The Importance of Touchings [Candidate Lesson]

[Zen]

10th Pass, 5th Turn
Early 11th Month

Candidate Master S'bol

S'bol stood before the gathered Candidate class with his usual friendly smile and waited for them all to settle into their seats and quiet down to hear him before speaking, “Today we're going to talk about the upcoming Touching. We should be going in to see the eggs within the next sevenday. I know some of you are old pros and have done this many times before, but it never hurts to review.” His gaze settled over a number of candidates that had been with him for turns now.

“To start, I'd like to remind everyone to be respectful once we enter the Sands. Aerroth and Talera are well within their rights to kick anyone out if you aren't, and even to bar you from Standing if you really want to make a fool of yourself.” He paused to let that sink in, “Once we enter, Talera will instruct you on the proper etiquette for her dragon. Some Golds enjoy being greeted and bowed to and have come to expect it at their Hatchings, and may be displeased if they are not. Others do not care either way. As is always the case, but is even more important for a Gold on the Sands, listen carefully to a dragon's rider before approaching their dragon, or in this case, a dragon's eggs.”

He nodded, finishing the thought and moving on, “Once you are invited to go among the eggs, you may touch them if you wish. Just remembered to be respectful. No roughhousing or other foolishness. Do not try to move any of the eggs. Golds have their reasons for placing their eggs how they do, it is our job to trust their instincts as we have for turns upon turns.” He surveyed them all once more, “Now... I would like to address my first-timers with this question first. Do any of you know why we hold egg Touchings?”

There were a few shaken heads and a couple averted gazes, clearly they were hoping they would not be called on. S'bol laughed softly, “Very well, and to my experienced candidates? Surely one of you knows?” He opened it up for anyone to raise their hand and answer, calling on the first that did.

OOC: Whoever posts next can have their character be the raised hand S'bol called on~

[Taxx]

Sitting at her desk near the back of the room, Aleni had her head bent over a bit of ratty hide, doodling to pass the time, her gaze frequently flicking to S'bol for any nonverbal cues to calm down and pay attention. When he began to talk, however, she dropped the coal-stick and folded up the hide to continue it later.

She perked at the topic; she'd been hoping that a Touching would be arranged, and while it wouldn't be today, at least there was a set time frame, instead of just soon. She'd been sneaking peeks at the eggs from the entrance to the Hatching Grounds, never lingering long to keep from upsetting Aerroth or Talera, looking forward to when she would be allowed to freely move among the clutch and finally lay hands on the hardening shells.

Nodding along to the rider's words- words she had heard many times over, the speech recited before each Touching to inform the newest Candidates and remind the older ones. Be polite. Follow the instructions given. Don't disobey. Upset the gold and you'll wish you hadn't. She knew all of this already.

Her gaze swept over the newcomers to the ranks as S'bol put his question to them, watching them shrug and glance away, either not knowing the answer or unwilling to speak up; Aleni raised her own hand when S'bol turned the question to those who were older, more experienced in this sort of thing, and answered. There was no way to know for sure, but theories had been formed and passed as the most likely reasons behind why Touchings were held, and Aleni had been around long enough to hear them plenty of times. "Familiarizing the dragons with human contact while still in the shell seems to negate their aggressiveness to a degree, and it may also help them form an idea of what they're looking for in a lifemate."

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Joia was a little lost, but no more than any other new candidate she was happy to see. A whirlwind of the past week or so had found her going from a farmer’s daughter with aspirations to brighten the Hold’s with colorful clothing to a full-fledged Dragon Candidate. Don’t ask her, she still wasn’t sure how it all happened! But it had, here it was, and what a grand adventure!! She hadn’t exactly been ready for how BIG the Dragons got, for one thing. The Blue she’d gotten here on was large enough, but just from a distance, to see the others? It blew the mind.

