Sylvan Weyr

[Carni]

Arreleth? Could you please...?, A'der asked his dragon politely. It was early morning, the summersun already standing a good bit above the horizon. The Weyrling would be awoken by their hungry partners soon if nobody awoke them. Maybe some were already getting up slowly. But apparently, the Weyrleader did not want to wait for them to raise from their slumber on their own. Today way their first real lesson, the day he would introduce them to their Weyrlingmasters and then leave them to their fate. He wasn't entirely happy about the choice that had been made and done his best to balance their teachers, seeking two who were quite different, two persons who could offer them two sides of the same medal, teaching them all they had to learn... ...he could only let go of the leash now and hope everything turned out well... The Weyrleader had a lot of doubts on that topic... Weyrlings, arise from your slumber..., the large bronze whispered softly, urging both dragon and rider from their sleep. Come now, children of the Weyr, it is time to learn... it was a nice way to be awoken and A'der knew that this would probably the last time someone woke them so carefully. Most Weyrlingmasters prefered to yell and get them out of their beds with a rush of pure adrenaline.

With a low sigh, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, a slight frown on his face while he was waiting. Behind him stood two other riders, one E'uan of Brown Cirdoth, the other one was the Weyrlingmaster the council had chosen. No one knew how long said rider would hold the position but there was no other option than this. Until they knew how to deal with these new colors. Until they had found a way to live with them... ...or to remove them from Pern forever.

Behind A'der to his right stood Theresa, her gaze as unpleasant as always, cold and threatening, icey daggers slowly digging through the rough leather of A'ders jacket, biting into his back. Hunkered over her rider sat the Crimson, staring at the entrance to the barracks, waiting for her thirteen children to arrive. It was rare for a mother to train her clutch but apparently mainly because it was usually a Queen, oftentimes the only Queen of the Weyr, who had other duties to fullfil. Once more, the Weyr ensured that everyone knew that Dafnierth was no queen, that Theresa was not the Weyrwoman, assigning her a job that would have been below her duties, had she not been the rider of a Crimson. And obviously... both Theresa and A'der knew, the tension between them quite visible for E'uan the unfortunate few that would soon stumble from their barracks... Hopefully the brownrider that had been selected to stand at A'ders other side would be enough to save these younglings from the Crimsonriders wrath...



((I'll wait for some people to post before I start the actual lesson and introduce your new masters to you ))

[obeah]

Berlioz had always kept odd hours, and the sleeping schedule of a newly born dragon was only making that easier for her. She'd been up since just before sunrise, and Frostith was gleaming with oil. There had been comment about oiling dragons since they Hatched, and when he started to itch, she convinced someone to show her what was what. Since then, she pledged to keep the blue as shiny as she possibly could. Couldn't hurt, right? Not if it was done properly and he didn't get slippery so as to hurt himself. She had even combed her hair at the snowy blue's request. That was rarer than an eclipse these days.

Cirdoth sent E'uan an image of the boisterous pair frolicking their way around his tail, and E'uan pursed his lips. He was not a cold man, not in the slightest, but there were standards of decorum for how one conducted themselves in front of the Weyrleader and the only clutchmother Sylvan had to its name. As the scruffy girl scampered past him, the assistant weyrling master, who looked a lot stockier than he moved, reached out a hand. He caught her by the shoulder with a huge amount of force, enough to stop her dead in her tracks. "There's a time for that, Finger," he rumbled in a low, crackly voice like autumn leaves. "This is not that time."

Thus, Berlioz spent the first few minutes of her weyrling lesson sulking, both that he'd been able to remember the one-of-many names she'd supplied to A'der before Impression and that he'd stopped her fun. Frostith seemed to be picking up on her mood, or perhaps it was that he'd noticed Theresa's iciness for the first time. Either way, he seemed a little sheepish to be standing in front of Berlioz, who was standing front and center where the weyrlings would go. He hunched his wings a little and kicked one forepaw into the dirt, waiting for the proceedings to begin. Berlioz just crossed her arms over her chest, only not scowling because she didn't want E'uan to look at her anymore.

[Kestrez]

Incarnath’s tail twitched slightly when F’ryn stopped walking towards the Kitchens, head turning to look at His, who had been a few steps behind. F’ryn himself shrugged slightly as the Bronze’s voice echoed in his head, running a hand through his hair as the dragon merely sat down where he had been standing. Can I not eat first? The Brown asked, even though he knew the answer. “I guess I should have actually gotten out of bed quicker when you woke me up.” The Weyrling replied. “Sorry.” It is not you fault Mine. I would not have been able to eat much anyways.

Of course F’ryn certainly didn’t mind the idea of learning, but he also had a feeling that this first lesson was going to be boring. Feeding Incarnath was already a sort of ritual and automatic thing in the morning, and he knew that young dragons had to be oiled like firelizards as they grew. The first lesson about anything was usually just basics, and if they would not have gotten in trouble he would have fed his dragon before showing up at the lesson. Approaching the Barracks from the side, the urge to just skip out brightened in his mind even more. A’der was one thing, but he recognized Theresa and her presence made him want to hide in the back of the Weyrling group. Except that there were not many Weyrlings present yet and so he could not go through with that plan. How hungry are you? He inquired, pace slowing quite a bit as they walked around Crimson Dafnierth.

