It's Not All Fun and Games {Candidates}

[Zirin]

Ad’os sighed as he entered the weyrling barracks, taking a moment to lean against the wall and reminisce about the time he had spent there so many turns ago… well, three turns ago now. It was hard to believe that he was returning here now with a position of authority. To be able to greet the next generation of riders, and watch as they prepared for that magical day on the sands… He pulled away from the wall, grimacing at the layer of dust that now coated his hands. Screwing watching them, he needed to make them clean! Across their bond, he could hear Soheath’s monotonous chuckle at his cleaning habits. I’m not as bad as I used to be! He retorted. Addy had to admit that before becoming a rider he had been obsessed with cleaning. Even now, his habit to de-wrinkle clothing and bed sheets, and keep his private quarters clean was still strong. Weyrlinghood had helped him overcome the worst of his obsession though… but now that he was able to take charge of the new candidates? Without a doubt the barracks would soon be spotless!

The newly appointed CandidateMaster left the barracks and headed towards the weyrling area. As much as he wanted to get a good start on the barracks, there was something more important to deal with. Soheath, do the honours please. He said to the brown that lounged nearby. Soheath grumbled. The dragon had not been fond of the idea of being CandidateMaster, he didn’t like to speak to any human beside his rider, and the rare person who caught his interest, and now he would have to speak with all of them. He grumbled again, but did as he had been told. It was his duty now, after all. Candidates. Report. He added an image of the area where the candidates were to meet. Ad’os waited with excitement for the candidates to arrive, and a number of them were quite prompt. Once quite a few had gathered, he felt it was time to begin.

“Welcome ladies and gents.” He began, “My name is Ad’os, rider of Brown Soheath. Some of you might recognise me from search,” He grinned at the candidates in question before saying what he considered to be the most important bit of info about the dragonets. “For those of you who made it on time, congratulations, you just gave yourselves an advantage at the hatching. The dragons will not wait for stragglers, if you’re late, you may miss out on meeting your dragon. As such, excluding today, there will be a penalty for anyone who is late for a task or lesson.”

He wasn’t trying to sound mean or demanding, but he wanted the candidates to be prepared for the hatching. The call could come at any moment, regardless of what you were doing, and in order to test your luck on the sands, you needed to get there fast. “Now, before we get into the task for today, I think we should all give a little introduction. I want to know your names and where you come from. You can add anything else you want.” Personally Addy had never been fond of group introductions, but he needed to know who was who.

[Akira]

Akira sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed, the same bed that she had before Loraketh's clutch. Blue was laying on the pillow sleeping, as usual. She shook her head, and laid back so that she was staring at the ceiling. That's when she heard a dragon's voice inside her head. It wasn't a familiar voice, but she did as the voice commanded. Come on Blue. She hit the pillow next to where the blue firelizard was sleeping as she spoke.

Blue wasn't very happy when His woke him up, but he just grumbled sleepily, and did what she had asked. He climbed up onto her shoulder, and wrapped his polka-dotted tail around her neck. Akira shook her head at her flit, and made her way out of her room, to where the picture she had seen was. She wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't the first one there, though, she was surprised to see that she was probably the fifth, or sixth. She looked around at the other candidates, and tried to see if she recognized any of them from before.

Akira turned her attention to the man that she guessed was the new candidate master. She had heard that K'tor had quit, though, she wasn't exactly sure why. She pushed the thought of the man that had brought her here out of her head, and listened to what this new man had to say. She rolled her eyes at the man when he introduced himself, and smiled at some of the other candidates. She already knew that dragon's didn't wait for their riders during a hatching.

Akira nodded her head when he said that there was going to be a penalty for being late from now on, and wished he would just get on with whatever it was he wanted them there for. Akira was glad that she had hid hidden herself near the back of the group of candidates, and was hoping that she would probably just be looked over, and not have to talk in front of all of these people. Blue crooned to His, and snuggled closer to her neck. His was hiding again, and he wished she wouldn't.

