Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman 
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Post by Azhdarchid on Aug 9, 2012 23:03:30 GMT -5
That's the last of it, L'xon said as he leapt up Halventh's outstretched arm. He swung his leg over the notch between the final two glossy neckridges with practiced ease, smiling at how the longcoat fastened over his riding leathers flowed down to his muscular calf. It didn't wrinkle too badly in the saddle, one of the reasons he had chosen to keep it over the others. The crisp, dark wherhide clung sharp to him, and it still had the fresh scent of its tanning rather than the lingering malignancy of sulfur that had to be regularly washed out of the flightsuit beneath. Tell Ambrith we're coming down.
We are coming to rescue you from a sad life of boredom! Halventh called to the viridian. The blue stalked out to his ledge and sprang off with a jaunty flutter that transitioned into slower, stronger wingbeats under his rider's steadying influence. But only one or two flaps were needed to accomplish the horizontal part of crossing the Weyr, and Halventh allowed himself enough room for a steep dive. L'xon permitted it, even leaned forward to become closer with his dragon's body and reduce the drag on their combined shape.
The landing was still regulation: at L'xon's cue the blue's rear legs flicked forward like switch-knives, triads of curved claws clicking onto the rock. His wings angled back to arrest his momentum, and his smaller forelegs settled to a stop with little more than a tremble at the rider's seat. Halventh waved his wings behind him till the unconscious triggers in his muscles eased, then folded the powdery pinions up neatly against his back. His left wingclaw was stretched forward to offer L'xon a compassionate brace as he rose for the dismount. The blond squeezed the unfeeling sickle of bone, then stepped down to the ground.
Halventh was laden across the chest and up the neck with bags of goods to be bartered off, and L'xon expected he would find Ambrith similarly decorated. He hoped so, anyway, and hoped against the viridian having found offense in being rendered as a baggage cart. May we come in? Halventh inquired before his rider could simply barge through the gaping ground weyr. L'xon still headed that way, though, and had a greeting of his own.
"Day! I forgot to ask if you wanted to fly straight or flicker over. I've got a perfect image for you, but I wasn't sure-"
Halventh stopped him with a paw, then motioned broadly at the lowest pack on his chest. L'xon grimaced, then went over and opened the bag up. He pulled out a drowsy gray flapjack with a gloved hand under her first two legs on either side. He turned her around and braced her shell against his stomach, bearing her toward the weyr with some effort.
You are sure I can't bring her? Halventh sighed.
Yes. We'll just leave her with the others and you can pick her up when you get back.
Maybe I could just keep her in the bag. Forever.
No.
Okay. The blue lowered his head in self-mourning, then popped it back up to peer into the weyr. Hey Ambrith, look at all my stuff. He wagged his weight from one side to another, but the securely fastened bags failed to sway. Halventh stopped as he noticed the anti-climax, then continued wagging anyway. I bet I have more stuff than you. Look at it! I have more! Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah! More stuff!
Easy.
Oh, sorry, the blue shared feelingly with both his rider and his shiny friend. He whispered on to Ambrith, But I get more straps this way, and L'xon said that if we're nice there are people that will put flowers and beads on them. We'll be so preeetty.
There was no guarantee Lexy would remain anywhere near where she'd been left, but Halventh wanted her to be with her "friends" when he wasn't around to cozy her, and L'xon did not have sufficient interest to correct him. Lexy's antennae twitched as they passed under the weyr threshold, and she began to squirm as L'xon bore her toward the cold little pit in the corner.
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Cathaline
Lady Holder
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Post by Cathaline on Aug 13, 2012 22:45:16 GMT -5
Ambrith was rather more testy than usual today, for he saw the whole expedition as being particularly unnecessary. It was one thing for L'xon to feel a need to sell the goods he no longer required, but it was a different story with Day'ar. He had more than enough to get by, and it seemed thoroughly pointless to take their precious rest day to head off to the Hold to barter. After all, no doubt the things they didn't need could eventually be used to placate other friends, even if L'xon was having none of it.
"You like Halventh," Day'ar coaxed as he finished packing another bag.
I do not like Halventh. He will bother me all day.[/i]
"But he's your friend."
