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 Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:50 am
He was late to dinner; the hall was almost empty when he entered, rubbing his eyes and yawing. Some time in the afternoon he'd dozed off, and as they hadn't had any duties to attend to, Garith had only just woken him up. He would have preferred to have been given a nudge a bit earlier, but no matter, at least he hadn't missed the meal all together. Suppressing another yawn, R'than collected a bowl of stew from the serving hatch and headed over to an empty table to start his meal.
The stew was lukewarm, the vegetables tasted bland, and the meat... the meat was best not mentioned. He should have come earlier, when something half-way decent was still available. Food quality had definitely fallen over the turns, they'd been served good roast herdbeast sometimes back in his youth, and the standard stews and pies and such had been delicious. Garith was very lucky not to remember how good food had been in the past, R'than considered as he chewed stoically. The beasts for the dragons had been younger, fatter, more plentiful back then as well.
Still, at least everyone still had enough, that was something to be glad of... He shouldn't have to be glad of being able to get a bowl of rather unpleasant stew, or glad that Garith could get enough stringy beasts to fill his belly. The Holds were becoming negligent of their duties, standards were definitely slipping. No Lord Holder would have dared to send food of this quality to a Weyr when he'd been young. Sighing to himself, R'than spooned up more stew; no matter how unpleasant it might be, he was hungry and intended to eat every bit.
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:38 am
Sometimes Faroth had to wonder if His would forget to eat, should the brown fail to prompt him. He probably, K'em had agreed, wandering into the dining hall late in the evening. It was strange to see it so empty, the young brownrider usually made it a point to be out and about when all the other pretty people were mingling; dinnertime was a great time to scope out the evening's targets. Even if he wasn't on the prowl, he did like have someone else to eat with. Conversation always made a good meal better.
Or, in Ista's case, a mediocre meal tolerable. (Did they always burn the bread here?)
Helping himself to another blackened bread roll, the wingsecond took the only other edible-looking item, some questionable stew, and made his way to one of the only occupied tables. He sat down across from R'than, ten-million-make smile set firmly in place as he poked at the suspicious meal.
"Hey there!" he greeted the older rider. "I don't think we've met." It was a good possibilty. K'em had recently transferred from High Reaches. Most of his time was spent working on wing practice with S'kagi or checking out Ista's womenfolk. If he was being honest with himself, most of his time was wasted on the latter. However, now was not the time to be contemplating his bed-hopping tendencies. "Wingsecond K'em, of brown Faroth." The young man extended a hand. "And yourself?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:20 am
R'than smiled and swallowed his mouthful as he clasped the other rider's hand. "I don't believe we have; wingsecond R'than of brown Garith, pleased to meet you." Quite a grin this young man had on him, a friendly looking sort indeed, and that was always nice. Another wingsecond, too, it was always good to know other people in your position. Not that any wingsecond in any Weyr anywhere was in exactly his position. R'than sighed internally and pushed those thoughts away; they'd only make the meal seem worse, concentrate on getting to know K'em
"Wonderful dinner, eh?" he said with a wry smile as he prodded at a questionable chunk of meat. "Was the food any better where you transferred from?" He couldn't imagine it was any worse. Still, a couple of turns ago he hadn't believed the food here could get worse, and it certainly seemed to have managed it.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:47 am
"Oh, yes. Exquisite," K'em agreed, amused by the older rider's wry smile. He didn't seem terribly impressed with the large chunks in the soup that may or may not be meat either. Glad he wasn't the only one, the younger rider decided to stick to his burnt bread roll for now. At least he was confident it was bread! "Hm? Yeah. Food was better at High Reaches." He chuckled softly and shook his head. "Was all cold there and stuff. So it's not like there was a lot of variety, and nothing was really fresh. But at least I actually knew what I was eating!" he chirped.
It took only a moment for him to realize that this was probably the only home the older man had ever known. Open mouth, insert foot.
However, his face didn't falter and neither did his brilliant smile. "I like Ista a lot, of course." He hadn't asked to come here, but as long as R'than didn't inquire after specifics, he wasn't inclined to tell, either. "It's warm. And I like that. Faroth prefers the weather here, as well." Save the tropical storms, but that's best kept to himself, as well. "And I like the women. I like the women a lot."
Mine, you have never met a women you didn't like, Faroth commented dryly.
K'em rolled his eyes and sighed fondly at the brown. Not true. I have some standards.
The wingsecond turned his attention back to R'than, his meal long since forgotten in the wake of interesting conversation. "So who do you serve under? I work with S'kagi. He's a great guy, you know? I got lucky." Oh sure, S'kagi had that obnoxious hair, but he was paitient and generally good-natured and K'em actually liked to hang out with the man, even if he was a little bit of a dead beat. It made it sort of like a challenge.
