Who

D'wane, Amania

What

Amania thinks she might peek into the Hatching Cavern and meets a giant Wingsecond instead.

When

It is afternoon of the nineteenth day of the tenth month of the eleventh turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Hatching Caverns Entrance, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 27 Aug 2017 06:00

 

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"You're not from around here."


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Hatching Caverns Entrance

A grand and storied entrance into a place where dreams and dragonets roam: it is western-facing, this greatest-entrance, and not heat nor rain nor ferocious wind can disguise the truth of the hatching grounds beyond. Adventuresome merchants occasionally take root in the sheltering stone-roof of the otherwise open-air entrance, selling klah or stuffed meatrolls or even jewelry and tiny knick-knacks frequently draconic in nature.


Under normal circumstances, D'wane might not have the best understanding of the concept of 'inside voice', but the entrance to the hatching caverns where Pern's largest queen is currently brooding away is not an ordinary place. Although the entrance way is frequently traveled by curious gawkers and enterprising merchants and probably some folks with legitimate business, it pays to be respectful and not too loud. Still, the large man's dismissive snort as he waves off one of his wingmates heading up towards the galleries is loud enough to be heard by most folks around. As well as the accompanying call of "You're an idiot!" Apparently the brownrider doesn't take this too seriously because he just laughs and shrugs and continues on his merry way while the bronzerider turns to head the other direction, back out towards the Weyr proper.

A Candidate's day is filled with PT and chores and whatever else is required of them, yes…but there are also breaks to breathe, thankfully. It's getting to be about dinnertime, so Amania finds herself with one of those breaks and decides to slip out for a bit of exploring. She was told that the yawning mouth in the eastern bowl wall, which grabbed her attention a few days ago, is the Hatching Cavern. This seems like a natural place for a Candidate to be curious about, and Amania is no exception, deciding to pick her way along the bowl to the entrance. Her steps slow as she approaches, and she pauses a moment, making a mental review of what she's been told about going near here, then starts forward…and nearly collides with a gigantic dragonman. She gasps with the surprise of it but manages not to squeak or something else equally undignified, then remembers to salute. "I'm sorry…Wingsecond!" She has to search out his knot, being that it's rather above her eye level.

In his hurry to head back to whatever he was doing while still mocking his idiotic wingmate, D'wane doesn't manage to see Amania until he almost collides with the girl. Good thing she was paying more attention than he was. "Oh. I wasn't calling you an idiot. I was calling him one." Big thumb pointing back over his shoulder in the direction where the not quite as big rider had disappeared to. "Seems to be betting that the little red egg with just a touch of gold will have a queen." There's an eyeroll from the man. Clearly the reasons the bookies are giving out outrageous odds for that was because it is outrageous, especially when there's a big shiny egg that the queen has been curling herself around.

Amania didn't hear the big Wingsecond's idiot comment except as a little buzz during her mental reviewing, so his words have her blinking in confusion. "Oh, I…didn't think you were," she says, and then pieces together what's going on from his next words. "It seems to me a bit dense to go betting that a smallish egg is going to hold the biggest sort of dragon," she notes, and adds, "Sir," for good measure. The Zingari Candidate flicks a glance past the big man. "I haven't gotten to see yet. I was hoping to before getting dinner."

"Right? But then again, Rock's egg wasn't the biggest in his clutch," And so D'wane is left giving a half-hearted shrug. There was no gold in that particular clutch and the bronze certainly was one of the larger dragons from it, so big things can come in small packages. There's still also the fact that you don't go betting against a gold dragon on her own eggs. That's just dumb. His eyebrows raise just a little bit when the girl admits she hasn't seen the eggs yet. "Don't worry. I'm sure the headwoman will have you sweeping the galleries plenty of times before they crack. But, you can see a little bit from there," He points to the opening of the sands, which have a bit of a barricade set up by the smiths to discourage people from getting too close. "If Dhioth isn't blocking the way."

"Rock, sir?" Amania is sure he means his dragon, but the nickname doesn't help her much. Mention of sweeping the galleries draws a nod. "I'm supposed to do that tomorrow morning," she states, though now the prospect has a silver lining to it, so long as she can avoid getting caught staring or some such thing. Looking past the bronzerider again, she peers curiously at what she can see of the barricades. "Do people actually try to go out there without permission?" The notion seems damned foolhardy to her.

"Rocketh. He's up there, somewhere," D'wane clarifies and also waves a hand in the general direction of the gallery ledges. It's not only humans gawking at the eggs, although it might also be because that's a nice, warm sunny spot. And really, it'd be more surprising if Amania doesn't get caught staring at the eggs at least once when she's supposed to be sweeping. Isn't that a right of passage for candidacy? As for her last question, he nods. "They do. Generally not very smart people." Like children daring each other. Or apparently the weyrleader's friend's cousin's brother-in-law's treasure hunting cohorts possibly.

