Welcome to Gaia! ::

Valeria winces to herself as she slips into the class late and takes a seat in the back. She felt pretty sure her presence had been noted, and frowns slightly, expecting to be called to task for being so late. She reaches up and fiddles with a strand of her short hair, a nervous habit of hers when she thought she was going to get in trouble. Looking around the room, she notices a few other candidates as well, knowing quite a few of them had been lucky enough to go to the Touching while she had still been at home taking care of things for her parents. Her mom had just recently gotten rather ill, so more of the household chores had fallen onto her own shoulders, being the oldest in the household. She wasn't bitter about missing the Touching, but she was a bit sad. But, feeling sorry for oneself wouldn't improve one's situation, and besides.. There would always be other clutches she could have a shot at, right?

She turns her eyes back up to the dragonrider at the front of the class, giving him her utmost attention now.

Maranan sat down and smiled. "Ready as I'll ever be. Not sure any of them Dragonets will want me, but we can try right." He smiled and shrugged then patted Dusen on the shoulder. "Just remember white robe and sandals, and be careful. You should be fine." He was a tad worried for his new friend. He hoped he impressed. He would be good for a new dragonet. He was sure of it.

Young? Young?! That was all she could say about the boy? Great shells and stars, what was this world coming to? Girls didn't even form opinions about boys besides commenting on their age. Or maybe it was just La. That girl was pretty boring despite the very juicy rumours that came along with her. Nan rolled her eyes, thoroughly unimpressed by La's analysis of the boy in question, but decided to continue onwards. "Of course he's young. Lots of them are. Better get 'em young than try and retrain them when they're older and set in their ways. But really, La, all you can say about him is that he's young?"

Her attention was diverted when Elae slid closer, face lighting up when she recognized the girl. Aaah, now here was someone who would have a real appreciation of other people and their potential for secrets! At the mention of Cil she giggled, muffling the sound by covering her hand with her mouth. "You can never be too careful with those manly bits, eh Cil?" Nan grinned cheekily at him, before returning her attention to La and Elae.

"Greenrider? I'm sure this boy has some very manly jewellery, La, no need to go shoving him in with the pretty boys. But, then again, there is a possibility he's leaning down that path. What do you think, Elae? Candidate for the green brigade?"

The Candidatemaster didn't expect such a great torrent of questions, but he was prepared to deal with them none the less. At least they had all shown up- or most of them anyhow. Enough of them to make the room crowded, and warm it up to a comfortable temperature. In an hour or two, it would be unbearable, so he would have to work quickly, firing off answers as they fired off questions.

Turning first to Dhiren (who was too young looking, in P'ton's opinion), he answered as best he could, personal feelings laid on the side lines, for now. "Young dragons are prone to be distracted rather easily. It's a new world for them, and with everything so bright and colorful, they can get frightened, or wandered off. If the Candidates looked differently, it's entirely likely that the dragonet will either get scared and maul them, or be drawn to them simply for the color of their clothes. It's known as forced-Impression, and the bonds between those sorts of pairs are never as strong or as deep as would between the dragon and their true intended."

He frowned at Raena's question, though he shrugged his shoulders briefly to indicate that the answer was beyond him. "There's plenty of room in the Weyrling Barracks for you lot while your dragons are still young enough and small enough to fit in there. As to when you get older... I'm not sure. That will be up to the Weyrleader. We do technically have enough empty weyrs, but many of them would need some major cleaning out and renovation. Some have been used as a storage room for far too many Turns." Again P'ton shrugged, moving on to the next curious inquiry.

He actually liked Lynna's question- it was honest of her, and honesty was a breath of fresh air. "Holdborn and Weyrborn stand an equal chance, from what I've seen, and I've seen many, many Impressions. I saw the very daughter of a bronzerider and a goldrider passed over first by a Queen, then by all the greens, then by the blues, then by the browns... She never did Impress. The one who got the Queen had previously lived in a small cothold, taking care of sheep, I believe. On the same token, Weyrborn sometimes do Impress over Holdborn, but where you grew up has nothing to do with it."

Cilyme's question showed a common misconception of how Searching worked, but again, the Candidatemaster was kind. "You're incorrect in your statement that dragons Search people based on the dragons on the sands. They probe into the minds of others, and see something there that would make them fit to ride a dragon. Search dragons try to find at least twice the amount of Candidates as eggs. They don't know what the eggs will be like- or, indeed, if they will even hatch. Many clutches have a dud egg or two. So no, the dragons cannot tell. If they can, they aren't telling us. And some Searched never Impress. The dragons saw they had the potential, but a dragon was never born that fit into their specific personality."

The questions were all good, Laflan's included. "If a Candidate is attacked, Healers are standing by. They will rush the Candidate off the sands and to the infirmary. Please don't move forward to help, as horrible as that sounds. That's likely to end in more accidents than just leaving them be. The Healers move fast, and they know what they're doing."

****

Astri had been sitting quietly thus far, trying to take everything in. But the level of noise was gradually increasing. First she had thought it rude, but now she wanted in on the gossip. She had been too busy to actively participate thus far, but she found herself leaning closer and closer to the group formed by Elae, Nan, and La. They were an interesting lot, all relatively close to her own age. It would be nice to make friends, she reflected, even if it was getting to be too late to do so.

Maranan heard Dhiren's litany. He got up and walked over to him. He sat down and patted his back. "Here now! You'll be ok. We are all a little nervous here. Me, I'm a bit scared. But I know I'll make it through this somehow. Just relax and think on those eggs." He smiled at the other.

Elae flashed a bright smile at Astri, vaguely recognizing the girl by sight but not by name. Such a pity. She was really pretty too. Ah well! There would be plenty of time to get to know other people, and Elae rather looked forward to it. “That’s not my thinking, La. I’m rather thinking he needs something up his b… well, never mind. If I continue any more, poor Cil here will have an apoplectic fit. Although, I do believe I see Raena over there. Perhaps she could help us if Cil’s head ever did explode from pure shame.”

But La had a good point; the overcrowding was getting under nearly everyone’s skins these days. Even Elae occasionally felt a little antsy. But this just made way into even juicier gossip. She edged her chair even closer to the other girls’ so she could lower her voice. “What do you think about the rumors of a new Weyr being formed? I’ve heard a few riders talking about it. Well, arguing. Same thing really. It sounds like Goldrider Favan has everyone in a tizzy.” To say the least. It wasn’t quite as interesting as the relationships between riders, but this would do for now.

Besides, if anyone knew about this, it would be Nan. The Nose knows.

Oh, hey! Questions were being answered! Cil listened intently, once again trying to commit it all to memory. This was considerably more difficult with three----now four---teenage girls around him, all laughing and giggling over his manly bits.

Of all things! He endeavored to ignore them, but this was a lost battle before it even began. At La’s persistent needling, he only grew redder and shifted around in his seat more.


Eee! That was so cute! Elae simply watched in fascination as Cil grew steadily more crimson, being very amused. On days when gossip was a bit slow, she rather enjoyed seeing how much she could embarrass her friend. There was very little guilt over it, of course; if he didn’t enjoy it on some level, he surely would have stopped being around her.

Her grin turned into a small frown at Nan’s words as she chose to mock Raena a little. But the smile returned soon enough. “Oh, like you’re not a know-it-all, Nan… I like Raena. She’s nice. A little… I dunno… shy, I suppose, but nice enough. She’s a Healer. Speaking of mysterious people… did you hear about her firelizard? I just learned this the other day! Apparently, one day Raena there got an egg. It was just left with her! No note, no anything to explain where it came from. I think she has an admirer!”