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Post by M'kel on May 15, 2008 13:51:42 GMT -5
((For all of you who wanted a piece of my dear M'kel and felt crowded out by the thread in the Lower Caverns, ta da!))
((Won't I look like a fool if no one joins this? lol))
It had been a wearisome day, to say the least. An early rising (Sitareh had pushed him out of bed to wake him) had been followed by a trip to the Pyramid Mountain Hold, accompanied by a conversation with a shrew-faced Lord Holder who scoffed at the mention of 'Thread', resulting in the day's eventual culmination in flaming the Hold's heights. M'kel had become so furious with the snickers and rolling eyes that answered his every request to prepare the Hold for Thread that he had mounted Tirenth and taken off from the Hold's courtyard, blasting between without a goodbye.
However, the fool had not been free of them, for the pair had soon returned, Tirenth with a belly full of firestone. M'kel directed his bronze along the Hold's heights, flaming a wide swath of the unruly greens that festered there. When they had 'accidentally' set on fire a large portion of the Hold's fields adjacent to the heights, the Weyrleader merely shrugged and claimed lack of practice. It was true that Tirenth had not practiced much since arriving in this time, as M'kel had often chosen to escape to a cove rather than join the practices, but his aim had not deteriorated that badly. Surprisingly enough, the Lord Holder was a lot more willing to submit to the Weyrleader's demands thereafter.
With that problem finally solved, M'kel was now up to his chest in the Lake, scrubbing vigorously at Tirenth's expansive and filthy hide. The bronze's head was underwater with most of his lids closed in contentment, and an occasional bubble floated up to burst at the surface. The bronzerider paused often to splash water on his own face, feeling the heat of Rukbat on his bare back and the day's stress weighing on his shoulders.
"Bloody Lord Holder..." he growled, moving onto Tirenth's shoulder.
Mhm...
"Oh yes, it's nice for you, isn't it? Get to do some fun little flaming, then be bathed by me while you lie there dreaming about flirty greens."
Mhm...
"When did you get so big, anyways?" M'kel finally paused, leaning against his bronze's bulk and closing his eyes to rest for a moment.
Tirenth's eyes whirled open in response, giving his rider an indignant look. When I was a Weyrling, you were always telling me to eat more! 'Eat another wherry, Tirenth. You're going to be the biggest bronze in the Weyr!'
M'kel chuckled fondly, patting the dragon's back. "Right you are, right you are. How naive I was..."
In response, Tirenth swung his tail through the water, sending a small wave crashing over his rider. M'kel ducked his head, crying out in surprise, then laughed and began scrubbing once again.
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Post by .K.aci on May 28, 2008 22:04:15 GMT -5
A Headwoman's job is to see everything, and this round, stout woman did so. She saw everything, knew everything, and nothing ever got by her. Except, of course, for Crown. Faranth, the young drudge made her eye twitch every time she saw her. When the matron asked for her, she was never there unless it endeavored her to be there. When she wasn't needed, she was in the way. A few times the woman had caught the fire that wasn't in most drudges, a duty reserved for those heavily punished and those that were simpletons. This girl was... Well, she had had papers, orders from the young lord of a near-by cothold that the girl was to be a drudge in the Weyr. Crown had offered no complaints, and when forced to do work, did it well, efficiently. The trick was to catch her before she tried to run away.
'Crown!'
Brought between two of the older kitchen woman, Crown felt like a prisoner. She had been found sneaking out again, and while normally she wasn't caught, this time she had been betrayed by one of the older boys, getting back at the bruised lip she had given him earlier in the day. Now, she was flanked by two woman wielding heavy wooden spoons, and they weren't afraid to use them.
"Yes, Headwoman?"
They played this game before, and would after.
'Shirking your duties, young lady. I won't stand for such in my Cavarns.'
And by god, they were her caverns. She was the know all, be all. Everyone, even the Weyrleader's, listened to her. And even Crown, who when it came to tact was about as good as a flit, knew when to agree.
"I apologize Headwoman."
'Hurmph. I don't care. Now, the Weyrleader has just gotten back from negotiating with the Pyramid Mountain Hold, and he is washing his Bronze. Knowing that moronic young man, he will have forgotten something, or realized that his Bronze is no longer small. You will gather together sweetsand, oil, etc, and carry it down to the Weyrleader, along with an extra towel.'
