[10.20.2707] A color for all. (candidate lesson)

[Kit]

Arktos strolled down to the classroom with a pleased look on his face. Now that they had quite a few Candidates, it was time to start the usual round of lessons leading to Impression. Despite having done this for nearly six Turns, he never got tired of it. And the Candidates now were getting to see a side of him that many other classes had not. He had always been respected for his knowledge and strength, and even loved by his charges for his fairness, but his stern and somewhat dour nature had become nearly legendary.

It was almost hard to believe it was the same man, though he still favored gray and black, and Bjornth's saddle star still hung from the chain from his neck, he smiled as he entered the classroom, Forge resting on his shoulder and chittering happily. Such was the change that Kiyoni had wrought in him.

He waited for the Candidates and his second to arrive with an almost meditative patience, but really he was going over the lesson in his head. Not that he had forgotten it, but it was a ritual that helped him focus.

[sorra]

Trig sat happily on Ravis' shoulder as the boy pulled his gloves on. He really hadn't let anyone but the Candidate Master see his hand. And of course the Traders that he had lived with. He knew he probably didn't really need the gloves, but he just couldn't get over the thought of having them. They had become like a safe guard for him. He finished getting ready and headed out to his lessons. He actually liked learning and was looking forward to these lessons.

"Sir," Ravis said respectfully when he saw Arktos.

Viarnie was nearly jumping up and down as she finished getting ready. The girl was always moving and the idea of lessons and getting more ideas for her embroidery was great! She couldn't wait. The girl grabbed up her sketchpad that the Traders had given her and took off. Not only was she planning on taking notes but maybe doodling a few ideas too. She grinned as she jogged down to the others.

"Good morning, Candidate Master," she said cheerily.

[Kendrall]

Mordecai made his way from the Candidate Barracks, idly wondering if he could spend some time with Tara after the day's lesson, when he realized he almost forgot his satchel he normally carried with him. He was obsessed with taking notes; to be without his parchments and writing materials was akin to not having his clothes on. He rushed back to the Barracks, nearly colliding with a few of the other boys, offering a quick apology before racing back out again.

The young Harper was out of breath by the time he reached the classroom, his chest heaving with great effort. Leaning over slightly as he gripped the back of a chair, his cheeks turned from a rosy color to a nearly deep red from embarrassment. "Candidate Master," Mordecai greeted Arktos, bowing his head briefly before taking a seat.

[Mik]

Kanretia stepped into the classroom just behind two of the Candidates and gave them both a cheery smile. “Good day, Ravis, Viarnie. Having a good day so far?” she asked as she stepped out of the main walkway, giving Arktos a pleasant smile as well. He looked to be in thought as was usual at Lesson times the brown-haired greenrider had gathered. Intrigue glided through the doorway with a cheery whistle before landing haphazardly on his Pet’s right shoulder, chirping a ‘hello’ to Forge and trig before getting distracted by the little shinies that dotted a small plait in his Pet’s long hair that he proceeded to stare at as if he had never seen such a thing.

Micala headed for class in her usual ground-eating stride, Mikay flitting along beside her merrily. The Runner smiled as her gray told her a tale of her morning adventures and she soon stepped quietly into the classroom. Giving everyone present a wave and a friendly smile, she took a seat toward the middle of the classroom and waited for the rest of the group to show and for Arktos to begin the Lesson. Mikay landed carefully on the desktop and sat daintily, looking up at her Pet with emerald eyes a whirling, small chitters and croons emitting from her dark body as she continued her tale until it was time to be quiet.

Mikan and Kanlar ran from the stables to get to their Lesson on time, both boys turning the dash to be on time into a race, of course. The only prize was that of getting there first and they were well matched. Mikan managed the win as he skated through the doorway just steps ahead of his taller younger brother. “Hello, ev’ryone!” Mikan said cheerily, eyes dancing, cheeks slightly flushed from his dash.

Kanlar laughed and waved to everyone. “What he said!” he said before beating his brother to a seat. The younger GlassSmith smiled at his teacher and gave the nearest Candidate a grin of greeting before watching his brother plop into a chair with a flourish. The oldest lad sure was an attention grabber.