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Demetri was walking back to the barracks when he heard the voice of a dragon in his head. He smiled when he realized that he was actually very close to where the candidates were supposed to be. He started jogging, upsetting his gold firelizard in the process. Iona squealed at the sudden shift in movement, and dug her claws into Hers' shirt. She growled and re-situated herself on the boy's shoulder when he finally slowed down. She wrapped her bright gold tail around Hers' neck, and settled herself back down.

Demetri reached up, and scratched his flit on her chin, which made her croon happily. He looked around, and was actually surprised to see that he was the second one there, not including the rider. He looked around, and watched the others show up. He was actually looking for the one person he did sort of know, he was looking for Sakalas. He turned his attention back to the rider who had called them there, and listened intently as he spoke. He nodded his head, and took the man's warning to heart.

Demetri was actually glad that he was taller than most for once. He had an easy view of the rider, and it also helped that he was close to the front. Though, he did wonder if he should kneel down so that people behind him could see the front as well. Iona rumbled in amusement at Hers, and turned her head to look around her, trying to see how many male flits would be there to give her attention. She noticed that there was already one blue there, but that wasn't what she was looking for.

My name is Demetri, and this is my firelizard, Iona. At the sound of her name, the gold flit opened her wings, and tried to show off as much as possible. Demetri rolled his eyes at his gold flit, and turned his attention back to the candidate master. He wondered if he should say something else, but wasn't sure. So he decided to wait and see if the rider would ask him to say something else. Though, he wasn't exactly sure what he would say exactly. He pushed those thoughts from his mind, and made himself concentrate on the task at hand.

[Lark]

Saka knew that voice! Jumping up and down, the young candidate skittered slightly as she took off at a fast run. Leaving of course, Akilu behind to fix the left overs. They had doubled for kitchen duty that day, she had been cleaning tables while Saka dealt with the dishes. Rayne chirped from her shoulder. The young blue was still staring at where the other girl had been only moments before. "I know Ray. I don't think I'll ever get used to it either." The young woman smiled to herself and picked up the dark form of Shayde. Takorah had followed Saka as the the hunter was trained to do. The tiny lazuli however didn't know. Scratching the flit's neck to wake her up, Akilu couldn't help but laugh at the confused chittering.

The lazuli wasn't like most firelizards. Probably because her bonded wasn't like most 14 turn old girls. Turning around she sniffed and made a series if odd sounds that didn't make sense coming from a draconic creature. "Hop on you." Rayne helped by sending a picture of His shoulder. Nodding it's dark head the lazuli did as she was told. Looking back Akilu sighed. She had to deal with the dishes first. Especially the one that had shattered as Saka dropped it. Perhaps the reflex was from her days as a drudge. Or maybe it was just a motherly instinct. Still, Akilu went to work. It took her an extra ten minutes, but soon everything was dealt with. Better than leaving it to the drudges here Akilu supposed. Stifling a yawn with the back of her hand, Akilu swept her dark hair up into a low bun as she walked out. Rayne and Shayde were on her shoulders.

Saka greeted Addy and the candidates she knew with large smiles. A quick hug was even attempted in the candidatemaster's case. "Hi Demetri!" Saka chirped as she skipped to her friend. Takorah looked at the shiny and cased in his own way of greeting. "Where is......OH There you are Lulu!" Akilu had just arrived after Ad'os had finished talking. Hiding a blush as best she could, the young woman dipped her head in greeting and waved up at Soheath. "Sorry I was finishing up after a common friend of ours." Akilu lowered her voice so only the rider could hear while nodding in Saka's direction.

The young girl smirked and ran forward, meeting Shayde's jump in mid-air. "Hi everyone! I'm Sakalas. Call me Saka. This is Takorah and Shayde. He's a lunar, she's a lazuli. That's a new color if you didn't know. I'm a trader that worked as a hunter and breeder in my carravan. That's my friend Akilu. She was a drudge at Apolla when I met h..." Akilu took that moment to place a hand on the redhead's mouth. Saka muffled against it and crossed her arms in response. "As this little flit of a person said, I'm Akilu. I was raised in Apolla until I tried to be a healer. That didn't work out though and I spent time as a drudge until I was searched. This is Rayne my blue flit." Ray shook out his wildly marked wings then and trilled before settling back on Akilu's shoulder. Sighing, Akilu shook her head. At least introductions were done. She didn't even have to mention the gory details either...not that that was really anyone's business exactly.

