Fort Weyr

~~*~~ Fort Weyr - Feeding Grounds ~~*~~
Milling herdbeasts dot this lightly grassy section of the southern end of the bowl. Fences keep them neatly secured on all sides, even extending into the lake, allowing the beasts ample drinking water without granting them an escape. Dragons young and old come here to hunt on a fairly regular basis, though not all come at once of course. From here you can easily make out the entirety of the Weyr's lake as it spreads out south and southwest to the tumbled rubble of the far shore, while the rest of the bowl lies beyond the fences to the southeast, east and northeast.
People: Casiella K'ael
Dragons: Azaeth Calanth
Obvious Exits:
Guest Weyr <GW> SW Bowl <sb>

It's a beautiful day in Fort, and a lot of people are taking advantage of the break from the freezing winter weather. Casiella, the Fortian wannabe, is no exception. The gold pair is taking advantage of a lull on the feeding grounds, Calanth only competing with a few other smaller dragons, and she graciously indicates that they should hunt first, keeping herself to the ground as a green and blue attack the Weyr's herds from both sides, each snatching a smaller animal in their hunger. Casi lounges against the railing surrounding the Grounds, nose buried deep in a dusty looking book, biding her time until Calanth demands she watches. The sparkle that had barely lit Calanth's hide has faded again, much to Casi's relief, and the gold looks like her normal unique self.

K'ael is generally not a big fan of freezing weather. And Azaeth certainly isn't. The gargantuan bronze isn't a fan of being wet and cold, generally. Even with thick dragon hide to keep him from getting chilled. Today it seems that the pair is making a delivery to Fort, and the big bronze has the hankering for a snack while his rider finishes up the paperwork for the delivery from Western. The bronze circles the feeding grounds from high above before he zeroes in on a particular bull to his fancy. Then it's a rather sharp dive towards it, knocking it completely off its feet and dazing it a bit. The surrounding beasts scatter, giving Azaeth the room he needs to head over and finish up his kill so he can start eating. The bronze shows little notice to the other dragons eating around him. As long as they weren't after his meats.

Casiella glances up when Calanth hisses protectively just as she's about to launch herself. The woman eyes the new bronze for a long moment, feeling like she should know him from somewhere, but as Calanth huffily tells her that he's not a Fortian bronze, she shrugs and goes back to her book. Calanth, for her part, does in fact launch herself off the ground, pulling Casi's attention back to the grounds as she strikes a large, fat cow. The great gold literally smushes it into the ground, rearing up and flashing her wings will hissing at Azaeth. Casi, for her part, rolls her eyes and goes back to her book, most likely making some mental comment at the gold. After a moment, the gold steps off her prey and stoops, ripping at the broken carcass savagely.

Azaeth peers menacingly at a little green who has ventured too close to his area, but she seems to wander off after a a few flaps. Since Calanth isn't in his direct vicinity he'll ignore her hissing. Golds were known to be stand-offish, especially of dragons not usually around their weyrs. And Calanth wasn't his gold anyways, so he wasn't really interested in bothering her for better or for worse. The bronze's eating is methodical. There wasn't any sense in rushing and eating the bad bits of the herdbeast he's chosen. He seems to be stripping the muscle off the beast and leaving much of the rest intact for now.

It takes a few more minutes of cranky snarling, snapping, hissing - and, finally, a spit piece of herdbeast landing only a few feet from Casi's feet - before the woman is willing to do something about it. As the piece lands in the snow near her feet, ("Is that a hoof? Calanth, you did NOT just spit a hoof at me!") Casi closes her book with a sharp snap, and eyes the bronze again. Then she turns her head to look for his rider, scanning the people out and about. The green and blue's riders get a rather polite nod, but they aren't who Casi is looking for, and she looks over again at the bronze, rather certain she knows him from SOMEwhere. Another beast projectile, though, turns her attention back to the big huffy gold. "STOP SPITTING HOOVES AT ME. I'LL MAKE HIM STOP," is screeched at the gold, every syllable rising an octave, as the woman dodges a little blood spurt, and she glances at Azaeth. "Please stop." Because that solves everything.

It's just about this time that K'ael is wandering across the bowl to go collect his dragon. The bronzer is in his full riding leathers and hat and scarf and winter coat. He is not used to the cold weather anymore, that was for certain. But that doesn't mean he's not in good spirits! He's humming away as he approaches the feeding grounds. The bronze peers at Casiella, still chewing. His voice is directed at her rider, he understands her well enough, but instead it's likely to go through the conduit of her dragon instead. « We haven't spit anything at you. »

Casiella probably isn't getting the message, since, as he talks through her, Calanth stick her nose up in the air huffily. Casi looks between Azaeth and Calanth with an utterly bemused look on her face, carefully sticking the book into her riding jacket. It's old, y'know. "What *is* the matter with you?" She asks Calanth after a long moment. "You are such a wherry." Cal snaps back something cranky and unusually shallow, and Casi rolls her eyes. "Just eat your herdbeast. And bronze dragon, please just stop being…" You? Bronze? Annoying in the mind of a suddenly insane gold? She can't just leave it, she can't ask him to stop BEING. "Un-nice." There. There's a nice non-offensive blanket word.

