|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:42 pm
At the 'no', Giya's face fell, and she dug the tip of her sandal into the dirt. Surely he would know if she was his child. She kept her gaze lowered for a little while before the stubbornness that had kept her looking cropped up again, and she looked up at him defiantly, reading some uncertainty there. "No, you are! Mama must've... must've not told!" He had to be, didn't he? Squaring her shoulders, she tilted her chin up slightly. She was trying to seem firm, but it wasn't coming across that way at all. It was somewhat difficult for a child to stand up to a bronzerider, but she certainly tried. He was surely wrong!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 6:17 pm
Zhaylan was actually happy for once. Truly happy. He had gotten permission from his Hall and the Candidate Master to open up a small booth to sell portraits. It was nice to make a little money that was just for himself. Small sketches for 1/32nd of a mark. Not a lot to spend when one looked at the quality of the art. He had his booth set up near a booth that had pottery and glass beads.
He had made a simple sign that stated, "Portraits-Color Pictures. Low Prices" and had it set up. Water colors and charcoals out, he sat contently at his booth, sketching. Not really caring if someone stopped by or not.
"Color. Color. What a pretty day for color. Draw people. Draw dragons. Simply draw. Gather busy busy. Not like Fort. Hot here." Zhaylan was speaking to himself as he drew the crowds that went by. His amber eyes were constantly watching and then looking down at his sheets. Hands moved quickly to capture it all. "Wonder if people stop. Like my drawings? Oh well. Practice, practice makes good."
-------------
Kallista actually took the time to make herself look decent. With Astarteth's prodding, she had left her hair down, not that it went too far. With the outbreak, she had shed her hair and it was now just above her shoulders. In a clean, short sleeved tunic and soft brown pants, Kallista looked at herself in the community mirror and sighed. This was her chance to go out and socialize.
You need more friends Kallista. Astarteth bugged her. The green was up at the heights, sunning herself. The others of her clutch were around, too big to travel with their mates but too small to fly. You need to make yourself pretty when it's time for a mate.
I don't need mate. And you don't need to worry about a mate yet. You can barely stay aloft for a while. You just need to focus on you. Kallista scolded. Her hazel eyes double checked herself. Time to go.
The trip to the Hold was not that bad. There were carts going back and forth from the Weyr to the Hold. Kallista had hopped a ride and sat back, taking in everything and everyone around her. She remembered the last time she had come to the Ista Gather. It was right before she had Impressed. Her and T'ka has gone around and enjoyed themselves. She wondered where her friend was now.
The runner fell back on instinct, trying to blend into the crowd and make mental notes of all that she saw. This was a good mental exercise but also allowed her to keep track of any activity that make be important to the Weyr. Odd, it used to be for runner business but her loyalties lay elsewhere now.
Well, what is it like, Kallista? Astarteth butted into her thoughts. She tried to see through her rider's mind but the thoughts and images got all muddled. This was a lesson they had not yet mastered.
Lots of people. Lots of activity and color. There are booths everywhere with food, clothes, jewelry. Kallista tried to explain things to her dragon. She looked around noticed the flags and banners on the heights. The smells were already making her mouth water. The food smells delicious. And everyone seems to be in a good mood.
Casually, the senior weyrling strolled through the crowds. She was looking for a familiar face but also seeing who would had come to the gather. Normally, she had been told, Northerners came to see Ista's unusual fare. Maybe she would be able to find herself something nice from Benden or Fort. With a full mark to her name, she went from booth to booth.
-----------------
Jessan was down at the herding pens looking over the beasts. He couldn't believe that he had been released to go to Ista's Gathering. There were a few 1/16th marks in his pocket, waiting to be spent. His blue eyes looked and took everything in. At one time, he would have been with his father going from breeder to breeder, checking out the beasts. Looking over newborns and checking out feed.
Whistling to himself, the candidate kept his hands to himself as he made his way over to the food tents. A piece of mutton and a glass of ale to wash it down sounded real good right about then.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 7:23 pm
Talar had heard through the grape vine of the Weyr that there was to be a Gather, and... my my, a Gather there was! She knew there was crowding at Ista, but... Faranth, this was a lot of people! It was a good thing she had dressed up, then. Smoothing her hands down the green and gold cloth she had sewn into clothing herself, the redhead also tugged her hair back into place, fingers combing through the loose strands. These weren't gestures of nervousness, but more coy little tricks that said 'look at me!' Hopefully her beau, Bevan, would be there. She assumed he would be, which would be excellent, given that Talar would hate to look desperate for companionship.
