J'nas and his Turnday

Jenna gives J'nas his turnday present - a riding jacket - and the two end up at Boll in a rainstorm.

Jenna - Monday, June 03, 2002, 8:53 AM
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Your location's current time: 9:56 on day 6, month 7, Turn 40, of the Tenth Pass. It is a summer morning.

Star Stones
This is one of the highest peaks of the entire Fort Range. To the north of here are two vertical rock outcroppings. On the left is the Finger Rock and off to the right is its companion, the Eye Rock. Together, they perform three major functions. These are the first landmarks weyrlings memorize when they learn to fly *between*. And more importantly, when Rukbat balances on Finger Rock at dawn, it marks the winter solstice. If at this time the Red Star is bracketed by the Eye Rock, a Pass is due to begin.
Downwards to the west is the volcanic expanse of Fort Weyr. Individual weyrs pockmark the inside of the cone, and dragons are constantly flying in and out, popping in and out of *between* a few dragonlengths away. The Fort Range stretches as far as you can see to the north and south.
Contents:
J'nas
Hanreth(#3131JOabpqs$)

Niyath backwings to a landing, talons scrabbling on the ledge. Jenna unclips and gets ready to slide down, dressed in a rather bulky jacket.

Hanreth warbles a greeting as Niyath touches down near the stones. J'nas shields his eyes in the morning glare to identify the new arrival. "Good morning, Jenna. Niyath," he calls out cheerfully.

Niyath raises her forelimb and watches you until you reluctantly use it to get down, rather than a faster way.

Jenna pulls off the jacket, folding it over her arm, as she picks her way across to the brownrider. "You got watch duty this morning? I'd've thought they'd give you a rest day, considering."

J'nas looks askance at Jenna, "So you know, huh?" He returns to his reclined position and gazes skyward. "Actually, Hanreth and I were just out here enjoying the sunrise earlier. Now we're just talking."

Jenna smiles a bit, "Yeah. But not which one it is. So: how old?" She shifts, folding the jacket a bit more properly.

J'nas points at the the ground, "Have a seat. I have Twenty-one turns today."

Jenna settles in. "So almost of an age with me. Sometimes I think we're the oldest in the class." She pauses and then offers over the jacket. "I didn't have time to wrap it - I was going to, and you could've used the cloth to make a scarf later, but - happy turnday." The jacket doesn't quite have that new stamp on it - from a tanner master posted to the weyr several turns ago. But the hide is well cared for, and a deep rich loam. Carefully tooled and patched in on the back is the Fort insignia in black suede. The inside is lined with ovine fleece and looks rather luxurious. A pause and she says, "With between training coming up, I thought you could use it."

J'nas stares at the jacket for a long moment before taking it in his hands. He looks up from the jacket to goldrider. "It's beautiful, Jenna. But I can't take this, it must belong to someone else."

Jenna shakes her head. "It doesn't. I raided stores." Yes, Leah said she wasn't supposed to, but that was a technicality. This jacket wasn't for her. "Please? After all, you're going to be representing Fort. Can't have you looking shabby, can we?"

J'nas flushes slightly when Jenna uses the 'magic word'. "If you are going to insist, then I have no choice, do I?" He holds the jacket up to examine the patch. Peeking around the garment, he queries, "Are you saying I look shabby now?"

Jenna shakes her head. "No. Try it on and see if it fits? I had to kind of guess at the size."

J'nas drapes the jacket over his shoulder and stands up. He brushes the dirt and dust from his trousers before donning the jacket. He shrugs into the jacket and experiments with the mobility before fastening it up. The brownrider grins at Jenna as his hands linger over the fleece lining. "This is awfully nice, Jenna. Are you sure this is issue?"

Jenna says philosophically, "No. But you've got to stay warm between, right? I'd bet there were trous to match, but I couldn't find them." She tilts her head up, shading her eyes. "Does it fit all right? Not to snug aroud the chest or the arms?"

