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 Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:17 am
Evening, with a brilliant sunset over the water. Most of the day's work was done now; there were a few evening chores to take care of in a candlemark or so, but for now she had time to relax. Relax. As if.
Kelos bit down on a thumb nail absentmindedly as she studied the slate held in her other hand. Names and dates. She hated names and dates, and she failed to see how memorizing senior queens of the past was relevant in any case. Oh, maybe the previous one or two would affect politics, but beyond that it was pointless. They still had to do it. She had to get it right, shard it no matter how stupid this was she was going to get it right!
It seemed to her that most of the other candidates could rattle off the list she was studying with no trouble at all, but then a lot of them had been here a lot longer than she had. Still nibbling her nail, Kelos mumbled the names of few golds and their riders under her breath along with the date they had become the senior pair, and the date they had stepped down or died. Then she closed her eyes and muttered the same names and dates over again... but she couldn't remember which pair came next. Shards. She was never going to get this right.
Groaning to herself, Kelos opened her eyes again and flopped over backwards into the sand. Stupid history.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:35 am
Rhilira stretched as she emerged at the ground level of the Weyr, grateful for the setting sun of the horizon of the sea. It was always beautiful at this time of day, and if Rhilira got a chance to go out and enjoy it, she did - it reminded her of the nights spent outdoors with her train, giving her a sinking nostalgic feeling always, but always sweeping it away when a dragon would bugle from atop the high cliff or suddenly blink in from between in the dusky sky.
No sense standing around here, though, she considered, making her way to the beach, finding it much more pleasant without the sun beating down on her constantly, and with the sea breeze smelling of sea water, as opposed to sweat and dragon - not an unpleasant smell, necessarily, but nothing beat the smell of pure, fresh air to the holdless. Well, I'm not holdless now - per say. I belong to the Weyr...
As she approached the beach, she noticed a figure sprawled back on the sand, a tablet in hand. Must be a candidate... Looks female, to me. Huh. Curious, since she didn't recognize the girl even as she approached, she considered going up to her and introducing herself.
Someone else on the beach is no reason to ruin the beauty of a sunset, though. Her sudden burst of friendliness was quickly exhausted, and she found herself a place on the sand not necessarily far away from the other person, but not with-in easy talking distance.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:40 pm
...Well hello, there was somebody else here. Kelos set her slate down on the sand and turned to regard the girl properly. A long-legged on, light brown hair, a nice enough physique but tougher than she usually went for... Still, better conversation with a reasonably pretty girl than more bashing her head against the wall. She'd come back to learning this stuff, not a chance she was giving up on it, but a break might do her good.
As she approached, she recognized the girl as another candidate, and promptly remembered that the brown-haired girl was actually taller than she was. That instantly turned her off any kind of flirting, but she still fancied a bit of talk. Perhaps she could even make a friend here, she'd been so caught up in adjusting to life here over the last half turn that she hadn't really made many. Well, perhaps she would find the very first here.
"Good evening, miss," she flashed the other girl a smile, "a beautiful evening to be on the beach, isn't it? My name is Kelos, I've seen you around the Weyr but I must confess I've never found out your name. Might I ask it?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:02 pm
Shards. Interrupted...
She looked up at the girl who had come over, taking in the look of her. Seemed friendly enough. And she spoke like she was talking to the Weyrwoman.
"Hi," she said simply, though her tone wasn't unpleasant. "Name's Rhilira." She stood as she greeted the girl, offering a smile in return. "Nice to meet you - finally. I've seen you around, too. Candidacy doesn't leave much time for socializing, though." A true enough statement, though she didn't really mind the reality of it. She wasn't here to make life-long friends. She had her family and her train for that.
Though that's a life I might never return to... A realization she hadn't faced head-on, keeping it from her mind on purpose.
Right. Well. No need to be unfriendly.
"It's a really beautiful sunset... When they're over the water - that's always the best. The reflection makes it seem like you're watching two at the same time."
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:39 am
"Indeed." Kelos smiled at the other girl for a moment before turning her gaze back to the sunset, shielding her eyes against the brightness. "Can you imagine soaring over it?" she murmured as an elegant green appeared from between and turned to glide towards her weyr. "What could be more glorious, what could compare to that perfect freedom?..."
Sighing wistfully Kelos turned back to Rhilira and offered another smile. "I believe our senior queen is due to rise again fairly soon. Perhaps in a turn or so one of us, or both of us, will get to find out what that's like." What could compare to the feeling of wind on your face, and the warmth of your lifemate in your heart. She would give up anything to be a rider, anything save her goodness and nobility; even if there were a way to cheat on the sands, she could never take it, she was too good a person for that. A dragon would choose her one day without her having to try to do other candidates down, she was sure of it... Well... Sort of. Her chances were as good as anyone else's, certainly.
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 7:59 pm
Rhilira sighed wistfully, watching the green with an envy to match her color. "Yeah... I didn't know it was something I wanted," she said, looking over to the girl. "but after coming here and being here for awhile, I can't imagine life without a Weyr. And Impressing a dragon?" She gave another sigh, not even really able to complete the thought. It was amazing, the power a sunset could hold.
