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 Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:47 pm
Directly outside the dining hall, the grounds had been transformed beneath the diligent industry of the Weyr’s kitchen staff and Lower Caverns crew. The seasoned wood of the trestle tables groaned beneath the ample weight of the succuluent dishes crowding every available inch of space. Well seasoned tubers rubbed elbows with a handsome roast, bright spheres of fruit interspersed throughout - the cornucopia of smells playing counterpoint to the anxious buzz of pre-celebration chatter as the kitchen staff set the last few places just as the cues came for the wineskins to start flowing.
Residents of the Weyr began trickling in long before the new riders did. Accompanied by groups of exuberant riders, the noise intensified tenfold as congratulations and excited recaps drifted from one end of the room to another. Weyrfolk soon joined the celebratory crowd, dressed in Gather day finery to commemorate the event.
The Weyrlingmaster stood near the tables, laden with a number of shoulder knots. He and the Weyrleader would be presenting them when the Weyrlings arrived. After all, they were the stars of this show!
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:30 pm
Ashlyn was in one of her best dresses and she was a bundle of nerves. She felt a gentle prod from behind and looked up to see Gyafrith, which caused her to smile. Her blue dragon could be very pushy when he wanted to be, but she knew that was because he cared. She gave him a grateful smile, before she looked around the area and saw her Weylingmaster. She took a deep breath and walked up to him, hoping he was not nervous.
"Big day, huh, sir?"she asked him.
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Dea and #Teddy# Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 6:11 pm
It had been HARD to wait till it was time before showing up at the graduation feast. Jasiline had been smelling the food all day and if anything motivated the energetic girl, it was good food. You are lucky we are as active as we are. I'd hate to have a fat rider. The brown snorted as he got a sound thump on the nose from his rider.
"Not like you're one to talk. I don't see you gettin the prize for sleekest runner." Jasi tugged her outfit back into place, she'd not been able to decide between her best riding leathers, or her gather dress, and had gone for a compromise of a nice skirt and blouse underneath her open riding jacket and boots on her feet. She felt dolled up nice and right pretty, even if it was an odd combination.
That's because I am not a runner. I am solid and durable. Better than any of those flimsy greens or blues, or the lazy wherry headed bronzes.
Jasiline chuckled and went to meet with Ashlyn and T'rel.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 6:38 pm
"This dress, really?" Hennory teased, peering around Mei's privacy curtain to grope at her green skirts that she was still fastening on.
"Stop, you'll mess it up! And yes.. this one. Don't you remember it?"
"I do." The redhead hummed not unlike a dragon, watching his friend and lover as she dressed herself. He was already put together, of course… a vest of mottled blues that he'd had custom done. "Last I saw it, you were face first in the mud and clutching it like it was a gold fire lizard egg."
She turned in a flourish, finished lacing herself in to show off the mottled green dress. It was a dying error so obvious that some would wonder why she'd wear it to such an important event. Perhaps Hennory at her arm with a complimenting 'erroneous' vest and pant would put some context to their eccentricity.
"I still can't believe you custom ordered that. I got MY dress at a discount for this pattern." Mei waggled a finger, but it was captured in Hennory's hand as he drew the petulant green rider to his hip.
"Let's just say I'm turning it into a fashion. Little do you know, it'll be all the rage in just a few months. Everyone will be in mottled dyes, just you wait and see."
Regardless of whether their unorthodox clothing choices were going to become some sort of fashion craze, they were happy to somewhat match. It seemed to symbolize something, hinting at a commitment that had not been voiced by either as of yet, but would no doubt come up when their knots were handed to them and they were allowed to choose their full sized, Rider Weyrs. To weyrmate, or not to weyrmate? Luckily neither person was worrying about this little detail. Tonight was a day that symbolized their readiness to fight thread, to join the ranks and the wings and face the enemy of Pern.
When they finally made their entrance, it was probably a little obnoxious, the obviousness of their attraction to one another. What would have once been looped arms and a friendly jaunt, the two now walked as one, shoulders brushing with gentle intention, or a spindly hand tracing Mei's slender shoulder.
"Seems we're on time for a change." Hennory mentioned good naturally, scanning the group of familiar faces filing in. "Shall we join them?"
