Lesson One: Basic Care {1st Hatching Weyrlings}

[PhazonDragon]

Lesson One : 1st Hatching Weyrlings
Basic Care

A mere week after the hatching was early enough for the weyrlings to know how to take care of their new dragonets. L'gar had made a trip to the kitchens early that morning, ordering them to get buckets and fresh meat ready for the lesson later that day. Also making a stop by one of the other workers, the Weyrlingmaster requested that oil, rags, and brushes be brought to the weyr bowl for the lesson. Standing among the items needed for the lesson, L'gar crossed his arms and turned to Zedoreth. "Zed, will call the weyrlings please? It is lesson time in the weyr bowl. Tell them they cannot be late, for this is important." The weather was nice, if not a little chilly, and the new pairs needed space for them to spread out.

Behind the weyrlingmaster, the old brown Zedoreth raised himself up to stand on all four legs. He flared his thread-scored wings and let out a bugle to warn the weyrling pairs. Weyrlings, lesson time in the Weyr Bowl! L'gar says not to be late! That having been done, Zedoreth laid back down, crossing his forearms and folding his wings against his back.

"Thank you," the brownrider said with a smile, facing forward again. He looked towards the weyr entrance, keeping an eye on the stairs as well, just in case, and waited for the weyrlings to assemble. Once they had their group together, L'gar started the lesson. "Weyrlings!" his voice boomed through the bowl, "Congratulations on Impressing! Now here is where the lessons start. I am L'gar, your weyrlingmaster, and this brown behind me is Zedoreth. You all are to listen to us, and do as we say." The brownrider clasped his hands behind his back and paced in front of the bonded pairs, keeping an eye on them.

"The first lesson is basic care. As you can see here, I have buckets of un-cut meat. You are to learn how to properly cut this meat into sizes that your dragonets can chew, until they can hunt for themselves in the feeding grounds. Once that half of the lesson is done, I will be demonstrating how to properly bathe your dragons. Get to it!" L'gar finished, stepping back from the buckets, and gesturing to the meat on his right.

[ooc: Because L'gar is not mine (and I feel weird playing him), I'm going to keep lesson posts general. Everyone is welcome to interact and what-have-you, and I'll post L'gar if someone directly asks a question.]

[shadowreine]

Eat now? Kimath asked.

Thaddeus was sure his dragon was, in reality, healthy. He was just not...well... From his brief exchange with the black girl who had also Impressed blue, Tad had come to realize it was very likely Kimath was a Dragon of Small Brain.

It did not matter, he had decided. Kimath was the other half of his soul, and if he wasn't very good at thinking, Tad would just have to do it for him. He was also, by far, the lightest of the blues, Tad noticed as they walked out into the bowl. Certainly lighter than the others in the clutch and lighter than any of the adult blues he had seen. He doubted a blue dragon *came* much lighter than Kimath.

"I see your food..." Cut it up? He could do that. He was a farmboy, he had butchered things before. As soon as the weyrlingmaster let them go forward, he went to start working, but glancing around for anyone who might be struggling. He was fairly sure that any of the Pernese candidates who had stayed would be fine...weren't they a rural society? No, it was those from Earth, particularly the girls, he thought might need some extra advice.

--

Okay. So, Loren's current duties...feed Woruth, bathe Woruth, clean up after Woruth...adult dragons were apparently as good as cats for not fouling their nests, but the babies were another matter.

Simple enough, although she did eye the uncut meat. The right size...well, it would vary a bit by dragon Woruth was a tad larger than a couple of the other blues, but already significantly smaller than the browns. He was eyeing the food with hunger, but also a certain amount of fascination.

"I'll be glad when you can hunt for yourself like the grownups," she informed the blue. He rumbled hungrily.

Okay. How large? She glanced at the weyrlingmaster...okay. About that large. She started to cut up pieces, trying not to get too much blood on herself...the meat was very fresh. To be careful, she erred a bit on the small side. "Don't forget to chew, you."

He'd almost forgotten after the hatching and the last thing she wanted was him to choke.

Or puke up all over her.

[blackmage]

Eric followed his energetic partner as Desuuth bounded down along the path toward where the lesson was being held.
Eric! You are slow today! You shall never be a rider proper if you do not hurry! The brown chided from a few feet away as he flared his wings impatiently.

Eric just let out an explosive sigh and raised and eyebrow. Desuuth was a handful and a half he'd decided and bossy at that. When he'd forst seen the way the dragons and the humans had acted in tandem he'd been so impressed but he now realized it was going to take a lot of work too.

