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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:48 pm
Canth's reaction to the little rumble-and-rub maneuver was actually quite a funny one, pausing momentarily to just sort of... stare at the green-- seemingly lost for the proper way to respond until C'ren's commentary snapped her out of it a moment later. Caught offguard? Oh, never! That was just downright silly!
"Oh... al... right," she answered slowly, stiffly, but still managed to keep at least her face nice and composed as she obediently reached up for the aforementioned 'ridges', deciding that it was alright to try for herself since the green had prompted it and... hey, the texture was actually rather fascinating... Hopefully Ceylith wouldn't mind that her nails were rather worn down and not-so-optimum for the scratching part, but it was the thought that counted, right?
But enough of that, she reminded herself swiftly; she couldn't allow herself to give in to that frivolousness for too long right now. Forcing herself to pull back, she ducked her head in a humble nod.
"... I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer for now." Seemed she was choosing her words rather carefully at that point, glancing from dragon to rider. "But I... I'll return here tomorrow, Greenrider C'ren, Ceylith. Excuse me."
And just like that, she had decided it time to take her leave of the pair, shaking off whatever stubborn wistfulness was clinging to her brain and heading away, into the dusk and the depths of the seaside hold.
There were people she needed to speak with desperately before considering any of this, after all.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:50 pm
It was often a surprise to people when they first touched a dragon. They usually expected their skin to be hard or crackly, which was really only the case with a dragon who wasn’t properly taken care of. C’ren, however, doted on Ceylith, keeping her hide nice and supple, like newly oiled leather. Even after all the seaspray, the scent of the oil was on her hide, along with something that smelled like burning. And warm too. That also usually startled people, who thought of dragons as being cold beasts who, more or less, did what they were told.
Clearly, Ceylith had her own ideas, unless someone really thought that C’ren had told her to go on a rampage against all fish. The Green dragon made a rumble that could only be described as a purr and her eyes swirled between contented blue and green. When Canthry started to leave, there was no doubt that Ceylith felt sorry about that, giving the girl the very best puppy eyes she could muster.
“Knock it off, Ceylith. Save it for when we get home.” When he would need to explain to F’sey where he was all night. Normally, he had been trying to get to sleep before his weyrmate got home, but there was no way he could beat the weyrlingmaster home tonight. He was not looking forward to this. Another night of trying to sleep while F’sey just shuffled his sharding cards, not saying anything. Just… shuffling them, the shardit. “Yes, Canthry, I’ll see you tomorrow. Good evening.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:22 pm
And just like that, the day (and the meeting) ended, leaving both sides to go about their business and, at some point, maybe even bed down... though that seemed like a long ways off for Canthry as she strolled into the room where her family had all been gathered. Their faces ranged from curious to confused, and for one-- the mother-- perhaps even knowing.
There could only be one reason for such a serious meeting of the kin, after all.
"Everyone." Canth's voice had remained weary and grave the whole time as she explained things, too: a token of her deadly seriousness. "There are times... when we have a choice to make: one that may change a lot of things... for a lot of people, even..."
"Canth?" her mother prompted in the following pause, gripping her cane with white knuckles in her lap.
"... I've been searched by a rider from Ista Weyr, and I... would like to accept his offer to become a candidate."
"B-But!--" Well THAT had certainly opened up a floodgate of spluttering from all her bewildered sisters, suddenly exchanging panicked looks among themselves. "But how are we going to live--"
"I think you'll still be breathing in the morning, Cerias. Please calm down."
"And what will we do to put food on the table?!"
"... I don't know. But I hope you figure it out soon."
"...................................."
The silence that had followed was long, and ringing, and she didn't really recall too many particulars after it. No, she'd just kissed her mother gently on the cheek, whispered her soft goodbyes to the siblings probably still too shocked to hear, and slipped off to her quarters to prepare.
There hadn't been much to pack, really just a few articles of clothing, some worn boots, a few minor trinkets and one stubby carving knife: enough to fit in a ratty skin pack and sling over her shoulder without trouble. It just made life easier like that, not having many things. She got by on what she had, and that meant it was enough.
