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Post by pocketowl on Apr 1, 2011 22:29:08 GMT -5
Fenrimere had been at Dalibor Weyr for less than forty-eight hours and already her idle handed were getting the better of her. The flight in on dragonback and the deepest cold of between had impressed her enough that she had been obedient and tractable for most of that day. She had moved her few belongings into the wherling barracks. She had been amazed to find that she was given her very own room--after a lifetime of sharing with older brothers, having a bedroom all to herself seemed the most extravagant of luxuries. She had been warned that sharing might become necessary later on, as more candidates materialized in anticipation of a hatching, but for now it was her own.
She had spent a few hours wandering Dalibor's tunnels and halls, had been polite to everyone that she met, regardless of rank, and had even done her assigned chores. Well, most of the chores. Maybe she had cut a corner here or there. But still, by all standards, she had been very good, and although she received no praise for doing as was expected of her, she had received no punishment, either.
Which was why the next morning she had woken up with the familiar itch of mischief in her fingers. She had done her best to ignore it throughout the day, mindful of how many eyes there were in a place this size. She didn't fancy upsetting any of the dragons themselves, and the riders seemed like a serious bunch of sticks-in-the-mud. She had contented herself with little flashes of silliness throughout the day, usually with the younger children that seemed to be constantly underfoot. She had gotten glares from a few of the more prudish drudges for teaching some of the older ones a scandalous ditty, but if she had been expecting them to tattle to higher authorities, she was proven incorrect. No scolding had come about. Knowing that transgressions might go unpunished, even in the highly militaristic atmosphere of a weyr, had filled her with wanton brazenness. She would keep these people on their toes! And maybe, if she were exceedingly lucky, she might find some other streetwise pranksters, a compatriot and rival.
Rukbat was low in the sky by the time that Fenrimere finished her assigned tasks. She stole a quick glance around the kitchens. For the moment, she was completely alone, everyone else having retired either to bed or to enjoy a late supper. Knowing that she might have only a few unsupervised minutes, the wher candidate took quick stock of what implements she had at hand. She was already forming the beginnings of a plan. Now if only she could find... aha! She scoured the spice cabinet she had just found for familiar-sounding labels. Tarragon, thyme, basil, she read to herself as she sorted through the glass vials. No, none of these would do. Just when she was beginning to give up on her plan, her hand brushed across exactly what she had been looking for. Oil of chili pepper (very hot).
She looked over her shoulder as she pocketed the spice. It wouldn't do to be caught now, not with damning evidence on her person. And she knew exactly what she needed next, too, and exactly where to get it. There was a small medical kit that the kitchenfolk kept inside the far left cabinet. She had seen it that very morning, when a young man had cut his finger while slicing tubers. A few seconds of rummaging in the kit provided just what she needed: a numbweed tincture, useful for numbing the pain of a burn or scrape, and a few hollow thorn needles, useful for digging out splinters. Fenrimere stifled a grin as she stuffed these into the same pocket as the pilfered oil. Now, just one more thing... ah, but that was easy to find in a kitchen. A dozen sweet rolls were being kept warm by the hearth. These she scooped into the scarf that had been keeping her tangled mass of hair under control. Tied at the corners with square knots, she didn't have to burn her fingers on the treats, and unless someone got a whiff of the gooseberry filling it looked like an innocent enough package.
It was no good carrying on the rest of her plan in the kitchen, though. She took one last quick look around--taking note of where the clean bowls were stored, she would need those later--before sneaking off towards the lower caverns. It didn't take long to find an empty room far from inquisitive eyes. She thought of closing the door all the way, but she had known it was empty precisely because the door wasn't closed... so long as she kept quiet and left the door open only a sliver, she suspected her chances of being caught were slim. Besides, she hadn't gotten in trouble earlier, had she?
