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Xanadu Weyr - Forest Pool
// Formed by ancient volcanic activity and composed of mostly of a single solid rock, the uneven surface of this island contains little dirt. Tree roots delve into cracks and grip tenaciously while the thin layer of humus provides nourishment for the moss, ferns and sparse plant life of this park-like woodland and cushions the forest floor underfoot. Shafts of golden sunshine slant between the trunks, creating emerald puddles of light upon the moss, encouraging flowers to bloom where insects flitter.

That crack where the bowls falls had drained here opens to a deep, still pool cradled in cliffs of stone, the depths of jade waters therein probed by fingers of light filtering through the leaves overhead. Large enough for a dozen people to swim comfortably in, the rise of rock shelf above provides a thrill for those daring to cliff-dive or a perfect spot to sunbathe upon.
//


Xanadu Weyr - Main Clearing
A wide clearing stretches from east to west, the ground packed hard although grass grows across most of it. Trees are strictly forbidden in this space, their danger to the constant draconic traffic reason enough to banish them to the forest that creates a border to the north. Where the ground is less trampled, tiny flowers poke their delicate heads out from their shaded hiding places with upturned petals to wave to whoever may be looking.
The cliff looms imposingly on two sides. Toward the southwest, a spire stretches up to high above where the everpresent watchdragon sits on a lonely peak with Xanadu's Starstones. A massive rocky spur extends to the north, curved slightly to hold the clearing and pocked with doors and windows.
The hatching arena and Dragonhealers' Annex sit to the southeast, built together into a single complex that takes up a large portion of the perimeter beneath its domed roof. To the southwest, wide steps lead up to the caverns, and almost directly south is the entrance to the Infirmary. Nestled between the infirmary and the main caverns there's a human-sized archway with frequent traffic - it leads to the Wanderin' Wherry Tavern.
Tucked near the arch, just off to one side is a tiny wood-frame shop bearing the name 'Wildflower Boutique'. Windows have been cut along the cliff in various places along the cliff. Those of the administrative offices are placed to have the best view of Xanadu's airspace - to the southwest, over the entrance to the caverns and the infirmary. Others mark the dormitories and those of lucky residents, while toward the northern edge of that spur cluster the windows and entrances to the crafters' complex.
The rest of the Weyr lies to the north and east - a broad road that leads through the meadow and the trees of the forest beyond. At the far northern edge of the clearing, just inside the perimeter kept clear of trees, a clocktower sits and proudly displays the hour.

The day is winding down, the late afternoon sun still visible though only for the next few hours and it is the hottest part of the day. Some people are heading to eat dinner while others are finishing up last-minute work or chores. The day finds Evangeline in her swimsuit, a one of a kind creation if you have ever seen one. The swimwear is neon green. The bottoms go down past her knees, the sleeves nearly reaching her elbows, and there's a small green skirt at the waist. (Think victorian bathing suit in neon green.) Over the top of this eyesore of an outfit is a loose white swimsuit cover-up, and on her feet are hiking boots. Evi does strange things, but this whole getup could be topping the list. Today finds her sitting criss-cross off to the side of the clearing, several picked flowers and blades of grass in one hand that she continuously spreads like seasoning on food over the lawn in front of her and then gathers up to begin anew. The other hand is drawing small circles in the dirt. Her eyes are the bored glazed look of someone who is WAITING.

Slender green wings soar overhead as one particular member of the Search and Rescue wing makes her way home after a day's patrolling. She circles the sky once before coming in for a landing, disappearing from sight vaguely beach-wards. It really isn't long before N'on comes trudging along, crossing the clearing on a trajectory for the tavern. He's still wearing his dull brown work leathers, and his hair is mussed from dragonflight, but he seems to be in a chipper mood. He gives a bit of a wave to Evi as he passes, all too oblivious to the fact that she is waiting, much less what she is waiting /for/.

