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All the Weyrs of Pern Captain
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 Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:10 pm
((This thread is NOT the one you post in if you'd like to participate in dragon poker/runner beast races! General socializing/dancing/bubbly pie stealing goes here!
NOTE!: Those who just Impressed at the second Clutch will not be able to attend the Gather. Their dragons are too young to be left alone. Apologies for the inconvenience.))
With everyone grumbling about all the overcrowding, what’s a better way to lift everyone’s spirits than to host a Gather? If the sounds of music and dancing are enough to tease you, then surely the smells wafting from the stands will seal the deal. Merchants are there selling everything imaginable from fresh bubbly pies to roast herd beast. There’s something for everyone (though the nicer bits of food will surely cost you more). There’s even a stand selling fresh sea food, but my look at that line!
The square cleared for dancing is a little bigger than last time, enough for perhaps twenty-five couples, if you don’t mind some elbows in your side. There are a few places cleared nearby to watch the festivities and gossip and the beverages are kept in a stand under a tent to keep them cooler and away from the hot Ista sun.
If dancing and eating aren’t your thing, there’s plenty else to do! Over yonder are the runner beast races and there’s a small crowd gathering underneath a tent a little ways past the dancing area. Rumor has it Weyrlingmaster F’sey is hosting a dragon poker tournament and brought six, that’s right, six fire lizard eggs for prizes!
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:11 pm
A change of pace was a welcome distraction for Uroru. All the music and chatter was definitely enough to keep him entertained. It was interesting to see how everyone interacted and carried on when they relaxed and just let themselves have a good time. The smells wafting on the air were just about enough to make the lad drool, but he had made sure to have a big breakfast so he could save his money for something special, or something very tasty. He wasn't worried too terribly about it. After all, with all the excitement going on around him, he was sure to find something to spend his money on or something of interest before too long. He intended on living it up and maybe even dancing, should he spy a girl that struck his fancy. His stance was open and relaxed, showing his willingness to either approach or be approached. Of course, what with Uroru getting all wrapped up in watching everyone, it didn't appear that he would be doing much approaching. Unless something drew his attention...
Uroru stood underneath one of the tents near the dancing area, smiling a bit as he watched the various couples doing their thing as the music played. The cadidate was dressed up a bit from what he normally wore, which was always comfortable and usually looked lived in. His garb looked cleaner, fresher, and fit him well. They were a recent gift from his eldest sister. He appreciated the gift, but if he were to nit pick, they weren't loose enough. Clothes that hung closer to his body didn't let him slouch without it being noticed, drawing attention to his height. No matter though. A Gather was a perfect place for stepping out of one's comfort zone.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:12 am
Today was a very exciting day for one little Weyrbrat. Today was the day that she was going to find her daddy! Dressed up in the finest skirt and tunic that her mama could get her into, a diminutive figure skittered out of the crowd, her nose following the scent of bubbly pies. Pies! Mama never let Giya or Kay gorge on pies. A little pout formed on Kagiya's lips as she ran (and dodged) through the Gather, her twin braids bouncing, before excitement quickly chased it away. She was going to find daddy, and she was going to find him soon! Glancing about herself with wide eyed curiosity, the weyrbrat came to a halt and fidgeted. She had managed to escape her caretakers for the day, and she couldn't quite pick out the dragonriders in the crowd. That was slightly problematic. Giya needed to find them. Soon enough, though, thoughts of dragonriders and fathers were pushed out of her mind when she recalled the all important pies. They were closer, and she broke out into a run again, squeezing in between a holder and his son, oblivious to the dickering of traders in the crowd. When she came to a stop again, she could see the pies. Just as she was about to beg a pie from the seller, she caught sight of a likely looking young man. "'Scuze me, mister. Are you my daddy?" she asked brightly, tugging on his sleeve. He looked like a dragonrider.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:20 am
Okassis was having one of his "moody" days. He hadn't used to get too many of them. Being busy generally squelched the need for deep thought, and while he'd always had time for at least a little, he'd never come into so much free time as he had at the Weyr. Other Candidates complained about being overworked, and sure, he did his share of griping; but then there were days like these past few where he realized, he didn't have enough to keep himself out of trouble, and he desperately needed it. Which is why he'd been so happy to have the Lice Cure to sell, and had been throwing himself whole-heartedly into the business. S'van was likely to think it was just his trader friend doing what he did best, but Okassis knew there was much, much more to it. And thanks to his single-minded devotion, the business had been successful so far - earning him and his partner both a tidy sum of marks, many of which lined his belt today. If it weren't for the fact that he wouldn't have many other chances to spend them, though, Okassis would have stayed at the Weyr. The rumors he'd been hearing about certain folks that were visiting the Gather had set him on edge for days already. No matter how much he told himself that he had every right to be here, that he was just going to enjoy himself, that he wouldn't find trouble, he couldn't help a sense of paranoia that he was going to run into someone he knew here, and-- "Augh?" The trader broke instantly out of his thoughts. Turning, he caught a cute, hopeful little face beaming up at him - daddy? "Wha - no! Shards, how old are you, six Turns? Do I look like I could be your daddy?" Okassis asked incredulously, startled into rudeness.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:26 am
"Seven!" Giya exclaimed, appalled that someone had gotten her age so dead wrong! "Silly, Kay is six. Mama says that daddy is a bronzerider. Are you a bronzerider, mister?" She couldn't quite believe that he knew that he wasn't her daddy. How could he know when he couldn't get her age right? Scoffing internally, the little weyrbrat stomped her foot. "It's not very nice to make fun!" He was, of course, being so mean. But her expression cleared and she gazed up at him hopefully once more. Surely he was just not remembering. "... If you aren't my daddy, where is he?" she bemoaned quietly, her little face crumpling. Daddies were hard to find, weren't they? "Mama said he would be here..." Though Mama didn't know that Giya knew. Mama had been talking to A'len, and Giya wasn't supposed to eavesdrop on their conversations. But this was important!
