Dragon Oiling 101
training_ground.jpg

Xanadu Weyr - Training Grounds
A wide, grassy expanse, nestled into the gentle bowl shape where something's taken a bite out of the mountain. It's high above the level of the beach, and there's a good eastern view of the lake and a long path leading down to that sandy shore. Granite cliffs surround it on the other sides.
While much of the grounds are left in their natural state, one area has been trampled and trodden by enough feet that the grass struggles to grow. A running track circles a set of equipment - straw dummies with wooden frames, obstacles of various sizes and shapes, and targets for flaming, archery, and whatever else.
There's a dragon-sized opening to the south that leads to the cavernous weyrling barracks, and a smaller tunnel to the northeast - large enough for dragons newly emerged from the sands, but quickly outgrown by hatchlings who are then forced to take the long way around - at least, until they learn to spread their wings and fly. Between them in both position and size, a jagged crack in the stone leads to a dim cave with the sound of water.


Lessons, lessons and more lessons! Today has been full of them, and right now it is a lesson on how to bath and oil the growning dragons! Idrissa is there waiting on Kera to return with the few Weyrlings after they did the bathing and scrubbing bit. She's still on light duty thanks to her bandaged arm after the mess that happened at the hatching. There are several small barrels of oil out, along with brushes and rags so the weyrlings can get their lifemate's all good and oiled up it seems. Tahryth is settled there curiously watching and waiting while her whole body quivers with eagerness.

Kera is indeed leading a group of your pairs back from the beach. A gentle elbow nudge to Moncerath's shoulder, that was no doubt accompanied by a mental reminder, and her green dragonmate lifts her wings just a smidge higher. Not that they were dragging the ground, but examples must be led for the younger ones to follow "Make sure your dragonmates keep their wings up. Spent all that time getting them nice and clean, don't wanna have to start over before we get to oiling." Pausing and signaling for Mon to lead on, the green warbles to the older green who is already present and waiting, if not very patiently with all that excited energy. Kera seems to be a quick count, not wanting to lose anyone along the way. Thankfully, she was mostly unscathed during the recently hatching collapse. Count complete she gestures for the group to gather round "Come closer everyone." Turning to Idrissa, she grins cheekily "I think bath time is gonna take up ALOT of time with this group. A couple in particular." A slight chin gesture towards Jaya and her young green.

But there's WATER and it's big and WET and… "Come on, Lei, it wasn't that bad, right?" Jaya attempts to persuade her dragon… whose wings are pinned back as if to keep everything away from the ground because it might turn into water again. « It splashed me! » "…that's waves, it's supposed to do that." « But it was weeet! And cold and it feels funny. » Sniff. Poor half-drowned dragon… or so she might sound like, which is strange given that at least half of her 'bath' was delivered with a scrub-brush and bucket while she was standing on shore and refusing to set paw in the water again. Jaya sighs, coming closer with the rest, and mutters a, "Sorry," to Kera as Leikoirath flumps to lean heavily against her side. At least she's not getting dirty again?

Idrissa looks a bit amused as she watches the group return, a soft chuckle escapes her as she hears Kera. "That happens." She offers with an amused tone while she tilts her head to curiously peer at Jaya and Leikoirath. "Don't like the water to much huh? That's alright, some like it more then others." Tahryth /loves/ the water, and she will be more then eager to show off her skills too. "So, next lesson then deals with oiling. Which is a /very/ important lesson when it comes to young dragons such as yours." She glances to Kera and a smile is seen. "Do you want to take over?"

Kera chuckles and nods agreeably with Idrissa over differences in dragons. "And Moncerath loves chasing the little fish. Always has." Glancing around the young pairs, her steps moving to her own dragonmate and she reaches up to rub the green's hide along her neck. Moncerath croons to the small ones, crouching low to the ground as Idrissa explains what's gonna be happening. Kera looks to Idrissa as she passes the ball her way, and chuckles. "Sure thing Drissa." A grin flashes and her attention takes in the weyrlings. "By now you've noticed how much your dragonmates have grown since they found you. That includes their hides. Just like the firelizards that most of you have, you'll need to keep their hides well tended and oiled to keep them healthy. Dry hides make them itch and are very uncomfortable. You've probably already noticed that you yourselves are very uncomfortable if your dragonmates are hungry or itchy. So keeping your dragon's hide healthy keeps you healthy as well." Kera lets that sink in and glances to Idrissa to see if she wants to add anything before she continues.

"She's just nervous about it, that's all!" Jaya is quick to say in her dragon's defense, putting an arm around the young green. "She'll get used to it." Or so Jaya hopes, anyway. She nods to Kera, then tilts her head down to give Leikoirath a look. "See? They all like it, you will too… you just have to give it a try." Leikoirath wiggles, a full body sway that ends in a swipe of her tail, back and forth as she turns her head to look back to Jaya. « Ohh…kaaay, » she agrees, and darts her tongue out to give her human's face a few quick licks. There! "…bleh," Jaya says, with a grin and a thump for Leikoirath's side, and looks up again to pay attention to the lesson!