J'nas closes the fastners and moves about in the jacket. "It doesn't seem to be too tight anywhere. It's not riding up on my midsection. I suppose it was meant to be mine," he says. J'nas turns a full circle with his arms held out wide. "Well? How do I look?"

Jenna's smile is, once again, slow in coming. She nods and says lightly, "Very presentable. - It does almost look like it was made for you. See? You have to wear it with it being such a good fit and all. So, happy turnday."

"Thank you very much!" J'nas breaks himself away from admiring the jacket. "You do realize that I'm going to have find out when your Turnday is, right?"

Jenna wrinkles her nose. "Nah. It's not supposed to be nice to mark a lady's turnday." A pause, brow furrowing as she realizes what she just said. She hurries on, "Anyway, I'm just glad you like it."

J'nas grins slyly, "Then I suppose I'll have to be discreet about." He glances back down at the jacket, "Trust me, this is one of the best gifts I've ever received."

Jenna looks pleased. "I'm glad then." A pause and she says, "So what did you think of the lecture the other night. What a lovely thing to have happen before your turnday, hm?"

J'nas takes the jacket off before the summer's afternoon sun begins taking its effect on him. He shakes his head, "Not exactly what I wanted to hear at this particular time, no. I've experienced flights before, but I was young at the time and didn't understand completely." He draps the jacket over Hanreth's neck. "This time it was awkward. Funny thing is, I don't know why."

Jenna suggests, "Maybe because we were all there listening?" Niyath settles down, one wing half extended to droop over the ledge, basking in he sun. "She wasn't listening, but I was."

J'nas gazes at Niyath, "I kind of feel bad for her. She really doesn't want anything to do with it, does she?"

Jenna shakes her head. "Not at all. She's still just a baby. More interested in fighting Fall and betweening than boys." She shrugs. "She'll get there eventually, even if she thinks she won't. Shells, I wasn't the fluttery type myself. Why should she be?"

J'nas laughs softly, not wanting to make Niyath cross. "I suppose that's true. Sometimes I wish Hanreth would take a clue from Niyath. His quest for fun can be exhausting!"

Jenna's smile grows a trifle lopsided. "And I wish Niyath'd take a clue from him, because she's so serious all the time. I know I wasn't, back when I was a runner. Then again, I didn't have so much to do back then."

J'nas chuckles and looks at the two dragons. "If only they'd rub off on each other. I don't think that's possible, though. Hanreth is so irrepressible, its ridiculous."

Jenna objects mildly, "He's fun to be around though. Can't always say that about Niyath." The admission is a candid one, and she adds ruefully, "Or me because of that."

J'nas smiles sympathetically, "You should work on that, Jenna. Tell her you want to go do something fun. Niyath affects you, but she doesn't control you. Besides, when she realizes that you are enjoying yourself, maybe she'll start enjoying /herself/.

Jenna mms. "She will go with it if I am. But she's just not too keen on seeking it out herself at times. It's like she's always playing at being grown up." She shrugs slightly. "Still, at least she's not a bubblehead."

J'nas snickers, "It's a /very/ good this she isn't daft. Have you tried telling her that she has plenty of time to be a grown-up and should do fun things now, while she has time?" He shakes his head, "Now I sound like my mother."

Jenna laughs. "I try, but she really doesn't have much of the concept of the future. Just *Now*. Everything has to be done *Now*." She leans back on her hands, stretching legs out before her and squinting up at J'nas. "It's not that bad, really. I'm just kvetching a bit. Have you been down to see your mother since we were cleared?"

J'nas nods. "I flew our harper down the other day, but she was tied up in Hall business. It's going to be hard catching her now that she's the Masterharper."

Jenna's expression flickers, surprise going across her features for a moment and then replaced with something a trifle distant, though still polite. "I hadn't heard. You must congratulate her for me then. I hope everyone down at the hall was well?"

"I'll pass along your congratulations." J'nas raises an eyebrow. "You didn't know that Rodric stepped down? Does this change your stricture regarding the Hall?"