[Zirin]

Yufa covered her mouth with a hand as she yawned, unable to hold it in. As a dual candidate she needed to be awake for both the wher and the dragon candidate lessons, and she was already feeling the strain, despite not yet having an actual dragon lesson. She hoped it would come soon, so that she could settle for a nap afterwards. She had heard the new CandidateMaster would be hosting the first lesson within the next day or two. The call didn’t arrive for another hour or so, the monotonous voice making Yufa feel even sleepier. She needed to go though. Rising from the chair she had been resting in, she smoothed out her dress, which was a rather simple dress and shoes that would allow her to do work if it was necessary. Her hair was once again styled in a curly ponytail of sorts. It was still elegant enough to match her lady-like lifestyle, but simple enough that it didn’t clash with her dress.

She left her barracks room, moving daintily towards the location she had seen from the dragon, and arrived within decent time, noticing a few others had arrived before her. She listened carefully to the introduction and instructions from the new CandidateMaster, wondering briefly why K’tor had retired from the position. She felt confident in herself in regard to the lessons at least, as she had attended them before Loraketh’s clutch. Regardless, as a proper lady it was her responsibly to be attentive. A couple others had introduced themselves before Yufa did, as she had always been taught to let men speak first, though two girls had spoken up. The first, Sakalas, was so uncouth! Speaking so loudly was simply improper, and Yufa was glad the second, Akilu, had cut her off (which was also rude, but necessary and somewhat respectable). With those two finished, Yufa decided she would likely not be scorned for introducing herself now and stepped forward, dipping her head respectfully to the master.

“Greetings Sir,” She said respectfully, noting that she was the first to actually treat this man as what he truly was; a fully-fledged rider who outranked them. “I am Yufa, of Apollo Hold.” As she spoke, she moved into a shallow curtsy. Standing back up, she considered following the other candidates and introducing the Epidote on her shoulder. The young fire lizard lay curled around her neck, looking more like an accessory than a living thing, with how he nestled subtly in the shadows of her hair, though from the subtle movements of his head, Yufa could tell his was carefully observing the people around them. She decided against it, feeling it was unnecessary to introduce Cassim unless she was specifically requested to and the little flit seemed to like going unnoticed anyways. After all, it was the names of the candidates, not their pets, that likely mattered to the brown rider. She stepped back into the line to let others make their introductions and to wait for further instructions. She wondered if this would be like the first lesson from the previous clutch; simply a day to introduce yourselves and meet the person in charge. The weyrling area was a strange place to hold just a introduction lesson though.

[Zero]

Fallon carefully slipped the drawer open and looked over the contents as his fingers went searching for the treasures he hoped were contained inside. Something skittered out in the hallway and instantly his assassins blade was cradled in his hand and his eyes snapped to the door as he had left it just a crack open in case anyone happened to stop by in his moment of exploration. A few moments passed in silence before he let out the breath he had been holding and returned his attention to his current misdeed.

There were no marks or jewels to be found or rare family heirlooms that he could pawn off at the next social gathering. No, what he did find though was that this particular draw contained the thin, delicate material of a ladies more intimate line of clothing. A twisted smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he sheathed his knife and thoroughly inspected the soft material for a few moments longer. Idly he wondered who’s weyr he was searching through and mentally made a note to return later that evening with a skin or two of wine for some late night activities.

Before he could dwell on the idea too much though a strangers voice broke into his thoughts. Jumping slightly at the intrusion, Fallon shoved the drawer shut and spun around, eyes wildly searching the room for the source of the intruder. The sinister smirk that had previously graced his features was quickly warping into a vicious snarl as he recognized the source of the intrusion. He had to clench his jaw to hold back the wave of foul words he felt perfectly fit the current situation. Blasted creatures…What right did they have to simply summon anyone to them no matter the time of day?! The thought left him with a low growl as he slowly stalked from the room he had been investigating and began the trek down to wherever the beast had requested he go.

