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 Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:23 am
As was to be expected as soon as dark fell the Weyr was abuzz with commotion. Since the hatching had ended earlier that day people had been running back and forth to prepare for the feast. The weather outside was pleasant enough that the festivities were to be held outside. A dance space was set up, with a stage for the harpers. Tables lined the dance space and near the center were tables ladened with food. The Headwoman had been working the kitchen staff constantly to prepare the meal for everyone. This needed to be a happy occasion, which meant good food and a fair amount of drink.
This night needed to be remembered fondly. There were new dragons among the ranks, a young and healthy gold among them. The hatching had been a bit roughly than most. There had been more hatchlings go between than they were used to, but they had to persevere. Regardless of the sad times of today, there was no need to ruin the happiness of the new pairs with thoughts of unpleasantness. Soon enough people had crowded the area and the sounds of music and laughter were echoing into the night.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:20 pm
R'nan walked through the crowd with Burmeth following him. Although his stride was several times as large, he trailed behind R'nan, as he kept darting from one place to another. Every dish needed to be inspected!
Oh R'nan, what is this? Oh, oh! R'nan! What is that? Oh, look at that thing! Whatever is it made of?
R'nan laughed. Burmeth, are you hungry? he hazarded a guess.
Burmeth stopped to watch a plate of curiously shaped pastries being carried out from the kitchen. He looked back at R'nan. His eyes were swirling with happy curiosity.
Not particularly.
Burmeth finally stopped running around and paused, tilting his head as though he were trying to remember something. He regarded R'nan thoughtfully. After a moment, he gave up and just asked.
What are we doing again, Mine?
Burmeth! I've told you three times already.
I forgot! Burmeth lamented. Though unapologetic, he hated to hear His upset. He nudged R'nan's chest, crooning sadly. R'nan, Mine, don't be angry. It was not my fault. I was distracted by all these curious new things. Tell me. I promise I will not forget this time.
R'nan sighed and relented. It was impossible for him to ever stay mad at Burmeth. It was hard even just to keep a smile off his face whenever he was in the cheerful brown's company.
I told you, they're having a feast for the new dragons. Remember? There was a hatching today.
I remember that you were upset since you couldn't go. Burmeth said. Anything that involved R'nan was easy to remember. R'nan rolled his eyes.
That's right. Remember? I wanted to greet the new weyrlings. Since the he'd had chores to do, he wasn't able to watch it, and now he didn't even know which candidates had impressed and which hadn't.
He looked around the feast, so far he hadn't seen anyone he knew. "Now, if only I could find any of them!"
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:11 am
Tiar, though not one of the new weyrlings had been invited to sit at one of the outer tables of the feast as the entire weyr celebrated. She'd been scooped up and selected as a candidate only this morning and had only just finished learning her way about the weyr when she was shooed into the the large feast area.
Taking a seat quietly her witchy white blue eyes seemed to absorb every detail. Taking in every movement and smile of the new weyrlings and other members of the weyr as she tried to adjust to her new surroundings. It was so. . .so very different from the crafthall, specially the smith crafthall. True she had loved the place and it could be a cheerful area, but with the onslaught of thread and the loss of, well loss of friends the crafthall had grown to leave a bitter feeling in her heart. Like the itching of an infected wound that refused to heal.
Of course even with the celebrations there still seemed to be an underlying sense of saddness in the weyr itself. One that did not seem to stim solely from the loss of life at the hatching today. The weyrleader, T'rel, seemed to be in mourning. Over his lost weyrmate and the death of the last weyrwoman or so she'd heard. Tiar felt sorry for him, but could not will away the distrust she still felt of the weyr and it's inhabitant. Even if they'd shown her kindness, something she was thankful for, the woman still held back her emotions. Not yet trusting enough to give in at full to Ista Weyr's charm.
Still Tiar was being slowly won over. She liked R'yn well enough even if the two had clashed somewhat before agreeing to disagree. She also had something to lighten her heart. The little earthen pot resting by the fire in the candidate barracks was enough to make the usually reserved woman's eyes sparkle with glee and inner joy. Also she'd been given free range of the Weyr's little forge, a fact that greatly put the woman's mind at ease. She'd age out within a year and if she didn't impress it would not look good to be sent back to the crafthall with her skills rusty and in disarray. Sides Tiar couldn't stand to be useless and if she could make a few harness rings and metal buckles, latches, and such for the dragons then she'd at least be contributing in some way.
