Xanadu Weyr - Beach
The unerring range of subdued white rises and falls in a multitude of sandy dunes, creating an endless amount of tiny valleys constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of a dragon. Smoothing out as it slopes gently to the edge of the deep blue water, the sand darkens and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect. The beach itself is set along a low cliff - the height lessoning as one heads eastwards, blocking a portion of the beach from direct access.
The wide wide stretch of water opens up to the east, the far distant shore way beyond the horizon and the beach curves ever so slowly round to east and west, distant arms of land embracing the wind-ruffled Caspian Lake. East leads up to the mouth of the Rubicon River, where the protecting cliff is merely an arms length higher then the sand, and beyond that, a winding road leading out of Xanadu's territory. Westwards, the beach narrows as the cliff swings out, leaving a path wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to the sheltered cove designated the Weyrling Beach. However, cut in the cliff face to the north are a variety of rough, wide staircases, providing access to the clearing and to the meadow.
Word filters quickly through the candidates and the rest of the Weyr that there are some strange stirrings at the beach. Namely, that there's a fire — smaller than a bonfire, larger than a campfire — that's been lovingly set on the beach with some tables of food set out for people to sample and enjoy. The food itself seems to be a cook-it-yourself affair — long metal skewers and all the kebab makings that a person could dream of are set up at hand. At another table are carafes of water, juice, and klah with appropriate glasses and mugs — alas, no alcohol. Overseeing the whole thing are a couple of vaguely familiar people, both from Ierne — the woman bears a close resemblence to the clutchsire's rider, while the man is presumably his wife. Their children are, of course, being especially helpful in handing out skewers and bowls of meat and veggies to those who are just arriving and looking for food.
A fire on the beach is enough to get anyone's attention. Though the smell of food and such is what attracts K'ael. A bit away from the party Azaeth's shadowy form sinks to the ground, and off slides K'ael. "Something smells good! What's the occasion?" Basically it's a 'am I invited' kind of question. Not that anything is going to stop him from helping himself to the array of food for cooking.
Rio is also attracted to the beach, though more because he heard the event was going to occur than seeing someone build a fire on the beach. But then, it /does/ help him find the place it's being held at. "Hello there!" he calls out, raising a hand to wave at anyone who can see him. "Great evening for a fire, eh?"
"Survival, of course! Figured the kids should have a good meal after their little stint in the wilds." the woman — Ninatta for those who might recognize her from her periodic vigils in the observational level — calls rather brightly to K'ael, a hand lifted. "Plenty for everyone and, if not," there's a pointed look to the man, "Dumuzi will take care of that." There's a long-suffering sigh from the mentioned Dumuzi, who just retreats, for now, to go back to cutting up a bit more of this or that or the other. "Mahhu! Get him a skewer, would you?" The girl, about fourteen, just nods and scuttles off to do so, while the boy, just a few turns older, hustles along to offer a few bowls and things to some of the arriving candidates, including a late-arriving Rished and Rio. "'sgood, yeah," he grins. "But every night's great for a fire, if you get food with it."
Ignorant of partydom, D'son's been out fishing for most of the day and is back with a small catch. Pole left behind in the boat he used for his outing, the bronzerider ambles over, hair windblown and fish dangling from one hand. "Well that's convenient," he says cheerily as he draws near. "I was going to build one of these for the fish." Meaning the fire. K'ael is noticed and Dels moves towards the other bronzerider to give him an affectionate nudge in the ribs with one elbow. "Hey."
K'ael blinks a bit, and then nods. "Ah of course. For those of them that did survive! Which… I hope all of them did." K'ael will take any offered food of course. The bronzer is basically a bottomless pit when it comes to eating. He's busy assembling a kabob when D'son gives him a nudge. "Hey Dels. Caught a nice one there I see. There's free food too, apparently." Though, really it was for the candidates. "So did anything fun happen out in the woods? I heard usually someone is mauled."
Rio accepts the bowl and skewer when offered, giving a big smile. "Ah, thank you!" He returns happily. D'son's arrival is met by a raised hand to wave, and a call of "Hello!" He's pretty happy. Of course, he /did/ survive the camp. K'ael's inquiry draws a shake of his head, and Rio replies, "Not that I know of, anyway. We ended up having to eat bugs, but apart from that…." He leaves out his own misadventures with the rope and tree….
