Walls move in the dark (Meira)

[hrsegrl]

Arriving at Burimyu was not as she had imagined. There were not nearly as many people here as there were in her imagination of the place. However, there was a feel to the place that appealed to her. While most people did not ask her about herself or her arrival here, she felt a comraderie here that she had not felt anywhere else. This was where the exiles from Selenitas had come. They were free here from the demands of the Wastelanders. Hidden here they made their life in quiet, not drawing undo attention to themselves. It was Bevany's perception that here was the place for those wishing to change the world for the better. Her heart was hopeful that she had found somewhere to be her second home.

She had started the morning believing she could find her way through the smooth corridors only to find that she was quite lost. The openness of the fields where she had lived made it easy to navigate her way here and there. Bevany decided against her better judgment to continue walking as if she knew exactly where she was headed. Being late for chores did not worry her. She could always do them later. It was kind of exciting not knowing where she would end up.

So she walked, onward and at one point thought perhaps she was going in circles. This was until she found herself opening the door to a seemingly unoccupied weyr. Opening the door, made it creak a little. The sound did not bother her in the least. She tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as it had once again escaped the confines of her pony tail. Instead of taking in the entire room, she walked out to the ledge of the weyr and looked down. She was not in the highest weyr, nor in one of the lower ones but she had come a long way from where she had been when she started walking this morning.

“Amazing.” Bevany said to herself in a wistful voice. Here would be a good place to think. Should she ever make it back to this place which was doubtful. Turning back to the inside of the weyr, it was apparent even more so now that it was not occupied and had not been for a long time. Cobwebs and dust everywhere! She should be getting back. Bevany thought as she walked back to the door. Her vision readjusted to the darkness as she walked back into the corridor.

Still adjusting to less light she thought herself able to see well enough to walk forward. However she walked into something that was not a wall and quite, human feeling. She made a noise, “oomph” unintentionally. It could not have been a wall. Walls did not move. “Is someone there?” She asked quietly, hoping there was someone there. Bevany was used to being called odd but she did not want to start off here being considered daft.

[Avu]

You’re sure you’re reading this map correctly, right? Jingth inquired doubtfully. Because you said it didn’t mention weyrs and those are definitely weyrs, love. Perhaps you ought to turn around. Did you start in the right place?

It was entirely possible, Meira admitted grudgingly, peering at the much-folded, worn hide, that she hadn’t. Burimyu was still defying her attempts at memorizing the layout—and part of her was almost grateful for that; if she knew it as well as she remembered the layout of Selenitas, wouldn’t that mean she had adapted—given up the hope of returning, of finding her son and T’san? But when an old map had a notation indicating there may be—assuming she was even interpreting the smudged black symbol correctly—dried herbs that were commonly used in Healing, she couldn’t not go looking. They were short on Infirmary supplies as it was, to the point where S’rei had decided rejecting painkillers despite having had a cave literally fall on top of him. Probably a pipe dream, hoping that they’d lasted however long it was, but still.

Maybe it’s in one of the weyrs, she suggested, wishing she could believe herself. She raised the glowbasket slightly, squinted down the dark hallway. It was seeming less and less likely (and more and more creepy) as she went on. At least she had company in the form of a Salamandyr, albeit a currently fast asleep Salamandyr. And Jingth never faded out of her consciousness anymore. Meira suspected it was because of boredom; the gold didn’t want to risk discovery by taking to the skies or sunning, however much she wanted to—only left to exercise briefly and always with other dragons. She frowned, turning to walk backwards, peering down the hallway she’d come from. Maybe she was going the wrong way, maybe—

“Ah—” the small startled sound slipped out of her before Meira could stop it, her heart jumping hard against her ribs at the shock of having backed directly into a distinctly human shape. The goldrider spun around, barely resisting the instinct to raise the glowbasket as she’d likely clip whoever it was in the head if she did and—a girl. The question made Meira’s brow furrow in slight confusion—couldn’t she see?—but she didn’t look threatening. “Ah, yeah,” she replied carefully, uncertainly taking a step back and rocking on her heel. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t—I was actually walking backwards,” she admitted, “Sorry. Are you lost?”

It seemed lots of people got lost at Burimyu, the only reason she’d asked. She got lost on an almost regular basis. But that generally ensured that she recognized most faces when she bumped into them and she didn’t recognize this girl at all.

