Boys will be Boys (Ash, Open)

[Requiem]

She may have been his partner in crime, but no self-respecting boy of twelve could possibly allow a girl bossing him around to go unpunished. As such he had a prank of his own to play. Now he just needed to be extra quiet or all the girls would attack him with pillows and that simply wouldn't do. Men did not get beaten by girls with pillows. It simply didn't happen.

At least the tunnelsnakes were not terribly noisy. They'd even stopped wriggling around so much in their dark bag of doom. The sack was thrown over his shoulder as he crept epic!thief style across the floor, up on tiptoes and crouched low to be the picture of sneaky mischief. Breathe through your nose, breathe through your nose. Don't want the cooties to change you into a sissy.

He peered from bed to bed for that mess of black hair, pausing for a moment when he caught sight of the boy from earlier. What was he doing sleeping here? The cooties must have got him. How tragic. Well, they wouldn't get Armind.

Ah! There she was. He padded forward swiftly, now thoroughly convinced that if he stayed much longer he'd be completely girlified like that poor boy. Ashlyn must by a particularly potent sort of cootie carrier. See? His mission was super important now! He must stop the evil cootie spreader from tainting any more boys. Maybe even rescue Caden. Yes.

He upended his squirming presents on the foot of her bed, making gestures with his hands. Crawl up, crawl up. (Of course they went for the girl, as she was quite warm, but Armind was convinced he had somehow directed them and thus was quite proud.) Now time to flee!

Oh, wait. Was that something shiny? He bent to examine the hair pin on the floor, picking it up. How curious. He wondered what it was for. Oh! Right. Getting out. Armind stuffed it in his pocket. The legendary thief strikes again!

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn slept peacefully. She didn't hear the soft footsteps or rustle of the bag as a certain boy released some tunnelsnakes. Loki however noticed them and was none too pleased. With a hiss he pounced on one of the snakes ripping and tearing into it. It's squeal woke Ash.

"Huh?" she asked sleepily then saw the snake hanging from Loki's mouth and a retreating form. Before she could say anything else though she felt something brush her leg. Letting out a shriek (that was sadly far more girly then she would have liked) she scrambled out of the bed. Loki pounced on another tunnelsnake with a feral hiss.

"Shardit! Armind! That's not funny!" she wailed as she grabbed her pillow and chucked it at his retreating form. She barely missed him and could have cursed again but she had more things to worry about at the moment. She would find Armind later. Letting out a sound of frustration she glanced around for something to take care of the snakes with. A triumphant sound from Loki though made her glance up to see that he had taken care of the snakes.

"Well I won't have to worry about feeding you for a while." she muttered running a hand through her hair. Throwing on a shirt over the undershirt she'd worn to bed she turned to go after Armind. He wasn't going to get away with putting tunnelsnakes in her bed!

[Requiem]

Oh, bother. He did not like that miniature little dragon thingy spoiling his fun. Ashlyn was sure to wake up now. Well, he would have gotten away with it, and her none the wiser if not for that beast. Armind still considered it successful. Now he definitely had to flee extra fast before the pillows started flying.

Duck! That hadn't taken long at all! He threw stealth to the wind and sprinted on bare little child feet for the door, throwing himself through it. Clear! Now he just had to run fast enough that she couldn't find him. Going back to the common room for boys might keep a girl out, but it was also the most obvious place to be. The clever child decided on a different route.

He began weaving through the windy twisty tunnels of the Weyr, never stopping to think or consciously make a decision. Armind was more than certain that unless she ran really fast (and he couldn't hear her over his own steps and breathing so he hoped that he'd lost her) Ashlyn would not be able to find him. There was no pattern to his movements. That was for certain.

A minute after he'd scrambled through the doorway, though, he caught his foot on something in the dimly lit tunnels and fell with a small cry. "Ow," the child grumbled, rubbing at his barked knee. He sat up, glancing around. This place looked very different at night. Where...exactly was he? A small shiver of unease moved through him. No. He was a man, of course he wasn't afraid. That was silly.

[heisokufire9]

Ash followed the patter of soft feet as she hurried to catch Armind. As she ran her anger started to turn to worry. Was it just her or where they getting closer to the hatching sands? Then the boy took another route taking him away from the Sands. With sigh of relief she followed him.

"Armind, stop you're going to get us both in trouble." she called. Of course he might think it was just a ploy to get him to stop and in part he was right. But her well hidden more motherly side was coming out. She frowned as she heard his soft Ow.

