Log: Paige Shadows Paddy
Who: P'draig, Paige, Jekzith
When: 1/10/17
Where: Barracks/Lake Shore/Bowl, Fort Weyr/Sky and Jungle, Boll Hold
What: Paddy rousts Paige out of bed at the crack of dawn so she can shadow him through exercise, sweeps and drills for a day.
It's dark outside and mostly dark in the Barracks. Quiet. Except for the snoring. And maybe the few who got unlucky enough to pull early kitchen shifts. P'draig moves through the sleep-walkers and the cots with sure steps, not making much noise, squinting at sleeping forms. He pauses between two, looks closer, nope, not the girl he's looking for. And onward. Aha. The brownrider cruises on up to where Paige sleeps and hunkers down, elbows resting atop knees and reaches over to give her a gentle enough shake. "Rise n' shine, sunshine," he tells her, voice low so as not to disturb the others, but loud enough (hopefully) to wake her.
Paige's rest looks more fretful than peaceful, brow creased and a low mumble escaping her every now and then. Fortunately, she isn't a snorer - or someone who slugs people in the nose when they try to wake her. Still, she gets out a half-coherent, "Wha?" as someone shakes her a little, freezing as she cracks open one eye, then another - and there's P'draig. "Sir?" Still not quite fully awake, she at least pushes herself into a sitting position. "S'it normal t'get up this early fer riders?" she can't help wondering, even as she works to stifle a yawn that tries to make it out between a few syllables.
"Morning," P'draig says with a little grin for that 'Wha?' and he settles back a little more firmly on his heels as she sits. "If you've got dawn sweeps and you're a Weyrlingmaster with Weyrlings, yep." Oh but it's just /wrong/ to be this cheerful this early in the morning. "C'mon, up n' at 'em, get on something comfortable to do work in. First up, exercise out in the Bowl. Too cold to swim in the lake, sadly, but maybe we'll hit Ista later," the brownrider continues in that unseemly chipper manner.
"Dawn sweeps, " Paige repeats stupidly, rubbing at bleary eyes and attempting to prod herself into a fuller state of alertness. Taking in his cheery attitude, she finally gives a nod, pushing at some errant pieces of hair as she leans over to try to drag some clothes out of her press without awakening her neighbors. "Ista? Really?" Now that's motivation to get dressed and ready to go.
"Uh huh. To look for Thread. Make sure it's not about to fall down and kill everyone. Though not so much that now. It's also looking for message flags, delivering messages, checking the weather, that kind of thing." Paddy stands as Paige wakes up more and he politely gives her room to dress, turning around even. "Yep. I usually end /my/ day at Ista. At least catch a drink with my weyrmate. A lot of riders go somewhere, or chill out right here at Fort over a pint at the end of a long day."
"Oh." And Paige absorbs all that as readily as one who's still waking up can, dressing quickly while the brownrider's back is turned. "Er, didn't know y'had a weyrmate, " she says while finishing up, sitting back down to stuff her feet into her boots. "Drinkin's common when the day's done?"
He waits until she's done, the telltale thunk of boots a signal and P'draig turns back around. "Yeah. Greenrider at Ista." Beat. "T'mic." And then he laughs and nods. "Has been fairly so during this weird not-a-Pass. You know. Stress and whatnot." He rubs at his chin thoughtfully and tips his head towards the out of doors. "C'mon. Time to get going while the going is good. My sweep is over Boll today, so lucky you, you get to go someplace warm. But it /is/ a morning sweep. Drills are in the afternoon, it's up to you if you want to ride along for that or not."
Paige finishes lacing up her boots and finally stands, pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail. "Ah. Yeah, I can see how the stress would make it a common way t'end the day." Her way of delicately skirting around mention of the weyrmate is to press on to the other relevant and interesting information - like the sweeps over Boll. "Don't mind it bein' a mornin' sweep. And sure, I'll come along fer drills." It beats cleaning out the stores, at any rate.
"Yeah. It was pretty bad at the height of this whole ..." P'draig waves a hand loosely upward. "Whatever. The comet. Bringing Thread back. Because it was unpredictable see. In a normal pass, you can predict when and where it's going to fall. Be ready for it. Constant alert? That's tough." Paddy turns and starts to head back down the lines of cots, still moving and speaking quietly. "All right then, it can be a bit of a wild ride, but that's what safety straps are for."
