Up all night (Tags: Tarot Weyrling Class)

Unable to sleep, Nova had been a pent up ball of energy all evening, hardly able to hold still as he lay in bed waiting for the Weyrling Master's Assistants to retire for the evening. As soon as he felt the coast was clear, the weyrling bluerider slipped from his bunk to pull some jeans and shoes on, not bothering to wear anything over the white vneck tshirt he usually slept in.

Hunkered down, Nova went by the bunk of each of the weyrlings in his class, making sure they were awake. Tiv, Q'rjin, Vinnie, amoungst others. Soon, the entire barracks for the males of their class would be empty.

While others were crawling out of their bunks, Nova moved silently to the door to stand watch in case the Weyrling Master or an Assistant should happen by. And it wasn't as if anyone should notice. The Weyr around these parts was perfectly quiet this time of night generally, and their rooms were dark, with little light to betray them. The weyrlings could easily sink back into the shadows until they wandered into busier corridors to pass through to where they were going.

To safeguard against certain possibilities, it was in the couple of days prior to the agreed night that they'd all sneak out on, Nova had been keeping furtive watch on the habits of the night watch about the Weyr and on the Watch Wher as much as he was able. That wasn't to say he knew every path they took, nor at the exact time, but it would give them a little better ability to make their way around without getting caught.

Either way, the night would be exciting, and they would have a lot of fun exploring the older, abandoned corridors of Fort Weyr. To get to those places though, they would have to get to the records rooms first; beyond that, they would find what they were hoping to explore.

V'nius blinked sleepily when Nova tapped his leg.  He'd been so keyed up when he'd lain down that he'd actually almost fallen asleep!  That wouldn't do at all, of course, since he'd completely miss the fun if he did doze off!

Scrambling to yank his trousers up his legs and trying to put his feet into his boots at the same time, he wound up hopping a bit and knocking into his bunk just enough to make the tiniest noise.  He stilled, waiting to see if the faint creak woke any of the others still in the barracks, but kicked himself back into gear when he spotted another classmate hurrying past his small alcove.

Surely no one else had heard that-- it wasn't any louder than a cough.  Right?  And they'd all learned to sleep through others coughing, and dragons shifting on their couches, and...

He really didn't want to wait to find out.  So he was busy pulling a lightweight sweater over his head as he rounded the edge of his bunk and joined another of his classmates in following Nova out of the barracks.  "Sorry!" he hissed lowly as he nearly ran the other boy over in his haste.  But he didn't say anything else for now-- he'd made too much noise as it was, and he didn't want to be the one to get them all caught!

Not long later, he arrived at the designated meeting spot, hoping the girls weren't having any problems on their side of the barracks.

Whereas the others were either full of energy or nerves, Q'rijn was as calm as ever. He had been invited to this excursion and though he thought the odds were obviously in favor of them getting caught, perhaps this would be a way to actually be seen as part of the group for once, instead of the silent brownrider who no one talked to or invited anywhere.

He knew he was quiet and he wasn't about to turn into someone who was very chatty but it would be nice to have a deep conversation now and then with a classmate. This would also provide an opportunity for him to be around T'veli. Unfortunately he had done so well at hiding his desires for men that the others assumed he liked women. It might be a while before he was willing to admit his desire to anyone but it was sad they assumed because he rode a brown dragon he had an interest in females.

When V'nius nearly ran someone over, Q'rijn said, "Careful." Though whether he meant about the noise or the boy nearly getting hurt, he was unclear. Following Vinnie out, he arrived at the meeting place just behind him.

---

Raelestriata was perhaps as excited if not more so than Nova so she had left just a few minutes ahead of schedule. She was quiet, using her many days of sneaking out in the early morning trying not to wake the other girls to go run, as a useful experience to draw on now. She made it to the meeting place with ease.

When Nova arrived she spoke, "How long should we wait for stragglers?" Her hair was plaited back in one long braid, still wet from when she bathed before heading for bed. She had a pair of legging tight pants on, which were met by boots that went to her mid-calf. Her shirt was loose and long enough to cover her butt completely.

