Candidate Lesson #1: Introductions and Expectations

Mardian smiled at the Weyrlingmaster as they passed, glad she hadn't hassled them too much over being late. He felt his irritation draining away as they approached the scarlet dragon.

Stars above, but she was big. He gave a low whistle as they came close. "I don't think I ever realized just how big dragons are," he said lowly to his brother. "D'ya think we'll ever ride dragons as large as her?"

A grin split his face at the thought. Dragons. He was going to be a dragonrider.

Ellaeris had stayed quiet for most of the lesson, soaking up information. He didn't know anything about dragons, so he needed to learn a lot before the Hatching. At first, he had been hesitant about touching Hesriath, but as he became more comfortable, he wasn't as afraid of scrubbing the dragon's hide.

When Revel arrived he moved over to make room for her. "Sure." He glanced over at her curiously. He still didn't know any of the other candidates well, maybe it was time to try and make friends. "I'm Ellaeris."

"Revel," the barmaid grinned in response.  "And thanks.  I was held up a little in the mess hall.  Have I missed much?"  She knew Ashrah had spoken to the other Candidates a little before leading them all down here to the river, so there was likely some information she hadn't heard.

Glancing between him and the person on her other side to see if there was any special technique to bathing a dragon, she finally grabbed some of the soap sand and gently applied it to the scarlet's hide.  "Dragons are much bigger in person than they look from farther away, aren't they?" she chuckled as she realized just how many of them were clustered around their willing victim.  "Can you imagine having to do this by yourself every couple of days?"  It would certainly take time, and Hesriath wasn't even as large as a bronze or gold!

Ellaeris shook his head. "Not much. We introduced ourselves, and then Ashrah gave a little talk about being...soldiers." He couldn't help making a face. It was so hard to think of himself that way. Maybe a dragon wouldn't even want him, if he wasn't strong enough.

He picked up another handful of sand and kept scrubbing, the movement keeping the anxious thoughts at bay. "They look a lot bigger close up. I guess that's why they always need candidates to help," he said, smiling a little.

In his heart of hearts, Mardrist had always known they were big. In life, however, their enormity was almost hard to accept. Even the small white glazed ones were still pretty big compared to a human and they were supposed to be the smallest.

"No..." he said slowly, looking up. "But then again I never thought I'd seen dragons up close, let alone think to stand for one."

It was then that Hesriath chose to lean down and look at this young man. The large head came down so fast that Mardrist threw an arm out in front of his brother, moving his large body to interpose himself between Mardian and the red dragon. If the defensive stance worried Hesriath, she did not show it. She simply arched her neck over the tall candidate and moving her long tail around, reached about to gently poke Mardrist in the side. The young man whirled around so fast in the ankle deep water that he lost his footing in the mud. Mardrist felt his feet slip out from under him and water splashed heavily around him as he fell. Hesriath rumbled softly as she leaned down to sniff Mardian.

"Oh good," Revel replied, the faintest note of relief entering her otherwise cheerful tone.  "Soldiers, huh?  That sounds quite serious."  Especially if it made him grimace like he was.  "Did she talk about the duty of protecting Pern and all that stuff we hear from our harper songs?"

Laughing at Hesriath's antics and wondering why she'd chosen to pick on the newcomers, she eyed Mardrist to make sure he was all right.  "Apparently some of them have a sense of humor," she commented to Ellaeris before calling out to the Candidate in the water.  "Need a hand up?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Oh yes.  Positive role models are always good to have.  There are a lot of young people around here who I think could use someone older to look up to, to help them find their purpose."  Because Jemma saw the potential for good in everyone, and sometimes it just needed a little encouragement to come out.  

Smiling widely at Asteriel, she added, "It'll be great to have someone like you around who knows what this whole Candidate experience is like.  I hope you don't mind all the questions the rest of us might have…"  The grin turned a bit sheepish, but lost none of its friendliness.  "I'll try to keep them to a minimum, so as not to annoy you too much."

It all happened so quickly. Mardian had been smiling and laughing at the prospect of being a dragonrider. Then Hesriath had moved, and Mardrist had slipped, and before Mardian could do more than feel his smile fall to an expression of frozen surprise, he found himself confronted with the full attention of a fully grown scarlet dragon.

