Fish guts and unruly children
Who: Balinne, Idraila, Jakkal, Javeri, P'draig
Where: The docks
When: Late morning on day 2, month 1, turn 18
What: Candidates are pressed into helping clean a catch. There is talk of fish guts and unruly children while Javeri tries to make herself useful while wounded.
It's a lovely late fall morning at Ista Weyr, which means sun and a cooling breeze from the water. On the beach, helping with his goal to keep as many of the livestock for the growing and newly hatched Weyrlings, Jakkal is out of the stables having breezed through the morning feedings and is standing near a crate of spiderclaws, a small knife in hand and a bowl of clear water near a try to place the fully clean product of his labours. Or future labours at least, as he and several dockhands are still setting up the opperation. At the moment, the young man is busy glaring at the small fair of firelizards which have gathered nearby.
Into the fray comes P'draig, whistling as he makes his way along the beach to the docks, leaving Jekzith behind on the sand. "Hey there," he hails Jakkal upon spotting the stablehand. "I heard a good haul came in, what's looking good?" he says good-naturedly and eyes that hovering bunch of lizards. "Heh, hungry crew waiting already."
Jakkal keeps eyeing the 'lizards for a moment before looking over at P'draig. "Well, they were nowhere in sight while we were catching them yesterday," he offers, his deep voice booming out over the gathering, "Though I suppose they can help with the innards." He motions around, "We have some silver and orange fish that came in. Actually, pink and a few other colours as well if you look around. There's also some fat, ugly thing Niala pulled in. The Weyrwoman said that it was good to eat." He nudges the crate by his foot, "Also, a few crates of spiderclaws."
A host of candidates have been recruited to assist in the task of gutting and cleaning the massive catch that was hauled in the day before and, as might have been predicted, Idraila was included among them. Cleaning fish has quickly become her Sisyphean chore as those in charge push her to become more familiar with a knife, with getting her hands dirty. Well, her hands are plenty dirty now, though she's still rather slow with the way that blade works its way through the scales of the hefty, silver fish that Jakkal speaks of. The firelizards don't bother her a bit; there's even a small flock circling above her head that remains for the sole fact that she will occasionally toss a shred of fish gut over her shoulder, smiling quietly to herself as they squak and dive after it. A familiar voice causes her to glance up, tossing her draping braid back over her shoulder, but she only smiles in P'draig's direction, humbly waiting for the brownrider to notice her.
It's a good bet that walking the beach was not on the list of chores for Javeri today. So, whatever she is doing out here is probably not what she was supposed to be doing, but that doesn't stop her. Likely what she is not coming to do is help cut things considering she wears a bandage on one hand and has a slight limp in one of her legs. Rough work in the trenches for her already so when she spies the cleaning going on she stops near the edge instead of jumping in and offering to help right away. With nowhere to hide it's only a matter of time until she either gets pressed into service or offers to help out anyway.
Jakkal crouches down beside his chosen chore and slips his knife through a crack in the first spiderclaw's shell. Once he's split it, the shucks the spell to the side and dips the creature into the bowl of water, cleaning out the innards with a swipe of his fingers and a flick of the knife. He scoops out the mess and tosses it to the side, watching as a trio of greens swoop down on it before it has quite hit the ground. He moves the meat from the water into the nearby tray before picking up the next spiderclaw before repeating the process, tossing the innards to the same trio of greens this time.
"Silverfish? And an ugly thing ... hmm, I should take a look at that," P'draig says with a wide grin for Jakkal and starts over towards the aforementioned silvers. And there's Idraila. "Hey there!" is the brownrider's bright-voiced greeting. Someone, is a morning person it seems. "If you need help, I can probably tackle the ugly," Paddy offers after taking a peek at what Idraila's up to. "Looks good, can't wait to cook some of this stuff," he adds and then goes to check out 'ugly' hunkering down near the crate it's being kept in. "Very ugly. But Nolee's right, good eats."
For P'draig's bright greeting, Idraila returns a calm, "Morning." The aforementioned ugly isn't that far from her, but no one seems to be touching it yet; it's set up on top of a crate of its own, glaring up at the world with its blank, bulging eyes while everyone else ogles it curiously. "Go ahead," she invites him, waving the tip of her knife as an invitation. "I'm not going to touch it." She pauses her gutting long enough to watch him settle down with it, but soon turns her eyes to Jakkal. "Who'd you say caught that?" she asks, curiosity overcoming the quiet she's kept up with him until then.
Dressed in a loose, old-looking tunic and equally old-looking trousers, Balinne's ready for work. She pads barefoot onto the dock towards the crowd. She looks.. well. Not exactly thrilled to be there, and her nose is curled at the smell of fish and sea. A sigh.
[Ista Weyr] P'draig: I gut, you gut, we gut?
P'draig pulls a very sharp-looking knife out of the sheath stuck through his belt and nudges the ugly fish, taking its measure, it seems. "All sorts of good things you can make with this." And over the ugly goes, for the brownrider to start slicing and dicing.
P'draig says, "My turn to get posed around - have to go pay the pizza man."
Jakkal glances over as the question is sent his way. He tries to control his volume, but his reply still booms out, "Niala caught it. Last out of the water before we pulled in the lines to return to Ista." A third and then a fourth spiderclaw are gutted, and the spoils are sent away from the trio of greens, serving to feed a brown and a blue respectively.
Idraila's fat silver fish is greusome enough for her; she wrinkles her nose at it briefly before slicing it down the middle. "That's quite a lot to pull in," the candidate comments when she learns Niala was the source of the haul, nodding idly. Arrival of new help is widely welcomed by the candidates, and it's a rare one that doesn't notice the arrival of Balinne. For her greeting, Idraila simply smiles broadly at her, fading in amongst some of the other shouted hellos and salutes. A bit of entrail sticks to her knife, so she picks it gingerly off and, again, tosses it behind her, not even looking to watch the various colored firelizards dive down to catch the falling tidbit.
