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Waterlogged; Open
Topic Started: Jan 31 2012, 04:34 PM (327 Views)
Nazirah
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Underwater was a very tranquil place. For as long as she could remember, Keli had loved swimming, and particularily diving, holding her breath as she swam down to the bottom of the lake or river or ocean and rolled over on her back, dreamily staring up at the murky images and sunslight streaming though the water in rays. It really had made extraordinarysense that she had bonded to a water dragon. They were perfectly matched. Keli loved the water and made it an endeavor to be in it at least daily; Riviere made that easy for her. She was as at home in the water as she was on land, a boone when they were called for water rescues or scouting. The thought that she could have bonded to a fire dragon, or something else that hated water, made her shudder, and the same for Riviere about a human who feared the water.

The serene, quiet scene of small fish and waving plants was suddenly shattered with a tremendous splash and bubbles as something large dove smoothly snd streamlined into the rather deep water. A long body twisted languidly, swimming easily through the water with a powerful tail flicking back and forth. On the dappled dark blue back of Riviere, Keli floated parallel to him, her fingers clutching the frills running down his neck, grinning as her dragon towed her through the water. Water had been something that had helped them to connect and come to understand each other more than almost anything else. Keli hated to ride Riviere with a saddle, but his sharp, rough scales demanded it. Underwater, she could lay against his body and feel his movements without injury. and the powerful water dragon had opened the underwater world up to her; he could pull her faster, farther, deeper than her own body ever could have.

They were away from the academy, having been pattrolling around Lihn, just looking for any Tainted stirring up trouble--maybe doubtful, this far from the Desolation, but the security of their capital was not to be lax, not with the Tainted lord still missing and his minions doubtlessly getting uneasy and desperate. Besides, as long as his whereabouts were unknown, anyplace was worth looking in for signs of him. And then, like usual, they had been unable to resist the call of the water, and Keli had removed her tunic and his saddle and they had dove in as one.

Presently, Keli's lungs, while maybe stronger than the majority of the human population's, began to burn, and Riviere, attuned to the limits of his bonded's body, swam to the surface. They broke through the water together, the majority of Riviere's sinuous body above the surface, his short legs and powerful, large tail still moving gently. Keli shook her hair out of her eyes as she leaned on his neck, wrapping her arms as far around him as she could with a smile. Sure, she missed living on the coast, and with her family, but this marvelous dragon with whom she shared a crystal more than made up for that. Riviere turned his head on its; long neck so that he could reached back and nuzzle his bonded. Keli had always been in awe, with his size, that he was so careful and gentle with her. Of course, he wasn't one of the largest dragons, only fourteen feet high at the shoulder, in fact, his height was perfect for her, but he was still much, much larger than her and so much stronger. Yet he was always careful with her, polite and kind, how she could fall asleep right now and trust him not to let her drown. She knew of other riders and dragons who did not get along; those dragons who always tried to usurp or control their riders. That saddened her. That was not how a relationship should be. This was.

Presently she sat up, mindful of the harsh scales beneath her thighs with only so much water cushioning her. "Are you going to practice?" she encouraged, stroking the dragon's broad nose. She was as eager as he was to be able to master his control over the water. He blinked and pulled away gently. "I thought I might, yes, if you did not mind, Kel." She patted his neck, taking hold again of his frills with her other hand. "Of course not. Go on, try! Hit that rockover there." She pointed across the waves to a protrusion some 200 feet away. He straightened in the water, eyeing the target. "Very well." Keli held very still on his back as they bobbed gently in the water, leaning around him just slightly to see. They had, of course, mastered this part in their lessons, but practice never hurt anybody.

Riviere pulled himself up and back a bit in what she knew was him gathering his powers, and then his head shot forward, the great wide maw opening to launch a burst of water through the air at a tremendous pace, soaring in an arc until it splashed onto the rock hard enough to crumble a few pieces off of it. Keli clapped. "Fantastic, Rivi!" She hugged her dragon briefly, even as he continued to launch an attack, peppering the poor rock and the area around it, until there was so much splashing and mist that the rock itself could not actually be seen.