It was amazing how a mindless task could become so engrossing once it was for the purpose of inspiring laughter. If she had been asked to stuff the rolls with gooseberries, she would have dragged her feet and made an ordeal out of a simple task. But because she was stuffing the rolls with chili oil, aided by the use of one of the hollow thorns, the task had her full attention. With her one good eye focused on her work, she would hardly have noticed all but the loudest of intrusions.
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Boo
Jr. Weyrwoman 
booct[M:-425]
Shirath: THOSE aren't spirit fingers... THESE ARE SPIRIT FINGERS!!!
Posts: 1,917
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Post by Boo on Apr 2, 2011 6:00:36 GMT -5
Corian was covered in he knew not what... He didn't want to know what. All he knew was that he had just finished yet another one of his chores. Cleaning up the Weyrbowl... And let it be said that it was not all dirt and leaves to clean up. He shivered a little. It was getting closer and closer to winter. In fact, when he thought about it he was pretty certain that it was already winter. He paused for a moment and looked out into the corridor. There was something there that he knew was important for some reason. He sniffed the air and then darted down the corridor. His nose never lied! The kitchens were cooking something! He skidded to a halt and just about ran into the wall when he heard a screech of protest.
A lump moved about on his shoulder for a moment and then a pale head popped out. Cirrus had dealt with the smells... Well, he had actually enjoyed chasing the leaves in the Weyrbowl but this was too much! He would not have running when he himself could not run! The pale Blue headbutted His and then rubbed his head against Corian affectionately. Corian laughed a little and went to pet the Lizard but realised Cirrus had already moved. Cirrus darted over Corian's head and lifted his wings taking flight. There was something bright over there! Cirrus darted over to a light and then back to Corian. It was bright! Did His not see this? He landed back on Corian's shoulder as they pair made their way towards the kitchens.
Corian was hungry and he was fairly certain he had missed out on some food of some description. Either that or he was just making it up as he was really hungry and honestly would not wait for food in the kitchens. Every now and then Cirrus took flight to look at something, play with it for a moment and then hurry back to Corian who waited patiently and, more often than not, followed the little tiny, young blue to take a look at what the Lizard was examining.
Corian wandered into the kitchens and looked about... Where were the sweetrolls he had smelled. He pouted for a moment whilst Cirrus took to the tables playing with a piece of cloth, rolling about in it and getting all entangled. He keened mournfully and looked towards Corian pointedly. Corian laughed a little and threw another cloth on the lizard. This invited louder keening and screeching until he took the cloth off. Cirrus looked at Corian for a moment and then rolled out of the cloth and landed playfully on his head, clawing at some of the messy parts of his hair.
Well, there was no point staying in the kitchen or else he'd be put to work. So he left and started heading to his room. Cirrus suddenly darted into a room and began chirruping loudly from within. Corian called after the Flitt and then followed him into the room hoping he wouldn't walk in on someone changing or something. Well, he did walk in one someone... And they seemed to be doing something. Cirrus had landed on the floor and was jumping forwards and back at a few glass bottles.
"Sorry! I was just... Hey! Those are my sweetrolls. Shards! I should have gotten into the kitchen quicker... Ooh, Chillis. Those are always fun... Oh." Understanding passed over his face followed by a wicked grin.
He knew exactly what was going on here. |
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Post by theknightwhosaysni on Apr 2, 2011 13:05:32 GMT -5
Ugh! The bandaging on his hand was making F'bee's hand itch like mad. The fact that he could barely use his hand was ridiculously obnoxious too. Dorith could only help him with so much in life before F'bee started to go stir-crazy . . .
Which was already happening.
With his bandaged hand hanging at his side, F'bee patted Dorith. Rukbat was setting below the horizon, slinking out of sight and abandoning Pern to darkness. Dorith had gotten her daily swim in just a candlemark ago, and now she was dozing, recovering her energy for a midnight swim or two. Or maybe even three.
