Logs:Last-Minute Candidates
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| RL Date: 12 August, 2011 |
| Who: Iolene, Khorde, Riorde, Rhaelyn, Elgin, Emme, Evali, Sibella, Lina, Nathalia |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Just as the humming starts, there are a couple of new additions to the candidate class. And then? Chaos. |
| Where: Candidate Quarters, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 22, Month 6, Turn 26 (Interval 10) |
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| Candidate Quarters, High Reaches Weyr Two caverns lead one right into the other from a hallway just off the Common Room. Taking advantage of the high, vaulted ceiling, bunk beds march in four neat rows of five beds each allowing up to forty people to sleep in one cavern. Functional and spartan in atmosphere, there's little in the way of decoration here, just the one tapestry depicting a hatching on the wall of the first cavern and eggs on the sands in the second. Each bunk is made up when there are candidates in residence, with standard sheeting, gray woollen blankets and somewhat lumpy pillows. A trunk stands at both the head and foot of the bunks, providing a little space for the occupants to store their belongings while the wait for the eggs to hatch. The archway between the two spaces is covered over with a hide hanging, easily hooked back when both caverns are in use, but tacked into place when only the first is needed. A proper wooden door closes out noise and drafts from the hallway. Lina is in fine form today: the impending hatching has energized her like nothing else, and she's not only cane-free but nearly sans-limp as well as she herds a candidate into the barracks. "Who's missing?" she calls in a voice well-pitched to shouting orders across boisterous crowds. "Dragonhealers say any time now-- are you lot ready?" There's a pile of robes stacked up by the door, in case anyone hasn't yet claimed their own. Sibella has already been wearing her own robe since the wee hours of the morning. Hoping that the authorities don't notice her very tiny embellishments; namely, a bow and rosettes, Sibella is immediately at attention as Lina enters the room. Rhaelyn lounges on her cot. On her belly with her legs kicked up at the knees. The sound of sound of someone coming in cuts through the already excited buzz but aside from tipping her head in that direction, she doesn't look up. Nathalia manages to shrug on her robe, quickly, and there's a nod, as ready as anyone could ever be. From the way she's fidgeting its easy to tell she's nervous and she looks about for Sibella, and Elgin. It starts in the hatching sands: Iovniath's low hum, joined quickly by Cadejoth's more enthusiastic one. From there, it spreads like wildfire until the weyr seems to thrum of its own accord, heralding, without question, that hatching time is here. Elgin is settled on a cot near Rhaelyn when the greenrider comes in, he grabs his robe - slung casually on his cot, and slips into it. Islander prudishness set aside for the moment. Emmeline has of course been fidgeting on her cot for awhile now, and occasionally frowning as she finds another spot of dried frosting or bits of cake stuck to her sheets and blankets. She's kept herself busy picking all that off, you know. "I think we're all here. Maybe." Which means she's been too nerveless to pay much attention. But questions do demand answers. Evali -- isn't. She has recently put on her robe, which is Spartan if it is anything, though its plainness is no surprise to anyone, but she is presently re-braiding her hair for what might be the fifth time. She has one plait done and has only just begun on the second. Those who have been in the barracks a while have seen Evali braid, unbraid, braid, unbraid and rebraid in a few different styles. She seems to be settling on the plaits, though. Until the humming starts and then Evali has to stop for a second and remember to /breathe/. The walls are shaking. She breathes, and then she BRAIDS. FAST. Lina is galvanized further by the humming. She goes statue-still, then bursts into motion. "THERE WE GO." She moves to robes, grabbing a few up, and starts half-limping down the rows of barracks. "Everyone, in robes. NOW. You don't want your dragon breaking shell without you!" Khorde scampers in last moment, last minute, blowing hard from a long run from the bowl. He's rucking off his clothes as he goes, diving almost head-first into the remaining pile of robes. The first one that seems vaguely the right size clads him in -- horribly too-short robe, but nothing scary is showing, so we're all good, right? Right? His wide-eyed gaze focuses on Lina: "Lujayntoldmetogoandshewouldn'takenosaidIwassupposedtoStandisthatokay?" Iolene saunters in. Saunters until she realizes there's chaos. Then she's racing finding the nearest 'in charge type person' to ask a question of and receives the funniest look, which then sends her flailing in a bundle of blonde hair and arms towards where Riorde is, who is far too easy to pick out even in this chaos. "There's no /list/," is her very confused, frantic hiss. Sibella rushes over toward Nathalia. "Good, you're ready." She takes a deep breath, attempting to place a hand on Nathalia's upper arm to steady the both of them. Her anxiety is clear. The all-too-near future is all-too-imminent. Emmeline has had her robe ready. Sitting there. But she still stares at it for a moment in obviously reluctance before she changes into it in a rush at the end of all that time doing nothing. And /then/ she seems to hurry into action, running over to try and help Evali with that last re-braiding befor ethey get pushed out onto the sands. Riorde has a robe. Under her pillow. She's been lounging around doing a whole lot of nothing, besides watching the entrance to the barracks rather anxiously. She shoots to her feet as soon as she sees Iolene and does her best not to gape. "No list?" she repeats, dumbly. It doesn't parse. The braids of Evali are rescued by the fast-moving hands of both Evali and her frequent hair-assistance sidekick, also sometimes appearing as the Harper Emmeline. "Thank you," she whispers, and stands up -- and then stops to laugh at Khorde's dramatic entrance, giving him a little wave. She's laughing now: it's almost like they're friends, right? She's opening up at last! It took being terrified! Nathalia nods, anxious, tossing a glance over in Rhaelyn's direction, Elgin would handle that bit wouldn't he? "Yeah Thanks again