
Xanadu Weyr - Forest(#9202RJM)
This broad path that leads from the main clearing into the forest has been designed in such a manner so as to be not only wide enough for wagons to travel through, but also providing ample space for dragons. The path appears only worn in the center though, as most of the traffic moving through this area is that of the two-legged kind. Flowers sprout up and speckle the lush grass with bright saffron and cheeky rose, creeping all the way up to the bases of the trees that rise upward in their aged magnificence, gargantuan limbs casting often welcome shade, the general atmosphere and scent of the path is one of freshness and wild abandon.
The path winds its way leisurely through the trees, deeper into the forest and a number of less traveled paths branch away from it. Southwest leads to the forest's edge near the base of the tumbled rocks that mark the wilder areas of the forest and the mountains that rise behind Xanadu. West leads to the Firelizard Theater, northeastward the path leads to the feeding grounds while east leads to the meadow where it joins both the road that crosses the bridge over the river leading to the clearing and the the coastal road that leads out of Xanadu bypassing the beach and the Caspian Lake. Here there are secluded spots where one might picnic (see +view)
Hot and sultry. That's the type of day that it's turned out to be on Xanadu, and Kale has been hauling iron and breaking coal through most of it. Thankfully now the teenaged smith is on break, which is obvious by the heavy cart of metal scraps that have been set aside off the forest path with not a person to be seen nearby. Kale has scaled a tree and lounges on a branch some few yards above. Not too high, though high enough to get a view of passers by as he licks at an ice cream cone. Alloy darts here and there, chasing squirrels through the treetops.
Well it past some of the early duties and Garait was leaving the Feeding rounds where mant herdbeasts are kept. Having to help check on them, especially the ones born this past Spring is part of his duties. He's walking along the path, grateful for the shde as his Green firelizard, Forest plays around as well, blending into the leaves of the trees somewhat. He almost misses the cart as he passes, but a glint from it catches his eye, making him look at it and who may have brought it there.
Blue eyes lift to the treetops above, eyeing the filtered light that cast golden rays down to the forest floor like beaming spotlights. He looks down, following one of these and happens across the emerging figure of Garait. The younger boy is watched from his perch, on leg dangling as he takes another lick from the sweet frozen treat. "You wanna finish that up for me?" he calls down to him, voice humored as he gestures with his free hand down to the cart. "It isn't much. Just a few hours' worth of puhsin', pullin', and loadin' iron."
Following the sound of a voice Garait looks up at the boy in the tree. "Hello Kale," the beastcraft apprentice nods at the other boy and adds with a smirk, "I'll finish it if you want to deal with some of the bulls that not so….even tempered." Not a fun job at all dealing with a huge anima with horns. "Taking a break?" The filtered light shows a quick flyby of Kale by a green firelizard and a bite of the ice cream is gone.
"Hmmm, now would that be a fair trade? Cart of metal … angry bulls that'd gut me and spill my entrails out for all the see…" Kale moves his hands like an imbalanced scale. Up and down, up and down. "Nah! I think I'll pass," he laughs before leaning in to take another lick of his cone. But..zip! "Woah…" He blinks, rearing his head back to see a chompmark in his ice cream. He glances left and right. "Alloy!" .. Churr? The bronze peeks out from the leaves of a tree opposite him. He didn't do it! "Watch out Garait," he says, peering shifty eyed around. "There's an ice cream thief on the loose."
"No, not really a fair trade, but, well, the bulls aren't too bad." Yeah, sure, and fire isn't too hot. Garait shakes his head, chuckling, "Ice cream thief?" He considers then, "Forest!" A small green firelizard peeks out from some branches and leaves and chirps curiously, looking way too innocent. The beastcraft apprentice sighs, "Not a thief, just a firelizard."