If Paige gulps at the mention of safety straps, she manages to hide it pretty well, nodding as she follows him on out of the barracks. "How did y'all sleep at night?" she has to wonder, "when t'was all irregular and unpredictable?" Almost tripping over her own feet as they near the doorway, she stifles a surprised gasp into a low cough. Hopefully it's enough to keep the other candidates peacefully asleep.
That question earns a wry look from P'draig and a quiet: "Badly," as he pushes on out the door with a brief look back at the mostly peaceful Barracks. "Just be glad it's just about done. If you Impress, probably won't have to face it at all. Just clear skies."
Paige looks sorry that she asked as they exit the barracks, making the rest of the walk outside in relative silence. She does allow herself a small yawn, however, and as unobtrusive of a stretch as possible. Then, after a while: "I - hope so." Whether she means she hopes to Impress or hopes to see clear skies remains, well, a bit unclear. Maybe both.
"All right, so here's the part with the dumb question," P'draig jokes, leading across the Bowl further towards the frozen lake but not quite to it. "Ever done training exercises of any kind before?" He's stretching one arm out, the other hooking the elbow and squinting up at the pre-dawn sky towards where a line of gold is creeping up over the rim of the Bowl.
"Trainin' exercises?" repeats the candidate. The confused look says it all. "Can't - say I have, no. Are they partic'larly special exercises that I hafta learn? Do all riders do 'em?" Even while Paige is firing off questions, she can't help but to give an appreciative glance upward; ah, almost-here-dawn.
"Mm. Not just riders, guards do too," P'draig explains and swaps arms, rolls his neck from side to side. "Usually I start out with a light jog around the lake to loosen up, then get into the calisthenics. Jumping jacks, like this," he demonstrates a couple, stops, "stretches," bends to touch his toes., "that kind of thing." He grins at that look towards the sky. "So, up for that jog and then we can work through the lot. Best part about being up this early though, probably /is/ seeing the sunrise."
"Joggin', jumpin' jacks, stretches, " Paige recounts glibly, watching P'draig's movements carefully before moving to mimic them to get a feel for some of the smaller stretches. "Doesn' sound too bad, actually. If'n it wakes ya up 'nough t'be alert, so much the better." She does nod at that last bit, giving a small sigh. "S'purty. Real - real nice." Finally, she lowers her gaze from the sunrise, straightening slightly. "Alrigh', I think I'm ready."
"You got it," P'draig says with a laugh and tips his head towards the lake to lead off that jog. It's entirely possible he's being kind: he doesn't go too fast and doesn't go all the way around the lake. Back into a spot of the Bowl that's clear of snow, it's the exercises next, the Weyrlingmaster taking the time to show and tell again, explaining a little about why each one is important too. "Need to be able to toss firestone see, and climb up a dragon and wash all that hide without getting sore every time."
Paige manages the jog relatively well, even if she is pretty out of breath by the time they move on to the exercises. "All - at - once?" she gets out between stretches and switching positions. "How - d'you - get through all this - without - stitches in yer - sides?" Pant, pant. Even though she's clearly new to this idea of a dynamic routine in the mornings, she doesn't look like she isn't enjoying herself - quite the contrary.
Laughingly as he turns, "Nope, not all at once. But you might wind up doing all that in a single day when you're a rider," P'draig explains and then drops to touch his toes, comes up slowly to stretch hands up to the sky and then back down again. "After we're through with this, should have time for a bite to eat before we head out." Beat. "Ever been down Boll way?"
Paige shakes her head as she follows his movements, lowering her arms carefully. "That'd be further south than I've gone in m'whole life, " she replies. "Heard 'tis nice there, though. Nicer'n it is in the mountains, at least. Like Ista, warm and a good vacation spot." Still, she looks to him for confirmation that it is, indeed, all the things she's heard it to be.
"It's very lush, pretty, green. Humid. That's probably the only big problem with places like Boll and Ista. It's hot and wet so you can come outside feeling like you just walked out of the baths sometimes, especially in the summer." He makes a little face about that and straightens. "All right, feeling all limbered up?" a little bit of joking in his voice there. "Let's grab a bite, then hightail it out to Boll, see what we see."
"Bit more'n I usually do in the mornin's, " replies she with equal good-humor. "Hot and wet - might almost take that over the snow. Maybe." And Paige grins, having only a small grimace for her legs. "Bite sounds good. Must be purty there, with all that lush and green. From the sky, too, I mean."
