river colors (pup)

[Juzou]

(Quick deets for clarity: Juzou is one of those rare people who can hear all dragons, so he'll sense them as they come flying by, and Ash'yi's derg will be able to sense him in turn and will recognize him as someone desirable as a candidate. Juzou will probably resist so they will have to wrangle him.)


Little punches of color punctuated the air over the gray pebbles of the riverside. A set of fire lizards, outside of their familiar and preferred treelines, chittered at, and even chastised, the boy who was unceremoniously peeling off his rags at the edge of the water. The boy was Juzou. The indignant fire lizards, in order of noise level, were Loudmouth (no surprise there), Snout, Cram, and Toothy. They disapproved. These were not fish-catching ocean lizards, they were of the jungle. They hunted tunnelsnakes and nested among the green rafters of the understory, and they didn't understand their human companion's apparent attempt to drown himself.

Juzou, on the other hands, was covered in about five weeks worth of jungle filth. Even the spotter who had meant to be supervising him in the absence of seniors had sent him away in disgust. "You stink like the underside of a watch-wher," he had said. Juzou had only a limited understanding of what a watch-wher was, but the look on the man's face suggested they slept in their own dung or perhaps in half eaten carcasses? Juzou would have followed that line of questioning, but the spotter had shoved a rough bathing stone at him with a, "Don't come back until you've scrubbed that everywhere." and nearly a boot in the bottom.

Juzou flung away his final scrap of clothing and then stood there, stretching his arms out, face up against the sky, which was as naked as him. Not a cloud in sight.

Just so, he waded out into the water. Cram, the boldest of the lizards despite his smaller size (he was only a Blue), landed on his shoulder and wrapped his tail around Juzou's neck, digging his claws into the boy's shoulders and squeaking his displeasure. The other three flew overhead as Juzou walked deeper into the water. When he had reached waist level he stopped and threw up his arms, scattering droplets at them. Toothy and Loudmouth scattered with angry squalls. Only Snout, the Bronze, actually dared to dip down and skim the top of the water, dragging his claws and tailtip in it before spinning upwards, scattering shining droplets in every direction.

Bliss.

Juzou had never known a hold or a weyr, but he knew what freedom was, and it was no walls, a warm river, and total nudity.

The bathing stone lay forgotten along with his rags, and Juzou would get to them eventually, but first! It was time for the frivolity seldom afforded in a ravager's life.

"Take off, Cram," he said with a wave. The Blue let go with a bleat of complaint. Juzou waded deeper, chest high, and then ducked his head underwater and lost the bottom completely. The river was a lazy one, but just swift enough to challenge him to cross it, and when he emerged on the other side, breaking water with a gasp, he was met with four angry fire lizards berating him from overhead. He only grinned at their concerns, and turned towards the sun again. He closed his eyes and ran his hands threw his hair, combing it back from his face.

There was a fresh cut on his lip and a bruise fading from his chin. His naked body showed all the signs of a life lived wild--many old healed scars, many fresh scrapes, exceptionally prominent ribs and collarbones, but that wasn't starvation's fault. It was difficult for a body's fat to keep up with an intensely leggy, gangly, long-armed growing boy whose limbs were about four years ahead of the natural curve. That, and the daily exertion of searching for food, and never really filling up his stomach, cut him a gaunt figure.

That would have been the most distinctive thing about the boy if it hadn't been for the marks on his chest. Just alongside his shoulders, and separated by his collarbones, were two appallingly raised, deep blue tattoos. Roughly swirl-shaped, he had earned them only a year ago, undergoing the agonizing process of having the skin nicked open and ink pressed in over and over again. Each swirl was the size of a jungle bloom. The marks of a Ravager.

He ran his long fingers over them as if they were treasures.

Juzou was delicately washing dirt from those tattoos when he felt it.

Something foreign came into his head, in a way that smacked of the flashes of emotions he got from his fire lizards. He looked upwards, sensing something up in that blue abyss of sky, sometime he had felt only distantly, only once or twice....

The alien feeling was as clear as a bell now that he was focused.

