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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:23 am
Tanda pulled her hair on top of her head and secured it with a slender stick about as long as her hand. The resulting hairstyle was messy, but she really didn't care. Her only plans for the evening involved the hot springs and then bed. Other people really didn't figure in. It wasn't that she'd forgotten about morning sickness or swelling body parts or pregnancy's other charms, but somehow she'd been under the impression that they wouldn't apply to her or something to that effect. The fact that they did, and with a vengeance, was making her somewhat less cheery than usual. A hot soak would do her good.
On her way to the hot springs she managed to avoid almost everyone, but her luck didn't hold at the springs themselves. There were people there, and most of them knew her at least tangentially. For once not in the mood to discuss her pregnancy or entertain speculation about the father of her child, she made her way toward someone unfamiliar. Maybe the fact that they didn't know each other at all would forestall any conversation, and she could just float and enjoy the near-weightlessness in peace.
Still, Tanda's upbringing required her to at least greet the other young woman politely as she sank into the water, which she did. She thought the young woman might be one of the riders from Ista, but she wasn't really sure. She didn't tend to keep track of female riders unless they were people she'd had a hand in raising or knew in some other capacity.
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:32 pm
The springs are too hot. And the air is too cold. Astarteth complained. The green was soaking in the springs, wings wide open and mouth slightly ajar. For once, the green wasn't so much acting like a diva as more like a spoilt brat. Paddling around, she tried to get comfortable but was still being snarky to her rider. You shouldn't stay up on the rocks. Come in and be with me. I need you.
Deep down, no matter what happened, Kallista would love her dragon until the day they died. But, as she rubbed her temples over and over again, if her green didn't rise soon she was lible to strangle her. Greatly. And then jump off a cliff. "Dearest. I am right here, close by. If you want to catch the bronze's eyes, you really should get out of the water before you become a wrinkled dragon skin."
Just as a rounded woman was getting into the springs, Astarteth chose to get out and shower her with water. In fact, she showered everyone within distance with water droplets and didn't care one bit. Fine. But once I am dry I want to be oiled. And then, maybe we can go sun.
Kallista sat up and winced as the water hit her and the woman who had just greeted her. Trying not to groan and very tempted to smack her dragon, she tried to make some semblance of an apology. "Sorry about that. Astarteth is in a mood and I'm afraid won't get much better. Are you okay down there?"
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:09 pm
Tanda blinked and shook her head as she was sprayed by a dragon emerging from the springs. Who had brought their dragon to the springs? There was a lake which was more of a size to accommodate dragons. That was where they belonged. The green was too large to be from any of the recent clutches, either. Did she belong to the...Ah, yes. The woman Tanda had just greeted. Lovely.
"I'll live," she replied. If her response lacked its usual good cheer, at least it wasn't actually hostile. She might well have snapped at the rider for any number of reasons, but she refrained. All she wanted to do was relax in warm water, and getting into a fight with a rider wouldn't be conducive to that at all.
Unfortunately, Tanda's omnipresent green firelizard, Rayana, was not so willing to forgive. She didn't mind bathing with Tanda, and would even play in the water sometimes, but she didn't appreciate being spattered with water unexpectedly by someone who wasn't her person. And her person was annoyed, too. She could tell. With that knowledge bolstering her confidence, the striped green took wing and chattered angrily at the much larger green.
"Raya, leave be," Tanda called to the firelizard. She could have issued the command mentally, but she knew that it would look better if she verbally called the firelizard off. Like she was actually taking some sort of action, rather than allowing the flit to tire herself out and return.
Even after being called back, Raya continued to chitter and hiss. Didn't the dragon know that there were other people around, or was she too big to see around her own bulk? Rayana's person was going to have a little person and that made her important and the big green should be careful or else Raya would be forced to become stern with her, and she wouldn't like that, now would she?
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 7:57 pm
Astarteth turned and looked at the round person and the green flit that was chittering at her. Very carefully, she huffed at the creature. Turning her head to her beloved, she started on the complaining again. Such noisy creatures. I hope you never get one. Can we go sun now? I need to get warm again.
"You were just in the springs! It doesn't get much hotter than that! I am sorry again. Astar tends to only think of herself and may not realized that some people do not want to get sprayed by dragons." Kallista glared at her dragon, her good nature finally starting to fray. Looking the girl over, she tried to give a good natured shrug. "Those we let into our lives, eh? They drive us to madness but we would be lost without them. I am Kallista. Sorry to meet under such...damp circumstances."
