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Post by ShadowReine on Jun 12, 2011 19:36:00 GMT -5
Life, for the tan rider, was essentially perfect. He feared it might not last but appreciated it while it did.
Even the labor of cleaning his rather sizeable dragon did not seem to be so bad. Apolloth was, of course, almost as large as a bronze...perhaps as large as a small one. But B'can didn't care about that.
They really did seem to have caught the queenkiller. Inolyn was safe...as were Kora and Karisna, although he cared the most about Inolyn. Kora might be more important to the Weyr.
Inolyn was more important to his heart. "My one disappointment is that I didn't get the guy myself," he told Apolloth.
Apolloth, of course, was living in the moment. Regrets...those were for riders.
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Post by Sparrow on Jun 20, 2011 22:37:58 GMT -5
"What guy? That sounds like a dangerous comment coming from a man that's been living for months with a queenrider. What do you think, Amirinth?"
It sounds like a dangerous comment indeed. Very suspicious.
"Then again, Jorindath will likely rise again soon. It's as good a time as ever to change your mind." K'laon laughed. He did not think the situation he had in mind had any truth to it, but it was hard not to take advantage of overhearing such a sentence.
Amirinth trotted into the lake, swinging her tail and sloshing and splashing water as much as she could. Amirinth is almost like a fire-lizard against handsome Apolloth. But her claws may still be a bit big to help in the scrubbing.
"Bug, you stick to rinsing. Scrubbing a dragon is a man's work."
Tell that to the queenriders.
"I'm quite content with their current level of ignorance." K'laon paused, glanced sideways at B'can. He had meant to talk to the Tanrider, but was now following Amirinth past him into the lake. "Sorry. Women. Very distracting."
B'can would know. He lived with several, of varying structure.
"You want some help there?"
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Post by ShadowReine on Jun 21, 2011 16:59:20 GMT -5
"The guy who tried to kill Inolyn. Wish I'd been closer. With a knife." He sounded serious. And then he realized what the greenrider meant and rolled his eyes, aiming a mock punch towards the man's shoulder.
"What. You want me for yourself?" He knew that K'laon's preferences were, indeed, those of the typical man who snagged himself a green dragon, but doubted very much that he was the greenrider's type. "And I can manage. If I couldn't, I'm betting I could find half a dozen weyrbrats willing to help in five minutes, even if we're short on Candidates."
Candidates were always the FIRST choice for dragon scrubbing assistance.
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Post by Sparrow on Jun 22, 2011 11:48:39 GMT -5
"Whoah, hey," K'laon laughed and put his hands up, feigning innocence. Good thing B'can didn't have a knife right now. "Nah, I think you were in the right place there. It probably seems a lot more romantic to hold an injured woman than to go kill a man."
Hardly as manly though, that was true. K'laon would have rather killed the guy too, but he was happy where he had been. Not killing anyone, and also not helping dying people. He seemed to remember being pretty well drunk right then. That had worked out well.
K'laon chuckled. "Ah, no, no need to worry yourself about that." He had plenty of people to choose from amid riders with dragons nearer Amirinth's size. No need for taken Tanriders.
"If you say so. I just came out here, saw Apolloth there, and thought... better him than her." He glanced pointedly towards Amirinth, who was occupying herself doing what looked like a jig further out in the lake.
Anything would be better than bathing that Green.
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Post by ShadowReine on Jul 8, 2011 17:12:41 GMT -5
OOC: Sorry. I failed to notice this. I epic fail.
B'can laughed. "Your dragon often seems to have all the energy of an entire clutch of hatchlings. Am I right?"
He was glad Apolloth, for all that he had his flaws...excessive ambition came to mind...was not as hyperactive as the much smaller dragon seemed determined to be.
"Hard to bathe a dragon who won't stay still. At least I don't have that problem with Apolloth. He just complains if I miss any spots. Especially if there's a pretty queen around."
Mostly Jorindath, these days, but he knew Apolloth had at least some sights on Nayarath. It was impossible to quell the tan's desire to prove himself as good as any bronze.
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Post by Sparrow on Jul 8, 2011 21:08:59 GMT -5
OOC: Tiger avvi finds that very funny.
"Probably the energy of several clutches, but luckily not the belly." K'laon laughed. That would be a disaster.
