Zodiac Weyrlings (Lesson Four)

[weaving]

I’fael rummaged through his piles of stuff, looking for the several straps of leather that he’d placed there. He’d just finished going over proper nutrition for both dragons and riders and it was now time to go over the next, and possibly most important part of the lesson: creating their first set of fighting straps. He had the basic patterns laid out already, but first they all needed a basic demonstration on what good leather looked like. With a quiet “aha” he grabbed the bundle of leather pieces, holding it up triumphantly to the class.

“We’ll be going over fighting straps today, and you are to begin creating your first straps, which will be inspected at a later date by the Weyrleader. Before we begin that however, you must learn to identify which leather would be best for creating these straps. I’ll be passing four samples around. One of them is the correct choice. The others all have flaws, be they too thin, too thick or cracked. You must identify the correct leather sample in order to move on to the next portion of the lesson.”

Swiftly, he passed the four pieces around, waiting for each student to correctly identify the proper piece so that he could begin to go over different stitches, how to take correct measurements and how to ultimately put together the finished creation. Oh, how this day would be easier with an assistant or two to help him verify everyone’s work. Scanning the room, his eyes lit on K’lir. The man had already gone through everything being covered. Surely he’d find helping others to be a tad more enjoyable than sitting through repeat material? Making a mental note to speak with the Green weyrling after class, I’fael continued to go about inspecting everyone’s choices.

Roll Call
Jingth, rider Meira
Weith, rider R'men
Taith, rider V'rael
Chaoth, rider Merridan
Shith, rider T'lor
Ahth, rider R'ahre
Futh, rider M'kai
Lith, rider L'ka
Nuoth, rider Nephele
Huath, rider Kalia
Kunth, rider Mina
Baoth, rider K'lir
Minth, rider Anusha

[archenstone]

V'rael walked in first, eyes going straight to the leather as he sat down. After greeting I'fael he waited for class to start in silence. As the room filled up he could sense Taith outside pouncing on his chosen "Favorites"....clutchmates who he simply loved to pounce, wrestle, sneak attack etc.

So todays lesson involved leather working? He listened with interest, noting the three flaws mentioned about the leather as samples where held out. He took his, turning the first piece around in his hands and thumbing the rough leather experimentally. It was the thinnest piece so he set it aside. He picked up another and rubbed his thumbs across it. Feeling what might be a weakness he bent the leather, watching as small cracks showed up at the bend. He set the cracked leather aside. He felt the last too peices the same way...feeling nothing wrong. He them compared them side by side at the width and set the thicker of the two aside. Now he had what he thought was the right choice and waited for it to be checked.

[Ember]

Nephele tilted her head slightly as she saw the weyrlingmaster retrieve four examples of leather. She frowned slightly in response to their task. She had never worked with leather though she did know how to sew well enough. She considered the material. Hmm. It would be a bit tougher to sew than normal fabric, of course. The thin needles used for normal sewing would probably not do so well with leather either. That kind of sucked but she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Nuoth when they started flying.

For the moment...she sat back and relaxed. It would be a bit before the samples would come around to her. She felt Nuoth's content in the back of her mind and hid a slight grin fro mthe rest of the class. Nephele finally had the knack of waking up a decent time before lessons down. The green had already been fed and oiled and was laying comfortably in the training field though there seemed to be little the dragons were doing. You could probably go back to our room, the girl suggested.

Mm, no. It is nice out here and the sun feels good. Clutchbrother Taith is pouncing our other clutchsiblings. I wonder if he'll pounce me... Nephele remembered another class when Taith had been flicking bugs at her green dragon. Nuoth seemed to have forgotten about that instance though. Suit yourself then. I'm only learning about making flight straps to help when we fly together.

