Post by Vox on Dec 23, 2015 1:34:23 GMT
Tig Thunder Norbert Rae Harbinger vleap foulee Seirye
H'skal smiled approvingly as the candidates listed Weyr positions one by one, joining the line in accordance with his directions. He noticed the ones who didn't immediately comply and made a mental note of them; he thought a little bit of delay was only natural, given the lack of urgency, but noted it all the same. As Cabriel stumbled by, however, he called out: "Hold on there, kiddo. I didn't quite catch your answer."
Conleth stretched his massive wings out to their full wingspan, casting a long shadow over the group before he tucked his wings back into their resting position. ~Maybe he was choking on something.~ He supplied helpfully. ~Maybe let him off the hook.~
}A couple of them are repeating positions, too.{ H'skal smirked. }I can tell we'll have to go over this together so they have a better idea of how Weyrs are officially structured - but not right now, that's boring.{
"Candidate Alea's suggestion is a good one." He called out. "Everyone, pull your blindfolds down and then join-" Aaaaand then the scream. Great. H'skal heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and counting to five before he walked closer to the knot of hopefuls and put a hand on Jaimes' shoulder. "Go to the back of the line, Candidate. Behave yourself for the rest of the lesson or there will have to be consequences."
H'skal briefly considered bringing his authority to bear against Alea as well, but figured her newfound reluctance was fair, given that another candidate had just tried to grope her. Besides, he hated being seen as anything but the Fun One. "You're going to put on these blindfolds for a few reasons. First and foremost, this is an exercise in trust. You need to trust your leaders to lead you safely - but, secondly, you also have to trust each other. What just happened is a great example of breaking trust. Riders who can't work as a team, can't trust one another, are more vulnerable to the threat of Thread. Up in the sky, you have to work together without questioning and without hesitation."
"Now, all of you straighten the line; put your blindfolds on; put your hands up at shoulder height and place them on the shoulders of the person in front of you. I'm going to take the hands of the person at the front of the line and talk you all through the path as we enter the Weyrbowl. Do not take off your blindfold unless you feel like you're in danger or until I tell you to - is that clear?"
***
Craiss helpfully supplied 'wingleader' as her answer and found her place as the third person in the line, still toying with her scarf while she waited for the rest of the group to join in. She frowned at the altercation between Jaimes and Alea, her eyes following the argument seriously until the Candidate Master intervened. "You can put your hands on my shoulders," She offered to the girl, "Or we can trade positions, if you want to be closer to the front to hear his directions." She didn't think Jaimes had meant anything by it, but Alea was clearly upset, so she wanted to help if she could. Personally, Craiss wasn't worried about the exercise and would have been more than happy to elbow a boy in the face if he wanted to get a handful.
Of course, the exercise was probably going to be made easier by the presence of Beggar, who was sitting high in the trees above them, visible as a bright red dot amongst the leaves. While they traveled along, she planned to have the firelizard send her impressions and flashes of the path ahead, so she knew what to expect, just in case H'skal wanted to throw them a curveball. So, without hesitation, she tied the blindfold around her eyes, careful to avoid tangling it in her thick brown hair.
***
Jorah was feeling considerably less charitable about the whole ordeal. Blindfolds? Trust exercises? They all sounded pretentious to him. He didn't figure trust had as much to do with fighting Thread as practice and drills did. Someone could probably be slimy as a freshly birthed runnerbeast and still be a decent Dragonrider; unreliable people made it into positions they didn't deserve all the time. With marked skepticism, he glanced around at his fellow candidates to see what they were doing before reluctantly tying the black sash around his own eyes as well. For a moment, he wished he was more friendly with the candidates near him, but then shrugged the feeling away as he raised his arms and slowly inched forward, palms flat as he sought the shoulders of the person directly in front of him.
So what if they managed to trust each other anyway? It wouldn't guarantee that they would Impress a dragon. It wouldn't guarantee that they'd be good at flying Thread. It wouldn't even guarantee that they'd make a good team - but H'skal was in charge and he had agreed to try and Stand for the hatching (at his parents' insistence), so... he might as well make the best of it. Someone must have thought the Bronzerider was good at this or he wouldn't be leading them into the jungle, blind.
