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 Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:56 pm
Kallista almost drowned today.
But I should back up. It’s been a while since I’ve bothered writing anything in this thing. You know how it is. Too many Searches going on and too little time to write. Every time I start to relax, Ceylith tells Vox to hide my journal so I have no choice but to sleep instead of writing. Anyway, Kallista is a girl Ceylith Searched before the Hatching. She Impressed the second prettiest little Green I’ve ever seen, one named Astarteth. Very proud, according to Ceylith. Ceylith was proud too, after that. She always is, when one of ours Impresses. ‘Ours’ is her word, not mine. I know better.
Anyway, long story short, today I went to go give Ceylith a bath. She’s coming close to Rising pretty soon and I like her to look her best, you know? She loves the attention she gets and I’m not going to do anything that might make her feel bad. At least, nothing like that. While I was bathing her, we hear this… sound. It turns out it was Astar screaming. Keening, almost. Kallista had fallen into the water----water that she could’ve stood up in, I’m sure---and didn’t get up. Maybe she hit her head on a rock, I don’t know. She was saved by a Healer. Not by me. I just stood there, uselessly. I gave her my shirt, and even then I hesitated. Just one sharding thing that I could have done, and I hesitated.
She recovered just fine; I kept watch, making sure the Healers were doing all the right thing. I just had this crazy idea that if I left for just a second, she might disappear. Mom did. But that’s neither here nor there. Once she woke up, I meant to just tell her how relieved I was. But I didn’t. I screwed up, majorly. I haven’t acted that emotional since… well… since I was just a Senior Weyrling, when Ceylith was first Rising. Kallista told me a bit about how her mother had drowned. Again, I meant to tell her something about myself, but all that came out was more anger, about how stupid she had been and how she should’ve known better.
You know what? I was right. She should have known better. But that was no excuse for saying so. She didn’t need to hear that. I think the problem is that she reminds me of my little sister. I ought to write her another letter. Haven’t done that for a while and I ought to keep track of my closest sibling.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:57 pm
Lice. There are lice in the Weyr. Just the word is loathsome. They’re just… there. Crawling all over everything. It’s revolting. Every where I look, there’s some Candidate mindlessly scratching away. They ought to wear warning signs: WARNING: INFECTED.
Of course, it’s arguable that the scratching is enough of a warning sign. My plan was simple: Stay in my weyr as much as possible, emerging occasionally only for food and drink. But nooo. Ceylith just had to Rise, which meant I had to interact with somebody. I think a Greenrider would explode if there wasn’t anything. Unfortunately, this means Ceylith will be very… intent on finding me a weyrmate. She always gets this way afterwards. All broody too, which means I’ll have to check my weyr every day and make sure she didn’t ‘adopt’ any small critters.
Well, besides the one. My memories are a little fuzzy after Ceylith’s Flight, thank Faranth…
Quote: “Murr… go away, Vox! ‘m trying to sleep…” C’ren waved a hand in the firelizard’s general direction and rolled over, hoping the creature would get the hint. But he didn’t. A Mark could sink through stone before Vox could get a hint. The blue firelizard simply sat on C’ren’s body instead and continued to make noise, chittering happily away and sending his owner messages of urgency. Something was happening somewhere and C’ren was not involved. Quite frankly, the Greenrider was happy to not be involved. He didn’t want to be involved. Ceylith had only recently Rose and, shard it all, he was sleepy. The fact that his Green was currently happily cooing at the lucky Blue didn’t improve C’ren’s disposition much. Naturally, he had endeavored to get rid of his own bedmate as quickly as possible before cleaning the entire weyr from top to bottom. That probably had far more to do with his current exhaustion more than any Flight-related activities. Without opening his eyes, he continued to speak, “Vox… I swear, if you don’t shut up, I’ll threaten to do something very horrible to you. And then, if you continue to make noise, I’ll threaten you in a louder voice.” “Well, that’s not a nice thing to say to your firelizard.” Another voice spoke now, interrupting C’ren’s happy delusions of being alone. Scratch that: his happy illusion of being alone except for Vox. Now C’ren opened his eyes. Or, rather, he opened his glare, because that was what he really did at the Bluerider. “…I threw you out,” he said slowly. “I know I did.” “Yep!” There was a brief silence as C’ren waited for the Bluerider---Shard it all, what was his name again----to continue, preferably with a good explanation. The other man just continued to grin. Naturally, C’ren felt obliged to fill the silence. “Most people would take that as a hint that your presence is not wanted.” “Yep.” Again, another awkward silence. Normally, the Greenrider would have responded with some sort of a pithy comment, but it was too damn early in the morning, his head felt fuzzy, and he wanted to sleep. Once it was obvious that glaring wasn’t working, he switched to a glower. “You know, if you keep making faces like that, it’ll stick.” Clearly, the glower was not working, since the Bluerider was still annoyingly cheerful. Cheerful! At this hour! “Listen… umm… what’s your name again?” “S’dil.” C’ren was silent for a moment before saying, “Shards.” “What?” “Apparently, it’s not any easier to make minds explode if you know their name.” It had been a last-desperate hope, but a hope nonetheless. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? Watching me sleep? Because, by the way, that behavior is considered extremely… creepy. You don’t sparkle nearly enough to pull off that stalker behavior.” “It IS my dragon out there,” S’dil pointed out. “Can’t blame me if I don’t want to be too far from him. Also, he gets all huffy if I try to leave a Greenrider the morning after. He’s got it fixed in his mind that you all want cuddles…” NOW he quailed under that glare. “I didn’t say I agree! I just don’t want to deal with a mopey dragon for the next three days. If dealing with you means I get to avoid a depressed Rilath, then I’m fine with it.” “…Did you at least bring any booze?” “…You just woke up. Why are you drinking?” As a matter of fact, he DID bring some alcohol, just in case. “I’m just precocious like that. Hand it over.” What happened next was a little fuzzy in C’ren’s mind, but it apparently involved lots of wine, interpretive dance, and a complicated game of dice. And a firelizard’s egg. Apparently C’ren had won, although, in a few weeks, he’d be wondering if being bound to a particularly prissy Gold really was ‘winning’. (Of course, what he didn't know was that S'dil had his own bets with some friends of his regarding whether or not he could manage to sleep with C'ren again. Apparently, it was worth the loss of a firelizard to him. Go figure, huh?)
