Candidate Gather Trip

Writers: Corrin, Devin, Duskdog, Estelle, Francesca, Halyonix, LadyRose, Shawna
Date Posted: 29th April 2025

Characters: R'lor, Alyena, R'ayl, Lindora, Aicha, R'vkal, Y'dran, Cirina, Chandrany, Oriene, Evalya, Danrhyn, Farangen
Description: R'lor and a few others chaperone the Candidates on a trip to a Northern Gather.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 5, day 20 of Turn 12

R'lor

Aicha

Chandrany

Oriene

"All right, settle down," R'lor called over the excited chatter. "Please
go to your assigned dragon. The sooner all of you are strapped in, the
sooner we can get to the Gather." A small smile curved his lips.

Alyena buttoned up the collar on Evalya's coat and stood back to check
her children over once again. "Don't forget to stay together. No
wandering off on your own. Listen to the Weyrlingmaster, stay close to
the grown riders and be careful about talking to strangers. They may be
welcoming to dragonriders in the North, but there can still be people
who're up to no good."

"Yes, Mama." Evalya rolled her eyes, but R'ayl nodded solemnly and
climbed up to Delorth's back, reaching down to offer his sister a hand up.

Ryvankal was assigned to the big bronze that was waiting with his rider
leaning against his flank with an amused glint to his eyes. "Many
thanks, rider sir, ferrying us," he said as he approached.

"Don't mention it," Y'dran answered jovially. He thumped Seriaeth's
shoulder and helped Ryvankal get settled. "You're with us too?" he asked
another approaching Candidate.

Cirina gave Y'dran a beseeching look, "No, but can I be? I think I'm
with the Weyrlingmaster. I think he thinks I'll do something reckless, I
don't know why," she said with innocent confusion.

“Well, shards…” drawled Danrhyn as he strolled up to Seriaeth with a
dimpled grin and teasing disappointment in his tone. “You mean it’s just
going to be me and Ryvankal?”

“You’ll survive the journey, I’m sure,” Cirina said. “But I’ll let you
buy me a drink at the Gather. That’ll make _me_ feel better,” she said
as she trudged past on her way to Kularth's side. "I heard they don't
have firelizards up north. No one's going to try to swat Digger with a
broom are they?" She asked it loudly enough for anyone to weigh in on this.

"They have _fewer_ firelizards up north," R'lor said with some
amusement. "They aren't going to confuse Digger for a wherry." He
gestured for her to mount.

"I put a collar on him just in case." Digger was, in fact, wearing a
little red tie. "Pardon me Kularth," she said as she climbed up to
mount, promptly strapping herself in and then waiting patiently. She was
pretty sure this seating assignment had been because she'd tried to add
O'rosin to the chaperone list without asking the brownrider's permission
first.

R'lor got the other passengers strapped in and checked through the
dragons to make sure everyone else was ready. Then he turned back to his
small group. "If you haven't been /between/ often, or at all, remember
that it might seem frightening, but Kularth will get us all there
safely. Stay calm, count slowly, and think about the fun you'll have."

Kularth launched into the air and gained height. When everyone was
aloft, R'lor gave the signal to go /between/.

R'ayl focused intently on the visualisation they'd been given of the
Northern hold. He'd not been to the other continent before except for
training flights. He glanced back at his sister, who gave him a
thumbs-up. **Follow Kularth.** On the signal, they vanished into the
darkness and emerged a few breaths later - in the North.

Lindora let out the breath she had been holding. Her arms ached, her
hands holding tightly to the riding straps. Luckily, the blue she was on
made a slow descent. After a few moments, she glanced down, curious to
see how different things looked from the Southern Continent.

Cirina was sliding down as soon as Kularth landed, letting out a
breathless, "ThankyouKularth."

With slightly more pause between words, she said, "How long do we have?
Do you know if there's music somewhere? And what is that amazing smell?"
Digger, pretty red collar and all, sprang into the air to make a little
circle around the immediate area, and Cirina wandered a little closer to
Lindora, saying, "He's probably going to find the smell. Digger is a
master at hunting for snacks."

"You have four candlemarks," the Weyrlingmaster said as he unstrapped
his other passengers. "And yes, there should be some music. Please
remember to conduct yourselves in a way that reflects well on Dolphin
Cove. If you behave yourselves, there will be other trips in the future."

Lindora couldn't help but smile at the promise and threat in the
Weyrlingmaster's words. She hoped none of the boys did anything stupid.
She was thrilled to be on the other side of Pern and wanted to have more
outings like this. To Cirina she said, "I hope Digger will tell us if he
finds anything we'd like."

Cirina's face fell for a moment at the mention of 'other trips in the
future', but she reminded herself forcefully that that wouldn't apply to
her. This time. This would definitely be the time she Impressed; she was
going to make sure of it. To Lindora, she said, "Oh, he definitely will,
even if it's just because he knows not to steal-mostly. If he finds
something good, he'll come get me so I'll buy it and share. I hope I
brought enough marks for snacks. What are you excited to see?"

"'If he finds something good'?" Farangen repeated, wrinkling his nose.
"I don't know if I'd want anything your firelizard found. I'm
ninety-nine percent sure that he's one I've seen digging in the garbage."

Chandrany, having just slid down the side of J'lor's blue, thumped
Farangen on the back. "You're just jealous you don't have one." She
leaned over his shoulder, inserting herself into the conversation,
looking at Cirina and Lindora. "Say dancing. That's what I want to do."

"Dancing is indeed a wonderful part of Gathers," Y'dran intoned with a
roguish grin on his face as he drifted near the women. He snapped his
fingers as though he could hear a rhythm already. It was clear that he
was going to enjoy being a chaperone and might not enforce _all_ of the
rules so stringently.

"So what's first? Food or dancing?" Oriene asked Cirina.

