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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:22 pm
There had been some very interesting information circulating the Weyr. Not the least of which was that Favan had good reason to be in the best of moods. Whether she was or not, Uuni could not say, she had never met the woman, and judging from the stories, she thought it best to keep it that way.
There was quite another, silly rumour that her wrath had encouraged some old man's hair to stick straight back. Although Uuni was fairly sure this was all fun and no merit, the rumours surrounding the man himself proved to be more interesting.
"Right. Old looking, I guess, fit. . . " her voice had trailed off in the hall as she realized the snickers from the person she was talking to wasn't going to get her anywhere. They knew who she was talking about, but they seemed just as delighted not to tell her. It had gone on like this - misleading sources, being too late, and any number of other difficulties one might mention.
It wasn't until she was finishing her last chore of the day that she heard anything satisfactory. For once in her life, she was covered in head to toe with fabric to keep from burning in the sun. She probably smelled of runnerbeast and their leavings from having to help clean the area that afternoon.
But she caught just a whisper that the runner no doubt everyone had heard of in the weyr was here. She could take a quick break to investigate this, right? Right.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:07 am
While there was some truth to the legendary chaos of Nilen's hair, rumor would have been disappointed to learn that it was not in fact Favan's fault, though with the persistence of such things, perhaps that idea would linger, until the power of Favan's voice became legend.
Between this trait, somewhat unique to his thick bristle of grey hair, and his blind-man's taste in wardrobe, (which even now looked somewhat too warm for Ista.) he stood out rather notably among the runners, petting the next of the one he'd rode in on a short time ago, and making quiet shushing noise as he did so, muttering soft promises that they'd be on their way soon enough. He didn't particularly seem to notice her arrival, or if he did, acknowledged it as dismissively as he had initially done to Favan. (A mistake he probably wouldn't make again.)
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:01 am
Avery, of course, was already at the stables, being one of the Candidates who had prior experience with runners. As a former beastcrafter, with runners as her specific focus, the curly-haired lass rather liked them and spent as much time doing chores in the stables as possible [perhaps that was why she and Uuni rarely ran into each other during their chores!].
Already noting the messanger, neither one of them had acknowledged the other at first, other than perhaps a brief nod when he'd arrived, she continuing her grooming of the runners and he sharing private time with his own.
It wasn't until a familiar face showed up that she raised an eyebrow and paused her task, finishing the beast she was currently at work on, feeding him a treat, and leaning against the wall of his particular enclosure to get a better look, her arms hanging over the side.
Surprisingly enough, being in a stable did nothing to diminish her appearance.
"Afternoon, Uuni, what brings you to the stables?" An amused, slow smile as she let her hazel eyes linger on the other girl before moving them slowly to Nilen. If Uuni was here, something interesting was happening.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:11 pm
There was a problem here. The wild-haired man had himself a body-guard. It came with four very powerful feet, and Uuni had no particular desire to have her face smushed in by a runnerbeast.
For a good long moment, she assessed the situation. Ask questions, or lose teeth? It was a tough choice.
Eventually, she decided to take the daring few steps towards the man, but by the third footshift, she nearly leapt out of her skin from fright.
Avery. Great. Just what she needed. "Nothing," she muttered off under her breath, passing an obviously fake smile towards the girl before changing it to something broader and far more convincing.
Uneasily patting the runner's beast on the nose, and probably getting a rather agitated animal to go with, she sidled up next to wild-hair. "You came from that Weyr, right?" Hmm. . . that wasn't very smooth.
Different approach. "He. . .She?'s a very pretty creature, you know. Is it going back with you when you go?" The nervous twitch was apparent in her fingers when she withdrew her hand from near the runnerbeast's face. Okay, so that last line hadn't been so great, either, but she was trying and that was the important part.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:36 am
"She'll go back to the Hold with me." He agreed, vaguely, turning his head slightly to eye Uuni, and to quickly check her for traces of riding knots. She wasn't one of the other goldriders was she? No? Good.
The runner snorted, pressing her nose into Uuni's hand, curious and searching for something tasty to eat. She was a relatively patient thing, inquisitive and as accustomed to dragons as it was possible for one to get. This and her speed and stamina were the qualities that appealed most to Nilen, since she was also not any great exemplar of Runner-beauty.
