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 Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:53 pm
Latrines? Really? Why was she digging latrines? Oh, right, she was a Candidate. At least she would have plenty of time to herself, or mostly, with the peace of potty-digging and the scent of other people's s**t. Her plain face was wreathed in a small scowl, but she did her job in silence.
She wasn't the fastest worker, for those who observed; in fact, she was pretty slow, not having the strength of body to lift more than a little at a time. And she was lifting incorrectly, without a doubt, bending from the waist and hauling up the same way. Her short red hair was pulled back into a ponytail. But she was working with style- even with the bottoms of her pants streaked with dirt and poo, she held herself like she was in the middle of the Hold again.
Maybe, she reflected idly, they were trying to break her. After all, she was the newest come to the Weyr, or one of. And instead of using her talents, they had her digging holes in the dirt. Or they were trying to drive her crazy. She had no doubt that they knew she was from Tailorcraft Hall. Why didn't they put their Candidates in places where they could be of real use, and not ache for most the day?
All of this, naturally, was in her head. Outwardly, she worked in stoic silence, face neutral. Either way, she admitted to herself, it wasn't her decision. She'd decided to come here, that was as good as she got in her position. She had signed herself away for the experience, and for hope of a Dragon. Hard work like this was alien to her, and it showed in the way her arms were beginning to shake.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:04 pm
It was either dig latrines or dig trenches outside that came up as Yulu's list of options for the day, her time spent pulling kitchen chores long over thanks to an argument she had a few days back, so when the weather stayed chilled Yulu took her shovel towards the loo. It wasn't like she was unused to coming back to the barracks smelling like something no one desired, and she was rather in the mood for a decent soak that evening. It would work out well since Yulu figured the only people working with her would be the new lot, and it gave her a chance to see who would be standing on the sands.
It also, for thankful reasons, kept her away from L'pin. As much as she found herself enjoying his presence, he was starting to make her feel uneasy. Not uneasy as in threatened, but uneasy as in curious about things no one would ever ask in her family. But anyway, moving along.
She picked a spot a decent part away from all the other candidates and began to dig in, her work quite fast compared to those who were unused to such heavy lifting. She started to hum a bit as she moved, keeping time to help the work go faster.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:57 pm
Verianne was finally shaking so badly that she felt the shovel fall from nerveless fingers a moment before she fell onto her knees next to it. The redhead looked more annoyed than anything else, staring at her leather-clad, shaking, traitorous hands. After a second she stretched out her arms and pushed them above her head, listening to the cracking sounds her tired back made.
It was one thing to be a tailorcraft apprentice, another thing entirely to be a Candidate. Both were hard on the arms, but latrines were murder. She reached out and grabbed her shovel again, tiredly pulling herself back up. That little break would have to be enough.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:40 pm
Yulu had paused in her work as well, if only to get a chance to look over at the piece of work that was trying to do things nearby. She was watching them intently, how they seemed to be getting little bouts of energy here and there, and to be honest Yulu was rather amused. The new Candidates were always so obvious with their lack of stamina and overall ability to do anything in the Weyr.
"You know it always hurts more to get started after you stop. Your body needs to be pushed through the pain so that way you'll be able to keep going. Resting only makes you feel it and your levels of adrenaline drop, causing you to get drowsy."
It was rare that she offered advice, but in Yulu's case she only spoke up because she knew that whatever these other people didn't finish. . . she would have to. Eventually, anyway.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:07 am
"I'll keep that in mind for when I decide to take a break." Verianne's voice was dry as she glanced over at the young man who had spoken to her. He obviously knew what he was doing with the digging thing. And he'd probably been here for a while, being so comfortable with the chore he was assigned. She glanced at him sidelong and shifted her body, trying to get a better idea of just how he was lifting the dirt back up. She hadn't meant to be so acerbic, but it did happen.
Her shoveling was still pitifully small, but mocking the other body at least helped a little bit. Even if it did make her feel like a little chick. "Thank you." she said finally. "If it weren't achingly obvious, I'm a little new to this particular chore."
