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 Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:54 pm
The day was cloudless and shiny- Jadamirei’s favorite time of day. She had been told she could have the morning off- a rare prize in itself. Then again, she'd been working for the last several days with little but meals off- mending, kitchen chores, tossing muck- chores that weren't even all her own! And so she’d taken her bubbly pies, her flute, and a small gitar was strapped to her back for later, if it were needed.
Her long black hair was pulled back in a tight braid and then pinned back up to the back of her head, and she wore loose breeches in a fawn-tan color with a plain blue-green top. In her hand, she held the watering pot that one of the other Candidates had thrown at her, asking her to finish up with the watering trays for a few moments while they took care of ‘necessities’. So here she was, on her day off, on a sunny day with an endless sky.
Wonderful. Truly wonderful. Her skin was warming in the sun, seeping through her bones and making her heart flutter with happiness. Simple pleasures for simple minds.
She couldn’t resist- the Candidate did a happy twirl, water spraying around her in a small circle as she gave a gleeful, childish spin, before glancing around to make sure no one had been around. That would be horribly embarrassing!
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:14 pm
Oh but someone had gotten soaked, and Yulu stared down at the water that was slowly leaking itself across the front of her clothing. Who in the name of Faranth would be outside watering so close to the winter season, really?! Her mind was screaming that at her, though her actual amount of talking amount to little more than an unhappy grunt.
She'd been wearing less than usual today in an effort to try and spare herself having to peel it all off should the need to use the bathroom arrive quickly, but now that she was wet it turned out that less was still less and she now was soaking. Her frown deepened, and she raised her dark eyes towards the culprit of her now unhappy situation.
Faranth, there was many a thing she could say too, to this person who appeared to be an airhead, but all that came out of her mouth as she opened it was a well-timed sneeze. Yulu didn't deal well with the cold, not at all.
" . . . . "
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:44 pm
She spun- a downright happy spin, water trickling from the pot.
That was the moment that she saw the ma…wo… passerby... who had gotten soaked by the spray. Oh dear… That wasn’t any good! Jada immediately set down the watering can, face clearly showing her guilt as she hurried over to the stranger.
Behind the dark haired girl, a green firelizard made a noise that clearly said ‘You are in trouble! Haha!’ “Are you alright? I am-“ and then the other person sneezed. Oh, dear! “I am so sorry!” She desperately wished she had taken a jacket with her. “I… Well…” she was beet red, looking horribly… incomposed.
Was this a guy? Was this a girl? It was about her height. What did it matter? This person was getting chilled! A slim, slightly calloused hand reached out gingerly, patting the cold, damp figure apologetically on the shoulder. “I have some warm bubbly pies, if you want to dry off somewhere and get something warm in your tummy?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:12 pm
"Not to doubt what you're saying, but how is a bubbly pie supposed to dry me off? I should rub it on myself?"
Yulu was doing her best to stay civil, though her tone had quickly dropped to that of someone who was quite annoyed with their situation. Not only had she been sprayed, but this girl seemed to be a complete and total deadglow - just her luck.
"I could use a set of clothes though, I'm going to freeze at this rate. Do you have anything I could borrow, if we're closer to your room? Mine is on the other side of the barracks and it would take too long for me to get there."
She was only asking because this girl looked about her size, and Yulu wasn't ashamed to get something from someone she'd just met. Her health was really important, more important than pride anyway, since a sick person or a dead person cold not stand to Impress.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:14 pm
Jadamirei slightly raised an eyebrow at the annoyed tone, before tsking and pushing a bubbly pie into the other Candidate's hands. “It won’t get you dry, but it will hopefully keep you warmed inside until we can get you clothing.” She grinned. “Which I have a few things that should fit you.” She set the watering can down carefully, and started moving towards her room, gesturing the stranger to follow.
“My name is Jada.” She said conversationally as she led the other along. “You are?” Even as she asked, she was fretting, trying to think about what she had in her closet. Had…. Had her mending been taken today, like she’d asked for? If so, what would she have for the other person with her to wear, other than…
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:15 pm
She took the pie from the girl as it was pushed into her hands anyway, and Yulu sighed as she could only nod her head and take a few bites of it. It was rather good, different from the ones back at the Hall anyway, and it did indeed fill her insides with a warmth.
