[Weyrling ORP] Day One in the Barracks

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

**Please note, this thread takes place a few hours after the hatching, but before Malsalth has gone between**

The hatching had been over a few hours and that meant that hopefully her charges would be able to focus on something other than their dragons. Weyrlings were almost useless for a good day after impression. It was hardly surprising, the feeling was unimaginable and certainly overwhelming for all the best reasons. The hatchlings had been fed until they'd passed out and Sh'shi had explained the bare minimum of what the class needed to know. This is the Weyrling barracks, this is where you'll be living until you are assigned your own weyrs, no, you really don't have privacy. The Weyrling barracks were essentially a large cavern. It was large enough that sixty, large, adult, blues could live in it. It was always comical when the hatchlings were assigned wallows that were so much bigger than them, but it would only be a few months before they started to fill them. She imagined this would be good for the High Reaches blue. The youngster was still too young to have a weyr of his own, but living in the barracks he was essentially alone. The Benden weyrlings were all old enough to have moved out by this point.

Some weyrlings were made uncomfortable by the fact they now lived in an open cavern that made them visible to their whole class at all times, but it was best for the dragons. For the first few months at least they would need to be able to see their siblings. In a similar way to how for the first sevenday they would need to see their riders. Sh'shi had already covered how for at least the first two sevendays the weyrlings were unlikely to leave this cavern. Their lives would be; dragon wakes, oil dragon, dragon eats, dragon falls back asleep. All this set to the dragon's sense of time. It didn't matter if it was the middle of the night, when the dragon woke, they had to do the routine. For that reason lessons were very lax at the start, mainly just going over things they would have learned as candidates and identifying areas they might need to work on later when they weren't sleep deprived and they would be able to commit to anything for more than five minutes without their dragon waking up. The youngsters would go into blind panic if their rider wasn't visible when they woke, not yet confident in their mental abilities to be secure in their bond, so going out of sight wasn't really an option.

Sh'shi had left the love-struck weyrlings in the competent hands of her assistants. They'd most likely just spend the time staring at their dragons and talking to each other about how great their dragons are anyway. Now though she had been to a meeting. A long meeting with plenty of disagreements and a lot of her trying to keep the peace. They needed to know the decision that had been made. The Wingleaders, Headwoman and others in charge were gathering everyone else so that they would know, but really this effected the weyrlings most of all. Sh'shi strode into the barracks, walking to the centre of the cavern where a small fire kept a pot of klah warm.

Lifting her cane she struck it against the floor twice to gain their attention. "Fall in, Weyrlings." It might take them some time to congregate around her, but she didn't plan on starting until they did.

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magnadearel

Faerie Princess Meeka

Dizzy_Kat

Shaddaling

TawnyAngel

Scapanorhynchus

 

[TawnyAngel]

After the stress, fear, and then the joy of the Hatching Vee - or V' as she had decided to become, not that it made a difference to how her name was said - and so she'd dozed a bit once Lith had fallen asleep. Her bunk seemed much too far away from her dragon though and so when Sh'shi's voice roused her to her V' approached their candidatemaster-come-weyrlingmaster brushing sand off herself.

V's idea of 'fall in' was not particularly tidy but she was feeling in a pretty sharding good mood at the moment and so she didn't slouch or glare suspiciously at the old woman.

Brute on the other hand did glare as he too picked himself up out of the wallow and then launched himself into the air to glide over to V' and land upon her shoulders. He did not like the loud woman with the stick. He did not like most people but he didn't like her even more than most, and somewhere in his small mind he suspected she did not like him either; naturally this pleased the obstinate creature no end.

"Yes Sh'shi?" V' said curiously as she reached up to stroke Brute's chest. "And are we supposed to call you Weyrlingmaster now?"  

[Dizzy_Kat]

Sleep had been elusive. Not too unfamiliar to the healer, but instead of a buzzing mind going over every minute detail of their current challenge, they were still. Quiet. Kneeling beside the sleeping blue gently stroking his neck where it curved over C'ai's lap. What a wonder this new feeling was. A presence in his mind both his own and someone else entirely. Even sleeping he could 'hear' Nacreoth there. For one who'd taken such a connection with a grain of salt and had never even been emoted at by a firelizard... it almost felt like being drunk. His brain felt full. It swirled with disconnected thoughts and emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

He'd attempted to take initial measurements of Nacreoth as soon as they were assigned a wallow and left on their own but as the dragon drifted off to sleep C'ai's focus wavered and the numbers he'd attempted to commit to memory faded into nothingness as the soft curves of Nacreoth's cheeks and nose, the seeming fragility of his neck and the sweet musk of his hide occupied all of his attention.

