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 Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:49 pm
Throth sat daintily in the shallows of the hot springs, watching with water ripple around his feet. Age had certainly been kinder to the blue than it had to many of his fellows, though it was possible that was because he hadn't had to fight Thread. He has no scars or blemishes and only complained occasionally of joint pains. But that was to be expected in an aging dragon, and he took everything in stride.
"'ere there lad, whatcha thinking about?" J'ev said aloud as he stretched. Bathing time was always a bit of a challenge, though the hot water did wonders for both of their joints. Still, he wasn't as young as he used to be, and climbing aboard a blue (who was equally old and stiff) just didn't work out like it used to. But a dragon needed to be washed, which left the old man to trundle down to the hot springs every other day with his bucket and his soap sand to get Throth clean. There were times he was almost envious of the Weyrlings and their small dragons.
The passage of time. The ripples in the water. The infinite numbers of pebbles on the bottom of the lake. The blue obligingly lowered himself down so that his rider could wash all of him. Didn't Norra ask one of the candidates to come and help today?
The Weyrlingmaster gave a small shrug in answer. "Dunno. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:01 pm
She must have done something right. Seriously right. She wasn't mucking out beasts nor washing clothes nor peeling vegetables; she was helping to wash a dragon! Not just any dragon at that, the weyrling master's dragon; it was really quite an honour. As soon as she had been given her assignment, Layla had raced to her mother's quarters to change into knee-length trousers and a short sleeved shirt, both proven on many occasions not to go see through when they got wet.
She was hurrying across the weyrbowl now, her excitement infecting the tiny green flitt on her shoulder. Still young as she was (barely able to fly) Emerald had no idea what her human was so happy about, but she didn't really care either; happiness for any reason was good, her girl was so often not happy that she wasn't about to be choosy... Maybe there was a nice boy human involved or something? Boy flitts certainly made her happy, they were so handsome...
Layla couldn't help but giggle at her flitt's thoughts; when she was old enough, the green would probably rise far more often than most. She was so dappy, however, that she might never remember where she left her clutches.
They were drawing close to the hot springs now, and Layla began to find nerves mingling with her excitement. J'ev was reputed to be a very nice man (he'd seemed very nice to her on the day of the hatching) but she was still worried about insulting him somehow. She'd just have to do her very best to be respectful, and to not make too much of a fool of herself.
"Umm... Weyrlingmaster J'ev sir? I've been sent down to help you with bathing Throth today, sir." Oh dear, had she said sir too often? Was he going to think she was an utter dolt and recommend she not stand for any more clutches? Emerald, still perched on her shoulder, gave a reassuring squeak and nuzzled her earlobe; she was a lovely human, not stupid! Well... at least her flitt thought she was doing alright. Still feeling distinctly nervous, shifted on the spot and waited for the old rider to respond to her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:31 pm
Looks like help has arrived. Throth opened one eye slowly so he could get a better look at the approaching girl. Norra had sent a girl. How peculiar. The dragon exhaled in a soft 'hmm' noise, clearly appraising Layla for her worth as a cleaning help. Hrm. She's very skinny. Is that natural for her age and body type?
Don't be judging her before ye get to know her, J'ev admonished silently before fixing Layla with a bright grin. "Aye, that's me lass! I'm glad to see ye down here. Just worrying about getting up on the ridges before ye came along! Throth'll be mighty pleased to get all of him scrubbed down. Sometimes I just can't do it all in one go. It comes with getting old." The Weyrlingmaster gave a soft chuckle as he settled down on one of Throth's legs. "Do ye have a name?"
The blue, meanwhile, seemed moderately interested in her flit. She has a thing on her shoulder. I can't remember the word but it is very small. Little small thing you are very small. And green. The last bit was directed to Emerald, who Throth had just figured out could receive telepathic commentary.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:09 am
"Oh! Yes sir!" Layla flushed slightly, feeling foolish for omitting such a detail; you should always give your name, it was polite! "My name is Layla sir." He was being as nice as she'd hoped, though, so she tried to make herself relax. If she was all worried and tense she'd do a bad job, and she'd never be allowed to help again... Maybe if she did a really good job, she'd be asked for by name!... Well, that was a bit much to hope for really, now wasn't it? Better not to get her hopes up.
Emerald meanwhile was perfectly happy with the situation; she did like it when people payed attention to her! Giving a happy squeak she communicated in her simple pictured-minded way to Throth that he was very big, very blue blue, and handsome; she was glad they were here today! Cheeping again, she gave Layla a mental nudge; these were nice people, be happy to be here, don't be worried about... well whatever it was that was worrying her, following her human's complex concerns was far beyond her abilities.
