
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 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.
It's a hot day with not a single cloud to be seen. It's one of those stereotypical summer days in which people either cower and hide inside or brave the heat to beat it at the beach. Ka'el is on a mission. He's here on the beach, yes, but it's not merely to relax and hang out with friends and blow the day away. Ha! Those days are gone with the addition of Skyler in his life, plus Weyrleader duties. But! He's on leave from duties and Skyler..is not with him. Kanekith is. The big bronze is evident as he lays in the shallow waters, fanning his wings to splash water over himself to cool off. Ka'el is on the shore near the waterline dressed in long shorts and a shirt that's been discarded in the sand. He's currently .. digging a hole. Yup. He has a shovel and pail too! Luckily, neither are made out of plastic, which…perhaps only slightly saves him a few masculinity points.
A quick change of clothes after duties ended, and Kera is hurrying towards the beach. Ready to brave the gritty surf, her over stuffed satchel is lifted higher on her shoulder as Moncerath wings in over th water, seeming to float towards the deeper waters. With an ecited warble, the young green folds her wings and dragondives. Kera watches her dragonmate's progress and smirks towards the water "Show off." Her gaze travels over the bobbing waves to spot Kanekith splashing about a bit further down the shoreline. And then there is Ka'el down in the sand. Canting her head curiously, sandals flick sand up behind her with each step. "Um, don't you have people to dig holes for you Ka'el? Being Weyrleader and all." The greenhealer watches the bronzers actions with a curious grin.
Kanekith's head lifts a little as he spies Moncerath, and he watches her progress over the water, til she dives within its depths. He lets out a breath through his nostrils, then swings his head back towards his rider with only the barest touches of the mind to the green. Acknowledgment of her presence (which for him, is a big thing!) He is a cold current in the cold waters, grazing against her, then pulling away. Ka'el continues to dig, settled on his knees with his bare toes curled in the sand behind him. He pauses though, feeling Kanekith's attention turn, then looks up just before Kera speaks to him. He smirks towards the green rider. "I do," he answers. "Though technically I'm on leave, so if I start ordering them around, others will think I'm back on duty, and then my inbox will be flooded, I'll have meetings scheduled for days…" He sighs and waves his free hand. "It's too much of a risk." He pauses, then eyes her with an inspired look. "But you're here.." he says with a growing grin, "so surely you'll dig my hole for me, won't you?"
Kera eyes the hole Ka'el works on, nodding at his vacation logic, thus why he's digging it himself. Looking briefly towards the water when Moncerath surfaces, the green not at all put off by the older dragon's chilly greeting. She's in the water and that's one of her favorite places to be. Knowing the green will be entertained by poking at some of the larger fish darting beneath the surface, Kera crouches near the bronzer. Letting her satchel slip to the sand, a wary, almost suspicious glance to Ka'el's task "I'm fresh out of shovels I'm afraid." She goes through the motion of searching her bag, head shaking "Nope, forgot to pack one today." She snaps her fingers before cracking a grin and chuckling "I can help you though, just give me a bit to find something scrape-worthy." Pushing back to her feet, a bit of driftwood with a flat end is spotted. Coming back "How're Soriana and Skylar?" There's something else she wanted to ask…oh yea "Why are you digging a hole anyway?"
The resident bronze stays where he is, content with the water that slides down his back and keeps him cool. He continues to observe. He watches his rider. He watches as dragons fly by overhead. He watches as other humans play on the beach. This is his Weyr, and he likes to keep an eye on things. Ka'el, on the other hand, has his eyes on the ground. Or rather, on the sand, but he pauses when Kera joins him, snickering at her shovel-searching antics. "Yeah, yeah, a likely excuse," he smirks with faintly lifted brows. "I'll give you a pass just this once." He chuckles and shovels sand into his bucket as she asks a rather reasonable question. Why is he digging? And the answer is relevant to her other question of how everyone is doing. "I'm digging because I realize that at this time next turn, Skyler will be one. And maybe, at one turn old, I should bring him to the beach and we should build sandcastles together. But … I then realized that I don't really have much experience building sandcastles, or sand-anythings really. And if he says one day when he's two or three or four, 'Let's build a sandcastle!' I want to be sure I know how to make a good one. So, I'm practicing… And Soriana is well."
Kera examines the bit of driftwood she chose, determining how best to use it as a makeshift shovel. Dropping to a knee in the sand, she nods with a cheery grin. "Fair enough, that's reasoning I can fault you for." Scanning the pail next to the Weyrleader, "Are there any smaller ones in there?" She leans a bit, trying to see inside it, but rights herself quickly when she nearly tips over. She starts scooping out sand with the flat ended driftwood. "I was never very good at making big sandholds as a kid. Either too dry to stand, or too much water. Either way, they fell." Kera laughs easily at her childhood sandhold failures. Moncerath is cavorting with waves and fish, splshing about in the water while Ka'el practices digging sandcastles.
