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 starting to get much later on in the evening, when some of the candidates might be passing out in the barracks out of sheer exaustion after a day of chores. Chaitra is little exception to this, but he hasn't quite made it to the cots yet, leaning against the frame of the door to the barracks, looking a bit bushed.
Arkoss arrives in the barracks with a few twigs and such unnoticed in his hair, a few scratches marring his arms and cheek. It seems that, yet again, the silvery-haired youth had gotten himself lost in the forest. He really needs to work on that. "Some help you are." he grumbles at the blue firelizard, who chirps smugly at him. Sighing, he flops down on his cot. "They need signs saying where places are."
Ryski is in the barracks, yes. Currently attempting to smother himself with a pillow. Or wait..no, that's him trying to smother someone /else/ with the pillow. On top of another boy on a cot, he has the pillow quite firmly over the other's head, grinning madly while his victim flails. Quite thankfully, however, it's apparently all in good fun, what with the other boy giving intermittent laughter all the while. After a few moments more of struggling, however, Ryski's finally shoved off, retreating back to his own cot with the pillow being thrown after him. "Now stop all that /snorin'/ you've been doin', or I'll come over there and do it again!"
Lorena takes tentative steps down the hallway on her bad foot. It's almost healed, so she's not too bothered with it, just careful. Behind her, clinging to their bag is if it were their life is a stick thin wide-eyed girl, probably in her mid teens. "You'll get the hang of things soon enough…" Comes her voice, as she comes around the corner, a glance back as she does so. Hm… maybe she won't. Poor thing looks like she might faint. Loyauth has strange taste. And as her head swings around she nearly walks into Chai. "Ack!" Hopping on her sore foot, she yelps in pain and slumps against the opposite door jam. The girl jumps in fright and looks like she might bolt. Stupid child. "Ow ow ow ow."
Chaitra blinks as Arkoss passes him in the doorway, one hand sneaking out to snag a longer twig from the other youth's hair. "Ge'lost?" He asks, not unkindly, but a bit more on the curious side. However, as Ryski returns to his own cot, he might notice some … uncomfortable small moving lumps that start to explore this new addition to /their/ cot. And if one looks carefully enough at the floors, they might see a crawlie or two scuttling to hide somewhere dark. And all of a sudden, Chai hears noise behind him, and he starts off of the door frame, looking wide-eyed at Lorena for a moment. "You fine, Lor? .. Ah. Ma'am?" He amends quickly, forcing his heart back down into his chest and out of his throat. "Eh think mebbe you shoul' sit down…" He says, gesturing to a near by, empty, cot.
"Again." Arkoss sighs at Chaitra. "Yes. I get lost on the way to the bathroom." when Lorena comes in, seemingly in pain, however, he gets to his feet and goes over to help, and a twig falls out of his hair. "You all right?" he asks, offering a hand.
If there's any lumpiness, Ryski hasn't quite noticed. Or maybe he's ignoring it. Either way, the boy flops onto his cot, sitting there with a faint bit of eyeing for the new girl being brought in. Fresh meat. Still, he does glance at Lorena, shaking his head somewhat. "You're still walkin' around on it, huh?" Well, he's not a healer, so he can't say for sure if it's good for the rider's foot or not. Just doesn't..really look it.
Lorena hisses a little, clenching her foot and ignoring the few voices around her until the endorphins kick in and pain subsides. This takes a couple moments before her face unscrews and she slowly releases the foot, sandal sitting on the floor. A purply blot and puncture on her heel can be seen as she slowly and gingerly places it back into her sandal. "I'm… I'm okay… Thank you though." She glances to Ryski. "Yeah… well… I can walk… it's just whether I stomp down on it or hit it into anything at this point." And the look on her face shows she's done so more than once. Never so clumsy as when you're injured. "Um… everyone, this is…" She turns and looks but the girl is gone. "Keyra…?" She peeks back out the doorway to see the girl standing there looking just as fearful. "C'mon, girl! Buck up. You agreed and so here you have to be." She reaches out and grabs the girl's arm, nearly dragging her in. "Keyra, everyone."
