Who

Alyna, Devana

What

Devana finds a green dragon in her fishing spot and greenrider on the shore.

Some innuendo

When

It is afternoon of the first day of the third month of the fourteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

River Clearing, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 07 Jun 2018 06:00

 

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"You dragonfolk are a confusin' lot sometimes."


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River Clearing

Just north of the river delta, the jungle's grip loosens enough to expose the sand-enriched soil and lichen-kissed rocks as the river battles through the rapids before dumping into the gentler delta. Cacophony of sound is made through the roar of the rapids, the spray of white water as it rains upon the nearby shores, and the shrieking of birds and wild firelizards that call from the nearby jungles. Treacherous to cross, most would follow the bank to either the river's delta or the calmer river bank, but a few courageous souls find the lure of the rapids too tempting to not cross as the far bank holds the promise of accomplishment.


The first day of autumn is bitter sweet for one sun-worshipping greenrider. Alyna was hoping for a few more days of sunshine before the season changed in earnest, alas, a miserable drizzle plagued her during her afternoon sweeps, more annoying than anything. But if last Turn was any indication, it would get a lot worse before the good weather would return again. So how she ended up at this particular clearing by the rapid churned waters of the river? Her dragon may have something to do with that. Haquith is standing in the river, her underbelly being tickled by the rush of the water, crooning with pure contentment. Her rider is perched on a nearby boulder, arms crossed and a thoroughly bemused look on her face as she watches her lifemate enjoy herself.

Devana takes the changing of the seasons in stride, as do many of the native folk. Cooler temperatures are welcome but mean a change in garb, and the wildling woman ends up out and about within the draping of an oilskin against the unpredictable on and off of the rain. The weather draws her to the river today for a few specific reasons…but she finds herself pausing in her approach to the clearing as a rather unexpected sight presents itself. There's a green dragon wading about among the rapids, a blonde woman - presumably her rider - sitting on a rock nearby. Neither look in distress, nor particularly busy, though that could be up for debate, from what she understands of the relationship between man and beast. Bemused in turn, she resumes her trek along the water's edge, stripping her oilskin away for the moment so that all she carries is clear - a bow, a long knife, a fishing pole and a few pouches. "Dragonwoman," she greets once she's in range. "All's well with you and yours, aye?" May as well make sure, first.

Not exactly startled, Alyna seems to shake herself back to reality when Devana's words penetrate whatever thoughts she was entertaining. Turning her head in the other woman's direction, the greenrider lifts a curious eyebrow at the numerous accoutrements Devana carries with her. Curiosity paints her features as she uncrosses her arms and leans back on her palms, "Oh indeed. My green just think it's awfully clever that she's figured out how to give herself a tummy rub." The look of pure indignation and loud huff from her green sets Alyna off in a fit of giggles, "So sorry, Haquith wants you to know it for therapeutic massage purposes." She really tries to keep a straight face but there's a half smile that's playing around her lips, "I'm Alyna, and as I just said, that's Haquith. You look well prepared to survive out here for sevendays if needed," she remarks, nodding at her gear.

The blonde woman's answer brings an amusedly quizzical look to Devana's somewhat fierce features, dark head tilting slightly as she surveys the green dragon. "Are the fish obligin' with the rubs, then? I was hopin' they'd oblige my hook, but…seems they may be distracted for a time. Not that your green there would've known." She smirks as she turns her gaze back to the dragonrider. "Well met then, Alyna and Haquith. I should hope I look it, bein' home as it is," she says of survival, arms lifting a bit to indicate the world round about.

"I think it's more the rush of the water," Alyna says as this part of the river the water is moving at a rapid clip. "But it could be the fish as well," she adds with a shrug before she slips down off the boulder she was sitting on, leaning on it instead now. "We'll be out of here soon enough," hopefully, the greenrider adds personally to herself. Surely Haquith would get bored soon enough, right? For now though, the green will rustle lime wingsails and shimmy her ample haunches as she settles a little more into the water with a soft warble of contentment. Devana's last finally bring the greenrider back from her lifemate's antics as she smiles brightly, "So you're a wildling then?" she asks, maybe a little abruptly, but hey, that's just how Alyna rolls.

The warble from Haquith draws Devana's attention again, this time with a little chuckle as that contentment becomes abundantly clear. The abrupt question from the greenrider doesn't faze her, a nod answering before her words do. "Aye. Devana of the Erdou," she says, looking Alyna's way once more and inclining her head. "We're in the jungle not far from the Weyr at the moment, actually. Hopin' to pick up some trade with the cooler weather, then headin' down to the Barrier for some of the same." Her eyes dance to the dragon in the water again. "Unexpected coloring on your lady. To me at least. I haven't seen a green up close until now," the wildling woman confesses. "Quite a pretty one."

