Xanadu Weyr - Beach
The unerring range of subdued white rises and falls in a multitude of sandy dunes, creating an endless amount of tiny valleys constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of a dragon. Smoothing out as it slopes gently to the edge of the deep blue water, the sand darkens and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect. The beach itself is set along a low cliff - the height lessoning as one heads eastwards, blocking a portion of the beach from direct access.
The wide wide stretch of water opens up to the east, the far distant shore way beyond the horizon and the beach curves ever so slowly round to east and west, distant arms of land embracing the wind-ruffled Caspian Lake. East leads up to the mouth of the Rubicon River, where the protecting cliff is merely an arms length higher then the sand, and beyond that, a winding road leading out of Xanadu's territory. Westwards, the beach narrows as the cliff swings out, leaving a path wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to the sheltered cove designated the Weyrling Beach. However, cut in the cliff face to the north are a variety of rough, wide staircases, providing access to the clearing and to the meadow.
Heavy bootheels thud on the wide staircase leading down to the beach, carried by Datsun, a pack on his back. His eyes are looking down at his feet, making sure he doesn't fall off or stumble. The Journeyman finally reaches the bottom, looking up at the beach to survey it. "Hmm." Seeing that the sand isn't really ideal for his heavy boots, Datsun sits down on the last step, reaching down to unbuckle both boots, pulling them off before he ventures out on the sand.
Wakua is all ready on the beach as it's her rest day. She's on a towel under the shade of a rather large dune to protect her skin from getting burned. She has a book with her and she is reading it as she's on her belly.
Datsun slings his boots over his shoulders, holding them by the top buckle. Heading over to the shore, Datsun walks past Wakua until one of his boots slips his grip and comes flying down to land in the sand close to Wakua, sending up sand. "Oh, sorry about that. I guess I didn't have a good enough grasp on it." He apologizes.
Wakua is wearing a swimsuit as she sees the boot sails near her. She watches it hit the sand and she raises her book to protect her from it. She looks around for who threw the boot and she looks at Datsun, "It's okay just be careful please." She gives a smile, "Hi I'm Wakua, apprentice smith." The book she's reading is the basics of smithcraft.
Datsun looks down at Wakua, "Usually I am. My mistake." He gives her a friendly smile before sitting down by her on the sand, "Datsun, Journeyman Woodcrafter. Well met. I met another apprentice smith today, maybe you know him. Kale?"
Wakua smiles, "It's nice to meet you Datsun." She nods, "Yes I've know of Kale we don't usually hang out though, since he's older." She puts a bookmark in her book and sets it aside, "Are you new here or just haven't we met?"
Datsun raises an eyebrow, "Why not? I think I'm a little bit older than him, but you're here talking to me. If not him, then who do you usually hang out with?" His pack is shrugged off then his knees pulled up, resting his elbows on them, his hands hanging down to touch the sand. "I'm new. Been traveling for several months now. I'm taking a bit of a break from traveling because there's nothing further south, just Xanadu. And I'm not ready to go back to sleeping on sticks and rocks while I have a nice comfortable cot here."
Wakua smiles, "He's off doing boy stuff." She shrugs a little bit, "I don't know, we just haven't." She ahs and smiles, "Where have you been? Anywhere interesting?" She wonders, "I've only been here and at a local hold." She giggles, "Yah not much better but better."
That gets a smile from Datsun, "Boy stuff, huh? I guess you like girly stuff better?" He turns his head, looking out at the water, "Lots of places. I started out from my little hold, Far Cry Hold, then went to the Woodcrafthall. After that, I went east. Went through Telgar Hold, Nabol, Ruatha, went through Fort Weyr a short time, down to Southern Boll Hold. Then I got on a boat for a few months, got seasick, threw up a few times." A grin at Wakua, "Worked on the boat until I arrived at Half Moon Bay Hold, which is where Western Weyr is. Made some friends there, then left again and came south to Southern Hold, walked right past Island River Hold and ended up here. I've seen a lot of things."
Wakua smiles, "Well depends on what you classify as boy stuff and girl stuff, I like to do smith stuff. Wow you've been to a lot of places. I bet you have seen a lot." She moves to sit up , "So what kind of things do you like to carve? Are you carving something right now?"
Datsun shrugs, "I don't know, I mean smith stuff seems to be boy stuff. But you're a girl and you're a smith, so what does that make you?" He asks, grinning. Nodding, "I have, the thing that surprised me the most was the ocean. It's really /big/. I thought I'd never get off the boat." A moment's pause at her question, "Anything really. I can carve anything, fix anything, build you furniture or build a house. No, not at the moment, but I have of some things that I saw on my journey. Like a shipfish… You call them dolphins."
Wakua smiles, "That makes me a girl smith. It looks big just from the shoreline. I've seen it from there. You can't even see the other side of it. Really it took you that long to get across the ocean. I'd like to travel one day." She smiles, "I like dolphins, have you ever been to the dolphinhall?"
