A Nightly Jog--Shawn (S'hon)

[Memorie]

craacck.

Gasping, Shereae looked under her foot. Egg shards lay there, crushed into even smaller pieces by Shereae's foot. Luckily, the eggs had already hatched, so Shereae wasnt guilty of crushing a flit nest. She sighed, almost wishing that her foot would have stepped on a full nest, which would have meant there were other eggs to be found.

"It's Falling cold," she muttered to no one in particular, wrapping her arms around herself again. "I can't believe this. I've been out here for hours now, and haven't found a flit egg one." She had gone out looking for a flit nest so she could Impress one. Having brought a satchel full of meat scraps from the butchering chore that day, as per another candidate's instructions, she was all set and ready to either come upon a hatching nest, or, backpack loaded with a jar, stuff an egg in the jar with some sand from the nest. So far, however, all flits and nests had eluded her.

"Just a few more stupid minutes, and I'm going back to the stupid Weyr," she said, holding her basket and dimming glow up to try to catch glints from a flit nest. She walked on further, her back facing the Weyr.

[shawncameron]

S’hon had woken drenched in sweat and with all of his blankets wrapped around him like tightly bound silk ropes. He had struggled to remove them finally tearing his sheet in two with his massive arms, and after catching his breath he reached for a shirt. He dropped it however after wiping the perspiration off his face and instead grabbed his boots. Going for a run? the bronzes voice was soft and comforting as distressed orange eyes gleamed out of the darkness at his rider. “Yes,” S’hon said out loud as much wanting to hear some sound proving that he was awake as he wanted to answer his beloved. “I will be back soon don’t worry about getting up.” Pulling his laises tight S’hon headed for the door, no shirt this time? S’hon turned back a strained smile on his face “too hot tonight besides I’m going down to the beach I don’t think I will see anyone there.”

And so S’hon had left, jogging down the stairs out onto the bole and down to the sea shore where he entered the soft sand so his well developed muscles would have some resistance as he ran. His black hair was flying freely in the slight breeze as little droplets of sweat ran glissading down his bare chest and over the big ugly scare that ran from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and between his shoulder blades making the bronze dragon on his back shine in the moon light. It was because of these two markings, his scare and his full back tattoo that S’hon never left his weyr shirtless, but he had made the exception to night not knowing that someone else would be on the beach at this time of night.

His mind wasn’t even on what he was doing or where he was going no mater how many times he tried to focus it there, instead it continued to drift toward his dream and his past, his fathers voice floated to him unbitten on the wind

“You would leave this family!? Leave this job to do what!? To become a useless waist of food and air1?” he had shouted drunkenly,
“They are not useless father, they will protect Pern when no one else can, why can’t you see what an opportunity this is?” he had been so young really, in mind if not in body when he had shouted right back.

That was the night he had gotten his scar and had left his family forever. But his mind was ripped gratefully away from those unwelcome thoughts as another voice floated towards him though he had only caught the end of it’s words.

His voice was as cold as always as he stopped running and looked up at the owner of the voice only a few yards away from him, “if the Weyr is so stupid then why return there?” he asked his doubtful loyal instincts kicking in during his moment of vulnerability.

[Memorie]

As Shereae heard the chilly voice behind her, she, all in once movement, turned, shrieked, and fell backwards. "Who are you?" she said, shaking and not recognizing the man and also disregarding his question as rhetorical. She sat shaking, looking at the man, whose sweaty body was made more apparent by the shine of both moons illuminating the dark. Deciding not to remain sitting in the sand, she pushed herself from the ground with her hands, and dusted sand from her pantsed bottom and thighs. She didn't usually wear pants, but they had worked surprisingly better than a skirt for this occasion. Her red hair glinted in the moonlight, Belior's red glow making it appear ethereal in its length. Her tanned face blushed as she realized she had been caught from the candidate barracks after hours, in the middle of the night, by whom surely was a dragonrider.

"And what are you doing here?" she said, ignoring the red hot feel of embarrassment and regret on her face and becoming more demanding. Even through her fear of the unknown man, scars and all, Shereae felt the need to remain in control of the situation.

[shawncameron]

S’hon’s left eyebrow arched making his second scar stretch slightly as he looked at her with his one good eye. Her shriek had served to both drag him further from his memories and yet bring him closer to another one. “My name is S’hon rider of Bronze Mazbeth WingSecond of Helose Wing.” It wasn’t until he had said his long and formal name that he had realized how imposing that must seem, not that that really mattered as the girl seemed to want to be in charge of the situation and he certainly was not going to allow it.