Immediatly, inside her head, she wrinkled her nose. While she loved seeing the Bronze's, the Weyrleader was rumored to be something of a jerk to those lower than him, unless they were females with breasts. She, at 15 years, wore a tunic that she swam in, and breeches that needed to be tied together with a piece of rope in order not to fall down. They were to big, but clean enough, and Crown thought nothing of the odd outfit.
"Yes Headwoman."
Despite her reluctance, she knew when she had been caught, and the Headwoman could give her worse jobs to punish her. She knew, however, that this one would make her sit there however long it took the male to clean his rangy Bronze, and she couldn't leave.
The Headwoman knew it to.
'Git!'
And off Crown went, grumbling under her breath. Men, such idiots. They would forget something, or not understand, and she was a drudge now, schooling her face into the slightly dull look that was her only defense of being caught at the moment. It took only a few minutes trotting down in her bare feet to spy the Weyrleader, and she felt her heart expand for the huge Bronze. My, he was so glorious... Her heart suddenly jumping to her throat, Crown ignored that and walked quickly the rest of the way.
"Weyrleader?"
Her voice loud enough he could hear it, not any louder than necessary.
"The Headwoman saw you return, and sent me down with a few things for your Bronze and yourself."
Not the cultured voice she had been taught, but a burlier one, a tone used by the staff that had been born into their positions. It hadn't taken long to learn.
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Post by M'kel on Jun 3, 2008 22:44:29 GMT -5
Water droplets fell back to the Lake's surface as M'kel shook his head, his medium length blonde hair swishing about his face. He brushed back a shock of it from where it had plastered to his face, squinting around in the sunlight at the sound of a voice. It was not one he recognized, and his formal title was being utilized, so he assumed that it was one of the various Weyrfolk. His suspicions were confirmed as his gaze alighted upon a slight feminine figure slouching on the shoreline. Ah, a drudge.
As she relayed the Headwoman's considerations, M'kel grinned appreciatively. That woman was always thinking of him...probably simply because he was the Weyrleader, but it was nice nonetheless. Titles commanded respect and other privileges, much of which made this job worthwhile.
"Let's see what you have there," he grunted, sloshing with difficulty through the sucking waters. As he studied the various items, M'kel spared a glance for the drudge who had delivered them. She was keeping her face cool and reserved, yet the bronzerider thought he caught her eyeing Tirenth.
The bronze, oblivious to this study, craned his head around to peer down. Ooooh, use the sweetsand. Yes, that will be nice exfoliation...
M'kel guffawed, jerking around to stare at the dragon. "I can't believe you just used that word..." He turned back to the girl, grinning in amusement. "He just said that the sweetsand would be a nice exfoliant." The bronzerider chuckled once again. "Well if I'm going to do that as well as oil you..." He glanced back at the drudge. She seemed somewhat cleaner than most, and her eyes looked far from unintelligent. "D'you wanna help?" he queried.
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Post by sapphire on Jun 8, 2008 15:05:09 GMT -5
After a nice lunch, and a busy afternoon, Kera had decided to go swim in the lake. She saw at one end of the lake a bronzerider and his dragon, with a drudge carrying some objects. Kera recognized the drudge from visiting her friends in the kitchen. The bronzerider, she realized was weyrleader M'kel. not having talked with him in a while, Kera whistled to Kellis to come and wadded toward the dragonrider and the drudge to say hello.
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Post by .K.aci on Jun 9, 2008 11:04:19 GMT -5
Respect was something earned, not given, and M'kel, despite his thoughts, had most likely earned it. Crown had never seen the Headwoman respect anyone, even the bronze's, unless they deserved it, and as such, she respected him a little. Of course, a little was all you were ever going to get from the cold young girl, but it was worth a lot, and maybe, if people tried, they might get more.
However, that wasn't the problem at hand. No, at the moment Crown was focusing on reading the Bronzerider, not consciously thinking any of the above. It's amusing, you must admit, the different levels of conscious and how to affects people. It affected her to actually mean the bob of her head as M'kel managed to slough through the waters, holding out the basket carefully.
'Let's see what you have there.'
Yes, she was entrapped with the giant bronze. He was gorgeous, huge and graceful, a true king in her mind. That was power, that was hope, that was truth in the mighty winged creature.
Crown was knocked from her not-so-surreptitious reverence at the laugh. He had a nice laugh, full.
'I can't believe you just used that word... He just said that the sweetsand would be a nice exfoliant.'
