Sand castles and paw prints (Emberkins)

[Tashe]

"Uuueehh." He looked nervously at the black feline who had been staring at him for the last half candlemark. It was creepy, felines in general were creepy. Eliah had never really liked felines if only because their eyes almost seemed too intelligent, as if they understood everything that he did. Scooting closer to the sand castle he had started build, product of his boredom, the Candidate prodded it forming small holes that would serve as windows. He felt weird being down at the River without Rishin, but he had just come from doing his chores and his Canine was banned from ever entering it. So he had left her at the barracks. Using the stick he drew and archway into the well packed sand, dividing them in half and transforming it into a pair of doors.

Was it bad that everything he did that was simple reminded him of his brother? If it wasn't for Aharza, Eliah wouldn't have felt the least bit homesick. Especially since he was living alone now, well, as alone as a half filled barrack can be. He had to take care of himself, when he was so used to his older brothers helping him do everything. Aharza had even made sand castles with him, although that had happened less when he turned thirteen. Looking up, Eliah nearly jumped three feet into the air. The cat was now sitting no more than a foot away from him. Evil! It had to be to walk so quietly. It wasn't to say that he was afraid of felines, just nervous around them. He was a Canine person through and through. Canines could be taught tricks, and although they were intelligent and could sometimes give that all knowing stare, cats always gave it. He wanted to scoot back from it, but he couldn't it's yellow gaze was nerve racking. And then... was it purring? It knew something he didn't... Flapping his hand at it, he tried to shoo it away. "Go. Shoo kit."

His attempts were met with the exact opposite reaction, it made the cat pick itself up and stride over. Throwing up his hands as the feline jumped into his lap, Eliah stared down at it as it sprawled over his legs, its purr vibrating through his skin. Slowly reaching down he twisted the leather collar around and read the name on the name tag. "Koulko?" The feline meowed.


Yes. He liked this human. This human would take care of him now that his old one had left him. He purred as he began to clean himself in the boy's lap. His lap was the perfect size as well, which was a plus.

[Ember]

"That feline seems to really like you," a young boy observed. "Is it yours?"

Dy'shi walked along the sandy stretch of land, one hand resting on the neck of his very young blue. His head was tilted curiously as he took in the sand castle and the boy-with-the-cat. Oh wait...he recognized the person. He was a candidate of a different rotation, though he'd seen the other around occasionally. The boy glanced at the blue by his side and then felt sheepish. The other had not Impressed. Surely he didn't want a physical reminder of that...

The Hyphen born boy's gaze roamed around awkwardly, landing anywhere but on Eliah. He should uh...leave. Yes that seemed like a good idea. Him and Chakraith could find another area and..."Ah..Chakraith..." The blue had left Dy'shi's side and wandered over to the sandcastle curiously. She looked it over for a moment, careful as she moved not to touch it and destroy it. It was interesting so she turned her head to regard the maker. The sand building is good. And I do not think that he would mind company.

"Umm, Chakraith says that's good," he told the candidate nervously, pointing at the sand castle to clarify. He took a few steps forward so he could get a better look too and smiled slightly. "It really is quite good. Is it hard to make? I've never tried to make one before."

[Tashe]

"Uh... uh... no. It just kind of appeared and sat on me." Looking up from the feline, Eliah glanced over at the other boy and his Dragon. Oh, he had been one of Candidates who had Impressed at Millieth's hatching. That meant he was a Weyrling and higher up than he was on the Ranking ladder. But the Rider looked younger than him, by maybe half a year at least. Still, that would make him near the minimum age. "Ouch, Koulko! No kneading" Unhooking the Feline's claws from his trousers, Eliah sighed. Picking up the little male, the Candidate put Koulko on the sand next to him but the feline just climbed back on purring louder. He twitched slightly as he realized how close the Blue's head was to his, but it's attention seemed directed mostly at the sand castle and not him. Until that is the Blue turned to look at him directly, even though the Dragon was the smallest he'd seen, having one so close to his head was interesting. At least this Blue had a nicer movement to it than Ahth had, meeting him was rather unnerving experience.