The book is old, or the riding jacket? At any rate Azaeth can't figure out what he's doing to be un-nice. Golds were just insane. Maybe it was just his face that was bothering her? Or watching him eat? He drags his carcass off a ways and lays back down to munch bones with his backside facing the queen. K'ael looks bewildered once he's reached the pens. What exactly had happened? Maybe Azaeth had stolen the queen's kill without realizing. It wouldn't be the first time. The bronzer hops up to sit on the fence of the pens and takes a thermos from his front pocket, then opens it up awkwardly with gloved fingers and takes a drink. The queen looked familiar, but he couldn't place her. They all started to blend together after a while.

The book would be the old one, that is, and Casi's tempted to take it out again. Azaeth's deigning to move away from Calanth's spot front-and-center of the feeding pens mollifies the queen, and she settles in to eating, though she can't help chewing off one more hoof and spitting it at her rider, just to keep her on her toes. "WILLYOUPLEASESTOPDOINGTHAT?!?" It ends up high enough to be brain-piercing, but Casi evidently isn't a fan of hoof dodging. It *is* enough to cause a couple of Weyr residents to glance her way, and Casi *flushes* red, looking horrified and humiliated and all kinds of other words for embarrassed. She wedges herself down into her jacket and leans on the fence just as K'ael hops his butt up on it, sending a jolt down the fence line. Not a big one, to be sure, but enough of one in Casi's irritated state to make a fuss over. "What is the matter with you?" She demands as she turns down to face the butt-bouncer, and then she stops, looking flustered. Yeah, she knew that bronze looked familiar.

K'ael blinks a bit at Casiella and her dragon. They were certainly an interesting pair to say the least. K'ael can't ever remember having anything spit at him by Azaeth before. no matter how irritated the bronze was. When the goldrider's wrath is turned on him though he goes back to looking confused. Confused enough to look around and behind himself, to see if maybe she's talking to someone else. "Uh… me? Nothing! I don't think… Uh, is there something the matter with me?" Maybe he's got a klah-mustache or something? He wipes his face with the back of his glove.

Calanth's odd for a gold, to be sure. She's not particularly gold-like, or even lady-like, in most ways. She's currently eating with typically dragon-y messy-ness, stripping every muscle off the bones with all the evidence of satisfaction, and her gaze is starting to drift back in the direction of the other beasts with a great deal of interest. Casi just stands there for a moment, scuffing her feet in the slushy snow, looking embarrassed and flustered and … Well. "I, ah, er, uhm. I. Ah." Calanth looks up from her meal to her excessively eloquent rider, snorts, and leaves the rest of her carcass to the fire lizards as she launches lazily into the air to choose her next meal. "K'ael, wasn't it?"

Azaeth's feeding is generally over. He's eaten all the muscles and some of the better-tasting organs, and will leave the rest for the firelizards to pick at. Right now he's gnawing on a leg bone like a gigantic canine. Still not facing the queen, of course. His feeding was over. He wasn't going to need a second beast, he'll just eat again in a couple days. "Yep, K'ael. Casiella, right? Er.. everything okay? Azaeth's not causing trouble, is he?" The bronzer looks out towards his dragon. Then he offers Casi the thermos. "Klah?"

Casiella glances over to watch Calanth single out a wherry. She's not really hungry, but enough to play with the feathers before she digs into the meat. "Ah, no, thanks. And, yeah. Casiella is right." She flushes a second, then looks up. "No, no, Azaeth is fine. Calanth's just being…" Crazy? Bonkers? Insane? Wherryheaded? "Calanth." She moves down the fence-line, still looking awkward and unsure. "How's… Uh. How's Western? And your Weyrwoman?"

Eventually Azaeth will toddle off the feeding grounds to get in a short nap if he can find some sun. For now though he's sharpening his teeth as the firelizards move in like the little vultures they are. Of course if they're not careful Azaeth will chomp them, too. K'ael shrugs a bit and put the cap on the thermos in that case. "Ah, I see. She not like other dragons around while she eats, then?" Or was she like this all the time? "Western is good. Enka is also good. She's been busy a lot lately though." There's a frown from the bronzer there. "Trying to get her to delegate a little more so we can spend more time together. So are you just visiting Fort, or have you gone and moved here?"