"Are you kidding me? We're like over sweetened Klah. Frankly I find ourselves disgustingly all over each other, why wouldn't they?" The sharp barb was softened by the gentle squeeze on his arm, and Hennory laughed. She was right, of course. They were mooning each over like freshly twined fire lizards, and he gave her neck a final brush with his hands before taking a step away to give each other some space. And so, apart yet together, they joined their peers, catching the excitement mounting in the growing crowd.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 6:45 pm
Fooood. Saenshu's mind was completely and utterly overtaken by the sweet and savory smells wafting across the Weyr. Out of all the things that came with becoming a candidate, the celebrations and free food had to be his favorite part; most seemed to feel the same. Skimming along the many tables of delights, his icy gaze was intense as he decided on his first victim, eventually stopping in front of a large assortment of prepared meats. He was happy for the graduating weyrlings, sure, but the real celebration was about to happen in his mouth. It was fortunate he didn't know many people yet, he enjoyed the thought of not being pestered while he sampled all kinds of food. This was an important moment in history!
---
K'tai arrived somewhat late after working on a project with Kamuyth, the numbers still running through his head as he approached the growing crowd. Graduating weyrlings! It was always an exciting experience to see new dragon riders grow, and would be a pleasure to work with them in the future. Heading over to the weyrling master, the blue rider smiled and looked towards any of the graduates that may also be nearby. "Congratulations, guys!" It wasn't really his style to approach people he didn't know well, but he figured the special occasion called for it. "I hope you guys have a fun night, you deserve it."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 7:23 pm
T'rel smiled at Ashlyn's inquiry, nodding. "Quite," he agreed. "Its your day at last, Ashlyn. You excited?" He knew how much this day meant to her: what it meant to all of them. They were survivors. They were fighters. It would be a pleasure to see them in the air, alongside their wingmates. Or so he had to tell himself. With each batch of Weyrlings, T'rel found himself opening up to them and developing a familar bond. He wasn't particularly looking forward to letting them go.
He reached out a hand, making to ruffle Ashlyn's hair, and seemed to think better of it. Instead, he placed it on her shoulder. "R'yn will be arriving soon," he promised, "Then I'll announce rank and wing. Pass out knots," he gestured to the knots on his shoulder. "Go eat while you can. You'll be on display soon enough! No doubt some of our oldest riders will want to critize you. You too, Jasi! Go get something to eat."
He made a face, upon spotting Mei and Hennory. He cleared his throat. Now wasn't the time. "Please behave as the Weyr expects you to," he muttered, "And not like greens preparing to rise."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:49 pm
Z'fer
Z'fer was also dressed to impress tonight, wearing a fresh white shirt with a low collar tucked into fitted pants and over it all his dark blue cloak, a remnant of his sailor days. A small golden agate hung from one ear, bright against his dark hair. He was feeling rather proud of himself and Iacauth as he arrived at the gather.
Iacauth glowed with health and oil. Other greens may have risen, but she seemed to be biding her time. It was only natural after all for her to want to be the center of attention before she did anything. She wasn't going to rise until the time was right. That didn't stop her from being a terrible flirt though, their whole weyrlinghood had her scoping out the males from their clutch, and those older dragons they met day to day. Tonight was no different as she fanned her wings and displayed her bright colors.
Z'fer chuckled as he walked in on the tail end of T'rel's scolding of the two. "Too true. No one wants to see you two slobbering all over each other like a couple of starved wherlings." He grinned at the two of them, take it as a tease or an insult, Z'fer really didn't care what they thought, but he was definitely in a good humor today.
Jasi
Jasi gave T'rel a salute and after rolling her eyes at Z'fer, made a beeline for the food. She didn't need to be told twice! You're going to look like a stuffed wherry. Voracath settled down to sleep a distance away from the gathering, his wide body soaking up the last of the sun's heat from deep within the rocks.
I'm going to be eating stuffed wherry from what it looks like! Jasi responded, an excited predatory gleam in her eye as she stabbed the aforementioned beast with a serving fork and dragged a large slice on top of the food already piled on her plate. "Weyr life is worth it just for the food I'd say!" She exclaimed aloud, grinning at the others also serving themselves.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:42 pm
Ashlyn nodded her head, she had been looking forward to the day when she would become a full fledged rider. It felt like just yesterday when she was on the sands, wondering if she would ever be picked, and Gyafrith had chosen her. When T'rel mentioned food, her stomach growled and she let out a laugh. Her eyes saw the others and she smiled in greeting to them. She looked out to the crowd, wondering if anyone had shown up for her, had they been able to make it?
