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(This is an orp for candidates to get a little hands on experience. ^_^ You may join in at any time, but will be counted late after my third post.)

The sun had just fully crested over the horizon. Hair still damp from his morning bath, S'kor strolled down the path with his bronze. They were heading to a wide open area where Scarath could stretch out and still have plenty of room. The large dragon could take up quite a bit of space. Need to start laying back on the treats, I think He teased the dragon. S'kor positioned the dragon so the coming candidates could view him from all angles. After Scarath had settled himself, the rider moved up by his head and scratched his eyeridges. "Suppose to be a second rider and dragon coming for this. Oh look, there's Optheli."

Scarath responded as dignitantly as any bronze, They are so tiny Mine, and don't count for much. He settled himself and lowered his head to the ground for the affection from his rider. His eyes whirled slow and blue. It is Dynith and Hers. They volunteered when they head. Good morning Dynith. He didn't bother mention that he'd hinted to Dynith to get the siblings together for a short time.

Optheli loved the mornings. It smelled so great in the cool air. Her hand rested on the shoulder of her nervous green as they came into the area. She saw her brother and gave a wave, "Mornin' S'kor! Lovely morning for this I'd say." Dynith go ahead and set yourself out of Scarath's way. I'm sure the candidates will be arriving soon, Optheli nudged Ismay to go curl up with the dragon while she went to talk to S'kor.

"Been busy? You've got a lot of dragon there, must be nice to get some help today." She grinned at her older brother. Knowing him he would take excellent care no matter how big his dragon was. "Poor Dynith is afraid none of the candidates will notice her next to Scarath. I'm sure a couple will come over to work on her."

Dynith flipped her wings and laid down. She eyed the bronze. Hello Scarath. Mine was looking forward to this all night. Her eyes whirled green with yellow tinge as her rider stepped away. She was getting nervous about the candidates not showing up. The soothing present of the green flit helped a little.

Cetalese, as usual, was up early and made her way immediately to the Candidate bathing chamber before the others awoke. It was her usual morning ritual-- get clothes, bathe, change, get breakfast, get back before chores were assigned-- but today would be a little different and that gave her added speed to her movements. She had even risen a bit earlier for the occasion, excitement waking her earlier than she wanted and leaving her laying in bed, mind working but eyes closed, for probably half a candlemark. This morning would be her first Candidate lesson, and the first chance to try her new pants. She'd been sticking to skirts for the last few days, but a lesson meant she might need mobility. Bathed, dried and dressed, Cetalese headed down to the dining hall. Riders were expected to be up this early, but Ceta knew from experience that it was very rare to find more than a dozen in the dining hall when the sun had only come up half a candlemark before. Sure enough, there were less than a dozen when she entered and made herself up a plate. She had to have energy today.

Cetalese wasn't one to forget herself, so she was mindful of the time as she ate and didn't take overlong. Her food done, she took advantage of a little additional time and jogged down to the kitchens to check on the egg pots. With a smile, she opened and checked first hers and then Eliza's. Not much longer now, she thought. Of course, she didn't actually know, since this was her first experience with firelizard eggs, but the shell was hot and unbelievably hard. It couldn't be much longer. Ceta turned both pots with a sure movement, so the other side could warm. They would be expected at the lesson soon. However, as she rose to her feet she realized that Eliza hadn't been up and, if she stayed true to her nature, might very well oversleep, forget about not making it to breakfast. Before she left the kitchen, Cetalese took two meatrolls from a tray being prepared for the dining hall, gave a smile of greeting and thanks to the Headwoman who was busy directing drudges, and left with her feet making tracks for the Candidate Barracks.

Sure enough, when she arrived Eliza was still abed, although Cetalese saw other girls had risen and were bathing or already gone to the lesson or breakfast.

"Eliza. Hey." She carefully stacked the meatrolls in one hand and with the back of her free hand-- so as to not get crumbs in Eliza's bed-- she shook her friend slightly. "Eliza. Eliza. Wake up."

Cetalese watched her friend's speed in dressing silently, and likewise didn't have time to say much as one of the meatrolls was snatched from her hand, although for one she had the incentive. Knowing her friend was going to work herself into a fit, Ceta slowed her steps once they were outside and Eliza's mouth was too full of meatroll to interrupt her.

"Eliza. I woke you up early. We aren't going to be late. In fact," Cetalese gestured at the two dragons hunkered down in the weyrbowl and the one much smaller person standing with them. She was still holding Eliza's second meatroll, but she wouldn't pass it to her friend until she was sure Eliza wouldn't try to choke them both down at once. "It looks as if we'll be two of the first to arrive. Relax."

Without a word, she took her hair tie from her pocket and offered it to Eliza. The girl hadn't had the time to brush her hair in her self-induced panic, and Ceta hadn't the time to find a brush before Eliza was rushing her out the door, but she could at least offer Eliza a tie to keep the messy locks out of her face. Ceta always kept a spare, and the little pockets in the pants were the perfect places to hold them. First impressions on her new pants were favorable.

As they approached the dragons, Cetalese could see she'd been correct, because she recognized the face of the girl standing with them. Still, she hadn't been expecting two dragons or, if she acknowledge it, their sizes. Even the Green seemed huge, and the Bronze looked as if he could fit a good five Candidates on his back. Despite living at the weyr for a few sevendays now and having seen dragons come and go, Cetalese had only been close to the one Blue who had Searched her. That gave her some preparation for the Green-- but not for the Bronze. Although her face really didn't alter much from its usual calm, she could feel herself staring and was sure her mouth was hanging open, rather than her lips being slightly parted the way they were. She just couldn't seem to help herself.

