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 Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:03 pm
Biran felt that the morning had not gone especially well.
It had been going quite splendidly, they'd found the feral wher's den and he had been hoping to land the killing blow on the green himself. Unfortunately it had come about that there had been more than one wher, in fact there had been four: the green, her blue mate, and two adolescents.
That discovery had been some hours ago now and in the intervening time Biran had been separated first from the rest of the hunting party in some woodland and then from Arrow when the horse - already rattled by the encounter with the whers - had spooked at a flight of wild wherries, thrown him, and bolted. On top of all of that he couldn't get Grace to come to him, he was pretty sure that the green firelizard was hiding under his bed back at the Hold and that did him very little good at all.
Still, it could have been worse he supposed; he was bruised but uninjured and he knew where he was, which was some way to the west of the Hold. He was dressed warmly too - though he lamented the mud on his fine fur cloak - and his riding boots were not too badly suited for walking. He wouldn't get home before dark on foot but he hoped to encounter somebody once he made it to the road, and if he could just get Grace to come to him he could send a message home to let everyone know he was alright. He hoped Arrow was alright but decided that the stallion probably was, he knew which way home was too and would doubtless arrive in fair time.
Biran sighed to himself as he stepped out of the treeline and started down the steep slope which would lead him down to the river, and the main road that ran along beside it. Looking on the bright side was all very well but it didn't stop him being bruised, tired, hungry, and thirsty. The last of those things could be rectified soon.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:36 am
ROAR!!
Nersha froze, tensing up and gripping for dear life on the net she held in her hands. The sound died off and she whipped her head around to look at the dragon lounging on the bank.
"Sereth! Will you not do that. I'm trying to concentrate." Turning her head slowly towards her rider Sereth laughed inwardly, which of course meant that Nersha could hear it too.
Sorry, my love, but it is funny to see them all panic and scatter like that. She shared the image with Nersha. The group of wherries quite contentedly scratching at the dirt nearby. Honestly, they acted like she wasn't even something to be scared of. Sereth had showed them though. When the dragon had let out her roar the little (As far as Sereth was concerned) creatures had been positively tripping over themselves to try and get into the air to escape. As if that would be enough. If she really wanted to catch one then it being in the air would be even easier. Stupid wherries.
Wouldn't you rather they didn't run from you? Surely it'd be easier to catch them if they didn't. Turning back to the task at hand Nersha cast the net again, letting out a frustrated sigh when once again it didn't fall right, the water quickly snatching it up and tangling it. Maybe she had made it too big. She had followed that text perfectly, or so she thought. Still, she couldn't tell what she was doing wrong.
There's no accomplishment in it if they don't see you as a threat. If they don't run then it is too easy. Sereth seemed sure of this, but Nersha mused the idea as she stepped out of the river, hauling her empty net with her. She'd have to untangle it all over again now.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:31 am
As the roar shook the air Biran's heart jumped into his throat; he stumbled, flailed, failed to catch his balance and ended up rolling down the scree-covered slop. After several painful revolutions he managed to stop himself and scrambled upright, hand going to his sword. It hadn't been the wherries that had spooked Arrow, it must have been the scent of -
Dragon?
Gold dragon.
Biran took his hand away from the hilt of his blade and stood staring for a few moments, he usually only saw dragons soaring overhead and the last time he had seen a gold had been... Well, it must have been at Hiraeth's hatching feast and that had been two turns ago.
As he recovered the ability to think clearly in the wake of being convinced that a giant wild wher was about to eat him Biran began to take stock of the new sore spots he had just acquired. He also began a rather fruitless attempt to brush dirt, little bits of rock, mud, leaves, and twigs out of his mane of hair as he processed what to do next. It was pretty obvious - he should go and introduce himself and seek assistance - but he felt that given the circumstances he was excused in taking a little while to get to that conclusion.
Biran cleared his throat and started towards the dragon and - now he spotted her - the woman with the net. "Hail gold rider!" That seemed like a good start; he didn't recognise the gold herself which now he thought about it was also odd, there weren't many of them after all.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:21 pm
"Blasted thing, why won't it ju- Ah-ha!" Another tangle successfully undone. She would have thought the net being wet would make it easier to straighten back out, but if anything it just seemed to make things worse. Still, she was going to stick at this. One of the strangest things about her current situation was how much time she had. Honestly it was enough to drive a woman insane. She couldn't fight, couldn't go out on patrols. True she had her job in the infirmary, and she enjoyed being useful there, but that left her with nothing to do besides.