"Chakraith? Oh, well, thank you." He knew the Dragon wouldn't talk directly to him, but Eliah knew that his comment was heard. Glancing upward at Chakraith's bonded, Eliah offered him a smile in return for the boy's. He wasn't shy around other people close to his age or those younger than him, they were easier to talk to because he could relate to them better. Out of all the people he had met so far, this boy would receive a bright smile with out having t work for it much. "Thanks. And no, not very hard. All you have to have is a little bit of imagination." Eying the feline he continued. "I can show you how to make one. I used to make them all the time with my Brother at Hyphen." Prodding at Koulko's collar, Eliah addressed him. "Scoot kitty. I need to use my legs." He continued to poke the Feline until he got up and parked himself near the Blue. Koulko was eying Chakraith's foot with interest, wondering if he felt like pouncing it.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Eliah. Maybe you've seen me around the Candidate Barracks, well, before you Impressed to Chakraith."

[Ember]

Dy'shi made a thoughtful sound at Eliah's answer before saying, "I wonder where its owner is then. Do felines normally just wander around?" It was normal for animals to follow their owners but for one to just randomly walk around seemed a bit odd to the boy. He smiled sympathetically as the feline clawed the other kid. He didn't seem much older than himself, Dy'shi noted with some surprise. So Nautic had been right. There were other quite young candidates.

Chakraith continued to look at Eliah for a moment before nodding in reply to his comment. She moved a couple of steps back to be polite before laying down to watch the goings on. Dy'shi sat down next to her though he nearly stood up again in excitement. "You're from Hyphen too!? Wow I didn't think I'd meet another person from Hyphen..." The offer to be shown how to make a sand castle wasn't forgotten though it certainly wasn't what had the majority of his interest now. "I'd love to learn how to make one too."

The blue noticed the feline eyeing her paw and she wiggled it experimentally to see what the fuzzy creature would do. She had never seen one of them before. It was kind of cute, she supposed. You called this a feline, Dy'shimine? The boy turned to look at her and nodded. "Yeah, that's a feline. Sorry about that. She was curious what it was. I have seen you around before, though a candidate's life always seems busy so we didn't get to meet before I Impressed. I'm Dyle - er Dy'shi."

[Tashe]

"Well Felines have er... their own rule book. They aren't like canines who'll stay near their owner. Felines tend to wonder... this one's name is Koulko." He pointed at the cat's collar, the nametag was still swiveled around to the back of the male's neck. But the other boy's excitement startled him slightly, until he realized what brought it on. "You're from Hyphen? Cool! Do you know happen to know of a Master Woodcrafter named Elizzian? He's my father, or maybe Ahari? She's one of the Master Weavers there." Eliah wasn't surprised he had never seen the Weyrling around Hyphen, it was a big Hold after all. Maybe they had seen each other in the past, but since they hadn't known each other then, merely dismissed the other as another face in the crowd. It was nice to meet another person from his Holdhome, Hyphen was a common stomping ground that they could talk about. "Maybe my family knows your family. When I write to them this month I will ask them."

"Dy'shi." He nodded happily before tugging on one of his many piercings. Currently, he had four. But his mother promised him that when she came to visit, she would give him two more. Her mother (Eliah's now deceased grandmother) had been a Senior Journeyman Jeweler and had taught his mother how to pierce ears, thus the reason all of her sons had at least one piercing. Upon getting the two new piercings he would be taking the prize for the most in the family. "Well, lets see. First you need wet sand, not to wet but pretty damp." Getting up he brushed some of the dry sand off of his pants and moved down to the edge of the river. Scooping up a handful of the right type of sand, he waved Dy'shi over to show him. "The main part of the Castle is made out of this stuff." He paused for a moment before remembering something the Weyrling had said. "Wait, Chakraith is a she?" Weren't Blues supposed to be male? Ahth was a male... and so was the large Blue he had run into the other day, literally.

