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[G] [P] 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Printable Version

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742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 21.Mar.21

Toynolth popped into the skies over Telgar Weyr with a jubilant bugling greeting to the watch dragon. His brilliant blue form was mostly hidden beneath a coat of bones, all tied on, draped across him, and rattling about like armor on a macabre draconic knight. He wobbled slightly as he circled around for a landing, sending another raucous bony chorus chattering from the sky. Are you sure you can handle this? Of course I can! I'm perfectly fine, the dragon insisted as he gave another mighty flap of his wings to straighten out. You will just need to make sure things are balanced properly when you add the new skull.

T'cai grinned at the thought of the new skull as they made their slow and careful descent. He'd heard that Telgar Weyr had butchered one of their big bulls, and the butcher would let him have it. Not that he had very much room left. He was starting to forma pile of bones in his weyr that he really needed to sort through and make things of, find all the best pieces, maybe give some away as gifts, share a few with some canines to make Toynolth happy.

Oh what's that? T'cai carefully leaned over to get a glimpse at what the dragon was talking about. I don't know, what are you talking about? That girl there walking along the edge of the bowl, she has something interesting I just know it. I saw a brief glint and I bet it's shiny and pretty. Without a second thought the dragon adjusted his flight so that he could try to land a bit closer to her. The landing was hard, resulting in another loud clattering rattle that only got worse as he shook himself and peered at the girl. Yes, there was something indeed! He reached out to her in a friendly greeting as his rider climbed off of his back, Hello! What have you there? That shiny thing, yes. It looks rather pretty.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 21.Mar.21

The elegant young woman had been walking absently on the edge of the bowl, she had heard some things about dragons dying, never a good thing... especially golds dying. Rakka knew how important gold dragons were to the Weyr, and the fact that multiple golds had died was distressing to her, not as distressing, she suspected, as it was to the dragons. The world doesn't revolve around you Rakka. She reminded herself harshly.

She was about to retire indoors, when the flash of scales in the sky caught her attention. She would never be fully used to dragons materializing out of thin air, at least, she didn't think she would be. It was a neat trick really, she wished she could pull it off. Her clothing as usual was rather form-fitting, and she had her hair braided and rolled into a neat low bun.

She had learned early on that having loose hair around dragons (and wind) was an invitation to make a fool out of herself. And, as a young woman who took herself all too seriously, that was no good. As the dragon spiraled down, coming closer she noted that he either was the strangest blue dragon she'd ever seen, or someone had decorated him with bones.

How interesting. As the dragon's voice jumped into her mind, a smile spread over her face. It was always interesting to hear dragons, they all sounded different somehow. Her fingers moved up to the large shell that had been secured on a leather strap. The rainbow sheen from the jewelry always brought her joy.

Perhaps it was not a stone found in the ground, but shells had their own beauty. "It's a shell." She explained brightly, slipping it from over her neck, and holding it out towards the dragon to study. "It's from my old Hold." She added, though that really wouldn't help any. Why couldn't she just shut up?

"I'm Rakka, you're quite a nice looking dragon, what have you got on you? Are those bones? Where did you get them? Is there any particular reason you're wearing them?" The questions burst forth from her lips, a smile ever present on her pointed face, large eyes bright with interest as she chattered away.



RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 21.Mar.21

Well I have to carry them, don't I? T'cai certainly isn't strong enough to carry this many. Toynolth could have tried to explain things a bit further, but not even he was sure he could properly translate his rider's thoughts into anything others could clearly understand. T'cai grinned as he brushed himself off. "It's bone day of course! I stopped by a wher handler and he had some left from when they'd done their culling. Oh and I got really lucky and was able to talk him out of this beauty."

Without being asked, Toynolth turned around to show off the large wher skull presently affixed near his hip. His rider gave it a proud pat, not caring that it was still rather dirty and had bits of mostly dried flesh still clinging to parts of the bone. "This came from one of their big bronze beasts they had to retire."

Most of the bones were actually in a state that severely needed cleaning, not that T'cai thought about it, but that was fine. Just was one more thing he'd have to do once he got home. That and give Toynolth a bath. Once he was done showing off the skull, Toynolth turned back around, leaning his head in to get an even closer look at the shell. Are you going to add shells to your chimes? he asked his rider. T'cai shrugged noncommittally before walking over to take a look for himself as well. "Hmm... I don't think shells would be big enough to really match with the bones. It is very pretty though. The sheen is nice."

I'm trying to convince him to paint some of his bones, Toynolth added to Racca. They could use more color! Bones are so... bony.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 22.Mar.21

Rakka's brown eyes followed the dragon's movements as it lighted on the ground, quite impressed by the ability these creatures had to move about. Her gaze faltered when she met T'cai's eyes, he was rather attractive, then again weren't all the dragonriders? "Bone-" She paused dramatically for a moment, "-day?" Was her inquiry, though his next few words cleared up her question... a bit.

