Survival Camp - Campfire Square
During the day this area is a small clearing that sits just big enough to land four dragons in it, though by night it becomes an inferno where a fire is built up that licks its stray bits of lights to the ground just before the barracks nearby. The two barracks sit across from each other in strong contrast, the leader barracks being a comfortable modern barracks that looks clean and kept in good eminence while the follower barracks has a sharp destitute about it, looking that the ivy and decay is a day away from making the whole thing collapse.
Lorena looks at Heeva and Rhelia as they approach, eyes flickering over the two and then back to where she's chopping citrus grass on a flat of wood… possibly a part of board from the barracks. Chop chop chop… chop chop chop. Heeva's comments cause a pauses in her chopping, but nothing more as she resumes. Chop chop chop. Scrape… Everything goes into a skillet and she reaches for the strips of feline. Heck, won't taste very good, but better than nothing, eh?
It's not like anything they've eaten in the wild has been particularly tasty. There will likely be a feast of gorging when the candidates return and try to regain some of the weight lost out here. "I'm surprised we're still here," Rhelia replies when Heeva speaks up, her green eyes flashing over to the other candidate before they disdainfully look at the feline meat. "We should be somewhere safer." Her glance then turns to the weyrling pair that has just returned. Perimeter marked? Rhelia looks mildly puzzled at that.
Laera finally makes it to the campfire and lowers herself to a log with Kereth's help. Her face as a bit tight with the gesture, but no whimpers are heard. Her gaze shifts around to the other candidates, then to Lorena and she gives an encouraging smile to the woman before nodding at Heeva. "We are lucky really, we could still have thread. Felines are far more easier to deal with." Munch Munch, chew chew. Nomnom. She leans forward to check out what is being cooked and looks up to the woman again, "Need any help?"
"What /is/ that smell?" Heeva wrinkles her nose as Laera and Kereth approach. "smells like…. Its not, surely" she looks over at them hoping Laera won't confirm what Heeva suspects, and backs away from them, shuddering at the mention of thread. The smell of the cooking feline meat is not appetizing either, and a queasy sliding movement starts in her stomach. Maybe it'll taste better than it smells, she decides, and moves away from the fire to join the others.
Lorena listens to Rhelia's whining without effect as she slices the meat and smacks it several times with the handle of the blade to try and tenderize it some. Starving feline means for chewy stringy so-called-meat. Whack whack whack whack whack! The sound rather sudden and pointedly right -after- the whining. Making a statement? Hm… perhaps. Whack whack whack whack whack! It doesn't smell bad, yeesh. Citrusgrass has a wonderful smell, and that plus onions and some sliced and crushed curry leaves? She's certainly trying her hardest to make it taste good. Laera's offer causes the young woman to look up completely this time and she nods, pointing to the chestnuts and then a rock. "Grind them with that please?" And back to beating things.
Rhelia is used to her whining being ignored. Unfortunately, it doesn't discourage her or improve her mood any. The blonde candidate just crosses her arms and watches the pounding of the meat, still sulking there. "Aren't the felines one of the causes of a disease?" she finally points out, wrinkling her nose some despite the tempting smells of cooking onions and herbs. But when the weyrling is designated a chore, she takes that as her cue to slip off a bit, walking behind Lorena as though she found something to do.
At the questions from Heeva Laera just looks up with a grin and nods, "Yes it is, keeps the felines away…at least he is doing it on the perimeter and not in camp…" Yes ever so helpful and no doubt used to the smell from her time in the weyrling barracks, dozens of nonbetween pooing dragons living together. As the rider gives her some cooking directions she gives a nod and goes to work on grinding the chestnuts as if she has done it before. Yes this easily bored weyrbeat spent much of the last few turns helping out in the kitchens, always stuff going on there.
Heeva looks forlornly at Laera and mutters, "it seems I have a lot to learn about dragons then, especially young ones" and sighs deeply wondering if she'll ever get used to the smell of dragon pooh. Was she cut out to be a dragon rider? Only when the eggs hatch will she know for sure. "Here, give me a mallet and I'll help pound those chestnuts, " she offers, in an effort to distract herself from such gloomy thoughs.
Throughout the day, since morning broke and candidates cleared the better half of the barracks, there have been people on the roof attempting to do justice in repairing it. Being as it's lunch, some have escaped the sun on their backs for some ground duties, whether that be log hauling or gathering more building supplies. As it is, out of those on the roof (shored up and safe) - remained the eldest of the candidates; seemingly wedging together ends of fitted logs. The dragon who rammed into the barracks caused extensive damage, though with many a folks help, the structure can be repaired - or at least the attempt will be made. It just happens as Nalkor is in the process of securing the log in proper place, he gets a whiff of what's being cooked. His nose can be felt to wrinkle slightly at the unappealing aroma. No sooner than his sniffer has picked up the scent does he turn his eyes down toward the group clustering around the fire pit. He squints at the women there, anyone on the roof could hear him murmur, "I wonder what kind of brew they're making us today—"
Rhelia is in the background, sulking about being left in the wilderness despite a feline attack as if being in the wilderness weren't enough, and doing her best to avoid chores and notice while she waits for food. She's going to waste away out here!
"Well older dragons take care of their bodily functions when they between or else you would have a Weyr drowning in shite." Laera says quite casually as she grinds down on the chestnuts and breaks them apart and sets the grinded bits in a bowl before grabbing more. At Heeva's request she moves the chestnut bowl between them with a nod, "Here ya go." Kereth looks over the campfire for a moment before his gaze is taken by the barracks perched candidate andn he moves over there with a curious tilt of his head. Laera looks over to her lifemate, gaze unfocusing for a moment before she looks up to Nalkor, "He can pass up some wood bits iffin you need em."
It's been a hot day so far and Orla who has been helping organise a lot of the work on the barracks comes back to the camp with a few of the NPC's. The group is hauling a trio of larger trunks through the forested are towards the ruined corner of the barracks. They are long straight trunks, probably meant to support the roof properly from that corner again so the temporary shoring beams can be removed. There's more than a fair share of grunts and moaning, but she's not letting any one of them away with the slacking on the strain and she's hauling just as hard as the others.
