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 Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:44 pm
The day had been cold and dreary thus far; it was the same sort of day in which he had lost his footing and briefly met two other candidates, both of whom had Impressed. The sky was plastered with dark clouds, bits of light peeking through to the white world below, offering some decent light. He stalked through the late-afternoon with his teeth gritted. L'iam was bundled against the cold, but it felt like the ice and snow cut through him without any regard for it. He wondered what would have happened if he had just run out to the practice field without getting fully dressed first. He thanked the cold - his wound from the Hatching still pained him, though the cold numbed the pain.
Ahead of him, he spotted the snow broken down, a smal sign that he was still on the right track. Occasionally, he would spot a single pale head, neck, and body lifting above the snow some ways ahead of him, and L'iam would hiss through his teeth. If Zeloth was slowed the slightest by the cold, he gave absolutely no indication. "I'm going to freeze." He mumbled to himself, trying to pick up his pace, aware that the added wind made his face freeze more, though his body heated slightly.
Finally unable to continue his crusade, L'iam scooped snow in his hands, pelting it at the bronze. As he threw, he uttered a grunt of frustration, the hot air causing a smokey appearance to coat his surroundings. His aim flew true, the ball hitting the bronze hide enough for the head he saw to duck down.
In a moment, the paler-than-usual bronze darted back, snaking through the snow without any hesitations to his movements. Snow still clung to his back, his wings flapping unhappily to try and dislodge it. You should have stayed inside. Zeloth's voice made the snow seem to cringe away from him, the cold forgotten as the darkness overtook him again.
And leave you out here to freeze yourself? I don't think so. L'iam's eyes narrowed, a frown darkening his face. Zeloth was silent, looking around him at the snow, ignoring L'iam's chattering teeth. The bronze wondered solemnly what it would take to make His freeze, while also noting the cold that bit at his hide (threatening to crack it when it clung tighter to his body; he would have to demand an oiling later) and preparing to compare it someday to the cold of between.
L'iam was speaking words aloud, and Zeloth was ignoring him fully as he mumbled about going back where it was warm. Zeloth was bored with the Barracks, and he didn't intend to go back until he was good and ready. The dragon's tail worked its way into the snow, curling tighter so that a fair bit rested on top, delicate, ready to break any moment. Without a single bit of hesitation and with L'iam mid-sentence, he whirled his body, uncurling his tail at the correct time to send the snow flying.
L'iam became aware of the cold seeping through his clothes after impact faster than he realized what had happened. Spitting out the snow, his arms swept out, pushing against the snow until he was free. The redhead felt anger flare within him, the cold seeming to not matter as much. His anger warmed him. The bronze was tromping through the snow again, in a different direction, and L'iam retaliated with the same way he had before.
The snowball hit Zeloth on his back. War was declared.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:04 pm
Ursidaeth had been the one to suggest the jaunt outdoors, following his routine oiling. Once a messy eater, and potentially always a messy eater, the whole affair of rinsing the blood and other unmentionable fluids from the brown's late lunch taking more than an hour. Oiling took even longer - he was gargantuan at birth, and all those plentiful meals and the naps that proceeded them had been successful in laying on the bulk. The hatchling gamely pivoted and turned so that every ounce of him was slathered with the soothing, albeit smelly concoction - before one big sigh of relief tousled Ichidou's already mussed hair, signifying he was satisfied.
<< I want to nap outside. >> With a rumbling yawn, the brown protested Ichidou's coercing techniques, stumbling clumsily off his stone bench and toddling (as well a dragon can) towards the entrance of the cot. Ichidou was already well aware of how stubborn Hers could be, and gave in after a moment of arguing the difficulty of getting outside in the first place, not to mention finding a warm place for him to doze in. << Please? >> was all it took, well, besides an entreating glance from those whirling eyes, before the Candidate's resolve crumbled, and she grudgingly donned her patchy outerwear before guiding Ursidaeth outdoors, towards the Training Grounds. If she knew her scheduling half as well as she thought, then nobody would be doing drills at this time of the day.
