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 this and sharp 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 three sides, stretching upwards all the way up the side of the mountain where, high above, Xanadu's Star Stones and the everpresent watchdragon sit on a lonely peak. Directly south is a massive tunnel, fully wide enough for even the largest dragon to fly down. Southeast are wide steps leading up to the Caverns and eastwards is the large entrance to the Infirmary. Somewhat north of the Infirmary is a human sized archway that has a frequent quantity of traffic — it leads to the Tavern. Southwest lies the low ledges currently belonging to Xanadu's queens while north and west a broad path cut by the side of the cliff leads to the Feeding Grounds and due north is the spacious trail that leads to the rest of the Weyr.
The cliff face to the south, the massive tunnel and a huge section to the west of the tunnel looks raw to the point of being an unweathered scar and huge piles of fresh rock heaped at the bottom suggests a recent collapse of some section. Ropes can be seen, deterring people with no reason to be there from exploring the tunnel or wandering amongst the rock that is gradually being moved away. Interestingly, a massive ledge just to the west of the tunnel has been revealed, level and potentially promising for dragons.
Senrialth comes in at a rather fast speed, though he quickly pulls up and spirals down in lazy circles to make his landing in the clearing graceful for a large bronze.
Vo'on jumps down from the neck of Senrialth, stretching his arms out to pat the dragon on the neck and grin to Senrialth before looking around to see who is here.
Niva is the clearing with Kilaueth, the gold crouched as her rider slowly works on taking off the straps, working her away around the giant lump as she does so. Yet, the process is slowed even more at the arrival of the strange bronze, one which cause Kilaueth to grumble deeply as she turns her head to regard the pair. Niva pauses as well, one hand still looped around the straps over her head head, staring rather impolitely. "Are you looking for someone?" She finally speaks up, still not making any move to further remove her dragon's straps.
Vo'on glances over at Niva when he hears her speak to him. Vo'on stays near Senrialth, though, as the look on Niva's face isnt the most inviting one. Vo'on shakes his head back and forth at the question. "No, I havent ever been here, and since I graduated just not too long ago I wanted to take Senrialth between and see what the place was like…" Vo'on shrugs, its the truth, though it sounds kinda stupid to him.
Niva watches him for a long moment, peering at him as she tilts her head to one side before shrugging and turning around to give a tug, getting another one of the straps off of Kilaueth's neck. "Xanadu's duties to you, then, I suppose… Whatever your name is, and Senrialth." Well, at least there's some manners from her, on occasion. At the very least she knows her duties. "Am rather surprised though that you'd chose to come here rather then, oh, the beaches of Eastern." And as she glances over her shoulder at him again, she actually winks before working on getting the final strap off her lifemate.
Vo'on grins and takes a couple steps from Senrialth towards Niva and her gold. Vo'on nods his head once. "Thank you very much, I am Vo'on and you are?…" He looks her over slowly and then chuckles. "I have been to the beaches a couple of times yesterday, I decided to start checking out the other places now.." He chuckles at the wink his own excited blue eyes looking at her intently.
Niva gives a final yank, freeing Kilaueth from the straps, the gold turning once more to regard the pair with a large eye as Niva leaves the straps in a haphazard pile at Vo'on's approach. Pausing for a moment, she eyes him, and then steps forward to offer her hand, palm up. "Niva… And that's Kilaueth." The gold snorts at the introduction and settles down warily, tip of her tail flicking back and forth as she does so. Eyeing him cautiously, she shakes her head. "Still rather odd.."
Vo'on watches as she drops the straps right in his way as he makes his way to approach. He looks down at them, then at Niva and offers a sweet, innocent grin to see if that will help his sudden appearing out of no where. He takes her hand in his own. "It is a pleasure Niva" he bows at Kilaueth. Vo'on shrugs. "I didnt think showing up to just visit was so odd…"
Niva arches an eyebrow at him once more, keeping the innocent look on her face that appeared when she dropped the straps. Giving his hand a firm shake, she rolls her eyes, shaking her head as she drops her hand back to her side. "For no reason, that's odd." And she starts to turn to glance back at Kilaueth. "Eastern's been visiting to collect supplies for the giant storm. Others come for this or that. But, there's always a /reason/." And she stresses the last word as she turns back to look at him. "You have to have /some/ reason.."
