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 Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:52 pm
Annelie didn't notice Raena's movement of her hand to her arm, but if she had she wouldn't have said. She listened to the Healer and nodded, agreeing about there being so many faces that most just seemed to blend together. She was not very surprised to hear that she had worked mainly with the dragon riders -- Raena seemed like a stronger person than her self. ....She didn't really like going up to where the dragon riders and other higher-status people loomed.
The Servant eventually turned her attention away from Raena and focused back on Elae once she started talking again. "Four years," she answered, then went quiet again. She only nodded in agreement, though, to the statement of their being an abundance of attractive men, but the rest Annelie shook her head at.
"Don't put yourself in the Lower Caverns, Elae," Annelie spoke up suddenly after Elae had finished. Her tone was slightly demanding and she stared at her. She honestly couldn't see the talkative and obviously vibrant girl down there. It wasn't like the Caverns were... bad or anything, nor were the people any "less" than anyone else... but she just could see Elae doing that type of work.
"Healing would be a much better profession. You have more to give than cleaning up after people."
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:12 pm
Going back to hold life, even with the memories there was no way. Well, she could, her father would find her a husband and she would go to tending beasts and children. It was possible, but just the thought seemed like a heavy burden she couldn't carry. "I don't think I could either." There was nothing she could not do, no challenge she cannot beat; however, it didn't mean that she would have to like it.
"Five turns," From the moment she was allowed to work in the weyr her stuff was already packed and the good byes uttered. The proudest first moment was her tears were dried and she was all smiles.
Looking at Cil then to Annelie, a small smile escaped her as she told Elea, "You clean up after people in the Healers as well, and both the Lower Caverns and the Healers are fun with great people." Visibly, she looked off into the distance a second, when inspiration hit, it came quick, and even Keek looked up and crooned. "I have it, Elae, when you have some down time, why not come and spend an afternoon with me in the Healers? Cil can come as can Annelie if she wants. The best way to know if you might be suited to something is to come and see what its like. You'll find great people in both places." It might bring back painful memories for Cil, but it would be a lot of fun to have people come into her world. Same with Annelie's, she knew that world well and had no fear sliding back in and getting everyone going like old times.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:20 pm
Aha! Elae knew she was getting somewhere! If she let her mouth run by itself long enough, she knew one of the other girls would eventually open up a bit more. She grinned widely, feeling rather pleased with herself. Anne, at least, had nodded at the part about there being attractive men here. That was something. Actually, it was probably the most fire Elae had seen in the girl yet, especially with the vehemence in her words. No, her command that Elae stay out of the Lower Caverns. Of course, among the Candidates, rumors were rife with what went on down there…
Still, it couldn’t be anything as bad as she had heard. If it was that bad, then Anne wouldn’t be there. Both of the other girls had been here longer than Elae had expected. “What did you do before coming to the Weyr? I mean… well… I guess you might’ve been born here… and what about you, Raena? Were you both born here in the Weyr? I might have to take you up on that invitation… it would be fascinating to see what Healers actually do when they’re all holed up.”
Cil blushed a little at the invitation to the Healers’ and he shook his head. “No, I-… err… I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to go down there…” in his own mind, he was absolutely certain the Healers still laughed about the nature of his injuries. There had certainly been enough giggling. Mostly people figured he had made a move on the wrong girl and had paid the price. He had never gotten a real chance to explain what had really happened. “But thank you for the invitation, Raena.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:49 pm
Again Annelie listened quietly to both Raena and Elae, her hands and fingers knotting themselves lightly in front of her as the small group walked. When both were done, she looked at each girl, then at Cil as he shook his head. She decided to answer Elae first.
"Same thing I do now; servant work," she said, her voice quiet again as she nodded her head to confirm her own words. "In a northern hold till I was 15, so no, I ..uh, wasn't born here." With a blink of her eyes and more knotting of her hands, she stopped there and turned her head to Raena.
"And... um," she began lamely, stumbling over her thoughts. She thought that the seeing the Healers would be indeed interesting, buuut... she was sure that there was also talk about her down there, even if her name wasn't directly associated with any stories. She had sent many a men down there, after all.
