VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 13:20:41 05/29/05 Sun
Author: Yima & Yimask; Oriana & Orisk; Mikhal & Misk
Subject: >~<

((Very sorry to have taken so long to reply; it's the end of my last year of high school, and things were very hectic for a while. >_< Fat Friar, I think I'll leave it with one hatching cave. Since dragons and firelizards don't match their cycles, I don't think watchwhers will either, so it'll be at separate times. As long as two clutches don't happen at once, I don't think the territorial thing will come too much into play - they'll have their own private caves elsewhere - and if worst comes to worst, there are other caves in the "living area" branches. And besides... *sheepish grin* I've already drawn the map. And I'm too lazy to spend another two hours re-doing it. But as I said, if it really becomes a problem, we could stick the greens in the smaller side-caves.))

"Yes," Yima mutters in reply to Ghys' comment. She can hear the green's unhappiness as well as its handler can, and guess at its source. "You do. And 'Ask needs to hunt, too." She rubs her forehead with one hand, then reaches down and thumps Yimask's thick skull affectionately as the wher stiffens and hisses in warning. /What is it, 'ask?/ Closing her eyes, she lets the wher send her a heat-image of their surroundings, centered on a strange human just inside the entrance tunnel. Oh, shards, not another interruption.... I'll never get anything done tonight at this rate, she fumes darkly. Biting back a snappish comment, the woman chooses to instead ignore Keao for the moment. She stands silent for a moment, turning over the circumstances, her desires, and her options in her head for a long minute, then shrugs. Bending over, she picks up the furs and begins distributing them to the children, letting the glowing eyes of their watchwhers and the little noises they're making be her guide. "Use those if you're cold," she says simply. "But try to stay awake as long as possible. Oriana, I want you and Orisk right next to the tunnel, with Orisk watching for any intruders. No, hang on a moment-" Darting for the tunnel, she reaches blindly for Keao, clamps down on the girl's shoulder, and drags her into the big cave. An irritated sigh escapes her. Another sharding child! she snarls to herself. "Hn. Now get ready to stand guard. Mikhal, remember, if anyone does come that Orisk doesn't recognize, you and Oriana will handle them. Ghys, take Ghysk out to hunt, and take Yimask with you. She'll help you find your way back, if you need it, and I have things to do down here." Yimask immediately squalls a protest, sensing the drift of her handler's faults, and Yima releases Keao's shoulder and spins away to glare down at the watchwher, hands on her hips. No one else may be able to see her posture, but the wher will. "Don't. Argue. You will go hunting with Ghysk, 'ask," she snarls, and Yimask whines and bows her head, defeated, before slinking towards Ghys and Ghysk. She hisses at the green, her natural ill temper augumented by this loathsome notion of Yima's, but the watchwher queen knows that in the end, Yima is capable of out-stubborning her. Better to go along with this strange green - at least she'll be keeping an eye on one of the strangers, well away where she can't be a danger to Yima. The hiss is the worst Yimask will do.

As soon as the green pair and the golden watchwher leave, Orisk sets himself in front of the tunnel entrance, mindful of the orders given by both his own handler and the departing Yimask. Oriana sits down beside him, resting her head against his muscular shoulder and patting his neck absently. She doesn't want to do this, but she doesn't think arguing would get her anywhere even if she had the courage to. Then a hand touches her shoulder, and Mikhal whispers a sheepish apology for startling her when she jumps and squeaks. He sits down beside her, and they quickly fall into an awkward, stop-and-start conversation that becomes a bit easier as they get acquainted.

Letting Ghys, Ghysk, and her own irate wher slip from the forefront of her mind, Yima stalks over to her pack - she'd been keeping track of her strides as she walked around, and knows exactly how far she is from it - and digs around inside, pulling out a pen and a scrap of hide. Once again she scrawls out a message, writing with the easy illegibility of someone who has been scribbling in the dark for years. Pulling herself to her feet, she quickly locates Manethnre, bending close and slipping the roll of hide into the girl's hand. "If your firelizards can get that to the Headwoman or the Weyrwoman, that would be best," she says roughly, as if she wants badly to snarl at somebody but doesn't want to be unfair to Manethenre. "Otherwise, just have them leave it in the Lower Caverns." Straightening and turning away, she relocates Keao, snatches the girl's wrist up in a strong grip, and drags her away from the rest of the group. Yima is multi-tasking. She can talk to the newcomer and explore the cave system on her own. Free hand out to keep her from walking into a wall, she reaches the nearest edge of the cave and begins to follow the wall, leading Keao with her by sheer brute strength. "Come along, child," she orders sharply. "Tell me your name while we walk, and you may as well tell me why you're here while you're at it." Yimask had best eat soon, because a good part of Yima's irritability at this point is due to her watchwher's hunger. Not all of it, of course. Yima wouldn't be Yima if she wasn't snappish, bad-tempered, and paranoid. But feeding the gold might help.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.