Sit, Stay, Eat [Wherling Lesson One]

[Zirin]

Yayulia snuck into the den, walking quietly despite her rather awkward steps. The only sound that may have given her away at all was a quiet squeaking sound of wheels coming from somewhere behind her. Her gaze passed over the group gathered in the den, surprised to see the Master haprer, and it was obviously the last of the eggs had only recently finished hatching. Good, she thought, she hadn't taken too long. She tapped her walking stick loudly against the stone section of the floor, the sound echoing loudly in the small chamber.

"Alright. Listen up! I am Yuli, bonded to brown Yayusk. From this point on, I am your Wherlingmaster. Each and every one of you are now part of Tsunami, Trelis' Wherling Pack." She called out to them. "You will all gather near the center of the room. Once there, you will have your wherlet sit and stay. This is the first exercise in discipline." Beside her a large brown form appeared, draging behind him the source fo the squeaking. A small wagon of sorts was strapped to the brown. Inside the wagon was a large box of wherslop. Yuli's term for the food was rather accurate. The contents of the box appeared to be mashed, ground meat of some sort; it was soft and ground enough for the wherlets to eat without any difficulty. She had gone to work making the slop the moment she had heard the eggs were hatching and was pleased to see she had finished in time. Also inside the wagon was a stack of empty buckets as well as a pile of weak looking pouches that she had purchased from the local apprentice tanners. The bags were low quality and would likely only last a few months, but they would serve their purpose.

"Once your wherlet is properly staying, you will come up to me. Introduce only yourself and your wher. Failure to do as instructed will result in punishment." She explained. "After you have introduced yourself you will grab one pouch each. Each pouch contains a small pot of oil and two rags." She held up the pouch then, showing off the simple design. They were small, had three compartments in them (two of which held the oil and rags) and were attached to a simple belt. Yuli already wore one around her waist, though hers was of a much higher quality, was decorated to her liking and showed turns of wear and tear. "I'm sure I don't need to explain how to wear them. You will wear this pouch to all lessons from this point on, no excuses." She placed the pouch back in the wagon and gestured next to the empty buckets.

"Once you are wearing your pouch, you will grab a bucket and you will fill it to the top with wherslop." She gestured to the ground meat. There were no scoops or shovels, so the candidates would have to figure out how to do that on their own, though it was simple enough. Yuli simply wanted to see who was capable of dealing with it. "You will then return to your partners. Make sure they do not move until you give them the command to. Reward their good behaviour with a handful of food. You will give them only one handful. Do not let them eat from the bucket. After they have finished the first handful. Make them sit and stay again, move somewhere else in the room, and call them to you. Repeat this until they are full. If you need more slop, have your wherlet stay while you come get more." She tapped her stick on the ground once more. "If they do not do as told, they will not get fed. Simple as that." She moved to the side to allow the young men and women to do as instructed. Her good eye, and her wher's eyes, were on the wherlets, watching and waiting.

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[[OOC: As Yuli mentioned, you are all now members of Tsunami. Lessons from this point on will have ' [Tsunami: Lesson #]' In the title ]]

[Zero]

Theault had been fixated on the moody antics of his young green when the sudden arrival of an apparent newcomer stole his attention briefly. He listened as the new woman quickly introduced herself and cut straight to the point of why she was here. Theo folded his arms across his chest as he listened to their new teacher of sorts. It only made sense really the longer he thought about it. The newly bonded pairs would need some guidance with the little beasts before simply being let loose upon Trelis.

The seafaring man paid close attention to what this woman, their Teacher, was explaining. She didn’t seem to be the kind to accept foolish mistakes from those under her, Theo nodded slightly to himself at the thought as it was something he could appreciate and relate to. His former home, the sea, was very harsh and unforgiving and just like on the water, it would seem this Wherhood held no room for sloppy decisions or easily handed out second chances. After she had gone over the instructions, he ran over what had been asked of him and titled his head to glance down at his young wher. Now just how was he going to convince his feisty friend to stay still?

His brow creased in a moment of deep thought as he took the few steps needed to place him in the center of the room. “C’mon my young Thesk. Top of the line, front of the class and it’s reserved for you.” Theault turned back to look at where the small green was currently circling around the shattered remains of her egg, one intricately broken piece seeming to have managed to catch her eye. An odd little warble sounded from the young female as she carefully flipped the shard over with her front claw. She seemed intent to toy with the odd little object for a few moments longer till she realized the being she had picked was speaking to her.