"Oh, like bone day like the day that there are bones to pick up, not some weird morbid weyr thing where people dance around with bones... okay." She prattled on for a few seconds, her hand then flying to her mouth. "Oh dear! I've been terribly rude, I'm so sorry! It's not that that would be a bad thing umm." She floundered for a few seconds, the dragon's words cutting through her mind.

"Umm yes! Painting them would be nice! They do seem to all be pretty much the same boring, a little color could really be nice! But umm, I thought when dragons passed on they went between? How could you... umm have a bone from one if they, well, aren't here? Also I'm Rakka, I don't know if I actually told you that before, but umm, yeah, that's my name." She continued to speak. "I'm not exactly from here, I'm a candidate. I'm actually from Greenfields Hold, it's beholden to Telgar! Umm... what're your name?" She finally ran out of breath and left an opening for T'cai to respond.



RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 23.Mar.21

"Weyr thing? Weyr thing?! No, no, no... but maybe it should be. Dancing with bones might be interesting. Really more people should just appreciate them in general." T'cai gave a nod, still unsure about dancing. Would he dance with bones? Maybe, probably not with just bones themselves but if a friend wanted to dance and had bones (but not the bones inside of them of course), then he'd probably do it.

With a sigh he glanced back at Toynolth, blaming his dragon for bringing up painting the bones again. "I suppose I could think about it. I just don't want very thick layers of anything on them. I guess I can try to experiment with dyes, talk to a leatherworker or a weaver and see what they think. Dragons? Oh! Yes, that is where dragons go, but these are watch wher bones, very different. None of the ones I know of go between, though I suppose it's possible that I don't know all that many whers. They regularly get culled for meat and leather, so I figured why not do something with the bones too besides just letting the other whers crunch them up."

At the introduction he gave the woman a polite half bow, mostly nod of his head. "Hello, Rakka from Greenfields. I am T'cai of Blue Toynolth, that's this handsome bone covered chap right here. And really, are you sure you can handle adding another skull to all of that? I don't need you crashing into our weyr again." That last he directed at the blue himself, hands on his hips as he frowned. Toynolth merely lifted his head and grumped in response, not wanting to dignify the question he'd already answered a hundred times with another response. "Fine, fine..." conceded T'cai as he turned back to Rakka. "So how are you adapting to life as a candidate so far? Enjoying your time in the Weyr? I know it can be jarring, I've had to help a couple of the candidates I've Searched in the past adjust. One was horrified by the public baths."


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 24.Mar.21

"Should there? What aside from dancing with bones would you even do?" Rakka inquired with some interest. Oh the things she ended up discussing when she let her tongue run away with her. Her brown eyes followed T'cai's movements and then shifted her gaze to the beautiful blue dragon.

"Even thin layers of paint, or perhaps a clear varnish like they use on boats, which would make a shinier effect on the bones and keep them from chipping as easily." Rakka continued to speak, her tongue running away from her.

She realized her mistake then, that he was talking about a watch wher and not a dragon. "Oh, umm yeah, watch whers... duh..." She balked for a minute, feeling incredibly stupid for her mistake. As he introduced himself, she felt color rushing to her cheeks, really she shouldn't be so impressed by every dragonrider and their dragon, but she was, she was ever so enraptured by both the beautiful creature and the rider atop them. Brown eyes shone as she watched the two for a few seconds.

"It is a pleasure T'cai and Blue Toynolth." She spoke as carefully as she could, really wanting to sound like a grown woman, she was after all, she was 20 turns old. "I really like the weyr so far! It is incredibly different from my hold, but I don't think that's a bad thing really... it's so much bigger too! And it's kinda interesting to learn all about the dragons and what they like and don't like! It makes me... makes me really want to impress a dragon." She confided her innermost thoughts to T'cai. "Public baths are alright... much different though." She giggled.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 24.Mar.21

"Well aside from dancing, which I don't normally do with bones really, I make things out of them. Sculptures sort of, mostly wind chimes. I like to make wind chimes, they jingle and the bones get to sing in a way." T'cai paused, tilting his head a moment and then shrugged as he added, "Or they just clatter. Up to each interpretation I suppose. Though now that you mention it I've never thought about the chipping... I'll have to think about that." He would have to think about it, since the last thing he wanted was sad chipped broken bones on his chimes. Granted they hadn't done that so far, but if he was going to make some for a few friends in Ista then he'd want to make sure they were durable enough to withstand the weather.

T'cai decided to focus more on the present situation than his future with bones, doing his best to listen to the young woman rather than day dream about future projects. He smiled, his own blue eyes squinting a bit with the gesture. "Yes! So very different. I came from a small cothold before I was Searched, and I rather like it. It's just more... free! In its own way I suppose, I still have things to do, chores, tasks, work, but much more interesting than working on the farm. Many more adventures available once you have a dragon."

