| Characters | N'sir, R'sner, Elianneth, Toith, Ryath |
| Synopsis | Toith recruits Elianneth for an impossible mission… (spoiler alert: she's adorable) |
| Out-of-Character Date | June 27, 2018 |
Igen Weyr - South Bowl
The orange hued sandstone layers comprising the bowl walls curve gently, but ever presently in your view. Fine sand shifts underfoot, a slightly paler version of what is found upon the walls. It gives way along the eastern edge to a section of contrasting green grass where a series of cleverly engineered pipes provide water to the fenced off area of the feeding grounds, and keeps the shimmer of the shallow lake beyond from disappearing during the driest periods of the turn. A distinctly squared entrance farther south is the tunnel leading out to the lands beyond. Traders and tithes arrive here at regular intervals and it is not uncommon for part of the bowl to be set up with a series of tents and wagons as wares are displayed and sold. To the west, the bowl wall has been eroded by the desert winds into strange shapes. At their base are found the weyrling barracks and training fields.
(required listening: Mission Impossible Theme)
She probably saw it one day, when Shetaia brought it out to eat. The Sapling. Toith /wanted/ it. Why? Well, why not?! It's a flesh eating plant! What's not to love about that! But she can't just shove her nose in there and take it. Not with R'sner watching her like a hawk. Oh no, this requires stealth. It requires planning. It requires… « Eli! Eli. Ellllliiiiiiii, » and yes, that last one? Totally an innocent sing-song 'nothing to worry about, but I might be asking you for a kidney' type voice. « Wanna help me do somethin'? » Cause Res might be eyeballing her while he works with Wi'ker and Entrepeth on wing exercises, but whose watching Elianneth???
N'sir had been watching R'sner working with Wi'ker and Entrepeth, but at some point, the tailor turned weyrling had fallen asleep in the sand with R'sner's jacket as a pillow. That, of course, leaves Eli at loose ends. As such, she's been rearranging their sleeping space, nosing this pillow that way, that pillow this way, and stealing the more colorful comforters for herself! She's a proper little clepto in training after all. At the call, she leaves the barracks at a galumph, her wings billowing dramatically the moment she is free of the cavern. «NEVER FEAR, ELIANNETH IS HERE!» Which is accompanied by a gleeful bugle as she bounds toward Toith. «Are we flying? Am I getting goat? Swimming? Hiiiiiiii…»> Croooooon.
Galumphing Elianneth's. If it wasn't a pretty regular occurrence (and the writer is making assumptions that it is), R'sner might be suspicious of such a thing. Still, there is a pause in speaking and a squint toward the green, and then a squint toward the sleeping N'sir. But without further indication that there is something amiss, Res is inclined to go back to walking the bronzeling pair through the movements again. Someday, they might even get off the ground. MEANWHILE! Toith is looking all of the innocent (not) over in her sandy wallow, eyes whirling all the faster at the greeting. « Better! » she declares. « An' ya play yer cards right and ya'll prolly fly, » she decides, « An' meet th' goat. » A playful bump of her nose, if Elianneth should come within reach, and she decides « I wanna collect som'thin'… » cause Toith doesn't steal, she collects, right? Right. « Ya wanna help? Ya gotta be /sneaky/ tho… » cause Mr. Ruiner of Fun has eyes everywhere.
Eli is totally a galumpher, when she is not sashaying, she is definately galumphing! As for N'sir, his only reaction is a low snort and a pointedly kittenish snore as he drapes one arm over his face in a 'still sleeping, leave me alone' gesture. Whatever is going on, he's apparently not even a little concerned about it. The playful bump from Toith has Elianneth crooning her delight, her head turning enough to side-eye R'sner, the Ruiner of Fun. (That's his /own/ fault, she learned /that/ from him.) Sneaky? Immediately, she hunkers down next to Toith's wallow, her tail flick lashing over the sand as she gets very low (but for her hind end which is very high). «I can be sneaky!» One can almost hear the 'Mission Impossible Theme playing in her head. «I wanna help.»