As they trekked their way through pre-trampled snowdrifts, Ichidou wound her scarf more tightly around her neck, teeth chattering as her boots stomped and crunched through the thin film of ice coating the ground. Ursidaeth had no such troubles, his gait awkward due to sheer size rather than uncertainty. His neck swayed as his head bobbed in either direction, eyes vividly green as he scouted out a perfect napping place. His demands were finally met with a swath of earth no different than any they'd passed before, and the brown sank down with a blissful sigh, relishing the slight break in clouds that allowed dappled sunlight to shine through, his dark umber hide soaking it in.
"I'm not sitting in the snow." Petulant over having to spend a free afternoon sitting in the damp and cold, Ichidou scanned their surroundings, startled to see what looked like a self-propelled ball hurtling through the air. Eyes quickly tracking its progress, they widened as the snowball (as that was what it was) made contact with the back of a dragon's head. His hide was so pale that the color was nearly indistinguishable at that distance, but tracking the offending weapon back to its creator brought a jolt of recognition. L'iam. The sole bronze rider of the latest clutch, although his dragon looked far from the healthy portrayal most bronzes gave. Why, Ursidaeth was even a bit larger than...
<< Zeloth, his name is Zeloth. >> Quick to fill in the gaps in his rider's memory, Ursidaeth yawned before politely subsiding into the background. He was most happy watching, rather than participating - though he did give His a mental nudge forward, far from blind when it came to seeing the interest written plainly on her face. After the Onie fiasco, she needed a better form of socializing, and she did enjoy throwing things.
Hesitating, uncertain whether she'd been spotted yet or not, Ichidou instinctively dropped to her knees and began clumping together a snowball of her own. Despite herself, her pulse was racing with anticipation and excitement - she'd used to play these sorts of game with her father... Old reflexes were dusted off, as she patted the cold projectile into a proper shape, before rising and pelting L'iam with one of her own - shards, it felt good to just DO something again! "You're doing it wrong!" Still feeding off her sudden adrenaline high, Ichidou smirked even as the rest of her face flushed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:36 pm
Onie and Yokaith
Mine, I find this utterly boring. Yokaith's discontented voice reached Onie's mind just as she was putting away the brush she had used to oil the gold. The girl set the brush down on the small table beside her cot and was quickly at Yokaith's side again, scratching the small pale eyeridges fondly.
"I thought you enjoyed being oiled," Onie said out loud. She still wasn't entirely used to speaking with her thoughts rather than her voice and often spoke out loud for her own benefit.
I do enjoy being oiled. It's not the oiling I was speaking of, Yokaith answered.
We have been inside all day. You even fetched my meal by yourself. I wish to go out and see things today.
"Well," Onie said cautiously, "I kept you inside because it's bitterly cold out there. There's a thick layer of snow on nearly all of the Weyr right now."
Snow? Snow? What is this? Yokaith asked Hers eagerly, her tail whisking about in curiousity. The gold's hide shone with oil and her eyes whirled a contented blue, now tinged with various other shades as she questioned her rider.
"It's- It's cold. It's white, and it falls from the sky. It isn't harmful like the other thing that falls from the sky, but it is like ice," Onie fumbled to explain as Yokaith spread her wings in distress. Her wings were folded carefully against her sides as she realized that snow and Thread were two different things.
I must see it! Will you show me, mine? Yokaith rose, eagerly.
"Anything for you, Dearest," Onie said. "But first let me put on something a bit warmer."
---
Properly dressed in a thick, heavy cloak with a long sleeved tunic and a multi-layered skirt, Onie guided Yokaith out of the Weyr and onto the Training Grounds. There wasn't a good example of undisturbed snow anywhere else, as the Weyrfolk had already trampled the newly fallen ice crystals. Yokaith's short legs made their progress slow, but once they reached their destination the gold's delight made the trip in the biting cold worth it for her rider.
Oh! Oh, it is most beautiful! Yokaith cried inside her rider's mind, her wings out and flapping with excitement. The dragon immediately proceeded to immerse herself in the snow, warbling as the snow's temperature caught her as a not unpleasant surprise.
Onie laughed merrily as her Hatchling rolled about in the snow, enjoying the sight of Yokaith's playful antics. She took in a moment to soak up the sight of an undisturbed field with it's beauteous and most bountiful snow fal--
Wait a minute.
Was that . .
Why, they weren't alone on the Training Grounds.
