Grocery shopping for... Dragons?!? (OPEN)

[FaizahPandora]

((This is in the Towns section because thats where it takes place, but it's starting in the Weyrbowl. Bear with me please.))

IC Date: September 2011
IC Time: 5:40 a.m.

Faizah waited in the Weyrbowl for everyone to gather around. Today they were going shopping for animals to feed the growing draconic population at Rocky. This was going to happen by going to a local large animal auction in Kalispell. While they were there, those who were going to be auction were going to get horses so that they could go hiking around the Weyr. Horseback riding was popular when you lived in the mountains.

Faizah knew that her family was going. They were even dragging Lakeen and Virika out of bed so that they could go. Being shut up in the Weyr wasn't healthy for young people, and Faizah would be damned before she allowed her sister and her cousin to lock themselves up in the Weyr.

Faizah tapped her foot, looking at her watch as she waited for them to arrive. Ammon was coming as well, probably to make sure that Faizah was buying food for the dragons and not just rescueing a bunch of random animals. Which she had been tempted to do at first, because the government gave Rocky a practically unlimited allowance of money to spend. Funny how the only way to get money out of the government was to find dragons on a planet that was God knows how many light years away from Earth...

Faizah saw Mentari and Llonatan walking up, chatting quietly. Since reuniting those two earlier that month, they had been practically inseperable. Nathan, Llonatan's brown flitter, was in his usual spot of hiding behind the boy's dark colored hair. Mentari was, oddly enough, missing her flitters. Faizah found this odd since Christopher, Mentari's blue, and Nicole, Mentari's green, almost never left the girl alone. Especially Nicole. That green had hatched practically attached to Mentari.

Nakia wasn't far behind them, leading Virika and Lakeen along. The two Wherlings looked dead tired, and Faizah had a moment of guilt for having pulled them from their beds. Especially with Lakeesk being such a brute...

"Morning, sleepy heads!" Faizah called out to them. She waved at them, smiling with Virika perked up a little bit and waved back.

Faizah noticed another group of people not far behind them. N'lon, La'as, Sarah, Yamina and Theody were walking up. She hadn't really expected anyone but her family to be coming, even though she had taped up fliers around Rocky for anyone who wanted to come to town and buy a horse.

Faizah greeted them. "Good morning. Are you all coming with us?" She asked politely.

Upon their affirmative nodds Faizah smiled. "That's great. Now I don't have to drag Kain's sorry rear end out of bed. We're just going to wait a few more minutes for anyone else who wants to come, and then we'll start the climb down the mountain." She informed them all.

Faizah heard Nakia and Virika grumble a little. They hadn't been expecting to have to climb down the mountain and into town. She smiled slightly. This would teach those two, who had been slacking on their fitness...

[Stormy]

The slight commotion of waking Virika and Lakeen up had garnered Garrisk's attention and that, in turn, roused Garrik. With a tired groan, Garrik sat up and looked at the Blue wher, who was sitting in front of the door, staring at it.

"What's going on, Garrisk?"

The Blue didn't turn to look at His, focusing on the noises outside. 'Not sure, Mine. But something happening.'

Curiosity piqued, Garrik got up and stretched, then opened the door and peeked outside. He saw Virika stumble sleepily out of her room and suddenly remembered about the trip to one of the towns that was planned for today. "Oh man, I forgot about that. What do you think, bud? Should I go?" Garrik asked the watchful wher, kneeling down next to him and scratching Garrisk's eyeridge.

'Mine wants to go? Mine should go.' Garrisk stated, leaning into Garrik's hand. 'Garrisk wants to sleep.'[/color]

"Well, sleep. I'm sure this will take all day. But if we don't make it back before dark, don't panic and come charging through the Weyr. I will be back, don't you worry." That said, Garrik stood back up, though Garrisk remained staring at the door for a minute. When Garrik went off to get changed, however, the wher stood up and followed His around their weyr.