Prith is my friend. Lamith is my friend. Halventh is...tolerated.[/i] And that only because Ambrith was not a rude dragon, and because L'xon was doomed to be a part of their lives forever, and thus his bonded was unavoidable. The viridian cringed at Halventh's voice. Did the blue not comprehend that Ambrith loved nothing more than what he would term boredom?
Flexing his claws when they arrived, Ambrith said, Yours may come in. I am coming out.[/i] He strutted past L'xon and into the Bowl, craning his neck to peer around in distaste at anyone who might dare to be nearby when he was annoyed. Halventh's childish antics in one who was no longer a child only further served to set his back up, and he ignored the taunting. Neither of us will have any "stuff" once this expedition is over. You may have all the flowers.[/i]
Day'ar, for his part, managed a weak smile for L'xon and Lexy. "She can play with the others," he said, gesturing to the pool in the corner. All four of his pillies were present; even Serah would be staying behind today, for while he had no problem carrying her around the Weyr, her advanced size would be too noticeable and embarrassing on a trip to the Hold. Cecy was there too, and was responsible for his gliding securely into place behind L'xon just as she noticed the intruder. With a hearty woof, Cecy rushed over and planted her paws on his chest while she licked his face. Having ascertained that he was very lickable, she lost interest and started nosing Lexy around.
Clearing his throat, Day'ar said, "So, er...ready to get going? We might as well fly straight. It isn't far." And it was warm enough out that he would prefer not to add additional layers to his already-excessive layers just to combat the cold of between.
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman
azhct[M:-1490]
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Post by Azhdarchid on Aug 14, 2012 10:30:26 GMT -5
"Not far by dragon wings," L'xon agreed, exultant over the great gift he'd received two Turns previous. Of course any grasp he had on triumph imploded when a canine tongue swiped across his warm cheek. He staggered out of the moment, but pulled himself up and brushed invisible dog hairs off his jacket before motioning Day'ar outside. Lexy skidded across the stone floor under the propulsion of Starfall's fiendish protege, twitching into the pool when she had a chance. She started towards Serah, pointless as it was to pretend she could inch where she liked in this house.
Okay, Halventh cheeped at the viridian's final comment, sitting down with great patience, as if he had just received an order. His large, glimmering blue eyes followed the glint of daylight off Ambrith's powerful neck, and he pulled his wings in tighter against his own body, curling his tail around his feet. He lowered his head at L'xon when the bluerider reemerged from the weyr's shadow, then stuck out his sizable arm. The blond climbed and slipped into his seat, fastening his riding jacket closed and fitting on the safety straps.
Halventh waited till L'xon was ready with a reserve he did not normally display outside of Threadfall, then skittered to all fours and hopped skyward. Frenetic wingbeats took him out of the Bowl fast, and he set up a bumpy coasting pattern around the Rim while awaiting Ambrith's ascent. The dark brown-grey dragon on the watchpoint turned her big head toward them and Halventh's wings flittered faster. L'xon pulled his scarf up over his mouth, as much to drape his frown as to protect his face from the wind.
Make sure to tell them where we're going, he reminded Halventh, whose looping had taken on a jittery quality. The blue nearly seized up mid-air.
Halventh! I am going to Western Hold! Ambrith is coming too...but he can tell you that. Only mine with me, only his with him...heh heh heh heh heh... The watchdragon's flat green eyes left him and peered down at the viridian. With the adjustment of her head, L'xon could spot the large man on her back. He felt a rumble pulsing through the neck under his legs.
What's wrong?
Not like Wenth, was apparently Halventh's only complaint. Big, the blue added, tone waxing closer to excitement, but it wasn't a very good observation from where L'xon was sitting. The watchdragon was smaller than Wenth.
Halventh's flight evened out, rough banks turning into sharp, precise curves. They weren't the wingtip foils L'xon knew he could execute, but he also sensed the dragon did not want to betray that agility- to who, exactly? Ambrith was just cresting out of the Bowl, and with him closer Halventh curved east toward their destination. L'xon pressed his boot-heels in just slightly on the blue's sides, indicating he was well up to any antics his mate felt like executing on the journey over.
The young dragon's response was to take up a new halo based around his mildly elder counterpart. A lot of the time he took up a station a nose ahead and below the viridian, pumping his wings to maintain his one snout of superiority. That behavior faded once they were further from the Weyr and the watchdragon, replaced by more languid loops that put him at any one angle from his friend for no more than a few seconds. The journey was too short to tire him, but he was nonetheless starting to linger further back on the Ambrith scale when his neck bumped up a little beneath L'xon. Oh! Is that it?