"Girl smiths are attractive." says Datsun, his ears turning a little bit red, grinning at Wakua, "Yeah, it takes that long. I told you it's big. I think it might be bigger than land is. I don't know. I was told that if you set the right direction and course, you can sail without never touching land." His head tilts at Wakua, "You should. My family loves to travel. No, but I want to see the Dolphinhall one day. I want to see everything."
Wakua blushes a bit, "Well on behalf of girl smiths everywhere thank you." She smiles, "I read about that. Lots of years ago two ships sailed out, one went west and one went east and they met up in the middle." She nods, "I want to see it all too and you've gotta great start on seeing everything."
Datsun smiles, "You're welcome." His eyes turn to the sky, watching dragons fly by overhead, "Pern is fascinating. I've been on mountains, on beaches, walked across deserts, journeyed through forests, fought off robbers, sailed across the ocean and met so many people." He looks at Wakua, "Did you know that some people by the ocean have wooden legs? I had to fix one up for my ships' skipper." A grin at the memory.
Wakua blinks, "You've fought off robbers before?" She shakes her head as she's sitting on a towel in a bathing suit. It's a nice sunny afternoon. "Really he had a wooden leg what happened to his real leg?"
From further down the beach, two figures can be seen. Well, three. Two human, one dog! Kale moves along with Idrissa, his boots stripped off and held by the laces at his side. In his free hand he holds a stick, likely washed up onto shore from the soggy looks of it, and waggles it around for Asher, the dog. "I told ya already haven't I?" he asks, speaking to Idrissa. "Next rest day, party. I'm afraid if I don' have it soon, it'll never happen! An' I don' want to waste all that's been done already…"
Idrissa follows along next to Kale, her jeans rolled up to her knees, boots off and with the laces tied to one another she is carrying them over her shoulder. Asher is running around, bouncing on his paws a few times while eyeing the stick that Kale has, a deep bark escaping the overgrown dog. "Next rest day? Sure, sounds good to me." She offers with a smile. "Have to let everyone know so we can all show up for it an all."
Datsun nods, "Not all people who travel are nice. And with me being a young man all alone, I make an easy target. I had some tools stolen from me while I was sleeping. That's why I always keep my pack with me." He reaches around him, pulling his pack to the side, patting it then puts it back behind him to lean against it. "But my knives protected me." A pause to answer Wakua's question, "One of the ropes on the mast snapped and took his leg right off ten Turns ago. He told me that if I made him a new leg and carved up it all pretty with women on it, he'd give me passage but I had to work for my food, so I did."
Wakua is listening to Datsun tell about his traveling, "Really did you get your tools back? Did you catch who stole them?" She asks and she nods, "I didn't realize traveling could be so dangerous." She wows, "Really? Took it right off. Well that was nice of you to carve the new leg for him even if it was for passage." She looks up as she hears others and she gives a friendly wave.
Kale grins at Asher's eagerness for the stick, teasing him further before hurling it forward for him to chase. "Aye, the word needs to spread or…it'll be a sad sort've party of jus' you, me, and Soriana." A pause as he thinks it over, brows gently furrowing. "Actually, nevermind that. We could make it fun, jus' the three've us. But it'll take a long time to eat all the food." He grins, looking ahead, spying a duet of familiar faces. Speaking of letting everyone know. "Let's start now then, huh?" he says to Idrissa, smirking to her as he lifts a hand to return wave. "Hello Datsun! An'..er.." He knows the girl. Another apprentice from the forges, but…gosh, what was her name again?
Idrissa smirks and peers over at Kale. "Hey.. You make that sounds all bad." This said with a soft chuckle escapes her. "We're let other knows and get them to come I'm sure." Her gaze follows after Asher whom is chasing after the flying stick and said stick lands near the two that are talking some distance down. The large steel gray and tan colored over grown dog looks at the two people and lets out a bark! "Hello." This said while she waves back towards Datsun and his friend.
A head shake from Datsun, "Sadly, no. They had runners and I had my feet. Never found out who, either, but I managed to keep the most important tool, the one that was handed down in my family." Stretching his legs and feet out before him, Datsun folds his hands on his belly, sliding down his pack to rest his head on it. "It can be. Well, it was something I'd definitely never done before and I wanted to try it when he asked me." A smile is directed at the newcomers, waving an hand while watching Asher get the stick, barking right back at the canine, "Woof! Kale. And… I'm afraid I've forgotten your name?" is directed to Idrissa.
Wakua recognizes Kale as he gets closer from the forge and it's not until Datsun says his name that she puts a name to a face. She looks over towards Datsun, "Oh I'm sorry that you got robbed, were you able to get your tools back?" She asks. "It's too bad that he had to wear it as a leg I'd have loved to see it." She looks back over towards Kale and the girl that's with him with a canine. "Hello that's a nice looking canine you have there. I'm Wakua, apprentice smith. What's your name?"
