Hide-away

Here in the very tops of the old tree, the world seems so very far away: below branches rustle with the occasionally gust of wind, and weyrling banners of sisal usually hide these heights from the world beneath. The pool is a dangerous drop, rocks gleaming as dark shadows beneath the water, while the forest is a neatly kept jungle behind.

Someone has thought to tuck some old rugs along platform's edge, hopefully preventing anyone's fall from such a height. And a broad ledge a short step away offers young dragons a place to rest and stay close should their lifemates choose to climb so high.

It is a summer midmorning.

Gliding about is a blue firelizard.

Lyrianna hoists herself up onto a branch with an "Oof", scrambling her way to a nice flat gathering of branches, leaning back against the trunk and panting slightly. Whew. It's been a while since Lyri's climbed anything other than rocks and the low wall outside the starcraft hall. At least it's a nice view. And there's no way anyone can find her up here.

Seems Jalir had the same idea as Lyrianna. Struggling after the younger, more agile girl, one arm flails to grasp a small overhead branch in her quest to hoist herself onto the makeshift platform. Finally managing an ungainly roll onto the surface, she sits up, tucking legs in with an audible release of breath. "Whoo! Well that was.. fun." Her gaze roves to find her fellow candie among the foliage, though she intentionally stays close to one spot. It's...a bit higher than it looked. Pretty high. Very high! ..Not like she'd let any see her discomfort at the fact.

Lyrianna snorts as she eyes the ground. It was anything but fun. it's only fun that she gets to sit here without someone chasing after her with a duster or something of the sort. "Nice day," is her comment as she peeks over the edge of the branch. "I bet ya can't even see us up here with all the branches and leaves." Another hiding place! Yay!

Jalir shuffles in an awkward sort of walk - hands and toes both secured to the floor beneath her - to the edge Lyrianna peers over, venturing a peek over the edge, herself. For one who's rarely been on anything higher than a runner, it's a harrowing height. "Mm," is the distant agreement to the comment on the day as 'Lir scoots back, behind neatly fastened to the platform once more. "I bet not..." she cautions another lean-glance. "I'd hate if our work got putton th'other Candidates if'n they can't find us, though..." subtle hints of concern stress her tone, perhaps suggesting she would rather be peeling tubers(again) than stuck up in these branches. Duty and honor and whatnot. Right.

Lyrianna tilts her head upwards to glance around for any incoming dragons. Nope. None. So Lyri just leans back agaisnt the trunk of the tree, legs stuck out in front of her and hands clasped atop her tummy. "Oh well. They should be smart enough to hide, too. If we're caught...We can say we're...I don't know...Clearing the platform and the tree of dead branches?" It's an idea. There are weird enough riders to assign weird enough chores.

Jalir gains a thoughtful air as she follows Lyri's gaze skywards, "Didju havt' come 'ere on Dragonback?" she queries, more to the branches above than the girl. Perhaps the answer is obvious, but Jal is a master of such, is she not? "I know some of the can'dates were already at th'Weyr, but I hadta fly in," is offered, furrowed 'brow showing faint traces of the apprehension felt during that experience. "'T'wasn't as bad as I thought, though. 'Cept for that.....black." /Between/ was the thing that drained her flush to ash-white, that day. Shudder.

Lyrianna nods slowly as she plucks at a nearby leaf. "Sure did. It was /fun/, wasn't it?" Second time she'd ever been on a dragon before. It seemed that the young candidate found quite a bit of enjoyment in going between. "Kia took me and Kaltia somewhere once on her dragon, so it wasn't my first time going between." That's right. Lyri's a veteran dragon passenger. Cough.

Muffled cursing comes fromt he direction of the ladder shortly before a black-pigtailed head of a Reachian rider pops up, looking rather annoyed. "She'd better be here, or.. I'll.. OOf. Do something terrible, I will.. Got leaves in my hair, sticks pokin' at me like nobody's business, and-- Ah! Jalir!" Zia finally spies her ex-Herder friend and pulls herself up onto a nearby branch, legs swinging cautiously. "Congratulations on gettin' y'self Searched! Lav told me where t'find you!"

