Myths & Legends

There was at least one benefit to having a particularly large bronze dragon, and that was a larger weyr for living quarters. There was also at least one downside to that, thanks to the jump and the necessity of cleaning Fort from top to bottom; a bigger private weyr meant more dirt and grime had built up over the centuries and it would therefore be more of an undertaking to restore it.  There were other private weyrs that had freed up, so to speak, after the jump, but Kavath had expressed displeasure at the idea of relocating simply for the sake of it. ~our weyr is big and it has a nice view~. Kavath was right. When they'd graduated from the weyrling barracks what felt like eons ago, they had been settled in different quarters. Kavath had grumbled that the weyr had been barely big enough for a blue, and he'd been so moody about it that the Weyrleader himself had needed to intervene, after the young Kavath complained to the older bronze dragons about not being able to turn around in his own weyr let alone fit on the raised stone that served as a dragon couch.

It was one of the physically higher weyrs; a necessity for a dragon like Kavath who found it easier to drop into flight from a height.  The weyr also had an excellent view of the hatching grounds on the nearest, northeast side,  and the glint of the lake to the southeast.  ~Its warm~ Kavath added to the list of reasons that keeping their 8th pass weyr was the best choice. Privately V'turo thought it was as much because Kavath was a creature of habit as for any other reason, no matter that the bronze could easily come up with a list to justify his resolve.  ~this dragon of habit is hungry~ Of course he was. Kavath landed on the ledge and stretched sinuously, a move that would have dislodged V'turo were he not  well used to his dragon's quirks after ten years as lifemates.  Unconcerned , V'turo dismounted and moments later unloaded the cleaning supplies he'd brought up.  It was only the second day after arriving and while his personal effects and dragoncare equipment had been brought up immediately, he hadn't had a chance until now to get stuck in to restoring their weyr.

 ~you spend too much time helping others and not enough helping yourself~

"Hmmph." V'turo gave Kavath's rump a hearty thump and began by heading to the rear section of the weyr -his own living space- and replacing the glows to better assess the damage.  He had orders. There were things that had to be done. And in truth, Kavath had been working hard too, helping to hunt extra meat for those dragons that had been injured, sickened or were simply still recovering from timing it. From the past or to the future? It was a matter of perspective now, V'turo supposed.

 ~Another Queen.~ Kavath announced with a quiet rumble from the ledge where he'd settled to sun himself. He did not make a sound, no bugle of acknowledgement or greeting for the Queen dragon as yet, just quiet observation. 

"From High Reaches, I heard." V'turo responded out loud, though it wasn't necessary to do so. Kadiveth, was it not? Kavath confirmed in his mind. There was something comforting about hearing the echo of his voice to remind their weyr that they were home. He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up on a peg.   ~I told you it was warm~ "So you did. Always right, you are." Kavath was distracted and silent, presumably still watching Kadiveth.

"What are they doing?" V'turo wasn't truly curious, but he was currently sweeping out his rooms and it was nice to discuss unimportant things with Kavath as he would not with any other.

~The rider has gone into the Weyrwoman's weyr~ and Kavath bugled a greeting and a welcome to Kadiveth and then fell silent.

"We're expecting help in here today. I'm not sure who." V'turo reminded the bronze and swept the mess of dust and dirt out and over the ledge, careful as he automatically stepped around Kavath. The dragon rumbled gently in response but shifted over so that there would be enough space for a visiting dragon of any size to land on the ledge, and V'turo went back to cleaning the interior, losing himself in the busywork.

He'd sneezed several times already from the dusting and taken to covering his mouth and nose with a kerchief, which he loosened and let fall to his neck as he paused to survey his progress.  What he wanted to do was have the entire weyr scrubbed from floor to cavernous roof, but there weren't any spare drudges to see to such things, not before looking to the Weyr proper. Not that V'turo was too proud to do it himself but there was just so much else that needed doing and really he only had limited time to see to his own weyr.

Kavath opened one eye, swirling a contented dark blue, and informed V'turo of the arrival, letting out a small, good-natured and put-upon grumble-purr as he responded to the green ~land then, and welcome~. Kavath made no extra effort to move, there was space for the much smaller green to offload  the visitor. The big bronze slowly opened the other eye and fixed a lazy sort of attention on the young woman, recognizing some of the bundles for what they were even as V'turo enquired in his mind.  ~furs. bundles. sleeping things~. The dragon snorted hard enough that a veritable gust of air kicked up some of the collected dust and sent it over the cliff edge in a shower. ~too hot for furs~. V'turo agreed but didn't bother to remind Kavath that spring would give way to winter and then the furs would very much be needed. Kavath did not take such things into consideration and knew only that V'turo tended to kick the layers off and preferred to sleep on cooler, firmer surfaces.