Oh yeah, that's her name! Wakua. Recognition flashes as Kale hears the name spoken. Eh, he knew it all along. Really. "Robbed?" He's close enough now to have picked up a bit of their conversations, though not apparently enough to piece it all together. "Here? Well … suspect that's better'n murder, isn't it? But still, it isn't good." He frowns a little at the thought of a new bad guy lurking the fields of Xanadu. A masked robber to go along with the other antagonist on the loose! His eyes drift to Wakua. "Done for the day, are you?"
Idrissa tilts her head while offering a soft smile to Wakua and Datsun, so her name is forgetfull huh? Sok! "I'm Idrissa, beastcraft apprentice. Nice to meet you Wakua." Asher snuffles out at Wakua, his head tilting and he bumps his cold nose against the girl's arm while his tail wagwags about. "Don't mind Asher, his just curious and wants to meet everyone. I promise he is harmless." A glance is offered over to Datsun at the talk of robbers?
Datsun says, "I was just talking to Wakua here about you, Kale. I asked if you knew each other, but she says you're too busy doing boy stuff to hang out with her." A glance at Wakua, "Not yet, I'm hoping to buy new ones soon. Ah, I don't know if you'd like to see his leg. It wasn't really… for young people. That man is a very lonely man." Idrissa gets a finger snap, "That's it, Idrissa. He just likes to trip people." is said about Asher with a half-grin, looking at Kale, "When I was in the North. Not here at Xanadu. Speaking of that, you said you'd tell me what was going on here at Xanadu. Why the forest is off-limits."
Wakua giggles as she feels the canine's cold nose and she reaches to pet him gently, "Hello Asher, you are so handsome." She looks up at Kale, "Nope today was my rest day, back to work in the forge tomorrow." She looks over at Datsun, "I didn't say that he was too busy to hang out with me. He's just ahead of me and doing different stuff that what I do." She smiles at Idrissa, "It's nice to meet you Idrissa." She gives a shrug as she was told it was off limits, but not why.
"Talkin' me up, I hope," remarks Kale with a grin, dropping his boots to the ground now. But what's this? Busy doing boy stuff, eh? "Sounds like fun, but all I can remember doin' is a lot've work. Hope that doesn't mean that my work memories are overpowerin' my fun ones!" he says with a mock look of horror that melts into a grin as Wakua speaks up. "Oh, that? Yeah, I'm .. a turn or two ahead've ya, aren't I? We hardly have the same tasks, other than cleanin' the ashes. No one gets out've that. But!" he claps his hands together once for emphasis. "Aye, on to business. I owe Datsun some info, but before that, I formally invite the two've you to a beach party. Starting at whenever you can get here and whenever /I'm/ here, til … time unknown, on the next rest day."
Asher tilts his head and leans into the petting from Wakua, the large dog settling upon his haunches with a happy wruff escaping him, his tail thumping upon the ground. Idrissa keeps her smile and nods to Wakua before glancing to Datsun and hehs softly while rubbing at her neck. "Ya.. I'm really sorry about that Datsun.." An then for him having to deal with the rest of that crazy afternoon and the drama! She sets her boots down upon a dry bit of sand and stretches before soon just sitting herself down on the sand as well. A glance is offered to Kale and she smiles before nodding. "We're hoping to get a lot of teens out and about, for some fun. Going to have games and the like."
"Talking you up? Okay, I'll do that." Then Datsun's head turns to Wakua, "Kale here has told me that he wants to be a weapons smith. He's even got sketches of knives and swords. You should see them. Who knows, maybe you can help him make them." A smile is shot to Kale, "How was that? Oh? A beach party? Hmm. You'll have to inform me when the next restday is." Idrissa is eyed, "Don't worry about it. That was an interesting… afternoon. Speaking of that event, where's that Minecrafter?" A quick glance is shot around, looking for the Drama King.
Whaddayamean there's no beach party yet? There's people, on the beach. All you need is some snacks and music and - okay, so maybe there isn't actually a beach party going on, because there are a few minor details missing. Ah, well. However! Missing no longer is a certain girl. Soriana's walking along down the beach from the secluded cove used by the Weyrlings, paying more attention to the brown firelizard cavorting above her than her surroundings.
Wakua continues to pet Asher and she looks at Kale, "Why do you need to be talked up?" She wonders and she smiles, "Ooh a party sounds great. Hopefully all of our rest days will all line up." She ohs, "Well that's good I just want to be a master smith, I want to learn how to make delicate things, little works of art."
