Explorations (Ruby

[dragon]

C'oar had told him to stay under the trees. And then he'd left. But Frosstyth was being a very bad dragon right now, and enjoying the hell out of it while he was at it. Sprawled out on the rocks out from under the trees, he soaked up the soft sunlight on his muddy lightening storm of a hide. It was starting to cool off now, especially at these altitudes, and it was getting even harder to get any proper sunning done. Especially since it had been difficult to begin with, with all the hiding going on.

Sprawled out on his distended belly was a slightly darker blot, a spot where Storm was stealing some of Frosstyth's sunlight, basking in the warmth from both sides and all but purring his sleepy delight.

Frosstyth kept one eye on the sky, if drowsily, just in case some random dragon did happen to appear there. He could scurry back under cover quickly enough to avoid getting spotted, he was sure. But for now the sky was clear, and blue, and he didn't have a care in the world there on that mountain side not too far from the Weyr.

Slightly above him, buried in the mountain face was a large opening of a cave mouth. Dark, dismal, and vaguely damp. But as big as it was, it was not big enough for a dragon, even a green dragon, to get into. Therefore, of very little interest to Frosstyth. But for the past sevenday or so, it had been fascinating for His.

So it was that inside that dark mouth that C'oar was. Somewhere. Given recent events, he was quite well armed while exploring the dark depths. He had a pouch full of glows just in case but most of the time did not use them, instead using a primitive torch to light his way. It was only needed in the farthest depths, where no light entered from outside. Which meant that the torch was completely unnoticeable from outside.

He found lots of interesting things in there. Some useful, some not so much. When he finished an exploration run in the winding depths of the crevasse, he came back to the surface, extinguished the torch, and emerged squinting into the natural light to investigate the tidbits he'd brought back with him.

Some were fascinating looking crystals. Some were just random rocks that he examined on the off chance of having any useful minerals or ores in them. Some were other random items, sometimes small cave-dwelling creatures that never saw the light of day (and usually died after doing do at C'oar's behest). But today what he had when he emerged was nothing more than a handful of sand. Dropping his extinguished torch, he frowned down at Frosstyth. "Get your fat ass back under those trees!" He ordered.

Frosstyth jerked like he'd been stabbed, and rolled to his feet to scurry back under the canopy, head carried low in a contrite fashion. Curling around a trunk, he peeked back at C'oar. Who, much to his relief, was not looking at him anymore, but instead at the sand he had in his hand.

It wasn't just any sand, and it held C'oar's interest as he fingered it thoughtfully, watching as it glinted in the light.

[Ruby]

Ever since Meira's death, Ten had had a terribly hard time even leaving her room, much less leaving Burimyu. The thought that there was something - something deadly - haunting their big, empty, echoy home was enough to paralyze the Greenrider. She'd never been especially brave, but this was embarrassing. Luckily, she was pretty much useless at everything but glasscrafting, and they couldn't exactly do much in the way of wing drills, here, so no one had really missed her. Jazz had stopped by once or twice in the days since the attack, but Ten had been able to hold it together in front of her friend (especially since Jazz seemed to have a good half of her mind devoted to her new boyfriend, even if she didn't think she did). She'd gone out for food, but only at the busiest time of day, and only in the company of all three of her pets.

Come on. We're going out.

Ten glanced up from her wirework - she had to do something to keep her mind off sheer panic, after all - flicking her big, fearful eyes towards Rajnith. No. I do no want to die today.

Stop being so dramatic. You won't die, and I need to eat. Plus, whatever is out there would have been spotted by you or me or other sweepriders if they were really as common as you seem to think they are. We're going, there is no two ways about it. Mount up.[/color]

As if to punctuate the dragon's speech, her stomach rumbled loudly. Rajnith raised an eyeridge at her rider as if to say 'See?', then flipped her tail impatiently. Now. Let me just... No. Now.

With a resigned sigh, Ten got up, sluggishly putting away her tools. She knew how useless it was to argue with Rajnith; any moment now, it would be less an argument and more a full-blown tantrum, and all that would do was draw the kind of attention that would get Ten in trouble. She reached for her fancy set of riding straps, but Rajnith just snorted at her, rolling yellow-green eyes. With a sigh, Ten grabbed the simpler straps, and was mounted within moments. Cujo was already curled around her shoulders, nibbling an earlobe; Grip and Big Brother joined her quickly, the salamandyr clinging to her pants and the firelizard to the straps. They were ready.

Unknown to Ten, Rajnith had noticed Frosstyth taking off fairly recently, and she knew Hers and Frosstyth's got along quite well. Perhaps he would be able to cheer her up. From her (albeit rare) conversations with the Brown in the past, Rajnith knew that His liked to explore a nearby cave - she was fairly certain she'd spotted it on sweeps, so it was there that she Betweened, blocking out the sun C'oar was using to inspect the sand. She didn't see either half of the pair, but she spiraled towards the ground anyway - aha, there they were. She thought so. Fair skies, Frosstyth,[/i] Rajnith purred, happily including Hers in the conversation, How are you and yours on this fine day?[/i]

Ten slid down, somewhat red-faced, but smiled and waved in C'oar's direction anyway. "Raj did no..t tell me you two were here. What's that?"