... By the time the first pale hint of dawn light was crawling up the horizon line, she was already down at the beach, far, far from the harbor, with her lone parcel. As for how long she'd been there... she'd probably never say-- but the sunrise felt especially important to watch that morning, somehow.
Maybe she was just hoping the salt air and lapping waves would clear her cluttered thoughts.
Was this really the right choice?... Or a horrible mistake she'd wind up regretting?
She wished she knew the answer.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:03 pm
C’ren and Ceylith hadn’t been expecting Canthry for some time. The night before had been everything the blonde dragonrider had dreaded and even worse. There hadn’t been an argument, or even any real glances. Just terrible silence, which was somehow a whole lot worse. Because of that, C’ren felt pressured to leave the weyr early the next morning, before F’sey had even left his hammock. Either way, it was back to the beach to just wait for nightfall or something. Since he hadn’t expected Canthry back for a time, C’ren figured why not have some fun…?
There were no rules. Rules were for boring people. If there was any sort of rule, then it was to run as fast as possible and try not to get caught by a wave. Oh, and also chase whoever wasn’t It. Currently, C’ren was running as fast as he could away from a rapidly approaching Green dragon. When Ceylith nudged his shoulder with her nose, everything changed and she took off in the opposite direction with a triumphant bugle. The waves made things even more interesting, since there was an unstated rule to not get touched by them. Every time a wave came up, the pair skirted back to the shoreline before starting all over again.
It was pointless. It was foolish. But, above all else, it was just plain fun.
And then Ceylith had to ruin it. Not even panting, the Green looked up from C’ren as she dodged one of his pathetic attempts to touch her flank. Oh, look, C’ren! Someone is coming! I think it’s Canthry!
Shards, that’s not going to work on me, you old wherry! C’ren didn’t even bother looking and concentrated only on running. Ceylith was, easily, the faster one, but she wasn’t going too fast. Besides, she was distracted. His hand just barely touched her back leg and he finally stopped to look over his shoulder.
Oh. OH. Someone really was there. Panting quietly, the man tried to regain some sort of dignity that was probably lost a while ago. “Oh. Hello. Canthry. You’re here. Early.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:28 pm
It went without saying that this was the last thing she'd expected to come with sunrise.
No, Canthry had been expecting little more than a peaceful dawn and the quiet swishing of the waves-- not a bugling green dragon and her giddy young ri-- ... good sharding Faranth, was that actually C'ren out there? Surely, he must've been lobotomized by tunnelsnakes in the night to be acting like... like that!
The girl's worn frown vanished as soon as it sank in (which took a few seconds) that she wasn't alone on the beach any longer, tempering herself to be more acceptably stoic for the inevitable greeting. Maybe her eyes were a little dimmer than usual, and maybe she had faint circles under them, but that was neither this way nor that. She would pretend it wasn't there.
"... I've been here a while," was all she replied at first, perfectly level (if not a touch groggier sounding than usual). "I just thought I should watch the sunrise today."
Not that it had proved to be very cathartic with all the distractions... or the source of all her dilemmas showing up far too early. She had to keep her eyes trained on the horizon just to act properly with them looming there, even.
"My family has been informed of the situation."
And what? What had they said? That was a terribly bland explanation for all the delays last night, wasn't it?!
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:57 am
Of all the fardling times for a prospective Candidate to show up, it had to be the time when C’ren was prancing around like a Weyrling. The man attempted to wipe off some of the seaspray on his glasses, but found this was a useless endeavor since most of his clothes were soaked anyway. Well, at least his jacket and stuff were nice and dry, being further up the beach.
Ceylith, however, had no such thing as dignity. She happily bounced up to the girl, giving her a friendly nudge before begging for more eyeridge scratchings. Mine, is she going to come with us? Can we keep her, C’ren? Look, she followed us and everything!
Shards, but Ceylith was cute when she was excited. The Greenrider had to fight to keep his grin down and he still felt that a bit of it crept into his expression. He glanced down at the girl’s bags and decided that it was hardly even necessary to ask. People didn’t pack just to go out on the beach, did they? Still, to humor the girl a little, he felt it was necessary to ask.
