Xanadu Weyr - Shore of Lake Caspian
The cliffs that run along the shore come and go, various weyrs nestled along the tops of them or dug into the walls, but eventually they recede enough to expose a beach. The white sand echoes the rise and fall of the cliffs with a multitude of sandy dunes, endlessly creating tiny valleys that are constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of dragons. The dunes smooth out as the gentle slope approaches the edge of the deep blue water. The sand darkens, and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect.
The beach narrows to the southwest, leaving a path barely wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to a smaller, more sheltered cove. The sands are the same white, the waters the same blue, but they're calmer and more tranquil, more protected from the winds that ruffle Lake Caspian and the currents that tug beneath the surface.
Rough, wide stairs lead up to the meadow above and the road that runs along the top of the cliffs, passing through the fields and heading for the river mouth that can be just barely seen from here. The largest of the staircases up the cliff is located near the docks that jut out onto the peaceful blue waters.
It's a warm day, Rukbat high overhead and beating down on the Weyr. The light sparkles on the waves of Lake Caspian, but though the air is warm, it's early enough in spring that those waters are still cold. There are a few daring souls who have decided it's warm enough for swimming, but Soriana's not among them. She's just sitting on a rock, legs folded beneath her, and watching the waves. There are dragons there - Luraoth's in the water, turned back to look at a group of smaller ones. Weyrling dragons, and she's chirping as she encourages them with mind and voice to come play in the waves that are splashing up around her. Sure, it's cold, but that's just refreshing, right? They won't freeze! Or so the golden queen seems convinced. The younger ones are more hesitant, hanging back until a daring blue comes charging into the waves. Here he goooooeeees!
The downfall of having a dragon as big as Kanekith is having to wash him. And washing wouldn't be such a chore if Kanekith were not as vain as he was and demands (as much as a dragon can demand) to be washed so frequently. Washing and oiling! A bronze has to look good, right? Kanekith thinks so, which is why he and Ka'el are in the surf a little ways away from the more populated areas where dragons swim and play… or think about swimming and playing. The dragon looks wonderfully soapy, and Ka'el is busy scrubbing beneath the wings while Kanekith croons his overall enjoyment of the task. Ka'el is … cold! Because even though it's spring, the summer heat has yet to grace Xanadu, and thus a dip in the ocean doesn't feel as refreshing as it will in a few months. At least, not to him. But that doesn't deter him from giving his dragon a bath, even though any gust of breeze causes him to shiver.
It is a warm day but the waters are not warm enough to be considered good enough to swim in by most people… not that that will stop the sane ones. Or maybe 'sane' should be replaced by 'painfully stubborn' in this instance. Whatever the word of choice may be Zalulia doesn't want to think about how some people may see what she is doing as not making a lick of sense. Despite not having a dragon to wash or any good reason to be in there the apprentice harper is headed towards the water in a bathing suit, determination fierce on her face. Unfortunately once she has entered the liquid a glorious thing called 'reality' catches up to her. Zalulia goes stiff, a pained gasp leaving her as goosebumps run across her skin. Still she does not leave for reasons that have to do with little more than her ego. She stands there up to her knees in water like some sort of short and redheaded flagpole. Perhaps it was placed there to say 'hey, this water is cold! You probably shouldn't go dashing in unprepared.'
Soriana's lucky that Luraoth - despite her size - is far less less vain than Kanekith. She still needs regular bathing, of course, but the gold's willing to stretch the times between her scrubbing-assisted ablutions by swimming and splashing around. She looks to Ka'el and Kanekith, and frowns slightly, reaching out her thoughts to ask Luraoth and make sure that it really isn't bathtime yet. Is the gold sure? No things starting to itch? Nothing that's being taut in ways it shouldn't? Okay, good. Soriana's look of concern turns to a grin as she watches that one brave blue starting a stampede - because, of course, the larger colors of dragon can't possibly let themselves be shown up by him, and the smaller ones want to come along for the ride, and… soon it's water-splashing party time, with the young dragons frolicing around Luraoth as she plays with them. The size and biology of the creatures makes them well-suited to resist cold for a time. Humans… are not so lucky. Soriana's gaze goes back along the beach, to the shivering Ka'el and… did that redhead flash freeze? She doesn't seem to be moving… in either direction. Soriana regards her with a somewhat puzzled look, then slides off her rock and picks up the towel she brought here - in case she ended up sitting on the beach - before padding down toward the waves. "…you okay there?" she calls to Zalulia as she approaches.
"Other side. C'mon we're nearly done." In fact, in Ka'el's opinion, they are done, but Kanekith wants one more scrub right there on the side of his neck, and he's absolutely positive that his rider didn't exactly put as much soap on one side of him than the other! Will he be unevenly clean? "Seriously, Kanekith…would I ride a half-dirty dragon?" .. Good point, rider! Appeased, Kanekith contents himself with watching the hatchlings play with Luraoth while Ka'el half slides-half…falls off of him and into the cold water. Splash! It'd be a larger shock to the system if he wasn't already wet, yet he still picks himself up with a shiver, leaving his bronze to go wade off into deeper waters to rinse himself. He grabs a nearby floating bucket, once filled with soapsand, and heads back to shore. And he almost makes it! But distractedness comes in the form of Zalulia, who is frozen in the water, and Soriana, who is approaching to check on her. "Will a bucket of water to the face, help?" He has the bucket!