Nuoth brought in a Candidate recently, Jingth suggested, but there was a tight strain to the queen’s voice; wariness. Perhaps—? I don’t think you’d met her, have you? A pause, and the gold added, slightly more curious and less suspicious, She can’t see? That can’t be right. Candidates cannot be blind. Didn’t Ismaroth’s give this one the physical? He wouldn’t be silly enough to let her Stand without sight. The reasonable tone was reassuring; Meira relaxed slightly. She remembered the mention of the Candidate, definitely, and no, she hadn’t seen her, so…at least, that was a better option than an intruder of any description.

[hrsegrl]

She heard the woman then and as she swung the glow around to face her, the blonde blinked several times in quick succession. “The sun is out at the moment. I was just in one of the weyrs.” As if that explained everything. To her it made complete sense. “Your glow is still lit? You must have come a shorter way than I did.” She added. Bevany had yet to meet the woman before her and was instantly intrigued by the salamandyr. Her eyes were obviously focusing on the sleeping pet. Weyrfolk certainly had the best pets.

Was she lost? The question made her wonder if the other woman was lost as well? Bevany answered, “I started walking down the corridors of the Weyr and I continued to walk so that now I'm so far from where I've started I'm sure to be getting back to where I began any time now.” Again, complete sense. If she continued the opposite way then she had come. Of course she could become so lost that she died in the corridors of the Weyr. “Are you searching for something?”

She had deduced the woman was looking for something. Why else other than being new would someone wander these deserted corridors? Either she was searching for something or she was daft. Looking over the other woman, she knew there was no way she was daft. Although she very much doubted her first impression on the other woman had been a favorable one. She seemed slightly concerned to see Bevany here.

“Have you been in any of the weyrs? They are a shambles, dust and debris everywhere. I'd be willing to come up here and clean them if I could find my way back. I'm almost certain I could.” She was almost determined to come back at some point. The better she knew her new home the easier it would be to find good thinking places. The only problem in the cavernous walkways of the Weyr was the lack of land markers but that could be remedied. All she needed was some of that rock that could write on stone. If she could find one. There were some near her father's farm but not many. Few and far between they were.

Although she realized it was a bit late for introductions she felt awkward not knowing the dark haired woman's name. “I'm Bevany by the way. ” She said with a kind smile, looking down slightly at the shorter girl. Bevany was tall for a woman and was used to being taller than other girls and even some men. Her blue eyes had now adjusted fully to the light of the glow so that she no longer squinted.

[Avu]

Ah, not blind then. Not that her explanation totally made sense, but that was okay. Meira nodded, didn’t clarify, already folding the worn map back into its tattered rectangle. Clearly this wasn’t the way she’d wanted to go, so the map wouldn’t be much use anyway, would it? As the girl went on, though, the goldrider couldn’t help the small grin. Not quite sure how that logic worked, but it was kind of endearing. The question, such an accurate assumption—deduction, perhaps?—earned a startled blink from Meira, and she shrugged. “Old Healing supplies, I was hoping, but I’m not sure…” If they even existed. Still, the hope had been enough to lead her there, even if the doubt grew by the minute. She and E’rro were the only two qualified Healers in the Weyr; any extra supplies would’ve been helpful.

The offer of cleaning had Meira visibly hesitating. It would be helpful, sure, but…oh, belated introduction. Meira bit back a smile, nodding acknowledgement. “Nice to meet you. I’m Meira. Of Jingth.” It still felt odd to tack the gold’s name onto the end of her own, but she was actually remembering most of the time now. “I’m one of the Healers, too. Hence the Healing supplies.” It was more work than she’d had at Selenitas; less Healers to ease the strain—but she was almost grateful to the amount of work. Keeping the Infirmary run meant she couldn’t take time to think about everything else that was wrong. Although when people in S’rei’s shape arrived in the Infirmary and refused painkillers, that tended to change things a little.

“I don’t think cleaning these will be necessary,” she added. “There aren’t enough dragons to spread into these for a while yet, and Jingth’s still ages from Rising again.” She shrugged, the gesture making Mimic stir on her shoulder sleepily, “But—um, wandering around probably isn’t a really good idea. Everyone’s pretty tense and—I don’t suppose you told anyone where you were going?” They didn’t exactly have an appointed Candidatemaster, given the decided lack of Candidates, after all, and if she’d really just gotten there…well, it wasn’t like Meira’d blame her for not knowing. She’d done plenty of wandering herself, and she didn’t plan on suddenly turning hypocritical of people. But she had made sure she’d told E’rro where she was going, and why.