"Chaitra." Is all Chai says to the new one with a little sort of half-bow. Nothing much, because when he gets fancy, he gets clumsy. "Ah, well ma'am-" And yes, he's back to calling her ma'am for now, "-Eh jus' think tha' you should ge'some can'idates t'carry you 'round or somesort. Shouldn' be placin' so much stress on tha' poor foot!" Uh, did he just scold her? Yes. But anyways, a crawlie has now made its way onto Ryski's hand if it's sitting on the cot, curious. And Chai, as he moves. Trips over a small saucer of … cream? Milk? "AUGH! Wha' the shardin'…?" He says, looking down at the mess that he just created and is partially standing in. "… Eugh."
"What?" Arkoss asks, glancing over at Chaitra. "What happened?" at the suggestion for candidates to carry Lorena around, the silver-haired boy laughs. "Yeah, like they did in some cultures in ancient Terra…four people holding a corner of a litter so someone important could ride." he laughs, then smiles at the newest candidate in a friendly manner.
Ryski feels something..crawly. It's a crawlie! Go figure. He does look down at his hand though..and at the little critter there, blinking rapidly. His hand lifts, however, certainly not one to be freaked out by little lizardy-type things. "Hey! We got crawlies in here!" His fingers give a wiggle then, quite pleased with the new addition, before glancing at Chaitra when the other boy steps in…stuff. "Ugh. Probably for that stupid thing Keziah's got stashed. I swear this place is gonna end up stinkin' like a /barn/. Couple of them guys on the end don't hardly /bathe/, and we got livestock wandering around.." Oh yes, he's quite willing to gripe rather loudly about that. "Sure, get somebody to carry you around. That'd work. ..Not me though."
Lorena frowns a little as the girl just… stares at them. Sigh. But her frown deepens watching the boys. Particularly at what Ryski says. "She hasn't gotten rid of it yet?" Her voice leaks irritance. "Where is it? Is it here?" She goes looking around, leaving poor Keyra to stand clueless in the door way. "What's that milk doing there?" She snaps at Chai. Lory's pissed, yep.
"Eh stumble' on some milk…" Chaitra says in a rather put-out tone to answer Arkoss' question. But soon enough, something small and fuzzy - that does not sport cloven feet - is lapping at the edge of the spilt milk, purring as it does so. "Barn in'eed, Ryski." The hunter says, his eyes narrowing at the small bundle at his feet. "Aoife! You're supposed to stay /hidden/!" Cries a small boy who rushes forward to scoop the baby feline from the mess, though the lad gets scratched and cried at for his efforts. "Jirka…" Chaitra groans, putting a hand over his eyes. Apparently he knows this young lad who's fostering the kitten. "Don' tell me all th'other ones are yours too…" And as Lore snaps, Chai's spine straightens. "Uh.. ma'am… Jirka…. Jirka…" He pauses at a loss. "Wha' in the flamin' world /were/ y'doin' with tha' /thing/ Jirka?"
"Aoife's ma. She was like, really dead.." Jirka starts off, the youth probably about Ryski's age, with a different take on the 'love for animals'. "And I mean /really/ dead. I think a wherry ate her up." The brown eyes that accompany the dark haired child grow round and most. "And… And Aoife. She just was so cute, and mewing… I took her." There's a pause. "Did I mention she's /cute/?" And the now-complaining feline is lifted for All To See. Or more intently, Chaitra … and Lorena as an afterthought. "The crawlies.. uh … those…" The boy's eyes start to dart a little now. "Those… are… ahm… Ryski's!" … Yeah /huh/?
Ryski tilts his head just a bit as Lorena snaps, lips quirking upward a bit. "Heh. I dunno. She hides it under her cot and stuff, but takes it with her when she goes around outside, I think" Thus, the animal isn't here..if it's even still being kept here. Who knows! He doesn't, at least. Then there's..kittens? "Oi! Where the heck are all these /things/ popping up from? Bet that's what the /smell/ is in here. Somethin' probably pooped in a corner and nobody knows where. Probably in someone's shoe or on their /clothes/." His lips twist into a faint grimace then, as his next words make even himself cringe for suggesting it. "Everyone should tear the place apart and give the whole /place/ a good clean up. Scrub the walls, even." He nods slowly for a moment, and then blinks. /He's/ being accused? His gaze whips right around to the other boy, eyes narrowing darkly. Oh yes..revenge will be /had/. "Ohh no they /aren't/! I didn't bring nothin' in here but the firelizards, don't you go trying to pin crap on /me/!"
