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 Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:48 pm
Veyes finally had a moment to himself and decided to look through some of the items that had been packed for him by his mother. Since he had arrived, he had ate all the goodies she had made, worn the clothes but he hadn't touched the most important item she had purposely planted at the bottom of the sack. Now was a moment he could actually enjoy the gift, so he reach in and pulled out another smaller bag that was about the size of a large water skin and clutched it close to his chest with what was almost a warm hug.
Gingerly, he lifted the edge of the leather bag and peeked inside smiling with a large boyish grin. He knew his little brother would be so angry that mother sent these with him to the Weyr. Pulling himself up out of his bunk, he peeked beyond the curtain to scan the room. Hardly anyone was there so that meant some where at dinner and others were starting evening chores. Perfect! He thought to himself as he snuck out of the dorm and made his way down to the kitchen.
Most people were in the dining hall but he wouldn't go there, not with what he had planned for the night. Instead he went in the back entrance to the kitchen like as he would for chores in the morning. Smiling at the women in the kitchen, he grabbed a mug of Klah and a chunk of bread filled with some meat and cheese. "Thanks!" he said as he slipped back out to the main hall and started walking. Sipping at the hot Klah and munching on his sandwich he tried to figure out the best location for his future fun. Should he go to the storage rooms? Further into the lower cavern? No...wait...he'd go outside into the bowl! He had noticed a niche close to the corral that could fill his needs and more than likely there wouldn't be many if any people around at this hour. It was....perfect.
Once he was outside the world seemed so much larger and less crowded. He couldn't help but notice the breeze the flowed through the bowl. Ah the fresh air sure felt good against his back! Testing the wind with a finger, he was certain that it wouldn't affect his fun too much. Then, he looked around he spied a basket of glows. Oh those would be useful too! And so he grabbed a few out of the basket and scurried across the bowl seeking out a particularly quiet spot he had discovered during chores not far from the corral.
Once he got to his location, he set down the glows and looked up at the changing sky. The stars were starting to peek through the clouds as the sun slipped down further along the edge of the horizon. The view from the bowl was incredible offering a palette of marvelous colors; pinks, orange, purples streaking along the blue. He might have sat there all early evening just staring towards the fading rays but those colors reminded him of his purpose for coming to this niche and quickly he turned his head down to the ground.
Crouching close to the earth, he carefully drew a big circle with a stone, then dumped the contents of the bag into the circle - marbles. Now he could have a good game of Miggsy...No a GREAT game of Miggsy, he thought with a satisfied grin, ....even if it was by himself.
Kneeling down, he picked up a large blue shooter marble and rubbed it between his two palms to warm it up while he surveyed the playing area carefully. Once he was ready, he leaned in and flicked the big marble across the playing field knocking a small green marble outside the circle and against the stone facing.
"Seems I haven't lost my touch." he said aloud cheering himself on as he dreamt of matching up with the best Miggsy players at a great Gather. It wasn't hard to envision the competition and soon he had created his own little game of it. Pretending to be other brilliant players challenging him and planning out fantastical strategies, hoping to win the great match.
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:42 am
He hadn't felt like hanging around in the records this evening. Today he'd been in the kitchens preparing vegetables; dull as fetching and carrying but less physically demanding, and as such he hardly felt like sitting still. Stepping out into the bowl, Conomor took a deep breath of warm evening air. Perfect. He took a moment to stretch out muscles that were not so much stiff as they were restless before setting out with no particular aim or destination in mind. Gilden swooped out of the Weyr a moment later and landed on his shoulder with a chirrup, bringing a smile to Conomor's lips.
He had been walking for some time when the little queen next vocalized. Conomor blinked at her greeting call and turned to look in the direction his flitt's head was pointing. A shadowy shape, one that she could apparently recognize as a friend. Ticking the firelizard's head, Conomor set off towards the lone figure; he hadn't planned on company this evening but he hadn't planned to avoid it either, and he could hardly just walk off now that Gilden had made herself known.
As he drew nearer, Conomor recognized the Veyes' figure and long hair and raised a hand in greeting. "Veyes," he smiled as he observed the game his fellow candidate was engaged in. "Beautiful evening, isn't it?" He knew the rules of Miggsy of course, but he'd never played it all that much himself. He had enjoyed the odd game he'd had though; perhaps Veyes would let him join in.