She was bent over the net, trying to work another snarl from the rope, when she heard someone call out. Well what in the world? She'd specifically picked here because it wasn't near anything or, she thought at least, anyone. Turning her head the woman reached up to push stray hairs from her face. Her hair hung in a long plait, but strands had worked free and now blocked her vision. Well it wasn't a dragonrider, that was obvious.
He is dirty. Sereth all but snorted. She was right, the lad did look a little like he'd been dragged through the hedge backwards. Still, despite his somewhat disheveled appearance it was clear that this was no farmer's son. Fur cloak, good quality boots. This was someone who didn't go wading through the muck for a living.
Putting down her net and waving Nersha managed a smile for the lad. Looked like he could probably use it. "Greetings. Fancy a trek through the woods?" When in doubt attempt to be humourful. Key would being attempt.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:32 pm
Stars but she was beautiful. The dragon that was, Biran had never been much good at noticing beauty in women, though he was trained to treat all of them as though they were.
For a few moments Biran was too entranced by staring up at the gold to reply to her rider, and when he did focus on the woman again he gave an apologetic laugh and a small bow. "I fancied a hunt my lady, but it seems fate had other plans for me today. I cannot say that I mind them now! Your companion is fairer than the dawn, a living smith's masterpiece!" Should he have addressed the dragon directly? Biran wasn't entirely sure - he sometimes forgot that dragons were as intelligent as humans - and so he bowed to her as well for good measure. "Forgive me, I should have introduced myself to both of you. I am Biran of High Reaches Hold, son of Lord Tharandir." He laughed again then and brushed some dirt off his cloak. "I have not had the best of mornings up until now."
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:48 pm
Oh, I like him.
I thought he was dirty.
He is, but I still like him. Unlike everyone else in this time he actually has eyes.
That was Sereth won over, possibly even in record time. Could Nersha just kidnap the boy and keep him near her all the time? Ah, he was the son of a Lord. So much for that plan. Ah well, either way Sereth was happy for now. The gold ruffled her wings, shifting just slightly. This was Sereth's way really, draw herself up and look proud, puff up her chest, foreleg over foreleg, hold her wings just right. The dragon could keep that pose for hours if she so chose.
"Well met, Biran of High Reaches Hold. I am Nersha and this is Sereth." They didn't have an 'of'. What even would it be? Even now Nersha didn't feel she could say 'Of High Reaches Weyr', but she could hardly claim to be of Benden anymore. Either way, they were in High Reaches territory so let the lad make of that what he would.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:00 pm
Biran blinked. "I beg your- you're Nersha and Sereth? Of the Fourth Pass?" Now he looked again she was small. Actually she was huge but she was far smaller than the golds he had seen before and the bronzes too come to that, and he had heard that the dragons that had come from the past were tiny compared to usual dragons.
Biran had been smiling before but now he was beaming and moving closer, trying to brush more dirt from his clothes. "I thought perhaps you were from another Weyr, for I did not recognize either of you, but that explains it! I am delighted to make your acquaintance, I so wanted to go to the Weyr when I heard of your appearance but ah," Biran cleared his throat, "I am afraid my duties kept me away." That was true but it wasn't actually the reason he hadn't gone, but he didn't intend to admit that he had been forbidden from visiting. "I am sure many others have said it but, on behalf of my family, I would like to offer you a belated welcome to our time. Ah... I know it was some time ago now but I can't imagine the shock it must have been and I hope you are both settling in well, and your people who came with you of course."
From what he had gathered back then gold dragons really ruled the hunt, more or less as gold whers still tended to today though on a smaller scale as wher hunts seldom exceeded twenty in number whereas Weyrs hosted hundreds of dragons. It made sense to him for golds to be powerful but he rather got lost when he got to the part about bronzes holding influence. If you had to have only one supreme ruler of all the whers in a Hold he would expect a gold to be at the top and below her perhaps one or two more golds with powerful greens alongside them. Riders did things differently, he knew, but it was still perplexing to hear that most people would like to get a bronze dragon rather than a green.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:02 am
Our reputation precedes us.
That didn't seem exactly how it worked. After all, she had just introduced them. Then again she didn't exactly look like herself. Wearing breeches tied at the knee and a tunic didn't exactly scream former Weyrmistress.
