Weyrling lessons Begin...

[covera]

V'nus laughed at F'rah's silly pose and watched the other weyrlings for signs of moving. He stood up, ready to go, but he didn't want to go first. He would follow the first person that left the room, what if he would go the wrong way or something?
No, it was best just to wait.

But Vemorath didn't want to wait. What's keeping you? Let's go, I'm hungry! Vemorath said in a calm, but slightly excited voice. Vemorath was much more excited to start the lessons than his rider.

Willing to do anything for his dragon, V'nus sighed. All right, let's go then Vemorath, he said tiredly and left the room with a gleeful Vemorath on his heels and discovered that he would have to work very hard to get lost.

Dutifully V'nus took a place at nearly the first counter he saw and waited calmly for rest of the weyrlings to come.
Vemorath too was patient. He knew that it would do no good to plead for food. He would get it eventually.

[paryal]

Were they going to go around saying their names too? Snorting, Paryal listened with boredom at the rest of the Weyrlingmaster's speech, her eyes rolling slightly. There just seemed to be something too nice and too organized about him. He needed more steel if he ever wanted to hold the attention of the newest Queenrider. Even Aezanth was yawning, sleep overcoming her hunger. This is boring. Can we leave? I'm hungry. Let's go! Aezanth's eyes had aquired an orange edge, as she watched Paryal, waiting for the slightest cute in body language that her rider was going to get up and feed her. We can't love. Boring or not, we have to sit through this. This is important. But she was hungry too. Would this speech never end?

And then, suddenly, it did. Stretching as she rose, relief flooded through Paryal's body. Now they would have something to do, at the very least. "C'mon Aezanth. Let's go." Hunger overcoming her need to appear graceful and composed, Aezanth scrambled forward, leaving Paryal to run after her. Slow down! You can't even eat yet, so don't get too excited. Sulking, Aezanth obeyed, waiting until Paryal reached her and placed a firm hand on the silver gold head. Paryal was the one person that Aezanth seemed to listen to, above other dragons, and certainly above other humans. Maybe Aslath would one day have a tenous at best hold over Aezanth, but certainly no other dragon. She was such a handful now that Paryal winced to look to the future. It would certainly always be a battle of the wills- Aezanth against Paryal, Aezanth against Aslath, Aezanth against anyone who dared displease her sensibilities.

Taking the first slice of meat, Paryal began to slice deftly and evenly. She had been a beastcrafter, so this was easy work. The sight of blood didn't bother her one whit, as she carefully and even cheerfully sliced the slabs into chunks that she thought Aezanth could manage. Maybe it was just easier because Aezanth was the largest dragon- there wasn't much to be done to the meat. I'm eating now? Ever hopeful, Aezanth watched Paryal slicing the meat like a cat watches a can opener. Sorry love. Not yet. We have to wait. Faranth knows why. Snorting in displeasure, Aezanth sat at Paryal's feat still, eyes now whirling full red. How dare this man say that her rider couldn't feed her? Aezanth should get anything she wanted!

***
P'tol rolled his eyes at the girl, though some part of him still cowered back from her. It wasn't his fault that Llath was so shy. The actions of the dragon couldn't always reflect on the rider, and vice versa. Toryth shouldn't have been bothering a dragon that was obviously in distress, and obviously only wanted the comfort of her rider. Well, the girl could be that way. P'tol didn't care, though he did mentally mark to avoid her in the future.

Once the Weyrlingmaster had finished his speech (P'tol had infinite more patience than Paryal), P'tol stood. Let's go Llath. I'll be feeding you soon. Llath followed close to P'tol's heels, not saying much. What was there to say? She was hungry and scared and itched. The smell of the raw meat brought Llath fully to attention. With an imperious nature not unkin to Aezanth, she butted P'tol. I'm hungry! Feed me now. Please? Staring down the meat, P'tol nodded. Oh Faranth... Blood. He didn't like blood. Blood wasn't good. His stomach started to heave, and his head began to spin. Could he deal with this? Probably not.

[thialyn]

It wasn't the sight of the raw meat that gave the Runner pause. It was the fact that she had no idea how to cut it. Afterall, Runners ran, not butcher. But Liamorth butted her head into her thigh, wanting to be fed. So with the green's eyes watching her, Alene bent to the bloody task, watching the others who knew what they were doing and tried to mimic them. Alene held out the first cut piece to her green.

But Liamorth wouldn't eat it. "Lia? Something wrong?" she asked, concern filtering into her ever-present grin. The green Weyrling shook her head, turning it to watch her Hatchmates eating. Too bad Alene didn't understand the body language of dragons yet, or she would have seen the obvious motherly pose as Laimorth watched the others eat, making sure they didn't eat too fast or too much.

