Welcome to Weyrlinghood (Attn: Bright Hope Weyrlings)

After the morning job and Asteriel had seen to Emanoth's feeding and washing, she led him back to the Barracks. There she had oiled him liberally, lavishing ever dry itch with soft, caring hands. The pale dragon had fallen asleep before Asteriel could even finish. Wiping her hands on a towel, she headed up for breakfast. Even after the ache in Emanoth's belly had been soothed with rich wherry meat, Asteriel's stomach felt big and hollow. It was a relief to finally get to the Mess Hall and get some food.

Fresh meat rolls had been made, sweetbreads and a golden hot cereal with bits of redfruit dotted in it. Asteriel was surprised when she sat down to see how much she had collected.

'I am a great deal more hungry than I thought.' she said to herself but tucked in all the same. Whatever her reservations about her big plate, they seemed less in the face of what M'drist brought to the table. The big man didn't make any statements about starving but he must be.

'He is a such a big man. Surely he must feel even more hollow than I.' the smoke weyrling thought.

Sanovith was sprawled out in his wallow, having fallen asleep while she was still oiling one of his legs.  His position looked entirely uncomfortable, but clearly it wasn't, given the smoke dragonet was out cold.

Revel had wanted to move him, but didn't want to disturb him at the same time.  She'd stood there contemplating doing so for so long that her stomach's growling interrupted her musings-- and likely would have woken Sanovith if he wasn't so deeply asleep.  As it was, he didn't so much as twitch, even when she couldn't help but chuckle at herself.

Taking the time to change her tunic since the one she was wearing had both gotten wet and smeared with oil, the weyrling smokerider took one last glance at her dragon and headed out of the barracks.

Not long later, she was sliding into a seat near Asteriel and M'drist, her plate piled just about as high as the other girl's.  "Looks like our dragons weren't the only ones who were hungry this morning," she grinned at the other two in greeting.  "Although I have the feeling my eyes are bigger than my stomach will wind up being…"

Jemma's plate had even more on it than hers, Revel noted when the scarletrider sat down across the table.  As high energy as she was, it wasn't surprising, but the smokerider still wondered just where her classmate was going to fit everything on her plate.

"Azareth wanted to come with me and see what I was eating.  She kept trying to offer me some of her meat, and didn't understand why I didn't want any of it."  Shaking her head with a fond smile, Jemma tore off a large piece of a meat roll and shoved it in her mouth, clearly unconcerned with how ladylike such an action may or may not have been.

Aliseth paced around those of her clutchmates already asleep, and shook off E'zen's half-thought consideration to stay. You must eat as well. She resumed her motion, low the ground, looking far too deadly for her age as ever.

E'zen paused only a moment longer, but there was no pressing reason to stay, and clear hunger was a reason to go. So he went, piled his plate, sat with the rest, but his attention was closely tied to Aliseth, and saw more of what she saw than what was in front of him.

*
Abry leaned and ate closer to where the food was laid out, talking idly with a smuggler. Not an old friend - she didn't have a lot of those - but she had already started to feel restless, tied to the canyon and unable to wander as they were. Lizzoth, though currently sleeping, understood.

*
Vianne sat next to Revel with a smile, already putting a small chunk of potato in her mouth before her behind hit the bench. "I think you can manage it if you try," she said to the smoke weyrling, her smile broadening a bit at the sheer amount on everyone's plate, Asteriel and Jemma included. Impressive, these ladies she got to work with.

Revel chuckled as she eyed Vianne's plate in turn, amused to see that so far all of them were following suit with the larger than normal amounts of food on their plates.  Even E'zen, though he was clearly not paying as much attention to the conversation.  "Oh, I intend to," the weyrling smokerider responded.  "Can't let all this go to waste."  It looked and smelled extra delicious today-- though whether it was true or just hunger talking was beyond her.  "Think you're up for the challenge?"

"What challenge? I like a challenge," M'dian said as he plunked his own plate down next to the girls'. He rather thought it a nice turn of events that his weyrling class consisted of so many girls and only a few men. The fact that one of those men was his brother made it even better. He flashed his grin around the ladies present, gave E'zen the ubiquitous head jerk that signified "hello", and proceeded to take a rather large bite of the sweet cakes he loved.

He'd left Gideath asleep, or nearly so, but as he chewed, he could feel his quartz's sleepy approval of the pleasure that the sweet taste brought. Gideath, it seemed, was well on his way toward becoming a hedonist.

Vianne laughed, the sound low but genuine. "Nothing overly difficult - managing to eat everyone on our plates, though I'm fairly sure all of our stomachs are up for it." A pause, as she glanced over his plate and smiled. "And that you don't even need a challenge issued to be able to do so."