Lorena is pounding away, piece by piece, till Heeva makes some comment about a mallet. "Mallets are used for the roof. There are clean rocks there for griding." And with that, she absently looks over her shoulder at the barracks, maybe hoping? Yep. There he is. Really, it doesn't smell bad. It'll taste a bit gamey if you're really trying for it, but, well, she's using curry and other strong scents and flavors to mask it. And she looks fooor…. berries! Slipping the meat into the pan, she grabs a bowl and pours them into it, picking out any leaves and twigs. Now and again she moves the sizzling meat and herbs around in the pan.
Heeva follows Laera's gaze upward and sees a young man perched atop the roof of the barracks, and notes his shaggy hair and apparent aloof air, and dismisses him. At Lorena's comment about mallets, Heeva nods quickly and searches about for a clean stone and sets about helping her. As the other candidates drag poles and other wood in from the surrounding forest, the dust that whirls into the camp sets her to sneezing and she has to turn away from the chestnuts, or add to their flavour.
Myesha should be doing something more useful but at the the smell of sizzling meat she pauses in passing up a few tools. The curry works to hide the smell it seems, either that or she's so hungry that she doesn't really care. "Oh, almost done then?" She asks Lorena with a giggle, staring at the pan. "Maybe we cam have some berries for dessert of there are any left over?" She's hopeful and its obvious as she shows a nice big smile to the rider tending the meal.
The sky usually is a typical place for someone to search for thoughts not coming to them and it's there that Nalkor's blue gaze is held for some time. Mental break as he half closes his eyes to let a faint breeze touch the sweat coated face, tanning it all the same. Frown lines mark the expression that follows, for he watches the group carrying the burden of structual load baring trunks. Whatever grumbles or responses he earned from the comment of the woman's brew is shortly dismissed in chagrin for the appearance of the real day's work. A voice seems to call just in time, his finger pointing Laera in the direction of Orla and her group of heavy haulers.
Orla keeps everyone moving until they are almost in place. She pauses long enough to take a quick glance around to get her bearings and then directs the individuals to get the trunks separated into different places so they can be worked on without getting in everyone's way. "That should do for now guys, we need to get that old support out of there." She points at one of the broken support beams, "Then we need to re-dig the hole and get this lot into position, have a break though and go see if lunch is ready." She dismisses the ones who had been hauling logs before she herself starts checking the long logs for any telltale faults in the wood.
At the indication Laera nods and sends Kereth to help Orla's groups, "You can attach the lead rope to his harness, should support the weight." Laera calls out to the group before going back to the crushing of her chestnuts, grinding each bit thoroughly before grabbing another one. Once finished with her pile she looks back up to the rider curiously, "Anything else you need?" She asks before she leans toward the pot again, "Smelles wonderful and I reckon a right proper revenge on em. They took a bite out of me and I will enjoy taking a bite out of them." She says with a grin at the rider. Why does she have to be so damn cheerful all the time? Well in part…right now…to keep her young dragon settled.
Lorena winces at the dust, eyeing the candidates responsible. They didn't have to travel -that- close. "Oy, watch it! Unless you -like- grit in your meal!" There's the Lory we know and love. She dumps the picked through berries into a saucepan over the fire and adds some water from a small pitcher. "When you finish with those… put the grindings in here." She instructs for Laera's early benefit, another look cast to Nalkor. "And keep an eye on it," She resume to Laera, returning eyes to her. "Stirring now and again." A smirk is given to the girl, which is a marked improvement of the brownrider's temperment.
With an unexpected grin in Laera's direction, Heeva says, "Now /that's/ a thought! You bite me, I eat you! That will make the meal even more appetizing even though somewhat different!" She looks over to where Lorena's preparing the meal and nods appreciatively as the aroma of the food improves with the cooking, then continues with her stone pounding on chestnuts while screwing up her eyes against the dust.
"So this camp has provided a lot of firsts for me," Myesha starts saying, passing one of her fellow Candidates a large mallet. "First time being in a camp of some sort, first time seeing felines," Pushing back her hair she smiles widely, her next words being emphasized with a hint of amusement. "First time being /attacked/ by felines, and now first time eating a feline. Sure did round out nicely."
The high perch is enough to give a guy ample room to listen in without looking like he's listening in. Or something of that sort. Right. Relief comes though from the immediate chagrin earned by the appearance of the structure beams when Orla declares they should all get a rest in before they start the dirty work. It would seem the man is up for that. Getting off the roof alone brings a promise of comfort. Upon Nalkor's route down the side of the barracks, he does notice Lorena peeking over at him, though at the moment unable to do anything about it.
Orla herself hasn't stopped working, she glances at the dragon and shakes her head. "Not just now, we'll need you for later though, it'll save us from having to pull on all the ropes ourselves." She says with a grin as she unhooks her axe again, walking over to the old structure. She examines the remnants of the old support post and after a few quick kicks at it to check it's stability she takes the axe to it and starts to hack out a groove round the base of it. She pauses every now and then to glance over and see if lunch is ready or not.
Laera scoots forward a bit so she can poor the grindings and start stirring the pot slowly, "Mamma Laureate used to say the kitchens keep my out of trouble." She says absently as she stirs the pot and looks up at the rider, "I rather enjoyed it anyway." She says with a grin as she continues to stir. As the other candidates pick up on the idea about it being a good revenge to eat the felines she just grins. Her job here is done. She tilts her head over to Myesha and laughs, "Yeah same here, I ain't ever directed a dragon to strategically poop before. It was…interesting." Kereth lowers his head to the logs curiously before warbling to Orla and heading back to sit down next to the fire again. He is generally keeping an alert stance about him, looking around into the forest as he settles behind Laera.
Lorena is allllmost there with the lunch thing. And as for Nalkor? Well, hey, can you blame her for -not- looking, right? I mean, come on now. But she's got other things to do in the mean time… like assess the food. Mmm… Yep, looks about done. The compote will take a slight bit longer so she jerks her head to Laera to let her have at it instead. "Go ahead and call them all for lunch, I'll finished with this and you all can go ahead, with those bowls, and start dishing yourselves out some. She looks to Myesha and gives another near-smile at the girl. Well at least she's surrounded by the right sort to raise her spirits back up again, eh? Between Heeva, Laera and Myesha.