"True we could have sent a dragon, but this is my job. Why waste a Rider's time?" He added, as though he had been over this particular explanation dozens of times.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:54 am
(( Hope it's okay that I jump in! ))
With all the news floating around the Weyr, it was a wonder that Renna was able to maintain her sanity at all. She liked to hear about people's lives, their stories as it were, but all anyone seemed to talk about as of late was this new Weyr. Riders were casting their ballots whether to stay or to go, but as a candidate, Renna was rooted firmly in Ista Weyr. Besides, she was already lying to her mother about why she was here in the first place. The idea of having to then make that lie even larger to accommodate more misinformation did not seem like a wise choice.
Still, the girl was bored, and she'd already finished her shift in the kitchen peeling tubers. She needed a friendly face, someone to take her mind off of what everyone was already discussing. With this in mind, she headed to the stables to check for the one friend she felt she really had at Ista -- Moira. Renna didn't mind runnerbeasts, had been dependent on them for travel (no dragons allowed under her mother's orders) for her entire life. As she approached, she noted three people in the area, two of whom seemed to be in their own conversation. She slipped by them, offering a polite smile, and instead approached the young girl standing off to the side. Keeping her voice low, she asked, "Have you seen Moira around? She works in the stables sometimes -- got really dark, choppy hair and a pissy frown a lot of the time." Her gaze flickered to the other two people, but returned to the girl quickly.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:38 am
"I wouldn't say a pretty runner, but she definitely looks capable," She couldn't help but comment on Uuni's strange compliment, tone amused. She was interrupted before she could continue, however.
Raising an arched brow as she was approached by a girl several years her junior, the curly-haired young woman pushed off of the stable divider she'd been resting on, derailed from continuing in the conversation.
"Moira?" Pursing her lips briefly in thought, she shook her head, tone sure. "I don't know her by name, but I've seen her. Hasn't been here for several candlemarks, though. No one but myself and the gentleman for at least two."
Running game tables in the dining hall, as well as doing most of her chores in the stables meant Avery was not only up to date on a lot of the comings and goings in the weyr, but also on the candidates in general. She recognized Renna, as well, but definitely didn't know her.
That answered, she shifted a bit closer to Uuni, curious hazel eyes moving from the older Candidate to the runner. In her opinion, there were plenty of reasons to send a rider, especially a young rider, since there was no thread after all. This man, specifically, was probably chosen for a particular reason.
"And what Hold would that be, sir?" Her light tone was polite, casual. "Oh, forgive my lapse in manners, I'm Avery, a Candidate from Katz Field Hold."
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:31 am
It wasn't like Uuni knew what pretty was. Runners all looked the same to her. It was so very nice of Avery to bring that to light and make her look like a fool without shoes. The annoyance was written all over her features as she carefully dodged the inquisitive horse.
She raised an eyebrow in his direction when he went off on the spiel about not wasting rider's time.
"They get on your case about that, do they?" As she thought this out, her brows furrowed and her face contorted a bit just in time for Avery to interrupt any further questioning she might have had.
That was all very reasonable, but knowing what Hold didn't do her a lick of good if she didn't know where that Hold was. "I think the polite one here is trying to tell me to introduce myself." She held out her hand to shake and gave him a slight wink. Maybe he'd find Avery almost as annoying as she did. Wouldn't that be nice? "I'm Uuni." He didn't need to know what Hold they pulled her out of.
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:14 pm
"Runner Nilen." The man begrudged her a hand to shake as Uuni and Avery introduced themselves. He wouldn't know this 'Moira' if she'd walked up and kicked him in the knee, so he dismissed that particular question as unanswerable for the present, though the questions on the Weyr made an faint smile twitch raggedly at the edge of his mouth.
"I spend most of my time at the Weyr there. But you'll find out soon enough where that is. Far be it from me to deprive the Gold Riders." He added with a faint shrug. "The riders at my own weyr do not, but certain people have come to the mistaken impression that riders are little more than extremely flashy messengers. Time'll come when they find out otherwise. Always does."
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:21 pm
Renna furrowed her brow as Avery walked away to involve herself in the conversation between the other two strangers. Odd -- where was Moira? It had been a couple days since the young Candidate had seen the girl, and with all this fuss about the new Weyr, she had been desperate to discuss it with her.
Preparing to slip from the stables, the girl paused at the realization of precisely who this unknown male was -- the runner who had set these things in motion, yes? So she hesitated, watching the introductions and beginning questions. Unsure of what to do, she took a step toward the group and said, "Hi, I'm Renna, a Candidate from Ista Hold. I didn't mean to barge in on you all, just looking for someone." Her eyes flickered between the collected group, trying to gauge expressions.
