Fishing [Ooma]

[Kitsuneko]

R'hard sighed to himself as he sat down at the edge of the river that ran by Trelis. He'd just finished bathing and oiling Kaith while he had the time, and the wretched dragon was already threatening to ruin all his hard work by playing in the mud and water. He shot a half-hearted glare at the brown. "You had to wait until after I finished cleaning you, huh?"

Yet you love me anyway, Kaith said smugly. He was staring at the deeper water, periodically dipping his head in with a sudden snake-like jerk, trying to catch fish. He wasn't always successful, but the fish in the river weren't big enough to be more than a snack for him, anyway. It was just something to keep him entertained.

R'hard shrugged, knowing Kaith was right. He'd already torn his boots off, and was dangling his bare feet in the cool water. He smiled. It wasn't often he got the chance to relax like this nowadays. He dazed off for a bit, until Kaith drew his attention. I think someone's coming, the brown said idly.

[twitchie]

Ooma was walking at a brisk pace through the woods along the river, her black hair hanging in loose curls around her shoulders.

Gretchen trotted alongside Ooma, poised with a regal, purposeful appearance. The dog's tail wavered, wagging happily as she ran with her Master.

Yim chirped in surprise as he tried to land on His's shoulder, and nearly toppled off. He squeaked in fright as Gretchen barked at him, and between.
The ameythst Val circled Ooma's circle once, and popped between to fetch Yim.

It was a fair day, perhaps a bit more humid and warm than Ooma liked, but rather nice anyway. The candidate petted Gretchen's head and slowed her pace. It was a nice day to visit the river, and dip her feet into the water.
Before she'd reached the river, she rolled up her leggings, taking off her sandles. Her outfit was unusally casual for Ooma's normal wear, being a simple garmet of loose jade cloth as a top and hide pants. Her many banglely bracelets and earrings were still very much part of her style, however.

Suddenly, Gretchen froze, hackles rising and let out a low, threatening growl. She walked forward with stiff legs, glaring at R'hard.
That strange man would not threaten her master! It was her duty to protect her loyal alpha and kind caretaker.

"Gretchen, come."

Ooma said firmly, forcing her rather large guard dog to heel.
She looked at the man whom Gretchen was so wary of, and felt herself smile.

"Hey."
She greeted softly, walking toward him slowly, and acting like she knew him so Gretchen would not be so agitated.

[Kitsuneko]

If Kaith hadn't alerted him already, the growling of a canine would have been warning enough that someone was coming. Slightly annoyed that his quiet time was being interrupted already, he shook his head and put a smile on his face. He generally liked meeting new people, though they didn't usually have such large canines accompanying them...

Kaith's eyes whirled at the canine's behavior, more amused than anything else, but he stepped in front of it between it could get too close to R'hard. Kaith was fully grown and rather large for a brown dragon, so with the bulk of his body between his rider and the animal, Kaith did little more than stare at the canine and snort derisively, following it up with a rumbling growl of warning.

"Easy there, Kaith," R'hard said with a half-grin. "Don't wanna scare it." He reached up to loop one arm around the dragon's neck as he climbed to his feet. He raised an eyebrow appraisingly as he glanced over the newcomer. Judging by the state of her clothes, it seemed she'd had the same idea in mind as R'hard. "Hello, there," the brownrider said with a wave. "You look familiar...have I seen you around the Weyr before?"

She looked around his own age, so quite probably she was a candidate. He would have recognized her more readily if she was a weyrling. "My name's R'hard, and this is Kaith."

[twitchie]

"I'm Ooma, a candidate.. I've been hoping to impress for nearly four turns now..."
Had the brownrider glimsped her at a hatching? A lesson? Strolling around in her spare time?
Ooma rested a hand on Gretchen's neck, wishing her dog would flatten her hackles and behave. The Brown's snort fixed this problem.
Gretchen jerked her head up body tensing. That was a VERY big and odd brown dog! No! It was a squeaky flighty critter, but soooooooo much bigger!
The golden dog's growl died in her throat.
Master would protect her'

Her eyes grazed over Kaith's brown body, a feeling of bitterness and envy filling her.
His well-proportioned figure was just like... Georonth...
Her father had been a brown rider, and took her riding many times. But a horrible thread accident killed the poor brown...

