Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Grounds
Cradled in a cup shaped bite out of the mountain, this wide, grassy flat has become home for Xanadu's weyrling dragons. It's set surprisingly high above the level of the beach, visible from the eastern side of the grounds where a long path snakes its way down the hill to the sand dunes below. All other sides to the grounds are bordered by the hard granite cliffs, two entrances clearly visible. One is merely human sized and leads deep into the mountain, to the Caverns. The other is broad and high, the entrance to the Weyrling Barracks.
It is fairly early in the morning, such so that some might call it night. Sahazyth has ventured from the barracks whirling eyes glowing in the darkness as she heads out into the snow covered area outside and the obstacle course from earlier. Curiosity has drawn the gold out it seems. A few minutes behind her is her lifemate still tugging on boots, a heavy coat pulled over her night gown. "Sahazyth…what are you doing out here?" She asks her lifemate as she heads up to the young gold. The burnished gold dragonette lifts her head, «The course, I want to learn it better…you were nervous.»
Two whirling eyes of blue or watchful curious. In the shadows right next to the rock of the mountain lies the watchful green, ever watchful of the weyrlings. "Alo, haven't you watched things enough already?" comes a muffled voice from atop the green. There's a greenrider under a canvas tarp who seems to be attaching it to hooks that are set into the wall. "You could help me you know." « I am helping, you don't need scaffolding with me and the weyrlings should ever be watched for. Look, here comes one now. » "Hmm? Ahh, the gold pair." the greenie murmurs and finishes attaching the tarp so that there is a covered area that'll help keep the weather off that spot for the most part. She slips down to sit along Alosynth's neck to watch.
Turlath casts a significant depth of darkness below his broad near-black wingspan as he circles above the grassy, flat area of the Weyrling grounds. Slanting ghosts of shadow move as the heavy dark dragon spirals down very slowly over both the weyrling beach and the grounds, a relaxed nonchalance that in the darkness of early morning ends up perhaps more disturbing due to it's silence… and lack of subtlety. The thick bronze isn't masking his intent to approach and land: hardly; instead, this is a respectful distance, prepared to veer off should his arrival alarm or startle anyone below; his greeting is a warm rumble, low.
Briana wraps her arms about herself in the cold of the night as she stands by her lifemate, looking over the course with her. Already the gold dwarfs her and she is only a quarter of her final length. "I know…I suppose I was worried about falling in front of the others." She says and the dragon lowers her head to wuffle Briana, «I will be there to pick you up. Do not think of others, only me.» She intones mentally loud enough perhaps even for the others to pick it up. Briana smiles and lifts her hands up to the draconic face, "I will…I am sorry I was nervous. I trust you." Sahazyth lifts her head though as she hears the dragons nearby, mantling her wings over Briana protectively as she lifts her golden head as high as it will go.
Alosynth whuffles softly to the young gold and then her gaze is up to the circling bronze. There's a soft rumble and Keziah too is looking up. "Well, was wondering when some would get to be curious and come to see the new pairs." she notes and then nods to the green who greets the flying pair « A warm greeting to you as well young bronze. » Keziah on the other hand as returned her attention to the pair and calls out. "It is good you trust her. Some take a while to come into that but it's an important step nonetheless."
Turlath hauls his wings in and drops down without much finesse. He flares at the last moment to take the edge off the dive, and lands with a heave, making a fair attempt at being a little bit more quiet than usual. E'on at his neck is quietly teasing the bronze a little bit, who recovers from the awkward landing reasonably well and sitting down almost immediately to reduce his size, greeting Alosynth with warm, rumbling cheerfulness. « Fair early morning to you! » At night (er, early morning) Turlath is nearly black, but his manner and girth clashes with that 'sinister' color to an extent, big and heavy— but looming just about as much as a somewhat overweight penguin would loom. He's massive, but wears it comfortably. "Seems only like yesterday you were here," E'on remarks to Turlath.
