Who

Tolavin, Ulrika, Violine

What

What's Violine digging up? Something edible?? Tolavin and Ulrika meet her at the waterfall.

When

It is noon of the seventh day of the sixth month of the sixteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Waterfall, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 06 Mar 2019 00:00

 

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Waterfall

The lush Southern rainforests hide snake-like rivers that wind through the thickest part of the underbrush; it is one such river that provides a view that must be seen once in a lifetime. Powerful, the waters spill over the edges of the cliffs, falling from high, high above to land in a large swell of water that feeds into the Black Rock River. On a sunny day, a kaleidescope of colors can be seen as the light of Rukbat is refracted in a rainbow array of vibrant hues. At the base of the waterfall, where even a dragon would feel dwarfed by the towering cliffs and thick plume of falling water, the swell of water is surrounded by greenery of all kinds: trees, flowers, ferns, moss, lichen. As the point where the waterway narrows into a feeder stream to the larger, Black Rock River, a tiny little bridge spans. All around, water roars, eclipsing even the sounds of wildlife.


Violine is currently tucked under one of the many trees near the pool beneath the falls. Despite its relative coverage from the rain, it doesn't do much to stop the spray from coating her completely. Black curls are droopy, a few strands slicked to cheeks and forehead. Her dress (not the most practical attire for this foray, but in her defense, it wasn't raining when she set out) is tucked into her high, mud-slicked boots but still shows signs of smeared dirt and a few clumps of greenery clinging to the oddly scrunched hem. She's currently leaning over, fingers easily rooting through the moss as she plucks out little rhizomes that connect to tiny licorice ferns that dot the undergrowth. All her little foraged bits are tossed, dirty and damp, into the basket near her side.

Tolavin was also not expecting the rain when he set out today on his explorations. He is drenched as he arrives at the waterfall, his hair dark and sagging around his face. Pushing back some of the curls that are clinging to his face, he does a double take at the sight of the woman under a tree. Well hello. Another explorer in the rain? Ambling steps carry him over to that tree, which he'll lean against, head dipping to peer down at what she's digging out of the ground. "Looking for treasure?" There's a bright smile, amusement clear in his voice.

The weather is not great for exploring, but Ulrika isn't out here by choice. Her hooded duster does a fine job of keeping the rain off, but she's still wet and unhappy about being out in the rain. "Ebbe. Hemming. You two get back here, now." The guard-turned-Candidate's voice is low and ominous, while she tries to reach the still-young pair of firelizards with her mind. She can't see them, but they can see her. And they also see another couple of people, as well! The polka-dotted bronze drops down from his perch and ends up near the woman foraging under the tree. His iridescent blue companion follows a moment later, the pair watching both lady and gentleman interact while their tall blonde person inexorably draws closer.

Violine the extremely damp healer glances up with some exasperation at the jovial quip Tolavin opens with. She does, however, espy his knot and it aaaaall falls into place. Harpers. Typical. "Well, in a sense, yes." She admits, though begrudgingly. One muddy hand reaches to the small of her back and gives it a rub as she straightens up and stretches. "These little things," she points at her twenty or so rhizomes, "are extremely handy to have around this time of year." Point in fact, she nabs one from her basket, wipes it against the last remaining clean part of her dress, and pops it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. The firelizards are seen and she cranes her gaze upwards to take them in. "Pretty," she mutters around a mouthful, "are they yours?" Her gaze settles back on Tolavin.

Tolavin can only watch in mute horror as Violine eats one of the things she's plucked out of the ground. "Errrr-" so taken aback, apparently, that this harper has even forgotten how to speak. Work brain, work! "What're they, snacks?" A terrible attempt at a joke, before the two fire-lizards are peered at with suspicion. "Nope - unless mine have decided gold and brown doesn't suit them any more." He looks about, craning his neck dramatically. Some movement over there, and he points in Ulrika's direction. "Could be hers!"

The bronze watches intensely when the healer eats that thing and he starts to sniff around the basket like maybe those are good for him, too. He's just about to snitch one when Ulrika is spotted and pointed at. The blonde hears something to a side and turns, catching sight of the taller man and a young woman that's on her knees. She pauses, eyes narrowing just a little until the situation is properly assessed. Only then does she nod and shift her direction to where they are. The little blue creels sharply and takes wing, promptly fluttering over to his rightful perch. "Aye, they're mine," she calls. "My apologies if they were causing problems for you two, too." The bronze, for his part, tries to spear a rhizome with a talon now that there's a distraction.