A little green head eyed the man before cocking slightly at this order he seemed to be giving her. Him ordering her, what sort of joke was this?! Thesk eyed Hers and the spot in the sand that he had indicated, uttering a huff as she clawed at the sandy den floor. She was still quite hungry though as the thoughts she felt from Hers gave off the notion that she would be feed and tended to soon if she complied. Theault’s Thesk then move to top of line.

With that said the young green shot a look at her siblings, seeming to glower at each of them in turn, as she strutted to Hers side and plopped down on the sand, her tail twitching with a slight impatience. Theo smiled down at her as she plodded over and sat at his feet. “Now wait right here and your Theault will be back with something to fill your stomach.” He cast a final look at the hatchling before finally turning his back on her and stepping towards their Teacher. “WherlingMaster, I am Theault, handler of green Thesk.” His introduction came with a curt nod of his head before he moved to pickup one of the afore mentioned leather pouches. He quickly attached the small bag to hang from his belt before moving on to gather the hatchlings first meal.

The look and odor of the mashed meat held no power over him and he easily stuck his hand into the slop and filled his little bucket to the top. Years of gutting fish and whipping up the days chum seemed to have its advantages and feeding this new little beast was apparently one of them. Turning back to Thesk, he noticed she seemed to be glaring at him, she body language clearly telling him to hurry up! Naturally the man quickly obliged before she ended up hopping to her feet and ruining this whole little exercise. But of course she didn’t hold still for long. As soon as Theo presented the first little offering to the little female, Thesk was on her feet at once and eagerly demanding the mashed slop.

Theault sighed lowly and shook his head but stood once more and began the act of making her sit, stay, and not gobbble down the offered treat when she did comply. The training didn’t work every time it was attempted, Thesk was highly impatient and easily agitated but also unwilling to look a fool in front of the others and frustrating for both parties.

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[Zirin]

It was his hunter training that alerted Korvin to the presense of someone else in the cavern. The hint of squaky wheels, somewhere near the entrance drew his eyes and he squinted through the dark, trying to see. What what? Kosk squeaked beside him, moving to stand in a pose that showed how brave she was. A figure emerged from the shadow and was quick to introduce herself and immediately jumped into instructions. Korvin nodded, pleased; this woman went right into the lesson, not wasting time with silly friendliness and irrelevant information like the candidate lessons had been. A small smirk made its way onto his face as the full instructions were given. The lesson of sit, stay, was one he was used to working on; both his canines had required a decent amount of repetition for the task, Gray especially.

He wasn't entirely keen on following instructions; he had trained dogs, he couldn't see these whers to be much different so far. Regardless, he knew he needed to do things the way the Weyr wanted, they had the most experience and he wanted to train the white thing right. He stood and headed for the center as instructed, Kosk following behind at a faster speed than the hunter-turned-wherling expected. Good, he thought silently; he wouldn't have to change his walking habits to make up for her shortcomings. Kosk did good? The white purred, an obvious hint of happiness in the sound and Korvin jumped. Shards... they really can feel everything. He reached the designated area mere moments after Thealt and the green did. Kosk squaked indignantly as Thesk seemed to glower in her direction. Kosk can take her!. Korvin shot a hand up to cover his mouth to stifle a chuckle. From the tone of her voice, he knew, had she been human, she would have been rolling her sleeves up, prepping for a showdown. He tapped her lightly with his boot.

"None of that. Sit. Stay." His voice was sharp and held no room for argument, not that Kosk seemed the argumentative type. She was confused though, he could tell from the feeling she sent him (which was unnerving, without a doubt) and though she sat quietly, tailed curled around her, the way her head cocked from one side to the other made her lack of understanding obvious. "That's good. Don't move." Double checking that she wasn't moving every few steps, he made his way up to do the rest of the tasks.