When the girl she was with, Jadamirei she called herself, said that Yulu could indeed borrow something, she gave a small grunt of thanks in between trying to swallow what she had in her mouth. Yulu possessed a man's appetite to be sure, always hungry and always eating more than her share.
"The name's Yulu, and sorry for the trouble."
She didn't know why she was saying sorry, but this wasn't as much of an apology as it was a conditioned response. Yulu had been taught at the Hall that a Healer must take command but be not afraid to apologize even when they were the one in the right. . .and this seemed like one of those times.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:16 pm
“No trouble, it was my fault for spinning around like a wherry before looking to see if anybody was around.” The smile she tossed back at ‘Yulu’ was genuine, and she looked a little pleased as she noticed the other had taken a bite of the pie.
It…. It was still such a nice day, that she found herself skipping just a little bit and humming a little as she led Yulu to her room in the Candidate barracks. It was, incidentally, closer to where they had been then Yulu’s room. Yay! “So, Yulu, are you a Candidate as well?” She couldn’t place the name as a young dragonrider, and she didn’t think Yulu was the name of one of the new greenriders.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:18 pm
"A candidate? Yeah, was brought here right before that last Impression. I did some of the triage afterward when we were cleaning up those kids. Shame they died, but it's not like it hasn't happened before. Sands are not commonly covered with blood, but that doesn't mean they never will be."
Yulu sound unemotional as she spoke about the bodies, those two who would never rise to Stand again. She hadn't known them so it wasn't like she would mourn their loss. . . but knowing Yulu, even if she had there would be no tears. Getting attached to people seemed to be a problem of hers, a certain distance always between herself and others.
"When did you get here?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:21 pm
“D-Died.” If Yulu was looking at Jadamirei as she spoke of the last Impression attempt, she would see that the girl had gone as pale as if she herself had died, and the young Harper apprentice reached out to rest her hand on the wall as though it would steady a world that went swimming at the overactive mental image of the Sands as a giant mudpit- but it wasn’t water and sand, it was blood and sand.
The thought made her nauseated, and she swallowed. Yes… she was absolutely terrified of the thought of something happening to her like what had happened to those lifeless, faceless Candidates. Her heart ached for their families- or had they even been mourned? She managed to hide her reaction to that painful thought. Life in the Weyr was harsher than her childish fantasies had led her to believe. After all, she reflected as she rubbed her slowly-callousing hands together, in the fantasies Candidates didn’t shovel dung and do manual labor all day.
“I came not long after the last Hatching, maybe a sevenday late?” she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Give or take. I heard plenty about the- the massacre- though. Do you think… the next Hatching will be like it? Bloody, I mean? I…. I’ve never thought to ask if deaths are common.” There was no way of hiding the fact that she was pale now, visibly upset at the thought of other people being wounded and dying. Even if it was said that the dragonets didn’t understand until they Impressed, that they couldn’t harm a human once they had found Theirs… was it really such a magical bonding?
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:28 pm
"Who can say? We're told not to count or think about our dragons before they hatch, so who knows if the sands will be red again on this next go around. I've heard there are times when there's nothing at all happening, and then times when many people are slaughtered out there. All we can do is watch and wait, and all I can do is assist whenever I'm needed."
Yulu did notice that the girl she'd been speaking with had gone rather pale, but it didn't faze her. At the hall she was used to seeing people balk at the thought of blood and some even faint at the sight of it, so reactions like this were nothing new. She did think that this Jada girl would need to man up before the next Impression though if she wanted to be worth anything, but that could mean nothing in the end if the dragon who looked to her was a coward as well.
"But you know, if people never got hurt then healers like me would go out of work. It's my job to patch people up when they get bloody and I certainly would be angry to have to stop doing what I want to do. I didn't come here from the hall to just sit around and maybe Impress, I came here in order to do things as well."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:45 pm
Jada decided right then and there that her hopes and fantasies to Impress her first hatching would be changing to a hope for a bloodless hatching. Yes, that was much wiser.
