Xanadu Weyr - Candidate Barracks
A long, low ceiling room opens off the entrance hall to the arena, one wall slightly curved as it is set against the outer wall of the arena itself. Cots are set evenly the length of the room, in two rows, each with its own small press at the foot, for personal belongings. Wide windows are spaced along the outside wall, letting sunlight in, while other lights are available for the night time hours.
It is the middle of the night and most of the class is asleep. Many exhausted from another day of chores and busy work, learning about the weyr or the craft. Briana is sitting in her corner bunk dealing with another bout of insomnia. The sheets had been kicked off the bed in fitful sleep and currently she is writing in a book by the light of a hooded glow. Curled up on her pillow is her green Firelizard. The kitten and its basket now gone from the barracks. The night before Bri was on cooking duties, so had spent most of the afternoon in the kitchens which seemed to suit the girl just fine she was in the bake craft anyway.
It is one of those sleepless nights, thoughts racing through the mind of computer crafter and preventing her from sleeping. Kiley stirs now and again, shifting this way and that to get comfortable in the barracks but she is completely unable to sleep. Her hands are lifted above her and she makes them out in the dim light of the barracks, staring at them blankly. These were her tools for many things, and these were where her thoughts lay and the pondering of what exactly she could do with her hands. But it wasn't her hands that started these lines of thoughts, but the eggs that they touched and the thoughts that they have given. Her hands dropped and she turns slowly, staring at the light before looking to where another light comes from. She watches Briana if only because the light draws her attention there to the other woman.
After her long day of dealing with the laundry and finding odd yet interesting things in the pockets of those she tended to, Olarya wanders back into the barracks on tip toes with boots in hand. She sighs, tilting her head from side to side, loosening out the tough spots before she settles down at the edge of her cot. The lizard is moved off to the side and she lays back quietly to stare at the ceiling. Tired but not enough to sleep just yet, she rubs her face and glances around the room at the source of the little glow.
The dark skinned teen with the scar on her arm has mostly kept to herself during candidacy. Anyone who has paid attention would notice that this is not Briana first restless night, but that ever since she was searched and most definately since the first touching of the eggs has sleep mostly been ellusive to her. It is the arrival of Olarya that brings a start from the girl and she looks expecting a headwoman to come a fussing, instead it is another candidate. She offers a wave to the woman before casting a look around to see if anyone else is awake. There is a nod towards Kiley before she turns her gaze back to her little book and writing more notes in it.
Kiley lifts her head to look to Olarya as she enters, blinking at the other with sort of a dazed look and then she registers who the woman is and calms. Her head drops back and the woman releases a sigh before her gaze slowly returns to the source light once more. She considers Briana and then blinks for the nod, cheeks flushing suddenly for being spotted she sits up in her cot and pulls the blanket around herself. She waves to Briana before drawing her knees in to her chest and resting her chin upon it. "What're you doing?" Curiosity gets the better of her and she offers a smile towards the other candidate, her head tilting as she continues to watch but nothing that is too imposing as she really is more focusing on the light.
Oly rises her head from her cot and moves her to press to gather up some clothes. Quickly she changes, not particularly caring if anyone sees but if those 'males' make any comments, a boot will effectively find them through the air in the dark. She tugs on her bed clothes and glances over to Brianna, toddling over on her toes so as not to wake anyone around her. Cunning lifts his head and peers over with little beady eyes but since there's no food, she curls up and claims her pillow as his own for now. No food, no sexy bronze firelizard for the ladies.
Briana looks up at the question being sent her way, then glances down at the book for a moment. There is a shrug of her shoulders, "Just writing stuff. Whatever comes to mind really." She says and closes the book and sets it on her pillow. "Can't sleep either?" She asks Kiley before looking over to Olarya, "Gotten all settled in and stuff Olarya?" The teen asks of the woman, having met her right after she was searched. "Touched any of the eggs yet?"
Kiley looks to Olarya but quickly averts her eyes once the woman begins to change, pulling her knees in tighter and then peeks over once more once she hopes the woman is done. "I'm Kiley, I don't think we were introduced." The woman offers a smile in the dark before her gaze is once again drifting back to Briana, blinking. "Oh.. that is a good idea." She breathes out softly, considering this idea for herself as fingers begin to drum along her leg in some odd rhythm that lingers in her mind. "Yeah. The eggs have really kept me thinking in these last few days.. They seem so cold and then full of fear. Some are… Nice but then some are…" She makes a sound that gives a mixture of feelings: confusion and frustration being the most notable before her head tilts to rest on her legs at a different angle. "I don't know what to think but I didn't know what to expect, either…"
"Yeah, finally in and all settled. I haven't a chance to go out there yet but I'm sure I will soon." She smiles and settles down upon the floor, arms resting upon her knees as she glances at the two girls with a smile. Olarya takes in a deep breath and sighs, rubbing the back of her neck for a moment before she sends her gaze around the room. She listens intently, though, curious about what touching the eggs here would've been like. A little bit of nibbling at the corner of her lip begins while the gears start turning in her head. "It must really be something to know they're already trying to reach out to you and not even done growing within the shell yet."
