Ripples.

[Shekru]

With the sun setting over the edge of the Weyr bowl, the lake stretched out, reflecting bright oranges and purples, as well as slipping it's own deep blue up with each wave. The wind gave it motion, gave the surface reason to whisper and shiver. Ripples spread from different points, caused by the stones that were flung from the shore. Flat ones. Some of them skipped, others merely wobbled in mid air and fell below the surface.

When they stopped disturbing the water, the cause was merely out of ammunition. Bent and scouring the shore for better, flatter stones, Dhunen brushed a hand through his messy hair. Lips pouted as a stream of air was pushed through them. Soon, the search was forgotten and the tall boy plunked down upon a wide, flat stone at the water's edge. Knees bent, arms circled round, and one hand held one wrist loosely. Whatever was on his mind, the lake must have had some idea. So intently did he stare out over the water. Slowly but surely, a low hum began in his throat. While still waiting to find its depth, Dhunen's voice was rich, and warm. Whatever song he sang, it was slow, and somewhat sad. Eyes closed to the wind, he sat, and sang, and let the mist from the lake roll up and over him.

[panther]

He had been strolling through past the lake, thoughts idling over the events of the day previous. That was, until those thoughts were disturbed by a deep, warm voice, a slow nocturne by the sounds of things. But just a few hours too early. Ez felt sadness hit him, like a wave of impenetrable heartache. He looked over at the lake, for the sound was coming from there. The surface of the lake was a glistening flat mirror of the sky, oranges, blues, indigos. It was a shame he couldn’t capture the image. And a silhouette against the sky, was a man, curled upon himself, looking out over the lake. The undeniable source of this lament.

Ezieki, heart unusually low approached the figure who looked out over the lake. Silently, he moved over to the man,. He looked down at him, he couldn’t have been much different in age to himself. But certainly more solemn. Keeping his silence, listening to the song with little aberration. Ez slid into the same position, a few feet form the other. He’d seen him around, Dhunen, or something similar, the male was a candidate for the next hatching too.

Ez didn’t interrupt, he simply sat, and looked out over the lake, taking in the moment, the comfort and the scenery, and of course the song given out by Dhunen. For once, Ez wasn’t over forward. His dress sense was even a little understated. Flame red hair tied back into a runner’s tail, tied about with a deep blue chord, silver strand joining it, familiar feather dangling aside it. Two long tresses left long and free at the front. His clothes were very regular, fitted brown breeches, a fairly loose cream shirt, and his favourite brown boots.

It felt as though, as Dhunen sang, all of Pern was quiet. Of course that was due to the time of day, and the fact that one couldn’t hear all of Pern at once. But that’s how it felt to Ezieki.

[Shekru]

While the chords changed and the melody drew on, the song of loss grew deeper, and darker. Images that could be drawn from the words and melody were numerous, though the story itself was linear. It was of a man whose sons departed their homes, and one by one, returned in death. The father wept, the voices of his children hollow in his head at night, like old men, and joyful in the mornings, as when they were young. Eventually, the man succumbed to his grief and dove from the highest cliff, listening all the while to the voices on the wind, and in his head.

Dhunen was quiet for a while, eyes closed and lips only slightly parted when the song is finished. "Didn't mean to bother you." He saids without looking. The male presence didn't seem to bother him. On his own, Dhunen seemed very comfortable, and his personal bubble was rather slim at the moment.

After a while, he looked over to the fellow with shocking hair and says. "Dhunen. What's your name?"

[panther]

Ez smiled, the smile was soft, and gentle, unusually demure for him. “You didn’t bother me Dhunen.” He shook his head. For the candidate hadn’t. He just wove a tale, of grief and sorrow.

“Ezieki, Ez.” He said smiling placidly to the male, introducing himself, “To be honest, I knew of you, you’re candidate, same as myself. And I must say, you’ve got a very nice voice.” He recounted the tune and the depth with which Dhunen has sung, “Harper?” He queried, for it would make sense with a voice like that.

