Harpers, Dragons, and Harper Dragons (Rhia!)

[Chimera]

{desc=Dragons cannot become Apprentice Harpers. Much sad} ((Ooga ooga when will I be able to not write overly talkative introductions-booga))

Oh dear, oh dear, I can't fit inside the Weyr, now I know it's been like that for quite a while...at least I have a thick hide for the weather vile... Aypoth remarked, a wistful melody backing her words.

Nora stared, confused yet amused, at her dragon as they prepared to go visit Lilianai. The girl had been just another Candidate to her before that Summer of the 5th Turn, and now just another Weyrling. Nora didn't know much about her, except that she had Impressed to a pink, and could play music.

Well, not just play music - it was the girl's craft. Nora had long since gotten over being envious of those with a craft - she could probably call dragonriding hers, if being a soldier even counted as that.

Yeah, at least. Humans have it worse.

It's an arguable notion. Aypoth sniffed haughtily, before wiggling and taking off a bit clumsily into the evening sky. The pink was decent at Betweening, and would have practiced it now had she not been exhausted from the day's lessons. Still, she had the typical energy of her color, and Nora rid Aypoth to the Weyrling Barracks, her face a bit battered from the chilly gales that had flown against it.

Careful not to disturb anyone, as they must have been tired after their junior weyrling chores, the young pinkrider made her way through the Entry Hall, stepping through a still-familiar building with Aypoth bouncily walking behind her.

"Oh, there you are." Nora halted. "Lilianai? Congratulations on your Impression! Aypoth and I wanted to meet another pinkweyrling, and when she overheard that you can play music she wouldn't stop pestering me about it all day as well. Sorry if this meeting's a bit sudden..you busy at the moment?"

Yes...hello to you, miss Lilianai and your very lovely dragon! Now, we don't usually speak to humans but I think that is very silly, as long as I am polite. I'm Aypoth and that's my Nora. Now, I'm sure we're all a bit tired, but I was hoping to meet an official Harper! I heard you are, correct?

[RhiaBlack]

((No worries, I'm terribad about them too >.> ))

Lili's fingers ached. They ached with all the knowledge they had gleaned - of cleaning and oiling and lessons of things. Not just Weyrling lessons, either; she had been a bit better as of late about trying to catch Kira when the pair of them had a spare moment, and even Lili had to admit that she was growing rather fond of the Blueweyrling and her Blue. They'd be proper Searchdragons in no time flat, and Lili almost felt a pang of envy at how talented the other Weyrling was. Kira was amazing; she learned so quickly, and even though Tauth seemed a bit slow, she still managed to have time for all these different things. All the while, Lili felt particularly stressed at worrying about Seph, and doing a brother's share of keeping tabs on S'idon for the sake of hoping that Seph wouldn't worry for him, too. Good golly for the love of Faranth it was a mass circle of worrywherries.

Everything hurt, honestly, and she was looking forward to oiling Peranzath, feeding her Dragonet, skipping dinner for herself - much to her Pink's protest - and crawling into bed like a tunnelsnake into a lower caverns crevice.

A voice she recognized only from hearing it occasionally shocked her into a jerk-up of her head, flailing at the pieces of her hair that cast themselves across her face in the movement. Spider webs! SPIDER WE...oh. Well didn't she just look foolish.

"Oh, hi, I..well...thank you."

It took a minute for her to fully process the pair of voices, and put two and two together. Peranzath craned her head around Lili, almost half-coherent as she normally was; maybe a bit worse than usual given the day's lessons and general awakeness that Hers seemed to require so much of her lately.

"Apprentice Harper, really. I don't know how official that would make me, I'll probably walk the tables for Journeyman once I graduate from Weyrlinghood and take a couple turns to work some more on my studies, but for now, I'm just that. Are there not that many Harpers here?"

It seems very safe to say, we are meeting many people yet, today, MineLove, Peranzath cooed, half to Hers, half to their company. I am Peranzath, yes, it's true...This is my LiliMine, how do you do?

Lili eyeballed her Pink curiously. Lost in her own little Dreamworld, yet still firmly planted on the Pern-ground, Peranzath coiled her way curiously around Lili and settled on her haunches beside Hers, whirling blue eyes settled on the pair opposite them.

My LiliLove is never busy for company, I am thinking she agrees. LiliLoveMine, how does someone decide they are busy?

Lili sighed, shaking her head.