V'turo dusted his hands off and strode through the weyr and out to the ledge, raising one hand in greeting to the green and her rider but otherwise staying silent. He leaned against the wall, as Arath landed, his arms folded and his expression unreadable.

The moment the green touched neatly down, V'turo pushed off the wall and approached to offer his arm to aid the woman to dismount. "I'd offer hospitality, but..." He trailed off and shrugged one shoulder. There was nothing to offer but dust and and silence.

Kavath continued to watch with a mild sort of interest, attention temporarily diverted to the visitors rather than on the gold dragon down near the hatching grounds, his eyes swirled gently green and blue,  and he provided a heavy sort of silence, not unwelcoming but noticeable.

She apparently hadn't expected any help, either, V'turo noted and he took no offence at the woman ignoring his offered arm. He simply dropped it to his side as if he'd never offered it in the first place and set his attention on the bundles she was offloading, just briefly enough to confirm Kavath's assessment.

"V'turo, of Kavath." He responded briefly, forgoing the honorific or the unnecessary mention of Kavath's colour. His sheer size and reddish-bronze hide glinted in the light and caught notice without V'turo needing to point it out in words.  He inclined his head politely at green and rider and watched as they dropped from view. Kavath did not deign to watch after them and instead closed his eyelids and looked for all the world like he was pretending to be alone, but his attention was at least partially with the two humans. ~she is in my weyr, after all~ He rumbled gently,  more felt through the stone than heard.

V'turo, however, surveyed Luka  seriously, his deep blue eyes taking measure of her and noting his own carefully polite and serious visage reflected back at him.

"Will you let me take your burden?" Still gruffly polite. The dragonrider stretched both arms out this time, a clear indication that he was willing to take what she carried, all if it, if she wished.

Kavath, still feigning disinterest, stretched out and purposely taking up more room on the ledge. He let out another snuff of air, and V'turo felt his shirt and the fabric of his trousers buffet against his skin from the force of it.  Knock it off . Kavath huffed a bit and opened his eyes, turning his great head and resting it against the stone ledge to look out over the bowl.

"Don't mind him." V'turo stepped backward into the weyr proper and with a very proper little smile and the slightest tip of the head, indicated that Luka was welcome within.

V'turo did not comment on... the looseness of the bundle. Really. It was a good thing in some ways since after all it wasn't fated to remain in said bundle forever and as long as it had not been lost then there was no harm done. V'turo remained in his head as usual. ~And in mine~ The bronze claimed him proudly, even after all this time and that made V'turo smile, perhaps a little more genuine, if clearly distracted by the internal dialogue with his dragon.

He easily hoisted the portion of furs and blankets that she'd dumped on him, finding it unwieldy but certainly not any sort of trouble. She'd brought plenty too, he'd have enough for himself with no trouble. V'turo was not a man who required much in the way of the material. He had Kavath, and that was the most important thing, above all else.

It was Kavath that noted the girl's smile and the bronze rumbled quietly in spite of himself. V'turo eyed the dragon curiously for a moment and then when no explanation was forthcoming, followed Luka into the weyr. "Turth?" He inquired in a well-modulated, polite tone. He knew no dragon by that name. "If Kavath knocked you from the ledge, he would endeavour to dive to catch you." Moody and yet a gentleman, was Kavath. ~I would succeed~ The dragon spoke within him with the utmost seriousness and confidence.

"I have all the grand I need, sunning on the ledge." V'turo responded wryly, moving over to the double cot and using that as a dumping place for the furs, with the intention to sort them as necessary and arrange them to his liking. And true, there was not much in the cavern. No more than necessary at least. He'd made a dent in the cleaning already, there was certainly nothing resembling clutter at least, and a great majority of the dirt and dust had been swept free. He was tempted to have Kavath poke his head in the door as best he could and let out a few of those gusty huffs to loosen the remainder of the dust and grime within. Though it was doubtful the bronze would manage to fit his head through the door to the inner cavern of the weyr.  ~one nostril~ Kavath suggested so blandly that it was impossible to tell if the dragon was serious or not but V'turo prudently did no more than smile as he pictured it.

"And what did you bring, Luka?" Because the man had not forgotten the young woman was there. He eyed the pile she still held and indicated both table and cot. She could take her pick as to where to unload her arms.