"Heh, gets the blood flowing," P'draig says with a loose swing of his arms as he leads the way back across the Bowl to get that bite of breakfast. "Ista's weather makes for a lot of sweating and lots of very light clothing, or little of it at all. When I'm down there I live in my shorts, pretty much," he notes wryly, "though it is pretty, both places. Especially when everything is in bloom." Breakfast doesn't take long, some klah some bread and jam, a little hot cereal and Paddy wheedles snacks out of the kitchen workers to take with and then it's back out into the cold to meet a chirpy and cheery Jekzith. "He says 'hello again', though he doesn't really remember you specifically himself. He's using my memories for that," the rider explains as he checks straps, climbs aboard and holds a hand down to her to mount.
"Almost all turn round?" Paige has to ask, tucking comfortably into their brief breakfast and mustering up a grin for the cheery brown. "Hullo again t'you too, Jekzith." Cautiously scaling his forelimb up to where P'draig awaits, she gives a relieved 'whew' as she makes it aboard. "They all've short memories like that? Even the bigger'uns?"
"All turn around yeah, it's cooler and dryer in the fall and winter, pretty nice then, rest of the turn it's often wet, wet, wet," P'draig states with a little grin. "Mm. His memory is a little better than most, but he only really met you the one time, takes a little while for a person to stick." The Weyrlingmaster gets the safeties on, showing her how they work and then they're off.
Sky above Southern Boll Hold(#1794RJae)
You are flying directly above Southern Boll Hold. Down below, a winding road twists up the side of the volcano towards the Hold Proper. The hold is large, shaped like an "L" and seems to grow right out of the mountain itself. To the northwest, you see the lush, emerald jungles that surround the hold. Miles of dense vegetation extends from one end of the penninsula to the other, broken by rich farmland. The ground is a spray of extraordinary colours from native flora. Toward the northeast and east, you see miles of pure white sand beaches and the sparkling, deep blue waters of the ocean.
The day is clear, not a cloud to be seen, giving you a perfect view of the sky.
Paige has her eyes scrunched shut as they emerge from between, opening them reluctantly once she's sure that they're safely over Boll. Having exchanged the beauty of the snow-covered peaks for that of the lush vegetation below, she's clearly delighted, a wide grin splitting over her visage as she cranes her neck to peer this way and that.
He warns when Jekzith is about to jump but there's just not really any avoiding how yucky Between can feel. The brown dragon coasts in over the lush hold and P'draig has him wheel around, points out some of the salient landmarks below. "Hold, beach, fire heights, deep dark jungles," he quips with a wink, cast over his shoulder. "There's a good place to drink down there actually, called the Lava Lounge." After they've done two circles of the main hold and Jekzith's warbled in a friendly manner to the watchdragon and P'draig waved to the green's rider, they turn south over uninterrupted forest. "Look, rain over that way!" he points to clouds in the distance with the tell-tale grayin beneath. "Thread looks a little like that, where the rain is between the clouds and the treetops only ... well it's different."
Paige makes note of each location as he points it out, observing the interaction with the watchrider with no little fascination. As the rider points out rain clouds in the distance, her breath catches a trifle, perhaps with interest at seeing weather phenomena from such a height. A noncommital, "Ah, " is her response to the explanation about Thread's appearance, but her prolonged look in that direction betrays her train of thought, however momentary it is.
"All set back there?" P'draig asks as Jekzith settles into the steady beat of a sweeping dragon and their path cruises out over jungle interspersed with fields. "Keep an eye out on the ground for message flags, 'specially any red ones. Those're emergencies." And on they go as the Bollian sun hikes higher into the sky, warm out here without cloud cover, though they do pass under the occasional puffy white one.
"Yeah, I'm fine, " Paige assures him quickly, alternating between using the nearest neckridge and the straps as something to grip onto as she stares hard at the ground whizzing by below. "Red, emergencies. What're the other kinda flags that we might see?" she asks, even while furrowing her brow at a speck of red in the distance. A flag? Not quite; just some reddish brush clumped together.
"Good." P'draig describes the rest of the flag colors, Jekzith turning a little to glide a little lower so they can see some of the tucked away cotholds a little better. Still nothing leaping out though at one point, some holders do look up and wave in friendly fashion and Paddy waves back.