[dragon]

C'oar looked up suddenly at the cast of shadow that fell over him, tense and ready to move. But at the sight of what dragon it was, he relaxed again, broad shoulders dropping back to normal stance. "Tenlie?" He asked, curiously.

Frosstyth perked up, promptly dumping a complaining Storm right off onto the ground. Hello my dear Rajnith! Fair skies to you too! Surely yours has not decided to go spelunking too? he asked. Feel free to join me in the shade of this very fine tree, soon as you like! I am fine. Admiring the foliage and what not. Counting leaves is a nice pass time, but not as nice as engaging conversation of course. Mine is finding make work as always. How is yours? He queried as Storm flittered back up to between his headknobs.

"Hello." C'oar answered. "Ah, well ... I didn't know to tell you I was coming?" He offered. "This? This is sand. I think you might be quite interested in it, actually." C'oar waved her over with his free hand. "Come look at this." he bid. Just the person he'd been thinking of showing it to, and now that she was here it saved him the trouble of having to find something to put it in to get it back to the Weyr to show her.

Of course, with everyone talking, Storm had to add his own two cents, cheeping and chirping. Inviting the other critters over to his fabulous perch, of course!! What better place could there be to lounge about than between Frosstyth's knobs?

[Ruby]

Well, that had gone well. Rajnith practically purred, slinking towards Frosstyth as best she could on her stubby little legs. She was feeling slightly glowy today, although it would still be a good week or two before she rose, she figured. Mine is less interested in spelunking and more interested in hiding in her room, the Green said, crossing into the shade so she could cuddle up next to the Brown. She'd never been shy about physical contact, and if he had a problem with it, she'd just lay on top of him instead. It had always Kierjaarth when he wanted to go do something else. I grew bored of that nonsense, and anyway, being inside all the time makes her pale. She looks much better when she's had a little sun. Resting her head on one of Frosstyth's forepaws, Rajnith tilted it so she could look up at the Brown. It is the Records Room beasts that has her in such a state. I think all of that is foolishness - if they try to hurt her, I will eat them. Simple enough, no? What is there to be afraid of?[/i]

Ten was much less collected, attempting to master both her wayward accent and her blush at the same time. "What I meant was... I did no - not - expect that Raj was taking me to anyone? I thought we were just going hunting." Do shut up, Rajnith told her privately, and Ten did, grateful for the distraction of the sand in C'oar's hand. She hadn't meant to intrude, but when she stopped stuttering for a second she realized he was actually happy to see her, and that made her relax quite a bit. He was a friend, and a fellow smith, and just because she was nervous about everything else right now didn't mean she should be nervous about running in to him in the forest, too. Rajnith's motives were suspect, as always, but she could work with that.

Moving over next to the Smith, she glanced up at him before looking down at the sand in his hand. He was quite a bit taller than she was, and broad too, but where others might feel intimidated, Ten was comforted. She'd had plenty of friends this size at the Glasscrafthall. "Is that..." she asked, picking up a pinch of the sand to roll it between her fingers. "Glass sand?" she asked, as if he'd know better than her. "Where did you find it?"

Poor Storm had chosen the wrong flits to invite over. Big Brother simply disappeared, setting up surveillance in a nearby tree, and Cujo actively hissed at him from his protective place on Ten's shoulders. The Salamandyr, however, was absolutely thrilled. Scuttling along Rajnith's back and up onto Frosstyth, the odd little Blue chattered right back at Storm, forsaking all normal salamandyr speech in favor of much more flit-like communication. Yes, Frosstyth's head made a lovely perch! Much better than Rajnith, who always tried to shake him off. Actually, the only word Grip used at all was Grip, as an introduction to Storm. The rest was intelligible only to the smallest draconics present.

[dragon]

Frosstyth crooned quietly, lifting one wing slightly and tucking his legs closer to his body to make room for Rajinath. Who seemed quite pretty and very interested in cuddling. This was a first for him, but he was not opposed!! Settling his wing down again after she was situated, he arched his neck and nuzzled the top of her head. Resting on his front feet! Who would have thought?! Frosstyth had never had such favorable attention from a girl-dragon before. It was a whole new experience and a heady one at that! A glowy girl-dragon too! Outside is good, yes. I agree. Outside is also away from the hideyhole monsters. But I think Mine is going to do something about those little nasties. When I don't know. Maybe that will make yours feel better? Mine is good at nasties. At least I think so... He didn't bother to point out that part of the problem was that the likes of them couldn't fit in where the little nasties were.

C'oar smiled at Tenlie as she struggled with her voice. She was trying - it was a sight more than a lot of people did with most things in their life. Try. She earned kudos with him in just that. She tried. "Maybe she wasn't. There are such things as happy accidents you know." He answered. He was pretty sure dragons could change their plans at the drop of a leaf as well as humans could. But a glance toward the two dragons had him distracted for a moment.

Were they cuddling?? He blinked, and looked at her again as she took up a position by his elbow, fingering the sand. C'oar grinned, shifting his stance so she could see it and tinker with it more easily. "I suspect it just might be glass sand." He agreed. "But I am no glass smith. You are. So I trust your judgment far more than I do my own. But I found it in there." He turned slightly and nodded at the opening behind them. "There's a whole ocean of it through a small cranny. How it got there, I don't know. I think it was ... possibly? A developmental thing. Or maybe it poured in from elsewhere through some cracks. Shards if I know. It's just there."

