Knight in ... worn blue leather?

Ista Weyr - Plateau
The low volcanic plateau stretches out around you. From here, one can get a clear view of the ocean, the corral and forests that surround the small bowl of the Weyr. Several sets of wide stairs lead down to the beach at different points. The gates leading into the Weyr are near the corral. Well, one of them actually leads into the corral and the other makes use of a new fence, cutting a path along the southern edge of the corral. From the Corral, there is a small, thin and rocky stream flowing its way over the edge of the plateau down to the beach.
A large expanse of more than a hundred acres, the fenced-in Corral sits on the plateau, half in the bowl, half out of it. There are entrance gates in the fencing. Half in the Corral, there is a watering pond for the animals that's fed by pipes from a set of underground tunnels. For an overflow, and to keep the water from stagnating, a little stream has been cut at the western end of the pond, that flows across the plateau, and down to the beach below. The nutrient-rich grasses are kept trimed fairly short by the grazing of the animals, and look like a rich, verdant carpet.

Late afternoon finds Zorya in a quiet corner of the plateau near the stream, barefoot in the grass. An area were, while the rest of the plateau sees people come and go and linger, that is less trafficed and perhaps less see. Her left foot raises, toes pointing in the air even as she raises her right arm a hand curving above her head. This movement in sequence with the next, hand dropping to cross in front of her face toward the opposite shoulder, at the same time her foot is lower and set to the ground in front of her, as her arm continuing from her shoulder across in a straight line til outstretched leads her into a turn and the dance to the song in her head continues on from there.

It's not bad enough that Zipalla is the younger cousin, a full blood Shipton, if there is such a thing, and is that awful age of 13 turns, a month shy of 14, feeling anything but pretty and graceful. She stops mid-stride when she sees Zorya and just watches, silent, head tilting to follow the swan-like motions of her arms. When Zorya turns Zipalla steps behind a tree, head peeking around to continue watching, smiling softly, perhaps even forelornly.

It's just a dance… Zorya's eyes are closed as she feels out the next move with her feet. A step here, a turn there. One movement feeding into the next, until one last spin and she stops. However it seems an awkward point for a dance to end where she does, like ending in the middle. The girl lets her arms fall, relaxing the tension in her legs with a sigh.

Zipalla waits then finally steps out, "That was pretty.." she says quietly, feeling awkward even in her walk, as if she doesn't quite know what to do with her hips for a moment before she slips into her normal gait. "Did you learn that from someone?" she asks her cousin.

Zhilinith bugles his return from the unknown world of Between, announcing his presence to the watch dragon. The star-spangled blue circles the weyr a few times, then finally spirals down to land on the Plateau. As the blue trods towards there the girls are, Zhay takes care to undo his riding helmit and his too-warm leather jacket and settles them in a satchel. The young man slides from his blue's back and hits the ground, his longish hair covering part of his face. "Zorya…." he calls to her in a decepticely bland tone.

Zorya opens her eyes, blinking once, twice as she looks up towards the sound of Zipalla's voice. "Um…" Well she wasn't expecting anyone to have been watching, "No.. not exactly." she replies to the question, "But, thanks..?" its almost a question in itself. The blue makes his arrival and the girl's attention is drawn beyond her cousin for the moment, "Zh'ae?" Here's hoping he didn't see her too.

Zipalla smiles and nods then when the dragon and rider arrive she snaps around startled and blushes. A glance is traded between the two and she steps back, "UHm…" then she looks to Zorya in one of those want-me-to-skeedaddle? expressions.

Zh'ae has noticed her, both of the girls actually. He tilts his head up a bit and the wind blows his hair aside, showing off a lovely black eye. He takes a few more steps towards the girls and offers Zipalla a warm smile. Such a nice boy. Zhilinith rumbles approvingly at Zorya, and that simply leaves no doubt. "Lovely dance, a wonder you learnt anything in Shipton…" He responds, offering an impish grin. Yes, he's not mentioning much more right this very second, especially not to explain his eye. Yet. He turns to Zipalla then and nods, "Zh'ae, Bluerider of Zhilinith." he greets and peers at the girl closely then raises a brow at Zorya in questioning… Another Shipton, yes?