Vo'on crosses his arms over his lean chest and begins to think this over slowly as she begins going off how he should have some sort of reason for having just showed up. Vo'on grins suddenly at something and clears his throat. "I guess I came to meet the pretty ladies here, and I dont think I need to go much further than you to see anything else"
Niva narrows her gaze slightly as she peer at him, before shaking her head and starting to gather up the straps she'd dropped, wrapping them around her hand and elbow in a loop as she does so. "I'm sure you'd be more interested in the others.." A pause and she glances over at Kilaueth. "You'd only have a chance if you happened to be in the right place at the right time when she went up. And had more luck to see your bronze catch her." She continues to wind the strap around her arm, lifting her chin up to stare at him. Isn't she just falling over herself from the compliments?
Vo'on watches Niva, while the whole time he has a rather inquisitive grin on his lips. Vo'on just gives a soft chuckle as he listens to the woman. "So I come here to see pretty ladies and suddenly it turns into a mating flight conversation? Is there something I am missing here?" Vo'on chuckles softly and then looks Niva over once more. "YOu do not consider yourself a pretty woman? Or you just do not want to be around me?"
Niva hmphs softly, shaking her head, turning to set the coiled straps next to Kilaueth's lumpy form before turning back to look at Vo'on. "Doesn't matter if I'm pretty or not, really." And she shrugs slightly as she looks back at him. "I don't mind being around you. I was just letting you know of the facts." Which she dares him to contradict. Really.
Vo'on gives a rather quirky look to her before it then turns to a sort of sour one. "Do you always greet other riders like this? Or did I catch you at the wrong time of the turn?" Vo'on frowns and looks back to Senrialth. "I can see we made the mistake of visiting, you can go ahead and be with your gold, and wait for some other bronze that you may like better!"
Niva folds her arms in front of her as she stares at him as he gets the sour look on his face; as he looks back to Senrialth, she rolls her eyes, sighing softly. "Perhaps I do.. Perhaps, though, you did indeed catch me at the wrong time of the turn. Or perhaps you caught me after a long day of shuttling things back and forth." Either way, Vo'on's not likely to get an immediate apology out of her. Another roll of her eyes, and she shakes her head again. "There's no mistake in visiting.." And trailing off, she wrinkles up her nose some.
Vo'on stops midway from walking back towards Senrialth and turns back to look at Niva, grinning once more at her. "I am glad I didnt make a mistake in visiting, I wouldnt want to get a bad impression on the place thanks to how one person acted after a long day of working…"
Niva will be civil if only because she should probably worry how Casp would react if she managed to completely upset someone else. Peering at him, she hms softly, before shaking her head. "If you were getting a bad impression, I highly suggest you do something productive from breakfast until now." She'll trade places any day. Well, not dragons, but certainly places.
Vo'on gives a shake of his head. "No, you can keep what you do, that is quite alright" Vo'on offers her a pleasing grin before then letting out a deep breath. "If you wish to be alone, you can just tell me, but I got bored and wanted to talk with someone, and its…./usually/ nice to meet new people, especially when they give the impression they would like to meet you" He casts her an accusing look then.
Niva shrugs slightly at him, shaking her head some. "If you insist…" And she keeps her arms folded in front of her. "No, tis fine…" And she actually, gasp, smiles at bit at the comment, ducking her head before clearing her throat and regarding him once more. "As you said, you caught me at an off moment." Heck, she's been off since Kilaueth's first flight: She had a reason to question those riders she doesn't know. Perhaps she still does?
Vo'on pops a knuckle on his hand idly, he tries to keep the conversation alive so it doesnt fall silent and they stand there just looking at each other. "So where did you live before you became a rider? I was apprenticing as a runner trainer when I moved on to High Reaches and was searched" He grins some, but drops it, as she doesnt much grin herself too much.