"I think food would be a good idea to me,"she responded, before she went to the table to get some food.
"I guess I am not the only one hungry, Jasi,"she commented with a smile.
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Dea and #Teddy# Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:35 pm
Lein was frowning as he followed Kaila to the feast for the new rider. His adopted mother was humming softly to herself with Maith beside her. Lein's blue, Otygiath glanced around curiously. The blue was not very fond of being around large crowds, but from feeling Lein's fondness for gathers, felt like going with the boy. Kaila herself was not in her best dress, but had decided to wear a simple green dress with a sash that Lein had gotten her from a previous gather.
Kaila knew a couple of the weyrlings and was looking forward to seeing what wing they were to be in. She did not even know what wing her adopted son was in, but then again, he was a bit shy about that.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:01 pm
Mei actually looked embarrassed, her eyes flicking away from her Weyrlingmaster in a way that was quite uncharacteristic for her, looking somewhat sick all of a sudden. Hennory's first reaction was to put a comforting and on the small girl's shoulder, a reflection of the easy friendship they had always shared, and obviously still retained even after the new dynamic to their relationship. Hennory whispered something in her ear that would go unheard by anyone else, eliciting an uneasy smile from the green rider before she parted ways with him to go get something to drink.
Hennory's gaze that he set on T'rel was solid and cold, but ever so slowly, his hands were brought up in the shape as if he were cradling a baby, brows raising in question as if to ask 'nervous?' Then all the anger ebbed from Hennory, merely smirking and taking a step forward. "You look a little tense, Weyrlingmaster. Don't worry, I'm sure things will go on without a hitch." Whether he was talking about the graduation or the pregnancy would be ambiguous enough.. but we all know what he's getting at...
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:15 pm
Kaimi arrived at the feast before the last of the Weyrlings, which was a relief. She had been told that she would be expected to play for the celebration, but for the life of her she hadn't been able to find the right dress. And then she hadn't been able to locate the right shoes that went with the belt that was probably in that pile of things over there... Well. She was here now and felt rather grand in her harper blue. Clutching her pipes in her hand, her gaze swept the room. Lots of familiar faces, but nobody she knew particularly well. Still, she recognized several other candidates who had been at the touching and that was something, at least.
Not having anyone immediate to talk to, her eager eyes found the food and her feet led the way almost of their own accord. She began piling a plate high, stomach gurgling. One might not think someone as slight as Kaimi wouldn't be able to put all that food away, but she was more than up for the challenge.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:50 pm
Jasi
(Tags to Ashlyn)
Jasiline nodded and chuckled. "When have you ever known me to turn down food?" Jasiline spooned a dollop of tart berry sauce onto the wherry slice on her plate with a satisfied 'ha!' then turned back to the bluerider. "You excited about today? We're finally going to join the wings! I can't sharding wait myself. No more lessons or restrictions. We can do whatever we want s'long as we don't show up for Fall with winehead as far as I figure."
A small bronze firelizard landed on her back, clinging to her shoulder and peering hungrily at the plate in her hands. He chattered at it, his tiny jaws quivering.
Z'fer
(and family! Tagging T'rel)
"Zofer?! ZOFER! HEY ZOFER" A tall dark haired woman stood in the center of the crowd, stance wide, hands cupped around her mouth as she shouted out loud. "WHY'D THE WHERRY FALL OUT OF THE TREE?" She cried, her voice, used to commanding rough sailors out on the open ocean carried far.
"BECAUSE IT WAS DEAD!" Z'fer shouted back automatically, turning with a broad grin as he recognized and located the handsome form of his mother, Captain Rezza of The Bitran Bet. He jogged the few meters between them and met the tall woman with a hearty embrace. He blinked in surprise when she pulled away and grabbed him by the shoulders. Was she shorter than he now?! "You made it!"
"I don't know why I can't go to the weyr and get a dragon too?" Came a whine from behind his mother's back. Z'fer peered over her shoulder and saw a pair of small stormy eyes glaring up at him.
"Zenny!" Z'fer bent and scooped his little sister into a wher-hug. The ten turn old girl protested loudly and smacked her brother on the forehead before he let her down.
