Xanadu Weyr - Meadow
A large, slightly rolling meadow is set high enough above the riverbank on both sides to avoid suffering from flooding, healthy ground cover and grass spreading out from either side of the dividing river. Scattered amongst the meadow are a variety of buildings, each with a narrow path leading up to it from a main, winding road. Some are set under a few trees, while others sit by themselves.
Stables and a smithy are settled on their own plots, while trees border the northern edge of the meadow, and a faint outline of a fence can be seen to the east.
The mid-day sun has just begun to sink across the sky, hidden now and again by patches of thick clouds that move across the skyline. The herds are out, including many of the local runners grouped into the paddock that separates them from the feeding grounds. The air hasn't quite gotten cold yet, although there is a subtle shift from fall's warmer days as a cool breeze blows in. Coming up along the coastal road and heading towards the stables, a gray runner can be seen just in the distance but covering ground fairly quickly. Atop the gelding is Rogawani, returning from a trip to the nearby Black Rock hold. His runner is packed down with a number of bags. Otherwise, things are fairly calm on this regular, standard day at the Weyr.
Kire comes out of the forge and he has some more insulated wire with him, "Thank you again." He waves as he steps out of the very hot forge. He has a small spool of wire in his hand and in the other hand he has his black carrying case. He spots Rogawani coming in on his runnerbeast and he waves to him, "Hello there Rogawani. How are you doing? That's quite a lot of packages you have there."
There's a green dragon, one that should look familiar to Kire which circles the clearing before landing and a green rider hops down and heads to the meadow. She smiles brightly when she sees Kire and waves at him
"Hey there, Kire." Rogawani calls out, raising a hand. That had all-too-quickly reaches forward to grab onto his saddle as the green dragon comes over unexpectedly, causing the runner to rear up a bit. "Easy, easy there." He leans forward, forcing the gelding back down onto his forelegs. Throwing one of his leg over the runner's back, Ro' quickly dismounts and grabs onto the runner's reigns. "Come on now, let's get you unpacked." Turning towards Kire, the boy just nods a little. "Lots of packages sneaking through Hannista via. Black Rock these days." He explains, before giving a curious look towards the rider waving at Kire.
Kire smiles as he sees the familiar green dragon and the rider. He happily waves to Slidra and her dragon, "Hello there. What brings you to Xanadu Weyr Slidra?" He asks as he waits for her to come over. He ahs a little bit, "Well do you need any help unpacking all those boxes. I hope this doesn't mean that Black Rock will be closed off as well."
Slidra smiles happily and shrugs. "I just needed some leather." She explains. "Can't find what I want at Ierne." She smiles at Rogawani and outstretches a delicate hand. "I'm Slidra, green Iaserth rider, posted at Ierne."
Reaching up, Rogawani begins to unstrap the bags from the back of his runner. "Should be okay, but thanks for the offer." The first of the bags comes off easily, brought down to the ground with careful hands. As he stands back up strait, Ro' offers a return smile to the green rider and takes her hand politely. "Pleasure to meet you, rider. I'm Rogawani, the messenger for the weyr." Glancing at Kire, he looks curiously. "You two know each other already?"
Kire smiles, "Well it's good to see you." He gives her a hug and he turns to look are Rogawani, "Yep, this is Slidra, I met her at Irene Weyrhold when I had to go there to collect some sand for my master. He's obsessed about finding the right sand for his mirrors, next thing you know I'll be in Ista collecting black sand." He shakes his head a little bit.
Slidra smiles and hugs Kire back gently, purring a bit. "It's good to see you too." She replies fondly and she turns to Rogawani and steps up to the runner. "May I pet the runnerbeast?" She asks politely
"Ierne, huh?" Rogawani looks curiously between the two, and then nods his head. "I mostly work the local holds, so I haven't been able to get out many places outside the weyr." As he reaches up to unstrap the second of his bags, the boy nods towards Slidra. "Of course, just pat him calmly. He's a little riled up from that dragon coming in above."
Kire nods, "My Master arranges blue riders to take me where he wants to go." He ahs, "It must be tough for a runner when something that big comes up on you and you know you might be food. Do dragons eat runners or just herdbeasts."
Slidra nods her head and smiles softly, murmuring soothing at the runner and petting his nose gently with a soft, gentle hand. "There there." She whispers, caressing his snout lightly
"You must get up on dragons pretty often then." Rogawani chuckles to himself as he slowly unstraps the second bag from his runner's back. "Well, the harpers say that all animals of Pern are effected by dragons, although I'm pretty sure some get used to it after a while." A third, smaller bag is unhooked and this one is tossed over his shoulder. "But the dragons do eat runners, just usually the wild ones in the herds. Not the work-runners that live in the stables. The runner's eyes turn towards Slidra, and he gives a small whinny, pawing at the ground slightly.
Kire nods and smiles, "Yah quite a bit until yesterday. I just found out that there is a new plan to build an observatory here at Xanadu and my Master has been put on the lead team. Soon Xanadu will be swarming with starcrafters. I picked out a site with Kai yesterday. Kai is Slidra's girlfriend." He nods as he listens to Rogawani explain about dragons, "I see, well I guess I'd be nervous too about a huge meat eating creature if I was on the menu."
Slidra smiles softly. "I lived with runners when I was younger." She says, looking at Kire. "I know how to act around them so they aren't afraid of smell." She explains simply.
Adjusting the shoulder strap on his letter bag, Rogawani offers a smile towards Slidra, "Well, he seems okay with you, but I should put him up in the stables soon. It's been a long day for him." Patting the runner affectionately, Ro' looks over to Kire, his eyebrows lifting. "Is it going to be similar to that model you were working on, or a different design?" Looking towards the forest for a moment, "So where is the site for the observatory?"
Kire nods, "Well that's more then I have. I've never ridden a runner before, just dragons." He smiles, "It looks fun though if a bit bumpy." He smiles, "Actually they are using the design that I worked on. They were really impressed by the model too bad I'm so young or else I'd probably get to be journeyman out of it." He shrugs, "Oh well."
Slidra smiles softly and turns away from the runner when Rogawani leads him away and she steps beside Kire, sliding a hand around his waist gently.
Kire smiles at Rogawani, "Understandable. I believe that it's going to be near the Star Stones, they are the highest point in the weyr." He looks over at Slidra as she puts his arm around him and he goes to put his arm around her.
"At the Star Stones, huh?" Rogawani seems to accept this thoughtfully, but then takes his runner's reigns and begins to lead him off towards the stables. "You two take care. I'm sure Kire can show you where to get your leathers." Giving only a half-glance behind him, the messenger soon disappears around the back of the stables, dragging the two carry bags and leading his runner behind.