[LOG] - Ulyana: Touch
Title: Touch
Summary: The eggs are touched.
Characters: Bijedth, N'muir, Ulyana
Location: Hatching Sands, Fort Weyr
Time: Day 20, month 1, turn 36 of Interval 10
RL Date: 10/21/2014
It is very shortly before the evening meal when N'muir approaches a group of Candidates and says, "You, you, you two, and you," and then jabs his thumb back in the direction of the Hatching Cavern. "I'm taking you to see the eggs." He doesn't wait to see if any of them follow, merely begins marching towards the Hatching Cavern. Whether any of them follow or not doesn't seem to matter to him, though he does turn finally to see who has follow once taking up his position with arms folded between the entrance to the Sands and the egg nearest that point.
There are no words from the one so recently released from the Infirmary. Ulyana follows mutely, but she follows a bit more closely than the others who are chattering excitedly amongst themselves. Anticipation is a palpable thing; regardless of how many times the others have gone, it's still an exciting prospect for the lot. The silent girl, however, is a different story - but she always has been. At the entrance of the cave, she slows to allow the others to filter past while she retains her safe distance - both from rider and egg - with a wary glance angled toward whichever of the beasts - or both - are standing guard.
Bijedth is at the forefront to play guardian over this group, his rust-stained face staring straight at the group as they enter. He means business, though his eyes are still a good-natured blue-green hue. N'muir is only slightly less intense in posture though his gaze isn't quite so content, brows instinctively agitated the moment the nearest Candidate goes to touch their first egg. There's a tension to him, arms knotting tighter, but when it seems the Candidate isn't about to kick a hole in the egg and only touches it tentatively, N'muir marginally relaxes. He looks beyond to Ulyana, and it may be coincidence that at the same moment N'muir takes a step back, Bijedth turns slightly away from her, focus honing in on a Candidate that's opted to touch an egg near the curve of his tail. "Have you had some time to get better acquainted with dragons yet?" The only indication that he might be asking this of Ulyana is that his punctuates his sentence by looking her way for the answer.
The others move past and Ulyana remains, gray eyes tracking after each as they meander to touch this egg or that. It's Bijedth's movement that stiffens her already ramrod straight spine further; even when it seems he's occupied with another Candidate, her cautious stance does not shift. Her gaze cuts sidelong to N'muir when he speaks, the line of her mouth thinning out into a bloodless line. "I have not," she replies in her queer, flat way. "I rode with D'shal to the Star Stones once before I was sick. His was helpful. But I do not feel that there is a good way to become better acquainted with them." Especially not now; no doubt she's heard the DragonHealers talk plenty while she's been sequestered.
N'muir emits a short, dry sound of wry amusement. "Well, these eggs won't be eggs forever," he reminds as a warning. "What do you suppose you're going to do if you Impress?" His focus slides to the youngster and Bijedth as the bronze bends his nose towards the Candidate and makes a quiet whimper of a sound as if he, too, wants attention. N'muir's features visibly soften and his lips /almost/ smile at the very edge. Almost. But not quite. N'muir looks sidelong at Ulyana, the softness replaced with uncertainty. "You /do/ know that dragons don't eat people... right?"
"I am well aware of that fact," is her monotone response. Ulyana's shoulders rise and fall in a flat gesture of impassivity. "I cannot answer that question. I do not know what kind of dragon would choose me to start with. I cannot determine what I will do without all of the information - and I cannot have that information unless a dragon has made that decision." Bijedth's whimpers are regarded with a sidelong look, but she does not approach. The sound is clearly lost in translation somewhere and she, instead, moves slightly away - and not exactly toward the eggs, either. The last question elicits a dull, "Yes. I am not ignorant of what they are."
N'muir lifts a hand and pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly and letting that hand drop back down to his side. "Whatever. Just make sure that when the eggs start hatching, you don't freak out," he murmurs, taking a few slow steps to the side and towards one of the other Candidates, giving Ulyana more space to herself. Then, more generally, he address all the Candidates, Ulyana included, and says, "You are here to get acquainted with the hatching cavern and the eggs. Please be very gentle with the eggs. Just /gently/ touch them with your hands - not your feet. And since we all have to eat, we're going to make this short and sweet so do try to make this worth your while."
