Not a Woman (Zak is Searched!)

Igen Weyr - Lake Shore
It is sometimes hard to tell where the bowl ends and the lake shore begins. Fine grains of gold, tan and orange hued sand layer much as the bowl walls in the distance beyond. The sand only gives way to thin patches of grass where the tall fence of the feeding grounds intersects the lake to the south and the smooth curve of the bowl wall rises on the opposite shore. At that intersection one can make out a small building and colorful fabrics where the Weyr's residents go to relax. The shallow lake waters shimmer invitingly, day and night, lapping at the fine grain sands. Engineered pipes are hidden beneath the bowl landscape and feed the lake as well as the grasses of the feeding grounds to keep the water levels from dropping past a certain point which is marked by a waist high obelisk.


Early morning at Igen..is hot! Not as hot as it will be later in the day when most activities kind of pause in the mid afternoon heat, but it is more like a muggy promise-to-be-hot later kind of heat this morning as the sun rises slowly over there horizon. Making his way barefoot through the golden sands from the bowl is a red-haired man with a Beastcraft knot looped through his belt. Bare chested it is fairly evident that Zak has swimming on his mind as the waters appear to be his goal.

Poor K'asin. It seems he's on the receiving end of all his junior weyrwoman's gopher tasks now. The brown-haired, brown-eyed delivery wingrider is perched on one of several crates on the lake's shore, his bronze, Salrith, happily curled up on the hot sand behind him. K'asin himself looks, well, miserable. He's entirely too overdressed for the sandy weyr, even as he sheds his leather riding jacket. "Oh, hey!" A hand raises to flag Zak down. "Any chance you've seen a goldrider? About this tall, blonde, really chatty, biggest gold dragon you've ever seen? Came here to see a beastcrafter about her pet feline and now…" He's lost her. But, Zak has the right sort of knot, so maybeee…

Zak casts on longing glance towards the waters before diverting his steps towards the miserable looking over-dressed rider. Bronze rider even. A mere flicker of attention is cast to the curled up, happy looking, bronze before attention returns to the rider. "You are totally going to overheat in that get up." is his first candid remark as he approaches. Arms crossing over his bared chest it's an amused look given at the description of the one K'asin seeks. "Biggest gold hmm? No..haven't seen anyone matching that description today." emphasis on 'today'. "Though I'm a Beastcrafter." is added as an afterthough.

"You're telling me," K'asin groans, already rolling up the sleeves of his button-down, as well as popping the first two buttons in an attempt to cool down. "It's still cool in High Reaches, which is where I was supposed to be, and this was to be a simple drop-off and pick-up." Seeming to realize he's whining more than he is explaining his overdress, Kar shoots Zak an apologetic look. "Sorry. Here I am, complaining your ears off and I haven't even introduced myself. K'asin, of Xanadu's delivery wing, and that's Salrith." Catching that emphasis on 'today', the bronzer squints his eyes speculatively at Zak, lips pursing. "What's that supposed to mean, 'today'?," he asks, imitating the Beastcrafter's tone.

"Complain away. It /is/ hot out here at Igen." not that Zak minds but then he's used to it. "Zak, Sr. Apprentice Beastcrafter. Which means I too often do a lot of grunt, errand boy work for the Master here." a bob of his head to both rider and dragon he replies. "Oh just that I think perhaps your lost Goldrider was the one I met recently. Chatty. And liked animals. I told her of a potential wild feline I knew that was to give birth." there's a pause. "She did. To kittens." in case it wasn't clear. "Did you want to see them?"

"Hot seems like so inadequate a word," K'asin jokes, since Zak's given him leave to complain. At least it's in good humor this time. "Lady I met when I landed said this wasn't even as hot as it'd get today. I'm a snow and mountains guy, myself. I don't know how you do it." Shudder. "Well met, at any rate. I feel you, about the whole errand boy bit. It's not great," he drawls, making a face. Even his bronze perks at the mention of kittens, though, twilight-dark head lifting to peer down at Zak interestedly. Kar chuckles but nods, eyes bright. "I figured it'd be kittens, but shells, can I? That might almost make up for this terrible day." Since, clearly, he's been abandoned. "Are they still with their mother, or are you caring for them?," is added out of mere curiosity.

