Difference between revisions of "Logs:Cold, Wet and White"

Revision as of 00:58, 1 March 2015

{{Log |type=Log |who = Emme, Emme|Rhazekth, Evali, Evali|Yanijath | where = Western Bowl, High Reaches Weyr | what = Yanijath and Rhazekth confirm that snow is, indeed, fun. | when = Day 12, Month 12, Turn 27 of Interval 10 |day=12 |month=12 |turn=27 |IP=Interval |IP2=10 | gamedate = 2012.02.03 | quote = « How about... snow dragons. » | weather = | categories = Exiles | mentions = Lujayn, K'del, Mielline, Riorde, Taikrin | icons = emmeline.png, evali scarf.jpg, evali yanijath.png | log = Western Bowl, High Reaches Weyr

The bowl's vast dirt floor extends in a rough oval from west to east, only sparse clumps of grass surviving between the crisscrossed pathways of daily traffic. To the northwest stand massive gates to the world beyond, allowing people, livestock, and tithes to pass beneath some of the seven jagged spires that stand sentinel over that area of the bowl. In late afternoons, their spindly, fingerlike shadows stretch over that end of the bowl all the way to the living cavern's hulking brass doors in the far north.

Eastward, the bowl sprawls on toward the lake, sloping slightly downward to allow runoff from rain and snowmelt, but to the south it's caged by more cliffs of dark, rough-cut granite. Rocks poke up from the ground here, a few large boulders and many smaller outcroppings worn smooth in spots by time and use. A few ground weyr entrances dot the wall, the most frequented ledge set up like a patio while the largest ledge services the Weyrleaders' complex, directly beside the huge entrance to the hatching sands. A more human-sized entrance, left of that, leads to the galleries.

"Hey, at least let me get my straps unhooked so I can slide down before you go hopping off into the snow." Emme chides, her voice carrying with the wind as she and her brown make a landing in the bowl between the lake and the entrances to the inner caverns. "It's just snow, silly. White, wet, and cold. We used to hide in a cave when it hit the Island hard." Mental imagery is apparently thrown out there, as she starts to unravel herself. « Someone has to know more about snow then 'cold. wet, and white' »

Contrary to her clutchmate's desire to instantly inspect, Yanijath has learned to do that thing called "waiting." She will follow this concept of "waiting" just long enough to let Evali properly dismount before she hops away to go inspect this mystery called snow. Whatever the task was the Snowdrift pair were off on, it was nowhere near tiring enough for the little green. Despite her size, she's a bundle of energy. "It has snowed before since they've been alive," Evali says, as she watches the dragons with the tiniest of smiles. "Maybe they forgot." Yanijath doesn't seem sure if she's forgotten, sticking her snout in a collected pile and quipping, « Very cold. It does not feel wet to me though! I think maybe we had this before because Evvy says it happens every single winter and we've seen winter before! »

Rhazekth is impatient for answers all the way down to the core of his second stomach. So Emme barely makes it off before he happily lurches in the other direction and winds up knocking his rider flat on her rear. To which she sighs, and rolls her eyes. "I know. It's weird how he remembers these vast stores of details. And swear words. But the larger concepts still don't stick." She says this, while pushing herself up to her feet and trying to wipe clumps of snow off of her pants. « Oh, maybe there is different kinds of snow. Wet and sticky, and dry and fluffy'» is suggested mendaciously, as he curls his talons in to the stuff testingly. « But last winter was so long ago. It is hard to remember that! »

"Nothing hurt but my pride." Emme assures, making a bit of a face when she tries to glance around behind herself to see if, you know, she looks like she peed herself or something. "Shyeah, real ones! Don't you remember him telling everyone about his favorite one day? Twatwaffle?" he memory prompts her to bit back a bit of laughter, and chew on her lower lip to help her do so. "He's rather fond of 'fuckface' and 'cocksmooch' right now." Sigh. Yeah, she really does sigh. "What kind of phrases does Yanijath make?" Afraid to ask, but compelled nonetheless « It coooould be. » More comfortable with hot arid desert imagery, he nonetheless conjures a flurry of snowflakes racing around in a whirlwind to show Yani. « By sliding? Yes, we can race by sliding! Let's do it. »