A breath of air escaped her lips as she jerked her head up to gaze out at the dragon fully. In the amusement that surrounded them, she smiled, forgetting about the male as her attention focused solely on the bronze.
"You sound like Kanamar."
The words were half-whispered, the name of her older brother that tended to speak in a graceful dialect that involved huge words. Then the Weyrleader said something, and she was knocked back on her ass, figuratively, dropping her head back down to watch the basket.
'Well if I'm going to do that as well as oil you... D'you wanna help?'
Her head flew up, mouth shaped in an O.
"What?"
Just like that she forgot where she was, who she was, what she was pretending to be.
"Really? You aren't tugging my leg? I can help? I can touch him?"
The burl gone, her voice light and cultured, eager as she met his eyes with her own ice blue sparkling ones. She shifted, throwing the basket on her hip, to run her hand through her cropped short strawberry-blonde hair, and saw the figure. Immediately, she blushed, gripping it in two hands again, dropping her head to the ground.
"Umm, pardon sir, but you have company, and I'm just a drudge."
God, she hated herself sometimes. The one good chance to got to touch a Bronze before she herself Impressed, a way to get ahead off all those morons that thought they were so good.
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Post by sapphire on Jun 9, 2008 16:50:30 GMT -5
Kera arrived where M'kel was. She still couldn't see what the object was, but she didn't care. "Hello Weyrleader."Kera said friendly. "How are you?" She smiled at the drudge. Kera glanced at Kellis who was pacing back and forth on the sand, too scared of the water to come in the lake. When M'kel answered, Kera pulled her little flute out of her pocket and asked if she could play for them. Kera had in mind a very happy song to play for them.
Kellis then finally realized that Kera was not going to leave right then, though she did not look in danger. So he relaxed and layed on the beach sand. a butterfly layed right in front of his face. Kellis not liking this got up and went over in another spot and layed down there. the butterfly flew over there startled by the big feline, went over to a rock that just happened to be by kellis. Kellis annoyed, bit at the butterfly, but not that hard. Kera yelled "HEY!" and they stopped dead. Kellis layed down was quiet the rest of the time.
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Post by M'kel on Jun 11, 2008 13:39:49 GMT -5
M'kel was as proud of his dragon as most, and thus his attention was fully on the drudge as he watched for her response to Tirenth's impressive and amusing vocabulary. She smiled, softly it seemed, and her eyes found the bronze's. Only because he had been studying her for her reaction did M'kel make out the faint words she spoke. Kanamar? The bronzerider wondered briefly if that was the name of another drudge, but he doubted that any drudges would use any eloquent language. Must have just been a friend of hers, then, perhaps a mature Weyrbrat the Weyrleader had yet to hear of.
The drudge's next exclamation, however, drove all curiousity regarding this Kanamar out of M'kel's mind, for her manner had changed entirely. Her face had lightened from a dreary, emotionless mask to a picture of awe and wonder, and her husky tone had suddenly become light and dignified. The Weyrleader's eyes widened in surprise, for it seemed that a different person entirely stood before him. Normally, M'kel would not have been so observant, especially in speaking with a drudge, but he delighted in people's reactions to his handsome Tirenth.
So fixated was he on this strange drudge that M'kel failed to hear the approach of another, nor her whistling call to her feline. Instead, he watched as the drudge's features seemed to crumble, reverting instantly back to the dreary semblance that had been present before. She muttered something about company, and the bronzerider absently glanced around. Finally, he spotted the Weyrharper striding towards him. "Hello, Kera," he rejoined, smiling in greeting, though he was still curious about the drudge. "I'm doing quite well, as is Tirenth."
The bronze rumbled in slight disagreement, for his bath had been paused (seemingly indefinitely!), and he was receiving attention neither from sweetsand nor from oil. The prospect of two humans bathing him had been a lovely one indeed, and now the dragon felt shorted.
"Sure, you can play your flute," M'kel responded to Kera's query. "I believe Tirenth would enjoy some harmony during his bath..." The new Weyrharper was certainly enthusiastic about her music! It was then that Tirenth's displeasure registered in the Weyrleader's mind, and he straightened in surprise. "Oh! Right! His bath!" He chuckled lightly, grinning at the grumbling bronze and striding through the water once more. He paused suddenly and glanced back, "Are you coming, then?" he asked the drudge. It would not only help finish the job more quickly, but also allow him to find out more about the girl's strange behaviour.