Jenna flushes. And here she was trying to be discreet. Aware she's blushing, she just turns redder. "I don't know that it does. Perhaps I'll be allowed to ferry people in for the upcoming gather."

J'nas bites his lip, realizing that he didn't follow his typical diplomatic style. "So, how about this weather?" he asks with an air of levity.

Jenna's eyes flick back up to him, her expression wry, though her ears and neck are still a bit flushed. "Smooth," she notes with aplomb. She shakes her head. "A lot can happen in a turn or more. So." She follows the subject change. "I think it'll be really warm today. What duties do you have? Think we'd have time for a trip to Boll or not?"

J'nas grins, "My duties for the day involve rest and relaxation. I don't think those stores can get any cleaner."

Jenna considers. "I need to meet with Cerilla and Valry, but not until dinner."
Q Name Rank Dragon Idle Location

J'nas clambers to his feet. "There is a wide ocean just waiting for a couple of dragons to splash around in it."

Jenna asks mildly, "Is that an invitation then?" Niyath lifts her head, eyeing the riders speculatively.

Niyath> Hanreth senses that Niyath queries mildly, << Ocean? >>

J'nas nods and offers a hand up to Jenna. "You are hereby invited to attend the sea at Southern Boll with Hanreth and myself."

Dragon> Niyath senses that Hanreth is eager, << Yes! The big water that your rider called the Sea. >>

Jenna grins, coiling legs under her and taking the hand up. "Then we graciously accept, brownrider." A pause and then she asks, "Shall we see if we can find a chaperone? You and I don't need it, but..." She shrugs a bit.

J'nas looks a little sheepish, "Would Niyath mind bespeaking Branath. He's a little miffed at Hanreth for spoiling his sunbathing yesterday."

Jenna shakes her head, eyes unfocusing. Then, after a moment she says, "Valry's said that she has some hides that need delivering anyway, and it's good enough for us to learn the landmarks." A pause and she says, tone rising a bit, "You don't suppose they're going to start us between training soon, do you?"

A gleam of excitment sparkles in J'nas' eyes. "Other than sweepriding, I can't think of anyother reason for landmarks."

A few moments later, Branath can be seen on his ledge, clearly ready to go. Jenna grins at J'nas and then makes an 'urk' sound that sounds more appropriate on one of the spit canines. "There she is already. Think she was looking for an excuse?" She hurries to Niyath's side and clamors up.

J'nas climbs up Hanreth's forelimb, and finds a secure spot between his neckridges.

Niyath seems to fall lazily off the ledge more than spring into the air, wings snapping open as she immediately catches a thermal. Show off.

You leap off the ledge and spread your wings, rising above the center of the bowl.
Above the Center of Fort Weyr Bowl

On the Star Stones, Hanreth waddle-hops toward the edge and peers down. If Niyath can do it, /he/ can do it. He tips over the edge and unfurls his wings to ride the same thermal. Ha!

Valry and Branath launch from their ledge, the brown winging towards the weyrlings, evidently with instructions. Valry passes on a few hand signals. She's apparently to lead, while the weyrlings watch the terrain. Maybe there'll be a quiz afterwards or something.

Above the center of the bowl, Valry and Branath launch from their ledge, the brown winging towards the weyrlings, evidently with instructions. Valry passes on a few hand signals. She's apparently to lead, while the weyrlings watch the terrain. Maybe there'll be a quiz afterwards or something.

From atop Hanreth, J'nas signals his acknowledgment to the brownrider.

Niyath twists her neck back around to warble at Hanreth, even as Jenna acknowledges. Leaving her rider to check her airspace, the queen elevates her spars, shooting upwards on the thermal and out of the bowl behind Branath.

You climb farther up into the sky over Fort Weyr.

Valry and Branath bank in a wide circle, the older brown settling in for the flight, after a quick look back at the weyrlings.

Hanreth bugles happily as he can see the ocean on the horizon. Meanwhile, J'nas is looking down, studying the landscape below.