Onie spotted the bronze hatchling and his rider, as well as a massive brown. That massive brown could only be Ursidaeth, which meant Ichidou was around, as well. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she watched for Ichidou. She didn't see the brown weyrling until she rose to toss the snowball and call something out to the bronze weyrling. Without thinking Onie laughed again for the second time in only a few minutes.
With a quick movement she followed Ichidou's example and ducked into the snow, her gloves making her hands clumsy as she worked to form her own freezing missile. She and Yokaith had made enough noise to be noticed but if she hurried, she could probably hit Ichidou before the other girl got her. As for the bronze weyrling, Onie was much too far away to consider tossing a clump of snow at him. She would have to get closer. Mentally planning her path kept her occupied as she packed the snow together until she felt something cold and hard hit her in the head.
Yokaith had followed Ichidou's example as well.
Ignoring the dragon, for time was working against her, Onie flung her snowball hard at Ichidou. She had never before played such games, and perhaps her aim wasn't the best, but nevertheless the weyrling found it terribly exciting and fun. Quickly she picked up another clump of snow in both hands and without waiting to pack it into a ball she whirled and tossed it at Yokaith, grinning as it hit the dragon in her short snout.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:28 pm
Zeloth whirled, his eyes dancing between the reds of anger and the blue of play. The dizzying combination was fixed on only one person, and from the moment they landed on him, L'iam shuddered. Crouching as low as he could, Zeloth snaked away, his tail flicking above the snow, a shark's fin that plainly showed his direction of attack. If he gave any note to that tell, he did not fix it.
He waited for some sort of attack from L'iam, but none came. He peeked above the snow, looking at His for some sort of sign of attack, but L'iam was nowhere to be seen, at least not in his original place. A moment later, the redheaded weyrling popped up from the snow, the hood he'd been wearing knocked back with snow clearly stuck within. Immediately, Zeloth began looking for the culprit, noting that two of his clutchmates were present.
They were of little matter. The dragon began sharking again through the snow, headed directly for his target. He saw Ichidou as an ally for the moment, and L'iam was going to have to do much better against this to prove he was worthy by his bronze's standards. He emerged in front of L'iam, repeating a movement with which the young man was well-acquainted: bowling him over.
---
L'iam had been distracted with his attack on Zeloth to note any others on the practice field. He had thought he had heard something and turned, suspecting but not really expecting the ice ball that hit him. It pushed the hood back off his head, most of it pooling in it though some of the ice slid down his shirt. His breath shuddered as it hit his warm spine, him wiggling awkwardly to try and dislodge it before the girl - Ichidou, right? - spoke. The moment her words hit his ears, he scowled. The retaliation of "I'll do you wrong!" was one of his more childish, but the meaning of what he said (or how it could easily be taken wrongly) slipped by him.
He ducked down and started packing ice in his hands again, ignoring the fact that he had lost sight of Zeloth. Surely, he thought, the bronze would mind his own business and continue his exploration without any thought for L'iam or maybe, just maybe, he would help his bonded right the wrongs that had been dealt him, for he considered ice down his shirt a great wrong.
He rose again, throwing the snowball as best he could, noting that there was another player in their game of war. Onie caught him a little offguard by being out there with them, and he was thankful she was aiming for Ichidou and her queen rather than him. Shortly after he threw it, he became aware of something knocking into him, falling into the snow and pushing him against the snow his body had been curving away from. Zeloth stood over him, peering down. The dance in his eyes had ceased being as frequent, his agitation and disappointment that L'iam had not learned the first time being clear on his face. Get up. The dragon ordered for the second time in his short lifespan before he returned to sharking, though interested in a vastly different target.
---
He was larger; he was dangerous. But, Zeloth had to wonder, was Ursidaeth prone to playing these sorts of games or did he get agitated? The snow broke around him as he stalked towards the direction, caving in on top of him. There was no fear of being buried alive, no claustrophobia to accompany the burial. He was intent on getting closer to the brown; the elements were only an additional hazard.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 5:58 pm
The bronze's unique method of attack did not go unnoticed, and for a moment Ichidou allowed her eyes to drift in that direction, before the return of that brilliant crop of red hair signified L'iam was back in action, if a little damper than before. Her mouth hung open in shock as the bronze weyrling's words echoed across the distance to her, the young woman frozen for a moment in treacherous silence, before suddenly the frigid air was alive with the sound of - laughter?
