Lyrianna - Wednesday, July 24, 2002, 3:44 PM
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Waterfall's Basin
The weyr's fresh-water pool flows clean and clear, almost undisturbed by the river that rests here after crashing down from the heights above. This small bay is neatly surrounded by a series of smooth stone steps and hidden beaches, a haven from the wider lake beyond before the water drops further to the sea below.
One gnarled, ancient tree has survived the ravages of time and Thread, reaching up towards the cliff above and the water below. A set of cruide boards makes the climb an easy one. The beach stretches, wide and warm, the waterfall quite a swim distant.
It is an autumn midmorning.
On the perch are three firelizards.
You see Vtol here.
You notice Joslin asleep here.
Jash, Nadine, and Jalir are here.
Jash is wearing a pair of dark colored shorts. Very long shorts. His lack of hips make them sag a little. He isn't wearing a shirt which reveals his tan lines and pale white skin. He is muscular in a skinny scrawny sort of way. Sitting over under the tree on the side away from the path he is watching the waterfall.
Lyrianna lays sprawled out atop a large flat rock, maybe at eye level of someone on the ground. Eyes are shut and a towel is folded up under her neck to prop up her head. A book and a small journal sit next to the seemingly sleeping girl, basking in the sun like a lizard.
Jalir is perched drolly on an outcropping of rock over the waters, calloused feet unbooted and pants rolled to her knees - though moisture has already began to wick its way up the leather. Eyes discreetly averted from Jash's gaunt half-nakedness, as well as the other swimmer's lack of clothing, she cranes forwards, staring at a garbled shadow of her reflection in the gently moving water. Lir seems oblivious to the fact that her long plait tips forwards, as well, dragging in the slight current.
Nadine is hyper today. Watch out. Similar to many other swimming trips, she makes her entrance yelling and running. "Waaaaaaaaaaayaaaiiiiiii!" She emerges from the forest path, towel tied about her neck like a cape and wearing her skimpy green bikini. As she approaches the water, her hands flash up to untie the towel and leave it fluttering in her wake. At the bank, she leaps up, wraps her hands around her knees, and cannonballs. "AyayayayayayayaieeeSPLOOSHbloopbloopblub."
Jash picks up a leaf that has fallen from the tree and examines the small veins running through it. Looking up just in time to see Nadine whiz by him and then... splash. He is now wet thank you very much. He stands up dripping and moves closer to the tree. Looking up he spies the branch overhanging the water and then back to the water and then back to the branch. He makes his way over to the steps, trying not to be noticed as he goes.
Jalir yelps, recoiling from Nadine's splash in a flurry of arms and legs attempting in vain to block the sudden water assault. "'EY!" seems the only sputtering syllable she can muster, water-logged braid swinging and smacking dully against her arm as she whips about, searching for her assailant. Once the culprit is spotted, Jal gives her a first-class /glare/ before her anger dilutes to a more serene state. The weather is lovely, no?
Lyrianna's right eye flickers open, the one that seems to be facing most of the others, surveying the basin and its suddenly appearing habitants. "Faranth, Nadine. Must you be so....exuberant?" Youngest candi - at least in the room - hoists herself up to sit straight, brushing some water from her shin. A small sigh escapes as she continue to look around, waving a bit at Jalir.
Jash slips around to the far side of the gnarled or tree and scrambles up it.
Nadine pops up from the water, positively beaming with delight as she shoves water-soaked hair from her face. "Lovely autumn day, isn't it?" she asks cheerfully. "It's a perfect day to be exuberant, Lyri. Why don't you join me?" She pats the water invitingly and stretches her arms over her head, falling backwards to float on her back. She sighs happily.
Jash hits the water with a *splash*!
Jash peers down from his newly acquired perch in the tree, waiting for the right moment to pounce. And there it is! He cannonballs from the tree branch creating a nice large wave, deliberately aimed in Nadine's direction.
Lyrianna allows a small smile onto her face and she shakes her head slowly,"I think I'll pass. Maybe in a bit." Water on the top of her rock is about to be wiped off before she is hit with another small wave. "Jash!" scolds Lyri as she backs up from the wet part of her rock to move her books safely out of the way, then returning to dangle her feet above the water.
More indignance follows as Jalir finds herself even more thoroughly soaked by Jash's display of... exuberance. Rumbling a low note of resignation, she sprawls back on her rock, arms spread outwards in a submissive pose. There. Feel free to soak her at will. Lavinia, equally frustrated by this undesired wettening, alights into the air, landing with a lengthy scolding on a nearby branch.