"Sometimes that can change over time. She may hate it now and like it later, or she may never like it. Which is also fine. They are very much like us in such things as this." Idissa offers with a smile to Jaya. Tahryth is up and trotting over to where Kera is and wiggles about some while the rider goes about talking. "Tahryth wants to help it seems." Rissa says while rolling her eyes a bit and chuckling while she moves on over to help out it seems.

Kera moves over to the barrels and various implements of oiling: buckets, scoops, brushes and rags to name a few, grinning when she notices the green wiggling up next to her isn't Moncerath. Her own dragonmate slouching down and watching the young pairs with gently swirling facets. "Hello Tahryth. Nice looking group of young ones isn't it." A polite head tilt in added greeting to the older green before gesturing to the various items around the barrels "In a few minutes you'll need to come gather what you need. The brushes will work pretty good for most off of their hide." That said, she grabs one of the small rags. "But you may want to use small towels or sponges for working near their eyes." After a few seconds, she has a bit of oil on the rag and turns with raised hand towards Tahryth. "May I Tahryth?" The wiggly green wants to help afterall.

Jaya frowns a little, but nods to Idrissa's assurances. "Okay…" she murmurs, then turns her attention to Kera, giggling a bit as Tahryth presents herself for oiling. Leikoirath, next to her, seems to be paying attention to the lesson too… well, except for when a buzzy insect goes by and distracts her for a moment. What's thaaa- oh, right, lessons! She gives herself a bit of a shake - good thing she already dripped dry - and looks back to Kera and Tahryth once more. « Are you gonna taste it? »

Idrissa offers a smile to Jaya. "It'll be alright… She doesn't have to like water. Though it would be easier when it comes to giving her a bath I will admit." She can't keep Tahryth /out/ of the water most of the time. Rissa glances to Kera and she looks amused, a soft chuckle heard. "Of course you can." Tahryth goes about giving Kera a nice slurpy lick across the face before she just flops over (full of grace of course!) so Kera can go about oiling her it seems. « I could… Though I think you should first. »

«It doesn't taste very good.» Moncerath states from experience, the tip of her tail twitching a time or two before curling around her crouched form to rest of her paws. Kera chuckles at her dragonmate's response to the other dragons and turns an amused grin back to Tahryth. "Ahfphwip." Whatever she was goinna say was distorted from the dragon slurping she just received. Grabbing her sleeve across her face quickly, she laughs at the green's enthusiasm and sends a quick glance to Idrissa "Some things never change aye?" Turning back to her task, she makes sure her voice can be heard by all the young pairs "Gather closer if you need." But not too close, else they may rebound off the big wiggly green. Kera proceeds to gently dab and swipe the oily bit of clothes around the eyes and what could be called 'delicate' spots of a dragon's face. "You can't hurt them, but really, would you want someone scrubbing about your eyes with a big ole brush?" She's already shaking her head as she has her answer already. She'll rub over Tahryth's cheeks and snout before moving back to the headknobs.

« That's what she said, » Leikoirath agrees to Moncerath, with a mental image of Tahryth… with a flicky tongue licking all the things! Just like the visual one that the older, presumably wiser green demonstrates on Kera's face. Jaya giggles, and after watching the demonstration, she steps forward to pick up the implements - a brush, a cloth, oil… and she pauses there, giving Leikoirath a look. "You don't need to taste it, okay? You know it tastes bad, they both said that, so you don't need to taste it. Okay?" Leikoirath wiggles and sways her tail, then dips her head. « Okay! » she says, ever so readily.
Long distance to Q'll: Kera nods and will work up both date batches and let you guys decide. We'll let you guys know more certain what's up in a couple of days. Not sure about working up a compromise, I'm sorta just following along with already set guidelines and am the newest to the awlm lineup. So I need to see what's up with the rest of the group before I can tell you anything with any certainty.

Idrissa chuckles softly while watching Tahryth. "Sorry Kera… I don't think she'll ever grow out of that." Nope, never! Tahryth croons out to Moncerath. « She has to find out for herself, don't ruin it for her! » So she offers with a warble of amusement while she rather enjoys the attention from Kera and her eyes close as she relaxes.

Kera pauses her oily ministrations to the green's head with one last gentle swipe across an eyeridge, and sidles over to take up a brush instead to continue with. Moncerath's wings rustle on her back «We're supposed to teach them the right way to do things. That's what Kera told me…Right Kera?» A grin back to dragonmate at the green's response and she nods agreeably "That's right Mon." Still smiling she loads the brush with oil and starts dragging it along Tahryth's neck, working her way along the green's side and back that she can reach as she goes on with the 'teaching' part of this oiling. "Right now these hand brushes will work well enough. But as they get bigger, you'll find you need to use the pole scrubbers. Especially those of you with brown or bronzes dragonmates." A gentle touch to the green's side "Wing up please." is murmured to Tahryth as Kera ducks her head and continues sidling. "Don't be afraid to put some umph into the task. They like getting their hide scratched."

