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 Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:22 pm
Santhea yawned, and tried to fan herself with her hand. It was boiling! She groaned, and edged closer to the bathing lake - she usually came here to watch the dragons, or to fill her canteen with muddy water from the bottom to prank someone with, but right now, she could not resist sitting down on a rock, and submerging her legs. She sighed as the water was level with her knees, and playfully swished her legs - her mother would be wanting her to be back in the kitchens, but in this heat, who would want anybody to make them hot klah? When Santhea tried to use this as an excuse with her mother, she got a scolding and a narrowly-dodged clip round the head. Santhea had escaped just by wheedling her father into letting her help with an injured dragon, and after that, had set off for the lake. She winced as she thought of the pressure her father was mounting on her. "Don't wanna pick a lousy job. I like being the extra pair of hands. Why should I go work in some stuffy hold anyway? I'd never get to see the dragons in flight then!" she grumbled stubbornly in her light, almost childish voice, and pouted before closing her eyes against the midday glare.
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 3:24 pm
"Come Mine! Quickly! I really, reeeallly want a bath now! And the lake isn't too full! Please please pleeeeeease!"
Like H'dra even had a choice in the matter. Dievath was already heading off towards the lake, intent on his bath. The fact that his dragon said the lake wasn't too full didn't mean much to him, but it was somewhat comforting to the shy bluerider. Being partnered with Dievath didn't exactly leave him much room to continue to be shy, however old habits died hard. The thought of having to go interact with riders other than F'sey made him extremely nervous. What if he messed up and made a bad impression?
Still, he dutifully gathered his bucket of bathing supplies, and headed down to the lake. Dievath had already landed with a flourish, and was splashing around in the water like a hatchling. Any of the onlookers were lucky if they didn't get splashed by his enthusiasm.
"Oooh look a girl! Look look look!" Dievath lifted his head to stare at Santhea, blue eyes whirling. "She is special! I like her. Go and talk to her."
The bluerider paused, midway out of his shirt to look in the direction his dragon was looking. Swallowing nervously, he tugged his shirt off and proceeded to roll up his pants. 'What's so special about her? She looks pretty normal to me.'
"But she is! I am sure of it." Dievath did not take his eyes off the girl.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:09 am
Santhea jumped a bit, her eyes still closed, when a splash of water hit her bare arms. Slowly she opened one eye, then opened the other, leaning forward. She stared at the blue dragon, smiling. She was curious as to why he was watching her with his blue-faceted eyes, but didn't shy away her gaze.
His stripes are pretty. His rider looks rather shy? I wonder why they're staring. She shrugged mentally, and turned her head to the side curiously.
Her thoughts flicked back to her father, and she winced slightly. He's be looking for her, and after checking in the caverns, he would yell loudly.
She grimaced, and shook her head, her hair snapping against her face as she tried to shake the thought out.
Stupid profession. I wonder if I can get mother to get me more time? her thoughts wandered as she watched the blue and his rider watching her. She was already planning to escape into the many nooks of the kitchens - her father didn't know the place as well as herself, and the bulky man would never fit in the crannies Santhea's lithe frame could squeeze. Her smile returned as she thought that.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:02 pm
"Mine she's looking at us! And she's smiling! Now you have to go and talk to her!" Dievath was already making his way towards her, completely oblivious as usual to his rider's wants. All he knew was that she was special and that was important to him. The blue didn't even look back to see if his rider was following him, and didn't stop until he was settled in the water in front of Santhea. Aaah that was nice. But business first! Then he would feel very good about himself when it came time for his bath. "Now we are here we must talk to her! You will be nice and polite, won't you?"
H'dra looked slightly crestfallen when his dragon began to move, but it looked as though he didn't get much choice in the matter. Why Dievath wanted to go talk to this particular girl out of everyone else was beyond him. He kept saying she was special, but as of yet he didn't have the slightest idea what that meant. Perhaps if he went over he would find out what his dragon was talking about.
Collecting his belongings he followed Dievath along the beach until he was close enough to Santhea to have a proper conversation. Still, she was a girl, and about his age, and he could already feel the tips of his ears burning.