Gilden, who had never seen Miggsy played before in her life, squeaked at the sight of the strange round objects and fluttered off Conomor's shoulder. She landed just outside Veyes' carefully marked circle and extended her head towards the nearest marble curiously. What were these? They were pretty!
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:49 pm
Veyes had been off in his own little dreamworld of "The Great Miggsy Match" so he hadn't even heard Conomor as he approached. His name called out caused him to jump and turn quickly rather surprised by the arrival. He clutched the shooter to his chest as he turned, "What??! OH.. Umm.. Hi, Con. Sorry...I didn't see you there." Pausing for a moment, he sucked in some air and calmed his racing heart. "What are you doing out here? Trying to catch the sunset too? Yeah..It's a wonderful evening. Perfect for...well...umm..." he glanced back at his circle, "...a game of Miggsy."
He looked back over at Conomor then down at Gilden, who was peeking at the marbles then started to feel at ease once more. After the meat locker day, he really didn't mind the other's company...actually, he thought he might be developing a friendship with him. That wouldn't be a bad thing would it?. "My mom stuffed them in the bag for me. I didn't find them until today so I was really excited to play again. Do you want to join me in a game? I've got plenty of marbles. Maybe Gilden can keep the marbles from getting to far away."
Reaching down he took up the last of his sandwich quickly so Gilden wouldn't be tempted to take off with it then tucked the last couple bites in his mouth. Afterwards he reached into his bag and pulled out another larger marble. "I've got a few more shooters so here." He tucked the marble into Con's palm then started to gather all the ones he had knocked out against his imaginary opponents. "Do you know the rules?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:25 am
Conomor took the marble with a slightly sheepish grin. "Err... well, sort of. It's been a long time since I've played to be honest." The basic aim was to hit the smaller marbles with your big shooter. He thought. There was probably a bit more to it than that though. "I'd appreciate it if you'd tell them to me," he went on after a moment with a smile and a nod. "Gilden will be happy to go after any ones that get away from us."
It was very useful having her around; she was awfully good at searching out things he's managed to put down and subsequently misplaced. She was still useful as an extra hand, too. Even though his arm was healed now he hadn't stopped getting her to hold onto cups and the like for him while he was busy with something. She was good about vanishing to the kitchens to refill his waterskin for him too while he was busy with chores. A lot of people mostly liked to own a flitt for the prestige, he knew, but frankly he was just glad of her friendly, helpful presence beside him as he worked. The 'prestige' she brought him was annoying more than anyone else. He had no interest in befriending people who hadn't given him so much as a second glance before he had acquired his shining golden shoulder-ornament.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:31 am
"Well..." he said as started putting the marbles back into the circle, "...there are a few ways to play. But I can teach you a fun one. First, you set the balls in the center of the circle in a X pattern. Then, one of us starts and picks a spot around the circle to kneel and shoot from." He kneels down demonstrating how it is done. "Afterwards, you lean forward and knuckle the shooter giving it a good flick forward trying to make another marble roll out of the ring. If you miss or don't make a one go out of the ring, then the turn moves to the next person. If you do, then you continue until you miss. The person with the most marbles out of the ring by the end of the game wins."
He flicked the marble forward and smacked a small light white swirled marble sending it scooting along the ring just outside of the circle. "Oh, and some of the other little rules so I don't forget...You have to shoot from where your shooter lands. You can try to knock another person's shooter from the ring with your own Marble so they can't start from where they might have been aiming for. You have to put one knuckle on the ground when you are aiming and flicking the shooter. "
Realigning the marbles on the ground again, he picked up his shooter and looked thoughtful for a moment. "It think that covers most of the rules. It can take awhile to get used to the weight of the marbles and how much of a flick you need to put on the shooter so if you want to test it out a little before we start you can."
