Ranking (N'tia and K'nam)

[kysseh]

//You need to rest again.//

It was not lost on the still-apprentice healer the fact that her draconic companion had uttered a statement and not a question. Hepaticath seemed to be full of advice, and though Savitri was sure that her own knowledge of healing was superior to the dragon's, the ungainly weyrling seemed to know exactly when Hers had overtaxed herself. The young woman had to admit that she was bushed, and she sat on a rock for a quick breather, sighing softly and immediately frowning at the pull that made on her stitches.

"Just for a bit," she insisted to her dragon, for that was all she needed. The bag she carried over one shoulder was not too heavy, the jars of sweet oil were not weighing on her that greatly. The stitches and the blood loss still took their toll on her mobility, which grated on her nerves like nothing ever could have. She was grateful for Impressing Hepaticath or else she would have been forced to be bedridden to recover more quickly. As it was, no one could keep her from her dragon's side short of knocking her out with fellis.

After a brief moment of scratching the little gold's eyeridges, the young woman got to her feet and continued making her way down to the river's edge. Thankfully, it was a short walk, and she was able to find a beautiful sun-warmed rock to sit on while Hepaticath wandered about in the shallows, unwilling to go deeper than midway up her legs without Hers. The gold was understandably wary of the water, which made Savitri laugh, her light green eyes alight with amusement.

"It's just water. It won't hurt you," she told the dragon, getting a look of dignified patience in return.

//I can drown in it. Besides, I will wait for you to get up so you can bathe me. I itch.// Hepaticath replied archly, sticking her muzzle underwater and curiously blowing out some air, jerking her head out in surprise at the realization that the action created bubbles in the water. Unfortunately for the little queen's dignity, that only made Savitri laugh harder and put strain on her stitches, leaving the young woman barely able to contain her amusement and gasp for air at the same time.

[llew]

Two great eyes peeked over the blue of the river, first and second eyelids glazing the rapidly whirling green. Kirayuth rumbled contentedly from where he lay, belly pressed against the riverbed, completely submerged but for the dozing eyes. He flapped his wings idly, sending a pulse through the water; then suddenly raised them high to splash the riverside.

"GAH!" His rider bolted to his feet from where he lay sunning in the sand. "I thought we had agreed on a cease fire??"

Kirayuth rumbled again, this time in amusement, the eyes whirling faster. :"It seems as though I have broken the pact.":

The bronzerider, N'tia, muttered under his breath, feigning anger as he removed his shirt to wring it of water. "I told you, I've had enough swimming for the day, can't you leave a man to dry in peace?"

The eyes disappeared beneath the water. Then a great head and neck and shoulders rose out, followed by the rest of the dragon as he drew himself from the water to the shore.

:"Oil me, I itch.":

"What, after soaking me for the third time today? I think not, sir."

A large bronze tail came up to sweep up the beach and cover the bronzerider in sand. Spluttering, N'tia hastily cleared the specks from his eyes and face as his dragon's eyes whirled a quickening blue.

"I surrender, general." Dusting off his hands and then raising them in defeat, N'tia retrieved the skin of oil, and returned to slather it on his companion's drying hide. The dragon nuzzled him appreciatively, to which he received a loving cuff across the snout in reply.

[randi]

Flying for recreation was always such a wonderful experience. Just the human and dragon alive in the skies, the 'rider trusting wholeheartedly in themselves, their handiwork keeping them attached to the dragon, and their bonded that they would remain safely on their dragon's back, and the dragon trusting in their own capabilities, forced to have confidence that the leathers would never be the only thing saving Theirs from a plummet to Pern below. The bronzepair had found themselves with little time with which to spend upon one another, and being able to fly alone with no aim for the first time in ages felt like a fresh breath of air.

Of course, there always had to be a catch. Life absolutely adored putting such things into every single creature's life if just to spice things up. Faranth forbid he ever be bored. Lealone! The second passenger aboard the bronze dragon poked his head out from the small pouch K'nam had started using since his acquisition of the little bugger. Bugger lone! Scamp declared, retreating to the safety with a hiss. He had been stuck on the words "leave me alone" uttered by Bearinth almost a full day ago, and 'bugger' was almost a welcome addition to the repitition.

Life with Scamp was always... interesting. One learned to live with the headaches. A sight below suddenly made the bronze swing into a gentle circle, his head clearly pointed down. Since the Hatching, he had been looking for an excuse to see the new weyrlings, and, by chance, he had managed to stumble upon the height of interest, at least for everyone else. Gliding downwards in a lazy spiral, he glanced backwards. K'nammine, do you see?