Storm watched as the two flitters told him off, but perked up again when the tiny little mandyr appeared to be friendly enough. Though ... he wasn't terribly fond of mandyrs. This one seemed to be very different from that Stupid one had been, though. Maybe not all mandyrs were bad? He'd spent a little time with a few other mandyrs, but they'd been annoying at best. Grip? What was that supposed to mean? Storm crooned as he leaned forward to sniff the tiny creature. The blue was so small, being a blue mandyr, that he made Storm's bronze flitter self seem absolutely gargantuan. He'd never been self aware like that before, and it made the Bronze a bit awkward in his own skin. He could eat this blue thing and no one would be the wiser! But ... somehow he knew that eating it would be a bad idea. Snaking a tongue out, he licked Grip instead. Thoughtfully, from head to tail.

Could it even fly? It was so small!!

[Ruby]

Quite,[/i] Rajnith said in answer to everything Frosstyth had said, then elaborated. It would be excellent if Yours was able to do something about them. You two are so very brave![/i] Yes, the Brown was brave too, because why not? Not to mention that so far, Frosstyth made an excellent cuddle-partner, much more along the lines of the big, solid Bronzes than little Dhavalth, who was barely bigger than Rajnith herself. Of course, Dhavalth was lovely to cuddle with too, but it was always good to have several options. Rajnith would be quite pleased to keep him around. And it would make Mine feel much better, of course. Poor girl doesn't understand that there are brave ones like you and Yours to take care of her, she believes only she is allowed to take care of herself, and then she doubts her abilities.[/i] That whole bit was delivered in a tone of long-suffering affection, like one might have for an exotic aunt. Changing tacts, Rajnith nudged Frosstyth's shoulder, and asked coyly, How does Yours plan to find them?[/i]

"You clearly do not know Rajnith very well," Ten said with a kind of darkness that could be interpreted as either humor or warning. There was no such thing as a happy accident when it came to the Green; everything in her world was engineered to within an inch of it's life, Ten included. Others might guess that Rajnith had picked Tenlie because of some underlying sweetness in the Green's nature, or something similar (Faranth knew they could both be foolishly headstrong if they felt like it) but Ten was convinced it was because Raj wanted someone she could 'fix', and Ten was likely to always need fixing.

But that wasn't anything that would interest C'oar, Ten figured, so she glanced up to see what had made him fall silent. It was easy enough to follow his eyes to the two dragons, unabashedly snuggling in a way that made it clear that Rajnith would not be hunting any time soon, and when she did it would likely be 'hunting' in the sense that she'd send Frosstyth off to bring her back a delicious beast for dinner. Of course, the sight also made Ten want to forget all about the sand and cuddle up under C'oar's big, strong arm and put a hand on his chest so she could simper in his general direction, but she crushed that particular urge by scooping more of the sand into her hand. And if her fingers brushed C'oar's palm, and if they maybe lingered there a bit longer than they should have, well, that was what it was. Ten was working, she didn't have time for that sort of foolishness.

Holding the sand up to the light, sniffing at it, and even going so far as to taste a bit of it, Ten examined the particles with every sense she possessed. When she was done, her face broke into a kind of sunny radiance. "It do be," she said, forgetting all about her accent, "I can not be sure of the quality until I melt it down, but it should be glass sand. It would have had to come from..." And she launched into the kind of technical description that only another Glasscrafter would understand, and ever a Master Smith would have a hard time deciphering. In short, you didn't usually find that sort of sand in caves, shock! So there must have been some sort of ancient geological disturbance. "...Because of the silica content," she finished, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "Would you show me where you did find it?"

Grip chattered happily at Storm, thrilled that a firelizard was wanting to talk to him at all. Grip, he explained, meant to hold - he reached out his extra-long tail to curl it around one of Frosstyth's head-knobs, squeezing. Grip, he repeated, by way of explanation. It was a good thing he'd grabbed, Frosstyth's headknob, too - All of a sudden, the big bronze licked him, and it tickled. Giggling mentally and making a kind of happy gurgling sound, Grip flared his large (for a Salamandyr) eye-marked wings, then unfurled his tail so he could tap Storm on the nose with it, just hard enough to make the flit's teeth clack together. That started off another fit of giggles, and the salamandyr returned his tail to the headknob, lest he fall off in his mirth.

[dragon]

Brave. Indeed. Frosstyth shot a glance at His. Sometimes foolishly so. At which point it was not bravery, but downright stupidity. But there was little he could do about His when it came to trying to make things better and safer for everyone else. He could only hope that C'oar didn't get himself killed in the process. But yes, Mine will keep Yours safe to the best of his ability. You can count on that. He assured her, returning to nuzzling the green down along the side of her ridges. It was so nice to have a lovely little green to spend some time with! He was used to spending his time under a tree by himself. Ever since he'd hatched, practically. Always waiting on His under a tree. Day and night. At least he'd finally gotten a handle on his almost reflexive habit of eating leaves. It helped a lot to not be bored.