The dye was fading a bit from her fingers since her arrival, tinting the tips a faint blue-green as she toyed with the pen and hide in front of her. She was barely interested in what she was drawing, or writing, it was easy for her to forget it all when the Candidate Master appeared at the head of their slightly rowdy class. The young girl was instantly focused; feeling on some level that she had so much to make up for in getting ready for what could be her possible future in the Weyr.

Like many others in the room, Joia was sure there was some ‘trick’ to impressing. Was this ‘Touching’ part of it? Was how you treated the Queen? Or where you stood when the Hatching was happening? Joia chewed her lower lip a little, dropping her eyes to her doodled on hide when S’bol asked for answers. Yea… no thanks, Joia wasn’t really into wanting to speak up and mess up. She was more than happy to let someone else speak up, Joia thought Aleni was her name but wasn’t totally sure.

It didn’t help. Joia frowned a little. Could the little hatchlings really know they were there threw the shells?? How was that possible... it didn’t make sense. Joia rested her elbow on the table, then popped her chin on the upturned hand with a little thump. Questions could wait for later, right now Joia just wanted to talk in as much of the information as she could – so she knew what was expected of her in the week, or weeks, to come.

[Zen]

Candidate Master S'bol, Candidate Mizao

S'bol grinned happily at Aleni's answer, “Yes, yes. Very good. But it is not only for the hatchlings that we hold the Touching. It also for all of you. While it may negate some of the aggressiveness of the hatchlings, it also helps to negate a candidate's fear and anxiety, at least a little. It gets you all used to being around them so it isn't quite so intimidating when the Hatching rolls around. This helps keep you calmer on the Sands, which helps you all be safer.”

Mizao took in all this information with interest. She knew very little of dragons, and she had to admit it was a bit frightening to think about being the Sands when they hatched. The other candidates talked. She had heard a few horror stories. Maulings, accidental or otherwise, happened on those Sands. Anything that would help her to prevent getting hurt herself, she was eager to hear. She had heard other things about Touchings too.

Hesitantly, she raised her hand, and S'bol nodded at her, “Yes, Mizao?”

She lowered her hand again and cleared her throat, a bit nervous. The question sounded absolutely ridiculous in her head. She feared she was about to make a complete fool of herself, “I... is it true that... the eggs, well, the dragons in them... they... talk?”

S'bol chuckled, “Excellent question. They don't talk exactly. It is more... a suggestion of words, feelings and images.” Mizao frowned at him a bit, not at all sure just what he meant, and S'bol laughed again, “Forgive me. It is a bit difficult to explain. It is much easier to simply experience it for yourself. To answer your question simply... no, they do not talk, but they do react.”

Well, that made slightly more sense. She supposed she would just have to wait and see for herself as S'bol said. The man then surveyed the rest of the class, “If any of you who have been to a Touching before have any experiences you'd like to share, I'm sure our new candidates would enjoy hearing about it.”

[Esko]

Candidates Karolinna and Shintagoi


Karolinna couldn't be more excited; if she was this excited, what was it like for the Candidates who dreamed of this their whole lives? She never aspired to be a dragonrider, and yet here she was, listening intently to some crusty bluerider talk about Touching etiquette. She couldn't help but be anxious for what was to come. She'd heard that the eggs talked to you, that they could ask you how your day was before they could even see light. How did they do that? Karolinna fidgeted with a pebble in her fingers, legs crossed and eyes alert. Would she even want some underdeveloped hyper-intelligent beast speaking to her? And how did it help, anyway?

According to one of the other girls, it helped the dragons get an idea of what they wanted in a lifemate, as well as calm the Candidate's anxiety. The last part was confirmed by Crusty McGee, though. Sure, calming dragon's aggressiveness was helpful. Karolinna sure didn't want some overgrown firelizard stabbing her anywhere important. Another girl asked a question that she herself was ready to ask; and she didn't expect the answer. Not speech, but...feelings? Shards, what was that supposed to mean? So if the egg was sad and she touched it, she'd suddenly want to throw herself off the Heights? She didn't like the thought of that at all. And what was a 'suggestion' of a word? Suddenly, Karolinna felt a little smaller in that room. It was just a reminder of how she was just an uneducated sailor-turned-pirate among others who had Turns of education. Maybe the other girls and guys knew what these fancy things meant, and she was the odd one out.

