Living Cavern

The smooth, rounded walls cavern sweep upward from an oval base, two dragonlengths long and one wide, large enough to seat every member of the Weyr at mealtimes. The soft blackness of the lava which forms these caverns swallows glowlight, so shelves for glowbaskets abound, dotting the walls every three or four paces and casting gentle greenish light toward the sparkles of gold volcanic glass embedded in the ceiling. Ancient, lustrous tables run along the axis of the cavern, and at the far end rests the raised dais and high table, where Weyrleaders and honored guests eat during formal occasions. Behind the high table, the Weyr's symbol is embedded into stone: a smoking mountain in black on an orange shield, trimmed in gold.

Perched near the food are twenty-six firelizards.

Thistia and N'ano are here.

Thistia thinks about this for a bit, nodding. "I suppose it /would/ get boring, having everyone always agree with you. I suppose as long as they're respectful about it, people should be able to tell you what they think." She looks up at Lyri and smiles, waving a friendly greeting.

Lyria trots into the caverns, pausing to get a piece of toast with some jam of some sort and a mug of klah before turning around to trot over to Thistia and N'ano,"Good mooorning." Ack. Lyri's a morning person. Beware. A raised eyebrow to Thistia as Lyri merrily goes about spreading jam onto her toast,"People telling N'ano what they think? Well that's nothin' new..." Lyri does it everyday.

N'ano nods his head quickly as he regains good posture, "Aye--yeeep. I respect what others think... this ain't no dictatorship like some of 'em lords run out there..." he grins, tossing up a salute to Lyria as she enters the caverns, "Mornin'. How's it goin'? Heh, see?" he pauses, thumbing towards Lyria, "She knows what she's talkin' 'bout."

Thistia grins, then pounces on the opportunity to ask another girl. Maybe /she'll/ back her up. It never hurts to check with someone else, does it, now? "Lyria, what did your robe look like when you were a candidate?" she asks, curious. N'ano's comment evinces a grin and a soft laugh and Thistia nods her agreement.

Lyria flips her hair over her shoulder as she begins to eat,"Of courf I do," she responds through a mouthful of toast. After swallowing and clearing her throat Lyri raises an eyebrow at Thistia,"It was white and boring, but well made because I made friends with the weavers and mended socks in return for a bit of work on my robe." After a moment of thought,"Mine had some light pleats, as I recall..." But Lyri had one of the better robes.

N'ano rolls his eyes before dragging his chair back to allow him to stand. Why? 'cause he's hungry. "Any more where that came from?" N'ano asks of Lyria as he points to her toast, making his way to the source, "They all look the same from a distance, y'know..." he calls back over his shoulder, "White 'n blah."

Thistia smiles triumphantly, nodding. She turns to N'ano, saying, "So pleats and darts /would/ be all right, then!" She grins at Lyria, explaining herself as she follows suit, grabbing a plate, a piece of toast, and some fruit and taking a seat near the rider. "I was asking Weyrleader N'ano if he thought it would be all right for me to tailor my robe a little...just to make it look better on me." Her eyes glow with a secret, but she doesn't say a word. Thistia's got a plan, yup!

Lyria is smart, see. She gets toast when she walks in. So she doesn't have to do all this getting up again,"There should be plenty.." Mm toast. A shrug to Thistia,"Yeah, I guess it's okay. As long as you stick to white cloth, white thread and a needle." Lyri just shrugs and continues to nibble at the edge of the toast,"Ski ripped mine near in half anyway. He tripped me when I Impressed him, y'know." Well, it was worth the ruined robe.

N'ano returns to his seat, but not before reversing it to sit with the back facing him, allowing his arms to rest when he's not eating. "She's a sneaky one, I tell ya..." he grins, headnodding towards the candidate. "I couldn't even tell ya where my robe is... sure doesn't fit me no more--long outgrew it anyway. Think Byddie used it as a baby."

Thistia giggles. "I've seen worse," she says with a grin. "One hatchling left a candidate completely trampled, and toppled his chosen candidate over as well." She grins at N'ano, obviously flattered by the 'sneaky' comment. She smiles, feeling comfortable enough with the riders to tease a little, and says with a bit of a smirk, "And if I wasn't sneaky, I'd be boring, and then it wouldn't be so interesting around the Weyr, now would it?"

Lyria rolls her eyes with a grin,"Speeeaking of sneaky candies, what's with those twins? Ashlee and Ariana?" Eyeroll. A pointed glance is sent towards N'ano. Why ever would they be obsessed with /him/. She also bobs her head towards Thistia,"She /likes/ washing dragons." It's much easier to get willing candidates to wash your dragon. Of course, if that particular rumor gets around, Thistia could get sick of washing dragons pretty quickly.

"Well, yeah. Y'got a point there, y'know..." N'ano grins, chosing now to start munching on his toast--actually, no. He doesn't munch. Rather, he just stuffs the whole thing in his mouth at once, just 'cause he's /that/ talented. "'n en--" Munch munch munch. Swallow. "Eh--forgot what I was gonna say--oh... heh. Yeah, those twins. They're cute, aren't they?" They'd be obsessed because N'ano is CK underwear model quality!

Thistia giggles, rolling her eyes back at Lyria. She laughs at this last bit, nodding. "I do...it's much more fun than some of the chores we candidates end up with. And I like getting to know the dragons, too." Sh smiles at Lyria, asking, "Did Rilskiath feel like we got him clean enough that time, by the way?"

Lyria rolls here eyes again. No. No they're not cute. "Yes, he was very clean and happy and said that I must chat with you about another little outing to the basin again sometime." And now Lyria rolls her eyes while eating toast. Have we noticed a theme here? "Yes, you candidates have been just too quiet and...willing." A look goes to N'ano,"They must be plotting something."

"Y'should try washin' Bydelth--he's a big boy," N'ano grins, adding, "One of the biggest bronze's in the Weyr, too." That must be how N'ano's ego go so large, huh? "Plottin' something? What, the twins? Nah--they're harmess! Really... I ain't seen nothin' wrong with 'em. Ain't seen 'em causin' no trouble either."