Was she actually laughing? It seemed a preposterous notion, for someone as callous and aloof as she. And yet there was no better explanation for the guffaws racking her body, breaking only as she doubled over for air, tears of mirth stinging her eyes. Oh, oh that was RICH! Ursidaeth, from his vantage point, crooned alongside her, eyes whirling sea green with pleasure. He didn't quite grasp the concept, but if it amused Ichidou, then it must be a Very Good Thing.
"I-I bet you would, too!" Straightening at last, Ichidou wiped away the dampness from her face, still beset by an occasional fit of chuckles. She suddenly felt a lot lighter than she had for so long - she hadn't laughed like that in Turns! And over such a stupid thing, too! Still, she burst into a fresh bout of laughter at seeing L'iam toppled over by his dragon, even as she bent to scrape together a fresh snowball.
<< Yokaith is here. >> His tone remained jovial, though weighted with mild concern for how His would react to Onie's presence. They'd ended their last conversation on civil terms, but the brown hatchling remained cautious even through his optimism. Indeed, Ichidou stiffened for a moment, contemplating appropriate reactions before finally deciding to let it roll off her back, shrugging her shoulders as a physical embodiment of her decision. Yes, Onie was indeed here - that was verified by the distinctive giggles of the other girl which she could now hear. Having finished her ammo while caught between decisions, Ichidou rose and spun fluidly despite the slippery surface underfoot, chucking her next projectile straight for the queen rider's face. She may have agreed to let bygones be bygones, but that didn't mean she couldn't get a little payback... And all in the name of friendly sports. Ichidou grinned, almost wolfishly, at the thought. "HEAD'S UP!"
Ursidaeth had once again settled into comfortable silence as Ichidou chose the path of least resistance. He was extremely proud of his Rider, and grateful that the gentle pressure he'd subsequently applied had done the trick of cooling her heels. This was a time for fun, not for arguments - even he understood that. Yawning loudly, the brown sleepily traced Zeloth's movement through the burrow of disturbed snow snaking ever closer. << I can see you. >> There was no hint of agitation, only amusement. To have another dragon approach freely, rather than shirk his hulking presence was most welcome.
Though, Zeloth would have to do a much better job at covering his tracks if he intended on catching the brown off-guard.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:14 pm
Onie and Yokaith
Yokaith's eyes were whirling quickly in a cheerful blue tone as she examined the other dragons from afar. With a snort she deducted that while she was bigger than the brown in size he was far more bulky and was likely to dwarf her if she should come near. The bronze was also smaller than her, but not as big as the brown.
Her calculations were interrupted by a shriek from Hers and she quickly whirled, nearly topping over in her worry. Another sound, following the shriek, erased the gold's fears. The sound was that of laughter, and her rider was laughing once again.
Onie had been hit right in the face by the oncoming white ball. She had seen it, heard Ichidou's warning, realized she should duck . . but by then it had been too late. The hit made her tender nose sting, though much to her relief there was no blood this time. Onie ducked down into the snow once more, making herself as small as possible as she gathered more ammunition. The bronzeweyrling was next on her list, as she knew she would have to plan carefully to get Ichidou. L'iam did not seem too keen on snow games to her, but Onie figured that if Ichidou saw her occupied with L'iam she might turn away for just a moment and give the gold weyrling enough time to hit her with a well aimed snowball.
Carefully creeping forward, Onie's progress was slow as she was hampered by her thick skirts and heavy cloak. She did not see L'iam immediately, as he had been barreled over by his Zeloth. She watched Zeloth moved off and waited patiently for L'iam to rise. He was only a pawn in her quest to flatten Ichidou with snow.
Yokaith, meanwhile, had also been creeping slowly toward the other dragons. For the moment her mind was not on flinging snow at them, but instead on associating with them. The snow had been sticking to her freshly oiled hide but melting off as it was slowly disintegrated by her body head, and as a result she left a mushy, wet trail on her way to Ursidaeth and Zeloth.
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:09 pm
Her reaction to what he had said made him pause. She was laughing? Wasn't Ichidou a serious person, not to mention it hadn't really been that funny... Running the sentence through his head again, L'iam's mind worked to try and find the humor. Realization dawned slowly, majestically, horrifyingly. The back of his neck and ears colored, eyes narrowing slightly at the girl. He hadn't meant it like that. And, no, he didn't know what he meant it like, but shut up.
