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's night in the Weyr, the barrack lights are out. And with the cots gone and nothing to be a guide some bunch having a little too much trouble trying to be stealthy. Flash lights are on, dulled by cloth and going every which way to avoid the other sleeping candidates. Soft giggles and thumpings of feet can be heard.
Morlanol mumbles, rolling over in his sleep, actually managing to stay under his borrowed quilt, the much-squished stuffed flit still his best option for a pillow. Though Tourmaline still slumbers, Agate and Bloodstone blink awake at the scuffling sounds, their blue-green eyes blinking at the wanders with interest. What was this?
Jessamin is folding her quilt up neatly and stowing it away in her press, setting her bag of fabric scraps upright against the box instead of using it as a pillow. She closes the press, chuckling as her four flits perch on the top, chirruping and staring down her fabric bag. With hushed tones, she addresses them. "Oh no you don't, we got in enough trouble for that the last time. Now hush, we'll wake everyone else up." They do quiet down some, with only tiny trills of inquiry. "Errands duty, and I really need you four to behave. There'll be treats if you do." She infuses those words with tantalizing thoughts of warm, steaming meatrolls, which draws happy little songs from her flits. "Okay, let's be quiet about it and be on our way." She pushes herself to her feet, straightening out her clothing and tying her hair back in its customary runnertail
Most days, Rogawani could probably sleep like the dead, but having a lack of cot or even the rough hay of the stable loft, he's restless. His arms curl tighter around his rolled up jacket, muttering something about tunnelsnakes in his half-slumber. The sounds of firelizards and shuffling feet finally end whatever chance of sleep he had, and the boy raises his head. "Unn." He groans, blinking wearily at the flickering lights, the giggling, the motion. "What in Faranth's name are you doing?" He asks towards those moving around, rubbing at one eye.
More giggling continues, even as others stir. There's a pause and a muffle of voices as the group seems to have stumbled into one another. More so when Ro speaks, there's a squeak that accompanies. More shuffling around and scrambling, now desperate to make it to the door. One trips and cries out, flashlight uncovered and there is a group of boys shown in the light. Each one is holding flowers and notes, and the boy on the floor has dropped his.
Bloodstone and Agate, rear up on their rear legs, hissing. Tourmaline sleepily awakens, her sleepy eyes slowly unlidding. All three flits' eyes fade from blue-green to red-orange. The distress of his flits plus Ro's comment finally succeed at waking Morl, who grumphels slightly turning slowly to see the light. Shielding his eyes he grumbles a quiet, "Humina wha'?"
Jessamin goes very still at the sound of oddly muffled voices, the shuffling, and hissing of distressed flits. It seems to be contagious, for her own four soon pick up on it, their eyes whirling red, accompanied by hissing and stamping of their little clawed feet. "What the…?" She turns her head towards the source of the voices, squinting as she peers through the shadows. "Shards, that's all we need, is to get in trouble again!" She begins advancing on the lot, picking her steps carefully as she wends her way towards their ill-hidden light. Her flits take to the air behind her, swirling about protectively and emitting warning hisses.
To the group of already alarmed firelizards, two more add their creeling alarm. Kassi and Kialio look up from their place on Rogawani's quilt, fluttering into the air and swirling around the heads of the boys lingering in the darkness. It takes a moment longer for their owner to wake fully enough to catch what's going on. His eyes look first to the flowers, then the notes, then the boy on the floor. "Alright, someone's got some explaining to do." He mutters, sitting up and running a hand through his hair, still groggy. His two firelizards hover in the doorway, chirping as they try to create a roadblock of wings.
The boys fret. To help the fallen one or make a break for it. So, two grab their fallen friend, and then the other three are grabbing his things. "We're.. Just leaving… Yeah." One of them stutters out and the fallen boy simply looks horrified. And finally, the fallen one cries and sobs out. "You said they wouldn't find out!" The other five boys hiss softly at him, "shut up! You'll ruin it.. We did it /last/ time too." Hiss hiss and they quickly attempt another escape!