Niva automatically cringes as he pops his knuckle, making a face as she does so. Shivering slightly, she shakes it off and shrugs again. "I'm a Healer. I grew up at Fort, then was apprenticed here." What a vast, exciting life. "And my weyrmate's ex Searched me. I thought it was out of spite, at first." But, perhaps its a good thing she accepted. Or at the moment for Vo'on, perhaps not so much. But, either way.. "So, you know runners?"
Vo'on notices the cringing, so he ceases from popping any more of his knuckles and just holds his hands there at his sides. "I was born and raised in Fort Hold, my father trained runners there, and I was apprenticing from him, though I really wasnt given much of a chance to learn too much" He shrugs. "I know more than an average person does, but nothing more"
Niva watches his hands for a long moment as they go to his sides, most likely assuring herself that he has, indeed, finished popping his knuckles for the time being. Lifting her gaze to regard him, she hms and nods slowly. "You're too young to have really been everywhere when I was there yet." Yeah, cause you know, she's such an old fart. "Well then.."
Alhenaeth bugels as he lands with a thump, dainty legs bending when they land. Wings resettle as the bronzer settles and allows his rider room to dismount. And dismount the rider does. Caspian pats his dragon's arm as he slides off, stretching his arms and back out as he does so. "Wasn't too bad a landing this time." « It never is. »
Vo'on humphs as Niva says this. "I am not all that young, maybe I was there when you were still there, its not like im 16 or something" Ok, that just made him sound sort of like a young kid, but hey!. Vo'on looks up as he sees the other dragon coming in, before glancing back at Niva. "Do you know very much about runners?"
Senrialth glances over towards Alhenaeth. The larger bronze dragon peers at the other bronze when it snorts at Vo'on.
Niva is standing in the middle of the clearing, her arms crossed in front of her as she regards Vo'on. "Uh-huh. I'm sure, you just look young for your age, is that it?" At the landing of the second bronze, Niva bites her lip slightly and glances over her shoulder, managing a smile for him and a bob of her head, before looking back at Vo'on with a wrinkle of her nose. "Why ever would I want to?" Kilaueth snorts at Alhenaeth, extending her muzzle towards him some as she does so.
C'ian raises a brow as he catches the tail end of conversations. He looks up at his dragon and shrugs, walking over to where Niva and Vo'on are. "And keep your manners, Alhenaeth," is said as he begins his walk. Upon reaching the pair he smiles and looks between the two. "Good evening, people." He regards Vo'on. "You're a new face. I hope you aren't one of ours? I'd hate to think I didn't know my own riders.
Vo'on nods his head a couple of times. "Actually I do look kinda young for my age, or atleast I was told that once, but I am sure you are of course /right/…." He puts emphasis on the word, sounding like he actually doesnt mean it. "when you say I am too young, though I am rather mature for my age!" Vo'on glances over at C'ian and grins at the man. "No sir, I am part of High reaches, just came to visit, and I was offered a warm greeting by Niva so I decided to stay for a conversation"
Senrialth decides the other bronze isnt worth his time and drop his head back down to the ground in his spot laying down as he waits for Vo'on to finish up.
Alhenaeth wuffles his laughter at the other bronze, but quickly stops at a glare from his rider. Stupid rider.
A warm greeting that informed him, oh so nicely, that he had a snowball's chance in well, hell. Niva takes half a step closer to C'ian as she does so, glancing over at him, shaking her head in her own silent answer to the inquiry before looking back at Vo'on. "Of course I'm right, and maturity has nothing to do with whether or not you had any idea what was going on at a particular point in time." At the comment, her gaze narrows slightly before she just shrugs and rolls her eyes, glancing back to C'ian, leaving her arms folded infront of her.
Kilaueth snorts at them both, shifting and settling back down where she was, next to the coiled riding straps which sit by her oversized paw, wings flipped tightly to her back as her eyes lid once. Nothing new with this, really.
C'ian extends his hand with a smile. "I see. Then I welcome you to Xanadu Weyr, rider." He winces at Niva's words and offers another smile to the rider. "My name is C'ian. I'm Weyrleader here. I hope that my /mate/", emphasis put on the word, "hasn't bitten your head off too raw. She can be a spitfire if we let her talk to the public to much." He ruffles Niva's hair. "Isn't that right, Goldie?"