He'd barely registered Sh'shi's return till her cane rapped on the floor. Nacreoth C'ai shifted, lifting his blue head just enough to get out from under him. One eyelid cracked revealing a sliver of green before Nacreoth grunted and tucked his head under his wing, balling himself up tight and immediately slipping back into sleep.

C'ai stood slowly, his legs tingly and heavy as he waited for full feeling to return. He hadn't even noticed them going to sleep. Stumbling and wincing as the tingling turned to sharp needles, C'ai made his way over to V' and Sh'shi.  

[Scapanorhynchus]

Shards this was amazing. She ran her hand down the sleeping green, still a little surprised that Veitrath had chosen her. She was happy though, even with them having to live in close quarters with the rest of the weyrlings. It was going to be a bit of an adjustment, but Zee was pretty sure that it would all be worth it in the end.

There was just going to be a lot of work before they got there.

She heard the cane rapping on the floor, and looked over. It seemed that they were being summoned, and she stood up, resting her hand on the green for just a moment longer. She knew that she wasn't going far, and that the green was asleep enough that she probably wouldn't even notice, but part of her didn't want to leave Veitrath.

Still, she had been summoned, and she walked over to where they were gathering, joining the weyrlings that had beaten her there.  

[magnadearel]

She couldn't believe the hatching was over and Starelth was hers. Hers, all hers! Moluli had carefully stuffed the drab green with as much meat as she could take. Now the dragon slept and the new rider sat and watched her. Her bronze firelizard, Loceev, gave happy cheeps from her shoulder. He liked the new dragon since he got to snatch the scraps too tiny for her to care about. She'd finally done it. She'd become a dragonrider like she'd promised herself in honor of her parents. Moluli wasn't sure where she'd go from here. It would probably be some time before she really needed to make a decision. If they had the time.

She looked up as a voice called the weyrlings to fall on. Loath was she to leave her new dragon, but eventually she straggled over after giving her skirt a quick brush to make it presentable. She nodded to Sh'shi and the other weyrlings lining up.

 

[Shaddaling]

Flueth was warm, J'in was half resting against the bronze listening to him breathe. Just bonelessly relaxed, meditating to the quiet noises and the warm feel of the mind merged with his. Quill was a light weight on his shoulder and it was pleasant. Warm and relaxed. He sighed and blinked, wincing at the sharp noise and pulled back.

Mmh, ooh. Yes, that. J'in moved away, smoothing out wrinkles in his clothes and brushing away sand. Satisfied that he wasn't going to get any neater without a change of clothes, he joined the other weyrlings, Quill perched lightly on his shoulder.  

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

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magnadearel

Faerie Princess Meeka

Dizzy_Kat

Shaddaling

TawnyAngel

Scapanorhynchus

Well, they did gather. Not really with the haste that Sh'shi would expect under normal conditions, but these weren't normal conditions. For the time being they were probably all too besotted to respond to anything quickly. A few weeks and that fall in would take a fraction of the time. Whether they liked it or not. Sh'shi's eyes roamed over the group. Some she knew well from candidacy, others less so. It was an interesting group. Smaller than most she had instructed in her time, but that meant that she'd just have more time to pull the best out of each one. There wouldn't be any room for anyone to hide at the back of this class and skate by. With only eight members, they'd all get pulled into the spotlight several times throughout the next two turns under her care.

Sh'shi hadn't really had time to decide exactly how to announce the decision of Fort's new council of leaders to the group. Having come straight from there to here. The sooner the better, though. Before some dimwitted rider burst into the barracks and let their mouth run away with them, or some over excited dragon called out to the youngsters and set the feline among the wherries. As it was though she wasn't certain how to begin. For that reason V's question was something of a pleasant ice breaker. "Yes, Weyrlingmaster now." A slight smile played on the old woman's face and in it was the relief she felt to be passing the mantle she had taken up over the past few months.