"Armind, are you alright?" she asked then had to stop herself from slapping her forehead at the stupid question. He had just banged up his knee...right?

"Well, come on, let's go back before we get into trouble." she said and added, "If you come quietly I won't breathe a word about the tunnelsnakes." Oh bribery. Here's to hoping he would come along.

[InsaneWhitey28]

Sleep was very slow in coming, the eventful past few days still replaying in her mind quite realistically. Why shouldn't they? Her little memories were there to torture her after all, the fact that she's now under Wasterlander command taunting her poor mind. She had always imagined that maybe, someday, she'd be Searched but not for Wastelanders. After the Wastelander take over of Selenitas, the news passing around quickly even to Southern who was less than welcoming to dragons, she had personally begun to hope that she’d never get Searched. Ever. At least for the now Wastelander controlled Selenitas. She’d rather not be part of the riders who attacked Selenitas, the only safe haven from the war in the North. The thought that quelled her irritation the most was the fact that a few of the Selenitas riders had escaped, which once again reignited her vague hope for being Searched and taken to where the exiles were. Vague hope, but she was willing to think about that more than the Wastelanders. Of course, that vague hope just had to be dashed didn’t it? Life just really didn’t like her, so was she Searched? Yes. Was it by the exiles? No. Shard it all.

So here she lay in the candidate barracks, of the Wasterlander controlled Selenitas Weyr as a candidate for the hardening Clutch on the Sands. Her mahogany hair draped out across her pillow with all her tossing and turning as gray eyes glared at the wall. It wasn’t hard for her thoughts to turn from fuming about Wastelanders in Selenitas and their rules, to worrying about the war and Selenitas involvement. To be sure, the eggs hardening on the Sands held dragons that would be taught with their lifemates about the war, and how to kill. The candidates brought to Selenitas from the old Wasteland Weyr more than likely didn’t mind, and were more than likely ready to start learning the best ways to win a battle, but what of the candidates from Selenitas? The ones who didn’t want any part? What if they Impressed and refused to learn? Would they be killed?

Brows furrowed over the suddenly fearful gray eyes, teeth digging into her lower lip as her thoughts took her deeper and deeper into places she’d rather not go. Perhaps, it was a good thing she was here? Mayhap in some way she could help Selenitas become a safe haven once more? Better to keep those mutinous thoughts to herself though, good thing a distraction just entered the room. Climbing outside of her thoughts, Rosanna steadied her breathing and let her lids flutter almost all the ways closed. From the way the other was walking, they were up to no good, something Rosa was very familiar with herself having snuck around quite a bit at the crafthall. Now what could this person be up to? Thoroughly and utterly curious now, managing to push her earlier dark thoughts to the back of her mind with her curiosity, Rosanna gave a brief sleepy sigh and turned onto her other side, to better watch the fun through her lashes. She was just barely able to make out the figure of a young boy with a sack over his shoulders, a boy who it appeared quickly found his target and was making ready to open the sack. When he opened up his sack, Rosa couldn’t help but feel her lips twitch in a vague smirk. Tunnelsnakes. Always fun, especially to us on girls. Not herself personally, she’d be more likely to serve the culprits own medicine back at him either by picking up the snakes and chucking them at his retreating form and hope he got bit, or something much worse than tunnelsnakes would find their way into his bed. She bit her lip once again to hold back a quiet chuckle, just as the boy turned to leave, momentarily distracted by something on the floor, before hurrying off. A hiss and a squeal quickly followed.

Rosanna let her eyes open just the bit wider, seeing a firelizard with a snake dangling from his mouth. The owner of the firelizard seemed to be waking up and Rosa wasn’t disappointed in her assumption a minute later as a shriek pierced the air. Ah, tunnelsnakes. Good thing she wasn’t asleep, or she may have been forced to throw her pillow at the retreating form as well. Rosanna snapped her eyes shut as the girl looked back to her bed, muttering about not having to feed the firelizard for a while before Rosa heard barefeet pounding against the ground in pursuit. Now, she’d open her eyes.

Sitting up in her cot, Rosanna looked over to the now vacant bed with tunnelsnake remains over it, the smirk tickling the corner of her mouth once again before she schooled her expression. The shriek of course had managed to wake some, a girl who she didn’t know the name of(Well she didn’t know anyone’s name personally), turned to look at her with a questioning expression. Rosanna shrugged in response and nodded to the empty cot, the other girl snorting before mumbling something like, ‘Go get her then, or we’ll all be in trouble.’