Finally satisfied, the dragon worked his body side to side in the water, propelling them forward and over to the rock, which he curled around and latched onto with his two front feet, lifting himself up out of the water into a half standing position. Keli clung to his frills as she slipped backwards a bit, mindful of pulling herself forward, lest she cut her skin on his scales. She had the scars to prove that she had done that plenty of times in the early days of their bond. Now was the hardest part of his powers, however. Keli had heard but had not seen that older, more experienced water dragons could actually summon large waves to crash over their enemies. Riviere was far too young for that, but again, they were practicing. Her dragon went still on his perch in concentration, and she froze as well, unwilling to distract him.

To an outside viewer, nothing happened; even to Keli and Riviere, nothing much happened. But as the blue dappled dragon with a long body and shark's triangular tail relaxed, she patted his neck in encouragement all the same. The dragon snorted in a bit of satisfaction. His powers had left a bit of pull on the waves, causing one to crash against the rock a bit harder than the others. He could not yet make waves of his own, but he had found that he could slightly influence waves already present by exerting a bit of a push or pull on them. It was hard work that took lots of concentration, but he would continue to practic,e in hopes or being powerful when he was older. The dragon sank back down in the water, keeping his head and Keli's above the water, swimming again, back to the shore to collect their belongings. Keli let herself be pulled through the water again, floating up off his back and closing her eyes. All too soon, she felt his fee find purchase on the shore, and slid off and into the water, waading ashore herself. Riviere walked out of the water beside her, shaking water out of his frill. Suddenly the dragon's head craned back as he looked up, and hers quickly followed. "There is someone coming," he said, watching a dragon flying over head, though it wasn't clear yet if they were just flying overhead in passing or if they would stop to talk to the waterlogged pair.
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Nherva
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"You need a day out, now come on," Hadassah urged, checking her harness to make sure she'd gotten it on properly. She only needed Zahra to buckle the buckles and fix the links so that it fit fast. Unfortunately Hadassah would never be able to do such things on her own. Not with her lack of opposable thumbs.

Zahra sighed, "I'm a little busy right now," she replied, hunched over her drawing desk strewn with large scrolls of paper, some of them with half-finished maps on them, others blank and yet others holding sketches and instructions as well as other notes for her to consider.

The Forest padded across the floor, one of the buckles dragging across the hard surface as she looked over her rider's shoulder. Zahra instantly hunched more, trying to hide what she was doing. Hadassah narrowed her eyes. With a gentle push, she moved her rider's obscuring arm with her nose. "Ah ha! I knew it I knew it!" Hadassah said, a note of victory in her voice. "You're drawing again! Something other than a map with a scale," she laughed, throwing her head back slightly.

"So what? It's crappy anyway," Zahra sighed, leaning back in her chair and tossing her charcoal pencil into the cup that held various lengths of others, all used, some down to the nubs. "What's the big deal." She said, staring down at the image she'd been drawing—a still-life of some of Hadassah's plants that sat on the window-sill in front of her drawing board. They'd been on leave ever since the incident in Iyalruek, and it seemed that Zahra's free time was finally demanding she do something with it other than stare at the wall and stew over whatever it was she was dealing with that related to the incident.

"Oh come on, you haven't lost your touch at all," the Forest said truthfully, nudging Zahra with her brilliantly colored nose. "Why don’t you come buckle these buckles and come with me. I want to go flying but I want to go with you," she said. Hadassah sorely missed flying far and wide with her map-making rider and she was starting to get a terrible case of cabin fever. They were going to fly together today or she was going to make sure they flew together today, whether Zahra liked it or not. "Grab one of your small sketchbooks and come with me, I'm sure we'll find something interesting to draw," she persuaded, still poking.

