T'lon stretched and muttered. "You realize they're going to hate you for this, right?"

H'lee snorted. "Who, the weyrlings? Or the Assistant Weyrlingmasters?" It was a old argument. T'lon hated getting up at 3am to help supervise the hatchlings' meals. Except for H'lee, they all rotated this shift. And except for the very first day after Hatching, when most of the AWLMs were in the Weyr, sleeping off their indulgences from the day before.

H'lee and T'lon roused the other AWLMs and they went down to roust the weyrlings out of bed. Their hatchlings would be waking up shortly, if they weren't already, and demanding food.

"ALL RIGHT, LAZYBONES!!! OUT OF BED!!!" H'lee bellowed down the boys' barracks. If any of them were still asleep, they wouldn't be for long. He began marching down the line, yanking blankets over the foot of the beds and uncovering their occupants.

He was unsurprised to find Zhlucarth and his bonded already awake and the lad scrambling out of bed to avoid being yanked out like so many of his clutchsibs were. It was obvious the boy had been awake long enough to have grasped what was going on and decide that he needed to get out into the cold air. Several of the other dragons hissed at him in surprise, sounds that transmuted into creels of hunger. The girls were getting a similar treatment in their barracks.

Once they were all awake and shepherded outside, H'lee addressed the group: "Okay, this is called the morning feeding." He paused for the inevitable groans and protests that this was not morning yet. "For the first month, you'll be up and feeding your dragons at this time. I know, you just fed them a few hours ago, and again a few hours before that. That's how this goes. After this feeding, you need to clean your dragon's face and any other part of him or her that got dirty during eating, oil those places, and then you can go back to bed. The Assistant Weyrlingmasters and I have prepared your meals. Later this morning, you'll have to start prepping your own meals, but we know you're all tired and we'd rather not have any accidents this early on. Any questions?"

Artemis was already pretty well awake. Of course, this could be due to the stubborn green that had already pulled her bonded's blankets off and was mid-way through giving her trouble when the weyrling master arrived. ~Get up! I am hungry and you need to stop sleeping!~ the dragon announced into the girl's mind, earning a groan just as she heard a voice announcing that they needed to get up anyways.

"Alright alright... I'm up," she sighed before getting out of bed, realizing that it was her duty to take care of her bondmate, as well as her duty as a weyrling.

~Hurry up.~ The girl rose from her spot and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before stretching.

Once outside, she was doing her best to focus on what H'lee was saying. Before long, she finally was able to figure it out and nodded, not truly awake before she headed off to feed Jadziath. In fact, she couldn't stop the thought, At least this only lasts a month... from entering her mind.

~It will last until I no longer hunger at this time of day,~ the green snapped at her rider, clearly annoyed with having had wait so long to be fed.

---

Apollo had a dragon in his face as H'lee walked into the room. ~You should feed me, Apollo-mine~ the creature stated simply in his rider's mind, earning a groan of annoyance and sleepiness for his efforts.

In fact, H'lee's yelling didn't wake him immediately. It wasn't until the hatchling licked his face that Apollo jumped about three feet in the air and looked at his dragon. "Alright! I'm up!" he protested, trying to clean the 'dragon slobber' from his face.

With that the little bronze began crooning his approval before following his bonded outside once the boy was ready to get moving. Before long they were listening to H'lee once more before heading off to begin feeding. At one point, Apollo jumped again, cradling his hand. "Careful!"

~Your finger should be careful of where it sits. I do not wish to harm you, Apollo-mine~ the creature commented, clearly daring his bonded to actually blame him. Although the lad managed to chuckle and shake his head before continuing his work.

K'so
Yep. K'so was not awake. They'd been shepherded over to the slaughterhouse three times - once in the middle of the Gather, once as the Gather was winding down, and again just a few hours ago, not long after he and several of the other weyrlings had gone to bed. Qancith was also still asleep this time, at least. The first two times, the blue had been awake and complaining before H'lee had rounded them up to feed their dragons. The last time, he'd been about half-asleep.

K'so decided he preferred Qancith waking him up over H'lee's method, as he yelped and grabbed in vain for the covers that the Weyrlingmaster and deposited on the floor at the foot of his bed. Qancith also woke up, unpleasantly surprised, and hissed at the brownrider. But then his stomach rumbled and he didn't care anymore. Food time.

