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 Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:33 am
Mine! Stop! I'm not itchy, I promise! Tialzieth's complaints were broadcast to anyone in the vicinity as he wiggled and would not sit still for his rider, more intent on going off and exploring the dragon fields where the other dragons tended to gather - both the Ghenzan ones and the not-Ghenzan ones. They intrigued him so but H'ex had forbade him from going and bothering them without his rider present.
And now that his rider was present and had promised to go see (H'ex was also interested in his fellow riders and dragons), the bronzerider was refusing to let him go! He wasn't itching that bad... really! Just a twitch here and there!
No! If you don't get oiled your skin will crack and you'll hurt, Tia! I don't want you to hurt. Or get sick. Or anything else. Understood!? Frustration was clear in his voice, though it competed with a soft fondness for his dragon - so impulsive and curious.
Tia frowned and tossed his head, turning to butt the top of his head against Hivex's stomach, I'm all oiled, mine! Please? You said we could. I want you with me, H'ex! It's an adventure. You don't want the adventure?
The bronzerider oof'd as the bronze butted him and laughed, shaking his head as he patted Tialzieth's neck. They were just outside his host family's home - on the edge, near the fields where he worked and where the dragons rested. Let me finish what I'm doing and then, okay? Your wing isn't done yet.
Tialzieth huffed and ruffled his wings, stretching them out wide - they were broad and sleek, beautifully patterned and shone in the light. Curiously he craned his neck around to look at his wings, frowned, and turned back to Hivex having noticed the slightly duller section that was as odds with the rest of his sleek hide. Oh. Well, finish quickly Mine. They might not be there now...
I will. Keep your wings up like that. Yah, thanks. H'ex knelt to finish the task at hand then, deftly sticking his hand into a near-empty bucket of oil before rubbing it into the dragon's hide.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:33 am
I'm glad they've finally allowed you some time to spend with me, Sakneth said as he stretched out his neck in an invitation for B'shir to scratch him there. He still hadn't quite gotten the idea that he was too large now for his human's fingernails or knuckles to relieve his itches.
"Do you need oiling?" B'shir asked. He was fairly certain that Sakneth was nearly finished growing, though he kept that thought to himself, as Sakneth was not showing signs of being an exceptionally large bronze by High Reaches standards, which would make him very small indeed by Ghenzan standards. That didn't mean that his hide didn't need oiled though.
No. I simply itch. It's all this stupid grass. Dragons weren't meant to sleep on grass like prey beasts. Now. Make it stop itching, or must I roll on the ground like an animal to relieve it?
B'shir sighed and obliged his dragon. Evidently he was having some effect, because one of Sakneth's inner eyelids slid shut in an unmistakable sign that he was comfortable and relaxed. It pleased B'shir to see that, since Sakneth had been in a near-constant state of simmering fury since Ghenza's queen and her rider arrived at High Reaches all those weeks ago. Months now, he supposed. Time seemed to blur together for him, only rarely punctuated with minor events and the one major event of the hatching.
Tell the hatchling to shut his mouth. He is disturbing my time with my human, Sakneth said. He actually sounded fairly mellow, but B'shir got the feeling he wouldn't stay mellow long if he had to listen to a Ghenzan dragon speak.
"I'll have to stop rubbing," B'shir warned, "as I have no intention of shouting across the field to them."
Fine. Do that. Remind them that it is polite to keep private conversations private. There was a bit of a bite to the bronze's words now. Clearly his antipathy for Ghenzan dragons extended toward their young, too.
B'shir began to walk toward the pair, wishing he didn't have to do this, but deciding it was a relatively small thing that would please his dragon, and his dragon's happiness came before the happiness of another dragon. Particularly when his dragon's unhappiness would also probably result in the other dragon's unhappiness. Better to do it this way, definitely.
"Excuse me," he said when he was close enough. "I'm not sure if your lessons have covered mental communication between dragon and rider yet, but my dragon would like to ask that you give some thought to who should be hearing your conversation."
I didn't say that, Sakneth said with silky-sharp amusement. You always make me sound so much nicer than I am.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:11 am
Tialzieth stopped when they were addressed, blinking his blue-orange eyes at the new human for a moment and it was an opportunity for H'ex to snatch the dragon and finish the oiling as quickly as he could. I know. I'm not stupid. H'ex muttered to himself, and Tialzieth, as he gave a nod of his head.
