Wherling Lesson Three

[Rowana]

It was Roivao's least favorite time of night: lesson time. Ironic that most of his students would probably agree with him. He was seriously considering retiring after this bunch. They were a bit too much for him to handle and he wasn't holding out that the next class would be much better. Still, Roisk was determined that they should at least see this group through to the end, so here they were.

At least Tiida was happily absent. Roi had sent her off to play, or more likely, find Misfit. By now his students should know when to show up for lessons and he didn't want to start like last time. Roisk sat next to him as usual. There would be no separating them this time. Roi had a handful of clothe strips in his hand as he waited.

Once most of the students had arrived, Roi cleared his throat to begin. "I know some of you are already bored with lessons so far, so you'll be happy to know we'll be doing something more interesting today." At least he hoped they'd be happy. No more talking and mediation at least. He held up on of the blindfolds. "You'll each wear one of these. I've hidden several objects from the kitchens and the infirmary around the wher apartments. You will have to use your whers senses, especially sight and smell, to find them."



Eikane of Gold Eikask
Ariya of Bronze Ariysk
Quintrell of Brown Quintresk
Dmitri of Blue Dmisk
Anzalorin of Blue Anzask
Nautic of Green Nautsk
Yoalla of Green Yosk

[Requiem]

They were, quite unfortunately for Roivao, very much on time and first. Dmitri still wore the cloth binding his eyes, though by now it was becoming something of a comforting, familiar thing, as opposed to simply serving the utilitarian purpose of forcing him to rely on Dmisk's better senses. He was not so quick as others to adapt to the lifestyle of a wherhandler. Still, the blindfold was truly no longer needed...there was just a certain comfort to wearing one, oddly enough. Dmisk, as usual, humored His. The blue perched on the rock the harper staked out for himself (oddly enough without a word to the wherlingmaster first) one paw draped lightly over the boy's knee. Possessively, to be honest. It was one of the only shows of affection - physical or emotional - that Dmisk ever deigned to show.

Dmitri was in a quiet mood. His long fingers ran over the pipes, caressing it, coaxing out the melody that played only in his head. The words, too, were quiet, hardly over a whisper, but even a so soft a volume the purity of the young voice that still managed to hold with its deepening wasn't lost. If one listened closely, they'd realize it was a song about the call of the world at large, luring boys from their homes and mothers to begin the search every child - every teenager - sets out upon. The search for self.

He followed the entrance of each of the other wherlings, his voice trailing off at the last. The already-blindfolded Dmitri leaned back on his hands (the pipes carefully replaced in his wide belt) and turned his blinded gaze on Roivao. "You mean going blindfolded forces you to rely on your wher's senses? Wouldn't have guessed," he commented drolly, ignoring the prick of claws on his leg that showed Dmisk was not amused. It should be expected by now, really. The wherhandler's snarky mouth. At least he usually did as he was told. Usually.

"Are you going to dawdle, or actually tell us what it is we need to find so Dmisk and I can get this over with," Dmitri asked impatiently, his typically more pointed antagonism absent. He sounded - tired - truly. Drained.

[Ember]

Eikane listened with mild interest in the lesson description. Huh, a more active lesson than any of the others. He was somewhat eager to begin if that was the case. It was a more solo activity, meaning he wouldn't have to interact too much with the others right? Unfortunately Nocturne's apathy was affecting the goldhandler a bit, reinforcing his desire to be left alone and play music. The night was a surprisingly good audience for randomly playing. Not as good for showing others how good a player he was though.

Eikask, on the other hand, was not pleased with the lesson. How was she supposed to turn the other whers onto her side for when she took over the weyr if she wasn't near them? Hers tapped her slightly with his foot. The sooner they found the objects the sooner the class would be dismissed. Then she could go ahead and latch onto one of the others and convert them, or whatever she wanted to do. Well...that made her a little more willing. She flicked her tail as Hers went to grab a blindfold. He could rely on her. She was only absolutely the best, after all.

Eikane just shook his head. It could be surprisingly easy to manipulate her so long as he didn't let any inkling of his thoughts reach her. It was slowly turning out so that he was the handler and she was the one being handled. As it should be. If he had to be stuck with her - and really, it wasn't that bad - then he ought to be the one in charge. The thing in his hair suddenly shifted and its nails pricked at his skin without causing damage.

Nocturne. Eikane had learned early on that the blue salamandyr was a surprisingly good..companion. At the very least, he wasn't any trouble to the Harper. Always very quiet and kept mostly to himself. He was also incredibley loyal. A drudge had annoyed Eikane the other night and the blue had leaped out of hiding and actually bit the poor girl. He quietly apologized to the blue as he tied on the blindfold and offered the spot of his front pocket instead. No good. There was only one way in or out of there. The blue stilled again in Eikane's hair. Nuisance, Nocturne commented privately to His. The lesson, Dmitri, Eikask..the word seemed to apply to all of them. Heh, indeed. But they could be interesting nuisances sometimes.

[rii]

Don't want to. Don't have to.
What else were they going to do.
Anything. Everything.
More trouble than it's worth.
Don't care.
Can't escape the consequences.

