Xanadu Weyr - Feeding Grounds
A large portion of the eastern edge of the meadow has been fenced off, the corralling on three sides is located on the rolling meadow, while the fourth is located a short way up on the eastern hills. Within the large corral are a variety of beasts - ovines, bovines, and wherries - milling around, though the appearance of a dragon may send them one way or the other to try and escape. A small pond is set near one corner of the enclosure, and at times it reflects the low, bordering mountains.
V'dim leans his long frame against the rails to the Feeding Pens, a short riding whip dangling from one hand. He's appearing indolent and relaxed, although his stern features give a rather different message altogether. As the Weyrlings finally begin to arrive, he pushes himself from the fence, pacing slowly before them, icy blue eyes coldly taking their measure. When the last straggler finally arrives, he folds his arms, waiting for their attention. "Weyrlings," There's a slight nod to the group in general. "Today your lifemates will learn how to feed themselves by taking their own kill." A flash of grim humor tugs at his mouth. "You'll be relieved to know that you no longer have to butcher their meals." A dry laugh creaks out after that, "But don't expect life to be easier. We'll simply have more time to do… other things with that free time." He points to the pens, "The younger herdbeasts, smaller ones are here for your disposal. You'll instruct your lifemate to choose and single out the one he wants, not flail about injuring the whole herd. Is that clear?" Intense as he makes eye contact with them one at a time, he then steps back and waves a hand towards the fence, "All right then, one at a time, over the fence. Keep in mental contact with them and keep them as calm as you are able."
M'nol gulps loudly… were herdbeasts calmer of scarier than runners, he couldn't remember. His eyes glazed over briefly, conversing with Faraeth, then, smiling somewhat ruefully, he patted the brown's nose, "If you're sure, Farry…" He walks sedately towards the fence and, with the strength born from a childhood of manual labor, hoists himself easily up to the top rung for a better view. He looks carefully at the beasts as Faraeth scrambles over the fence, his velvet mind reaching out for Nyunath.
R'owan doesn't seem particularly worried over this exercise, probably as his mind is quite full with a thousand other things. Luckily, a nudge from the drumbeats of his dragon's mind has him snapping back to attention. He listens, standing strait and leaving one hand on the bronze's shoulder. "You ready, buddy?" He asks, the bronze's eyes whirling as he steps forward. "Thought so." Thus far, there isn't a single task that the dragon hasn't thrown himself into, so Ro' has no problem convincing him that this would be something interesting to try. With slightly more grace than his brown counterpart, the bronze hops over the fence, fluttering his wings once before landing. His head swivels towards Faraeth, but then seems to put him out of his mind, sweeping his draconic gaze over the herdbeasts.
Keziah follows along behind Alosynth, she's still not lost the amazement of watching the ease and gracefulness in which the green moves. Course, she is looking forward to the green feeding herself. It's not that she minds cutting meat, it's there's always so much of it. Alosynth is watching the others and the way they hop over the fence. She then follows on after her brothers. She flaps her wings and hops over the fence and then lands on the other side quite gracefully, not that she seems to look at it that way. To her it's just easy and she's with her brothers. She eyes them a moment as if pondering trying to roughhouse when she's suddenly sitting back, shifting her wings and glancing back at Kezi "Behave. It's lesson time." she notes and the green nod and then glances over towards V'dim and then over at the herdbeasts "Yes, you get to have one all to yourself." Kezi adds.
Vivian is probably one of the stragglers, bending her time to no one but herself, as usual. Kelioth more than likely in the lead on this one as she sits and listens with rapt attention at the explanations of what is going on. Once it's time to act, it's with a nod and a smile from Vivian, a pleased croon of anticipation from the green that she runs at the fence and jumps it, landing on the other side with style and grace, strike a pose! as she looks at the herd, head swaying slightly from side to side as she tries to pick out which one she wants for herself.