Thistia grins at N'ano. "Well, if you ever need help, I'm happy to do it...grab me somtime when I've been scrubbing the infirmary or helping in the kitchen, I'll gladly take the opportunity for a bath and a bit of fun with dragons." She looks innocently from Lyria to N'ano. "Planning? I dunno...if the other candidates are planning anything, they left me out of it." She grins.

Yes, and poor Lyria having to deal with all of these egos. First her own dragon's. And then N'ano's. Ah well. She's pretty good at tempering those egos down. "No not the twiiins. Although I'm sure they're plotting something. Honestly. The way they just melt when you walk by." Yeah. So good at tempering egos. Cough. The brownrider waves a hand at Thistia,"Theeem. All of them. Riiight. Suuuure," she response to Thistia.

N'ano leans himself against the back of the chair, snaking his hands behind his neck, "Aye, I'll be sure to fish y'out then." What a deal. Seeing the newest patron of the caverns causes N'ano to flick his fingers up in the air as if flagging down a drudge, "Anthoooony!" he calls out, waving the boy over, but attention soon returns to Lyria, "Oh, so the twins ain' plottin'? Heh, yeah, it's cute how they do that, huh? I think they like me." No duh? "So y'think they're plottin'... well, if they try anythin' we'll just send 'em to the latrines to clean."

Thistia blinks, looking alarmed. "Latrines?!" Desperate eyes glance from rider to rider and she shakes her head. "No, see, I'm being good...starting work on my robe soon, and talking to you two, and washing dragons." No plotting. None for her. Not if it means latrine duty, anway.

Lyria shakes her head to Thistia,"Don't worry about it." She shrugs to N'ano,"Oh hey, how's that Narika girl adjusting? When I told her about chores she looked as if she's never touched a mop in her life." Snicker. Lyri just gives up on the subject of the twins. Men. Sooo oblivious.

Thistia cocks her head, asking curiously, "Narika? That's not one of the twins, is it?" She waits to hear the answers to Lyria's question and her own, hoping to catch up on gossip from the riders while she can.

"Well, keep it that way 'n you'll be safe," N'ano forewarns. "Y'know, I hope 'em twins impress. I think they'd make a great contribution to the Wavecutters, don't y'think?" N'ano jokes, shooting Lyria a grin. "Narika--she's Natch's daughter, right? Huh, well, I wouldn't doubt if she hadn't touched a mop... but, she's gonna have to get used to it. We ain't gonna treat her any differently than the other candidates just 'cause she's a holder's daughter."

Lyria's eyes widen,"No. No I don't think." Lyri's not lettin those girls in the same wing as her no thanks. Does it matter if N'ano was just joking? No. A glance over her shoulder towards the cavern door,"I wonder if Natch knows yet. From the gossip I've heard the second she was told that that girl was Searched she'd be down here all in a tizzy." Poor N'ano. He's going to have to deal with a distressed mother.

Thistia grins at Lyria. "I thought Apprentice Master Jossie was upset enough...can you /imagine/ a Holder upset about it?!" She giggles softly, imagining the spectacular fireworks that would result from something like that.

"Well," N'ano pauses, his own attention following Lyria's towards the cavern door, "I haven't seen her yet--'n that must've been a few days ago, no? I mean, we searched her daughter what, 'bout a sevenday 'go? Maybe longer? I'm all set for her though. I mean, she's probably gonna yell 'lot, but I'm used to that." Yes, he's had his fair of women yelling at him.

Lyria just mysteriously shakes her head as she finishes off her toast. She's heard plenty about Natch, having lived right next door at the Starry hall for so long. Lyri's plate of toast crusts is dropped off and she returns to her seat,"Okay. As long as you're prepared."

Sahara wanders in from the Southeastern Bowl.

N'ano eyes Lyria warily, "Wait, what do y'mean by prepared, eh? Am I 'pposed to meet her with a beltknife or somethin'? The only thing I'm gonna greet her with is my wits, if need be. If she throws punches, then so be it. I don't hit women!" N'ano of course has absolutely /no/ clue whatsoever on how the encounter will be. But he's certainly getting a bit worried now. Not that he's showing it at all 'sides the sudden bottom lip biting.

Sahara stumbles through the caverns with a towel and some extra clothes draped over her arm. Her hair is in its usual early morning style, pieces and spikes sticking up all over at odd angles. Puffy eyes glance around at the riders and candidate as the young resident haphazardly makes her way towards the baths. "Morning." she murmers, nodding, and blinking a bit at the hot pot of klah.

"I strongly doubt she's going to /hit/ you, N'ano," notes Lyria dryly as she sips at her mug. "But, you see, mothers get a bit touchy when their daughters are stolen off to weyrs. Y'know how when you were little and you did something you weren't s'possed to? And you mum scolded you. Multiply that times..oh...seven and that's what you'll be getting." Of course, that's just a guess of Lyri's, but it's most likely accurate.

Thistia giggles at the image of a holder lady attacking N'ano. "I'm sure it'll be okay...but she'll probably be pretty upset. Is Narka, or whatever her name is, Natch's only daughter?"

N'ano grins, shaking his head, "My ma wasn't 'round when I was a kid--they separated when I was very little... 'n my new ma didn't dare scold me 'cause she was afraid that I wouldn't like her..." he laughs lightly. "/But/, I do see where you're getti'n at... shards. Alright. I havne't been yelled at by a parental figure for some time now--guess I'm due for one, eh? But you," Poke... oh yes, he does poke Lyria. Right in the arm, too! "Are goin' with me. I ain't facin' her alone. Already got Kita goin' too so..." So let the women deal with her.

N'ano adds, "'n I don't have the foggiest clue, Thistia... I just know she has a son Heron, who's the one who prodded her to go as well, so why he ain't gettin' the beatin' for this, I don't know."