Once Garrik was ready, he knelt down in front of the beloved wher and again scratched an eyeridge. "Alright, bud, I'm going to head off now. Sleep well, and I'll be back. Don't destroy the Weyr while I'm gone," he said with a smile before leaning down and kissing the Blue's nose.

'Be safe, Mine.'[/color] Garrisk sighed as His stood up and walked out the door, but not without a sad look over his shoulder.

It killed Garrik to leave the lovable Blue behind, but at the same time, he couldn't have him causing trouble in the towns. Not sure how long Faizah would wait, he donned his sunglasses and hurried to the Weyrbowl, almost missing a couple turns in his haste. Finally reaching the Weyrbowl, he saw a rather large collection of people who had shown up, Virika and Lakeen amongst them. The only other person he was really acquainted with was Mentari, but he knew Faizah by sight, if only because she had been pacing the Weyr a couple times when he was exploring.

"Uh, good morning Faizah," he said in a breathless hurry, his nervousness around women really showing. There were only a couple guys in the whole group, and other than Lakeen, Virika, and Mentari, he didn't really know the other women.

Shutting that thought from his stammering mind, he turned to the three he did know and said, "Hi Virika, Lakeen, Mentari."

((Sorry if that's kinda blah.))

[raynee]

"Look what you did Syrus, now we're late!" Raynee said to the flit as they ran to the Weyrbowl.

The little firelizard just looked at her with big apologetic eyes.

"We're here..." she gasped, out of breath from running as fast as she could.

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah nodded as Raynee and Garrik arrived. "Hello. Good morning. Raynee, sorry, but no flits are coming today. Just people and horses." Faizah apologized to her.

Sunset and Flicka stomped their feet, ready to be on their way. The two mares were coming along to help with the sheer amount of animals that Faizah would be buying today. She reached up and rubbed Sunset's velvety muzzle, comforting the young mare. With a turn and a tug at the lead rope, Faizah led Sunset and Flicka forward.

"Time to go!" She called to the others.

Nakia hurried up and took Flicka's lead rope from her sister. She then fell back to walk with Virika and Lakeen. Mentari and Llonatan, after Llonatan told Nathan to go to the Weyr with Nicole and Christopher, sped up to walk next to Faizah. They were both very excited to be getting their own horses. Faizah smiled as she watched them walking around so happily.

Virika and Lakeen walked with Nakia, only half aware of where they were walkig. They were dead tired, having spent the whole night up with their Whers. Lakeesk was horrid that night. He had tried to get into a fight with any and every Wher they crossed, including Virika's green, Virisk. Virisk was restless since she was growing with her unlaid clutch. This, in turn, made Virika a little on edge. And Virika was still a little mad about Lakeesk going after Virisk.

Yamina watched the red haired woman leader before her. She was constantly assesing the woman's ability to lead the... Weyr?... but so far hadn't found her lacking in the leadership role. The man, Kain, however... He was almost more lazy than the dragons she had come to Impress. These other girls that she walked with, however...

Sarah was quiet yet confident. She knew she had a place here at Rocky, because she had her own dragon. A little brown, named Iaruth, had Impressed to Sarah at the first Rocky hatchings. Yamina was vaguely jealous of the young woman standing beside her.

Theody was of Japanese descent. That much was obvious. And she had received geisha training before coming to Rocky. While to Americans a geisha was seen as a prostitute, those raised with the Japanese honor knew that a geisha was an artist. And Theody was all too aware of her appeal to men. At the same time, Yamina couldn't help but admire her grace.

Yamina barely gave any attention to the two men next to her. They were of little importance now. After she had Impressed a dragon, that would change. But only because her dragon would either Fly or Chase at some point.

N'lon walked along with La'as, feeling a kind of camraderie with the other man. There weren't many males here today. Which he supposed he shouldn't worry about. How many men were willing to get up just after dawn and walk down the mountain for a horse auction? N'lon was only here so that he could get what these people called a horse, similar to a Runner on Pern, to ride until Nyketh got some strength in his injured wings.