"Thief. Firelizard. Is there a difference?" asks Kale, grin apparent. He looks at his ice cream then sighs, tossing it. "Have at it, Alloy," he says, and the cone is snapped up in midair by the brazen bronze whose eyes swirl in delight. Score! He lands neatly on the ground, drippy cone in mouth. Apparently not above sharing, he chirrps to little Forest, his unbeknownst green spawn, sending images of sweet treats to share. "Yes, I'm takin' a break," he answers belatedly. "You too, or are you off to milk a calf or run a runner or … whatever else it is you beasters do."
Garait smirks a little, "Firelizards are nicer than thieves?" At least more fun to be around! Forest's eyes swirl and she quickly there by Alloy, chirping happily at him. "Yes, a break. I focus on the herdbeasts, so there's raising them, feeding them, making sure their healthy and help milk the female herdbeasts we use. I don't know as much about other animals, but we are trained for everything."
Kale shifts on his branch a little, leaning forward to press rough palms against rougher bark to steady himself. He swings his leg over and begins to climb down, gripping the branch above him while he eases his boots onto the branch below. He legs go, knees bending. After a quick look to the ground, only a handful of feet up now, he drops down and lands at a crouch on the ground below. "I dunno. Sometimes Alloy can be a tyrant. You'll see," he says as he straightens, brushing himself off. Alloy is being quite the gentleman right now! Sharing the melting ice cream and making Kale out to be a liar. Mwuaha. "Oh hey, did you ever get anything from the caravans?" he asks with a grin. "Look." He extends a leg and gives his foot a wiggle, showing off his new boots. Not exactly new but .. in better condition than his other! "We did the trade. Took a shardin' bit of work to find all what he needed on his list, but I go it."
Watching carefully to make sure the other boy gets down safely, Garait nods, "I've heard stories, especially about the greens." But Well, Forest iss young yet and is more than happy to be sharing the treat with the bronze. At the mention of the caravan, the beastcraft apprentice blinks and shrugs, "I got a couple little things…." He quickly turns the attention to the boots the smithcraft apprentice is showing him. "They do look like nice boots; did you have to do a lot to get them?"
Oh yes. Admire the boots! Kale grins and twists his foot this way and that so Garait can get the full effect of the awesomeness of his New Boots. His foot lowers down after a while for the sake of maintaining balance, and the quetion is answered by a shake of his head. "Not too much. Just had to collect some things he needed. Metals. Tools. Things like that. Some things were jus' layin' around the forge. Some…I had to get a little creative to get," he says with a sly grin.
Smiling at how much Kale likes his new boots, Garait does admire the boots for a bit and nods at what Kale says. "Making sure it's a fair trade is a must, so it can't be too hard." Then a pause as the beastcrafter cocks his head at the other boy, "A little creative, huh? Nothing to get in trouble for I hope?" As if he should be giving any lectures about potentially getting in trouble right now.
"Trouble hasn't found me yet," replies Kale with a cheesy grin before his look grows momentarily thoughtful. "At least, not with this." He smirks after, shrugging it off. "But uh..speakin' of trouble.." he meanders to his cart to lean against it, arms crossing and expression turning mischievously mirthful. "S'been soundin' like you've been on the receiving end of it all lately. Not that it's any've my business.." Which doesn't necessarily mean he's not going to make it his business. "First off, I see you're still alive after your meeting with weyleader. That did happen, didn't it?"
Giving a bit of a smirk the Smithcrafter, Garait nods in agreemen to the first part, "Trouble should be avoided any way possible." Then his expression turns a little too innocent as he looks at Kale, "Oh yes, the Weyrleader. Yes that happened. He was just checking on a few things, that's all." Yes he survived the meeting with the Weyrleader! "It really wasn't a big deal…." Garait tries to brush it off and look relaxed. "The Weyrleader really isn't that bad."
