((I'll leave this open to any and all Tiazora characters, but this is mainly for Phantas))

Jasmine wiped the sweat off her brow. What she wouldn't do for some juice right now, on this blisteringly hot day. There had been a routine training accident, just a small sprain, and she had been the apprentice on duty for such minor incidents. The blue looked at her appreciatively as she carefully applied a small amount of numbweed on the joint.

This particular dragon was an old fighter of a beast, and had some scars on it's left side where it had been scored rather badly, and from the look of the rider's left hand, she had as well. After finishing with the numbweed, she gently patted the blue on it's side and informed the rider, "Well, Lady Qielle," Jasmine, though a weyrbrat that knew half the riders on at least the level of acquaintance from various points in her life, and her duty as apprentice dragonhealer, always showed much respect, "there's no real harm done to Imagoth. He's a strong old beast, and if he keeps off his wing as much as possible the three or four days, he'll be back in it before you know it." Qielle gave Jasmine her thanks and then led Imagoth off to his own weyr, ignoring the jovially insulted Who is she calling old? from her steed.

Jasmine, for her part, sat down in what little shade she could find. She wasn't in the medical weyr, of her own volition, she had brought out a light kit of basic materials so she could watch the training and be on-site for little injuries like the one she had just tended to. Anything major she would still take in to the medical cavern, but despite the heat she enjoyed seeing the creatures in flight. S'len had let her ride behind him once or twice, but he was so busy with Thread and training now... she sighed, wiped the sweat from her forehead again and let her mind wander as she watched the shining figures of dragons and riders flying overhead like a majestic dance.

Above Tiazora Weyr, a blue dragon blinked into existance from /between/. It was Forgoth, having just arrived into the crisp morning air from Kharasi. He bugled a greeting to the watchdragon, which returned the call jovially as the large sized blue landed. Astride him would be Ratina, who was hurriedly stripping away gloves and helmet before dismounting, acting as if she couldn't get out of the burning riding leathers soon enough. "Shards, I forget how warm it is here, Forgoth" The woman murmured, fanning herself a bit before looking around at the familiar surroundings.

I like that it is warm here. I wish we could visit more often. The blue's tone sounded so sorrowful that Ratina instinctively reached out to stroke his shoulder. "Oh.. come on now, once Kharasi is up on its feet and with a Weyrleader, everything will fix itself."

And that was indeed why Ratina was here. To spread the good news of Iolath's rising? Well, possibly, but mostly to escape the queenlust before it grew too annoying to her and Forgoth. Maybe they could catch a greenflight at the congested Weyr, or maybe she could drop in on Aislana to.. say hello. A wide grin stretched across the woman's features, but she was quickly distracted by the clang of the mess hall bell. Yes, that was right; it was morning in Tiazora where it was noon at Kharasi. That didn't bother Ratina in the least, for the woman loved food as much as she loved company. Forgoth obliged to let Ratina take his straps and put them up on her way into the lower caverns.

Many familiar faces were seen, since Tiazora was Ratina's home only a turn and a half ago. She had made the transfer a little later than some, but it was still long enough ago for her to sorely miss all who were her friends here. The bluerider was sure to make note of a few of her old friends. Aislana might be too busy to oblige her company, so she wanted a backup plan. To eat though, Ratina sought the relative seclusion of the end of the table that held apprentices and candidates. There were a few candidates meandering about, but most had been Impressed off at the last hatching, and there weren't many Weyrfolk who would willingly subject themselves to candidacy too early so that they can continue their studies till a clutch was on the sands.

As the faint sound of the meal bell echoed out to where Jasmine was sitting, she hopped up from her seat on the ground. That was the end of her shift, and if she wanted any good food, she had best get these supplies back to their proper storage cabinets and then get to the mess hall as quickly as possible. She could already nearly taste the juice that she was going to drink by the jugful if the kitchen workers would let her. She took off towards the healer's weyr at a dead run, pounding the dirt in quick succession as she leapt forward in a powerful, loping run. She made it inside in near record time for herself, she noted, and as she put the healer's kit back in it's rightful place, she wiped the sweat off her brow once again with the sleeve of her shirt and walked out the door as her replacement came around the corner, bemoaning his fate to have to miss lunch. Jasmine took an easy pace down to the dining hall, trying to get as much sweat as possible off before she entered the crowded public hall. She mostly succeeded, and as she approached the dining area, the buzz of conversation of dragonriders and those that helped them mingled down the corridor to her ears, already promising an easy, relaxed tone for the meal. Nobody liked to work overmuch when it was this hot out. As she entered the room, she first spotted a table set up just to distribute the juice she had been so craving, and managed to drink a glass and secure a refill before looking around to find a place to sit and enjoy the cooler air in the cavern.

Ratina chewed on a piece of bread in relative silence, now looking down the slowly filling table at which she sat. She recognized one of the faces as Jasmine, looking somewhat winded as she sat down for the evening meal. Having taken what she needed from the pots and plates being passed down, she pushed them down the table.

