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 Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 5:25 pm
Dragons. Amazing, beautiful dragons. There had to be at least fifty that she could see right now! Kyllae's eyes darted about. It had just stopped raining, and it seemed a lot of the creatures were enjoying the fine weather to stretch their wings. Who wouldn't want to fly right now? The sky was superbly blue, with wooly clouds floating around, sparse in quantity. Their was just enough of a breeze to tousle the hair. Tease at skirts and various fabrics. Dragons, those lucky creatures. And their riders, lucky to be able to share the joy. To fly with those awesome winged beasts. She laughed to herself, seeing a young girl and her still growing green do a roll in the air. Well, at least they were enjoying themselves.
Too often Kyllae felt people here were too serious. Then again, she was accustomed to the aloof, happy lifestyle she'd had in Southern. All this crowding, and all of the chores...were definately not something she liked, but...she stayed. Why? She wasn't even that sure. It wasn't like she had no where else to go. She was a dolphineer! She was in demand! No, she just...wanted to stay. Secretly craved a dragon. Though she would never admit her disappointment at failing so far to impress. But by golly did she want a brown! She knew it was bad of her to feel biased towards a color. She knew she should be open to any color, she would be lucky to get any dragon. But hey, people weren't perfect. Neither was she.
Unfortunately, she noted, she was out of company at the moment. Nursing a flask of wine, she frowned a little, her eyebrows drawing together as she pouted. Now, this needed to be remedied. And hey, look at all the dragons out! Maybe she would be able to snag a dragon and rider for company? Wouldn't that be something. She didn't think too much of dragon's personalities at this point. Though really, she'd only ever gotten to know her cousin's dragon, Haanyath, and...Haanyath wasn't exactly friendly. So...yeah. She hoped that Haanyath wasn't the norm. She stood up, having been dangling her legs in the lake, to stand up and get a better look around. There had to be a dragon who wasn't in the air. Somewhere.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 7:47 am
Still dripping and damp from his accidental dip in the lake, E'rik mock-scowled at his dragon, Daramulath. Sometimes the brown seemed to forget how big he was, and when that happened he usually ended up committing accidental wreckage. A few days ago E'rik had been forced to go to the infirmary because Dara had stood on his foot. Albeit briefly, but it still felt like something had broken. Fortunately nothing had been broken, just bruised, and Dara had been extremely contrite, since he knew dragons were never supposed to harm human beings.
In this instance, E'rik had been napping on Dara's forelegs, enjoying the heat that radiated from his dragon and the sun while simultaneously managing to stay cool because of his proximity to the lake. A proximity that turned out to be too close when Daramulath stood up without warning, accidentally rolling his dozing rider into the lake. Not the strongest of swimmers - though he had been learning quickly since he came to Ista Weyr - E'rik had thrashed around and splashed a great deal before Daramulath made a larger splash as he leapt into the lake to come to his human's aid. E'rik brought himself to shore, but Daramulath was claiming credit for it.
To hasten the drying process, E'rik had stripped off his sodden tunic and laid it on a sun-warmed rock to dry and then shaken himself thoroughly, spraying his dragon with water. He wasn't about to bare himself completely with so many other pairs of dragons and riders about. As it was, he sincerely hoped no one had seen him get rolled into the water. Not that it was likely. Maybe no one would mention it.
Dara remained floating in the water, his wings folded back and his legs churning beneath the surface to propel him in small circles. To amuse himself, he tried extending one wing toward the center of his circle and leaning in while flapping the other wing harder. It didn't have anything like the same effect it did in the air, much to his disappointment. It did succeed in creating an impressive breeze though.
"You might have warned me," E'rik said sulkily from the shore.
You might have taken notice, was the dragon's retort. You're usually such a light sleeper.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 4:00 pm
Well well well, what was this her brown eyes beheld? A brown dragon, so fine, and a rider to boot! A weyrling by the looks of it, Senior at that. She made up her mind (Rather quickly, mind you xD) to go talk to them. She practically pranced across the grass, enjoying the weather from her landbound position, reveling in the sunshine on her skin, on her back, on her bare feet. She didn't need wings to have a good time!
She noticed when she had gotten a little closer that, in fact, the rider was wet. Oh, had he been swimming? Kyllae loved to swim. Though you kind of had to like water, if you were to be a dolphineer. Pulling off her outer shirt, something she would have done anyway, to escape the heat in favor of her lighter, undershirt, she called out, "I don't suppose you could use a rag?" putting on a playful smile, to show off her favorite dimple. Though she had eyes mostly for the dragon, she could only assume was his. Swimming in the water, churning the air, looking awfully cute. Such a pretty brown.