Niyath starts out gliding more than pumping her wings. Jenna isn't looking down at first, but then Niyath starts taking mesured wingbeats, and her rider turns her attention below. There is a squeal from the girl, torn away on the wind.

Niyath> Hanreth senses that Niyath is excited, << She saw her family's home for the first time. We will go there as soon as we are allowed. >> A pause and then, to ease the tedium of the flight, << Tell me about the ocean? >>

Dragon> Hanreth bespoke Niyath with << The water is bigger and the swimmy-things are much bigger than the ones in our lake. The water is warmer, too! >>

You wing down the coast of the Fort Peninsula towards Southern Boll.

You wing down onto the gather beach.
Gather Beach of Southern Boll(#1772RJMSa)
Waves crash agains the shore as the cry of a seagull pierces the morning sky. White sands stretch before you, blinding you with their purity. Wildflowers border the beach, their scent lifting the spirits. The picnic area filled with 'places' to relax, surrounds the new bamboo shack with the 'Minnow' nameplate that is set up near the edge of the beach. The beach is mostly empty, an occasional early morning person walks past. A sign points up to the path to where the vine used to be and the 'beach waters' look inviting. The morning is dotted with a few grey clouds. It is pouring heavily, lightning and thunder crashing. The ground is wet, puddles forming in areas from the rain. A light wind blows from the southeast and the winter air is hot with a high level of humidity.
Type '+lhelp' for local help.
Contents:
Cooking Pit
Luau Feast Spread

From the sky, Hanreth wings down onto the gather beach.

Hanreth backwings to a landing.

Niyath spirals down under the threatening clouds, as Branath and Valry backwing to land in the courtyard. The young queen stirs up a gust of sand as she lands, looking around eagerly.

From atop Hanreth, J'nas hunches over as the rain pelts down on him. "It wasn't raining last time I was here. I swear!"

Hanreth whips his tail tail anxiously, leaving trails in the sand. He croons at his lifemate to hurry up and get off.

You slide recklessly down Niyath's side. She turns her head and gives you an admonishing rumble.

J'nas unstraps himself from Hanreth's neckridges, sliding down his forelimb to the ground.
J'nas has arrived.

Jenna shouts over against the wind, as she slides down and starts yanking off straps, "Maybe it'll clear up?!?" Niyath shakes herself free and starts towards the water as a crack of lightning whips across the sky. "Niyath!" Burdened with the straps, she can't run after her, though the queen does stop, disappointed and clearly not afraid of the weather.

J'nas peers out at the water. "I'm not sure you should go out there yet, Hanreth. Lightning and water don't mix." Nonetheless, he proceeds to divest the brown of his riding straps.

Jenna jumps as a crack of thunder seems to open on top of them, hunching her shoulders against the noise and looking for a place to get in out of the rain. Niyath obligingly extends a wing, shifting around to hold it over both Jenna and J'nas. "We've gotta get in out of this, J'nas. How about that little shack?"

J'nas looks at the shack Jenna points out. "Looks good to me! Come on." He bundles the straps under one arm and waits for Jenna before heading over. Hanreth spreads his wing over the two as a moving shelter as well.

Niyath angles her wing down behind the pair, letting Hanreth take point, until the two are safely in the shack. Jenna has a hard time keeping straps out of the wet sand, and gives an audible sigh of relief when she dumps them on the mat floor inside. Then she bursts out laughing, looking out at the rain. "Uh, Happy turnday again?"

J'nas is caught up in the laughter. "Too bad we can't fly to Ista. I doubt it's raining there."

J'nas dumps his own straps in a corner and shakes water from his new jacket. After haning it from a peg on the wall, he flops down on the mat where he can look at the ocean through the door. "I remember storms like this at Tillek," he says to no one in particular.

Jenna pulls off her own jacket, relatively dry under it, save for her trousers. "Is that where you were raised? Zak and I were supposed to be there this spring, but that didn't work out." She kicks off sandy shoes and ambles over to drop down next to him.