"Got any questions?" He lifted his mug of Klah and took another swig while looking Con over again. So...mmm...he did like how the other was as toned as himself. Some of the other candidates he had met didn't have an ounce of muscle on their frames and most of the time those ones didn't like to do any of the work either. Of course there were exceptions, he knew that...it was just he got really tired of being around lazy good for nothings.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:14 am
Rolling the marble between his hands, Conomor smiled and shook his head. "Not for now thanks, I think I've get all of that, but stop me if I'm doing something wrong." So saying, he set the marble down on the ground outside the ring and tried to flick it as he'd been shown. The shot didn't go quite as well as Veyes' had; it struck the target marbles alright, but not with enough force to push them out of the circle.
Giving a snort of amusement, Conomor turned to Veyes and shook his head slightly. "Well, that could have gone better. Could have gone worse too though I suppose. I'll get better with a bit of practice, I'm sure... So because I didn't knock any out it's your turn now, right?"" He could see how this game would be good fun once you were reasonably good at it; the marbles made a satisfying noise when they struck one another, and friendly competition was always a good thing.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:29 am
Veyes watched Conomor's form and realized that he really needed more practice, "Oh...why don't you give yourself a few more shots. Get used to the marbles first. It's no big deal to set them up again." He smiled at Conomor encouragingly and leaned back against the wall grabbing his mug to sip the Klah while it was still hot. "If you want I can show you how I shoot them if you think it would help?"
"So...how's things been going for you? We've not had a chance to get together in a few days." he said in a relaxed voice as he savored the Klah's taste thinking that it's flavor was far better than the stuff at the Klah-off. Just thinking about the fish flavor caused him to shiver in disgust. "Did you get the notice about the Lice roaming around the Weyr?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:42 am
Conomor smiled his thanks and reset the playing field before grabbing his borrowed shooter and flicking it at the other marbles again. This time he managed to get one out, and he made a small noise of satisfaction as he moved around to where the shooter had halted. Gilden meanwhile collected the escaped marble and carried it out of the way of the circle.
"I've been doing well," Conomor said eventually with a brief smile up at Veyes as he lined up the next shot. "I did hear about the," he flicked the shooter too hard and managed to knock both it and the target it hit far out of the circle. Oops. "About the lice," he grinned as Gilden fetched the smaller marble back for him and set it beside the other one he'd knocked out. "Been keeping oil in my hair whenever I'm around crowds, haven't got any of them yet; makes me glad I always keep my hair in cornrows." He moved after the lost shooter then, and flicked it back as hard as he could. It made the distance, but ended up outside the circle.
"Other than that, I'm finding myself more excited every day," he said as he returned. "The hatching must be less than a sevenday away by now... I'd love to Impress of course, but really I just want to make it there; that in itself will be an achievement to me. How've you been?" All that hair had to be a pain to manage at the best of times, but with lice around it must be awful... Veyes had come from a farm, and yet he kept his hair so long? Well, he supposed looks were more important to some people than practicality was. Personally he couldn't understand the vanity, but he didn't like the other youth any less for it. Perhaps if he'd been born with lovely hair he'd want to keep it long as well.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:02 am
Veyes grinned as Conomor started to make a little progress with the marbles then laughing as Gilden scampered around collecting them. He wondered if he would find one missing later since Flits had a rep for prizing things like that. It looked like that Con given time might be pretty good at the game. For that Veyes was hopeful because it was always more fun if there was some competition to be had. He didn't like just winning because another didn't have practice or skill. That just wasn't any fun at all.
"Glad to hear it." responded Veyes then watched the next shot send a marble out of the circle. "Yeah...L'thor helped me out with the lice thankfully. I braided my hair into cornrows too and using oil to keep anything else out. My mother would just be so put out if I cut my hair." He smiled thoughtfully about her and wondered how she was faring. It had been awhile since he had talked with her and he realized this had been the longest he had ever been away from home.
"You really think the hatching will be soon??" His tone shifting from reminiscing to excitement. "How do you know? Mmm...I really want to impress too but there's so many candidates. I've been trying not to get my hopes up too high. And since the dragon's pick...I might not be right for any one of them." It was a wistful but hopeful sigh that came from his lips as he thought about the future event. He wanted to be one of the lucky ones...that was certain but how and when....that was not.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:14 am
Conomor nodded his agreement and took another shot, managed to get another marble out of the ring. "I know because I've been around for so many. The time scale is right for it to be any day now... I suppose it could be as much as ten days but it'll probably be more like six, possibly even less. As to Impressing..." Conomor sat back on his heels and pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I'd love to Impress but... I could put up with it not being this time. If I never Impress I'm not sure what I'll do; it's all I've ever really prepared for in life. I suppose if a dragon doesn't choose me I'll start working down in the records most of the time, get on a ground crew when the Thread comes if I can. Really though... being a rider one day is everything to me."
