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Lessons, lessons, lessons.

Every time she prepared to stand for Impression she went to these classes. The Candidatemaster said the same things every time, the people gave the same responses, but they were anything but boring for Nan. Quite the contrary. They were prefect information gathering sessions. Who was looking at who out of the corner of their eyes? Who was trying to start a passive-aggressive fight with someone else? And, most importantly, who was trying to do secret activities where they thought the Candidatemaster couldn't see them? Like we said, Candidate lessons were fascinating.

Nan skittered across the back of the classroom until she located an empty spot, conveniently beside La. The corners of her mouth flicked up in a grin as she seated herself next to the lesbian. I mean, the not lesbian. Oh The Nose knew all about that. She just wasn't ready to lay that card on the table yet. Some gossip was better saved for the times that there was actual public proof. Like after the hatching, for example. If La Impressed anything other than a green, Nan would be all over that like dragons on a wherry. But for now, she simply beamed at the girl next to her and tried to look attentive.

Until, of course, she leaned over and whispered, "What do you think of that guy?" She pointed to the boy who had just asked a question about jewellery.

Holding his tongue from any remarks on the Candidate master's handwriting, really his might be no better since he never wrote anything himself anyway, Nathail keeps his peace. Well well, not given a snide remark or anything for his half-joking answer. Not bad. He spares a glance around the room now to see their numbers, bored enough to do so before the man turned back around again. Not that many, perhaps the lessons were divided then, or something. Shame though, it'd probably be warmer with more people in the room, if not too crowded for his tastes.

A brow raises just slightly at the younger-looking boy's question. Huh...he'd been wondering the same thing casually himself a couple of times. But to ask it in front of that man? Kid must be pretty brave then. He leans forward just a small bit to hear the man's answer to that one. Oh sure, probably the kids that grew up in this Weyr knew the answer, but he sure as heck didn't, so why not pay attention for once and actually learn something? Ha, his sister would faint.

Raena arrived a bit late, there was a case of a man burned by hot klah and her ever absentminded teacher had her working on Healing the man. Sometime she got exasperated with the double talk around her. One moment they are pushing for her to try to Impress, the next she is being fussed out for wanting to go to her lessons rather than help sooth a man's burned hand. Healing was more important, and then the next moment she is considered rude for not learning about the very important dragons!

With sigh she sat down next to a big young, brown haired Rayale. That was one of the seats open and seemed to make it more likely her absents could be missed. Foolish to try to get something past the Candidatemasters, so the silly sun dream vanished and she focused on making the most of what she was here for.

The question reminded her of one she had asked a few times. With it being so dangerous on the sands, not allowing her to bring in her belt pouch to start the Healing process right away seemed silly. Only the response that a dragon could grab it and hurt her or itself did she stop asking. Still took a full sevenday before she finely conceded to not try and sneak something in. There was no crime in trying to keep those around her alive, but there was one in typing the favor scales with the Impressions.

Holding her wool tunic close, she asked her own question after a few moments, “The Weyr is already lacking in places for the Dragon riders and their Dragons. Even with the rider made weyrs its still a lot. How will the Weyr cope with forty more?" Surely they had to move somewhere, it cannot be safe or healthy for everyone involved.

Lessons again! Elae, for the most part, didn’t listen to the Candidatemaster. It wasn’t any sign of disrespect; it was simple that she had been to more than one Hatching and felt pretty confident in what to do. It wasn’t very difficult. Just dress in the right clothes and stand there. If a dragon chose you, then feed it. How complicated was that? It baffled her a little that the Bluerider managed to stretch out the lesson to something more complicated… She wondered what had happened in his life. What made him into a dragonrider. The only reason Elae had attended the class at all was to get to know her peers and, possibly one day, her fellow Wingriders.

Upon hearing two other girls start talking, Elae idly slid closer to them. It wasn’t that she was trying to eavesdrop. It just sounded much more interesting than talking about protocol.

“I’m wondering why he asked about jewelry at all,” she whispered to the other two girls. “I like sparkly things as much as the next girl. But… the next girl,” she said, putting emphasis on that last word. “Although I can understand why he doesn’t want to wear a robe. Cil here doesn’t like the wind about his manly bits either. Don’t ask how I know that.”


“I will ask you to stop telling everyone that!” Cil hissed at his friend. “And be quiet! I’m trying to listen!” In a huff, the young man moved a little further from Elae. Shards, one misplaced word and the girl never forgot about it! Like Elae, Cil had heard a similar lecture before and had committed it---or tried to---commit it to memory. But, unlike her, he didn’t think it was enough. If there was one bit of information he didn’t know already, he didn’t want to risk missing it! It could mean the difference between getting Impressed and shame and/or recrimination, made that much worse by lack of a dragon.

He frowned a little at what a girl said about jewelry and how it might increase the chances of Impression. “But aren’t dragons more attracted to minds rather than anything else? I thought they Impressed based on minds, not appearances. If that’s the case, we might as well require everyone attractive to leave the Hatching, on the grounds that they have a higher chance of Impression. Not that I’m really arguing with you here or anything, miss.” But the tripping and falling thing made sense; he was willing to concede that. “I think the clothing choice has more to do with tradition. It’s what people have always done and it works. Why change it? Sure, it’s awkward running around in a robe and sandals, but that’s a show of… of… passion, isn’t it? It’s sort of a way of proving that you really do want to be there.”