Finally, Zahra swatted her muzzle, "Well if you aren't the most stubborn creature in creation I don't know who is! Fine I'll go with you, just stop bellyaching all over the place," she said, then mumbled, "Drama queen."

"Ha! I heard that. You forget my hearing is much better than your average human," the Forest snickered as Zahra stood and started tightening and buckling the straps of her harness. "Besides, I knew you'd say that. You're my rider I know these things," she added smugly, yelping slightly as Zahra purposefully pulled one of her buckles too tight then let it loose again. "That was just cruel."

"Well stop running your big scaly mouth then," she said with a flick of her finger under her dragon's chin as she went to dress in clothes more fitting for outside. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, here and there, I thought we might take a flight to Lihn. Maybe you can get yourself some colors for your new pictures," the dragoness suggested. Zahra loved colors, it showed in the state of her bedroom, but one would never know it by her general lack of jewelry or colorful clothing. It was good to know that her first venture out after their leave began had left its mark on her rider. Meeting Scylla, the watercolor painting Water dragon had certainly struck a cord with her if she was drawing actual drawings again. Hadassah hadn't seen her do so in years, since shortly after they bonded. Perhaps it was a good way for her to vent her frustrations and fears. What had happened in Iyalruek hadn't left her entirely unscathed after all.

Hearing her dragon's advice, Zahra packed a small sketchbook and some graphite sticks—they were more expensive but easier to use in a book where they wouldn't get smeared—into a saddlebag, then mounted up. "We'll stop by the kitchen on the way out and see if they have anything we can take for you to snack on while we're out. I don't think at this rate we'll be back before dinnertime," Hadassah said as she walked out onto the outdoor ledge that opened into the sky. The sun was just past its zenith and afternoon was fast upon them. The flight to the area around Lihn would take a good hour or so, even on Hadassah's swift wings.

After a quick trip to the Academy's kitchens, they were off, flying together again. And for the first time in months, Hadassah felt that familiar sense of elation in their bond that Zahra felt when they flew together, with nothing around them but the empty sky and each other. They were completely and utterly free. It lifted the Forest's spirits, and she flew even quicker toward the coastal area of Lihn. There were always interesting things to draw at the beach. Perhaps there would be something for her rider to sketch and take her mind off of the confusion and fear that it worried about all the time and the questioning always present.

When they finally arrived, the warm glow of the sun was just turning the atmosphere deep yellow, the absolute precursor to sunset, which was only hours away now. They'd be making the flight back in the dark, but Hadassah was known to fly fairly silent when she needed to and she could listen to the flora on the ground for danger nearby. In fact, as the ocean came in sight, she started to hear that familiar elemental whisper of the trees and coastal grasses. They weren't alone. She was careful, though she had no idea what a Taint would be doing this close to Lihn at a time like this. But fortunately when they came upon them, she was relieved to see that the pair already at the lagoon-esque place along the coast didn't appear to be Tainted. But just to be safe, rather than landing outright, she swooped down lower and noticed that they were also noticing her.

Zahra shielded her eyes and tried to identify the dragon…a Water by the looks of it, but she couldn't put her finger on who exactly it was, though she had seen them around the Academy before, so it was safe. She tapped on Hadassah's shoulder to tell her so.

Her Forest landed, sending a spray of sand aloft with her slowing wing beats. "Greetings fellows." The words surprised Zahra because they weren't hers, and very rarely did her dragon ever speak first.

"Um, hello," Zahra said shyly—also something she never really had been before. "Do you mind if we land here for a little while?"

"I hope not, my wings are killing me." Now that was the Hadassah she knew and loved.
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Nazirah
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Riviere stretched his long, narrow wings out to his sides, flapping them violently a few times to shed the rest of the water from his body. He swung his tail a few times as well, droplets flying from the trianglur tip of the fin and splashing into the water, creating ripples. Surely, he loved the water, but once out of it, he was aware of how messy and undignified being covered in water made him seem to others. Besides, the feeling of it trickling down his hide was unpleasant. Then his eyes were drawn upwards again as the dragon he had spotted over head descended. "It is a forest dragon and rider," he informed his own rider, wide blue muzzle still pointed up. "I recognize them, but I do not know their names."

