Dragons Dine at Dawn
Who: Kh'ry, Lujayn, Rielsath, Temrianth
Where: Feeding Grounds, HRW
When: Day 2, month 8, turn 26
Kh'ry and Lu watch Rielsath's breakfast and chat about weyrling dragons. Temrianth asks lots of questions.
It's early yet, the first rays of dawn breaking across the bowl and casting dark shadows where the cliff hangs over the feeding grounds. Warmth is already apparent in the summer air with a delicious lack of humidity; a light jacket has been draped casually on one fencepost, the goldrider to whom it belongs standing not far away. Lujayn turns her face to the sunlight with a happy sigh, orange and crimson beams giving the pen a surreal appearance. Her head tips back to somewhere high above, where doubtless there's a dragon or two circling in anticipation of a morning meal. Rielsath descends in an impatient circling motion, huffing loudly with a little querulous bugle at the end. Aren't the lazy herders up yet? Release the cows!
Weyrling PT has just finished, for most: bronze Temrianth and his Kh'ry have been allowed another lap around the bowl, however, to cool off. The pair meander towards the feeding pens, in some type of morning ritual -- no doubt Temrianth is sceming already on the perfect way to hunt, and this observation proves vital to his theorymongering. Kh'ry is just along because who /knows/ what kind of trouble Temrianth could get into on his own, right? The growing dragonet settles next to Lujayn, his shoulders nearly as high as her head, now: with his wings folded back, they almost completely obscure Lujayn from Kh'ry's sight, so the weyrling obligingly ducks under Temrianth's neck to stand on the 'near' side of the goldrider. "Morning," he offers, his voice still perhaps partially groggy from sleep and disuse. He squints to Rielsath. "Reckon she's hungry?" His smile half-falters as it would appear Temrianth takes him seriously and natters on about all the reasons why she /does/, in fact, look hungry.
Eventually there's some motion at the far end of the pen, a couple young men fresh from the stables by the looks of their clothes. They unlatch the first gate and prod a few milling beasts out into the greater area of the feeding grounds. Rielsath warns away a smaller blue with one grumpy hiss, rising higher as her circles become smaller and smaller, the picky vulture. Lu's head follows the gold's motions in a comical, tired manner, apparently still waking up herself. "Oh. Hello, Temrianth." She says without much thought before giving a double-take. "/Kh'ry/. He's gotten so big! Good morning." Everyone's just waking up, everyone but Rielsath - who's being awfully picky today. "Yeah, she wanted to get here first thing before anyone else had a chance. When they're hungry they are /hungry./" Lu's preaching to the choir. "Though she sure is taking her sharding time about it for all that fuss of being first in line."
Dragon> Sensing her rider's shift in attention, Rielsath's mind searches out the source and eventually lands on Temrianth, her mind bringing the same bloody crimson rays of dawn that warm the bowl. Or maybe that's her stomach talking. << Did you come to hunt? You're a little small for that. >> The gold says regretfully. << It would be fun, though, if they let you have a herd of wherries to chase after! >> (Rielsath to Temrianth)
"Mornin'," Kh'ry replies, a pleased smile for the perceived compliment. "I know how that feels. Tem'll bitch and bitch about being hungry, and then when we finally get to the carcasses, he takes forever to pick one." Temrianth seems oblivious to the fact that this is a bad thing, craning his head to get a better view of Rielsath's technique. Something causes his eyes to whirl suddenly /much/ faster, however, and a little creel starts to whine out of his throat, much like a big canine who's being taunted by his owner chewing on a chicken-leg right in front of him. Kh'ry's palm meets his face. "Today's going to be a long day," comes out somewhat muffled.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth is a vivid storm: crashing waves, rising tides, a sandy beach stripped of all vegetation, raked clear of any large stones. The bloody light cast into the sheeting rainfall of his 'scape creates a hellish mix, a Faustian scene as rains slowly cease and steam rises from the too-hot shores. Obviously, this idea has Temrianth all /kinds/ of worked up: << Oh, do you think I could convince them? That would be an excellent way for Amareth and I to hone our hunting skills! >>
Lujayn's eyes flick suspiciously to the queen above, "Stop it," She hisses, the mental words spoken as much for Kh'ry's benefit as to actually reprimand the teasing gold. She chuckles knowingly at the weyrling's explanation. "Pickiness means he won't glut himself on rotted meat, at least." Though in older dragons it's just a pain in the ass. Rielsath takes a passing swipe at one sedentary beast, startling the thing into a gallop away from her. /Then/ the chase is on. Successfully having riled the pen's occupants, the huntress goes about harassing the herds, the thrill of the chase more rewarding than the kill itself. "They're all long," Lu sympathizes, looking between Temrianth and Kh'ry with some amusement. "I hear he's quite the curious one."
