It was much less humid in the forest than it was by the ocean, which both Faith and Lapis were grateful for. The climate was much closer to that of the mountains, even if the terrain wasn't. Once Lapis was comfortable in her new temporary eyrie, Faith made her way down to dinner. It would be interesting to see what the forest riders considered to be normal staple foods.

Corey was already sitting there, with Xander sitting at the end of the table. There were lots of exotic fruits and vegetables, and a large deer-like animal had been cooked specially for the occasion.

"Well, it smells good, at least," Corey muttered. "Could be worse." He took some food as it was passed around before holding the platters so Faith could get her food too.

"This place is nice," Faith commented as she sat down next to Corey. "Feels kind of like home." She thanked him absently as he held the platters for her, and then passed them down along the table. She grinned. "At least they know what red meat is here."

"Oh yes. I think red meat is a staple here." Corey grinned. "Finally. I was getting tired of fish, honestly. I've never had so much fish in my life."

He glanced around, taking in the other riders. They all seemed relaxed and pretty cheerful, and they wore a lot of green and brown.

"Oh I know," Faith agreed. "Although the occasional shrimp and mussels were good." She had definitely missed red meat, though. Oddly enough, nuts seemed to be a staple in the forest weyr as well.

It was already dark when Ryan and Yue finally made it to the forest weyr. Moonlight filtered through the trees, reflecting off of Yue's white scales. The journey had been long, and they were both more than ready for a chance to rest and relax.

I think that's it there, he said to his dragon. Yue didn't reply verbally, but he could feel her agreement, along with the faint distaste that she'd been exuding ever since they'd passed the mountain peaks. He could understand why, though. There hadn't been even so much as a hint of frost since then. He'd already shed his heavy riding gear and stashed it into his bag, opting for the lightest clothes he could find. Clearly, furs were not the way to go here.

The two landed at the forest weyr, and were immediately taken care of. Ryan went to make sure that Yue was given proper accommodations for their stay, and then went to find the mess hall. He stuck out a bit, since his clothes were all white and gray, but otherwise, the mess hall felt welcoming.

Yue, on the other hand, stayed very firmly in the corner of her eyrie. She wasn't a social creature by nature, and she had no interest in pretending to be one. And really, it was far too warm for her to want to do anything but eat and relax.

Faith looked over when she saw someone coming into the mess hall a little late. At first, she thought he might be one of the native riders, but she'd never seen someone in such pale colors before.

"Who do you think he is?" she asked.

Corey blinked as he looked at the new rider. "I dunno," he said after a moment. "He doesn't look like he's from around here, and I know he didn't come with us. So he must be from somewhere else."

"I think he's from the Northern weyr," one of the riders across from them said. "He's wearing the correct colors, and they do probably half of their flying at night." He shrugged.

Corey nodded his agreement of that assessment. "Well, this will be interesting to see."

Faith was intrigued. She'd barely even heard of the northern weyr. As far as she knew, they mostly kept to themselves, and hardly anyone went to visit them because the climate was just that harsh for anyone but the native people and species.

Faith? Lapis suddenly said. Faith, why is there a white dragon here? I thought the forest dragons were all greenish.

I think that one is from the north, Faith replied. A rider just walked in wearing the colors from the far north, so the dragon might be his.

Perhaps I should talk to her, Lapis suggested. She sounded intrigued.

Maybe, Faith replied.

Ryan looked around for a moment, looking for an empty seat, before spotting one next to a group of riders who were also wearing colors from other weyrs. Going over, he claimed the seat as his own.

Corey shook his head as he listened to Vyren reporting all the gossip now flying around the eyries. Apparently the forest dragons were huge gossippers, and some of the other visiting dragons were happy to pitch in. He was glad to say that Vyren was not one of them.

Xander looked over at the person who claimed the spot next to her. "Well. Someone's late," she said with a snort, looking over him carefully before returning her attention to her food. "And not used to the weather."

"It's a bit warmer than we expected," Ryan replied. The girl who had spoken to him was wearing blue, that meant she had probably come from either the ocean or the rivers. A few others were wearing blue, and another few were wearing dark gray. He surmised those were probably from the mountains.

There is a mountain youngling attempting to disrupt my rest, Yue said suddenly. She sounded annoyed. Find out who she belongs to and make her stop. Well, that solved that mystery, then.

I will, he promised. He looked over at the group of mountain riders. "Do any of you belong to a rather inquisitive youngster?" he asked. "A young female?"

Faith blinked. He had to be referring to Lapis. She was the youngest female visiting from the mountains.

"Sorry," she said, a bit embarrassed. "That might be Lapis."

Sweetling, leave the ice dragon alone, she added to her dragon.

She won't talk to me, Lapis complained.

Then you should leave her be, Faith replied.

Alright...

Ryan didn't have to ask if the mountain dragon stopped bothering Yue. He could practically feel her relaxing again.

Xander snorted and rolled her eyes. Sounded like someone's dragon was reclusive. Not that she could blame her; Xander didn't like a lot of company either.

So she finished her food and got up, brushing past Ryan as she headed outside to go sleep with Calypso.

The ice dragon does not like us, Vyren said matter-of-factly. she is very quiet.

I noticed, Corey said, with no shortage of humor. She demanded her rider make Lapis stop bothering her.

Ah, so that is what happened. Vyren snorted, settling down. She is cold. I might have to heat myself up if she stays here with us.

Alright, but not too much, Corey said. We don't want her complaining again now do we?

Faith ignored Lapis's muttering to herself. The dragon was just annoyed that she had been reprimanded, and had settled herself in a corner to brood for a while.

"I apologize for being so rude," Ryan said once he was sure Yue was content with her solitude again. "Yue isn't really one for socializing. She much prefers her space."