[Stormy]

Garrik, though he was exhausted, was used to trekking through the mountains despite exhaustion. And with his sunglasses, the rising sun wouldn't be able to bother his photosensitive eyes. He just wanted to help carry something because he felt odd walking through the mountains without a pack on his back. He moved up to walk next to Faizah for a minute, then managed to ask, "Is there anything I can do to help? Having wandered the mountains as long as I had, it almost feels wrong not to have a pack on anymore."

((Sorry it's short. Class starts soon.))

[Wolfy]

((I hear your summons, O Great and Exalted Faizah!))

Lyrah woke slowly, having missed her alarm once again. She ached from her extended flight with her gentle Kyrinth, now fully grown into a fine young beast. Kaena and Snowfire were curled up beside her in one case, on top of her in the next. Her stubborn one was stetched out of his couch.

She glanced at her clock, not even registeing the time at first glance. So what, it was past the time she was supposed to meet with the Weyrwoman and the others. So what if she was going to miss the rare expidition out of the isolate Weyr.

She was what!?

The tall Brownrider flung her covers off, her eyes instantly alert. She was not going to miss this! She flung on some jeans and a sleeveless hoodie over a slim khaki shirt she had bought from this neat store called Eddie Bauer's. She liked the styles. With that, she almost liteally flew from the weyr she shared with her dragon. I'll be back later Kyrinth! Be good without me! she called back, pressing her thoughts into his sleeping ones. He should sleep for a good while, as he had gorged so the evening before.

She ran on her long legs as if dear Kirtia were after her, her fostermother's spoon in hand, to the cheering of her green and white cheering her on. "I'm here!" she puffed sliding to a standstill by the sleepy group. "You can't have thought of leaving me! Silly ones, stop that!" she berated her flits, still squacking and doing acrobatics about her head. "Go back and keep Kyrinth company today! I'll play with you and oil you when I get back!"

Of course, Snowfire would refuse until he was virtually dragged away by the young Green. Firm thought of later should finish any attempts to follow....and with a mournful, woeful cry much dramatized, they were gone, diving under the upheld wings of a sleepy dragon.

[raynee]

Raynee stopped. "Oh that's quiet alright Faizah." She smiled as she said this, even though she was some what reluctant to leave her best friend behind...

Raynee ran behind Faizah as to make sure she wasnt any later than she already was...

[FaizahPandora]

Faizah smiled at Lyrah. "Of course not. I had simply forgotten you were coming with us. Sorry, Lyrah."

((Going to do a skip to get us into town faster.))

An hour after they'd all left, they had finally arrived in town and at the auction grounds. This was a rare event, an auction of this size on a week day and starting at seven in the morning. Faizah was glad she wouldn't miss it!

She looked at those around her. Essentially they would be able to wander around on their own as Faizah bought livestock for the dragons. She pulled out some money. After counting it, she handed a wad of it to each person who had come. Then she started to speak.

"Each of you has fifteen hundred dollars to buy a horse with. Do not go over that fifteen hundred dollars. If you have any left over, use it to buy yourself something to eat and drink. We are going to be here almost all day." She said.

((sorry its so short. I feel like crud. Just got some depressing news. I'll try to make my next post better...))

[Stormy]

Garrik took the money and looked at it almost reverently, having barely scraped enough together for even a cheap coffee for the longest time. He was already planning on spending as little as physically possible for a horse, then tucking the rest of it away as a little "nest egg", as the saying went.

But at the same time, if a horse were to really catch his eye over the others, he would at least consider buying it. But what would Garrisk think when he brought home a horse...? The wher definitely wouldn't like it, he knew that much. But if he could convince the stubborn brute that it wasn't because he didn't like His, Garrisk might warm up to the idea a little more. He still wouldn't be too thrilled with it, but he of all people knew how dangerous travelling the mountains without a surefooted creature was.

