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 Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 5:01 pm
It was nice to have a few moments of free time. Wherhold injuries were clearing up, Threadfall injuries were treated and healing, and the Gather had calmed things down. Trine was almost quiet, for once, and Lanakirene was taking advantage of that with a jar of oil and her own dragon. She had been somewhat neglecting Viath in the weeks since the rescue, giving him only the barest of attention to keep them both going while she wore herself to the ground tending the returning captives. It hadn't been a good time, and Threadfall had compounded that. Viath's injuries were healing well, but the skin was tight and rough, and Lanakirene was paying the price for not oiling it as thoroughly as she initially should have with a certain degree of stiffness when Viath moved. It was unacceptable, and La was grumbling about it as they both basked in the warm tropical sunlight.
"Sorry I've been ignoring you, big guy." A gentle pat for the dragon from his rider, a croon from the dragon in response.
I get that you have to do it. Work's calming down, though. We should go swimming.
"Maybe tomorrow. I want this oil to work in for the night, and there's some stuff in the infirmary I have to get to..."
You work too much as it is, Viath remarked, craning his head back and baring his teeth at Lanakirene in an upside-down draconic grin. La grimaced in response.
"I don't! I work as much as I need to work!"
You've forgotten how to have fun.
"Have not!"
You have. When was the last time you actually went out and did something fun? Not like the Gather - you sold things the whole Gather. Viath snorted, twisting his head back and resting it on the ground so La could continue working oil into the still-healing scars.
"I have fun when there's time."
Make time. Viath's attention turned skyward, and he cocked his head. Speaking of fun...I don't recognize those wings. Do you? La followed his gaze. Gold, but not one of the golds she recognized. Certainly not one of Trine's Weyrwomen...at least as far as she knew. Couldn't be a Wherholder, either - and the renegade gold, she was...darker than that, La thought. More orange, maybe.
"...no. I don't know who that is," she said quietly. "C'mon, Viath. Let's go make a friend." Under her, she felt muscles bunch, and Viath got to his feet with La still crouched precariously on his shoulders. She slipped into a sitting position as the black settled and started off toward the stranger gold at a brisk trot.
See? That sounds like fun.
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Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 5:30 pm
Amelia and Sharath had been received a the day prior and formally accepted into the Weyr, and it's unusual competition. Now it was just a matter of settling in and actually making contact with the locals. Raised in a traditional weyr where Atypicals were few and far between, this tropical environment combined with the exotic dragons leave Amelia feeling slightly out of her depth and somewhat eager to explore. Sharath, however, cared less about the dragons' colours and more about making an impression - a positive one for a change. She'd heard the other golds tended to make nice rather then treat their position like what it was - that of power.
Amelia sighed, and shook her head as she looked up at the gold, a shovel over her broad shoulders and a sheen of sweat upon her brow. They were selecting their weyr for their stay and Amelia rather disliked how open things were. "Are you going to sunbathe or help me dig?"
I'm enjoying the sun and content with the shallow sand, Mine. It rubs the skin well. Why are you digging so much? The gold turned her attention to her rider, cocking her head to the side.
"Because I don't like living in the middle of a field, love. If i can build a basement, I'll be cooler and less.... uneasy." She grinned, a little embarassed.
A dragon approaches... Black, I think. One of the small ones. Sharath spoke suddenly, turning to regard the approaching pair, a slight smugness in her voice. She might be small, yes, but there were more that were smaller yet, almost runty.
"Oh?" Amelia blinked and walked around the side of Sharath, one hand trailing on the pale hide, the other resting the shovel against her shoulder. Dirt covered her tall frame from head to toe. "Hey!" She waved in greeting.
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 12:14 pm
Strange goldrider. La felt like she should know why there was a strange goldrider in the Weyrbowl - but she hadn't heard anything about diplomatic meetings (it wasn't like Trine had contact with the outside very often anymore, considering everyone's attitudes about the conflict in which it was embroiled), and...well, Trine didn't really get visitors very often anymore. Particularly not visitors who were...digging...in a field...near the ground weyrs.
She must be new here.
I'm guessing so. Technically, La likely wouldn't have heard of new transfers, but the blackrider prided herself on her status as a gossip mill, so the fact that there was anyone who had escaped her notice was...almost insulting. La wasn't supposed to find things out second-hand. She should have known about this long before Amelia and Sharath arrived! Unless it had all been in secret...yes, that must have been it. But she could muse about it later. Viath was bugling a greeting to the gold (smallish gold, possibly around the same size as Suunath?) and it was time for La to actually make nice with the woman.
