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Post by larkwing on Dec 17, 2012 22:47:24 GMT -5
There had been no relapse, there had been no second bout of sickness, no worrying signs that he would ever have to return to that place of stagnant air and death. No, he was safe. The infirmary would never be his place of rest again, and he could lay in his own cot in his own room with Kai curled up against his chest. Breathing in a deep breath and then letting it out in a satisfied woosh of air, Kurosaki wiggled his toes and stretched his legs down to the ground beside his cot. He had only been putting his head down, he was about to leave for the hatching sands anyway.
It had come to his turn to step onto the sands, and he had finally after listening to other candidates' tell their stories decided to go. No one would ever hear him admit it out loud, but he had been afraid of going and stepping on those sands again. There was no fear of the mothers that lay there, or the eggs, or the riders, but of the idea that he would see what could be, and then be told he had to return to the infirmary and be robbed of it all. Running an anxious hand through his air, the young man put on his best couldn't-give-a-shard smirk and waltzed down to the cavern, the wind being kicked out of him a bit by the time he actually reached the entrance.
The moment he set eyes on those eggs he no longer was Mr. Know-it-all. No, instead he was just somewhat confidant, even if it was a false pretense, and mostly humbled unlike he normally was known for. That word had not even been in his vocabulary last most people had checked. Well, actually facing possible death changed a lot though, not that Kuro would say too to much about that. If it were up to the candidate, well then he would just have people thinking he was the same ol' sarcastic jerk that he always was. Shaking the inner thoughts off though, his eyes went to the present rider of the two clutching dragons.
"I'm Kurosaki, one of the candidates. If you have time I'd like to see the eggs."
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman 
azhct[M:-1490]
Totes.
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Post by Azhdarchid on Dec 18, 2012 14:17:17 GMT -5
The tan's man was playing the literal rider: he'd propped his back against Unath's final neckridge, a little further back than the saddle he usually rode, and stretched his legs out straight between her wings. He had a few globs of colored clay littered around him on the dragon's brackish skin, and was trying to mold a brown one into a six-legged burdenbeast when Unath spotted the approaching Candidate. The tan continued to stare blankly to some space beyond Kurosaki, but her man leaned to one side and waved at him. Sitting forward, he balanced the half-formed burdenbeast on one of the big knots of Unath's spine, then got to his feet and walked to the base of her neck. She folded the sinuous appendage up, so that he might rest his hand on its curve.
"Have at them," Q'sis chuckled, for this lad was not only pleasantly well-aged, but tall for a Pernese and balanced. Not like Ni'on, who seemingly would never grow into his height, or L'kie, who remained all crawler and spindle despite the physical exertions of his primary trade. "Push him one, love." Unath continued to goggle at nothing till Q'sis handled the maneuver himself, cupping her claw around a fat black egg wrapped in white laces. As he shoved the offering forward, he reviewed the very distinct name of his guest.
Kurosaki had been a Candidate. He'd also been a victim of plague, to the point of falling over himself at the last Hatching. Marks were lost for failing to Impress straightaway, but Q'sis supposed the best response to the embarrassment of turning ill was to fight back the disease where so few had. Kurosaki was still a reasonable option. He had the shiny eyes that so many lads acquired when they arrived to the Sands, but at least he didn't twitch. "Others have asked, so I tell you outright: you can jab at Unath too. You'll Impress naught like her, but dragons are all the same texture, save where the stupid ones have been scored." Unath was clearly not one of the stupid ones. Her pebbled hide ran flawless from snout to flukes.
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Post by larkwing on Dec 20, 2012 14:25:47 GMT -5
His eyes caught the movement of the rider on top of his Tan, so it was the man then that would greet him. There had been much talk that he had done most of the dealings between the candidates and the eggs, and Kuro had heard the horror-tales of just how scrutinizing the man could be. Q'sis was living up to his name now as he looked over Kuro, but the candidate knew better than to let it get to him. If Q'sis thought that Kurosaki gave two shardin' tail flips what the tanrider thought, well, he better think again. Kuro was used to being heavily scrutinized, blamed, warned, and downright hated for his behavior and way of thinking, of talking.
He knew as much to stay calm and uncaring, but only in such a way that meant he was at ease with himself and the situation here. The candidate refused to let the other man get himself riled up. The chuckle and the slight ease of Q'sis' words was a good sign though, and Kuro found himself relaxing that little bit he had kept on edge just in case. Nodding, he walked closer toward where Unath was, stopping when the tan didn't move the egg herself at first. It was strange, but Kuro didn't dare ask, it wasn't really his business why or why not the offering hadn't come from the mother...but wait, there it was, though if he did say so, it seemed forced.