Sahara blinks blearily towards the ongoing conversation, trying to make some sense of the words. She decides the best thing right now for her would be klah. Yep. And she changes directions to fill herself a steamy mug. Sipping contentedly she just stands blankly, blatantly evesdropping on the little group since they were clearly too involved to notice her. She's too tired to be sneaky right now anyway.

Thistia giggles. "You need help dealing with a woman, N'ano?" she teases. "Actually, I can imagine that...maybe you could take a candidate or two, we'll tell the Holder we'll take good care of her daughter?" This is a pretty clear ploy, Thistia just likes going places a-dragonback.

Lyria's eyes widen just a bit and she shakes her head,"What? Me? Uh-uh. No way. You're not getting me to- Well fine okay, you need all the help you can get." Afterall, Lyri is just a tad more than a bit involved, seeing as she was the one who physically brought Narika to the weyr, as the girl rode with her back.

N'ano pauses for a long moment, "Well... yeah. I don't usually have encounters with women yellin' at me 'less it's 'cause I--uh, nevermind." He'll just keep that bit to himself. "Oh, take her sister for example... Sapha's had her yellin' fits at me--but they weren't that bad." Thistia's idea causes him to shake his head once, "Ah--well, it may sound good, but who knows. Maybe Natch'd end up yellin' at you all too for leavin' your parents. I 'unno."

Thistia giggles and nods. "I dunno...my parents are both riders, they were overjoyed when they heard I'd abandoned the craft and returned to the Weyrs. But I'm kinda an odd case, there." She giggles some more at N'ano's hasty silence and asks, batting her eyes innocently, "Unless what, Weyrleader?"

Lyria just rolls her eyes and hides a smirk behind her mug as she sips at her klah.

N'ano quickly shakes his head, muttering, "Nothin'..." Aww, is he blushing now? Yeeep. Doesn't happen often folks, so keep it bookmarked. "So I hear we're havin' tubers for lunch... 'n wherry fingers." Beautiful change of subject. The past shall be waived for explanation, right?

Sahara tips her mug back, finishing the rest of her klah with a big gulp, and lazily leaving the empty mug on the corner of the table. The young teen manages a slightly grumpy smile, though a smile non-the-less, complete even with a nod towards the Weyrleader in acknowledgement of the reference to her sister. Hmmph, at least the N'ano knows who she is. Coming finally awake enough to realize the conversation isn't any of her business, Sahara returns to her original path and stomps off towards hot water. Hopefully some time there in the baths will restore the girl to her more cheerful usual self.

Lyria bookmarks appropriately. N'ano Has Blushed. "Tubers. We've been having tubers everyday at least once a day since the candidates got here. Or if not tubers, fingerroots. Or anything else that ever needs peeling." Obviously the bakers are taking advantage of the occasion of having extra tuber-peelers around.

"Ain't it a good thing though? I mean--/tubers/. Man's best friend." Or just N'ano's. Same difference. "You can cook 'em a billion different ways! I gotta remember to ask 'em not to peel 'em today though... tuber sticks... with the skins. Doesn't that sound good? 'n they can fry 'em up." Yummy.

Sahara wanders to the Northeast Caverns.

Lyria really doesn't have anything against tubers. But eeveryday. "Oooh have you tried tuberskins? Where they take the skins an' cover 'em with cheese and bacon and whiteroots and other yummy things? Soooo good." How long will they be able to stay on the topic of tubers, do you think?

Thistia smiles, nodding. "That /does/ sound good! So is that what we'll have, then?" She grins, quite taken with Lyria's idea as well. "Mmm...also a good choice. Used to be all I'd eat of tubers."

For as long as they talk about it, of course. "Mmm, yeah. Tuberskins. /Soooo/ good... but I don't really like the whiteroots on 'em. Just cheese 'n bacon." Oooooh, and now N'ano can bond with Thistia, "Seriously!? Me too! All through my candidacy that's all I ever ate! I mean, I used to beg for tuber peelin' duty! When we'd cook 'em too, I always sampled 'em," he beams.

Thistia looks up at N'ano, surprised and impressed. She grins, nodding. "Definitely a favorite job. That and dragon washing. Seriously, tuberskins are the /best/! I'll eat the rest of it, now that I'm older, but I still like the skin the best." She giggles, pleased to have something in common with they weyrleader.

Lyria would interject a well timed 'suck up' cough, but decides not to. As...Well...Tubers are understandably good. An eye to N'ano,"You're kidding me," she responds flatly in disbelief,"You...Only ate /tubers/? And you /wanted/ tuber peeling duty?" Riiiight. The only thing that was a remotely fun chore for Lyri was tunnelsnake hunting with the rest of the group. Now that was fun. Oh, and mopping the caverns and getting stuck in the middle and having to sit on a table until the floor dried wasn't too bad either.

Alrighty then. A few nods later, and surprisingly, the subject matter of tubers ceases to amuse N'ano anymore, thus explaining why he's slouching even further against the chair and tapping a random beat upon the table with his fingers. Yep. "I feel like goin' on a fieldtrip. Dunno where though. Some place with a little less humidity, I think."

Lyria chinstrokes and twirls her non-existant goatee,"A fieeeeldtrip huh?" She steeples her fingers, tapping them together, looking reminiscently like the Bad Guy from the asylum in Beauty and the Beast. "Well...That would be anywhere north of here. Your pick."

"Mmmm... I'm thinkin'--well hmm, alright, maybe it doesn't have to be cooler, but any other place right now is a treat to go to... Maybe Benden... or Telgar... Paradise... Ooh! Or maybe those islands off of Tillek... those are cool. Ever been to 'em?" N'ano asks, motioning out towards the general bowl direction as if the islands were right outside.

Lyria shakes her head,"I canna say that I have." Islands. Fun. Sitting around and doing nothing. Fun.

N'ano mmm's yet again, "Wanna round up a few people 'n head that way? It'd be a nice relaxin' mornin', I think. Just... chillin'. Heh, I think our wing is the only one off from day sweeps. Maybe it should be a wing thing, y'think?"

