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 dark. Ever so ever so dark. Hopefully the candidates are snoozing, since that's what expected of them, but it's not to last. The barracks being so near the sands, it's one of the first places to start to buzz softly with humming and it's only moments later that the door is pushed open with a bang by a certain stocky assistant weyrlingmaster who immediately turns and flicks on the lights, wincing only a little against the sudden burst of light, "All right, you lot! Up and at 'em. Get presentable and into your robes post hates."
As she hears the doors bang open, Briana jerks up in bed with a start and blinks at the bright light. She first looks a little dazed by the wakeup until the words sink in and she is quickly getting out of bed and digging in her trunk for the robes. She quickly strips off her night dress and pulls her robe on over her underthings before slipping her feet into some slightly oversized sandles, lacing them tight so they don't fall off.
Keziah follows in behind M'nol, her nose twitching even as her head buzzes with the vibration. She knew she should have gotten to sleep earluer. "Gah, bright light, even though I was expecting it." She grins at him "Awww, no whistle? But I like the whistle. You should blow the whistle anyways." she says with a grin as she looks around the barracks to see who's moving and who's stumbling.
Kiley is completely and utterly /out/. Sleeping so soundly and happily so. The soft humming does nothing to wake her, but it is the sudden light that has her sitting up quickly. She blinks quite a few times, attempting to adjust to the sudden change and despite the announcement, there's a faint whine. From the cot she rolls, quickly shuffling to grab her robe and to pull back her hair. Doing both these tasks at once, however, is impossible as she soon displays.
Aqueepoli is out like a light. Loud, obnoxious snores coming from his cot's direction. The sound of buzzsaws and screaming felines, mixed in the a dying wherries. Surely that is what Aqueepoli's snored sound like. Whether there are humming sounds going or not, the candidate is dead to the world. Drool slowly trickling in a constant stream down the side of his face. Tangled in his own bed covers with the pillow having been tossed to the ground.
Landers hadn't been sleeping at all deeply, having spent the last few hours tossing and turning about, with three firelizards making it hard to find a good position to sleep in. Regardless, the burst of the door and the lights flickering on make him jump just as high as he would've during a deeper sleep. Quick to sit up, the man groans a little against the sharpness of the light, the adjustment a painful process. His firelizards start squawking and hissing at the sudden movements, until they too begin to hum. The man tries to unblur his eyes, rubbing at them, flinging blankets to the side at the order to get into robes. "Oy… t'was just getting ta sleep too."
Pyriel /was/ happily tucked away in dreamland, or at least one might assume so as he's wrapped around his pillow, his eyes are closed and he's chest is lightly rising and falling. That is until M'nol flicks the light on and starts talking at everyone. A twitch and a single golden eye opens for a second and then clamps back down again. "It ain't even morning yet, man. What is this, candidate torture?" he grumbles, and curls up tighter. Perhaps until his sleep idled brain processes all the information, for soon after the harper boy candidate is falling out of hit cot to the floor and he's scrambling towards his press. "Crap. Crap. Crap." he grumbles, "Please tell me this is for real." he scowls, digging out his crumpled robe and starting to strip.
And slinking in behind Keziah, that'd be Flandynn. Seeking the shadows, slithering along the wall, as fleet and silent as a cat, or something. It is almost as if he wasn't here, adhering to the curfew, the whole time. Isn't it even more amazing when he just pops up right next to the man, all dark eyes, mussed hair, and a wondering expression. "Wow, rider-sir. That was quite an entrance. Admirable." He'll leap a cot or two, nearly straddle a waking candidate, all while heading for his cot.
Iessrien is asleep. Sound asleep, with his face buried in a pillow, hair spread halfway across his face. The holder boy has one arm hanging off the side of his cot while the other tugs at the covers, having partly tossed them off during the night. The buzzing is what wakes him, pondwater eyes blinking blearily, sitting up in confusion for a second, and glancing about the barracks at this late hour. It's only a moment later that someone comes in and the activity begins, the lad quick to throw off the rest of the blankets and fling open his clothes press. Even still half asleep, he moves quickly, tossing a glance to Pyriel and Kiley, and a longer, wide-eyed one to Pol before tugging on a candidate robe and sandals and hurrying with the rest.
Landers stretches out his arm, blinking out the sleep from his eyes as he finally takes notice of the flurry about him. "Robes, aye…" he scrubs the back of his head, rolling his neck side to side before padding ever so casually toward the trunk in front of his cot. The robe is taken out, snapped once or twice to unfold it, and set on the bed. A yawn overtakes him as he pulls his shirt over his head, slipping the robe on over top once it's out of the way. He reaches for his bandana though, twisting it into a thin band and tying it against his brow with a knot behind his head, spiking up the front part of his bangs.
M'nol quirks a brow at Flandynn, clearly not taken in in the slightest, but there isn't time for that right now, "Yes, Py, this is for real. Now all of you fall in. Seryth is not a patient queen and I doubt her children will be any different." Spotting Aqueepoli's still-abed-ness, he hands Keziah the whistle with an evil grin and indicates the prostrate candidate with a slight jerk of his head. She can really wake him up.