A scowl graced itself across Rosanna’s features, not enjoying the fact that she just got ordered around by an equal who was too lazy to do anything about it. Except tell others what to do. Giving a rather irritated sigh through her nose, Rosa stretched before getting out of bed, glad the stones beneath her feet were still at least vaguely warm from the heat earlier. Of course the girl was right, they’d all be in trouble if the other got caught by someone out of bed. True they’d have less harsh punishments, but still. But thinking it about it that way… Where was the logic in sending out another person to retrieve the first? Wouldn’t that make the situation worse? Maybe a bit, but the people still in the barracks would get off easier than the ones out of bed…

I get it. Rosanna thought grudgingly to herself, sending a narrowed glance toward the other girl as she pulled on a shirt she had discarded earlier due to the heat when she had first gone to bed, Send the newbie out to get in trouble while you sit in your beds safe and warm. Whatever.

Shaking her heard, Rosanna padded out of the barracks and listened. She had fallen behind the other two now that was for sure, but certainly the Weyr echoed…? Ah, there it is. Confident she was taking the right path, Rosa took off down the winding tunnels of the Weyr, having to stop multiple times to catch the sound more clearly. Shells, she even had to backtrack at times, nearly missing a rider or two. Wouldn’t do to get caught now would it? Finally though, after twisting every which way through the Weyr, Rosanna had the two in her sights.

“-lright?” Rosanna heard the girl ask the boy on the steps. “Well, come on, let's go back before we get into trouble. If you come quietly I won't breathe a word about the tunnelsnakes." Really? She didn’t even have to come the situation was almost over! Nearly throwing up her hands in exasperation, Rosanna decided she best as well announce herself and get the two moving faster. Maybe the younger boy would listen to two better than one.

“Well this is just wonderful.” Rosa stated, keeping her voice low very aware of the fact that the Weyr echoes even slightly, “I come out here to bring you two, technically one, back to the barracks and I’m not even needed. Wonderful.” Rosanna sighed, crossing her arms, “So personally I agree with her, let’s all go back and hide the tunnelsnake stained blankets before anyone notices, or smells it.”

[Requiem]

The child glanced back at her with a note of wariness in his dark eyes, but he wasn't really concerned about some girl. All they did was scream, or scold, or possibly slap or shove. They didn't slug or belt you. (For that matter, being threatened with a whipping or beating had never stopped him either, as the scars on his back could attest to. Keroon was not exactly easy on the free of spirit.)

His nose wrinkled up. His chin drew up. "I'm fine," he asserted. Didn't need the help of no girl. He hadn't forgotten that she'd ordered him around like a child before. People got this nice high I'm talking to a stupid little kid voice. He knew what that meant. They were trying to trick him cause they thought they were smarter. Here she was doing it again, too. "You wouldn't be in trouble if you didn't follow," the boy added petulantly.

Armind tilted his head slightly to one side. Well, he didn't really care that much, but..."Does that mean you wou-" Before he could finish, though, another one of the cootie bearers showed up. She wasn't even one of the ones that he vaguely tolerated. He didn't recognize her at all and he was pretty sure she did not do pranks. (In his vast experience, most girls were totally no fun at all. They just squealed and snarked and complained about getting dirty.)

"Well, I didn't ask you to come, snotface," he returned, sticking his tongue out at the mean girl. Ashlyn might treat him like a child, but at least she was nice. This one just sounded pissed off that she was out here at this time of night. And she'd come out all on her own, so why was she blaming them for it. Then, because he was the most mature twelve turn old ever, he crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't talk to nasty girls who scold before even telling me their names."

At that, he turned his body enough that he couldn't see her anymore. See? Gone. It was that easy. "Are you saying you'll tell if I don't come? That's stupid." Armind tried to get up and winced, leaning against the wall for balance. He glanced around again, then finally admitted, "I think I'm kind of lost." Another glance. "Yeah. Where are we?"

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn glanced up at the sound of another voice to see a girl who had followed them. An eyebrow quirked at the girl's tone of voice. Well someone was cranky about getting woken up. Not that she blamed her really. And the girl had a good plan. Too bad Armind wasn't in the mood to listen. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, I could always leave you here and let you find your way back." she pointed out at Armind's petulant remark. Yes she might get in trouble but didn't he see she was trying to help? She gave a soft sigh.