((Sorry it's blah, my muse is kinda fried at the moment.))

[Wolfy]

Lyrah grinned widely as the Rocky Weyrwoman handed her the wad of paper money. Ah, the plans she had! She had been swooning over runners for ages, even though as much as she had always swooned over the flying, fire breathing lizards, both giant and small.

"Thanks, Weyrwo- uh, Faizah!" she ammended, as she jogged away. Oh, it was just like a Gather! Her eyes travelled over the horses where they stood penned and roped. Mares, geldings, stallions, foals, colts, yearlings, they were avll there. Black, roan, white, bay, chesnut, every color there was. She didn't care much for speed, as Kyrinth was faster than any runnerbeast alive, but she did care about personality and bravery and everything else that was required to live in a weyr AND be accepted as a somewhat inteligent being by her lizards.

She stopped and bought a lemonade from a small stand. She stood, pursing her lips at the tartness, as her eyes wandered over the choices before her. She wondered how everyone else was getting along.

[raynee]

Excitedly, Raynee put her money into her pocket, and ran off to the corrals to look for a horse that would suit her needs.

As soon as she began looking around, she was amazed by the beauty of all the horses trotting around the corral. She was instantly sure of what horse she wanted as soon as she saw it, a gorgeous black and white Gypsy Vanner.

On this particular pen, the time for auction was labled to go at 4pm. She decided that while she waited she would find Faizah to pass the time with, as she barely knew anyone else there. As she walked away from the pen she turned one last time to see her horse.

Raynee walked past all the vendors and stands to try and find Faizah in all the commotion, for a spilt second she thought she could see a very familiar face in the crowd.

"Stella!" She called out, but as she did so the person she believed to be her lost best friend, disappeared in the sea of people. Raynee paused for a brief moment to ponder the tought that her friend may actually be in Kalispell too, but she then realized she had been looking for Faizah and the auction was about to begin.

"Ah, there you are Faizah, I've been looking all over for you!" Raynee said to her. She decided not to tell her about the strange encounter, yet....

[FaizahPandora]

Mentari grabbed Llonatan's arm and pulled him towards the posted horses, where she could begin planning what horse she wanted the most. Llonatan laughed as he followed after her, more than happy to be accompanying his cousin. He had been unsure about leaving Nathan behind, but he understood why the little brown couldn't come with them. And the chance of getting his own horse was one that he wouldn't have passed up!

Mentari 'ohh'ed and 'ahh'ed at every horse they say. Atleast, she did until they reached the end of the building. There, in a corral marked '4p.m.', Mentari pointed to a white foal. "I want that one!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Llonatan nodded, looking at the foal. It looked really small, and he only hoped that one of the other horses in the corral was it's mother. The foal, he knew, was certainly far too young to be away from it's mother...

Mentari smiled up at him. "We can look for a horse for you now." She said happily. He nodded with a smirk.

Llonatan began to lead Mentari back up the building. He stopped every so often to look at the horses in the corral. Suddenly, a horse caught his attention. It towered over the other horses in the corral, and he was a wonderful grey color. Llonatan pointed the horse out to Mentari. "I think I want that one..." He said in a near whisper.

Lakeen walked around with Nakia and Virika. She was exhausted, and wasn't really looking at the horses. But Virika was excited about them, so she tried to be excited for her cousin. Nakia was had posted Flicka, her mare, to a post outside next to Faizah's mare, Sunset. On the way back, she would probably ride the mare up the mountain, even though the paint colored mare would have more than a dozen animals tethered to her.

Lakeen glanced over at a row of posted horses, and saw the most beautiful horse she had ever seen. It was what Faizah called an appaloosa, but Lakeen only saw the gorgeous white markings on his otherwise brown coloring. She pointed to him to Nakia and Virika. "I'm going to buy that one." She told them with assurance.