He took his time to study her as her long red hair shone clearly in the light of the moons its red glow intensified slightly by the light of the red moon, It reminded him of blood. Turning slightly away from her S’hon tried vainly to hide both his back and his chest from clear view all the wile cursing himself for going shirtless. His shoulders and head remained proudly held back as he reached into the pocket of his own slacks to find a leather thong to tie back his own long back hair. He was deliberately delaying to answer her second question as he took the time to tie his hair then, “I don’t think it really matters what I’m doing hear…” he shot her a sideways glance from his only seeing eye and was surprised to see that she looked a little like Loaya, but then again in his current state of mind almost everyone would look like her, “but if you must know I was going for a run.” He wanted to ask her her name but wouldn’t bring himself to talk more then he had to.

[Memorie]

"Oh," she said, when he told her his name. Shereae was certainly going to be in trouble; the man was a Wingsecond! As he tied back his hair, she got a brilliant look at his arms, which were muscular and looked strong, and though he had tried to turn away from her before she could see his scars, her beastcraft bred eyes missed little. Deciding that it could be a touchy subject, Shereae didn't ask questions. She had some tact, if not much.

"But if you must know, I was going for a run," he informed her after tying his long, raven-colored hair back. Shereae's eyes narrowed. She had thought that all riders had short hair...a thought set correct by this meeting. She shrugged, and gave him a steely look.

"A run at night?" she asked stubbornly. "Half-naked?" She was afraid for her fears to be confirmed--that he had been sent by the candidate master to look for her. Her heart pumped wildly, and she thought of how she would shame her family if she were sent back to the hold after such a short time at the Weyr and having had no chance yet to Impress a queen.

Unconsciously, she pushed her hair behind her ears, giving full view of her long neck, an attribute she hated about her body. Setting her jaw together, her teeth began to grind, a nervous habit she had tried hard ot break for years. "Why at night, if its's not too bold to ask, sir?"

[shawncameron]

Half-naked?! He was not half naked, yes you are cursing himself again for his lack of judgment S’hon crossed his arms over his chest and turned to face her fully again. “it is to hot to night to where a shirt, the sweat would ruin it anyway,” it almost sounded like an excuse but the ice in his voice and eyes made it difficult for it to really seem that way. He moved a bit closer to her wanting to see her face but at the same time not wanting her to see him more fully then she already had.

Halfway to her a crunch split the silence of the air clashing horribly with the music of the waves as they lapped up toward them. Looking down S’hon saw the remains of a firelizard hatching, this too brought back painful memories as it seemed everything would tonight. “eggs? He whispered then looked up at the girl taking in for the first time the bag on her back and the bucket of meet at her side. “The night is one of the best times to run though I must say it is not one of the best times to go lizard hunting.” S’hon arched his eyebrow in a silent question to confirm his guess.

She he could clearly see her movements and expressions in the bright light of the moons and he did not appreciate the steel in her voice or her expression it only served to remind him of his fathers hateful eyes and grinding teeth. “It is rather bold to ask.” He said not intending to continue but as the light shone again on her blood read hair and delicately long neck he found himself talking again, “is it so unusual for a man to have trouble sleeping?”

[Memorie]

Observing the look on his face, Shereae knew she had struck a nerve with either her words or her tone, and she giggled. She had a slight tendency to knock people back a bit with how abrasive she could be, and had been told once that if she could learn to keep a secret, she could've been a Harper.

When he guessed her evening's activities, Shereae sighed. "No, 'tis not the best time to search for eggs, though the moons are certainly bright this night," she said, face downcast for her failure. Realizing that her shoulders had become hunched over at the thought of the failure, she sprung back up, poised again, and posture redeemed. The satchel she had been carrying began to make her arm ache, and she set it down beside the empty nest, where it sank into the sand and waited for her to pick it back up.

When he explained his reasoning for being out, she half-smiled. "'Twould depend on the reason for sleeplessness," she said, knowing that if she were not careful, her behavior would attract a green to her at Impression. "Well," she said, "at least you haven't been sent after me to scold me." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "I think. You don't really appear to be the scolding type, though I am not presuming to know you well at all."