Still, Dorith wasn't going to miss F'bee for a while yet and F'bee was bored. He hadn't pulled off any pranks in a while. Dalibor was going to get complacent without him to keep it on its toes! It wasn't like he didn't have prank ideas, anyways. It was just that his hand made it really hard to mess around with stuff. But he could make it work, especially now that he was this bored! He could do pranks that only took one hand, too. Or maybe he'd just ignore the Healers' advice and use his hand. It didn't hurt much anymore.
F'bee found himself in the lower caverns as he wandered, no particular destination in mind. He thought about going to the Candidate Barracks for a moment, but decided that it was likely he get caught in there. He needed to find a place to pull pranks in which it wouldn't be damning evidence if he got caught there. What innocent reason would a Weyrling have for being in the Candidate Barracks, after all? Maybe F'bee was just paranoid, but he couldn't think of any.
He almost passed right by the room, but its door was hanging open and F'bee could definitely see someone in there. And smell sweetrolls, mixed with something else. F'bee couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it smelled spicy. And like a good trick or two...
F'bee stuck his head in the room, gaze settling on two people. He hadn't ever seen them before, but that didn't mean much. F'bee had never paid much attention to people beyond trying to decide if they would be good people to prank. "Do I smell sweetrolls and . . . chili?" F'bee grinned as he ambled in, not bothering to ask if he could enter. "I'm F'bee, Weyrling of cyan Dorith." F'bee introduced himself lazily, a grin on his face.
Had he discovered two new pranksters or future bakers? Either way, F'bee figured he'd help them out some, even if they didn't want his help. Of course, how he would help them depended on whether or not they were pranking people or just experimenting with different flavors. He could have his fun with them either way, though! He could help them prank others or prank them. Or maybe both. [/blockquote] |
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Post by pocketowl on Apr 2, 2011 19:11:30 GMT -5
Fenrimere jumped at the unexpected voice, fully expecting the harshest of reprimands. She leaped clumsily to her feet, balling her hands into fists and holding them tightly to her side. It was a good way to hide the vial of chili oil, which was small enough to be palmed. But her hands were simply not big enough to hide an entire roll this way, and she succeeded only in smearing some berry juice on the legs of her trousers. She was halfway through a, "I seem to 'ave lost me way I din't mean no 'arm" apology routine before she realized that Corian was not, in fact, an authority figure, and that the grin he was giving her was particularly mischievous. She returned it, winking her bad eye conspiratorially.
"Well now, you've caught me at me own game, so may'aps you should play along." She was about to gesture at her own handiwork and fill the boy in when, surprise of surprises, someone else apprehended them. She didn't even have time for one of her spiels; this boy knew what they were about. She looked him over curiously, his intentions being more difficult to read than Corian's had been. She wasn't a wary person by nature, so she decided to go out on a limb and assume that he would be just as keen on helping pull off this prank as she was. If not... well, there were ways of getting back at people who couldn't keep secrets.
"You've a shardin' good nose, F'bee." She stuck out her hands, revealing the oil and the slightly squashed roll. "You as good at prankin' as you are at smellin'? She winked at him, again with her one filmy eye. "You'd best be closin' the door behind ya, or we'll 'ave the 'ole of Pern in on me plan. Name's Fenrimere, by the way. I'm new 'ere. I mean t'get me a watch-wher." She gestured broadly to the tools of her "trade" which still lay assembled neatly on the floor. "Now then, gen'lemen, 'oo would be likely recipients," she savored the word, "for a bit've a surprise?"
She had had some ideas in mind, of course, seeing as she had been the one to think of the plan in the first place. The kitchenfolk might make a reasonable target, but she couldn't count on a large enough batch of them going for the rolls all at once, and she suspected their noses might be just as keen as F'bee's. There were the creche children, who were likely to gobble up just about anything, but she felt a small pang of guilt at the thought of tricking youngsters into something as painful as chili oil. And then there were the candidates for whers and dragons...
