Welcome to Gaia! ::

With the Weyr's overcrowding, it seemed like there was an endless stream of people both coming in and leaving the dining hall. There were always tables to be wiped down, dishes to be cleared away and washed, and pitchers of klah to refill. One of the cauldrons that held stew or soup was nearly empty. Kella frowned as she laid eyes on it. "Damn, I thought I told Briala to make a new batch hours ago!" The dark-skinned girl scowled. She was far from being in charge of the kitchens, but sometimes she felt like the only competent one in there.

With a rag in one hand, Kella was ready to wipe down some tables! Once a person left their seat, she'd swoop down to clear away their dishes and wipe down where they had been sitting. The headwoman liked the dining hall spotless, and in order to keep it that way, messes had to be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Kella didn't mind. She liked it neat and tidy, too. As she worked on wiping down one spot, she spied someone sitting alone. The boy looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't recall his name. She knew he'd impressed blue a few hatchings back- a pretty blue, too. Kella remembered. She'd been on the sands for every hatching, for over 4 turns now!

"Do you want anything else- or is the juice enough?" She said by way of starting conversation. If she remembered correctly, the bluerider was fairly shy. She didn't think he'd start conversation, but she couldn't help but think he looked lonely, sitting there all by himself.

Kella watched the bluerider with some interest. His reaction to her question was amusing. He blushed. All because she asked him if he wanted anything other than juice? Kella chuckled, shaking her head as she looked down at the table, inspecting it carefully. There weren't any spots or stains, so she was finished there and ready to move on. But, like R'ael said- it was hot. So, Kella took a moment for herself. There just so happened to be a vacant chair across from R'ael, so she sat, and grinned impishly at him.

"Oh, suit yourself than," she responded airily, waving her hand in the air to dismiss her offer. "You aren't in my way," she hastily reassured him. If he blushed when she asked him for juice, she imagined that he had to be pretty shy. The dark-skinned girl wasn't too sure how he'd take to conversation... but she was bored, so he'd have to deal with her. For a few minutes, at the least. "So! You impressed a blue, right? I remember, he was a very pretty blue," she complimented him with a smile. "I didn't impress," she stated the obvious in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Kella almost had to put her rag over her mouth to keep herself from bursting out laughing. What the heck had R'ael so embarrassed?! With the shade of red he had seemed to permanently adopt, one might think he was choking- or something! Kella chewed on her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing, but a grin and chuckle tugged at the corners of her mouth. She leapt upon conversation as a chance to keep herself from turning R'ael an even darker red.

"Yep, Jaereth! That was his name," Kella responded with another impish smile. "He was quite the looker- but then again, lots of the dragons right outta shell are cute to watch! Well, minus this last hatching," the dark-skinned girl shivered just thinking about it. The sparring gold and brown, the unhatched egg, the betweened blue.. There were too many negative things to drag her down. She waved her rag in the air, as if it could chase away her thoughts. "Yeah, no knot,' she lifted a hand to curl it around her shoulder, the faintest of smiles touching her face. She longed to know what it was like to have a dragon, especially after meeting so many riders! It was to be expected, living in the Weyr.. but it made Kella all the more envious!

She had to smile at him, in a motherly sort of way, after he tried to offer her support and hope. "Oh, yes, there's always next time," she said in a tired, drawn-out voice. There was always next time! Kella wasn't so sure anymore, but the girl marched on regardless. "I'll only be able to stand at another two hatchings, maybe three.. so, we'll see."

Kella was having quite a grand time, trying to figure R'ael out. Even if she couldn't manage to figure him out before she had to go back to her chores, she was having a well-enough time watching him stumble and fumble around! Conversation came easily to the vivacious, dark-skinned girl. She didn't know how some people managed to be socially awkward. Did they do it on purpose? How could it be so difficult to hold a conversation? Kella didn't know, nor did she really want to. She wasn't socially awkward. If she happened to come across anyone who was, well... That sucked for them. Kella tended to force-feed someone her own opinions, views, and tendencies. So, in R'ael's case, despite the fact he was having obvious difficulty talking with her, Kella was still determined to chat his ear off!

"Oh, yep. Its still a chance! So I won't stop standing. Not until I can't anymore, that is. I still have five turns until I'll be too old," Kella informed her juice-buddy amiably. "So, you'll see me on the sands, every clutch, for those next five turns! I started to get real discouraged, being left standing- then I thought of it like that. What if I don't stand, right? And that one hatching I don't stand for- a dragon betweens? Well, I'd feel like it was my fault! For not being there, maybe that dragon was mine," Kella rambled on, gesturing with her hands at appropriate moments.

The one question R'ael ventured to ask touched upon a sore spot for the girl. But she forced a smile on her face and answered his question- "I suppose I'll be here, a kitchen worker until the end of my days! Its all I've ever done, I'm not trained in any craft or trade.. So, this is it for me." Kella supplied her answer with a touch of disappointment in her voice. But, she loved Ista, and wouldn't leave the Weyr for anything- so she'd have to find some way to content herself with working here, dragonless, for the rest of her life.