The more people who gather the less thrilled Javeri seems to be sticking around. Especially since she's probably not going to be of much use in her current state. Ah, well, what she can do is shake her head when one of the other candidates spots her and tries to pass on a knife. "Oh, umm, I can't, you know, do that," she says with an apologetic smile. "If there's something to be done that doesn't involve, well, anything too messy?" Holding up her bandaged hand she looks around for anything she might be able to do if someone wants to point her to it. "I don't want the healer to yell at me."
A glance around the dock before Balinne asks, "X'lar's not here?" There's another little sigh and a droop in her shoulders. "Rats. I was hoping he'd be covering this." Instead of her. Alas, the bronzerider cannot be found, so Balinne is forced to pull up a crate. But actually picking up a fish? Her nose wrinkles and she murmurs more to herself, "Maybe I'll just supervise."
Jakkal glances up at the chorus of formal greetings and spots a familiar face. "Wingleader Balinne!" he offers out in something short of a roar. He was just hitting his rhytem and for one who feeds lifestock, mucks stalls and forks in fresh hay that has some speed behind it. Hearing someone looking for a less messy chore he waves in that direction, "I could use another place for the meat over here."
Idraila looks up at Javeri, another welcome distraction from the gutting. "Or someone needs to snap the spines off of those," she adds to Jakkal's suggestion, pointing with the tip of her knife at a basket of bright orange but dangerous looking fish that no one has touched yet. An even glance is darted at the new supervisor they've gained, but the scribe-turned-candidate says nothing about Balinne's idle hands. Then she looks back to survey P'draig's progress, much more interesting than her own. "/Are/ you going to make something with that?" she asks after a few seconds of simply watching, wondering if any of his imagined dishes will come to fruition.
"How is your hand feeling?" Balinne wonders of Javeri, glancing over to the other pair of idle-ish hands. "Ah, Jakkal," she greets, smiling at the stablehand. "I see they've roped you into this horrendous task as well, hm?" Except she's not doing anything just yet. 'Spines' gets a glance towards that basket. "I could likely do that," and Balinne pulls the basket towards her, carefully getting to work on the dangerous looking fishies. "As long as I don't have to slice open the belly of something, I think I will be happy."
Jakkal shrugs. "I volunteered actually," comes his resonant reply, "The livestock is better served to feed the Weyrlings than the Weyrfolk." He gives a grin, "And barring that, our Weyrwoman advised me that dragons like fish as well."
Now there's been two suggestions and Javeri hesitates between tasks. One was made first, but maybe it's not as important. Still the idea of snapping spines doesn't appeal and luckily she's saved from it. "Oh, it's doing better," she tells Balinne with a little wave. "I probably don't need the bandage, but I wanted to be sure it didn't get infected. I got kicked today. Kids hate me." She lifts up her skirt to show the purple bruise on her shin. "I think nursery assignments should come with some sort of warning and maybe a glass of wine or two before starting." Grinning, clearly joking about the wine at least, she heads for the spot indicated to begin to straighten it up and clear it off for the products of the labor of others.
Idraila flicks the entrails of another fish into the short barrel at her feet and, once they've landed safely away from her bare feet, she looks up. "I didn't know dragons would eat fish," she muses quietly, flicking glance between the two actual riders in their midst. "Hatchlings too?" Her eyes drift back down to the mess in her own hands, nose wrinkling subtly.
Jakkal looks thoughtful at Idraila's comment, not quite noticing that his rapid pace has nearly filled up the tray with cleaned spiderclaw meat. "That's an idea..." he musses, in what might be considered a thundering roar as he lets his excitement get a hold of him, "Perhaps another expedition would be in order once the eggs a nearer to hatching?" And it's at that point that he realises that a second tray has not arrived as requested and he's forced to stop his work. "May I get an empty tray, _please_," he nearly barks in Javeri's direction.
"A wise idea," says Balinne for the bandage, nodding at Javeri. As for kids... "Are they that ill behaved? They really shouldn't be. Perhaps I should talk to the Headwoman... an occasional tantrum, maybe, but this sort of violence is very discouraged." And now she's grumpy looking, which isn't helped by the snapping of spines. *SNAP*. "Zelieth doesn't like fish," she notes. "But, it has more to do with having to catch them, than their taste. She's just lazy. If I offered her some, she'd likely eat it. But, like most things, I think it depends on the dragon." A glance is spared for Jakkal, and her lips purse. "Volunteered. Did you fish, too?" Balinne was curiously absent from that little venture.
P'draig works away steadily, apparently he knows his way around fish and this fish in particular. He grins over Idraila's way for the question about what to make out of it. "Yep, once you get past what it looks like on the outside, there's good meat in here," the brownrider explains about Mister UglyFish. "Stirfry, fillets, broth, you name it." Javeri's bruises are eyed with sympathy "Ow," he says to her with a little wave of a now fish-begutted hand. "Jekzith likes fish and he'll go get the big ones for -- well whichever green he happens to be with at the moment."
Oh, being barked at, that's umm not good. Javeri had a little trouble locating the trays in question because this sort of work is not what she's used to. Just as she found what was needed Jakkal made his demand. So, she grabs hurriedly for a tray and manages to tip over what was a neat stack of them. As they clatter down onto the dock she hops backwards to spare her toes and winces at the, to be honest, relatively quiet noise all things considered. "Oh, sorry. Sorry!" she says and hurries to scoop up an empty tray to bring to Jakkal. Bringing involves getting as close as she can while still being far away and setting it down and nudging it forward and then backing up again. Thankfully she can then scurry back some and look at Balinne to answer her. "It's just one or two. One of the nannies said the girl in question tends to act out when anyone new comes in. She's a brat." It's certainly not the potter's attitude towards children that causes any trouble! Nope!