« Perfect! » declares Toith, projecting much approval and delight at this partnership. She's not even going to worry about the lack of subtly because really? Res ain't watching Eli. And that's his FIRST mistake. His second mistake? To be determined. For the moment, Toith's content that he's suitably /distracted/ and turns her attention to Eli. « A'ight, here's whatcha gotta do… » and even if she's pretty darn sure that R'sner's taken care of and N'sir won't mind, she still slants a glance at first one and then the other before tucking her head down as if /whispering/ was a thing dragons could do. « I wan' that tree, » she declares in a very serious tone. « An' I need ya t' get it f' me. » Does she know the one?! Well, if she doesn't, Toith will enlighten her. « Th' one tha' eats things. »And once she's got it? « Lemme know when ya got it, and I'll d'stract Res an' N'sir, » if he happens to be awake. MAYBE HE WILL SLEEP THROUGH THIS?! « An' then ya gotta fly it up to m' ledge. Kay? »
Ryath is here, lurking, she's always lurking or stalking or sharpening her claws on something. Smaller than average eyes seem to catch the slightest of movements and right now she's watching a pair of greens, one elder, one a clutchsib. There's interest there, but also a sort of bemusement lurks in the air around her as if whatever sneakery is going on couldn't possibly be up to her levels. Shetaia? Shetaia is off, distracted by some dragonhealer type thing at the moment. Not far away but not close enough to intervene with any such thing.
«OK!» Eli is ALL IN, a fact made clear when her hind end pushes higher, her tail wildly lashing the sand. «Tree.. OH! The hair eating tree of DOOM!» Apparently, she knows it well. Still, her head stays low, to, sliding over the sand until she's nearly snout to snout with Toith. No, they don't look the least bit suspicious. >.> As the instructions are given, Eli gets more and more excited, her eyes whirling wildly as she turns her head enough to eye R'sner and the snoozing N'sir. «Got it!» There's even a mental salute from the little green before she's off, creeeeeeeeeeeeping toward the barracks in what, for Eli, is slow motion. Steeeeeeeep, step, FREEZE. Steeeeeeep, step, FREEZE. Sure, Ryath is watching, but Ryath is ALWAYS watching. That being the case, there is a «MUAHHAHAHHAHA» sent to Ryath before Eli slithers into the barracks.
Conspiring dragons! Toith might even have invited Ryath along to the party, if she wasn't about to steal HER WEYRLING'S TREE! Or, rather, encouraging Elianneth to steal the tree on her behalf. While Eli does her sneaky-sneak walk, along with mental cackle (much approved by Toith!), the older green will just oh, so innocently turn onto her side and stretch out in a pose of feigned relaxation. She'll even fake a yawn. Nothing to see here! Just a sleep dragon! But let's be real here. R'sner? Not as dumb as he might seem. But his level of giving a shit is at an all-time low right now (thank you proddy dragon and lack of sleep!), and so long as blood isn't being spilt? Ehh… he'll deal with it later. Even the lurking Ryath is less cause for concern and more… resigned acceptance. At least she's not scuttling around, stealing everyone's left shoe? (cough-Zychaelth-cough). Even so, while he's turned away from his dragon (MISTAKE NUMBER TWO?!) and seems to be thoroughly devoted to explaining it one more time to Wi'ker, he's got half an ear on what's going on back there. Toith? Keeping an eye on Res before mental-whispering a quick « Ya got this! »
Ryath is always watching, it's true. The MUAHHAHAHHAHA doesn't even get a mental response, but let's face it Ryath isn't the most vocal of dragons either. She knows, she just knows there is something and that it likely involves her She or something relating to her. Has she figured out it's The Sapling, doer-of-evil, eater-of-hair? No, no she hasn't but there's still a resigned shake of her head, the echo of a dark chuckle that seems to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.
«I got this!» Eli's delight is clear as she slinks through the barracks, oh so carefully bumping, bumping the tree closer to the exit with her tail. As that plant is ever so sneakily nudged toward the door, Elianneth is making a grand show of rearranging N'sir's cot. It's only when the tree is teetering on the edge of being inside and outside at the same time that the little green whips around and snatches up the pot in her jaws. «GOT IT!» In the wake of the triumphant call, she comes bounding out of the barracks. Eli has her orders and she's a good little spy..er… soldier…er… thief in training! And that? That has her immediately hunkering down in her little pre-flight ritual. Immediately, her hind end goes up HIGH, her tail lashing the air. A moment later, she's off in a bounding run, her wings snapping out with a buffet that has her hurtling into the air. «VICTORY!» And just like that, she's off, butterfly wings on dazzling display as she circles higher and higher and higher on her way to see the GOAT! Errr… drop off the sapling, yeah, that's it.