Despite how interesting being an imaginary flower girl for the world's smallest wedding can be, Evangeline notices the green overhead. As N'on passes through, she finds her feet; maybe this is what she was waiting for. Bouncing after N'on, not unlike a younger sibling, might she spends a few of her moments bouncing and humming before saying, "Welcome home!" Yes, she was sitting there the entire time to say that. "SO—." Her voice drags out the O, and she bites down on her lip before continuing, "I was thinking, if you know, you aren't super duper busy. MAYBE you would come to this SPOT Keruthien found. Where like crazy people jump off a cliff." She makes it sounds so appealing, the consternation in her voice is folded into evident excitement. As usual, she stumbles through her words but manages it with a small canine like whimper at the end, revealing her nervousness. "We don't have to jump, we can look." Excited nodding and little wiggles, she's obviously already wearing a darn swimsuit.

N'on has the tolerant amusement of one who grew up with a large family but has been separated from them long enough to forget all the annoying bits about having siblings. When she says 'So' in that tone to suggest she's about to propose something, he stops walking and gives her his full attention, brows lifted inquisitively. His head tilts slightly when her proposition is revealed, with a small touch of skepticism. He takes care to finger-spell his response, keeping it short and slow to help her follow. Of course, that limits it a bit, but at least it gets the gist across. "D-A-N-G-E-R" He follows it with the sign to signify that it's a question.

The simple act of getting N'on's attention brings diffuse joy to the plotting girl. There's an excited small bounce given as response, weight shifting from foot to foot, and hands clasped in front of her as she awaits his response to her proposal. The fingers are observed, and she says out loud, "Oh! D. A..R no, that's N, now it's an H, no, no, that's a G, OK. E- R! D-A-N-G-E-R. OH! Um-" A long pause, her eyes lifting up and then down again lips puckering. "No, Keruthien and the rest of them did it fine the other day, I was a little scared." The scared is admitted in a small whisper as if somehow someone around them might hear her and care. "Maybe you have to see the place? Here." She makes to take his hand and drag him off towards the forest if he agrees to come with her. "It might be a bit far if Zhel wants to take us, it's faster. Or we can walk!"

Maybe it's that simple joy that keeps N'on so patient as he slooooooowly signs letter-by-letter. Or maybe it's just because sign-beggars can't be choosers on Pern. Who knows! But he smiles and nods pleasantly once she understands, and a slight tension releases from his shoulders when she reveals that the 'crazy' people in question are other Candidates. And that presumably they are all still alive. When she grabs his hand, he goes along gamely, but when she brings up Zhelinath, he points toward the beach with a quizzical expression.

Xanadu Weyr - Shore of Lake Caspian
The cliffs that run along the shore come and go, various weyrs nestled along the tops of them or dug into the walls, but eventually they recede enough to expose a beach. The white sand echoes the rise and fall of the cliffs with a multitude of sandy dunes, endlessly creating tiny valleys that are constantly demolished and rebuilt by the frequent arrival or departure of dragons. The dunes smooth out as the gentle slope approaches the edge of the deep blue water. The sand darkens, and a shell here and there stands out for children to collect.
The beach narrows to the southwest, leaving a path barely wide enough for dragons in single file before cutting in to a smaller, more sheltered cove. The sands are the same white, the waters the same blue, but they're calmer and more tranquil, more protected from the winds that ruffle Lake Caspian and the currents that tug beneath the surface.
Rough, wide stairs lead up to the meadow above and the road that runs along the top of the cliffs, passing through the fields and heading for the river mouth that can be just barely seen from here. The largest of the staircases up the cliff is located near the docks that jut out onto the peaceful blue waters.

