Xanadu Weyr - Coastal Road
This coastal road runs parallel with the edge of beach that stretches endlessly beside the Caspian Lake. From coast to inland the dunes of the beach grow smaller and smaller until they eventually peter out into nothing but small moguls in the sand. The path is eventually seen to be blocked by a river that reaches the lake just south of the point where the road turns west and crosses a grassy meadow towards a sturdy wooden bridge that can be seen in the distance.
It's going to rain later, ka-el can sense it! And … perhaps the clouds on the horizon is a sign too, but for now the skies are blue and the overcast coming of rain does nothing to dampen the summer day. People are out and about, doing their various daily activities. Here on the coastal road, one can see young kids splashing along in the shallows of the beach. Kale is not one of them. It's the middle of a workday and he's beginning to make deliveries. He pulls behind him a wooden wheelbarrow with various metal pieces inside, mostly random tools.
Datsun comes walking from one behind of the dunes, pack on his back once again. His gait is one that's become accustomed to long walking, pausing a moment once he's clear of the dunes to orient himself, looking about. A face among the going and coming people catches his attention, raising a hand to call out, "Kale, was it?" One of the only current familiar faces so far here, the Journeyman starts towards him.
Upon hearing his name, the youngster pauses, the single wheel of his cart gentle rumbling to a stop upon the dirt and gravel. Blue eyes sweep until pausing upon a semi familiar face, and he grins in recognition, lifting an arm in a wave. "Hello! Uh… Catsun?" That .. sounds about right. Whether or not it is he's not too sure. He starts forward, meeting him halfway. "You're not leavin' already, are you?" he asks, glancing to the pack.
"Datsun" comes the easy correction, grinning at the other youngster as Datsun comes closer, "No, not yet. I've been informed that there's nothing else further south past here. So for now, I'm going around to see what sights and places this Weyr has to offer me." The pack is shrugged, "I just brought the pack with me out of habit. After you've been on the road, you learn quickly to keep your things with you." A nod at the tools and implements, "What are you up to?"
"Ah. /Datsun/" echoes Kale with a wince. "Sorry." He grins, slowing and stopping his cart again, leaning easily on it as the other explains his pack. "Oh.." he says with a nod. Makes sense. Not that he's a traveler himself, but if he was he'd likely do the same! "I never got to ask ya about any've that the other day. I mean, most…fly here," he notes. "Or at least has a runner to ride. So, what're you here for?" He pats a hand against the side of the cart. "Me? I'm a smith apprentice. Work in the forges 'n stuff mostly, but I'm out deliverin' these finished tools to folk."
Datsun shakes his head, "Don't worry about it." as the apology is accepted, glancing at someone who passes them, "Well, I don't particularly know any dragonriders and I didn't meet any that I'd feel comfortable enough to ask for a ride so far here in the South. But yes, I've used runners, hitched rides on wagons, and gotten seasick on boats but I also enjoy walking. Also, walking's free." A smile, "I'm just traveling. Seeing the world. It runs in the family. Officially, I'm traveling in order to learn and see different types of woods." A light tap on his Woodcraft knot, "Ah, deliveries. Would you mind company while you make your rounds? You can tell me more about what your work and this place."
Kale lightly shakes his head in answer to him. "Wouldn't mind it at all. Makes work go by faster with company." Gripping the handles of his cart again, he pushes it ahead of him instead of pulls, continuing along down the road. He seems captivated by what he's heard, for he is someone who has not traveled much in his life! "Wood?" His eyes glance to the knot that he noticed yesterday and ohs. "A woodcrafter. Er …journeyman? Wow, really? Y'look…" he pauses, thinking his words over. "Well, all the journeymen I know are old. Well, in my craft anyway. Journeyman Jethaniel's not too old, but he's old-er. He's a tech crafter. When did you start apprenticing? An' where? What was the most excitin' thing that's happened since you've been moving around?"
A nod as Datsun joins Kale on his rounds, "I've lost a few tools since I started out. Now might be the time to restock…" is commented upon eyeing the contents of the wheelbarrow, "Wood." He confirms Kale's question, grinning. "I know. I'm still young, sixteen Turns. My family has been in Woodcraft for as long as I can remember. Hundreds of years. I started learning it when I was just a child, so I learned the craft early." A shrug, readjusting his pack as he walks, "Before I knew it, I'd been Apprenticed at the Woodcraft hall at ten then given this knot on my sixteenth Turnday. They told me I was one of the youngest Apprentices. And youngest Journeyman, at least right now." At the last question, Datsun thinks about that for a few moments, "I would have to say… when I saw the ocean. It's big. /Really/ big. Once I got on a boat, I thought I'd never get off the thing. It took months." A pause, "Ever seen shipfish? They swim and jump in front of boats, y'know."
"You know, I may need someone whose good with wood.." Kale muses aloud, more to himself than to Datsun, who truly is turning out to be a rather interesting fellow. "Oh, s'not a wonder why you're already a Journeyman," he says with a bit of envy. "Your whole family? I bet you've grand furniture where you're from." He grins as he comes to a rolling stop just when he gets to the bit about the ocean. After a quick gesture to excuse himself, he pulls out two hammers and a hefty looking wrench from the cart to deliver them to the nearest weyr. Brief words are exchanged, as is coinage which Kale deposits in a cloth satchel attached to his hip, and with a nod of his head, he skedattles back to his cart. "I've never been on a boat before," he admits. "The most I ever swam in was a lake at home before comin' here to apprentice. Never seen a shipfish either." He shakes his head, cart rolling again. "So does that mean you're here only for a little while?" he asks, brows raising a bit.