The bronze, however, extended his neck as far as he could and peered at B'shir with curiosity. Mine isn't stupid. He's always saying I'm too loud. Do you think so too? I don't know you.
A quick check over his shoulder and H'ex shrugged, One of the High Reaches Weyrlings, I think. I've seen him around. The bronzerider frowned at a rough patch on Tialzieth's side that was refusing to be smoothed over.
... A High Reaches rider!? The bronze sounded intrigued and he padded forward a few steps, pausing only when H'ex protested. Mine is from High Reaches! I want to see his home. And yours too, I guess. It must be so different living in a volcano top.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:48 am
B'shir blinked hard. Working with Rath most of his life had provided an interesting backdrop for him, because Sakneth's voice had seemed alien in his head at first, being very different from Rath's. He was still taken aback, however, to be addressed directly by someone else's dragon. He tried very hard to block his surprise before it reached Sakneth. He knew how his bronze would feel about this one speaking to him. He and Sakneth disagreed on many occasions, but that didn't mean the bronze really wanted to give him up or share him with another dragon. He didn't even like sharing B'shir with the silly green firelizard, Shibra, who was nearly as old as Sakneth.
"I don't think yours is stupid either," B'shir said aloud. Maybe he could have replied mentally, but Sakneth would have considered it a betrayal. His bronze hated when he spoke to Rath mentally. "Stupid people don't Impress bronzes."
With apparently one exception, Sakneth said to B'shir.
B'shir ignored the jibe and continued answering Tialzieth, realizing that it had actually been pretty stupid for him to try to keep it from Sakneth that the younger bronze had spoken to him. If he was answering questions, someone had obviously asked them to begin with.
"I'm B'shir, by the way, and while I'm not bothered by you my bronze is not in one of his better tempers, and is inclined to mind hearing you."
Sakneth had one eye open and was watching the exchange. When Tialzieth moved forward he opened his other eye and turned his head slowly toward the trio, yawning very pointedly so that everyone got a good view of how large and sharp his teeth were.
Subtle, B'shir said to Sakneth. Very subtle.
You're mine. Sakneth shifted again so that he could regard the younger bronze more easily and addressed him very specifically. were you addressing me with that last bit? I couldn't tell, since I think everyone in the entire valley heard it. By the way, my human has no idea I'm saying this to you. It's actually very useful, in that regard, to be able to keep one's conversations private. He favored them all with another toothy grin.
B'shir, as oblivious as Sakneth said he was, actually answered Tialzieth. "I know he's from High Reaches, though we're not well-acquainted, I admit. And it is very different there. It's colder, for one thing, but there's a lot more privacy and protection from the elements. Dragons and their riders are held in higher esteem, too."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:10 pm
Tialzieth turned to regard the larger bronze for a moment, watched him yawn wide enough to display teeth, then shrugged. Those were big teeth! He'd have those one day, probably larger. He was a Ghenzan and therefore destined to be big and strong. I'm Tialzieth and Mine is H'ex! He replied cheerfully when Sakneth was finished showing off. I'm just not that itchy... and everybody speaks to everybody else. Does Yours not like other dragons? They said the High Reaches dragons were sour and unsociable...
Hivex, however, had realized what the show was and turned to face Sakneth with a frown. "Intimidation will not work, Bronze. I do not appreciate your posturing. It reflects poorly on you, to wish harm on a hatchling." The bronzerider turned his gaze to B'shir then and then back to Tialzieth, obviously highly protective of his lifemate. And who could blame them? Sakneth was hardly being subtle and it was hard to miss the meaning behind the posturing.
Tialzieth's attention flicked back to the bronze as he was spoken to and, coincidentally, Hivex responded. The bronze frowned, Why would you keep anything from Yours? Don't you love Yours? I love Mine. And I don't have anything to hide... I try to be quiet. Maybe you're just being grumpy. Tialzieth then dismissed the pointed words with that last statement, chalking up the older bronze's disapproval to being grumpy. Maybe he was the one who needed oil!
That's what Mine was saying. I want to see it... it sounds like a good story. Do you like stories? He was only trying to be friendly and while Hivex wasn't too inclined to pursue a conversation, it was serving to distract the little one long enough to finish the oiling.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:26 am
"Tialzieth," B'shir repeated, checking his pronunciation. He wasn't sure with a name containing so many diphthongs that he'd be able to replicate the sounds. Hearing the rider's honorific reminded him of his original name. "And H'ex. From Hivex, right?"