"I hope we both Impress," she said, firmly now. "Having someone you know as a clutchmate would be great. I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of Candidates I've never met. That would make lessons and training exhausting." She didn't know this girl very much, and certainly didn't trust her just yet - if ever. But it never hurt knowing people, especially if it meant having someone to share reassuring glances with while on the sands. She hadn't Impressed at her first hatching. There was probably a reason - none were for her, overall. Standing for a second time terrified her, to be left alone once again. It would be nice to have someone in the same nervous position before the eggs began to hatch.
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:04 am
"Yes," Kleos smiled slightly and sat down in the sand again, folding her feet up underneath her, "it would be awkward not to know anyone else who Impressed... I know quite a few other candidates, but there are more that I don't know. There just isn't time to befriend everyone... Still," she shrugged and smiled at Rhilira again, "so long as a couple of people I know Impress at the same time as me, getting to know the others will be easier."
She didn't know Rhilira yet, but at least she knew her name, that was more than she could say for far too many other candidates... Still, if this exceptionally tall young woman was going to be one of her compatriots, it would be a good idea to find out at least a little bit more.
"So, might I ask where you come from?" That was a start at least, but it would be polite to offer some information herself too. "I come from Namor Hold myself." She couldn't go back there. If she failed to Impress, she was staying here all the same; at least here nobody looked at her with disgust when she said she preferred ladies to gentlemen.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:55 am
Rhilira nodded. She hardly knew anyone, even after being here for quite a bit of time. The weyrbrats didn't seem too intent on getting to know those who were brought on a Search - not most of them. Maybe they thought that if you weren't Weyr-born you didn't reserve to Impress... She didn't know, nor did she care. She wasn't here to make tons of friends - she had never needed them before. One or two would suffice. "Yeah, it becomes more of team then, if people have a basis, I think."
"I come from a trading train," she responded with a shrug. "So I'm from all over Pern, really." Kelos offering up information as well made the trader less suspicious. "What did you do there? Anything specific?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:04 am
Now that sounded like quite a life, not as good as being a rider but more exciting than just being a hold girl. Traveling all across the land, seeing new sights, meeting new people, a sweetheart in every hold... If she didn't Impress, might there be a way for her to join a group of traders? They would have to be good and honest folk of course, which she knew sometimes traders were not... but she was getting distracted.
Grimacing, Kelos shook her head. "No," she clarified, "my parents wished only for me to marry well and have lots of beautiful children. I asked to be allowed to take up a craft many a time, but they never budged so much as an inch... Until I was searched that is. They did hate the idea of me coming here, and so I'm grateful that they gave me their permission. They could easily have forced me to remain with them in misery." It was hard to think kindly of her parents after all of the arguments and hard words said on both sides, but she had to admit that they had done right by her in the end. She could never have been a wife; death would have been preferable to such a fate.
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:54 am
"At least they let you come here, then," she replied easily with a shrug. "It's unfortunate, parents turning their kids away from their desires." She looks over to her hurriedly, "Not that I mean to insult your parents, of course." Well, that was a stupid thing to say. Someone you actually get along with and you go and insult her parents. Deadglow...
"So what will you do if you don't Impress, then? Go back to your hold?" Easier to just change the subject, at this point. It was something that Candidates tended to consider, knowing that Impression was completely out of their hands.
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 5:44 am
Kleos gave a lopsided smile and shrugged at the tall young woman. "I take no offense; I thought it quite a shame myself... I love them, I suppose you could say, but I find it hard to like them." Did that make her a bad person?... No. Even the best people found it hard to like people who couldn't accept them for who and what they were.
"If I don't Impress by the time I am one and twenty turns, I shall remain here and look for something else to make of my life," Kleos went on. "I couldn't return to my hold; things between myself and my parents will never be good, and they would just start pressuring me to marry again. I am sure I can build a life for myself here, dragon or no dragon." She hoped so in any case. Women who didn't Impress were usually welcome to stay, on the assumption that they would have children who would have the potential to Impress themselves in time. Well, if anyone expected that of her it was too bad for them, she would find other ways to make herself useful.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:09 pm
Rhilira nodded, listening carefully. "That sounds sensible enough. I don't really know what they do with people who don't Impress, but things get done, and I assume someone has to do them..." With a sigh, the trader shifted positions, her muscles getting a bit stiff. Coming to the Weyr was a pretty big decision for everyone - the weybrats had it lucky in that sense, along with many others - and it seemed like everyone had different feelings about it. Clearly, Kleos was glad she did it, and Rhilira could appreciate that. She, on the other hand, was still on the line about it. She'd be fine, going back to her family's train if she didn't Impress, but she knew that that would be the end result. Being tied to the Weyr with no way out was not an option... Confinement did not suit her.
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 10:33 am
Things like washing pots, scrubbing floors, peeling tubers... That wasn't the life for her, but what else was there? There had to be some chance for her, some craft she could go into... Wherhandlers were sometimes folk who had failed to Impress, weren't they? She could live with that.
All in all, however, she would prefer to Impress a dragon, and come to that she wanted to impress the candidate master. She needed to get back to work.
Sighing to herself, Kleos glanced over at her abandoned slate. "I should get back to learning those names and dates," she said aloud. "I'm sorry to dash off on you Rhilira, but I'm having trouble fixing them all in my mind and I need to ger this right. I hope the rest of your evening is pleasant, and that we have a chance to talk for longer another time." Flashing the other girl a smile, she did seem like the kind she could come to like, Kleos climbed back to her feet and padded over to collect her slate before heading back towards the Weyr; she was never going to focus with a pretty sea view to distract her.
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