Briana peeks out from the edge of Sahazyth's wing, trying to make out the approaching dragons in the semidarkness. A full moon brightening the sky even behind the clouds. The weyrling looks over to Keziah with almost confusion on her features and up to the gold, "How can I not? I fell in love with her when I first touched her shell. She was the first to accept me when the others challenged me." As the bronze lands the gold still keeps her head up as she looks over the approaching dragon. At the cheerful greetings passed between the elder dragons, Sahazyth finally settles and gives a light warble of greeting. «It is early, but quiet. No distractions to my task.» She says, even as Briana stays huddled against her hide.
Keziah can
Keziah can't help but smile softly as she slips down off of Alosynth and lands with a soft crunch onto the cold snow. "Not everyone accepts so easily, but I am glad that you do." she notes softly and then her gaze drifts over towards the bronze and his rider. "Hmm's, is he one of Kilauth's" she asks after a moment of taking in the bronze's looks. Then she looks over the rider as well. "Names Keziah and this is Alosynth, and this is Sahazyth and her rider Briana." she notes as she introduces the gold pair.
Bronze tailtip curls and loops slowly as Turlath looks pretty directly over to the baby gold and her lifemate. Curious, but after a few moments, clear approval of the protective behavior Sahazyth seems to be exhibiting, his own posture is similar, in a way, as his rider dismounts, unconsciously watching out for E'on whether it's needed or not. Perhaps silly, in a way, but either E'on doesn't notice, or doesn't mind it at all, taking the few extra steps around the wayward bronze tail to draw more comfortably into speaking distance with Keziah. "Yes—Keziah, of course. And Alosynth," E'on greets quietly, in a fashion that suggests his repetition is probably to help his own memory of the names. His appreciation is of mild relief as Keziah introduces him to the gold pair, and he passes a gloved hand roughly back into his tangled and windblown hair, recollecting his ponytail back again. "Briana, and Sahazyth? I'm E'on; this is Turlath. Hope you don't object to our curiosity with the new arrivals," he adds, gaze moving from Keziah quickly to Briana. Turlath rumbles to the baby gold a welcome; a warm splatter of his deep bass mindvoice of smoke and embers.
With the 'threat' recognized as not a threat at all, Sahazyth steps carefully forward, masking her awkwardness in slow deliberate steps. «It is a pleasure Turlath. I do not mind your curiosity at all.» She intones with hints of ginger and spice overlaying her mindvoice. Her head raises again as she gives inspection to the bronze then looks over to the green, «Will my clutchmates grow this big as well?» She asks of the weyrling dragon. Briana still has her arms wrapped around her as she steps away from her dragon to let the gold make her greetings, stepping closer to the weyrlingmaster. "Of course not sir. Her own curiosity brings me interesting moments, I can imagines others are the same."
Keziah rumbles softly to the young gold « Some will grow larger, others not so large » Keziah settles herself onto Alosynth's tail, crossing her legs. "Well, they're settling in fairly well, so some visitors aren't as bad for most of them." Some pairs she's not so sure on for visiting, but this isn't one of them. She glances over at Briana "Were you two planning on praticing some more?" she asks with a tilt of her head.
Intrigued and pleased by the dainty-mannered, polite little queen, Turlath watches her with a mix of amusement and surprise. E'on passes a 'look' back at Turlath, which is avoided by the big dragon with an 'innocent' expression: funny on the big bronze. "I think he expected to romp with the weyrlings at the beach." Turlath looks overly offended at the very suggestion, at first, but then flips his bright metallic tipped tail and chuckles. E'on smiles to Keziah, "I enjoyed the visitors a great deal during my time here. …at least, when I wasn't /entirely/ exhausted. —-Tiring work, but …it gets better as they grow," E'on adds in an almost playful, quiet aside to Briana, before pausing to hear Briana's answer to Keziah's question.