If she was Searched for Telgar then B'jin and Larrikith had likely been involved so Toynolth didn't bother to give her a look over herself, confident that the job was already well in hand and if she was here then she would likely Impress. Instead he decided to just be encouraging as he said, I am sure you will do rather well for whichever dragon you Impress. T'cai reached over to pat a bonefree patch of the blue's hide as he grinned. "Public baths are great fun. Always nice to have someone else to scrub your back. So long as they don't try and make it weird."


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 28.Mar.21

Rakka listened to T'cai explain what he did with bones, brown eyes still wide, though perhaps it was just how her eyes looked, as though she were fascinated by the subject someone was talking about. Perhaps if she truly did widen her eyes more, they'd be like little moons on her face. "Sculptures out of bones sound interesting." She offered the tidbit, not sure what else to say except, "I'd really like to see one some time... I mean, if that's okay. If you don't want to that's totally fine too."

A smile spread over slender girl's face. "Really?" She asked unsure why she did so, since dragonriders didn't lie, at least, she didn't think they did.
"I mean! Of course, if you say you came from a cothold you did, I was just surprised is all. I like how free in comparison the weyr is to my hold myself... and also the dragons." A hint of color flushed her face, adding life to the white-washed pallor of her pale face. She sighed softly, she wanted a dragon desperately... having a dragon seemed like... having a permanent friend and companion, and one with wings at that.

At the dragon's words inside her mind her smile broadened to an outright grin, not quite ladylike at all, but it flattered her to think that this dragon believed that she'd do well for a dragon, oh how she wanted a dragon. She sighed softly, her smile waning. The subject at hand not quite as interesting as dragons, though still interesting. "You're right there." She laughed, "There are several spots on the back that are really rather tricky, if not impossible to get clean without the help of someone else." She affirmed.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 29.Mar.21

"Oh I used to be surprised sometimes that I lived in a cothold, but that's fine. I've moved on to better and much more exciting things. The cothold was... just... it wasn't for me. Not that I didn't like the animals or anything, they're plenty fine while they're alive too I suppose, some of them are even cuddly. My parents have a really lovely dairy cow who never once kicked me. Well they used to, not sure if they still have Bessy." T'cai shook his head and tried to focus more on the present moment which was clearly a much more important thing.

"The dragons are a delight, usually. Usually. Still, I'm glad that you're adjusting and getting along just fine. And backs, backs are important to keep covered. Have you slept with anyone yet? Actually if you're here with hopes for a gold they might not be so pushy, but that's fine. If you want I'm sure you'll find plenty of friendly people willing to have some fun, just remember to communicate and not to make assumptions! And speaking of assumptions I really need to get that skull before someone assumes I don't want it anymore. Want to walk with me? Unless you're not interested in bones, which is, of course, absolutely fine."

Please do hurry. If we're here much longer I will want you to unpack me so that I can go for a swim and actually relax a bit. "Oh! Right, sorry." T'cai made the apology to both Rakka and his dragon. "I'm going to unload Toynolth real quick like so that he can relax. I need to rebalance everything anyway before we leave. Want to help? We just need to put everything in nice neat piles by size." Without waiting for a response, he got started untying the bigger wher bones to carefully set down on the ground.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 29.Mar.21

Rakka listened with interest, blinking occasionally as he talked about his family's farmhold, a cow, that was... something. She wasn't certain how she felt about cows, having never been close enough to one to actually form an opinion on the placid seeming animals. She was more well versed with fish (and her knowledge of the wriggling waterliving creatures was limited). "Bessy sounds like a nice name for a cow." She commented with a smile.

She looked over at the noble Blue Toynoth as T'cai talked about dragons, her brown eyes bright, he was so handsome... noble looking, far smaller than the bronzes and browns she'd seen about the weyr, but blues held a calm dignity about them which she appreciated, they were a bit more approachable than the larger beats... perhaps because her heart didn't jump to her throat when she was around them.

She returned to the conversation with one last glance at the dragon before settling her eyes back on the rather agreeable face of the dragonrider. Backs, covering them? What was that about. Her lips parted slightly at his next calm question, had she slept with anyone. She stammered slightly. "I uh, no, I haven't... umm." She struggled to find words in her shock, she knew weyrfolk were more forward, but this was something she had yet to discuss.

It would be improper to tell him she had no clue what... intimacy really entailed, wouldn't it. "Yes, I'd like to. I like bones..." She hesitated, "Not like, like like, but enjoy, think they're kinda cool... find them interesting." By the shell, stop talking. She snapped her mouth firmly shut, and looked at the dragon. Oh the poor creature had been there the whole time with the weight of bones on him.