A thrill of fear went through him, completely bulldozed by a stronger thrill of discovery. Juzou had always been able to feel the vague, fleeting emotions of the jungle fire lizards, even before his accidental collection of his four. He had always known the flexible emotions of the people around him, their presence in the dark, and whether they carried a knife around him. But he had never heard something quite so distinct, so intelligent, and so close to the flavor of his fire lizards that he knew in a heartbeat what he was hearing.

Dragon!

Toothy sounded a shrill alarm, brought on by the sudden thudding in his chest, and came to land on his head and clasp urgently at his hair. Still a Queen despite her size, she screeched a threat at whatever Juzou had sensed. The other three flew a rapid circle around him, and it was through that circle that he looked up, and Juzou saw the vast silhouette of a dragon swimming in the sky above him.

[Ash'yi]

Lazy wing beats pushed the larger Bleached Green through the sky. She seemed to glide along the breeze with little care. She and Her's had decided to make one last run before the Hatching began, she hoping to find another Candidate or two for the little eggs on the Sands, Her's hoping to escape the Weyr for just a bit of peace. Out here, they were free. Out here, away from the disapproving eyes of the Weyr, She and Her's were just dragon and Rider. No need to care for the lack of color on her hide.

White wings pumped. Had there been a cloud in the sky, she would have blended in well enough that even Ash'yi might have had difficulty finding her, but as it was . . . there wasn't a cloud in the sky, clear blue stretched out in either direction of them and Ash'yi didn't even try to hide the smile. It's good to feel you so relaxed, my love, he heard in the back of his mind, could almost feel his dragon curling up in the back of his skull like a little firelizard on the back of someone's shoulder. Do not think of me as one of those tiny pests, Oeemyth snapped causing Her's to let loose a bellowing laugh.

Don't be angry with me, my sweet. You know I have a soft spot for you and you alone, Ash'yi sent his dragon. He skimmed the area as Oeemyth flew lazily over the tree tops. He watched as the downward beats of her wings sent the trees swaying in the wind tunnel she caused. A small part of him told him he should have her pull up so they weren't so close to the ground, but Oeemyth liked feeling the trees bend under her wing beats. Focus on the task at hand, Oeemyth. The Hatching is soon and we don't want to fail the little ones, he sent, shuddering at the memory of past Hatchings. It was difficult to remember a time when things weren't chaotic during a Hatching.

I know what I ha-

Suddenly, Oeemyth stopped mid sentence, drawing Ash'yi's attention. His dragon's head snapped, her body angled, until she was almost perched atop a massive tree. Her wings beat steadily, holding them in place as Ash'yi clung to his saddle horn, and Oeemyth scanned the area.

"Oeemyth?" Ash'yi whispered, he standing himself up in the stirrups until he was flush with his dragon's neck. He reached out, one hand gliding along her ivory scales, the other grasping the horn tightly to steady himself. His eyes couldn't see anything from the height, save the ground, but Oeemyth felt something.

I believe someone special is about, Oeemyth finally breathed, basically launching herself into the sky and almost unseating Ash'yi. His dragon seemed to be swimming through the sky, swaying back and forth, as if following a trail. It wasn't until they crested the treetops that Ash'yi was able to spy a slow moving river below them. There, at the edge of the river, he could see what looked like a young boy . . . . a chuckle escaped his lips . . . . and firelizards. Hush! Oeemyth snapped at him, her wings pumping at his back as she positioned herself to land with her back legs in the water and her front legs on the side of the river that the boy was currently on. As she landed, the large ivory Bleached Green filled her lungs with air, a sharp hissing sound, puffing up her chest, as if to make herself look bigger.

Maybe we could try talking to the boy before we frighten him? Ash'yi asked, slowly slipping from Oeemyth's back and landing on the ground. His boots made light imprints in the ground as Ash'yi moved himself toward the boy. It had been a hard life for the Bleached Greenrider and he had learned to tread silently, something he rarely ever had to think about anymore. 