Jakkal nods, "I only caught one of he silver ones, but I helped to pull in the spiderclaw cages after." He shakes his head in bemusement, "I've only ever fished from the shore, I think I might stick with it unless required. Firm land under one's feet is best." He shakes his head slightly as he sees Javeri's toppling of the trays. Lovely. As he hears the cause of her bruises he shakes his head, "No trips to the Stables with that lot, please. The last thing we need when training colts and fillies is to have someone around who thinks that it's a good idea to pink, kick or otherwise abuse them."
Idraila's eyes startle up to Jakkal again when he barks in the candidate's direction, but they quickly dart down again to the near-mutilated fish in her hands to avoid any awkwardness that may come with the hint of disapproval in that gaze. Instead, she attempts to smooth the situation, dropping the mess of a fish in her hand to attend to the mess of trays on the dock. She stands and bends to retrieve those nearest her, stacking them neatly in her hands as she goes. "Was it Hergala?" she asks of Javeri, she asks curiously, apparently naming a little girl she's had confrontations with herself in the nurseries. She doesn't say anything other than that, as most of her attention goes into quietly righting the clutter Javeri's made.
"Oh no," Balinne assures Jakkal, "No children near the stable until they're old enough to handle a pitchfork." Certainly no field trips! A little smirk, and she tosses a handful of yellow spines into the discard bin. There's a wince for Javeri's tray-disaster, but the greenrider says nothing. An eyebrow is lifted and, to both Idraila and Javeri, Balinne explains, "The reason we have you do such a wide range of chores is to acclimate you to a changing environment. As well as to strengthen your muscles to hardy tasks - such as mucking - and learning patience - such as watching the children. All are skills and abilities you will need if you Impress. And if you think a 'brat is a handful... well. Imagine a brat three times that size, with wings, tail, and talons."
P'draig chucks a handful of fish entrails behind him for the lizards and he pauses as trays go clattering. "Everything okay over there?" he queries calmly and shoots Jakkal a brief look. Then he's chuckling along with what Balinne is saying. "Mmhm. Baby nappies have nothing on shoveling dragon dung," he says a little bluntly, with a twinkle in his eyes. Another piece of 'good fish meat' gets sorted aside, the ugly slowly resolving itself into neat corpse on one side, pieces of useful food on the other and the un-useful being chucked to the lizards.
Javeri may be having second thoughts about this whole candidate business by the ways her eyes widen. A kid biting one's hand just leaves a mark, but a baby dragon? There goes the whole hand! She pulls both her hands back to press against her stomach like she can protect them that way as she stammers to Idraila, "Yea, Hergala. With the stringy blonde hair, right? And she always wears those ugly pink shoes?" Slowly she leans down to pick up the last tray deciding no one or nothing is going to swoop down from nowhere and snap off one of her hands. "I don't mind the cleaning," she tells P'draig with a brief smile. "It's all just muck. I don't like the kicking and screaming and biting is all." Poor holdbred girl has to ask, "A dragon won't bite off my hand though right?"
Idraila straightens from the task she's given herself when Balinne begins to speak, holding the trays she's retrieved out in front of her, suspended for the time being. She's heard such a speech several times before in her life and she's learned the best way to respond to them. "Yes ma'am," she responds simply, compliantly understanding, and bobs her head before bending again to pick up the last of the trays, placing them in their appointed place when she has. There, all clean and straight again. Well, despite the fish bits laying all over the dock. Avoiding stepping on those bits, she maneuvers her way back to her seat. "Those shoes," Idraila mutters at Javeri, almost rolling her eyes as she smiles at the memory of the brat that is Hergala. On the subject of biting, she smiles to herself and returns to her work, as if she knows the answer to Javeri's concern but isn't saying.
Jakkal doesn't seem to notices all the glances his way as the moment the conversation shifts away from requiring his participation the young man is slipping back into his rhythm of cleaning spiderclaws and tossing the spoils to whichever member of the encroaching fair swoops in to catch them first.
"Palia hasn't been giving any of you any trouble when you've been on nanny duty, has she?" P'draig inquires about his own almost-4-turn-old daughter, after a moment of continued slicing at Uglyfish skin. There's a faint note of paternal concern in his voice. Mention of Hergala brings a little shake of his head, maybe he's familiar with the kid in question. "And I haven't met a dragonet yet that's bitten off a hand ... on purpose," the brownrider says slowly, tipping a look over at Javeri. "Most accidents in the Barracks usually involve tripping over tails or getting bumped into."
Balinne nods her head at P'draig. "I agree. Most dragonet injuries seem to be related to growing too fast, and being unaccustomed to additional limbs. Tails, wings, that sort of thing. Got to keep an eye out!" But not poke one out. A glance for Idraila's answer, but Balinne just grins. "You know... perhaps I should speak to the Weyrlingmaster and see about getting you," meaning the candidates, "lot to help with the dragonets. Or at least spend some time in the barracks. Might give you a better appreciation for what they're going through. And this clutch is still new enough it ought to be pretty close to newborn as far as conditions. Hrm..." but there's spines to be snapped, so she doesn't dwell on that thought for long.
"Well, if my hands are gonna be safe then I guess it can't be bad," Javeri decides as she looks around for something else to do. Noticing the generous supply of fish guts on the dock she starts hunting up something to sweep them all away with. Clean work and she can not dwell on dragon mouths clamping down on her wrist to snack on her fingers. "Palia? I don't think so, sir," she answers P'draig. "It's just Hergala and her little friend." Glancing at Idraila she asks, "You know the one? Fat girl with squinty eyes always trying to beg for sweets?"
Idraila squints at the silver-sided creature in her hand, pondering P'draig's question. "Palia?" she repeats, searching her memory, then answers, "No, not that I can remember." Though, if she did remember any trouble, it's doubtful she'd say so to the brownrider's face anyway. "Just don't stick your hand into a hatchling's mouth on the sands," Idraila advises dryly, glancing up at Javeri as soon as she's flicked the bloated stomach out of her fish. More for her fellow candidate to sweep. "Miveranna," Idraila provides the name of that squinty-eyed partner in crime, nodding her head. Oh, she knows.