"Smaller whats? Shovels?" asks Ka'el with a shake of his head. "Nope. I hadn't expected help. But hey, you're being resourceful," he comments with a gesture to the driftwood. "Thank you for following orders!" He snickers, continuing to dig up sand while Kanekith continues to play silent observer in the shallows. The hole is getting deep, but a hole really isn't the focus here. It's .. building with the sand dug from the hole! That's the challenge. The bucket is nearly full now, and he dumps one more shovelful in and exhales a breath. "I usually have good reasoning behind most things I do. Most…not all," he chuckles. "But…hearing you talk, I take it I won't find much help from you, will I? That's alright, we can figure this out together, eh? First, we'll need… walls. And wet sand." He glances from his bucket of sand, to the shore. Hmm. "…Note: more than one bucket is advised."
Luraoth glides in - past the shores, past holes and heaps and people working. The golden dragon heads over the waters, and once she's out over the depths… she dives! Wings folded, body angled down, she splashes her way beneath the lake. Her rider may be (is) busy, but she still wants a bath! If she can't get it with scrubbing hands, she'll just get it all by herself… and never mind that wave that's coming up to shore as a result.
Kera sends a mock angry look Ka'el's way "Hey! I'm helping. It's not my fault you didn't specify if it would be constructive or destructive help." Not that it will help her cause, but she looks towards the watchful bronze in the shallows and calls out "Did he Kanekith?" Not expecting a response from her little outburst to the large bronze, Kera turns her attention back to helping scoop sand into the pail. "But no, I was talking about differant sized pails. Small, medium, large… maybe a couple of small cups too." Looking towards the water when Moncerath warbles a greeting, the large queen is spotted diving. And, is that wave getting bigger. Watching a couple more seconds, her scooping slows to a stop "Um, Ka'el..?" She's still watching the incoming wave. "You may have to start over."
Oh look, it's his barnmate. Kanekith's head lifts up to regard Luraoth's arrival, greeting her with the same cool current that he did the tiny green. Familiarity causes the touch to last a tad longer before it pulls away, retreating like a wave from the shore. Much unlike the wave that Luraoth has pushed towards the shoreline. Kids squeal. Hooray, dragon wave! The hurry towards the shallows in hopes of getting hit by it. Ka'el glances curiously at Kera's warning. "Why..?" he asks before looking past her. Oooh. Dragon wave! He stands and grabs up his bucket 'o sand, a grin forming on his face. "Nah, this is perfect. I needed water!" he says, taking a few steps forward to meet the rush of water. Hm. Maybe not that much water. "Here is coooomes!" squeals a little boy as the runs up the shore, attacking everyone with its watery reach. Splash! Water on the kids! Water on the Weyrleader! And probably Kera too! And in the bucket!
Luraoth's thoughts are warm like the summer sun, brushing Kanekith's cool and Moncerath's mists. She's familiar with him, as well… which means she's familiar with brevity in her greetings. Besides, she has water to swim in, so that's why she barely says more than hello to the green either before she's gliding beneath the waves heedless of the wave she's unleashed on the shore. Splashing! Splooshing! Bucket-filling and child-soaking! It's a hazard of nature, or at least… of nature plus dragon. Also it's not actually that hazardous. It's just water!
Kera, grinning at Ka'el's optimistic view of the incoming wave, she gets to her feet again. Thankfully she remembers her satchel leaning briefly to snatch it up and fling it well clear of the incoming water. It's got her towel and extra dry shirt in there afterall. Once it's clear, she steps to the waters edge so that she'll probably be thoroughly drenched when all is said and done. That what she came to the beach for anyway, only Ka'el had to go and sidetrack her with sandcastle practice.
Yaaay! Cheers from the kids, grins and squinted eyes from Ka'el, and a bucket of sand-water to show for his efforts. He gives his head a doggish shake as the water recedes, wet from head to toe. Which is just fine, he took his shirt off bef- oooh no his shirt! Where is was is no longer where it is. The wave took it! He'll notice this…eventually. Likely when he's ready to go and there's no shirt to be found. As it is, he has wet sand! .. A little too much water in the bucket but oh well, there's plenty of dry sand to mix it with. "Got it!" he says triumphantly, heading to drier places. "Thanks Luraoth!" And thanks Kanekith for letting him know just where that wave came from. "Come on," he urges Kera as he plops down on his knees in the warm dry sand, dumping his bucket out. "We have to make the walls. Four of them." Genius! "Like…box shaped, right?"