"Ya think?!" K'so snapped irritably as he pulled on the heavy pants, sweater, boots, and coat and headed out into the winter darkness, marching half by rote, half guided by the bobbing lights of the Assistant Weyrlingmasters. They were led first to the midden where the young dragons defecated before going down to the slaughterhouse for their next meal.

They got to the butcher shed and the blue weyrling grabbed a moderately-sized wherry off the rack and began chopping. Fortunately, Qancith's appetite had waned some from his initial feeding. At first, K'so had been worried, but when he asked, they explained that on hatching, a weyrling dragon's stomach was completely empty and that the hatchling had derived all the possible sustenance from the egg, so they were hungrier and able to eat more for their first meal. After that, they would still have a bit of food from the previous meal left in their stomachs and would be less hungry.

Qancith complained that he wasn't chopping the meat fast enough. "Qanc, I'm tired. I've only had a few hours sleep. So chew it raw and swallow!"

Okay. The dragon snaked his head forward to rip a piece of meat off the carcass.

"QANCITH!" K'so barked, rapping the dragon on the nose with a leg bone. He sighed explosively as the blue hissed at him. "It's just a saying. It means 'deal with it.'"

Qancith snorted. Well, I AM chewing it raw and swallowing it. But you stopped chopping!

K'so groaned and went back to work. The only way to deal with him would be to ignore him...right?

Once the dragon was full, he grabbed the small bucket he'd carried down and filled on their way in and took the soft brush in it to gently clean his dragon's muzzle before they headed back up the hill to the barracks.

Once back up there and sure that his dragon was comfortable - and falling asleep - he stripped off his bloodied clothing, grabbed his blankets, and face-planted into his pillow, falling asleep with one foot sticking out. He noticed it was cold as he fell asleep, but hadn't decided if it mattered or not before sleep took the care away.

Kat woke up grumpy and was immediately unsure how much of that was her own dislike of being woken after only a few hours sleep and how much was her Mccoreth's grumpiness at the sudden bustle exploding around them. They skitter about like surprised wherries when it's feeding time don't they? Oomph. Watch it! He groused, hissing when Kat stumbled into him as she tried to untangle herself from her blankets and get dressed in warmer clothes at the same time. Kat made a disgruntled noise as she pulled the shirt over her head and found her warm pants and deemed herself presentable for whatever sharding time it was in the morning.

Upon stumbling into the feeding area with Mccoreth at her side, Kat gave the Brown a pointed look. "One word out of you and I'll chop your nose off and feed that to you instead of this wherry got it?" She grumbled at him, earning a chuff and a mental grumble about preferring herdbeast to wherry from the Brown. Who gave an undignified squawk and skittered backward a pace when Kat whacked his nose. "Shut it you. You're getting wherry because that's what is here right now." Kat grumbled back at him. Luckily, she was saved from more cynical grumbling as the other Brown weyrling took up a spot near enough that Mccoreth turned his attention on his rank-mate and the pair fell into a discussion about something or other. Kat was really too tired to pay much attention to what they were talking about.

Once Mccoreth had his fill and his muzzle washed, the Brown gave a satisfied yawn and Kat herded him back toward their bunk where he crawled onto his couch and dozed back off. Kat, wanting to be rid of the blood staining her clothes, stripped and pulled her sleeping clothes back on before crawling back into bed, vaguely wondering if they'd get to sleep a bit longer before they were awoken again.

H'lee
Even the brownrider was tired. Ever since the Academies were instituted, he'd begun to forget how exhausting it was rousing weyrlings three times a day to feed their dragons in the dark of night between batches. This only lasted for two months, and then he got four months of rest before the next set came along. And for the second of those two months, there was significantly less work required by the human partners; in fact, the midnight feedings at that point could be done without even waking their human halves.

Well, no matter his weariness. It would only take a few days for the weyrlings to figure out a pecking order with regards to chopping and feeding dragons: those who were good at chopping would chop for two; the other human partner would feed both dragons from what the first chopped. With that, they wouldn't need to have so many Weyrlingmasters present during feedings and they'd start rotating shifts.

He repeated his wake-up call from the morning feeding, yanking blankets off and bellowing at the top of his lungs for the youngsters to get up and get out of bed. They wouldn't be going back to sleep this time, either, but they probably hadn't realized that yet.

