Grumbly Rumbly
Posted on Sat Oct 29th, 2022 @ 1:20am by Bronzerider So'l & Bronzerider Sharuth & Bluerider Ch'gall & Brownrider T'xan
Mission:
KVW
Location: Feeding Grounds
Summary: Ahead of scheduled Threadfall, some Copper Wing dragons feed while their riders discuss the upcoming event.
Timeline: Month 4, Day 2
[Feeding Grounds]
[Kere Valla Weyr]
[Month 4, Day 2]
[Midmorning]
Two days. They had just two days until the first Thread of the month fell. And as gassy, bloated, full-bellied dragons were near useless at fighting Thread, So'l had decided that his wing should get that particular act taken care of a couple days in advance of the big event. As such, he'd put out the word to the riders of Copper Wing to feed their dragons as needed today, So'l and his bronze taking advantage of a break in the storms to fly down to the feeding grounds. As Sharuth came to a graceful stop outside the pen of herdbeasts, So'l slid down the bronze's side and used the beast's bent leg to step down onto the muddy ground below.
"Go on, then. Have at it, Sharuth," the rider said, knowing how grumbly and rumbly his dragon's stomach had been all morning. "Grab a nice fat one," So'l encouraged as he approached the edge of the enclosure. Part of him felt bad for the herdbeasts -- after all, they were trapped in a large pen and easy prey for dragons. But that particular circle of life kept dragons alive, which in turn meant that they could fight Thread, which meant humans stayed alive and safe as well. Herdbeasts weren't smart enough to grasp their role in the bigger picture but So'l found himself thankful to the animals for sustaining them.
In response to his rider's encouragement, as well as the line of his thinking, Sharuth projected back a series of images. The first, a large herd of elk on an open plain grazing, was serene but tinged with an edge of anticipation. The scene shifted to dragon's point of view as he descended on the herd and easily plucked one of the largest from the group, a mixture of triumph and raw hunger coming across. The last image was of the herd beasts in the enclosure below, which faded just in time for the wingleader to watch them startle and run along the edge of the enclosure when the bronze trumpeted his intent to feed. }: There... a bit more sporting... :{ he told So'l with what could only be described as the dragon equivalent of a smug mental smirk.
**They still can't escape you. You know it and they know it. All you're doing is making them scared. Don't play with your food,** So'l sent back mentally, for Sharuth had moved beyond the range of anything but a shout. His mindvoice lacked the humor of the bronze's but there was a flash of apology through the link. He was, it seemed, in a bit of a mood. Sharuth was no doubt accustomed to his rider getting this way as Threadfall approached but, even so, So'l added, **Scaring them is still unnecessary but,** he lamented, **I apologize for my tone. Got a nice one picked out then?**
The impression sent back by the bronze could best be described as the sort of consternation expressed in a single raised eyebrow--if dragons had eyebrows and were inclined to raise them as such. :} All things in their time. {: Came back the inscrutable mental reply, though along with was a sense of conciliation and peace. :} Even your temperament follows a cycle. {: And as the last was sent the bronze dragon swept a herd beast up into his massive claws, killing it quickly and cleanly to end the beast's fear before perching on one of the nearby roosts to eat.
"Sharuth has a unique way of getting ready for supper," Wingthird Ch'gall chuckled as he took up a spot beside So'l. Although there were nearly two decades difference in age, Ch'gall found that the younger bronze rider had a maturity and dedication that he admired immediately.
Karth, Ch'gall's blue, skimmed over the herd animals with barely time for the animals to get over their first fright. He plucked a fat steer quickly from the herd and just as rapidly flew up at a deep pitch before turning on his wingtip and heading off to his ledge to eat in private.
"The old man showing off for the new dragon," Ch'gall grinned.
}: I am not old,:{ Karth rumbled from his ledge. }: Dragons to not get old. We are born. We fight Thread. When it is our time, we go between. :{
The blue-gray dragon's blunt assessment of dragon mortality sobered Ch'gall from any mirth that might have been left. He sighed.
"Always takes a dragon to put life in perspective," he murmured aloud.
"Ch'gall," So'l offered a smile to the older rider in greeting. "Hello there. Yes," he let a sigh of breath escape his lips, "Sharuth figured that if the herdbeasts were frenzied into a run, it'd make the feeding a little less like catching fish-from-a-barrel," the Wingleader said, relying on the colloquialism to get his point across. "My fault. I'd been thinking how unfair being a penned-in herdbeast at feeding time was," So'l smirked, some of his humor returning.
Not having been privy to Karth's mental commentary, So'l could only fall back on what Ch'gall had said aloud. "They are good at that, aren't they? Sharuth certainly has a way of getting me to see things differently," the rider nodded slowly. He'd watched as Karth winged away and was pleased with what he saw. "Can turn quickly, that one. He may be older than Sharuth but he's got great aerial agility," So'l said with admiration. **Nothing against your skills in the air, of course,** the bronzerider sent to Sharuth warmly.
"Nothing wrong with a bit of chase in the hunt, Wingleader," Ch'gall grinned.
}: Of course not, :{ Sharuth responded matter-of-factly, polishing off his kill and then preening momentarily as if to make clear his standing as the dragon of Kere Valla's Copper Wingleader. A flash of self-assured pride followed his comment before he launched again, wings stretching out before he dove on a second beast.
T'xan was dropped off by Kasonth as the feeding time had already begun for Copper Wing. He had been one of the last few to show up, as he had taken advantage of Theve coming back the eve before from Floria River Hold. As the day was quite muggy and warm, he was dressed in a light beige colored linen shirt and dark brown leather pants and boots. Enough that he was able to not swelter in the humidity, but enough to keep himself partially dry if they got caught out in the rain.