Dragon> Waves are met with more sunlight, sparks flaring up where the crashing waves meet the shore. Rielsath is hunting in earnest now, a speeding mind over the coastline reflecting that inner thrill of pursuit. She doesn't mind hell, at least this version. On the prowl, nothing can divert her. << Soon, they will have you practice. >> There's no time attached to 'soon,' though the vague images she shares depict dragonets not yet ready to fly properly. << Do you practice now, on anything else? It's good to be prepared; you can show everyone else how good you are on your very first day. >> Veering off over the stormy waters towards the scarlet eastern light, Rielsath dives low in this surreal landscape. Time for the first strike. (Rielsath to Temrianth)
Kh'ry watches Rielsath with some amount of mixed emotion, obviously not one for the thrill of the hunt himself. What? It looks like she's playing giant golden terrorist on a bunch of poor cows, to this Islander; though Temrianth seems to be quite enjoying it by the way the bronze pushes himself up against the fenceline, looking all the world like a puppy with his face plastered against the glass window. PICK ME! PICK ME! "He's... yeah. Enough to drive me stormin' crazy, most days. At least he's stopped talking in his sleep." Zombie!Kh'ry is no more, at least. Or at least only comes out at certain times. "She seems to be enjoying herself," he ventures about Rielsath. "She always do this?"
Lujayn grins. "It's something you get used to," In reference to Rielsath's circling and terrorizing, not the sleeptalking. "Some go straight for the kill, some like getting messy, but for her it's about the chase. I swear she'd have made a good bronze. Doesn't do much girly stuff." Maybe taking just a smidge more time than she usually might on account of her audience, Rielsath flares her wings back and swoops with a sudden motion, no bugling or roaring to accompany the attack. It's over in two seconds, the thump of talons sinking into flesh, the bellow of the chosen beast cut off sharply as the dragon twists her prey's neck savagely, dropping low to the ground with those pale wings mantled protectively about the kill. Only then do the smaller dragons descend, much more quickly and noisily; Ri pays them no mind as she gets down to bloody breakfast. "It's kinda cute, in a way," The bloody mess or Temrianth? "I kept a journal while I was a weyrling. Reading it is a hoot, all the things that bothered me or the things she used to do and then grew out of." Weyrlings: cute, as evidenced by her frequent glances to Temrianth's eager face.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth seems entirely enthralled by the sparks and the drive and the hunting spirit which Rielsath embodies. << Sometimes I chase the canines around the barn! >> His mental image is quite comical, that he projects in vivid depiction: one poor herding canine, fluffy tail tucked 'tween it's hind legs, scampering around a corner at full tilt to escape the stampeding weyrling bronze. << Until Kh'ry makes me stop. >> He doesn't quite understand why, it's obvious; the canine receives good exercise from it, and it's not like Temrianth would actually *hurt* the critter, and he's learned how to handle corners so much better than when he was a baby! Since he's all grown up, now. Or at least he perceives himself to be, now. << You are very good at this. >> Only a bit of wistful emotion twines through his words, a spring shower slowly soaking the shore.
