Logs:Dive into it
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| RL Date: 6 August, 2011 |
| Who: Lujayn, Nathalia |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: Lujayn washes a wiggly Rielsath, admires Nat's swimsuit and takes some time for diving before more dragon-scrubbing. Nathalia gets a little perspective on dragon care and Lujayn gets to think about 'rights' vs. 'duty.' |
| Where: Lake Shore, High Reaches |
| When: Day {{{day}}}, Month {{{month}}}, Turn {{{turn}}} ({{{IP}}} {{{IP2}}}) |
| Mentions: Rhaelyn/Mentions |
| Summer yes blessed summer! Its later in the morning, as the smith makes her way to the lake after 'tidying' the feeding pens, towel and her work clothes over one shoulder, intending to /finally/ try out that cliff. She even has a swimsuit for the occasion, an Igen styled affair, consisting of shorts and a top that leaves most of her shoulders and back open to the sun while still meeting the requirements for 'decency'. No nothing was going to stop her from enjoying today! Not even cleaning up carcasses. There are people at work and at play around the lake, waters cool despite the warmer weather, but it's hard to tell which category Lujayn and Rielsath fall into. The rider is just clambering over the opposite side of her gold, whose tail sweeps back and forth to create nice, splashy waves. Just when Lu reaches for that first neckridge the gold gives a toss of her head before diving under the surface, coming up a moment later with a woman spluttering but grinning. "You can't fool me that easily," She laughs at the old trick while keeping a firm grip - just in case. "Try finding someone else who'll put up with you to scrub your back!" At this comment Rielsath huffs impatiently and can be imagined to roll her faceted eyes, one wing flicking up to spray Lu again. As if. There's a blink from the smith crafter, and a cheerful wave to Lujayn as she makes her way over to the waters. Stuck cleaning the pens for half the morning the Igen born smith is happy to have a bit of time to enjoy the warmth. "Morning Lujayn! And uh. . . Rielsath?" Hoping she'd remembered the name of the Gold properly. The smith shrugs off the spattered work clothes to reveal an Igen style swimsuit in a charcoal tone. "Thank Farnath it's finally warm enough to come out here, I have been wanting to try that cliff for ages." Lujayn looks around to see who's calling - or rather, Rielsath does and Lu is along for the ride, scrubbing away like an incorrigible old nursemaid. Cleanliness comes first. "Good morning to you! The water can be chilly even with warm air," The rider calls caution, looking up (this time of her own accord) towards the diving cliff. Rielsath agrees wholeheartedly with cliffdiving, squirming in place while her rider relentlessly scours the dirty hide. Quick is the way to go with a boisterous queen under your feet. "I'm not going to be responsible for scraping you off the rocks if you bellyflop." Lu teases, though it's common knowledge she would probably try to grow wings and save any poor, overconfident soul. Nat just laughs, watching the queen squirm. "You know I never thought about the fact that you have to /scrub/ them." Nor apparently the fact that a dragon may or may not sit still while you scrubbed. "Belly Flop? No Ma'am It's Canon balls or dives proper, I learned my lesson well enough at the smith hall." Granted she had to stay nearly fully dressed there too. "Do you want some help? That's an awful lot of dragon to scrub." She laughs. "Might join you," Lujayn spares a few more words over the distance, sliding into the deeper waters where Rielsath obligingly lowers her head for similar cleaning, this time eyes whirling happily. That's the Itchyspot. She croons happily and pushes Lu with her muzzle, though no dunking ensues. "We can leave off for a bit and let you have fun, Ri?" A smile for Nat before the rider herself disappears underwater, swimming towards shore. There's no swimsuit here, just scraps of old clothing: short wherhide breeches and a sleeveless top. "That's an Igen piece, isn't it? I always liked their style. Now that summer's here I can break out some of what I brought home with me." She muses from the shallows while Rielsath, finally free, twists away to deeper water and nearby playmates. "It's eons of dragon," Lu agrees with a satisfied sigh, "I've got her hindquarters left.. I'd love the help. Don't want to keep you from your fun. Shall we?" Indicating the looming cliffs. There's a smile as she watches the pair interact and a firm nod at the question. "Yes, I borrowed it from one of my father's ah, Friends?" She laughs. "Needed something for a trip down to Boll, at the hall I just swam in my clothes. She told me to keep it." Nat nods brightly. "Sure I would be more than happy to help you. Good practice anyway." She laughs "Yes that sounds like a good challenge!" the cliffs are eyed with a mixture of excitement and anticipation. Lujayn watches to make sure that Rielsath isn't flying off to escape the rest of her bath before coming ashore, setting the scrub cloths over a few rocks to dry. "Next time I come out I'll remember to wear one," Looking down at her own lackluster garb, somewhat nonplussed. "That's right, I heard