By looking for them I guess. He hasn't divulged that much of his plans to me yet. If he's got any plans at all. Frosstyth answered. For all I know, those things are why he was in this cave. I just don't know. he shrugged slightly, glancing back at where C'oar and Tenlie were standing again. Humans were so strange, and sometimes made less sense than wherries. Especially when it came to members of the opposite gender.

"That is quite true." C'oar admitted. He quite literally knew next to nothing about her dragon. He only knew she was green ... and was a dragon ... and that was about as far as it went. C'oar watched as she looked at the dragons for a moment, and then smiled slightly as she promptly went to being all super-serious directly afterward. He closed his hand over the sand after she took her sample to examine, keeping it from getting scattered about uselessly as she made her judgment.

Granted, he knew next to nothing about glasscrafting too ... only the basics that came with learning general smithy... in other words the forge part of it. But he was still quite surprised to see her taste the sand. Just ... strange. He was glad it was just sand and not yet related to glass. Given that she'd just put it in her mouth. But the explosion of Tenlie that followed it only made him grin again. Especially with the explosion of her old accent that came with it. Most of what she said certainly went over his head but he was more than happy to listen to her ramble excitedly about it. Maybe he'd learn something, besides!

"I certainly will." C'oar assured her. Obviously, it was back inside the cave. But, he'd put his torch out already. "Here." He took her hand, and poured the rest of the sand into her palm before moving to gather the torch up off of the ground. He took a moment to get it going again, but it relit easily enough. Still being hot from being lit recently was a big help too. Lifting the torch overhead, C'oar glanced at her before heading into the cave first. All the while hoping he could actually find the spot again. Everything looked the same under ground after all. Nor was it an easy trek to make. But he'd made it once already. Given that he was considerably bulkier than she was, she shouldn't have any trouble getting through any space he could squeeze in.

The cave opened into a sizable interior cavern about the size of an average room, and then crammed down fast almost as if that was all there was to the cave. But toward one side was a narrow vertical slot through which was a contorted squeeze. The narrow portion lasted about five feet before opening again, only to switch planes. The next slot was horizontal and about a foot off the floor after a short slope. That too could be squeezed through - albeit a gritty squeeze.

The room beyond was spectacular to be seen, especially in the flickering torchlight. The walks glittered with minuscule crystalline growths on the damp walls. Off in the distance a faint dripping sound could be heard. But C'oar didn't stop in that area, instead tracing a path across the crunchy sounding floor, deeper into the glittery depths. The floor was sloped hard, but the crystalline and sometimes stalagmite growths provided excellent traction for booted feet.

Toward the bottom he angled off to the right, passing from the glittery room into another dark, drab passage that while more or less level, had a very slick floor that wasn't at all flat. Damp and covered in slimy algae, it was tricky footing at best and C'oar spent most of his time with his free hand on the wall for balance. "Careful." He warned, before stepping sideways into a new cavern while the slick path continued on down into the earth.

This new cavern was pretty boring, and easily crossed. A slot was in the far wall, through which C'oar also slid through, sideways, torch leading. Once through, he stopped and stepped to the side, waiting for Tenlie to join him. For starting at his toes and slanting sharply upward toward a rather high ceiling that was crossed with small fissures, was a massive heap and pile of the self same sand he'd handed her some of. There was tons upon tons of the stuff in here. Just heaped there as if it had trickled through the fissures overhead to pile up in the underground cavern. "What do you think?"

It would be a massive bother to get it all out, but for a Weyr in tight spaces, it was doable. Especially if some of those passages were widened somewhat.

Frosstyth twitched when his knob was squeezed, but didn't otherwise react to the mandyr's demonstration. Storm on the other hand shook his head after having his teeth forcibly clacked for him. He backed up a step at the eye-display, looking somewhat worried. As any smallish creature would when suddenly faced with facade eyes that were quite ... big. For eyes. He offered an uncertain croon, not sure anymore if he was looking at an actual 'mandyr or something decidedly worse. Yes, he knew what Grip meant now, but ... maybe he should have been named Eyes!

[Ruby]

Very good,[/i] Rajnith purred, nuzzling in close. As if she wasn't close enough. The tubby little Green liked her cuddles, and she was surprisingly good at it - somehow, she always managed to squeeze in tighter, even when it seemed like she was already squished as tight as she could go. Frosstyth was a big brown, so he fit ever so nicely around her large frame. He made her feel dainty, which of course she was, so it was only right that she feel that way. Somehow, though, when Frosstyth mentioned hunting the things in the cave, Rajnith squeezed even tighter, quivering prettily in delighted fear. Oooo, is that so? Is that where they come from?[/i] she asked, in the kind of tone one might use while a ghost story was being told. Rajnith always had had a perverse love for scary stories.

Closing her hand around the sand, Ten looked up at C'oar, absolutely radiant. She really was at her best when she was around glass, in any form. Clutching the gritty handful like it was the last glass sand in the world, she followed the big Smith into the darkness, utterly trusting. Even Rajnith's Do be careful, love, Frosstyth says that is where the monsters live, only paused the young woman for a second. Of course, they were in the cave by that point, and Ten wasn't about to stray out of the torchlight. In fact, she drifted closer to C'oar as they went deeper in, laying her empty hand on his elbow whenever the cave was big enough for the two of them to walk side by side. It was a good thing, too - the various wonders of the cave, light by flickering, dancing torches frequently stopped Ten in her tracks... that is until C'oar's arm moved out from under her hand, and she had to hurry to catch up. She traveled in silence, too awe struck to speak.

