Logs:Leaders, Followers, and Mavericks
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| RL Date: 20 May, 2015 |
| Who: Alida, Edyis, Keysi |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: There's talk of weyrlinghood, rank, and incidentals while a runner's rubbed down. |
| Where: Stables, HRW |
| When: Day 9, Month 11, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: 30 F. Snow flurries. |
| Mentions: Quinlys/Mentions, Cron/Mentions, Terren/Mentions |
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>---< Stables, High Reaches Weyr >-------------------------------------------< Taking advantage of a natural overhang in the side of the mountain for its roof, this building boasts sturdy stone construction braced by beams of tough-as-nails skybroom. Just inside a pair of broad doors, the ceiling rises a full two stories high for the full length and half the width of the building. Beneath the overhang, wide windows admit light and more fresh air, while opposite is the second-story hayloft. The stables' main focus, however, is the double rows of stalls that line the walls below: one large stall serving as tack room, the rest housing a remarkable variety of beasts. Resident animals range from runners to herdbeasts to caprines, chewing cud or poking their heads out to greet visitors with a soft nicker, moo or bleat. In the back corner under the hayloft, a few porcines poke about in their troughs in an open pen, while just opposite, a chicken run keeps the birds well away from the depradations of wherries. It's maybe an hour before the general dinner rush, and for once, Alida's not found post-duties or hanging around Ilicaeth...or even in the Snowasis or Rider's Lounge. *This* time, the blonde woman is - perhaps oddly - seated astride a slightly-rangy looking runner with a pale dun coat and black mane and tail, four socks/stockings as dark as night trailing up its lithe limbs. No mountain pony, this one, but prehaps bred to run, given its appearance. The heavily-coated, tall animal's breath emerges from its distended nostrils in plumes of warmth upon chilly air, their contact instantly melting the little snowflakes that lightly dust the Reachian air all about, while Alida's own breath is kept guarded behind a thick winter scarf drawn over her nose and mouth. Her pale head sports a knitted touk of evergreen coloration - sans pom-pom - and while her jacket this time is a long duster...the thing split at the back to allow for easier saddle seating. Currently, the two beings are moving at a slow climb up the last vestiges of the path leading up to the Weyr's entrance...the runner nickering softly as the scent of its home stable becomes clear on the air. Edyis was looking for someone, and it's only after she finds the stables devoid of the person that dark eyes rest on Alida in surprise. "Don't suppose you've seen a lanky weyrling about, bout a foot taller than myself, he impressed to a green?" Edyis murmurs to the guard though she doesn't approach. She has to strain just a little to overhear Edyis from this distance, but Alida's keen hearing serves her well enough in the quiet of the light snowfall all about them, the green-eyed woman's head tipping to the side for a few moments before she tugs down her scarf in order to call back her alto answer of, "A few folks uv' that general description were about, earlier." If Ed didn't see them *now*, however... Shrug. Her own warm breath plumes like the runner's she's seated upon, and the slightly-tired four-legger speeds up its gait a little as the women exchange words in order to bring it closer to the stable a bit faster. A faint grin down and out at the head of her eager mount finds the blonde patting its neck fondly, then tipping her gaze up to take notice of a circling, chittering gold firelizard not far above her head. "Lovely." Edyis murmurs without any bite, exhaling softly though she steps back from the runner slightly when it approaches. "Never understood why the weyr keeps riding runners, the sturdier draft ones sure, but maybe it makes more sense in pass than it does interval." Remaining quiet until they get much closer, it doesn't take much time at all for Alida to have to rein her mount in some to control the mare, the woman finally halting the runner so she can swing down from the saddle to ground like an old pro, then toss those reins off her head to lead her towards the stable-proper. While she does all this, the blonde shrugs again, murmurs a lighter, "Not everybody's got a dragon, here...nor a long way ta go, necessarily." Shell if she knows. "'R maybe they keep 'em so people like