Looking at Raena for another few seconds, she just said a "Thank you" and nodded her head to that answer as well. No "Yes" or "No"... so now she wasn't tied to actually going. Smooth.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:05 pm
Shaking her head, Reana looked to the west a moment before looking back, "I was born here and raised until I turned fifteen turns. My family is no more than a turn of the time sands from here. Crops don't tend themselves so they didn't make it." The work of a servant wasn't glamorous, but she had pride in what she had done. There was no shame about working in the Lower Caverns then working back to work with the riders and bigger players.
Cil and Annelie thought they could pass out to see her world? Looking at Elea again, she smiled once more, if there was one woman that could help convince a trip into the Healer's area voluntarily, it was likely her. "If you can take the smell of Numbweed, you'll love it! There are more jars then can be counted easily with every color imaginable. I look forward to see the three of you there. Don't worry, everyone is incredibly nice." Sure they would come, she hoped. All the people she knew had enough tact not to bring up things that would embarrass Cil and Anne, at least when they weren't there. The gaggle enjoyed a good story; generally there was something new to laugh at the next day, or hour in some cases.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:20 pm
Now that Anne was speaking so quietly again, Elae practically had to lean over to the young woman to hear a single word from her mouth. Still, she got the general gist of what she was saying: she had moved here when she was fifteen turns and, apparently, didn’t plan on going back. Elae had to wonder what she had left behind, or what had made her into such a quiet girl… probably nothing good. One heard stories about the Northern Holds and what they did during those long snowy months…
Still, the fact that they both had spent a good deal of time in the Weyr helped. Holdfolk were so… stuffy. Absolutely stuffy. “Oh, the numbweed smell? Ohh… I hadn’t thought of that…” that made Elae almost contemplative, but she pushed the worry away soon enough. A foul smell wouldn’t stop her. She broke into her bright smile again. “But, a foul smell won’t stop me. After all, I grew up with a brother. What made you come out here, Anne?”
Honestly, if he failed to Impress, Cil wasn’t certain what he would do. At least the girls had actual plans and skills they could use. What did he have? The ability to organize? Wooo. Yeah. Fear his filing skills. At best, he figured, he would be able to work under one of his cousins who would inevitably inherit the Hold. And he didn’t like that idea much. Maybe he should look into other professions… looking into the Healing profession would be as good a start as any.
“What do you usually do, Raena, since there isn’t any Thread falling? What sorts of injuries do the Dragonriders normally get?” he asked eventually, seeing as he might see some of these injuries himself. Might even get them himself, one day.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:32 pm
This time, instead of looking to each person as they spoke, Annelie just kept her ears open to each conversation and watched the floor or whatever else was around. The talk of numbweed made the girl absentmindedly wrinkle her nose, but she didn't show much more about it than that. She had smelled that... medicinal stuff more than once, and every time it was just awful (which was saying something given her line of work).
Still, she couldn't help but give a small smile at Elae's brother comment, which also caused her to tighten her lips to keep in a small chuckle. She was rather glad she never had a brother, though she most certainly would have traded her sister for one.
She glanced at Elae from the corners of her brown eyes. She blinked and her eyebrows rose and fell as she did so. "I was Searched," she replied, casually. She didn't bother asking "And you?" since she already had a feeling that her company were still active candidates... or something.
She let her words drift off and glanced up at Cil as he spoke, then went back to watching the ground move under their feet. She continued to listen, though, to whomever was talking.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:52 pm
Raena was not reserved, no were near Anne's level at least, the comment about having brothers made her laugh out loud. No birds sing, but she didn't laugh like an old witch either. A few heads here or there looked around, people remembered her! Waving she smiled broadly, her laugh was loud and a bit distinctive, certainly her childhood Hold as well as those she worked with in the weyr heard it enough. "I never thought to compare the smells; time fades the memories of my brothers fresh from a hard day in the fields, determined to dri-nk before a wash." The word drink got caught in her throat; a pretend cough covered it up pretty well, so she thought.
Searched, wait what? Turning to look at Anne she was perplexed, why would a Candidate go to working in the Lower Caverns? She could stand until she aged out, there was no shame in that. Finally, she decided that her curiosity wasn't worth messing with the interactions the way they were.