« We need to be going fast first, » Yanijath proclaims, and before anyone has a chance to get any warning -- including innocent passersby in the snow-covered bowl -- she takes off again, swooping high up in the air and shooting downward, landing hard and sliiiiiding long and far thanks to impact velocity. All the while, Evali's been shrieking, "/Yani/! No! Stop th--" but once the green has landed and not actually hit anyone (this time), she lets her shoulders drop and just covers her face with her hand for a second. "Cocksmooch. Charming. She says things like 'balled up' for 'confused'; they're mostly innocuous, but odd. I wonder if I will /ever/ get that tea." Or if she'll be dragonminding forever.

« How fast? And from what angle? Should we use a thermal and swoop down then... whooooo! Look at you go. » Rhazekth encourages, bugling as soon as Yanijath makes her debut slide. "He's quite creative with them, really. I think he does it to make me laugh and hide my face though. He's too polite to actually call someone that. So far, at least. Nobody has riled him up too much." Emme is too wide-eyed to shriek, though she does reach out to clutch at Evali's arm with one hand when first tries this new sliding technique. And then Rhaz wiggles his rump and takes off in a replica of the green's pattern. « Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! We have to make Emme and Evali ride us while we're doing this! I wonder what it would be like for them! » Silence. "No! Absolutely not. I am not crazy!"

"You may not be, but I can assure you Yanijath /is/," Evali replies, all light and cool as if this is something she says every day -- and ridiculous snowflights are something her green does every day. « You can plan, » Yanijath coos, « I just do things! Evvy would be afraid I think. She does not like it when I dive very, very, very fast toward anything. Even water! That is silly, because you can dive /through/ water! » Completely not commenting on her dragon's teasing, Evali simply purses her lips and then says, "So. Lunch?"

« But Emme, it's so fun! » Rhaz wheedles, bouncing back his pleading tone to Yani so thatr she knows he's trying. Alas, in this it seems his rider is firm. « I am good at planning. And you are obviously good at doing. » is decided, as if it doesn't take a great deal of hubris to say that. « How about... snow dragons. » And he demonstrated by flopping down into the snow and fanning out his wings to make impressions in the stuff. See? "Uh... yes! Lunch! Before the decide to just grab us and throw us on board for a rider." is noted dryly. "Bar food, I think. With a nice stiff drink to go with it."

Evali pauses only to add, "Out here with them, once we've gotten it together," just in case. She doesn't seem too comfortable leaving Yanijath behind playing on the ground where innocent passersby could be wounded by the dragon's simple bad-luck aura. The green shuffles close to where Rhazekth is making his snow dragon, and is all mental chirping, bright colors and bubbles. « Oh! You can make shapes in it! Is it like flying upside down? »

"I have an idea. Why don't I go get the food and drinks. And something to sit on. You stay here and make sure they don't get in to trouble?" Emme offers, taking in the others' apparent discomfort. "I shouldn't be long, unless you feel the need to warm up inside for a few." Bright colors and bubbles do not usually mix will with sand and wind. But, Rhaz is shimmery sparkly sand and small whirlwinds. So their combined thoughts wind up a riot of flinging sparkly brightly hued bubbles. Danger Will Robinson. Danger! « Yes, just like that! Harder to flip back over, however... » Grunt. Watch brown dragon flail.

If dragons could giggle, Yanijath would be. Instead it's just the mist and backlit colors of her mindvoice, swirling around Rhazekth in the mental representation of sheer amusement. « You are so graceful! » She can do a lot with sand and wind; make the sand gain color and swirl /through/ the wind, blending with her ethereal mists to create art. « Let's try -- this. » And she paws hard at some of the snow, flinging it toward the brown's head. Evali just inhales, shaking her head. "I have gloves. I will be fine. Mulled wine would be lovely, if you can grab me one?"