She greeted both V'nius and Q'rijn as they arrived although perhaps not as excited to see Q'rijn among them as she was to see V'nius. Greenriders really should stick together.

Gr'ayn's eyes snapped open when someone tapped on his bunk. At first he almost shut his eyes and went back to sleep. But then some trailing thought in the back of his mind surfaced, and his eyes snapped wide open again, this time fully awake. "Oh!" He hissed. Rolling over, he rolled straight out of bed and onto his feet. Snatching up his trousers, he slid them on as quickly as he could, shoving his feet into leather slippers as fast as he could. Chances were good that he wouldn't be needing his actual boots, and slippers were faster anyway. Shoving his arms into a shirt, he pulled it over his head as he slipped out the door.

Tugging it down past his waist, he trotted to catch up to the others he could see hurrying ahead of him. He had no idea who he was following though ... not only was it dark, but he had some difficulty fastening names to faces. After growing up in an extended family cothold where it was always the same faces day in and day out ... he had little practice remembering new people's names. But he was confident he'd get it right yet.

"Hey." He greeted, when he arrived at the meeting point, shoving his hands into pockets in an effort to keep them warm ... and in the process found a small cloth-wrapped bundle in his left pocket. At first he almost pulled it out in curiosity. While it was normal for him to have stuff in his pockets - that wasn't a normal something. And then he remembered what it was, that he'd put it there earlier in the day just in case. It was a couple glowworms... and if he pulled them out now they'd lose their glow too soon. So he left them put.

As soon as all those who'd agreed to attend the sneak-out were gathered, Nova motioned the group to move, taking position as the point lead man of the group so to speak, until they were able to congregate with Raelestriata and the other girls in their class.

When the two groups came together though, the excitement of the weyrlings was apparently as the chatter between them grew to a more audible murmering that Nova was afraid would be overheard. Trying to shoosh the group without being disruptive himself, Nova signalled with his hands to bring the voice level down or just to cut out the chatter completely. "shhh!" He could see on a couple of the more timid weyrlings faces that they were afraid the whole group might get caught already.

Probably just as jittery and excited as the rest of them though, Nova waved for the girls to fall into line with the larger number of boys present, wanting to disappear into the maze of hallways as soon as possible. They'd be less likely to be found there, with less possibility of suspicious eyes and ears about. First they would have to make it to the record rooms -after that, they were home free! It was said that beyond the record rooms, there were rooms and corridors that hadn't been touched for centuries! And tonight they'd be finding out if that was true. Maybe they'd find signs of the ancients in those rooms. Who knew?

As the group moved together, or in smaller clusters amoungst as many shadows as they could squeeze themselves into. Of course, the general excitement only grew more intense as they had to pass near by a central corridor leading to the Weyr Hall. From behind him, Nova heard a scuffle and a hushed "ow!"

Nova instinctively crouched, to make himself smaller, less noticable where he stood, turning himself to look back and see what was the matter. Or to ensure that they hadn't been spotted.

V'nius nodded at Q'rijn when he finally figured out who had followed him out of the barracks.  His brown-riding classmate had probably been the one to speak, now that the greenrider thought about it-- at the time he'd been a little startled when the larger shadow had materialized out of the darkness.  Q'rijn was just too quiet sometimes.  But it only made sense-- their bunks were actually fairly close together.

Gr'ayn also received a nod when he arrived at the meeting spot, too.  Vinnie liked the redheaded young man, mostly because he wasn't afraid to just be himself-- something V'nius was still learning how to do.

Of course, Vinnie then gave Raelestriata a bit of a hesitant grin when he saw her.  "What do you think we're going to find?" he asked in hushed tones.  That was, however, assuming none of the Weyrling Master's staff found them before they got to the unused caverns.  Still not sure whether they were even going to get anywhere with this stunt, he was hoping their punishment would at least not be too severe if they were caught.  