She had to force herself to pay attention to the rider, even as she lingered a few feet away. Not that she was trying to be respectful, but, well, she wanted to make a somewhat good impression. And people didn't seem to like it when she got right up in their face. "I've also got some wine, if you would like," she added. There was nothing quite like a good bit of wine after a swim. At least in Kyllae's mind.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 7:58 am
You should start thinking of excuses, if you don't want anyone to find out how you ended up in the lake, Daramulath suggested. And quickly, because there's someone coming.
He had stopped playing in the water and was floating more serenely, like the adult dragons tended to do. It was just a short rest. It was a lot more tiring to move through water than to move through air. Even though his wings were strong enough for flight, the air didn't resist him the same way the water did. It felt like the water was fighting him whenever he tried to move forward. Or backward. Or any direction, really.
"Who?" E'rik asked, craning his neck to look around, making a pretense of stretching as he did it so it wouldn't be so obvious.
I don't know. I've never met this person. In an attempt to be helpful Daramulath projected an image of Kyllae to E'rik, showing his bondmate who he saw approaching just as the Candidate called out.
E'rik turned in her direction with a lazy smile and waved. It took a bit of effort to keep his smile friendly and casual as she stripped off her shirt. Briefly he'd hoped there might not be an undershirt, but that was just the wishful thinking of an adolescent boy. He wasn't particularly disappointed when she turned out to have an undershirt on, thinking of the Weyr's preference that Weyrlings not engage in sexual activities until their dragons are fully grown so as not to take any risks of damaging their dragons' psyches. E'rik didn't think Dara would be damaged, and so sometimes he broke the rules. It took the edge off.
"I'll be all right, thanks. Kind of makes the heat more bearable to be a bit damp." Lies. He would have preferred to be dry. "Besides, that's a shirt. I'd feel bad using it as a rag. I appreciate the offer, though."
He followed her gaze with his eyes. She was clearly more interested in Daramulath than she was in him, which made him smile. he was proud of his dragon, even when he was mildly irritated at him. And he really was only mildly irritated. No one had been hurt, just startled and dampened. Nothing fatal. And Dara really was a very good dragon.
"And I thank you for the wine, but I'll pass on that, too. Dara doesn't like when I drink." That was true. The dragon didn't like how E'rik's mind felt when under the influence of alcohol, and so E'rik avoided it.
Introduce us? Dara asked. She's more interested in me than in you anyway.
I don't know her name, E'rik pointed out.
Nevertheless, he said to Kyllae, "I'm E'rik, by the way, and this is Daramulath. He insisted on being introduced to you."
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 9:34 am
Kyllae smiled, giving a little mock bow in Daramulath's direction. "Oh! Pardon me, kind sir. I meant no disrespect, my manners seem to have fled for the moment. I am Kyllae." She accented the bow with a little flourish of her hand, and kept up with her smile. She offered a strong, but not calloused hand in E'rik's direction. She was strong and fit enough, but her line of work didn't really wear down her hands. She chose to ignore the way his eyes had momentarily glanced her over when she took her shirt off. He was a boy, particularly a young one. She had come to accept that was just the way it was. And being in a Weyr didn't help. Even she, ultimately very reserved with her body, had suffered a few strange urges now and then.
"If you won't use it, I will," she shrugged, wiping her face off with the shirt. She laughed, however, when he added the bit that his dragon didn't like him to drink. "Really now?" she took a swig. "I find that most entertaining." she smiled at Daramulath, still chuckling a little. She wasn't aware dragons had much opinion on alcohol. Or was it that the sensation of being drunk was passed over the link? Maybe she would ask her cousin. Oh how funny it would be to see a drunk Haanyath!
"So sir E'rik and Daramulath, tell me, how did you come to be here?" she asked, her head doing it's characteristic little head tilt to the side. "Pardon my forwardness, of course, but I really am curious about the origins of all the riders here. We have quite a medley, though I don't need to be telling you that. Shards, I'm a dolphineer, my cousin's a smith."
Kyllae's talking put even the most gossiping green to shame. She could talk a dozen dragonlengths a minute and never get worn out. And she could talk quite fast too. Tan, blond, talkative, Kyllae was a veritable Pern valleygirl, but a hundred times more cunning and devious.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 4:23 pm
E'rik couldn't quite figure out how she would have managed to be disrespectful in the short time they'd interacted. Neglecting to introduce herself didn't really feel like a slight to him. She'd greeted him cordially enough that he'd gotten the impression no disrespect was meant when she didn't immediately identify herself. Perhaps it was just that he'd mentioned Dara's insistance on being introduced. He still wasn't accustomed to the idea that dragonriders were very rarely denied anything, and people worried about giving offense.
