Not the best way for a gal to make friends....

[**Auria (etc)**]

Auria was exhausted. Little blue Safari, finally stuffed (now he would be stuffed, when he screamed for food the entire time she was trying to get her chores done!), was sound asleep. His body was wrapped around her neck, mostly hidden by her long hair, with a head on one shoulder and a tail wrapped around to the front from the other direction. The spicy-sweet scent of him, accented by the smell of meatrolls as he exhaled, comforted her soul, but did little to ease the aches and pains in her body. She had been in the store rooms, moving crates of citrus fruits, for a small caravan had come in and the food needed to be stashed in the lowest caverns, where it was cooler. Up and down long flights of dark, narrow, rough cut stairs she'd traveled, probably a thousand times....

Aury, you're exaggerating, her own mental voice chided her, in the very tone her mother would have used. The thought brought a tear to her eye, that trickled down her cheek, and landed on Safari's sapphire nose.

"Trrrl?" he said as he opened one eye and tilted his tiny head at her.

"Nothing, love-buggy," she soothed, and stroked him back to sleep.

She nigh-staggered down the hallway toward the candidate barracks. Turning a corner toward the girl's quarters, she nearly ran into a drudge. The woman stopped momentarily, her eyes went wide with fear, and she turned and ran back the way she'd come.

Odd. Auria scowled and went in the other direction, toward a bed where she could rest for just a bit before dinner. Why was the girl so nervous? And why did she look so familiar--

The little blue trilled again as Auria came to an abrupt stop. This time, however, there was something wrong.

That was the girl who had been assigned the task of watching Ranny in the lower caverns while Auria did her candidate chores. If she was running about the candidate quarters, where was--

A delighted squeal and a crash sounded from the end of the hallway.

--Rannell?

Aury broke into a run, setting Safari all a-squeal as he clung with desperation to tunic and hair.

She burst into the girls barracks. Her eyes went wide with horror.

Ranny was jumping up and down in the middle of a bed, and it was not hers. A pair of bloomers adorned his head like a hat, and they were also not hers. He had something in his hand ... a book? Definitely not hers.

The child was jumping up and down, with Wizzerd fluttering above him, chirping gleefully. She held a stocking in one forepaw and her hind feet tightly gripping some parchment sheets that look like they may have been....

"Torn from the book?" Aury squeaked, and then louder, "Oh, Ranny, WHAT are you doing!?"

"Me an' Wizzerd readin' a 'tory!" he replied, delighted, and jumped higher.

Aury looked around, and her fear intensified. It appeared not one, but two, trunks ... neither her own, since hers was her little nephew's bed ... had been broken into, and there were belongings strewn all over the room.

"How did you get ... away from.... Oh, RANNY!"

"We 'neeked out when the babies were taking a nappy. That girl tooked a nappy, too, so me an' Wizzerd came home to play."

"What am I going to DO with you?" the girl cried in exasperation, and rushed forward to try to sort out some of the mess the child and his flitter had made.

But what belonged to whom? She had no clue which items had come from which trunk, and she had a sneaking suspicion the culprits wouldn't be much help!

[katalina]

Kinga was just coming back from her own chores, peeling vegetables in the kitchen. Kitchen work was not her idea of fun and she hadn't enjoyed it too much, but she considered it her payment for the chance to Impress a dragon. Hopefully that day would come soon enough, because neither the chores nor the shared rooms of candidacy suited her one bit. Shaking her head ruefully, she reached up and ran a finger down Shanty's side. The sleepy brown flitt crooned, his eyes whirling softly with affection for his owner. Kinga smiled, a rare gentle expression on her face.

Then, she stepped into the barracks and heard yelling. Frowning, Kinga hurried down the passageway as she realized that the ruckus was coming from the room she shared with some other girls.To her horror, she found a child sitting among the ruins of two trunks, one she instantly recognized as her own. And in his hands were torn pages.

"My captain's log!" She screeched, shooting into the room, seeing the mess the kid had made of her journal. It took a lot of self control not to pummel the brat right there. Shanty hissed, mantling his wings. "What in Faranth's name happened here?" Kinga demanded of the other candidate, hands on her hips.

[**Auria (etc)**]

Auria had a load of clothing in her arms, an upset, scolding blue flitter on her head, and tears in her eyes when she heard the sound at the doorway.

Oh, no....

She turned, and her worst fears were confirmed. This girl, whom she'd heard called Kinga ... Aury saw her as tough, unyielding, and at the moment she desperately hoped her first impressions were wrong. She'd overheard some others talk of a past on the sea, and the girl's words about a captain's log certainly confirmed that chatter.