Realizing that the boys might not have caught on to her entire plan, and now trusting fully in their desire to help her pull it off, she laid out the rest of the plan for them. "The rolls is 'otter than fire, of course, but that en't all I got planned. Look," and here she showed them the other vial she had been keeping hidden, the numbweed tincture, "I figured t'leave some water in a bowl nearby, somethin' for 'em to cool their moufs, but wit' numbweed in it they'll 'ave slack jaws fer 'ours. Droolin' all over the place! The 'ealers'll stumped fer days! Whatterya think?" She smiled at her own handiwork, hoping that she had impressed the boys with her intricate japery. And who knew, maybe they would even give her some ideas, too! It was almost like being with her brothers again, and the thought of that filled Fenrimere with a happiness that no single-handed prank ever would.
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Boo
Jr. Weyrwoman
booct[M:-425]
Shirath: THOSE aren't spirit fingers... THESE ARE SPIRIT FINGERS!!!
Posts: 1,917
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Post by Boo on Apr 3, 2011 3:44:56 GMT -5
Corian watched as the girl stood up a little startled. There was something not quite right with her eye and he forced himself not to stare. Besides, who needed to look at her eye when they were going to be messing around with something... Although they would apparently be ruining the food he didn't mind too much when it would be put to a good purpose. It did not even cross his mind that he would get into trouble for this. In all seriousness, they could be in quite a lot of trouble from these actions. She had started with something of a lie which certainly raised his respects for her. She then seemed to catch onto the fact that he was perfectly willing to assist in the... Ah... Experiment.
He was about to respond when someone else walked into the room. He just about jumped out of his own feet and, indeed Cirrus screeched in protest when the door was opened. Of course, that could have also been because the thing he had been playing with had just about fallen on him. He chattered and then landed on Corian's shoulder beginning to paw at his ear. But he saw something else almost instantly and darted off to flutter around the ceiling staring at a darker spot with intent interest. This too did not hold his attention for long and he was off again to look at something else entirely. All Corian could do was examine the newcomer and grin.
Apparently they were all of like mind. How absolutely spiffing. Apparently the other male had a fairly decent nose also for he had smelled not only the rolls but the spices as well. Course, by now the other two had introduced themselves. Fenrimere a Wher candidate and F'bee a Cyanrider. What a mix of talents!
"Corian... I hope to be chosen by a larger version of Cirrus here..." He replied happily gesturing to the Flitt whose attention shifted almost by the second eventually looking intently at the sweetrolls.
Corian merely sent the creature a message that he could not eat those. He didn't particularly want a mournful, keening ill Flitt in his room later or else he would have let Cirrus eat some of it. Only a short few days out of the egg and the Flitt seemed to have done more than most.
He turned his attention back to the others having to focus on what was being said so that it actually registered. Already his smile was becoming even more wicked as he realised the ingenuity of it all. How had he never thought of it!? It was simply the most amazing thing he could have ever thought of! He clapped his hands together and rubbed them a little.
"That's brilliant! I am glad that you came to this Weyr... We've need of a good joke to lighten the mood." He laughed in an almost devious manner and then nodded as though satisfied, "'Course, I think some candidates might think otherwise after dinner."
He winked a little. The best people to play pranks on were the candidates because one was not likely to upset them but they were also in need of some toughening up Corian thought. |
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Post by theknightwhosaysni on Apr 3, 2011 12:05:15 GMT -5
F'bee grinned in the girl's direction at her words pleased by the compliment "Why thank you, Miss." he inclined his head, still grinning wickedly. "I would like to think I am as good at pranking, but I'll leave that for you to decide." Shamelessly throwing himself into the chaotic fun of a prank without asking if they wanted him in on it, F'bee's grin widened a bit.
He looked only vaguely chagrined when he moved the press the door shut, leaving it open only a sliver. Wide enough that it wouldn't make suspicions arise, and narrow enough that it would take a lot of work to be able to see in "It's nice to meet you, Fenrimere." F'bee nodded, pleased to have met two other pranksters.
"I don't supposed any of you know a brownweyrling named S'id... I pranked him once, in our Candidate days. It was highly entertaining." F'bee slid to kneel on the ground and examined the sweetrolls with a grin. This would be fun!
