Docks

In dark morn and dusky eve fog lies grim and humid against the still waters of Azov Sea. Only the noontime sun burns away the concealing clouds of man's height, revealing that which lies beneath the mist- an awe-inspiring stone pier that stretches far into the inland sea, to the east of the line of orderly boat-slips for the locals and larger, open spaces for transport ships. Fishermen are often as common as seagulls upon the pier's length in particular, ill-concealed and ill-clothed in the loose dun homespun of Southern's natives.

Storms always make Ryott feel a little bit restless, so as soon as the rain stops, the littlest weyrwoman grabs her jacket and is off, leaving behind a pile of hides on her desk that can wait a bit. She wasn't even sure where she was going, just letting her feet take her whichever way felt best, but it's probably not surprising that she ends up at the Docks. And even less suprising is the fact that she finds her gold already there, perched on a ledge overlooking the busy port, whiplike tail flicking with interest as she watches the ships come and go. There's a mutual mind touch between them, but neither are particularly chatty types, so that suffices for a greeting. While she's here, she may as well take a chance to have a look around in the light of day, pick out certain reference points and lay out a plan should she want to come back later under the cover of darkness, also known as 'casing the joint'.

Storms or no storms there is always work for a dolphineer to do. Today is no different and the not uncommon sight of Novi, unruly red hair, and all can be spotted as the young woman sits at the end of the pier taking note of the dolphin population. Most others of her rank would be groaning, or otherwise trying to dodge this important task. Novi on the other hand happily jots the names of each new member of the Southern pod. Thus, she doesn't notice Ryott in spite of having seen, and greeted Wrayth.

Her gear being well worn and made for stealth, Ryott slips down the docks silently, her hands clasped together behind her back, chin up and giving off a decidedly frosty aura, mostly to keep anyone away who might be thinking about approaching the weyrwoman for one reason or another. It's rather effective. A shock of red hair catches her eye even as she continuing her systematic scanning of the immediate area, and decides to peruse on down that way to see if it's anyone she knows. The dolphineer is recognize pretty quickly, being that they were candidates together. "Novi," she greets neutrally, when she's about arm's length from the girl. "You having withdrawals from not being able to be in there with them?" she asks dryly as she moves right to the edge of the pier and stares off at the sea with it's denizens.

A slight intake of breath from Novi is the only indication that the woman was startled, then there's a chuckle before she looks up at Ryott, "Who says I haven't been?" question for question followed by a, "Ma'am," and a grin. Even the ranking members of her craft have a hard time keeping Novi out of the waters sometimes.

"Ma'am me again, and I'll nudge you in myself," Ryott replies in her completely even deadpan, although it could be assumed that she is joking, "It just plain creeps me out." Shifting her gaze down to the water not that far beneath her feet she scoffs a bit sckeptically. "The water must be very cold. I'm surprised you have all your extremities still," but the young goldrider knows all too well of doing things that one's superiors don't want one doing, and so she isn't one to chide such behaviour in others.

Novi chuckles at the threat, and then gives a shrug, "I've been in colder. Sometimes it's required. We do have gear for cold water swims," is explained, "Though today I'm just taking a census of sorts. It's been a while, and no one seems to like to talk to the dolphins about their births," another shrug. Novi doesn't mind, and it keeps her out of the apprentice barracks. Though if she were honest Novi would admit to a case or two of mild frostbite, not that she's ever let something like that stop her from doing her job.

"Yeah, no thanks," Ryott dismisses the idea of going into the chilly waters no matter the equipment involved, as she casually leans against a pilon and looks sideways at the dolphineer with the ghost of a smirk playing at her lips. "Sounds abosolutely thrilling…" the sarcasm is apparent, "But I suppose it is your craft and you picked it for a reason." Heaving a heavy sigh, she swivels her gaze back out to sea and just crosses her arms slowly over her chest, admiring the view for a couple more breaths. "Say, are the dolphins awake at night?" she asks with mild curiosity.

Novi thinks for a moment, then gives a shake of her head, "I wouldn't say they're awake, but they're not really asleep either?" she doesn't really know how to explain that, but tries anyway, "Dolphins sleep by letting half their mind rest at a time. Kind of like how some people are really light sleepers?" at least that is how it was explained to her, "That way if there's trouble they can react to it quickly," she gives a slight nod at the last of her words, then to Ryott's first she chuckles, "My da used to say that if I weren't careful I'd find myself a shipfish I spent so much time in the water when I was a child," she knows he was joking, but it was what helped her to decide on her craft.

Ryott was looking for more of a yes or no answer, but some of the details that Novi shares are interesting and filed away for later use. She readily understands the light sleeper comparison, being one of those herself. "Ok… so how good are their memories? Let's say, could they remember in the last couple of sevens if there's been any strange boats coming or going at night?" she asks with a tilt of her head to one side in the red-head's direction.

That question is easy to answer, "Certainly they could. A dolphin's memory is as good as yours or mine," which may or or may not be saying much, still Novi's voice is confident, "I could ask about if y'er interested in a particular boat?" Certainly one of the dolphins would know something, right?

"That's the problem, I don't even know if there is a boat," Ryott muses as she scuffs at the wood of the dock with the toe of her boot. "I don't know if you've heard the rumors, about shipments going missing from these docks. It's not impossible that whoever is taking these shipments are leaving…on a ship. I wouldn't expect it to be very big though, something small and discreet to move things to a ship anchored well out of site." That's how Ryott would do it anyway, and the fancy knot on her shoulder hasn't dulled her thief's instincts one bit.

Novi nods at the explanation, "I can ask the pod? I'm sure if there was unusual activity they'd know," Novi may not be certain on many things, but on this she is absolutely positive, "Night would be the best time for such an operation. Dolphins in the bachelor pod would be the most likely to be alert at night. Not that each pod doesn't have it's own rotation of awake member mind," had Novi forgotten that tidbit of information earlier? Likely, but it's here now.

"Sure, do that," Ryott replies, her focus still on the distant horizon, scanning with such intensity for anything that looks the least bit out of place. "If they share anything with you, just have one of your firelizards reach out to Wrayth." She sighs again, a brief interlude before continuing, "And what about you? If you're out here a lot there might be things you've seen that could be helpful." she asks before swinging her gaze back at Novi once more.

Novi gives a shrug, "Mostly I'm with the pod doing things like removing bloodfish, and giving check ups to the expecting dolphins. I don't normally get too far out in the waters," mostly because she's on restrictions, but she won't talk about that, "I could ask one of the patrols to keep an eye out. They're usually a journeyman-dolphin pair that does patrols in the early mornings, and late evenings," and were she a journeyman, Novi wouldn't content herself with sticking to the shallows as she thinks of being kept close to land. She's greatful she's even allowed near the water. Rule breaking has consequences, and though she wasn't drunk she was caught with alocohol. Bad Novi. No swimming for you.

"Well that's helpful, I guess," Ryott replies without much enthusiasm, but then the teen doesn't really do enthusiasm. "The mores eyes out, the better, I suppose," she does relent as she pushes herself out of her lean, giving her limbs a shake to get the blood moving again. "Anyway. I got shit to do. Appreciate anything you come up with. It was nice catching up with you," the pint-sized weyrwoman remarks in a tone that could possibly pass for polite. Obviously done with the conversation, the goldrider turns on her heel and wanders back up the docks for a bit more surveillance and plotting before the hides on her desk call her back.

Novi gives a nod, and watches Ryott leave. She's got her own things to finish up, and they have her sprinting for the dorms.