Where N'ris is concerned, the jungle doesn't say "Welcome." It says, "Go away, now." -- Outside the Weyr

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Date Posted: 19:21:20 09/08/05 Thu
Author: N'ris, Stern, Starboard
Subject: Where N'ris is concerned, the jungle doesn't say "Welcome." It says, "Go away, now."
In reply to: Chiewae + Solo 's message, "*hums* Welcome to the jungle..." on 19:49:39 08/29/05 Mon

Despite himself, N'ris shudders a little when Chiewae casually vaults onto the runnerbeast's back. The brownrider could never dream of just hopping onto one of those animals even with a proper saddle and bridle, never mind without them. But the runner isn't bucking Chiewae off, so it seems the boy is safe for now. Still, the man keeps a wary eye on his rescuees as he sets off into the jungle, just in case Chiewae needs to be rescued from a fall. And the wary watching becomes downright worried, as the runnerbeast refuses to just follow behind him and instead comes up alongside. On one hand, N'ris has to admit that it's easier to watch this way. On the other hand, he still hasn't quite ruled out the notion that the runnerbeast might attack him out of sheer aggression or dislike. He would never admit to being afraid, exactly, but he doesn't want to trust the creature. Once again, his firelizards help a bit, inserting themselves into the air above N'ris' right shoulder, between him and the runnerbeast without being so close that he'll feel force to reprimand them for frightening it.

It's almost strange to be walking on land, and N'ris very obviously walks like a sailor, never locking his ankles or fully straightening his legs for fear that the ground will roll beneath him and throw him off-balance. Loose joints are essential on the deck of a ship, and a sailor has be prepared for all sorts of sudden movements. N'ris finds the way ground holds still all the time to be worse than the rocking of a ship beneath him. Even on Roventh, he still sometimes runs into turbulence. But he's become somewhat accustomed to it, because as a dragonrider he does live in a Weyr, and they do tend to be built of solid rock and stay stable beneath his feet, so he no longer glances nervously at the ground every so often. Right now, he's just stumbling a lot. N'ris doesn't like the jungle, and it doesn't like him, as evidenced by the number of vines, tree roots, small logs, and concealed holes that manage to catch at his feet and impede his progress. With some annoyance, he notes that the boy on the runner is doing much better; the runnerbeast seems to be fairly sure-footed. How is it doing that without staring at its feet? The brownrider would be willing to try that, but the last time he wandered through the jungle watching his feet, he managed to run head-first into a tree bough. Not one of his most shining moments.

Chiewae's question breaks N'ris out of his introspection, and he pauses for a moment, considering the question. His problem isn't so much how to describe it as how to answer without offending the boy, since it's a perfectly reasonable question. But there's really only one way to describe between, and a thousand Harpers have put it better than he ever could. Still, it's rude not to answer, and so he finally does. "Absolutely dark. Colder than death." He's rather proud of that second sentence (and to him, two or three words certainly qualify as a sentence, whatever other people may think). N'ris isn't prone to poetic phrases, and it's hard to explain to someone who's never gone between just how terrifically cold it really is.

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