It's Not All Fun and Games {Candidates}

[Akira]

Akira really started to feel like she hated K'tor for quiting at this point. She knew that the latrines needed cleaning, but couldn't the riders of the dragon's do it? After all, it is their dragon's making this mess. She winced as she put another shovel full into the wheelbarrow. She shook her head, and went back to work. There was no point in complaining about it now that they were almost done. She turned her head around when she heard the brown rider start talking again.

She rolled her eyes at the man, and listened to some of the questions he asked. Then he came to her and the young man that had been told to start this lesson with her. Humph, my name is Akira. As for why listening to orders is important, if you don't listen, than you may not live to see the next morning. She rolled her eyes and put a few more shovel fulls of dragon dung into the wheelbarrow before looking back at the man, and answering his final question.

Well, I guess I'll go with Greens. Green dragon's seem to be the most energetic of all the dragon colors. So I guess that could count as a strength seeing as they have the energy to do many tasks...though...their main weakness is the fact that their attention span seems to be extremely short. She didn't care if she had offended anyone at her words. From what she had seen green dragons had a lot of energy, but were very simple minded. Not a trait that worked in the dragon's favor.

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Demetri wrapped a piece of cloth around his nose and mouth when the smell started to get worse. They were almost done when the Candidate Master decided to ask them all some questions. The man asked a girl the first question, Demetri had to look down at the short man as he listened to what he had to say. From what he could see he was actually The tallest candidate there. That really didn't sit well the the tall seventeen turn old young man.

Demetri had to pause, and think about what he had been asked before he could answer the man. Well...I'm not sure really which one is better. Sure Bronzes are stronger, but Blue's seem to be more fun-loving, and care-free. They both seem to be great colors, really! The poor boy couldn't decide between the two colors. He liked Bronze dragons because of their size, and strength. That and the fact that from what he has seen from the larger color, the fair way they rule the Weyr.

Demetri also liked the more easy-going Blues too. Blues seemed so calm, and relaxed, but they also seemed to have a playful streak too. He shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders. He just couldn't pick between the two colors. He hoped that answer would be good enough to appease the Candidate master. In his eyes, all dragon's were great, though, he really was hoping that if, or even when, he impressed, he would get a male. He turned his attention back to the task at hand, and continued to try to clean the latrines.

[diogenessbeast]

To be perfectly honest, Ulteritohr was somewhat surprised at the weyrlingmaster's willingness to join them in the task. He gave the brownrider a curious look, before considering the answer with a pensive expression.

The answer made sense-- it did take larger mammals longer to hit maturity, so it would stand to reason that dragons, being rather huge on the scale of pernese critters in general, would follow the same trend. Despite being huge and winged and awesome, they were not so alien as he had thought at first. Certainly they took some getting used to- especially their voices, which consistently threw him for a shock-- but there was still some familiar territory in them.

And anyway, what territory wasn't familiar would be that much more fun to conquer.

Kordelia went about her work with her lips pressed together, a stoic expression on her face. Ordinarily, this wasn't something she'd've been caught dead doing-- but candidacy called for sacrifices. She'd sacrificed the comforts of home, the luxury of having her own space, and now she took up this chore which she hated-- all in the name of maybe impressing a dragon in the upcoming hatching.

They were long odds. They were always long odds, in a dragon hatching. Still, they were better odds then she had for success in the life she'd left behind, and certainly the future here at the weyr would be better for her then whatever she could've had back home. Even if she failed to Impress a dragon, there was probably a place for her here at Trelis.

She was lost in her thoughts, and thus didn't notice the weyrlingmaster come up behind her. His voice caused her to jump very slightly, a look of surprise crossing her face for a few seconds. She recovered her poise quickly, however, and paused in her mucking to fix the weyrlingmaster with a pensive look. She knew this answer, it just took a moment of thought to drudge up..

"You must oil a dragon's hide regularly to keep it supple and prevent it from cracking." she answered carefully, "especially as it grows. Cracked hides are susceptible to infection and grave injury between." That answer should be sufficient. She paused a second more, thinking of anything to add, and, finding nothing, took up the shovel again, clearing more of the area she'd been working in.