Myesha doesn't wait to be called for the meal. She moves over to the food, busying herself with menial tasks until it is ready. Gathering a few building materials that have managed to fall from those towing them off she smiles over at Laera. "I hope they taste as good to us as we did to them." She says, not being able to stop herself from giggling. It might not be the nicest thing to say but there's no malice behind it, just amusement. "And the kitchens is what always got /me/ in trouble, sneaking in for a late night snack, or just sneaking in for too many snacks really." She catches that look, you know, the one showing that the meals ready and she immediately heads over. "Ooh, looks good Lor!" Rubbing her palms together she looks around for a bowl.
A slight cloud of dust poofs out from underneath Nalkor's boots as he misses the last step in the ladder and ends up going done to the ground rather hard. Luckily for him, no one can see his face as he turns it. He does stay in the spot he landed, eyes to the forest. Odd. Slow moments pass by before he actually makes an attempt to move. When he does, it's only to sit at the base of the ladder, just slightly favouring a leg. The back of his hand pushes back some sweat, one again looking over his shoulder toward the direction of the women around the fire.
Orla finishes off hacking out the channel on the old support and drags over one of the ropes to sit next to it, about that point though she hears the call for lunch and buckles her axe away. She stretches upwards in an attempt to relax the muscles before she makes her way towards the fire, coming up behind Nalkor. "You alright there darling?" She asks him quietly, holding out her hand to help him up once she's comes up alongside where he's sat.
Laera grins over to Myesha and nods, "I reckon it could taste like wherry dung and I would savour it…but this pot here smells right delicious so I don't think we got to worry on that." She looks up at Lorena, catching the look she passes to Nalkor and just grins. File for future teasing. Not the best time now. She continues to stir the pot occasionally bringing the spoon to her lips for a taste and dipping it back in again, "Definatly don't taste like wherry dung. Grubs up everyone!" She yells out before starts pouring the curried stew into bowls.
Lorena just stirs and stirs away, watching the others coming in. Slowly there's some shape taking to this, but her mind is just… floating around as her eyes do, pausing again on, well, take a guess. Her brows knit as he sits at the base of the ladder. Don't need an expression to gather what might have happened. But Orla's helping him so she just, watches… and stirrs. S'her job right now, yep.
Myesha finally finds a bowl, grabbing it up quickly before nodding happily to Laera. "I think you are right, though, and I am so hungry I could eat a /whole/ feline." Giggling she makes her way to the pot and waiting for her turn. She missed Nalkor's ungraceful landing, being too intent on the stew. "Ooh, looks hearty!" She says, licking her lips as Laera ladles the stuff up. "Me next!" Smiling happily she inches her bowl to the weyrling, seemingly not able to wait any longer for food. "Nice job on this one, Lor!"
Nalkor's eyes are riveted to a spot just feet away from his boots, though what he sees can only be known to him for he nearly zones out by the looks of it. Until Orla comes on over toward him. Heavy lidded blinks respond to Orla's words at first, a silence followed until he shifts, righting himself from the ladder's step with a push and a grab of her hand, "Yeah. I'll be good." His tone is encouraging though as he continues to hold her hand, since she offered, "Shall we eat before it gets cold?" He pats the top of the hand he grabbed with his other, "You've good strong hands." Compliment to the wood crafter. But from there he drops his hand away from her own, offering a slight smile for her at last. He means to save some fave though, so quickly gets into some formal discussion, "So journeywoman Orla, what do you reckon is our schedule for completing these repairs?" Save face. Save face. He seems to walk normally despite his sloppy dismount from the ladder.
Despite her earlier misgivings, Heeva's mouth waters at the aroma coming from the cooking pot as she eagerly waits her turn in line for lunch. Then, glancing over her shoulder she sees Nalkor descend rather abruptly from the ladder and gingerly make his way toward them. As she turns back toward the lunch pot she notices the look that Lorena's giving him and quickly sums up the situation with a slight grin. "mm that smells good Lorena" is her only comment though as she nears the food.
Orla hauls him bodily to his feet once he takes her hand, there is indeed a lot of strength in the girl. "Yeah, I think it would be a good plan." Her head cants to the side a touch at the prolonged holding of her hand, but his comment elicits a gusty laugh and a shake of her head. "I don't know yet, I don't know what everyone is capable of, but I reckon we should be able to get the main support back in place today, so long as I can make the frame strong enough to hold the pressure of the dragon pulling on the ropes." She shrugs a little, "We'll see how it goes, we've got another couple of days at least of this before the rest of us are likely to get back to the weyr."
The weyrling continues to ladle up the stew to those that come up with their bowls, "Get it before it gets cold!" Laera with a voice, well that can wake up anyone sleeping in the nearby vacinity. Hopefully noone is taking a much needed nap. "Come take a bite out of the feline!" She calls out again with a laugh before she serves her own bowl up while waiting for the others. This lunch is Revenge and it will be enjoyed and savoured…at least by Laera. She looks over her shoulder at Orla and Nalkor, "Kereth don't mind helping at all, the logs should not be an issue with him." Well he is definately stronger than a small group of humans even if he ain't as strong as the older dragons.
Finally some culinary appreciation here, but when she gets it, she's too distracted by the pair who haven't arrived yet. Frown, but she gives a shake of her head and turns back to the candidates. "Thank you." Comes the subdued murmur to the three girls who'd been there first and she checks the berries, stirring them again. Almost there. Still she's so much more quiet than before, but at least not locking up with everyone.
The woman's laughter brings another tug on Nalkor's lips, the laughter appreciated at the very least. Upon hearing the plan for the barracks he nods in consideration, walking already toward the fire and the food. "At least we can try to fix it before we go back, so the next group to come out here doesn't have to be lying in .. whatever weather gets thrown at this here shelter…" The man waves his arm for Orla to get ahead of him in the line that's forming around the food.