Dragon> Absorbed in her kill, the next wave to wash ashore stains the sands dark with blood. Less distracted by the hunt itself and more protective of what she's managed to take for herself, Rielsath perks up. << Oh? Canines would not be good to eat, though. They are too thin. >> She decides, letting some emotion of her own seep through in the bloody red sea: content, accomplishment, possession. Hers. << Like firelizards. Smaller things are scared of us, except for a lot of humans, >> The sun is slowly returning to its normal color, though clouds roll in to cast fanciful shadows on the beach, constantly changing shape and figure. << Does that make them braver, to not be afraid of us? Or just stupid? >> A courageous herdbeast shuffled to the dragons is undoubtedly stupid, but her Lu? << No, not stupid. >> Answering her own question before Temrianth has the chance to say anything irredeemably offensive. (Rielsath to Temrianth)
"She seems pretty -- interesting." From what he can gather from Temrianth, at least; Kh'ry is not one to naturally figure out draconic natures by observation, by the puzzled expression on his face. "I think Tem woulda made a good Harper, all the questions he asks." Is there a sour note to Kh'ry's tone? Of course not. Ahem. "He's a mess. I don't think I could manage t'keep a journal -- wouldn't be able to have all the time to write all the things down." That's not a slight against Temrianth, and the innocent way the boy states it makes that somewhat obvious: it's just a fact of life. Kh'ry doesn't hardly have time to eat, much less write. Well, other than what those damned Harper lessons make him... "Seems like it just gets busier, rather'n less busy."
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth doesn't seem to mind the bloody shores whatsoever, though the sands drift in color in odd manners, from island-yellow to Southern white then to Istan black, glittering the deepest, darkest red. << I don't understand why dragons aren't allowed to hunt some humans. Some of them seem quite vicious enough to rate being eaten! >> Mean people suck!, in other words. The innocence of a dragon seeped in an Islander mind certainly seems different than the norm, does it not? Or perhaps -- not that different at all, given Rielsath's query. << I'm not sure if that has any correlation with intelligence, >> he muses, his attention distracted as he watches a blue the size of a small barge, gawky and dark-denim in color, make a swift kill as a falcon on the wing. << So many different hunting styles! >> His enthusiasm seems boundless.
"She is. They all are, in ways." Listening earnestly to Kh'ry's description of things, the rider is happy to lend an ear. "It's natural for dragonets to be all questions," Trying to reassure that sour note out of his voice, Lu shifts and leans against the fence backwards, face turned from the dragon who has shifted to wiping her stained snout over the grasses in an attempt to clean it. Rielsath still picks at the carcass before her despite the cleanliness, soon leaving off the grooming altogether. It can wait, right? There are humans for that. "I'd be more concerned if you said you had just enough time, thanks very much. Means you're not shirking duty or neglecting him," A little chin jerk towards Temrianth, whom she regards with a beam. Whatever she's getting from Rielsath, it's damn endearing. "Sounds like he's keen on learning, which is less work for you in the long run."
Dragon> To Temrianth, Rielsath spits bones onto the shore, some shipwrecked blighter gone to float. It's the little details she fills in now, the faroff cliffs just beyond a wild jungle, caves ripe for exploring if not for the looming tower of smoke emanating from the mountain's peak. << It's not fair to them, I guess. Since we're animals, we can kill other animals. And they're humans but they're not supposed to kill each other either, >> She doesn't like the knot either, picking at the twisted idea with needly bolts of lightning. << They have their own ways of doing things, Lu says. It's bad to kill something that can reason and think for itself. >> Glad to drop the cursed, twisted knot in the bloody sand, she turns to watch more dragons descent on an early-morning feast. << Gets the job done. It's not fun without a little challenge, though. >> Hence the chasing, apparently.