E'rik shrugged and shook Kyllae's hand. "I wouldn't worry about it. Neither Dara nor myself was offended."
When he'd been training as a Harper, he'd been instructed that he would often be in a position where he would have to tread carefully with his words to give the impression of neutrality or cordiality, and the habit had carried over into the Weyr, even after Impressing Daramulath, which seemed to grant him a certain license to state his opinion and expect to be listened to. Harpers were supposed to be afforded the same courtesy, but without a large, toothy, firebreathing companion to lend support it wasn't always as forthcoming as the Hall would have liked.
I could be offended, Dara said. You didn't even ask.
You're not. I would have noticed.
Like you noticed me standing up? the large brown teased. Let us be glad that I am the one who will flame Thread, and not you.
E'rik ignored the dragon's teasing. It wasn't meant to hurt, and it didn't. It amused him more than anything else. When he Impressed Dara had been very literal-minded and had no appreciation for sarcasm or teasing, but he had learned quickly, picking up some of E'rik's speech patterns even.
"Dara says it makes my thoughts fuzzy and hard to understand when I drink. He also says a lot more of my emotions get through to him, which is apparently confusing. I guess tipsiness and drunkenness can pass through a rider to his - or her - dragon." He shrugged again. "It's a shame. I actually enjoy a glass of wine from time to time, but Dara insists it makes a difference even in such a small amount." He rolled his eyes, but the smile he gave as he spoke his dragon's name made it very clear he adored the brown.
"As to how we came to be here, Dara hatched here. Not in the last Hatching, obviously. The clutch before that, which hatched gold Yansanth." He'd found people tended to remember clutches better if he could cite higher-ranked dragons that had hatched from them. "I was an apprentice at Harper Hall studying voice, but I was home when I was Searched."
He wondered why she kept asking to be pardoned. She didn't seem to be particularly intimidated by either him or his dragon, and so there was no reason for her to be so apologetic. Maybe it was just her speech pattern. Except that made little sense. She had been a dolphineer. It wasn't exactly a disrespectable profession. Few were suited to it, and those who were suited to it were usually remarkable individuals.
"A dolphineer? That must have been fun. I have a friend who's quite fascinated by shipfish. Dolphins. Which do they prefer?" He had no difficulty keeping up with her fast-paced speech. His trained ears were talented at picking up everything, and his tongue was no less glib than it had been at Harper Hall, though it was considerably less well-appreciated at the Weyr.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 4:58 pm
Kyllae wasn't normally so quite to try and get pardon. Shards, she could be impolite to the Weyrwoman and not think twice. Daramulath was just so stunning though! She laughed at herself a little. Why, she was more intoxicated by brown dragons than wine!
"Oh really? That's quite interesting. I'll have to slip a few drinks to my cousin sometime. I would love to see her dragon a little tipsy," Kyllae laughed out loud at this. "Perhaps you know them. T'ka's dragon came from that same clutch. Haanyath was the first to hatch. Short, wher-like, nasty as wet tunnel-snake?" Kyllae wasn't hopeful that he knew her, but Haanyath's viciousness seemed to be quite well-known at this point. Kyllae almost felt bad for her cousin. Hard to believe such a nasty little green thing was related to such a regal, calm dragon such as Daramulath. Oh well. That was a dragon for you.
And though she made no comment on it, she couldn't help but note how fond of his dragon E'rik seemed. Good for him. Kyllae hoped he knew how lucky he was, to have a dragon. She didn't know Daramulath, but it was obvious he had better matters than Haanyath. Then again, a flighty-gold had better manners than Haanyath. Kyllae wanted a dragon, but she was also somewhat worried that if she impressed, it would be to some little nasty like Haanyath. Yuck.
"A harper, eh? We sure seem to have a lot of harpers here. It's a miracle the Harper hall hasn't issued some sort of complaint yet, it seems we're stealing all their youngsters," she laughed, but she was slightly serious. It was almost ridiculous, the amount of harper candidates. Now granted E'rik was not a candidate, but a Weyrling, but still...it seemed like every other person was a harper! How amusing, the Weyr certainly wasn't for lack of music.