[shawncameron]

S’hon glared at her, practically shooting icicles from his eyes as she giggled at him. He almost smirked as the disappointment of her own failure showed clearly in her posture and her tone fore but a moment. That told him quite a bit about her, it seemed this little one was proud… very proud. That could be a good or bad thing.

“Twould depend on the reason for sleeplessness,” she almost smiled as she spoke those words, if only she could see what he had seen experienced what he had experienced. He turned away from her smiling, mocking face completely forgetting about his lack of shirt and clearly showing her his tattoo, that of a bronze dragon glaring over it’s shoulder at anyone who dared look at it as it climbed up his back digging his nails deep within S’hon’s exposed flesh. His words came in a whisper and where spoken not to the girl but to himself, though why they had come out loud he did not know, “if you had seen what I have seen you would have trouble sleeping as well.”

Not the scolding type? That brought him back to this his since, still facing away from her S’hon spoke again more firmly, though his voice was still deathly quiet, “on the contrary, I am the scolding type, more so then most of the others.” He turned suddenly back to her his eyes a block of ice that could never be melted, “how do you expect to be aloud to stand on the sands let alone impress if you can’t even obey the simple rules of curfew?” he asked not shouting but his words meant to sting. He did not know if she was a weyrbrat or a candidate from a hall of hold but either way she was old enough to stand on the sands. “how many tries do you have before the ‘Stupid Weyr’ sends you back to your parents? Now you tell me, miss, should I or should I not report you?”

He really had no intention of reporting her, though he was a stickler for rules and regulations he did not fancy explaining to the hire ups why he was out in the middle of the night, what if they thought him unstable? But he would say something to the candidate master if she answered his question wrong.

[Memorie]

The smile disappeared as fast as charred Thread, to be replaced by a smirk just as chilly as the Bronzer's own frown. "You do what you feel is necessary," she said coldly, voice reflecting not anger, but mockery. Shereae had sensed what had made him angry at her first few words. "You will anyway. As for what I do after curfew, mind your own. You will have to someday, might as well start now.

"And please don't think your words intimidate me," she told him. "I wouldn't want you to be mislead. If you do turn me in for my oh-so heinous crime, then I deserve whatever comes to me. The question is, could you sleep any better at night than you do now knowing you stole away a person's chance to do something great?" Her head was tilted slightly to the right, and she regarded him out of the corner of her blue-green eyes, which appeared more green than the former in the light of the moons hovering in the heavens above them. He was a great deal taller than her own height of five feet, four inches, but even in her defensive state, his stature made no difference in her mind. Any man walking around looking for a fight would find one if he crossed her, no matter his rank or station.

[shawncameron]

A small wave of anger washed over him at her mocking face and tone, but none of that furry showed in his face, he remained impassive as ever, that was one of the reasons the weyr did send the more troublesome brats and riders to him, S’hon had never lost his temper. “Mind my own?...” it was a question but he did not give her time to answer as it was not meant to be answered anyway. “Well last I checked any candidate breaking any rule was the business of any rider, but then again I have only been serving at the weyr for 14 turns so what do I know.” His blue eyes did not shine did not twinkle in the light of the moon as his voice did not change despite the sarcasm of his words.

“as for keeping someone from doing something great… answer me this do you really think a gold or even a green will look your way with that attitude? Even they have to obey the orders of the Sr Queen, would they really go to someone they know will get them in so much trouble?” His anger at the girl was slowly melting away to disappointment instead. “No breaking curfew is not such an important rule as some of the others, such as not picking a fights. But a rule is a rule especially when its two being out late and being out of the weyr.”

Sensing her masters raging emotions and waking to find him gone S’hons little green materialized out of between right above the girls head. She flew to him and sitting on his shoulder looked between the two not sure what she had flown in on.

Taken aback by the sudden apreance of his green S’hon looked away from her only momentarily, it was too bad things had to end up this way he was hoping to have a better night then this. “it doesn’t matter in the end dose it though? The dragon chooses no mater what I or the candidate master says. So” he looked back to her, “I won’t waist my time in saying anything.” Depression overwhelming him S’hon turned away again to face the water slowly watching its steady crawl towards them as the tide came in.