"So I see," D'son says with a grin and nods Rio's way, reaches for an empty skewer to run through his fish. "Guess this can be an appetizer then," he muses then tilts a look back over towards the candidate. "I think bugs work a lot better as bait … why bug-eating?"
They survived and one of them even caught something! Satoris is still somewhat fascinated by the whole process and has spent a deal of time speaking with the weyr's hunters to learn more about the process. On his way back from one such chat, he could smell the food by the beach and his stomach led him on over. The man's steps slow as he grows nearer, taking stock of the situation.
Rished also takes a bowl and skewer, eyeing both with a slight furrow of his brow. Then he's quirking a look to Rio with a wrinkle of his nose. Either it's a bad memory of bug-eating … or he was lucky and wasn't involved. Either way. Those others arriving are given an absent wave from the lad, but he's quick to find a spot near the fire that hasn't been claimed for him to assemble his makeshift meal. His 'lizards are unhelpfully pilfering bits from his bowl, but otherwise, the process comes along rather nicely. Other people have already started to cook theirs, being careful to keep a hold only on the wooden bit at the very end.
Rio shrugs to D'son's question. "V'dim told us it might just save our lives at some point," he replies. "Truthfully? I think he just wanted to see us eat bugs, and laugh inside at our…discomfort." He smirks. "Joke was on him, though. I thought they were pretty good, even if the preparations were disgusting." A chuckle. He looks to Rished with that smirk still on his face, and then goes to load up a skewer and cook it.
As more people arrive, more bowls and skewers are handed out and Ninatta moves from her post to weave amongst those who are a bit more reluctant about joining. "Come along, now. Plenty, /plenty/, for all of you — and your firelizards," is tacked on when a few flutter through to snap up dropped bits on the sand. And if Satoris isn't careful … the chatty Harper might /just/ be inclined to drag him along to join the others like she's doing for a couple of others.
K'ael wrinkles his nose at Rio. "Eat bugs? I think I would have rather stuck with the fruit… Unless the bugs were in the fruit." He laughs a bit. "I heard V'dim is starting to go a little crazy in his old age. Too many bumps from inexperienced riders I think." K'ael makes his way over to the fire to start cooking. "Well, if you plan to work bugs into your regular eating rotation I would uh… refrain from telling the ladies about it."
"Doesn't sound too far off the mark," D'son says wryly about V'dim with a smirk of his own for Rio. "Don't know if that makes him crazy though," Dels adds and adds some vegetables to the skewer above his fish then heads over to stake out a bit of flame to grill the lot over. "Depends on the lady, Mike." A counter to K'ael's last statement with amusement in his voice.
Rio waves to Satoris when he sees him, also calling out a greeting. "Hello!" His attention returns to K'ael as he makes his remark, and wrinkles his nose, putting his tongue out a bit. "Eugh…no thank you," he states frankly. "I mean it's not so objectionable if I have to do it again. Of course…I hope I never do." A chuckle. "Well…crazy or not, he's not too bad a guy. Keeps us on our toes, that's for sure." And then a laugh at D'son's latter remark. "I think I'd want to avoid the one that thought it was a good thing. I might get hurt."
Satoris lifts a hand to wave to the others as he grows nearer, coming up alongside Rished finally. "What's going on?" he asks the other candidate, glancing around. "Food for everyone?"
Rished blinks a bit, then grins over at Satoris when he approaches. He motions at a spot nearby in case the other candidate is inclined to sit and he replies, "Yeah. Well, I kind of mentioned how bad the food was on our little camping trip to someone," cough, "and it … must have gone around or something. It's pretty neat, though. They have, uh. Skewers and meat and veggies and stuff to make kebabs with." And a drinks table which is woefully lacking in booze. But still! And the bug-eating conversation? He's so, so not listening. Just don't mind that wrinkling of his nose.
K'ael blinks at D'son, then laughs. "Well.. True. But in that case I wouldn't want to be /kissing/ that girl. First bugs… then who knows! Tunnelsnakes… trundlebugs… ew. I'll stick with my normal food." He waves around his kabob as a sign, and a piece of charred… something goes flying off the pointy end. "Whoop! Heads up!"