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Post by sapphire on Jun 11, 2008 17:58:03 GMT -5
Kera played a nice sweet song while the bronze dragon was taking his bath. She had learned the song at the harper hall, and she wanted to make up some songs of her own someday. Kellis was rolling around on the beach, Not caring at all that Kera was playing her flute. Oh, how she loved to play music!
After the sweet happy song, Kera looked at the sun. " I have to get going" Kera said to the weyrleader. "Harper duty calls." Kera put the flute back in her pocket and whistled at kellis again. She said goodby to the weyrleader and skipped away whistleing a tune.
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Post by .K.aci on Jun 11, 2008 21:51:33 GMT -5
[["mature Weyrbrat" Really? Is there any such thing? XDD]]
Quite honestly, Crown could care less who, or what the girl was. All she knew was that people weren't her favorite things in the whole world. She was confident, she was outgoing, she was bossy, but she didn't know how to deal with people quite yet in friendly quarters. In her world, it was give respect, or get it. Friends? She didn't have them.
She had underlings.
So, as the girl that she vaguely had seen around ambled up, Crown focused on the ground and grumped. But then she felt the rumble in the very earth it seemed, as the Bronze complained of the conversation, and, blushing slightly from the sudden slip from character, she focused her attention onto the Bronze for lack of anything better to do. Faranth, she hated standing still. She wanted to run, bounce, leave, adventure. Instead she was stuck holding a basket for a bigshot male who forgot the basics of everything.
'Oh! Right! His bath!'
Just a look up at the taller male from underneath thick lashes, her anger at the new girl coming along clear in the now dark murky blue eyes, although it was not directed at him. He strutted out, and she was getting ready to sit down when suddenly his voice was ringing back over, and her head flew up.
'Are you coming, then?'
"What?"
A slight shock, and then she remembered, scrambling to the waters edge and hesitating for just a moment. Crown smiled again, crumbling the wall that surrounded her, again becoming a normal fifteen year old.
"Yes."
Letting the basket float in the water, she waded out, quickly getting completly wet. It caused her clothing to cling to a surprisingly slim body, muscled from her work as a drudge and her own exploration. Her short hair clung to a thinner face, and the clothe that covered it disappeared underwater, revealing a different person completly. It was funny - the girl that was trying so hard to grow up suddenly looked much younger, more innocent as she gazed up at the grand figure, again holding the basket.
"I'm sorry Weyrleader, but I've never been this close to a dragon before, especially not one so magnificent. How can I help?" [/color]
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Post by M'kel on Jun 17, 2008 16:07:28 GMT -5
((lol, I guess I meant mature in age rather than attitude, eh heh ^_^))
The bronzerider nodded absently to Kera as she departed, quirking a brow slightly at her short visit. He shrugged and returned his attention to the drudge on the shore. M'kel was surprised once again at the sudden change that overcame the girl, for her features lost their sullen hardness and became almost carefree with excitement. Despite her small build, he had not realized just how young she was, for all drudges seemed to hover within a range of potential ages, their hard labour and ragged appearance obscuring their true Turns.
The girl's clothing quickly became wet as she sloshed out to join him, and the bronzerider couldn't help but note her figure; he was only human, after all. However, the look of innocence on her youthful features dissuaded him entirely (not to mention the fact that she was a drudge), and M'kel smiled benignly, as if to a child. That would be the safest way to think of her, he decided. And her enthusiasm was certainly quite childlike, although he couldn't blame her. Until he had Impressed, M'kel had been nearly as quick to melt in the presence of dragons. They were wonderful creatures.
The young man couldn't help but grin with pride as she called Tirenth 'magnificent'. M'kel chuckled before replying, "I wouldn't flatter dear Tirenth too much, it might go to his head." The humour in his eyes showed he was teasing, as he patted the bronze fondly on his shoulder.
If either of us is at risk of becoming too arrogant, I should think it is you, Tirenth replied, rumbling in amusement.
To her query, the Weyrleader responded, "Right now, this 'magnificent' beast smells terribly of firestone, so I'd like to scrub him everywhere we can reach and that he will allow, using the sweetsand. I've already done most of his back, so we won't have to worry about that too much. After he dries off, we can oil him down." Tirenth practically purred with anticipation. M'kel grabbed a handful of sweetsand and began to work on the shoulder he had just been patting, demonstrating the technique. "He has tough hide, so don't worry about hurting him."
After a moment, M'kel paused and eyed the girl once more. "What's your name?" He was rather tired of referring to her as 'the drudge' in his mind.
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