Prepared For the Future [Smithcraft, Beastcrafter]

[hseru]

It was later in the day, about an hour or so before sunset. Rozen had woken early with one thought in mind -get a new dagger from the Hold's Gather. She had come to realize during the attack how pitifully inadequate a single blade could be in the face of overwhelming odds. If not for Rozsk, it was likely that Rozen would have ended up seriously wounded or dead. As it was, her small nicks had mostly healed, but the gold's injury still hurt her just a bit. Rozsk would never admit it, but the handler could feel it through their bond. A tender spot along her flank that acted up on occasion. The thin scar would likely fade, but Rozen found the gold more eager to practice with her than ever before. It was almost as if the wher blamed herself for being inadequate against the Bendenites. Well, that would make two of them.

Their new living quarters were stone, a borrowed weyr just like the other handlers got, and from what she'd heard, a taste of what their future apartments would be like -carved from stone. It was cool, and a bit drafty at times, but not altogether too bad. If anything, the climb up and down from the second level was the most difficult thing for the pair, especially for the gold's wounded hindquarter. The only good thing, is the fact that the height had afforded Rozsk a lovely opportunity to strengthen her wing muscles. The first thing she did every evening upon waking, was launch from their ledge and glide as far as her large wings would carry her. She could now make it all the way to the opposite side of the bank with ease, swimming back afterward so Rozen could give her a nice rubdown with sweetsand and oil. Not that she necessarily needed it, but she certainly enjoyed it.

Today ended up being no different. Rozsk woke as soon as Rozen did, no matter that it was earlier than normal. The goldpair were so closely in tuned to each other that it was normal for them. Only a conscious choice to sleep or wake on the gold's part would have her on a different schedule than her bonded. Their weyr was cast in shadow from the higher walls surrounding the river, despite the couple of hours before true sundown. Rozen slipped out from under the sheets, stretching languorously. Rozsk rolled into a stretch on her couch, each limb pulled to its longest measurement as the wher yawned in easy delight. Standing to her full, somewhat imposing height, the gold trotted over to the weyrledge, her short tail whipping back and forth in eagerness. She liked the glides. She was sure in her mind that if she tried hard enough, she would eventually be able to fly, and these daily glides were a good step in the right direction. Giving her wings another good stretch, Rozsk leaned out to gauge her landing destination. She picked a spot a little further upstream, further than her last landing area. Satisfied, and with a last informative bark to Rozen, the gold gave a mighty leap, snapping her wings wide and searching for those updrafts that seemed to make her go further. Her left wing caught one, turning her a bit, and she struggled to correct her course. In the end, she landed far short of her mark, and she fluffed her wings open and closed in agitation, grumbling to herself as she swam back.

Rozen was ready to go by the time Rozsk returned, already dry by the time she'd made it back up to their weyr. The girl felt the wher's frustration, and reached up to offer some comfort, scratching eyeridges that stood higher than her own diminutive stature. The gold held her annoyance for a moment, then gave into the caresses, nuzzling into the girl in a rare show of affection. If Hers was ready, they could go. Snagging the small pouch of marks, and checking again to make certain her hidden blade was in place, Rozen leapt onto the gold, the wher easily able to carry her light weight. Approaching the ledge again, Rozen readied herself for the uncomfortable sensation of 'flying'. In retrospect, it was even better that she preferred the whers to their larger flying cousins. She'd probably never be comfortable with it.

Rozsk's jump was easy, and she angled out again, though before a landing was chosen, the gold blinked Between. They came out at the Hold, in a previously scouted location that was mostly shaded from any sunlight, a jump spot that had been given to them by a helpful rider. Jumping lightly down, Rozen steadied herself with the help of the gold shoulder next to her. Rozsk seemed eager enough to wander the area, so Rozen left the gold to walk to the gather square. There were so many stalls, it took her a while to get to the one she wanted. Knives and blades of various size and skill hung in array from the stall, and she meandered up to finger a nice looking sheath. Yes, this is where she needed to be first.

[Rowana]

Since aiding relief efforts at Selenitas Weyr, Danmer had moved to the Hold. He was a Journeyman Smith after all, it was only right that he should set himself up somewhere new. His father had supported the idea, even though it left him without an assistant. Besides giving him a chance to help the dragonriders and refine his skills, he was also close enough to keep an eye on his sister, Merridan. Much to her great annoyance.

He was sharpening one of the knives, when he noticed the girl coming. His first customer of the day, it seemed. She held herself well for one so young. "Can I help you, young lady?" he asked with a smile. She must be from the Weyr. In his experience, most Hold girls had little use for weapons. But these were dangerous times. And then there was Mer.