The Rukbat was slowly sinking, and all Ez could think, was that he was rather contented that he was unknown by Dhunen – at least without introduction. So his antics hadn’t spread round quite as fast as he had thought. Well that was a reason to be thankful. He’d had people gaping and whispers all morning, day, and afternoon. Seemingly someone hadn’t heard. Which was good.

Oh shards, he hadn’t even spoken to Sassie about it yet. She would have heard, she seemed to have intimate gossip links within the lower caverns. She would certainly know. He winced inwardly, not looking forward to later. For later was imminent.

[Shekru]

"Er, not quite." Dhunen laughed, the harper comment seeming to put him a little off his calm. "I arrived only a few days ago. My family travels. A lot of their stories and histories.. well, we sort of learn them through song. Old traditions." He explained. "Ez, huh? Nice to meet you. Been drowning in women since I got here, nice to see another man. There's only so much fair company a guy can take before he goes nuts, y'know?"

He leaned backward onto his palms, turning head from Ez and back out over the water. After a moment, Dhunen let out another sigh and clicked his tongue behind his teeth. "Where you from? Round here?" Dhunen turned his head to look at the other again, attention fully on him for now. The lake hadn't changed, wouldn't.

[panther]

“Ah, then that makes a little more sense.” Nodding Ez replied to the learning things in song from old traditions. “Yeah,” He laughed, “There’re women everywhere around here, and they’ll all to eager to converse too, its good to just sit and chat with another lad..” He paused, laughed and added, “Well, a lad who’s not veritably insane.” Of course he was thinking of Kallan at that point. But he smiled, “Yeah, I know two girls that would certainly drive you round the bend if you were around them too much.” He smirked, thinking of Sassie and Tumaril.

Ez looked back out on the lake, and Dhunen asked where he was raised, “Yeah, born and raised to a Merchant in Azvon, though I spent a bit of time as a candidate in Northern, but I… I think I got a few people riled up, so, I shifted where I was, and came back closer to home. “ He smiled, “I guess you’ve seen some of the marvels of Pern then yeah?” Ez asked casually – thankful that Dhunen was oblivious to Ez’s antics, “Must have seen some real sites, I’d love to see more of the place.” He paused, laughed loftily, “Hopefully if I impress, I’ll get that chance.” He beamed out to the lake, smiling from ear to ear. He was eager to impress.

[Shekru]

At mention of girls and around been driving, Dhunen's face tugged into a worried frown, brows even exaggerating their look of fear. "I'm going to have to dig in the dirt and swear more t'keep them away, aren't I?" A laugh, then, and he sat forward. Legs curled into criss-cross in front of him and he leaned elbows on his knees.

"There are a lot of wild worlds out there. Different stories, different people. Some places are really relaxed - like Weyrs, if y'know what I mean. Formality isn't terribly important unless something really big is happening. Other places, you breathe the wrong way at someone, and you get punished." When the other spoke of Impression, Dhunen smiled, leaning back again. He moved quite a bit, as though being in one spot too long was either uncomfortable or unnatural for him. Being a traveler, both were possible.

"I came here to look for work. Moment I stepped into the bowl I got stopped by someone's blue dragon. Rider asked if I wanted to stand at the hatching, and I said yes. Didn't really know what I'd gotten myself into, but.. I guess I'm looking forward to it. I've never seen one. Heard of them, obviously." He chewed the inside of his lip faintly and then looked at Ez again. "Tell you what. If we Impress, I'll show you some of the sights of Pern. How 'bout it?"

[panther]

Chuckling at Dhunen’s comments, Ez replied, “Yeah, I think you are if you want to keep them away.” He smiled lavishly, “But they do serve a purpose, and I can’t imagine you’re blind to that” He smiled over at Dhunen a little suggestively. ”And I know for a fact that two of them are fantastic. Salina and Tumaril are two of my oldest friends, their lively, but they’re not in your face about them being girls.” He smirked, “Infact, Tumaril’s probably slightly more masculine than myself” He laughed. For it was true, Tumaril was very uncaring about the fact she was female, and Ez, well Ez was rather prissy, in her own words.

