Queen Weyrling Lessons

[Mirror]

Kaja strode purposely into the hatching grounds, Aziath rising at her arrival. The clutch was nestled safely near the back of the sands, away from the spring cold and prying eyes of the other queen dragons. Usually the queen would never let another female onto the sands when her children were so close to hatching, but weyrlings were special exceptions. The queen was bathed and ready to speak with Aclath, a fellow gold that would join the wing in about a turn. Kaja, on the other hand, was worried about the proddy ruby dragon that was sitting on her ledge sunning herself. Jasiath was glowing a lovely red, meaning her flight was precariously close. As long as the current clutch was hatched before she was ready to lay the eggs, all would be well and some of the tension could die down. Until then however, Kaja's eyes and thoughts were almost always on Jasiath and her rebellious rider.

Biting her lip, Kaja was startled when Aziath snorted. It was her turn to console her rider. {Kaja-mine, calm yourself. You are the Weyrwoman and must remain in control in front of Aclath's Weyrling. They will join us in the skies someday, and must have respect for you, or they too will turn this Weyr into a rebellion waiting to happen.] Kaja glared at Azia, even though the message hit home. The Rubies were planning a rebellion, she could feel it in her bones, and the uncertain Emerald Wingleader was all that kept them in line. With the support of the Emerald Wing, the Gold's could easily crush the uprising. However, if they decided to switch sides and try to take the power from her, the Gold wing would fall from power and shame would be brought to her and Aziath. Their livelihood depended on keeping this rebellion in check, and that meant gaining the respect and loyalty of as many riders and dragons as possible. Including the pair that was supposed to meet them here.

It was midday, and the gold weyrling and Hers were supposed to be coming to learn about clutching. And, as Weyrqueen and Weyrwoman, as well as the Gold Wingleaders, they were here to teach them. Kaja, dressed in her usual white blouse and breeches, moved to Aziath's side, stroking the golden beauty's hide. The massive beast turned toward her, her eyes swirling a calm blue. It was day, her rider was here, and her clutch was fine. There was nothing to worry about. [Forget about them, they are nothing. We shall prevail, as we have for the past three turns. I am young yet, and you are healthy. We will not die. We shall lead and the Weyr shall follow, as it should be.] Her bondheart's confidence made Kaja smile warmly, the public show of affection odd for her. Straightening, Kaja rose to her full height and waited for the next generation to come and learn from her experiences.

[franny]

Aclath flew down to meet Rysly as Rysly walked onto the hatching sounds. It was an honor that Aziath and Kaja allowed her to come to the sands when Aziath's clutch was on the sands. Unlike most golds, RYsly didn't want to become the weyrwoman, she simply wanted to support the weyrwoman and to help do paperwork. Rysly was getting tired of everybody trying to spare her from work. She couldn't understand why they wouldn't let her work as hard as she would like to.

Once Aclath had landed, Rysly, who's head was now shadowed by the huge gold weyrling, bowed to Kaja and Aziath, as one should to their superiors. Aclath also lowered her head to her superior.

Aclath quickly spoke to her rider, Don't tell this queen that you are on her side, it is best if she doesn't know, for she will probably treat us better until she knows that she has truly won us over. Rysly didn't truly care about this advice, but she still respected that Aclath rarely thought so much into the details of things, so this must be important.

Aclath then greeted both Kaja and Aziath with a dutiful hello. Rysly followed her example. Smiling she said, "Hello weyrwoman Kaja and gold dragon Aziath."

[Mirror]

Aziath rumbled a greeting as the pair entered the Cavern, her massive body placed between the newcomers and her precious eggs. Aclath didn't seem like one to challenge her leadership, and the more golds they had the better. Kaja smiled, nodding formally at the Weyrlings bow. It was good the youth of the Weyr still respected their elders, and it was something that Kaja had always enforced. Perhaps it was her Hold upbringing, but perhaps it was a call for some of the old traditions to ring true in this turns of chaos. Azia also nodded to the pair, shifting in the sand. Her tail flicked mildly, telling of her slight discomfort at another queen being so near at such a precarious time, but she had a duty to retain, and so she would. Kaja, after looking over to ensure that they both looked clean cut and healthy, greeted them in a kind tone. "Welcome to the sands, weyrlings Rysly and Aclath. I hope you will visit these sands many times in your future, which is the topic of our lesson today." Always one for formality, especially when she was nervous or uncertain, Kaja beckoned to the human half of the pair. Azia would deal with Aclath, while she explained everything from the human perspective.

