|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:03 am
"So, this is it, is it?" He had to admit it was a pretty nice weyr all things considered. The one he had selected out of the options available was one of the highest up, and was set quite far off to one side. There was space for a nice spread of sleeping furs, and there were plenty of shelves above that to hold his clothes and possessions. There was even space for a little nest for his flitts; Treasure cheeped her approval of that fat from the ledge, where she and Charming were inspecting the view. Moving on, Kannaroth's bed wouldn't sleep a bronze, and a decent sized brown would be cramped, but his lovely sleek green had more than enough space to sprawl at full stretch when she felt like it.
"What I feel like right now is having his baggage taken off me," the young dragon commented sharply. "I am not a burden beast, and I will not be treated like one; get this off me before I rip it off and throw it into the bowl."
Y'kar gave his lifemate an apologetic grin and hastened to free her of his bags of belongings. "Sorry, lost in thought there... Wonder how the others are getting on?"
"I shall ask," the small green responded as a large sack full of furs was unstrapped from her and tossed into approximately the space her rider's bed would occupy. "I think Nellath is busy," she added, "but Roseth... I shall ask." So saying, she reached out to her sister's mind. "Roseth, Y'kar is just putting his things into our weyr. It's not too bad I suppose, nothing like the luxury those fat golds get but it is sufficient. How is your weyr?" In her opinion, getting their own weyrs hadn't come a moment too soon; if it had been put off much longer they would have had to put up with that new clutch, and that would not have been lightly tolerated by any of them.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:24 am
Jasrai looked around the weyr. Finally, a room of her own! She hadn't had one of those in over two turns. It was a delightful luxury. With a wide grin on her face she dropped onto the pile of sleeping furs that completely obscured her bed. Perfect! And private!
I'm here, Roseth reminded her. And so are the firelizards.
"You don't count, beautiful," Jasrai replied, actually using one of the terms of endearment that so many other riders used for their dragons that she disdained. She thought it was just odd to refer to another sentient creature by a term of endearment when you loved them, but weren't in love with them. Not that she didn't call Flynx "handsome" and Sati "beautiful" all the time, but they weren't quite sentient. they were more like oddly clever pets.
Sati chirped when Jasrai said "beautiful," reminding her that yes, her pair of firelizards was also present. Because if Sati was around, Flynx had to be around somewhere. The green shadowed the bronze constantly, and was almost more devoted to him than she was to Jasrai, which amused everyone except Flynx, who mostly seemed disgusted by her clinging tendencies.
Kannaroth wants to know how our weyr is, Roseth said.
Without getting up, Jasrai answered, "Tell her it's divine. It's off the ground, it's easy to heat, and it's all mine. Actually, you might leave that last part off. Y'kar might take it the wrong way."
Too late, Roseth retorted. She'd already transmitted Jasrai's reply word-for-word. Also I asked if they'd like to come up, since we're all unpacked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:39 am
"It's divine. It's off the ground, it's easy to heat, and it's all mine." Kannaroth too passed the message on word for word, rumbling with pleasure as she did so; she was happy to hear her sister's quarters were as good as her's were.
"Good," Y'kar grinned as he detached the last bag from Kannaroth's harness, "I know that feeling. It's nice to have a place that's ours. We can have visitors when we want, but when we want to be alone we can be." Their only visitors would be the other members of their trio in all likelihood, but that was fine by him.
"Roseth also asks us if we want to come and visit her and Hers," Kannaroth went on, stretching appreciatively now that she was free of her burden. "They have already unpacked, so it will be easier to go to them than for them to come here."
"Sounds good to me," Y'kar nodded and climbed up onto his lifemate's back as she dipped her stance to allow this, "let them know we're on our way."
"We're just coming sister," Kannaroth passed on as she stepped off the ledge and opened her wings. Y'kar's weight still felt very significant to her compared to solo flight, but at least it was better than him plus all of his things. Snorting to herself, the small green altered course to head for Roseth's weyr.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:00 pm
We're just coming sister, Kannaroth told Roseth. Roseth told Jasrai, who looked around to make sure the place was presentable.
The young woman supposed it didn't really matter how presentable the weyr was. Y'kar had lived with her for six months. He knew she didn't like to clean if it could be avoided, and would probably be shocked to see that the place was in good order. It wouldn't stay that way. Not now that there was no weyrlingmaster to enforce cleanliness or bunkmates to worry about disgusting with her girly laundry or general lack of organization.
"Does the place look all right?" she asked. A weyr of her own was probably the closest Jasrai would ever get to running her own household at this point, and there was a part of her that had been raised to want to keep house. Mostly she ignored those impulses completely, since she despised cleaning.