A subtle blush of pink colors Zorya's cheeks at the blue rider's comment. So he did see her…. great. "Well..," she starts to say something related to her learning. A slight shake of her head, no Zip can stay and as such she makes the rest of the introduction. "Zh'ae, my cousin Zipalla, she's L'ton's oldest. And what in the world happened to you??" she questions, catching sight of his eye.

Hazel eyes keen to the man and the blue and she lifts a brow then her chin lifts somewhat defensively. "I'm…" then she nods to Zorya, clasping her hands before her. She studies the wounded eye then glances to the blue, "He a friendly sort?" she asks, while waiting for the rider's explanation of the shiner.

Zh'ae blinks a few times and waves a finger at Zipalla. "I know you, I met you when you were… well, small…er." He looks awkward for a moment. No, Zh'ae dosen't pay much attention to anything. Does he? Zhilinith decides to answer the question himself, and he ambles right on up and sticks his nose in the middle of everything, within easy reach for all the hands, Yes. "Well. I went back to Shipton today…" he mentions to Zorya, arching a brow. "…Well, I got into a fistfight with that sorry piece of…..errr, with Jadrein…" he comments and then eyes her.

Zorya watches the blue rider while she waits for an answer, the pause making her wonder before he actual replies. "Zh'ae, you.." she starts "Oohhh!" The girl spins on the toes of one foot so that her back is to the others, fists clenching as she throws her hands down to her sides at the same time. Frustrated? Just a little.

Zipalla quirks her mouth and her arms cross over her front self-consciously, as if they have no place to rest. A broad, genuine smile lights up the younger girl's face when the blue pokes his snout in close and she rubs over his head softly, "Well hello you.." she murmurs to him, leaning close. Her gaze flicks up suddenly as Zh'ae explains and she blinks to Zorya and then grins at the dragon, "This should be interesting for us to watch.."

Zh'ae winces a bit and moves a few feet away. He really dosen't need a matching bruise elsewhere on his poor, abused face. Instead of saying something, he simply waits paitnetly for her to finish being mad at him. Zhilinith croons to Zipalla, his dark head nuzzling right up against the girl, gently of course. Wouldn't wana knock the poor thing down with his big ol' head, you know.

Zorya relaxes her fists, the fingers of one hand uncurling to tap against her thigh as she bites her lip. She didn't need him getting involved! And just when L'ton had promised her that she could stay, that she wouldn't be sent back. Its surely not going to end with this. "Why?" she finally asks, turning back to cut her eyes up at Zh'ae, the blue orbs flickering with something akin to anger and annoyance. "You promised you wouldn't say anything." Never did she think he'd actually go pay a visit!

Zipalla gets a little more wide-eyed and continues rubbing the blue's snout and face, gaze on the other two. She watches intently, wincing as Zorya spins around, that look is a new one for Zip to see… and it's not good!

Zh'ae shakes his head and takes a few steps back to the girl's side, looking paitnelty downa t her. "Ah said nothin'. All Ah said t'him was tha' 'e was a mean, manipulative bastard an' tha' 'e 'ad no right tae reproduce." the lad notes, slipping too easily back into his Shipton drawl. "Ah didnae break me promise tae ye, Zorya. Ah only went tae measure 'im up." So what if he did a wee bit more than that. He's trying so hard to be the good guy here. Zhilinith rumbles, amused by it all, and adored by small hands, and he liiiikes it.

