Living the good life [L'am]

[Sheari]

Ah, the Blossom common hall. Kelinale sat in a chair by the hearth, Cleric lying on the floor next to him. Around him some of the younger children had gathered and for them he played on his flute and sang silly little chants for them. None of them ever really made much sense, but the kids smiled and that was his goal.

Both a little scared,
But adventure never cared!
And that, my friends, you see,
Is the story, of the beauty and the thief!

It was a nonsensical song about some fictional holder’s daughter running off with a would-be thief. It had the potential to be a lesson if someone changed the story but then what fun was that? Cleric groaned with the lack of attention and nosed her ball into the gather of children. The sphere rolled easily from between her front paws and she stood up as the younger ones wrestled over it. An older kid picked it up and tossed it and the canine bounded away, tail wagging.

Kelinale took a sip of the wine he’d snuck from an unattended bottle. The drink itself was watered down, though he was sure that if someone looked close they would know that it wasn’t red grape juice. Either way, he took a drink and then a bite from a roll as drudge carried a basket by, flashing the girl a smile. Farnath, life was good!

[Cookie if you can figure out what the verse is based from xD]

[Zephyr]

Why did we volunteer to come out here again? L'am asked lightly, sitting atop his big blue dragon. Jeth flapped his wings slowly, catching some air currents and spinning lazily in the air. The dragon scoffed, and probably would have rolled his eyes if he had been a person. WE didn't volunteer for anything. You were the one who volunteered us, if you remember correctly. I was perfectly fine chilling on my ledge for the evening. L'am blinked, sighing softly. I know, but you didn't have to agree to it. That's like, the stupidest comeback ever.

L'am shook his head. There was nothing more he could say to that. His dragon had a way of making him seem like a complete dick. Suddenly, Jeth tensed beneath him. L'am blinked. " What's up?" The dragon snorted, folding in his wings and taking a nosedive towards the ground. The rider sighed. " What is it." There's someone down there, someone interesting.

Now, L'am was excited about the possibility of a potential candidate, but he kinda wished Jeth just would have flown on by. Sighing as the dragon landed, he looked around. "Well? Where is he?" Jeth tilted his head to the side. In there. L'am slid off of Jeth's back, leaning against the dragon's nearly black hide. " Think you could get him out here? It'd be so much easier for us."

Jeth's eyes swirled slightly with irritation, but he extended his mind into the mind of the boy he sensed. Excuse me? You might think this is odd, but would you mind coming outside? I'm sure you'll know where to go once you come out.

Then they waited.

[Sheari]

Cleric seemed more than happy to allow the children to take turns tossing her ball. She’d jog out numerous times, returning it a bit slimy before dropping it at the children’s feet, always within their reach. She was tiring and panting a lot, taking drinks from a dish on the ground. Eventually the children got into scuffles about whose turn it was to throw and Kelinale had to take a throw himself. It was when the canine walked after it that he told them she needed to rest. That was when they rolled it between themselves.

The invasion of Kelinale’s mind stopped him eating his roll. Cleric had retrieved her ball from the children and was now laying down chewing on it contentedly. Some of the youngsters had been called away by their parents but some still were petting her and occasionally she’d roll her beloved ball out to try and entice a game. Kelinale finished his roll quickly and took a swig from his glass, keeping it in hand though. Rising from his seat Cleric stopped mid-chew to watch him. “You stay, Cler,” he told the canine, ruffling her fur before striding out of the room.

The chill air struck him as it hit his face, and he shivered, pulling his sleeves - which had been pushed above his elbows - down. Taking another sip from his glass, Kelinale approached Jeth an L’am. Bowing he said, “I must say I am not sure whom I should address,” eyeing Jeth, “so I greet both of you.” He flashed them a smile. Being holdbred he hadn’t had too much contact with dragons and being kennel-raised, he hadn’t had too much interaction with even fire lizards really. He’d seen them about on occasion but they hadn’t been too popular where he’d spent most of his time.

[Zephyr]

It was cold. He realized as they stood there waiting. Probably not nearly as cold as when they had been in the air, but still, the chill that swept around him now was palpable. At least before he had had something to keep his mind off of it. Now he was just...cold. L'am was about to ask Jeth if he had called the kid when a figure made its way from the darkness. Silently, the tall man followed the path the boy made, smiling as the kid greeted them properly. Finally made a good choice, Jeth. The dragon rumbled in irritation, thrashing his tail behind him. The dark blue's eyes flashed crimson at his rider's thoughts, but soon faded to green. He eyed the boy carefully, nudging his rider hard.