That is, until they shimmied through the final slot, finally reaching the sand. Then she sucked in a breath, letting out a quiet little "Ohhh..." She dropped her handful - it hardly seemed worthwhile, now - and walked up onto the pile, eyes wide. "There's... so much!" Reaching down, she picked up another handful, letting it run through her fingers before she turned back to C'oar. "Glass sand, for certain!" Holding it in such a way that the light from the torch fell on it, sparkling for a moment, she looked down at C'oar (down only because she was a foot or two up the pile) and the beatific look on her face changed to a playful one. Tossing the sand at his middle (plenty far away from eyes, face, the whole lot) she fled up the pile of sand, giggling, attempting to reach the top as it shifted under her feet. He'd have to catch her if he wanted revenge!

Folding his wings away, Grip backed up a step or two, dropping down on all fours again. He hadn't meant to startle Storm, his posture insisted, as he pulled himself in tight. Chirping quietly, he advanced a step again. He forgot that his markings were startling, sometimes. As if it had a mind of it's own, his tail snaked out, looping gently around one of the Bronze's hind legs, a tacit signal for "stay, please?"

[dragon]

Frosstyth was distracted, and quiet at the same time. He had a pretty little green snuggling with him, and that was quite ... unusual. Nice, but different. It drove him to distraction! Furthermore, her question was one he really didn't have an answer for. So he took a moment to think about it. I don't know. I would imagine they live in caves somewhere, but I don't know about this one expressly. Frosstyth answered. After all ... even self respecting dragons lived in caves! They just bothered to call them weyrs. He blinked, and then went back to licking her ridges happily. Wherever monsters lived, right now it really wasn't much if any of his concern. His was no longer traipsing about alone in there, and that was enough for him. Two sets of eyes were better than one after all.

C'oar was somewhat surprised to have Tenlie clinging to his elbow as much as she did, but he didn't protest it in the slightest. He recognized that she was spooked ... if somewhat distracted in the mean time. Sometimes enough so to forget that she was spooked. He wondered what it was that spooked her ... was it the cave, or the darkness? Maybe the claustrophobic nature of the cave? He didn't know, but wouldn't ask either. At least he seemed to provide enough security for her. That did please him, but then that was how he was wired. Protecting people was what he always tried to do. So what if said person just happened to be a very nice young lady? With a very strange but endearing accent that he sometimes made fun of.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched her practically bust into glowing herself at the sight of the sand. So happy she was clambering up onto it, playing her fingers in the stuff. Who would have ever thought that simple sand could make a girl so very happy?

"Eh!" he started when she chunked a handful of it at him, shocked and surprised by the action. Why would she do a thing like that? But her giggling and scrambling away clarified it quite nicely ... she was playing now. For once, C'oar actually laughed. Silly girl. But he wasn't going to chase her across the sand ... he was holding a burning torch after all. If he dropped it, they'd be in the dark a long complicated way from the surface. Furthermore ... he didn't want to hurt either of them with it. "And where are you going now?" He asked, quite amused as he walked around the edge of the pile after her.

Except, that mound was a lot bigger than even he had initially thought ... so was the cavern, that was completely piled up. What a trap for sand to fall into. Motion caught his eye and he glanced upward beyond the nearest peak of the heap. Just in time to see a small trickle of sand fall from a crack in the ceiling to dribble onto the top. For just a split second before it stopped again. Interesting. C'oar looked around, and at the wall he was standing next to. Rough as it was, he still thought of it as a wall. Stuffing the butt end of the torch into a crevice, he tested it to see if it would hold. One he deemed it secure enough, he ventured away from the flame, booted feet creating huge divots in the otherwise smooth surface of the heap ... smooth barring where Tenlie was playing around, anyway.

So what if the peak where he was headed also happened to be where Tenlie was headed? It would take him a moment to get there though ... the sand shifted a lot under his feet, and he frequently found himself reaching out with a hand to keep from tumbling all the way back down. "You're a quick little bunny, you know that?" He commented, watching her traipse lightly up the slope in comparison to his efforts.

Outside, Storm was easily placated by the hiding of those huge facade eyes. Reaching down he sniffed the 'mandyr again, before being distracted by the tail wrapping around his ankle. Looking back, he lifted that foot, curling the talons of it up as he sniffed that, too. Shaking the foot almost reflexively, he shivered it back and forth. When that failed to work, he pulled his foot forward, and started nibbling on the tail. Not in a harmful fashion, instead more like a grooming or preening, nibbling his way up the length of that little tail. Wow, but this tiny creature had a hugely long tail!

[Ruby]

With her hopes for a scary story dashed, Rajnith's head came up again, and she shifted away from the brown a little so she could look up at him. If you don't even know where to find him, how do you expect to do anything about them? she asked, mock-serious. As she went on, though, it became more and more clear that she was lightly teasing... on the surface, anyway. What was going on underneath was anyone's guess. I don't even know what you would do if you did find one! Now if you could bring me, say a feline... then I would truly feel comfortable. It does not have to be a big one, any feline will do,[/i] she added. Feline meat was the most delicious, after all, not to mention the hardest to come by.