Morlanol's three, hissing loudly, take flight, diving towards the boys to prevent their escape. Morl is a bit further behind the curve. He sits, wiping sleep from his eyes, then turns to Rogawani, "Wha's goin' on?" He blinks twice, waking slowly, "Are they th' stalker?"
Jessamin says "Oh, no you don't, you sharding little tunnel snakes!" Jessamin is good and angry now, as protective of her friends here as any gold dragon of her clutch. She quickens her step, the sound of her shoes on the hard floor echoing slightly in the large room. Three of her flits-by sound, the three largest-break off their flight around her, swooping in towards the lot attempting to make their escape. It is seemingly only the smallest that stays by her, hissing and creeling a loud, vicious-sounding alarm. "Just you stay right where you are, you're not getting away -this- time!" Her steps take her close to the melee of firelizard wings and peeping toms. "Now just what in Faranth's name do you think you're doing?!"
As with before, Rogawani's firelizards join the fray, the larger gold still hovering defensively in the doorway as she hisses towards the scrambling boys. The smaller green darts and dives, trying to lash at faces and grab at hair. Rogawani opens his mouth to say something, but the words out of Jessamin's mouth say everything he's thinking. Still on the floor, he grabs for his quilt and tosses it towards the two trying to drag their friend up from the floor, trying to use it as a net. "Oh no you don't." He mutters, and then glances over his shoulder towards Morlanol. "That'd be my guess." He snorts, holding on to the edges of the quilt as he tries to use it to drag them down.
It's uncertain which of the boys lets out a scream, a high pitched girly one as they all make an effort to carry the youngest one out as well. The youngest, the one who fell, now just wails loudly. It's none too quiet in the barracks, either. "Stalker!" He cries, "we're the stalkeeeeer." And the wailing continues as the older boys attempt to shut up the youngest now on their pitiful attempt at escape.
Morlanol stands, his flits still diving at the boys and moves to intercept them though many are larger than he is. He fills his lungs and fills the room with his voice, "Stop! Th' Weyrlingmasters ought t' deal with this." He gives a harsh whistle and Tourmaline pops /between/ presumably following his request to retrieve an assistant weyrling master. Agate and Bloodstone continue to harry the boys, trying to keep them where they belong.
Jessamin says "Morl… see if you can slip out of here and go get some help." She ducks out of the way as something soft whizzes close to her, thankfully landing with a soft -swoosh thump- nearby. The quilt-net seems to miss its target. She shakes her head with a mildly exasperated sigh, diving into the mess and attempting to catch hold of the youngest one's shirt. Her smallest flit dives towards the young lad now, harrying him with hisses and nipping at his hair and clothing. "Sorry, you're not going anywhere." She calls out to the rest of her bunkmates. "Will someone bring up the lights in here so we can shardin' see what's going on in here?!"
With so much scrambling around, Rogawani finally gives up, just leaving the quilt behind to hinder the boy's escape. "Got it." He says quickly, scrambling to his feet, which slip a bit on the still slightly slick floor. Sliding forward, he jams his toe into the wall, muttering a quick curse before flailing a hand to bring the lights up. His green firelizard swoops, flapping wings in the faces of the boys even as his larger gold creels loudly enough that it's likely to carry even outside of the barracks.
Firelizards and quilts have the boys tripping all over again.. The youngest one is dropped and his shirt is snagged by Jessamin. His wailing continues loudly and the boys are tripping over each other. Every man for himself now. And then, finally… Zevida is striding into the barracks, looking none too pleased to be pulled out of her bed by Avaeth complaining of the noise. "What the heck is going on here?" All the boys freeze, and the wailing stops.
Jessamin hauls the youngest lad up by his shirt, sounding every bit as exasperated as Zevida at the moment. Little green Sekhmet is perched almost menacingly atop the boy's head, preventing further protest on his part, while her other three hover nearby, hissing softly-though their tone does seem to mellow somewhat as help arrives, in the form of the Weyrwoman. "Seems we had some uninvited visitors in here, Weyrwoman." She nudges some flowers near her feet, snorting with no small amount of disgust. "Couldn't even seem to keep their… admiration… in the right time and place."