Aziath, sensing it was time to show them the eggs, shuffled side ways, her talons leaving long grooves in the sand. There sat her pride and joy, her sons and daughters. They were the next generation, and she would defend them with her life. The gold dragon, not much of a speaker, finally spoke to the younger queen, her voice flowing like a calm river. [This, young Aclath, is your future. You must be prepared to defend your own with your life, as these are precarious times, and they are the future of the Weyr. While some of the Rubies and Emeralds may wish to harm your young, you will find kinship in other golds, who will try to help you guard them.] The Weyrqueen then stopped to let the weyrling absorb this, knowing that the impending responsibility may be too much for young dragons. But everyone was different, so she never tried to dumb down anything she said until she determined what they were really like.

Kaja, hearing her golds emphasis on Rubies, chuckled to herself. Azia would never let the thought of Jasiath and her rider out of her mind, would she? But then again, neither could she. Gesturing toward the eggs, Kaja also began her lesson. "To begin with, I would like you to tell me what you know of the flying, clutching, and hatching process. That way I will be able to clear up any questions that you may have. Also, feel free to ask as I go along, as I have a tendency to ramble." It was Azia's turn to chuckle. Her rider did ramble, it was true but only when she was nervous. And weyrlings made her nervous, despite her strong personality and ways of dealing with their pranks and rule-breaking ways. Azia sent a feeling of encouragement to Kaja, who smiled softly. The dragon was always the mothering sort.

[franny]

Rysly quickly replied with what she knew, "A gold dragon will rise, males will chase her, the winner is the male that catches the dragon, the dragon clutches." Rysly didn't really know much more than that. She kind of knew that the feelings were intense, but she hadn't heard much more.

Aclath then asked her a question, Why isn't there a second hatching sand, so that two queens don't hatch at once?She had asked this to all, as she wondered why there had to be only one hatching sand. This question had just popped into Aclath's mind, so she had asked.

Rysly silently told her dragon I don't know why. Maybe the weyrwoman can answer that question.

[Mirror]

Kaja nodded, listening to the girls rendition of the flights. She was fairly well informed, as the information wasn't passed around pell nell. In fact, the gory details of the clutching often left many of the queenriders, in including Kaja, faint, as it wasn't the tidiest process around. "Yes, those are the basics. There are more things to do with the queen carrying the eggs, but we will get into how to deal with an egg-heavy queen later. Right now we will talk about clutches, because we so conveniently have one at our disposal." Aziath rumbled her disapproval for her bondmates wording and Kaja grimaced, as if she was getting a harsh lecture from her queen. The look faded from her features, and she returned to their conversation. "But of course clutches are to be treated with the utmost care, as Aziath so... strongly pointed out." Huffing her approval to the sentence, the gold returned to her own teachings while Kaja went on to explain the whole clutching process in grim detail. (OOC: don't really feel like posting that. You can ask some odd questions to make Kaja squirm, if you like)

Tilting her head to the side, Azia settled into the sand, furling her wings tight over her back. The question was a good one, but it had a more clearcut answer than some of the other things she had been asked. [This Weyr was established by a queen many turns ago that thought Pern was going to return to the traditional way of life, where we Gold's were the only Queens that clutched. However, they were wrong, and no one has bothered to look for another large cavern here that would be suitable. However, I have heard the Wild ones have one, hidden away somewhere.] Azia turned her head to check her clutch, ensuring that nothing could happen to them, even though she was guarding the only entrance to the sands.

Arrow, who had been wandering around idly, suddenly popped into the air above Aziath's wedge-shaped head. He was chittering madly, and Kaja offered an arm for him to settle on. He was spewing images of a tunnel snake, one he had obviously found in the lower caverns. Sighing, Kaja excused herself for a moment, taking a small piece of parchment and writing utensil from a poach on her belt. She had taken to carrying the belt after she had become Weyrwoman, as her duties had increased ten-fold, and Arrow was always taking messages to the Headwoman for her. All she wrote now was 'tunnelsnake' because the woman would know what to do. Sending the bronze flit off, Kaja returned her attention to Rysly.