Lyria strokes her chin again. But it does not take long to convince her. "I think that's a greeeat idea. I'll raid the kitchens for some snacks."

N'ano grins, hopping up from his seat, "Wonderful! I'll--go wake people up," he snickers, starting out the door but making a detour towards the buffet first. You don't think one little piece of toast is gonna fill him up, do you?

~*~A little while later...~*~

Lyria is sitting in the cavern with a rucksack of food, a towel underneath one arm, bikini-top and her loose clamdigger-type pants. "So who's comin', N'ano?"

Rhaeyn makes his escape from the infirmary duty of the past several days, still smelling faintly of redwort - it's a scent he's all too familiar with, lately. The group gathering in the caverns is no doubt noticed, as he pauses, eyeing Lyria and her supplies curiously.

N'ano swings back over towards the group, "Ah--whoever's here, I guess..." N'ano responds, sidestepping his way towards the northern caverns, "Alright--my dragon's in my weyr, so whoever's comin' with me, follow the leader!" Get it? GET IT!? "Oh! Lyria! Go get the twins!" Eheh.

Pendren has heard through word of mouth and occational eaves dropping that there is going to be a few folks heading to warmer, brighter beaches. Pendren, being Pendren, has come absolutely prepared; swimsuit tucked under one arm, small bucket for spiderclaw catching under the other and a towel wrapped about his neck. Oh yes, he's coming.

.

"Oh, Rhaeyn! Go get y'swimmers on, we're goin' on a little fieldtrip 'n you're comin'! 'n if you don't have anythin', I've got extras." Meh, wear the N'ano shorts....

N'ano walks nonchalantly to the Northeast Caverns.

Pendren shakes his little boo-tay to the Northeast Caverns.

Lyria looks around. Who's here? "Rhaeyn! Go get a swimsuit and a towel and the twins! Quickly!" Yes. And he's a candidate. So he has to follow her orders. Wait. Did she just agree to bring the twins along?"

Rhaeyn looks.. confused. Yes. At least he reacts quickly enough, responding to the orders by turning and half-jogging back to the barracks. Oh yes. Swimshorts and towel and two firelizards later, he heads back out to the caverns and follows the others to the bowl.

-travel spam-

Rilskiath arrives unexpectedly from ::between::, following him a hint of lemongrass and glitter.

You glide down to land on the island.

Desert Isle Beach

Of sand and stone, primarily the former, this small isle's beach seems to unbelievably stretch on forever. Worn by crashing waves, relentless winds and even Threadfall, the land is nearly flat except for the odd sandy ripples and a vague impression of low hills further more inland of the barren isle. Be it plant or animal life, both are virtually nonexistant but for that which resides in the rock-strewn ocean shallows.

It is an autumn before dawn.

Bronze Bydelth is here.

N'ano slides from Bydelth's neck and lands gently on the ground.

With a bob of creamy auburn head, Rilskiath offers a gentlemanly arm to assist you in dismounting.

With a bob of creamy auburn head, Rilskiath offers a gentlemanly arm to assist Rhaeyn in dismounting.

Pendren slides from Bydelth's neck and lands gently on the ground.

Lyria is rather confused. As she betweened to somewhere that is not sunny and not deliciously warm 'n stuff. "N'ano! It's...dark! And...Rocky!"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Literally cool. "I'm sure it'll warm up some in a little bit!" N'ano states to cover his own hide, "If ya'll wanna go some place else, I know of another island down south that's nice 'n warm..."

Rhaeyn has a chilly trip ::between:: - after all, he's only wearing a loose pair of shorts and an old tunic - and emerges into.. predawn? "Wow, it's awfully early here - where exactly are we?" Ah yes, the confusion of being transported halfway across Pern in seconds. He gives Pendren one of those eyebrow-raised 'eek' looks, grinning slightly.

N'ano mm's, "I think we're somewhere in the middle of Tillek--kinda near Master Sea Hold..." he replies towards Rhaeyn upon question.

Blink, blink, blink. "Wha-- Who-- Wazzit?" Is what Pendren manages as he peeks about in pre-dawn gloom. Feet sinking into cooled sand as the waves sound distantly. Ahh well, he's stil lsomewhere new, and -he- is still fully dressed in betweening attire. Yep, he's just fine presently. Rhaeyn gets a bright grin, though on second thought, perhaps a rather dim grin considering... as the teen scoops up his bucket and prances about. "Who wants to catch some spiderclaws? It's the ebst time for Spiderclaw catching." Glee.

Lyria sighs and looks around as she treks over the rocks, finding a spot where there are relatively little and kicking a bigger one or two out of the way and setting her blanket down,"Eh, I guess we can stay." A glance is sent up towards the sky, and she wrinkles her nose up. Darkness. Mrrgle. Spiderclaws? "Only if we can stop by the hold and get someone to cook 'em for us after we catch 'em."

Rhaeyn nods to N'ano as he answers, then takes a moment to peer around and take stock. "Nah, actually, this is kind of neat - and we'll get to see the sunrise." Nod. He wanders toward the line of flotsam, toward Pendren. "Spiderclaw catching?" A grimace is made. "I'm not a big fan of 'em. I can help, though, I'm pretty good at finding 'em." Ooh, bragging.

N'ano's eyes widen at the mention of spiderclaws, "Eeeh--isn't there somethin' else we can do 'stead?" Aww, surely N'ano's not afraid of those little buggers, is he? "I mean--uh, we could uh--well, do anythin' but that!" Yep, he's kinda terrified now that he's made a temporary niche upon Lyria's blanket. It's the safety point, man!

Pendren peers back at Lyria with a little gasp. "Eat... Eat the spiderclaws?" That's barbaric! Look at how cute they are scuttling all frantic-like. Awww. Pet. "I'm gonna catch them and let them go after I've gotten a respectable amount." A game without any concievable point? You betchya. N'ano gets an impish smile and Rhaeyn gets a winks as a colelction of small rocks is trapised towards in his hunt. N'ano chasing? Now there's a sport.