The response he wasn’t expecting was Incarnath’s sudden stop, which promptly had F’ryn stumbling and falling to the side so that he didn’t harm his dragon. His somewhat quiet shout ended up as a coughing fit when he landed on his knees. Whatever noise the Brown was about to make was muffled by his hand, however. I’m fine. F’ryn pressed, hoping by some miracle that the mishap had not really been noticed. He stood up and brushed the dirt out of his hair, eyes already not betraying any of his embarrassment. The pair joined the others before the three Riders, and Incarnath wrapped his tail around His’ legs. I thought you were serious for a second. The Brown insisted, clearly feeling bad. F’ryn merely placed his hand back on the dragon’s head. He seriously hoped the lesson was not going to be boring.

[akusma]

Morning in Karla's room were never a very good thing, nor did they seem to be very calm. Even Vesuviath had been around long enough to recognise this. No matter how much warning she'd have had in advance, one thing for sure was that Karla was going to go berserk when she found out that she should be awake. The Mauve sighed slightly as she lifted her head from where it was placed over her rider's waist, her right paw staying in it's place here it had been next to it. Soon she would not be able to do this, so they - being Karla - wanted to make the best of this. Even Vesuviath, normally so practical, was pleased with this predicament to a certain extent. All four of them had ended up worming themselves into such a tangle. Darya was curled up in the ring her tail had created, and the new Green whom Karla had named Trinket was tangle in the blond's hair. Vesuviath sighed again, shifting to nuzzle the sleeping girl's shoulder, even as Arreleth's voice tried to lul her awake.

Karla groaned blinking slowly as she sat up, hands going to her head to detahc Trinket from her hair almost without thinking. She stroked Vesuviath's head in much the same way as she tried to figure out what was going on. Someone had been speaking to her...Arreleth's called us to lessons, Karla. Oh! Instantly, the blond shot up, reaching back to gently and hurridly place Trinket on the bed, leaving the poor creature staring around wide eyed with excitement. The blond babbled to herself as she fumbled with shirts and trousers, pulling item after item from the chest at the foot of the bed before rushing to the mirror to try and get into some sembalnce of normality.

Trinket thought this was wonderful. Screeching in delight the young Green luanched herself into the air, trying to 'help' her bonded in any way she could by pulling at clothes, at hair, at other things. Even goin as far as to throw things around the room. Vesuviath slipped off the bed, gently pulling a tired Darya with her to they could curl up on the floor behind the bed, reducing their chance of being hit by something. By the time Karla had actually grabbed onto Trinket, dressed, brushed her hair as best she could and coaxed Darya to her arms, they must have been somewhat late. Trinket chittered to them all as she clambered into Karla's hair, latching onto the neatly prepared bob and causing half of it to fall out. Squeaking, the girl was forced to rush back inside to fix it. Oh, now she had to learn to stop doing that! It was terribly annoying, and slowed down the whole process of them getting out of the room in a morning. It was find before bed, but not during the day. Karla sighed and wagged a finger at the new Green, leaving some of her hair hanging out of the bob in a slight side fringe despite her better judgement, and letting Trinket hang onto that. It didn't pay to let children do as they wished for a while.

You will have to train her eventually, Karla, Vesuviath murmered as they approached the three people who would shape their future - sort of, one of them was just there because he had to be, Karla doubtd he'd do any teaching. Weyrleaders were above that, and he must have had so much work to do! It was wondeful that he'd taken to the time to talk to them all like this, even if most of the Weyr did hate some of them.

"Good morning Weyrleader! E'uan and Cirdoth! Theresa and Dafnierth!" Karla chirped, bobbing a curtsey at some point as she listed the names of the people there, smiling brightly at them all. The woman had taken to memorising some of the names of the higher ranking riders and dragon pairs, and some of the lower ranks, in an effort to at least try and please some of the people who didn't like the new colours. She still had no idea how it would please people, but if she knew people's names, she didn't have to panic and babble quite so much when she met new people. Should she call them by rank? She was still unsure of their actual rank...Theresa she hadn't heard much about, and E'uan might have been the Weyrlingmaster or the Assistant Weyrlingmaster. Obviously it was one of two ranks, since he was here. Theresa could have just been there because it was her dragon's clutch. Vesuviath simply hummed, sitting down at Karla's feet to wrap her tail around the blond's ankle. Trinket began to warble along, which sent Karla into a flurry of activity as she tried to shove Darya onto her shoulder, and pull Trinket off her hair and into her arms, shushing her firmly with an embarrassed smile. She quickly turned to face the boy she'd stood next to, smiling brightly at him before hurridly whispering to him. "F'ryn! How are you? And how are you Incarnath’?" Vesuviath sighed slightly, nodding to the human before lowering her head to the Brown. Good morning, Incarnath, I trust you are well?

[Bojangles]

As daylight slowly overtook the weyr, washing it with a golden glow as a new day began, Marli found herself sleeping in. This wasn't her normal standard, but caring for her dear Sugilith had proved to be an exhausting task that Marli undertook with a great deal of enthusiasm. The result was one very content mauve dragon and one wiped out young woman. Surf was curled up against Sugilith, an arrangement that left both the old canine and the dragonet cozy warm. The two had taken to each other rather quickly. The old blue canine's slower pace and gentle nature was appealing to Sugilith and it seemed an odd sort of friendship, but it was a friendship nonetheless. Fire was another story altogether. He was rambunctious and chaotic and bewildered Sugilith more than he did his owner. Unbeknownst to the sleeping weyrling, her door was ajar and the red canine was absent. This could either be a blessing or a hazard and only the passing day would bring that answer. Perhaps the quiet meant it was a blessing indeed.