Still it certainly seemed to be pleasant surprise as far as Biran was concerned. "That would be us, yes." That was a better reaction than some of the ones she'd gotten in the turn or so since they'd arrived. It'd been suggested she get the majority who seemed happy about it to move along. Nersha could see why though, they had been causing issues and the Weyr didn't need that on top of everything else that had been going on at the time.
"It was quite an adjustment to make. But thank you. Many of the riders who came forward with me have already taken up service in the Weyr's wings and they seem to be settling into their new duties very well." They had a disadvantage and many didn't have anything to do with Nersha, for numerous reasons, but she kept an eye on how they were doing. It was hard to shake off that feeling of responsibility.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:17 am
"Good, good, I'm very glad to hear that," Biran nodded as he made another attempt to remove dirt from his hair, managing to pick out most of the twigs and leaves at least as he spoke. As he tossed aside a twig something else occurred to him, namely that it was so unusual to see a gold away from the Weyr and... a net?
"Might I ask what brings you out here today?" Biran asked with a quizzical look at Nersha's net. Clearly this was no diplomatic mission, he supposed she was just out for pleasure but it seemed strange to him that she was all alone and, now that he thought about it, that she was dressed as she was and had that net.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:06 am
Noting the look Nersha's eyes also looked down at the net in her hands. She probably wasn't what Biran had expected from Nersha, Weyrmistress of Benden. At least Sereth had met expectations.
"Well, I find I have an awful lot of time on my hands these days. I could stay inside, embroider or some such, but I think if I have a dragon that can take me near anywhere why not try. That and I thought I'd try my hand at a practical skill." As good as embroidery was, fishing just seemed more practical to her. She'd never been good at artistic outlets after all. Sketching, whittling, she'd tried so many and all she could do was replicate.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:12 pm
Biran grinned broadly and then he laughed. "Good lady I can certainly sympathize! I cannot stand to be indoors all day, and I inherited my love of being out and doing from my mother. It must be a fine thing indeed to be able to go in a moment to any place on Pern, I think I should be even less inclined to be indoors if I could travel with such ease." Biran gave a slight sigh then and for a few moments he cast his dark eyes to the sky, and the look in them was distant and wistful. "A fine adventure indeed," he murmured, probably more to himself than to anyone else.
The moment soon passed however, indeed Biran dismissed it by flicking dirt from his shoulders. "You are learning to fish with a net then? I've never tried myself but my friends and guards Minus and Garrick have taught me to fish with a line and by tickling."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:04 pm
Returning the smile Nersha let out a slight laugh. Being understood was always pleasant, even if it was by someone half her age. "It didn't used to be so bad. There was always someone that needed something sorted out or some official matter to attend to." Now though? Nobody really needed her for anything. Long gone were the requests for her time. "Junior goldrider isn't a job in itself anymore." No assisting the Weyrmistress in this time. Weyrmistress itself didn't even seem like a full time job so much as a title.
"Why yes, it seems a nice- I'm sorry, did you say tickling?" What in star's name was that. The name suggested it was outright tickling a fish. That was just odd though. Surely if you were close enough to tickle a fish, you'd just catch it outright.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:14 am
Being bored was a terrible thing or perhaps more... more lacking in purpose? Biran had always known what his purpose was and though he sometimes questioned whether or not it was really what he wanted it was there, things were needed and expected of him and he knew what the future held. What would it be like to be adrift away from all of that? It was difficult to even begin to wrap his mind around but he felt a surge of unexpected sympathy for Nersha of Golden Sereth, he'd never really thought he would ever feel sorry for a rider save perhaps one crippled in the line of duty.
The conversation had moved on however and so Biran tucked those thoughts away for later as he nodded and smiled to Nersha's question. "Indeed I did my lady! It's a method of catching large river fish of a few different species; in shallow water one kneels down with a hand under the water until a fish's tail touches one's fingers. Then you tickle it," he demonstrated, a slow motion with his forefinger, "up slowly along the belly toward the head until it is under the gills, the motion seems to send them into a trance. Then comes a quick grasp, a struggle, and the prize is wrenched out of his natural element, stunned with a blow on the head, and landed on the bank! It takes practice and patience but the beauty of it is that you need not be prepared for a day's fishing to catch an impromptu dinner."
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