"I can help." She added, stepping towards the beautiful animal and fumbling with the knots, her fingers not seeming to want to work, what was wrong with them? Finally she was able to free one and carefully placed the bones on the ground, looking at them in curiosity. What were all these bones of? She wondered.


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 30.Mar.21

"Oh you haven't? I mean it probably won't matter so much for you if you end up on gold, their flights don't happen so often. The boys are generally more actively encouraged to get some practice in so that a flight isn't their first introduction to matters you know?" T'cai babbled on for a bit, either unaware or uncaring about any awkwardness caused by his question. At the same time he didn't seem bothered by her ramble about bones and whether she liked them or not.

He did chuckle though, amused by her attempt to humor him at least. "It's fine if you don't like like bones. I understand they aren't to everyone's taste." T'cai quickly worked on unloading the bones, babbling about their presumed source. Some of them were wher bones, but others were from animals that were fed to the beasts. He glanced over at the pile that Rakka was eyeing and offered a possible explanation. "I think those were from a younger wher that didn't make the cut for one reason or another. I'm not sure though."

Soon enough Toynolth was freed of his bony cargo and stretched as he let out a pleased grumbling sound. Let me know when it's time to leave. I am going to swim for a bit and then I will make sure no one takes your bones. He gave Rakka a small friendly nudge with his nose before taking off into the air. T'cai watched the dragon go with a smile and then turned his attention back to Rakka. "Well I'm sure no one will bother the bones while he's away. Let's go get that skull. What do you like to do for fun?"


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - Rakka - 06.Apr.21

Rakka felt herself blushing furiously, or was she? She couldn't see in a reflective surface. The only thing she could feel was the blood rushing to her face as T'cai asked her the question, it was... embarrassing, awkward, strange, perhaps because sex was never really discussed in the holds... in the way it was here. Here it was fine, encouraged. In the hold, taboo, frowned upon... discouraged.

Rakka giggled nervously, in part at the implication that she could, in fact impress a gold, something she desperately wanted to do, if only to prove that she could to herself and her family. The idea of not impressing, never impressing, somehow being banished from the wonderful weyr back into the disgusting monotonous world of holdlife, and becoming someone's wife did not sit well with the high strung woman.

"I don't dislike bones... I've just never really given them much though." Rakka admitted still helping T'cai with the unpacking of the bones. She wanted to make sure the sweet seeming dragon was happy, dragons deserved to be absolutely happy, the most happy... the happiest! Words, ugh, she hated them sometimes even though she loved talking. "That's too bad..." She trailed off awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

Did she even have an opinion on Whers? Yes the skull! She walked beside him. "Well umm, reading is fun, and learning about dragons is also fun... but I think I just like talking to the dragons and hearing what they have to say the most, they're so friendly! And sometimes kinda funny... umm, besides bones what do er you like?" She asked in return, realizing that prattling on for their entire walk would probably be rude. Women shouldn't monopolize the conversation... right?


RE: 742.03.21 | The Bone Dragon - T'cai - 07.Apr.21

"Bones are rather intriguing, you'll have to be careful if you don't want them to seduce you. Probably better to not think too much about them though, could get messy. I've been... accosted a few times over how many I have even if I do keep them in very neat piles most of the time." It wasn't T'cai's fault that sometimes he got a bit excited and brought back home more than he needed! Sometimes you just had to embrace your passion and sometimes that meant more bones. Toynolth didn't mind when the piles ended up on his ledge, so why should anyone else care? Still, he knew that with this latest batch he was going to have to pick and choose and get rid of some less than stellar examples if he wanted to keep the Weyrleader from complaining. If only he could convince the man to just... look the other way. Maybe he'd think about it when he got back.

T'cai glanced over at Rakka when she reacted to the wher bones and shrugged. "It was just a wher, and I'm sure something was wrong with it for them to cull while it was so small. They're just... beasts." He gave the entire thought a dismissive wave. At best they were dragon adjacent, and had their uses he supposed, but none that mattered directly to him. He gestured for Rakka to follow as he ambled leisurely towards the butcher's space, not in any particular rush since he was sure once his swim was done Toynolth would want to visit with a few friends.

"Reading is a good hobby to have, and it's good to know how. Not all of the candidates I've searched in the past have known, but usually they get lessons afterwards." T'cai tapped on his chin a moment as he considered his other interests. "Hm. I do like a grand many things, it's hard to put a label on it all. Things come and go, I usually like going on trips with Toynolth to visit the Holds on Search. I like odd trinkets that people find, bits of baubles and jewelry on occasion when I'm not going to be in a particularly messy situation, but I think I'm a rather ordinary person when it comes to hobbies."

They arrived at the butcher and after several moments of excited gesticulating T'cai was hugging the large skull to his chest with a grin. "Excellent! Let's get this back to the pile and then... well is there anything you've wanted to do since coming to the Weyr that you haven't yet?"