As Zeloth swam away through the snow, oddly endearing to the weyrling despite the bronze's attitude, L'iam gathered up another snowball, standing defiantly. It would take more than humiliation and his dragon attempting to freeze him out for L'iam to give in. His eyes scanned for his dragon, noting that where he was headed contained not just one dragon. Yokaith was headed towards the brown too.
One did not let one's new lifepartner and especially a gold out of one's sight, unless you included the Feast and other necessary stops that couldn't be helped. Onie was around here somewhere, and that he couldn't see her had the bronzeweyrling worried. Nevermind that, he decided. He'd worry about that in a moment. For now, he dug his fingers into the snowball, waiting for Ichidou to present a moment of distraction or some equal weakness.
---
Zeloth did not even pause in his movements at the brown's voice, stopping only once he was near, head popping out of the snow. Ursidaeth did not sound agitated. Maybe he could test that? He'd ponder it for a moment. Zeloth did not offer up a response to the other dragon; he was not trying to hide from anyone but those not paying attention. His clutchsibling was, so, so be it.
The bronze lowered himself to the ground in what might have been interpreted as a pouncing stance. Slowly, he wheedled his wings into the snow, the still-fragile limbs protesting at the weight put on them, but Zeloth was not afraid that they might suffer some sort of harm from this. His muscles tightened and the bronze thrust his body upward, bringing his wings up fast and hard. The snow weighed heavily for a moment, fracturing off from its surroundings. The force outweighed the weight, and Zeloth flared his wings as he reached his full height, clearing out the snow around him via flinging it in all directions (while also trying to direct as much of it as he could in Ursidaeth's direction.)
The bronze spotted the gold joining them both, noting the snow melting around her. Was it because she was warm? He wanted to see, but he would wait for her to get closer. He hadn't hollowed out a nice place in the snow for nothing.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:50 am
Onie's shriek upon impact was music to Ichidou's ears, the girl nearly pumping her fist in victory before stopping herself short - even now, she wasn't quite that ready to let all of her reservations go. Covering up her goof by ducking behind a small mound of snow, she began quickly calculating just what to do now. She'd made two enemies, and she didn't have any real back up. ...in that case, she'd just have to turn her enemies against one another, wouldn't she? Smirking, the weyrling began tunneling through stray drifts, pressing herself as close to the ground as possible even as the wet snow soaked through her extra layers of clothing. Discomfort didn't matter now, she was on the job!
Ursidaeth had kept a curious eye on the 'war' being waged just a short dragon length away, while waiting for a response from Zeloth. He was muchly disappointed, then, when the bronze neglected to provide any sort of acknowledgment at all. A soft creel escaped the large brown, even as the blue began fading from his eyes. Perhaps he'd mistaken the gesture after all, and Zeloth only planned to gawk at him, like so many greens and blues had before.
His pity party was cut short, however, as with a startled cry the hatchling found himself doused with wet snow that clung and melted on his sticky hide. Some of the powdery stuff had found its way up his nose, and just as Yokaith came within reach, he sneezed so violently that it kicked up a good dusting of the snow, which of course had no other purpose other than to powder her head as well. << Oh, I'm sorry! >> Aggrieved that he'd potentially frightened off another friend, Ursidaeth clumsily rose to his feet, panicking slightly. He'd offended her!
Sensing some disturbance from her dragon, Ichidou's head popped up above the snowline, a visible target as she worriedly glanced in her brown's direction - only to see him staring down Yokaith with whirling eyes. ...he didn't look hurt, but Ursidaeth was also touchy when it came to socializing with other dragons (a familiar concept, though Ichidou refused to note it).
What's wrong? Ducking down once again, she bespoke Ursidaeth with a tone that brooked no argument. There was something wrong, and he'd best tell her now.
<< I just sneezed on Yokaith, and Zeloth won't talk to me. >> The response came back as a despondent whimper, a request for comforting and reassurance. Frowning at the familiar signs of distress in Hers, Ichidou rose stiffly from her crouching position, reluctantly dropping all pretenses of play as she began wading through a particularly deep patch of snow towards the assembled dragons.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:49 pm
Onie and Yokaith
Yokaith may not have been as fearless as Zeloth or as large as Ursidaeth, but she was a gold, after all. The color of her hide lent her a secure feeling as she brazenly approached her clutchmates. She pretended to be disaffected by Zeloth's mighty upheaval of the snow, though it did surprise her. Her approach was as graceful as anyone could expect, but it was ruined as she stopped short. Snow had just coated her entire head, from the first neckridge to the tip of her short little snout.
