As hungry as a dragon (Chores)

[hseru]

Struggling a bit with the load, one-handed Lanthos dragged the small cart behind him towards one of the feeding huts situated in a protected corner of the feeding grounds. He wove around the small clumps of heardbeasts and draybeasts that were intermixed bovines, and caprines, though the larger species were more evident, as they were better able to feed larger dragons. A few draft runners were evident as well, but Lanthos attempted to not think too much in that direction, because he'd promised himself that he'd try to ignore the single unpleasant fact about any dragon he might impress -that runners were food to them. Pep was situated in the sling that still supported his somewhat mangled right arm, as the safest place to be while His did chores. The little blue was delighted at this new invention made just for him though. It brought a whole new way for him to ride at ease, and he could even watch everything going on with little effort. Of course, nothing was going on now, and he was tempted to just drift off to sleep.

The ground was pitted with deep marks, probably where dragons had landed their prey, and he found the going particularly bumpy, especially if he slowed down. Of course, this was a chore he was rather used to at his family's small hold, and he kept the cart at a more or less even pace, even only with the use of one hand. Even so, he startled many of the creatures into dashing some distance away from him. It was easy to tell which ones had been raised by people, and which ones had simply been bred almost wild in the large mixed herd. Several of the herdbeasts and runners began to follow him, well aware of what he carried, and well used to the cart and the occasional person visiting them. Perhaps some of them had been there for a while?

Lanthos laughed a bit at himself. Morbid thoughts could very well just pop out of the blue, and he stopped them there before they could really catch hold. He ate meat, dragons ate meat. There was no difference, and he'd just have to get over it, especially if he didn't want to cause distress to his dragon.

There it was again, the hope. His dragon. The thought almost gave hims shivers of delight. Then he'd watch as his dragon brought down prey, and they'd train together, and fly together, and who knew how many other things. It would be wonderful though, all of it.

His daydreaming lasted just long enough for him to make it to the feeding hut. Not much more than a large trough covered by a simple roofed building with no walls, Lanthos stopped when he reached it, setting the cart on its foremost resting legs and stretching his left arm forward to ease the kinks in his shoulder. He glanced back at the offending wooden thing, noting that he'd probably have to make another trip to get the amount of feed out that this hut needed. Herdbeasts were always hungry, and these huts needed to be filled at least twice a day on top of whatever natural roughage the creatures could find.

Pep woke from his dozing when he felt the pause in motion, raising himself enough to get a good look around. Pep? Lanthos glanced down, smiling fondly at the salamandyr. "We're just going to feed them and take a walk along the fence, Pep. Make sure everything's as good as it was this morning." The small blue rolled over, apparently content with the answer as he begged for a scratch on his itchy stomach.

[Rei]

Malara followed a bit behind Lanthos. “Excuse me. Do you need some help?” she asked for now letting her tone adopt a sweet ring. She had to feel him out for his usefulness before she decided how to treat him after all. “You are Lanthos from class. Remember me? I’m Malara. I see you have one of those lovely mandyrs. Tell me what’s the little darlings name?”

As she spoke she grabbed a bucket of the feed and poured it into the trough smacking a few inquisitive noses out of her way as she did so. Stupid beasts they were nothing but food. Poor things were to dumb to realize they needed to get out of her way to be fed. “Two hands will make this go much quicker don’t you agree?” The blonde gave another shove to a wet nose before grabbing another bucket.

(Short but eh it’s an entrance xD Promise it will get better ;D)

[hseru]

Lanthos glanced behind him in some surprise. He hadn't heard Malara's approach because of the noise the small wagon made. He smiled at her though, nodding agreement to her. "Oh yeah, I remember you. Came in late, right?" He smiled again to show that it was merely a statement of remembrance, rather than any kind of reprimand. He grabbed a bucket one-handed when she did, and emptied it into the stall, using the side as a prop to lift the bottom upwards. It was a bit of a struggle, but he did a decent job of it, hungry mouths catching the feed as it fell.

Replacing the bucket, he glanced down at his sling, and the small blue sitting there, watching everything, and the other candidate with interest. He reached in a little to give Pep a small scratch.

"This is Pep." He took gentle hold of the salamandyr and pulled him free to sit in his hand so Malara could see better. The blue lay easily there, eyes fading in gentle greens and blues as his frill went up to display his sapphire hues for her, always the showoff. His injured wing lay at an odd angle, but it was obviously mending well enough. "You can pet him if you like. He's not quite as violent as some of the other mandyrs I've seen, coming out of the same clutch no less. Just be careful of his wing, ok?" He scratched the blue again, and Pep lolled on his side, clearly enjoying it. Pepgood!

"He really likes a good scratch on the stomach, though just about anywhere will make him happy."

[Rei]

“Yes that big brute tripped me and made a huge scene of it in the dinning hall. It made us both horribly late. He has quite the ego. I don’t know how that other girl can stand him really. But enough of that.” She waved a hand in the air to signal that part of the conversation done. She watched with interest as the boy pulled his little pet out for her to examine.

Malara was all eyes for the little creature. “Pep you say?” She said curiously dropping the empty feed bucket to have a closer look. When the little blue frilled she took a step back in shock, but quickly recovered. “My my little one aren’t you beautiful.” She cooed, obediently scratching his stomach. Her eyes were drawn to his injured wing and she trailed a finger upon it. “Oh you poor thing. How did that happen?” She raised her eyes to look at Lanthos. Yes this one could be useful. Best keep him close. “I still can’t believe they can speak. I heard they are mutated flitters?” The comment came out as more of a question than anything else.

