Recent Going Ons of Obsidian Weyr

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

"Hm..." Tugging curiously on one of the vines clinging to the ancient Weyr, the young man looked up the high wall with a raised brow. He had half the mind to see how far he could climb up the wall by using the vines, but then the sane part of him remembered that he was carrying a pack laden with mostly metal tools... Well, that plan went out the window... Turning to view the rest of the Weyrbowl, Kevais lazily covered his mouth with a hand as a yawn came up from his chest. The morning air was a little chilly, and his special gloves did little to protect his exposed fingers. Not to mention his face was a little tingly too..

The sun had yet to peek over the top of the Weyr yet, but he could see its orange light bathing the top of the Weyr. "So is this place deserted..?" Dusting off his black longsleeve top, purging it from debris that had fallen on him from pulling on the vine, Kev groaned softly in despair, thinking he had the wrong place after all.. Well, back to the drawing board... Reaching into one of the several pouches on his belt, he fetched out a small wooden peg, and pulled a knife out from his boot. Starting to whittle away at his own leisure, he wondered if he should at least explore the rest of the place...

Who knew what sort of goodies he could find here? Archaic technology, that could possibly be salvaged or studied? Ancient texts that could reveal the secrets to the life of the fabled dragon riders? Or perhaps a grumpy old Feral, looking for breakfast? "Well, it wouldn't be the first time.. Heh.." Absent-mindedly walking around a little more, he continued to slowly whittle away at the peg, creating a light trail of shavings as he made a bee-line around the Weyrbowl.

[Oodles]

((I hope you don't mind me buggering in? XD))

“Oi! What right have you to call Obsidian deserted?”
Zeyruan had been sitting in a small yet still large enough for her to get into crevice above the ground entrance to the Weyr. She’d heard someone come in with metal things in their pack, and had poked her head out to look at the visitor for a moment when she heard him talk about the weyr being deserted; not to mention he’d pulled on one of the vines she used to get up and down from her perch.
The woman slid forward on her stomach enough to reach out and pull herself the rest of the way from the crevice in the wall. She let herself stop swinging for a moment, and then slid down the vine to land lightly on the ground with her knees bent for impact. She stood up and dusted herself off with a soft curse about it being too dusty up there and then looked the visitor over briefly.
“It’s not deserted.” Zeyruan told the man as she trotted forward and stood in front of him so that he might not be able to move forward any more until she was finished talking to him. It was fun meeting new people, for the most part; and besides, there hadn’t really been a chance for the past few days to get to know any one considering every one had been busy after the hatching.
“Oh, and I’m Zeyruan.” She added absently, an easy smile brightening her features as she continued to look the stranger over curiously.

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

((Haha, not at all. ^^))

Flinching at the indignant voice, Kev accidently cut the tip of his pointer finger, dropping the wooden peg with a curt grunt. Raising a brow as he placed his injured finger in his mouth, he turned to face the female who had corrected him, expecting to see someone coming out of one of the ground level chambers. Nope.. Above one, actually.. Seeming the girl shimmy down a vine, he blinked, putting his knife away and picking up the blood stained peg. Stowing it as well, he removed his finger from his mouth and inspected it briefly. Wasn't a deep cut, but it still hurt... Turning his attention back to the approaching female, he normally would have smiled politely, but was still slightly puzzled to find someone here. After all, it looked like the Weyr hadn't been used in quite a few Turns...

"Um.. Not deserted indeed..." He was well aware that she practically barred any advances on his part, but disregarded it. He was trespassing, in a way.. "Zeyruan..? Oh, I'm Kevais, Kev, for short.." Clearing his throat and dusting himself off out of habit more then anything, he quickly managed a light smile as well. It was a rather awkward first encounter, but at least that meant there were no ferals lurking about... "Pardon the intrusion, I just was curious to see for myself if the rumors were true indeed... About there being dragons in the area other then those stubborn grey ones... Um, no offense meant to dragon-kind, it's just that I wouldn't be walking so far were it not for a feral snacking on my mount.. Heh.."