Rezza just laughed, smiling on her children with indulgence. "We did! I wouldn't miss my only son's graduation to the ranks of the dragonriders would I? You may have forgotten the sea but she has never forgotten you." The Captain clapped a hand on her son's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm proud of you Zofer. May we go meet your dragon?"
Z'fer squeezed his mother's hand. "It's Z'fer now, and yes!" He paused, listening in on his connection with that particular green and his eyes widened a fraction. "I'll take you to meet her later. First you should meet the Weyrlingmaster and get some food before it's all gone." Z'fer steered the family over to T'rel
"T'rel." He grinned mischeviously. "This is my mother, Captain Rezza of The Bitran Bet, the fastest merchant ship this side of Bitra herself." He put a hand on the shoulder of his little sister, who turned her grey scowl on the weyrlingmaster, looking all too much like her brother at his worst. "And this is Zennaren, my little sister. Mother? This is the Weyrling Master T'rel. He's been the one in charge of our training for the past turn and a half."
Rezza grinned at the curly haired man, flashing a mouth of white teeth. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope my son hasn't been too much trouble for you?"
Paige
(Tagging Kaimi)
Paige scrambled, tugging on her slippers as she dashed from the candidate barracks to the feast. She'd had to tune her fiddle, then practice that piece just one more time, and THEN the color of her dress really didn't match the pretty blue of the shoes she wanted to wear, and they didn't match the belt she wanted to wear over that! so her whole outfit had to be redone from the ground up. THEN she realized that she couldn't leave her bunk a mess because the candidatemaster would kill her! Even if she was preforming tonight, and she really did want to Stand at the next hatching. Really very badly.
By the time she got to the feast, her cheeks were pink and her hair tossled from her run, but she was there on time! Early even! With the strap to her fiddle case slung carefully across her chest she slipped her way in among the crowd getting food and squeezed closer to the flash of harper blue she spotted. "Kaimi!"
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Dea and #Teddy# Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:43 pm
Ashlyn
(tags to Jasi)
Ashlyn let out a soft laugh, knowing the other was quite right when it came to herself and food.
"I would think the world was ending if you actually turned down food, Jasi. Just make sure to save some for the rest of us, I would like something to eat,
"Ashlyn teased, her blue eyes sparkling. Then she heard the question and nodded her head.
"Yes, I am excited and nervous at the same time. When we were on the sands for our hatching, I worried I would never become a rider. But here we are, about to graduate. You seem to like the no more rules aspect of it,"Ashlyn replied.
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:24 pm
T'rel grinned at Z'fer's quip, flashing him a wink to know it was appreciated. "Iacauth is glowing with health," he complimented the boy. "What an event to shine for!" His smile widened as he watched Jasiline take off towards the food. He was planning on getting a good helping of that stuffed wherry, too! A rare treat in Ista, where they mostly served fish.
He was relatively surprised by Hennory's actions: but more so concerning the boy's words. Tense? Was he? "I'm sure. As long as you lot behave yourselves. Go get something to eat, Hennory. I expect the Weyrleader will be here soon." His smile appeared slightly forced as he directed the Weyrling towards the tables. "Go on," he said, "Grab a bit of that wherry!" Yes, he was nervous. About Lute, and the gradation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," T'rel gave an inclination of his head upon being introduced to Captain Rezza, and then to Z'fer's younger sister. He flashed the woman a bright smile, "Not nearly as much as he must have caused for you, I'd expect. No, Z'fer has been one of my best behaved Weyrlings. Quite skilled in the air!" He bent slightly to speak to Zenny, "You going to be a dragonrider, too, someday?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:16 pm
Kaimi
(tagging Paige)
Kaimi's head raised when she heard her name, and she spun around to see Paige. Her face split into a huge grin as she hurried over to meet the other girl.
"Paige! You look great. You would not believe the trouble I had finding something suitable to wear to this! Do you like my belt? It was a gift from some bluerider I had a thing with once. Oh! Are you ready for our duet? I feel like I've been practicing until my lips are ready to fall off!" She spoke in a hurried torrent of words, her excitement shining through every pore of her body. "Can you believe this might be us someday?" That was the real meat of it. The cause for excitement. Next time, it could be Kaimi and Paige standing there, waiting to graduate with gorgeous, bright-hided dragons at their sides.
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