"Eh…mediocre," answers Kale to Datson, giving his hand a "so so" sort of wave. "Though I can't fault ya for that too much. You've all the facts right, but you're jus' missin' the dramatic flair." He turns to Idrissa, brows raising. "Did y'know Datson has like, the skills of a master crafter? Honest. He carved a dolphin from nothin' but a chunk've wood, an' if it wasn't so small you'd think it's real. Youngest Journeyman in the history've his craft. An' on top all that, he's travelin' to places people only dream've goin'! An' to think, he's only sixteen turns…what'll he do when he's twenty??" Yes. Dramatic flair! He looks over to Wakua, giving his shoulders a shrug while snickering a little. "Better than bein' talked down, isn't it?" he says with a small smile, eyes drifting to another someone heading down the beach. "Oi, Sori!" he calls, waving a hand.
Idrissa makes a faint face at the talk of a certain mincrafter, she shifts to shrugs and picks at the sand a few times. "I haven't seen him since the other day." Which she'd rather just lave it at that really! Asher settles down next to Wakua, his head moving to settle upon the girl's lap even, someone has a new friend! Rissa glances to Kale and then over to Datson and blinks. "Really?.." Is questioned with a curious tone and she soon nods with a smile. "That sounds really cool." Her gaze flicks over the area and she catches sight of Soriana, whom she smiles and waves towards. "Hey Soriana!"
"Ah, well, can't blame a guy for trying. I'm new at it." Datsun shrugs at Kale's answer about his attempt at talking up, raising an eyebrow at Kale's own talking up of Datsun. "By twenty? Hmm… probably end up Lord Holder, Weyrleader, and Mastercrafter of /all/ of Pern. You can be my second." A pause, "Or would that be Lord/s/ Holder and Weyr/s/leader? Since it'd be for all of Pern?" A smile is shot at Idrissa, "Despite his 'dramatic flair', the answer is yes, all of that is true." Soriana is noted, getting a wave of her very own.
Wakua wows, "I didn't know you were that young and all ready a journeyman that's amazing. I bet you'll be a master by the time you are 25." She smiles at her new friend and she ohs about the leg, "Well I guess I don't have to see it, but it figures it'd be something naughty sailors are like that." She continues to pet the canine and she laughs at Datsun's claims. "I'll settle just for being a master smith." She waves to Soriana as she's trying to be friendly, "Hello."
Huh? Oh! Soriana looks down to see Kale, and waves. Fancy meeting him here! Well, for that matter, fancy meeting a whole contingent here! The firelizard is left to frolic on his own as she trots over to join the group. "Heya!" she says, looking between two very familiar faces, one demi-familiar one, and one… mm, she mighta seen from across the caverns or something? Anyway, all of them get smiles of various degrees, and Datsun gets a laugh for his bragging. "Why limit yourself to just Pern? There's other planets out there!"
"Second of all of Pern?" Kale pumps a fist in a show of triumph at the claim. "It's always been a secret dream to be second in command," he says in a wistful sort of voice, a deep sigh following. An act, for sure, as his dramatics don't seem to stop at mere wods! He laughs afterwards and, rather promptly, plops down onto his knees into the sand. "And that, my friend, is how ya talk up a person. Next time, I expect more from ya." He digs his fingers into the sand a little, making a small hole. "Everyone, whether y'know her or not, this is Soriana. Sori, meet everyone. Wakua, Datsun, an' some girl named Idrissa that y'may or may not know," he lifts a hand to point at each person as they're introduced, Idrissa included. "It's much faster when one person does it."
"Woodcraft is in my family's blood so I learned it very early. I ended up being Apprenticed at ten. Got my Journeyman knot on my sixteenth Turnday." Datsun explains the reasons for being such a young Journeyman. "I don't know if I'd be a Master at 25. I kind of like where I am now. A Master can't travel as much. He's got to stay at the boring Hall and teach. Yes, the leg was certainly naughty." Datsun comments, his tone an understatement, blinking at Soriana, "Planets? What's that? Well met, Soriana, despite the other day…"
A rather large green decides that she's going to land rather near the gathering of folks and she does so in a graceful manner…backwinging to the ground. The rider should be at least somewhat familiar to a couple of the gathering of teens, as K'as slides down off her dragon's forelimb. "Duties and all."
Wakua smiles, "Really my grandfather was a smith and I take after him. I'd love to watch him work in forge and when I was old enough he let me start to help him. I love to work with him." She sighs softly and she nods to Datsun, "I can't wait til I'm a journeyman and get to go all over the place." She looks up as the dragon comes and she gives a wave, "Hello."
"Efficiency," muses Soriana to Kale. "I like it." She grins. "Hey, everyone!" A glance down, and she adds, "But y'forgot Asher, and he's the brains of this operation." Up again goes her gaze, this time to Datsun. "Like… other Perns. Out there in the stars." She waves a hand up to the sunny sky. "I read about 'em in a book." A bit of a shrug, and then her mouth does something in between a frown and biting something sour. "Yeah, that." A moment. "Well, I'm willing to say we just now met today for the very first time if you are." A grin, before her attention is drawn to the landing dragon and she waves to the rider! "Heya!"
