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 Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:28 pm
Suppertime tonight consisted of a nice thick, rich stew, some crusty brown bread with soft butter, and salad of greens. Illabel sniffed appreciatively as she entered the eating cavern, mouth starting to water already. She'd had a long day of cleaning sands of the Bowl and weeding the gardens. It was good work, and she relished it. Already she was noticing that she was stronger and less homesick. It surprised her how swiftly things could change, but rather that speculate about it, she found it easier to simply accept it.
The new weyrlings were clustered together, talking animatedly about their classes, the cute things their dragon had done that day, and all the other things she wasn't able to relate to yet. It didn't exactly hurt, particularly since she knew they weren't purposely excluding the others who hadn't Impressed. It was natural they'd congregate together, right? Even so, it did leave her feeling rather downtrodden. She wove her way past them, looking for an open spot to sit.
There was a gap in those around her, and there was Astri, sitting with a spot open on her left. For a moment Illabel hesitated, uncertain if she should or not. She very much admired the girl's ability to lead, and wanted to get to know her, but... there was always that but. Firming her jaw and straightening her spine, Illabel decided it was time to stop letting 'buts' keep her from doing what she wanted to do.
She slipped into the spot next to the other girl and gave her a shy sideways smile. "Hi." Well, just because she was braving her fears didn't mean she was going to instantly become a conversationalist! Nervously she fussed with her skirts with the pretense of settling them more comfortably. "I... um... saw you in the Healer's Quarters. On Hatch Day." She chanced a look back at the Astri's face, hoping this wasn't too sore a subject.
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:42 pm
Astri also felt the pain of alienation. It wasn't on purpose, but the Weyrlings lived an entirely different lifestyle than she did now. If she had been close to making friends before, it was gone now. They were all too busy with their newly made bonds, and with each other. The young woman didn't regret it though- if anything, her determination to Impress the next clutch only increased, to the point where she found her nails pressing into her palms, her eyes squinting in concentration. She would be more alert this time. Accidents would not happen again.
Suddenly, Astri was jolted out of her conversation by sitting next to her. Someone was sitting with her? Well, that was a pleasant surprise. While she was making an effort to further integrate herself among her fellow Candidates, Astri had been afraid it hadn't been working.
Turning, she saw a younger girl. Combing through her memory, a name soon came up- Illabel. She hadn't Impressed at the most recent Hatching either, though she looked young enough to have Turns ahead of her. Astri wasn't quite feeling the pinch yet, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't soon. Only two Turns left to stand... No, no negative thinking. She WAS going to Impress. Her dragon waited for her, in some distant future place.
At Illabel's hesitant question, Astri smiled a little. Illabel seemed so shy and hesitant, though Astri could understand why. It would have been a delicate subject with a large percentage of people, but a large percentage of people weren't Astri.
"Ah, yes. I don't remember seeing you there, but I was probably still unconscious. It wasn't too bad though. That's the first good rest I've had in a while." Astri chuckled, her own dark humor amusing enough.
"What were you doing there? Did you get hurt as well? I'm Astri, by the way. And you're... Illabel? Am I right? " Astri contorted her body slightly to offer a calloused hand to shake.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:00 am
It was a surge of relief to see the older girl react in a friendly manner to her intrusion. She shook the other girl's hand with a small smile, her own palm roughened by work, despite the younger girl's more delicate frame. "Yes, I'm Illabel." As an unconcious reply to Astri's question, Illabel touched her cheek gingerly before answering, even though it no longer hurt. "I was there with a toothache, the likes of which I've never had." She sighed at the memory. Not only had it hurt, it had kept her from eating anything for several days. "Thankfully it faded. The Healer told me I was lucky, that sometimes those things can last for weeks!" She cast a mildly horrified look at her companion. "Can you imagine? I wouldn't be able to live with myself with it for that long!"