Trying not to be nervous, the greenrider continued to glance around, wide-eyed, as the group moved forward as a whole.  He had his share of stepping on people's heels and nearly running into backs before they all suddenly stopped.  Biting his lip, he tried to shift backwards, but knocked into a classmate, turning and mouthing 'Sorry!' without thinking they wouldn't really be able to see his mouth in the dark.  But he didn't want to make any more noise than was necessary!

Raeleastriata shrugged, "No idea Vinnie, but I think we'll find out soon." Her voice was louder than she intended but it seemed when they all finally arrived so many people were talking at nice it was hard to hear. The shhhs continued until no one was talking. Stil Raelestriata thought it was a bit much to expect them to be quiet the entire time.

No doubt Nova had already thought of the eventuality of everyone becoming vocal. Of the girls she followed Nova first, not because she considered herself more brave but she simply didn't think anything in there would scare her out of her more rational brain. Besides what was the worst that could happen?

Even as Nova ducked, Raelestriata stood and looked over her shoulder. "Keep moving." She said to Nova. After all, if someone had heard them there was no way they wouldn't be spotted if they stayed in position. Better to be out of that part of the corridor before someone came looking.

---

Q'rijn was quiet throughout the entire meeting up. The other classmates though were growing louder until someone began to tell them to be quiet. Normally he listened to what everyone around him was saying, getting a feel for the other's thoughts and moods. He wasn't much of a talker to begin with and this situation meant they needed to be quiet anyway.

Hopefully no one would notice he had made it his mission to watch out for T'veli by being the person directly behind the other boy. Q'rijn's crush had thus far gone unnoticed by the others and he wanted it kept that way for a little while. He was supposed to like women, not men and the issue bothered him so much he constantly had thoughts about it in the back of his mind.

Paying close attention, he did not need to look to see who was injured and who had been the offender. He agreed with Raelestriata though, they couldn't hide if someone made noise, they needed to keep moving.

He'd done plenty of sneaking out of places and back into places in his young life ... sometimes it was the only way he'd ever get to go to the river again. His cousins frequently had gone too. With such in his background, Gr'ayn couldn't help but think this was the noisiest and most disorganized bunch of sneaking around he'd ever seen in his life.

That didn't mean he was any less inclined to go too, though. He'd never have guessed them to invite him and wasn't about to turn it down... that and they were going somewhere he'd never been before. Something that someone had promised would hold all kinds of neat and interesting ancient artifacts. Or something like that.

He trotted along with the group as they got started heading down the halls toward the beginning of their adventure. Wincing as someone stumbled over someone else, Gr'ayn slid along a wall to ease toward the junction in the hall. Taking a cautious peek around the corner, he didn't see anyone looking their way. Just some towering person (to his perspective) walking the other way.

"Shhh, hurry!" Gr'ayn hissed under his breath, waving the group on before scooting across the junction himself. If anyone stumbled now, all that adult would have to do is turn around and they'd be made. Hopefully everyone would be quiet, he was eager to see what everyone was so wound up about. Falling back in behind the leaders of this expedition, Gr'ayn was getting more excited the farther they went, and it showed on his face - not that anyone could see it in the gloom.

Nova looked back at Raelestriata and then the others before heeding her words, leading them forward again. If they'd been spotted and anyone thought they were a suspicious looking bunch, then surely they'd overhear someone shouting about it sooner rather than later.

Having made it past the Weyr Hall, the group could disappear into the lesser traveled corridors leading to the large vaulted rooms that made up the Weyr archives and records rooms. As they went along, there was less and less light to guide the way, the torches or glows being spaced further apart, or perhaps leading into other hall ways.

Nova stopped abruptly near one, turning to Rae in an about-face, to whisper, not realizing that she or anyone else might be close enough behind to run into him. "Do you think we should take one of the glows with us?"

V'nius was beginning to doubt they'd pull this off without getting caught.  There were too many of them in one place for no one to notice-- maybe they should have split up into smaller groups?