you came from Igen a while back?" She shrugs and doesn't pursue the topic, more interested on the trail leading up to the cliffs. "Race you." A laugh and then she's off. Diving Cliff, High Reaches Weyr Thrusting out from the shadow of the mountain, this long and narrow clifftop might once have been a ledge, but a pile of bramble-strewn, graffiti-chiseled boulders where a weyr's mouth would have been suggests a reason for its abandonment long ago. Though its views of the eastern bowl are grand, particularly the lake itself and the yawning air entrance to the hatching sands, its location makes the diving cliff unique: jutting some ten or twelve feet above the deepest part of the cool, clear lake. Especially in summertime, many climb up the narrow stairs to seek the thrill of a swift fall into the water, but those who just want to enjoy the view can take those same stairs back down: carved directly into the bowl wall, worn and crumbling and slick from use, but enough for the careful to get the job done. Warm sunshine and cloudless skies make for a beautiful day and pleasantly warm evening. A breeze tempers the heat with no humidity lingering in the air. There's a laugh. "Can't blame you for not remembering, I wondered for a bit if I'd ever get to see the sun again." She exaggerates for dramatic effect. As for Igen theirs a friendly smile, before "Hey!" The smith laughs as the rider takes off, and Nat, Is in close pursuit, right on her heels. This is what Lu was born for, it seems: speed, races, competition. She's more careful with her ascent of the cliffs, taking the narrow and slippery stairs with caution, though the rider doesn't hug the wall like some timid divers. Soon she's at the top, a good dozen feet providing one of the best views available outside of a dragon's ledge. The breeze makes her shiver despite the warm sun, goosebumps rising as she surveys the drop down. "I think once you're used to flying so high, the diving cliffs don't seem so scary." She observes with a twinge of regret. "It's a different thrill than dragonriding, at least. Any tips?" Scuffing the sandy edge with one bare foot - Lu's no expert diver. Nat doesn't really slow down for the stairs, instead she seems to trust her own ability, however reckless that thought might be. She arrives just after Lu a huge grin on her lips taking a moment to enjoy the view. "Shells I love it up here." She notes with a laugh. "I imagine you must love flying, I know I enjoyed it when Warucori took me to Boll. To get to do that every day. . ." Yes that grin can get just a little wider. As for tips, the smith smiles brightly as she pretends to lean against the cliff wall. "Yeah, just one. Race you down." A bolting run and she's off, a running swan dive into the cool waters below." Lujayn gives Nat an appreciative look. "Not everyone takes to it so fast. Even some weyrlings are terrified to fly at first," Before she can turn garrulous, the smith apprentice is racing past her and well on her way to the water below. Taken by surprise but pleased with the challenge, the rider takes a deep breath and dives as best as she knows how - head tucked, arms forward, mind praying to Faranth that she doesn't end up in one of those bellyflops. Down, down, and down she goes, exhaling sharply as she hits the water with a cold splash, sinking deep before rising up again to the surface with an exuberant shout, savoring the adrenaline rush. "Weyrlings afraid to fly?" she asks when Lu resurfaces. "I would have thought the dragons at least had trouble waiting for the chance to." Lujayn is a moment behind, barely a splash made when her body hits the water, trained muscles adapting to this new use. It's with a surprised, exhilarated grin that she pops back up again, clearly delighted. "Depends on the personality," She treads water comfortably and looks up to the cliffs. "I forgot how different that is. Diving, I mean, from riding on a dragon. No one to catch you if you fall." Nevermind that the fall is intentional. Nat seems thoughtful as she treads water. "Personality." She echoes, "Do riders tend to impress dragons with similar personalities to their own?" Never mind that she'd be sad if she impressed a dragon that /didn't/ want to fly. "Does Ri do that a lot for you? Catching I mean?" She asks as she angles toward the shore, eager to go again. "Dragons impress riders," Lujayn corrects the word order with an amused twist of a smile, "Whom they want. I've seen boisterous dragons on the shyest candidates and insufferable ones with equally insufferable riders. There's no rhyme or reason, it just... is." She explains to the best of her ability while simultaneously bobbing along the waves created by Rielsath's nearby tail. "Only when we plan for it, like stunt-flying," Apparently the junior weyrwoman has some semblance of self-preservation inside that energetic personality. "I don't make a habit of falling, no." There's a laugh. "Oh my, well so much for the theory that standing would make Rhaelyn less prickly then." The waves cause the smith herself to bob a bit in the water. "Stunt flying?" that caught her attention quick. "Still must be nice to have one being who always has your back so to speak." She offers. Lujayn makes long