---
Eilyr always had his ear to ground to pick up these sorts of things, seeing as he all but lived in the kitchens, and had known about the Gather for quite some time, and he had made damn sure to slip out of any chores early that day in order to prepare for the night. And by prepare, he meant laze around napping so he could stay up late and what all the goings-on, especially since some of the children that followed him around weren't going to be attending. He would need plenty of stories to regale them with tomorrow. Shifting his arm to force Bread up onto his shoulder rather than his forearm, he gave the Blue Flitt a look that clearly said behave.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 7:30 pm
And now... things get... awkward. Too late, Okassis realized that he probably didn't want to be associated with the upcoming drama - but of course, it was already much too late for that. He tried chuckling, as though he could somehow play the situation down - "Hey, it's okay," he tried telling the girl, "your daddy's probably--"
He got a good look at her face, and then paused. The trader's eyes flicked up to S'kagi, doubtfully. Struck by some harsh realization, he looked to the girl again, then S'kagi, then the child. Those... weren't a small number of similarities in their features... and Okassis wasn't trying to convince the girl to move off and stop bothering the bronzerider anymore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:18 am
Although riders generally adopted out children due to the time consuming nature of their duties, S'kagi felt that it would at least have been reasonable to know that he theoretically could have had one. It seemed a little reasonable to have a little more warning than having an small child show up and address you by name, sort of. And was it that great an idea to tell a child like this what his rank was at any rate? Wouldn't that breed a certain...entitlement?
Shards and shells.
"...Who's your mother?" Maybe he could find her and hand her over....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:34 am
"Healer Katya," Kagiya said uncertainly, the scene not at all as she had imagined. She was still quite young, and it was difficult to hide how disappointed that she was. This was just exactly what she had intended to avoid by escaping her caretaker's clutches. "Mama isn't here." That much was very, very obvious. She dug her sandal into the dirt again, and waited. Finally, deciding that she just couldn't keep her head down, the weyrbrat raised her head once more and met S'kagi's gaze.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:52 am
And with that, Okassis decided that S'kagi - the poor fool! - had effectively taken responsibility for the child. Even if it should prove that she wasn't his little girl, he'd taken that god-awful step of asking who her mother was, and she'd answered. That meant that he had the information to find her parent, which was a step further than Okassis had ever gotten - and thus, the burden was freed from his shoulders.
First backing unobtrusively away, the trader disentangled himself from the uncomfortable situation - and, first chance he got, began pushing his way deftly through the crowds, away from the pair. He had the beginnings of a good story to tell, now! And no doubt Nandeli would be the first one demanding to hear it....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:42 pm
Damn...that...wherrieheaded.... S'kagi bit back an string of curses as Okassis bolted for freedom, leaving him stranded with this... this um... child. Unfortunately the name Katya did ring bells, which opened that slim possibility just a little wider.
"You can't expect me to believe your mother just let you go to the Gather all by yourself?" He challenged, blinking at the child, who was now gazing firmly at her shoes. Shards, he needed to do something about this.
I thought you weren't interested in adopting any pets. Coriath joked. Is she really yours?
I don't know! I don't think so....maybe?? That would be a nightmare.
They couldn't retroactively pitch him out of the Weyr...he thought... but if C'ren found out about it he'd never live it down. let alone the Candidatemaster.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:56 pm
Kagiya shook her head, recognizing the universal signal for 'You are in trouble, missy'. "No, mama sent someone, but they got lost." That was about as much truth as S'kagi was going to get on the subject. It wasn't a lie, truly. They had gotten lost. Giya had gotten them lost. Or lost them. The nice man had wandered off, too... maybe he was looking for a hat to cover his strange bald head! Poor man! Tugging at a braid, the weyrbrat looked up at her daddy again. She was now convinced that that was what he was. Just then, her nose caught the scent of the pies again, and she glanced wistfully over at the display of bubbly pies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:04 pm
Shards and shells! Again and again, Inaari was being stymied by large gatherings. Not that she minded overly much! Gathers were always the best part of Fort Hold, and a Gather at Ista Weyr was an event that brought everyone from around the island. All for a chance to see the mystical, magical dragons and their riders! It was truly remarkable. It was also impossibly hard to find a certain Trader, whose services the teen badly needed! Ryka was quite the helpful darling, flying above the crowd and dive-bombing when she found a bald head. However, with the recent plague of biting parasites, those were many heads.
Eventually, familiar features emerged in the group ahead of her, an intent and somewhat mischievous look about Okassis' face. Well, any troublemaking was, in Inaari's mind, to be firmly squashed. That is, of course, unless she was allowed in on the fun. Straightening her wide-brimmed straw hat, Inaari signaled to her deep green flitt, and both descended upon the Candidate as one.
"Okassis! Oh I am so glad to see you! You must help me with this problem, it's absolutely to your talents." White hands wrapped around his arm imploringly, freckled face earnest and sincere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:22 pm
It probably didn't help her much that Okassis's head wasn't entirely bald at this point - two or three sevenday's growth had given him a blond covering once more, if nowhere yet as long as it had once been. But it was a Gather, and he was appropriately dressed in a bright red shirt that distinguished him from the crowd; plus, of course, aforementioned impish look.