[Zero]

Fallon was not a happy camper today. To be fair, he wasn’t a happy camper on most days. Today however he was up to his ankles in the dragon dung of some sharder and on top of that the bloody Candidatemaster had the nerve to swan over and start asking questions. Just who does this guy think he is? The grip he had on the shovel he had been using visibly tightened, nearly to the point where his knuckles flashed white, as the smaller man stepped up beside him and inquired about the thiefs name once more along with questions so basic the dimmest drudge should have been able to answer on the spot.

For a brief moment before he answered, Fallon played with the idea on which would be a quicker method to dispose of the man. The perfectly balanced throwing knife he had hidden in his boot or perhaps the waste splattered shovel he was currently leaning against? Decisions, decisions. Luckily though no hint of that train of thought would be visible to their teacher as his shirt was still attempting to save him from the stench that surrounded them. Although his devilish smirk remained concealed his green eyes danced with a spark of mischief as he partially listened to what Ad‘os, then the girl, who he learned was called Akira, were going on about before deciding to add his own two sense.

“First off, the name's Fallon. Secondly it’s generally wise to follow directions or the bodies begin to pile up. Can’t have that now can we?” His voice was muffled and gruffer then usual as he tried valiantly to keep from inhaling too much of the foul odor while he pondered over the last part of the Riders question. “I’m going to say browns. Focusing on their weakness I’d say they’re slightly notorious for their streaks of laziness and due to their boxy frames I can imagine they lack in the agility department. I suppose that once you can assign them to a task they have a better chance of staying on course then, lets say a green. So I guess you might be able to call the rare few the more intelligent/focused then some of the smaller colors.”

As the last of his words left him, Fallon paused for a brief moment and leaned heavily against his shovel as he quickly glanced over the dent he had placed the his small area. Yep definitely clean enough, or as clean as he was going to make it anyways. Striding past the others, Fallon stepped outside into fresh air once again leaving his shovel resting against the wooden side of the dragonets latrine. He uncovered his nose and mouth and greedily sucked in a lungful of clean air and choking slightly in the process in his moment of eagerness. Without sparing a glance back to see if the rest of the kiddies were still totting along after the brown-rider the thief proceeded to stomp and drag his boots across the grass in an attempt to scrap the majority of the grime off. His clothes were another story however. It would seem he was going to half to wait till they were done here and he could bathe before he was going to smell or look like his presentably rugged self again.

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[jillianna]

Jillalene cringed as she finally made it to the right place. She'd only just arrived two or three days ago and was still insanely confused about where places in the weyr were. She'd luckily only been singing for some children in the rooms. She tried to enter quietly, not wanting to interrupt the lesson, but still not wanting to miss out on it completely. The brown dragon saw her, it had to have. She would not be unnoticed however much she wished to fade into the background and not be in trouble on her first real lesson as a candidate.

There were several candidates there, and Jillalene didn't know a single one. She tried to get a shovel and wheelbarrow very quietly, bowing her head in acknowledgement to the brown, not daring to complain about the fact that they were picking up dragon dung for their first lesson. She was determined to make up for it and rolled up her sleeves, tied her hair back, and tucked her soft flowing pants into her boots so they would hopefully remain unsoiled. She tucked herself into a corner and began her work, going as fast and hard as she could while remaining clean and effective. She listened as attentively as she possibly could to the discussion as she worked, determined to redeem herself from her tardiness.

She soon had a wide circle around herself clean down to the ground and began wondering where exactly she was supposed to dump this before she could start filling the barrow again, stopping for a moment and wiping a bead of sweat from her temple.
(sorry it's so short, I really REALLY wanted to be in on this, but i dont have a lot of time to post, sooo yah.)

[Zirin]

Ad’os nodded as the girl, Akira he now knew, gave him an answer for the first question. Fallon wasn’t far behind that, and while it was heavily sarcastic, the answer was what Addy had been looking for. They were both aware of why following instructions were important, which meant their blatant disregard for his first instruction of the day was not due to ignorance. Joy, he had troublemakers of sorts. On the bright side, they were doing as asked now, so he hoped there wouldn’t be any issues in the future. He then got to listen to their opinions on his second question - the one regarding the strengths and weaknesses of a dragon rank. Akira’s answer was rather well thought out.

