A Meeting of Minds [Candidate Lesson]

[Tarra]

OOC> Compulsory for candidates. Also, if anyone would like to insinuate their dragonrider charries or even an NPC as one of C'cao's invited riders, please do so

The day was calm, overcast with a thin veil of cloud that left the sky a steel gray hue and the lake's shore a touch cold with the ever-present touch of the constant breeze. The turn was growing late already, and soon the soft cool tinge in the air would turn chilly, giving the old, frail and weak good reason to stay indoors as far as possible.

C'cao, standing with his back to the lapping wavelets of the lake and the wind brushing the back of his head, waited. He set most of his candidate lessons in the central caldera for the convenience of all, and this one was no different. That hardly meant this lesson was going to be the standard lecture with question and answer though. No, today the candidates would get their chance to meet some characters specifically; as well as ask any burning questions they might have had before but were unable or unwilling to ask.

The first of his invited guests was already here, in fact. Lounging beside Opheriath on the shores was a massive form that quite dwarfed the small pale-hued green: a young bronze dragon who was familiar to most of the Weyr, having been amongst the first shelled to them since their inception. R'thar, sitting quiet but observant beside Lenigrath, watched as the candidates began to file in. It hadn't been hard to get the young bronzerider's attendance for the session: he stayed in the central caldera himself after all, and it hadn't been too long ago when he himself had been under C'cao's authority. Besides, he wanted to meet the candidates personally himself, get a sense of them; time would come, soon enough, when some of them became fellow riders. And he was always open to getting to know his fellow riders better.

The Candidatemaster paid his guest little heed for the moment, preferring instead to watch the skies and the lake's shores for the arrival of the rest of his charges and invited riders.

[Nene]

Orlaithe found herself stilled as she stood by the lake. A few days ago she wouldn't have considered herself a candidate- for anything.. let alone a candidate for Dragons. Though perhaps a mother's blood did run high in her veins after all. She crouched by the waters shoes watching the water lap at the stones and sand.

She ntoiced the green and her rider and could only smile.

[Zeneka]

S’don and Lath winged their way down to the lake shore where Lenigrath and Opheriath were clearly visible, and soon their riders as well. They’d been invited by the candidate master to participate in the day’s lesson. Seeing as his children would be part of the class he was inclined to accept the invitation; besides it would be a little bit of a change to the daily routine. Lath landed a short distance from the Green and made himself comfortable, You look lovely today, Opheriath.

Just can’t help yourself, can you? S’don half scolded, sliding from the dragon’s back with a grin.

What’s so wrong about complimenting a pretty female?

~

Zenel rather thought most of the candidate lessons were kind of pointless. He’d been born and raised in a Weyr and more than that, he liked to know things about what was going on around him and had often taken it upon himself to figure it out on his own. Most of the candidate lessons seemed to go over things he already knew and he was hard pressed to make himself show up. But he also knew that if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be likely he’d be allowed to stand at the next clutch. And so with much muttering under his breath and in his mind on Zenel’s part, he participated on the fringes of most lessons and mostly tried not to get too distracted or bored. There was the occasional lesson that kept his attention and taught something new, but those, so far, had been few and far between.

As he made his way toward the lake where they were having their lesson today, his new flit Dazz perched on his shoulder, he watched a dark Brown fly over heading in the same direction and saw him land beside two other dragons. One was clearly recognizable as the candidate master’s Green, who was now rather dwarfed by the Brown and Bronze beside her. “Wonder what’s happenin’ today…,” he murmured as he wandered closer and looked up at the Brown and Bronze dragons. It seemed he was one of the first ones here, shards. He usually liked to blend in at the back after everyone else had already arrived. He chewed his lip lightly and finally turned his gaze to C’cao, and by way of greeting, offered a curious, “Hey C’cao. What’s goin’ on?” Dazz trilled softly and sat up, posturing in a way to better show off his newly oiled, brown and blue hide and Zenel reached up to scratch his head lightly.

[Tiddler]

Calerin still found it odd that the dragonriders would even want him; especially these dragonriders. It was puzzling to him, since he couldn’t speak and had clearly sustained a devastating injury. Weren't candidates supposed to be fit? He wasn’t entirely sure if being rendered mute counted. It would seem he was still included among the candidates; at least, he hadn't been told otherwise. And just in case, he made sure to show up to the lessons, no matter how boring or asinine they seemed to be.

He had settled into Weyr life relatively easily. There was always something to do, and the dragons themselves were quite interesting. Cal didn’t think he really had much of a chance at actually Impressing one, but wouldn’t it be neat if he did? It was something of a circular conversation with himself, and it happened rather often. It wasn’t hard for him to end up with his head in the clouds as he thought about what it might be like to actually Impress a dragon. But then his ‘sensible’ mind would return and he’d bat the cobwebs away and face reality. Odds of a dragon choosing him were probably pretty slim; these people were clearly desperate for candidates and would take anyone. Perhaps once he grew too old to be a candidate he could take up some kind of beastcraft work.

By the time Calerin arrived at the meeting point, there were already several dragons and their riders present. This piqued his curiosity; what were they there for, and what was today’s lesson going to be about? He greeted everyone with a nod or a wave and a polite smile. By now, most of the Weyr was well aware that he didn’t speak.

The form of a dragon neared the group from above just as Calerin was approaching. The blue called out a greeting to the others who were already there as he swooped low over those already gathered… low enough to sweep off any loose bits of clothing in the wind of his passing before he turned and came back in for a landing near Opheriath, backwinging to slow his descent. Turning his large head to view the other dragons, Ejjarth’s eyes whirled as he focused on something toward the group. He bore no rider, at least not when he landed; instead, Aryna had somehow appeared in the midst of the group at some point while her blue was swooping over the group.

Now she was simply shaking her hair out and loosening the riding jacket she wore to flap open in the chill breeze. Sun-bleached black hair was almost as unruly as the rider herself, who simply grinned in greeting as she walked forward to join the rest of the riders. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” It was hard to say if she was being sarcastic or if, to Aryna, it really was a ‘lovely day’; there was honestly no telling when it came to this particular bluerider. She was… kind of weird. Only when she turned did it become apparent that she had a passenger of her own. Nestled against her neck in an attempt to keep warm was none other than brown Pretty, the firelizard’s eyes whirling unhappy colors at the chill in the air. Which might have been why Aryna had encouraged him to stay inside when they’d left….


[[You guys totally needed a bluerider! So... here's Aryna xD; If she wasn't invited feel free to claim she invited herself. Because we all know she totally would x.X;]]