"Oh, it's...Dolphineering is the best," Kyllae stated, believing it the fact. Nothing was better. Enjoying the sun, having fun, swimming...and it had been her job too! Though it had hardly been work. Kyllae had loved each and every day of it. Well...almost all of them. But she didn't want to think about the careless day or two, her 'accidents'. Her scars were painful reminders that Dolphins weren't the only things in the water.
"Call a Dolphin a shipfish, and they'll be quite quick to inform you that, in fact, they are not fish. It's a common misconception." She got a lot of questions about her profession. It had seemed a natural thing for Kyllae, but, appearantly, not many people were cut out for it. Go figure.
She wondered a lot over why she left too...why did she? Well...it was complicated. And also one of the reasons she wanted a brown so badly. Her two sisters had been whisked off here, leaving Kyllae back at Southern. The dragon hadn't thought her to be rider material...what had changed in her after that time, to make her next encounter with a dragon the one that sent her here? Who knew. But her sisters had impressed a blue, and a green. Kyllae wanted to prove she was better. And what was better than a blue or a green? Why, a brown of course. Simple logic, really. At least in Kyllae's mind it was.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 5:46 pm
T'ka. E'rik remembered her, actually, and not just because of her foul-tempered dragon, though Haanyath's vicious nature was becoming legendary among the Weyrlings. Really, the brownrider had not had much cause to interact with the pair since the Hatching, but he felt that Haanyath couldn't be as bad as everyone made her out to be. She'd just had an inauspicious start.
"Actually, I think I met T'ka before she Impressed Haanyath. There was a Gather shortly before the Hatching and Touching. I'm ashamed to admit, however, that I paid more attention to her firelizards than to her, and I abandoned her to talk to a friend who surprised me with his presence. He's a Candidate here. Mal? He used to be a Harper, too."
E'rik wasn't the least bothered by Kyllae's observation about the large Harper population at the Weyr. It was actually something that had been bothering him for some time. At first it had been somewhat comforting to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar environment, but after he Impressed Dara it had been a little uncomfortable to see them all the time. He'd been the one who had failed at Harper Hall, nearly crippled by his stage fright, and yet he had Impressed a brown dragon. Conversations with all of them had grown increasingly awkward. Except Mal. But that was why he considered Mal his best friend.
"Well, the Hall's crawling with people who want to be Harpers, so it's not like most of us would be missed." Mal was missed, he knew. Mal's composition master had been devastaged when he left the Hall. And he wasn't so self-effacing to doubt that he had been missed initially, but his story was different. He'd Impressed. It wasn't quite as pathetic as it had been. Besides, he was just a singer, and even though he was an uncommonly good one, singers were less rare than composers.
"If you like spending all day in the water so that your skin gets all wrinkled like a prune, I suppose it's not a bad job," E'rik teased. "But learning to understand dolphins must take a great deal of training. I'm told they don't speak our language, quite, but rather a purer, ancient form of it."
That had actually intrigued him when he'd first learned of it, and he'd begged to be allowed to study that language, too, though he'd had no interest in swimming with dolphins day after day. He wasn't a strong enough swimmer for that to be a realistic goal, and he had been a very talented singer, and more than content to be that.
"It's only since coming to Ista Weyr that I've seen water deeper than a bathing tub. I know nothing about aquatic life. Though I do know now that I'm not to refer to dolphins as shipfish. I'll have to tell Mal."
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 6:08 pm
"Oh really? I wasn't aware T'ka ever got out. That girl is about as social as a clutching gold. She really went to a gather?" the last part was rhetorical, and Kyllae shook her head, chuckling under her breath. She liked T'ka, she really did. Her cousin just...wasn't that great with other people.
Kyllae was pleased to note that she wasn't annoying him at this point. Sometimes people just didn't appreciate good conversation, and tried to get her to go away. At least E'rik seemed somewhat engaged in her company. "I can't say I've ever met your friend, but I would love to be introduced sometime. If he's half as pleasant as you, I'm quite sure I'll enjoy his company." It was amazing Kyllae hadn't tried a little bit of flirting before now. Really, it was part of her nature. Possibly the fact that Daramulath was such a pleasing brown had distracted her from the fact that E'rik was a boy. "I mean, I just love getting to know people. I would be more than happy to answer any questions your friend has on Dolphins. I don't suppose there are many Dolphineers up here at Ista? I haven't met another one yet. It was a stroke of luck I happened to be on this island when that dragon found me." she shrugged, looking unphased. Her whole life was based on luck and chance. Who was she to argue or try to understand fate?
