Weyrling Beach
With a gentler slope to the water from the main beach and the way it is cut in like a cove, this is the most sheltered spot for bathing. The sand is the same white hue, there are just as many — or perhaps more — scattered shells. From here, one has a beautiful view across the lake, a scene more often tranquil than not.
Unlike just a very short number of days ago, Xanadu's skies are open and warm, clouds thick and fluffy and white as they scuttle far away on the horizon. It's late morning, but not inexcusably so, for one weyrling pair is just now hauling themselves out of the barracks. "N-no more late nights, s-s-stars or no stars," Esiae stutters through a yawn, one hand looped around her lifemate's head knob, the other rubbing sleepily at the dust in her eyes. It isn't the first time they've been outside, but each time, there is something new to see, and soon the weyrling has to dance aside as her gold goes dashing to investigate some shiny glitter of shell as they approach the beach. For however tired she is, Esi has to laugh, eyes still surveying Sonyxaeth with no lack of wonder. Still amazed? Yep.
Aisuohkoth has apparently finally talked her own lifemate into going somewhere other than just the area just outside of the barracks. The shadowy green is pouncing along, her tail constantly flicking and her paws busy feeling every change in the sand beneath her. "Aisu, wait up!" That would be the greenling known as Jessi, tiredly trying to keep up with her young charge. Does the green listen and wait for her person? Nope, of course not! She does, however, pause near where the waves lap against the shore and just watches the movement curiously. At least the pause allows the petite woman to catch up. "It's water, Aisu." A tilit of shadowed green head towards the young woman. "Waves, those are waves." Oh, look, Aisuohkoth is soon distracted by something else now, that being her golden sister, and so the moving shadow proceeds to slip into stalker mode.
While dragons stretch their legs, a young firelizard is stretching his wings. Toral's still just a wee thing, though he's doubled (at least!) in size since he hatched. He's just now starting to fly more than fluttering to and from Soriana's shoulder or a table's-edge - in this case, along the beach, wings cupped to the updrafts. His girl trails after him, watching with a grin and a ferret on her shoulder. When Toral sees the dragons, he veers off in a loop, darting closer to them to take a curious look. Soriana breaks into a trot to catch up, and when she comes into view, she grins. No wonder he's intrigued! "Heya!"
Seaweed the big brown flitter has been basking on the beach, bereft of people and dragons, for a long time now. But his secret escape has now been invaded by dragons! Bitty dragons! He snaps away between for a moment, and comes back back and chitters at Toral. The image he sends is of Inuelle! Yay for his own! The brown flies around excitedly and then dives into the water. Splash! And comes back up and splashes about. Whee!
Esiae turns at the sound of Jessi's voice, a crooked smile lifting up one side of her mouth. Sonyxaeth is oblivious for the moment, absorbed by the way the shell's surface shines with a different iridescence depending on how she tips her head, but her weyrling recognizes the futility of the chase of the greenling after her pouncing lifemate. "Good morning. I see we share similar fates," she says towards Jesi, chin jerking out at the pair of over-curious dragonets. Unawares that she's being stalked by the green, Sonyxaeth glances up and bugles a greeting, gesturing with her head as though to say the sneaky shadow should come see what she has found. Treasure! Stifling a laugh, Esi saunters further down the beach, almost at her gold's side before motion further down the beach draws her attention. First one flit, then two, and finally a familiar figure and her famous mustelid. "Soriana!" Neither of the flits are recognized, but she assumes one belongs to the girl. The other catches Sony's attention with all his flapping, muddied golden body going still with curiosity.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth's mind thrums with the excited beat of drums, or perhaps a crash much like the waves Aisuohkoth just inquired about, « Look at what I have found! It is small, and shiny! » There is a pause for the arrival of flits and humans. « They are also small and shiny… But not the same. »
Jessi nods as she makes her way closer to her fellow weyrling. "Aye, Aisu's curious for curious' sake." Aisuohkoth, having lost her chance at ambushing her clutchsister, decides just to pad up next to the gold to look at her shinything. Ooh! Pretty. Shadowy green purrcroons appreciatively at the shel, that is until more things catch her eye and the greenlet's whorling eyes focus on the pair of flits and then on Soriana and the furrything on her shoulder. Jessi smiles apologetically to Esiae as she has to quickly move to her green's side before the little dragonet has a chance to go pouncing after flits and girl with ferret. "Hi Sori!" She greets, hopefully alerting to the presence so that Aisu loses the ambush again before she can do any harm.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Aisuohkoth's tone is soft and sultry like the tickle of fur against flesh, or the feel of velvet draping across your mind, « It is good, there are many different ones. What's that? » Pointedly she shoots a curious image of the ferret into your mind. « I wonder what it tastes like. »
Toral wobbles in the air! Dragons! Another lizard! He's still not entirely confident in his flying! Whoah! The small brown starts to fall, and then spreads his wings and catches himself after what looks like a totally intentional dramatic dive. Yeah, that's it. He chirps back to Seaweed, little baby squeaks and the glowing-happy-edged picture of Soriana (and Inkfoot). Aww. Before he gets distracted (and misses another wingbeat), he steers himself into a glide toward the water's edge, splashing down near the bigger brown in an entirely undignified sploosh! …but a fun one, his glee projected along with an image of the splash.
