More... guidelines, then actual rules (Barlow)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

3075.06.09|Technically Morning

K’tar was, contrary to the opinions of many of those who’d had the misfortune to try and teach him something he wasn’t interested in, a smart young man. Unfortunately, that only exacerbated boredom. Sure, it was exciting to be a full rider, but it had been nearly six months, and despite all the things he had to do, he wasn’t as busy as he’d been as a Weyrling, and it showed. He was, quite frankly, bored. Had he still been at Stormy Plains, he would doubtless have found Jatheiron, Talerian, Farnaj, or Keralt and put together something to do with them, but he wasn’t, and he hadn’t seen Barlow around the last couple of nights when he went out walking.

I wonder what’s up with that, normally he’s out and about pretty frequently.

K’tar glanced around the room one more time, and realized he already knew exactly what he was going to do. Barlow, buddy, here I come!


K’tar wasn’t as stealthy as Barlow was, but he’d done his share of sneaking around, and he was at least as good as a talented amateur back at Stormy Plains. In short, he was capable of getting from his room to the Candidate Barracks without being detected. There was a brief, nerve-wracking moment when the Wherling pair on watch near the Barracks almost spotted him, but he managed to duck around a corner before the other kid got a second look.

I have got to get better at sneaking, K’tar thought as he glanced quickly up and down the hall that led to the Barracks. There was, much to his relief, no one currently anywhere along it, and he slipped across it to the Barracks and made for Barlow’s room.

Tap. Pause. TapTapTap.

Tap. Pause. TapTapTap.

Stepping back from the door, K’tar waited. He had to keep reminding himself not to shift his weight. Motion, as he actually knew pretty well, was a very good way to attract the attention of guards, and he had no intention of getting spotted by any such people.

[Shoki]

Barlow was lying on his bed, petting Kit on his stomach. The Pink was crooning, happy for the attention. The vibration felt like a feline purring, which always seemed to be the case. He wasn’t tired really. Even with everything he had already done tonight. He hadn’t even bothered to change yet. Kit seemed to like the smell anyway. He was mostly used to it. It was dark in his room, and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now. The faint noise of Kit was suddenly broken up by a patterned knock at the door. Kit perked up, and was scooped up as Barlow sat up and listened at the door. After a moment of silence he silently opened the door and checked to make sure K’tar was there, and he was in fact alone. Of course K’tar could see him now. He was dressed, but his pant legs had slurry splashed on them, or at least the remains of slurry. Kit had decided the stuff was pretty tasty and gotten some of it off. He looked worn out, but mostly he smelled of the meat mixture. After looking around once he motioned for K’tar to come in, mostly because talking in the door way was obviously a cause for attention. Better to talk inside.

“What’s up K’tar?” Barlow looked up at K’tar, judging his rider friend. It was weird to think of K’tar as a rider, it felt rather out of place. “I haven’t seen you in a while.” Kit chirped in his arms before crawling up his arm to get a better look at K’tar. She did that when she wanted to look at a person properly. Barlow was a good half foot shorter then K’tar, so she had to do that to get closer. She then settled down and started to croon again.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

As soon as the door opened to reveal Barlow, complete with Kit’s Pink form in his arms, K’tar broke into a grin. It really had been far too much time since he’d seen the other boy, what with graduations and new rider duties, and then he’d heard from a couple of the Wherlings that Barlow’d done something and was helping WherHandler Dalonia as a result. Whatever it was she had the boy doing, at elast it hadn’t cost him life or limb yet, something K’tar was glad for as he slipped into the room and closed the door.

“Not much,” K’tar answered, still grinning. He reached out to stroke the very tip of Kit’s nose, then continued: “I had to get all the extra stuff they threw at me out of the way. You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to make and clean five new sets of flight straps.”

He shook his head ruefully. “What about you?” he asked. “I heard something about you having to help Ol’ Carrion-breath and his handler, but not why. What’d you do to convince them you were the man for the job?”

He paused, and his grin broadened as he met Barlow’s eyes. Excitement seemed to radiate from him, and he was clearly rearing to go. “Do you want to come sneak up on the Wherlings?”