me can get the fuck away from all this rider crap...make believe we're just ordinary folks, for a little while." Given the less-intense set of her features, the ease in green eyes, the bluerider's all for non-aerial relaxation. Edyis's nose wrinkles, "Riders are ordinary folks; they just have humungous carnivores that dictate the rest of their lives." Still her shoulder lifts, "So what has your knickers in a twist now? More of the same, or has a new calamity struck that I should be wary of." Her gaze flickering once to the golden fire lizard with a dark chuckle. There's a wry twist of lips for Edyis' statement of the two biggest facts of their dragonrider lives - one blue and one brown - and the blonde finds herself answering the other, younger woman's inquiry with a shaggy chortle and an almost easy, "Nothin' new...and nothin' right now." As the runner's led into the shelter of the stable, the blonde gives the mare's nose a few patting strokes, then slips a gloved hand into her pocket to pull out a sweetener cube to offer - palm up - to a suddenly questing mouth. Munch. Above, Pyrite offers another - more irritated - call, then dives to flutter before Edyis, the gold trying to land on her covered shoulder and then sneak inside the brownie's coat, if possible. Cold! "What about *yer* knickers?" the guard inquires smirkily of her 'student,' then adding on very quiet, sudden, "Got'cher latest share..." before any other humans might show up. Give her a moment, and the hand that produced the sweetener cube is soon plucking out a little pouch, which is then passed over to Edyis. It seems to have a fair number of smaller coins within it. "Mixed denominations fer easier spending." The little gold might find the new flight jacket a bit snug, but there is a little extra room in the chest where she could nestle if so inclined. Mention of the share brings a smile to the scribe's lips. "Good; at least one thing seems to be going right." Tucking the smaller pouch into her belt. "With any luck I'll be able to afford some decent furniture by the time they have us in our own weyrs, I'd kill for one with a proper bath." She tones somberly. Blessed warmth! Pyrite doesn't even have to cling to Edyis' shirt to keep herself in place with that snug jacket holding her firmly to the brownrider's chest, the wee gold sighing in relief as her chilled little form sucks up that warmth. Chreeee! "Hoyden..." Alida notes around a small grin of her pet, then bobbing her capped head of their mutual business. Remaining quiet in her speech as she leads her runner towards its own stall, the bluie murmurs, "Slow, but steady...it's more a niche crowd, right now. But, given enough exotic palates, we'll gain a broader market fer yer Master's efforts in a few Turns, fer certain." There's a soft sigh for Edyis' words of a bath, and the woman mutters, "Wonder who ya gotta fuck ta rank one uv those? All the ones I got ta see as weyrling offerins didn't have a single one." Edyis sucks a breath at the chilly gold now sucking away her body heat but laughs. "Not really cold climate creatures are they." She murmurs, lifting a finger to scratch gently behind the creature's head knobs. "Don't say that I might half way consider it." Edyis jokes brightly, "He isn't a master, maybe he should have been, I don't know the whole story. Is my brother still there or has he moved on to parts unknown?" "From the crud I've read about 'em, heard from other owners, they're all apparently originally from more tropical-ish climates...especially from the South," Alida replies of all firelizards, a faint chuckle slipping from the bluie's lungs as Edyis reacts to the chill of Pyrite's hide. Within her jacket, the flit buzzes a soft, happy, content sound as her tiny head is carressed, her chin rubbing lightly against fabric and skin. In reaction to the weyrling's word of a personal bath, "If there's truly any guy worth screwin' at this Weyr, I haven't found 'im, yet." Eyeroll. Once the runner's led into her stall, Alida gestures for the brownrider to remain standing just outside it, while 'lida secures the sliding door behind them, then snaffle-hooks the mare to the side of one wall by a thin rope before starting to unbuckle her bridle, then remove the bit. She's apparently an old hand at this aspect of runners, as well as riding them, too. "Could've fooled me. Still... doesn't matter, as long's the product's superior." Grin. "Still there...still surly at times." It's a little before the dinner rush that Edyis is standing conversing with the familiar guard who is busy removing the riding tack from a runner. Something