“You’re right on both accounts. Well done.” he replied, overall happy with her response. Fallon’s however, intrigued him. Most people he had spoken to spoke highly of browns for their ability to stay on and accomplish tasks and their overall hard-working stereotype. He looked over to Soheath, chuckling slightly as the brown stretched himself out to catch more of the sun’s rays. “A unique, but well thought out answer.” He wanted to defend Soheath, really he did, but he was supposed to be the unbiased teacher, so for now he would have to refrain. Looking back at the brown again he had to admit.. Soheath was getting awfully lazy. I resent that remark. The brown shifted again, this time turning a slowly whirling eye towards the latrines, their colour showing his mild annoyance. “They can be pretty grumpy too sometimes…” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes. Fallon was already on his way out of the latrines by that point so he didn’t know whether he had been heard or not. Well, regardless, he had gotten his answers so he was fine to move on.

Demetri’s answer caused the short rider to chuckle lightly. “I like your attitude.” He said, “A good rider knows that each colour has its merits.” He was so far pleased with the group of candidates he had gotten. Even with the two troublemakers, the group seemed to be made up of informed men and women. The less he had to teach from scratch the better: lectures were just plain boring. Well, who knows, maybe the group would WANT a lecture in the future after today’s lesson. Kordelia was another candidate who answered his question well though only after making Addy feel guilty for startling her. He apologized quickly before she spoke, but was pleased at her quick recovery. “Very good.” As an afterthought he added as a half-joke, “It also makes your dragon stop whining about his or her itches.”

Outside the latrines, the brown watched the odd passer-by, watching only long enough to ensure the human had no business with His or His’ class. Soheath lifted his head as another human, a girl this time, came into view. Was she a candidate? Well from the lost look and the urgent movements she must be. Ad’osMine. A straggler comes. The brown’s voice distracted Addy from what he was cleaning and the young man glanced out of the corner of his eye as a girl came in and began working without being told to do it. She may have been late, but at least she was able to figure out what was going on her own. He liked that in a candidate. He let her work on her own for a short while as he continued his questions to the others, but once he had a moment of respite he made his way over to her.

“Welcome to the lesson. You new to the Weyr?” He assumed as he didn’t recall seeing her around. “As you obviously figured out yourself, we’re cleaning up after dragons today and doing a bit of trivia.” He paused then just to sweep a quick eye over the candidates that were still in the latrines, making sure no one had passed out or anything. “I have two questions for you. The first, what is your name? The second,” Here he paused again as he tried to think of another trivia question. Finally he came up with one. “Dragon eyes change colour depending on their mood. Can you tell me what the colours red and blue represent?” Yes, that would do for the time being.

[jillianna]

Jillalene blushed and brushed a fallen red curl behind her ear and away from her face when the candidate master finally made his way over to her. She dipped her head in deference to him and his dragon.

"I apologize for being so late. As you've guessed I'm extremely new to the weyr. I just arrived three days ago and I'm not familliar as of yet with the layout. I got a bit lost trying to find my way here..." Her voice was soft and sweet and she kept her eyes down. Not daring to look at the other candidates. This was NOT the first impression she wanted to make. So much for keeping a low profile.

She straightened up when he asked her his questions, she wasn't able to extinguish the flicker of embarrassment that roiled in her deep blue eyes, but met his gaze nonetheless. Her name? of course she would have missed the introductory part, and the second question was the trivia about dragons. Their eyecolor. Searching through her memories of the master at the harper academy's stories about the weyr, she tried to remember as she answered his first question, by far the easiest.

"My name is Jillalene Tynan. I'm an apprentice Harper from Apolla Hold... well, I was about to take my journeyman's exams before I was searched... Anyway. Here I am." Her voice had a hint of a tremor. The doubt her spirit would not allow her to acknowledge inside herself. Now onto the more difficult question. She wasnt as good of a story teller as the journeymen she knew, but she should be able to pull off the recitation of the dragon's changing eyes.

"Dragon's eyes are the windows to their moods."

Her voice turned silken smooth and sweet, almost lyrical as she spoke, avoiding the usual verse and went for her own words for the blue instead.