"Mmmm. Yeah, they all seem -- the other weyrling dragons, that is -- to have very unique and..." Kh'ry seeks out the word. "/Set/ personalities, if that makes sense?" His eyebrows furrow together. He does flash a smile for Lujayn then, at the end. "Yeah, I think you're right, maybe. Open to learning rather than /really/ set in his ways." Like some of his clutchbrothers. "Er." He glances over to Temrianth. "I think we'd better be gettin' back to the barracks before Weyrlingmaster Meara throws a fit." Not that she would, /really/, but... "It was good to see you, goldrider." He has a beaming smile and a salute, before him and his lifemate both reluctantly turn back to the barracks.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth considers this /very/ thoughtfully. And thoroughly, as evinced by the lessening of his mental storms to a clear, blood-red sky: << I... that will require some thought, I imagine. Very... >> He drifts off, lost to the sound of waves lapping at the blackened shore. << Ahh. Kh'ry says we're to leave. >> His voice is regretful. << It was very pleasant speaking with you, Rielsath. I hope I can see you hunt again! >> Cheer overtakes the gloom of leaving, and his merry storms return blue and grey by waves, the bloodlust receding from his mental touch.
With the feeding mostly over and a happy, bloody Rielsath bounding over to join the festivities, it might be a good idea that Kh'ry has chosen that moment to return to the barracks. It's a little more grisly up close; Lujayn wipes the worst of it away from her gold's snout using that handy, long-abandoned jacket. "You too. I'm going to scrub this off before it can really crust up. Bet you know all about that, though." She waves to the weyrling's retreating back, nodding to Temrianth with a faint 'shoo' motion of her hands to encourage him along. "Good luck today." Both dragon and rider newly occupied, they leave the scene of the crime for the herders to clean up and head towards the lake, Lujayn chatting quietly to the dragon hopping along beside her.
Dragon> To Temrianth, Rielsath punctuates the storms with her own crackles of electricity and flashes of colored lightning, silver edging softening dark stormclouds. << I don't get as hungry as you, >> She admits, taking some of the blood and sunlight with her as she follows Lujayn away. << But I'll let you know, if you want to learn! >> No one ever said Rielsath was against letting little weyrlings try to hunt, as long as humans aren't around to scold her.
Where: Feeding Grounds, HRW
When: Day 2, month 8, turn 26
Kh'ry and Lu watch Rielsath's breakfast and chat about weyrling dragons. Temrianth asks lots of questions.
It's early yet, the first rays of dawn breaking across the bowl and casting dark shadows where the cliff hangs over the feeding grounds. Warmth is already apparent in the summer air with a delicious lack of humidity; a light jacket has been draped casually on one fencepost, the goldrider to whom it belongs standing not far away. Lujayn turns her face to the sunlight with a happy sigh, orange and crimson beams giving the pen a surreal appearance. Her head tips back to somewhere high above, where doubtless there's a dragon or two circling in anticipation of a morning meal. Rielsath descends in an impatient circling motion, huffing loudly with a little querulous bugle at the end. Aren't the lazy herders up yet? Release the cows!
Weyrling PT has just finished, for most: bronze Temrianth and his Kh'ry have been allowed another lap around the bowl, however, to cool off. The pair meander towards the feeding pens, in some type of morning ritual -- no doubt Temrianth is sceming already on the perfect way to hunt, and this observation proves vital to his theorymongering. Kh'ry is just along because who /knows/ what kind of trouble Temrianth could get into on his own, right? The growing dragonet settles next to Lujayn, his shoulders nearly as high as her head, now: with his wings folded back, they almost completely obscure Lujayn from Kh'ry's sight, so the weyrling obligingly ducks under Temrianth's neck to stand on the 'near' side of the goldrider. "Morning," he offers, his voice still perhaps partially groggy from sleep and disuse. He squints to Rielsath. "Reckon she's hungry?" His smile half-falters as it would appear Temrianth takes him seriously and natters on about all the reasons why she /does/, in fact, look hungry.
