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.
It's dusk, the time when the sky is awash with beautiful colours and the sounds of the incoming nocturnal critters blow along with the soft breeze. And what better place to enjoy a sunset than out on the beach reclined against on of the sand dunes. Jeniosa enjoys her sunsets, and currently that reclined figure against a dune is the beastcrafter turned candidate, silver-blue eyes gazing up at the sky's multitude of colours.
Keziah wanders out onto the beach, alone. No children, no weyrmate, no dragon. Not even any caprines. Nope, just one lone figure. She walks along the beach, barefoot and with capri style pants on as she drifts in and out of the waves. A loose gauze jacket covers her bare shoulders and the dark green shirt that she wears.
A small figure scrambles along the cliff's edge, approaching from the distance at something between a walk and a climb. Soriana peeks her head into the small caves, occasionally reaching in and taking something to put into her bag. It's getting too dark to really search, though, and after one more peer into the shadows she shakes her head and jumps down off the cliff, landing on the sand with a muffled thud.
Jeniosa isn't the only lone figure about, it seems, the sound of the soft landing thud catches her attention first, silver-blue eyes glancing about the beach to see where the sound came from. As she spots the small figure in the sand, she shoots a fingerwiggle of wave to Soriana. And then those pale orbs spot the strolling Keziah, without any shadows, big or little, and she watches a moment. "Evening Keziah, Ma'am." And the greenrider gets a brief salute from the beaastcrafter turned candidate.
Keziah glances up at the thud as well, instantly on alert and then relaxing as she notes youngster. As for the beastcrafter "Evening Jenisoa." she mumrurs as she returns the salute and then she looks over again for the youngster. "Soriana, wasn't it?" she asks and smiles "I do hope you're enjoying Xanadu." she notes and then tilts her head "Careful on the cliffs, it's getting dark, easy to turn a foot."
Soriana catches the wave from Jeniosa, and she returns it. She takes a moment to tug her tunic down from how it's been riding up during her rock-climbing, and then steps over toward the others at a walk. She nods to Keziah. "Yes'm, that's me. I have been." She nods again at the admonition. "'m done for now. Was just trying to finish filling the bag… gatherin' some rockweed."
"It's a beauiful night, hmm?" Jeniosa notes to Keziah, then she turns to smile to the girl. "Find anything interesting while you were up there?" Beastcrafter shifts her position so she can pay attention to both girl and greenrider. "How's Micaela and the little ones?" She asks of Keziah with a soft grin. "I'll bet they're just as cute as can be." Because, well, babies and toddlers are just so adorable.
"Rockweed huh? Whatcha collectin' it for?" Keziah asks after a moment "Well, anyways, I am glad that you've been enjoying yourself here." she notes. She glances over at Jeniosa "They're doing well. Though Micaela started to get cranky this afternoon, which set off the triplets and I was getting ready to kill." she notes softly. "They are usually cute, but tonight. Not so much."
"Some old broken shells," answers Soriana to Jeniosa with a shrug. "Oh! And a few neat rocks. 'm not sure what I'm gonna do with them yet." She'll figure something out, but hey. Neat rocks! They're their own reward. She turns to Keziah, and says, "One'f the healers said they needed it." That, and it was something to have the excuse of being useful while she wandered around and peeked into caves. She didn't actually ask for all that many details. At the description of the youngsters, she tilts her head, listening. Crying, yes. That's deeeeefinitely something babies do.
Jeniosa ahs, softly, "Rysha has her..days." She sighs softly, her thoughts wandering to her own toddler briefly. "It's odd not spending every free moment with her." Back to Soriana with a little smile. "Shells are pretty, rocks can be too. Maybe they can be used in there." She thumbs towards the treetop cafe, "If they decide to use an ocean theme." She, personally, hasn't been doing too much except what grunt work she can during the work on the candidates' project.
"Micaela likes rocks." Keziah notes softly "She loves to collect them and she's also just as happy to share them with other people as well." she adds with a fond smile. "It can be hard, Mirai was fairly young when I Impressed. Candidacy was hard enough, but as a weyrling I had no time to see her." she notes softly. "I certainly wouldn't mind an ocean theme, much better than the pinks and flowers that Esiae suggested, though Inuelle had an idea for something like a berry or something." she notes after a moment. "I think."
Soriana peers up toward the cafe through the growing darkness. "I wouldn't mind collectin' some, if they did." She pauses a moment, then grins. "Though I suppose the candidates oughta be the ones scrambling over the sands, huh? Hatchin' sands and beach sands both." She takes a few steps and sits down on a dune, wrapping her arms up around her legs. "I might just save the rocks and make a capture-stone board."