“Laret! Hurry up! You’re gonna miss the Lesson!” Tialar called to his youngest brother, stopping by the lad’s room and ducking his dirty-blonde head through the doorway.

Pip hiccupped and looked up at Tialar’s voice and chirped a greeting, dropping the shiny he had been holding in his sapphire mouth. “Got it!” Laret cried triumphantly as he snatched the bracelet from his firelizard’s grasp and quickly tucked it away in a pocket. “Thanks, Tialar!” he said as he hurriedly grabbed a few scraps of hide and a piece of charcoal in case it was needed for the Lesson. “C’mon, Pip!” he said cheerily, following his brother out the door and toward the classroom, nearly colliding with Mordecai heading in the opposite direction.

Tialar chuckled at his brother and the pesky firelizard, his sketchpad tucked under his arm. They arrived just after Mordecai’s return and just after their brothers’ dash through the door. They had not been running because Tialar had assured Laret that they would make it there on time. Stepping into the classroom, the two brothers took seats somewhere in between their other two brothers and smiled greetings to the CandidateMaster and his Assistant. Pip looked around for anything to play with, finding Mikan’s hairpiece a very likely target and zipping over to the older lad with a trill.

[Kit]

Gailardian, or Guy, as he was more usually known, walked to The familiar classroom whistling cheerily. He waved to the people he knew, bowing his head in respect to his friend and mentor Arktos as well as Kanretia, before taking a seat in a back corner far away from any giggling females. Luckily there didn't seem to be too many of this as of yet.

Lirona he especially avoided, which meant, of course, that she veered his direction as soon as she entered the room and sat in the seat right next him. "Oh, Guy, what do you think we'll be learning today?"

He leaned away and stammered, but luckily Arktos gestured for silence just then. "Today we'll be learning about the different dragon colors. Many of you had this lesson last year, but due to somewhat unexpected changes, the lecture will be a little different this year." The Candidate Master grinned and continued. "As I'm sure you all know, there are now ten dragon colors that have been laid. No one knows whether Chandrath will lay the new colors, but Chrysoberyth certainly will, and so you need to know about them. Now, who can tell me which colors of dragon are male?"

[sorra]

Viarnie sat straight in her chair. Her fingers were tapping on her sketchpad as she listened intently. She may have come across as an airhead from time to time, but she really wasn't. And she was good at remembering what she heard. The teenager raised her hand. "The bronzes, browns, and blues," she answered. She knew that for a fact. Everyone did.

Ravis sat quietly in his seat. He hadn't really made any friends yet. Although thankfully he had Trig, so he wasn't completely alone. At the moment the brown was sitting happily on his shoulder, watching everyone and what was going on. Ravis tentatively raised his hand. He didn't really like drawing attention to himself. "Are the blacks males as well?" He had seen the one black and he was pretty sure it was a male, but he wasn't positive. He hoped he wasn't insulting anyone.

[Kendrall]

Mordecai waited for his turn before raising his hand. So far, four colors had been named for the male dragons: black, bronze, brown, and blue. Thankfully, the young Harper had studied the colors rather diligently during his time in quarantine - whenever Tara didn't hold his attention, that was. Mordecai would be the first to admit he was smitten with the girl, but he wasn't about to press things quite yet.

But he needed to focus on the lesson. There was a fifth color, he knew, that was yet to be called out. He raised his hand. "White's the other color for male dragons." Mordecai almost pressed forward with more information, but decided to keep himself in check. He didn't need to show off in front of Tara, nor any of the other girls in the class.

[Mik]

Kanretia watched the Candidates respond to Arktos' inquiry, amused somewhat by a few of them and pretty well expecting such answers from others that she had already figured out. She gently pushed Intrigue's muzzle away from the glass beads in her hair before he fell off and took a chunk of her hair with him. No one said he was a very bright firelizard.

Micala raised her hand in answer to Arktos, but she was obviously beaten to it and so, she quietly put her hand back down. She had her siblings to thank for that particular knowledge.