Jaya keeps a close eye on her bucket of oil, despite Leikoirath's agreement to leave it alone, and starts copying Kera with rubs of oil for her dragon's face. Leikoirath croons happily, leaning into the touch and closing her eyes, and at least for now there's no need for concern that Leikoirath will do anything but appreciate the attention. The application of oil may not be the most regular, but that will come with time… and it's not like the green seems to object to getting extra rubbings of her hide to work it all in! Jaya's fingers move a little on automatic while she glances over to watch Kera as well, observing the finer details of dragon-oiling.

Tahryth croons out while she lays there, yay attention! A wigglewiggle of her tail seen now and then. "I have to admit I have been a bit lax on oiling Tahryth with my arm. Though I have to say if that happens to anyone they should ask for help." Pot calling kettle black there! Do as she says, not as she does?

Kera adds pressure to the scrubby brush as she drags it in circular motions, adding more oil as needed. "You'll soon learn the best way to scrub. Some dragons like little circular motions while other dragons like back and forth." Kera continues to work her way along, reaching for and missing the end of Tahryth's tail due to enthusiastic wiggling. With a chuckle she reaches down and makes a few grabs at the twitchy tail before catching and attacks it with the brush, working oil into the hide. Moncerath's warbles sound as if she's laughing at her rider's 'trapping' of Tahryth's tail. Looking up from the task, she gives a little wave off of her friend's worry. "It's alright Idrissa. And her hide isn't bad. But not gonna begrudge her some extra scratches for it." And indeed she seems to be trying to find all the 'itchiest' spots and concentrating on those. Standing a moment, she stretches her back and looks over the 'ling pairs, stifling a snicker at a dripping young blue "No need to use too much. Work it into their hide and add more. Otherwise it's just dripping everyone and getting wasted."

Jaya giggles a little. "I'm sure Leikoirath will tell me which she'd rather." Like now, when she's wagging her tail and making happy little panting noises while Jaya scrubs oil in along her chin and under her ears. Jaya looks over to Idrissa, and nods. "Maybe we can help you! Us greenriders will be done long before those bronzers, after all." She grins, then returns to her oiling of Leikoirath… which isn't going to be all that fast, given that she's still learning and how wiggly her dragon is. Still! She nods to Kera, and tries with less oil on her next attempt, working it into the hide more thoroughly. "…Leikoirath, I already got oil there. It's practically sopping." « But what if it itches? » "…does it?" There's a mental scuffling of feet, and a whine. « …noooo. But… but it could! »

Idrissa smiles as she hears Jaya at the offer to help with Tahryth. "I'm sure Tahryth will enjoy the extra help, especially when she is a bit itchy over the next few days. So I shall take you up on that offer." Look who just got extra work?! Tarhyth wiggles about some as her tail is grabbed and she leans over to give Kera another slurp of a lick before she is up and giving herslf a good shake as her wings stretch out. "Remember to oil them all over, wings included. The sails will be growing quickly like the rest of them, and that needs to be very important to oil up so it grows out well." This is how they will be flying after all! She lifts her hand slightly before pausing at the blue that is dripping in the oil. "When you all finish with your lifemate's I say a break is in order. Take this time to get something to eat and fed them if the are hungry. Of course don't feed them /too/ much." She looks to Leikoirath and chuckles softly while smiling at the pair. Oh yes little dragons are the cuteness!

Kera makes a few more swipes before the Slurp of approval from Tahryth signals a job well done. "You're welcome Tahryth." Laughing and scrubbing the side of her face with a sleeve quickly enough, she reoils a rag and moves to Moncerath's side, attending to her own dragonmate's itchy spots now. As Idrissa starts sending the pairs off to eat and rest, Kera can't help but add with a chuckle "Don't forget to clean their teeth. Don't want bit of dead herdbeast rotting between their back molars." Her health tip of the day delivered, Kera waves to the pairs and returns her focus back on Moncerath.

Jaya just grins and nods to Idrissa, undaunted by the prospect of work. Though really, what's to complain about when the work is oiling happy dragons? She gives that non-itchy but nice-feeling spot of Leikoirath's another few rubs - no oily rag involved - before continuing on down the rest of her dragon, working in oil all over her. At least she's still small! « I am hungry, » Leikoirath determines with a wiggle, and Jaya grins. "You weren't until she said. We'll eat after." …which Leikoirath doesn't argue with, a good sign that she only wants food because it was mentioned. Besides, there's oiling to be had! Jaya keeps on with it until her dragon's nice and gleaming, and then they'll go off for that food and… teeth-cleaning, oh yes. "No rotten meat breath for you!" she informs Leikoirath, who wiggles and chirps in answer.

Idrissa smiles and nods while she turns to leave, Tahryth is following after her rider and is soon taking to the skies with a leap upwards. A warble escaping her as the green is heading towards the pens it seems. "We will meet back later for book lessons!" Rissa calls back to the Weyrlings before she is sipping off.


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