She /is/ a Candidate, Jingth informed her. I checked with Nuoth. You needn’t worry, love. I don’t suppose, the gold added, sounding slightly moody, I could see her? I know the others. She’s the first new one.

And she had to make sure, didn’t she, a Candidate was fit to Stand for her children. Maybe. Not immediately, Meira responded, electing not to spring that on Bevany at once, either—wasn’t sure how a brand new Candidate would take to being told that a queen was interested in inspecting her. Awkwardly overprotective gold would be overprotective. Of her currently nonexistent offspring. Hum. Fortunately, the definite pause when Jingth bespoke her was covered up by Mimic, who, stirring, yawned widely and then chirruped a sleepy hello at Bevany, still too tired to really analyze where he was and why he didn’t recognize her. The Salamandyr’s tail curled around Meira’s wrist, a quiet Hello, nice meet offered to Bevany.

[hrsegrl]

She was being a little too chatty it seemed. As usual, she had become more talkative as she grew more nervous. Although nothing about Meira should make her nervous. Perhaps it was simply the circumstances. Bevany was not entirely sure whether she was allowed to wander back this way. Candidates were rather low on the totem pole until of course Eggs were on the sands. Then they became some of the more important people around. At least that was what she had gleaned from people thus far.

While she had no idea that Jingth was a Queen dragon, she was still in awe of dragons of any color and their riders. Meira had just become a VIP in Bevany's mind. “A Healer and a dragonrider, you are very much needed. Well I can tell you there are many vacant weyrs back here but nothing resembling a supply area for quite a ways. I do recall some empty rooms though, a little ways from here. Its hard to see in the dark but they could have held some healing things?” She was no Healer so she had no idea what Meira would be looking for. However, sending her onward would perhaps be better than lingering here. Soon neither of them would have a glow.

Meira was right. Bevany was too young to realize that she could have put herself into danger. Lessons learned were increasing every moment she was at the Weyr. Well she had to own up to her own problems. Biting her lip a moment, she responded to Meira's query, “No, I did not tell anyone. I was not planning on going this far either. I always have had a tendency to wander.” Bevany had not realized that this would end up being such a long trek, nor had she thought any harm would come of it. Still the other woman was her superior and would have to tell her what was right and wrong around here. At home she wandered at will, reporting to no one really. Home was different and here it was more dangerous than there.


The little mander was quite interesting and immediately gained all her attention when he spoke to her. She never realized that Meira was speaking to Jingth while she dealt with Mimic. “Hello. Pleasure to meet you as well.” She said eyes, focused on the little creature. She had never seen a Salamandyr before. There were many differences here that were positive and then there were those that were negative. Having to remember to tell people where she was going would be difficult but she could train herself to do so.

[Avu]

“Maybe,” and for the first time the doubt faded slightly; just maybe they could be in luck for once since they’d reached Burimyu. Meira smiled at Bevany, curling her palm under the basket of glows to check for their telltale warmth. It’d diminished slightly since she’d started out, but it’d still hopefully last her a while—and if all else failed she could always ask Jingth to rescue her somehow. As for Bevany, though…“If you don’t mind,” Meira said, a little hesitant about the proper protocol about this (they’d never really discussed Candidate limitations much, as it hadn’t really been necessary; she supposed she’d have to bring it up next meeting), “I think it’s probably better if you stay with me if you don’t want to go back right away—or you can follow this hallway back down to the Dining Hall, you take the first right and then the second left. I can give you some glows if you’d rather not stumble around in the dark, too.”

She fidgeted, pushing her thumb against the square of folded paper—Meira wasn’t really sure she trusted the map much, to be honest, but she could, at least, remember how she’d come, she thought. She just hoped she’d gotten the direction switches right—but once Bevany got close to the Main Hall the smell of food and the sound of people ought to be a good enough guide. “I don’t mind if you come,” she added quietly, belatedly realizing that her directions might’ve been taken as an attempt to be alone, and she didn’t really like being alone, not anymore. Had, before, just…she always seemed to prefer at least some kind of company these days, “But it might be a while and…” One shoulder lifted in a lopsided shrug, the words trailing off.

And a friend might be nice, swallowed before the words could come out; they tasted too vulnerable and too forthright. Easier to say in the dark to a near-stranger, but still hard to admit. And anyway, she didn’t suppose there was much she had in common with a Candidate; she had Jingth and Mimic—but then, Meira didn’t really think she had much in common with the Legatus Wing, the Weyrlings, that made up most of Burimyu’s population. It was lonely.