Quintrell sneered, a very unusual expression on his youthful features. He had walked out on the last series of lessons, and he had not been keen on the idea of returning. The only reason his feet currently carried him, grudgingly, toward the gathering group of students and teacher was Quintresk's simple line of rationalization. The brown wher didn't care what trouble his handler got into, but considering that eventually someone was bound to report the behavior and make them go to the lessons.. it was just easier, more simple, to go and get the classes done. Graduate and they would never had to bother with it again.

Snatching one of the blindfolds, Quintrell tied it around his eyes without a second thought. He already had grown use to using Quintresk's night vision–adaptable creature the thief was–and merely sighed at the given instructions. A hand touched against Quintresk's head, he didn't have to lean down or stretch his reach, the brown already stood tall on slender, muscled legs. "Do these items have a specific smell?"

A simple question, but Quintresk bumped his head against the thief's hand none the less. Already sensing the rebellion rising up. Ideas to return with a handfull of spoons and gauze then claim to have known no better. "We're learning to sniff out where you hid your dirty underclothes, Roi? I'm shaking with anticipation.."

[Kisha-Ra]

Urgh, time to get this over with for another night. Hopefully Yosk wouldn’t miss any cues from where she was supposed to be this time, and hopefully the lesson would be at least mildly useful. Did Roivao seriously think they all had their whers stuck to their legs constantly? Well maybe he did… Yoalla couldn’t actually recall seeing Roivao without Roisk but then, she be the first to admit that she never saw the bronzehandler if she could avoid it.

Yosk walked silently beside Yoalla, coincidently in the exact same manner that Yoalla had visualised for having a wher permanently stuck to one’s leg, she had no further opinion to venture on the lesson than her handler had already expressed. At least the little flitties weren’t here tonight, they were loud together. Lao didn’t like Zai a bit, insisting that he was a prettier green altogether and why did they need another green firelizard, exactly? Yosk was tired of that projection on the first night. What was Zai’s response? Why loud chirping of course!

Yoalla listened, and raised an eyebrow at the description of what they’d be doing. For a moment the unkind thought that Yosk would more than likely only find things by falling over them came to mind, but it was quickly chased off by Quintrell putting in his two marks worth. ‘He said the kitchen and infirmary, moron.’ Yoalla pointed out, vowing to stand near Quintrell and kick him on occasion in the next lesson. ‘Also I think harper boy there-‘ Yoalla’s finger stabbed at Dmitri ‘should just be let out since he’s already done this.’ Actually she’d prefer it if he had to suffer with the rest of them but she was convinced it got the point across.

[glamourie]

His wasn’t very fond of getting up, Anzask decided as he sat at the foot of the bed with His, his tail thumping the ground audibly. In fact, His seemed to stubbornly cling to sleeping in, despite it being full dark outside. He stood up on his hind legs and pressed his forelegs against the end of the bed, humming to himself. After a moment of patiently waiting, hoping that His would wake up on his own (a fleeting thought to be sure), the blue leaned forward and pulled the blanket off from on top of Anzalorin. One would think that a sudden chill in the air would rouse the former Blossomite, but no dice – he didn’t even so much as flinch. Sensing it to be a game, Anzask bounced in his spot and grabbed Anz by the ankle before tugging him and all of the furs off of his cot with a light thud. Such movement should and likely would have woken up a lesser entity – but not Anz. Never Anz. He slept like a rock and the only indication of him even noticing the fall was a groan. The blue wherlinghandler didn’t move or wake… and Anzask did not fuss at him in an attempt to rouse him from sleep. Instead, he gripped Anz’s leg by the ankle and tugged, Sprite bouncing up to sit on his back the entire way. The Blossomite became a pile of blankets being hauled out to lessons, his eyes flashing mischief the whole way. He could drag His very, very far.

Yipping a greeting to his classmates and to Roisk, Anzask came to a stop next to Quintresk, a very sleepy Anzalorin splayed across the ground next to him. They arrived right as the teacher man started speaking and, flustered, he squirmed and leaned down to nudge His. Teaching, teaching, they needed to be liiiistening, they had class… so messy. His was so sleepy. Sleepy, sleepy.

“Shhh,” Anz said in his sleep, loud enough for everyone to hear – clearly scolding people for talking around him. “Sssshhhh… five ‘ore ‘inutes…”

Rolling over, Anz groaned and mumbled something about ‘Thora.’ His eyes remained closed, despite Anzask nudging him again, and the blue wher finally gave up. Lying down next to Anzalorin, Anzask rested his head on His’s back and looked around. Maybe it was sleep-time? His obviously thought it was, and His was usually right. They must not have realized it because usually it wasn’t sleep-time around this time. Yes, that was it. Yawning widely, Anzask tuned out Roivao, nuzzled Anzalorin’s hair and closed his eyes, obviously getting ready for a nap himself. Outside was an odd place to sleep but he couldn’t put his back on the soft thing, so they’d have to make do. At least he brought the fuzzy soft not-hides with them. He chirred to himself – yes, chirred, it was almost a purr – and relaxed, breathing evening out.