"Hello, uh…. miss. Are you enjoying the weather today?" It was a lame conversation starter, and H'dra's eyes only met hers briefly before he busied himself with his bucket of supplies.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:14 pm
Santhea smiled with pleasure as the blue sat in the water before her. She liked how the colours reflected on each other. She looked up as the rider walked to her. He looked shy, and she smiled at him, trying to put him at ease.
"Hi, my name's Santhea." she grinned at the question. "As always, it's too hot. Would you like help washing your dragon? Too hands are better than one. Or, I guess that saying should be four than two.." she grinned.
"They got something wrong there. He's called Dievath, right? I'm sorry I can't remember your name - I always remember dragons, but rarely riders!" she knelt up to see him better as she chattered, in her usual mouthy way. "Dievath's such a lovely colour." she smiled at the dragon, as always remembering only after the respect she was supposed to show the blue. She blushed and ducked her head.
"As always my mouth is running away with all the words in my skull. Sorry." she smiled, a little sheepishly. Her warm brown eyes looked at his even after he looked away.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:35 pm
Aah she was the talkative type. What a relief! H'dra seemed to relax visibly when she started talking, glad to have the burden removed from his shoulders. There were times he wished that Dievath could speak aloud, if only so that he didn't have to speak to anyone. He was pleasantly surprised when she knew his dragon's name, and he could feel that the blue was extremely pleased by that fact. The blue only puffed up more at her praise, crooning happily as his eyes whirled.
"I like her, she is very nice. And she says good things about me! I told you she was special and you did not believe me. Let her help you with my bath? I think she would like it very much."
They agreed on something, for a change, however H'dra was still puzzling over the special bit when Santhea apologized to him. "Oh don't worry about the talking miss! I don't mind, really." The bluerider held up his hands in an apologetic gesture. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Santhea. You're right, this is Dievath. He says thank you for the praise. I'm H'dra. I don't expect you to know me though, miss, so I wouldn't worry too much." He smiled sheepishly. "But um, you're welcome to help with the bathing. We came over here to see you anyways, miss. Dievath took a liking to you."
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:52 pm
Santhea smiled happily, glad not only that the friendly blue seemed to like her but glad that his rider was relaxing too.
"Nice to meet you too, H'dra." she smiled. "He took a liking to me? Aww, thanks Dievath. Your very welcome, too." she grinned and turned to H'dra. "Bathtime!" she winked carefreely at the quiet rider, before going into the water by Dievath and scratching an eye-ridge.
"Shall we go to the nice deep bit? It'll be easier for me to reach the high parts if I'm floating a little." she grinned, motioning to herself in indication of her serious shortness. She brushed her chocolatey hair back from her eyes, where it curled damply from where she had fallen victim to Dievath's cheerful splashing.
It was obvious on her face that she was comfortable talking to an almost-stranger and his dragon, but a small frown appeared on her face inbetween sentences - her eyes showed she was trying hard to distract herself from something. Though she didn't have to try hard - She liked the friendly slightly-striped dragon and his quiet, shy rider already.
Another wince crinkled the sides of her warm eyes, and she bit her lip as she worried. But again, she shook her head, and smiled in a friendly way to the dragon.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:40 pm
H'dra's cheeks turned a little pink at the wink, but he collected his supplies and set off into the water with Dievath. Though other riders often stripped down to nothing by their undergarments for baths – it was a very wet process – the former shepherd still couldn't quite bring himself to go that far, especially not when there were girls around. He would just have to settle for wet pants. Hopefully Santhea wouldn't mind getting too wet as well. The bucket floated along side him as he reached for one of the brushes and handed it to Santhea. "You can scrub as hard as you like, miss. He doesn't seem to mind."
Dievath obligingly moved to deeper water, lowering his head so that it rested just on top of the water. He had grown very big since his Hatching, and while he was inwardly quite pleased with himself he was rather sad that he could not sit on H'dra's lap anymore. Now he was the one who H'dra sat on. He had come to see it as a necessary trade off.