[Avu]

/Must/ I be here?
Yes.
But it’s not for me to know, it’s for /you/ to. And you’re impatient too; it’d make you feel better if /I/ was with the hatchling…

It wasn’t a question, and Meira didn’t bother denying it, because it was true; she would feel better if Jingth was with R’wign and Riaren, but she couldn’t just let the gold wander off in the middle of lessons, either. Hooking one foot absently around the leg of her chair, Meira squirmed slightly before she pressed her elbows against the desk and cupped her chin in her fingers absentmindedly. She knew lessons were important, but it was just – just – not as important as Riaren was. Still, the class seemed to be finishing up; if Jingth had waited this long it wouldn’t kill her to wait a little while longer. The goldweyrling’s gaze was on I’fael, but she wasn’t really seeing him. Oh, she’d been paying attention, she could repeat what he’d said, but in that pause while he scuffled around on his desk, her concentration on the lesson had immediately done a cliff dive, going right where they almost constantly were – Riaren. Admittedly, that probably wasn’t the best of ideas; where her thoughts were, so too were Jingth’s, and she didn’t need the gold catching her impatience with Weyrling Lessons. Not the first time, but still…

/Definitely/ not the first time, Jingth agreed emphatically.

Meira squirmed slightly again, bowing her head as the leather samples were set before her, and then shifted to pick them up cautiously, crinkling her nose at the stiff leather for a moment. Wait – what’d the Weyrlingmaster said again? Too thin, too thick, cracked. How hard could it be? Pick out the two that weren’t the thinnest and weren’t the fattest, and see which one wasn’t cracked. Not that she really knew what to do with leather, but…picking it out, first. She could worry about that – and Riaren, Jingth interjected helpfully – later. Two at random from the four were selected, and then compared before she laid them out according to thickness, and then picked up another one to compare, and then the last, laying them out according to thickness. The strips at either end were pushed to one side, and the two remaining were duly bent before, with a slight shrug, the goldweyrling added the one that didn’t look as…supple, as smooth, to the ‘discarded’ pile and then twisted the remaining strip around her fingers before she caught herself and set it down in the center of the desk.

There: Done. Not too hard, right? Meira snuck a glance towards the door and brushed questioningly against Jingth’s mind, earning a wave of amusement (that she squirmed mentally at receiving) and an answer: The hatchling is fine. You oughtn’t worry so; you make me worry too and it distracts me. My clutchsiblings are /most/ amusing. Her attention was primarily on Taith; no other hatchling was providing her with the entertainment the brown was. Browns, Jingth had already decided, were nice – much better than bronzes. See: Checkoth, Behruth, Dsoleth, and Taith, versus Weith. Definitely much, much nicer. The hatchling was sprawled inelegantly out, both wings draped across the ground, eyes half-lidded and gleaming with sparkling blues and greens, completely relaxed outwardly. Mm, very nice, the sun was, and didn’t it make her glitter so?

~*~*~

I’m bored, R’ahre decided.
There’s a coincidence; so am I.
Bored bored much, I am.

Unanimous. Because that clearly meant that they were right and I’fael should start dancing a jig in the middle of class to amuse him. R’ahre slouched slightly in his seat, the fingers of one hand drumming against the desktop impatiently. Not that there was really anything he had to do; it was more of what he didn’t have to do. Basically, he wanted to do nothing and it was a lot easier without a Weyrlingmaster going off about nutrition and feeding and gorging hatchlings being very bad and whatnot. Ahth didn’t gorge anyway; that was Sylph’s job and the green hadn’t ever gotten sick because of it. Having her pass out, dead asleep, for ten hours straight because of how much she’d eaten hadn’t really been a good thing, but better than being sick. Right? The blueweyrling turned his head to look through lidded eyes at the green Salamandyr curled up on his shoulder, and crinkled his nose at her before he drummed his fingers again and whispered, as quiet as an exhale, “Hear that? Ahth’s bored too…why don’t you two go off and play or something?”

Stupid Rusa, she replied lovingly, Not make unbored you, playing. So stupid, Rusa is. Love stupid.

At least she’d the presence of mind to bespeak him privately instead of blabbering out loud. R’ahre raised one eyebrow at her, a flicker of amusement darting across his face, before he raised his hand from the desktop to brush along the Salamandyr’s back lightly, barely looking up once the leather straps reached him. For making flight straps, were they? He’d seen flight straps before. Not too hard, this, was it? Both brown eyes dropped to the straps, and the cracked one was swiftly pushed to one side before he lined the three up, flattening them by pressing his finger along the length of each before he tilted his head to look at them carefully a minute. “What do you think?” he inquired of Sylph, but he didn’t wait for the green’s answer before he selected the strap that was neither too think nor too thick. Really not a difficult exercise – process of elimination, wasn’t it? The strap was laid down in front of him, the other three swept to one side with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Best stupid, Sylph pronounced, skittering down his arm to snatch the thin piece in her forepaws; she brought it to her face and sniffed it curiously before she leaned forward to chew on one of the corners. Yuck. Meat not meat, she decided, tossing it onto the floor and then frilling after it before she darted back up R’ahre’s sleeve – in case he or I’fael took protest to her actions. Bemusedly, R’ahre leaned down to pick up the piece of leather, and then shrugged before he set it down with the other two.