"Not one of those empty-headed bronzeriders, I hope?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:20 am
Ah, High Reaches; R'than nodded. "I've never been there myself, but I can see advantages and disadvantages to the food situation... Think I might choose knowing that I was eating dried meat and preserved vegetables to, well," he poked the stew again and shook his head, "this. Still, must agree about the women and the weather, I don't imagine I'd like the northern cold very much and I've always preferred darker skin. I suppose," R'than chuckled, "I've always loved browns best..."
Oh. Ah. His wingleader. Awkward question.
"No, not a bronze at all; my wingleader is Lyveana of green Ruinnth." He was not happy about that in the least, but he didn't intend to show it. She was his wingleader, and if anyone had anything bad to say about her, he would defend her... Somehow. It would help if he approved of her appointment to the position, or at least didn't disapprove. As it was... Well, he'd just have to hope that K'em had nothing scathing to say, or that if the other wingsecond did, he would be able to think of something to say in return. She should never have been made wingleader. It was unnatural for a green to be a leader, no matter what kind of a green she might be. He missed Ista as it had been, R'than realised, Ista before the hoards of candidates, before you had to share even the tiniest weyr with another rider, before that made greens into leaders. He wanted to turn back time to when the world had seemed right, or to move somewhere where it still was right. Everything was changing, changing in ways he liked not at all but could do nothing about. He hated feeling powerless.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:16 am
K'em laughed and nodded, finding this R'than more agreeable by the moment. Perhaps older, yes, and so far off K'em's radar that the urge to flirt stayed where it should, but he was very enjoyable company, nonetheless. It was a welcome change when the younger rider's usual company consisted of his best friends, one completely emotional and too busy for him to begin with, and the other far too logical and uptight for any obnoxious behavior, and the catch of the day. Said catch was not usually any good for conversation.
Finishing his meager roll, K'em choked on the last mouthful when R'than declared his wingleader was a greenrider. A greenrider? He must have heard him incorrectly. Swallowing hard, the wingsecond eyed the other brownrider. "You're pulling my leg," he said with a cautious smile. "A green wingleader? They sure do things strangely in Ista." K'em shook his head. Those names seemed familiar. Lyveana and Ruinnth. So did R'than and Garith for that-
Oh shards, shells, fardles and whatever other curses he could think of.
Oh shards, indeed.
"...wait. You're in that new wing, right? And...the greenrider is the wingleader?"
K'em frowned; he did not make that recommendation...
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:38 am
R'than winced, and was about to open his mouth to say something along the lines of he was sure the Weyrleader and senior wingleaders/whoever else had been involved with the decision, when K'em spoke again. Blinking in surprise, he paused with his spoon hovering over his bowl. Frowning slightly, he set it down and nodded.
"That's right, the new wing. Wingleader Lyveana of green Ruinnth, and Garith and I second her... I'll admit I was surprised at her appointment. It's not a regular thing in Ista, she's the first. The first anywhere so far as I know." He wanted to add that she seemed like a good leader all the same, but he couldn't. She did not. She had no consistency, and while it might have slipped most by in their excitement to be in a new wing - and probably excitement over becoming part of history - if she kept that behavior up their goodwill would not last. Kind or cruel, chatty or stoic, a leader had to always pull in one direction or they would get no respect at all.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:05 pm
"Yeah. About that."
A long silence followed as the charming young man tried to determine how to word all his thoughts as appropriately as possible. Unfortunately, politics weren't his thing, and eventually, K'em gave up, simply shaking his head as he sighed. "Yeah. You see, I'm the one that put that, uh, whole wing together. For S'kagi. And it was submitted to the officials, uh, D'tai and Helirra, was it? And...."
K'em frowned and toyed with the trademark goggles hanging loosely around his neck.
"I certainly didn't recommend any greenrider as wingleader. Wingsecond, yeah. Sure. But definitely not wingleader. That doesn't even make sense."
The wingsecond sighed, ten-million-mark smile fading to a dim glow as he poked at his soup idly. He definitely wasn't touching that thing, Cordel insisting he needed protein or otherwise. Eating the leftover stew was probably a trip to the infirmary in and of itself. K'em cleared his throat and ran a hand through his brown hair, ruffling it a little as he met R'than's gaze.
Things certainly ran strangely, here in Ista.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:21 pm
...
That was pretty well what went through R'than's head for the next several seconds.
Okay.
So.
This man had pieced together their wing, and named Lyveana wingsecond. Presumably that meant that... that... that he had been named for first, but somehow the orders had been changed. Who would have put a green in as wingleader? Second was bad enough, but who would actually look at a brown recommended for leader and think it a good idea to swap him with a green? Who could...? Who would...? Who was that stupid?