C'oar's laughter made Ten giggle harder, mainly because she hadn't really heard anyone laugh in quite some time. C'oar, too - he was a happy enough man, it seemed, but she wasn't sure she'd ever heard him laugh. Funny. When he asked where she was going, she called back, "To the top, o' course!" Her voice echoed rather more loudly than she expected, but she just flicked her eyes to the ceiling of the cavern and looked momentarily embarrassed before suiting words to actions and reaching the top of the pile. Once there, she had to gasp again - there was so much more than she thought! The cavern was huge, and there was so much sand, apparently leaking through from above.

Turning back to C'oar, who was having distinctly more trouble with the sand than she was (she blamed his bulk versus her smallish frame and over-large feet), she smiled over at him. "Oh, aye? I do have plenty of practice walking on the sand," she said, hands on hips as she watched him struggle. "Don' put your feet in the pile, try putting them on it. Like so," she said, demonstrating by hopping back down the dune towards him so she could show him how to place his feet. "Try to not kick the sand up with your toes. That do make it harder."

When she reached the top of the dune again, she stood there for a second... until a bit of sand trickled down her collar, making her squirm until it fell out. "We do need to check above, if we can find it," she said, glancing at the ceiling above in mock-anger. "If there do be - are - sand pits up there, it would be far easier to get this out. Likely there are not, but it is worth a look." For now, though, she shot a vaguely self-conscious look at C'oar, then sat down on the top of the dune and slid down the other side, like she had as a little child on the beaches of Ista. Of course, that made her bust into laughter again, and she waved the big smith on. "Do try it! Fun, I promise!"

Grip, apparently unaware that Storm was trying to get his tail off, started chattering and chirping away as if he were a flit himself. Most of it meant next to nothing (likely even to Storm), but overall the impression was that Grip was quite pleased to meet his new companion. Flapping his wings again (quickly, so his eye-markings didn't startle the Bronze), he cocked his head sideways, then mimed taking off. Would Storm like to fly a bit? Grip so rarely had someone to fly with, and while he couldn't go far, he could stay in the air long enough to explore a bit of the jungle, he hoped!

[dragon]

Frosstyth was really confused now. Find who? I was talking about the cave. What are you talking about? I can always find mine, if that's who you're referring to. It was a sad day and a very sad dragon that couldn't find their own rider!! She was a funny little green. And now apparently her thoughts had jumped to food? Or ... something. You want me to find you a feline? He asked, more for clarification than anything else. He'd be more than happy to find her a feline!! But ... His would probably have his hide if he left this tree, much less started roaming around like that. Who to please, who to please?

Tenlie was so very happy and giddy ... and it was infectious. When she came scrambling back down to where he was, talking in that accent of hers and trying to instruct him how to walk on sand ... he played along. If only playing along, making big exaggerated steps trying to mimic what she was doing. "Like this?" He prodded, a grin tugging at his features even though it was almost invisible given the lighting. He had left the torch far below them, after all. "Not in it? On it? Are you do be sure?" He asked, poking fun at her as he slogged upward after her. It was a good job that his boots were closed up past the ankle, otherwise they would have long since been filled with grit.

"We do, do we?" C'oar asked. "When I flew over it, I didn't see any pits. I have no idea where this is coming from." He answered more seriously, amused to see her squirm and wiggle and dance for no apparent reason. She really was a strange girl. But in a good way. He couldn't say he recognized that dance form, anyway. It looked more like someone had dribbled ice water down her back. If he'd been surprised by her actions thus far, he was even more surprised when she suddenly plopped down and slid down the heap like a slide. Well ... okay.

"I am quite sure it is fun, if you like sand in your britches." C'oar assured her, amused by her antics yet again. Did he really want to do that? No, not really. Not only did he not want to suffer sand in his britches, but he'd also worked pretty hard just to get up here to the top. But ... what was the point at being at the top of a big pile of sand inside a giant cave ... alone? Pretty much the only reason he'd climbed it was because Tenlie had. Now she wasn't even there anymore. He might as well start down, then.

He took two full steps down that side of the heap before the sand shifted too far and he lost his footing. Going down on the loosely heaped sand, once he was down there was no getting back up again much less stopping a rather uncontrolled descent. Though unlike Tenlie, who more or less slid down straight ways, C'oar ended up spending more time going sideways despite his best efforts to straighten out ... which only looked more like random flailing and loosened more sand, speeding his journey down.

Once he came to rest, he sat up and exhaled sharply. "Well." It was all he had to say. But he definitely had sand in his clothes now. Ironically, he probably had more sand than he would have had if he'd done it her way to begin with.

Storm looked at Grip like he'd lost his little mind. He didn't say anything in return, not sure what to make of the worm. But then ... he'd never really understood worms. Up until today he'd simply considered them all hostile. Grip was at least pleasant, even if he was ... a touch nutty. But fly? Why yes, he could fly. He could not only fly, but he could fly well enough to impress Golds! Not every Bronze could claim that achievement. Sitting up, he beat his own by-comparison huge wings a few times. And then he randomly seized the worm in his front paws and took off into the air, carrying the strange creature along as he wheeled up into the canopy of the tree, ducking over and under limbs as he went.