"Of course." Grim determination might be implied by those words, but her expression is as impassive as ever. Given her space, slight though it might be, Ulyana progresses toward the nearest egg. The Weyrleader's words are heard, of course; her gaze angles toward him while he explains the rules, such as they are. That look is extended to the bronze, if for a moment, and then her attention centers on the egg in front of her. One hand is held out hesitantly, with her fingertips just barely touching the striated surface of the shell. A hard swallow follows. As the tremble of her hand increases, however, she's all but forced to press the rest of her hand onto it, flattening her palm to the curve. If she's paler than usual, so be it; surely it's just the heat of the sands or her lingering weakness that's to blame. Surely.
There's a brief sidelong glimpse of Ulyana's hand on the egg, and then N'muir moves on to check on the other Candidates, his progress amidst the eggs as casual and second-nature as walking and breathing. Some of the Candidates may be new to this life but he certainly isn't. Bijedth crouches down low to watch with intense interest as the Candidate nearest his tail touches the egg, emitting something of a faint trill in bright notes as if trying to tell the boy some exciting news about that particular egg. N'muir calls out to the Candidates, "Touch one more egg and then we're going to go." To which he adds: "Make it count."
With one egg touched, a second is eyed with a sense of obligation after the Weyrleader's proclamation. "Understood," Ulyana intones. She peels her hand away and instinctively clenches her hands as if to restore some feeling to the appendages. She waits patiently for one of the Candidates to move away from another egg before approaching it, but there remains a sense of latent trepidation in the act. She swallows hard again and, after a flicked look toward the source of the strange trilling sound - perhaps to make sure it doesn't involve her - she makes the attempt. Both hands this time, without the slight tremor but definitely with a furrowing of her brow. Her mouth flattens and twists, one corner contorting downward in an expression that's wholly indescribable. Troubled, maybe. Disturbed, perhaps. But, ultimately, thoughtful in a distorted way.
As the Candidates shift around and Bijedth loses his companion to another egg, the bronze remains crouched low and extends his nose to the other eggs near him that have not been touched. He doesn't touch them but does move his nose close to each as if acknowledging them in turn. N'muir lifts his hands and gestures to the exit. "Okay, that's all, people." He begins to herd the scant few Candidates away from the eggs, drawing closer to Ulyana to ask in a lowered voice, "You're good?" Whatever that's intended to mean.
She pulls back shortly after the announcement is made and her hands go back to a clenched state at her sides. Ulyana doesn't linger at the egg, though her gaze wanders to the others that remain untouched by her. The expression doesn't quite go away, though. It lingers as a ghost of its former intensity and remains in place when the Weyrleader addresses her. "No," is her reply. It's flat and matter-of-fact, but it's also the truth - though the question he's asked might not be the one she's directly answering. "I will live. I will touch the others the next time we are brought out."
Ulyana's response is enough to make N'muir pause and eye her with a look that is one part confusion, one part suspicion, and two parts too wary of her to ask any further questions. There is a brief moment where he opens his mouth to say something on the matter when all of a sudden his shoulders lift in a shrug and that dubious expression is swept away. He waves her on, ushering his handful of Candidates along. "You'll live? That's good enough."
"If you have questions," she intones as she settles into the Candidate herd, "you should ask them. They will only trouble you if you do not." Ulyana angles a look over her shoulder at him, one gray eye fixed briefly on the Weyrleader for the span of a heartbeat - unblinking and cool. "Regardless," she confirms, "I will live. I always have." Then the inscrutable study is gone and she's looking forward, moving along in step with the others with nary a word more to be said.
If he does have questions, N'muir doesn't ask them and just lets the Candidates disappear without following after them. Instead he'll linger behind and move towards his hulking bronze lifemate, arms outstretched to let himself slump into Bijedth's nose. And as if in response to some unspoken remark, he replies with an indignant snort, "I /am/ nice!"
