[WEYRLINGS AND WHERLINGS] Scouting

[Arcane]

All Semaca's weyrlings and wherlings are now old enough to begin learning to safely traverse the jungle. You have been sent, with your instructors and a few supervisors from the exploratory squads, to explore the recent rumors of reptilian monsters. The word of Lamentosans, over-imaginative candidates and foreigners surely can't really be trusted...right? But even if we can't spare valuable squads to chase ghost stories, it will make a valuable learning mission for you!

[Dragon]

Cyan - and, for that matter, Cyask - would much rather be doing this than sitting in a classroom and listening to a lecture. The blue's growth over the last couple of months had been both as expected and slow - slowly as expected, one might say. They didn't grow that much in the last couple of months of their first turn, only to speed up a bit more again then taper off completely as they reached their full growth. Cyan knew; he did pay attention.

Now just over eleven feet in length and four and a quarter feet tall, Cyask was still far more notable for his spectacular hide than his size. He was a truly beautiful wher, his skin reminding Cyan of the sea he'd called home for so many turns. The ex-pirate took a moment to marvel at the sight of his wher again, then turned his attention to the task at hand.

There may be something out here, Cyask pondered, but I am not entirely sure what it could be.

The wher, ever thoughtful and abnormally eloquent, received a nod from his handler. Cyan didn't see anything yet, but that hardly meant anything. There was a lot in the jungle that wasn't immediately obvious.

[nineofswords]

S'ra of White Moggeth - Open

Whose genius idea was it to traipse out here in this Faranth-forsaken weather? Moggeth growled to S'ra. Moving through air this thick is more like swimming than walking, and you KNOW how I feel about swimming, S'ra.

S'ra sighed from where she was seated on the white's back. If there are giant lizards, it's better to know now rather than after they decide to attack us like the wild spotties tend to. As you'd know very well if you hadn't slept through the Weyrlingmaster's orientation.

Well if he wasn't also so boring, I wouldn't fall asleep every time he opened his mouth, Moggeth grouched.

You fall asleep any time you so much as blink, don't blame it on poor V'san, S'ra scolded. It's not his fault he's no Harper. Moggeth snickered silently in her head, and S'ra quirked a small smile. Moggeth really was easier to deal with when she let herself be a little catty with him. She didn't like being mean, but if it meant a more cooperative partner, she'd manage.

"Anyone see anything?" S'ra called out to the rest of the group. "All I can see is the green of the jungle."

---

Bre'q of Blue Ostoriath - Open

Bre'q sat on Ostoriath's back, keeping an eye out for spotties, wild whers, or - apparently - large lizards. If ever there was a wild goose chase, this was one. The more gullible members of the Weyr might think it was some sort of wild, unbonded dragon. Semaca had all sorts of strange things, after all, and some people believed just about anything they heard. Bre'q thought it far more likely that the bronzerider was suffering from dehydration or heat exhaustion or something similar.

No sign of anything like what was described by the bronzerider, Ostoriath called out, taking this far more seriously than Bre'q did. After all, if there were some giant lizards around the Weyr, they all needed to know to be able to defend themselves. No tracks, either. Not even spotties, for which we all ought to be grateful.

[FirebrandPhlox]

Quentin of Brown Torrigath - Open

Quentin frowned as they rode atop Torrigath's back, carefully trudging through the dense jungle foliage. Normally animals didn't worry them much, unless they were canines, but Quentin did not like the sound of giant reptiles lurking in the dense green that surrounded their home.

Don't worry, Quentin, there is safety in numbers, the brown assured his rider. Quentin could also feel the uncertainty of Torrigath hovering at the edges of their mind, but Torrigath was more worried about his performance on this mission than he was about the theoretical reptiles. He was a brown, and needed to be a good example for the other weyrlings and wherlings.

I have seen nothing yet, Torrigath chimed into the conversation, though he was regretting not being the first to call out for a status update. He wasn't doing a great job of leading by example there. Quentin gently patted his back in comfort.

I suppose we should keep searching for a while longer. Even if we don't see anything now, that doesn't mean there aren't reptiles lurking deeper in the jungle.

[Dragon]

Cyan of Blue Cyask

With his hand on Cyask's shoulder, Cyan peered around at the weyrlings, both the riders and the baby dragons calling out that they'd found ... well, precisely as much nothing as Cyan and Cyask had. "I doubt they've sent us where we'll find anything," he said, loudly enough it was likely for the others to hear. "If they actually thought that there was something to be found ..."

[Arcane]

Athan of Brown Liraeth

After all these turns at Semaca, Athan was finally in the jungle.

It was a paradise. Green and lush, with no signs of thread damage or drought or blight. Berries grew rich and thick in the thicket. His fingers were already stained with juice from his foraging.

You should never let good berries go to waste, Athan knew, no matter how rich you thought you were.

The only taint on the day were the monsters, lurking in the woods. Woods this fertile would always nurture monsters, no matter how often his teachers insisted they lived only in childrens' stories.

"Most monsters only come out at night," Athan said, as he sucked a bit of sweet black juice off one thumb, "We're not going to see them at high noon. I wonder if it's a basilisk or a chimera. Those have scales."

Liraeth sniffed down every burrow and peered into every large hole in the trees, fascinated by this new wonderland he found himself in. Just like in Athan's memories- the world outside the weyr was a wonderland.

Because Athan said one should always eat what you find, and he wanted to know what everything tasted like, he had already caught and sampled two rodents, a lizard, an unusually juicy beetle and a particularly slow bird. The bird was his favorite, he thought. It tasted like wherry, but sweeter.

Even as he explored, Liraeth was careful not to stray too far from the group. He didn't know what he would do, if he found the monster on his own. He had never fought a monster before.

(Neither had any of the others- but they still seemed to know more than he did about how to go about it.)