A gentle voice called out to both the young dragons and their new riders, urging them out of bed. Marli was awake instantly, her eyes scanning the room as she slowly sat up. She suppressed a groan when she realized the door was ajar and Fire was absent. Surf was curled up asleep with Sugilith who was only just starting to wake up. A quiet purr greeted Marli and one large eye slowly opened to reveal a slowly whirling and contented blue jewel. The mauve lifted her head, opening her maw wide in a sleepy yawn that was accompanied by a slow and luxurious stretch. Sugilith carefully stepped away from the oversized dragoncouch that she would slowly grow to fit. Surf lifted his head when he realized his new friend was leaving but decided to go right back to sleep for the time being.

Marli quickly slid into her breeches and then slipped on a rather worn tunic that was one of her favourites. "Good morning Sugilith," she murmured as she laced her boots and stood again. "Lessons already. Are you ready for it?"

I'm hungry actually.

"I know dear, but if I'd known we'd be having a lesson this early I would have gotten both of us up earlier to get some food in our stomachs first," Marli said gently. "Best I can do is that we'll get food as soon as we're done. Okay?"

Sugilith looked up at her rider. No, it wasn't really okay, but the tiny mauve wasn't going to argue as Marli had offered the best she could at this point. The girl lovingly caressed the muave dragon's jaw and planted a kiss on her nose before beckoning to follow. Surf heard the two leaving and lazily shuffled after them. Marli's pace was quick, but not racing, and she took the opportunity to braid her blond her so that it would be out of her way during the lesson.

Marli and Sugilith were neither the first nor the last to arrive to their lesson. Sugilith warbled sweetly to her mother, but Marli found Theresa's icy stare to be intimidating and the girl flinched and tried to avoid it being directed at her. She spotted Karla immediately and scurried in their direction with her two companions in tow. Familiar faces were a relief and a blessing Marli welcomed.

"Morning Karla!" Marli chirped pleasantly, relaxing slightly. There was no reason for her to be uptight about anything really. She had Sugilith and nothing could change that... could it?

Hello Vesuviath! Are you hungry too?

[Carni]

A'der crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared up into the sky, thinking of other things while they were waiting for the Weyrlings to arrive. He smiled softly upon Karla's greeting, nodding slightly into her direction without loosing a word himself though. One by one the Weyrlings arrived until A'der finally decided that there were enough of them to begin the Introduction and leave their fate in Theresas and E'uans hands. Glancing at the Brownrider who had stopped one of the girls that was now sulking in the middle of the group, he wondered for a second if it was wise to put Theresa together who seemed to be stern enough on his own. Hopefully at least one of these Weyrlingmasters would warm up a little with the Weyrlings. Otherwise their lessons would be very... very... cold.

Clearing his throat, A'der straightened up and stepped forward a little until he was just in front of the Group of Weyrlings: "Good morning. I hope you all have slept well. I woke you up before your dragons hunger does to introduce you to your new Weyrlingmasters. They are responsible for your training during the coming turn and will hopefully teach you everything you need to know in order to survive a Threadfall and all the other odds you might be put up against as a dragonrider. The Weyr council selected Theresa to be your main Weyrlingmaster. I'm pretty sure you know her and her Crimson Dafnierth already. She is certainly best-suited to know and understand any and all problems you might stumble across when dealing with your dragon - especially the oddly colored ones." A'der paused for a moment, nodding slightly into Vesuviath and Sugilith direction.

"I'm sure she knows better than anyone of our other riders how to deal with the unique problems that arise when being the first rider of a certain dragon. None of us knows what you might stumble over while your dragons grow." Again, A'der paused. He hoped that the Weyrlings wouldn't be scared just because the Weyr had chosen to play safe while training them. Well, the council had probably also thought it might be clever to put them all together so that they knew where they belonged, trying to seperate them and Theresa from the Weyr... At least they had an experienced rider to help them out...

"The second person I want to introduce to you is E'uan of Brown Cirdoth, he is Theresas Assistant and you will give him the same respect you have for her. He is highly experienced and there is a lot you can learn from him putting the basics aside. I'm sure these two will train you well if you allow them to do so. One day your life will depend on what you learned and only if you listen closely you can avoid negative experiences many riders before you have gone through. That's it from my side. I will now leave you to Theresa and E'uan. Try solving any problems you might have with them first - if you cannot, you can always come to me and ask me for help. Good luck." The Weyrleader gave one last, firm nod before turning around and leaving at his bronzes side - who followed much slower, glancing over his shoulder from time to time, looking back at the young dragons. Good luck, little ones. Learn well..., the bronze murmured.


--------------------


Theresa had been utterly quiet during the introduction, her cold eyes never moving far from the small group of Weyrlings. Even when A'der left, she didn't seem as if she were going to say anything, no muscle moving. Only when A'der was out of sight, she turned her head to glance at E'uan for a moment, moving one step forward with a firm nod to herself. "Good morning.", she said coldly, a slight frown appearing on her face while she watched the Weyrlings in front of her. "I'm sure your dragons are already getting hungry but instead of getting some bowls of pre-cut meat, you'll start taking care of that yourself today. Some of you might find it hard to cut up a carcass if they are doing it for the first time but I can asure you that you'll get used to it. It keeps your dragon alive, after all. You may team up in pairs to ensure all of your dragons get food in case someone is fainting upon the sight of blood. You are thirteen Weyrlings - that means there will be five pairs and one group of three." Theresa paused, her frown deepening a little. "Dafnierth and Cirdoth will bring the herdbeasts for you - tomorrow you will have to walk to the beast pens and cut meat for your dragons on your own before the lesson starts. Make sure you wake up early enough or otherwise your dragon will go hungry during the lesson - it'll be enough punishment for you, trust me."

