Logs:Rebel in the Making?
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| RL Date: 4 May, 2013 |
| Who: Alida, Ilicaeth, N'ky, Cailluneth |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: N'ky shares his plans with Alida... Alida tests him to see if he's up to it. |
| Where: Feeding Grounds |
| When: Day 12, Month 9, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: The weather today is very pleasant. A few clouds chase each other across the mostly clear skies, and a soft breeze picks up in the afternoon to make for a fine day. |
| Mentions: Jo/Mentions, K'zin/Mentions, C'wlin/Mentions, N'hax/Mentions |
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| Feeding Grounds, High Reaches Weyr Wedged between the lake and the rest of the vast bowl are the dusty feeding grounds. Here, the well-trampled ground is contained by a sturdy wooden fence, cutting right through one end of the lake to section it off into a muddy watering hole for the animals. Several gates allow people in and out, while at the back, large overhangs of rock provide the herd -- a mixed bag of herdbeasts, wing-clipped wherries, and fat porcines -- shelter from storms or the hot sun. What grass survives is usually bloodstained, but feeding troughs are stationed around the edges of the pen. It's early. Very early, for those not used to waking up at the crack of dawn. The Weyr is starting to stir as more and more people begin to wake up to start their day, and the pens are currently surrounded by several weyrling dragons. Cailluneth is amongst them; she pins her beast, carries it off to the side and drops her head to its neck to suckle on its lifeforce. N'ky doesn't seem to have any problems with her feeding any more as he stands a little way off, hands in his riding jacket pockets, casually observing. And then there's Ilicaeth, winging out over the pens, stampeding his prey in red-eyed hunger and lust for blood, his menacing shadow crawling over the herd below. He manages the dumber beasts with precision, cutting a single wherry male out from the others, and near-instantly whipping about to fly it down, the shaort chase ending in a brutally vicious swipe at the avian's neck, the break of it upon air heard by those nearby. Banking back around, the slatey weyrling finally backwings for a landing, then stalking the last 15 feet over to his clean kill, where he opens up the belly, and starts eating the offal first. And as for Alida, well, she's following not far behind her blue, smirking a little at his kill while her steps slow, and then stop nearby N'ky. Not a word is said, the woman simply watching her lifemate, and sometimes Cailluneth eat. Words don't need to be said, really; N'ky's comfortable enough with Alida beside him to know that they're not always necessary. When Cailluneth launches up to take down a wherry of her own, inviting Ilicaeth to enjoy the guts she's left in her first herdbeast, N'ky looks to the bluerider and taking a half-step closer to her and closing the distance with a lean. "'Lida. I can t-trust you, can't I?" Exactly. Silence is often golden, especially with the not-too social guard, who doesn't often speak trivially. So, when N'ky approaches her with that loaded question - Ilicaeth rumbling a food-lusty thanks to Cailluneth, then pacing over to devour her own beast's entrails - Alida quirks her head slightly, green eyes flicking over to settle coolly upon the greenrider. "Depends on what'cher askin' about. Yer plottin' murder, want me ta' keep quiet, then not likely." Smirk. "Likely, since yer not the kind who typically does such a thing." Not plotting murder, but N'ky gives Alida an unfamiliar look that maybe even borders on sly; he's plotting something, for sure. "I don't w-want to spend this whole m-month holding everyone back, bec-cause our wingleader," there's a barb when he says the word, "can't h-handle people p-properly." He looks back to Cailluneth, who's tearing through her second kill. "I...I w-want to stand up to him. W-would you be there, if... i-if I can do it?" She watches to the greenie with sudden, extra attention, once Alida's keen observational senses pick up on N'ky's change of expressions, his 'different' bearing. Listening in active fashion, the blonde misses the quick look red-eyed Ilicaeth turns upon the pair of humans at corral-side, her observance finally coming after a few moments for thought. "What're yer plans?" "I d-don't know yet; I've not thought that f-far ahead." N'ky winces a little, running his fingers through his hair - his typical anxious twitch. "I guess I w-wanted to see if someone would stand with me if I d-did it, and you c-came to mind. And Jo... I th-think Jo m-maybe approved, when I mentioned you. I thought m-maybe K'zin, but... we're still shaky. I don't... I don't trust him right now." He looks back to Alida, brows low over his brown eyes. "I'm n-not sure when yet, or h-how, but... he's not a good leader. I c-can't be the only one