« My flips could use some work. » Rhaz agrees, imbuing his mindvoice with the sorrowful call of marsh birds as h contemplates his utter lack of dignity. But as he is so given to balance, his good humor remains evident. Even when a clump of snow smacks right between the headknobs. « Now /that/ is cold/ » His hide twitches in response, at near the same time that Emme agrees to bring back mulled wine and scurries off. « Hnph. Well, watch this. » A big brown paw sideswipes more of the fluffy cold stuff, flinging it over Yani's way before he hufs a breath of air at it to send it swirling.

« It is cold! » Yanijath is delighted. She is also nearly crushed to death by flying snow, how dare he be so violent -- er. Rather, the tiny-for-an-adult green tries to duck and mostly fails to, only managing to stop a little bit of her face from being hit. Considering the size of Rhazekth's paws, she really had no chance. « It is cold and /there/ is the wet, when it sits on you and stops being fluffy! » Unable to help herself, Evali is now laughing. Dragon snowball fight? Really?

Rhazekth is obviously smug. Being a larger dragon does have some benefit to it afterall! His amused chuff is accompanied by an attempted slurping of snow off of the green's hide. He will absolutely try to playfully chase her around to lick the snow off, too. « Yep! Yours and mine are both amused. Maybe we should dump snow on -them-. » Emme is just returning from her trip to get food - all wrapped up in a basket to trap the heat. A bit of tarp and a blanket slung over her other shoulder for sitting on, too. "Don't you -dare-."

Not, of course, that Yanijath the natural flirt is going to /mind/ physical attention. She lashes her icy-cold tail at his ankles, flailing her wings about and taking a bounding leap ahead of the brown in order to shoot back up into the sky, kicking copious amounts of snow behind her as she takes off. « Bad traction! » she calls behind her, laughter wrapped in silver-glossy tendrils of thread that reach out to tempt Rhazekth to follow. Or stay there and attempt to hurl snow at her while she flies in a circle. Or whichever he'd like to do. « And Evvy has that nice pretty thing around her neck and it's so /nice/ and I would hate to ruin it so she needs to stay dry right now! » Speaking of Evali, she's settling herself in to sit and eat, legs curled underneath her, gathering up her meal and precious mulled wine. "At least she reached the conclusion I need to stay dry," she says, with another thin, brief pursed-lip smile.

Inherently playful, Rhaz doesn't seem to find the snow in his face or the bald-faced lie. « Traction? Pfft! » He's not buying that. He does, however, try to trap those glossy silver tendrils in eddies of swirling sand and boost the laughter with the chittering of scarabs that try to nibble up whatever is left of the threads. « Emme would not be impressed if I dumped snow on her now anyway. » he admits, woefully. "Fortunate. I think Rhaz would go along with whatever she wanted, at the moment. Is she, uhm...?" Proddy? For such a blunt person, the brownrider sure is hedging there.

"Is -- Oh." Evali got there. Pretty quickly, in fact, since she gets asked that a lot now -- when's she going up? She's almost a turn and a half old now! "No, she is always like that. She just -- is that flirting? I suppose it is that she just flirts. I think I would know? She is not any different." Thankfully for Evali, she's right, and Yanijath really is just being Yanijath. Which means, of course, that she is doing funny little rolls in the sky and landing back on the snow-covered bowl in a bellyflop and a slide. « It is like the 'ski' thing that some of the riders do! »

« Emme says that she prefers not to break both her legs doing that ski thing. » Rhazekth relays, with a hint of agreement in his tone for hr carefulness. "She's quite playful. Do dragons actually flirt? I hadn't really thought of that. She just seems... I dunno. I was curious is all." Whatever it is that Emme ordered to eat seems pretty spicy, and her eyes water when she bites into it. Fortunately... ale. That washes it down pretty well.

Evali's food is evidently less tangy, or else she just has vastly different tastebuds than Emme: which, considering their background, is unlikely. "I think she has been described as such before, yes. But this is how she always is. She likes to be chased outside such context." Yes, yes indeed she does; though now, Yanijath seems to have worn herself out just enough that she's curled into a ball and is pushing snow around with her tail. Back and forth. Back and forth. « It looks like a wing. » She's very proud of her shape! « Sforzath's went skiing with Szadath's and I think they are not broken! »

« Sforzath's is better at those kinds of things then Emme though. She's very conscious of her perceived limitations. » He sounds like a stuffy old scholar when he talks like that, especially laced in mild censure for his riders' apparent esteem in those situations. "Interesting. Have you thought any further about dragonhealing?" is wondered next, as they're on the topic of dragons. « It does! Here wait. Let me draw a wingspar. » Fortunately, he doesn't ruin the wingshape in doing so.