"And yes! That's interesting of you to know that. Dolphins are...a bit different. They actually have quite a fascinating culture, if you're into that sort of thing," Kyllae didn't normally let on that she was interested in anything more than dragons, drinking, and parties. A lot of boys seemed to be put off when she let on that there was quite a lot of thinking going on in that head of hers. But hey, this was one subject she couldn't quite ignore. Her passion, her life. "They have strange names too. My best friend, his name was Argentina. Argentina! What kind of a name is that?" she laughed, rolling her eyes. "And they don't seem to understand the idea of dragons very well. I mean, thread to them is just a snack, because it drowns in the water. It was...very hard to explain to him just why I was leaving, and even harder to tell him why. Shells, sometimes I don't know why I left myself." her brow furrowed a little. Shells, she said a little more than she meant to. Reflection was a very private thing for her, and she had just admitted something of a very personal nature to E'rik. Whatever. He had only just met her, he wouldn't know what a big deal that was for her.
Taking another drink from her flask, she gestured at the ground with a wave of her arm. "Perhaps we should sit and make ourself comfortable? If you can stand any more of my chatter," she teased. Wow, E'rik was more engaging than she thought. She had come over here for Daramulath, and found herself involved in an actual, mildly intellectual conversation with E'rik. "And if Daramulath can stand to let me steal a little more of your time," she gave a little wink in Dara's direction. She had learned quite quickly that dragons understood what she was saying, even if she didn't hear what they said. One insult in Haanyath's direction had taught her that very quickly.
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 8:19 am
E'rik had to smile at Kyllae's professed shock at the idea of T'ka socializing. He was habituated when it came to watching people, and so he was aware that T'ka wasn't really one who went out of her way to meet new people, nor was the tall girl someone who seemed to enjoy idle conversation. Very different from her cousin.
One eyebrow arched upward at Kyllae's remark about him being pleasant. Not that T'ka would be one to gossip, but he didn't think his group of Weyrlings really felt he was a pleasant person. He'd managed to make one of the greenriders cry during their first lesson. He'd not repeated the exercise, of course, and it may be that he was the only one to remember it, but it still amazed him that people could get the impression he was pleasant if they knew him for a prolonged period of time. Which Kyllae hadn't. Which probably explained a lot.
E'rik, I would like to point out before you flirt back that Haanyath might actually be foolish enough to do something if you somehow hurt the cousin of her bondmate. I would feel like a bully if I had to oppose a green in combat. Just a thought.
I'm not going to hurt her, Dara. I don't think that's really the direction we're heading in.
E'rik sometimes wondered at his dragon's eagerness to pair him up with girls about the Weyr. The other day he'd been convinced that E'rik had feelings for another Candidate, Firyal, who was an even less likely prospect than Kyllae, as far as E'rik was concerned, since there was no physical attraction. But in any event, the girls were Candidates, and there were very specific rules regarding Candidates' activities - and Weyrlings' too, for that matter - and E'rik was only willing to push them so far. Nothing worrisome would come from a little harmless flirting.
"You're quite the flatterer. But I think you're more smitten with my dragon than you are with me or Mal." Which was fine with him. Made everything much simpler, though it still took some getting used to the idea that his dragon might be more itneresting to someone than he was.
"As for dolphineers, you're the first I've met. I know what little I do about the profession from the records at Harper Hall and hearsay, though I'm more inclined to trust the former than the latter." He'd never given much thought to dolphin culture beyond the purpose they served in protecting Pern from the threat of Thread.
He had noticed the furrow in Kyllae's brow, but he went on as though he hadn't. With time he could probably puzzle her out, but it was too pleasant an afternoon to put his brain to such exercise. Whatever had caused her to wrinkle her brow would have to remain a mystery.
"Argentina," E'rik repeated, sounding the word out slowly. It was totally foreign to him. "So they're not really like sea-dragons. My little sister used to think that dolphins did the same thing in the water that dragons do in the air. Thought they looked like dragons, too."
In all honesty, E'rik had no idea what a dolphin looked like, having never seen one, though he assumed they looked piscine. Otherwise why would their colloquial name be shipfish?
"Sitting would be good," E'rik agreed.
Are there dolphins around Ista Weyr? Daramulath asked. E'rik relayed the question to Kyllae, telling her that his dragon had asked, and adding that Dara didn't seem to remind if she monopolized him.
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:15 pm
If Kyllae knew what E'rik was thinking, she would probably try and prove him wrong. She was just about as social as it got. She could tolerate just about anybody, and would, for the sake of company. 'Pleasant' was a very broad term, which basically applied to anybody who didn't insult her right to her face. So yes, E'rik could very well prove pleasant. It was hard not to.