Yulu's last words angered her, and she whirled on her, face still pale, but lips gone almost bloodless with rage. It was visible on her face, even though when she spoke her voice was controlled, tightly. "That's selfish of you to say, don't you think? These are lives. As a healer, shouldn't you be glad when people aren't hurt?" her hands were shaking and she forced them to still. "I understand wanting to do things, but I'm sure they could find things for you to do that wouldn't involve slaughter. People get hurt all the time without being killed."
She turned back around, continuing to guide the other Candidate towards the barracks. "Perhaps I misunderstood your meaning in it, and if so I apologize." she couldn't stand the confrontation, but she'd lost her temper. "It might be nature, it might be accidental, but its sad."
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:25 pm
"As a Healer, my personal feelings don't matter when it comes to people nor do my preferences. As a person I don't like feeling idle, so I can't help wanting what I want so you shouldn't try and tell me otherwise."
Yulu didn't care if she was understood or misunderstood. This girl wasn't anything important to her at the moment so it's not like she valued her opinion. She was only here for warm clothing, her shivering body a reminder that they needed to hurry up with this exchange before the chances of Yulu catching a cold slowly increased.
"But if it means anything, I'd rather people didn't die - not on my watch. Death to a Healer means failure on your own behalf, be it that you didn't work fast enough or you just didn't know enough. There is almost nothing I can't treat. So don't worry about what you've said, you can't offend or upset me."
The woman shrugged her shoulders, her clothing sticking closer to her frame and revealing several lines across her chest. It looked like she had bandaged herself across the bust, but for what purpose?
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:28 pm
Luckily for Yulu, it was only another minute or so before they were there, Jada ushering the other female into the barrack she was in before digging through the trunk at the end of her bed. The first things to go flying were a pair of dark leather cloves... two warm-looking cloaks... and dresses. The young woman seemed to have no end to dresses, but not a single pair of breeches like the ones she currently wore.
In reality, it was only three dresses. A pale cream one, a bright blue dress, and a bland-looking grey dress that was slightly ragged and obviously not often wore. She had a fre spare jackets, but nothing remotely masculine.
Jada scowled at her clothing, regretting the fact her pants were at the laundry. She scowled at her clothing, not liking the way Yulu seemed so casual about what she did. To hear her say some of the things she was annoyed her. Frustrated her. The smile that she gave to the girl as she turned around was slightly strained, slightly bewildered. She'd never had such a long encounter with someone like Yulu.
"I hope the binding on your chest means you're a girl, because all I have are dresses." And Yulu wouldn't fit very well in Jada's breeches.
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:53 pm
"Dress, eh? Not a favorite of mine, but I won't look a gift runnerbeast in the mouth. I am thankful for whatever you may provide me with to wear."
Yulu wasn't going to say which dress liked better or which was worse, leading down to whatever she'd prefer to wear. If anything Yulu would have rather bitten her tongue off and drowned in her own blood than shove herself into a dress, but seeing as she was starting to shake from the cold that clung to her wet clothing she had no choice. Thankfully short hair always dried quickly so she didn't have to worry about getting sick from that point.
She forced her own thin smile of sorts across her face, doing her best to stay pleasant despite her lack of interesting with her present company.
"And yes, I am biologically female. I find it easier to move around the Weyr and perform duties with my breasts bound, and it also helps me get into places without having to worry about status. I'm not pretty in the face so I can pass for a man quite well."
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:02 pm
Jada pulled out a towel as well as the dress and ushered the other girl behind a changing curtain. "Go get changed and dried off, and I'll go get your clothes hung to dry." She stood outside the curtain, a single pale hand outstretched in patient expectation. In the end it was the cream dress that was provided for Yulu. It had ample room for a chest, and may actually need to be drawn in if the other girl was too small. But the waist would fit, and the length looked right.
Plus the blue was Jadamirei's favorite, having been a gift from her mother before going to the Weyr.
"You're not ugly either." Jada couldn't let a self-disparaging comment like that go without at least some comment. "Don't you dress up at least every once in a while?"
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