Author's Note - Well, not much response for the 'what should they Impress' thing...so I guess I get to pick! mwahaha. And, yes, I introduced more candidates. If I ever go overboard with minor characters, let me know, oui? Merci to all reviewers!
NazgulGirl: Ya, 'guys' isn't proper Pernese is it? Alas, I stepped out of 'the zone' there. Opps.
Chapter Five - Out of Place
As the group of five candidates walked into the Dining Hall, Jaikel did a double-take.
The place was easily twice as big as Katno Hold's Dining Hall, not to mention currently twice as full. People of all ages and size were milling about. Most were talking in groups, and the occasional firelizard flew over everyone's head.
"This place is huge." Kaiser whispered over his shoulder. Jaikel nodded, gray eyes trying to look everywhere at once. This would take some getting used to.
"Wait until the days after the Hatching." Ariala said confidently as she led the way to a table near the back. "Generally, the candidates all sit together, but we're in the back."
Jaikel, Kaiser, and even Marlya had a little trouble dodging everyone that Ariala and Faraj seemed to weave around with no effort at all. At least Jaikel had a little experience at working his way through crowds such as this, but Marlya seemed especially out of place. At Katno, people moved out of her way. At Skyfire she was just another candidate.
"Well, that was fun." Jaikel stated sarcastically as they reached the currently empty table.
"Oh yes, a grand experience." Marlya shot back. She was quick to sit next to Ariala, who sat across from Faraj. Kaiser waited for the other boys to sit before he took a seat next to Jaikel.
For a minute the group was almost silent. Ariala and Faraj talked quietly about the clutch as Jaikel and Kaiser continued to take in their surroundings. Marlya was stroking Kaj, an unusually soft look on her face. One thing that she did love on Pern was the brown.
A group of about four lads entered the Hall making such a racket that even Marlya looked up.
"Here's the trouble." Ariala hissed under her breath as the group gathered at the other end of their table.
"I heard that, Ariala." The oldest of the bunch sneered, a devious smirk on his face. "Who're your knew friends? More candidates, I presume? You've got knew friends every day, since you can't keep them past when they Impress and you're left standing!"
"Shut it, Daslan." Faraj said with a glare. "She hasn't stood half the Hatchings that you have."
"Oh we'll see. I haven't Impressed because my bronze just hasn't been clutched yet. What dragon would want her?" Daslan replied with a snicker. "None that's alive, at least."
The other boys he was with all chuckled in response, and Daslan smiled sweetly before sitting down and ignoring Ariala and her friends.
"What a bunch of wherries!" Marlya exclaimed, loud enough for the boys to hear.
"Oh, and what does that make you, pretty girl?" Daslan replied coolly. Marlya looked offended, and Kaj screeched in annoyance.
"Better than you, to say the least." Jaikel snapped back, putting on a smirk of his own.
At that a few of the boys Daslan was with stood up, and for a moment Jaikel thought that he had somehow gone too out of line. However, he held Daslan's gaze with a glare of his own.
"Hey! What are you all bickering about?" A deep voice suddenly asked from behind Jaikel. He was forced to spin around in his seat to see who it was. Not that it helped, as he didn't know the man that was now glaring at Daslan and his group. He was obviously a rider, with pitch black hair and dark brown eyes that were not showing any emotion.
"Nothing T'ren, sir." Daslan mumbled as his friends sat down. "Just joking around, nothing serious.
Next to him, Jaikel heard Kaiser huff in disagreement. The man who Daslan had called T'ren gave a final glare before walking away. Jaikel's gaze followed him as the man took a seat at the table at the front of the Hall. Several other important looking people were also at the same table.
"Who was that?" Kaiser asked after a moment of silence.
"T'ren." Faraj replied, obviously relaxed now. "He's the Weyrling Master, a bronzerider too."
"Who's he sitting by?" Jaikel asked, pointing slightly to a tall woman with flaming red hair that fell to her shoulders.
"That? That, Jaikel, is Riena, the Weyrwoman. The man to her left, that's Weyrleader L'ki. His bronze Frenzith is the biggest at the Weyr." Faraj replied with some dignity.
"Ah." Was all Jaikel said. He watched the Weyrleaders few a minute. L'ki was a very tall man with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Riena had a gentler look about her, with soft features.
The table of candidates continued to fill, and soon there were very few seats left open. For a while, the group talked about simple things such as how big the clutch was and what some of the egg sizes were. Judging from this new information, it was a very good clutch. A queen egg, and several that looked to be browns and bronzes. More than ever he wished that he would have been able to see the eggs before Hatching day.
"Here comes the food!" Ariala exclaimed several minutes later.
At this point, Jaikel felt that he should be hiding his face somehow. The dozen or more drudges that entered with heaping platters seemed, for the most part, to be healthy and well-treated. However, Jaikel still felt extremely out of place sitting at the candidate table.
"Faranth! Do the Weyrs always eat this well?" Kaiser said in astonishment as one of the platters was placed at the center of their table. Both Faraj and Ariala had a good laugh before Ariala replied.
"Not quite. At some points we eat food at the same 'quality' as the minor Holds, but not now, as the Hatching will be soon. People have already started to arrive from other Holds and some of the Weyrs. Good impressions, you know."
