In the Middle of the Night [open]

[Dragon]

Standing watch with Goranask was an old, familiar dance by now. Despite the fact that they were in a new place, Giana and Goranask knew all the steps to keep their place safe. They were a formidable team and no one snuck up on Goranask.

As it was, it was late at night and the wherpair was getting ready to finish their watch. Gi doubted that anything would happen at this point, and she was starting to think about dinner ... well, breakfast for most of the Weyr ... although she did not let herself get distracted from the task at hand.

Therefore when she heard the crunch of boots on the path, her attention was immediately drawn. "Who goes there?" she asked, mentally assured that Goranask was ready for anything.

[FirebrandPhlox]

K'mina whistled into the dark night as he made his way down the path. He carried a fishing pole in one hand, a bucket filled with fish in his other. Those Marzurka squad folks hadn't been pulling his leg after all! It was true, one of the lakes near the weyr had fish that were incredibly active at night, and catching them was a fitting challenge for one as great as he!

Of course, Gurrenth had protested wandering into the jungle in the middle of the night alone, so K'mina had to wait until she and Lagann were well asleep before he could sneak out of the weyr.
Any complaints his bonded might have about him going out on his own would surely be forgotten when presented with a treat of fish caught fresh by the Great K'mina!

He heard the call of a guard asking him to identify himself as he rounded the corner near the weyr. "I am K'mina of Garnet Gurrenth! Who calls to me?"

[Dragon]

Relaxing slightly - but only slightly - at the claim that the one who approached was a dragonrider, Giana put a hand on Goranask's shoulder as she tried to judge the wher's appraisal of the situation.

Smell fish. He had nothing else to offer other than that at the moment. As the figure started to draw closer, Gi started to smell fish as well. Huh. She had personally never been night-fishing, for all that she did most things at night ... although if she or Goranask were more fond of fish, she probably would have done so.

"Giana and Bronze Goranask,"{/b] Gia said by way of identification. [b]"What brings out out of the Weyr so late?" she asked, although obviously, it had something to do with fish. Why come out at night to fish, Gi didn't know, but hey, to each their own.

[FirebrandPhlox]

K'mina squinted into the darkness, doing his best to make out the handler who had called out to him. It was hard to make out details of her face between the dark of the night and the dim light of the glows he carried. He continued to approach, following the path to the entrance of the weyr. If he continued on the path, he would catch sight of his conversation partner soon enough.

"Fishing!" He responded with as much brass and bravado as he could muster at this hour, which was still quite a lot. "Would you believe there is a lake down this path where the fish are more active at night? Quite the fighters they are! I had to come out and see if the rumors were true myself. What brings you out on a fine evening like this, Giana?"

[Dragon]

So it was about fish. Huh. Giana knew next to nothing about fishing. She could catch a fish and prep it to eat, but she did not have the sort of knowledge about it that those who made a sport of fishing had. Personally, she thought it foolish to go out into the jungle at night just for a challenging fishing trip, but other people had other priorities.

"Keeping watch," Gia answered the question succinctly. Goranask was a watchwher after all; this was what they did. Gi was considering looking into one of the squads and not 'just' guard duty, but for now they were both happy with themselves. "What would you have done if you had run across a spotty?"

[FirebrandPhlox]

He was finally getting close enough where K'mina could start discerning the shape of the guard and her accompanying wher. He couldn't make out much of their appearances, but at least had an idea of their general shape for now.

"Ah, I supposed that was a stupid question. Of course a handler and her wher are on watch in the middle of the night! It's just common sense." He flashed one of his most charming smiles, ignorant to the amount it was obscured in the darkness.

"I suppose if one of those nasty spotties came along, I'd have whipped it with this rod here." He swung the rod around for effect, again, forgetting he was in the middle of a dark jungle. "Then, if they got too close, I'd clock them on the jaw with my bucket. The Great K'mina doesn't fear mere beasties. Y'know, I once held my own against a pack of wild dogs!"

Truthfully, it had only been a pair of dogs. And they weren't exactly wild ones either. It had just been Old Man Bumpis's hunting dogs back in Crom. And they hadn't exactly attacked him, just gave him a look and a growl. But there was no way for Giana to know that!

[Dragon]

She could hear the fishing pole whip through the air as he demonstrated just how he'd fight off an attacking spotty. Gi, although new to Semaca from Crom Hold, had already heard of the prowess of spotties. They were formidable foes, not cute kitties to be chased off by waving a stick about.