"Korvin. Kosk is mine." He said off handedly as he passed her, quickly scooping up one of the pouches. Once it was on, he scooped up a bucket and began filling it by hand with meat, not at all affected by the feel of raw meat. He was a hunter. He was used to killing, skinning, and butchering his own meals, so the fact that all he had to do was pick up his share of meat felt like a vacation. Hungry... He felt the little white's voice in his head, and whipped his ehad back to make sure she hadn't moved. She was still sitting where he left her, but her nose was in the air, quickly sniffing as the scent of her first meal reached her. She wouldn't stay for much longer, he assumed, eyeing the way her body was slowly tilting close to the direction of the meat. Tossing a final scoop in his bucket, he turned and made his way back towards her. "Don't move." Was all he said as she began to fidget. She was smart, he had to give her credit for that; he hadn't expected her to actually stay.The first handful of meat, when offered, was practically inhaled and feelings of happiness reached him. A final swallow and Kosk eyed the bucket before lunging for it, complaining loudly when she missed. Korvin sighed,

"Look how much better the green is doing, runt." He grumbled to her. Kosk not small! Kosk better! Kosk show Kosk's! Hoping that would be all he needed to do to get her attention, he told her to stay and after a few large steps, called her over. She scurried across the sand quickly, intent on impressing this doubtful one she had chosen. The reward of food, and the slowly creeping feeling of approval and pride from Hers, helped her stay on track... most of the time. He had to reprimand her a few times, but it she was getting the hang of it.

[shinska]

Ketarian took Kesk to their first lesson. It was immediately after the Hatching. Curious, Ketarian wondered how this lesson would turn out. The boy listened to their Wherlingmaster introduce herself. With a deep breath Ketarian turned to his Citrine, "Alright Kesk. I need you to sit and stay put. Not yet," Ketarian hissed quickly. He led the Citrine to the center of the room and whispered, "NOW you can sit and stay."

Kesk listen to Kesk's. Kesk not like, Kesk listen. The Citrine responded. Anticipation coursed through the Citrine as he watched as Ketarian walked away. He had also heard the order given and knew that he couldn't let Kesk's get into trouble because he didn't obey.

Ketarian went up to Yayulia and did a quick bow. "I am Ketarian and my Wher is Citrine Kesk." Ketarian made a small indication to where his Wher sat. Once he was done he went and grabbed one of the pouches. He put it on and grabbed a bucket and filled it to the top and carried the slightly heavy bucket back to Kesk.

The Citrine smelled the food and started sniffing, but quickly stopped with a his from Kesk's. Kesk sorry.

"Yeah I know. She said if you don't listen you don't eat and you want to eat right?" Ketarian asked the young Wher.

Kesk seemed to snuff as form of yes. He recieved one handful. Only one?

"Her orders not mine. Sorry Kesk. Please do as she says. You want to be a good Wher right?"

An enthusiastic nod came from the Citrine with swirling blue-green eyes. Of course he wanted to be a good Wher! How dare Kesk's say otherwise!

"Oh be quiet you silly Citrine. Lets see." Ketarian fell silent for a moment trying to remember the rest of the Wherlingmaster's instructions. So far Kesk was doing a good job and it pleased Ketarian to no end. Then Kesk nudged him as best as he could. Kesk move?

"Oh yes. That was your one handful for good behavior. Now I need to do this. Stay put." Ketarian took the bucket and went to another part of the room. "Come Kesk."

Kesk gladly do so! The Citrine rushed towards Kesk's joyfully. Their instruction was almost complete. Kesk was brave. He knew he could win! His first enemy and no blood would be shed. This pleased Kesk to no end.

Ketarian continued doing the same thing, each time Kesk listening to him and each time Kesk got one handful of wherslop. Finally he was down to the last handful and Ketarian looked at Kesk. "One more or are you full?"

Kesk want one more. The Citrine replied. He was getting fully and most certainly wouldn't eat another bite after the first bucket. Kesk nearly didn't get a couple of handfuls because in his excitement nearly moved. Of course Kesk's quickly chastised him thouroughly.

With the last handful eaten Ketarian took a deep breath. Kesk had been overly good about the entire exercise and it was only natural that he forget the instructions once in awhile, but Kesk had quickly checked himself when Ketarian hissed at him. Hissing was most certainly not something Kesk liked.

[Zara]

Zaekrin was rather surprised and, at first, rather distrusting of the woman who stepped out of the shadows. He finished bandaging his hand, which still stung from the cut her had made for the blood bond. He gently put a hand on his rather overly active bonded.

Zaekrinsk's feed Zaekrinsk now, yes? Zaekrinsk is here for Zaekrinsk. Does Zaekrinsk haz waits?

Zaekrin sighed. "Only if you can sit and stay and wait, Zaekrinsk." Zaekrin looked at his little wher with a slight, serious frown. "Now sit." Zaekrinsk sat, looking up at his with a wagging tail and his tongue lolling out of his mouth like a puppy. Oh brother. His wher was definitely a puppy. He already had one... he didn't think he needed another, but he loved hi, that much was certain. Well... better a puppy than an overly aggressive wher. Definitely better. "I need to do as told. So do you. Now sit and stay right there." He reinforced his command with a mental image of Zaekrinsk sitting there and staying right there while he walked away and talked to the woman and got food.