Still bored, Ahth offered helpfully, the blue curled up a distance away from the other hatchlings. One wing had been draped over his head to shield his eyes from the sun, casting his head almost entirely into shadow – only visible were his eyes, two whirling orbs of a dark green color with tinges of blue, gleaming and glittering and almost as dark as his hide. Hurry up. Doing /nothing/ is better than /this/.

[Rowana]

Mer was relieved to be going to lessons again. All the deaths were getting to her and having too much time to think didn't help. At least classes and chores kept her busy. Chaoth and Auran had been a blessing too. It was hard to be worried with the two of them watching out for her. That didn't stop her from worrying about other people though. Almost loosing R'wign had been terrible. She didn't ever want to feel so helpless ever again.

Mer shook out the memories and flopped into a seat next to R'ahre. He seemed distracted by his salamandyr, but she didn't really mind. Auran was ignoring everyone as usual, perched on her shoulder. Leather working sounded like fun, she thought as I'fael explained. She liked working with her hands and it would make a change from smith work. Mer tugged at the lengths of leathers before picking one that seemed strong and flexible. If they were making straps, maybe that meant flying soon. Chaoth was getting pretty big.

Chaoth trotted up to his clutch siblings. Good morning! he announced brightly. He was feeling good and ready to work hard. Food and baths were always nicer after lots of exercise. He glanced around and, deciding that she looked lonely today, went next to Nuoth. Good day, Nuoth, he crooned. Are you well?

[ace]

Lessons. At least something was normal in the chaos that was Selenitas Weyr. Kunth's head swung back and forth, as she waited for Mina to get up. Pulling on her clothes, Mina ran out of the barracks. She was running late, and by the time she reached the classrooms the lesson had already begun. Plopping herself into the nearest seat, Mina looked at the pieces of leather that were laid out. Riding Straps! Did that mean that the young dragons were almost ready to start flying?

Kunth sauntered over towards er fellow weyrlings, and blinked in greeting. Hello, are you having a good morning? The green weyrling flicked her tail and flicked away some gravel that was sperad across the ground. What are we doing today?

(Epic Fail Post)

[glamourie]

“It’s pointless for me to be there, I don’t want to go. Anything you need to know, I can teach you. It’s worthless. And they’re covering riding straps. Like I don’t know how to make riding straps. I do. It’s stupid to expect anything less. Even I’fael knows that I know what I’m doing.”

Complaining was the only thing that kept K’lir from being continually enraged with Weyrling Lessons. He found it ridiculous that he had to attend them at all. The truth was that he knew all of the material very well (and could probably prepare riding straps in his sleep, considering how long he’d done it for Calistoth) and he didn’t like revisiting the same old topics over and over again. Thus it was constantly a battle to make him attend Weyrling Lessons at all, though Baoth typically won; he went, even if he was bored out of his skull, and entertained the young green with mental complaints about the lesson content, his fellow “students” and even the weather. Of course, no one ever said K’lir went willingly and that lesson was no exception. Amidst his complaints, he’d remembered to take Kahrelir to stay with his mother (because his usual babysitter had his own spawn, oh woe), and that was all the incentive that Baoth needed. While he was fussing, she grabbed him by the ankle, catching his pant leg in her maw before literally hauling K’lir across the floor. He hit the ground with a thud and was hauled out of his barracks room forcibly by the green. She didn’t bother with verbal arguments. They were worthless anyway.