Inkfoot leans halfway off Sori's shoulder to chirp something-or-other to the wayward Toral, while the girl calls, "Hey Esiae! Hey Jen- Jessi!" She grins cheerfully, trotting closer, and looks appreciatively over the two dragons, gold and green. No sneakin' up on her this time, not with her peering curiously at this chance to see the young dragons closer-in than way down on the hatching sands.
The kitchens must have been waiting for the Weyrlings to emerge from the barracks for awhile, for Inuelle is soon to be seen coming down the path in the company of another younger baker apprentice with a wobbly cart laden with two trays. One tray has cookies, the other has a selection of meat rolls and vegetarian rolls. And there's also a pitcher of lemonade, cups and plates. "Hi!" Inuelle calls. "Surprise!" she says as soon as the reaches the beach. The other baker apprentice, practically dancing with joy, says "Oh they're so adorable!" about the dragonets. Then she hides behind Inu.
Esiae laughs, nodding fervently at Jessi. "I hear you there. Everything is an adventure. One of these days, she's going to strike out when I'm asleep, and I'll never find her again." Indignant at the thought, Sonyxaeth huffs and strides back to her human, shiny shell forgotten in order to butt her head comfortingly against the girl's ribs. Or. Well. It may have been comforting if the dragon weren't already something like five dragonmeters long. "Oof! I know, I was just teasing, Sony." Giving Jessi an understanding nod and half-smile, Esi turns her attention to Soriana— or tries. "Mustelid," she says abruptly for no reason at all. Seeming to realize so, she rolls her eyes at Sori. "She's really interested in Inkfoot. I see your egg hatched, by the way! Things have been so hectic that I didn't really get to follow up. Handsome fellow." Or he is as far as she can see, and then more-or-less as one the weyrling pair squints down the beach. "Inuelle, hey!" Esi does look quite surprised, the first time for the small feast the dear bakercrafter has brought them, and a second time for when Sonyxaeth goes whisking past to sniff at /everything/. Hopefully the girls still think she's cute when she's all up in their business. "Those are rolls. That's lemonade. … You know what cups are. Okay, come on, no more of this game. You're going to give someone a heart attack." Esi rushes forwards to pull the gold back by one wing, expression apologetic. "Sorry. She thinks everything is intriguing."
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth's mind pings with the curious introduction of a violin, attention redirected. « Oh, /that/… » A beat. « Yes. Mine says it is a mustelid. » Pride in this discovered knowledge washes upon the shores of her mind. « I'd imagine it would taste like meat? But what kind of meat… there are so many kinds. Like this kind! Ah, and this kind. And— ew, that's not a meat, what is that? » Meatroll and vegetable images flash across the connection.
Aisuohkoth has lost her chance at an ambush of Soriana and Inkfoot, she's gotta work on her stalking more. But now there's an entirely different distraction, and this one smells delectable! And so, before jessi can get her arms around shadowed green neck or forepaw, Aisuohkoth is making a beeline for the cart of food and drinks, letting loose a speed she had hidden while in stalker mode. "Aisu No!" Calls Jessi, but too late, the green is nearing the cart and..she promptly trips over her own flicking tail and instead of pouncing as she intended, finds herself tumbling towards the cart. Jessi just…covers her eyes. Eek!
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Aisuohkoth has started in with an excited kind of vibration, a purr maybe? « A mustelid, interesting. » Then, attention is switched from the furrything to the cart and the vibration becomes stronger. « Ooh, that looks good. That smells..funny. What's that yellow stuff? Hey do you think they will let us taste them? » And then..green's mind connection shimmers into surprise as she stumbles and tumbles tailtip over head.
Muste-? Ohhhh! Soriana's brief perplexment gives way to a laugh, and she gets Inkfoot to scamper down off her shoulder and into her hands for better dragon-viewing. "Mustelid, yes," she says. "Runner-through-tunnels…" She grins, and then gets a very hard thinky expression for a moment as she tries to persuade the splashing-about Toral to think about how he's seen Inkfoot-running-through-tunnels at the gold-dragon. It's a very complex concept for a firelizard, and… she's not honestly sure if she's succeeded. Mostly Toral's going 'Yay! Water! Yay!' at her as he splashes around. Sori lets it slide, and grins. "You've had good reason to be busy!" she says, smiling to Esiae… and then at Sonyxaeth. "His name's Toral," she adds with a fond smile, and then turns around at the sound of Inuelle's name to wave to the pair of food-bringers! "Heya!" she calls, and then… oh. Oh, dear. She recognizes that look from Aisuohkoth. She's seen it on Inkfoot. It always, always means trouble. Eep.
The younger baker apprentice gives a giggle when the gold starts to inspect them both. She then shrieks when the other young dragon comes at them both and ducks for cover behind the gold. Inuelle, who is accustomed to the idea that small children will sometimes rush in at the sight of snacks, quickly starts pushing the cart quickly out of the path of the dragon, keeping herself between cart and dragonet. "Oh no you don't, these are for your lifemate!" she says, though her voice is shaky and with a rather high tremor of panic to it.