who sees that?" The woman remains quiet as N'ky speaks again, her expression untroubled, even, not giving away anything. For some long moments afterward, Alida's gaze shifts to the eating Ilicaeth, who's returned to his original carcass, something in his fercious hunger making her smile softly. Finally, "Wingin' it, then? Not usually good form fer' a lightweight." Snert. "Y'talked ta' Jo." Not a question. "You realize she does 'er own thing, bucks the rules when she wishes - though with thought - and she likely gets her ass punished." Finally the guard looks over to her clutchsib, those cool, deep greens assessing him deeply. "Whether he's lousy 'r not ain't gonna mean a thing if yer not ready ta' fully commit ta' standing up t'him." Beat. "Gotta know yer own, his strengths 'n weaknesses, 'n be ready ta' exploit his faults while minimizing yer own." "That's why I n-need you." N'ky turns to face Alida properly now, the breeze blowing his curls into his eyes until he holds them back. "I've never d-done anything like this. I don't know him other than to not like him. I don't want to w-wing it; we're a week into his m-month." Give or take. "We've got t-time to f-figure it out. But, 'Lida? I'm... I'm w-worried that i-if things keep... k-keep going like they have done so far, I'll... I d-don't want to feel how I d-did last month. I've just got over that." Ah yes, she sees, indeed. "All I c'n do is tell ya' how *I'd* do it, given my strengths 'n assets. Yer a different beastie than me," Alida notes to N'ky, her level gaze continuing to sit upon his features, her eyes, face not saying much of anything, like her tone. "Are ya' ready t'have him possibly physically threaten ya' t'intimidate ya'? Or *more*?" The bluie's utterly serious about this. "He'd more likely use his mind ta' deal with ya', in my estimation. It's his strong point." A puff of breath later finds the guard's gaze returning to Ilicaeth who's got half his beast finished, by now. "Get a list t'gether. Make up two columns, title 'em strengths, weaknesses. Start *honestly* listing each uv' his on whatever side's applicable. Gotta be honest with yerself on that." Cailluneth's dietary habits are the next focus of her gaze. "Gotta have a few plans, just in case." Pause, think. "Strike when he's off-balance, not-expectin' it, and do it in public, around yer fellow weyrlings." A wherry's scream carries across to them as Cailluneth lurks over it, taking pleasure in pinning the flailing body before ending its life. Her third kill; too many for her to have had, even if she only eats half of what each carcass offers. "He can think circles around me. And N'hax is bigger than me." Not taller, but broader than N'ky. "I need to do it r-right..." It's said more to himself than to Alida, his unfocused gaze on his lifemate. "I don't want to th-threaten him or anything. I want to do it... diplomatically, but with f-force. I want to show him," everyone, really, "that I'm a good leader, not him." More listening...more observing are Alida's tack in this odd situation, the blonde's lips thinning some along the way, though not in anger. "Yer not willing ta' play hardball, then." Again, this is not a question. "Didja' stop ta' think that C'wlin might not play fair 'r dipolmatically? Harpers c'n redefine, twist words...use 'em as weapons ta' manipulate minds." A pause. "What makes you a good leader, N'ky?" This time, she *is* questioning him. "You gotta have facts on yer side, at the very least." "I care." N'ky drags his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms over his chest. "I care about my w-wingmates. I want to see us all succeed, but on our own terms. I d-don't want to push anyone or f-force anyone to be what my ideal is; I want them to be their best." He pauses a moment, biting on his lip. "And I s-sure as shards won't punish a whole damned wing because one p-person isn't measuring up." The blonde nods her head at N'ky's observations about himself, but when she speaks again, it likely busts his bubble. "So, how'd y'deal with a wingmate who started sleepin' in, 'r not doin' whatcha' needed them to...like slackin' off during aerial drills. What if, say, *I* sttod up in yer face 'n razzed ya' in front of the whole class, then told ya' ta' stick it where the sun don't shine?" That makes N'ky think, and he's silent for a moment as he comes up with an answer. "I'd t-tell you to fulfill your duties, or I'd be forced to come up with a punishment for you. Everyone has to p-pull their weight and contribute. The rules apply to e-everyone, but they also have to take into account that everyone is d-different. N-not everyone can be good at the s-same things, or we'd all be... we'd be boring." He looks hopefully at Alida. "Would that work?" "What'd my punishment be, in that case?" Alida murmurs casually, waching her blue finish up his wherry, then turning her gaze to Cailluneth, who's killed without eating. Hmm...interesting. Cailluneth did hesitate