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.
« Snow. Snow. Snow. » Kagenaith repeats that same word again and again as he circles Fl'ynn and Fl'ynn's current project. Lavender-drawn wings folded at his sides, the blue's paws mark a path around and around and around his rider, creating a bit of a trampled circle, his tail swishing to and fro in a graceful sweep. The dragon's mindvoice flows with interest and amusement. « It lays on the ground, now you put it together » "Just wait." Fl'ynn bends down, gathering up some more of the snow together, patting it together in gloved hands and then standing back to deposit the ball atop two other balls. Yes, oh yes… this is the makings of one fine snowman!
Soaring overhead should be a now familiar dragonpair. Alosynth is gazing down at weyrlings that are out enjoying the weather as Keziah nudges her to land. Coming down as gently as a feather, the green lands with a minimum of fuss, though her wings stir up the snow a little and then in she settles under the tarp that as been stretched out, much of the snow gone from under it. Keziah slips on down, thumping into the snow. She can't help but laugh at the antics of the blue and just shakes her head. Cute.
Sahazyth and Briana come out into the evening snow, the human of the pair much better dressed for the weather then she was the other night. 'Thicker skin' so to speak with heavier layers of pants and coat. Sahazyth watches Fl'ynn curiously, slowly taking steps toward the blue weyrling with a lowered head, «What is yours making?» She asks the blue before Briana comes around her to watch as well. This is a girl whose first experience with snow was only recently. Snow angels, snow men, snow ball fights…things she has no experience with.
"Just wait a moment," Fl'ynn tries to placate as the blue stops behind him, head trying to slip over the teen's shoulder. « I don't know. He won't tell me » Kagenaith responds to Sahazyth, his mindvoice drawn with out-of-season lilacs. "Waaaaaaait," Fl'ynn drawls out, a gloved hand coming up to plant a bit of snow right atop the blue's muzzle. Kagenaith breathes in, gets a pair of nostril-fulls of snow, and is immediately absorbed with this. It gives Fl'ynn a moment to pop in a couple of stones for eyes, and that orange fingerroot in his pocket for the nose, sticks for arms, and then "TAH-DAH!" Grand finale and reveal! Fl'ynn pops back to show off his snowman to Kagenaith, a dragon still distracted by his snowy nose. "Hey! Pay attention." *wuffle-snort*
Alosynth is amused to say the least, but she will not spoil the weyrlings fun with a snowman. Keziah starts to clap. "Very nicely done." she remarks. The green whuffles out a greeting to the gold and blue and lays her tail out for Kezi to have a seat. "How are ya ll enjoying the weather?" she asks after moment of settling down on the tail;.
Fl'ynn's head comes around, apparently oblivious to Alosynth's initial appearance. He blinks over to Keziah until slowly a smile touches upon his features. "I hear they make entire forts up in Reaches, all out of ice and snow. I haven't seen that, but I'd like to." His eyes dart over to Kagenaith, a hand reaching out to assist the dragon in clearing the snow from his muzzle. Finally, the blue lifts his head, peering a the snowman. « You made piles of snow. » "Yeah! It is a snow man!" « A what? » "A snow man. See, it has a smile and eyes and a nose and.." « Where is the nose? »
Keziah nods a little "Oh, you can actually burrow into the snow at Reaches. Spent many a winter up in the highlands there like that. Can be quite warm that way." she notes with a smile "And well, once you're done with trainin' and all, ya can hit Reaches and check things out." she notes. Yup she's sure that all of this class should be able to survive weyrlinghood.
Kagenaith continues to peer at this 'snowman' thing, coming forward, blinking at the white thing with the long, orange nose, and then warbling an enquiring tone at it. « So, can you build humans the same way? » This has Fl'ynn breaking out into laughter, reaching over as if to give his new 'mate a noogie atop his purpled head. "No, it is a bit more fun than scooping up stuff." He glances back to Keziah, winking at her, "I think that'd be a fine thing. I'll be looking forward to it. About when will we get the chance to travel?"