“And what did you inform them of, exactly? Quiet, Ceylith. I’m talking to Canthry right now. Don’t interrupt.” He gave the dragon an affectionate pat before pushing on her slightly to get her to back off. The dragon rumbled, but obeyed and then turned her affections on her ‘rider, shoving her head into his chest. C’ren wearily scratched, letting Ceylith create her happy little purr noises.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:14 pm
... On the bright side of that misery, though, at least Canth was one of the rare few youths out there with enough decency not to make his dignity suffer more than it already had? No, whatever she had thought of the display would remain unsaid. She'd just contemplate it later... if she had the time. Faranth only knew what the future would hold for her now.
She did, however, humor the bubbly Ceylith with a light scratch on the eye ridges when the dragon provoked her-- still not used to it, but certainly acting like she was to the best of her ability. Seriously, that green was too affectionate and social for her own good. It was probably all a clever technique developed for suckering unwilling candidates, huh?
"I told them I was going away with a searchrider," came the automatic response, still unusually... dull, almost. The girl would just blame it on a lack of sleep if anyone asked. "I'm... ready to leave at your call, C'ren. There's nothing left for me to handle here."
Not with others, anyway. Personal anxiety didn't count.
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:27 pm
C’ren considered pointing out that it wasn’t often that Ceylith wanted to be scratched by someone else other than him, but decided against it. For one thing, it wasn’t quite true. There were certain times, every few weeks, when the Green became extremely affectionate with everyone… and that wasn’t something a prospective Candidate needed to hear about.
“Good then. Let’s leave soon, alright? I have a feeling that Ceylith and I won’t be welcome even this close to the Seahold. Put on your jacket first. We’re going to have to go between to get back to Ista faster and it’s cold there.” ‘Cold’ didn’t come close to describing it, but the language still didn’t have a word for, ‘feels like icicles have been nailed into every one of your bones and that the marrow has not only frozen but has melted and then refrozen again’. C’ren was very tempted to complain about this failure.
Hm. Canthry sounded a little… upset, if such a strong word could be applied to her. Maybe it was his Green getting to him, but the ‘rider felt as though he ought to say something. “You’ll still be able to send messages back home, of course. There are runners that come to the Weyr every now and then and there are always firelizards.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:33 pm
"... Right. Between." Sure, she'd never been around dragons much, but that didn't mean Canth lacked awareness of the strange thing people described as absolute nothing either. Apparently it was very much like a cold wasteland where one couldn't breathe or see or do much of anything except pray that it would all be over soon... so naturally, putting on one's jacket was a grand idea for coping.
Said jacket was terribly worn and unimpressive looking when she dragged it out of her meager pack, but it was still in one piece when she pulled it over her shoulders, cinching in the sparing amount of buttons that hadn't been lost from wear.
Apparently, however, C'ren's last lingering comment had surprised her (not that she really showed it), because the female stayed silent and didn't respond for a few seconds, and when she did, the tenseness in her features seemed to relieve a bit.
"Oh... that's good to hear." She'd even looked him right in the eye-- for a moment-- before sighing lightly and snatching up the remainder of her belongings. "... I'll have to write them soon, then." Or rather, to check in and make sure they hadn't become holdless and destitute.
She could only hope they'd manage.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:02 am
Right. Canthry would write home and, C’ren suspected, send home most of her stipend as well, just in case. Not that he could say anything about that, since he made a point of still sending money home. The Greenrider moved on to check Ceylith’s harness, making sure everything was adequate. Between was frightening enough; you didn’t need to add falling off to the list of threats. His job was made more difficult since Ceylith was having trouble keeping still.
“For Faranth’s sake, Ceylith, at least try to stay still! I’m reasonably certain you won’t explode,” he muttered, mostly under his breath. Once the Green had been calmed down---or at least she wasn’t fidgeting----C’ren climbed up and settled. “Well? Come on then.”
Candidate, Candidate, Candy-Candy-Candidate… Ceylith was just pleased that Canthry had accepted the offer. It might have taken her a while, but things were worth waiting for. The dragon could hardly stand still for anything at all! She rumbled her amusement at C’ren’s words and did her best to stay still. She even knelt down a little to allow the less-experienced Canthry to climb up with more ease.