Baoth came to a halt next to Ahth and lay down unceremoniously, K’lir’s legs held between her forelegs to keep him from escaping. They arrived just in time to catch the beginning of I’fael’s lesson and he took the straps that were passed to him with disdain. It only took K’lir about half a glance to identify the right one and the other three were tossed to the ground in front of him. The proper strap was turned between his fingers as Showoff darted up from under his shirt to look at the piece of leather in interest; it didn’t take a salamandyr translator to identify that he was considering chewing, just as soon as K’lir was out of his way. The green weyrlingrider ignored him the same way that Baoth did (the dragon was watching I’fael intensely).

R’ahre’s question made K’lir look up (he made quite the sight, half-sprawled on the ground as he was), and he reached up to grab another one of the leather pieces. “This one, actually. That one’s too thin. When you fly, Ahth’s movements will put extra pressure on the straps, so you want to go with a slightly wider strap to accommodate. Part of that is a decision based in part around your dragon’s size, but you can estimate how large Ahth will be. For instance, the thinner one you’re holding would probably work better for a dragon of Baoth’s size, while Ahth will be slightly larger. Bronzes would use one more like that one if it wasn’t cracked.” He nodded toward the largest piece, which indeed had a large crack down the side of it. “I’ve never understood why we host this lesson so soon because the dragons are so young – it’s hard to judge what would work for them. I had to change sizes before.” He didn’t elaborate on why, instead offering the piece of leather he was holding out to R’ahre for him to take.

You might consider actually using a seat if you are going to instruct. Me holding you on the ground is not exactly appropriate, MyLove, Baoth commented absently, though she leaned up to nose at the strap. I think I need bigger straps. I’m not going to stay small forever, and I’m sure I will be as big as Ahth.

Unlikely. You’ll probably be large, but he’s a blue, so he’ll be bigger.

Indignant, Baoth snorted, but she released K’lir who climbed into the seat next to R’ahre, opposite Mer. He held out his strap for her to look at. He assumed that she overheard, but if not, that wasn’t his problem; he wasn’t the teacher, I’fael was.

[subtlemystery]

Tapping her fingers on the desk, Kalia tried, really tried to be interested in the lesson. She was, sort of. It was about straps, and the leather that would be used for it, and making Huath her own set of riding leathers. The thought was exciting, the lesson was too, but waiting for the leathers so she could move on to the next stage of the lesson? Not so much. Huath wasn't even in the lesson room to take her mind off waiting. Normally, she could sit and stare at the green, noting the small changes in her colouring, the dark marking at her brow that made her seem as though she were scowling.

Bored or not, paying no attention will not benefit you. Huath's voice held a mild note of scolding in it, though that was hidden within the purr of contentment her voice held. She was enjoying dozing out in teh sunshine, and remaining out of the way for her rider, but that did not mean she wasn't ensuring Kalia was paying attention. However was she to guide others when they required it if she lacked attention in important lessons.
I'm just bored.
Unbore yourself then.

Kalia's expresson became a slight frown at Huath's matter -of-fact tone, and the wording. That wasn't exactly... Well... Fair of her. How was she to unbore herself when there was nothing to unbore herself with? Looking up happily as she was given a chance at the leathers, Kalia lined them up as she'd seen others doing, automatically shoving aside any that looked too pale. From what she'd seen, leather was rarely pale except in weak spots. Then she picked up the other pieces, inspecting them at face value before bending them slightly and putting aside the one that showed cracks. Now... Twisting both around her hand lightly, Kalia then discarded one of the others.

Is that the right one? Huath's voice once again spoke, startling Kalia out of her thoughts on the leathers,
I think so. Looks right, feels right. She responded, waiting for a rebuttal from the green, and was pleasantly surprised when there was only approval. It was truly sad when she was getting happy from approval from her dragon of all people, her dragon who loved her anyway.
That does not mean I am unwilling to point out errors, and ensuring you don't make them again.

Well, that just burst her bubble. At least she'd selected a leather.

[kat]

So, there were boring parts of Weyrling lessons too.

T'lor was quite aware Shith would rather have been doing something he considered fun than sitting beside his, tail thumping the ground with resounding 'thuds' as he looked about him for something more interesting to do than just sit while his played with what he'd dubbed 'food skins'. Still, while the blueweyrling was bored? He knew this kind of stuff.