"Yes I would tell and you would probably get in a lot more trouble that way. But it's up to you." she replied eyes flickering to the other girl for a moment. She was a Candidate from her knots and that might be a good thing. On the other hand Ash didn't know the girl well. Of course now wasn't the time to be picky about help. She glanced at Armind a mischievous smirk on her face.

"I could always set Loki on you." she commented folding her arms across her chest. She was tired, cold, and just wanted to go back to bed. She wasn't used to having siblings so her coercion skills were rather rusty. She hadn't completely ruled out dragging him back to the boys barracks. At his question on where they were she glanced around for a moment.

"We're somewhere in the lower system. With it being dark I'm not one hundred percent sure exactly where but I can get us back from here." she answered.

[InsaneWhitey28]

An eyebrow twitched as Rosanna’s irritation rose at the tone of voice the boy possessed and not only that but calling her ‘snotface’ was not something that went over nicely for her. Heck it didn’t go over nicely for anyone. Suppressing a growl, Rosa faintly reminded herself that he was twelve, a boy and she should not retaliate to the jab but be more mature than that. See? Messing up at the crafthall had done her some good! But did that stop the anger that flashed through her eyes? No. Nor could she help but let a bit of that anger slip into her voice as she spoke again.

“You want a name? Fine. It’s Rosanna.” she replied, this time having to suppress a small laugh as the twelve Turn old turned away from her. As if that would actually work, eventually he’d have to turn back around to go back to the barracks. As the boy tried to stand, wincing as he did so and stating that he thought he was lost, Rosa’s eyebrow raised. Doesn’t this kid know that a good prankster always has a planned escape route and before they have a planned route, they need to know the place like the back of their hand. A prankster lesson this boy didn’t seem to know yet, or he just chose to ignore it. Rosanna herself had only arrived here a day or two ago, so she hardly had time to memorize the layout of the Weyr, not to mention with how many rules and regulations the Wastelanders have greatly decreases her time to learn the layout. Didn’t matter anyway, she hardly knew any good targets and after the crafthall and being punished for Turns on end, she wasn’t keen to do any serious pranking at the moment.

Rosanna wrinkled her nose at these thoughts, focusing back on the two in front of her again as the other girl stated she knew where they were vaguely. At least she could get them back, since Rosa hadn’t exactly had the time to wander the lower systems of the Weyr. Rosa let a quiet sigh escape her lips, willing her lingering irritation away as she brushed her mass of mahogany hair over her shoulder to run her fingers through it. She disliked having tangled hair, courtesy of her bed. Heck while she was at it she might as well braid it and then tie it when they got back, why hadn’t she done that earlier? Still too irritated to think about it probably.

“Well, shall we get going then?” Rosanna asked voice much calmer than earlier, glancing at the boy as she remembered his wince, “Can you walk or do you need help?”

The gentleness of her tone surprised her, considering the boy had insulted her earlier, but then again she did have to take care of her little sister when they were little and she was always the one to trip on something and get hurt.

OOC;; Sorry for the lateness, I forgot I had Youth Group yesterday. ^^''

[Requiem]

Armind was pointedly ignoring the girl he'd labeled as 'the rude one.' It was a bit late to be telling him her name. (Nevermind that he hadn't told her his, either. He wasn't the one sticking his nose into other people's business.) Instead, he pulled a face at Ashlyn. "Tattletale," he muttered, picking at his clothes. It didn't really matter if he got in trouble. Unless that meant he couldn't Stand, that was. He didn't really know what it meant to be a dragonrider. He did know that it would piss off his uncle, though, and that was enough for him.

His eyes flashed up at her threat. There was a definite frown on his face then. Loki was not a nice firelizard. Well, if she made Loki attack Armind, she'd better not cry when he hurt the bronze. The boy wasn't just going to let the evil beast have at him.

Fortunately, the child's growing ire was derailed at the acknowledgement that Ashlyn wasn't sure where they were. That didn't sound very good. He wasn't so sure she could get them back when she wasn't even sure where they were. His disbelief was written very clearly across his face, too. Rosanna spoke up before he could say anything. His eyes moved to her warily. She sounded almost nice now. Why? The girl hadn't been nice at all a moment ago.

He decided that Rosanna was probably not so bad after all. At least she wasn't threatening to make a firelizard divebomb him. "I'm Armind," he announced suddenly. "The tattletale is Ashlyn." It was all too clear that his favorite of the moment had shifted. (Not that it was hard. He changed his mind based on whatever was going on right at that second anyway.)

