Heights and Runners [Rii]

[RavenSong]

{desc=Sora/Seph}Rest days at Dalibor meant that once his usual work in the Stables was done, Seph was riding Heartbrother. He habitually did work in the Stables, even on rest days, because he genuinely enjoyed the beasts he worked with. Heartbrother, of course, was his own special love. He stuck to the Bowl on his rides, fully aware of the dangers that lurked on the shores, and he didn't care to ask the Candidatemasters for permission to ride beyond the Bowl anyways. He took care to ride slowly whenever there were people around, but when there weren't he'd give Heartbrother his head and let the runner do what he was bred to do - run. It was almost like flying... almost.

As close to it as he was getting for a while.

He rode Heartbrother until the runner was nice and exercised, at which point he turned the beast back towards the stables for some grooming and rest. As he approached, he caught sight of a figure on top of the stables. He shook his head, grinning to himself. He knew of only one person who'd be up there, and she was a Candidate like he was. He rode up to the building, staying in the saddle, giving Sora a bemused grin.

"Hey," he called up to her. "I know you're probably not going to like this, but please don't be on this particular roof. The runners really don't like the sound of feet over their heads. I'll admit, I'm just an Apprentice, and you know I'm a Candidate, but I really don't want to see you get in trouble for being somewhere you're not supposed to be. If a Candidatemaster or Journeyman or Master sees you up there, you'll get scolded." He smiled warmly then, dismounting gracefully to offer help down. There was strength and surety to how he moved.

"You're the one that sharding dimglow Iron bit, aren't you?" he asked, flushing a bit. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him, but... he wasn't mine to stop. He just... well... you saw." He shrugged, the smile fading. "Everyone saw." Heartbrother nosed him, prompting the young man to reach up and pet the beast's nose. "Anyways, this is Heartbrother. If you come down from there, I can introduce you properly. He's my runner."

[Rii]

Rest days at Dalibor meant that aside from completely necessary tasks, people went off to do their own thing and she could run as she pleased - within the Weyr’s boundaries, anyway. Or in this case, climb. Shells and shards, but she’d hated those few sevendays where she hadn’t been allowed to use her bitten hand. Now it was healed up, good as new bar a bit of scarring that didn’t inhibit her in the slightest, and she’d taken advantage of the absence of most people to scale the stables. It was a bit higher than the candidate barracks, closer to the sky.

Close as I’ll get to flying for a while.

Sprawled on the roof, she stared up at that, watching the clouds drift. She didn’t want to move. It was more comfortable here, even with that coolness that told her true autumn and winter were coming, than on her bunk in the barracks. One by one, she felt her muscles relax, letting her thoughts drift with the clouds until a sudden call in her direction had her tense up again. Couldn’t anyone leave her alone?

Heaving a sigh, she sat up. “It’s not like I’m dancing around up here,” she retorted. “Nor even like I spend all-day every-day bothering the runners.” Eesh. Fine. Far be it from me to risk getting in trouble again. Sliding over to the edge of the roof, she clamped her hands on the slate edge, lowering herself to hang and kicking a couple times before catching one foot on the end of the high rail fence used to keep the beasts contained. Aha. There we go. She got the other foot over and found some semblance of balance before letting go of the roof with one hand, planting it against the wall. Her weight largely transferred to her feet on the fence, she let go, felt her balance shift, and jumped down to land with a couple stumbling steps of momentum.

Straightening and dusting off her hands, she quirked an eyebrow at the other candidate. “Better?” A small smirk - she couldn’t help but feel a little humor at the situation - and she held out her hand. “You’d be right, that’s me. Sora, formerly of Hope Hold. You must be Lili’s-” love interest “friend, Seph. Saw her come out to you at the Hatching. Don’t worry about the iron. He was being a spoiled little jerk and everyone knows it. Nothing you could’ve done about it.”

[RavenSong]

"Yeah, I know, I just want to spare you the scolding," Seph said to Sora with a grin as she climbed down. He watched her carefully, ready to move to catch her if he saw her start to fall. Fortunately, she had herself under control and didn't fall. Seph grinned a bit at her.

"Much better," he said, grinning wider. He shook her hand. "Yeah, I am Lili's friend. S'idon's brother. I wasn't expecting anyone to come out to me, least of all Lili and Peranzath." He reached up to scratch the back of his head, shrugging a bit when she spoke of the Iron. "Yeah... I know. But I still feel bad. I should've known somehow that he hadn't Impressed to me, but I know a grand total of nothing about whers. I was considering Standing for them if I aged out of Dragon candidacy, but after that sharding dimglow... nah. I'll just stay here as a Beastcrafter, maybe go for my Mastery and espouse Lili." He shrugged, looking back to Heartbrother.

"So, I said I'd introduce you to my runner, and I'm a man of my word. Here, you can pet his nose. He likes that. He's fond of fingerroots and redfruit slices for treats, and he's very careful when he's taking them from human hands. He's such a gentle runner. His name's Heartbrother, and my father gave him to me when he was born. I raised him as part of my apprentice work at Father's side before transferring here with Father's blessing." He smiled proudly, patting the runner's neck. Heartbrother shifted a couple steps in place, turning slightly toward Seph. The runner then nuzzled his person, whickering softly. He turned his head toward Sora, lifting his head somewhat, keeping her in sight of both his eyes. He sniffed at her just a bit, investigating her. Seph wasn't reacting negatively to her, and he trusted his rider. "He's a stallion. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to geld him or breed him. He has good physical and mental traits that would be ideal for offspring, but I'd have to find a good-tempered dam for his foals." He smiled warmly at his runner, a proud, loving expression. The expression didn't fade as he turned back to Sora.

"So you're a climber, huh? Bet you'll love to soar on dragon wings when you finally Impress. What's got you so fascinated with heights, anyways? I mean... why do you risk the Candidatemasters' wrath to hide up there? Nothing to fear down here on the ground... except maybe crackdusted iron wherets."