"From here on in, I am only your Weyrlingmaster. In light of the hatching there have been some decisions made regarding the leadership of Fort." It was an unusual situation. There had been interim leaders before, but never in a situation like this. "As of today the Weyrleaders of Igen and Ista will be serving as acting Weyrleaders of Fort. They will handle both the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman's duties until... Until such a time that this is not the best option. The Candidatemaster of Telgar will be taking over, as they have the most experience in the position of any rider in the Weyr. I will be staying on as Weyrlingmaster. The wings are also being rearranged. The riders most suited will be named Wingleaders and wings will contain riders from all Weyrs." Well that was the easy part to explain. "Any questions?" Hopefully that would give her the ability to think how to word this next part.  

[Dizzy_Kat]

As Sh'shi began to speak Cai felt Nacreoth feigning sleep behind him. The hatchling's eyes were still closed but Cai could feel the sleepy hum of his mind sharpen into focus behind his eyes. Igen and Ista taking over Fort... or was that the wrong way of thinking about it? The Wings being resorted was a no brainer. With less than a handful of riders left from some weyrs it was pointless to maintain their previous wing structure. Cai and Nacreoth slotted that information away for later. It didn't affect them today.

Neither really did the Weyrleadership... but it was something to think about. Especially Sh'shi's comment about it eventually not being the best option. Did she suspect rivalry and powerplays with two Weyrleaders vying for power over one another or could it possibly be because with so few dragonriders left at some point the leadership and running of the weyr will be left to those hundreds of dragonless folk who also call it home and must then plan for a pass without dragons.

Until we find a cure. Nacreoth commented.

Even when we do, we must hope the south breeds strong and will lift their quarantine before Thread begins to fall. With no gold, we can't rebuild our numbers alone. All we can do is ensure that the north is once again safe for Southern dragons.

On that note Cai spoke up. "With no gold and no clutches in the forseeable future is a Candidatemaster even necessary? Until such a time as we cure this disease and convince the Southern Continent that our skies are once again safe, why maintain a class of candidates who have no chance at all at Impression?  

[TawnyAngel]

Hu, new bosses? Well it wasn't like she'd really got to know what the old ones were like so it didn't make much difference to her, so long as they weren't complete tailforks she'd put up with it.

V' nodded her understanding and added; "Right," for good measure before jerking a thumb a Cai. "What he said. You saying that makes me think you do expect clutches; how're we getting hold of a gold?" Was there a volunteer? She doubted it! A nine in ten chance of getting sick and almost inevitably dying? How many dragons had sickened but then got better? One in a hundred? Fewer? She hadn't exactly asked the numbers of anyone.

That wasn't the point though; the point was that if there was no volunteer but they were expecting a clutch enough to maintain candidates they had bold plans in mind, very bold. Would they really go that far? Maybe they would in the name of survival, people would do a lot in the name of survival.  

[Faerie Princess Meeka]

E'dal stayed in line, listening to Sh'shi speak and grateful for the few moments he had to change hastily out of his Candidate shift and into a sleeveless shirt and light brown pants. He had left Wanjouth snoozing and full of food in their beds. So D'lana was to be made a Weyrleader.