"And I can walk just fine if she can really get us back." There was the doubt. Though it was probably silly for him to be so disdainful when he led them here to begin with and was lost himself. No one ever said children had to make sense. To demonstrate just how fine he was, the boy started moving past the two girls. His limp was quite pronounced. So was the stubborn set to his small jaw. A little pain wasn't going to unman him, no sir. How long this would last was anyone's guess. He made it a few dozen feet before he paused. "Aren't you leading?"

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn sighed mentally at Armind. This was why she never volunteered for babysitting. She wasn't the most patient person in the world and the twelve turn old was grating on her nerves. Now he didn't think she could get them back. So needless to say she wasn't too happy with him.

"I am not a tattletale." she grumbled and added, "I do know how to get us back so come on." her tone was sharper then she'd intended as she started off motioning for Rose and Armind to follow her. A soft sigh escaped her at the sight of his limp but she could see the stubborn set to Armind's jaw and had to fight back a laugh. The kid was just as stubborn as she had been at that age. She subtly changed her pace to match his but made it so that he probably wouldn't know it right off the bat.

((Sorry for fail post x-x my muse is dying from exams ))

[InsaneWhitey28]

Rosa felt amusement bubble in her chest, erasing any lingering feelings of irritation that she still had, Armind announcing his name and doing the same for the other girl. Tattletale was a very familiar word with which Rosa was accustomed too, having had used it multiple times herself with people at the crafthall trying to get her to do something, or to stop doing something. Her sister had been labeled one at one point, surprisingly, just to get her to stop her latest prank plan when they were little. Looking back on it, Rosanna was faintly grateful to Lupu since that prank would have been the most dimglowed thing she ever did… Well, before the crafthall. She vaguely wished Lupu had been at the crafthall to curb her anger as only her adorable little sister could.

Slowly Rosanna had begun to make small little comparisons between Lupu when she was that age and Armind. It was almost as if she had just acquired a little brother and felt the need to see the similarities and differences between the two younger ones. Which was very amusing, since in certain areas Lupu and Armind were the same though their reasons were different. For example, Armind saying he could walk when clearly his knee was paining him immensely, his limp very pronounced though the stubborn set of his jaw stated he’d walk even if it was going to kill him. Lupu would have done the same, and still would, but both their reasons were different. As Ashlyn grumbled, Armind having stopped after a few paces to glance back, Rosanna pondered the fact that as most twelve Turn old boys tend to want to consider themselves ‘men’, albeit miniature ones, that will give them the reason to push stubbornly through anything thrown their way, like pain. Which was what Armind was doing, she supposed.

Rosanna followed after Ashlyn, aware that she had slowed her pace for the limping boy and followed her lead, walking in step with the other teen as she returned to her thoughts. Lupu, however, would push through the pain not to prove something, but to not be a bother to anyone sometimes hiding a bruise or cut for sevendays on end even if it was infected. This of course, caused Rosa to worry about her sister almost day and night, having to remind the younger girl over and over that she would be bothering anyone and if she wanted to stay healthy that she should get her injuries checked. Thankfully Lupu had at least begun to listen to her when Rosanna had to leave thanks to the Wastelanders.

The little midget better be taking care of herself the twit. Rosa thought fondly, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. Knowing silence may be a better option than speaking at the moment, Rosa held her peace though a few things were nagging in the back of her head. Maybe she’d just keep her voice low? She’d done plenty of sneaking, bribing drudges to help her at times even, to know how to keep a low voice, not to mention she could keep her footsteps unheard even when she was right behind a person.

Falling back into the familiar walk she used to use when going somewhere she couldn’t, her footsteps were nearly silent as she gently placed them on the floor, her breathing becoming quieter even as her ears became attuned to the sounds around them. Wouldn’t do to be caught sneaking around by another would it? But of course, Rosa couldn’t help but ask some of the things nagging her.

“So, Armind. How long have you been playing tricks on others?” she asked quietly, her voice a mere murmur but even that carried slightly in the silence of the sleeping Weyr. She glanced at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief and humor the golden flecks breaking through the gray, her eyes seeming to represent her personality in a way. You never know what’ll happen in the mist, but rays of sunshine still manage to strike their way through the fog.

OOC;; It's alright. I know how tedious exams are, mine are coming up shortly. ^^''