Keli tipped her own head back as she stepped completely out of the water. "That's a very colorful forest," she said, tone implying that she thought Riviere's identification to be wrong. Her blue dragon gave her a rueful glance. "Such coloring is not unheard of. And look at the size, and the shape and position of the wings. It is a forest dragon. Female, I believe. Do you recognize them?" Keli shook her head. "No, Riv, sorry. I'm sure I've seen a dragon of that color before, but I don't know who it is. She has a rider, though, right?" she asked, suddenly panicked. Was it Tainted? She didn't think Tainted dragons were so richly colored, but she had been wrong before.

Riviere snorted, shaking his nose and looking down at her fully. "Don't you think that if I had spotted a Tainted dragon, I would have taken flight while we were still out in the water? Really, Keli, do you trust me so little?" The rider leaned on a foreleg, hugging the limb. "Of course I trust you, Rivi! But even you make mistakes," she teased, patting the limb as she pushed away, and he snorted, not believing her. But she hadn't expected him to, and neither did she want him to. "Looks like they are landing. I wonder why? I hope we aren't in trouble...though I don't know why we would be..." She abruptly released what a sight she was with dripping hair and a shirt stuck to her body and quickly started to remedy that, tying her hair back with a leather thong and shaking the water out of her shirt and trousers.

Riviere looked on as the brightly colored forest dragon landed, buffeting sand in all directions with every downdraft from her wings--because this close, she most certainly was a she, and a forest dragon. Fortunately, the dragon spotted the danger in time and spun a wing around, shielding his rider from the sting of the flying particles. They had no effect on his own tough hide. As the vibrant forest dragon settled on the ground and folded her wings, Riviere stepped back again, furling his own wings tightly against his streamlined body.

Keli, for her part, was busy wringing out her dripping shirt, and was startled when Riviere protected her from the sand. She picked up her tunic, pulling it back over her head. She wasn't too worried about being wet; the flight back would undoubtedly dry her off completely, but she didn't want to look like a complete idiot to whoever was paying them a visit. She offered a grin and short wave to the other rider. Despite having been around the Academy for two years, she didn't really know anyone very well, and she had no name to place with the other woman. Keli was from a rural farming community, not used to crowds and perfectly comfortable with only her own thoughts. Riviere gave her all the companionship she needed. But the woman was by no means unfriendly. She didn't actively seek people out, but when they sought her out, she was more than willing to talk.

"Hello, dear Forest," Riviere responded in his usual eloquent manner to the other dragon's words. He gave a slight blink as the forest's outburst about her aching wings cut him off before he could say that they were welcome. Keli, for her part, just gave a quick barking laugh, the sort Riviere scolded her for, both because she loved the brutal honesty of the new dragon whose coloring matched her personality and at poor Riviere's startled expression. To his credit, the dragon did recover quickly and well. "Please, join us. You are welcome here, of course, it isn't our land. Did anything in particular bring you out here?" He asked, bringing his haunches under him to sit down and curling his long tail around to the side. For a long, sinuous dragon whose limbs were more inclined to go everywhere, he managed to keep himself indignantly collected.

Keli grinned and waved at the forest's rider, gesturing for her to climb down and join her on the ground. "We don't mind you landing, especially if you need to," she said, concurring with her dragon. "We were just having a swim and doing some practice. How about you? What brings you all the way out here?" She truly was curious. As far as she knew, this wasn't someplace people stopped too frequently.
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Nherva
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"Oh no nothing in particular. Save for getting some fresh air," the Forest answered as she lowered herself for Zahra to dismount. She was probably definitely ready to stretch her legs. "And please, you may call me Hadassah. This is my rider Zahra," she introduced. While she appreciated the Water's politeness, she generally found too many manners to stifle good relations rather than encourage them and preferred a more relaxed sort of social environment. Not that respect shouldn't be given to those deserving of it, but using names rather than modifiers was certainly a start.

