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 Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:34 am
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You could have said no. If W'dre had been given a Mark for every time he'd heard the dark bronze beneath him remind him that he was allowed to decline tasks, they wouldn't have had to be riders anymore. We haven't been out this way in a while, we can enjoy the view in the meantime. It isn't a problem. Dormith rumbled at his rider's answer, not with annoyance as far as the corpse of a man could recognize but perhaps to anybody else the noise would have been terrifying.
Balen Hold wasn't exactly bustling with dragon activity and likely wasn't prepared when the massive and dark bronze came to land. Despite his very cautious footing, 'gentle' would not have been a word to use for the touchdown. While it was enough to perhaps cause maybe some lighter objects (and some small, unsuspecting children) to topple over, it would not be anything earth shattering. Yet to some, the response was that way and Dormith found himself rumbling again - still not in agitation, but it would be hard to tell outwardly. There's a reason they usually send greens and blues for this, Wadre. he reminded, not actually an apology for any inconvenience he may have caused, but an excuse.
There was some visible tension at the sight of such a dragon - it wasn't as though even the smallest dragon (well, smallest green dragon) would be considered small, and the only way his bronze could have been bigger would have been to be born Golden - though even Queens didn't quite have the muscular girth. Shall I? If you must. Perhaps W'dre should have asked what the young woman he'd been sent to retrieve looked like. While he didn't shuffle around to start getting into any business that he definitely could have forced himself into, Dormith did start to nudge - mentally - against any receptive mind he could reach out for. Zelaya. High Reaches beckons.
But really, W'dre should have at least asked what the girl had looked like.
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Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:30 am
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It had been a very long day already for Zelaya. Her last day. She'd slid out of her bed before the sun was up, making it neatly (for the last time) before heading out to walk between the trees of Balen, both towering and tiny, and seeing to them (for the last time), and by the time the hold had roused she was finishing her chores (for the last time) and heading back to her room to stare, briefly stunned, at the bag she'd neatly packed with belongings—the summation of her life, as much as she could take with her—and sat at the foot of her bed. She'd gone down to the kitchens and retrieved the tray of food meant for her father's breakfast, and left it with a knock at his (shut, always shut since...) door before going to find her own.
The murmur of the crowd in the hold's dining hall drowned out the distant rumble of a dragon alighting, but no crowd's roar could smother the sudden voice in the back of her mind. A hand flew to her mouth, sending her spoon clattering to her bowl in shock. Those nearby paused, but made no mind about it. She'd been quiet the last week, and hadn't been engaged in talk with any of them. She was apart, in a way, and the inevitable call of the dragon in her mind only made that more clear.
She rose from the table (for the last time) and took her dishes to be cleaned (for the last time) and climbed the stairs to her rooms (for the last time) past the still-shut door to her father's...
A few minutes later as she stepped through the heavy doors of the hold to stare down a huge, fearsome bronze with her heart in her throat, the sound of them booming shut for the last time behind her seemed so very final. That chapter of her life might very well be done and over with. This was her fate now, it seemed. If she was very lucky, she might escape the Weyr dragonless and intact. But it was the only way she could see getting what she needed. A risk, but one she would expose herself to for the sake of Balen, even if it meant leaving it behind.
"I'm here," She called out to the waiting pair, the lone figure crossing directly towards them instead of skirting around as the rest of the hold's residents seemed keen to do. Her steps did falter as she drew near though, as if suddenly faced with the realization of how very large the bronze before her was, her mind flying back to her late mother. Was this the bronze that had frightened her so much that her heart had given out? Was the man sitting so high atop him her father? She hesitated beside the dragon's ankle, hands running over the sturdy fabric of the bag she'd brought along. What did she do now? What was she doing? Her father hadn't come to say goodbye.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:11 pm
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Dormith craned his head over to peer down at the young woman who approached him, pulling his wings in as he sunk down into his legs so his belly nearly touched the ground. While his rumbling was recognizable as calm and usual, it was still deep and loud and perhaps just the smallest bit intimidating. W'dre gently pat his bonded's neck as he shifted from his riding straps to climb down. His hand remained on the straps as he touched feet down onto Dormith's wing and allowed himself to be lowered - though it looked more as he balanced on a very precarious edge. Still, the red haired man didn't seem particularly bothered by the dismount as he touched down.