"Nice of the rain to take a break," he commented as he walked up to the pen and leaned against the fence watching the dragons feast on their caged prey. **I don't know what you would do if you had to fend for yourself in the wilderness.**
}:You wouldn't let me starve:{ his brown snorted back at him in a huff right as he swooped down to get a herd beast.
**To the point, Kasonth. To the point, always.** He smirked looking over at the wingleader. "Maybe we'll get lucky and get rain the day of threadfall."
"Rain on a Threadfall day," Ch'gall sighed. "I'd could do with several days of that."
T'xan nodded at the Bluerider as he sighed with his comment. "I think we all could use a few days of that. At least with winter on the horizon, we'll have it frozen before it can do anything harmful. Though, freezing weather is never what I thought that I would have had with being in the South. I wouldn't trade Kere Valla though for anything."
"I definitely welcome the rains," So'l nodded slowly, watching Sharuth preen from a distance. "And I know what you mean about the winter. Sharuth and I are from the North: we're used to the cold. But growing up, I always envisioned Southern as this pristine tropical locale...never really thought much about the mountain ranges and how cold they must get in winter. At least it won't be as bad as Sharuth and I are used to," he smiled to the other two riders.
While he'd, of course, briefly met both men previously -- when he'd become Wingleader some days prior -- So'l still didn't know Ch'gall and T'xan beyond a few traded niceties and some training exercises. Hence the rider turned to both and engaged in some small talk by asking, "Are you originally from Southern? Or are you like me...a transplant?" For Sharuth, the man encouraged his dragon to do the same...to work on getting to know the other dragons in their wing. He sent a mental image of dragons sitting around a food laden dinner table like humans, sparking up conversation while they got their grub on.
"Searched out of a beastcrafter hold from the North," T'xan commented. "Thought going to the south was going to be all beaches and sun, and instead, mountains."
"There's beaches and sun aplenty, T'xan," Ch'gall smiled. "Just be glad you aren't at Tundra Weyr. I just sent someone there. As for me, born here, raised here and I'll die here as well."
The Wingthird smirked with sparkle in his eye as he remembered his recent race with another brown rider.
The great bronze dragon gave a whuff of exhaled air at So'l's image, the sound marvelously close to an amused snort. He sent back an image of the Wingleader and the others with him superimposed on dragon bodies and diving after the herd before transmitting the image So'l had sent to the others. }: So'l thinks we should try the human custom of conversation while we eat. {: He sent to the other dragons delivering the message with a complex set of emotions ranging from amusement to openness and curiosity.
}:After all my years,:{ Karth started from where he sat with the hind leg of a herd beast hanging from his mouth }: I will never understand why most humans feel the need to fill perfect silence with so much nonsensical talk. When we talk, our words have a purpose.:{
The aged blue went back to munching on bones, but with a much more philosophical air about him.
The young Brown snorted as he took a second herd beast. }:They have weird ways. I rather enjoy my food then talk about it.:{
Suddenly Karth snorted a mental draconic laugh. He caught his rider's memory and relayed the situation to Sharuth and Kasonth.
"So a transplant and a native," So'l smiled warmly with a nod, returning his attention to Ch'gall and T'xan after being immensely amused by what Sharuth was relaying to him. "Don't be surprised if I rely on you men to help us get a bit more acclimated here," he said with a nod. "Sharuth and I have been exploring the area by flying the long way," the Wingleader commented, "and once you get away from the mountains and to the coast, Southern is all its name promises. Kere Valla is nice but a quick between and you've got all the good weather you could ask for," he chuckled.
Ch'gall's face suddenly lit up,"Karth and I should take you youngsters hunting in the grasslands. Wild herdbeasts. Sharuth would certainly enjoy that!"
Karth suddenly raised his head in excitement, }:We're all going hunting wild herdbeasts after Threadfall!:{
He projected images to the young bronze and brown dragons of a huge number of herdbeasts thundering across the grasslands.
}:This is exciting:{ Kasonth rumbled to T'xan.
**Threadfall first, then your stomach.** T'xan turned to Ch'gall. "Kasonth is in if you couldn't tell from his excited bugle from yonder. I have had much time to explore yet so this sounds nice."
Ch'gall grinned and slapped T'xan's shoulder,"Then we will make the trip the day after Fall. It will be a much needed pleasure for riders and dragons both.
Karth belched loudly from his ledge. A very satisfied belch.
Kasonth bugled at the idea of it as well.
T'xan smirked and looked over to the older Bluerider and the Bronzerider. "We're in after Fall."
}: Can we go? :{ Sharuth asked, the tone of his question buoyed up by a sort of anticipatory curiosity along with the almost feral joy that the thought of hunting wildling herdbeasts evoked. He projected the image Karth had shared to So'l and his enthusiasm along with it.
The bronzerider chuckled despite himself. "Sounds like Sharuth wants to go as well. We'll call it a team bonding exercise. Herdbeasts aren't as maneuverable as Thread but they still can give a good chase," he smirked. So'l himself liked the idea of hunting wild herdbeasts better than terrorizing the ones stuck in the pens. "Alright, lots to do before we fly thread. Including," he cast an eye towards his behemoth bronze, "digesting big meals. Suppose we'd better get back up to the weyr. Nice seeing you both," he nodded to the two riders before making his way in Sharuth's direction.
== A post by... ==
So'l, Wingleader, Copper Wing
and
Sharuth (bronze, NPC'd by Beth)
and
Ch'gall, Wingthird Copper Wing, Blue Karth
[email protected]
and
T'xan, Copper Wing, Brown Kasonth
Therese