[Ruby]

((*them not him XD oh well))

Rajnith wasn't exactly clear on what had confused Frosstyth so, but she wasn't about to worry her pretty little head over it. Worrying was for big strong males, which is precisely why she kept them around. I meant the - never mind,[/i] she cooed, her tone turning sweet again. A feline, yes. To show that you can kill it, so I can tell Mine she has no reason to fear the dark stalkers. For a dragon of your talents, it won't take more than a minute I'm sure... She paired this with the sort of up and down appraising look that was full of admiration; clearly, the brown impressed her. So to speak.

Ten stuck her tongue out at the big smith when he teased her for her accent, but the look was absolutely spoiled by her enormous smile. Her face turned slightly more serious, though, when talk turned back to sand. "A sub-soil cache then, likely," she explained, as if that would mean anything to him. "We may be able to dig, but it will no be dry..." Absently shaking the last of the grains out of her shirt, Ten twitched her head, clearing the cloud of glass-smithing from her face and smiling up at him. "Aye, well, I do have sand in my britches already. I do not know about you, but it does like to get inside my clothes whenever it can."

Once she'd reached the bottom, Ten sprang up again, only to see C'oar trying his hand at sliding... or perhaps falling. She supposed he'd started out falling and ended up sliding. Giggling a little behind one hand, she took a few steps towards him, reaching out a hand to help him up, if he wanted. "It takes practice," she said, still smiling. "Had I not spent half my childhood on the dunes of Ista... well." She blushed slightly; her childhood wasn't something she spoke of often.

Grip shied away from the Bronze at first, startled by his sudden movement... but in a moment he found himself soaring!! Stretching his little blue wings wide, he cooed and chattered, although the wind of their passing whipped away most of the noise he made. He was flying, flying like he'd always wanted! Just like a flit!

[dragon]

Frosstyth's chest puffed out. Certainly! I shall return in a jiffy. He answered. So much for C'oar's orders to stay put. For the muddy thunderstorm of a brown was rising to his feet in determination. Reaching down to offer her one last admiring lick, Frosstyth took a few loping strides before lifting his wings and launching into the sky. Sweeping low over the canopy, he shot across it in search of tell tail signs of felines. It was something he was familiar with looking for ... at least, he had been back at Selenitas. Where he'd hunted felines a few times. Rather successfully too. But this was not Selenitas. So he would try. And he would hurry back, certainly!

Remarkably enough, C'oar found himself offering up a snatch of laughter again, the second time in a half candlemark. He accepted Tenlie's offered hand, though he didn't actually use it to rise. Trying that would have instead only dumped her into the sand again. Restored to his feet, he shook his shoulders a bit to wiggle some of the grit a bit farther down from where it was inside his shirt, even if he didn't manage to make it all fall out. "Practice, indeed." Now, he'd known she was northern. That accent certainly wasn't southern. But Ista? "I didn't know you were Istan." He remarked with interest. That would explain her discerning attention to sand. Sand was the pride and joy of Ista. Finest sands of all Pern, both for glass and hatching sands, if he remembered correctly.

Lucky for her, he completely missed her blush in the light, for he'd left the torch on the other side. It was rather dark where they were standing, only the barest hints of light reflecting around to reveal crude shapes. But he did hear it in her voice... though that didn't lend him any understanding as to why she was blushing. Maybe it was because of all the talk about her britches?

"With this much sand readily piled here, do you really want to go rooting for the source just yet? It would be easier to just widen the way in here, and possibly erect a rail across that chasm to prevent falls." C'oar suggested. While he wasn't a stone smith, it was still pretty similar to metalcrafting. Rails he could do lickity split, and how hard was it to hammer out a wider opening in a rock passage? "Honestly, I can't see Burimyu going through this much glass in ... generations."

Storm hesitated when he saw Frosstyth fly away. Had His come back already, were they leaving? Giving an alarmed chirp, the Bronze turned in the air and shot after the big burly dragon, carrying his blue passenger along with him as he hurried to catch up to Frosstyth. WAIT FOR HIIIIIIIIM!!!!

[Ruby]

Rajnith answered Frosstyth's lick with one of her own, adding a nuzzle for good measure. Yes, this was a brown that knew how to treat a lady. Hurry back, she added, just for good measure. Curling herself into an attractively posed little ball of dragonflesh, she flipped her tail in vague impatience, tracking first Frosstyth's path through the sky, and then when she lost him, the miniature beasts. True, she was getting feline meat out of this, but it was boring while she had to wait for him to bring it back.

"Aye, Ista. 's how I got in to Glasscraft; they do no often take on female apprentices, much like Smithcraft." That was a bit of an under exaggeration - without her Lord Holder uncle's intervention, she likely would have been turned down. Tenlie was a good glasscrafter, but she was certainly not extraordinary, and the Smithcraft was not one of the more forward-thinking halls as far as gender equality went. That was all she cared to say on the subject, however, so she dropped it. "I was only thinking it may be easier to mine it from above, if we do find the source, than to remove it from below... although if we did set it up the way you suggested it would be simple enough to remove from here."

