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 a summer afternoon.
On the perch are three firelizards.
Nadine, Kelana, and Serafa are here.
Obvious exits:
Branch Forest Path
Lyrianna
A set of thin eyebrows arch over curious sapphire eyes, bejeweled blue in color ringing a prominent ebony iris. Those too-straight and unfortuhnately stringy auburn locks are streaked with a golden-blonde and fall down to her shoulders, as simple a hair cut imaginable. Yet a small portion of grown out bangs drapes to her earlobes, having to be constantly brushed away from her face. Her small, pert nose is overshadowed by those large eyes, and a set of angelic lips come next. She is rather short, standing at about 5 feet 2 inches and confident, though not pleased, that she will never grow another inch.
A very light fawn is striped with plaid markings of a slightly darker brown hue and barely noticeable lines of red. A bikini, yes, but modestly cut the top shaped like a very large, low V. Afterall, this is the fourteen turn old Lyri were talking about. The bottoms are boy-short style, a belt - yes, a belt on a bathing suit. its cute - buckle a couple inches below her belly button. Plaid style continues around the its bitsy shorts. But reallyThe suit is very Lyri.
She is a teenager of about 14. She is awake and looks alert.
Nadine
Sensual lips, deep brown eyes, a pert chin, and a small nose adorn the ovalish face you are looking at. Long black hair drops to her waist, loose and glossy. Her figure is slim, her proportions generous, and she carries herself to show she knows it. Her complexion is tanned and smooth, the kind achieved after weeks of careful sunbathing.
A skimpy forest green bikini clads the young woman. Sporting black trim around the edges and a pattern of rich blue dolphins in a line around it, the bikini is flashy indeed, and probably quite expensive. The top wraps tightly around her chest, its reassurance of staying up only two thing black strings extending from the top center and wrapping around her neck to tie beneath her hair. The bottom is comprised of one long piece that wraps from the back, between the legs, to the front, and ties on the hips, showing a good deal of leg. It's tight and small, leaving very little to the imagination. A bronze firelizard is perched on her shoulder.
An extremely plain white knot signifies Candidacy.
Carrying:
Zet
She is a teenager of about 18. She is awake, but seems rather distracted.
Kelana
You see an olive-skinned young woman, a bit on the short side--five feet at most--with a slender, willowy figure. A cascade of thick, wavy chestnut brown tresses is worn in a waist-length braid. Her oval face is dominated by huge, slightly tilted almond eyes, pools of deepest brown with a playful sparkle in their depths. Framed by long lashes and arched eyebrows, they capture your attention at once with their warm, friendly gaze. The mouth below her rather snub nose is small but full-lipped, curving upward in a shy smile.
A bathing suit with swirls of aquamarine and deep violet clings to her torso, the high-cut legs, thin straps and low sweetheart neckline revealing rather more of her slender, tanned body than she is accustomed to. Embroidered on the left breast of the suit, just below the base of the strap, is a golden, five-petaled flower. Vines of the same gold extend from the flower, snaking down to encircle her waist like an embroidered belt. A green firelizard is perched on her shoulder.
A single cord, a single loop, pure white adorns Kelana's shoulder in the form of a Candidate's knot.
She is a young adult of about 20. She is awake and looks alert.
Serafa
Inky blue-black hair frames a heart-shaped face, before tumbling almost to her waist in a silken sheen. Klah dark eyes sparkle and dance above mocha smatterings of freckles, a pert nose, and full cherry-hued lips. Slender body is covered by creamy caramel tan, mostly muscle save the curves of her breasts and hips. She has reached her full growth, but is still shorter than most, not that it worries her any.
Elegant shoulders are left bare with the exception of slinky little straps that curl up to disappear behind her ebon hair. Snowy white contasts sharply with an all over caramel hue, covering her breasts and little else this top ties at the back simply. Toned belly leads down to a cute pair of boy-cut bikini bottoms also in snowy-hue from which her long lithe legs emerge.
She wears the single white loop of an Istan Weyr Candidate.
She is a young adult of about 20. She is awake and looks alert.
Lyrianna strolls down to the basin a sarong-type skirt tied around her waist - a very nice shade of rust-brown with neat little sun designs on it. And a towel over one shoulder. She's The New Arrival. Never swam tooo much back at the hall, but, you know, gotta test the water. Maybe she should start up some of those water-level tests here, too. Like Kaz back at home. Hmm. A glance around, and she finds a nice large rock to climb up on, a seemingly hidden book pulled out of her towel and the towel used as a pillow as she catches up on some reading.
Serafa wanders down the path, very nonchalently. She brings nothing with her, except the very famous white bikini in which she is clad. Whistling heartily she dips a toe in the water and smiles, a broad grin. "Now this is what it should have been like on my day off" She announces to anyone who cared to listen, before settling down upon the beach.
