It's a hard knock life... [Open]

[Mandy]

75.04.10

She was late…

The dull sound of boots thudding against the dirt paired with shallow breathing softly echoed through the silent early morning, bouncing off the dimly lit trees that bordered the path. The girl held back a shudder, uncomfortable with the eeriness of her surroundings at this time of day. If there was one thing Calyx wasn't used to, it was the jungle. She had been accepted as an apprentice beastcrafter almost a fortnight ago however the daily trek to the stables still offered a sense of unfamiliarity she couldn't quite get accustomed to yet. She missed the openness of the fields and farmlands of her home. At least there it didn't feel like something was going to jump out from behind a patch of dense green plant life and attack you. Although that scenario was highly unlikely, Calyx’s overactive imagination tended to get the best of her at times.

“Shards, you're so late Cal.” She berated herself, shaking her head causing her messy braid of brown hair to flop over her shoulder. Normally she was a very punctual individual, but this morning she had overheard some candidates talking about a firelizard hatching a couple days ago and couldn't resist listening in. Now as she had to run nearly two thirds the long distance to the stables, she was regretting it. She slowed her pace as she neared the end of the main path through the jungle in order to catch her breath, her lungs beginning to burn. I hope I’m not in any trouble… she thought ruefully as she wiped her brow with the back of her hand. The roofs of the stables atop the hills that lined the fields slowly came into view and she huffed, returning her pace to a brisk jog up the path towards them. She could already hear the group of pregnant herdbeasts locked in their paddocks complaining to be let out to graze and made her way over to them first.

“Alright girls, I’m going, I’m going... I’m sorry.” She spoke loudly, letting the moaning beasts know she was there as she moved to slide open the heavy gate connecting their paddocks to a path that led into the fields, the hinges creaking loudly. The beasts quickly shuffled through the opening, and Calyx noticed a few new calves frolicking alongside their mothers. She smiled at their antics in reaction to their new-found freedom before briskly walking up the hill to the stalls. “And now I've got some shoveling to do.” She sighed, rubbed her hands together and grabbed a pitchfork.


(OOC: Meh, I'm still rather rusty so it's a shorty. ;_;)

[summerrain]

Kokoro stretched. She'd been up for a while already, tending the fields. Being a Weyrling didn't mean she could skip her craft chores. She reached up to her right shoulder, intending to pet Spark a bit, only to find that he had vanished. And a while ago. The soft, quiet chirp from the Flitlet on her left shoulder caught her attention. She nodded, closing her eyes. Dusk showed her a picture of Spark flying off toward the stalls where the herdbeasts were held. Kokoro sighed. Causing trouble again... She began the walk up the hill to the stalls.

The RR Flame flit was bored. His was not being fun, just working at digging the hard ground and pulling little-green things-that-tasted-bad. All green things tasted bad to him though. He knew someone else would be awake, and so he went and flew up the hill. He saw a girl there, letting out the big things that big-cousin-dragon Angeth liked to eat. They were too big for him though. He knew he'd seen he big-Gold-Queen-dragon blood a few of them at least. The big-cousin-dragons could do a lot more than little him could, but there were things he could do because he was small.

He chirped at the girl, landing on the wood that kept the big-dragon-food things from getting lost. He tilted his head to look at her, curious. This was a new girl. He hasn't seen her before, and her smell was new too.

"Spark! Don't fly off like that!" Kokoro said as she crested the hill. Spark flew over to her and landed on her right shoulder, nuzzling her neck. Her gaze softened and she rubbed his head with a few fingers.

"I'm Kokoro," she told the girl. "I work in the fields, but I'm also a Weyrling rider of White Angeth. Pleasure to meet you." She smiled, her strange grey eyes almost appearing blue in the early light.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K'tar had never expected to miss herdbeasts, and while he didn't exactly miss them, he did miss working them using runnerbeasts. After all, it was a different thing to use a dragon to drive a herd.

Emerging from the stable with reins in hand, he dragged in a deep breath of air. He might miss the drier air of Stormy Plains, but early morning had always been a favorite time of his in no small part due to the crisp smell of the air. Now that he had more time in his schedule, being a full rider, he had taken to visiting some of the runnerbeasts in the stables, and even gotten to ride a couple of them through the herdbeast fields.

Hearing voices and moaning herdbeasts, followed by the sound of quickly moving hooves, K'tar glanced over and grinned at the baby herdbeasts. Suddenly, he just had to get closer. Swinging into the saddle with the ease of long practice, he trotted along the hill line, waving to the people that he saw out and about.

Rounding the corner of another stable, he saw Kokoro talking to another girl, one he didn't think he'd met before. Curious, he rode over.

"Hello," he said, grinning as he rubbed the black runnerbeast's neck and lengthened the reins so that it could stretch. He nodded to Kokoro, then turned to the other girl.

"I'm K'tar Damoyen, of Purple Viarth." The light caught his eyes at a slightly different angle than it did Kokoro's eyes, so that his looked mostly grey.