Blue eyes narrow as Kale peeeeers at Garait, as if trying to get the truth just by looking at him hard enough. "Uh … huh," he says slowly, pushing away from the cart to move closer to the other boy. "You sure you survived? Are you really to real Garait? Or are you a machine copy the techcrafters made as a grand coverup?" He gives his shoulder a soft poke, checking to see if he's made out of flesh … or metal and wires! He does this with a grin though, a jestful gleam in his eyes. "Right. The weyleader's all fluff and hugs, I'm sure. You can totally tell by his charming smile that I've never seen and his bursting personality."
Innocent eyes widen on Garait as Kale speaks, "Yes, I survived, and I'm definitely not a robot! I don't think the techcraft can do that, can they?" He grins a little then, "The Weyrleader showed up actually to the cafe in the tree and sort of ate breakfast with several of us. Though he did tell Datsun he wanted to speak with him. Plus his mood got a bit worse when a proddy greenrider showed up and flirted with him…." Then that is it to that, nothing else said.
"I don't know if there's much the techcraft can't do," Kale laughs, head shaking. "Have you met with any've them? They're a bit of a weird lot, in my opinion. Too much time spent near computers, I think. Don't get me wrong. Tech's awesome and all. Smithcraft works pretty close with tech most times. But…" he knocks his head a bit, "I swear they've all a wire loose up there." And a few nuts and bolts, too! At the mentioning of proddy greens, he gives a shudder. "Ugh. I'd hate to be a green rider. I hate proddy women," he says, making a slight face. "Have you been around them? Well .. o'course you have. You just said. Let me guess.." He pauses, eyes lifting to the sky to think. "Was it Jessi? The girl's always proddy." Not that it's entirely her fault!
Garait just shakes his head, "I really haven't met with anyone from the techcraft at all, but saw them at work that first night when Datsun blew the power." He just shakes his head then, the techcraft definitely has its own language….." Well, all Crafts probably do to some extent. Then there is the mention of greenriders and proddy women, which cause Garait to give Kale a slight glare, "My mom is a greenrider here you know?" That may have been forgotten, but it is true. A face is made though at the mention of Jessi, "Yes, Jessi. Proddy isn't the right word for her though." The last statement was a little bit on the blunt side though, but no apologies are given.
Kale lifts up both hands and grins in sign of peace. "Hey hey. Proddy women. Not just greenriders," he says, waving his hands a bit. "I'm sure your mother's great." He flashes another grin before lowring his arms down, exhaling a breath. A smirk follows at his comment towards Jessi though. "You've a better word, huh? M'sure you do. I don't really know much of her. She was…is…Idrissa and Soriana's friend more than mine. Sort've know of her by association. She's havin a shardload of kids though. Seems like every turn I've seen her fat. I don't know why she keeps havin' them. It isn't like she has a weyrmate or anyone to help her care for them all." To his knowledge anyway, and he can't boast of knowing all that much about her. "Also, speakin' of riders.." A smirk is given to the other fellow, brow arched. "You're the talk've the caverns lately, and you know how much the old biddies like to talk about anything that might have one percent of truth to it."
Eyeing the smithcrafter a bit, Garait nods, "My mom is great and has always been there for me." Oh how some always see the best in their parents, overlooking the rest. He makes another face then, "Well, I've only run into Jessi a couple of times and she was definitely….ummm flirtatious." Yes, that iss a nice safe word. "It looks like she might be pregnant again too." Well, enough talk of that! Garait's expression turn suprised and then very innocent, "Me? The talk of the caverns? By whatever do you mean?" Yeah, way too innocent of an act there.
Kale leeeans towards him and arches a brow. "You need to work on your righteous look of angelic innocence," he advises, looking smugly at him. "You can't fool me. I have ears," he says, tugging at his earlobes to prove that, yes, he can ear! He laughs, leaning away. "Unfortunately, I can't not hear the gossip that bombards me at mealtimes, although most times it'd be better to be deaf in there. But .. you and a brownrider?" A smirk. "Or did I hear all that wrong? I do clean my ears at bathtimes."
