Fort Weyr - Centre Bowl
The wide center of the bowl is often bustling with activity as riders come and go. Off westward can be seen the entrances for the candidate barracks and the guest weyr, while to the east is a large opening that leads into the dragon infirmary. The bowl stretches off both to the north and to the south, where the sheer stone walls rise steeply to the sky.


The rain has come and gone, an earlier thunderstorm having drenched the weyr and turned it into rivers of mud. Is Fort ever dry? While Kayeth and Velokraeth tend to their clutch of 14 on the sands, Nyalle has escaped and is just now stepping out of the living caverns, a steaming mug of tea in her gloved hands as she pauses to gaze skyward. As the sun sets, it streaks colors of red across the sky, reflecting off the low clouds and giving the bowl an eerie quality.

Mud, mud, and more mud. Sometimes Lana feels like that's all she has to look forward to on rainy days. However, thankfully that is not true today. The ran did not last all day so the brownrider finds herself able to step outside only to find, guess what, mud. Not that she intends on actually touching the mud. As Rauskazeth swoops down and touches down on the muddy ground of the weyrbowl Lana looks down, a look of distaste on her face. "No way," she says, "I am not going to walk through that." Rauskazeth lets out a rumble at this, although it is hard to tell whether it is amused or out of annoyance. He then proceeds to sit down right in a particularly large mud puddle. Dismay crosses Lana's face as she exclaimed, "shard it, Raus! Do you have any idea how long it'll take to clean you?" The expression doesn't look too out of place on her face really, it's probably more fitting than any look of joy. Half of her face is scarred thanks to the mauling she received when impressing, long claw marks stretching across her cheek and over one of her eyes. While she is long past bandages it looks as if it won't get much better than the state it is currently in, although the marks seem to be far from her mind at the moment.

Nyalle watches the brown land and flop himself into the mud puddle, a knowing smile crossing her features before she steps forward with a smile. "Good evening," she calls when she's a respectful distance away from the pair - close enough for conversation but not so close as to invade on the brown's personal space.

Lana is surprised to hear a voice calling out to her and cranes her neck slightly to see the Weyrwoman. Before she says anything she moves to unbuckle herself from her straps and proceeds to walk across her dragon's back, closer to the goldrider without actually touching the ground. Browns are not as large as bronzes or golds but they certainly aren't anything that could be considered small. Lana gives a dip of her head and a small smile before replying, "and the same to you, Weyrwoman." The brown beneath her flicks his tail at this and apparently says something, for Lana proceeds to frown before glancing at him and muttering, "no, don't do that."

Nyalle smiles patiently as she shifts the tea mug to her left hand, her right shifting. "Salute?" she gently reminds. And she'll wait on that before doing or saying anything more.

Embarrassment flashes across Lana's face for a moment before she makes sure to salute. "Sorry," she says afterword, "I'm kinda forgetful when it comes to formalities." She winces slightly at this. Yeah, that's one way to put it. That is when something else occurs to her and she exclaims, "oh! I'm missing something else, aren't I? Er… Wingrider Lana of brown Rauskazeth at your service, ma'am." Ma'am… is she old enough to be a ma'am? Lana isn't sure, but she hopes that she hasn't just insulted the new Weyrwoman.

Age has little to do with rank, and Nyalle accepts the ma'am with a return salute and a polite incline of her head. "Thank you," she says, pleased to finally get her due respect, before she moves on with the conversation. "Lana. Well met. And Rauskazeth. I don't think we've yet had the pleasure of meeting." Which is another way of saying 'I'm sure I'd remember a face like that', perhaps? "How are you both? Back from sweeps?"

Lana accepts the thanks with a small nod of her head. Although she does not show anything on the outside her saying that she doesn't think they've had the pleasure of meeting before does make Rauskazeth turn his head slightly to get a closer look at her with a slightly narrowed eye, although Lana soon makes a quick 'shh' toward her brown and puts a stop to that. "No," she responds, "I do not think we have. And we're doing decently, although we had sweeps before the rain." A frown crosses her face before she adds, "although, itthat we'll be back out soon. I can only imagine that Thunderbird would be needed after

Lana accepts the thanks with a small nod of her head. Although she does not show anything on the outside her saying that she doesn't think they've had the pleasure of meeting before does make Rauskazeth turn his head slightly to get a closer look at her with a slightly narrowed eye, although Lana soon makes a quick 'shh' toward her brown and puts a stop to that. "No," she responds, "I do not think we have. And we're doing decently, although we had sweeps before the rain." A frown crosses her face before she adds, "although, it's very possible that we'll be back out soon. I can only imagine that Thunderbird might be needed after a storm like that." Fishing holders out of flooded rivers, how fun.

Nyalle shifts slightly, looking back at the brown's scrutiny in mild surprise. "Does he not approve?" she asks, quiet and calm. Kayeth might be bound to the sands, but the queen's mind is as energetic and nimble as ever, reaching out to brush against the brown's with a hot touch of desert wind, contrasting against her backdrop of a beach and the sea. Naylle nods. "How were things out there?" she asks, her tone a touch wistful as she gazes across the weyr, and no doubt imagining the world beyond the high stone walls. "I am certain they will be running many sweeps over the usual problem areas."