He'd grown up with a caravan, after all. They worked with leathers a lot, and often they did minor jobs like repairing straps or even making riding jackets and other implements for dragonriders. After all, the more you could do, the more marks you stood to make. T'lor himself had repaired straps a few times, and this was an easy sort of thing for him. He was good at making things with his hands, and prided himself on it, to boot.

Miiiiiiiiine. When can we go do something interestiiiiiiing?

T'lor had already picked out a piece of leather, knowing right off the bat which was what. He glanced over at the young dragon, and smirked. When we're done here, Shith. Ah'm sorry but yah can't play 'till we're done with the lesson. Sit still a while an' it'll be done before y'eh know it. He'd found that he liked speaking in private to his blue. Made things less complicated when you could, and didn't always have to have others wondering what on Pern was going on between dragon and bonded. He ran his hand over the leather, and waited for the next instruction to come.

Shith, meanwhile, was staring at Jingth again. T'lor suppressed a snicker. While the young blue was perfectly keen on looking at greens, he was found more often than not staring at Jingth. The gold seemed to have his attention whenever she and Shith were in the same area. He didn't bother telling the blue his unrequited crush would never be real. No point in that, he'd grow up and learn greens were a blue's lot in life. Besides, greenriders were so much more fun! He grinned lopsidedly, checking out the female ones in the room. Yup, greenflights were fun! He felt a little bad for the girls, though. They didn't get much say in it. Still, it was a dragonrider's life, they had to have known about it when they went to stand.

He turned his attentions back to the Weyrlingmaster, trying to cover a yawn. This was going far too slow, he'd have his straps made in very little time, top notch, too. Still, wasn't the other Weyrlings faults if they hadn't ever done this before. Patience was a virtue...just not a fun one!

[Sheari]

Bored.

The actually word itself, at present, was an understatement to Rumen's present state of mind. Only the mental probing he received from Weith from time to time kept him from falling asleep and having someone hit him with something to wake him up. Considering the people in the class, he didn't really want to fall victim to any stabbing that might happen to him instead. He didn't know why, but the man K'lir made him downright uncomfortable. How could he have known that he was going after the wrong dragon? There had been what, three of them, and he just rising from the sand? The bronzeweyrling didn't know why this particular regret of all of his regrets surfaced at right this moment, but it did.

If I knew you were going to proceed to beat yourself up, I would have let you fall asleep. I will not let Baoth's stab you. The words were responded to by a large yawn; perhaps his unease was because K'lir had been given the chance to help out this time by checking the choices of the class members. All the more reason to carelessly cut him and then walk away to help someone else while he bled.

Eventually it was his turn to look through the leather. Having only been knowledgeable of the blacksmith trade, he was slightly challenged by the choices. One was too thick and was the hardest to bend, the other looked to be able to be torn if he put enough effort into it. The next two seemed to be in similar condition and he picked the one that felt the smoothest. He placed it on top at an obvious angle to show it was his choice before leaning back on Weith. The bronze in question looked at His and then returned is attention to Morendoth. He sat pristinely, fully erect with wings neatly folded to his back and his tail curled around his legs; like he always sat.

~*~

Anusha leaned on Minth, the green sitting on one hip with her tail splayed behind her and her wings hanging loosely. Her eye were half lidded as she half dozed, her head resting on Her's shoulder. Akos had found a nice place and nestled himself in the crook of Minth's wing, the leading edge cradling him nicely.

Can we be done now? I'm very tired.
You're tired because you're bored.
That, too.[/i]

The young green yawned widely, sighed, and returned to resting her head on Anusha's shoulder.

Were your classes always this boring before I hatched?[/i]
Hmm, yeah, only it wasn't I'fael and Morendoth who bored me.
Who was it then?[/i]
Emoyan.
Emoyan...[/i] Minth said his name, and then closed her eyes, he doesn't sound important...[/i]

Weight pressed down on Anusha's shoulder before she turned her head to look at the green. "Don't fall asleep on me!" she exclaimed moving out from under the now slightly confused looking head of Minth. Before she had a moment to say something, she was distracted by Akos, who had shifted and was now scrambling up her leg. Anusha had been equally distracted by the sudden sensation of leather being put into her hands for her to examine. Flipping through them, she quickly looked for the one she thought the best, holding the stack with her finger marking her choice, waiting for someone to come over and check her.