"That's a good idea," P'draig agrees with Balinne, grinning her way. "Easy way to get an idea for how it'll be. I'll bet it'll be a while before clutches overlap like this again too." He bobs his head at Javeri's answer. "Oh good. I mean, they usually say if there's been a problem during the day, but you know - it's a different perspective from you guys," the brownrider says with a little sheepish smile that turns promptly to amused laughter at Idraila's quip. "Uh no, jumping out of the way fast on the Sands is the way to go if a dragonet comes a-charging." Flick goes his knife and another piece of guts lands in the pile that conglomeration of lizards is guzzling.
"Might be careful," warns Balinne towards the candidates, "Talking about children like that. Unless you know who their parents are?" An eyebrow arches, but she can't keep herself from grinning and giggling a little. "It was one of my least favorite chores, too. That, and mucking..." a glance at Jakkal and a sympathetic smile. "Sorry. Not a fan of 'beasts, really." She snaps another spine, tosses it, and drops the fish onto a nearby tray. "I think I will ask... would you mind asking T'mic if he thinks it would be a good idea?" asks Balinne to P'draig. "I'm sure you'll see him before I do."
Jakkal nods at Balinne's comment, "Not a problem, Wingleader. I stay away from the sick dragons in the infirmary for the same reason. I can't imagine picking up that much musk from a single beast."
"Jumping out of the way," Javeri repeats to herself as she finds an old push broom. She'll likely be practicing that in the weeks to come. "And no sticking hands into mouths. I don't think I would have ever considered that." Smiling at Idraila she tugs a handkerchief from a pocket so she can wrap it around the handle of the broom. Who knows what is on it after all? The pile for the lizards is left be, safety decision, but all the little bits left laying around she begins to sweep off the dock into the water. "Well," she tells Balinne thoughtfully, "The truth is if their kids are horrid someone should tell them!" She finds a few more bits missed by the firelizards and begins to push them towards the water.
Idriala finishes the fish she's on and tosses it into the basket collecting her hard work. The basket that is, somewhat surprisingly, full now. "I'm going to take this over," she murmurs, explaining her actions to no one in particular. She hefts her basket herself and waddles with it all the way down the dock to where a few dock workers are collecting the cleaned fish. Anyone watching will observe a longer conversation than is necessary to drop off a basket and soon Idraila is recruited into transferring baskets to the Weyr itself, leaving her seat and knife abandoned for a long stretch of time.
"Sure, I can ask him, Balinne," P'draig says, pausing in his cutting briefly, to wipe his knife down. "Can always ask through Aath too ... well, if she's in the mood to pass it along. And Jek might be better for that," he says with a low chuckle, turning what's left of the ugly fish this way and that, before tackling it again. A moment later, something in there goes squish and spurts salty-smelling ... gunk all over. "Gahhh," is Paddy's reaction. "Not careful enough." Idraila's departure earns a little wave as he shakes fish ooze off his arm.
Jakkal slows as he nears the end of the crate in time to notice that he's filled a third tray which was delivered without comment as he was filling the second one. "Huh," is offered.
"Mm, and Zelieth's napping," is Balinne's explanation. Another fish is reached for, and those with math skills might note that it is only her third. She's moving slow today. Spines begin snapping. "I didn't mean about their behaviour," she notes. "I meant about how you describe them. Be careful with your descriptive words, hm? Best not to step on toes." And, for Jakkal, she grins, "Ah, and see? You wouldn't need to worry of that, because it is the weyrling and the rider's job to clean after their dragons, not a random passing stablehand."
"Well, people should raise their kids better," Javeri says slowly before realizing maybe she should not have said that. Clearing her throat as she sweeps a fish head into the water she adds, "I mean it's just...those two...Well, they're horrid." Although now she sounds apologetic about the whole thing and shuts up to sweep farther down the dock. Even if there's not much there that needs sweeping.
Jakkal nods. "Responsibility and respect are lifemates," he offers with a booming laugh as he rises to his feet. "Now, more spiderclaws or should I start with fish?" He's clearly speaking to the dockhands at the end of the dock, but he hasn't moved. At least with his volume there's no doubt that he's being heard clearly.
P'draig looks over at Javeri and clears his throat. "In a Weyr, that's generally the nanny's job. Most riders just can't spend the time they might like with their kids," he says succinctly. "So, next time they're being horrid, ask the head nanny or the fosterer," he points out in a mild tone even as Javeri sweeps on down the dock. He winces a little at Jakkal's booming and cuts out that squishy bit from the ugly fish.
Fish goo, squishy bits.. it all makes Balinne grimace. "I did not mean about their behaviour, I meant words such as 'fat' and 'squished up' and 'ugly shoes' though I doubt the shoes would have gotten a rise from a parent... Oh well." But she's moving on, snapping spines and tossing into the bucket, picking up a steady rhythm for the chore. "Javeri, when you're done, I'll take you back with me, if you'd like. Maybe get your hand checked to make sure it's all clear?" And escape the fish!
Jakkal brings his full tray of meat to the dockhands who are moving it to the Weyr proper and can be clearly heard to continue his conversation, "So the pink fish? Just the skin and spin or are there smaller bones to worry about as well." The answer is inaudible, but he nods, "Count on me." Returning with a bucket of the pink fish, the stablehand sits down and begins to work on the new task.
Javeri mumbles after P'draig's words, "Yea, or they just don't care about them and abandon them entirely anyway." Abandonment issues turn into subscriptions that never expire! Looking over her shoulder she nods to Balinne and then looks down at the dock. "Yea. Sorry," she mumbles before adding more clearly, "I'm nearly done." She'll just finish up quickly and let Balinne use her as an excuse to get out of messing with fish. A win-win situation.