small and shiny sticking out of her flight jacket, closer inspection would reveal a golden fire lizard, who has laid claim to a warm spot on Edyis's chest under the new flight jacket. Edyis continues the scratches behind her headknobs. "I think there might be at least a few that aren't so bad." She says of men worth... it's after the statement that her ears turn red. "Not that I would know." She laughs at the news of her brother, "I wouldn't imagine he'd be surprised that I impressed, but then I don't imagine he'd care." Edyis says of her brother. Listening to Edyis as she untacks the dun mare's head, then saddle - setting those pieces of aforementioned tack upon their proper pegs - a duster-clad, green knit-hatted Alida notes quietly to the brown weyrling through the stall's barred door, "Tastes vary..." Snert. As for the other female's latter statement, the bluie offers an almost-whispered, though intent, "As someone who understands... *don't* let *that* little..uh...aspect wait until 'e goes up after a green." Of Ed's brother, "Haven't said anything to 'im...not that 'e does anything more th'n grunt at me, 'r spare a few, trite words." Reprieve from the autumn chill may not be the only thing that brings Keysi to the stables. Thoughts, memories, or maybe just a change in atmosphere- some place to clear her head. Hitting the bag wasn't doing it this time. Her flight jacket is one that fits well enough, certainly not tailored to suit her form splendidly. But it's functional, and that's all that matters. A pause follows her entrance of boots crunching fresh hay, as familiar voices hit her before visualization does. "Already thinking about flights?" Partially dry humor, partially ferreting out the essence of the topic, grey eyes slip from bluerider to fellow weyrling though distance is kept. Edyis flushes, catching the full meaning of Alida's words with a grimace. "Right..." Made worse by Keysi's decision to wander into the stables at that moment. "Not exactly, Personal weyrs, actually." Edyis offers, hoping that changing topics will allow the crimson to seep away, her coppery complexion is a helpful thing in that regard. Unfortunately in this case, Alida's complexion is extremely fair, but at least the bluerider's self-control is firm enough to allow only a hint of pink to scoot quickly over her cheeks. Ahem. "Keysi..." is murmured low to the other brownie's arrival, the dun mare whickering softly to Keys as Alida continues to take care of the runner all on her own... now moving to fetch up a large cloth to rub her former mount down with. "Heard yer kids 're finally in the air, now. How goes it?" is inquired of both of them. Keysi isn't terribly quick to join them, in fact she looks over her shoulder at the stables' now-closed doors as if considering them again. But the thought is dismissed, eyes briefly closed with a soft sigh before she takes a few steps inwards. "You do not need to change topic for my sake." Is the return to Ed, though not rigid, but rather teasing even if it's given without a change of tone. "Do you already have yours picked out then?" Alida's mare is regarded with some hint of softness in turn. "G'day Alida." Perhaps more formal than necessary. "More than neccessarily challenging." The short answer comes after a moment of thought, and probably doesn't mean the physical aspect of it. The expression on Ed's face might suggest that the subject would have changed regardless. "Mm, there's one I would like, but weyrlings usually wind up with the ones that are just barely livable. I am hoping for one with a bath." She exhales softly, "What about you? Managed to steal any peeks at the list yet?" Alida remains quiet as she attends her mount, the runner tossing her head a little in good spirits, her skin twitching beneath the bluerider's attentions when she's at her shoulders. In runner parlance: feels good! Keysi's given a bob of hatted, pale head to her greeting over one shoulder, though the weyrling receives a low grunt of, "I ain't yer Weyrlingmaster, Weyrleaders, Keysi." Nose-wrinkle, snert, eyeroll. "Fuck the formality." As for Edyis, there's a loud snirk, and a quieter, "Don't hold yer fuckin' breath." She's still in her original weyrling weyr over 5 turns later. "Nei wants one as high as possible. I haven't had the time to look at the list." Keysi lets her gaze drift to one of the stalls near her, gloved hand rubbing the back of her neck that's cold without her thick ponytail that once covered it. With Alida's addition, there's something of a smirk that tries its hold at her pale, set features, "It seems to be the way of things