Wherling Lesson Two

[randi]

((Sorry for my tardiness with this. I've been super busy for the last few days. I'll have chores set up soon-ish for the little ducklings. <3))

For the second wherling lesson, Ellanie had selfishly decided to hold it at the hour she deemed decent. The deep night was cool as she made her way to what she had deemed that should be her lesson place. The greenhandler broke out into a sudden sprint, racing her lithe wher to their spot.

Ellanisk reached there first, having sent Ellanie a 'go' signal a little later than she should have, intentionally giving herself an advantage. The wher crooned as she sat down, preening herself slightly. The woman rubbed at the green's head affectionately, which led to the inevitable belly rub. Ellanisk liked the wherlings, though she did dislike the fact that Hers insisted that she 'behave', which meant no playing and no begging for belly rubs until the lesson was over.

Ellanie had opted, instead of interrupting the others at whatever they might be doing, to seek them out and remind them at an earlier date. They would need to learn responsibility. Also, if they failed to show, as she had noted that two had before, that she had the perfectly lovely option of either having Chiv herd them out or honing in on them at an opportune time and making them do the lesson anyway. She was not going to have them be irresponsible. Not with the whers, nope.

Chiv appeared from between, draping himself over her shoulders with a loving croon as Ellanie took her seat beside Ellanisk, who insisted that she be cuddled instantly. With a grin, the woman obliged, seeking Chiv's head out with her hand away from Ellanisk to scratch his eyeridge.

The thought that she might want to look professional did, once, cross her mind. However, she noted that her professionalism came about to cuddling. Affection was one thing she would never keep from her two bonds, and anyone who had a problem with that probably needed more cuddles themselves.

Attendance
Piden of Pidesk
Jermayan of Jermaysk
Rilyer of Rilyesk
Derrin of Derrisk
Meira of Meisk
Ceryl of Cerysk
Hennai of Hensk (Missed One)
Kalushka of Kalushsk (Missed One)

[Avu]

“I don’t know if fire lizards are welcome at lessons,” Meira said blankly to Zesa, who had, just as she and Meisk were leaving for said lessons, taken up a perch on the girl’s shoulder. “But you’re welcome to try, I suppose.” Flitters had been allowed at Candidate Lessons, hadn’t they? She didn’t see why this should be much different. Plus, Zesa’s presence reassured Meisk greatly. The young queen hummed softly in her ear, and Meira took that as a signal to take her with them. Meisk chirruped quietly, nudging her hand, and Meira sighed. “If you insist, but if you get kicked out or something, don’t blame me, yes?” There was no reply to that one except a tightening of Zesa’s tail around her throat.

As they made their way to the place the last lesson had taken place, Meira kept one hand lightly on top of Meisk’s head. She had no intention of wandering around like she was blind until her eyes adjusted; she’d just follow Meisk. The image of the meeting-place was strong in her mind as she shuffled awkwardly until her eyes adjusted. Luckily, that never took long these days, and soon she and Meisk had both broken into a little jog-trot to move more swiftly. Zesa took to wing to get away from the jolting, and it was thus that they arrived at the lesson: Slightly out-of-breath, with Zesa gliding above their heads like a silent, golden ghost.

The queen was the first to spot Ellanie’s fire lizard; she chirped smugly as Meira skidded to a stop, spiraling to land on the girl’s shoulder again. See! See? Ellanie had a fire lizard too. She wouldn’t send Zesa away, yes? Meisk had a bit of trouble stopping as sharply as Meira, and slid forward a few feet with an apologetic, bewildered cheep. Now how did /that/ happen?! Ellanisk wasn’t scary, though—especially not in the position she was currently in—and he paused to croon a greeting to her before scrambling back to Meira, who bowed to Ellanie—rather hard to do when a) the person who you were bowing to was sitting on a lower level than you and b) a fire lizard was on your shoulder. It came out rather awkwardly, but at least she’d tried, yes?

