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 Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:08 pm
Relys stepped out of his wagon and took in the view of the Weyr. Even thought it was dark out and hard to see there was a fair amount of light eminating from the openings. From several different ledges the wherhandler could see the glowing eyes of interested dragons. He gave a grin and jumped down. Somewhere out there were his two friends.
Relys had heard that there was another clutch of eggs on the sands. He gawfed at the thought if they'd loose more members of the caravan to this clutch. If they did, Relys laid a bet with himself that the Caravan Leader would stop coming when there was a clutch to hatch. Leading his wagon, the young man headed over to another wagon. A polite knock before he opened the door. "Relysk? C'mon lets get up." He stepped back as the wher hopped out.
The blue wher gave a whistling trill to his handler. Time to work? Relysk hopped down from the wagon and gave a long stretch. His eyes whirled a slow blue. Nald flitted over and landed on his person's shoulder. He gave a happy trill to both Relys and Relysk.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:11 pm
Everything was still so new.
Silently Ruven traipsed around the grounds of Trine Weyr, taking a much needed break from chores and candidacy to clear his mind. Going for walks was very unlike him, but lately he had picked up the habit as his only form of stress relief. Several sevendays had passed since he had left his childhood home for his new life here, yet not much had changed. He still had no friends. He still knew less about dragons than most of his peers. He still could not get used to the idea that he was no longer a privileged rich kid.
Now, a Hatching was close on the horizon. Each day the Epsilon Clutch eggs hardened in the Sands. Soon, he would get his chance to Impress. Soon, soon, soon. It seemed like only yesterday he had lived free of responsibility and unfamiliar with the concept of “hard work”. He had come a long way since then, but he still had so far left to go. Was he ready to care for a young dragon?
As he quietly reminded himself that he could conquer any challenge if he set his mind to it, Ruven failed to notice that he was drawing close to a visiting caravan. It took a shockingly foul scent to drag him out of his thoughts. Blinking, he stopped dead and glanced around to find that his wandering had brought him within a few feet of a large blue reptile.
“What is that?” he asked out of instinct. The redhead had spent so much time surrounded by true dragons that the sight of this blunt-winged creature confused him. When his surprise wore off, he managed to answer his own question. This was a watch wher. His home hold was guarded by one of these.
“A wher? What is it doing out here?”
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:54 pm
Relysk saw the heat signature of a person approaching. He tested the scent and didn't recognize it. The wher gave a low warning hiss.
Relys was surprised when Relysk gave a warning. He knew the wher would not have greeted friends like thus. Then he heard a voice speaking out of the darkness. He grinned. Clearly this person didn't know what whers did.
"Easy there." He called out. His hand rested reasuringly against the growling wher. "My name is Relys and my wher is Relysk. We're caravan guards. State your business here." Letting the wher guide him through the darkness, Relys approached the unknown person causiously. Nald took iniciative from the wher and took off. He circled over Ruven's head and squeeked indigantly at him.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:26 pm
Oh geez. Now the wher was hissing at him. Ruven frowned slightly, not really sure how to react. He wasn’t afraid of the strange reptile (though perhaps he should have been, considering he was with it alone in the middle of the night), but simply confused. Why was the watcher HERE of all places?
Relys’s voice came like a light in the dark. Ahhhh, so this thing had a handler. Ruven simply had not spotted him earlier. That made this situation less strange, if only ever so slightly. Relys and Relysk, huh? The similar names struck Ruven as amusing. He was suddenly very grateful that dragon naming did not work that way.
“What’s my business here?” Ruven repeated, a few traces of indignation leaking into his voice. This guard was the outsider, not him. “I LIVE here.” Here being Trine Weyr, of course. He didn’t feel that he needed to explain himself that far. “I wasn’t even aware that there was a caravan around.”
It took the better part of his self-control for him to resist the urge to swat at that squawking flit.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:16 pm
Relysk fluttered his wings, and meeped at Relys. He for sure didn't recognize this person's scent. Relys whistled to call off Nald. "Good boy, you did just fine Nald." Patting the blue flit to setttle him, the handler turned his attention back to the lad. "Perhaps you live here, but so do other people. This caravan often stops here to trade." He let his voice reprimand gently.
"My wher didn't reccognize you. I had every right to question you. Hold on a second." He jogged the few steps back to the wher's wagon for a small glowbasket. Even if he was comfortable in the night, didn't mean everyone else was. He let the light shine upon himself, Relysk, and Ruven. "There we go, a little light. I didn't get your name."