[hseru]

Rozen glanced up when she was addressed by a man behind the counter. Offering him a decent smile, she gestured to the dagger display. “I’m looking for a thin dagger, a few inches longer than these, with a sheath that’s equally thin with multiple straps for securing just about anywhere I could think of. The hilt needs to be rather narrow, but with a good guard.” She didn’t add that it would be great if it matched the one she already had in size. If the man needed help figuring out what she wanted, then she’d be willing to show him.

The blades she saw were well made, and if she could find one even remotely similar to her description, she’d be doing herself a favor. Too bad she didn’t have a need for something larger. Those long blades were rather impressive, but far too large to keep hidden anywhere. Looking back hopefully at the Journeyman, she smiled again. Men liked it when you smiled at them. She felt a mental snort, and shooed Rozsk’s awareness away with a mental chuckle. Neither of them had much use for males.

[Rowana]

Danmer raised en eyebrow. Here was a girl who know her weapons. That was pretty rare around here. Maybe shew as Norther bred. He had heard it was rough up there, especially for women. He looked thoughtful as he considered her request. "Hold on. Let me see what I have back here." He turned to sort through a collection of odd knives and daggers he had brought. It didn't take long to find the one he was looking for.

"Something like this?" he asked. He held it out for Rozen's inspection. It was a long, thin dagger with a narrow blade. The hilt and guard were also flat and wrapped in black leather for easy grip. It came in a thin, leather sheath that had two cloth straps at either end. It might not be exactly what she had in mind, but it was as close as he could come. It was an unusual request.

[hseru]

Rozen watched with veiled excitement at the man went to rummage through an assortment of blades behind him. Maybe they weren't ones he expected to sell quite as easily as the ones on display? No matter really, as the dagger he brought forward was just about exactly what Rozen was looking for at first glance. A second, more thorough examination proved much the same.

The blade wasn't -exactly- like the one strapped to her forearm, but it was certainly close enough to get the credit it deserved. Pulling the blade free, Rozen made a bit of a show of inspecting the metal, though in that case, she really didn't know what she was looking at or for, beyond the fact the the metal ran the length of the hilt and was ramrod straight and nasty sharp. These things she'd been taught, but from the look of the stall, she was likely getting good quality steel, so could count on the dagger lasting.

She smiled up at the man, and nodded. "This will do perfectly." She said as she slid the dagger back into the slim sheath. "How much are you willing to part with it for?" Now the bartering began... though, truth be told, Rozen wasn't very good at it. Maybe if the price seemed fair enough, she'd just let it be and be glad she found a good dagger so early into her search. A thought hit her, and she asked without waiting for an answer to the first question. "Oh, I almost forgot, I'll need a new whet stone too." That should be everything.

[Rowana]

Danmer considered. It wasn't one of the ones he thought he would be selling, so he didn't have a set price. It took more work to make such a thin dagger than a normal one, but also less material than a large sword. Besides, he didn't want it to be more than she could afford. "How about 3 marks? I'll throw in the whet stone too." He waved at a basket full of them so she could pick one that suited her.

[hseru]

[Beastcrafter Stall]

She smiled, and nodded at him. Three marks for the dagger and whetstone seemed about right. "That works well for me." She agreed, looking down for a moment to work with the string on her beltpouch and shortly withdraw the necessary coinage. Sliding the marks forward, she perused the whetstone basket for a moment before choosing one that was to her liking, then returned to present her findings and scoop up the dagger, putting the stone in her pouch and tying the dagger to her belt for now and tucking the extra strings into the leather band. She'd have to experiment with different locations to see which new one suited her best.

"You make some good daggers. I may be back at another gather to buy more." She said, and gave him one last smile before turning to look for her next stop. Did she really have a next stop in mind? No, but there were some very interesting things to see, and she started out with that in mind. Maybe she should just return to Rozsk... the wher couldn't be enjoying the time alone, though it wasn't like the gold yearned for companionship. She reached out to touch the gold's mind, and found Rozsk enjoying a romp through the jungle, if those flashes of underbrush she was getting were any indication. Smiling now from the feelings the wher was sending her, Rozen walked right past the beastcrafters stall almost without a second glance, until a bright flash of plumage caught her attention. It was at that moment that Zeek popped out of Between and spiraled down to her, making a light landing on her shoulder and giving her a delighted nuzzle.

Petting the brown, Rozen turned back to see what had so caught the corner of her eye, and found herself looking at several brightly colored avians. No... those were darters! How lovely they looked. Zeek chattered at them, wanting to know if he could eat one. Rozen sharply told him no, and he sank to her shoulder in miserable silence for about a second before he was back to flamboyant happiness, chirping at the darters to see if one would reply.