Esiae kept Sonyxaeth from eating and/or destroying the treat Inuelle has brought for them, and for that, she takes a victory meatroll while her dragon leans over and gives Inkfoot a thorough sniffing. Whuffwhuff… whuff! "Definitely not." Esi's answer is bland, as she eats the roll from around the meat, and then offers the leftovers to Sony. "Eat this instead." Instead? Instead of what?! Luckily, attention is diverted to Toral. "Mmm, yes, I suppose I have been just a bit busy! Still, I don't even know if Alzanbri's has even hatched, though I guess it must haaaaa-!" The girl squeals as she goes down, pushed behind one murky gold dragon paw as Aisuohkoth trips spectacularly and almost takes out the cart Esi was standing next to. The weyrling pants for a second, and then wriggles out from her suddenly protective dragon, puffing out a laugh when she sees that Inuelle has saved the day! Er, the cart! "Nice reflexes." Sonyxaeth tilts her head to look at the apprentice hiding behind her. Oh, hello!
Jessi has managed to grab at Aisuohkoth's tail and gives it a tug backwards, of course, this only manages to send the petite weyrling tumbling as well. But at least Inuelle has saved the food, and eventually Aisuohkoth just lands in front of the baker with a thump. As soon as she's able, the green gets to her feet and flicks her tail, then proceeds to stare at her lifemate. Hmm, she meant to do that, really! "Are you all okay?" Jessi asks as she disentangles herself from the flickering green tail to survey the damage. "Ah…sorry." The young woman murmurs, blushing brightly. "Glad you saved the snacks, Inu." Shadowed green muzzle is thrist at the baker with a sniff and a sniff and a really big wuffle, and then poor Inuelle is promptly licked by Aisuohkoth. As the green starts to slink towards the cart to investigate, Jessi grabs her, catching her arms around the dragonet's neck before she can get away. "No you cannot lick them all, then no one will want to eat them." Sheesh.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Aisuohkoth is still all dizzy excitement and vibrations. « Does it taste good? I want a lick too! And I want to lick this and this and this and that too. » Oh my, the things she wasnt's to tastetest.
Inkfoot chitters and wriggles about as he's sniffed, apparently totally fearless despite the fact that, never mind Sony could eat him in one bite, she could /inhale/ too hard and swallow him. But, pff, whatever. He's a tunnelcat. He's taken down a wild feline. He can totes handle dragons!
Soriana takes a quick doublestep back away from the dragon-assaulted cart. Fortunately, Inuelle has the reflexes to handle this! Food: saved. Esiae: also saved, if rather abruptly and overambitiously. Green dragonet: undaunted. Sori giggles, and steps over to help distract Aisu by the skilled application of head-scritches. "She's right, you know. You gotta save your licks for what's important." Sagenod.
Inuelle is relieved that the food she brought is safe, but now she has two more problems. One, the younger baker she had brought with her to help is hiding behind a dragon, and two…a lick. From a dragon. "Oh!" she says, and laughs. "Now no sucking up, you'll have one if your lifemate allows it," she says, and she reaches out to scritch the green as well. "I'm sure you gals must be hungry," she says to Jessi and Esiae…and Soriana. "The head cook gave me instructions to make sure the weyrlings had their fill before anyone else got any. But as it turns out, there aren't as many weyrlings here as…Seaweed suggested in his image," she looks in the direction of the brown, who had been playing in the water, then jumps up and flutters about offendedly at the idea that he sent her a bad image! Ah, so thats how she knew to come down here with treats.
Esiae rises and dusts herself free from debris, still laughing quietly. "Yeah, all good here. I don't think I needed a roll through the sand, but…" There's an affectionate look for Sonyxaeth, one hand stroking over her muck-mottled young hide. The gold is really /quite/ amused by Inkfoot though, recognizing his fearlessness, and apparently commenting on it judging by Esi's sudden laugh. "She says if she could, she'd take him on an excellent adventure because he's brave," the girl says, patting the dragonet and pointing an amused look at Aisu and Inu for that lick. "Mmm, dragon spit," she croons, as if that was the best thing ever. "I appreciate it though. I'm not nearly as hungry as the youngsters always seem to be, but food that doesn't have to be grabbed on the way out the door is always a welcome sight." Indeed, she scoops up another roll, shelling it before feeding the meat to Sony again. "Aw! Well, maybe the others were out earlier? We tend to have… very different schedules," she admits, eyes rolling. "Sony stayed up all night. I heard one of the other greens up at the crack of dawn. It's weird, considering we were all up at dawn with candidate chores or craftwork…"
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth hums, drums and violins finally working in tandem to create a soft, pensive melody. « It does. Somewhat spicy, though, » the dragon says, pausing on the word 'spicy' as though checking that it was the right one. « Ask yours to feed you bites? I'm sure she would. » This is noted with a distant flash of lightning, a metaphorical lightbulb going off in the gold's mind.