As soon as he stepped out of the shadows of the Weyr he almost turned right back around and returned to the shade of the halls as the sheer humidity of the day was enough to make him loathe being disturbed ever more, if that was even possible. Scowling he trudged across the grasses till the unmistakable bulk of a dragon became visible in the distance along with the smaller forms of the other candidates. As he drew closer his eyes fell on who he could only assume was the young, and short, bastard who was supposedly in charge of this operation. The sinister man couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face as he stepped up behind a few of the younger girls and gave their supposed teacher and his lazy brown a once over. That would be just his luck having a brownrider as a teacher. Damned brown dragons and their Riders seemed to be keeping an eye on him everywhere these days.

This had to be a joke…right? Not only did Fallon practically tower over the smaller boy but he was a good few turns older than him as well. Pathetic… He mused quietly to himself all the while vaguely taking an interest in what the others gathered around were babbling on about. Wiping the sweat that was beginning to drip down the back of his neck, Fallon crossed his arms over his chest and looked the others over. He was pleased to see that he was standing with mostly females, young and not bad looking at that. Could be worse… Though he nearly choked on that last thought as he watched one of the young girls seem to curtsy towards the CandidateMaster and his dragon. It took all his strength not to snicker out loud at the very sight, so instead he settled for a mild shake of his head while he waited to hear what great bit of knowledge their teacher would impress upon them next.

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[Zirin]

Ad’os tried not to smile as Saka attached herself to him in a quick hug, which he returned softly. He would have to speak with her after the lesson about hugging her superior during lessons, since it was inappropriate… but he somehow doubted that would really stop her. Once she had joined the other candidates he set about trying to remember each person as they introduced themselves, though he only briefly acknowledged their pets, since the flits and huntyres weren’t here to learn. He also took notice of the few who didn’t do as he asked, not entirely pleased that they were unable to follow such simple instructions. Well, they would hopefully learn, in time, that following instructions were an integral part of both candidacy and rider hood. Not to mention the Weyr revolved around orders being followed promptly.

“A pleasure to meet you all. Now, first lesson is this: becoming a dragon rider is not all fun and games. The first few months especially is exhausting after all the cleaning, oiling, butchering, feeding, and general care of your dragonet. Add in the time and effort spent in lessons and there will be times you wish you could curl up in a hole somewhere and sleep forever.” He paused, realizing he had been a bit more rambly than he had initially intended. “I digress. Today’s lesson is an introduction to dragon care, or more specifically, cleaning up after a dragon. Now.. You… and you.” He pointed then to Akira, the girl who failed to introduce herself, and Fallon, the tall, grumpy looking young man who had also ignored his instruction. “Thank you for volunteering to be the first to begin today’s task.” He glanced over to the nearby brown then. Soheath, if you will? The brown lifted his wing to reveal a group of wheelbarrows and a barrel full of shovels.

“Just around the corner is the dragonet latrines where the dragonets from Loraketh‘s clutch currently do their business. Those of you who impress will be also spend time in there with your bonded until they are old enough to between.” Before he could say anything else, a refreshing breeze picked up, which sadly carried with it the stench of dragon dung. “I’m sure you’re all intelligent enough to figure out what’s next. So, my two volunteers, you may go grab your shovels and a wheel barrow and be the first in there. The rest of you will follow them. As you grab your equipment, feel free to look over Soheath if you’ve never seen a dragon up close, he wont bite. You are also at liberty to ask any questions you have about dragons.” The brown snorted, not keen on the chance of having people touch him, though he wouldn’t argue about it. “Hop to it folks! If you dawdle too long it’ll only get hotter!” He wasn't completely heartless though. While he hadn't mentioned it, he was planning on rewarding the hardest workers.

[Akira]

Akira listened quietly as some of the other candidates introduced themselves. She glanced over as a young man made his way over, and stood by the girls, unfortunately he was standing closer to her than she liked, but she didn't have time to worry about the man. The new candidate master started speaking again. She narrowed her eyes at him, and had a very bad feeling about where his speech was going. She didn't have to think of where it was going for long though. Soon the man pointed at her, and the man standing next to her.