Lyria stretches out on her blanket belly-down and pulls a book out of her bag o' goodies. "You two catch spiderclaws. We'll eat them later." A raised eye to Pendren. Barbaric? "And tasty!" Lyri wrinkles her nose up,"Spiderclaws in salad are sooo good. Or just spiderclaw legs. Make sure you get some nice big ones."

".. Well, that's a neat idea." Rhaeyn is considerably heartened by the knowledge that Pendren doesn't actually want to -eat- them. "Dunno, I always thought they were kind of icky." Maybe he just never had any that were well-prepared. Rhae jogs over to catch up with Pendren, but diverts to stake his claim toward a set of rocks a bit further away from the other candidate's. While the two are over there.. some quiet muttering can be heard toward Pendren, on Rhaeyn's behalf.

No N'ano chasing. That's not nice. Not nice at all. "Eh, c'mon guys! Just--find some seaweed or somethin'... I'm sure that's more fun to play with!" the Weyrleader whines, jumping his way up the rocks to a better safety point. "'n you shouldn't catch those things... they snap 'n bite 'n stuff!"

You overhear Rhaeyn mutter, "Sounds ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... we grab a ... ... ... and chase ..." to Pendren.

Pendren is peering at Lyria with a look of extreme disgust. "Eat them... I don't think, we'll see if, I guess I, no." He's not coherent when he's protecting precious wildlife, especialy ones so cute as these. One rock is roleld over and two or three little'uns dart about with that ever present 'clicka clicka' sound. Pendren deftly squats, scoops, and deposits two of the three into his red bucket. Success. As they get further away, N'ano gets an occational look as Dren leans back in to confer.

You overhear Pendren mutter, "Alright, ... ... ... ... get ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... we ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... from different ... ... wont ... able to ..." to Rhaeyn.

Lyria rolls her eyes and waves a hand towards the bronzerider,"N'ano come sit down. I'll protect you from the big skeery spiderclaws." Did you note a hint of sarcasm in her voice there? Mrr. This was not the beach outing that she expected. Well at least she may get a tasty lunch out of it.

Rhaeyn has no bucket. Thus when he finally gets around to rooting in the rocks and finds a pair of smallish spiderclaws - *clicka clicka* - he's forced to head back over to Pendren to deposit them in the bucket. "Here's a couple.. then when we're done, we should build them a sandhold and put 'em in it!" Ooh. Cough. All innocence going on here, and he shoots Lyria and N'ano that 'innocent' look he does so, er, well.

You overhear Rhaeyn mutter, "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... big one, ... you'll know ... ... ..." to Pendren.

N'ano twitches slightly as he catches bits and pieces of the conversation 'tween the two candies. Lyria'll be his bodyguard, right? That's why he's hopping back down to her blanket so that if they come after him, he'll just toss her in the way as a distraction. "You better!" And there he admits it. He's scared to death of those little critters. Those /and/ crawlies, but they don't have to know that too.

Pendren goes about the happy process of rolling over more rocks and picking through floatsam. More then a few spiderclaws are now in the bucket as Rhaeyn deposits his own. A look of extreme fondness present, Pendren nods towards Rhaeyn while narrowly avoiding tripping over a rock-- but hey! Look what's under that rock! A -big- spiderclaw. -CLICKA CLICKA- It's sheer bulk can barely be held in two hands, it's jointed limbs flailing about and pinchers snapping wildly. It is held for a moment with extreme awe, before it's dropped in the bucket-- however temporarily-- and Pendren begins to creation of the sandfort.

You overhear Pendren mutter, "... got ... and ... ... ... isn't ... ... ..." to Rhaeyn.

Lyria isn't scared of things that she can eat. Other things...May get some 'ewwws' out of her. She briefly glances over her shoulder at the sounds of the clickaclicka-ing. "Mmm. We're keepin' /that/ one," she mumbles, but is otherwise oblivious to most other things as she turns the page in her book.

N'ano has resorted to just cowering for the time being... behind Lyria. She'll be his fort, yep. "If you guys even /dare/ come near me with those things, you'll be cleanin' 'em latrines for /life/, regardless if you impress or not!" HAH!

After leaving his first two 'claws with Pendren, Rhaeyn heads back off on his search for the mother of all crustaceans. It takes him well away from Pendren, searching through the tidepools and chunks of rock further down the beach. Success! Judging by all of the marks on it's shell and the ruggedness of its leg-plates, Rhae's grabbed quite the old uncle of a spiderclaw. Sadly, it's not quite as impressively large as Pendren's, and it only makes a few feeble attempts at wriggling legs and clicking oversized claws, but.. "Pendren! Check this one out!" Rhaeyn calls over to the other candidate - too loud for him to hear N'ano's protest. He's trying to signal his fellow Candidate, over there, by displaying his spiderclaw and 'waving' it toward N'ano.

Pendren nearly falls over anew when N'ano yells out his standing threat about Latrine duty. He pauses in his craftsmanship, looking extremely put out before-- Ba-shing! Idea! Rhaeyn's spiderclaw is 'ooed' for size even at there present distance, and as the ol' creature is waved in N'ano's direction Pendren stands up, grabs his bucket and starts to run for N'ano... He's running, do do dooo, running running.

Rhaeyn only waits until he sees Pendren get the hint, before taking off toward N'ano as well - from the opposite side. Ooh, tactics! He's so in trouble.

Lyria just raises an eyebrow over at the candidates,"That bucket better be full of the spiderclaws I'm going to be bringing to the kitchen," suggests Lyri dryly, watching Pendren run towards them, counting down the seconds it may take for N'ano to run away squealing.

Pendren continues running until he see's Rhaeyn take off and promptly stops. He's not getting latrine duty for life. Ha. Haha. And Pendren retreats back to his sandfort. Whistle.

Ever see N'ano scream? Well, that little trick certainly does it. And watch N'ano run towards Bydelth, too. HA! Protection from the Bronze. Sorta. "'n I won't bring y'all back to the Weyr, either!" he shrieks. Of course, there's always Lyria to do that task, but a threat's a threat, "'n Rhaeyn! I'll make you visit ma!"