“I can only imagine.” He smiled, seeming distant for a while, imagining as wildly as he could, then Pern came knocking back on his door, “Huh? Yeah, I like the fact that Weyrs are really relaxed about things, I can’t stand the stuffiness at Azvon some times.” He sighed in a slightly dramatic way, “Though, Azvon does have a few good things about it.” He grinned. Dhunen was a very easy guy to talk to. Which was good. And he didn’t ask too many questions either, which was fantastic. “Oh, well that works. As I said, I came from northern, some rider searched me form a Northern weyr from one of their local holds, Father had taken me on a business trip” He rolled his eyes unenthusiastically. “I’ve never seen a hatching either, it should be interesting.” He said, eagerness showing in his tone.

But that eagerness doubled at Dhunen’s offer, “And don’t think I’ll not ake you up on that!” He turned, smiling at Dhunen, “I’d like that, it’d be really nice. I’d love to see some of the other weyrs, The older ones, like Fort, see how different they are.” He thought slowly, “Have you been there? I can only imagine how much different it is, if at all that is.”

[Shekru]

Dhunen stored the names away somewhere in his head. Perhaps later he'd look for faces to put them to, but for the time being, he was contented to sit with Ez and have man-time. Man time was necessary, and also very good.

"Tom-boy, huh?" Dhunen remarked when the other mentioned Tumaril's masculinity. "Well, she might need it if she plans on being at the hatching. I've heard tell of girls that started weeping and carrying on when eggs hatched. Seems down right.. /sad/ when you think about it. I mean, I know they're supposed to be like that, but come on." He shook his head, and even rolled his own eyes. When Ez told of his own experience with being searched, Dhunen smiled, a lopsided affair that made his face look a bit older than usual.

"Look, I'm not saying this to be all sappy or anything, but we should stick together. Especially when it comes time to meet dragons, to whatever end." That said, Dhunen moves onto the topic of Fort and offered, "Fort.. smells old. Like, old people, sort of. They get so wound up in their history that it's almost like they forget they're living /now/. Here, it seems like people do what they have to do and not worry about whose grandfathers' father did it before them. There, everything has to have a lecture to go along with it. Can't even wipe my behind without hearing a story about how the latrines were carved by someone's long-ago dead relative. The place you really want to see doesn't even have a name. My family found it ages ago while we were on the move. It's almost as lush as this place, but there's more water. Falls, even. A waterfall with dozens of caves pocketing the stone on the way up. Red fruit grows there, and sometimes firelizards lay their eggs in them."

[panther]

“You could say that” He laughed, “But then, I’m not a particularly masculine lad I guess,” He shrugged, keeping his good humour.
“But I know of what you speak, girls crying is something that makes me uncomfortable as by the first egg, I hate to see a pretty girl cry, makes me want to make them happy. And some of them? I don’t want to get involved.” He smirked, “especially not before all of the spectators on the sands.” His smirk remained in place, broadening to a smile. It was a very amusing prospect though it was.

Dhunen spoke of them sticking together, and trying not to be sappy, “Yes, I’ll be there with you, I don’t mind that, though, you’ll be forced into the company of Salina at very least, she’s a good lass, she’ll try and mother you quicker than bed you – probably.” He looked sideways at Dhunen, the lad wasn’t bad looking, and as he spoke of Fort, Ez assessed his build and such in a rather discrete way that only a master in his art could. Laughing in the appropriate places, Ez found Dhunen’s company amusing, he was very easy to be at home with. At perfect ease.

“Perhaps I’d not like to include font on this escapade of ours,” He laughed, “I’m not sure I want to be lectured about lavatories.” But He then told of the waterfalls, the red fruit, and caves with firelizards. “Sounds amazing” He smiled – that smile of imagination once more. “I’d love to see it some day. Though.” He paused, “Perhaps we keep that one on the down low from the girls yeah? I mean, a retreat, away from it all, with dragons and the between” He tried not to show any fear as he spoke of the dreaded place, “They’d never be able to follow us.” He shrugged, “Could be a secret.”