Dafnierth grumbled behind her, lowering her head a little and nuzzling her rider before she rose to all four and turned away, hopping a few steps with the usual awkward gait of a dragon before she launched off to pick up the herdbeasts for her rider. Cirdoth? Can you lend me a claw with this?, she asked the brown in a tone that wasn't almost as cold as Theresas. Unlike her rider, the Crimson seemed almost friendly, flying towards the beastpens and picking up two of the Herdbeasts that the Herdingmaster had already killed and blooded for them. Either she or the brown would have to fly twice to pick up all six of them and carry them to the Weyrlings but Dafnierth didn't feel like pushing herself too much for a stupid herdbeast. She could have carried three but picking up just two was much safer. And it was much easier to take off with less weight to pull her down. Soon enough, all six dead herdbeasts would lay in front of the Weyrlings, their lifeless eyes staring up into the sky.

"I will not teach you how to cut these up properly - even tho I will give you a little warning... You should start with removing the guts and the skin because the first can ruin the entire carcass if you don't do it properly, making it impossible for your dragon to eat the flesh so be careful. I want you to learn from each other instead - I know at least some of you should be able to cut up a herdbeast and this will be the first, essential part of today's lesson: Work together. Later in your life as dragonrider, your life will depend on your wingmates and their life on you. Like it or not, you will be forced to work together and need to learn as much as you can while you still have the time. E'uan will be here and assist you if you fail to do it on your own, but try working together first. Nothing is gained without efford. While you are cutting up the meat for your hungry dragon, E'uan and I will lecture you about the basic care of a young dragon. We will teach you what you need to look for so that you can see the signs early if something is going wrong. Begin!", Theresa told the Weyrlings - not quite as coldly as before but not really friendly either. Maybe this would give her the time to talk to E'uan a little and if one of them was busy helping the Weyrlings, the other could take over and teach them the basic care for their dragon - like taking care of itching hide or bloated bellies...

[Eyota]

(Short posted)

To say that the night had been a disaster would be a lie. Fiasco was the best way to put it. First, Creln had been irrirated that a new companion had been added to their company and promptly "taught" Indigolith that this was "her" kingdom with a vicious nip. R'hit, as a result, had sent the green promptly away, already tired from the effort that it had taken to get the poor dragonet to his currently state of health. Habit had reassured him at the Hatching that Indigolith would be all right, would be able to live. Creln's antics had frayed at his nerves. At least Chiron hadn't acted badly and had actually encouraged the hatchling. And when R'hit had asked him to go elsewhere for a while, the bronze had listened. Then R'hit finally got time alone with his dragonet and helped Indigolith get comfortable before going to sleep. Two or three candlemarks later, the weyrling had woken up when Indigolith had complained of itching and pain. It was where the fresh stitching was on the wound and the numbweed had apparently worn off. So, R'hit had had to gone and get a jar numbweed from one of the Healers and lucky for him, he already knew how to apply it.

Throughout the night, he was continously woken up by his dragonet and after the third time, the weyrling had given up on getting any sleep. And then finally a candlemark before the bronze called to the weyrlings, Indigolith had gotten back into a sleep. Exhausted, the weyrling rider had collasped beside the Chrome and simply fallen asleep next to his dragon's couch. And that was where R'hit currently was. Rumpled clothing and hair didn't exactly help the fact that he was going to be extremely late to the Lesson if he made it at all at this rate. Creln had claimed the bed for herself to sleep on sometime during the night and Chiron was laying next to R'hit, curled up near the crook of the teenager's neck. Indigolith was currently sleeping on his couch and needless to say, no one had heard Arrleath's call. Oh, dear. They would be trouble, wouldn't they? >3

[akusma]

The blond was still awaiting a reply from F'ryn when Marli arrived. Squealing, she moved to try and throw her arms around the girl, beaming brightly. She'd been one of the four poeple she'd stood near at the hatching! Along with F'ryn of course; and N'lan and Brienne. She'd be ever so excited to hear that the girl was a fellow Mauve rider! Someone she knew as a new colour rider! Karla had just known the girl was bound to Impress, she'd been too wonderful not to! Of course, she hadn't expected her to Impress to a Mauve, she hadn't even expected such a colour to be there! It was nice, yes, but the dragon was more important then the colour! "Marli! How are you? Did you sleep well? How's your dragon? Eep, sorry Sugilith, how are you? How's Fire?" she babbled, stepping back slightly to hold Marli away from her at arms length before trying to hug her for the last time. Oh, she did like the girl.

Vesuviath sighed slightly, her tail uncurling from her rider's ankle as she surveyed her younger sister. A soft smile - or as soft a smile as you could on a dragon - appeared on her face as she lowered her head to nod at the other Mauve. Greetings, Sugilith, I am not hungry yet, and I do not think I will be for a little while perhaps. I trust you are well, as my rider has asked? The two sisters, while not opposites, were certainly different. While Sugilith was forward, Vesuviath wasn't. That didn't make her any less outgoing, but she was more reserved.