Ooma could feel herself frowning, and awkwardly she tucked her hair behind her ear.
"This is Gretchen. She's a great guard dog but she's a tad over-protective. I'd be wary if I tried to pet her. She's really nit mean.. she just doesn't like strangers.."

Two flits suddenly popped from between, the little ebony nestling against Ooma's neck, hiding in her hair.
"This is Yim."
She stroked the dull but sleek black face.

Val twittered and chirped a sing-songy tune, loop-de-looping over the heads of the group. The amethyst's vividly pink hide was like a rosy lightning bolt...

"That little show-off is Val. Both of them are harmless, Yim esspecially."

Ooma smiled alittle, softly stepping to the river's edge.

"You don't mind if I join you right, R'hard?"
She glanced at Kaith, smiling as she noticed his partially cleaned hide.
"My father's Georonth did that exact thing! I always loved to help... I could help you wash him later if you want, once he's finished playing?"

Ooma's olive eyes sparkled, but were also bright with hidden sadness and pain...

[Kitsuneko]

R'hard nodded. "Ah, that makes sense." If she had been around for awhile, he'd probably seen her with the other candidates. Watching Gretchen's reaction to Kaith, he wanted to smile, except that probably wouldn't reflect well on the canine's owner, so he held it back. It did seem to achieve its purpose of calming the creature down, though.

His brow lifted slightly as two flitters appeared to join their little group, and Ooma introduced all her pets, starting with Gretchen. He was usually pretty good with animals, but the canine seemed suspicious of him, so he decided the best option was to just leave her alone. "That's okay. At least you have a loyal protector, there. I've got a trio of fire lizards myself. They're probably too busy playing or hunting for food to show up, though."

He did give a short laugh when she talked about Kaith. "The thing is, I'd just given him a bath before he started his fishing. Looks like he may need another, though." He sighed. "I swear that dragon lives to vex me. I'd appreciate any help you have to give. It'd be good practice for your own dragon someday."

[twitchie]

Ooma smiled and rubbed her neck.
Kaith was a very handsome brown, and she didn't realize she had approached him until her hands rested on his hide.

She closed her eyes, slipping back to her first ride on Georonth. She'd been terrified, and at first she hid from her father's brown. She was only about 7 turns then...
Georonth had been sad. He dearly loved Ooma, partly because she was so much like his. But also because she was... special.
She had a confidence and connection with dragons. She could come up and touch him so calmly even if he was angry.
Ooma quivered, reeling back from the memories. She understood why her father was so... lifeless. He'd lost his best friend...

She flushed, realizing she'd been daydreaming. She backed up from Kaith, bumping into R'hard.
"Oh.. I'm so..sorry.. I... Kaith reminds me of... Georonth, my father's brown."

Now Ooma had to explain. She swallowed and took a breath.
"My father Ooman had a brown named Georonth. I fell in love with dragons because of him. He.. he was killed in a thread accident.. My father survived.. but he's worse than dead. His burns are healed but.. he's so hollow. Its not the same... Its never been the same since then... I'm sorry. I couldn't helpbut touch Kaith. I hope you don't mind..."

Ooma forced a smile, brightening at the thought.
"I always loved helping my dad bathe Georonth. I did more playing in the water than anything because I was so young, but I'd love to help you however I can. It's be so fun. Thank you."

Ooma was still red faced, perhaps forother reasons now...

[Kitsuneko]

Kaith wasn't the most outgoing dragon. Towards most people (and other dragons, for that matter) he was apathetic, much as he was towards Ooma now. He didn't shift away or move when she lay a hand on him, just stood still and stared at her. He was done with the fish, for now. Company, even human company, was more interesting at the moment.

He did give a snort of amusement when she backed away right into R'hard, though, and the brownrider shot a glare at his dragon. "It's alright. Trust me, he'd let you know if he minded it." He had dimly noted the way Ooma had spoken about her father's brown in the past tense before, but he hadn't wanted to bring up what might be a potential sore spot for the girl.

"Oh...I'm sorry about your father," R'hard said. A dragon's death was always a nasty business; in some ways worse when the rider survived. He couldn't imagine life without Kaith, despite his earlier protests toward the brown. At least he knew his own parents were safe; they traveled shorter distances now than they used to, to take advantage of Hold hospitality during Threadfalls, but they had not lost any lives to Thread so far, and he still routinely received letters from them. He was unsure how to comfort girls, or if she even wanted comfort from a guy she'd just met, so he decided to just stay silent after that and let her change the subject if she wanted.