"Well met Devana," Alyna replies easily as she listens with interest to the younger woman's accounting of her group's upcoming movements. "I don't know if I could lead a nomadic existence, I like my comforts too much," the greenrider muses out loud, smile brightening at the compliment afforded her lifemate. Haquith also heard that, evident by the fact that she swings her head in the wildling's direction, her adorably rounded eyes whirling softly blue/green. "She says you have excellent taste," her rider relays obligingly before leaning towards Devana, hand blocking her mouth from the green's view and stage whispers, "Thank you, that's just put her in a great mood." It's evident that the older woman is teasing somewhat, but there is a look of gratitude for Devana.

"What dragonwoman, no lust for adventure?" Devana openly teases in turn, a cheeky smile curving her lips. "Though," she remarks, sobering slightly, "I do suppose Thread gives ye enough of that." Let's be practical here. The smile blooms into a small grin as Haquith turns her gaze upon the wildling woman, and she lifts a curious brow at Alyna. "Was she not before?" In a good mood, that is.

"Precisely," Alyna confirms with a nod of her head when Devana sobers, "With that looming over one's head, you tend to seek out comfort as much as possible in case the next adventure is the last." The greenrider speaks rather matter-of-factly, as if it is just as mundane a facet of life as, say, breathing or eating. When asked if Haquith was in a previously good mood or not, she really has to consider her answer before replying, "Oh she was, but now she is in an especially pleasant mood." Which just means that Alyna might not be subjected to the more demanding aspects of her green's personality and that's just fine with mer.

Devana hums in thoughtful agreement at that, dropping her oilskin and setting her bow upon it, then her fishing pole and the larger of her pouches. "You dragonfolk are a confusin' lot sometimes," she notes wryly as she unloads. "Seems the lot of ye would have that attitude about seizin' the present because ye don't know if tomorrow will be your last, yet some seem to have reservations about actually doin' it. Took some time to get the man I'm with around to it, too. Though…" She pauses, slender shoulders hitching in a quick shrug as she glances to the greenrider, "…perhaps that's more to do with different backgrounds, aye? Ye're not born to the life, after all."

After a moment of processing the wildling woman's words, Alyna's eyes light up curiously, "Wait a second, are you with a rider?" she asks with a smirk playing over her lips. This is quite a development to the blonde rider who has recently become fascinated with all things wildlings. And so far Devana is the first female wildling she's come across, so that makes things even more interesting. She might be able to ask another female things she wouldn't think to ask a male. "And yeah, I think you've got it figured out there. No one really grows up knowing they are going to be a rider, and some take to the life easier than others." Like Alyna, who'd taken to weyrlife like a fish to water and never looked back. "Also, if he is younger then he might not feel it as acutely. After a dozen turns or so, you thank Faranth for each one you can walk away from."

Alyna's first earns a rather mischievous glance from Devana before she makes her way to the water's edge once more and crouches, inspecting a clump of tufted reeds. "Aye. F'kan. Are ye familiar with him?" she replies, pulling a small knife from her boot and drawing it carefully along the half-split brown pod crowning one bowing reed stalk. There's a soft sigh given to the greenrider's last. "I suppose there's somethin' to be said for age. Especially if a person's taken no scars from their experiences yet. Nothin' like some near misses to make a person rethink what's important." She gently pries the pod open, revealing a mass of fibrous, almost downy-looking seeds and drawing her finger through them, then plucking some free and tucking them away in the smaller pouch at her hip. "Had some yourself, greenrider? Or is it a view ye've always held?"

"F'kan…" Alyna muses, "The name is familiar, but I can't quite place it right now. He's definitely not in my wing." It will puzzle her for a moment longer before the greenrider dismisses it with a flick of her hand, "Oh well, it will come to me eventually." Quietly, she watches the wildling in her collection of the reeds growing by the water, wandering forwards and looking down over her shoulder, although at a respectful distance. "So he's un-scarred this rider of yours?" Alyna ask with a salacious lilt to her voice and an appreciative waggle of her brows, before she sobers slightly, "I've had a few close calls over the turns. But really, as soon as Haquith chose me, it was like the realization was there, in the back of my mind. This is probably what's going to kill me," being a rider that is, "It was the first turn of the pass you see." The greenrider knows she will be very lucky to see the pass end, "So from the very beginning I knew I couldn't live with any regrets with that looming over me."