Paige listens attentively, clinging to the neckridge in front of her as they glide lower. The friendly waves of the holders garner a small smile, then a fuller grin; it's quite likely that they remind her a bit of being at home, despite the very different climate. "So d'you hafta take this mornin' sweep all the time? Do they rotate so's people can switch off and take different routes sometimes?"
There's still a grin on P'draig's face as they pull away from that little holding the jungle spreads out below again, life stirring in the treetops, the odd wild firelizard flickering in and out of view. "Rotate," he answers succinctly. "I've got morning today, might not have any tomorrow or afternoon or evening. The rotation's usually set up to be fair."
"Tha's good, " Paige replies, visibly relieved. "Figured it had t'be a fair system. Haven't come across much yet that didn' seem fair at the Weyr. I'm mostly a mornin' person, but gettin' up at dawn every day - I dunno how well I'd handle tha' after a while." But it's hard to reflect on the fairness in a rider's life when there's all that greenery and life to goggle and stare at, so absorb she does, expression waxing content. "S'real nice out here. Jus' like they always said."
"You get used to it. That and napping when you can," P'draig explains with a laugh. "I've been Weyrlingmaster for over ten turns now and up at dawn is a habit. I wake up at sunrise no matter what unless I'm just so exhausted from something that I've got no oomph left." He looks down below and spots a message flag. "Time to go down and see it from the ground!" And down Jekzith goes, aiming for the clearing.
Paige just shakes her head a little, wrestling with the concept of a diurnal awakening at dawn - but then they're swooping down to see a message flag, and the girl's grip on the straps tightens as the flag and clearing grow closer. "How're the messages given?" Never mind that she'll find out shortly as they progress downward.
Jekzith lands lightly in the clearing and P'draig unclips them both, slides down, holds a hand up for her again. "Depends, sometimes it's just word of mouth, sometimes a scroll," Paddy explains. This one seems to be a letter needing to be delivered elsewhere on Pern and the brownrider takes the sealed packet, makes some light chat with the holder, introduces Paige even as a candidate. After they've left, the rest of the sweep is routine, just some more weather to report back to T'rien. At the Weyr, there's time for lunch before drills. Paige may not know it, but some of these are a little unorthodox and the moves required might throw her around in the straps a little. After drills, it's finally time to head over to Ista and The Sandbar for an introduction to bartender Kip and the vast array of drinks at the beachside drinking hole.
When: 1/10/17
Where: Barracks/Lake Shore/Bowl, Fort Weyr/Sky and Jungle, Boll Hold
What: Paddy rousts Paige out of bed at the crack of dawn so she can shadow him through exercise, sweeps and drills for a day.
It's dark outside and mostly dark in the Barracks. Quiet. Except for the snoring. And maybe the few who got unlucky enough to pull early kitchen shifts. P'draig moves through the sleep-walkers and the cots with sure steps, not making much noise, squinting at sleeping forms. He pauses between two, looks closer, nope, not the girl he's looking for. And onward. Aha. The brownrider cruises on up to where Paige sleeps and hunkers down, elbows resting atop knees and reaches over to give her a gentle enough shake. "Rise n' shine, sunshine," he tells her, voice low so as not to disturb the others, but loud enough (hopefully) to wake her.
Paige's rest looks more fretful than peaceful, brow creased and a low mumble escaping her every now and then. Fortunately, she isn't a snorer - or someone who slugs people in the nose when they try to wake her. Still, she gets out a half-coherent, "Wha?" as someone shakes her a little, freezing as she cracks open one eye, then another - and there's P'draig. "Sir?" Still not quite fully awake, she at least pushes herself into a sitting position. "S'it normal t'get up this early fer riders?" she can't help wondering, even as she works to stifle a yawn that tries to make it out between a few syllables.
"Morning," P'draig says with a little grin for that 'Wha?' and he settles back a little more firmly on his heels as she sits. "If you've got dawn sweeps and you're a Weyrlingmaster with Weyrlings, yep." Oh but it's just /wrong/ to be this cheerful this early in the morning. "C'mon, up n' at 'em, get on something comfortable to do work in. First up, exercise out in the Bowl. Too cold to swim in the lake, sadly, but maybe we'll hit Ista later," the brownrider continues in that unseemly chipper manner.
"Dawn sweeps, " Paige repeats stupidly, rubbing at bleary eyes and attempting to prod herself into a fuller state of alertness. Taking in his cheery attitude, she finally gives a nod, pushing at some errant pieces of hair as she leans over to try to drag some clothes out of her press without awakening her neighbors. "Ista? Really?" Now that's motivation to get dressed and ready to go.
