Caprine Dance (Open)

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

((3078.11.28 | Shimmer Bay, mountains thereof))

Kelradek, Kel, K'rad, had asked no questions of how his dragon, midnight Belegurth, had managed to escape from the Weyr and make it here. It hadn't mattered, and now they were together again, though the caprines weren't so sure that having a resident dragon was a good thing.

That's because they're tasty... and nothing else, Belegurth observed. Being that he currently had a double handful of the baby caprines climbing on him, an observer might have been inclined to doubt the veracity of that statement.

K'rad, who knew perfectly well the statement was false (or at least, not the only truth), was sprawled out on his dragon's back, watching the sky darken towards evening. They'd been able to do more flying, at least after dark, over the past several months, though his endurance and ability to actually fight still had yet to recover fully.

Sometimes, he wondered if there was even a point. His family was dead, after all. Long dead and gone, now, and yet still he practiced, still he trained, and kept it secret from those who had taken them in. It wasn't their problem, wasn't anything they'd been involved with.

K'rad, Kel, lay still a moment longer, than vaulted to the ground, spinning to attack an imaginary person...

The caprine hadn't been there when he'd started the blow, and bleated agony when it landed. He'd shifted his point of aim, but not enough, or maybe in the wrong direction. Animals had different target spots than people did, and he'd trained to eliminate people, not animals.

Senses that had been half-dormant alerted, ramping up. A sound filtered in and Kel stilled, ready to move quickly, as Belegurth scanned the surroundings for any indication of who was approaching.

[Kaya]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kh'sol protested as the goat retreated towards him. "Maybe don't try and off my family's livelihood." He swept up the juvenile caprine to calm it. "You're getting jumpier the healthier you two get," he commented, looking at the much improved pair. His family had asked why the young Rider didn't simply go back. His original excuse had long since expired. And Kh'sol had really offered no explanation, only to bring things as he could to offset the cost of keeping a mouth around, even one that was supposedly family (by some extension).

"How far did you fly today?"

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

An instant later K'rad (and Belegurth, though to a lesser extent) was standing outwardly relaxed once more. Kh'sol was no threat, after all.

"Wasn't there when I started," K'rad half-protested. He didn't bother to address the point about jumpiness. He knew he was getting more alert, harder to sneak up on. He held to that, and tried not to think about his family, his little sister playing with her dolls.

Please let them just have laid down and never woken up. Let it have been without fear.

He didn't even know who he begged. Surely if Faranth could hear his words, she'd reject him out of hand.

"Not too far yet. Been doing most of it after dark," he answered.

Belegurth, for his part, simply watched.

[Kaya]

"Fair, fair," Kh'sol shrugged, giving the caprine a last calming pat before pivoting it back down. It was off without hesitation, retreating from K'rad and back towards Belegurth. Kh'sol watched him go in amusement.

"Well, keep it up," he idled. He wondered how it had all come to this, a break out left undiscovered - the truth of it anyhow - and the strain on the herding folk. He hoped it wasn't too much, with K'rad in any case, with what help he was able to offer. Belegurth on the other hand, well, dragons were difficult enough to manage the feeding and keeping of in the Weyr. He wasn't sure if K'rad realized yet that it would be better for his family if sooner, rather than later, he found his way up and on through the sky to other pastures, so to speak. "And you? Mom feeding you enough?" he shuffled his feet in the dust and looked around into the dusky hills. The cooling summer air, he felt Ornoth and his firelizards relishing in it. Still, something felt off. Maybe it was just the nagging feeling that secrets caused, usually ignorable except when confronted.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

“Don’t worry,” K’rad promised, smiling easily — and mostly falsely. Something in him detected a strain, or thought it did, a strain echoing other strain, detected at edges. “Belegurth has no more desire to stay ground-bound than any dragon.”

Which was true. Belegurth yearned to be gone, to be free and unfindable and safe. K’rad yearned for those same things, although his heart still ached for the friends that he’d left behind. Most especially those that had seen to his escape here.

“Is she ever!” K’rad exclaimed, and that much was indeed true. Kh’sol’s mother seemed determined to feed him enough for a much larger youth, which was at least helping him gain raw strength back faster.

“Your mom’s an amazing cook.”

[Kaya]

He smiled at the good report, particularly regarding his family. Siridin had confirmed as much, that K'rad was eating and behaving as well as any teenager could be expected. His brother was sure to emphasize that he, Kh'sol, had done no better in his youth. The improvement in K'rad these last months was night and day, he had recovered so much. "Good."

"Sun's headed down. Once it's gone, why don't you show me what you've been working on?" he asked.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

Outwardly, K’rad remained as he had begun, a young man excited and caught up in happiness and friendship.

Inwardly, however… inwardly he hesitated. It was never good, to allow anyone to know what you were fully capable of.

Show little, than?

K’rad sighed mentally. He didn’t like looking less capable than he was, but Belegurth was right.

“I’d love to,” K’rad replied, smiling. A smile that faltered a moment later. “You won’t get in trouble for staying that long, will you?”

[Kaya]

"You mind yourself and don't worry about me," Kh'sol shrugged, wondering if K'rad's expression change was concern. The two of them had never been particularly buddy buddy, but friendship wasn't necessary; Cyanee had asked him to do the right thing, so he had.

Kh'sol stood there watching the horizon shift through many colors and grow dark. He was thankful for his life at the Weyr, most of all for Ornoth (despite his many demands), but the evenings here were vastly superior.

I am not that demanding, the Brown protested.

Sure.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’rad stepped back a little at Kh’sol’s words, glancing down and rounding his shoulders slightly, as he once would have in the face of Nalkeldar’s displeasure, in an attempt at placation. Not something he particularly enjoyed doing, but he both owed Kh’sol and Cyan his life and — as before — knew that Belegurth had a point. A very good point, in fact, and one that a childhood as a drudge had reinforced several times. Blending in and seeming harmless were the best way to make sure you weren’t hurt.

The sky continued to darken towards evening, then deeper, as Rukbat settled deeper below the horizon.

“Still game?” K’rad asked Kh’sol, smiling slightly up at the older boy.

[Kaya]

"A'course," he affirmed, shrugging a shoulder and turning to Ornoth. He climbed up his Brown dragon with the ease of practice. It was starting to get cooler with the light fading so Kh'sol closed up his riding jacket. He was ready to go.

[Ghost of Fire (Fëanáro)]

K’rad’s smile broadened, and he leapt up to catch the makeshift straps and climb up onto Belegurth.

Let’s go! he near-whooped in excitement, silent though it was. Even if he was going to be showing just a little, even if he was going to be deliberately showing himself to far less than best effect, the prospect of actually doing something was a balm.

Gathering himself, Belegurth sprang into the air, swooping slowly, carefully, from side to side. Things could serve multiple purposes, at least, and if a warm up could also be used to make one look less skilled…

Well neither Belegurth nor K’rad truly objected to that. Not enough, at least, to refrain from using it.

After all, the world was far less happy and relaxed than people liked to pretend, and if anyone knew that, they certainly did.

[Kaya]

Ornoth took off after Belegurth into the cool sky. Kh'sol sunk into feeling, letting the feeling of take off outpace the other thoughts for a few moments. The view was both familiar and strange, seeing his longtime home from above instead of from the hills below. Ornoth even soaked up a little excitement, adding a flourish here and there.

Kh'sol watched them. They were doing well. Belegurth could fly. That meant he could easily go anywhere, could hunt, could disappear from his family soon. He couldn't burden them forever with this, even if it were right to be free, right for Cyan. He hoped K'rad felt it. That the next move was coming.