“Hullo, Wherlingmaster Ellanie,” she said quietly, and hesitated. On one hand, sitting down seemed to be a very good idea—Meisk already had, after all—but in the position they were in, other whers would be close. And then Meisk would panic. Come over to the side, dear, Meira offered, leading Meisk out of the way of Ellanie’s sight if she wanted to look straight ahead and sat there, tucking her knees to her chest and letting Meisk lean against her, wrapping one arm loosely around his neck. Now, where was everybody else?

[weaving]

We go? Jermayan was busy lacing up his boots when Manners decided to ask his question. The bronze salamandyr had chosen the young man’s head as his perch for the evening and now rested there quite contentedly, claws tangled in Jermayan’s hair. It was no use to try and remove him, and he didn’t much mind it either, for the ‘mandyr was for the most part well-behaved, unlike some of the others that he’d seen.

“Yes, yes, we’ll be leaving in just a moment..” At that, Manners trilled with joy whil chanting We go! We go! Wegowegowgowego!!! While Jermayan didn’t seem too bothered by it, Jermaysk was quickly growing tired of the ‘mandyr’s chatter. He was for the most part patient with the young creature and usually enjoyed his company, but on occasions such as this, the wher soon became irritated. With a growl and a snap toward Manners, the brown quickly made his opinion known.

“Hush Manners, or you’ll be staying here tonight. Remember, you can’t go talking to everyone. This is a lesson, for learning.” Jermayan sighed as he stood, heading toward the door and pulling it open quickly. Jermaysk ran out ahead of him, checking to make sure that everything was okay before allowing Jermayan out. Once he had deemed it safe, Jermayan stepped outside, striding quickly toward where Ellanie had said the lesson would be held.

They arrived there with no mishaps and found that only one other wherling pair had beat them. Well, that either meant that they were early, or everyone else was late. He was inclined to hope the former for the sake of his fellow wherlings. He didn’t know what punishment was for missing one or more lessons, and he certainly didn’t want anyone to find out the hard way.

Pretty shiny hair. Very pretty. Likes this. Manners had promptly lept from Jermayan’s head and glided over to Meira, scampering up her back until he had reached her shoulder, where he now sat petting at her hair. He was gentle as he could be but it was still more than likely to freak the young woman out.

Jermayan, realizing this, sighed and moved towards Meira, Jermaysk sticking close to his side. He was already preparing an apology in his mind. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind too much and would accept it readily enough. She seemed like a nice enough girl, though he hadn’t much had a chance to speak with her.

“I’m terribly sorry about that. He’s quite friendly, perhaps too friendly? Anyway, I hope he didn’t disturb you at all.” He smiled slightly as he spoke, hoping that she wouldn’t be mad about this situation at all. Meanwhile, Jermaysk crooned a greeting to Meisk, though he remained close to Jermayan as though glued there.

[Ember]

Cerysk was standing anxiously at the door as Ceryl finished brushing her hair. She was going to be around just about the only folks that were up during her hours so she ought to look good. With a final brush the girl smiled, satisfied with the mass of curls. Cerysk grumbled impatiently and the girl hurriedly went over to the green. "I'm sorry, my dear," she said, petting the wher. "I know you want to go see your clutchmates. Let's go then." She whistled shrilly and a young bronze firelizard landed on her shoulder. Heir Apparent cheeped happily as the three left their room to go to the second lesson.

Cerysk didn't run so far ahead this time. Instead she stayed close to Hers to help guide the girl. It was dark and Ceryl didn't have the great night vision of whers to help her out. The jade coloured wher walked beside her handler but kept up a quick pace. The two arrived to see three other wherhandlers and their whers. Ceryl was amused to see that all present had a third companion of some sort. She gave a slight wave to the three in general. Cerysk happily wandered closer to the other two whers and greeted them with a happy little yip each before wandering back to her handler.