that we get what we get, though, so I haven't made it much a priority." Alida's words are somehow refreshing, and a sidelong glance steals towards the bluerider as Keys reaches for a runner's nose that bobs over a stall door. "Formality is.. all there is everywhere lately.. Or at least that's what they push for." "It will be easier once we are in our wings." Though her voice falters slightly at the last word, brows faintly drawn. "Formal isn't bad, it just isn't always necessary. You've got the worst of it though, with that new thread in your knot." Edyis notes. From her position at the runner's far side as she wields her large cloth over the mare's side, Alida comments, "Ilicaeth didn' give a shit, as long as we felt it was 'home.'" As for formality, the bluerider murmurs a lower, "I get it, fer the kids who're totally not used ta how a fighting unit's gotta function. Gotta have split-second reactions, an' such." Shrug. Still... "But as fer the mindless, total loyalty..." Let her silence speak volumes, for long moments. "Take whatcha NEED from weyrlinghood - be a GOOD rider - but step ta yer *own* tune." Beat. "True loyalty's *earned*, not instantly given." Scowl. Yes, she too noticed that new silvery thread in Keysi's knot, though didn't speak of it, first. But now... "Gotta dance even more ta their tunes, now." Unless she leaves said program. Keysi watches Ed after that faltering, as if debating whether to press her on the subject. She tries a middle route, "In the wings we want or any wing?" The ever-intense girl offers only a partial nod, hesitant in it as the subject of the program rises, "I've always thought I was used to strict and set rules. This is a bit more than I anticipated but Neianth likes the challenge, so we like it." There really isn't much different in that, and she seems to believe it herself. Alida's description makes her pause a moment, "True. Fighting in a group is certainly... different. I've only done so on the roads." The catch of breath with that is shortly released with a shrug. "Loyalty I see differently than duty. This," And she makes some sort of idle motion to the knot on her shoulder, "Is more about duty, aye?" "We deal with wherever we are stuck, remember?" Dark eyes focused on the small golden head peeking out from her jacket, lavishing affection on the little beast. "The wings, well the wing leaders. They choose." She smiles at the motion to the knot, "You will do fine if that dragon of yours doesn't drive you crazy." Alida's moving to the mare's chest by now, scraping the sweat from the dun's coat, then rubbing her free of any other moisture there...an occasional grunt or low sound of dark amusement offered when the runner sometimes tries to gently nip at the bluie's hat or nose her back. "That's one way ta see it..." the bluerider comments sort-of-affably of Keysi's words of loyalty versus duty - of that silver strand - then noting lower, and with darker intensity, "Enough people here can't seem ta seperate the two, 'r even begin ta understand how they differ." Within Edyis' jacket, Pyrite is finally warm enough to allow her nose to poke out, the little gold's breath pluming onto the cooler air for a moment as she churrs her pleasure at the continued attention. More to Edyis, after she speaks again, is directed a low, "Still doesn't hurt ta let a few key people in yer favored Wings know yer interested." Perhaps that was how she got into Glacier...though the bluie's still punished with Taiga, even after a Turn. A look over the runner's back to the two weyrlings finds greens glancing pointedly to Keysi again as the bluie inquires, "What's 'e like?" Neianth. "..Yes. But that doesn't mean you do not try to have a say. You may not get what you ask for, but if you do not ask, they will not know." So much change has happened, Keysi seems off and maybe even on-edge even talking to Ed. Some weight is off her shoulders when Alida a comment somewhat along the same lines. Those shoulders are slumped slightly from her usually up-tight form. "Akluseth hasn't driven you crazy yet? And you know, there's always more threads to go out." She returns in both a deflection of Ed's question aimed at her and earnest curiosity with the prior. Towards Alida, there's a subtle change in the girl, a darker drop of her own, "Dragon or not, they should understand it. I would have not been able to.." She cuts herself off from going down that road she hadn't meant to start, "Neianth?" Is clarified unnecessarily, more to give herself time to put an answer into words, "He's like always having a training partner with you who jabs you just as hard