Eyeing the knew weyrlings Tiar felt a sigh well up within her throat and let the soft breath pass between her lips. Dragons, even the ungainly hatchlings were beautiful creatures and all the self control in the world could stop the feeling of envy in her gut at the sight of the happy smiles on the dragonet rider's faces.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:30 am
T'rel was in high spirits that evening, despite the losses they had had during the hatching. It had been a good clutch. A good clutch, and they had many to add to their number. Ista was a small Weyr, smaller than most on the Northern continent and they had lost a large percentage of their fighting forces, as well as two goldriders. It was enough to make anyone gloomy. Not T'rel.
It wasn't that he wasn't unhappy, or that he was making light of his beloved weyrmate's death. This was a feast. A happy time. He wanted to make the the new Weyrlings feel welcomed. It was a difficult time, being a Weyrling. It was more difficult than being a candidate; you had chores and a young dragon to look after. It was difficult enough for them, Impressing in such a time. Thread had just returned to Pern. Their Weyrwoman had just died. Their Weyr was in ruins. They would eventually be expected to fight Thread, many sacrificing their lives to protect Pern. But--today was a happy time. The Weyr needed something to put them back in good spirits, and T'rel, their Weyrleader, was going to give it to them.
There might have been Thread, there might have been deaths and dragons betweening--but they had their dragons. They had their dragons, and they would fight Thread until Pern was rid of it. He stood, looking vaguely uncomfortable in his harper blue tunic. He was distractedly stroking a brown firelizard perched on his shoulders. His eyes veered left, and then right, as if counting each person as they entered. One could hardly blame him. Last Hatching feast, Thread had come back to Pern. People had died. He wanted to make sure everyone was safe. He shifted uncomfortably, as he usually did when addressing a number of people.
Having been a harper, many people expected him to have the gift of speaking--and he did. With certain people. He was a young Weyrleader, and those older than he was were often critical. He cared far too much for what they thought about him to be well prepared for any sort of speech. He wrung and twisted his hands, keeping them low, as if trying to hide the fact that he was nervous.
"Welcome, Weyrlings, to Ista Weyr," he began, sounding much more confident than he felt. "Impression's the most wonderful feeling," he said, smiling at the memory of his own. Almost six turns ago, and it still felt as if it had happened within the sevenday. "It is a time you'll always remember. It is only the beginning."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:45 am
Hunner frowned as he slipped into his seat not far from Tiar. Something seemed to be weighing heavily on his mind as he reached up to play discontentedly with a strand of his black hair. Deep in thought he began to tug at his bottom lip with his teeth, as if working through a difficult problem. He glanced in the direction of the new weyrlings and chanced a small smile of approval as the pairs began to trickle in.
His eyes fell on T'rel as he did so and his smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He knew that as a weyrbrat he had no business acting as if he knew what was best for the weyr, but he was convinced that he was right of one thing at least. That man had no business still being in charge. Not after it had happened.
He let out a small sigh and simply shook his head. There was no use worrying about things beyond his control. Instead he should be focusing on the festivities. He pushed the strand of hair behind his ear and sighed again, looking around at the faces of the people near him. Most he recognized and others, like Tiar, were completely foreign.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:03 pm
This one, Mine. Calith said with unwavering confidence. The dragon had made her take out every garment she had acquired so that she could choose what looked best. The now senior weyrling had taken the dragon's criticism in stride, she was used to it by now. From day one Calith had felt the need to always play part in how Ticene looked for certain occasions. The girl had cleaned herself whilst the dragon had brooded over he choices. Ticene looked down at her choice with some skepticism. Her choices were those dug out by the Headwoman after a conversation had revealed that Ticene planned to wear the same as what she had worn to her own hatching feast. Apparently she couldn't allow that and so she had dragged Ticene off and found clothes apparently more suited to the event that fitted her.
