Special Lessons (Rowen)

[E]

Deltontai touched the scab that itched on the lobe of her ear. It confused her, in fact it confused her more than even the beliefs and customs of the Weyr did. Tugging at her ear lobe, she finally dropped her hand back to her side. Why, of all of the moves he could have used… He had her pinned all he had to do was wait for her to admit defeat. Or if he had a need to bite her, why not bite somewhere that would have been productive to the fight?

A hand so she couldn’t hit as hard, or the base of her neck where so many nerves ran so it would have hurt more? But the ear confounded her, and it was barely enough to draw what little blood it had. The fighter spirit and mentality of the holdless girl was completely dumb founded. And even now, a full seven day latter, she still puzzled over the logic behind it.

Letting out an aggravated sigh, she looked around the empty classroom before finally slamming down the stick she had been given to use. Putting her head in her hands, she breathed for a moment before turning her eyes back to the wall in front of her. On it was written far more letters than her pounding head could hope to master – and some of the symbols the man had said were numbers as well.

Her sister was taking to the lessons easier than Del, and had left with the teacher. They had both asked if Del would like to go with them, but she had declined. Even now, she could recognize only a few of the symbols. Looking back down in the sand table she carefully smoothed the surface and picked the stick back up.

She bit the side of her lip as she concentrated on the hand movements involved for the smooth lines the man wanted. It was surprising how much thought it took to do the little movements. Even so, she carefully drew a line straight down then brought the stick back to the top. Pushing it in the sand again, she drew a large curve to connect the top of the first line to the bottom of it in a large arc.

D.

[starshine]

With a gold rising so suddenly, A'rik had had no notice for which to start up Candidate lessons. How was he supposed to know Nisaruth would return from the weyrlings adventure ready to mate. His morning had been full, what with getting lessons planned, he now made his way down to the school room. It had been nearly 4 months since he had been in the room and he was certain there would be plenty straightening up to do.

He pulled heavy red cloth which marked the door to the school room aside and stepped in, making little sound as he did so. For a man of his build he really was light on his feet. His green eyes adjusted to the dimly lite room. The glows would need to be refreshed. He made a mental note, to be sure Caselo made a round. He had heard the girl from the corridor. Obvious frustration. Who would be in this room? He scanned around, green eyes finally landing on an unfamiliar presence.

He coughed, signaling his presence. "Excuse me. Can I help you?" His voice had its usual rough gritty quality. He projected a welcoming grin.

[E]

Deltontai had been focusing so much on the unused muscles in her hand and how they had to move to create the careful lines the harper man had wanted that when the cough broke the silence she jumped and the stick in her hand sent a crooked line right across the D she had been working so hard to recreate and memorize. Letting out a growl of frustration she finally threw down the stick and messed up the sand with one hand before turning around to see who had walked in the room.

Seeing a tall, unfamiliar man, she forced herself to take a breath and let the anger dissipate as best as the short tempered fighter could. Her eyes measured him up and down, unconsciously taking note of his reach. Her gaze finally stopped on the shoulder knots she had learned meant some form of rank or another within the Weyr – not that she was bloody able to tell the knots apart from one another yet. They were as numerous and terrible as the symbols written on the board they wanted her to learn.

At his question, Deltontai relaxed a little and waved an angry arm at the board. “Yea, tell that sharding harper nobody needs this nonsense. If ya’ll know how to speak, just say what you mean don’t put it in stupid symbols.” Her anger and frustration was easy enough to see and hear in the tone of her voice.

[Rowen]

He'd been walking down the hall when an all too familiar voice reached Vasrilin's ears. 'Yea, tell that sharding harper nobody needs this nonsense. If ya’ll know how to speak, just say what you mean don’t put it in stupid symbols.' Raising his eyebrows he stepped into the room that the voice had come from, and as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness they landed on the pair in the room. What in the world could the holdless girl be talking about now? If she was going to start a fight with A'rik she wouldn't like the consequences.