The greenrider was about to suggest just that when he tripped over his own feet and stumbled into both a classmate and the wall.  Wincing at the faint pain in his shoulder, he hoped the wordless sound that escaped was quiet enough that whoever Gr'ayn had seen hadn't heard it.  Not that he was by any means the loudest of his group-- there were plenty of boot scufflings and excited mutters.

"Sorry," he murmured, yet again, to whoever he'd run into, flushing in the dark at the thought that he really just could apparently not walk in a straight line right now.  Not that he didn't knock into people often enough they were probably used to it by now...

Once he realized they were in some of the lesser used hallways, he started to breathe a little easier.  They hadn't been caught yet-- maybe they'd manage to pull this off after all!

Of course, when Nova stopped, the bluerider caused a rather domino-like effect of people bumping into each other, and Vinnie was yet again no exception.  He'd stepped on someone's toes, heard a faint yelp, and once again found himself whispering an apology, hoping they'd be able to spread out a little soon.

Raelestriata thought about what Nova suggested. Bringing the glow could be good or bad for them. "Depends on what we want to achieve. I mean it would be good to be able to see, less people tripping and making apologies. But its easier to see light at a distance in a dark corridor." She was whispering softly near Nova's ear. Never one to be indecisive she said, "I say bring a glow. Far better to return to the Barracks without injuries."

She wouldn't want to be the one to explain to the Weyrling Master how so many of them had twisted this or scraped that, come morning. She'd rather get caught with a glow, out after curfew. And while she didn't believe they would run into any ghosts, it might help those who did believe in such things feel safer.

Another apologetic voice broke over the crowd and she shook her head. They should keep moving. Those who fell behind would eventually catch up. Besides she was all for a smaller group next time they did this. Too many people made this rather awkward.

---

Q'rijn looked over at the overly apologetic green weyrling. "You alright there V'nius?" He was attempting to befriend the young man in hopes of getting to know T'veli too. There was another purpose though too. He was concerned that Vinnie lookes a bit over-whelmed. "Come over here, in front of me. I promise you can't hurt me if we stop suddenly again." Then he could look out for both he and T'veli.

He tried to assure Vinnie that he wouldn't make a sound if he was stepped on but he didn't mean he expected Vinnie to step on him at some point. Besides this whole thing was to set up to scare them all. Q'rijn, while skeptical that ghosts of any kind existed, was certain that some of the other weyrlings did, or would by the end of this trek. Better to be there to look out for two of the people he figured would be most affected.

Q'rijn would also not be surprised if everyone thought it odd for him to have said anything. He'd probably said more to V'nius just now than he had said to most of them their entire Weyrlinghood. He could always say he was concerned, like everyone else was about the noise but he figured everyone already assumed that. He didn't come across as someone who liked men. He knew he was stoic enough that people wouldn't think he would find people who were more emotional good company but he did. He tended to find male greenriders to be most interesting and attractive. Their company was far better than other brownriders.

The only thing that troubled him about all of this was they were more than likely going to be caught. He didn't particularly like the thought of being in trouble with the Weyrlingmaster. Q'rijn held himself to a fairly high standard and would never want to disappoint those who had faith in his abilities and his future as a rider.

Tiv did not like being quiet. He did not like not talking.

But he also hated to be left out of things, and so when the ringleaders of chaos and adventure in his class started talking about going exploring in the abandoned caves and tunnels of the Weyr, Tiv had promised himself (and Velikath, who liked it when she was included in his mental deliberations) that he would not cause any problems during this adventure.

He was going to bond with his Weyrling Wing, and they were going to like him, and he was going to make friends.

Well, friends other than Vinnie, and Q'rijn, who he liked, and Raelestriata who was very intense, and Nova whom he was close with, and Gr'ayn who Tiv knew (though not very well).

Tiv frowned in concentration (tripping over his feet only slightly in the darkness) realizing that perhaps Tiv was friends with most of the people who were adventuring that night.

A warm feeling pooled in T'veli's stomach.

His brothers and mother were correct- you did make friends in Weyrlinghood.