" Fine!" L'am said, turning to the kid. " Hey there. I'm L'am, and this monster behind me is Jeth." He kicked the dragon without looking away from the kid, producing another rumble, but this time of amusement. Silly human thinks he can hurt me. The dragon said to Kelin. " Anyway..." L'am said after shooting his dragon a glare. " What's your name?"

[Sheari]

"Kelinale," he replied. A whine form ehind him told him that Cleric was sitting at the door. "That is Cleric," he said, indicating her. With a subtle pat on his leg she stood up and walked over with her tail wagging slightly. Her head and ears were down and she looked at Jeth in equal parts respect and fear. Instinct told her to flee at the sight of such a large predator but her devotion to her person glued her to his side. Kelinale, as well, was a bit in awe of the near black blue, but hid it better and focused on L'am.

"Its not often...or ever...that I get to speak with those such as yourselves. May I ask why you are here, and why I interest you?" he said politely. His left hand absently went to comfort Cleric, his right still clutching his goblet of diluted wine. Truthfully, the young man wasn't completely oblivious to the workings of how dragons operated. After all, living near Fort, one heard of Searches. Thing was, he hadn't heard of any soon-to-be clutches...anywhere. He had his suspicions on why these two wanted to speak with him, but for the sake of not making himself a fool, he kept them private.

[Zephyr]

Even before the boy had introduced himself, Jeth found his attention wavering. Eyes found the canine as she came from inside the building. Interest colored his eyes and when the boy called her over, he crooned lightly, head lowering to watch the canine. L'am ignored his dragon's interest in the canine, instead looking at the boy...the one they should be focused on. Dragons. Sometimes they were insufferable. " Well. It's nice to meet both of you." The man said with a grin, smiling down at the canine. She sure was a cute thing. Jeth obviously thought so too, because he lowered himself to the ground, as slowly as he possibly could, folding his wings in and stretching his neck out along the ground, towards Cleric. Hello puppy. He said softly towards the dog, tail swishing in general merriment as he did. Jeth obviously had a soft spot for dogs...which had confused poor L'am to no end.

L'am wanted to say something as casually infuriating as 'who says you interest us'...but that wasn't a good way to get candidates. After the wher hatching, their batch of available candidates had been cut down, and who knew when Nitrath would rise? She was sure old enough. Most of her green siblings had already risen. Wouldn't it be awful if baby dragons betweened because there weren't enough candidates? " Well." The man said, straightening. " Our youngest queen is old enough to rise and we're in need of candidates. Ever thought about standing? This isn't a guarantee of anything. She might not rise for years, and when she does clutch, you might not impress. But it's worth a shot, no?"

L'am eyed the boy carefully, wanting to kick Jeth again for paying so much attention to the "puppy".

[Sheari]

Cleric wasn't sure of what to make of things. There she was, just chewing away on her ball and her person leaves. She really hated it when her person left her; what if he never came back? Perish the thought! Anyway, she had followed him to the door to find him talking to another person and a huge blue thing that looked just as much to eat them as sit there like it was. Now, as she half sat next to, half cowered behind, her Kelinale, the thing had spoken to her. Cleric quailed.

Curiosity knawed at her and she peered at Jeth with nerves. With carefull steps she approached Jeth, stretched her neck out to maximum reach, and sniffed him. Her nose twitched and then she scuttled back to Kelinale and peered back at Jeth. The boy just tried to hide his laughter which resulted in a smirk. "Well," he diected at L'am, "I've never really thought about it. I'm a harper, see, and I'm hoping to someday become a master of my craft." Would he still be able to be a master if he Impressed and hadn't gotten it yet? He'd looked through some old, dusty records once and occasionally Master Harpers had elided names and "of th-ending-name" after it.

"Wortha shot though," he smiled. Could he be possibly throwing his life away for a wild dream? Maybe. Did he care? No, not really. Life was about adventure! You lived an adventure when you lived life, for no songs were writen and no stories told about the man who did nothing, right? Kelinale took a moment to think on that, for he was sure that at least something had been composed about it.