V'dim moves back to his spot by the fence, propping a lean hip against one of the posts, the hand holding that whip idly slapping it against his riding boot as he watches the first attempts. A sharp look is given to Faraeth as he goes over that fence, the others receive a nod that is neither approving nor disapproving. His face remains impassive as he speaks, his gruff voice raised to carry across the group, "They will not be able to fly to nab their prey neatly at this point. But they can pounce and snag them. I do not want any injuries if we can help it." A cheek twitches as a rusty laugh issues from unsmiling lips. "Please instruct your lifemate to get a sight on the one he or she wants and again, one at a time, stalk and grab." He's scanning their faces again, some pale others not so, a wry chuckle accompanies his next words, "Instinct will take over but you," His whip lifts to point to them, "will try to keep them from getting too excited and injuring themselves - or each other." The herd begins to mill nervously as the first dragons enter the pen, then they bunch at the far end, bawling in terror. V'dim's hand waves them on in a 'go for it manner.'
M'nol and Faraeth survey the gathered herd for a moment, then M'nol signals, pointing out a buck in the middle size range of the selected animal. Faraeth bugles loudly, then charges the herd. M'nol is just glad the indicated animal is on the near side of the milling group as Faraeth leaps, flapping his wings for extra lift and comes down… oooof, on the ground, narrowly missing it as it sprints away. M'nol chuckles, "Next time try quieter, Farry, so they don' know yer comin'." Faraeth gives a quiet wuffle, but backs off, allowing his siblings a turn while he contemplates a new plan of attack.
R'owan takes a step or two closer to the fence so that he can keep a better eye on his dragon, shoving his hands into his riding jacket to keep them warm as he does so. His eyes go somewhat out of focus and turn as his dragon's head turns. The pale bronze takes a few steps around to get a line of sight, and when he draws too close to one of the other weyrlings, Ro's face tightens. "Give 'em some space, Nyu." He speaks outloud, and the bronze snorts and steps back a few paces to give Lerta's green some room. He waits until after Faraeth has already stirred the herd, head moving to follow the chosen beast. Crouch. Intent, determined, he moves forward, but the one he's picked is firmly entrenched among the herd after the movement caused by the brown's charge. So he rumbles a quiet threat towards the nearest edge, stalking forward, trying to get them to move.
Alosynth watches the way Faraeth goes after the herd and then her attention goes to Nyunath and she watches him intently. Watching teh way he threatens the herd to make them move. She settles herself down. She's patient and doesn't seem to mind the waiting. Keziah on the other gets up on the fence and is more anxious to see how Alosynth fares. The green glances back at Kezi « I am fine, gives me time to think. » the green reasurres and then her attention is back to her sibling.
Vivian moves up to the fence to stand with R'owan, her arms wrapped around her as she watches Kelioth and the others through troubled eyes. "I hope she does okay." She murmurs as she takes a step up, feet onto the bottom bar of the fence so she can get a better height to watch from. Kelioth for her part stalks off to the side, observing the other dragons. « Not so fast Faraeth, they're scared, Mine is telling me you need to aim to catch them where they're going to be instead of where they are. Does that make sense? » The green flicks a glance back towards her rider before stalking round the edge of the pen while the herd concentrates on Nyunath.
V'dim barks a sardonic laugh, "They can see Faraeth and smell him, boy. Sneaking's not about to work." He's more amused at M'nol than anything else, but his watchful eyes never cease roving the pens, keeping a watchful eye on the young dragons. R'owan's words to Nyunath have the man flicking a glance of approval at him, before he's back to the action inside the pens. Kelioth and Alosynth waiting doesn’t seem to bother him one bit, for he gives the pair of greens a hint of a smile before he's smirking at the rocky-colored brown, commenting to those nearest him. "They'll be tired when this is over." The herd finally gives in to the panic they're feeling and splits into two groups, one races up the middle of the paddock, the other stays by the fence, stampeding along it's length. The thunder of hoofbeats and terrified bawling fills the air.
M'nol's confidence with animals has improved. But not that much. Though he doesn't jump back, screaming like a girl as he might've when he first arrived at the Weyr, but he does let out a yelp and climb back over behind the fence, his knuckles turning white from how hard he's gripping it. Faraeth, however, has not given up the chase, listening both to his bonded and to the beautiful Kelioth, he slinks more carefully towards his chosen pray, then jumps, bugling triumphantly. He misses again, this time clipping the beast with a claw, sending it limp-screaming from him. His nostrils flair at the scent of fresh blood, « This… This is good! »
For a moment, R'owan seems oblivious to Vivian's presence near him, at least not until she speaks. He blinks, and then glances over, nodding his head a bit. "She'll do fine." The bronze continues to rumble, watching as the herd breaks into two and something in his mind snaps his rider's attention back. Keeping with the group that Faraeth is not chasing, « I will bring them to you. » The drumbeats of Nyunath's mind reach out towards the two greens, letting out a bugle as he continues to try to herd the group along the fence, lunging in an attempt to break the group even smaller and send a few off towards the waiting greens.