Rhaeyn is a smart one, he is, with too much faith in his fellow candidates it seems. That old spiderclaw is held out in front of him as he continues the charge, grinning wildly. All of a sudden - wait. Where's his backup? Oh /shells/! "-Pen/dren/!-" is wailed, and as he pauses in confusion, the curmudgeon of a 'claw takes his opportunity to feint at one of Rhae's flailing hands. Snap. "-Owww!-" He doesn't even get to witness the success of his evil plan.

Pendren winces. Was that a scream? N'ano is watched from the safty of distance, as is Rhaeyn. Pendren attempts to feign innocent before yelling towards Rha. "Latrine duty for life? No way, Rhaeyn, no way!" And Dren goes back to puttering about his sandfort. Innocence.

Lyria watches N'ano run and hide, holds back a snicker, calmly closes her book and puts it in her bag, then stands up to walk over to Rhaeyn, gently taking the spiderclaw from him without getting in the way of it's claws. "I'l be eating that..." Fwahaha. She returns to her blanket and sits down, finding some spare towel to wrap the spiderclaw in so it doesn't escape.

It certainly was a scream. Aww, and look at N'ano scurry up to Bydelth's neck ridges. He's not taking off at least... yet. "I hate ya'll! I hope you all burn--burn!" Woo, how harsh. He'll just have to calm down up there where it's very breezy and cold.

Rhaeyn clutches at a reddened finger after Lyria steals his spiderclaw away, perfectly content to let it face its fate. Evil thing. No help for you! At least now, while his finger is throbbing away happily, he can peer up at N'ano and observe the outcome. Heh heh heh. Ahem. "Aw, c'mon N'ano, it's just a dumb spiderclaw.. s'not like they can eat you like people eat -them-." Ahem. Muttered: "... stupid thing tried, though.." Sulk. Pout. He turns to Pendren next - evil! "Man, you -so- let me down, that was going to be so awesome!" Sigh. The world conspires against him.

Lucky for Lyria, Pendren didn't see her take that spiderclaw and wrap it inhumanely in a towel. Not that he should necessarily be one to talk, as he's currently dropepd two small spiderclaws in a section of the fort and is hoping for some extreme spiderclaw fighting action. N'ano is occationaly looked at, though Pendren is quite calm. After all he didn't have -anything- to do with that whole thing. It was Rhaeyn, see? The spiderclaw gladiators aren't doing what they're suppose to, and so Dren adds The Big One(tm) to spice things up. * Clicka - Clicka * Rhaeyn just gets a light shrug and amiable smile. Love.

Lyria hooks her thumbs in her beltloops and meanders over towards the Spiderclaw Coleseum. "Oh come on, N'ano. If you wanted us to burn, we should have at least gone to Southern." Oooh lookit Lyria's mad wit.

N'ano just... stays where he is. No matter how much convincing they do to try and lure him down, he's not budging. "Well--no, I'd tell ya'll to go get eaten by a feline if we went to Southern!" Hmph.

N'ano clambers up Bydelth's neck and settles in between two neckridges.

Pendren isn't necessarily comfortable with Lyria the Spiderclaw-devourer around his sandy structure. Hmph. O'course, he's really rather tired after all that running and decieving and all. Yawn. Curlign up beside his structure, this candidate makes a point of slowly drowsing away. Yet, before he's completely out, he mutters faintly to Rhaeyn and Lyria. "Rhaeyn, don't let Lyria eat my spiderclaws, and somebody wake me when it gets sunny." Yep, him and Rhaeyn are buds, see? Right? ... Guys? ZZzzZZzzZZzz.

Lyria snorts as Pendren falls off to sleep and takes the bucket of spiderclaws, adding the towel-wrapped one to it and scooping up The Big One and adding it to the bucket. Lunch. The twins, who had been out in the water or something that didn't involve spiderclaws, seem to decide to go see how N'ano's doing. Oh their poor lil weyrleader. Lyria just shakes her head.

Rhaeyn sulks back over to Pendren's sandhold - he's just going to slink off and make himself look innocent and small over here by playing with the opposite side of the structure from where 'Dren is napping. A little detail here.. ooh, another door here.. Hey spiderclaws! "Aww, y'know he's prolly going to cry or something if you eat 'em!" Yeah, Rhae's going to defend Pendren because he's loyal like that.

Lyria sighs exasperatedly,"Hey, he almost gave you a lifetime of latrine duty." So hah. Be a backstabber! Lyri rolls her eys and picks The Big One out of the bucket and places it back in the coleseum sand sculpture,"Here. You can keep this one. And I get the little ones." Hahahaa.

Rhaeyn has to admit that Lyria is right. Evil Pendren. So he lets her take the bucket, though receiving The Big One back into the sandhold at least keeps him from deciding she's merciless! "Keep it? Maybe we should bring it back to the Weyr. We can make him a little pool to live in!" Oh yes, -there's- a grand idea.

Lyria glances towards Bydelth, then back to Rhaeyn with a shrug,"Hey as long as you don't let N'ano know, it's fine with me." As long as Lyri gets her salad... With coctail sauce on the side, too.

Rhaeyn seems to have made a deal here - he's bargained the bucket of spiderclaws for the life of this wicked cool huge one. He's satisfied. "Okay. I bet Pendren'll take pretty good care of it, too, he likes the things." Oh Faranth, can we see it now - loose spiderclaws rampaging through the barracks?

Lyria nods and places the bucket by her things then goes to sit down next to the sand scupture, adding a little design on the side with a stick. Humdeedum. A glance is sent out to the ocean and she suddenly points,"Sunrise!" Preeeetty sunrise.

Rhaeyn pauses in his careful construction of a whole new segment to the sandweyr - a maze for The Big One to wander around in - to properly appreciate the sunrise. "G'morning!" He calls back to the two riders, grinning slightly and hunkering down on the sand. Hey, at least now it might warm up.