As Kiley speaks about the eggs, Briana actually gets a look of relief upon her dark features, "So it wasn't just me?" She asks in a hopeful voice. "I was so worried…I thought they didn't like me becau.." She starts before looking down at her book, "Well..I aint from the weyrs. One of the eggs was really nice and I was reluctant to leave it, but the others…I just don't know." She continues as she looks over to Olarya as she joins them in conversation. "It wasn't like what the people described. I thought it was supposed to be great and wonderful, but I only felt like…I wasn't good enough."
Kiley mms softly, "everyone will get a chance. I've gone out twice now.. They're introducing us to them." Her head turns upward for her chin to settle upon her knees as she looks to the other girl with a faint smile. "Just… Be careful and be ready for everything, they tend to do unexpected things in your head." And she likely wishes someone would have given her some sort of warning to this fact before she went out and met the eggs. But what is done is done and she can share the words of wisdom she wished she had. Her legs are hugged tighter while fingers continue drumming along the blanket covered legs. "It is very different, they're… It must be why dragons come out knowing how to talk, because they can share so many thoughts inside an egg alone." Or so that is her theory on that, but she shrugs and offers a smile that is also given to Briana as she turns to face her again. "No, I think they were like to almost everyone. But they certainly felt… Distant and attempting to frighten me at times. They showed me things that I didn't want to remember." Her knees are hugged even tighter as fingers clutch the blankets and she offers a smile to the other. "I'm from a Hold, maybe they just like Weyr-breds.." Trailing off, she considers the words of the other candidate and her experience and she nods her understanding. "They were /testing/. A lot of them sought to see if I was good enough or brave enough or strong enough. I'm sorry that you feel that way.. Maybe the dragons will be different. Or.. Or.. Well, they say the dragons know who is a good dragon candidate. Maybe the eggs just don't know that we're good enough yet. Maybe it just takes time." So the woman hopes and her tone certainly reflect this hope, maybe hoping to spread it to the other as well.
"From what my parents told me, they're just as scared and worried as we are and they're searching for someone they feel safe to live outside of the shell with. My father's dragon was a total wuss and a coward, afraid of everything under Rukbat but now he's a little snot but a sweetheart… Even though he's a tiny bronze. They grow with you, you just gotta show 'em your willing is all you can do." Olarya takes a deep breath and sighs, brushing back the little curls upon her face as she slowly nods her head. She's gone through much the same thing but as the Weyrlingmasters and Leaders have said, perhaps her dragon just wasn't shelled yet. "All we can do is keep our heads up and be strong, you never know what's gonna come out of those shells and if they want you, you better be ready for them. Or to run and dodge them light a stampede of beasts come dragonfeeding time. I hear they can be rather uh, angry, and hungry right out of the shell. I've /seen/ some not pretty things."
"I almost didn't go back the second time and after that last egg, I think I am ready for another time." Briana says as she looks between the pair. "Though I am still nervous…I mean part of me just wants to go back to how things were before I was searched, but then I worry if I am left standing, was it because of who I was? And if I do impress what will happen between me and my boyfriend?" Ah the tailchasing worries that keep the teen up at night and give her unsettled dreams. There is a glance to the scar on her arm and she nods to Kiley, "Yeah, they were pulling up a lot of things I didn't want to remember.." She murmur and draws her own knees up to set her chin upon them. As Olarya speaks she looks thoughtful, biting her lower lip before nodding. "I suppose that makes sense…they sound so…serious. It is hard to think of them as just babies."
Kiley blinks at Olarya and her cheeks color at the fact that she was giving advice to someone who has a dragonrider parent. Her head tucks downwards just a bit to hide part of her face while her eyes still remain watching of the other candidates. "I didn't think that dragons grew up in their personalities… But I don't know too much about them besides what I was told at the Hold and just a little that I pick up now and then." Comes her softer response, her tone entirely sheepish and less willing to share her opinion. Her form remains in the awkward positioning for her hiding for a bit longer before her chin lifts so she can breathe a little easier. "that is true. We just have to be ready for whatever they throw at us…" But the mention of not pretty things has the woman tensing up considerably and casting wide eyes at the other woman. "W-What have you seen?" Though the dread in asking the question loses out to curiosity and the need to know what they could possibly face. Her gaze drifts to Briana and agreement follows, "I didn't like quite a few of them but I wanted to give them all a chance.. I mean, they couldn't have all been like that. But they all did question and test… Except for one that made me feel so /weird/." However, her gaze clears up and whatever look that was given in mimic of the word 'weird' is removed from her face. "Weyrwoman Thea had talked to Pyriel and myself about such things, not us.. Together or as anything more than the fact that we happened to be in the same place at the same time or something like that. She said we shouldn't worry about any relationships other than focusing on the task of having our mind focused on a singular one that may join us and that's all we should really worry about. I.. I'm sure you're boyfriend would understand. And, maybe he'll wait? I've heard stories like that." But she leaves it at that, shifting and looking awkward. She knows nothing about relationships and boyfriends, but the mention of the eggs pulls her from this and the woman smiles a little more easily. "They certainly did.. I wonder if they all do that, bring up memories.."