It had been bad enough as it was, and the very idea of having that for weeks, fellis or no fellis, made her shudder. "I came down with it before the Hatching," she continued in explination, reaching for a piece of bread. "So I missed it entirely." She tore it in half and sat gazing at it meditatively. After a moment she looked up, wistful longing in her eyes. "Will you tell me what it was like? I could hear the thrumming, but that was all."
As if summoned by the sad thoughts, though more likely lured by the smell of dinner, a bronze firelizard suddenly popped into being above them and spiraled down to land on Illabel's shoulder. He was well-behaved at the table with her, so she hadn't been scolded for him eating with her as yet. She scooped a bowl of stew and offered him a chunk of meat from it absently, her mind still on the Hatching.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:24 pm
Astri couldn't even imagine having a toothache so bad that it would put her out for a few days. To her, that sounded worse than the pain of a dragon's claws on her thighs- at least she knew what caused that, and the initial pain had been relatively brief. It was just a dull ache now, and not one she even needed to take fellis for, as long as she was careful in her movements. Besides, it would have killed Astri's pride to have to take fellis constantly. She was stronger than that, shard it!
"I'm afraid I can't enlighten you much on the Hatching, having missed most of it myself. But what I do remember and what I was there for was wonderful." The young woman was lost briefly in the memory, before shaking her head to clear it. There would yet be more, and she was confident in her own ability to Impress. To Impress what color she did not know, but Astrisabe was not one who believed she would continually walk off the sands without a companion.
"The humming started. We were all up by then, I think. The Candidatemaster came in and yelled at us to put on our robes, which we did. We had to run to get to the Hatching Grounds- well, we didn't have to, but I think we all wanted to. If anyone says they weren't nervous, they were lying. It somehow seemed so much bigger on that day than it did when we were just Touching the eggs. There were quite a few people there, though apparently not as many Holders as there had been Turns prior to this one." That made Astri pause and frown. She knew as well as the next Candidate about the tension between Holds and Weyrs, and she worried about the potential ramifications. The Weyrs and the Holds were codependent on each other, whether they liked that or not, and if they were to separate or fight... Pern itself could dissolve into chaos. The idea made her shudder once, lightly, before continuing on, as if she had not paused at all.
"And it was so hot! I know they warned us, but the words of the Candidatemaster couldn't compare to the heat coming up from the sands. It went through your sandals so that standing still was impossible. Between my nerves and the heat, I was fair dancing!" Astri chuckled once, eyes glinting as she pictured how ridiculous she must have looked.
"I was there up until the first egg hatched. I remember how excited everyone was when the green emerged, even if she was sort of funny looking. Her build was off, or something. I didn't get a good look at her before she dashed towards the girls and shoved past me. That's where I got my injury. I passed out almost immediately, which I'm not proud of. Beyond that... I didn't see a single Impression made, and I obviously didn't Impress myself. There's always next time. I'll be more wary then." Shrugging, Astri's face lit up when the bronze fire lizard appeared. He was so well mannered!
"Ah, is he yours? When did you get him? What's his name?" Astri knew she was asking questions like a child, but found herself beyond caring. "I've always wanted a flitter, but I've never had the opportunity to get one."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:47 am
Illabel listened raptly while decorously nibbling on her meal, soaking in the details the older girl was able to give her. It'd be her soon on those sands, finally taking her turn! When the tale reached the high point of injury, she paused in mid-chew, eyes wide and round. It was one thing to be instructed about how harmful the hatchlings could be when struggling to get to a candidate, but it was another thing to hear it first hand. She swallowed quickly, thinking about how much worse it could have been.
Astri's delight at Bartan's entrance made her blush. She was privately very glad to be in a place where firelizards weren't such a rarity. At home, he had stood out like a sore thumb and had drawn entirely too much attention to her. She had made sure to teach him good manners when he was tiny out of fear of avoiding further embarassment. She smiled shyly at the other girl and nodded. "His name is Bartan, and he is a very good boy." She stroked down his nose, eliciting a trill of pleasure. She then scooped him up and gently deposited him on Astri's shoulder. "Here, say hello Bartan." He had always been amenable to being friendly with everyone, and she had learned to use him to take the focus off herself.