Of course it does, Roseth said dismissively. She was growing too large to move around the human portion of the living space easily, but she was doing her best to prowl around and inspect it. She'd been more thorough earlier in the day, when the weyr was completely empty.
Flynx and Sati were still occupied exploring every nook and cranny of the new space. Their startled squeaks and suspicious "mrr" noises had provided an interesting background to Jasrai's unpacking all morning. Now they served to break the silence. Jasrai had forgotten what it was like to be in a silent, empty room after more than two turns of sharing a room. It would take a while to get used to, even though she loved the idea of having a choice about whether or not she'd share her space.
"You'll have to make sure there's enough room for Kannaroth, when they get here," Jasrai reminded Roseth. "If there isn't, remember to offer the space to her. It's polite."
Roseth didn't respond, she was peering outside, watching for her sister's approach.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:25 pm
Ah, there was her sister. Kannaroth called a greeting as she drew near, and then came into land neatly on the ledge. "Your weyr is nice," she commented approvingly as Y'kar unfastened himself from the riding straps and slid carefully to the ground. "It is different to mine... but just as good I think." Yes, a little like the three of them she supposed. All just about as good as one another, but all very different.
"Nice," Y'kar smiled, echoing his dragon as he stepped up to the entrance of Jasrai's living quarters. "I think my weyr goes back a little further then yours," he went on, peering about with interest, "but mine's narrower. Hehe, how long before all this organization goes off the ledge?" he added with a grin as he took the place in more thoroughly; it didn't look like Jasrai lived here at all. He was hardly a neat freak himself, but he had noticed that in the dorm his things weren't spread out quite as widely as Jasrai's had been.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:08 pm
Roseth sidled over so that there'd be the maximum amount of space for Kannaroth to come in if she wanted to. Perhaps she'd been listening to Jasrai after all. Would you like to come in? I think there's enough space for both of us here, since we're not fully grown yet.
She craned her head to look around. She wasn't used to the space yet, and it was not set into her memory. Looking around gave her a better idea of what Kannaroth might be complimenting. I'll have to come see yours sometime, to see how they're different, other than this one being less narrow and more shallow.
Jasrai cast a rueful eye on her surroundings, but she couldn't really stop her pleased grin from curving her lips. This felt like such an enormous step, and she was thrilled to pieces. Which was highly uncharacteristic of her. Out of character or not, every time she thought about the fact that she had a space all to herself she felt glee, pure and simple, which made the general mood of her bonded companions far better, too. They'd all looked forward to this day for some time.
"Well. I'd say until the first time I get laundry back. Probably. Could be sooner."
With a sort of childish delight, Jasrai clasped her hands together. She restrained herself from clapping. Barely. It was a sad reflection on how her standards had fallen that this should make her so happy, she tried to tell herself sternly. Fortunately she didn't listen to herself.
"But thanks. I like it. Hugely. I may even make an effort to keep it clean." She'd made an effort in the barracks, too, but it still turned out that her things had taken up more space than the others'. It was a good thing they'd not had to share the space with any other people, and so could claim multiple bunks if they so chose.
"You're not finished unpacking, right? Would you like some help with that? Believe it or not, I'm very good at organizing things the first time around. It's just any subsequent upkeep that I fail at."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:50 pm
"Thank you," Kannroth nodded to her sister and stepped inside, still peering about at her surroundings with interest. "Who knows," she went on with a snort, "I'm turning out so small that we may both even be able to fit in here full grown... Not all three of us though. We'll have to be outside together when we're all together." She didn't mind being the small one, as she had just thought it was different rather than better or worse. She was very fast and very agile, but tired so much faster than her sisters did. Nobody could be good at anything no matter what Roseth might think, she considered with fond amusement.
"It's just so good to have a space that's mine," Y'kar agreed. "I've been living in candidate dorms since I was... what? Twelve turns old? It'll be odd at first I expect, not having other people all around me, but to have somewhere private..." he trailed off with a grin and a shrug. "Well, it's pretty great, that's all there is to be said I guess."
Should he accept the offer of help? He could do it himself, but he remembered how indecisive he'd been about where to put his stuff when he'd moved from the candidate dorm to the weyrling dorm; it would all get done much faster with Jasrai's help, which would leave him more time for other things. Like practicing making straps. he could do it now, but only if he really took his time over it. He was told that it would become a habit eventually, that he'd hardly have to think about it at all. He looked forward to that very much.
"Thanks," Y'kar nodded, "I'd appreciate a hand. Takes me ages to decide where stuff should go when I'm on my own."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:05 pm
Roseth turned her attention to her clutchmate. She might have a point there. She was definitely not shaping up to be particularly large. And although this was a weyr meant for one person, it wasn't necessarily meant for one person with a green dragon. They would both probably be able to fit for some time to come. Nellath was another story.
