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 Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:08 pm
With the hatching more than a sevenday behind them, the majority of the Weyr was trying to settle into some sense of normalcy. The new weyrlings were beginning lessons, as well as getting to know eachother- they were experiencing possibly the MOST defining moments as dragonriders. It was certainly an interesting time, learning to share your mind with another being! Alas, Kella wouldn't know. She was one of the candidates who had been left standing, and she was all too happy to share that sad fact with anyone who would listen.
The remaining candidates were being ushered back into regular life at the Weyr. They had been prepared to move out of the candidate barracks, and had already assumed their normal duties. Kella was relieved to be done cleaning latrines; kitchen work was enough for her, thank you! She was on the fence about moving into new quarters, though. She had been assigned two roommates, but hadn't been told who they were. Not to mention, she'd barely been given any notice as to WHEN she'd move~ she'd just been told to be ready. "Be ready? I'll sleep in my sharding clothes, that's how damn ready I'll be," she muttered angrily, shoving a few shirts into a large canvas bag that was already bursting at the seams. She'd shoved all of her belongings.. into one bag. ONE BAG.
Crazy girl OBVIOUSLY doesn't know how to pack.
But, that's besides the point. Kella looked up from her packing to see a rather familiar kitchen worker standing in the doorway of the candidate barracks, beckoning to her. "C'mon, girl, they've got your new room all ready," the older woman said firmly, but not unkindly. Without a word, Kella hefted her bag over her shoulder and followed. Her mid-thigh length shorts, light-fabric and short-sleeved shirt, paired with plain sandals, were perfect for the hot, sticky Ista weather. Kella turned her chin up to look at the clear, blue sky as they walked across the bowl to the living caverns. Moving inside the walls of the Weyr was a change; carved into the stone of an old volcano provided respite from the heat. Kella was embraced by cool air.
"Down this way," the woman ahead of her directed Kella down a winding hallway. "Third room, on the left," she instructed and then headed to the kitchens, no doubt to resume her duties. "Right. Third room, on the left," Kella repeated the instruction to herself, to assure that she'd heard correctly. The room was sparsely furnished, if it could be called furnished. The room was split into three areas- one 'room' had beds, another had a desk and chair, and the third was assumed to be a washroom/storage area. "Well, isn't this lovely," Kella muttered with a sigh, tossing her bag onto a bed up against the wall. As she inspected the quarters, she fleetingly wondered just who her roommates might be- and more importantly, where were they?
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 3:16 pm
Santhea sighed as she followed one of the kitchenhands down the corridor, nodding at the instuctions on how to reach the room, and pulled at the neckline of her tight top - thin cotton, short in the midriff and long in the sleeves. The weather was already starting to bug her.
"Thanks." she rolled her eyes as the woman went off, and stepped inside. She paused when she saw someone there already, and grinned wider, walking forward to sit on one the other beds.
"Hi!" she said cheerily pulling the two big, stuffed bags off her shoulders and slinging them onto the floor by her feet. "I'm Santhea, but people call me Thea. Nice to meetcha!" she said, smiling.
She looked at the girl, regarding the single bag that was close to bursting with a mischeivous gleam in her eye. Thea curiously wondered what was inside - any personal things? Just clothes? It would be wierd not to have one thing of personal value in there - when something like that was revealed, Thea sure was going to find out the story there. She was itching to find out more about the girl - Santhea would go mad if she were boring. Or dim. Or a squealer - it would not do for Thea to be bedded near oen fo those, considering how she liked to go round doing classic mischeif in the dead of night; your comb appear in next-doors dorm? Sandals filled with dust? Sweetsand switched with grit and gravel? Santhea was usually to blame, and mostly never caught.
She looked at the girl again - maybe a partner in crime? Thea would have to find out.
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:07 pm
While she waited for her new roommates to arrive, Kella busied herself around their meager apartment. She started off in the washroom. A small, square mirror hung on the wall. It was bare, without even a thin piece of wood or metal to frame it. On a stone pedestal, which looked as thought it weighed as much as a dragon, sat a deep basin, made out of some sort of metal. It had its fair share of nicks, dents, and scratches- but proudly displayed its ability to hold water. Kella dipped her hand in, scooping up a handful of lukewarm water. There was a bar on the wall, with three towels looped over it. "Three roommates," Kella assumed, noting the three towels with a frown. This overcrowding nonsense was driving her insane! The Weyrleaders needed to put their heads together, and find enough brains between them all to solve all these out-of-hand problems.
