Ruathan Entrance Hall

This hallway stretches a short distance before you, a silent and stately respite from the bustle of the courtyard outside, and the chatter of the Great Hall farther within the hold.  Glowlights, evenly spaced like sentinels along the walls, glint off of a well polished, darkly stained oaken door which leads to the Lord Holder's Office. Other 'offices' have doors leading to them from this hallway as well, and through an arched opening to the right, one can go to the galleries of the Great Hall. To left, swinging double doors leads into the popular Dragon's Spirit Tavern.

It is an afternoon at Ruatha.
 

Talina stomps into the hall grumbling under her breath, "I don't care /who/ her parents are, I never should've bet on how many wherrys Jiyuth would catch." She finishes her irade, "Sharding bells.."

Kymra looks up, nodding politely as she waits on the drudge.  S'posed to bring her klah.  She doesn't wanna go into the tavern -- it's a tavern, sharditall!  Girls shouldn't be seen n there, or something.

Talina stops by the girl and narrows her gaze. Ok, so someone woke up on the wrong side of the weyr today. "You..where's the Head woman keep her yarn supply?" Don't ask..just don't.

Kymra shrugs, not attempting to keep her features from developing into a scowl.  "Why would I know?" she questions grumpily, foot tapping as she waits, and waits for the drudge to appear.  "Why'd you wanna know?"  She asks, curious why this person wants yarn, of all things.  "Where's she gotten to?" she mutters under her breath, thoughts returning to the drudge-problem.

"Because the woman's /obviously/ color blind," Talina spews, "And she made Jiyuth a scarf with Bells on it!" Told you not to ask. "And.." she finishes lamely, "you live here so you should know..." The statement tapers off and vaguely sounds like a question.

Kymra frowns.  "I don't know," she declares proudly.  She's being contrary, today.  "Just because I live here doen't mean I know /everything/."  She shrugs, then adds, "Go ask a drudge to get yarn for you, or something."  Mebbe the drudges would all hurry if the other person ordered them to go get something, since she's in a position to threaten.  "Jiyuth?  You'd be a dragonrider, then, right?"  Wooo.  She's intelligent.

Talina crosses her arms in front of her chest, causing her leathers to creak. (Hint #1).  "Drudges will probably bring me back twine or some such. And yes, I happen to be bound to a dragon.." When she's says this, for some reason it doesn't quite sound like fun. "So what do you do here at Ruatha.." She glances around, "This is Ruatha....yes of course it is. Anyway, if you don't knit or whatever, what do you do?"

"This is Ruatha," Kymra assents, leather creaking blithly ignored.  She don't wanna solve any problems, right now.  She's busy waiting for klah.  "I'm a resident.  I do....resident things."  Whatever that may be.  Nose wrinkles at the mention of knitting, and she quickly shakes her head.  "No.  I'm bad at that."  Which, of course, she can't truthfully say, since she's never tried it.  But she'd prolly knot up the yarn if she ever tried, so essentially her statement is true.  "I help in the kitchens, sometimes, and  run errands, weed...." the girl trails off, deciding not to mention that her main purpose as a resident is plotting how to avoid the dreaded chores.

A scrungy looking drudge comes out of the Tavern carrying a mug of klah. With amazing speed Talina barks at him, Yep cranky today, "You! Drop that and get me some yarn. Loud stuff..whatever the headwoman doesn't want." And imagine this the drudge obeys. *Crash!* goes the mug of klah right on the floor. "Get /that/ after you get me the yarn!" the rider directs. With a squeak, the man disappears, leaving behind a small cloud of dust.  She glances back at Kymra, "Well doesn't sound as if you're very useful.."

Kymra's jaw drops.  "That was MY klah!" she declares, glaring at the rider.  "I've been waiting for it for -hours!-"  More glowering comes in here as she mildly exaggerates.  "Now my klah is spilt all over the floor.  That's not fair!"  Pausing momently for breath, she retorts sharply, "I'm very useful!  How would Ruatha be a Hold without residents, huh?"