Vo'on takes the man's hand in a firm handshake and nods his head once. "I am Vo'on, rider of Bronze Senrialth at High Reaches Weyr, I thank you for the greeting" Vo'on looks back at Niva and chuckles, shaking his head slowly. "Oh no, my head is still hear, though I think she came close to taking it off…"
Niva slides away from C'ian nearly as quickly as she'd stepped towards him, turning her glare on him for a long moment, a hand coming up to brush her hair back down where he mussed it. "Surprised you haven't forbidden me from doing so, then…" And she arches her eyebrow at C'ian, daring him to say anything else about her 'temper'. And then her glare is turned once more on Vo'on, an exasperated sigh and she turns around and stalks off towards Kilaueth, picking up a strap in the process, uncoiling it needlessly, only to busy herself with recoiling it.
C'ian winces and shakes his head as Niva walks off. He offers a sympathetic grin to Vo'on. "As you can see, she's not always the most personable. We've been trying to help her with her public relations, but alas. Why, shards! I'll probably be sleeping in the stables for the next few days for that one!" He laughs at his own joke, no matter how stupid it was.
Senrialth looks at his rider when the woman walks off, he makes a snort noise « Your not supposed to be scaring the women off » Senrialth gives his advise as if he really should know.
Vo'on begins chuckling at the man's joke and then looks over at Niva as she walks off away from them. "Well no matter, the stables arnt the worst place on the planet, right?"
C'ian shakes his head. "I seriously beg to differ." He makes a disgusted face and shakes his head again. "When that's all you do for the finer turns of your life, you start to grow a slight distaste for them. Like Klah. Not much of a klah drinker either."
Niva tosses a glare over her shoulder at C'ian, shaking her head. "Perhaps you need to learn something about tact, too. Weyrleader, sir.." And she slurs the last bit with a glare as she continues winding the straps, moving to lean against the lump that is Kilaueth as she does so. "And there's no need to sleep in your stables. I have a weyr of my own, you know." And she lifts her gaze to glare more at him, coiling absently. And thus, she miscoils and mutters, attention drawn back to the strap as she unwinds to fix the problem. Solving it, she glances at them both. "Although, perhaps you could enjoy the stables together.."
Vo'on looks over at Niva, shaking his head slowly. "Im sorry Niva, I dont really feel up to sleeping in the stables with this fine sir, I have my own weyr I can sleep in, thanks for the offer though" Ooh the sarcastic touch to each word he says in that sentence. Vo'on then glances back to C'ian. "Well I spent a couple turns of my childhood scooping runner crap from stables, I learned to deal with them, though its been a while since I last spent time in a stable"
Niva mutters something under her breath, most likely about him obviously been full of it from spending too much time around it in his youth as she glares at them both, turning away and promptly ignoring them. How.. mature?
Senrialth grumbles distastefully at the thought of sleeping in stables, thats just… wrong. The dragon really loves the feeling of satin and silk, so there is no way he would like the thought of sleeping in hay and runner crap. the bronze moves his head so that he is looking at Vo'on, and its clearly evident the dragon wants to get going.
C'ian nods. "I spent most of my childhood doing the same, before I left Telgar." He reflects on that. "That was many many turns ago. Long before the bronzen one." «I prefer Typhoon of Doom.» C'ian just rolls his eyes. "I've told you before. We aren't Typhoon Wing anymore."
Vo'on frowns as he looks at Vo'on and then back to C'ian, his frown dropping from his face. Vo'on nods a couple of times. "Well it seems we really dont have all that much of a different life, we spent some of our childhood in the joyful stables cleaning them out, and have grown to not really like the places all too much, though I am still rather too young, by Niva's standards, to have had any time to grow tired of something yet" He glances towards the woman, then back to C'ian. "Maybe we will meet again? But Senrialth is getting rather tired and would like to get back to the weyr"
Niva is still ignoring them both, more then not, although she does turn around to nod her head in farewell to the rider, though his bronze gets a more firm bob of her head. "Nice meeting you, have a safe flight back." And ignoring once more she is, rather wrapped up in Kilaueth's straps. So much more fun.