K'laon had a lot of experience bathing a dragon that didn't hold still by now. It didn't do him any good. "It's impossible to miss spots when I'm bathing Amirinth. On her or me." At least when it came to getting wet, which was usually all she wanted. A good soaking, then a spot clean.
But despite it seeming like a small job, particularly on a dragon her size, it took a good long time.
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Post by ShadowReine on Jul 9, 2011 16:36:01 GMT -5
B'can laughed. "Oh, Apolloth has drenched me more than one. I think they should warn candidates that liking water is a qualification to ride a dragon."
He flickered a grin over his shoulder towards the tan. Who just snorted at him. "Still, at least it's warm right now. I have to admit, winter stopped being my favorite season the first winter after I Impressed."
Bathing in cold water was not very enjoyable for humans, but the dragons seemed to love and adore it. Of course, they had hide designed to take Between. He didn't.
"Still. She's a pretty green...I can say that right now, as Jorindath isn't around to hear."
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 12, 2011 19:14:53 GMT -5
"Nah, they find out soon enough." Getting drenched by dragons was one of the first tasks Candidates partook in. If they didn't like that, well, they were at the top of a mountain and not getting a ride out. Someone would have to really hate water to hike back home just to avoid it.
K'laon laughed. "Heh, yeah. It's a lot colder up here." He could blame Amirinth for not liking winter much too, partly because she didn't like it much, and mostly because she still made a point of soaking him every chance she got. That improved winter a lot for her. She had no problem with the cold water, she simply disliked the lack of warm sun to lie in, not that she did a lot of that.
He looked Amirinth's way again, and saw a giant, crazy, green winged lizard dancing the middle of a lake. Pretty? Well, she wasn't ugly. "Just not pretty enough for Apolloth, I figure. Pity, it'll ruin all her plans."
His loss, Amirinth rumbled. She didn't mind too much.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 14, 2011 18:00:15 GMT -5
B'can laughed. "The only dragon Apolloth has chased since catching Jorindath was Nayarath...and Jorindath pouted for over a sevenday about it, too. Can't keep him from chasing the senior. Not as ambitious as he is. But he's all over greens, these days."
Nope. No greens for the proud tan...well. Maybe. If he lost Jorindath. "Still. Amirinth IS a pretty green. If a little...hyperactive. She hasn't really grown up, has she."
An overgrown hatchling, that was Amirinth. Not that B'can thought that was necessarily a bad thing.
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 14, 2011 18:19:51 GMT -5
"No good taking risks with queens." Jorindath was the most easygoing of the queens, but even she wouldn't be happy with a mate who took a break from her to catch a green. Apolloth catching Amirinth might do some damage to the good terms K'laon had with Inolyn too.
Hard to say on that, since he wasn't even sure whether they were good terms or if she had just found him useful for sneaking her out of the Weyr. Whichever it was, probably best he didn't bring it up with B'can.
"No. But she'd hardly be exciting if she ever did." It would be very unlike a Green to ever show a sign of maturity.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 15, 2011 22:55:00 GMT -5
B'can grinned. "Rather you than me...but then, there's a reason I didn't Impress green." Not just sexuality, but he really did not have the...personality many of the greenriders seemed to have, especially the male ones.
"I honestly thought I'd Impress brown," he added. "But Apolloth saw something in me. He's far more ambitious than I am, though."
He thought back to when he had thought he was in love with a goldrider who's dragon didn't like tans. He was glad he had got out of *that* situation...even if he did somewhat miss seeing her around.
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 16, 2011 10:56:50 GMT -5
K'laon chuckled. "I think I lot of people have a reason they didn't." He was pretty sure "I Impressed a Tan instead" was plenty good enough, but it was something people still needed to make excuses about. He didn't mind. They were generally funny.
"Well, there's a reason I didn't Impress a Bronze, and she's throwing a party in the middle of the lake." Tans hadn't existed when K'laon stood.
"That's what I was planning on getting, until she started talking to me." He was okay with that now. After all these years of riding a dragon, K'laon had learned that having a dragon that came with minimum responsibilities was pretty great.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 18, 2011 20:55:09 GMT -5
B'can grinned a bit. "I suppose we each have our perfect color. If there weren't any tans, I guess I would have got a brown. Or maybe a bronze." One or the other, but certainly no green or blue.
"And I certainly wouldn't trade Apolloth in for anything. He's silly too, mind, in his own way. Thinks he's the best thing out there." All the vain and ambitious dragons around...the white, he heard, was one of the worst...