"Hi, I'm guessing you're new here," she said as soon as she was in range, giving the goldrider a bright smile. "I'm Lanakirene, this is Viath. I didn't know we were getting a new goldrider - Faranth, you're tall." Not exactly the best of first impressions, but La, tall at five-foot-ten, wasn't used to looking up to meet the gaze of other women.
Stay classy, Viath snerked in the back of her mind, and La blinked.
"Sorry!" she followed up immediately. "Didn't - ah - anyway. Weyrwoman." A short bow.
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:45 pm
Amelia glanced up as Sharath bugled in return, the arch of her neck a proud one as she shifted to present herself in the best light possible. Shaking her head, she hip-checked the dragon and got a snort in response as the black approached and the rider called out as soon as she could.
She chuckled, shrugging, "Yep. Transferred from High Reaches yesterday actually - still don't have a proper weyr. Too much open space if you ask me, so I'm constructing a cellar." The goldrider grinned as the other commented on her height, "I get that a lot too. Born and bred an excavator, family's not little." The shovel swung down and stuck solidly in the dirt as she leaned on it, one foot driving it deeper in.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not a stickler for titles, really. Name's Amelia." Amelia smiled broadly and tossed her head at Sharath, "Sharath here, however, has a thing about titles."
And what of it? I am gold. The queen responded genially, her head arching back to peer at the pair before addressing the black, Viath then? Are you fully grown? You're so small...
"And... blunt." Amelia added with a slight groan. "But that does lead nicely... I haven't been around atypical colours much. Do they require the same care? High Reaches isn't very pro-atypical... they say they're not viable, but your... boy? Girl? Seems well enough."
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:52 pm
"...A basement. That's...a really good idea that I never really thought of. I grew up around here, so I guess I've always been pretty used to the heat - but Faranth, coming from High Reaches...yeah, I bet that's a change." Pause, breath, thinking, forge onward, mouth moving even at the same time as she was putting her thoughts together. "I don't know if you're prone to sunburn - I am, even though I grew up here - but there are a couple salves we do in the infirmary if you wanted anything -"
Pause. Realize that Amelia had begun paying attention to Viath, rather than La's chattering. Realize a question had been asked about atypicals. Flush slightly as she tried to catch up.
"Depends, I guess," she answered with a shrug. "They're a little high-maintenance when they first hatch, and they need help out the shell, but...once you get 'em into Senior Weyrlinghood, they're just fine. And there's some benefits. This big fella," and she paused to slap Viath on the shoulder, then laughed. "Well, not so big, I guess. But either way, he's healthy as they come nowadays, and he can between better than just about any other dragon. They have...'talents,' I guess you could call 'em. Like how golds have their compulsion. Blacks know where they are, and silvers have better flame. Crimsons can clutch, intermittently. And whites, of course, know when they are." Her enthusiasm was showing through, and she was almost vibrating with the excitement of having a chance to educate someone on atypicals.
Let her get a word in edgewise, Lanakirene dear.
"Sorry - I'm talking your ear off." Sheepish grin.
The black snorted, looking up at Sharath and twisting his head to one side. Maybe I'm normal-sized and you're just really big, he suggested, amusement in his voice and eyes whirling blue-green. Or maybe you're very big and I'm very small and browns are the only normal-sized dragons. Or maybe humans are normal-sized and we're all huge. An amused snort. No matter what, hello! It's nice to meet you. Do you like Trine so far?
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:14 am
Amelia nodded absently at the comment about change, though her gaze flicked back to Lanakirene at the mention of salves, "Oh? I may get some of those... I'm not very used to the heat or sun here. Kind of ridiculous, really."
She fell quiet as this person launched into a lecture about the atypicals, taking the time to walk around the black to review him as one would a horse. "I heard most of them die in infancy, though. The healers here must be very good to keep runts from dying." She placed a hand thoughtfully on Viath's leg, feeling the corded muscle there, "Any special diet restrictions? Do they actually chase females? I heard they don't There's only two atypicals in High Reaches - and they keep to themselves." She frowned, "What about stamina? How do they compare in fighting thread? I mean, really, if they can't keep up and don't breed what use are they? Especially now that Thread is falling." Amelia seemed more curious about the juxtaposition between her world and this world, the old bias she'd grown up with showing but not adamant.