If she did not want to get wet, she should move. Astarteth huffed. Stretching her wings out and looking herself over, she warbled in a none too pleasant tone. She is lucky I did not step on her. I am going to go glide the thermals.
"Astarteth! You better go somewhere before I smack you like a naughty child that you are behaving like... I swear, I will be happy when she rises. Though I know like next to none of the riders here. I think my fear is holding her back." Kallista spoke randomly out loud. The nice thing about being in a weyr was that even if the person you were speaking with was not a rider, they could still relate someway, somehow.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:45 pm
Raya curled her tail around her human's throat and cheeped softly, asking if she'd done anything wrong. When Tanda hummed a very soft reassurance that the green could feel vibrating against her tail her eyes turned blue once more and she whistled. At her whistle a second green appeared from between. The second green was larger and darker, and also considerably older, being nearly a full turn. She took up residence on Tanda's opposite shoulder and let her tail trail down the deeply tan woman's chest.
"As I said, I'll live." Tanda closed her eyes. "I'm already in the water, after all, and I suspect that I'll be wetter before I go back to my bed this evening."
The hot water felt good on her tired legs and swollen feet and sore back. She had long ago ceased to notice the mineral odor the springs gave off, and could enjoy them in near-perfect bliss at this point in her life. The only thing keeping her from being perfectly content was that she was still uncomfortably pregnant and only going to get more so. She just wanted a baby. This pregnancy stuff was ridiculous.
"I'm Tanda," she repeated. Possibly when she introduced herself at first the rider had been conversing with her dragon and not attending. Growing up in the Weyr had conditioned Tanda to being ignored in that way. It didn't offend her as it might a holder, or someone who was unused to dragonriders and their vagaries. "I work in the creche with the children. You're one of the Istan riders, aren't you?"
She'd attended every hatching since her brother was old enough to stand, and she would have remembered this pair Impressing, she thought, even though it was not her habit to note female riders. Such a vain creature would surely have been memorable, right from the egg. Tanda thought of these things, rather than pointing out that smacking naughty children was only effective in certain situations, and this wouldn't be one of them.
"Proddy," she said. It wasn't a question. It explained much, though. "For your sake, I hope she rises soon, too. I hear that's the worst time for a rider. And since you don't know anyone well enough to have preferences, you'll end up meeting new people in one of the most awkward ways imaginable. I don't envy you."
A smile curved her mouth as she thought about how she'd participated in flights. Never with the intense bond of a rider, but she'd lain with many riders as a stand-in or as first choice, depending on the man. She was probably one of the best-qualified women in the Weyr to offer advice and opinions. Trouble was, she didn't know what kind of sensibilities the Istan riders came with. Obviously it wasn't polite to discuss that sort of thing, but people did it all the time.
"I was born here, you know. As was my father. I could probably tell you about many of the riders with dragons likely to give chase, if you'd like." The back of her mind told her that this was a bad idea. She didn't currently have a partner of her own, and thinking of past relationships would only make her frustrated.
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:46 pm
"Tanda. Yes, I transferred from Ista. If ypu want warm waters, you shall have to wait until you are doing bearing your child and I will take you there some time. Water so clear, you can see your toes and all that swims around them." Kallista spoke wistfully of her former home.
greenAstarteth, in the meanwhile, was coasting the thermals flirting with any brown or bronze that happened to catch her eye. Her skin was practically glowing but she wasn't ready. Not yet. She had to wait for her rider... Once she was calm enough, then the real game could begin.
"Yes. Proddy. Something that can not be avoided. So I shall do what she wills and in the aftermath, I shall still be a rider and still be hers which is more important than anything." Kallista smiled ruefully at the thought. Lost in her dragon for a moment, she failed to register what Tanda had said. "Eh? Really? I have only stuck with those in H'pez's wing. And now that his is Weyrleader, I feel like all I ever do is practice."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:40 pm
Tanda smiled at the thought of water like that. The water in the lake was clear, but frigid. She had grown up with it, and so she was used to it, but the idea of tropical water was very appealing. Still, it could never be. Going to Ista would mean going between, and that would mean flying.
"You are kind to offer, Kallista, but I have an unfortunate terror of heights which would make such a journey impossible for me. Unless your green can go between without leaving the ground?" She grinned to let the greenrider know she was joking. She knew dragons didn't do that except at very, very great need.
Tanda shaded her eyes and looked up at the green dragon, whose hide was particularly brilliant-looking. She was definitely close to rising, Tanda thought. She'd been through a lot of flights, and she was pretty good at telling when a green was going into heat. And even if she hadn't Astarteth's hide to go by, the dragon's behavior was definitely coquettish, at least to someone who was used to looking at them.
