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Hekate frowned resisting the urge to arch a brow at the wingleader and wingsecond that same way she would at Z'fer when he' done something silly. Oh both of their speeches had been pretty enough, but she'd heard it all before. The constant rehashing about finding your home and loving and living together while accepting others. Rules that she was always expected to abide to, but when it came to her they seemed to be conveniently forgotten. However she had promised Z'fer she would behave and at least try to participate and oh would she participate.

With a look in her eyes that could only spell trouble to those who knew her Hekate raised her hand waiting for the wingleader and wingsecond to take notice of her before speaking up. "While that's all very well and good Wingleader D'lin and Wingsecond S'kor you haven't really told us much about your wing. Like what are your numbers? Do you need more firepower or do you need smaller faster dragons to pick up wayward clumps of thread? What about your wing practice schedule? Is it flexible or rigid? Would it be able to be adapted to those who might be pursuing crafting professions as well as dragon riding? Also is there a system of command in place should both wingleader and wingsecond fall or be compromised like some were during the first threadfall?" Hekate asked with a slight tilt of her head her tone one of curiosity, but sharpened by wit and mischievous humor. After all if she was going to be forced to sit through this whole thing she sharding well was going to get something out of it.

Picking them apart already Mine? I see your tongue is as sharp as ever. Devith rumbled in amusement in his rider's mind half turning to actually glance at the preceding were before he had kept his back to it choosing to mostly ignore the whole thing except for a few greetings to those dragons he knew.

I got bored. Hekate replied keeping her gaze steady on the wingleader and wingsecond the very picture of an attentive and interested listener awaiting an answer to her question. Which just made her look ten times more suspicious as she kept her poker face not wishing to give away her little mental conversation with Devith.

Maybe the one with the battle marks around his eyes can make more jokes. I quite enjoyed his last one about the bronze two-legger. Ask him if he'll do another about these two. I bet it'd be funny. Devith replied his eyes whirling as brightly with mischief has his rider's. While he may have been on better terms with Z'fer that certainly wouldn't stop Devith from taking a dig at the cocky wingleader when he could.

You mean Carltis? Hekate asked trying to think who met her dragon's description as she glanced over at the rough and tumble candidate.

Yes him. I like him. He's got fire like you do Mine. The silver rumbled happily in his rider's mind peering over at the candidate in question from a distance.

While her attentive poker face remained Devith comments couldn't help, but draw a small smile from Hekate as the edge of her lips twitched upwards in amusement at her silver's antics.

[Carltis]

The scarred harper cocked his head, looking up at the stage. "I think that's uncharitable of you Rochelle," he murmured, "he's not a fat herdbeast. Moos like one when he doesn't get his way though. If he can't put up with losing a simple gather competition I don't think I would feel very secure flying in his wing. Imagine if he thought you were being too flashy and outshining his shiny bronze sheen."

Hekate's questions were a matter of interest to him though so he didn't continue snarking as he could have done. Instead he mulled over questions of his own, and eventually came up with a good one to start; he raised his hand. "Will we have a chance at the end to ask questions for each of the wingleaders to answer in turn, Weyrlingmaster?" he asked, his sharply annunciated and carefully polite - almost too polite - tones cutting through the air like shards of glass. "I'd like to be able to compare all of their answers, you see," he added by way of explanation and, with a small flourish, he produced a few sheets of paper and a stick of lead from inside his shirt. Holding the writing implement delicately in his large hands he smoothed the parchment flat over his knees and regarded Mercy with his most studious expression.

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[Kleos]

Kleos listened to the native wingleader and his second carefully; there was nothing in what he said that she disagreed with, and she would probably make some of the same points herself in just a few moments....

Somebody, however, was asking questions and doing so with a distinct lack of respect. Somehow she wasn't surprised to see it was Hekate, given what Aerith had just told Moriath. It was not her place however to intervene here; dealing with interjections such as that was just another part of being a wingleader, so it was for D'lin to show the crowd his style of management. Carltis' question got a slight narrow of her eyes too, as did his producing the paper; to think the cur had the cheek to call her theatrical.