"Really? Why so? I can do most things. Carvings, repair furniture or make new furniture, build houses…" comments Datsun, "Aye, my brothers, sister, mother, father, aunts and uncles. My Hold is a small hold, Far Cry Hold. It's in the mountains, a bit of a distance away from Lemos but it's not too far." A laugh, "Not really. Most of our furniture at home actually still has the bark on it. We like it natural." As Kale stops and does the exchange, Datsun watches, "Did you make those tools?" At his negative answer about the shipfish, the Journeyman pauses for a moment, reaching into a side pocket on the pack, pulling out a small carved shipfish, only a few inches long, handing it over to Kale, "That's what they look like. I think the term here for them is…" A pause, thinking up of the name, "dolphin? Actually, I think I'm going to stay here for a bit longer than I planned. I'm really enjoying the cot they gave me. I'm not quite ready to give that up for sticks and rocks poking me in the back when I sleep." A grin.
"I wish," replies Kale in regards to the tools. "No. Most've what I do is… this," he gestures to the cart, grinning. "And classes an' upkeep of the forges. But I've made a few things an' have practiced welding with the Journeymen. I'm doin' more fire work now, an' I know it won't be long before I start makin' my own things. I've only just started apprenticing…a turn or two ago, maybe, but I know what I want my focus to be. Weapons smith." He looks over at the older lad with interest, nodding here and there, brows lifting as the carving is retrieved. The cart is halted so that he can examine the object properly, obviously impressed. "Woah, you /made/ this?" He turns it over in his hands, examining the detail. "That's wicked cool. What you do is sort've like what smiths do. Make somethin' out of nothing." He offers the carving back to him. "Dolphin, aye that's the word for it. But still, I've never seen'm up close. You really /have/ come a long way, haven't you? You're lucky. My mother barely likes me out've her sight, and she only let me come here because Black Rock isn't too far from Xanadu. So really.." he pauses, glancing left and right. "She could be watchin' us right now." He grins. "Hey, after this, I'll have to show you around. The forest is sort've off limits at the moment, I'll tell y about /that/ later, but there are other things to do an' see."
"How do you stand the heat? I can't imagine the forges would be too comfortable," asks Datsun of Kale's smithing, an eyebrow raising, "Weapons smith? Interesting choice. So knives, maces, things like that?" A small grin, "I could've used a mace myself a few times…" Shaking his head at Kale's attempted return of the carving, "I have a few more. That's how I got by, trading. Tell you what, be my guide around here and you can keep that." A moment's thought, nodding at Kale, "Yeah, we do. Way, way, way back during Thread, the Woodcraft was under the Smithcraft. We couldn't do what we do without what you do. You make our tools." A small rock is kicked out of the way as they walk along, "My family loves to travel, too. Runs in our blood, just like the Woodcraft. But my mother did have a hard time letting me go but she knows we all will. I still write to them to let them know where I am, though. I don't get anything back because I'm always on the move, but at least they know." A blink, looking around at his mention of his mother watching us, "Really? Does she do that a lot?" His brows furrow, "Off limits? You'll have to explain that to me, I was just about to go and see the forests. What else is there to do?"
"Oh wow, thanks," replies Kale as the dolphin wood piece is waved back his way. Payment, eh? "Sounds like a fair trade," he says in agreement, nodding his head as the carving is carefully slid back into his pocket. "And aye, I'd make things jus' like that. Especially now, with the Weyr up in arms, I think it's always good to have our guards well armed with the best weapons. An' us regular folk, too. S'why I carry this with me." He pats his hip, from which a hammer hangs from a belt loop. "Plus, I like designin' things. Sort've like…art without bein' girlish or a harper, eh? I've sketches of things I'd like to try to make when I can. Mostly knives. A few swords." He pauses briefly, hailing down a man to give a few feet of thin piping to. Upon returning to motion, he laughs a little at what Datsun says. "My mother? Ah, no not really, I was jokin'. But I wouldn't put it past her if she had the time. My family farms, an' by now, the fields are probably taller than I am. Not harvest time yet, but there're plenty've things to do to keep her from checkin' on me too much. She isn't really happy with my apprenticing with the smiths anyhow. She'd much rather see me with the farm crafters." He glances to the small load in his cart, then to him. "I should have a break after this. How about I finish this, meet ya on the beach, an' I'll fill you in on what ya need to know about Xanadu?"
"Sure." answers Datsun, "Sounds like the Weyr's got trouble. I'm glad I didn't run into any when I was coming here." A glance at the hammer, "I know exactly what you mean," patting his own various knives on his belt, "Those have come in handy at times, in more ways than one." He watches the man with the thin piping walk away, "What does your family farm? Any others to help her out when harvest time does come, if you intend to stay in the Smith?" Following his glance to the small load, Datsun nods, "Sounds good. I'll see you then." A wave as he starts to turn away, heading towards the beach.
Kale definitely wants some time to get to know those knives of his up close and personal. "Corn," he answers Datsun. "An' lots of it. My mother will barely miss me durin' harvest. I've five older brothers, and one've them was Impressed by a dragon two turns ago. Since then, we've…er, they've been producin' a lot more. But I'll tell ya more later. If I'm late with these," a gesture to the cart, "the only break I'll get is back breakin' trouble." He grins and lifts a hand to him in a wave of departure before hauling off the rest of his things to deliver off to the occupants of the coastal weyrs.