"H'pez is a good man," Tanda said. She'd never slept with him, but she knew him by reputation. "But that's not very helpful to you, I suppose. There are lots of good men at the Weyr."
She rubbed Raya's eye ridges absently and Shibra paddled around in the water nearby, cheeping delightedly. She could float atop the water if she chose, but she preferred to swim, odd little creature. Raya nestled on Tanda's chest and crooned softly.
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you come north? Did something happen at Ista?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:28 pm
"Unfortunately no. At our best, we could just walk off a cliff and work on it that way." Kallista smiled letting the girl Tanda know what she said was mostly in jest. Pulling her knees to her chest, the rider watched her dragon idly, the realization that she would be with a stranger in the most intimate of positions weighing on her mind. Before at Ista, flights were fun and she knew everyone... Here... Why had she come?
"H'pez is a fair man. I can appreciate that. Some here don't care for me riding Astar." Her mind was still wandering, thoughts in the clouds with her green.
"Why? Because Ista was sent a notice from the Weyrleaders of High Reaches and Telgar that they knew we were over crowded. Badly. Before I left there were lice, plagues, rationed hunting... It was terrible. And when they asked who wanted to go... Well, I had never seen the Northern Continent before.. Or snow. A rider never turns their back on those in need," Kallista drifted off watching the two flits enjoying the day. "Have you ever wanted to go someplace else?"
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 1:25 pm
Tanda winced. That method seemed even worse than the usual one. She would rather keep her feet on the ground. For that matter, she would prefer that said ground was as close to sea level as possible. She didn't even like looking over the edge of her younger brother's weyr, and his was not one of the highest in the Weyr.
"You think it's bad here? You should take a gander at Telgar. Their views on females riding fighting dragons are incredibly harsh, I'm told." She'd never been to Telgar Weyr. She didn't have much interest in going there. Her upbringing had been a mixture of her father and grandfather's traditional values and the Weyr's more forgiving ones, but she enjoyed the freedoms she got from ignoring her family's views on female inferiority.
"I can't see why they'd have a problem with you, though, as long as you know everything you're supposed to about riding. I'd think they'd be quizzing you about Ista's tactics and formations to see if there's anything to be learned there." when B'shir became wingleader - her familial pride in and affection for him had her convinced that he would someday achieve that rank - she'd make sure he took advantage of resources like Kallista.
"I had no idea it was so bad down there," Tanda said truthfully. She couldn't imagine having such an overpopulation problem. Were it not for the fact that a Weyr's population was in a permanent state of flux due to candidates coming and going, Tanda could almost say that she recognized everyone in the Weyr. Maybe she wasn't personally acquainted with each and every one, but she knew them all by name and face at least.
"I can't say I've ever felt much of an urge to travel, no. I can't fly on dragonback, even though I have easy access to dragons, and I haven't the patience for a journey overland. Besides, I wouldn't even know where to go. I have everything and everyone I need right here." She shrugged and Raya chirped.
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:37 pm
"Oh, I have heard tales of Telgar and I am glad I picked the right place. Igen is like that too... Not too keen on female riders. I don't get it because the dragon picks the rider and you can't say a dragon isn't good enough." Kallista replied not the least bit concerned that she wasn't worthy. Astarteth certainly was...
Eyes still in the sky, the rider silently wondered who her lovely was showing off for and how much longer it was before her dragon overran her own thoughts. "It was getting better when I chose to leave. The bugs and plague were gone... Some riders and candidates have moved to Igen and I talked my closest friend into coming here. Though we rarely meet except on seventh day."
Kallista laughed when Tanda mentioned the not having the patience for a land journey. How long ago her former life seemed to her. Like a different section of wher-hide but the same lesson. "I was a Runner before I was searched."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:12 am
"Was Igen someplace you considered going?" Tanda asked, beckoning for Shibra to come closer so she could rub her eye ridges, too. Raya had climbed onto her shoulder and had begun to play with her hair.
"My family's from Igen. I guess I wouldn't mind going there, just to see what it's like, and maybe not be the darkest girl in the entire place for once." She didn't really mind having darker skin than most people, actually. She liked the distinction it gave her. And she wasn't nearly as dark as the men in her family. A'ram was very dark indeed, and getting darker as he got older, and her father was also very dark. B'shir's coloring was diluted by two generations of blondes, but he was still darker than anyone else in his generation, from what Tanda could tell.