"We're just out for a little sight-seeing I guess you could call it," Zahra explained, tucking a bit of stray hair behind her ear and out of her face. "We've been on leave for awhile and all we really do otherwise is sit around in our quarters, so we,--" Hadassah cleared her throat and Zahra rolled her eyes, "Hadassah thought it would be a good idea to come out and sit somewhere else for a change," she shrugged. At the mention of swimming, Zahra became slightly contemplative. How many years had it been since she'd taken a swim? "Is the water nice?" she wondered. With it being early autumn, the sea water was probably still plenty warm, but she didn't know herself so she asked.

Hadassah, meanwhile, stretched like a great feline and slumped into the warm sand, letting it slip between her paw-like fore claws and warm her underbelly where previously the cooler winds aloft had battered at her scales. She sighed, "Ah…its much nicer out here," she said, her tail swaying contentedly behind her. She let her wings relax so that they rested at her sides, making her look like she was covered in a blanket of orange-red and maroon. "You'll have to forgive me," she said, her violet eyes look up at the Water, "But I have seen you around the Academy but I'm afraid I do not know your name." Her voice sounded almost apologetic, as though she thought she needed to know all the names of the dragons at the Academy at any given time. She knew quite a few even if she'd never met them, but with the more common breeds she sometimes tended to forget. However, this Water was familiar in some way…though she couldn't put a finger on it.

Zahra briefly watched the two dragons converse, allowing a small grin to reach her lips. It was about time Hadassah stopped being so reclusive. She guessed it just took her being reclusive to make her dragon come out of her shell to balance it out. While she still wasn't ready to walk into any crowded rooms and just start mingling yet, it was rather nice to see another human face. "I was just going to sit and…sketch I guess," she shrugged, clutching the small sketchbook she'd taken out of Hadassah's harness bag on her way off.

"Better than drawing a dumb old map," Hadassah snickered.
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Nazirah
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Riviere, satisfied that the danger of sand being kicked at his rider--he hid his annoyance at that unthoughtful gesture--fully furled his long wings against his sides and laid down on his belly, long body in a straight line from the beach behind him, tail flicking in the water as he folded his forelegs under his chest. "Pleasure to meet you, Hadassah," he said. "I've seen you around as well, but I confess I didn't have a name to place with you either. I am Riviere and my rider is Keli. Oh, fresh air is always good, although we came out here to patrol a bit. The weather is very nice today though, isn't it? The swim was nice too," he mused, returning the introductions, tail flicking water gently. His eyes watched the vibrant forest as she settled herself on the ground. He didn't blame her at all for not knowing him, his breed was very common and he really had no traits that stood out. That, along with Keli preferring only his presence, which meant he didn't socialize a lot.

Keli laughed at Hadassah's assertive personality. How marvelous! Now she understood why the forest dragon was so brightly colored! "Wow...I'm not sure I could spend that much time in my quarters," she admitted. "I get stircrazy really easily. Even when I'm sick, I want to go sit someplace else." She looked around at the beautiful scenery and inhaled deeply, then chuckled again. "I'm really the wrong person to ask that question to," she confided in Zahra. "The water is always nice, in my book. I grew up on the coast. Really, it's a relief that I bonded to a water dragon like Riviere," she said, dead serious, jerking a thumb in the direction of Riviere. "If I had bonded something that hated water, we would have a serious problem. But I do think that the water is especially nice today," she added. "It's not too deep here, and summer is still pretty strong here, so it's pretty warm. Riviere and I just can't resist swimming whenever we see water," she admitted, slightly embarrassed.