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:17 pm
Well, I’ve finally found myself a roommate. F’sey is his name, of Green Ialluth. He’s not the worst person in all of Pern, so I suppose he’ll do. And Ceylith likes his Ialluth, so that takes care of that problem. Unfortunately, Ceylith has taken to giggling whenever she sees F’sey and Ialluth, which is quite often now. I can’t help but feel a little… wary of this new development. The last time Ceylith giggled like that, I found myself abandoned in someone else’s weyr.
F’sey and Ialluth will be moving in shortly, but I’ve got the place to myself for a little while longer.
Hatching Day:
The little egg hatched today! And into the most gorgeous little Gold I’ve ever seen! Unfortunately, she’s as picky as she is beautiful. I thought firelizards were born hungry---starving even---but she still turned up her little nose at the first bits of food I offered her. In the end, I won her over with some fresh-caught fish. By a random turn of events later that day, the actual Hatching happened as well. Naturally, I couldn’t leave Pyrite in the weyr. Nor could I miss the Hatching, since several of Ceylith’s Candidates were on the Sands. In the end I brought her with me.
And promptly got slapped with Watch duty. Ugh. That S’kagi! You’d think that a man who attempted to take advantage of an innocent girl not so long ago would be a bit more… lax about blaming others! But nooo! F’sey got in trouble as well, since he brought down his two firelizards; his Bronze, Song, seems particularly fond of Pyrite, even at her young age. I guess firelizards really don’t care.
But I’ll get my revenge on S’kagi at some point. It’s all a matter of patience. And I’ve learned patience better than him.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:22 pm
Nightwatch with ‘Sey has been… eventful. Maybe that’s not the right word. It’s certainly been full of events. We actually get along fairly well, which is surprising enough, but a welcome surprise since we have to share a weyr now.
Mostly, we pass the time by playing poker. He cheats. So I cheat right back. Seems fair.
Ceylith is, of course, delighted by this. She and Ialluth have been conspiring against me and ‘Sey. We pretend not to notice. It’s better this way. Their plans will fail soon enough, since ‘Sey is trading Nightwatch duty for becoming a Weyrlingmaster. I would feel sorry for the weyrlings, but this is just too perfect. It should be good for a laugh.
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:50 pm
Eventful week was eventful. Again. And, once again, it mostly involves ‘Sey. I’m beginning to see a pattern here… Anyway, somehow, he convinced me to help out with him in a poker game for the Gather. I’m not entirely sure what happened, honestly. I think I accepted in a fit of drunk. It wasn’t too interesting, so I must have drifted off. Afterwards, I went and bought a nice skin of wine. I thought it would be a nice treat for me and F’sey to celebrate the fact that I’m no longer on Nightwatch.
Things… might have gone a little further than ‘celebration’. Just a little. I don’t remember a whole lot, but from what I do remember there was a lot of kissing. And nuzzling. And necking. F’sey woke up with hickies on his neck. He wasn’t pleased about that, especially since he ran into one of his Weyrlings. Some panic attack later, he took my shirt.
He hasn’t given it back yet.
I’m not sure if I want it back.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:45 am
‘Sey is sick. I don’t feel much like writing right now, but I better so I can keep track of things. He collapsed after the Hatching, during the Feast. The Healers say it’s just the flu, the same thing that’s going around the Weyr right now, but they want to keep him for observations anyway. They asked a lot of questions about him too. ‘How is he sleeping? Has he been having any problems lately?’ that sort of thing. They’re bad questions, I know that. I know he’s a little older than most of the other patients there. But he’s strong. I know he’ll make it through this. I mean, he’s lived with me.