Hekate slanted her eyes over at Kaeyne giving him a rather brilliant smile that was a little more teeth then warmth. "Of course, but there are candidates here who are not native to this Weyr or are recent arrivals. Not to mention with the new wings, fluctuation of numbers of injured or lost due to thread fall and fighting the wing numbers are constantly in flux. After all the numbers we currently know might not be up to date." She explained with a slight nod before turning back to the wingleader and second only to spot Carltis out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh do you have a second sheet or piece of charcoal I could borrow? Lovely idea on your part about taking notes." She complimented giving him a much broader and warmer smile then she'd bothered to give Kaeyne. She had to resist laughing at Rochelle's comment giving the other woman a nod of greeting.

"Oh Devith loved your joke by the way. Very funny." She added in a low whisper so only Carltis could hear.

D'lin

'Rather a hostile crowd isn't it?' Plexith remarked, lifting his bronze head to survey the gathering.

'Seems to be, but then that's the norm lately isn't it?' D'lin responded to his dragon. The wingleader found he rather missed the early days of his impression once in a while, when things had been peaceful. No thread..no crazy revolutionaries, no wayward tunnel snakes, felines or rogue whers...just Plexith and lessons and the simple joy of watching his bronze grow.

'Everything grows and with growth comes change' Plexith soothed his rider, picking up on his thoughts. 'Answer the girl, she at least waited to garner your attention before speaking.'

'That she did' D'lin answered while he formulated his response. "The young man is correct, wing numbers are public..any of you can see them on the boards at any time. However all of the wings currently stationed here at Trine can be considered at full fighting force, Wings can operate with anything between 12 to 35 or so dragon and rider pairs, obviously no one really wants to operate with 12..but it can be done, most of the wings today however fall in the twenty's and are already fully functional and balanced...hence why you are being given a choice, if the Weyr had wings that were unbalanced or in need of a certain trait you would have been shunted to those wings by default. So the simple fact that you are being given a choice is an answer to your question already - All of us can fit any pair into our wings and benefit from it.

All Wings operate with a chain of command - although it is highly unusual for both a Wingleader and a Wingsecond to fall it can happen and certainly has at least a few times in the past. In the Gale Stalkers, Pipith and Se'tal would be considered third in command and should they fall Ca'mil and Cheryth would take over and so on and so forth down the line. As for crafting, while I understand the desire for some to pursue a secondary occupation, flying thread is a dangerous task and you are not only responsible for your life when you are in the air but that of your neighbors in formation, so while I will do my best to accommodate my riders I do expect practices to take precedence, it is much easier in most cases for one person to reschedule a lesson then it is for 30 people to reschedule a practice - that said if something of importance comes up that you simply can not miss or reschedule and there have been no problems with your wing performance then I can usually be talked into letting you skip a practice. Practices are on a rigid schedule - they take place at the same times on the same days, for instance we might practice on one day in the morning, another day in the afternoon and yet another in the evening to take advantage of practicing in different air and light conditions. Given the situations we've been facing however S'kor and I have determined that flight practices are not all we should be focusing on and so we will shortly be offering optional sessions on such things as hand to hand combat, tracking, ground conditioning and whatever else the wings thinks is necessary in these rather trying times. The schedule and content of these sessions have not been finalized however - I'll be holding a wing meeting about it shortly." Thinking that ought to cover the majority of the questions he had been asked, he glanced to Mercy so that she could say whatever she needed to.

Mercy

When the crowd started to get a bit unruly Mercy sighed..but before she could step in and tell them to settle down D'lin went ahead and answered the questions about his wing. She rather hoped that would stave off anymore possible uprisings and to further hold them at bay she stepped forward when the man was done talking to address the other question. "Yes, as stated in the beginning there will be time at the end for you to ask any questions you might have of the Wingleaders and Seconds."

D'lin

With a nod towards Hekate and no more questions or remarks coming his way D'lin stepped back and retook his seat, leaving it to the next Wingleader in line. Leaning back in his seat to relax now that his turn was over. Perhaps going first wasn't so bad after all.

Mercy

As D'lin took his seat, thankfully having dispersed what might have turned into an argument with a quick answer Mercy glanced towards Kleos in an invitation to speak next.