K'nam glanced down at the little one below. I see. Are we going to go talk to them.

Snorting, Bearinth turned back to looking below. I'm headed that way, aren't I? Remember, Hers was one of those who got hurt in the Hatching, K'nam had not been present, mostly due to consideration for the poor newly born greens, so look out for that little 'Save the Girl' twitch you have. K'nam felt the rumble beneath him rather that heard, his curled hair bobbing in the wind as he shook his head, a smile on his face.

At least ask before we intrude, please.

Bearinth was almost indignant that K'nam thought he would not give the weyrling a choice at privacy. Hello, he asked both of the pair, would you mind if we shared the riverside with you?

[kysseh]

Once the laughter and the pain finally ceased, Savitri eased herself up off the rock, leaving her bag behind to make her way closer to the river's edge. "Get yourself wet," she told the regal weyrling, watching as the hatchling sloshed around in the shallows. "You need to be wet so I can get you properly cleaned."

The gold weyrling gave her a pained look but dropped clumsily to her belly and rolled in the shallow water, lids flicking over her eyes to protect the delicate organs from the water and sand. After she was well and truly soaked, she got to her feet and plodded in an ungainly fashion up onto the shore. //I itch at the base of my wings... very badly.// The dignity with which she informed Savitri of her needs was most regal, and the gold crooned in a slightly squeaky fashion as Sav awkwardly bent to get a handful of wet river sand and began to scrub the itchier spots.

The bath had not gotten very far before Hepaticath heard a salutation and threw her head upward to look for the source, startling Savitri. The young woman was used to dragons flying overhead, so she had not acknowledged the moving shadows until now. The young woman looked up and was surprised to see a bronze dragon heading down their way. She did not recognize him, and by Hepaticath's thoughts, neither did the little gold.

Delighted to see someone--and a bronze at that--Hepaticath trumpeted in welcome, which was an amusing parody of an adult dragon's greeting. //We do not mind company. There is plenty of rivershore to share.// she replied politely, flaring out her wet wings. As she was turning her gaze back to Hers, she spied a flash of metallic hide further downstream and crooned loudly at the other bronze in the vicinity, eyes whirling quickly. Two bronzes! She was a very lucky weyrling to have two such handsome adults within range.

Stopping in mid-scrub, the healer looked back and forth between the dragon arriving from the air and the one further downstream, bewildered as to how the abandoned rivershore had suddenly become such a popular place. A very gentle nudge at her uninjured arm from Hepaticath's nose and a quick look at the little gold's sadly whirling eyes reminded her that she was relieving an itch, and the young woman resumed scrubbing with her good hand, wishing that their peace would not be disturbed by anyone ornery or difficult. She was not up to full strength, and she did not have the patience to deal with someone stupid right now.

Hepaticath picked up on her bonded's dislike of the idea and snorted softly. //Mine is tired and in pain, though, so it would be good if Yours are kind. If Yours are not kind and polite, you will have to leave; I will not let them upset her. she added to both of the nearby dragons, her tone friendly but very firm in her resolve. She did not want Hers to be in any sort of mental distress; Hers had enough to worry about as it was.

[llew]

Gentle hands moved in circular motions along the dragon's back, massaging oil into the soft skin. Shoulders, belly, neck, snout. . . as N'tia reached his face, Kirayuth suddenly jerked his head upright, nearly bowling his rider over. Before the bronzerider could thunder the string of curses bucking at the tip of his tongue, Kirayuth silenced him.

:"You were curious about the gold weyrling this morning. There she is.":

N'tia stiffened abruptly, and turned to look where the dragon had. News in the Weyr was usually of little consequence to him, thus he ignored it on the whole. But with Aslath's clutching, the promise of a new queen had earned his attention. However, he didn't know much about the hatching itself, besides that a few candidates were hurt, and, of course, that little Hepaticath had been born.

The bronzerider stood, carefully brushed himself off, then set off down the riverbank without hesitation. Kirayuth followed at a lazier pace, but with no less interest. A new queen. . .

As they neared the goldpair, Kirayuth trumpeted a polite greeting to both the hatchling and, with some surprise, a second dragon thatalready flanked her. He recognized fellow bronze Bearinth, while N'tia registered K'nam as his rider. But as they approached, N'tia stopped midstep. The woman beside Hepaticath must be her bonded. . . but he had seen that face before.

"Oh, no. . . " he groaned.