Talina looks vaguely amused, "Well for one, it'd be alot cleaner."  From deeper in the hold comes a couple of thuds and thunks, and before long ye ole' dusty drudge comes darting back out, narrowly missing the puddle of klah. Why? Because he can't see, due to all the skeins of yarn piled in his arms. No ordinary skeins, nope, these were the ones waaaaay back in the storage closet. Greens, yellows, purples, nasty sparkly things abound. "Ahh.." Talina says somewhat discouraged, "You found them."

Kymra scowls.  "So?  It's better dirtier."  More reason to vent your temper at the drudges.  "Get me another mug of klah," she directs at the drudge, then points to the splattered klah.  "Look what you did!  You -spilled- my klah!  Clean it up."  A smuggish smile crosses her face.  Drudges can't argue with her.

The drudge bobs and manages not to run Talina over. "Umm..ma'am..What do I do with these?" Talina smiles a nasty smile, "Hand them to her. She can help me carry them out, while you, as she so pleasantly asked, clean that up, and bring her another mug of klah."  'Dusty' approaches Kymra, waiting for the girl to take the pile.

Kymra bites her lip, determined to keep herself from spewing out curses.  Resigned, she holds out her arms to take the bundles of flashy yarn from Dusty the Drudge.  "Hurry with klah, also," she adds, less sharply.

Now Talina is the one who looks smug. Gee, stiff-arming little hold girls makes her day. "This way..and don't drop any.." As if anyone could tell if one of the skeins had been dropped in a pile of mud, except perhaps it would dull the sheen.

RuathaHold Courtyard (#303)
It is an afternoon at Ruatha.
Yesterday's humidity lingers and not one drop of rain falls from the cloudless sky.

Kymra walks out from between the great doors, leaving the Entrance Hall behind.

Jiyuth languishes in the courtyard. She stirs slightly as she sees Talina exit. Now we see what has her rider so cranky.. *Jingle..Jingle..Jangle..*

Talina sighs as she crosses to the green, determined /not/ to look at the scarf on Jiyuth's tail. "Yes we found some..and /no/ you can't have another.."

Kymra follows, taking care to drop a couple skeins out of pure spite.  Holdgirl turns into Holdbrat.  Whadda brat.  Her toe gently scoops a pile of mud over the yarn, which quickly turns a smudged mud brown.  "Oooops," she exclaims, careful to hide her grin.  Eyes peer for the jingle-source, alighting on the dragon.  "Your dragon's big," she remarks, stating the obvious.

Jiyuth manages to pull herself up on all four legs and unintentionally 'looms' over Kyrma. *Whuffle..whuffle* Her green snout takes a whiff of the yarn, before she swings around to look at Talina. "NO! Those aren't for you.."  Then Talina adds to Kymra, "Thanks for dropping that one, it was the scariest."

Dismayed at the lack of irritablity, Kymra manages to mumble, "Sure.  No problem."  She takes a step back, eyes widening as the dragon looms and peers.  "Your dragon can have the yarn, if she wants," she adds hastily.
 Mebbe the green would stop looming, then.

Jiyuth nestles down in front of Kymra, along with the obligitory *Jingle Jangle..*, and returns to inspecting the yarn...and Kymra's hair..and her clothes. And for every second that the dragon inspects the girl, Talina's scowls more and more.

<Jiyuth>  You sense, Jiyuth softly tickles your mind before retreating slowly. to Kymra

"What's she doing?" Kymra asks uncertainly, on the verge of dropping the yarn.  Seeing Talina glare and scowl, she resolves that she shouldn't be nervous -- the dragon's irritating her rider.  That must be good, since Kymra has been trying to do the same ever since she first met her.