"Brownrider, with a very friendly beast named Quaverilth," Devana elaborates, and gives another chuckle at Alyna's prying. "Aye, he's unscarred. I'd prefer he remain that way, but Thread pays no heed to what we'd like, does it?" After emptying the reed pod of fluff, she moves on to another, this time kneeling and getting down near the base, digging a bit. "It's a challenge, avoidin' regret," she observes matter-of-factly. "Have ye managed?"

"Brownrider…right…" There's a moment of realization on Alyna's face as she quickly schools it down to something casual, "Yeah, I have heard his name before. He's in my friend Th'res' wing, Lynx," she answer with a smile and a little giggle, "Well enjoy him every chance you get is all you can do," she advises with a dab of playful wisdom. As for avoiding regret, Alyna cringes slightly before answering, "Not always the best, but I've gotten better in recent turns. It's all about being true to myself and surrounding myself with people who accept me as such, and will never ask me to change." A little wistful, she shakes her head to clear it before she peeks again at that fluff, "So what do you use that stuff for?" she just has to ask, the curiosity is killing her.

"Oh, I do," Devana counters, eyes dancing wickedly as she rises to shove some hair back out of her face, a hunk of root speared upon her knife. "The gettin' better is the key, aye? Better to see regrets as lessons than failures, even if some stay with you." The wildling's expression doesn't give away any particular regret of her own, though the sheer neutrality of it may be telling enough. When Alyna asks about what she's doing with the reeds, however, she animates again. "There's an number of things to be done with this one," she notes, gesturing at the entirety of the plant. "It's all edible. It can be woven into shelter or furniture or footwear. It's good for tinder. I use it for medicines. The fluff is good for treatin' burns and some rashes; the root makes a good poultice. The sap does the job of redwort in a pinch."

"Well good for you," Alyna highly approves of people enjoying themselves thoroughly with a twinkle in her eye before she agrees with Devana assertion about lessons learned, nodding her head slowly. As the Wildling explains the many uses for the plant she's harvesting, her eyes grow wide with surprise, "All that from a simple reed? Huh…" she muses as she rocks back on her heels with a thoughtful hum as she considers the younger woman for a long moment. "So I don't mean to pry, but how are you with the idea of F'kan being with others say, because of flights when his brown catches? Are your people like holders, in that you mate or handfast with one person to the exclusion of all others?"

Devana nods to Alyna's first question, humming an affirmative as she slips the root into her pouch. Sitting back at ease on her heels, she turns brown eyes upon the greenrider, shifting a little to sheathe the knife into her boot once more. "I don't expect things will be much different if his dragon catches," she replies with another bit of a shrug. "He's sought me out after Quaverilth's losses, and I'm sure he will after all's said and done in a win. Such is life in a Weyr, aye? No use worrying about it overmuch." When it comes to her people, however, she scoffs a bit. "My people make much of handfasting and what it means for a man and a woman, but it doesn't stop exclusivity sometimes. Arranged unions tend t'yield such things," she drawls. "They're learnin' though, bit by bit. Some people just aren't made for it. It's a slow thing, undoin' such a long-held belief."

"Please excuse all the questions, I've only just been here a Turn now, and i'd never heard of your people before," Alyna explains as she goes back to her leaning against the boulder, her hands behind, propping her up. "I've met a couple of others, men though, in my time here. I call one friend, with a little more on one occasion, and the other…well he's an absolute puzzle to me." Which the greenrider, of course, finds absolutely infuriating and captivating at the same time. "But I am afraid I may have scared him off because I let slip that I'm weyrmated," she explains to the wildling rather shamelessly. Sorry for the TMI Devana, Alyna's on a mission, and you've been recruited for you specialist knowledge.

Not that such knowledge would be something Devana considers "special," being quite accustomed to living with it. She shifts to sit on an open spot on her oilskin, listening to Alyna with patient amusement. "'A little more' and not asking for more himself? Interesting," she notes. "As for the other, wouldn't know what he'd have cause to be afraid of, save for the usual, perhaps." Her shoulders hitch upward again, a smirk skewing her lips. "We don't all know each other, in case you're wonderin' if I might. Very few of my clan have even ventured inside your walls, and I'm not overly familiar with it myself." Yet. She's working on getting up her courage to wander within the Weyr.