"I'm glad you didn't come here to find the entire Weyr full of strangers. I think that would be incredibly difficult." She grinned. "I'm sorry you came to another place with plague."
She knew some of the circumstances surrounding the plague outbreak, actually, and had been wondering when they would bring her brother back. Then she wondered how her brother was faring. She hadn't heard from him lately, though she continued to send Shibra to him once every three days to check whether or not he had anything to send back with his green. Sometimes he had letters, but not for a while now. She had no doubt he was managing well.
"A runner?" Tanda shook her head, provoking a soft scolding from Raya, whose tender ministrations were interrupted by the movement of her human's head. "I guess you would be used to the idea of travel, then. Have you ever made it as far as Ghenza in your travels?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:32 pm
"Not really no. I was very happy at Ista. Plague filled and over crowded as it was, I still had a nice small group of friends and my Weyrleaders seemed genuinely okay." Kallista played with the water and tried to keep her voice calm. Astarteth was making her way over to the heights and had closed her rider off to any comments she might be making to others of her kind.
Idly, she watched the two flits play and wondered what it would be like to have a miniature dragon to play with... She could only do so much playing with Astar. "Igen is sandy as Ista is tropical. I never really visited there. Ista is an island so I never actually made it to the mainland until I transferred here. I was always on Ista but I know practically every part of it by heart. I started training when I was 12 and was Searched when I was 16. Impressed the first time I stood. As for Ghenza, unless I am needed to run an errand there, I doubt I will be visitng any time soon."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:11 am
Tanda nodded. She knew how that went. But she still couldn't understand why Kallista would decide to transfer if she'd had a group of friends that she liked and her weyrleaders were all right. Plague and crowding, Tanda supposed, but she knew that she wouldn't have been able to make herself leave High Reaches if it came to that. She would have said let someone else be self-sacrificing and leave. She loved her home too much to think of leaving it.
"Do you keep in contact with your friends at Ista?" Tanda asked, scooping Shibra out of the water and depositing her back in it, closer to where she was. She didn't want her brother's green to get in trouble or bother anyone. Shibra was a good 'lizard and she'd been responding well to Tanda's attempts to train her, but sometimes she just wandered off.
"Ah. I didn't realize they had runner stations on Ista, but I suppose they would have to. Istans need messages delivered, too, and not everyone can rely on flit and dragon. How would you have gotten to the mainland if you'd been called upon to deliver a message there?" She asked this idly, neither interested nor disinterested, merely making conversation.
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:43 pm
"No. Not really. T'ka, L'thor, and K'lan transferred here with me and we keep in touch the best we can. It's a busy life being a dragon rider, even without Thread falling." Kallista tapped the side of her cheek with a finger as she went back to watching and sharing her dragon's mood. How much time did she have? A day, maybe two?
"I would never have been called upon to take a message to the Northern Continent. Anyone who needed to send a message that far usually had enough marks for a dragon or flit to take their message. Otherwise, only the older and more experience runners would go." Kallista filled her in on the lifestyles of the tropic island. Or at least, runners. They had no ranks like other crafts did...
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 11:35 am
"I know," Tanda said. "There are two riders in my family who I've had many opportunities working and training."
She didn't imagine that Kallista's tone was patronizing, but it rankled just a little. As if anyone who lived and worked in the Weyr was unaware of what went into being a rider. Or as if it was any less difficult to perform any other task well. Tanda would have bet her last mark that if she and the greenrider traded places, Kallista would drop from exhaustion dealing with the children of the creche long before Tanda tired of riding on a dragon's back. She respected dragonriders, but their general disrespect for other crafts, barring the ones they'd come from if they were Searched, was irksome.
The talk of runners was beginning to bore Tanda. She'd seen a few in the Weyr every so often, discharging their duties, but they didn't hold much interest for her. The women were generally flat-chested and the men were all so skinny. True, they were all muscle, but it wasn't the sort Tanda found particularly eye-pleasing, having been raised around the different musculature of dragonriders and weyrworkers.
Rayana crooned softly to her human, reminding her to stay calm and happy. The striped green summoned her companion with a chirp and in concert they hummed what the considered happy noises, though their humming was discordant and not really all that pleasant to listen to. These were not singing firelizards who could tune themselves, apparently. Raya sent happy feelings that went along the lines of babybabybaby and Shibra continued to hum.
"I should probably be going," Tanda said. "I've had my soak, and I still have to dry and dress before I go to dinner with my family. It was nice talking to you."
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