"Nougat's mother died giving birth to her." Arkoss adds in. "Keziah's job is to take care of him, I thought those in crafts were still supposed to do their duties?" he asks Lorena. "Nougat still needs to be nursed, he's too young to be by himself." Arkoss helped Keziah birth him, after all.
Lorena yelps as the feline comes running out. "What is this place?? A sharding petting zoo???" She growls, staring as the kid runs forth to claim the feline. "No… No tha's it! I've had it! No pets but flitters! None! I don' care if they're on life support than only you have the ability to use it! NONE! She shoots a look that could kill at Arkoss. "It is a health risk to all those at hand. Imagine if someone had allergies?! Someone else can take care of the shardin' thing. That's why we have beast craft. She is a candidate and such candidacy is her FIRST priority. Her craft second. There are several others who can take care of it. But I will take that up with her again…" She looks around at them all, silently glad a couple individuals aren't here. "I am calling you all together and you will -all- clean this barracks from top to bottom if I have to tie your hands and feet to scrub brushes and soap bars!"
It's with a loud sneeze that Rhelia looks up from darning her socks, having finished the candidate chores earlier and now working at other tasks which need completing, at the sudden commotion caused by the assistant weyrlingmaster. She sniffles and rubs at her red and slightly watery eyes, clearly one of those affected by the less than sanitary conditions in the barracks. Setting her task aside she stands up and gives her eyes another rub with her sleeve as she approaches the weyrlingmaster. "There's a goat in 'ere too, somewhere," she says all nasally. "It makes me sneeze. All these kids are so /dirty/ in here. It's disgusting. And they all seem to think it's acceptable!" Clearly she's finding a similar wave length with Lorena and someone to rant to about the state of affairs who will actually listen to her.
Chaitra and Jirka both look at Lorena. While Chai wilts a little bit, since he was more or less just about to punt the kitten out the door, Jirka tears up as he looks at Lorena. "But… but… what will Aoife /do/?" The young boy wails, just after being assulted by Ryski. "But they uh, they ain't mine!" Yeah, has anyone ever told Jirka he's a horrible liar? "Really they ain't!" And Chaitra just sighs, taking a few steps forward to put a hand over Jirka's mouth. "Stop. Eh know they be yours, kid." He leans down to whisper. "So don' go pissin' off the Weyrlin' staff. They'll make life har'." And one could almost see the sweatdrop forming over Chaitra's head as Rhelia speaks up. "Oh bloody 'ell…." He grumbles, not so gently taking the kitten from Jirka. "Aoife's gonna go ge' someone who'll be /able/ t'look af'er her, Jirka.." Chai all-but sighs, "Now go ge' some rags for th'spilt milk…" And amazingly enough, Jirka sprints off. … Without crying.
Ryski might have suggested it in the first place, but that doesn't mean he has to like his own idea, or be enthusiastic about it. The confirmation of a total barracks cleanup earns a halfhearted, groaned out 'yay' from the boy. Still, he does look pretty pleased about the entire thing..that is, until Rhelia pipes in, lips curling up slightly in a grimace at her. "/Excuse/ me? I ain't been going along with any of this, and I sure know when to take a /bath/. Your ears clogged up, or what?" After all, the boy's been ranting about the animals now for quite a bit.
Arkoss opens his mouth to protest, then expels a breath instead, resigned. "Yes ma'am." he tells her, dropping his eyes. Aw, man. Kira chirps questioningly, and Arkoss shakes his head, then obediantly goes to grab the cleaning supplies. "Well Nougat isn't in here now." he tells Rhelia. "Keziah's off with him elsewhere."