On her wrist, Mimic purred sleepily, blinking into consciousness; his tail curled and uncurled around Meira’s wrist, and then he crawled farther into her palm, which she automatically flipped over, to loop his tail over her thumb, situating himself securely into her hand. P’lite, he said to Bevany approvingly, Nice. So many weren’t (mostly his own kin—but then, Mimic had always loved the company of his own kind and not to have that now was depressing). The Salamandyr flared his frill and wings drowsily, a flash of brown in the dark, Mimic, am. New, you are? Getting fuller, home. It was so empty—a few dragons and a few people and a few Salamandyrs and firelizards but not much of any.

It was nice that people were coming, he thought.

[hrsegrl]

The other woman once again had a point. She should probably stick with her now that they had run into each other. While she appreciated the idea of having someone around she was also quite unsure of herself around the people here. At home she knew where everyone stood and how to say things in a way that would please them. Here things were quite different. There was a ranking system, she was not daddy's little girl and she most certainly was no one of consequence. With the option to go on to the Dining Hall mentioned, Bevany was given the choice. She could very well leave Meira here with her salamandyr and go on alone. Or she could stay with the other woman and perhaps help her find the section of rooms she had mentioned.

Although food could be quite tempting, Bevany was not really that hungry. Besides the mandyr was holding her interest well enough to keep her entertained. “Oh, I'd love to accompany you.” There were always benefits to going back the way one came. Now she would remember how this cavern system worked. Besides, one never knew when it would be prudent to hide. They were in a secret Weyr after all! She tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear again.

As the little brown moved around she smiled his direction. How cute these little pets were. She should like to have one someday. The people here probably had no idea how lucky they were to have so many interesting pets. “Thank you, Mimic. Nuoth and Nephele brought me here yesterday.” She said warmly. The salamandyr was quite sweet and well mannered himself. “I've never met a Salamandyr before. I do hope they are all like you.”

Bevany turned her attention back to the rider. “I guess we better move along then.” She began walking back the direction she had originally come from. There was no reason to linger since it sounded as though the way she had come here was much longer than the other way. Trust her to start at the wrong end of the caverns. “I might remember where I saw those rooms. Hopefully then we can find those supplies you were searching for. I have no idea what sort of things a healer would need but it would be nice to have something useful to do.”

Finding anything useful for Bevany to do was saying something. She knew how to farm quite well but they weren't really in desperate need of farmers here. She was no good at cooking and her grandma-ma had had a time of it trying to get her to do anything at all useful inside the house. This would be the first chance she had to show her value around here, despite having been a bit scatter brained by coming down these caverns alone without mentioning where she was going to anyone. A mistake, she was sure, many young Weyrbrats made.

[Avu]

“Great.” The word came out genuinely happy, Meira flashing Bevany a smile that would probably only be half-visible in the darkness as she fell into step alongside the younger girl, letting Mimic carefully climb his way onto her shoulder so he could curl up against the hollow of her throat on Bevany’s side, all the better to see the girl he had decided to like. The sound of somebody else’s footsteps alongside her own in the almost-eerie quietness of Burimyu was somewhere between even more hair-raising and reassuring—Meira didn’t try to let her imagination run away with her but sometimes, it was unavoidable. When she was alone, it was unavoidable. Having somebody with her that was not directly under her responsibility like Mimic was—it made a difference. (Although, technically, she supposed Bevany, like all the other Weyrfolk, was her responsibility, but it was still a different kind from Mimic, Jingth. From what Riaren had been.)

Nuoth, Mimic echoed at the end of Bevany’s explanation, approvingly. He didn’t really know the greenpair very well but—Greenling, sister Jingthours. Is nice. Of course, Mimic liked all Candidates; they made the goldthing happy and when the goldthing was happy, Meira was happy, or at least less stressed, and that made him happy by default. Or happier, anyway. He chirped quietly at the mention of other Salamandyrs, and since she wanted to hear, didn’t she, Eggbrothermine—Doppellove, is faaavorite. So nice. Lililove, too; pretty. Meet someday—yes? Not that they were here. They weren’t, or he wouldn’t be missing them quite so badly. Just—

“I think with Salamandyrs, Mimic’s an exception. Generally, they’re pretty much considered nuisances.” It wasn’t really a necessary warning. They had no queen Salamandyrs at Burimyu (or, for that matter, firelizards) so it was unlikely that, short of a wild clutch being found, they would even have the opportunity to Impress, but was only fair. At Selenitas, everyone knew about Salamandyrs; newcomers at Burimyu wouldn’t and it seemed strange not to give them that warning. Meira was sure there were some horribly obnoxious Salamandyrs somewhere at Burimyu—there couldn’t possibly not be, given their poor track record. But anyway—“Um, I don’t think any herbs would remain, but any medical equipment would be nice. We didn’t really have time to grab anything when we left.”