Alosynth watches as the herd splits, her eyes first following the brown and then the bronze and then her attention is back on the herd. Then she see's one. Not too large, not too small and she's off after it, moving smoothly over the ground, her wings tucked close to her to keep them from getting hurt. She stays silent, concerving her breath as she chases it down. She doesn't try to pounce immediately. KEziah is gripping the rail "That's it, keep after it. Tire it. But don't let it veer off." she swallows as she climbs up a little more "That's it, that's it."
Kelioth happens to be creeping along the fence that half the herd now charges along, the green seems surprised to see the herd racing towards her and bugles loudly. Part of the group see their danger and veer off away from the fence again, though not all are lucky enough to see the waiting green and stampede right through the space where Kelioth still stands. There's a gasp from Vivian at the sight, dropping back away from the fence as she tries to dodge from the mental image of the charging beasts before she realises it's Kelioths' projection. It's only a moment before she's scrabbling at the fence, trying to climb it to race into the herd to get to her lifemate, far too distressed to see Kelioth having the good sense to keep her wings folded in as she rolls into the herd, coming out the other side in an undignified sprawl, legs everywhere, though one set of claws is firmly imbedded into the throat of a beast who quickly lose enough blood from it's wounds for it to drop dead, still on the paw of the shaken green who releases a loud bugle of triumph. « I got one! Now what do I do with it? »
V'dim seems to have missed M'nol's entrance into the pen's, but he certainly doesn't miss his exit. "YOU!" His voice thunders above the sound of the approaching herd as he points that while at M'nol. "I'll have you on double-duty until you learn how to listen better!" the matter is dismissed for the time being, as his attention goes where fools are not. He's nodding approval for the cooperation and coordination between several of the dragons, lips forming a flat line as his keen eyes dart in several directions, keeping tabs on as many dragons as he can. Vivian's cry, has him snapping his head her way to see her scrambling up the fence, "DON'T!" But it's clear she is and he's striding that way, although he will not reach her in time to stop her. A dust cloud rises from the dirt kicked up by both running herdbeasts and scrambling dragons alike, roils about obscuring things somewhat. The tang of sweat, fresh blood competes with the sickening screams, thudding hooves and warbling of excited dragons. As the herd sweeps by, circling back towards the back of the pen, the dust settles and there is Kelioth with her prize. "Don't try that again!" He commands Vivian in a clipped tone. Then a softer growl, "Is she unhurt?" He nods towards the green.
Faraeth gives out a congratulatory warble, velvet gently caressing « Eat it, little sister. It appears Kelioth is best. » He then turns his attention back to the herd. M'nol does his best to look taciturn, "Sorry sir, I jus' wanted a be'ter view. I'm jus' a li'tle guy, after all." His attention snaps back to the pen as Faraeth gives a triumphant bugle. While M'nol was distracted the large, rocky brown gave another flying jump over the herd, this time landing right on top of his chose animal, squishing it more than catching it in is claws. But suffocation works, right?
Without expending too much energy, Nyunath watches as the herd moves, keeping a close eye on the group that heads towards Kelioth. The dragon tenses, crouching and moving lowly across as if expecting what comes next. R'owan, on the other hand, doesn't seem to expect it, and h seems surprised by Vivian's cry. "Wait." He tries to caution, reaching a hand out, but then his mind gets caught up in the hunt. Kelioth's bugle causes a few to veer off, including the buck that the bronze had his sights on. The dumb beast doesn't notice until the last moment that it's heading away from one dragon and right towards another. So, the bronze only has to make one leap, barreling himself onto the beast in a way that shows his lack of hunting prowess. His jaws snap, but miss it's target, instead, the beast ends up skewered on his foreclaws, wiggling there for a moment until the dragon turns and finally dispatches it with a quick bite. It's not exactly the most graceful kill, but at least it's effective. « Do herdbeast always have this many holes? » The bronze asks, lifting his limp kill in his muzzle, mouthing it slightly as if not quite sure how to eat it.