Feeling a hand latching around his arm, though, Okassis nearly jumped. "Shards!" he yelped, suddenly worried that Kagiya had followed him after all. Seeing a considerably larger girl attached to his arm, he relaxed. "Oh, Klah-girl. That's a nice hat. You cut your hair off or summat?" the trader asked, ducking down to get a peek at her under the brim. He ignored the hovering firelizard for the most part - he'd known that S'van had gotten one for her (his diary was quite a good read, he'd recommend it highly!), and it must not have been otherwise notable for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:31 pm
"Inaari. Honestly, can't you ever remember? My name is Inaari!" Brown eyes rolled somewhat dramatically, but her lips curved in a smile as she lightly scolded him, before tipping at the brim of her hat, causing a small avalanche of gold hair down her back. "All present and accounted for. I was horrified when I found out about those biting menaces, but it seems to have successfully stayed away from me!" At least for the most part, it seemed. She had itched for a few days, but after dousing her head in a bucket for many candles during the past sevenday, the itching had finally subsided.
"But thank you for the compliment on the hat. It's one of the very few simple ones. My mother has a fondness for giving me beastly things." Cramming her hair back under the hat, she pulled it down around her ears firmly, the little flitt settled on top of the straw, and crooned at the boy. "Right!"
Pulling lightly at his arm, she led him towards the Weavercraft stalls, eyes wide and pleading. "Please, you must help me work this crafter down on that ocean blue bolt of muslin! I badly need a new Gather outfit, my clothes are utter shambles these days, and she's charging an absolute fortune, you wouldn't believe!" Brushing at the simple white cotton of her dress, the female Candidate looked at her sometimes friend for a look of agreement.
"I know you're a good bargainer, S'van told me often. I thought perhaps you could help me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:42 pm
"Right, right, I'll remember this time... Aneeri." Okassis hadn't really forgotten her name, but she was just so teasing about it; how could he resist? He tapped his temple with a serious nod. "There, it's in there forever now!"
Of her hair, he noted ruefully, "Looks like you got off easy." Unlike himself, of course, but he was hardly mourning after a bunch of hair!... much. "But if you ever do start itching, you come to me, all right? S'van and I are in business with a cure, you should know!" And if she wouldn't do it for him, surely she'd do it for the sentimental seaholder who had gotten her a firelizard egg for her Naming Day!
Letting himself be pulled along, Okassis heard out her pleas with a growing smile. "Ah, is that right?" he answered sympathetically, rubbing one hand around his chin. "How much is she asking, and how much do you have to buy it with?" These were important details, after all - he needed to know what margins he had to trade with, and whether or not Inaari's version of "absolute fortune" was any sane trader's idea of a fair price.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:59 pm
Had the hat not been in danger, Inaari would probably have smarted her hand on her forehead in frustration. He had to remember her name, he had no trouble with it during the Klah Off! Boys were so absolutely ridiculous! It was a conviction she'd held for ten of her fifteen Turns, and somehow she did not think it would ever change. Okassis might also have once again earned himself her elbow, had she not so desperately needed that gorgeous bolt.
"I worked hard to keep them off me. Sometimes I even slept outside, when I knew there'd be no danger." Her shelf was well-hidden under the rock of an old rider weyr in any case, but had Thread fallen, she wasn't sure she would have been able to ride it out. "But I promise, I'll try your...concoction if I get desperate." Faranth only knew what was in it, after the trundlebugs in the klah!
Finally pulling herself around to the business at hand, her face twisted into a grimace. It was not attractive on the young woman, and she tried to pull it from her face as fast as she could. "Eight whole marks! I understand the blue comes from Southern, but we're not so very far from there. It's absolutely ridiculous, who do they think they're selling to? We're not rich! I can handle maybe six marks, five if you can manage it. As it is, papa won't be happy I spent all my savings in mostly one go. But well...they had such a pretty choker for Ryka!" The fifteen year old held out her flitt in explanation, showing off the delicate metal chain that had been wound four times around the long neck, a tiny pendant hung between two, with a stone almost exactly like the one Inaari wore trapped in the setting.
"It was so perfect, I couldn't resist! But I need a new gown for important things, I can't shame my hold, or Fort, by wearing shabby cotton dresses to Gathers and feasts!" Inaari wasn't horribly fashion conscious, but hours trapped with her mother had driven into her head to look her best for large gatherings, whenever possible. White and grey cotton was not at all suitable!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:14 pm
"Ryka?" Okassis had repeated stupidly, before coming to the understanding that the girl was using the name of her flitt. "Ah! And a... fine collar it is," he quickly added, saving what little face he might still have left. And truthfully, it was - though he couldn't much imagine the utility in having bought such a pretty little thing to give to the young firelizard. She'd probably lose it in a week, and then where would Inaari be?
It wasn't much his business, however - the cloth, now, that was. "Hrm... eight is a bit steep," he admitted, "but five is a bit low. It depends on the merchant, but I might be able to take it down to six for you, if luck is on my side. But," he waggled a finger, "you'll need to convince that lizard of yours to shove off for a bit. It's no wonder they wouldn't budge on the price - if you're walking about with a flitt, and a decorated one at that, why shouldn't they expect you can shell out a few extra marks for some cloth?"
"Otherwise, I'll help you... if you'll help me find something I need to buy, after."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