after her third kill to tend to her paw, but not for long; she's soon in there, feasting on the wherry. "That would d-depend." More thinking is required! "T-typical punishments would be grounding, removal of privileges, extra chores - the n-nasty chores." His sands are extra abrasive, given the blue's hunger, his burgeoning baritone rasping directly into Cailluneth's colored whirl of her own hunger. « Alida won't hurt him, remember that. » (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth) With N'ky's observation of what he might do to her comes a sudden explosion of motion from the guard, who practically leaps right up into N'ky's face - her eyes staring into his - her posture threatening, readied. Her eyes, however, staring in alpha-fashion directly into the gangling youth's browns, are cool and flat, her fists already curlingd tightly into N'ky's shirt...unless he somehow manages to pre-think her reaction, and sidestep in a huge hurry. "I ain't gonna' do that shit, 'Wingleader.' Try ta' fuckin' *make* me." A quick, rather brutal little shake of his form and a harsh grin come on the tails of her words as she holds him there, her grill right up in his as much as it can be, given their disparate heights. "*Now* what're ya' gonna do?" And now Cailluneth understands what Ilicaeth meant; the threat has her bellowing out, looking at and reaching to the blue dragon for reassurance, even though her muscles are bunched and she's ready to spring skywards. N'ky stumbles back until Alida catches his shirt, and he stares down at her wide-eyed, stiff-limbed, confused and shaken - literally. His hands come up to push at Alida's chest, clutching her own shirt above her collarbone and holding her, albeit more softly, as he glowers down at her, making no attempt to break free. "I'm g-going to... t-to wait until you've calmed down and g-got out of my face, and th-then..." His voice quivers slightly, a crooked smile curling up the corner of his lips, "then I'm going to s-send you off to c-cool down. And if you d-don't, you're grounded. For a m-month, for th-threatening a w-wingleader." Then he smirks, curling his fingers tighter into her shirt, leaning toward her. "O-only it's you, 'Lida. I'd a-ask you why you're s-so upset, and see if I c-could fix it for you." « Toldja'... » the blue rumbles casually, his mental sands tinged bloody red, his voice 'mrphling' a little as he eats his latest meal of one thin herdbeast. « N'ky's fine. She's just tryin' ta' show him shit...lessons. » Omnomnom. (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth) With Cailluneth's bellow comes Alida's quick release of N'ky, the blonde stepping back from him, her hands up placatingly, her head turned slightly so she can observe both the green and her rider from the periphery of her gaze. "Look at yer first reaction, Nicky: you were scared, retreatin'. No matter what y'did 'r said after that, I 'won...' and in front uv' my fellow weyrlings." A hint of anger crosses Alida's green eyes, makes her lips thin slightly as the greenie talks of it being 'her.' "What if it's N'hax? 'r that huge bastard uv' a full rider from Nabol who seems ta' enjoy a rumble now 'n again?" Glare. "What'd ya' do if it *weren't* me?" To Ilicaeth, Cailluneth's still concerned, still very alert, her silver moonlight steely and tense, rippled with yellow and green. But there's trust there; trust in her brother, in his lifemate. Trust that her Heart won't get hurt, when she's watching. His trust isn't necessarily easy to gain, but when it's offered, he won't break it. « Ease off, Cai. Alida ain't gonna hurt 'im. » Trust me. Trust *her*. (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth) "I'd --" What would N'ky do? But he doesn't have to think about it too long, as there's a very clear sign from over near the barracks that they're being called in. "We'd b-better go, 'Lida - look." He points it out to her, looking relieved for the distraction. "I w-want you to help me. Please? I n-need you, more than anyone, to h-help me with this." He looks over his shoulder to where Cailluneth's already making her leap skywards to join the weyrlings by the barracks, where their first lecture of the day is about to begin. N'ky looks pleadingly at Alida once more, then signals for her to lead the way to the class. "I'm *tryin'* ta' help ya' right now, but'cher not seein' it well..." the blonde grumbles, Alida then giving a blustery sigh and putting on a neutral face for the coming day that's heading towards the both of them. "We'll talk more later." |
Comments
Comments on "Logs:Rebel in the Making?"Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Sun, 05 May 2013 03:45:03 GMT.
Ha! Alida's own brand of advice is interesting, and I can't say it's wrong. It's a different side of N'ky, but it's one that's moving forward and that's always a good thing! ...even if it might not result in good things. x3
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