Chuckling and raising his hands, Garait shakes his head, "As you said, they hop on anything with only a hint of truth to it. I do talk to riders, but don't we all? And can't people have a conversation by themselves without people wandering?" He rolls his eyes and tries to brush it off, "Next thing you know they'll be saying you and I…." he chuckles and shakes his head at that. "Plus, you know that Apprentices are discouraged from relationships." Or is that just the Beastcraft?
"Ooohno they won't!" protests Kale. "I have a girlfriend. Girlfriends, actually. And boy did they have a field day with that when they figured it out. They'd never believe anything's happening between me and another guy unless it was a fight." And that rumor has already happened and been proven true. And punished. And oh wasn't that a load of fun to get through? He laughs and combs his fingers through his hair, wiping away a light band of sweat from his forehead in the process. Summer heat! "You're right though. Rumors are just that," he says, easily allowing the topic to fade. "Relationships might be discouraged, but they're not unallowed. I know Orik hates seein' any of us with a girl. 'Too distracting' says he. But I don't know about you, but I have to have some fun through Apprenticeship. Girls are worth the distraction."
Garait peers at Kale curiously then, "Girlfriends? Really? and fights? You better watch it though, you'll get as bad as some of the riders! The rumors about the riders are worse than any others!" He makes a face then and sighs, "I guess the Beastcraft is a little more strict. Especially if an Apprentice shows up pregnant, or gets someone pregnant." He shrugs them, "If you want the distraction, that's fine, but I don't know if I'd risk it." There's something in the beastcrafter's voice that suggests that the last statement isn't totally true.
"Smithcraft is no less strict, don' get me wrong," says Kale. "And, we hardly have any girls in our craft here. Most tend to specialize in jewelry if they stick with smithing, and Xanadu's not exactly known for its market in jewels. So uh…the showin' up pregnant thing isn't too much've a problem. .. Heh, anymore," he amends with a sort of sneer. But it's a look that quickly passes. "As for gettin' a girl that way? M'sure there's probably…rules against it." The specifics of which he doesn't know, but with the careless way he speaks it, it doesn't seem as if he believes it'll be an issue. He cracks a grin at him, apparently not believing everything he's saying. "C'mon. You're what… fifteen. Sixteen turns? Y'cant tell me there hasn't been a girl you haven't thought was good looking. Shovelin' hay and milking herdbeast can't be what your day's about all the time."
Chuckling at the other boy, Garait smirks, "Well, I'm pretty sure the Beastcraft has rules in place and will enforce it, so why take the chance?" He may have seen it done, or heard about it, "But well, this is a Weyr and I'm sure things will be more tolerated here." He blinks at Kale then and nods, "Well, no, that's not what my whole day iss about," but a big part of it nonetheless, "but yes, I have found some girls good looking. Guys too." Yes, he does admit this. "Doesn't mean I'm going to do anything to get in trouble, mind you." At least it's not planned on at the moment.
"Heh. You'd be surprised what's tolerated in a weyr," says Kale with a chuckle. He grins a Garait admits to at least looking at girls! And guys as well? The look falters slightly as he tips his head. "Really?" huh, who'd've guessed? Certainly not Kale, apparently, whose fancies are strictly of the female variety. Gradually, a smirk returns. "Ha! So there might be some truth to that rumor after all! There's no way you're not dating someone by the end've the turn," he vows, tilting his chin up a bit. "And a bit of trouble, my friend, is what makes life so shardin' interesting." He grins as he turns to grasp the handles of the cart, but he doesn't hoist it up yet. "With all the girlfriend talk, now I wish to see mine. Gotta finish this though," he nods to the load of iron..
Just shrugging a little, Garait smiles, "Things are more tolerated at the Weyr, I know. And yes really." Then he raises his hands, "I won't say anything about rumors since they get all twisted about." Though silence on the rumor maybe more revealing than addressingg it head on. "Well, trouble might be okay, as long as it's not too much, or send me to the Weyrleader's Office." With that he waves, "Yeah, I got a few things to do myself."