Nadine sputters at the unexpected second cannonball and sinks beneath the surface, her floating posture lost. She pops back up, blowing water out of her nose. "Owie. Water up my nose." She shakes her head as though to shake it out. "You'll be more comfy in this nice warm water," she points out once her nose feels somewhat dry, and she gyrates slowly through the water, moving towards the waterfall.
Jash looks sheepishly over to Lyrianna, Jalir and her gold. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get you wet." He skulks back over to his place under the tree, thoroughly scolded by Lyri and the gold together. He resumes his quiet interest in the colors and vein patterns of leaves. Nadine gets no apologies, he splashed her on purpose after all.
Suith arrives from the Weyr-paths, accompained by the crash and tumble of the waterfall.
Lyrianna didn't mean to scare Jash away, but it can't hurt. With a sigh, Lyri gives in and slides down the sloped rock into the water, dissappearing beneath the surface for a moment before popping to the top around the other side of Nadine and dousing her with a wave of water.
Trill! Suith is here, and she makes that well known. "Suith, don't...!" But it's too late for M'er to warn her, the green has lungled into the water, the spot deep enough for the water to lap up against her svelte ribcage. "Ergh..." M'er murmurs plaintively, his feet already uncomfortable from water inside the leather boots. "Shard it," he curses, and pulls off the soaked boots. "If you ruin your new straps, I won't be happy, Suith," the rider hisses, easing his feet back into the water to soak.
"Eh, neh worries," Jalir mumbles from her sprawled-on-rock position, arms stretching languidly over her head to dangle and pluck at the taller ferns sprouting in her perch's shade. Upon Suith's arrival, the girl executes a surprisingly agile /spring/, ducking behind the rock - just in case, mind you, the green decides that she, too, would like to cannonball into the waters. Lir's already attempting to dry from less draconic antics. Following her cat-esque cavorting is a rather... sheepish wave. "'Ey M'er..."
Nadine makes a pbthing sound and is just settling back into the water, eyes closing, when a wave of water is suddenly on top of her. Her eyes fly open and she flails, once again sinking beneath the surface and once again getting a noseful of water. If that weren't enough, the whole thing is topped off by the appearance of a dragon who also wishes to get wet. With a yelp, Nadine manages to hop-paddle backwards away from the green, still blowing water out of her nose. "Mehlp?"
Lyrianna peeks up from the water again and is nearly engulfed by greenness, narrowly escaping by following after Nadine. "Oh, hi Suith, hi M'er," calls the former starlet as she climbs out of the water by some tree roots,"How're you both?" asks Lyri as she picks her way through the tree roots and plants in hopes of making it back over to her rock.
From Suith's neck, "Go to the shore, and then you can play in the water. I don't want to get my jacket wet, either." Not that it's really all too cold. M'er motions the green to the shore, and the dragon obliges. M'er hops off, and quickly undoes Suith's straps, and the green helps him in taking them off. "Sorry about that," he murmurs to the Candidates in the water or nearby, and he has to repeat himself as Suith flutters her wings, sending a spray of water with it. Sigh. The green just croons sweetly, and kumbers back into the water, looking for fun and attention, and possibly fish (like usual.)
M'er slides from Suith's neck and lands gently on the ground.
"We're good," M'er answers Lyrianna curtly.
Jash watches as Suith makes her unique entrance into the water with poor M'er the unwilling passenger. A slight smile crosses his lips as Nadine goes under again. If she were really in trouble of course he would help but this is double pay back for her cannonball getting him wet. Waving in the dragon's direction he asks "How is Bush Jr.?"
Nadine backs up to the waterfall itself and treads water, eyeing dragon and rider with not a little suspicion. Her eyes widen as the green comes back into the water, and the odd Hold-bred teen meeps with terror and backs all the way under the waterfall and past, pressing her back against the rock and dirt behind the fall. Naturally she can't hear any conversation with the thunder of falling, pounding water so nearby, but feeling relatively safe, she closes her eyes again and settles into a semi-comfortable position, resting against the rocks and using her hands to hold herself up and away from the waterfall.
Jalir plays casual, leaning against the craggy rock with veiled discomfort as she peers Suith-ways, frowning curiously as she studies this never-before-seen dragon behavior. It's like a nature show, kids. M'er is paid a curt, allowing nod, frown morphing into something that might have resembled a grin, had her eyes been less troubled. "Y'ok there, Nadine?" she barks, glancing at the sweetly crooning Suith. Nothing to be afraid of, right?
Lyrianna climbs up to her rock again, finding a nice dryish spot to lay out on again and dry off. Her view of Nadine is blocked by the green, so Lyri just sort of lays tummy-down on the rock, raising an eyebrow at Jash,"Bush Jr.?" This means there was a...bush sr? Fascinating.