Ceryl noticed a sudden stiffness in Heir's form as he caught sight of the salamandyr pawing at Meira's hair. He gave an annoyed hiss at the sight. Oh, and he was too close to Heir's gold clutchsister! This strange behaviour from her firelizard friend made Cerysk a little nervous and she crooned soothingly. Heir let out an indignant squawk as he tensed to spring into the air. Ceryl would have none of it though. She grabbed the bronze flitter gently and pulled him into her arms, holding him like a young weyrbrat might hold a stuffed toy. His front legs were over her arms and his folded wings were pinned to her stomach while the rest of him dangled below her arms.

"Sorry for his behaviour," she apologized to everyone generally. The bronze wriggled for a moment, disliking the rather undignified way she was holding him. He stopped struggling when Ceryl reminded him that he well deserved his punishment. Cerysk sniffed the bronze's tail curiously before sitting beside Ceryl, eyes a mix of green and blue. Heir continued to glare at the salamandyr from in Ceryl's arms. The girl felt his anger still and she sighed under her breath. Silly little creature.

[Ruby]

Piden had spent the better part of his "morning" trying to coax Red out from under his bed. Usually the Green didn't leave his person, but Piden had rolled over before getting up and had partially squashed her in his sleep. Red had taken offense, vomited all over his sheets and his shirt, and dashed under the bed, hiding in a corner and screeching BIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIG!!!!! for all to hear. The Bronzehandler REALLY hoped it hadn't woken anyone, although he wouldn't be surprised if it did. Luckily, Red often didn't speak for weeks at a time, so she wasn't always annoying, but when she DID speak... well, she liked to make herself heard.

Pidesk had started the evening by hiding his head under his straw while Piden tried to coax the 'mandyr out from her lair. He'd gotten bitten and spit up on for his efforts, and when he finally gave up and went to take care of his shirt and sheets, Pidesk had dug his head out and tagged along. Now he had his head shoved under the bed with Piden's, cocked to one side. Silly green, thinking Piden was scary. Piden was about the least scary person Pidesk had ever seen, and he couldn't understand why Red would think otherwise.

Finally, though, the pair had to go to lessons. Piden straightened, tightening the bandage on his bitten finger as Pidesk backed out from under the bed and fell on his behind in the process. "Fine, beast, stay under the bed. We're going to lessons, see you in an hour or so," Piden called to Red, turning his back on the bed. Red shouted BIG NO! in indignation and lept for Piden's back, drawing more blood where she latched on. Piden stifled a shriek and pried her off of his back, winding her around his neck in her favorite spot at his collar. "Come along, whatever, but you don't need to draw blood!" he complained as they left, Pidesk following in their wake.

Three had beaten him, but the lesson hadn't started, so Piden was happy. Thank Faranth, Red had gone to sleep draped around his neck, and wasn't bothering anyone anymore. Pidesk barked in pleasure at the sight of Cerysk and bounded over, nipping playfully at her nose before wuffling a greeting to his other Clutchmates. Piden himself nodded to Ellanie and headed for Ceryl, happy that he knew someone at least a little bit well.

[neeuqtar]

You remember that the wherling lesson is tonight, yes? Adith finally reminded Uu'n, loathe though he was to stop getting oiled. Baths were still a time-honored struggle for the duo--Adith absolutely hated water. It was untrustworthy and could sweep one away. And he was far too large for Uu'n to shove into the river like the bluerider had done when Adith was young. No, "baths" for Adith involved flying to the beach, scrubbing him with sand and soapsand, and then buffing him with a wet cloth, before returning home for a nice, luxurious oiling. Needless to say, Adith rarely got more than one bath a month, though he was oiled weekly now that he'd finished growing. Uu'n yelped and leapt to his feet.

"Shards! That's right!" Quickly but efficiently, Uu'n re-sealed his barrel of oil and wiped his hands dry on a clean cloth, then dashed out of his weyr, grabbing his shirt as he ran by. No time to wash! He made his way to the appointed meeting spot outside the wherhandler's quarters, wincing when he realized how late he was. And shards, he was all sweaty and nasty, too. But he really did want to learn everything about whers... after all, he was leading a wing of them. Or whatever it was that a group of whers was called, for they didn't really fly...