Clearly, C'oar knew what he was talking about. All sense of embarassment gone - seriously, Ten could go from totally embarassed to totally normal faster than just about anyone alive when crafting was involved - she stooped to pick up another handful of sand, then tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and ran the sand from one hand to the other and back again. It really was very fine sand. "So how did you come to be a smith and know so much about sand, C'oar? There do be few enough Riders from the crafthalls, except for Healers. I suppose that do make sense, what with healers needing to be more empathic..."

Momentarily distracted, she added, "Oh, and have you met Roselle? She do be one of the Weyrlings, I searched her. She do be a Jewelcrafter, just not Hall-trained. Perhaps the two of you can collaborate, when we do have a real forge again?" The 'if' that Ten hadn't said hung in the air; she'd looked up hopefully to meet C'oar's eyes, but now she dropped her gaze back to the piles of sand. If they had a real forge again. There was a forge at Burimyu, but it was ancient and the tools were older. It could be used, but not nearly as well as the one at Selenitas.

Grip extended his little wings as far as they would go, extra-long tail streaming behind him like a ribbon. Totally oblivious to Storm's distress, he continued to chatter and enjoy himself... until he realized Rajnith was out of sight. Folding his wings, he gave a distressed little coo, then because steadily more agitated. Wriggling, he called, Wait! then added Wait, Ten, wait! when Storm didn't seem to be slowing down. They were high above the trees, now, but if Grip could wriggle free, he would.

[dragon]

I will. Frosstyth answered as he swayed back and forth in his low cruise over the canopy. Almost like a bird searching the lake waters for the faintest glimmer of a fish under the water. And just as soon as he saw the tell tale slinking motion that was a feline, he folded his wings up and dove snout-first through the canopy to pounce the animal.

It almost got away from him in that sudden flash-like movement they had. But he managed to nail it down with a lucky swipe of one forefoot to nail its tail down to a log. In a flash, the big beast was coiled back, snarling and clawing at his face. Growling, Frosstyth squinted his eyes shut and snapped his own head forward at the panicky, pissed-off predator.

Felines were no joke, but he'd killed enough of them to know what he was doing. Not enough to avoid injury completely, as all those claws pointed at his face were bound to find purchase. He caught the feline's shoulders in his teeth, and bit down hard enough to punch through into the lungs and heart. But the hide on his face was raked and leaking ichor in no subtle way for his trouble. Dropping the dead, limp feline, he paused a moment to lick his own face, trying to clean up a bit.

C'oar was going to tan his hide. It was a good thing it started out brown! Gathering the carcass up to his chest, Frosstyth launched back into the air, punching a new hole through the canopy to get there. In the spray of limbs and leaves that followed him up, he never noticed Storm wheeling away suddenly to avoid getting knocked out of the air. Quickly he carried his prize back to his lady. Landing somewhat clumsily, he shuffled across the ground on his back feet, refusing to set her feline on the ground and drag it. Settling down on his haunches, he held his prize out to her. For you! He told Rajinath proudly.

"Easier to mine ... a mountain ... from the top down?" C'oar mused for a moment, before trying a different tack. Sparked by what she said about the forge. "I was actually thinking, though I don't have the authority to give it a go ... maybe if we smiths all pulled we could get it..." He mused again. "I was thinking, that maybe we could build a smithy in here. Somewhere. Again, going to need some serious work done in here to make it usable. But why move the material? Especially since our forge can't be used due to both age and being discovered? In here, a forge could go unseen for ages upon ages if it would ever be found." C'oar suggested. "The mountain would absorb the heat, the caverns would carry and disperse the smoke. There's water in here, there's sand. The only thing I didn't find was ore. Yet." It was a wild idea, but one he was willing to try. Partly because the Weyr needed a smithy ... and being a smith who loved his craft, he was really itching to get back to it. Just as he suspected she was.

Wait ... what? "Me? I don't know anything about sand. Not really." C'oar answered. "I was and am a metalsmith. That's it. I can make metal items, and that's ... about it." Nevermind a lot of really interesting stuff could be made of metal. "I only saw it, and suspected that's what it was. I didn't know for sure. And that ... is only because I've seen crates of the stuff in passing." He shrugged slightly. "No real knowledge."

"Roselle?" C'oar asked blankly, before shrugging again. "I can't say as I know who that is, no." He also couldn't really imagine collaborating with her on ... what? Jewelry? While some jewelry did have metal bits, sure ... his work had been far more utilitarian and heavy. Bowls, wagon wheels, swords, knives, gears, horse shoes, axle bands, things of that nature. Blacksmithy. If there was one thing Burimyu really didn't need at the moment, it was jewelry. Jewelry did not make life easier or possible.

But he smiled at her when he saw that hopeful look. "We'll have a forge, don't you worry. I've been brainstorming that pretty much since we got here." He reached over to touch her lightly on her shoulder in reassurance.

Storm had barely managed to roll out of the way of Frosstyth's eruption from the canopy, taking his little blue screaming friend with him. Storm gave him a firm pinch and commanding chirp. Grip needed to hang on and not lose it. Storm had everything in hand, he could calm down now. Turning about in the tumultuous wake that Frosstyth had left behind, the little bronze powered his way back through the air again, through to smoother currents as he followed the big goofy brown back the way they'd come. This time, Storm could clearly see that C'oar was not there ... it was just Frosstyth. And he'd apparently been hunting. Excellent! Maybe he could swipe some of the meat to chew on ...