He'd made an effort since leaving High Reaches to learn the names of the rather sizable group that had ended up at Ghenza following the plague scare. Part of the problem was that he'd never really seen them all in one place and he didn't know all of them before. Being a weyrling had really eaten a lot of his time, and he wasn't all that good at socializing anyway.
"And Sakneth certainly can be sour and unsociable," B'shir agreed before turning to look at H'ex. "But he wouldn't actually wish harm on a hatchling. He was raised differently than a Ghenzan dragon will be, but it's not that different."
You're defending me. How cute, Sakneth said. Just leave them and come back here. The small one is an idiot and the human is prickly. You will not be able to make them like either of us.
Whose fault is that? B'shir asked. You're the one who had to display his mighty fangs.
He's talking directly to you. B'shir understood his dragon's argument, but at the same time he felt compelled to point out to him, That's how they do things here.
To Tialzieth Sakneth said, Some things are better for humans not to know. And left it at that.
Of course he was grumpy. He was being subjected to the infantile babbling of a freakishly large hatchling when he'd finally managed to get in some free time with his rider, who seemed to have decided that working all the time was a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Just because there were some nice people working in the fields with him, or some stupid reason like that. B'shir was careful to be vague about the people, but Sakneth was suspicious anyway.
B'shir's glance flickered to H'ex and he wished that his dragon would speak through him instead. He felt incredibly awkward talking to someone's dragon while they were standing right there, perfectly capable of interpreting.
"I haven't heard many beyond the harpers' teaching stories, and that was a long time ago. I don't really remember them."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:16 pm
The dragon and rider nodded at the same time, though it was the bronze whose youthful draconic smile seemed pleased at the proper pronunciation. At the query to his full name, Hivex nodded again as he met B'shir's gaze. "Hivex, yes. I should hope not. High Reaches doesn't raise brutes for bronzes."
IMaybe you're just shy and sour. Tialzieth retorted to that final comment, harumphing as he looked at the older bronze. I'll be that big one day and you won't be so dismissive.
H'ex frowned at that, Don't bother getting riled up, Tia. And you'll probably be much bigger then him. So shush. Aggravate him more and we won't get to go see the dragonfields like you want to. He'd noted the discomfort of the other rider at speaking to his dragon... but really, Tialzieth was a joy to speak to and honestly? H'ex saw little reason to speak to these two. It was the bronze who queried everyone about everything.
The bronze chirruped in alarm then, the essence of their private conversation plain even if the words were silent.
That's sad. Stories are good. Mine has lots from his home and I have some too. Not many... but some. You'll have stories to tell too, from here. The bronze craned his neck around to look out at the buildings and the fields and everything else within sight. 's so much to explore here... maybe you should too. I can also tell you stories, if you like? Mine enjoys them.
Hey now. Don't go making plans without me. H'ex admonished, glancing up when the bronze looked around. He'd finally finished his oiling and was standing, one arm slinging the empty bucket over his shoulder as he gave a satisfied nod. "Tia's got a wonderful imagination. I don't know why he chose me... seems more like a Harper dragon to me." He chuckled then, shrugging.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:28 pm
Sakneth closed his eyes and resolved to ignore the little pipsqueak while he was still a little pipsqueak. As H'ex pointed out - not that he'd heard it, but he knew it anyway - Tialzieth would someday be larger than he was.
That being the case, B'shir remarked to Sakneth, wouldn't it make more sense to have him as an ally?
I don't need allies.
Have it your way.
"It's good that you find your bondmate entertaining," B'shir said. "If Sakneth was in a better mood he would probably tell you how little entertainment he derives from me. Not enough to fill a teacup."
Lies, Sakneth interjected, speaking so that B'shir and Tialzieth could hear him. He narrowed his speech so that only the other bronze could hear him. My human is endlessly amusing. He just doesn't appreciate that about himself. Humans don't understand everything, you know.
"I can't offer much insight on draconic choices. Sakneth's still mystifies me from time to time. Maybe he thought you would make a willing and engaged audience for his imaginings?" B'shir smiled, but it wasn't an instinctive action, and that much probably showed.