Tourmaline reappears, chittering success at bringing someone to help. Morl whistles again, a high pitch that drops low, and Agate and Bloodstone stop harrying the boys, returning instead to his shoulders. He salutes Zevida, more awake than he really wishes he was, "They 'vaded th' barracks, Weyrwoman. They're th' stalker, we think." All three of his flits chirp smartly, as if echoing his conviction.
The firelizard in the doorway quickly chirps and floats over to land neatly on Rogawani's shoulder, not about to get in the way of the arriving Weyrwoman. Kialio joins a moment later, but unable to find room to land, simply wings to land on a nearby windowsill. Rogawani reaches up and strokes the small gold, nodding to what the others have said. Bending over, he scoops up one of the dropped letters, and flicks at it with his thumb. "These look surprisingly familiar, wouldn't you say?" He asks, although it's clear that he knows the answer. "We were lucky Jess was awake enough to notice what was going on." He still seems half-asleep though, blinking when the lights come up.
Zevida places her hands on her hips, glaring at every candidate. Despite that they aren't really the ones making the trouble. And the boys are eyed slowly, a finger point towards the door. "Office, now." And then each one of the candidates are eyed once more. "So, these ones." A gesture to each boy, "were sneaking in.. Or out?" Lips press into a thin line and she's nodding towards Ro at the look of the letters and flowers that they hold. The youngest boy pipes up softly. "We're candidates.. Ma'am… Um.. The other ones.. Said we were wishing.. Everyone luck. We didn't do anything wrong." Obviously, the youngest one was kept out of the loop being the wimp that he is. The older ones glare at him, then abandon ship to go to the office.
Jessamin nods in assent to Morlanol's remark. "Looks like they snuck in while we were sleeping. Sharding little buggers were so quiet I didn't hear them for a few minutes. Glad for all our flits here, and Ro for trying to stop them, too." She shakes her head, uttering a disgusted sigh. "Why do these things always happen when I'm just going for chores?" She glares at the youngest, who remains in her grasp by his collar. "Pipe down, you. How could you think that sneaking into the Barracks isn't wrong enough, but then to scare the living daylights out of all the girls here, NOT to mention likely pissing off a queen dragon on the sands? You bloody idiot!"
Zevida frowns at Jessamin, "that's enough." And then she's moving to take the younger boy from the candidate. She's lifting him by his arm and standing him with her. "They didn't sneak in, obviously." A gesture towards that white knot, but it's only there for a moment as she's tugging it off. "They'll get what they have coming, candidate. So quiet down, no more yelling." Lips press firmly into a line once more and she hisses out a soft breath. "Go back to sleep." The poor boy in Zevi's grasp is just sniffling soft sobs, trying to keep himself quiet now.
Rogawani rubs his feet against the slick floor, looking down slightly when Zevida's glare turns in his direction. Sure, he hasn't done anything wrong, but stern looks from any of the Weyrwomen can't be a good thing. "They may have been trying to sneak out, though. It's not just candidates finding these." He thumbs the letter again before tucking both hands neatly behind his back, straitening slightly. He raises his head, looking at the youngest one, trying not to smirk at Jessamin's harsh words. "I know quite a few folk, not just in the barracks, who will be relieved that they were caught." He sheepishly glances at the Weyrwoman, "People were starting to think the renegades had something to do with the letters."
Jessamin grumbles softly, ducking her head in deferences to Zevida. "Aye, Weyrwoman." She shoots one more disgusted glare at the young lad as he is hauled from her grasp, nodding with satisfaction as he is de-knotted. " 'Fraid I couldn't go back to sleep after this mess, though. Is there anything I could be doing to be of some use?" Though her face is still suffused with disgust and anger, she does seem to be taking some deep breaths to calm down; the effect spills over to her four flits, who soon stop hissing, their eyes returning to a calmer hue as they perch on or around her.
Zevida nods towards Rogawani, slowly as she looks down to the boy and then rolls her eyes as he continues to cry. "Wimp." She grumbles then smiles at Ro, "they're done and they won't likely be doing this again." Not with everyone knowing they did it. "If you can't sleep, clean up this mess." A gesture towards the flower petals everywhere and then a pause, "and if you don't have any chores in the morning.. You can attend on the sands. For your tongue, you'll get sands duty." Because, Zevi's annoyed so punishments are being dealt out. A final glance around and then she's dragging the poor boy out by his arm.