Bouncing several more times with a slight "Yay." Evangeline experiences joy quickly, glancing over towards the beach, and nodding several times. "Let's go find her." The speed at which Evi chooses to walk displays her nervous excitement; she is speeding walking with a small skip thrown in about every ten steps. Arriving on the beach, there are several greens but none as brightly colored as Zhelinath, getting up towards her but not directly in her space she says, "Excuse me, um, ZHelinath, ma'am. Hi! It's Evangeline, we have met before, and we could use the TINIEST portion of your time. One short trip that is all, and then we will let you be I SWEAR." The sweetness drips from her voice, and Evi sounds like a kid asking for something from Mom and not a giant winged lizard. Turning to N'on, she shrugs her shoulders in a 'what can you do' sorta way.

Zhelinath's neck arches and her wings lift as she looks down at Evangeline with eyes whirling a startled lime green. In fact, she looks as surprised as N'on might if a herdbeast walked up and started talking to him like a person. She gives a huffed bark-snort, her head tilting, and then she /looks/ at N'on. The astonishment doesn't exactly fade when he gives her an amused shrug. Slowly, she settles back to the ground, and her eyes settle back into a normal darker green. Almost grudgingly, she offers a claw to help Evi up onto her back. With his own little grin, N'on offers his hand, ready to give Evi a boost before following her up.

Evangeline backs up several steps and grimaces, eyes darting to N'on and back to Zhelinath with apprehension. After the dragon has agreed to her terms, she gives one small happy jump, hands clapping once as her plan all comes together. Taking the offered hand, she allows N'on to help her up on ZHelinath and gives her hide an affectionate pat and then a rub. "Ok, so, it's— over there." Pointing towards the forest, "There's a trail we could just follow, um, maybe?" This is precisely what it's like to try and take someone somewhere they have only been to once, but they know it was across the road from this one shop that sells leggings. Also, Evi has some to learn about air space regulations around a Weyr. In due time possibly. "It's near the lip of the volcano, and it's got a pool and trees." She continues to point, let's hope N'on is better with directions than her.

Weyrlinghood does spend an /awful/ lot of time on directions, and N'on did grow up in Xanadu, for all intents and purposes. After Evangeline gives her dubious directions, and (presumably) N'on relays them to Zhelinath, she launches up into the air. They do several circles around the weyr, but eventually, she starts to wing her way back down, and eventually comes down near enough to the spot that it's only a short walk away. This time, N'on will jump down first so he can help Evi down.

Xanadu Weyr - Forest Pool(#1875RFJg)
Formed by ancient volcanic activity and composed of mostly of a single solid rock, the uneven surface of this island contains little dirt. Tree roots delve into cracks and grip tenaciously while the thin layer of humus provides nourishment for the moss, ferns and sparse plant life of this park-like woodland and cushions the forest floor underfoot. Shafts of golden sunshine slant between the trunks, creating emerald puddles of light upon the moss, encouraging flowers to bloom where insects flitter.

That crack where the bowls falls had drained here opens to a deep, still pool cradled in cliffs of stone, the depths of jade waters therein probed by fingers of light filtering through the leaves overhead. Large enough for a dozen people to swim comfortably in, the rise of rock shelf above provides a thrill for those daring to cliff-dive or a perfect spot to sunbathe upon.

Small hands hold tightly to the straps and onto whatever part of N'on she can reach, probably his thighs. Evangeline sucks in air as they take off her body tightens; doesn't matter how often she flies the initial take-off always gets her. After they are safely aloft, she glances down and the ground and squeals quietly to herself, little squeaks of joy coming out of her like she was three turns old. Some people are a lot, they don't contain their mirth. They express it and share it. In the right mind frame, it could be endearing. As they land, she takes N'on's hand and then gulps, staring at the dropdown. "OK." Her voice is much less assured than it was a minute ago, fingers balling up the fabric of her swim dress. "I am doing this." She insists though she hasn't taken on step closer to the edge. Evi's mouth says yes, but her body says NO.