He'd followed this, along with her earlier comments of not being warned of their coming and logically come to a conclusion. "Benden?" Not that he was particularly bothered. Some, he'd noted, had developed quite the distaste for Benden Weyr and its dragons and riders, just on principle as if it were entirely their fault that the rest of the Weyrs had needed to time it. The paradox was overwhelming if you followed it too far in one direction or another. Really, in the question of what came first, dragon or egg, to settle on one answer was to miss the point of the question as a whole. Lessa would not have needed to time it back so far to get the Weyrs if the Weyrs had not collectively left in the first instance. V'turo preferred not to think about it, and Kavath saw no point in any of it at all and provided distractions from that line of thinking whenever it did manage to float to the forefront of V'turo's mind.

~Not all of them~ Kavath pointed out, shifting on the ledge in order to sun his belly, and V'turo shot a significant sort of look at those furs he had managed to take from her already. Yes, not all of them, but apparently  she'd brought more than just a blanket or two. V'turo spread the furs and arranged them neatly, all straight lines and preciseness, almost as if he were judging if they would be suitable or not, except that they were whole and clean and that was really all he required in sleeping furs.

He snatched the pillow out of the air and deposited that on the cot too, without a backward glance, instead the bronzerider listened. "Better than cold feet on winter mornings at least." He agreed, pleasantly enough and then approached the table in silence, boots making surprisingly little sound against the stone underfoot.  "And a tapestry." He commented when he reached her side. The man sounded surprised, but not specifically approving or disapproving about it. It wasn't unwelcome, just surprising.

"And here I expected stolen knots." V'turo answered blandly, but there was a twitch of a smile in response. It was the dragon, he had inquired origins for,  but in doing so the subject of her origins, and another question came to the fore. His eyes were on the tapestry as she spread it. Home-y.

~weyr-y~ Was Kavath's immediate reply, a put-upon rumble in his mind, and perhaps too, and surprisingly,  in that of Luka's. V'turo described the tapestry to his bronze even as he let the dragon see it with his eyes. Neither were strictly necessary but Kavath did like to hear V'turo's interpretation of things regardless of if he could see or understand the point of them himself.

And the origins of the tapestry? Deep blue eyes examined the weaver, and then the tapestry, and then Luka again. But he did not speculate out loud. "Thank you." V'turo said quite simply. Not a sentiment he meant lightly either, but then he wasn't one to waste words.

The thank you expanded into a more genuine smile at the offer of assistance and V'turo nodded.  "I haven't had much opportunity to put things to rights." There was so much else that took precedence, even if he had done more than was apparent already. "Help would be much appreciated, unless you have elsewhere to be?" He wouldn't presume to take up her time, bronzerider or no.

V'turo rolled his sleeves up again as a matter of course and a literal interpretation of the concept of getting stuck into it.   There really wasn't enough time to muck about and so far Luka's arrival had served as a break of sorts, and her willingness to help was the perfect reason for said break to end. It struck him as an opportunity of sorts, really. Weyrborn she said.  In this time that wasn't necessarily a positive thing to admit and he wondered what a life with only the single Weyr could possibly have been like. He wasn't one to simply blunder into a topic though, even less so with someone he barely knew, so he remained silent.

It was less that he ignored the looking and more that he simply did not register it, being more engrossed with his own thoughts and preoccupied with the clean up, which he'd once again resumed.  Outside, Kavath's attention had once again turned toward gold.

"Possibly so. From the exterior the weyrs look much the same to the uninitiated." V'turo responded in his pleasant voice, leaving it unspoken that he didn't much see the point in delaying a person in such a way. Especially not when time and hard work were such valuable commodities when it came to restoring Fort Weyr.

As for where she should start, V'turo paused and looked around, surveying his progress thusfar. "Take your pick. You can sweep if you prefer or  scrub, or dust... and whichever your choice, I suggest to cover your mouth and nose, the dust is pervasive." And perhaps he would find a chance to ask about what it had been like, when she had had word of the sudden reappearance of dragons. He refastened his kerchief once more, covering mouth and nose to avoid inhaling the dust.

Conversation generally did not come easily to V'turo. He was wary of making friends with others, or more specifically wary of letting anyone in.  But he was a master of comfortable silences, since he felt no real compunction to fill them with unneeded chatter or pointless observations on the weather.

Weather observations were only necessary in relation to Threadfall and sweepriding of course.

He gave pause at the request to be pointed in the right direction. Surely it was noticeable where the dust had been cleared? "Expanding out from the back right corner." V'turo provided and then, since she hadn't appeared to notice, "The bucket and scrubbing things are by the wall, the plumbing seems to be working alright, when I checked," for water ,"And there is soapsand in the bathing room too."

He went back to sweeping, and after a short time began humming The Duty Song quietly and melodiously as he worked.