Olarya glances over to Kaede and offers a little bit of a crooked smile. "At one of the hatchings I went to, there was a little one that couldn't get the shell off of his eyes so he started stampeding all over the sands, trumpeting and sending all of the candidates running for their lives! I've seen a mauling from a green dragon that was confused and frightened from the sudden group of people surrounding it and she tried to find someone, poor thing was clumsy. Then again, I've seen nothing happen with the dragons but the candidates do some scary stuff, too." She straightens her legs out before her and rubs the soreness from them as those bi-colored hues glance up to the pair. I've seen one wet themselves when the dragon got within reach of them and sniffed them. Then there was the one that was eating sweets on the sands and wiped their hands on their robes to hide the evidence. That guy, he impressed because the brown liked the way it smelled. Some girls sang songs and others just fought eachother because they were desperate. You're never gonna know what's out there, just learn what you can and be prepared. Even I don't know everything. It's never the same every time, so you gotta stay on your toes if you still got 'em." She tilts her feet up and wriggles those little toes for effect before glancing over her shoulder down the way. No one else is awake it seems.
"I never really been around weyrs when eggs were around. I met some young dragons and they don't seem all bad. Uncle D'len's dragon though seems a bit…odd though. Though well she is real protective of my uncle, so I guess thats alright." Briana says on the discussion of eggs and dragons, "I suppose they could just picking up our own self doubts. Maybe I will try being more confident next time and see if it makes a difference." She says with a nod of her head, though her arms tighten about her legs with a hint of uncertainty. As Kiley asks about what she remembered there is silence from the girl for a moment as she looks away to her book. "Where I grew up wasn't always a nice place. Mostly people were like here, just doing their jobs, but some people were mean and did bad stuff and if you didn't move fast enough the bad stuff could happen to you." She says in a soft voice more as if she was talking to herself. She takes a slow breath, but does not look back to the others as if worried that they will look down on her for her revalation. Though the mention of Thea causes her to look up, "She encouraged me on the sands as well…I almost walked off and she saw me and well she gave me the courage to stay."
More blinking follows, eyes widening at the story that the other gives as her jaw seems to drop partially open. It clamps shut a moment later and Kiley can only really listen to the stories of what was witness with growing concern as eyes continue to widen to an owlish state once more. However she blinks to return them to normal, hands clutching tighter to her blankets and she squeaks out a soft, "why would candidates do scary things when dragons are scary enough already?" Though it is rhetorical question, she likely expects no answer as the other woman can't rightly get into anyone's head and figure out what they're thinking. Her nose wrinkles at the continuation of the stories and she nods once. "I'll remember that.. Thank you.." Her eyes close as she takes a small moment to reflect, still listening but not responding as Briana speaks of her uncle's dragon. A deep breath is taken and she peeks curiously at the other, listening to her story as well. "I am sorry.. That must have been hard.." But that is all that follows, her understanding for such a thing lacking but she can certainly imagine a few things. "That is good. She's nice and understanding… The fact that she tries to help everyone understand is great." Slowly, she stretches out from her fetal position and drops back onto her cot, arms and legs spreading as she stares up at the ceiling, slowly becoming lost in her thoughts once more. Though silence lingers from Kiley's direction and one can assume that her thoughts have finally led her into sleep.
"Most important thing to remember is to be sure to wear clothing /under/ the robes. Please, I'm begging all of you." She giggles a bit and glances over her shoulder to the males side of the room. "Cause if ya don't, I'll be sure that things won't be prone to comin' out again." All in a quiet murmur but if someone is listening, they'll be sure to pass her warning around. Olarya is a fiesty one but a sweetheart if you give her the chance. She stretches once more, raising fingers into the air as she yawns into her shoulder. The girl rises, teetering a little bit before she straightens up and begins to turn towards her cot. She glances over her shoulder and grins, "It'll be fun and fine, really. Just keep your head up and your eyes open. Besides, everyone you know is going to be out there rooting for you. Including your boyfriend if he wants to. Be strong for them at the least." There's one thing this girl is keeping strong, and thats her right arm to choke out her missing little brother when she finds him. Golden curls do a little bounce from side to side as they dangle from her runnertail and she flops onto her cot, hugging her pillow and settling down for the night.
Briana looks over to Olarya as she gives her words of warning, "Well I am pretty fast most of the time, I ain't too worried about that part, just not being allowed to take part at all I reckon scares me the most." She says with a half shrug and as the other girls look to try to get back to sleep she reaches for her book and slides it beneath her pillow as she at least makes an attempt at sleep, "It weren't all bad, just parts." She says to the apologies given to her for her tale. "Thank you both…it helped a lot to talk tonight." She says as she reaches over the side of her cot to drag her blanket back over herself.