Once they were all up and in the slaughterhouse, he told them so. "After you've fed your dragons, head for the weyrling bathing chambers and get yourselves cleaned up. Take some time for a hot soak, but don't take too long. You have just under two hours from now to feed your dragons, get them settled back in here, get bathed, get breakfast, and meet us in the Hatching Grounds. If you want a hint: just wash up enough to eat first, then go get your soak to loosen your muscles and let your breakfast settle. If you get sick during the morning workout, you're not going to have the time to go refill!"

With that, he and the other Weyrlingmasters guided the youngsters down to the middens so their dragons could rid themselves of the leftovers from the previous meal before heading on to the butcher shop for breakfast.

He paused by Katarina and Mccoreth while the latter was getting filled up. "How are you feeling this morning, Mccoreth? Still stiff or sore?" He'd discussed the condition with one of the pediatricians at the Healer Hall last night, one who was familiar with childhood joint-ail. The Healer had been surprised at the condition, but after some thought, conceded that it was entirely possible, and wasn't it more surprising that it hasn't happened before?

"Mccoreth, if you're up to it, I think it might be beneficial if you joined our morning exercise group. You'll have some time after your breakfast while Katarina gets her own breakfast, if you want a nap first. It'll be warmer there, at any rate." He figured that might be incentive enough for the youngster, assuming he still felt achy.

After his conversation with Katarina and Mccoreth, and seeing that some of the other weyrlings were starting to head back toward the barracks, he decided a meal and a hot soak sounded good, too. He headed up to the Hall and filled up a bowl of porridge with a healthy dollop of butter, a couple spoons of sugar, and a handful of raisins; slid two slices of ham, two eggs, and a peach onto a plate; and grabbed a mug of klah and a mug of milk. Then he plunked down at one of the tables near the fire, leaning the chair back against the wall and soaking up the heat while he ate.

T'lon joined him shortly after, having skipped on the porridge and the milk, getting a couple slices of toast with cheese instead. If they had questions, the weyrlings could, of course, approach, but they were probably still too scared and confused to do so. He'd let them eat what they wanted this morning; they were recovering from yesterday's excesses and would need to eat whatever helped them feel better at the moment. At or after the morning exercises, he'd tell them what they should eat at each meal, and how much.

After they'd eaten, the Weyrlingmasters headed for the larger, nicer bathing chambers being loaned to them while they were temporarily residing in the Weyr. They all took a nice, hot soak to loosen up muscles, some tense from managing the weyrlings, some from the cold, some from exercises the previous night.

Then they headed down to the Sands again. It was the only place large enough and safe enough for the next day or two for the weyrlings to work out; once all the Gather guests had left, they'd use the Lower Caverns, but right now, they'd risk trampling sleepers in the hallways.

K'so
This time, K'so was already awake. Again. Qancith had woken up a few minutes early with the rather overwhelming need to go to the middens. As such, he'd already dressed and was on his way out when H'lee showed up to roust them out of bed. He thought he maybe, just maybe, saw a hint of approval and pleasure in the Weyrlingmaster's gaze as he and Qancith hurried out.

He groaned at H'lee's announcement that they needed to wash up and get food - that they wouldn't be going back to bed after all. Qancith snorted and reminded him to keep chopping. I get to go back to sleep. Why don't you?

"Because I have work to do to become a real dragonrider with you as my dragon."

Qancith was silent for a few minutes, reasoning through this logical explanation. But how can you learn and work properly if you're tired? You're my rider. I can say you're too tired and you need sleep, and then you can do that instead.

K'so sighed. "It's not that simple, Qanc. I wish it were."

After finishing with Qancith's breakfast and cleanup and getting him back to the barracks, K'so wanted nothing more than to go lounge in a hot bath. But he'd heard what H'lee had said and had seen the brownrider head for the kitchens first, instead. With another groan, he stopped long enough to scrub down with some cold water and then dashed across to the kitchens and got himself some breakfast: a slice of toast spread with butter and a fruit spread; a couple sausage patties and an egg; and half an apple. He barely ate half of it, drinking down a large mug of klah and several glasses of water instead.

