Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was reassuring, Ixiara thought, to see something that was familiar.

Grinning as she watched the heardbeasts in their enclosure, she leaned slightly against the railing in front of her. Since she had been searched everything had gone by so quickly that there had barely been time to keep up. It was very disconcerting, she thought as her smile faded slightly, to be uprooted in so swift a manner. She had never traveled very far in her life, preferring to stay at home in the territory she knew well. Even when she was watching the herds at home, alone - the only human source of protection for the livestock, she had been secure in her familiarity.

However, one thing would never change: chores. It was comforting to have some sort of manual labor to do - it forced Ixiara to focus only on what she was doing at the moment and to forget anything else that was bothering her. Indeed, as she bent to pick up the wheelbarrel meant for collecting manure she could almost imagine that she was still home: picking up raw materials for fertilizer was one of the first chores she had been given as a child.

As she began to unlatch the gate, though, she suddenly saw a brown shape descend upon the herd and send them off running. Her breath left her as she watched the graceful animals pick a sufficiently plump beast and make his meal of it. The whole process took less than a minute, but it was burned into her head. Yes... this was why she had agreed to come. To have a shot at becoming a dragon rider... to share in the legendary bond that turned the riders into the elite... It was what kept her hopes up, and what made her decide to fix this moment in her mid forever.

... At least until she saw how the dragon ate. Then she turned away in disgust. She had seen herdbeasts butchered before, it was part of her job after all, but this was different: this had sound effects. Letting a few stray pieces of hair fall into her face, she quietly shuffled forward and set to work. Ixiara kept her mind firmly on the task at hand, hoping she would not vomit, and praying that no one saw the green tinge to her cheeks.

Amenth was lounging on the ledge of her weyr when she first felt the pinch of hunger in her stomach. As if immediately aware Ralia was beside ready to leave. Though Ralia had actually been ready for most of the day. The Queen was still sulking and had refused to go out for the flight that morning. The pair would almost always go out in the morning, mostly to escape the Weyr and be able to just be. Nobody could turn up and demand they do anything if they did not know where they were. It was severely frowned upon for the pair to leave and not tell anyone where they ventured to. Something about endangering the Queen, but neither listened.
The Queen ate the normal large amount. It was puzzling to Ralia that although Amenth ate more than normal at her age she still remained so slim. She wasn't gorging herself anymore but still... Oddly the Gold was very clean when she ate, as well as picky. This wasn't much of a problem as Remmeck and other firelizards were always happy to eat her scraps.
Amenth informed Ralia that she wished to swim before they returned to their weyr. Ralia was happy for the Queen to be out no matter what she was going and was quick to agree.
Ralia hopped off when Amenth landed on the shore, the Queen had a preference for walking into the water. Ralia crossed to the rock and sat down just as Remmeck appeared above her head. He landed on Ralia's shoulder and she had to stop him from rubbing his face against hers. "Remmeck your head is coated in blood." The firelizard chirruped inquisitively. "Go and bath for a while." She said pointing to the water. The little bronze jumped off and flew to Amenth who was now in deep enough that she was mostly submerged.

Ralia looked over at the same time as the Queen's head emerged from the water. Amenth returned the greeting. I am Amenth, my rider is Ralia. She was used tothrowing out that plesantry to bronzes and by now it was an instant reaction.
Ralia remained seated, it wasn't like the brown was a threat to any of them. That brought to her mind what would happen if a dragon were to endanger a Queen. Everyone was so protective she couldn't help but wonder. Are you wishing harm to me? Amenth said with a rumble that was as close to laughter as the dragon could get to. Ralia smiled at the dragon'sthoughts. The playful moments had become so rare recently as the Queen had become so worrisome. I'd never wish harm on you dear one. She returned as Remmeck bobbed up alongside Amenth. Good. Was the simple reply she recieved as the Gold dove underneath the water again.

((Sorry it's so short, I'll be offline for an hour or so.))

B'ron shook his head fervently.
"No, no, no! Hath enjoyed his meal. You were no hindrance at all," he said, his hands unconsciously holding the wet tunic away from his body and wringing it out. "He enjoyed it well enough to dive into the lake and wet me all over," he said as he realized what he was doing.

"I'm B'ron, rider of brown Hath," he continued, using the formal introduction. "I couldn't help but notice the task you've been assigned. I was coming to ask if you needed any assistance, milady." He flamboyantly bowed, laughing as he straightened to look full on into Ixiara's face.


Hath, meanwhile, was toying with the idea of splashing the gold dragon. Perhaps she or her rider would get mad. If Hath could have shrugged he would have as he decided that it was B'ron's problem if the rider disliked Hath's actions.
Almost slyly, Hath sunk into the water and then resurfaced suddenly, spreading his wings as he did so. He noticed to his delight that a large arc of water was heading Amenth's way . . .

B'ron listened to Ixiara's little speech quietly, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. This was one of those hold girls that had been trained to "know her place", he thought. Either that, or she was humble. Or maybe she just didn't want to deceive him and put on airs. Honesty was a trait B'ron admired greatly, and his hazel eyes flickered with warmth as he answered.

"Ixiara! It is quite nice to meet you," he said. "And, my dear, unless there's something you aren't letting on about below the waist you are most certainly a lady! A lady, after all, does her duty for the best of her hold or Weyr. I don't see you shirking here and it doesn't sound like you shirked there, so I hereby give you the title of Lady Ixiara."

B'ron moved his hands vehemently as he talked, making a grand gesture as he emphasized the word 'lady'. His excitement ebbed, as if the last flourish washed away any excess feeling.

"Now, as for me being busy . . . I most certainly am not!" He grinned. "I shall be honored to help you, though if the Headwoman asks you may tell her that I ordered you to let me help. In fact, to make than an honest remark, I order you to let me help you with this most ornerous chore. So what would you like me to do first?"

Feeling slightly embarresed, but pleased all the same. It felt wrong, somehow, to have one of the elite dragonmen saying such things; but at the same time it was a very kind gesture and she appreciated it.

She laughed again when he playfully ordered her to allow him to help. The thought breifly crossed her mind that she had laughed more in the last five minutes than she had in almost a week.

"If you insist, Lord B'ron," she slipped into a mock serious tone, but the corner of her mouth twitched. "I didn't bring a second shovel, so if you wouldn't mind waiting for a moment I'll run and fetch one." Just as her sentence trailed off there was an echoing splash from the lake where the two dragons, brown and gold, were playing. Ixiara glanced over at them and was momentarily shocked by the size of the wave the queen dragon had created.

Ixiara felt the laughter coming and managed to stop herself just in time as B'ron made an ubrupt turn. She bit her lip, then covered her mouth with one hand, but still couldn't help giggling a little. Other than smiling a little when he got back, though, she made no further reference to it. After thanking him she too set herself to the task at hand.

B'ron, she soon found, was not one who did things halfway. Not that she had expected differently, but it was a pleasant discovery nonetheless. As a child she had done her fair share of complaining when it was time to do chores, but she had learned eventually that doing the work and getting it over with was better than leaving it. If you were lucky enough to have someone else who was willing to help it made things better, too.

Ixiara was not one for conversation, but she did her best not to make B'ron feel snubbed: whenever she caught his eye she would smile slightly before getting back to work. Once in a while she stole a glance over the handle of her shovel at what was going on down at the lake as well.