they headed down to the classroom.

Farryl waved a greeting to all her fellow weyrlings before taking a seat next to Saeo. The sign language was fascinating. Farryl soon found that this was much easier to grasp than reading or writing, though Saeo seemed to be doing much better. Maybe later they could practice together. Peppeth and Tille, however, soon grew bored. Tille chirped and, after tapping Peppeth's head with her tail, took off for the back of the room. Delighted, Peppeth gave chase in a merry game of tag.

Farryl sighed. At least the playful pair had learned to keep their games to back of the room. <Stay quiet you two,> she ordered firmly. <Or I'll send you back to the room.> <We will!> Peppeth assured her.

~

T'ke was pleased to find that he could learn the signs quit easily. His memory was excellent, but his fingers turned out to be clumsy. It was fustrating to know the signs and not quite be able to form them. Garaeth watched with polite interest. He offered helpful comments which only seemed to drive the boy further into irritation. It was going to be a long class. At least he wasn't going to get soaked this time.

[topaz]

Awoken by a pouncing Mallowth, C'vin smiled at his perpetually enthusiastic friend and hurriedly got dressed. Come on! Morendoth is back! We have to hurry! The blue said happily, tugging at his Weyrling's only half donned pants. You're pulling them off Mal! Cut it out! He exclaimed as he laughed and tugged back against the dragon. Who needs pants!? C'vin laughed again. You might not, my dear, but I do. I can't go to a lesson without pants on! I'fael would probably fail me for the lesson if not send me to the Healers to have my head examined. Mallowth snorted. Just hurry up already. The blue waited by the door, flapping his wings irately.

Finally dressed and being shoved out the door, C'vin made it out into the classroom and took a seat quickly, Mallowth at his side. They both listened and watched the instructor intently. At first Mallowth wanted to laugh at I'fael. The man looked so silly waving his hands about like that! C'vin simply watched eagerly, since he had seen the motions before at various times around the Weyr, and knew they were important. We should both learn these Mal, so pay attention. A short snort of indignation came from the blue; as if he wasn't paying attention!

After I'fael was done with his opening speech, he told the Weyrlings to try the signals on their own. They weren't too hard to pick up. A turn here, a bend there, and a flick of the wrist every once in a while. Mallowth had a little harder time at it then C'vin, but the two managed to quiz each other on each of the motions I'fael had shown them, and they learned at a decent pace.

[ladybug]

Class, mine. Just you this time,[/color] Rudolth told his rider, nudging him gently. A'fyr looked up from the tunic he had been repairing. His clothes hadn't survived very well since his Impression, with all of the chores and hard work of weyrlinghood. He would probably have to ask the tailor to make him another set. He groaned when Rudolth told him it was lesson time. The last lesson had been a disaster. He was the last weyrling to make it across the lake, and he had barely made it at all.

Don't worry, mine. You'll be fine![/color] Rudolth said encouragingly as A'fyr walked out the door. A few minutes later, he slid into a desk beside C'oar, the other brown weyrling. He stared blankly at the Weyrlingmaster's hands, wondering what was going on. Great, another lesson he was going to fail.

But when I'fael explained the hand movements, it made sense. A'fyr had trouble at first, but after the first few he got the hang of it. He was actually kind of good at the sign language, and he was enjoying this lesson a lot more than the last one.

[Rei]

Raylin was having quite the time getting Ebolath to awaken. Since she had gained size she had found that hers couldn’t shove her around as well anymore. So she used her gained bulk to her advantage. However, just because she could no longer be carried didn’t mean hers was giving up, and once the little brother got involved it was near impossible to sleep. Grumbling Ebolath slinked off the couch and yawned before sedately following her bonded to lessons.

Raylin slid into her desk a bit sheepishly but no one seemed to notice that she was slightly late. Ebolath was becoming a problem with attendance. She would have to find a way to rectify that problem soon. Vega curled around her neck, and the two watched as the Weyrling master started displaying the signs. The green weyrling did her best at copying. It wasn’t to difficult, but some signs proved to be more involved than others. All in all she wasn’t doing to bad. Vega helped by flashing images of the signs into Raylin’s mind whenever she made a mistake so she could see exactly what went wrong.