Ryath is goes back to observing the spectacle that is R'sner and that /bronze/ that is clearly inferior to herself. Or at least partially so as she awaits the results of whatever it was that Elianneth has managed to involve herself in. And poor Elianneth, she might have gotten The Sapling but by no means is the The Sapling going to go quietly and the snapping of air and possible dragon parts commences as The Sapling is absconded with! Now Ryath, when she sees just what her clutchsib has been up to, well if dragons laughed and she were such a dragon there would be booming laughter echoing off the walls. Instead there is a hint of subdued danger, light the air before lightening hits the water and kills a few hundred fish.
She's totally got this. And Toith's totally got this whole 'distraction' thing down. Maybe. Though perhaps Ryath can aid in this, for rather pointedly Toith is literally pointing her nose toward the sneaky-sneak lurker over there. She'd squint, if she had the ability to do that in any way that would get the point across and not just look weird. But the mental equivalent is there. And it's enough to get R'sner glancing her way as well which, really, was the POINT of it all! « Mwahahaha… » For Elianneth, of course. But of course, Toith totally ruins it by slinging her head around and watching Elianneth take off with her prize. « WOOT! » And when she follows it with a legit bugle? Yeah. The gig is up. Res can't exactly pretend to be oblivious to his dragon /gloating/ behind him. Blue eyes follow Elianneth before flashing to Toith with a look. Sigh. « Don' scare mah goat! » calls Toith. As if that's any way possible. Poor goat. Poor R'sner. POOR WEYR.
N'sir wakes with a start. The sort of waking up that has one sitting up abruptly and looking more then a little startled with their surroundings. "Whu…" Not at all sure what is happening- he just knows something is happening.. He knuckles at his eyes before peering around himself in confusion. Somewhere overhead, however, there is a very gleeful «Muahahahaaha» in answer to Toith's followed by, «Eeek. It bites!» and another «Muahahahahahaha.. Now it bites goats! Oooh. Goooooat!» And yes, R'sner, Elianneth is now totally poking around your weyr, or at least as far as she can wiggle in. «PILLOWS!» Which is followed by another long pause and «Goat and tree are trying to eat each other…» But she's working on that, or trying to, anyway, by nose bumping the tree out of Goat range. N'sir? Still confused and not at /all/ happy about dreaming about goats. "What is going on?"
It's really too late for the Ruiner of Fun to do a damn thing about this except watch it happen. And so that is what he does. Waving off Wi'ker to take a break or something, he stands with his arms crossed and his head craned back to watch Elianneth fly to his ledge. He's no idea that she's poking around in his weyr (as far as she can get). Of course, he has no idea that there is now a bit of a Sapling vs Goat showdown happening (and he'll be just SO DELIGHTED when he finds out, too). Once Eli's too far to be seen, he strolls on over to N'sir and oh, so casually informs him that, "Your dragon is on my ledge." Toith? Toith is LOVING IT! « it's he /great/?! » the goat, she means. « Don' let him eat him! » The tree? The goat? BOTH?! But in her excitement, she's lost all pretense of pretending that something is Not Happening right now. She's up, wings splayed, head pointed at her ledge as though she can see Elianneth from here (she can't) in an all too obvious way. But still, there's a glance for Ryath, and the gleeful, mental equivalent of a /grin/. « Mine now! »
N'sir blinks a few times, his brows furrowing as he stares up at R'sner like he's speaking another language. "What? Noooo, Eli's redecorating our…. ELI!" And just as quickly, N'sir is on his feet, his hands pushing through tangled curls as he stares upward. "Oi," is uttered as he drags his hands down over his face. On R'sner's ledge, Eli is engaged in a three way tug of war with a tree and a goat, cackling gleefully every time the goat or tree tugs back. «They are playing!» They are trying to EAT each other, but she's having a fantastic time with it. «Oh, picnic table!» Distracted for a moment, Eli momentarily gives ground to the goat and tree before managing to tug them far enough apart that they are not going to harm one another. «Whassat…» Who knows what she's in to, now, but she's certainly exploring. «Umbrella!» "Uhh…. " Flicking his gaze back to R'sner, N'sir lightly clears his throat, his lips twitching in a sheepish smile. "So she is… Um…" Yup, she's definately up there, alright.