[Shoki]

Kit looked very pleased with K’tar and continued her ‘purring’ as she settled down. Barlow smirked a little at K’tar, happy to hear at least that he wasn’t complaining about being a rider too much. He wanted to be there in the future. Still, he had to be patient. He shook of the thought and turned his attention back to his friend.

“Doesn’t sound that bad. I’ve been doing the usual. Chores for Candidacy, lessons for Dragonhealing, anything for the Whers that gets shouted my way.” He paused, thinking about how to word how exactly got into this situation. “Not sure how I managed it, but it’s better than either beatings, chains or being slipped drugs every night, which were the other options.” He didn’t mention anything about Moraiya’s creepy attempts a being gentle. It freaked him out and he’d really rather not think about it. “Got careless, one of the Wher’s caught me heading out. Good chance to learn more about what makes them tick though. “ He might not have been excited for all the things he had to do, but it certainly was interesting. He was like that, always interested in everything. When K’tar asked a question he sighed, just a little.

“So you want me in trouble with Moraiya AND Dalonia? Remind me why we hang out again?” Barlow looked vaguely amused even so, even if he wasn’t extremely expressive. However this did sound basically harmless and it wasn’t like he was tired. He only looked worn out. “How exactly do you plan to sneak up on them anyway?”

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar laughed. “Because we both like to have fun,” he suggested, laughter still dancing through his eyes. “They can’t be that hard to sneak up on, Dalonia’s been doing it do them to make them stay alert,” he commented. “I was thinking about sneaking up on the closer ones,” he shrugged, “Shouldn’t be hard, we can use the stands and Weyr Heights for cover until we’re really close in, and at that point all we have to do is wait ‘till whoever it is isn’t watching.”

Reaching into his pocket, K’tar pulled out some squishy fruit skins. “I was thinking we could put this in their pockets, down their backs, or whatever. Maybe just snipe from a distance, although we’d still have to be pretty close, because this stuff won’t travel far. What do you think?” He grinned. “Or we can stop by the beach, pick up some seaweed, like that one time.”

[Shoki]

Barlow listened while stroking Kit. K’tar wasn’t bad at planning these sort of things, but he always felt that they needed refining. His method of sneaking was not the problem here though. He reached out and took one of the fruit skins examining it. Yeah, this was not going to do at all. He could tell. Just to make sure he moved his hand quickly and it vanished from his hand, up his sleeve. The feeling of the skin wasn’t the problem. The problem was he knew what would happen when he tried to sneak it out onto something. His hand moved again and the skin slipped out and hit the wall near the door.

“Seaweed is much better. It does not shift shape as much. Throws off my aim.” He went to pick up the fruit skin and tossed it into his waste basket. That one had gotten rather destroyed after hitting the wall. He would clean the wall up later. Keeping his room clean was really easy for him, so he would just get to it when he normally cleaned up. “Besides, heading over to the beach can give us a second to chat.” Barlow glanced at the rider and smirked.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Seaweed it is then!” K’tar declared, his grin not interfering in the slightest with this proclamation. He was already looking forward to this.

Just thought I’d point out, you used to tell me that irritating people was bad.

This isn’t irritating people though, this is preparing to have a great deal of fun while aiding people in the practice of their future duties. Besides, they won’t know it was us.

Viarth sent an image of rolling eyes.

K’tar rolled his eyes, then shot Barlow a grin.

“Viarth’s being a tease again,” he commented. Stepping to one side, he opened the door a crack and peered around it. “Clear. Forth the stalkers! Find the seaweed!” he exclaimed in a whisper, slipping out into the hall.

[Shoki]

Barlow observed the telltale silent and deviation of attention that meant a conversation with ones dragon. K’tar was back in a moment though, and Barlow could tell that whatever had been said, hadn’t dampened his enthusiasm. Barlow was used to everyone around him having another mind to talk to, wherever they were. He did wonder sometimes. Barlow went to the door with K’tar and let the Purple rider lead the way. With nearly silent footfalls he followed him out and closed the door behind him. Kit settled on his shoulder, gripping him enough that she wouldn’t be tossed around as he moved. Her pale hide was a boon, so that she didn’t stand out too much compared to others of her color.