Myesha spares Nalkor and Orla a glance, catching sight to the hand holding. Her eyes quickly flash over to Lorena, trying to see if there is any reaction there. She keeps her eyes on the trio as she waits for her bowl to be filled up. "Oh, too bad we have to rebuild this thing," She says after listening to Orla go over the repairs needed. "I think we should get a nice rest period when we get back to the Weyr, you know, as a reward?" She smiles brightly at Lorena, seeing that she's the only rider around. Doe eyes, anyone? When her bowl is filled she giggles before taking a a bite. "Revenge tastes so sweeter than I though it would! Must be the berries."
Orla glances back at the barracks for a moment before she answers. "I don't know how much we'll be able to get done before we go, to do it properly I'd be looking for a couple of weeks and some good tools." She replies as she joins the queue ahead of Nalkor to get fed. Replying to the rider in the process. "So long as he can do it slowly, I'm not so good with my tree identification down here so I'm just hoping I've picked the right kinds of wood for the tripod that the ropes will be running through. I don't want anyone getting crushed."
Nalkor settles in behind Orla, listening once again with arms crossed. His gaze seems to float toward the pot on the fire, before flickering up toward Lorena. He shuffles along with the line as it slowly goes around, plucking up a bowl at the appropriate time. Making a loop around as the others in front collect their meal, Nalkor finds a spare subtle moment to whisper toward Lor.
Lorena is busying herself with her berry mix, yep. Perhaps she shouldn't be stirring it so much but, erp! Someone's whispering in her ear? She looks at Nalkor a bit nervously, glancing down once to the, well, near pulverized berries. "Um… Okay?" She murmurs quietly, lifting the pot off the fire and setting it on a rock. She picks… Myesha. "Myesha… dessert… let it cool." And then, with a glance around to make well certain, moves off towards the clearing, pausing for Nalkor.
When Heeva finally arrives at the front of the food queue she holds out her bowl and sniffs appreciatively at the food, a grim smile of satisfaction on her face at the strange turn of events of the eater to be eaten. Then when she's been served, and as she turns away from the fire to find a comfortable place to sit and enjoy her lunch, she catches the interchange between Nalkor and Lorena and struggles to hide a smile which forms on her lips. "Thanks for the food Lorena, your efforts are appreciated."
"Crushed? That would be bad, right Lor?" Alluding to something? Myesha says in between spoonfuls of the stew, her eyes darting between Nalkor and Lorena. "I mean, imagine the next batch of Candi's fast asleep and then bam!" She whacks her palm on her thigh, causing a little stew to dribble over the side of her bowl. Nalkor's whispering is noticed, Myesha's gossip-dar perking up. She seems torn, eavesdrop or finish her meal? She chooses the latter, contenting herself with just watching and trying to read lips. "Dessert? Let it cool? Just watch it?" She asks quickly, moving over curiously to get a better look at the berries, her attention caught by the sweets for now.
Oblivious to the girls watching him - oh he knows you are ladies - Nalkor drops out of the line for food, pushing his empty bowl into the gut of another candidate turning toward the line to join it. A hand is flicked forward to gesture for Lorena to continue when she pauses. He follows, without so much as a glance back at those surrounding the cook pot.
Orla picks up her bowl and moves over to sit down on a log. "Just need to watch, because if the tripod breaks that big support beam we've got is going to go flying and if it hits someone it's not going to be a pretty sight." She spares only the briefest of glances at the departing rider and candidate before she digs into the food in front of her, she's managed to work up a huge appetite and either it's good or she doesn't care about the quality of the food as she tucks in with gusto.
Myesha takes a seat next to the pot of berries, stirring them gently after putting her stew down. As Nalkor sets off after Lorena she can't help but giggle. "Someones in trouble!" Her eyes move over to Orla, a large smirk in place. "What do you think she is going to say to him?" She asks the throng of Candidates after taking a bite of the berries, quality control! "She gets flustered easily, wonder if she is really mad at him."
"Mad at him? C'mon Mesha, didn't you see that /look/ she gave him? I'd say she's sweet on him." Heeva smiles around her spoon.
Orla looks up from her lunch, spoon half way to her mouth. "How would I know, has he done something wrong?" She asks Myesha at her question. Another glance towards the retreating pair when Heeva mentions that she's probably sweet on Nalkor. "Of for Faranths sake. We have work to do, she'd better not wear him out." She mutters under her breath, though not enough that it doesn't carry to others if they're listening.
"Does not seem sweet to me." Myesha says with a grin, placing the spoon back in the berry pot. "I think he is going to get a talking to because of his happy hands." With her stew spoon she takes a few more bites of her lunch, grinning happily over to Orla. "Do not worry, I am sure the barracks will get built eventually. Though I would prefer it if they stayed back there for a while, nice to rest."
Orla raises her eyebrows at Myesha stating his happy hands. "What'd he do then?" She asks, apparently oblivious to the fact it may have had anything to do with his holding her hand that little bit longer than may have been strictly needed. "So long as you don't mind getting dirty and helping me with that stuff back there?" She explains. "They can stay back there all day for as much as I care."
"Happy Hands, you know?" Myesha says, displaying her own hand and wiggling the fingers for further effect. "He was holding your hands for some time, at least to Lorena that is, sure she thought it was turns." At the mention of having to do hard manual labor she frowns, her eyes moving over to where Nalkor and Lorena headed off. "Well, if they take to long we can go and grab them." She says, finishing up the rest of her stew.
Orla just looks at Myesha as if she's mad. "She's upset about that?" She blinks and shakes her head. "I was helping him up after he fell." She sighs, one of those long suffering sighs. "I'll let you take care of that task, I wouldn't want to go blind at what I might see after all." She grins and then adds. "Is that dessert ready yet?"
Laera quietly eats at her store as she listens to the others gossip and just grins, "Oh she is definately sweet on him, that day in the infirmary she about blew her head off when I commented about his equipment." She reaches down and scratches at the bandage over her leg at a particurly irritating itch, "Anyone heard about Delenn yet?" She asks casually looking around the encampment, "Sent Lya to the weyr but she came back without a note, but the proddy bint could have gone anywhere for all I can gather."