And C’ren was even being nice! He had comforted Canthry! At least, that was how Ceylith saw C’ren’s reassurance that the girl would be allowed to send home letters.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:59 pm
Had the situation been a little more lighthearted (in Canth's mind anyway; C'ren had obviously been cheery as a youngster back in that sea spray), perhaps she would have found amusement in Ceylith's endless excited fidgeting... but no, her mind was still on other things: inevitably wandering back to the little home where hell could be breaking loose that very second.
They'd be fine, she kept telling herself. She could send them letters every sevenday to make sure they were fairing alright and... really, if things got too horrendously desperate, there was always...
No, hold that thought. She wouldn't allow herself to even consider such a thing yet. Give it a little time first.
"Alright..." And thus the female pushed everything away to just give her pack one final adjustment, offer Ceylith a weary nod of thanks, and hoisted herself up onto the green's back just behind her... er, what was C'ren, anyway? Were riders considered passengers or drivers on these great epic flights?
(... At least she had the good sense to hold on tight and brace for takeoff in the midst of thinking.)
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:18 pm
Ceylith didn’t waste even a second. As soon as she was reassured that Canthry was settled, she spread her wings wide and flapped the air for a few moments, to make sure everything was all secure. She told C’ren as much before taking off. It was marvelous to feel the wind under her wings again. A bit chilly, especially thanks to all the playing in the water she had done, but that would wear off quickly.
She gave her rider a brief warning before going between… she wasn’t quite sure why they called it that. C’ren had once postulated an extremely complicated theory, involving something with whatsits and whosits and possibly something else. Whatever it was, it went over Ceylith’s head. Whatever it was----or wherever---- it was an icy black void. That’s what it was: absolutely nothing.
Well, ok. It was something. It was amazingly useful. In just a few seconds that stretched out to seemingly forever, Ceylith popped out into the open sunlight again, this time over Ista Weyr. She bugled a friendly welcome to the dragons around her, happy to see them once more. She landed carefully before kneeling to allow her passengers to get off. C’ren, be nice… she warned just one last time.
Mentally, C’ren berated himself for not bringing a change of clothes or something. Frolicking in the sea and then going between had been a mild mistake… well, he had a good immune system. Even so, he shivered as Ceylith moved into that void, and was amazingly relieved once they all got back out. He was even happier to be back at the Weyr again.
“Alright…” he said, trying to stay calm as possible. “See that opening over there? Those lead to the Candidate barracks. There should be someone there who can tell you where to go. Good luck, Canthry.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:32 pm
It was amazing how stories never lived up to the firsthand experience of certain things, and going between was most definitely one of them. Sure, Canth had heard all the tales before; many of the Hold's more experienced residents had traveled via dragonback at some point or another, and they would always come back with some wildly shocking story of the place that wasn't... She'd listened, yet it never quite sank in.
No, it didn't until the moment her breath was sucked right out of her, then and there. She'd even been the less wet of the two humans, but oh, none of that made any difference now. Every cell in her felt like it had stopped working, and she felt a sharp lance of frozen coldness more intense than anything the cold sea had ever produced in her before.
She couldn't fill her lungs. She couldn't see. She couldn't feel the dragon beneath her that she knew still had to be there, or the rider sitting infront of her or anything at all and it was absolutely obliterating the calm she would've sworn was unshakeable just moments ago--
Then, in an instant, it was gone. Her frozen lungs sucked in a breath of warm air as Ceylith's bugle snapped her brain back to functioning capacity, only then realizing that she'd practically been death gripping C'ren's riding vest... and promptly peeling her fingers off, wondering if the feeling in them would come back any time soon.
They were here-- there-- wherever they were supposed to be at last... and as could only be expected, he was already turning her loose, sliding down as soon as the dragon had accommodated them and forcing a weak, compliant nod. No arguments, no pleas for more instruction. She might've been secretly disoriented and less than settled about what the future held, but those insecurities were her own to bare.
"I'll report to them immediately, then..." A little pause followed, almost awkward. "C'ren, Ceylith... Thank you for the assistance."
And the dock-ruining, and the extra work, and the grief and harassment and-- maybe if she was lucky-- the new freer life she was holding out for.
The thanks, she felt, were all that she needed to get out before it was time to take the plunge.
She'd be alright, somehow. Just like always.
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