Keziah is shocked as Kelioth is suddenly admidst the herd "Are you nuts?" she exclaims at Vivian her eyes wide and then she slips back down the fence in relief that the green is alright. "Shards, we'a not ev's up'n the air and all and shess a tryin' to get herself kilt." She gives herself a little shake and then clears her throat. "Jeesh Viv. Are you okay?" she asks, clearing up her speech. "Is she okay?" she looks towards the green and then on towards Alosynth who is concentrating on the beastie. As soon as it falters and stumbles she's on it in a flash, pouncing, clawing and biting so like the great felines that Kezi pales.
Something filters into Vivians's pretty little head, whether it's V'dim's orders, R'owans caution from nearer or something from Kelioth who knows. On the other hand it could simply have been her inability to actually get over the fence while panicking about the safety of her beloved Kelioth. "Sorry, I'm staying it's okay." She mutters for those close enough to hear her, her hands gripping to the top bar of the fence so that her knuckles go white. "She says she's okay." She conveys to the humans, her gaze firmly locked on the diminutive green, the worry still etched clearly on her face as Kelioth releases her claws from the beast and gets to her feat with a shake of limbs, see I meant to do that. She bites into it's neck and starts to drag the dead beast over to Vivian.
That riding whip of V'dim's cracks down with a vicious whack on the top rail right beside M'nol's head as the boy speaks. It's clear he could have hit the Weyrling if he wanted to - the rail was the intended target. He knows he has the boy's attention. "NO excuses!" His voice is calm, but uncompromising, his eyes are steel as M'nol is pinned in a stare. "Double duty for TWO weeks." His attention returns to the pen and he's nodding a grim approval for the ones who have managed to bring down a kill while awaiting Vivian's reply. Her answer receives a sidelong glance from the Weyrling Manager as his eyes assess Kelioth's movements. He nods relief to her words but prompts,"Sir, " with a hint of gruff in timbre of the soft-voiced correction. The rest of the herd calms as dragons fall to dealing with their kills, bunching once again at the far end of the pen. He he raises his voice, "Well done Weyrlings and now if you want to enter the pen, you may. Keep in mind you'll be getting messy." He eyes R'owan. "Got a knife?" He doesn't say why he's asking, as his lips twitch into what might almost be a smile. He just gestures towards the kill Nyunath has.
M'nol cringes back with a stiff yell as V'dim blatantly threatens him. From the pen, Faraeth bugles, the frantic velvet whipping out at anyone who'll listen, « Don't hurt him! He's mine! » M'nol, more than a little aware of his dragon's distress, gives V'dim a sidelong look, "Yes, sir, thankyou for not hurting me, sir." With a slight push off, he hoists himself easily up and over the fence and is away from the Weyrling master as quickly as humanly possibly. He gives Faraeth a tight hug around the head, muttering comforting words and not even thinking about the fact that herdbeast blood is soaking into his clothes. Gradually, Faraeth's eyes slow, the blues and greens replacing reds and oranges. The mental velvet rough, he mutters more quietly, « Mine! » as if any of the other dragons would try to steal his boy. Then M'nol releases his head and he lowers his muzzle to his fresh kill, sinking his teeth into its soft neck and ripping out the throught. Idly, M'nol wonders why the Weyrling master asked R'owan about a knife, his own safely tucked away in his belt…
R'owan's posture is a bit stiff, standing as much at attention as he can manage with the eyes of the weyrlingmaster so close by. Even so, he seems a little surprised when he's addressed, and it takes a split second for him to drag his mind back from his dragon's endless stream of questioning to answer. "Yes… sir." The two words come out separated, but he reaches to his belt and unhooks his belt knife, offering it out handle-first to the weyrlingmaster and seeming quite puzzled. Nyunath, on the other hand, is quite proud of his kill, dragging the beast along closer to the fence where his lifemate is standing. He lets the limp creature drop and then settles himself next to it, looking between weyrlingmaster, rider, and beast as if not sure which to give his attention to. Finally, he settles on the kill as a rumble echoes in his stomach.