Smooth, Kev... "I'm a journeyman, a metal and wood smith. Still in training, so I'm afraid I'm not too well known... Or wealthy, for that matter.." Catching himself rambling, he chuckled softly and shook his head, brushing his bangs to the side of his face to see better. "So then there's really dragons here, Zeyruan..? Real, live, non-feral dragons..?"

[Oodles]

With a small nod Zeyruan traced her lips briefly with a soft finger to hopefully cover her amused smile from Kevais. She found men rambling quite amusing, though she didn’t like them to know that so that they would keep doing it; usually men tried not to ramble around her about anything because of how it amused her.
“I’m a candidate for the next clutch.” She informed the stranger, turning on her heel with a small gesture to Kevais and walking (well, meandering) towards the largest entrance/exit from the Weyr Bowl. “I’m sure there’ll be work for you here. If you’re planning on staying.” Zeyruan gave her current walking companion a sidelong look before continuing. She hadn’t seen one man or woman turned away from having a home in the Weyr. Not yet at least. When people started coming just for the sheer wish to gawk at the dragons, she was sure the Weyrleaders would put some bar against who would be given housing and who would be turned away.
“But Aeselyth’s first clutch just hatched. Ten beautiful eggs with eight healthy dragonets impressed, a ninth being Feral.” She continued, still giving Kevais curious looks as wandered across the Bowl. Where could the Weyrwoman or Weyrleader be at that moment? Ah, she couldn’t know! She’d had a few good conversations with the Weyrwoman, just about everyone in the weyr so far had, but she still didn’t know how to tell where the woman was. Oh well, she’d have to get word around somehow, and hopefully this craftsman could get around the Weyr on his own; unless he let her show him around. But of course, the chance of him wanting Zeyruan to be a guide was small. Eh, men…

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

Women was a topic nearly foreign to Kev, with him spending most of his time traveling around, or in a workshop, so he didn't even catch what she was trying to hide. Not that he cared, anyways. He could ramble on for quite a while, heck, even talk to himself if he was bored enough. "A.. candidate..?" Tilting his head to the side in slight puzzlement, he blinked a couple times, unfamiliar with the term. One could say that his choice of trades had 'sheltered' him a little, but then again, Weyrs weren't a particularly popular topic in a place where focus and perfection were expected of you. Mistakes near the forge or any tool could result in catastrophic damage to whatever a smith was working on! Not to mention personal harm could be another consequence, too...

Her next sentence practically slapped him in the face. Stopping his stride at the comment, he stared at her as she continued on. "Wait, what?" Did he just hear her correctly..? Well, he supposed any functional facility would require maintenance, and any maintenance would require, hopefully, trained maintenance workers... At first he thought she was joking, for he had seen no signs of life here, save for Zeyruan herself. But, he was starting to get the impression that she was dead serious. Either that, or secretly looking for a good laugh.

Jogging after his guide, he held onto the straps of his pack, trying to keep his center of gravity from sliding too far and tipping him over. Ten eggs, huh..? Doing the math in his head, he raised a brow. "Um.. If there's eight impressed dragonets, and one feral... What happened to the tenth..? Did it not hatch?" Or was it stepped on by accident from a larger dragon? Deciding not to let his imagination run rampant and wild, he looked at her questioningly. Kevais didn't seem to want to stray too far from her, just incase a random dragon didn't spot him if it came in for a landing.. Not to mention she seemed to know her way around. Well, sort of.. But at least the company was good.