One of Dumuzi's brows lift in a mute 'uh oh' upon spying that flying foodstuff. Fortunately, it's not aimed in his direction, so he quickly sets back to work. Where it goes … nobody knows? Or someone will find out rather unpleasantly. Mahhu, for her part, just goes a bit round-eyed and scurries quickly over to where a small crate behind the tables can be barely spotted behind the cloth. "Now, papa?" She's answered with a grunt and a slight shake of his head. The girl pouts a little. "Now?" Grunt. And so it goes …
"You'd be missing out then," D'son says with a little duck of his head and turns his skewer around, shoots K'ael a look sideways. "Snakes aren't too bad if you grill them." And he ducks all the more. "Hey, you trying to poke an eye out?"
"Looks like it," Rio notes to Satoris's question. "C'mon, there's enough," he coaxes, waving Satoris over. He hears Rished's comment and snickers. "Well, at least we have food now," he reasons. Always a bright side! He sobers, however, and nods sagely to K'ael's comment. "Tell me about it—ack!" He ducks, just in case, to avoid flying, flaming foodbits. When the danger seems past, he asks of D'son, "Oh? You've eaten grilled tunnelsnake?"
Satoris watches the flaming food and winces a bit. Perhaps in sympathy of the loss of something so delicious. He nods to Rished and smirks slightly in Rio's direction. The former miner makes his way towards the tables and begins loading not one, but two skewers with all manners of things. They're held in his fist, metal bits poking out between his knuckles like some kind of disturbing claws. He gets a mug of klah at the end before returning to the fire and taking up a seat near Rished, thrusting the skewers and their bounty into the flames.
"Couple of times," D'son relates with a nod and a grin Rio's way and flips his skewer over again, fish starting to come along nicely. "Fish is better. Not so … chewy."
Rished has half the skewer he /would/ have had, no thanks to his hungry trio. Still, it's substantial enough and he sticks the thing in the fire with a happy sigh. "Yeah, it's good to have food," he agrees with Rio, a lopsided grin tossed his way. "And it's good to have, uh, cots again." Even if there aren't any blankets involved, it's still nice. When Satoris returns, he blinks a bit, his brows lifting comically. "Two? I should have done that," he blurts enviously.
K'ael laughs. "No thanks. Well, you can feed it to me, but just don't tell me what it is. I don't want to know as long as it all tastes the same. Ooh, sorry. No. I just got a little excited there I guess." Thankfully the bit isn't on fire, it's just… hot from being in the fire. K'ael decides that his kabob is done though, and goes about emptying its contents into a bowl to cool while he preps another one. The bronzer holds out the bowl to the other bronzer and the candidates gathered around. He'll cook for everyone, if they want.
While the continued 'how about now' and 'grunt' conversation continues in the background, Ninatta continues her rounds and helpfully retrieves empty dishes left in the sand or offers to help the younger ones with their skewers. Sulpae trots over to help his sister in her wheedling efforts, which just results in a doubling of the 'now' and 'grunt' conversation. So far, no dice.
Meanwhile, a lucky firelizard catches that hot bit of meat and quickly wolfs it down on the wing. Omnomnom.
Rio notes Satoris's two skewers and chuckles. "Somebody's hungry," he comments teasingly. Rio looks briefly…disturbed by D'son's mention of the consistency of tunnelsnake. "Ah…I will definitely keep that in mind. Ew." Rished's comment of the cots has him nodding enthusiastically. "And even if having to put them together, it's good to know they're even THERE now." K'ael's offer brings a smile. "Thanks, you need some help?" He'll help K'ael cook too, if he wants. Rio's attention is briefly caught by the conversation between the girls and their father, and he raises an eyebrow. But since no answers are forthcoming, he turns his attention elsewhere.
Satoris is not sheepish! He is proud of his food. There's a grin and a shrug for Rio as he settles in, one hand extended to keep the skewers in the fire. The other securely holds his klah and Sat drinks from it at length. There's a brief glance for the firelizards enjoying whatever scraps they can find and he seems to be largely seeking out any of his own. When none seem to be causing trouble, the miner-turned-candidate relaxes and leans back somewhat. Another few moments and he pulls the skewers from the fire and begins blowing on the food upon them. Likely he intends to eat it straight off the kabob.