"Wherhandler Ellanie, Ellanisk," Uu'n said by way of greeting, walking over to her and sketching a quick bow. He wasn't out of breath from the run, though he was a bit tired from the long work of "bathing" Adith. Well, to be honest, rather bushed, but Uu'n never let something like fatigue get in the way of what he wanted. "I think I mentioned that I would be attending many of the wherling lessons. Shall I just tag along?" He offered a half-smile to the green wherhandler, about the most of a smile anyone got from him. The bluerider slung his shirt over his shoulder. He'd decided to get over his scars, no matter how unattractive they made him look. It wasn't like he had any interest in anyone... right. I'll put it on when I cool off, Uu'n informed himself, making sure to mentally mention that he wasn't at all embarrassed about his myriad scars. At all.

[Avu]

It seemed Meira had just taken her seat and had started absently running her fingers along Meisk’s hide, Zesa curled up contentedly on one shoulder, tail drooping over her back and her head nuzzled under Meira’s chin, when the second wherling pair arrived. Or, more accurately, a bronze Salamandyr arrived, followed by a wherling pair. Had Zesa not sent her an image, warning her that the boy and his wher had a Salamandyr with them, Meira would undoubtedly have screamed. As it was, as the weight descended upon her free shoulder and a claw started stroking her hair, she had to bite her lip hard, her fingers closing in surprise, to keep from violently startling and possibly jarring Meisk’s injuries. When she trusted herself not to cry out, she released her lip and exhaled through her nose. Salamandyrs: Not the friendliest of creatures, as her Candidate days had displayed—two encounters with Bite were quite enough. She froze, uncertain of what to do, as Zesa gave a soft surprised bugle, her tail tightening around Meira’s throat as the young gold stared at Manners.

Meisk, suddenly realizing there was another on His, very, very near to His’ pet, started, scrambling to his feet and staring at Manners with wide, confused eyes. The blue wher was not…afraid of Manners, per se; the bronze ‘mandyr looked like a shrunken, bronze, sausage version of Zesa, without the large, narrow wings. Never mind that he probably resembled a tunnelsnake more than a flitter; it was close enough for Meisk to make the connection. Flitters were nice. So, why shouldn’t this little bronze shrunken thing be nice? The blue crooned uncertainly at it, quite confused at the surprise that he could feel radiating from Meira. Oh, was he upsetting His? The wher flicked his tail anxiously, dawdling and uncertain. He possibly might have done something had Jermaysk not crooned at him and thereby scared him half to death, sending him scrabbling for cover under Meira’s arm—the arm that Zesa was perched on; thus being the arm farthest away from Manners.

His Meira, however, was not quite as startled, as Zesa was still giving her a running commentary on what was going on behind her, when the boy spoke. Friendly. Friendly? Friendly was good. Yes. Meira tried to organize her scrambled thoughts, slowly turning her head as not to disturb Manners. “I—um, yes. It’s—it’s fine, he just startled me…” she explained, slightly embarrassed. Was it her fault the only Salamandyr she’d gotten close to before had called the Weyrwoman a harlot? Hearing that sort of thing was bound to leave an imprint. She smiled weakly, raising a hand to the shoulder Zesa was on and letting the queen fire lizard climb onto her wrist, twining her tail there and letting Meira put her in her lap instead.