Absently, Rogawani raises one hand to stroke his firelizard's chin, hushing her quietly as her tail snaps outward, displeased with what's going on. His mouth stays shut though, nodding slightly as he looks down at the flower petals. He runs a hand through his hair, looking exhausted and exasperated, eyes following the path of the Weyrwoman until she's gone with the crying boy in tow. "Between no cots and having creepy candidates sneaking around… it's no wonder I haven't been getting any sleep." Mutter.
Jessamin nods once more. "Aye, I'll be ready for sands duty in the morning." Though by her smile, she does not seem consider it punishment in the least. With one last harrumph of disgust at the young lad, she turns her attention to cleaning up the mess left behind by the stalkers, fetching a broom and dustpan to begin sweeping up the petals. "Gaaah… we're lucky that wasn't any worse." Her flits trill and chirrup with satisfaction as the boys are taken away; Jess only smiles at them, reaching out to scritch the necks of each one in turn. "Good job, you lot. Special treats for you at breakfast, hmmm? Though you'll have to stay in here, I don't think Avaeth would appreciate you being out on the Sands."
Morlanol shudders slightly, stroking Agate, "Did… Did tha' jus' happen? I mean..? He trails off, thinking, "I mean really… I'm no' dreamin', am I?"
Rogawani lifts an eyebrow towards Jessamin, seeming perhaps a little amused by her willingness to take on the extra punishment. "You really are easy-going aren't you?" He asks, leaning down to scoop up a few of the remaining letters before leaning against the wall in a relaxed fashion. As his eyes turn towards Morlanol, the boy just shrugs. "You're not dreaming. But I guess you can sleep easier. You know these aren't coming from renegades now?" He waggles the collection of letters before grasping them between his hands, starting to rip them into neat little shreds.
Jessamin can't help grinning over at Rogawani, allowing herself to chuckle a little bit. "Maybe. Except where my friends are concerned. Then look out, you'll have a mother dragon on the sands." She smiles to herself, sweeping up more of the flower petals; her tone turns somewhat wistful. "Besides, who said Sands duty is punishment?"
Morlanol shrugs, switching his attention to Bloodstone, then Tourmaline, then back to Agate, "I'm jus' gla' I won' fin' anymore in m' c-" He cuts himself off… lacking a cot at the moment. This sudden realization causes his eyebrows to quirk up and his mouth to pucker, "Wha' were they gonna do? Slide 'em unner th' quilts? Shards."
"I doubt they were really thinking that far ahead." Rogawani mutters, rubbing the back of his neck to try to ease the stiffness that sleeping on the floor has caused. "Glad the girls won't be bothered by them anymore, though." Yep, he's far more concerned with the girls' welfare then poor Morlanol. He does smirk at Jessamin a bit, nodding slightly. "I wouldn't mind sands duty, either, to be honest. Just remind me never to get in your way. You're kind of scary."
Jessamin chuckles, and nods in reply. "Just don't mess with my friends, and there's no worry. Faranth only knows there's few enough good friends in one's life without something happening to the ones one has." She returns her attention to cleanup duty, humming a very soft, gentle tune; the melody seems to do its job, calming her and soon after, her flits.
Morlanol yawns hugely as the first rays of Rukbat's rise begin to filter over the horizon, then nods, "Yeah, I don' wan' nothin' t' happen t' my frien's either…" He glances out the window, thinking for a moment, then sighs, "tha' was… not th' bes' night's sleep I've ever had…"
Rogawani just sighs and pushes himself off of the wall, taking the shreds of letter with him as he walks back over to retrieve his quilt from the floor. "If they wanted us to have a good night's sleep, they wouldn't have taken away our cots." He mutters, and then throws his quilt around his shoulders, as if it were an oversized cape. "Maybe I'll trade for runner duty and go crash in the loft for a while." He yawns, holding a hand up to his face as he flops himself down, cape 'n all, in one of the window sills to watch the sun rise. "And no worries, Jess. I consider us all friends after this. Not about to piss off any of you. At least not intentionally."