Firelizards or Rocks? [Kyrah/Irinn]

[Dragon]

[This is before the Hatching. ]

Irinn was bored. She'd been helping in the Kitchens, again for the hundredth time, but she loved it. She was tired from helping, and she was hungry. Very hungry. She piled roast wherry and tubbers on a plate and found a seat near the entrance to the Weyr Hall. She looked around at the other people. She spotted her sister, Sallyn, walk by. She shrugged her shoulders. It seemed to her that hardly any of her siblings wanted to sit and eat with her.

She sighed and turned back to eating her food. It felt good to have food in one's tummy. Especially if it was your own mother that had cooked the food. Irinn grinned down at her plate. But once her food was done, she had plans to run into the forest again. She had hidden her handful of rocks that she'd been hiding from her friends. Nevay and Azenry loved to steal her rocks. But this time she'd found the perfect place. A small cave that only she could fit into. Nevay was too tall and Azenry was fat. She grinned again. She couldn't wait to get back to her cave and look at her rocks again.

[HG]

Returning to the Weyr always had its downsides. One of them being the number of people around. They had brought the Expedition Members in the day before. While it had been nice to finally have a warm bath she had to admit, she preferred roughing it. The red head sat down on near a tree, outside the Weyr. Kyrah simply couldn't take being in the dark rocky corridors, she was too free a spirit to be locked away in the Weyr.

Today she had decided to take Eve out and do some training with her. The Gold was enjoying herself. They were practicing geography in a way. Not as in depth as what dragons did but she was trying to associate places with words for the Firelizard. Eve was catching on much more quickly than she had anticipated. "Weyr." The Gold betweened to the Weyrhall. Chirped at the people there and then betweened back to Kyrah. Showing Kyrah where she had gone. "That needs some working on. Silly. Weyr doesn't mean where the food is served!" She laughed. "Okay lets try something else."

Absently the young woman scratched underneath the Gold's chin. "River." The Gold stared at her. Then moved her head as she saw something coming toward them. Kyrah ducked low behind one of the larger trees. Then Eve's images became clearer. Oh, it was just a girl child. She stood and came out from behind the tree, bow still in her hand and Eve on her shoulder. "You there. What are you doing outside of the Weyr?" The child was much to small to be wandering outside alone. A wild feline could easily hunt and kill a child not to mention poisonous plants, and venomous snakes.

[Dragon]

Irinn nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard someone speak. She looked around, a guilty look plainly on her face. She recognized Kyrah immediately as one of the women that was in the Dragon Shield. Should she tell the woman that she was out gathering some herbs for the kitchen or getting her hidden rocks?

The temptation to lie was strong, but she knew, somehow, this would reach her mother or father. So she decided to tell the truth. "I'm going to my cave to get my rocks I had collected and hid there two days ago. Your in the shield, right?" And then her eyes zeroed in on the gold firelizard and she lost her other thoughts flew out of her mind. She couldn't look away from the gold firelizard.

[HG]

While Kyrah listened to the little one's excuse. She wondered if the girl knew better and still came outside against her parent's wishes. A part of her wanted to turn the girl in to protect her and the other part thought that being a tattle tale was the worst thing to a child. She raised an eyebrow at the mention of a cave. Then the little girl seemed to guess at her own rank but her eyes darted straight for Eve.

"Yes, I am in the Dragon Shield. I'm Kyrah. This is Eve." As if responding to her name, Eve chirped in a cheery greeting to the small girl. "She is one of the two Gold firelizards in the Shield. We were just working on some location training." One of her favorite things to do was train Eve. "Who are you?" She asked, as she tried in vain to think if she knew anyone with a red haired daughter. Well it certainly wasn't her. She was only eighteen, the girl was much more likely to be her sister. Although that too was fairly improbable.