Lorena glares around at the lot, eyes landing on Rhelia and nods. "I know about the little bleater… Case in point. Alright now you lot! Hop to it! I want this entire place clean… and not just a light mopping and sweeping. I expect by this time tomorrow that the -entire- barracks will be spotless. I want the floors swept, mopped, dried… I want all cots and personal items neatly stowed. I want that -aweful- smell in this corner," cause now that she's prowled about a bit as she's speaking, she has noted the smell. "gone! I want to be able to serve each off you food off these floors and so help me if I find one spec of dirt in here I will have each of you scraping the algea, barnacles and grime off the bottom of my ship! And trust my experience, that is a job you DO NOT want!" She stalks back to the front, looking at the poor girl she brought in, as well as Rhelia. "And I mean all of you. Loyauth will be sending the message on to the others to make sure that all candidates know they have 24 hours to get this place sanitized! You will all learn how to work together. That each mistake one of you makes will effect all of you. So work it out!" And without even a pause, Admiral, her navy blue firelizard, pops in from between. Chirrup? "You keep an eye on them, Admiral." And she leaves, not even explaining a thing to the poor girl. She'll catch on… or start talking.
"But there's still a /goat/ that /lives/ in here!" Rhelia hisses at Arkoss, turning a narrowed eyed glance his way. Nothing but a sniff is offered in reply to Ryski. It could be an allergy sniffle, or one that indicates she's really not going to be listening to a pipsqueak like him. "And it shouldn't be here! This isn't a bloody stable, this is where /people/ live!" As Jirka runs past Rhelia, she glowers at the little whiner, however, the announcement that there's now an official edict from on high that the place must be cleaned out to a status such that people can actually live in it tempers whatever further outpouring of almost-tantrum rantings she might have been ready to issue forth on her fellow candidates. Turning around, she wipes at her eyes again. "You heard her! Get the brooms and the mops out!" And who left her in charge?
Chaitra blinks at Rhelia as she just sort of takes charge. However, not before the hunter shrinks in a little on himself even though none of this was truely his fault. The baby feline in his hands is really starting to squirm at this point in time, flailing this way and that. "Lor… ma'am." He starts off, but is well.. dismissed clearly. He sighs, looking at the bundle in his hands. "Y'go back t'the wilderness, you. You ei'her survive or no." He tells it coldly, heading out side for the briefest of long moments to get it thuroughly into the woods before bolting back, which is shown by flushed cheeks. Though he's not without the cleaning supplies! Two large buckets of soapy water are in either hand, rags piled on the side, and Jirka is right beside the candi-hunter with sponges and dry towels, still looking very moist-eyed and pouty. "'Nd are you gonna take a han' in cleanin' than, miss?" He asks a little curtly of Rhelia as he gently sets the buckets down close towards the entry way, heading over to his cot to make sure /that/ is in order before anyone starts to sweep or whatnot. He likes his things (including fuzzy blankets!) just so. Chai looks around at the others momentairly as he lifts up his top blanket and sniffs it, before chucking it to the foot of his cot, noting it to be washed. Uck. Feline stink.
Ryski tilts his head for a moment, and then just climbs off his cot. Sure, many of the candidates were getting ready for bed, but that doesn't mean that sleep will be had. Not with the sudden decree of /clean/. Although the boy does glance to the side at Rhelia's sudden..bit of authority, the boy bypasses her to get to the closet of cleaning items. Hefting the door ajar, he grabs the first things he can get his hands on..which happen to be a rag and a bucket. Those are, in fact, promptly flung onto Rhelia's cot, smirking somewhat. "Then how about you get off your lazy little butt and start doin' something /useful/. You know, other than flap your lips like a fish." He himself grabs a broom, hefting it into the air somewhat as he throws a grin right back toward the irate rider, nodding. "Don't you worry about it. We'll get the place cleaned up. Though any goat messes, Keziah's doing /that/ herself. I'm not cleaning goat crap out from under her cot." Ohh, definately not. He then wanders on over, slinging his free arm around Jirka's neck, giving the other boy a borderline nasty grin. "How about /you/ help me over /here/, huh? There's /things/ crawling around the cots that you look perfect to help catch."