"Uh huh. To look for Thread. Make sure it's not about to fall down and kill everyone. Though not so much that now. It's also looking for message flags, delivering messages, checking the weather, that kind of thing." Paddy stands as Paige wakes up more and he politely gives her room to dress, turning around even. "Yep. I usually end /my/ day at Ista. At least catch a drink with my weyrmate. A lot of riders go somewhere, or chill out right here at Fort over a pint at the end of a long day."
"Oh." And Paige absorbs all that as readily as one who's still waking up can, dressing quickly while the brownrider's back is turned. "Er, didn't know y'had a weyrmate, " she says while finishing up, sitting back down to stuff her feet into her boots. "Drinkin's common when the day's done?"
He waits until she's done, the telltale thunk of boots a signal and P'draig turns back around. "Yeah. Greenrider at Ista." Beat. "T'mic." And then he laughs and nods. "Has been fairly so during this weird not-a-Pass. You know. Stress and whatnot." He rubs at his chin thoughtfully and tips his head towards the out of doors. "C'mon. Time to get going while the going is good. My sweep is over Boll today, so lucky you, you get to go someplace warm. But it /is/ a morning sweep. Drills are in the afternoon, it's up to you if you want to ride along for that or not."
Paige finishes lacing up her boots and finally stands, pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail. "Ah. Yeah, I can see how the stress would make it a common way t'end the day." Her way of delicately skirting around mention of the weyrmate is to press on to the other relevant and interesting information - like the sweeps over Boll. "Don't mind it bein' a mornin' sweep. And sure, I'll come along fer drills." It beats cleaning out the stores, at any rate.
"Yeah. It was pretty bad at the height of this whole ..." P'draig waves a hand loosely upward. "Whatever. The comet. Bringing Thread back. Because it was unpredictable see. In a normal pass, you can predict when and where it's going to fall. Be ready for it. Constant alert? That's tough." Paddy turns and starts to head back down the lines of cots, still moving and speaking quietly. "All right then, it can be a bit of a wild ride, but that's what safety straps are for."
If Paige gulps at the mention of safety straps, she manages to hide it pretty well, nodding as she follows him on out of the barracks. "How did y'all sleep at night?" she has to wonder, "when t'was all irregular and unpredictable?" Almost tripping over her own feet as they near the doorway, she stifles a surprised gasp into a low cough. Hopefully it's enough to keep the other candidates peacefully asleep.
That question earns a wry look from P'draig and a quiet: "Badly," as he pushes on out the door with a brief look back at the mostly peaceful Barracks. "Just be glad it's just about done. If you Impress, probably won't have to face it at all. Just clear skies."
Paige looks sorry that she asked as they exit the barracks, making the rest of the walk outside in relative silence. She does allow herself a small yawn, however, and as unobtrusive of a stretch as possible. Then, after a while: "I - hope so." Whether she means she hopes to Impress or hopes to see clear skies remains, well, a bit unclear. Maybe both.
"All right, so here's the part with the dumb question," P'draig jokes, leading across the Bowl further towards the frozen lake but not quite to it. "Ever done training exercises of any kind before?" He's stretching one arm out, the other hooking the elbow and squinting up at the pre-dawn sky towards where a line of gold is creeping up over the rim of the Bowl.
"Trainin' exercises?" repeats the candidate. The confused look says it all. "Can't - say I have, no. Are they partic'larly special exercises that I hafta learn? Do all riders do 'em?" Even while Paige is firing off questions, she can't help but to give an appreciative glance upward; ah, almost-here-dawn.
"Mm. Not just riders, guards do too," P'draig explains and swaps arms, rolls his neck from side to side. "Usually I start out with a light jog around the lake to loosen up, then get into the calisthenics. Jumping jacks, like this," he demonstrates a couple, stops, "stretches," bends to touch his toes., "that kind of thing." He grins at that look towards the sky. "So, up for that jog and then we can work through the lot. Best part about being up this early though, probably /is/ seeing the sunrise."
"Joggin', jumpin' jacks, stretches, " Paige recounts glibly, watching P'draig's movements carefully before moving to mimic them to get a feel for some of the smaller stretches. "Doesn' sound too bad, actually. If'n it wakes ya up 'nough t'be alert, so much the better." She does nod at that last bit, giving a small sigh. "S'purty. Real - real nice." Finally, she lowers her gaze from the sunrise, straightening slightly. "Alrigh', I think I'm ready."