She thought about the cave mentioned and wondered if that would be a good place for Eve to see, a hiding place or sorts. Ky doubted the little girl would want to show her hidden rocks but maybe if it was Eve... "Eve insists on escorting you to your hidden rocks so that you arrive safely. Its very dangerous out here." Kyrah said in a slightly stern tone. "I won't tell your parents if you promise me you won't come out here by yourself." It was her job to protect the residents of the South. She would feel bad if something did happen to the girl if she could have prevented it.

[Dragon]

Irinn smiled tentatively at Kyrah. And then her smile widened at the Queen firelizard's chirped greeting. At being asked who she was, she blushed but puffed out her chest with pride. "I am Irinn, and my mother is one of the Cooks in the Kitchens and my father is the Weyrling Master." Her eyes darted to the gold again.

At hearing that the gold wanted to escort her to the cave, her eyes widened. "She does? So firelizards are very similar to Dragons? My father says they seem to be." She thought again about taking one to her cave. "You can come too, if you want, Kyrah. I don't mind showing the cave to you. It may come in handy, if need be." She turned around in a slow circle to get her direction again.

She'd lost her direction of the cave when Kyrah had startled her, stepping from behind a tree. She finally remembered the direction and pointed. "It's this way," and headed off in the direction she'd pointed.

[HG]

Irinn was the Weyrling Master's daughter. She knew of H'nen but she did not know him. Her family was not full of dragonrider blood. Although her half brothers were hoping to impress at this upcoming Hatching. She rather doubted it but then what did she know. Kyrah had not been Searched and certainly did not wish to be. She loved her work in the Shield and found that Eve was more than enough trouble.

“Irinn, do you come out here a lot by yourself?” Kyrah asked, wondering if it was just the girl or if several weyrbrats had begun doing so. If it was a lot of them she may want to bring it up with Eriol. He'd know how to handle this type of situation. As it was, Ky was kind of too interested in what the young girl would show them to be mean or condescending.

Eve flew just behind the small girl though a little above her, Kyrah followed just behind the Gold. “Alright. Its good for Eve to see new places.” And good for Kyrah to see where her firelizard could go. Irinn seemed a cheerful, happy child but what child would be unhappy spending time with a Gold firelizard? “Do you collect all kinds of rocks?” Kyrah asked trying to figure out why anyone would collect rocks. She certainly would not have at eight, in fact she had already begun training by then.

[Dragon]

Irinn looked behind her to make sure the gold firelizard and Kyrah were following her. Being in the company of a gold firelizard and a member of the Dragon Shield was enough to make her giddy. I don't come out every day by myself. My friends, Nevay and Azenry, come with me sometimes. I was planning on getting my rocks and returning to the Weyr to hide them from them." She gave Kyrah a wide grin.

"It is? Why?" Irinn asked as she walked ahead of them. She loved firelizards as much as she loved food. She almost missed Kyrah's question about her rocks. "I collect any rock that I find pretty. I have a rock that is gold with silver running through it, and another one that is pure black with spots of gold in it." She stopped for a second and then turned right, following another trail, though less travelled and not well worn.

[HG]

Eve continued to follow the girl as she had been while Kyrah answered her questions. All the while, she was thinking how strange the young girl was. “Firelizards and dragons both need to remember locations well for when they go Between. Its better to bring Firelizards to the same places over and over again.” She said thinking that it was probably similar with dragons though Firelizards were deemed more dim than dragons. Kyrah was of the opinion that Firelizards were better with geography than dragons were.

As Irinn explained the pretty rocks she collected, Kyrah nodded. “I see. I'm not a rock collector but if I see any while I'm out of the Weyr that you might like, I'll bring them to you.” She had nothing better to do most of the time. Despite the dangers of the jungle, she always had time to do other things when they were out. It was a quiet life most of the time. The jungles were only dangerous if you did not know and prepare for the dangers.

She would be leaving again in a day or two. They never stayed at the Weyr long. Reports constantly came in from cotholds surrounding Refuge about felines or being raided by holdless. Some people did not want to work for their living and took up a life of thievery and deception. They were harder to track than felines but it was so much more rewarding to her to catch bad people than a confused feline.