"Girls get mad sometimes for silly things. I never cared if the guys I liked flirted around others." Myesha says with a shrug, cause you know thats' what she does half the time. She turns her attention the berries when Orla asks about them. "Seem cool enough, am I supposed to put something on them?" She prods the sticky fruits with the ladle, biting her lip as she scoops some up to get a better look. "Delenn? I do not know anything about him." She says, finally plopping the berries into her bowl. "They seem ready, come and get some if you would like." Smiling to those gathered she starts plopping berry mush into the bowls of those that eagerly head over for dessert.
Orla shakes her head at the mention of Delenn, a worried look crossing her face for a brief moment before it's hidden away again behind a mask of cheerfulness. "Sounds good." She says to Myesha when she gets up and walks over to get a scoop of the berries. "Shall we get this down us then get back to work?"
Laera smiles over to Myesha with a wink, "Get anywhere with that healer guy or is he an arse man?" She asks of the candidate before spooning the rest of the curry into her mouth before holding out the same bowl for the berry dessert. "Well a bit of cream is good with it, but don't reckon we have any out here." She nods to Orla, "Well perhaps no news is good news eh?" Leara says with a bit of cheer in her voice though there is worry in her eyes. Some might have noticed they were quite close, him blushing lots around her.
After every has gotten their share of berry mush Myesha sets to work on her own. "Oh, taste better than it looks, that is for sure!" She says cheerfully, chewing the sweet treat with a smile. "Waine?" She manages to say through a mouthful. After swallowing she shakes her head with a grin. "I swear he is gay! Did not pay a single ounce of attention to me!" After sighing dramatically she plops some dessert into Laera's bowl, missed one! She then sets to staring over at Orla. "What is the rush? I think we should take a nice long nap after this!" Not much for working, this one is.
Orla listens to the conversation about getting her man with a certain impassiveness, people may have noticed that she's not really the girly girl type. She was raised on a farm hold and grew up with the rest of the guys. "No, we get straight back to work, otherwise we'll get nothing done." The farm work ethos was well drilled into her. "We need to get that old support out of the ground and get everything ready for the new one going in before dinner, we can get it erected after dinner though." Forceful and too commanding, probably but this is work that she knows.
"But oh does he have a nice arse…maybe if we could just get him out of his labcoat we can see where his preferences lay." Laera says with a wink and a giggle before starting in on her dessert. The group are around the campfire eating lunch, Feline Curry and a berry compote mayde by Lorena and generally chatting and gossiping away. She looks over her shoulder at Orla and nods, "Well I got Kereth's straps on, should be sturdy enough to attach things too if you need any logs raised and stuff."
Myesha isn't one for working, especially not working /hard/. After finishing her berry mush she gives out a big stretch, yawning widely. "Well, I guess I had better get Nalkor and Lorena then." She says, smiling broadly over at Laera, trying to communicate that there might be a bit of a detour on the way. "There is still some mush left if anyone wants, should be nice and juicy!" And before heading out she herself takes up a little more, smacking her lips before letting out a giggle. "We should try, Lae, maybe tie him down when we get back to the Weyr?" And with a lazy wave she heads off, saying over her shoulder. "Take it easy!"
Labcoats? Tying people down? What /has/ Ryski been missing? Oh sure, the boy was quite intent on making himself useful, and helping out where he could around the camp. Instead, he ended up quietly falling asleep. ..Oh well. Hair quite ruffled, the boy moves steadily in the direction of the fire, sniffing with much interest. "..We got /real/ food?" Or at least something that smells like it, which is plenty for his stomach to grumble about.
Orla rolls her eyes as the conversation progresses. "I'll leave you two to that, I'm going to get that tripod set up and see what else we'll be needing before we start." She gets to her feet and scoops the last of the berries into her mouth before dropping her bowl in with the dishes and wandering off to the destroyed end of the barracks to get the tripod set up for hauling things out.
Poor Waine the NPC Healer, if only he knew what was being said about him. Laera looks up to Ryski and grins, "The best kind, it is a Lunch of Revenge. We get to eat into the same beasties that ate into us! Show them who's boss!" Laera says brightly as she reaches for another bowl to ladel up some for the youngest candidate. "Lorena curried it up proper, tastes real nice." She says as she passes the bowl to the young candidate before he can turn her down.
Ryski just gives Laera a blank stare as the bowl is handed off to him, and then blinks, turning his gaze down into the contents. There's a long moment of the wheels in his head turning ever so carefully, before his expression twists up into a grin. Then, his spoon goes down..and up..stuffing food into his mouth greedily. "HAH! Not so tough /now/ are you?" He mutters, mouth quite full. There's a little bit of chewing, trying to get that oversized bite down, and then looks around, almost curiously, towards the departing Orla. "Tripod? Start what?"
Nothing like putting revenge into people's minds that turned a bunch of moaning 'what is that smell?' candidates into candidates eager to eat the curry. Yep Laera is an interesting lass indeed. She is sitting there in shorts with a bandage around her thigh, sitting near the fire so she can serve the lunch without getting up. She grins at Ryski's reaction before looking over to Orla, "Well she plans to get those barracks fixed up today I reckon, a big job but …well something to do I suppose even if it don't get done." She tilts her head to the young man again, "Heard anything on Delenn?"
Smell? What smell? It's meat in that bowl, and that's all Ryski cares about right now. He's managed to actually get /into/ a tunic, at least, likely with the help of numbweed. Even so, there's a certain amount of discomfort the salve can't combat. At the question on Delenn, the boy shakes his head, looking a tad disgruntled. "No.."
"Yours itching too?" Laera asks as she notices the discomfort of the other young man, occasionally fidgetting herself as she sits there. She reaches for another bowl of the berry desert before leaning back on the log. Kereth has gone over to help Orla with the log lifting, he may not be as muscley as the big dragons but he can make himself useful enough. She gives a smile to the boy, "I am sure he is alright…I will send Lya over again…tried early but the proddy bint just got distracted before she could get a message through." She rolls her eyes as she speaks of her green.