"I can imagine good food and a somewhat decent bed are pretty nice at this point. I was only out there one night and I missed my bed." K'ael shakes his head at Rio with a grin. "Nah, sit down and eat. This is for you guys anyways." The bronzer looks back at the girls as well. "All the girl candidates decide to live in the baths for the next day to get all the outdoor stink off them?"
Rished nods over at Rio with a laughed, "Yeah. Not to say the hammocks weren't nice," especially after a sevenday of sleep on the floor, "but it's a bed." He's happy to lapse into silence shortly thereafter, focusing — to the point of furrowed-brow comicalness — on making sure his food isn't burnt or on fire. Cooking is not his strongest point, but … he's trying! Trying very, very hard.
D'son gives a little shake of his head K'ael's way for the offered bowl and turns his skewer again. Maybe he's determined to eat right off of it. "I like hammocks," Dels notes with a grin that really ought not to be that amused on the topic of hammocks. "They're comfortable."
Rio just chuckles at the shrug from Satoris, but allows the man to eat without further teasing. To K'ael, "Hey, /I/ almost decided to spend the night in there. It was /so/ good to get a hot bath after being out there that long." A grin. Rished's statement draws a soft sound of agreement from Rio. "Absolutely. My back has been giving me grief ever since they took our cots away," he states. D'son's grin prompts a raised eyebrow from Rio. He senses something. "Oh /really/?"
"I'm none too happy about the blankets. One of those was a personal blanket." Satoris puts out, blowing gently again on his skewers. Finally, he just bites the proverbial bullet and takes a large bite. It's hot, so his mouth is open as he chews, but he soon gets it down. "Mmm… Warm, fresh food, and lots of it." Maybe the girls heard about the party and didn't want to be around the chow fest.
It eventually takes Ninatta to catch up on the pleading of the children to send her in a whirl over to where the food tables are. "Oh, tut tut, Du. You didn't spend all that time making them to /not/ allow anyone to eat them," she chastises in her bell-bright voice. Dumuzi grunts again and cocks a thumb at the crate, which seems to be enough of a cue for the kids. While dinner might be a bit on the weirdly plain and exotic side — because, hey, who doesn't like setting food on fire? — dessert is clearly something else. Bubblies, palm-sized cakes with various icings, and candied fruits are among the things that quickly occupy a portion of one table that's been cleared of the meat bowls. So much for the all-meat fest!
K'ael grins a bit at Rished. "Hammocks, hm?" K'ael is alright with eating his meal out of the bowl, the skewer was in use anyways at the moment. Plus it was always kind of a pain to push each bit down one by one. "Hammocks are… nice. Can't say I'd want to sleep in them more than one night, though." He chuckles a bit. "Well, I suppose you can go back to the baths after this? And I thought they put the blankets back after all of this?"
"Yeah, really," D'son says with a grin Rished's way. "Cozy, you know." And hey look! Fish. Done. The bronzerider tips it up away from the flames and blows on the surface a little before trying a bite. "Good schtuff," he pronounces around the mouthful and peers over at Satoris. "Seriously? They took away your personal blanket?"
"Dunno. A lot of the girls, uh. They don't seem like they'd like eating off skewers after eating all that other stuff." That's just an idle observation made by Rished after withdrawing his food from the fire. It's a bit overdone … but better safe than sorry? "They had us in hammocks out there," is explained to K'ael with a faint tilt of his smile. "It was okay. But, uh. I prefer my bed. With blankets, but I guess V'dim doesn't think we should be trusted with them or something." That being his guess, with his mouth quickly stuffed with a too-hot bite of food lest he speak again. Turns out that it's a bad idea. Go figure.
K'ael chuckles a bit and nods to D'son. "True enough. Though I always worry I'm going to move the wrong way and dump myself out of them. That would be my luck." He nods a bit to Rished and chuckles. "Well… I can understand, I guess. Even though this food is uh… pre-prepared? Probably just wanted to spend the night inside. With normal cavern food." The bronzer is hurriedly making his way through his meal. He wants dessert!