Even though the flitt didn't understand, her assurance helped a little and Layla offered the man and his dragon before her a smile. "I'm afraid I've never washed a dragon before sir," she told J'ev, "but I've watched plenty of times and - ehehe - I've washed just about everything else in the Weyr at some point from clothes to children to floors so... Well I hope I'll pick it up quickly with your guidance sir." How badly wrong could it go? Oh no, don't think that, she knew very well how good she was at imagining how wrong things could go. Just focus on the present, not what might happen in a few minutes time.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:09 am
"Layla then. It's a pleasure to meet ye." Had she been closer (and male) J'ev might have shaken her hand. As it stood, the best he could offer was a polite dip of his head. Never be impolite to a lady, after all, especially when she was being very polite to you. It was a refreshing concept to find a candidate who was not only willing to help but also had a good head on her shoulders. They needed more female greenriders like that.
Throth was silent for a moment as he analyzed the picture he'd been sent in great detail. This little green creature was certainly interesting. He wished to study her further. Do you have a name, little green one? I am Throth. Moving to see her would be ill advised with the close proximity of the two humans, but the blue shifted his head a little so he could get a better look at her with on eye.
J'ev laughed at her explanation of washing everything else. "Well, washing isn't that hard to learn. Dragon washing is almost the same as everything else. Ye got your soap sand and yer brush, and ye just scrub away until his hide looks nice. Here, if you step up onto his leg ye can sit on his back. He'll help you up." The Weyrlingmaster leaned down to offer her his hand in the hopes of helping him up. "Ye don't have to worry about hurting him or anything. He'll tell you if there's a problem."
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Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:34 am
"Thank you!" Layla accepted the help up onto Throth eagerly, the last of her nerves being swept away by a wave of excitement. A dragon! She was actually sitting on a dragon! Maybe it was silly to get excited over such a thing, but if it was then she was quite happy to be silly. Such smooth hide he had. Glorious.
"I'll do my best then," she went on once she managed to regain concentration on the work at hand, "If it's as simple as you say, I shouldn't think I can go too far wrong." Hopefully. She really, really wanted to do well at this... and honestly she was quite glad of a chance to just talk to the weyrling master as well. Talking to any rider to say more than 'somebody asked me to bring you this sir, is there anything else you need sir' was a wonderful opportunity, but that it was J'ev himself was even better.
"So... umm... Could I ask you, sir, how the new weyrlings are doing?" She wanted to hear they were all happy, healthy, and well behaved... especially Y'ul. What she really wanted to find out was how J'ev felt about female green riders in general. She wanted to stand next time there was a clutch but she was afraid of the disapproval such a choice would bring down on her. Maybe if at least one rider in a position of authority didn't sneer at the idea she would be able to get up the courage to stand regardless of what most said. Maybe.
Emerald meanwhile lofted lightly into the air as her girl climbed up onto the massive blue, and swooped away to land on the ground in front of him so that they could see each other. Throth. The richly coloured green squeaked; she thought that was a nice sounding name... Her girl called her Emmerald, that was what she called when she wanted her to come over. Had Throth's human chosen his name? For Emerald, this was quite an intellectual thing to ask, and she felt rather proud of herself for being so clever as to wonder about it.
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:32 pm
"Aye. I can't imagine a smart lass like yourself doing it wrong." J'ev chuckled softly to himself as he resumed scrubbing the parts of his dragon he could easily reach. Layla's youth and endurance would definitely be put to the test; Throth was no freshly hatched dragonet and there was a lot of him to scrub. But thinking about how much work had to be done didn't actually get the work done, and thus the Weyrlingmaster continued on his merry way.
He paused to squint up at her when she started talking, giving her his attention so he could hear her properly. "The new weyrlings? I think they're definitely off on the right foot, if ye know what I mean. Not a bad bunch at all. There's a little brown and his rider who seem to have good heads on their shoulders, and the bronzeriders are doing well. One of 'em was a Stands Impression, so the poor lad's got lots and lots of catching up to do. I don't think his dragon's going to let him get behind though." The Weyrlingmaster grinned at the memory of Set'al and Pipith. Poor Runner was in for quite the adventure!
"Besides them we got a couple of greens and a blue. Nice fellow on the blue. Heard he was a Harper before he came here. Interesting to see where the greenriders end up, 'specially the two girls. Not sure about that Healer lass, but I don't want to judge the eggs before they hatch. She's like every rider. Potential to be good and potential to be like the greens before hers." Nobody liked thinking about the Telgar Trio, least of all J'ev.
"But listen to me, gabbin' away. Ye can stop me at any time if I just natter on. Was that yer first Hatching?"