T'ren cocked his head at the sight of the Weyrlingmaster in his rather ridiculous pose. Since when was F'rah one for theatrics, he wondered. Come on, 'Mine! came the voice of his bronze, along with a firm butt to the leg. Your Kasraith is hungry! As the little bronze walked on his fake legs, he puffed his chest out a little bit. Even though none of the other dragons could hear it, Styth had spoken directly to him, and him alone. It made the little bronze proud to have such a big dragon speak to him. It never occured to him that he would grow to be bigger than the brown, as such thoughts never entered the heads of the young and impressionable.

T'ren followed his little bronze, nearly tripping over a desk in his haste to catch up and make sure Kas didn't trip as he sometimes did. The bronze looked back to his bonded, eyes whirling green with flecks of red hunger. Come on! he urged, practically bouncing in his hurry. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" T'ren answered with a grin. He would sure have his hands full, that was for sure.

[neeuqtar]

Uu'n was usually a light sleeper, but the aches from the fight the night before and the cuts were enough to really knock him out once he finally fell asleep. Adith was unusually energetic that evening, probably because His had just survived getting killed. Hooray. The pair had decided the curtain wasn't working, as enough light leaked in to be a serious problem, and so at some horrible hour of the morning had moved from their weyr to one of the empty wher hutches, or whatever they were called.

It probably was meant for a queen wherhandler, as it was equally as large as the weyr they had vacated, but instead of a bare cot, a musty bed, big enough for probably six people, resided in its own room, and there was some sort of sitting room, and a bathroom, with its own bath! Of course, it was extraordinarily filthy, but wherhandler quarters were not on the to-clean list, and the converted wher-to-dragon hutch-to-weyr had been specifically designed to keep more than the faintest of light from reaching the innards, even during midday.

And this all conspired to make Uu'n, not only late, but absolutely asleep for lessons, until Adith woke him up by rolling him off of his furs onto the cold stone floor. And by making it very clear that he was incredibly hungry. Fumbling in the near-pitch darkness, Uu'n somehow managed to get his clothing on (though the shirt was backwards and horribly wrinkled, to match the mess of his hair) and plunged his head into a bucket of water, shaking like a canine to get the water off. Carefully, working by touch and by the faintest of sight, Uu'n tied the makeshift blindfold of the Hatching robe on. Until he got something better, this would do. At least nobody had come to wake him up; the note on his doorway should point the Weyrlingmaster to where he was currently bunking when the man wanted them to have lessons.

Navigating out into the light was no treat, and the brilliant sunlight of the morning made a very tired Uu'n groan. But he caught sight of the other weyrlings and Adith caught scent of meat and blood and so the duo ambled over, Uu'n trying to rub some semblence of sight into his sunstruck eyes while guiding Adith with his other hand, and also fighting off a headache. Uhnn... he must have gotten hit on the head or something. What a terrible night... but he had Adith. So anything could be endured. Anything at all...

[Requiem]

Really? That sounds great! The little Phremath looked up at Styth with open adoration, her small green body wriggling with energy, but before she could divebomb the very, very big - at least to a hatcling's eyes - brown, Kali shook her head. The healer nodded toward the man who had begun speaking. Sullenly, Phremath moved to lie down, chafing at the fact that she wouldn't be allowed to fly just yet. She soon discovered that flying wasn't on the agenda at all for today. The lovely green creature let out a draconic sigh, fluttering the stubs on her back restlessly. Can we go now? Phremath mewed plaintively. Not just yet. Kalierre regarded F'rah with something like grudging amusement. He certainly was gregarious, now wasn't he?

Suddenly, the Weyrlingmaster's spiel ground to a halt, and immediately Phremath was on her feet, barreling for the door and the light and the open air! So maybe they weren't flying yet. Still, she could use some food. Besides, being cooped up in that stuffy room was no fun at all. Styth's talks too much, Phremath broadcasted generally, forgetting to leave the brown out of her comment. Kalierre was far more sedate and, in the end, the small green ended up crossing the distance several times as she rushed first to the room, then back to her rider and back again.

Kalierre figured it was best to let her bonded just work out all this energy, and glanced around to see which of the weyrlings moved toward the meat quickest, and which hung back. You're so slow, the green commented petulantly. I don't know why you're in such a hurry, sweetheart. It's not as if getting there first will get you fed any quicker. No, but that didn't stop Phremath from continuing her mad bustle.