"Quite a clever one, aren't you?" she giggled, glancing at Daramulath. "Maybe you're right. I find my attentions quite drawn to your dragon. He's hard to ignore," she admitted. "Don't take me too seriously though, flirting's my nature," she informed. Or was it a warning? But wasn't a warning serious, and therefore not to be taken seriously? Kyllae pondered this for just a moment before moving on. It was a silly thing to dwell on.
"That's expected. Most people've never met a Dolphineer. Would you believe that some people still don't know what it is?" she laughed, the idea was outrageous. Really? Not knowing about Dolphineering? That was the equivalent of someone having to ask what a Dragonrider was. At least in Kyllae's mind. Though she supposed Northerners weren't quite as acquianted with Dolphins as they were in Southern.
Kyllae sat, folding her legs under her carefully, and folding her hands in her lap, staring out at the water and Daramulath, but turning back to E'rik constantly to prove she wasn't trying to ignore him.
"No, Dolphins have it easy with thread. They just eat it once it drowns. Though they look nothing like a dragon. They look a little like fish. But their tails move up and down rather than side to side. And then have a funny sort of mouth..." She looked thoughtful. It was harder to describe a dolphin than she thought! "And I could only assume there are Dolphins around Ista. They're just about everywhere, really." This part she answered more in Dara's direction, seeing as he had been the one to ask.
"I must admit, I've been quite curious, Dragon memory is supposedly quite poor," she gave an apologetic glance to Daramulath, apologizing if he found the last remark offensive. "But how long would you say they seem to remember. Haanyath always seems to remember me, though she can't always remember the things we've done." Kyllae was quite thankful that Haanyath never seemed to remember the tricks that had been played on her.
"Flits, I'm told, can remember things from generations ago. Do dragons do that as well?" Kyllae was quite curious. Daramulath was pretty much the first non-Haanyath dragon she'd really gotten to meet, it was nice.
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 9:19 am
E'rik smirked. "Oh, I can hardly help the cleverness. The masters at Harper Hall are quite insistant that their apprentices be observant. And someone like Dara is pretty hard to ignore. Particularly when he's making such a fool of himself trying to get attention. You'd think I ignore him shamelessly."
Because Dara was being a bit silly, fanning his wings to create a spray that just missed the pair of humans on the rocks. And since he clearly had no intention of getting out of the water any time soon, it was fairly obvious that he was just doing that to show off his wingspan, which E'rik was told was impressive for a dragon of his age. He hoped Dara wasn't trying yet again to convince him to take up with Kyllae.
"I will try not to take you too seriously," E'rik said with mock somberness. "And I shall endeavor not to find myself broken-hearted if, later, you do not remember me."
Actually, E'rik had no difficulty believing that people still didn't know what a dolphineer was. Kyllae was the first he'd met, and anyone who lived in a landbound hold would have no need to think about dolphins or those who consorted with them. He'd grown up in a landbound hold and then in Harper Hall, neither of which were places that boasted dolphins, or a necessity to know about them. The topic had come up at the Hall only as a curiosity.
"It's probably more common in Southern," E'rik pointed out as he sat down, crossing his legs. He was reasonably sure she'd already considered this, but there was the chance she hadn't.
Kyllae's efforts to divide her attention between him and Daramulath were amusing. He didn't have to keep Dara in his line of view because he was connected to him in other ways, but he could understand her fascination. Depending on how limited her experience with dragons was, she may not have had the opportunity to be even this close to any dragon besides Haanyath, which would be a shame.
"A...funny sort of mouth?" He could picture a fish with a tail that moved vertically rather than laterally, but the vague description of a dolphin's muzzle put him at a loss.
Do you think I could talk to one if I met it? Dara asked E'rik.
"Dara wants to know if he'd be able to talk to one," E'rik quoted. "Ah...as for his memory, Dara seems to remember things for about three days, but there's a noticeable drop-off after that point."
I can recognize people I've met more than three days ago, if I'm reminded of them, Dara protested.
"And, as he reminds me, he can recognize people if he's met them, but he does need to be refreshed. He's much better with remembering dragons, but I'm certain his memories aren't shared like that." He'd never heard that flits had memories that spanned generations. What fascinating creatures they were. He wanted one.
But you have me, and I'm far superior to any firelizard, Dara said.
Yes, but wouldn't a firelizard be an amusing companion?
Maybe, Dara admitted. But I'm still better.