Then he headed for the bathing chambers and drew a hot bath, sliding down to his chin and closing his eyes. He let the hot water and steam carry his worries away...unfortunately, it also carried his consciousness in its wake and he was asleep before he knew it was happening.

Artemis

The girl had managed to go back to sleep after the morning feeding without any problems. And the couple hours of sleep before waking again was enough that she was up by the time the weyrling master arrived to wake them. In fact, she was up, dressed, and had her bed made. Her green was still soundly asleep, however. Her eyes glanced over as the wake up call was announced for the next feeding before she walked over and gently woke Jadziath.

The little green woke and instantly realized she was hungry. Without waiting she rose from her spot and jumped down from the couch. ~I hunger again, Artemis-mine~ she informed simply before leading her rider from the barracks.

Artemis could only chuckle, she knew full well that it was time to feed the hatchling again. ~Then we should get food in you, Jadz,~ she stated easily and headed down to start cutting up meat. Before long, the little green was happily fed and followed her bonded back to the barracks. Artemis wasn't overly tired and so she didn't mind the idea of staying up and instead focused on settling her green down once more. When the hatchling was asleep, Artemis headed to wash up herself enough to eat before doing that and then heading for a nice soak in the water.

While sitting there, she cleaned herself up some more and thought about her bonding to a dragon. She had to admit, she was rather happy about THAT little bit of information. After all, Jadziath was perfect!

--

A'lo

A'lo was not already awake when H'lee entered the room. He was still snoring as was his dragon. The two of them quite blissfully unaware of the time.... until the blankets vanished and a loud voice was booming for them to get out of bed. The weyrling groaned his displeasure at having to get up, rolling over and going back to sleep. His hatchling, on the other hand, was up and realized a second later that he was hungry.

The little bronze rose from his spot and went over to begin pestering A'lo until the boy fell out of the bed from being nudged with a loud 'UMPH!" This, naturally, was followed quickly by, "What was that all about, Rik!?"

~I am hungry, A'lo-mine.~ the bronze stated, almost as though that were the obvious answer to his bonded's question.

A'lo sighed and rose from his spot before getting dressed and leaving his bed an unruly mess.... kind of like his hair. He then began feeding his bronze, trying his hardest to stay awake... something that really only worked when his hand got bitten and he yelped in pain. A nice little bit of blood started falling, at least Rikraketh hadn't bitten down completely! "Shards it all, Rik! That hurts!" he scolded the hatchling who creeled at the pain and in apology to his rider.

When he was done, he carefully started tossing the meat to his dragon, finishing the feeding with his hand still bleeding. He would have to get it looked at eventually...but for right now he'd deal with what was in front of him. When done, he went and washed up, careful to fully clean the injury and debating on going to see a healer about getting his hand wrapped... possibly before eating... or maybe instead of a proper bath like he wanted. In the end, he chose to just wrap a piece of cloth around it, eat his meal and go sit in the bath where he allowed himself to relax... despite the throbbing hand. Something that Rik complained about from his couch in the barracks.

K'then
K'then was less than pleased to have been rousted out of bed during the night to help supervise the new weyrlings feeding their young dragons. The first time he'd glared at T'lon until his fellow AWLM had left and burrowed back under his blankets. But when 6am came around, he was already up and getting ready, used to the early mornings at the Academy when he was up at that time anyway with whatever batch of weyrlings he was dealing with at any given time. He waved T'lon off when his fellow Bronzerider poked his head in to wake him.

He rather enjoyed rousting the weyrlings from their beds, the sleepy looks of hate some of them shot were enough to make him smile despite the early hour. He herded a sleepy Blue Weyrling out of the Barracks when he tried to sneak back and return to his bed and shooed him along with the others. During the feeding, he ended up with a rather vocal group who wasted no time in questioning him. "Where were you when we were all dragged out of bed a few hours ago?" One girl asked, glaring at him when he pointed out that she was about to cut her finger and not the herdbeast. "I don't have a hungry hatchling to feed." Was his only response as he stopped one of the boys from feeding his dragon a bone he'd managed to miss while cutting up his wherry.

When the feedings were done and the hatchling dragons were back on their couches and the new riders off to either bathe or eat breakfast, K'then headed for the kitchens himself. He skipped the porridge but went for the toast, cheese, eggs and ham and fashioned a sandwich out of it. After grabbing a cup of klah and some fruit to round out his meal, he settled in with H'lee and T'lon to eat.