Then, S'bol called for any experienced Candidates to share their horror stories. Across the room from Karolinna was Shintagoi, Pern's favorite narcissist. Smirking, he raised his hand; he'd had five Turns of experience, he was the most qualified out of all these dimglows to answer. Even if he wasn't called on, he spoke anyway. "Stores? I got a few." He began, slouching against the wall. "The calming thing, it works sometimes. And just because you touch an egg, doesn't mean that it'll choose you. There was this boy back at Telgar, he seemed to bond with this bronze egg. The bronze actually hatched into a brown, and it slaughtered him on the Sands." Okay, that wasn't completely true, but the boy was pretty scratched up afterwards. "Another boy thought he would Impress a bronze egg he touched and ended up Impressing green, he was too homosexual for another color." Who cared if he was fear-mongering? These guys couldn't be coddled, if they wanted to be something more than green. "I've touched plenty of eggs; some make you overly joyful, some make you want to throw yourself into Thread. But whatever egg you touch, that doesn't confirm its personality. I once touched an egg that created such a dark feeling that I suddenly hated myself. It hatched into the most overly-sweet blue you could possibly imagine."

[Taxx]

It was easy to forget that there were newer people here, Candidates who would be unsure of themselves on the Sands- S'bol was right, it wasn't just for the hatchlings. It helped to give the younger eligible a chance to familiarise themselves with what was expected of them on the Sands, as well as a chance to prepare themselves for the Hatching. Hands back in her lap, aleni glanced over at Mizao as she spoke up, as S'bol answered, and then Shintagol jumped in and her eyes narrowed as he went off. Apparently his idea of helping was to scare them.

Right on the heels of his speech, Aleni jumped in. "It's not all maulings and bad experiences. Although he's right- you should never take for granted the way a dragonet responds while in the egg. Even if you touch one that seems to click with you, it may well Impress someone else. There just are no guarantees until you have a hatchling looking into your eyes as they decide you're the one they want." It was an experience she hadn't had yet, though she'd seen it happen more times than she could count, and probably would countless more times.

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

With all the offered up information, Joia drank it in. Mizao’s question could have been her own, right up there with ‘did it hurt when they talked to you’ thing. So... they didn’t actually talk…. But like something like it? It was frustrating not to get straight answers, but at the same time, it might just be too hard to explain. It just made Joia want to try it all the more, in spite of the chance of danger. She assumed when they said it was for both the hatchlings and the candidates, that it helped some sort of bond form? That would make sense, wouldn’t it…. Like playing with her uncle’s canine puppies when they were babies were supposed to make them gentler and used to human company. Joia scribbled something down on her hide, overthinking the thing already.

When the male voice joined the conversation, Joia’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the boy. Yes… boy; he reminded her very quickly of the little boys at home, trying to one-up each other with idiot antics and wild stories. And the more words that tumbled out of Shintagoi’s mouth, the less Joia was inclined to believe him. Yes, they had all heard the stories of mauling on the sand and that they needed to be ready to move, to show respect to the Queen and be light on their feet. But really? He made it sound like they were bloodthirsty monsters, not scared babies! What an ash-head. Joia rolled her eyes, returning to doodling on her hide until the loud mouth ran out of steam.

Aleni’s voice returned, attempting to counter the terror the bully-boy was trying to stir in the class. Joia at least paid her attention, because she was at least trying to help, not make them all jump at glow shadows. Finally, she found her voice as Aleni’s faded, her eyes looked at the Candidate master. “So if they don’t ‘talk’ to us, can they hear us when if we talk to them?”