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 Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:53 am
Why are you even bothering? We haven't used any of those leathers in a long time.
An unusual rumble of disapproval came from Shamth's direction, the Blue usually never questioning within reason, but as the pair stood out in the mid-morning sun his grumbles reached L'pin's ears loud and clear.
Earlier that morning L'pin had awoke and announced to his lifemate that today they'd be cleaning all their gear, all the different straps, before the cold weather would set in and cause some of it to ruin. Many of his straps he hadn't used in a good turn or two, since the very last time they were allowed to go outside the Weyr with permission, and were looking rather worse for the wear.
It's not like we'll be expected to fly with anyone any time soon. They keep me grounded.
"And who's fault is that? It won't matter anyway if thread falls, all dragons who can fly will be thrown into the air."
L'pin looked over from where he was working, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to prevent them from getting wet. The cold air was biting at him and turning the skin of his arms a pale red, though the man seemed to not even feel the slightest trace of discomfort at the temperature differences. He was quite absorbed in his work.
"Besides, it's not like you're the only dragon who has never been in a wing. I'm fairly certain there are others in other Weyrs, as well as a few at this Weyr as well."
His memory flashed to the conversation of the hatching and afterwards, wondering if his dragon could recall that far. It had been a while and at most Shamth probably would have vague ideas, but the response he got back from his Blue was...interesting.
You mean like that Failure that is approaching us. Call out to them Mine, I wish to properly extend my greetings. She had grown.
There was no need for L'pin to do so, even though he was going to, for as soon as Shamth finished the Blue rose from his laying position to where he was sitting, his eyes red and his wings spread around him. A thin hiss even dared to escape his lips, his hate for this green still fresh in his mind.
"...Nice."
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 8:13 am
Riding straps. He was alright at making them, but he wanted to be better than alright. Soon he’d actually be using these things, so every stitch needed to be in place, and as Kannaroth was still growing he needed to be fairly fast at making them; any given set was too small within a sevenday or so. He could have stayed inside to work of course, but the light of glows was not as good as daylight, so he reasoned that while he still wasn’t perfect at this he might as well use all the advantages he could get. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to stab himself with the sharp tools needed to make the initial hole in the leather.
“That would be bad,” Kannaroth affirmed as they stepped out into the chilly light of day, “puncture wounds god bad easily, your hand might get infected and drop off and then we couldn’t be part of a wing.” She would not let anything keep her from doing that. It wasn’t so much that she felt the need to prove herself, that urge had never been strong and had diminished over time, she didn’t care what people thought just because they thought it, she cared because she wanted to achieve a position of power. She didn’t much care about being respected, having her worth recognized, what she really wanted was the trappings that came with rank. A big weyr. Lots of marks to be spent on her. Being able to get away with more... “Oh what is that noise?”
Y’kar had heard it too, and when he turned around to see what was making it, he was not entirely surprised. “Shamth,” he supplied to his lifemate, “that blue who isn’t in a wing because he’s too vicious and won’t take orders.” And L’pin with him, of course. He really had meant to strike up a better acquaintance with the man but he just hadn’t had the time. Now that Kannaroth needed less and less care though, perhaps he would be able to follow through with this plan. Having stopped in his tracks when he first heard the hiss, Y’kar raised his free hand in greeting to L’pin and set off towards the man and his brute dragon.
Kannaroth sighed, her eyes fading to a vaguely annoyed orange. Here they went again then.
“Hi there,” Y’kar grinned sheepishly, coming to a halt a short distance from the other pair, “long time no see.” It looked like L’pin was doing some maintenance on his own straps, perhaps the rider would be able to give him some pointers... Actually no, this one might not be able to, given he wasn’t in a wing his straps would be used a lot less and so need repair a lot less so he would be a lot less practiced. Better to just stick with what the weyrlingmaster had set out, he didn’t want to pick up bad habits from a man rusty on the construction of a good harness.
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:35 am
L'pin was actually doing fairly well at the cleaning of the leathers, impressed with how they looked even after not being used for a good bit. It should have been noted that this was his entire collection, even the leathers from when Shamth was growing, as the man was a pack rat who somewhat refused to throw out what he called 'good memories'. Shamth failed to see the beauty of keeping everything but seemed to understand that it was a connection to him, so he often left the growing pile alone.
For what it was worth, none of his more recent leathers looked like they were ruined or out of date, but there was no way for anyone other than the rider and his dragon to know about late-night cleanings. L'pin may have outwardly given up his dream of riding in a wing, but that didn't mean he had to fully accept it.