the robe." She notes. Panic? Maybe. "No. List." Perhaps if it's said as separate tiny little one-word sentences it might penetrate Riorde's head. Iolene flails two arms and some of her hair. "We don't need a list. Or K'del lied." Or both. Lina stares blankly at Khorde, clearly not parsing that sentence, but as he seems to be getting the right idea, she shoves him, robe and all, further into the barracks. "Right, I hope you all pissed already. Here, now--" She drops a robe atop Rhaelyn, frowning urgently. "Get in your robe already, girl, let's go! Hatchlings wait for noone!" Rhaelyn dawls to Elgin, "You are such an over-eager creature." She glances at him from the corner of her eye, but it's the babbling Khorde that makes her lift her head and stare in that direction. No words, but checking if what she's seeing is reality or not. When Nathalia looks over she gives a brittle little smile, "Oh. Sure." Sibella peers over at Riorde and Iolene. "List? We're supposed to have a list?!" Sibella is on the border of panic as she turns to Nathalia - and Nat's expression doesn't help either. "Did you know we were supposed to have a list?" Khorde stumbles forwards at that push, grousing half-under-his-breath as he falls in next to Emmeline and Evali. His eyes are a little too wide. He's sure damned eloquent, though: "Hi." /Damned/ eloquent. Nathalia's expression, is that relief? Its hard to tell cause Nat's attention is immediately demanded. "No List." She says loudly enough to hopefully calm the girl. "Just get in line I guess." Riorde thinks about this. It takes her longer to think what with all this noise and chaos and dashing about. "Oh." She sounds calm about it at first until it's repeated. "/OH./ Get your robe!" She tries to shove Iolene away to go dress before spinning away herself to get the robe she stole. Elgin lets his glance go between Rhaelyn and Lina, "No list." Is said off handely in the direction of everyone in the room. With a flippant shrug he says again, "Eh. No list." He's ready, why aren't other people following? Sibella's relief is apparent at Nathalia's confirmation. She runs a hand through her ringlets, which have grown out some during candidacy, and nods in agreement. "Yeah, the sooner we get out there... the better?" Her voice gets smaller on this last bit. Lina pauses from scowling over Rhaelyn to bellow, "EVERYBODY IN YOUR ROBES, /NOW/. If I have to send you out there naked, SO HELP ME I will. Line up over there when you're ready!" she gestures towards the far wall. Rhaelyn is also, now, robe-covered. "Wha?" The murmur of 'lists' and what not do register and she gives Io and Ri a dark look before yanking the robe off herself and spinning to sit up and yank the robe off of her that Lina tossed on her. "This won't do. It's will...it will /hang/ off me." she didn't have to steal it. or bribe it. Or anything. She turns to eye Elgin and flaps the robe at him. Then, there's the bellowing. "Alriiiight....geesh...." Emmeline is even nervous enough at the moment to give Khorde a friendly shoulder-squeeze when he winds up right next to her and Evali. Not -that- friendly though. "Do you know what everyone's talking about a list!?" She's heard the words, but?... Wall? What, line up... ok. That wall. Emme grabs the hands of both her companions to help drag them over. She is NOT going alone. Nat's in line, and making to tug 'Bella in as well. "Just breathe." She offers, her own panic sinking in. There's a glance to Elgin and Rhae and then her attention is devoted fully to the task at hand. "I was going to ask," Evali answers Emmeline softly, looking between her and Khorde and then over at Iolene and Riorde. List? But she gives up entirely, just moving over to the wall in question with her two -- friends? Okay. Friends. Elgin marches over to the fall wall. Well someone has to keep their nerve during all this chaos. Still, he's shifting his weight left to right, left to right. In a strange little dance of nerves. Khorde tags after Emmeline, since, y'know, she has his hand and all. If there's a rather masculine 'eek' somewhere, it surely wasn't Khorde. Surely. She created hubbub about a list. She doesn't even know. She's that dense and so uncertain. So she runs on auto-pilot. Riorde told her to go put on robe. She'll go put on a robe. Then, Iolene goes to stand right by Riorde. She's even dragged Xoami along for the ride. "No. You /have/ to stand next to me. I promised Dev I wouldn't let you run away. EVALI!" The blonde girl skips a beat as she stares at this sudden half-sister that doesn't know they're related and releases Xoami to hug her fiercely. "You stand by him. Make sure he doesn't puke." Sibella allows herself to be tugged in, giving her bravest, best, dimpled smile to Nathalia and the others she knows fairly well around the room. "Nat, no matter what, you won't let me, faint, right?" She says in an undertone, but rather cheerfully. Riorde doesn't see Rhaelyn or ignores her-- either will do. Either are par for the course. She struggles into the robe she pulls out from under her pillow. It's too small, hitting just above her knees, and getting her head through the hole at the top is a minor struggle, but it does the trick. She's not naked by the time Iolene drags Xoami over, which all things considering, is good. Not that anyone cares about those things right now. Oh! A distraction! Evali is torn away from Khorde and Emmeline, though not literally, by the sound of her name, by Xoami being dragged over toward her and the clinging Iolene. "-- Oh! Yes." She gently runs a hand over the back of Iolene's head while she's being clung to, the petting gesture Evali's version of returning a hug rather than squeezing. Only one of them should not be able to breathe at once! "You don't puke either, okay? Good luck, Io." As people line up, Lina moves off to start shooing them off through a now-unlocked door in the back of the barracks. "Go, go-- keep moving, Meara is out there to help. Get moving-- and GOOD LUCK!" She'll remain behind the last candidate, if only to ensure that nobody is left. /Nobody/. Nathalia notes "no fainting right." The smith candidate felt strangely at home the instant the heat of the sands hit her, anxiety melting away the instant the blistering heat hits her, just a different kind of forge really. Perhaps it's that thought which gives her confidence as she steps forward to study the eggs. The smith's not going to waver on her own turf after all. |
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