[Shekru]

The talk of girls made Dhunen slightly uncomfortable. When Ez mentioned 'bedding', he looked rather askance, even. "Even with all the weyrs I've been to, I doubt I'll get used to such.. freedom with personal space like that." Weyrs and their promiscuity and free love. Hippies.

Though Dhunen showed little faith in his assessment of Salina, he didn't seem all that disturbed. When talk moved to keeping a secret, the boy turned and looked at Ez. "Sounds like a plan. It'll be a get away, in case the skirts start getting annoying." A chuckle, a real chuckle tumbled from his lips, then.

"Wonder how long it'll be." His gaze shifted from Ez off in the direction of the sands. "Heard stories that it seems like forever, but really isn't that long." Again, his head turned back toward the other boy. "You nervous? Hopeful?"

[panther]

Ez laughed, “Well we had to differ somewhere,” He shrugged, “You’ll get used to it, if you impress, there’ll be no choice in the matter, when your dragon matures, its no longer your choice, you must have heard about Anassa and Akki? Anassa’s green Priath, rose, and Akki’s Ebbeth caught her. Two girls, each of them grabbed a different guy. When the dragon lust takes you, you don’t have much choice.” Ez shugged, having awful flashbacks of the conversation with R’fael right now. “Other than flying out of bounds, there’s not much that can be done.” He smirked He had no problem with it, the only thing he dislikes was sounding like R’fael.


“The skirts are endlessly annoying, what they don’t realise is, is that we only tolerate them.” He smirked. He did enjoy girls and women, or skirts as Dhunen put it. But they were good to escape for a while too sometimes.

He gave a quick exhale of air though his nose, “Well, the eggs are on the sands, so to be transported, they must be nearly ready to hatch, I’d guess we don’t have that much longer to wait on it.” He paused, considered the question, rolling the options over in his mind. He wasn’t nervous. Nor really was he hopeful. He felt ready. Ready to impress, ready to take whatever came with the hatching, and its consequences. So, he voiced it, “Neither. I’m ready for it. Whatever it brings, I’ll rise to it. If I do, or don’t impress, though I do hope I will. I’d like to impress first time, standing again, waiting around, with all these chores? Shards I’d prefer not to linger on like this. Rider’s have duties, not chores, and the subtle difference implied with the word is what I’m looking forward to” He grinned. To him, chores were hard, labouring, graft. Where as duties, was work for those who accepted responsibility. Oh the subtleties of language.

[Shekru]

"Don't remind me." Dhunen frowned, momentarily looking miserable. "I think I'd like to at least /remember/ something like that and have a little say in who and where, though you're right. Shards, I should probably get in my own choices before it's too late." A small shrug. Dhunen chuckled at the 'tolerate' line, and nodded his agreement. "Some of them are easier to tolerate than others. At least, that's what I've heard."

Dhunen maintained attention to Ez while he answered the question, watching the other as he considered his answer. He nodded, then, and offered a grin. "You accepted the duties of a candidate when you agreed to stand, didn't you? Sure, they might not be as exciting, but it seems like they're necessary. Not just busy-work." Dhunen stood, then, and collected another stone before flinging it sideways, sending it to skip along the surface. "You ever flown before?"

[panther]

Ez laughed, “You’d remember, especially if you’re as nervous as I think you’ll be.” He smirked, Ez had a strange sense that Dhunen wouldn’t take his first chase well. “Also, you should, have a few of what you want before you’re tied into it, after all, it would be a pretty grim state to confess to the others in your wing, that you lost your first time to a rising flight” Ez smirked, trying not to be too amused about this. He found it quite amusing, but that was because he was, well to put it politely, practised. He smiled as Dhunen changed the topic a little, moving on, “Sassie – Salina that is – as I said, she’s quite amiable, easy to like, and her company’s not bad either. But then I have known her since I was a Brat.” He smiled fondly.