"No, I was just heading to oil down Peranzath and feed her before bed, she doesn't seem hungry yet, though. More of just a timing thing, is all. Schedule and all that, but we can smidge just a bit, I think. Is something the matter?"

The sudden realization that people didn't just stop her to chat all the time was another concern. She wasn't used to being spoken to by the soon-to-be-graduates, after all, but if Nora and Aypoth were just after some conversation and music, well...she couldn't tell them no. That seemed like a perfectly logical reason to her.

[Chimera]

Nora stood there, feeling a bit awkward as Lilianai flinched. Her eyes followed the wisps of the girl's unusual hair. That was what she had first noticed about her in their Candidacy days.

"You're welcome." The soon-graduate smiled at Peranzath and her mindmate. The cross-hatched young pink reminded her of when Aypoth was that size - and already so bouncy. She was even a bit similar in coloration in that she was not a very light pink (or was she, under those markings?), though Aypoth was colored a warmer, more beet-soup shade.

"I don't know, pretty official to me. Aypoth's met some other Harpers, but it's kind of weird sometimes telling them that your dragon's more interested in music than you. And they're total strangers. And there's the issue of large creatures not fitting inside the tunnels of the 'Bowl." Nora shrugged. "Besides, you're a pinkweyrling to boot, and I do...isomewhat know you, so I guess that's why."

Peranzath, it is nice to meet you and yours. The older pink angled her head sideways, then nearly upside-down, and back to normal. You are still very young, but you're learning a lot, I hope? Any favorite things you've learned? I can teach you about more things if you'd like! Unintentionally, Aypoth eagerly spoke to Peranzath as if she was her official Weyrlingmaster.

"Oh, alright. I'm sure we can smidge just a bit. Nothing's really the matter - well, boredom is. It would be nice to talk to someone besides my classmates or Weyrlingmasters for once. You're almost a Journeyman, so if you want to you can show us some music."

And even theory, yes?

"...I don't think dragons can really remember all of that. Ayp's very distraught she would not even fit in the Harper Hall. She's wanted to actually be an Apprentice at some point." She groaned. "There's many reasons why it wouldn't work - Harpers aren't just musician-teachers, after all."

[RhiaBlack]

Lili's hand absentmindedly draped across Peranzath's headknobs, then ran slightly down her Pink's neck as Pera settled beside her. Her Pink's tail tapped absentmindedly against Lili's knee, but the Pinkweyrling didn't seem to notice much. Her full attention was on Nora and Aypoth. She looked mildly relieved that something hadn't brought the other pair here because of anything she had done wrong - with Jasmine on the proverbial warpath when it came to Candidates and Weyrlings, thanks to someone borking up her opportunity to at least talk to Seph beyond mealtimes, she wasn't so sure what it could have been anyway.

"Trust me, I know all about weird Dragons. This one, I swear, is living on another dimension or something. Festive bits of randomness, every candlemark of every day so far. Sometimes I can't tell if she's just...genuinely curious about things, or she's so far ahead of me as far as smarts go, that I'm the one playing catch-up."

Almost as if Peranzath was doing it on purpose, the Pink pressed Hers' thoughts.

MineLove, if wherries eat bugs...and bugs eat leaves and grass and things...doesn't that make wherries related to herdbeasts after all? Herdbeasts eat grass and leaves too...

Lili sighed. She wasn't going to let this one go, it appeared.

We are meeting people, and you are asking me about wherries and herdbeasts.
We just ate, MineLove, I am curious. Is it a silly question?
No, there are no silly questions outside of the ones you don't ask.

She was probably going to regret that one.

"I feel a little out of sorts sometimes, I never know what she actually knows, and what she's just asking me about. It's a little confusing. I've gotten to the point I just answer her no matter what it is, in case she -doesn't- know, I don't want to have her learning the wrong thing and stuff like that. I guess it's a good thing she Impressed a Harper, if my mother hadn't have taught me half of this stuff, I'd feel even worse."
Mine does a most wonderful job teaching me things...all sorts of things...I am very excited, she will be standing on tables soon, and that seems like so much fun, table-standing..
Walking the Tables, Pera. Not table standing. Walking the Tables, which is what they call my test when I become a Journeyman Harper.
But...you have to do this only one time?
Twice.

Pera's grin was almost radiant, and just as toothy.

I like that you are two.
Don't you start this again. You were double-talking numbers and finding excuses to say 'two' for candlemarks the other day, thanks to Tauth. I'm going to send you to Kira and let you drive her crazy.