Eventually there's some motion at the far end of the pen, a couple young men fresh from the stables by the looks of their clothes. They unlatch the first gate and prod a few milling beasts out into the greater area of the feeding grounds. Rielsath warns away a smaller blue with one grumpy hiss, rising higher as her circles become smaller and smaller, the picky vulture. Lu's head follows the gold's motions in a comical, tired manner, apparently still waking up herself. "Oh. Hello, Temrianth." She says without much thought before giving a double-take. "/Kh'ry/. He's gotten so big! Good morning." Everyone's just waking up, everyone but Rielsath - who's being awfully picky today. "Yeah, she wanted to get here first thing before anyone else had a chance. When they're hungry they are /hungry./" Lu's preaching to the choir. "Though she sure is taking her sharding time about it for all that fuss of being first in line."
Dragon> Sensing her rider's shift in attention, Rielsath's mind searches out the source and eventually lands on Temrianth, her mind bringing the same bloody crimson rays of dawn that warm the bowl. Or maybe that's her stomach talking. << Did you come to hunt? You're a little small for that. >> The gold says regretfully. << It would be fun, though, if they let you have a herd of wherries to chase after! >> (Rielsath to Temrianth)
"Mornin'," Kh'ry replies, a pleased smile for the perceived compliment. "I know how that feels. Tem'll bitch and bitch about being hungry, and then when we finally get to the carcasses, he takes forever to pick one." Temrianth seems oblivious to the fact that this is a bad thing, craning his head to get a better view of Rielsath's technique. Something causes his eyes to whirl suddenly /much/ faster, however, and a little creel starts to whine out of his throat, much like a big canine who's being taunted by his owner chewing on a chicken-leg right in front of him. Kh'ry's palm meets his face. "Today's going to be a long day," comes out somewhat muffled.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth is a vivid storm: crashing waves, rising tides, a sandy beach stripped of all vegetation, raked clear of any large stones. The bloody light cast into the sheeting rainfall of his 'scape creates a hellish mix, a Faustian scene as rains slowly cease and steam rises from the too-hot shores. Obviously, this idea has Temrianth all /kinds/ of worked up: << Oh, do you think I could convince them? That would be an excellent way for Amareth and I to hone our hunting skills! >>
Lujayn's eyes flick suspiciously to the queen above, "Stop it," She hisses, the mental words spoken as much for Kh'ry's benefit as to actually reprimand the teasing gold. She chuckles knowingly at the weyrling's explanation. "Pickiness means he won't glut himself on rotted meat, at least." Though in older dragons it's just a pain in the ass. Rielsath takes a passing swipe at one sedentary beast, startling the thing into a gallop away from her. /Then/ the chase is on. Successfully having riled the pen's occupants, the huntress goes about harassing the herds, the thrill of the chase more rewarding than the kill itself. "They're all long," Lu sympathizes, looking between Temrianth and Kh'ry with some amusement. "I hear he's quite the curious one."
Dragon> Waves are met with more sunlight, sparks flaring up where the crashing waves meet the shore. Rielsath is hunting in earnest now, a speeding mind over the coastline reflecting that inner thrill of pursuit. She doesn't mind hell, at least this version. On the prowl, nothing can divert her. << Soon, they will have you practice. >> There's no time attached to 'soon,' though the vague images she shares depict dragonets not yet ready to fly properly. << Do you practice now, on anything else? It's good to be prepared; you can show everyone else how good you are on your very first day. >> Veering off over the stormy waters towards the scarlet eastern light, Rielsath dives low in this surreal landscape. Time for the first strike. (Rielsath to Temrianth)
Kh'ry watches Rielsath with some amount of mixed emotion, obviously not one for the thrill of the hunt himself. What? It looks like she's playing giant golden terrorist on a bunch of poor cows, to this Islander; though Temrianth seems to be quite enjoying it by the way the bronze pushes himself up against the fenceline, looking all the world like a puppy with his face plastered against the glass window. PICK ME! PICK ME! "He's... yeah. Enough to drive me stormin' crazy, most days. At least he's stopped talking in his sleep." Zombie!Kh'ry is no more, at least. Or at least only comes out at certain times. "She seems to be enjoying herself," he ventures about Rielsath. "She always do this?"