The fact that working as an assistant to the Wherlings helped him get out at night was no small irony to Barlow. He could more easily plan a root that would navigate around those that were most impossible to escape from. He motioned to K’tar when the found the path he most liked, though it was a touch roundabout. A little bit further, a few twists and turns and they were out into the night air, though that was still only half way there. More careful steps and avoidance of areas and they were out of the normal patrols and toward the beach, where it was much safer to take a breath and talk a bit.

“Not too bad. So. How have you and Chantrea been getting along?” As She was no longer a Weyrling and K’tar was a rider, he hadn’t heard anything from them directly. Not that Barlow was particularly familiar with her. So he asked. Rather bluntly it seemed.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Grinning while skulking was never a wise idea. Skulking around a well guarded Weyr after dark was also never a wise idea. K'tar knew this, but then, he'd never been a particularly wise person, as he was demonstrating that very instant in fact, by skulking around the Weyr while grinning like a maniac. Of course, now that he was a full Rider, he could, technically, go anywhere he wanted in the Weyr at any time he wanted, outside of a few important private areas, but his companion in travel could not, and so he followed Barlow through first the internal areas of the Weyr, then the Wherling-patrolled outer areas.

Not long after they were out of easy earshot of the Wherlings, Barlow decided to start the conversation with a subject that made K'tar sigh. He hadn't been able to talk with Chantrea in weeks, for, although Senior Weyrlings were supposed to have more time off, it didn't seem to be working out that way in her case.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to her in awhile," K'tar admitted. He'd intended to stop there, but his mouth had opened once more before he could stop it. "The Senior Weyrlings are supposed to have more time, but it's like everyone with any power is trying to make sure that we don't have time to talk, all her out periods line up with my Wing practices!"

[Shoki]

Barlow watched K’tar was he spoke, obviously unhappy with the current predicament. He looked more than a little frustrated with how things were. He could sympathize. It had been pretty clear to Barlow at the start how K’tar felt and well with schedules conspiring, that wasn’t going to make him feel good.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure that Wing practice isn’t being scheduled to keep you two apart.” Barlow liked trying to figure out how things worked around the Weyr. Wing practices weren’t new, they were always around the same time. As for the new Weyrling master, well Barlow was still trying to see how he operated. Barlow was also busy a good deal. During the day anyway. “I could try getting notes to her if you don’t already have that covered.” Barlow looked thoughtful. He wasn’t sure of any other way to help out. But then again, maybe he didn’t really want help, maybe it was something he wanted to try at alone. “That is, if you wanted.”

It wasn’t too long before the beach was up on them. The sand was going to have to be shook of his shoes before they ventured back, no reason to give more sign then they had to. Kit poked her head out and nuzzled Barlow’s head, attempting to mess up his hair. He got the hint and picked her up and placed her at his feet so she could bounce around. He swore she thought she was a feline. Oh she could (and did) fly but when given the choice, she would just as likely use her feet or get Barlow to carry her. Selfish little brat. Still, she wasn’t bad he supposed.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K'tar was silent for a few seconds, turning the options over in his head. He knew that Barlow was right. There was no way that a Wing's practice time was being adjusted to make sure that a new rider and a Senior Weyrling didn't have any overlap in their schedules, and in fairness, there had been only minor scheduling changes since K'tar himself had been a senior Weyrling, and that was due to the change in Weyrling Master.

"Actually, if you would, that'd be awesome," K'tar admitted, smiling.

Upon reaching the beach, K'tar quickly tied his trousers over his boots, so that no sand would get in his shoes.

"Have you talked with your family recently?" K'tar asked, standing up and starting to walk forward again. "Kit, you're such a feline," he added to Barlow's little Pink.

[Shoki]

Barlow smirked a touch, glad that his suggestion was well received. He did like being able to help out his friends. How every many he actually had.

“Barlow Courier service, ready at your convenience then.” His dry words gave way to a sketched out bow, before he got hit with a question about his parents. He got lost in thought rather quickly then.