Lana frowns slightly when Nyalle asks if her dragon doesn't approve. She is quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond, before managing to say, "Raus gets a bit… protective. I believe he might have thought you meant insult in something you said." She doesn't elaborate although she probably will if asked, most likely it's a bit of a sore spot. Meanwhile Rauskazeth responds to Kayeth's touch with a touch of his own, bringing with it the smell of the deep forest and a faint sound of a breeze. The smell of smoke has not entered his touch, not quite, but the sense of something hot beginning to form in the distance is there. But for now he holds it together. In response to the Weyrwoman's inquiring about the sweeps Lana gives a small grin before responding, "always interesting, that's for sure. It might take hours to sum it all up though… either way, it's much better doing the sweeping than sitting on an iceberg waiting for the sweeps."

"What did I say?" Nylle asks, curious. Kayeth's thoughts swirl around the brown's, the fiery queen's voice multi-layered and difficult to pinpoint. « You take issue with my rider? » she asks, tone light and airy for the moment, though the sea is vast and there is plenty of depth there. Nyalle frowns slightly at Lana's answer. "Have you been ordered not to speak with me about the details of your sweeps? I would like a report, wingrider. A simple one, so I am kept abreast of the goings on outside of my weyr."

On this installment of Lana drops the ball around the new Weyrwoman… well, if her life had a title she was pretty sure that that would be it at the moment. Lana bites her lip at the question before saying in a slow voice, "when you said that you don't think we've meant before he believed that you might be making a reference to my appearance. It's… not very easy to recognize everyone after all." The way she speaks makes it clear that this is definitely a sore spot. At Kayeth's question Rauskazeth responds in a tone that is his slightly cold, the faintest hint of smoke now entering his mind touch, « I take issue with insult. » Lana's eyes widen in horror at that and her face pales slightly. "Raus," she hisses lightly enough that Nyalle might not be able to hear, "don't." The Weyrwoman might notice how his tail twitches in agitation at this, but only Lana will hear when he snarls, « she makes you uncomfortable! I will not have it. » In a frantic attempt to cover her tracks the brownrider tells the Weyrwoman, "I don't have any issues." Okay, maybe not completely honest, as her dragon's behavior certainly counts as an issue right now. Oh, she wanted a report? Feck, feck, feck. It might be starting to become apparent that Lana is getting more and more uncomfortable as she adds, "sorry, I didn't realize…" With that she dives into a quick report of her sweeps, hoping that the topic of offense might be dropped.

Nyalle now holds her tea mug with both hands, a frown on her face as she watches and listens, gaze shifting from rider to dragon and back. "It was no reference to your appearance, Lana. It was a fact. I didn't believe that we'd met before. Was I wrong in that? Have we met? If so, then I apologize for not remembering you," she finally says, a touch awkwardly but attempting to smooth things over. And she's having her own issues as her eyes unfocus. Kayeth's response to the brown is a snort, a ripple of the sea waters. « Mine did not insult yours, you should not be so sensitive. » The brooding queen's thoughts then shift subtly, as her focus is taken by her rider - briefly - before they return to the brown. The detailed sweeps are listened to closely, Nyalle nodding and asking a few questions, either unaware or ignoring that she's made Lana rather uncomfortable.

You know, Lana has never imagined that she'd end up wishing that Inri or Kimmila, despite being a bluerider, were Senior Weyrwoman. Yet here she is, wishing for one of the women she truly doesn't get along with to come down and help her out with this incredibly formal goldrider. But no, she appears to be stuck in this situation. In an attempt to fully close the subject Lana objects, "I never thought it was one, Rauskazeth jumps to conclusions at times. And no, we have not met." Yes, he jumps to conclusions and digs a nice, deep hole for her to dive in. At the gold's words Kayeth will get a strong sense of indignation from Rauskazeth before he cries, « I am not sensitive! I'm a proud warrior of the Thunderbird wing, not someone that can't handle insult. » You know that look riders sometimes get, the one that says their dragon made them want to facepalm? Yeah, Lana has that right now. Her voice is slightly choked as she says, "if you could tell your bonded that I sincerely apologize for Rauskazeth's behavior it would be greatly appreciated." Rauskazeth's response is to let out an annoyed grumble before reaching behind, grabbing the back of Lana's shirt, and depositing her on the muddied ground with a surprised yelp. That's what she gets for apologizing on his behalf.

Nyalle gapes in astonishment when the brown drops his own rider, and her gasp is not very well hidden behind a lifted hand. "Oh!" Kayeth's mind rolls with irritation at that little stunt. « Proud warriors do not drop their riders in the mud! » she counters sharply. "I'll pass that along," Nyalle says, her voice strained. "I'll leave you to your duties," she says quickly, before she's turning and vanishing inside.

Lana has always known that she seems to have a gift for upsetting people, but she hadn't realized that this gift would get even stronger upon impressing. As Lana pulls herself up she feels a mixture of indignation, anger, and that familiar feeling of knowing that she had probably made a bad impression upon yet another ranking rider. Rauskazeth, for his part, is very much upset by Kayeth's exclamation. The smell of smoke has entered his voice as he exclaims, « she deserved it! » An exclamation that he begins to regret with the glare Lana gives him. Ooh… he might regret that later. When Nyalle leaves she gives a small nod before murmuring, "very well." Shards, she is doomed.