Koulko twitched his nose, making his whiskers shake slightly. Reaching out he took a swipe at the Dragon's foot before prancing off and attacking a leaf that was being blown by the wind. The black feline lost interest momentarily and flounced back over to the sand castle, laying down next to it to take a nap. He wasn't convinced that the boy knew that he was going to take care of him now. Which forced Koulko to stay close to the boy until he understood. But that wouldn't take long, not long at all.

[Ember]

Dy'shi glanced briefly at the feline when Eliah pointed at it. Koulko...Bit of an odd sounding name in his opinion. If Eliah wasn't his owner that begged the question of who actually was the cat's owner. At the names Dy'shi grimaced apologetically and shook his head. "I'm afraid I wasn't out and about a whole lot so I wouldn't know." A lot of people assumed it was because of his age, but the truth was he was generally too busy trying to be perfect to go out and talk with people. "I suppose you could ask if they know Adylan's family," he added.

The boy hastily got up as he was waved over to see the sand needed. It made sense that you'd need something to make the sand stick together like getting it wet. He was prepared to listen to the full "lesson" when Eliah asked him a question. He was a bit surprised that the candidate hadn't picked up on the distinction earlier. He smiled slightly and nodded. The blue in question turned to regard the two boys, momentarily ignoring the feline. "Yeah. Chakraith is most definitely a girl. Umm, I know she's blue but you can tell from her voice and she also agrees she's a she."

He'd been told something before but he had yet to bring it up with anyone. "Millieth is the gold that lays er...clutches that sometimes have dragons that are different, right? I think Chakraith might be like that..." Dy'shi trailed off and looked at his dragonet. It didn't really bother him that she might be different - he outright refused to call her a mutant - but he knew of the Weyrling Massacre and sort of why it was done.

As the feline quickly lost interest in her Chakraith ended up investing her interest in the boys. She was mildly curious to find out Eliah's reaction to her being female. She already knew well enough that blues were typically male. In fact, there were likely no other female blues in the weyr, if not in the world. Chakraith didn't much mind what others thought of her. She would not judge them based on that alone. Everyone had many facets to who they were. Some would be willing to accept her and others wouldn't. It was a simple truth.

[Tashe]

He listened quietly as Dy'shi explained. "Oh, I see." He offered Chakraith a glance before smiling at her. "Well good ol' lady fate has a reason for everything. I bet you two will make some history. Like Ruth and his rider. He was different too, but he ended up being somethin' grand." He thought it was really cool that Chakraith was different from all the other Dragons. One of a kind. But Eliah also felt a little sad for the Blue, he could almost bet she'd meet some resistance to her uniqueness among the dragon population. It was just like in the human world. Like if a girl wanted to be a Holdgaurd, she'd have a lot of opposition facing her during training, and mean people would try to well... be mean. He hoped for Dy'shi's sake, that the dragons at Selenitas were all open minded. Seeing as Millieth had been there for a while now and he supposed a bunch of her eggs had hatched already. And because her children were around the weyr now, there had to be Dragons with other mutations. As he thought about this, he momentarily checked out of the real world. He snapped back into it quickly. "But anyways. You'll be great Chakraith, don't listen to people who say otherwise." It felt good to pass on advice that had once been given to him. Although he had a feeling the female already had taken that sort of advice.

"Er. Sandcastles..." He wasn't the best person in the area of sentimentality, and after a while he always grew a little awkward. So, he changed the subject. "Right. So you take a bunch of wetsand and put it on the dry sand." He scooped up a few handfuls and plopped them ungracefully onto the drier ground a few paces above them. Returning for a few more, Eliah repeated the process twice before dropping himself down onto the sand. "Then you take the wet sand and shape it, adding a little bit of dry sand like this." He pushed and sculpted a small square with the sand. "Then you take a stick or a rock or your fingers..." He lifted one of his own and wiggled it, "... and make the top. How ever you want it." He squished the middle and pulled the sand to the sides, then pressed down the sides at small intervals so that they looked like castle turrets. "Then you add windows and doors. And then you sprinkle dry sand all over it so that it gets harder." When he was done he took a step back. It was about a fourth of the size of his other sandcastle, but he had been working on the other one for a while. "And ta-dah. You have a sand castle. You can make them what ever size or shape you want. I've made a few with cone roofs. Its even better when you have pots and small pans, cause then you have sharper edges."