"Oh, I know!" Mikan said as his hand shot up, nearly elbowing his brother in the process and the blue firelizard falling off his shoulder, but someone else was called on before him and so he put his hand down with a chuckle. These new colors were amusing to him.

Kanlar moved just in time to avoid his brother's elbow and hid behind a grin as his brother was not picked for an answer before all the colors had been spoken of.

Tialar quietly raised his hand to attempt an answer, but a few others named the likely male colors before him, so he settled quietly.

Laret just grinned, not quite certain of the new colors because he had not seen much of them. The Weyrlings were sort of confined to a certain part of the Weyr and not everyone was allowed there. Pip chirped at Mikan and hovered for a moment before attempting another landing to gaze at that shiny in his hair.

[Kit]

Arktos nodded,"Very good, all correct," he said, turning to the slate board behind him with a piece of chalk and writing in bold letters MALES and drawing a line underneath. He wrote the colors bronze, black, white, blue and brown underneath.

"So, that leaves silver, gold green, gray and red as females," he said as he made another column labeled FEMALES on the other side of the board with this information.

"All right, so here are the ten colors, five females and five males. Perfectly balanced, as it was not previously. Now, what do we know about each of these colors of dragon? Tialar, please tell me what you know about gold dragons. Mordecai, you will tell me about silver, Gailardian, you have black, Ravis, brown, Micala red, Viarnie gray, Laret blue, Lirona green, and Kanlar white. I'll give you all a few minutes to think about it." Not all the Candidates had been called on, but it was close, and he'd be sure to get to the others later. "Raise your hand if your having terrible trouble and Kanretia will go over and give you some ideas." He shot his second a grin, not wanting her to be bored. This was a very basic lesson.

[sorra]

Viarnie sat straighter in her chair. A gray? Hmm, she'd have to think about that. She didn't know a whole lot about the new colors, but she was definitely willing to learn. She knew the grays were around a blue's size, although they seemed to be a bit smarter then blues. But of course that could have just been her opinion. She wasn't sure. Maybe she'd say it though.

Ravis breathed a sigh of relief when he got the browns. At least he knew something about them. Although he was intrigued by the blacks personally. The browns he knew were smaller then the bronzes and blacks, but they seemed to be the work runner of the dragons. He knew they could hold wing second positions and seemed fairly smart.

[Mik]

Kanretia smiled at the CandidateMaster after he nominated her to help the Candidates learn things about the colors of the dragons. Having been weyrbred, she did tend to learn things about the dragons much quicker than one usually might.

Micala nodded and thought about the red dragons. They had an older red on the Sands currently brooding over her clutch and one or two younger reds. Maybe it was that they could clutch? No, green's could clutch, too, but they were always forced to chew firestone which made them infertile. She looked at the darkly dappled gray sitting in front of her, silent love and never-ending affection always coming from the firelizard. The Runner could not help the smile that crossed her face at Mikay's silent love for her while she thought about the red dragons.

Kanlar looked at Arktos blankly for a moment. The white dragons? After a moment, things clicked and a smile replaced his expression as his mind worked on everything he knew about white dragons. His mother had been so helpful in this area when he had first arrived and had been curious of the different colors. They were tiny and very playful. No one really knew their potential yet except that the white firelizards seemed uninterested in Chasing and possibly on the same understanding point as the bronzes. Or were they the same intelligence as the golds? The young GlassSmith mulled over that factor for a few moments to come up with an answer somehow.

Tialar smiled when he was given golds, though he was not quite sure as to why Arktos did not pick a girl to answer that question since they would be the ones to Impress one. Oh, well. They were the ultimate dragons. The mothers of all dragonkind because only they could produce other golds. They were very smart and were pretty well off having all the other dragons looking up to them.

Laret smiled and looked at his pesky firelizard, amused that Pip was fascinated by his oldest brother's hairpiece. Blues were amusing. He knew that they were smart and quick and could rarely last a full Fall when Thread did plague the skies. They also chased any female that Rose, too, rarely catching the female. Yes, he could handle talking about blues.