Toith would really, really like to be up there showing Eli all the things and playing tug-o-war with a tree (and a goat). But alas, R'sner has issued a very firm /no/ and she's currently grounded. Boo. « Yes! » for the picnic table. « An' you go' me th' 'brellas, » she reminds with glee. « An' there's some laundry, » that used to be clean. Now, not so much, « An' a shiny thing, » A curtain that she stole from a vendor's stand. She'll happily list off everything she can remember nabbing, and probably a few things that she WISHES she stole but hasn't, yet, gotten her paws on. Meanwhile? "Yup." Because what is R'sner going to do besides drop down to the sand (BECAUSE TOITH TOOK THE TABLE) and sigh? Nothing. "She's up there. Took Taia's tree," because Res at least got a look at what it was Eli made off with. A side-eye for N'sir, though Res is less made and more just… exhausted. A hand to his forehead and he decides, "You can bring it back when Toith's gone up."
"Lucky me?" N'sir is not so sure he's lucky, but he does glance at Toith and wink. Yeah, he's not exactly hating the fact that Eli is Toith's little minion. He does, however, drop down to sit in the sand with R'sner, scooting over to lean against his shoulder. "She's very proud of making off with the tree," he admits in wry tones. With the tree and goat no longer trying to kill each other, Eli is gleefully romping around Toith's horde, poking her nose curiously into everything she can find. «You need more pillows! Ooooooh, there are tents on the beach in bright colors.» Bounding to the edge of the ledge, she exhales a very loud, very triumphant bugle before hurtling herself into the air. A few moments later and her brightly colored form can be spied spiraling down to the ground below. «I wanna learn to land like you do,» she decides as she hits the sand with her loping run and skid. With Eli back on the ground, N'sir exhales a quiet laugh, immediately slanting a glance toward R'sner before grinning broadly. "She's a heck of flier," he admits.
"Maybe it'll eat the goat." It won't. But Res can hope? There's a twitch at the side of his mouth, the suggestion of a smile, before the weyrlingmaster is back to looking rather #done with all of this proddy business. "I knew they were doing something," because, bless her, Elianneth is not the most subtle of dragons. "And figured it would be better to just… let it happen." Third mistake?! "And she got some flying practice in," and kept Toith occupied rather than sulking so… somewhere in there, Res is winning. Maybe. « I dun /want/ pillows, » huffs Toith, who is Anti Comfort. Seriously. « Y' can have 'em, » she decides. A crane of her head, mirrored in R'sner, as they both watch the return of Elianneth. « Wha' way? » wonders Toith, while R'sner slings an arm around N'sir and murmurs a quiet, "That she is," in agreement.
«You land different,» Elianneth calls as she sashays over to flop down in the sand next to Toith. And she's TOTALLY the sneakiest ever, R'sner! «With your wings,» she hrms a bit, trying to explain backwinging. «You don't land running always!» Watching the pair of dragons, N'sir can't help but laugh, his head dropping to rest on R'sner's shoulder the moment his arm loops around his shoulders. "Really? It's only fair, if you think about it? I mean, you have me to help you return everything? Toith has Eli to help her collect it." All perfectly reasonable to N'sir. He doesn't miss a beat, though, his head turning to brush a kiss over the corner of the weyrlingmaster's mouth. "Sorry I fell asleep on you."
« I do? » but a moment later, and Toith is giving the mental equivalent of an 'ah'. « Tha'. Yah. Ya can do it, too. I'll show ya, » but not right now, cause Res is giving them some serious NO vibes. Or at least, some serious no thoughts toward Toith. She's grounded. It's probably punishment for something. "I don't think Toith /needs/ help collecting things," grumps R'sner, though he can't really argue the logic. Especially because secretly not-so-secretly, "I'm glad she's having fun." Toith. Elianneth. Both of them. The sight of them snuggled up (even if Toith still refuses to acknowledge it as snuggling) is enough to smooth out that frown and actually draw a hint of warmth into his gaze, tired though it might be. It is a warmth that only grows as his attention and his gaze turns to N'sir at the brush of a kiss and the apology. "Don't be," is murmured as he tightens his arm. "I would have joined you, if I could have."