Kella appreciated R'ael's support- even though he was, in all seriousness, a complete stranger. She offered him a small smile though, a blush creeping up underneath her dark skin. "Thanks, for the luck," she said, and paused for a moment before going on. "I'd really love to impress. Not only so that I'd be a rider, obviously.. But because I feel like in order to have my opinions heard, I need to have a dragon. Its like they give my words weight. Now, if I impressed a gold- boy, you'd see some serious changes here at Ista. No more of this overcrowding nonsense. I'd find somewhere to open up a new Weyr, yes sir! I wouldn't be like Helirra, sitting on my hands and twirling my hair, waiting for an idea or option to come up and smack me in the face!"

Kella scowled fiercely, her strong dislike for the current leadership in no way hidden. The girl disapproved strongly of the lack in leadership, overall. There were some serious problems in the Weyr; not only were Helirra and D'tai tight-lipped about any steps they were taking to correct the issues, but Kella was convinced the Weyrleaders were actually doing nothing. Nothing at all. Why else were they so quiet? The dark-skinned girl sighed heavily and shook her head. "You're lucky, for Jaereth to have found you," she to R'ael seriously. "Fishing might have been fun for the rest of your life. But because of him, you're in a prime position to help the Weyr out!"

Kella apparently had forgotten the fact that R'ael had blushed when she asked him about his juice.

Kella frowned deeply at R'ael. "Just a bluerider? Pish, posh. You're a RIDER, boy! Because you sit on that blue's neck, your words will be heard louder than mine will ever be!" Kella didn't agree with how, or like the way the system worked. As a kitchen worker, her opinions would only have a chance of being heard- and only after everyone else in the Weyr had something to say. "I haven't been out to scout any new locations myself. I lack wings, you know," Kella said, a tad bitterly. But she forced a smile, reassuring her companion. "But I've heard other riders whispering, and it seems like there's a pretty nice spot on the southern continent, way west of Southern Weyr. It's near Great Bay- and its in a mountain range. I guess its an old volcano, like we have here. There are lots of caverns and crevices, its just about ready to move in to!"

She would love to have a dragon so that she could fly over this prospect of a new Weyr. Or, on the flipside, Kella wouldn't mind finding a rider to take her there. But, she wasn't friendly enough with any riders to ask such a favor of them. She briefly considered C'mor, but the bronze weyrling was probably too busy with weyrling training. Not to mention, he most likely wasn't allowed out of the Weyr without permission. She also considered her friend M'zaji, but she hadn't seen much of the bluerider lately. He was busy with his new wing assignment. Kella sighed heavily, and a frown flickered across her face. She had to grin widely when R'ael steered the conversation towards the current goldriders.

"Okay- so you think having five captains on a ship is confusing? Imagine if four of those captains were COMPLETELY and utterly incompetent, and the fifth was really to young and new to the craft to assert control and authority!" Kella threw up her hands exasperatedly, the rag she held flopping around. "I can't imagine adding another gold to the mix. That might be disastrous. BUT. If another queen egg pops up, and whoever she chooses proves to be an apt and capable leader, I'll take her. I don't care if we have sixteen queenriders! As long as a couple in the bunch are skilled enough to actually lead a Weyr, I won't consider us a completely lost cause."

Were most people in this Weyr completely and utterly incompetent?

It was a question that was beginning to have some serious weight in Moira's mind as she listened to the conversation going on at the next table, gaze focused on her own reflection in the thin layer of water left in the bottom of her cup. Funny, how often these encounters of hers began with overhearing. Funnier, how often people tended to talk about sensitive subjects out in the open. Absolutely sharding hilarious, how they made no attempt to restrain their arrogance and idiocy in public. It was reasonable to question the leadership. It was reasonable to worry or stress or fear in the current atmosphere of overcrowded Ista. It was certainly understandable from someone who had failed to impress so continually. It was not, however, reasonable to flat out insult nearly the entirety of their leadership and their dragons as well. Respect was something which Moira held close to heart, and it was something which the other female candidate seemed to be entirely unfamiliar with. Moira's lips turned in a sour expression as the woman went on with her little tirade, distaste for the other candidate's opinions quite evident.

She might have held her tongue, had the bluerider not suddenly echoed her opinions, if only in defense of one particular goldrider. Moira had yet to meet any of the women personally – though she had heard a great deal about the latest Impression that took away much desire to meet the latest goldrider - but there was a certain level of deference and respect to be granted of someone of their ranking. They impressed for a reason, and Moira trusted in the queens' choices.

She did well to hide the small smile that curled the corners of her mouth, returning her features to the usual expression of detached amusement. Finishing the last of her drink, the young woman passed off her cup to a passing drudge, thanking the man politely as he took it off to the kitchens. Brushing crumbs from an earlier meal off the front of her simple tunic, Moira threw a leg over the bench upon which she sat and rose to a standing position. A few steps brought her to the edge of the table at which the pair sat – or stood, as the case had become. She placed one hand upon the table, drumming her fingers casually. Her green eyes flickered casually from the enraged bluerider to the cocky candidate, lingering on the latter.

“I might advise that if you would like to complain about your opinions going unheard, you make sure they're worth hearing first.” Despite the vitriol in her words, Moira's voice remained monotonous and calm. Her thick brows drew down only slightly, “I daresay that if you were of the mind or spirit to be making such changes, a gold might have chosen you, and not the women you declare so utterly incompetent.” That all too fake smile was forced to surface, and she inclined her head to the standing rider with the due nod of greeting and respect. She rapped her knuckles on the surface of the table once for no apparent reason, murmured something to herself, and headed for the doorway.

If the candidate had anything to say in return, it would be directed only to the back of Moira's retreating figure.