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:15 pm
"Hmm? Well, we're all new to it at some point in time. It's one of those many things that sadly takes practice to get used to, or else you end up getting good at swapping chores with others. I find myself to have somehow gotten a mixture of both in my system, though I can't say I don't enjoy the hard work. It keeps me from being idle and at least gets the Candidatemaster off my back."
Yulu stopped talked and started shoveling, her motions fluid and the amount she moved nearly doubling as her pace increased. She would laugh to remember how painfully slow she had been her first time doing the latrines, and it hadn't even been a full Turn since then. It was amazing how quickly the human body would force itself to adjust to pressures.
The way she held her hands on the shovel had something to do with how quickly she was going, though no verbal hints would be given.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:25 am
"I didn't know we were allowed to swap chores." she seemed to perk up a bit at that. Could she possibly find someone willing to take on all her harder chores in exchange for her doing their indoor chores? It had been several minutes, almost ten in fact, since she had last spoken, when she did so again. "Happen to know the names of people who enjoy this kind of work?" Though the thought of doing this meaning that the Candidatemaster wouldn't be on her back though, and that she could avoid any kind of confrontation... "I heard someone say some pretty mean stuff about him. Was it real, or had they just gotten a talking to?"
She had long since shifted the way she held the shovel, though her shakiness was more and more pronounced. Now half of the dirt she lifted onto the shovel fell off before she got it out of the pit. Still, Verianne didn't complain, almost taking Yulu's silence as some sort of a training challenge to get better at the task she had been assigned.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:18 am
"We're not allowed to swap chores, but seldom do people actually go behind and check what they've assigned us so long as you get back to where you need to be before inspection comes around. You can go and do whatever you please, have someone else do it for you - but you need to be the one there in the end to get it checked off. They find someone else doing your job and you can imagine what will happen after that point."
Yulu rotated her shoulder as she tossed another shovelful up and over, her area nearly clean, and she had to press her lips together in an effort to keep from saying anything else at the slow progress this other person was making. Did they not know how to do basic chores? Where had they come from before entering this Weyr?
"As for the rumor about gossip, I don't know. Everyone badmouths everyone at some point in time, and it's not in me to try and spread it. I'm the kinda guy who doesn't like adding fuel to the fire."
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:36 pm
"I see." she said, an easy enough reply, one that she gave to both of Yulu's statements. And then she was back to her chore. It was tedious, and she couldn't wait for the lunch break. Luckily it was growing steadily closer to lunch, and she was assigned something different in the afternoon.
Lift.
Heave.
Lift.
Heave.
She could hear noises from above, roars and inarticulate calls as wingriders met for practices in the skies and in the bowl. No looking up, she finally sighed, shoving the tool she was using into the dirt and leaning against it. Just a moment, she promised herself. Three clean, deep breaths and she would get back to work.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:03 pm
Yulu for her part had moved to a different section, the area she'd started on already cleared and no long in need of a hand to finish it off. She was pleased with how quickly she seemed to be moving today, a lot faster than her average, and she made a note to try and remember what it was she ate for breakfast. Perhaps eating it again later on would provide with the same amount of energy, allowing her to accomplish more at all her tasks.
Or something.
She took a pause of her own when the sounds of dragons flooded in overhead, and slowly Yulu's gaze turned down to the woman from before who seemed so weak to all of this. Yet another break?
"Taking another break?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:37 pm
"Yeah." she sounded bland, blank; Impatience danced between eyes that were turned away from Yulu. "I'm taking a few breaths." Shards, what did this guy consider a break? It didn't matter anyways. Less than a candle-mark left until she was due for food and hydration, followed by kitchen duty. The shovel was dug into the ground, stamped with a small foot. Followed by mroe silence.
This redhead really wasn't very social.
When the hour was up, she gave Yulu a wave. "Thanks for the tips. I'll remember them." And then she was trotting away.
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