"Well, I suppose I could. There's still some time before I have to put Pera down for the night to sleep, she likes to hear me play, so I think the people close wouldn't mind if I played quietly enough. I'm sort of teaching another Weyrling some things, when we have time between lessons and stuff. Mother got her a Harp when she Impressed, so I've been teaching her a little bit about how to play it and what not. What's your favorite instrument? I have a couple different ones in my room to practice with, maybe one of them is something you like?"

[Chimera]

"Oh...another dimension, huh? Good luck with that. There's a dragon like yours in our class. She's very, uh, quirky." Nora thought back to Aypoth's hatching. Even Entomath had been a strange one. Their whole class was odd - but that was what made things fun, the variety of life (rather, lives in this case).

One must always ask questions to learn! As long as they are appropriate. I learned that the hard way, yes. Aypoth piped in.

I sincerely hope you remember humans would not fly around naked in the sky when it was 'Chasing time, even if they had wings.

Even if. The pink plopped her rump on the ground, and daintily scratched an itch on her muzzle with a foot...or as daintily as a creature awkward on land could.

Uuugh. I'll oil you a bit later.

"I think you're handling that pretty good. Curious babies of all kinds ask questions, it's important for them not to get the wrong idea."

Aypoth smiled equally toothily at her equally pink relative.

Yes we are. Two is a good number, I believe.

"Nice! It must be a lot of work to juggle Weyrlinghood, Harpering, and teaching the latter - seems you're handling it well. I guess my favorite instrument is, uh, voice if that counts - the Harp is a beautiful instrument as well."

[RhiaBlack]

"She's just....different."

Lili couldn't really describe it as anything else. Peranzath was different. At least, that's what she'd gathered from all the other dragons that belonged to other people she had met. There were times where Peranzath seemed so...out of it. Like she wasn't all there, or she was there and just wasn't focused on the present. Not to mention all the questions.

A frown etched her features, and she sighed slightly before she shook her head.

"Something I'm still trying to get used to. I'm not...really experienced with anything like her. I wouldn't trade her for anything, but she's...it's difficult sometimes. I guess it's one of those things where I hope she'll get better about it when she's older, but who knows."

Lili offered something of a wan smile, Peranzath's nose rubbing against her elbow as she shifted her attention to her Pink. A scratch of her headknobs, and she contemplated a bit. Peranzath leaned in against her hip, and she smiled softly.

There were a half a dozen different types of song she could sing, and admittedly Lili's voice was her most powerful instrument. She had a tremendous range, and was capable of lilting variations in tone that suited her chosen craft; but she didn't make a habit of singing very often. Something she would have to get used to and do more of, if she planned on walking to Journeyman knots after Peranzath and she graduated.

"Admittedly, I don't have a harp here with me, they're a bit large so with all the other instruments I keep, there wouldn't be much room for anything else, but I can sing well enough, I suppose. Is there a type of song you fancy most? Or your Aypoth has a favorite?"

[Chimera]

"It is hard. Even Impressing a firelizard before Aypoth didn't prepare me entirely for it. Having another person bonded to you, being part of some strange, mutual bond, it definitely takes some getting used-to. Each dragon has their own quirks, to say the least. Your Peranzath seems a very, ah, benevolent dragon. She's a pink after all. I can't imagine how those with reds or something equally violent deal with the bond. Somehow, I guess."

Nora stared into Aypoth's curious eyes behind her. The pink stepped closer, purring and carefully "booping" her rider's head with her snout. Then she playfully cantered over to Peranzath (her technical, though younger aunt), snorting and opening her mouth in a whimsical grin. Nora observed, amused. It also seemed dragons were mixes of quite a few animals - felines, runnerbeasts...The list went on and on.

"A type of song? Well, there's the Teaching Ballads, but I'm rather bored of those. Aypoth loves all sorts of songs - especially the teaching ones, actually. She definitely has a love of teaching as well. I think she'd spend a good part of her free time, if not all, in the creche if she could. What song's your favorite? Something more, maybe, fresh would be nice to hear. Have you ever composed anything?"

As they spoke, the girl's entire firelizard fair appeared in the air - her bronze, blue, green, and lastly baby orange hanging on to the previous.

"Oh, I don't think you've met my flits yet. The blue's Triantan, bronze's Ceannaire, green is Imni, and orange is Oraiste. Somehow I have attracted four of these over the Turns." She grinned, reminded of Letorin's gigantic fair. The young bronze perched, hawk-like, on her neck and shoulders, his blue friend joining him, flopping down on the top of Nora's dark brown hair. The two females retreated to the space on Aypoth's back where a rider could sit. "They're clingy, but I do love them. Anyways, shall we move a bit to your room if you'd like?