“Reluctntly!” Ez’s exclamation was followed by laughter, “Shards, if I didn’t have to? I scorching well wouldn’t.” He laughed again, “I can’t stand work, shirk it off if I can at all.”

Conversation changed again, flying. Oh boy.
“Yeah I’ve flown before, three times. Hated it. From take off to landing, I don’t fly well. I’m hoping that being bonded to the creature ferrying me around will cure that, trusting him – or her – should be enough to shake my fear.” He shrugged, crossed his fingers, holding them up to Dhunen, a smirk present, “Fingers crossed anyway.” He put his hand back down beside him propping up his back, as he stretched out his legs. “How about you? Have you ever gone anywhere a’dragonback?”

[Shekru]

Cheeks colored at the remark, and Dhunen dropped another of the stones he had ferried up from the shore. "It wouldn't be my first." He informed the other indignantly. Though even in defending his manliness, Dhunen's cheeks remained cherry red. This wasn't really something he had invisioned discussing with.. well, anyone. "I mean.. traveling is great, but sometimes it gets.. boring." He turned away and looked back to the lake, skipping another stone into the deeps.

A chuckle was offered for talk of chores, and little else. Dhunen was used to work, and it didn't bother him. "Better than being left to your own mind sometimes. Least, that's how I feel."

For the next answers, the scraggly fellow turned totally toward Ez, hands shoved into pockets . He listened intently, head tilted slightly to one side to give him a curious, if a bit puzzled look. "Who, me? Noo. Never had the chance, mostly. I'm sure it beats riding in a wagon, though." Another stone was skipped and Dhunen paused. "..you're going to stand at a hatching, and you 'don't fly well'

---

Admin's Note:[/hr]" There was a little hint of incredulity in his tone, but more than anything, he looked amused. Not cruelly so, but curiously. "What, are you scared of heights?"

[panther]

Ez smirked, but hide it away by looking in the opposite direction, not his first? His redfruit cheeks said more than that. He’d obviously not had that much experience. But that was neither here nor there. “Sorry, presumptions can be wrong I guess, my apologies Dhunen, I meant no offense.”

He stretched out, the evening sun was taking its warmth too, and allowing the cool of the night to creep in, in her absense. He took a deep breath and let it out, “I can get that, but so, also boring, can be being tied to a hold. I’ve never met a true holdless man,” He added thoughtfully, “though. As to Chores? I’d rather not. My own mind is peaceful. And there aren’t stringent rules there either.” He yawned, for no real reason.

Ez laughed, “Shards I’d take the wagon if I had the choice.” He chuckled. “Might be slower, but at least it’s land. And no. It’s not the height at all, I mean, all that’s between you, and going slamming into the ground is a dragon? Kept aloft by those thin wing membranes? Shards, I don’t know, its not the height, it just makes me nervous, and the nervousness makes me feel sick, and its not a pleasant experience. I fear it. I hate the idea of flying. Even short flights, and the idea of the between.” He shook his head, distaste obvious, “I don’t like that at all.” He shuddered, and it wasn’t from the cold that was creeping in, “Rider who took me from the North, to here, took me between. There’s nothing like it. Its cold, devoid, and yet it takes away the more you stay there.
“They say when you die, that’s where your spirit goes, I don’t like that, not one bit. Its so void. So bleak and nothing. And women, riders that is, take a trip between, to abort a child. There’s nothing to be liked about it. It’s awful.” He explained. The gave a quick, apologetic half smile, “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like I’m trying to scare you, I just hate it.” He shook his head.

[Shekru]

As soon as it came, the indignation was gone, and the apology accepted with a short wave of the hand. "No worries." He mumbled, skipping another stone across the lake's surface.

Talk of chores and work seem to have slipped Dhunen's immediate thoughts, and instead he chose to focus on the other topic. It had more promise, and it had piqued his curiosity enough to bring him to sit upon a stone once more, focused on the other.