Where: The docks
When: Late morning on day 2, month 1, turn 18
What: Candidates are pressed into helping clean a catch. There is talk of fish guts and unruly children while Javeri tries to make herself useful while wounded.
It's a lovely late fall morning at Ista Weyr, which means sun and a cooling breeze from the water. On the beach, helping with his goal to keep as many of the livestock for the growing and newly hatched Weyrlings, Jakkal is out of the stables having breezed through the morning feedings and is standing near a crate of spiderclaws, a small knife in hand and a bowl of clear water near a try to place the fully clean product of his labours. Or future labours at least, as he and several dockhands are still setting up the opperation. At the moment, the young man is busy glaring at the small fair of firelizards which have gathered nearby.
Into the fray comes P'draig, whistling as he makes his way along the beach to the docks, leaving Jekzith behind on the sand. "Hey there," he hails Jakkal upon spotting the stablehand. "I heard a good haul came in, what's looking good?" he says good-naturedly and eyes that hovering bunch of lizards. "Heh, hungry crew waiting already."
Jakkal keeps eyeing the 'lizards for a moment before looking over at P'draig. "Well, they were nowhere in sight while we were catching them yesterday," he offers, his deep voice booming out over the gathering, "Though I suppose they can help with the innards." He motions around, "We have some silver and orange fish that came in. Actually, pink and a few other colours as well if you look around. There's also some fat, ugly thing Niala pulled in. The Weyrwoman said that it was good to eat." He nudges the crate by his foot, "Also, a few crates of spiderclaws."
A host of candidates have been recruited to assist in the task of gutting and cleaning the massive catch that was hauled in the day before and, as might have been predicted, Idraila was included among them. Cleaning fish has quickly become her Sisyphean chore as those in charge push her to become more familiar with a knife, with getting her hands dirty. Well, her hands are plenty dirty now, though she's still rather slow with the way that blade works its way through the scales of the hefty, silver fish that Jakkal speaks of. The firelizards don't bother her a bit; there's even a small flock circling above her head that remains for the sole fact that she will occasionally toss a shred of fish gut over her shoulder, smiling quietly to herself as they squak and dive after it. A familiar voice causes her to glance up, tossing her draping braid back over her shoulder, but she only smiles in P'draig's direction, humbly waiting for the brownrider to notice her.
It's a good bet that walking the beach was not on the list of chores for Javeri today. So, whatever she is doing out here is probably not what she was supposed to be doing, but that doesn't stop her. Likely what she is not coming to do is help cut things considering she wears a bandage on one hand and has a slight limp in one of her legs. Rough work in the trenches for her already so when she spies the cleaning going on she stops near the edge instead of jumping in and offering to help right away. With nowhere to hide it's only a matter of time until she either gets pressed into service or offers to help out anyway.
Jakkal crouches down beside his chosen chore and slips his knife through a crack in the first spiderclaw's shell. Once he's split it, the shucks the spell to the side and dips the creature into the bowl of water, cleaning out the innards with a swipe of his fingers and a flick of the knife. He scoops out the mess and tosses it to the side, watching as a trio of greens swoop down on it before it has quite hit the ground. He moves the meat from the water into the nearby tray before picking up the next spiderclaw before repeating the process, tossing the innards to the same trio of greens this time.
"Silverfish? And an ugly thing ... hmm, I should take a look at that," P'draig says with a wide grin for Jakkal and starts over towards the aforementioned silvers. And there's Idraila. "Hey there!" is the brownrider's bright-voiced greeting. Someone, is a morning person it seems. "If you need help, I can probably tackle the ugly," Paddy offers after taking a peek at what Idraila's up to. "Looks good, can't wait to cook some of this stuff," he adds and then goes to check out 'ugly' hunkering down near the crate it's being kept in. "Very ugly. But Nolee's right, good eats."
For P'draig's bright greeting, Idraila returns a calm, "Morning." The aforementioned ugly isn't that far from her, but no one seems to be touching it yet; it's set up on top of a crate of its own, glaring up at the world with its blank, bulging eyes while everyone else ogles it curiously. "Go ahead," she invites him, waving the tip of her knife as an invitation. "I'm not going to touch it." She pauses her gutting long enough to watch him settle down with it, but soon turns her eyes to Jakkal. "Who'd you say caught that?" she asks, curiosity overcoming the quiet she's kept up with him until then.
Dressed in a loose, old-looking tunic and equally old-looking trousers, Balinne's ready for work. She pads barefoot onto the dock towards the crowd. She looks.. well. Not exactly thrilled to be there, and her nose is curled at the smell of fish and sea. A sigh.
[Ista Weyr] P'draig: I gut, you gut, we gut?
P'draig pulls a very sharp-looking knife out of the sheath stuck through his belt and nudges the ugly fish, taking its measure, it seems. "All sorts of good things you can make with this." And over the ugly goes, for the brownrider to start slicing and dicing.
P'draig says, "My turn to get posed around - have to go pay the pizza man."
Jakkal glances over as the question is sent his way. He tries to control his volume, but his reply still booms out, "Niala caught it. Last out of the water before we pulled in the lines to return to Ista." A third and then a fourth spiderclaw are gutted, and the spoils are sent away from the trio of greens, serving to feed a brown and a blue respectively.
Idraila's fat silver fish is greusome enough for her; she wrinkles her nose at it briefly before slicing it down the middle. "That's quite a lot to pull in," the candidate comments when she learns Niala was the source of the haul, nodding idly. Arrival of new help is widely welcomed by the candidates, and it's a rare one that doesn't notice the arrival of Balinne. For her greeting, Idraila simply smiles broadly at her, fading in amongst some of the other shouted hellos and salutes. A bit of entrail sticks to her knife, so she picks it gingerly off and, again, tosses it behind her, not even looking to watch the various colored firelizards dive down to catch the falling tidbit.