I just wish he had seen a Healer earlier. He’s been having problems for weeks, ever since we came back from the Gather. It’s my fault, partly, since I’ve been keeping him up so often. And he never stops working. Technically, a weyrlingmaster only has to work from lesson-to-lesson, but he gets attached to those kids. One of them, S’van, came by with Brown Galliath, needing a place to sleep. F’sey was willing to help, despite the fact that his job doesn’t require it. He’s a good man. And this sort of thing shouldn’t happen to people like that. It’s not the first time I’ve seen bad things happen to good people. It’s a fact of the world.
Another fact is this: I now have two dragons and four firelizards to take care of, as well as making sure the weyr stays presentable. No use moping about. Work to do.
To Do
-Wash Ialluth
-Also take Ialluth to the dragonhealer
-Take Ceylith to the feeding pens
-Take Cloud and Song to visit F’sey
-Oil Pyrite
-Remind the Kitchens to stop giving Vox extra treats
-Tell S’van how F’sey is doing
-Strangle that sharding Harper who keeps making that racket in the Infirmary
-Fit in some time to sleep and possibly eat
[There are some later notes scrawled quickly; it’s easy to imagine that they were added as an afterthought, and a fast one at that]
Ialluth spoke to me today. I was giving her a bath when she told me that F’sey wasn’t doing well. This wasn’t… a surprise, really. She’s really rather depressed and lonely. Ceylith tells me she’s really worried about the poor girl and doesn’t know what to do. I’m not sure I know what to do either. Mostly, Ialluth just told me that F’sey misses me. I’ve decided to forget most of the appointments for today and just stay with F’sey. He needs me more right now.
Hearing Ialluth was… different. It was like hearing from the part of F’sey that I always knew existed, but never really heard from before. Very moving and touching. It’s a rare occurrence when a dragon speaks to someone else besides their ‘rider.
F’sey tells me that he has struck up a sort of friendship with another person in the Infirmary. Good for him. He needs more friends. Apparently that Harper I want to strangle has some bets with F’sey now, concerning the new Healer, Cordel, and a Brownrider, K’em. Mostly, they both think that they’re secret lovers.
I don’t know why it would have to be secret. This is a Weyr. We don’t care.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:16 am
So. Technically, F’sey and I have been together nearly two Turns. I mean, obviously not… really ‘together’, exactly. But friends and… hmm… Significant Pause Roommates for two Turns. Technically, we aren’t even really weyrmates since I haven’t asked him. Is it really civilized to ask a man to be your weyrmate when he’s sick with the flu? No. It isn’t. And ever since he got out of the Infirmary, things have been a little… well… rough between us.
Two Turns. That’s as long as any of my weyrmates have lasted. And ‘Sey… well, X’doc died. Anyway, the thing is, I feel like ‘Sey has been avoiding me ever since he got out of the Infirmary. Of course, I completely understand the need to take long flights on Ialluth. That would be the first thing I’d do after getting out. It’s simply necessary. But all the time? After I looked after him, it feels like he just doesn’t want me around.
So I won’t be around.
…
For the love of Faranth, I really need to find something else other than my love life to write about. Ugh.
Oh, here’s a good one. I went out on Search today and found an interesting candidate for Candidacy. That is, Ceylith found her. Her name is Canthry. She was infuriatingly stubborn. Luckily, Ceylith has the most charming act of any dragon in the Weyr, complete with begging for eye-ridge rubs and big ‘pity me’ eyes routine. But the Search was a bit of a nightmare. Ceylith caused a significant amount of damage by galloping over to the girl, thus knocking over several crates of fish, not to mention causing irreparable damage to some people’s dignity.
After much haggling and hanging around, I managed to get Canthry to agree to meet me tomorrow night with an answer. And it’s about sharding time, I’ll tell you that.
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:14 pm
Bets:
‘Sey has a bet with X. ‘Sey insists that C tops K. X disagrees.
Egg bets
Thoroughbred Egg: Brown
Quarter Egg: Green
Kiger: Bronze
Arabian: Green
Paint: Blue
Shetland: Green (Stunted)
Clydesdale Brown
Gypsy Vanner: Blue
Akhal Teke: Bronze
Nightmare: Gold
American Sport: Green
Sorraia Mustang: Green
Andalusian: Brown (Dead or crippled)
Friesian: Green (Also possible runt)
Sandalwood Pony: Blue
Well, this will be an interesting Hatching... there's no Touching, thanks to some grabby-hands Candidate. Worse than that, I'm certain some of the eggs have been affected. I'm surprised the Candidate is being allowed to stay.
Ceylith is still raging about this whenever the eggs are mentioned. She'd march right down there herself if I let her. The poor girl is beyond... well, she's very upset... I've never seen Ceylith like this before. It's distressing, to say the least. Thank Faranth for Ialluth; I think the older Green is the only thing besides myself keeping Ceylith calm.
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