"Ah, Asher!" Kale woefully says the pup's name as it is pointed out that he did, in fact, forget introductions of the smartest of them all. "My apologizes, noble canine, for forgettin' you. Find it in your heart to forgive me." He presses a slightly sandy hand to his chest, giving the pup a bow. All he receives in return is quite a bit of snuffling to his hair and a rapid lick to the face. "Eeyuck! Your breath, sir canine, is more powerful'n the fire of a thousand golds!" He rises from the sand, brushing himself off just as their beach group grows by two. A dragon plus rider. "'Ey!" It's the short woman! What was her name again? Er. "K'ash!" Close enough? "Welcome back."
Datsun blinks at the rather large green landing rather near to them, sitting straight up from the sand, "Woodcrafthall's Duties to Western…" The rider is eyed briefly, glancing at Soriana, "So that's the tripper's name. Asher. Sounds good." The canine gets a half-smile, blinking once again, sounding incredulous. "There are /other/ Perns?" Even this seems a bit too much for Datsun to believe, "Are you kidding?" His eyes suddenly go up to the sky, squinting to see if he can see any of these supposed 'planets'.
Wakua giggles a little bit, "If I remember my smith craft history there was a master smithcrafter who was always going on about efficiency." She continues to pet the canine and she looks at Kale, "Gold Dragons don't breath fire so his breath can't be that bad." She hmms, "Other Perns? I don't know about that, they'd have to be really really far away."
"Hello Soriana." K'as says as she takes her gloves and leathers off. "What are you up to?" She asks, looking towards the others and tilting her head Kale. "K'as.. KAle.. K'as.." She says chidingly. She looks back towards the young lady and man she doesn't know..tilting her head at the one who didn't say hello.
Wakua gives a wave to K'as, "Hello I'm Wakua, apprentice smith. It's nice to meet you K'as."
Soriana grins as Kale makes his amends to Asher - though Wakua does have a point. Nevertheless! "Bronzes, then. Since Asher's a boy, it works better anyway." Logic! See? Teenaged girls sometimes have logic… sorta. She looks back to Datsun. "Nah, it's for real," she says. "That's where the first settlers came from. Another Pern, out there!" Another wave at the vagueness of the sky. "It's all in the Aivas files." Not that she's actually read those, because shells are the old records boring, but - "I was reading this book about astronomy, and it was in there." Wakua gets another glance and a nod. "Yeah, it said they were way, way away. Like, a billion times around Pern just to get to one." At the question from K'as, she uhms. "Oh, uh, I dunno! What're you all doing?" She looks around at the other teens.
Datsun chews on the inside of his lip, thinking about this new revelation from Soriana, "Settlers? Avias? I heard something about that. No idea what all that's about, though… My life's dream is to see all of Pern…" Then after a moment's consideration, he suddenly stands up, steppin close to K'as, "Hello! Uh… K'as, was it?" queries the Journeyman, gesturing towards the green dragon, "Say, that's a gorgeous green you have there. By any chance…" A quick glance up at the sky, "Would she be able to jump to one of those other Perns? I could build you anything in return. A new table with chairs. A portrait of you two. Even a new house. How about it?"
"No you can't jump somewhere you don't know what it looks like." K'as says, shaking head at the young man. "But she's not lying. There was another planet. There was also Thread too, but thankfully that's gone." The Greenie says before she looks over at Soriana and laughs. "It seems to me that you are debating Astronomy, which is absolutely boring. Why aren't you out swimming?" She smiles gently to Wakua. "Nice to meet you." She peers at Wakua. "Flex, and let me see those muscles since you're a smith."
Oh, right! Gold dragons don't breathe fire! "..They don't? I thought they needed to eat a type've rock or somethin'. A firestone? Or .. was that for firelizards?" Add up the knowledge that Kale knows about metals and their properties, and that might amount to just about how much he /doesn't/ know about dragons! And other Perns. He doesn't know much about space and stars and planets and such. Leave that to star crafters! At the reminder of K'as's true name, he ohs and nods briskly. "That's what I mean. K'as! Hello an' good to see you again. An' we were all jus' here plannin' a party. Or…well, gettin' invited to a party. An' gettin' to know one another as we're new friends, I think. And…s'about it. Swimming will happen, I bet."
Soriana nods agreement to K'as. "Yeah, dragons gotta have a good picture, or they'll get lost between." Frownyface for that, but a brief one, 'cause this is all theoretical, and no actual dragons are in actual danger. She nods again as the greenrider confirms her story about planets. "The settlers came in big star-ships, but those got broken or something," she adds, then nods again at the mention of that thread stuff (so much theoreticalness!) As for why she isn't swimming? Well. "I'm still supposed to be taking it easy. I don't see why, I'm perfectly fine." Those pesky healers! "I mean, I could just wade in and sit around, but it's not the same."