Sugilith was actually quite bright to look at, wasn't she? After looking at Vesuviath for so long - Faranth, the Mauve was practically dull in comparison to her sister - it was a surprising thing! The pinkness Sugilith had was a nice difference as well, leaving Vesuviath to be the only Mauve that was mostly purple in the Weyr. The thought was rather selfish of her she knew, wanting her dragon to be unique, and she shuffled slightly before grinning at the dragon and bobbing a curtsey to her, only a small one. As soon as she was about to turn back to Marli, the Weyrleader began to speak, so, squeaking slightly, she turned to face him. Ooooh, now was most certainly not a good time for Trinket to, erm...Try and bury her head back into Karla's hair. With a hissed 'no', the blond reached up to try and pull her free, but the little Green was stubborn enough to cling tight, chirping now, quietly. This was important! She had to pay attention. Oh please, get off of her hair for a moment. Darya chitted as quietly as she coud, adding a chirp in here and there, along with a small growl, explaining the situation as best she could to her fellow Green. Trinket chirped back, peering at Darya from under some hair before nodding slightly, retreating to the blond's shoulder to sulk.

She was very interested in what Al'der had to say, truly she was, it wasn't her fault she missed the beginning! Though the part about Theresa being their Weyrlingmaster she did catch. Karla wasn't sure whether to be happy, excited, grateful, or terrified at the possibility. Theresa wasn't her favourite person in the world, and she scared her slightly...But she did know the most about the new colours. She glanced down at the Mauve at her feet, smiling at her as she looked up herself. The purple coloured dragon nudged Karla's attention back to the front. This was important, she had to watch it. The second Weyrlingmaster didn't have much of Karla's attention. She'd never met him before, but he rode Brown, so he had to be okay!

Once he was walking away, they were left with a cold and silent Theresa. Karla shifted from foot to foot, biting her lip slightly as she looked up at Theresa and Dafnierth through her eyelashes. What now? Shouldn't they be doing something? Now, Karla would never tell anyone what to do, and most certainly not Theresa, but...Lessons usually involved some kind of...work. Be patient, things happen when they need to, Vesuviath murmered softly. She was just as willing to get on with the lessons, but they would have to wait. And soon enough she was proved right as Theresa calmly and coldly told them how things would be from now on. Karla bit her lip as she listened, clasping her hands in front of her. Oh, she did like her sleep...Maybe she should just go to bed earlier...That might be the only way she would get up in time, before lessons. Vesuviath wasn't hungry early, apparantly, but she'd have to be fed before lessons. Karla was guessing these lessons would be early ones.

Karla was busy thinking as Dafnierth and Cirdoth deposited the six carcasses in front of the Weyrlings. When she did finally jump at the sound of the new Weyrlingmaster's voice, she spotted them. Oh now, that was going a little far, wasn't it? She pursed her lips slightly, shoulders tightening. She had nothing against blood, she wasn't squeemish but...Oh, it was so very messy. It is food, you eat it as well. Vesuviath said softly, nudging her rider's thigh. She was starting to get hungry, but she understood where her rider was coming from. The girl liked animals, and the sight of one as it was now wasn't that nice for her. Karla sighed slightly as Theresa finished, straighting and turning to Marli with such a bright smile. "Shall we work together?" she asked, hesitantly, with a shy smile, "Skinning it first might be good." The last part was murmered as a thought, just thinking out loud. I think you're right. You'll be able to see more before you gut it.

[Carni]

The soft flapping of wings could be heard from inside the Barracks, too quiet to be those of a dragon, a tiny brown spy flying from room to room, diving through under curtains, peering around corners, sniffling out Weyrlings that were not yet present at the Lesson in front of the Barracks. A tiny chirp errupted from the browns snout when he found the young Weyrling and his Chrome, the boy collapsed on the ground. He felt a tinge of pity, hovering in the entrance for a moment before turning away. The brown knew his duty, knew his orders and quickly he found the way back out from the Barracks, landing on his owners shoulders, chirping into her ear, crooning and hoping she would show some mercy...

Theresa quietly watched the Weyrlings before her while she was listening to the brown flitter on her shoulder, examining the pictures he was showing her. "E'uan?", she asked after a while "Could you please take over for a moment?" - the Weyrlings were still busy finding pairs and had not yet started cutting up the carcasses... so it was safe to leave for a moment. Without waiting for her Assistants answer, Theresa turned to enter the Barracks, stalking through the long tunnel like a predator hunting its prey. Upon a slight tug on her hair from the Brown Firelizard on her shoulder, she turned around and came to stand right before R'hits room. A frown had appeared on her face, growing deeper and deeper with every second that passed while she stared down at his messy form, sound asleep. A Bronze Firelizard and a Green... no wonder he wasn't capable of getting up in time. Weyrlings shouldn't have to take care of anything but their dragons and themselves. Some weren't even capable of that, let alone raising two young flitters at the same time. Theresas frown deepened one, last time before she suddenly moved forward: GET YOUR ASS UP FROM THE FLOOR OR I SWEAR I WILL DROP YOU AND YOUR PETS INTO THE NEXT THREADFALL!, she yelled, her voice echoing through the small room while she bent down to pick him up by the neck of his shirt and pull him up to his feet. Show some mercy to the poor boy... yesterday must have been exhausting..., Dafnierth pleaed from outside the Barracks, shifting her weight with unease in front of the rest of the Weyrlings...