“I have a question too, sir. I understand that Searchrider dragons sort of seek out Candidates by trying to match them up with dragonets, right? So, if that’s the case, the dragons are alive in the egg? Then how come there’s always a mystery about the color of the dragon? Couldn’t another dragon tell?”

Since Mal honestly doubted he would Impress, he didn’t pay too much attention except when the words, ‘or you may die a horrible ignoble death’ came up, or any variants of such. It wasn’t so much the ignoble part that bothered him as much as the ‘death’ part. He was very attached to his life. It was the only one he had and all. Aeron, the bronze flitt, clung to his arm possessively, hissing at anyone who came too close. Why, yes, he was an angry, angry firelizard.

The fact that Aeron wasn’t allowed on the Hatching Grounds made Mal frown minutely, mostly because he was afraid of the damage the bronze could cause if left alone for any amount of time. For the most part, he just tried to sit back and stay still.

Lanakirene glanced over at Elae's comment, and quirked a brow. It was almost (almost) worth remarking that if she, for example, were the next girl, then Elae must not like sparkly, pretty things at all. Instead, she merely snickered and shook her head. "After all," she said aloud, continuing her own thoughts without really noticing she was doing so, "we do have greenriding fellows who are a bit on the pretty side. Maybe this little one's just a trifle confused about himself," she finished, smiling ever so slightly to herself.

Shrugging, she glanced over at Elae and inclined her head. Another veteran, as she was coming to think of those who had stood for previous clutches. "Oh, boys," she murmured, shaking her head. "Get over it and man up. If it's a breeze they're worried about, well, then that's just silly. If they're concerned robes won't offer them protection against dragonet teeth, then maybe, just maybe, that's understandable." She grinned slyly before leaning back and closing her eyes once again.

Shouldn't they have been told to bring something to write on? Dusen wondered, listening to all the information. Or had they been expected to figure that out on their own.

Well, hopefully he would be able to remember everything, or at least most of it. It was interesting, and so far he didn't have any questions, everything that he might have wanted to ask had been covered by the other candidates so far.

Both Ghilani and Florian had arrived within moments of each other to the lesson room, and a natural sort of sibling-esque gravity between the two caused them to sit near one another at the front of the room. Florian had Stood a few times before, and being one of the oldest hopefuls in the room, he calmly kept the answers to himself, even when Ghilani nudged him a few times to speak up. Florian had reached a quiet sort of inner peace with the processes that took place before Hatchings, and being that this would be his last, he was content to just enjoy the proceedings...

...If trying to discern this old man's childlike scrawl could be considered enjoyment. Ghilani had already made one sarcastic comment about it, though he wisely kept it low enough to be out of earshot. Florian knew his roommate was a draftsman, and had had quite a few years dealing with the barely intelligible handwriting of his former Master, so he merely ignored the comment. Ghilani wasn't prone to malicious comments as a rule, and were the setting more appropriate, Florian might have chuckled at the comparison to wherries, but he affected a look of serene understanding and listened to the back and forth questions and edicts between the Candidatemaster and the Candidates.


After having his joke unceremoniously shot down by his uptight roommate, Ghilani resolved himself to listen as best as he could to the lecture. He had learned a few things in his time in the Lower Caverns when he eavesdropped on older riders and the Weyrfolk, so most of what was being said confirmed what he had heard. The bit of raunchy talk between some of the female and male candidates around him caught his amused interest for a moment... up until the breeze comment, wherein he promptly paid rapt attention to the Candidatemaster and his abominable script. Florian glanced over at that point, and chuckled a bit under his breath when he noticed the embarrassed red tint gradually spreading across Ghilani's cheeks. Florian was a Healer, and had seen a great deal of female bits and male bits, so nothing perturbed him these days... but Ghilani had been exceptionally sheltered as an apprentice (which he thought odd ) so he could still act like a much younger boy when anything below the waistline came up in conversation.

The bit about firelizards not being allowed on the Sands did bother Florian though. He was confident that Tada would do as Ghilani bade her, but Roco was a law unto himself. Idly he wondered if tying the brown to a cot post would keep him in one place, but quickly rethought it when he realized the brown might very well try and pop through between to the Hatching Sands... cot post, cot, tied lizard, and whatever Florian had left on the bed included. The mental image was almost too much, and he leaned forward onto his hands to hide the smirk.

As if reading the Healer journeyman's thoughts, Roco disengaged himself from around Florian's neck and crawled down his arm to rest on the table in front of him. Absently, Florian started to scratch the brown's eye ridges as he brought his attention back to the old bluerider.

Oblivious to the internal comedy show Florian was creating in his head, Ghilani opted to sit quietly until he had a question, waiting for the Candidatemaster to answer those already presented to him.

Rayale ducked his head, offering an sidelong, crooked grin at Raena as she slipped into a seat beside him, it made him feel better, in a guilty sort of way, that there were late comers, but not so much better when she also asked an good question, and boldly.
"I wonder about that." He added under his breath quietly. "It's pretty crowded."
There were so many people it sometimes reminded him of a school of fish, but without the mysterious sense of organization that fish could have.