He took his time to enjoy his breakfast, not feeling a particular need to soak in a hot bath for very long that morning and spent a bit of extra time chatting with some of the other dragonriders who were up and about early that day before heading to the baths himself and immediately regretting his decision to take a longer breakfast. The bath was a lot nicer than he'd thought and now he had less time to enjoy it. Ah well. Nothing he could do about it now except enjoy his shorter bath as much as he could before meeting everyone out on the sands, making a mental note to speak with A'lo since he was fairly certain he'd seen the boy with a cloth wrapped around one hand. That likely meant an injury of some sort and he wanted to be sure the boy wasn't risking an infection, particularly if he'd cut himself while feeding his dragon.

((Wrong account but I don't feel like changing them atm. xP))

Kat
Up. I'm hungry again.

Those were the words Katarina heard only a few seconds before one of the AWLMs was in and all but shouting at her to wake up. "I am up." She grumbled sleepily, stretching and peering at Mccoreth who was watching her intently. "What? I'm up. You'll get fed soon enough." She told him, managing to feel slightly more awake than she had a couple hours ago despite her interrupted sleep.

She dressed much the same as she had before, warm but lazy as she described it, and they headed first for the middens and then the slaughterhouse where, remembering the gripe about wherries Mccoreth had made before, she selected a herdbeast and began to chop it up and give pieces to Mccoreth. This time they were near the scratched up green who'd been stuck in her egg and her rider who was looking a little green around the edges at having to cut up the meat. Taking pity on the girl, she got her attention. "Why don't you feed and I'll cut? Might take a bit longer to get both dragon bellies full that way but at least you won't have to do the chopping." The girl looked about ready to faint with relief as Kat handed her chunks of meat and the two dragons worked out who ate when and they developed a system of things. It wasn't perfect by any means but it got the job done well enough for a pair of hungry hatchlings.

The smaller Green was full before Mccoreth and the pair thanked Kat and Mccoreth before moving off as H'lee approached. The Brown tipped his head at the question and gave an experimental stretch. I am a bit sore, yes. He admitted and Kat relayed the message to H'lee, who surprised her by asking Mccoreth to join them for exercises. "But-" She started to protest that the other dragons got to sleep while their riders worked but Mccoreth cut her off, speaking directly to H'lee for the first time. Sleeping where it's warm sounds nice. I'll do that. He replied, though nowhere in that statement did he say he would participate in any exercises.

Kat directed him toward the hatching sands and the Brown hobbled off in the awkward dragon-gait as she headed for the middens and then a quick clean-up. But once she'd started washing, she decided a bath sounded a lot nicer than a quick wash and slid into the baths instead of heading for breakfast like H'lee had suggested. She spent some time just soaking and enjoying the warmth before dedicating herself to getting clean. As the other girls came in from breakfast, she was headed for the dining hall. Remembering H'lee's warning about not having time to eat more later if she got sick, she opted for some toast and fruit preserves, some cheese and fruit and a small slice of ham. It was a light breakfast but one that would tide her over until lunch, or at least until she had free time to snatch something else from the kitchens, whichever came first.

H'lee and T'lon
Once all the weyrlings gathered in the Sands, T'lon stepped forward to instruct them on what they'd be doing.

"Alright, here's your calisthenics routine for today! As you get stronger, you'll do repetitions of the exercises, but we're starting you off relatively easy today."

He pointed to a bar over the doorway they'd entered through. "Two of you at a time, grab hold of this bar like this," he grabbed the bar with his hands facing toward him. "And do this," he demonstrated a pull-up. "Do that at least 10 times. If you feel you can do more than that, do it. When you have done 10, or feel you can't do any more, come over to where I'll be standing." he pointed off to the side.

After all the weyrlings had done at least 10 pull-ups and reported to them, he demonstrated squats to them. "20 of them," he enumerated. He and the other Weyrlingmasters, except H'lee whose crippled leg prevented him, participated in the exercises with the weyrlings.

After squats, 20 push-ups. Then 10 lunges per leg. Then 50 sit-ups (which H'lee joined them for). And lastly, 10 minutes jogging through the lower caverns, led by T'lon with the other Weyrlingmasters interspersed amongst the weyrlings.