Koulko, meanwhile, was eyeing his old sandcastle and wondering it he could sleep on it.

[Ember]

Dy'shi smiled at Eliah's acceptance of Chakraith's difference. "I don't know if I can do anything as grand as what they did, but I do believe there's nothing wrong with Chakraith. Then again, I'm biased," he said with amusement. His blue made a quiet sound of pleasure and the boy marveled at his fortune. He was still uneasy about the whole thing but Chakraith was making it easier by taking care of him in return. She required care but she always let him know if he was doing things wrong, unlike a pet that can't always let you know.

Chakraith had indeed heard that advice before, but mostly only from Dy'shi. In return for the boy's kind words she crooned slightly. It was only polite to communicate her gratitude though she didn't feel comfortable addressing one that was not Hers directly. This Eliah was proving to be a good type of person though. He treated Dy'shi and herself well. She'd reserve judgement though. She was never quick to brand anyone anything and definitely not at the first meeting.

The pair watched curiously as Eliah showed Dy'shi how to make a sandcastle. When the explanation was done the boy seemed a little bewildered. "Wow, its quite easy. You'd think making such a cool thing would be harder than that." The blueweyrling, itching to try it himself, grabbed some of the right type of sand for himself and started to add on to the tower that the candidate had built. His work was rougher but the wall he built stayed upright and the boy beamed at his tutor.

[Tashe]

He offered Chakraith a smile as she gave him a croon, but he returned his attention to Dy'shi as he voiced a comment. "Nah. Its pretty easy. All you have to do is imagine it in here." He tapped the side of his head, balancing himself by hugging his knees with his other arm. "If you can think it, theres a way to build it." A lot of his designs stemmed from his training in Woodcraft, his father hadn't limited him to one particular style. Letting him pursue and practice making everything from furniture to figurines, the latter being the thing he preferred to make. Particularly animals and Dragons, even the occasional fish or two. But that wasn't relevant. Rocking slightly, Eliah watched the Weyrling as he tried his own hand at making a sand castle. Well, wall, but baby steps right?

"Good job! You've got the idea. Lets make a big castle." Grinning he hopped up and wondered down to retrieve more wet sand. It took Eliah a couple trips to create a pile big enough to satisfy him, but he eventually got down on a knee and began to build on the opposite side that Dy'shi was building on. Patting some of the sand into a wall, the Candidate listened to the river as it rushed by. He loved the way Selenitas sounded on a calm day, the river could be heard almost anywhere. Even the Avians in the trees seemed to sing crisper and more joyfully, though he had no doubt they were of a different species. At Hyphen, they had a lot more sea faring avians and a lot more wherries. Using a stick, he shaved some of the sand down on his wall to make it squarer. "Have you met your Weyrlingmaster yet?" He paused and looked up from his wall with a smile. "Are the Weyrling Barracks like the Candidate ones? Do you guys have roommates and stuff."

[Ember]

Dy'shi was glad that it was easy. Might not have been enjoyable if there had been some hard trick to it. He was smiling as he built his little wall. It was calming too..not that he'd been all that stressed or upset before. Making something, however temporary it might be, felt good to the young boy. More dragonriders ought to create things rather than just take lives in his opinion. Of course, picturing his imagination's version of C'leon making something was kind of hard.

At the praise Dy'shi positively beamed. Oh, he was doing a good job? That was nice to hear! He could have whistled while he worked - he was now attempting a tower - but Eliah started on a topic and Dy'shi couldn't talk and whistle at the same time. Weyrling life...it was both very different and very much the same. He nodded and glanced up from his work with an amused smile. "We have met her. She was...very to the point. I prefer that to people who just ramble on though. Her name is Darya, of Azrath. And the barracks - oh hold on a sec," he said, scrambling up and towards the river. He'd run out of sand.