Jessi keeps her arms around her green's neck because Aisuohkoth is still staring intently at the cart of food, tongue halfway out of her mouth when: Oooh, oh, what's that? Aisuohkoth's tongue lulls to the side as her head is scratched and she leans heavily into Soriana's touch. "What, you thought only I could scratch you like that?" Jessi laughs softly as she finally releases her green from her arms. And then there's another set of hands scratching and Aisu starts to purrcroon happily, tail's movement slowing. And then, when Jessi adds her own scritching, right under the green's chin and along the crescent shape between her eyes, the green suddenly flops sideways and begins to roll happily in the sand, purrcrooning the whole way. Oh look, a felineish green puddle of goo all of a sudden. Jessi seems relieved, maybe this means Aisu has finally settled, at least temporarily, and only when she's certain Aisu is distracted by the scratches, she'll reach out for one of the meatrolls, and she starts to take bites. "It is nice not to have to practically swallow our food whole."
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Aisuohkoth's velvety soft tone returns with a quiet vibrating purr accompaninent, lulled into a semblance of calm as she's scritched. « Ooooh, ohhhh, yeah thats the spot. You really should try this sistermine, it feels soooooooo good, ohhhh yeah.. »
Soriana laughs to Esiae! "He'd have a fine time, I'm sure." She reaches over to give the gold a pet, and then grins to Inuelle, and gives her a salute. "Oh, yeah, gotta keep the weyrlings fed. They can't just go wandering down anytime into the caverns to grab a meal, after all! Least, not unless they want their dragons following…." Oh, now she's probably gone and given Aisu ideas. Whups! Not that the green seems to need any help with those sorts of ideas, but still. Maybe Aisu's too distracted by pettings to have noticed! "Oh, yes. I learned to scritch dragons long ago." She grins, and continues to provide affections to the meltygreen. There's nothing that says weyrlings can't have /help/ with their lifemates, after all, and Sori's apparently rather fond of dragonkind! Inkfoot wriggles about and leaps down to the sand, meandering around and sniffing underfoot of dragons.
The smaller baker apprentice peeks her head out from behind her hiding place. "The kitchens have been aweful busy since the hatching. Lots has been going on. Inu show them yer knot!" Inuelle blushes bright red, and fingers her Senior Apprenticeship knot a little nervously and looks rather red. "A lot of bakers got new knots though," she says quietly. "Thats because so many of us were candidates and had to wait 'till after the hatching before they could get their knots," the younger baker pipes up. "Cause you know, Bakers have a lot of recipes they have to show they can do before they can get a knot. I'm still Junior," the girl adds. "Thats because your thirteen. Really, its just because of my birthday passing, that's all," Inuelle says decidely.
Esiae laughs and shakes her head when Aisu goes down for the count, all amusement. "Oh, definitely. She somehow envisions herself following him into those tunnels." There's a yeah-right look given to her gold, who is already more than double Aisuohkoth's size, but the dragon is pleasantly distracted by Soriana's pat and her sister's mental implication that she should get some scritches herself. Esi eyerolls and complies, rubbing her fingertips over the strange mask-like patterns on Sony's face, having to bend down slightly when the gold lowers her head to try and follow Inkfoot's progress. Churr? "Ooh, congratulations on the promotion, Inuelle! Shards, I'm not surprised they made you wait or anything, but… that's /exciting/." She's 17, after all, and had still been a junior harper, though there was that one time off in the wilds that ruined her progress. "You allowed to cook without your family breathing down your neck now?" Wink.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth's mindvoice sings and sloshes with amusement. « I may have to, if it feels so nice. But for now, I want to know where this fellow is going. How I wish I could be so small - the little details I could see from down there…! »
Jessi finally has a chance to relax, though it's short-lived because as Inkfoot gets on the sand, she finds herself eye-level with him and purrcroons amusedly. "No, you may not go into the caverns with me next time I go." Oh dear, now she's gonna have to be extra sneaky when she goes to the caverns next time. Of course, it doesn't help to think about sneaking away when the target of your sneaking in right there in your mind with you, and as suddenly as Aisuohkoth flopped down, she's up and pouncing on her lifemate, knocking Jessi to the ground and pinning her. Ack! "Yes, you're very good at sneaking, now please get off of me, you're getting too heavy for that." She tries to shove the green off of herself. "ah, indeed, congratulations on the promotion Inu. Before you know it you'll be a journeyman." At least it seemed to fly by for Jen between sr apprentice and journeyman. Once she decides to allow it, Aisuohkoth unpins her rider and proceeds to glance around for the tunnelcat, and soon she's stalking after him, though it's kind of hard for the green to get underfoot as much as the little furrything.
Soriana goes on with dragon-scritches, working backwards to Aisu's neck… at least, up until Toral decides he's done with swimming and comes hopping up along the shore, leaving a trail of drips as he heads toward Soriana with chirps and abortive little wing-wet flutters. Those're /his/ scritches she's giving away! The girl grins, turning from the green dragon to scoop up her water-muddled little firelizard, holding him against her chest. She strokes along the arch of his neck, and he croons. And Aisu's off! Sori laughs at the pouncing green… and at the idea of Sonyxaeth trying to chase Inkfoot. "Well. Very big tunnels?" Yeahhhh, maybe not so much. Still! The news about Inuelle gets a grin from her. "Congratulations!" To the baker her own age, Sori adds, "Well, you're better off'n me, anyhow. I'm not even apprenticed." For whatever that's worth. Sori shrugs, and then continues to pet her brown flit. Inkfoot, meanwhile, continues his investigations of… whatever it is he's investigating, circling under Sonyxaeth and then around to her side. He scrapes a paw against the sand, digging a hole, and then peers up as it's suddenly cast into shadow by Sony's large and curious golden head. Dook! Chirpdook, chitter! There, that oughta settle it but good! These dragons could all stand to learn a thing or three from tunnelcats, yes. Fortunately, Inkfoot is here and up for the task!