Keziah gives herself a shake and then jumps at the sound of the whip. "Shards." she eyes the whip, more so then V'dim and shakes her head. "Scary." she murmurs as she listens to him and then she's up an over, after another look at Vivian and then she's over to Alosynth "Do you have to emulate them?" she asks the green who looks up at her, holding onto her kill much like the large felines « YOu said like them. » she notes reasonably. Keziah stares a moment « I did not mean to distress you. I can do it like Kelioth. It seemed like fun. » Keziah blinks and then waggles her finger "No, not a good way. You're fine. I, uh." she snorts and then caresses the green. "You're fine."
Kelioth drags the dead beast all the way over to the fence to show it off proudly to Vivian who remains standing on the fence, hands still gripping tightly. "Yes dear it's lovely, now open it up and eat your fill of the meat." Her voice is ever so controlled as she watches what her lifemate is up to. At the command, Kelioth eyes the beast for a moment then sticks a talon into it's flesh and rips the beast open from the throat down it's stomach to the tail end.
V'dim merely nods, lips quirking in a small, amused grin as M'nol heads off post-haste. R'owan's offer of the knife is waved away with a large hand. He indicates the dragons out in the pen, "If he needs to be shown how to rip the belly open, use it." As Kelioth so neatly slits her beast's belly open, he says with a tilt of his head towards the green, "Or have her show 'em." He leans back against the fence, arms folded along the top rail to watch the young dragons eat. "Remember to caution them to go slowly and not over eat." His voice carries easily across the grounds now that the place is calm and the din has lessened. The dust begins to settle and at that far end of the paddock, the herd calms.
M'nol steps back, allowing the brown to gobble up the soft throat-tissues, resting his hand on the brown's shoulder, an odd look on his face somewhere between sublime calm and utter disgust. Faraeth also doesn't need help gutting his kill, for all he doesn't necessarily follow normal protocols either. Instead of neatly slitting the stomach open, Faraeth embeds his teeth into the sides of the beast and rips out a huge chunk of scrambled guts and viscera. M'nol cringes slightly, but doesn't leave his dragon's side. He waves to the others as they enter the paddock as well, but finds himself somewhat distanced from them, his dragon eating where his prey fell instead of taking it to the fence like the others.
Understanding shows on R'owan's face as he turns to look at his dragon, who seems more curious about how the herdbeast is put together than eating it. He flicks his knife back into it's sheath and then throws a leg up over the fence. "Hasn't anyone told you not to play with your food?" He asks of the bronze, who looks up with whirling eyes, nosing at his kill. Something passes between them, and the bronze seems to grumble reluctance and then follows in the green's example, slitting his kill open before starting to gobble it down with abandon. Pointedly, Ro' looks away from the sight, not disgusted, but simply not interested in it as he looks to watch the other dragons instead.
Alosynth neatly guts her own kill and starts slurping up the innards, enjoying the hot steamyness and the gushy parts inside. Keziah watches the others as she leans against the green. « When can we do this again? » Keziah looks over "When you're hungry again I'm sure." she notes and then smiles "You did good."
Kelioth doesn't appear to have any qualms what so ever about, it's just dinner after all, and once the beast has been opened up she dives her head right inside it to slurp up all the soft juicy innards. « Lovely. » That very act right in front of Vivian is enough for her and the girl relaxes her grip on the fence and turns away as she drops down and away from the fence so that she doesn't throw up or anything.
V'dim watches, face for the most part without expression as the young dragons discover the joys of ripping meat, crunching bone, slurping intestines, splattering themselves and their weyrmates with blood and all that other good stuff that goes along with a fresh, warm kill. He's there watching, but not saying much. Just noticing how the Weyrlings are getting along with their lifemates and how they interact with each other. Not taking notes, no. He's leave that to the assitants. He keeps everything stored upstairs ready to access for a future time. This may be a good thing. Then again, it might not.