Lujayn grins. "It's something you get used to," In reference to Rielsath's circling and terrorizing, not the sleeptalking. "Some go straight for the kill, some like getting messy, but for her it's about the chase. I swear she'd have made a good bronze. Doesn't do much girly stuff." Maybe taking just a smidge more time than she usually might on account of her audience, Rielsath flares her wings back and swoops with a sudden motion, no bugling or roaring to accompany the attack. It's over in two seconds, the thump of talons sinking into flesh, the bellow of the chosen beast cut off sharply as the dragon twists her prey's neck savagely, dropping low to the ground with those pale wings mantled protectively about the kill. Only then do the smaller dragons descend, much more quickly and noisily; Ri pays them no mind as she gets down to bloody breakfast. "It's kinda cute, in a way," The bloody mess or Temrianth? "I kept a journal while I was a weyrling. Reading it is a hoot, all the things that bothered me or the things she used to do and then grew out of." Weyrlings: cute, as evidenced by her frequent glances to Temrianth's eager face.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth seems entirely enthralled by the sparks and the drive and the hunting spirit which Rielsath embodies. << Sometimes I chase the canines around the barn! >> His mental image is quite comical, that he projects in vivid depiction: one poor herding canine, fluffy tail tucked 'tween it's hind legs, scampering around a corner at full tilt to escape the stampeding weyrling bronze. << Until Kh'ry makes me stop. >> He doesn't quite understand why, it's obvious; the canine receives good exercise from it, and it's not like Temrianth would actually *hurt* the critter, and he's learned how to handle corners so much better than when he was a baby! Since he's all grown up, now. Or at least he perceives himself to be, now. << You are very good at this. >> Only a bit of wistful emotion twines through his words, a spring shower slowly soaking the shore.
Dragon> Absorbed in her kill, the next wave to wash ashore stains the sands dark with blood. Less distracted by the hunt itself and more protective of what she's managed to take for herself, Rielsath perks up. << Oh? Canines would not be good to eat, though. They are too thin. >> She decides, letting some emotion of her own seep through in the bloody red sea: content, accomplishment, possession. Hers. << Like firelizards. Smaller things are scared of us, except for a lot of humans, >> The sun is slowly returning to its normal color, though clouds roll in to cast fanciful shadows on the beach, constantly changing shape and figure. << Does that make them braver, to not be afraid of us? Or just stupid? >> A courageous herdbeast shuffled to the dragons is undoubtedly stupid, but her Lu? << No, not stupid. >> Answering her own question before Temrianth has the chance to say anything irredeemably offensive. (Rielsath to Temrianth)
"She seems pretty -- interesting." From what he can gather from Temrianth, at least; Kh'ry is not one to naturally figure out draconic natures by observation, by the puzzled expression on his face. "I think Tem woulda made a good Harper, all the questions he asks." Is there a sour note to Kh'ry's tone? Of course not. Ahem. "He's a mess. I don't think I could manage t'keep a journal -- wouldn't be able to have all the time to write all the things down." That's not a slight against Temrianth, and the innocent way the boy states it makes that somewhat obvious: it's just a fact of life. Kh'ry doesn't hardly have time to eat, much less write. Well, other than what those damned Harper lessons make him... "Seems like it just gets busier, rather'n less busy."
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth doesn't seem to mind the bloody shores whatsoever, though the sands drift in color in odd manners, from island-yellow to Southern white then to Istan black, glittering the deepest, darkest red. << I don't understand why dragons aren't allowed to hunt some humans. Some of them seem quite vicious enough to rate being eaten! >> Mean people suck!, in other words. The innocence of a dragon seeped in an Islander mind certainly seems different than the norm, does it not? Or perhaps -- not that different at all, given Rielsath's query. << I'm not sure if that has any correlation with intelligence, >> he muses, his attention distracted as he watches a blue the size of a small barge, gawky and dark-denim in color, make a swift kill as a falcon on the wing. << So many different hunting styles! >> His enthusiasm seems boundless.