"Where I'm from, or rather, I guess -Who- I'm from, we think that Between is just the first door. When you die, whatever's left floating around in your body uses Between to get to where it's supposed to. Like.. I dunno, a tunnel, or a veil. After that, you go where you're supposed to. Whether it's into a new body, and a new life, or to take a place in your favorite spot on Pern. If I die, I want to go where the red fruit grows and the water's always just warm enough." He sat back on his hands again, and looked to Ez. His demeanor was a lot more calm than it had been moments ago. "Needless to say, I'm not sure what's true, but it seems a lot nicer to think about than nothingness. Where would you go, if you could choose?"

[panther]

Ez listened, mystified by Dhunen’s talk, that certainly was a novel concept, he listened with an abnormal amount of concentration on what Dhunen said. Yet, the view, romanticised as it was, seemed impractical. Ez’s brows furrowed, as he began on his own questioning of this idea, “But there’s nothing beyond the between. Riders use it, but they’ve never found anything there. Surely they would have seen something of this… place beyond the between. I’d love to believe it, I would.” He said, shaking his head, but he wasn’t being argumentative, just curious, he wanted to know the truth, and he wasn’t being dismissive of Dhunen’s beliefs either. For, he found it fascinating, something beyond the between. How curious. Somehow it placated his thoughts about the between a little.

Dhunen’s question then came into consideration. Where would he go, if he could chose? One place. One location where he wouldn’t mind spending eternity. Oh, shards that was difficult. Well certainly not Azvon, or Telgar Weyr. They were two places he’d Pay to avoid.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you.” Ez shook his head, he honestly had no clue, “There’s no single place I could say I’d want to spend eternity.” He frowned a little, for that was a sad thing to admit in honesty, “maybe the place where your red fruit grow, and the waterfall’s happily splashing in the background.” Ez was imagining the place to be some oasis of euphoria, but then, Ez was an imaginative lad. To say the very least.

[Shekru]

"Think of it this way. Riders use Between to get from one place to another. Why would it not possess the same uses in death? Just because we don't see where the dead go after they slip Between does not mean they go nowhere but that blackness." Dhunen reasoned aloud, and turned to smile at the other. Of the things that Dhunen did and thought and knew, surely this was one of those that did not come out often. But from the sound of it, it was one thing he dwelt on, and contemplated.

"It is a wonder. There have been no other times in my life that I've felt that all was right on Pern, and that the sins of my past no longer mattered, and the future was more than just dust up my nose and the rumble of wagon wheels beneath my head while I sleep." Perhaps he does have a bit of Harper training, given his manner of speech. Who knows.

"Let's talk about other things." He prompted, and looked back toward Ez. "You hungry?"

[panther]

He thought over the principle that Dhunen put forward. The between was a method of getting to A to B, so why wouldn’t it let you go somewhere after death? But, that of course was presuming there was something after death.

But the next topic made him smirk, sins of the past? Dhunen felt whiter than white next to Ez… there was no way the male had done anything that remarkably bad. Ez, on the other hand was definitely a sufferer of lust, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride, so just a few. He sighed, realising just how bad he was.
But he nodded, omitting his own sins from the conversion. “Aye, there always feels like there should be more.” He nodded.

“Hungry?” He repeated the question back, He thought for a moment, was he hungry, “No, I don’t think I’m hungry. But – I’ll go with you if you want company.” He smiled gently and brushed himself off as he stood. It was so nice just to have a civil conversation with someone. Someone who didn’t now him, or expect him to be a certain way. Not that he minded how he was. But he liked to also have some time where he was just relaxed. That was his thing. He enjoyed looking good, he enjoyed teasing others, but, it was good to cut a break every now and then. That was jut as, if not more enjoyable. Yet, when he went to the kitchens he would be some one completely different. Façade raised once more. Well, it wasn’t really a façade, it was just, a normal him. But the Ezieki that Dhunen had seen was a muted Ez, after the … thing the previous night, he wasn’t really feeling quite so perky. He felt a little awkward, or a bit more. But, Dhunen didn’t know that. But then, he likely would soon. Shame too – just when Ez was forgetting.