Kella moved next into the main room. There was an area rug covering the floor, but the colors were faded and the edges fringed. She frowned even deeper. As a candidate slash kitchen worker, Kella had learned not to expect the finest of things. But, still, she didn't have to enjoy living in squalor. She sighed. Up against the back wall, opposite the door, was a wooden desk. It had several drawers, and a matching chair- which was carved decently, considering whose room it furbished. "Maybe a journeyman made this," Kella wondered, running her fingertips over the scroll-work down the side of the chair. As Kella turned to make her way into the bedroom, she paused. One of her roommates was in the doorway. She smiled pleasantly, and followed the other girl's lead into the sleeping area.
Kella took a seat on her claimed bed, crossing one leg and letting the other swing back and forth. "Well, nice to meet you Thea," Kella responded amiable enough. Her dark eyes studied the girl, noting that she was slightly familiar. Weyr-bred, definitely; Kella had seen her around, since they'd both worked in the kitchens their whole lives. "I'm Kella," she answered with an introduction of herself, sticking her small hand out to be shaken. "So. What do you think of this?" Kella asked, gesture with a sweep of her hand to their somewhat spacious, albeit barely-furbished quarters.
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:13 pm
Thea stretched over to shake the proffered hand. She was certain she'd seen the girl before - another weyrbrat then? The name rang a bell - they must both have worked in the kitchens, and the lower caverns. That was all Santhea's silly memory could remember.
Thea looked round at the room, seeing the third bed - well, more of a cot. So, two roommates. But spacious enough, she guessed.
"To be honest? It's crappy." she grinned. "But I guess I can stick it. It'll be cool." she stretched back on the bed, propping herself up by her elbows.
"We have to brighten it up. More candles, mirrors, rugs, throws." she waved her hand airily, grinning, as if Thea actually had the marks for that. That was likely!
"Guess we best get moving in, huh?"
Thea wandered through the rooms, making 'Hmhm' noises, and then after grabbing one of her bags, went into the living area. She shoved some clothes and things into one of the draws, not bothering to fold any except her gather dress - a warm brown with pale, pale gold, and a thick billowy skirt, low neckline suited to her hourglass figure, and 3/4 length sleeves - Thea's pride and joy, which her mother had helped make before her candidacy.
"Hey, what's your stand on that Kyllae girl?" Thea had been asking this question alot, and through careful observation, it was sure to tell her alot about her roommate. And give Thea an excuse to b***h a little.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:42 am
Kella whole heartedly agreed with Santhea. This room sucked, but she'd have to make it work. She smiled as Santhea went on to describe how they could brighten the room up- candles, mirrors. rugs, throws.. Kella refrained from whistling appreciatively. Did Santhea have a bag full of marks somewhere? The dark-skinned girl snorted, gesturing to her single canvas bag, stuffed as it was, it held nothing monetarily valuable. "I don't really have the marks for all that stuff," she admitted slowly to her new roommate. "I mean, you know how it is. You work in the kitchens, too," Kella explained herself quickly.
Kella grinned and shook her head as Santhea stood up and set about moving in. Kella wasn't usually the warm-and-friendly type, but there was something about Santhea that made it impossible for her to be mean and nasty. The girl was just so friendly, so easy-going! How could Kella be anything but? With a chuckle for herself, Kella untied the drawstring around the top of her bag and began to remove her clothes. Her wardrobe consisted mostly of neutral-colored items, short-sleeved shirts and mid-thigh length shorts. The only bright colors to be seen were in her gather wear, some type of skirt-and-top ensemble that she shoved into a drawer quickly, but not before a flash of bright, emerald green could be seen. Hardly feminine, Kella had never worn her gather clothes, preferring to wander the stands and aisles of a gather in her cleanest shorts and shirt.
Kella froze, however, when Santhea brought Kyllae up. Her lip curled into a snarl before she could smooth her face into a mask of cool composure. There was no sense dwelling on what one could not change. "She's a dumb, wherry-brained, self-centered b***h," Kella spat the last word out angrily, and she lingered over every word to make her point. Her dark eyes glinted angrily, cold hard stones in a face contorted with frustration and anger. "I mean, how dare she sneak in there, thinking to gain an edge, and screw everything up for the rest of us?!" Kella cried, throwing one hand up in the air with exasperation. She sighed heavily and shook her head, turning her attention back to her clothes and putting them away. "I hope that they sentence her to a holdless life. Maybe she'll get eaten by Thread," Kella muttered darkly, shaking her head in disappointment.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:27 am
Santhea nodded. "Ah, but we can wish right? Maybe one day a bag of gold will just fall from the sky, right onto our pile of dirty dishes..." she said, making it sound like a fairy story, and grinned. "Or maybe we'll be doing candidate chores and we'll find a secret cave in one of the dusty rooms, filled to the ceiling with marks.. or maybe not." she laughed.
