Another Day, Another Dollar [Jaetif]

[Ruby]

It was rare for Caden to appear uncomfortable. Generally, very little phased her; she was confident in her ability to perform any task given to her. Why would her Wingleader (or in this case S'rei, the weyrleader) give her a task she couldn't complete? Well, maybe if she was supposed to learn something from it. But what could she learn from failing at a craft? She'd done that enough already, thank you very much. Benden Weyr was a good place to learn Vintner Craft, with the crafthall right at Benden Hold, but Caden had learned early in her life that she had a black thumb, not a green one. That pretty much put out the Woodcraft and the Farmercraft, too. Of course, Benden Weyr had had Harpers and Healers, but a rigid, tightly wound candidate with little ability for innovation and independant thinking was not likely to do well in either field. The practical side of Smithcraft might have worked out, but by that time it was fairly clear that little Caedenor was bent on standing, impressing a Dragon and becoming useful in the Dragonwars.

She had. And now Smath was gone, and she had to do something with herself.

So it was that an especially stiff and rigid Caden appeared at the Tannery, all six feet of her drawn up as tall as she could. Her short, choppy hair had been combed (rare), and her oversized, boys-style shirt was clean and wrinkle-free (rarer). She stoically resisted fiddling with the rolled cuffs of her sleeves, her arms crossed tightly against her flat chest. Jaetif was the name, Tannery the game - she could already work leather well enough, having made her own straps for the past 5 turns, so she figured if she was going to give any craft a try, it might as well be Tannercraft. As far as she knew, Emoyan had told her fellow Candidate to meet her in the Tannery just after the noon meal, so naturally Caden had eaten early and appeared before the noon meal. A quick survey of the little cluster of outbuildings made it clear that no one else was here, so she took a position near the door, not even remotely at ease. Jaetif would be here any minute. And if he wasn't Caden could wait like this all day.

[bookworm]

It wasn't often that Jaetif was called aside by the Candidate Master, since he rarely made trouble. He had been a bit nervous when Emoyan approached him, but he had just been informed that a new candidate wanted to learn about Tanner Craft. Jaetif was happy to show someone what he knew, but he was curious about the reason. Most people of candidate age had already chosen a Craft.

When he walked into the tannery, he almost collided with the other candidate, who was standing very close to the door. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, smiling at...him? The boy had a very feminine face, but appeared male for the rest of it. Ah well. Jaetif had been weyrfolk long enough not to question these things. Besides, now his doubt at the person's gender was fading. Certainly this was just a young boy, which would explain why he didn't have a craft yet.

"I'm Jaetif," he said, holding out his hand. "Candidate and Journeyman Tanner. I'm going to show you around today, and you can see if the craft appeals to you," he said, moving further into the room and beckoning for the other to follow.

((Fyi, here's some quick Tanner information that I found helpful: www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=564)

[Ruby]

Caden had to step quickly to avoid the other candidate - had to be Jaetif, wearing both Candidate and Journeyman knots. Caden hadn't meant to blend in to the shadows near the tannery's entrance, but being both naturally still and war-trained made her automatically attempt to camouflage herself. Still, avoidance was equally easy, and she ducked her head slightly, offering a noncommittal "No apology necessary." His eyes were even with hers; rare, but not unsettling like S'rei's height had been. Beyond that, Caden filed him as a non-threat.

She took his hand when offered, pumping it once in a firm, buisnesslike manner. "Candidate Caden." After a moment's thought, she added, "Thank you for your time." Not, perhaps, the most welcoming thing she could have said, but Jaetif seemed nice enough, and Caden was making an effort not to be off-putting. This time, anyway.

Before Jaetif even beckoned, Caden was on his heels, carefully memorizing the contents of the room. Some of the leather working implements she recognized, but a lot of it was new to her. Not to mention that the whole place smelled atrocious, like smoke and something strange and slightly metallic. It reminded Caden of dragon on dragon battles, which made sense, given the nature of the work done here. Spotting what looked like a pile of half-finished straps on a workbench, she reached out before withdrawing her hand, not wanting to overstep her bounds. "I do know some leather working, but otherwise tannery is new to me," she commented. It wouldn't do to have Jaetif think she knew nothing, or conversely, more than she actually did. This way she could maximize her time, and get a good feel for the craft. She was determined to do right by her new Weyr (i.e. S'rei).