Casiella frowns at her gold as she starts gleefully ripping the feathers off of her prize, scattering them into the wind so they can blow all over the place. "She's not usually like this at all," Casi says after a moment. "She's been a little off lately, but she's getting better." Except for just now, of course. That was kind of weird. "It's good that things are good." She's trying to sound enthusiastic, but she's still a little embarrassed. "Oh. Uh. We're trying to move here, maybe. Galina's considering it. She's, uh. Not sure how Niva will accept things." She's mulling something over in her mind, but she doesn't elaborate. "Doesn't want to make things worse between Fort and Xanadu."

"Oh?" The bronzer is trying to sound like he believes Casiella about her dragon, but is failing miserably. "I guess she's just settling in then, right?" K'ael doesn't seem to notice the goldrider's embarrassment. In fact it would appear he's forgotten all about the yelling for the time being at least. "Ooh, that's good! Er, gave up on Western, hm? Fort is good though. Not too fond of the winters, but you get used to them I guess." He scratches his head. "What does Galina care about what Niva thinks? She's not the queen of Fort. Or of Pern. Even if she thinks she is." He ponders things for a moment. "Ah, hm."

Casiella can't help but laugh a bit at K'ael's observations. "Well, Calanth basically gave up on Western after the eggs Hatched." She shrugs, watching Calanth play with her food a little as she eats. "I don't know. Instinct says…" She glances around, kind of like she's telling a secret. "If I didn't know better, she might have just almost had a proddy cycle." She shrugs a little. "She only acts like this when she's proddy. But she never actually flew, so." It's kind a 'what can you do?' thing. "As for Galina and Niva, I can understand what Galina means. Things seem to be… Settled, for the time being. There's no reason to cause problems."

K'ael nods with a frown. "Ah, I see. That's kinda too bad. Enka could use another junior really. I guess Mir will just have to grow her own." He chuckles a bit. "She hasn't had a gold since Ista though. In fact, I can't remember the last time there was a gold egg on the sands at Western." Maybe it was the sires' fault? "Ooh. I see. She's not proddy… Azaeth would have noticed that much. Maybe she's gearing up for a clutch, though." He shrugs a bit at the weyr relations issue. As far as he knew Western wasn't really at odds with any of the weyrs. Enka was good at playing the neutrality card. "I suppose not."

Casiella nods, but she looks fairly neutral. "Possibly. It's about time Vidyazath went up again, and I'm glad, if anything, that if Cal was going to start being proddy again, she's coming down again." No point in having your gold fight the Senior of the Weyr you're trying to move in to. As to Miraneith's lack of golds, Casi shrugs again, but she gives K'ael a bit of a grin. "I bet if Azaeth had flown her the last time, she'd've had a gold." Is she teasing? Maybe. "Perhaps your connection with Enka will prove the next time she flies?"

K'ael laughs a bit. "Don't want them sharing sands, hm? Probably best that way I suppose. Most golds don't enjoy that really. I know Miraneith gets pretty angry about anyone being on the sands. Let alone another gold with eggs." He grins. "Well, I don't know about that either. I don't recall Azaeth siring any golds ever. So… he's probably better off not flying them." There's a frown from the bronzer. "Ah… no. I don't have time right now to be a weyrleader. We've still got the twins living at home, and I barely get to see Enka as it is."

Casiella shakes her head. "Cal does not share the sands well, either. The last time…" She shudders a bit, delicately. "Well, it wasn't pretty. Matter of fact, it resulted in Cal and I living here for about a Turn." She looks around, and there a little fondness in her expression. She grins at him. "There's always a first time, you know, K'ael. Maybe he just hasn't flown enough golds." She tilts her head. "I understand you about being Weyrleader, though. I've long outgrown that desire. I'd rather let Galina do those honors, and be her support. It would nice to do anything in the Weyr, to be honest."

K'ael blinks, then nods. "Ah… I see. Hm." The bronzer shrugs a bit. "I guess. I'm not really interested in tipping the balance of power. Though it would be nice to have a better job. I like transport, but I kind of feel like I should be doing more for the weyr than moving cargo back and forth. But Enka won't push for a promotion until we get the boys fostered off. Azaeth hasn't flown much of anything lately to tell you the truth." He opens the thermos back up and takes a drink form it. "Anyways, I'm sure Galina will come around and let you have a hand in the weyr."

Casiella laughs a little. "I'm sure she will, I just have to win her over." She does look a bit daunted by that task, but it's gone after a moment. She listens to K'ael, studying him. "I guess you can understand, with her being so busy. At least she's willing to foster the boys off so you can do more." She looks a bit troubled. Somebody was evidently more stubborn than that. "But you're young, you have time to do almost anything." And then she laughs again, and it's more relaxed. "If Calanth ever decides to fly, I'll let you know. Who knows? Maybe they'll have a clutch of all golds, just to show everyone?" Or all greens. Hey, wouldn't *that* be fun?