Zeirvon yawned and shifted in his bunk. Eventually he opened his eyes and sighed; another day, another lesson. At least this morning he was going to be outside though, the candidatemaster had decided that as a clutch was upcoming some of them ought to get a bit closer to some dragons. Wasn't the first time he'd been through this routine, and probably wouldn't be the last; there were a lot of candidates around the place. Sighing again the lithe young man rolled out of bed and padded off to to the male candidate's bathing room where he washed, shaved, and tied his long black hair back into a smooth plait.

With this done, he dressed in loose linen britches and a sleeveless linen tunic before making for the dininghall to discover breakfast. Porridge and fruit seemed like the order of the day, accompanied of course by a huge mug of klah. He probably should have, no hw knew he should have gone to bed earlier but he never did learn. Struggling to keep himself from dropping off to sleep again he made his way slowly through his food (and a second mug of klah) before turning in his crockery at the hatch and making for the appointed meeting place.

He recognised the pair of riders of course, he'd stood for the same clutch that they'd Impressed in and the good fortune of the two traders had burned their names indelibly into his mind. Optheli. S'kor. Free wanders living the trader's life that had been taken away from him, living it right up until they moment they'd taken away dragons he - a man who'd have that perfect wanderer's life taken away from him - could have bonded to... Hu, well he guessed he couldn't have Impressed the bronze in actual fact, but it was still hard not to feel a bit bitter. "Good morning riders," he drawled as he drew near, bowing ever so slightly, "I hope you and your dragons are well today?" It wasn't insincere, he didn't wish either of them any harm; he just wished he could be standing where they were, that was all.

Melina was tired, much like the other Candidates, but for a very different reason. Her craft required her to be up at nights, gazing at the skies, and she normally slept during the day. She had been using her small telescope all night, soaking up this view that was so different from the one at home in Ruatha. She had made pages upon pages of notes in her exacting, tiny script. They'd look rather like gibberish to most people, but to her, they were precise notes of distance, location, time, and calculations to figure out relative speed and size of the objects she had been viewing. She had just finished a rather difficult series of calculations when she realized with a start what time it was - weren't they supposed to be oiling dragons this morning? Her shoulder length brown hair was tied half back, the upper section being in a pony tail and the rest of it loose. As she hurried out into the sunlight, an unusual circumstance for her, her hair glinted gold as it shifted and caught the early morning sun's rays.

Her eyes were somewhat red - she was normally asleep by now, and she supposed it would be rather obvious that she had been up all night. So accustomed to ways in the Star Hall, it hadn't quite occurred to her that people here might find her schedule odd, or assume other reasons for it. She hurried out to where she could see the two hulks of the dragons, wondering if she was the last to arrive. She hadn't even gotten food, her eating schedule being backwards by a fault as well. First thing in the morning was bed time for her, and it was bad to eat before bed. As she drew closer to the group, most of the attention seemed to be on the bronze, and the green seemed worried about something. She headed over to the green, bypassing much of the crowd and offering a smile at the green's rider. Hi, I'm Melina she offered, eyes flicking between rider and dragon and waiting for permission to approach and shower the green with some affection. This was her first full day in the weyr, and she felt rather out of place, not knowing anyone yet, though she recognized Ceta from having rescued her from her top bunk the previous day.

Zerivon nodded to the other candidates as they arrived in ones and twos; he knew some of them better than others of course but had at least known who everyone was save for the girl who introduced herself as Melina. How many more people were they waiting on, he wondered? Frankly he just wanted to get on with the lesson/exercise. As Navarre and Kytara arrived, Zerivon arched a skeptical eyebrow at the latter candidate. Wispy little girl she was, it seemed that she'd taken not Impressing at the last clutch as hard as he had although in a different way. Still, not his problem.

His attention was soon pulled away from the girl by Peradan however, who seemed very keen indeed to put herself forward. Still, he couldn't blame her, he's been just about that excited first time around. This time... well, it was just hard to get too thrilled about oiling somebody else's dragon when you were so painfully aware that you might never get your own. Still, he had to admit that the feeling of smooth dragon hide under your hands was nice. Maybe he'd just enjoy the sensation and a bit of time that wasn't being spent either inside, engaged in dirty chores, or both at once. So long as he didn't let himself get his hopes up too much it would be alright.

Gauden's short time at the Weyr wasn't enough to break habits ingrained from years of study. He awoke at the early hour reserved for the Beastcraft, bathed, and dressed, before finding his way to some breakfast-- and only getting lost once. He ate with efficiency, noting the other people who entered the dining hall but not approaching them, even when he recognized faces. When he was finished he headed back to the Barracks only to find the inhabitants sleeping still or already gone. The ones sleeping were clearly going to miss the lesson or be late. Should he wake them? No. They probably wouldn't appreciate that if they had decided to sleep in. That just left him getting himself there on time.

Where are we supposed to go for the lesson?

He saw a body vanish down the hall and followed it at a brisk walk. He was gaining ground on the Candidate when the other boy reached the door to the weyrbowl and when Gauden reached it he didn't need anyone to follow any more. The two dragons sitting in the Weyrbowl were obvious to any man with eyes in his head. Gauden made his own way over to them, stepping up behind one of the other male Candidates who had made it. Actually, the group looked fairly small for the mass of beds in the Candidate Barracks, Gauden thought, and he knew there must be some Candidates who were missing the lesson.

That will be their trouble when and if they get a dragon. They'll have to learn what to do then instead of now. There was really no excuse for being so lazy as to do something stupid.