His head turned up at the vocal greeting, and for a moment or two it appeared as though he didn't recognize the face a good bit away and in front of him. It had been a while since he'd last seen Y'kar, their little get together at the hot spring with Kannaroth being a smaller dragonet, but now the pair stood before him with the Green almost double her size. Had time really flown so fast? Whatever.
"Ah, Y'kar. Well met. It really has been a while, it took me a second or two to take in the fine dragon that Kannaroth is becoming. She looks twice as radiant as she had before, so I was a bit taken back."
There was no hint of mockery in L'pin's tones, no sign that he may have been trying to win at favor. He did think Kannarth was growing quite rapidly and pretty soon a turn would see her full grown. Amazing, really.
You should save your hollow praise, Mine. It's wasted on the likes of these two.
The Blue dragon hissed again, his wings opening even wider. Such a shame he was being a brat, he looked really pretty in the light!
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:02 pm
Y’kar grinned and laid a hand on Kannaroth’s shoulders, which were now at around chest level, and glanced uncertainly at Shamth before looking back at L’pin. “Thanks,” he said as he scratched the young dragon fondly, “I can’t believe how fast she’s growing, and the rate her sisters are getting bigger is insane. I can’t imagine what it would be like to watch a queen grow.” A good job there wasn’t one around really given Nellath’s attitude to them, not that Roseth or his own lifemate were much better. He didn’t blame them, he didn’t think much of the big females himself; they got everything for free, everything that should belong to him and his. It was enough to make you grind your teeth down to nothing sometimes, it really was.
“So how’ve you two to been?” Y’kar went on, sinking to the ground and setting his bag down beside him, for now putting out of mind the half finished straps inside. A bit of chat first, then work, and keep ignoring the stupid brute blue.
“Good plan,” Kannaroth snorted and sank gracefully to the ground, refusing to even acknowledge the larger dragon’s existence. “If you’re not careful,” she added with a smirk, “his stupid might rub off on you. Best just to blank him and let him hiss and spit like the little dragonet he is.” What a fool. There was just no help for some people, it was one thing to be disliked, to set yourself apart from others with cutting wit and chilly scorn but it was quite another to be so violent and uncontrollable that you were unfit to enter a wing... Humm, she would have to talk to Nellath about that; she was not so violent as Shamth, but caution would be wise all the same. The leaders of the Weyr would take any excuse to exclude them.
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:36 pm
I'm being ignored.
It's probably for the best. Just sit back down and relax in the sun, it's nice outside.
"I can't really complain. They've lessened our outdoor workload thanks to the weather turning more chill, but that leaves me with much more to do inside the halls. I'm pretty sure I must have cleaned enough bathrooms and empty weyrs to provide perfect sanitation to everyone here."
L'pin chuckled bitterly, remembering the sevenday or so of effort he put into preparing things for the upcoming winter season. Things had to be weather-proofed, the bathrooms had to be clean to prevent disease from spreading amongst the different Weyrfolk. His hands and back ached from all the work, his ears burned from all the gossip over him helping out, but for the most part he was rather relaxed today.
"Since today's a rare free day I thought I'd get around to cleaning and fixing up my old gear. A lot of it belonged to Shamth when he was younger and just needs cleaned, but the things I used when hauling back and forth need some repairs. The leathers are looking a little stressed, I may need to just make new ones."
Above L'pin Shamth was still seated, spread winged, but his hissing had stopped and he seemed to be poking his Rider with a continuous strain of thought. L'pin for his part seemed to be letting whatever it was slide, until eventually he listened back in and decided to respond.
I do not like being ignored.
If you can tolerate this, I'll give you the rub down of a lifetime when it's all over. Sound fair?
. . . .
The Blue slowly folded his wings to his side and lowered himself back down into the laying position he once occupied, though his head stayed raised and his red eyes stayed glaring at the Green and her rider. He was slowly remembering that feeling of hate that had come from their time at the hot spring, L'pin's mind unconsciously recalling it based on Shamth's reactions, and if he could chuckle Shamth most certainly would be doing so.