Jalir gnaws placidly at her chapped lower lip as she listens, piping up with her own past draconic experiences once Lyri finishes, "I've only seen a few of 'em 'fore. Jus' the 'Erder Hall Watchrider... An' I talked to K'nex about a day before I was Searched." The pauses, carefully formulating the next phrase before it is voiced. But then, two black-brush pigtails pop up. "....Zia! Zia? Oh, Zi, you shouldn't curse so much.." What Weyr life has done to her dear friend. Mourn. "I ah....yeh. I'm Searched. ..And this is Lyrianna." Beamgesturebeam.

Lyrianna looks over the Reaches rider for a moment after pulling her gaze away from a particularly interesting leaf. A smile is allowed slide onto her face and a quiet,"Hello." The leaf is plucked from it's branch and she absently shreds it as she notes,"Care to keep our location to yourself and, you know, maybe keep it down in case some chore-giving riders come by?" WOuldn't want to give their position away by being loud, now would they?

Zia eyeballs Lyrianna carefully, slipping back into her Mistress of Efficiency personality now that the rough climb is done. "Really, Lyrianna.. Chores aren't so terrible. If you Impress and become a Weyrling, you're going to wish you did more of those terrible chores - You'll need all the muscle and patience you can muster. Trust me on that one. And as for secrecy, I suppose word travels slowly. You little candidates haven't heard a whisper of the wraiths that threaten the Reachian Weyrfolk, obviously." The little smirk she gives does look rather ghostly, and her dark eyes have a rather haunting, x-ray vision effect. They dart to Nadine before returning to Jalir - Afterall, Zia did come to see the girl. "Exciting, isn't it? Don't worry, girlie, you're a shoo-in. I've got a good handful of marks on your Impression, mark my words."

A minor shaking of leaves, some scraping of foot against bark, and Nadine clambers into view, gripping the branches tightly in hand and carefully pressing bared feet against the trunk. Her sandals, slung over one arm, knock into each other as she moves as swiftly as she can. As her head pokes into view, she peers at the stranger. "Who's she?" She doesn't appear all that worried, though -- there are other places to hide -- as she finds a comfortable fork of branches to the side and wedges herself in before replacing her sandals on her feet.

Jalir, meanwhile, has humbly lowered her eyes, an abashed crimson creeping up her neck. "I d'no, Zi..." the murky jade eyes raise to steal a glance at her ex-Herder friend, embarrassed at the sudden attention drawn to herself. Effeciency is a common trait between the girls, however, and 'Lir decides against voicing any complaints on the amount and genre of chores they've been given. The bluerider's probably right, at any rate. Nadine's equally sudden appearance recieves a brief smile and finger-wave while she makes polite introductions, "This is Zia... she was a 'Erder with me 'fore she 'Pressed at 'Reaches. An' this is Nadine," she turns from rider to candie, "A Can'date, too."

Lyrianna raises an eyebrow at the rider. She certainly must have hid from chores as much as the rest of them, but, tactfully, no comment is made. "Wraiths, hm? Terrifying, I'm sure," the last comment is made with a slight dripping of dryness. Besides, Lyr will just end up back with her books at her Starcraft library at the end of this, anyways. A wave goes to Nadine with a small shrug,"Jalir's friend turned rider," is her assesment of Zia.

A long, steady Look goes to Lyrianna as Zia shifts to make herself more comfortable. Story-telling time! "Oh? Terrifying indeed - Dark, cowled figures, slipping in and out of the shadows - One with boots, one with bells, one who roared like the most horrid of summer storms! All the boots in the Weyr went missing, only to turn up in the Living Caverns as part of a huge game of chess. We delivered a pair of twin llamas, too, and adopted them." A pause, and then a big grin. "Yeah. We definitely had the best Candidacy ever. And Weyrlinghood.. Oh, my."

Nadine waves. "Well met, Zia...Can'da--er, Candidate not by choice, most assuredly." She then proceeds to nod through Lyrianna's talk, and then simply stare. Just stare. At Zia. "Uh...right. I think I'll stick to tuber-peeling." Bells, boots, llamas? This girl needs a Mind Healer, most definitely. She pauses and then can't resist asking, "Who roared?"

Lyrianna raises an eyebrow dubiously at the rider and once again,"I'm sure." Doesn't sound tooo frightening to her. Weird people in robes. How horrifying. "And I'm supossed to go mop or something of the like," she mumbles - escaping any further stories by slipping from the branches.