[Rei]

At Zeek’s appearance most of the darters chirped in alarm and fluttered to the other side of the cage. All but one male who fluffed up all his feathers and practically screamed at the brown. The male was big and almost looked dangerous with his feathers all at attention. Deep scarlet red all over, he sported bight blue wings, blue tail feathers and a blue breast. Bouncing up and down he continued to scold as a few of the others trembled behind him.

Ruk ran over to the darters broom in hand. No way was some lizard or feline eating his precious birds! He stopped as he beheld Rozen. The 11 turn old shifted and dropped the broom. “Oh…hi. Can I help you?”

[hseru]

Rozen watched in curious interest as most of the darters shied away from the arrival of the brown save for a large brilliant fellow who seemed far more aggressive than the rest. She winced a bit at the raucous sound he made, and turned as a youngster ran up, broom in hand, presumably to save his darters. She smiled at him, far more generous to the young with her friendliness.

"Hello there. I was passing by and saw your darters. They certainly are a beautiful bunch." She looked back, still smiling, and quite charmed by the creatures. "Sorry if Zeek startled them, but I didn't know darters could be pets." She glanced over at the boy. "Or do these serve a different purpose altogether?" She rather hoped these weren't food animals, but who knew.

Zeek shied back from the loud darter, tilting his head to the side and chirping in a friendly way. Why was it so angry? There was no reason to be angry. He was just seeing if they wanted to chat. He warbled to the pack of frightened darters in what he was sure was a reassuring way. No need to be scared. His had said they weren't to be eaten, so that meant they could be friends!

[Rei]

Ruk blushed as Rozen spoke, and he shifted back and forth. “Thank you. I have been breeding them since I was seven turns old. I am nine turns now.” Smiling he turned to the darter filled cages. “They aren’t used to flitters. Never been around them before and flitters eat them in the wild.” Shifting he looked up at Zeek curiously.

At Rozen’s remark about eating them he went pale. “Oh no! I would never sell them to someone who was planning on eating them. They are pets. Would you like to purchase one? I would recommend one of my babies. I don’t normally offer them to people but I think a baby would fit better with your flitter. I’ll let you see them. If you promise not to let your flitter eat them.”

The flitters practically shuddered as Zeek warbled and the large male puffed up once more. Hoping once, he flared his wings and postured threateningly at the brown flit. His females! The flit would not hurt them. Ruk glanced at the cage and back at Zeek. “Sorry I don’t think they understand him well.”

[hseru]

She grinned as the boy proudly proclaimed his age, nodding agreeably and foregoing her immediate reaction of being a little too mushy. This one looked like the sort who wouldn't appreciate that kind of response. Instead, she raised both brows. "You raise these yourself?" She turned another appraising look in on the darters, noting that they were certainly healthy looking, though she wasn't really sure what to judge health on. She turned back as he explained their fear of flitters, and nodded. "I've already told Zeek he can't eat them. He's a bit scatterbrained, but he minds well, so your lovelies aren't in any danger from him."

She was glad that the lad didn't sell them for food. It wasn't like she was afraid or squeamish of killing for food, but it seemed such a waste to eat such lovely creatures. She nodded at his question.

"I'd love to see your babies. If they can grow up and get used to Zeek, then I'd love to have one!" Her excitement was audible and obvious, and she toned it down just a bit when she realized just how forward she sounded. Smiling sheepishly, she gestured for him to lead the way. Zeek fluted at both the darters and the lad, oblivious to the continued threat emanating from the large colorful darter. He chirped happily, sliding around the back of Rozen's neck and perching on first one shoulder, only to slide around and perch on the other, as if he couldn't decide which one afforded him the best view.

[Rei]

Ruk smiled at the excitement in Rozen’s tone. That meant she would likely make a good owner! Smiling broadly he turned and waved her to follow. “Come on this way! I have quite a few babies but they are in our temporary living quarters. Don’t worry father won’t mind and he is really busy with the runners anyway.” Striding purposefully to a bunch of tents set up not to far away he clambered into one of them and held the flap open for her. “I keep em in here. It’s quieter and they don’t get as stressed.”

Sitting cross-legged he pulled a box onto his lap. Within, nestled in hay, where 6 baby darters who where just beginning to make the transition from baby down to flight feathers. The looked up at the pair of humans with large expressive eyes. “These guys are eating pretty much on their own now. So they are safe enough to give away. Tropical fruit is their favorite food and any nuts you can get them are good to.” Reaching in, he cradled a greenish colored fledgling and offered it to Rozen. “He is my favorite. You can hold him if you want.” He smiled up at her and offered the little ball of fluff, who only just barely fit in his palm. “He’ll get bigger he will. With good care he will probably get about the size of a green fire lizard.”