"Moving along, how are your lessons going? Having trouble with anything?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:44 pm
"Trouble?" Y'kar lifted his bag into his lap and opened it, pulling out the half-done straps, and all the materials for finishing. "Not really," he went on, "I need more practice at strap making though, that's why I came out here today, better light than in the dorms... Everything else is going well though," he picked up the sharp tool for making holes in the leather and set about his work. "The theory all seems to be coming quite easily, and we're pacing out formations as best we can, sometimes the weyrlingmaster calls in a few off duty young riders to help us out. Soon we'll be onto actually flying," he looked up at L'pin with a grin which - for once - was unfeigned. "I can't wait to see Kanna in the air, I'm sure she's going to be amazing." Not tough or enduring, but fast as lightning and agile as a feline.
"Looks like the beast is calming," Kannaroth commented to her rider. "Just like any brat, if you ignore him long enough his tantrums end." She was used to feeling superior - she was smarter than pretty well every other dragon around and that was a fact not vanity - but compared to that blue brute she felt better than ever.
"How long have you been a rider?" Y'kar asked after acknowledging the green's thoughts. "I feel like I'll never get used to making harnesses, but I felt that way about washing to start with and now it's perfectly natural... Does it take long to get really good at making straps?" He hoped not, he wanted to be perfect as soon as possible.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:16 am
"How long it takes or how strong you make them depends on how often you practice. As a Weyrling I had plenty of lessons in order to learn to make them, and with Shamth being the size he is and how quickly he grew I was forced to put in quite a bit of practice. It comes with - hold on, you're making those holes a little too high up. You've got set them to where they'll feel just a little loose, at least for right now, as you're not flying and Kannaroth is still growing. By the time you finish those straps she'll be able to fit snug into the lowered holes."
L'pin happened to look up and over at Y'kar as the youth was working, and he gave a friendly sigh with a smile over the boy's impatience. He knew that feeling all to well, the thrill of staying up late to make things and practicing for hours behind other people's backs just to make up for the troubles he and his dragon caused in the lessons. If Shamth was going to be a disagreeable dragon then L'pin would at least do his best to make sure people didn't think that poorly of him.
Of course none of that really matter once the biting at started as Shamth grew older, and all the skills L'pin had been trying for seemed to fall to the wayside along with any hope of him joining a wing or having friends. He didn't really mind though after a while, since he preferred his own thoughts and those of his dragon to anything else that came their way.
"As for how long I've been a rider. . . .I think I impressed Shamth when I was seventeen turns, maybe eighteen? I turned twenty-four turns just a sevenday ago, so maybe it really has been seven turns since we've met. Time sort of restarted itself that day when this one hatched himself from his egg, and everything since then has been a blur. I stopped counting the seasons we were together, instead only enjoying the fact I was no longer going to be alone for the rest of my life."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:49 am
"Oh? Oh, thanks," Y'kar frowned down at his straps in concentration and set about making the suggested changes to the position of the holes. "Happy belated birthing day, too," he went on, glancing up briefly with a smile. "If I had any marks to my name I'd get you a present or something. Maybe I can make you a cake if I ask really nicely in the kitchen?" It would only take a couple of candlemarks of his time and might well get him further into the blue rider's good graces.
“Just mentioning that you'd try has to be good,” Kannaroth mused, “and even caring enough to wish him a good day even belatedly is something. I doubt many people bother to be nice to him.” She wouldn't for sure, but it cost her nothing to humor Hers. If he did end up making a cake, she could always sleep while he was busy mixing things down in the kitchens.
"I know what you mean though," Y'kar went on after thanking his lifemate for letting him play his games, "about time starting again that is... I guess I'm a different person now, maybe that's one of the reasons we take new names... Though if that was it female riders would do it too, those that we have that is." A lot of people here would say that this was not the case because women shouldn't be riders unless they were riding golds, and gold riders kept their names to make sure everyone was aware of what they were. Frankly he couldn't care less about such things either way, or hadn't before Impression. Now it annoyed him that Jasrai got and even harder time of it than the rest of their tiny posse - though not as much as it would annoy him if he was getting the hard time - and he even outwardly supported female riders. It was quite nice to get to say things he actually meant, a refreshing change for sure.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:12 pm
"...eh?"
For a moment there was silence from the older man, his hands stopping what he was doing over his inspection of his leathers. He must have gone silent in his thoughts as well since the blue that rested near them lifted his head up, red eyes whirling as he looked down at his lifemate. The pair were always having a conversation with one another even if they didn't appear to be, so for L'pin to be completely silent was as odd for Shamth as it would be for the dragon to be quiet.
Mine?