Inuelle smiles happily at the congratulations, and starts pouring servings of lemonade. "Feel free to serve yourself, but do try those cookies, I made them myself," a blush form the girl, and she looks at Esiae with a chuckle, "Yeah, I can cook on my own, but Mother and Aunt Sirell are still bother higher rank than me. Though, Mum's been talking about returning to the Hold," she has a look on her face which tells everyone just exactly how little she enjoys that idea. "I admit I want to stay, but I hate for her to be all alone." She watches the antics of dragons and whatnot with a giggle. "So playful!"
It's late morning, and a few late-rising weyrling pairs have found a surprise on the beach - Soriana and Inuelle, the latter with a friend and human snacks in tow. Esiae is lucky that Sonyxaeth finds Inkfoot amusing - the dragon is too preoccupied to notice thatplans of sneaking are afoot, else she'd be in. "Shards, don't even joke. The havoc that would be wreaked…" She shudders gently for the mental image, even though she's grinning. Perhaps her smile is caused by Sony, though, for the dragon has very carefully stepped back to watch the ferret dig. And yes, she's learned something, because suddenly an awful /lot/ of sand is being hauled up into the air, the gold's dark paws digging volumes more than wee little Inkfoot could. Luckily she's digging /away/ from everyone else… sheesh. "Sonyyy, stop that. It's- it's not proper." That seems to give the gold pause, a slow sense of dignity returning to her person. Right. Propriety. Face of the weyr. Conversations she's already forgotten due to excitement and poor memory. "Yes. Very big, very far away tunnels," Esi laughs, gaze shifting from Sori to Inuelle. A thoughtful look is given to the cookies, and then she reaches out and claims two for herself to nibble. "Mmm. Delishush," she crumbles, and then snickers and swallows before adding, "Aww, I know how you feel. My mum's in the same state… I feel bad especially now that I'm stuck here and can't even visit but… she at least has the grandkids." That last bit is an afterthought.
Cookies? Okay. Soriana don't mind if she do, and the weyrlings have had their chance. Yoink! She nibbles the treat as Toral leans up to investigate, fluttering near-dry wings with their permanently wet patterning. "S'good," she says to Inuelle with a grin, and then that grin turns to a laugh at Sony's mighty earth-moving powers. She mmmhs, and then… "Well," she says to Esiae. "You could try and get someone to bring her /here/ for a visit, I guess."
As Sonyxaeth starts digging, Inkfoot chitters with something that sounds suspiciously like satisfaction. Now that'll do nicely, yes. He stands alertly, one paw lifted, until… hah! There in the flying sand, a little blue-hided tunnelsnake! The ferret pounces straight through the dragon-induced sandstorm, grabbing for the little pest and catching it by the tail before it can scuttle back into the sand. That superpowered draconic digging subsides, but Inkfoot has prey in sight, and he keeps right on going! He flicks his head up, throwing the tunnelsnake down against the sand, and then pounces again to chomp down at the back of the snake's neck and give a firm shake.
It seems that not all the weyrlings have managed a late morning and as Kinzie heads on to the beach towards the group, with Szadith following elegantly behind her, the gleam on the green's hide shows she must have spent quite some hours being washed and oiled already… but judging by the mumbling it hasn't been enough hours and Kinzie's face is that of someone being mentally bombarded. The green keeps stopping to look over her hide, then back to her rider, eyes whirling intently as she nudges the ex stablehand on occasions as if to emphasize a point until she is appeased and her rider stops to look at the offending area. "You're fine… urgh ok no not fine… you're oiled well and your hide looks wonder… yes yes mindvoice" Kinzie sighs and a look of attempted calm spreads across her face as she speaks to her dragon, and it isn't until that argument seems at least partly subdued that they both start towards the group again, though Szadith slows when she notices all the sand being thrown around, sand on her nicely oiled hide? I don't think so.
Now that Sony has settled, Esiae leans back against her, not really putting any weight against the gold, but enjoying her physical presence nevertheless. "Hah! She came for the hatching, and looked /so/ out of place and awkward. I couldn't imagine her being anywhere but home. It's a good idea, though - maybe just for short trips and visits." She will ponder this, just as Sonyxaeth now ponders attacking every piece of meat from hereon out just like Inkfoot attacked that tunnelsnake. The dragon stays stationary, Esi's leaning a physical reminder not to go off all crazy-like again, but her eyes definitely follow, and her rider makes a rather sick face. "Ew." Kinzie's arrival is a welcome reprieve, Esi's hand lifting in a wave. "Hey there, been keeping busy?" That much is obvious, but she asks anyways, figuring the greenie's hard work needs paying attention to.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth's mindvoice hums with slow thoughtfulness, violin strings taking dominance. « Greeting, sister. You look well. » Amused light dances along with the distant woosh of a crashing wave. « Have you ever seen such a marvelous creature as this mustelid? He is very brave. » An image of Inkfoot attacking a tunnelsnake flashes, admirition clear in the gold's more subtle drumbeats.