Uh... L'xon squinted upriver. The entire progress of the strait splitting the continent looked like it could be good hold material. Cliffs clawed out into the water at both sides like teeth lining a dragon's jaw. He hadn't really thought about how well-camouflaged Western was from the air, but Halventh nudged that notion aside and presented him with a dragon's-eye image. Somewhere ahead, very far ahead despite how dragonflight diminished the land's vastness, one section of the cliff wall had metal shutters twitched open on its gaps, banners suspended in the Threadfree air, and a cluster of trader wagons infesting the lower reaches. Halventh's nostrils twitched, and he also passed along the scent of meat pies. While L'xon chewed the corner of his lip at the inherited senses, Halventh flapped his way along the remaining distance.
Where do we land? he asked Ambrith. All Weyrlings had been drilled on such things, and L'xon of course remembered, but in his doubt the blue went to the viridian first.
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Cathaline
Lady Holder
cathct[M:50]
Posts: 3,279
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Post by Cathaline on Sept 8, 2012 13:09:28 GMT -5
"Don't bite anybody," Day'ar reprimanded Cecy, and hid behind L'xon again when speaking to her aroused her interest. "That goes for you too, Starfall!" A hiss from the pool assured him that he had been heard...but whether he would be obeyed was an entirely different story, as always. He loved his pillies, each and every one, but it was sometimes awfully similar to being a harassed single father. And unlike human children, pillies would never grow up.
Sometimes Ambrith wondered what it would be like to launch himself from the ledge of a weyr, but in the end, he was happy enough with the way things were. Change was abhorrent if it was done for no apparent reason, after all. Once aloft, he informed the dim watchdragon, Ambrith and Day'ar for Crescent. We shall return in a timely fashion.[/i]
With that, he focused on his flying. Unlike Halventh, his wingbeats were steady, propelling him in a straight, true line direct for the destination, with only mild shifts to catch a draft. The viridian entirely ignored Halventh, and anyone who watched might have suspected him of traveling in stony silence. Only Day'ar was privy to the truth, as Ambrith calmly reported on various features of the environment, and they got into a comfortable argument over whether a cresting wave bore a shipfish or not. Day'ar insisted he'd seen a fin, and Ambrith berated him for deigning to think his human eyes could spy something at this distance.
Their silent communion was interrupted by Halventh's question, and Ambrith mentally indicated a now-barren area outside the Hold, where a trade caravan would set up if one were in the area. As it happened, one was not; all their bartering would take place with the good folk of Crescent. A tilt of his wing sent him spiraling down, and his great bulk landed with a soft thump. I do not wish for children to approach me,[/i] he grunted sternly. Like all dragons, he was capable of Searching if the feeling was strong enough, but he did not care for it in the least.
"I'm sure they won't," Day'ar soothed him. Unlike many, perhaps most, riders, he did not slide easily to the ground, but gingerly climbed down the harness. Despite all these months of learning Ambrith inside and out, he was decidedly not comfortable with risking a turned ankle. At last he found himself safely on dry land, and he began to untie his bundles from his dragon.
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman
azhct[M:-1490]
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Post by Azhdarchid on Sept 12, 2012 17:21:32 GMT -5
From his spot already on the plateau, L'xon watched Day'ar's spidery progress down Ambrith's solid flank. He smiled slightly when the viridianrider was upright on his own two feet, but realized as Day'ar bent over the supplies that he had his own work to do. He got his trade goods layered in shoulder-sacks over his flight jacket, he walked over to the other rider. Once they were both ready, he started toward the hold proper.
I will guard you~ Halventh assured Ambrith, charging into the open space at the head of the hold path that their riders had just vacated. Somewhere between Ambrith's communique and Day'ar's response, the easily-attuned blue had caught on to the fuss. He laid his body out across the problem area and tilted his head to watch the two men dwindle into the distance. I am way better than one of those stumpy things, and also, you know... He lifted his tail and thumped it on the rock, running a claw over his own eyeridge. As his head twisted to follow Day'ar and L'xon, it began to dip toward his chest. He raised his neck and let it sink again several more times, till his head ended up pressing snout and forehead to the ground between his outstretched arms. It's sunny here... Pern's most handsome watchwher reported before he closed his eyes.