"Is that what-- oh, dear!" The girl's eyes went wide with guilt and fear. "I'm so sorry, the drudges were supposed to be watching him!"

She swallowed hard, and dropped the clothing she'd been trying to gather up, to reach for the book.

"No, we readin' a 'TORY!" Rannel said. His little mouth formed a firm pout, as he dodged out of her reach. He ducked past her and ran around the room, his green flitter happily warbling above his head as she followed, delighted in the game. "'Tory, 'tory, me an' Wizzerd readin' a 'tory!"

"Rannell, stop! That's not yours!" Aury scolded, and tried again to dive for the child. "Please, Ranny, give it to me!"

"NO!" the child squealed with laughter, oblivious to the anger that was floating around the room after him. "Mine 'tory!"

Aury lunged again, and Ranny dodged, veering directly toward Kinga as he did so.

It was at that moment that Wizzerd spotted the brown flitter, and realized that his response to Hers appeared to be hostile.

She hovered, wings pumping furiously, poised in place. She chattered and rattled, shaking her purloined hide-sheets in Shanty's direction. How dare he scold HER boy!?

[D'gellin]

Trilia sighed self-pityingly as she rubbed the tips of her fingers together, the skin pruned from water. This was just reason number one hundred and thirty four of why she needed to become a dragonrider in the very near future. The delicate little girl was simply not cut out for chores. She'd already proven to be too weak to suffer through any sort of demanding labor, and never felt very inclined to do a good job on anything else. It wouldn't matter, she reasoned, since she would definitely not be washing dishes or anything of the sort for much longer.

As it stood, however, she did still have to do chores, weather she was good at them or not, and weather she enjoyed them or not. Having finally finished her share for the day, the little girl was definitely looking forward to curling up on her bed with a history book. It had been so long since she had last done this, and there was still so much to learn about the time she which she had jumped through with her father...Her brown firelizard, who had been perched contentedly on her shoulder, chirped in assent to this idea, projecting an image of himself curled up on his mistress' lap while she read.

The sound of childish squeals, however, set Trilia's jaw grinding and Ronin to the air in alarm. Oh yes, that was why the girl spent so little time in the barracks these days. One of the more recent candidates had brought a baby with her. A noisy baby. Trilia rolled her eyes, rethinking her plan. She could always escape to the Lower Caverns, maybe treat herself to a piece of fruit while she read. Yes, that was exactly what she was going t--oooh no!

"That's my bed!" Trilia gasped, watching with mounting distress as her once perfectly manicured sheets were trundled beneath eagerly bouncing little feet. "No, no, no, shoo, get off!" She whined, rushing over to...do what? Scold him? Bodily remove him? Fortunately she was not required to do either, and instead backed out of the way as Rannell ran by, his green firelizard whizzing past right after him. "Watch it!"

[Spiffy .th !]

For the most part, Katalyn was actually pretty happy with the chores she'd got today. Though she acknowledged the fact that most girls would frown at the task, she did sort of enjoy it. At least mucking out and grooming got her closer to the runners she so loved. They weren't perhaps the top of the range runners that she had been used to seeing at the Beastcraft Hall, but they were fairly decent, if not so well trained and apt to getting in the way.

Reaching the top of the flight of stairs she was on and turning the corner into the corridor she caught sight of another girl in front of her, before she too turned a corner and disappeared from sight. Since few other people made it their business to be in the candidates quarters corridor, she naturally assumed that that was what the girl was, besides the fact she was vaguely familiar from the short look that Kat got. She shrugged and carried on her own way to the quarters. With that movement she became aware of an unpleasant smell. Realising too that the smell was coming from herself, she shrugged again. There were worse things she could smell of that old stables, though she did make a mental note to get to the bathing caverns ASAP, before she upset too many of the other girl candidates, which she was bound to do.

Approaching the door to the barracks she noted the sound of squealing, accompanied by various shouts. She had a brief moment to wonder what in the name of Faranth was going on before she pushed through the door into the girls.

What the... Shards! She paused, eyes scanning the dorms in slight disbelief. My trun- MY BOOK!!! she all but screamed, noticing the torn pages lying on her disheveled bunk. Why you little- her next words were thankfully drowned out by the other girls Watch it! as she stormed over to her bunk.