Keziah laughs a the eagerness "Oh, it'll be a little while yet, gotta build up those wing muscles and such. Standing with the wings out and all might get a bit boring and such, but it does slowly work those muscles." she notes with a smile "Tis a good snowman. I remember once helping to build a snowdragon." she headshakes a bit "It never did get finished though it did clear the area of snow fairly well."
Briana watches the snow man take shape and can't help but giggle, "Like wet sand but cold…you can make shapes with it." She says with a smile as she catches on to what he is doing. "I like it." Sahazyth looks over the snow man with intense scrutiny and lowers her head, looking from the snow person to her lifemate and back again, «You aren't made of balls.» She declares in confusion before Briana shakes her head, "Its just a representation…see, its got eyes and nose and arms…" Her poor dragon caught in a similar confusion as the blue.
Keziah hmms a little as she tilts her head a little and listens to Alosynth and nods « But people have shapes. The head is a circle, the body itself has it's own shapes. Look and see the shapes in things. It can help with visuals later. » rumbles the green, ever one to take an opportunity to turn anything into a lesson. « Look for the lines between things as well. The simple trundlebugs path, the path the avians take, how the trees bend and move and even the line the moons traverse through the sky. »
Kagenaith comes up beside Sahazyth, near to bumping up against his larger sister. « It doesn't talk back, or move when I try to talk to it, and isn't warm like my rider. » Because, of course, this means that the blue needs to nudge forward with his muzzle. The snowman wobbles, and then… you know it was gonna happen, the head falls right off and tumbles backwards. CARNAGE! This causes Kagenaith to bugle in alarm, bounding backwards with wings fanned wide. « It BROKE! » Shock! Alarm! ZOMG! Fl'ynn just games for a moment. "Nonononononnono."
The words from the green cause Sahazyth to step back a step and take another look at the shaped snow and down to her lifemate. «Her head is sorta round, though her nose is not so long. Her arms are pretty skinny though under the hide she wears.» She says as she tries to compare the two. Then as the head falls off the snow man, Sahazyth gives a bugle of alarm as well and looks quickly to the grin, «Mine is not so fragile is it? I have touched her head and it has not fallen off yet!» Yes she seems quite worried by this experience.
There is a soothing rumblepurr from the green « No, her head will not come off from a soft touch. The snow is less durable. It melts in the heat. » She moves out to nuzzle amongst the two weyrling dragons « It is okay » Even if Fl'ynn might not think so. « Watch. » She pushes at the snow with her own nose to get a little ball going. « A man of snow can be built again. »
Kagenaith is a dragon at a loss here. Heads are rolling! Men made of snow! What kind of world does he live in?! Long tail lashes back and forth, kicking up quite a bit of snow in it's wake. Fl'ynn bounces forward to try to calm his panicking lifemate, eyebrows coming together in that mental concentration to try to soothe the blue down. The teen wraps an arm around the blue's neck, pulling his head closer to rub fingers over youthful hide. "See, watch." Fl'ynn further points out what the older green is already doing. « Wait. So, I can make one too? » "Aye, go ahead. You can roll up balls of snow. It often sticks together, see." And just like that, the blue rallies, moving to try to copy Alosynth.
Sahazyth lowers her head to watch Alosynth roll up the snow, taking calm from her reasurances. Briana giving her own mental reasurances as well, her gloved hand resting on the golden neck. "See, just cause its made of snow…when we go to the beach I can show you that we can do shapes with the sand there." She says with a bit more enthusiasm to her voice. The gold gives a bob of her head and lowers it to the snow, trying to mimic the green but only manages to shovel a pile of snow. Briana grins and moves toward the pile of snow, "Here let me get you started." She says as she tries to pad the pile into a roundish ball, enthusiasm for the task showing in her features.
Keziah watches the dragons rolling or attempting to roll snow. She moves in to roll a ball of her own. Working with Alo to build their own snowman. "A trip down to the beach soon should be fun. And it'll be easier to wash them in the water there. Course, you might mind the water a bit more than they do."