"If blue or green is what you see, the dragon you behold is happy as can be." She smiled. "Yellow means the dragon is alert, or possibly afraid. Red is more difficult. If you see a slightly more orange tone of red, be careful because he or she is angry. Normal red is hunger. White for danger, Grey for pain, and purple for love or lust...." She trailed off with a half smile, blinking and shifting her weight, taking a deep steadying breathe.

[Akira]

Akira rolled her eyes at the candidate master. She shook her head, and followed Fallon out of the latrines. She didn't have a weyrling so why should so have to clean up after them? I definitely need a shower now. She was speaking to herself as she walked past the other candidate. She didn't care whether or not he heard, or for that matter, if anyone heard. She was just glad to be away from the stench, and to be able to breath some fresh air. Without another glance back, she made her way to the baths.

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Demetri watched as two of the other candidates left, and wondered what the candidate master would do. When it seemed like he didn't mind them leaving, he turned his attention back to the job at hand. He was already done with more than his own share of work when Ad'os started talking to him about his answer. Thank you sir. He hadn't actually expected his answer to work, but he wasn't going to complain. Then he noticed that another candidate had finally arrived.

Demetri smiled and chuckled when he heard that she had gotten lost. The Weyr was a big place, and he had to admit, there were times when he himself had gotten lost. Then he noticed that there was another person coming this way. Only this one had a dragon with them. when the rider got closer he noticed that it was the Weyrleader and his own dragon. He smiled and wondered what would happen now that he was here. He looked over at the candidate master, wondering what they would be doing now.

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T'rian sighed as he sat with his dragon in the Weyrbowl. They didn't have much to do today, and both of them were starting to get bored. T'rianMine, we could go see the candidates. The dragon had gotten the idea when he head seen the brown dragon of the candidate master heading towards the weyrling latrines. Why not? He shrugged, and climbed up onto his dragon's back, and waited for him to take them both to where the candidates were.

T'rian smiled when he finally saw the form of Soheath, which meant his rider and the candidates weren't far away now. Greetings Soheath and Soheath's Own. The dragon nodded his head to the brown as he let his rider off of his back. Tor smiled and jogged over to Ad'os and the candidates. Hi Ad'os, how are the candidates looking? He scanned over the candidates as he spoke. If anyone could tell him if they had a good batch, Ad'os would be the man.

[primrose]

This looked about right. This matched the image he'd gotten and what the couple people had told him the location was. Larin was pretty sure he had finally found the right place this time. Out of breath, the smell(and taste) of dragon dung was worse then if he had been able to breathe shallowly.

"Sorry, very sorry to be late. I just got here and don't know where anything is yet." he said, trying to get his breathing under control. "Maybe I can finish up? To do my share?" He was not going to be thought of as a lazy one or a lay about if he could help it!

Dragon dung wasn't as bad as fish guts left in the sun anyway. "Oh, I'm Larin, I was just searched off a fishing boat on the river. We were bringing some dried and salted fish to the Weyr, I volunteered for the trip so I could see some dragons close up and hopefully get searched. And I got lucky and was." He was babbling. Shard it! He was babbling to the other candidates and 2 riders. He'd better shut up now and wait to see if he should finish up the task. Or get another task.

Dragons were much bigger up close then they were when swimming in a river. They had a rather interesting smell to them too - though their dung stank. Of course.

[leila]

Rhailqua slipped into the room, hopefully unnoticed, as he was a bit behind the others in arriving. Dolan was a white shape on Rhailqua's shoulder, his wings folded tight to his back and his tail draped loosely around Rhailqua's neck.

He looked up and up at the brown dragon, more than a little awed by the sheer size of the beast. Listening to the tail-end of the rider's words, he nodded. It made sense to him. Big dragons took longer to get that big than small dragons did to get to their grown size.

He groaned under his breath when he learned they were to be cleaning dragon-sized latrines, but moved willingly toward the shovels, pulling his shirt up over his nose in preparation. Dolan squawked quietly, clamping his nostrils shut as they entered the space, breathing through his mouth.

Rhailqua started shoveling, not really bothering to answer questions. He knew some of the answers, but he was more than okay with others doing the talking for now.