|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:51 pm
Terisa flexed her shoulders, the muscles between them straining a bit. While she was quite used to hard work at the Weaver hall, dragging water around all day was a bit more work than bringing clothing scraps to where they were needed. Nevertheless, the chores were done for the day and the sun was down. Feeling in her pocket for another one of the meatrolls she had snatched from the dinner table, Terisa munched as she continued down one the trails she had found leading out of the Weyr. She knew as much as anyone that there was just as much of a chance that she would go back home in a few sevendays, but she hoped that the knowledge that she gained in this after dark excursion would be useful to her in the future. If nothing else it would help settle her nerves to get a bit more exercise. Not that she hadn't already gotten a healthy dose of that today, but the only way to over come her insomnia was to exhaust herself.
The night air was noticeably cooler thanks to the lack of sun, and it made it easier for Terisa to move quickly down the trail. The candidate's barracks were so closely packed now that the hatching was close that she desperately needed time away from the noise and crowds. The sounds of the woods were reassuring, but she thought that she heard something else on the night air....
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:21 pm
The grunting had started nearly a quarter-candlemark ago, and was frankly beginning to annoy Tyven. Sure, it was as close as Tyvensk came to speaking, but that didn't mean it had a set translation. the wher often made similar noises for alarm, delight, anger...There was a rather insistant tone about it, he gathered, but the wher's mental images weren't exceedingly clear. They never were, with their bizarre colors...This one felt rather hungry, of course, but so had they all since Tyvensk's last meal, that herdbeast at the pond almost three full days ago. "Ah, you're fine," The man grunted, thumping the bronze on the nose.
Of course, Tyvensk thought differently. Something rustled out in the trees beyond the weyr's outer wall, and the beast was off like a shot. It was all Tyven could do to run after him, bellowing obscenities and trying to call him back.
Their run was short lived, and mere moments after breaking through the treeline the cause of the commotion was made clear. A girl, of candidate age, was walking along and eating. Usually of a mind to send such a find straight back to the barracks, the unique circumstances of this meeting directed Tyven's attention rather at his own wher, who had skidded to a stop just short of the girl, and was snarling something fierce. Rough hands grabbed the chain that had been training from the beast's collar and tugged, cutting off that growl and pulling the wher away from the girl.
"What do you think you're doing, wandering around at night?" The man snarled in a tone to match his wher's.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:22 pm
Terisa had been settling in to a nice walk when a very disturbing noise startled her just in time to stop walking when a bronze blur skidded in front of her. In her surprise, the girl tossed the meat roll she was holding at the creature and backed up swiftly. What in Faranth's name was that thing?! Terisa's dark eyes, looking blacker than usual in the darkness, widened markedly and her heartbeat skyrocketed. No one had said that there was some dangerous creature in this area! Wouldn't they normally warn visitors that there was some new animal that they weren't accustomed to? There hadn't been any sort of danger in the woods around the weaver hall!
And then the man appeared and she noticed the chain around the creature's neck. This man was supposed to own this creature? Why would anyone want to be in the company of something so... hideous? But at least he had the strength to contain the thing, and Terisa was able to breathe only a candle tick before the man rounded on her. At his snarling tone, Terisa thought that she might have preferred the animal, but no, at least a man wasn't likely to bite her head off, or her hand. The thought of losing one of her hands was perhaps worse the girl that made her living off her hands, and there was no way that a crippled girl would impress. Balling her fists and holding them close to her body, Terisa tried to calm her heart, which was once again racing with the adrenaline sparked by the man's anger. Terisa, however, was a different person than the man, a person who responded to adrenaline with fear, instead of anger.
Opening her mouth to attempt a response, Terisa found that the staggering fear from both the snarling animal and snarling man wouldn't allow her voice to form. This was it, she was going to get kicked out of the Weyr before she was even allowed to stand! No one had said that she wasn't allowed to walk around at night, what was so wrong with that? How she wished that she could articulate this fact, but all she was able to do was open and close her mouth, looking much like a fish, and making babbling noises, probably much like a fish sounded.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:00 pm
Oh, wonderful. Well at least the girl'd gone silent rather than start screaming. Silence was a solid three steps above screaming, if you'd asked Tyven. Tyvensk had managed to snap the meatroll right out of the air, and was momentarily sated with it. As the bronze chewed noisily on the food the man gave another great tug on the chain leashing it, muscles straining a moment before the beast was lifted up off its front legs and dragged back a way. With a fierce glance back at the girl to make sure she hadn't run off, he looped the chain around a thick tree, fastening the hook at then end through one link to secure it.
With a deep breath he stomped back towards the girl, and stood before her. "Breathe," He commanded, obviously not just about to walk off and leave her gaping. "I take it you've never seen a wher before." He shifted and pointed back at Tyvensk, who was watching the exchange with a sort of dull curiosity. "That...is a wher. Obviously very large, very strong, and under recent food restrictions, very hungry." He crossed his arms and glared sharply. "There's no rule about walking alone at night. But. Don't do it with food. Understood? Whers aren't the kindest or gentlest even when they're fed, and it's their job to watch for folk wandering around. Mix that with your food, and you're lucky I caught him before he took your arm off." He gave a grim laugh. "I assure you, it wouldn't be the first time."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:46 pm
Continuing to gape at the rough looking pair, Terisa very quickly thought about making a run for it when the man went to tie up the creature, but as soon as she took a step backward, she caught the glare from him and decided that she didn't want that thing running after her. When he came back towards her, the dark haired girl took another step back, but his strange command caught her off guard, and she obeyed it, taking a deep breath. During that whole process, she listened to his words, following for the most part, though there was a large section of her brain that was still screaming run!
A wher.... She had heard stories of the hideous creatures, but she had certainly never seen one before. Apparently there was one housed at the main hold of Ista, but her family's holding was far too small and distant from the main hold for her to ever visit Ista. Her gaze shifted from the man's mouth to the wher behind him, and after just a glance, Terisa averted her eyes back towards the man, though she was, typically, not brave enough to make eye contact with this very angry person. At his question, all Terisa was able to do was nod, her eyes still wide in horror at the idea of that thing taking her arm.
After a moment, somehow, the girl was able to stutter out a word or two, "Why -why was he loose?!" Though she would have preferred for her voice to be demanding in the situation, her tone came out in more a shriek, though Terisa was really simply amazed that she had been able to command her vocal cords to work at all in the situation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