Summary: The eggs are touched.
Characters: Bijedth, N'muir, Ulyana
Location: Hatching Sands, Fort Weyr
Time: Day 20, month 1, turn 36 of Interval 10
RL Date: 10/21/2014
It is very shortly before the evening meal when N'muir approaches a group of Candidates and says, "You, you, you two, and you," and then jabs his thumb back in the direction of the Hatching Cavern. "I'm taking you to see the eggs." He doesn't wait to see if any of them follow, merely begins marching towards the Hatching Cavern. Whether any of them follow or not doesn't seem to matter to him, though he does turn finally to see who has follow once taking up his position with arms folded between the entrance to the Sands and the egg nearest that point.
There are no words from the one so recently released from the Infirmary. Ulyana follows mutely, but she follows a bit more closely than the others who are chattering excitedly amongst themselves. Anticipation is a palpable thing; regardless of how many times the others have gone, it's still an exciting prospect for the lot. The silent girl, however, is a different story - but she always has been. At the entrance of the cave, she slows to allow the others to filter past while she retains her safe distance - both from rider and egg - with a wary glance angled toward whichever of the beasts - or both - are standing guard.
Bijedth is at the forefront to play guardian over this group, his rust-stained face staring straight at the group as they enter. He means business, though his eyes are still a good-natured blue-green hue. N'muir is only slightly less intense in posture though his gaze isn't quite so content, brows instinctively agitated the moment the nearest Candidate goes to touch their first egg. There's a tension to him, arms knotting tighter, but when it seems the Candidate isn't about to kick a hole in the egg and only touches it tentatively, N'muir marginally relaxes. He looks beyond to Ulyana, and it may be coincidence that at the same moment N'muir takes a step back, Bijedth turns slightly away from her, focus honing in on a Candidate that's opted to touch an egg near the curve of his tail. "Have you had some time to get better acquainted with dragons yet?" The only indication that he might be asking this of Ulyana is that his punctuates his sentence by looking her way for the answer.
The others move past and Ulyana remains, gray eyes tracking after each as they meander to touch this egg or that. It's Bijedth's movement that stiffens her already ramrod straight spine further; even when it seems he's occupied with another Candidate, her cautious stance does not shift. Her gaze cuts sidelong to N'muir when he speaks, the line of her mouth thinning out into a bloodless line. "I have not," she replies in her queer, flat way. "I rode with D'shal to the Star Stones once before I was sick. His was helpful. But I do not feel that there is a good way to become better acquainted with them." Especially not now; no doubt she's heard the DragonHealers talk plenty while she's been sequestered.
N'muir emits a short, dry sound of wry amusement. "Well, these eggs won't be eggs forever," he reminds as a warning. "What do you suppose you're going to do if you Impress?" His focus slides to the youngster and Bijedth as the bronze bends his nose towards the Candidate and makes a quiet whimper of a sound as if he, too, wants attention. N'muir's features visibly soften and his lips /almost/ smile at the very edge. Almost. But not quite. N'muir looks sidelong at Ulyana, the softness replaced with uncertainty. "You /do/ know that dragons don't eat people... right?"
"I am well aware of that fact," is her monotone response. Ulyana's shoulders rise and fall in a flat gesture of impassivity. "I cannot answer that question. I do not know what kind of dragon would choose me to start with. I cannot determine what I will do without all of the information - and I cannot have that information unless a dragon has made that decision." Bijedth's whimpers are regarded with a sidelong look, but she does not approach. The sound is clearly lost in translation somewhere and she, instead, moves slightly away - and not exactly toward the eggs, either. The last question elicits a dull, "Yes. I am not ignorant of what they are."
N'muir lifts a hand and pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly and letting that hand drop back down to his side. "Whatever. Just make sure that when the eggs start hatching, you don't freak out," he murmurs, taking a few slow steps to the side and towards one of the other Candidates, giving Ulyana more space to herself. Then, more generally, he address all the Candidates, Ulyana included, and says, "You are here to get acquainted with the hatching cavern and the eggs. Please be very gentle with the eggs. Just /gently/ touch them with your hands - not your feet. And since we all have to eat, we're going to make this short and sweet so do try to make this worth your while."