[Oodles]

Zeyruan let out a hardy laugh. The man was amusing in close to all senses of the word; really, how could he not know of candidacy? And his surprise at her saying there might be work here for him? Priceless!
“A Candidate, to stand on the sands with the hope of impressing a dragon at the next hatching.” She said somewhat slowly so that it might get farther into the man’s skull. She ran her fingers absent-mindedly through her long red/brown hair as she continued to meander around the bowl; paying little heed to her pace for it wasn’t so fast. “I didn’t impress at the last hatching, so I’m staying until the second. And if I don’t impress then, I’ll stay on until I can’t impress; then I’ll just be a member of the Weyr, probably a kitchens woman. I do have some talent in cooking…” Realizing that she was rambling herself now, Zeyruan slowed her speech and finally stopped; well, she had no doubt that she could be amusing to some people as well.
“You’re a smith though, right? Judging from the noise in your pack. Lylian and L’uen will probably be able to find something for you to do; they’re rebuilding the Weyr you know.” Zeyruan continued finally, not caring if she really was rambling. She didn’t talk enough of late as it was.
Zeyruan paused, “huh?” Only one egg unhatched? “Oh, no. No, no, no. There were two eggs unhatched.” She corrected Kevais, “Two greens came out of one egg. It was amazing! Though, I found it rather sad that one of them attacked her sister, oh, they will be trouble together.” She had started walking again and shot a sidelong smile at the newcomer. “You might be able to come to the first Weyrling Lesson and see the young beasts. I’m sure the half the weyr, if not the whole thing, will be there to see the beginning of the new generation of dragons.”

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

Kevais just smiled lightly as she laughed. Heck, he laughed at himself quite often, so he wasn't offended at all. "Ah.. I remember someone talking about that, wasn't too sure what the specific terms were, though..." Rubbing his chin absent mindedly, he frowned. His expression shifted to surprise though when he learned that she didn't impress. "That's a shame.. Dragonets need a warm hearted partner, I'm sure.. So you should impress one soon enough, Zeyruan." Offering the girl a light smile, he nodded. Hearing her alternative of being a cook. Well, everyone needed to eat, so it wasn't like it wasn't an important job.. Speaking of eating... Kev patted his stomach with another frown, not too sure when he had last eaten.. But, that wasn't his main concern at the moment..

"Oh, yes, I'm a smith." He paused for a moment, not too sure if he had already said that or not, but dismissed the thought. It wasn't too out of place of him to forget personal details, after all. "Rebuilding the Weyr, you say..?" Once more rubbing his chin, except with more of a thoughtful look, he stared up at the Weyr. "That's one heck of a project.." Already thinking about what he'd have to do just to prep the place, he almost lost himself in the whirlwind of activity his mind was coming up with.

"Oh, two came from one egg? That's a tad unusual, eh?" He had never heard of a similar thing happening before, but he wasn't too sure if that was an oddity where dragons were concerned, either. Raising his eyebrows, as well as his hands at the suggestion of him watching the dragonets, Kev chuckled nervously. "No, it's alright.. Never been too god with any type of animal.. Besides, if the Weyr needs to be rebuilt, it'll be a full time job, I'm sure.. Let's just say that my 'animal magnetism' is a little on the negative side.."

[Oodles]

Noting Kevais’s attention to his stomach, Zeyruan entered the main corridor entrance to the inside halls of the weyr. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder with a short flick. “Oh, impressing needs a heart of some kind,” she agreed, smiling back easily as she silently counted the doors on the left side of the corridor. Four, five, six, seven… “Ah, here we go.” Zeyruan turned into the next opening to her left; there were only a couple of tables and benches covering the floor, and only one hearth was lit. But, despite the current emptiness, the smell of cooking soup and bread filled the air and actually made the woman’s stomach growl slightly.

“You’ll have help fixing up the weyr, don’t worry.” She assured Kevais as she went behind the counter with a happy greeting for one of the women working on roasting a wherry and grabbed a couple of bowls. Deftly, she put the bowls on a pair of plats and filled them with warm soup; she also put a slice of bread on each plate. The two plates were placed onto her right hand and forearm and her other hand grabbed a couple of cups to fill with klah in the pots on the tables. Zeyruan set them down and then sat on the bench and crossed her legs; usually sitting ‘properly’ was uncomfortable for her.