Lyria edges a bit closer to the water - taking advantage of all these rocks - and picking up a particularly smooth stone, sending it flying towards the water. It skips once and then sinks. Once more than it usually skips though, so it evokes a grin from Lyria. "Sooo...Rhaeyn...How're you likin' candie-life?"

Rhaeyn makes a face as one of his walls collapses to The Big One's random wandering, though it wasn't one of the outside barriers keeping it contained. Phew. "Mmh. It's alright, so far. Well, actually, it's kind of neat. It's like.. everyone's part of a -group-, y'know?" Even deserters like Pendren.

Lyria nods knowingly,"Yeah. Candidate groups are the /best/. You can have so much fun." Doing what? Playing pranks, of course. But Lyri's not about to suggest that. Finding headquarters. Sitting on the hidden ledge. Tunnelsnake hunting. Fun.

"I know not -everyone- gets along, but it's still neat to meet people from all over." Rhaeyn nods. "Speaking of not getting along.. did Thistia and Ozeunzi ever figure out their little.. fight thing?" The outburst in the caverns the other day, about groundworms. Rhae's still perplexed by that.

Lyria shakes her head in wonder. Groundworms eating eyebrows. "Heeey don't ask me. You're the one sharing a dorm with 'em. I imagine Oze got over it pretty quickly." Maybe. Thistia didn't seem to terribly upset about the threat of groundworms to her eyebrows.

Rhaeyn smiles wryly, shrugging his shoulders. "Haven't talked to 'er since then, and haven't heard a thing about it." The Big One is ignored in his little sandy maze-world, now that Rhae realizes he has a great opportunity to babble about all of those -questions- he has. "So, um.." He needs to think on this one for how to properly phrase it. "D'you know, uh, why there aren't any eggs on the sands? Is the queen okay, or is she just taking her time?" He's quite respectful in tone, as though he's afraid of insulting someone.

Lyria goes about skipping her stones,"Hm...Well...Don't ask me to delve into the minds of golds, or their riders for that matter, but Saria says she's okay. Just takin' her time, yeah." Solemnnod. Well Rhaeyn's got a captive question-answerer, so ask away.

Rhaeyn 'huh's. The minds of golds and the processes of the weyr are even more mystery to Rhaeyn's holdbred mind, so he ventures on. "Okay. And.. it's true we have to get physicals soon, right?" Grimace is made as he watches her skip stones. "And, uh.. hm. Well, I kind of already asked N'ano this," he looks behind to check the status of the Weyrleader, "But, and I mean if you don't mind sharing.. what kind of experience did -you- have? Y'know, when you were a candidate and stuff." She's a rider, she must've gone through it herself -sometime-.

Lyria nods,"Yeah. Physicals." A wicked waggle of her eyebrows is sent towards Rhaeyn before she turns back to her skipping. "Me?" She certainly did go through it, and a whole lot sooner than most of the other riders around. "Well...It was really fun. I remember I got stuck pulling weeds a lot. And one time I mopped the caverns and had to sit on a table the in the middle of it until the floor dried. Took a good part of the day. And then of course there were the pranks..." Ahh the pranks. "We had a headquarters." But she says nothing about where it is,"You do know I was a candidate with Nadine, right?"

Rhaeyn grins as Lyria recounts her story, idly picking up a pebble or three and tossing them toward the waves himself, though he's certainly not trying to skip them. "That's neat. Yeah, I was getting stuck with a lot of laundry stuff, ever since I volunteered to carry a basket for one of the girls earlier." He's learned his lesson. "With Nadine? No, she never mentioned anything about being here before - wow. What happens when you don't Impress?" Clearly he hasn't actually thought through to the -future- of the process, Impression or not.

Lyria snickers and leans towards Rhaeyn,"Make friends with the weavers. If you mend socks for them, they'll help you with your robe." Lyri learned a good bit about sewing and got out of a lot of robe-making by doing such a thing. "Well...You go home." Shrug. "Or you can stay at the weyr if you want."

"R.. robe?" Oh yes, this is news to him. Now, Rhaeyn's not entirely clueless, but his knowledge comes more from those big announcements and Harper ballads than from any real experience with the details of such things as search and hatchings. "Oh. Well, that's comforting, I suppose. S'not so bad. What was your hatching like, d'you remember?" Ahem, she's not -that- old, Rhae..

In fact she's younger than Rhaeyn. Lyria nods,"Robe. I guess they'll give you the material for it when the eggs actually clutch," muses the brownrider. What does she know, though. A slight giggle to Rhaeyn and a hand is fluttered to him,"Of course I remember. Besides, it's pretty hard to forget your own hatching. Well...There were lots of greens. And, then there was this little brown all looking around and I wasn't lookin' at him, so he tripped into me - and ripped my robe - and...Well...That was Rilskiath." A smile is sent towards the brown dozing off down the shore.

Rhaeyn flips a few more stones out to the waves, smiling crookedly. "That's neat. I've kind of been talking to a couple of riders.. talked to N'ano there, too." Thumb points behind him to the still-sulking Weyrleader. "Just about their experience and stuff. It sounds like pretty much everyone agrees on it being all special and stuff." He shrugs, smile widening slightly. "Guess I'll find out myself, anyway." Whatever the outcome. The Big One suddenly catches his attention, and Rhae leans back slightly to grab a bigger rock to place conveniently near the 'claw. There! Instant house.

Lyria nods,"Yup. Special's a good word." Another stone is sent across the water. One...Twoo..Three skips! Whee. Happydance. /Mental/ happydance. "Actually, it was my turnday the day of the hatching. I was turning fifteen," she suddenly remembers. Double special.

"Now -that's- neat." Rhaeyn agrees. Double take. "Wait, you were fifteen at the hatching? How old are you now?" Now's when he realizes she's -younger- than he is. Not that he'll age bias, or anything, it's just a bit of a twist.

Lyria nods proudly. And after a pause for calculation,"Eighteen in five months." It makes her sound a bit older. Which is needed so she can hang onto what authority she has as a wingsecond and a rider.