Violine isn't so easily distracted. Particularly when she's been knee-deep in mud and waterfall spray for half the morning harvesting those little roots. Eyeing the bronze, she waves an arm in his direction with a look. "Snacks? Eh. Good for staving off cold and soothes a sore throat. Tastes delicious too," she offers with a shrug, and somewhat reluctantly, nabs another one, not bothering to wipe off the soil, and offers it to Tolavin. "So what brings a Harper out here in this weather?" She asks as she keeps the rhizome extended in his direction. Yes, this is happening. That same question is about to be volleyed back to the young woman but when she spies the knot, she shakes her head and gives her a sympathetic look. "Don't tell me they sent you out here for some sort of candidate business." Because that sounds an awful lot like a fool's errand, which, to be fair, happens a lot with the new candidates.

Oh man - it's Tolavin's lucky day. TWO women? Out here in the jungle? This is what harpers write about! (Okay, not all harpers…ahem.) As the newcomer gets closer, it becomes clear she's nearly of a height with him - and he's not exactly short. There's a blink of surprise, before his seemingly ever-present grin returns as he greets Ulrika. "No problems at all!" Clearly, he hasn't noticed the bronze trying to steal Violine's haul. Thank Faranth the healer has. He's not one to turn down a gift from a pretty lady, and takes the rhizome. He'll take the tiniest nibble off the very end, and sloooowly chew it. Swallowing happens, and he looks unconvinced. He'll uh, hold onto the rest of the rhizome for now. "Candidate, huh? Seems like they're gonna need a lot of those, with two clutches pretty much on top of each other."

"That's a good lad, Hemming." The blue gets a rub from Ulrika, who lets him in under the hood to curl around her neck, muddy claws and all. "Ebbe." Between that gesturing and that look from the healer and the darkly tinted call of his name, the bronze slinks back, going so far as to warble apologetically before he launches and tries to claim a perch on his person. "No," the former guard replies with a mechanical-seeming shake of her head. "I had to help clean up some ugly spinner business in the catacombs earlier, but no. These two made a mess of things on my cot and then ran." Well, flew. But still. There's a firm nod to the harper, then. And she does take his measure, but it's a cool, analytical kind of thing. "Aye. Probably more than a hundred if Yorprith clutches well."

More than a hundred… that's… just mind boggling, isn't it? The warbling bronze gets a warm glance as she takes in his form. "Beautiful, firelizard," she offers to Ulrika with admiration before she nabs up her basket. "Spinners," she repeats, her expression conveys she's not a fan. Tolavin's very tiny nibble is noted with a rolling of the eyes but she gives him a little nod as she squelches her boots out from the muddy moss. "Harper," she says, as the pleasantries didn't actually make it to names. She starts an awkward trek back through the underbrush. "Not a candidate," she mutters as she passes the two "but might as well be with the amount of grunt work I've got left to do in the infirmary." She pauses and narrows her eyes slightly. Wait a minute. More than a hundred eggs. That's more than a hundred candidates. Who can do grunt work. She may be paying a visit to the Headwoman soon to follow up on that. Hopefully Ulrika enjoys cleaning rhizomes more than she enjoys spinner business. And just like that, the sodden, muddy young woman slips down the trail and out of sight.

Tolavin watches Ulrika's command over her fire-lizards. Maybe he needs her to teach him a thing or two to deal with a particularly independent brown of his, but…now's not the time. "Over a hundred eggs, huh?" His fingers twitch a bit, his eyes looking into the middle distance. "Y'know…there could be a song in that." Seems like Ulrika's sparked ideas for harper and healer both,albeit entirely different ones. "I'll leave you to it, candidate…something's coming to me." Already humming a tune, the wet harper ambles off in the opposite direction to Violine. With luck, he'll have something ready before the first hatching!

Ebbe does appreciate the praise, flaring his spotted wings in display, but he's soon settled and Ulrika gives him a rub on the neck as well. "No," Ulrika corrects, though her tone is matter-of-fact. "Forty-two eggs out of Zymuraith. Probably a hundred candidates or more just for hers," she clarifies. "But even if Yorprith clutches half so well- maybe a hundred and fifty. Two hundred for safety." But those are all thrown out there based on theory; who knows how many will actually come of it. "Take care," she calls after the departing pair of crafters, though she's not long after. She got what she came for.

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