Keli eyed the other woman's sketchbook. "Well, it's certainly pretty enough out here to be worth drawing, in my opinion. That is one talent I wish I had," she said remorsefully. "But I can't draw worth anything. What sorts of things do you like to draw?" she asked curiously. "Do you...do you mind showing me some things you've done? You can say no," she rushed on quickly. "I won't be offended. In fact, I can go over with the dragons if you want some peace an quiet to work in."
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Nherva
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((Sorry for the wait! I didn't see that you'd posted D: ))

"Oh Riviere!" Hadassah said with some recognition. "Aren't you of Tempyst's get?" She wondered aloud, inspecting him a bit closer by a stretch of her neck. She only remembered because now that she thought of it, she'd seen the Water hatch some time in the past and if she wasn't mistaken, he was son of a Shadowguarde. That had been Hadassah's first hatching as a mother, and hopefully the last she'd see when her own eggs did not hatch. There were several memorable points to that hatching, most of them the Forest didn't care to remember. But she had no bad associations with Riviere, it just gave her a point of reference. How he'd grown. It was as though she'd never seen him waddling across the sands to find his rider—and considering how vague the memory was, she might as well have not.

"Yes well," Zahra said somewhat shyly—so odd for the woman who was usually the first one to talk to anyone in any given situation. It was as though she and her dragon had switched roles of later, "We used to go out all the time." She explained, "I just…haven't really had much reason to lately." Part of it was true, but she didn't exactly let on the exact reason she'd been confining herself indoors lately. She'd been paralyzed by her own irrational fears and even being outside so far from home right now made her slightly nervous, but it was all a step toward recovery. She smiled, though, when Keli spoke of the fondness of her bond with her dragon. How she did miss her flights with Hadassah. In the recent past it had been the only way she felt she and her dragon could really connect. Somehow, their bond had strengthened after the attack at Iyalruek, and perhaps it was that disruption in their bond's equilibrium that had her so…off-kilter lately. Perhaps she just wasn't ready for the sudden change.

She nodded, "I can't say I blame you. Sometimes it's hard for us not to stop and just kind of enjoy the surroundings every now and again," it was difficult to put into words the way Zahra and Hadassah liked to stop in the most rural wildernesses on their treks and just be and enjoy the natural phenomenon around them, but she hoped that Keli would understand just by the relation of the two interests.

Zahra shrugged and tucked some hair behind her ear, she flipped the empty pages of her sketch book and shrugged, "Actually I don't really consider myself an artist or anything. The things I usually draw are more technical. I'm a cartographer for the Academy…or I was--,"

"Before Iyalruek," Hadassah interjected so that her rider didn't have to. She knew Zahra didn't really like confronting what they'd endured there even after Sekkai had wrested the place from the hands of their enemies.

"Still am technically. We're just on extended leave at the moment," she said, sitting down cross-legged next to her dragon in the sand. "I used to draw different things, but there's not much time for it when I've got maps to finish. Not having anything else to do, my giant lizard here has insisted that I go back to trying to draw other things," she told her. "Unfortunately I don't really have anything to show," she opened the sketchbook and flipped through the pages again so that Keli could see that it was new—well, it wasn't new, but it hadn't been drawn in yet. "That's why we're here. I'm supposed to be thinking of something to put in here," she snickered softly.
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Nazirah
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((OOC: 'Tis fine it was barely a day before. :D ))

Riviere shifted on his feet a bit, resettling his wings. That was his only outward sign of discomfort, but Keli could feel through their bond that he was a bit embarrassed and his pride damaged that someone remembered him when he was a little and ungainly hatchling being carried off the sands by an overzealous new rider. Keli couldn't resist a small smile. He gave a curt nod of his head. "Yes, I'm from Tempyest's...get," he said, stumbling slightly over the word. A gentledragon shouldn't be so blunt, he was thinking to himself, but he didn't want to seem shy or squirmish in front of the older fire dragon. The tip of his shark tail twitched a bit in thought. He honestly didn't remember much from that day except finding Keli. And he didn't really want to remember it very much.