Niyath watches the water, clearly disappointed she can't go in, even as lightning flickers all around, thunder cracking down.

The morning is mostly hidden between scattered grey clouds. A heavy drizzle falls. The ground is wet, puddles forming in areas from the rain. A light wind blows from the south-southeast and the winter air is hot with a high level of humidity.

Niyath> Hanreth senses that Niyath tries to find something nice to say. << Well. It *is* wetter than our lake. >>

J'nas shakes his head, "Not entirely. I grew up in Igen Weyr, Harper Hall, and Tillek." His eyes trace the white caps as they roll in toward shore.

Hanreth plunks down in the sand and huffs at the cloud cover.

Dragon> Niyath senses that Hanreth is /not/ pleased. << This is not the way it was before. >>

Jenna asks curiously, "Were you fostered? Or was Master Jenufa able to keep you with her a lot of the time?" She pauses and then adds, "And if I'm being too nosy, just tell me to shut up."

Niyath> Hanreth senses that Niyath offers, << The flashes of light are kinda pretty. And so is the water, the way it goes up and down like that. >> In a bleak, forbidding, gray sort of way.

J'nas smiles and pulls his wet boots off. "I wasn't fostered. I was born in Igen when Jenufa was posted there as a journeyman. When she was promoted to craftsecond, we moved to the Hall. My mother set up a second residence near Tillek to serve as a retreat." He chucks his boots into the corner with his riding straps. "I decided to remain at Tillek on my fifteenth Turnday."

Jenna nods, brushing ineffectually at her wet trous. "That'll be important for her, to get away from it, even if just for a little while. Think you'll get most of her conveyance calls when you graduate?"

J'nas grins, "I wish I could. Unfortunately, the Masterharper can't be seen showing preference to one rider over another." He shrugs, "Who knows, maybe she'll make an exception in my case."

Jenna nods. "That I understand all too well." She slicks back her wet hair before settling back to watch the waves herself. "So why'd you stay at Tillek? A girl?"

A faint smile quirks the corner of J'nas' mouth. "Originaly, yes. But she left for Keroon to apprentice at the Beasthall. I decided to stay and earn my keep. I worked under the Steward for a time.

Jenna glances over at him. "Lucky guess is all. Hear from her at all anymore?"

J'nas remains focused on the waves outside. "At first, we wrote each other once a sevenday. Her letters became less and less frequent, until they finally stopped coming at all. Last I heard, she had been promoted to journeyman and was being posted outside the Hall."

Jenna concludes, "And I'm prying." A pause and she says, with a hint of amusement in her tone, "So... how about that weather?"

J'nas laughs and leans forward to get a better look at the sky outside. "Well, the water's still coming down, but not as heavily. Maybe we'll get lucky and the storm will break soon."

Jenna shrugs slightly, "I don't mind. I've been here before. Niyath's the one that hasn't. But she's not so terribly disgruntled. I think she kinda likes the weather. Would like it more if she could be out swimming, but not on the shell of the first egg she lays. Leah would skin me alive."

"I think Leah would skin any of us if we let our dragons swim in this," J'nas points out. "I don't think I'd forgive myself if Hanreth was out there."

Jenna asks curiously, "Was fall supposed to be over Boll today? I can't remember off the top of my head. Maybe this'll drown out the thread."

J'nas blinks. "Shards! I didn't even check the charts today!"

You say "Valry wouldn't have let us come if it was right over the Hold, I'm sure." She sighs faintly, though her tone is bemused. "Yet another thing I should know and don't. Least Valry has her head screwed on straight.""

J'nas regards Jenna with a hint of amusement. "You really need to take some time off from lessons. It sounds like you're letting them get to you."

Jenna says wryly, "Mmmhmmm. I do, and the sky opens up on us. Think maybe it's a sign?"

J'nas gets up and steps toward the door. He cranes his neck to peer up at the sky and announces, "The storm is breaking. There's nothing but blue sky on the horizon." He takes a step outside and curls his toes in the wet sand. "There are only a few drops falling now." Hanreth bugles happily and starts waddling toward the water.

