I've seen better days (open;wastelander?)

[Tashe]

The whip cracked sharply as the end neared the ground, in an otherwise silent Stable the sound was deafening. It startled a few of the stable hands from their well balanced perches on stall doors, though none of them fell. They were too practiced for that to happen. A few glances were cast in the direction of the sound but none lingered for more than a few seconds. Ithanna was in a mood. She was dealing with a precarious inner situation and the only way to even start settling it was to get in a hard work out. Not running, not combat. No, she needed to be around Runners. What she really wanted to do was break one in, but seeing as there were no new occupants straight from the breeders, that hope was dashed. Well, unless she wanted to tackle Tidus. His owner was the only person that the large Black had allowed to Ride him, now that his owner was gone he had no one to work him out.

Twitching her whip back and forth, the Green Weyrling rubbed the palm of her free hand on her breaches and frowned. Normally given her size and demeanor Ithanna might never have been considered scary. But a foul mood coupled with tight, black riding attire, knee high boots, hair pulled back from a stern looking face and a long black lunging whip... might give one a different perspective. Ithamine, what is this? The girl glanced over to her little partner. Leathersoap. I know it smells good but don't eat it. Hmm... Leaning the whip against the stable wall, she retrieved a midnight blue leadrope and its matching harness from the peg near the door. Small silver letters spelled out the name "Tidus" along the right cheek strap and black hemming in the shape of thin waves ran down the leadrope. Going into the Stallion's stall, she crooned to him gently and offered him a treat before belting on the halter. Iwyrth, when I come out stay back. I don't want him accidentally kicking you or something. Just follow us to the round pen. Aye, sounds like a brilliant plan to me. Leading Tidus out from his stall, Ithanna made sure that the stall gate was open enough for the stallion to go through. As she walked him out, the Beastcrafter grabbed her whip and made sure the lunging line was still clipped to her waist.

So what is that thing? The Green commented from the patch of shade she was lounging in by the pen thing Her's was going into. Its called a Runner. It smells like food. But its not. You are not allowed to eat any of the Runners here, or any Runners... ever. You can have herdbeasts they taste better. You like these creatures, very much? I trained to be a Runnerbreeder and Healer. Remember I told you about my family? Ah, ah aye. Do not be worrying Mine. They're your friends, I won't be tryin' to eat 'em. She sent her Green a feeling of relief. Leading Tidus into the Round pen she glanced about for any sticks or debris that might have blown into it, but found none. That was fortunate. Unclipping the lead rope when they reached the center of the ring she turned the Stallion loose to nose about for a few moments. A few tugs on her gloves made sure they were tight and then she unwound the tip from the body of the whip. Letting is slither across the ground with a hiss, Ithanna looked down at it before focusing her attention on Tidus.

Cracking the whip to get the Runner's attention Ithanna flicked it out gently toward his back hooves, giving him the signal to start walking. She'd free lunge him in the warm up, but she didn't trust him enough to canter him without the lungeline. As the Stallion began to move left, she changed the position of the whip so that it pointed toward his shoulder and moved with him. Her feet setting the pace for his and although she remained generally in the center, she sent him out to the rail.After five minutes she changed his direction and walked him out to the right. She'd lunged him before and never had problems with walking him, it was when they began trotting he started to act like a brat.

Switching the whip back to her left hand she had Tidus stop and turn around, working him back into a walk and then finally a trot. Antsy, the stallion kicked out a few times and even tried to change direction but the girl wasn't going to have any of that. Moving so that she was no longer parallel with the Runner's middle she swung the sight-line of her whip past his whithers. "HA, HA." She drew in closer and tried again, only cracking her whip to reinforce her second command. As he reared slightly she turned him around again, this time in the correct direction, Ithanna nudged him back into a non-frantic trot. They played this game many times, alternating between kicking out and rearing, before the Black settled out and strode pretty for her. Flicking the end of her whip she kept him from turning in, her eyes trained calmly on his form, Ithanna was casually aware someone was watching her. She'd look around when it was time to canter.

[shade]

Scowling at her hands as she left the kitchens, Epeelyn cursed all the people who lived here in this weyr. If there weren't so many bloody people there would not be so many flaming dishes to wash! If there was one thing she missed about living in Hyphen, it was the fact she didn't have many dishes. But here it felt like there was a whole army here. Logically, she knew there wasn't really that many people here, what with riders leaving and riders having died. That thought cooled her annoyance quickly. These people had gone through such a tragedy and here she was cursing at the amount of dishes she'd had to wash.

