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Alas, Zeren's relaxation would not last for long. It was quite and peaceful for a good while, but quite suddenly with no warning at all a familiar brown flit blinked out of Between right behind the boy's head, letting out a horrendous screech before blinking Between again to the safety of a nearby rock. The brown let out a definite feeling of laughter as its eyes whirled quickly in amusement. He had surprised him well!

"Ah, geez, Drakell. If you're going to pull something like that you could at least wait until I'm close enough to see," Azuran remarked with an exasperated sigh as he came closer to collect his wayward flit. "Sorry about that, Zeren. He likes to try to do things on his own sometimes." Perhaps he hadn't been the best influence to the brown considering all of the other pranks that he had trained him to help with, but that didn't quite matter now. "You doing alright?"

"Hey, I had no part in that," Azuran replied, holding his hands up as if to prove his innocence. When he saw the blue about to go after Drakell, however, his gave a quick, sharp whistle that made the brown immediately leap skyward and disappear Between once more. He reappeared behind his own human this time and landed on the teen's shoulder, where he was rewarded for his obedience with some petting. The teen had made sure to train his flit well in their past year together. "That's fine-- I can't blame him for getting upset. These guys are surprisingly protective." Which almost seemed an understatement to him at times. "Anyway, sorry to bother you out here, but I heard you were collecting some herbs and was wondering if you might need any help."

"He would have made a good one," Azuran said with a smile, stepping closer to assist the other. "Which herbs are you looking for?" He didn't know all to much about herbs and plants and such himself, but he knew enough of them by sight at least to help in looking for them. Plus, for one reason or another the two of them hadn't been hanging out much recently, and he should probably work a bit more to rectify that.

Azuran didn't notice the slight blush or the embarrassed natured of the other's cough, but he did have to smirk a bit at Zeren's last remark. "Does that mean you're looking for some more numbweed duty?" he said jokingly before beginning the search for useful herbs. Even Drakell fluttered off of his shoulder to assist (although really the small brown had no idea what to do or look for).

It was naught but a few minutes later that a silver dragon came out of Between overhead and proceeded to glide effortlessly off in the direction of the beach. Though the teen had seen dragons appear and disappear time and time again throughout his life, his blue eyes couldn't help but trail after the sleek and shiny form overhead. Even at Malvren and Trine silvers were not that common after all. He almost asked Zeren what he thought their chances were for the next clutch, but he held his tongue. Who was he kidding? After all of these turns of trying, it wasn't likely he would Impress at all before aging out. His companion still had a chance at least.

Drakell returned to his human's shoulder and crooned comfortingly. He still had him! He would never go.

Azuran had to smile a little at the conversation between Zeren and Viska. "If it makes you feel any better, I believe I've found some," he replied, starting to dig up the plant he had found. "So, you're considering wherhandling as a back-up?" the teen asked casually. "What inspired that?" It wasn't a bad idea actually, and given his own penchant for solitude it might not be a bad career option to consider. Currently he had all his eggs in the dragonriding basket, but it wouldn't hurt to start considering some other areas for a few Turns down the line.

"Isn't the root the potent part for this plant?" Azuran asked, pausing in the digging anyway to look back over at the other. Leaves were the easiest to collect, yes, but not always the best for the case of remedies.

"Ah, I remember Kazvar and Kazvask," he remarked when Zeren had finished. "Been down to see them before myself. Nice enough pair, despite rumor." The handler was a bit serious perhaps, but certainly not one who would actually feed the Candidates to his partner. With a faint smile, he said, "Don't you mean 'if' you don't Impress?" He couldn't blame the other for the pessimism (he felt much the same himself), but they couldn't really know for sure whether they would ever Impress or not. Until they reached the point of aging out, it would be a mystery.

Yes, cause plants without roots thrive so well on their own, Azuran thought to himself, deciding against saying the sarcastic remark aloud. In an effort to somewhat save the plant though, he used a small knife to only cut away half the root for their own use before replanting the herb into the ground. Good luck growing back.

"Have you seen them in a while?" he asked. "Kazvar and Kazvask I mean." He had been fortunate enough himself not to be sent back their way (not that he minded them at all, but being sent to one of the resident wher and wherhandlers wasn't generally a good thing), so he hadn't spoken with them in what must have been nearly a Turn. Then again, he generally kept himself fairly isolated from most everyone, so perhaps that really shouldn't have been such a surprise.