***

Z'hin stared at F'rah, trying to keep himself awake and trying not to let the sense of suffocating get to him at the same time. It was great the Weyrlingmaster was certain to mention that he was 'not least.' Just great. As if he would even have thought that if F'rah hadn't mentioned it. You get sarcastic when you're grumpy, Jessereth commented matter-of-factly.

As the weyrlings began to file out, some more quickly than others, Z'hin and Jessereth waited for the room to empty. In fact, Z'hin had to nudge the hatchling in the ribs to get him moving. Why did we have to get up so early? Jessereth grumped, pulling himself up and letting out a gigantic yawn. His teeth gleamed in the light. Because that's what the Weyrlingmaster wanted, I suppose. The two made their slow way over, arriving near the end of the rush to the tables.

As he passed several of the other Weyrlings, Z'hin noticed P'tol's look of sickened revulsion. He paused by the greenrider as his astute gaze immediately assessed the problem. "Just blood, P'tol. You'll have to get over it; when she gets older, there will just be more of it." With what he hoped was a reassuring smile, the young man picked up the knife, pressing it into P'tol's hand and holding it there until he could feel the younger boy's fingers grasp the handle. He whispered, "If it helps any, it's little more than colored water anyway. Just think of that."

The brownpair moved on to one of the empty tables, Z'hin slicing the meat deftly. He must have prepared meat for stews and roasts thousands of times throughout his life. Jessereth curled up at his feet, only vaguely interested by the food. He would be much happier just sleeping. Much happier.

[missa]

Clestioth didn't seem to mind the tone the Queen used, infact, he actually didn't notice t much, instead making a comment that it was nice Hers woke up so easily, but he had fun waking His, though regretted waking his little cousin, did she know His had a brown flitt? It was called Kellris, Clestioth had no idea where the name had come from and oh, did he have to be quiet. All this was said in the space of a few breaths, his wings ruffling as he walked back to his rider, listening.

E'nor certainly couldn't say he was finding these lessons entertaining, the good part would come only when he started to learn more about Clesioth. How to feed him, bathe him, oil him, spoil him... Oi, where did that one come from.
But of course Mine will spoil me because E'nor, that is you Mine, love me and like to spoil me. There were certainly times where E'nor could relate Clestioth, his beloved blue, to some greens he knew. Including some of his class mates.

There was nothing about the next room that interested E'nor, oh no, but certainly those carcassess looked wonderful to his hungry dragonet.
Oh is one of those for me Mine? Oh goodie, I'm hungry, very hungry, I had a dream thing about being hungry, dream is when you are sleeping yes? Well I was hungry while I was sleeping, it was funny, yucky feelings in my tummy making funny noises, and then, then, the master person rang the bell and... I woke up.

Rinth was extrememly pleased when his Golden sister moved to sit next to both he and His, she was so nice and such a pretty colour too! And... Rinth noticed with a surge of dissapointment, not clumsy at all. Unlike himself.
Fair winds Aezanth, both Mine and I are well, thank-you. How are you and Yours. It is very good to see you, indeed it is. Did you sleep well? The formality gone from his mental voice by the timen he inquired about her and Hers, the bright, cheerful tone rang through, a slightly mettallic version of W'laim's own voice.

Paryal's grin was met with one of W'liam's own, his delight in the fact someone had chosen to sit with him obvious.
"Good morning to you Gold-rider. Absolutely, sharding wonderful. Waking up to a sound that reminds me of a dying wherry." W'laim's tone was much like Paryal's, suggesting he hadn't appreciated the wake up either. Indeed, he hadn't. Not when his poor Bronze had fallen out of bed thanks to it.

Rinth was almost as quick as his golden clutch-sister when it came to getting up and out of the room, W'liam laughing as he trotted to keep up.
"You do realise you can't eat until you're told to?"
That is silly. We should be able to eat when we are hungry, and I am hungry Mine!

[Tashe]

Ushering the last of the Weyrlings and their Dragons into the next room, F'rah once again took his position at the head of the classroom. Unfortunately, but it was to be expected, he had not gotten off on the very best foot with his students. Sighing, the Weyrlingmaster waited until everyone who had appeared settled down into a station before speaking after catching sight of the Photophobe and his rider.
"Ah... Mr. Uu'n. So glad you decided to join us! I'd like a word with you after todays' lessons."

Turning his attention back to the class, the honey haired teacher cleared his throat before speaking once again. "I know that some of you have either been around the Weyr long enough to have learned or have been trained on how to cut meat for young Dragons. But I want no groaning from that percent of you, since you should be aware that the other percent have absolutely no idea, being fresh from a Hold or a Hall."