[Eyota]

Indigolith lifted its head up weakly upon Theresa's shouting, facets whirling a yellow-white mixture. The young Chrome didn't understand why its mother's rider was in there, shouting at its bonded. Somehow, Its had made her upset.... and that wasn't good. Not at all. The young dragonet quietly observed what was going on as R'hit woke up and automatically flinched away from Theresa's touch. Gray eyes had shot open upon hearing the Crimsonrider screaming at him and it was impossible not to realize that she was furious with him. Chiron had similarly responded, going between to the safer location of being on top of the bed. And the bronze had taken as much care as not to get near an angry Creln as she screeched the indiginity of being woken up like this. Red facets were the green's facets as she tried to decide whether she would get out of there to go sleep elsewhere or go punish the criminal. Upon spotting it was Theresa, the green took one look at the scary figure and shallowed her pride. Fleeing, she betweened to a warm rock outside of the Kitchens. Anywhere but be near that frightening human!

A primal fear was visible in the weyrling's eyes before he fully conciously realized the sitatution and the fear was replaced by confusion and something else that was hard to describe exactly. "W-what?" was the first thing he managed to say, stammering somewhat. R'hit had hit his head on Indigolith's couch when he had jerked away from Theresa's touch. Scrambling upwards, he heard Indigolith's voice, She's mad at us for some reason. I hope we didn't break any rules. The young dragonet pushed itself up, facets whirling a full yellow now. The pain wasn't back yet... Maybe it and its rider had forgotten to do something or broke some rule when R'hit had gone and gotten the numbweed late at night or by staying up to take care of him everytime Indigolith woke up with pain. "I don't know," the weyrling told his dragon silently, relieved at having discovered that he could do that earlier by accident. Ask her what's wrong then? the Chrome offered helpfully.

"Sss-sorry," R'hit apologized shakily, "but what did we do wrong?" The teenager didn't even try to explain anything, didn't even try to make excuses. The fear was back, tugging at the weyrling's mind as he nervously tried not to look at Theresa, and slightly embarassed at his reaction to being touched.

[Carni]

"What did you do wrong?", Theresa hissed as she watched R'hit to get up to his feet, her gaze flickering over Indigolith, examining the wound on the Chrome's neck and quickly returning to stare at the young Weyrling that had not heard the call earlier. She had noticed his reaction to her brief touch, remebered the fear that had stood in his grey eyes. Had she been as murderous as the majority of the Weyr believed she was, she would have pounced at him and ripped him apart that second. Her appearance and behavior was scary enough still. "That's the weakest excuse I have heard in a long time, and I have heard a lot of them lately...", the Crimsonrider said while stalking forward, following R'hits earlier retreat like a tiger circling its prey, her cold blue eyes now fixed to his face.

"I expected you to have something better to say to ignoring the Weyrleaders call...", she growled before suddenly stepping aside, freeing the entrance: "And now get out of here before I make up my mind!", she hissed again, her right arm pointing towards the exit. Maybe it was because of Indigolith' wound, maybe it was because it was their first day... or maybe just because of another reason nobody but Theresa would know but it almost seemed as if she'd let him get away without punishment if he hurried up and got out of the Barracks quickly... Maybe it was just a trick and she would have a bunch of Tunnelsnakes after him to nibble at his ankles... You never knew with Theresa...

[Kestrez]

I am well Vesuviath. Just getting very hungry. Incarnath declared when the Mauve arrived. I hope we can all eat soon.

Beside him, F’ryn was watching to see which Weyrlings would arrive next so intensely that he did not reply to Karla right away, and he did not want to interrupt when she turned to greet another of the new Riders. He was fairly certain that she knew the entire group already. What was the other girl’s name? Marli? He thought that was it. He had made a mental note about the name the day before but it also felt like he had somehow never slept since waking up to N’lan yelling into the Candidate Barracks. A’der had started talking at that point, and F’ryn couldn’t help but shift uneasily when it was announced that Theresa was their Weyrlingmaster. He somehow doubted that she would be very lenient in little mistakes. The Weyrling avoided her gaze as she started talking, noticing after a moment that Incarnath was peering up at him. Why does she make you nervous? The Brown asked in a rather confused tone, looking from their teacher to His.

She is rather intimidating. And not very friendly. Although I don’t know her well so I guess I should not judge her. F’ryn replied, feeling a little guilty for jumping to conclusions by the end of his sentence. He distracted himself by watching Dafnierth fly off to get the herdbeasts. Incarnath was instantly distracted by the prospect of finally getting his morning meal, and nudged His forward. F’ryn had never prepared an entire herdbeast before, although he was comfortable with skinning and preparing meat in general. He was pretty sure that it was going to take a while to actually complete the task though. If they had to be in groups, though, maybe he could help one of the others. He turned to Karla just as she asked Marli to be her partner, deciding he could finally talk. “Good morning, sorry about ignoring you practically.” He offered with a smirk and a nod to the other girl as well. He paused for a moment as he caught movement; Theresa disappearing into the Barracks. “Where is she…”

He could not have been the only one that was startled by the…scolding…that was obviously taking place inside. He did not want to be whoever it was that had just been caught being late. Incarnath , too, had frozen in place for a moment. F’ryn decided against waiting to see who emerged, he didn’t think their Weyrlingmaster would appreciate it if they were all staring when she came back outside. Instead he made his way over to one of the youngest Weyrlings, a female Bluerider. He didn’t know her but maybe she was uncomfortable with the task they had all just been given.

“Morning.” He started, offering a hand to the girl. “I don’t think that we’ve met before. I’m F’ryn, this is Incarnath. Want to work together?” The faster you work together the faster we get fed. Incarnath greeted, nodding to Frostith.