[twitchie]

Ooma found herself blushing and she turned away from R'hard a moment.
"T-thank you... Its comforting to know someone cares..."

Her voice was soft and faint. This was nice.. Someone actually offered true kindness instead of just words.His silence could have been offending but Ooma found it sweet.
R'hard cared enough to be afraid of saying the wrong thing, or atleast Ooma hoped...

Her gaze shifted to Kaith, and she smiled through her pain. Maybe one day she would have her own dragon. Maybe she'd share R'hard's experiances and her father's firsthand... But.. after four turns would anything be different? She tried for four years to impress... to bond... but no success.
What made this time different?

"I'll help you whenever and however I can. I'd be honored to."
Ooma smiled once again tucking her curls behind her ear.
"You don't mind if I join you in the water, do you Kaith?"
She said in a friendly way yo the brown.
Gretchen let out a soft whine of confusion. Why did Master pay such attention to the brown monster? She'd be eaten! Gretchen sniffed at Kaith, head down tail curled between her legs. The brown could be alpha if he wanted...

[Kitsuneko]

She turned away and at first R'hard thought maybe he'd said something wrong after all, but no. She seemed sincere enough with her thanks, and up till now she hadn't seemed particularly shy...She seemed quite taken with Kaith, though, which brought a smile to his face.

Kaith had moved into the deeper water in the middle of the river while they talked in search of bigger fish. The higher water and faster current did have the added side effect of washing the worst of the mud off his hide, though, and at Ooma's question, he looked up and regarded her for a moment. Then the brown moved toward her, into the shallower water. I don't have a problem with it. In fact, I think I'm ready for my second bath now.

R'hard gave a wry grin. "He says it's okay with him, and that we might as well start bathing him. I'll get the rags." Fortunately the upper parts of the dragon had remained mostly clean and dry, since he never fully submerged, and they only had to worry about the easy-to-reach parts. R'hard handed a clean rag to Ooma and started cleaning the wet mud and grass from Kaith's foreclaws. "So, you're standing for Izanycorth's and Kayath's clutches, right? Hoping for anything in particular?" he asked Ooma.

[twitchie]

Gretchen whined to Ooma and backed away. What was she doing?! The gold dog would have dragged her Master away but she didn't dare approuch the brown...

Yim and Val settled on a tree branch and regarded Kaith with wary but respectable glances.

Ooma smiled and took a rag. Even if she couldn't hear Kaith's comment she could imagine what he'd told His.
She carefully ran the rag along Kaith's hide, removing mud to reveal his handsome body underneath.

When R'hard asked her questions she paused and pondered a moment.
"I don't want to sound snotty or vain but I favor the clutching females.. however I also like ebonies and whites.."
Ooma trailed off dreamily, thinking of the beautiful eggs on the sands. Would one choose her? Oh hopefully!

[Kitsuneko]

Kaith glanced at the canine. Yep. Still good and cowed, so he continued to ignore her, causing R'hard to roll his eyes. He thought about Ooma's response for a while before replying.

"Huh. Interesting." In his (albeit, somewhat limited) experience, people tended to go either purely for the high-ranking or low-ranking dragons, or else they just didn't care. "The queen and sub-queen ranks always seemed like a huge responsibility to me; not that that's stopped Kaith from catching them," he added with a light-hearted glare at his dragon, and then he went back to cleaning his front legs.

"So, indulge my curiosity, if you don't mind. What drew you to those particular colors? The females I kind of get, but ebonies and whites? Those would all be pretty different roles within the Weyr."

[twitchie]

Gretchen sniffed at the ground and at the brown before retreating to the trees alittle ways off. She glared at Ooma as if to say 'Master, what about me?'

Ooma pressed atad more forcefully on Kaith's hide, to rub a more muddy spot clean. Her hair had fallen out of its neat perfectly prepared order, and now was falling around her shoulders in a wild way. The curls had gotten wet, which made some curlier but others straighten or turn frizzy.
Either way, her hair had turned into a black mane of ebony locks.