She reached for a spoon to eat her soup and frowned as her fingers found nothing there. “Oh, shards, I forgot spoons.” She murmured, spinning around lightly on the bench and getting up easily; she went back around the counter and grabbed a couple of spoons and clinked them together a couple of times before sitting back down and giving one to Kevais. “Well, you’ll probably see enough of the dragons even if you don’t go to the lessons. I believe Aeselyth will be sending the clutchlings off to get supplies from the wilds around the Weyr to bring back so that every one here can start rebuilding all of the damaged rooms and refurnish them.” Zeyruan said after a moment of pondering what would be happening. She thought that’s what Lylian had said; oh well, they’d all find out soon enough. She grabbed for her spoon again, this time smiling triumphantly when her fingers closed around it, and dipped it into her soup. The kitchens always had good food. Maybe it was that new woman here? Aryin she thought the woman was called. Oh well, she was a wonderful cook in any case.

[Floof]

Fondling rubbing Lira's back as the little girl slept, thumb in mouth and leaning against her mothers shoulder, Aryin entered the kitchen as if she owned it. And, if you looked at it realistically, she did. No else there had been able to cook, at least, none that she had found out, expect for the two women already in the room, preparing soups and breads, and just about anything else she requested that could be made and last for more than just a day. The only trouble is those dragons; they need so much meat!

With that thought in mind, she almost didn't notice the two young people at the table, both eating some soup, bread and freshly prepared (she knew by the smell), klah. "Well, you've found a new one?" She absently asked Zeyruan, glancing at the girls crossed legs with the slightest hint of disapproval darkening her freshly turned soil eyes. Momentarily pursing her lips, the woman looked away, skillfully balancing her daughter on one arm and shoulder as she ushered away one woman that had come just some few days ago to stir the soup herself, since the girl had only been getting the center, not scraping the sides. "Go clean the tubers." She ordered the dark-haired girl, who jumped for a moment before nodding, obviously wise enough to not fight a woman who, though maybe a few hands shorter, was obviously more experienced in just about anything she could think of.

Good choice.

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

This girl was speaking as if he already accepted her invitation, he noticed. But, he couldn't blame her. Not like he had anywhere better to be at the moment, and besides, most Holds didn't pay him decently enough for his services anyways. At least now he could earn a few meals, and watch dragons safely. From afar. Out of potential harm's way... Removing his pack and setting it on the ground beside the bench, Kevais sat down as well, suddenly aware of the ache in his legs from hefting such a 'well prepared' bag. Rubbing his knees lightly as Zeyruan brought out food for them. He smiled, grateful for the hospitality. "Thank you.. I understand that looking after a dragon will require some time, and I'm used to working alone, so I think I can manage by myself for the technical parts. Such a task is burden to others, but a joy to craftsmen. Keeps our spirits and passion alive."

Shutting up before he blabbered on, Kev accepted the spoon with a nod. "I see.. Some mining might need to be done, though.. I doubt that wood would solve every problem.." He had a pick axe head stuffed somewhere in that bag of his, he'd craft a handle for it later like he always did.. Forcing himself not to just raise the bowl to his mouth, he took steady mouthfuls with his spoon, lifting up his piece of bread to bite on every so often. He was saving the klah for last, using the soup to quench his parched throat. Halfway through the meal though, his eyes darted curiously to the entrance as he heard someone come in. Blinking as a woman with a child entered, Kevais didn't know what to say as a greeting. The way she carried herself unnerved him a bit, particularly her attitude towards the others.

But, as she ignored him to tend to the soup, he shrugged it off and went back to eating, guessing that she was someone of importance. A woman's temper was never something he liked to deal with, and she didn't seem to mind him eating here, so he figured it was best to continue.

[Oodles]

“There might be a couple of mines around, and I’m sure the Leaders will be willing to supply a few people for the job.” Zeyruan said thoughtfully as she focused most of her attention on a bit of meat floating around in her soup; the sharding thing wouldn’t get into her spoon!