"I guess we should get all our Marks before we go see Eywren," L'xon mused belatedly as he stepped back under the eaves of stone that marked any sensible dwelling. "I don't think she'd appreciate us dumping everything off in her quarters. And I'll need to buy something for her, and Lex." Name confusion had never been much of an issue in the Weyr, which had parted him from his son for about three Turns now. "He can probably walk and everything," he qualified. "Maybe we can find the harper and he can tell us what Lex would like." The bluerider's cheeks burned.
A trio of teenaged holdgirls that had just waved at both of them began whispering amongst each other at L'xon's apparent reaction. One of the guardsmen patrolling the entrance nodded to him, but he was now too mired in last-minute gift ideas that he failed to notice. "I know no one could ever tell the difference, but I'm actually really nervous right now," he admitted. "Thanks for coming with me, Day."
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Cathaline
Lady Holder
cathct[M:50]
Posts: 3,279
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Post by Cathaline on Sept 12, 2012 21:24:17 GMT -5
Ambrith had not expected for a minute that Halventh would be the slightest use to him. He sat rigidly beside the blue as his "friend" took a nap in the sun, alert despite the appearance of statuehood. No one was going to sneak up on them, although really, who would bother? They were far enough from the Hold - barely - that even children desperate for Search were bound to ignore them, if they were spotted at all.
Day'ar pressed his lips together and tried not to have a panic attack. It had always been difficult for him to comprehend that his friend was married with a son. Let's not even consider the fact that Rennin was also married, really. But this, meeting them...he didn't know how to cope with it. Evidence of L'xon's life before Dalibor, evidence of a physical relationship, was deeply alarming. How did one interact with a child like that, or with somebody's wife?
"Maybe we should just buy him everything," Day'ar suggested at last. Buying affection had not worked with him, but he had been a grown man when his father had tried, so...right. Children liked presents. Peeking into one of his bags, he said hopefully, "Maybe he'd like this stuff, what do you think?"
Eyeing L'xon over the top of the bag, Day'ar said, "You're nervous. Yes. Of course. Well, it's all right. I'm here for you. You can lean on me."
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman
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Post by Azhdarchid on Sept 12, 2012 22:41:56 GMT -5
"He's still small. He wouldn't be able to carry everything," the bluerider reasoned out, tilting his head at the bag Day'ar indicated. "When he's got another sixteen Turns, I will surely pass on one of my fine jackets to him, but he doesn't need such trinkets now. He just needs one perfect thing. I'll find it, for sure. I just need your help with Eywren's."
As they passed into a tunnel broad enough to serve as a second dining hall, tables populated the sides. Unlike during a proper Gather, they were all staffed by Apprentices and youngsters, mostly taking requests and checking off ledgers for their various Crafts, while the Journeymen and Masters were sequestered elsewhere. L'xon headed for the weavers' table first and laid down two of his bags before the freckled girl dozing at it. The gentle thump of the settling luggage stirred her. "All of it is for the hold. Crescent, too, if you must, but I don't want it to leave the West. Your Hall may claim an eighth of the total for its dispensation," he recited carefully.
Maths were not really his strong suit, but he had been trained in a fair deal. The girl eyed his flightsuit critically, then pulled out her ledger slate and began opening the bags. Each article was lifted out, examined, noted, then folded up into obscurity behind her kiosk. When she had emptied L'xon's stock, she summoned fifteen Marks, two eighths, and a sixteenth. Somehow L'xon was able to take it all without his arm shaking.
"If your terms are the same, give it," the girl demanded of Day'ar. "I need both your names." L'xon was down to just three bags, all for the Smiths; stuff that might have been taken by the Tanners were it less processed could pass under the Weaver mantle as well. "I'm supposed to speak with the Journeyman for anything over a Mark, but he's busy, and I'm really smart anyway okay? So I just take your names, and if there's any funny business the Hall can send assassins after you later."
"Uh, L'xon," the bluerider murmured in answer to this revelation.
"So you have two apostrophes, U'luh'zon?" the Apprentice quipped. L'xon said nothing, and she wrote down the correct name on her tablet anyway. Rather than waiting for Day'ar, L'xon turned and sort of withered away from the kiosk, still staring at the assemblage of wooden tabs in his hands with glassy eyes.
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