"Did you now," Giana said dubiously. She had no way of knowing whether or not K'mina was telling the truth, but if his idea of how to fight off a spotty was hitting it with a fishing rod then she didn't think he was likely to be able to get rid of a pack of feral canines single-handedly.

"Well, spotties have done serious damage to full-grown whers before. I wouldn't suggest going out in the jungle with just a stick to defend yourself against them!" Frankly, she wouldn't have gone out in the wilds around Crom with just a fishing rod, and there were no spotties to threaten her there.

[FirebrandPhlox]

K'mina chuckled as he finally got close enough to be able to discern who he was speaking to. This Giana was shorter and frailer looking than he had expected for a guard taking her duty so seriously. He knew from spending enough time around handlers back at Telgar to not judge a handler by their size, but by their teamwork with their wher.

The tone of her voice completely flew over K'mina's head. "Don't worry about me, I know how to handle myself out there. Besides, if I run into trouble, I'd be willing to bet if I hollered loud enough a strong, capable handler like you might come running to help me out." He flashed another winning smile, his charm fighting an uphill battle against the night's shadows.

[Dragon]

Giana was stronger than she looked, but then again she couldn't really be weaker! She was a dainty thing and she knew it. K'mina was a good foot taller than her and toned. No one would be surprised to know he was a rider like they were shocked that Gi was Goranask's handler.

She could see now that K'mina was flashing smiles at her, and she suppressed a sudden urge to roll her eyes. "You can't count on someone being close enough to hear if you go out into the jungle," she pointed out. Was he stupid, or just filled with hubris? "We wouldn't want to lose you and yours."

[FirebrandPhlox]

He dropped his smile, pondering at the response the handler had given him. "Huh. I suppose that's a good point. Lots of noise out there in the jungle. Though the lake isn't that far." He thought for a moment then lightened up again. "Next time I'll bring a horn or something! That way if I do run into trouble I can't handle by myself, which is very unlikely, I might add, I can make a ruckus and someone is sure to come looking for me!"

He leaned back smiling smugly at the brilliant plan he had come up with for himself. "You think that would work? You and the other guards would be able to hear that, right?"

[Dragon]

This man was ridiculous. A horn or something? Sure, that would make some noise, but that didn't mean that a guard would hear the ruckus or leave their post to go searching for the source of the sound.

"It's probably best not to go out into the jungle at night," she said tactfully, "or at least to tell someone where you're going so they'll know where to look if you get into trouble!" She wouldn't go out into the jungle at night even with Goranask as backup. Not just the two of them.

And all this for fish! Or, no - it seemed like he'd been after a thrill as much as the actual fish. "I wouldn't count on a horn to save you."

[FirebrandPhlox]

"It might not be the best, but nothing scares The Great K'mina!" He thumped his chest with flourish grinning at Giana. Any skepticism or criticism she had of him was flying completely over his head.

"You want a fish?" He asked, presenting the bucket to the watch pair. "It's been a long night and I'd bet you haven't had anything to eat since your watch started. Though I guess the fish is raw, so maybe more of an offer for the wher. Your name was Goranask, right?"

[Dragon]

The Great K'mina. Right.

Giana scoffed slightly at the dragonrider's over-the-top behavior. He was supposed to be responsible for maintaining the safety of the Weyr, and responsible for the life of his dragon, and yet he decided to go out fishing in the middle of the night and risk everything.

Still, nothing that Gi had to say seemed to be having any effect on The Great K'mina, so she stopped wasting her breath. Instead she focused on the offer that K'mina was making Goranask.

Am Goranask. Like fish. The bronze wher looked appreciative of the offer and turned a little towards the braggart to accept the gift.

"Thank you," Giana said for the both of them.

[FirebrandPhlox]

K'mina didn't notice the scoff from Giana, too pleased that the wher was accepting his offer. "Great! Let me get you a big one." He fished around in the bucket and pulled one of the larger of his catch out, one nearly the size of his arm. He had enough to be a decent treat for both Gurrenth and Lagann back in the weyr, might as well give a good one to Goranask. It lay limp in his hand.

"Here you go, good sir!" He held out his arm towards the wher, offering the fish. "Fresh caught and delicious!"

[Dragon]

At least The Great K'mina was generous, you had to say that for him. He might be completely egotistical, but he did think of others. Goranask delicately took the fish from K'mina and took a couple of moments to savor it as he ate the treat.

Good fish, Goranask commented as he swallowed it down.

"Glad you liked it," Gi said, smiling fondly at her wher. She was giving up on trying to convince K'mina that what he'd done was a really bad idea.