Sniffling and sneezing, she warbled as Ursidaeth apologized. She meant for her warble to be reassuring, and not having the limitations of her rider (who could not speak when her face was coated with snow) she comforted the brown.
It is no great matter, she said, her mental voice as gentle as the sunlight filtering through green summer foliage even though it was bitter and bare outside. She shook her head, dislodging the snow and coming closer to the other dragons.
Onie, meanwhile, had been planning her attack. Both L'iam and Ichidou were now up, and she wondered if she should continue with her plan or splatter snow on Ichidou while she had the chance. Peeking up even further from her particular snow drift she watched the brown's rider carefully, holding her breath lest she should be discovered. It seemed as if . . Onie stifled a groan. From Ichidou's expression she could tell that the girl was checking on her dragon, and Yokaith's rider cursed her attack of conscience. She couldn't take advantage of the situation. In her mind anything concerning the wellbeing of dragons was of the utmost importance, and this was one of those situations in which Ichidou would get a free pass and be exempt from whatever Onie was planning.
Clutching her ball of snow she swiveled to get a better view of L'iam. With a slight grunt she rose, her heavy skirts and cloak falling around her in wet, snowy folds, and flung her snowball with all of her might. This time, her aim was much better, a fact that she noted proudly as the lump of sky ice hurtled toward it's target.
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:41 pm
L'iam turned his head when a small patch of snow seemed to attempt a return to the sky, only to fall short. He was less than surprised to see Zeloth in the middle of his new spot, all-too-glad that he hadn't been the target of the dragon's attack. He was tempted to tell the bronze to play nice, but who was L'iam kidding? Zeloth would do what he wanted, and any pretenses of the weyrling having control over him would only serve to make the bronze prove otherwise.
He wanted to launch another attack once the brownweyrling became again visible, but she seemed distracted. His eyes wandered to where she turned to, spotting the three dragons grouped in a relatively close range. She stood, and had she looked any less serious than she did, he might've pegged her with a snowball. He was tempted to for laughing at him earlier anyway, but decided to let it be.
Not that his decision wasn't influenced by a reminder that there were three of them present. More snow hit him, the ice ball adding another wet patch to his clothes as crystalline fragments clung to him. Hissing slightly, he ducked down, peeking up to look for Onie, fully aware that his red hair was a dead giveaway to her. It didn't matter. Ducking, he scooped up another snowball before springing to his feet again, hurling it in her direction.
---
Zeloth watched his two clutchsiblings for a moment. He observed, curiously, as the larger dragon sprang to his feet after sneezing on Yokaith. He had suspected something harsher, a reprimanding for soaking him after he'd been oiled, or some sort of backlash for disturbing the brown's peace and quiet. Interesting.
He glanced when he saw movement, noting that Ursidaeth's seemed to be coming their way. She seemed intent on making it to her brown, and the thought of interfering drifted through his mind, but the fact he did not particularly feel like leaving his spot just yet prevailed over the curiosity of her reaction.
The bronze settled down, attention weighing heavily on the brown. The large one, the muscle, and yet he called for help? The thought of calling L'iam over for any reason right now seemed odd to him. It didn't make sense, to him anyways. And, to Zeloth, anything that didn't make sense needed to be investigated (or poked at continuously until the answer revealed itself).
Finally reaching a conclusion, he offered up his analysis, one he intended to keep an eye on: You are silly. His voice was colder than the winter air, the words themselves whispered as though there might be some great secret behind them. There was no familiarity or condescension; there was no emotion. He offered up no further explanation. He had spoken what he wanted to say, anything else was superfluous.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:46 pm
Caught in a self-destructive cycle of regret and uncertainty, Yokaith's reassurance fell far short of its intended end, the unseasonable warmth of the gold's voice underscoring Ursidaeth's guilt. << I didn't mean to! I'm clumsy, take my spot please! >> Hustling to vacate the warm hollow of depressed snow where his oiled form had curled just a few moments before, the weyrling's wings mantled in consternation and embarrassment - if he could have, the brown would have been blushing.