It had been very touch and go—everything rushed and unexplained, and if only she’d had Riaren with her when it happened she would’ve known what had happened to him, would probably have her son with her now instead of the ghosts of memories. She followed Bevany, would’ve been content to a companionable silence, but the mention of doing something made her tilt her head, and she hesitated visibly before she suggested, “You wouldn’t be interested in helping out in the Infirmary at all, would you? You don’t need any Healer training, really, unless you wanted to learn—it’s just an awful lot of work and E’rro and I both need to do Council stuff too, so…” She shrugged. “Just, it’d be nice, and I guess if we ever get a Candidatemaster it’d excuse you from doing chores, too. If you want.”

[hrsegrl]

Navigating the cavernous walkways was tricky, even with the proper glows. This coming from someone who was used to open spaces as far as the eye could see. Bevany did not remember there being any turns up to a certain point so it should be relatively easy to find the area of abandoned rooms. “It is not much farther...” She said, seeming to remember the look of the area they were traversing. Apparently they had not mapped this place well if Meira could not find it. Maybe the mapmaker did so on purpose. Someone who was born and raised here would need no map. Certainly it would keep people from finding things they were not meant to find.

Mimic's description of the other salamandyrs was sweet. “You have many sweet friends.” She was sure that despite Meira's addition that they were seen as nuisances the people that owned them loved them. Each one was sure to have his or her own personality. “They would annoy someone like Grandma-ma...” She said quietly, thinking about what would happen if one ever enetered their house. She would like to see her gran trying to shoo one out of the kitchen area. They would be very much unwanted in a normal household. So it was not stretch to say they might annoy people here. Then she did think it depended on the person.

Nodding Bevany tried to think of what she meant by medical equipment. She was a bright girl but at home there was no healer. They had to travel to a Minor Hold to see one. No one in her family had been sick in a long time and never injured. Which might seem strange except that their job was away from other people and there were very few ways to injure oneself around plants that would require a healer. The only thing she might have known a little about would have been herbs since she had grown up growing plants. She could guess that medical supplies would mean things like bowls, bandages and things to cut with.

The mention of needing help piqued her interest. “Really? I would love to help out in the infirmary.” At least she thought she would. Having next to no experience with illness or injury, working in the infirmary would be eye opening to say the least. She had no idea what she might be getting herself into here. Still the Weyr was struggling and she now belonged to it and should do what she could to help get things going. Bevany was certain that there would be time to do other things as well. And as Meira said, she could get out of doing chores. Since she loathed cleaning the infirmary would be a better choice.

[Avu]

Meira nodded—a response to Bevany’s assurance that they were almost there that would probably not even be seen by the Candidate; it was dark in the hallway even with the glows to light the way and looking ahead and at where you were putting your feet seemed more important to Meira than anything else, even if it might be a little bit rude. Anyway, she trusted that wherever Bevany led, they’d be able to, at the very least, trace their steps backwards again if they got lost. Maybe not in the dark, but her glows were fresh, should last them some time; more than enough to realize they were dimming and get back out before they went completely out. She did raise her glance at the mention of a grandmother, though, the goldrider humming in quiet sympathy.

Must be hard, leaving behind family to come to a Weyr you couldn’t even write home from. Must be harder still being shoved into a war, when most of the Holds had actually been fairly removed from it, picking up the mess that the war left behind but rarely there to experience it firsthand.

But then, she wouldn’t know. Four years since she’d come to Selenitas, and before that it had been Benden: From one Weyr to another, and her mother so far removed that she couldn’t even imagine what knowing a grandmother would be like. She’d never meant to do that to Riaren. Riaren was supposed to be given the best life they could possibly manage without his parents being weyrmates, at Selenitas Weyr in the middle of a war, and…well, how well was that going, that she didn’t even know if he was still alive? She wasn’t sure how it was best to respond to such a familial statement, but Salamandyrs, she could do. Salamandyrs she knew.