Naptime.

[Tashe]

"G-waga!" Why did it feel as though the entire world was strewn across his back? Squirming to get even a little purchise on the bed, Nautic made noises until he realized that it wasn't Pern laying on him, it was his Wher. '"Off, off, off!" When Nautsk lifted herself off of him, the Wherling nearly shot over the head of the bed. He had been trying to pull himself out from under her, but the attempt ended sadly in a tangle of pillows and limbs. "Owwie." It took him a few moments to free himself of the pillows but fortunately he hadn't taken his furs with him. Nautsk had developed the habit of laying on him when she needed to wake him up, he was a heavy sleeper now that he was up both day and night. "Wha... what time... hey cool it!" Stumbling as the Green female nearly pushed him out the door, Nautic grabbed his boots and decided it was better to just go where she wanted him to go. Fortunately, the clothing he was wearing was not extreme as he was normally known for, having opted to wear his black tunic and pants instead. "I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh."

Pulling all of his hair but his bangs back into a small runner tail, Nautic hid a yawn behind a hand. He really should have been adjusted to the wake up times, it was normally something his internal clock was good at doing. But for some reason, it seemed resistant to change. Which was unfortunate for his ribs and back. Slinking up to the rest of the class, Nautic sighed unhappily. He had been sick as of late and had missed some lessons, much to his utter disappointment. Nautsk too had been sad, even though she refused to act like it. She had missed her clutchmates, so Nautic excused her previous and continuous eagerness. Watching Nautsk carefully as she bounced forward to greet her fellow Wherlings, the blond eased up at his own pace before setting down next to the bundle of blankets that could only be Anz. He had gotten to the lesson just in time to hear Roivao talk about wearing blindfolds. Great, he had just sat down and now he had to get up again. But it was the comments flying around from the other Wherlings that elicited a response. "Geesh. Why is everyone so snappy tonight?" Everyone looked tired. Anz was even still asleep, or it seemed like it... even he was tired, the illness he had had drained him of much of his normally exuberant energy.

Meanwhile Nautsk bounced from one Wherling to the next, greeting them all with a wuff or a yip. Staying farther away from the clutchmates she knew to become easily annoyed with her, Nautsk ended her rounds by yipping at Roisk and returning to Hers. Offering Anzask another wuff for good measure, the little Green curled up happily beside her Human. She of course, had not been listening to the bighuman talk, knowing that her Nautic would listen for her. She would know in a little while anyways, although she hoped it would be fun.

[kat]

Change didn't happen overnight, and yet, slowly but surely, it did. Five months ago, Ari wouldn't have spoken to anyone unless spoken to. She was subservient in nature, and shier than anyone would have believed possible. That was then, and this was now. Now was very different from then.

Ariya no longer hung her head when she walked. Not that her nose went up any higher than anyone else, just that she didn't hang her head with her hair covering her face. She was better at meeting the gazes of others, even if she wasn't exactly the best at holding them. Still, she wasn't afraid to ask a question, or speak up if she had something to say. Yes, she wasn't as social as some, and she was still shy, especially around the opposite gender. And yet, she was as close to normalcy as she'd ever been in her entire life. Her pup had grown into a young dog, remarkably smart and well trained. Roo accompanied her everywhere still, and yet now she was content to sit and stay and watch, rather than hanging at her heels.

Ariysk was unchanged, however. Far too much confidence, huge ego, clumsy, and what a typical bronze who knew he was large and impressive should be. The wher was quite proud of himself. He was growing, after all, and didn't they see how nicely? He liked his Wherling lessons. It allowed him to show everyone how smart and great and wonderful he, Ariysk, really was! As they met up with the other Wherlings, Ariysk huffed and greeted each of them in varying degrees. They were his subordinates, after all. All but the pretty gold Eikask, she was nearly his equal. Nearly, but not quite. He as just too amazing to have an equal, after all!

Ari smiled politely at her fellow Wherlings, even saying 'hi' and 'hello' to a few. She had been forced to take a role of someone who had to stand out a bit, had to even lead in some senses. It was trying, but she had Ariysk to back her up and bolster her confidence. The bronze did that, happily, while trying to encourage her to pay more attention to Eikask's bonded. After all, it was to both of their benefits, was it not? Ari, meanwhile, often found herself turning a shade of crimson when faced with the gold bonded handler--mainly because of Ariysk. Still, she had to deal, just like with everything else.

She really liked Roivao, he was a good Wherlingmaster, in her eyes. Hearing the new activity, she actually found she was looking forward to it. It surprised her, because being blindfolded wasn't something she would normally get worked up over. Yet, she was rather excited by the prospect, and took her blindfold, curious how it would work. She knew Ariysk's senses were very keen, he'd proved it time and time again. She trusted him to be able to guide her to the objects. She had built a really good, if not a bit odd, bond with the bronze. It only strengthened more as time went on, and it was nice to have that feeling with her at all times. She put the blindfold over her eyes, and waited for the signal to proceed.