Kit, knowing she was being referred to, turned back for a moment, looking almost smug. She flicked her tail once, and then proceeded with her walk on the sand. She was a cheeky little creature. She also knew very well what she was being compared to. Barlow had introduced her to one once. She felt she was much better. She just pretended there weren’t a great many similarities in her personality and that of those creatures.

“We talk sometimes. They are busy, I’m busy. They don’t often check much more then to see how I’m doing. It’s what we have time for.” Of course, that was what was said. There were more silent assumptions to be made. He hadn’t impressed yet, he wasn’t knowledgeable enough about dragonhealing. So he was just an unimpressed candidate. It left them with a bad taste. Kelath and Ildath had always seemed to feel that he might impress. After a while though, it seemed to be straining on his parents. He didn’t let it bother him much, but he did consider them in his ambitions, if only to ease their minds some. “They think I should grow an inch or two. Might catch a dragonet’s eye with that.” No joke, they had some awful concoctions that they recommended to encourage that. Barlow had just pointed out that dragonets decided mentally, and if he really needed it, he’d stand on tiptoe.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar laughed. “If Impressions were based on height, then how did that girl at Viarth’s Hatching, Sakalas wasn’t it, Impress? She couldn’t’ve been more than four eight if she was anything.” He fell silent for a second, reflecting on the accurateness of Kit’s impersonation of a feline.

“So, how much seaweed can you carry hidden?” K’tar asked, bending over to scoop up and test the texture of some seaweed. Alas, it was too dry, he needed something wetter and stickier. He tested another clump, then another. Neither was appropriate, one was too wet, the other too sticky. Finally, clump number six was close to ideal.

“Say, Barlow, what do you think of this clump here?” he asked, tossing some of the seaweed for Barlow to catch.

[Shoki]

“I said about as much. Besides, I don’t try to hide at hatchings, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Okay, maybe he got really quiet while observing, but you weren’t supposed to be talking really. “Besides, then no one would impress before seventeen if it was all height.” He remembered a few of the male candidates who just shot up to six foot. Not all of them impressed. There were no guarantees. “I think they’re just trying to fix something that isn’t really broken. I appreciate their trying anyway.” He sighed just a little bit. He really did, it just was rather annoying at times.

“A fair bit. Four decent shots worth, assuming it all holds together.” Barlow started perusing the beach, getting a look for stuff that had washed up. Really wet seaweed, a few twigs, and a seashell. Not too much interesting. When he heard K’tar he looked up and caught the seaweed that was tossed to him. “Looks good. I’ll hold onto it then.” It quickly vanished. One down, few more to go.

“What about you? Had time to get over to Stormy Plains to talk with your lot?” Not that Senior Weyrlings weren’t allowed to duck out on their dragons from time to time, but there were more excuses with a properly graduated rider he supposed. A recently spotted clump of seaweed was picked up and tested. Not too bad. It disappeared as well.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’tar nodded at Barlow’s statement of how much seaweed he could hold. Four shots worth was actually a decent amount of seaweed. When Barlow approved the seaweed from clump number six, K’tar grabbed another shot’s worth from it. He would have taken more, but the quality of the seaweed degraded noticeably towards the edges of the clump, and clump six had not been a large clump. Walking on a little ways, K’tar stopped to inspect another clump, discounted it as too old and a little on the dry side, and moved on to another. It wasn’t easy to do using only moon- and star-light, but it wasn’t terrible either.

“Some,” K’tar answered. “My dad’s usually pretty busy, I haven’t been able to talk to him since about two months before my graduation. I have gotten to see Jatheiron and his family though.” K’tar grinned, remembering the last visit. Not that they’d done anything crazy, just ridden around, raced each other, gone swimming. “Farnaj, Keralt, and I did trick the steward once, sent him running off all trying to untangle the whole mess. Served him right for being such an old stick.”

K’tar had to stifle a laugh against his arm. “His face when he found out… man it was worth it all just for that look.” He tested another clump of seaweed, this one passed muster, and he added it to his small collection.

“Do you know which Wherlings are on duty in each location?” K’tar asked, glancing over at Barlow.