Reaching it (after pushing past one or two people on the way) she scooped up the torn pages, mostly her drawings of the runners at the Crafthall, and clutched them to her chest possessively, before searching around on the floor for the binding. Bindings like those were rare, and expensive enough. Besides, that one had been a gift from her father, and was especially close to her heart for that reason. Finding it at the foot of her bunk, dumped unceremoniously by her open and spilling trunk, she gathered that up too. Delicately she began placing the pages back into their covering, momentarily oblivious to the pandaemonium around her, so intent upon her task was she.

Finishing, she again stood, turning to the others in the room for the first time. Who is responsible for this? she said in a tone that was somewhere between a shout and menacingly low and quiet, but loud enough to be heard. If that was at all possible, she had just done it nevertheless. Despite the question she had just asked, she already knew the most obvious answer, and fittingly glared at the small culprit. Again if it was at all possible to gaze daggers at someone, she sure as hell was doing it then.

[**Auria (etc)**]

Auria fought back the tears as she chased Rannell about the room, trying hard not to make eye contact with Kinga.

The other girl was furious, and rightly so, but Ranny was oblivious to the anger. He was just having way too much two-turner fun.

The third time he leapt onto the bed he'd been bouncing upon, Aury grabbed for him and snagged him by the tunic.

Rannell fell forward, shrieking with laughter, as his auntie hefted him into the air just as another voice yelled, "My bed!"

With horror, Auria noted the dusty bootprints all over the girl's (previously) clean bedding, and prayed that the girl ... Trilia, she believed, was her name ... did not make note of the tear in the sheet till after the toddler had been swept out of the room.

It was not until yet a third barracks-mate entered, and shouted about her book, however, that Auria realized that the various pages the hysterically laughing child still clutched in his hand actually belonged to two different tomes.

At this revelation, the girl froze. She felt like a wild wherry, backed into a corner by three very angry dragons, and fought down the ridiculous urge to squawk.

Squawking, however, was not at all below the little green firelizard who hovered above her, attempting to pummel her with angry wings and claw at her hair, or the protective blue who crawled up onto her head in a valiant ... though increasingly annoying ... attempt to defend his human.

Not knowing what else to do, Auria sat with a thud on the nearest bed. She pulled her nephew over her knees, and pinned him down, belly first.

"You WILL let go," she said, in her best don't mess with me tone, and grabbed gentle hold of the parchment sheets.

Ranny had heard that tone before, as his Gramma had been most practiced at making little children behave. He swallowed hard, and stared wide-eyed at the barracks floor as his fingers flew open.

"We was just readin' a 'tory," he said. Though still indignant, his voice was at least more subdued, as it began to sink in to his little mind that perhaps his fun might not be quite so amusing to the three "big girls" in the room.

Safari quieted and settled on Aury's shoulder as Ranny's sudden shift in mood caused Wizzerd to light upon the bunk, turn her little head upside down, and chirp inquisitively into the little boy's face.

Aury looked up, eyes huge with the horror that had increased exponentially since she'd entered the room, and held the pages out mutely to their owners.

She didn't even dare ask who belonged to the bloomers her nephew still wore on his head....

[D'gellin]

Trilia took a deep breath, attempting to master her temper. Rannell was just a baby after all, and his antics seemed innocent enough. Amidst the chaos and cries around her, the candidate applied to a silent mantra: a proper lady would not cause an outburst. Perhaps she had raised her voice, but Trilia could still retain some dignity. Across the room, the tiny boy had also halted in his trouble-making, and Auria had finally taken command.

Thank goodness that was over. It took a great deal of effort for Trilia to hold her tongue and cause more trouble, but she had a demolished bed to attend to. Head held high and obstinate, the candidate went to go rearrange the bedding and ensure that nothing else had been disturbed. Mud. A tear. Trilia's nostrils flared and mouth thinned as she puffed her pillow, perhaps a bit violently. No, no, the child had been reprimanded. Adding to the uproar would do no good. She would speak with Auria civilly after everything had died down. That was the mature thing to do.

She could not, however, dispel a feeling of unease, as though she had forgotten something. Sure enough, when she turned around to survey how badly the rest of the barrack had fared, Trilia was mortified to recognize her bloomers...on the child's head. How did he-? When did he-? "Why you little-!" Trilia stopped herself short, sucking in a breath. Her undergarments were out in the open, for everyone to see, and the idea made her face flush in embarrassment. They couldn't know those were hers. Something had to be done though, and if no one else was going to complain then Trilia would. This wasn't the first time Rannell had caused trouble after all. Everyone else would be happy to have something done. She couldn't be the only one. "This is the last straw.