"When they took the cots, they took blankets and pillows too," Satoris explains, taking bites in between statements. Now his food is cooled enough that he can eat pretty rapidly. And so he does. One skewer is soon empty and he starts on the other. "Or maybe they're working on their robes?"
D'son doesn't hazard any guesses about the girl candidates, still working his way through the contents of his skewer. Between bites: "Hope you get it back." The blanket.
Rished is quick to make for the drinks table to get something to drink. Speech is just going to be impossible while he chugs a bit of water in an effort to soothe his poor, burned mouth. Unfortunately, his skewer is left behind in his haste and a couple of firelizards set upon it to pick the meaty bits apart. It's not like he's going to eat it any time soon, right?
K'ael chews his food quietly for a while. "Well, the blanket must be someplace. I never really understood why they sent the candidates out into the wild here. To encourage 'togetherness' or something? We never went through that at Ista, and we're still close. At least some of us are, I guess." There's a blink at Rished. "You alright?"
"It's not just for closeness," Satoris offers forth, glancing up to K'ael. He's been one of the helpers on those trips in the past. "It's to teach candidates, especially the more… frail, or high born, what it's like to struggle, and rely on yourself or others, to get by. Xanadu has a lot of major storms, earthquakes… sometimes there's emergency situations and they want the candidates to understand that."
Or they just want a break.
Rio has been sitting back and listening to the conversation so far. At the mention of robes, Rio grins. "I already have mine made," he states. "They're pretty easy things to make." He /is/ a Weaver, after all. K'ael's statement, and Satoris's reply, draws a rather wry smile from Rio. "And also probably to whittle down the number so they have fewer of us to have to worry about," he teases.
"Bonding," D'son says with a nod and cleans the last of the stuff off of his skewer, leftover fishbonsed tossed into the fire. He quirks a look over at Satoris and then a thumb at K'ael. "I think he's pretty aware of Xanadu's weather and search and rescue patterns," a little dry, that. "Given you know, the whole wingleader of that wing, thing." He tilts a look up towards the tables though. "Did they say they had pie?"
K'ael raises a brow at Satoris. "Not all of them will be rescue riders. Especially some of the more frail ones. Things are easier with a dragon support structure anyways." He shrugs. "I think there's enough toughening up during weyrlinghood, honestly. But that's just my opinion." He grins to Rio. "I 'borrowed' mine. It was… too short and I think I tore it afterwards. There was a candidate in front of me when we stood…" He motions to D'son and himself. "And hers was way /way/ too short." There's a nod to D'son. "Grab me one if you're getting up?"
The boy isn't able to answer right away … but he eventually does with a croaked, "I'll be fine." Rished slugs down a bit more water, blows out of his mouth a few times … and belatedly remembers just what happened to his poor skewer. Ah well. He glances over to the table of treats and decides that those might be just a /bit/ safer. Maybe. He picks up on D'son's query and answers with, "Uh, bubblies and little cakes and stuff. There might be a pie or two in that crate still." Either way, he starts off in that direction, slanting a look to his fellow candidates and a queried, "You two want anything?"
Satoris just gives D'son something of a look. It's not a mean one, just a slightly perturbed one. Instead of saying anything in response, he just gets to his feet and goes to get himself some more klah, depositing his empty skewers wherever used dishes and the like seem to be accumulating. He takes his time getting klah, perhaps to review the desserts laid out.
Mahhu and Sulpae finish setting out the rest of whatever will fit on the table and then dash off with their own treats, leaving the sweets unattended and free for general consumption. In addition to the sugar-crusted bubblies, the mini-cakes, and candied fruits, a fruit pie has been added — pre-sliced — and some fresh fruit has been littered about.
"Yeah, I'll get us a couple," D'son agrees about the pies and nods Rished's way. "Bubblies, just right for the end of a meal. Not too big," he claims with a grin. "And you know, I honestly don't remember anything about my robe. Just itching like crazy when Inimeth popped into my head."
