IP: 76.95.136.126
Posted on August 18, 2015 at 01:18:02 AM by J'tan
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He needed a good runnerbeast.
There were runnerbeasts here, he knew. He had seen them wandering about, though they were smaller than what he was used to. These beasts looked like they would fall to pieces if pushed to do any amount of work... but they looked fast. The runnerbeasts of Pern were usuallly anything but fast – thick-necked, heavy bodied, and heavy headed brutes were what his father had bred, and what other beastholds sent over for breeding stock. There was, his father said, a push for a thinner, faster line every few years, but Pern didn't suit them. They demanded more fodder, more runs, more attention.. more of everything that became in shorter and shorter supply as Thread began to fall. Then, given that, they were half as reliable as Runners. The problem was he didn't have any marks for a good runnerbeast. Not even one of these quality. He fingered the marks he did have, mentally tallying the cost of a weak runnerbeast against food. He had enough for a few meals... maybe, if they were kind and gave half prices. No, quarter prices. He sighed heavily, pulling the jacket tighter around him against the chill of the wind. It was as cold here as it ever got in High Reaches, surely. Ista had never gotten this cold, that was for sure. The marks might be better spent on better clothes or.. no, riding furs were good enough. He couldn't afford to have anything other than the wherhide and the clothes beneath it would hold up well enough, for the marks he'd paid. Walking on foot made him miss Perith more than ever and he hated himself for that, he missed him for more than that, but he was tired and footsore and was tired of walking. Which circled back around to needing a good beast. He would just have to take one, then. He was a Dragonrider, after all, they owed it to him. With that thought firmly in mind he walked toward the Hold, eyeing it and trying to guess where the beasthold would be. It would need to be in an overhang, somewhere that would allow them outside but would keep them safe. There was nowhere here that would fit that description that he could see. Caves, not to mention cliff-sides, seemed to be lacking almost enttirely and the places he did see didn't seem to be inhabited at all. The people here built in sprawling, open styles that would be of no protection against Thread. There! Runnerbeasts were being lead out of a squat building near the biggest hold. There were more in the area around it and he stared at them, trying to remember his lessons and skills in riding wihtout saddle or reins. It'd been six turns, if not more, since he'd ridden a runnerbeast, but he thought he remembered how to do it and how to catch one with little fuss. It would have to be fast, that was for sure. People were patrolling even here and the weapons they shouldered weren't too different from the ones he was used to. No doubt they were skilled with them, too. With a final nod to his plans the rider walked as casually as he could toward the pasture. His jacket would make him stand out some, but looking like he belonged... that might work even with it being strange. There was always his belt knife if it got too desparate as well, but he didn't think it'd last long against the longer weapons of the others. He got to the fence before disaster struck. The beasts shrieked in alarm at his coming and he realized that he had not thought to account for the wind. The beasts were downwind and his jacket.. wherhide, with dragon-stink! They ran from him, tails streaming, and he could only watch in dismay as his chance of doing anything fled from him. No! He wasn't going to let the wind steal his last chance away from him. In a flash he was over the fence, dumping his dark jacket as he went. They'd notice him now for sure but he thought he could corner a beast and escape before they could stop him. The brilliant red of his shirt gleamed in the light as he ran after the animals, giving a brilliant target for any that wished to stop him. All he had to do, he thought as he ran, was just corner one and hope with the jacket gone dragon stink wouldn't drive it completely wild. J'tan Wheel and turn Or bleed and burn. |
Replies:
- the grass is always greener - By Calvin August 31, 2015 at 05:23:55 AM
- Fly between, blue and green. - By J'tan September 9, 2015 at 03:41:46 AM
- the grass is always greener - By Calvin November 4, 2015 at 06:38:08 AM
- Fly between, blue and green. - By J'tan September 9, 2015 at 03:41:46 AM
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