There were so many of them these days. Had to be more than eighty candidates; the Weyr was full to bursting with hopefuls. He was as worthy as any of them, probably more so than a good few but as Veyes said, worthiness didn't really matter. Dragons chose, it seemed, to match or compliment their personalities. If one never came along that matched him better than any other Candidate... He didn't want to think about that. If it came about that he was never chosen, he would find something to do with his life. He didn't want to have to do that, but if he did then so be it. He refused to mope around and be useless no matter what.
"I'll be glad just to know one way or another for this hatching," he went on as he lined up another shot. "Waiting is... hard. I don't consider myself an impatient person but it is very tense, spending every day wondering if you'll be chosen, or if you'll have to stand again next time."
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:48 am
Veyes nodded agreeing with Conomor. At least, Con had the experience to know while Veyes really only had what others told him, which at times seemed liked very little indeed. "What do the ground crews do? I'm sorry but folks around here don't talk about the other options as much when most of the talk is about dragons." Yes...he dreamt mostly about dragons but as each day passed sitting upon the silver platter that L'thor offered him many sevendays ago, he felt...no he knew that there were other opportunities that he should prepare for even if his dreams sat firmly with the idea that one day a dragon might find him worthy. It was really an odd thing to think of the "silver platter" at times because upon it fruits could spoil or be lucky enough to be chosen...What was he fated to be?
"I understand...I want to be a rider as much as you do I think. I keep hoping that one of us will get lucky soon. But since this is my first hatching I'm not getting those hopes up. But if you do get lucky, I'll go to the hatching feast for you... just to congratulate you but don't be surprised if I slip out early. It will be hard watching some folks get dragons."
He knelt down and took a practice shot of his own on a marble and sent it swiftly out of the ring. "Yeah...I think it's going to get harder each time I stand in the sands. But I won't lose hope. L'thor says it can take awhile." However, with so many more choices....he felt his odds slimming down more every day.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:59 am
Conomor gave a faint smile and nodded. "Right. It's a deal. If either of us Impresses, the other will at least make a brief appearance. I'd be happy to hang around for a while, congratulate any friends that Impressed but I don't think I'll really enjoy any hatching feast until my dragon finds me... I've seen people stand very many times before they're chosen, but I've also seen people picked first try, so I suppose you never know." He took another shot, clicking a marble neatly out of the ring, and moved around to his new position. It would be hard watching other people get dragons, especially the unworthy ones.
"My blood parents are sure I'll Impress sooner or later," Conomor said softly after a few moments. "They've never even considered that I might not be fortunate enough to be chosen... I don't think they'd be disappointed in me as such if I didn't but I think my relationship with them might change. They have always treated me as if, one day, I will fly through the air with them on my own dragon. If I can never do that... I'm not quite sure how things would be. I'd be jealous of them I expect, jealous of anyone with a dragon. I'd want to know why they both Impressed but I didn't. Humm. Still," he smiled slightly and looked back up at Veyes, "I shall just hope I never have to find out."
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:59 pm
Veyes returned that faint smile, "Deal." He didn't expect to be a first time lucky candidate. Heck, maybe neither of them would be that lucky but he could hope. If they had been speaking their thoughts, Veyes would have agreed that the unworthy ones would be the hardest to see paired.
As he listened to Conomor's words about his parents he felt almost sorry for him. It probably wasn't easy to be a son of two dragon riders and they probably expected him to some day impress or they might really be disappointed. "I guess if you didn't impress maybe it was because somewhere out there you have a different calling. I mean....well...not everyone is meant for a dragon I guess. But you have a lot of chances ahead right? You're not to old...So don't lose hope. There's many hatchings ahead." He had said that to comfort both of them. He had a feeling each time a hatching came around they'd probably have this same conversation until they were both looking at their 21st naming day. It would not be a good time for either of them. Fortunately, he had just turned 16 not too long ago and was happy it would be awhile until his 17th giving him a bit more time.