K'ael gives Rished a pat, then he gets up. "On second thought I should probably take mine to go." He stretches out a bit. "I want to get in a run and then head to the baths before it gets too late." He nods to the candidates. "Candidates. Always good to see you guys. Dels… I'll stop by a little later maybe." The bronzer takes up a pie for himself then heads over to where Azaeth is waiting for him.
"You got it, Mike," D'son says to K'ael as he heads out and gives a little wave, then heads back to find a spot to sit, two pies held in the curve of his palm.
"I just grabbed one of the ones that was around from another hatching," Rished offers, though his words are still a bit slurred. Hooray, burned tongue. As K'ael announces his departure, he lifts a hand and waves to him, then busies himself with treat selection. One of those and one of that … and that other thing … and- "Itching?" It just took a while for D'son's words to click, that's all. "What? Why itching?"
D'son bites off a healthy bit of bubbly and chews contentedly. "Good stuff," he assesses and nods Rished's way. "Search me, just … felt that way. I guess different people just impress … differently." Another bite of pie taken and Dels' shoulders roll. "Not a feeling I'll forget any time soon though."
Rished huhs and nods, taking his handful of goodies off to a clear spot so he can sit down again. His head tilts toward D'son as he replies, "So that's how it was for you? That's- uh. Well, I guess not weird, because that's how it was for you and it wouldn't be for you, but, uh. It sounds unusual?" He's guessing, here. One of the little cakes is nibbled on with a blissful half-lidding of his eyes. After a beat or two: "Did Inimeth find you early on? Or did he just kind of … uh, dawdle?"
"Yeah, I don't hear too many weyrlings coming off the sands going 'Oh sweet Faranth, I'm itching to death!'," D'son agrees with a little shrug. "It passed pretty quickly. Mostly these days Inimeth feels like green growing things, vines and so on and a bouquet of lavendar." He squints for a moment, considering. "You know, the sequence of things is kind of blurry. I want to say middle."
After the dessert presentation, things start to slow down a fair bit — most people have had their fill and were just waiting for dessert; others were /just/ waiting for dessert and are happy to drift on after they've had that much. The fire continues to burn steadily in the background in the meantime, a warm contrast to the slow demise of Rukbat on the horizon.
Rished laughs, catches himself, and then coughs a bit to cover an escapee of a snicker. "That does sound, uh, pretty awful," he says after a moment to D'son, then wedges a bit of bubbly in his mouth to chew carefully and swallow. "So he's- huh. He's like a plant?" Somehow, that doesn't seem to register too easily for him. His brow furrows a bit while he tries to wrap his brain around it. Meanwhile, things are slowly winding down around them; the gathering is thinning a fair bit, though there's still plenty of food to be had.
"Well no … it's not quite that simple … just when his thoughts reach out it's like tendrils and vines growing and dappled with sun and …" D'son waves a hand vaguely, then shakes his head. "It's hard to describe." The rest of his bubbly finds its way into his mouth.
While Satoris was mulling over his options for dessert, one of the mining apprentices had come running up to him. With an emergency, or maybe just a perceived one. The miner-turned-candidate spent some time talking to the boy before the apprentice went back off towards the mine site. With a bubbly in hand and a fresh mug of klah — refilled once more during the coversation — Sat returns to the fireside, sitting down heavily.
Nope, it's not clicking. Rished tries for a moment longer to place that all into his understanding of the world, but he eventually gives up with a wrinkling of his nose. "Huh. It sounds interesting, anyway." Something takes a moment or two to register and then he's asking, "Is that maybe why he likes being scratched?" Another sweet is wolfed down and then his attention shifts from D'son to the fire for a moment or two. "It shouldn't be too much longer, right?" he wonders aloud to no one in particular.
That second pie is started on while Rished tries to grasp what D'son is saying. Then the bronzerider shakes his head. "Most dragons like that," he points out. "And being oiled." Another few bites and his expression turns sympathetic. "No, shouldn't be."
Satoris glances to Rished, head tilting to one side slightly. "The hatching?" He exhales in a sigh and looks back to the fire. "Probably not… It'll happen, rush by, and you'll wonder where the time went."