Nadine follows Lyri and Serafa at a discreet distance, a wicked smile on her face. As the New Arrival sits down for some reading and the not-so-new Arrival tests the water, Nadine charges straight for the pool, drops her flip-flop sandals and towel at the water's edge, and, continuing in one smooth movement, splashes into the water until it drags at her and then leaps up, forward, and SPLOOSH, cannon-ball! She goes all the way under, fights to stay down in the still-shallow water, then jumps, spraying water all over. This entire thing, from the moment of charge to the jumping up and out, is done with a war-cry. "Aiyaeeeeeeeeeeee!" A beat. "Hi. Nice day, isn't it?"
Kelana ambles down the path clad in bathing suit and makeshift towel-skirt, stretching muscles cramped from what seems like hours of tuber-peeling. Okay, so it wasn't /hours/, but still... Breathing a sigh of relief as she reaches the beach, Kel unwraps her towel and tosses it atop a convenient rock. "Heyla, Serafa," she chirpily greets her now-fellow Candie, "'n' hi to you too." This, with a beam, is directed to the still-unknown Lyrianna, before Kelana wades her way into the water. (Woo. Alliterative).
Lyrianna blinks at Serafa, an eyebrow discreetly raised at the bikini. "It is a nice day," she agrees and looks aorund just in time to see Nadine. The youngest of the group shrieks as splashes of water heads towards her as she leans over the book in her lap,"You got my book wet!" she accuses crossly as a the corner of a couple pages is prodded at. A small huff as she leans back over to protect the thing from the second round of splashes, doing so succesfully. "I'm wet," she mumbles as the book is hidden under her discarded sarong as she slides down the rock, leaning against it as she toes the water. "Um. Hi."
Serafa stretches, cat-like upon her patch of sand. Dark eyes travelling tot he squealer, and she feels positively ancient. "Hey, I see you are one of us, but I havent seen you before, I'm Serafa" She greets with a twitch on one ebon brow. Kelana is eyed, before greeted. "Hello"
"And I'm Kelana," Kel remembers to add, albeit belatedly. Then the candie turns around, splashing in the knee-deep water, and plants her hands firmly on her hips. "Hey, don't you all want to swim? Makes a nice break after chores..." Brown eyes blink at fellow candie-types as Kelana walks backwards a few steps--and immediately trips and falls backwards into the water. Sploosh. "Oops..." Kelana's face turns a bit red, but she continues into deeper water, ducking her head under and emerging spluttering. (re)
A scuffle, a murmur, and there stands a stocky, chestnut-plaited girl. Apparently a bit on the lost side, one arm is clasped by the opposite hand as she steps tentatively towards the loose throng. "'Llo," the greeting arises as a gruff purr, "...You all Can'dates, too?" Lacking, for once, any sort of kinetic grace, 'Lir......stands. Yeah.
Lyrianna self conciously tugs on short-type bikini bottoms as she wades into the water, arms crossed in front of her tummy. She is not used to bikinis. But her friend weaseled her into borrowing this one. "Hi. I just got here....Not too long ago. I'm Lyrianna. Starcraf- Er...Well...Former starry, I guess." She edges into the water, just past her knees now. "Guess we are," is her response to Jalir. "I just got here." Nod. "Haven't found my way into many of the rumored chores quite yet."
Jalir
Though certainly nothing to consider 'pretty', the girl holds a pleasant air about her. She stands solid, of average height and stocky build, with eyes that suggest murky pools of jade. Thick masses of sorrel hair have been tamed into a single long plait, though rogue flyaways often swirl about her crown in a mad storm. Herder's hands are calloused with labor, but, together with the gentle curves sloping beneath her clothing, assist in softening her sometimes blunt appearance.
A cream-hued tunic cloaks her form, complimenting the olive of her leather pants. Balanced upon her hips is a thick belt, echoing the worn quality of her rather scuffed wherhide boots. A brown firelizard is perched on her shoulder.
A single white cord is her knot, added strings of orange and black signifying her as a Candidate for Ista Weyr.
Carrying:
book Asrael
She is a teenager of about 17. She is awake and looks alert.
Serafa watches and stares, and feels likes she's on nanny-duty or some such. "Serafa" She greets once more as another young'un comes along the trail. "This is a nice place to swim, there isnt any salt water or anything" Comes her next completely unrelated comment. But thats Sef for you. "Euw, don't speak of them, you'll have your fill soon enough. I know I have" She nods, flicking strands of midnight over her shoulder.