[obeah]

Cirdoth had only been waiting for Dafnierth to clear the area before he lifted off, powerful downstroke kicking up a bit of dust as he followed her. Of course, he responded politely, though it hadn't really been a request as much as a suggestion. He readied his talons, then picked up two of them. He glided over the weyrlings' heads, dropping the carcasses a good distance away so that nobody would be crushed, then went back for the second pair. Dafnierth was a good dragon, he had decided, though she seemed to make his rider uncomfortable. Her rider, though… she was tough like chewed leather, and it was foreign to him, what with E'uan's easygoing nature. When he landed, it was as far from her as he could get. Then she decided to leave, chasing after one of the weyrlings who had not yet arrived, and the carriage of his wings seemed to relax a little more.

"Start skinning from just under the chin," E'uan added on to Theresa's tip as she left to get R'hit. "That way you get used to the texture of the hide by the time you get down to the ribs. You don't want to be pressing too hard as you get down to the gut, or you could puncture the intestines." He tilted his head, dreadlocks cascading to one side. "I hope that if any of you have experience in the Beastcraft, you'll spread out so that everyone can eat as soon as possible."

"I'm Finger," she clasped F'ryn's hand in a strangely masculine grip. Lucky for the brown weyrling, she had actually washed this morning, so her hands were clean and soft instead of grubby. "This is Frostith. A pleasure, from both of us." Frostith made a small noise of grumpiness at the strange name his Berlioz-heart was calling herself, but said nothing. Berlioz looked over at him, telling him "We'll eat soon" gently. You know that's not what's wrong, he whispered sulkily. Berlioz did not respond, only looked around at people. "I know how to clean a fish," she told F'ryn as she surveyed the beast dubiously. "This shouldn't be much different, just bigger," she posited. "But I got m'knife taken away before the Hatching, the Headwoman didn't appreciate the patterns I was cutting into the top of the bubblies. Apparently she just wanted flower patterns on them, how boring."

Berlioz moved forward and lifted the herdbeast's jaw, face thoughtful. E'uan passed by on his way to instruct Karla and company, and gave back her knife, causing her face to light up with delight. "You don't get to keep it longer than you need to cut meat," he rumbled, which caused her to be grumpy once more. She dug her knife into the meat, mouth screwed up in concentration. "Where you from, F'ryn?"

[Eyota]

Chiron quivered from the safe spot on top of the bed. The female was yelling at His but he didn't want to interfere, knowing her to be the owner of a brown and a queen. A queen could easily stop him from defending his human. Besides, this female wasn't attacking His yet and if she attacked His, then the bronze would go and protect his bonded. With these decisions made, the firelizard hunkered down on the bed, curling up in a tight ball. Maybe if he didn't bring attention to himself, he wouldn't cause more trouble for him and his human. That was possible. Definitely possible. And with that, the bronze flitter now waited for the storm to be over and for him to be able to return back to his bonded's side. Creln, of course, had settled on top of a warm, smooth-surfaced rock and would not be returning for quite some time to R'hit. If at all during the day. She'd probably appear as soon as the sun set, hungry and demanding to be fed.

R'hit froze, expecting to hear exactly what he'd done wrong thrown into his face immediately. That seemed to him the sort of thing that Theresa would do, angered like she was. He also expected for her to go after him, and that was only one expectation half-filled as she came at him. The question had only been a seether to her fury. However, he had not expected her to take the question as an excuse. And he barely wondered for two seconds what kind of excuses they were and why she been hearing a lot of excuses lately. But then Rohit's gray eyes caught the sight of her eyes. They seem lifeless. Almost like they'd been frozen by a long, harsh winter. was what he thought when he saw them. His face was a mixture of edginess, anticipation, and something akin to the curious but fearful expression someone has when he or she was watching a horror unfold on television. But the look was lost as soon as she spoke again.

Indigolith meekly attempted to creep over to Its' side, legs shaking under the strain of walking. It would have to be careful. Its suggestion hadn't gone over too well... The suggestion had only made its mother's rider only more mad. The Chrome stumbled as Theresa stopped moving forward. It had done something wrong again. The dragonet trembled on the ground, its voice a whisper. Mine... help, please? I don't want to bother you. The young dragon hadn't gotten very far and looked somewhat pathetic on the ground there. It wouldn't be hard for someone to conclude in that moment since the dragonet could barely walk that it would amount to nothing. That it would be a weak runt for the rest of its life. That it was hardly worth saving if it was only going to die now or in the next few sevendays. That it would never fight Thread. That it would not even fly or carry its rider's weight upon its back. That the other Chrome would have been right to attempt to kill it and should have finished the job. That it should mercifully put out of its misery right then and there. That its rider would be the only one to fight for its survival.

So, that's what he had done. Why would the Weyrleader been calling him or all of the weyrlings for? Oh shards, it had had to be a lesson or something of a similar important matter. he thought. Crud. He'd plain slept through it, exhausted like he had been and still was. He had been about to retort something back to the Crimsonrider when Indigolith's voice reached him. He barely understood it but looking down at the dragon near his feet, got the intent better than the words. After the woman had finished speaking, he dared to hazard picking up Indigolith as quick as he dared to. The strain of picking up the dragonet showed on his face, his limbs exhausted and shaking. However, there was no complaint, only concern for the dragon on his face. "Maybe you'll be able to walk after you eat some more," he said to the Chrome. If I can. Indigolith anwsered back. "You will," he replied, "You have to." A steely glint surfaced in his face.

