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 Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:10 pm
Melina hadn't brought much with her when she was rather randomly Searched, having been totally unprepared for such a situation. The search rider had helped her carry her few things to the candidate barracks, where she now stood, staring helplessly at the bunk she had been assigned - a top bunk, of course, with her barely clearing 5 feet tall. There wasn't even a proper ladder, just a few boards spaced apart as the bed below her's headboard of sorts. That clearly wasn't going to be enough for her to haul herself up into the bed. Thankfully, she stared at the trunks at each foot of the bed. She wondered - could she use them to climb into bed? Oh, but getting out would be simply horrid and frightening! With a heavy sigh, she took off her boots and climbed up onto the trunk that had her few things in it, grunting as she jumped up, her midsection catching the bar on her bunk square in her midsection, blasting the air out of her lungs. With another grunt, she pulled herself the rest of the way up, sitting on her knees and surveying the room from this height. Well, so this was what it felt like to be tall! It would be interesting, at the very least. She looked about as she heard someone enter the room and figured she'd jump down and introduce herself. A look down, however, had the effect of making her blanch. Her legs dangled off the top bunk and she wished dearly for a proper ladder to climb up and down with. She gazed about speculatively - there had to be a way to make this entire process easier.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:11 am
Clasping a small stack of new clothes she had just received from the Weyr Weaver, Cetalese entered the Candidate Barracks.
It was a surprise to see another Candidate indoors without a task keeping them occupied. Either the Candidates were working, or they were off having fun somewhere and avoiding getting given any additional tasks to keep their idle hands busy. She glanced over the girl once on her way to her own bunk. She was a recent arrival, Ceta was sure. There was a curfew for Candidates where she had had the opportunity to see all of the female Candidates assigned to this room of the barracks. She would know any of them by sight if not by name a this point. The boys she wasn't as sure on, but she was slowly learning them as well through cooperative chores around the weyr and Candidate lessons.
Ceta settled the bundle on her bed and turned back to the half of the room where the new Candidate was. She wasn't one for approaching someone else first, usually, but she did know a thing or two about directing idle hands, having three siblings to her name. It took her a moment to discern that the girl wasn't just sitting on the top bunk for the heck of it. Ceta was glad, once again, that she had gotten a bottom bunk, though she wouldn't have frowned at a top one. The climb was not something she envied top bunkers.
"Did you need some help?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:18 am
Melina had heard the girl come in behind her, but hadn't been able to get a good look at her. She smiled gratefully at the girl's offer of help and nodded emphatically. I thought the hard part was going to be getting up. Now, I see it's the getting down part that's going to be so troublesome she said, waving her dangling feet to accentuate her point. She wasn't exactly sure how to get down though, even with help. The only ways she could think of would rather require her rear in the other girl's face, with the other girl helping her keep her balance on the way down. She sighed heavily - so much for making good first impressions! Still, she thought, there was only one Impression here that would really matter.
So, um, I was thinking maybe I could bend myself over this bar here she said, pointing to the same bar that had caught her in the middle, and maybe just slide down? And you could spot me to make sure I don't fall? she asked, hoping that plan was satisfactory. Maybe she'd have to ask the Candidate Master if there were any bottom bunks available. She couldn't well be doing this every day! That, or a proper ladder!
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:46 am
Cetalese eyed the bunk and came to the same conclusion as the other girl. Feet first would be best. Better to be safe than try to find a more personal-space conscious way of doing things. Besides, the girl obviously wouldn't have suggested it if she had minded too much. It was good to see another Candidate with at least a little logic in their thinking, even if she was a veritable stranger.
"All right. Try not to slip when you throw your legs over the bar, though." Cetalese didn't fancy having the girl fall on her. She moved over to the girl's bunk, conscious of the skirts she was wearing, and made sure she was in a steady, feel slightly apart stance to help let the girl down gently.