Akira glared at the candidate master, but didn't say anything. Blue chirped in confusion at the anger that he felt coming from His. He didn't like it, and thought it better to hide in their room until she called for him. So the blue firelizard popped between, leaving the girl to glare into empty space. You ungrateful flit... Her words were nothing more than a whisper, though, if a person wanted to hear what she was saying, and was listening hard enough, they would have heard her.

Akira didn't fight the order from the man, and did as she was told. Though, it was obvious that she wasn't happy about it. She grabbed a shovel, and a wheelbarrow, and made her way over to the dragonet latrine. She made a disgusted face when the full strength of the smell hit her. She was now wishing that she had worn a shirt big enough to cover her nose, but since there was nothing she could do about it, she just started working. She made a promise to herself that some day, she would get her payback.

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Demetri smiled and gave Saka a small wave when she greeted him. He listened quietly as the other candidates spoke, and introduced themselves, and some of them even introduced their own flits. Then A'dos started speaking, so Demetri made sure to give the man his attention. After all, this was supposed to be their first lesson, and he needed to show that he would do just about whatever it took to prove himself a good candidate. He believed that if he proved himself, that he would be more likely to impress.

Demetri knew that it all depended on the dragon, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. He turned and looked at the two candidates that the candidate master had pointed to, and he actually felt sorry for them. He definitely didn't want to be the first one to go into the dragonet latrine and clean it. Though, he knew that he would have to clean it when, and if, he impressed. so he might as well get used to it while he could.

Demetri watched as the girl's firelizard popped between, and left the candidate to work on her own. That's when Iona got the same idea. She didn't want to get dirty, especially not with the smell of other dragon's refuse. She followed the blue's example, and popped between to the room she shared with Her's. She curled up with her gold tail wrapped around her comfortably. She might as well get some beauty rest while Her's did some hard work. Demetri wasn't as upset that his firelizard left him as the girl seemed to be.

Demetri already knew that Iona wouldn't stick around once she knew what they were doing. He knew that his gold flit liked to keep herself clean, and he didn't really blame her. He didn't really wanna do this chore either, but he knew that it needed to be done, so he closed his mouth, and waited to see what the candidate master would do next. He wasn't sure if he would send more candidates back there, and he really was hoping that he wouldn't.

[Lark]

Saka's face fell as she listened to his lesson. It seemed to be a lecture, and she hated lectures. Didn't he have anything fun to do? ....You've got to be kidding me! That was his idea of fun? That! Ad'os was apparently going to need a lesson on what was proper fun. Shaking her head, Saka looked over at the two the brownrider had mentioned. Well, at least she didn't have....well that was wishful thinking wasn't it? Ad'os had just gotten to the part where everyone was going to clean with the two candidates. Stomping forward, the candidate narrowed her eyes as the pets started to disappear. "Don't even think about it you two." Tikorah cawed as if offended that he'd ever leave His, and Shayde trilled. She wanted to have fun and help! This would be wild.

Shaking her head, Saka picked up a shovel and made her way over to the latrines. "Wow." She stared, wide eyed at the mess. Apparently the dragonets made a lot of.......well, yeah. She sighed and started in, covering her nose with a scarf Akilu handed her. "Don't worry love, it'll be over before you know it. Thanks to Maelath's giant clutch and Gold Egg, we have plenty of hands to help." The older candidate went to it, used to the amount of work. After all, she had lived as a drudge for the last how many turns? More than she cared to remember. Rayne flew nearby, helping to use a scoop like thing to take some of it up and put it in the wheelbarrel. "Thanks boy." The blue chirped in response.

[myra]

Aria had been curled up in her bed, her long hair loose and forming a curtain about herself, hiding the rest of the world from her as she diligently oiled one of her little hand harps. The wood was in need of care, and she would be terribly disappointed if one of Serus' gifts to her were ruined due to her inattentiveness. Resting upon her head, with eir tail swishing lightly back and forth before Aria's eyes and eir head pointing down toward her spine, Sers lay with hair clutched in white clawed hands, trying to weave the silky strands into something like a braid. Which wasn't really going so well, but the intricate pattern was interesting none-the-less.