“They’re easy to hate, but they’re easy to love, too,” she admitted quietly. “Even the worst ones. You can’t ever hate anything when it loves you as much as they do.” Meira wasn’t even sure, but she kind of figured that was what a real family was like, too; it was the closest thing she really had to base on, other than her currently nonexistent relationship with her son. “Dragons and whers are like that, too. Firelizards.” And that, she would know; she had Jingth and Mimic to know, and Meisk and Zesa to yearn for, didn’t she?

Not going there right now, though. Mimic licked her fingers, a quiet rasp of tongue against the pad of her thumb, and Meira managed a socially appropriate smile for Bevany—she was genuinely pleased, but nowadays it always felt like smiling was a little forced. “Would you be interested in becoming an apprentice? E’rro’s a Journeyman in Healing and Dragonhealing, if you have a preference. Or you could just be staff—like, organizing things, cleaning, stuff like that? Anything would be great, honestly.” It really would be; it was getting to the point where Meira felt like she was in the Infirmary more often than she wasn’t (part of that was her choice, of course—she’d always stayed past the end of her shifts), but it was still a mark of how empty and understaffed they were.

[hrsegrl]

Bevany's lightheartedness did not wane as they walked on in silence. She had never felt silence was awkward, she generally used the time she had to focus on her thoughts, calm her often overactive mind down. Thinking about where they were going was giving her an added extra to concern herself over. She was certain she had passed this way before, which meant they were on the right track. The blonde tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear again. A constant reminder that her gran could no longer fight her hair into obedience.

Not having a mother made her grandmother a more important figure than she probably should have been. Her father's emotional distance was nothing she really commented upon and besides she knew he loved her without him saying anything. He was so worried about the world in which they lived in. Always focusing on the worst that could happen whereas Bevany always thought about the best that could happen. The Weyrs and the war would spill over to the Holds eventually and she would much rather be here helping than home safe.

“When you love something or someone they can do no wrong. You will go on loving them forever. “ Bevany felt that way for her family. They could fight for the other side and she would still love them. There was nothing on Pern stronger than love. This she firmly believed. She had the feeling Meira felt this was true as well. At least for the dragon and salamandyr in her life. Bevany hoped one day she would be graced with such friends.

“I can apprentice?” She asked, slightly surprised at her good fortune. Not just human healing but dragon healing as well! This was a much better plan than scrubbing floors. Bevany's blue eyes lit up with excitement. “I'd really love to work with both kinds of healing. Wherever I'm most needed.” She said with a smile that was hard to wipe away.

On her right side was where she had come from. A smaller corridor with large rooms on either side. She turned to follow curve and then stopped. “These are the rooms.” She indicated to the two large doors. “I bet they are as dusty as the weyrs are.” No one had come back here in quite some time. How long she had no idea since she was not from a Weyr and had not heard any tales of one being abandoned. What would she know?

[Avu]

That was probably the closest definition to love she’d ever really heard, but, like most definitions, they only told you part of the story. Always optimistic; that was love, wasn’t it? Meira nodded in quiet agreement nonetheless, because it was true. Mimic and Jingth could never, ever do anything to make her upset for any length of time; would always be the best—but then, that was a given with a mindmate. She knew she loved Riaren, too, of course and…maybe T’san, not that she could tell him anymore with half a continent and a million rules and stipulations between them. If he was even alive. She didn’t know that, either—and not knowing hurt worse than if she did know; not knowing could mean a million different things, all of them worse than the last.

Part of the reason she spent all of her free time distracting herself: Didn’t want to think about that. Distractions were easy.

“Sure,” and Meira couldn’t help the slightly surprised note in her tone—it hadn’t occurred to her that apprenticing might be taken as surprising. It just was. “I’ll get Jingth to talk to Ismaroth about E’rro adding you to the Infirmary shifts, as soon as you want—you can come down and I’ll show you around later on if you want, too, and you can decide if you want to do both or one or the other or what. Jingth said she’d like to meet you, anyway, especially if you’re interested in being a Healer. She’s biased, but.” She grimaced apologetically, shrugged; it hadn’t actually escaped her attention that three out of Jingth’s eight offspring had opted to Impress to Healers at her last clutch’s Hatching—one of whom was decidedly reluctant to Stand, the other of whom was not Standing at all, but simply watching. Maybe it wasn’t a completely unwarranted bias.