Sharath watched the black as he responded then laughed, a pretty mental sound, and bobbed her head in approval. Good answer. Hello. Trine is... hot. And very open. It bothers Mine sometimes - she likes the rocks and the earth. The gold lowered her head to look even at the black, her tone going serious, Do you like Trine?.
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:41 am
"Yeah...it's hot." The smile La gave Amelia was crooked, but amused. "It gets cooler sometimes, but usually in conjunction with awful storms. So if you're not a fan of the heat, but you don't like the rain...this place is going to take some getting used to."
And then Amelia said...some things. About atypicals. And La's expression fell slightly. She didn't say anything immediately, though - better not to put her foot in her mouth until Amelia was done speaking - and then she frowned. "Stamina's no different from dragons of the equivalent size when they're grown. Viath flies just as well as a blue or a big green. Silvers can keep up with bronzes. Frankly, a lot of people don't feed their crimsons firestone because they have this secret wish to be goldriders, and I think that's wasteful, because we could use some more big dragons like that in the air when it comes to Threadfall - but that's their choice, and nobody's jumping at the chance to tell them to stop yet." She paused, then laughed. "That got away from me. But other than the people withholding 'stone from their crimsons on the off-chance they'll clutch..." she shrugged. "Maybe not a great idea to hatch atypicals in Threadfall, but it's not like dragons are expected to be soldiers straight out of the egg anyway. I'd rather more flame in the sky regardless of the color of dragon producing it. If we had limited Candidates...maybe I could understand. But it seems like we're always crawling with those - and moreso since the...ah....conflict with the wherhandlers."
At least Sharath and Viath seemed to be getting on well enough. The gold's question gave pause to the chattery black, though, and Viath snorted and cocked his head to one side. Did he like Trine? Yes...yeah, I more or less do, he answered, giving a firm, slightly-too-human nod. It's better than Benden or Malvren, they hatch blacks and silvers and crimsons, and even though sometimes we get hurricanes and we're still rebuilding, it's not too bad. The weather's warm and there's dolphins in the lake and the bay. The Threadfall I'm not a fan of, though. An amused flash of green in his otherwise steady blue eyes. Could do without that. You're from High Reaches where it's cold all the time, right?
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 7:16 pm
Amelia tucked that bit of information away - if it got cool, that meant a storm was coming. If nothing else, she'd heard that the storms of the south tended to rip through those unfortunate enough to be their way.
The goldrider blinked at that, pleasantly surprised, "I didn't know that! I never got to speak to our token Atypicals." At the comment about goldriders, Amelia snorted derisively, "It's not all rosy days and fawning boys, trust me. The morons who think flirting with a girl just to get a toe in on power drive me nuts." Behind her, Sharath rumbled her agreement - she want not one to entertain flirtations and courtship, there was a job to be done and she would do it. "It's stupid, then, to restrict fighting dragons when the breeding ability can't compare. I'd rather a flaming crimson then a horny crimson lump then... and the others fly as well as the pure colours? Then there's not a lot of reason to avoid them, mm?"
She gestured at Sharath, "She had no duds in her last clutch so it's not something we've had to worry about, thankfully." Amelia fell quiet at the mention of the wherholders and nodded, "Yeah... it made the Harpers' news across the world. How is Trine faring? You're overpopulated but it looks relatively well organized..."
Sharath mrr'd at the listing of atypicals in a thoughtful manner, casting her gaze back over the Weyr with a quizzical expression. If this place was so full of exotic dragons, did that change the hierarchy at all? Breeding crimsons were a direct competition to her supremacy - it was the thing she was best at, bringing forth the next generations and marshalling the forces. If some uppity inferior female thought she could wrestle--
Amelia was eyeing Sharath and shaking her head, sending a mental 'calm down love, nobody's getting in your way' mantra to the energetic gold.
Inhaling and exhaling hugely, the queen considered the black's question. In the winter, yes. In the summer it is mild and beautiful with great big updrafts to coast on. The Wherries and Heard Beasts are more hairy, I think. She curled her lip at that, not relishing the idea of hairballs - it wasn't terribly dignified.
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