It would take hours to get all the knots out, and would finish with Aria being red-faced with a sore scalp and Sers saddened that all eir work went to waste.

Aria was startled by the unfamiliar voice in her hand, commanding and strange. She jerked a bit, the instrument in her hands making an odd twanging noise as she clutched it to her chest protectively and Sers squealing as ey slipped off the blonde head and landed in the furs of the tidy bed. Aria glanced back and crawled of the bed, corking her bottle of oil and setting the harp on the furs to return to later. As she made her way toward the other gathering Candidates, Sers fluttered his way to her and landed on her shoulder, tucking into her hair and hiding about her neck, the same way Aria hid behind her hair.

And she would have introduced herself, she certainly would have. Save she was in the back of the group, and was waiting until they had all finished. But when the Candidatemaster started speaking again, it simply would have been even more rude to interrupt him to introduce herself. Perhaps he had just not seen her? After all, she was rather short and standing behind the taller, quiet guy. She simply waited, covering her nose and mouth when the scent of the lesson drifted her way, the breeze blowing her hair back a bit, clearing her view as well.

She cleared her throat, looking at the shovels. "Well," she murmured to Sers, reaching up to run her fingertips over his spine. "At least I will become stronger this way, yes?"

Instead of heading straight to the job at hand, which she fully intended to get to, she did the other thing the Candidatemaster had said was allowable. She made her way up to Soheath, reaching for a shovel and then bowing lightly to him, her brown eyes peeking out from behind the blonde veil of her hair. "Hello. I am Aria. Sorry I did not say so earlier. Umm..." She glanced to Ad'os before continuing. "If it is alright, may I take a closer look at you? I have not been so close to a dragon before, and I am curious how similar to Sers you might be..."

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Risa, on the other hand, had been nowhere near the Candidate Barraks. Rather, she had been out watching the herdbeasts, for the fun of it. Jasiper was playing at her feet, hopping up onto the fence from time to time, chattering at the much larger beasts energetically. A few stared at him as they chewed on whatever it was they were chewing on, the general consensus seeming to be that simply staring at the silvery thing might be best.

Risa chuckled as she watched, leaning on the fence and nodding to Jasiper as though what he was chattering made perfect sense. "Oh, I see!" she said seconds before the silence in her mind was interrupted by a command. She straightened up and laughed, looking at the distance she'd have to cover before she managed to get to her destination. "Splendid." She reached out and snatched hold of Jasiper, pulling him away from the gate mid chirrup and taking off quickly in the direction she had been commanded to arrive at.

She had a large grin on her face as the crowd came into view. Oh, she was late. No surprise. No need to freak out about it, either. She'd just pay more attention and be quicker next time, hmm? She came to a skidding halt, just a couple feet from Ad'ol as the others had already started heading toward their new chore. She paused, putting on hand on her knee as she tried to catch her breath, the other hand still clutching a rather large, silvery huntyre to her abdomen. Risa straightened up and grinned at the Candidatemaster before speaking. "Sorry!" she said before taking another breath. "Name's Risa. We supposed to clean that up?" she asked before setting Jasiper down at Ad'os' feet and stepping forward. "Whew!" she waved a hand before her face, rolling her sleeves up. "This will be fun, huh?"

She was quick to pick up a shovel and join in. It was not like she'd never had to clean stalls and the like before. This was nothing new. Jasiper looked over at Risa as she worked, then turned his dark beak up to stare at Ad'os, eyes wide and curious, not saying anything yet. Just staring up at the man.

[diogenessbeast]

((I'm going to go ahead and pretend my guys were here from the beginning, if that's cool? If it's not, bop me on the head adn I'll change the post))

Picking up dragon poop. Lovely.

Kordelia was glad she'd had the sense not to wear good clothes to today's lesson. Having stood as a candidate in hatchings past, she knew better. Chores were dirty work, at the best of times.. However, this was probably going to be a new low.

But it wasn't as if you could complain to the candidate master. So she sighed, getting to her feet with the rest of the gaggle and sighing deeply. Might as well get started, since nothing else would be able to happen until those latrines were emptied.