"She is. They all are, in ways." Listening earnestly to Kh'ry's description of things, the rider is happy to lend an ear. "It's natural for dragonets to be all questions," Trying to reassure that sour note out of his voice, Lu shifts and leans against the fence backwards, face turned from the dragon who has shifted to wiping her stained snout over the grasses in an attempt to clean it. Rielsath still picks at the carcass before her despite the cleanliness, soon leaving off the grooming altogether. It can wait, right? There are humans for that. "I'd be more concerned if you said you had just enough time, thanks very much. Means you're not shirking duty or neglecting him," A little chin jerk towards Temrianth, whom she regards with a beam. Whatever she's getting from Rielsath, it's damn endearing. "Sounds like he's keen on learning, which is less work for you in the long run."
Dragon> To Temrianth, Rielsath spits bones onto the shore, some shipwrecked blighter gone to float. It's the little details she fills in now, the faroff cliffs just beyond a wild jungle, caves ripe for exploring if not for the looming tower of smoke emanating from the mountain's peak. << It's not fair to them, I guess. Since we're animals, we can kill other animals. And they're humans but they're not supposed to kill each other either, >> She doesn't like the knot either, picking at the twisted idea with needly bolts of lightning. << They have their own ways of doing things, Lu says. It's bad to kill something that can reason and think for itself. >> Glad to drop the cursed, twisted knot in the bloody sand, she turns to watch more dragons descent on an early-morning feast. << Gets the job done. It's not fun without a little challenge, though. >> Hence the chasing, apparently.
"Mmmm. Yeah, they all seem -- the other weyrling dragons, that is -- to have very unique and..." Kh'ry seeks out the word. "/Set/ personalities, if that makes sense?" His eyebrows furrow together. He does flash a smile for Lujayn then, at the end. "Yeah, I think you're right, maybe. Open to learning rather than /really/ set in his ways." Like some of his clutchbrothers. "Er." He glances over to Temrianth. "I think we'd better be gettin' back to the barracks before Weyrlingmaster Meara throws a fit." Not that she would, /really/, but... "It was good to see you, goldrider." He has a beaming smile and a salute, before him and his lifemate both reluctantly turn back to the barracks.
Dragon> To Rielsath, Temrianth considers this /very/ thoughtfully. And thoroughly, as evinced by the lessening of his mental storms to a clear, blood-red sky: << I... that will require some thought, I imagine. Very... >> He drifts off, lost to the sound of waves lapping at the blackened shore. << Ahh. Kh'ry says we're to leave. >> His voice is regretful. << It was very pleasant speaking with you, Rielsath. I hope I can see you hunt again! >> Cheer overtakes the gloom of leaving, and his merry storms return blue and grey by waves, the bloodlust receding from his mental touch.
With the feeding mostly over and a happy, bloody Rielsath bounding over to join the festivities, it might be a good idea that Kh'ry has chosen that moment to return to the barracks. It's a little more grisly up close; Lujayn wipes the worst of it away from her gold's snout using that handy, long-abandoned jacket. "You too. I'm going to scrub this off before it can really crust up. Bet you know all about that, though." She waves to the weyrling's retreating back, nodding to Temrianth with a faint 'shoo' motion of her hands to encourage him along. "Good luck today." Both dragon and rider newly occupied, they leave the scene of the crime for the herders to clean up and head towards the lake, Lujayn chatting quietly to the dragon hopping along beside her.
Dragon> To Temrianth, Rielsath punctuates the storms with her own crackles of electricity and flashes of colored lightning, silver edging softening dark stormclouds. << I don't get as hungry as you, >> She admits, taking some of the blood and sunlight with her as she follows Lujayn away. << But I'll let you know, if you want to learn! >> No one ever said Rielsath was against letting little weyrlings try to hunt, as long as humans aren't around to scold her.