Olarya is up, dressed and looking snazzy, well, as snazzy as one can look in a drab white robe. Silion isn't far behind, a little slower, a little more careful about dressing but nonetheless the sleepy siblings are dragon-presentable in their whiteness, with a nice pair of protective sandals as well of course. The pair claps hands, before 'falling' in with the rest to be ready for their trek out onto the sands.
Briana's hair is still in a loose sleep braid as she moves toward the line, looking perhaps a little nervous. In that nervousness she seeks out Landers , "Can I stand by you?" She asks hopefully before looking up to M'nol as he gives more instructions. "It's happening ..it's really happening."
Kiley finally makes a decision; she abandons her night clothes for her robes first before pulling her hair back with a white ribbon. Sleepily, she rubs at her eyes and then glances around before shuffling to stand in line with the others.
Kaede is bleary-eyed, but manages to rouse herself from sleep. She peers around a bit and rubs at her face. "Hm? For real?" There's a bit of a yawn from the candidate, and she shuffles over to find her robe and sandals and gets to changing into them. "It's really for real?"
Flandynn shoots off a salute to M'nol, but the teen eventually locates his cot, or at least he assumes it is his cot because he was sleeping there before, and it is the cot with the wobbly leg, but someone else is currently using it. Huh. He hesitates, scans around, shrugs, and then digs about underneath the thing, eventually plucking out a robe. Hopefully it is his. If not, ah well… this guy is gonna be heading out onto the sands naked. Not his problem. Robe goes over his head. Hair is just as ruffled.
Landers settles into the robe with a final pat down, trying to get the fabric to at least stay flat. Those firelizards of his he turns to next, pointing a finger at them each in turn. There is some sort of command he uses for them, pointing at their noses and putting their heads down. The command is some muddled seafarring tone. Ensuring they stay, he finds Briana near him, smiling at her, "Aye. We be discussing this before. Outsiders together." If she allows it, he'll give her a hug, "Tis ok. We be fine. And tis happening. Aye."
With a alarmed expression towards M'nol and his confirmation that this was the real deal, the harper candidate has a moment of panic. He snaps out of it in a second. Then naked and then not, Pyriel yanks the robe on over his head and then down at the hem as he stands and kicks his bare feet into some ratty looking sandals perhaps a bit too big for him. Either way, discarded clothing is shoved back into the press at the head of his cot. He takes a moment to breath, eyes closing and swaying a bit in place before someone flying past him jostles him awake again and he's kicking the press closed and heading to line up at the door with a quick glance towards Kiley and Iessrien. Someone grabs his hand as he finds his place in line, though in this state of his, it's likely that the boy has no idea who that is, and he probably doesn't care for all the attention he gives it.
Aqueepoli is up with a start as the chaos of the room wakes him up, fists held up, crazy eyes giving everyone the business, and words flying out of his mouth, "IT WAS ALL IESSRIEN'S FAULT. HE MADE ME DRINK THE BOOZE! I FELL INTO THAT GIRL. THESE THINGS HAPPEN!" Now arms are flailing, though luckily, once his yelling subsides, his brain clears, and everyone being all up in a panic gets his attention. "Aaaaah, shit. For reals? This is goin' down? /Now/?" Legitimate question. It's like, the middle of the freaking night. "Dragons need to learn timin'. I was havin' this dream, wit' this girl…" Pol lets his mind wander back to the dream, then shakes himself out of it. Following the lead of Iessrien and Pyriel (they are the smart ones, after all), the taller candidate throws off his old clothes and finds his robe. Which, of course, has been rolled up into a ball of wrinkles and shoved underneath his cot. Mmm. Smells good. Like dust. Eyes half-open, brain barely awake, the candidate meanders over towards his bro's. "Can I jus' lean ya two? Wake me if'n a dragon comes close." Far too tired to be panic'ed just yet.
M'nol smirks at Briana, "What? Didya think the eggs were just gonna lay there and taunt you forever?" He rolls his eyes slightly as the humming increases and more of the candidates try to double-secret verify that it's really for real, "Yes, it's really for real." He frowns at Flandynn's continued flippance, but it's Aqueepoli's outburst that draws his attention, "CANDIDATE AQUI- AQUA- Pol. Robe on, in line, and if you can't stand on your own, you're not Standing. It's not safe on the sands." He moves closer to Aqueepoli, taking a deep whiff as if checking for alcohol before making a shooing motion, "Everybody ready?" He looks the line up and down, orders a few quick adjustments to hastily donned garb, then takes the lead.
Keziah has been standing off to the side, just watching in amusement and a few other things. Then there's Aqueepoli. Keziah's eyes arch a little "Drinkin' huh?" She headshakes a bit and then looks over towards Iessrien. "Really?" She hmmphs a bit. "No Pol, this is a drill and there's a big blizzard going on outside and we're going to make you stand out in it in your skivvies." She snorts. "Of course it's for real, can't ya feel it?" she snorts "Numbhead." she mutters.