Time all was said and done, they'd been at it for nearly an hour, most of it in the furnace-like heat of the Hatching Sands. More than one weyrling got sick during the exercises, mostly those who bathed before eating. There were buckets in the workout area and the Weyrlingmasters carried them during the run through the caverns for just that purpose.

The jog ended near the kitchens where the weyrlings were served water. It wasn't the icy cold water that the weyrlings probably were craving, but it was slightly cooler than air temperature and no doubt seemed much more delicious that it would have at any other time.

Then they were dismissed to get cleaned up before their next responsibility started with their dragons waking up hungry.

K'so
K'so bolted awake when it suddenly became silent in the bathing room. Realizing he was going to be late to the Sands, he scrambled out of the tub and dried off, jerking on his clothes and running down to the Sands. He was one of the last half dozen or so to arrive.

He gaped at the exercises they were expected to do. This was worse than harvesting! He struggled through the pull-ups, dropping off the bar for a moment after seven of them before one of the Weyrlingmasters prodded him back up for his last three.

The squats were easier, but he muddled through the push-ups. Lunges were easy, and the sit-ups were...well, not really hard, but he wanted to stop after twenty of them. He felt like he was going to vomit several times during their workout, but he always managed to choke it back down before he lost his breakfast.

He couldn't believe the jogging piece. He collapsed against a wall when they got to the end and gulped down all the water they'd give him. He stayed there for several minutes before they were told to go wash up and Qancith's sleepy hunger began rumbling in his stomach. He headed for the bathing chambers again, but warned against falling asleep this time, he only took a warm cloth to wipe himself down rather than taking an actual bath. Then he headed back to his barrack to change back into the clothes he'd worn earlier that morning for feeding Qanc.

Artemis

Artemis had gotten herself nicely dressed and her hair brushed before heading out to the hatching sands. Upon arrival she watched H'lee carefully, waiting to see just what would happen from there. Of course, she was surprised to see T'lon step forth to give them the lesson, and she easily watched him. She was utterly patient as she listened to what the exercises would be.

When it was her turn, she stepped forth and attempted the pull-ups. Carefully she tried to lift herself up and found that it was far harder than she would have ever imagined! After a bit, she finally managed to get her 10 pull-ups done, barely...

Next she moved over to stand before T'lon as he demonstrated squats. She had a far easier time with these and managed to do all 20 without too many problems. The 20 push ups were about as difficult as the pull ups... and she barely managed them.

Lunges were easy enough, and she had all 20 (10 per leg) done in no time. Lastly she set about doing the sit ups and she barely managed to finish all 50 of those before she layon her back, panting heavily. She really needed to do more.

After a second she managed to pull herself up so that she was standing before she started jogging after T'lon. She was thankful that she had decided to eat before bathing as she didn't feel overly sick. Instead she had found herself feeling rather tired and counted herself lucky that she hadn't fallen over by the end of the run.

When they reached the kitchens, she quickly accepted the water before greedily drinking it all down. She was thirsty and the more she drank the water, the better she felt. Once completely better, she headed to start her next responsibility.

A'lo

A'lo got himself out of the tub and dressed well before K'so had managed to. In fact, he was one of the first ones out onto the sands once more. His form stretching out and enjoying the idea that he was now clean and in clean clothes. When he learned just what they needed to do, he set to work.

Unlike his sister, he managed to do the pull ups, push ups and sit ups with only a few problems. They weren't easy, by any means, but he had lifted enough heavy things recently to be able to lift himself. And he had been trying to get some of the exercise in that was needed every day.

Regardless of his ability to get through the exercises, he was panting and tired by the time he was done and greedily drank down the water that awaited him. When done, he headed back to his dragon... who was already awake and complaining of hunger.

((Will expand on this one too if necessary. Now I gotta flee or be late for work. D=))

Kat, having been raised around beastcrafters and the like, was confident in her abilities to preform the exercises well. However, she did not expect such an involved routine. She managed the pull ups well enough, at least doing all the required ones without dropping) and the lunges. But when it came time for the push ups she struggled a bit more, having never really done them before, though the sit ups were done with relative ease. She kept pace with the jog, only stopping once to 'catch her breath' (which, in fact, was her way of keeping herself from getting sick) and finished without actually throwing up (though it was a near thing). Unlike some others, she didn't guzzle down her water but drank it more slowly to help calm her still slightly upset stomach.