Bartan certainly was content to be handed over. He scrambled a little to catch his balance, but then craned his neck around to peer at the girl's face with curiousity. He chirruped a greeting and then gave a soft creel of hunger, dropping his muzzle just slightly in a clear attempt to look pitiful and helpless. Of course he could have just snatched food off Astri's plate, but he knew better than that. Instead, he liked to appeal to the human nature to provide for small, young, helpless creatures. Even so, he did it so sweetly one could hardly call him conniving or deceitful. And of course, it always worked.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:04 pm
Astrisabe could feel the grin splitting her face open. She was acting like a child, but she didn't care. A fire lizard had never sat on her shoulder before. She had thought they would be far more heavy, but Bartan was surprisingly light and warm. It felt rather good, come to think of it. At that moment, Astri determined that she would have to get a fire lizard, one way or another. Just something else to add to her list of things she was determined to get. A fire lizard could wait until she had Impressed though.
At the delicate trilling and the sweet face, Astri lost all her nerve. Her maternal instincts forever went to animals over people, and this little fire lizard was no exception. She delicately offered him a piece of meat roll, hoping to everything that he would take it and would be happy.
With a blush at how absorbed she was in Bartan, Astri turned back to Illabel. "Sorry... I've just never been so close to one before. To anything even so close as a dragon, except when I was Searched." Flight had been so wonderful though, and the cold of between had seemed so very worth it. The other Candidate Searched with Astri had thrown up, as far as she recalled.
"Where did you come from before you came to the Weyr? Or were you always here?" Illabel seemed too shy to be Weyrbred, from Astri's observations. The Weyrbred Candidates seemed more loud and rough, and far more comfortable in the Weyr than those born outside of it. Eventually Astri wanted their ease, and was trying very, very hard to capture it once more. She would have it, shard it!
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:16 am
Illabel smiled more at Astri's evident enchantment with her Bartan. He always was such a little gentleman, though of course he did it for the attention! She twirled his tail around her finger as he graciously and voraciously accepted the offered food. It didn't bother her at all that for a time it took the other girl's attention off herself. That had been the point, hadn't it?
However, it wasn't long before once again she was being asked questions. She didn't mind so much, she supposed. If noone asked, how could anyone get to know her? She set her teeth against the inside of her lip for a moment to steady her nerves. If she was going to be a dragonrider, she had to get over this timidness! "I'm from one of those smaller Holds noone has heard of," she answered presently. Now, go on and tell her more than she asked for... that seemed like the properly friendly thing to do, right? After a breath, she continued. "My father is an under-cook there, and I was one of those drudges that very quietly looks after the rooms of those too important to do so themselves." She smiled a touch crookedly. "I'm good at not being noticed, so the Headwoman figured it was a good job for me."
She bit the inside of her lip again and fiddled with the ties to the skirt she wore that day. Swallowing her desire to slip away again, she turned the questioning the other direction. "Where are you from?" It was a quick and simple question, but even so, it was bold for young Illabel. It was hard, trying to learn to come out of her shell, but she was trying.
Bartan neatly but swiftly consumed the meatroll, then placed one paw on Astri's cheek and thrummed thanks to her. He was still hungry, but was too busy watching the two girls talking. His little head turned from one to another, as if he were following the thread of the conversation. He remained on the other girl's shoulder, steadying himself with the one paw on her cheek, wings folded neatly against his back. This seemed a good position from which to beg bites and still be involved in the talk!
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:02 am
It didn't take too long for Astri to figure out a pattern of tearing off a chunk of food for the bronze fire lizard and talking at the same time. After all, she could multitask, and this was enjoyable, even though Illabel seemed awfully shy. But she was willing to talk, and that was what mattered. Astri could hardly imagine being so withdrawn herself, but the obvious effort made her smile on the inside. Trying was always the key component. And never giving up. Ever. That was probably a fault, come to think of it...