[hseru]

Lanthos nodded mute agreement to her estimation of the boy who had so boldly stated he would impress Bronze, after being late to class no less. He personally doubted it, but who knew what dragons looked for in a person? Maybe he wouldn't impress at all. However much he disliked the ego sported by the boy though, he didn't quite wish that for him.

He held his hand still for Malara, grinning when Pep squirmed gladly under her hand, lavishing under the attention. Pep, GoodPep, good! He shook his head a bit at how easily his little mindpet could get the attention of others. He brow furrowed a bit in unhappiness though at the mention of the small blue's injury, but he replaced it with a small smile. "Me and Pasine were attacked by felines several days ago at the drumheights. We were helped by a couple of bravehearted dragons, but one of the felines slipped through and got me." He twitched his bound arm in emphasis of his own injury. He then raised Pep a little higher in praise. "Pep here helped to save my life. Jumped right on the feline, he did. I don't know when his poor wing got hurt, but the healers say he'll make a mostly full recovery, with only a scar and a little less use of his wing to show for it."

His brow furrowed again, this time in a pondering way. "To be honest, I have no clue. I just know they look alike, hatch alike, and that's about where the similarities end." He grinned a bit. "A rider I met when I first arrived here described them rather aptly. Most of them are lizards that have some kind of mental quirk that would land them in a crazy house if they were human. As it is, either their owners love them totally, or hate their existence. Apparently there's no in between." He gave Pep a nice scratch, and he chirped happily. "I got lucky in Pep here, in more ways than one."

[Rei]

Malara continued to stroke Pep as she listened to the boy. “Felines! Oh my goodness I do hope your injuries heal all right. What a brave little mandyr to be so willing to throw himself at one. They must be at least a hundred times his size!” That settled it Malara definitely planned on being at the next mandyr hatching. The little creatures seemed to have all sorts of uses which was more than she could say for any fire lizard she had ever met.

“Well darling I think you are quite handsome despite your injury. It gives you a lot of character you know.” She cooed rubbing the mandyr under his chin. “Well I think I will definitely look into acquiring on of the charming creatures. Perhaps I will get lucky too. She flashed the other candidate a smile and turned to grab another feed bucket. “You were the one who had the runner right? I used to have some cats. Other than that no pets.”

[hseru]

"Thanks, it's doing pretty good so far. No infections or anything." Lanthos grinned as Malara went on praising Pep, who merely basked in the attention, flaring brightly for her. "It was amazing to see, even as fast as everything happened. He didn't hesitate for a second though." Pep crooned as they both pet him, his tail ticking back and forth as it hung in the air below Lanthos' hand.

Handsome, handsomePep! PeppepHandsome.[/i] Lanthos laughed a bit. "Looks like he's learned a new word. That makes... " He counted briefly. "About twenty I'd say. His vocabulary's not the largest, but he's good with getting the picture across anyway. I hear the higher ranking colors can have a much better grasp of our language."

He nodded at Malara in an encouraging way, smiling. "Go for it. It could either be the best, or worst decision you've ever made." He laughed a bit, then with a final scratch for Pep, he tucked the blue back into his sling for safe keeping. Lanthos then followed suit, reaching for one of the last feed buckets in the cart. They'd have the spread the small bale of hay afterwards.

"Yeah, my family raises runners. We train them too. I raised and trained Brownie mostly on my own." The pride that rang in his voice wasn't overwhelming, but it was definitely present. "We have felines too, but they're mostly wild. We take care of them because they're good at keeping pests away from the feed. Kit is the first kitten I've had that I intend to keep as a 'pet'." He upended the bucket, again using the side of the trough as a prop, spreading the feed as he poured. Pep kept up a constant, but quiet stream of talking while he did so. Pep pep pephandsomePep.

[Rei]

Malara nodded as Lanthos poured the last bucket. She turned her attention to the hay. Cutting the string that kept it together, she grabbed a few flakes and began to distribute it along the fence line. “wow you trained him on your own? That is a feat I wouldn’t know where to begin. The only time I ever rode one I got knocked off. I can’t say I’ve been able to get on one since then. I prefer to use my own to feet and soon perhaps I will have dragon wings to carry me where I want to go.”

The blonde smiled back at Lanthos. “I do hope you impress a lovely dragon as well. Is this your first time standing? It is for me. I dare say I am anxious for a Queen to rise.” Malara grabbed another flake of hay and began to spread it along the ground.

[hseru]

Grabbing a handful of hay himself, he followed suit, spreading it liberally. Most of the animals were too busy with the feed to notice this second addition to their food source, but a few blinked lazy eyes and meandered over to watch these humanthings spread hay.

"Yeah. I've been training runners since I was little." He grinned a bit. "Well, I say training. My Pa did the first bit, and showed me every step he took. He wasn't too happy at the time when I accepted candidacy, but I think he wishes me well now." He looked over at Malara. "There are a few runners here. I'm sure we could get permission to take one or two out, and I could teach you how to ride." He shrugged lightly, still smiling. "If you want to, ya know? I love riding, and I can't wait to ride my own dragon. It probably won't compare, but I'll probably still have runners on the brain when I finally take to the air for the first time." He laughed a bit, self consciously.

"Yeah, first time for me. I'm still on my first round of candidacy lessons.. well, you know, you were there. " He dropped the last bit of hay in his hands, going back for more. "A queen rising would mean we'd get to touch the clutch and stand.." He said, mostly to himself as if reciting the lesson he'd learned earlier, then he nodded at her. "I'm right there with you. I can't wait."