He caught up to Desuuth with little trouble and thumped the brown on the head as he passed. "Now who's being slow?"
The brown screeched his annoyance and set off again. Ahead both human and dragon eyes could see the large brown form of the weyrlingmaster's dragon. Desuuth proudly bragged he would one day be as big as Zedoreth and Eric was just the slightest bit awed by the thought. Even now he could tell Desuuth was a big dragon and some of the blue and green hatchlings were already seeming small in comparison.

Desuuth hissed impudently as he arrived ahead of his bonded and lashed his tail as he waited. When the copper haired boy finally caught up and politely greeted the weyrlingmaster and his dragon [as he'd been taught was common courtesy around senior riders] Desuuth let out what could only be described as a sigh of tired acceptance.

You need more discipline! If you are to be mine you should not be- The dragon seemed unable to find the right word. Eric decided to attemtp to supply him with a few suggestions mentally [oh and THAT was just creepy-cool to be able to talk to your dragon like that] while L'gar spoke.
"Cynical? Lazy? Rude? Stand-offish? Disobedient?"
All of that.

Fortunately the lesson moved on from basic introductory crap to the important stuff. Eric picked up a knife and spun it a few times before settling the handle in his palm and pointing to a couple of buckets of meat.
"Yeah. Whatever. Come on you. Let's do this thing."

Desuuth gave him the draconic equivalent of a glare and marched over to him. Though the brown sat seemingly quietly Eric could tell from the radiating waves of annoyance that the brown was not pleased with him.
You are an impudent boy. He grumbled.

Eric just smirked and shrugged lazily. He shoved his sleeves up his arms as to not get in the way and set on the task of carving the raw meat.
"Yeah. I know. Deal with it."

Desuuth's response was to -accidentally- knock the bucket over. Eric sighed and glared at him. This was going to be an interesting relationship.

[Wolfy]

Alex and Eturynth

AlexMine, we're being called.[/color] Eturnyth didn't move as she reported this to Hers. She was spread languidly across the couch in the newly assigned weyr that had been given to her, her eyes closed. Zedoreth's the one that's doing it. A lesson, he says. Should we even bother?[/color]

Alex was, as per usual, being herself and making sure she was positively breathtaking whenever she was seen. Her hair was up in messy, high twin ponytails on the sides her head, giving her a cheerleader type look if one was at a distance to her. It was incredibly decieving. Up close, she looked far from a peppy cheeleader and more like a pixie perfect ice skater, or something like that. Cool, calm, and collected.

And ultimately beautiful.

"Sweetheart, we need to make an impression on them and you know this is the absolute best way to do it." Puckering her lips slightly, she applied and even layer of gloss to her full lips and stepped back to admire her proffesional handiwork. Do we have to, Alex? I am very comfortable and listenning to them is so positively boring.[/color]

"We'll be talking to your future mates, dear, so be positive. You might just like one or two of them." Eturynth thought otherwise, but she was wise to say nothing. "Now come. We don't want to be late, do we?" Primly, the green opened her eyes and slid off of her couch with the same grace she had shown when she had come forth to claim Alex as her own when she had hatched. Shuffling her tiny, flimsy wings, she matched Alex's pace as they went to the Weyrbowl.

They listenned to the orders in a disattatched way and afterward strode purposefully toward the meat. Even though, it ended up, she had absoltely no idea what she was doing. Cutting up the meat, she knew that. But, how? And how large? He hadn't exactly specified. Ugh. Old men were so crochetty at times.

Wrinkling her nose slightly in distaste, she did as she had been ordered. But it was unskillful, sloppy work. The chunks she managed to seperate from her bucket were large and uneven. I can't eat that! Look at it! The chunks are grotesque, and even that's being kindly![/color] Eturynth showed her distaste at Alex's stumbling, halting work by completely ignoring the new rider and instead looking with some interest at a brown and weyrling that was not far away from them.

Hm....Alexlove, look at them....They don't look half bad....[/color] She jerked her head toward the yound man in black and his brown, her eyes and mind whirling as she thought up plans and things.

[yaoiwafflez]

((Totally basing Jerezeth's thoughts on the others off of the basic perosnalities in the hatching thread. Please do tell me if I screwed up or offended anyone! Jerezeth is a snob and a peoplewatcher, so he's kind of a jerk sometimes. Sorry!))

Lorelei walked along the bowl, trying her best to hide a smile every time she looked down at the regal, kingly blue who paced at her side. Jerezeth posessed such a smooth, elegant gait that Lorelei had to constantly remind herself that he was still so young.