Rhaeyn mentally counts. That's... "Wow, you're just a bit younger than me. Huh." He eyes her appraisingly for a moment. "/And/ you're a wingsecond? Wow. What do your parents think of it?" He's noticed nots, ayup. "Mine.. well, they sure didn't like me leaving for Ista, but I wrote them awhile back and let them know I'd been Searched, and.. heh, well, now they're all praise and happy, like they were fine with it all along." Bleah.

Lyria nods, sort of looking like she let the cat out of the bag or something to that effect. "Oh they think it's just /grand/." There being no more skippabe stones at hand, herhand strays to her hair, idly tugging at it,"They live near a weyr an' raise runners. So they're not too unfamiliar with weyrs. And my brothers come visit occaisonally. And...well...I can take care of myself pretty well." If not, she has two rather protective older brothers who will somehow appear in Ista at a moment's notice no matter where they are on Pern. But even having protective brothers tends to toughen a girl up a bit.

Rhaeyn's wry grin is back. "That's nice. I have a whole gaggle of brothers of sisters, and they're -all- annoying." Ahem, is he including N'ano in that? He seems to have that typical teenage-boy dislike of his siblings. "Mine're traders, and they're pretty well off, but kind of.. eh. Hang out with the really snobbish types and all. S'why I came to Ista, actually, I wanted to do something 'different'." He's certainly ended up with 'different' now.

Lyria nods slowly,"Ah." She glances over towards N'ano. Wait. Isn't N'ano his brother too...? Anyway. "Well Ranny, my oldest brother is a Herder journeyman and he's always travelin' around somewhere. And then Klian, my other older brother is a Harper. I came with him to Ista after he met this Harper girl and they fell in looove and she was from Ista, so I came too. And I became a Starry." Which she still is at heart.

Pendren rouses with a gentle twitch and yawn, sun causing half-mast lids to squinch down further. Picking himself up and into a sitting position, pale eyes trickle towards the fort he so conveniently curled about in an attempt to locate his prize spiderclaws. Sadly, he's been asleep for a lot longer than he anticipated, and whether the crustations have found a way to free themselves or Lyria nabbed them all, he may never know. Nyup. Nyup.

Lyria and Rhaeyn have just been sitting around skipping stones. The bucket of spiderclaws is over by Lyri's stuff, safely covered with her jacket. Except the Big One is crawling around the sand coluseum since Rhaeyn decided on some plan to take it home and keep it for a pet. And N'ano is still sulking and the twins are over by Bydelth with him.

Pendren struggles up and makes for Lyria's blanket, eyes occationaly sweeping between N'ano and the twins as he plunks down. "I don't suppose anyone brought any food? I missed breakfast." Whimper. Lyria, being the most prepared of the bunch, is consequently the target of his whimpering.

Lyria grabs the bag sitting by the blanket and drops it by Pendren,"Certainly did. I come prepared." That and it's fun to walk into the kitchens and announce that you need food for the weyrleader or something like that and watch 'em go scurrying.

Pendren oohs and reaches a hand into the bag to start divvying out the contents. "What do we have here... A bagle, a few sandwhiches, rolls, and would you look at that? Blackberry bubblies? They're my favorite, you know." And he promptly gives himself the biggest portion as he shakes out the rest of the contents onto the blanket. "Can I interest you in something, Lyria? A sandwhich perhaps? Looks like we've got wherrybreast, porcine, and... ruffage..." Or rather, a vegetarion sandwhich fileld with lots of leafy green things.

Lyria sends a look to her jacket. Ah she doesn't feel like going all the way to get the spiderclaws cooked. She'll wait,"Sure. Send the wherry over here." Blackberry bubblies, huh? A mental note of that is made. Just in case of bribery or something. "So. Tired? Chores gettin' to ya'?"

Pendren takes a few happy bites into the first bubbly, savoring it as Lyria's sandwhich is passed over. "Mmf, s'abit dranin, shmur." Is uttered through a mouthfull of berry crust, oh, joy. Swallowing and dabbing at the stains now forming at the corners of his lips, he continues, "I don't mind them so much, I mean, I come from another Weyr and so the chores aren't that foreign to me. Only thing is, the ratio of chores from resident to candidate differ quite seriously. As a resident I could get out of-- I wasn't required to to as much." Nice save. "As a candidate, it's a little different." Sagenod.

Lyria snickers ever so slightly as she nibbles at the sandwich. "Yeah. You need to learn a few tricks before you can get out of your chores as a candie." Lyri knows many of said tricks.

Pendren guesses as much, and scoots a little closer to Lyria. "You were a candidate here, right? How did you manage all those chores?" Now this could be a worthwhile conversation.

N'ano slides from Bydelth's neck and lands gently on the ground.

Lyria is sitting on her blanket with Pendren eating some food and chatting. Yup.

N'ano finally makes his way off his lifemate, after the twins chatted up a storm with him. Gotta love 'em, no? "Heeey, guys, ya'll wanna go back? It ain't gettin' any warmer here... forgot that it's autumn. I mean, don't even notice really at Ista till it's winter when it gets a little cooler..."

Lyria finishes off her sandwich,"/Gladly/." A glance to Rhaeyn who seems to be smuggling The Big One back with him. Some crazy idea about keeping it as a pet. And Lyri grabs her bag and her bucket of spiderclaws which will probably show up at dinner tonight. "So. You and the twins have a nice talk?" asks Lyri with just a hint of sarcasm.

N'ano just grins, nodding his head as the twins find interest in scritching Bydelth behind him "Oh yeah... turns out they're from the same beasthold as me--they moved t'Gar a few turns 'go... They were the little five turn olds that were always hangin' on me!" he laughs. "Guess that hasn't changed, eh?"

Lyria smirks and shakes her head in wonder,"Guess not," and makes her way back over to Rilskiath.

N'ano clambers up Bydelth's neck and settles in between two neckridges.

With a regal sweep of his head, Rilskiath allows you to board and settle into a nook between ridges.