Bored, and with nothing better to do, she caught the attention of the young woman and beckoned her over, eyes narrowed in obvious scrutiny. Nope, no dragonrider knots yet on her shoulder, and she frowned slightly. Hadn't she stood a few times already? Prying her eyes from the girls shoulder she brightened, now putting more effort into her bright smile. "Jasmine! Goodness, you've grown... come over here and talk with me!"

Hearing her name called, Jasmine looked over, and saw a familiar face that she hadn't seen in some time. "Lady Ratina!" Jasmine called in amiable surprise, then wormed her way through the crows over to the visiting rider. "How are you?" she said when she got there. "How's Forgoth? How's Kharasi? And your flitts?" the questions gushed out of the young apprentice, momentarily forgetting the food and juice she had wanted so badly only moments before. After all, the return of a friend was a big occaision, and her inquisitive mind had the feline tendency to be curious to the point of danger, with some things, and certainly this couldn't be too dangerous.

Ratina was absolutely thrilled to recieve such a warm welcome, if not a bit overwhelmed by all the questions. "Oh, Forgoth and the bottomless pits are doing fine.. and Kharasi is fine as well. Better than ever" Ratina leaned back in her chair and grinned wolfishly, glancing outside to measure the movements of the sun. "And probably within the hour, we'll have a new Weyrleader" A scandalous look flew across her features and she leaned back toward the table. "It's why I left, actually. Didn't want to be caught up in all the hubbub, even if Forgoth has caught the tail end of it" Ahaha, we all know what that means.

"But what about you? You still dabbling in your dragonhealing?" A pause, and she added."What about standing for a clutch? You're getting older yes, but they readily allow older girls.. prefer them actually since greens tend to rise so early, and whether you Impress blue or green, you're affected.." A low, knowing chuckle escaped her.

"Yes, I'm still helping with the dragonhealing... lets me get close to them, and be helpful to them. Actually, I've stood twice... never did Impress though, as you can see." Jasmine sighed helplessly. "But, I get to do my healing, so I at least get to be around them." She sipped at her juice, and then looked up again, a vaguely wistful look peeking out from her intelligent green eyes. How nice it would be to Impress... she thought to herself.

Then her eyes snapped to Ratina's. "Wait... did you say that Kharasi's senior queen is rising?" she said, not daring to hope, but hoping regardless.

Always one to enjoy entertaining a crowd with the latest hot news, Ratina grinned wolfishly, taking her time to sip her klah before continuing. "Why, yes. The bronzes were blooding their kills before I headed out..." Her gaze went distant for a brief moment. "She's up in the air now, Forgoth has told me. Gold flights never last more than an hour, and she's been up there a decent amount of time already.. only 15 minutes or so but that can still make a good clutch if it's high up.."

Ratina took note of Jasmine's eager expression, and took a bite of her warm cereal, raising a finger to signal she was to say something. "The golds at Tiazora won't be rising for a while, will they, with the latest clutch being so recent. You could always transfer. I'd suppose your request would be accepted, you know, since you haven't Impressed here at your age yet."

((Many, many apologies! I've been internet-less for two or three days now, trying to get my new loaner laptop set-up. But now it works! Yay and such!))

Jasmine contemplated that. "Hmm... that's true, I could. I'd never even thought about that. I really wouldn't know how to go about it.. but it does seem like a good idea. I'd have to think about it a little," she said, but the look in her eyes said it probably wouldn't be too long before she came to a decision. "If I do decide to go, I wouldn't have any idea how to go about it. Do you think you could help me?" she asked, not wanting to impose but the desire to go already taking hold and developing plans and dreams in the back of her mind.

((eww, short post. Creativity drained from class today. Sorry :( ))

Ratina allowed a slow grin to spread across her face. Assimilation.. success! Or at least she figured it would end up being one. Bwahaha. "Oh, it's not too big of a problem. I'll just petition the Weyrwoman to see if I can hijack a candidate or two from here for Kharasi, and then just give her the list of name or names, and then have her okay it. These things must be done right, you know, so the records stay accurate...." She paused, probably talking to her dragon. "I'll get you all sorted out, no worries. For now though, I'll go and see what I can do now to get all this sorted out. I'm hoping to get back to Kharasi in a few hours since they are having a party.." She chuckled. "It seems that the dragonriders want a reason to drink and make merry so a queenflight seemed a good enough reason I suppose. You're of drinking age, yes?"


((And the drinking age is like... 16 turns XD Since you can be a dragonrider at 16 turns and all =P Most likely, I'll skip all the intricacies and we can just say everything went well and you can rp this character at the party when it is held. Don't worry about the absence. I've been terribly busy and hadn't the time to respond anyways XD ))

((Sounds good to me, I'm trashed from school this week. Blarg. I require more energy drinks, I think. And maybe some pizza. Hm. Sorry if you were expecting an RP post, but physics is killing my brain x_x))