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 12:48 pm
Silly as Daramulath was being, Kyllae was still intrigued. She noted the general shape of the wings, the size. They seemed bigger in comparison to his body that some of the other dragons she'd seen...but that could just be her imagination. She didn't get up close to that many dragons. Usually just Haanyath. But Kyllae didn't use Haanyath as a standard. It was quite obvious that Haanyath was proportionally different from...just about every other dragon here. Not that there was that much of a problem about being around Haanyath. Haanyath didn't seem to despise her like most everyone else. Go figure. And T'ka was always answering her questions...still, there was something to be said for being around a dragon that wasn't Haanyath.
"I'm about as likely to forget you as Daramulath is," she teased, rolling her eyes. "I'm not one to forget a face." And compared to dolphins, telling different people apart, and remembering them was easy. Most of her former skills weren't transferable to the Weyr. She couldn't cook or sew or whatnot...but that wasn't to say she couldn't do anything.
"It is. It's not the equivalent of Dragon riding, but it's still pretty revered. Apprearantly it's a difficult job. I wouldn't know. I haven't worked a day in my life," she chuckled. Indeed. Something about Dolphineering was supposed to set it apart. Empathy or whatever. Kyllae knew hardly anything about that. All she knew was that her job was to have fun, pretty much. Which was just fine with her. Too bad Candidacy wasn't quite like that. Imagine her suprise when she'd first been set out to sweep floors or to do trivial, manual labor. Yuck.
"Their mouths...look more like a dragon's than a fish. They have a longer snout than a fish, and their teeth and tongue more closely resemble a dragon's." Dolphins were kind of hard to describe. To those who hadn't seen them anyway. Coming to the Weyr and meeting people who didn't know what a dolphin was was quite strange. "And they have soft skin, like a dragon. Except it's sort of...slippery." Oh, how clearly she could recall the feel of dolphin skin under her fingers. The nice handhold the dorsal fin provided when Argentina wanted to pull her.
Kyllae blinked a few times. Dara's question was a good one. She'd never actually thought about it before. "I'm...not sure. Dolphins are ver intelligent. Much more so than people realize. They're fully capable of carrying on a conversation with people, although their syntax is a bit different from ours, it doesn't really pose a problem...Dragons can talk to people other than their bonded? Correct? It's just rare...if they can do that, I'm fairly sure they would be able to communicate with a dolphin if they wanted to. It might even be easier than that. But again, I'm not sure. I'll prod my cousin to take me down there sometime and try and experiment with Haanyath...why yes, this is a good idea!" she smiled. It'd be a long time since she'd had a question on dolphins she couldn't answer. "I'll get back to you on it, how about it?" she offered.
"That's what I thought. I garnered that Haanyath rememberd general feelings and thoughts on things, though specific incidents seem completely beyond her. I asked her if she felt bad for injuring a girl at her hatching and she seemed to have no idea what I was talking about." How strange, to only live in the present. Still, most dragons seemed rather happy that way...except for Haanyath. But Haanyath was never happy.
"With a dragon as large and grand as Daramulath...do you have any expectation of getting to be a wingleader or wingsecond? Or is that something they adress later on?" Kyllae felt it was safe to assume the pair had already started training to be on a wing etc. Haanyath was from the same clutch, and she'd started a while ago.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 6:00 pm
As if he was aware of Kyllae's scrutiny, Dara stretched his wings as far as they would go. He wasn't supposed to fly yet, but he practiced anyway, and he was proud of how his wings were growing strong enough to support him. He couldn't practice flying with E'rik because E'rik told him that required harnesses and there was no way he could get ahold of those without arousing suspicion, but that was all right. He wasn't ready for that yet anyway. He hoped his lessons would reach flight soon.
E'rik, why don't you and Kyllae join me in the water? You can hold onto me, the brown dragon suggested, craning his neck so that he could look at the the pair of humans over his shoulder, fixing them with his blue multifaceted eyes.
Maybe, E'rik said. I'm just drying off.
"I'm not sure whether I ought to be flattered or insulted. If I were anyone else Dara would forget me within three days." He grinned so she would be sure he wasn't serious.
His grin turned to a chuckle as Kyllae described the grueling nature of her former occupation. His former profession was another of those which people claimed was no real work. All he did was sing, he was told, which had always amused him. At least it had once he'd learned not to be offended by it. Harpering was something he had loved with all his soul, but it was still work. He was happy for Kyllae, that Dolphineering was something she could do without feeling like it was a chore.
"Maybe it's just that you're exceptionally good at it?" he suggested.