Talina just lets her eyes close and sighs. She's given up fighting Jiyuth on this urge to 'collect'. "It appears this ..um..musical thing here has taken a liking to you." She opens her eyes again and straightens her shoulders, "So here goes. Kymra, on behalf of Jiyuth, Search Dragon of Benden Weyr, I would like to extend a welcome to you to stand on the sands for Zivath's clutch." There, she did it..now she has to take the yarns and this /girl/ home.

Kymra ponders the meaning of all these formal words, finally reaching the conclusion of, well, exactly what Talina said.  "I suppose," she responds quietly.  "Do I need to go tell someone, tho?"  That excuse would give her the time to collect her frayed thoughts and wits.

Talina tries to make the best of this and attempts to smile. "Um..ya." She snatches a bag off Jiyuth's straps and holds it open. Yep more nasty yarn inside. "Just toss those in here..and grab a few things. Benden will provide you with what you forget." Jiyuth just continues to stare at the girl as if she's a piece of meat or a teddy bear she doens't want to let go. Talina aware of the green's feelings, kicks at the jingling tail snaking to ensnare the girl. "She'll be back.." And yes, this is all done with a smile.

Jiyuth contents herself to twitch just the tip, causing Talina to flinch with every audible *Clatter..clunk..* etc.

Kymra dumps the yarn into the bag, then turns to race back into the Hold.  A few minutes pass, and she's back, trailing down the entrance to the Hold, a satchel in hand.  Full of -- you guessed it -- clothing.  "I told Lady Keturah," she informs the rider, stopping as she reaches the place where she stood, stricken, moments before.

Talina imagines Lady Keturah thinks its her own special day, got rid of those yarns and Kymra to boot. ;) She's also managed to gather herself and try to be cheery, after all Kymra's now a Candidate and /has/ to do what she says. ;)  The rider relieves Kymra of the bag and cinches it to one of the many hooks dangling from the straps, before turning back around. "Don't suppose you've ever ridden dragonback before?"  She absently pushes Jiyuth's head away from inspecting her 'prize'.

"Once," Kymra admits.  "But it wouldn't count, since the rider said it was just a dream, and wasn't really happening."  One of those stories for bedtime, when glows are supposed to be covered, and everyone's supposed to be asleep.  "But if it was only a dream, then none of it was necessarily correct."

Talina just nods slowly, "Ah..ok. Well I'll climb up first so you can see how to do it." She gives Jiyuth a little push, and the green lowers herself while offering a foreleg. "It's not hard and I'll grab you're hand from up there.."Talina nods down to Kymra, "Ok..whenever you're ready."

Climbing up Jiyuth's offered forelimb, Kymra scrambles up and slides in between two neckridges.

Talina tugs the girl up, "There..wasn't too bad." She swivels and helps strap Kymra in, "There..and " *tug* "there..you won't be falling off." Such a smooth talker.

Kymra warily peers downwards, then switches her gaze to in front, to up, to anywhere but the ground.  "Thanks," she mumbles belatedly, forgetting how she was angry.  Now she's just nervous and somewhat shocked.

Talina tries not to chuckle and quickly turns around, fastening her own straps. "No worries..no one's ever fallen off Jiyuth." yet.. "Now I'll let you know before we go between..just count to 10. You'll do fine." And with that..they're off.

Above Ruatha's Courtyard

*Jingle Jangle* Ah yes, Jiyuth airborne..scares away all the vtols.
Jiyuth circles lazily, before catching an updraft.

Between?  Between.  Joy.  Absolute cold and nothingness, from what she's heard.  Kymra attempts to ignore the thought that she might be the first to fall from Jiyuth.  And the thought of between.

Talina scratches Jiyuth's neck, enjoying the view, as she leans over. "Doesn't it all look tiny?"

Kymra risks a quick glance downwards, marveling at how far below everything is.  "It does," she agrees.  And she thought the Hold was big.
Talina turns to yell back at Kymra, "Ok..start counting!"