She stopped at the sight of the large doors, gaze raking over them, and carefully reached out to touch the door handle. Almost reverent, but mostly hesitant. If they were locked…well, that would be just her luck, wouldn’t it? Mimic could always squeeze through the bottom of the door and see what was inside, but she didn’t really want him wandering around a room she couldn’t follow him into in case there were those avians or something hanging around—not to mention that regardless of what he would find, it wasn’t like his being inside would magically unlock the doors. “It’s kind of pretty,” she observed quietly, and tugged cautiously at the door.

Be careful, Jingth interjected anxiously, just as the door offered a low whine and the sound of the bolt clicking out of its place echoed through the hallway. Love, if you would rather I send for Ismaroth’s to come down and see, too—

It’s fine, she assured the gold automatically. It was hard to be frightened of a dusty old room in a Weyr that had likely not been inhabited by anyone but avians as long as living memory. The door stopped moving stubbornly, grating against the floor in an unhealthy rasp, about halfway open, leaving a yawning gap between door and room. Meira blinked, and then glanced briefly over the map again. “I’m not really sure if this is the right place,” she commented, a dry humor creeping into her tone, “But it’s definitely somewhere, at least. It doesn’t look like it has any windows…” which was definitely a factor in the darkness of the room—it was positively pitch black, and the glows didn’t cast much light inside.

Mimic chirruped uncertainly, frill flashing out from his neck. Dark, the Salamandyr murmured softly. Scary place.

[hrsegrl]

The thought of being apprenticed gave her something she would never have had the chance to do at home. Not only was it hard to be apprenticed living out in the middle of nowhere but being an only child, her father never would have allowed it. Much like he did not want her to come here. However, the choice of what to do with her life was her own and he could only keep her at home for a short time longer anyway.

It dawned on her in that moment that Jingth was not a green. She was a Gold if she was interested in Candidates. Most people would be shocked in learning something like this and immediately begin to think of what they had done wrong since meeting the Weyrwoman but Bevany had never been one to follow where others had trod. She went on acting like Meira was a dragonrider and nothing more than that, for she was a dragonrider, her dragon simply happened to outrank all the others.

She watched as Meira looked over the door. There was an eeriness to the air around them now which she was sure was more due to the thoughts in her head than to any real dangers. If Meira was going in she would have to as well. The doors were rather interestingly designed. Was that on purpose? Were they special? She wondered as the door began to open under Meira's hand.

There was nothing for it. They had to go into the dark room. Bevany decided there was nothing to fear almost immediately based on the fact that the room looked untouched. What was the worst that could happen? She entered the room slightly behind Meira and then wandered a few feet to her left. Bevany said nothing at first as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She seemed to have horrible night vision.

Her eyes eventually found something that might be of use. There was a torch on the wall to her left. Excellent, she thought to herself then frowned slightly. How to light it was the problem really. They had to keep something nearby to light it with didn't they? She hoped this was true because she was going to attempt to find something and if it was not there she was going to look very foolish. Fumbling around at the left wall near the door she found flint stones and running the one against the other several times (although it was a slightly loud noise in the quiet room) it eventually seemed to make sparks. She put the torch back on the wall where she found it, struck the flint stones together one more time, lighting the torch. The room was easier to see although still dim in the corners.

Her eyes began to scan the several dust covered tables. There were built in shelves on every wall containing what looked to be just dust at first but upon her eyes adjusting further she realized they must be records. “What is all this stuff?” She asked looking at the tables filled with odd contraptions she had never seen before. It did not occur to her that Meira might not know.

[Avu]

Here came the first prickles of unease, standing in the darkened room with the glows unable to penetrate more than a few feet in all directions. Meira wet her lips absently, curled her hand protectively over Mimic as the Salamandyr pushed backwards into her sleeve, his heartbeat hummingbird-quick against her wrist. She just didn’t like…not being able to see. Had been so long ago that she’d become almost accustomed to seeing in the dark, and that was still a sore spot. Hated being reminded of it, because it always, always felt like betrayal no matter how she looked at it. You weren’t supposed to be able to cope after you lost your mindmates, and Meira wasn’t sure if what she was doing was really coping, but she was certainly functioning.

And she missed being able to make things out in the darkness.