"Either would be great," Lindora chimed in. She also wanted to buy a
small something for her daughter. Maybe a wooden animal, or a book.

"And please stay with your group," R'lor called as the Candidates
started to move away.

"Snacks so we can spend a few minutes looking busy while we watch the
dancing. That's my vote," Cirina said.

"And maybe Digger would stay out of the garbage if someone didn't keep
overloading his plate with sausages and then throwing them away,
Farangen," she sassed back at the other candidate.

Farangen reddened as Chandrany snickered behind him.

"She's not wrong," she said.

"Look, it's just... if I get a bit of gristle it ruins the whole thing,
okay?" he spluttered. "I'm not the only one, right? Right??"

"Snacks and then dancing," Chandrany declared, nodding to the women and
ignoring Farangen's continued explanations. "Good idea. Eat, and scope
out the dancing square to see who's cute and looks like they need to be
dragged out on the floor! I want a shy holdboy. _Just for dancing,_"
she added belatedly. "How about you, ladies?"

Aicha has been only a little late in getting to the meeting place for
her first outing as a Candidate since arriving at Dolphin Cove Weyr, and
she still felt a bit out of place. But she settled quickly onto her
assigned dragon, and thanked the rider. And despite the fear of what was
only her second trip /between/, Aicha was definitely looking forward to a
Gather.

The view from above, after the deep cold, was exhilarating, and after
landing, Aicha slid to the ground, thanked the rider again, then headed
out after the others, hurrying to catch up. The idea of dancing sounded
fun, and she tapped one of thw other girls, Cirina, on the shoulder.
"Are there going to be any stalls selling ribbons?"

"Oh, well, I've never actually been here... I honestly don't quite know
where here is, but probably," Cirina answered Aicha brightly. "I can
have Digger look around for those, too. He knows what ribbons are." She
frowned, "Well, he knows what hair ribbons are, but he can probably find
a stall full. What do you need ribbons for?" She asked curiously.

Before one of the ‘ladies’ could respond to Chandrany, Danrhyn strolled
up. Throwing an arm around Faragen’s shoulder he arched one dark brow.
“A _shy_ holdboy? Didn’t know they were your type, Chandrany. Should I
practice my blushing?”

“Why don’t we make this more interesting,” he continued, raising his
voice. “Let’s have a competition. Let’s see who can lure the most
holders out onto the dancefloor. Only full dances count, so if you scare
them off halfway, that’s a zero. Deal?” Tall and tan and handsome,
Danrhyn was well placed to play his own game.

Lindora caught the eye of one of the other girls and rolled her eyes.
Boys always needed to turn things into competitions. She was enjoying
not having to deal with holder boys at the Weyr and so wasn't too keen
on dancing.

Aicha smiled at Cirina and patted the neck of her gown, which had a
pretty green ribbon sewn to it. "Well, I do want some for my hair, and a
few to replace some that are worn out on a couple of my dresses. It's
been a while since I was able to go to a Gather, and I really want to
have fun."

Farangen froze for a moment -- he wasn't shy by any means, but he was
very well aware that he wasn't part of the "handsome and popular guy"
crowd. Not the way that Danrhyn was, for sure. He wasn't used to having
a popular guy treat him like a buddy, either.

_It's fine, it's fine,_ he told himself. He could roll with it. _Shells,
Farangen, don't screw this up for yourself!_

"Deal!" he said, managing a cocky grin. Holder's weren't _that_ hard to
charm, surely.

"What, you both want to be losers?" Chandrany challenged. "Because I'll
wipe the dancefloor with you both. Are we wagering?"

"Bragging rights, of course!" smirked Danrhyn. "The sweet, sweet
knowledge you're the best and everyone knows it-- but if you _want_ to
up the ante, how about... each loser has to cover a chore shift for the
winner. We can work out the specifics later, after I win." He matched
Chandrany's blustery bravado with some good natured swagger of his own.

"Any else game?" he called, raising his voice and peering around.

"R'ayl will!" Evalya pushed her older brother forward. The young
bluerider looked as petrified as a rodent under the gaze of a
tunnelsnake, but this way they'd get to hang around with the older
Candidates, which would be _much_ more fun.

"Evalya! You've just handed me a bunch of candidate chores."

"But you're a good dancer. Remember how Mama taught us? Besides, you
have a natural advantage. The holders will think you're young and sweet,
not like those rascals." She gestured to the older boys. "You're bound
to win."

As much as Chandrany might have wanted to get to buying snacks and
maybe picking out some ribbons, she wanted to dance more. And there
was no chance she was backing out of a wager.

"She's got a point, R'ayl," she said, grinning. "I mean, you're not
going to beat _me_, but you've got dragonrider knots _and_ you're
young, cute, and non-threatening. The holdfolk your age will go wild
for that combo! Put these dumb guys in their place."

To Danryhn and Farangen, she gave a sharp-toothed grin. "You're _on_."

"Alright, then," Danrhyn chuckled. He looked more amused than
threatened at the idea of R'ayl and his mother's dance moves. "We'll
meet up later with our totals
before we fly out. No lying. Rider and future riders' honor."

Tossing the rest of the girls a playful salute, he clapped Farangen on
the back and headed off towards the stalls. “Come on, Farangen. Let’s
grab something to eat and find some hold girls.”

Cirina met Lindora's gaze and rolled her eyes right back, though all
she said was an exasperated, "Why are boys like this?" To the girls
she said, "Well, I think Digger found something fun," she pointed to
where the little brown firelizard was winging back towards them,
chattering excitedly. "Shall we go find some snacks and maybe a drink.
Oh, and some ribbons," she added with a glance at Aicha. "And then
watch the boys embarrass themselves?"

Last updated on the April 30th 2025

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Candidate Gather Trip