—which was when a hiss made her jump again, her grasp around Meisk instinctively tightening as Zesa’s head shot up from her half-relaxed position—the young queen still stared at Manners, frankly bewildered by him—and uttered a croon of welcome. She remembered Heir—he was her clutchbrother. And unless she was much mistaken, he was the only bronze in her clutch, yes? His hissing and squawking elicited a soft assuring hum from the queen. See? The little weird thing wasn’t injuring her, but she appreciated his concern. It was very sweet of him to try to protect her, yes? …and he was still glaring. Why was he glaring? Manners wasn’t bad—yes, he looked strange, and yes, he was…incredibly overzealous, but he wasn’t bad. The gold flitter peeped questioningly at him, and then turned to the bronze ‘mandyr, crooning apologetically. Wouldn’t he please get off? Hers was a bit agitated by him, and Heir didn’t like it. It would be lovely of him to go back to His like he should be, yes?

Meira smiled at Ceryl—a bit feebly, still. Faranth, but Zesa was more trouble than she’d anticipated. Well, either Zesa or her hair—although Heir’s apparent protectiveness towards the young gold was…troublesome—unexpected, to say the least. As yet another Candidate arrived, Meira raised her eyes anxiously to his Salamandyr. Thank Faranth that she—it looked green…greenish—was asleep! Perhaps a green Salamandyr wouldn’t jump at her hair or try to defend Zesa—which was what she assumed that Heir was trying to do—but at least she wouldn’t have to double-guess herself. Meira barely managed to keep from sighing in relief, Zesa rubbing her head against her cheek reassuringly, and smiled again—it didn’t mean anything, really; it was an instinctive greeting—at Piden.

When Uu’n arrived, Meira glanced over him absently, but then did a double take. Several things had caught her attention. One, he had no wher with him; two, she recognized him and he wasn’t a wherhandler but a dragonrider; and three, he was all but a myriad of scars. Her gaze flicked over him a second later as she remembered not to stare. He had mentioned he’d be coming to wherling lessons, but she hadn’t thought he would come to one so early on—all they’d be learning was how to care for whers, right? She stared absently at Meisk, but Zesa had other ideas. She remembered this person. And she remembered something else, too. The young gold left Meira and landed delicately on the grass in front of Uu’n, singing the call at him. Whersport’s cry, followed by a howl. He’d liked it before, hadn’t he? And he didn’t smile nearly enough, she decided.

[weaving]

Sorry. Sorry. Not scary. Sorry. Having sensed that he had startled Meira with his sudden appearance, the bronze salamandyr froze, emitting a fierce stream of apologies to the young woman. He hadn’t meant to scare her. Her hair was very shiny and it didn’t help that on Meira’s shoulder rested a gold firelizard, the prettiest shiny of them all. He was constantly sneaking glances toward her and began to preen when he realized that she was staring. This was all rather short-lived however, for the woman soon moved the gold to perch on her wrist, effectively removing his eye candy.

“Manners, come back here. You can’t do that sort of thing. It’s not polite. Ask next time, okay?” Jermayan held out his hand for the bronze, who willingly latched onto it. While Meira’s hair had been pretty and Zesa was lovely, he loved his humanthing more than anything. At Jermayan’s gentle scolding, Manners turned to look at Meira as he apologized once more. So sorry. Very sorry. Never again.

It seemed that the peace that had been created by solving the problem of Manners randomly stroking people’s hair was to be short-lived however. Another weyrling approached with a bronze firelizard. The creature had seen Manners near Zesa and clearly didn’t approve, if his hiss was indicative of anything. Manners seemed not to fully register the threat, staring at Heir curiously, finding the way that Ceryl held him to be quite amusing indeed.

Well, this was going to be one interesting lesson. Jermayan glanced toward Ellanie to try and figure out what she thought of all this. Perhaps she would ban all pets from the lessons? That might be a good idea. Then again, they would need to learn to control their bondeds even if they didn’t all necessarily like each other. This would prove to be good practice.

Two others arrived, one another wherling and the other a dragonrider. He had heard of Uu’n, rider of the photophobe blue, but had yet to meet the man in person. If Jermayan remembered correctly, the bluerider was heading a project with the adult wherhandlers. As they grew old enough, the current wherling would probably get involved as well. Perhaps that explained why the man was here.