He looked thoughtful for a moment rolling the marble into the ground rather than shooting it, "I think I'd be jealous too at times because it would always be a "might have been" if for some reason I don't. In my head, like you I'd always be questioning myself as to 'why' but I suppose that answer would never come. There isn't any way of telling why a dragon choses who they do. I don't even know if the dragons know why because I asked L'thor about it and Raith....well she really didn't know...or at least didn't want to say. I'm just glad I have several turns before I'm too old. Some are already close to the end of their chances."
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:19 am
“Ren ?” he looked up from his empty plate to see one of the kitchen staff making their way over, the boy had been working late so the mess hall was almost deserted apart from a few riders drinking and gambling. Ren was set up an on a small table alone as usual, preferring to keep to himself and avoid his shyness from bubbling up and making him look like a complete incapable idiot. But seeing as he had been working in the kitchens on an off, gutting and scaling fish and sometimes stirring the Klah he was known and he could talk to the staff there without going completely berry red. “hmmm?” he answered softly surprised at the look of glee the young journey man wore. “Look Ren we got a mix up, some of the feed for the heard beast was brought up here instead of the kitchen stocks and the heard master is going to be needing them tomorrow morning. Look I know it’s late but could you just take them out and put them in the right storage room?”
Ren paused and considered the man with hazel eyes, they both knew that this was a job he had mostly been asked to do but could not be bothered with this late when there was smoke, drinking and gambling to be done instead. They also both knew that Ren found it near impossible to say no to anyone, especially when asked nicely. So the boy brought a smile to his lips which really didn’t hold much emotion behind it and nodded. “Of course Roland, just leave it to me.” he promised him as he got up to follow the young man who clapped his hands together gleefully and shot a none to subtle glance to the laughing group of riders. Ren already knew Roland loved to bet , maybe because he usually won.
In the kitchen storage room Ren paled a little when he saw three heavy sacks, he would have to make several trips to carry all that! But Roland had other ideas. He didn’t want Ren to come back and risk being found skipping out on his duties. “hold out your arms Ren I’ll load you up” he offered waiting till Ren complied before dropping two sacks in the outstretched arms and one over his shoulders. Leaving Ren trembling with the effort of keeping his legs from buckling under the weight. And when Roland gave the bags a pat he practically whimpered as his arms shook under the load. “good good, you’ll be back in no time.” Roland told him cheerfully before leading his out the back to avoid the cooks. “look go through the bowl, down to the entrance beside the paddock and through the door there. It’ll really take no time at all.” he repeated bright practically pushing him out the door and making Ren stumbled. Just managing to catch the load and himself before it was all sprawled on the floor.
Taking a deep breath he started in his trip, walking crab like and akwards through the tunnels to try and handle the weight and still having to pause every minute or so in the painfully slow journey to gather his strength once more. He could barley even see over the top of the bags just a mop of dark hair showing as he waddled out into the cool night and over towards the heard beast pen, so fixed on the job at hand and blinded by his load he didn’t see the others . Not until it was too late and a marble that had escape their circle of play came into contact with the underside of his foot.
Already off balance and not being able to see around him the next few moments were painfully predictable, his feet slipped from under him and he flew backwards landing with an ‘oof’ as his back hit the ground followed by the bags hitting his stomach and knocking all breath and sense from him for a few moments as the stars decided to do a nice little dance above his head.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:47 am
Veyes hadn't seen the other coming because he was so deep into his talk with Conomor. They seemed to always have long conversations about the future that they both knew was questionable at best. What both of them needed was some sort of assurance however, that was something neither would find. Not between the two of them anyway. Only a dragon could change it and as Veyes pondered that notion, he heard the sudden slip and loud thud snapping him out of his quiet contemplations.
"Oh Shards! Con give me a hand!" He raced over to the boy who was covered with the heavy bags that had fallen on him. Reaching down he started grabbing bags and quickly started tossing them to the side to get to the boy underneath. "Shells!" He recognized the boy immediately - Nehren, the other boy that L'thor had brought in. He hoped he was alright. Would they have to take him to the healers? "You ok Nehren?"
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