M'er grins at Jash, "He's doing just fine, and with him, I don't have to listen to a pouty dragon who says no one pays attention to her." The aforementioned, attention-addicted green dragon turns to snort at M'er, but only briefly, before her attention goes back to a quickly splashes with her tail and wings. But somethine else catches her eye, and she turns to watch Nadine go behind the 'falls. Suith is really harmless and sweet. Honestly.
Nadine hears some vague, indistinct words from Jalir. She pauses indecisively a moment before poking her head out of the waterfall and hollering, "What?" This is just in time to catch "Bush Jr." "What?" she repeats, meaning both. She blinks in confusion. See what happens when terrifying carnivorous dragons scare her behind waterfalls? As the aforementioned Terrifying Carnivorous Dragon turns attention to her, Nadine shrinks back behind the falls again, surrendering her ability to understand some of the discussion.
Bushyfishboy sits by the tree, no longer smelling of fish. A nod goes to M'er "happy to hear he is doing well." No explanation for Lyrianna is forthcoming. The bush escapade was top secret right? not noticing Nadine going behind the waterfall he looks around. "Hey! Where is Nadine? Did she go under?" A worried Jash moves towards the water as if to dive in looking for her.
Lyrianna is still stuck on the whole Bush thing, nose wrinkled up in thought as she tries to decipher this. Bush? Could it be a code? Oh, whatever. Leaving that topic, Lyri glances around,"Hey, where /is/ Nadine? She was right near me..." A glance over to the spot she swam to near the waterfall when Suith jumped in. Now where did that girl get off to? This is not good.
Jalir stands, one pant-leg unrolling to her mid-shin, wrinkled and soaked. Her expression, meanwhile, has sunken into a practiced scowl, directed towards the retreated form under the waterfall. Annoyance is exuded, mainly for the fact that the girl doesn't act as she should when scared of a creature - not that dragons are your average canine - "They got instincts t'kill things that're scared of 'em, y'know," she explains drolly to the unhearing Nadine, the acidity of the comment marred by her rough alto.
Nadine peeks her head back out of the waterfall cautiously and looks around, but likewise, her view of Lyrianna is obscured by Suith's bulk, and similar thoughts are going through /her/ head. "Where's Lyri?" A blink to Jalir. "They...they do?" she calls weakly, but her voice is so quiet next to the pounding waterfall that it's doubtful anyone with normal human hearing could understand what she said.
Jash says, "thought he heard Nadine's voice for a second there but then he hears Lyrianna and panics a little. Jumping into the water with the dragon, he begins diving under the surface, searching for any clue. "Nadine!" is called out when he isn't under the water but he doesn't stay above the surface long enough to hear any answer. "
Lyrianna stays perched on her rock, Nadine blocked by the green and Jalir not payed much attention to. "I- I don't know. Where'd she go?" Accusing glance to Suith before the girl realizes that a dragon wouldn't drown her friend on purpose and her eyebrows knit together in worry.
Nadine retreats back to her waterfall refuge, oblivious to the searching and worrying going on for her sake. She'd be touched! Well, maybe not, but in any case she doesn't know nor care what fellow Candidates and rider/dragon alike are doing, and with mounting curiosity about the waterfall, she turns around, finds handholds in the rock and dirt, and starts cautiously climbing up the wall behind the waterfall.
Jash moves around to the other side of the green dragon who seems to just be relaxing in the water now. Catching a glimse of something moving behind the waterfall, he swims in that direction. Coming up inside the falls he looks up and blushes at the view. "What are you doing?" He asks, yelling loud enough to be heard over the splash of the falls. "We were worried sick, wondering if you were drowning!" A worried, half angry, blushing, yelling Jash. How strange....
Lyrianna watches as Jash dissappears, mumbles frusteratedly and slides into the water herself. And she just started to dry, too. Starlet follows Jash around to the blackhole called a waterfall and ducking into it. "Nadine! There you are," calls Lyri over the noise of the water, sounding relieved as Jash, but with out the blush, anger, or yelling.
Nadine peeks over her shoulder and grins as she accurately guesses the reason for Jash's rosy cheeks. "What's wrong? Doncha like them?" She wiggles her rear a bit and continues climbing. "I'm perfectly fine, just looking--whoa!" As one hand moves up, searching for a place to grip, her other hand's precarious grasp on the wet rock slips. In a moment of fast thought, she pushes hard out from the rock with her legs, trying to not hit Jash and Lyri beneath her, but while her body is propelled away and into the waterfall, her legs remain above the two as she falls the semi-short distance to the pool beneath, covering her face with her hands to protect the nose and mouth.