She sniffed him.

Mardian swallowed hard. "Um, Hello, Hesriath," he said "Ah... thank you for noticing me, but, ah, I have to help my brother."

He kept one eye on the dragon and turned slowly to offer Mardrist a hand up. "Are you all right, 'Drist?" he asked softly.

Mardrist didn't say anything at first, too keenly aware that he was now the subject of everyone's attention. One pretty blond girl covered her face and Mardian stood over him. Hauling himself out of the water, Mardrist said nothing but slid again in front of his little brother.

"You...are too close." Mardrist said finally to the red dragon, his low voice like the rumble of thunder.

Hesriath withdrew immediately and while Ashrah never moved, she mentally tapped her dragon on the shoulder.

What are you up to, Hes? Ashrah asked.

The red dragon chortled again and cocked her head to the side like a bird, water sparkling over her eye ridges.

Just playing. I forgot these are not mostly Weyr bred children and are not used to dragon antics. Tell the young male I am sorry.

"Are you alright, Mardrist?" The Weyrling Master asked, looking at the tall, sopping wet young man. Mardrist nodded his head jerkily but didn't turn to look at Ashrah. Hesriath was still looking down at the two boys and the older had protective custody of the young. Ashrah tried to deescalate the situation.

"Alright, candidates. Hesriath is about as clean as she can get. Let us allow her to dry herself in the sun while we discuss some expectations and then you will oil her."

The scarlet dragon gingerly rose up out of the water, mantling her wings as she stepped over and around the candidates. She was forty five feet long from nose to tail spade, gleaming brightly like a ruby in a lady's ring.

"Now, who amongst you can name me the most important thing you do for your dragon. Anyone?" Ashrah asked, awaiting hands. When the first one shot up, she nodded and waited to hear the answer.

(Tag any who wants to be first!!)

Mardian had looked around when the Weyrlingmaster asked the question, then shrugged and put his hand up. "Um, feed them?" he said, feeling rather as if he regretted taking the chance. He hadn't realized just how uneducated he'd sound... but hey! Dragons were living, right? Living things had to eat! He certainly didn't enjoy missing meals.

Ellaeris couldn't hold back a smile when Hesriath knocked over one of the other candidates. It looked like it was all in good fun, not malicious. This lesson had definitely helped him get a sense of how intelligent and unique dragons were.

He was speechless as Hesriath left the water, giving all of the candidates a good look at her. She was beautiful, and even bigger than he'd realized at first.

The Weyrlingmaster asked them a question, and he turned his attention back to her. Ellaeris wasn't sure what the answer was--it seemed like a trick question. So he didn't say anything for now.

Ashrah winked at Mardian and nodded her head. "One correct answer for a two part question. I like your pragmatic approach, young man. Yes, you can never ignore your dragon's hunger but you must also monitor how much they consume. An overweight dragon cannot run properly, swim safely or fly correctly. A queen who cannot get off the ground cannot fly to mate and without her, no eggs to spring forward. To catch a queen, even a virgin queen, a male dragon has to be in tip top shape, confirmation and condition. To fight Thread, you cannot risk compromising your dragon's condition. It is the difference between life and a cruel death. "

Asteriel lifted her slim hand and Ashrah nodded. The girl was a vision, beautiful to behold and the resemblance to Casriel physically was striking.

"Yes, Asteriel." Ashrah asked.

"The other answer is love, Weyrling Master." Asteriel said gently but her voice was clearly heard by Ashrah. Ashrah nodded and looked back to the class.

"It is hard to say what is more important between sustenance and love. It's like questioning what came first, the wherry or the egg. However, one thing has been true since the first Faranth first broke her golden shell and reached out to her rider. When faced with a dragon upon its hatching, you must demonstrate love and acceptance. Even if you do not verbally shout your love across the Sands, you must project love and safety, acceptance and strength. You must push fear to the back of your mind. These are not firelizards and whers, who bond to whomever presents food or blood at the right interval. A dragonet sees within the holdings of your mind and heart. A dragon always knows who is suppose to be his or her rider, there are no mistakes. A dragonet will suicide between if its rider is not present at the Hatching but a dragon never Impresses wrongly."