"Lapis is too curious for her own good sometimes," Faith replied. "And she's very affectionate. I'm Faith, by the way.

Corey chuckled and shook his head, leaning back a bit before he got up to go check on Vyren. Vyren's end of the eyrie was a little warmer than the other end, but nothing too bad.

"Hey, buddy," he said quietly, patting the dragon's neck. "Feel warmer now?" Vyren's personal eyrie was about ten degrees warmer than the rest of the area.

Much. Vyren curled his tail around Corey. The ocean dragons are rather amusing.

At which point Xander walked in, muttering something about pesky people and dragons getting in her business. She grabbed a blanket and stomped back out again, still grumbling and growling to herself.

Ryan introduced himself to the table in general, and they all gradually went back to their meals. Already, the novelty of a rider from the far north was wearing off.

Once Faith was finished with her dinner, she went and grabbed a blanket before heading out to Lapis's eyrie. The forest climate was much more suitable for sleeping in the eyrie than the coastal climate. Faith wasn't surprised to see Corey already in with Vyren.

A few days later Corey was training with the Forest riders, going through an obstacle course set in the middle of the forest. They'd moved all the native animals out of the way for the 'newbies', the nonnative riders, for which Corey was thankful. He'd heard about snakes and cats and all sorts of things he did not want to be running into.

He jumped over another fallen log, keeping pace with a rider about his age from the Forest. So far he was doing well.

Xander had gone too, but she was staying in the back of the group. Not that she really cared or anything. She was just doing this to get everyone off her back. She'd much rather be exploring on her own, or spending more time with Calypso, even if she did have to go in the water.

Faith was also taking the obstacle course, although she wasn't doing quite so well as Corey was. She was a city girl, after all, and a few months of training as a rider hadn't improved her skill all that much.

She yelped when she tripped and stumbled, but managed to keep from falling on her face.

Ryan was having a bit of an easier time of it. It was different than making a run over a snowfield or through a tunnel in a glacier, but the level of difficulty was about the same. He managed to stay just behind Corey and one of the native riders as they went through the course.

Corey glanced over at Ryan and grinned briefly, jumping over another obstacle and keeping up. All that running back and forth in the bar had helped, apparently. This actually wasn't bad.

Except then the native rider upped the ante and went faster. Corey nearly groaned but managed to keep up.

Xander made a few short cuts where she technically wasn't supposed to. But no one noticed and it cut down on her time too.

Ryan noticed the sudden change in speed and hurried to catch up. He didn't want to admit it, but this was a challenge, although he did enjoy it. He liked being competitive with the others every so often.

Faith didn't care. She kept going at her own pace, much slower than the guys. She wasn't what one would call 'athletic,' really. She was just having fun on the obstacle course, she wasn't going for any kind of spectacular time or anything.

Corey was glad when they finally got to the end. He leaned against the nearest tree, panting. That had been more of a workout than a full day at the bar.

"Tired yet?" the other rider asked with a grin.

"Little bit," Corey admitted.

Xander cut through more areas and got there only a few minutes later, barely winded. She was used to running around, at least.

Ryan got to the finish a few seconds after Corey did. He wasn't all that winded, but it had still been a workout.

"That was fun," he commented as he leaned against a tree.

It took Faith a little while longer than Xander to get to the end, and she was definitely winded when she got there.

"No more," she squeaked between breaths.

"Definitely better than hauling boxes up and down stairs," Corey said with a grin, once his heartrate was a little more normal. He looked over at the girls and grinned. "I think we lost them, though."

Xander gave them all calculating looks before she headed off towards the beach again. She didn't feel like dealing with people. Although if that white dragon was out at the beach again they might have problems.

Ryan grinned as well.

"You all should try the glacier pass tunnels, if you ever visit the north," he said. "It's almost impossible to keep your footing the entire way."

Faith just shook her head. For now, she would just be content to go and find Lapis again and relax again with her dragon. She wasn't entirely certain she liked obstacle courses anymore, but she was fairly sure her opinion would change again later. She was just tired from the run.

"That sounds like fun," Corey said with a grin. "As long as you're not carrying breakables, anyway. Wouldn'r be fun to land on a glass bottle."

Xander snorted. She could still hear them, even though they were a good ways away. She shook her head.

"Try running up and down the stairs at the ocean weyr," she said. "That's not easy."

Faith snorted.

"They made us go through the mountain trails back home," she commented. "Probably about as bad." Not that she had enjoyed it any more than the obstacle course.

Ryan grinned.

"Some of the kids steal baking sheets from the weyr kitchen and use them to go sledding across the snowfields," he said. "I've seen it."

"And I'm sure you were never one of them," Xander said dryly. "Of course not." She rolled her eyes, leading the way back over to the dragons and sitting quite comfortably on Calypso's back.

"Sounds like fun, actually," Corey said with a grin. "I don't think I'd mind doing that." It did sound like fun. He'd never been sledding before, but he'd been rafting and biking before.

"I'm still very much a city girl," Faith replied. "I'm not all that good at things like this." 'This' being running, hiking, and the like. She went over to Lapis and habitually started to look over her dragon's scales, climbing over her to make sure there were no rough spots. She found one, though, and climbed back down to dig around in her back for the oil. Lapis practically purred when Faith took care of the spot.

"You'll have to come for a visit," Ryan replied. "Get away from all this hot weather and back into properly iced-over areas."

And the borealis, Yue added. She'd been lounging about in the water all day, where it was cooler.

"And Yue wanted me to mention the auroras," Ryan relayed dutifully. "She rather likes watching them. I think it must be a female thing, though." He could admit that the aurora borealis was beautiful, but after a while, a person got used to it.