Before Ash'yi could even open his mouth, he could see Oeemyth's mighty head leaning over his shoulder. I feel you, little one, the dragon sighed, causing Ash'yi to tense a little. The boy looked . . . . feral . . . . naked at the day he was born, four firelizards fluttering about his head, and scarred and marked up. Past dealings with the Ravager clans told him that the crude blue markings at his shoulder tied the boy to a clan but which one and what position he held, Ash'yi didn't know. Placing a hand on Oeemyth's jaw, he pressed gently, trying to get her to withdraw enough that he could size the boy up. "Hello there" he smiled, keeping his teeth hidden so as not to send the wrong signs. "What are you doing out here all alone?" he asked, eyes twitching as he took in the surroundings real quick. They didn't need to spend much time on the ground. 

[Juzou]

Toothy was squalling her rhythmical warning, and Snout and Loudmouth were flying high in defense against The Threat, but Cram had landed on Juzou's shoulder and wrapped himself around the boy's throat. His wings were beating furiously as if he could carry the boy away. His little talons even gouged into his bare skin. The fire lizard's anxiety, a pure yellow square in Juzou's mind's eye, was blinding. It blotted out the content of the draconic voice, but not its presence, which was booming and growing ever nearer.

Juzou had to physically grab Cram to wrest the Blue away from his face. The poor thing was nonsensical in its alarm. Juzou had to issue a mental order, a hard one, saying Go, Now! and Cram zipped away with a despairing crow.

Juzou looked up, and opened his mouth. Out of the blue sky, what had been a distant dot of a Somebody was plummeting to fill all the air above him. The dragon's underside was white. There was some significance to that, even a Ravager brat raised in the jungle knew it, but exactly what it signified was lost to him. His heart was pounding in his throat, nearly out of his body. A dragon. A dragon!

The dragon struck the ground--a delicate landing, but from such a great beast that he still felt it through all the grains against the sand under his feet. The sheer bliss of discovery was knifed with the realization of danger.

Such realizations were always slow to come to Juzou.

The dragon and rider moved astonishingly swiftly, and with practiced speed, a man (Juzou had barely seen him) swung down off the white neck. He was dressed in what must have been dragon-garb. It was much like the riding gear of the better-dressed Juzou had seen. The surprising grace of the dismount, and the obvious craftsmanship of the riding leathers, reminded Juzou of the Lord of his hoard. But this dragonrider had none of the thundering atmosphere of Joa.

The man approached smiling. The way he smiled, without guile, and the way he nervously scanned the riverside, robbed him of any dignity that the dragon gave him--at least in Juzou's mind. Had the dragonriders no reason to face the world and its strangers with their teeth? Had they no knowledge of these jungles at all? No, of course they wouldn't, it was occurring to Juzou. He was coming to a lot of conclusions (maybe half of them accurate). The speed of the conclusions was what kept his feet flat on the ground. Only when the rider reminded him that he was alone, did Juzou recall his isolation, and his knife left on the other side of the river, with a thrashing dragon tail between him and it.

Juzou didn't turn his back and flee as instinct might have had it.

He knew that there was no point in trying to flee such a creature. After all, as she reminded him, in that bizarre voice in his subconscious--she could feel him.

Juzou stood his ground and met the dragonrider's smile with cool regard.

"I am not alone," he said, letting the man imagine ravagers with arrows and knives lining the dense treeline. He filled his mind with pictures of his fellows hiding among the greenery--perhaps it would fool the beast. "What are you doing here alone, in the land of the Lord Joa? Know you not of his blue-marked people--that they descend upon even large prey like jungle insects, and turn them into heaps of bones, and the bones into jewelry?" He was playing the oldest card in the natural world: the bluff. The flare of a neck frill. The hiss of a snake. Juzou turned the legends of his people on the dragonrider, for he had no other weapon. "You have landed unwisely, dragon, man," he said arrogantly, addressing each of them in turn. "And had best flee, if you treasure the scales on your tail or the blood in your head!"