Maybe, Roseth was forced to admit. In a gesture of magnanimity she added, But you are very fast. You're faster than I am.
"It is. I was born and raised an only child. Living with other people was one of the most difficult things to adjust to here."
She didn't mention the opposition she faced as a female rider. That was old news to everyone except her, and in light of the new clutch even her most devoted problems were distracted. She was almost grateful to Kaveth for clutching so obligingly. Pity she couldn't have done it sooner, though that might have meant sharing the barracks with younger dragons, which Roseth would not have liked at all.
Well, if we will have to meet outside, then that's how we'll have to meet, Roseth said philosophically. She was used to Kannaroth being generally right about these sorts of things.
"Great. Should I have Roseth fly me down? I'm not sure if I know how to get to your weyr from inside."
If they were going to fly, she'd have to put Roseth's harness back on. She was getting faster at it, but climbing over Roseth wasn't exactly easy, and would probably get no easier as the dragon finished growing. Jasrai would just have to work harder to get in shape.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:22 pm
"Yes," Kannaroth agreed with a nod, gratified that her proud sister would acknowledge it, "but you are a lot stronger than I am. We three compliment one another well." Roseth already knew that of course, but it felt good to say it, it was part of what they were. No dragons in the whole Weyr were bonded as they were, and she liked to remember that at every opportunity. They were better than the rest by a long margin. "I shouldn't think we'll have any problems with privacy," she went on with a grin, "very few are foolish enough to approach us these days, let alone when all three of us are together."
"Could we see to it in a bit?" Y'kar asked with a grin. "Honestly I don't feel like it just now, and you would need to fly down: there isn't a way up to my weyr from the inside, flight entrance only." He'd prefer to relax here for a little while before bothering about unpacking; it wasn't as if they had any other duties to see to today after all, they could afford to be a bit lazy. Not tomorrow though, or the day after, or any other day when they had lessons and tasks to complete. If they wanted to be placed in a wing when the time came, they had to be far, far better than any other riders would need to be. The Weyr wanted them to fail. It would be sorely disappointed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 3:58 pm
Roseth was almost tempted to say more, that it wasn't just strength. She and Jasrai had begun working together on doing interesting things with flight. Jasrai called them tricks, which had confused Roseth at first, since her understanding of trick was different. Jasrai had been obliged to explain to her that trick just meant something fancy to show others. Roseth liked that plan, and was eager to show her sisters what she was doing, but Jasrai had insisted that they keep their practice secret for the time being. Roseth hadn't realized it would be so difficult.
We do, she agreed, frustrated. But it's not as if too many people approach us anyway. Not anymore, with those new eggs on the sands.
Roseth wasn't very impressed with the new clutch. So what if it was bigger and had a queen egg? She was certain that it would be an unremarkable queen, and that none of the other dragons would have the least personality or intelligence. She was half convinced the reason she and her sisters were so wonderful was because there were so few of them, and so the intelligence and skills and personality had only to be divided by three. Dividing it into nine would leave this new clutch as interesting as trundlebugs.
"Whenever," Jasrai agreed, not overeager to get into more work. She'd made the offer to be social, and she'd follow through on it, but she'd spent her entire morning moving things and unpacking and organizing, and would have liked a bit of a break.
"I'm glad my weyr has an inside entrance, really, for those days when the weather is nasty and such." She really didn't like to be cold, and would go to unusual lengths to avoid being rained or snowed on. "But I can understand the appeal of having an entrance accessible only by dragonback."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:45 am
"Quite!" Kannaroth grinned and stretched her claws. "Idiots that they all are, no wonder they're soppy over this new lot; they are all so in love with their breeders." That was the only purpose of queens so far as she could see it, they weren't all that useful for fighting Thread, and they were only leaders because of that troublesome ability to force others into doing their bidding. Nothing but big bullies, the lot of them.
"Yea, I guess either way has ups and downs. One of the reasons I choose mine though was for only having the ledge entrance. Much easier to keep track of who might be trying to come in." For a person with as many pretenses as he, it was important to be certain that you were alone before relaxing... Well, either alone or in trusted company. Five intelligent creatures in the world now. Five. He'd never expected that, but it was a good feeling. It was nice to be able to confide in a few folk, and to be able to share the ways he'd duped this fool or that idiot. It was better now he wasn't alone.
"Still though," Y'kar sank to a seat on the ground, "what do you make of all this stuff going on at High Reaches? I've heard they're going to send their weyrlings away to a place called Ghenza."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:22 am
When Y'kar sat on the ground Jasrai realized one of the things her weyr was missing. Chairs. There was a desk, and it had a chair, and there was the pile of sleeping furs, but otherwise very little to sit on. Not really ideal for having company. She reminded herself that company was a burden she was not likely to have to bear, except possibly during mating flights, when those eventually took place, and she wouldn't want those people in her weyr anyway. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that eventuality, and for the most part tried not to think about it.