W'dre idly scratched at the scar on his nose as he looked over the somewhat frightened young woman who had come out to meet them. She didn't exactly seem thrilled to see him. Maybe they should have sent someone more....Charming? Certainly less daring. Maybe more chatty? W'dre, ask the young woman if she'd like some help, boy.The rumble in his chest increased to audible annoyance and W'dre turned to whap an open hand against his leg, furrowing his brows. Then he turned back to Zelaya. There was no cheery attempt at a smile, or soft expression or really much comfort at all to be found in the look on his face. He did, however, offer a hand. "Is there anything I can assist you with? Carrying something? Anything?"
Dormith rumbled again. Introduce us, boy! he heaved with some annoyance before he leaned his snout into the conversation, gently reaching out to touch Zelaya's mind again; You will have to forgive W'dre. He is not the most...socially capable, but I promise he does want to assist. I am Dormith and I promise we will be near as gentle of a ride as you could get to your new home.
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:43 pm
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The low continuous rumble of the huge dark dragon set Zelaya's hair on end, up and down her head and neck and along her arms, or so it felt at least. The man who clambered down was no less unsettling—scarred, pale, vaguely disinterested looking, as if coming to fetch her was the last thing he'd like to be doing today. Could she blame him? It was a bit of a trek, and she was the only one who'd been searched (or at least the only one that had accepted). Her small hands clenched around the neck of the small bag of belongings she had brought, twisting lightly with mild worry. At least seeing him closer gave her a better idea of his age. Probably not, in fact, her father. And then the bronze's rumbling grew louder, and it was all she could do to focus on not retreating, whatever consideration she was giving to her parentage fleeing in the face of the potentially irritated bronze.
Unfortunately the man had offered to take her bag just a beat before she'd stepped away, giving the whole scene the impression that she feared him, or else wanted nothing to do with him and no help beside. An excellently rude rejection, he'd probably take it as. She startled again when the dragon spoke—again!—in her head! It made her skin crawl slightly, and she wondered if the dragon would be able to sense her discomfort. Dragons speaking to someone other than their riders was rare enough, but this was a bronze. Meant for a man, and not a woman, and especially not a girl like her. His words were kind and gentle though, unlike his growling agitation with his rider. She knew, as did everyone, that a dragon could never hurt a person...but he was simply so large and fierce looking.
"Thank you Dormith, and you as well, bronzerider W'dre." She forced herself to step forth again, one hand slightly lifting her lone bag. "This is all I've meant to bring along. If you'll show me where to put it, I'd be happy to do so myself." She already felt a bit badly that the weyr had sent a bronze to get her. Asking him to assist felt like it'd be taking advantage, or reaching above her station. "Is there anything I can get you before we go? Meal's fresh over, but I'm certain I could fetch you something...Or for Dormith, perhaps?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:08 pm
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If W'dre was offended, he didn't show it on his face, though he did give Zelaya a very attentive look as she took her things and carrying them into her own (literal) hands. "Very well," he said, voice practically stiff from how little actually came out of his mouth. Her offer was answered with a shake of his head before he looked up to the dark bronze who remained settled, watching the pair with shifting degrees of amusement. You ate yesterday, are you still settled for the time being? he asked and the dragon rumbled with a contentment that would have been more recognizable as such in a feline. That was a yes, as far as the bronzerider was concerned.
"We are both settled. Thank you." Just like that, he'd settled her offer and began to move to scale up the bronze, pausing once to offer her a hand up from his shoulder to his neck. When the bronze was settled down low it wasn't a particularly high climb, but it still could have been considered a bit tricky to those unused to mounting a dragon.
"We'll secure your bag up here. Once you're absolutely certain there is nothing else you need to leave with, we can go. But only then." There was nobody seeing her off, after all. Even Wadre, with little more to his name than a dead sister and a quiet, hardworking way had been seen off when it had been his time to go. It struck him odd and...somewhat sad, to be fair.
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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:54 pm
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She flinched inwardly at the stiffness of the man's words. Not even left home yet and she'd insulted a rider...Was she really making the right choice? All it took was a glance beyond the man and bronze, out to the rolling hills and wide fields of tall, beautiful trees to remind her. She wasn't doing this for herself. She was doing this for them. For her home, and its people's livelihood. She could make a difference, but for that she needed information...and a way to reach her goal once she found out where it'd gone.
She needed the weyr. Needed a dragon.