Jeniosa glances up at the cafe as well, wrinkling her nose a bit at the thought of pinks and flowers. "Flowers I don't mind so much, and pink's Rysha's favourite colour." Which is obvious if you look at the turn and a half little girl. "Don't get me wrong, obviously I don't mind girly colours. I mean look at my clothes, all lilacs and light pastels. But pink isn't for me." Then, a hmm. "Some kind of berry? Strange. I'm letting the more able candidates do the designing, I'm just here to offer my hands." Then a glance at Soriana. "A capture-stone board? What's that?"
Keziah grins at Soriana "Aye, you got the right of it there." she states. "And games are always a fun leisurely activity and that would be a better way to pass the time than gamblin marks away on cards or drinkin'" she remarks. She then eyes Jeniosa a moment and then mutters "Shards, the guys are gonna need to speak up or we're stuck with a girly gastronomic stomach ache." Kezi, opinionated? Nah.
"It's a game," says Soriana to Jeniosa, then nods to Keziah. She leans down toward the sand, and draws out two rows of six little holes each, with a pair of bigger ones on the ends. "You put stones in the holes, and then you take turns moving your stones to try an' capture your opponents'. There's different versions, dependin' on how good you are." She can't help but giggle at Keziah's description of the potential cafe. "It might not be bad. Pink's the color like of sunrise, too. An' the insides of shells."
Jeniosa giggles quietly at Keziah's comment about the cafe. "Aww, it won't be that bad, I don't think." And then Soriana is showing her what this game is. "Oh. Well, it sounds like fun." She gives a smile. "You'll have to show me sometime, when there's a little more light so we can see better."
Keziah snorts "Yeah, and I told MIrai that the dinner I made about two turns ago wouldn't be that bad. She didn't come home for two days and refused to touch anything more that I had cooked for several sevendays." she remarks with a bit of a grin. She nods to Jeni "It's a fun little game, definitely try it."
Soriana laughs to Keziah! "You're not going to be a cook for the cafe, right?" she asks with a theatrical shiver. She nods to Jeniosa, and then reaches her foot out to scuff up the marks… not that they can be seen very well anyhow. "Yeah. I figure it'd be nice to have a board for winter, 'cause… I heard the snow can keep you stuck. Or at night… but you can just play wherever, if you have stones and draw a board."
Jeniosa grins at Keziah. "Food so bad it made your daughter run away from home, huh? That's pretty bad." Not that she'll be bragging about her own cooking, but at least no one has run away from hers. And then Soriana is mentioning the snow in winter here and she frowns. "Yeah, my cousin J'yn got stuck here in some sort of blizzard storm or something not too long ago. We don't get much in way of snow at Eastern very often."
Keziah snorts "I'm a beastcrafter, not the bakercraft." she states "I only cook to survive in general. I can make a mean stew that'll keep you warm and going when snowed in the drifts of Reaches." she states. "But snow here, not in general so bad, but every now and then we get hit with some doozies. We've had some really bad weather, long rains, tornado's. It's part of the fun." she notes. She then blinks and eyes Jeniosa "J'yn? You're related to.. to him?"
Soriana makes a sigh of relief as Keziah disavows cooking officially, and wipes her forehead with a hand before grinning. …not like she does anything more complex than figuring how to stack meat and cheese on bread. "Is it true the snow in High Reaches gets taller than a runnerbeast?" she asks. "I heard that, once. And that it snows so hard you can't even see."
Jeniosa nods to Keziah, "Aye, he's my cousin..I think..something like that." She's not quite sure about her family relationship stuff, especially since she never really knew any of them other than her two older brothers, before she was posted to Eastern. "Weyrleader J'em's brother was.." She tries to remember the specifics. "I think my grandfather, I never really knew the man." And apparently she wasn't told much about Deremy either. And at the mention of High Reaches' snow, she grins at Soriana. "My brother J'ios lives there, he says sometimes he has trouble finding his green in the snow." Probably a really big exaggeration of an older brother to a naive little sister, but yeah.
Keziah nods "It's regularly quite deep, and well in general it's the wind blowin' the snow that makes it hard to see. It's called blizzard conditions and we experianced that recently as well. Still the snow can come down so quickly that it does make it quite hard, and then add in the wind, and well you have extremely dangerous conditions." she notes quietly. "Wet snow is the worse, and causes roofs to collapse and branches and trees to break." she adds. Then she's blinking a little at Jeniosa "Well, you've got quite the pedigree there, don'tcha?" she asks and shakes her head a little.