swim-strokes towards shore, or at least to a place where she can stand instead of bob along at the mercy of dragon-made waves. "There's usually some change, for better or for worse, after impression. Having someone in your mind changes how you look at the world. Ri and I are similar," She explains, "But having that scamp's voice around twenty-four/seven reminds me that there are responsibilities that come before fun." In retort, the gold sends a particularly strong splash towards the two women, disappearing mischeviously until the glimmer of her hide might be nothing more than Rukbat's reflection on the lake's surface. "Think it's time to try another jump?" Gray eyes try to trace her lifemate's progress, wary of shenanigans. Nat offers a thoughtful nod, "Is it true that a hatchling will die if it's rider isn't present on the sands? I mean they have to have the /right/ person or no one at all?" She manages to make it to the shore and pull herself out. "Would love to." She grins, "Closest thing I know to flying. Falling with style!" Lujayn's lips purse a bit as she follows the candidate, turning towards the cliff stairs absentmindedly. "Infrequently," Comes the reassurance meant for both of them. "Sometimes from the stands, someone never searched. That's just as infrequent, which is why we send out searchriders all over our coverage area.. that's why your barracks are more crowded by the day. We're pretty sharding good at making sure every hatchling finds a rider." Nathalia smiles at the reassurance, starting up those steps. "I wouldn't doubt it, but hypothetically speaking lets say someone had whatever it was a search dragon looks for, and the rider refused them on grounds other than marrage, pregnancy or physical defect?" She asks thoughtfully. "Possibly because they thought that the person was a danger to the hatchlings, would it still be the right choice? Even if it meant a hatchling ended up without a rider?" "I don't think dragons will choose someone like that," Lujayn responds after a moment. "They can sense a lot of things, who knows what, but we trust them. Rielsath doesn't search even though I have the authority to ask individuals to stand," Lujayn puzzles over this, luckily making it to the top of the cliffs despite her distracted mind. "If it's meant to be, it'll be," Is her conclusion, faith in the longstanding Weyr traditions. "But someone carrying a child can't be expected to keep up with the hard labor weyrlings have to do, or someone who's missing a leg, say. It's hard work." Such serious questions for lighthearted settings. This time it's Lu who dives first, without warning, an attempt to leave the more unpleasant responses behind that her mind has offered in place of more reassuring words. Nat is just thoughtful at the response, and for the moment seems to be eager herself to not think about such morbid topics. Before she can say a word though, the Gold rider is off and Nat finds herself sprinting after, though this time not nearly as gracefully as prior. In fact she seems to be bracing for a cannonball. . . No that's definitely a cannon ball as she hits the water with a satisfying smack. Back up for air she goes, searching for the goldrider. A heartbeat passes without sight or sound from the goldrider. Two. Three. Instead of Lujayn's hair whipping out of the depths it's Rielsath's neck that emerges with a gleeful bugle, the woman clinging giddily to pale neckridges as her gold splashes a torrent of water towards Nat. "Gotcha there!" The sentiment is shared between rider and dragon, both in cahoots to startle their playmate. "Nice splash! I'd better finish washing her before she drowns you," Peering down in concern for whatever may have happened to Nathalia in the sudden deluge, Lu jumps less gracefully from Rielsath's neck into the water. "Rags are fine, but most scrubbing is done with sand." Nat for her trouble ends up with a face full of water and a much chagrined expression, blinking a little in surprise, before bursting into a fit of laughter. "And I thought I was a prankster," she notes spitting out a mouthful of water. "Sand, yes. Did you bring sweet sand? Or should I just use some from the shore?" Oh yes what a stupid question. Though she's a little thoughtful as she swims toward the gold and her rider. "You said earlier, Rielsath doesn't search, but you could ask someone to stand right?" the candidate seems a little nervous at the question. "That's right," Lujayn scoops up a handful of sand as example, wading her way towards Rielsath's middle and hind legs. The gold's head snakes curiously after her rider and the tagalong, folding her wings to let Lu scrub her belly with little fussing. "Not arbitrarily. I don't usually go around looking for people unless they seem interested, or unless we have less candidates than we'd like. It's less.. traditional. Some people aren't as receptive to an invitation that isn't backed up by a dragon." Nat dives a moment, returning with her own fist full of sand, and gingerly sets toward the gold's tail, if the dragon allows for it anyway. Summoning up her courage she takes a deep breath. "I think Rhaelyn would be very Interested, even if she doesn't seem it." The smith starts. "I think it would help her