"It's nice to meet you as well, Corian." F'bee grinned at the dragon Candidate. He remembered the days when he had hoped to Impress a dragon. Now that he had Dorith, though, those days were distant memories. Dorith had taken up most of his life since then. With his injured hand and Dorith's growing body on his hands, F'bee had found pranking growing significantly harder. But fate had smiled upon him and showed him these two lovely pranksters. He could help them out and it would be fun!
F'bee gave a snort of laughter when Fenrimere continued. "That plan is amazing, Fenrimere. Our handiwork will be funny enough that everyone will be laughing at them. We'll be able to snicker in peace and that won't make us suspects." F'bee paused, tilting his head. "Do you know how much numbweed you will need to make them 'slack jawed?'" F'bee questioned with a tilt of his head. Using too much numbweed would surely be bad, wouldn't it? And F'bee didn't want anyone to get hurt. He never liked hurting people.
F'bee gave another laugh at Corian's words, a grin on his face. "I'm sure they won't agree, but that's because they obviously won't appreciate our comedic genius." F'bee grinned happily, all too amused by the idea of the sweetroll prank. It was a good idea! F'bee certainly wouldn't have ever thought of it on his own. The idea of using food for pranks hadn't crossed his mind since he had arrived at Dalibor, which only made him think all the higher of Fenrimere's idea. [/blockquote] |
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Post by pocketowl on Apr 6, 2011 14:11:39 GMT -5
Fenrimere was practically glowing under all of their praise. Not only were they not upset with her, they even liked her plan! And for once, she felt like the leader of her little gang of jokers, instead of playing little sister or lone ranger to a herd of older kids. She grinned impishly as she scooped all of the rolls back into the scarf, double-checking to make sure that she had doctored each one of them heavily with chili oil. The sour tang of gooseberries helped mask the spicy odor, though not completely, as F'bee had been quick to point out.
"Me brudders always used jus' a drop're two in a bowl've water. Never seemed to be a real 'arm, just an hour're two've numb lips and useless tongues." She shrugged, obviously unconcerned with the possible health risks of swallowing too much numbweed. It had happened to her at least twice, and she was no worse the wear for it, so far as she could tell. "I don't expect they'll be drinkin' the 'ole bowl, any'ow, numbweed starts to work right quick."
She hid the vials and thorns on her person, even going so far as to scuff the dust on the floor with her heel, so that it wouldn't look as though someone had been sitting or working where she had been. She did all of this automatically, as a matter of course--she had enough experience to know how to avoid getting caught. "You'll 'ave to tell me about this S'id person sometime, en't nothin' I like to 'ear more'n a good joke played on the deservin'. Sounds like the Candidates'd be a good bet for our snack 'ere. Where should we leave 'em? I figured spread 'em out, some in the barracks, some on window ledges nearby... it's no good if only one person takes the bait an' the rest jus' watch."
She gave the plan some more thought, on a roll now with making the executive decisions... at least this time. Maybe she could help Corian or F'bee execute their own pranks later, and then she would happily play second-fiddle, but for now it made sense to be the one in charge. "If'n I got it figured right, I say the two of y'hide the rolls aroun' an' near the barracks, an' I'll get the numbweed'n'water ready an' leave 'em by yer rolls. Y'savvy?"
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Boo
Jr. Weyrwoman
booct[M:-425]
Shirath: THOSE aren't spirit fingers... THESE ARE SPIRIT FINGERS!!!
Posts: 1,917
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Post by Boo on Apr 7, 2011 7:02:27 GMT -5
Corian looked over at F'bee as he greeted the two of them. He thought he'd heard a little about the Weyrling now that he thought about it. A Cyanrider... They were not precisely common but it was certainly a pleasure to meed one. They had probably been candidates together but impressions generally made it ever so tough to get to know one another well enough. Some people impressed after only a few short weeks whereas others took far longer. Corian didn't mind too much, it filled him with terror on occasion but that was a sure way to fail impressing. There were more important things to worry about just now. Such as the little prank Fenrimere was planning. If he devoted his attention to the task they could no doubt make something truly special.