Over at the barracks, Orla has erected a tripod over the stump of the old support beam. A rope has been looped round and tied tight into the groove she had hacked out earlier. The rope was then thrown up over the greased top of the tripod and taken back a bit to the dragon where it has been tied to the harness. "Don't pull just yet, I know we've loosened it off a good bit, but it's still going to stick so gently does it." She walks back and checks at the base of the tripod, kicking the supports a few times to make sure the entire thing just isn't going to tip before she backs up a bit, to take a hold of one of the big levers that has been put in at the base so that the candidates still fit enough to work hard can wiggle it around and help the pulling dragon.
Kereth looks intently at the little woodworker as she gives instruction tyeing the bit to his harness. He looks at the arrangement curiously before bobbing his head and warbling lightly, planting his feet where he stands awaiting the next instruction. Laera looks over Ryski's shoulder to see her dragon work and can't help but smile at the interaction. One of those pride moments. He is showing some indepedence, but also giving some rather nervous candidates a rather interesting view of a dragon. No doubt dispelling some myths and letting some lose a bit of fear over them.
Ryski does give Laera a slight look at that, and then sighs, nodding. "Guess I could send mine.. They aren't trained too well though." He's never really bothered with that sort of thing anyway. He does look over as Orla returns though, brows lifting between bites of his food. "Kereth's gonna do some work too, huh?" ..Good. He's certainly not doing any heavy lifting anytime soon.
Orla makes sure everyone else is in place before signalling to the dragon. "Take the strain on the rope please, but don't pull too hard, the tripod will buckle a little under the pressure, don't worry that it's meant to bend. It'll take a lot of levering before it comes out so just keep the strain on it." She grabs a hold of her own lever and pulls hard on it. "We're going to be rocking it to and fro, it'll take time, so just keep at it guys." She waves to the dragon. "Okay everyone start."
Laera does an odd little whistle and a little grin flits over from somewhere and she calls her to her, "Lya…Home Infirmary…Kris….Now.." She says each word clear and succint before she releases the green who gives a chirp and flies off into the air before blinking between, "Now lets hope she does not meet a blue along the way." She says with a resigned sigh and looks over to Ryski with a nod and over to her lifemate, "Well figure, one of us should pull my weight around here and Waine wants me off the leg for a day or two." She rolls her eyes, but her gaze goes focused as the orders are given to her lifemate. Kereth slowly backs up as instructing, pausing as the line goes taught against his harness. Definately an odd feeling for the dragon and he lowers his head to look at his chest curiously before taking another step back.
Ryski snickers quietly at that, and then just nods. One of his own firelizards has appeared…although thankfully after Lya has already gone. The green doesn't need any more male distraction. Curled up in his lap, the brown just rests, even as the boy continues eating. "Maybe that thing'll actually /get/ fixed. ..Don't see why though. I mean..tents are fine, aren't they?"
Orla hauls on her lever, her entire weight behind it before it's released to allow the other side to be done. To and fro the pressure goes as she keeps an eye on the tripod, making sure the dragon isn't applying too much pressure. "Keep going, we'll get this thing out by dinner." She keeps giving encouragement to those who are working with her. Which should really be all those that aren't injured.
Laera gives a shrug to Ryski, "Seems more like survival training if you are doing it in tents..I have been sleeping under Kereth's wing myself…" She says with a grin still watching Kereth as he backs away slowly from the barracks. His curious gaze goes from the tugging harness around his chest to his chosen who just smiles encouragement, her eyes unfocussing as she gives him silent praise and instruction.
Ryski nods a little bit, finally putting that empty bowl down, and just watches the progress for a little bit. "Yeah…though it's kinda the same, with how rotten that building was." Was probably safer for the candidates /to/ sleep outside in tents, rather than worry about the building collapsing on them. "I don't really care where I sleep, so long as I'm not getting rained on."
Kamari follows Orla's lead at her own lever, working up a bit of a sweat along with the other uninjured candidates, red hair sticking to her forehead. Not much talking from her, just the occasional grunt as she uses her weight to pull on the lever.
Orla keeps up a barrage of encouragement throughout as everyone puts their backs into it. Eventually after a lot of strain the old rotten post loosens enough that it is almost sucked out of the ground. "There she goes." All resistance gone the dragon has all the weight on it's chest strap though unless he flies or jumps back suddenly the candidates should be able to grab a hold of it, swing it over and get it lowered to the ground away from the hole.
Kamari helps steady the post, following the lead of the candidates on either side of her. "Little different from drawing." she jokes under her breath, nervously eyeing the post, then looking around. "Swing it towards the left?" she calls out her question to Orla, not sure where it should go other than away from the pole.
Orla directs it over to the left hand side of the hole, giving Kereth directions to come back towards them very slowly so that it can be lowered to the ground again. "Thanks everyone." She beams when everything is in place again in safety. "You've done well, next we'll get that dragged out of the way, it can be used for firewood. Then we need to get that hole filled in a bit and make it sound again for the new beam to go in."
Kamari looks much happier as the post is lowered to the ground, and she gives Orla a happy, if tired smile. "Glad to help.." she says simply as she looks around, stretching a bit. "Do we have hooks, or what would be the easiest way do you think?" she asks as she looks critically at the post.
Orla shakes he head as she throws the rope up and off the tripod to allow it to be dragged away. "Who needs hooks for that." She says with a grin. "All we need to do is fill the hole in a bit, pack it solid round the edges then we'll get that fresh trunk dropped in and lever it up with the help of the dragon. We'll stick wedges in at the base and drive them in to hold it tight before slotting those upper beams back into place, it'll only hold for a few months at most, but it's just a temp repair." She is working at the corner of the barracks that collapsed when the dragon landed on it, she's been directing the other candidates on what to do, because well she's a builder, this is her job. Though as will be perfectly visible by the sheen of sweat and dirt on her she's not been shy about getting stuck in to it. "Do you want to start clearing out the loose debris from the hole?" She asks Kamari.