[RhiaBlack]

Lili felt the tug of Peranzath's adoration at the corners of her thoughts, and it made her anguish at not really understanding her Pink hurt all the more. Pera was confusing, and while Lili knew that she would eventually figure her out, it didn't mean it made it any easier -now-. Flights with her were going to be a nightmare and a half.

She would have to understand how to shift Peranzath's impossibly constant daydreaming and other-worldly-zoning-out into a focus that would work for fighting Thread. Distraction would kill them both, and the prospect of either being threadscored repeatedly because Peranzath didn't pay attention, or being torn from her lifemate because Pera was hit by Thread and betweened without her...Lili's teeth grit and she swallowed hard. No. She wouldn't let that happen. It didn't matter if she ended up scarred for the rest of her life, she wouldn't let herself be torn from her Pink. Especially not since she'd waited so very long to get her in the first place.

Peranzath caught the tug of fear and self-doubt in the mind of her bonded, and wrapped herself around Lili's legs like a feline. Her tail slithered into Lili's hand, wrapped her wrist, and refused to let go no matter how hard Lili tried to shake her free. Pera pressed Hers' thoughts privately.

We are two, MineLiliLove. We will never be only one. Always two.

And then there were times where her Pink's clarity offered a resounding sense of comfort and compassion. She nodded wordlessly, before she offered up a small smile.

"I suppose that's something to be grateful for, at least. She's very curious, and very...distracted sometimes, but she's never been vicious or violent-natured towards anyone. She seemed really all right with me having feelings for Seph, but thanks to that dimglow getting caught earlier, I can't even see him anymore. I won't be able to see him until he Impresses and graduates. Enough to make me angry, but I suppose it's just a matter of waiting it out. That's all I can do for now, I imagine Pera won't Rise until I'm okay with it or until Seph can...you know."

Lili's cheeks flushed as pink as the darker shades of her cross-hatched dragonet's hide, and she turned her head to try and hide most of her embarrassment. It was useless, her hair was pulled up, so it was still just as obvious.

"Anyway. I play more than I sing, something I should probably change if I want to walk the tables eventually. Peranzath says I'm not bad, and I should do it more, I just...don't have the energy most times, after chores and lessons and taking care of her. Playing takes more energy, but I'm better practiced at it. I've written a few things, Peranzath seems to remember all the stuff I make up when we're doing chores and what not, which is...interesting. She'll play it back for me sometimes, when she's not thinking about anything else."

Lili smiled at the appearance of the flits. She had always kind of wanted one, but if they were as much work as Peranzath was, she wasn't so sure it was good to get one right now. She was clearly pretty impressed that Nora had so many of them.

"I haven't found any eggs or been lucky at any of those Hatchings yet, but...are they a lot of work? I've always sort of wanted one, but I don't want to have to do more work with one on top of what I'm supposed to do with Peranzath, so it just...seems like it would be a bigger pain. Are they hard to take care of? Do they get into things like I hear Firelizards like to? And we can go to my room, if you want. It's a little messy right now, things have been so hectic with lessons and chores and oiling down Pera that I haven't really had time to keep things as nice and tidy as I like, but we can sort of sit in there and outside, too, I guess."

[Chimera]

((o.o For some reason I put this in the Kitchen and Dining Hall thread instead of the Weyrling Barracks...oops.))

"That's very good. Let's hope she'll stay that..." Nora's voice trailed off into oblivion when Lilianai mentioned feelings. Romantic feelings, to be specific. For Seph. Well, she wasn't that close with either to know - the girl knew Seph had been the poor kid who that Jafask had tricked, but other than that he was a distant, though friendly face. But the feelings part, she could empathize with. "...oh. Oh dear. Uh, I'm sorry about that. I hope he'll Impress and graduate as soon as possible, then. Most important is your dragon's fine with it. Mine was too, I was in a similar, if even less consequential situation but Aypoth put up with...it..."

Neither pinkrider was comfortable with the topic, so Nora wasn't going to continue that unless Lili did.

"Yup. Weyrlinghood's a lot of energy for sure. Seems your dragon might have some music talent as well, huh? Crafts are serious, but don't overwork yourself if you feel tired. Then again, I don't have one so I'm not the best judge." She pushed Ceannaire away out of reflex as the small bronze tried to nibble on her ear.