Soriana 's eyes widen at Jeniosa's description. Enough snow to hide a _dragon_? She turns to Keziah, looking for confirmation… oh, and she finds it. "Wow," is what she manages at first, staring. "How does anyone even survive?"
Jeniosa blushes at the comment of her pedigree. "Well, I didn't even know I was related to anyone except my brothers before the craft posted me to Eastern Weyr. I don't really know my family too much, they're all so busy and stuff." She shrugs. "And I'm not realy much of a social butterfly." Even though she has gotten at least a little friendly with a choice few people here at Xanadu. "J'ios says you get used to the cold after awhile. But I'm glad I don't live there at High Reaches. I mean Eastern's got its storms, but they're those tropical kind instead of wintery ones."
Keziah shudders a little "Yeah, hurricanes. Not much fun I would think. Tornado's are bad enough." she notes quietly "But as for survival, you do acclimate. Or well most people do." she states "Still, most people don't always venture out when it gets real bad, and then they've their cave systems there so you don't always have to venture out." she states. There's a head tilt for Jeni "Well, don't need to be needing to be real sociable and all." Shards knows Kezi ain't always. "Still Reaches was a nice place to be, I did much of my apprenticeship there, tending caprines up in the highlands."
"I guess," says Soriana, though she seems unconvinced. Where's the fun in living somewhere that you have to hide underground half the year? Not that there's anything wrong with caves, but… yeah. "Least they've got fur," she says of the caprines… not that people can't too, they just have to wear it in the form of coats.
Jeniosa nods, "Well, I didn't say the storms weren't bad, but at least at Eastern you don't have to worry about freezing to death." Hey, it's true. And as for the social bit, she grins. "I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks socializing is overrated." She grins at the girl's comment about fur. "I'll let J'ios keep the cold Reaches, I'll stik to my tropical places, thanks."
Keziah grins "Well, I had my furs too. Course now I've even more furs from teh number of wild felines that have been killed over the Turns. Not enough mind ya, Shardin' critters breed worse than tunnelsnakes in unwatched storage caves." she notes. "Still, Soriana, as you've noticed, I like Xanadu's temperant climate just a little bit better. Just cause I can live in it, doesn't mean I like it."
Soriana nods, though visions of snows and storms are still swirling around in her head like… well, snows or storms! "I'd like to visit sometime, I think. Just to see it! But I wouldn't want to live there." She shivers. The mention of tunnelsnakes gets her attention, and she smiles. "Inkfoot caught one yesterday. Just a little one, though."
Upon the sunset horizon had been a ship with sails high. It's been steadily coming closer for the last little while, and by the looks of it it was coming to port, slowing as it came in on its approach. It was a larger fisher, one of the bigger of the fleet at Xanadu in which went out on the Caspian Lake in hunt of the vast schools of fish available this time of season. There's a bustle of activity on board as the ship slowly coasts into an open spot along the harbor docks. Just another visual to watch against the press of the evening sunset. Sails starting to tugged up to furl, ropes being synched and sailors scrambling to the tops of the booms to help with the furling, men preparing the cargo hull for immediate unloads, another leaping off the ship rail to the dock with ropes in hand to help guide in the fisher the last few inches. Accomplished as the last of the rays of the sun have descended, transforming the the quiet docks to one of a steady bustle, aglow by various lamps and false light to help illuminate the unpacking of their precious cargo - fish. A ton of it. It just so happens that one of the sailors escapes the vessel without having to get into the cargo passing line up and by his swagger, he had some authority backing his escaping form.
Keziah grins at hearing about Inkfoot "Oh good, I'm always happy to know that more of the blighters are killed. Albeit some of them are good eatin' surprisingly enough." she notes. She looks at the ship as it docks and she chuckles "Well, looks like she was right." she murmurs after a moment "Looks like quite the haul coming in. Will be fish on the menu for some days." she notes. She then tilts her head a little as someone slips from duty. "Well, Reaches is a good place to visit, they've some wonderful cider recipes too."
Jeniosa watches as the ship comes closer and docks, and she giggles as she spots the cargo. "My felines would be happy if they were here, they like fish." And then she's watching as the figure slips off without getting into the fish, and she kind of tugs her jacket up over her shoulders to cover the white knot there, just in case they might be looking for white-knotted 'volunteers'.