Calith had chosen a long green dress with a sash at the waist and Tic couldn't help her doubts. An irritated snort from Calith however was enough for the weyrling to push the doubts aside for long enough at least to get it on. Tying the sash Ticene looked down at herself and then up at her dragon. "Are you sure, Calith, this seems so... unlike me." Raising her arms Tic moved and watched the dress swirl about her feet before looking back. She'd always worn a tunic her mother had embroidered before, this seemed so different.
You look beautiful, Mine. She was reassured as Calith stood in preparation to leave. She was far too large to attend the hatching feast this time and had been too tired the last time, but that didn't mean she did not plan to accompany hers at least to the area. The dragon walked alongside her rider, boosting her with confidence as they walked. Ticene could trust was Calith told her. Other riders might think they're dragon would always tell them they looked fine, Calith was not so inclined. If Ticene did not look very good, her dragon would let her know. Over and over until the situation was resolved.
The pair reached the feast and came to a stop, Tic by this point feeling confident enough to carry on alone. Pushing her head against Ticene's chest Calith instigated a hug. Although she may not approve of contact from others, there was no shortage of it between them. Once again commenting that hers was perfectly suited to the occasion the dragon turned and walked a few steps before crouching and flying off to find a perch to watch the events from a distance. Running a hand through her auburn hair and then patting the dress down Tic walked into the celebration with a smile on her face.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:44 pm
R'yn had escaped from the healers several candlemarks ago. Following the initial shock that one of the new Weyrlings now sharing his barracks was actually a female, the boy had calmed down reasonably enough to drag a fellow Weyrling to the feast along with him. He knew K'rit was the quiet sort; K'rit tended to cause trouble if left alone to his own devices.
"I don't see why I can't--" K'rit began, frowning. Why couldn't he skip the feast to be with Quoth? His brown wanted him by his side--in fact, before the brown had fallen asleep, he'd requested that he stay. The brown didn't seem to like the idea of sharing his with those unworthy of K'rit's company. They all were. Except those greens--they were pretty. Had K'rit seen them? Perhaps they were worthy of K'rit's attention--and Quoth's, too. None of those others. He had not liked those others. They amused him with their petty desires to Impress him. Only K'rit would do! Only K'rit was acceptable--his rider still had yet to prove his worth completely.
"Because," R'yn explained patiently, "T'rel expects all of us there. It's tradition," he added with a smile. "We celebrate after the Hatching." His dragon, Gereth, had been the opposite of how Quoth had behaved. Gereth, unlike K'rit's brown, had pushed R'yn into attending. His needed to find a mate. His needed to learn to settle down. His needed to find the right one, settle, and perhaps Gereth would find his Calith, and settle with her. The bronze, like most bronzes, was confident that the gold was as fond of him as he was of her. After all, they had played in the water. His was often with hers. That had to mean something.
Mine, you look acceptable, Gereth told his rider with a snort of approval. You should find Calith's and settle with hers. There was no arguing with Gereth when he took on that tone. R'yn blushed and tried to ignore it, however--he did head towards Ticene.
"You look beautiful," R'yn said, smiling at her. He'd grown a bit in the past turn. Several inches, in fact, he was almost at Ticene's height now. "Er. Would you like to dance after grabbing a bite to eat?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 1:02 pm
Tiar was becoming uncomfortably and starkly aware that she was under dressed and out of place for such an occasion as a feast. True her things had arrived from the crafthall, but they wouldn't do her any good. She doubted she even if ever owned a dress and now stared with solemn embarrassment down at her plain crafting clothes.
At least they were clean, she reassured herself trying not to let her appearance bother her too much. Food would be served soon and so far the Weyr residents seemed too busy talking amongst themselves to notice the foreign underdressed girl with her hair in a messy braid. Hopefully this lack of observation of her would continue and she could avoid notice till things were busy enough for her to slip away. After all she hadn't impressed and wasn't anyone of importance so Tiar should easily avoid notice.
Well she hoped as much. Smoothing her shirt Tiar rested her hands in her lap listening with calculating interest as the Weyrleader gave his speech, noting the nervous look to the man. He was a former harper wasn't he? No former apprentice harper, he must not have had enough time to practice speech giving. Though his voice was confident, his body language gave away indecision and worry.