"An nothin' gets ya ah black eye?" Zorya starts. That's a new one to her. "Ah tell ya a name an ya go 'ome an come back 'ere wid dat an Ah'm 'pose ta believe ya said nothin'." All said fairly straight and even, the calm before the storm? "Gotta be ah better liar 'an that." Cause if he thinks she's going to believe that he's got another thing coming. "Measure 'im up." she snorts, blowing a breath out through her nose. So very lady like. "Why'd ya 'ave ta go in the firs' place?"

Zipalla keeps her spot by the blue, grinning down at his content little nuzzles. She strokes over his head softly, yes she knows a bit about dragons, completely comfortable with him, though a slightly uneasy gaze falls on her cousin and the rider. Her brows wrinkle but she remains quiet.

Zh'ae offers her an impulsive, impishly adorable look. "Ah also tol' 'im tha' 'e 'ad nae right tae reproduce an' 'e should bless 'is lucky stars tha' e's' nae anywhere near yeh. Tha's all." he comments, putting his hands on his hips and grinning. "Ah 'ad tae see wha' Ah was up agains' come Autumn." he responds, turning to wink at Zipalla, who is also his cousin, by the by… and then he turns back to Zorya. Zhilinith amusedly rumbles and lids slowly close in glee.

"Autumn aint none ah ya concern." Zorya glares, "Id innt 'ere an Ah aint goin' back." a hand raises level with her shoulder and drops, finger pointing towards the ground to emphasis her point. "Ah tol' ya 'at Zh'ae an ifin ya think fightin's gonna solve anythin'…" An poor Zip is probably getting more confused by the second. The girl trails off as his words hit her. "Ah aint tol' ya 'bout Autumn." Which means he knows more than when she talked to him last.

Zipalla glances to her cousin and is indeed confused but she says nothing, simply waiting, listening, shrinking back against the blue a little. She lowers her head and whispers to him, near silently, then her gaze lifts to the pair again.

Zh'ae does listen to her tirade, and at the end he blushes rather.. brightly. "Arrigh'… Ah gather'd some info whe' Ah wa' there. .." he trails off. "Ya', Ah poked me big nose intae yer business an' Ah shouldna. Bu' Ah did. An' Ah know… An' you ain' goin' back there if Ah gots anything tae say 'bout it."And then he lapses into silence and gives her big, mournful puppy dog eyes… one's even black like a cute mutt! The blue continues to simply croon to Zipalla and wraps his body around her a bit, keeping her all nice and tucked away. His!

Zorya just glares while he talks. The silence might be deafening were it not for the noises not far off as weyr life continues outside of their little circle. He's done talking and she doesn't say anything for a long moment either. Cutting her eyes at the boy she turns towards Zipalla before breaking into a smile. Hey now, she's not ready to let him know that'll work! "Got 'nough trouble 'ere witout ya stickin in. Ya know 'ow 'ey are bout likes of ya." she trying to keep the smile out of her words.

Zipalla nearly giggles when the dragon seems to tuck her in possessively, but she doesn't make a sound, aside from that of sliding into the blue's sweet little cuddle. Her face takes on a curious expression at Zorya's smile but she doesn't react, well, her brows lift, but she says nothing, just watches.

Zh'ae dosen't stop with the big eyes, although he does add a little pout after a while. "Ah'm sorry." he says simply, unsure of hat else he can say. His shoulders slup a little and he peeers at her. "Ah jist wanted tae 'elp." Sniffle? Okay, no.. he's not that pathetic. Zhilinith has a prize! And that makes him all happy. Now he just hafta win over L'ton and keep the precious girl. He likes her! They could maybe cause trouble together, yes! Ahem.

Zorya takes a deep breath and just… laughs. "Cause sendin a rider inta Shipton is 'elpin' anythin'?" And then she finally turns back so that she can seem the both. "Ah'm sorry Zh'ae. Ain't gonn change nothin' cept gettin ya inta trouble." He should know that!

Zipalla rubs the dragon a bit more and watches, for a moment feeling like she and the blue are nigh invisible to the arguing pair. She raises a brow at Zorya's last comment, the fact that she's talking like she is enough to throw her off a little, but.. what in blazes is goin on! That's her expression and she murmurs the question to the blue.