Soriana huhs at Keziah's comment about the tunnelsnakes. "Well, Inkfoot eats them some, but…" She trails off into a shrug, and then her attention is taken away to the arriving ship. She rises up from her seat on the sand, peering toward it curiously. She chuckles at Jeniosa's comment about her felines. "'m glad Inkfoot's not. He'd probably get stomped on. Or lost in the hold." She, too, takes a curious look at the approaching figure.
Keziah hehs at Jeni "Just how many felines do you have anyways? I've been hearing about them here and there, but I don't anyone has actually mentioned numbers." she notes and then smiles at Sori "Yeah, lost in a hold wouldn't be good. Likely wouldn't make a good fisher or anything."
"The felines are good at keeping tunnelsnake numbers down as well." Jeniosa grins a bit. "Well, I started with one, but then I rescued Pearl and from there they just kind of multiplied. I try to find homes for the kittens when I can. I always have some in the feline room, I rescue and rehome them. I've a few young ones that I've kept." Still no exact number is given, nice huh? Maybe she doesn't even know how many she has.
Soriana giggles to Keziah. "Not for those fish, that's for sure. He'll go after 'em in the tidepools, but that's different." She listens to the story of the multiplying felines with interest, and grins. "There always used to be some felines around the stables… they mostly kept to themselves, though. Not very friendly."
Keziah arches a brow "Please tell me you at least geld the toms." she murmurs "So, if you stay here though, how many of your vast kennel do you expect to bring?" Theres a look of horror in her eyes. One can only imagine what might be going through her head. "Yeah, not too many felines in the stables here. Have had a few too many runners bothered by them underfoot so Yina tends to keep them out."
Jeniosa nods, "Well, except Citrine, he and Pearl have the cutest little kittens." Awww! "I'm not sure how many I'd bring, I mean, they're not the easiest to transport, and I'd be afraid they'd run off if I moved them here. Kestilran's taking care of them for me right now. I suppose I'd just have to find homes for them. But Id have to bring Citrine and Pearl for sure, and probably Obsidian and Hematite." Yes, her felines, like her firelizard, are named after stones. "I just can't pass up an animal that needs help, you know?" Which is why she was so willing to help Iforian with the puppies.
Soriana nods to Keziah. She hasn't been around the stables here too much… yet. At least not up close and personal. "Some runners make friends with felines, some don't like 'em. It all depends." She shrugs a bit, and then tilts her head as Jeniosa goes through her list of felines, just the ones she'd have to bring version. It makes things seem like bringing Inkfoot was no fuss at all!
Keziah lets out a sigh "I know. Tis how I came to have a caprine in the barracks when I was a candi once." She coughs a little. "Course, at that time, we hadn't the option of sleepin' elsewhere, or else I woulda had her in the barns. Birthed her myself, but the poor dam didn't make it." she notes quietly." Oh yes, one little mustelid is no problem at all. "And well, holders would give me their little injured critters in place of payment since they knew the critter would have a better chance. Mirai had a lot of pets at times." She nods to Sori "Some do, though many here have been partnered with caprines and such. It's been workin fairly well."
Jeniosa pushes her bangs back from her face. "I never took too well to the larger beasts, when J'ios gave me Citrine as a turnday present, I just fell in love with felines. They're so pretty and graceful, and they're wonderful hunters. I even started taking beasthealer lessons. Eastern's jungles were perfect for obsrving the larger wild felines as well, so long as you know how to hide yourself."
Soriana looks to where the last of the sunset colors are fading from the sky, and frowns. "I, uh, better head back," she says, and gives a wave to greenrider and candidate before starting up the stairs two at a time as though maybe, just maybe, she was supposed to be back… oh, say, /by/ sunset, instead of somewhat after it.
Keziah smiles as she waves Soriana on "Be safe heading back up!" she calls out and then she sighs as she too looks at the sunset "Like as not I should head back before they send a search party after me. I wouldn't put it past Ers'lan." she notes as she shakes her head a little. "I'll be watching you Jeni." she states, though there is humour in her voice. "Honestly, so many felines." She laughs and then shakes her head once more,
It is getting dark, isn't it? Jeniosa gives a wave to Soriana, "Goodnight, I'll see you for that game sometime soon." And don't candidates have a curfew or something here? The Beastcrafter Candidate arches a brow at Kezi. "Must be nice to have someone that cares so much about you. You're a lucky woman." And as for the watching her thing, she blinks. "Watching me? Felines aren't that much trouble, really." And then she's pushing to her feet, grabbing up the towel she was laying on to fold it over her arm. "Guess it is getting late, I should go check on the pups before heading back."