The Blue's voice was a gentle enough prod, and it was pretty clear shortly afterward why the man had gone silent. A faint blush had crept its way across his face, the shade mirroring his vibrant hair color, and for a moment or two L'pin looked rather silly. The man quickly shook his head and must have given some kind of reassurance to Shamth, for the dragon went back to resting with his massive jaw atop his front leg.
In an effort to try and take the awkward away L'pin pushed right back into the conversation, picking it up from where Y'kar had talked about name changes.
"I've heard we shorten our names so they're easier to remember by dragon standards. Female rides, namely those who ride Queens, need not worry since everyone harps on and on about how smart the Queens are and how well they remember. We boys who ride anything less then a bronze are unlucky to have dragons that people say cannot keep names different."
I know names well. I even remember yours, before you called yourself what you do now.
That's only because I am here to remind you.
L'pin smirked and kept on, the blush slowly removing itself from his face. He wouldn't admit to why he'd gotten so sappy, but in the time since he'd impressed Shamth...no one had offered him any kind of praise or kind words. The birth date that had been celebrated with a large circle of friends was now met with him and Shamth alone, no words needing to be shared, so to have another person tell him it was a happy day. . . was a bit of a shock.
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:52 am
Y'kar nodded slowly, a slight frown on his face. "Yes, I've heard it's to make them easy to remember and say... It's not true about queens though," he went on with slight hesitancy, "no disrespect to them, but they're no more intelligent than any other dragon. Colour just decides what size range you fall into, not how smart you are." Kannaroth proved that to a tee; his little scrap of a green was far brighter than the weyrwoman's dragon, not that most people would admit it. It made them feel safe to believe the queens were the best, because if queens weren't the best then following them was a bad idea, but dragons had no choice in the matter. If only it were the most intelligent dragons that could give orders as they chose, he and Kannaroth could do so much with power like that.
"If only things were so easy," the sleek dragon grumbled softly, "it would be so nice to make lesser dragons do as I say just because I said it. Still, at least I can talk rings around the brutes, that is some comfort." What she would do with the power of a gold. Things would change around the Weyr, they would change a lot. Her at the head, making things the way they should be, all the power in the world for her... Oh, and for her sisters of course; they would be only a tiny step below her: Roseth be her second for planning and such, and Nellath would lead the Weyr's greatest wing... Of course all wings would fly only a third o a Threadfall when the threat returned, a much better idea, the greens could all make it to the end that way and the bigger dragons would be fresh all the way through... Ah, and she was fantasizing. None of this would ever come to be. She should have been born gold.
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:17 pm
"I can agree to that. Shamth's a lot smarter than any other dragon or rider will give him credit for, or rather I should say clever. He has about the same memory span on his own as many others I've seen, though he seemed to pick up well on topics should I touch them in my own memory."
L'pin frowned a bit as he spoke, not over the words he was saying but rather over the state of one of his leathers. It looked like something had been chewing on it and had nearly sliced the piece in two. It wasn't an important one, the date of its creation moving back several turns to L'pin and Shamth's Weyrling days, but it still was slightly upsetting to see his memories slowly being eaten away.
"Shardin' tunnelsnakes. They'll eat out anything I have, about destroyed this too. Rinel should really go after them more, but she seems content to ignore any requests and make noise about my weyr."
The Dragon behind him rumbled unhappily at the mention of the flitt's name, Shamth having been pleased that the noisy Green had left them alone for most the morning. When the pair had departed the weyr she was sleeping on L'pin's bed like she was saving her energy for something, prompting the man to wonder if she was perhaps heavy with pregnancy.
Shamth said he didn't know nor cared to find out.
"Speaking of Rinel, how has your quest been to getting a firelizard? I believe the last time we met your Kannaroth seemed to show a good fancy towards the little beasts, and I was wondering if you'd managed to get one of your own."
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:39 am
Y'kar gave a lopsided smile and shook his head. "Not great to be honest, and by that I mean we've had no luck at all. All the flitts seem to love her, but we've never quite managed to tame a wild one. If you can't get that you need someone to give you one and well..." He trailed off and gave an awkward one-shouldered shrug. "We're not exactly friends with anyone whose flitt has clutched," he finished eventually.
Kannaroth made a deep grumbling noise at this, her tail twitching with annoyance. “We should just take an egg from somebody,” she said, her tones contemptuous. “Nothing anyone could do about it once it hatched and impressed to you. They'd punish us I'm sure, but we practically live on punishment detail as it is. I could put up with being in trouble to get a flitt.”