Now that was much better, in an odd sort of way. Throth blinked and lifted his head a little so he could get a better look at this little creature. She certainly was very pretty. Emerald… It certainly is a fitting name. You very much resemble your namesake, if I am to understand the word correctly. And I have always known my name. I believe I was born with it. My name is the one thing I do not forget, even if I forget other things. J'ev certainly wouldn't have named him Throth had he been given the opportunity. I helped name Mine though. He needed a better name.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:39 am
Taking a brush, Layla set to work as the old blue rider spoke. She supposed she shouldn't have expected to hear wonderful thinks about Y'ul; she'd heard she hit Cass in the face at the meat tables... Still, at least J'ev thought she had potential. "Y'ul, the Healer, she's a friend of mine," Layla said after a moment, glancing up at J'ev cautiously. "She's always been very kind to me but... I'm aware she can be... she's not always... err..." the candidate trailed off awkwardly and shrugged. "She can be a bit aggressive," she managed to conclude eventually, "I hope she doesn't make trouble for herself, or you J'ev sir." Nobody needed their job made any harder, especially a weyrlingmaster. It must be quite a stressful occupation as it was, but J'ev seemed to handle it well. Probably why he'd been given the position in the first place, or one of the reasons.
"Yes though," Layla pushed her hair back out of the way, internally chiding herself for forgetting a hair tie, "that was my first hatching... I stood because there was, well we thought there was, a queen egg... I mean... Umm..." Should she go on? J'ev didn't seem to disapprove of female green riders out of hand, but maybe he was only okay with them if they'd stood thinking there was a queen?... There was only one way to find out. "I didn't want anyone to be angry with me, for standing when there were only fighting dragons," she said in a very small voice, pausing in her scrubbing. "I'd... I'd quite like to stand for the next clutch no matter what eggs are there... do you think that's wrong of me?" Well, she'd asked now, no turning back from it. Maybe she shouldn't have asked. Maybe he'd be angry and send her away, ask for somebody else to come and help with washing Throth... She shouldn't have asked. Why did she have to be so stupid?
Born with it? Emerald tried to process the idea but she had difficulty with imagining the past, and as such it wasn't easy to get her head around the idea of hatching... Well, even if she couldn't quite understand that, she grasped the idea that Throth's name had come from somewhere other than his person... But Throth named his person? Maybe she should name hers'? Her person was Laylah, was that a good name or did she need a better one?
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:42 pm
A friend of Yu'l's? Interesting. J'ev nodded with Layla's description of her, tucking it away in the back of his mind for later. "Aye, I'd say she's a bit aggressive. But I hope the same as yerself. Aggressive is all well and good, so long as ye don't go getting yerself into trouble or starting fights. The Weyrwoman doesn't have time for greenriders who think they can do as they please. Mark my words, there'll be a few not graduating if they put a toe out of line." Aware that he'd ended the conversation on a bit of a bad note, he made sure to add, "But I don't think it'll come to that. They all seem to have good heads on their shoulders, after all." J'ev liked to have faith in his weyrlings, even the greenriders.
But enough talk about his life.
The old man listened with one ear as he continued to scrub, nodding whenever it seemed like she needed prompting. He chuckled softly at the mention of the queen egg, remembering the crowd's shock. Even he'd been surprised, and he'd seen all kinds of crazy mix ups at hatchings! "No harm done standing. Everyone thought there was a queen this time." At her question he scratched his beard, weighing the pros and cons about his answer. "Well, if ye'll take the word of an old timer like myself, I think ye should do whatever feels right. The female riders have got a long way to go before they earn the respect that the male ones have had for Turns. Ye just can't expect things to change overnight. If ye have a dragon, it'll find ye, even if it has to climb up into the highest row of the stands to do it."
You could always give her a nickname, Throth replied after a pause. Though Laylah is pretty short already. Perhaps she does have a proper name then. Mine's name was much, much longer. I wouldn't have been able to remember it if I hadn't shortened it. The blue seemed quite proud of the naming of J'ev.
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:09 am
If she had a dragon, it would find here... Well that was true, but what if there was another girl it could be as good for, one bold enough to be on the sands. She would be closer, and the dragon would choose her... Right? Or would it really look around everyone before choosing? If she wasn't a candidate she wouldn't go to Touchings, would that hurt her chances?
Biting her lip uncertainly, Layla continued to scrub carefully at Throth's blue hide. "I... I suppose I should think about it carefully," she went on eventually. "I don't want to defy tradition, I don't want to be a trouble to anyone but..." but what? Queens were rare, and she was hardly the kind of girl one would want anyway. If she wanted this, then she did want to fly in the face of everything Telgar believed in... She did, and yet she did not. So much conflict and that was just with herself. She knew Y'ul would tell her to stand again, and she knew a lot of her old friends would tell her not to, not unless there was a gold.
"Still," the black haired girl shook herself and found a smile, "I probably shan't have to worry about that for a while yet. I should...I should just not worry too much, enjoy life." Normal chores weren't fun of course, but this, this was brilliant. She was actually sitting on an actual dragon, actually being allowed to bathe him! She shouldn't bother herself with worrying about what could happen months from now when she had something so immediate and so wonderful to focus on.
It was a pretty name, Emerald squeaked agreement, pretty sound, not that she could make it but it sounded pretty when it was said by people that could say it... Long name would be hard; Emerald was hard, but Layla liked it so it was good too.
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