Jiyuth blinks into **between**
High Above the Living Caverns
Jiyuth blinks in from **between**

Jiyuth bugles in response to the Watchdragon, before Talina laughs, "See..not too bad!"

Kymra shivers briskly, complaining, "You barely gave me any warning!"  She bites her blueish lip, not adding that if she had the warning in advance, she would've been startled into yelling, or something.  As it was, she was too irritated to do more than think nasty things of Talina.

Talina shrugs and continues to chuckle, "Well never mind that. We'll get you settled into the barracks and then you can have some hot klah."

Outside the Living Caverns

Up here in the mountainous regions of the northern continent, the air is forever cool except for those few days in the summer.  This area is almost constantly busy with people walking in and out of the living caverns just off to the west as well as to and from the bowls.  The ground has become grassy on the slightly sloped sides over the turns now that Thread had stopped falling, and on the sunny days, the weyrfolk come out to do the minor chores out here.  Just outside the caverns, dragons can be seen lounging on the grassy knolls while waiting for their riders to come out of the caverns or to socialize with the others, occassionally playing with the lower cavern children.

With full night consuming the eastern sky, Rukbat silently dips below the western horizon.
 Silvery greys and whites meld into an amalgam of overcast clouds, blanketing across the scope of the sky; blocking out the warming sun, the day thus turns colder.

Klah.  The thought of the liquid revives Kymra.  She didn't get to have her klah at the Hold, after all.  Unfastening straps, she manages to slide down from the green without collapsing.
Kymra carefully slides down off of Jiyuth's back.

Jiyuth sighs happily as she nestles into her wallow outside the caverns.

Talina tosses Kymra's bag downwards before yelling, "Incoming!"

Talina guides the girl towards the Living Caverns, "This way..."

Kymra catches her satchel, slinging the light bag of clothing over her shoulder.  She glances around, clearly amazed at how -big- the Bowl is.  She switches her gaze, trailing after the rider.

You leave the quiet of the bowl for the soft roar of the usually busy living cavern.

Talina nods about the cavern at riders she knows, while pointing out the klah pot, "See..we have some nice and hot.." Isnt' she a tease? She continues onwards and further into the weyr, and lower caverns.

You leave the main cavern for the relative quiet of the lower caverns.
Kymra casts a glance behind her, possibly at the possibilty of klah.

You head down one of the side passages to a very busy cavern.

Talina ahas! See she knew where she was going..

You head up one of the side ramps onto the balcony, then you push past the heavy curtains covering the entrance to the candidate barracks.

Candidate's Barracks
Nehyn is here.

Talina sticks her head into the barracks. Amazing, right place. She steps further in and gestures around the room, "Here it is, your new home till the eggs crack." She glances over at Nehyn, 'Ahh another candidate. Nehyn, right?"

Nehyn nods, looking up from a stack of mending.  "Hi!  I don't think I know you, though..."  All riders look alike, you see. ;-)

Talina shrugs and thinks that someday Nehyn just might wish he didn't know her. "Ahh, I'm Talina, Assistant Weyrlingmaster, rider of Green Jiyuth." Bleah..too long, "Well this is Kymra, recently from Ruatha hold..maybe you could show her the ropes?"

Or mending as the case may be.

Kymra follows the rider, peering around the room as she strides into the room, satchel in hand.  "H'lo," she greets the other person, still rather shocked that Talina managed to find the barracks without getting lost.Well.../too/ lost.

Nehyn mentally eeps.  Another greenrider.  Well, at least her saliva machine isn't with her.  "Heya Kymra.  Welcome to the Barracks."

Mending?  Don't even mention it to Kymra.  It's her one dread, along with knitting.  She manages a smile.  "Thanks."

Talina glances towards what just might be the bowl. "No she stays here." A small smile is given to the pair before she scoots towards the door. No sane rider stays in the candie barracks long..did their time here, ya see? "Well..I'll see you around Kymra..and I'm sure Nehyn could lead you back to the klah."
Talina waves and flees..er..leaves.