"I..." he pushed his stew away, couldn't even think of eating anymore. "So... you made your recommendations and... they were changed, either by D'tai or Helirra... D'tai surely would not... but I don't like to think Helirra would either." R'than rubbed his face, and communicated all that was going on to Garith; the brown deserved to know, and he needed his dragon's input in any case. "So... Was it Garith and myself you put down for the first?" he asked softly; though the dininghall was not crowded, there were still people scattered about and it would be very bad indeed if this got out.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:42 pm
K'em felt for the elder man, he really did. He probably ought not be saying anything at all, but the wingsecond wasn't sure he felt comfortable having his name attached to a green wingleader. Having never met Lyveana in person, he was sure she and her green were a perfectly fine pair, suitable to average things, perhaps even slightly more so, but that still didn't qualify to make someone who couldn't last Threadfall a wingleader. Even if there was no Thread falling, it would. At some point.
Mine, I fear we are, how do you say it, treading on thin ice? We might not be a welcome intrusion.
For once, Faroth's voice rang with concern instead of the characteristic rashness.
Rubbing his cheek, K'em sighed softly and met R'than's gaze again, completely conflicted. "I probably shouldn't give you the answer. But you were. The bronzes had nothing on you, man." The young wingsecond offered a sympathetic smile. It probably didn't make him feel any better that a green had won out in the end. He sighed softly. "I feel like this is much larger than we originally thought..."
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:55 pm
R'than looked down at the worn surface of the long table and gave a heavy sigh. "I would have been perfectly content to be second to a good bronze," he said softly. "There is no shame at all in second, it is perhaps a more natural position for a brown than first but... within our wing, I recognize that the bronzes are not natural leaders." Was he? He wasn't sure; he supposed he was good enough with people, and he certainly knew what he was doing. If asked, he could have done it. He had almost been asked, but somebody, somebody in charge of the Weyr itself, had decided to push a green to the top.
"I think you are right, K'em," R'than said gravely after some time. "Somebody... either D'tai or Helirra thought placing a green in charge was more important than your recommendation." It was a traitorous thought, but sadly it also seemed to be a true one. When your leaders were wrong, it was right to question them, no matter how high above you they were. To let it slide was cowardly, and he was no coward. Glancing briefly around, R'than lent forward and pulled his bowl towards himself to make the motion look casual. "I do not believe a Weyrleader, a fighting rider, would do such a thing... Unless he has taken complete leave of his senses." He wasn't sure which idea was more disturbing, that D'tai might be going crazy, or that Helirra had decided that favoring a female for being female was a good idea. What was this Weyr coming to?
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:29 pm
"Unfortunately, I'm a recent transfer and I know little about your Weyrleader and Weyrwoman. As it stands, I'm friendly with S'kagi and a number of other riders and that's it. My opinion means...very little." His reputation and the reason for said transfer were...well, they weren't good. He'd already gone over this, K'em scolded himself. Rubbing his nose, the brownrider shook his head and shrugged. There was not a lot a pair of wingseconds could do, really.
"So, let's say we're correct. D'tai has either gone stark raving mad or Helirra is using her position to further her own agenda. What, pray tell, could we do about it? D'tai's bronze Flies Helirra's Queen." They were mates, and, insofar as K'em could tell, the dragons were happy that way. "And Helirra is sort of...the only option for your Sr. Weyrwoman, is she not. Favan is...Favan is..." K'em waved his hand. He had her marked as 'maneater' in his own little black book. "The others are too young. Favan's too young as well, come to think." Younger than himself, even.
Suddenly, something caught up with the brunette. "Hey, what do you mean, second is a more natural position for a brown?" K'em flashed R'than that winning grin. "I do intend be a wingleader, someday."
Some people were just born leaders. K'em always figured he was one of those people.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:52 am
R'than sighed and shrugged. "It's just... Bronzes are naturally more dominant. Chances are if you line up ten browns and ten bronzes, you'll get a lot more bronzes suited to being wingleaders. I've seen many browns lead wings very well over the turns, but far more often it's a bronze in charge. Maybe I should have said more normal than more natural, I know Garith could lead if asked to do so."
There was of course the issue with natural dominance, but for one the gap was less marked between browns and bronzes than bronzes and the rest, and for another apparently that didn't matter anymore. The whole affair made his head spin, frankly, and he suddenly wanted desperately to be part of another Weyr. He loved Ista, but the last few turns had shown him how incompetent and self-centered its leaders were becoming. They should have been trying a lot harder than they were right now to find a site for a new Weyr two, three, four turns ago; that was a big enough issue. The there was the green wingleader. Apparently they, one of them anyway, would rather put a green in charge (to be quirky? To curry favor with discontented riders of the smaller colours?) than listen to recommendations.