Zh'ae shrugs faintly, "Ah'm sorry, Ah already tolja… bu' Ah do think i' helped…" he trails off and shrugs faintly. "Ah'll go now, yeh'll feel bettah." he starts backing away slowly. Yeah, being laughed at is the alarm for a retreat. Zhilinith hasn't moves yet, he's rather comfortable taking up all of Zipalla's time and space.

Zorya awws. "No, no. Iz a'right." the girl says, taking a step forward to reach for the rider's hand. "Ya good?" she asks, meaning of course are you alright, offering up a bit of a smile as a truce. "Iz ah wonder ya walked away wit jus' the eye." she teases, her speech falling away from the Shipton dialect as she calms from the initial reaction.

Zh'ae chuckles and nods, taking the girls hand and squeezing it in a gesture of goodwill. "You simply haven't seen my ribs yet. And if you think my face is bad, you should have seen his." he notes and then winks rogueishly, then turns towards his blue. "Zhil, let poor Zipalla up, you don't need to smother her to death with your love…" The rider notes to his dragon. The blue rumbles and untwines himself, leaving himself available for her to stay, but also giving her room to move away from him now.

Zorya winces at the mention of his ribs. "You know you didn't have ta do all that…" In fact she would have preferred that he hadn't, as if that wasn't clear. She pauses, sending him a questioning gaze, "Why did ya go back?" Meanwhile, Zhil having left Zip free gets one last pat before the younger girl scampers off sending the two a grin.

Zh'ae shrugs a bit. "I wanted to help. That, and I wanted to see the rot that you were afraid of, adn you're right.. he is rot." the young man notes softly. His doe brown eyes peer down at her as he leans against his blue, not having let go of her hand yet. "I went back because I believe in helping people." he adds.

Zorya frowns, "I'm not afraid of him." she replies. Which is a lie. The way he looked at her sent shivers up her spine. She raises a brow at this however, "So by going back you were helping? They hate you." You in this case being dragonriders in general. And just when she was starting to to believe that she'd stay here, now she's certain they're going to send for her or worse, send someone to get her. "Ya didn't need to get hurt over it." she adds, resting her free hand against his chest.

Zh'ae shrugs a little bit, as if it dosen't matter one bit. "I don't care what they think of me, they're still family and I got some of the youngest ones to talk to me for a few moments. I know a lot more now… about him at least." the young man comments, then winces a little at the hand on his chest. He moves his hand over hers and pushes hers up a few inches, then the wince dissappears. "I did. I had to stand up to someone who called me and my lifemate a plague upon Pern."

"Sorry," Zorya apologizes, starting to pull her hand away before he moves it. "And what do you know?" She's almost afraid to ask. "Oh… he said that? I never thou-" and she looks to the ground turning away, and pulling her hands with her. Oh look, pretty green grass. She did. There was a point not very long ago at all where she might have said the same thing. "Well at least you weren't fighting over me even if ya were stickin your nose in my business."

Zh'ae chuckles and shakes his head, "I'll be fine, just put it here, not there." he murmurs quietly, grinning. Then she moves away from him and he stops leaning on his dragon and takes a step after her. "He might not have known it, but I was fighting for you." Then he frowns and shakes his head, "You don't want to know some of the stuff about him that I heard, rumor or not. And I won't repeat much of it." he adds. "I won't let you go back to that… rot." He says it almost like a command…

Zorya bites her lip, cringing at the thought of just what he might have heard. She lived there. She stays silent for a long moment unsure of what to say, or even if there is anything she could.

Zh'ae is an overprotective type, just like Pi was to him when he came here. At the look on her face, he simply steps forward and puts a hand around her shoulders. "It'll be alright, Zory. Trust me.. Trust the dragonriding Shiptons.." he murmurs, almost a little awkwardly… But still there!