Jerezeth had asked her if they could go see the bowl that day, before the lesson (this time, she'd remembered...), and Lorelei was more than happy to comply. The little dragon had wanted to get a feel for the bowl, and he was quite interested in taking note of every little thing. So they were wandering somewhat aimlessly in the general direction of the lesson meeting spot. Lore was enjoying the breeze in her hair, and the light shirt she wore unbuttoned over her normal tank top and shorts ruffled in the wind.

Even now, he had stopped to stare up at a dragon sleeping high above the bowl, and Lorelei had caught the direction of his gaze to find out what he was so interested in.
That blue is very undignified, sleeping like that. Jerezeth commented, eliciting a soft laugh from Lorelei.
"Well don't say that too loudly, mate. You wouldn't want to insult someone so much bigger than you."

Jerezeth sniffed offendedly and eyed her. I suppose not. It would hardly be proper of me. Lorelei shook her head at that and marveled again at his innate sense of manners and his high-class attitude. He was such a damn match to the Victorian noblemen she'd learned about in her history classes that it always made her smile.

"Come on, you. We've got to get to the lesson, and you wouldn't want to be late, eh?" She said. The blue perked up at that, and, in agreement, they trotted towards the assigned spot for the lesson.

On arriving, Jerezeth politely keened to Zedoreth, greeting the brown with a mental nudge and a polite Greetings, Zedoreth. We have arrived for our lesson, just as you wished. He said stoically, then he and Lorelei found a place to listen to the weyrlingmaster's words.

Lorelei took a somewhat relaxed stance, leaning on one leg and listening with rapt fascinationas L'agr spoke, while beside her, Jerezeth waited patiently in a refined pose. As they were dismissed to begin their duties, Lorelei snuck a glance at some of the other weyrlings. She fished her glasses from her pocket and slid them on, a moment later tying her hair back from her face with one of the multitude of rubber bands on her wrist.

She almost felt out of place as she glanced to one side to see a stunningly beautiful girl with the prim green she remembered beside her. Hell, Lore rather felt underdressed, and all she was doing was cutting raw meat.
What do you think, Jerezeth? She inquired.

The blue was streteched out on the grass, waiting patiently for His to complete her work.
The green? She is Eturynth. I find her to be elegant, but she acts like a spoiled child. She needs to grow up and behave herself like a lady. Hers is as well too wrapped up in her own notions for my tastes- she is vain, like Euturnth. But they would be quite worthy of me should she learn to have proper manners.

Lorelei snickered at the blunt observation, but was curious to find out more. And the others? She pressed on.
Kimath is not as regal as I but he has a good heart, even if he is a little simple-minded. His is a hard worker, and I think he shall do well as a rider. He strikes me as very reliable. I respect them both. He glanced over his shoulder to take a look at the other, darker blue, and the brown and his rider. Woruth is also good. He is very quiet, but very kind. His is a good girl, very strong-minded, and I believe Woruth chose well. I will gladly fly in a wing with her and Woruth when we are able. And the brown...Desuuth is hot-headed, and very commanding, but he will be a good dragon when he is older. His is a tempermental boy, but he has a noble heart. They will do well together. Seemeing to decide that yes, that was good, the noble blue, examined one of his foreclaws distractedly, licking a smudge off his pale toes.

Lorelei could only hold back stifled giggles at Jerezeth's remarks, and the blue looked at her as if puzzled. Lore waved of his querulous look and tried to remember what she was doing. Right-the meat.

Picking up a knife, she began to work- it wasn't hard, and she'd gotten used to carving critters for the six baby fire-lizards a while back. Jerezeth was bigger, so this was actually somewhat easier. Still, she thought, looking at the blood on her hads as she wiped it off carelessly, she felt a little misplaced. A mental nudge from Jerezeth made her smile, though, and she resolved to live up to his proud demeanor.

[FaizahPandora]

Mentari and Ladeth were jogging down to their Weyrling class. They hadn't forgot, but Mentari had tripped a few times on the way down from Faizah's personal weyr. They had stayed the night there, since it was warmer and Mentari had been using the laptop. She smiled at the recollection.

They finally arrived, Mentari slightly out of breath. Ladeth nodded to L'gar and Zederoth. They received their instructions and then Mentari grabbed some meat and began to cut it. She was in practice from having to cut up Christopher's meat for the longest time. Just recently he had began to hunt on his own. Mentari had begun cutting it small, as if cutting it for Christopher.

I am no firelizard... Cut the peices bigger, mineMentari. Ladeth chided Hers.

Mentari nodded and smiled at the hatchling. "Of course, dear." She righted herself and began cutting larger peices.