Kamari nods and starts, picking up shards of wood and other debris from the collapsed barracks, making two piles a little bit away, one of burnables and another of non-burnables, always on the lookout for firewood and firewood substitutes. "I keep forgetting.." she says with a chuckle as she works, quickly getting a decent amount of debris moved in record time.
Orla helps the dragon to guide the old support away before she come back and unhook her axe. She starts to shape the end of the trunk that is going to form the temporary support for the building. "It shouldn't take too long to get everything up, it's just making sure we do it right so that it doesn't fall on us or anything."
Kamari grins at Orla as the candidates around her have a nervous chuckle at that one. "It's totally worth the time if it's sturdy…" she observes, cleaning the rest of the debris out of the old hole. "Are we just looking to fill this with dirt, or do we want rocks and stuff to?" she asks after a moment.
Orla shrugs a little as she does the shaping work on the trunk, then selecting some branches she starts shaping them into proper wedges. "It's not going to stand for long. This wood hasn't been seasoned, a couple of good rainfalls and it's going to warp and put it in danger again. But it'll hold it for now until someone can come out and do it properly with the right tools and seasoned wood."
Kamari nods. "It'll at least last us through the rest of camp." she says with a grin as she starts to toss some dirt into the hole, using a handy shovel. "How much do you want to fill in the hole; just a small bit or?" she nods at the mention of warping. "My brother built a tree-house once….but he used green wood; once it warped and shrunk it was pretty much useless."
Orla looks over at the hole before she replies. "Use those bits of sapling there, stick them around the edging as if it was a basket, bend them round then use that as a frame to pile soil in down the back of it, pad it down real good though, we need it to be as solid as possible." She shrugs her shoulders at the last part. "It's not the best of things really, but in the absence of anything else it'll do for now. So long as no one tells my master."
Kamari follows Orla's instructions, weaving the saplings around the edge of the hole, carefully tamping down the soil afterwards, moving in a circle around the hole. "I'm sure your master would admire it as a temporary repair, yes?" she says, wiping her forehead and leaving a muddy streak across it as she does so. "I mean, you do the best with what you have out here, right?"
Orla bobs her head by way of reply while she continues on with her work. "There is that, though not all of the masters would ever see it that way, we don't have climates like this up north so it's a bit different, most of them have never seen these kind of trees or jungles for that matter." She pauses a moment and glances over to check on what the girls is doing. "What's your name?" She asks.
Kamari grins at Orla and nods. "I'm from Fort originally; the climate is quite different here." she says with a grin, then blushes deep red to match her hair. "I'm Kamari…..Artist and Candidate, or Candidate and Artist depending on the day.."
Orla smiles. "It's fine darling. Names Orla by the way, journeyman woodcrafter, specialising in heavy construction." She says with a big grin. The girl is a builder basically. "It's a nice ladylike profession I assure you." She says with a laugh, "I'm sure once this is finished I'll be back to candidate status again thiough."
Kamari smiles at Orla. "A pleasure to meet you.." and nods. "Nothing wrong with unladylike professions; when I was younger I wanted to be a Miner! But my parents turned me towards working with my hands in less dangerous circumstances….they preferred me working aboveground."
Orla bobs her head. "It works fine that way I'm sure, I was raised on a farm hold, I was into everything so manual work was never going to be a problem for me." She replies. "Anyway, how's that hole coming on. I think I've got enough of these wedges to make it work out okay."
Kamari gives another tap to the dirt around the edge, leaning with a good portion of her weight to pack it down. "Should be ok.." she says after a moment, stepping back from the edge. "Specially with the wedges, it should work well."
Orla lets a soft giggle form as she gets to her feet. "Lets get this done then girl, show the men how it should be done." She grins and lays out a trail of running poles from the base of the trunk up to the hole. "I need that board over there, placed against the back of the hole, to stop the end of the trunk sticking into the side of the hole when it gets pushed in. That should force it down when it starts getting pulled upright." She explains while she finishes off the setting up of the runners.
Kamari nods and gets the board in place, grunting a bit as she tips it into the hole carefully, then walks it back to the edge, snug against her 'basket' of saplings. "Ready when you are?" she says, enlisting one of the other uninjured candidates to help her steady the board, fingers carefully high enough to avoid being crushed by the log when it hits.
Orla backs up and fetches the dragon back over, harnessing the rope back to his harness she goes back to the big log and with the aid of one of the others sets to steady it down the track of runner poles. "Ready when you are Kernath." She calls over to him. "Mind just nice and slow now." She reminds him as he takes the strain and nudges the rope through the tripod pulley and towards the hole.
Kamari watches as the dragon pulls, holding her board steady, waiting for the impact of log against board. "Careful now.." she urges, having a sudden vision of everything that could go wrong.
Orla keeps the big log on track until it impacts against the board in the hole. "Okay pause a moment she calls back to the dragon before moving to remove some of the runner poles. "We'll start to use these as levers for raising it, they'll be more gentle and controlled than getting the dragon to haul it in, once the tip has dropped down, we can let him go the rest of the way."
Kamari nods and holds the board, then steps back. "Think it'll be ok? I can help you with the levers if you need be.." and indeed, the girl looks happy to help.
Orla bobs her head as she readies, calling her other volunteers forward to take a hold of one of the levers that lies under the trunk of the pole they are raising. It has been rolled forward towards the hole by means of a dragon pull and rollers. "Now gently lever it up, all we're wanting to do is keep it nice and slow so that Kamari over there doesn't get that board in the face." There is a rope fed through a pulley to Laera's dragon who stands ready to take the strain for the candidates.
Heeva strains to hold the lever she's been assigned to help with, sweat popping out on her forehead, matting her spiky blonde hair to her face, determined not let the side down so to speak. Working in tandem with these gutsy women is exhilarating and rewarding, and she grins in spite of the load.
Kamari continues to brace the board as she watches Orla, really watching everything, ready to move quickly if need be. "Thank goodness for Kernath…we don't have enough uninjured candidates to do this without him!" she smiles encouragingly at Heeva as she grins.