"Ready," she assured Melina, her hands already half-lifted to get a good grip on the girl once she was over the bar.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:15 am
Hmmm, weyr folk aren't bad at all. Hmmm, then again, she's a candidate, and might not be weyr folk at all she thought to herself as she put herself belly-down on the bed, sliding her feet over the edge until she got her hips on the bar. At the other girl's "Ready", she gave one glance behind her to be sure she'd place her feet properly and slid down, groaning slightly in apprehension she didn't bother to disguise. She didn't mind heights, when they had right proper stairs to get down from them! Landing without incident, Melina turned to look up at the girl, quite grateful to be down.
Thank you so much! she exclaimed, glancing at the bed almost as if it were an object personified and had tried to conquer her - and almost won! I'm Melina, by the way she added, holding out her hand towards her rescuer.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:26 am
As the girl began sliding over the edge, Ceta immediately reached up to steady her hips and give her the added bracing for the eventual freefall the Candidate would have to go into to get down from there. Once her feet were firmly on the floor, Ceta could see why she was having trouble. Cetalese was about average height for a girl, but this girl didn't look as if she was much over 5 feet. The height made it difficult for Cetalese to read right off how old Melina was, though she didn't think the other girl was much older than herself.
Cetalese, pleased she'd been able to help and put herself to good use, took the hand Melina offered her and gave it a firm shake that was at odds with the quiet personality Melina would soon enough find out was embodied the girl. "I'm Cetalese. Welcome to Trine Weyr."
Knowing that polite small talk was at least required now that they were in conversation, she asked, "Have you met any of the other Candidates yet?" Since she was sure the girl was fresh to the Barracks, there was no point in asking if she'd been Searched just now. Obviously, she had.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:37 am
The firm handshake was a good omen to Melina, silly as she was about such things. She hated wimpy, proper handshakes - she liked the good, hearty ones, like the one Cetalese had just given her. The other girl was, as usual, taller than her, though she didn't have to tilt her head too far up to converse comfortably with her.
Nope, you're the first. Just got in less than a candlemark ago she added cheerfully. The first thing she had done was to look out each and every window in the Candidate barracks, trying to see which ones had the best view of the sky. She wasn't quite sure where the other Candidates were, but the candidate master had simply told her to use today to gather her things and wander about, learning where things were. The beaches had looked wonderfully inviting, and maybe she'd make her way down there before too much longer.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:46 am
"Most of them are at chores this time of day. You'll probably start yours tomorrow, once the Candidate master has had time to add you to the roster." She debated whether or not to explain how things worked, and then decided that the Candidate Master would tell her whatever she needed to know and what she didn't hear from him she would pick up from the other Candidates later.
With a smile, Cetalese moved back over to her bunk and lifted the stack of pants to put them away with the rest of her clothing. Being a Holder, Ceta had grown up wearing skirts and was just used to dressing like a girl, but coming to the weyr meant changes a-plenty, and that included to her wardrobe. She'd had to visit the weyr's Weaver to have her measurements taken the day she arrived, in part to prepare her riding wherhide in the event she would Impress this Clutch. However, the Weaver had also made up several changes of pants for her, since Ceta had come equipped with none of her own. Riders, male or female, wore pants except for special events or maybe, if they were that interested in wearing dresses, Threadless days. She was a little apprehensive, but trying pants would be an interesting experience.
Melina, it seemed, was used to it already. Cetalese turned back to the girl after her new belongings were put away. She'd had plenty of time to see female riders going about the weyr in their pants and tunics, and certainly Eliza and the other weyrborn stuck mostly to that tune as well. Melina must be from a profession, though, and not Weavercraft. Her clothes were clean, so not Beasthall...