A small smile crept onto Renna's mouth at the mention of dragons as messenger-beasts. She imagined her mother would not even think so highly of them to assign that particular title. "Wouldn't want to deprive a Gold Rider," she echoed awkwardly. Hm. A bit awkward for her -- but she didn't want to leave. If this was the runner, maybe he would spill some piece of information that she hadn't caught so far.
Glancing to his runner beast, she added, "Hope it's not a long journey back for you. Fairly hot out there." Reaching a hand out, she idly patted the beast, taking her time in leaving.
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:27 pm
Strange, perhaps, that Avery was the only one to refrain from touching Nilen's runner. Or, not so, as the beastcrafter would never touch a rider's dragon without permission, nor would she touched someone's companion animal unless she was caring for it for allowed to greet it. Instead, she simply examined it with careful hazel eyes before smiling toothily at Uuni.
The brunette liked to talk badly about the bet-taker, sure, but she certainly kept coming back for more. She obviously liked something. And that like was mutual. One of her gloved hands found the older girl's lower back in a casual sort of way as she nodded, respecting Nilen's tactful way of turning down her request for information.
"Yes, I hear Favan is delighted." The curly-haired young woman's voice was wry and her grin grew, if possible. She was completely at ease and it was clear.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:16 am
Surrounded!! Nilen flicked his gaze over the slowly growing collection of people around him with a flicker of a frown crossing his curious features.
"I don't mind heat." He shrugged vaguely. They'd certainly get an idea why soon enough. He could tell them, but he'd already had enough trouble with one gold rider recently. "And it'll be long enough. Favan will make it there before I do." Which would be true of any Weyr. Dragons could, after all, go between, and his runner could not. But then he wasn't in a particular hurry. His longer meanderings would let him bring back more news of the world.
And second he'd certainly welcome the chance to stay out of Favan's way while she tried to get her footing in his home Weyr. He could only imagine what she'd make of some of the riders... and what they would make of her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:47 am
It was quite hot outside, Uuni noted with an involuntary shrugging of her shoulders at the thought. It was even more disastefully muggy because she had all of these clothes on to protect from burning. She missed snow.
"They do make good messengers," Uuni noted, although as to what she was referring was hard to say. It was mostly a moot point; her interest was caught by Renna's voice. When did she show up? Uuni considered paying more attention to her surroundings in the future, and then dismissed the thought as pointless.
It was a fast enough dismissal to notice Nilen's frown, and she was pleased that he seemed to have troubles with groups of interrogators. There was no denying that's what they were. Had they been of high rank, perhaps they'd be demanding things instead of just disguising it as polite conversation.
Gaining comfort from Avery's touch, she stepped back once into the pressure and simultaneously gave Nilen his space. "What do you think of Favan, Nilen?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "We won't say anything. Just between us. She'll be your Weyrwoman by the time you get back, right? You think she's up to the task?" From the sounds of it, he lived at the Weyr, or in the Hold, and she was curious if he was truly pleased about the arrangements in place for his home.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:45 pm
Nilen considered this pointed question a few moments, narrowing his eyes slightly as he let the gears grind in his mind.
"...Dragons will never replace Runners." He noted, assertively. "They're fast, but they're not meant for that end. Runners go places, runner's Listen. And Runners don't have the reputation that Dragonriders do in the Holds these days."
He snorted slightly at this thought. Upstarts. Ignorant upstarts, stewing in furious complacency.
"...It's not a question of what I -think- she can do. It's a question of what she does. She's never had this sort of power until now. She's definitely never had this kind of responsibility. The Gold dragon saw it in her, qualities that a leader might need. The Dragons are never -wrong-. The qualities are always there, they just don't always manifest as best they should." He turned an arched eyebrow on the gathering, twisting the corner of his mouth slightly. "...Past that she's got an impressive set of lungs."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:53 pm
Renna continued to rock on her heels, practically drinking up every word. She had never met Favan -- but she had heard plenty. Still, the young Candidate sometimes liked people who were just simply (and assertively) themselves. It surprised her that this messenger would speak so candidly about the Gold Rider who was about to be his Weyrwoman. She quirked an eyebrow at his choice of words, but didn't say anything. Sure, he was balancing it with quasi-positive comments, but the entire exchange made Renna wonder whether or not this other Weyr was at all excited for Favan's arrival.
"I'm just glad to have a bed to sleep in," she chimed in, rubbing at her neck. "The overcrowding had kept me sleeping on the floor for too long." Her gaze shifted between the gathered group, mind still contemplating Moira's location.
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