H'lee, of course, hadn't joined in the running. He didn't do that very well these days. So instead, he'd gone down to the barn where they'd been feeding their dragons and started getting oil and towels warmed by the fire. The lake was still frozen over, so they wouldn't be going for a dip in those frigid waters! That meant they needed baskets full of water and brushes to scrub with. Absently, H'lee wondered how many of them would remember to grab the brushes and jars of oil that had been left on the shelves behind their dragons' couches for them.

Normally, the human half of the newly-Impressed pairs would miss a few spots during their first bathing. Between the hatchlings' extreme hunger and exhaustion and the thrall of the new bond, it was easy to miss a place that was hard to reach or didn't itch too much right away. This time, after the youngsters were fed, they'd be starting to stay awake for a bit after feedings already as the sleep and last several feedings rejuvenated them from the strain of hatching. Now was the time to show the human pairs the proper way to bathe a dragon. While Seeth would gladly have volunteered for this, he was far too large to fit inside the barn with all the hatchlings - and it was just as important for the dragon halves to see what was to be done to them so they could tell their riders if they missed a spot.

So, after the youngsters arrived and fed their dragons, he had Zhlucarth, as the largest weyrling, come to the center of the room. "Now, you all did a fine job yesterday, but now you're going to learn how to properly scrub your dragon down. Easier here in the barn than in the lake or the ocean, anyhow." He stressed the importance of a dragon being clean and oiled from end to end. "It'll be a lot harder to keep up with this as they grow, but by the time they're ready to go between, they won't be growing so fast, so it'll be a lot easier to make sure they're oiled all over then."

Having Zhlucarth's rider perform the actions and correcting them as necessary, H'lee explained that when bathing them right after they ate, it was better to start behind the head - do the neck, the back, and the tail first, then the belly and legs, and do the claws and face last.

Once washed, they could start oiling around the face and work their way to the tail. "I can't stress enough how important it is that you get your fingers into every crease and crevice in your dragon's hide. When we travel to the Academy, you'll have ample opportunity to find out if you're doing a good job. The salt water you'll be bathing in has a similar effect on dragons' hides as the chill of between does, so if you miss any spots, they'll get tender, sore, chapped, and itchy, and your dragon most definitely won't neglect to tell you about it!"

Once the demonstration of techniques was complete, H'lee and the other Assistant Weyrlingmaster's oversaw the other youngsters as they worked on their dragons. After they finished washing their dragons, they had to pass inspection by one of the Weyrlingmasters; similarly, after oiling, they had to be inspected. As they neared completion, H'lee called for their attention. "You have until an hour before lunch to spend with your dragons. I know you're tired, so you can go nap with your dragons, but I encourage you to stay awake; napping will keep your body from adjusting to your new schedule. Go for walks, talk to each other, play games, whatever you'd like to do. If possible, make it something you can share with your dragon. For example, if you want to play a game of dragon poker, mentally show your dragon your cards. Show your dragon your hobby and do it with them if you can. This next hour is your chance to strengthen the bond with your dragon, and will be every day for the next month - take advantage of it."

---

K'so

K'so had not spotted the brushes and oil pot that were left in their barracks, so he and Qancith arrived without them. In fact, K'so didn't even realize they were going to be bathing, so he wasn't at all prepared. Thankfully, the Weyrlingmaster had predicted that, so he wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed.

I'm getting a little tired of wherry meat. Can't I have some of that? Qancith complained, indicating the herdbeast meat.

K'so flinched. He'd been hoping Qancith wouldn't notice. He'd never gotten the hang of cutting the herdbeast meat. "Um, hey, A'lo...does Rikraketh want some wherry meat? I'll trade you for some herdbeast meat..." he suggested to his friend.

After feeding, he paid minimal attention to what H'lee said about bathing their dragons. It was a good thing Qancith was paying attention. K'so was exhausted and fumbled through the bathing ritual, only kept in line by his blue's jibbing and reminders. The same thing happened with the oil, but the difference was that the warm towel he'd dried off with and was currently draped over his shoulders, the warm oil he was rubbing into Qancith's hide, and the general warmth of the room was making him very sleepy.