"He's certainly amongst the most handsome."
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 19, 2011 10:49:40 GMT -5
K'laon shrugged. "Probably." At least he didn't have to worry about there not being any greens. That, he was pretty sure, was something that would never happen.
"The vain ones generally look pretty silly. And they don't often know it, which makes it all the funnier." K'laon laughed. He could never help but chuckle at that white, who thought he was all that when he was even smaller than Amirinth.
"Well, so long has he's got something to brag about." Apolloth was a handsome dragon, there was no doubting it. He was also big and strong and had caught a queen. He had plenty of things.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 19, 2011 19:01:02 GMT -5
"If he didn't, he'd go all out to find something new to brag about." Which was why he chased queens in the first place, but he had, definitely, developed real and genuine affection for Jorindath. Or perhaps it was simply an echo of the deep feelings B'can had.
"If all else failed, he'd probably goad dragons into a hunting contest or a race or something. Of course, Amirinth could beat him over short distances." Like all greens, she was built to sprint and turn and be agile enough to fly rings around the larger beasts. "But a fair race would have to be like color to like color, I suppose. Or at least a separation between the smaller and larger dragons. Maybe we should do one at a gather."
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 20, 2011 13:19:03 GMT -5
"Dragon racing." K'laon considered. They'd need a lot of room. Sure, the sky was empty, but the area around a gather was not. The heights that dragons usually crowded on wouldn't serve as a great takeoff spot for a race.
"I don't know that every dragon would be interested," nor every rider, "but I have no doubt about the Greens." And there were plenty of them to put on a good show.
Most of the Tans and Bronzes would probably participate too. While it would be a bit disappointing to not have a queen to win at the end of the race, it would be a very good chance to show off for them.
"But the Weyrleaders stopped the games when Thread started falling again. I don't think a race is all that dangerous, but they might not go for it." L'han might, actually, he seemed pretty laid back. But K'laon didn't know about Kora.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 20, 2011 14:16:40 GMT -5
B'can nodded. "Well, the games were meant to be to keep our skills sharp for Thread. Rather less needed if we have the real thing. I admit in part I was thinking of using this to try and get the young people out of hiding. We had a certain shortage of Candidates for Nayarath's last clutch and I worry about Jori's next."
Without Candidates, the dragons and the Weyr could not survive, but B'can understood why not everyone wanted to be a rider. Or let their offspring become riders. They needed more children in the lower caverns, too. There were some, but not nearly enough...
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 22, 2011 11:02:56 GMT -5
Yes, they were. But K'laon enjoyed them a lot more than fighting Thread. No good risking injury on silly things when there was that to deal with though. And there were still many Turns of Thread ahead of them.
"People aren't used to us needing so many Candidates." They had gone from one queen laying small clutches to several queens all bringing healthy clutches in the matter of a decade. "But even when people thought Thread was gone, we always pulled together enough."
He wasn't too worried about that. "Besides, Nayarath's last clutch hatched in the middle of winter. Who wants to come up here then?" He laughed. "When Jorindath hatches a clutch in the middle of summer, kid'll all be longing to get up here with some cooler weather."
...Maybe not. But it could have something to do with it.
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Post by ShadowReine on Aug 22, 2011 18:55:47 GMT -5
B'can nodded. "And with thread having been gone for so long, I think we lost some of the momentum needed to convince young people to join us."
There had been no problems convincing him, but then, he had always had a fairly strong sense of duty. "But I suspect Amirinth would be quite willing to do plenty of showing off to attract recruits. So would Tyrth, from what I know of him."
Of course, they probably didn't want too many kids wanting white dragons, given their extreme rarity, but Tyrth did have the advantage of being small...
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Post by Sparrow on Aug 23, 2011 15:24:20 GMT -5
K'laon chuckled. "There's no question about that, and I wouldn't doubt Tyrth either. Although I can't quite see them performing together."
They could very well just sit Tyrth down with Nayarath and let them show off the range of size dragons had. Most people were Searched by small dragons; it might do them good to have a look at just how big and majestic they came, as well as how small and... not-so-intimidating.
And then they could also warn them that they probably wouldn't be getting either of the colors they were seeing, but he imagined both probably wouldn't mind sitting around being admired. Any Bronze wouldn't mind that either, but a Green would likely have trouble.
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