Arkoss does indeed get a mop, walks over to Rhelia, and thrusts it in her hands, whether she grabs it or not is her business. "You heard her, get working." he adds, annoyed with her high-handed ways. He himself goes to grab the soap. It seems all three of the other candidates are in accord on that.
Get off her lazy butt? What? Was Rhelia sitting or something? Most certainly not — the woman was standing there and heading towards the mops when she's suddenly ganged up on and her dedication to the task is called into question. A plainly offended look crosses her face as first Chaitra challenges her. "Of /course/," she replies sharply. There's no time to dig into him, or even pick up a mop, before her own possessions are defiled by a dirty rag and a mop. Hardly a moment does she gape before she narrows her eyes at Ryski, "You dirty little /brat/. How dare you toss such filth onto my /bed/! I've got to sleep here! Here I am trying to coordinate all you little whelps and get things started so we're not up all night, and what, I don't even get a /second/ to pick up a mop myself?" Has Rhalin not warned the other candidates about his sister and how easily prone she is to the hissy fits? "You better be getting me clean linens!" she yells at Ryski, still glowering after the young candidate. Dirty boys. No concept of personal property or cleanliness. It's like living with her brothers again multiplied by fifty.
Jirka droops as Ryski puts an arm around him, steering him towards his - yes his - loose crawlies. "Can't we just let the /firelizards/ catch them…?" The small, dark boy whines as he looks towards the one steering him with puppy eyes. "It'd be /so/ much easier…" Though the kid does quickly pick another off of Ryski's cot.
Chaitra starts to grin as Lorena is no longer around, and he's no longer being scolded. Usually the youth is in pretty good humor unless something bad is going down. "Well now." He starts off, stripping the rest of his cot of linens and blankets. "Why didn' you jus' /kindly/ give sugges'ions of wha' t'do, insteada demandin' like a Lady?" He prods at the other gently, as he goes to the next cot, which is thankfully empty, and strips it of its linens. "Eh think Eh'll strip 'nd re-make th'cots, if you don' mind?"
Admiral flits over to a small ledge, chirpping imperially at any flitters there and reguarding his new charges down his long snout. Mistress says watch… and watch he shall. More cleaning less griping! Chirp chirp!
Ryski grins a little bit at Jirka's suggestion, and shrugs. "Well we /could/. Trigon's got himself one already." Oh yes. The brown does have himself a crawlie. In his belly, anyway. Protein. Gotta love it. "Buuut I dunno if you want them all eaten. I mean, /I/ don't mind or nothing." The other boy is given a heavy pat on the back then, before he tilts his gaze back at Rhelia, lashes lowered in a less than impressed look. "I'm not getting you /anything/. And nobody'd want a bossy brat like you in charge anyway." She might be a good ten turns older than him, but that doesn't make any difference in his book. They're all in the same candidate boat now. "Far as I'm concerned, /nobody's/ in charge 'cept the weyrlingmasters. Not like anyone's gone and voted for some sort of barracks captain." Chaitra gets a nod, however, offering the older boy a slight grin. "Nah, I don't mind at all. I gotta get under mine anyway so less to push around the better."
"How about we start by removing all the cots and clothes hampers and whatever so we can clean it more effectively?" Arkoss suggests. "After all, it'd be more difficult if we have to go around everything. And we can clean and redo the cots outside where there's more room, and get it done more quickly."
Rhelia only wishes she were a Lady. If she were, then she'd not have to put up with such abuse from the likes of these rugrats or be forced to live in such putrid conditions. "You do the cots then," she replies to Chaitra in that same almost imperious tone. The items that Ryski so carelessly tossed on her own area are swept off it, and the woman takes just a moment to sweep her personal items into the trunk at the base of her cot lest those grubby fingered boys get it into their heads that they can help themselves to whatever is lying about. With a mop in hand, she dunks it into the sudsy water and wrings it out before retreating to a far corner of the room to begin the cleaning efforts there. Hopefully the crawlies didn't make it that far.