Jenna pushes up, peering outside the door anbd asks, with more than a little amusement, "Should I risk stepping out and having the storm blow up again?" Niyath is hot on Hanreth's heels, tail lashing in the peculiar gate she has.

J'nas squints up at the sky, "I'll by mighty impressed if you can do that. Or incredibly frightened."

Jenna smirks faintly. "Aren't you supposed to be frightened anyway? I'm a goldrider after all." She squeezes past, heading for the water and shucking clothes as she goes.

J'nas trails behind Jenna, clothes falling off on the way to the water. After splashing into the surf, he points out. "If I were a bluerider, I might be frightened."

Jenna opens her mouth to retort, and then shuts it after a moment, torn between looking guilty and miffed. Finally guilty wins out. "Yeah, but I assure you I *don't* like F'niah. He probably really likes men anyway and just hasn't figured it out yet."

J'nas raises an eyebrow at Jenna's statement. "You don't like him as a person, or you don't like him in a relationship kind of way?"

Jenna considers, standing in the shallows for a moment. "Well, I couldn't ever admit the former. But definately the latter."

J'nas chuckles as he plunges his head under the water. After resurfacing, he is still laughing. "I wouldn't worry about the latter, isn't he a bit young for you? As far as flights go, I doubt Saneth would ever catch Niyath."

Jenna dives under an incoming wave, and strokes out towards Niyath, who is busy biting at the waves for some reason, perhaps trying to catch them. "Blues don't catch golds no. And yes, far too young for me anyway. And too arguementative. I like a good debate as much as the next girl, but F'niah's simply the end."

Hanreth glides past J'nas to head toward slightly deeper waters. Floating in the surf, J'nas replies, "I never really thought of F'niah as arguing with you. I always thought he was trying to get a rise out of you. It seems to work, too. I'd prank him back, but he might think you /like/ him."

Jenna says firmly, "Well, it's not going to work any more. Once he can't get a rise out of me anymore, he'll leave me alone."

"There you go," J'nas encourages. "Just don't ignore him completely, or he'll think he's got you on the ropes."

Jenna eyes him for a moment. "Used to torture girls this way? That's how you know so much about it?" Niyath lowers her head under the next wave, and swipes a splash at Hanreth with her tail.

J'nas smirks knowingly, "Back then, it wasn't considered torture. That's flirting." Hanreth takes the splash full in the snout and dives under the wave. He dives deeper and makes an attempt to pass beneath Niyath.

Niyath sticks her head under the water, eyes open. She gives a short bugle, and promptly gets water up her nose and losing track of Hanreth. Raising her head, she starts coughing, as Jenna tries not to laugh, "Niyath - yes, love, it's salt water. Different to water in the lake." Then she flips a splash at the brownrider, "So what is it called when you reach our age? Obnoxiousness?"

J'nas squeezes his eyes shut at the oncoming water. "Yup. If you get to be our age and act like that, no one will talk to you." He returns fire with a splash or two of his own.

Hanreth erupts from the water behind Niyath, bugling with glee that the tactic works in the sea as well as the springs.

Jenna laughs, taking the first splash and moving back out of the way. Niyath is apparently a bit slow on the uptake, for she whips about, snatching her tail out of reach and snorting at the brown. Or maybe she's just trying to get the lst of the water cleared from her snout. "So tell me I don't act like that?"

"What, obnoxiously?" J'nas sidestrokes toward Hanreth. "If you do, I haven't been around to see it." Hanreth's tail begins thrashing about in the water, creating his own torrent of rain.

Jenna seems satisfied, treading water for the moment and wiping drizzle out of her eyes. Niyath sinks lower int the water and submerges, trying to be stealthy. Unfortunately, she's just too big. Her rider seems to find this new tactic amusing, from the giggles that are threatening to erupt. "Look out, J'nas."

J'nas watches the golden blur under the waters surface and continues to paddle lazily toward Hanreth. "What do you suppose she is up to?"