"You got it," P'draig says with a laugh and tips his head towards the lake to lead off that jog. It's entirely possible he's being kind: he doesn't go too fast and doesn't go all the way around the lake. Back into a spot of the Bowl that's clear of snow, it's the exercises next, the Weyrlingmaster taking the time to show and tell again, explaining a little about why each one is important too. "Need to be able to toss firestone see, and climb up a dragon and wash all that hide without getting sore every time."
Paige manages the jog relatively well, even if she is pretty out of breath by the time they move on to the exercises. "All - at - once?" she gets out between stretches and switching positions. "How - d'you - get through all this - without - stitches in yer - sides?" Pant, pant. Even though she's clearly new to this idea of a dynamic routine in the mornings, she doesn't look like she isn't enjoying herself - quite the contrary.
Laughingly as he turns, "Nope, not all at once. But you might wind up doing all that in a single day when you're a rider," P'draig explains and then drops to touch his toes, comes up slowly to stretch hands up to the sky and then back down again. "After we're through with this, should have time for a bite to eat before we head out." Beat. "Ever been down Boll way?"
Paige shakes her head as she follows his movements, lowering her arms carefully. "That'd be further south than I've gone in m'whole life, " she replies. "Heard 'tis nice there, though. Nicer'n it is in the mountains, at least. Like Ista, warm and a good vacation spot." Still, she looks to him for confirmation that it is, indeed, all the things she's heard it to be.
"It's very lush, pretty, green. Humid. That's probably the only big problem with places like Boll and Ista. It's hot and wet so you can come outside feeling like you just walked out of the baths sometimes, especially in the summer." He makes a little face about that and straightens. "All right, feeling all limbered up?" a little bit of joking in his voice there. "Let's grab a bite, then hightail it out to Boll, see what we see."
"Bit more'n I usually do in the mornin's, " replies she with equal good-humor. "Hot and wet - might almost take that over the snow. Maybe." And Paige grins, having only a small grimace for her legs. "Bite sounds good. Must be purty there, with all that lush and green. From the sky, too, I mean."
"Heh, gets the blood flowing," P'draig says with a loose swing of his arms as he leads the way back across the Bowl to get that bite of breakfast. "Ista's weather makes for a lot of sweating and lots of very light clothing, or little of it at all. When I'm down there I live in my shorts, pretty much," he notes wryly, "though it is pretty, both places. Especially when everything is in bloom." Breakfast doesn't take long, some klah some bread and jam, a little hot cereal and Paddy wheedles snacks out of the kitchen workers to take with and then it's back out into the cold to meet a chirpy and cheery Jekzith. "He says 'hello again', though he doesn't really remember you specifically himself. He's using my memories for that," the rider explains as he checks straps, climbs aboard and holds a hand down to her to mount.
"Almost all turn round?" Paige has to ask, tucking comfortably into their brief breakfast and mustering up a grin for the cheery brown. "Hullo again t'you too, Jekzith." Cautiously scaling his forelimb up to where P'draig awaits, she gives a relieved 'whew' as she makes it aboard. "They all've short memories like that? Even the bigger'uns?"
"All turn around yeah, it's cooler and dryer in the fall and winter, pretty nice then, rest of the turn it's often wet, wet, wet," P'draig states with a little grin. "Mm. His memory is a little better than most, but he only really met you the one time, takes a little while for a person to stick." The Weyrlingmaster gets the safeties on, showing her how they work and then they're off.
Sky above Southern Boll Hold(#1794RJae)
You are flying directly above Southern Boll Hold. Down below, a winding road twists up the side of the volcano towards the Hold Proper. The hold is large, shaped like an "L" and seems to grow right out of the mountain itself. To the northwest, you see the lush, emerald jungles that surround the hold. Miles of dense vegetation extends from one end of the penninsula to the other, broken by rich farmland. The ground is a spray of extraordinary colours from native flora. Toward the northeast and east, you see miles of pure white sand beaches and the sparkling, deep blue waters of the ocean.
The day is clear, not a cloud to be seen, giving you a perfect view of the sky.
Paige has her eyes scrunched shut as they emerge from between, opening them reluctantly once she's sure that they're safely over Boll. Having exchanged the beauty of the snow-covered peaks for that of the lush vegetation below, she's clearly delighted, a wide grin splitting over her visage as she cranes her neck to peer this way and that.