Jirka's bottom lip starts to pout, as Ryski brings up the point of all of his crawlies being eaten. "But I wanna keep at least one!" The boy cries, scurrying over to the press at the foot of his cot and extracting a large bottle. How they got out in the first place is anyone's guess… And the dark brown eyes look around the floor for a while as he tracks down crawlies, placing them one by one into his jar before his head snaps up to look at Ryski. "I think you should be a little nicer… you know…? Just as a suggestion. You don't need to be so snippy." But then again, this is the boy who /would/ live in a barn or zoo if he had the chance. A pernese Tarzan if you would. "Ah! Another!" And the boy dives, coming up with another crawlie. Thankfully, there weren't too many to begin with..
One does not simply /walk/ into Mor— Okay, actually, one does not simply put down a brush while washing a dragon, or leap wildly off of it upon a summons. There is a bit of a time lapse involved (so one does not hobble in with broken bits) and a couple of things to settle before you can get back to the barracks, naturally, which is why Amarante has taken a bit to get here. Still damp, she hurries in and looks around a bit. "Right, wait, what's going on?" she asks quickly, reaching back to redo the tie in her hair.
Chaitra just nods at Rhelia, and looks at Arkoss thoughtfully for a moment. "Eh really don' look forward t'moving the presses, lad." Well, he doesn't know the other's name yet! "Those can ge' rather heavy, depen'ing on th'person." And like he should know, because he likes to stow some random things in his sometimes! He moves on to the next cot, gently shoo'ing its resident off. "Y'heard the rider, miss. Eh'd get cleanin'.." He warns the one he shoo'd gently, depositing a personal item in her trunk before stripping off the linens again, and chucking them into the growing pile on his own cot.
"I'll move them then." Arkoss replies. "I'm Arkoss." he adds, since just like anyone, he's annoyed with being called 'lad'. And so he starts with the heavy lifting, dragging everything out of the barracks.
As long as someone takes care of the linens on her bed, after they've been soiled by the deposition of a dirty mop and rag, Rhelia will be as close to happy as is possible for her to be. Unfortunately, one of Jirka's crawlies has managed to migrate farther and there's a blood-curdling shriek that is issued from Rhelia when she finds it. "Get it away! Eeek! Get it away!" she wails, whacking her mop at the poor unfortunate crawlie. Wrong place, wrong time for the little guy.
Well, that would undoubtedly get the crawlie away… if Rhelia hadn't actually /hit/ it with the mop. Now there's a dead smushed crawlie! Chaitra just blinks for a moment, startled out of his line-stripping of cots, whether or not the occupant wants it stripped. "We're cleanin'." He keeps telling person after person. Well, until Amarante walks in. "Choose a chore, miss." He says, the boonies accent still shining through. "Eh think the miss in th'corner migh' like some help with moppin' up the place?" And guarding against the mischevious crawlies. After stripping the latest cot after shoving a personal thing or two into the appropriate press, Chai blinks. All stripped. Phew.
Amarante blinks at the screeing and flailing and… mopping…? Sort of. She moves in hesitantly, about to ask another silly question, when Chaitra answers her. When she's pointed towards the mop, she nods and heads Rhelia's way. "You got it." She doesn't really ask so much as find another mop and start on another side of the room - and if not a mop, then a scrub brush, although her hands are already sort of cramping from having had to do her washy-type chores from earlier. She takes care with it, nevertheless, actually scrubbing at this or that on the floor as she finds it until it's mostly come off.
Indeed, Rhelia could use some help here. She's still busy smashing that poor crawlie to the point that it is about to become one with the floor, permanently. And of course, there are still screams before she tosses the mop down and bolts from the room with another wail. It's a mad house in here! A veritable zoo of unwelcome animals, in fact. The goat was bad enough, but crawlies are the last straw indeed, and she'll seek an area with a lesser population of four legged creatures to take temporary refuge in.
Again Chaitra is startled out of his cleaning haze as Rhelia streaks from the room. "Awww, miss! C'mon, don' be runnin' away from a /crawlie/!" He calls out after her. A look around the room is showing multiple candidates on their knees scrubbing, with a new set of young men taking out the cots one by one to beat them and make sure they're clean of dust. Chaitra collects the /massive/ pile of 'dirty' linens from his cot. "Eh'll be back with some new linens…" He says to /someone/ around the massive stack, carefully making his way to where the laundry goes.