How much trouble? He wanted to just indulge her whim, but he didn't want to ruin their chances for the future. Thieves probably didn't get to be part of wings, didn't get a chance at power and luxury.
“I've no chance of the latter two anyway,” Kannaroth said with a snort, “not here at any rate. We should leave this place and adopt a hold. What hold wouldn't like to have a dragon completely dedicated to it? Such power I could give them. I might not be able to threaten harm on other humans, but I could threaten their goods their livestock... Hu,” abruptly the green subsided, “and that would last all of a candlemark before some stuck up queen came and forced me to do her bidding. Well, a dragon can dream.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:40 pm
Shamth had been sitting idly for enough time, enough to make him a little sleepy in the warmth of the sunlight, and the massive Blue released a yawn that pushed L'pin's hair across his face. He hadn't been interested in their idle chatter, not with the promise he and his had shared, so for once it seemed like things might actually go over well. Granted it was because Shamth was relenting for a good scrub down, and with a mini-mind snarl he dared the little Green to think she had won this round. Far from it.
"If Rinel wasn't a green and I wasn't too sure that I'd never find her clutches, I'd give you one of her eggs. The blasted thing seems to like rising good enough, or at least giving off signs she's going to, and I fear she may already be heavy with a clutch. She spends most of her time on my bed in my weyr, her hide a bit more of a glowing shade of green, so it could be any day now that she clutches. I must admit I'm a bit excited, and do want one of hers."
You should give him the trouble too instead of just the eggs.
Hush.
"Of course knowing the nature of Greens she'll just have it off somewhere and forget all about it, leaving it to be eaten by tunnelsnakes and whatever else comes its way. Perhaps they'll even eat one another, as I've heard people say."
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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:14 am
"I don't know that much about flitts," Y'kar admitted with a slight shrug, "but I expect once you actually have one looking after them is a little like looking after a tiny dragon... A pretty dumb dragon admittedly, but they'd need feeding and oiling the same I expect?... Anyway," Y'kar shook away his pondering and smiled, "I hope you do find at least one of her eggs for yourself, and I'm sure I'll get one myself eventually somehow." Stealing one would work if he could make it look like it had been eaten by tunnel snakes and then claim he'd found his flitt hatching in the wild. If he got rid of the distinctive shell there should be no issue. It would be safer to somehow buy one, or get given one, but theft was a possibility if it was all taking too long for his taste.
“Theft is always an option,” Kannaroth informed him sagely. “It's better if you don't get caught of course but sometimes there's no help for it.”
Hoi, didn't he know it? Kannaroth loved to take things that weren't hers even if they were no use to her, like L'pin's belt for example. That was still in the dorms somewhere he thought, Kannaroth liked to chew on it sometimes. That had been one of the least disastrous of her thefts; the time she'd made off with a wingleader's riding goggles had been much worse. Luckily he'd managed to get those back to the man, and persuaded him that she hadn't really meant harm, she'd just wanted to get some nice goggles for him for when they could fly together... The man had sneered, but they had escaped really serious punishment, just some extra chores and advice to 'control his beast'. How long before Kannaroth got them into real trouble? He didn't want to end up like L'pin, barred from a wing forever. Just as long as he kept reminding her that if she wanted really nice things, she had to avoid such a fate it should be alright. Should.
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 9:51 am
"I haven't really seen a need for stressing too hard over oiling Rinel's hide. She seems alright whenever she comes in and out from Between but I do give her a check-up now and then, mostly whenever she complains she itches. So in a way...I guess a lot like a miniature dragon. The only difference is it takes me less than an hour to completely cover her with oil while it takes me the better part of a day at times to do Shamth."
You enjoy bathing me, admit it. You always have said it's a favorite part of your routine.
L'pin sent a laughing note of reassurance to his dragon, who had once again slightly lifted his head to communicate with L'pin. It seemed the sun and the cold weather was excellent for containing the volatile mood of the large beast, and L'pin intended to use this to his advantage in terms of being social.
"As for getting more flits for myself? I don't know how Shamth would handle the extra competition for my affections. He already has trouble as it is with Rinel's usually affections around me so anyone else vying for that position might just lead into a miniature brawl. I do not want to be in the middle of a war, thank you."
He chuckled at the rumble that seemed to confirm his thoughts, though perhaps it was just Shamth shifting a bit in his almost sleep.
"If you think it's taking to long to get one now, we could always go and trawl some beaches for eggs or try and look in random areas. There are so many flits here I'm sure there are dozens of nests out there with some eggs that may be good to hatch."
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