"Not at all actually, it's amazing what being up front with one's lover can accomplish," Alyna says loftily, "He's well aware that my weyrmate is and will remain my priority and seems to have no qualms." And that's good enough for this greenrider because she knows everyone involved is aware of the situation. Humming thoughtfully at Devana's response about the other wildling, she caps it with a sigh, "Oh, I get that, but you still might have insight I could never think of.." Then her remark about not really being familiar with the weyr, she gives the younger woman a side-eyed look, "Has your man not shown you around properly? I'm surprised he wouldn't want to show off a catch like you to his buddies," she teases with good humour as she gives the younger woman a blatant once over.

"May be that he keeps it to himself. Faranth knows I do among my own. Best for keeping the peace until the time comes for them to hear it." Them being their respective clans. As for Devana having more insight, she simply laughs. "Ye may have to ask some specific questions, greenrider. Men are men, far as I can tell. Food and sex make them happy, they like to show off how capable they are, especially to one they desire. And every now and then…they pull from somethin' deeper because they've decided you're worth their hearts." She seems to go a bit pensive with her last, her tone quieting. "Wildling or weyrman, the motivation's the same, even if the method is a bit different." She seems to shake it off just as Alyna decides to look her over, lifting a brow at the scrutiny and then scoffing softly. "He's offered. We're easily distracted. And I suppose I've been a bit nervous about bein' out and about."

"Huh, well you've definitely given me some things to think about," Alyna muses then laughs out loud at Devana's assertion, "Oh right you are there! Men are men, no matter what their background." When she sees the other woman go a bit pensive, she gets curious again, "So has this brownrider offered you his heart yet, or are you just hoping he will?" Alyna wants all the gossip, she leans forward in anticipation as she scrutinizes the other woman while she replies.

Devana blinks a bit at the question, the fact that she's been caught off guard for a split second conveyed in the act before she straightens where she sits, masking anything further behind another scoff. "He's offered nothin' and I hope for nothin' greenrider," she asserts, though busies herself a bit conspicuously with unbundling and assembling her fishing pole. "It's enough I get to have him. Enough to know he's back from the Fall and the field each day." But it's complicated for the wildling huntress on a few levels, and she's not sure it's wise to say too much to this dragonwoman she's only just met, no matter how amiable Alyna is.

You can't fool Alyna, she saw that look of being caught off guard and how Devana tried to mask it. But she has also learned that sometimes, if someone doth protest to much, that it's not wise to push them before they are ready to admit things to themselves, Faranth knows she was that person not too long ago. But there's something about the way the wildling busies herself which is very telling to the greenrider. "Well, I hope he continues to return to you for a good long time," she says succinctly with a warm smile in her direction. "And if you ever want a distraction free tour of the Weyr, I would be happy to oblige you," she offers, because, yeah, Alyna is pretty darn amiable.

Devana laughs again at Alyna's last, though she's nodding at the same time. "Aye… That may be something I take ye up on, should I see ye again," she replies. "We have a habit of draggin' each other into any dark corners that show up, it seems." Or else teasing each other enough that going elsewhere becomes imperative. She fits the top section of her pole in place and begins threading the line along it. After a moment, she pauses, looking speculatively at Haquith in the water, then back to Alyna. "Does your dragon like fish? Or maybe like to fish would be the better question."

"Dark corners huh?" Alyna's pale blue wyes light up with mischief at that admission as she chuckles with a soft shake of her head, "You sound like my kind of gal Devana." While she watches the wildling ready her pole, she lets her gaze wander to Haquith who hasn't moved from her spot in the shallow but churning water, happily content with her makeshift massage. "She does on occasion, but she's recently been fed. But…" and here her eyes unfocus briefly while she holds a conversation with her lifemate. "Yeah, I figured she would be about ready to head back. She needs to check up on my 'mate's blue, make sure he isn't looking elsewhere for company…" she finishes with a soft roll of her eyes, but only when her back is turned on the green. "I'll leave you to your fishing Devana, and I really hope our paths cross again soon," she says sincerely as she buttons up her jacket before grabbing Haquith's straps and offering the wildling woman a final friendly wave before she makes quick work of putting her straps on and mounting up to return Weyr-wards.

"Alright, then," Devana says as she gets her hook tied, her expression wryly bemused in the wake of Alyna's first comment. "Next time for what I had in mind, then. Farewell, greenrider Alyna." Once the pair has departed, it'll just be the wildling, the river, and the fish within…and whatever thoughts she allows herself to mull over in her newfound solitude.

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