Wakua continues to pet the canine and she seems happy to do that. She doesn't know much beyond the basics of dragons and she nods, "Sounds pretty dangerous to jump that far anyway. I heard that between is colder than cold and to go that long in it, that's not good for either dragon or rider." She looks over at Soriana, "That's right they did, but you are right the ship is broken." She smiles, "I've all ready been swimming once, but I wouldn't mind going swimming again."
"Oh…" is a very disappointed tone from Datsun, walking back to his former seat, dragging his feet so that he makes two gouges in the sand before falling back down, leaning his back on the pack. His head lolls back as he stares up at the sky, brooding to himself, muttering, "…Should've been a Starcrafter…" A hand comes up to cover his eyes. It takes a few moments before something sinks in, "'Star-ships'?" His head comes back, eyebrows raising and looking at both Kale and Wakua, "Maybe if we can fix those… 'star-ships'… we can go!"
"That takes metal that we don't have." K'as says rather flatly. "Just how it is." She admits as she shrugs. "Besides, they fled for some reason. Maybe it's gone…who knows." She looks between Kale and Soriana for the moment. "What'd you do to yourself?" K'as turns back to Wakua. "There is a girl after my heart. I always love swimming."
Star ships? "Ships that ride the stars?" Kale guesses, lifting a brow. Riding a dragon in the sky is one thing, but a ship? His mind conjures up one of the docked ships suddenly taking flight among the dragons, flapping its sails and dragging an anchor behind it likea heavy tail. It's a laughable image, and so he does just that, plopping back onto the sands as he does so. But hey now, here's an idea. Fixing the star ships? That'd be an adventure to beat all adventures! "Who knows. Maybe we can find more metal," he says as he smoothes out an area of sand with the palm of his hand. "The ship's gotta be somewhere, right? Maybe we can salvage some from it, dependin' on what metal was used. Could use a tech crafter's help, but we might be able to do it!" Optimism, ho!
"Oh, yeah, between is colder than the coldest you've ever felt. And dark and just… nothing." She sounds so cheerful about it, though! Like it's nothing to worry about, really. Soriana shrugs at the talk of fixing star-ships and such, because what does she know, then looks to K'as at the question. A brief frown, then a shrug. "Hit my head."
Wakua gets up and she brushes some sand off herself. "Oh how did you hit your head?" She smiles at Datsun, "Come on you wanna go swimming too?" She looks to Soriana, "There is enough of us here that if something goes wrong we can get you to the healers right away." She hmms, "I don't think I want to go on a star ship I like here just fine besides if they are so far away it'd take forever to get there, I'd probably be a very old woman before go to the other Pern."
Sighing heavily at K'as's answer about the star-ships, Datsun grumbles a bit, picking up a handful of sand, putting the other hand under as he lets the sand fall through his fingers into the other hand. "Figures." Kale's suggestion earns himself a skeptical look. "I've already had my hopes crushed /twice/. I'm not about to get it crushed a third time." A blink at Soriana, looking up at Wakua as she stands up, "Maybe. I dunno."
"An' you've /been/ between?" asks Kale to Soriana, skepticism evident in his voice before he blinks, remembering a rather important detail. "Oh, right.. your mother's dragon." Soo maybe her going between isn't such a farfetched idea after all. Ahem. "Ah, you're far from havin' the record of numbers of hopes crushed in a day, Datsun. You'll live! Buuut….fixin' a star ship maybe could be forgotten for now. Wakua has a point. An' if the past people /left/ their Pern, they probably did it for a reason." The question regarding how Soriana hurt herself is one he'd like to know too. But, eh.. He glances to her momentarily, then chimes in. "I bet I know. She fell over and knocked herself on a table or somethin' just thinking of how brilliant I am. Her mind couldn't…er, process it all, eh Sori?" Beam.
Soriana gives Kale a look as he starts to doubt her between-going credentials. It just grows more and more A Look, and that's maybe helpful to jogging his memory of that one key fact. "Yeah. That." Now then - oh, wait. Wakua's got a question. Ah. That question. She waves a hand dismissively. "Just an accident." Someone doesn't much want to talk about it, evidently. Why, she didn't even respond to Kale's joke! Now she's just off and looking for another topic. Say… "There's still plenty to be discovered on Pern, anyway. You don't have to go wandering off to other planets anytime soon."
Wakua smiles, "I've been between before, it's really scary, my mom brought me here on her green dragon." She nods in agreement, 'True Pern is full of mystery, there is lots of land left to be explored, who knows what we'll find."
"…I guess…" Datsun answers Soriana, giving her a glance before looking up at the sky wistfully, "Now I'll never know what's really out there." He throws the sand from his hands away, brushing them off, eyeing Soriana's evasiveness around the other two's questions about her head-hitting before blinking and pointing at Kale. "Off-limit. Forest. Explain, Smither."