"I do hope you all know that you use slicing knives, and not your run of the mill belt knives."
Glancing around the room of faces, F'rah deftly picked up the slicing knife and the belt knife that had been lain out on his desk to show the class the difference. "Your dragons are very young. So you'll need to cut the meat into fist sized chunks, although be sure to cut them at the most one inch in thickness." Carefully dicing the piece of carcass that he had selected, F'rah lifted it up for the others to see. "You see how there are long sinews of fat? Try to get as much as you can of it off ... when your dragons are a bit older you can leave most of it on." Flicking his wrist a few times, the Weyrlingmaster removed the meat of almost all of the fat strands. "Now I'd like all of you to try cutting your meat please. I will be wondering around the tables giving help to those who need it. You can also ask Miss Kalierre and Mister Z'hin for help, since I see they've already cut up some of their provided meat perfectly."

Then, judging the distance between himself and the large brown, the Weyrlingmaster tossed his piece of cut wet meat at Styth. "You may begin." Grinning at his class and then at his Dragon, F'rah began to circulate throughout the counters.

---

/Styth's talks to much/

That was the most amusing statement he had heard in the last few days, fluttering his wings slightly, Styth reached out to the small winged green.

/I heard that little one ... Though sometimes myself I agree. But, for now, it will seem like he is talking a lot. When you get older, what he has to say will be of more importance to you./

Crossing his forelegs, the dark brown male quietly let his head rest upon them while he listened to his Mine speak. He was used to F'rah speaking for long periods of time, usually when he was giving a lecture or participating in political matters. Although all of this talk of food was getting him hungry, maybe it was about time to go and slay some of the herd beasts for breakfast. After moments of contemplation, Styth felt a small tickle at the back of his mind warning him of the chunk of meat that came hurdling at him. Swiftly bringing his head up the medium sized brown caught the fist size piece of meat from the air, tilting his head back with a jerk, the Weyrlingmaster's brown swallowed it without a fault. After having delivered the meat into his stomach, Styth returned his head to his legs with a content sigh.

His Mine seemed to always come through for him ... the bond between himself and his human could not be any stronger.

[paryal]

Slightly overwhelmed by the blue dragon, Aezanth sat back on her haunches and blinked several times. He had said an awful lot in a very little amount of time, and her brain was having trouble taking it all in. Aezanth need not have worried, however, because soon the blue and his rider had sped off onto the next step of the Weyrling lesson process. But now bronze Rinth was speaking to her, and Aezanth was more than happy to respond. We slept very well, thank you Rinth. Did you and yours? He was a very nice color, and though he didn't have funny legs like Kasraith, he was well built. With an inexpert eye, Aezanth took the bronze in, mentally storing every bit of him in her limited draconic memory. One day it would be important, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

Paryal's attention had been diverted to the handsome bronzerider. He really was very, very good looking, and charming to boot. Oooh, being a Weyrling would be so difficult with men like this around. Maybe W'liam would like to go for a picnic later? Paryal knew she was being silly, but it was hard not to be around a man that was so obviously breath taking. "I was thinking the dying of a herdbeast. They're larger, and sound less pleasant than a wherry." Grinning, Paryal lost track of him as they transitioned into the next room. Once F'rah had finished speaking though, she looked around boredly for the bronze Weyrling and his dragon. Her meat slices were already lying there perfectly sliced, and as much as Aezanth looked at them longingly, she could not get them quite yet. Look mine, he is feeding his dragon. You will feed me now, yes? Watching F'rah toss his own meat to the dragon waiting outside the window, Paryal nodded once. Carefully, she began feeding her own nicely cut chunks to Aezanth. The Queen was eating them faster than Paryal could get her hands on them, and several times the young woman had to draw her hand back lest Aezanth take a bite out of that too. "Slow down Aezanth! You'll just choke if you eat this fast." Finally the pit that was Aezanth's stomach was filled. Now she itched, and was growing sleepy. It seemed as if Paryal wasn't going to have time to get to know the other bronzerider better.

***

P'tol felt his blush increasing as Z'hin spoke to him. Nodding mutely, he gripped the knife and stared down at the meat once again. Only colored water. Right. Only colored water. But water wasn't nearly as thick, and it didn't cry and leave strange stains on your clothing. What is wrong mine? You do not want to feed me? Llath sounded quite pitiful, as usual. Other people were already feeding their dragons. Why wasn't P'tol feeding her? I... don't like blood. At all. Llath peered over P'tol's shoulder at the meat, curious as to what was so disturbing about the blood. There was nothing wrong with it in her eyes. Blood was tasty. It made the meat taste even better. Please mine, I am so hungry. Unable to resist his dragon, P'tol brought his knife down on the first chunk of meat. He winced and closed his eyes halfway as he cut all the offending fat off of the meat, before tossing the chunk to Llath. She caught it greedily, wanting more. Soon P'tol was able to fall into a pattern. As long as he didn't think about the blood, it didn't need to exist. He was just dealing with colored water. Colored water, that was all.