"Which profession are you from?" Ceta asked, deciding to simply ask rather than silently ponder the girl. She didn't want to make Melina feel uncomfortable on her first day.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:18 pm
Melina nodded at the information about chores but groaned internally. How was she supposed to work day and night? When would she sleep? She supposed she'd have to cut back on the sheer number of hours she spent stargazing, but she felt like she was betraying her craft and her training with the mere thought. A slight frown found its way to her face at these thoughts. She'd simply have to make time for all of her hobbies. She looked up as the girl seemed to be appraising her. She noticed rather belatedly that the girl was wearing a skirt. Were they supposed to dress nicely here? It didn't sound practical, but maybe she hadn't had any pants before the stack she had carried in. Ah well, didn't much matter.
Oh, I'm a Star Smith, from Ruatha she offered, having noticed that people spoke slightly differently here, so she would probably be classified as 'having an accent'. Lovely. The view of the sky here is so different - I can't wait for nightfall she said with barely-concealed passion for her craft. She had a tendency to babble, so she cut herself off with just that bit of information unless the girl asked her for more. She glanced at the trunk where a set of single knots were waiting for her. She fingered her Journeyman knots currently on her shoulder a bit sadly. Why did she have to change her knots now? Couldn't she just wait until she Impressed, if she did manage such a feat? She felt like a traitor to her years of studying, and it made her somewhat uncomfortable to feel like she was simply replacing a huge part of her life.
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:25 pm
Cetalese nodded. She had never met someone from the Starsmith Hall before, so this was a first for her. She knew what they did in general, the way anyone would, but she'd never known anyone who went off to the Starsmiths and so she had no real or specific information about the Craft. This girl seemed to be enamored about her craft, and since the knots on her arm said she was a journeyman-- Ceta thought she was reading that correctly-- she must know what she was talking about and have had many Turns to learn to love what she was doing. How must it have felt to leave that, put her advancement in her craft on hold, and pursue the vague chance of becoming a dragonrider?
"If you'd like, I can show you were the dining hall is? You'll need to know if you're going to have supper before you go looking at stars." Cetalese was going to walk past the dining hall on her way to check on her firelizard egg anyway, so it wouldn't be out of her way to show Melina where to go for certain tasks along the way. Tomorrow her Candidate partner for her chores would probably show her more. That seemed to be how it worked.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:33 pm
The girl seemed shy, and maybe a tad pre-occupied, like she wanted to be somewhere else. Well, far be it from her to keep the girl somewhere she didn't want to be! Oh, I passed it on my way in. I'm sure I can follow my nose there. Thank you so much for your offer though! she said with a smile, straightening her clothes somewhat from her little adventure exiting her bunk.
I think I'm going to head down to the beaches for today. It's normally too cold to go swimming in Ruatha she added, relishing the thought of spending a day out in the sun and warmth, plus the swimming! And it was the south too, wasn't it? Maybe she'd even find flit eggs eventually. She stifled a yawn, not used to being up during daytime hours. She was going to try and stay up as late as she could in the hopes of re-setting her system, but she had doubts about how well that was going to work.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:06 pm
Ceta smiled when Melina thanked her and nodded in acknowledgment. The girl knew her own mind, or she wouldn't be here. Something Ceta needed to continuously reminded herself: Search dragons usually did not choose incorrectly. They picked riders who would be strong enough for the dragons. ... Even if they were as quiet as her apparently.
"I need to go to the kitchens, but the beaches should be nice this time of day. Weyrfolk go swimming at all hours here." Ceta knew that one from first-hand experience. Riders came and went at any hour of the day and weyrfolk without dragons were always crossing the bowl, including late at night. Cetalese herself had seen two giggling figures scampering across the weyrbowl when she had awoken in the middle of the night and stolen to the window for some air to calm herself after the nightmare. Here, a lot of people played to their own tune, within reason. "There should be several people at the beach, too, if you needed help for some reason."
She smiled and gestured at the door, already taking steps toward it. "I'll give you a chance to get changed before anyone gets back. Welcome again."
With a few more steps she was out of the room and headed down the hall to the kitchens, leaving Melina to get ready for her beach outing. Even if her egg was perfectly fine where it was, she still wanted to be sure.
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