Thoroughly disgusted with herself, she stalked forward hoping that the fragrant wind would help calm her down. The smells here were so much different than home, but she couldn't help but like it. At Hyphen you almost could not escape the smell of the sea. But here, especially this time of year, the jungle around the weyr was full of blooming flowers and ripe fruit, the scents combining to make a heady perfume that simply saturated the air. Epee loved taking walks just to smell the air. Having chosen north as her direction, it wasn't too long before the new candidate came into sight of the west drumtower. Pausing, the young woman realized she'd walked quite a distance, much further than she had intended. Shrugging to herself, she glanced around and noticed the bridge that led across the canyon and the cluster of buildings at the other side. Knowing she'd never been there coupled with the fact she had free time for now set Epeelyn walking across the bridge.

Placing her now dry hands behind her back, she ambled along, light brown eyes darting back and forth as she took in the new area, committing the place to her mental map of the weyr. Soon she noticed the musty smell of hay and the unmistakable but not unpleasant odor of runnerbeasts. Realizing she must be at the stables, a grin lit her features. Though she'd not been exposed many times to the animals, she was always enchanted by their graceful walks and their awe-inspiring power. Of course they weren't in the league of dragons, but the dragons were always in a class of their own. That did not negate the beauty that she saw in the beasts.

As she approached, her quick eyes spotted a patch of green which was oddly placed. Eventually it resolved into the shape of a dragonet. This was startling enough to stop the girl in her walk, giving her time enough to watch as a young woman dressed in black come out from one of the buildings leading a beautiful black stallion. Once she was sure of the pen the pair was headed to, she followed, eyes already trained on the figure of the stallion as the woman put him through his paces, keeping him walking. Reaching the fence, Epee noticed that the beast had a bit of fire to him as he kicked out and rebelled. However, the strange woman, or weyrling Epee amended, seemed masterful in her craft, easily keeping the runnerbeast in line and under control. It was amazing and the candidate was content to just watch for a while.

[Tashe]

"Whoa. Walk. Waaaalk." Moving her body and the whip so they were no longer in line with the Runner's body, she slowed him down into a walk before asking him to stop all together. When he halted, so did she. They remained like that for a few moments before Ithanna moved to collect him from the rail. Being the cheeky bastard that he was, Tidus began to walk along the rail with a toss of his head. "Oh no you don't." Increasing her speed so she outmatched his walk, Ithanna flung out her arm like the tip of her whip voicing a "hoa". The Stallion was startled into a stop. The Weyrling seized her chance and grabbed his halter, coaxing him into the middle of the arena again. She patted the Black's neck and took a moment to look around, eyes momentarily settling on the girl who watched her from the rungs of the fence.

Iwyrth though, had been watching the girl ever since she had arrived, her scent betraying her before an appearance did. She didn't smell like a Wastelander, a Northerner, nor a Selenitasian. Which meant she had to be something else entirely. Her human always smelled of Runners, and strange trees, but of the cold as well. She sent out a tendril of thought to Her's. She smells different. Like the Wastelanders but different. What does she smell like? Salt. Its sharp, slightly bitter. Dirt. The kind found here. Among other things. Hmm... the ocean then? You probably smell brine. One day we must be goin' to this Ocean thing. If the Wastelanders ever let us out of their sight, then sure. But neither I nor Chicky have a great love of it. Too long spent on the rockin' waves. Iwyrth rumbled in amusement, picking through her Human's memories as they flashed up to compliment her statements. Tell me that story again tonight? Suresure. Crossing her legs at her wrist joints, the Green fluted in greeting to the girl.

Removing the lungeline from her waist and clipping its end onto the halter she switched hands so she could run him in the other direction. He tried to nip her hand and in return she smacked his nose. Ithanna turned him out to the rail to walk before she addressed the girl. "Somethin' I can do for ya?" Her accent betrayed her Northern lineage. It was still quite thick, having been on the Southern continent for only part of a Turn. She flicked the lunge whip at Tidus's back hooves forcing him to stop being lazy. "Perhaps you are lookin' for lessons? Or a place to be doing Chores or the like? Candidate, Weyrfolk, or Rider?" What she really meant was, Candidate, Weyrfolk or Wastelander. The young woman looked pretty much around her age, and only the Junior Weyrlings remained soo...

"Trot on." She made a clicking sound and the Runner picked up a trot, the Weyrling moved in her circle a little faster to keep pace with the change. "You're not my Dragon says you don't smell like you're from the North. So a Southern Hold by the sea? I'd be guessing Southern, Lighttower or Hyphen." Ithanna let herself glance over at the girl again before her eyes went back to the Runner. With Tidus, it was best if you didn't look away. "Canter. Canter." Her pitch shifted higher as she spoke the command, the reaction from the Stallion almost immediate. His stride elongated, his tail lifted almost like a flag. He knew he was pretty. "Farnath you are such a ham." Tidus tossed his head and received a jerk on the lungeline for his troubles.