Sneak…sneak…sneaksneak…sneak. silently does Aisuohkoth pad along behind Inkfoot, then, as the ferret decides to stop and start digging suddenly the greenlet is slinking down nearby. Wait for it, wait for it…"Aisuohkoth, no! You'll hurt him." Caught! Drats! The green just sits there all hunkered down, to pounce or not to pounce? "I said no!" Jessi gets that commanding tone that she rarely uses, which causes Aisu, at least for now, to secondguess pouncing on the poor little ferret. But look, the ferret is pouncing something too! She peers at the furrything and its prey, hey, that looks like fun! She wants to do that too. "It's a tunnelsnake." The young woman calmly explains to her green. Aisuohkoth, however, now has a new goal in mind as she starts to dig in the sand much like her golden sister did, she's intent on catching her own tunnelsnake, yes indeedy. She'll dig until she finds one, or until something else catches her eye, whichver comes first. Apparently the something else comes first because soon the shadowed green's attention is caught by the approach of another of her sisters, and she purrcroons as her tail flicks. "Hey Kizzy." Jessi calls in greeting. "How're you and Szadith?"
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Aisuohkoth lets the soft velvet of her tone brush over the minds nearby her. « Look at the furrything, I want to do that too! Do you think it's fun? Do you thinks that the.. tunnelsnake.. will taste good, can I lick it? » And then the green's mind turns to Szadith briefly as she greets. « Hi other sistermine! Come to join the fun? »
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Szadith projects « Like soft velvet or satin rustling Szadith's mindvoice seems to emulate the gentle politeness in her words «Interesting dear sister, interesting but dirty» there is a sound amongst the softness, that of windchimes in a breeze, a gentle chime of irritation «You look well also, though how you can /dig/ in that sand, your hide dear one will become terrible with all that dirt and sand» »
Soriana is unperturbed by her pet's hunting; that's what he does! She's quite used to it by now. Toral, on the other hand, is moderately intrigued, watching the tunnelcat's technique and then fluttering down to hop across the sand and investigate up close as Inkfoot, having finished the snake off, starts gnawing it. When Sori catches a glimpse of Esiae's expression, she offers a smile. "Just how it is," she says. It's not like those sweet dragons won't be eating herdbeasts, too! Toral chirps, catching the tunnelsnake's tail to tug at it, and Inkfoot dooks and wraps his legs around to tug back. Soriana watches for a moment, and then turns to wave to Kinzie and pretty pretty Szadith. "Heya!"
The lack of any activity from Inuelle's direction may be due to the fact that she's gone fridgid with sudden iinexplicable fear. The younger baker looks at her oddly, then looks at where Inuelle's looking, and her eyes bug out. "Oh a tunnelsnake! Git 'em little furry guy!" Inuelle's only response to this is to squeak out an indiscernable response and to clutch at the cart with the snacks. She does not like creepy crawly bugs, tunnelsnakes or any other kind of pest creature. Her brown flit, sensing her sudden panic, flies onto her shoulder to chirrup soothingly at her. Don't worry I'll protect you!
Szadith looks towards her clutch sisters and manages a croon of greeting though she is now stood firmly, away from the digging and dirt, happy to observe from a distance only it seems. Her rider on the other hand approaches the group rolling her eyes and shaking her head "Don't mind her, she's just… particular" Kinzie says with a chuckle as she approaches and then turns back to look at the green "Honestly Sza' the sand is far enough away and i'm sure no one will direct it" and she sighs "Sorry mindvoice and there is nothing wrong with my outfit… shards it was only something that I didn;t mind getting dirty" and she looks back to her friend with a look of exhasperation before finally saying "Hi all".
Esiae blinks at Soriana for a long moment before realizing what she's talking about. "Oh! Yeah, I know, I just… had this horrible image of her doing it at feeding time tonight, and spraying blood and who-knows-what over us all. I know M'trin would have something to say about that, at best," she says with a small smirk, though there are surely others that'd find the behavior off-putting. "Better that she learns to eat sanely." The girl watches firelizard and ferret battle for the prize for a moment before aiming an equally amused look over at Aisu. "We're gonna have enough fun bathing them after this already." Brown eyes shift, catching on to Inuelle and her expression. "Aw, don't worry, dear. See, your flit's got your back. And so do we." Indeed, Aisu's going out of her way to rid the weyr of another of the pests! This is… somehow supposed to be reassuring. The same sort of sympathetic look is then given to Kinzie, head nodding in understanding. "No worries, yeah? And I think your outfit is perfectly suitable for washing and oiling." That's added with a wink and a cough, the weyrling keeping her face impassive as though she weren't being difficult. Doot dee doo.
