Back to the Beginning...{Open}

[kat]

Ari walked quietly down the corridor leading to the girl's barracks, the sound of her own footsteps and her heart that beat a little too fast the only noises that accompanied her passing. This was where she'd been sent, the scribbled little map clutched tightly in her fist, which was beginning to perspire. She finally came to the large room, a room that would be shared with any female candidate, be it wher or dragon. Had she really agreed to do this?

She'd been a drudge these past four years. It wasn't exactly what anyone though of as a fulfilling and good life, but it was her life. The life she knew, inside and out. A drudge was expected to do her duties, and the duties were clearly set out for her. Day in, and day out, she cleaned and served those who lived in this Weyr that had been her home for the past fifteen Turns. Had she honestly and truly agreed to this?

She wasn't sure which bed to pick, but the small chest of drawers beside each bed indicated which were taken, and which were not. She chose the one in the corner of the large room, right up against the wall, sighing heavily and placing her meager bag of belongings on the bed as she began to unpack. Why had she agreed to this?

A wher candidate. She had seen whers throughout the Weyr. Intimidating, large creatures who were some...mistake. They were supposed to have been improvements on dragons. Only it hadn't turned out that way. Now they were bonding to people, and now they were accepting candidates to bond to them. A candidate...her. It felt so surreal. Was this what she really wanted? Would any wher, or anything, for that matter, want her? She was only a drudge, and a poor excuse for one, at that. After all, even drudges had things like friends. People they cared about, that cared about them. She didn't even have that. She supposed it was her own fault.

She'd never been good with people, with making friends. It was probably why she was still alive, what with all that went on in this Weyr. The wars. The siege by Benden. Fort's takeover. The deaths, the tons upon tons of deaths...she shuddered a moment, placing all too neatly folded clothes inside the second drawer down. She had three outfits to her name, just three. They'd said they would send her new ones, but she hadn't really had new ones since the one outfit they gave her as a 'passable' gather outfit. A plain, dark brown skirt and a darker blue shirt. Nothing fancy, but to a drudge it was more than good enough. She had been a drudge. Would she go back to that? Maybe...

She thought she heard someone coming down the corridor, but she couldn't be certain. They weren't near enough yet, it could be someone or something else, really. So, she finished putting her two sets of just cleaned clothing in the drawer. She unpacked her other things, then. A brush, a brush for her teeth. An old stuffed dragon that she'd washed before coming here. A little needle and thread kit. Then came her journal, which was probably her most prized possession other than that old stuffed dragon. The dragon was brown, and it had been the only real thing that had ever been just her own. She'd had it since she was small, and she was more attached to it than any person. His name was Canth, like the old story...

The journal had a little pot of ink and a quill placed beside it. She'd saved up for that ink and quill, and every night she wrote in her journal. She poured her innermost feelings and heart into it. Not like she had anyone to talk to to get that stuff out, after all. There it was again, the sound of footsteps. She sat on the edge of the bed that was now hers, the fresh sheets shifting slightly underneath her, and clutched Canth to her, feeling lonelier than she had in a long while. Had she really and truly agreed to this...?

[Sheari]

Ansuha was feeling a little giddy as she walked up the flight of stairs to the girls' level of the candidate barracks. She was done! Done with latrine duty! She had served her two weeks of cleaning chamber pots and she was now free with her time. The only thing she absolutely had to do were her chores for this month. And those wouldn't be so bad compared to what she'd just done. Oh no, nothing would compare to latrines unless he demanded that she clean up the remnants of a weyrling's meal. Anusha blocked that thought from her mind thinking, knowing, that Emoyan wouldn't go to that extreme.

As she turned into the dorm she saw a girl with her back to the door. She was sitting on her bunk (which was a lower one since all the upper ones were full) and looked to be holding something to her. On impulse and without thought Anusha ran and jumped on the suspected new girl yelling "Rawr!" Upon her landing of the girl she rolled off and sat on the floor. Hands behind her and legs before she looked at the girl she had just jumped on.

Huh, she really was new.

[kat]

Ari was lost in her own thoughts when someone else entered the room. It was the kind of spacing out where one barely hears anything else going on around them, so deep in their musings that the world around them seems exempt from their minds. She was thinking about the fact that she was up in a tree. Yes, a tree. For as odd as she'd found it, the candidate barracks were in a tree, like some giant tree house. The thought of it made her rather nervous, though she'd never have admitted it. It was also kind of neat, really. She'd never seen anything like it, save perhaps the tree forts that children built. What was it like up here when it stormed? Did the tree sway at all? This tree was huge, but did water ever wear away at the roots supporting all this? Were the branches all as sturdy as they appeared? What happened if someone slipped in the dark and fell? That's when she was scared out of her thoughts by someone tackling her from behind.