N'on hangs back to watch what's going to happen. Does he look surprised when she doesn't immediately jump off? Nope! Not in the slightest. He gives her a second, and when she doesn't jump, he steps forward to tug on her hand, and sets himself down on the edge, feet hanging off. He looks up, brow quirked, then pats the ground right next to him. Then he looks off into the distance and waits

In normal circumstances, Evangeline might be suspicious, but this is N'on, and her trust in him is implicit to the point that she has moved her entire life to Xanadu because he handed her a knot while not quite sober, and here she is. Walking over to the edge, she sits down and gulps, staring down at the water. A strangled whimpering sound comes from her throat, and her hands are shaking slightly. "Can you BELIEVE them." There's honestly nothing to fear, but that's never kept someone from being scared. Pulling her knees up, she shakes her head continuously, "I am sorry, I don't think I can do it." Arms wrap around legs, and she looks glum; every few seconds, her chin comes out, and eyes trace down the cliff. "Ila'den told me that the world um, would not change for me. I'm behind.. this class. I am younger, and they're all in better shape." Admitting this out loud, her voice dropping down with melancholy. "Maybe Zhel was wrong." Apology laces the sentence.

N'on allows Evangeline to talk, though the corners of his mouth turn down /just/ slightly at the news of what Ila'den said to her. He skims over that FOR NOW, and instead gives a little tug on her sleeve to get her attention. Once he's managed to get her to make eye contact, he points at his eyes, and then turns his fingers to point /out/… Not down at the lake, but out at the view from the top of the cliff, which by virtue of its height must be at least a little interesting. At least a little.

Staring out at the view, the sun starting to slowly creep into a sunset Evangeline stands up with her face set, something in her mind had decided to change something. There's nothing more powerful than a changed mind. Reaching down, she offers N'on a hand, "Will you do it with me? Like the Ferris wheel?" The request is a large one; her lips are tight and eyes big as she waits with both eyebrows stretching up. "You can take off your clothes, or like, please, not your underwear. But. The rest of your clothes… I won't look." She turns her head in the opposite direction, giving him some privacy and proving that she won't look. At the same time, she slips off the swimsuit cover-up, folding it in half several times and nestling it next to her foot. The weaver in her showing with her deference for clothes. Slaming her eyes shut she takes a step towards the edge, ready to jump even if he isn't.

N'on blinks rapidly. WHAT HAS HE DONE. He glances down at his very /leather/ clothing, but then gives a bit of a resolute sigh. Heavily, he stands up, and starts to pull off his jacket. He stops with the jacket, because any more would be unseemly, ok. And yes, it's a weyr, but… There are still limits. He folds the jacket over Zhe's front leg, but pauses a moment to take out his paper, pencil, and other pocket contents and tuck them into his jacket. He saves only a single piece of paper to scrawl a quick note on, which he passes over to her before offering his hand. "Don't look down," it warns.

Evangeline retrieves the paper and reads it with a nod, smiling as he takes off the jacket. While there's a moment of relief and a small sigh as his pants stay on and that bullet is dodged. She straightens up, tension filling her body as she hyperventilates and makes little whimpering noises. There's one step taken in each direction, hands balling up close to her thighs and head shaking no, no, no. "Ok. Don't look down." Stepping up to the edge, she squeaks, tiny squeaks of someone who never had inside sounds, all her sounds are outside sounds. Reaching for N'on's hand, she fixes her gaze at the lip of the bowl. "No counting. " A few test bounces are given, like a diver preparing to dive and testing the surface beneath them. With a loud scream, she pushes herself off the edge, screaming the entire time as loudly as she can. That's a lot of sound for someone usually on the quieter side, she probably saves it up. Whether N'on lets go of her hand or joins her is entirely up to him.

It would be a terrible thing to trick a girl into jumping off a cliff by pretending to jump off it with her. No doubt, that would be /exactly/ the sort of thing Zhe would advocate. Probably a lot of people in the weyr would do that. N'on is not the type. He keeps his eyes mostly on her as he sidles up to the edge with her, waiting warily to see if she's actually going to do it. No point jumping if she chickens out at the last minute. But a nanosecond after she goes, he goes after her, making up for Evangeline's noise with his silence, right up until the *kabloosh* at the bottom.