She picked up a shovel, tucked her pants into her tall work-boots, and started mucking out the latrine. The hardest thing, really, was trying not to breathe.

***

Ulteritohr was not as shocked or disgusted as the other candidates. This chore made perfect sense to him.

Of course, he was fresh from the farm he'd grown up from, having only arrived at the weyr three days ago. Those three days had been full of transitions and Getting Used To Things. It was kind of nice to have something familiar to fall back on, even if that familiar thing was, well, poop shoveling. Someone had to do it, right?

So he got up, but he paused as he passed Soheath. This was only the second dragon Ulteritohr had ever seen, and he was amazed at how big he was. Of course the stories said how large the dragons were, but it was one thing to hear it, and quite another to see it looming over you. This was even bigger then the dragon who had searched him- a blue.

He realized he was staring after a few moments and shook himself, before giving the dragon a brief smile. "How long does it take dragons to grow this big?" He asked the candidate master, pausing to get the answer before he joined the other candidates at poop-shoveling.

[Zero]

His previous smirk quickly faltered and was beginning to twist into a snarl especially after the woman standing beside him seemed to turn up her nose at him after giving him a quick once over. Silly girl, as if you’ve even got a chance at being my type. The thief was wise to keep his thoughts to himself for the time being though as before he had a chance to voice his opinion on the matter that dammed Rider spoke up once again and… was he pointing a finger at the harpers son? His green eyes narrowed as the so named CandidateMaster began to tell the dastardly tale of what the day’s events had in store for them. It was safe to assume that the man didn’t appreciate what he heard as a low, agitated sigh parted his lips once Ad’os has finished speaking.

This had to be a joke right? As far as he was concerned he had been released from his “community service” to the weyr, which to him meant no more mucking out the blasted dragonet latrines! It may have only been day one of these so called lessons but Fallon was already loathing the fact that he had to be here. ‘Had to’ being the key phrase. It was either put up being taught by a boy who was younger than him and behave himself or end back up under weyr-arrest, chained up and under watch like some mildly insane wher that he’s seen during his travels. Forcing his hand to remain steady and only rest on the knife strapped to his belt, Fallon clenched his jaw and strode through the crowd towards the pile of shovels and snatched one from the ground. From there he spared one last seething glance at the brownrider and the remaining candidates before he pulled his shirt up over his nose and began to tackle the absurd task that he had been given. The only thoughts that kept him relatively happy was the idea of the next batch of candidates cleaning up after his dragon and oh how his twisted mind thoroughly enjoyed that little thought.

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[Zirin]

Yufa paled as the stench of dung reach her nose, and she was quick to pull out a handkerchief to block the smell. Was this man serious? There was no way she could do such a thing as mucking dragon stalls. It was simply improper for a lady to do such a thing, it was much more suited for drudges. Alas, she needed to stand, so she would have to tolerate such a disgusting task for the time being. She followed the others to grab a shovel and wheel barrow of her own, though her pace was slower as she deliberately tried to take her time getting to the task.

Upon reaching Soheath’s side, she looked over him, quite awed by his figure, but she had no questions to ask. She had learned al about anatomy before, and any questions she had, had been answered by her weyrling brother. So, instead of speaking she picked up her equipment, pausing only to pretend to listen curiously to the questions asked by a few of the others. Finally, she could avoid it no longer, and entered the latrines. Rather, she stood as far away from them as possible while still being in reach of the nearest piles of dung. Her handkerchief had been tied around her nose and she felt a bit guilty for the other candidates who had only their shirts to use.

As she was working, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and jumped as she noticed the CandidateMaster standing right behind her. She nodded silently as he spoke, asking her a question about the first thing a dragon felt upon entering the world.

“Hunger, very strong hunger.” She replied, “And a need to find a human to bond to.” Apparently pleased with the answer, he nodded and moved on to another candidate. Yufa turned back to the task with a sigh.