"I'm telling the candidatemaster." Trilia announced very importantly before stalking out of the room, nose in the air.

Daddies always knew what to do...though it did give the threat a bit more weight when your father had a position of importance...

[katalina]

Shanty growled at the green, eyes whirling an agitated red. She didn't have any business scolding him! It was her owner that started this trouble! Kinga didn't bother to tell her brown to calm down; it would have been useless with her own upset feelings. As the green shook the pages at him, Shanty jumped off of Kinga's shoulder and went to snatch them out of her claws.

Kinga's scowl deepened when she heard the boy's excuse for tearing up her book. A story? Just how much could the kid read? Those were her private thoughts. It wasn't like she was gushing over any boys in there, but she didn't want anyone else reading it nonetheless. When the boy dashed her way she tried to grab him, but he was too fast.

Then two more girls arrived, both discovering that their goods had been damaged too. Finally Auria reigned in the child, and Kinga took the pages, still silently fuming. She rifled through them, found a few with sketches on them, and wordlessly offered them to Katalyn.

She eyed Rannell, wondering if she was authorized to give him a spanking. Then Trillia announced that she was "telling." Kinga rolled her eyes. It wasn't the idea of telling the Candidatemaster, but Trillia's snotty attitude that she found ridiculous. As Trillia sauntered out, Kinga looked back at the now penitent Ranell. She was still mad about her trunk being torn into, but it wasn't like she had been a perfect angel as a kid.

"You want a story? I'll give you a story, if you can sit still and be quiet for it," Kinga said, moving across to the boy and kneeling down so she was on eye level with him. Shanty landed on her bed, sulking and watching his bonded.

[**Auria (etc)**]

Aury gasped at Trilia's final words. "Oh, no, not the--"

--but it was too late, for the girl was already gone, and the whispered, "Candidatemaster" fell only upon the trailing edge of her shadow.

The Candidatemaster ... was he really her barracks-mate's father, as she'd heard whispered? In that case, the hot water Ranny had landed her in was about to boil.

But when Kinga approached, her little brown firelizard obviously distressed over Wizzerd's (who quickly dropped the hidesheets as she dodged the advance of the larger brown) defense of Rannell, Auria's worries turned into protectiveness. Kinga took the sheets from her hand, and leaned toward the child who still lay across her lap.

Aury's grip tightened on his tunic, though what she thought to do to protect him, she hadn't quite figured out.

Wizzerd chittered at Kinga, wings flailing, as she landed on her young human's upturned buttocks protectively and even the normally gentle (but always hungry) Safari's eyes whirled with worry.

But when Kinga leaned down, looked into the two-turner's face, and offered to tell him a story -- the auntie's jaw dropped with surprise.

Rannell, a child who a few sevenday before had tossed with nightmares of fear, now said, in a bold, friendly little tone (his green firelizard immediately echoing him with lengthy explanations of her own):

"We was readin' the 'tory 'bout the little boy an his auntie who was saved by the byooteeful d'agon after his momma an' his grammy was eated by the freds. Do you know that 'tory?"

Aury gasped, and quickly covered her mouth, lowering her head in the hopes that the long hairs which had escaped from her thick braid might hide the tears that leapt to her eyes. Ranny had not once voiced his memory of ... that day.

Until now.

She gazed at the proud green firelizard ... who chirruped away as she took several steps toward Kinga, agreeing brightly with her little master about the value of "that 'tory" ... and said a silent "thank you".

[Spiffy .th !]

Still fuming, she stomped up to Kinga and retrieved her lost sketches from her hand, trying not to snatch. After all, it was not her fault, and she had had her book ripped to pieces too. Thank you, she managed, calming a little as the toddler said about the "'tory." Why, a child that age wouldn't be able to read anyway, and there wasn't much of a story that could be gleaned from her sketches, at least not with her imagination.

Lightened a little, she couldn't help but laugh first at the realisation that the bloomers belonged to Trilia, and held back long enough until the outraged girl had left the room before guffawing at her grassing. Flopping onto her bunk and laying the pile of papers next to her, she leant on the rail at the end and regarded the now quiet tot. Methinks you're in trouble now, Ranny boy. She frowned as Kinga began to change the subject. Before stories I think there's something that you should say to us first, Ranny, she said, quirking an eyebrow meaningfully in Auria's direction. The little tunnlesnake hadn't apologised properly yet. Not that she was one to apologise often, but it was best to start the kids off young into better habits, and since the child had managed to thoroughly insult several people, she felt something was due at least.