[Zephyr]

Jeth was amused by the canine's reaction. He watched as it came closer to him and he tensed, every muscle frozen, not wanting to scare the little canine (well, little compared to him). When it ran off, he crooned sadly, stretching his neck out more towards it...which was hard because his neck was almost completely stretched out as it was. Scared puppy? I won't hurt you. His entire body reverberated with happiness and his tail swished. Won't you come over so I can pet you? He didn't know if the canine could understand him, and he didn't think about how he could possible pet the canine, but it hardly mattered, did it?

L'am grinned at the kid. " Well, we have plenty of harpers at the weyr. I don't know if it'd be official or anything, but I'm sure they could teach you. And if you impressed, you could always come back sometime and become a master. Not that we'd encourage that or anything, but it's better than letting a baby dragon die, right?" That line always worked. No one wanted to know that they could have let a baby dragon die. L'am was resorting to the sucker punches, but damn was he cold...he wanted to get back to his nice warm weyr. We won't be able to between, you know. I bet this puppy would have a heart attack. She's coming? L'am asked, eyebrow raised. Of course she's coming... The dragon replied with a snort, tail swishing. Why would he leave her. She's coming right? He said towards Kelin. He hadn't bothered to hide his conversation from the boy.

" Yup. Worth a shot. So..." He said, looking around. " Wanna go now, or do you have someone to talk to or things to pack. I can wait." Even though it's freezing out here. Don't be a baby, L'amine.

And that was that.

[Sheari]

The very tip of the canine's tail wagged, but even then...Jeth was absolutely HUGE! She looked to Kelinale for guidance but found little there. He had yet to harm her so far...could she trust this massive beast?

"I've a small bag of things that I take from place to place, not much though," he replied to L'am. "Fits just over my shoulder," and he gestured across his chest where the strap would rest. "If you give me but a moment," and he turned and walked briskly back into the common room. He had to grab his things and tell Lord Holder Tentieon that he was leaving; well, that he was Searched would probably go over better. The second her person walked back into the common room she followed, hot on his heels. She was unsure of Jeth.

Once inside it took all of Kelinale's self-control to keep from sprinting to his room and shouting he'd been Searched back to the Lord Holder as he ran out. Instead he threw what few things he'd unpacked into his back in haste, fastened the clasp, and put it on. The bag hung at his left hip comfortably, the strap falling over his right shoulder. Jogging out of his room he stopped in the common room and spoke with the man in charge. He didn't seem too happy to loose a journeyman harper, but it wasn't like the hold didn't have a harper to begin with.

Returning outside, Kelinale was relieved to see that Jeth and L'am were still there. Cleric was less relieved and it showed as her head and tail were low again, giving her a disappointed look due to the ball that she had retrived on their way out. "I guess...I guess I'm ready when you are," he said, fitting a little rope collar onto Cleric. He'd seen that she feared the dragon and while she would undoubtedly follow him over the rim of the world without question, it was security for both of them. Now, how long would it take them to actually get the dog on the dragon?

[Zephyr]

I don't think she likes me. Jeth said sadly, lifting his head to regard L'am as the boy turned to get his things. " She's just scared Jeth. Think how scared you would be if a giant dog came and shoved his face in yours." Jeth considered this for a moment, crossing his paws in front of him and flicking the tip of his tail as he thought. I don't think it would matter, really. A dog is a dog. If it was a giant dog, it would be easier to play with without worrying about hurting it! He intoned brightly. L'am sighed heavily, leaning against the dragon. " Jeth. Sometimes you worry me." The dragon ignored this, waiting patiently for the boy to return.

L'am wasn't able to wait as patiently. His feet hurt and he was freezing. He had been ready to tell the boy to forget his things and just get on the dragon...or that he had made a mistake and he wasn't the one they wanted after all, but that seemed overly mean. Instead, he waited, twitching as each second ticked away. It's probably going to be a while. Jeth practically purred, wrapping his tail around his hing legs and flicking it against his flank thoughtfully. Of course L'am wouldn't hide his feelings of impatience from his dragon.

The man shrugged and leaned farther against Jeth. Good thing it was cold, otherwise he probably would have fallen alsleep.