[Tashe]

(Alright Speed finishing the first lesson. Has fallen behind a bit in the schedules.)

The sun had reached it's zinc as the Weyrling lesson had progressed quietly with only a few troubles. From the front desk, F'rah slumbered lightly as his Weyrlings took a test he had issued half a candle notch earlier. It had been a long morning filled with facts and information, but the Weyrlingmaster had delivered all of it despite his drowsiness. The lesson he gave included the Consequences of overfeeding, how to oil and when, and distributing the weyrling chores and what they are. Explosive dragon waste, itchy spots and dirty work... his lecture had been musically accompanied by giggles, sighs, and groans.

Sliding off of his chair, F'rah snapped himself awake from the doze with a vivacious jerk. How long had he slept? Only half an hour... that was good. The Weyrlings had had enough time to write out what they knew about dragons, and what they were hoping to learn from the lessons he gave. Coughing slightly to bring attention to himself, the honey haired man stood before stretching slightly.

"Alright students, TIME. Please finish up the sentance you are working on and write your name somewhere on the parchment." Letting his eyes wonder around the class room, F'rah continued. "When you are done I'd like you to come up to the front desk and NEATLY put your essays in a pile. You and your little one may leave for lunch after turning it in... you have the rest of the day free. Congratulations, you've survived your first Weyrling lesson. It will only get harder from here... I have asked Shmee for an assistant. So be expecting another teacher from time to time, and I assure you. This one won't be as nice as I am."

Drawing his chair back underneath him, the Weyrlingmaster silently shuffled through his files before looking back up at his class. "Turn in your papers please." Nodding good bye to the students as they filed past in their own paces, F'rah issued the occasional vocal so-long.

---

Spreading his wings high, Styth grumbled slightly as his red eyes swirled dangerously fast. Launching himself off of the platform he had occupied, the dark chocolate brown entered the between to get to the feeding grounds at a fast pace. Launching himself hungrily at the bovines, Styth began to relieve the pains in his stomach. The Weyrling lesson couldn't have ended any sooner.

[neeuqtar]

Uu'n didn't make a sound at the Weyrlingmaster's words, merely acknowledging the man with a nod, before following the others to feed Adith, which was a messy proposition, especially because the blue was blinded by the blindfold. And feeding a blind dragon wasn't much fun at all, especially when he was oh-so-hungry and his teeth so very sharp.

And the lesson had flown by, despite the occasional snicker at Adith, who kept bumping into things until he and Uu'n figured out a good communication system. One thing for certain, he and Adith were going to be among the best versed in mental communication, if they had to keep attending lessons during the daytime... the blueweyrling wrote almost without thinking, his pen flying across the well-scraped hide, old enough that the ink blurred at the edges, making the words a little more difficult to read than his normal scrawled handwriting.

Uu'n of blue Adith

I know little about dragons, and wish to know everything. Having lived in the mines all my life, any knowledge I have about dragons is likely ludicrously twisted, heard only in gossip and ancient stories. We had no Harper, only the stories passed mouth-to-mouth, growing in the telling. Certainly, I have seen no dragons large enough to flame out a mine system, nor heard any truthful tellings of dragons eating naughty children, nor are dragons the brutally cruel beasts who strip the land of herdbeasts and kept only in control by equally brutal riders--at least, not in Selenitas. Perhaps the North is different...

What little I know is based on the creatures I did see in the tunnels: whers, slashers, and tunnel-snakes, all poor representations of the magnificent beasts. They have blood as verdantly green as the leafings of the trees, and the blood and flesh of a draconid is a powerful cure for many infections and fevers. As I have seen, they can jump through space at a wish, they can soar through the skies, they grow to great size. According to the stories, their Flights send men and women alike into madness and orgy, and acts of cruelty and rape any other man would be Shunned for. It is only stories, but I truthfully know naught else.

What is truth? What truly lies in the mind of man and beast of the Weyr? What are the secrets of dragonkind? I can only say that I know nothing but winter tales from deep in the caverns of the earth herself, below the surface Rukbat rules and far beyond the reach of Thread. I find that I want to know everythingonly the truth.

With a sigh, Uu'n looked over his writing. What drivel... but he placed it carefully on the desk before the Weyrlingmaster, then stood to the side as people left. "Yahs wish't speech?" he asked, not deferentially, but at least not antagonistically.