"What my father said to me…" Zorya tries, saltwater tears showing their presence in her blue eyes. "And knowing that … that was what I had to look forward to…" she shakes her head slowly. After all the time she's been her and she hasn't said it to anyone. But now he knows in part at least and she didn't say it. And now it seems that all that was bottled up is trying to break out.

Zh'ae reaches up and touches the girl's face, taking her tears with his thumbs. He offers her an encouraging smile."you're here now, with us.. And if I know L'ton and V, and Pi… and even me, we won't let that happen, little one." he notes softly to her, his dragon rumbling protectively from behind them. Awwww! Look, Zhay's a knight in…worn out blue leather! Ahem…

Zorya nods, "That's what L'ton says too." she replies, offering up a bit of a smile. Another long awkward pause. "Did you really like it?" she asks, "The dancing I mean?" Its time to talk about something at least a little off the current topic and that's all she can come up with right now.

Zh'ae nods his head, "Your dance was absolutely stunning." he comments, letting the other subject drop. For now. He knows when to simply let it go. Yeppers. "I want to see it again." he notes.

Zorya nearly chokes when she hears that, a blush creeping up on her again. "You want…" Like he said before, its a wonder she learned anything in Shipton. There she would have been scolded, and perhaps that's why she didn't like the idea of anyone having seen. "Its never the same twice really…" she warns.

Zh'ae smiles and nudges her with a shoulder before stepping back and leaning agianst his dragon, "Please can I see it? I don't mind it being different, it's nice to watch." he comments, grinning as he watches.

Zorya takes a deep breath, taking a step back. Another as she bites her lip before she begins, eyes open. Lifting a foot, her toes pointed she moves to turn, her foot drawing an crescent through the air. Halfway through the turn she wobbles, balance thrown she has to stop and she shakes her head, stepping back to start again.

Zh'ae simply stands back, his dark brown eyes watching her in silence. "You can do it, Zory." he murmurs his quiet, calm encouragement from where he stands, Zhilinith's quiet rumble echoing before they both lapse back into silence.

Zorya gives a weak smile in return, before she starts again. The same turn to start, its hardly perfect but good enough that she's able to maintain her balance as she flows into the next. Each step gets better more in tune with the one previous til she's twirling about on the grass as she was before. Some things the same, some in a different order or different all together.

Zh'ae simply watches, grinning all the while. He's silent until she ends her dance and then he applauds for her, Zhilinith crooning his approval. "You could easily become a Harper, little one." he comments, grinning after her as he nods his head.

Moving to a song that only she can hear Zorya continues, the Istan sun catching on her golden locks as her hair flows behind her, caught in the breeze that plays across the plateau. When she ends she stands for a moment longer with her eyes closed until he speaks. "I dunno.. its a nice dream, but…" she blushes again as she looks over to him

Zh'ae smiles happily at the girl and shakes his head. "No, it could be your reality. All you hafta do is say you want it and you can have it easily. Nothing's a dram now, they're all real possibilities." he comments, smiling warmly at her.

Zorya giggles, "Yeah.. well I'm still workin on other things just now." she comments, "But maybe." That much she agree to. "I just… I wanted to say thanks. You didn't have to.." She'd rather he hadn't, but he did and what's done is done. "But thanks," She looks to the blue then, "An… Ah'm sorry I called ya an over grown tunnel snake the other day." she add quickly. There. She said it.

Zh'ae chuckles and nods as he moves and gives the girl a quick hug. "Hey, if you ever need anything, I'm around.. And Zhilinith says he appreciates the apoligy, although he'd already forgiven you." the lad chuckles. "I've gotta run, but did you need a ride to the Caverns or something or.. No?" he asks as he slips up onto his blue's back and rubs his face, under his shiner, a bit.

Zorya shakes her head. "Nah, I'm alright. Think I'm gonna stick around here for a bit longer." she replies, taking a step or two back just to make sure the blue has enough room to take off.

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