Thinking about it a little more, it occurred to E'rik that having such an effortless talent for Dprobably made more mundane tasks like the sort assigned to Candidates seem strangely difficult. He remembered that during his own candidacy he had done everything he could to avoid tasks which might damage his hands or his voice, just in case he didn't Impress. He had wanted to be able to return to the Hall. And so he tried to avoid letting the wrong kind of callus form on his hands and not to have to shout or be where meat was being smoked, and a myriad of other tasks he had feared might be damaging.
"It probably makes the Candidate chores a misery for you. Well, they're a misery for everyone, but most of us have some sort of background in boring work."
He listened raptly as she described dolphins, and in his head he came up with a fearsome looking creature that more closely resembled a Terran shark than a dolphin, though he had no way of knowing that, having no idea what a Terran shark was, let alone what one would look like. That was not something he had ever come across in the records of either Harper Hall or Ista Weyr, though he'd spent little enough time in Ista's record room. Having a dragon cut rather sharply into time he would have usually devoted to personal pursuits, such as research and practice.
I could probably make myself understood, then, but I might not be able to understand, Daramulath interpreted. Interesting. When I am able to fly I would like to seek out some dolphins to test this with. Will you remind me, E'rik?
If I remember. Daramulath had fallen into the habit of relying on E'rik to remember things for him. E'rik tried to remember what Dara asked him to, but sometimes the things were so trivial or so unlikely to ever happen that they slipped his mind.
"Dara thinks he could probably make himself understood to a dolphin, but might not be able to understand one. He would also be interested in a trip to visit some dolphins in the future."
Kyllae's last question came as a bit of a surprise to E'rik. He was sure that the Weyrlingmaster was constantly evaluating his charges' progress and measuring it against something to come up with conclusions and recommendations for the Weyrlings once they reached adulthood, but he didn't know what criteria they were judged on. Dara was a fine dragon, and E'rik did his best, but he had no way of knowing if he was being considered for any position of authority in the future or not.
"I think with the Weyr as crowded as it is the Weyrleader is spoiled for choice when it comes to positions like wingleader and wingsecond, and probably won't be choosing them from the younger dragons. I haven't noticed that I've been put into any special training to be an authority figure, anyway." He shrugged. For Daramulath's sake he hoped they comported themselves well in a wing, but for his own sake he didn't care if they held no special rank.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:29 am
Kyllae laughed, both at E’rik’s comment and at Dara’s showing off. She enjoyed the brown’s antics though. He was such a handsome dragon, far different from what she was used to. And such a rich color. He looked like he was want of attention; he was very obviously staring at the two of them. Though she could hardly fathom what if was he was saying, if anything.
“Maybe, I like to think I’m talented,” she chuckled. “Though I hardly know many Dolphineers to whom I can compare myself. It might turn out that I’m only a mediocre Dolphineer,” she admitted, though she doubted it.
At the mention of chores, Kyllae made a face of disgust for E’rik’s benefit. “Ew. Cooking and cleaning, not my thing. And don’t even get me started on latrine duty,” she grumbled. While she couldn’t think of anything right off of the bat, she was sure there had to be some kind of job that made better use of her skills than the degrading drudge work she was made to do. Kyllae liked to think she was more valuable and had better things to do then chop tubers and attempt to bake bread. Attempt being the key word, because Kyllae could burn water. Her bread resembled rocks more than it did something edible. “The only kind of labor I did was helping on the fishing boats as a kid. I haven’t done ‘chores’ for a long, long time,” she rolled her eyes.
At the idea of Dara going to visit dolphins, Kyllae perked up. “If that really is a venture you’d like to pursue in the future, I believe I could assist you in that. I know where the dolphins tend to congregate.” And, she was hoping that she might be allowed to come along. Any chance she had to take a trip back south, she would take. “And I’m sure I could call a few over, so we could test out the communication between Dara and them.” This sounded like a very grand idea, she decided.
“Maybe. It is a little crowded here…but they’ll surely have to create extra wings or something, to make up for the surge of new dragons. And Dara’s such a magnificent beast. It would be a shame if you weren’t at least wingsecond,” she decided. “I doubt there are many browns better formed than Daramulath. He’s pretty big too,” though E’rik probably already knew these things.
She drummed her fingers on her leg, reveling in her good mood. “What’s it feel like, to impress?” she asked out of the blue. “I’m really quite curious.” She had tried asking T’ka, but her cousin wasn’t very good at talking about her feelings. And Haanyath didn’t remember her impression. So…Kyllae had been lacking someone to ask. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
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