Jasrai prefers that they ignore us for the unhatched ones. She says it makes life easier. In a moment of deviousness, Roseth suggested, Perhaps she's right. If they ignore us for the youth of this new clutch, perhaps we will be given the opportunity to practice and improve, and they won't remember not to like us when placing us in wings.
"There is that. But I don't anticipate a lot of visitors, to be honest. Besides, I have vicious attack firelizards and a dragon. That pretty effectively limits how many people are going to get in here." To be social and avoid forcing Y'kar to look up at her, Jasrai sat on the ground with her legs drawn up and her back against her bed.
"As for the stuff at High Reaches, I can only say that I hope Thread doesn't decide to come while they're off. That, and I highly doubt if the same were to happen here, we would not be given that kind of priority." She rolled her eyes. "Not that I want to go to an alien Weyr. Unless it was Ista, maybe. I could be very happy with that kind of perpetual warmth and sunshine."
I don't want to go anywhere, Roseth interjected. It was an old argument, though not one they'd had recently, so Roseth couldn't remember the particulars.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:42 am
"Indeed, that certainly sounds plausible... The 'important' people in the Weyr have much to think about anyway at the moment. They will assign us quickly and be done with it... Although," Kannaroth regarded her sister more seriously, "I expect we shall all be placed in different wings. They will want to part us, to hurt us, and to 'stop us from causing trouble'. Fools." If allowed to work together, the three of them could do incredible things, but Telgar didn't want to let them. Well, that was just Telgar's loss, wasn't it?
"Right," Y'kar snorted, "I don't want to be told to cover for them all of a sudden, no matter how much our weyrwomen might seem to be sidling up to one another. They can take care of their issues, and we'll take care of ours... Although," he smiled wryly, "it would be easier on you if we'd been there rather than here. Not a lot to be done about that though, just another sharding issue to deal with." The world was full of them and while he liked a challenge every so often, he would prefer it was every so often rather than every day. It would be nice if life would give them a break from time to time, it really would.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 12:54 pm
"I get by," Jasrai said with an off-handed shrug. Sometimes she barely got by, but she always did. Besides, she hardly had a choice. She had a dragon and two firelizards keeping her here.
"Besides, adversity builds character and all that s**t." Y'kar was a lot younger than Jasrai was, but not so much that she had ever avoided swearing in his presence. Not like she did with A'li, whose tendency to smoosh them into a familial atmosphere made her think of him as far younger and more naive than he actually was. She still hadn't really bought into that second family thing. She had a family, and she wasn't giving them up. If anything, she tended to view the other two from her clutch as in-laws.
We expected that, though, Roseth said. At least, she had expected it. Or maybe it was Jasrai who had expected it. But it was expected. It's not as though there are any wings with three available spots anyway. Not unless some people here die of the plague.
Roseth had only a vague idea of what the plague was. It wasn't something Jasrai worried much about, or even thought much about, and so Roseth wasn't bothered by it either. She knew it was a kind of sickness that killed people and not dragons, and that no one at this Weyr had it, but some people at the other Weyr did.
"But, yeah, I really don't want to have to cover for them. Can you imagine the three of us trying to do the work of a fifteen-dragon clutch?" The thought was ludicrous. More so, given the low expectations they seemed to have for Roseth and her clutchmates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:28 am
"Yes," Kannaroth grumbled and gave the draconic equivalent of an exasperated eye roll, "they were never going to make things easy on us... The only other ways I can think of opening up three places on a wing are persuading other greens they want to leave that wing, rumors or something would work, or for... accidents to happen." She could contemplate that, causing harm to another dragon, but much to her frustration she doubted she could actually go through with it. There was not the same utter repulsion that trying to think seriously of harming a human brought, but it was still enough to chill her blood. They were dragons. It wasn't what they did, not outside of a frenzied mating flight anyway... She was going to start rising before long, wasn't she? Oh great.
"Of course," Y'kar grinned, "no pain no gain. Being put down like this will make you into a strong, confident person, and a reason to feel superior to others because they could just never understand what you've been though." People who wallowed in their tragedy, or at least who went on about how much they endured and how hard it all was, drove him up the wall. Sometimes he still wasn't sure he knew Jasrai enough to know how she really felt about her situation, but she didn't whine about it and that was enough for him.
"I expect we'd cope though, if we had to. After all," Y'kar grinned wickedly, "I bet Kannaroth could drum up a whole army of flitts if she had to. Imagine that, three greens and scores of firelizards. We'd be the best wing ever, and everyone would sing our praises."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