Kale's eyes are left to linger on Soriana a moment, and as she moves on to other things he nods a little, more to himself than to what she says. He digs his hands in the sands, feeling the warmth radiate upon his skin. He eyes the wetter portion of the beach, possibly pondering a sand castle project when.. "Huh?" He blinks, looking to Datsun. "Oh, right. See, the forest of Xanadu's a place of wonder. I've heard stories since I've been here. Things like spirits bein' seen in the dead've night. Queer creatures that no one has names for. Some even say there are fairies driftin' through now an' again, and if you catch one, you either are blessed with luck or cursed forever. S'a gamble some people'll take. I don' know if all or any've it is true, but what I /do/ know for a fact," he says, voice changing now, getting a little softer, "is that there's a killer on the loose. An' the forest is where he's thought to be hidin'." His eyes shift from one person to another, coming to a stop on Datsun. "You'll notice riders from other Weyrs here. They're seekers. Search an' rescue. /Warriors/ lookin' for him before he murders again."
As Kale starts on his totally reasonable and factual explanation of the forest, Soriana… well, first she grins. Then she giggles, as his tales get more and more preposterous - only, just about when his tone changes, her laughter trails off, and that part she actually nods to. A killer on the loose. Riders from other weyrs. That.
Wakua looks a little skeptical at the story as Kale starts to tell it. He seems to be a big talker, but when she hears about a killer on the lose and gulps a little bit, "They are going to catch him right?" She asks as she looks around to make sure there are no killers on the loose around her.
"So sorry, but there are no forests that can match that of Lemos Hold and Far Cry's." responds Datsun smugly, crossing his arms on his chest, lifting his chin up at Kale's description of fairies and the like, "Ain't no curse that can get me in a forest." However, as Kale's description of the truth comes out, his face falls, "A /killer/?" His brows furrow, a little bit of anger coming into his eyes, "Hiding in a forest? That has to be the worst kind of bad luck. He needs to get out of there. Forests are supposed to be good. A place of sanctuary…" It's clear that forests have a special place in this Woodcrafter's heart. "I wondered about that. The riders. Who… was killed? Not in the forest, I hope?"
"We hope so," says Kale to Wakua, "but I promise nothin'. From what I hear, he's a real snake. I mean, he was walkin' among us all before anyone even knew who he really was. Eatin' an' drinkin' along with everyone else in the caverns like he's never put a knife in anyone's throat in his life." Now, the details of the murders he's not so confident on, and as Datsun questions him, he can only shake his head. "I don' know. No one here, I don't think. He came from another weyr an' kidnapped a little girl. Drug her around for who knows how long til she got away. There was a big search for'm not long ago, but they didn't find him. But the riders are still here. I met one from Fort, and they're still goin' at it. That's why the forest is off limits. M'guessin' they're thinking if anyone was to go walkin' through, they'd be nothin' but a dead body."
As it comes to actual serious questions, Soriana chimes in on a few points. "He was in Fort's area, and he killed people there. He tried to hide here. Well. Did hide, for a while." Yeah, that. She's quiet for a bit after that, then adds something else. "I don't think he's here anymore. Not, like, right here. I mean, maybe he's sent other people, but…" A shrug. See, the woods are totally safe unless they're not, and nobody knows which it is! Isn't this fun?
K'drozen makes his way slowly down to approach the beach. the fortain rider, dressed in his full leathers, and obviously well armed. He nods to those already hear as he moves towards the waters edge to look out acrossed its surface.
Wakua shivers a little bit, "What does he look like? Are there pictures of him so that we all know what he looks like incase he tries to sneak back into the Weyr?" She asks as she goes to sit back down as she doesn't feel like going swimming. "I guess we should all have a buddy now just to be safe."
Datsun's lips curl up at the story, "I'd like to introduce him to my knives." is commented darkly, "Those Riders better find him. There's nothing but bad luck to be gained from a murder in a forest." He looks down at his hands, "A carving or furniture from that forest would bring you misfortune." His eyes are redirected to Soriana, "That's good. I was wanting to use local wood to make something. I always do that when I visit a place." A blink, "Wait, Fort? I wonder if that happened while I was coming through that area… and now I'm here. That makes me look bad." A glance at all before looking up at the armed rider, eyeing him.
"Really?" Now it's Kale's turn to learn some lore. "It's like, a curse on the wood or somethin'?" he asks, the question directed to Datsun. He's never heard of such a thing before, and it does seem to make the need for this guy to be found. He doesn't want to end up with a cursed stool or something. He looks oer to Soriana and nods. She knows more of the factual details than he does, and he has no problem with her filling them in (and reminding him, to boot!) "I don't remember," he says, answering Wakua. "I never saw'm, but I was told what he looked like." Other than he may resemble a family member of his! His eyes trail to another arrival, brows raising. "Oh, that's him. Er..not the murderer, but the rider from Fort."