Beside, her most loved subject came up, her craft. Now to practice talking without out grinning "Burns. Either a flit gets into firestone, a weyrling doesn't listen to their weyrlingmaster and gets hurt either fooling around or the weyrlingmaster clubs them hard enough to send them to us." She learned pretty early on not to ask when an ashamed young person in leathers shows up with a few lumps on his head. Her own case had to be dealt with but there were ways around that, "Plus there are fights every once in a while, hot heads and tempers." Good way to state it, plus overly pushy bronzes.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:05 pm
“Yep! I was Searched,” Elae said with evident pride in her voice. “A couple of years back there was that Queen egg on the Sands, you know? Of course you know! You two probably were there too!” They must’ve been, being females of roughly the right age. And neither of them were Weyrbred, apparently. Elae had heard once that Queens supposedly preferred non-Weyr-bred girls. And that probably explained why she hadn’t met them either. Back then, she had been a good deal more shy than she was now. Still rather outgoing for her age, but more inclined to stay with other girls from her Hold. But, since they failed to Impress, they usually went back home, forcing Elae to be more social with others.
If she noticed the way the word ‘drink’ caught in Raena’s throat, she didn’t comment on it. She was more interested in the laughter. She was more curious about how Anne ended up in the Lower Caverns, but figured that the poor girl’s parents had probably died. That would explain it. Either way, it wasn’t a conversation for this sort of setting.
Cil, however, had no such tact. He nodded at Raena’s words as he petted Lytah’s head. They were awfully lucky that the little firelizards hadn’t gotten into firestone earlier, otherwise Anne’s head would probably be on fire! “I heard about a fight breaking out in the gambling tents earlier,” he commented. “Something about some Holder getting into a fight with a Dragonrider…” the details were vague; it was really just a continuation of old anger, an old fight that never seemed to end. “One would think that Dragonriders would be able to handle their tempers at least.”
That was one good thing that came out of this, even if he didn’t Impress; at least he could bring the stories back to his Hold and give advice on how to handle hot-headed Dragonriders.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:14 pm
Annelie shook her head at Elae's statement of her having been at a Queen Impression. Actually, she had only been to one Impression, and that was the immediate one after she first came to the Weyr. She didn't say anything more on the matter, though, and her shaking head of "No" turned to something rather embarrassed and slow when she heard Cil mention some sort of fight that had broken out earlier.
"You would think they could both handle their tempers..." Annelie commented smoothly, yet as always, softly.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:38 am
It was nearing nightfall, and M'zaji had been wandering the aisles of the gather aimlessly for most of the afternoon with Seryes. He halted in the middle of one aisle, looking over his shoulder towards the horizon; he watched the sun dip lower and lower, throwing a myriad of bright colors across the sky like some abstract piece of art. "I hadn't realized we had spent all day walking and talking," M'zaji said softly, dipping his head so that Seryes wouldn't see him blush. "I had a really nice time," he said quickly, looking back up and meeting the woman's gaze. "I meant what I said, I'd really love to meet Sersk sometime," M'zaji made his point once more to emphasize it. "I'm sure I'll see you around the Weyr, right?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:32 am
Raena also shook her head, replying to the negative, "I was there, but I wasn't on the sands. I had never been Searched. It wasn’t even until I joined the Healers that it was suggested I stand on the sands." That was as close to being 'Searched' as she got. The Master wanted her to know what it was like to touch an egg, said there was no harm in being there and seeing it firsthand. There was, she had heard stories of the mauling and deaths that occurred, especially with a Queen egg. However, she was told to go, it wasn't an honor she could turn down. Besides, the old Master is crafty, sent word to her parents. No way she couldn't stand if they expected her to, even if they wouldn't look lesser on her, teasing was another story.
The story of the fight didn't surprise her one bit; there was likely a bronze rider behind it. "The drinking tents are that way too, heat, being drunk and one little spark and it blows up. Dragonriders have a...reputation for not being able to hold their tempers. The some of those in power here doesn't even believe in Thread, thinks its nothing but a scare tactic to drain the Hold dry, they are a minority in the hold, most are very loyal to the riders." Heresy, her words were against everything ever said in the weyr and could be seen as very anti-Dragonrider. She wasn't and meant no harm, buy this was her home, she knew it and its people fairly well. That’s also why she had to highlight, justly or unjustly, that not everyone thought the riders a menace. She was also among non-riders who were not born in the weyr, they would likely understand the sentiment.