[Kit]

Gailardian considered, chewing his lip thoughtfully. He had been a Candidate for several months now, and had seen the first Hatched blacks. Plus, Arkysk was black, he had seen the wher often enough. After a moment, he raised his hand.

Arktos watched them all thinking, smiling at the surprise on Tialar's face. He knew what the boy was thinking, but there was a good readon he gave the gold and silver to males. He didn't want any of the girls to think they were favorites, or that he thought they should Impress Queens. He often noted that girls took these things much more seriously than boys. Plus, there were many more boy Candidates than girls this time around. He gestured for Gailardian, his protege in many respects, to speak.

The young smith straightened his spine, running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. "Well, blacks are the biggest males, as big as Golds, some say. They're fairly intelligent... But quiet, not bossy like Gokd usually are."

"Very good. Blacks are the largest males as far as we know. Only one black dragon is alive right now to look at, that would be young Osiroth, but there is also a black wher, as you know, and several black firelizards. They do seem to be quieter than Golds despite bring their equals in intelligence, and though they are territorial and extremely protective of their bonded mates, they are not as overtly aggressive as bronzes can be. They can mate with any female, though they often have a disadvantage in speed when trying to catch smaller colors. As far as we know, black dragons are likely to only Impress to men, just like bronzes. Now, who wants to go next?"

[sorra]

Ravis listened quietly to the explanation about blacks. He smiled a little. He would love to Impress to a black. It sounded like they could be quite interesting to be partnered with. Although he definitely wasn't going to be picky if he managed to Impress at all. Which he wasn't sure of since his hand was so messed up. The boy tentatively raised his hand.

"The browns are smaller then the bronzes, but some can rival a small bronze. They're not as smart as the bronzes, but they do seem to be the workrunner of dragon kind. Browns have been to known to chase after queens as well as greens, but don't usually win a queen because they don't have the stamina to keep up," he said, looking up at Arkysk. Was that right?

[Kendrall]

Mordecai listened intently as he scribbled away on some hide parchment. It would be come in handy to know the different colors for the female dragons, especially if Tara were to Impress to a specific color. He could see her Impress to a Red or to a Silver. Green, possibly. Gray was also another possibility. Gold was unlikely - it took a certain type of young woman to Impress to a Gold, but if the rumors were true that Silver was the new Gold...

Tara could easily become a Weyrwoman's Second or a Weyrwoman in her own right one day. Mordecai would be willing to bet Tara would Impress to either a Red or to a Silver when it was her turn. And with nearly thirty eggs from the dual clutch, odds were good she'd Impress highly. Speaking of which, it was his turn to speak, wasn't it? He looked up and raised his hand, then cleared his throat.

"Silver dragons are slightly smaller than their Gold counterparts, but are considered Queens nonetheless. Roughly thirty-five to forty feet in length from the head to the tip of its tail. Really vain and daring, or so the story goes, though I'm not too certain how often they Rise. I'd theorize they do so at least once a Turn, similar to Golds, and may produce a similar-sized clutch if flown. Probably lay gold and silver eggs, too, depending on if a Silver is caught by a Bronze or possibly even a Black. Although, I'm willing to bet there wouldn't be any gold or silver eggs if she's caught by a Brown."

[Jammi]

Tara knew she was late to the lesson, but what choice did one have when your skills were needed? She really meant to be on time, in fact she had set out early from her tasks to be there on time. Along the way however, a young child caught up with her and had asked for help with a canine pup. Who could tell a crying child no? Especially when a pup was hurt? So making the choice to help the young pair, Tara knew she would be given some form of punishment for being late.

As it turned out the pup had only scratched a pad of a forepaw. While messy and painful the injury wasn't too bad and only took a few moments to patch up. That short time still allowed the outgoing teen to be late. So with a sheepish grin and a pair of downcast eyes, Tara slipped into the back of the lesson room. Glancing around she tried to guess as to what all she had missed. On the board she noticed colors, and she guessed it was dragon colors based on her limited knowledge already.

Staying small in her chair the late teen hoped she wouldn't be called upon and that her punishment wouldn't be too bad...