Orla takes the strain easily, she's a big girl and it's all muscle lurking in there. She heaves at the lever, raising the big trunk upwards, other candidates have been instructed to push things underneath so that the levers are propped up and the trunk can't fall back down again. "Heave." She shouts at everyone, doing it in a certain rhythm to help the progress of it.. Eventually though it starts to tilt the right way and the tip dips into the hole. "Hold that board steady, Kamari. One last heave should do it then you can pull it upright for us Kernath."
Kamari nods and braces herself, holding the board as steady as she can. "Ok!!" she says, watching the progress, hoping everything will go as planned.
At Orla's call to 'heave' Heeva (ha ha) adds her weight and strength of body to the effort, and as the trunk starts to tip in the right direction, she emits a long loud whistle of breath from lungs that have held breath for the past few heartbeats.
It's a Herculean effort from everyone involved. The big support log lifts and thumps down the board into the hole, the harness on Laera's dragon creaking slightly with the strain as he moves back and pulls it up right. "Steady it people. Kamari get that board out before it's trapped. The wedges are over there, mallets please and fetch the buckets over with the filling soil." Are the shouted orders that emit from Orla after a big shout of congratulations.
Ryski is in fact, still in the area. Sure, he's long since finished eating, and casting irritated looks in the direction of all of the activity from those candidates which didn't sustain injury. ..And they're girls. Yeah, he's feeling a tad disgruntled where he sits near the campfire area. At least he seems to be keeping himself somewhat busy, sorting through different items and rolling up sleeping bags.
Kamari pulls the board out, grunting as it snags and giving it a sharp tug, which frees it but also leaves her with a nasty splinter in the side of her palm. "Shard it!" she swears as she sets the board down, and grabs a bucket with her good hand, dumping in filling soil around the post at Orla's instruction.
Heeva runs obediently for wedges and a mallet not knowing whether to give them to Orla or to try doing the job herself, but willing to do all it takes to see their job completed properly.
Orla continues to give instructions to the others, "Tamp down that soil nice and hard, it'll hold nicely against that frame in there." Though when it comes to the mallet she appropriates that, "Hold it there for me Heeva." She says placing the wedge in against the base of the log while the dragon keeps the strain for them. She's probably the strongest one there and she proves it when she starts to whack the wedges into place against the frame that was built earlier.
Kioku comes swooping in, a piece of colored string hanging from his mouth. Look! He's ready and willing to help. Able? Well that's a whole other kettle of pickle-fried beans. He dives down closer to the people, though a bit away from the dragon, no telling when one might follow through on an attempt to bite and then lets the string fall. Surely it's of some use, right?
Heeva holds the wedge in place, screwing up her face as each blow from the mallet thumps against the wider section and it is driven deeper by the force of Orla's muscle power. Her respect for the older woman increases and makes a mental note not to get on the wrong side of her.
Kamari watches Orla work, nodding to herself, and continues to pack dirt around the pole, smiling over at Ryski with a shy wave as she works. The industrius little lizard gains a laugh, however as she watches the string offering, and she tamps the soil down hard, moving around the pole.
Orla has given the instructions and expects the girls to be following them, which they are. "Well done gang." She calls out to everyone as she batters in the last of the wedges. "That should do it for just now." She says, taking a step back from everything. "Everyone stand back, Keranth, come back a little see if it'll stand on it's own." She asks the dragon who's been helping.
Trembling slightly from the effort of holding the wedges in place, and deeply grateful for Orla's aim so that her fingers are still intact, Heeva straightens up and surveys their handiwork. As the huge dragon moves back she is delighted to see that the pole is indeed solidly planted in its hole. "Yaaay! We did it!" Heeva shouts, arms in the air, in a most unusual display of emotion.
Kamari nods and steps back, well away from the pole. "We did!" she confirms, laughing over at Heeva. "Did you doubt?" she asks softly.
Orla beams at the reactions from the other girls. This is what she's been doing with her life since she became a travelling journeyman so it's nothing new to her, but the pleasure the others have is a good feeling for her. "Well done folks, of course it was going to stand." She moves over to the dragon and motions him forward so she can unhook his harness from the ropes. "Could someone clear away the poles and runners, stick them in a pile over there." She instructs before calling out, "The rest of you can go make sure that dinner is ready and see what else needs to be done."
L'alie comes out of the Leader Barracks, wiping her hands on a small square of cloth, which she then throws over her shoulder. She observes what the candidates are doing and rocks back on her heels-a dangerous move for someone with a failing sense of balance. "Hmm.." She says, nodding in approval."
With a sense of euphoria over their achievement, Heeva hurries to move one of the poles to the designated place, then goes back for a second. Never for one moment does she think to question Orla's authority, instead recognizing her ability and knowledge. Her ears prick up however, at the mention of dinner.
Ryski finishes tying the sleeping bag into a roll, and then shifts, slowly straightening himself back out again. There's a mild hiss that comes from him at the motion, but he does look in L'alie's direction when the Weyrsecond emerges. His arm comes up somewhat, rubbing at his cheek, even as he pushes the sleeping bag to roll toward the others that have already been packed up.
Kioku perches up on a section of the barracks and walks in a hopping gait as if observing the work done it. He chirrs a little and then settles in the clean out his hind toes with a forked tongue. Yup, flick, flick. Looks good, flick and pop out a few grains of dirt.
Kamari helps Heeva finish up with the poles, grinning herself; it seems euphoria is contagious. After a few more minutes of work, they have the poles in one neat pile. "Dinner would be good." she observes under her breath, although she looks up at L'alie's arrival. "Assuming we'll have time before whatever happens next." she says with a nod towards the Weyrsecond.
Orla rolls the rope up when she's finished and ties it off before it gets tossed over to the bundle of poles as well. She takes a quick wander round the pole, giving it a light shove before she heads towards the main camp area with the others. Ready for dinner or whatever happens next.
L'alie watches the candidates finishing up the last bits of it and shrugs, "Eating would be a good idea, yes. We're going for a walk." She holds up a hand before she hears any protests, "I promise there will be no wild felines. They don't come down into the jungle."