It seemed like he had been waiting forever, when Jeth suddenly perked. Heads up. Clancing towards the building, he saw the kid walking towards him briskly. " Finally." L'am breathed, righting himself from the dragon. " Ready to go?" He grinned to the boy, relieved that they were finally ready to get underway...then he thought about the dog. " Faranth..." He said, wondering how this was going to work. He almost thought about suggesting the dog stay behind...but he knew Jeth was likely to maul him.

After a second, Jeth looked hopefully up at Kelin. I could carry her in my talons?, he said after a while. L'am could only sigh. " Could you imagine, with how scared she is how easy it would be for her to fall?" Jeth look affronted. I'd hold her tightly then.

[Sheari]

"I...don't think carrying he rin your talons is a good idea," Kelinale admitted sheepishly. "I can, however, hold onto her quite well if she will fit on your back with us?" he tried to recover, looking at Jeth. Cleric wasn't too heavy and he picked her up all the time. With the collar, she'd be even easier to hold onto. He looked from L'am to Jeth and back. He'd never riden a dragon before and he didn't know how they carried things. He knew they did, but he had never actually seen it done before.

Cleric wasn't overly enthusiastic, and she kept her gaze locked on the dragon as she scratched at her collar. Her person only put it on her when they went places, and as much as she hoped she was wrong, for no stupid dog was she, she had a feeling it involved the one who spoke to her that was not a person. "She won't struggle, and if she does it won't be too much. In the weyr she'll get used to dragons and they won't scare her so much," he said with confidence. "I can't leave her...I won't," he remarked upon the blue's earlier comment.

Kelinale tugged at his sleeves and walked up to L'am. Cleric followed him slowly, walking to the side of him that was oppsite Jeth's head. "Good girl," Kelinale muttered to Claric and her tail wagged slightly. Yes, she would get used to the dragons and he had a feeling it was only because she trusted him so much. Such loyalty and devotion kind of scared him sometimes, for he feared that if he inadvertently told her to do something that he actually didn't want her to do, the result could be disasterous.

[Zephyr]

Good. Jeth said when Kelin spoke about leaving the dog, or not leaving the dog in this case. I would like her to be at the weyr with you so I can play with her! He said this rather brightly, rising back onto his feet with a yawn and a stretching of his wings and neck. After he stretched, he looked down at the humans. L'am walked over to Kelin, looking at both the boy and the dog. " Well, hoist the dog up, and then get on. You can use Jeth's leg as a stepping stool and the straps. Jeth, could you please?"

Rumbling, the dragon crouched slightly, flicking the tip of his tail as he waited. L'am also waited for the boy to obey. " And hold onto your dog please. I don't think Jeth would forgive me if she fell." The amused rumble that came from the blue dragon made it clear that he wouldn't.

[Sheari]

Kelinale hoisted Cleric into his arms and walked over to Jeth. She whimpered once but remained silent and still. "Up you go. Stay," he commanded the canine. She allowed her front paws to be put over the crest of Jeth's neck, her hind feet laying flat. Next, Kelinale hoisted himself up behind his dog, wrapping one arm around her and grasping her collar with his free hand. "Good girl, you stay, good girl," he crooned down to Cleric. She loked at him and thumped her tail twice.

"We're good," he said to L'am. A thrill rushed through him, tasting adventure in his mouth. The silly little song flitted to his mind at that moment and he muttered it to himself. "Both a little scared, but adventure never cared! And that, my friends, you see; is the tale of the harper's opportinuty." So what if he changd the lyrics! After all, as a straight man Kelinale didn't find L'am a beauty, and none of them were thieves. Well, maybe you could say that the bluerider was "stealing" Kelinale, if one could be stolen willingly.

[Zephyr]

Jeth stayed completely still as the boy lifted the dog onto his back. He was afraid of moving a muscle in case he frightened dog. Scaring the poor thing was the very last thing he wanted to do, so he stayed as still as possible, at least until Kelinale was up so that he could hold onto her. Then he stood up all the way, poising himself so L'am could leap up. Settling himself behind Kelinale. He listened to the boy's words and grinned wryly. " Adventure happens when you least expect it, my friend." Then he focused on Jeth, patting the dark dragon's side. " Let's go Jeth, back to the weyr."

Rumbling in what seemed like laughter, the dragon snapped his wings hard, taking to the air with a couple well timed flaps. He circled in an air current for a moment, lazily gliding higher and higher. Better be glad we aren't going between. He said to the boy brightly, finally taking off towards the weyr.