The next half candlemark seemed to fly by for Jaikel. All the candidates seemed intent on stuffing their faces, and he noticed that several even snuck select fruits and such into concealed pockets or pouches. After some thought, Jaikel himself took a few scraps from the left over wherry meat for Kira and Zailos. The rest of the time he had his mouth full, and the food was probably the best he had ever had. The fact that he, an ex-drudge, was being served by drudges, was momentarily forgotten.
"I'm out of here." Faraj finally stated, standing up from the table. A couple of other candidates had also left by then, and Jaikel suddenly wanted to see Kira and Zailos.
"I'll come with you." He replied, getting up himself. Even a few other tables were starting to break up now. Yes, Jaikel wanted to get back to the Candidates Barracks before the majority of the other candidates.
"Me too." Kaiser added.
"I'll wait for Marlya." Ariala shouted as the three young men left the Dining Hall.
Upon arrival at the Candidate Barracks a few minutes later, they were greeted by a series of loud chirps. The main cause of this noise was Zailos, who was apparently talking to three small green firelizards. Kira was ignoring the others. Across the room, a beautiful young girl of about eighteen Turns was fingering a set of reed pipes. Her green eyes were alight with amusement as the flits talked. Her dark brown hair was pinned up in a tight bun.
"Hey Faraj." She said sweetly as the three walked to their separate cots. "Who's this?" The last was directed at Jaikel and Kaiser.
"Good day, Nadezna. This is Jaikel, and that's Kaiser. They're both candidates from Katno Hold." Faraj answered absently as he sat on his cot.
"Ah, so the two new firelizards are yours, I presume?" The girl said, smiling to Jaikel. "That blue's quite the talker, but your gold hasn't made a sound since I got here." Putting down the pipes she had been holding, she whistled a sharp note, and all three of the green firelizards ceased talking and immediately flew to her. The largest of the them, her hide a light sea-foam shade, was the only one that landed on its owner's shoulder. The other two simply perched on either knee.
"I agree, he's only a day old, and I can tell that Zailos is going to be a handful." Jaikel replied with a smirk. He sat down on his cot, pulled out the meat he had snuck from his own meal, and proceeded to tear it into pieces for his companions. Zailos was content to be quiet as long as he had food, but Kira would only take the offering straight from her owner's hand.
"Ah yes, food cures all." Nadezna said with a smile as she revealed a meatroll from her own pockets. "Naria, Cari come back here." She added to the two smaller greens. They complied. "Rika, you know you want some." The candidate added in a rather odd tone to the one on her shoulder.
Jaikel was caught up in feeding his two firelizards, and so once more time seemed to pass quickly. Kaiser was staring up at the ceiling as Nadezna and Faraj talked. If it were not for the other people in the room, Jaikel could almost picture himself the night before, feeding his two newly Hatched flits.
The sound of the door opening caused him to glance up, and he nodded as Ariala and Marlya entered. Judging by the fact that Kaj was contently preening himself, the brown had just been fed his own meal. With an exaggerated sigh Marlya collapsed on her cot. Ariala was soon talking animatedly to Nadezna as well as Faraj, at the same time petting a sleeping Sasha. The small canine seemed more comfortable than she had when Jaikel and the others from Katno had first arrived.
In another few minutes, it seemed the all the other candidates arrived at once. Jaikel only caught a glimpse of the other brown firelizard that Faraj had mentioned earlier as he flew above everyone to perch on one of the far cots close to Kaiser. Daslan shot a nasty look at Jaikel and Marlya as he passed, but he too was soon caught up in his own conversation. Jaikel one again felt a little out of place as everyone broke up into groups.
"So, what do you think?" Kaiser greeted as he sat at the edge of Jaikel's cot.
"Hm?"
"About being at the Weyr. It's probably even more different to you than to me since…"
"I think I could grow to like it here very quickly."
"Me too. I mean, besides that Daslan and his little group, everyone's been nice to us. Kira and Zailos don't even seem to attract too much attention."
"You're right, and I'm grateful for it. I guess everyone's used to seeing firelizards around. Maybe they all think I'm some important Lord Holder's son!"
The two candidates had a good chuckle at that, but the conversation was interrupted as the door opened once more to reveal who must have been the Candidate Master, Torlose.
"All right, all of you be quiet now." He said in a gruff voice as he leaned against the door. Everyone returned to their own cots, and Kaiser followed suit. As the Nadezna and the other candidate with firelizards put in an effort to keep them settled down, Jaikel and Marlya copied them.
"Tomorrow's another day." The man said simply after the room went quiet. He then turned on his heel and left, the door closing behind him.
"Sure is." Jaikel heard Faraj mumble from the cot next to his. Most of the candidates were either whispering or already had their eyes closed.
Surprised at how everyone had obeyed the Candidate Master, Jaikel laid on his back and sighed as Kira and Zailos curled up on either side of his head. Well, if anything, he liked Skyfire Weyr. Thoughts of what would happen tomorrow drifted continuously through his head, and as the Candidate Barracks grew almost silent, Jaikel wondered how on Pern he was going to fall asleep. However, as he listened to his two firelizard's breathing slow as they slept, he finally drifted off to sleep.
About four candlemarks later, the humming started.