"My family always believed in it, but most of my neighbors didn't." A good Thread fall would change everyone's attitude, except the riders. No that was something she probably wouldn't dare uttering to close friends, no way would she do it now. Spark another argument if the wrong people heard.
Annelie was right, of course, the Hold folk shouldn't be speaking like that and fighting, even if they felt justified. "Thank the first egg that the Gather is nearing its end. The day off is nice, but its better for everyone if riders and hold-folk aren't around each other too much, at least not how it is now. It will do nothing but harm." Oh shards, the things that will be said when everyone has left, if the people have their wits about them not to say it while they are still there.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:15 pm
"Yes of course." She toyed with the hair at the nape of her neck, embarassed, smiling slightly. It had been an age or so since she had spent this much time talking to someone other than Sersk. Or at least, since she'd spent time not being irritable with them and overtired. "I'll be around, probably mostly with Sersk. I suppose I'm a bit of a recluse, this was a special occasion."
And she'd completely forgotten about picking up anything new, though she'd manage. You couldn't buy a good conversation for all the marks on Pern. She met his eyes also, and flashed him an uninhibited grin. "Just look for the woman looking for another cup of Klah and cursing out anyone between her and it." She joked.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:22 pm
Elae could only look at her female companions in staunch amazement, trying to wrap her mind around this unfamiliar concept. They… lived at the Weyr, but they had only Stood once or not even that? What did they do, live under a rock only to emerge to drop hot soup on the crotches of unwary men?! And go to Gathers, apparently. And wrap up an injury, of course. … Alright, so maybe they had every reason to be busy! Still, Elae couldn’t imagine anything better than the chance at Impressing. No matter how many times she went to the Sands, she still felt blessed to be there.
“You’d think that they would know their boozing limits,” she added helpfully with a derisive snort. “And their respects as well. I respect anyone who rides on top of a twenty-foot flying creature, especially one who can breathe flame. It’s always wise to respect those people.”
Now it was Cil’s turn to snort. “Dragonriders are not infallible. You can’t say that there aren’t those who would----and do---abuse their position. At my Hold, I’m absolutely certain the Dragonriders took more than they needed.” Not that he was going to argue against their worth, of course. As Elae said, it was unwise to argue with someone commanding a large fire-breathing creature. Not to mention, they would be useful again soon. Cil had no doubts about that. Thread would fall again one day, every bit as terrible as it had been.
“Oh thank Faranth it’s almost over!” he blurted out, referring to the Gather. “Err…” a look of shame crossed his face. “Not that I haven’t enjoyed the company. It’s just that Elae threate… I mean promised to take me shopping.” The shamed look vanished, replaced by a small smile. “Looks like I owe you two one for saving me from a fate worse than death.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:16 pm
Having never been Searched, she never thought of being a rider. It had always been her thought that if you weren't Searched, you weren't meant to be. It just was, so she was also amazed Annelie only stood once.
Men know their limits? Shaking her head she answered easily, "Knowing your limits and ignoring them are two different things. Most males I know get drunk because they feel more normal. Even a fight isn't because of the drink, but because of the other person." Dropping down her hand again to grace her arm, she let the hand to touch her belt pouch.
Eyeing a Cil, it surprised her that they were of the same mind about riders, even more so because he was an actual candidate and understood how the Hold feels. "Dragonriders are human too." They can be beaten, bleed and scared, she should know.
Laughing softly she told Cil, "There will be more Gathers, and Elae will have more help." Sure, she didn't love shopping, buuut, who would pass up a chance have a little bit of harmless fun? Speaking of the Gather being over, it was a loong ride back to the Weyr and starting at dark didn't make her exactly happy. "Well, Cil, Elea and Annelie, It is a long ride back to the Weyr so I have to go. Gotta stop by to see the folks then escape on the Runner I came here with, without being stuffed like a werry by my mother if at all possible." A brassy grin and a wave she added, "Call in that invitation anytime, I'd love to show you around my world." Turning she started to jog off to get a head start on find her way back to the weyr with enough time to actually sleep.
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