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Sonyxaeth crackles softly like distant thunder, or perhaps drums rolling from a deep. « Yes. Though I have discovered that some of the more interesting things /are/ dirty. Not proper perhaps, but dirty, » she says, having learned something from Esiae at least.
Jessi watches dragons and ferret and flitters and…wow there's a lot going on isn't there? The young woman smiles softly at Inuelle. "I'm sure, with all these protectors, the tunnelsnakes won't get you." Jessi, herself, yeah she doesn't like creepy crawlie things either, but no one has to know that. As Aisuohkoth gets a little carried away with the digging, sending sand flying in all directions, Jessi moves to try to settle her again with a scritch, but all the green's special scritch spots are pretty much either sand covered or inside the large hole that the greenlet is busying herself with digging. Beastcrafter turned weyrling sighs, shaking her head. "It's gonna take us hours to get these two clean, Esi." She chuckles softly. "Wonder if the weyrlingmasters will mind too terribly." Hey, they're baby dragons, they're gonna get dirty eventually, right?
[Dragon/XAW: Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach] Szadith is thoughtful for a moment, her mindvoice a mix of swirls and whorls of green and gold constantly in motion «That is true dear sister, but I have to keep my hide clean for mine has spent so much time on it for me» her words are hinted with a slight shrill tone of excitement «for has it not brought out the colours beautifully my dear sisters?»
At Esiae's vision of the future chaos, Soriana… laughs. Probably because she's not the one who would have to clean it up. She nods. "Yeah… and the water's warm now. Tonight… maybe not so much." She hehs, and then the smile fades as she turns to look to Inuelle. "S'just a little one, anyhow," she says in what is meant to be helpful but may not actually be so in the slightest. It's true, though! The tunnelsnake that her ferret and flit are sharing between themselves is only a bit over a handspan long. "They get way bigger."
Inuelle starts to turn white and the smaller baker apprentice makes a waving motion. "Maybe we should go back to the kitchen and see if there's anything else we might bring out to the weyrlings…maybe last chance for lots of sweets for awhile. I know the cooks have been talking about 'healthy food for healthy minds' and such," Inuelle nods. "Maybe we should get some napkins too." she looks around at the chaos of sand digging and all that. "And maybe some bread. And some butter. And now that I think about it they've probably not had any of those little cakes Numia has been raving about," and she's easily being pulled along by the eyerolling younger baker. So much for being the 'Senior' apprentice.
Kinzie smiles over towards Esiae, though she grimaces a little at the greenlet's obvious response to ther comments of her outfit "That is what I'm /trying/ to explain to her but apparently i'm supposed to dress for a gather on a daily basis" that last part is muttered slightly even though she know's full well Szadith can hear every thought in her head no matter how slight "I'm not sure if all baby dragons get dirty, Szadith can;t stand even the slightest blemish on her hide, though I can't blame her it's such a beautiful mix of shades" the look of warmth on Kinzie's face also sings with pride in the little green behind her, as if to emphasize her rider's point Szadith flutters her fine gauze wings, newly oiled they seem to sparkle with delicate gold and jade. The showing off makes Kinzie chuckle happily and she shakes her head "Well i'd better get the show off back inside before she gets all my hard work sandy" and with that she turns and heads towards the barracks, green dragon following behinf crooning softly.
Esiae knew she should never have brought up bathing. Or feeding. As soon as Sonyxaeth snaps out of her rapture, the gold is nudging her rider, push-pushing towards the barracks. "Shards, really? But we only just mentioned…" There's a sigh, and Esi closes her eyes as though to fight some inner battle. It is a short one - Sonyxaeth makes a /face/ that is as close to a sad puppy as a dragon will ever get - and soon enough Esi is pushing it out of her way and heading for the weyrling grounds. "Alright, I'll be back in a bit. It's time for an early lunch and then a good scrub and oiling, if Sonyxaeth has anything to say about it." There's a wistful look back at Inuelle's departing cart, but maybe she can get all of this done and then sneak out for a bath and some food for herself. "See you guys later." A wave is aimed at Jessi and and Soriana, with a snuffle pointed at Inkfoot from Sony, and then the pair are trotting off after Kinzie. "Hey wait up, we'll walk with you!" And off they go.
Aisuohkoth looks up from her digging and blinks, hey where'd her sisters go? "They went inside, Aisu Love, do you want to go inside too?" Jessi comments, but only earns a soft snort from the green. "Well, we can't stay out here all day you know. Okay, just a little longer, but if we stay too much longer the weyrlingmasters may come looking for us." Aisuohkoth, yeah, she doesn't seem to care if those silly teacher people come looking for her and her person. And then Jessi notices that the bakers and the cart are gone too, bummer, she only got a few of the meatrolls and mmissed out on the cookies, ah well, she'll have to try to sneak away later and get some. Turning to Soriana, she chuckles, "Guess it's just us now, huh? At least Aisu has stopped digging." Though the green's dark hide is thoroughly sand-covered. "I think her and Inkfoot are alike, they both seem to like mischief, huhh?"