[franny]

Joining her bonded's side she asked, "Well why don't you look for one so that two clutches don't happen at once?" Rysly was curious about this, so she might as well help her dragon. She had listened to all the stuff about clutching, and wondered how she would remember all of this stuff. It was so much to remember!

Aclath was quite interested in this. She had never thought about why there was only one cavern. She agreed with Rysly though, why couldn't the weyr find a new cavern? She asked this very same question of her instructor.

Maybe they would give her the job of overseeing a new hatching sands put in. She could only dream of the work it would take. She would have work to do! At the moment, she wished that she could have something to do, but she calmly listened to the weyrwoman while plans ran rampant in her mind. She could see it, the most beautiful cavern, decorated so beautifully that it would be the envy of all. Noticing that she had zoned out, she jerked herself back, this was important information! Aclath just laughed silently in her head about the dreams of work.

[Mirror]

Kaja was truly speechless. No one had ever really thought about constructing another hatching cavern. It had always been that there was one. And only one. It had been that way for as long as Pern could remember. And Pern didn't like change, if the innocent bystander couldn't tell from the wild rebellions the new colors had brought. Frowning slightly, Kaja was silent for a moment and was about to dismiss the nontraditional idea when Aziath stopped her. The great gold's voice was like a rushing river, the water raging against jagged rocks and crevices. The queen was angry, Kaja knew, from both the painful tone of her voice to the agitated twitch of her tail and shuffle of her wings. [KAJA! Come to your senses! Your nontraditional predecessors took that same route. And look what happened to them! They have brought this turmoil to our Weyr, and now we are responsible to fix it. Kaja grimaced as she heard her bondheart use her name so bluntly. Aziath never did that unless she was frustrated with her, as she was now.

Sighing, she again resorted to her dragon. It had been a long day, and Faranth only knows what would happen after the lesson was over and the other riders had their turns with her. Hopefully K'tal would do his duties and take some of the stress off of her shoulders, especially with Azia's hatching so near. "What do you suggest Azia? The dragon huffed, grumbling something about having to do everything herself, and replied in a much calmer tone than before, more like water from a spring. [Let this pair take the duty of constructing another. I can sense the girl is bored with her weyrling duties. Make it part of her training, and get the other weyrlings to help.]

Kaja grinned inwardly, thanking Azia. Her dragon was a genius, it was true, and not only would this give the Weyr another hatching ground, it would also promote team building. Focusing back on Rysly, Kaja nodded. "I suppose the Weyrwoman of the past have been too... stubborn to think of a way around the problem. But I must say, on behalf of Aziath and myself, it is a brilliant idea. And I would like you to run it. You may enlist in the other Weyrlings to help you, as long as they are a turn or older. For the heavy lifting, some of the older dragons would most likely be available at your disposal. However, all of your plans must be sent through me, but you must ensure that everyone runs like a well trained thread fighting wing."

Her speech was finished with a formal nod, a slight smile gracing her usually serious facade. This Rysly had brains, that was sure, and the work ethic to pull this off, perhaps. But communication between them would be essential, but finding the Weyrwoman in the busy Weyr was a formidable task on its own... The girl needed a away to speak with her quickly, to ake the process go as quickly as possible, in the short warm period the North had. Suddenly Kaja thought about the parchment in her pocket... And about Arrow. It was perfect! A flit would speed the process, and allow the Weyrling to contact her with any problems or issues. "Rysly, what do you think of flits? It could help you communicate with me during the planning and building process."
This was all stated matter-of-factly, Kaja's formal mannerisms well practiced and performed.

[franny]

Rysly was stunned speechless with happiness. Aclath who ahd also heard the weyrwoman told her, This is definitely a great honor for us to be able to help our weyr. It would give us more to do than sit around.

Rysly replied to her dragon, Of course I am going to accept the job. It will be fun. I can't wait to get started!

Rysly was super excited, but she managed to calm herself down enough so that when she spoke her voice didn't portray her excitement, "We accept. I have never worked with flits before, but it might work pretty well. Can't Aclath just contact Aziath, or is that harder than it sounds?"

Rysly was already thinking about who she would ask for help. She was glad to be able to work, even if she had to lead the project. She would create a great hatching sands before that ruby laid her clutch. The idea of getting to do so much work again excited her. It was truly strange that she could be the sister of the lazy, get everyone else to do my work sister Amery. Rysly's being the younger and the *unfavorable* child had definitly created a workaholic though.