K'ael grins. "Well, she better be willing if she wants any more kids. This daddy day care isn't going to stay open forever. I've already got a son I'm supposed to be sharing the raising responsibilities for with his mother. And I've had him by myself for like three turns now. Once their potty trained they'll be sent off to a foster family who can look after them better than we can anyways." He nods to her. "Heh, thanks. Though I don't think she likes Azaeth much. A clutch of all golds? Heh that would be interesting. Though it might be messy once they start getting bigger." Eleven golds all in the weyrling barracks? That would be insane!

Casiella laughs, again. "It *would* be insane. And she seemed to like him well enough, before. She's just being cranky the past few Turndays." And only with the males. Scout's honor. "Although, she did try to completely corrupt Ely's poor green, trying to get her to play pranks on the Weyrleaders' dragons." Calanth perks up at that. That's right! She'd totally forgotten about that. "Hey! No! *Bad* gold!" The gold gives the draconic equivalent of a shrug, and goes back to playing with her wherry. "My kid's grown and gone, fortunately. He's safely at Xanadu with his uncle, apprenticed as a glass crafter and doing fairly well. It's certainly nice to get them to this age, where they're all self-sufficient. I miss him, from time to time." Which is probably why she's got two male teenagers she's toting around most of the time.

K'ael chuckles and nods. "I suppose. Azaeth can be a bit hard to get along with, anyways. It takes him a long time to warm up to other dragons. And sometimes he never does." He nods about her son. "My oldest is eight now. My son will be seven in a few months though. Enka and I's boys are a little over a turn now. They do grow up quick. Once Milo is ten or so I'm shipping him back off to live with his mother. I got the poopy diapers, so she can get the angsty pre-adolescent." He snickers. "She can get him impressed or send him off to a craft if she wants. Couldn't you go visit him? Or tell him to come visit you?" K'ael's got enough of his own brood to not be wanting for extra children.

Casiella shrugs, smiling as K'ael talks about is kids. "Azaeth's not that bad, I promise. Calanth's just being… Difficult." She's gold, it just comes with the territory sometimes. "I guess I could go visit him, but I haven't had a run in with Niva, yet, and truth be told, I kind of like it that way." She does go thoughtful again after a moment, then snaps out of it. "And he's trying to be 'independent'. The way he feels about it, he had to put up with nobody but me for 'fifteen sharding Turns', so now he wants to prove to me that he can do it on his own." She grins. "His uncle sends me letters and pictures all the time to prove that he's all right, so I'm really not worried about it. And I have Wroxeter and Kythorn to keep me busy the rest of the time." She shakes her head ruefully. "Although, with Kythorn formally apprenticed off to the Harper Hall and Wroxeter catching every ride out to Ista he can to oggle the eggs and run in front of dragons, I'm right back where I started in the first place." She snorts softly.

K'ael nods a bit about Calanth. "Well, if you say so…" He grins a bit then. "Well, not running into Niva is a good thing. She doesn't exactly love me, either. Probably hates me more than ever now. Ah, how old is he then? I suppose it's good he wants to be independent, but that doesn't mean he has to exclude you entirely. Wroxeter and Kythorn? Fosterlings or something? I don't see my eldest two girls that much really, since they're off other places. But the rest of my brood I see fairly regularly. Ever think about having more kids?" Not that K'ael is volunteering to help out with that, but he figures he'd ask!

Casiella snorts, giving K'ael a wry glance. "I think I'm past that point, really. My eldest is twenty one. Still holding out hope that he'll Impress bronze like his daddy, but we'll see." She doesn't seem to realize the slip, just moving on. "Kyth and Wrox are kind of my charges, I guess. Of course, Kyth's Apprenticed, and Wrox is really too old to be considered a fosterling." She shrugs, and Calanth finally stands, leaving her kill behind, and bellowing at her rider. Casi turns to K'ael, bowing respectfully. "She's ready to go. Thank you for your company, bronzerider K'ael. I have appreciated it." She gives him a shy smile, turning towards the gold as she lumbers towards them, hopping the fence easily and gracefully.

K'ael nods to Casiella. "Ah, well. Twenty one, that's a good age and all. Getting a little old though, if he's going to impress he better do it soon! If not, maybe one of your charges will?" He's about to ask who the father is, but then Casiella is heading off with the gold. The bronzer puts the cap on the thermos and tucks it away. "Ah, yeah I suppose we ought to be getting back and all before we get behind. It's been nice talking to you, Casi. Stop by Western if you need to warm up and we can get a drink." There's a wave, and the bronze is heading over towards K'ael so they can head back.

[DTU/Project] Azaeth senses that Calanth is a bit reluctant and sad, but she passes on the information readily enough. « The father is Zsuzsath's. J'ymi. We have not seen him in many Turns. Good bye, Azaeth. Clear skies. » Almost as if they'd read her mind. And her voice fades back out.

'The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967, 2000. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on PernWorld MUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.