Zaekrin stood and approached the Wherlingmaster. He bowed. "I am Zaekrin of Zaekrinsk," he said, his tone relatively confident as he looked up to her again and received his pouch, putting it on much as she wore her own. It was time to start the process of attempting to feed him now. He was filling the bucket, but, at the same time, keeping a close eye on Zaekrinsk.

When his wher moved, he stopped and stood very still, showing him he would not feed him if he did not do as told. The wheret was getting very frustrated with his. Why did his have to take so long!? He made a soft irritated sound as he waited. But every time he stood or moved, Zaekrin, who was watching him or felt him But soon, his was coming towards him with a full bucket. He stood and Zaekrin stopped in his tracks. He stood stubbornly, as he spoke ot his, trying to convince him that he was being good when, clearly he wasn't. His tone was pleading as he stood there, staring at his. Zaekrinsk good. Zaekrinsk's see? Zaekrinsk's fast? Yes, fast?

Zaekrin shook his head. "Sit and stay, Zaekrinsk." He sent him the mental image again and the citrine wher finally sat, his head down as he waited for his to bring the food to him... And eventually... his made it all the way to him. However, the first thing he did was jump at the bucket and, because of this, Zaekrin not only stepped out of the way, but took several strides back. "On no you don't. Sit and stay." He sent him the images again and although Zaekrinsks was reluctant and even tried to resist doing as instructed, eventually sat and Zaekrin began to feed him. But every time he disobeyed... the food left. Every time he didn't eat slowly enough, he was forced to wait. He didn't like it. It irritated him... but he loved his and his loved him and his was trying to take care of him... but... It was all quite frustrating. Another helping of slop was awarded him however, and he was rather pleased. He stayed sitting this time. Good.... progress was always a very good thing.

[Akira]

Shenzi was amazed at what had happened to her, but, how could she continue to be the Master Harper if she was a wher handler? She gulped and sighed, well, there was only one way to figure this all out. She picked up her small ruby wher, and stood up. She took a deep breath, and made her way out of the sands. Shenzi and Shesk explore now? Shesk turned her little pinkish colored head up, and looked at her handler.

A little bit, yes. Shenzi's voice was soft and sweet as she spoke to the young hatchling. She looked around her, and started walking towards the person who called themselves the wherling Master. Excuse me, but I need to see my cousin T'rian, or his weyrmate Inali please. She stood tall and calm as she spoke to the other woman. Hopefully someone would be able to tell her what was going to happen now. She looked down at Shesk, who was looking around curiously.

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Naomi raised her eye brows as she watched her little blue run around like a little child that had just eaten a ton of sugar. This was definitely going to make training the young male interesting. That's when she realized that someone new had arrived. She looked around, and pinpointed the woman that was now talking. So, they were going to train their whers to sit and stay huh, this was going to be fun. She lowered her hand, and snapped her fingers, and was proud with the way her blue reacted.

Come on Nask. Naomi patted the side of her leg, and smiled when the inquisitive blue started following her, trying to figure out what that sound was. When they reached the middle of the room, Naomi stopped, and knelt down in front of her wher. Alright Nask, let's show them how to do this. She gently scratched the wher's eye ridges, and stood up. Nask was standing in front of her, looking up at her with wide, and curious eyes.

Alright Nask, sit. Naomi's voice was firm, yet gentle as she told the young male what to do. Along with the verbal command, she sent the blue a mental image of him sitting on his hind end. Nask trilled happily, and did exactly what he was doing in the image she had sent him. He sat down, and wrapped his blue tail around his body, looking quite pleased with himself all the while. Alright, now stay. This time Naomi's voice was a little more forceful.

Naomi could tell that her wher was starting to loose interest, so she forced an image of her walking away, and him staying where he was, and then started backing away for real. Nask cocked his head in confusion at her. He didn't get it, and started to stand up. Naomi quickly stepped back to him, and got him to sit again. She bit her lip, and realized that this was going to be a lot harder than she orginally thought. She needed to keep this easily distracted wher interested in what they were doing.