You really need to practice smiling, Sakneth said despairingly. He knew B'shir had made an attempt even though he couldn't see it with his rider's back turned toward him. There was a particular sheepishness to B'shir's thoughts whenever he attempted a facial expression other than his usual flat affect.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:18 am
H'ex frowned at that then gave a shrug, glancing up at the bronze. He wondered what it would be like to have your otherhalf be so... well, like him. The bronzerider didn't think his own dragon was like that - loud, curious, unafraid, and perhaps naive but not unhappy with his rider.
Tialzieth, however, swayed his head from one side to the other when Sakneth spoke to him, I don't know if I like your kind of amusement then... it can't be nice to have Yours feel that way. Dragons don't understand everything either. It was obvious Tialzieth disliked Sakneth's approach to his rider - he saw no reason to hide things from His, or to mislead him. That made having adventures difficult and right now all he wanted to do was explore!
H'ex shrugged again, "Perhaps."
I picked Mine because he was right. No one was good enough. We need each other. The answer came bright and clear and spoken with pride as the bronze turned his gaze to B'shir. Wasn't it obvious?
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:51 am
Sakneth sighed. It wasn't worth his time to try to correct the younger bronze. He would learn the error of his thought processes eventually, and since Tialzieth didn't seem much interested in learning from an older, more experienced dragon, there was no point in making any further efforts to show him how mistaken he was.
And yet he couldn't help asking, Feel what way? Like you, I chose the best of the candidates. He doesn't feel any sort of bad way.
"Well, I guess that is obvious when you put it that way," B'shir replied to Tialzieth. "You're both fortunate to have found each other."
He wondered if Sakneth felt the same. He knew, of course, that Sakneth thought he'd gotten the best of the candidates at the hatching, but he'd never heard Sakneth say that they were right for each other. That was usually B'shir's line, spoken in defense when people questioned his relationship with his bronze.
You sound condescending.
You are condescending, B'shir retorted on their private channel. And making a poor showing of yourself. You should try being pleasant.
I did. Now I'm going to try sleeping. You be pleasant if you care so much about it. They are taking up my time with you, and I don't have to be pleasant about it.
"Have you given any thought to whether you'll stay here or return to High Reaches?" B'shir asked, steering the topic away from one which was putting his dragon out of sorts.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:33 pm
Tialzieth mrred at that, blinking big eyes as he thought that over before posing another question, Are you proud of Yours then? He knew a rider could never feel bad to a dragon, the very thought was preposterous for the young bronze, but did Sakneth feel proud of His? Tialzieth rather hoped so.
He'x hesitated at the question, looking for the first time uncertain. "I don't know. I want to show Tia Home, but I don't find the work here unpleasant - only some of the people." He pursed his lips, a few key names obviously coming to mind as he spoke, "You must be anxious to get back home. I came to try to help you Weyrlings... but everyone got swept up into free labour." H'ex fell silent then, giving a brief shrug and it was plain from his voice he rarely spoke so much as one, let alone to a stranger.
Though, he supposed, a stranger turned peer.
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:24 pm
Sakneth did not turn to look at the younger bronze. He kept his eyes resolutely closed and his head turned away from the congregation at the other end of the meadow. He heard Tialzieth's mrr through B'shir and waited. He knew that sound had to herald another query, or at least some kind of response. He was not particularly surprised, then, when the young bronze asked him about his rider, but the question itself caught him off-guard. Was he proud of B'shir? Not every minute of every day, no, but he was never ashamed to lay claim to him, either.
I am proud of him, Sakneth said in a very private mode of communication. Even if it wasn't always true, it was true enough of the time to make it not a lie. Not that it would have mattered if it was true or not. He would have answered this way regardless because it was better to present a united front with B'shir. Their disagreements and arguments were always conducted silently and preferably in private.
B'shir listened carefully to He'x's response. He, too, liked the idea of giving back to the community which supported him. He liked the immediacy of it, rather than storing it all up for Threadfall. He didn't doubt that Thread would fall, but if he was wrong, he felt a little like a thief for having lived his entire life on tithes that were meant for those who fought Thread. He didn't know a single living person who had ever seen Thread, he realized not for the first time.
"There tend to be unpleasant people everywhere," B'shir observed. Sometimes he felt that he met with more than his fair share of them, since people were not automatically inclined to like him most of the time and so he was always dealing with people who were unsure of him and of whom he was also unsure.
"I appreciate the Ghenzan work ethic," he said truthfully. "But my upbringing was such that I find many of their ways so totally alien that it would be nearly impossible to reconcile myself, and Sakneth is not happy here. I couldn't stay in a place where my dragon was unhappy."