Flash freeze is right! Zalulia didn't /mean/ to attract the attention of the senior pair with her sudden freezingness… it just happened. But hey, at least she isn't distracting the weyrlings! It really is best to let the little dragonfolks have their fun romping about without a harper who is a bit obnoxious all too often poking her head in. For a while it looks like she doesn't even register what is going on around her. Which… is actually a dangerously real possibility for someone like Zalulia. She's pretty good in the selective hearing department after all. It is Soriana calling out to her that helps snap her out of it and Ka'el offering the bucket that pulls her all the way. The harper practically jumps before frantically scrambling away from the bucket of doom. "No thanks!" she hurries to cry. "The cold just shocked me a bit, that's all! I'm used to warmth. Better off around it, really." See, no need to douse her. Even though her teeth were chatting with almost every word she said.
Soriana glances past Zalulia to Ka'el. Okay, he's not paralyzed in the water, so that's a good sign that the lake hasn't been replaced with some kind of poison. Just… cold. She grins crookedly at the question he asks, though there's still concern in her eyes. Has Zalulia… aha! There she goes, the harper's moving. Soriana tries to hide her grin, really she does. "It's maybe a bit cold for swimming," she says… from the shore. Those little waves splashing against the toes of her shoes are as close as she intends to get to the water! "But if you are going to," because who is she to stop people from acting on bad ideas? "You probably want to keep moving. Gets the blood flowing, keeps you from being an icicle." Which is a very real risk. Soriana glances to Ka'el. "…should we keep someone from Galaxy on beach duty this time of year?" Just because… hypothermia happens, and apparently… well. She looks back to Zalulia.
Awww, no buckets to the face today? Drat. Ka'el grins as the harper reanimates and nods to her claims. "Like the heat myself. Give it a few months and we'll be begging for the chill again!" he laughs as he continues his trek out of the water. Goosebumps form quickly on the surface of his skin, and as he passes by the Weyrwoman, he finger-flicks water droplets at her before smirking and trotting off to grab for his towel, which he wraps around his shoulders. "They flyover," he assures Soriana with a glance to the sky. "Once every half candlemark or so. It's more often in the summer when this place really gets going, and there'll be a guard on duty then, just in case." Eyes trail Zalulia now, and he lightly smirks. "She has Luraoth and the hatchlings to watch out for her." Not that the hatchlings are doing much watching at the moment. "Wouldn't suggest you stay out too long though. We've seen enough ice in the winter," said as he begins to rummage around for his dragon oil, brows knitting a bit as he does find a near empty bottle. Is this all he has left? Snorting a bit, he gathers his things. Time to buy a refill! Or two or seven He gives his empty bottle a slight shake. "Kanekith is going to make me go broke. You two ladies enjoy yourselves. Dragon oil is calling my name."
Hypothermia!? Oh no, hypothermia is /not/ Zalulia's friend. Still, she is fairly certain that she doesn't have it. Or at least that she doesn't have it yet. Surely she'd be hurting at least a bit more if she did! The harper manages to send Soriana a shaky grin before drying remarking, "I noticed. T-thought it was ju-just… whimpy talk." Apparently not. The weyrwoman is a form of saint for allowing people their bad decisions but it would seem that she had had enough of this particular one, ego or not. "No I won't," she calls to Ka'el as she begins to flat-out /sprint/ out of the water, "cold weather is evil! Evil!" As she reaches the shore the girl continues running as she adds in a nearly unintelligable rush, "needtogofindsomeplacewarm!" That is that, let us all be thankful that Zalulia doesn't live in Fort or High Reaches.
Soriana smirks to Ka'el and tosses her head… mostly to be over-dramatic, it's not like those few droplets are going to turn her into an icicle. Still, they're cold! Cold enough that she's glad to nod about those patrols, giving a glance down to Luraoth (who, yeah, is probably paying attention to more than just her hatchling romps) before looking back to Zalulia. "And make sure to get dry after, or you'll catch a cold." Which… apparently the harper doesn't want either, and Soriana laughs as she watches her flee for the hills… er, toward the fires? Speaking of… she offers that towel she's carrying to Ka'el. If he's going to be hiking across the Weyr for more oil (twenty seven bottles worth, because Kanekith must be perfectly polished at all times), then… "Don't want you catching a cold either."
Cold weather is evil! Ka'el is glad that he's not the only one who thinks so. He gives Zalulia an approving look both at her declaration /and/ her sprinting flee from the chilly grips of Lake Caspian! Kanekith doesn't know what all the fuss is. The water feels fine to him! With the soapsand off, the bronze is making his way back to shore, but catching the change of plans from his lifemate, he puts forth the effort of taking off from the water instead. And, it is effort to do so, bulky as he is and water not being quite a stable jumping off point. But mighty wings do the trick, and with a magnificent spray of water and plenty of splashing in the process, he's airborne. Drying off and oiling will happen, but apparently not on the beach. Ka'el is glad to take the offered towel from Soriana, pressing a light kiss to her cheek in thanks. "I'll see you in about twenty turns when I'm done with Kanekith to his liking. Shake hands to the Weyrlings for me when they graduate," he jokes before draping her towel over his head, gathering his bucket o' stuff, and heading off for that dragon oil!