Luraoth is helpful! Also swimming around, chasing fish and generally enjoying herself beneath the waves. One of the kids on shore giggles. "Tanks Luraoff!" She's probably, what… five? If that? Still far past where Ka'el's kid is at in terms of all those developmental things, though. Why, she's probably old enough to build her own sandcastle! Maybe even ones that stand up for entire minutes. Maybe.
Kera waits til the wave surge is close, then with a childish squeal, she darts forward a couple of splashing steps and jumps into the wave in a cannonball manner. Climbing up from the water when the wave starts to recede, her face is swiped a couple of times to keep water from her eyes. Laughing as she watches the childrens' reactions and starts wringing her hair a bit. Sloshing back to the dry sand, and flicking drops of water off when she can, nodding as she answer Ka'el absentmindedly "A box has four sides, yea.." She cast a curious look towards the bronze over the point. Finally, snapping out of her little brain cloud, she blinks "Oh, yea. But, techinically, you can make four sides…" she gestures towards the pail "After you make a round tower, shave it with a knife… or ….OH! Better idea, use thread to shave it." Moncerath continues to swim, sometimes using her tail to push her through the water, other times diving and trying to flush the flighty fish towards the much larger Luraoth.
"I'm not trying to make a sand box.." he says, eying his pile of wet sand with furrowed brows. He should've made blueprints. Definitely will draw out blueprints next time. He has his thinky face on now, and he rubs at his chin a bit before looking over to Kera who sounds as if she has an idea. Four sides..with a round tower. Yes, the thing definitely must have a tower! Shaved with a knife that he didn't bring. Or.. "Thread?" he says with a quirked brow. Another note to self: bring more supplies than just a shovel and pail. "…It's grand that I have a turn or two to perfect this before anything is expected of me.." he says, eyeing his sandblob which doesn't resemble a castle at all. Or anything else for that matter. But he hasn't started yet! But he is now, starting to work on those walls. "I thought you said you hadn't any skill at this?" he says, smirking amusedly at her. Kanekith, aware of the dragons in the water, makes no move to join them. In fact, he's feeling a little itchy beneath the wings. He spreads them as he rises and drags himself out of the shallows.
Luraoth twists and turns in the water, dancing beneath the waves. She bubbles a laugh to Moncerath as she swims past the green, chasing a fish and then snorting as it dodges her and tries to hide under one of Moncerath's wings. Swimtime fun! …not only that, it's a bath for a queen dragon who's… perhaps not had quite as much attention as usual from her rider, these past sevens. Not that Luraoth looks neglected, exactly, but she's certainly been spending more time away from Soriana.
Kera shrugs and uses her driftwood to wedge sand up, tapping gently and pushing more sand up to make a 'wall'. "I'm observant. But just cause I know how it should be done, doesn't mean I can actually do it well, or at all really." Kera snorts in amusement "So it's a good thing the weyr has people who can build. Can you imagine what Moncerath's barn would look like if I tried fitting the stones together?" The greenhealer cringes at that, reaching up to swipe water before it drips into her eyes. "The thread trick I've seen used in kitchens a lot. Slicing wedges off the large cheese bricks. Or to slice wet clay." She gives a little shrug and gets to her feet with a shake of her head "Bah. I'm horrible at yet another task." Trying to swipe clinging sand from her fingers "I can help your practice much better by gathering some supplies for you instead." Eyeing the beach thoughtfully, she nods "I'll go see to that for you." And she rushes off, leaving her satchel which she'll come back for. Kera looks towards the water a moment, quietly communing with Moncerath before she starts trotting away, muttering about bowls and planting pots. The greendragon starts snorkeling under her wing, trying to flush out that pesky hiding fishy. That tickles!
"Touche," replies Ka'el, chuckling at her barn comparison. If any of them tried to build their own dwellings, Xanadu would be in poor shape indeed! Perhaps…the same shape as his sand..mushblob thing he has going on. Not quiiiite a sandcastle. The walls keep collapsing, the excess water making things difficult to mold and impossible to stay upright for long. Maybe there's another way to go about this? He eeeeyes a what-looks-to-be a seven-turn old girl down the beach who is doing the same thing as him: sand building! But with far more success. Would it be weird for him to seek advice from a random child? Perhaps … if he wasn't the Weyrleader. But he is! So maybe…he'll ask for a child's guidance. Kera gets his attention again as she mentions gathering those random supplies. Thread and buckets and hand shovels. "Grand idea, if you wouldn't mind. Thank you!" he calls in her wake, giving her a salute. Ha! Kanekith, meanwhile, finds a nice warm spot to plop himself down upon, giving his wings a stretch before folding them again and settling his head down, his mind meandering to and from those in the water. Checking in. Ka'el, meanwhile, continues his efforts at castle making, working on those walls again while awaiting Kera's return. .. Heh. It is a good thing that he has a few turns before Skyler cares about things like this. Ka'el obviously needs the practice!