He moved into the room letting his feet drag and scuff at the ground to alert the duo to his approach. He stopped next to A'rik and glanced from A'rik to Deltontai. His eyes lifted to the letters and numbers that were written for copying then down at the sand in front of Deltontai. The letters and numbers were the most basic, he found himself smiling faintly as he heard her words repeat themselves in his head.

"By stupid symbols you mean... Letters and numbers don't you?" He glanced at A'rik and smiled. This might be the first time A'rik had met the holdless girl and wouldn't know that she had a temper, and a unique view on things. It would be interesting to see what the man thought of the girl, if he was as amused as Vasrilin was.

[starshine]

A'rik was by no means slow, he had picked on the frustration in the girls voice. She was obviously not weyrbread, otherwise A'rik would have known of her long ago, judging by the her appearance she was of candidate age. The boy on the other hand had been in lessons with the previous clutch and though he had not impressed, A'rik had been hopeful for him. He stood a good chance. He forced his mind not to think of the possibility of there never bring another clutch. "Ah Vasrilin, good to see you." He nodded to the youth then turned back to the girl.

He glanced at the board and back at the girl. "Ah, yes the harper had mentioned something about using this room, it had slipped my mind." His face pulled into its usual grin. "Well no harm no fowl I suppose." He gazed down at the girl, "I am Candidate Master A'rik, rider of brown Pantoth, at your service." He grinned again, his all too usualy expression showing. "You would have to be one of the holdless I've heard so much about. May I venture a guess and say, Itona?"

He had a 50 percent shot at it. Either the girl was Itona, or Deltontai, and from what he had gathered of Weyr rumor the girls looked rather alike in several ways.

[E]

At the sound of feet scuffing against the floor, she turned to find that familiar brown haired man walking into the room. Her eyes narrowing, she watched him walk up closer, listening to his comment. Her glare, surprisingly, passed back to the board at the front of the room. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she let her head fall to her hands. “It’s pointless! I’ve lived this long without this nonsense, why do I need to learn it now?”

Looking back up, she found the first man grinning at her and she listened to what he had to say. A brown rider? She couldn’t remember what that color meant, there were honestly more colors than she could remember anyways. What caught her attention more, however, was the rank of candidate master.

“Candidate Master?” she asked, looking carefully from the rider back to the stormy-eyed boy. Hearing him guess her name, she shook her head. “No, I’m Deltontai. Itona left with the harper…” Giving the brown rider a measuring look, she finally added her own question. “If you’re the candidate master you are the one who gives out dragons?”

[Rowen]

Vasrilin almost didn’t manage to hide his laughter. He lifted a hand to his mouth to cover his smile as he listened to the candidate master guess Deltontai’s name. Some just had better luck than others. He watched her look around as he bent and picked up the stick rubbing a finger over the side of it to make sure it wasn’t broken and was still in usable shape. “You should be more careful with things Deltontai.” He said softly while still making sure the stick was in good form. Setting it back on the table next to the sand and paper.

At her last question he couldn’t help his chuckle she really was clueless, it was cute in a way, it left Vasrilin with a keen interest in what her reaction was to many other things. He shook his head as he turned and looked over the letters and numbers. They were the most basic, and Vasrilin had learned that the best way to teach wasn’t always the basic approach. “If you don’t know to read and write like everyone else, don’t you feel that you’ll be missing something?”

[starshine]

A'rik was taken aback by the girls interpretation of his job. The man who gives out the dragons. He had never thought about his job in that way. No one could hand out dragons, they chose their own mates.

He grinned, "Well I don't really give out dragons, no one could do that. Dragons choose their riders." He chuckled. "But I do help candidates prepare for Weyrlinghood. Deltontai," He gave her a good look, "as a member of the Weyr you have a right to stand at the next hatching. If you would like to." Knowing her letters and numbers wasn't a requirement per say, but being literate would definitely help with other tasks. "I mention this because these letters and numbers will eventually make sense and help you do many things."

He examined the board, taking a step forward. The harper had certainly done a good job. He made a face. "I was never one for symbols and letters." He ran a hand through his hair before turning back to the two student. He grinned.