“Passion though,” she continued after she had finally succeeded in a triumph over the meat and had stuck it quickly in her mouth. “Passion is good in a craft, I was studying to be a breeder myself. Runners. There was this amazing herd that never left the hills around my hold, they were all so beautiful. Though, they were looked down on by the major breeders, they weren’t ‘pure blood’. Gah, I could have smacked those old blokes around and they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it…” Zeyruan blinked and looked up from the bread she’d been tearing into random pieces and dropping into her soup. She looked at the now lumpy food and bit her lip; then shrugged and spooned some of it into her mouth. Still good. “What is your main craft though?” She asked Kevais, her wandering mind going from one topic to the next in the snap of a thought.

Zeyruan smiled in greeting to the woman she’d been thinking of moments before and shrugged as she walked by. “He found the weyr, I just happened to be there to make sure he didn’t wander into Sel or Lylian first. You know how that pair is with new comers.” She said to Aryin, directing a teasing wink over to Kevais. She didn’t really mean that, though, Lylian was a rather rambunctious Weyrwoman; her own mate could hardly keep up with her at times. She had also noticed the look the kitchens women had given her crossed legs and laughed softly, “oh, don’t give me that look. When you talk to my own mother you’ll be able to train me all you want; until then I’ll sit like a noodle all I want.” Zeyruan added, giving Aryin a rather stubborn look even as she smiled at the much older woman.

[Floof]

About to say something about how the two weren't that hard to meet, she saw the wink and hid a sudden grin behind her loose head of hair, its silver and blond sheen covering it quite effectively. Really, she'd thought she had grown out of that stuff Turns ago, especially with her daughter. Apparently not though. The thought wasn't horrible, though. However, when she looked up after she'd schooled to her face, she arched a slim eyebrow (oh yes, only one. A rare skill, aye?) at Zeyruan's look, giving only a small smile back, though it was decently warm.

"Zeyruan, I will get you into a dress or skirt one day." The woman all but vowed. She herself was wearing a skirt that almost trailed on the ground and was a simple blue, but underneath it was a pair of trousers, and then some comfortable boots which most women (especially Lady Holders), might not even have. But it was getting chilly, and she wanted to simultaneously look good and be warm. Mission accomplished.

"I am Aryin, unofficial or official Head Cook here, depending who you talk to." Aryin introduced herself to Kevais, still stirring the soup as she spoke. What? She couldn't let it burn! "This little tyrant," she said, an obvious note of caring and perhaps admiration entering her voice as she rested her cheek upon her daughters head for a brief moment, "Is Lira."

[~*Penguin Commando*~]

"Oh, a breeder, that's a fun career, I'm told." Smiling, Kevais nodded curtly. "And it matters not if a runner is of 'pure blood' or not. 'A rusted and worn piece of scrapmetal can still harbor the potential to become something great in the end,' or, that's how the saying goes back in the smith-shops, heh." He supposed it was a decent enough metaphor, even though it had nothing to do with runners directly, it's meaning related well enough. Or so he hoped. He was horrible at explaining things at times. "I craft metal, mostly. But I can work with wood if something simple is needed." Looking away in thought, he took a small bite from his bread. "Never could work rocks, though.. I haven't practiced enough for it, not to mention that there aren't too many uses for carving rock.." Blinking once and shifting his gaze to the ceiling in deeper thought, he opened his mouth to speak, but caught himself before he could continue.

Rubbing the back of his head with a light smile, he shrugged apologetically. "But yes, I mainly work with metals, heh.." Rambling again, perhaps he should have rested a little more before exploring the Weyr, he thought. Catching Zeyruan's wink, he blinked, clueless on whether he should take her seriously or not. Listening to their brief conversation afterwords, he could tell that Zeyruan was sort of a rebel. Well, he didn't know any other type of girl that would relax on a rock-made overhanging in the morning. And without anything to lay on, how about that?

Smiling lightly as Aryin introduced herself, and her daughter, Kevais nodded a greeting to her. "I'm Kevais, a journeyman smith, traveling to see what's out there, and to expand my skills." He noticed the motherly affection she held for Lira, and his smile widened a little. Not too much though... He didn't want her to think that he was thinking ill of her. Aryin was stirring the soup after all, and who knew how hot that ladel she was using would be? Kevais, for one, didn't feel like finding out first hand...