Santhea had all but emptied the second bag in, before Thea had to shove things in and force the drawer closed. Thea's eyes sparkled as she watched Kella's reaction, holding back a grin at the other girl's language, whcih she wholly agreed with. Her new roommate had a (justifiable) temper - Thea grinned; things were gonna be fun!
"Better yet, she might escape thread by camping out in a cave and be eaten alive by tunnel-snakes." Thea said with relish. "I can't believe nothign has been done yet about her - her punishment seems minimal right now.." Thea sighed. "Imagine if that dragon had been for one of us.. Oh well, there's always next hatching!" Thea said brightly, and shoved the rest of her belongings - mostly bindings of paper filled with experimental recipes and well-used but clean clothes - in a smaller draw.
The only thing she didn't put in was a loop of string on which hung a cool grey pebble - not worth anything, but pretty enough, which she put around her neck. She sighed, putting her hand to forehead dramatically, as if she had just done an extremely hard chore, while her eyes glinted meriily.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:53 am
A bag of gold falling from the sky would be nice- but Kella would prefer marks. Just marks! Preferably Harper-stamped, since they were the most widely used. You could buy just about anything with Harper-stamped marks! Kella didn't have much money to her name- she had a 2-piece mark hidden away, but she didn't plan on using it. Especially not for candles and mirrors. If the bag from the sky was filled with 5- and 10-mark pieces, Kella would gladly furbish their room. Lavishly.
Kella used a trunk at the foot of her bed for all her clothes. She threw them in in bundles and piles, unfolded and unorganized. She didn't care much if they were wrinkled or creased. Once the trunk was full, all that remained in Kella's bag were a couple pairs of shoes, a single necklace, and a leatherbound book occasionally used as a diary. The diary was shoved into the bottom of Kella's trunk, into a heavy-shirt worn only during winter. She lined her shoes up neatly against the wall- a single pair of boots, and a single pair of sandals. Kella held the necklace in her hand for a moment, admiring the intricate pattern the woven thread made. The stone upon it wasn't worth much, but was a pretty green, with slivers of gold snaking through its surface. Making a 'hmph' noise, Kella opened her trunk for the final time, and tossed the necklace on top.
Turning her attention back to the conversation at hand, a scowl appeared on Kella's face. Her eyebrows met in an angry 'V", while her dark eyes narrowed. "I can't believe how LAX the Weyrleaders have been with her!" Kella nearly-shrieked, throwing her hands up in sheer exasperation. She growled angrily before continuing. "I mean, she was allowed at the hatching. Sure, she was restricted to just watching from the stands- but I figured Cheoth would've torn the little s**t to shreds just for setting foot near the eggs again. NOT TO MENTION- how can the b***h even STAND to show her face? If I ever saw her, I'd probably b***h-slap the s**t out of her~ and then push her around for good measure. She deserves to feel AWFUL for what she's done- that blue, and the unhatched egg... Those could have been somebody's. You know, if they hadn't.." Kella couldn't put voice to the word. If they hadn't died.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:36 pm
Santhea grinned impishly as she watched Kella flare up, but her smile shrank a bit at the mention of the blue, and the unhatched egg. She was quiet for a moment, remembering what she had tried to forget. Even in her memory, the blue's shrieks were painful and heartbreaking to hear. She winced as her memory flowed on to the betweening. And then realising the egg wasn't going to hatch. Someone was responsible for that.
All this made Thea's reply more vicious than she would usually speak. "I'd gladly risk thread just so I could hold the silly girl under it." then, a sly thought entered Thea'smind. "Hmhm.. what if we did something about it?" Thea's grin turned malicious.
"A couple of completely random pranks coulnd hardly merit a telling off, now, could they?" Thea thought of a little pouch she had in her draw - the minute powder that she sometimes used as a hot spice, that once she'd found out that when put in someones clothes, caused them to itch uncontrollably, welts as large as fists.