Sahazyth looks over the bronze curiously approaching him in sure steps, eyes whirling slowly. «The shiny ones then will get big like him?» She asks again in a most interested voice. There is no shyness in this gold unlike her lifemate who seems a touch more uncertain. "I think she was ma'am…I was quite well asleep when she got in her head to come out here, only thing I could do was get dressed and follow her." She replies with a certain amount of chagrin and light amusement. She glances up to the bronzerider and nods a little, "She is mostly starting to settle into routines unless she gets an itch to do something." The dark skinned girl responds.
Keziah chuckles softly "Not sure many of them want to romp on the beach at the moment. It's always colder there 'cause of the water and many of them this clutch aren't used to the cold." she notes softly "Though a few seem to enjoy the snow." she adds as she watches the gold and bronze with some amusement. Alosynth warbles softly « As big if not bigger, though you shall be larger still most likely. » The green shifts carefully, stretching her wings a little before settling them back against her sides. Keziah shifts a little and eyes the green. "Don't be droppin' me in the snow." She notes and then nods to E'on "Weyrlinghood is tiring, but all for a good cause." She nods to Briana "Well, sometimes tis for the best, though you have some time yet to practice on visuals while half asleep, though my advice is to not rely too much on half asleep visualization. You do that while going between and you risk yourself and your dragon."
Watching the approach of the young gold, Turlath seems relatively relaxed, with no problem at all at being examined and weighed; he has a serene nature, and at close range he'll appear less black, and more of his actual deep aged bronze tone. He isn't as long as some other bronzes, but carries more weight than most, giving him the opposite of sleekness—- certainly compared to the lithe, slim green he'll look ungainly. A broad range of physique is on display for the gold to consider, between those two opposites! "Turlath is a furnace, I think sometimes the cold is just a minor detail," E'on comments with a dry, but affectionate tone. "Worth it? Yes, it is. You can make up the sleep later." A pause. "…Depending on how demanding your dragon is." Turlath looks proud of himself, at that comment.
"No sir, not up for beach romps. Definately used to warmer climates my own self. The dragons seem to be enjoying the snow though…and it is fun to play with." Briana admits to as she toes some snow with her booted foot. Sahazyth's tail is sweeping behind her, making a cleared path of ground as she comes up to the bronze. She gives the bronze quite a thorough inspection, working her way around the large metallic. Her own colouring is more a dark antique cold than any brighter shade. Briana looks up to Keziah and nods to the instructions, "Of course Ma'am." She says with a nod, "And I have no complaints really…though her muck piles are getting rather larger." She comments with a slight grimace to her noise. She glances back to the bronzerider and shrugs slightly, "Sometimes her curiosity has her up and about but mostly she is resting through the night with me now."
Keziah snorts at E'on "Well, the dragons don't seem to mind nearly as much as their riders." A nod to Briana "Case in point. Many of our weyrlings are from warmer climes." She shifts a little "Oh, the mucking is something I do not miss. It'll be easier once they start Betweening. Even when they start flying on their own, they can spread out a but further." She pats Alosynth's hide "I was lucky, Alosynth didn't produce anywhere near as much as many of the others." A benefit of a smaller dragon.
"
E'on smiles in return to Keziah's snort, a vague expression overall, some distance briefly in his eyes as if that comment drew up some other thought. "Well, I hope we won't lose them back to warmer climes again later," he says, in a distracted, thoughtful way. He returns soon enough though, glancing over to where Turlath is being inspected so entirely. Turlath makes no move to touch or distrupt Sahazyth's movement, though after a time he slowly moves to rise. "Nearly light… that's our cue to be off. Good luck in your training today," E'on bids.
"Sahazyth, we can do the course again after breakfast. I am tired and cold." Briana calls out to her lifemate. After a moment the gold finally responds and bounds away from the bronze, though she trips a little on an oversized wing. «Oops.» And so she continues in that earlier stately walk. Briana gives a wave to the bronzerider then the weyrlingmaster, "Seeya in the morning." She says before turning back to the barracks with her lifemate at her side. «You need a thicker hide Briana.» The girl chuckles, "Alas I can't make it any thicker." Is the last bits of discussion heard as they head back into the barracks.