H'skal smiled approvingly as the candidates listed Weyr positions one by one, joining the line in accordance with his directions. He noticed the ones who didn't immediately comply and made a mental note of them; he thought a little bit of delay was only natural, given the lack of urgency, but noted it all the same. As Cabriel stumbled by, however, he called out: "Hold on there, kiddo. I didn't quite catch your answer."
Conleth stretched his massive wings out to their full wingspan, casting a long shadow over the group before he tucked his wings back into their resting position. ~Maybe he was choking on something.~ He supplied helpfully. ~Maybe let him off the hook.~
}A couple of them are repeating positions, too.{ H'skal smirked. }I can tell we'll have to go over this together so they have a better idea of how Weyrs are officially structured - but not right now, that's boring.{
"Candidate Alea's suggestion is a good one." He called out. "Everyone, pull your blindfolds down and then join-" Aaaaand then the scream. Great. H'skal heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and counting to five before he walked closer to the knot of hopefuls and put a hand on Jaimes' shoulder. "Go to the back of the line, Candidate. Behave yourself for the rest of the lesson or there will have to be consequences."
H'skal briefly considered bringing his authority to bear against Alea as well, but figured her newfound reluctance was fair, given that another candidate had just tried to grope her. Besides, he hated being seen as anything but the Fun One. "You're going to put on these blindfolds for a few reasons. First and foremost, this is an exercise in trust. You need to trust your leaders to lead you safely - but, secondly, you also have to trust each other. What just happened is a great example of breaking trust. Riders who can't work as a team, can't trust one another, are more vulnerable to the threat of Thread. Up in the sky, you have to work together without questioning and without hesitation."
"Now, all of you straighten the line; put your blindfolds on; put your hands up at shoulder height and place them on the shoulders of the person in front of you. I'm going to take the hands of the person at the front of the line and talk you all through the path as we enter the Weyrbowl. Do not take off your blindfold unless you feel like you're in danger or until I tell you to - is that clear?"
***
Craiss helpfully supplied 'wingleader' as her answer and found her place as the third person in the line, still toying with her scarf while she waited for the rest of the group to join in. She frowned at the altercation between Jaimes and Alea, her eyes following the argument seriously until the Candidate Master intervened. "You can put your hands on my shoulders," She offered to the girl, "Or we can trade positions, if you want to be closer to the front to hear his directions." She didn't think Jaimes had meant anything by it, but Alea was clearly upset, so she wanted to help if she could. Personally, Craiss wasn't worried about the exercise and would have been more than happy to elbow a boy in the face if he wanted to get a handful.
Of course, the exercise was probably going to be made easier by the presence of Beggar, who was sitting high in the trees above them, visible as a bright red dot amongst the leaves. While they traveled along, she planned to have the firelizard send her impressions and flashes of the path ahead, so she knew what to expect, just in case H'skal wanted to throw them a curveball. So, without hesitation, she tied the blindfold around her eyes, careful to avoid tangling it in her thick brown hair.
***
Jorah was feeling considerably less charitable about the whole ordeal. Blindfolds? Trust exercises? They all sounded pretentious to him. He didn't figure trust had as much to do with fighting Thread as practice and drills did. Someone could probably be slimy as a freshly birthed runnerbeast and still be a decent Dragonrider; unreliable people made it into positions they didn't deserve all the time. With marked skepticism, he glanced around at his fellow candidates to see what they were doing before reluctantly tying the black sash around his own eyes as well. For a moment, he wished he was more friendly with the candidates near him, but then shrugged the feeling away as he raised his arms and slowly inched forward, palms flat as he sought the shoulders of the person directly in front of him.
So what if they managed to trust each other anyway? It wouldn't guarantee that they would Impress a dragon. It wouldn't guarantee that they'd be good at flying Thread. It wouldn't even guarantee that they'd make a good team - but H'skal was in charge and he had agreed to try and Stand for the hatching (at his parents' insistence), so... he might as well make the best of it. Someone must have thought the Bronzerider was good at this or he wouldn't be leading them into the jungle, blind.