adjust, being part of the candidate group, and who knows she might even have the capacity to impress." Ok, so maybe Nat knew she had it, but she couldn't exactly say that now could she? "I know I probably shouldn't be asking." She says with a sigh. "Wouldn't blame you either if you said no." Rielsath twitches her tail momentarily, though when she sees Nat is going to take the itch away she settles down with a contented blurble, blowing bubbles with a half-submerged snout. "People sometimes ask to stand," It would be surprising if Nat hadn't heard of the circumstances surrounding the search of both Iolene and Riorde. "But I don't believe I've heard someone ask for someone else," Raising an eyebrow. "There are circumstances.. we're encouraging the islanders to stand, but there have been problems with some people's behavior." Not one for gossip, Lu steps lightly around the issue. "I can check with the Weyrleaders to see if anything has changed, but until then," A shrug and short dive for more sand, scrubbing at Rielsath's more sensitive flanks. The gold throws up her head with a surprised, shrill chirping, scooting away from the ticklish area. Lu only laughs. "Sorry. Until then, it is what it is." Diligently setting to scrubbing the girl nods. "There are a lot of extenuating circumstances." Nat hadn't heard that the other girl's involved were searched, but She looks the gold rider in the eye with a sigh. "I know it's not common, and she didn't put me up to it if that's what your worried about." The girl states emphatically. "I just have very good cause to believe that she has the same right to stand as I do. Of course I can't prove it, unless another search dragon pokes their nose her way." She nods. "I understand, I had to at least ask anyway." To ease her own guilt? Possibly. As the dragon scoots she can't help but laugh. "Thank you for hearing me out at least." She warmly smiles moving down the tail further. "You're a very kind person Lujayn." Here Lujayn pauses. "It's not so much right to stand as a duty to the Weyr. And you're right, to some extent - you don't need a dragon sticking its muzzle in your face to be called Candidate." Rielsath just floats along, sharing her rider's quiet frame of mind for the time being. More sand, more scrubbing, more time to mull things over. "It is a right to ask, I believe." She affirms with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I'd say that's a good perspective to take, that everyone deserves a chance. Even when you aren't always on good terms with some people." If the almost-incident in the stables a few nights ago was any indication. "Well, someone has to be kind." Nat nods, it was after all duty that had her risking the craft hall wasn't it? "Right probably wasn't the best choice of word," she laughs, nodding. "I don't think I will so much anymore, it was just one of those little naggy feelings. Kind of like when you know your supposed to be doing chores but your lazing about, and it keeps bugging you until you just go take care of the work to be done." She chuckles. There is a sigh for not being on good terms with people, "Yeah, sorry about the stables." She hadn't expected the other girls to back down when she asked either though. "Sibella's very sweet usually, and Rhaelyn isn't all bad." There's a nod though when the gold rider mentions kindness, and a sort of appraising smile. "True enough, but it's Nice to know that there are People like you and the Weyrleader around." "You did a good job back there. Sometimes it's best to stay out of it, I've found." Lujayn submerges herself to swim under Rielsath, coming back up on the opposite side of the wiggling tail, now glistening clean. "This looks great, Nat. Thanks for your help." Sensing her freedom regained, the gold swims a wide circle around the two and blows bubbles in Nathalia's direction. "Ri says you should dive more, if you like flying. She thinks it's fun when humans try to fly - at least, that's how she sees it." A job well done and some knots worked out of consciences, it seems like a good time to head for the shore and some rest. Lu can't spend an entire day in the lake, after all, and the sun is moving towards early afternoon. "I should head off, but we definitely need a beach party sometime. Igen swimsuits and all." Nat nods with a smile. "No problem, happy to help. It is good practice anyway. No offense to Ri though, but I think I would actually prefer a green or blue when it comes to the scrubbing." She teases, making her own way to the shore. "A Beach party, now that's a thought I can certainly get behind." She offer's a pixyish grin. "I probably should get back to bone detail." She shakes a thumb in the direction of the feeding grounds. No offense taken, it would seem as Rielsath calls cheerily after the retreating playmate/candidate. As long as she's itch-free, it doesn't matter whether or not the person in question prefers other colors. She's more than a gold, after all, her own personality and spirit underneath a hide of winter sunlight. "Good idea. I need to help with store inventories this afternoon." Always more work. Reaching for her drier overshirt, the rider waves after Nat's back. |
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