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:30 am
... Ouch. Even the Weyrbrats knew how to rub it in that he hadn't Impressed, didn't they? Suppressing a grimace, Okassis shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo, I'm not your daddy. You uh... you're just out here, looking for bronzeriders...?"
Okassis wasn't a prude. He'd grown up in the wilds, or at least as much as any sane child should. He'd learned to whittle by the time he was five, and was riding runnerbeasts even sooner. A little independence wasn't bad for a child, he knew.
But there was independence, and then there was a little girl running around a busy Gather in the middle of the day, asking strangers if they were her daddy. The trader's eyes flicked up, searching around - surely, her mother must be nearby!
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:37 am
Tugging on his sleeve again, Giya gave the man another look. He didn't look like her, maybe he wasn't her daddy. ... Maybe he could help, though. "Can you help me find him?" She wrinkled her nose. That had sounded a lot less confident than she had intended. She would find him, she would! A fresh batch of bubbly pies just out of reach was a great distraction, and her gaze wandered a bit, lingering on the pies. If she stayed with this man, she couldn't get a pie... but if she left, she might not find daddy! This was truly a dilemma. Trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place, she wavered back and forth.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:41 am
Oh... oh shards. Where was this hellspawn's mother?! Even if she hadn't made any trouble yet, Okassis had already decided she must be a troublemaker. No child could look that cute and innocent without being devious enough to use it. But his search was to no avail. Engaging his conscience, he tried to rationalize all the good reasons he could refuse, all the errands he needed to run, the fact that today was supposed to be a day for him....
But he just couldn't do it. Sighing, he asked, "What do you know about him? Other than that he's a bronzerider, I mean." So much for marketing the cure today....
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:50 am
Fidgeting once more, Kagiya shuffled her feet in their little sandals. "Mama won't say who daddy is! I just know he's a bronzerider!" She looked up, meeting the man's eyes. Maybe he knew the bronzeriders? "An' ... an' he's got Kagi, 'cause ya comes from mama, so... so..." A bronzerider who could help Giya's name be complete. She lifted her chin up defiantly, refusing to be upset. He didn't know now but maybe he could figure it out? She didn't know who to ask. There were so many people at the Gather that she just didn't know who to look for. It hadn't quite occurred to Kagiya that sharing her name would probably help speed up the process, but surely he could work it out on his own.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:28 am
S'kagi was, ironically, enjoying the time away from the Weyrlings. Lessons had kept his hands full for a while, and he realized he really had been missing the company of adults, or at least missing their company while awake enough to appreciate it.
It was nice of F'sey to take over the lessons. Coriath noted, though for obvious reasons he was only in indirect attendance.
It was, that will make my life a whole lot... he trailed off, pausing to decide if he'd heard what he thought he'd just heard. He thought for a second someone had been saying his name but that wasn't it, just part of it.
Pft. Rediculous. It was probably that Nan character on the loose again, probably making up children's names based on his theoretical liaisons with various women of the Weyr.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:46 pm
"He's got Kagi?" Okassis echoed. It seemed to him he'd met someone with a name like that before, but if so, it had been a really brief meeting... but he was usually so good with names! He could figure this out. It wasn't like he knew a lot of dragonriders by name yet, after all. He just needed to go down the list - S'van, of course, E'si, Zara and Annelie (though it seemed unnecessary to include the girls), Z'nal, C'meil... then there was someone he'd met, just real briefly. Someone at the Klah-Off... shards, there'd been a lot of people at the Klah-Off, though! Nan would remember for sure, but....
He caught a glimpse of a face in the crowd, and the name came to him. "S'kagi?"
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:01 pm
S'kagi turned to look, positive that he MUST have heard his name this time, and spotting a familiar face from the hatching and the hatching feast. He didn't clearly remember the small girl with him, but that didn't necessarily mean much. There were a lot of youngersters about, and this one could have just as easily been from the hold as from the Weyr.
"You need something?" He called over, in curiosity.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:11 pm
"S'kagi?" Giya repeated, her little face screwed up in concentration. S'kagi. Kagiya. "Is S'kagi a bronzerider?" she asked hopefully, her eyes lighting up. If he was... if he was... he was her daddy! Bouncing in place excitedly, she tugged on his sleeve some more. Then, just as she was doing so, the man himself spoke up. Staring up into S'kagi's face, Kagiya suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of shyness. The little weyrbrat looked up at the man that might be her father, nervousness taking over from the excitement from before. She hadn't expected to find him quite so fast.
"...Daddy?"
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 4:30 pm
"No." He answered reflexively, briefly amused by the question, then had the time to actually consider the situation. "...Wait, what?"
Of course he wasn't daddy, that would be ridiculous. She had to have been, what, six? Seven? If six, obviously not his, he would have still been training a young Coriath. Seven... He cringed at the tiny window. He'd never been the best behaved Candidate, and was lucky not to have gotten caught in the process of doing something that would have gotten him thrown out with a flea in his ear. There had been a... fling... but surely he would have gotten an ear full about that already.
Although it did rather feel lately as though every star of Pern had aligned to with him ill. He wouldn't have been surprised if Thread had started falling, but only on him.
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