Kelana turns in the now waist-deep (on short Kel) water to study Lyrianna curiously, water dripping from the end of her sodden brown braid. "Well met, Lyrianna...starry? Really?" Her klah-hued eyes flick to peer at Jalir for a second, a simple nod and smile providing an affirmative answer to the girl's query, before Kel turns back to Lyrianna, interested now. "I have a friend or two in the Craft...d'you know Kaltia?" Brow furrows for a second. "But I guess I won't get to see much of her now, since we're not allowed out." Which stinks.
"Jalir," is the curt introduction from the Herder-turned-Candie. Receding into a more amiable posture- it seems she's been accepted by the pack- a studious glance is payed to her surroundings. "'S'nice here, I guess... What're we supposed to.../do/ here? Jus' chores?" Disorientation and shyness are common side-effects of being plucked from your home and friends and dropped in a Weyr. Really.
Lyrianna is /totally/ not that young. Okay. Well. Mebbe she is. But bet she's smarter than all y'all combined. Or close to it. But she's still sorta shy around all of the older candidates and their skimpy bathing suits. "That's good. Salt water is....Salty." State the obvious, why doesn't she? She continues to wade, water reaching her hips about now, and stops there. "I'm not exactly looking forward to them, I'm sure..." Ew. Chores. Arms are still crossed as she stares at the water, expecting a fish or something to leap up and eat her or something along those lines. A nod to Kelana as she fidgets with tucking her hair behind her ear. "That I do. She's a pretty good friend of mine." Afterall, Kaltia is Lyri's Co-Mastermind and fellow finder of Orashoe. "I think...Kelara, huh? I think maybe she's mentioned something or other 'bout ya'." So sue the girl. She's not too good with names. "That's what I've heard, so far. And...Play /pranks/," wrinkle of her nose,"Although I don't know why someone would waste their time doing such a thing. I'd rather be reading." The girl is a mastermind when it comes to pranks, but only if she can be convinced of a reason to share her ideas.
Serafa eyes the two that are left before sharing the benifit of her turns and turns of experiance. "Pranks are bad. They are wrong, and they can be much much worse than a normal candidacy" Feel free to ask her about that. "But if you are wanting to find that out the hard way I have some ideas" Personally she just likes the choas that ensues after a well thought up and implemented prank.
Jalir brushes an offending forelock from her eyes, venturing to the edge of the pool and lowering herself to a sitting position there. A hesitant smile upturns the corners of her lips, though murky eyes avert from the swimming few. It would seem her abashment at seeing the other girls in such scant swimwear comes from a different reason- Faranth's great behind, certainly not prudent at all. "I 'aven't got a bathing suit..." or wouldn't be caught dead in one. Same thing. Conversation seems strangled, but she manages to push on, nodding as the others recount their origins. "Yeh, I'ma Herder...Keroon." At the mentioning of pranks, she perks a bit, "...What're pranks?"
Lyrianna points at the experienced one. "See. Pranks /are/ bad." Except maybe the Orashoe Shoe Incident that involved Lyri and Kalti painting people's left shoes and gluing them to the ceiling in the shape of a constellation. Lyrianna is not in a terribly skimpy suit. In fact it's /quite/ modest compared to some certain itsy bitsy white bikinis. A stare at Jalir and Lyri staggers back into the water a couple steps. "What do you meeean 'what're pranks'?" She /does/ know what pranks are, right? "Well...We'll just have to find you one. Bathing suit, that is. This style's really not to bad." Short-style bottoms are tugged on a bit.
Serafa shrugs, rolling her caramel hued shoulders in the impressive ennui of the older generations. "Pranks are when we do something that we know they don't like and try not to get in trouble for it" She tto has had her share of pranks. "A couple of turns ago /some/ of the candidates dyed Hannah's clothes green" She explains, "Things like that are considered pranks."
The proverbial sheltered child, perhaps? Jalir appears geniunely dumbstruck at the term, and, upon Serafa's elaboration, dumbstruck wanes to incredulity. "But why'd y'wanna do that?" She's not one to stir up turmoil in any given situation... Though the candidacy is young. Quite young.
Lyrianna just stares. Fine. She'll drop her cover of "Oh pranks are dull" and with a roll of her eyes. "Because they can be fun." Or fun to watch other people perform and get in trouble for. As long as you can shift the blame away from yourself. Which is why Lyri is merely the brains behind the operation. She does nothing herself. "Dying clothing is /so/ done. It's really quite pointless."
Serafa wrinkles her nose. "But the punishment was definately inventive." She concludes, standing up and brushing stuff of her caramel skin. "Anyways, there are chores out there with my name on them, and if I am too slow they are going to be tthe stables or tubers again. Ladies" She inclines her head and scampers up the trail.