M'dian snorted through his mouthful of sweetness and spice. "Y'right," he mumbled around his breakfast. "S'not even a challenge at all." He manfully chewed and swallowed, and then hit the table with a grin. "We need a real challenge. Something like... sneaking into the still to get a flask of Vid's latest."

He was joking, of course. Men had died for less. But he rather thought it would be fun to see their expressions at the suggestion.

Vianne just lifted her eyebrows in response; while she might not know Avidian as well as the canyon natives, it didn't take someone particularly skilled to understand there was no room to cross him, even in jest.

"Maybe not that." Her sardonic smile lifted a bit. "Perhaps something not stealing or food-related. Revel, you look like you might have some excellent challenges in that clever head of yours?"

Jemma frowned at M'dian's suggestion.  He might have been kidding, but that didn't mean she understood the joke.  "Why would we need to sneak in and steal what Cousin Vid's brewing?  I'm sure if we asked him nicely enough, he'd let us try it."

Revel coughed to cover up the laugh that tried to escape at the scarletrider's suggestion.  "We're not supposed to have too much of the hard stuff until our dragons are older, anyway," she said, instead of mocking the other girl's innocent suggestion.  For all she knew, Avidian would grant a taste to Jemma if she was truly family.  But for the rest of them?  They'd likely have to work for it one way or another-- or pay for it.

"Not stealing, or food-related, huh?" the smokerider grinned at Vianne, welcoming the change in subject.  Since they couldn't exactly try to drink each other under the table with their dragons so young, and attempting to charm the kitchen staff to get food was out for the moment, she considered for a moment.  "I suppose there are always river races, if we're not too tired from training.  Or… exploring more of the caves and passages.  Split up into teams and try to find the quickest route from point A to B somewhere, maybe?"  Of course, they couldn't be too far from their dragons, so that might have to wait until later.

"Oh I don't know," Vianne said slowly, mock-considering, her smile quirking up again. "Wouldn't that be a rather unfair advantage to the canyon-born among us? I imagine M'dian doesn't need an edge in any challenges. You seem rather an impressive competitor already," she added, looking at him before looking back to Revel.

"Perhaps we could see who is crafty enough to get a dot of paint on one of the grown dragons, or stable enough to balance the most cups on their arms." She wanted some silliness, she realized. Their training was very serious, and the shadows at least kept a raw edge of energy around at all times. She wanted - more than she'd known - a chance to be somewhat ridiculous, with these people she was getting to know.

M'drist kept his head down, his left arm dropped around the edge of his plate. His right tucked in close to his body, his fork busy pushing fried tubers and sausage into his mouth. He wasn't ignoring them but he wasn't focusing too much on their conversation. After all, his stomach was growing and he knew there would be more work later in the day. He had best eat now, when he had the time and opportunity.

He looked up as his younger brother was addressed, his dark eyes setting lightly on his fellow classmates.

M'dian laughed and winked at Vianne. "Flattery, my dear, will get you everywhere. Especially backhanded flattery so skillfully delivered! As to an unfair advantage... well, that's an easy fix. Split us up into two teams, each team having an equal number of canyon-born versus imports. Perhaps... Perhaps a kind of quest? A list of items to procure, and the first team to get them all done wins? After all, we need to be learning teamwork as well, don't we?"

Not that he truly thought that any of them had the energy for such a mad escapade. But he couldn't let the girls think he wasn't game. That would be completely unsupportable.

Vianne's chuckle was just as low and smooth as one would imagine it to be. "Teams and a quest indeed. What do you think, Revel? Will you split us up and set us upon an unsuspecting canyon?"

The idea had caught her interest, as so many things did. But whether it would latch and stay and become something...well that was always the question, with her.

Revel chuckled at Vianne's observation.  "We all have our strengths," she agreed.  "But I see your point."

Then again, M'dian's solution seemed to solve the problem nicely.  "Sounds like a plan to me.  Whoever wants to can throw out items for us to find.  Anyone have a scrap of hide to write them down on?"

"Oh, here, I do," Jemma responded, patting the pockets of her trousers.  The faintest look of confusion flitted across her face when she at first couldn't find it, but it quickly changed to triumph as she pulled out a rolled up bit of hide and a writing utensil.  "It has a few notes on it, but we can still use it."

Revel laughed again.  "Anything you want to share?" she asked, peeking over at the words the scarletrider had written.

"Ah, it's nothing, really just a design for a, um…"

"Is that a harness?"

"Oh, yes, but, it's nothing.  Just an idea I had, and I don't think it's going to work out."  Quickly hiding the sketch, Jemma looked expectantly around the table for someone to chime in with an item they wanted to search for, hoping her cheeks would cool down soon.  "So what are we collecting?"