The bluerider stood neatly on his dragon's leg as he scrubbed, aware of the silence that was lapsing between him and the girl. He chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, before he asked, "Are you a Candidate here miss?"
"She is bothered by something," the blue observed as he watched Santhea with one eye. "She is making faces like you make when I ask you to do sociable things."
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:47 pm
Santhea took the brush, wet it, and rubbed the bristles into Dievath's scales, scouring out whatever dirt or dust may have settled there.
At the question, she shook her head slightly enviously at the thought.
"No, just a lower caverns weyrbrat girl. My mother's a cook, father's the odd-job man. I do about every job the candidates do though - though I suspect I get more free time." she pulled another face at the thought of her father, then grinned as she thought of the no-nonsense candidate master
She smiled as she looked back at her scrubbing hands - Dievath's blue hide shone with the water on it, reflecting light from the high sun the back into her eyes. "Where were you from before your candidacy?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:24 pm
Dievath rumbled happily as his hide was scrubbed, closing his eyes. Now this was the life. Two humans, scrubbing his clean so he could go and sun himself afterwards. Then his rider would oil him before they went to bed and his life would be perfect. Well, almost perfect. He wanted His to do something about this girl! Then things would be perfect. The blue would be able to go to bed in peace if only H'dra would understand what he was getting at. It was very hard for him to put into words.
"A weyrbrat?" H'dra seemed surprised. "Oh… I'm sorry miss, I'm so used to seeing Candidates down here that I couldn't help but assume you were one. They come down here a lot to help riders." That was how he had met Zara. He was quietly thankful that his meeting with Santhea had not started the same way. It would be extremely embarrassing to be caught in his shirt again.
"She could be," Dievath interrupted his thoughts. "A rider. Or I guess she'd be a Candidate first… but she could be."
The bluerider blinked at his dragon, pausing, before things seemed to click in his head. Was Dievath trying to Search her? Like the dragon who had Searched him? It was very possible. H'dra didn't know at what point in their lives dragons were able to sense the potential in others, but it had been usual for his dragon to want so badly to approach someone specifically. Perhaps he really did see something in her.
But it would be rude to change topics like that. He would answer her question first. "My parents live in Ista Hold, both of them Herders. We've been Herders for generations, my family. I apprenticed when I was little, and then I got Searched and ended up here. I'm still getting used to it." H'dra licked his lips nervously, but managed to plough bravely forward before he lost his nerve. "Would you… like to be a Candidate?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:11 pm
Santhea blinked, confused. "What?" she asked, her puzzlement etched on her face. "Be a candidate? Me? I wish. If someone came up to me and asked me if I would be a candidate I'd probably scare them away with too much enthusiasm." she grinned, and went on scrubbing.
She wondered about his words as she spoke, then turned to him with semi-serious eyes. "Wait.. do you mean it? You're searching me?"
For once on Santhea's life she was speechless. It, unsurprisingly, didn't last long. As usual, Santhea managed to change her mood within seconds.
"I want to ride dragons with all I have. Does Dievath really think I could be a candidate?!" she grinned. "Wow. Me? Really?" Her eyes were wide, but her face showed she didn't really believe it. C'mon, me, a candidate?
"I'd love to be, but me?" she shook her head, suddenly serious. "I want to. I'd love to. But even before hatching, the candidate-master would probably take on look at me, laugh and send me back to my father. Ugh, and he would send me to a job." she pulled a face, and looked at her feet, biting her lip, and wishing she could stay a little weyr girl forever.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:17 pm
"Scare them away with enthusiasm?" Dievath repeated, puzzled. "I am not scared. Should I be?" The girl didn't seem to be very enthusiastic, but it was always hard to tell with girls. They could be so secretive at times that no man or dragon could be expected to understand them. Perhaps H'dra would have more insight since she was his species.