Sparing a glance at Q'sis, he waited for a moment more before deciding to continue on his way toward the egg. Again he was stopped though as the tanrider spoke one last time, and at first Kurosaki was puzzled by the man's words. Take a jab at her? Snorting, Kuro shook his head lightly and looked up at the tan and appraised her before looking back at Q'sis. "She does not seem to be one of those, no. Her hide is well groomed and hasn't a scratch on her. I say it is as much an effort of the rider as a dragon, after all...flying Thread is something of a duo, at least, from what I've heard." It took not just the work of the dragon being smart. It was much more than that; the impeccable timing of the wing around you, the work of the Wingleader and Wingsecond, the match of the rider with the dragon. Not to mention a healthy dose of luck, not that Kuro really believed in that. After a moment he added in with a "As for taking a 'jab' at her, only if she really wants me to...and if you really feel like allowing it."
Moving to put a hand on the black egg, he marveled at the slight feeling of a pulse under the shell, and the warmth of it from the sands. It was strange to think that he was actually touching an egg, but he didn't give himself much time to marvel at it. After all, there may be more eggs, and even then he did not want to alarm the mother in anyway. In truth, even though it was a tan, a queen was something to be careful around. Looking around the cavern, the candidate took in the size of the eggs and the clutch, nodding to himself as he thought before speaking toward Q'sis again. "It is a good sized clutch, with good sized eggs. Dalibor is fortunate to have the two of you and your dragons. I hope all goes well on hatching day...I'm sure it will." He indicated the space where the other tan and her rider would normally be, including them in his estimation as well.
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Azhdarchid
Jr. Weyrwoman
azhct[M:-1490]
Totes.
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Post by Azhdarchid on Dec 21, 2012 16:55:26 GMT -5
"Unath does not have wants," Q'sis noted with a touch of patience. He had grown somewhat used to the cluelessness of Candidates by now. "Do not second-guess my words again." The white-laced egg maintained its rhythmic but nonresponsive beat under Kuro's hands, contents dozing. Q'sis followed the gesture to Mith's wallow, and snorted. "It'll be fine, though some of you little ferrets might get crunched." He thumped down onto Unath's shoulder with a smirk, long legs draped down the queen's front.
Unath tried to turn her head back to him, but Q'sis was sitting far more forward than usual and she only managed to loop her neck around him like a fleshy man-sized scarf. He pushed her back, then pointed to an egg of murky purples and grays. It was quivering as if struck by lightning, far behind the other eggs. Most of the shells were hard as glass by this day, and though the tanrider motioned Kurosaki on in welcoming humor, his gaze remained on the trembler, waiting to see if it would take rest again or if it was prelude to something more.
Unath tried to get her nose at him again, so he seized her muscles and stilled her into a respectable brown statue. He moistened his lips with his tongue, and the dragon part of him bared fangs at the hot, empty air. "Apparently this opportunity has caused some whispers among your comrades. New beliefs." Q'sis' face twisted in a silent snicker. "What import do you find in making contact, Kurosaki? Does it reassure you?"
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Post by larkwing on Jan 5, 2013 11:55:45 GMT -5
Did Q'sis think to make Kuro fear him with that threat? It was hardly a threat, more of a command really, though Kuro didn't exactly care to heed it. To many times people had given him other opportunities only for the young man to find out later that it was out of duty, not actual offering, that they were there for him to take. Too many times had he reaped the reward of dislike and even punishment at times for those kinds of offers. No, he cared not that Q'sis had suddenly turned brittle toward him, sour even, for simply making certain he meant what he said.
"Understood m'Lord." He gave the common courtesy if only to make the tanrider calmer, Kuro didn't mind stroking the man's ego if it meant he got a pleasant enough situation here. Though, he made no move to pet the brown hide that suddenly stilled into a statuesque position. It had been a while since he had been around a dragon, having just gotten out of the infirmary not long ago, but Kuro had made a sort of pact with himself, and opinion of his own. He didn't think that, unless made to for lessons, a candidate should go around interacting too terribly much with dragons. Think of it as a game, he had told himself, a game where until you impress one of them yourself you are not able to truly appreciate them, and thus should not have too much contact.
It was somewhat complex, and he didn't really understand it himself entirely. More likely it had been his own way of trying to guard himself. Tell himself that he could not yet know much of dragons on a personal level, and then when he didn't impress again and again it may not hurt so badly as before. The pain was something he hated most about the whole affair, but he had come, and he now stayed if only out of boredom and a hope that he drenched with pessimism and the "knowing" that it would never take light. Making his way toward the murky purple and grey egg that was quivering, he lay a hand on it and looked back at Q'sis on top of his tan mount.
"It neither reassures me, nor does it frighten me. I have stood enough now that I well know how bloody a hatching can be, and I make it my own belief to expect the worst just in case. Better to be on guard for something that will never come than to be slaughtered while hoping of rainbows and sunshine." He thought for a moment before smirking slightly. "I think that it gives the new candidates an understanding that this is no toy for them to play at. It makes it more real I would think, especially the ones that never have seen an egg hatch...or have never seen the size of them and cannot imagine how something could come to harm them."
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