"It's madness," R'than muttered, shaking his head slightly, "but you're right. There's nothing to be done about it, they are our leaders and as long as that is the case we must abide by their decisions... It's probably best if we keep this between ourselves. People are discontented enough as it is, the last thing the Weyr needs right now is to know about this little mess." He couldn't imagine how people would react, especially people within his wing. A'ras would... well he didn't know the man, but he knew that the blue rider would be livid, more livid than he already was in any case... He had been recommended for wingleader and somebody had taken that away from Garith and himself and given it to a green. He could have understood if it had been a bronze he's been pushed aside for - though the idea of either of the bronzes in his wing leading was one that made him raise his eyebrows - but for a green? It was humiliating, ridiculous, insane... and he had to keep completely silent about it. Save to Garith, of course.
"It is despicable," the brown said privately, anger colouring his usually calm voice. "I cannot believe our leaders would behave in such a fashion. Have they no honor? If they disagreed with the recommendations, they should have discussed it with Faroth's and given their reasons. The way they have done this is underhanded Mine, I do not like it."
"I know Garith, I know, I hate it too..." Of course, it was only D'tai that got a say in how the wings were put together, the fighting forces were not the concern of the Weyrwoman. He wished that this fact allowed him to guess which one of them was to blame, but it did not. It D'tai was crazy, why would he discuss it with anyone? If Helirra was the culprit, making the change in secret made sense given that it was not her right to interfere. Madness. The sooner he and Garith could get away from here the better.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:39 am
"Clearly," K'em said with a chuckle, "you've never met my Faroth." The brown wasn't particularly large, so it wasn't like he was really capable of Flying an average-sized Queen. That didn't mean, however, that the brown didn't consider the possibility now and then. The marbled brown was stoic and sharp with his words, but he was a very bright dragon and he had always been ambitious. K'em had many a broken nose to attest to some of those plans. It was not always wise, listening to his over-eager dragon.
"Weeeell," K'em drawled, glancing up as he rubbed his chin. "Do you think it would do to try to expose them? If we were right, there'd be completely chaos in the Weyr if one, or both," they couldn't count out the idea that the pair were in cahoots, "weren't fit to be leaders. Because that'd leave Favan and I get the distinct impression that a lot of people don't particularly like her." He sighed softly and shook his head, expression darkening. "And there's always the chance that we're wrong, or we're foiled, and then we're really burned. I've already crossed people in high places, you know, and I don't think my plans would...survive another fall from grace, if you know what a mean."
K'em drummed his fingers. "Unless, of course, we could get someone who's already in a high place to agree with us. Favan, while we might not like her much, would probably benefit from helping us."
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:24 pm
R'than sighed and poked dispiritedly at his stew. What to do? It was tempting to ask the Weyrleader about it, to find out what was actually going on. He liked that idea better than subversion, a lot better. Surely, having found this out, he had a right to ask. "I wouldn't like you to endanger your good name over this K'em," he said after some moments of silence. "I have no idea what to do yet, but I don't want to involve anyone else in something that could disgrace them... Even asking about this could do that if one or both of them planned this and want it kept quiet. In any case though, I am not sure I would like to involve Favan. For one she has enough to worry about at present, and for another... I am not sure I would like her any better as a leader."
She was a gold rider, as was Helirra! They ought to be above these schemes and plots, any rider should be! When had the Wery's leaders become so very smallminded? With the Thread due to return soon that was the last thing they needed! If only there were a mature gold and rider pair bright, moral, and brave enough for him to wish to pledge allegiance to. As it was, there was no such woman or dragon. R'than lent one elbow on the table and rubbed his forehead wearily. It looked as though he had no real options, save possibly talking to D'tai. Maybe the situation would not be remedied, but he might get an explanation at least if there really had been some good reason for the change.
"There could not be," Garith said softly, "there could be no possible excuse for making that green the wingleader. If they did not think we or any of the bronzes were suitable then they should have included others in this new wing, bronzes and browns who have shown their worth and deserve a promotion. I am quite shocked, Mine, that this one even suggested that green for wingsecond. I do not trust him."
R'than shrugged internally; was inclined to give K'em the benefit of the doubt. If there had been only so many people he'd been given to work with he supposed... No. No that was no reason to put in a green for wingsecond. He should have said that he had nobody for the second position, or for the first for that matter, and then a bronze or a brown would have been found for the post. Still, he seemed a nice man even if he was a fool.
"I don't know," R'than said again with a shake of his head, "I will have to think about all this seriously before I take action." He couldn't believe it, still he couldn't believe it. How had she been recommended at all? Who had changed the orders? Why had they done it? What did they think they were gaining? Shards. He had to get out of their Weyr... and go where? He had no idea, none at all.
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