Something seemed to be bothering Zahra, but Keli wasn't about to broach that subject. She just kept smiling, kind and friendly. "Well, there's plenty to do indoors too," she said conversationally. "Especially if you can draw. I mostly just read books myself. But the Academy has lots to offer," she finished, deciding she was rambling. She personally would go crazy if she was inside for more than one day in a row; growing up on the coast where she would go swimming or do some sort of other activity daily had engrained a love of movement in her. But not everyone had the same preferences that she did. And it was true, the Academy had a lot to offer.

Keli's grin widened; she knew exactly what Zahra was referring to. "Yes, exactly! It's nice just to take a break and enjoy being together, having nothing to worry about. Even better if the surroundings are beautiful." Her gaze shifted to Riviere, reliving their latest underwater adventure, and how nice it had been to just float next to him in the silence and close her eyes and forget everything and relish in the bond they shared.

Keli wasn't sure what had happened at Iyalruek, and she glanced slightly warily between dragon and rider. She could feel Riviere's curiosity as well but neither of them spoke on it, not being the sort to pry. Riviere's sense of propriety was too strong for that. "Cartographer?" the water rider said, interest piqued. "Wow, you must be really good if the Academy depends on you like that so much!" She grinned, not fazed by the empty sketchbook, curious at the extended leave too--that implied that things at Iyalruek had been really bad, if Zahra needed time. She pursued her lips slightly and hoped she'd never face anything like that. She felt bad for Zahra and whatever had happened to her and wished she could help somehow; but without knowing what had happened she couldn't be sure what to do. Perhaps distraction was best.

Her grin widened at the way Zahra called Hadassah a giant lizard. She patted Riviere's leg with one hand. "Well, what sorts of things do you like to draw best?" she asked, trying to offer help. Then an idea occured to her. "Hey, have you ever seen the landscape underwater? It's gorgeous! At least, I think it is," she amended. "But we could go for a swim and see if you wanted to draw anything like that!" She fiddled slightly nervously with her hands. It was...a radical idea, that was for sure. She blushed slightly, hoping the older rider didn't think she was entirely crazy. She certainly wouldn't mind another swim.
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Hadassah peered at Riviere, suddenly feeling as though she was making him uncomfortable. She'd certainly never had the most tact in the world, but perhaps it was time to 'shut her trap' as Zahra usually so eloquently put it. So she lay quietly and let the two riders talk to each other. She wanted to get to know Riviere, if she was going to be sitting here with him, but she would have to think of a better way to approach the subject. Amazing that a Forest dragon less than half his size could make anyone like him uncomfortable. No matter, it was Zahra that needed to get out there and make friends anyway.

Zahra flushed slightly, "I'm one of the few in my trade," she used by way of making herself sound less important. She wasn't the best map-maker in the world, but she wasn't the worst. Even so, she didn't like being put on any pedestals or in any spotlights. Down to earth was where she preferred it. Keli's eased demeanor was making the Forest rider more comfortable with each passing second. She wasn't uptight at all, hadn't instantly asked what her problem was or belittled her unwillingness to open up. It was a pleasant change.

"Oh I don't know. It's been so long since I have drawn anything other than trees and mountains in stylized scale," she tucked her hair behind her ear again. "I used to draw Hadassah a lot when she was little. Those sketches are probably stashed away in my quarters somewhere," she shrugged. "I should pick something and just see how it goes."

"That could be interesting," Hadassah commented when Keli mentioned the landscape underwater. "If Zahra can swim," the Forest fixed one violet eye on her rider and Zahra gave her a narrow-eyed look.

"I can too swim and you know it. You're the one that can't swim."

"I can too!" Hadassah drew herself up and flexed her wings, "And you very well know that Zahra Kuruth."