Rio is really good at listening and staying out of the conversation. The more one listens, the more one learns, after all! He's managed to polish off a couple kabobs and a bubbly or two. It's Satoris's comment that gets him to break his silence. "That's about what I'm figuring," he notes. "I'm betting they're all wondering how I'm doing back at Fort." He snickers softly, and a little self-derisively. "I'll be back there in no time, if that's the case." He grins.
There's a bit of a 'huh' and a slow nod, with Rished murmuring, "Makes sense, I guess," about dragons and their preferences. So much for that theory. He rubs at the back of his neck with his newly emptied hand, mud-brown gaze sliding first to D'son and then over to Satoris before briefly hopping to Rio. "I can see that, I guess. It's just hard to imagine that after /all/ this time, it's just leading up to one day and then it'll be all over, one way or the other." His nose wrinkles just a little for the thought. Speculation? He'll leave that alone for now.
Pie finished, D'son dusts crumbs off his fingers. "It'll come soon enough. Might even catch you by surprise," the bronzerider says with a friendly smile and pushes to his feet. "Well, Inimeth's asking for oil, go figure, so I'll wish you all good evening and if the egg rock tonight, good luck." A little half-salute and the bronzerider pads off into the darkness.
Satoris finishes his bubbly in short order and brushes his hand off on his slacks. A few crumbs fall to the sands, never to be heard from again. The miner-candidate runs his hand through his hair and his eyes roll upwards towards his hairline, as if he could see it. "I need a haircut soon," he mumbles.
Rio grins to Rished. "Don't think about it like that," he coaxes. "Think about it like this — you met a lot of new people, made some friends, and had some fun." He seems happy about that. D'son gives his farewell, and Rio nods. "Hope to see you later," he offers in reply, waving a goodbye to the man as he walks away. Satoris's comment draws a snicker, but no reply. It's not Rio's place to say either way.
Rished's mouth pulls a little to a side. "That's one way of looking at it, I guess. And it's been pretty fun, if you kind of, uh, ignore all that wilderness stuff. I don't think I'd want to go out there and do that again." Not fun. Definitely not fun for him. He scratches absently at an arm, clearly compelled by a memory of bug bites. "I'll just be glad for the day we get our blankets back." He glances at Satoris, then goes a bit cross-eyed to look at his own hair. "Huh. Maybe." For his hair or Satoris', it's hard to tell.
"Has anyone said we can't have our blankets back?" Satoris inquires, looking towards the other two. He's a man that lives by the rules, but unless he sees those rules (or is told them)… "They left us to reassemble the cots. Maybe they're leaving it to us to get our blankets and pillows back as well." He awaits a reaction, watching the other two as he sips at his klah.
Rio grins as Rished acknowledges the non-futility of it. "See? That's what really matters," he notes. "It's not the destination. It's the journey." A chuckle. Satoris's question, however, brings a moment of quiet thought. "Actually? I have no idea. I didn't actually hear an outright no…."
"I don't think so, either," Rished admits, his brows knitting. "But I kinda don't want to get us in trouble for going and getting them, only to wind up without beds again — or sent off into the wilderness." Shudder. He glances at Rio to offer an acknowledging nod, even if he's still a bit puzzled by the idea on some level. "I guess so."
Satoris snorts softly at Rished, still considering as he stares into the fire. "They won't send us off. We have to stay at the Weyr now, since the eggs may hatch at anytime. We should ask, though. I imagine someone other than V'dim knows." Because asking the Weyrlingmaster is just asking for trouble.
Rio looks between Satoris and Rished, listening to both before replying, "Satoris is right; they'll want us close so we can be offered up to the sacrifice — I mean, so we can attend the hatching." He snickers, looking to Rished. "I'm sure all those rumors are just that; rumors. I hope. I bet I don't taste good." A nod to Satoris, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, to find someone else that knows…." He seems to have picked up on the unsaid meaning.
"I dunno. It sure felt like they wanted to thin the herd," Rished mutters, then shakes his head, pushing to his feet. "Anyway. Uh. I guess I'll go look. We have a little while yet before they round us all up, so maybe I can find someone before then." And he's most definitely picking up on that vibe. Especially given the last time V'dim was invoked. He lifts a hand, fingers crossed, and adds, "See you guys back at the barracks." Pause. "I, uh. I hope, anyway.