So that meant coming up onto the bronze. He was huge, rumbling, and she felt sure he must feel offended at being assigned such a menial task. Best not to keep him waiting then. She took W'dre's offered hand, her own terribly small in comparison, but not as soft as it might have been...and she was up. Off teh ground, atop the dragon. He seemed almost to shift to help her balance, but she was sure he couldn't know just when or how she'd wobble. "Sorry..." She murmured. IT felt rude to walk on a dragon. Riders did it every day though, right? Did her shoes hurt him? Could he even feel it?
"I have all my things," She added, almost as an afterthought. Waiting wouldn't help anything, and would only keep the bronze and his rider from their tasks longer. No, no. It was better to keep her head down and move forward. "There's nothing else I need, and I should hate to keep you waiting needlessly. I promise, it's fine." She couldn't explain that she would be flying towards family as much as away from it.
It didn't really feel like that either, but it was the truth.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 3:28 pm
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She tensed slightly when the bronze turned to regard her, certain that her feet were somehow hurting him. When he didn't shrug her off onto the ground or growl or flash angry red eyes, she slowly resumed the act of scaling him, letting W'dre guide here through where to tie off her small bag, and then lowered herself to sit atop the great beast. So. This was how it felt to sit a dragon. Her posture alone, tense and unsure, would make it clear that this was her first time on dragonback. She had no shame in employing the offered extra straps, wide eyes peering up at W'dre at the thought of any takeoff, let alone a rough one.
With her body tied to the dragon and her hands fisted in the straps, she nodded delicately to the man, bracing to feel the beast lurch. A last look of wistful longing over the huge fields of trees, and the stone side of the hold she was leaving...How long until she returned? Would she ever return? What if the grubs really were extinct? What if her father hated her?
Her quietly roving eye lit upon a particular window, shutters open, and the faint figure of someone behind it looking out...
"Bye, dad..." She sighed, mustering her bravery to unwind a hand from the straps to lift it in a final farewell. Behind the glass and the glare of morning sunlight, it was impossible to see if the figure, the man, waved back. But she liked to tell herself that he had.
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Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:51 pm
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W’dre watched the gesture for a moment before brushing his mind against his ever nosy Bronze’s. Dormith rumbled - it was more of the feeling one would feel if a feline was rested against them contently, than a wher establishing it’s space - before stretching out his long wings. He carefully moved, avoiding anybody underfoot as he tensed his hind legs, leaning back into them.
“Three,” W’dre counted out loud as Dormith’s weight shifted. “Two,” Dormith’s wings stretched out and W’dre leaned his own weight instinctually back into his passenger. “Hold on,” he reminded - though it was likely unneeded - “One.”
Rough was an appropriate word for the massive dragon’s takeoff - though his launch did gain him enough air to take to the air, the first few downstrokes of his wings struggled briefly and Dormith thrummed with annoyance. W’dre brushed his hand along his bonded’s neck before patting it once. Once he was certain his wings wouldn’t clip the hold itself, the bronze soared upwards and bellowed proudly. If he’d looked down, W’dre was certain he would have seen someone fall over in surprise.
He looked back to Zelaya to check and see if she was alright.
“From here it’s a short trip,” he explained, hoping that perhaps the idea of not having to be mounted on such a large dragon would soothe any travel worry. Though…..Between was always an experience.
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:21 am
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Whatever thoughts she'd had about her home, what private mourning was being done, what wonderings, they all dropped away when the dragon beneath her began to move. Her breath hitched just a moment before she forced herself to calm, to take steady, measured gulps of air. This was really happening...it had only just then hit her. She was leaving Balen Hold for the first time in her entire life. She'd never been more than perhaps a mile or two from the Hold's safe walls, and now...
The bronze's dark wings flared wide, cutting off her view of most of the ground below. The upwards surge after W'dre's "one" made her lurch forward in the straps, her slight form bowed over from the sheer gravitational force of the behemoth launching himself. She was far too off-balance to revel in the joy of her first flight, and then the bronze was bellowing, a near ear-splitting noise that thankfully sounded joyful, not furious. Now that they had taken off, the Hold's doors were opened, heads peeking out and people (cautiously) returning to their bustling daily lives while staring upwards.
"Th-that would...yes. Please," She managed, voice trembling. Her knuckles had gone white with the strength of her grip on the straps, but when her eyes finally pulled from the ground to fix on W'dre's, there was a surprisingly resolute glint behind them. It was terrifying, certainly.
She was, of course, going to do it anyway. Not that she had much choice at this point.
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