"I have; I do really want to do it. I am just not sure who to approach." Evali takes another slow sip of her mulled wine, eyes tracing back to the dragons and then returning to Emme. "I do not know if you apprentice, so to speak. I am sure that was why I was tapped for Snowdrift though; it seems like this is the wing that would be the best suited for people interested in crafts. Like -- you." Of course. Yanijath watches Rhazekth draw in the snow with rapt attention, holding her tail up as it continues to lash so she doesn't ruin the design.

"I have a confession to make." Emme decides, when Evali makes a point of mentioning her interest in crafts. "I haven't worked up the nerve yet to ask if I can continue apprenticing. I don't think I could bear it if they said no; it was hard enough to get in the first time around and people seem to think that we can't /do/ both. But I don't want to just be an occasional student. Even though, apparently, that makes me selfish." Her eyes rest fondly on Rhazekth now, as intent as he is on being as detailed as possible with this wing design. « See, there's this curve here, and the talon tip here... »

Evali appears doubtful; of what, she's decidedly unclear on. "I think Mielline might back you up," she says gently, all her faith in their Wingleader. "You are good at what you do, and we are meant to be the -- unusual wing." Yanijath's tail-swishing slows down, as the green is obviously relaxing to settle in to listen to Rhazekth teach anatomy. « Are you a healer, too? »

"We are, aren't we. I kind of enjoy that designation. And I'm grateful Mielline has no problems taking us in. Scuttlebutt has it some of the Wingleaders outright refused to take 'exiles'." For once her tone contains no trace of bitterness in it for the fact, but perhaps a trace of pity. "It must be hard to be so afraid of people for no real reason. Take a lot of energy, you know?" She gives an eyroll for good measure and then just smiles at her fellow Islander. « Me? No. But I am good with details.The marks are based on your own wings. I think you will make a good healer though. You will keep your patients cheerful. »

« No, Evvy will be a good healer but I wouldn't. I would just play with them! » Regardless of the fact that's the same thing. Yanijath appears oblivious to it. Evali's head tilts a bit, and she clucks her tongue. "People can be very intolerant. It is still hard for me to like them. But she loves it here so -- I could never leave." A fond look is shot at the pair of snow-fascinated dragons. "They play like weyrlings."

« And playing with them would keep them cheerful. » Rhazekth points out, pedantic in this case. "Yes, they can be. We've known that since we got here. But then, some of us are intolerant of the people here too. That makes things even more difficult." A smile of her own appears when she watches the brown and green in the snow; her laugh, fortunately, happening after she's swallowed her drink and not during. "I hope they always do."

"I am not sure if it is a good thing for them to do so," Evali replies, between sips of her blessedly hot drink. "As there are younger dragons here, now; kin of their brother's and kin of theirs as a result." She doesn't actually know that Rielsath is also Cadejoth's dam, even if maybe Yanijath does. "But at least they do look sweet doing so. And she always plays. She thinks nothing is more important than play. I am glad she cannot be a mother." Yanijath hasn't even properly risen yet, and she's over a year and a half old, but the green most certainly does not seem /concerned/. She is far too busy with the snow, and complimenting Rhazekth's intelligence: « That is true. You are wise. But if you are hurt you cannot play right all the time. »

"Good point." Emme finally agrees, brushing off her hands now that she's done with the crispy tuber strips she'd been eating. "Let's leave them to it for now though, eh? I'm too cold now to stay outside. I need another hot drink. And, we should check in with Mielline to see the duty roster for the upcoming week." Same as she ever was, really. And in being so, the former island harper holds out a hand to help Evali up. Picnic done, it's time, sadly, to be back to working. Even if the dragons play a bit longer. }