Wakua listens to Datsun, "Really…I didn't know that. I wonder if it works the same way if you mine ore from a tunnel that someone was murdered in." She looks over towards the fully armed rider and she gulps a little bit, "I hope not, you are really nice, I hope you don't turn out to be a murderer."
Speaking of Fort's riders, here's one now. Soriana glances over at K'drozen, and returns the nod before glancing back to those with her. "If you go out of the weyr, sure," she says to Wakua, and shrugs. "It was winter, last anyone saw him." So, well. He's probably long gone. Probably. "Sorta a big guy, dark hair, blue eyes… there's sketches in the harper workshop, or there were, anyway." She hehs. "Naw, Kale's good. Might be an evil semi-twin, but… probably not."
K'drozen glances over to the folks deep in conversation as he is pointed out and gives the group a nod before looking back to the lake once more, listening. Actually paying close attentin to what the group is speaking of.
"So this guy was here during winter?" asks Datsun, still keeping his eyes on the Fortian rider, listening to Soriana's description, "Oh, okay. That's good, that doesn't sound anything like me." Kale, however, is eyed, "Do you have an evil semi-twin?" is sent in his direction before shaking his head at Wakua, "I'm not. I went through Fort, to Southern Boll, then got on a boat and went to Western. That shipfish, er… dolphin, I gave you, Kale, is from Western wood. Then came to Southern Hold, Island River, and now here." A finger comes up to tap on his chin, "There's a legend at Lemos. Two hundred Turns ago, there was a beautiful maiden killed in a beautiful, lush copse. The kind of place where animals roamed without fear and reproduced plenty, wherries would run wild. It was said no animal had fear of this maiden and were actually her friends. After she was killed, that whole area died out. All of the animals, the trees, everything. Even ground plants. Now nothing but posionous plants grow there."
Wakua shivers, "Makes me glad I stick to the forge." She smiles at Datsun and nods, "That's good that you aren't a killer." She ohs softly as she hears about that. "That's so said all those trees and animals dying. Was it ever fixed?"
"Wow…that /was/ a while ago, huh?" muses Kale aloud. Winter, spring, summer. Two whole seasons have passed and not a hide nor hair seen of him. He traces a finger in the sand, drawing a circle. Two eyes. An upside down u frowny face, and angry V shaped eyebrows. His portrait of the man. The word "WANTED" is written in all caps beneath. "He looks nothin' like me!" he claims, pointing to the picture. He gestures to the frown on the drawn face, then points to his own grin which he plasters on his own face. "See? Total opposites." He smirks a bit, attention drawing to Datsun. Evil twin? "…I hope not, but I guess there's always the chance. But either I'm young lookin' for my age, or he aged to fourteen turns /horribly/." He snickers, thoug uiets his joking to hear Datsun's tale. "Woah."
Soriana peers down at Kale's picture of Baddie McVillainkins, and nods sagely. "Totally," she agrees, then listens to Datsun's tale of Lemos. "S'fun story," she says, in tones of skepticism, then shrugs. K'drozen the lurker gets another glance, then she looks to Wakua. "And if not, has the farmcraft heard about this?"
Datsun shrugs at Wakua, "I've heard reports of young trees trying to grow there and attempting to take back that area. Nobody likes to go close to that place." Kale's antics and comments about aging horribly to fourteen Turns earns a grin from the Woodcrafter, blinking at Soriana, "Story? It's the truth!" Then the girl is dismissed with a wave of his hand, "Non-believer." He calls her,
Wakua looks at Kale's drawing, "I'll be on the look out for him if I see him I'll go get the riders to get him." She looks back to Datsun, "Have you ever been to a place like that? How did you hear of it?" She asks curiously.
"Good, and alert any guard if y'see this character lurkin' about," Kale says to Wakua, moving a hand to brush it away. But on second though, he leaves the etching as it is before sitting up a bit. He glances at the sun, gauging the time. "Time to head back. For me anyway," he says, brushing his hands off as he stands, doing the same to his trousers. "Good seein' all of you."
Such a faithless one Soriana is. She just grins at those accusations. "Yeah, sure." She stretches out a toe to add bonus wiggly scowl lines to Kale's drawing. As he talks about heading back, she hmms. "For me too, I guess." A glance around, and a smile. "Was nice seeing and meeting and all that!"
Datsun shrugs again at Wakua, "I've seen a few places like that on my travels." He answers, "I have to go through Lemos Hold to get to the Woodcrafthall from my Hold, Far Cry. It's also told around the Woodcrafthall." At Kale's standing up, Datsun does the same, "I have a business appointment as well. Good talking to you Xanadu folks." His pack is shouldered and heavy boots picked up, heading off towards the stairs and up to the Weyr in general.
Wakua gives a wave as she starts to pack up as she sees that everyone else is heading out, "See you later, hopefully I'll see you at the party."