He reminded himself that he didn't only meet unpleasant people. His host family was pleasant enough. The farmer girl, Ara, was certainly pleasant, as were many of the others on their work crew. The way everyone knew everyone and the population rarely changed was a novelty that B'shir could appreciate. The constant population fluctuation at the Weyr had been a cause for B'shir to learn to make friends quickly, but not deeply. Here, that wasn't so much of a danger, and there were many friendships - and rivalries - that went back for time out of mind.
"I appreciate the thought, by the way. Of helping us. I have wondered why so many unImpressed chose to come with us. Perhaps the others had similarly altruistic motives."
Hah. They saw the big gold and pictured themselves astride a freak dragon and swooping down on the proper dragons who didn't want them and wreaking fiery vengeance, Sakneth muttered to his human.
Maybe, B'shir allowed.
"What sort of labor have they got you doing?"
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:56 am
Tialzieth was looking intently at the other bronze as he spoke, giving a confident, approving nod when he got his answer, Good because if you weren't you would be a poor bronze indeed, and a poorer dragon as well. There was a flash of intelligence in that comment that contrasted to his young comments, revealing that he was, perhaps, not an entirely childish creature.
H'ex nodded, "Aye, but the unpleasant of the Weyr is one I am accustomed to dealing with. Here... it is a prejudice born from nothing." His tone was curt, saying more about his opinion of a closed, ignorant society bent on fearful rejection of anything unfamiliar then the words he'd actually spoken.
Tialzieth shouldered his partner, craning his neck to look at at H'ex though he spoke to everyone in an attempt to mollify the tense atmosphere, It is not that bad... there are good people here, good dragons. They're just unsure.
He'x sighed and looked to his dragon, That is because you are young yet, Tia, and know nothing else. There is value in resting, as there is in training. You'll understand when we go to High Reaches.
Tia's eyes widened and he grinned, rearing up on all fours to peer at His, So we are going to your home!? The excitement was obvious.
"Apparently..." H'ex replied, patting the bronze and pushing him back down to the ground so he wasn't leaning on him anymore. The decision was made, at least. Thanks in part to Sakneth and B'shir. "Most were probably running from the plague. I cannot blame them, it is a fearful thing. Still, your deployment was so sudden, and with the older riders quarantined... somebody needed to come along."
"What I born and bred to do - farming. The crops are a little different here but not totally alien." He smiled, proud of his heritage even if he didn't regret finding his own space away from them.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:33 am
Sakneth snorted. He was not particularly concerned whether this younger bronze thought he was correct in his assessment of how to handle humans. He knew he was in the right. Certainly Tialzieth's opinion of what made a good bronze dragon mattered little to him. Sakneth had lived longer and he knew what he was doing. He was the finest bronze in his clutch. Infinitely better than Roheth, he told himself firmly.
B'shir didn't say anything in response to H'ex's assessment of Ghenzan prejudice against outsiders. He'd encountered it and not allowed it to bother him. But then, it was different for him. He hadn't 'stolen' one of their dragons. It probably would be harder on the people who had Impressed in the most recent hatching. He should have been there, he thought, in support of the people from High Reaches. If they were here for another hatching, he would do so, even if it meant bending the rules a little. It wasn't as if he could Impress a second time.
I heard one boy did. Impress two dragonets at this hatching, Sakneth interjected as he followed his human's thoughts. But I think you should attend the next one as an observer. It would look good for you to be seen as supportive.
Yes. Political scheming. That's what I had in mind, B'shir replied sarcastically.
"You're right, Tialzieth. There are good people here," B'shir said, agreeing with the young bronze before his own bronze could come down with his litany of complaints against Ghenza, Ghenzans, and their dragons. "But I don't think they'll come to accept us any time soon. I will be glad to go home, for me at least, where things are familiar."
"Well, whatever their motives, it doesn't seem to have done any lasting harm to have them here, though I can't even begin to imagine the political ramifications of High Reaches candidates Impressing here. It will probably make for interesting discussions between the weyrleaders."
I would like it if the freak dragons stayed here, Sakneth said privately to his rider. Then no one would have to be unhappy.
"I'm farming, too, but I'm afraid it's horribly obvious that it was not what I was born and bred to do. I'm constantly being corrected. At least I'm learning." In the background Sakneth looked scornful.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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