It made sense. She was a good, strong leader. One who would inspire those left especially since... Well, who knew how long they would be left.

~~~~~~~~

I'sko had gone to the Weyrling Master when she had called. Deldowth was sure it meant that they would have to be apart for a while. He had simply reassured the dragon that they would make it up by him scrubbing him later. Deldowth was a handsome brown despite his somber outlook on life.  

[magnadearel]

Moluli chewed her bottom lip. They were such a small group. While it was sad, it would be a good opportunity to get to know her fellow riders a bit better. Maybe. Some didn't seem the type to mingle. The constant, but faint, hum in the back of her mind from a sleeping Starelth continually distracted her a bit. She supposed within a couple weeks she'd hardly notice it, and within a Turn she'd feel strange without it. That hum reassured her that her dragon was still there.

She had to drag her attention back once more as the weyrlingmaster, officially now, started speaking. Moluli perked up as Sh'shi spoke of changes. That was to be expected wasn't it? Her brow wrinkled in bafflement at the mention of a candidatemaster. Cai hit it right on the nail. No gold meant no clutches; no clutches meant no candidates needed.

"Has there been any word of help from Southern?" The only way it made sense to her was they'd heard from Southern. She hoped relief was on its way!

 

[Scapanorhynchus]

Well, Zee supposed that a change in leadership had been inevitable. It would also go a long way in making them one Weyr, rather than just bits and pieces of all the little broken ones.

She was less concerned with the fact that there was still a candidate master, even if they didn't have a gold, they still had candidates. Not all of them had impressed at this tiny hatching, and they couldn't just send them all home. Some of them had only ever been candidates. There'd need to be some sort of transitional training for them.

Besides, there might still be a chance of eggs. Not gold ones, but well, she wasn't sure if it was possible. That was a thought for later though.

She didn't have any questions, but she doubted that that was the only thing Sh'shi had to tell them. It was important, of course, but it could have waited.  

[Shaddaling]

It was difficult to know how things would go. There was ways to possibly leverage help from the south continent but it was nothing to just go into without a lot of planning. And support from the holds.

J'in kept quiet thinking it over. Most of the hard things were already asked, so all that was left was too see how Shi'shi answered and go from there.  

[Faerie Princess Meeka]

I'sko wasn't really sure if this was the best time to be pestering Sh'shi with questions about a fold when theirs was going to die any minute it seemed and they had only just Impressed the dragonets left behind in cots and barracks. He was personally more concerned about how they were going to make sure all 8 dragons lived to adulthood and much more so that maybe the problem of a gold could be solved later on in the Turns. He opened his mouth to say this but closed it instead. I'sko wasn't quite ready to voice his opinion to this small group, no matter how close they were about to get in training. Maybe, he could speak to Sh'shi later without the others around to listen. For the time being, he kept his ears and mind open so that Deldowth could listen as well.  

[The_Muffin_Puppy]

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magnadearel

Faerie Princess Meeka

Dizzy_Kat

Shaddaling

TawnyAngel

Scapanorhynchus

When Sh'shi had asked if anyone had questions she had meant about the new leadership assignments, but this seemed as good a way to segue into the real reason she had gathered them as any. She looked at the blue weyrling as he was the first to speak up. A former healer. Not unusual then that he would speak in assurances. No gold. No foreseeable clutches. Candidates with no chance at impression. As though he actually was privy to that information and those choices and not merely assuming based on the information he had. The disease would be cured. Regardless of what the best dragonhealing masters in both continents said, the young man said it as though the cure was only a matter of time in coming. Sh'shi could remember ever being so optimistic, but she might have been, many long decades ago.

V' added in her quartermark and Sh'shi's gaze moved to her. One to watch, this new greenrider. Her actions at the hatching, although they had ended well, spoke of a tendency towards reckless behaviour. The way she stood and the set of her jaw practically radiated defiance. Every class seemed to have one or two. She would require careful handling. To forceful and she would harden against both Sh'shi and maybe even the Weyr as a whole. Too soft and they might loose her and her dragon. Either to foolishness or pride. This one though had been brought in by Fenna and Rinnath, so Sh'shi wasn't willing to write her off just yet. The young woman sounded confident and no nonsense. Practical.

The next question however caused Sh'shi's mouth to tighten. "No. There has been no word from Southern." Sh'shi understood, logically anyway, why Southern did what they did. Abandoning them the way they had. It made sense to keep their dragons away. That was reasonable. But to cut them off completely? To refuse to communicate with them, to send human dragonhealers? Sh'shi was less understanding of that. Still Moluli was a weyrbred lass. It made sense for her to trust in Weyrs and their leaders to be good. Sh'shi might not have hope that Southern would ever contact them again, but she wasn't bitter enough to actively try and crush whatever hope the weyrling had.

Sh'shi took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her cane. "I won't lighten this for you. You are dragonriders now and deserve to not be treated like children. We have no gold. Malsalth may still live, but it is a certainty that she will not rise again." Whether she died soon or later. Even if the gold, by some miracle, held on for the turns until her next rising, her body would never handle the strain long enough for her to clutch. "Southern has not contacted us and without them, there will be no new gold." Oh the meeting had been full of ideas. Seduction, kidnapping, ransom, threats, all sorts. Some were foolish and collapsed without much effort. Others, in Sh'shi's opinion, were simply deranged. Talk of threatening to swarm Southern and take out the south too if they were not helped. Notions of trying to kidnap a gold dragon's rider to force her to come North. Fortunately one by one they had been quashed.

"The candidates will remain." It was hard to say what needed to be said. The idea seemed ludicrous. An old wives tale, nobody really believed the idea anymore, it was just tradition. "When a dragon hatchling reaches six months old, they are given firestone for the first time. For this class... the greens will not. The hope is that when they are old enough to rise, they will clutch and that through them, the North will recover." Sh'shi looked at her class, meeting the eyes of the five new greenriders. The youths who were now the hope for the Weyr. In a few short candlemarks the entire of Fort would know. Pressure would be on the whole class to survive and succeed.