Faraeth continues to rip away at the soft innards, tearing out organ after organ, until only the flesh and bones remain. Now he looks confused. He surveys the less soft part for a moment, then turns to his lifemate. M'nol makes a scissoring motion with his hands and Faraeth gives a happy croon before crunching a large section of rib in his rock-like jaws.
Alosynth is happily enjoying her meal as well and has found the delights of gnawing on a bone. In fact she rolls over with it, causing entrails that hadn't been eating to follow her. Keziah moved off of Alo as soon as the green started moving and then heads back towards Vivian. "You doing okay?" she asks the girl as soon as she gets close enough.
Kelioth is just loving it, all warm and gooey thoughts drifting out of the inside of a warm and gooey herdbeast, the noises emitting from within the carcass could perhaps be construed as happy as well, though the look on Vivians face doesn't convey the same reaction as her lifemate. "I will be if I can keep her out of my head for the moment." Viv replies to Keziah, her arms clutching round her sides. "She's so happy she's projecting it all too much, I can actually taste it." She does look about ready to throw up as she fights for control of her own mind and her stomach as she tries to focus on something in the distance instead of closing her eyes to have them filled with the mind of her lifemate devouring from the inside out.
After Faraeth has chewed through half a rack of ribs, M'nol manages to coax him to move his catch closer to the girls so he can actually talk to the others, though he never separates contact from Faraeth in that moment. He catches the tail-end of Viv and Kez's conversation as he approaches and grimmaces, understanding how Viv feels as Faraeth takes another bite and his own teeth begin to hurt. He contemplates for a moment, then decides to risk offering his assistance, "Vivian… I'm having the same problem. Try focusing on something that makes you really happy. Something that allows you to block out almost everything else."
Keziah gives a little nod "It is something, umm indescribable." she notes and then nods to M'nol "Focusing on other things can help, though I've been working with Alosynth to try and get her to not project quite so much." she murmurs "Sometimes works, lot of times doesn't though it's getting better."
Vivian just clutches tighter as she voices what is happening in her head. "Crunching bones is a little different to the sensation of slurping entrails." She snarls at M'nol and almost immediately Kelioth's head reappears from the insides of the herdbeast and flicks straight towards Vivian, sending the remains of innards towards her, splattering on her legs. "She's getting better but when she's happy and all her cutch siblings are happy she wants to tell the world." The splattering has her wincing, but she doesn't move.
M'nol takes a deep breath… Vivian could be hard to deal with sometimes, "Farry was slurping earlier. Focusing on really pretty gems helped. I'm sure there's something…" He trails off, not really having a suggestion for her. He gratefully grasps on Kez's topic, "I've got Farry to the point where he mostly doesn't project unless he's really upset or really happy." He blanches slightly as Faraeth rips his way into the beast's brain cavity, "Unfortunately, right now he's really happy…"
Keziah watches as Alosynth finishes hers off, well mostly, the last hunk is in her mouth, a broken bone sticking out from the meat and some of teh skin just dangling. Kezi arches a brow and then shoos her off and the green easily hops the fence again, her wings flapping a couple of times as she heads for the beach. "As I keep getting told, and I'll repeat. Just be firm." she notes and then frowns a little at the splattering "Best clean that up. But it is hard to control them during times of extreme emotion. I certainly see now why they advise against relationships at this point in time." a pause and then she looks thoughfully at Viv "Do numbers in your head. Think about account books or the like." she notes and then heads for the fence herself and climbs over. No hopping for her.
Vivian says nothing for long enough as Kelioth dives back into the beast, eating up with so much enthusiasm, unfortunately she is still pretty tiny, even if she's not as petite as Alosynth and she can't finish off all of the beast and soon the firelizards start to sweep in to take care of the rest while a well bloodied Kelioth bounds the fence to come over and nose at Vivian, covering her in more of the pleasant gore. "I'll see what I can do about her happiness." She replies to the others before she marches off with a confused Kelioth in tow. « What are manners? » Is the echoed broadcast from the green as she bounces along behind Vivian.
M'nol watches Vivian go. They'd never been friends, but he still didn't like her being… hurt wasn't quite the right word, but… it was the best he could come up with. Faraeth looks up as Kelioth leaves, his muzzle coated in gore, a few strips of meat a splinters of bone sticking out here and there among his teeth, « I dunno… »