"I'm from Keroon, but it's a rather complicated story." You see, Astri said to herself, I'm kind of a big deal. Or I was. Not anymore. And that was only really a regional thing. You had to know. So maybe not. Oh shard it, I can be conceited in my head, if I want.
"I was always a short and skinny girl. Not like this." She gestured ruefully down at her ample curves. Her height was still short enough, but her weight was too much now. "And I had an early aptitude for riding runners. My father taught me before I could even walk, and I just took to it like a shipfish to water. And I was a wild child- much more than I am now. I liked competition, and I liked being justified for my bratty behavior. People noticed both, but concentrated on the former. It wasn't long before I started racing. I won a fair few races, though I lost a fair few as well. I wasn't the best runner jockey by a long shot, but I was quite good, especially for my age." Astri shrugged once, trying not to get sucked into memories that were tinted with a golden overlay. She had been a right unpleasant girl back then, no matter how good she had been at racing.
"But then I got curves, only a few Turns back. I'm still not used to them, or the way men sometimes look at me, though I don't really mind that." Astri's grin was sly, though she didn't offer any of what she did with those men (mainly because she never did anything- when had she become so disgustingly good?).
"Even though it was late, I became an Apprentice with the Beastcrafters back in Keroon. It was nice, but I wanted more out of life. I guess once you taste the sweet elixir of speed and danger... You want more. Besides, everyone was so much younger than me, and I found myself taking responsibility, even though I didn't have to. I'm bossy." Astri shrugged and laughed, then had the good grace to look down slightly.
"Sorry to talk so long. It's a rather interesting story, if I say so myself. But we're both here now. And I assume we both have an equally strong desire to Impress?" It was hard to tell with Illabel, who seemed awfully shy.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 6:06 pm
Illabel followed Astri's example and ate while she listened, taking tidy small bites and chewing slowly. She never ate very much, which tended to show in her slender form. Her eyes were slightly wide as the other girl described her previous life, and got even wider as she called herself bratty. It was clear the younger girl couldn't imagine the self-confident and commanding Astri as 'bratty'. She also blushed slightly when the curves of maturity were brought up. Being both terribly young and also brought up to be terribly proper, she found Astri's candor somewhat embarassing. She herself was still lacking such physical accents, and at the moment she confusedly wasn't sure if she was embarassed that Astri did have them, or that she herself didn't.
She covered it though with eagerly answering the last inquiry. She gulped down her last bite and took a quick swish of water before answering. "Oh yes!" Her eyes were bright with enthusiasm. "Having Bartan only makes me more excited for the idea of being bonded to such a large and wonderful creature." Her expression probably was laughable, so besotted it was. She practically clasped her hands beneath her chin and stared off into space with starry eyes. Her ideas about being a dragonrider were somewhat idealized. Her Hold hadn't approved of the Riders, so they hadn't come to visit often. All she knew of them was what her father had told her. To the twelve-year-old, it all sounded terribly romantic and touching.
Illabel was really a rather strange mixture of maturity and innocent immaturity. Her family circumstances had rather forced her to confront some rather daunting aspects of real life... death, work, and responsibility. And yet she had managed to retain a charming niativity about many things, due to her father's protective and sheltering nature. So although she found nothing to complain about with all the Candidate's chores, she for some reason had an image in her mind of an Idyllic life of merely existing side by side with her dragon, once she was a Rider. She had no concept quite yet of how much work and energy it took to be a dragonrider.
No doubt this would change, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Bartan, meanwhile, had eaten his fill. His small belly stretched taut, and he turned his head aside from the last morsel to be offered to him by Astri. He warbled a sleepy chirp of thanks to her before loosening his wings. With a half-extended hop, he moved to Illabel's shoulder and crooned in her ear, stroking her cheek with his own. He then pushed off to lumber into the air above them, where he vanished from sight, presumably to sun himself and digest in peace.
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