---------------

Sarah and Iaruth had already arrived, and took their meat off into a different corner. Sarah was doing perfectly in cutting the meat, having watched the cooks cut the meat for flitter hatchings and the dragon hatching. She had even watched them cut the meat for the baby whers. She knew, somewhat, how big to make them for the young brown based upon her observations.

Iaruth was observing his fellow weyrlings. He was proud of choosing HisSarah. But he had to admit that the others had chosen just as well, if not ones compatiable with him. It was interesting to him to watch the various weyrling pairs interacting with their bonded and other pairs...

---------------

La'as and Taspoloth were running slightly late. Taspoloth hadn't been in any hurry to get to the lesson, even after La'as making a huge deal out of it. She had been daydreaming, she told him. Well, La'as had rather disturb her daydream than be late to the lesson and face an angry Weyrling Master.

We are not that late, mine. Taspoloth said as they received their meat and he began cutting it.

La'as just shot her a look that she promptly ignored.

---------------

Where was N'lon, you ask? Well, he was at the lake, ditching his lesson. It was his second Standing, and he had already learned how to properly cut meat. Which was evident by Nyketh's bulging stomach. So why should he go to the lesson that would only be repetitive? See, his thoughts exactly.

But Nyketh wasn't satisfied yet. He had been worried all morning about missing the lesson. HisN'lon hadn't listened though. Which, truthfully, wasn't out of the ordinary.

[blackmage]

Eric had mostly begun to drift into his own thoughts occupied by the repetitive if simple task of cutting Desuuth's meat. The brown had given up trying to get in his way after Eric had pointed out it would be really counterproductive to bother the man preparing his dinner.

Then something began to bother him. He cast a glance around and looked at the other weyrlings and frowned. Nothing particularly odd so what was bothering him?

Desuuth grunted and headbutted his knee. Eric looked down at the dragon then followed the brown's gaze. Desuuth was staring pointedly at a girl and her green who he managed to catch looking over in their direction.
It is Eturynth and hers. The young dragon pointed out helpfully when he realized His couldn't quite remember their names.

"Yeah..." Eric said though he was obviously not paying much attention. Desuuth growled softly and sighed.
Eric wiped his hands off on a spare rag and raised an eyebrow at the girl. She was really very pretty, in a kind of terrifying way that made Eric remember all of the girls he'd tried very hard to impress in school. And her dainty little dragon was actually pretty lovely too. Desuuth puffed out his chest and tried to look impressive.

"Uh. You getting on okay over there?" Eric finally managed to say. He tried not to feel like an idiot for doing so either. But he figured offering help couldn't be wrong. It was better than making L'gar scold them right?

[mimiheart]

N'tan (natan)


Natan was most definately running late, and he knew it. He'd heard the call of the weyrlingmaster's draogn, but his brain hadn't registered it at first.
The reason was actually simple: He'd bee nreading a really initeresting book. He supposed most of the weyrlinigs watched television, but he'd never had any interest in it. Except movies, and those you most likely had to pay for.
N'tan pulled his mind back, with the help of baelsth, to the problem at hand.
Minie! Helloo? Maybe you should concentrate on running? Foreget about the book... at least until we get to the lesson? I am only late because i can't go without you. Now come on!

N'tan chuckled, but the sound was torn away in the wind.
They were running as fast as they could to the lesson, and he hoped he hadn't missed much!



Finally, they were here! N'tan slowed down and caught Baelsth's shoulder to keep him from barreling his way through the lesson.

N'tan walked over to the table with the meat on it and smiled apologetically at the weyrlingmaster, before going back to his brown.
The dragonette was inspecting an anthill in the grass, but the smell of the meat immediately caught his attention.

OH?! Wait.. you really have to cut it for me? You're slooooowww! It'd be easier if i just... N'tan pulled the meat away before the brown could choke himself on uncut meat.
"I don't care if it's easier- doing himlech manuever on a dragon is too much trouble to go through for your ease. You want food, right?"
He told his brownlette sternly. N'tan took a knife and tried to cut good-sized pieces out of it.
This was completely different from feeding his flitts, who usually accepted anything to satisfy their hunger. As such, N'tan hadn't done alot of meat-cutting.

But he struggled on and finally got some of the meat into dragon-bite-sized chunks, which Baelsth snapped up right away.
"Hey, why don't you wait until i'm done?!"
As i said, you're too slow. But you're not unbearably slow, so i guess i can wait... a little. I'm awfully hungry

((ooc: will post lanrie and snith tomorrow!)))