Thea had used it a few times before in pranks - what harm could come of it? Thea was angry, not thinking straight, and feeling downright vicious. All she could think of was the little blue, and not what Kyllae would be feeling herself.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:18 pm
It was equally painful for Kella to talk about the betweened blue and the unhatched egg. She could hear the desperate cries of the lost blue echo around the room, bouncing off the stone walls over and over again; they seemed to follow her around endlessly. Kella heard his cries, day and night. They tore at her heart. She wished that something could have been done to save him. It could have all been prevented! If only that wherry-brained prat had followed the rules, then it all would have been avoided. All the pain, all the hurt, all the anger- none of it would be happening! Kella scowled darkly, balling her hands into fists. Oh, she wanted to do something to hurt Kyllae. Badly.
The girl deserved to hurt as badly as everyone else. The thought that Kyllae felt guilty for what she had done didn't even occur to Kella; her mind was on a single track. Kyllae had obviously not thought about the consequences of touching the eggs early. So, how could she possibly feel bad about it now? Kella took a deep breath and face Santhea. She liked her roommate. Play a prank... On Kyllae? What a GREAT IDEA. Kella's scowl slowly turned into a grin, though her eyes remained dark, alluding to her not-so-nice intentions. "A few little pranks, you say?" Kella repeated the idea, letting thoughts blossom and bloom. This could be good.
"I think its a fabulous idea," the dark-skinned girl voiced ardently. As an active supporter of the ILA, and a worker in the kitchens, Kella had access to the food. Kyllae's food. Oh, the things that could be done! A dash of the wrong spice here, and Kyllae could be bed-ridden for a week, it would look very much like the flu. Kella was sure that only a few moments of brainstorming between the two girls could come up with numerous nasty things to do to Kyllae, none of them would be good enough to get the girl back for what she had done. No punishment would ever be severe enough.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:28 pm
Santhea's eyes were gleaming with mischeif, and her thoughts skipping over possible.. pranks, and thoughts of the screaming blue. Someone was obviously responsible for the death for a dragon - Kyllae might as well have plunged a knife into the hatchlings heart! Thea thought viciously, then doubled back, coubt flickering over her features. She hoped they weren't being mean.. It was just a few jokes, right? Just a laugh. Just to teach the girl a lesson. It wasn't being mean or anything, right?
"I.. think we should." she said, her eyes dark, and a reluctant smile on her full lips. "Not anything, y'know, dangerous, or really nasty, just a few pranks." she chewed her lip, then shook her head and grinned mischeivously.
"So what are we going to do? It has to be subtle, it has to be secret, and it has to be seriously uncomfortable for her." Thea said her as if she had something sour on her tongue. "Seriously uncomfortable. Fitting for a murderer of a baby dragon."
Thea thought hard. Not just any prank for this girl - something unusual. Her food might taste bad, or make her ill, her clothes could be tight, small, uncomfortable, her sweetsand might contain traces of dye.. "Ooh, I like that one. Dye.. the stuff they use for the gather gowns, permanent." Thea grinned wider.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:09 am
Kella wasn't quite as reserved as her new roommate. Her thoughts ran rampant and unbidden. All sorts of ideas leapt out at her- food seasoned incorrectly, under- or overcooked, soapsand mixed with a spice that would make her itch, her clothes washed with various dyes.. and those were the harmless pranks. Kella wasn't so keen on having just a good laugh. She was set on revenge. What if that hatchling had been her dragon? The thought had consumed the dark-skinned girl since the hatching. Kella wouldn't budge on the idea that Kyllae had to pay.
"I think we should, too," Kella agreed with Santhea easily. Her own smile wasn't so reluctant, and her dark eyes glimmered in eagerness. "Nothing dangerous or nasty, sure," Kella agreed but her voice sounded forced, and slightly distant. Like she didn't really agree- but was just saying she did so not to freak Santhea out. "Well, obviously we don't want anyone to find out it was us that did it," Kella agreed, this time wholeheartedly. She looked up from her toes and met Santhea's gaze, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Oh! Ohhh, that sounds good," Kella grinned at Santhea's mention of dye. "We could just mix some in with her soapsand, so that her hair and skin are dyed... BLUE! It needs to be blue. To remind her of the blue she killed," Kella snarled angrily, her dark eyes darting away from Santhea's as her throat momentarily tightened. If her eyes began to water, she didn't want her roommate to see. "That's the best idea we've had yet, we should just go with it," Kella said, a bit softer but no less fervent.
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