---

Ad’os was actually shocked by the lack of dispute coming from the candidates. He had actually expected to hear at least a bit of grumbling and groaning about such a ridiculous task. Well, this worked much better for him anyways; the latrines would be cleaned, and maintenance would be easy from that point on. He did, however, chuckle at the sudden disappearance of most of the pets that had accompanied their owners today. His own had stayed far away from him the moment he woke up, as they both knew what his plan was. Of the pets that remained, he was actually impressed by their ability to assist Theirs in the task. Enough about the pets though, he mused, making his way to stand near Soheath in case anyone had questions to ask as the gathered the equipment. Mine. Soheath called him just as he approached. Repeating the girl’s question through their mind link in case His had not heard it.

“Feel free to get as close as you like Aria,” He replied, having received her name from Soheath. “You can touch him as well if you want to. Soheath here may not be chatty, but he won’t bite.” The brown snorted, but made sure his wings were held up enough to show his form to the girl. There were differences between him and the fire lizard, namely size. Though his head seemed to be a slightly different shape, and his feet seemed to be modelled differently; the dragons had five fingers on their front hands instead of the three that flits had. All in all, it was easy to see the similarities between the two species. A latecomer. Soheath informed his rider as Risa ran up to them.

“Welcome to the lesson Risa. We’re cleaning out the latrines today, so grab a shovel and get in there. As I warned others, tardiness won’t be tolerated for future lessons.” He chuckled then, “So much fun I think I might have to get in there myself!” He was pleased to see her join right in with the others. Yes, he had landed himself with a pretty good group. Then it was time for another question, a good one that that. He made sure to speak loud enough for everyone to hear as he answered it.

“How fast a dragon grows all depends on their colour.” He began before pointing towards Soheath. “Browns, for example, reach their full size at about fifteen months old. The larger colours, like the golds and bronzes, and likely the topaz and obsidian, take closer to eighteen months. On the other end of the scale, any colours smaller than a brown can reach their full size as early as twelve months.” He paused again to let the information sink in. “Of course, every dragon is different, some grow faster or slower than others." As Ulteritohr ran off to do the task, Ad’os picked up a shovel and barrel himself. Sure, the chore may have seemed unfair or unreasonable, but Addy wasn’t a mean-spirited being. He wouldn’t ask his candidates to do anything he himself wasn’t willing to do. So, shovel in hand and with a cloth over his nose, he joined in the cleaning, stopping now and again to ask a candidate a question, hoping to see what sort of information they already knew.

He tapped first on the auburn haired young lady, asking her a question about hatchlings on the sands. Her answer was correct, but he had expected as much from a returning candidate. He glanced around as he picked up another shovel full, then spotted his next target. Tapping Demetri on the shoulder he brought forth a question for the boy.

“Which is better, a blue dragon or a bronze dragon? Why?” He waited for the answer calmly, not really caring if he got it right or wrong, he just wanted to get a basic idea of what everyone knew and thought. Akira and Fallon were the next ones to grab his attention.

“For you both, I have two, no, three questions.” He began, “First, what is your name and second, as a rider, why do you think it would be important to pay attention to instructions the first time they are given? Finally, I want you each to pick a different colour of dragon and tell me one strength and one weakness of it.” After the two troublesome candidates, he moved on to Aria and Risa. To the first he asked, “What does betweening mean?” and to the second he asked, “What does a rider need to do before he jumps between?”

The smell of the latrines were beginning to give him a headache, and he had no doubt some of the candidates would be feeling it too. Well, they were almost done now, a few more questions and he would let them out for good, but for the time being he had their health to worry about. “If at any time you think you need fresh air, make sure you go take a moment outside the latrines.” After that, he hurried over to Kordelia. “Can you tell me why dragons need to be oiled?” He then moved on to the next closest candidate, or in this case, candidates as the two never seemed to be apart.

“Having fun yet ladies?” He asked as he tapped Akilu on the shoulder, “Akilu, Do you think it’s important to create friendships with your fellow peers and teachers. Why?” To Saka he then turned and asked her a question as well. “And I want you, Saka, to tell me what a dragon needs to eat in order to breathe fire.” With a smile, he helped shovel the dung near them as he listened for their answers and once they had been given, he moved on to the final candidate.

“Why is it a bad idea to get between fighting hatchlings on the sands?”