Dragons! Soriana grins and waves to the departing dragons and riders… oh yeah, and to Inuelle, too! She snags a final cookie off the cart before it trundles away, and then turns back to Jessi… just in time to get that wistful look. "Here," she says, offering that lone cookie to the greenrider. She nods, and then grins. "For now, at least." Such peace and quiet never seems to last long… at least not with Inkfoot, and, well… she grins. "Yeah. Sticking their noses in things… oh, and pouncing!" She turns to look at Aisu with an I'm-watchin'-you stare, and grins!
Jessi rests a hand on the apparently calm, at least for now, green beside her. "I didn't realize how much work it would be looking after her. She's like ten Ryshas put together." Aisuohkoth croons plaintively at her rider, and just earns a soft rubbing of fingers across the crescent birthmark between her eyes, which sends her to purrcrooning again. "No dear, I'm very glad you found me, I wouldn't trade you for anything." Aww. When the cookie is offered, the young woman grins, "Thanks!" reaching for it so she can tak a bite. "Oooh, these are good..Did Inu say she made them herself?" Because, well, she was only half paying attention, she's got a mischievious green to watch over.
Soriana nods about the hard work of dragon-raising with the ease of someone who - at the end of the day - can turn right back around off this beach and /not/ have a dragon to deal with! …just a mustelid and a firelizard, who seem to have finished their impromptu meal. They're curled up together, one of Toral's wings spread over the ferret as Inkfoot licks at the flit's neck. Soriana smiles, and then looks back to Jessi. "Well… she's ten times Rysha's size, for a start!" Maybe more like twenty times. Depends how you calculate it. She nods about the cookies. "Yeah, she did. It sounds like she's been keepin' busy in the kitchens, since… well, since hatching." Since she was left behind on the sands.
Jessi nods, "I really thought she'd impress, to tell the truth." The greenling admits. The beastcrafter turned weyrling watches the flit and ferret together, "They're already best pals huh?" She grins, still stroking a hand over her green's silver crescent swirl, the green is indeed calming down, quite possibly she's actually starting to get sleepy. Jessi actually looks forward to the green taking one of those catnaps she's so fond of. "I do hope Inu will stand again, I think she'd make a very good rider."
"I was a little worried at first," admits Soriana. "But Inkfoot seems to have decided Toral's a junior tunnelcat or something." She grins, and then nods about Inuelle. "She might yet." She pauses a moment, then intones, "The dragons know who's right for them, and it's different for every dragon." Well-worn words, those. Like some ancient weyrlingmaster or candidate teacher… and after a moment, she grins. "Least, that's what one of the dragonriders at Ierne used t'say, just about every chance he got. Still." She looks to Aisuohkoth with her sometimes pouncy, sometimes lazy (dare she say… feline?) personality, and then to Jessi.
Aisuohkoth is definitely part feline or something. And as if to prove this, the green stretches out in the sun on her back, breaking contact with her person's hand in favour of a nice sunbath. "I was worried about Azurite, my blue, and Copper, the little bronze from that silver egg, getting along. You see, Azurite doesn't like sharing me too well. He got used to Rysha pretty quickly, but I wasn't sure about adding another firelizard. But they seem to be okay, he even watches after his 'little brother'." She chuckles softly. "And now he has to share me with Aisu, he's still a bit sulky about that but he's starting to get over it."
Soriana grins at the sprawling dragon. She can almost hear the purr, if only in her mind. (In the sense of imagining it. Any /actual/ mental purrs she's getting are only because of the very comfortable Toral.) At the mention of Azurite, her eyes go to the firelizard-scarf's customary position. "He'll probably have an easier time once Aisuohkoth's a little bigger, and you're not so… well, busy with her all the time." She smiles. "At least he's got Copper to keep him company… sorta works out, I guess."
Jessi grins and nods. "At least the boys are sleeping in the weyrling barracks with us again. The first couple of nights they stayed in the candidate barracks, I think they were pouting or something. Wait, so firelizard pout? Well, Aisu pouts sometimes so I guess they can too." Aisuohkoth makes a soft croon, she doesn't pout, she's just cute! And she proceeds to bat at her rider's hand a little with a forepaw.
"I'm sure they can get into anything they put their minds to. A pout, a sulk… whatever!" Soriana grins, and then she looks over to Toral as the lizard lifts up his head, eyes whirling quicker as he wingflutters himself extracted from the tunnelcat and flaps over toward Soriana. "Oh. I'd better head home for a bit… mom's got some spare time, looks like… and I wanted t'talk to her." At least, according to what the firelizard just imaged her about what Yumeth stuck in his head. That's assuming a lack of misunderstandings, which is seldom a safe assumption, but hey. Worth checking out. "It was nice seeing you and Aisuohkoth!" She reaches down to give the green dragon a brief pet, and then scoops up the still-dozing Inkfoot and heads off!
Jessi grins, "Aye, suppose they can. Nice seeing you, Sori. I think I'd better get her inside before she falls asleep out here and we get in trouble or something." Aisuohkoth gives a big draconic yawn as she's petted, and she turns her head to watch the girl and her pets head off. "Yes Aisu, she's very nice. Come on, then, get up." And after a moment or two she manages to push the green up onto her feet and the pair head vaguely barracks-wards.