Nora gave a low whistle in response to Lili.

"A lot. The personality of a flit's a wild card, they're just like dragons after all. I got pretty lucky. I have an egotistical flit, distant one, and worrywart one, but all are pretty docile. If you feel a dragon and Harping...Harpering? is enough, then I'd be careful about getting a flit." She laughed. "Having just one isn't a huge day-occupying task, but flits tend to be more attracted to someone who already has one. Basically, be careful around those. It is fun, though, if you can handle the work. I don't mind if it's messy! Let's just move over there so we don't bother anyone that might be passing by." That said, she raised one foot to take a step...and put it back. "So where is your room?"

[RhiaBlack]

((Lol! No worries!))

Lili wasn't usually shy when it came to emotions. She was one of the least shy people in the Weyr, she suspected...well, maybe not, but still. She was pretty not-shy, but for some reason any mention of Seph seemed to instantly color her cheeks and make her forget her own name. Shard it. She grumbled half to herself, and Peranzath turned to follow her as the pair headed towards her room.

"All things considered, I'm not really sure how I'd be with one. I mean, I seem to balance the whole being a Weyrling and Harper at the same time pretty well, but there's days where I just want to focus on Peranzath, and don't really have time for anything else. Makes me worry about what would happen if I did end up with a Flit." She frowned slightly. "Then again, I guess it's one of those things where if you're in the right place at the right time, it doesn't matter."

Pera's sizable but streamlined and lithe frame picked her way carefully towards her 'lair', as she liked to call it. Her tail remained wrapped around Lili's wrist and arm, almost holding her hand like a toddler. Though one wondered sometimes who was leading whom.

"It's down here, a few rooms down from the end of the hall. I think they stuck me over there so the noise wouldn't bother the other Weyrlings. Then again I wonder how much of it is Weyrlings, because the Dragonets never seem to mind. I think Peranzath could sleep through a storm and never be moved beyond a snort or two."
I do sleep rather sound, when the thunder crashes down...

Lili rolled her eyes. Here we go again. Pera lead in with questions, but Lili noticed that she spoke to all three of them, not just Hers.

Aypoth, does Yours ever sing? If you like music, I would think that Yours sings to you...whether she is a Harper or not?
That's a very strange question to ask.
You said that Weyrlings look after Theirs, LiliMineLove, I would think that they would if....Peranzath looked suddenly almost wondering. ...I wonder if Theirs sing to their big Dragons, LiliMine...would you sing to me, when I am grown tall?
Grown up, silly. Not grown tall.
But why not grown tall? Am I not taller?

Lili looked back at Nora, as if to say 'you see what I deal with?', though there was definite amusement, if not a bit of exasperation, in Lili's expression. As they ventured to her room, Lili pushed the door open and did a quick pick-up of some clothes, tossing them across the trunk at the end of the bed. Peranzath slinked in with Hers, before finally letting Lili's wrist free and curling up on her couch. Lili moved some of her instruments out of the way - two gitars, a flute, a violin, and a stringed instrument by the wall that looked much like a Chinese guzheng. A flattened section between two boards, rounded at the tops, with what looked to be harp-strings between. Several small metal 'tongues' stuck out from the sides, obviously to change the pitch on the strings, and in a hollowed out section under it were finger-picks. It was a softer, smaller version of a hybrid gitar and harp, somewhat one of Lili's favorites, though the violin always had her heart.

There wasn't much by way of personal effects within the hollowed-out room. Her variety of scarves to cover her hair were hung on the rail at the head of the bed, to keep them from getting dirty. Most of them were earthtone colors - tan to yellow, shades of brown, black, gray. A few blues, a few purples and reds, but not many. There were no white ones. Some had designs, some were plain, but they all appeared to be made from roughly the same type of silk or linen. The clothes she had tossed across the trunk were the only ones in view - the rest, safe to assume, were folded and tucked away inside it.

She shifted the guzheng, leaning the gitars against the wall within their cases, and threw a cover over the former as she laid her flute and violin across the less-fragile rungs of the supportive sides. Laying anything across the strings would get a shells of a whipping from her mother. Most of those instruments looked, and were, very expensive to make. Lili took almost as good care of them as she did Peranzath. After all, Peranzath was and always would be worth more than anything else in the world to her.

Would you like LiliMineLove to sing something, or to play for you? Or both? She is very good at both. Sometimes she sings and plays for me, before my naps.