That's when an idea hit Naomi. Alright Nask, think about this. What is Naomi's name. If it took him a few minutes to realize his own name, she hopped it would take even longer to realize her own. And it seemed to be working. Nask know Naomi's name, but what is Nask'sNaomi's name? She tried not to pay too much attention to the confusing chatter coming from her little blue, and quickly walked up to the wherling master.

I am Naomi, my where is blue Nask. Naomi polightly introduced herself, and did as she had been instructed. She grabbed a pouch, and strapped it around her waist. It didn't feel any differant than the pouch she wore when she went hunting. She shrugged her shoulders at the thought, and dismissed it. Then she grabbed a bucket, and quickly filled it. She was pleased witht he fact that it only took her one try to get it completely filled.

Naomi quickly walked back to her wher, how was starting to figure out the answer to her question. Good job Nask. She smiled and gave the little wher a handfull of food. Nask knows Naomi's name, Naomi's Naomi's name![/b] She rolled her eyes, and started to wonder how on Pern she was ever going to get this young male trained enough so that she could go hunting again. First, she had to get through this first lesson, then she would think about the future.

[Zirin]

Thesk. Kosk. Yayusk repeated the wher names happily to his handler, his word accented by a series of clicks and whistles, as the brown did his best to commit the names and images to memory, even if it was his handler who would be the one to truly remember. However, the images Yayusk sent her of each hatchling as the handler introduced themselves and their whers, made it easier to connect wher to human. Kesk? The chirp that accompanied the citrine’s name was one of confusion. Yayusk obviously didn’t know a signal chirp for the new colours, something Yuli noted briefly that she would have to work on. She picked up her writing pad as she waited for the next wherling to come up for his or her supplies, and took the moment to first make a note of the new colours she needed to teach her brown and then jotted down the names of the already introduced pairs on the pad, leaving ample space underneath each for notes; it was never too early to start testing and observing the pairs.

She was pleased to see that no one seemed to be having much issue dealing with the meat; of that she was glad. There was nothing worse than squeamish brats who were unwilling to overcome such simple things. She made a few jots on her notepad about the wherlings, making note of which pairs were doing as asked and which were disobeying (which didn’t seem to be an issue here). She wrote down which pairs were having an easy time with the lesson, which seemed to fight it, and which were just not good listeners. She was shocked, so far there were no troublemakers! They were all willing students. Yayusk whistled and gave his handler an image of one of the wherlings picking up their new bonded and walking towards them. That was NOT her instructions.

At first glance, she thought maybe the new wherling pair thought they were above her instructions because the hatchling was a strange new colour, then it dawned on Yuli that the woman was none other than the Weyr’s Masterharper. Well now, she was about to face a harsh reality wasn’t she. The wherlingmaster jotted down Shenzi’s name, though the wher’s name was left blank until the woman decided to introduce it, jotting down only a note on the woman’s lack of listening skills. She held up a hand as Shenzi spoke, ignoring her as another wherling came and introduced herself and her blue Nask, following instructions wonderfully. As she grabbed her supplies and got started on the lesson, Yuli finally turned her scarred face to the harper-turned-wherling.

“And I need a nice bath and a plate of bubbly pies.” She replied sarcastically, pretending not to know who the woman actually was. As far as Yuli cared, she was a Wherling, same as everyone else here. “I’m afraid you misunderstood my instructions. I want your name, and your wher's name, then I want you to follow your classmates’ example and begin the exercise.” Yayusk sniffed at the pink wher curiously, receiving a slight nudge of disapproval from his handler. “As long as it doesn’t endanger your wher, I could care less what you do when the lesson is over. Until then, however, you are the Wherling and I am the Wherlingmaster. You will do as I tell you.” She made a signal of dismissal and turned back to the class. Enough time had passed for most of them to get the jist of the exercise it seemed, and most were almost done their food.

“It seems most of you have got it down. Continue the exercise until they are not hungry any more. After that, you will have them stand as still as they can. In your pouches you will find rags and a jar of oil. Do what you can to wipe off any egg bits, and oil their entire hide. See if you can get your bondeds to tell or show you with their minds where the itches are.” This was not as strict a lesson as the first part. Their skin would itch and the human would help fix that, it was an excellent way to bond and for some of the more inclined pairs it would be a great way to begin working with images and mind speech. “Do this at your own speed, feel free to chat amongst yourselves. You’re all part of a team now, remember that. In a bit Yayusk and I will be around to see how it’s going, but feel free to ask questions if you need to.” With that said she looked back at Shenzi.

“Well? Your bonded must be hungry, get to it!”