[Memorie]

Shereae laughed coldly at his last words. "For someone who says he won't waste his time on a dragon's decision, you sure did flame me well," she said derisively. "I like my attitude just fine, and I won't change for any gold or green, or man, for that matter. If a dragon doesn't like it, she wasn't meant for me anyway," she told him, with a vague sense that she was preaching to the choir. "And obeying a senior queen is a far cry from obeying you or even thinking what you have to say is important. Personally, I don't think your attitude can hold a glow up to mine," she said. Shereae was quickly growing tired of S'hon's mightier-than-thou mannerism, and she turned from him, hair twirling in the wind, and picked up her satchel, and walked up the dune that had washed up with the evening's tide to search for more eggs. She wasn't about to let her activities, which could be her last in the Weyr, be ruined by the scarred man. If she was going home, she might as well go home with a flit.

She crouched down in the sand, sift through it with long fingers, longing to uncover one of the small orbs that signified a tiny dragon. "Maybe if I'm lucky," she said aloud to herself, "I'll find a gold flit, so I can at least say I've Impressed gold" She laughed to herself, not really caring if S'hon heard her or not, but kind of hoping he did. Her searching hands found nothing, and she concluded there was nothing in that region. She moved over to the next spot that she thought might be the location of a nest, since the sand seemed upset and overturned. It happened to be just seven feet from S'hon, and Shereae wondered if she ought to even place herself back in his line of sight.

"Whatever," she said to herself. "I want to find this flit, and he won't stop me unless it's kicking and screaming back to the Weyr."

[shawncameron]

S’hon looked over his shoulder at her again arching his eyebrow in silent question, if only she would learn to keep some of her thoughts to herself. “as frustrating as that answer is those are the exact word of a dragonrider. As for attitude at least I know when to stop talking, and as fare as thinking what I have to say is important that is and always will be up to you, but obeying on the other had… that is enforced by the Sr queen as long as you are a candidate or weyrling and if you are in my wing, but so fare I don’t believe I have asked or told you to do anything at all.” She was moving away from him, thank the first egg but her voice floted to him anyway and soon she was back again diging thought the sand. Seeing this the little green on his shoulder took flight to sit next to the girl using her own nose to shift through the sand mimicking her.

“is a lizard really that important to you?” as fare as everyone new he barely tolerated his little green but there where times he loved her more then anything except Mazbeth.

[Memorie]

Though he was still talking as she moved away, Shereae didn't stop. At his last words, she turned and looked at him. "Well, let's review," she said, voice taking on a sarcastic note. "I'm out here in the middle of the night, wearing pants," she said, expressing disgust at the article of clothing, "and listening to your chatter. Yup, I'd have to say it's pretty important," she concluded, nodding her head. "The real question," she continued, dropping the sarcasm, "is why you are still standing around watching me dig. Is it that you plan to curtail my activities? Or is it that you think I'm cute?" she asked, placing aflirtacious mask over her true thoughts.

Shereae was never quick to trust, and now she trusted him less, with his vague threats of turning her in and, of course, his half-nakedness. Knowing that, as the Weyr was a sight more liberal than the Holds, she was required to excuse him his shirtlessness, she refrained from remarking upon it again, but brooded over it in her mind. When his little flit came to help her dig, she smiled. "This would be why I would like to have a fire lizard," she said. "They're so helpful."

[shawncameron]

S’hon smirked at her, it was the only time his expiration ever really changed into something seeming remotely happy and he only did it when he heard some kind of sarcasm, his only form of humor. Though hers was a bit to blunt and sharp to be considered funny the mere thought of him considering her ‘cute’ was laughable. As for his flit, “if you really want a lizard bad enough to wair pants,” he slightly mimicked her discussed tone at the word, “then why didn’t you ask some of the people who already had a green or gold if you could have one of there clutch?”

The nameless green at the girls side nodded in assessment with her masters judgement and seeing that S’hon noticed for the first time how… bright she seemed in the night, more so then usual….

[Memorie]

"I hadn't thought about it, actually," she said honestly, sitting back. She didn't know many people at the Weyr yet, and she was even more unsure who had golds or greens that were clutching. "I didn't figure people were very free with their eggs to just give them away," she admitted, chin in hand. "Do you know someone who has a clutch?" she asked, not really expecting a positive remark back from the man.

Shereae stuck out a hand to the flit so the flit could smell her, and then she scratched the dragon's tiny eyedridges. She had heard that dragons liked this, and what where fire lizards but tiny dragons? "You're a very pretty little lady," she told the flit. "What is her name?" she asked S'hon.