[randi]

Hearing Hepaticath's young greeting made Bearinth's rumble grow, an answering bugle piercing the air back to her. A hatchling she may be, but she deserved as much respect as Aslath and Millieth in Bearinth's eyes though she had bore no clutches. She had an important job, same as them. He passed the youngling's answer on to K'nam who grinned, urging the bronze downward.

As he neared, he heard the small gold's criteria, and he crooned gently as they lowered closer, far enough away to not jolt the ground when they landed. Mine will behave, or I shall throw him in the river, I promise. Bearinth felt K'nam's amusement. They both knew the man would cause no trouble, especially not for someone hurt.

The bronze landed as gently as possible, a good distance from the weyrlings. After checking to make sure no smaller creatures would be harmed, Bearinth swept out his wings and lowered his head to the weyrlings. I am Bearinth and Mine is K'nam. What are your names?

K'nam himself was preparing to dismount, making sure to grab the pack holding the infamous little Scamp. If he didn't keep and eye on the little beast, he'd get himself hurt, not, he was sure, that his larger companion would mind. Once he had landed and checked in the pouch to ensure that Scamp was, in fact, still within, he too swept a bow, more as a greeting than as a gesture he would offer to a goldrider.

A brightly colored frilled head poked out of the small pouch, the blue instantly spotting grass near K'nam's leg, but the top was held down in a way that he couldn't escape. With a small growl, the blue Scamp clawed at the sides, comically trying to get at the greens below. However, he was soon hoisted up away from them, and his attention turned to a nearby tree. Big green! He would have to get free and eat the big green, oh yes.

K'nam shook Scamp's bag, making the blue fall back into his containment, where he thrashed unhappily, leaping around the bag like a caged animal. Turning his head, he spotted another bronzerider, Kirayuth and N'tia, if he wasn't mistaken. He offered them a half bow as well, holding the bag up where Scamp would not be able to poke his head back out and cause more trouble for a moment. When he stood, he half smiled, casting a glance back at Bearinth as he walked towards the riverside. "You won't really toss me, would you?" His dark eye sparked, though only in play. Unless N'tia acted up, the chances of him doing anything disruptive, though he could definately not say the same for Scamp, were very low.

In a heartbeat. You'd feel my tail hit you one second then see fishes the next. Bearinth promised, moving as lightly as he could, not wanting to jar the poor girl much.

[kysseh]

Hepaticath arched her shining neck at the sight of one bronzepair moving along the rivershore towards them, crooning happily at the new company. She had not met these dragons, and she was anxious to make their acquaintances. At his trumpet, she gave a bugle of greeting, looking back and forth between the two bronzes and Theirs. Bearinth's reassurance that he and His would behave made Hepaticath feel a great deal better. She did not want Hers in any danger or pain.

The gentleness of Bearinth's landing barely made the shore move just a bit, and Savitri turned her head to give the pair a polite nod, managing a chuckle as Hepaticath relayed Bearinth's statement of intent, as well as the bronzepair's names, to Hers. K'nam and Bearinth.... weren't they the pair keeping an eye on Millieth and Kaegan? Savitri had heard plenty of rumors about all the bronzeriders, and the ones about this one were very specific, which made her feel at ease. Good. He was not about to try any of the fawning that she had been fearing. In fact, if Hepaticath had repeated Bearinth's words verbatim, she had a feeling she would quite like the pair, a feeling which was affirmed by K'nam's courteous bow.

"Savitri and Hepaticath," she called in answer for her and her dragon, glancing at the other dragon and rider pair approaching along the rivershore. She frowned slightly, brow furrowing. She knew that dragon, even if she had seen him only briefly before. Bearinth and his rider were far closer, though, so they dominated her attention for the moment. "Good to meet you both, Bearinth... K'nam. Hopefully, you don't have to get dunked today," she said dryly, her last statement directed toward the bronzerider.

Hepaticath echoed that statement with a warbling croon of her own, watching Bearinth with curious amusement. You would throw Yours in the river? And he knows that? she affirmed. She was curious about the bronze but very wary of His. She did not want Hers disturbed, after all. And what /is/ he doing? she asked for both herself and Savitri, staring at K'nam as he shook around a little pouch of... something. What was it? Not something bad, she hoped, and Savitri echoed that thought.

The other bronzepair was now close enough for a better look, and Savitri knew that she had seen that bronze before. It was not until she saw the face of the rider that she twitched her mouth into a smirk. Oh, this was going to make life interesting. "Hello, Kirayuth. Please pass along my greetings to Yours, since he can not announce his own presence." It surprised her to remember the bronze's name, but when a bronzerider made that strong of an impression, it was easy to remember his and his dragon. Besides that, there were not that many bronzes in the weyr.