« Sand. » Kagenaith finds this an interesting thing as well. The blue swings his head over to look first at Fl'ynn, then at the snowman, and then to the snow itself. After a few breaths, Fl'ynn, himself, sighs thankfully with that moment of alarm over. His head turns to Keziah, chuckling a bit. "I'll bet the bigger dragons can make giant snowmen with how big they could get their balls of snow, and be able to lift them atop each other."
Briana gets a little shiver as Keziah speaks of bathing in the sea. "I think so…I can not wait for summer again." She says though as she looks back to the ball she is helping to roll, well there is at least a touch of excitement in her own eyes. So snow isn't TOO bad. Once they got one large ball rolled up, Briana directs her to another area of snow and she starts to help her dragon shape up another ball.
Fl'ynn nods is head after Briana, "Mmmmm, I look forward to that weather change." He gives Kagenaith a bit of a nudge, to which the dragon looks absolutely clueless. « You mean the white stuff goes away? Snow? Where does it go? So the snowman will go away too? » And it just goes on and on and on within Fl'ynn's head. The teen's eyes near to crossed with the questions being lobbed at him, to which he has to attempt to answer and answer and answer some more. After a little bit, the weyrling rider reaches over to grab Kagenaith's head in his hands, and press his own forehead to the dragon's. "Hoi, just slow down, will you."
Once he second ball is made, Briana helps Sahazyth place it on top of the first. This one will probably end up man height at least. "Ok one more ball to go.." She instructs, going by Fl'ynn's earlier example. So the pair start to roll up another ball, but the gold becomes distracted by her blue sibling. «Mine has images of warm days with no snow on the ground. She likes those memories, so I think it will not be so bad.» She says with a note of encouragement for the blue.
« Snow when it melts away becomes spring. » Alosynth rumbles gently and Keziah rolls her eyes a little and pokes at the green. Keziah moves the smaller ball onto the larger that Alo has made and starts shaping it a little as well. Creating the sense of arms holding a something.
Kagenaith swings his head over to look at Sahazyth « Warm… » He'll also latch onto another word offered by Alosynth. « Spring? » These are new concepts to continue. "Aye, Spring. When the grass grows and the trees get leaves and there are flowers and then fruit and the livestock get fat and plump," Fl'ynn explains. He shoots a glance at the others, shrugs his shoulders and then tries to direct his lifemate away to have a discussion on the seasons. This might take a long, long, long time.
Simple concepts they may be but to dragons who rely upon the memories of their ancestors and their lifemate, they are concepts that have to be worked out with the images in their mind. Once the last ball is made up, Briana lifts it up on the balls of snow. She directs Sahazyth to sit nearby so she can stand on the tail for a bit more height. She takes a bit more snow in hands and starts to make out a face with the snow instead of odd objects. It is not any great work of art, but well she tried. Sahazyth watches on with curiosity.
It's no carved ice sculpure but a few sprigs of branches and the snowwoman is complete, with a 'bouquet' Keziah steps back and then surveys the others. Nothing like a little playtime for a lesson. She sits back down on Alo's tail as she brushes of the snow.
Briana settles onto her dragons tail to look up at her sculpture. "It is pretty fun.." She admits and glances over to Keziah's sculpture and grins, "Maybe we should have a snow sculpture competition…" She says with a half smile at the idea as she rises to her feet and pats out a few other bits on her armless snow man. Sahazyth though has other things on her mind all of a sudden as her stomach rumbles. «Food? The snow is not very feeling little one.»
Keziah hmms a little and looks thoughtful "I think if we get another good snowfall we should do that. Pair you weyrlings against your dragons." she says with a bright grin. "See who can make the biggest one the quickest or something." There's a rumble from Alosynth and Keziah snerks a bit "And one for the prettiest or something."
Briana nods to the weyrlingmaster, "I will talk it over with the others." She suggests. Definately a hint of more confidence in the girl, not so burdened with the fears of not fitting in. At the indication from Sahazyth she nods and pats the dragon's side, "Ok, lets go back in and get some meat cut up for you." She suggests and dusts the snow from her outfit, "Take care Ma'am." She says with a wave to Keziah as she heads back in.