When he came back he was holding the bottom of his shirt up to keep the large amount of sand from falling. He wasn't afraid of getting dirty, that was for sure. He dropped it next to his building spot and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, ran out. Anyways, the barracks are a bit different. Instead of one big room for each gender we share a room with a partner. I got lucky, I already knew my roommate from before the hatching." Sometimes he wondered if Darya had somehow found out they were friends and stuck them together because of his age. More likely it was jsut by chance.

[Tashe]

"That must be nice, having to share your room with only one other person. Especially when you know the person you're rooming with." Using his thumbs he compressed some sand to make a ledge on his own tower. "I don't like the Candidate Barracks much, to be honest. At least the chores and the lessons keep me busy, otherwise its pretty boring." Not to mention he wasn't having the best time making friends with any of the Candidates currently in residence. Either he was too shy to approach the others, or they just outright ignored him. He didn't mind too much though, he had Rishin and that was all that really mattered to the boy. "Is Darya nice? I mean, when ever I picture someone who's direct and to the point, I always seem to come up with someone who is kind of indifferent. Like my Uncle. He's like that when it comes to dealing in his Craft stuff." Sprinkling some dryer sand on the exposed portions of the tower that he had manipulated, he made sure it was sturdy before working on a design at its base.

Working in the Kitchens was very much like helping his mother when she was cooking dinner. The atmosphere was basically the same. Get in her way and get a smack on the hand with a wooden spoon. Despite that, he often liked getting assigned kitchen duty. Not that he had ever gotten assigned anything other than that for a chore... either way, he was currently content. Which reminded him, "Do you guys still have to do chores every month? I've heard you get to have the chance to do other types of chores than us Candidates get. Like, boat duty and stuff."

Meanwhile, Koulko twitched his tail in thought. Still thinking whether or not it would be more comfortable on top of the home made out of sand. Leaping onto Eliah's old castle, the feline landed delicately on top of the flattest portion. Sinking in a little, Koulko stood very still, at least until he decided it was fine to move again. Slowly curling up into a ball of fluff, the male tucked his nose under his tail and eyed his new human for a few moments. The manchild didn't look like he would be leaving soon, so Koulko decided it was safe to take a nap. A short one at least. The largelizardfemale would alert him to anything amiss, her movements were hard to ignore.

[Ember]

Dy'shi shrugged indifferently at the comment about sharing rooms. "I guess its nice having only one roommate. I didn't mind the candidate barracks though. I'm used to sharing rooms with my siblings. At least the barracks have plenty of room for the number of people who normally live there," he offered in an attempt to make the barracks more bearable for Eliah. He much preferred if people were happy where they were. It could be any length of time before the candidate got a chance to change quarters. He ignored the pang of guilt at the thought though his blue caught it and a vague soothing feeling sweeped through their bond.

"Nice? Well...she's not outright mean. I don't know if I'd call it nice. If anything I think she's indifferent. She just gets the lesson over and done with as quickly as possible. So if you get her she'll likely remind you of your uncle." She was an awful lot like his own father he reflected. Indifferent unless angered. Actually his whole family was like that. The boy missed them anyways. As he finished his wall with a light pat he attempted a tower like the ones Eliah had done. He smiled as chores came up, glancing up at Eliah with an amused glint in his eyes. "Oh yes, we get to choose. I wonder when people are going to realize the archives are getting a bit dusty?"

Chakraith watched the feline make itself comfortable on the sandcastle. She watched the furry creature for a bit, curious about what it was going to do. Ah. The furry was going to sleep. The feline was interesting to the young blue. She had never seen one before so it was obvious why. She sensed it was no threat to Hers or the one who called himself Eliah. She continued to merely watch the goings on though. Never bored, Chakraith was.