The more people who gather the less thrilled Javeri seems to be sticking around. Especially since she's probably not going to be of much use in her current state. Ah, well, what she can do is shake her head when one of the other candidates spots her and tries to pass on a knife. "Oh, umm, I can't, you know, do that," she says with an apologetic smile. "If there's something to be done that doesn't involve, well, anything too messy?" Holding up her bandaged hand she looks around for anything she might be able to do if someone wants to point her to it. "I don't want the healer to yell at me."
A glance around the dock before Balinne asks, "X'lar's not here?" There's another little sigh and a droop in her shoulders. "Rats. I was hoping he'd be covering this." Instead of her. Alas, the bronzerider cannot be found, so Balinne is forced to pull up a crate. But actually picking up a fish? Her nose wrinkles and she murmurs more to herself, "Maybe I'll just supervise."
Jakkal glances up at the chorus of formal greetings and spots a familiar face. "Wingleader Balinne!" he offers out in something short of a roar. He was just hitting his rhytem and for one who feeds lifestock, mucks stalls and forks in fresh hay that has some speed behind it. Hearing someone looking for a less messy chore he waves in that direction, "I could use another place for the meat over here."
Idraila looks up at Javeri, another welcome distraction from the gutting. "Or someone needs to snap the spines off of those," she adds to Jakkal's suggestion, pointing with the tip of her knife at a basket of bright orange but dangerous looking fish that no one has touched yet. An even glance is darted at the new supervisor they've gained, but the scribe-turned-candidate says nothing about Balinne's idle hands. Then she looks back to survey P'draig's progress, much more interesting than her own. "/Are/ you going to make something with that?" she asks after a few seconds of simply watching, wondering if any of his imagined dishes will come to fruition.
"How is your hand feeling?" Balinne wonders of Javeri, glancing over to the other pair of idle-ish hands. "Ah, Jakkal," she greets, smiling at the stablehand. "I see they've roped you into this horrendous task as well, hm?" Except she's not doing anything just yet. 'Spines' gets a glance towards that basket. "I could likely do that," and Balinne pulls the basket towards her, carefully getting to work on the dangerous looking fishies. "As long as I don't have to slice open the belly of something, I think I will be happy."
Jakkal shrugs. "I volunteered actually," comes his resonant reply, "The livestock is better served to feed the Weyrlings than the Weyrfolk." He gives a grin, "And barring that, our Weyrwoman advised me that dragons like fish as well."
Now there's been two suggestions and Javeri hesitates between tasks. One was made first, but maybe it's not as important. Still the idea of snapping spines doesn't appeal and luckily she's saved from it. "Oh, it's doing better," she tells Balinne with a little wave. "I probably don't need the bandage, but I wanted to be sure it didn't get infected. I got kicked today. Kids hate me." She lifts up her skirt to show the purple bruise on her shin. "I think nursery assignments should come with some sort of warning and maybe a glass of wine or two before starting." Grinning, clearly joking about the wine at least, she heads for the spot indicated to begin to straighten it up and clear it off for the products of the labor of others.
Idraila flicks the entrails of another fish into the short barrel at her feet and, once they've landed safely away from her bare feet, she looks up. "I didn't know dragons would eat fish," she muses quietly, flicking glance between the two actual riders in their midst. "Hatchlings too?" Her eyes drift back down to the mess in her own hands, nose wrinkling subtly.
Jakkal looks thoughtful at Idraila's comment, not quite noticing that his rapid pace has nearly filled up the tray with cleaned spiderclaw meat. "That's an idea..." he musses, in what might be considered a thundering roar as he lets his excitement get a hold of him, "Perhaps another expedition would be in order once the eggs a nearer to hatching?" And it's at that point that he realises that a second tray has not arrived as requested and he's forced to stop his work. "May I get an empty tray, _please_," he nearly barks in Javeri's direction.
"A wise idea," says Balinne for the bandage, nodding at Javeri. As for kids... "Are they that ill behaved? They really shouldn't be. Perhaps I should talk to the Headwoman... an occasional tantrum, maybe, but this sort of violence is very discouraged." And now she's grumpy looking, which isn't helped by the snapping of spines. *SNAP*. "Zelieth doesn't like fish," she notes. "But, it has more to do with having to catch them, than their taste. She's just lazy. If I offered her some, she'd likely eat it. But, like most things, I think it depends on the dragon." A glance is spared for Jakkal, and her lips purse. "Volunteered. Did you fish, too?" Balinne was curiously absent from that little venture.
P'draig works away steadily, apparently he knows his way around fish and this fish in particular. He grins over Idraila's way for the question about what to make out of it. "Yep, once you get past what it looks like on the outside, there's good meat in here," the brownrider explains about Mister UglyFish. "Stirfry, fillets, broth, you name it." Javeri's bruises are eyed with sympathy "Ow," he says to her with a little wave of a now fish-begutted hand. "Jekzith likes fish and he'll go get the big ones for -- well whichever green he happens to be with at the moment."
Oh, being barked at, that's umm not good. Javeri had a little trouble locating the trays in question because this sort of work is not what she's used to. Just as she found what was needed Jakkal made his demand. So, she grabs hurriedly for a tray and manages to tip over what was a neat stack of them. As they clatter down onto the dock she hops backwards to spare her toes and winces at the, to be honest, relatively quiet noise all things considered. "Oh, sorry. Sorry!" she says and hurries to scoop up an empty tray to bring to Jakkal. Bringing involves getting as close as she can while still being far away and setting it down and nudging it forward and then backing up again. Thankfully she can then scurry back some and look at Balinne to answer her. "It's just one or two. One of the nannies said the girl in question tends to act out when anyone new comes in. She's a brat." It's certainly not the potter's attitude towards children that causes any trouble! Nope!