"Well… I'm uh… glad that you like the idea." Shards, what did he say now? Did he have to ask formal permission? He would if she were a Holder, but she was already here at the Weyr so did that mean he didn't? Oh he wished F'sey were here with him! He would know what to do. While he was busy mentally flailing, Santhea seemed to realize the implications of his earlier question, and H'dra was forced to focus back on the task at hand. At her question he nodded his head. "Officially, I guess you could say. I mean, I heard that weyrbrats can stand if they want to, but there's no harm in being Searched, right miss? Though there's not a clutch on the Sands now…" Would that be a bad thing?
Every time Santhea asked him for affirmation he nodded, trying his best to look like he really meant what he had said. "Dievath does think that you could be a dragonrider, and I don't think I have any reason to disagree with what he says. You're old enough and not a journeywoman in a craft and uh… not married I hope so you should be good. And the Candidatemaster can't say no to you, not when a dragon has Searched you. If I say you're good, then you're good." I think, he added mentally, keeping his fingers crossed. Hopefully this was the correct procedure. "Do I uh… have to ask permission from your family?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:35 pm
Santhea's eyes widened, and she broke into a smile.
"Not married, you don't have to ask my parents, they'd love me to even stand, they won't even mind when I don't impress! Thankyou!" she bubbled, her words running together in her enthusiasm.
In her head, she was thinking too fast, her mind in two parts as she argued with herself. One part of her was over the moon, causing the lit eyes and blushed cheeks, but another part of her was laughing at her own silly self. Registering the 'when' herself' her eyes blinked quickly as she spoke - but by the first egg, she'd definitely stand! Shells, she knew she shouldn't hope, but she'd love to be a dragonrider. Be much better at it than some of those silly holder girls who were too witless to even give dragons courtesy, she thought with pride.
She rubbed Dievath on the eyeridge. "Thanks Dievath. And thank you H'dra." she smiled widely at him, her eyes warm. "And am I glad I came here today!" she was thrilled at the idea of being a candidate. "I'll even take the rejection at hatching for just being able to stand!" she laughed carefreely, scrubbing at Dievath's foreleg as she continued to scratch the eyeridge.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:29 pm
"Aaah… you're very welcome, miss Santhea." H'dra looked appropriately flustered at her thanks. He couldn't remember being this excited when he was Searched, though a part of him argued that he had been. The former herder just wasn't the type to express himself in such a vivacious way. Certainly his mother had fussed over him and packed his bags with extra love and care. Hopefully Santhea's mother would give her the same treatment. He would hate to Search someone whose parents didn't want their child to be a dragonrider.
"Do not worry. She is happy, so we should be happy too." Dievath assured his rider, pleased by all the attention and thanks he was getting. He had not done much but who was he to complain when there were happy people around him? This was one blue who would never turn down a little attention.
Her enthusiasm was not misplaced, however H'dra could not help but duck his head at her repeated thanks. "It was really not a problem, miss, honest. I'm glad that you'll be able to Stand on the sands. You'll have to go to Candidate lessons though. Not that they're not interesting! But it'll probably be a little more work…" It would be worth it though, if she Impressed a dragon. He knew that well enough.
"Scrub between my toes. I itch there," the blue said to Santhea, turning one eye to look back at her. He had Searched her so he could talk to her, right? Besides, H'dra was talking about other things. He had to communicate his needs somehow.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:48 am
"Oh, I could handle extra work. Gladly, in exchange for a chance to stand. Who wouldn't?" she smiled, and sighed happily. When she was young she and other weyrkids used to run around, pretending to impress a dragonet, bath dragons, sear thread and fly. The thought of a possible reality of that made her feel almost blissful.
Santhea's eyes widened, and she chuckled, before complying to the blue's wishes, and scrubbing at the slight flaky patch.
"Of course, Dievath." she grinned at H'dra, knowing he would have been able to hear his dragon speak to her - just wait till she got to tell her parents! Her mother would swell with pride. Not sure what her father would do though - he had seemed taken with the idea of going to a major hold.
"I don't mind waiting turns for a hatching." she chuckled again, absent-mindedly thinking of what her father would look like - she could probably take some consolation in the fact that his eyes would bulge bigger than her own, for she felt sure she had embarassed H'dra further by her enthusiasm. She reached up to scrub under the wing joint, treading water to reach.
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