"Never seen mountains personally." replies Zak just as cheerfully to the joking. "Course. I've got 'em set up near here actually since the mother is a bit wild. She's not really the best mother but there's only three of 'em luckily so I've been caring for them when she takes off. They are almost 4 seven-days old now.." one finger taps thoughfully on his chin as he tries to remember how long since they were born.

"Really? Man, you don't know what you're missing," K'asin says, something akin to reverence in his tone. "Nothing's better for making you realize your own insignificance than mountains." Then again, one could likely say the same for vast expanses of desert, so… "That's a shame," is said of the adult feline not being terribly mothering. "I'm glad you found 'em, then. Otherwise, who knows what state they'd be in." Standing as though he intends to follow them, Salrith peers between the young men before whuffling at his own rider. "Salrith wants to know how you feed them since you are 'clearly not a woman.' His words." K'asin's lips are pressed hard together, cheeks dimpling with the effort it takes not to laugh at the dragon.

Zak leads the away away from those temping lake waters and towards the gardens. Talking as he goes he can only shrug a bit at the reverence in the bronze riders tone. "Guess if you don't know what your missing." the question posed though from the bronze has him halting midstep and turning to peer briefly at the bronze who is following. "Um.." caught off guard he stammers a second before thinking of the proper reply. "No, um, not a woman." having been around dragons fairly much his whole life he does have the grace not to laugh out loud at the confusion of Salrith. "I make up a mixture of goat milk for the babies." he explains to the bronze. "Not as good as momma's milk but the best that I can come up with!" since he's not a woman.

"I suppose," K'asin says amiably enough, chin dipping with a nod. "Sounds like something my own momma used to say - you can't miss what you've never had." And then he can't help it - the laugh he was trying so hard to keep in bursts out, eyes scrunched up with amusement as Zak flounders a bit trying to answer a question like that. Salrith peers indignantly down at his rider before looking at the Beastcrafter with a very 'was it something I said?' look on his face. "He says that sounds adequate, and he's glad you know what to do in a situation like that," Kar manages when he can finally control his laughter, gaze flicking back to his bronze as they follow after Zak. There's a brief moment of silence in which the pair clearly converses before, brows slightly raised, K'asin poses another question: "Now he wants to know if you'd know how to care for a baby dragon, and, if not, if you'd like to learn." He lets that sink in before adding, "There… is a clutch on Xanadu's sands right now. You know. If you'd be interested in catching up on a little bit of what you've been missing in the world. Salrith seems to think you'd be a suitable candidate."

Oh that's an amusing look to see on the expression of a dragon. Taking some sympathy on the Xanadu bronze, Zak merely shrugs. "S'alright you are on the right track that women feed babies better. Oh no, caring for the baby dragons is more the rider's job and….oooh." he's rattling right along with the answer when he replays it and hears the addition that there's a clutch residing on the sands. Clearly he had no idea from the dumbstruck expression he now wears. "Oy, I have missed some news of the world." his tone is both rueful and amused. Eyes glittering brightly he does a half bow to the bronze. "I'm never one to miss such an opportunity no matter how unexpected it is! I would be a good student for dragon care. I accept the chance to Stand at Xanadu."

If he thinks that expression is funny, surely he'll like the twin expressions of patient amusement on both K'asin and Salrith's faces as they just let Zak puzzle through that one on his own. As the Beastcrafter catches on, Kar's grin expands until he's smiling by the time the young man has cottoned on. "Xanadu is literally on the other side of the world. I think you can be forgiven," he teases before returning that half-bow. Hand fumbling around inside the jacket folded over his arm, the bronzer withdraws a simple white knot, handing it over when Zak finally accepts. "If ever there was someone to excel at dragon care, I do believe it'd be a Beastcrafter," he drawls. "We have time, though. Let's see those kittens, and I'll catch you up on candidate rules and anything else you want to know…," he says, trailing off and gesturing for Zak to lead the way.

Zak turns the knot over in his hands with some surprise and amusement etched in his expression. Finally he curls it up into his fist and leads the way to the kittens. "Ooh, I'll need to bring them with me." he says fretfully. "They can't quite leave their momma but I worry she won't take care of them." is said just as they arrive to where the kittens are frolicking in a basket, sans momma. "And I'll need to pack a bag too." which all these details can be hashed out over the course of the morning before he's fully ready to depart for Xanadu. Looks like maybe they'll be a candidate and 3 kittens arriving in style aboard a bronze with one slightly overheated bronze rider.


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