He was chided by one of the Weyrlingmasters more than once during the bathing and oiling for sloppiness. He was very glad when he finally passed inspection and H'lee released them. He vaguely heard the Weyrlingmaster's warning about not taking a nap, but he didn't really care. He and Qancith headed back to their barracks and he stripped out of his dirty clothing and, leaving it on the floor where it fell, collapsed into his bunk and passed out.

Artemis

Artemis had managed to cut up some of the meat for her dragon, although she stuck to wherry meat today. Her green didn't seem to mind for the time being and ate the food happily before watching as her bonded ate something herself.

once finished, the two watched as Zhlucarth was made an example of before Artemis set about following the exact method. She started at her dragon's head and began scrubbing every inch of the small beast. Jazz didn't hesitate to point out each itchy spot along the way, and even if she pointed out a spot further along, Artemis told her to be patient and promised to reach it soon. Before long, she had scrubbed her dragon head to toe and grabbed out the supplies to oil her little beastie.

Once she had the oil, she started once more at the green's head before slowly working her way back until she had coered every inch of her bond. "Did I miss anywhere, Jazz?" She asked, pleased when her dragon said that she felt much better.

Afterwards, she listened as they were instructed to spend some time bonding with their beasts and she smiled. Easily they headed off and she started talking to her dragon, just telling her about the family that the green would get to meet one day. Of course, she hadn't really met them (aside from A'lo) the day of the hatching because she had already been ushered off to bed by the time Artemis and her brother had found their parents and siblings... and by the time they had learned that K'then was their cousin.

A'lo

A'lo had managed to successfully cut up the herdbeast meat for his dragon, and had begun feeding some to the bronze when K'so's question caught his attention. He paused and blinked before looking to the small bronze.

~I do not mind eating a little of both. So long as he does not take all,~ the small male responded simply.

A'lo turned back to his friend, "Rik says it's okay, so long as you don't take all his herdbeast meat," he chuckled before making the trade with the blue weyrling and finishing the feeing. When he was done, he ate his own meal.

The bronze weyrling listened carefully to the instructions about bathing his dragon before he followed them to the letter and set about bathing his dragon... although he did find himself scolded a time or two for missing a particularly itchy spot. Once done scrubbing the dragon clean, he went about oiling the hide, after drying the beast (of course). Once he was all done and released, he went off to bond with his dragon.

The two of them spoke patiently about various things, including the large family he came from. Once done, he walked back to their barracks and grabbed his sketchbook out. Eagerly he shared his current sketches with the dragon before they moved out to sit and relax, the young lad working on a sketch of the bronze (he had gotten in trouble because Rikraketh was not in the book).

After Kat had caught her breath and downed the rest of her water, she'd have liked nothing more than to try and catch a quick nap. But Mccoreth was starting to feel hungry and Kat knew her chances for even a quick nap were gone at that point. She and her Brown headed down to the barn where they'd met a couple times already and settled in to get fed. Kat smiled as the Green weyrling she'd helped earlier took up a spot next to her and they fell into the rhythm of chopping meat and chatting quietly. The Green weyrling was doing better about cutting up the meat this time and Kat made sure to mention it.

Once all the dragons were fed they were grouped together to see how to properly scrub their dragons. Tired though she was, Kat paid close attention to the instructions and set about scrubbing with minor corrections being suggested by one of the weyrlingmasters here and there. Once she had Mccoreth fully cleaned and she started on the oiling. She received a few more pointers this time but otherwise felt pretty confident she'd gotten all of Mccoreth oiled. At least he didn't say anything about being itchy.

When they were released, Kat consulted with Mccoreth about what he might want to do and neither of them came up with very many ideas. So, as H'lee had suggested....they went for a walk. They talked, they argued and eventually their wanderings led them down toward the stables where the runnerbeasts were kept and Kat smiled when she saw V'tor taking care of her own runner (whom had taken a liking to the bluerider much to her surprise). V'tor let the stallion out into the pasture to graze and run and came over to sit on the fence by Kat and her dragon. She introduced them and Mccoreth merely huffed, more or less ignoring the bluerider who shrugged and said he had other places to be before leaving. Mccoreth watched the runner and Kat told the Brown about him and her craft, quite happy to just spend time watching the runners in the field. Despite Mccoreth's cynical grumblings about it, she had a suspicion that he was sort of enjoying himself too.