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:22 pm
When Relys finally called off his flit, Ruven had half the mind to point out that perhaps it was not a good idea to train his pet to harass poor innocent bystanders such as himself. He was still a tiiiiiny bit bitter after his none-too-friendly encounter with the handler’s wher. “If you guys are just visitors, then shouldn’t you be more respectful of the fact that there are a lot of people around Trine Weyr?” There was a thinly veiled sharpness in his tone. Ohhh, he definitely did not like being reprimanded by a stranger. His pride was quite a well-fed beast and was hostile to any sort of unwelcome prodding. If only he were back at home. There was such a huge socioeconomic gap between he and the guards at his Hold that none of them ever would have dared speak to him this way.
The conversation paused when Relys took a moment to retrieve a light. Ruven took this opportunity to try to calm himself down. Part of him wanted nothing more to do with this caravan member, but another part of him understood that the guy had meant him no ill will and did not deserve poor treatment. Calm down, calm down. If you act like a jerk, you’re no better than him, Ruven.
“My name’s Ruven. I’m one of the candidates here.” Good. That was civil… now change the subject. “So what kind of caravan are you part of?” He honestly did not know much about traveling merchants. His mother had made him keep his distance every time trade wagons visited their Hold. She considered the whole lot of them wild untamed gypsies with no morals and an irreconcilably foreign way of life. Of course, Ruven had learned recently that most of the things she told him about commoners weren’t true.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:28 pm
Relys looked coolly at the lad after he returned . No he must be really new to say something like that to him. "If you don't like the fact we're here then you certainly don't have to trade with us. We might be "just visitors" but the Holds only supply basics to the Weyr. Where do you think all the fine goods come from young lad?" Relys wondered if any traders at stopped at the hold where Ruven had lived. Had the boy paid any attention to them?
The wherhandler inclined his head, "A pleasure Ruven. Good luck on the upcoming Hatching." Hopefully his dragon wouldn't be as snobby as this kid seemed; he wondered if he was making a rushed decision. "A trader caravan." He gave a wink to tease the boy then relented. "We trade those harder to get items. Exotic spices, fancy cloth, this and that. We also do requests if you're looking for something specific. You can pay us to find and bring it back for you." Judging by his question, Relys modified his view slightly.
Relysk sat himself down as the two started to talk. By the way his handler acted, the wher knew the kid was allowed to be here. He memorized the heat signature in case he should run into him again.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:56 pm
In all honesty, throughout his childhood, Ruven never really got out much. His was the life of a sheltered and spoiled brat. If he wanted something, he would inform his parents. “Magically” it would appear in his room over the next couple of days. There was no need for him to learn anything about caravans (or shopping or cleaning or cooking or many other common skills, for that matter).
All he knew was that his mother disliked them, and that was good enough for him. Perhaps had he realized that becoming a nomadic merchant was not as horrible as she made it out to be, he would have left home in a wagon train instead of on a Search rider's dragon (provided that one of them would actually have been willing to take on a miniature princeling with no talent or experience). Unfortunately, the reality was that Ruven had little to no respect for the lifestyle. In his mind, it was just another low trade.
“I don’t mind the fact that you’re here,” he clarified, being careful to not allow any more annoyance slip into his voice. “I mind the fact that you treated me like a criminal (or rather, a child) for walking around my home.” Seriouly, Ruven. Drop iiiiiit. When Relys teased him, the candidate chose not to respond. He was not sure he could do so without employing sarcasm, and, well. He had already acted rude enough for one night.
“So you hunt luxury items? That sounds interesting. How far does your caravan travel?” Even though caravaners were clearly beneath him, he could not help but nurse a tiny bit of curiosity as to how they functioned. Nomads were just as foreign to Ruven as Trine Weyr had once been. He had certainly never met one before… even if this guy had initially pissed him off, why not try to get a little use out of him?
“Does traveling all of the time ever get lonely?”
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 9:28 pm
Relys sighed and moved to sit on the edge corner of the wher's wagon. "Reylsk would have reacted like that to anyone he didn't know. If that's any consolation. Sad as it may seem, there are those who would steal. We don't earn our profit by letting someone steal from us. Just because you live here doesn't mean you wont steal from us; we didn't know you."
The wherhandler gave a moments pause for thought. "Perhaps hunt was the wrong word. We trade profitable items for us. Take spices for instance. Light weight, easy to transport, and provide a good return by those who want em. We make money, and you get tasty spices for your food." He chuckled to himself, thinking of Scarath's fondness for food. He'd have to let S'kor know they had the packets he'd requested last time.
"All the holds looking to Trine Weyr. Large and small." Relys actually enjoyed their route most of the time. He gave a humorous laugh at the last question. "Lonely? Not hardly. First I have Relysk to keep me company all night. Second, our caravan is far from small. Come light, you should take the time to count wagons. Most of them have a small family living in it. Some bigger families, and of course we have 3-4 wagons just for hauling trade goods." He gave a wink. "Lonely is not the first word I would choose to describe a caravan."
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