Tiv fairly bounced his way along the walk (The Greenrider was sure he was being stealthy, but he was probably the noisiest one walking), until Nova stopped, and everyone knocked into everyone else.

T'veli stifled a giggle (not well) and sorted himself out.

"Psst. Vinnie- do you think we're going to split the groups up?" Tiv whispered, have moved himself through the group until he was next to the other Greenrider again.

Nova nodded when Raelestriata was the only one to reply to him. If they hadn't been found out already, then it would be a good idea to stay not found out by simply returning in one piece; then they could say they'd really gotten away with it. In any case, if there weren't any other people around, the light would only be seen by them at this point, and they could simply replace the glow when they came back by.

Having felt the shove at his back when everyone came to a screeching halt, bumping headlong into one another, he nearly tripped forward. Correcting his footing quickly enough, he was able to avoid it though, and started reaching for the glow basket. Just then, someone yelped.

"Shhh. There could still be someone nearby to hear us." The Weyrling Bluerider turned around to hush them again, swinging the light in their direction.



From the direction of the Archives room at just that time, the Weyrleader had crept to the door, listening. He knew there'd been talk of spies at Igen, but he thought it likely that any such possibility would arise here. Fort Weyr was quite the exemplary stronghold, overall, of dragonrider vigilance. Much to the credit of Karene's rule as Senior Queen. And things were only continuing to improve under his watch as Weyrlead. While he'd been reading though, D'nier could have sworn he overheard some quiet mutterings from the hall. So, having stood from his chair, he went to the closed Archives room door, to peer through it.

Of course, all of his suspicions were gratefully laid to rest when there came a Yelp, and the words of those on the other side of the door became clearer when he neared, cracking the door a bit. The Weyrleader had a hard time not laughing aloud when he realized what they must be up to. Of course, that was all still in question, too; but at least the 'intruders' sneaking nearby were only youngsters. He would have probably been quite cross if the bunch of them were mature Riders snooping about.

Slipping through the door then, he did so quietly so that while they were bickering amoungst themselves for the moment, they might no realize he was close by. But then, just to startle the lot of them, he took on a most grave expression and an even more sage tone of voice. "Just where do you think you are all going, at this late candlemark?"

Giving his words a moment for his words to carry over them, so that they could take notice of him, D'nier gave pause before going on to usher his warning. "You do realize that there is a reason the corridors ahead have been closed off,... don't you? So I would suggest that you all return to your barracks."

The Bronzerider's gaze leveled over the weyrlings, meeting their eyes one by one if they had done so much as look his way.

Of course, the Weyrleader never flat out ordered them to turn around and go back. Technically it had only been a suggestion. Likewise, he had plans of only further sparking their curiosity so that they were more likely to continue their venture instead of giving up and turning back. He would give them that chance, too -to continue exploring while he had his back turned. But, in a moment.

First, he awaited their shocked reactions at being confronted with the Weyrleader.

Vinnie was a bit too keyed up to think too much about Q'rijn's offer, though he did flush a bit at the thought that the brownrider had noticed how he'd been running into everyone.  "Thanks," he whispered to his classmate, shifting around a couple of others so he could get into the offered place.  He didn't say anything else, though, fearing he'd already contributed too much to the noise to want to add to it.

That was, of course, until T'veli spoke to him.  "I don't know.  We'd be less likely to be spotted if we did, maybe…"  But it was also possible some of them would get caught and the rest of them wouldn't, wasn't it?  So some of their classmates would get to have fun, and the rest would have to go back to the barracks…

Of course, the glow was going to get them all caught, he thought when Nova shone its light on the lot of his classmates.  Maybe the bluerider should put it away before anyone saw them…

But it was too late.  Someone had seen them!  And V'nius could do nothing but stare wide-eyed at the Weyrleader of all people!  He couldn't even move, frozen to the spot.  Because even though they hadn't so far found the man to be a horrible taskmaster, that didn't mean D'nier wouldn't punish them severely for their transgressions.

[Closing thread. Remeber to check the dates for important events on the left hand side bar from the home page. Dates for major events now posted there.]