Of course, the darkness of night had nothing on this; there was always the moon and stars and even when the clouds had them covered up there was still some light, unlike this. She ghosted her fingers along the wall, tentatively pushing further into the room, aware of Jingth pushing against her mind, the dragon’s anxiety quivering as taut as a bowstring. Calm down. It’s fine, she thought at Jingth, until the vibrating concern faded into something more manageable. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe Jingth took her words at face value—likely she’d just pulled back away from the bond slightly. But the space was still nice—the sudden distance of it had her momentarily disoriented, though, made her jump at the flicker of light before she flashed a grateful look at Bevany.

She moved closer to the table Bevany indicated, squinting—frowned at the sight of the things; they weren’t standard Healing tools. Mimic chirruped, poked his head carefully forward, eyes gleaming his curiosity before his tail slid around her wrist, flicked towards the records. Meira made no outward acknowledgment of them, but she did make a mental note—would have to pack those up, get them to the Archives, maybe look through them. Didn’t want anyone but the Council looking through the records, though, any of them—the Archives were sealed off from most of Burimyu for a reason. Didn’t know why these weren’t in the Archives, but that didn’t matter right now.

Meira picked up one of the trinkets, turned it over in her hand; it was a perfect cube, each edge about two inches or so. One side flipped up, exposing the inside, except it wasn’t—Mimic leaned forward, licked his tongue across a thin piece of glass that diagonally split the interior, and—Meira laughed, soft and startled.

She’d been expecting something that could be useful, had dared to hope that their luck would turn just this once. Couldn’t get mad at this, of course, but still. It was disappointing. She closed the box, flipped it in her hand, and felt the telltale latch on the top of the cube as well, and set it back on the table again, back into its neat little dust-free square. Hadn’t expected this. Scanned the other objects on the table, recognized a few, but not all. She could guess some of it, though. “They’re illusionists’ tricks,” she said. The words sounded empty in the quiet. “Interesting, I guess…but nothing we could use.” There weren’t even any children at Burimyu, except for Miguel, and he didn’t seem like he would be interested in this.

Meira shrugged, turned her face back to the records in idle curiosity. Would have to wait till Bevany wasn’t there to look at them—she wasn’t willing to compromise that rule, even if these records were not within the Archives. “Doesn’t matter, I guess. We should probably be heading back before the glows die.”

[hrsegrl]

Quite at a loss, Bevany watched as Meira moved forward to look over some of the things on the table. That was what they were, things, there was no other way to describe them in her mind. The room was full of them and they were most peculiar. She had to wonder what this room was for. Why was it secluded? Was someone perhaps trying to invent something useful and maybe these were simply mistakes? Why would anyone spend there time making things that had no value? Bevany's mind raced on as she too approached the table. The records would be able to enlighten them. “I wonder...” She trailed, hand tracing the table's edge. The room needed a serious dusting she thought, lifting her now gray tipped fingers to her mouth, where she blew the dust off of them.

“A-choo!” She sneezed, quickly wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. She wandered away from the table. Towards an object that was catching the light. Quickly she dusted it off, finding what seemed to be a looking glass... a very large looking glass. Reflecting the light from the torch it lit the room up just a little more. Looking glasses were hard to make, expensive to buy. She'd never had one herself but she knew what it was from what people said about them. Looking into a lake or stream one could see their reflection but it was warbled by the ripples. A looking glass was metallic object that reflected ones image perfectly.

Then she heard Meira's voice and snapped back to the real world. Illusionists? Why would anyone need an illusionist? Bevany was not sure that they were ever going to really know what went on here in this strange room. Only the Records might be of some use. Not that she would be privy to the knowledge they contained. Few people here had access to the records. “Perhaps the Records might be of use? That looking glass could fetch a fair price at a Gather, if the Weyr needs funding..” Although because it seemed to be very old she'd much rather keep it at the Weyr to look at. They could always keep it somewhere public so that everyone might use it. However she saw using it for money as the more appropriate choice, the Weyr had no Holds under their control they would have to either buy food or steal it.

She knew it was wrong to steal but she would not put it past the Weyr to be doing so. As long as the Farmers were not blamed for missing tithes, she would not care how the Weyr conducted its business. They were housing her and keeping her fed after all. Meira was right of course, they should be getting back before the glows went out. “I think I'm growing hungry after all.” She said in response to the light growling in her stomach. She walked to where the torch was on the wall and took it down. She found they had a way of putting it out too, which was as she expected. Interesting that she should find the things she expected to where it wasn't needed and not find them where it was. Medical supplies would have been a much better find. After placing the Torch back where it belonged she walked to the door. Time to go.