Down. Down. Down, the loud shriek ending abruptly with a huge splash. Evangeline breaks the surface of the water and giggles, both hands going up in the air triumphantly. "I did eet!" She squeals, mouth open wide so that all her teeth are visible and her cheeks press her eyes into slits, a giant exhale of relief, and she splashes around, diving under and coming up each time with a small giggle or squeak. "Thank you, I don't know how I am ever going to thank you. EEECK!" The exclamation of pure unadulterated jubilation, her mouth wide. "Thank you for everything. In my spare time, I can do tailor work for marks to buy you new pants." The young weaver girl continues to splash, glancing up at the cliff she jumped off before swimming herself to shore. "Tell Zhel thank you too, if you can."

N'on surfaces with considerably less squealing and only a little bit of spluttering. While Evangeline is celebrating, N'on squelches the water out of his eyes and hair, blinking his vision clear. OH LOOK did you know turtlenecks don't hold their shape in water? Cause they super don't. Evi's going to get an eyeful of the nasty knot of scarring across his throat if she's not too busy celebrating. He at least gives her a thumbs up to show he's letting Zhe know, along with a smirk and a wink, then starts swimming his way out. They definitely should have thought to bring towels.

Not a lot of thought went into this trip, ok, N'on seems to go along with all of Evangeline's nutty plans. From burying her cat, possible death by cardboard, or jumping off a cliff. The delight in Evi is not averted by how SOAKING they are. With feet on solid ground, she rings out her hair, and jiggles craning her head to one side and then the other to get the water from her ears. There's something to be said for the adrenaline and thrill of doing something you thought impossible. Bouncing around, she grimaces at her sopping wet shoes. Her eyes notice the scar, but she makes a point to look at ANYTHING else. "Maybe Zhel wasn't wrong." She says, a set determination in her brown eyes, her shoulders back there's more confidence in her posture and body as a whole.

N'on climbs soggily from the water and settles for shaking himself all over. You know, like a dog. Once most of the droplets have been shaken out of his hair, he takes the time to squeeze some of it out of his shirt, though there's not much he can do while still wearing it, so he eventually leaves it be. The announcement is met with a slightly amused raised brow, but he leaves her to enjoy her triumph and looks up (and up) to the top of the cliff, searching for a way back up.
N'on’s searching will find that there's a path up the cliff that's quickly followed back to the top. In a rare show of athletic something or another Evangeline starts to jog/skip up the path, it's the ugliest jog ever. She somehow uses her arms a lot more than her legs, her hands are carried up near her chest like a t-rex, and she gets her knees much too high. ANyone jogging like this would hate it, it's exhausting and energy inefficient as it comes. Despite the lousy jogging, she does it with joy, giggling along the way. Waving for N'on to follow, she squeaks and twirls about in a fey fashion, pure happiness. "No one is going to believe meeeee. Poor Zhel, tell her I will like, wash her once we are off." A hand pointing up to the cliff to further indicate that she is speaking of the green.

N'on really can't help himself. As Evangeline starts her strange ungainly run up the path, he grins broadly, shaking his head a little at the silliness of it all. He waves after her, half to reject her concern about Zhelinath, and the other to simply acknowlege her joy. He takes a bit more time getting up the path, since he /did/ just finish up a workday, but given her windmill of arms and legs, maybe he won't be that far behind her after all. When they get to the top, Zhelinath is still waiting, looking entirely unconcerned about the whole thing.

Evangeline has had many people comment on her running style, but has never changed it. That day may come, but today is about joy and doing new scary things. Once at the top she gives a little bow to N'on and a deep bow to Zhelinath. After some time to dry out, the pair departs and gets back to normal Weyr life. Often times to do big things, you don't need grand speeches or loud cheering; N'on proves that all you really need is someone to hold your hand.


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