"That's because it wasn't an excuse." That was the only thing R'hit said in reply to Theresa once he managed to get close to the door. Something had been brought up when Indigolith had been helpless. The tired weyrling's face said clearly he wasn't afraid to fight for his dragon's sake and he wasn't willingly to explain why he was so tired. Not to her. Probably not even to most of the Weyr. Leaving, he carried Indigolith out of the Barracks. Once they were out of the Barracks, R'hit somehow found his way to the other weyrlings and let Indigolith down gently. With his dishevled appearance and the way Theresa had scolded, he wasn't exactly the person they would want to pair up with at the moment. He had a lost look on his face as he wasn't too sure what to do.

The Chrome looked around at all its siblings and saw its mother. Maybe she would know why Its had been yelled at and treated so harshly when it had been its fault for being in pain all night and keeping Its up. Quietly, it cautiously asked Dafnierth, Why did Mine get in trouble for sleeping? It's my fault he's so tired in the first place. I hurt and he stopped the hurting. I didn't mean for it to happen. The voice could have sounded like that of a small child's that didn't understand too much of what was going on. Facets whirling yellow, it asked Its in a small voice, Mine, if it's not too much trouble, can I have some food, please?

[Kestrez]

‘Puncturing the intestines’ did not sound very fun to F’ryn, and he did not know if the current clothes he was wearing would survive such an event. They were already quite dirty, although he had purposely picked old worn clothes to wear for the first few days of feeding Incarnath. He had always been prone to ruining his shirts when working in the kitchen and helping his mother cook. Feeding a dragon would result in similar occurrences, or so he guessed.

He was rather surprised by the reply that the Blue Weyrling gave. Finger? Was that a nickname? He didn’t mind nicknames, but he would have thought that she would have given her real name when first meeting someone. F’ryn wouldn’t ask about it, though, even if he did make note of the rather annoyed sound Frostith made. Maybe he could ask Finger her real name next time they saw each other. That couldn’t be her real name…right? Nevertheless, he grasped her hand with a small smile, at the same time wondering if Incarnath could ask Frostith about the girl’s introduction. If you want. Was the Brown’s answer, although he didn’t seem to interested. Nevermind. F’ryn replied softly, turning back to his partner when she spoke again. “I’ve got some experience in basic cooking. We should do fine, between the two of us. Nice to meet you.” Again, she surprised him with the way she spoke and what she said as well. He chose not to comment on her explanation, watching out of the corner of his eye as E’uan walked by and bending down to retrieve the knife that almost always rested against his ankle. Finger would not remind him of any of his younger siblings; that was already clear. He was glad that she was not uncomfortable with skinning and gutting the herdbeast though. As he went to the other side and started widening the cut Finger had already made, Incarnath expectantly watched the two work.

“I’m from a Cothold a ways South of the Weyr.” He replied absently as they worked, starting to cautiously peel back the carcass’ skin from around the throat and at the same time watching as the Weyrling that had just been yelled at emerged from the Barracks. F'ryn did not want to think about how the other Weyrling felt, though, and quickly averted his gaze once more. “I wasn’t here long before the Hatching. What about you, were you raised here?”

[obeah]

Cirdoth snaked his tail through the group of weyrlings and gave E'uan a hard nudge, sending the sexagenarian stumbling a few paces toward R'hit. He gave the brown a hard glare, but Cirdoth could feel with his mind that there was no vitriol behind the expression, and his eyes whirled with possessive happiness. The brownrider collected himself, giving R'hit just a few more moments to decide. Nothing from the chromerider, so E'uan stepped in. "Finger and F'ryn seem to be the farthest along," he pointed at them, then stalked away. Cirdoth was less subtle. Go eat, youngling. He looked at Indigolith imperiously.

E'uan looked at Serinja's handiwork and gave her some advice on how not to strain her wrists working away at the hide. He had been a tanner, and even if he hadn't been, as a dragonrider, this was entirely within his wheelhouse. Teaching was a new addition, and he felt like it came more easily to Cirdoth than it did to him. Still, he did his best. He made his way over to the pair of mutant-riders who had seemed to band together. "Karla, Marli," he greeted them. "Doing alright?"

Berlioz climbed on top of the carcass and pulled, feeling the skin give way beneath her fingers until it exposed a glossy red muscle, then another. This was both her least favorite and her most favorite part. It was hard work, which she despised, but it was really fascinating to watch the connective tissue pull away to nothing under her fingers. She made a small noise to show she had been listening, and she nodded. "I'm--" A warning twinge from Frostith practically split her head. He was loud when he was hungry.

"I used to tell people I grew up under a bed, raised by firelizards." She shrugged. "Ate trundlebugs, played games with spinners and tunnelsnakes." Frostith shook his head. "That sort of thing. Then I'd ask them what they thought. But you already told me," she said, grinning, "what you thought." She tilted her head. "When I told you I could clean a fish, I meant a real fish! We're in the middle of the jungle. No real fish here." She chewed on a strand of her hair as she started cutting chunks out of the beast's shoulder. "Grew up in a Seahold," she explained, trying to make it sound as anticlimactic as possible so he wouldn't ask questions. Her face was uncharacteristically serious.

Berlioz was really beginning to feel Frostith's hunger, and she paused in her skinning with a frown. Then she picked up one of the chunks and offered it to F'ryn. She felt like she was about to pass out cold from the blue's hunger pangs, which she was unconsciously taking off his newborn shoulders. But they weren't going to eat first, not if their partner didn't take the first bite. She may have looked mannerless, but she did have a little honor about her. Just a little.