Amania nods as the bronzerider gives his dragon's name, then makes a face that wrinkles her nose a bit at his answer to her last. "Evidently not," she snorts, and clears her throat a bit. "What's your name, sir?" she ventures. "It's easy enough to salute every face I see, but names work better. Especially if there's even a tiny chance I might end up on a dragon in your wing someday." She tries not to sound dubious about the prospect, her very presence here indicating it's a definite possibility, after all. But there's still the whole 'why Search me' question rattling around in her brain.

D'wane tilts his head ever so slightly at the wrinkled nose, but the snorting and response quickly clears up that it's not a dig at his dragon's name. Rock is a perfectly acceptable nickname and well, very suitable for the igneous bronze. "I'm D'wane. Ocelot." She already identified the wingsecond part, so he'll just go ahead and point out the wing badge as well. "You're not from around here." It's not really a question, more of a statement of fact based on her accent. His own still sounds very much like the High Reachian he was born and raised as.

Amania takes a moment to study D'wane's wing badge. Any little thing to help her identify people a little better in the future! "Well met, Wingsecond D'wane," she says as she does so, then blinks up at him with his last. "No, I'm from Igen," she explains, straightening a bit. "Amania, from the Zingari Caravan, sir." And one more place before that, but she hasn't explained that far back to anyone here yet. "You don't sound like you're from here either, but everyone sounds like they're from all over…" She doesn't know what accents are from where. Yet.

And D'wane's wing badge is slightly closer to eye level than his knot was! "Igen, huh?" The wingsecond nods at that. "Been there a few times, but not enough to recognize the accent right away. Weyrs seem to attract folk from all over. Search 'em out even." The edges of his mouth turn up in a hint of a smile at the joke. "I'm from High Reaches, a mine way up in the mountains. Transferred down here a turn or so ago."

Amania lets a smile of her own out at D'wane's joke, almost cautious. "And keep them, if a good Impression is made," she can't help but add before considering his elaboration on his origin. "Is it really always cold in High Reaches?" she asks with a slight tilt of her head. "I heard one of the other Candidates saying there are places where snow never melts. It seems like coming here would be a hard adjustment, if that's true." She's used to heat and is still having a hard time with the increasingly warmer days.

"Yeah, and keep them. Or trade them," D'wane will agree and nod. It all depends on the whims of dragons and weyrleaders. He laughs a bit at the question for weather. "If you go far enough North, yeah. Same if you go far enough south down here. Where I'm from, it would that out mid-spring. But doesn't really much matter for the miners underground."

"Someone was saying there's a place made of ice here," Amania notes, nodding when D'wane mentions going further south. "He also mentioned we might go there, all together. Is that true?" She wants to know if she's getting her leg pulled…and what to prepare for, if she's not. "I've never seen snow," she goes on to add, looking a bit sheepish over the fact even though she knows she doesn't need to. It's not her fault it never snows in the desert, after all!

D'wane blinks a bit. "Here?" He shakes his head. "Not the actual Weyr. Down in the Barrier Mountains, at the Hold probably. Who was it saying you might be going there?" If it was another candidate, possibly just idle gossip. If it was someone that actually has some rank and responsibilities over the candidates… maybe? He grins at her mention of never seeing snow. "It's white." He's so helpful! "And cold."

Amania starts to shake her head; she hadn't meant here here! Of course, D'wane gets around to what she did mean, and she starts nodding instead. "It was another Candidate," she replies, and smirks. "So he probably wouldn't really know. Unless he's Stood here before." Always a possibility. His words about snow have her giving a quick grin and a little shake of her head. "I know, but it's easy to take for granted when you've known it all your life. I want to see it sometime." And if they do get the chance, she wants in. "Like if you've never watched the moons come up over the desert, I can give you my words about it, but it won't be the same unless you see it for yourself."

"Get used to other candidates running their mouths. Especially the closer it gets to hatching, the crazier the things they come up with," D'wane may have only gone through one candidacy himself, but he's been living in Weyrs for the past seven turns. He's seen a lot of candidate classes. There's always some crazy theories that emerge. "You do know you can leave the weyr, if you have a rider escort." So it's possible that she just might be able to get to see the snow before hatching day.

With a sigh, Amania nods and makes a mental note to take things said by other Candidates with a grain of salt. The reminder about the rider escort also earns a nod, though her expression is a bit dubious. "It just seems like…a silly thing to ask for, considering how busy you all are," she says, though it's certainly not the only reason she's a little leery of asking for a lift anywhere right now. She's just not going to admit the other big one just now. "But I'll keep it in mind, sir." Just then a very young bronze firelizard pops in overhead, creeling loudly as he lands on her shoulder with crimson-eyed distress. She does her best to shush him and huffs a sigh as she looks to D'wane. "I guess I'd better go feed him. And myself," she says, and salutes the big man again. "Good day to you, Wingsecond!" And unless he stops her, she'll be hurrying off to the living cavern to go take care of a few empty bellies, including her own.

"Some of your fellow candidates might have friends or family that are already riders," D'wane shrugs. So it's even possible the girl might get invited along on a trip without her having to ask anyone herself! This particular rider isn't offering to take anyone anyplace at the moment because well, he's got an appointment with some more wingmates and the guard workout room to get to. He'll wave to the girl as she heads out with the salute and then head off himself. The egg watching will have to wait for another time.

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