in the shoulder for doing things right as for doing things wrong. Persistent, intense.." She seems as though she could keep going, but stops herself as before. "Mm, maybe." is all Edyis offers pushing the discomfort of the thought away in favor of focus onto Keysi. "Want to talk about what is really bothering you Keys?" Dark eyes flicker to Alida then, "Not a soul here will utter a word to anyone." Of Akluseth she laughs, "Don't get me wrong he still does hairbrained things, and he's as restless as ever but... I stopped fighting him, stopped fighting the battle I can't win in favor of one I might have a chance at." For the mention of other threads to be handed out Edyis lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "I am not going to worry about it, besides some of us need to play the followers." She teases playfully. Indeed; like *she* said! That's what Alida's quick point of finger over to Keysi's likewise sentiment might say. To the two weyrlings is muttered, "They almost *all* drive ya nucking futz." Dragon babies. As for fighting them, "Stand up fer yerself, but learn ta try an' work most uv yer stuff out t'gether." Beat. "If possible." Snert. There's a knowing look at Keysi for her darker words, a small bob of head, then a quirk of it as she settles into listening to those words of Neianth. "Kinda like Ilicaeth..." is finally murmured, those often too-direct green eyes of hers affixing to Keys before Edyis chimes in, and takes the bluie's attention away. "Word..." is murmured behind Ed's words of their silence, the darker weyrling's admissions earning her a knowing shake of head and a shaggy chortle. "Little bastiches make ya learn how ta do end-runs around 'em..." Eyeroll. As for that silver thread thing, "Leaders, followers...and mavericks." Smirk. Just guess which one Alida is. "Says the one who not days walking off the sands was dead set on having one." Keysi remarks, "And when have you ever been a follower." Not at all stated as an actual question, and implied as within the time Keys has actually known her. "As long as you appreciate each other, the battles are worth it, aye? What battle have you picked with him now?" The once-healer studies Edyis after her comment. The disagreement of her follower statement lingers heavily in those stern grey eyes of hers, though she's still evasive of her own problems. "He does that well." She answers Alida on the note of being driven crazy, "But it's worth it." Her exhaustion is rather evident as she leans a shoulder against the post she's near. "Says the one who has been branded an egotistical know-it-all. Quinlys may change her mind about me, but I doubt it." She tones with a dark chuckle, "Since I'm not a visionary, I must be a follower." Grinning now between the bluerider and brownrider. "The current battle? Keeping him from doing himself harm, and making up for being a disappointment." As she shifts from fore- to hindquarters of the runner - Alida drawing her hand along the mare's back and down a haunch to let the dun know where she is - the grooming bluerider states matter-of-factly to Keysi's words of Edyis, "Wanting and havin' are two different things." They all should know that. A study of the two weyrlings is had between strokes of her sweat-scraper and cloth upon riding beast, the woman listening to the two other young women, though she pays enough attention to the animal she's in the stall with, as well. It's never good to lose touch with one's current situation, especially around large animals. A head bob for Keys soon is followed by the older rider's glib, "Might wanna get some extra sleep while ya can..." before she gestures at that silver thread within knot upon the brownie's shoulder. "Y'll be back ta exhaustion *every* day in no time." Smiiirk. And then Alida hears Edyis' words of Quinlys, and the bluie frowns, and clips off a tart, "Now *that's* the pot callin' the kettle black...plus the pot bein' fuckin' wrong." Snert. Eyeroll. A few extra comments of hers are muttered only to herself and the runner, the blonde then quickly addending out to the weyrlings, "Unless yer a total asshole, be *yerself,* not mindlessly-obedient little Quinlys-copies." Grrr. "There are leaders with worse qualities." It's supposed to partly be teasing as Keysi remarks on Edyis's comeback instead of arguing with it. Instead she picks Ed's last comment to disagree with, "Did you disappoint yourself? Because that's the only opinion on that that matters." Keys is particularly stern with that, words a bit more clipped than she'd intended, partially because she's tired. But, she's always overworked herself