"Then get in the water and show us how good at it you are," Zahra returned with an impish look before she turned to Keli. "If you don’t mind getting wet again I surely wouldn't mind taking a swim. It's been ages since I've been in the water…you'll have to show me where all the good spots are with stuff to draw. I'll have to commit it to memory though," she pointed to her temple. "Don't want my pages getting soggy," she chuckled.

"Fine! I will," Hadassah said, pulling herself out of the sand and practically strutting to the water's edge. She stepped into the shallows until the water came up to her shoulders when standing, then she simply floated.

"That's not swimming," Zahra said once she was at the edge of the water herself, having shed the pieces of clothing that mattered if they got wet. "That's floating."

"I'm not the one going to draw beautiful underwater landscapes. I'm just relaxing here," she said, spreading her wings to keep herself from sinking like a rock. Zahra knew very well that her Forest could swim, she was just far from graceful about it and her swimming was more of a glorified doggy paddle that she didn't want to embarrass herself with in front of a graceful Water dragon that knew good swimming when he saw it.

((Sorry about the wait, the battleplot eeted my soul D: ))
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Nazirah
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Riviere noticed Hadassah giving him a critical look, though he pretended not to and turned his head to his rider, and then her deigning to speak very much again, and he felt a bit bad. Truthfully, she did make him slightly uncomfortable, she having proven to be the embodiment of the opposite of him the gentle-dragon, but he did not want to tame her spirit or prevent her from enjoying herself. Sure, he didn't think that speaking bluntly or rudely was the way to go through life, and he would never condone it or approve of those who did, but he did not condemn others for being different from him. Still, he couldn't deny that he was relieved when she ceased to speak, which made him feel even more guilty. So he set about to get her talking again, but trying to steer the conversation towards a safe subject. Fortunately, Keli presently such an opportunity.

Keli noticed Zahra's blush but pretended to ignore it and kept smiling, her open expression showing--she hoped--that she was genuinely interested in the other rider's work. However, Keli had learned that such a blush usually meant that the speaker, while in reality being very good at whatever was in question, did not want to talk about and was very modest, and while Riviere would have continued gushing, she knew when to be quiet and let the subject go if she wanted to make friends. She widened her grin to show her teeth and crooned when Zahra mentioned drawing the forest when she was a baby, glancing knowingly at the brightly colored dragon.

Riviere gave a nod as Hadassah interrupted the humans' conversation, smoothly joining in as well. "Oh, it's alright if she can't swim," he quickly said. "If you just hold onto my fringe, I can tow you anywhere. I do it quite a bit with Keli. You just pat my back when you need to breathe again," he offered, bowing his head slightly. Both of the water pair then shared a fond feeling as the forest pair briefly argued over who could swim and who couldn't, which culminated with Hadassah marching down to the water. As soon as she stood, Riviere did as well, and waded in after her, perfectly eager to swim again.

Keli shook her head earnestly as Zahra turned to her, crossing her arms in front of her and grasping her hem in her hands to pull her tunic over her head again. "Oh no, I never mind going for a swim!" she said with a chuckled as she dropped the tunic down beside her boots again. "My mother used to have a horrible time getting me to come to dinner. It's no problem at all, and I don't mind one bit." The water rider proved her point by turning and dashing back into the water out beside Riviere, diving in and dousing herself. "Keli! That is impolite. You should wait for Zahra," Riviere scolded lightly, causing his rider to run her hand across the surface of the water and splash him, before swimming back to Zahra.

The water dragon swung his shark-finned tail from side to side to propel himself forward, as smooth as a snake over the water, and sat beside Zahra. In truth, he did indeed find her position a bit humorous, but he could understand a dragon with her pride wanting to maintain her dignity. Still, as a gentledragon, he wasn't about to point out any flaws in anyone, and he still felt bad about making her stop talking earlier, and he did want to get to know her, so he did what Riviere did best: he found a way to compliment her. "That is a very good pose for resting," he told the forest, treading water lightly beside her. "You don't have to expend very much energy that way."
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