[Ash'yi]

Ash'yi waited for a reply, He could see the little sparks in the young boy's mind, run, fight, pile of clothing behind Oeemyth's tail even probably a blade since he was way out here and alone. So . . . You feel a Candidate in this . . . . boy? he sent, watching carefully and with a trained eye. When Oeemyth didn't respond, Ash'yi couldn't help but wonder what had his normally chatty Green tight lipped. 

A silent step forward put him one more step closer to the young boy. He could see the crude blue markings a little better and still feel Oeemyth's hot breath on his back. He was curious when the boy didn't flee but met him head on with cool regard. It was actually kind of refreshing and while the smile didn't grow on Ash'yi's face, it did slowly slide back to just a gentle lift of his lips. Oeemyth shuffled behind him, bringing her head above his so that she could see all and flared her wings once before slowly closing them. It seemed she was prepared to stay awhile. 

The boy's first words rang and Oeemyth chuckled. Lying to a dragon is never good, little one, the Bleached Green almost purred as she spoke. Her nostrils flared, breathing deeply while she turned her head slightly and fixed one, green tinted orb on the boy. 

Ash'yi knew Oeemyth wouldn't have set them down in a trap. In the beginning, maybe, they had flown in blindly before and paid the price. A slight throb in his left side started up at the memory of the first time they took a Candidate to the skies. The runt of a girl had truly not been alone and her coherts had put a blade between his last two ribs on the left side. Oeemyth had sent the attackers running, Ash'yi ended up in the infirmary, the girl Stood and Impressed to a fiery Green but it was a lesson they had learned together. Ignoring the ghost pain, Ash'yi stood his ground. "Threatening a dragon and her Rider is never a good idea, boy," his voice was a little harder at the idea of someone hurting Oeemyth and his added hiss from just above his head spoke that Oeemyth didn't take kindly to the threat.

"I've heard of your Lord Joa, but your blue-marked people means little to me other than curiosity," Ash'yi offered, one step forward. "You know why we are here, why we are on the ground. Agree to come with me and I won't have you bound and naked over my saddle horn," he offered, a special glint in his eye at the idea, mentally planning out a night of fun with his next partner in such a fashion. 

[Juzou]

His bluff failed him, and Juzou was left adrift by it, lips parting slightly in surprise. It fascinated more than galled him: his bluffs never failed! These dragons, the dragonriders, they truly were another sort of beast, weren't they? Fascination and self preservation battered one another within him. Fascination won out, for the dragon had not advanced, and neither had the rider drawn a blade. Whatever their intentions, they seemed not violent. Which intrigued him all the more.

"It is not I that threaten you, beastman," said Juzou, crossing his arms over his chest in an arrogant gesture, contrary to the bone. "But the land, water, and trees themselves do, for every leaf and droplet is his, and he will know if you disturb them."

The man took a step forward, and Juzou nimbly took three steps back. "I do not know why you are here--though I would like to. What business have a dragon and a dragonman have in the realm of Joa?" Come with them--why would he go with them? As a hostage? Perhaps they thought him a close relative of the Lord with which to barter? "If you think to gain his audience through me, know that I am mere subject, not son to him. I'm sure he does not even know my name." Juzou said even that with pride, for there was honor in being an anonymous man of the horde. "However," this he said with more cunning. "If it is an audience you desire, I am as sure I can arrange it. Joa would welcome the strength of dragonkind in his conquests." Imagine the great white thing descending upon their enemies' Holds! Juzou sent the white dragon a tantalizing image of a Hold set aflame, and her raking its towers with her talons. All the herdbeasts you could eat, he tantalized. And gold--surely even your kind like to gild themselves? My smaller companions often collect gleaming things.

As if he had called her, Toothy transported into the air above him, and dropped to his shoulder with a trill.

His friends had calmed somewhat, as his own trepidation had dimmed. Now they were as fascinated with the dragon as he was. Golden Toothy twined around his neck, propped her forelegs on his shoulder, and stretched her head out towards the enormous white beast. She hissed an obligatory warning of possession. If they wanted Juzou, she suggested, in emotions instead of words, they ought to know that he was already taken.