For a moment she felt pity for the man welling up within her chest. Even though he smiled T'rel had a distinctly tired look to him, his eyes dark with shadows and the beginnings of worry lines in his handsome young face gave him a look of age that such a carefree soul as he seemed to be should not have had.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:49 pm
Ticene moved about the crowd with a quickness that had been gathered through less friendly circumstances. Crowds were easy, Tic was good with crowds, some of her and L'fir's best work had been pulled off in the center of a crowd. Those sorts of tricks however were behind her, she had to behave in the Weyr and set an example, as difficult as it had been in the beginning. This crowd knew her. It had been almost a turn since she had arrived at the Weyr, that was a long time to get to know people. From time to time Ticene would stop and talk with the people she had come to call her friends. The weyrling would be lying if she said she was under the impression everyone liked her, that was impossible, nobody liked you everywhere you went. At least she didn't have anyone who seemed to have it in for her though. Though that seemed wise with Calith around, make an enemy of the rider and you invariably make an enemy of the dragon and nobody wants a dragon for an enemy.
Hearing a familiar voice behind her Tic pivoted as her smile became brighter. Now R'yn she'd definitely stop to talk to. His compliment caused a faint pink tint to travel up the girls face. She heard Calith's soft laugh in her mind as the dragon took amusement in her chosen's reaction. She glanced and instantly caught sight of Calith's hide perched above the feast watching her. She should've known the creature wouldn't have gone far. I told you you were beautiful, did I not? The dragon was far too smug and so Ticene chose to ignore her, turning her attention back to R'yn, but this only caused Calith to rumble in amusement again.
The girl was slightly surprised at being asked to dance. Generally Ticene didn't dance that often, she'd danced at home, but only when it was her and her friends playing around. Regardless of that Tic still nodded. She'd tried to deny R'yn things before since meeting him and had found that the lad was very good at managing to talk her into getting what he wanted. She blamed the grin most. "Sure, it looks like fun." Ticene was happy she had the boy as a friend. His growth however was making her begin to doubt the use of the word boy though. When she'd met R'yn he'd been quite a bit smaller than her and it had been easy to see him in quite a childish way, but he was nearly as tall as her now and that childish view seemed to be quickly slipping away.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:00 pm
Lorend strolled confidently to the hatching feast. Her green Tribleth delicately walking beside her with her neck arched. Stop that. The boys aren't even looking this way. The femininity in her dragon bothered her. How could she have Impressed to...... to such a girlie dragon.
If they are not looking yet, they will be soon Mine. She gave a soft, coy trill to the closest browns and bronzes. Lorend tried not to sigh. She went to find a spot for herself and Tribleth. The girls who weren't candidates anymore probably wouldn't want her sitting with them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One blue pair was among the last to arrive just before the Weyrleader's welcome. M'bad had dressed impressively. He stood with Rievegeth to observe the large group. Feeling the pale blue's utter lack at joining a crowd so large, he moved to a table that was set slightly away from the others. Rievegeth lifted his head and looked down his nose at the other dragons. The large blue knew he was good enough to sit with the gold and bronze, so good in fact that he didn't even have to. For now he and His would sit and watch.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:24 pm
R'yn hadn't expected Ticene to accept his offer to dance. It showed as he paled slightly, freckles showing brown on his skin, and he flashed her a bright smile as he recovered. He seemed almost nervous--almost. The confident bronzerider would have denied it. Ticene was pretty--but she was a friend! A friend! It was just a friendly dance, really. "Really?" he asked, beaming. "Excellent." His friendship with Tic had grown into something he wasn't quite sure of. He wasn't sure what it was--it was unlike anything he'd ever felt for anyone. R'yn knew he liked spending time with her, he liked wasting time doing pointless things like splashing each other when they were supposed to be washing their dragons.
Still, the very nearly sixteen turn old maintained that they were friends. Good friends, but friends. He couldn't help noticing, though, that when he put his hand to his side, it seemed it would brush against Tic's, as if by it's own choice. scooted away, blushing. "Sorry," he apologized quickly.
Mine is attracted to yours, Gereth observed, addressing Calith with a rumble of amusement. It is good. He has not yet settled. He will settle now. The bronze was confident. He always was, in the fact that R'yn had at last found the girl he would settle with when the boy so much as mentioned a girl.