Ari yelped loudly, dropping the beloved brown dragon stuffy to the ground in her shock and instant terror. She was so scared as she whirled around to face whomever it was that had startled her, but what she saw was not the horrible thing she'd been half-expecting. She had thought maybe they were under attack again, and here was only another girl! Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, the sound of it so loud it reached her ears. She was breathing fast, on hand over her chest and the other on the bed, supporting her. What on earth was the matter with that girl? Didn't she know better than to go scaring someone like that? She was a little angry for a moment, but she was the one who'd been staring off into space like that. Pranks like scaring people were older than dragons, really. She was merely upset she had been so unaware of the other girl's approach, and had allowed herself to be scared so. She tried to calm her breathing, at least, trying not to glare at the girl. She managed to school her look, at least, settling for a non-impressed sort of look that wasn't showing that she'd momentarily been upset.

Finally, she managed breathlessly, "you nearly scared me half to death...who are you?" It seemed the most prudent question. She hadn't bothered to make any friends and so it was safe to say she really barely knew the names of anyone in this Weyr, save those who were of importance, or some of the other drudges. She didn't recognize this girl at all, but somewhere in her mind she assumed it was a candidate, like she was. Why else would she be here, in the barracks, if she wasn't? She couldn't slow her racing heart, though her breathing had become more level now as she began to calm down more with each passing second. Still, the thoughts concerning 'what if that had been someone else, someone less of a friendly face?' bothered her. She would have to simply learn to be more alert than this! Being caught off guard was unacceptable considering all that had gone on, and was likely continuing to go on, around the Weyr.

[Sheari]

There was yelp.

Success! Anusha had achieved her goal of startling the girl. Yes, it was juvenile and immature, but right now she really didn't care. It felt good to let loose. When her laughter subsided into giggles she heard the girl's question and noticed that a brown stuffed dragon was on the floor as well. She pick it up and offered it to the girl, assuming it was hers, and said, "I'm Anusha."

"I haven't seen you around before, are you new?" she asked.

Anusha had already come to that conclusion before. It seemed, however, if she'd been around for a while and just came into candidacy, assuming she was a new arrival would make for an awkward situation. As funny as awkward situations could be, she felt this girl was not in the mood to laugh right now.

[sorry it's so short]

[kat]

Ari's heart slowed down some as she hesitantly watched the girl pick up Canth from the floor, accepting the stuffed brown dragon gently, and softly dusting him off before placing him on the bed behind her. The girl gave a name, and she replied quietly, "Ariaya...Ari." She wrapped her arms around herself, the nervousness refusing to abate even though there was only one other person in the room. She felt stupid, being nervous about just another girl around her age. Some part of her knew that her behavior was not normal. People talked, they socialized. It was what normal people did. She registered a question, then, and tried on a small smile for size. It felt kind of fake but at least she had attempted, and it was probable that it was convincing enough that the other girl wouldn't notice it had been kind of forced.

"New...? Well, not exactly," she said, her voice sounding too loud in the almost empty barracks. She wasn't used to the sound of her own voice even now, because she never spoke unless spoken to, and hardly anyone ever bothered to speak to her, unless it was to tell her to do something. Still, she went on, "new to this, I guess." She waved a hand around the barracks and then added, "but not to the Weyr."

Did she need to say she'd been a drudge? She wasn't ashamed of that. Lots of people were, even if no one gave that much thought. But what if this girl had been in a reputable craft? Would she think less of her because she'd been a drudge? The thought made her stomach do little knots, as she mulled over it. Well, if she asked, Ari wasn't the type of person to lie. She also steeled herself. It was nothing to be ashamed of. She was a candidate, now. That meant she might bond a wher, and then she would be...a Wherhandler. Wherhandler Ariaya. That didn't sound so bad, did it? It was better than drudge, anyhow...

Ari had never had any real dreams beyond living in the Weyr. She was grateful for everything she had, and never asked for more than what she got. She was fed, clothed, had a place to live and no fears that she'd be asked to leave so long as she did her work. That was more than some people had, right? Part of her knew that a drudge held the lowliest station on Pern. Servant...that's what drudges were. They cleaned latrines. They did laundry. They obeyed orders and did what they were told. Drudge...yes, she had been that. What of now? If she didn't bond she'd have a lot more chances. Candidate chores were far easier than being a drudge. Should she just stay on until she was too old? She had that option...she had to take it. The thought of being 'something' instead of what felt like 'nothing' was just too much to let go of. Finally, she, Ari, had a chance to be someone. She wasn't good at being social, but she could learn...maybe? Yes, she'd learn. There was only a single girl in front of her right now, and that girl seemed friendly. What harm could there be in starting to practice being social right here? She could do this...she would have to.