so the strain at least is familiar. To Alida, she shakes her head, "Sort of. Most things wanted are achievable with the right amount of determination." Those words seem borrowed, likely from a draconic course. "Nobody wants to be that." Her return is dry in regards to the Quinlys topic. "Though for no lack of trying on their part." And there's a hint of amusement simmering just beneath her level tones. "I am." She agrees on sleep, "I was going to head to the barracks soon." "She isn't completely wrong Alida, if she were it wouldn't be an opinion backed up by others," Edyis states softly, in the weyrlingmaster's defense. It might be noted that that is the only part of the argument she actually disputes out loud. "Whatever her outlooks and flaws doesn't change that fact. There are things I need to work on." Her expression, however, remains warm, grateful for the bluerider's defense. There is a soft exhale as Edyis considers, "I suppose I have. I got so wrapped up in stupid battles over who was right and wrong that I forgot about everything else, and that may prove to have cost me the thing I wanted most." She states softly, "But it isn't over yet, and I have a chance to turn things around, silver thread or no. So that is what I am going to do." She tilts her head at the idea of sleep. "That sounds good, sleep that is not Quinlys clones." Into the fray of words the three riders exchange, Alida inserts a blackly-humored, "Remember now, I'm a dangerously bad influence on weyrlings..." before she steps away from the runner to set aside now-damp cloth and scraper, and pick up a currying brush to soon begin a quick brush down of the dun mare. In another aside to Keysi is semi-sourly muttered, "Spoken like a true idealist." Eyeroll. A quick, "Screw dinner. Take a late meal from the night hearth if ya sleep longer," is addened on to Keysi's words of getting some Z's, the blonde letting that stand as her farewell, though she adds in a small dip of her head before turning her gaze to Edyis. In rebuttal to the other brownie's words is a knowing, "You aren't egotistical. Ya might be too inner-directed at times, but egotistical? Pfft." A handwave seals *that* deal/opinion. "And, lest' ya think me a total negative nanny about our esteemed Weyrlingmaster, I'll also give that bitch kudos on gettin' 'er weyrlings through their growin' up phase with their marbles at least mostly in a bag." Beat. "She cares about basic welfare, tries ta do 'er job decently." Pause. "*I* sure as shit wouldn' want it. *But*." Always, those 'buts.' "She's opinionated, can be arrogant, is self-satisfied, high-handed, judgemental, pedantic, lets ends dictate means..." She finally waves off the rest of her upcoming words...the blonde knowing she could go on and on and on. "Turn 'em around on at *least* equal footing, Edyis..." is finally advised low. "Don' let'cher self get brainwashed. *Know* what'cher steppin' inta' with both eyes open, an' step carefully." It's a rush of darker words, but finally, Alida has to ease up and admit to herself that both weyrlings are their own people... her head shaking a little before she murmurs, "Later." "Every battle is a lesson. You know, or at least should know that better than most." Keysi's looking at Edyis, but her grey eyes slip to Ed's training master ever so briefly before coming back again. "Some just have to take the hit a few more times to get it. Doesn't mean they won't come out on top in the end." Keys drums her fingers on the stall door once in consideration of the title she's given by Alida, "Can't know what you are capable of unless you go as far as you are able." One could assume that's an agreement to some degree, with her own take on it. The thought of food first.. when did she last eat?... makes her partially turn a shoulder already to angle towards the doorway. The bluerider's words of wisdom are taken in silence, but they are taken in under the heavy, intense silence that often follows Keysi's presence. Eventually, she gives a slow nod, "Thank you." For her advice, time, presence? Probably all of the above. Fortunate she was to find these two particular women in the stables of all places. It seems to have helped whatever that something was that brought her here in the first place, as Keys attempts a smile- crooked, awkward on her pale face- and moves away with intention to step back out into the cold. |
Comments
Edyis (05:40, 22 May 2015 (EDT)) said...
I love how much Keys just does not take Ed's crap or excuses, and Alida's darker humor. This was so much fun to play with you guys.
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