"Hey, Tic. After the dance, we should talk. I've something to ask you about."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:32 pm
Burmeth, as he did with most things, had decided to turn R'nan's quest into a game. A 'spot the new weyrlings' game, and he was determined to win! He squinted through the crowd, and was never shy about bluntly asking both riders and dragons about whether they were weyrling or if they knew where one was. When he was just starting to get bored, a soft trill alerted him to a young green striding along with her rider.
Found one! he alerted R'nan
"Found- aw, I was about to say that.." said R'nan, who had spotted that exact pair just as Burmeth echoed the same. Burmeth, however, was not listening, as he had already charged over to his new prey -er, friend- leaving R'nan in his dust.
You are a new dragon, yes? I can tell because I have not seen you around, and if I had seen you around, I surely would have remembered. I am Burmeth. Who are you? And who is this? he added, curiously lifting his nose to look into the girl's face. He was one of the few dragons to show as much interest in riders as he did in other dragons.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:43 pm
Ticene laughed at her friend's excitement and apparent disbelief over her agreeing to dance with him. "Yes, really." She found it easy to be happy with R'yn around, the fact that he always seemed happy probably was the reason for that. Which meant she'd had a pretty happy time since arriving at the Weyr. The pair hadn't really become proper friends until the hatching, but the amount of time they spent together had steadily been increasing since then. Now R'yn seemed to be around quite often, though having lessons certainly made it so there was no chance of them avoiding each other. Tic hoped that they'd still see each other after they graduated. True they probably wouldn't be able to see as much of each other since R'yn would join a threadfighting wing and have all the tasks that came with that and Ticene would have her own set of responsilities to attend to, that didn't leave as much time for hanging around.
She almost didn't notice R'yn's hand brushing hers and probably wouldn't have mentioned it if the other weyrling hadn't mentioned it himself. The fact he moved away and said he was sorry so quickly made Ticene smile. She shook her head as her mind wandered back to the hatching. He hadn't apologised for taking her hand then, but she supposed it was different now. She wasn't panicking about not Impressing here.
Calith watched the two from her perch with some enjoyment. The curious things that hers did were always entertaining to her and the merriment of the occasion had left Calith more cheerful than usual. When Gereth addressed her the dragon's mood only seemed to improve. Why wouldn't he be? She is by far the best female down there else I would not have chosen her. Of course she was, she was Calith's. She found Gereth's claim that his would settle even more amusing. Is that how the bronze assumed things would go? And what if mine does not wish to settle with him? I wouldn't dream of letting her settle with someone unworthy of her.
Ticene frowned when R'yn told her they needed to talk. That didn't sound good, it sounded a little ominous actually. "Okay, R'yn, if you want."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 6:39 pm
Tiar sipped on her drink, a light wine that had been served at the feast. The warmth the alcohol brought her making the woman a little more bold then usual. Deciding for once to toss rank to the wind she stood waiting for T'rel to step to the side and wove her way slowly, but with purpose through the crowd and throng of dancers. She wasn't so bold as to approach him while he was still the center of attention, but as she watched and bided her time she sidled up not far from the weyrleader watching the dancers before lifting her eyes to the taller man.
"Weyrleader." Tiar greeted with a polite nod and a small smile at the larger man. She fancied him rather handsome even and though she fully expected to be turned down she held out a hand setting her drink aside.
"Would you care to dance?" She asked T'rel her words a good deal more at ease then when the man had met the rather guarded woman earlier that day. The wine had made the womans usually stout defenses, though still in place, much less apparent. Her emotional mask slipping somewhat with the alcohols effect.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 8:37 pm
Lorend was slightly taken back as an unknown brown came charging up to them. See Mine? The green added smugly. That hadn't taken long, and a handsome brown he was too. Her eyes sparkled with delight at the attention. As if her size didn't give her away as being newly hatched, Tribleth hummed an affirmative. Tribleth. Mine, Lorend. Though her answers were short, she crooned to the brown.
"Well he's got to have a rider." Lorend did her best to ignore the green's flirting by looking for the missing rider.
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