Zeloth's rasping condemnation only drew a mournful creel from the large, bumbling dragonet. He was bothering them, he ought not have trespassed out here in the first place... He was 'silly' and he'd gotten Yokaith all wet, and she'd just been oiled, too. Never mind that his very own oiled hide was mottled now where flakes of snow had melted and streaked his previously healthy sheen. That didn't matter, when Ursidaeth had disturbed them both so.
"What's going on, then?" It had taken Ichidou a good moment to pick her way over to where the three dragons reclined in the sun spattered snow. Hands propped in consternation on hips that barely extended past her streamlined figure, cheeks red and breath escaping in billowing puffs as she sternly beheld the three hatchlings, dark brow knitted in admonishment and concern. It was all a great inconvenience, after all - it was love for her oaf of a dragon that drove her to acknowledge such silliness, especially given the brown's tendency to make mountains out of tunnel snake mounds.
<< I upset them because I was clumsy. >> Ursidaeth's wedge-shaped head sagged at the end of his brawny neck, the hatchling clearly taking full responsibility for every disturbance that had made its presence known. The weyrling's rider met his confession with a grunt, quickly scanning both gold and bronze for any injuries of warrant. Neither Onie or L'iam had made any commotion over whatever was plaguing her dragon so, and so the conclusion drawn was that if anything had happened, it was minor and not worth an ounce of fretting.
Neither of them look hurt or offended in any way. They haven't been trying to bully you, have they? Narrowing her eyes at Zeloth in particular, Ichidou reached out to pat Ursidaeth's muscular neck to appease his sudden, inconveniencing need for support and affection. Even so, her stiff body posture slackened as her exasperation ebbed away, replaced by grudging affection. He was a silly beast, and she informed him of this whenever he pulled this stunt, but she still loved him.
<< No... Zeloth called me silly, though. >> Translucent lids lowered over green tinted lenses, as Ursidaeth appreciatively leaned into Ichidou's touch. Well, he's right about that. No longer scowling at either of the pale oddities, Ichidou exhaled noisily and decided against re-joining the snowball fight, plopping herself down beside her dragon as she wistfully eyed the two combatants still going at it. No sense in diving back in now. The brown dragonet sunk down beside His, apologizing softly (as best he could with his baritone drawl) for cutting off her fun.
It's fine, I'd rather sit here with you. It wasn't the truth, but Ursidaeth was eager enough to believe it, and he quieted at last - unwilling to start a conversation with the other two hatchlings although he kept one ear out for any snatches of chat drifting his way. Ichidou was content enough to sit on the sidelines, continuing to stroke her dragon and critiquing the other two's aim with an occasional cluck of the tongue. So clumsy.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:22 pm
Onie and Yokaith
Onie did not cry out this time, used to the idea that snow would likely be flung at her. She did let out a small squeak, however, as the icy ball hit her dead on in the chest. She quickly rubbed at it, her vivid green eyes searching the snow for L'iam. She could see his hair -- it was very red, very distinctive. It was like hers, she realized, ducking quickly. Her ebony hair stood out brightly in contrast to the snow, more indicative of her presence than a sign.
She dug about in the snow, trying to hide herself as much as possible under a bank as she began to gather more ammunition. Her pale hands worked quickly, scooping up somewhat poorly formed balls of snow, packing them in, and placing them to the side. Though she had never taken part in such games before she knew from watching children in the hold how this particular war should be conducted. So she gathered her ammo, oblivious to the things taking place around her.
Yokaith, meanwhile, was truly puzzled. Ursidaeth now had His beside him, and he wasn't talking to her even after she had made her reassurances. Just a tad bit miffed the gold flounced about in the snow, ending up in Ursidaeth's former spot. She made a show of settling in, turning her head the other way to eye Zeloth with lazily spinning eyes. He was very pale, but then, so was she. Ursidaeth, on the other hand, was a nice, rich color. He was also very large, whereas she was terribly small. For this reason she decided to ally herself with Ursidaeth. The alliance was instinctively done, the gold dragon not questioning it but merely going with her ingrained desire of what the brown had to offer her. He looked nice, and he was large enough to offer protection -- as if anyone would harm her.
She crooned in Ursidaeth's direction, attempting once again to reassure the troubled weyrling.
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