Jakkal nods, "I only caught one of he silver ones, but I helped to pull in the spiderclaw cages after." He shakes his head in bemusement, "I've only ever fished from the shore, I think I might stick with it unless required. Firm land under one's feet is best." He shakes his head slightly as he sees Javeri's toppling of the trays. Lovely. As he hears the cause of her bruises he shakes his head, "No trips to the Stables with that lot, please. The last thing we need when training colts and fillies is to have someone around who thinks that it's a good idea to pink, kick or otherwise abuse them."
Idraila's eyes startle up to Jakkal again when he barks in the candidate's direction, but they quickly dart down again to the near-mutilated fish in her hands to avoid any awkwardness that may come with the hint of disapproval in that gaze. Instead, she attempts to smooth the situation, dropping the mess of a fish in her hand to attend to the mess of trays on the dock. She stands and bends to retrieve those nearest her, stacking them neatly in her hands as she goes. "Was it Hergala?" she asks of Javeri, she asks curiously, apparently naming a little girl she's had confrontations with herself in the nurseries. She doesn't say anything other than that, as most of her attention goes into quietly righting the clutter Javeri's made.
"Oh no," Balinne assures Jakkal, "No children near the stable until they're old enough to handle a pitchfork." Certainly no field trips! A little smirk, and she tosses a handful of yellow spines into the discard bin. There's a wince for Javeri's tray-disaster, but the greenrider says nothing. An eyebrow is lifted and, to both Idraila and Javeri, Balinne explains, "The reason we have you do such a wide range of chores is to acclimate you to a changing environment. As well as to strengthen your muscles to hardy tasks - such as mucking - and learning patience - such as watching the children. All are skills and abilities you will need if you Impress. And if you think a 'brat is a handful... well. Imagine a brat three times that size, with wings, tail, and talons."
P'draig chucks a handful of fish entrails behind him for the lizards and he pauses as trays go clattering. "Everything okay over there?" he queries calmly and shoots Jakkal a brief look. Then he's chuckling along with what Balinne is saying. "Mmhm. Baby nappies have nothing on shoveling dragon dung," he says a little bluntly, with a twinkle in his eyes. Another piece of 'good fish meat' gets sorted aside, the ugly slowly resolving itself into neat corpse on one side, pieces of useful food on the other and the un-useful being chucked to the lizards.
Javeri may be having second thoughts about this whole candidate business by the ways her eyes widen. A kid biting one's hand just leaves a mark, but a baby dragon? There goes the whole hand! She pulls both her hands back to press against her stomach like she can protect them that way as she stammers to Idraila, "Yea, Hergala. With the stringy blonde hair, right? And she always wears those ugly pink shoes?" Slowly she leans down to pick up the last tray deciding no one or nothing is going to swoop down from nowhere and snap off one of her hands. "I don't mind the cleaning," she tells P'draig with a brief smile. "It's all just muck. I don't like the kicking and screaming and biting is all." Poor holdbred girl has to ask, "A dragon won't bite off my hand though right?"
Idraila straightens from the task she's given herself when Balinne begins to speak, holding the trays she's retrieved out in front of her, suspended for the time being. She's heard such a speech several times before in her life and she's learned the best way to respond to them. "Yes ma'am," she responds simply, compliantly understanding, and bobs her head before bending again to pick up the last of the trays, placing them in their appointed place when she has. There, all clean and straight again. Well, despite the fish bits laying all over the dock. Avoiding stepping on those bits, she maneuvers her way back to her seat. "Those shoes," Idraila mutters at Javeri, almost rolling her eyes as she smiles at the memory of the brat that is Hergala. On the subject of biting, she smiles to herself and returns to her work, as if she knows the answer to Javeri's concern but isn't saying.
Jakkal doesn't seem to notices all the glances his way as the moment the conversation shifts away from requiring his participation the young man is slipping back into his rhythm of cleaning spiderclaws and tossing the spoils to whichever member of the encroaching fair swoops in to catch them first.
"Palia hasn't been giving any of you any trouble when you've been on nanny duty, has she?" P'draig inquires about his own almost-4-turn-old daughter, after a moment of continued slicing at Uglyfish skin. There's a faint note of paternal concern in his voice. Mention of Hergala brings a little shake of his head, maybe he's familiar with the kid in question. "And I haven't met a dragonet yet that's bitten off a hand ... on purpose," the brownrider says slowly, tipping a look over at Javeri. "Most accidents in the Barracks usually involve tripping over tails or getting bumped into."
Balinne nods her head at P'draig. "I agree. Most dragonet injuries seem to be related to growing too fast, and being unaccustomed to additional limbs. Tails, wings, that sort of thing. Got to keep an eye out!" But not poke one out. A glance for Idraila's answer, but Balinne just grins. "You know... perhaps I should speak to the Weyrlingmaster and see about getting you," meaning the candidates, "lot to help with the dragonets. Or at least spend some time in the barracks. Might give you a better appreciation for what they're going through. And this clutch is still new enough it ought to be pretty close to newborn as far as conditions. Hrm..." but there's spines to be snapped, so she doesn't dwell on that thought for long.
"Well, if my hands are gonna be safe then I guess it can't be bad," Javeri decides as she looks around for something else to do. Noticing the generous supply of fish guts on the dock she starts hunting up something to sweep them all away with. Clean work and she can not dwell on dragon mouths clamping down on her wrist to snack on her fingers. "Palia? I don't think so, sir," she answers P'draig. "It's just Hergala and her little friend." Glancing at Idraila she asks, "You know the one? Fat girl with squinty eyes always trying to beg for sweets?"
Idraila squints at the silver-sided creature in her hand, pondering P'draig's question. "Palia?" she repeats, searching her memory, then answers, "No, not that I can remember." Though, if she did remember any trouble, it's doubtful she'd say so to the brownrider's face anyway. "Just don't stick your hand into a hatchling's mouth on the sands," Idraila advises dryly, glancing up at Javeri as soon as she's flicked the bloated stomach out of her fish. More for her fellow candidate to sweep. "Miveranna," Idraila provides the name of that squinty-eyed partner in crime, nodding her head. Oh, she knows.