Virika nodded at her cousin. "He is pretty." She pointed out the sign on the corral. "We can come back at ten." She said, leading her cousins down the aisle to continue to look at horses. Virika paused at a corral and pointed at white horse that was trotting around the corral with a high step, tossing her head back and forth.

"That's mine. The white one!" She told them.

La'as, N'lon, Sarah, Yamina and Theody went over to the concession stands to get something to drink and/or eat. They were not worried about finding a horse at that moment.

Faizah was looking at the farm animals, finding the best ones to buy for Rocky. She didn't want any sick ones for the dragons. It wouldn't do to feed them sick animals...

"Ah, there you are Faizah, I've been looking all over for you!" Faizah heard from behind her.

Faizah turned around to see Raynee coming up. She smiled at the girl. "Welcome, Raynee. Did you find a horse you like?" She asked politely.

[Stormy]

Garrik wandered off on his own, pocketing the wad of money Faizah had given him. Instead of going straight to the horses, he instead bought a soda, intending to use the caffeine to help him get through the day. He started off toward the barns, intending to take a look at the younger horses first.

He had wandered through the barns a couple times, looking at the foals and yearlings first. None of them caught his interest, and he wasn't sure any of them here would. But he was sure Faizah would insist he buy a horse before they left if he didn't find one on his own. He was about to make another trip through the barns, this time looking at the slightly older horses, when he noticed a familiar face.

"Oh, hey Virika!" he said with a shy smile. "Did you, uh, find any horses you like?" Then he noticed she was with some of the others from the group. "Er, hi Lakeen," he muttered, seeing Lakeen didn't look very pleased. Then he turned to the third girl in the group. "I, um...I'm...I'm not sure we've met," he stuttered, starting to feel a little overwhelmed with so many women about. With an uneasy chuckle, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, forgetting he also had the soda bottle in that hand. It whacked him in the head, and he laughed weakly before the bottle slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground with a rather loud sound. Garrik's shoulders just slumped and he bent to retrieve it, feeling his face flush with heat.

((I'm being cruel to Garrik right now. Him and his awkwardness around women is just too tempting to pass up right now.))

[raynee]

Raynee looked around the auction to see if she could spot Stella again... When she couldn't she turned back to Faizah and beghan to tell her about the horse she had picked.

"Yes, I did, I found a beautiful Gypsy Vanner going for auction at four o'clock. Did you find a horse you liked?" She decided to set aside the thoughts of her best friend. "Let's go watch the auction, its about to start!"

[FaizahPandora]

An announcement came over the intercom. "The seven o'clock auction is about to begin. Please report to Arena 4!"

Over at Arena 4, a handler was getting a horse into the ring. The horse kept sidestepping, nervous at the sound of so many people talking and yelling. Finally the horse was in the ring, where it settled a little bit. The handler began to lead him around the arena.



The announcer called over the speakers for Arena 4. "This wonderful, ten year old thoroughbred gelding would make a perfect pleasure horse. He has a very calm temperament, rarely fights, and has absolutely no stable vices. The bidding for this gelding will start at $1200!"

La'as and N'lon stopped and watched. La'as, taken with the animal's looks, raised his hand. The animal reminded him of a Runner he had ridden as a child. He wanted the... horse?... that gave him good memories of his childhood.

N'lon shrugged. The animal was unstriking to him. Far too calm to be any fun. And scrawny... Did they breed it to be that way? Or was that just an accident that the animal ended up being all small and skinny like that? Runners, or horses as they called them here, needed to be a little bigger. Surely that little thing couldn't carry the weight of a human...?

[raynee]

Raynee stood patiently and scanned the livestock arena out of boredom. She was bored because she missed her favorite companion, having to leave the little flit home by himself for a day broke her heart, she had never left him anywhere for more than just an hour or two... In the bleachers she thought she saw Stella again...

"Umm...Faizah, I'll be back I have to use the bathroom..." Raynee excused herself to see if she could get closer to the person that could possibly be her long lost best friend...