He stared at her for a moment, listening to her accent with a slightly open mouth, concentrating on what she was saying. He proceeded then to grin broadly when she accepted his suggestion of leaving them where the candidates would find them. Oh, he knew precisely where most of them spent their time. In this season, a nice basket arranged in a very inviting manner would no doubt encourage the candidates to take a bite. Not to mention, if it was left near the hearth... Well, a hearty home was appreciated above all else, after all. And what was more hearty than sweetrolls sitting in front of the fire.
"If we arrange them in a more welcoming manner... Say, make them seem more like they were left by a couple of the drudges... Well, that'd make me want to eat them." He offered to the other two with a mischievous grin, "Say if we pile them up in a pyramid."
He wondered a little about this S'id F'bee had mentioned. He already sounded like he would have been a rather easy target.
Part of Corian was concerned. He knew there would be a hatching soon and didn't want to be caught for this prank. He especially didn't want either of them excluded from Standing... He didn't know what might happen to F'bee if he was caught but he figured that they wouldn't be caught. Besides, perhaps the Drudges had laid out spicerolls. There was no harm in that, right? And then just maybe some numbweed from their preparations had accidentally fallen into each bowl of water. What an unfortunate accident. |
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Post by theknightwhosaysni on Apr 14, 2011 12:18:25 GMT -5
He nodded in response to Fenrimere's words, deciding that just a couple of drops couldn't be too bad, F'bee figured, and that was enough to assuage any of his doubts about getting anyone hurt. F'bee wasn't going to spend too much time worrying about people getting hurt when there was such an awesome prank to be played upon people around the Weyr! And especially since the Candidate seemed to have already tested the amount of numbweed to be used and all that fine stuff. It looked like nobody was going to get, and that was the only thing that F'bee really cared about when playing a prank.
F'bee grinned widely at Fenrimere, "I'll have to introduce you to him some time. Preferably when he's sleeping, 'cause he gets hilarious when you wake him up." F'bee smirked happily, far too amused by the idea. He hoped that S'id had the presence of mind not to beat a Candidate up, but even if S'id did, well, it would be hilarious! Just like this prank! "Those sound like good places to put the rolls, though. Just as long as there's a few near where I can watch without suspicion." F'bee wanted to be able to watch the fruits of their labor too! It wouldn't be as fun if he didn't get to watch! And fun was what was important in life, right?
F'bee shook his head and refocused when Fenrimere began talking again, completely happy to let her do all of the hard work and make all of the decisions. "Corian should probably hide more of the rolls, you know? It might get us caught if the Weyrling is the one who ends up distributing all of the rolls. I'm pretty sure at least a few Candidates would notice that I'm not a Candidate and comment on it..." Not that F'bee really cared. He just wanted the prank to work out without a hitch! Pranks were far, far too much fun to have them be messed up by F'bee not being a Candidate.
Maybe he could get Dorith up to help with the transportation or something, if that turned out to be an issue! The thought made F'bee grin happily, glad that he had come up with a way to help out with the prank that just might work. With his hand, he probably wouldn't be much help in trying to move stuff. Stupid assassins! It was all their fault that F'bee wasn't he top of his pranking game.
When Corian began talking, F'bee immediately turned to the other, "How many rolls would you suggest per 'pyramid,' Corian?" He had to admit that it sounded like a good idea. Better than most of what F'bee had come up with so far, it seemed. "But it seems like a good idea. I might have to try that myself." He nodded cheerfully, grinning. This was going to be really fun!
"If we have a few extra, I may have to snag them and use 'em to introduce you two to S'id." Even though the brownweyrling was his friend, all it took was a memory of the time when they had been Candidates and F'bee had banged on the other's door late at night for F'bee to decide that another chance to prank the other would be too fun to pass up. [/blockquote] |
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