"That's a good idea," P'draig agrees with Balinne, grinning her way. "Easy way to get an idea for how it'll be. I'll bet it'll be a while before clutches overlap like this again too." He bobs his head at Javeri's answer. "Oh good. I mean, they usually say if there's been a problem during the day, but you know - it's a different perspective from you guys," the brownrider says with a little sheepish smile that turns promptly to amused laughter at Idraila's quip. "Uh no, jumping out of the way fast on the Sands is the way to go if a dragonet comes a-charging." Flick goes his knife and another piece of guts lands in the pile that conglomeration of lizards is guzzling.
"Might be careful," warns Balinne towards the candidates, "Talking about children like that. Unless you know who their parents are?" An eyebrow arches, but she can't keep herself from grinning and giggling a little. "It was one of my least favorite chores, too. That, and mucking..." a glance at Jakkal and a sympathetic smile. "Sorry. Not a fan of 'beasts, really." She snaps another spine, tosses it, and drops the fish onto a nearby tray. "I think I will ask... would you mind asking T'mic if he thinks it would be a good idea?" asks Balinne to P'draig. "I'm sure you'll see him before I do."
Jakkal nods at Balinne's comment, "Not a problem, Wingleader. I stay away from the sick dragons in the infirmary for the same reason. I can't imagine picking up that much musk from a single beast."
"Jumping out of the way," Javeri repeats to herself as she finds an old push broom. She'll likely be practicing that in the weeks to come. "And no sticking hands into mouths. I don't think I would have ever considered that." Smiling at Idraila she tugs a handkerchief from a pocket so she can wrap it around the handle of the broom. Who knows what is on it after all? The pile for the lizards is left be, safety decision, but all the little bits left laying around she begins to sweep off the dock into the water. "Well," she tells Balinne thoughtfully, "The truth is if their kids are horrid someone should tell them!" She finds a few more bits missed by the firelizards and begins to push them towards the water.
Idriala finishes the fish she's on and tosses it into the basket collecting her hard work. The basket that is, somewhat surprisingly, full now. "I'm going to take this over," she murmurs, explaining her actions to no one in particular. She hefts her basket herself and waddles with it all the way down the dock to where a few dock workers are collecting the cleaned fish. Anyone watching will observe a longer conversation than is necessary to drop off a basket and soon Idraila is recruited into transferring baskets to the Weyr itself, leaving her seat and knife abandoned for a long stretch of time.
"Sure, I can ask him, Balinne," P'draig says, pausing in his cutting briefly, to wipe his knife down. "Can always ask through Aath too ... well, if she's in the mood to pass it along. And Jek might be better for that," he says with a low chuckle, turning what's left of the ugly fish this way and that, before tackling it again. A moment later, something in there goes squish and spurts salty-smelling ... gunk all over. "Gahhh," is Paddy's reaction. "Not careful enough." Idraila's departure earns a little wave as he shakes fish ooze off his arm.
Jakkal slows as he nears the end of the crate in time to notice that he's filled a third tray which was delivered without comment as he was filling the second one. "Huh," is offered.
"Mm, and Zelieth's napping," is Balinne's explanation. Another fish is reached for, and those with math skills might note that it is only her third. She's moving slow today. Spines begin snapping. "I didn't mean about their behaviour," she notes. "I meant about how you describe them. Be careful with your descriptive words, hm? Best not to step on toes." And, for Jakkal, she grins, "Ah, and see? You wouldn't need to worry of that, because it is the weyrling and the rider's job to clean after their dragons, not a random passing stablehand."
"Well, people should raise their kids better," Javeri says slowly before realizing maybe she should not have said that. Clearing her throat as she sweeps a fish head into the water she adds, "I mean it's just...those two...Well, they're horrid." Although now she sounds apologetic about the whole thing and shuts up to sweep farther down the dock. Even if there's not much there that needs sweeping.
Jakkal nods. "Responsibility and respect are lifemates," he offers with a booming laugh as he rises to his feet. "Now, more spiderclaws or should I start with fish?" He's clearly speaking to the dockhands at the end of the dock, but he hasn't moved. At least with his volume there's no doubt that he's being heard clearly.
P'draig looks over at Javeri and clears his throat. "In a Weyr, that's generally the nanny's job. Most riders just can't spend the time they might like with their kids," he says succinctly. "So, next time they're being horrid, ask the head nanny or the fosterer," he points out in a mild tone even as Javeri sweeps on down the dock. He winces a little at Jakkal's booming and cuts out that squishy bit from the ugly fish.
Fish goo, squishy bits.. it all makes Balinne grimace. "I did not mean about their behaviour, I meant words such as 'fat' and 'squished up' and 'ugly shoes' though I doubt the shoes would have gotten a rise from a parent... Oh well." But she's moving on, snapping spines and tossing into the bucket, picking up a steady rhythm for the chore. "Javeri, when you're done, I'll take you back with me, if you'd like. Maybe get your hand checked to make sure it's all clear?" And escape the fish!
Jakkal brings his full tray of meat to the dockhands who are moving it to the Weyr proper and can be clearly heard to continue his conversation, "So the pink fish? Just the skin and spin or are there smaller bones to worry about as well." The answer is inaudible, but he nods, "Count on me." Returning with a bucket of the pink fish, the stablehand sits down and begins to work on the new task.
Javeri mumbles after P'draig's words, "Yea, or they just don't care about them and abandon them entirely anyway." Abandonment issues turn into subscriptions that never expire! Looking over her shoulder she nods to Balinne and then looks down at the dock. "Yea. Sorry," she mumbles before adding more clearly, "I'm nearly done." She'll just finish up quickly and let Balinne use her as an excuse to get out of messing with fish. A win-win situation.