At R'hard's question, Ooma actually paused. She's never really thought why she preferred the colors she'd said.
Of course, nearly every girl dreams of impressing a queen, or clutching female. It was really only natural...
But the ebonies and whites? Maybe.. maybe they represented a part of Ooma she didn't know she had.. A more reckless, friendly or... different part of her..
Like her, those colors were different. As a girl her brother N'can made everyday a reminder she was simplely an orphan and a mistake. A killer even. Not that it was her fault her mother died in labor, but it still hurt. N'can told her about how girls, esspecially little maid/servent girls could never be candidates. And when she was searched and chosen, he was somewhat proven wrong...
But after 4 turns, her brother was somewhat right..

Ooma shook her head, returning her thoughts to R'hard's question. Ebonies and whites were mutations, usually misunderstood and rejected by most. Like Ooma.

"I... I feel like I can.. relate, so to speak, to ebonies and whites. Most people do not see those colors as useful, whites esspecially. But.. I do. I know what its..-"

Ooma frowned. She's only just met R'hard, and she was blabbing about everything... Wasn't it dangerous to trust a stranger, dragonrider or not? It wasn't like he'd hurt her, but she'd just end up boring him with her dumb little quirks or her silly explanation. Surely she'd answered his question? That was what he wanted... right?

She focused on Kaith's hide now, trying to ignored the embaressed reddness that crept up her cheeks. For a 19 turn old, Ooma was acting so... childish..

That made Ooma bite her lip, hesitating in her scrubbing... Did R'hard think less of her now?

[Kitsuneko]

R'hard grinned as he watched Ooma scrub at Kaith's hide. "You can scrub as hard as you need to, you know," he told her. "We've been through worse than a bath."

It didn't surprise him that she took a while to think over his question. Most every candidate gave a good deal of thought to what they might Impress at one point or another. Whether it matched with what they eventually ended up with or not was another matter...He took the moment to look over her more closely. The water and hard work had made her curly hair even more wild than normal, and he guessed her appearance probably drew a lot of attention to her.

She's cute, yes? Kaith prodded him, curiosity plain in his voice.

R'hard was careful to keep the scowl off his face, but his feelings were clear to his dragon. Shut up, I'm not interested that stuff. What ever happened with Talath, anyway? Or Kayath, for that matter. His dragon certainly seemed to get over his crushes faster than R'hard.

Hah, as if my magnificence could ever be restricted to a single dragoness, the brown said smugly. You should take a lesson from myself, RiderMine. Have some fun while you have the chance.

R'hard decided the best thing to do was ignore Kaith, and to that end, he turned his full attention to Ooma as she explained herself. He nodded earnestly. "That makes sense," he said, and frowned slightly as he noticed how uncertain she suddenly seemed. He hoped his sudden focused attention hadn't given her the wrong idea, and he leaned away slightly, scrubbing harder at the dragon's hide, even though it was mostly clean by now. Sharding brown, always making a mess of everything...

[twitchie]

Gretchen laid down, watching her Master.

Ooma felt herself relax alittle. R'hard was a sweet man, he was different than the men she normally hung around...

She pushed her wild hair from her face and took a glance at R'hard. She knew nothing of Kaith's comment but it certainly would have flattered the girl. His dragon approved... did that mean R'hard felt anything?

Her hand rested on the Brown's hide, enjoying the velvety smooth texture. She smiled faintly as R'hard answered her. He didn't disapprove but she saw his frown. He'd seen her tense heard her worry she guessed... it wasn't his fault. She didn't mean to upset him...

Yim and Val cocked their heads at Theirs and chirped once. She was sending confusing feelings... was she ok?

[Kitsuneko]

If there was one thing about Kaith, it was that he did get bored quite quickly. He had decided that his hide was pretty much clean by, and there was no point in doing any more scrubbing. He made his feelings known by pushing the humans away (gently) with his wings and leaping into the air. It was a chance to stretch his muscles, not to mention the drying effects of the wind on his hide.

The brown's sudden movement took R'hard by surprise, and he was shoved in Ooma's direction before he could stop himself. He yelped in surprise, arms waving wildly as he tried to grab onto to something to steady himself and just trying not to take Ooma down with him. "Sorry," he said somewhat sheepishly. "I guess he's done with his bath now."