"Of course." Grim determination might be implied by those words, but her expression is as impassive as ever. Given her space, slight though it might be, Ulyana progresses toward the nearest egg. The Weyrleader's words are heard, of course; her gaze angles toward him while he explains the rules, such as they are. That look is extended to the bronze, if for a moment, and then her attention centers on the egg in front of her. One hand is held out hesitantly, with her fingertips just barely touching the striated surface of the shell. A hard swallow follows. As the tremble of her hand increases, however, she's all but forced to press the rest of her hand onto it, flattening her palm to the curve. If she's paler than usual, so be it; surely it's just the heat of the sands or her lingering weakness that's to blame. Surely.
There's a brief sidelong glimpse of Ulyana's hand on the egg, and then N'muir moves on to check on the other Candidates, his progress amidst the eggs as casual and second-nature as walking and breathing. Some of the Candidates may be new to this life but he certainly isn't. Bijedth crouches down low to watch with intense interest as the Candidate nearest his tail touches the egg, emitting something of a faint trill in bright notes as if trying to tell the boy some exciting news about that particular egg. N'muir calls out to the Candidates, "Touch one more egg and then we're going to go." To which he adds: "Make it count."
With one egg touched, a second is eyed with a sense of obligation after the Weyrleader's proclamation. "Understood," Ulyana intones. She peels her hand away and instinctively clenches her hands as if to restore some feeling to the appendages. She waits patiently for one of the Candidates to move away from another egg before approaching it, but there remains a sense of latent trepidation in the act. She swallows hard again and, after a flicked look toward the source of the strange trilling sound - perhaps to make sure it doesn't involve her - she makes the attempt. Both hands this time, without the slight tremor but definitely with a furrowing of her brow. Her mouth flattens and twists, one corner contorting downward in an expression that's wholly indescribable. Troubled, maybe. Disturbed, perhaps. But, ultimately, thoughtful in a distorted way.
As the Candidates shift around and Bijedth loses his companion to another egg, the bronze remains crouched low and extends his nose to the other eggs near him that have not been touched. He doesn't touch them but does move his nose close to each as if acknowledging them in turn. N'muir lifts his hands and gestures to the exit. "Okay, that's all, people." He begins to herd the scant few Candidates away from the eggs, drawing closer to Ulyana to ask in a lowered voice, "You're good?" Whatever that's intended to mean.
She pulls back shortly after the announcement is made and her hands go back to a clenched state at her sides. Ulyana doesn't linger at the egg, though her gaze wanders to the others that remain untouched by her. The expression doesn't quite go away, though. It lingers as a ghost of its former intensity and remains in place when the Weyrleader addresses her. "No," is her reply. It's flat and matter-of-fact, but it's also the truth - though the question he's asked might not be the one she's directly answering. "I will live. I will touch the others the next time we are brought out."
Ulyana's response is enough to make N'muir pause and eye her with a look that is one part confusion, one part suspicion, and two parts too wary of her to ask any further questions. There is a brief moment where he opens his mouth to say something on the matter when all of a sudden his shoulders lift in a shrug and that dubious expression is swept away. He waves her on, ushering his handful of Candidates along. "You'll live? That's good enough."
"If you have questions," she intones as she settles into the Candidate herd, "you should ask them. They will only trouble you if you do not." Ulyana angles a look over her shoulder at him, one gray eye fixed briefly on the Weyrleader for the span of a heartbeat - unblinking and cool. "Regardless," she confirms, "I will live. I always have." Then the inscrutable study is gone and she's looking forward, moving along in step with the others with nary a word more to be said.
If he does have questions, N'muir doesn't ask them and just lets the Candidates disappear without following after them. Instead he'll linger behind and move towards his hulking bronze lifemate, arms outstretched to let himself slump into Bijedth's nose. And as if in response to some unspoken remark, he replies with an indignant snort, "I /am/ nice!"