He warns when Jekzith is about to jump but there's just not really any avoiding how yucky Between can feel. The brown dragon coasts in over the lush hold and P'draig has him wheel around, points out some of the salient landmarks below. "Hold, beach, fire heights, deep dark jungles," he quips with a wink, cast over his shoulder. "There's a good place to drink down there actually, called the Lava Lounge." After they've done two circles of the main hold and Jekzith's warbled in a friendly manner to the watchdragon and P'draig waved to the green's rider, they turn south over uninterrupted forest. "Look, rain over that way!" he points to clouds in the distance with the tell-tale grayin beneath. "Thread looks a little like that, where the rain is between the clouds and the treetops only ... well it's different."
Paige makes note of each location as he points it out, observing the interaction with the watchrider with no little fascination. As the rider points out rain clouds in the distance, her breath catches a trifle, perhaps with interest at seeing weather phenomena from such a height. A noncommital, "Ah, " is her response to the explanation about Thread's appearance, but her prolonged look in that direction betrays her train of thought, however momentary it is.
"All set back there?" P'draig asks as Jekzith settles into the steady beat of a sweeping dragon and their path cruises out over jungle interspersed with fields. "Keep an eye out on the ground for message flags, 'specially any red ones. Those're emergencies." And on they go as the Bollian sun hikes higher into the sky, warm out here without cloud cover, though they do pass under the occasional puffy white one.
"Yeah, I'm fine, " Paige assures him quickly, alternating between using the nearest neckridge and the straps as something to grip onto as she stares hard at the ground whizzing by below. "Red, emergencies. What're the other kinda flags that we might see?" she asks, even while furrowing her brow at a speck of red in the distance. A flag? Not quite; just some reddish brush clumped together.
"Good." P'draig describes the rest of the flag colors, Jekzith turning a little to glide a little lower so they can see some of the tucked away cotholds a little better. Still nothing leaping out though at one point, some holders do look up and wave in friendly fashion and Paddy waves back.
Paige listens attentively, clinging to the neckridge in front of her as they glide lower. The friendly waves of the holders garner a small smile, then a fuller grin; it's quite likely that they remind her a bit of being at home, despite the very different climate. "So d'you hafta take this mornin' sweep all the time? Do they rotate so's people can switch off and take different routes sometimes?"
There's still a grin on P'draig's face as they pull away from that little holding the jungle spreads out below again, life stirring in the treetops, the odd wild firelizard flickering in and out of view. "Rotate," he answers succinctly. "I've got morning today, might not have any tomorrow or afternoon or evening. The rotation's usually set up to be fair."
"Tha's good, " Paige replies, visibly relieved. "Figured it had t'be a fair system. Haven't come across much yet that didn' seem fair at the Weyr. I'm mostly a mornin' person, but gettin' up at dawn every day - I dunno how well I'd handle tha' after a while." But it's hard to reflect on the fairness in a rider's life when there's all that greenery and life to goggle and stare at, so absorb she does, expression waxing content. "S'real nice out here. Jus' like they always said."
"You get used to it. That and napping when you can," P'draig explains with a laugh. "I've been Weyrlingmaster for over ten turns now and up at dawn is a habit. I wake up at sunrise no matter what unless I'm just so exhausted from something that I've got no oomph left." He looks down below and spots a message flag. "Time to go down and see it from the ground!" And down Jekzith goes, aiming for the clearing.
Paige just shakes her head a little, wrestling with the concept of a diurnal awakening at dawn - but then they're swooping down to see a message flag, and the girl's grip on the straps tightens as the flag and clearing grow closer. "How're the messages given?" Never mind that she'll find out shortly as they progress downward.
Jekzith lands lightly in the clearing and P'draig unclips them both, slides down, holds a hand up for her again. "Depends, sometimes it's just word of mouth, sometimes a scroll," Paddy explains. This one seems to be a letter needing to be delivered elsewhere on Pern and the brownrider takes the sealed packet, makes some light chat with the holder, introduces Paige even as a candidate. After they've left, the rest of the sweep is routine, just some more weather to report back to T'rien. At the Weyr, there's time for lunch before drills. Paige may not know it, but some of these are a little unorthodox and the moves required might throw her around in the straps a little. After drills, it's finally time to head over to Ista and The Sandbar for an introduction to bartender Kip and the vast array of drinks at the beachside drinking hole.